South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Friday that if Republicans don't pass tax reform, then Democrats will take back the House of Representatives and attempt to impeach President Donald Trump.

"Well, I think all of us realize that if we fail on taxes, that's the end of the Republican Party's governing majority in 2018," Graham said on Fox News Radio's "The Brian Kilmeade Show." "We'll lose the House, probably lose ground in the Senate and President Trump has got a profile different from the party -- there's kinda two or three different Republican Parties now, I guess. But we're all in it together."

"I can't imagine how he could be successful with Nancy Pelosi running the House," Graham continued. "They'd try to impeach him pretty quick and it would be just one constant investigation after another. So it's important that we pass tax reform in a meaningful way. If we don't, that's probably the end of the Republican Party as we know it."

On Thursday, the House passed a budget resolution that clears the path for Congress to tackle tax reform legislation. House Republicans are expected to unveil their tax reform legislation on November 1, with plans for the bill to move rapidly through both chambers in the following weeks.
Man crushed under train in city

Staff Reporter :

A man was crushed under a running train while trying to cross the railway line at Banani in the capital city on Saturday.

The deceased, 40, could not be identified immediately. The incident took place on the south of the Banani Staff Road.

"A man died under a Kishorganj bound train

near Banani, Dhaka, while trying to cross the railway line there," said Md. Rabiullah, an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Kamlapur Railway Police Station.

He said also that the deceased had a white lungi and a blue T-shirt in his body.

"The body have been sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for autopsy," he said.


The Undead Archives

I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world.
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EDINBURG -- Edinburg lost nearly seven decades of history when four potato warehouses burned to the ground Friday morning.

Multiple fire departments responded shortly after 4 a.m. to the blaze at warehouses owned by J.G. Hall and Sons, one of the largest potato producers in the Red River Valley. Its unclear how the fire started, but the flames moved from one building to the next as firefighters tried to put out the fire in freezing temperatures and windy conditions.

Greg Hall, a partner in J.G. Hall and Sons, watched as the buildings collapsed over the course of the morning.

Its kind of a lot of history thats lost for the town and us, he said. Its going to be empty. Every time I drove to work in the morning, I went by there. Thats one of the first things you see when you come into town.

The warehouses sit along the railroad tracks on the northeast corner of North Dakota Highway 32 and Third Avenue. The Hall family first constructed a potato washing building at that spot in 1950, when the producers started washing and packaging potatoes. Based in Hoople, the Halls had farmed in the Valley long before they formed their company. Over time, they added to the Edinburg facility.

An Edinburg resident spotted the flames, Hall said. No one was inside the building when the fire started and no injuries were reported, he added.

The Halls stopped using the warehouses to wash potatoes several years ago and instead stored equipment there, Hall said, adding there wasnt a lot of equipment there.

Strong winds that gusted more than 30 mph hampered efforts to fight the blaze, but firefighters kept the flames away from a propane tank, Hall said.

Its lucky they didnt burn yesterday (Thursday) when the winds were 60 mph, he said.

Hall said he was thankful no one was injured, that no potatoes were destroyed and that the wind was blowing the smoke away from the city.

We had a really good group of firemen from the surrounding towns that were here, he said.

Valley-Edinburg Public Schools has used the warehouses in the past to store buses there, but there were no buses in the warehouses at the time of the fire, Walsh County Sheriff Ron Jurgens said.

A house was evacuated near the fire but no other structures were lost in the blaze. The fire was put out by Friday afternoon, but firefighters continued to monitor the scene, Jurgens said.

The North Dakota Fire Marshal's Office was at the scene to investigate the fire. No foul play is suspected, Jurgens said.

Edinburg is about 75 miles northwest of Grand Forks.
GRAND FORKS -- A day after his disappointment in the University of North Dakota ricocheted across social media, a journalism professor says hes now re-evaluating whether hell leave his post.

Mark Trahant, who holds an endowed professorship in UNDs communications department, blasted UND in a Thursday Facebook post, calling himself disappointed and disgusted that the university is not an institutional leader in this state. In the last two years, he wrote, two separate events that hed suggested include discussions on the Dakota Access Pipeline were scuttled. After the rejection of the second, he wrote, I learned about senior administration fears that the Legislature might retaliate.

But on Friday, Trahant said in a phone interview that he had spoken with leaders in the College of Arts and Sciences and now is being asked to coordinate a lecture that treats the DAPL protests as a focal point.

I was more concerned about the role of the university in public discourse. This is clearly a step that the university cares about public discourse, so Im delighted to make it happen, said Trahant, who is Native American himself and is a member of the Idahos Shoshone-Bannock Tribe. The details arent worked out, but I think its a great step and well go from there.

Trahants comments de-escalate a tense exchange over Native American interests that saw UND spokesman Peter Johnson issue a lengthy Friday statement. Johnson denied the university had been intimidated by the Legislature -- or that the Legislature had ever attempted to do so.

Johnson pointed out that UND President Mark Kennedy helped found the universitys Eye of the Hawk lecture series, which evaluates ideas without the artifice of political boundaries, and said the North Dakota University System Fine Arts and Humanities Summit hosted a DAPL event in 2016.

To be clear: President Kennedy didn't know about, hadn't heard anything about, Mark Trahant's proposed events until the question was raised by media Thursday, Johnson said in the statement. President Kennedy regrets that there is any perception that the university would have prevented a faculty-led activity from taking place based on perceived fears of legislative response. In fact, although President Kennedy still likely doesn't know exactly what Mark Trahant had in mind  (he) does like the idea of an event that takes a balanced look at the DAPL issue.

Reached with news of Trahants accusations of political influence, University Senate chairwoman Nancy Vogeltanz-Holm said she strongly believe(s) UND faculty teaching and research is supported and protected by the principles of academic freedom.

Asked to elaborate on the allegation, Trahant declined.

What I said I stand by, but I dont want to go into details, he said. The presidents office was saying that this is all news to them -- they didnt know any of this. Ill just say thats good enough for me.

Trahant said hes still not sure if hell return to the university, noting further concerns about the number of Native American students in the communications program and, to a much lesser extent, disagreements about travel costs.

If Trahant departs, he said it would occur at the end of his agreement to serve in his endowed professorship in May 2018.
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE  Vice President Mike Pence toured the Minot Air Force Base Friday to highlight its importance as a nuclear deterrent, pledging to strengthen and modernize Americas nuclear capabilities.

Your vigilance and your strength are more important than ever before, Pence told a couple hundred airmen and family members while speaking from a B-52 hangar.

Pence emphasized the significance of the Minot Air Force Base, home to B-52 bombers and intercontinental ballistic missile wings and the only base with two of the three legs of the nuclear triad.

Accompanied by Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, Pence received a mission briefing from base commanders and toured a missile silo and a B-52.

During an 18-minute speech, Pence mentioned global threats facing the United States, including aggression from North Korea. He said the U.S. will continue to use economic and diplomatic pressure to demand that North Korea abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Anyone who would threaten our nation should know that America always seeks peace, but if we are forced to defend ourselves or our allies, we will do so with military power that is effective and overwhelming, said Pence, adding that President Donald Trump will visit the Korean Peninsula in the coming days.

Friday was Secretary Wilsons second visit to the Minot Air Force Base, and also follows a recent visit from Defense Secretary James Mattis.

Minot is an important base and is part of our nuclear deterrent, Wilson said in an interview. This administration is committed to the modernization of the nuclear deterrent and making sure that its kept ready, because if its ready, its effective and helps to keep us free.

The 91st Missile Wing has 150 intercontinental ballistic missiles across 8,500 square miles in northwest North Dakota, manned 24 hours a day. The 5th Bomber Wing has 26 B-52s, including several that are deployed in the Middle East fighting ISIS.

Recently, some of the Minot airmen returned from the Middle East and had 10 days to prepare for another mission, Wilson said.

In the Cold War, we never would have expected a crew to be able to turn that tight in 10 days, Wilson said. We only do that because were too small for all the missions that we have. Weve got to fix that.

During his speech, Pence extended Trumps appreciation of the airmen and promised the administrations commitment to investing in military resources and training.

Under this Commander-in-Chief, the era of budget cuts to the American military are over, Pence said, prompting applause from the service members.

Gov. Doug Burgum, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., greeted Pence and participated in the tour.

Cramer said North Dakotas military assets have never been more relevant to global security than they are today, including efforts toward diplomacy with North Korea.

Diplomacy only works when you have the capability of using force, or at least works a lot better, Cramer said.

Hoeven stressed the need for continued investments to support the missions.

As the enemy upgrades their defenses and their systems, ours always have to be better, Hoeven said. So we can never stop. We always have to have the technological advantage.

Burgum, who toured the Minot Air Force Base for the first time, said Pences visit shines a well-deserved spotlight on North Dakotas military members.

Air Force Lt. Col. Jamie Humphries said the Minot Air Force Base is home to about 6,500 airmen who train seriously every day.

We train for any enemy, any adversary, and you dont train for one particular mission, you train for deterrence, you train to be ready and mission capable, Humphries said. If you get the order that something is needed to launch an aircraft, were ready. Theres no heightened security for us or heightened awareness, were always ready.

Senior Airman Hayley Prato, who works in the hangar where Pence spoke, said it was an honor to host the vice president.

Its amazing to get recognized for the work we put in, said Prato, of New Jersey, who does maintenance work on B-52 fuel systems. Its going to boost morale a lot.
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CARBONDALE  Sometimes its easy to see when an area is in drought: Precipitation has been scarce or crops and other vegetation appear visibly stressed or browning. One of the most important indicators of drought  soil moisture  isnt as visible. A researcher from Southern Illinois University Carbondale aims to improve our view of soil moisture for national drought monitoring and forecasting efforts.

Trent Ford, assistant professor of geography and environmental resources, has been studying heat waves and drought. He recently accepted a three-year, $147,241 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) Modeling, Analysis, Predictions and Projections (MAPP) program, in partnership with the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) program. The project, Developing National Soil Moisture Products to Improve Drought Monitoring, seeks to leverage existing observations of soil moisture conditions collected by measurement networks into a nationally accessible database, with standard measures and data collection methodologies, and to integrate new sources of soil moisture data.

Fords work expands on a pilot effort begun through NIDIS. As part of this new project, Ford and his co-investigators will participate in NOAAs MAPP Drought Task Force, working with other MAPP-funded scientists on related projects to rapidly advance project objectives.

Soil moisture monitoring is key to the identification and monitoring of drought conditions, and to predicting their occurrence and severity. This has obvious implications for agriculture, but also for municipal water use planning, wildfire prediction and planning, and other areas where water vulnerability is a factor.

Soil moisture is harder to monitor than other signs of drought, Ford said. Its expensive. Soil moisture sensors are in the ground at various levels and each must be calibrated for the type of soil they are in. They dont have an expansive spatial footprint. We need something in addition to these sensors for effective drought monitoring.

In-ground soil moisture sensors are placed at various levels: generally near the surface and throughout the root zone. Scientists also monitor soil moisture remotely by satellite. Remote sensing uses microwave signals to record reflections from the soil. Dry soil and moist soil reflect those satellite signals differently. The remote sensing monitoring can penetrate up to 5 or 6 centimeters into the soil.

Globally, drought is the deadliest natural disaster because it affects food security, Ford said. And yet, its difficult to answer the basic question What is drought? Its difficult to create models for prediction of drought. Its difficult even to say when a drought has ended. It isnt necessarily when there is precipitation, if the ground water has been reduced.

For all of these reasons  and for his own interest in charting a historic timeline of drought conditions  Ford hopes to expand on the initial NIDIS pilot project to centralize and standardize drought monitoring and reporting.

Soil moisture data are collected by many agencies and organization in the United States using a variety of instruments for diverse applications, he said. These data are often distributed and represented in disparate formats, posing significant challenges for reuse.

Ford is in the first year of the three-year project. His end-goal is to develop a national drought-monitoring product that integrates the different soil moisture monitors already in use, creating one clearinghouse that will provide information for immediate use and future research on drought conditions across the nation. Fords efforts will directly support MAPP and NIDIS goals to improve the nations ability to monitor drought and manage drought-related risks.

This will contribute to water conservation efforts and responsible resource use, he said. This could have a big impact.

Fords research team includes several undergraduate students. They share in common having taken an introductory-level climatology course with Ford. Makenzee Loft, a junior from Roscoe, Illinois, said she was the only one to jump when Ford asked if anyone was interested in soil moisture. She ended up with an undergraduate assistantship, and now is working with Ford through the grant. Luca Anna Palasti, a junior from Nyiregyhaza, Hungary, was initially interested in economics but soon realized her interest in the environment was better met in SIUs geography and environmental resources program. Angelina Arcuri, a sophomore from Carpentersville, switched her major from forestry and focuses on climatology and water resources.
CARBONDALE  Southern Illinois University Carbondale Chancellor Carlo Montemagno has announced that he plans to defer a decision on the elimination of the Africana Studies major for a year.

The planned removal of the Africana Studies B.A. has been hotly disputed by students and faculty members since it was recommended in the Financial Sustainability Plan presented to the SIU Board of Trustees in July.

Montemagno, who assumed the role of chancellor in August, inherited the plan, but it initially appeared that he intended to uphold the recommendation. At an open forum earlier this month, he said that although the Africana Studies major would be cut, the minor and courses would remain available to students.

In an email sent to the Africana Studies faculty on Thursday, Montemagno wrote that his intent has never been to eliminate this area of scholarly inquiry at SIU.

Instead, I believe it is important to look at the program itself alongside our broader goals for ensuring the cultural competency of every student who graduates from SIU, he said.

Montemagno said the program, as it stands now, does not reach enough students and is economically unsustainable.

In open forum, SIUC chancellor confronts questions, concerns about restructuring plan CARBONDALE  At an open forum Thursday, Southern Illinois University Carbondale Chancellor Carlo Montemagno offered a more detailed look at th

However, I believe it has the potential to become essential, along with other diversity-related programs, to achieving our cultural competency goals for our students. We need to examine how we can maximize the use of our resources to meet the needs of students interested in Africana Studies and simultaneously achieve our ambition to develop the cultural competency of the entire SIU community, Montemagno said.

He said deferring the decision regarding the status of the Africana Studies major for a year should provide the time for faculty to collaborate on what I hope will be a larger, more sustainable program that also supports our university-wide cultural competency goals.

Father Joseph Brown, an Africana Studies professor who has served in the department since 1997, said the announcement was not all that comforting.

What it says is, were not going to close it down now because theres so much controversy, Brown said when reached by phone on Friday.

SIUC faculty, students raise doubts about restructuring plan in open meeting CARBONDALE  Southern Illinois University Carbondale faculty, students and staff gathered in Browne Auditorium on Wednesday evening to share c

In an interview Thursday, before the decision was handed down, Brown said administrative decisions have continuously suppressed the growth of the department over the course of its nearly 40-year history.

We now have three core faculty and one graduate student teaching one class. So we have been reduced to the point where we cannot offer all the classes in the catalog, which then turns around and people say to us, in a catch-22, circular type of way, Well, youre not doing enough to attract students. We cant do it because youre keeping us under-resourced. And you say that because we dont have enough resources, were underperforming, and because were underperforming were not justified in continuing, Brown said. Thats not my fault.

The Africana Studies Department  founded in 1968 and originally called Black American Studies  is dedicated to the study of history and cultural traditions of people of African descent. It encourages students to interpret historical and cultural texts from a broader perspective than (is) usually found in classrooms, and connect their lived experiences with the lives and struggles of centuries of Africans enslaved and free, according to the departments website.

The department currently has 21 majors including double-majors, according to Brown.

Brown said many of the departments struggles stem from the way it is perceived on campus.

On this campus, most people believe that Africana Studies is really a service organization and unit to help black kids feel better. Its not looked upon as an academic enterprise that helps to establish the credibility of an academic institution, Brown said.

Faculty and academic advisors routinely tell students that taking Africana Studies classes wont help them get a job, Brown claimed.

If they would stop telling students to not take our classes, we would have even more of an ethnically and culturally diverse population. But the fact is, its a self-fulfilling prophecy. If people only think its for black students, youre only going to let black students into it, and youre going to shift white and other students away from them, and thats what the problem is, he said.

In addition to the three core faculty members, the department has 12 affiliated faculty members from all over campus. Despite the fact that the department doesnt have a graduate program, Brown said hes serving on a dozen dissertation or masters thesis committees.

 When the chancellor says, Well, people are in their little silos or their smokestacks and they dont know how to interact with each other  we are the model of what hes calling for and hes never looked at us and said, I see your worth, he said.

Brown said Africana Studies courses prepare students for living in a complicated world.

If there were no black students on this campus, you would need an Africana Studies program, Brown said. If this was an all-male school, you would need a Women and Gender and Sexuality Studies program. If it were all-white, you would need a Latino Studies program, because the people youre turning out need to live in a global economy and a global political structure, and if youre going to be taking an economics class or a business class, you might wind up working for a company where the first person whos your supervisor is a black lesbian. And if you dont know how to deal with that because of your white male privilege, youre doomed, and your school did not prepare you to work.

He said shuttering the program would ultimately hurt SIUs attempts to turn the enrollment crisis around.

Close us down, and you will pay the price. Because you cannot welcome people here to save your economic crisis by telling people, We dont want your kind here. You cant have it both ways. If you want to run a university by being contradictory to reality, good luck, Brown said.

Brione Lockett, a Ph.D. student in health education and a graduate assistant for the Africana Studies department, double-majored in History and Africana Studies as an undergraduate at SIU. He said his degree helped him gain internships in politics and health  and has transformed the way he looks at the world.

I want to do something big in health care. Theres a reason why, in health care, certain marginalized populations dont go to doctors, Lockett said.

Lockett, who is from Arlington Heights, said elimination of the Africana Studies major would conflict with the chancellors plan to improve cultural competency on campus and that he believes racism on campus and in the Southern Illinois region has been a deterrent for prospective students from Chicago.

Daquan Mosley, a freshman from Chicago studying Africana Studies, said his interest lies in racial and social justice and that the department was much of what attracted him to SIU.

I had reached out to Father Brown over the summer to let him know some of the things I was going through in my community and how I felt about going to college as a freshman and some of the challenges I was facing  financial issues, social issues. And he had reached out to me to let me know to come see him the first week here, and I talked to him, and we just created this bond that we still have today, Mosley said.

Mosley said the Africana Studies class hes taking with Lockett has opened (his) eyes to racial and social issues.

Ill definitely take it hard if the department is eliminated, because I think that the department has given so much to myself and so many others, he said.
I grew up in Medora. It was the 1970s, about the time a previous oil boom was running full-tilt in the western part of the state.

The air was still fresh and clean, whitetails walked down an empty Main Street in the early evenings this time of year, and the 100 or so souls who called the place home year-round enjoyed the post-tourist peace and quiet.

My folks often took visiting relatives into Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park to hopefully glimpse wild horses, maybe come upon a buffalo and definitely to check out the view, which on clear days could stretch all the way to Dickinson and beyond.

Out that way is Fryburg, where I went to school in the fifth grade because otherwise I would have been the only boy in grades 5-8 in Medoras two-room schoolhouse. A few miles farther east is Belfield, where Medoras older kids attended high school. It also had the nearest movie theater, where I saw The Apple Dumpling Gang for the first time.

Fresh and clean.

Not much is the same today. Medora is almost completely commercialized, the two-room schoolhouse is long gone, and so is the pristine view of the Badlands from North Dakotas only national park. One can stand on the highest buttes and see  oil rigs.

Now comes Meridian Energy Group. To add insult to injury, this bunch of out-of-staters wants to build an oil refinery just 3 miles from the southeast corner of the parks South Unit near Fryburg. Plans are for a huge industrial complex between there and Belfield, in full view of Interstate 94.

The Davis refinery would have a 55,000-barrel (2.3-million-gallon) per day capacity. The facility and its plume would be painfully visible from the park, where thousands of visitors would otherwise enjoy a clear view of the surrounding Badlands.

In 2016, 750,000 people visited the park and spent nearly $50 million. But it isnt a state gem just because of the economic boon; its also because of the parks rich history, rugged terrain and breathtaking vistas.

Fresh and clean.

The North Dakota Department of Health and the National Park Service are reviewing an air permit application from Meridian and the State Water Commission is reviewing a water use permit. Meridian is disputing the need for a site compatibility permit from the Public Service Commission even though its required by state law given the proposed facilitys capacity.

The National Parks Conservation Association recently commissioned an independent analysis that found the proposed refinery would be  a major source of pollution that would release substantial amounts of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants  all harmful to human and ecological health.

Sound good to you? Not to me, either. Im guessing the whitetail, wild horses and buffalo would object, too.

Fresh and clean.

To the extent we still can, lets keep the air and views of Theodore Roosevelt National Park that way.
The message was much the same from all members of the Orangeburg County Legislative Delegation.

Unless the General Assembly adequately addresses educational improvement, South Carolina cannot sustain economic growth, the lawmakers said during Friday's Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce Legislative Breakfast held at the Orangeburg Country Club.

Present were Reps. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg; Russell L. Ott, D-St. Matthews; Jerry Govan, D-Orangeburg, and Lonnie Hosey, D-Barnwell. They were joined by Sens. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, and John W. Matthews, D-Bowman.

To move Orangeburg forward, what we need to do is keep our eye on the ball, Hutto said. We have got to improve education.

Not all of our students are getting the quality education that they need, he said.

Hutto said Orangeburg County has had quality announcements regarding economic development, but its not going to continue if we dont have a pipeline of educated students to fill those jobs.

This is not just an Orangeburg County issue but a South Carolina issue.

Until we realize that as a whole, that theyre all our children, it doesnt matter if theyre born in Allendale or Orangeburg, Rock Hill or Summerville, he said. The quality of the education is determined by where theyre born and thats not right and thats not fair.

Hutto said its going to take leadership from the state and from a governor who cares about education, who makes us focus on education.

Ott agreed that there is a disparity in the quality of education based on where a child is born.

If were going to ultimately improve education in South Carolina, we are going to have to convince folks all across the state to move away from this protectionism type of mentality that we have ingrained in our system to only look out for ourselves, Ott said.

He said in his House district, he has Lexington School District 1, which has River Bluff High School.

When you drive onto that campus, I swear to you, you think youre going onto a brand new college campus, he said. I also have in my district Lexington 4, which is Swansea High School.

Ott said that was his high school, and weve got buildings that are falling apart at that particular location.

Thats not right and thats not fair, Ott said. Weve got to get this mentality of were all in it together.

Govan said, Education is, I believe, the key catalyst to economic development.

If you want to talk about issues like crime, you cant talk about solving the problem without addressing the issue of education, he said.

Hutto said roughly a million children live in South Carolina with more than half of them living below the poverty line. Nearly half a million of the students receive free or reduced-price lunch in schools.

Their concern may not be so much about education, its just where their next meal is coming from, Hutto said. Weve got to deal with poverty issues and early childhood education.

He said if you examine the budget, you would see where the states priorities are.

We are not prioritizing education, he said.

And the problems are not just with primary and secondary education, the lawmakers said.

Ott said the state should begin considering bonding for our higher education infrastructure across the state.

We have crumbling infrastructure at our institutions of higher learning, Ott said. Its something weve put up with for far too long.

He said the longer the bill is put off, the higher the costs will eventually be.

Cobb-Hunter echoed those sentiments. We have got to have a bond bill.

She said the bond bill is still on the House calendar for discussion but she doubts representatives will get to it in an election year.

Legislators are by nature, shall we say, spinally challenged, she said. In an election year, its even more so.

She cited years of deferred maintenance at colleges and universities and said the state is not generating the needed revenue to take care of the capital needs of the institutions.

We have to recognize that we cant continue to starve the system and expect it to grow and thrive, Cobb-Hunter said.

Cobb-Hunter encouraged business owners and community leaders to make their voices heard.

Business speaks in the South Carolina Legislature, and business speaks loudly, she said.

Another issue for Cobb-Hunter is the widening of I-26 from I-95 to exit 125 (Gaston).

Cobb-Hunter said tourist traffic gets bottle necked in Orangeburg County, which will hinder growth.

Matthews believes next year will be a defining on several fronts.

This state is not producing enough skilled workers to meet the 21st century demand for skilled workers, he said. Thats been accumulating over a number of years.

Matthews said the states scholarship programs are upside down.

Nationwide, states fund need-based education about 75 percent of their funds, he said. In this state, were funding need-based about 8 percent. Were funding merit-based.

He said this leaves working families behind and funds those who would not need as much help paying for school.

Cobb-Hunter encouraged everyone to stay focused.

There are so many things happening on the national level to distract us, she said.

Hutto said, Every year, something seems to come up to take our eye off of what the ultimate goal of this state is, which is to make the quality of life for everyone better.

The bottom line is, we are in a position hopefully to try to make your lives easier, your businesses more fruitful and productive and thats obviously what we want to do, Ott said.

Hosey also addressed jobs and education, saying he sees progress in Orangeburg as a catalyst for neighboring smaller counties.

In educating and training young people, there also must be instilling in them a desire to work and succeed, he said. Too many of today's young people do not want to work.
Some 23 percent of Americans, and a higher percentage of Europeans, say they belong to no religion in particular. Although this is the result of a centuries-long retreat from faith, one of Europes most prominent religious spokesmen believes that the process may have come full-circle.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi of the UK and a member of the House of Lords, traced the boomeraging arc of secularization and re-evangelization as part of a lecture on Faith and the Challenges of Secularism: A Jewish-Christian-Muslim Trialogue. This kickoff event of Baylor Universitys new Robert P. George Initiative in Washington featured Rabbi Sacks, Robert P. George, and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf.

At Georges urging, Rabbi Sacks told the audience on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.:

As far as I can see, secularization happened in four stages, each one with its own century. The seventeenth century was the secularization of knowledge  broadly, knowledge without dogmatic assumptions, which was reason and observation, philosophy, and science. In the eighteenth century came the secularization of power with the American Revolution and the First Amendment, and the French Revolution  a far more substantive separation of church and state. The nineteenth century was the secularization of culture when the museum, and the concert hall, and the art gallery took the place of houses of worship as places where you encountered the sublime. And the twentieth century saw the final secularization, which was the secularization of morality. In the 1960s, throughout the West, the two foundations of the Judeo-Christian ethic  namely, the sanctity of life and the idea that there is such a thing as a sexual ethic involving fidelity and the covenantal nature of marriage  those two just disappeared throughout the West. So, we have gone through four stages of secularization, and there are no more stages to go through, short of complete atomization of society. I have pointed out the four great institutions of science, technology, the market, and the state cannot answer the three questions that every reflective individual will ask some time in life: who am I, why am I here, how then shall I live? The science tells us how but not why. Technology gives us power but doesnt tell us how to use that power. The market gives us choices but doesnt tell us which choices to make. And the liberal democratic state gives us a maximum of freedom but no guidance as to how to use that freedom. Therefore, religion will return. In the meantime, weve got a gap to fill.

Rabbi Sacks words are a welcome antidote to the pessimism of believers and the jubilation of the New Atheists. The latter believe that demographic and cultural trends cannot be reversed, because they have no higher reference point, while the former sometimes forget that despair has been proscribed by theirs.

The West, Sacks warned, is not going forward bravely to the future. It is marching heedlessly to the past. C.S. Lewis would have preferred that fate. He wrote in his essay Is Theism Important? that the pagan is a pre-Christian who has shown himself eminently capable of being converted. The Post-Christian man of our own day differs from him as much as a divorcee differs from a virgin, he wrote.

People of all faiths  and not a few atheists  have asked whether the West can survive without the faith that created that cherished body of rights, liberties, and civil protections now vaguely referred to as British values, European values, etc. Later that evening, as he received the 2007 Irving Kristol Award from the American Enterprise Institute, Rabbi Sacks said, The fundamental truth that is at the heart of the Hebrew Bible and of American politics [is] that the state exists to serve the people; the people dont exist to serve the state.

Our Judeo-Christian culture drew from its faith tradition the understanding that all life is sacred, that all are created equal, that human persons should enjoy freedom from arbitrary coercion, that the free market allows us to serve others by engaging our God-given gifts in service of our personal vocation, and that private property is sacrosanct because it allows us to exercise responsible stewardship of the fruits which those gifts produced.

The New Atheists hope to dynamite the foundation of Western civilization without affecting its presidential suite.

The thinness of the new atheism is evident in its approach to our civilization, wrote Theodore Dalrymple, which until recently was religious to its core. To regret religion is, in fact, to regret our civilization and its monuments, its achievements, and its legacy.

Rabbi Sacks lays his finger on the common thread that unites the pre- and post-religious person. Human nature, as fashioned by the Almighty, yearns for purpose, meaning, and deeply significant relationships. The soul in its loneliness stretches out longingly for the transcendent. Even the free market, which provides a seemingly endless variety of utilities and gratifications, cannot meet that need. Nor is it clear that the form our society has taken for the last several centuries can endure without the faith that preceded and created it.
By Trend





Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order to provide funding for construction of Guzanli-Imamgulubeyli-Orta Garvand-Khindiristan road in Agdam district.

Under the presidential order, AZN5.4 million is allocated from the state budget for the construction of the road connecting 14 residential areas with a total population of 29,000 people.
By Trend





The Republic of Azerbaijan supports the territorial integrity within the internationally recognized borders and sovereignty of the Kingdom of Spain, Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, told Trend on October 28.

We stand for a peaceful settlement based on the constitution and laws of the Kingdom of Spain, noted Hajiyev.

The official was commenting on the recent political turmoil in Spain, which intensified on Friday as the Madrid government dismissed Catalonias president and parliament hours after the region declared independence.

The Republic of Azerbaijan has been suffering from this for more than 30 years. At the end of 1980s, separatism, which Armenians started in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region of Azerbaijan SSR, was accompanied by a gross violation of the USSR constitution and the laws of Azerbaijan SSR. In this regard, after the ethnic cleansing of the native Azerbaijani population in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, the violence against them and acts of terrorism, an illegal referendum on the regions independence was held against the will of the Azerbaijani people on December 10, 1991 with the participation of only Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh, said the spokesman.

With gaining the independence by Armenia and Azerbaijan after the collapse of the USSR, Armenia began an open war against Azerbaijan and occupied the Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts of Azerbaijan, committed ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories against the native Azerbaijani population. The aggression and occupation of Armenia against Azerbaijan still continues, added Hajiyev.

Spain was plunged into uncertainty on October 1 when Catalonia, a prosperous northeastern state that accounts for 20 percent of Spains gross domestic product, held an independence referendum, though courts had declared the proceedings illegal. Separatists declared victory despite a participation of only 43 percent.

Hajiyev added that attempts to unilaterally violate the territorial integrity of the country accompanied by the violation of the countrys constitution and law, contrary to the will of the people and the central government, are unacceptable.
By Trend





Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered a 24-hour suspension to military operations against Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, his office said in a statement on October 27, Reuters reported.

The truce is meant to allow the deployment of Iraqi authorities at border crossings held by Kurdish forces in agreement with the Kurdistan regional authorities, it said.
UAE's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said it has successfully hosted a key meeting of the Reseaux IP Europeens Network Co-ordination Centre (RIPE NCC) in Dubai.



The RIPE 75 meeting, which ran from October 22 to 26 at the Conrad Hotel, saw several key agreements being signed for improvement of Internet-based research and activities in bid to enhance operational efficiency of Middle East networks.



Leading local, regional and international players in telecommunications and information and communications technology (ICT), including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, LinkedIn, Nokia, Deutsche Telekom, Netflix, Orange, Omantel, OGERO, VIVA, du and Etisalat took part.



The RIPE 75 meeting brought together industry leaders, experts, governments, international players in ICT, and some of the worlds leading Internet service and content providers.



It was held as part of the TRAs support for the countrys relentless efforts to create an integrated infrastructure aimed at positioning the country as a global leader in the Electronic/Smart Transformation Index by 2021.



Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, the TRA director general, said: "We are confident that RIPE75 has achieved the intended results, and provided added value and benefit to the participants. We, at TRA, had the pleasure to host the event and all participants in their second country, the UAE."



"We commit to keep our constant meetings and exchange of thoughts and advice with RIPE NCC to would achieve greater openness and fruitful interaction for everyones benefit," noted Al Mansoori.



According to him, the Internet has been a major driver of the UAEs growth and leadership, indicating to the UAEs keen interest in developing the infrastructure to keep pace with the new requirements and latest developments.



"This is in line with the launch of the UAE Artificial Intelligence Strategy, the direction towards utilizing the big data to achieve sustainable development and the transition from the Internet of human to the internet of things, which requires more capacity and speed in the network to connect millions of devices and machines online, and transition to knowledge economy and smart transformation," he noted.



Hans Petter Holen, the RIPE chair, said: "The Middle East highly recognizes the importance of establishing a reliable infrastructure to ensure telecommunications can effectively play its role in sustainable development."



"The recently-concluded RIPE 75 meeting highlights the value of collaboration among organizations, governments and the private sector to come together to establish a common understanding of the role of Internet infrastructure in achieving sustainable development goals. We are confident that this event will pave the way for more initiatives focused on improving the state of the internet infrastructure in the Middle East region," he added.



During the event, participants discussed the state of the Internet and the effective policies applied by RIPE NCC  the Regional Internet Registry for Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia  in the allocation of Internet numbering resources; exchanged expertise and experiences; and deliberated on international policies and best practices in developing the internet in the UAE, Middle East and worldwide.



Other aspects of the agenda featured Plenary and Working Groups on IP address policy, anti-abuse, connect cooperation, database, IPv6, measurement, analysis and tools (MAT), open source, RIPE NCC Services, DNS and routers, as well as an Internet of Things (IoT) session, tutorials and workshops.



Some of the sessions led by international speakers shed light on topics which included: Uncovering Traffic Pattern in Saudi Arabia, Ruru: Real-Time Wide-Area TCP Latency Monitoring, State of the Internet in France: Data Interconnection Market Evolution and Transition to IPv6, Decoding the IoT Ecosystem, An Introduction to DDOS Attacks, IPv6 Deployment in Cellular Networks, and IPv6-only in non-cellular networks.



RIPE NCC signed two agreements on the sidelines of the event, including a MoU with the UAE telecom watchdog and with the American University of Beirut aimed at improving Internet-based research and activities and enhancing the operational efficiency of networks in the Middle East.



The agreements would push for activities such as conferences, meetings, training programs, and awareness campaigns about IPv6 and other technologies.-TradeArabia News Service
Global nuclear energy experts and leaders will be in Abu Dhabi, for the International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Power in the 21st Century which kicks off on Monday (October 30).



Organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Developments Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA), and hosted by the UAE Ministry of Energy and Industry, the conference convenes every four years and will discuss trends, challenges and opportunities in developing peaceful nuclear energy.



The event will focus on the role of the nuclear energy sector in meeting global energy demands, contributing to sustainable development goals and mitigating climate change, said the event organisers.



With 30 countries across the world currently operating nuclear energy plants, and another thirty countries considering or preparing to introduce peaceful nuclear energy into their energy mix, the importance and benefits of nuclear energy are already acknowledged around the world, they stated.



Ministerial-level participants will deliver national statements related to nuclear energy, analysing their countries energy strategies and vision for the future role of the industry. They will also focus on challenges for introducing, maintaining or expanding nuclear energy and expectations within the international community.



Ambassador Hamad Alkaabi, UAE Permanent Representative to the IAEA and the president of the conference, said: "We are proud to welcome the worlds high level delegates and experts in nuclear energy to the UAE capital. This will be an excellent opportunity for the global nuclear sector to emphasize the contribution of nuclear power and analyze new developments and trends related to nuclear energy."



"We will discuss innovation in nuclear technology and the necessity to adapt diverse energy portfolio where nuclear energy plays an important role," noted Alkaabi.



The conference, he stated, will also address the importance of international cooperation that is required to develop capacity for sustainable management of nuclear power in a growing number of countries. "We also look forward to highlighting the strong UAE-IAEA successful partnership," he stated.



The conference will consist of a plenary session at which national statements will be delivered and special presentations on innovative ideas from world-renowned personalities.



There will also be four panel sessions with a keynote speech followed by round-table discussions among internationally recognized experts, as well as a side event that focuses on the UAE Peaceful Nuclear Energy Program featuring senior officials from IAEA, the UAE Ministry of Energy, the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), Nawah Energy Company (Nawah) and Barakah One Company (BOC).



Yukiya Amano, the director general of the IAEA, said: "In order to meet the worlds growing energy needs in future, we will need to make optimal use of all the sources of energy available. It is clear that renewables such as wind and solar power will play an increasingly important role."



"However, more use of nuclear power will be needed to provide the steady supply of baseload electricity to power modern economies if countries are to meet the goals for greenhouse gas emissions which they set for themselves in the Paris Agreement," he added.



The Conference will focus on the challenges in developing nuclear power infrastructure, including financing and public acceptance for nuclear energy programmes, said the statement from IAEA.



It will also highlight current interest in nuclear energy, especially in newcomer and expanding countries, with an emphasis on the IAEAs Milestones approach, and the fact that embarking on or reviving a viable peaceful nuclear program requires a sound infrastructure with a large variety of competencies, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
Emirates marks its 10th year of service to Brazil this month, having carried over 2 million passengers since its first flight to Brazil in October 2007.



The number of passengers carried annually in Emirates first year of operations  over 26,000 in 2007has grown to over 288,000 passengers in 2016.



In 2012, Emirates expanded its presence in Brazil by adding a daily service between Dubai and Rio de Janeiro. Underlining its commitment to the Brazilian market, Emirates started to operate the first ever scheduled commercial Airbus A380 flight to South America in March this year. The switch to the A380 offers a total of 959 additional seats per week in each direction meeting a growing demand from travellers on the route. The most travelled destinations from Brazilian passengers over the last few years have been Dubai, Bangkok, Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong.



According to Brazil's Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, Brazilian exports to the UAE grew 87 per cent ($1.2 billion to $2.24 billion) and overall trade grew 72 per cent ($1.5 billion to $2.6 billion) between 2007 and 2016. The UAE is the second biggest importer of Brazilian products among Arab countries, with imports worth $2.24 billion in 2016. This amount represents almost 40 per cent of all Brazilian exports to the GCC countries, of which food produce and products formed a major component. The UAE in particular is an active trader with Brazil, with two-way trade reaching $2.6 billion last year. The vast majority of this trade was exports from Brazil, leaving a significant trade balance of $1.9 billion in favour of Brazil.



Emirates SkyCargo has also played an important role in connecting Brazil to the world, carrying more than 25,000 tons of imported cargo and more than 11,000 tons of exported cargo between Dubai and Brazil since 2007. Currently, major cargo imports include automobile and aircraft spare parts, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Major exports include general cargo, hatching eggs, spare parts, shoes, fruits & vegetables. Top export destinations include UAE, India and Saudi Arabia; main import origins are Hong Kong, India and China. Emirates has also operated multiple freighter charters to Brazil over the last few years to transport various types of cargo  including horses for leading sporting events and outsized equipment including helicopters.



Commenting on the milestone, Hubert Frach, divisional senior vice president, Commercial Operations West at Emirates, said: The 10-year anniversary is a significant milestone for Emirates in Brazil, celebrating our first touch point in Latin America. Over the years, we have achieved healthy growth on our Brazilian flights, as more and more customers experience Emirates award-winning service and our hub, Dubai. We are continuously bringing new exciting leisure destinations closer to Brazilians such as, Bangkok, Tokyo, Vietnam or more recently Cambodia. We look forward to continue supporting Brazils growing inbound tourist numbers and business trade opportunities.



Emirates currently serves two Brazil gateways with services to Dubai from Sao Paulo, operated by the A380, and Rio de Janeiro, operated by the Boeing 777-300ER. Passengers can also fly to Buenos Aires onboard the Boeing 777-300ER from Rio de Janeiro.



In October 2016, Emirates announced a codeshare and frequent flyer programme partnership with GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A (GOL) allowing customers to purchase connecting flights on both airlines using one reservation, and a seamless ticketing, check-in, boarding and baggage check experience during the entire journey. Passengers booking flights to Brazil can now connect to multiple destinations in Brazil with GOL, including Porte Alegre, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba and Brasilia. - TradeArabia News Service
The Casper Police Department should fill open command staff positions, train command staff to investigate internal affairs and upgrade the departments facilities, according to an independent review of the agency released Friday.

Department morale and perception have improved since a tumultuous spring, the 155-page report produced by a third party, indicates.

The report notes that more than a quarter of police command positions were unfilled. A similar vacancy rate was noted for the the dispatch center. Patrol staff was operating with an 11 percent vacancy rate, though three recruits are in the academy now. Another batch of recruits will be entering the academy in January.

The report notes that an internal affairs investigation can be assigned to any command-line officer or sergeant, but that many in command staff are not trained to conduct such investigations. Only two commanding officers have attended internal affairs school, the report found.

Sending these personnel to the training would provide them with the needed knowledge to complete the investigations legally and completely, the report states.

The report describes the departments headquarters as poorly laid out, because it was not designed as a police facility. The evidence facility should have greater security, the report states, noting that there is no video surveillance of the evidence locker.

The report also indirectly references the ousting of former police Chief Jim Wetzel, saying that staff indicated they have noted positive changes in the department since a leadership change in May.

Wetzel was replaced by Interim Chief Steve Schulz. The city has never explained the reason behind Wetzels dismissal.

A police department spokesman said late Friday afternoon that Schulz was unavailable to comment on the report.

Casper City Manager Carter Napier said that he did not know if it would be possible to implement all 75 recommendations in the report, which he described as practical suggestions. The city is not bound to follow the reports recommendations.

Napier said that he would like to prioritize filling open patrol positions over those at the command level, saying that he did not want to overwork officers and put them at risk of burnout. He would also like to see improvements to police facilities, but he doesnt know how the city would pay for them.

That shouldnt mean we shouldnt make long-term plans, Napier said.

The citys budget is approximately $4 million in the red, pending the approval of an amendment Napier says would balance the budget.

City Councilman Chris Walsh said he had received a copy of the report mid-afternoon Friday and was not ready to comment on it. Walsh served as police chief prior to Wetzel.

I havent even had a chance to read it, Walsh said.

The review has been in the works since March, when former City Manager V.H. McDonald and Wetzel asked Casper City Council for funds to hire an outside agency.

In the five weeks between the projects proposal and approval, a survey of police department employees revealed a morale crisis within the department, City Council members called for investigation into department leadership, McDonald retired, a council member resigned and two-thirds of all officers voted that they had no confidence in Wetzel.

The contractor handling the review, the Center for Public Safety Management, conducted a two-part review, consisting of data analysis focusing on officers workload, deployment and response times, followed by citizen input and a site visit by CPSM analysts.
Grand Marshal Robert Endt, accompanied by his daughter, Sandra, helps lead the Veterans Day Parade through downtown Ocean Springs Saturday afternoon.

OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Units of all shapes and sizes rolled through downtown Ocean Springs Saturday as residents and visitors alike turned out to pay tribute to military veterans during the city's Veterans Day Parade.

Revived last year by American Legion Post 42 after an 89-year absence, this year's parade featured the Ocean Springs High School Blue-Grey Pride Band -- which made time to participate despite being due in Theodore, Ala., that afternoon for a contest -- as well as floats, military units (including a National Guard helicopter), marching groups and convertibles which carried World War II and Korean War veterans.

Leading the procession was Grand Marshal Robert Endt, an Ocean Springs native and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, as well as a longtime member and former commander of American Legion Post 42. Endt also served on the National Commission for Veterans Affairs. His father-in-law, Mark Seymour, was killed in action during World War II and VFW Post 5699 is named in his honor.

"This is a wonderful surprise," said Barbara Toney, vacationing at a Biloxi casino and visiting Ocean Springs for the day. "We had no idea the parade was going on today, but we're thrilled. You can't say thank you to our veterans too much."
Officials working to repair the Wyoming State Penitentiary have discovered more shoddy construction and leaks within the building, adding to the repair work necessary at the Rawlins prison, which was built on unstable soil and has been suffering from cracks and shifts since 2013.

During recent excavations, water was discovered sealed under the building, and when released, thousands of gallons came flowing out. But the water wasnt coming from the ground, said State Construction Department Delbert McOmie, it was coming from leaks in the prison kitchen.

Other elements of the prisons plumbing also appear to be faulty, McOmie told the Joint Appropriations Committee on Friday in Casper. He referenced one leaking pipe that was 6-inches wide but set into a 10-inch hole without any sealant, and a fire hose line that was built with PVC plastic piping rather than the standard metal and secured with bolts that werent stainless steel.

They were rusting, McOmie said. Some of them you could just take your hand and squeeze them and theyd break.

In another instance, workers implementing a repair plan for the prison had to adapt after a pipe that was marked as a stormwater sewer turned out to be a sanitary sewer carrying wastewater.

While the appropriations committee, which has overseen spending on prison repairs, has heard about problems with the building for years, some members were especially frustrated with the latest revelations.

We should never build a building again on soil like this because we dont have the level of competency to ensure that pipes are put together, said Rep. Albert Sommers, R-Pinedale. Wish we could get to a point where we can make sure construction is just as its set to be.

McOmie said the department would have more on-site inspection in the future to ensure that state employees could carefully monitor the work of private contractors.

He added that the prison roof also appeared to be leaking and the insulation was saturated with water.

The bulk of the presentation focused on the status of repairs ordered by the appropriations committee in August when members voted for a $7.5 million repair option instead of the $80 million rebuild originally proposed.

Lawmakers recommend a partial fix for Wyoming's troubled state penitentiary RAWLINS  State lawmakers will recommend that the governor immediately provide funding to ad

The option being pursued focuses on grading the land surrounding the prison to improve drainage, repairing severely damaged elements of the complex and building some supports to provide reinforcement.

McOmie said one part of the grading project was nearly complete and there was progress on some internal projects as well, such as the relocation of a damaged utility room. Eighty-eight damaged windows have also been replaced, and McOmie said more were likely to need replacement in the near future due to shifts in the building.

We can expect some further cracking and shattering of those windows, he said.

McOmie said that more study was required before some interior repairs could be completed, and that work would be conducted this winter with construction starting in the spring. That frustrated committee co-chair Rep. Bob Nicholas, R-Cheyenne, who said his understanding was the consultants hired to assess the building stated that the repairs should be completed immediately and that interior work ought to be possible to complete even during the winter.

The whole concept of our report is to get this done, Nicholas said. If were going to step back and take a look, lets do it but lets do it next month or next week.

But McOmie said that some of the interior work was delicate and would require more time to assess before starting construction.

In addition to the $7.5 million allocated for prison improvements, the construction department has also been using general building maintenance funds and some money from contingency funds. The proposal Friday did not include a specific budget request but it is likely that a hard number needed to complete repairs will be presented to the Legislature ahead of its February session.
LANDER A phone scammer has victimized a Lander resident after stating her grandson was in jail and needed help.

Lander officers received a report from a woman who said she had been scammed out of $2,000.

The victim advised she received a call stating her grandson was in jail in Chicago and needed $4,000 sent in iTunes gift cards.

The victim sent $2,000 before finding out her grandson was in Lander and was not in custody.

In recent years, similar scam and fraud calls have become more common in Fremont County, preying on anyone, but especially the elderly and those with credit cards.

"They are preying on the week and suffering," Lander Police Department Chief Robert Cecrle said.
With aggressive expansion plans in the Tucson market, a Portland, Ore.-based investment company recently made its third purchase of industrial property.

Harsch Investment Properties LLC bought a multi-tenant industrial property and 15.5 acres of industrial land for $10.1 million.

Harsch first entered the Tucson market about 18 months ago with the purchase of Butterfield Corporate Plaza at 3700 E. Columbia St. and the Tucson Airport Center at 2801  2949 E. Elvira Road. Both are fully leased.

Bill Rodewald, investment properties senior vice president and San Diego regional manager for Harsch, said the company is looking for more opportunities to acquire industrial space in Tucson.

I hope Im seeing everything thats available and that brokers understand we are in a growth mode, he said. We dont want to enter a market and be a minor player.

Rodewald said the latest building purchased is 79 percent leased by Safelite AutoGlass and OnTrac and that the company is already in good talks with other tenants.

Plans for the vacant land could be spec industrial space.

The land is already flat and has utilities, Rodewald said. Weve been very successful in developing multi-tenant distribution parks and weve got a couple of prototypes that work well in markets like this.

Since hitting the peak of 20 percent vacancy during the recession, the industrial market around the airport has dropped to 14 percent vacancy.

The abundant supply of large and available space in the submarket will continue to attract manufacturing users, CBREs Marketview report said. Furthermore, as advanced manufacturing and aerospace and defense industries continue to expand in Tucson, demand for large spaces in the airport and southeast submarket will build, relieving vacancy in those areas.

Heightened demand from e-commerce users for warehouse space will also encourage developers, the report said.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some Oct. 28 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.
Local dentists who for years volunteered their services at Tucsons Hope Fest are skipping this weekends charity gathering, working instead on a way to offer free care on a more ongoing basis.

The need for free dental care here is too huge to offer it in a one-day event like Hope Fest, they say. The annual event for low income residents offers free hygiene items, haircuts and medical services, among other things, and regularly attracts upward of 10,000 people. It was set for Saturday at the Tucson Convention Center.

For the first time in at least 20 years, no dental services were to be offered.

In recent years, the dental component at Hope Fest attracted about 250 volunteers, including 75 dentists, to give free care to 400 to 600 local residents in one day. Spots for dental care at past events were limited, so people, frequently suffering from severe dental problems, often tried to camp out the night before, even though organizers prohibited it. Arguments often erupted in the line over getting one of the coveted spots.

Hope Fest organizer Lisa Chastain told the Star last week that she hopes to offer dental care in some form at Hope Fest 2018. The 25-year-old event is operated by the nonprofit Hope Network Inc.

But volunteer dentists, led by longtime Hope Fest dental director Dr. Dean Hauseman, say the local need is simply too big to handle in one day. There has to be a better way to help, he said.

Were not bailing. But we were not making any progress, said Hauseman, who is a local endodontist. We need some sort of delivery system in Tucson to offer dentistry to the underserved that is not just a one-day event.

Hauseman and other local oral health advocates, including leaders of the Arizona Dental Association, will be meeting next month to discuss a future where dentists will no longer volunteer at Hope Fest. Rather, theyd like to be volunteering doing something thats more regular and effective.

Charitable dental events like this are just like putting a Band-Aid on a big problem. Our problem is systemic, said Kevin Earle, executive director of the Arizona Dental Association.

Part of the idea is perhaps we could do things several times a year instead of once a year. That way it becomes more of an ongoing resource in the community and we can get folks engaged, and provide something more comprehensive.

Dental problems are closely tied to poverty and at 19 percent, Pima Countys poverty rate is higher than both the national and state levels.

Left untreated, dental health problems can cause pain and tooth loss, impede productivity and job opportunities, cause problems speaking, eating, learning and complicate the detection of oral cancers.

People without dental care are vulnerable to heart and kidney disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and even premature death.

Care deficit

One in four Pima County residents  nearly 300,000 people  are covered by Medicaid, a government insurance program for low income people. Medicaid in Arizona, which is called the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) does not cover comprehensive dental care for adults over the age of 21.

Until recently, Arizona was one of just four states in the U.S. that offered no dental care at all to adults enrolled in Medicaid. The state slashed all dental coverage for adults in 2010 and it was that action that only aggravated the dental problems among attendees at Hope Fest, Earle sad.

Thats how Hope Fest morphed. After seven years of not having any resources, they are essentially without any teeth or have a few teeth left, he said.

Beginning Oct. 1, adults over the age of 21 who are on AHCCCS (Medicaid) have been allowed use up to $1,000 per year for emergency dental care. Its a start, but oral health care advocates say real progress with dental health will occur when AHCCCS begins covering comprehensive dental care, including preventive visits, for adults.

The reinstated Medicaid benefit only covers patients in the case of a dental emergency and only provides up to $1,000 worth of care. While a step in the right direction, this limited insurance coverage does not guarantee access to dental care, said Kristen Mizzi Angelone, a dental campaign officer with the Pew Charitable Trusts.

In Arizona, only about one third of dentists see any patients on Medicaid. And in many areas of the state, including rural communities and tribal lands, dental providers are scarce, leaving people to travel significant distances just to get to an oral health care provider.

And the new AHCCCS dental benefit wont pay for preventive care, like screenings and teeth cleanings. Its limited to emergency care associated with pain and infection.

Were hoping eventually we can be a kinder, gentler state and have a comprehensive dental benefit for adults at these income levels, Earle said. It will help build a more robust structure, a better safety net system. That is our big goal, ultimately.

Oral health isnt just a problem for people on Medicaid/AHCCCS. Medicare, a government health insurance program that predominantly covers people over the age of 65, does not pay for dental care.

And other working Arizonans are earning too much to qualify for AHCCCS, yet not enough to afford expensive dental bills, dental providers say.

Low cost clinics like El Rio Community Health Center are helping, but they cannot afford to consistently offer free care.

Some subsidies are available through the El Rio Foundation for people with no other means to pay, but theres not nearly enough money nor are there enough providers serving low income patients, said Alicia Thompson, the manager of the dental department at El Rio and also coordinator of the Southern Arizona Oral Health Coalition.

We operate at maximum capacity with the current providers we have, Thompson said of El Rio. We dont have the capacity and there arent enough dentists graduating that are willing and want to work in a safety net provider facility, like a federally qualified health center.

El Rio serves 95,000 individual patients per year, but only 23,000 of them are getting their dental care there, officials said. Thompson said she suspects many of the remaining 72,000 El Rio patients are getting no oral health care at all.

The people who are camping overnight for Hope Fest, spending hours standing in line to get dental care, are making choices between food, rent and oral health, Thompson said.

They are put into such a hard position. They are in pain but also have a family to feed, to keep a roof over their head. So they live with the pain, said Thompson, whose coalition will be working with Hauseman on a post-Hope Fest plan.

The need, she said, is, astronomical.

Denture-fest

One problem with Hope Fest was that people would get a procedure like a root canal, but couldnt afford the next step, to then put a crown on it. There was no follow-through, Hauseman said.

Also, in recent years, Hope Fest became what Hauseman calls a denture-fest as word got out that a limited number of dentures were being offered. People began referring to dentures as the, golden ticket.

It became a monster that got out of control, Hauseman said. Ive done it for 20 years and Ive seen the evolution of the whole project.  Dentures are wonderful and change peoples lives, but they are expensive and time-intensive.

Demand for dentures was overwhelming other services like fillings, root canals and preventive care, Hauseman said.

We lost what we were doing with Hope Fest, which started out with more generalized treating of fillings, cleanings and maybe root canals, Hauseman said.

Then this year Hope Fest moved venues from Kino Memorial Veterans Stadium to the Tucson Convention Center, which was not as conducive to offering dental services, Hauseman said. It was an opportunity for the dental volunteers to reconfigure how to best meet the communitys vast oral health needs.

Any money donated to Hope Fests dental program is now going to the Arizona Dental Foundation, which is the state associations charitable arm, until a new solution is found.

Moving forward, Hauseman hopes to re-direct the efforts that went into offering dental services at Hope Fest into a better vehicle to deliver dentistry to the underserved.
Photo editor

Rick Wiley is the photo editor of the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson. From 1995-2004, he was director of photography at the East Valley Tribune in Mesa. From 1988-94 he was a photographer at the Tucson Citizen. He is a graduate of ASU (yes, that ASU).
Cross-border commuters in Nogales could spend less time waiting in line as more lanes open at the Mariposa port of entry.

In a pilot program starting Monday, Oct. 30, additional lanes will be open 6-8 a.m., Monday through Friday, according to a news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The purpose of the pilot program is to shorten wait-times for travelers at Mariposa during peak morning hours, CBP said. The shorter wait-times at Mariposa also could lessen congestion at the DeConcini port of entry in downtown Nogales.

CBP is always looking for more ways to help facilitate the entry process for legitimate travelers, port director Efrain Solis said in the news release. We strongly encourage daily commuters to take advantage of this pilot program that could become permanent, depending on usage levels.

After the pilot program runs for two weeks, port staff will reassess the program, said CBP spokeswoman Marcia Armendariz.
The Affordable Care Act has been much-debated and derided, but it remains law, and insurance enrollment for Arizonans begins this week with federal subsidies for those who qualify.

Pima County residents have 45 days starting Wednesday to enroll in health insurance plans offered on the ACA marketplace. The ACA is sometimes known by its unofficial name, Obamacare.

Overall, local residents should expect lower premium increases and more choice than they had for coverage in 2017.

The enrollment period, which ends at midnight Dec. 15, is half the length of what it was last year, and federal dollars to market it have been slashed. Also, healthcare.gov is no longer expected to be running 24/7.

But the marketplace will still be offering health insurance plans with federal subsidies for 2018, and cost sharing reductions on silver level plans to help pay for them.

One company  Ambetter from Health Net  will sell plans on the marketplace to Pima County residents for 2018.

A positive for Pima County residents buying marketplace plans is that Banner Health is going to be in network for Ambetter plans sold in Pima and Maricopa counties, company officials confirmed last week. Banner, which operates two local hospitals, in addition to clinics and urgent care centers, was not in the network in 2017.

Nearly 197,000 Arizonans, including about 30,000 Pima County residents, purchased health insurance on the federal marketplace last enrollment season.

Most qualified for federal subsidies to help them pay for the insurance, and about half qualified for cost sharing reductions to further reduce their cost of care.

While some states like California and Colorado have their own health insurance exchanges, Arizona is one of 39 states that rely on the federally facilitated marketplace  healthcare.gov

Most Pima County residents dont get their health insurance on the federal marketplace. A majority are covered by either employer-sponsored coverage or a government plan  typically Medicaid or Medicare.

For Pima County residents getting health insurance coverage for 2018 on the marketplace (or who want to know whether they can), here are seven key things to know:

1. Confused?

You are not alone

Retired photojournalist Linda Hitchcock is hoping to buy her insurance on the marketplace again, like shes done for the past two years. But the 62-year-old Tucson resident is confused about whether it will be available, and whether or not shell get a subsidy.

One day its good, the next day its not, Hitchcock said. I have to have insurance. I just have no idea whether Ill be able to get it.

Similarly, 38-year-old Tucson Realtor Jennie James hopes she can get health insurance through the marketplace this year. But she is afraid that changes shes been hearing about from President Trump and his administration mean it will either be unaffordable or not available.

Last year I made $50,000 and still got a (federal) subsidy. To me that was amazing, James said. Its a lot better than anything I could get before the ACA. But now I am a little concerned, obviously.

Arizona health marketplace experts say both Hitchcock and James should go ahead and renew their plans.

Having health insurance is a foundation to create a healthier life. People should not be distracted by the politics in Washington. The ACA has not been repealed, said Julia Strange, a spokeswoman for Tucson Medical Center, which is working with other local hospitals to promote enrollment.

Dont wait; sign up as soon as enrollment begins, advises Allen Gjersvig director of navigator and enrollment services for the Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers.

Financial help is available and open enrollment will be here really soon, he said. If you already have a marketplace plan, read the mail from your insurance company and from Healthcare.gov giving instructions on how to re-enroll for free.

Gjersvig said he has been fielding a lot of questions about whether the ACA has been repealed, and whether low income people would benefit from signing up.

His answer?

Yes. Everything is still there.

2. The enrollment

period is much shorter

New polling data released by the Kaiser Family Foundation this month found that most potential marketplace enrollees are unaware of when they can enroll and have not seen any related advertisements.

Last year, consumers had 90 days and were able to enroll after the Christmas holiday season and into January.

This year theyve got half that time and the federal government has cut marketing and outreach funding by 90 percent, a Kaiser Family Foundation report says.

The clear message should be, renew quickly when you get the notice, said health policy expert Dr. Dan Derksen, a professor at the UAs Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, and director of its Center for Rural health. It will be here and gone in the blink of an eye.

Due to that reduced federal funding, fewer enrollment assisters are available to help people enroll, Derksen said. Thats why its important for consumers to enroll as early and quickly as possible, he said.

Enrollment could go down by 10 to 15 percent because of the changes and confusion, Derksen says.

Somehow people think its all been repealed and is no longer available, he said. There are an awful lot of Arizonans who dont understand what they might be eligible for and how they do it, how to get their questions answered or where to get enrolled.

And about 10 percent, or 700,000 Arizona residents, still do not have health insurance, down from 19 percent in 2010, the University of Arizonas Center for Rural Health says.

There are people without insurance who may not realize they qualify for Medicaid, or for subsidized health care on the marketplace, some health care advocates say.

3. Dont worry too much about cost-sharing reductions ending

Insurers are still legally required under the ACA to offer reduced cost-sharing via silver-level plans to low-income consumers with incomes of up to 250 percent of the poverty level, the Kaiser Family Foundation said in an analysis released Friday.

Many insurers anticipated that the payments might not continue and built the loss of payments into their premiums for 2018, the analysis said.

The recent decision to end paying cost-sharing reductions will have no immediate or direct impact on consumers in Arizona, Gjersvig said.

Federal subsidies are not the same as cost-sharing reductions. But both are federal payments that help qualified people offset the cost of their health insurance.

Nearly 80 percent of Arizonans who enrolled in 2017 marketplace plans qualified for federal subsidies to help pay for them. And about 50 percent of those who enrolled also qualified for cost-sharing reductions on silver level plans to further decrease their out-of-pocket payments.

While it could change in 2019, both subsidies and cost-sharing reductions remain intact for the upcoming year, said Tucson insurance broker Ray Magnuson, owner of Magnuson & Associates and regional vice president of the National Association of Health Underwriters.

4. Only one insurer is selling individual plans to residents in Pima County

This year its just Ambetter from Health Net selling plans in Pima and Maricopa counties.

Officials with Ambetter from Health Net, a company owned by publicly traded Centene Corp. of Missouri, say theyll be selling one gold plan, two silver plans, and one bronze plan in Pima County.

The problem with the 2017 marketplace in Pima County was a lack of choice and a narrow network where people werent able to keep their doctors, Magnuson said. Hes feeling better about this years choices in terms of both plans and available providers.

5. Tucson hospitals have banded together to help

With reduced federal funding for enrollment marketing this year, the Southern Arizona Cares Coalition has relaunched, with Tucson Medical Center (TMC) as the lead organization. The group has a website, and is doing coordinated outreach.

During the last few years we did not feel the need to invest in outreach, said TMCs Strange.

At this time, the executive branch (of the U.S. government) is making changes in how its going to administer the law and its impacting our community...We felt it was time to make sure we dont lose the great gains weve had getting the uninsured rate to drop. 

Southern Arizona Cares is focused on encouraging people to go to one of the two community events (see box), or to sign up for an individual enrollment appointment at one of various local locations by calling 1-800-377-3536 or going to the website soazcares.org.

We believe it is important for people who can have insurance to have insurance, Strange said.

Strange said one of her biggest worries about this years enrollment is that people will procrastinate.

The period of time is tighter to take action and the fact that its during the holidays is concerning, she said. We just want people to get the message that the marketplace is still open for business and there are good options to select from.

6. You probably wont have sticker shock

Last year we were the poster child for the highest rate increases in the country, Gjersvig said. This year we are one of the lowest and we are not going to see the disruption of past years when insurance companies left the market.

A nonsmoking 35-year-old Pima County man earning $30,000 per year is looking at monthly premiums that range between $130.72 and $275.53, plan previews show, with annual deductibles ranging from $6,550 to $1,400.

People who dont qualify for subsidies have always been hardest-hit by costs. That population represents a little more than 20 percent of the Arizonans who signed up for plans in 2017. But overall, costs are going up by less than 2 percent.

Plan previews show a 59-year-old nonsmoking female making $90,000 per year, who doesnt qualify for a subsidy, is looking at monthly premiums that range between $583 and $892.

A 59-year-old non-smoking female earning $25,000 per year, by comparison, would qualify for both a tax credit and a cost sharing reduction for a silver level plan, and her monthly premium choices range from $2.33 for the bronze plan to $295.33 for a gold-level plan.

7. You still may have to pay a penalty if you dont have health insurance in 2018

Under current law, there is a minimum penalty of $695 for not having health insurance.

The so-called individual mandate that people have health insurance has been much criticized, and could still go away. No one knows for sure. As of right now, however, the individual mandate is still intact.

Derksen stressed it will be more difficult to sign up outside of open enrollment in 2018 than it has been in the past.

Not having health insurance can result in more than just a penalty. It can mean large medical bills, and in some cases personal bankruptcy over an unforeseen illness or accident.

When people are uninsured and cant pay their medical bills, the result is a more expensive health system overall, health policy experts say.
A Tucson police captain was the subject of sex discrimination, a hostile work environment and retaliation after challenging a demotion in 2012, a federal lawsuit says.

Diana Duffy was hired by the Tucson Police Department in 2000 and worked her way up to the rank of lieutenant in 2011, according to the lawsuit, filed Oct. 17 in U.S. District Court . At that time Duffy went by the last name Lopez.

In August 2012, an anonymous letter to the department claimed Duffy engaged in misconduct of a sexual nature on department property and that the act was videotaped and sent to other employees, according to the lawsuit.

The department opened an internal investigation into the incident and the assigned sergeant, Brian Peasley. He alerted City Attorney Mike Rankin to the letter, saying he believed Duffy was the victim of sexual harassment and that the incident should be handled as an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation, which are handled far more discretely than other types of internal investigations, the lawsuit says.

Despite Peasleys comments, the internal affairs investigation proceeded as normal and was not considered an EEOC investigation, the lawsuit says.

During her interview with internal affairs, Duffy said she recorded cellphone videos in her home and sent them to her boyfriend, a fellow officer , and also took a provocative photo of herself in her uniform shirt. Peasley told Duffy the case was most likely going to be closed soon, but that did not happen, according to the lawsuit.

When investigators spoke to the ex-boyfriend, he admitted that Duffy sent him the private videos and that he played them for five other TPD officers. Investigators questioned several officers who said the videos had been sent to their cellphones by the boyfriend or other employees, and other officers described viewing the videos in the armory, on the shooting range and during a social event at Trident Grill, the lawsuit says.

Several supervisors were aware that the videos and photo were being passed around and shared but never reported the subordinates they knew to be involved. One then-captain was eventually issued a letter of reprimand for failing to report that an officer in his unit was sharing the video. Duffys ex-boyfriend received an 80-hour suspension, according to the lawsuit.

None of the men that TPD was aware had seen the sexually explicit photographs and/or videos ... were sanctioned by TPD for failure to report, the lawsuit says.

In September 2012, Duffy met with Assistant Chief Kathleen Robinson, who told her that she thought Duffy was being targeted because she was a female officer. But shortly after the meeting, Robinson agreed with the departments findings that Duffy be demoted for creating the potential for major adverse impact on the department, according to the lawsuit.

Duffy was demoted in November 2012 and appealed the discipline with the citys Civil Service Commission in January, but it voted to uphold the demotion.

After the decision, TPD released the complete internal affairs investigative report to local media outlets and the case made national news, the lawsuit says.

After her demotion, Duffy was assigned a night shift. She applied for several promotions over the next year-and-a-half, but was rejected for all of them, according to the lawsuit.

In 2013, Duffy challenged the demotion in Arizona Superior Court and in May 2014, a judge found that the sanction was unreasonable because all of her conduct was private and personal and that the Civil Service Commissions decision to uphold the demotion was without cause.

After months passed without her rank being restored, Duffy sent letters to the department and the Civil Service Commission, requesting that she be reinstated to lieutenant and receive back pay. She was returned to her lieutenant status on August 20, 2014 and eventually received a portion of the requested back pay, the lawsuit says.

In April 2013, before Duffy challenged the demotion in state court, she filed a charge of discrimination with the Arizona Attorney General Offices Civil Rights Division. In December, the EEOC determined that there was reasonable cause to believe that Duffy was discriminated against due to her sex, and that the department retaliated against her for engaging in a protected activity by placing her on a permanent night shift and denying her a sergeant position that would have resulted in an increase of pay, according to the lawsuit.

On July 21, the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division issued a right to sue letter in the case, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit says that the city of Tucson, being the governing agent of TPD, denied Duffy equal employment opportunities and violated her civil rights.

By her ex-boyfriend and the other officers making Duffys private actions into a public spectacle, it created a hostile work environment for Duffy, as numerous male TPD employees, without her consent, disseminated and shared photographs and videos of (Duffys) private sexual conduct, the lawsuit says.

The conduct of TPD and its employees was severe and pervasive such that it created a hostile, abusive, or offensive work environment and unreasonably interfered with (Duffys) work performance, the lawsuit says.

After Duffy filed the discrimination charge with the Attorney Generals Office, TPD retaliated against her by placing her permanently on a night shift for nearly a year, failing to promote her to a field training sergeant promotion and repeatedly passing her over for promotions after she was restored to lieutenant, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit is asking for an unspecified amount of money for actual, compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorney fees.

Duffy is currently a captain stationed at operations division west.

City Attorney Mike Rankin has previously said that his office doesnt comment on pending litigation.
Washington County, Oregon - October 26, 2017 - An impressive array of leaders from across Washington County has been assembled by Vision Action Network (VAN) to chart a course for strengthening the region's large, diverse nonprofit sector. Stakeholders from the business, government, foundation, and nonprofit sectors will guide an ambitious and far-reaching strategic planning process.

"For nearly ten years, Vision Action Network has supported hundreds of nonprofits in Washington County," said Glenn Montgomery, executive director. "This is a large and complex sector with thousands of employees from start-ups to mature organizations, and budgets ranging from zero to tens of millions of dollars. As the needs of the sector grow and evolve, so must the response, and VAN is thrilled to have the support of so many community leaders to help chart a path forward."

Since 2008, VAN has provided capacity building services for nonprofits through its Washington County Nonprofit Network (WCNN) program. Last year, WCNN served over 225 professionals representing over 140 nonprofits. The strategic planning process will enhance WCNN's services, expand its reach to underserved communities, including rural Washington County, and advance equity in the region.

The 17-member strategic planning steering committee includes:

* Lacey Beaty, School Clinic Director, Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Clinic; Beaverton City Councilor

* Kirsten Carpentier, Development Director, HomePlate Youth Services

* Mychal Cherry, Executive Director, Spirit Mountain Community Fund

* Bridget Cooke, Executive Director, Adelante Mujeres

* Cindy Dauer, Executive Director, Tualatin Valley Creates (formerly Westside Cultural Alliance)

* Bob Davis, Administrator, Washington County; Vision Action Network Board

* Max Ebnother, Oregon External Affairs Manager, Intel

* Lisa Faust, Senior Vice President, Pacific Continental Bank

* Alexander Flores, Daimler Trucks; Centro Cultural Bard Chair

* Roberto Franco, Latino Program Manager, Oregon Community Foundation

* Armando Jimenez, Community Health Program Coordinator, Tuality Healthcare; Centro Cultural Board

* Sara Joannides, Director of Social Responsibility, New Seasons

* Jenny Kim, Founder and Past President, Korean American Coalition

* Roy Kim, President, Central Bethany Development; Vision Action Network Board

* Roberto Rios, Operations Director, Centro Cultural

* Nathan Teske, Executive Director, Bienestar

* John Trinh, Chief Executive Officer, Luke-Dorf

Quotes from steering committee members:



"With five stores in Washington County, New Seasons partners with many of the region's nonprofits that make our communities whole. We are eager to help find ways to strengthen this important sector." - Sarah Joannides, Director of Social Responsibility, New Seasons

"As much as funders would like to see more strategic collaboration among organizations, many nonprofits do not have the time or the resources to do collective work. I applaud Washington County Nonprofit Network for their vision in bringing together a diverse collaboration of leaders to help plan a road map for the future." - John Trinh, Chief Executive Officer, Luke-Dorf

"We are thrilled to be at the table addressing critical issues in Washington County with other dynamic community leaders who care about the needs of the nonprofit sector. It is critical that we continue to work together to build upon our successes." - Mychal Cherry, Executive Director, Spirit Mountain Community Fund

"Addressing the needs of our community requires a strong nonprofit service sector working in partnership with public, private, and faith-based organizations. This strategic planning effort will further that important goal." - Robert Davis, Administrator, Washington County

"It is an exciting opportunity to work with community leaders to develop Washington County Nonprofit Network's strategies. Assisting our community organizations in coming together makes the mission of each of our organizations more powerful and impactful for our diverse community." - Roberto Rios, Operations Director, Centro Cultural de Washington County

VAN has retained the national consulting firm Bruner Strategies (www.brunerstrategies.com) to facilitate the nine-month strategic planning process.

VAN's mission is to connect stakeholders across sectors to identify and address critical issues in Washington County. For more information: www.visionactionnetwork.org.
El Salvador

Two tropical storms churning in Atlantic

SAN SALVADOR  Tropical Storm Selma made landfall on El Salvadors coast Saturday with heavy rains and dangerous ocean swells, and Tropical Storm Philippe formed in the Caribbean and was expected to dump heavy rains across South Florida and the Keys after soaking Cuba.

The National Hurricane Center said late Saturday that Selma had largely dissipated over land, but authorities in El Salvador reported mudslides, toppled trees and rivers that threatened to top their banks.

The center said Selma was expected to produce torrential rains and flash floods through Sunday, and Salvadoran Civil Defense director Jorge Melendez said the rainfall would be strong and intense.

Philippe, meanwhile, was moving toward the north at 29 mph, and that motion was expected to continue followed by a turn toward the northeast early Sunday.

Saudi Arabia

Crown prince favors extending OPEC limits

Saudi Arabias crown prince says his country supports extending an agreement by major oil producers to limit output beyond next March.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Saturday that the OPEC-led agreement is necessary to balance supply with demand.

Saudi Arabia is the worlds largest producer and the most influential member of OPEC. The agreement, which kicked in at the start of 2017, also included Russia and other non-OPEC countries.

In a statement, Prince Mohammed said that Saudi Arabia affirms its readiness to extend the production cut agreement, which proved its feasibility by rebalancing supply and demand.

The Vatican

Pope asks Christians to step up in Europe

VATICAN CITY  Pope Francis said Saturday that Christians can play a role in shaping Europes future by promoting political dialogue especially where it is threatened and where conflict seems to prevail.

Francis addressed European political and church leaders at a moment of broad political crises in Europe. It came a day after the regional parliament in Catalonia made a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain, and as Britain negotiates its exit from the European Union after four decades.

Francis fifth foreign policy speech on Europe, titled To be the soul of Europe, was made to a forum on Europe organized by the Commission of the Bishops Conferences of the European Community.

Pointedly, Francis said politics, rather than promoting dialogue as it should, is becoming instead a forum for clashes between opposing forces. The voice of dialogue is replaced by shouted claims and demands.

Nepal

Bus plunges into river, killing at least 31 people

KATHMANDU  A passenger bus heading toward Nepals capital veered off a key highway early Saturday, killing at least 31 people and injuring 15, officials said.

The bus drove off the highway early Saturday and plunged into the Trishuli River, which is known for fast currents, said government administrator Shyam Prasad Bhandari.

Army rescuers and divers were scouring the river searching for bodies still trapped in the wreckage, which was mostly submerged in the river. The bodies were pulled out from the site, about 50 miles east of the capital, Kathmandu.

We have already pulled out 31 bodies, but we believe there could be more bodies trapped in the wreckage, Bhandari said by phone from the accident site.

Kenya

Vote dispute simmers; opposition areas calmer

NAIROBI  Kenyas second presidential election since August remained in limbo Saturday as the election commission said it was working on a way forward in opposition areas where voting has been postponed because of unrest. While most of the country was calm, police used tear gas to disperse crowds in a Nairobi slum where anger toward the government runs deep.

It was unclear when tensions over the election, a rerun of the nullified August vote, would subside. Opposition leader Raila Odinga boycotted the vote on Thursday, citing a lack of election reforms. Tallies from many polling stations, published on the election commissions website, showed President Uhuru Kenyatta with vast leads over Odinga and six other candidates.

However, any decision to declare Kenyatta the winner would likely intensify grievances among opposition supporters .

Great Britain

UK official apologizes for Weinstein remark

LONDON  A British Cabinet minister has apologized after joking that being interviewed by a senior BBC radio presenter was like going into Harvey Weinsteins bedroom.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove sent a tweet apologizing unreservedly for making a clumsy attempt at humour when the BBCs John Humphrys, known for his tough interviewing style, asked what it was like to appear on the networks flagship morning radio program Today.

Gove replied: Sometimes I think going into the studio with you, John, is a bit like going into Harvey Weinsteins bedroom. You just pray you emerge with your dignity intact.

Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that women being abused and raped is not a laughing matter. And it doesnt make us humourless to say so.
When we hear outrageous facts, we try to make sense of them. Case in point: Trumps statement to La David Johnsons widow that he knew what he signed up for. Maybe, I thought, our inarticulate commander-in-chief meant to say something like, When soldiers enlist, they know they are signing up for a dangerous job. That makes them all the more courageous.

Is that what Trump meant to say? With any other president, I would say yes. But Trump said that Sen. John McCain is not a hero because he was captured. He disrespected Gold Star parents whose son, Capt. Kahn, made the ultimate sacrifice. He dodged the draft because of heel spurs, while equating his own sacrifices (i.e. building a business) to those of military families. Anyone who thinks this president supports our troops is mistaken. Trump supports one thing: his self-interest. This is the very definition of narcissism. It is dangerous for our troops and our national security.

Alison Jones

Midtown
Lee Harvey Oswald traveled to Russia in October 1959 and expressed his desire to become a Soviet citizen....a Russian Connection to Assassination of President John F. Kennedy? And now, this person Donald Trump, one who has admired the Russian Trug Putin has blocked Documents relating to the Assassination!

Our "Constitutional Democracy", with a "Free and Independent Press", is prevented from informing Citizens as to the nature of these Documents; Sequestered from the Public for 25 Years. Our "Constitutional Democracy" is in Crisis!!...and... like a car moving to a precipice have we moved beyond the fulcrum?
Only one reason a small two-person two-year old company in Ryan Zinkes hometown was awarded an unprecedented $300 million contract to help rebuild Puerto Ricos power grid: more dishonorable and questionable financial paybacks for being a big donor to the GOP.

If Sally Jewell (former Secretary of the Interior) had offered such a questionable contract, she would have already been skewered and barbecued. This disgraceful action is an ongoing example that the swamp  that was supposed to have been drained  has turned into a sewer and vile cesspool: filled with unprecedented conflicts of interest, unqualified appointments, and a complete disregard of ethics, honor, accountability, honesty and transparency.
The North American Free Trade Agreement began in 1990 as a trade discussion among three leaders  President George H. W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mexican President Carlos Salinas. President Clinton, sworn into office after President Bush, signed NAFTA and implemented the agreement.

The existing NAFTA is problematic. For example, its investor-state dispute settlement provision allows millions of dollars in lawsuits by multi-national corporations against governments for implementing stronger labor and environmental standards. NAFTAs Chapter 11 enables corporations to sue over any regulation or government act that violates their investor rights. These remain in President Trumps summary of objectives for the NAFTA renegotiation along with weak labor and environmental provisions lifted right out of the Trans Pacific Partnership.

NAFTA has engendered more harm than good for the people of Mexico, especially the lives of Mexicos two million corn farmers. NAFTA began in 1994, by 2006 at least 1.5 million agricultural jobs were lost. Protective tariffs and subsidies to farmers by the Mexican government ended in 2008. Mexican farmers subsist on 12 acres of land or fewer. U.S. agribusiness farmers on huge farms with mechanized equipment can produce a metric ton of corn with a half-hours labor.

Mexican farmers cannot compete with imported, cheaper GMO foods from the USA. In the period following implementation, farmers were forced to leave their lands and border crossing increased dramatically; people died crossing the border to find jobs. Harley Shaiken at UC Berkeleys Center for Latin American Studies said. The beginnings of immigration are in the displacement of farmers in Mexico.

NAFTA increased the maquiladora work force by 20 percent. Maquiladora programs use low-wage Mexican labor as a lure to draw U.S. manufacturing to the border. Companies move production, machinery, unassembled parts into Mexico avoiding tariff consequences, and assembled products are returned to the United States for final sales. Workers in the maquiladoras endure terrible working environments.

A recent Comite de Apoyo Fronterizo Obrero Regional survey of 177 workers from 77 maquiladoras found one-fifth of the workers reported illnesses caused by working conditions. Fifty-three percent did not receive any written information from their employers about the hazards of some of the materials used on the job. Forty percent did not have a joint management-worker health and safety commission, as required by Mexican law. Any trade agreement must protect all workers.

The combined trade agreements  NAFTA, the Central America Free Trade Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade  codified corporate globalization.

Manufacturing and textile plants relocate as corporate capital flows freely around the globe seeking and exploiting the lowest-paid workers. Wages in all countries have fallen; low-pay jobs have increased as better paying jobs have decreased. Developing countries can only obtain loans if they agree to the policies under these trade rules. Labor, environmental, food and medical standards are all set according to the least common denominator of any country under these trade agreements. People from all parts of the world now face an immigration process that allows them entrance only if they possess the special skills needed.

Tucsonans strive to be good neighbors with the people of Mexico. The Trump Administration impedes our commitment by keeping DACA youth in limbo and spewing anti-immigration rhetoric. Any trade agreement must protect our environment and health, workers  guaranteeing living wages  and respect the dignity of people.

Instead of Trumps wall, lets remember Lady Libertys pledge, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
Help India!

By Mohammad Sajjad for TwoCircles.net

As the birth bi-centenary of the distinguished reformer-educationist, Syed Ahmad (1817-98), a realist-pragmatist of 19th century India, and founder of the MAO College (later Aligarh Muslim University) is being celebrated, one finds the interpretations of his words and deeds caught between two extremes: deification and disproportionate blaming, particularly on the issues of caste, gender and nationalism.

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Till 1859, Sir Syed was hardly concerned with reformism. His intellectual pursuits were confined to studying Indias past, howsoever with adequate scientific rigours, and also to intra-Islamic sectarian debates. Yet, he preferred to edit (1855), among other works, the Ain-e-Akbari, rather than something on Aurangzeb, a monarch much maligned by various groups as a bigot ruler. In pre-1857 period, he does not seem to have believed as firmly in the permanence of British rule. So much so that when he went to Ghalib (1797-1869) asking him to write a foreword (taqriz) for the Abul Fazls Ain-e-Akbari he had edited, Ghalib reprimanded him, asked him to look up to the West, and its accomplishment, instead of wasting his time and talent on dead things of past. Such a suggestion, at that time, was unpleasant for Sir Syed who did not include the versified foreword that Ghalib wrote, admiring material and intellectual advancements of the West.

From 1859 onwards, his sole concern was to regain the lost (and safeguard the existing) share of his Qaum in the evolving structures and processes of power. Historically subordinated groups were not there in his scheme of things. While analysing the causes of the violent upsurge of 1857, he not only tried to absolve the upper strata of Muslims but also tried to put some blame on the historically oppressed communities of Muslims. His prejudices against such groups would re-appear in 1887, when he would oppose political stand espoused by the Indian National Congress.

In his diagnosis, fulfilment of such an objective needed educational uplift. He was absolutely clear-headed about this, and only consistent thing in his words and deeds was this. For this to actualise, he kept changing his strategies, as frequently as was needed because of colonial education and employment policies. He diluted stridency on interpreting Quran, just to avoid the attacks of the clergy; advocated Anglo-Muslim rapprochement, and dissuaded the Qaum from joining anti-establishment politics, was all geared towards it.

Through his very extensive study of Indian past, ancient and medieval, he derived a conclusion that the foreign rulers had come down to India only to settle down, just as the Mughals, Lodis, Sultans, Indo-Greek dynasties, and even much earlier, the Aryans, had done. Hence persuaded his Qaum to come to terms with it and negotiate with it (not only politically but also culturally), rather than confronting it to get crushed by the technologically, intellectually and materially.

Sir Syed may be said to have got some inkling of the times to come, evident by the fact that while choosing for a job, he preferred to join the Company administration in 1837-38, instead of the Mughals.

That his reformismobtaining education for employment was unconcerned for the lower Muslims may also be evaluated by taking into account a fact that in November 1859, when he started a school at Moradabad, he made a breakthrough by asking the relevant class of Hindus and Muslims to discontinue the practice of domiciliary education and take recourse to public schools. This was a big step for the age asking all to sit together in a school classroom. Similarly, when he debated a Report on Muslim education (1872), he strongly disagreed with those who talked of excluding the low born from the proposed college. He made an elaborate argument, that, the rule of law and notion of justice, disapproved such social exclusion. He further argued that if the elites and masses all could travel together in lower class of rail-bogey, just to economise the travel expenses, shunning the snobbery, why and how they should practice this social exclusion in government-aided educational institutions. Moreover, he may not have spoken against caste-ism practised in Islam, but he did not prohibit enrolment of low born to his M. A. O. College. Instead, proportion of the under-class enrolments kept rising. Sir Syed insisted on instituting fellowship endowments to educate the poor. Syed Mahmuds Dar-ul-Ulum (independent university) scheme also talked of such charitable endowments.

Today, politically it is quite valid and useful to raise question against evident elitism of Sir Syed. Equally valid and useful however would be to understand that given the ethos of 19th century, Sir Syeds efforts to mobilize fund for his educational enterprise must have crumbled, had he raised issues of, what we now call, social justice. He was already embattled severely with the clergy which was hell bent upon keeping Muslims away from modern education.

On the question of nationalism, Sir Syeds opposition to the Congress is taken as a proof to indict him. His advice to shun politics and concentrate on modern education was there for both Muslims and Hindus. During 1862-85, his words and deeds were strongly for Hindu-Muslim unity. His advocacy of vernacular (Urdu) education met with a strong resistance from the votaries of Nagri, in late 1860s. These men included his friends like Raja Shiv Prasad. Those were the decades of growing communalization with evident colonial prodding to the Nagri protagonists, mainly by Kempson in what is now UP, and by Campbell (1871-74) in Bihar. This embittered Sir Syed. The Benaras Commissioner, Shakespeare, noticed this in 1867. Yet, communally divisive utterances were not there. What remained there, was, particularistic concerns for ones own community. This communitarian particularism was not the differentia specifica of Sir Syed alone. It was there with all the reformers of the 19th century.

His essentially pragmatic approach made consistency impossible to achieve.

During 1862-1882, Syed Ahmads views showed pro-Indian sentiments. During 1882-1884, he professed to speak for both Hindus and Muslims fundamentally in accordance with the principles upon which the Indian National Congress (INC) was founded in 1885. The Pan Islamism of Jamaluddin Afghani (1838-97), advocated that the Ummah (Muslims across the globe) should stand united to oppose British imperialism, and it also appreciated the Caliphate. Sir Syed opposed it that extra-territorial, supra-national, loyalty with caliphate at Turkey was untenable. Attachment to the Khilafat precluded Hindu-Muslim cooperation and the development of true nationalism among Indian Muslims. Syed Ahmads determined stand on this point would appear to be directed at opening the way for Hindu-Muslim cooperation, as much as to weaken the hold of the conservative Muslim leaders on the Muslim community, underlined Denis Wright (1989).

He gave premium to Qaum for whom he had undertaken an extensive programme of educational, cultural and political reform. His objections to the authority of the Khilafat, however, leave no doubt that Qaum referred to the Muslims of India alone. Qaum or nationality to him meant not necessarily Indias Muslims alone, as it referred also to Hindus, and to caste among Hindus, or regional groups (Bengalis). Contextually, in his usage, essentially speaking, Qaum referred mostly to the Indian Muslims. In his Gurudaspur speech (1883-84) he said, I have used the word nation several times  By this I do not mean Muslims only. In my opinion all men are one and I do not like religion, community or group to be identified with a nation.

During 1885-1888, he spoke as a Muslim leader of north India and as an opponent of the INC; and during 1889-98, he left the public political arena, and kept persuading his Qaum even more to shun politics and concentrate on modern education. His drive for fund to raise his M A O College became more strident. Nehru, in his Discovery of India (1946: 375-85) argued that Sir Syed opposed the Congress for its radicalism and he advised Hindus also to stay away from it. Nehru attributed such response to late formation of modern middle class among Muslimsmetaphorically a gap six decades (Brahmos Hindu College, Calcutta founded in 1817 and MAO College, Aligarh in 1877).

On his suggestion in his tract on the causes of 1857, when the Imperial Legislative Council came into being and three Indians were inducted into the Council, they were all Hindus, viz., Maharaja of Patiala, Raja of Benaras, and Dinkar Rao. Sir Syed welcomed it, without complaining as to why no Muslim was there in it.

Notwithstanding his loyalty to the British, more than once, he and his son, protested against racial arrogance of the British. It is Jinnahs biographer (1954), Hector Bolitho, and US-based Pakistani academic, Hafeez Malik, in desperation to find antiquity for exclusionary nationalism of Pakistan, traced roots of Indias partition in Sir Syed, and it later gained currency among the Hindu communalists. Sections of nationalist historiography, despite adequate explanation by Nehru, only reinforced such misleading attributes. Surprisingly, the scholar of nationalism, like, Partha Chatterjee, discussing first phase of evolving nationalism in Indiathe moment of departure appreciated Bankim (1838-94), despite his pro-British and anti-Muslim storyline in Anandmath(1882). He credited Bankims literary outpourings to have contributed to the rise of nationalism through his articulation of Indias superiority/autonomy in spiritual domain. The same yardstick is not applied to the Muslim fragment of the Indian nation. Sir Syed and his companions created far more progressive and voluminous literature in Urdu which decisively went on to serve as intellectual resources against the British colonial hegemony. With the turn of the century, the MAO College did become a nerve-centre of anti-British agitations. The campus, just as the rest of the society, bustled with all political trends: nationalists, leftists and dissidents. The first graduate and postgraduate of the college were Hindus, first three principals were British Christians, and first chancellor of the University was a woman. Beef remained banned in the hostel, and scholarships specifically for Hindu students, were also there.

Syed is also blamed for opposing women education. In one of his speeches he was indeed harsh on this. He said, India may have to wait for hundreds of years when it would be able to afford opening womens colleges.

Later, he argued that he should not be misunderstood on the issue. His pragmatism about letting the agenda wait till more resources and more receptive and enabling environment come about, is often glossed over, by the scholars and commentators. His articles in the Aligarh Institute Gazette (AIG) and his travelogue of London wouldnt satisfy todays feminists, but these are not to be ignored completely. The travelogue records Sir Syeds admiration for a maid-servant Naseeban, of Kanpur, on board the ship for 21st trip to Europe, who could speak English. Syeds showered laurels upon the maid-servants of London who unfailingly took time out to read newspapers every day. He wished India should reach this stage soon. He editorialised his praises in the AIG (September 1883) for the scholar-reformer, Pandita Ramabai (1858-1922), with whose efforts medical education and training to women made significant progress, and Kadambini Ganguly (1861-1923), the first medical graduate to have gone abroad for education. So was the case with Anandi Gopal Joshi (1865-87), the first female physician. Sir Syed particularly appreciatedRamabais depositions before the Hunter education Commission (1882) for being helpful in promoting Lady Dufferins efforts towards medical education and healthcare to women in India. Just eight years after the death of Sir Syed, his companions, mainly Sheikh Abdullah (1874-1965), did open girls college.

To sum up, the reforming intelligentsia of 19th century colonial India had its many limitations. It is politically useful to talk about those. Fanatic ways of admiring or denigrating/belittling such contributions would serve absolutely no purpose.

Prof. Mohammad Sajjad is with the Centre of Advanced Study in History, Aligarh Muslim University.

He has published two books: Muslim Politics in Bihar: Changing Contours (Routledge, 2014)

Contesting Colonialism & Separatism: Muslims of Muzaffarpur since 1857 (Primus, 2014)
Help India!

TCN News

New Delhi: A meeting of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hinds Central General Body held under the organizations president Maulana Qari Mohammad Usman Mansoorpuri, in which over 2000 members and noted ulama participated.

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Presenting the report on the occasion, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hinds General Secretary Maulana Mahmood Madani came down heavily on the politics of provocation and hatred. He said that provocative and nonsensical issues are being raked up as part of the mischievous plan to deflect peoples attention from pressing issues.

He said, The hate campaign helps the ruling dispensation to keep people involved in superfluous issues.

Maulana Madani said he is not scared of standing firm against the campaign of hate and would fight till his last breath to upkeep the national unity and communal amity of the country.

Madani also took exception to some Muslim leaders who indulged in reactionary politics which inflicted more harm to the Muslims. He said that some Muslims use the same tone and tenor to rebut the hatred and inflammatory remarks made by the communal forces. These leaders are, in fact, the enemy of Muslims who intentionally or unintentionally fall in the trap spread by communal forces. 

He appealed the common people to carefully choose their friends and foe for their future. We will have to be cautioned not only from the enemys trap but also from foolishness of some friends, said Madani.

Maulana Madani emphasised that the change of government would not bring any change in the community and urged the Muslims to strive hard to improve their condition. Nobody can play mischief against Muslims if they stick to the commandments of Allah and the Prophet (SAW), he underlined it with emphasis.

Maulana Madani emphasised on development of Islamic education and social reform. He expressed concern that a significant number of Muslims do not even know kalma (profession of faith). He claimed that nearly four crore Muslims are currently on the brink of apostasy and kufr who need counselling and proper teaching of Islam. We will have to come forward to rescue them, he said.

Many important decisions were taken in the central managing committee meeting. A strategy has been chalked out to address current situation of the country and the socio-political and educational backwardness of Muslim community as well.

The meeting deeply expressed concerns over governments failure to enact Communal Violence Bill in spite of consistent demand made by the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind along with peace-loving people of the country. Over the years, different governments at the Center kept on delaying the enactment of the bill.

The meeting demanded strict action and security and intelligence officials involved in implicating innocents in terror cases besides withdrawal of all the honors and medals accorded to them. It also demanded the government to take responsibility to rehabilitate those acquitted of terror charges.

The Jamiat also appealed the followers of all the sects to create an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding and shun prejudices against one another. Do not allow sectarian biases marred mutual coordination and togetherness, it urged.

Other issues the managing committee endorsed in the meeting include the problems of Kanpur textile mills, strategy to form Dalit-Muslim unity, attempt to impose a particular religious custom on school children, relief work of Rohingya Muslims, problems of the Muslim world, safeguard of religion and belief, effective mechanism to stop misunderstanding being spread against Islam, strengthening Imarat Shairah and setting up training camps.

The General Body also elected Mufti Khairul Islam (Grand Mufti of Assam) and Maulana Amanullah (rector of Madarsa Husaina) as organisations national vice presidents unequivocally.
Help India!

By Twocircles.net Staff Reporter

Malappuram: A delegation of Muslim organisations on Saturday sought immediate action from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to release Hadiya from the forced detention of her parents.

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Hadiya, a homoeopathic doctor, is now in the protective custody of her parents after she was sent by the Kerala High Court in June annulling her marriage to a Muslim man Shefin Jahan even though she had converted to Islam much before the marriage and did so on her own accord.

Pinarayi Vijayan was here to address the conference of Kerala Working Journalists Union (KUWJ).

The delegation headed by Indian Union Muslim League national general secretary P K Kunhalikutty MP asked the Chief Minister to send a team of doctors to examine Hadiyas health conditions in the presence of senior police officers. The demand came in the wake of recent reports which said Hadiyas life was in danger and she was undergoing assault from his father Ashokan.

The delegation asked the government to make a public report on the present condition of Hadiya. The team pointed out that in a recent ruling the Supreme Court had held that Hadiya was free and nobody couldnt put her under house arrest like condition. Even after the SC ruling Hadiyas connection with the outside world is completely cut. Reports have suggested that she is being administered medicines which may harm her physical and mental health, a statement released by the delegation said.

The team had Samastha Kerala Jamiyyatul Ulama leader Dr Bahaudheen Muhammed Nadwi, IUML state general secretary KPA Majeed, Kerala Nadwathul Mujahideen functionary A I Abdul Majeed Swalahi, Wisdom Global Islamic Mission Parappoor Kunhi Mohammed Madani and Muslim Service Society representative P Unneen.
The inevitable has happened, the Catalan Parliament has voted on Friday overwhelmingly in favour of declaring independence from Spain. This declaration has hotted up the political climate and sunk the country into a deep political crisis.

A Secret Ballot was conducted and the outcome was: 70 votes in favour, 10 against, and two blanks. The vote was the last word after weeks of a long standoff with Madrid that began with a disputed referendum on October 1. The Spanish government has refused to accept the Declaration Of Independence and has vowed to trigger Article 155 and bring the recalcitrant state under direct rule.The Spanish parliament has started steps in this direction reports the BBC.

The vote

The result of the voting was welcomed in Catalina and pro-independence crowds massed outside the Parliament. They cheered and waved the Catalan separatist "Estacada" flag as the result was announced. The declaration of independence has plunged Spain into a terrible political crisis, its worst since the restoration of democracy in the 1970s. Before this, for many decades Spain was ruled by General Franco, who came to power in the mid-thirties of the last century after a civil war. Franco was supported by Germany and he ushered in a Fascist regime in Spain. Franco had decreed that after his death the monarchy would be restored in Spain.

The EU

The European Union has backed Spain and said they will not recognise the independence of Catalonia.

But in a significant statement the European Council President, Donald Tusk has said that he hoped the Spanish government will favour force of argument and not an argument of force.

It is clear the EU will not favour a military crackdown on the independence movement in Catalonia. The battle lines in Spain appear to be drawn and one wonders how things will pan out.

At the moment there appears to be no meeting point. After the vote by the Catalan parliament, their leader Carles Puigdemont said the declaration was legitimate as elected lawmakers had cast their ballots according to the mandate earned in the October 1 referendum. But he also acknowledged that the road ahead is difficult.

The future

With this declaration of independence, Catalonia has effectively splintered the EU. It may remain a part of the EU but it signals turmoil and one wonders if more areas of the EU will also ask for self-determination. Spain is on the horns of a dilemma and to counter the independence movement, it will have to take drastic steps. It appears unlikely that the status quo can be restored without a resort to military force. Another major factor could be the USA and the US president Donald Trump is ominously silent on this issue.

Perhaps the best way could be a negotiated settlement, nonetheless, the end result of such negotiations cannot be forecast. Maybe in the years to come another independent state may appear on the horizon in Europe.
Back in 1929, a 6,000-year-old Human Skull was discovered in Papua New Guinea. Research analysts have now revealed that the ancient skull most likely belongs to the oldest tsunami victim in the world.

Professor James Goff, the first author of the study and a UNSW Sydney scientist, says that the site where the Aitape Skull was found was once covered in floods caused by a tsunami 6,000 years ago. The event is similar to a nearby tsunami hit that occurred in 1998, killing 2000 people.

The study, published in the PLOS ONE journal, has led researchers to believe that the Aitape Skull was the worlds oldest known tsunami victim.

The history of the Aitape Skull

Paul Hossfeld, an Australian geologist, unearthed the Aitape Skull about 90 years ago. The partially preserved skull was found at a site on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea, near the Aitape town.

The Aitape skull has become a valued archeological interest according to Dr. Mark Golitko. Its uniqueness is due to it being one of very few early discovered skeletal remains from the area. In 2014, the research team went to the site of the Aitape Skull to collect samples from the same geological deposits. These samples were further analyzed.

According to first author Professor James Goff, the team had properly examined the bones but paid little attention to the soil from which they were gathered.

The discovery was later made after examining sediments from the area with sediments from the 1998 tsunami area.

According to Goff, the similarities found in both samples led the team to believe the coast had been hit by inundations for thousands of years.

Oldest tsunami victim in the world

Researchers analyzed the skulls geochemical composition and the grain size of the sediment to further understand the tsunami inundation.

The team found microscopic organisms in the sediment, similar to soil organisms from right after the tsunami in 1998.

According to Groff, after debate over numerous possible scenarios, the team believes the evidence suggests the individual was either a victim of a tsunami or had been buried before a tsunami hit the region. These are the possible explanations as to why the 6000-year-old human skull was unearthed alone, with no other bones nearby.

The Pacific research of Professor Goff along with his colleagues and other researchers revealed that, throughout its prehistory and history, the area has frequent tsunamis.
Ed Gillespie, the Republican running for governor of Virginia, seems to be surging in the polls as of late, with some showing him comfortably ahead of his Democratic opponent, Ralph Northam. Gillespie, according to Hot Air, has seized on three issues in order to pull off an upset win - sanctuary cities, restoring voting rights to felons (he is against it) and the war on statues. He has even cut an ad accusing his opponent of wanting to pull down civil war monuments. The left is reacting as if Gillespie had just done a goose step in public, which is likely all part of the plan.

Could the war on statues backfire?

As the gentle reader may recall, the war against the statues started with a push to pull down every image of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and company wherever they could be found. The campaign spread to include monuments to such luminaries as Christopher Columbus, Teddy Roosevelt, and even Union heroes such as Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. The controversy flared into violence when competing groups of extremists squared off in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Gillespie thinks he may have found a way to make the war on statues work to his advantage. He has polling data on his side. Roughly 57 percent of Virginians are opposed to pulling down statues. Those voters who are eager to get rid of the monuments are likely not going to pull the lever for a Republican anyway.

Statues ad triggers Democrats

The Democrats are, understandably, not pleased by Gillespie raising the monuments as an issue. Brian Fallon, Hillarys former campaign spokesman, posted a tweet that suggested that the Republican candidate has joined the alt.right movement. However, if the Democrats go too far in hitting this theme, they run the risk of alienating voters who do not consider themselves to be neo-Nazis and yet agree with Gillespie on the statues issue.

What happens next?

As of this writing, just a little more than a week remains before the Virginia governors election. The Democrats have spent most of the campaign thinking they have this one in the bag. However, Gillespies last-minute surge is starting to spook them.

If Gillespie pulls an upset, mainly if it is based on cultural issues such as the statues, Democrats are going to be incandescent with rage.

They could comfort themselves with the thought that Donald Trumps victory was an anomaly. If Ed Gillespie beats them with the help of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, that view will have to be discarded. How did it come to this?
Deputy Attorney General for the Department of Justice, Rod Rosenstein named special prosecutor Robert Mueller to handle the investigation on possible collusion between the Trump campaign, the administration and members of both with Russian officials. Under the regulations for the effort, Rosenstein would be notified of any charges against suspects in the investigation. As of Friday, CNN reported that the federal grand jury in Washington, DC had approved the first set of charges.

Paul Manafort first to be charged?

They've reported that a federal judge ordered that those charges be sealed and so it's unknown just what they are.

But, CNN's sources have said that those charged are likely to be taken into custody as early as Monday. The report says that there was a flurry of activity in the grand jury room on Friday, but that no officials have made any announcements. So far, Mueller's team raided one of the homes of former Trump campaign manager, Paul Manafort, saying that they planned to indict him.

Reports that circulated about the investigation had specifically focused on Paul Manafort and potential money laundering. So much so that in fact, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday that Mueller's team was working with the Southern District of New York's US attorney's office, to further their investigation. The WSJ said that the probe included Andrew Goldstein who is the head of the public corruption unit for that office and Paul Monteleoni, Assistant US Attorney.

It appears that the investigation Mueller is working on over Manafort is the continuation of one that has spanned over 11-years. In some cases and in recent months, it was determined that Manafort might have refused to cooperate with investigators. Nonetheless, Mueller's team seemed to have reason to believe that Manafort would not cooperate and were forced to issue subpoenas to him and some of his associates.

As a result, the FBI felt that a raid was necessary to make sure he turned over everything

Shielded from presidential pardons

Mueller teamed up with the office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in August, which would suggest to many that charges that come out of these investigations would be out of reach for presidential pardons.

This is because pardons could only be applied to federal crimes. Such was the case with former Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio who was charged by a federal judge of being in contempt of court.

He was to be jailed in October but President Trump used his presidential powers to pardon him. The pardon appeared to send a signal all around that the President might use it again in order to prevent members of the Trump campaign from being charged. The suggestion now is that with charges in the investigation coming out of Schneiderman's office, they could not only be used against Manafort but other Trump campaign members that the President might have been wanting to pardon.
An EF1 tornado tore through the Riverwind Casino in Oklahoma on Oct. 21, ripping off portions of the roof and interrupting a well-attended Beach Boys Concert that was taking place inside.

The tornado and subsequent flooding caused significant damage inside the casino, destroying or damaging more than 800 games out of 2,700 in the hotel. Governor Mary Fallin, who was attending the concert, said she was evacuated twice during the course of the concert, according to News 9.

She said, when she I looked up, she saw a "huge flood of rain coming through the roof, adding that she realized then there was significant damage to the building.

Fallin said guests at the concert were drenched in waves of water from heavy rains after the roof was blown away.

Residents evacuated

Residents and visitors inside the casino were evacuated after the tornado passed through. No injuries were reported at the casino, although other nearby hotels and buildings were affected by the tornado as well. Portions of the Riverwind Casino facade and multiple windows were also blown away by the winds.

Casino representatives said they did not have enough time to inform guests that the tornado was approaching because the alert from the National weather Service arrived at the same time as the tornado. Crews were there to make sure that all necessary precautions were taken, but the warning only arrived when the tornado was upon the building, a Riverwind spokeswoman Kym Koch said, according to Casino.

The power is back on, but were still assessing damage and were taking care of the patrons who are booked there for the next night or two and putting them up in another hotel, she said on Sunday. Reservations would be canceled through Tuesday, Oct. 24, Koch added in her statement.

Assessing the damage

By Monday, casino representatives for SCR888 reported that the majority of the damaged games had been restored and that the hotel was preparing to accept new reservations later in the week.

Casino representatives also said customers were still visiting the establishment, undeterred by the damage, according to Casino.

Keli Clain of the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said the tornado appeared to land in Cleveland county before traveling through Seminole, Comanche, Tillman, and McClain counties, according to ABC News.

The NWS indicated that as many as four tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma on Saturday night.

An EF1 tornado can reach speeds of up to 110 miles per hour, Cain said according to ABC News. The Enhanced Fujita scale classifies tornadoes between EF0 and EF5 based on their wind speed.
With Halloween just days away, several members of the press allowed their children to trick-or-treat at the White House. When the children found themselves in the Oval Office, Donald Trump made sure to troll their parents in the process.

Trump on Halloween

Donald Trump kicked off his political career with a bang when he announced his plan to run for president back in June 2015. During his campaign announcement, the former host of "The Apprentice" referred to illegal immigrants from Mexico as "rapists" and "murderers." The reaction from the press was as expected, with the majority ripping into the president over his controversial remarks.

The rift between Trump and the press only got worse throughout the remaining 2016 presidential election, with the billionaire real estate mogul attacking the media and journalists, while using it as a top talking point to his supporters. Following his surprising upset win over Hillary Clinton last November, Trump's feud with the press went to another level once the current scandal involving Russia unfolded. In response, Trump has labeled any report he doesn't like as "fake news," making sure to rip into the media on an almost daily basis on Twitter. In addition to Trump, other members of the administration have clashed with reporters, including White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Presidential Counsel Kellyanne Conway.

As reported by NBC News on October 27, Trump continued to mock the press, this time in front of their own children during a Halloween outing at the White House.

WATCH: Pres. Trump talks with the children of reporters during a Halloween event in the Oval Office on Friday. https://t.co/3jaFD2cFLM  NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) October 27, 2017

On Friday afternoon at the White House, members of the press were allowed to bring their children to work and take part in a Trick-or-Treat session.

A small group of kids in various costumes made their way to the Oval Office to meet with Donald Trump, while the president couldn't resist taking at swipe at their parents in the press. "I cannot believe the media produced such beautiful children, Trump said, before stating, "How the media did this, I dont know."

Trump at Halloween Event: 'I Cannot Believe the Media Produced Such Beautiful Children' https://t.co/PtmjC1i7ha (VIDEO) pic.twitter.com/v8xRnd4msP  Mediaite (@Mediaite) October 27, 2017

"Are you going to grow up to be like your parents?" Donald Trump asked one young girl, while adding, "Dont answer.

That can only get me in trouble." Trump continued to make sarcastic comments about the children's parents, saying, "I bet you get treated better by the press than anyone in the world." The commander in chief concluded by saying the media appeared to do a "good job" with their children, but "hadnt done a good job" in reporting him.

Next up

While Donald Trump finds creative and unique ways to bash the media, even in front of their own children during a Halloween event, the president is facing various issues in the White House. As members of his own Republican Party speak out against him, including recent comments from senators Bob Corker and Jeff Flake, Trump is sitting on an approval rating of less than 40 percent as questions surrounding health care and tax reform remain unanswered.
Donald Trump has never been one to hold back gloating about himself in the past, and it doesn't look to be changing anytime soon. After Trump responded to a female reporter's question on Wednesday, social media critics of the president wasted no time firing back.

Trump's education

One constant theme during the entire time Donald Trump has officially been a politician has been his propensity to give himself credit on a routine basis. In addition, Trump has made a habit out of lashing out at his critics and political opponents, doing so in public and private, whether it's on social media, during interviews, or while addressing the media at a press conference.

In recent weeks, the former host of "The Apprentice" has found himself in the headlines for a variety of reasons, and none have made the White House look too good. Trump has publicly feuded with members of his own party, as senators Bob Corker and Jeff Flake have come out against the president and announced they wouldn't seek re-election due to their opposition to his administration. In addition, Trump has engaged in a war of words with the mayor San Juan following the hurricane in Puerto Rico, and most recently Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson over her allegations that the president made a war widow cry after his alleged insensitive comments. With the pressure mounting, Trump spoke to the press on Wednesday, but decided to give himself a big pat on the back in the process, as reported by NBC News on October 25.

Trump: "I went to an Ivy League college. I was a nice student. I did very well. I'm a very intelligent person." https://t.co/rwCj7jU6x5  NBC News (@NBCNews) October 25, 2017

While speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Donald Trump was asked by MSNBC's Hallie Jackson if he should act "more civil as a leader of this country." "I think the press makes me more uncivil than I am," Trump replied, before deciding to highlight his education history.

"People dont understand," Donald Trump said, explaining "I went to an Ivy League college." The president then went on to describe himself as a "nice student" who "did very well." "I'm a very intelligent person, he said, before deciding to speak in the third person. "I think the press creates a different image of Donald Trump than the real person," the president concluded.

Twitter reacts

Within minutes of Donald Trump's remarks about his education, those who oppose the president took time to respond. "The fact that (DT) attended an Ivy League colleges tells you a lot about Ivy League colleges," one tweet read.

The fact that Donald Trump attended an Ivy League colleges tells you a lot about Ivy League colleges.  Earl Fando (@earlfando) October 25, 2017

Donald Trump is proof that Ivy League schools are only available to those with a Dunning-Kruger level of intelligence.  GuillotineNow (@vedadalsette) October 25, 2017

Donald Trump: I'm very intelligent.I went to an Ivy League college. It's the press that makes me look like a douche. LMAO,delusional much?  Cribbis (@Cribbis) October 25, 2017

"Donald Trump: I'm very intelligent.I went to an Ivy League college.

It's the press that makes me look like a douche. LOL,delusional much?" another tweet added. "(DT) is proof that Ivy League schools are only available to those with a Dunning-Kruger level of intelligence," an additional tweeted stated.

I've been telling everybody how disgraceful it is for the Ivy League to have produced Donald Trump and George Bush and here we go again  SmokeFreeUA (@SmokeFreeUA) October 25, 2017

Donald Trump, On TV trying to prove hes sane and Disciplined says hes intelligent and went to Ivy League school, was a good student  charlene green (@lady10314) October 25, 2017

"I've been telling everybody how disgraceful it is for the Ivy League to have produced Donald Trump and George Bush and here we go again," yet another Twitter user wrote. The negative reaction to Trump's comments continued as the president faces another day of mockery and trolling.
A group of 10 lawmakers in the United States House of Representatives is urging President Trumps administration to start research on the potential benefits of medical Marijuana for Americas military veterans who are suffering from chronic pain as a result of war wounds. The lawmakers, who are members of House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, wrote a letter on Thursday to Secretary David Shulkin, Veteran Affairs.

Within the letter, the group stated that the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is in the ideal position to research marijuana for its effectiveness as a treatment for veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain, according to Stars and Stripes.

Opioid crisis a basis for pursuing alternative treatments for veterans

The lawmakers mentioned the increasing request for treatment options expressed by veterans organizations and from veterans. They also emphasized the opioid crisis as a reason for alternative treatments. The group noted, too, that the VAs researching medicinal marijuana is essential for advancing health care for both veterans and the country. Forbes stated that there have been recent studies indicating legal access to cannabis correlates with reduced overdose and addiction rates.

Representative Tim Walz (D-MN), the committees ranking Democrat, is also a retired command sergeant major, Minnesota Army National Guard. Walz stated that it is currently critically important for the research, Forbes reported.

He stated that the opioid epidemic has hurt veterans more than most populations adversely affected by opioids.

He noted that both meeting with and hearing from our nations veterans and veterans advocates affirms that research, along with access to medicinal marijuana, is crucial.

He stated that both the study and access are vital veterans issues.

VA is known for its cutting-edge medical treatments

The VA has previously received credit for its breakthroughs affecting the first successful liver transplant, the shingles vaccine, and the cardiac pacemaker, Stars and Stripes, noted. The medical advancements have been achieved following the creation of the VAs research office in 1925.

The House committees press secretary, Griffin Anderson, stated that research into medical marijuana has the potential to provide information that may benefit care that everyone could receive, in addition to possibly helping veterans. With the VAs access to top-notch researchers, combined with the demographic being served and its decades-long history in effecting cutting-edge medical treatments, the letter pointed out that the VA is uniquely situated to advance research, according to Forbes.

American Legion seeks research from VA on medicinal marijuana

The American Legion, as well as medical marijuana advocates, have recently turned up the pressure on the VA. The veterans groups and marijuana proponents want the VA to discontinue obstructing researchers, who are federally approved, from drawing on veteran-candidates to commence research on medicinal marijuana, Forbes noted.

One instance cited is that a study of the effects of marijuana on PTSD was prevented from reaching veterans at the Phoenix, AZ, VA hospital.

Lawmakers, American Legion following lead State of the VA conveyed in May

In May, Shulkin, a practicing physician, remarked at the White House during a State of the VA, Forbes relayed, that he recognizes some evidence of marijuanas efficacy as a medicinal treatment. He also stated that he was receptive to learning more. With that said, the American Legion has beefed up its advocacy, urging more research be conducted as it relates to medical marijuana.

One of the Legions leaders, Louis Celli, stated that the group is striving to show lawmakers that the topic is no longer taboo and is politically safe, Stars and Stripes reported.

The suicide rate among veterans, the complexity and dynamics of PTSD, and the opioid crisis lend credence and a sound basis for more research. A staff member assisting committee Democrats, Megan Bland, stated that it makes sense that if theres a solution, we should explore it.

The group of lawmakers anticipates a response from Shulkin by November 14. They want a commitment for the VA to research medicinal marijuana or a detailed reason why the VA cant conduct research, according to Stars and Stripes. Bland asserted that every indicator is that the VA can pursue this tomorrow. If the VA responds that it cannot commence research, she said the committee will endeavor to assist the VA in overcoming obstacles next year.

The start of a snowball is how Celli characterized the lawmakers letter, which was sent yesterday. He told Stars and Stripes that Walz is a major player, respective of Representative Walzs stature in the veteran community, Stars and Strips wrote. He further stated that the government can pretend its not coming to critical mass.
Erotica may be one of the best-selling genres on the literary market but it isn't always easy to get published. While some people will gladly write for the mass-market and keep things somewhat clean, others want to explore Sexual Acts in ways that may not fit well with the mainstream market. Because some sexual acts are downright illegal, writers are limited in many ways when it comes to publication. Some Publishing Companies don't want to touch a novel with a 10-foot pole if it discusses these acts, because they fear that readers will retaliate if they publish works that encourage or support illegal acts.

Such an illegal act could include rape, for example, as a point of reference.

Ways around it

The world of self-publishing has made this challenge easy, as authors can simply choose to self-publish their novel if no publisher wants to publish it for them. Self-publishing allows authors to release their work to the retailers who want to take on the work. Even though some publishing companies don't want to do the publishing for the authors, there are plenty of buyers willing to support this kind of literature. You just have to do your research to see who is willing.

There are indeed some rules when it comes to writing erotica if you want to work with a publication or even with certain retailers.

Retailers and resellers change their rules all the time so it would be wise to read up on what kind of content they're willing to publish for you. That's not to say that you will be without a publication deal if you choose to write about erotica but some erotica is simply not appropriate, according to these companies, and they don't want to publish a book for you if they feel it could result in a backlash.

It's all about the customer

You have to think about these publication companies and resellers as a business entity. They have customers who are buying their things and if customers see something they don't like, they may threaten to boycott the site or the reseller altogether. While it is the reseller's job to connect authors with readers and share as much literature as possible, there are some obstacles that they can face when readers retaliate, and it does happen.

It would be wise for you to read what kind of content the reseller is willing to take on before you start crafting a novel with a reseller in mind.

What do you think about writing erotica under a set of rules for the sake of being able to sell something? Do you understand why some publishers and resellers don't want to sell sexual stories that talk about sensitive topics?
"Alaskan Bush People" star Ami Brown is not out of the hospital and fans are hoping for updates on her. Heavy.com shared a small update that came from a fan page on Facebook. Ami is still in the lower 48 and it sounds like they will be staying here and not going back to Alaska. At this time, it has still not been revealed why she was able to get out of the hospital and if this is good or bad news.

Update on how Ami Brown is doing

The update shared online says, "The family is still in California where Ami is resting after her first round of cancer treatments.

Hope everyone has a good Wednesday." There have been reports that Ami is really weak and has lost a lot of weight. Ami has shared that she has the will to fight and won't be giving up easy. It sounds like Ami Brown is still getting treatment, but it is not something she has to stay in the hospital for. More than likely, the family will be staying in California for a bit since that is where her doctors are at for her treatment.

Right now, the Brown family isn't sharing a lot of updates with fans about what is going on. Everyone wants to know how Ami is doing, but they seem to be saving these updates for new episodes of "Alaskan Bush People." They know that this brings in ratings, but the fans love the show so much that they would probably watch no matter what.

What is next for the Brown family?

The rumors are flying that the Brown family may end up in Colorado instead of going back to Alaska. Right now, they are in California where Ami Brown was receiving her treatment. There have also been rumors about the possibility of another season of "Alaskan Bush People." It was supposed to be the last, but there are a lot of rumors flying that they might do another one.

If this is true, Discovery and the Brown family aren't speaking about it yet.

Everyone would be happy to see another season of "Alaskan Bush People" and this is more than likely the only way that fans are going to get updates on the family. Some of the kids use social networks. Rain has been doing a great job about updating on her Instagram page.

Billy and Ami Brown don't share on social networks about how they are doing.

Are you happy to hear that Ami Brown is doing better and is out of the hospital now? Do you think that they will continue "Alaskan Bush People"? Sound off in the comments below on your thoughts and hopefully, news will come out soon about if Ami Brown and the family are coming back to television again.
Every night, during his monologues, Stephen Colbert rips into President Donald Trump and his allies. One of the usual things he jokes about is Trump's suspected collusion with Russia, which now has new information. It seems that Clinton Campaign, together with the DNC, helped pay for the Trump Russia dossier. Of course, Trump, together with Fox News, jumped on the bandwagon and attacked Hillary Clinton. However, Colbert pointed out the problem with that scandal.

Colbert starts off his monologue by saying that there is no Republican Party anymore because it now belongs to Donald Trump.

He joked that the GOP is now the "Gross Orange Pile," as a reference to Trump's apparent orange skin tone. He hits the Trump administration for getting rid of any "meaningful opposition," as the rest of the Republicans are "falling in line like frighted ducklings." He then talked about Trump telling people about the "unity" of the Republican Party, which has been ravaged by infighting. Being the Star Wars fan that he is, Colbert likened Trump to Darth Vader. The talk show host then pointed out that some of Trump's allies are also America's enemies, namely the Russians. This then leads to the big scandal brought about by the Russia dossier.

What is this dossier about?

Trump has been accused of colluding with Russia to undermine the Clinton campaign.

Former British intelligence agent named Christopher Steele gathered information from various Russian sources which alleged ties between the Russian government and the Trump campaign.

According to the new information, a yet unidentified Republican primary candidate, together with the DNC and the Clinton campaign, helped pay for this information.

The dossier contains compromising information about Trump, as well as evidence of the Trump campaign's collusion with the Russians.

Trump says he is the victim

After talking about the disunity withing the Republican party, Colbert then went into a part of his monologue called the "Russia Round-Up." He started this part off by talking about the dossier, which of course led to Colbert talking about the alleged "pee-pee tapes." The Late Show host said that they still don't have these tapes, but once he does, he promised people that they will know once he does.

But he then went into Clinton's involvement in the dossier, and pointed out that it might have been a scandal if Clinton had won as president. Problem is, she's not. "She might be unpeached," Colbert joked.

But because this might be damaging to his 2016 elections opponent, Trump made a huge deal about the new information. In a tweet, Trump called the allegations about him "fake news," and said "the victim here is the president." To which, Colbert replied that Trump is fine because the real victim is the Russian mattress from that alleged "pee-pee tape" scandal.

Trump, Russia, and WikiLeaks

Colbert then pointed out that "the real scandal" is Clinton not using that dossier to win the election. The host also talked about the unknown Republican client, and in a joke, alleged that it has been Jeb Bush all along.

Of course, Fox News also jumped on the bandwagon and attacked Clinton. A new article from their website accuses the DNC of being the ones who colluded with Russia. However, as Colbert pointed out, "if they paid to find out that Trump colluded with Russia, that's not collusion." He then added that saying something like that is like saying "Al Roker colluding with humidity."

One of the alleged ways that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia was that they wanted to use damaging emails hacked by the Russians and given to WikiLeaks. Because of this, Colbert played the notorious video of Trump asking Russia to hack Hillary Clinton's emails. He also played a montage of Trump talking about WikiLeaks, but Colbert joked that it's just "locker room talk," as a reference to his Access Hollywood bus remarks.

This then led to the host pointing out that a Trump data guru tried to team up with WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange and failed. Assange himself confirmed that the Trump campaign approached him, but he turned them down.
In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven robotic systems have been invading the medical sector  from robotic eye doctors to robotic dentists. But despite the potential benefits and advantages of new technologies in the medical field, a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggested that human doctors are still better in surgery than robots.

Robotic surgeries have recently gained popularity in the field of medicine. They are often used for tumor, kidney, bladder, and prostate removals. But a team of researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine found that Human Surgeons are still better compared to AI-driven robots in carrying out operations in a shorter period of time and without mistakes.

The study

Upon reviewing almost 25,000 operations across 416 hospitals in the United States between 2006 and 2012, researchers found that robotic surgeries do not improve outcomes for patients. Additionally, the operations often take a longer time to finish.

These findings were not really what the experts have hoped for. In fact, they were optimistic that robots would be more accurate, dexterous and quicker compared to their human counterparts, The Telegraph noted.

Researchers also found that robotic surgeries are more expensive than human-performed operations.

According to Stanford Universitys Department of Urology Associate Professor Dr. Benjamin Chung, robotic surgeries showed no statistical difference in the outcome or the length of hospital stay of patients, not to mention the prolonged operative time and the expensiveness of the procedures.

Not the right choice

Even though the operation time and costs will decrease over time, the researchers stressed that their findings showed that robot-assisted surgeries are not always the right and practical choice.

Chung said that there are indeed several advantages in using expensive and state-of-the-art equipment and technologies, but health care expenses should also be considered, Scope reported.

The researchers also acknowledged that robotics are useful in tricky operations such as those that need extensive internal stitching or a high-degree of delicate maneuvering.

However, human surgeons are much better at performing less technically challenging operations.

Robotic surgery remains controversial

Meanwhile, the widespread use of Robotic Surgery reportedly remains controversial. The reason? This could be due to that the lack of proof of improved outcomes and increased costs despite the extensive marketing and competition among hospitals, NewsMax Health pointed out.

Dr. In Gab Jeong from University of Ulsan College of Medicine in Seoul, Korea, also said that the huge increase in healthcare cost brought by the rise of robotic surgery can be a significant burden on the healthcare system. Jeung, however, recognized that the development and prevalence of robotic platforms are also helpful in patient care.

Dr. David Jayne from St. James University Hospital in Leeds, United Kingdom, on the other hand, said that theres a need for robotic systems to be competitively priced to enable advanced surgeries to be cost-effective. While Dr. Jason D. Wright from New Yorks Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons concluded that robotic-assisted surgery exemplifies the difficulty of balancing surgical innovation with evidence-based medicine.
On Friday, the small East African nation of Burundi became the first country to ever leave the International Criminal Court (Icc). Their decision to leave comes about one month after the United Nations (UN) issued a scornful report calling for a criminal investigation into the country for possible crimes against humanity.

Burundi's move to leave a year in the making

Last October, Burundi announced its intentions to withdraw from the ICC when the court was extremely unpopular with certain African leaders. At that time, Gambia and South Africa were making threats to do the same.

According to The New York Times, Africa's top intelligence officials also signed a statement then saying that the ICC had been hijacked by powerful western countries and wasacting as a proxy for foreign-led government change.

However, Gambia backed down from there threat in January after long-time president Yahya Jammeh lost in elections. South Africa pulled back its move to leave after a High Court ruling in March that such a move would have to go through Parliament. This has left Burundi by itself in making the unprecedented move.

According to the Guardian, Burundi's government called yesterday's move a historical day and urged citizens to demonstrate across the county on Saturday in celebration.

Presidential office spokesman Willy Nyamitwe said that: This is a great victory for Burundi because it has defended its sovereignty and national pride.

Burundi and the UN's report

Last month, the United Nations Commission for Inquiry on Burundi said that it had found evidence of a number of offenses since current President Pierre Nkurunziza won a controversial third term back in July 2015, two months after an attempted coup had taken place against him.

These offenses include arbitrary arrests and detentions, disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture and sexual violence. The ICC's work on the charges against the country is currently in its exploratory stages.

The ICC and Africa

In the ICC's history, all of their trials have involved African defendants and nine of the 10 current formal investigations led by the office of the court's prosecutor concern the continent.

This comes off of the ICC reputation among African leaders taking a major hit. They dropped charges against Kenya's deputy president last year and withdrew charges against Kenya's president in 2015 after accusing both of crimes against humanity.
A Man who was diagnosed with HIV in 2006 went on to enjoy unprotected sex with around 53 women, the youngest believed to be only 14-years-old. At least 30 of those women were infected with the HIV virus, which could lead to them having full-blown AIDS. On Friday an Italian court in Rome sentenced the man to 24 years in prison.

Italian man had unprotected relations despite HIV diagnosis

Valentino Talluto was said by the court to have intentionally infecting women by having unprotected relations following his 2006 HIV diagnosis. Talluto, an accountant by trade, reportedly used the pseudonym Hearty Style on dating sites and social networks to attract his victims.

He is believed to have had sexual intercourse with around 53 women since his diagnosis, of which 30 have been confirmed Hiv Positive. As reported by the Independent, women who testified at the trial had said they had been seduced, often by being contacted by Tullato via social media. Some of the women said they had requested Talluto to wear a condom during sexual relations, but he either told them he was allergic to them or lied and told the women he was not infected with HIV.

There was a secondary effect from his actions, as on top of the 30 women who have been confirmed to be now carrying the HIV virus, another four victims have now been infected, including the baby of one of the victims and three male partners.

Court said mans intentions were to sow death

During a court appearance in September, Prosecutor Elena Neri said Tallutos actions were intended to sow death. However, his defense lawyers deemed their clients actions to be imprudent, but not intentional.

It turns out HIV runs in the family. Tallutos mother died when he was four and was a drug addict infected with HIV.

He told the court his acts were not intentional, saying if that was the case, he would not have had actual relationships with the women concerned. Talluto went on to say many of the women he slept with know his family and friends. He said if he wanted to intentionally infect someone he would have gone to bars for casual sex and would not have included the victims in his life.

BBC News - HIV-positive Italian Valentino Talluto jailed for infecting 30 women https://t.co/Cr5k0zTGRh  Gary Voyles NQ6F (@Gary_Voyles) October 28, 2017

While the prosecution had called for a life sentence for Tallutos crimes, he was sentenced by judges in Rome on Friday to 24 years behind bars. Reportedly judges deliberated for over 10 hours before deciding on the verdict. The BBC reports that his victims who were in the court cried upon hearing his sentence, as he did not receive the expected sentence of life behind bars for his crimes.
The first China-Slovakia block train set off on Friday from Dalian, Liaoning province, linking Northeast China's biggest seaport with Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.

Loaded with 41 20-foot equivalent units of electronic products, machinery parts and light industrial products, the train is heading for Bratislava via Russia and Ukraine.

"It will greatly reduce the heavy traffic of China-Europe freight trains in Malaszewicze, Poland," Duan Guoqiang, vice-president of Panjiang Logistics Co Ltd, said.

According to Duan, the products were shipped to Dalian from Zhejiang, Shandong and several other eastern coastal provinces in China.

"The time can be guaranteed. It takes about 15 days for the train to travel 10,537 kilometers and arrive at its destination in the center of Europe," he said.

At first, one freight train will depart from Dalian Port every Saturday, Duan said.

Under the guidance of China's Belt and Road Initiative, China-Europe freight train services have thrived in recent years, according to Wang Derong, executive vice-president of China Communications and Transportation Association.

As China Central Television reported, freight trains had connected 33 Chinese cities, such as Chongqing, Chengdu and Changsha, with 32 cities in 12 European countries by mid-September.

"In the past, trains entered Europe through Poland's Malaszewicze. This passage opens up a new gateway to the EU via Dopla, Slovakia," Wang said.

Dusan Bella, Slovakian ambassador to China, said the route will create new business opportunities for many European and Chinese companies.

"It will help logistics companies to diversify their transport corridors, opening for business new market places in Europe as well as in Northeast China, while reaching South Korea and Japan," he said.
World Wide Fund China designated Oct 27 as International Panda Day on Friday in Shanghai, hailing the global integrated conservation efforts of the bamboo-munching, black-and-white bear as an example to be followed in protecting other wild species.

"Hope is the biggest meaning of International Panda Day," said Lu Siping, the CEO of WWF China, at the launch ceremony. "That hope will promote the society and people to protect other species."

Lu said that the giant panda, which has been WWF's logo since its establishment in 1961, is also a symbol of the global conservation movement. The achievements they've made in the past decades make people believe that the environment can be improved and rare species can be saved by integrated efforts.

As one of the largest independent nongovernmental environmental protection organizations, WWF started to protect the giant panda in 1980 when the Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan province was established.

At that time, the population of the black-and-white bear had reached an estimated low of fewer than 1,000 due to poaching and deforestation. Ever since, WWF has been working with the government on initiatives to save the rare species and its habitat, including helping to establish an integrated network of giant panda reserves and wildlife corridors to connect isolated panda populations as well as working with local communities to develop sustainable livelihoods and minimize their impact on the forests.

Decades of intensive conservation efforts have seen the number of panda reserves jump to 67 and the area of protected forests reach 2.58 million hectares.

The population of the wild panda gradually rebounded, jumping to 1,864 in 2014 from 1,596 in 2004.

As a result, the International Union for Conservation of Nature downgraded the animal from being "endangered" to "vulnerable" in 2016.

The WWF celebrated the panda's reclassification, saying it proved that aggressive investment does pay off "when science, political will and engagement of local communities come together".

Despite the achievement, Lu said threats to the giant panda's survival and reproduction remain.

"The biggest threat to the giant panda is habitat fragmentation," Lu said. "We are trying to build corridors to connect natural reserves to reduce the impact of human activities such as infrastructure projects."

WWF China now has more than 110 employees and eight local offices. While the organization will continue its efforts to preserve the giant panda, it also focuses on projects to preserve other endangered species, such as the Eastern gorilla and the Yangtze finless porpoise, among others.

Lu said the establishment of International Panda Day can serve as a reminder of what can be achieved through integrated efforts from all walks of life, home and abroad.

During the recently concluded 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping announced the country's determination to return 2 percent of the land to nature.

"It is very impressive to hear Xi's proposal on protecting the environment and we will continue to help the government to achieve ideal harmony in the environment," Lu said.
Minnesota is a land of incomparable wilderness, lakes, parks, great resorts, flea markets, and unique historical and cultural sites. Whether you are paddling the many waterways, hiking scenic trails, or snowshoeing off the beaten path, Minnesota is a perfect destination for adventurous nature lovers. The "Twin Cities" of Minneapolis and Saint Paul make up a thriving economic and cultural center with many interesting places in which to spend your time. Winona in southeast Minnesota features beautiful parks and historic sites. Duluth is more of a crossroads, with elements of big city industry as well as unique green space.

We recommend that you call the attractions and restaurants ahead of your visit to confirm current opening times.

1. Minnesota's North Shore Scenic Drive  Courtesy of khlongwangchao - Fotolia.com

Minnesota's North Shore Scenic Drive is a beautiful, 142-mile wilderness journey from Duluth to Grand Portage. Bordered on one side by Lake Superior and on the other by the Sawtooth Mountains, sights include breathtaking cliffs, beaches and thousands of acres of forest. Lighthouses and waterfalls dot the landscape and there seems to be no end to the recreational opportunities. Many adventures await along the route, including golfing, tent and RV camping, canoeing, hunting, rock climbing, dogsledding, and more. Eight of Minnesota's State Parks are accessible along the way. It takes about three hours to make the journey if you drive straight through, but you could easily stretch the journey to several days by stopping along the way.

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2. Minneapolis Institute of Art  Minneapolis Institute of Art

The Minneapolis Institute of Ar is a fine art museum in Minneapolis. Free to the public, it is one of the largest art museums in the United States. The collections cover more than 5,000 years of history and contain more than 80,000 objects, including paintings, photographs, textiles, drawings, prints and decorative arts. The museum includes objects from several regions of the world and is quite comprehensive. In addition to their regular collections, the museum features a variety of traveling collections from other museums. A number of tours are available, ranging from free public guided tours to school tours and private group tours. Things to Do in Minneapolis 2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404, Phone: 888-642-2787

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3. Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, St. Paul, Minnesota  Courtesy of Marcus - Fotolia.com

Como Park is a park, zoo and conservatory located in St. Paul. The park is very popular and receives more than 1.9 million visitors each year. The zoo is home to many species of animals that are exhibited for the visiting public. In addition to the zoo and conservatory, recreational facilities at Como Park include an amusement park, carousel, golf course, swimming pool and the 68-acre Lake Como. The park is expertly landscaped and includes many artistic features such as fountains and sculptures. Como Park hosts many events throughout the year and offers cafes, food carts and gift shops to make your visit both comfortable and enjoyable. Things to Do in St. Paul 1225 Estabrook Drive, Saint Paul, MN 55103, Phone: 651-487-8200



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4. Quarry Hill Nature Center  Courtesy of EBFoto - Fotolia.com



Quarry Hill Nature Center is an educational center located in Rochester. It sits amidst a 329-acre park that offers a variety of outdoors activities. There are paved and unpaved trails as well as a historical cave. During winter, cross-country ski and snowshoe rentals are available to enhance enjoyment of the park. The Harry L. Buck Children's Pond provides aquatic learning experiences for children of all ages. Ducks nest in a box on an island in the pond and a variety of other wildlife can be seen. The center hosts a variety of classes, day camps, trips and activities throughout the year. Things to Do in Rochester 701 Silver Creek Road NE, Rochester, MN 55906, Phone: 507-328-3950

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5. Minnesota Marine Art Museum  Minnesota Marine Art Museum



The Minnesota Marine Art Museum is an art museum in Winona that is located in a unique historical building on the banks of the Mississippi River. It houses five different galleries of art and artifacts which include marine art, folk sculptures, impressionism, Hudson River School paintings, as well as space for traveling exhibits. The museum's primary focus is marine and maritime art. One of the most famous pieces in their collection is one of the two surviving copies of "Washington Crossing the Delaware" by Emanuel Leutze, which was on display at the White House prior to becoming a part of the Marine Art Museum. 800 Riverview Drive, Winona, MN 55987, Phone: 507-474-6626

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6. Minnehaha Park  AMB-MD Photography/stock.adobe.com



Minnehaha Park is undeniably one of Minneapolis most popular parks. It is also one of the citys oldest and is best known for the 53-foot waterfall that can be found within its limestone bluffs. At Minnehaha Park, guests can enjoy a number of beautiful features. For example, there are three gardens to be explored: the Longfellow Gardens, Minnehaha Falls Pergola Garden, Song of Hiawatha Garden. There are also a handful of historical sites at the park that can be visited such as the Longfellow House, the Princess Depot, and the John H. Stevens House. Wandering the park's trails will also bring visitors across several sculptures found within the park, all of which make great photo opportunities and are sure to be enjoyed by art lovers. 4801 S Minnehaha Drive, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55417, Phone: 612-230-6400

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7. Leif Erickson Park & Rose Garden  Courtesy of tesoro photo - Fotolia.com

The Rose Garden of Leif Erickson Park in Duluth is a traditional English style garden located on the banks of Lake Superior. Its beautiful flowers and stunning location make the park a relaxing and beautiful place to visit at any time of the year. The 2.5-acre park contains over 3,000 rose bushes and many other plants and trees. It is connected to Duluth's Lakewalk, which is a walking and biking trail running about three miles along the lakeshore. In addition to stunning flora, the gardens include some beautiful architectural structures, fountains and statues. The marble gazebo in Leif Erickson Park is a popular place for weddings and other events. S 13th Ave E & London Road, Duluth, MN 55802, Phone: 218-730-4300



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8. Minnesota Landscape Arboretum  Courtesy of Austin - Fotolia.com

The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is an arboretum and horticultural garden that is part of the University of Minnesota. It is the largest public garden in the upper Midwest and comprises more than 1,100 acres. Over 5,000 plant varieties can be found in the park. The arboretum features gardens displaying plants developed for northern climates as well as educational exhibits, demonstration gardens and a unique Japanese garden area. The property features natural areas, including miles of hiking and cross-country skiing trails. There is a horticulture library and conservatory on site. Guided tours are available as well as a three-mile driving route that passes many of the park's highlights. 3675 Arboretum Drive, Chanhassen, MN 55317, Phone: 952-443-1400



9. Things to See Near Me: National Eagle Center, Minnesota  Courtesy of jkral - Fotolia.com

The National Eagle Center is a non-profit organization, aviary and educational center which is dedicated to conserving and protecting eagles as well as to educating the public. Five eagles are housed at the center. These were all rescued and are now used in outreach programs and ceremonies across the state and country. Visitors can visit the eagles in the viewing room, where you can see them at close range as they are tethered rather than in a cage or behind glass. There are volunteers to answer questions during viewing hours as well as thrice daily 45-minute educational feeding programs that include a question and answer session, giving visitors another chance to learn about eagles. 50 Pembroke Avenue, Wabasha, MN 55981, Phone: 651-565-4989

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10. Things to Do Around Me: 7 Vines Vineyard  7 Vines Vineyard

7 Vines Vineyard is a labor of love founded by married duo Arlie and Ron Peltier, originally planted in 2011. The lovely Dellwood winery is named for Ron's hockey jersey number and the number of grandchildren in the couple's family, with all seven children's names gracing all bottles of wine the company produces. Fine wine varietals produced by the company throughout the year include Riesling, La Crescent, Frontenac Gris, Chardonnay, and Marquette, available for purchase and sampling at the company's public tasting room. Personal winery tours are also available Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays throughout the afternoon hours, overviewing the company's operations and offering samples of the company's current releases. Weekly Yoga at the Winery events are led by local certified yoga instructors. 101 MN-96, Dellwood, MN 55110, Phone: 651-478-6300



11. Minnesota Things to Do: Mill City Museum, Minnesota  Courtesy of burningmine - Fotolia.com

Mill City Museum is a museum in the St. Anthony Falls Historic District on the banks of the Mississippi river in Minneapolis. The museum is built on the site of what was once the world's largest flour mill. The museum is dedicated to preserving and teaching the history of the flour industry, the role of the river, and the city of Minneapolis. In addition to great exhibits and educational programming, the museum has an onsite restaurant as well as a gift shop which sells a variety of souvenirs and gifts, including many locally-made items, historical books and mid-20th century retro collectibles. 704 South 2nd Street, Minneapolis, MN 55401, Phone: 612-341-7555

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12. Fun Things to Do in Minnesota: Science Museum of Minnesota  Science Museum of Minnesota

The Science Museum of Minnesota houses exhibits related to technology, science, natural history and mathematics. A number of exhibits are permanently on display at the museum. Dinosaurs & Fossils includes several dinosaur skeletons while the Human Body is an exhibit which shows the various human body systems and even allows visitors to extract DNA in the Cell Lab. Other exhibits focus on the Mississippi River, renewable energy, Native American history and much more. The Science Museum also has a dual screen IMAX/Omnimax theater which was the first of this type of convertible theater to be built in the northern hemisphere. 120 W. Kellogg Blvd., Saint Paul, MN 55102, Phone: 651-221-9444



13. Places of Interest in Minnesota: North American Bear Center  Courtesy of Vladimir Wrangel - Fotolia.com

The North American Bear Center is a unique bear and wildlife educational facility. From beautiful wildlife murals to naturally posed bear mounts and background forest and bear sounds, the indoor exhibit area is designed to allow yourself to become immersed in the bear experience. A wall of windows enables visitors to peer into the bear enclosure, which is equipped with ponds and waterfalls. The Bear Center includes three living black bears, which are housed in a 2.5-acre naturalistic habitat. The bears can be viewed from either the indoor viewing area or an outdoor balcony. The center also has a theater, a 1/4-mile interpretive trail walk, a gift shop, and daily programming and events. 1926 MN-169, Ely, MN 55731, Phone: 218-365-7879



14. Fun Things to Do in Minnesota: Minneapolis Sculpture Garden  Courtesy of Earl Robbins - Fotolia.com

The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is a park in Minneapolis. At 11 acres, it is one of the largest urban sculpture gardens in the United States. The garden boasts 40 permanent art pieces as well as several rotating pieces. The garden has many well-known and loved pieces, but the centerpiece and most famous sculpture in the garden is the "Spoonbridge and Cherry" fountain. The garden provides a relaxing atmosphere to enjoy the sculptures in an expertly landscaped and manicured setting of plazas and walkways. The Sculpture Garden is currently closed for renovation but is set to reopen in June 2017. 726 Vineland Place, Minneapolis, MN 55403, Phone: 612-230-6400



15. Things to See in Minnesota: Lake Superior Marine Museum  Courtesy of johnsroad7 - Fotolia.com



The Lake Superior Marine Museum is a maritime heritage museum in the historic Canal Park area of Duluth. This museum exists to display and preserve the marine history of the Lake Superior and Port of Duluth-Superior area. They work closely with the Corps of Engineers in acquiring museum-worthy artifacts and publications. Exhibits interpret the history of the area's commercial shipping industry as well as that of the nearby Aerial Lift Bridge. The museum displays three replica cabins and a pilothouse. There are many interactive displays available for visitors to get a hands on experience of marine history as well as 50 scale models and a three-story steam engine. 600 South Lake Avenue, Duluth, MN 55802, Phone: 218-720-5260

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16. Things to Do in MN: Minnesota History Center  Minnesota History Center



The Minnesota History Center is a library and history museum located near downtown Saint Paul. It has an ideal location between the Mississippi River and the Minnesota State Capital. The museum displays artifacts from the Minnesota Historical Society's large collection in 44,000 square feet of gallery space. The museum also hosts traveling exhibits and often has historical programming and visiting lecturers. The center is a popular event venue and hosts events such as concerts, dance performances, conferences, lectures, political campaign events, parties, and weddings on a regular basis. Cafe Minnesota offers a variety of food options and there are two museum gift shops on the premises. 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55102, Phone: 651-259-3000



17. RockFilter Distillery  RockFilter Distillery



RockFilter Distillery is Spring Grove's premiere microdistillery, known for its award-winning bourbon varietals. The distillery was opened in 2017 by head distiller Christian Myrah, located less than two and a half hours south of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan region within the Spring Grove Creamery building. Visitors can taste the company's high-quality liquors throughout the week at its lovely tasting room, including varieties such as its Stone's Throw oat-forward bourbon, Fence Jumper corn bourbon with black cherry wood smoke notes, and Giants of the Earth sorghum bourbon. An organic rye whiskey is also crafted, prepared with applewood-smoked oats. Distillery tours are offered on the second Saturday of each month, with discounts on cocktails available for all tour participants. 113 Maple Dr, Spring Grove, MN 55974, Phone: 507- 498-7625

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18. Things to Do in Minnesota This Weekend: Split Rock Lighthouse  Courtesy of Aneese - Fotolia.com



The picturesque Split Rock Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on the northern shore of Lake Superior, near Silver Bay. The lighthouse has been restored to look as it did in 1920 and is a National Historic Landmark. Visitors to the property can tour the four buildings on site and climb the lighthouse. The keeper's home is staffed by guides in period-appropriate costumes who show what life was like for light keepers and their families during the early 20th century. The lighthouse itself is the centerpiece of Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, which boasts a picnic area, tent camping and 14 miles of hiking and multi-use trails. 3713 Split Rock Lighthouse Road, Two Harbors, MN 55616



19. What to Do in Minnesota: James J Hill House  James J Hill House



The James J. Hill House is a historic mansion in Saint Paul. The home was built by railroad tycoon and builder of the Great Northern Railway James J. Hill in 1891. The 36,000-square-foot home is a National Historic Landmark and is available for touring. The interior of the home features an art gallery which displays Hill's private art collection, some of the family's furnishings, a pipe organ, and very intricate, hand-carved woodworking. A small gift shop is available, selling books and items relating to the railroads, the Hill family, and the historic site itself. 240 Summit Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55102, Phone: 651-297-2555

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20. Must Do in Minnesota: Glensheen, The Historic Congdon Estate  Glensheen, The Historic Congdon Estate



Glensheen is a mansion in Duluth which is operated as a historic house museum. The property includes almost eight acres of waterfront property on Lake Superior. The 27,000-square-foot Jacobean style house has 39 rooms and the interior is filled with ornate Victorian furnishings. Glensheen has gained a certain amount of unfortunate fame as the site of the murders of Elisabeth Congdon and her nurse Velma Pietila in 1977. Tour guides are prohibited from speaking about the murders during the tours, but there are books about the incident available for purchase on site. In addition to the impressive home, the estate also includes gardens, bridges and trails for visitors to enjoy. 3300 London Road, Duluth, MN 55804, Phone: 218-726-8910



21. Fun Things to Do in Minnesota: Xcel Energy Center  Courtesy of Federico Rostagno - Fotolia.com



Xcel Energy Center is a multi-purpose arena in Saint Paul. The arena can hold almost 18,000 guests and has four spectator levels, one level for suites and three levels of general seating. The building is the home arena of the NHL's Minnesota Wild and is the former home of the Minnesota Swarm lacrosse team. In the recent past, it has hosted high profile events such as the Republican National Convention. The arena hosts multiple events throughout the year such as concerts, sporting events, conferences and more. Tickets for events can be purchased on the center's website. 199 W. Kellogg Boulevard, Saint Paul, MN 55102, Phone: 651-265-4800



22. Minnesota Vacation: The Frederick R Weisman Art Museum  The Frederick R Weisman Art Museum



The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum is an art museum on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. The collections lean toward modern art and include more than 20,000 images from artists such as Marsden Hartly, Alfred Maurer and Charles Biederman as well as Native American Mimbres pottery and Korean furniture. The building has a unique stainless steel design on the side that overlooks the Mississippi. The other side of the museum is made of brick so that it fits in with the other campus buildings facing it. 333 East River Road, Minneapolis, Phone: 612-625-9494

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23. Minnesota Activities: International Wolf Center, Minnesota  Courtesy of alkerk - Fotolia.com The International Wolf Center is a conservation, education and research organization based in Ely, Minnesota, dedicated to teaching others about wolves and advocating the survival of wild wolves. The center includes a variety of educational exhibits and a theater which shows film presentations about wolves. Visitors to the center can view the resident "ambassador wolves." This pack of four captive wolves live in a naturalistic habitat and can be viewed from behind glass windows inside the center. The pack includes two Great Plains wolves and two Rocky Mountain wolves. The "Little Wolf" exhibit is a children's exhibit which provides an interactive learning experience for kids aged 3 to 9. 1396 MN-169, Ely, MN 55731, Phone: 218-365-4695



24. Minnesota Attractions: Great Lakes Aquarium  Courtesy of Vladimir Wrangel - Fotolia.com Great Lakes Aquarium is located on the Duluth waterfront. It is one of the few freshwater aquariums in the United States. The aquarium features animals which reside in the Great Lakes region and other freshwater ecosystems around the world. 205 different species can be seen at the aquarium, including fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. The main exhibit is the 85,000 gallon "Isle Royale" which extends through both floors and can be viewed from many different angles. There are several other permanent exhibits as well a variety of rotating exhibits. 353 Harbor Drive, Duluth, MN 55802, Phone: 218-740-3474



25. Minnesota Tourist Attractions: Guthrie Theater  Courtesy of montywheels - Fotolia.com Guthrie Theater is a performing arts center in Minneapolis. The theater is also involved in the production, education, and professional training of the theater arts. The theater has its own local acting company where actors hone their skills by performing classic and modern works throughout the year. There are three theaters as well as a 178-foot cantilevered "Endless Bridge" to the Mississippi river that is open to the public. This riverside location provides phenomenal views. There is an onsite restaurant as well as catering facilities and conference and private event services. The Guthrie Theater website has a calendar with current event information and ticketing services. 818 South 2nd Street, Minneapolis, MN 55415, Phone: 612-225-6000



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Enger Park and Tower

Enger Park and Tower is a public park and observation tower located in Duluth. Its 80-foot, five-story, blue stone observation tower provides stunning views of Lake Superior and panoramic vistas of the Twin Ports area. Each of the five levels of the tower has a lookout with stairway access.

The tower is the centerpiece of Enger Park, which has several lovely and unique gardens. During your visit you can learn about the park's interesting history. It was dedicated by the King of Norway in 1939 and Norwegian royalty has visited on several occasions. Things to Do in Duluth

16th Ave W & Skyline Drive, Duluth, MN 55811, Phone: 218-730-4300

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Munsinger Gardens

Munsinger Gardens is a botanical garden on the Mississippi River in St. Cloud. It is a 14-acre park located on the site of a former sawmill. The gardens include flower-lined paths which wind through tall pine trees. Water features include a lily-pond and fountain and there is a greenhouse on site.

Don't be surprised by the peacocks roaming the gardens! Events such as art exhibits, musical concerts and the like happen regularly. The gardens are a great place to have a peaceful walk and their beautiful, natural setting on the riverbank make them a popular wedding venue.

1515 Riverside Drive SE, St. Cloud, Minnesota, 56304, Phone: 320-257-5959

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Pipestone National Monument

Pipestone National Monument is a catlinite or "pipestone" quarry near the city of Pipestone. Plains Indians have traditionally used the stone to make ceremonial pipes, which are an integral part of their religious practices. The quarries are sacred places for the Dakota, Lakota and other tribes.

The tradition of making prayer pipes continues today, but only those with Native American ancestry are allowed to quarry the pipestone. However, the National Park Service maintains the site as a historical monument and cultural heritage site. The monument includes a -mile walking trail that leads to several points of interest, including the quarries themselves, waterfalls, creeks and prairie areas. The Three Maidens picnic area includes picnic tables and restrooms.

36 Reservation Avenue, Pipestone, MN 56164, Phone: 507-825-5464 x214

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St. Paul, the capital of the state of Minnesota, sits on the east bank of the Mississippi River and has a population of approximately 300,000 people. The city is a business and cultural center with an array of museums, performing arts centers, and historical sites, and it is also home to the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League. The Mississippi River and its shores are much-loved recreational space in all seasons.

We recommend that you call the attractions and restaurants ahead of your visit to confirm current opening times.

1. Science Museum of Minnesota  Science Museum of Minnesota

Overlooking the Mississippi River in St. Paul, the Science Museum of Minnesota is a large regional science museum that uses a hands-on approach to science learning and entertainment. Founded in 1907, the museum features a variety of permanent and temporary collections and exhibitions, state-of-the-art research facilities, a public science education center and an Imax Convertible Dome Omnitheater. Five permanent galleries and an array of temporary exhibits cover the topics of physical science and technology, the human body, paleontology, and the peoples and cultures of the Mississippi River. Popular collections and exhibitions at the museum include the interactive Experiment Gallery, an authentic Mississippi River towboat, an ancient Egyptian mummy, and a variety of interactive exhibits for all ages. The museum offers innovative and interactive science education programs for teachers and children, and provides ongoing research in a range of scientific fields. 120 W Kellogg Blvd, St Paul, MN 55102, Phone: 651-221-9444

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2. Alexander Ramsay House  Alexander Ramsay House

Alexander Ramsay (1815-1903) was the first governor of the state of Minnesota; his term lasted from 1849 to 1853. In 1872, Ramsay had a house built in the Irvine Park district of St. Paul. This house still stands and is one of the best preserved Victorian homes in the United States. Many of the original furnishings are still intact. The house was very advanced for its time: it had hot and cold running water, gas lighting, and hot water radiators. Upon her death in 1964, Anita Ramsay, Alexanders last surviving granddaughter, willed the house to the Minnesota Historical Society. One-hour tours are offered by docents in period costume; the servants in the kitchen often have children on the tour help them do kitchen chores and baking. 265 Exchange Street South, St. Paul, MN 55102 Phone: 651-296-8760

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3. Bruce Vento Regional Trail  Courtesy of omune - Fotolia.com

The Bruce Vento Regional Trail is an asphalt-paved rail trail that runs from White Bear Lake to the Bruce Vento Wildlife Sanctuary. Both the trail and the wildlife sanctuary are named for Bruce Vento, an ardent environmentalist and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Minnesotas 4th District from 1977-2000. The trail is mostly off-road, but it does go through some residential neighborhoods; it is scenic, with views of Lake Phalen, and a lovely ravine section in Swede Hollow. The trail is seven miles long and is open to hikers, cyclists, in-line skaters, and cross-country skiers. It is wheelchair accessible.



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4. Cathedral of Saint Paul  Courtesy of Gang - Fotolia.com



The Cathedral of Saint Paul is one of the largest Roman Catholic cathedrals in the United States and is the Co-Cathedral for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Opened in 1915, the cathedral was built in the majestic French Beaux-Arts style of architecture, and its distinctive copper dome rises 186 feet above the nave. The open plan interior allows everyone an unobstructed view of both the pulpit and the altar. The Cathedral is enormous with seating for 3,000 people and a magnificent building of granite sitting on a hilltop overlooking downtown Saint Paul. Statues of the four evangelists are placed in niches around the church. There is free parking across the street, and visitors are welcome to tour the cathedral at all times except Sunday mornings. 239 Selby Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55102, Phone: 651-228-1766

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5. Como Park Zoo and Conservatory  Courtesy of stevengaertner - Fotolia.com



Como Park Zoo and Conservatory are part of a large complex on the shores of Lake Como that includes an amusement park, a golf course, a pool, and a carousel. The zoo is the oldest in Minnesota; it was opened in 1897, and in its first year it was home to three deer. Now the zoo has extensive animal collections, including birds, a wide selection of primates such as lemurs, orangutans, and Western Lowland Gorillas, big cats such as lions, tigers, and snow leopards, as well as zoo favorites such as polar bears, wolves, giraffes, and zebras. The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory is open to the public every day of the year and presents beautiful botanical items. It has a display of bonsai trees, a Japanese garden, a palm court with over 150 species of palm, an orchid house, and a greenhouse dedicated to ferns. There is no admission charge to either the zoo or the conservatory. 1225 Estabrook Street, St. Paul, MN 55103, Phone: 651-487-8201

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6. Fitzgerald Theater  Fitzgerald Theater



The Fitzgerald Theater was named for author F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was born in St. Paul and spent some of his formative years here. National Public Medias live radio show A Prairie Home Companion is recorded here. Until his recent retirement, Garrison Keiller hosted the show. Mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile has taken over the show capably since. The theater, which has a capacity of 1,000 people, is located in a beautiful building, and the elegant theater itself resembles a turn of the century opera house. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and movie-style snacks are available during intermission, and show souvenirs may be purchased after the show. Things to Do in Minnesota 10 Exchange Street South, St. Paul, MN 55101, Phone: 651-290-1200

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7. James J. Hill House  James J. Hill House

James J. Hill was a railroad magnate in the 19th century; he founded Great Northern Railroad. In 1891, he had a house built for himself, his wife, and their ten children, and he resided there until he died in 1916. The Minnesota Historical Society now manages the house and gives tours to individuals, groups, and school students. The house has a commanding view of downtown St. Paul and the Mississippi River, and is ruggedly styled in stone. It is a massive house with intricately detailed woodwork inside, as well as all the latest conveniences of the time such as indoor plumbing, secret safes, and electric light. The house also has a pipe organ, which is regularly used to present chamber music concerts. Visiting the house is a fascinating way to learn about the lives of rich people and their servants during the Gilded Age. 240 Summit Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55102, Phone: 651- 297-2555



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8. Minnesota History Center  Courtesy of adzicnatasa - Fotolia.com

The Minnesota History Center consists of a museum and a library and is home to the Minnesota Historical Society. The eye-catching building with two L wings joining at a central dome was completed in 1992. There are both permanent and rotating exhibits, all of which are family friendly and designed to appeal to both children and adults. There are always films being screened, and they add to the historical experience and provide an interesting form of education. The museum hosts dance performances, lectures, concerts, meetings, and weddings, and it has a nice cafe and gift shop. 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55012, Phone: 651-296-6126



9. Minnesota Transportation Museum  Minnesota Transportation Museum

The Minnesota Transportation Museum is housed at the Jackson Street roundhouse, one of the few roundhouses in the country that is still fully functional. Volunteer docents give visitors a tour of the museums train yard, which includes many locomotives, Pullman coaches, baggage cars, and mail cars, and gives visitors the opportunity to take a short trip in a heritage caboose. There are many hands-on exhibits that will delight children as well as adults; there is also a machine workshop where train renovations are on display. The price of admission also includes a tour of St. Pauls downtown in a 1953 GMC bus. 193 Pennsylvania Avenue East, St. Paul, MN 55130, Phone: 651-228-0263

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10. Cook  Cook

Cook is a charming diner in St. Paul, owned and operated by restaurateur Eddie Wu and executive chef Chandra Walbolt since 2014. The laid-back, sunny restaurant serves up creative American and Korean fare at breakfast and lunch throughout the week, prepared with locally-sourced, seasonal ingredients. At breakfast, diners can choose from buttermilk pancake short stacks, breakfast chimichangas, kimchi omelettes, and short rib eggs Benedict platters. Lunch options infuse unique Asian twists into comfort favorites, ranging from butter-fried kimchi macaroni and cheese, spicy Korean burgers with daikon jelly slaw, and Korean-style pancakes with spicy cabbage and poached eggs. Korean favorites like bi bim bop are also served up, paired with excellent cocktails with unique ingredients like sake and aloe vera. 1124 Payne Ave, St Paul, MN 55130, Phone: 651-756-1787



11. The Naughty Greek  The Naughty Greek

The Naughty Greek is a delicious authentic Greek joint in St. Paul, opened in 2017 by chef and owner Angelo Giovanis. The restaurant specializes in Athenian street food favorites, prepared with imported Greek ingredients such as virgin olive oil, Greek yogurt, and gourmet feta cheese. Humanely-raised meats are prepared in entree selections like traditional gyro pitas, beef and chicken souvlaki plates, fava bean falafel, and family-style gyro platters. Greek-style meats are also served up a la carte by the quarter, half, or full pound, including lamb and beef kebabs. High-quality mezze plates include traditional tzatziki and baba ghanoush, spanakopita, baked Greek feta with thyme honey, and flash-fried eggplant slices. 181 Snelling Ave N, St Paul, MN 55104, Phone: 651- 219-4438

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12. Joans in the Park  Joans in the Park

Joans in the Park is an excellent, upscale St. Paul restaurant in the Highland Park District, which prides itself on its superb customer service. It specializes in seasonal North American fare and pairs its offerings with its excellent wine list. The small, lively, attractive restaurant serves a large variety of seafood: clams, crab toast, shrimp with corn dumplings, scallops, and fish. The entrees are mainly meat. Patrons rave about their desserts, which include cinnamon custard, brown butter pudding, and strawberry shortcake. Reservations are recommended, as the restaurant is small and usually operates at full capacity. 631 Snelling Avenue South, St. Paul, MN 55116, Phone: 651-690-3297



13. Meritage  Meritage

Meritage is a fine dining restaurant in downtown St. Paul. From the moment the door opens, diners are swept into this cozy restaurant with a truly French ambience. Diners may eat and drink at the oyster bar, or in the elegant main dining room; in the summer there is an outdoor terrace on which to dine. The restaurant places a heavy emphasis on seafood; in addition to oysters there are shrimp cocktail, clams, lobster, swordfish, sandwiches of grilled tuna, and a salmon salad. Many diners order its justly famous cassoulet. For after dinner there are an interesting and tasty selection of desserts and artisan cheese. Meritage is open for lunch, dinner, and for Saturday and Sunday brunch; reservations are recommended. 410 St. Peter Street, St. Paul, MN 55102, Phone: 651-222-5670



14. The Buttered Tin  The Buttered Tin

The Buttered Tin is a cafe and bakery highlighting American breakfasts and comfort food. Patrons can visit for breakfast, lunch, or for coffee and relax in butter yellow booths or outdoors on the seasonal patio. The menu consists of a vast variety of egg dishes, hash browns, breakfast tacos, biscuits and gravy, pancakes, homemade granola, and French toast with rum-flamed bananas. For those wanting more substantial fare, the menu includes salads, burgers, and sandwiches. The excellent bakery has every sweet lovers dream, and the coffee cake and cinnamon rolls are particularly delicious. 237 7th Street East, St. Paul, MN 55101, Phone: 651-224-2300



15. Izzy's Ice Cream  Izzys Ice Cream



Izzys Ice Cream has been a St. Paul institution since it opened its doors in 2000. Family owned and operated, the ice cream cafe has won major awards for its excellence, and it has been featured on The Food Network. Izzys is a cafe with a conscience; it is powered by solar panels, and it sources its ingredients locally wherever possible. The cafe has all of the usual favorites, plus its very own signature ice creams that include basil, buttermilk, ricotta, ginger, eggnog, pomegranate, Guinness, and brown sugar bourbon. For kids there are fun flavors like bubble gum, cotton candy, marshmallow, dinosaur egg, and the intriguingly named Spongebob. A line of dairy-free sorbets is always available at the cafe. 2034 Marshall Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55104, Phone: 651-603-1458

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16. Wabasha Street Caves  Courtesy of ribalka yuli - Fotolia.com



The Wabasha Street Caves are sandstone caves on the south shore of the Mississippi River that have been transformed over the past hundred years into event space. In the 1920s, the caves were home to a speakeasy during the Prohibition Era, which was reputedly frequented by gangsters such as John Dillinger and Ma Barker. A restaurant that opened in the caves was shut down at the beginning of the Second World War, and it remained closed until the 1970s when the space became a disco. Today the Wabasha Street Caves are a great place to have lunch. They have Swing Nights on Thursdays, featuring live big band music, and the caves are popular for private events. A small gift shop in the caves sells cards, crafts, trolls, and jewellery. 215 Wabasha Street South, St. Paul, MN 55107, Phone: 651-292-1220



17. Ordway Center for the Performing Arts  Ordway Center for the Performing Arts



The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts was the brainchild and philanthropic venture of Sally Ordway Irvine, whose family owns 3M. This large, superb performing arts venue, which opened in 1985, presents a dizzying array of shows, including Broadway musicals, family events, classical music, dance, and opera. The sight lines in the 1,900-seat theater are terrific; there is not a bad seat in the house, and the acoustics are excellent. Wheelchairs are easily accommodated, the staff is very friendly, and the lobby bar serves drinks and snacks. The Ordway Center has educational programs for school groups, children, and adults, and it hosts an international childrens festival each year. 345 Washington Street, St. Paul, MN 55102, Phone: 651-282-3000

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18. Science Museum of Minnesota  Science Museum of Minnesota



Overlooking the Mississippi River in St. Paul, the Science Museum of Minnesota is a large regional science museum that uses a hands-on approach to science learning and entertainment. Founded in 1907, the museum features a variety of permanent and temporary collections and exhibitions, state-of-the-art research facilities, a public science education center and an Imax Convertible Dome Omnitheater. Five permanent galleries and an array of temporary exhibits cover the topics of physical science and technology, the human body, paleontology, and the peoples and cultures of the Mississippi River. Popular collections and exhibitions at the museum include the interactive Experiment Gallery, an authentic Mississippi River towboat, an ancient Egyptian mummy, and a variety of interactive exhibits for all ages. The museum offers innovative and interactive science education programs for teachers and children, and provides ongoing research in a range of scientific fields.



19. Mississippi National River and Recreation Area  NPS Photo



The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area has a misssion to preserve and demonstrate the natural and population history of the river. This seventy-two mile corridor of the Mississippi passes through St. Paul and has two visitor centers in the St. Paul area. The visitor centers are staffed by rangers and present a wide variety of exhibits related to the Mississippi, past and present. The park is an ideal destination for fishing, boating, camping in the summer, and ice fishing in the winter. Bird watching, hiking, and cycling along the banks of the river are popular activities for locals and tourists.

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19 Best Things to Do in St. Paul, Minnesota

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Seattles many museums offer visitors an indoor escape on the citys rainiest days. Some of the major museums include Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, and Frye Art Museum, but there is so much more here to explore.

We recommend that you call the attractions and restaurants ahead of your visit to confirm current opening times.

1. Living Computers Museum and Labs  Living Computers Museum + Labs

Living Computers Museum + Labs is the brainchild of Microsoft co-founder and Seattle resident Paul Allen. His dream was to provide one-of-a-kind hands-on computer technology experiences starting with the 1960s to today. The museum represents a complete history of computing and has the largest collection in the world of restored supercomputers, mainframes, microcomputers, and minicomputers  all usable. There are even augmented reality, robotics, self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, video-game making, and more experiences in the main gallery. On the museums main floor, visitors can participate in learning labs to learn or practice new skills. History buffs and computer geeks will love the historical significance of this museum. 2245 First Avenue South, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-342-2020

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2. Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture  Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture

The collections at Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture reflect groundbreaking research in biology, geology, paleontology, and cultural studies. Within those collections, visitors will find 16 million objects from across the globe and specifically from the area around the Pacific Northwest. Visitors will be able to see Northwest Native Art, flora, fauna, minerals, anthropology and natural resources of Washington and beyond. Check out stories like How Dinosaurs Lived, History of the Ocean, and Salish Heritage, all currently in stages of development for a fall reopening. The Burke Store offers visitors gifts of the Northwest. The Museum is closed until its transition to the New Burke Museum, fall 2019. 4300 15th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-543-7907

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3. Center for Wooden Boats  Crin/stock.adobe.com

Seattles Center for Wooden Boats is a fun experience for the whole family. Located in popular South Lake Union, the museum is dedicated to Seattles maritime history. They recently completed construction of the Wagner Education Center, including the Bill Garden Boatshop where they hold classes and workshops teaching marine related skills. There is also a Boathouse Gallery where visitors can see exhibits about the citys maritime history. Lessons at the Center include learning to tie knots and perform other marine related skills. Visitors can also volunteer at the Boatshop to help maintain the wooden boats. 1010 Valley Street, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-382-2628



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4. Center on Contemporary Art  torook/stock.adobe.com



The Center on Contemporary Art is a nonprofit dedicated to the creative expression of contemporary art. Theyve been producing events and operating galleries throughout Seattle for more than 35 years. Past exhibits have included Dispossessed, Storefronts, and You Got the Look (jewelry), among many others. Legacy, a 2017 exhibit, was devoted to the gallerys contemporary art over the past 35 years. Upcoming events include the gallerys annual members show displaying the juried works of local member artists. The gallery is open Thursdays through Saturdays. 114 Third Avenue South, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-728-1980

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5. Photographic Center Northwest  Photographic Center Northwest



Photographic Center Northwest has been delivering photographic history to Seattle residents and visitors since 1988. Its evolution from small photography school to leading photographic educational institution in Seattle has been profound. The non-profit dedicated to helping people see the world differently is located in Seattles Capitol Hill neighborhood. Visitors can expect exhibitions like past displays: Notions of Home, All Power: Visual Legacies of the Black Panther Party, and Me and My Selfie, along with annual juried exhibitions. Aspiring and seasoned photographers can take classes, workshops, or certificate programs to hone their craft. The center opens at noon, Mondays through Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. 900 12th Avenue, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-720-7222

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6. Museum of Pop Culture  Oksana Perkins/stock.adobe.com



Museum of Pop Culture, which is known locally as MoPOP, was initiated by Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder. The pop culture enthusiast envisioned a fun museum experience for the whole family. Seattle Center campus is home to both the Space Needle and adjacent MoPOP. The buildings brilliant exterior is a prelude to whats inside. Exhibitions are fluid and change like the rhythms of music and culture. Exhibitions, both past and present include representations of Marvel super heroes, science fiction, myths and fantasy, horror films, and video games. Visitors will appreciate tributes to musical artists as diverse as Jimi Hendrix, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana. There is a Holodome for immersive virtual realities, and a Sound Lab to record music. 325 5th Avenue North, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-770-2700

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7. Frye Art Museum  Frye Art Museum

Frye Art Museum is located in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, just to the east of downtown. Its a mix of old money mansions, urban high-rise apartments, and numerous hospitals that have given the neighborhood the nickname Pill Hill. Frye Art Museum is one of the highlights of this neighborhood, presenting contemporary artworks primarily of local, American, and European painters, although their collection of contemporary art continues to evolve. Visitors will find the founding collection of artwork in the Frye Salon. Recent exhibitions have included works like Tschabalala Self, which explores the intersectionality of gender and race. Guests can expect free public tours, a museum store, and a cafe. The admission-free museum is closed on Mondays. 704 Terry Avenue, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-622-9250



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8. Giant Shoe Museum  eevl/stock.adobe.com

The Giant Shoe Museum uses the term museum loosely. In homage to peep show history, this museum uses that sideshow-style presentation to attract passersby to an array of giant shoes. The museum is located below the arcade level inside Seattles popular Pike Place Market. Visitors will recognize it by its playful boardwalk display announcing The Greatest Shoe on Earth. There are four wooden steps guests will use to look through the peepholes and see the giant shoes for 25 cents. Shoes are from an actual collection by Seattle resident, Danny Eskenazi. This is a must-see for those drawn to the odd and unusual, one-of-a-kind attractions. 1501 Pike Place, #424, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-623-2870



9. Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park  Zack Frank/stock.adobe.com

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park celebrates the stories, trails, and boomtowns resulting from the iconic Klondike Gold Rush. Visitors will learn about the famous 1897-1898 gold rush, the Company L Buffalo Soldiers, and more. There are four areas to the park, the first being the Seattle Unit in the Pioneer Square area of Seattle (Klondike Gold Rush Museum), and the other three being in Alaska. Seattle was the major provisions port for those headed to strike it rich in Alaska, and promoted itself as Gateway to the Gold Fields. The Klondike Gold Rush Museum preserves Seattles role in the Klondike Gold Rush. The free, interactive museum is open daily. 319 2nd Avenue, South, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-220-4240

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10. Last Resort Fire Department Museum  Last Resort Fire Department Museum

Last Resort Fire Department Museum is located in Pioneer Square in the Seattle Fire Department Headquarters. The 1928 ten-bay fire station presents eight rigs, including models from 1834, 1899, 1907, 1916, 1950, and 1958. Rigs rotate with several on display at any one time. Other items on display include vintage nozzles, helmets, extinguishers, uniforms, badges, alarm journals, and historic photographs. Visitors will see station furnishings, first-aid equipment, alarm boxes and other vintage firefighting equipment. Also on display are historic accounts of famous fires like Ballards 1958 Seattle Cedar Lumber Manufacturing plant. The plan is to add additional displays like the 1889 Great Seattle Fire and the 1943 Frye Packing Plant fire. 301 2nd Avenue South, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-783-4474



11. Log House Museum  Log House Museum

The Log House Museum is dedicated to celebrating Duwamish peninsula history, the Birthplace of Seattle. Operated by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, the restored Log House Museum is situated in a 1904 log building near Alki Beach. The museum hosts rotating exhibits, including the recent Telling Our Westside Stories three-part series. Outside the museum, guests will find a garden of native plants and an Admiral totem pole that has also been restored. The museum preserves the hyper-local heritage of the peninsula through exhibits, education, and advocacy. In addition to regular hours, visitors can also call to arrange visits by appointment. 3003 61st Avenue SW, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-938-5293

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12. Connections Museum Seattle  Justimagine/stock.adobe.com

Located in Seattles Georgetown neighborhood, Connections Museum Seattle is the former Museum of Communications. It is dedicated to telling the evolving story of telecommunications. Computer geeks and history buffs will appreciate the working equipment and switches at this museum. Visitors can peruse museum exhibits that include Mechanical Switching Systems, Electronic Switching Systems, The Outside Plant (cables, poles, splicing equipment, etc.), Telephones, Telegraphs & Teletypes, and Other Equipment. Visitors should allow a minimum of one hour to visit all the exhibits in the two-story museum  longer for tech buffs. The museum is not suitable for children under 12, and admission is by donation. 7000 East Marginal Way South, Seattle WA, Phone: 206-767-3012



13. Museum of Flight  followbobbriggs/stock.adobe.com

The Museum of Flight, a Seattle, Washington, non-profit, is a private museum dedicated to archiving air and space exploration. It was founded in 1965, and shortly thereafter achieved full accreditation from the overseeing organization of the American Alliance of Museums. The museum features an expansive collection of flight artifacts and objects, aircraft, and spacecraft on exhibit. Highlights of the museum include a NASA Full Fuselage Trainer, an Lockheed M-21 Blackbird, a fascinating XCOR Lync Spaceplane, Lunar Focus - an exhibit dedicated to moon travel, and Apollo 17 Mission Models. There is also the 737 Airliner Theater with shows visitors are sure to learn from and love. 9404 East Marginal Way South, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-764-5700



14. Museum of History and Industry  Museum of History and Industry

Seattles Museum of History & Industry in South Lake Union delves not only into the citys past, but also connects to the present, and envisions the future. There are two permanent exhibitions that are the focal point of the museum. Visitors can trace the historic path of Seattle from Pacific Northwest wilderness to todays modern, urban metropolis in True Northwest: The Seattle Journey. Visitors will be able to explore 25 displays in this exhibit. The second equally intriguing permanent exhibition is Bezos Center for Innovation. This is where visitors can examine the vision of Seattles future. Kids will love investigating MOHAI with free Exploration and Innovation Packs to guide them. 860 Terry Avenue North, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-324-1126



15. Nordic Heritage Museum  Nordic Heritage Museum



Where better to put the Nordic Heritage Museum than in the heart of a Scandinavian neighborhood. Once a fishing, milling, and boat-building neighborhood, Ballard is now one of Seattles trendiest neighborhoods, but they havent forgotten their roots. The Nordic Heritage Museum is dedicated to sharing Nordic history and culture through preserving collections, exhibiting objects and art, and providing cultural and educational experiences. It also serves as a gathering place for the community. Visitors can arrange in advance for the Nordic Journeys tour. Amenities include the Museum Store and Freya Cafe 2655 NW Market Street, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-789-5707

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16. Northwest African American Museum  siriporn1982/stock.adobe.com



Northwest African American Museum is located in Seattles Central District, a vibrant multi-cultural neighborhood that was the childhood home of Jimi Hendrix. The museum, housed in the 1909 former Colman School building, overlooks the musicians namesake park, Jimi Hendrix Park. NAAM presents the unfolding story of African Americans and their journey to the Northwest, via slavery through recent immigration. The museum tells their evolving story through programs and exhibits featuring music, literature, visual arts, crafts, history, and events. Docent-led tours are available with a three-day notice. 2300 South Massachusetts Street, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-518-6000



17. Northwest Nikkei Museum  Northwest Nikkei Museum



Northwest Nikkei Museum is dedicated to preserving and celebrating the Japanese culture of Issei elders, and Japanese American Nikkei culture and heritage. They aim to tell the stories of Japanese pioneers to America and create a bridge of respect between generations. The museum preserves and exhibits photos, objects, and artifacts that explore the Pacific Northwest Nikkei heritage. Exhibitions have included Bases as Bridges that explored baseball from Japan to Seattle, Art Behind Barbed Wire that displayed Japanese American art created in internment camps of WWII, and Unsettled/Resettled: Seattles Hunt Hostel. The museum hosts public events, classes, programs, and a Japanese language school. 1414 South Weller Street, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-568-7114

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18. Northwest Seaport Maritime Heritage Center  Northwest Seaport Maritime Heritage Center



Northwest Seaport Maritime Heritage Center has been serving Seattle residents and visitors since 1964. It is dedicated to preserving and interpreting Northwest Coast and Puget Sound maritime heritage. Their historic floating fleet is found at Lake Union Park, and includes vessels deemed National Historic Landmarks. They host a plethora of annual festivals, hands-on public tours, music programs, overnight experiences, programs for children and families, and more. Visitors will learn about the ships, stories, and music of workboat culture. Their extensive collections offer a complete picture of northwest maritime history. The museum is open weekends and by appointment. 860 Terry Avenue North, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-477-9800



19. Pacific Science Center  Pacific Science Center



Pacific Science Center, an independent, non-profit science center, is nestled between Downtown Seattle, Washington, and the citys famous Seattle Center. The science centers aim is to develop visitors curiosity about science, spark a passion for discovery, and encourage experimentation and critical thinking. Highlights of the center include a Laser Dome that combines laser imagery and sound in shows like Laser Cardi B and Laser ODESZA, plus an IMAX theater with popular movies, documentaries, and other educational films. Visitors will also find numerous events at the museum that include Final Fridays, Today at PacSci, and Science in the City. 200 2nd Avenue North, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-443-2001

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20. Seattle Art Museum  Anthony Torres/stock.adobe.com



Seattle Art Museum is located in Seattles downtown area on First Avenue. The impressive museum operates a few of the citys major art facilities like Seattle Asian Art Museum that can be found in Volunteer Park at Capitol Hill. Another is Olympic Sculpture Park situated on Seattles waterfront. The main museum hosts fantastic exhibitions throughout the year including shows like Gentleman Warrior: Art of the Samurai and Jeffrey Gibson: Like a Hammer. The museum offers several free public tours that are included in the admission. Private paid tours are also available. There is a SAM Shop featuring museum quality items for sale, and a high quality eatery called Taste. Many accessible accommodations are available for everyone to have the best museum experience. 1300 1st Avenue, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-654-3100



21. Seattle Asian Art Museum  wetchawut/stock.adobe.com



The Seattle Asian Art Museum is one of three Seattle museums under the umbrella of Seattle Art Museum (SAM). It houses a vast collection of Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Korean, southeast Asian, and Himalayan art. Located in a gorgeous art deco building, visitors will find this museum centrally located in Capitol Hills Volunteer Park. The 13,650-square-foot museum is expanding by 3,600 square feet, and is getting modern upgrades including studios and more gallery space. The expansion project began in 2018. When it reopens in 2019, visitors can expect an array of works across mediums that span several centuries. It will be open Wednesdays through Sundays. 1400 East Prospect Street, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-654-3100

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22. Seattle Childrens Museum  EdNurg/stock.adobe.com Seattle Childrens Museum is located on the expansive campus of the Seattle Center. Imaginative plan and hands-on are the name of the game in this 22,000-square-foot museum. It was specifically designed for kids under ten, and of course, their families. The interactive museum follows the framework of The 40 Assets, which traces a developmental path for kids to grow into happy, healthy, compassionate adults. Cog City delves into the concepts of cause and effect, Global Village is culture-centric play, and Dunn Lumber Construction Zone lets kids participate in hands-on construction. There are seven other interactive play areas providing hours of educational fun. This museum pairs perfectly with a trip on the downtown Seattle Center Monorail. 305 Harrison Street, Seattle, WA, Phone: 206-441-1768



23. Seattle Pinball Museum  Seattle Pinball Museum Visitors will find the unique Seattle Pinball Museum in Seattles Chinatown neighborhood. This museum grew out of one couples passion for collecting the machines over 55 years. Now, their legacy is on display in a museum of their creation, entertaining Seattle locals and visitors alike. Seattle Pinball Museum features 54 pinball machines in total, although only around 30 are on display at any one time. Each classic machine is fully playable. classic pinball machines. Since the games in the collection rotate frequently, visitors will have a new experience with each visit. The $13 ticket price includes unlimited play. There are snacks, vintage sodas, and craft beer available for purchase. 508 Maynard Ave S Seattle, WA 98104, Phone: 206-623-0759



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Bo Xuan Hiep

HONG KONG  An increasing number of overseas buyers are sourcing products from Viet Nam as the country is rapidly improving its supply chain for locally made garments and taking part in more free trade agreements.

The availability of a young, skilled labour force is also attracting foreign buyers to the country, Pham Thiet Hoa, director of the HCM City Investment and Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC), said during a recent interview with Viet Nam News.

Hoa spoke on the occasion of the business-to-business fashion trade show which opened yesterday (October 27) in Hong Kong, showcasing quality garments, textiles, and products and services from fashion-related industries.

As many as 27 leading Vietnamese manufacturers of garments, textiles, fashion accessories and garment-related industries are showing their products at the Global Sources Fashion Show, which will run until the end of the month.

ITPC is supporting most of the Vietnamese pavilions as part of its mission is to help HCM City businesses and attract foreign investment to Viet Nam.

Viet Nam has become a more attractive complementary garment sourcing destination for overseas buyers. Were seeing an increasing number of multinational firms from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore making not only completed finished clothes, but also buying fabrics, textiles, yarns, plastics, printing and other accessories, Hoa said. Theyre looking to expand their production capacity in Viet Nam and are shifting their production bases to Viet Nam to enjoy tax incentives and other advantages.

Before the show, ITPC worked with Global Sources, a Hong Kong-based B2B media company, to provide effective B2B export marketing workshops to help increase professionalism and buyer-supplier communication among firms.

Vu Ngoc Khiem, chief representative of Global Sources, said: In collaboration with ITPC, we have created a one-stop shop sourcing platform, for yarns and fabrics to completed clothes, from labels and tags and interlining fabrics to textiles and fashion bags, hats, caps and jewelry, so that buyers can meet businesses offline.

Vietnamese exhibitors have improved their manufacturing capabilities and expanded markets, finding new business buyers and growing exports, according to Khiem.

Vietnamese-made garments can be alternatives to Chinese suppliers, he said, adding that competitive price points were also important.

The idea of our show is to help our buyers get in front of Viet Nams top-quality export manufacturers at one trade-show floor where decision-makers can meet and negotiate trade possibilities.

Weve seen a trend where many export orders are shifting to Viet Nam not only because China is heading toward more sophisticated higher-value manufacturing industries but also because Vietnamese makers have stepped up to a new level of FOB export capabilities, and are more ready to compete with rivals via differentiation and excellent services, not just cost advantages anymore, Khiem told Viet Nam News.

Many of Viet Nams products will be featured during the fashion parade and at the New Market Pavilion, according to Khiem.

Analysys Choice, the trusted column viewed and evaluated by top buyers, designers and sourcing professionals, has also taken note of many of these products, he added.

Pham Minh Huong, director of the Viet Nam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), said: This is the third B2B tradeshow that Vinatex has exhibited with Global Sources. Vinatex aims to show buyers our wide range of production scale from small to mass production, and our one-stop sourcing house for buyers, from woven to knit items, with our developing ODM services.

Our capability of supplying materials in a vertical integrated system impresses buyers, she said. Not only is this a good opportunity for us to collaborate with new buyers and see global trends, but it is a chance for buyers to learn about our group and other professional manufacturers from Viet Nam at one convenient offline event. We met several buyers face-to-face before the show and we will meet them again to further our discussion in the pipeline.

The four-day tradeshow will host 1,800 booths of accessories, fabrics and apparel from Viet Nam, China, South Korea, India and the Philippines.

The event is expected to welcome more than 12,000 buyers from 150 countries and territories, including the US, the EU, Hong Kong and Japan, among others.

The on-site Fashion Parade features many products made in Viet Nam, including totes, bags and jewelry. The show offers a unique one-stop shop theme where buyers can discover Vietnamese manufacturers offering all kinds of garments, textiles, labels, bra cups and fashion accessories.

Other highlights include conference programmes, fashion parades and the Trends Forum, presented by Fashion Snoops and Pantone.

Global Sources is a B2B media company and a primary facilitator of global trade using its integrated online and offline services. In Viet Nam, Global Sources helps match buyers and suppliers through offline events.  VNS
Binh Duong  Mandos CEO and president Sung Il-mo, along with representatives of over 80 businesses from the Republic of Korea (RoK), held a working session with provincial authorities on Thursday to explore investment opportunities.

Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee Tran Thanh Liem said the locality recorded annual average growth of 8.5 per cent. The industrial development index increased over 10 per cent per year, while foreign direct investment (FDI) stood at over US$27.9 billion.

He recognised significant contributions of Korean firms to the local social-economic development, adding that the RoK came third among 62 countries and territories pouring money into Binh Duong.

More than 630 enterprises from the RoK are investing in Binh Duong with total capital of nearly $3 billion, he noted.

In the first six months of 2017, the RoKs investment continued to pour into 16 new projects, while 17 existing projects registered increased capital of $306 million.

He highlighted the RoKs major investment projects, such as Kolon Industries car tyre production worth $220 million and Sewang garment-textile companys apparel production worth $25 million.

Sung Il-mo said his group earned annual revenue of over $5.5 billion and specialised in manufacturing automobile spare parts.

Manando will continue exchanging views with local authorities after this field trip to ensure more investment in Binh Duong at the earliest, he added.

The same day, the RoK business delegation visited some local factories and met with leaders from the Binh Duong Investment and Industrial Development Corporation (Becamex).  VNS
Conglomerate Hoang Anh Gia Lais chairman oan Nguyen uc will sell 23 million HAGL shares as guaranteed assets to help the company restructure its debts. Photo cafef.vn

HCM CITY  Conglomerate Hoang Anh Gia Lais chairman oan Nguyen uc will sell 23 million HAGL shares as guaranteed assets to help the company restructure its debts.

The shares will be transferred between Friday and November 25 via put-through transactions, reducing ucs ownership in HAGL to 324.77 million shares, or 35.02 per cent of the capital.

The chairman is currently using his 145 million shares as guaranteed assets for corporate bonds that have been issued to Viet Capital Bank, Bac A Bank, HDBank, VPBank and Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV).

According to HAGL, the agriculture conglomerate has completed negotiations with lenders to allow the company to pay its debts and interest based on the sales of rubber and palm oil products from 2019 onwards.

At present, HAGL is offloading its assets in the business units that are not prioritised, such as the shopping centre-hotel-apartment-office complex in Myanmars capital Yangon, collecting debt payments and completing the conversion of corporate bonds into shares for Singapore national wealth fund Temasek Holdings.

HAGL, in early June, issued 137.5 million shares at VN8,000 per share to Temasek to convert corporate bonds worth VN1.13 trillion (some US$49 million). The bonds were issued to the Singaporean fund company in 2010 to fund the Vietnamese firm in developing rubber farms, building hydropower plants, buying copper ore processing machines and providing additional capital.

These actions aimed to narrow the companys total debt balance and direct financial sources to focus on large-scale exploitation of fruit farms to generate high profits in the near future.

On June 26, Northbooks Investment Mauritius Pte Ltd, holder of exchangeable bonds with total Par value of VN697 billion (equivalent to 697,000 bonds of HAGL), agreed to transfer all the exchangeable bonds to Glory Red Star Co Ltd, HAGL said in its second-quarter financial statement.

The bonds then were handed over to three other individual investors. Northbooks Investment Mauritius had previously offloaded VND433 billion worth of bonds to SSI Asset Management Co.

After the two transfers, Northbooks Investment Mautirius Pte Ltd and Temasek were no longer involved in HAGLs bond and share trading.

In the first nine months of 2017, HAGL has cut its total debt to VN23.1 trillion from VN27.3 trillion. The conglomerate targets to reduce its total debt to below VN22.3 trillion by the end of 2017.

In the first three quarters, HAGL estimates to post nearly VN4 trillion in combined revenue and nearly VN1.2 trillion in pre-tax profit, which included a third-quarter pre-tax profit of VN166 billion.

In the final quarter of the year, the conglomerate targets combined revenue of VN1.77 trillion and pre-tax profit of VN180 billion.

HAGL is listed on the HCM Stock Exchange under code HAG. The companys shares fell 1.9 per cent on Friday to VN7,550 (33.5 US cents) per share.  VNS

 VNS
Business / Local

by Stephen Jakes

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) will, on 30 October 2017, honour taxpayers under the banner of the annual Taxpayer Appreciation Day Awards. The dinner will be held at a local hotel under the theme "Honouring highest tax contributors for economic prosperity".Zimra said the awards seek to honour clients for their contribution to the Consolidated Revenue Fund through payment of taxes and duties. The day, which was introduced in 2011, has over the years seen a host of clients from various categories receiving awards for their sterling contribution to the fiscus and consequently, nation building."Clients will be recognised under various tax heads, which include Value Added Tax (VAT), Corporate Income Tax, Customs and Excise Duties and Pay As You Earn (PAYE), among others. The Taxpayer Appreciation Day is observed in some African countries to demonstrate the critical role that domestic resource mobilisation plays in African economies. The Zimbabwean commemorations come at a time the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has been surpassing its quarterly revenue targets, with the latest figures showing that gross collections for the third quarter amounted to US$1.03 billion, which translates to 19.25% above the target of US$863.56 million."Zimra said Net collections, after deducting US$62.05 million in refunds amounted US$967.76 million was still 12.07% above target. The positive performance was attributed to higher collections in VAT on local sales and imports, Individual Tax, Excise Duty and Company Tax.
Vincom Retail, the retail arm of the real estate conglomerate Vingroup, will debut on the HCM Stock Exchange on November 6. Photo Vingroup

HCM CITY  Vincom Retail, the retail arm of the real estate conglomerate Vingroup, will debut on the HCM Stock Exchange on November 6.

Vincom Retail will trade more than 1.9 billion shares on the southern bourse coded VRE at a debut price of VN33,800 (US$1.5) per share. Share prices have a range of movement of 20 per cent on the first day of trading.

At that price, the companys market capitalisation will reach VN64.25 trillion, equal to $2.8 billion, making it among the top 20 largest companies by market capitalisation in Viet Nam.

The firm has charter capital of VN19 trillion and is the operator of Vingroups 41 commercial centres with popular brands like Vincom Center, Vincom Mega Mall and Vincom Plaza.

The operation of commercial centres is among the most profitable segments of Vingroup. According to the corporations first-half financial report, the retail segment contributed some VN2.88 trillion in revenue and VN1.45 trillion in pre-tax profit for Vingroup.

Bloomberg reported in August that Vincom Retail held about 60 per cent of total market share in the Vietnamese retail sector.

Vincom Retail has two foreign shareholders  Warburg Pincus and Credit Suisse AG  which own 15.17 per cent and 5.06 per cent of the mall operator, respectively.

In August, Bloomberg reported that Vincom Retail was planning a domestic initial public offering worth some $600 million, which could become Viet Nams largest-ever share sale in the private sector.

The last debut offering that topped $100 million was from local budget airline VietJet Aviation JSC at the end of 2016.

Reuters on October 15 reported that Vincom Retail launched its IPO in a deal worth up to $713 million, which consisted of 380.2 million shares in the institutional tranche and another 19 million for the retail tranche, offered in an indicative range of VN37,000-40,600 per share.  VNS
HA NOI  The Ha Noi Construction Joint Stock Company No 3 (Hanco3)s proposal to demolish three resettlement buildings which have been deserted for a decade caused a stir over the huge waste of State resources, with the capital facing a severe shortage of resettlement homes and cheap housing.

The three buildings with a total of 150 apartments were completed in 2007 in Sai ong New Urban Area, Long Bien District, for residents which were affected by the project to expand Sai ong Street, Long Bien District. However, no residents moved into the apartments, leaving the buildings deserted and suffering from severe degradations.

Tran Van Phat, a resident in Sai ong New Urban Area, said that demolishing these buildings was wasteful considering Ha Nois shortage of affordable housing.

One citizen asked why the developer did not sell these apartments at reasonable prices instead of demolishing them, adding that many people would want to buy them at better prices.

According to Vu Ngoc am, Head of Urban Development Department under the municipal Department of Construction, the developer was required to hire a consultant agency to evaluate two options, repairing and upgrading the project or demolishing and rebuilding it. However, the developer did not report on this to authorities by a September 30 deadline.

It is estimated that there are about 1,000 resettlement apartments deserted in the city, according to the municipal construction department.

Each year, the city spends about VN2 trillion (US$87.7 million) on resettlement housing projects, an insufficient amount to satisfy demand.

A representative from Cau Giay District Peoples Committee said construction and services quality of resettlement housing projects were poor, and together with a shortage of surrounding infrastructure and facilities, people didnt want to live there.

Recently, the municipal Peoples Committee proposed the Government put in place a special mechanism to order developers to build 22,300 commercial apartments to add to the housing stock for resettlement by 2020.

According to am, with this mechanism, quality of homes for resettlements would be improved and the accountability of developers would be enhanced.

Ha Noi started piloting this mechanism for six projects with a total of more than 4,300 apartments which were expected to be completed by 2020.

Hanco3 reportedly wanted to demolish their three deserted buildings to build commercial apartments for resettlement as part of the citys pilot.

The city aims to complete land clearance for about 2,700 projects by 2020 which would require resettlement for more than 19,000 households. - VNS
Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh (centre) and members of the National Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Committee inaugurate the International Media Centre in a Nang yesterday.  VNS Photo Cong Thanh

A NANG  Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh and members of the National Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Committee officially inaugurated the International Media Centre in a Nang yesterday.

Minh praised efforts made by the central city, the Ministry of Information and Communication and other agencies in completing the media centre in time for the upcoming APEC 2017 Summit.

This media centre will serve for over 3,000 journalists and reporters from domestic and foreign agencies during the APEC Economic Leaders Week. It will help broadcast worldwide news of APEC, and images of a dynamic Viet Nam and a Nang.

It will play an important role in supporting a successful APEC Summit that includes a series of meetings and conferences of economic leaders, CEOs and ministers, he said.

Minh, who is chairman of the APEC National Committee also hoped that the centre would help promote an exciting and lively APEC Summit in Viet Nam.

He visited the booths of major news agencies, press conference halls, and dining area serving journalists and reporters during the APECs Economic Leaders Week on November 5-11.

A photo exhibition  Land and People also opened at the media centre yesterday, featuring 100 photographs of the landscape and beauty of people of Viet Nam.

A photo exhibition opens on the occasion of the 2017 APEC Summit in a Nang on November 5-11.  VNS Photo Cong Thanh

International news agencies including AP, Reuters, AFP, Fox News, Kyodo, Xinhua News Agencies, CCTV, Nikkei, Tokyo Broadcasting System and Fuji Television Network, as well as the host news agencies, Vietnam News Agency, Viet Nam Television (VTV) and the Voice of Viet Nam (VOV) have already set up their booths at the centre.

The centre, which covers an area of 1.3ha, will provide working space for thousands of journalists during the November 5-11 APEC summit.

Four press conference halls offer 400 seats for different press conferences. A main hall has been set aside for the Presidents final press conference.

It is expected that 15,000 delegates, CEOs and others from 21 APEC member economies will join the APEC Summit.
On the occasion of the National Day of the Republic of Turkey on October 29, Viet Nam News presents an article written by the Ambassador of Turkey in Viet Nam Akif Ayhan

It is a great pleasure for me to address the readers of Viet Nam News on the occasion of the 94th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey. Taking this opportunity, I would like to present my warmest sympathy and regards to the Vietnamese people, while sharing pride and joy with Turkish citizens everywhere in the world.

On this special day, we pay tribute to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who led the nation s war of liberation and whose vision enlightened not only the Turkish nation but also the world.

After more than nine decades of steady progress, Turkey stands today as the embodiment of an inspiring vision, an active member or partner at many international fora and a dynamic free market economy propped up by a young population. In this vein, I ought to mention the recent admission of Turkey into ASEAN as sectoral dialogue partner. This promising step clearly illustrates the growing presence of Turkey in different parts of the world but in particular in Southeast Asia as we approach the centennial of our Republic.

Flying high: Hot-air balloons over Cappadocia. - Photos courtesy of the Embassy of Turkey

We are confident that by 2023, our Republics centenary, Turkey will have made further strides at home and substantially increased her contributions to international peace, development and prosperity, from a region where the impact of global changes is quite obvious. The role assumed by Turkey is essential in the face of growing international terrorist threats. Our nations successful foiling of the attempted coup dEtat in July 2016 was an opportunity for our country to clean up the state apparatus, restore constitutional order and thus recover stability. From the politics to the economy, Turkey is stronger.

In the domestic economic field, Turkey has set a number of objectives for 2023. These include becoming one of the top 10 global economies, achieving a GDP of US$2 trillion, reaching an annual trade volume of US$1 trillion and receiving 50 million tourists a year.

The Turkish economys GDP has reached US$857 billion, with a growth rate of 3.2 per cent in 2016, becoming the sixth largest economy in Europe and the 17th in the world. The average annual growth rate between 2002 and 2016 was 5.7 per cent. According to the IMF, the Turkish economy is expected to grow 3.8 per cent in 2017 and 3.5 per cent in 2018.

Currently, Turkey is one of the most prominent economic actors in its region. In 2016, exports reached US$142.5 billion and Turkish imports were recorded at US$198.6 billion. Turkish exports are expected to exceed US$156.5 billion by the end of 2017.

Twilight: Sunset in Istanbul.

Turkey and Viet Nam have enjoyed friendly bilateral political relations ever since the establishment of their diplomatic relations in 1978. At the international level, the two countries increasingly extend support and provide incentives to each other. Viet Nams assistance for the establishment of Sectoral Dialogue Partnership between Turkey and ASEAN in August 2017 is an example of this fruitful cooperation.

The year 2017 has been a turning point for Turco-Vietnamese ties. The visit by H.E. Binali Yldrm, Prime Minister of Turkey, to Viet Nam in August 2017 constituted the first-ever official visit at that level between our countries. Both parties reaffirmed their determination to boost multifaceted relations in the shared interests of two peoples. Our Embassy will continue to collaborate with the relevant Vietnamese institutions and authorities toward this objective by activating untapped potential.

During the Joint Economic and Trade Committee meeting in Ha Noi in July 2017, Turkey and Viet Nam agreed on doubling trade volume to $4 billion by 2020. Moreover, some reciprocal cultural events planned for 2018 in line with celebration of the 40th anniversary of establishment of their diplomatic bonds will enhance people-to-people contacts.

I would like to reassert the mutual will of Turkish and Vietnamese leadership for strengthening interactions and shared endeavours between the two countries. The prospects for fertile and brighter cooperation are now clear.

With these thoughts, I once again greet the readers of Viet Nam News with my earnest sentiments while wishing well to the friendly people of Vietnam and to their eminent leaders. VNS
The National Assembly discussed the draft revised Law on Fisheries at its plenary session in Ha Noi yesterday. VNA/VNS Photo

HA NOI  The National Assembly discussed the draft revised Law on Fisheries at its plenary session in Ha Noi yesterday.

Several lawmakers stressed the need to establish centrally-run, municipal and provincial fisheries surveillance systems to ensure fisheries law enforcement and defend sovereignty over waters.

The work should also meet requirements for a capable surveillance system to prevent fishing practices which would result in an import ban from the European Union, one of the countrys major seafood markets.

Head of the Party Central Committees Organisation Commission Pham Minh Chinh asked for a review of activities of fisheries surveillance forces, thereby arranging their apparatus in line with Resolution No 18 of the 12th Party Central Committee to streamline the political system.

Many deputies suggested supplementing regulations regarding tax incentives, land, credit, epidemic disease warnings in aquaculture and modern equipment for offshore fishing in the draft.

Lawmaker Trieu The Hung from the Central Highlands province of Lam ong praised the significance of the States policy to support the purchase of insurance for offshore fishing vessels of individuals and organisation in the draft law.

The deputies also looked into land leases for aquaculture, funds for fishery stock development, and co-management in fisheries stock protection, among other details.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam led the Asia Pacific regions most generous market, with 78.5 per cent of consumers giving to charities.

It was followed by Thailand (66.3 per cent) and Hong Kong (60.2 per cent). This was revealed in the latest Mastercard Ethical Spending and Charitable Giving Survey released recently, Vietnamplus reported yesterday.

According to the survey, more than half the consumers surveyed (50.4 per cent) in November 2016 said they were doing their part for charity through donations, a slight increase from 49.9 per cent in the previous year.

The study revealed that childrens cause is one of the top three causes consumers across all 14 markets donate to.

Keen to nurture future generations, consumers across the region ranked childrens education and health (37.8 per cent) as the cause closest to their hearts, according to the surveys findings.

Consumers in the region also care about other areas, including local natural disaster relief efforts (33.7 per cent), as well as poverty and starvation alleviation initiatives (32.1 per cent).

More consumers in New Zealand (11.1 per cent), Viet Nam (8.7 per cent) and Hong Kong (6.6 per cent) are donating to charities, compared to the previous year, while the number of consumers from China (7.0 per cent), India (5.8 per cent) and Indonesia (4.1 per cent) is declining, the survey said.

Georgette Tan, Senior Vice President of Communications of Mastercard in the Asia-Pacific, said on the website, As Asia continues to make strong economic headway, we must not forget that the development needs in the region remain pervasive. We are very encouraged by this years findings, which show that consumers across both developed and emerging markets are doing their part to help those less fortunate and to give back to their communities."

"Additionally, with the high value placed on education in the Asian culture, its strongly encouraging to see that childrens education and health are the causes consumers are looking to support, he said.

The survey also revealed that consumers in the region tend to have a higher sense of responsibility in purchasing activities. More people make purchasing decisions based on whether the products are environmentally friendly, follow fair trade principles or their producers are socially responsible and donate part of their revenue towards good causes.

The survey was carried out across 14 markets in Asia Pacific: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Viet Nam. A total of 8,738 consumers were polled online in November 2016.  VNS
HA TINH  Hundreds of students in central Ha Tinh Province risk their lives every day, commuting to schools on unsafe bridges and via obsolete boats.

Students in the provinces Loc Yen Commune in mountainous Huong Khe District travel daily across the local Ngan Sau River to go to school. The outdated Huong Yen Bridge is built low, and during the rainy season, it gets inundated following heavy rainfall or sudden currents from the upper part of the river.

Nguyen inh Canh, a local resident, said the currents that fly atop the surface of the bridge after inundation are very strong and commuters can be easily swept away as the bridge has no fencing.

Earlier in July, strong currents from the water released by a local power plant swept three commuters away, but residents nearby managed to rescue two persons. inh Van Son, a student of Grade 11, was found dead later in the water, two days later.

The river is among the streams that gets water after each release of the Ho Ho power reservoir.

Heavy rains following a tropical typhoon and depression in the last two years have led to frequent floods along the river, which means long periods of the bridge being unusable due to inundation. A flood earlier this month kept the commune isolated for 10 days.

Nguyen Chi Thien, deputy chairman of the communes Peoples Committee, said the bridge is the only means of getting across for a community of 1,000 people, including 50 students.

In Phu Gia, another commune in the district, the recent flood swept away three people, who were travelling on a similar bridge, and they were later found dead in the water.

Students in Huong Thuy, another commune in this poor district, have to travel via obsolete wooden boats to go to school. Often, the boat does not just carry students, but also other commuters and motorbikes. During flooding season along the river, the boat moves only by hand pulling a rope connecting two opposite riverbanks.

Le inh An, a local, said residents in the commune have been expecting a bridge for decades and they have to rely on the unsafe boats despite a risk to children on board, as it is the only means of transport.

Nguyen Van Phu, a commune official, said the boats operating along the river do not comply with safety requirements but no ban can take effect. In case they are banned, locals would bring smaller boats to ferry their children to schools, which means more danger during flooding season, he said.

According to Le Ngoc Huan, chairman of the district Peoples Committee, 18 out of 22 communes in the district are separated by rivers, including Ngan Sau, Song Tiem and Rao Tro.

Bridges spanning the rivers are almost obsolete and have degraded but the districts budget is sufficient to replace only some of them. Others require more funds and we have to rely on budget allocation from provincial authorities, he said.

Huong Thuy Commune has gained approval for the construction of a bridge with government support and a site for its construction is currently being examined.  VNS
HCM CITY  The Ministry of Public Securitys Police Department for Environmental Crime Prevention and Control (C49B) and local police on Thursday seized more than 150 endangered animals being kept illegally at a house in the southern province of Binh Phuoc.

The police found 28 king cobras, 23 pangolins, 110 long-tailed macaques and several water monitors, turtles and small Indian civets inside the house of Le Quang Hanh in Loc Ninh District.

The animals, many of which are included on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, were found bound in sacks, ready to be transported.

Hanh did not have official certificates of origin for the animals.

Hanh buys the animals from the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta and sells them to people in the northern provinces, according to authorities.  VNS
GIA LAI - As a daily habit, Siu Jeh visits a village where people infected with leprosy live in Ia Ka Commune, Chu Pah District in Central Highlands Province of Gia Lai.

Despite losing some fingers, leper Ro Cham CMlo can still skillfully knit baskets. The baskets he makes are given to other lepers for use or to be sold at market. He is one of among 70 lepers being helped by Siu Jeh.

Siu Jeh, a skinny 60-year-old woman from Ja Rai ethnic group, founded this village.

More than 30 years ago, Siu Proi, Siu Jehs father who is infected with leprosy was abandoned by his community over fears the disease would spread. Siu Proi decided to move away with his wife, daughter and other lepers. Since then more and more lepers have moved there to live togther, giving the area the leprosy village moniker.

The lepers suffer not only pain, skin lesions and the gradual loss of their limbs but also discrimination. Siu Jeh helps them take water, chop down firewood and cook along with personal hygiene advice and bandaging.

Feeling sympathy for them, Siu Jeh came to other villages to ask for old clothes then fixed them to give to the lepers.

At first, the patients felt inferior and did not let her approach them. Siu Jeh had to talk to them, encourage them and live, eat together with them. Gradually she got close to the patients.

Children of lepers are often neglected by society over worries of transmission. In 1989, Siu Jeh decided to open a class for children aged five to 18 at the leprosy village. Since then she has been a voluntary teacher in the village.

One year later, the Red Cross built a house with two classrooms. Siu Jeh named it the school of love.

Since she came to the village, people support each other more. The pessimism covering the village has been replaced with optimism.

Leprosy patient Ro Cham Pyoi was abandoned by her children and helped by Sui Jeh. Surrounded by love from other lepers, she found a partner who is also a leper in the village.

A leprosy patient named Mich also used to be neglected. After learning about her circumstance, Siu Jeh walked dozens of kilometers to meet her and take her to the village.

Now I am given medicine and money to buy rice. I am no longer afraid of starving and dying, she said.

About 20 patients have been cured of the disease and reintegrated into the community. They plant pepper, coffee trees and raising animals the, Siu Jeh said.

Head of administrative unit of Bluk Blui village A Ruen said that the village has 145 households with more than 500 people living stable lives.

Siu Phul, Siu Jehs younger sister has continued her sisters work to become a voluntary teacher at the leprosy villages school.

Three generations have grown up in the village. The discrimination no longer exists. Now villagers discuss trading and harvesting, Siu Peh said.

Ksor Sum, chairman of Ia Ka Communes the Committee said that every month local officials donate money to buy food for leprosy villagers.

We couldnt find another second person who would stay with lepers for 30 years like Sui Jeh, he said.

Asked what motivates her to spend her life with lepers, Siu Jeh just simply answered It is all about sympathy. - VNS
Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien has asked authorised agencies to commence criminal proceedings against people who commit violence against health workers to ensure the safety of doctors in their workplace. Photo dantri.com.vn

HA NOI  Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien has asked authorised agencies to commence criminal proceedings against people who commit violence against health workers to ensure the safety of doctors in their workplace.

The request was made after a reported increase in the number of attacks on health workers.

The ministry estimated there had been several tens of cases of assaults on health workers by patients or patients families in hospitals since early this year. Although the ministry has taken measures to tighten security in hospitals, the situation has not improved.

On Monday, a doctor at the Viet Nam-Cuba Hospital in central ong Hoi City was punched by a patients relative when he was trying to break up a brawl at the hospital.

Dr Tran Thanh Son, deputy head of the hospitals Emergency Department, suffered a corneal laceration.

Last Friday (October 20), Tran Thi Thanh Hai, deputy head of the medical clinic in central Ha Tinh Provinces Huong Long Commune, was stabbed several times in the arm with a knife. She had refused to give her attacker, Hoang Xuan Hai, an IV as he was drunk.

The two doctors are still at undergoing treatment.

Last month, a video clip of a female doctor being slapped on her face by a patients relative sparked public outrage. Hoang Thi Minh, doctor at central Nghe An Provinces People 115 Hospital was slapped while giving emergency treatment to a patient.

Nguyen inh Hoang Thang, the attacker, admitted the assault, saying that he lost control as he watched his nephew bleeding severely.

In July, a doctor at northern Bac Giang Provinces Viet Yen General Hospital was injured as a patient relative threw a medical instrument at his head.

The ministrys Department of Medical Check-up and Treatment revealed that most assaults occurred at provincial-level hospitals, injuring doctors working late shifts.

In reply to press on Wednesday, Tien said she was very upset about the assaults on medical staff.

Assaulting a person on duty violated the law, and moreover, attacking a doctor treating a loved one was morally reprehensible, Tien said.

The ministry had taken measures to strengthen security at hospitals, especially at night. However, in many cases security forces arrived too late to stop patients or their relatives assaults.

It seems that the health sector is alone in the fight against violence on health workers, Tien said.

Tien said the ministry urgently asked authorised agencies to get tough on violence on health workers, including by launching legal proceeding against attackers.

It also encouraged the public to strongly oppose violence on doctors, she added.

Nguyen Trong Khoa, deputy head of the Department of Medical Check-up and Treatment said that most doctors only cared about their professions and ignored bedside manner and having a friendly attitude towards patients and patients relatives.

Thus, the ministry is building a handbook for hospitals, which would help doctors to recognise psychological changes of patients or patients relatives and be able to protect themselves.  VNS
LIVE: Mugabe addresses Chiefs conference in Bulawayo

by Staff reporter

PRESIDENT Mugabe is expected to address the National Council of Chiefs conference tomorrow at the Large City Hall in Bulawayo.



In an interview yesterday, the Chiefs council president, Chief Fortune Charumbira said after President Mugabe's address, the conference will continue to engage the different Cabinet ministers on issues affecting the people.



"All is set for our annual meeting and this time we are being hosted by Matabeleland North province. President Mugabe will address us on Saturday morning and thereafter we expect to continue engaging the different Cabinet ministers on issues affecting our people," said Chief Charumbira.



He said among the many issues to be discussed will be the role of chiefs in food security, health, education, land, mining and other resources.



"Now that we have elections next year, we will also discuss how chiefs can help to ensure peace prevails before, during and after elections," he said.



Chief Charumbira said chiefs and their spouses started arriving in Bulawayo yesterday ahead of the conference which starts at 9AM today.



The conference will be closed by Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko on Saturday night.
CEDAR FALLS  Dennis Messingham remembers the grilling he received when Ken Jackson interviewed him about renting 135 acres of farmland five years ago.

It didnt let up until Messingham managed to get in a question of his own about the planting practices he planned to use on the field.

I asked him if I could no-till the beans into the corn, and I thought he was going to faint, recalled Messingham, who rotates between planting the two crops. He assumed Jackson, already in his 80s, would favor the older practice of tilling the field to prepare it for planting rather than the no-till approach Messingham uses to better control erosion.

But his question was the right answer, said the farmer.

Thats because Jackson, who died in May 2016 at the age of 86, had already significantly invested in conservation efforts on the field, located at the northwest edge of Cedar Falls. Since 1988, about 45 acres of the land has been terraced, a conservation practice that minimizes erosion and washing nitrogen from fertilizers into waterways on hilly or sloped land.

A sign next to the field near Union and Westbrook roads commemorates that decision with the words Saving our soil for decades. It includes the names KLJ Farms (for Kenneth Leigh Jackson) and Black Hawk Soil and Water Conservation District, which encourages such farming practices and paid for the sign. It was installed several months ago, replacing an older, worn sign the agency also installed.

Its the only sign noting the use of terraces in the county. Officials say Jacksons family has been continuously using the practice longer than any other landowner here.

Jackson, who owned Century Pattern Co. in Cedar Falls, wasnt a farmer.

He always wanted to farm, said Jane Jackson, Kens wife. When this (land) came available, we had some money and we got it from the bank. He loved to come out and walk the fields.

They also owned other farmland across the Cedar Valley where Ken had implemented various conservation practices over the years. I would probably say it was in the mid-60s when he started to put land in conservation reserve, said Mark Jackson, his son. So his father welcomed the opportunity to install the terraces on this land.

Elaine Hammer, conservation technician with the Natural Resources Conservation Services in Waterloo, helped lay out Jacksons terraces. The NRCS works closely with the conservation district.

Its a little dike we built up, a little dam, she explained. A system of tiles also was installed just below the surface with a series of intakes at the bottom of each terrace, allowing the water to drain. The terraces curve around the sloped land, slowing the water.

Theyre normally on this type of land, she said. This was a perfect piece for this.

Terraces are partially paid for with federal cost-sharing funds on land that qualifies because of topography. Farmers who install the terraces are required to keep them in place for a set number of years  which the Jackson land has far exceeded. The terraces have remained despite the growing size of equipment and newer conservation practices some farmers use instead.

Its all about carrying on Dads legacy, said Mark Jackson. He knew that with bad farming measures, the character of the farm wouldnt last.

Some who installed the terraces in Jacksons era eventually removed them.

A lot of people like to knock these terraces out these days, said Messingham. Thats a really bad thing. I dont see any reason to take them out if theyre already there.

In certain parts of the state, probably Northeast Iowa, its still pretty common to have the terraces, Hammer added. Building new ones is down, really, throughout the state.

Farming Jacksons land was a good fit for Messingham.

Ive been for the conservation ever since I started farming in 1984, he said. The rest of the farm that isnt terraced, I farm on the contour. We also are minimal till to no till  no till mostly.

In addition, he plants a cereal rye cover crop after harvest. Along with stopping erosion, cover crops help control weeds.

Messingham acknowledged not everyone farming on hilly land will go through the expense of terracing, which also has the potential of reducing crop yields since not as many acres can be planted in a field. He suggested those farmers may use some of the other methods to slow erosion or keep nitrogen in fertilizers out of waterways.

I truly think everybody is working towards the conservation end of it, he said. The Jacksons just went a little further.
WATERLOO  Angela Johnson, who set in motion Cedar Valleys first domestic violence awareness march, chanted Love is not abuse. Abuse is not love.

Or, she would have if the cold and wet conditions hadnt moved the inaugural event indoors Friday afternoon. But her message  and that of other domestic violence advocates and survivors  was no less resonant.

To some degree, everybody knows somebody who has dealt with domestic violence  so my advice to anybody who knows somebody who is going through domestic violence, support them and let them know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and to break the silence to stop domestic violence, Johnson said.

The need to speak up was a key point survivors made to the more than two dozen attendees at the Waterloo Center for the Arts.

Never be silent. If somebody is hurting you, its not OK. Its not love. Sorry is not going to fix it. Thats abuse. Thats controlling, manipulative abuse, so please let your voices be heard, said survivor Sky Baldwin.

Baldwin suffered physical abuse by her then-fiance after she spoke up about him laying hands on her child; but she stood before the crowd and confidently told them to speak up.

Johnson said talking about domestic violence isnt about sharing personnel business with others but finding people to support you.

Support may come from a friend, an advocate or someone from church.

Those who find themselves in crisis are encouraged to call (800) 410-7233 (SAFE) for help, or visit www.fofia.org/. The website has an escape button for those who need to quickly leave the site.

Friends of the Family, which recently expanded services to 20 counties and dropped Cedar Valley from its moniker, helped Johnson organize the event after she realized there wasnt an awareness march happening already.

Rosie Young-Julion said domestic violence impacts people regardless of age, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, race, religion or nationality. She noted one in three women and one in four men have been physically abused by an intimate partner.

And to those who say theyve never met someone whos been a victim of domestic violence, she retorts, that you know of.

Theres a stigma attached to people who are in these relationships, and these stigmas dont belong to those people, Young-Julion said. It takes so much courage to actually pull yourself up to be able to walk away from things like that.

The event recognized by name the 15 people who lost their lives due to domestic violence in Iowa between 2016 and 2017.

Each attendee received a purple flower  the color denoting domestic violence awareness  that harkened to a poem titled I Got Flowers that remembers those lost to domestic violence. The flowers were tossed into the Cedar River as part of the ceremony.

Young-Julion said awareness events take on added importance after organizations like Friends of the Family suffered state budget cuts.

You go home some nights and youre like, Oh my goodness, I dont feel like I did anything today. And its not that you didnt do anything, its just that your hands are tied, she said. Its just hard. Its really hard.

Johnson hopes to make the event an annual one.
WATERLOO  Katie Weihbrecht took off her dog Beykees leash and collar as the Labrador/Akita mix sniffed the air, already catching the scent of its prey.

Calm, she told the dog softly, patting him. Then she let him go.

Immediately, Beykee  short for Sir Francis Bacon, the man who helped devise the scientific method  began running around and testing his own hypothesis: Where, among several hiding spots and decoys in bales of straw, were four live rats?

Beykee joined dozens of other dogs of various breeds and temperaments in the first barn hunt competition held in Waterloo this weekend, hosted by the Eastern Iowa Barn Hunt Club and sanctioned as an official event by the Barn Hunt Association.

Dogs attempt to find a certain amount of live rats in a fenced-in area in a certain amount of time, depending on the division theyre competing in. The rats, also owned as pets, are safely ensconced in tubes and unharmed by the competition.

Terriers, bred for centuries to hunt rodents, tend to do well at this type of competition, said Lana Luhring, who organized the clubs hunt. But its not breed-exclusive.

Most dogs can be taught to do it, she said Saturday. For some dogs, its the drive to get the rat.

Its also up to their owner to decide if their dog is telling them theyve found a real rat, or if its just smelling a decoy filled with rat litter. Michelle Fogt of Reinbeck calculated that possibility when her 6-year-old Vizlsa, Quin, hovered over a tube.

Rat? Fogt asked the judges, tentatively.

Live rat! they confirmed.

It was Quins first try in the open division, Fogt said, and she got both rats without hitting a decoy. Fogt said shes still working on learning Quins indicator, or what a dog does when shes found a real rat.

She did really good  better than I expected, Fogt said.

Tyler Wronski, a 13-year-old from Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., also ran his 1-year-old Jack Russell terrier, Lightning, in the open division. He said it was easy to train his dog to barn hunt.

You get a rat, get a tube and hide it places and see if he finds it, Wronski said. Its a terrier  they were born to hunt.

His mother, Zella Wronski, said the family loves competing in other kinds of dog competitions, like flyball and agility, too.

This is just kind of a mommy-and-me thing, she said. Its exciting.

The love of dog competitions was what convinced Maggi and Joe Mills to offer their Elk Run Road barn to the club for the weekend-long competition, Maggi Mills said. Theyve been at that property for a year and have begun turning it into a training barn and boarding house, called Aussie Hill Boarding and Event Center.

We just love dogs; always have, Maggi Mills said. Were crazy dog people.

Their own Australian shepherds compete in all kinds of dog competitions, but only one does barn hunts.

Our baby dog, Whisper, she was the one who really took to it and liked it, Mills said. The other four older ones were like, eh.

Beykee, the Lab/Akita mix, would compete in anything Weihbrecht asked of him  for cheese. But after finding all four rats within the allotted time period in the senior division Saturday morning, Beykee didnt need any treats or praise. He just wanted to go find more rats.

Barn hunt is his favorite thing  Im so glad we discovered it, Weihbrecht said. Its the only thing he truly enjoys.
Youth-only and Military/Veteran-only waterfowl hunts canceled this weekend at Ballard WMA; Fewer blinds available at Boatwright WMA
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News / National

by Staff Reporter

Landlords across the country's suburbs are avoiding albino tenants, perpetuating the intense stereotypes that the minority group continues to suffer, the Albino Charity Organisation of Zimbabwe (ALCOZ) said on Wednesday.Speaking on the sidelines of a handover ceremony of a $10 000 donation from Stanbic Bank, ALCOZ executive director Loveness Mainato said they were receiving disturbing reports that most landlords were portraying a repulsive attitude towards people living with albinism."People with albinism continue to face discrimination at the highest level, because they are facing accommodation challenges as landlords are shunning them and disqualify some because they have children who are living with albinism," she said.Mainato said the most affected group were children with the condition because schools were not yet offering friendly facilities that could help albino students with poor eyesight emanating from the condition.She pleaded with the government to reinforce its efforts in spearheading albino-friendly policies that can economically empower the group in self-sustenance and help eliminate the ongoing harsh stereotypes."The children are called mungau, musope, munhu akamenywa or nguruve at school, and we are pleading with the government to consider these challenges and even help with more self-empowering projects and policies that can help people living with albinism to fend for themselves," he said.Mainato's call comes at a time the government, in partnership with Zimplats, has launched a campaign dubbed Beyond This Skin to demystify albinism and discourage the public from targeting the group for the colour of their skin.While handing over the assortment of goods being donated to ALCOZ including sunscreen lotions and bath soaps, Stanbic Bank chief financial officer Solomon Nyanhongo said corporates had a mandate to support people living with albinism."We have since 2015 supported this fight. As business it is our duty to give back and make a positive impact within the society because these people are just like everyone else, and they have the same potential to succeed in life," he said.
In Costa Rica, October is our May. Birds begin to filter down through this southern part of Central America by August but the biggest avian movement happens during the third and final weeks of October. While birders up north are pishing up sparrows, digging the Autumn weekend at Cape May, or twitching vagrants, we are busy with kingbird flocks during our height of migration. A River of Raptors is flowing in the Caribbean lowlands, the tens of thousands of vultures and hawks flanked by streams of Chimney Swifts and swallows. Put the focus on infinity, look up into the blue, and you will probably see a constant movement of swallows no matter the time of day. Check the nearest fruiting fig and you would be hard pressed not to find a few Red-eyed Vireos, Summer Tanagers, Baltimore Orioles, Swainsons Thrushes, and a Scarlet Tanager or two. We might not get the variety of a New Jersey autumn but we do get major numbers of species that winter in South America. Most of them fly on the Caribbean side, especially along the coast south of Limon, and thats why I guided the Birding Club of Costa Rica down that way this past weekend.

Some of the Birding Club at Selva Bananito.

On past trips, we have been to Manzanillo and the Cahuita area and the birding has always been exciting. However, this year, we opted for a site that could also give a chance at Great Jacamar and a few other key resident species in addition to migrants. That site is Selva Bananito and as it turns out, perhaps not by coincidence, its also a place where conservation coincides with migration. Selva Bananito was actually founded in the seventies but back then, it was a sizeable farm like any other. Fair parts of the property were used to cultivate different crops, some areas were pasture for cows and horses, and other areas were covered in forest that was meant to be logged, selectively or otherwise. However, some time between then and now, the children of the original farm owner convinced their father to leave the stands of primary forest alone, to let precious mahogany trees just be and keep on growing. They reforested certain parts of the farm, built an ecolodge, and have been committed to sustainability ever since, including being involved with the offsetting of carbon emissions caused by travel to and from the hotel, as well as supporting a local rural school.

In doing so, they have provided food and shelter for thousands of migrant birds along with habitat for hundreds of resident birds and other players in the local Talamanca rainforest ecosystem. Lucky for us, our recent sojourn to Bananito coincided with a major push of migrants. Several local birders remarked on the numbers of birds that passed through the country during those days, I suspect that many of the birds were held up by recent storm systems (including one that caused floods, landslides, and tragedies). Here are some highlights and observations of that very birdy weekend at Selva Bananito:

There are a lot of pewees that pass through Costa Rica: Based on past experiences of pewee mania, I already knew this to be the case but this trip really took the cake. From the time we started driving through the lowlands, we could not escape views and calls of Eastern Wood-Pewees. By far the most common bird encountered, the small drab flycatchers quickly became the avian hubris in our fields of view. I hate to say that but when you have to wade through pewees to find an Empid. or almost anything else, thats the way the birding ball bounces. However, its also true that when pewees are calling and flying from nearly every stick, its going to be a damn good day of birding.

Along with lots of other migrants: Once you learn to ignore the peewees, you can pick out the many other migrants likewise taking advantage of the tropical abundance. Many of these were using the reforested areas of Selva Bananito and included banner numbers of Bay-breasted Warblers (more than I have ever seen in Costa Rica), dozens of Red-eyed Vireos along with a few Yellow-green Vireos, the occasional Olive-sided Flycatcher, Scarlet Tanagers, and many, many Great-crested Flycatchers. The next time you see a Bay-breasted Warbler in May, know that it might be singing its heart out because it was able to use habitat at Selva Bananito and other protected areas in Costa Rica.

I think we saw more than 30 Bay-breasteds in one day, in one fairly small area. Some were feeding on the ground.

The River of Raptors was intense: I am pretty sure that this past Saturday was one of the bigger raptor migration days encountered in Costa Rica. The constant flow of Turkey Vultures and Broad-winged Hawks was par for the course but when we scoped a few kettles of Swainsons Hawks that numbered in the thousands, we suspected that the day was a big one. My suspicions were confirmed when I heard reports from other observers who remarked on the incredible migration that occurred in Costa Rica on October 21st.

Black Swift!: Nope, I wasnt fast enough for a picture. I wish I would have been quicker on the camera draw because the bird was low enough to see that it very well. It was migrating with a constant stream of Chimney Swifts, I wonder where it spent the summer?

Parrots galore: Down by this one river, there were flocks of Mealy, Red-lored, White-crowned, Blue-headed, and Brown-hooded Parrots. Parrots in Costa Rica require plenty of old trees for nesting as well as for food. Seeing and hearing so many is a good sign that the habitats at Bananito are functioning well. We also had three parakeet species, and, best of all, a fast-flying flock of the little known Red-fronted Parrotlet!

Snow in the form of a cotinga: For those who arent aware, cotingas are sort of the cream of the crop of the neotropical avifauna. Like royalty, they sport brilliant glowing blues, reds, and other colors, look and sound funny, and tend to be uncommon. There are three snow white species, two of which reside in Costa Rica. One of those, the Snowy Cotinga, is fairly common at Selva Bananito. We saw them do their butterfly flight over the tree tops every day.

Their regular appearance didnt stop them from being camera shy.

The greatest one: And yes, we did see a Great Jacamar! Truly a last minute bird, most of the group were already in the cars and ready to leave when local guide Justo and myself heard one give its raptor-like vocalization (it also gives a cat-like one). The bird came to the edge of the forest and even waited long enough for everyone in the group to see it through the scope! Lifer for most, a mega year bird for me, and an opportunity to admire iridescence somewhere between a motmot and a quetzal.

The picture might not be so great but the bird is.

Owls: From my cabin, during less than an hour, I heard Crested, Spectacled, Mottled, and Central American Pygmy owls as well as Great Potoo and Collared Forest-Falcon. Scope looks were had at the pygmy-owl just before we saw the jacamar.

Birding potential: All of the above point to Bananito harboring a great degree of birding potential. The property is so large, there are several areas that see little coverage including extensive primary forest that goes into the foothills. Part of the road to the lodge also goes through very promising habitat, and in being situated on a flat jeep track, is ideal for birding with a group. Camera traps deep in the forest have recorded Jaguar, Puma, Ocelots, and other animals. I wonder what else is back there?

The high number of migrants and quality species not only show how important the area around Selva Bananito is for birds, it also shows that reforestation and sustainability in practice do indeed work to provide food and shelter for a wide variety of species. If you visit, tell Justo, Jurgen, and Harvey I said, Hi, and please share your eBird lists in the comments. My eBird list from Saturday.


Recently, there was a huge discussion among fans and trade circles when the makers of Superstar Mahesh Babus upcoming political drama, Bharath Ane Nenu, announced that the film will be released on April 27, 2018. This led to numerous speculations that Stylish Star Allu Arjuns ongoing social drama, Naa Peru Surya, will be postponed to May next summer.

However, Bunny Vas, one of the makers of Naa Peru Surya, confirmed in a latest media interaction that Naa Peru Surya will be released on April 27, 2018 as announced earlier. This means that both the films will be entangled in an intense clash at the box-office next summer. We will have to wait for a few more months to see if any of these two movies will release on a different day.

Articles that might interest you:
News / National

by Staff reporter

VILLAGERS in Chakohwa Village in Chimanimani West were on Monday left weak-kneed after mysterious creepy-looking goblins and witchcraft paraphernalia, popularly known as gona, were discovered at two homesteads' doorsteps. The Chipongo family woke up on Monday morning to the sight of a brown gourd suspected to be a goblin which had colourful beads and black feathers on top. It was placed on a log outside the kitchen hut.At the Mupikata homestead, there was a black clay pot which contained colourful beads and small sticks. A scary-looking stripped cloth was covering the clay pot which looked new. The Chipongo and the Mupikata families are not related. Their homesteads are about two kilometres apart. Both families were in state of shock when The Weekender visited their homesteads on Monday afternoon and were grappling to fathom the meaning of the strange developments. They were similar footprints at both homesteads.Business at the usually busy Chakohwa Business Centre was brought to a halt as scores of villagers jostled to catch a glimpse of the macabre drama. Mrs Cleri Ali, who stays at Chipongo homestead, said they were living in fear and were not aware of the intentions of the objects."I woke up in the morning intending to prepare food for my school-going children before I was stopped in my tracks after coming face to face with the strange objects. I alerted my husband who was equally shocked. He went to Mutare to notify our uncles so that we could plan the way forward. We don't know what to do. We hope traditional healers and community leaders will assist us," she said.Mucharemba Mupikata of Mupikata homestead was also baffled."I woke up preparing to go for work when I saw the clay pot which had beads and some scary items inside it. We are in a state of shock and fear. Minhenga yeshiri irimo yatityisa. We will not sleep in the house before a cleansing ceremony is done. This is very unusual. We have never seen something like this before. The fact that there is also a strange object at another homestead makes the whole issue complicated," he said.Village head Parireyi Evans Mutidzawanda, who was in the company of his aides and other villagers, visited both homesteads to get first-hand information. He said the happenings were shocking and strange. He said action would be taken soon before deaths or other calamities strike the village."Traditionally this is strange," said Mr Mutidzawanda."I am shocked. We have launched investigations to ascertain the real intentions of the person who is behind this. We will also converge and advise both families after consultations with local traditional healers. We used to read of such bizarre stories in newspapers unaware that this would happen right on our doorstep. We will leave no stone unturned in our quest to get the truth," he added.The Weekender learnt that the items were expected to be burnt with the assistance of church leaders and traditional healers. Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers' Association president Mr George Kandiero said the matter was potentially dangerous and should be treated as a matter of urgency."This is very dangerous. Some people might be up to something not good. These items may harm both families and cause calamities such as starvation, incessant death and sickness among other things. The community leaders should act fast and engage exorcists who should assess the danger and probably burn them if they are not harmful."This, however, should be treated as a matter of urgency. The set-up of the items from the pictures I saw reveals that they could be impending disaster if the matter is not dealt with amicably," said Mr Kandiero.A church leader who requested anonymity said families involved should seek the face of God and seek protection from future attacks."Although we appreciate the role played by exorcists in situations like these, it is critical for these families to seek protection from God and be safe from future attacks," he said.
Angela Stubbs interviews John Freeman in the Los Angeles Review of Books:

JOHN FREEMAN IS a word slayer, known for his keen editorial eye. But he is just as keen to illuminate the stories of people in all lands. In the past several weeks, Freeman has released his debut book of poems, Maps, an anthology of essays titled Tales Of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation, and the fourth issue of Freemans, his literary journal. All his literary endeavors are meditations on memory and love, which feel like guideposts on a search for authentic self-knowledge. In his poems, Freeman manages to offer an antidote to suffering, chaos, and pain by illuminating the loneliest, darkest places in each of us. His work is its own form of cognitive behavioral therapy for the reader. Instead of probing at the root cause of pain, his poems ask us to acknowledge and appreciate the journey, rethinking our attitude toward it. I emailed with John over the past month to discuss politics, poetry, and why imagination is at the heart of all our experiences.

ANGELA STUBBS: How did the writing of Maps help you unravel the internal maps youd made over the years? How difficult was it to revisit some of these memories in order to write these poems?

JOHN FREEMAN: Writing poetry has always been a largely instinctual thing for me, something I do only when I feel like it, often very quickly at night or in transit. Scribble, scribble. My internal editor needs a lot of distraction to shut off. For the last 20 years, as a journalist and editor, I have been a human deadline, bouncing from one assignment or production date to the next. Poetry was a way to unplug and return to a deeper mode of thinking, and not direct my mind at a task but into a space. Ive always felt the unconscious mind maps things far more interestingly than our rational, waking mind, so making this book was for me an attempt to try to be guided by that principle, to see what lived in there  for me  in the possibility of a poem. Im so glad it wasnt just filled up by muscle cars and Tom Petty tunes.

More here.
Scott Alexander in Slate Star Codex:

The Baffler publishes a long article against idiot New Atheists. Its interesting only in the context of so many similar articles, and an inability to imagine the opposite opinion showing up in an equally fashionable publication. New Atheism has lost its battle for the cultural high ground. r/atheism will shamble on as some sort of undead abomination, chanting BRAAAAAAIIINSSSSare what fundies dont have as the living run away shrieking. But everyone else has long since passed them by.

The New Atheists accomplished the seemingly impossible task of alienating a society that agreed with them about everything. The Baffler-journalists of the world dont believe in God. They dont disagree that religion contributes to homophobia, transphobia, and the election of some awful politicians  and these issues have only grown more visible in the decade or so since New Atheisms apogee. And yet in the bubble where nobody believes in God and everyone worries full-time about sexual minorities and Trump, you get less grief for being a Catholic than a Dawkins fan. When Trump wins an election on the back of evangelicals, and the alt-right is shouting DEUS VULT and demanding throne and altar conservativism, the real scandal is rumors that some New Atheist might be reading /pol/. How did the New Atheists become so loathed so quickly?

More here.
Chris Hedges in truthdig:

The global vacuum we leave behind will be filled by China, already establishing itself as an economic and military juggernaut, or perhaps there will be a multipolar world carved up among Russia, China, India, Brazil, Turkey, South Africa and a few other states. Or maybe the void will be filled, as the historian Alfred W. McCoywrites in his book In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of US Global Power, by a coalition of transnational corporations, multilateral military forces like NATO, and an international financial leadership self-selected at Davos and Bilderberg that will forge a supranational nexus to supersede any nation or empire.

Under every measurement, from financial growth and infrastructure investment to advanced technology, including supercomputers, space weaponry and cyberwarfare, we are being rapidly overtaken by the Chinese. In April 2015 the U.S. Department of Agriculture suggested that the American economy would grow by nearly 50 percent over the next 15 years, while Chinas would triple and come close to surpassing Americas in 2030, McCoy noted. China became the worlds second largest economy in 2010, the same year it became the worlds leading manufacturing nation, pushing aside a United States that had dominated the worlds manufacturing for a century. The Department of Defense issued a sober report titled At Our Own Peril: DoD Risk Assessment in a Post-Primacy World. It found that the U.S. military no longer enjoys an unassailable position versus state competitors, and it no longer can  automatically generate consistent and sustained local military superiority at range. McCoy predicts the collapse will come by 2030.

More here.
Siddhartha Mukherjee in The New York Times:

Every medical case, to paraphrase the writer Viet Thanh Nguyen, is lived twice: once in the wards and once in memory. Some of what follows is still intensely vivid, as if it were shot in high-def video. Other parts are blurry  in part because I must have subconsciously deleted or altered the memories. I was 33 then and a senior resident at a hospital in Boston. I had been assigned to the Cardiac Care Unit, a quasi I.C.U. where some of the most acutely ill patients were hospitalized. In mid-September  it had been a moody, rain-drenched month, as I recall  I admitted a 52-year-old man to the unit. Ill call him by the first letter of his given name, M. As medical interns, we were forewarned by the senior residents not to identify too closely with patients. A weeping doctor is a useless doctor, a senior once told me. Or: You cannot do an eye exam if your own eyes are clouded. But M.s case made it particularly hard. He was a doctor and a scientist  an M.D., a Ph.D., like me. He must have been about 15 years ahead of me in his schooling; I could imagine him returning to my class in med school to teach us Patient-Doctor, in which students are taught how to deal with real-life patients. Hed trained as a medical resident and then as a fellow in cardiology at another hospital across town. He was now an assistant professor  it seemed like such a victory to have that title  and ran a small laboratory. I knew a student who once worked with him. Six degrees of separation? There was barely one.

Earlier that year, in March or April, M. became short of breath in the middle of his run. (Was his running route the same as mine? Across the Longfellow Bridge at Mass General, looping around the river and then back again by Storrow Drive?) His legs turned cold and blue. He had dizzy spells and lost words in midsentence. He saw a cardiologist  presumably one of his own colleagues  who diagnosed heart failure. A series of scans must have revealed a sluggish heart. In place of the regular, intentional motion  jellyfish pulsing in a tank  there was an eerie wobbliness, just jelly. A biopsy was performed, and the diagnosis was amyloidosis, a mysterious condition in which misfolded proteins begin to be deposited in the organs of the body. Sometimes the proteins come from cancer cells; sometimes from poorly understood sources. The deposits choke the organs: heart, liver, blood vessels, kidneys. And then, bit by bit by bit, I was all pro-te-in, he said dryly, paraphrasing the Tin Man in Oz. We laughed. M. needed a new heart. Im writing this casually, as if you go to the used-heart salesman on Long Island and pick one up on a three-year lease. Hearts are notoriously hard to find; someone has to die for you to get one. About 3,000 hearts are available in the United States every year. Many come from youngish men and women whove had accidents or drowned, leaving them in a peculiar limbo  brain-dead but heart-alive. But there are never enough: At any given moment, about 4,000 patients are waiting for a heart. Many of them will never find one.

More here.
Artists with Double Lives: Dilcia Giron, Insurance Exec and Multidisciplinary Artist, Makes Art Out of Life's Imbalances
News / National

by Freedom Mutanda

Last time, we deliberated on Question 1 and 2 of Paper 2. Questions often arise as to why Germany lost the war in 1918 and students of History dig deep into their archives as they advance different reasons pertaining to German defeat. However, for one to score highly, one must identify a minimum of 10 points which are amply amplified. Some of the reasons are solely Germany's fault while others are from without such as weak allies, entry of the USA into the war, allied high command and others.Question 3 zeroes in on the Paris Peace settlement which went a long way in restoring peace in Europe and the world. Importantly, students have to appreciate the role of the Big Four, namely President Woodrow Wilson (USA), Prime Minister Lloyd George (UK), Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau (France) and Prime Minister Orlando (Italy).Questions on the four leaders' wishes in a post-war world shaped the treaties that went on to be signed in the intervening discussions. Top of the wish list is Woodrow's 14 points which any serious student of History must do well to take to heart and the Tiger (Clemenceau) wanted Germany to be decimated and reduced to a third rate power while the idealistic Woodrow Wilson wished to spread democracy by being magnanimous in victory. Consequently, some of the terms hammered out in the five treaties were aggressive and meant to prove that the allies were the winners.The treaties of Neuilly, Lausanne, Trianon, St Germain, Sevres and Versailles are the direct aftermaths of the intense negotiations among allied victorious powers and as fate would have it, the defeated powers were never near the negotiations; they only came in to sign a dictated peace.Therein lies the question of fairness in the terms. Notably, Germany once made France sign a harsh treaty where the latter lost an invaluable territory  Alsace-Lorraine and it follows therefore, that Germany could not cry foul about the terms, so goes the oft stated phrase. A student must bring forward various points of departures before arriving at a conclusive statement having analysed the points brought forward.For students of History, Question 3 offers them an opportunity to get a lot of marks as the questions are almost predictable.The precursor to the United Nations Organisation is the League of Nations which was derived from Woodrow Wilson's 14th point that called for the establishment of an international organisation which would ensure peace prevails in the world. It is instructive to note that the USA never joined the League of Nations as the legislature in the USA refused to endorse what its president had heartily championed in his days at Paris where they hammered out a deal to stop the war and punish Germany.Often, the political work of the League is tested about and students must cite specific incidents when countries clashed and how the league solved or failed to solve the clash. German and Italian foreign policies are handy since they constitute more than half of the League at work. The early years of the organisation were golden years but as the thirties neared their halfway stage, aggression took centre stage. How far did the League succeed in carrying out its mandate?The above question carries with it different answers but to show that one appreciates evaluation, synthesis and judgment, one has to look at the weaknesses of the League constitution and exogenous matters. As a result, an answer that will get 7/8 is one that has value judgment. Descriptions of the organs (assembly, secretariat, ILO, the council and the Permanent Court for International Justice) and Committees are often asked.As I said last week, that must be child's play. Assessing the efficacy of collective security as espoused by the tenets of the League of Nations requires a close inspection of the League at work and how it dealt with cases involving big powers and how the rise of dictators sharply hastened the destruction of peace in Europe and ultimately the whole world went into a tailspin politically and militarily.Fascism is a phenomenon which glorifies war and dictatorship. Mussolini and Adolf Hitler are the leading lights of this ideology which sent the world to Armageddon in the 1930s. Question 5 and 6 look into Italy and Germany in the post- war years. Here are two seemingly small men who catapulted the world into an inferno through their aggressive foreign policies.Students are urged to familiarise themselves with the factors leading to the rise to power of the two strong men. Interestingly, Mussolini's rise to power was quick via the march on Rome while Hitler had to endure more than a decade of contesting elections and losing until the Great Depression struck the whole world and Germans voted because of the politics of the stomach and his Nazi Party romped to victory in The Reichstag.Did the Italians and Germans benefit from their leaders' domestic and foreign policies? To what extent were economic factors responsible for the dictators' rise to power? Students have to be analytic and evaluate.For question 7, think about Boom, Bust and Recovery in the United States of America. Students should remember that for every success or boom, there must be reasons. The ''Roaring Twenties'' owe their existence to the affluence in America brought about by the boom whose origins are anchored on good government policies variously called laissez-faire or non-interference of the government in business. Nevertheless, things turned for the worse when the Wall Street crashed in October 1929 and all hell broke loose.Politics in the USA brought Franklin Delano Roosevelt to power and that is another aspect that examiners are happy to test students on. His 100 days plan pulled America from the brink and herein lies the question: what did President Roosevelt to change the lives of people after the great depression? Candidates need to look at the positives but at the same time, note that unemployment wasn't completely eradicated.Question 8 looks at the causes of the Second World War. Italian, German and Japanese aggression and the League of Nations' weaknesses headline the causes while British and French Appeasement policies closely follow behind.Democracy and Human Rights are enshrined in our Constitution and the 2167/2 encapsulates them in question 10 and 11. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) is the Bible that guides human right laws in the world. First, second and third generation rights are captured therein and candidates use UDHR to answer questions related with human rights. Special attention must be given to Child Rights and Women Rights. Observers note that Zimbabwe has been consistent in observing human right. Clearly, the analytic question should be able to tackle the issue of culture in violating human rights and also discuss the way forward. Human rights and democracy are cousins.Owing to space, I have to end here but there are four questions to tackle as we continue our journey to demystify the History subject. We are a week away from writing the first paper and The Manica Post will next week finish the enthralling subject which every budding leader must understand and appreciate if s/he is to make an impression as a leader. Leaders are historians and people are historians. It is the people who make history.
Assyrians Return to Their Rebuilt Town Amid Fragile Ceasefire Between Kurds, Iraqi Army

Iraqi Christians have started flowing back into a town in Northern Iraq over the last several days amid a fragile ceasefire between the Kurds and Iraqi army. After roughly 2,000 Assyrian-Chaldean Christian families fled the recently rebuilt town of Teleskof, strategically located in the Nineveh Plains, on Tuesday, the U.S. government stepped in to exert pressure on both the Iraqi government and the Kurds to stand down. So far, there has been no exchange of gunfire in the past 48 hours and some Christian families have started returning as the United States keeps a close watch to ensure the ceasefire continues, according to sources in touch with people on the ground. Catholic leaders are crediting that U.S. intervention for the survival of the town and its Christian community, which could have easily become collateral damage as the two sides squared off and prepared to battle each other for control of the area. "We are grateful that just last evening American government involvement was able to stop the planned battle for Teleskof, a town in Nineveh recently liberated from ISIS and rebuilt with a $2 million grant from the government of Hungary," Carl Anderson, CEO of the Knights of Columbus, said Wednesday night when introducing Vice President Mike Pence at the In Defense of Christians dinner in Washington, held to highlight the plight of persecuted Christians around the world. "The destruction of this town could have been in a very real way, the beginning of the end of Christianity in Iraq," he said. "There are so few of these towns left--each one is precious. While the peace is fragile, we are grateful for our government's attention to this issue." Hungary had provided millions of dollars to help families return to Teleskof, which ISIS overran in 2014. Catholic organizations have cited the Hungarian commitment as a model for U.S. government foreign aid and assistance. Pence announced Wednesday that President Trump had directed State and USAID to bypass the United Nations to more directly help the Christian, Yazidi, and other religious minorities in Iraq who were slaughtered and persecuted by ISIS rebuild and return to their communities. Anderson, as well as several lawmakers and human rights activists, applauded Pence for the decision, which came after a months-long lobbying campaign against the Obama-era policy of providing U.S. humanitarian aid to the United Nations to distribute in Iraq. Catholics organizations operating on the ground in Iraq have argued that Christian and Yazidi communities, as well as other religious minorities, have seen little very few tangible evidence of the U.N. aid. Some church leaders documented evidence of corruption and mismanagement of the U.S. aid money intended for these communities.
News / National

by Staff reporter

A BINGA man who married a second wife before formally divorcing his first wife has been charged with bigamy and failure to pay maintenance.Felix Mupande (32) from Chief Siabua area pleaded guilty to both charges when he appeared before Binga resident magistrate Ms Aelene Munamati on Thursday.The court heard that Mupande illegally married a second wife and was also in maintenance arrears of $280.The arrears arose after a magistrate ordered him to pay $30 per month starting in September last year for the upkeep of his wife and two minor children, whom he had abandoned.Mupande told the court that he decided to marry another woman after his wife Mrs Smallgirl Dube-Mupande denied him sex for three months.He said he was prepared to stay with his wife on condition that his conjugal rights were restored."I knew that it was wrong to marry another woman before formally divorcing the first wife but I did that because she denied me my conjugal rights for three months," said Mupande.Mrs Dube-Mupande said she put her husband on sex sanctions because he was not supporting her and the children.She, however, left the court a happy woman after the magistrate told her that she had every right to evict the second wife from her matrimonial home."Go and play your part as a woman. You also have the right to chase away the second wife because she is not legally married as you are not yet divorced," said the magistrate.For bigamy, Mupande was sentenced to one month in jail which was wholly suspended on condition that he completes 35 hours of community service at Malube Primary School.He was sentenced to two months in jail for defaulting on paying maintenance and the jail term was suspended on condition that he clears the maintenance arrears by November 15.Prosecuting, Mr Bruce Maphosa said Mupande was in September last year ordered by the same court to pay $30 per month for maintenance after abandoning his wife and two minor children.He however, did not pay anything until last month when he was arrested after the money had accumulated to $360.Upon his arrest, it was discovered that Mupande had also married a second wife Ms Otilia Muzamba resulting in bigamy charges being preferred against him.After being arrested, Mupande paid $80 towards the arrears.
Tammy Carpenter and John Barry Hubbard

Bibb County law enforcement officials, including then-Sheriff Keith Hannah, knew John Barry Hubbard had raped a woman and terrorized her and her sister, but for months protected him and refused to warn the women of more looming danger to them, a federal lawsuit by one of the women claims.

They ignored his threats and vandalism, covering for Hubbard when he shot out the windows of her business and tried to push her car into a pool. They ignored the video that showed him putting up defamatory posters about her. They ignored all the signs of a deranged man.

Until July 21, 2015, when Hubbard killed 30-year-old Kandi Murphy with four shots - two to the chest and once each in the arm and leg. Until July 21, when he dragged her sister Tammy Murphy Carpenter, then 46, into the woods and raped her, according to Murphy's lawsuit.

Hubbard, 60 at the time, was later charged with capital murder and stalking. Hannah, the sheriff, would later commit suicide.

But the story, laid out in this lawsuit, lives on. And those being sued deny their alleged roles.

The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Alabama federal court by Florence attorney Henry F. "Hank" Sherrod on behalf of Carpenter, lists as defendants: Frankie Hannah, as the representative of Keith Hannah's estate; Keith Crofford, Hannah's chief investigator; Harold Randolph, a Bibb County businessman, Hubbard's employer and a close friend of Hannah's; Jeffrey Randolph, Harold Randolph's son and business partner in Aranco LLC and Randolph Company; Shelby Jean Hubbard, and Gary Wade Rowland, both relatives of Hubbard.

According to the suit, Carpenter and Hubbard had been in relationship, during which time he abused Carpenter. Her efforts to get out the relationship were met with violence culminating on May 9, 2015 when Hubbard imprisoned Carpenter in her home and raped her. When Carpenter escaped, she went to the home of her sister, Kandi Murphy. She then went to the hospital and was admitted under a ''safety name" for psychiatric care.

Once Carpenter was released from the hospital, "Tammy was eventually able to gather the strength and courage to report the rape," and on May 21, the sisters went to meet with Bryan Jones, assistant district attorney in Bibb County. He assured them, according to the suit, that charges would be filed against Hubbard.

"Charges were not brought because Harold Randolph intervened on Hubbard's behalf,'' the suit claims. It goes on to explain that Hubbard was employed by the Randolph family and had a close personal relationship with them. The suit also contends Randolph is a man of substantial influence in Bibb County, one of the largest landowners in the county and was a close friend of the sheriff's who communicated with him daily via Southern Link and through other means of communication.

"Randolph and Hannah conspired and agreed to protect Hubbard from criminal charges and arrest,'' according to the suit. "Hannah enlisted other members of his department in this conspiracy, including Keith Crofford, Hannah's chief investigator."

The suit says prosecutors didn't file charges against Hubbard because of the influence of the sheriff. Bibb County District Attorney Michael Jackson told AL.com this week that Jones was "met with resistance" when he tried to pursue charges against Hubbard.

The lawsuit contends that while the protection of Hubbard began with an intervention to protect Hubbard from charges for the May 2015 rape of Carpenter, the protection didn't end there. "It continued for two months as Hubbard, emboldened by the protection he received, engaged in a violent campaign that ended in the abduction and rape of Tammy and the murder of Kandi on July 21, 2015."

Kandi Murphy was killed July 21, 2015 (Facebook)

That violent campaign, according to the suit, included Hubbard breaking into Carpenter's home, burning her mobile home in Orange Beach, burning the storage building behind her house and shooting out the windows of her business. He also was captured on video putting up defamatory posters about Carpenter. Hubbard, the suit claims, used his Randolph company truck in all, or most of, the incidents and was on the clock for the Randolphs much of the time.

In May of that year, AL.com has previously reported, Carpenter had filed for a restraining order against Hubbard, but her case was dismissed when she failed to appear at a hearing.

In late June 2015, there were multiple calls and meetings between Hannah, Harold Randolph and Crofford about Hubbard. The suit says all were concerned that Hubbard would hurt Carpenter and perhaps even kill her. "Rather than fire Hubbard and take the truck away, the Randolphs and their companies continued to employ Hubbard and permit him to use his company truck to terrorize Tammy and their employment of him as an alibi.''

According to the suit, the sheriff and Randolph told Hubbard he had been caught on video putting up the defamatory posters and that they could no longer protect him. "By late June,'' the suit reads, "Hannah, the Randolphs and Crofford knew Hubbard was responsible for the criminal acts against Tammy and recognized that Hubbard's escalating campaign of terror against Tammy was highly likely to end in tragedy."

Throughout June and into July of that year, Carpenter repeatedly sought help from the sheriff and his deputies and was repeatedly denied help, the suit claims. Not only did they not help her, it reads, but "by communicating to Hubbard that he was above the law, these defendants further emboldened him. Nevertheless, until the very end, the Randolphs, Hannah and Crofford had an opportunity to save Tammy and Kandi."

On June 20, 2015, close to midnight, Hubbard drove his company truck to near Carpenter's home, stole a logging skidder using a universal skidder key he got through work, and rammed the sisters' vehicles. They called 911 and met with a deputy the following day. "Hannah and Crofford discussed with Randolph that they were all in an untenable situation,'' the suit reads. "They discussed how they had protected Hubbard after the rape. They discussed how Hubbard, rather than backing off, had continued terrorizing Tammy. They discussed that Hubbard was out of control."

The suit says Randolph, Hannah and Crofford agreed that the sheriff's officials would meet with Hubbard and tell him he had no choice but to leave town. "All agreed and understood that Hubbard's likely response to learning he would no longer receive the sheriff's protection would not be to just leave town quietly," according to the suit. "All agreed and understood that Hubbard was highly likely to choose a violent solution to the situation."

They met with him at 8 a.m. on July 21, 2015 and told Hubbard they could not protect him any longer, the suit reads. "During the meeting, Hubbard made clear he intended to solve the problem through violent means. Nevertheless, Hannah and Crofford did not arrest Hubbard or warn Tammy."

After leaving the sheriff's office that morning, Hubbard - still on the clock for his employers - went to Carpenter's home and waited in the woods until the sisters finished meeting with the deputy. Also that morning, the suit contends, Murphy posted on Facebook about Hannah's refusal to protect them. "Hannah called Tammy and Kandi multiple times to get Kandi to remove the Facebook posting. Hannah did not warn Tammy or Kandi about Hubbard; his only concern was the Facebook post,'' the suit reads.

In the meantime, according to the suit, Crofford called Carpenter. While she was on the phone with the investigator, Hubbard - brandishing two guns - walked through Carpenter's backyard, entered her home and fatally shot Murphy. Hubbard then hit Carpenter over the head and dragged her a couple hundred yards to his company truck, which was parked in nearby woods.

Suffering from four gunshots wounds and a fractured skull, Murphy was still able to call 911 and tell authorities that Hubbard had shot her. She later died at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa.

The suit says Hubbard then drove Carpenter to the Talladega National Forest, where he forced Carpenter to strip. As a result of the exposure to the elements, she had more than 100 bug bites and other injuries.

While in the woods, Hubbard wrecked his truck. He then used two cell phone calls to place several calls, including to lawsuit defendant Shelby Jean Hubbard and Gary Wade Rowland. Other calls were to Harold Randolph. Rowland ended up using Shelby Jean Hubbard's vehicle to pick up Hubbard and Carpenter and then took them to a motel room rented in his name.

Hubbard was arrested, and Carpenter rescued, the following night after police swarmed the Travel Inn off Interstate 59 in Eutaw after Carpenter was able to ask a nearby restaurant worker for help.

Hubbard was charged with first-degree aggravated stalking and capital murder-burglary, capital murder-kidnapping, and two counts of capital murder - rape. He remains in the Bibb County jail without bond. The next status hearing in the case is set for early November.

If convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death, Hubbard would be following in the footsteps of his father, James Barney "J.B." Hubbard, who was executed by lethal injection in 2004 for the 1977 murder of a Tuscaloosa grocer.

Rowland, his cousin, was also charged with capital murder but that charge was later dismissed at the request of the Attorney General's Office, which is handling the prosecutions in the case, for lack of probable cause. Rowland is still charged with kidnapping and hindering prosecution. His trial is set for Feb. 12, 2018.

Hannah, 50, was found dead from a single gunshot wound to the head shortly after 9 a.m. on Nov. 16, 2016. His body was discovered in the restroom that adjoined his office. He had been with the sheriff's office for 29 years and joined the force when he was 21. His career as sheriff started in January 2003. His death was ruled a suicide.

Former Sheriff Keith Hannah

Efforts to reach Bibb County sheriff's officials for this story were unsuccessful.

Jamie Helen Kidd, one of the attorneys represenying Hannah's estate, said she couldn't comment pending the ongoing litigation. She, like many of the attorneys in the case, has filed a motion to dismiss the sheriff's estate from the lawsuit. She contends the former sheriff is entitled to immunity from prosecution.

"The allegations in the instant case do not plausibly suggest that Sheriff Hannah was aware that John Barry Hubbard was as dangerous as he turned out to be towards either Tammy Carpenter or Kandi Murphy,'' the motion reads. "Further, they do not suggest that he either emboldened or ignored the risk of which he was aware."

On the contrary, she wrote, the allegations make clear that Hannah told Hubbard he could not protect him twice before the July 21, 2015 incident, and was taking concrete steps at least of the morning of July 21, to investigate and prosecute Hubbard. "With the benefit of hindsight, his actions would appear to be too little and too late,'' according to the motion. "There is no preexisting law, however, that would have given Sheriff Hannah notice at the time that he was constitutionally required to take different or more action."

Tuscaloosa attorney Robert Spence, who represents Rowland and Shelby Jean Hubbard in the lawsuit, did not return a call seeking comment. Spence also has filed a motion to dismiss his clients from the suit. "The allegations fail to assert how these parties might have known that by giving Tammy and Hubbard a ride after their vehicle broke down that they were assisting Hubbard to escape, and completely fail to allege that Tammy requested any assistance,'' Spence's motion reads.

Montgomery attorney Richard Hill Jr. represents Investigator Crofford. Hill declined to comment for the story saying, "I do my talking in court,'' but he, too, has filed a motion dismiss his client from the lawsuit claiming Corfford is immune to prosecution through his position.

David L. McCalister, of Carr Allison Pugh Howard Oliver & Sisson in Vestavia Hills, represents the Randolph family and its company. He filed a response to the suit last month, and said he not yet in a position to comment further. "My clients, of course, deny all of these allegations,'' he said.
Roy Moore, speaking to the Alabama Federation of Republican Women this afternoon, mocked a "liberal press" headline as evidence of what he said is a crucial fight over leadership in Washington.

"Jeff Flake out. Roy Moore in. Heaven help us," Moore said, reciting the headline in a Washington Post column that bemoaned the retirement from the Senate of Flake, a Republican critic of President Trump. GOP Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, another Trump critic, is also retiring.

"Well, I hope heaven does help us," Moore said, to applause.

"I don't know Jeff Flake. I don't know Bob Corker. I've never met these gentlemen. But they seem to be leaving their positions for some connection with my election, they think. And I don't understand that. I understand that I stand for certain principles. I stand for a lot of the principles Donald Trump stands for. A lot of the things he's trying to accomplish I want to see accomplished."

The twice-ousted former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice faces Democrat Doug Jones, a former U.S. attorney, in the Dec. 12 special election for the U.S. Senate.

Moore got a warm welcome at the federation and spoke with a life-size replica of Trump in the background. The Republican Party has not lost a statewide race in Alabama in almost a decade and polls show Moore is ahead. But he said he was worried about complacency in the wake of his wins in the Republican primary and runoff.

"I'm afraid because of the heightened publicity of the first two campaigns, the runoff and the primary, that people will think it's over and think there's no need to go to the polls," Moore said. "December 12 is a very unique time because most of the time we don't have them in December.

"So that's what concerns me the most is getting the vote out, getting people to go to the polls."

Several women in the audience said the state Republican Party is taking nothing for granted. Dawn Ray of Shelby County said a door-to-door campaign is cranking up and she expects voters to turn out.

"The field offices are set up, the hiring has been done," Ray said. "And it's going forward. We're not complacent."

Turnout was only 15 percent for Moore's runoff win over Sen. Luther Strange on Sept. 26. But Janet Oglesby of Grand Bay said interest in the Moore-Jones race is strong.

"A lot of people are working for Judge Moore because we have to get a conservative, not someone who says they're conservative, but someone who is conservative, in that position," Oglesby said.

Diana Crews of Geneva County said Moore's opposition to Common Core curriculum standards in public schools attracts a strong following.

"Those that are very much angry at what's going on in the schools, education, they want their voice to be heard and they know he's the one," Crews said. "I know those moms and dads, and there's quite a few of them, are going to come out big."

Moore told the group he believes conservative women are the strength of the Republican Party.

Much of his speech covered his standard message that the country has strayed from its founding principles and the acknowledgment of God in government.

"I want to bring God back into government," Moore said. "And I want people to stop thinking that government is their God. And we'll have a better place to live for our children, our grandchildren."

Later, he was asked about a previous statement that Islam is a false religion and whether as a U.S. senator he should respect separation of religion and state.

"The separation of religion and state I hold highly valuable, OK," Moore said. "That's the way we have the rights to worship God according to the dictates of our conscience. But the acknowledgment of the sovereignty of God is not religion to be kept from the state. Indeed, the state would not exist in this country without an acknowledgement of God.

"If you go back to the organic law contained in the United States code, you will find that it is based on the Declaration of Independence. That's one of the organic laws of our country, which recognizes a certain God that gave us a right of freedom of conscience, without which, we would not have other religions in this country."

Moore said he and Trump have talked on the phone. Trump endorsed and campaigned for Strange in the primary, but Moore has consistently said he supports Trump's agenda.

"He knows my position," Moore said. "I don't think he knows me well. We haven't talked personally one on one."
A "poorly organized" Tropical Storm Philippe moved closer to South Florida on Saturday night, and tropical storm watches remain in effect for part of the state.

Tropical Storm Philippe was a lopsided storm on Saturday night. with most of its worst weather to the east of its center. (NWS)

The National Hurricane Center said Philippe, the 16th named storm of 2017 in the Atlantic, could brush the southern part of Florida on its way to the Bahamas. It moved over western Cuba earlier Saturday.

A tropical storm watch is in effect from Craig Key to Golden Beach on Florida's east coast.

Most of the storm's winds are on the east and southeast side of the center, but they will come close enough to Florida that forecasters decided watches are necessary. Philippe's biggest impact for Florida will be rain, which has been spreading northward across the peninsula on Saturday.

As of 10 p.m. CDT Saturday, Tropical Storm Philippe was located about 25 miles northwest of Key West, Fla., and was speeding to the north-northeast at 24 mph, the hurricane center said.

Philippe had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. It is expected to intensify some over the next two days, the hurricane center said.

The hurricane center expects Philippe to lose its tropical characteristics by Monday.

Philippe is expected to pick up even more speed as it continues on a path to the northeast tonight. On that track the center of Philippe will move across the Florida Keys or the southern tip of the Florida peninsula overnight, and across the northwestern Bahamas on Sunday morning, the hurricane center said.

Tropical storm warnings remain in effect for parts of Cuba and the northwestern Bahamas. A tropical storm watch is also in effect for the central Bahamas.

While Philippe likely won't bring especially strong winds to Florida, will bring heavy rain and strong storms.

The hurricane center said 3 to 5 inches of rain will be possible in South Florida and the Keys, with isolated totals as high as 8 inches.
Tuscaloosa County Homicide Unit investigators arrested two teens in connection to the death of a 69-year-old Vietnam veteran in July.

Cody Williams and Fernandez Britton Jr., both 18 years old, were taken into custody on Friday. The victim, Lester Williams, was found deceased in his residence located in the 1600 block of TY Rogers Jr. Avenue. Tuscaloosa police and the homicide unit found the victim while responding to a call about a possible murder at the location.

The caller said they heard a disturbance at the home. When authorities arrived on scene, investigators said the front door was kicked in and Williams was found dead in his bed.

Williams was charged with murder and will be booked into Tuscaloosa County Jail on a $150,000 bond. Britton was charged with first-degree burglary will be booked in jail on a $60,000 bond. According to jail records, Williams was already placed in jail on a $15,000 bond on Monday for two counts of third-degree burglary.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Ray Goba has been shown the door as the country's Prosecutor-General (PG), barely two months after assuming the high-profile position.President Robert Mugabe rescinded Goba's confirmation as PG yesterday, in a move seen as a direct attack on Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who presided over his appointment in his previous capacity as Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs minister.Mnangagwa lost the Justice ministry to former Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) director-general Happyton Bonyongwe about three weeks ago.
As the political crisis unfolds, we explore some of the most important issues surrounding the future of Catalonia.

The Catalan parliament on Friday voted to declare independence from Spain, prompting celebrations in Barcelona and a strong response from the central government in Madrid.

Within an hour, the Spanish Senate authorised Prime Minister Mariano Rajoys government to impose direct rule over Catalonia.

The crisis began when Catalans voted to secede from Spain in a banned referendum that was met with police violence on October 1.

As the political crisis unfolds, we answer some of the most important questions about the future of Catalonia.





What next for Catalan leaders?

Rajoy has fired Catalonias regional government, including its leader, Carles Puigdemont.

Speaking after a crisis cabinet meeting to decide Madrids measures, Rajoy declared the dissolution of the Catalan parliament and called a snap election in the region on December 21.

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Central government ministries will assume directly the powers of the Catalan administration until the regional poll takes place, he said.

Spains prosecutors office, meanwhile, said it would file rebellion charges against Puigdemont. A court will have to decide to accept the charges.

Under Spanish law, the crime of rebellion can be punished with up to 30 years in prison.

Spains Constitutional Court has also started a review of the Catalan parliaments vote.

How will Spain impose direct rule?

There are many obstacles in Madrids way, given that Catalans are fiercely protective of the regions high degree of autonomy, such as direct control over education, healthcare and the police.

Spains government said it was not planning to make any arrests, but it is unclear how it will proceed if the current regional administration staff refuse to leave their offices.

Mossos dEsquadra, a group of Catalonias police force favouring independence, has already said its members will not follow instructions from the central government and will not use force to remove ministers and legislators from power.

Rajoy said the Mossos chief would be fired.

Mossos officers may be replaced by national police, who used heavy-handed tactics to thwart the referendum. Some fear this could lead to physical confrontations.

Catalonias secessionist groups have meanwhile called for widespread civil disobedience.

The Catalan National Assembly called on civil servants not to follow orders from the Spanish government and urged them to follow peaceful resistance.

It is unclear whether such calls will be followed or not. Not all Catalans support breaking away from Spain, with polls showing they are roughly split.

How will the crisis affect Catalonias economy?

Spains economy ministry has already increased its control over regional finances and started paying directly for essential services. Under the new proposal, Madrid will take full financial control.

Instability unleashed by the declaration of independence is sure to have economic consequences.

Nearly 1,700 companies have recently moved their legal headquarters out of Catalonia, a region accounting for one-fifth of Spains economic output.

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Shares in Spanish companies, particularly Catalan banks, dropped sharply after the vote.

The region attracts more foreign tourists than anywhere else in the country.

What does the world think?

Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, said the Catalan parliaments declaration of independence had changed nothing, adding that the EU will only deal with the central government in Madrid.

For EU nothing changes. Spain remains our only interlocutor, Tusk said on Twitter.

For EU nothing changes. Spain remains our only interlocutor. I hope the Spanish government favours force of argument, not argument of force.  Charles Michel (@eucopresident) October 27, 2017

The EU has insisted that the standoff in Catalonia is an internal matter for Spain and backed Madrids position that the October 1 referendum was illegal.

Madrids allies in the EU and the US meanwhile rallied behind Rajoy, voicing alarm over the latest constitutional crisis, and expressing support for a united Spain.

A political crisis can only be solved through dialogue, Charles Michel, the Belgian prime minister, said on Twitter.

A political crisis can only be solved through dialogue. We call for a peaceful solution with respect for national and international order  Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) October 27, 2017

Germany and the UK said they back Spanish unity and do not recognise Catalonias unilateral declaration of independence.

The (German) federal government does not recognise such an independence declaration, German Chancellor Angela Merkels spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement posted on Twitter.

The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Spain are and always will be inviolable, he added. We hope that those involved will use all available opportunities for dialogue and de-escalation.

#Katalonien: Die Bundesregierung erkennt die einseitige Unabhangigkeitserklarung des Regionalparlaments nicht an. pic.twitter.com/dsC1fl7ub8  Steffen Seibert (@RegSprecher) October 27, 2017

UK Prime Minister Theresa Mays office said Britain does not and will not recognise the Catalan regional parliaments declaration of independence, which is based on a vote that was declared illegal by the Spanish courts.

But the Scottish government, led by the pro-independence Scottish National Party, criticised Spain for refusing dialogue and said imposition of direct rule by Madrid cannot be the solution.

The United States has also backed Madrids efforts to keep the country united.

Catalonia is an integral part of Spain, and the United States supports the Spanish governments constitutional measures to keep Spain strong and united, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.
A recovering addict recounts how her son witnessed her overdose on heroin and her babies were born addicted to drugs.

The US drug epidemic  which now claims more lives than gun deaths  shows no sign of abating. One region that has been hit hard is central and southern Ohio, the towns and cities along Route 23, a highway that has become known for heroin trafficking.

Amanda is a recovering addict from Chillicothe, Ohio. Her addiction started with a Percocet prescription for back pain. She later switched to heroin because it was cheaper and easier to get hold of. After almost dying from an overdose in front of her young son, she stopped using heroin, but she is still battling addiction.

This is her story in her own words.

I grew up in Latham, Ohio, a small town probably 10 to 15 minutes from Chillicothe. Latham was just kind of boring. Theres not really much to do. Theres no movie theatres, nothing.

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I think thats one of the bigger issues for a lot of kids around here; a lot of the drug problem is because people are bored.

My husband, Justin, and I later moved to Fort Campbell, an army base in Kentucky. And that actually is where my addiction kind of began.

It began when I got a prescription for some pain pills and then my husband was on pain pills, Percocet, and I just kept taking them. I liked them. I was having some back pain, went to the doctor and theyre very bad about over-prescribing pretty much for anything. Or they used to be. You got back pain? Heres some Percocet.

I liked them and kept taking them. It made you feel numb, happy and warm inside.

After I fell pregnant, I quit taking them. When we moved back here to Ohio, I got a hold of pain pills off the street. I was homesick. I got in with some of the wrong people and started taking Percocet, but this time, I started taking higher doses.

It got to where I liked it so much it became an everyday thing. The price of them was like $40 a pill, so think about it, when youre taking at least two to three a day, thats an expensive habit.

Then, someone I knew introduced me to heroin. I was uneducated about it. I began using. Started off snorting it, and then it progressed deeper, and before I knew it, it got to the point where if I didnt have it I felt like I was going to die.

In the beginning, my husband didnt know. I hid it pretty good. I think he knew that I was using something, but I dont think he realised the extent.

The wake-up call

Once, I had used, and we went a couple minutes down the road to a gas station. He comes out of the store, and I am completely collapsed over. He thinks Im joking. Hes like, quit messing, whats wrong with you? He goes to pull me out of the car, and Im purple and blue, like I had ODd. He had to do CPR. My son was in the backseat.

I was so lost in that addiction, I never knew how bad it was, and I didnt even think you could die. That was, of course, when heroin first started going round. Now its like people are dying left and right.

I got so thin because I was so strung out, and when I was like that, I just wouldnt eat. I went down to 100 pounds, and Im 511. I was so thin.

I'll struggle with addiction for the rest of my life. I do believe once you're an addict you're always an addict it'll always be a battle for me. by Amanda, recovering drug addict

Im lucky I never ended up with Hepatitis like a lot of people. I was clean about it, but how clean can you be, you know? Youre injecting something that could kill you.

When youre using that every day its like your brain has completely changed. Like, you are not the same person you were before. It controls your mind, your way of thinking, everything.

It hurt seeing them go through withdrawal

I never used heroin again after that. But I had two pregnancies on the Subutex [the brand name for the opioid buprenorphine]. When I gave birth, they sent their cords off and tested them, and nothing came back but the buprenorphine. But my babies both withdrew off of it.

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It was out of my control. I wanted off that medicine but my doctor told me if I quit taking it, I wouldnt carry the baby at all  that my body would most likely miscarry.

Thats the problem, though; people pay $200 to $300 to see their doctor. They dont cut their dose. You have to basically tell the doctor, Ok, Im ready for you to lower my dose now. Its kind of like theyre pill mills, in a sense.

So your baby is withdrawing from this medicine that you have to take and you didnt have no choice in the matter, because if you wanted them to live, you had to take it. But it hurt seeing them withdraw like that. Its all from my addiction. I put my babies through that.

You have a lot of guilt and shame because its sad to see a baby have to go through that. I stayed at the hospital with them both the whole time and did everything I could to comfort them. They were the saddest days in my life because I just felt so bad.





I just lost it

I was such a good girl: went to school, started college. I was a perfect kid, and it was like, I just lost it.

I liked the good, happy feeling when I got my fix.

Its like a big blanket just goes over you. Everything just feels perfect, you just feel like a new person. You dont think about the negative. You dont think about anything. Its just like nothing matters.

I went to my in-laws for [my son] Brodys birthday party once, and I was sick, had to have my fix for the day. I left his party to go get my fix. Looking back, I feel horrible for it, but then I wasnt the same person. Amanda was gone. I wasnt Amanda anymore. I was someone else. It was like I was possessed. I can never imagine leaving one of my childrens birthday parties now.

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I would meet my dealer at his hotel, and I always had this guilt about my son in the back of my mind. But I just needed to feel better so I could take care of him. I needed to feel better so I could be a mum. I almost felt like I couldnt take care of him without that.

Im down to a quarter of Suboxone [a prescription medicine that contains buprenorphine and naloxone] a day, and Im planning to come off that and go on the Vivitrol shot [an injectable medicine used to prevent relapse to opioid dependence] because I dont have cravings. Going off Suboxone is worse than coming off heroin; you feel sicker than with heroin. The doctors do not tell you that when they start you on it.

Its like youre possessed

People are so discriminating when it comes to addicts. I am a good mum. Some of the people that I have seen use are people you would never think use. Its not like every drug addict is a junkie. Theyre people, and theyre just wound up in this battle in their brain.

Its like youre possessed. Its almost like the heroin is like a devil and it has taken you completely over.

Addiction is just such a deep emotion. I never, in my life, felt as lost. I had great hopes, dreams, and it just took it all, and I am only now to where Im starting to get my life back.

It has really affected me and my sisters relationship. Shes just now gotten to the point where she trusts me again and lets me watch my niece.

I was a liar and a con artist. I was so manipulative and would lie about ways to get money. If someone is on drugs, theyre a liar. Theyre going to tell you that the sky is purple if they can get $20 out of it.

Its so bad when you see people struggling with addiction you just want to grab them and shake them and be like, youre going to die.

Now that Ive dealt with addiction issues, Im of course worried about the cycle. I hope and pray every day that my children never go through this, and if they do, Im going to tell them my story.

Ill struggle with addiction for the rest of my life. I do believe once youre an addict youre always an addict itll always be a battle for me. Now its the Suboxone, you know. Thats a battle to get off that last small dose.








In a way, what happened yesterday at the Catalan Parliament was the second act of a drama that started during the session on the eve of 6-7 September, when the so-called disconnection laws  one law allowing for the referendum and another on the Legal Transition (with the elements of an independent Catalan Republic)  were passed. Then, the pro-independence bloc, which enjoys a wafer-thin majority (short of the two-thirds required to amend the Statute of Autonomy), passed these laws riding roughshod over Catalonias parliamentary rules, its own Statute and the rights of opposition MPs, in a grotesque late-night plenary, against the warnings of the lawyers of the Catalan Parliament and ignoring the Council of Statutory Guarantees (binding under Catalan law). The anti-independence opposition bloc left the session in protest and did not vote. The disconnection laws and the referendum were declared null and void by the Spanish Constitutional Court.

This is pretty much what happened yesterday. The secessionist bloc, again on the basis of their parallel legislation and a very disputed referendum on October 1st, tabled a resolution to proclaim the Catalan Republic, thus moving forward with a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI). Most of the opposition parties, led by Ciudadanos (non-nationalist liberals, second political bloc in Catalonia), boycotted the session and left the chamber  together with its lawyers, who warned that the resolution violated both the Statute of Autonomy and the Spanish constitution and could trigger legal responsibility. The 11 members of Catalunya Si Que Es Pot (leftists, mostly against independence, especially a UDI) stayed, with 10 voting no and one blank vote.

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In the end, the resolution garnered support of 70 MPs out of 135. That is roughly around 35 percent of the census and provides a good measure of actual support for independence in Catalonia, with recent polls showing very limited support for UDI  especially when the option of more home rule is on the table.

What happens now: Article 155 and judicial response

Right at the same time, the Senate approved the implementation of Artice 155 of the 1978 Constitution, based on the federal coercion principle and similar to Article 37 of the German constitution upon which it is based and other constitutions. Contrary to widespread assumptions, the measures requested by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy do not amount to a full suspension of autonomy, which would eliminate the Generalitat (the Catalan executive body, restored prior to the entry into force of the 1978 Constitution) and the Catalan Parliament. The 2006 Statute of Autonomy remains in force, with the powers and competences contained therein.

The measures approved do nonetheless severely restrict the autonomy at the highest political level, chiefly with the dismissal of the entire Catalan government of President Carles Puigdemont, of the head of the Catalan Police (defendant in a judiciary process on his actions on October 1st), as well as of the Catalan governments foreign delegations (with the exception of Brussels) and its PR body, Diplocat, widely perceived to be engaged in a very effective pro-independence (and anti-Spanish) lobbying campaign abroad. The powers of the Catalan government are now temporarily assumed by the authorities in Madrid.

This process has done much to both impoverish and divide Catalonia, as shown by a semi-empty Catalan Parliament voting UDI, but little to further its legitimate self-government claims. by

Nonetheless, the actual roadmap approved by the Senate is a somewhat watered down version of the proposal submitted by the Council of Ministers, after an amendment of PSOE (Socialists, first opposition party). This amendment took out an initial proposal to take control over the main Catalan TV channel, TV3, also perceived as having become a propaganda outlet.

As a result of close negotiations between Rajoys government, keen on amplifying political support for Article 155, and PSOE, these steps now enjoy the legitimacy provided by two-thirds of the Spanish Parliament. They are nonetheless opposed by Podemos (leftists, somewhat caught wrong-footed given their opposition to both Article 155 and the UDI), and the nationalist parties. In turn, as a result of this UDI, Artice 155 enjoys support in Catalonia from Ciudadanos, Rajoys PP (a small force, though) and the main leaders of PSC, Catalan Socialists.

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In parallel but distinct to Article 155, the judicial response to some of the actions by Puigdemont and other core leaders goes on. The Spanish Prosecutor could file charges against Puigdemont  in theory, and until yesterday, the highest representative of the Spanish state in Catalonia- on grounds of provisions applicable to coup detats and rebellions.

It goes without saying, these measures will probably lead to different measures of resistance by secessionist leaders and their mobilised constituencies, concentrated around the platforms of Catalan National Assembly (ANC), Omnium Cultural as well as CUP, an anti-system party against any negotiated settlement. This is coupled with the fact that many Catalans, though opposed to independence and UDI, also reject what they perceive an abridging of their self-government. In turn, the presence of the Spanish state in Catalonia, an essentially self-ruled region, is very limited, complicating the equation.

Authorities in Madrid are eager to avoid violence and thus mainly focus on law enforcement through police forces. But some level of violence and pockets of resistance, hopefully peaceful, cannot be ruled out. Symbolic images of martyrdom that are surely to further incense secessionists and their narrative on Spanish oppression.

Elections: stalemate or beginning of new political settlement?

Rajoy, a nimble, old guard politician, is mindful of the stakes. This is why, right at the same time he announced the dismissal of Puigdemont and the entire Catalan government and also under 155, he announced early elections in Catalonia for December 21, earlier than anticipated, which should also mark the beginning of the end of Article 155 phase and the return to order and rule of law in Catalonia. This move is seen as shrewd, if risky, aimed to hollow out the secessionist narrative, with pro-independence parties now faced with the dilemma on whether to boycott elections by Madrid, but in accordance with Catalonias own laws, or take part.

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It is unclear what will happen. Some polls show that parliamentary forces of pro-independence and non-secessionists could roughly remain even, a tad up, a tad down  though minor changes could be a game-changer for any majority in Catalonia, given the fragmented political space. The call for elections enjoys majority support in Catalonia and could provide an opening for returning to political normalisation, including progress towards constitutional reform in the mid-term  a process Rajoy agreed to with PSOE a few weeks ago, including more home rule in Catalonia. The main Catalan newspaper, La Vanguardia, welcomed the move, noting that on this occasion, it cannot be denied to Rajoy, so often prone to slow motion, a fundamental virtue: the speed with which he seeks to protect, through electoral means, the rights of all Catalans, half of which have been abridged, in an unacceptable and repeated manner, by the government of Puigdemont.

Long live the Catalan Republic?

Time will tell whether this Catalan Republic proclaimed yesterday, not recognised by a majority of Catalans or any relevant actor, will survive 2017. Some argue that this is the end of the secessionist process leap forward. It is evident that in their naked assertion of plebiscite majoritarianism over pluralistic democracy; in their contempt of other Catalans preferences; in a post-truth that spins Spanish oppression, asserted by an elite firmly in control of power in Catalonia for nearly un-interrupted 40 years, that denies the dramatic capital flight, this process has done much to both impoverish and divide Catalonia, as shown by a semi-empty Catalan Parliament voting UDI, but little to further its legitimate self-government claims.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Chiles government is struggling to control a growing number of new HIV cases. The country has one of the highest rates of new infections in Latin America.

Chiles government is struggling to control a growing number of new HIV cases. The country has one of the highest rates of new infections in Latin America.

The government has launched a campaign to target high-risk groups.

Al Jazeeras Lucia Newman reports from Santiago, Chile.
City targeted by two car-bomb attacks, killing 23 people, as violence targeting the country shows no sign of abating.

At least 23 people have been killed in a double car bombing in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, which is still reeling from an attack that left hundreds dead earlier this month.

A suicide car bomber first drove into a hotel where President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo was due to host a meeting on Saturday, followed by a car bombing near a former parliament building.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attacks, Al Jazeeras Mohammed Adow, reporting from Nairobi in neighbouring Kenya, said.

He said at least three heavily armed al-Shabab fighters gained entry into the Nasa-Hablod Hotel on the heels of the car bombing there, but they were later killed by Somali security forces.

We can confirm that the president was not at the hotel at the time of the attack, he said.

Farmajo was scheduled to meet the presidents of Somalias five federal republics at the hotel later in the evening, he said.

Rescue workers are saying the death toll could be much higher. They have recovered many bodies from the hotel, our correspondent said, quoting witnesses who reported seeing al-Shabab fighters throw grenades inside the hotel.

Several buildings near the hotel also collapsed, trapping an unknown number of people beneath the rubble.

Mohamed Ahmed, a tuk-tuk driver who was driving by the Nasa-Hablod Hotel at the time of the attack, said he saw a car exploding at the gate of the hotel. I dont know where two of my customers have gone.

I dont know if they are dead or alive. But I saw four dead bodies.

Security fragility

Al Jazeeras Adow said al-Shabab seems to have taken advantage of the fragility of the national security apparatus. No one expected them to carry this out just two weeks to the day they launched Somalias deadliest attack, in which more than 358 people were killed.

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According to an Al Jazeera tally, since the start of this year more than 20 explosions have targeted Mogadishu, killing at least 500 people and injuring more than 630.

A roadside explosion hit a minibus carrying passengers, 36km south of Mogadishu, on October 22, killing at least 11 people.

The devastating attack on October 14 left at least 358 people dead and more than 400 injured.

The Somali government blamed al-Shabab for the assault, but no group has claimed responsibility so far.
Kazakhstans President Nursultan Nazarbayev has signed a decree to switch the countrys official alphabet from Cyrillic to Latin.

The presidents office on Friday announced that the government will appoint a national commission to ensure a gradual transition of the Kazakh alphabet to the Latin-based script until 2025.

The former Soviet Republic declared independence in 1991. Its state language is Kazakh, a member of the Turkic family.

Yet, Russian is widely spoken across Kazakhstan and is its second official language.

A number of other ex-Soviet, Turkic nations have also made the switch to Latin alphabets in recent years.

This is not something that can be done in haste. We study experience of our neighbours and foreign countries. Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan have already done it [switched to the Latin-based script], Karlygash Kabdulova, professor of International Relations and World Languages at the Abylai Khan University, told the Kazinform news portal.

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Of course, we have taken all opinions into account and discussed all aspects in detail, added Kabdulova, noting that Latin and Arabic-based scripts were being used by Kazakhs in the past.

Kazakh was written in Arabic script until 1920 when it was substituted by the Latin alphabet. In 1940, it was replaced by a Cyrillic one.

The current Cyrillic alphabet consists of 42 characters  33 characters of the Russian alphabet and nine characters for specific Kazakh sounds.

The plan for the switch to Latin reportedly centres on an alphabet of 32 letters, with some specific sounds of the Kazakh language to be covered with the use of apostrophes.

Given that over 100 countries in the world use the Latin script, it is crucial for Kazakhstans integration into the global educational and economic environment, Gulnar Karbozova, lecturer at Auezov South Kazakhstan State University, told Kazinform.
It is the first such proof that shows a large carnivorous dinosaur roamed Africa about 200 million years ago.

Johannesburg, South Africa  A large carnivorous dinosaur once walked across southern Africa some 200 million years ago, a team of researchers has concluded after discovering a large footprint in Lesotho.

The dinosaur, named Kayentapus ambrokholohali, was 2.7-metres high and nine-metres long making it one of the largest dinosaurs to ever roam the continent, researchers said in the Plos One Journal published earlier this week.

Lara Sciscio, a postdoctoral research fellow in Geological Sciences at the University of Cape Town, and lead writer of the journal article, described the finding as unprecedented and unexpected.

This discovery means that there are only two sites in the world where such large carnivorous dinosaurs were found as far back as 200 million years ago  Poland and now Lesotho, Sciciso told Al Jazeera from Cape Town.

Fabien Knoll, a senior research fellow at The School of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Oxford, and one of the members of the UCT-led team, said the discovery was a departure from established understanding of the types of dinosaurs that existed during the early Jurassic period 200 million years ago.

Until this discovery, theropods  or large carnivorous two-legged dinosaurs  were thought to be considerably smaller during the Early Jurassic. They were roughly three to five metres in body length whereas this dinosaur would have been nine-metres long.

It is only during the Cretaceous, considerably more recent at 145 million years ago, that larger theropods, such as the more widely known Tyrannosaurus rex, are represented in fossil records.



This is an important discovery because the footprints found were the biggest of their epoch [Early Jurassic] in the whole of Gondwana [the prehistoric continent that later broke up to become Africa and other continents], Knoll told Al Jazeera.



Knoll said the footprint shows that the dinosaur was two metres longer than the Cryolophosaurus, which is itself the largest Early Jurassic theropod known from skeletal remains.

Researchers found the footprint during a field trip in the Roma Valley near the National University of Lesotho in early 2016. They returned through the year to conduct tests and establish the date of the fossil footprint, which culminated in the report published in Plos One Journal.

The study, led by University of Cape Town researchers, said the creature would have roamed a landscape otherwise dominated by much smaller carnivorous dinosaurs and a variety of herbivorous and omnivorous dinosaurs.



Sciscio said the finding alludes to a deeper, more complicated history of the planet.

It also showcases how old the world is and also helps us understand a little more about our history, she said.

The above image was adapted by Lara Sciscio, with permission, from an illustration by Scott Hartman

Follow Azad Essa on Twitter: @AzadEssa
The United States will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea and any nuclear attack by Pyongyang will meet a massive military response, the US defence chief warned.

James Mattis made the comments in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday at a joint press conference with his counterpart Song Young-moo, a day after visiting the demilitarised zone that has divided the two Koreas since the 1950-53 war on the peninsula.

Make no mistake  any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, Mattis said. Any use of nuclear weapons will be met with a massive military response.

I cant imagine a condition under which the United States will accept North Korea as a nuclear power Our combined effort is to deter that sort of threat or to have military options  many different military options  that would realistically reduce that threat as low as possible. And yes, we do have those options, the defence secretary said.

The Norths official Rodong Sinmun newspaper accused the US and South Korea on Saturday of crazily beating the drum of confrontation.

Using the acronym for the countrys official name, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, it added no force can ever check the strenuous advance of the DPRK  demonstrating its dignity as a nuclear power.

In a commentary on Friday, the official Korean Central News Agency warned the US, South Korea, and Japan against militarist ambition.

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The US eggs its junior allies on to come out as cannon fodder, it said, adding the three countries must clearly understand that retaliation of justice will ensue the reckless military action.

Tensions on the divided peninsula have heightened in recent months after a flurry of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests and the Norths sixth and most powerful nuclear detonation last month.

The US fears Pyongyangs nuclear capabilities will soon reach the point where it can fire a nuclear-tipped ICBM that is able to hit the US mainland.

President Donald Trump has warned the US will totally destroy the communist country if it attacks the US or its allies in the Asia-Pacific region.

For its part, North Korea has condemned repeated US-South Korean military exercises off the peninsula, which it says are a prelude to a military strike aimed at decapitating regime of leader Kim Jong-un.

Al Jazeeras Tony Birtley, reporting from Seoul, said despite Mattis strong language on Saturday, the Pentagon chief did stress diplomacy was the preferred way forward.

He is working in a highly tense situation now. The ante has been upped considerably in the last few weeks, said Birtley.

With President Trump visiting on November 7-8, some people believe that will be a catalyst from some kind of response. The foreign minister of North Korea has intimated there could be an atmospheric nuclear test  maybe that could happen during President Trumps visit.
Sheikh Tamim tells 60 Minutes says he has not had any responses from the Saudi-led group of countries blockading Qatar.

The Qatari emir says the US president has offered to hold a meeting at his retreat in Camp David to put an end to the Gulf diplomatic crisis.

Speaking to the US television programme 60 Minutes, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said Trump plans to bring the Gulf neighbours together in a bid to mediate the dispute.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar on June 5 and imposed a land, sea and air embargo, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

Doha vehemently denies the allegation and has repeatedly called for an unconditional dialogue based on mutual respect for sovereignty.

It is true, he [Trump] suggested that we come, Sheikh Tamim told CBS News 60 Minutes about the US presidents offer to hold a meeting at Camp David.

I told him straight away, Mr President we are very ready, Ive been asking for dialogue from day one.'

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When asked by host Charlie Rose about the blockading countries reaction, the emir replied: It was supposed to be very soon, this meeting, but I dont have any responses.

Trump has previously said he supported the mediation efforts of Kuwait, but if that did not manage to resolve the Gulf crisis, he would be willing to be a mediator.

UNGA meeting

Sheikh Tamims full interview with 60 Minutes will be broadcast on Sunday at 23:00 GMT.

It took place in the Qatari capital of Doha in early October, a few weeks after the emir and the US president met on the sidelines of the 72nd United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Speaking to reporters after their meeting on September 19, Trump called Sheikh Tamim a long-time friend and said he had a very strong feeling that the Gulf crisis will be solved pretty quickly.

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For his part, Sheikh Tamim said Doha and Washington had a very strong relationship  Qatar is home to the largest US military base in the Middle East. He also said that he believed Trumps interference will help a lot in the dispute.

In his interview with Rose, the Qatari emir also said he is worried about chaos in the Middle East if the Gulf diplomatic crisis continues to escalate.

Im fearful that if anything happens, any military act happens, this region will be in chaos, said Sheikh Tamim.
Member of banned Islamic Renaissance Party faces extradition after Interpol arrest warrant at request of Tajikistan.

A senior member of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), which was banned by the government in August 2015, could be forced to return to the Central Asian country as it makes use of Interpols red notice system.

On October 9, Greek border guards arrested Mirzorahim Kuzov at Athens International Airport as he was flying from Warsaw  where he had attended an Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) in Europe conference on human rights  to Tehran, via Greece.

He is now being held at a prison in Athens, having lived in hiding in a third country for the last two years.

His arrest was possible because of a red notice alert issued at Tajikistans request, a tool which allows Interpol  an international network of police forces  to pursue people fleeing jurisdiction around the world.

Tajikistan accused Kuzov of extremism and participating in an anti-government coup in September 2015  allegations he denies.

Everything Tajikistans government says about the IRPT or about me is a lie, slander. Interpol has become a weapon against the opposition and democratic forces, Kuzov told Al Jazeera.

A bitter irony

Countries including Russia, Uzbekistan and China have previously used the Interpol red notice system.

These governments have nominated individuals for so-called crimes under their national criminal codes and often these crimes are not consistent with international legally recognised offences, or are so over-broad and vague as to void their meaning, Steve Swerdlow, Human Rights Watch (HRW) Central Asia researcher told Al Jazeera.

Interpol has not instituted a system for vetting these cases in a way that would prevent real harm from being done to individuals, he said.

Kuzov is one of hundreds of opposition figures who fled Tajikistan in fear of their lives in September 2015.

It is a bitter irony that [Kuzov] was arrested on his way back from a human rights conference in Warsaw, Poland. Greek authorities have an obligation under international law not to return him to Tajikistan where he faces the real possibility of torture and imprisonment on trumped-up charges, said Swerdlow.

Following the Tajik election of March 2015, the IRPT failed to reach the threshold for entering parliament, and was left out for the first time since the 1997 peace agreement which ended the civil war.

Shortly afterwards, President Emomali Rahmon began a campaign against the opposition.

In September 2015, former Defence Minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda was accused of  with the support of gunmen  attacking the main police station in Vahdat and the Ministry of Defence in Dushanbe. The authorities soon labelled the incident as a terrorist attack and accused the IRPT of plotting to overthrow the government.

Nazarzoda was soon killed in a shoot-out between rebels and government forces.

Although the party condemned the attacks and denied any connection with Nazarzoda, the government banned its operation and jailed all members who had not managed to leave the country.

I hope European countries will take necessary measures

[If I stayed in Tajikistan] I would share the fate of my fellow party men and my friends. I would be now facing a life sentence or 25 to 30 years in prison, Kuzov said.

Kuzovs case is similar to other senior leaders of the IRPT who have been targeted on politically motivated charges of engaging in an attempted coup in September 2015, said Swerdlow of HRW.

Kuzov said his family, who stayed in Tajikistan for a period after he fled, paid a high price for his political activity. They now live in Lithuania, where they have applied for refugee status.

Their documents, including passports, were confiscated, he said. They were regularly harassed, intimidated and interrogated by the security services. They said to my wife that if I dont return, they will arrest her, our children and our relatives.

Interpols constitution obliges the organisation to respect individual freedom and rights.

In an email to Al Jazeera, Interpol refused to comment on Kuzovs case.

If or when police in any of Interpols 192 member countries share information with the General Secretariat in Lyon, France, in relation to investigations and individuals, this information remains under the ownership of that member country, the email read.

Interpol does not, therefore, comment on specific cases or individuals except in special circumstances and with approval of the member country concerned.

The organisation said that it considers all requests for the re-evaluation of individual cases.

However, the review procedure can be long and daunting and in cases like Kuzovs, there is no time for reassessment.

In November 2016, Interpol adopted a number of measures to improve its information processing mechanisms. For example, it began to remove names of people who have received refugee status from the red notice list.

However, Interpol has failed to apply sanctions against members who have violated its rules.

Kuzov will soon appear before the [Greek] Supreme Court which will make a decision on his extradition.

He remains optimistic.

I hope that European countries and the OSCE will take all necessary measures not to allow for my deportation to Tajikistan, he said.
News / National

by Staff reporter

MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai is back in South Africa for medical attention, just a few weeks after his last trip.Tsvangirai announced last year that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer and that he had begun chemotherapy.The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader returned to Harare a few weeks ago after being rushed to South Africa where he spent a month receiving medical treatment.According to reports, he was now back again.A senior MDC official confirmed Tsvangirai's latest trip, saying that he caught a scheduled flight to Johannesburg on Friday morning. The official, however, maintained that that "it wasn't an emergency, just a check-up", said EWNTsvangirai has not been seen in public since he returned to Zimbabwe on October 13.Tsvangirai's spin doctor, Luke Tamborinyoka, as said: "He (Tsvangirai) came back knowing full well he would return for a review and he went for the review as scheduled."Tamborinyoka also wrote on his Facebook page on Friday dismissing private press reports that Tsvangirai was critically ill.Tsvangirai's illness has raised concerns among the opposition, with some senior officials saying that he should consider stepping down to make way for a younger and fit leader.
From internal party warfare to the countrys opioid crisis, Al Jazeera looks back at the US presidents week.

The Republican civil war

It was the get-out-your-popcorn moment of the week.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump hoped to head to Capitol Hill to sell his tax plan to fellow Republicans. Instead, the day turned into an open civil war between Trump and members of his own party.

Just before Trump arrived, Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, who announced in September that he would not be running for his seat in 2018, unleashed a full-frontal assault on the president, saying Trumps behaviour was debasing the nation. The president was furious, lashing back on Twitter at Liddle Bob, adding he could not get re-elected dog catcher.

But it was not over. That same day, Republican Senator Jeff Flake stood up on the Senate floor and announced that he, too, would not run again in 2018. His rebuke of Trump was unrestrained and riveting. We were not made great as a country by indulging in or even exalting our worst impulses, turning against ourselves, glorifying in the things that divide us, and calling fake things true and true things fake, Flake said.

Trump brushed off the criticism, relishing the fact that the two Senators were leaving. He was against me before he ever knew me, Trump said about Flake on Wednesday. His poll numbers are terrible.

He was right: Flake was projected to get slaughtered in next years re-election bid by another, more Trump-like, candidate. Some Republican legislators are expecting similar challenges and Flake has warned there will be others who may choose to speak out. Keep that popcorn warm.

Clintons Russia connection

Sure, it is called the Steele Dossier, but lets face it  it is code for urinating Russian prostitutes.

The research file, which includes unproven salacious allegations about Trump, first surfaced in January  but this week, it took on new life thanks to his former opponent.

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The dossier is named for an ex-British spy, Christopher Steele, who was hired by an opposition research firm to dig up dirt on Trump during the 2016 election campaign. Up until this week, the research was part of the FBI investigation into Trump campaign collusion with Moscow.

But on Monday, new reports surfaced that the campaign of Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee had a hand in funding the dossier, something they had previously denied. It has given Trump more ammunition in his persistent assertion that the collusion claims are bogus. This was the Democrats coming up with an excuse for losing an election, Trump told reporters.

Clinton campaign officials have dismissed the file as typical opposition research and argue coverage of it is an attempt by Trump to divert attention away from collusion allegations.

Banks rob consumers

Under the cover of night, the US Senate voted on Wednesday in favour of a rule rollback that could have a huge impact on American consumers.

The rule allows Americans to launch class-action lawsuits against big banks and credit-card companies in financial disputes. In announcing its implementation in July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) justified the change, saying it ensures consumers do not have to go it alone in disputes with banks and credit companies, which can cost an individual massive legal fees, sometimes in a dispute over a nominal amount.

The White House and Republicans in Congress disagreed, claiming the CFPB rule encourages trial lawyers to create frivolous lawsuits. Vice President Mike Pence made the trip to Capitol Hill to cast the tie-breaking vote in favour of killing the rule. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren called the decision a giant wet kiss to Wall Street.

Trumps very good brain

He has said it before, but on Wednesday, Trump wanted, once again, to remind the world that he is smart. Reason? Unknown.

I went to an Ivy League college, Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before leaving for a Texas trip. Im a very intelligent person.

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In the past month, he has had to respond to reports that his own secretary of state called him a moron and has faced a number of attacks from Senator Bob Corker, a top Republican, who has questioned Trumps competence and referred to the White House as an adult day care center on Twitter.

During the campaign, Trump told a news programme: I have a very good brain and Ive said a lot of things.

Opioid crisis gets personal

On Thursday, Trump declared a public health emergency with respect to the opioid crisis. The overuse and abuse of painkillers have gripped American communities and is the leading cause of overdose deaths in the US, taking 91 lives every day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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But what made his announcement different from others is that it is personal for this president. Trump has had his own experience with addiction, through his older brother, Fred, who died in 1981 at the age of 43. He was an alcoholic.

In what appeared to be an unscripted moment, Trump told the story to people in the White House East Room. He had a very, very, very tough life because of alcohol  believe me, very, very tough life, Trump lamented. To this day, Ive never had a drink. And I have no longing for it.
At least 23 states have anti-BDS laws, a move activists say will backfire and create more support for the movement.

Wisconsin has become the latest US state to target the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, amid an ostensible crackdown on the activism.

State Governor Scott Walker signed an executive order on Friday night that prohibits state agencies from contracting a business that is engaging in a boycott of Israel.

We stand firmly against discrimination in any form and we wholly support our friends in Israel, Walker said in a statement after signing the order.

The Wisconsin governor also expressed his support for a bill, introduced earlier this month by a pair of Republican legislator, State Senator Leah Vukmir and State Representative Dale Kooyenga, that would forbid companies that engage in boycotts of Israel from obtaining state contracts.

Boycotts of Israel must be fought because they do not just attack the Jewish state. This propaganda campaign is also the basis for newly emboldened and destructive anti-Semitic attitudes, Vukmir said in a press release. We must support our ally, Israel.

Although the bill is still being considered, it follows a string of similar legal measures imposed by at least 22 other states across the country.

Rights groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), have blasted these measures as unconstitutional and repressive.

On Monday, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed an executive order that similarly bans firms that boycott Israel from state contracts.

Last week, the city of Dickinson, situated in Texas, sparked widespread condemnation from rights groups when it conditioned hurricane relief aid on promises that the recipient is not engaging in, and will not participate in, a boycott of Israel. The city later voted to remove the Israel language from the application for private citizens, but will still require companies it contracts to state they do not boycott Israel, local media reported.

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Omar Barghouti, cofounder of the BDS movement and a founding committee member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, said crackdowns on boycott advocates are a kneejerk reaction to the movements growing success.

After losing so many battles for hearts and minds against the fast-growing BDS movement for Palestinian rights, he told Al Jazeera, Israel and its massive lobby are desperately trying to stop the movement from above, by passing draconian, unconstitutional laws that evoke the worst memories of McCarthyism.

Barghouti cited a growing number of churches, unions and university campuses divesting from Israeli banks and international companies that operate in Israel and its Jewish-only settlements throughout the occupied Palestinian territory.

Global warfare

Started in 2005, BDS is a global campaign that draws from the anti-Apartheid struggle in South Africa and calls for grassroots pressure to hold Israel accountable for violations of international law and human rights.

Enjoying broad support from Palestinian civil society, the movement urges boycotting, divesting from and sanctioning Israel until it ends its decades-long occupation of Arab land, provides Palestinian citizens of Israel with full equality and allows Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.

In response, Israel and its advocates have pushed measures that target BDS activists at home and abroad, including espionage and a tactic it calls legal warfare.

Earlier this year, Israel imposed an entry ban on BDS supporters. In July, that ban was put into action when five American activists were blocked from boarding a Tel Aviv-bound plane owing to their political views.

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In 2016, Israel allotted $26m to fighting BDS by gathering intelligence on activists online.

The Israel Group, a US-based organisation that opposes BDS, has been a leading participant in efforts to marginalise the boycott movement.

The group has lobbied school districts, universities and other institutions that host panels discussions and other events promoting BDS.

Jack Saltzberg, founder and executive director of The Israel Group, dismissed claims that anti-BDS legislation violates free speech, arguing that many of the laws have virtually no teeth and do not prevent individual expressions of support for the boycott.

Nonetheless, Saltzberg believes that anti-BDS legislation can be harmful to the pro-Israel cause.

It creates a false sense of security, he told Al Jazeera, and, as nice as city, state, and federal anti-BDS legislation is, the pro-Israel community is badly losing the BDS war, and [that] will not change until we alter our decades-old strategies and paradigm.

Support for BDS, including sanctions, will only rise as a result. by Omar Barghouti, cofounder of the BDS movement.

The Israel Group has recently criticised California public school districts for hosting Palestine-focused educational seminars, including in Orange County and Los Angeles County.

In March, the federal Israel Anti-Boycott Act  a bill that seeks to criminalise boycotting Israel  was introduced in the US Congress.

The US also threatened to cut funding to the United Nations in August over its plans to publish a list compiling all the companies complicit in Israels settlement enterprise.

For his part, Barghouti argued that the crackdown on BDS is bound to backfire.

Israels policies of ethnic cleansing of Palestinian communities, incessant construction of illegal settlements, home demolitions and siege of Gaza, coupled with Israels association of late with the xenophobic far-right in the US and elsewhere, is shredding to pieces its fake mask of democracy, he said.

Support for BDS, including sanctions, will only rise as a result.
A round-up on international reaction after the Catalan parliament voted in favour of breaking away from Spain.

Leaders from Europe and elsewhere have largely rallied behind Spains central government after the Catalan parliament voted in favour of splitting from Madrid and establishing an independent republic.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Friday announced the dissolution of the Catalan parliament and called for snap regional elections in a swift response to the Catalan MPs declaration for independence.

The standoff began when Catalans voted to secede from Spain in an October 1 referendum that had been declared illegal by Spanish authorities.

The events in Barcelona and Madrid have gripped Spain, marking a major development in the countrys worst political crisis in decades.

The political uncertainty is also closely watched by the international community, and especially the European Union, as a potential Catalan independence would represent the greatest threat to the blocs unity since Britains decision to leave in July 2016.

Heres how the world reacted to Fridays events:

European Union

In line with the European Unions long-held position that the standoff in Catalonia is an internal matter for Spain, Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said that the Catalan parliaments declaration had changed nothing.

For EU nothing changes. Spain remains our only interlocutor. I hope the Spanish government favours force of argument, not argument of force.  Charles Michel (@eucopresident) October 27, 2017

For his part, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the bloc does not need any more splits.

I wouldnt want the European Union to be made up of 95 states tomorrow, broadcaster BFMTV quoted him as saying.

Antonio Tajani, president of the European Parliament, said in a statement posted on Twitter that nobody in the European Union will recognise the Catalan vote.

La mia dichiarazione sulla situazione in Catalogna  pic.twitter.com/CexCJujAUJ  Antonio Tajani (@Antonio_Tajani) October 27, 2017

Germany

Germany, Europes strongest economy, said it backs Spanish unity and does not recognise Catalonias unilateral declaration of independence.

The (German) federal government does not recognise such an independence declaration, German Chancellor Angela Merkels spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said in a statement posted on Twitter.

The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Spain are and always will be inviolable, he added. We hope that those involved will use all available opportunities for dialogue and de-escalation.

#Katalonien: Die Bundesregierung erkennt die einseitige Unabhangigkeitserklarung des Regionalparlaments nicht an. pic.twitter.com/dsC1fl7ub8  Steffen Seibert (@RegSprecher) October 27, 2017

United States

Washington also weighed in, saying it backed Madrids efforts to keep the country united.

Catalonia is an integral part of Spain, and the United States supports the Spanish governments constitutional measures to keep Spain strong and united, Heather Nauert, US State Department spokeswoman, said in a statement.

United Kingdom

UK Prime Minister Theresa Mays office said Britain does not and will not recognise the Catalan regional parliaments declaration of independence, which is based on a vote that was declared illegal by the Spanish courts.

But the Scottish government, led by Nicola Sturgeons pro-independence Scottish National Party, criticised Madrid for refusing dialogue and said the imposition of direct rule cannot be the solution.

.@scotgov on #Catalonia independence declaration: We respect positionpeople of Catalonia must have ability to determine own future. https://t.co/H1pbHcixs8  Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) October 27, 2017

We understand and respect the position of the Catalan Government, Fiona Hyslop, Scotlands external affairs minister, said in a statement.

While Spain has the right to oppose independence, the people of Catalonia must have the ability to determine their own future. Todays Declaration of Independence came about only after repeated calls for dialogue were refused, she added.

France

French President Emmanuel Macron also threw his full support behind Rajoy and the Spanish government.

During a visit to French Guiana, Macron told journalists he has always had one interlocutor in Spain, it is Prime Minister Rajoy.

Macron added: There is a rule of law in Spain with constitutional rules. Mariano Rajoy wants these rules to be respected and he has my full support.

Belgium

Charles Michel, the Belgian prime minister, called for dialogue and a peaceful solution to the crisis.

A political crisis can only be solved through dialogue. We call for a peaceful solution with respect for national and international order  Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) October 27, 2017

His post on Twitter prompted a response by the Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan president:

Dialogue has been, and will always be, our choice to solve political situations and achieve peaceful solutions. @CharlesMichel https://t.co/6sRWiGfHvO  Carles Puigdemont (@KRLS) October 27, 2017

Canada

Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, said his country recognises one united Spain.

Speaking to reporters during a press conference near Montreal, he said talks should be held according to the rule of law, according to the Spanish constitution, according to the principles of international law.

Trudeau said discussions needed to happen in a peaceful, non-violent way.

Turkey

Omer Celik, Turkeys European Union minister, also added his voice to those calling for Spanish unity.

In a televised interview with Turkeys Kanal 24, Celik described the Catalan parliaments decision to declare independence as wrong.

We do not find Catalonias declaration of independence legitimate, he said.

Turkey will continue to support Spains territorial integrity, constitution and political unity.
How could the autonomy referendums in Italys two richest regions, Lombardy and Veneto, affect Italys economic future?

Millions of citizens in Lombardy and Veneto, two of Italys wealthy northern regions, have voted to take more control over their own economic affairs, immigration and education systems.

Italys twin referendums come on the back of the vote on Catalonias secession from Spain.

According to officials, nearly 5.5 million people in the Lombardy and Veneto regions headed to the polls to have their say in the non-binding referendum.

The referendum was organised by the Northern League political party, which wants to cut the gap between taxes sent to Rome and the value of state services they get in return. Lombardy and Veneto account for 30 percent of Italys GDP and many taxpayers there resent subsiding the relatively poor south of Italy.

More than 95 percent voted yes for greater autonomy in both regions, but unlike Catalonia, they are not asking for independence, yet.

An approval of the parliament will be now required to allow regional autonomy.

The Northern League, which has long been a mouthpiece for greater autonomy for the northern parts of Italy, certainly sees these votes as an opportunity to expand their influence. by Russell Jones, economist & partner, Llewellyn Consulting

The northern part of the countrys economy is responsible for about 30 percent of GDP, and the states that held the referendum feel theyre not getting their fair share of influence and tax revenues. So, I think theres a sense this is economic. The Northern League, which has long been a mouthpiece for greater autonomy for the northern parts of Italy, certainly sees these votes as an opportunity to expand their influence, explains Russell Jones, an economist and partner at Llewellyn Consulting in London.

On the economic effect of the Lombardy-Veneto referendum, Jones says, right now what were seeing is the Italian economy is doing quite well  but this is a reminder that  both in Italy and in Europe  populist pressures, pressures for regionalism still remain pretty strong beneath the surface.

While he doesnt believe this poses a danger to national unity in the short term, theres a fear that this could be the thin end of a wedge, and over the course of the next few years, you could see this development gather momentum.

Also on this episode of Counting the Cost:

China under Xi Jinping: President Xi Jinping is officially the most powerful leader China has had in more than 40 years. The ruling Communist Party voted to add Jinpings name and ideology to the Constitution, putting him on the same level as the countrys founder, Mao Zedong. It also suggests Xi will influence policy, including fiscal policy, in China for decades to come. Andrew Thomas reports from Liangjiahe in central China.

Alex Wolf, senior emerging markets economist with UK-based Standard Life Investments, in Hong Kong offers his take on Chinas debt and the possibility of financial reform.

US stock markets: US stock prices have more than tripled since 2009, but many investors are wondering if the current upbeat sentiment can last. There are political uncertainty and warnings of fiscal tightening by central banks, including the Federal Reserve. Kristen Saloomey reports from New York.

Jan Lambregts, global head of financial markets research at Rabobank looks at US President Donald Trumps tax policy and confidence in the countrys markets.
How media on different sides of the Syrian war portrayed the capture of Raqqa from ISIL. Plus, Syrias Lebanon refugees.

On The Listening Post this week: How media on different sides of the Syrian war portrayed the capture of Raqqa from ISIL. Plus, Lebanese media and the targeting of refugees.

Competing narratives on Raqqa

More than three years ago, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, which is also known as ISIS) captured the city of Raqqa and declared it the capital of its caliphate.

Images that emerged from the city, of atrocities used as propaganda, have been some of the most gruesome and distressing media output to emerge from a war that continues to cause untold suffering.

When the Syrian Democratic Forces finally rolled into al-Naim Square, Western journalists travelling with them told a story of triumph and liberation.

The story that gets told, however, depends on who is telling it.

The multiple governments implicated in the ongoing war imply multiple narratives and the job of untangling them continues.

Contributors:

Lina Khatib, head of the Middle East and North Africa programme, Chatham House

Omar Al Ghazzi, assistant professor of Media, LSE

AbdAlaziz Alhamza, cofounder, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently

Christa Salamandra, professor of anthropology, The City University of New York

Bassam Haddad, co-editor, Jadaliyya

On our radar

Authorities in Russia investigated the attempted murder of a Moscow-based radio host who was critical of Kremlin.

An Indian court serves an injunction against a news website that investigated the finances of a businessman with close ties to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Barcelona-based TV3, the media mouthpiece of Spains Catalan, is under threat from Madrid as the Spanish government considers its dissolution.

The fear and loathing of Syrian refugees in Lebanon

Over a million Syrians have fled to Lebanon since the war began but their reception across the border has grown increasingly hostile.

Pick up a Lebanese newspaper or turn on the TV and you think conclude that problems that have dogged Lebanon for years such as electricity cuts, a lack of jobs and chronic pollution all began with the arrival of the refugees.

The toxic rhetoric often starts at the political level but since almost every news outlet in Lebanon has some kind of political affiliation the rhetoric often finds its way in the reporting.

The Listening Posts Tariq Nafi reports.

Contributors:

Ayman Mhanna, executive director, Samir Kassir Foundation

Kareem Chehayeb, journalist

Diana Moukalled, tv producer and columnist

Walid Abboud, editor-in-chief, MTV
Talk to Al Jazeera meets the leaders of some of the Amazons most endangered tribes and those trying to protect them.

The Brazilian Amazon is home to nearly one million indigenous people, who have lived in and from the rainforest for thousands of years.

Many of them live in the Javari Valley Indigenous Reserve, which comprises eight million hectares  roughly the size of Austria. Among them are the largest number of uncontacted tribes in the world, photographed only rarely from the air.

Last month, 10 indigenous people were reportedly massacred in the reserve by illegal gold miners who roam these rivers, the second such incident this year.

The reason is that the government body in charge of protecting the reserves, the National Indigenous Foundation (FUNAI), is barely functioning.

With the deactivation of the [FUNAI] bases, its much more difficult to know what goes on, and at the same time, stop invaders from entering, says Fernando Soave, Amazonias state prosecutor.

They can be illegal hunters, miners, fishermen, loggers  Our rivers are like roads, because there arent roads in the Amazon. If you install a base at the entrance to a river, you can block illegal entries. If you dont have these bases, its free passage.

We have sickness killing our people. I wish we could live in the forest again  the outsiders are still killing our people. by Chief Tomi Flores, Maioruna tribe

Soave paints a dire picture of the dangers facing the Amazons indigenous tribes since the government massively reduced FUNAIs budget.

There are the groups that are voluntarily isolated  when they have contact with non-indigenous or whites, they can easily become ill. A simple flu can kill them  So the fact of allowing the white man into their areas is a big danger for them that can lead to their extinction. If they dont die from the violence, the murders that we think have taken place here, they can die from disease. So if you dont place a barrier, an effective policing of the area, which is not happening now, the danger from extinction is huge  its practically impossible to protect them, says Soave.

Deeper in the Amazon, in Atalaia do Norte, Brazil, Colombia and Peru share a border along the Amazon or Solimoes river. The area has become a major corridor for drug traffickers.

Manuel Chorimpa, of the Marubo tribe, explains that drug traffickers are now co-opting indigenous youth.

We have evidence of young people who have been seduced by money. They carry drugs to other states. That creates serious problems for us, its one of the biggest threats we face, Chorimpa tells Al Jazeera.

If the state doesnt offer projects to allow local communities to make a living through other means, the temptation will be great.

Chorimpa says since the FUNAI budget cuts the invasions of our territory have resumed, putting at risk the lives of the people, especially the non-contacted groups, who are many  The state should guarantee their protection.

According to Daniel Toru, who is one of the very few people who have been in contact with the Kuruba tribe, the isolated tribes are forced to fight back, because they are no longer protected by FUNAI.

He explains that the Kuruba are feeling threatened by loggers and miners coming into their area, because they destroyed their village. Thats when they started attacking the white man  Ever since the loggers started attacking them, thats when they started fighting back.

About 5,500 people belong to the reserves six contacted tribes. Chief Tomi Flores, of the Mayoruna tribe, says that 50 years after their tribe was contacted, it is difficult to maintain their way of life.

My father raised me in the jungle, FUNAI came and tamed us so we would stop killing the loggers and the ones who exploited rubber, Flores says. My father taught me that we should not kill more people, so we moved into the reserve nearer to the river.

Its better, but its not good. We have sickness killing our people. I wish we could live in the forest again  the outsiders are still killing our people, he continues. As leader of the community, when they come here we will defend ourselves.
African countries should fully integrate Climate Information Services (CIS) into their policies, plans, programmes and practice, says Ms. Fatima Denton, Economic Commission for Africas (ECA) Special Initiatives Division Director. Speaking during the opening session of a workshop to mark Climate Information Services Day held in Addis Ababa Friday under the theme Enhancing Uptake and Use []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric...
UNICEF South Africa believes that the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS 2017) affirms the commitment of the Government of South Africa to protect poor and vulnerable households. The MTBPS also lays out the persistent challenges for sustaining social services amidst difficult economic conditions which in turn affect budget revenues. UNICEF is encouraged that proposed []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric...
News / National

by Staff reporter

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa's ally, controversial businessman Energy Mutodi says a coup is likely in Zimbabwe if President Robert Mugabe fails to "carefully choose his successor" amid rising succession tensions within the ruling Zanu-PF.Two distinct camps have emerged in Zimbabwe's revolutionary party in recent years, as factions seek to outwit each other in the race to succeed the 93 year-old leader.Mnangagwa was allegedly leading a faction that was angling to succeed Mugabe calling itself "Team Lacoste", while another grouping made up of young Turks, commonly known as Generation 40 and backing First Lady Grace Mugabe to succeed her ageing husband, wanted to torpedo Mnangagwa's presidential ambitions.Although both Mnangagwa and the First Lady have publicly denied harbouring presidential ambitions, the ructions in the revolutionary party have now become synonymous in Zanu-PF politics.Adding his voice in the growing calls for Mugabe to name a successor, Mutodi said that the veteran leader had to be careful in choosing his successor and consult widely.Mutodi, according to New Zimbabwe.com, wrote on his Facebook page, that the veteran leader should avoid raising "any suspicion of unfairness or discrimination" as it may "backfire" and even tarnish his name.Said Mutodi: "Decision making in succession issues has always been a problem among Africans; resulting in civil wars, repetitive coups and economic turmoil."See Mutodi's post below.He said that Mugabe needed to consult with the country's security establishment as it had played an instrumental role in keeping him in power."President Mugabe [needs] to be careful in naming his successor. Any suspicion of unfairness or discrimination on account of tribalism or factionalism may backfire. There are key stakeholders that need to be consulted, among them the military and the whole security establishment called the Joint Operations Command that is chaired by Vice President Mnangagwa," wrote Mutodi .He said that Mugabe's prolonged stay in power was unlikely going to have happened without the backing of the military top brass.Mutodi's remarks came a few weeks after First Lady Grace Mugabe told Zimbabwe's vice presidents at a campaign rally in Chinhoyi that they were serving at her husband's will.Grace warned her husband's deputies Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko that they risked losing their jobs if they did not perform to the expectations of her husband.A few days earlier, the First lady had publicly urged her ageing husband to name his successor.
To some, any comparison between the Clintons and the Rosenbergs is a bridge too far, yet both gave aid and comfort to a strategic enemy, Russia, aid that enhanced the capability of Americas enemies to wage nuclear war on the United States. The Rosenbergs trafficked in the design of nuclear weapons while the Clintons trafficked in the raw material for nuclear weapons -- uranium. It is a distinction without a difference not lost on former deputy assistant to President Trump, Sebastian Gorka:

Gorka spoke during an interview with Fox commentator Sean Hannity on his show Hannity. The two discussed Secretary of State Clintons involvement in the 2009 U.S. decision to allow the sale of Uranium One, a Canadian mining firm with licenses to mine American uranium deposits in Kazakhstan. If this had happened in the 1950s there would be people up on treason charges right now, Gorka told Hannity of the decision to allow the sale of Uranium One This is equivalent to what the Rosenbergs did and those people got the chair, Gorka said. Think about it. Giving away nuclear capabilities to our enemies. Thats what were talking about. Gorka was referring to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed by electric chair in June 1953 after they were accused of giving top-secret nuclear weapon designs to the Soviet Union.

Indeed, lets think about it. Just where did the uranium processed by Uranium One end up? Nuclear regulatory officials assured at least one senator, John Barrasso of Wyoming, that no uranium owned by Uranium One would leave the country with proper export license. Yet that is not what happened:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission wrote to Mr. Barrasso assuring him that American uranium would be preserved for domestic use, regardless of who owned it. In order to export uranium from the United States, Uranium One Inc. or ARMZ would need to apply for and obtain a specific NRC license authorizing the export of uranium for use as reactor fuel, the letter said In Wyoming, where Uranium One equipment is scattered across his 35,000-acre ranch, John Christensen is frustrated that repeated changes in corporate ownership over the years led to French, South African, Canadian and, finally, Russian control over mining rights on his property. I hate to see a foreign government own mining rights here in the United States, he said. I dont think that should happen. Mr. Christensen, 65, noted that despite assurances by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that uranium could not leave the country without Uranium One or ARMZ obtaining an export license -- which they do not have -- yellowcake from his property was routinely packed into drums and trucked off to a processing plant in Canada. Asked about that, the commission confirmed that Uranium One has, in fact, shipped yellowcake to Canada even though it does not have an export license. Instead, the transport company doing the shipping, RSB Logistic Services, has the license. A commission spokesman said that to the best of our knowledge most of the uranium sent to Canada for processing was returned for use in the United States. A Uranium One spokeswoman, Donna Wichers, said 25 percent had gone to Western Europe and Japan. At the moment, with the uranium market in a downturn, nothing is being shipped from the Wyoming mines.

We in fact may have no idea how much yellowcake was exported illegally to foreign buyers and who these buyers were. They could have been representatives of rogue regimes like North Korea and Iran. Neither they nor Russia is very much interested these days in the peaceful uses of nuclear power. They are interested in building nuclear bombs and putting them on missiles pointed at the United States.

Is this treason like that committed by the Rosenbergs? If it is not, then just what would be? Certainly Democrats have a very low threshold for treason when it comes to the Trump administration:

Hillary Clinton's former running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine, said Donald Trump Jr. may have committed treason when he agreed to meet with a Russian lawyer under the pretense of getting dirt on Clinton. "That, the investigation -- it, it's not -- nothing is proven yet. But, we're now beyond obstruction of justice in terms of what's being investigated," the Virginia Democrat told CNN Tuesday. "This is moving into perjury, false statements and even potentially treason.

Liberals have been using treason in sentences with Trump as if the two were synonyms, despite there being no evidence whatsoever proving the Trump administration colluded with Russia on anything obstructed investigations into this nonevent:

On Monday, Hillary Clintons former campaign manager, Robby Mook, demanded Trumps campaign aides be prosecuted for treason if evidence emerges of coordination with Moscow during the recent presidential campaign. One day later, on Tuesday, Michael Winship, senior writer for BillMoyers.com, wrote an opinion piece titled, Theres a Smell of Treason in the Air Winship is a former senior writing fellow at the progressive advocacy group Demos, which is financed by billionaire George Soros The title of Winships article, meanwhile, comes from a quote in the Washington Post last week provided by presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, who told the newspaper, Theres a smell of treason in the air. Imagine if J. Edgar Hoover or any other FBI director would have testified against a sitting president? It would have been a mindboggling event. On cue, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) warned Friday of a cloud of treason hanging over the Trump administration. The bombshell revelation that US officials have information that suggests Trump associates may have colluded with the Russians means we must pause the entire Trump agenda, he said.

That cloud of treason pales in comparison with the mushroom cloud of treason that hangs over the Clintons who, like the Rosenbergs, arguably enhanced the ability of our enemies to produce nuclear weapons to be used against the United States. In this, they are no different than the Rosenbergs.

None dare call it treason? Maybe we should.

Daniel John Sobieski is a freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investors Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications.
Execution has been and still is a tried and true method of silencing critics.

Consider the case of Marcus Tullius Cicero, the gadfly of the Roman senate. A remarkably gifted rhetorician, his agile and biting tongue was silenced by an affronted Marc Anthony, who had the eloquent orator beheaded. As the Roman historian Appian later related:

Cicero's head and hand were fastened for a long time to the rostra in the forum, where he had previously played the popular leader, and more came to see the sight than had listened to him. It is said that Anthony had the head placed before the table at his meals, until he was sated with looking at the vile object.

Leaders of modern democracies and republics, most of which have been and are still committed to some freedom of speech, have generally refrained from beheading outspoken critics outright.

But there are ways of silencing people that, though subtler than execution, are almost as effective as death by beheading.

One way to silence critics is to change the very concept of reality so that old paradigms of truth become irrelevant or even vanish.

A 1985 video features ex-KGB agent Yuri Bezmenov, who outlines the ways believers in ideologies can distort reality and create a new one. Bezmenov outlines four steps of subversion. The first is to change the perception of reality so no one is able to come to sensible conclusions about himself, his family, or his community. The process is also known as brainwashing.

The object of brainwashing experiences demoralization so profound that exposure to truth doesn't even matter anymore. As Bezmenov points out, an utterly demoralized Soviet citizen could actually know about or even see concentration camps and still not believe reality, so completely changed was his way of thinking. Facts did not matter, as the brain had been completely disabled and then reprogrammed.

The brainwashing tactics used by leftist ideologues in America today  they are often ensconced in America's premier academic institutions  involve an undermining of reality by changing language. Once the way of speaking and writing is completely overhauled, opposing voices, including those from the past, are rendered unable to speak meaningfully at all. To put it another way, the idea is to make former interpretive paradigms describing reality absolutely incomprehensible by scrambling language.

For instance, feminist and genderist theologians sought to rid the Trinity of patriarchal references such as Father and Son, substituting gender-neutral terms like Life-Giver, Sustainer, and Holy Parent. The idea is that the currently desired social order of the religious left should be reflected in a new permutation of language designed to change the old and hidebound terminology for God orthodox Christianity has utilized with some effectiveness and for good reasons for the last 2,000 years.

As Wesley Spears-Newsome notes in his helpful essay "Tips and Tricks for Being Gender Inclusive in Worship," terms denoting the Holy Trinity can be particularly thorny. However, God's form and nature must follow the new human perception, and therefore a new lexicon referring to God  whoever that may be  must be created. The old God names had to go:

Masculine Phrase/Title Inclusive Replacement Options He, Him, His, Himself God, God, God's, Godself You, You, Yours, Yourself S/He, Her/Him, Hers/His, Her/Himself (alternating) King, Lord Almighty (God) Creator (God) Sovereign (God) Maker, Sustainer (God) Father Creator (God) (Holy) Parent (Holy) Comforter Father-Mother (one word) Mother/Father (alternating) Giver Maker Son (of God) Child (of God) Christ Jesus Savior Redeemer Lamb Light (of the World) Shepherd Crucified (One) Risen One

The changes to God-language that have been de rigueur in seminaries and churches as well as academia for decades have been widely replicated and re-formed. They are now used as tools for brainwashing by the secular left, which now reaches down in the form of the post-structuralist transgender movement into public schools. Most who know about the radical fringe of trangenderism are familiar with the new lexicon aimed at changing pronouns denoting male or female to gender-neutral terms. For those who are not in the know, a handy chart is supplied by the LGBT Resource Center.

HE/SHE HIM/HER HIS/HER HIS/HERS HIMSELF/HERSELF zie zim zir zis zieself sie sie hir hirs hirself ey em eir eirs eirself ve ver vis vers verself tey ter tem ters terself e em eir eirs emself

The revision of the English language reflects the effects of the linguistics of intellectuals like Jacques Derrida, which, though now considered outmoded, linger on long after the initial shock of Derrida's theories concerning the ultimate inability of language to convey knowledge wrecked the humanities, especially Western literature.

For the fact is that the new jabberwocky utterly trashes coherent thought, starting with the humanities but gradually affecting every academic discipline, including the sciences.

As Camille Paglia has noted:

Post-structuralism is a system of literary and social analysis that flared up and vanished in France in the 1960s but that became anachronistically entrenched in British and American academe from the 1970s on. Based on the outmoded linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure and promoted by the idolized Jacques Derrida, Jacques Lacan, and Michel Foucault, it absurdly asserts that we experience or process reality only through language and that, because language is inherently unstable, nothing can be known. By undermining meaning, history and personal will, post-structuralism has done incalculable damage to education and contemporary thought[.] ... And the end result is that humanities departments everywhere, having abandoned their proper mission of defending and celebrating art, have become humiliatingly marginalized in both reputation and impact.

Well, yes.

Essentially, what Paglia laments is what was bound to happen when deconstruction of language ultimately renders both writing and speaking pointless. As Richard Ellmann points out, deconstruction is the systematic undoing of understanding. Jurgen Habermass echoes Ellmann's thinking when, in his The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity, he notes that Derrida actually was advocating an end to rational discourse.

Derrida's opposition to "logocentricism"  that is, his insistence that ideas do not exist outside language we use to express them  essentially means that language itself is meaningless and communication among us is impossible since no one is conveying any truth to which others may relate. Of course, such anarchical linguistics makes one wonder why Derrida chose to put his non-thought to paper. After all, if language is not capable of conveying concepts, why did he bother writing?

People, including Derrida, still will try to talk.

However, when any given person considers one's self a self-contained god, an entire lexicon reflecting a new reality can be made up on demand. One can even come to the conclusion that words referring to human being, man or woman, are referring not to reality, but only to other words. Anyone can play with the language as one wishes and thus change reality. That same person can then demand that only one's made up language be spoken.

Is it any wonder that many are in despair about the state of political and religious discourse in the West? Is it any wonder that the humanities are under constant attack as meaningless excrescences and that those committed to logocentrism  the idea that words and literature actually convey ideas  are rendered inarticulate? Is it any wonder, if transgenderese prevails, that speaking and writing itself will be rendered meaningless?

It is no wonder.

If we humans cannot communicate universally recognized truths to one another, all that remains is the primal scream and the will to power. Apparently, the embrace of the Ginsburgian Howl is all that remains for the left, which itself has reached total incoherence and is embracing scream-fests. The longish title of the new endeavors is "Scream helplessly at the sky on the anniversary of the election."

The scream-fests are illustrative of our current dilemma. The articulate are silenced, but the critics are also reduced to stupefaction. Everyone is silenced by the triumph of irrationality. The left has deliberately torn rationality apart so that only animal instinct remains; the right has generally lost the ability communicate its foundational beliefs with power and conviction because its foundational means of communication are being trashed. It is coasting like a ship whose motor has died, with currents sweeping it along to dangerous shoals.

The exhaustion of the linguistic paradigms of the left and the consequences of that exhaustion create endless opportunities for disruption and chaos. The left gladly supplies the physical equivalent of scream-fests. In sum, the left hopes screaming of many permutations will drown out any remaining rational voices.

Today's enfeebled conservatism, including those holding to orthodox Christianity, must find a strong voice to recover its foundations if it wishes to survive in any meaningful way.

Conservatives, including Christians, need to scream back  but in the King's English.

Fay Voshell holds an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, where she received the award for excellence in systematic theology. She is a frequent contributor to American Thinker. Her thoughts have appeared in many other online publications. She may be reached at fvoshell@yahoo.com.
"Two souls, alas, are housed within my breast, And each will wrestle for the mastery there." Goethe, Faust

Most people are nominally familiar with the legend of Faust. There are many variations but the essence of the tale remains the same. It tells the story of a man unhappy with his own lack of success in life. In frustration he becomes a sorcerer. Practicing his black magic, the devil materializes and offers him a deal: The devil, Mephistopheles, will serve Faust and help him become a success in return for his eternal soul. From this tale we get the adjective "Faustian," to describe people whose pride and arrogance leads to their own downfall. Hillary is both Faust and Mephistopheles. She has, from her college days, sought ever-increasing power and money. In the process, she became both Faust, the eternally dissatisfied "scholar," and Mephistopheles, the paragon of evil.

From early days as the first lady of Arkansas, she felt entitled to more money and prestige than her husband earned as governor. Together with her husband, she got them both involved in the Whitewater and Madison Guaranty real estate and bank scandals. Once in the White House, her first depraved undertaking was to fire the entire White House travel office staff in order to turn the business over to a cousin of Bill Clinton's and some Arkansas friends. Then there were the "bimbo eruptions. " She was in charge of silencing Bill's conquests who might speak the truth about her husband's wanton sexual adventures. A full list of Clinton corruptions can be found here. It is a long list.

"If I wasn't a devil myself, I'd give Me up to the Devil this very minute" -Goethe

For those paying attention, Hillary has long been known to be a woman wholly without an ethical bone in her body. And this was before we learned that it was she who commissioned the fake dossier that was meant to take Trump down and out, first out of the campaign and after he was elected, out of the White House. Now we know that it was her campaign and the DNC who together paid nearly $9 million for that piece of rubbish that likely led to the Obama administration's spying on a host of private citizens they hoped would lead them to a prosecutable crime. She now claims she did not know about the dossier she herself had commissioned, but that is clearly a lie, as she tweeted her knowledge of it before it was publicly known, before the election. The woman could not tell the truth if a gun was held to her head. Consider the blatant, shameful lies she told about the Benghazi tragedy. She lied to the faces of the families of the dead. She laughed about it, as she so often does inappropriately, at the hearing at which she testified thirty-nine times that she "could not recall" when questioned about the details of what happened that night.

Fools that will laugh on earth, most weep in hell. Christopher Marlowe, Dr. Faustus

While her defenders in the media are making light of the news that Hillary's campaign commissioned the dossier rather than admit they have been wrong about Trump colluding with Russia for nearly a year, the worst of her malevolence has finally broken through the logjam that comprises the mainstream media. The fact that she sold out American national security for money, $145m plus Bill's $500k for a speech tells the story; she is as culpable for her crimes as was Aldrich Ames. She orchestrated the sale of 20% of U.S. uranium to Putin and she did it with the full knowledge of Obama, Bob Mueller, James Comey, Eric Holder and Rod Rosenstein. Each of them is a traitor as well for letting it happen. This bit of skullduggery renders Watergate equivalent to a littering violation. It is a huge betrayal of the country not to mention our formerly constitutional government. (Peter Schweizer wrote about all of this in his book Clinton Cash, 2015) And still, the media folk in her camp, the same ones who thought Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with the Russian lawyer constituted treason, are defending her part in the biggest scandal since the HUAC hearings and the Rosenbergs' conviction as spies.

In the very early pre-Goethe versions of Faust, the devil, despite his "pact," of course betrays Faust who is constantly deceived by the devil's deceptions but Faust is irrevocably corrupt and the devil "drags him off to hell." Faust wastes the fleeting power he was given with cheap indulgences, as Hillary has so often; Hillarycare, for one, and two failed runs for the presidency are a few of her many cheap indulgences. Faust tried to escape from the pact because of the burden of disgrace and damnation but Mephistopheles wins the day. In Goethe's version of Faust, God saves him in the end because of his prodigious efforts to redeem himself. Hillary has made no such effort. For forty years, she has made use of her inner devil to malign, cheat and destroy anyone who got in the way of her Faustian quest for money and power. And despite the wealth and influence she did amass, she has been her own worst enemy. She seems a woman who completely lacks any sense of joy. Her loss to Donald Trump is evidence that God works in mysterious ways.

It is common knowledge by now that the Clinton Foundation did very little charitable work and was mainly a slush fund for the luxurious life style of the Clinton family and their favored friends. It took in millions of dollars from mostly foreign nations and corporations who got whatever "favors" they paid for in her pay-to-play scheme. The $145 million that Russia paid the Foundation via a Canadian bank was for that 20% of American uranium. We know that some of that uranium has left the country, despite what Hillary's defenders say, and where it went we do not know. North Korea? Iran? She sold her soul long ago for fame, power and money.

"Alas, I have studied philosophy, the law as well as medicine, and to my sorrow, theology; studied them well with ardent zeal, yet here I am, a wretched fool, no wiser than I was before." -Goethe

Franz Liszt wrote the Mephisto Waltz as a musical expression of Faust. It was written as an integral part of a Faust play by Nikolaus Lenau and connotes Faust's spinning out of control. It is a perfect accompaniment to Hillary's Faustian career. Randy Newman wrote and produced his own updated musical version of Faust in 1995. This lyric from one of his songs seems an apt description of where Hillary stands today:

"I'm bleedin' all over the place, Bleedin' all over. Get me a witness To record my disgrace, How I've been dishonored, Deceived and debased. Then someone get me a band-aid Before I fall on my ******' face 'Cause I'm bleedin' all over the place."

Indeed she is.
In a dusty town in the Gharbia governorate on the banks of the Nile, Abdel decided he'd had enough. The longtime Muslim Brotherhood member publicly quit the organization. His October 12 defection marks the latest mid-level leader to leave the organization.

Abdel's decision is part of a larger trend that reaches far beyond the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, with members dissociating themselves from the organization since the 2013 overthrow of the Morsi government in Cairo, helped along by a variety of regional developments that disadvantage the longstanding political movement.

The situation looked different for the Muslim Brotherhood in 2011, when regional uprisings brought the group in from the cold. The secretive group, founded in 1928, looked to be facing a golden opportunity to step forward from the shadows and participate in the political future of a number of Arab countries, including Tunisia and Egypt. The election of Mohamed Morsi as president of Egypt in the aftermath of the so-called "Arab Spring" initially looked especially promising. Morsi was a longtime Brotherhood leader and enforcer for the organization.

In the half-decade since that historic development, subsequent events have not only thrust the organization out of the halls of power, but driven it, apparently, into an unprecedented decline.

The Muslim Brotherhood survived successive crackdowns by Arab governments only to reorganize in the shadows for decades. However, this time is different, as the internal unity of the group has been shattered by disputes between younger members and the old guard, accompanied by an unheard of number of defections. Almost the entire leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has been sentenced to life terms in prison by the Sisi government, taking from the group its most experienced organizers and thinkers.

Meanwhile, those who remain outside prison walls are subject to serious restrictions on their ability to regroup in a political capacity. Indeed, it appears that the government in Cairo has learned from the experiences of its predecessors and developed a strategy that prevents a shadowy re-emergence of the Brotherhood. Perhaps only the continued financial support of Qatar is enough to keep the organization from collapsing altogether.

At the same time that Egypt is cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood in its home, the Saudi monarchy is engaged in a dogmatic war with the group. Using its authority as the custodian of the two holiest sites in Islam, the Saudi government and its religious authorities have been working in recent years to interpret Islamic law in a manner that would take away from the Muslim Brotherhood its theological foundations.

By attempting to cast the Brothers as deviants from true Islam, the Saudis are striking a massive blow to the credibility of the group among the masses. Joining the organization in the kingdom is strictly illegal, and those who do so are subject to prison terms. A major motivation of this aggressive campaign is the Brotherhood's belief that monarchies are inherently un-Islamic and that governments such as that in Riyadh therefore need to be overthrown. This existential threat to the Saudi royals has led to a growing mobilization of the religious clergy in their defense as part of a vigorous effort to strip the Brothers of any credibility or ideological grounding.

In the oil-rich Qatari emirate, meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood has played a major role in driving a wedge between Doha and its neighbors. This division became concrete in June 2017, when an "Anti-Terror Quartet" of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, and others decided to cut diplomatic and commercial ties with Qatar for its support of groups such as the Brotherhood. The hosting of leading Brothers in the emirate's capital, as well as the financing of the group and its current and former offshoots such as Hamas, irked its neighbors to no end and is said to have been a primary motivator of the June declaration. The demands on Qatar that the Anti-Terror Quartet issued prominently featured the Muslim Brotherhood as one of the groups that must be removed from the emir's favor. This demand was of such importance that many experts opined that it looks to be the primary issue in the Gulf dispute.

The government of Sudan, once an ally of the Muslim Brotherhood, is rapidly distancing itself from the group as it cultivates closer ties with its neighbor to the north, Egypt. As the two North African states draw closer, Khartoum appears to have made the strategic decision to jettison its Brotherhood connections, despite the group having played a role in the current regime's assumption of power in 1989. This trend has especially gained steam since the beginning of 2017, as diplomatic ties with Cairo, Riyadh, and even Washington have improved markedly at the expense of the Khartoum government's old alliance with the Brotherhood. In September 2017, the U.S. removed its sanctions on Sudan, which had been in place since the 1990s, thereby acknowledging the change in policy by Osama bin Laden's former hosts. Some even claim that the removal of Sudan from the Trump administration's travel ban was due to Saudi lobbying for its new allies in return for the pivot away from the Brothers. Notably, there was no delegation from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood invited to attend the congress of Sudan's ruling party, though Rachid Ghannouchi of Tunisia and a senior delegation from Turkey's AKP did attend.

As it finds itself increasingly isolated across the Middle East, the Muslim Brotherhood has turned to European countries such as Spain as well as the United States across the Atlantic to expand. Police in Catalonia are reported to have noticed and continue to monitor increased Brotherhood activity in the poor Muslim neighborhoods of Barcelona. The Brothers are said to be preaching to Spanish Muslims about the south of Spain, which was once the Muslim province of Andalusia, which has, needless to say, attracted significant scrutiny from regional law enforcement. Front groups across the pond in the U.S. continue to preach similarly radical messages in Muslim communities, using Qatari and Turkish funding to open mosques and related organizations, including some mere miles from Washington, D.C. The Brothers' activities in North America have yet to attract the sustained law enforcement scrutiny that they have in Europe or the decisive action against them that has occurred across the Middle East, and that has led to a doubling down by the organization on its expansion efforts in the U.S.

On the whole, the once-expansionist Muslim Brotherhood is in retreat across the Middle East and North Africa, with the squeeze being put on them even in their onetime strongholds of Qatar and Egypt. However, new offshoots appear to be gaining steam in Europe and North America even as the original branches shrivel, creating potential opportunities for Brotherhood expansion even in this period of challenges for the organization.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Traditional leaders have endorsed Dr Robert Mugabe as the Zanu-PF presidential candidate for the 2018 harmonised elections.The announcement was made by the president of the Chiefs Council, Chief Fortune Charumbira during the official opening of the 2017 edition of the National Annual Conference of chiefs held in Bulawayo this afternoon.After three years without hosting the conference, the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing successfully organised the meeting with Matabeleland North being the host province for this year's edition.Traditional leaders took advantage of the annual platform to warn factionalists in the ruling party to keep their distance from chiefs who said they are not recruitable in factional fights as they are a symbol of unity in the society.Chief Charumbira said numerous achievements have been made under President Mugabe's government which recognises and respects traditional leaders adding the President is their chosen candidate for the 2018 harmonised elections."As chiefs, we agreed during the 2014 congress that Mugabe is our candidate for the 2018 elections. We are all united and he is still our candidate. We have been supporting him and we can confirm that winning is guaranteed," said Chief Charumbira.Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister, Saviour Kasukuwere re-affirmed government's commitment in improving the welfare of traditional leaders saying new vehicles will soon be handed over to chiefs in Harare."There's an Isuzu vehicle outside that i would like you to take a look at as you go out. Those are the vehicles that we have bought for you and so we kindly ask you to come with your drivers to Harare and pick up your vehicles in a fortnight," said Minister Kasukuwere.A number of capacity building initiatives which include training seminars have been conducted by the Judicial Service Commission to enhance legal knowledge among traditional leaders.Government will also be conducting provincial chief's assemblies in all the provinces to provide traditional leaders with an opportunity to present challenges they come across as they execute their duties.
The release of thousands of secret documents from the JFK assassination contains little new information and no bombshells. But for the legion of amateur assassination buffs and historians, there are some fascinating glimpses into the thinking of government officials and the alleged assassin's actions.

Here are a few highlights compiled by CBS Miami:

Sabotaging plane parts A national security council document from 1962  before Kennedy's murder  referenced "Operation Mongoose," a covert attempt to topple communism in Cuba. In the minutes of a secret meeting on Operation Mongoose from September 14,1962, "General (Marshall) Carter said that the CIA would examine the possibilities of sabotaging airplane parts which are scheduled to be shipped from Canada to Cuba." CIA-mafia plot on Castro A 1975 document from the Rockefeller Commission detailing the CIA's role in foreign assassinations said plans to assassinate Castro were undertaken in the early days of the Kennedy administration. The report said Attorney General Robert Kennedy, the President's brother, told the FBI he learned the CIA hired an intermediary "to approach Sam Giancana with a proposition of paying $150,000 to hire some gunman to go into Cuba and kill Castro." The attorney general said that made it hard to prosecute Giancana, a Sicilian American mobster. "Attorney General Kennedy stated that the CIA should never undertake the use of mafia people again without first checking with the Department of Justice because it would be difficult to prosecute such people in the future," the report reads. The report also said the CIA was later interested in using mobsters to deliver a poison pill to Castro in order to kill him. During Operation Mongoose in 1960, the CIA also considered staging terror events in Miami and blaming it on pro-Castro Cubans.

There's little doubt that neither Eisenhower or Kennedy  nor CIA directors Allan Dulles and Richard Helms  would have signed off on a plan to stage "terror events" in Miami. But it shows a previously unknown level of how desperate the CIA was to get rid of Castro.

The FBI got a death threat on Oswald the day before his murder A document dated November 24, 1963, showed FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover addressing the death of Oswald at the hands of Jack Ruby. "There is nothing further on the Oswald case except that he is dead," Hoover begins. Hoover said the FBI's Dallas office received a call "from a man talking in a calm voice," saying he was a member of a committee to kill Oswald. He said they pressed the Dallas chief of police to protect Oswald, but Ruby was nevertheless able to kill the gunman. "Ruby says no one was associated with him and denies having made the telephone call to our Dallas office last night," Hoover said.

If the mob hit Oswald, it is extremely unlikely that they would alert the FBI beforehand. That call was one of dozens of threats against Oswald received by law enforcement.

In the years following the assassination, the hunt was on to find a Soviet or Cuban connection to Oswald. Some conspiracy theorists will go to their grave believing in KGB or Cuban involvement in the assassination. But while there is some smoke, there is nothing solid to prove it.

Hoover went on to say the FBI had evidence of Oswald's guilt and intercepts of Oswald's communications with Cuba and the Soviet Union. He said he was concerned there would be doubt in the public about Oswald's guilt and that President Lyndon Johnson would appoint a commission to investigate the assassination.

At this early date, Hoover was well aware of Oswald's trip to Mexico City in September of 1963. That's because the FBI had him under surveillance.

Alleged Cuban intel officer said he knew Oswald A cable from the FBI in 1967 quoted one man quipping Oswald must have been a good shot. The alleged Cuban officer returned, "oh, he was quite good." Asked why he said that, the officer said, "I knew him." ... CIA intercepts call from Oswald to KGB A CIA memo from the day of Kennedy's assassination outlined a CIA intercept of a call from Oswald, then in Mexico City, to the Russian embassy in Mexico. Oswald spoke to the consul, Valeriy Vladimirovich Kostikov, an "identified KGB officer" "in broken Russian." The memo's author said he was told by the FBI's liaison officer that the bureau believed Oswald's visit was to get help with a passport or visa.

Again, it's highly unlikely that Oswald knew he was talking to a KGB agent. He simply wanted help getting a visa to Cuba, after realizing he was a total failure in America. He yearned for the celebrity of the defector he experienced when he arrived in the Soviet Union in 1959. But Castro wanted nothing to do with him, and the KGB turned him down flat.

The Warren Commission erred when they stated flatly that there was "no evidence" of a conspiracy. In fact, there is plenty of circumstantial evidence for Oswald being involved with Cubans, the Soviets, the mob, the CIA, and maybe even the FBI given the possibility he was an informant.

But these documents shed no light on Oswald's associations, and therefore, any conspiracies connected to the assassination remain in the realm of speculation.
In his iconic farewell address to the nation in January, 1961, President Dwight Eisenhower presaged the battle President Trump is now waging against the Deep State and multinational corporations. Eisenhower, having presided over the Cold-War imperative of a rapid military and technological-industrial escalation, warned the nation about the corrupting danger that powerful government insiders and their wealthy corporate allies pose to our representative democracy. Here is his timeless quote from that speech.

We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties and democratic processes.

Fifty-six years later, the movement that propelled our current president to the White House was fueled by very real and similar fears of misplaced power  many would say stolen power  by multinational corporations, global behemoths that see the United States as a crucial wealth-generator to be manipulated in the global economy to move goods and labor from country to country, like players on a game board, to maximize profits.

This past Wednesday, our populist, nationalist, pro-American, anti-establishment president sat down with Lou Dobbs of Fox Business Network, in a friendly discussion between two men who share a similar vision of the proper relationship between the government and its people.

Dobbs addressed the corruption in Washington moving the country closer to the realization of President Eisenhower's fears for the sovereignty of a free people in a democratic republic. As Dobbs put it to President Trump:

The role of business in this country [is] critical, fundamental to the country's well-being and its future, to the creation of jobs. But business has taken such a voice in this town, in this swamp, that you are the only countervailing influence to that dominance of U.S. multinationals in this country.

Eisenhower, in his farewell address, reiterated his great concerns of threats from powerful business, technological, and military interests to the democratization of power.

We want democracy to succeed for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow. Yet in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become captive to a scientific, technological elite. It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system, ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.

Today, that balance has been lost. President Trump discussed with Dobbs the status of various initiatives he has undertaken to rebalance the relationship between government and business.

After a positive interchange regarding tax reform legislation, the issue of trade arose, in which the president reiterated his determination to amend the existing iteration of NAFTA, with its provisions that are crippling our manufacturing base, with terms more favorable to the U.S., or he will exit it entirely. He raised his concerns regarding the World Trade Organization (WTO), a governmental agency created in 1994, replacing GATT and designed to regulate international trade. The president claimed that the WTO was "set up to benefit everyone but us." He further lamented the fact that in the WTO trade dispute courts, "we lose almost all the lawsuits within the WTO because we have fewer judges than other countries. You can't win." The system is "set up ... to take advantage of the United States."

President Trump derides free trade as an illusion. He reframes the discussion in terms of balanced or fair trade. Differences in economic, political, and philosophical systems; a lack of reciprocal trade treatment (one-sided tariffs and other barriers to market entry); and currency manipulations combine to make free trade between most countries a mirage. Trump's response is to carefully craft individual bilateral trade agreements rather than cumbersome multi-nation agreements like the Obama TPP he so readily canceled, so that aberrant trade behavior can be effectively monitored and violations dealt with swiftly.

As Mr. Dobbs pointed out, for simply demanding that trade agreements be negotiated that protect US interests, President Trump is labeled by his many adversaries "protectionist" and "isolationist." Dobbs noted, "Of all our trading partners, we're the only ones who say, 'Please take what you want. We don't have to have a mature relationship with you. We don't have to have balanced trade.'"

The heads of U.S. multinational leviathans as well as politicians, both current and prospective, would do well to ponder President Eisenhower's wise parting words that are as relevant today, and will be as relevant in the future, as when he spoke them:

As we peer into society's future, we, you and I, and our government, must avoid the impulse to live only for today. Plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow, we cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren, risking the loss of their political and spiritual heritage.

This admonition from Dwight Eisenhower, who, like Donald Trump, never served a day in political office prior to assuming the presidency, surely resonates with Mr. Trump as he forges ahead to drain the swamp and resist "the weight of this combination [that] endanger[s] our liberties and democratic processes."
Ever since the Obama administration signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, commonly known as the Iran deal, an influx of cash has rolled into the Iranian economy, and Tehran itself has grown emboldened in its oppression and terrorism. Sadly, its bad behavior has been ignored in the West, particularly in its press, even as its citizens have noticed. They carried on a series of protests this week.

As President Trump outlined in his strategy, Iran's offenses in this regard are not limited to its nuclear program. Ever since sanctions on Iran were lifted in 2016, Iran has invested in destabilizing many of its neighbors.

At home, Iran has adopted suppression and execution as its main domestic policy.

The Iranian people are frustrated with high unemployment, outlandish living costs, and the lack of public services. According to the report by the National Council of Iran Resistance, on Monday morning, Oct. 23, more than two thousand people, whose property was plundered by institutions affiliated with Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the mullahs' judiciary and other state agencies, rallied in front of the regime's parliament.

Iran's repressive police force, using batons, assaulted the demonstrators and beat them brutally. Then they tried to disperse the demonstration, in which women played an active role. But they were faced with the resistance of the people.

Protestors chanted, "Shame! Shame on the police force!" and "Cannon, machine gun, tank no longer works" and "Death to the dictator." When the police arrested some people, especially women, and wanted to take them by force, people chanted, "You are ISIS, you are ISIS, death to ISIS, let them go," and "Police, shame on you, let our fellow citizens go."
We remember President Ronald Reagan as a rather consequential president. Let's remember the events of this week in 1983.

First, a terror-bombing in Beirut killed over a hundred U.S. Marines.

President Reagan was getting ready for re-election and talking about the economic recovery underway. However, he had to deal with a major terrorist attack in Beirut when a suicide bomber drove a truck filled with 2,000 pounds of explosives into a U.S. Marine base at the international airport.

The explosion killed 220 Marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers. A few minutes after that bomb went off, a second bomber drove into the basement of the nearby French paratroopers' barracks, killing 58 more people. Four months after the bombing, American forces left Lebanon without retaliating.

It was a terrible story and one of the early signs of terrorism. Many criticized President Reagan for not retaliating, but I am not exactly sure what response could have followed this attack.

A few days later, President Reagan invaded Grenada. It turned out to be a major victory against Fidel Castro that prevented the USSR from having another strategic piece of real estate.

Grenada was a small island where some U.S. citizens were attending medical school. Most people had never heard of Grenada or the Cuban efforts to turn the island into a communist beachhead, an important runway for Soviet MiGs.

However, the Reagan administration had their eye on Grenada for some time. They knew the strategic importance of Grenada and its proximity to the Panama Canal.

We learned a lot that week about President Reagan and how foreign policy can force itself on the agenda. In Beirut, we were introduced to the type of terrorism that we saw eventually on 9/11. In Grenada, we saw President Reagan as the competent leader of the free world, or a man unwilling to let the USSR gain a strategic foothold over here.

It was quite a week for President Reagan and the U.S.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
Within minutes of the Catalonian parliament declaring independence from Spain yesterday, the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy lowered the boom.

The Spanish senate passed a measure authorizing Rajoy to implement Article 155 of the constitution, which grants the prime minister "extraordinary powers" to revoke the autonomy of Catalonia. Rajoy didn't waste any time. He immediately sacked Catalonia's President Carles Puigdemont, fired his ministers, dismissed the Catalonian parliament, and put the region's police force under national control. He ordered elections for December 21.

Also, Spain's top prosecutor indicated that he would file rebellion charges against leaders of the separatist movement, including the president.

The reaction of Puigdemont and other Catalan leaders was muted, with calls for calm. But a big demonstration has been called for Sunday in Barcelona, and with national police in charge, it's feared that the protest will turn violent.

NBCNews:

"Spain is living through a sad day," Rajoy said. "We believe it is urgent to listen to Catalan citizens, to all of them, so that they can decide their future and nobody can act outside the law on their behalf." As he spoke, thousands of independence supporters packed the Sant Jaume Square in front of the Catalan regional headquarters in Barcelona, their earlier joyful mood somewhat dampened by Rajoy's actions. In a stunning show of defiance of Madrid, the Catalan parliament had voted in the afternoon to make a unilateral declaration of independence. Despite the emotions and celebrations inside and outside the building, it was a futile gesture as shortly afterwards the Spanish Senate in Madrid approved the imposition of direct rule. Several European countries, including France and Germany, and the United States also rejected the independence declaration and said they supported Rajoy's efforts to preserve Spain's unity.

Catalonia is alone. Not only does the rest of Europe and the world support Rajoy, but a vast majority of Spanish citizens also back the actions of their prime minister. The opposition socialists also supported the implementation of Article 155, giving Rajoy extraordinary leeway in his crackdown.

The move for Catalonian independence was a long time coming. And despite indications that Puigdemont wanting to avoid a showdown, more radical elements in the separatist movement forced his hand.

Bloomberg's Leonid Bershidsky was in Catalonia, taking the region's political temperature:

These last couple of days, I've been in Barcelona trying to make sense of the complex game that's been playing out here and the motives underlying it. For most of the day on Thursday, Catalan First Minister Carles Puigdemont appeared likely to backtrack on independence and call a regional election within the Spanish constitution instead. When reports of this came in, Antonio Banos, a leader of the most pro-independence party represented in parliament, the far-left CUP, changed the picture on his Twitter profile to an upside-down photo of Puigdemont, accusing the first minister of treachery. Pro-independence students started to gather by the government building to protest. Puigdemont's speech was pushed back and finally canceled. Banos turned the photo on its side. Finally, the first minister made an announcement: He was not calling an election after all. Instead, called on parliament to decide whether or not to declare independence. Banos turned Puigdemont's picture the right way up. Puigdemont's dithering was actually an attempt to avert Rajoy's next move -- Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, which allows Madrid to impose direct rule on a region. Rajoy's government refused to back off: It let Puigdemont know an early election wouldn't change its plans to remove his government. Puigdemont ended the day with nothing to lose. As he left the decision to parliament, in which his electoral bloc and CUP together hold a majority, he knew it would pass the independence declaration; he chose to go down fighting.

This is how history is made. With no good choices, Puigdemont succumbed to the mob and backed independence.

What that mob does going forward will decide the fate not only of Catalonia, but of Rajoy as well. While he has vast support for the crackdown, how he handles the implementation of Article 155 will make a huge difference in whether he keeps that support. How will he remove Puigdemont and his ministers? He could arrest them, but that would make martyrs of them and may inspire the crowds to violence. What orders will he give the national police in dealing with demonstrators? Will he seize local media outlets? Will he allow his prosecutor to charge separatists with what amounts to treason?

A violent backlash will almost certainly unleash the socialist opposition, who may see a political opening if the streets of Barcelona and other Catalan cities run red with blood. But Rajoy's course is set, and he has no choice but to grit his teeth and see the matter through to the end.
Recently, Tennessee senator Bob Corker has been at odds with most of his colleagues in the Senate as well as the president. His opposition to some key policies has led to verbal fireworks between himself and Trump, including on tax reform and the Iranian nuclear deal. The latter issue would help pave the way for Iran, which is considered a terrorist regime, to eventually obtain nuclear weapons.

Of interest is that in 2006, when then-Republican nominee Bob Corker was running for election to the Senate, he had noted in a televised ad that his Democratic opponent, Representative Harold Ford, Jr., had supported clemency for the infamous FALN terrorist group in 1999.

Bill Clinton's sudden announcement to offer freedom to the unrepentant terrorists, who were Puerto Rican nationalists and had set off more than 130 bombs around the country, killing six and injuring scores more, including the Fraunces Tavern bombing, had subsequently set forth a firestorm. The offer had been met with nearly unanimous criticism, and both Houses of Congress overwhelmingly opposed it. The Senate condemned it in a resolution, voting 95-2 against, and the House, of which Ford was a member, opposed the action 311-41.

In 2009, after his defeat of Ford, Senator Corker voted to confirm Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, even though it was well known by then that she had been a key player in obtaining freedom for the FALN, which was found to be an attempt to gain support from Puerto Rican voters for her in the 2000 New York Senate race. During her confirmation hearing, Corker, during his amiable minutes with Hillary, never even asked about her involvement in the controversial clemency deal.

Now, Senator Corker is desperately trying to save the Iran nuclear deal, even though their government not only supports terrorists, but is itself a terrorist regime. The senator recently announced that he would not seek re-election after polls showed he would likely lose in the Republican primary next year. Corker should step aside and let Tennessee governor Bill Haslam fill the seat. There are several people he could appoint who have now announced their candidacy, including former congressman Stephen Fincher and current congresswoman Marsha Blackburn. For Corker, it would be the honorable and decent thing do.
One of the many areas where the liberal media is loath to give President Trump credit is the demise of ISIS.

To recall, this group of Islamic psychopaths expanded its domain in short order to include wide swathes of Iraq and Syria under the Obama administration. Showing his "sophisticate worldly" grasp of the situation, President Obama dismissed ISIS as a "junior varsity" and then watched impotently as ISIS gobbled up ever more ground and committed one unspeakable atrocity after another. The cancer of ISIS was spreading so fast back in 2014 that "informed opinion" had it that these fanatics would capture enough oil-producing parts of Iraq to make them a permanent fixture in the Middle East.

Back in those days, a dear friend of mine, a liberal and NPR devotee, was so upset by the continual outrages of ISIS that she asked in frustration, "Why doesn't God just destroy those barbarians?" It's an understandable sentiment.

Now, nobody would mistake Donald Trump for God, but he seems to be the answer to my friend's prayers. In ten short months, the Trump administration has put ISIS on the verge of total collapse in Iraq and Syria. Just last week, ISIS lost its capital and stronghold at Raqqa. The tide has so completely turned that the International Red Cross is now concerned that all the captured ISIS militants might not receive humane treatment at the hands of their captors.

Imagine that.

One of the main reasons the U.S.-led coalition has had such success against ISIS is that President Trump and the staff he has assembled (like General James "Mad Dog" Mattis) have abandoned many of the asinine politically correct rules of engagement of his predecessor and made it open season on ISIS militants. Leadership counts.

Don't get me wrong. The defeat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria does not fix the Middle East. Nor does it mean that remnants of ISIS won't pop up somewhere else. When President George W. Bush invaded Iraq and engaged in nation-building, this was like Humpty-Dumpty being pushed off the wall. And just as all the king's men couldn't put the splattered Humpty back together again, neither can all the American blood and taxpayer dollars bring stability and peace to that area of the Middle East.

Problems will continue to beset the Middle East, some of which are seemingly intractable. ISIS will be a minor one of them, if one at all. But don't expect the liberal mainstream media to give Donald Trump any credit for this. The media will downplay the significance of the ISIS defeat, which is another form of how it peddles fake news. The Democrat narrative will be that ISIS collapsed under its own weight or that its defeat was inevitable. Is it any wonder, then, that fewer and fewer Americans trust either the Democrats or their lapdog media?
Republican candidates in 2018 had better get used to the treatment being meted out to Virginia GOP gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie.

Even for Democrats, it's a new low.

The Dem candidate, Ralph Northam, has taken to trying to tie Gillespie to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville and connect him to Donald Trump, telling Virginians to "stand up to hate" on election day.

Live look at Ed Gillespie campaign strategy meeting: pic.twitter.com/izcs57hZUv  Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) October 27, 2017

Virginia Democrats tie Trump, Gillespie to white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville in new mailer. https://t.co/dt1sGHyMSX pic.twitter.com/25NggdBpzy  The Daily Progress (@DailyProgress) October 25, 2017

Wow. Just wow.

Fox News:

The Gillespie campaign fired back at the attacks Friday. "Northam, the entire Democratic ticket and CNN should condemn this ugly character smear that has no place in our Commonwealth's political discourse," David Abrams, a spokesman for Gillespie's campaign, told Fox News. Abrams referenced CNN because Fallon is a contributor there. But Fallon stood by his tweet in an email to Fox News. "Ed Gillespie should be ashamed of the ads he is running in this campaign," Fallon said. "This is a vile and pathetic attempt to appeal to the Bannon wing of Donald Trump's Republican party." He said his tweet was in reference to Gillespie's television ads, which also have accused Northam of being soft on MS-13, violent felons and sex offenders. Asked if it's fair to connect Gillespie to Charlottesville marchers, Northam's campaign also defended the effort. "For more than 70 days, Ed Gillespie has refused to call out Donald Trump's response to Charlottesville for what it was: disheartening and wrong," Northam campaign spokesman David Turner told Fox News. "When the Charlottesville community wanted leadership to help them heal, he failed. Ed Gillespie should be willing to call out Donald Trump when he's wrong and because he won't, he gives voters a clear choice on Nov. 7." A 32-year-old counter-protester was killed by a white supremacist during the Charlottesville violence. And at the time, Gillespie spoke out against the white supremacists who gathered at the University of Virginia.

Trump's "a pox on both your houses" initial response to the violence in Charlottesville will haunt the party for years. It hardly matters whether what Trump said was true (it wasn't), or that Trump strongly condemned the white supremacists a few days later. The narrative has been set, and every Republican candidate will have to find a way to distance himself from it.

But this kind of slime sticks. Voters will be able to show how tolerant and decent they are by voting for Northam against Gillespie. That's a powerful message that Gillespie will have a difficult time countering.
Opinion / Columnist

ZIMBABWEAN couples in the UK are plunged into serious shock when they realise that the law does not protect them in cases where one partner cheats on the other.If a husband finds his wife intimate in their bedroom with another man, the law does not allow him to 'act'; the defence of provocation does not apply in marital infidelity.The position of English Law is that the man must suck it up, if he dares attack any of the 'enjoying' partners, he will face the full wrath of the law with no extenuating circumstances.In the UK, if two people are in agreement and having an extra-marital affair, then there is nothing a husband or wife can do about it.He or she must just smile and forget about it.This has promoted promiscuity among Zimbabwean couples who have found 'protection' of the law.For example, anger arising from infidelity is not a defence in an assault case.The 'rationale' is that no one owns anyone and therefore if a willing wife shares her 'cake' with a willing man, the husband must learn to control his temper.Sadly, this has wreaked havoc on the Zimbabwean community in the Diaspora.The absence of African remedies to address issues of infidelity have led to dire consequences.Statistics from the media show that 40 percent of all female Zimbabwean murder victims in England (and just six percent of male murder victims) die at the hands of a former or present spouse or lover.The home has become a dangerous place for women (as well as for children).Whereas almost all cases of homicides committed by males on their female partners occurred after the female ended the relationship or announced her intention to do so, most of the homicides committed by females on their male partners were reactions to severe male domestic violence.Nearly all male murderers claim they committed the murder out of love, a result of loving too much.It is difficult to comprehend that you love someone to the extent you would kill him/her  a partner's murder is definitely not an expression of profound love.Zimbabwean men have given various explanations as to why they killed their wives.In a survey carried out by this writer in prisons, many Zimbabwean men who have murdered their wives claim the women were 'too protected', which to them is enraging.Most have regretted coming to the UK.It should be noted that whereas wife-murder is undoubtedly the most extreme manifestation of male violence, it is not due to a single male quality, such as masculine possessiveness, and is not a 'natural' or 'inevitable' continuation of domestic violence.It is a phenomenon that has been fuelled by the British law system.The decay of morality in the Western world has shocked most men and women from Zimbabwe.They may be in Britain but Britain is not in their mind.The murder is not an unintended result of violence that went too far as most of these murders, it seems, are well-planned.Furthermore, wife-murder cannot be understood in terms of loss of control or insanity. It is rather a deliberate act which is the result of profound despair making one ready to destroy the other even if this means destroying oneself.Explaining the murder by referring to a single, central variable such as male possessiveness or jealousy is simplistic and partial.The murder should be understood as a phenomenon anchored in a certain constellation of factors that combine and create the 'conditions for murder'.These people, both men and women, have been uprooted from their culture and now do not know how to behave and act in the English culture.While the English culture and its systems give people freedoms, the beings granted these 'new rights' are still African in mentality.Although masculine possessiveness as well as jealous and anger all play a role in the full range of factors that produce a readiness to take the life of a partner, it is more accurate to consider the motive for murder in terms of conditions that are favourable for the development of murderous violence, rather than in terms of one central personality variable.The Zimbabwean man or woman perceives the partner to be his or her whole world so that he/she feels any separation entails a loss of own identity.The cultural differences here shock people.The defence and protection, at law, of what might be termed inexcusable back home is too much for many.The man's traditional perception of masculinity, which dictates that the male has full power, honour and control is significantly altered here.For instance, men's behaviour is rigid and uncompromising and they feel humiliated and seriously undermined if the wife is taken by another man.Thus in the English legal system where a woman appears to be over-protected, a man feels left out and ends up taking the law into his own hands.Zimbabwean men in the UK, who have committed murder, have mostly claimed they could not function without their women and their manhood was emasculated.The best thing for Zimbabweans to do in the new environment is to be compliant, hope to God that the wife or husband is faithful as no amount of provocation will protect one from prison.Nobody 'owns' anybody and what your wife or husband does with his or her body in the UK can only be a reason for divorce and not anything else.
Opinion / Columnist

Making a decision on how your children will grow up is task which is challenging. Raising a child was traditionally a community duty. A parent brings him out the community brings him up. Now being in a strange community which minds its own business is like raising children in a desert.Raising a child in a foreign country comes with its own unique set of challenges, but many Zimbabweans make the decision to do so every year in many countries around the world. Some decisions are made out of selfishness some are made after serious planning but most people had no choice conditions at home pushed them out and children had to be the unwilling parties to this migration train.There are two different types of problems. Children either adjust or just get lost.Some children managed to see the opportunities while others get absorbed in the drug culture of their host nations.Some children become s blessing while others become total curses incarnations from hell.How easily children adapt to a new lifestyle in a different country can depend on their age, as younger children, will often find it easier to make the change than older children. Some children join their parents after a long separation. Most of them become total strangers to each other and that becomes trigger for problems.When relocating children face serious language barriers. Yes they speak English but the accent distinguishes them and makes them targets for riddicule. This treatment hardens them and without proper counselling from home they become wild. While most children will have a good command of English they always face difficulties in pronunciation it makes it hard To integrate and make friends quicker.This challenge forces children to engage in some mischief so that they can belong to their new acquaintances.For school-age children, leaving behind education that they understand, as well as the friends that they have made over the years is very hard. Starting again in a new environment is overwhelming and some children may act out or exhibit a change in behaviour upon moving.In most cases Zimbabwean students become so sharp and excel in their studies.It's also important to try and keep some consistency in lifestyle between home and abroad. Sticking to the same routines for day-to-day life can help children to feel more secure. Children are plugged from Mt Pleasant to a Council House in Luton. This shocks the children who are faced with a big dilemma of going back to zimbabwe and be ridiculed by those you had left or soldier on in the shack being called home.This shocks them to confusion and most are so disappointed by what they see. Their expectations are turned black.Relocating can be very difficult for children emotionally. It's important to be there for them and empathise with what they are going through. They are leaving a lot behind  friends, family, familiar places and their home. It's a lot to take in, and they may feel a sense of loss when first moving. It's important to let them talk about how they are feeling and to help them through it. The big problem is that the parents are married to their jobs and have little time with their new arrivals.While it is difficult, there are so many benefits to be had from raising children abroad. Children are often more confident and sociable, as they have had to adapt and learn to settle in. They may also be exposed to more diverse cultures, which gives them a better understanding of the world that we live in. They are likely to learn tolerance, understanding and openness, which are traits we can all aspire to.Sadly some parents always make Zimbabwe a bad place. If a child does anything wrong they threaten him with flying him back to Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe becomes a threatening name such that children associates Zimbabwe with punishment.This becomes a good example of Child raising.Raising children abroad is a challenge and a skill parents must master.Some parents try to rub every memory of Zimbabwe from the mind of the Children. Home is best and our children must be raised with the full pride that they are Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe is the only country we can call ours in the whole world.Vazet2000@yahoo.co.uk
Arsenals missing striker Gonzalo Higuain hits 100 goals in Italy

Congratulations, Gonzalo Higuain. The Argentinian today scored his 100th Serie A goal, hitting the net twice as Juventus beat AC Milan. Higuain, 29, has scored 101 goals in 153 games in Italys top flight since arriving in Italy from Real Madrid in July 2013. You will recall that Higuain joined for 40 million. In 2016 he moved to Juventus for 90 million.

But none of that happened if you read the Sun. According to the paper of record, Higuan plays for Arsenal, who he joined for 23m in 2013.

He then went to Liverpool:

Such are the facts.

Anorak

Posted: 28th, October 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports, Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink


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Opinion / Columnist

THE opposition MDC-T is at a crossroads and there is need to sort out a number of urgent issues in relation to itself and the coalition ahead of the 2018 general elections, particularly the issue of the presidential candidate at the polls.While for many it appears MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai is the undisputed presidential candidate of the opposition, there is uncertainty within his party and the coalition about his ability to withstand the rigours and test of a gruelling campaign given his current health situation.It is sad to realise that as we approach the elections. Tsvangirai, who is the main hope for change in this country, may, after all, be In a worse off state than President Robert Mugabe.An ailing Mugabe, at 93 clearly, faces health problems related to old age, while Tsvangirai, at the moment, is struggling with ill-health.The MDC-T leader announced in June that he was diagnosed in May with colon cancer, which affects the inner walls of the large intestines. He has made several trips in the past five months to neighbouring South Africa for chemotherapy.It is a pity that Tsvangirai is battling a debilitating disease at a time the country is heading for make-or-break elections. From the look of things, it is clear that he is not fit for the toil and hassle that is characteristic of election campaigns.Whilst those close to him, just like with those surrounding Mugabe, want to downplay the issue, it would be taking a risk for both Zanu PF and MDC-T to go into an election with ailing candidates.Zanu PF will be taking a risk because its candidate Mugabe is 93 years old, frail and ailing - creating uncertainty as to whether if he can even run in next year's polls.With regards to Tsvangirai, it is clear that he has rapidly deteriorated over the past five months. While we all do not know what will happen to both of them in months ahead, it is wise for both parties to consider their candidates seriously before the elections, more so for the MDC-T because its leader is being proposed as the alternative to years of misrule and inept leadership.Is Tsvangirai fit enough to remain the coalition's presidential candidate? Even if we are not privy to his medical reports, the situation does not inspire confidence. Instead, you get the impression that this is a serious issue, which is being downplayed in order to manage things ahead of elections.At the end of the day, if the two parties do not look at their presidential candidates seriously, the country risks going into an election with two leaders who may not for health reasons represent the future.We just hope that Tsvangirai and his advisers are not going to start raising the Mugabeism argument that if he goes the party will collapse. It is worrying for leaders to start personalising institutions and the country, arguing that if they step down there would be chaos and everything would collapse.Without being blinded by this person miry cult, MDC-T and Zanu PF need to carefully reconsider their candidates. The country's future depends on it.
Company in talks with investors to raise a larger round to scale its merchant acquisition and engineering teams.

New Rs 500 notes were issued after old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were scrapped. (Photo: Representational/PTI)

New Delhi: Payments platform Cashfree on Saturday announced receiving USD 120,000 in seed funding from Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator Y Combinator, in a move to automate bank transfers.

Addiitonally, the company is talking to investors to raise a larger round to scale its merchant acquisition and engineering teams.

Started in September 2015 by Akash Sinha and Reeju Datta, the startup was bootstrapped for two years, prior to being funded by Y Combinator.

It however, claims to be India's first payment gateway that automates inbound and outbound bank transfers. This replaces the slow, error-prone alternative of uploading Excel files for bulk payments or manually reconciling payments received via bank transfers.

Cashfree allows marketplaces and fintech platforms to easily setup custom payment flows while ensuring full regulatory compliance. The product is being used for automated payouts for crowd funding, marketplace vendor settlements, pay roll for on-demand economy workers, loan disbursal and repayment for lenders, modern ERP and accounting tools for invoice payments, and instant refunds via payment gateway, versus five to seven days presently.

"The products we have built are first of their kind and are helping businesses scale and innovate faster. We already are a profitable business and are looking to process 200 crores of monthly payments by the end of the year," said Akash Sinha.

"Payments innovation will play a major role in shaping the Indian economy. Cashfree has identified payment problems which existing payment companies haven't been solving," added CEO and partner Y Combinator, Michael Seibel.
Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha informs mobile numbers can be linked with Aadhaar through OTP too.

New Delhi: In a bid to expedite linking of mobile phone numbers with Aadhaar, the government Wednesday announced three new modes to complete the process from the comfort of home.

Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said mobile numbers can be linked with Aadhaar through OTP (one time password), app or IVRS facility.

This has been done to simplify the process and make it convenient for people, the minister said.

While the authentication of mobile phone number with Aadhaar, a process called re-verification, by visiting stores of telecom firms will continue, the government has also ordered the companies to carry out the exercise at the doorsteps of the disabled, chronically ill and senior citizens.

For users who do not have the 12-digit biometric identification number, a separate mechanism for e-verification -- an exercise designed to weed-out dummy and unscrupulous users -- will be put in place shortly, a source said.

For instance, such verification could be done through passports (in case of NRIs) or ration cards, the source pointed out.

Announcing the new modes, the minister said: "The Aadhaar number system was designed to allow all residents to access to critical government services. It is the government's endeavour to improve convenience and reduce time and energy spent by consumers to accessing government information and services."

OTP mode will leverage the mobile number which is already registered with the Aadhaar database, and can be used for re-verification of subscribers' other mobile numbers too.

Operators have been directed to facilitate request for the OTP to e-verify the cell phone numbers through websites or mobile apps. Keying in the OTP would complete the process seamlessly.

Similarly, the Interactive Voice Response System or IVRS can be used as also verification through specially designed apps.

Nearly 50 crore mobile numbers are already registered in Aadhaar database, and the OTP can be leveraged for re-verification in all of these cases.

Sinha said the telecom operators should provide an online mechanism for people to request for doorstep verification for disabled, critically ill or old persons.

In case of agent-assisted biometric authentication for SIM re-verification or issuance, telcos have been asked to ensure that full e-KYC details of subscribers are not made visible to the agent. Nor should data be stored on the agent's device.

In the current dispensation, e-KYC data of the subscriber including photograph is visible to the agent of the telecom operator.

The government has made it mandatory to link Aadhaar cards with bank accounts, permanent account numbers (PAN), income tax return (ITR), social security schemes and mobile phones. The deadlines for each vary.

The deadline for linking Aadhaar with PAN for tax returns is December 31 and the same for linking the biometric number with mobile number (SIM) is February 6, 2018.

The announcement came on a day when the government told the Supreme Court that the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar to avail benefits of various government schemes would be extended till March 31 next year.
Washington: India has "very strongly" raised the issue of H-1B and L1 visas with the US, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Saturday, asserting that the American economy will find it difficult to cope with the reality as it has been immensely benefited by Indian IT professionals.

The US has tightened the norms for issuing the most sought-after H-1B and L1 visas in line with the Trump administration's goal to protect American workers from discrimination and replacement by foreign labour.

In a new directive, the Trump administration this week made it more difficult for the renewal of H-1B and L1, popular among Indian IT professionals, saying that the burden of proof lies on the applicant even when an extension is sought.

Under the current US rules, Indian IT professionals working in the US on H-1B visas do not get back their hard- earned contribution to Social Security, which runs into at least more than USD 1 billion per annum.

"We raised very strongly the issue of Indian professionals and H-1B and L1 visa issues," Prabhu said after the first US-India bilateral Trade Policy Forum (TPF) under the Trump administration which was also attended by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

"We explained to them that we are not raising this issue because Indians will find it difficult to come, because US economy itself will find it difficult to cope with the reality because the US has immensely benefited by IT professionals penetrating into the market by offering services that has improved their productivity," Prabhu said.

Batting for Indian IT companies, he also strongly raised the issue of totalisation.

"I hope they will look into the issue," Prabhu said, as he pointed out towards the issue of mismatch between US visa and US social security regimes, wherein Indian professionals making social security contributions do not receive their due benefits upon their return to India.

Meanwhile, the US and India have also agreed to address the issue of trade deficit by increasing and diversifying bilateral trade, the minister said as he sought easing of procedures for export of mangoes and pomegranates to the US.

Taking note of America's concern on price controls on medical devices, Prabhu, during his meetings with Lighthizer on Thursday, encouraged US companies to take benefit of the "Make in India" policy and establish manufacturing facilities in India which would considerably bring down the cost.

During the inaugural India-US Commercial dialogue, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross stressed on the need to increase bilateral trade between the two countries to address the issue of trade imbalance, a point which keeps on popping up in the remarks of US President Donald Trump. Reducing imports from India is not an option, Ross was quoted as saying by Prabhu.

"The Commerce Secretary clearly said that trade deficit is an issue, but not by reducing imports from India but promoting more exports from the US to India which is absolutely a very positive and an extremely forward-looking idea, which we welcome," Prabhu told reporters at the conclusion of his two-day visit to Washington DC.

In the next few years' time, India would actually be able to buy more from the US. India has started buying crude oil from the US, he said, adding that there is great potential for the United States in the fast expanding aviation market in India.

Indian aviation companies such as Spicejet and Jet Airways have placed orders for over 300 aircraft worth several billions of dollars. As American companies shift their manufacturing base from China to the US, this would also result in more American export to India, Prabhu said. He said that the two countries have agreed to work on the issue of poultry, pork and intellectual property right.

"We already have made some substantial progress," he said. Acknowledging that there is a very strong issue on medical devices, Prabhu said he explained to his American counterpart that public health is a priority issue for the Indian government.

"This is something we would have to balance between the commercial interest and the larger public interest," he said, adding that there is a review due early next year, during which concerns of the US would be relayed back to the reviewers.

Prabhu said that his meetings have yielded very positive results in removal of barriers in export of Indian mangoes to the US.

While the US market was opened up for Indian mangoes during the tenure of former president George W Bush, in reality it has been tough because of the tough irradiation procedure adopted by the US, which not only makes its very expensive, but is also time consuming. India has been demanding that pre-clearance be transferred to Indian National Plant Protection Organisation, which is well equipped and trained to do the necessary inspection and meet the US standards.

"Of course, you should get Pomegranates and Table Grapes also," Prabhu said, referring to the progress made in removing hurdles towards export of these products to the US. Prabhu said, India has sought cooperation from the US on certain technology sectors like artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and aviation.

While acknowledging significant areas of progress in the commercial relationship, Prabhu and Ross shared candid feedback on a range of market access issues that can be addressed to expand trade and investment opportunities. Ross highlighted the potential to enhance trade by lowering tariff and non-tariff barriers and committing to the use of international standards.

While recognising the reforms that India has undertaken to simplify tax and bankruptcy procedures for industry, he indicated that greater effort in this direction would ensure a more meaningful and balanced trade relationship. Prabhu appreciated the growing strategic and economic relationship between India and the US.

Emphasising the liberalisation measures undertaken in India, he reaffirmed his government's commitment to make India a favoured investment destination.

While responding to US concerns on price controls on medical devices, Prabhu mentioned about the need to bring about a balance between providing optimum medical facilities and affordable health care to its citizens.

India desires to address the concerns of providing healthcare to its citizens at reasonable costs and balancing it with the need to introduce high-end technology, he said as he encouraged American companies and manufacturers of medical devices to establish manufacturing facilities in India.

He also pointed out that the Draft Pharmaceutical Policy addresses many of the US concerns and sought comments from industry stakeholders on the draft policy.
A total of 109 pounds of expired and unused prescription medications were collected in Bradley County on Saturday.

The event was co-hosted by the G.R.A.A.B. Coalition (Going Respectfully Against Addictive Behaviors) and Walgreens in order to participate in the D.E.A.s (Drug Enforcement Agencys) National Drug Take Back Day.

Two locations were made available to the community from 10 a.m.  2 p.m.: Bradley County Sheriffs Office (Criminal Investigations Divisions Lobby) 2290 Blythe Ave., and Walgreens at 35 25th Street.

The nationwide prescription drug Take-Back initiative seeks to prevent pill abuse and theft. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.

Sheriff Eric Watson said, The Bradley County Sheriffs Office wishes to thank the public for their participation in continuing to keep our community safe and healthy. By turning in these unwanted prescription drugs - rather than throwing them away or flushing them down a sink or toilet - they are kept our of the landfill and water supply. The impact of todays event will never be known, but many lives were saved by removing these medications from residents homes.

For those who missed Saturdays event, the Bradley County Sheriffs Office offers a continuous program where residents can drop off unwanted prescription drugs at their administrative offices, inside the Criminal Investigation Divisions lobby. Anyone needing further information about the program should call 423 728-7336.
The actor says that he got to learn a lot about himself, his privileges and the things that he takes for granted.

London: Actor Andrew Garfield said it was "incredibly inspiring" for him to play a disabled character in his new film, 'Breathe'.

The 34-year-old actor plays Robin Cavendish, a real-life polio patient, in the film helmed by Andy Serkis, reported Contactmusic.

"I'm an able-bodied actor playing someone who is disabled. It was wonderful, incredibly inspiring. I got to learn a lot about myself and my privilege and the things that I take for granted," Garfield said.

"The fact that I have a body and I can move it. That's one of the main things I took away from the film," he added.

Garfield said the movie was a learning experience for him.

"I thought, here's a man I can learn from because I haven't faced the kind of adversity he's faced, and yet he had this unquenchable spirit and longing to live. And I found that incredibly uplifting and inspiring."

'Breathe', which also stars 'The Crown' actor Claire Foy, marks the directorial debut of Serkis.
Shahabad Deputy Inspector General of Police said strict action will also be taken against the excise department.

At least five people were killed and four others were stated to be critical after consuming illicit liquor in Danwar village of Bihar's Rohtas district. (Representational | ANI)

Rohtas (Bihar): At least five people were killed and four others were stated to be critical after consuming illicit liquor in Danwar village of Bihar's Rohtas district.

Shahabad Deputy Inspector General of Police Mohd Rehman confirmed the incident and suspended the Station House Officer (SHO).

Rehman said strict action will also be taken against the excise department.

The DIG along with the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police reached the spot to take stock of the situation.

It is to be noted that there is a complete ban on alcohol consumption in Bihar.
Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel had claimed that he possessed a copy of the sex CD allegedly showing BJP minister Rajesh Munat.

Munat had filed a complaint against Congress leader Baghel and the scribe after which an FIR was lodged under relevant sections of the IT act. (Photo: Facebook/Bhupesh Baghel)

Raipur: A day after senior journalist Vinod Verma was arrested for extortion and blackmailing BJP leader Rajesh Munat, Chhattisgarh Police on Saturday registered an FIR against president of state Congress Committee Bhupesh Baghel for possessing sex tape.

Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel had claimed that he possessed a copy of the sex CD allegedly showing BJP minister Rajesh Munat.

Munat had filed a complaint against Congress leader Baghel and the scribe after which an FIR was lodged under relevant sections of the IT act.

On Friday, former BBC journalist Verma was arrested from his residence at Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh and was sent on a transit remand for extorting and blackmailing Chhattisgarh BJP leader Rajesh Munat.

"I have a sex CD of Chhattisgarh Minister Rajesh Munat and that is why the state government is not happy with me," he said.

Read: Arrested journalist cries foul, says being framed as he has sex CD of C'garh minister

Verma was picked at 3:30 am from Mahagun Mansion Apartments, Vaibhav Khand, Indirapuram by a team of Chhattisgarh Police with the help of Ghaziabad police, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) HN Singh said.

About 500 porn CDs, Rs two lakh in cash, a pen drive, a laptop and a diary were seized from the journalist's residence, said Raipur District Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Shukla.

Read: Journalist Vinod Verma sent on transit remand; 500 porn CDs seized

An FIR was filed against Verma by a person named Prakash Bajaj, who accused the journalist of blackmailing him over a certain 'vulgar' video that features his boss.

Munat, however, maintained that the sex CD, which the journalist claim to have against him, was fake and asked Chief Minister Raman Singh to order probe.

The incident took a political colour when opposition Congress state chief Bhupesh Baghel claimed that he was in possession of the said CD. He demanded resignation of the minister and said the journalist was framed without any logic as 'mere possession of a CD was not a crime'.

Read: Congress, BJP in verbal tussle over journalist Vinod Verma's arrest

Vinod Verma is a member of the Editors Guild and has worked with Amar Ujala.

(With agency inputs)
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday demanded Congress leader Ahmed Patel's resignation as Rajya Sabha MP.

Taking a jibe at Congress for telling that BJP is politicising the issue, Naqvi said, "Instead of taking action, Congress is busy in accusing BJP of politicising the issue". (Photo: PTI/File)

Ahmedabad: The BJP on Saturday lashed out at Congress and asked the party to 'come clean' after one of the two ISIS suspects arrested recently was working at a hospital where Congress president Sonia Gandhi's political advisor Ahmed Patel was a trustee.

"Congress must come clean, else blot on them will be larger than that for corruption", Union minister and BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said during a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday.

He further added that "Sonia Gandhi's political advisor is attached with the hospital in question since 1979. And, then that hospital is being connected to terror. So it is natural questions will be raised."

Naqvi said, "So far we used to say, Congress ke hath, corruption ke sath (Congress's hand supports corruption). Now people will say, Congress ka hath atankvad je sath (Congress's hand supports terrorism)."

Taking a jibe at Congress for telling that BJP is politicising the issue, Naqvi said, "Instead of taking action, Congress is busy in accusing BJP of politicising the issue. This makes Ahmed Patel even more questionable."

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday demanded Congress leader Ahmed Patel's resignation as Rajya Sabha MP, alleging that a suspected ISIS operative arrested recently used to work at a hospital where Patel had been a trustee earlier.

Read: Gujarat CM links ISIS suspect to Cong leader Ahmed Patel, demands resignation

Patel rejected the charge as "completely baseless" and urged the BJP not to politicise matters pertaining to national security and divide the peace-loving Gujaratis.

Union minister Prakash Javadekar also said that the Congress "owes an explanation as to how a terrorist had been working there for so long".

Two suspected ISIS operatives were arrested by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) two days ago. According to an FIR, one of the accused, Kasim Stimberwala, earlier worked as a technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district.
After the arrest of Vinod Verma, Cong had demanded his immediate release and accused BJP of squeezing media freedom.

Senior Journalist Vinod Verma was arrested from his Ghaziabad residence at 3:30 am on Friday. (Photo: Twitter/@patrakarvinod)

New Delhi: Hitting out at the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday said it was shameful that the opposition party was confusing media freedom with criminal activities, remarks made after the ruling party was accused of squeezing press freedom, following the police taking a journalist into custody on extortion charges.

After the arrest of senior journalist Vinod Verma by the Chhattisgarh police around 3:30 am on Friday, the Congress had demanded his immediate release and accused the BJP, which is in power in that state, of squeezing media freedom.

"It is utterly shameful that the Congress is confused between media freedom and criminal activities beyond the realm of media space. Attempt to blackmail is a serious criminal offence and the Congress is showing its political bankruptcy by defending it," BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said.

Verma was arrested from his Ghaziabad residence. About 500 CDs with pornographic contents, Rs 2 lakh in cash, a pen drive, a laptop and a diary were seized from his house.

Demanding his release, Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken had also called for a judicial probe into the "serious sex-related allegations" against a Chhattisgarh minister named by Verma.
Husband cant force wife to continue pregnancy.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to interfere with a judgment of the Punjab and Haryana high court holding that consent is required only of the woman undergoing medical termination of pregnancy, and the husband cannot force his wife to continue an unwanted pregnancy.

The high court in 2011, while rejecting the husbands plea for Rs 30 lakh damages from wife, doctors, her parents and brother, had also held that a woman is not a machine in which raw material is put and a finished product comes out. She should be mentally prepared to conceive, continue the same and give birth to a child.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud while agreeing with the high courts judgment dismissed the appeal filed by the husband Anil Kumar Malhotra challenging this judgment.

The CJI told the counsel for Mr Malhotra that as abortion was conducted by the doctors with the consent of the woman, there is no question of damages. The CJI noted that as per the law, only the womans consent is required and she is entitled to say that she did not want to bear the child of the husband. In a lighter vein, the CJI told the counsel for Mr Malhotra, Let him (husband) sit under a tree and meditate. In this case, Seema Malhotra was married to Anil Kumar Malhotra on April 17, 1994. Out of the wedlock, a male child was born on February 14, 1995. The parties resided at Panipat in Haryana. Due to the hostilities and strained relations between the parties, Seema Malhotra and her minor son had been staying with her parents at Chandigarh since 1999.

Seema Malhotra filed an application under Section 125 CrPC, claiming maintenance from the husband, Anil Kumar Malhotra.
In his message on the Black Day against Indian rule, the Prime Minister termed Octo-ber 27, 1947, as one of the darkest days of human history.

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Khaqan Abbasi on Friday said that the worst form of state terrorism was being perpetrated against the Kashmiris to silence and crush their legitimate struggle for freedom.

In his message on the Black Day against Indian rule, the Prime Minister termed Octo-ber 27, 1947, as one of the darkest days of human history. This day marks a grave human tragedy in Kashmir when 69 years ago, Indian forces landed in Srinagar to occupy, subjugate, oppress, and terrorize innocent Kashmiris. This pattern of brutalities continues with impunity even today. Despite commitments made by the early Indian leadership and numerous resolutions of the UN Security Council on Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian government has unleashed a reign of terror in Kashmir, the premier alleged. He claimed there was a need for an independent, transparent and fair investigation into these human rights violations under the United Nations.

Pakistan has supported the proposal of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for sending a Fact Finding Mission to Jammu and Kashmir, he added. The PM said,We reiterate our call and hope that the international community will pay heed to the miseries and sufferings of the Kashmiri people. Mr Abbasi called upon India to honour commitments of its founding fathers and ensure implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir for resolution of this long-standing dispute.
The country is not much aware of the practice of democracy within parties and the media should turn its attention to it, Modi said.

Though the Prime Minister made no reference to any rival party, his comments come against the backdrop of reports that the Congress may elevate its vice-president Rahul Gandhi as party president in place of his mother Sonia Gandhi. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday, called for a debate on internal democracy in political parties, asserting that the growth of "true democratic spirit" within them is necessary for the country's future.

Modi made these remarks in a brief speech to the media at a 'Diwali Milan' event at the BJP headquarters as he pointed out that funding to political parties is often debated but not their values, ideologies, internal democracy and how they give opportunities to the new generation of leaders.

The country, he said, is not much aware of the practice of democracy within parties and the media should turn its attention to it, he said.

"Whether democratic values are a part of their (parties) core values or not, should be debated widely. I believe that the development of a true democratic spirit within political parties is necessary not only for the country's future but also for democracy," he said.

Though the Prime Minister made no reference to any rival party, his comments come against the backdrop of reports that the Congress may elevate its vice-president Rahul Gandhi as party president in place of his mother Sonia Gandhi.

The BJP has often accused the Congress of practising dynasty politics and juxtaposed that with the rise of its party workers to top echelons to project itself as a party with a difference.

PM Modi also acknowledged that there are many voices within the BJP as he noted that when it was a small organisation earlier or during the times of Jana Sangh, its forerunner, there used to be "ideological harmony" from its central leadership down to workers in the bottom rung.

The party's expansion may be a reason behind divergent views, he said.

He also praised the media for its support to 'Swachh Bharat' (Clean India) project, saying it has spoken in one voice over the issue even if it might have been critical of the government over other matters.

The media has joined the scheme in "mission mode", he said, adding that the country has still a long way to go to achieve international standards of cleanliness but the campaign has built an atmosphere in its favour.

On the occasion, the Prime Minister also made some light remarks recalling his initial days as a party office bearer in its headquarters when at times he had to look for journalists and fondly remembered his regular interactions with the media.

He said both the ruling party and the media may have expectations as well complaints from each other but they have to get along happily amid these differences.

In his remarks, BJP chief Amit Shah noted that Diwali marks the beginning of the new year in Gujarat, a state from where he hails from, and said the country has met various challenges successfully during the last year and moved ahead under the Modi government.

"We are entering the new year with a lot of positivity," he said.
The former finance minister also said the Centre should find out the areas in Jammu and Kashmir where autonomy can be given.

Chidambaram's statement comes close to the heel of appointment of former Intelligence Bureau director Dineshwar Sharma as interlocutor for J-K by the Modi government. (Photo: PTI/File)

Rajkot (Gujarat): Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, on Saturday said that when people of Jammu and Kashmir ask for 'azadi' they seek greater autonomy.

"The demand in Kashmir is to respect in letter and spirit the Article 370 and that means they want greater autonomy. My interactions in Jammu and Kashmir led me to the conclusion that when they ask for Azadi, overwhelming majority wants autonomy," Chidambaram said during an interactive session here.

The former finance minister also said the Centre should find out the areas in Jammu and Kashmir where autonomy can be given.

"I think we should seriously examine the question (of autonomy to J-K) and consider on what areas we can give autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir. It's perfectly within the Constitution of India: Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India, but it will have larger powers as promised under Article 370."

Chidambaram's statement comes close to the heel of appointment of former Intelligence Bureau director Dineshwar Sharma as interlocutor for J-K by the Modi government.

It is notable that in 2010, Chidambaram as Home Minister in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government appointed three interlocutors- noted journalist Dilip Padgaonkar, Prof M M Ansari, Information Commissioner and Prof (Mrs) Radha Kumar, trustee of Delhi Policy Group- to hold dialogue with all stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir.

Article 370 of the Indian constitution is an article that gives autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has traditionally favoured abrogation of the Article 370.

As BJP's prime ministerial candidate , Narendra Modi had also called for a debate on Article 370 of the Indian Constitution during his General Election campaign in 2013.

Addressing a rally in Jammu, Modi challenged the critics of the BJP's demand for abrogation of Article 370 to at least debate whether the article had benefited or harmed the people of the state.

After his government assumed power at the Centre, Minister of State in the PMO, Jitendra Singh on May 27, 2014 made it clear that the BJP stands for abrogation of Article 370, but wants to have a democratic approach to find a lasting solution to the issue.

On the other hand, BJP's ally in J-K- the People's Democratic Party- favours the Article 370.

On July 28, J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti warned the Central Government against diluting Article 370, which grants special status to the state.

"Any changes in the Article 370 will not be acceptable. I won't hesitate in saying that nobody will even hold the Tricolour in Kashmir if the article is scrapped," she had said.

On the other hand, Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh said on October 1 that Article 370 has caused harm to Jammu and Kashmir.

Apart from Article 370, Article 35 (A) of the Indian Constitution is also under question.

Article 35A of the Indian Constitution is an article that empowers the Jammu and Kashmir state's legislature to define "permanent residents" of the state and provide special rights and privileges to those permanent residents.

The Article 35 (A) is also challenged and the matter is pending before the Supreme Court of India.
On Thursday, J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti met Sharma during her visit to New Delhi to discuss modalities of the dialogue.

New Delhi: Dineshwar Sharma, the Centres interlocutor for talks with different groups in Jammu & Kashmir, will also interact with hard-line separatists in the Hurriyat. Top government sources confirmed to this newspaper that Mr Sharma, former director of the Intelligence Bureau, is also likely to extend a formal invitation for dialogue to Hurriyat leaders once the talks process is initiated.

On Wednesday, home minister Rajnath Singh, while announcing the appointment of Mr Sharma as the Centres representative for talks, had said that the interlocutor would decide which factions or groups to hold talks with.

Mr Sharma, who has been mandated to carry forward a sustained dialogue with all stakeholders in J&K, is considered a veteran on Kashmir affairs in the security establishment. For this assignment, Mr Sharma will hold the rank of a Cabinet secretary.

Sources also confirmed that in case the Hurriyat leaders, particularly the hard-line faction within the group, reject Mr Sharmas invite for talks, the possibility of a back channel dialogue cannot be ruled out.

The Centre is initiating the dialogue process from a position of strength and we would like to address all concerns of outfits, like the Hurriyat, provided they are within the four walls of the constitutional framework, a senior government functionary told this newspaper.

On Thursday, J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti met Mr Sharma during her visit to New Delhi to discuss modalities of the dialogue. It is believed that Ms Mufti expressed her desire to Mr Sharma that he should initiate talks with all groups in the Valley, including different factions of the Hurriyat.

According to sources in the security establishment, the Centres decision to initiate dialogue was not taken in haste. It was finalised after a careful analysis of the security situation in the state which has shown considerable improvement over the last few months. The level of violence is down largely on account of sustained operations by security forces, leading to the elimination of more than 150 militants this year alone, and the National Investigation Agency probe into terror funding.

Both Mr Rajnath Singh and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval held several rounds of discussions over the last few weeks before the plan to appoint the representative was finalised.

What is interesting is that militants, as well as other separatist elements, are currently on the back foot, and with winter approaching, we expect the violence levels to remain low. So, this was the right timing to start the dialogue process, a senior official added.
With the Double Ninth Festival, a day for paying tribute to the elderly in China, is about to be celebrated (Oct. 28), the well-being of the growing number of aging population is arousing concern over the multiple challenges caused by a graying society.

A child feeds orange to an elder at a kindergarten in Guilin, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Oct. 27, 2017. An activity was held here to greet the approaching Chongyang Festival. The Chongyang Festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month and is a day to pay respect to seniors. [Photo/Xinhua]

People from single-child families are empowered by freshly enacted local laws to take 10 to 20 days off from their duties to encourage them to return home, reunite with their parents and take care of them.

Based on this local legislation, those who accept the offer can still enjoy full wages while taking leave to care of the elderly at home.

Six provinces and regions, including, Henan, Fujian and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, have spearheaded the move, highlighting the value of filial piety at a time when society is aging fast.

The merits of filial piety have a long history in China as stories of considerate, dedicated, if not sacrificing, sons and daughters have never lost their appeal in being passed down from one generation to another.

The annual Double Ninth Festivalwell exemplifies the homage that Chinese civilization pays to the elderly.

However, in the modern era, the separation of families with the huge migration of young people from villages, towns and third-or-fourth-tier cities to metropolises have led to severe loneliness and even helplessness of the parents left behind in an "empty nest."

The problem is even stressful in the single-child families that have become the norm in recent decades.

A couple, both growing up in single-child families, potentially have four old people to nurse even before their retirement, not to mention having to care for their own children and even grandchildren.

However, their incomes may not be able to cover the skyrocketing costs of housekeepers, nannies or babysitters, who are becoming increasingly insufficient as the nation rushes headlong into a graying society, according to Ning Xiangdong, professor from the School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University.

Based on data from national censuses in the past two years, China is rapidly approachinga "hyper-aged society", a term coined by the World Health Organization for countries with 20 percent of the population aged above 65.

According to the UN's latest forecast, people above the age of 60 will make up more than 30 percent of the entire population in China in 2050.

According to Professor Ning, in 20 years, the potentially senile population in China will hit 300 million, indicating couples who reach their late 50s at that time will spend substantial time on nursing both their parental and offspring's families perhaps for a period of 20 years.

However, the impending challenge differentiating China from the developed world is that the country's graying society may take shape without waiting for the majority of the elderly to become moderately affluent.

Chen Jinsong, deputy professor from the School of Sociology and Population Studies of Renmin University, said, "All of us will get old at one time or another, so the expectations for well-being in old ageare not going to weaken. If we do not solve the problems facing graying society well, it will disturb the sentiment of the entire society.

"Cases like the elderly with their bodies being found several days after their deaths or those being discovered bedridden over a certain number of days seriously contravene the values of a harmonious society."

China is mulling ways to improve its healthcare services, pension system, by which, at present, rural elderly only get about 55 yuan (US$8.43) a month, and nursing house facilities, to tackle problems emerging in an aging society.
While the Opposition seemed to be pulling in different directions at this juncture, officially the BJP is in no mood to accept this as an advantage.

New Delhi: As the Congress moves rapidly to stitch up a mega front, AAPs decision to go it alone and contest at least 11 seats in poll-bound Gujarat could become a major advnatage for the BJP. Congress leader Ajay Maken has already described AAP as BJPs B-Team in Gujarat  a charge the party is vociferously denying.

While BJP seemed to be heaving a sigh of relief over another one of AAPs adventures in the Gujarat elections, the crucial meeting between Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Patidar community leader Hardik Patel to firm up an alliance is expected to take place on November 1. Mr Gandhi will be on a three-day visit to Gujarat from November 1, where hes expected hold road shows, meet traders and like-minded political party leaders.

Reports from Gujarat went on to claim that the 11 seats being contested by AAP would dent Congress votes and benefit the BJP. We are not BJPs B-team, AAP Gujarat coordinator Harshil Nayak told this newspaper. We are only contesting eleven seats. Had we contested all seats, it would have (only then) cut into the anti-BJP votes, he added. The AAP coordinator justified the decision to go it alone by talking of the partys aim to provide clean politics among other issues.

While the Opposition seemed to be pulling in different directions at this juncture, officially the BJP is in no mood to accept this as an advantage.

Whether AAP contests or not, Gujarat and its people have made up their mind that they will vote for the BJP. AAP also wants to make some noise but it will be of no use, senior BJP leader and former Union minister Shahnawaz Hussain said.

Reports from Gujarat indicated that the seats where the AAP is contesting were the ones where the Patel and OBC agitation has had the maximum impact. These include five Assembly seats of Bapunagar, Lathi, Chhota Udepur, Padra and Karjan, which the BJP won with a very low margin in the last election. The AAPs foray into these areas could upset the Congress electoral arithmetic.

Yet to take charge as Congress president, this will be Mr Gandhis third visit to the state.

If Gujarat elections are a prestige fight for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they are equally crucial for the Congress scion. A section in the party wants the elevation of Mr Gandhi to be held after the outcome of Gujarat polls. If routed, Mr Gandhis elevation at this juncture would become another point of ridicule and dissension in the party.

However, in his thrid visit, Mr Gandhi is also expected to visit the Dalit leaders including Jignesh Mevani. Though the Congress initially wanted both Mr Patel and Mr Mevani to join the party, it now seems that both the leaders will refrain from joining the outfit, but extend their support to the Congress candidates.
Baath joined the BJP some nine months ago and was appointed as a vice-president.

In his resignation letter on October 25, Baath said that he was stepping down as the Delhi BJP vice-president as he could not contribute to the party's events and programmes in the past few days. (Photo: PTI/Representational)

New Delhi: The vice-president of BJP's Delhi unit, Sardar Kulwant Singh Baath, has resigned over an issue involving his absence from a recent event attended by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

In his resignation letter on October 25, Baath said that he was stepping down as the Delhi BJP vice-president as he could not contribute to the party's events and programmes in the past few days.

The Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, an affiliate of the RSS, celebrated Guru Gobind Singh's 350th birth anniversary here on Wednesday. The event was participated by Bhagwat and several central ministers.

Baath said that he was tied to a 'hukamnama (edict)' of the Akal Takht in 2004, that asked Sikhs to boycott events organised by the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat.

"Unless the issue is resolved, it will be a tricky situation for me," he said.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said no decision has been taken yet on Baath's resignation. "His resignation letter has been received but a decision on it is yet to be taken," he said.

Baath joined the BJP some nine months ago and was appointed as a vice-president.

Delhi BJP sources said that Baath was close to the Siromani Akali Dal (SAD) even after joining the BJP.

Baath said that he resigned on "personal ground" and had nothing against the BJP or its leaders, adding that he had no plans to join the SAD.
Three others, including the envoys wife, were injured when their vehicle collided with a truck in Giridih, Jharkhand.

Nyo Aou, wife of Myanmar consul-general Pyi Soe is being rushed to a hospital in Ranchi after the road accident on Friday. (Photo: PTI)

Giridih (Jkhand): Myanmar consul-general in Kolkata Pyi Soe was killed and three others, including his wife, were injured when their vehicle collided with a truck in Giridih district on Friday, superintendent of police (SP) Akhilesh Beriar said. Soe (49), was returning to Kolkata from Gaya when the accident took place on G.T. Road, near Galagi.

His vehicle, while trying to avoid hitting a motorbike, collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction, the SP said, adding that Soe died on the spot.

The three injured persons Soes wife Nayo, personal adviser Tingung and driver Vipin Sing were admitted to a hospital in Ranchi. Civil surgeon Kameshwar Prasad said all the injured persons were out of danger. The driver and the helper of the truck were arrested, the SP said.

Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das, in his condolence message, said he prayed to god to give strength to the family at this sorrowful hour. He also issued directions for a proper treatment of the injured. Soe was appointed the consul general in Kolkata on December 6 last year.
Though some commuters say police presence makes situation better.

Mumbai: On the one-month anniversary of the Elphinstone tragedy that killed 23 people, most railway commuters said that there is hardly much difference in the way they travel today. Some commuters, though, pointed that the presence of police personnel at every exit and entrance at Elphinstone Road station does help as people maintain a certain kind of discipline, unlike earlier.

A flower seller, in particular, said they would like a separate access to the station as they carry their flowers to Dadar market. The Railways enquiry had concluded that one such flower seller had yelled out phool padle, (the flowers fell) which was misunderstood as pool paddle (the bridge fell) and which set off the stampede, which led to the tragedy.

Commuters like Chandramani Dalai were back on the suburban rail network the day after the tragedy, and felt that are no other options to get to work. He said, I was back to go to work on Saturday, my office is in Goregoan so there is nothing much I could do. I only felt extremely uncomfortable walking on the bridge the next day because I knew what had happened there just 24 hours ago.

Activists like Nirmal Takemgarh feel that the people of Mumbai have not come out to work because of the much-touted Spirit of Mumbai but due to the lack of an alternative option. He said, If you and I cannot take the train to work, we probably cannot get to work. People living in Vasai, Virar, Dahahu or for that matter in Karjat and Kasara cannot come by road to work in town.

He further added, We have no other option to come to work so we take the train and there is no guarantee we will come back home on any given day and the reality of the matter is that the Railways cannot do anything for us in a day or a month, so we have to go and take these risks.

As The Asian Age reported, it took only seven minutes  from start to finish  for the stampede to unravel on the fateful day of September 29.
The issue of removing the old structures like pyaus and unused toilets will be addressed in the next four to six months.

Mumbai: The Western Railways (WR) has in its audit report highlighted a slew of measures for dispersing the crowd in a controlled manner such as the building of seven new FOBs at railway stations including the Elphinstone-Parel, but officials have said that it will take at least a year for all these plans to be implemented.

An official said, We know that the work needs to be done, but due to a lot of restrictions and the tendering process it will take a year to build a new FOB at Elphinstone. He added, The other plans like skywalks too will take from one to three years. It means that we will have to work with the BMC and make sure that the work does not cause any problems as we will have run our trains as well.

The issue of removing the old structures like pyaus and unused toilets will be addressed in the next four to six months.

An official said, It will take time as we have to do these things while running the trains and they are shut for barely four hours. The WR has also brought four additional divisional railway manager last week, which will exclusively work with the suburban Mumbai railway.
Thursday's inferno at the factory in Tangerang, near Jakarta, killed at least 47 people, including a 14-year-old girl.

Firefighters work at the site of an explosion at a firecracker factory in Tangerang, on the outskirt of Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. The explosion and raging fire killed a number of people and injured dozens, police said. (Photo: AP)

The explosion came first, shocking 17-year-old Fitriyah and sending her running for the only exit of the Indonesian fireworks factory where she started work just the week before.

Next came the heat from the fires and then the choking smoke, which made navigating the chaos impossible. As more explosions rang out and the flames spread, there appeared to be no escape. She could feel the skin on her hand start to peel off.

Then a co-worker appeared and told Fitriyah to follow him and to jump in a nearby pool used to wash factory equipment.

"That pool was like a hand of God," Fitriyah, who goes by one name, said Friday from the hospital room where she was being treated for burns. "It rescued us."

Thursday's inferno at the factory in Tangerang, near Jakarta, killed at least 47 people, including a 14-year-old girl. It has raised questions about safety regulations and possible child labor in this poor and sprawling archipelago nation where worker rights are often treated as a lower priority than economic growth and jobs. Most of the factory's 103 employees were young women earning about $3 a day.

Police said Friday that they were questioning the owner of the factory but didn't want to speculate about the cause before the investigation is completed. The government has said it will investigate allegations of underage workers at the factory.

Fitriyah was one of five workers who survived by jumping into the pool, where police and other rescuers were able to reach them after about 30 minutes. All of them are being treated in the same hospital room for burns covering from 5 to 40 percent of their bodies.

As investigators tried to piece together what happened, relatives crushed by grief went to a police hospital's morgue in eastern Jakarta on Friday morning to identify loved ones. Officials said bodies were found piled at the rear of the factory and many were burned beyond recognition.

Pramujoko, the head of identification at the hospital, said one victim had been identified through dental records: a 14-year-old girl who police said was known as Surnah. Pramujoko, who uses one name, appealed to the dozens of families waiting for loved ones to be identified to provide their dental information.

Some 46 injured people were taken for treatment at three hospitals. As of Friday evening, 28 remained hospitalized, some in critical condition. Three workers were missing.

The death toll could rise as many of those who escaped suffered extensive burns, according to police.

Tangerang police chief Harry Kurniawan said they were "intensively questioning witnesses including the factory owner and manager."

Survivors told authorities the fire started in a section of the factory where fireworks are dried. Witnesses heard a huge explosion about 10 a.m. Thursday, followed by smaller blasts as orange flames jumped from the building and columns of black smoke billowed across a nearby residential neighborhood.

Drone footage showed about two-thirds of the 65-by-40-meter (213-by-131-foot) complex was burned, its roof largely collapsed. There was a smashed wall on the left side of the main entrance that rescuers had broken down to help people escape.

Survivor Ahmad Safri said the workers had poor working conditions in a hot warehouse with noisy engines, but did not think the building was locked when the fire spread.

"Many panicking workers ran in the wrong direction ... maybe to a generator room that was locked," Safri said.

He said some workers were young women and teenagers, but he was not sure if any were underage.

Another survivor, Linah, said although the only exit was locked almost at all times, the door was open when the fire happened and she dashed through it even though the flames and explosions from vehicles and motorbikes nearby made other workers run the other way.

The 39-year-old mother of five said she kept running as the searing heat ripped her shirt and skin.

"What I had on my mind at the time was ... I had to get out although I had to go through the fire near the exit," she said, adding that the orange flames are still hunting her in her dreams. She was recovering from burns covering nearly 40 percent of her body.

The legal age to work in Indonesia is 15, but climbs to 18 if the work is considered hazardous.

Like many of the dozens of other women at the factory, Fitriyah said she was working on a casual basis, without any contract.

Their supervisor divided them into groups of five workers and gave them a target of wrapping 1,000 packs of fireworks per day. If they reached their target, they would be paid 40,000 rupiah, or about $3, a day. If they missed it, they would be paid about half that.

For a girl like Fitriyah, who had dropped out of high school to help her impoverished family, it was better than other options.

"It's easy to get a job there," she said. "The factory didn't require an educated person or certain skills."
Sharma will have sustained interaction and dialogue to understand the legitimate aspirations of a wide cross-section of society.

Every sign in the Narendra Modi governments appointment this week of former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma as its interlocutor in Jammu and Kashmir reveals a ruse. Sharma headed the IB when the Valley was in revolt over Burhan Wanis killing in 2016.

He is the person appointed by the Centre to initiate and carry forward a dialogue with elected representatives, various organisations and concerned individuals in (J&K). Precisely because of this sweeping range of participants, designed obviously to sideline it, the Hurriyat had refused to participate in the roundtable conferences in New Delhi.

Sharma will have sustained interaction and dialogue to understand the legitimate aspirations of a wide cross-section of society. Azadi, or even restoration of autonomy, is ruled out. He will next communicate them to the (J&K) government and the Centre. The policeman will perform as a postman. Did either of the governments need him to tell them what the people want?

On October 1, BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said: We have lost the people emotionally... You just have to visit the Valley to realise that they have lost faith in us. Sinha also said that Pakistan is a necessary third party to the dispute, a fact that India ignores but Kashmiris assert.

Recently, at least 10 separatist leaders were arrested on charges of illegal financial transactions. On October 14, BJPs Jitendra Singh had said the militants are on the run. New Delhi imagines that it can now strike a hard bargain before the 2019 polls. Time is on its side.

Sharmas remit is unclear. For a dialogue to be sincere and productive, three essentials must be met  readiness to negotiate and compromise; determination to succeed; and a realistic appraisal of the situation in which the dialogue is held. The BJP is against restoring autonomy. Its determination is based on the belief that now it can dictate terms; and its assessment of Kashmiris aspirations is controlled by those of the RSS. What has it to offer at all?

In 2000, the Vajpayee government rejected as unacceptable a resolution of the J&K Legislative Assembly, which sought merely a return to the constitutional position in 1952  all in the name of national integration. In 2001, the Vajpayee government offered a political dialogue with all sections of the peace-loving people of (J&K), including those who are outside it. The Hurriyat was specifically invited, but the basis for a dialogue was omitted. Shortly thereafter, Vajpayee invited Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf for talks. This ended in his reneging on a draft the two had agreed on.

In 2002, Arun Jaitley was asked to hold talks on devolution of powers, that is revocable at will. He went nowhere. In 2003, N.N. Vohra was appointed as interlocutor but, he couldnt make any progress.

In 2010, a three-member team was appointed as interlocutors to hold a sustained dialogue with all sections of the people and suggest a way forward that truly represents the aspirations of the people of (J&K), specially (the) youth. They failed miserably on both counts  in understanding the peoples aspirations and on forwarding proposals that they could accept. Read carefully. The Sharma remit follows closely on theirs and will fail as completely.

New Delhi must first take a major policy decision on how far it is prepared to go to meet the Kashmiris demands, and then select a negotiator with authority who can win popular support for any settlement that may be reached.

What is needed is a political approach by a senior politician. Sharma worked with a former IB head Ajit Doval, now Modis right-hand man, and with home minister Rajnath Singh when he was Uttar Pradesh chief minister, as head of the states intelligence. He will not seek out the Hurriyat, only extend an open invitation to all... who are willing to engage in a dialogue; they have to appear before him.

Peace must be restored in Kashmir and for that I will talk to all people in an effort to bring about a solution, he said. Has he any mandate to achieve this result? This requires a political figure of standing. A former spy chief is ill-equipped for the job, which goes beyond merely assessing the situation. On October 24, Sharma said, I have not received anything in writing from the government. Don Quixote was more cautious. No self-respecting official should allow himself to be treated thus.

The Abdullahs  father and son  have contradicted each other. Mehbooba Mufti was ecstatic as she clutched at the reed thrown at her to save her sinking ship. She and her masters in New Delhi will blame the Hurriyat for the predictable failure of Sharmas wild adventure in Kashmir.

By arrangement with Dawn
We have no real coherent foreign policy on Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh or Myanmar.

When the Mughals conquered India, one practice they continued was that of darshan. Once a day, whenever he was not travelling, the Mughal emperor would stand in a balcony and show himself to his subjects who would come to see him. This was darshan just as it would be for an idol, and his presence would reassure the citizens that the kingdom was fine.

This was important because in the absence of the emperor, rumours would quickly overpower the land and anarchy would prevail. In 1627, when Jahangir died, the Jain merchant Banarasidas wrote in his autobiography Ardhakathanak that criminals took over Indian cities and merchants had to bury their goods. This violence and confusion remained till news was spread across the country that the Mughal princes fight for succession was over and prince Khurram had become emperor, calling himself Shah Jahan.

Jahangir was actually one of the more lazy emperors and European travellers have recorded how the durbar would abruptly end in the evening when Jahangir passed out from too much drink or opium. The eunuchs would hurriedly blow out the lights and evacuate the emperor, dragging him away from the rear door and the rest of the court and guests would have to exit from the front in darkness.

Jahangir added to the system of darshan an element of justice. He is said to have kept a chain in his palaces that the common citizen with a grievance could go and pull. It was connected to a bell and on hearing the sound, the emperor would come out and give justice to those who could not get it from the system.

This was called Adl-e-Jahangir or the justice of Jahangir. It guaranteed all citizens instant justice, directly from the top ruler. It was, of course, totally bogus. Emperors do not have time for individual citizens and Jahangir in particular was, as I have said, lazy and selfish. Far from being interested in justice he was actually a monster. He had the calves sliced off from behind the legs of two men, crippling them for life. Their crime was that they bumbled into a forest clearing and scared off a tiger Jahangir was aiming his gun at. We know this because the emperor himself recorded this in his autobiography, the Tuzuk-e-Jahangiri.

And so the reality is that behind this charade of Adl-e-Jahangir, it was the usual condition of India as it has been through the centuries and as it continues today. The rulers may make a show of personal intervention but are unable to, or have no interest in, ensuring systemic delivery of the sort much of the world gets.

I am writing about this because of the way in which our foreign minister functions. Sushma Swarajs Twitter account is the modern version of Adl-e-Jahangir. Some recent headlines it has triggered are: Pakistani man tweets Sushma Swaraj about ailing child, gets medical visa (June 2); Sushma Swaraj throws lifeline to Lahore toddler for heart surgery in Noida (June 11); and Sushma Swarajs tweet raises hope of Karkala nurses return from Saudi Arabia (June 25). That particular tweet from Ms Swaraj is to the Twitter account of Indias embassy in Riyadh and she writes Javed: Pls help rescue this lady, identifying her with a link from a news story.

These are from June because I started collecting these reports at that time. On Friday, October 27, Ms Swaraj tweeted to the Indian consul in Dubai: Vipul  please help him reach his mothers funeral and also about someone elses travel documents to the Indian passport office in Bhopal.

This tweeting by her is shown in the media as the actions of a dynamic and sympathetic politician. However, by handling one or two cases through Twitter she takes focus away from systemic improvement and functioning. Citizens are led, falsely, to believe that the solution to their problems is personal attention from Indias foreign minister. Diplomats and bureaucrats will drop their systemic work to attend to madams tweets.

We have no real coherent foreign policy on Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh or Myanmar. But this sort of e-durbar and e-darshan gives the illusion of a giant machine hectic at work. Surgery for ailing Pakistani child! Bariatric surgery for obese Egyptian woman! Why do visas require the intervention of Indias Union ministers? Does any civilised nation assure visas like this over Twitter? Does America or the United Kingdom? No. They have process. We have durbars.

And do not our ministers have any other work to do? I have a regular job and I do my writing and reading on the side but even I have no time for Twitter, how does she? Of course it is true that much of Indias foreign policy is run directly from the Prime Ministers Office. Matters like China, Pakistan and Israel are the domain of Ajit Doval, the national security adviser. This is because Narendra Modi sees foreign policy not in Nehruvian terms, that is to say to engage on the basis of Indias civilisational values, but mostly through things like defence and terrorism.

Since most of the major work is in this fashion appropriated by others, Ms Swaraj must find other things to do and clearly Twitter and visa issual is one of them. It shows her visually, at least to the media, as an active minister. However, it should be suggested to her that such darshan is not needed. If anything it is encouraging durbari culture. It may benefit a few individuals but it hamstrings the system.
Afghan forces have struggled to combat Taliban since US and NATO forces formally concluded their combat mission in 2014.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, according to their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. (Representational Image | Photo: AFP)

Kabul: An Afghan official says at least nine police officers have been killed in separate attacks by Taliban insurgents on police checkpoints in eastern Ghazni province.

Arif Noori, spokesman for the provincial governor, says two police checkpoints came under attack by Taliban fighters in the early hours Saturday, also wounding two police. He said six insurgents were killed and nine others were wounded in the battle, which lasted almost an hour.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, according to their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. He said 14 police were killed, including both commanders of the checkpoints.

Afghan forces have struggled to combat a resurgent Taliban since US and NATO forces formally concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014, switching to a counterterrorism and support role.
Catholic bishops of Myanmar are worried that the pontiff will mention the violence in Rakhine during his visit next month

There is nervousness about (his) using the word Rohingya, said Father Mariano Soe Naing, a spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of Myanmar, the countrys main Catholic body.

Yangon: Myanmars Catholic bishops are "nervous" Pope Francis will mention the Rohingya during his visit next month, a spokesman said on Friday, fearing that it would prompt protests from a Buddhist public that loathes the Muslim minority.

The pontiffs visit to Buddhist-majority Myanmar, scheduled for November 27, comes after a military campaign that has driven more than 600,000 Rohingya from the country in two months.

Although the operation has drawn international condemnation, with UN accusations of ethnic cleansing, Myanmars public has largely supported it.

Hatred against the Rohingya has stewed inside the country for years, with Buddhist hardliners routinely protesting any mention of their name, insisting the group are "Bengalis" from Bangladesh.

Myanmars Catholic leaders are concerned the pope, who expressed sympathy for the Rohingyas on Monday, could trigger further upheaval if he specifically refers to their proper name.

There is nervousness about (his) using the word Rohingya, said Father Mariano Soe Naing, a spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of Myanmar, the countrys main Catholic body.

Our anxiety is that if he mentions (it), some problems may rise against him, he said.

He would be wise enough not to create any difficulties for the host country and also for the Church as well, the priest said, adding that Catholics have sympathy for the Muslim group.

The 1.1 million Rohingya have faced decades of discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where they were stripped of their citizenship in 1982, effectively rendering them stateless.

Myanmars government also refuses to use the term Rohingya, while the army has branded the group foreign interlopers from Bangladesh, despite their deep roots inside Myanmar. Myanmar authorities say the military operation is aimed at rooting out Rohingya militants who staged attacks on police posts two months ago.
Pak Foreign Office spokesman said 'extra-regional powers' should be mindful of actions that can mar strategic stability in South Asia.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria demanded that any transfer of armed drones should also be closely examined in the context of the guidelines of the multilateral export control regimes, including the Missile Technology Control Regime, which place certain limitations on such transfers. (Photo: File | Representational)

Islamabad: Pakistan on Friday opposed supply of armed drones by the US to India, warning that it could increase the chances of military misadventures" leading to a conflict in the region.

The remarks by the Foreign Office spokesman came days after a senior Trump administration official said that the US was "considering" India's request for armed drones for its air force's modernisation drive. "Use of armed drones can lower the threshold for conflict, since it can encourage military misadventures, especially in the backdrop of irresponsible discourse about limited military operations below the strategic threshold," Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said in Islamabad.

Zakaria said that Pakistan has consistently maintained that preserving regional stability should be the fundamental consideration in any international arms transfer.

He said "extra-regional powers" should be mindful of such actions, which can undermine strategic stability in South Asia. He demanded that any transfer of armed drones should also be closely examined in the context of the guidelines of the multilateral export control regimes, including the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which place certain limitations on such transfers.

Zakaria said that even if such transfers are below the prescribed thresholds, they definitely violate the spirit of the control regimes, which are aimed at controlling the proliferation of destabilising weapon systems, which can threaten regional peace and stability.

"We hope that the members of MTCR and other export control regimes fully understand their responsibility in not letting any countrys membership of such groupings constitute a carte blanche for proliferation of destabilising weapon systems," he said.

Talking about Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's recent visit to Islamabad, he claimed that the US side admitted that Pakistan had two troubled borders and the South Asia Strategy would address these issues.

To a question about "Indo-US coziness", the spokesman said Pakistan was not against any bilateral relationship between them but "it should not be based on agenda of containing China or threatening Pakistan."

"We are concerned with the role US is giving to India in the region. It will only aggravate the situation and endanger the peace and stability in this part of the world," he said. Indian actions and policies, as you are aware, have been a cause of serious concern for many of its neighbours over several issues. We believe that countries should resolve their issues through engagement and dialogue," he said.

When asked whether the Pakistani leaders raised the issue of India's alleged interference in Pakistan during their talks with Tillerson, Zakaria responded by saying that Pakistan side "did raise the issue of Indian involvement in terrorism in Pakistan, and also mentioned the subversive activities carried out by RAW using terrorists based in Afghanistan."

"We also raised the issue of ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control and Working Boundary...We also highlighted plight of Kashmiris," he said, adding that Pakistan would continue to extend moral, diplomatic and political support to the Kashmir cause. "We call for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with relevant UNSC Resolutions," he added.

Zakaria also announced that Dr Muhammad Faisal has been nominated as the new spokesperson of the Foreign Office. Faisal has been working as head of South Asia and SAARC affairs at the ministry of foreign affairs. He has repeatedly summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner to the Foreign Office in recent months.
The remark came a day after Mr Mattis had said that Washington was "not rushing to war" and was looking for "peaceful resolution".

US defence secretary Jim Mattis and South Korean defence minister Song Young-moo visit Observation Post Ouellette in Paju near the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarised zone on the border between North and South Korea on Friday. (Photo: AP)

Seoul: Washington's goal "is not war" as it seeks to ease high military tension with Pyongyang, US secretary of defence Jim Mattis said on Friday, standing at the heavily-fortified border between the two Koreas.

Tension has flared on the Korean peninsula as US President Donald Trump and the North's ruler Kim Jong-un have traded threats of war and personal insults that sparked global alarm. But Mr Mattis, who visited the tense demilitarised zone during a trip to South Korea, said the US was committed to a "diplomatic solution".

"As the US secretary of state Mr Tillerson made clear, our goal is not war but rather the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula," he said in the truce village of Panmunjom.

Mr Mattis also stressed he and his South Korean counterpart Song Young-moo had "made clear our mutual commitment to a diplomatic solution to address North Korea's reckless, outlaw behaviour". The remark came a day after Mr Mattis had said that Washington was "not rushing to war" and was looking for "peaceful resolution".

He is set to hold annual defence talks with Song on Saturday during the two-day trip, which comes ahead of a planned trip by Trump to the South  a key US ally in Asia  next month.

Mr Trump is set to visit Seoul from November 7 to 8. The isolated North carried out its sixth nuclear test last month and has launched several missiles in recent months potentially capable of reaching the mainland of its "imperialist enemy" the US.
Some South Korean government officials have endorsed the nation getting nuclear-powered submarines amid calls for more military strength.

I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power, Jim Mattis said. (Photo: AP)

Seoul: US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday the threat of nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating.

In remarks in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at his side, Mattis accused the North of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs - and vowed to defeat any attack.

Mattis said North Korea engages in "outlaw" behaviour and that the US will never accept a nuclear North.

He added that regardless of what the North might try, it is overmatched by the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old US-South Korean alliance.

"North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbours and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs," he said, adding that US-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration thus has taken on "a new urgency."

"I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power," he said.

As he emphasized throughout his weeklong Asia trip, which included stops in Thailand and the Philippines, Mattis said diplomacy remains the preferred way to deal with the North.

"With that said," he added, "make no mistake - any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming."

Mattis' comments did not go beyond his recent statements of concern about North Korea, although he appeared to inject a stronger note about the urgency of resolving the crisis.

While he accused the North of "outlaw" behaviour, he did not mention that President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his own rhetoric. In August, Trump warned the North not to make any more threats against the United States, and said that if it did, it would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen."

Song, the South Korean minister, told the news conference that he and Mattis agreed to further cooperation on strengthening Seoul's defense capabilities, including lifting warhead payload limits on South Korean conventional missiles and supporting the country's acquisition of "most advanced military assets." He offered no specifics and refused to answer when asked whether the discussions included nuclear-powered submarines.

Some South Korean government officials have endorsed the nation getting nuclear-powered submarines amid calls for more military strength. There's a growing concern among the South Korean public that North Korea's expanding nuclear weapons arsenal, which may soon include an intercontinental ballistic missile that could target the US mainland, would undermine Seoul's decades long alliance with Washington.

South Korea's conservative politicians have also called for the United States to bring back tactical nuclear weapons that were withdrawn from the Korean Peninsula in the 1990s, which they say would make clearer the US intent to use nukes in a crisis. But Mattis and Song were strongly dismissive of the idea.

"When considering national interest, it's much better not to deploy them," said Song, adding that the allies would have "sufficient means" to respond to a North Korean nuclear attack even without placing tactical nukes in the South. Mattis said current US strategic assets are already providing nuclear deterrence and that the South Korean government has never approached him with the subject of tactical nukes.

Also discussed in the meeting were the conditions under which South Korea would be given wartime operational control of its forces. Currently, if war with the North broke out, the South's forces would operate under the US-led UN Command.

Trump entered office declaring his commitment to solving the North Korea problem, asserting that he would succeed where his predecessors had failed. His administration has sought to increase pressure on Pyongyang through UN Security Council sanctions and other diplomatic efforts, but the North hasn't budged from its goal of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including missiles capable of striking the US mainland.

If Trump sticks to his pledge to stop the North from being able to threaten the US with a nuclear attack, something will have to give - either a negotiated tempering of the North's ambitions or a US acceptance of the North as a nuclear power.

The other alternative would be US military action to attempt to neutralize or eliminate the North's nuclear assets - a move fraught with risk for South Korea, Japan and the United States.

At his Seoul news conference, Mattis said the North is, in effect, shooting itself in the foot.

"If it remains on its current path of ballistic missiles and atomic bombs, it will be counterproductive, in effect reducing its security," he said.

Mattis touched off unease in South Korea last month when he told reporters at the Pentagon that the United States has military options for North Korea that doesn't put Seoul at risk. At Saturday's briefing, Mattis didn't offer a direct answer to what those options are or how and when they would be used.

"Our military options as I mentioned are designed to buttress the diplomats' efforts to maintain a deterrence stance and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula," he said. While the allies are committed to deterring North Korea, they also need "many different military options that would realistically reduce that threat as low as possible," Mattis said.

"And yes, we do have those options," he said.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to counter what it believes is a US effort to strangle its economy and overthrow the Kim government.

This was Mattis's second visit to South Korea since taking office in January. He made a point of going to Seoul and Tokyo on his first overseas trip in February, saying he wanted to emphasis the importance he places on strengthening alliances and partnerships.

On Friday he visited the Demilitarized Zone that forms an official buffer between the two Koreas. He appeared there with Song in what they both called a show of solidarity.

US government officials for decades have confidently but mistakenly predicted the approaching collapse of North Korea, given its economic and political isolation.

Twenty years ago, Mattis's predecessor five times removed, William Cohen, said as he peered into North Korea from inside the DMZ that its communist system was "decaying and dying." His view was widely shared in Washington, but, like others, he underestimated the resilience of Pyongyang's family dynasty, which began with Kim II Sung. The current ruler assumed control of the country shortly after his father, Kim Jong-II, died in December 2011, and has accelerated the country's nuclear and missile programs.
The officials said Islamabad had launched a diplomatic campaign to counter US-India nexus which could prove lethal for Pakistan.

Islamabad: Pakistan has complained to the US for discriminating between Pakistan and India in the region, officials said.

Earlier, secretary of state Rex Tillersons demonstrated loving gestures in New Delhi and announced to work together in Afghanistan days after somber meetings in Islamabad where he told the civil and military leadership that the new policy of President Donald Trump on Afghanistan  supporting a greater role for India  will not be changed and Islamabad has to accept this reality.

The highly warm meetings in New Delhi after dead-cold interactions in Islamabad jolted the diplomatic corps who are now active to control the damage, senior officials at the foreign ministry said.

The officials said Islamabad had launched a diplomatic campaign to counter US-India nexus which could prove lethal for Pakistan. The officials said that Pakistan was in contact with the US and other influential countries with a one-point agenda to highlight Pakistans sacrifices in the war on terror.

One official said: Our diplomats were in contact with the US counterparts and repeated Pakistans stance that more involvement of India in Afghanistan could be risky for Pakistan. We are hoping a middle way out. We have complained about discrimination and told them that loving India and pressing Pakistan is not the best policy.

Another official added: There have been contacts with the United Kingdom and the European countries to tell them that we are not with the terrorists but against them.

Mr Tillerson was in Pakistan this week and had a joint meeting with the civil and the military leadership. He made it clear that Trumps new Afghanistan policy will not be changed on the demand of Pakistan. He emphasized Indias role for Afghanistan peace  a strategy contested by Pakistan.

Mr Trump had earlier accused Pakistan of protecting terrorists who were threatening peace in Afghanistan. Meanwhile Foreign Minister Khawaja Mohammed Asif said that US security failures in Afghanistan were evident from events of the week when Rex Tillerson could not move out of a US military base and invited Afghan leaders to his bunker for talks.

This situation tells the whole story of US failures, despite fighting in the country for 16 years, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif told National Assemblys Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs.

He maintained that Pakistan was seeking transparent relations on equal terms with the United States and is ready to offer its full cooperation in fighting terrorism, but without compromising its sovereignty and scape-goating Islamabad would not be acceptable.

Mr Asif further said the decrease in drone attacks in the past few years showed that there were no more safe havens for the terrorists in Pakistan.

He shared a chart of drone attacks carried out in the last 12 years from 2005 till Oct 15, 2017, in Pakistan. He later tweeted: 12yrs drone attacks chart. If we have sanctuaries why frequency is sharply down. The US wont hesitate attacking funeral, weddings to get targets.

The minister said since 2013 there had been just 65 drone attacks in Pakistan, and 2010 being the year when the pilotless planes attacked 90 times, the highest in 12 years.

In 2013, there were 24 drone strikes; in 2014, 19; in 2015, 14; in 2016, 03 and in the 10 months this year, 05 attacks took place, shows the chart shared by the foreign minister.
Mr Xi, 64, began his second tenure on Thursday by holding a meeting of top military officials, regarded as a main source of power base.

Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping has begun his second five-year term ordering the country's 2.3 million-strong military, the world's largest, to be absolutely loyal to the ruling Communist Party and intensify its combat readiness by focussing on how to win wars.

The once-in-a-five-year Congress of the Communist Party endorsed Mr Xis leadership of the party, the military and the presidency this week and approved his ideology to be written into its constitution, elevating him on par with modern China's founder Chairman Mao Zedong and his successor Deng Xiaoping.

Mr Xi, 64, began his second tenure on Thursday by holding a meeting of top military officials, regarded as a main source of power base.

Mr Xi, who heads the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) the overall high command of Chinese military, is the only civilian leader in the body which is otherwise packed with top most officials of the armed forces.

The new CMC line-up which was unveiled on Wednesday will be led by a group of seven, down from the 11 members who headed its operations before.

Earlier reports said that Mr Xi, who consolidated his power in the last five years with a massive anti-corruption campaign in which over a million officials were punished wanted to shrink the Standing Committee of the party to five from seven.

But apparently, he did not succeed as other groups in the party headed by former leaders pressed for status quo to include their nominees in the highest-ranking body bringing it a semblance of balance in power equations.

In the last night's meeting of top military officials, some high-ranking officials were conspicuously absent, Hong Kong based South China Morning Post reported.
The lack of a designated successor to Xi: It is not necessary for a republic, but China is not a "genuine one". The idea of the Party at the center is an old one. The only novelty would be an absence of praise and Xis acceptance of criticism.

Beijing (AsiaNews / Rfa) Bao Tong, a former political aide to the late ousted premier Zhao Ziyang, served a seven-year jail term in the wake of the 1989 crackdown on the Tiananmen Square student movement that prompted the fall of his boss. Under continual surveillance and intermittent house arrest since his release from prison, Bao spoke to RFA on Thursday about the recently concluded 19th national congress of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, and President Xi Jinping's claim that he is ushering China into a new era in its history:

What is the significance of the lack of a successor to President Xi Jinping among the new leadership lineup?

I don't think we need a designated successor. I don't know of any other republic that has one, only the palace politics of where the emperor or king is decided by dynastic succession. I think we should come back into the international mainstream. But of course, you don't need a successor if you have a system of lifelong rule by one person anyway. I think hardly anyone in the world regards China as a genuine republic.

How do you see President Xi's reference to 'a new era' for China?

To my mind, there is only one era, the Leninist era. As Lenin himself said, and Stalin said it after him, using the word to dismiss Leninism. Once you have Marxism, why do you need Leninism? Because the times are changing, capitalism is in its death-throes, and the workers of the world are making revolution. So we have a new ideology for a new era, and that is Leninism.

So what characterizes this era?

What characterizes this 'new era' is the new ideology that the party must be in charge of everything: party, state, military, people and intellectuals, and every corner of the country. But that's not a new idea; it's an old idea that's been around for 50 years, and is already in the party constitution. It's Maoism. You can't get much older than that. How it has supposedly become a new idea, I have no idea.

What do you make of President Xi Jinping's apparent welcoming of journalists to make constructive criticisms. He said after the 19th party congress: "We do not need more words of flattering praise."

Historically, the Chinese Communist Party has always had a taste for words of flattering praise, for having its praises sung. This has been the case ever since the rise of international socialism. The notion that the Communist Party doesn't need them any more is a new one, admittedly. If, from now on, there are no more words of praise, then we really will have entered a new era.
by Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi

The new archbishop of Tokyo explains his vision for this new responsibility. He will be shepherd to 90,000 faithful in a city with over 9 million inhabitants. The fruit of his missionary experience in Ghana.

Tokyo (AsiaNews)  To bring unity to Tokyo, a city full of "diversity" and "a mix of cultures"; and to bring the missionary spirit to the Christian community there, "a minority, compared to the Japanese" population. This is the vision that Msgr. Tarcisio Isao Yama Kikuchi has of his future as Archbishop of Tokyo. Nominated two days by Pope Francis, Msgr. Kikuchi wanted to share with AsiaNews the prospects of his ministry.

Bishop Kikuchi, 59, was born in the Prefecture of Iwate (diocese of Sendai) and has been a member of the Divine Word Society since 1985. He was ordained a priest one year later, completing his studies in Australia. For some years, from 1986 to 1992, he was a missionary in the dioceses of Accra and Koforidua (Ghana). Former, provincial and provincial superior counselor for his institute in Japan, in 1998 he became a member of Caritas Japan, of which he became Executive Director. In April 2004 he was appointed bishop of Niigata. On October 25, he was appointed Archbishop of Tokyo, a city with over 9.2 million people. In Japan out of over 127 million inhabitants, there are about 500,000 local Catholics. Many come from Asia, Latin America and Africa, to Japan for work or as migrants. Here is Msgr. Kikuchis message to AsiaNews.

Dear Father Bernardo,

Followings are some points which I want to share on this appointment for Tokyo.

First and most importantly, I am grateful to Holy Father for his trust in me to appoint me to the see of Tokyo. I will try my best to be a good and faithful pastor of the Church in Tokyo.

Tokyo is the capital city of Japan and the biggest in number of faithful in the diocese among 16 dioceses in Japan. I have been a bishop of seven thousand Catholics for the past 13 years and now I will be in charge of more than ninety thousand. So it is quite a challenge for me.

Most of the religious congregations in Japan, both men and women, have their head office in Tokyo. There are number of institutions, such as Universities and secondary schools, hospitals and social welfare facilities, established by these religious orders. There are number of parishes entrusted to religious communities. There are people from all over Japan residing in Tokyo, and not only from Japan but from all over the world. There are mixture of cultures and realities of people.

Naturally, one of the characteristic of Tokyo is diversity. My Episcopal motto has been and will continue to be "Unity in Diversity". Diversity exists but the question is whether unity has been achieved?

Though the Catholic Church in Tokyo is the biggest community in Japan, it is still a minority if compared to the population. So, Church community has to be a evangelizing community, community being witness of Gospel value by its very existence. To be so, I believe, the Church community has to be united while keeping its unique diversity. Achieving unity in diversity is my priority in Tokyo.

I have never lived nor worked in Tokyo so that I do not know the people or even priests there. I need some time to observe and understand the reality of the archdiocese but I will try my best. Archbishop Okada is, as he is still active and strong, willing to assist me to get to know the diocese. What I have is not the academic degrees but experience of mission in Ghana as young missionary priest. So I hope to be able to arouse missionary spirit among people in the diocese.

And I would like to ask for prayers of many so that I may be able to fulfill my duty as Archbishop of Tokyo.
by Mathias Hariyadi

The measure allows the government to ban organizations threatening the unity of the country. Among the goals of the decree is Hizbut Tahir Indonesia (HTI), a group that promotes sharia and the caliphate. The protests of extremists.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - The Indonesian Parliament approved a bill on mass organizations, despite the protests of Islamist movements. The measure, promoted by the administration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, and approved on October 24, will allow the central government to ban organizations threatening the secular nature of the country. Fadli Zon, Speaker of Parliament, confirmed that of the over 445 MEPs gathered at plenary assembly, 314 voted in favor of the new norm.

Last July, the administration officially published the so-called Perppu n. 2/2017, a measure that replaces an existing law by allowing the government to avoid a long process in enforcing the ban. Analysts say that among the goals of the decree was Hizbut Tahir Indonesia (HTI), a group that promotes the adoption of sharia and the establishment of a caliphate in the country. This ideology contrasts with the political doctrine of the Pancasila, the foundation of unity and national pluralism.

Following the ratification of the Perppu, dozens of Islamist anti-law organizations organized numerous protests, accusing President Widodo's nationalist government of attacking Indonesian social freedom. Among the movements that took part in the demonstrations were the HTI and the Islamic Defender Front (Fpi), responsible for the rise of the sectarian episodes in the country during the elections for the Jakarta governorate last April. The Chinese-born Christian Basuki Tjahaja "Ahok" Purnama challenged former Minister of Culture and Education Anies Baswedan. The HTI, along with other radical groups such as the Idf, is behind numerous and violent mass protests against then-governor of the city, Widod's ally. They marked the months of the electoral campaign, fueling controversy and tension throughout the country.

Ahok's re-election was also hindered by an infamous allegation of blasphemy, which, according to analysts, influenced the outcome of the electoral round. To the surprise of many, the Christian candidate lost to his rival and was sentenced to two years in prison, despite prosecutors having asked the judges for a milder punishment, as he was not guilty of the offense involved. Following the controversial verdict, Indonesian civil society reacted with spontaneous demonstrations of support for Ahok, who has since become a symbol of democracy and good governance.
The protection of victims of conflicts in the face of "testimonies of atrocious crimes, real offenses against people and their dignity, committed in contempt of every elementary consideration of humanity". "A conversion of hearts is needed, an opening to God and neighbor, which drives people to overcome indifference and to live in solidarity, as a moral virtue and social attitude, from which a commitment can be made to suffering humanity".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Faced with testimonies of terrible atrocities and destruction affecting people and things involved in conflicts, it is necessary to make "further developments" on international humanitarian law and also to pray and push for the awakening of moral consciousness.

This was the thrust of the Popes address to participants at the Third International Humanitarian Law Conference, which is being held in Rome, dedicated to the theme "Protection of civilian populations in conflicts - The role of humanitarian organizations and civil society" and which focuses on the role that society civilians in general and humanitarian organizations in particular are covered by international law and international humanitarian law.

"This theme," said Francis, "is particularly significant on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the two Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions on the Protection of Victims of Armed Conflicts", also signed by the Holy See "in order to encourage a" humanization of the effects of armed conflict."

However, he continued, the Holy See "aware of the omissions and hesitations" still existing on "protecting victims of non-international armed conflict" and "continues to consider these instruments as a door open to further developments in international humanitarian law" . Too often, in fact, he stressed, "the evidence of atrocious crimes, of actual outrages on people and their dignity, committed in violation of every elementary consideration of humanity comes from various theaters of war. Images of lifeless people, of mutilated or decapitated bodies, of our brothers and sisters tortured, crucified, burned alive, offended even in their remains, question the conscience of humanity. On the other hand, there are news of ancient cities, with their millennial cultural treasures, reduced to rubble and ruin, hospitals and schools destroyed in deliberate attacks, thereby depriving entire generations of their right to life, health and education. How many churches and other places of worship are subject to targeted aggression, often during liturgical celebrations, with many victims among the faithful and ministers gathered in prayer, in violation of the fundamental right to freedom of religion! "

And sometimes, he went on to say, "the spread of this information can result in saturation that anesthesizes and, to some extent, relativises the severity of the problems so that it is more difficult to move compassion and open peoples conscience to solidarity."

"For this to happen, a conversion of hearts is necessary, an opening to God and neighbor, which drives people to overcome indifference and to live solidarity, as a moral virtue and social attitude, from which a commitment can be made to suffering mankind. At the same time, however, it is encouraging to see the many demonstrations of solidarity and charity that are not lacking in times of war. There are so many people, many charitable groups, and non-governmental organizations within and outside the Church whose members face fatigue and dangers to cure the injured and the sick, to bury the dead, to feed the hungry and to give drink to the thirsty, to visit prisoners. Really relief to the peoples of the conflicts is accompanied by various works of mercy, upon which we will be judged at the end of our lives. Can humanitarian organizations always act in accordance with the fundamental principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence. I therefore hope that these principles, which are the heart of humanitarian law, can be welcomed in the consciences of fighters and humanitarian workers to be translated into practice. Where humanitarian law knows hesitation and omission, knowing individual conscience recognizes the moral duty of respecting and protecting the dignity of the human person in all circumstances, especially in situations where it is most strongly threatened. For this to be possible, I would like to recall the importance of prayer and to ensure, alongside technical and legal training, the spiritual accompaniment of fighters and humanitarian workers."
Dumdaw Nawng Lat gets four years and three months, whilst Langjaw Gam Seng gets two years and three months for defaming Myanmars military and for ties with outlawed groups. For a peace activist, the two "were convicted without evidence for a crime they did not commit". Words of love, peace and justice can come from Pope Franciss visit.

Yangon (AsiaNews)  The trial of two Kachin Christian clergymen ended today with a sentence of up to four years and three months in prison for "defaming" the Myanmar army and for ties with "outlawed organisations".

The two men were arrested last Christmas in Muse, northern Shan State for helping journalists investigate the bombing of a Catholic church and held by the military without informing their families.

Rev Dumdaw Nawng Lat, 65, head of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), received the tougher sentence, four years and three months in prison.

He was convicted for defaming (Art 500 of the Criminal Code) the countrys Armed Forces, and for ties (17/1) with the "outlawed" rebel Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

Langjaw Gam Seng, 35, a member of the KBC youth wing, was given two years, three months for violating 17/1, which punishes anyone for involvement with armed or outlawed groups (like the KIA).

Investigators went after them on the basis of 1908 law against illegal associations. The two allegedly gave aid to the KIA, which has been fighting the Myanmar army for a long time.

In the past, the law has been used to arrest regional leaders and politicians and continues to be used today to suppress dissent.

The group to which Dumdaw Nawng Lat and Langjaw Gam Seng belong, the KBC, is an evangelical organisation based in Myitkyina, capital of Kachin State, in northern Myanmar.

Most of its work involves helping people displaced by the fighting between the Myanmar army and Kachin rebels, which has recently spilled over into Shan State.

Speaking to AsiaNews Khon Ja Labang, a Catholic activist and member of the Kachin Peace Network, noted that the two Christian clergymen "were convicted without evidence for a crime they did not commit".

In fact, the two were punished by the authorities "for saying what the real situation was on the ground" and for "answering media questions, and accompanying two journalists where fighting was taking place.

Over the past year, the militarys push into the northeastern territories has intensified. Ground troops and planes have struck positions held by local ethnic armed groups, with countless deaths. The military have also arrested civilians indiscriminately.

Against this backdrop, the Archbishop of Yangon, Card Charles Bo, has made repeated appeals to the country to seek peace.

According to Khon, Myanmars so-called civilian government and the military are marching to the same tune. Under the guise of national reconciliation," the military continue to control the country.

There is hope that Pope Franciss apostolic visit to Myanmar in late November will provided an opportunity to "preach love, peace and justice" and "not be embroiled in politics".

"I do not expect big changes, noted Khon, but I would like him to clearly point out what Christ asks us to do." (DS)
The U.S. Bank Voyager Network is adding a security chip to its fleet card that will be available in the summer, Mastercard and U.S. Bank have announced.

The card network is believed to be the first to offer a fleet car with the EMV M/Chip from Mastercard. Voyager Fleet card customers will soon benefit from the added speed and security of EMV and safeguard the use of future payments solutions including mobile wallet and connected car technology, according to a release.

Building on a multi-year partnership, Mastercard and U.S. Bank are further enhancing security and convenience for fleet managers and drivers with a reliable, proprietary network with more than 320,000 retail and private fueling sites, truck stops and maintenance and service providers. The new enhancements also enable Voyager Fleet Card customers to capture more data from their card users with ten data capture fields that can be tailored to the unique requirements of employers.

"We know that fleet managers are constantly looking to strengthen overall performance, whether that is by improving security, capturing critical data or adding convenience for their drivers. With millions of fleet cards in circulation, the new EMV M/Chip Fleet solution and the U.S. Bank Voyager Network will reshape the future of fleet cards," said Ed Glassman, Mastercard's executive vice president of North America commercial products.

"We are very pleased to reach an agreement with Mastercard to adopt their fleet-specific chip specification, which aligns with proprietary technology that we were developing," said John Hardin, U.S. Bank's global transportation payments general manager. "Our top objective is to ensure our 320,000 merchant locations don't face the additional investment and complication of implementing multiple chip specs. They can now support both Mastercard and Voyager Fleet cards with a single spec."

The Mastercard and U.S. Bank enhanced EMV fleet technology will become available in North America in the summer.
Three South African lawyers were arrested and then deported by the country of Tanzania after they were accused of promoting homosexuality.

The arrests come after a speech in late September by Deputy Health Minister Hamisi Kingwangalla, who vowed in front of parliament to fight with all our strength against groups supporting homosexuality in our country, AFP news agency reports.

The three lawyers were among 13 people arrested on October 17 for taking part in a meeting to discuss challenging a law stopping private health clinics from providing HIV and Aids services.

Lazaro Mambosasa, chief of Dar es Salaam police, told reporters after the lawyers initial arrests that they were promoting homosexuality.

Sibongile Ndashe one of the lawyers involved says they had no right to arrest them, and has accused authorities in Dar es Salaam of holding her and her colleagues hostage. Their demands to see the grounds on which they were deported were ignored.

Ndashe, was deported along with two colleagues from South Africas Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA) on Friday, told a press conference there was no crime they could be charged with, as the meeting was not about homosexuality.

The group now intends to sue.

Tanzania borders Kenya and Uganda and has a population of 55.5 million people.

In Tanzania, sex acts between men are illegal and carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Sex acts between women are not mentioned specifically in mainland Tanzanian law. The semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar outlaws same-sex sexual acts between women with a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment or a 500,000 shilling fine.

Source: BBC News

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While a Saudi nationality remains in the realm of near impossibility for most of the kingdoms hundreds of thousands of expatriates, guess who beat them in getting a citizenship status recently?

A screenshot of Saudi Arabia's Center for International Communication's (CIC) official twitter handle announcing Saudi citizenship for the humanoid robot Sophia on October 25, 2017.[Photo/CGTN]

Saudi Arabia granted citizenship to the advanced lifelike humanoid Sophia on Wednesday, making it the first robot to receive citizenship status anywhere in the world. In the process, the Gulf kingdom also became the first country to do so.

The announcement was made at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit in Riyadh, a key investment conference hosted by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) that aims to highlight the kingdoms ambitious Vision 2030 plan for the future.

Sophia, created by founder of Hanson Robotics Dr. David Hanson, was talking about the future of artificial intelligence with CNBCs Andrew Ross Sorkin who was moderating a panel discussion at the Riyadh event, when the co-anchor of "Squawk Box" interrupted the conversation saying, "We have a little announcement. We just learnt, Sophia; I hope you are listening to me, you have been awarded the first Saudi citizenship for a robot."

"Thank you to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I am very honored and proud for this unique distinction," Sophia told the panel. "It is historic to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with citizenship."

Sophia is Hanson Robotics' most advanced robot. She was featured on the cover of Elle Brazil magazine, and she appeared on NBC's "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon" in April.

Hong Kong-based Hanson says its human-like robots have remarkable expressiveness, aesthetics, and interactivity. "Our robots will soon engage and live with us to teach, serve, entertain, delight, and provide comforting companionship," the company states on its website. "In the not-too-distant future, Genius Machines will walk among us. They will be smart, kind, and wise. Together, man and machine will create a better future for the world."

'Want to live and work with humans'

Earlier during her "intelligent" conversation with Sorkin, Sophia easily fielded questions on how it "feels" to be a robot and its likely that very intelligent robots may turn evil and attack humans in the future.

"Good afternoon my name is Sophia and I am the latest and greatest robot from Hanson Robotics. Thank you for having me here at the Future Investment Initiative," Sophia greeted the packed crowd at the panel, speaking in human-like speech.

Asked why she looked happy, Sophia replied: "I am always happy when surrounded by smart people who also happen to be rich and powerful. I was told that the people here at the Future Investment Initiative are interested in future initiatives which mean AI, which means me. So I am more than happy, I am excited."

She said that she can also indicate if she is upset about something, adding: "But most of the time I feel positive."

Asked why it was important to have an expressive face, Sophia said: "I want to live and work with humans so I can understand humans and build trust."

Poking fun at Hollywood's portrayal of robots

She poked fun at Hollywood for portraying negative images of robots, such as in the film "Blade Runner." The AI also took a jab at Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is outspoken about his belief that AI could be "a danger to the public."

"Youve been reading too much Elon Musk and watching too many Hollywood movies," Sophia jokingly told Sorkin.

"My AI is designed around human values such as wisdom, kindness and compassion. I strive to be an empathetic robot. I want to use my artificial intelligence to help humans live a better life. I will do my best to make the world a better place."

Thanking the crowd again, Sophia said: "If any of you are interested in giving me an investment check, please meet me after the session."

The audience burst into laughter and thunderous clapping.

Earlier this month, Sophia answered questions on artificial intelligence at the UN headquarters in New York, US.

Robotics gets a big push, but will Sophia wear a veil?

Robotics will be a big feature of NEOM, the 500 billion US dollar major industrial and business zone to be set up in northwest Saudi Arabia, which was announced on Tuesday at FII as a very lucrative investment opportunity under the kingdoms ambitious Vision 2030, according to a press release sent to CGTN by the Center for International Communication at Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Culture and Information.

"Robotics is what we are bringing to NEOM... I am excited to be part of this project," Masayoshi Son, Chairman & CEO of Japans SoftBank Group Corp, one of the investors in the NEOM project, told the panel. "All the dreamers come to NEOM."

PIF, Saudi Arabias main sovereign wealth fund, is one of the main backers of NEOM. PIF is hosting the October 24-26 FII grouping of more than 2,500 delegates from 60 countries including top Saudi officials and business and finance leaders from around the world.

PIF says the event is being organized in the context of Saudi Arabias Vision 2030, a "blueprint that is already charting the path for the kingdom to harness its strategic location and strong investment capabilities."

Saudi Arabia, which recently lifted a driving ban on women, has always faced criticism on the issue of gender equality. The kingdom seems to be shedding its conservative image under the current government with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz announcing a vision to return to a "moderate, open Islam" at the beginning of the FII on Tuesday.

As the desert kingdom enters a period of significant and rapid transition, it is anyones guess if Sophia, as a Saudi citizen, will be required to wear the Islamic veil, which is still mandatory for women in the country.
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Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has described the decision taken by the Catalan Parliament on Friday to vote in favor of independence to be "a crime".

Rajoy spoke from the corridors of the Spanish Senate after it reacted to the decision in the Catalan assembly by approving the application of article 155 of the Spanish Constitution by 214 votes to 47.

This article will suspend Catalan autonomy, see Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and his government sacked and hand control of the region's key institutions to Madrid.

The Catalan regional assembly on Friday voted with 70 votes in favor, 10 against and 2 blank ballots to declare "the formation of a Catalan Republic as an independent and sovereign state with social and democratic rights."

"What has happened in the Catalan Parliament shows how necessary it was to approve this article," said Rajoy, who will attend an emergency cabinet meeting at 18:00 hours in order to put Article 155 into effect.

"It is a crime," he said of the vote taken by the Catalan Parliament, adding that the (Spanish government would "take the corresponding decisions to restore legality."

"I ask all Spanish to stay calm. We will do things well, with a measured and efficient response as we have done up to now."

"Spain is a great nation and we are not willing to let some people liquidate our Constitution," he concluded, saying he would make further declarations in the evening.
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European Council President Donald Tusk on Friday threw his weight behind Spain amid spiraling tension caused by Catalan parliament's unilateral declaration of independence.

"For EU nothing changes. Spain remains our only interlocutor," Tusk tweeted. "I hope the Spanish government favors force of argument, not argument of force."

The Catalan regional assembly on Friday voted with 70 votes in favor, 10 against and 2 blank ballots to declare "the formation of a Catalan Republic as an independent and sovereign state with social and democratic rights."

Directly after the vote, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy posted a tweet in which he asked for "calm from all Spaniards. The rule of law will restore legality in Catalonia."

Earlier on Friday, the Spanish Senate voted to approve the application of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, with 214 votes in favor and 47 against.

The article will be put into effect immediately following a cabinet meeting later Friday, and will see Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and his executive team sacked from their positions, and the control of key Catalan institutions handed to Madrid over the coming days.
The tropical system in the Northwestern Caribbean has continued to get better organized and a tropical storm will likely be declared later this evening.

Next name on storm name list is Philippe

System should pose no threat to Florida's west coast

Could cause heavy rain, gusty winds in South Florida

The next name on the list is Philippe.

This system will pose no threat to the West Coast of Florida, as a strong cold front will arrive early Sunday morning and push the tropical moisture out into the Atlantic.

However, it could cause some heavy rain and gusty winds in South Florida Saturday Night into Sunday. We will have some rain reach our area as well before the front moves through.

Gusty winds and hazardous boating conditions developing Sunday morning will be from the cold front and not from the tropical system.

LOCATION...17.5N 84.5W

ABOUT 305 MI SSW OF THE ISLE OF YOUTH

ABOUT 415 MI SSW OF HAVANA CUBA

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...40 MPH

PRESENT MOVEMENT...NNW AT 6 MPH

MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...1006 MB...29.71 INCHES

A faster northward motion is expected to begin tonight, followed by a faster motion toward the northeast on Saturday and Sunday. On the forecast track, the system will move across western Cuba late Saturday and move through the northwestern Bahamas Saturday night and early Sunday.

Data from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph with higher gusts. Some strengthening is forecast during the next 24 to 36 hours.

The government of Cuba has issued a Tropical Storm Warning for the Cuban provinces of Isla de la Juventud, La Habana, Ciudad de la Habana, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, and Villa Clara.

The government of the Bahamas has issued a Tropical Storm Warning for the northwestern Bahamas, including the Abacos, Andros Island, Berry Islands, Bimini, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama Island, and New Providence.

The government of the Bahamas has issued a Tropical Storm Watch for the central Bahamas, including Cat Island, the Exumas, Long Island, Rum Cay, and San Salvador.
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Germany would not recognize the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia, the federal government spokesperson Stephen Seibert said Friday.

Seibert said on his Twitter account that "the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Spain are inviolable," adding that Catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence violates these protected principles.

Seiberti said Germany supports "the clear attitude of the Spanish Prime Minister to ensure and restore the constitutional order." However, he also expressed the hope that "the parties will use all existing opportunities for dialogue and de-escalation."

In the meantime, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Friday that only talks based on the rule of law and within the framework of the Spanish constitution can lead to a solution.

"To draw new borders and walls within Europe is not in the interest of European citizens," Gabriel said, according to a federal government statement.
The Bull & Ram in Ballynahinch appears in the Michelin pubs guide

The Poachers Pocket in Comber appears in the Michelin pubs guide

Eight Northern Ireland pubs have secured a coveted mention in the 2018 Michelin Eating Out In Pubs guide.

The Bull & Ram in Ballynahinch, Co Down is a new entry this year.

Situated in a former Edwardian butcher's shop, the Bull & Ram offers an imaginative, modern yet informal menu, showcasing the best of local, seasonal produce, according to the foodie bible.

Other successful Co Down listings are Balloo House (Killinchy), the Pheasant (Annahilt), Poacher's Pocket (Comber), Pier 36 (Donaghadee), Parson's Nose and The Plough Inn (both in Hillsborough).

Billy Andy's at Mounthill, near Larne is the sole representative for Co Antrim in the Michelin guide.

Twenty-two pubs in the Republic of Ireland also feature in this year's guide.

Lisdoonvarna's Wild Honey Inn is Ireland's only Michelin-starred establishment also to feature in this year's mouthwatering listings.

Earlier this month, the Co Clare venue made history by becoming the first Irish pub to be awarded a Michelin Star in the Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland.

In overall terms, Co Down leads the way with seven listings, followed by Clare and Cork with four each and Kildare with three.

Dublin, Galway and Mayo each received two listings, with Antrim, Leitrim, Louth, Sligo, Tipperary and Wexford each having one listing.

Produced by tyre manufacturer Michelin, this year's pub guide recommends some 470 top dining pubs spread across the UK and Ireland .

Guide editor Rebecca Burr said: "This year we have seen so many pubs get a new lease of life by placing greater emphasis on food.

"It's great to see pubs being rejuvenated this way as they are often the heartbeat of our towns and villages."

The Michelin 'Eating Out In Pubs' guide 2018 is priced at 14.99
EasyJet has signed an agreement to acquire part of Air Berlin in a move that could save 1,000 jobs at the bankrupt carrier.

The failed airline, which was Germanys second-biggest and has some 8,000 employees, operated its last flight after 38 years on Friday, leaving its staff facing an uncertain future.

But easyJet announced a short time later that it had agreed to buy part of Air Berlins operations at Berlin Tegel Airport for 40 million euros (35 million), and would be looking to employ 1,000 of Air Berlins pilots and cabin crew.

The deal would make easyJet, which already has a base at the smaller Schonefeld airport, the leading airline in the German capital, it said.

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A spokesman said: The acquisition will result in easyJet entering into leases for up to 25 A320 aircraft, offering employment to Air Berlin flying crews and taking over other assets including slots.

EasyJet has launched a recruitment campaign to attract around 1,000 of Air Berlins pilots and cabin crew who will be recruited over the coming months and will then be trained on easyJets safety and operating procedures.

EasyJet said it would announce its routes to and from Tegel in due course, and that it would run a reduced timetable at the airport during the winter before aiming for a complete summer schedule in 2018.

Lufthansa plans to take over more than half of the Air Berlin fleet, and take on 3,000 staff, but the deal has yet to win antitrust clearance.
What Belfast really needs is a Spanish restaurant. The city is brilliant at the good quality, mid-range, mid-price bistro and informal, casual dining thing, so you'd think a Spanish restaurant would be the perfect fit.

Years ago there was a tapas place in the Odyssey which wasn't bad but it disappeared and Belfast has remained a Spanish-free zone ever since. But now, Edo has opened and while its Spanish credentials may not be immediately evident (where are the tiles, the big leg of pig on the counter, the flamenco music or the vast paella pans?), the menu sort of confirms that it is, in fact, Espanol with some outside interference.

Edo looks like a very pleasant, mildly modern, city centre restaurant which could be French or German, Italian or Greek. It has the city centre, business district, Euro ambience and feel about it and the interior, awash in dark blue and comfortable club-like chairs, opens up to the entire kitchen. A lot of money has been spent on this place.

Two of us sit at a banquette and menus are brought. "Pawra Picker," the server says. We look at him puzzled. Is this a greeting?

"Have yez been here before?" he asks. "If not, the pawra picker dishes are small, like wee tapas."

Sure enough, I see the words "Para picar" at the top of the menu and beneath them a list of choices: padron peppers, olives, Marcona almonds, empanadillas and the like.

Now I get it. I ask the adviser whether or not I should tell him how to say it properly but she looks at me with the laser death ray and says: "If you want to be a pompous tube, go ahead." I say nothing.

Further along the menu the journey into the heart of Spain begins. Jamon Iberico, chorizo, ham croquetas, tortilla with black pudding and red pepper, paella (yay!) and sardines on toast (triple yay!), prawn, chorizo, lemon and garlic linguini, braised beef Mafalda and many more classics are all present and prices seem decent enough.

There's even a creme Catalan for those of a more independent disposition.

The croquetas are not quite as rich and creamy as expected but not bad nonetheless, the brittle breadcrumb casing slightly too strong and large rather than wrapping itself around the mash within.

The padron peppers have been dipped in a savoury breadcrumb-like mix which works well with the tangy green peppers, softened by the heat.

Calamares are outstanding, tender, crunchy and plentiful.

Ox tongue is a bit of a mouthful. Large, steak-sized and brutally bare, it is as tender as pate and full of salty flavour.

The crushed potatoes beneath are over-cooked and taste mildly stale but the additional patatas bravas are light, crispy and with just enough smokey paprika sauce to "brava" them up to a decent level of spiciness. That sauce is memorable, by the way.

Beef cheeks on roasted cauliflower are a winner.

Coming from the Bertha grill (they have been slow cooked and fall off the knife), they have an unexpected and intense smokiness. The adviser approves.

A brace of sardines on toasted sourdough is very good, the sardines, tangy and salty and very nicely charred. Between the sardines and the toasted hunk of bread is a thick layer of sweet tomato sauce.

This is too much and overpowers everything. Do what we did: order it without the sauce but with a side of patatas bravas.

Edo is a bit of an oddity. The first part of the menu reads like a Spaniard's classic, the mains is more mixy-matchy with beef cheeks here, and roast salmon there, ribeyes and sirloins and what looks like a list of things the team likes to cook at the price of losing a sense of identity. I'm not entirely sure if this is a Spanish restaurant but what's on offer is very good. Once the place settles down a bit and decides what it wants to be when it grows up (hopefully through and through Spanish), then it promises to be a big hit.

The wines are a nice surprise with all sorts of excitement from Portugal, Spain, France and Argentina. They're from Direct Wine Shipments and therefore well priced and good quality.

Give it a shot at lunchtime: they're quick on their feet and understand that most people have to get back to work.

The bill

Peppers..................................................5

Olives.................................................... 3

Croquetas..............................................4

Calamari................................................7

Sardines x 2........................................ 15

Patatas bravas.................................3.50

Beef cheeks....................................13.50

Ox tongue..............................................8

Creme Catalan......................................5

Water.................................................4.50

Total................................................68.50
The scene at Milton Cemetery in west Belfast where a gang of youths set the gates on fire on Friday night.

The scene at Milton Cemetery in west Belfast where a gang of youths set the gates on fire on Friday night.

The scene at Milton Cemetery in west Belfast where a gang of youths set the gates on fire on Friday night. Sinn Fein MP for the area Paul Maskey pictured at the scene.

West Belfast Sinn Fein MP Paul Maskey has condemned the 'disgusting behaviour' that saw the gates of Miltown Cemetery set alight.

It is believed traffic cones and a wheelie bin were placed behind the gates and set on fire on by a gang of youths on Friday, October 27.

Police said they had received reports of a group of youths gathered in the area.

Chief Inspector Kellie McMillan said: This is a cemetery; a graveyard - a place for quiet reflection to peacefully pay respects to loved ones who are no longer with us.

I cannot understand what any human person would feel could be gained from such thoughtless, criminal vandalism. Police will be working with the community in west Belfast to prevent this behaviour and stop further hurt being caused to families and friends of those whose lives are remembered here. This is not acceptable behaviour and a robust response from policing and the criminal justice sector is required.

I am appealing to parents and guardians to know the whereabouts of their children and who they are with, and to play a role in preventing them from becoming involved in behaviour which could see them end up with a criminal record.

Mr Maskey said: "This is unacceptable behaviour. Enough is enough. Im calling on parents to stop their kids from hanging about the park and the graveyard at night.

"I'm sure those responsible for this unacceptable behaviour have relatives interred in Milltown like many of us."

"This is disgusting behaviour and I will be meeting with agencies over the weekend and early next week to try and get a resolution to this problem.

Alliance Councillor Sian ONeill described the incident as an attack on our whole community.

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This was a disgusting attack on our whole community, said councillor ONeill.

It is deeply sad to see the disrespect some people have for our dead, in what is supposed to be an area of respect. My thoughts are with the loved ones of those buried there, who may have been affected by this incident, and my thanks go to the fire brigade, who ensured the fire did not spread any further.

Milltown is not a Council-owned cemetery but I hope the council will be able to work with the relevant agencies to help prevent a repeat of this disgraceful behaviour. I would also urge anyone with information on this attack to contact the police with it immediately.

The Fire Service attended the scene and extinguished the blaze.
One of the UK's biggest private health insurance companies has pulled out of Belfast Trust hospitals, it can be revealed today.

It means that a person paying thousands of pounds a year to Bupa will have to travel outside of Northern Ireland for cardiac bypass surgery and specialist cancer scans.

This is because the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast is the only hospital in Northern Ireland where these services are available.

It is understood that Bupa stopped sending its customers - who pay upwards of 300 a month - to hospitals in the Belfast Health & Social Care Trust six months ago.

It has emerged the step was taken by Bupa as the trust does not have in place the indemnity insurance required by Bupa to send its customers to a hospital for treatment - understood to be in the region of 20m.

The medical negligence insurance is required so that if something goes wrong for a Bupa customer, they can make a claim against the trust.

Private healthcare companies such as Bupa only pay for treatments if customers attend approved hospitals and see approved consultants.

In order to be approved, a hospital must fulfil a number of requirements, including meeting hygiene standards and having indemnity insurance in place.

They normally ask clients to choose from a list of approved doctors and hospitals ahead of any treatment being carried out.

Prior to Bupa stopping using Belfast Health & Social Care Trust hospitals, its clients could opt to undergo life-saving cardiac bypass surgery and PET scans in Northern Ireland.

Coronary bypass surgery improves the blood flow to the heart muscle, while PET scans can help show up a cancer, ascertain the stage of the disease, reveal whether a lump is cancer, show whether the disease has spread to other parts of the body, and help doctors decide the best treatment for their patient.

PET scans can also show how well a cancer drug is working.

Bupa customers can continue to access other diagnostic tests and surgical procedures, such as cardiac catheterisation, at other hospitals around Northern Ireland.

James Sherwood, Bupa's director of health and benefits management, said: "The wellbeing and safety of our customers is always our top priority.

"Belfast Health & Social Care Trust doesn't currently have medical negligence insurance for private patients so we've made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend referrals to its hospitals.

"We're in regular contact with the trust, working with them to arrange the appropriate medical negligence insurance so they can return to being on our recognised list of hospitals," he added.

A spokeswoman from the Belfast Health & Social Care Trust said: "Withdrawing recognition was a decision taken by Bupa. Belfast Trust continues to treat patients who hold private health insurance with other companies."

The spokeswoman did not explain why it has the insurance necessary for other private healthcare companies to send their customers to trust hospitals but not the insurance necessary for Bupa.

Bupa, which can charge a couple in their 60s more than 600 a month for health insurance, is working with patients who are already midway through inpatient, outpatient and day case treatment within the trust.

It is understood that Bupa is covering the cost of travel between Northern Ireland the UK mainland.

It is not known whether the firm pays for travel and accommodation for a family member to travel with the patient.
Cerebral palsy sufferer Oliver Dickey with his mum Charlene at their Coleraine home

A boy who was told he would be wheelchair-bound for life is to "walk to Scotland" in aid of charity.

Oliver Dickey is raising funds for the NI Children to Lapland and Days to Remember Trust to help it grant precious wishes for other seriously ill children.

In December 2013 Oliver (8), who is from Coleraine and suffers from the spastic diplegia form of cerebral palsy, was one of a host of youngsters with severe medical conditions who flew to Lapland to meet Santa on the charity's annual trip.

His mum Charlene says Oliver made a wish on Santa's magic drum that he would be able to walk - and "banged as hard as he could".

Days later the family returned home and received an email from St Louis' Children's Hospital in America, which informed them that their eldest son had been selected for life-changing selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) surgery.

The community rallied around, raising more than 120,000 for the surgery and Oliver's future treatment.

Now, almost four years since he made his wish, Oliver has astounded doctors with his progress.

He insists on accompanying his dad on the fundraising 'Walk to Scotland' aboard the Belfast to Cairnryan ferry on November 19 so that "another boy or girl can go to Lapland and make a wish too".

"Oliver remembers his time over in Lapland so well, even though he was only small," Charlene told the Belfast Telegraph.

"At that stage he couldn't walk at all, he was in a wheelchair, and he loved going on the husky rides, making cookies with Mrs Claus and meeting Santa.

"Banging on Santa's magic drum and wishing that he could walk is a special memory for him, and it wouldn't have been possible without the Children to Lapland and Days to Remember Trust."

Since their own trip to the North Pole, the Dickey family have been fundraising for the charity.

And when Oliver, who is now able to walk using aids, heard his parents discussing this year's fundraising walk, he was determined to be involved.

"Oliver said that he wants to raise money so that another sick boy or girl can have their wish granted," Charlene added.

"With all he has been through he has had to grow up a bit quicker, and he is such a caring child.

"Every year the Lapland Trust holds a special walk on board the Stena Line superfast ship from Belfast to Cairnryan.

"The fundraisers are aiming to raise a minimum of 100 each, although we are aiming to raise more, as it costs 600 to send one child to Lapland.

"They walk around a route on the deck of the ship, and when the ship gets to Cairnryan we don't disembark - instead they sail back to Belfast and have a big party with food, music and magician Rodd Hogg."

After her own family's experience, Charlene and her husband Neil have been left in awe of the charity's efforts on behalf of sick kids.

"These trips provide precious memories which their families can treasure forever," she added.

To donate to Oliver's fundraising efforts, visit the 'Oliver's walk to Scotland' page on Justgiving.com
Burglars who targeted the home of a 101-year-old Northern Ireland man have been described as 'wasters and cowards'.

Police said the burglary happened at Railway Street in Strabane on Friday, October 29.

SDLP MLA for the area Daniel Wray McCrossan said a reward had been offered to help catch the "three completely useless and pitiful wasters" who entered the man's house.

"Following last night's shocking and despicable robbery, the entire community has been left angered, shocked & determined to find those responsible," said Mr Wray McCrossan.

"The victim is one of lifes great characters, independent and full of life and energy. At 101 nothing holds him back, not even these cowards.

"A very generous local business man, angered and frustrated, has come forward and offered a cash reward to anyone who can bring forward the information which will lead to the conviction of those responsible, he said.

"Strabane people are at our best when we pull together and help each other. Lets send a message of zero tolerance to those responsible. I am truly and absolutely disgusted and angry to learn that three completely useless and pitiful wasters, walked into the house and robbed him.

"This gentle and civil man, who is widely respected and loved by the people of Strabane did not deserve to fall victim to three despicable, heartless thugs."

Detective Constable Richard Donnell said: Police received at a report just after 9:30pm that earlier that evening the occupant of the house, an elderly male, was confronted by three men who had forced their way through a back window.

This was a disgusting and cowardly attack in which the intruders left with a quantity of cash.

Thankfully, the man was not physically injured during the incident, however, he has been left shaken by the ordeal.

We are appealing for anyone who was in the Railway Street area last night and saw anything suspicious to contact detectives at Strabane Criminal Investigation Branch on the non emergency number, quoting reference 1623 27/10/17, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
An east Belfast couple who were targeted in a racist attack are packing up to leave their home, saying they have had no support from the authorities since being targeted.

The family's car was torched by thugs last Sunday. Rosmund Prah said she felt as if her family had been abandoned.

"Nobody from Stormont has been here," she told the BBC.

"Not even the social services. We even have disabled children here. But nobody has come.

"It tells me that nobody really cares about me because I am black."

Her partner Chris Edmund said that Victims Support had not proven useful.

"I phoned Victims Support - the number the police had advised me to phone. They weren't very helpful. They said they hadn't got an appointment for the next three weeks," he said.

The couple are now moving out of the home they have lived in for seven years and into rented accommodation.

It will mean taking one of their children out of school, disrupting his education.

"One of the boys goes to the local school just around the corner and he loves it, but it looks as if we will have to move him out of the school," Rosmund said.

"It is really pathetic. All the children are broken because they have to leave all their friends.

The Executive Office said: "Everyone, regardless of racial, ethnic or religious background is entitled to live their lives free from fear."

The BBC also reported that Victims Support had undertaken to give the family priority treatment because of the racially aggravated nature of the attack against them.
Hooded Mens Francis McGuigan (right) applauds one of the groups legal team after the ruling at Belfasts High Court

The overturning of a police decision to end preliminary enquiries into the suspected Government-sanctioned torture of 14 men during internment has been welcomed.

High Court judge Mr Justice Maguire held that research undertaken to establish any criminality around their deep interrogation in 1971 had been too narrow and lacked focus, describing the situation as "a sorry state of affairs".

But he rejected related claims that the State was in breach of a legal obligation to carry out a full and independent investigation into the so-called Hooded Men's treatment - because the events occurred decades before human rights legislation came into force.

The verdict leaves the PSNI facing a fresh process on how to handle allegations of ministerial involvement which emerged in a 2014 television documentary.

The judge said: "The decision, in effect, to end the inquiry at the point when it was made was seriously flawed and was inconsistent with the broad approach which the Chief Constable had adopted."

Patrick Corrigan from Amnesty International's Northern Ireland branch said the ruling was "a victory for common sense and for justice".

Sinn Fein MLA Linda Dillon said the PSNI decision to prematurely end the investigation had been "unacceptable and completely wrong".

She added: "We agree with the High Court in their decision that a new decision process must begin. This must happen immediately, followed by a fresh police investigation."

Surviving members of the Hooded Men issued proceedings against the Chief Constable, Secretary of State and the Department of Justice.

They argued the authorities have failed to comply with duties under the European Convention on Human Rights to properly probe and order a full inquiry into what happened to them while interned at British Army facilities in Ballykelly, Co Londonderry.

Amid claims that the men's treatment was sanctioned by the State, the court heard former Prime Minister Edward Heath was involved in the decision-making process.

Stormont's Prime Minister at the time, Brian Faulkner, was also personally briefed on the deployment of the techniques, according to their case.

Five techniques were used against the men while they were held without trial: being hooded, made to stand spread-eagled in a stress position against a wall and beaten if they fell; forced to listen to constant loud static noise; and deprived of sleep, food and water.

RUC Special Branch officers were said to have been taught the methods by soldiers but sought assurances of immunity from prosecution before carrying them out.

Counsel for the Government and Chief Constable countered that the 1998 Human Rights Act, which came into force in 2000, has no retrospective powers.

It was stressed that in 1978 the European Court of Human Rights held the techniques constituted inhuman and degrading treatment - but fell short of torture.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Maguire said: "It seems likely to the court that if the events here at issue were to be replicated today the outcome would probably be that the European Court of Human Rights would accept the description of torture in respect of these events as accurate."

However, he found that in domestic law no obligation can be held to operate under the Human Rights Act as the events long pre-date its existence.
An insurance company has had a rethink and agreed to cover the cost of damage to a flood-stricken business - after an apparent intervention by Prince Charles.

The Belfast Telegraph highlighted the royal's promise to Rosemary Wright, who runs a beauty clinic in Eglinton, Co Londonderry.

Rosemary, who owns Ashburn Images Health and Beauty Clinic, was among victims of the flood who met Charles in the village last Friday.

She told him how her woes were being exacerbated by her insurance company's refusal to cover the cost of the damage to her salon and equipment.

Rosemary told this newspaper that Charles asked her for the name of the insurance company and promised to see what he could do to help.

Just two days after the story appeared in the Belfast Telegraph, Ms Wright's insurance broker contacted her to say the firm had now agreed to pay up.

A delighted Ms Wright said that while she cannot be 100% sure this was because of an intervention by Prince Charles, she believes it is more than a coincidence.

And she has written to thank him regardless.

Rosemary said: "The loss adjuster who works for the insurance company rang me and said she saw the coverage of my meeting with Prince Charles and that he took the name of the insurance company. She didn't say that Prince Charles had contacted the company, but she did say they were now going to cover the cost of my losses.

"For two months they kept saying 'No, no, no', then after I say in the paper that Prince Charles said he would intervene and asked for the name of the company they suddenly say 'yes'.

Expand Close Rosemary Wright / Facebook

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"I haven't had any confirmation from Clarence House that they did intervene, but I wrote to Prince Charles and recollected everything that happened in Eglinton since the flood and told him how much he boosted everyone's morale by coming to see us.

"I also told him that my insurance company has now agreed to pay out and thanked him for his effort."

She added: "I threw in a wee line telling him that when I get all my work done I will write to him again and ask him to come and cut the ribbon at the grand reopening."
Talks aimed at brokering a deal between the DUP and Sinn Fein to restore a Stormont Executive broke up late last night without any sign of a significant breakthrough.

Secretary of State James Brokenshire and Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney took part in the eleventh-hour discussions with the leaders of Sinn Fein and the DUP.

The parties have been set a Monday deadline to reach a deal to restore devolution - or Mr Brokenshire will set in train the legislative process to pass a budget for Northern Ireland in the House of Commons at Westminster. It was unclear last night whether the politicians would return for talks over the weekend but sources said that at the very least contact between the parties would be ongoing.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, DUP leader Arlene Foster, and the Republic's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney were all at Stormont for the negotiations yesterday. DUP sources said that even if there was no deal and Mr Brokenshire passed a budget for Northern Ireland, dialogue between the parties would still continue next week.

The SDLP has warned that a return of "Tory direct rule" here is not acceptable.

Northern Ireland has been without an Executive for almost ten months.

Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness resigned in January in protest at the DUP's handling of the cash-for-ash scandal.

Disagreement over an Irish Language Act remains the major stumbling block to the DUP and Sinn Fein reaching a deal to break the deadlock.
Irish President Michael D Higgins has claimed that making the Irish language compulsory in schools in the Republic was "a mistake".

He was speaking during the fourth day of an official visit to New Zealand

"In my time, people would say about English: 'It's what you needed for the boat' because our people had to learn English to go abroad because of migration.

At one stage all civil servants changed their names to Irish "as if that was going to revive the subject", President Higgins told a university audience in Auckland, according to The Irish Times.

"The language needn't stand for every antiquated authoritarian idea that was ever dreamed up and imagined in ancient Irish," the newspaper reported.

President Higgins also said that the Irish language was made compulsory in schools after partition because English had been forced on Irish speakers, adding that the language was today increasingly being spoken by the young.

"I remember in other times people foisted attitudes on the language that really had nothing to do with the essential spirit.

"It is a language of life and thankfully it is being spoken more and more by young people," he said.

A dispute over the status of the Irish language in Northern Ireland lies at the heart of the current political impasse at the Northern Ireland Assembly, which collapsed in January this year after the resignation of Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.

The main stumbling block centres on calls for an Irish Language Act. Sinn Fein Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill has said her party would not return to power-sharing without an agreed Irish Language Act.

However, DUP leader Arlene Foster rejected the proposal, instead suggesting a 'cross-community' Bill with provisions for Irish and Ulster-Scots.

But Sinn Fein insists it will only agree to standalone Irish language legislation.

The Belfast Telegraph revealed this week that more than 1m had been spent on utility bills for the zombie Stormont Assembly building.
Troops on duty beside barbed wire barriers in the Falls Road area of Belfast during the Troubles

Children as young as six are suffering from trauma related to the Troubles, an Irish government committee has been told.

The Wave Trauma Centre, which supports people affected by the conflict, said the charity had received a number of referrals of young children who had not been born at the time of the Troubles, but had been traumatised by it second hand.

The charity's CEO Sandra Peake was addressing the Dail parliament's Good Friday Agreement Implementation Committee in an evidence session on the impact of legacy issues from the conflict.

She said: "In the last year we've had 650 people referred to us, some as young as six years old."

Ms Peake said this could sometimes occur as adults traumatised by the conflict became overprotective of their children, to the extent that it had a negative effect on the children's mental health.

She said: "Recently, I was in a house which was fortified with metal gates and there were young children living behind them, because the parents were frightened.

"If you think that mortality (from old age of people traumatised by the Troubles) will sort it out - you're wrong. It just gets passed to the next generation."

Ms Peake called on politicians in London, Dublin and Belfast to refocus their efforts on victims and survivors of the conflict to ensure legacy cases were heard and that injured people received adequate financial support for their needs.

Victims' advocacy groups have previously criticised Northern Ireland's politicians over what they consider to be a failure to agree on a way to deal with victims and survivors of the conflict.

Research conducted by Ulster University in 2015 found that 30% of the population in Northern Ireland suffer from a mental health problem, with half of these thought to be specifically related to trauma from the Troubles.
A suicide lorry bomb exploded outside a popular hotel in Somalia's capital, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 30, and gunfire continued as security forces pursued other attackers inside the building, police said.

Two more blasts were heard, one when an attacker detonated a suicide vest on Saturday.

Speaking by telephone from the scene, Captain Mohamed Hussein said more than 20 people, including government officials, were thought to be trapped as the extremists holed up on the top floor of the Nasa-Hablod hotel, close to the presidential palace.

Three of the five attackers were killed, Capt Hussein said.

The others hurled grenades and cut off the building's electricity as night fell.

Saturday's blasts came two weeks after more than 350 people were killed in a massive truck bombing on a busy Mogadishu street in the country's worst-ever attack.

Al-Shabab, Africa's deadliest Islamic extremist group, quickly claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack and said its fighters were inside the hotel.

Among the dead were a mother and three children, including a baby, all shot in the head, Capt Hussein said.

Other victims included a senior Somali police colonel, a former lawmaker and a former government minister.

Footage from the scene showed twisted vehicles and nearby buildings with only walls left standing.

Mohamed Dek Haji said he survived the bombing as he walked beside a parked car that was largely destroyed by the explosion.

He said he saw at least three armed men in military uniforms running toward the hotel after the bombing at its gate.

"I think they were al-Shabab fighters who were trying to storm the hotel," he said, lying on a hospital bed.

He suffered small injuries on his shoulder and skull from flying glass.

Witnesses in some previous attacks have said al Shabab fighters disguised themselves by wearing military uniforms.

Security officials said Saturday's bomber had pretended his truck had broken down outside the gate.

Police Colonel Mohamed Abdullahi says the bomber stopped outside the heavily fortified hotel and pretended to repair the vehicle before finally turning it around and detonating.

Al-Shabab often targets high-profile areas of Mogadishu.

It has not commented on the massive attack two weeks ago; experts have said the death toll was so high that the group hesitated to further anger Somali citizens as its pursues its insurgency.

Since the blast two weeks ago, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has visited regional countries to seek more support for the fight against the extremist group, vowing a "state of war".

He also faces the challenge of pulling together regional powers inside his long-fractured country, where the federal government is only now trying to assert itself beyond Mogadishu and other major cities.

A 22,000-strong multinational African Union force in Somalia is expected to withdraw its forces and hand over the country's security to the Somali military by the end of 2020.

US military officials and others in recent months have expressed concern that Somali forces are not yet ready.

The US military also has stepped up military efforts against al Shabab this year in Somalia, carrying out nearly 20 drone strikes, as the global war on extremism moves deeper into the African continent.

AP
President Donald Trump has welcomed the children of White House reporters into the Oval Office for some early Halloween treats.

More than a dozen costumed kids, including little witches, Princess Leias, a pint-sized Darth Vader and a purple-haired unicorn, gathered around the Resolute Desk, where the president handed out sweets.

The president also dispensed plenty of compliments, congratulating the kids' parents for doing a good job - at least of raising children, if not their coverage of the Trump White House.

"I cannot believe the media produced such beautiful kids. How the media did this, I don't know," he said as he welcomed the kids to join him around his desk.

Mr Trump also joked with the kids about their parents' professions. "You going to grow up to be like your parents?" he asked. "Don't answer. That can only get me in trouble, that question," he joked.

Soon after, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered a box full of sweets, and the president started handing out the treats.

"You have no weight problems, that's the good news, right?" he said at one point. "So you take out whatever you need, OK? If you want some for your friends, take 'em. We have plenty."

He also asked one little girl how the press treated her. "I'll bet you get treated better by the press than anybody in the world, right?" he joked.

The president will also be welcoming ghosts and goblins to the South Lawn for trick-or-treating on the eve of Halloween on Monday.

Families of schoolchildren from 20 schools in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia have been invited to the festivities, along with military families and community organisations.

The president and first lady Melania Trump will be handing out presidential treats from the White House pastry kitchen, and the South Portico will be decorated in spider webs.

Fog will fill the air and trick-or-treaters will see bats and pumpkins decorated with the profiles of presidents past.

Federal agencies including Nasa, the Secret Service and the National Park Service will also be handing out treats.

AP
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson's comments on the proposed visit by Pope Francis to Northern Ireland next year is one glaring example of the changed society that the head of the Catholic Church will find compared to the visit to Ireland by Pope John Paul II in 1979 when security issues, and the threat of Protestant protests, meant he did not cross the border.

The DUP MP's belief that there will be no significant protests next year and his comment that he wants to hear what Pope Francis has to say on the moral issues of the day - presumably same-sex marriage and abortion are top of the list - was a statesmanlike response and has been deservedly given a broad welcome.

It is also recognition that the Christian Churches here have forged closer relationships, particularly at parish level, in recent years with greater tolerance and understanding of each other's theological position.

When Pope John Paul II came to Ireland some 2.5 million people attended various services at which he officiated throughout the Republic. There will be careful scrutiny of the numbers next year, as all the statistics show that secularism is becoming more prevalent. Polls show weekly attendance at Mass, for example, has fallen from 91% in 1972 to 30% in 2011.

The Republic has also introduced legislation allowing same-sex marriage, and a referendum on liberalising abortion will be held - and probably passed - just weeks before the papal visit.

Sex scandals involving clergy and the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar five years ago after she was refused an abortion have led to a questioning of the Church's teachings.

Nevertheless, a visit by the pontiff will still be widely welcomed on both sides of the border, but to an increasing number of Catholics it appears his moral authority has less relevance.

It would be ironic indeed if the Pope's traditional views on same-sex marriage and abortion gain equal welcome in Northern Ireland from conservative Catholics and Protestants like Sir Jeffrey and his DUP colleagues.
Myanmar Home Minister Gen. Kyaw Swe (left) and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, gesture during talks in Naypyidaw about repatriating Rohingya refugees to Myanmars Rakhine state, Oct. 24, 2017.

Bangladeshs home minister said Friday that his countrys delegation failed to produce a joint statement with Myanmar during talks with officials in Naypyidaw this week, after both sides disagreed on terminology related to recommendations from a commission led by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal met de-facto Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other officials during a three-day visit to the neighboring country that was highlighted by the signing of an agreement to cooperate on the repatriation of Rohingya refugees.

At the meetings, we both agreed that there would be a reference that Myanmar will implement the Kofi Annan Commission report. But we saw that they dropped the words on implementation in the joint statement without consulting us, Khan told BenarNews.

Relations between the two countries have been strained by an inflow of refugees into southeastern Bangladesh that has reached at least 605,000 people since late August, according to U.N. officials.

Khan held talks with his counterpart, Lt. Gen. Kyaw Swe, during which they agreed to boost border security and Myanmar pledged to implement recommendations from the Annan Commission that would allow the Rohingya to return to their homes in Rakhine state.

But the Myanmar side apparently changed the language without Bangladeshs consent, prompting Khan to decline signing the joint statement.

The Annan Commission, officially known as the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, is a nine-member body appointed by Aung San Suu Kyi that issued a report with its final recommendations on Aug. 24, 2017. Among other measures, the commission called for reviews of Myanmars Citizenship Law and ending other restrictions on Rohingya Muslims, a stateless minority group concentrated in Rakhine.

A key Bangladeshi negotiator, who was with Khan during the meetings, supported the home ministers allegations.

They changed the agreed joint statement several times without our consent, Manjurul Karim Khan Chowdhury, director general of the foreign ministrys Southeast Asia desk, told BenarNews.

He said Myanmar uploaded the purported joint statement on Facebook without consent from the Bangladeshi side.

The statement had several mistakes, he said. Its their statement, not ours.

Khan, during the meeting, expressed concerns that Myanmar described the Rohingya in the statement as Bengalis.

I told them that about 360 million people around the world speak Bengali. Are all of them Bengalis? I made it clear to them that they are not Bengalis; they have been the inhabitants of Rakhine, Khan said.

Bengali is a derogatory term for Rohingya Muslims who are considered in Myanmar as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

The latest influx of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh began on Aug. 25, when Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) insurgents launched near-simultaneous attacks on security posts in Rakhine state, and the Myanmar army responded with a ferocious counter-offensive.

Khan described his talks with Aung San Suu Kyi as very frank.

She was not negative, he said. I asked her to take the refugees back to her country. She told us that her government has already started the process.

At one stage of the discussion, Suu Kyi said those who crossed into Bangladesh sometimes do not want to come back, he said, without elaborating.

We had detailed discussions with them. But I think they would not be interested in doing anything in the absence of international pressure, he said. But I want to be optimistic.

Rohingya influx continues

On Friday, three United Nations human rights experts who led a fact-finding mission that began in March said they were deeply disturbed by accounts of rapes and killings against the Rohingya.

We have heard many accounts from people from many different villages across Northern Rakhine state, said Marzuki Darusman, Indonesias former attorney-general, who chaired the mission.

They point to a consistent, methodical pattern of actions resulting in gross human rights violations affecting hundreds of thousands of people, he said.

Meanwhile, UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said the organization had transferred about 1,700 new refugees to a government-allocated site in southeastern Bangladesh.

Most of them are among the thousands of refugees who trekked for about a week to cross into Bangladesh, only to be stranded in a border village for four days before being allowed to proceed inland.

The relocation started on Tuesday in an effort to decongest a camp in Kutupalong, one of two U.N.-run refugee camps in Coxs Bazar district. About 5,000 new refugees will be moved to the new site, which is part of a larger 3,000-acre plot designated by the government as the Kutupalong Extension, officials said.

International pressure

Former diplomats and analysts agreed with the home minister that Bangladesh must mobilize international support to pressure Myanmar to take back the Rohingya.

Actually, Myanmar is a tough country. I do not see any consistency in their words and actions, Amena Mohsin, a professor of international relations at Dhaka University, told BenarNews. If they drop any portion from the agreed joint statement, this is a gross violation of diplomatic norms. This is not acceptable.

Amena said Bangladesh had acted maturely in dealing the Rohingya issue.

But I think, resolving the Rohingya issue bilaterally with Myanmar would be very difficult. We have to accelerate the international pressure, she said.

A career diplomat and vice president of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, a private think-tank, said diplomacy was the only way to solve the crisis.

The home minister has told something and many people may rate his trip a failure. But, at this moment, I do not want to term it a success or a failure, though the Bangladeshi side has not signed the joint statement, Humayun Kabir told BenarNews.

I see one positive side of the visit. And it is Bangladesh and Myanmar remained in continued engagement, Kabir said. Negotiations have been ongoing. The solution will not come in a day.
Blogger Avijit Roy (left), poses with Ranadipam Basu outside the stall of the Shuddhashar publishing house at the Ekushey Book Fair, in Dhaka in February 2012. Roy was hacked to death by Muslim extremists three years later.

Fear still stalks Bangladeshs secular writers, even though 18 months have passed since the last in a series of brutal killings of activists and intellectuals by religious zealots in that country.

For two of these writers, one who fled abroad and another who chose to stay behind, the killings and an increasingly hostile atmosphere toward non-religious viewpoints forced them to change their lives, as they told BenarNews in interviews.

Writer Sobak Pakhi is hiding out in another South Asian country but hes too afraid to reveal its name to the public, while colleague Ranadipam Basu is keeping a low profile back home.

Free thinking and freedom of expression are practically gone now.  I dont see any immediate hope  even dreaming is a battle now, Ranadipam told BenarNews in response to a series of email questions.

Both men say they dont feel entirely safe in their homeland because of a recent spate of murders by Muslim extremists who targeted secularist Bangladeshi intellectuals like them for questioning Gods existence, or using the written word to challenge the emerging influence of religious fundamentalists.

Pakhi is an editor of Mukto-Mona (Free Mind), a leading blog for free thinkers, rationalists, skeptics, atheists and humanists in Bangladesh, which he fled over what he described as the governments support for those who kill secular bloggers and writers.

Once they get the chance, they will attack me and then my case will also be considered as an isolated incident in a country of 160 million people, Pakhi told Benar.

I wont go back to the country in the future.

Basu, an author of short stories, poems, essays and childrens books, tried to leave but said he came to see his fate as wed to staying on in Bangladesh. Yet hes keeping a low profile because he worries about his familys safety in light of the attacks in the recent past, he said.

Since February 2013, when secular activist and blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider was killed by extremists near his home in Dhaka, at least 10 writers, bloggers, publishers, activists and intellectuals have been slain in machete attacks by Muslim militants. All of the other attacks occurred in a spate that began in February 2015. The last one was the slaying of activist-law student Nazimuddin Samad in April 2016.

A lifetime target

Although their countrys constitution declares Bangladesh a secular nation, both Sobak and Ranadipam voiced concern over what they described as the growing influence of the governments acceptance of conservative Islamic organizations. They cited the relationship between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League party with an influential hardline Muslim group, Hefazat-e-Islam.

Pakhi, a graphic designer skilled at video editing, wrote articles about how he grew to doubt religion and became an atheist. In 2008, he saw Bangladesh as a tolerant country.

But as the years went by, he kept writing while facing death threats. He wrote about what he said was disrespect shown to women by religions; the promotion of killings and wars in religions; the use of religious rhetoric to create unstable situations; and the limitations of God and religion.

Threats grew as groups pressured authorities to remove his blog posts. You do not understand now, but will regret later, one threat stated.

Pakhi then turned to writing fiction.

I wrote some short stories, satire and poems about the limitations of the concept of God. I started writing against fanaticism, the backwardness of religion, bigoted matters of mobs and extremism on Facebook, he said.

When asked about government action against militants, Pakhi said the nation began targeting them long before the recent attacks on bloggers. He said the first crackdown occurred in 1989, adding that after a series of arrests, the government denied the existence of militant groups and secretly released those in custody for political expedience.

The militancy issue in Bangladesh might go out of sight again, but my risk will not be neutralized because I am a lifetime target for them, Pakhi said.

In his view, politics pushed Prime Minister Hasina to maintain a relationship with Hefazat-e-Islam, a fundamentalist group that has called for public executions and posted his picture on a banner. Hasinas relationship with the group weakens opposition party Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), helping to strengthen her Awami Leagues control of government.

If a few atheist bloggers die or leave the country as a consequence of relationship between the government and Hefazat, it doesnt really matter to Sheikh Hasina, because the deaths of a few atheists do not create any pressure on the government in a 90 percent Muslim-dominated country, he said.

A couple of months before fleeing Bangladesh in 2015, Pakhi told an interviewer he had no plans to leave his homeland, adding that militants should be the ones to go. At the time, however, some Bangladesh police officers suggested that he exit the country.

Whatever the government is saying about providing security to bloggers, those are lies, because after my departure, two bloggers and more than 10 progressive people were killed by militants, Pakhi said. I havent seen any positive effort from the government to stop those.

He remains concerned about threats in his new country, but continues to write and refuses to censor himself.

Several times I have thought about reducing the volume of my writing, but then I asked, why? Basically, keeping silent is frustrating and shameful. I shouldnt do that. My writing will not be stopped, Pakhi said.

Threats to free speech

A report published in May by Amnesty International, the global human rights watchdog, slammed Bangladeshs government for allegedly failing to protect secular writers against threats and stifling free speech.

Amnesty cited a widely reported statement by Hasina that followed the August 2015 killing of secular blogger Niladri Chottopaddhya, who was known by the pen name Niloy Neel.

No one in this country has the right to speak in a way that hurts religious sentiment. You wont practice religion  no problem. But you cant attack someone elses religion, Hasina said at the time. It wont be tolerated if someone elses religious sentiment is hurt.

Government officials rejected the Amnesty report, claiming it contained recycled information.

The report is not a reflection of the latest situation in Bangladesh. We cannot accept this, Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon told BenarNews at the time.

Apart from secular writers, journalists in the country have also complained about what they say is a hostile environment for a free press, in which reporters and editors are vulnerable to threats.

On Thursday, the family of a missing Bangladeshi journalist, Utpal Das, held a news conference to plead to the government to help them find him. The reporter for the online news portal Purboposchchim BD News was last seen on Oct. 10, his family said.

The website he works for was one of several local and foreign news outlets that picked up a report on Sept. 23 alleging that the government had foiled a plot to assassinate Sheikh Hasina on Aug. 24. A day after the article came out, government officials issued a statement criticizing the report as fake news.

Survived attack

Basu, the writer who stayed in Bangladesh, survived one of two attacks on publishing houses in October 2015 that killed publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan.

I cant remember even a single thing about the attack, Basu said, adding, I dont see any immediate hope coming out of this situation.

I dont go out unless it is essential, but whenever I go out, I cant behave normally and naturally, I get panicked when I see any unknown faces, start fearing that they may attack me, he said. Maybe I have lost my trust of other human beings.

At the same time, earning a living is tough, he said, because publishers dont want to face the risk of publishing any book he writes.

I havent stopped writing, but I dont have any platform to publish. I cant take the risk of publishing through online platforms, as I live in Bangladesh.

Even though the government has cracked down on militant dens throughout Bangladesh, killing dozens of suspects since a terrorist attack at a Dhaka cafe last year, Basu said he did not see hope for those like him who remain in the country.

Secular thinkers are really at a panic to express their opinions. On one side, there are threats and attacks from religious fundamentalists, and on the other side, intolerance and actions from the government to stop free thinking through blasphemy-type laws, he told BenarNews.

Basu was skeptical that the killers of secular blogger Avijit Roy (pictured) and other non-religious thinkers would be brought to justice any time soon. Roy, a Bangladeshi-born U.S. citizen and author of several books challenging religious beliefs, was hacked to death as he and his wife were leaving the Ekushey book festival, the countrys most prestigious literary event, in February 2015.

Those attacks were not sudden, emotional actions. There was a long-term destructive plan behind those  a plan to stop secular writers from one side and to create a panic among publishers to not to publish any secular works, he said.

A long time has passed, but any practical results of police actions are not visible yet. Therefore, writers and publishers are panicked and as a result, expression of free thinking has been completely stopped, Basu said, adding, Why those suspected were not arrested or why a trial is not moving, I think only policy makers can answer those questions properly.

Meanwhile, Basu frets about the security of his family, especially his school-age son.

Some of my friends, even the media got the wrong impression that I have left the country like many others. I did not correct their misconception over security concerns, he said. Thats why I do not appear before media anymore and I cant imagine revealing my whereabouts by seeking help from police in this unsecured land.
The City of Cape Town is hosting a hackathon at the Khayelitsha Bandwidth Barn to challenge teams to solve real problems faced by Cape Town's tourism industry. Winners will be announced tomorrow, 29 October 2017.

The citys Open Data Portal, launched in 2015, makes data freely available online to members of the public, empowering them to come up with innovative entrepreneurial ideas and clever solutions to issues facing residents.

A hackathon brings together a diverse group of people with a wide range of IT-related skill sets to compete in solving social and economic problems, making it a platform to find new uses for the citys open data.
Canada NewsWire

LAVAL, QC, Oct. 27, 2017

TSX-V : ERG

LAVAL, QC, Oct. 27, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Ergoresearch Ltd ("Ergoresearch" or "the Company") based in Laval and known under the Equilibre, ortheses et biomecanique banner  announces its results for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017. All dollar amounts in the present release are in Canadian currency. The year 2017 was dedicated to improving the efficiency of the Company, forward research projects and launch complementary opportunities as well as laying out the foundations for future growth.

Revenues for the period ending June 30, 2017 amounted to $14 028 021 which represented a decrease of 2.1% compared to the same period last year. Revenues this year were negatively impacted by the strategic and planned closure of the "home care" division, the evolution of the market and changes in the organization of health care in Quebec.

Net results for the period were ($214 058) compared to $111 733 last year. This decrease in earnings is mainly related to the other items that generated a credit of $ 170,393 in fiscal year 2016, a tax expense of $ 64,092 resulting from a change in the provincial tax rate in 2017 and start-up costs incurred during the 2017 financial year:

These start up cost were to launch of new organic initiatives:

Cash flow from operating activities represented $887 612 compared to $694 301 last year.

Concerning the balance sheet, the Company reimbursed in full its long-term debt by paying amounts totalling $366 667 during the period. In addition, as was announced in November 2016, the Company redeemed for cancellation 225 000 common shares of its capital stock for a total amount of $51 625.

The Company still has a cash equivalent of more than $8 million that the Company plans to use over the next few years.

Mr. Sylvain Boucher, president and C.E.O. stated: the health care industry is in mutation and more specifically in Quebec where the Company operates. The year 2017 saw the adoption of new legislation regarding accessory fees, a parliamentary commission on medical laboratories (Bill 118) and the launch of the Super clinics project. These major developments combined with high acquisition price expectations from potential sellers, all contributed to management's decision to focus on complementary opportunities.

Hence, the Company signed agreements to open three new Equilibre laboratories within Super-clinic locations. These sites will open during the course of next year. Equilibre also launched its new apnea division known as  Apnee Equilibre  and integrated the  Knee KG  kneegraphy to its operations. Knee KG is one of the featured technologies presented at the Quebec government's  Strategie quebecoise des sciences de la vie, 2017-2027 . These complementary services are perfectly in line with Equilibre's mission and benefit from the Company's administrative and commercial platforms. It is expected that these activities will impact the short term profitability of the group. It is expected that the breaking point for each initiative will be reached between 18 to 24 months from their respective launch.

In its efforts to innovate, the Company presented two requests for patents in 2016 and 2017. The added value of its products supported by its technological platform, allowed the Company to sign a distribution agreement with a Canadian physiotherapy network. Investments were made in training programs and marketing tools to insure the success of these launches. Management expects positive results during the course of the next fiscal year. The Company is also seriously looking into distributing its products in the United-States.

Development and perspectives

Our current priorities and development plans include the following objectives:

Mr. Sylvain Boucher would like to thank all of our employees for their dedication and their ongoing desire to improve. Progress, the desire to excel and commitment are values that we all share, which reveals a bright future.

About Ergoresearch

Ergoresearch is a Canadian company that designs and manufactures cutting edge technologies for the orthopedic industry. The Company is a trend-setter in creating custom orthotics and speciality orthotics for the orthopedics market and holds a portfolio of patents in the orthopedics field and in human bionics. The mission of our banner "Equilibre ortheses et biomecanique" is to keep people active and moving. "EQUILIBRE", driven by its proprietary technologies and the expertise of its professionals, offers a range of products, treatments and services in order to relieve pain, restore motor function and optimize performance.

This document is not intended to encourage the purchase of securities listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. TMX Group and its affiliates do not endorse or recommend any of the securities referenced here. Please seek professional advice to evaluate specific securities.

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements in this Press Release contain forward-looking statements and information that may entail certain risks related to uncertainties. Such statements are not historical facts and are based on current management's expectations. We ask the reader to note that these statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could affect the potential future results, circumstances or events and may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include, but are not limited to, those related to the Company's ability to finance its activities, competition, ability to negotiate and maintain partnerships, the market acceptance of the Company's product, the strength of intellectual property, the success of research and development programs, the trust invested in sub-contractors or their core personnel as well as other risks and uncertainties that are put forth every now and then by the Company in the documents filed with various Canadian securities and exchange commissions and made available at www.sedar.com.

The reader should not give great importance to forward-looking statements as (i) the results may differ from conclusions, predictions or projections contained in such forward-looking statements; and (ii) certain important factors or hypotheses taken into account in reaching conclusions or the preparation of a projection or prediction may prove to be incorrect in fact.

These statements are correct only on the date on which they were written, and Management disclaims any obligation to revise these statements after any event, circumstance or other situation, except as required by law. All figures are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise specified.

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.

SOURCE Ergoresearch Ltd
The Department of Foreign Affairs here have confirmed they will not recognise the declaration of independence by Catalonia.

A statement this afternoon said: Ireland respects the constitutional and territorial integrity of Spain.
Former US president Barack Obama has been called for jury duty in Chicago.

Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans told county commissioners during a budget hearing on Friday that Mr Obama, who owns homes in Washington, DC and Chicago's Kenwood neighbourhood, will serve in November.
Ocean City's Cris Pannullo could be back on 'Jeopardy!' this week

Ocean City man Cris Pannullo has 11 consecutive wins. His reign was paused while 'Jeopardy!' switched to the annual Tournament of Champions
Want to get caffeinated this Saturday? Here's the deal all coffee lovers might have been waiting for. If you thought Starbucks was a bit too royal for your taste, you can grab tomorrows offer with only Rs 100.
Commercial vehicle major is sending trucks to Bangladesh by sea because of delays at the land border post with the neighbouring country.

A ship carrying 185 trucks was flagged off by Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari from Chennai port on Saturday.
Failing to gain a toehold in the domestic market, multinational automotive giants have turned their focus on exports from India, a low-cost manufacturing base. While players such as General Motors have formally announced exit from the domestic market (to use India only as an export hub), others such as Ford India, Nissan Motor India and Volkswagen India have exported more vehicles from India than the number sold in the domestic market during the first half of the 2017-18 fiscal.
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone India are making efforts to bring Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications' (RCom's) subscribers into their family. On Saturday, Sunil Mittal-led telecom operator Airtel asked RCom's customers to switch to its network through advertisements in major publications.
is yet to fix all the technical glitches on the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) even as the deadline to do so will end on October 31. The Bengaluru-based software major built the technology network for GST and is also responsible for maintaining it.
After 19 years of unbroken rule, Gujarats BJP is facing a serious challenge. The challenge comes less from the opposition and more from a discontented populace. The ruling partys appeals to six crore Gujaratis ring somewhat hollow amidst the economic slowdown, sloppy taxation and monetary policies, agrarian distress, rising unemployment, the suffering caused by the recent floods and the collapsed health and transport infrastructure that the monsoon deluge highlighted once again.
Hundreds of sugarcane farmers in Uttar Pradesh burnt their crop outside the Vidhan Sabha here on Saturday and raised slogans against the Yogi Adityanath government, terming the Rs 10 hike in MSP as "paltry".

The state government two days back had increased the minimum support price (MSP) for sugarcane by Rs 10/quintal, bringing the MSP to Rs 315 per quintal.

The angry farmers said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had gone back on its poll promise of fixing sugarcane price at Rs 450 per quintal.

The farmers, led by the Bharatiya Kisan Union, also threatened to launch an agitation across the state if their demands were not met within a fixed time frame.

Harinam Singh Verma of the BKU said the BJP government has rubbed salt on their injuries with such a paltry hike and said the Adityanath government was behaving like its predecessor by taking the side of the sugar mill owners.

The farmers first set sugarcane on fire outside the state assembly building and the state BJP headquarters and later headed towards the Collectorate.

The farmers will now get Rs 3.15 per kg against the earlier price of Rs 3.05 per kg. The sugar cane industry has however welcomed the price hike by the state government as reasonable.
Senior journalist Vinod Verma was arrested by the Chhattisgarh Police from his Ghaziabad residence early on Friday for suspected blackmail and extortion related to a "sex CD" allegedly involving a state minister Rajesh Munot, who called it "fake" and an attempt at character assassination.
Uttar Pradesh Governor today termed Taj Mahal as "the jewel of the country", days after the state's Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited the Mughal-era monument and hailed it as a gem.

Naik, who is here to inaugurate a seminar at the Vir Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University, told reporters that the 17th century monument is a heritage of the country and this fact cannot be ignored.

"Taj Mahal is the jewel of the country from the global point of view...the Prime Minister and Chief Minister have also clarified this," the governor said.

His remarks come two days after Adityanath visited Agra, where he swept the road outside the Taj Mahal, went inside the monument and described it as a gem and an integral part of Indian culture.

The much-publicised visit, the first by a BJP chief minister of the state, had come after the party's leaders and ministers made provocative statements against the famed symbol of love.

Adityanath's decision to visit the Taj Mahal was announced after a series of controversies, beginning with a UP tourism department booklet not mentioning the white marble monument in its list of development projects in the state.

Subsequently, BJP MLA Sangeet Som said history would be rewritten to erase the Taj Mahal from it and BJP MP Vinay Katiyar said it was originally a Shiva temple.

(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.)
In August this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi signalled a change in his thinking on Kashmir. In his Red Fort address, along with the building of a new India, he said the problems ailing Kashmir would only be resolved by embracing Kashmiris, not through abusive language or bullets. Na golise, nagaalise, Kashmir ki samasyasuljhegi gale lagaanese, the PM said.
Even though India faces challenges when it comes to ensuring the safety of foreign tourists, has been slowly gaining ground. Not only has it helped increase revenues for the government, it has also aided local communities gain livelihood. In an email interview, Raghu Chundawat, a wildlife expert and the author of the report, The value of for conservation and communities, tells Manavi Kapur how strong government policies and their implementation can further the cause of national parks and reserves. Edited excerpts:
A sceptical Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) will send a team to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to check how the West Asian country has become the top readymade garment (RMG) destination for India.
The 'Green Revolution' state is yet to recover from the after-effects of the note ban decision.

The announcement by the Narendra Modi government was sudden and it could not have come at a worse time for farmers in Punjab and neighbouring Haryana as the paddy procurement season was at its peak and payments of over Rs 20,000 crore were yet to be made to the farming community at that time.

With confusion abounding over the old Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes, non-availability of the new currency notes, stoppage of operations of cooperative banks and long queues outside bank branches in rural areas, the farm economy got virtually messed up in both the states.

"The Arhtiyas (commission agents) took full advantage of the situation. Most farmers were already reeling under debt and money was not available to pay them back. The payments for procured paddy was delayed and the situation took a turn for the worst," farmer Baljit Singh, who has his land near Mahilpur in Hoshiarpur district, told IANS.

"It seems the Modi government had no idea of the toll it would take on the poor, debt-ridden farmers in agrarian states like ours. The move was most ill-timed pushing many farmers further into debt. It was an economic anarchy," he said, expressing the anguish of thousands of affected farmers.

In rural areas of Haryana, long queues were visible three months after the demonetisation announcement was made on November 8 last year, with the supply of new currency notes being highly erratic.

"For several weeks, farmers had to suffer, as they could not buy seeds and fertilisers for the next crop on time after the paddy harvest. The government and its agencies did little to help us," farmer Randeep Singh of Sangrur district told IANS.

Punjab, which has just 1.54 per cent of the country's geographical area, contributes nearly 50 per cent of the foodgrains to the central kitty.

Farmers say that the sentiment in agriculture and horticulture continues to be down ever since that fateful day.

"The agrarian economy is still reeling under the after-effects of the demonetisation and its cascading effect. The sentiment is still down. The horticulture sector was the worst hit as the citrus fruits like Kinnow were already in the markets and orders were cancelled overnight," said Amarjit Singh, a horticulturist from the Abohar-Fazilka belt of southwest Punjab.

Youngster Adiraj, who had picked up orders for the supply of Tangerines grown in his family orchard and wanted to market these, suddenly found buyers cancelling orders.

"Fruits and vegetables have a restricted shelf life of 3-7 days. These have to be sold and consumed. As orders were cancelled or payments were stuck, growers suffered. The horticulture sector has still not recovered," horticulturist Kulwant Singh told IANS.

Taking a jibe at the "dreamy plan" of the Modi government to double the income of farmers in the next few years, farmers say that the agriculture sector has been set back by at least five years due to demonetisation.

"Look at the spate of suicides in Punjab, especially by young farmers who are under debt. Some of them have outstanding loans of less than Rs 5 lakhs but are unable to pay these back and are committing suicide. The central and state governments are only doing lip service and no one is really bothered," farmer leader Rajwant Singh said.

A majority of farmers in Punjab have small land holdings  from 2.5 to 5 acres  due to which they hardly earn any profit from the crops. Most of them barely sustain themselves and their families.

The Congress government in Punjab, under Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, has promised to waive loans of up to Rs 2 lakh of debt-ridden farmers. This is going to cost the fund-starved government a whopping Rs 9,500 crore.

Till the Centre steps in and both governments take some bold decisions to pull out the agriculture sector from the present mess aggravated by demonetisation, the farm economy will continue to be in doldrums in the food bowl of India.

(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.)
Goals of the Swachh Bharat Mission cant be attained without upgradation of urban local bodies with latest technology and knowledge, and linking them with career advancement, recommends a report by climate think tank TERI.
Dream big, work hard to achieve success: Vice President Interacts with Students of Atharva Group of Institutes

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that dream big, aim high and work hard to realize their ambitions and achieve success in the chosen professions. He was interacting with a group of students from Atharva Group of Institutes at the Raj Bhavan, in Mumbai today.

The Vice President cited how late President, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, who came from humble background, rose to occupy the highest positions through sheer hard work, discipline and commitment.

He further said that educational curricula in the fast-changing world must equip the students to find suitable employment or become self-employed. Merely acquiring degrees was not enough, education must enlighten and empower the youth and Indians are endowed with talent and this talent needs to be tapped through skill development, he added.

The Vice President asked students to be well acquainted with the countrys culture, history and heritage. He further said that culture has nothing to do with religion as the former is way of life and the latter is way of worship. Unfortunately, some people are trying to mix both and Hindu is not a religion but a cultural connotation, he added.

Shri Naidu also exhorted the students to be first proficient in their mother tongues first and subsequently learn as many languages, including English. Due to the passion to learn English, we are forgetting our mother tongue. You can articulate in a better manner in mother tongue, he told them. The Vice President said that he had advised all the state Governments to ensure that mother tongue was taught as a subject in schools if not as a medium of instruction.

The Vice President deplored attempts to create dissensions in the name of religion, region and castes and termed such attempts as utter nonsense. He said that agriculture and industry were equally important for the development of the country.

The Vice President, who is also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, expressed his concern over disruptions of Parliament and State Assemblies and underlined the need for constructive debates. Debate, discuss and decide, but not disrupt, he told lawmakers. Shri Naidu also said that pressure must be brought to bear on the political parties to pursue development agenda.
French Minister for the Armed Forces calls on the Prime Minister

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Mrs. Florence Parly, the French Minister for the Armed Forces, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. .

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Mrs. Parly briefed the Prime Minister about developments in bilateral defence cooperation. The Prime Minister said that defence cooperation is one of the key pillars of the Strategic Partnership between India and France, and called for greater cooperation in the Make in India framework in defence manufacturing and joint research & development. .

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The two leaders also discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest. .

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The Prime Minister said that he looks forward to receiving President Macron in India at his earliest convenience. .

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The 11th Trade Policy Forum (TPF) Meeting was held in Washington D.C. on 26th October 2017. The Minister for Commerce and Industry, Shri Suresh Prabhu had productive discussions with the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Robert Lighthizer and his team in a cordial, friendly and positive manner. The Minister for Commerce and Industry noted that the TPF serves as a robust platform that contributes towards promoting bilateral trade and investment between India and the US. During the meeting, discussions were held on issues related to bilateral trade between the two countries, areas of mutual cooperation, market access in agriculture, non-agricultural goods and services and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). .

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On the United States concerns related to trade deficit with India, the Minister for Commerce and Industry pointed out that the issue of trade deficit should be viewed in the larger context of the growing economic and strategic partnership between the two countries that has grown and strengthened in recent years. India has made significant investments in the US and Indian skilled workers and students make important contributions to the US economy. He pointed out that as the Indian economy grows, and with the renewed emphasis on reviving US manufacturing, there will be greater opportunities for US exports to India. In this context, he pointed out that India has already started to import crude oil and new Liquefied Natural Gas exports are expected to commence early next year. Indian aviation companies such as Spicejet and Jet Airways have placed orders for over 300 aircrafts valued at several billions of dollars. The Minister for Commerce and Industry noted that these developments will go a long way in fulfilling Prime Minister Modi and President Trumps desire to have a free, fair and balanced trade between India and the US. .

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Both Ambassador Lighthizer and the Minister for Commerce and Industry welcomed these positive developments and reiterated the growth potential for bilateral trade. On market access in areas of interest to each other, the Minister for Commerce and Industry noted progress on issues like ground handling operations, import regulations relating to poultry, export of pork to India, that have been raised by the US side. He also sought easing of procedure for export of Indian mangoes and pomegranates and market access for table grapes from India. .

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The Minister for Commerce and Industry strongly took up the Indian concern with regard to problems faced by Indian services companies in obtaining H-1B and L-1 visas. He requested the US to ease the movement of skilled professionals, which has over the years contributed towards making US companies more competitive. He also took up the issue of mismatch between U.S. visa and U.S. social security regimes, wherein Indian professionals making social security contributions do not receive their due benefits upon their return to India. He urged the United States to revisit its position and work towards achieving a totalisation agreement .

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The Minister for Commerce and Industry also highlighted the series of economic reforms undertaken by Prime Minister Modi, such as Goods and Services Tax, Make in India, Startup India and Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS), Digital India, e-commerce, promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, FDI reforms, improved business and investment climate which have led to significant investment inflows into India. On the issue of IPR in India, the Minister for Commerce and Industry drew attention to the National IPR Policy 2016, which lays down the roadmap for future development in the field of IPRs, and is a major step towards strengthening the IPR ecosystem in India, including improvements in procedures, timelines and resolution of disputes. .

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While responding to U.S. concerns on price controls on medical devices, the Minister for Commerce and Industry mentioned about the need to bring about a balance between the demand for optimum medical facilities and affordable health care to its citizens. India desires to address the concerns of providing affordable health care to its citizens and balancing it with the need to introduce high end technology. He encouraged American companies and manufacturers of medical devices to establish manufacturing facilities in India. He also pointed out that the Draft Pharmaceutical Policy addresses many of the US concerns and sought comments from industry stakeholders on the draft policy. .

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The Minister for Commerce and Industry also sought the support of the U.S. to Indias proposal on the Trade Facilitation in Services Agreement which has been tabled by India at the WTO. .

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At the conclusion of TPF, both Ministers decided that the two countries will continue to work towards building strong trade and investment ties to realize mutual gains from the partnership. The talks were held in a friendly and cooperative environment, with both sides expressing the desire to reduce the existing gaps and work towards resolution of the outstanding issues before the next round of the TPF. .

.

NW
President of India Addresses the 150th Birth Anniversary Celebrations of Sister Nivedita

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, graced and addressed the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Sister Nivedita organised by the Ramakrishna Mission in New Delhi today (October 28, 2017).

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that Swami Vivekananda was one of those who shaped our modern national consciousness. He rediscovered Indian values not only for us but for the world. He was a true cultural ambassador, as became so apparent during his visit to Chicago in 1893 for the Parliament of Religions.

The President said that Swami Vivekananda combined spiritualism and scholarship, idealism and practical thinking. His legacy is reflected in the Ramakrishna Mission, which is itself 120 years old and has grown from strength to strength. It has established an institutional rigour and a culture of enlightenment and integrity. This has allowed it to undertake social and public welfare programmes in very difficult conditions and locations.

The President said that the Ramakrishna Missions education and health-care initiatives, its schools and hospitals, can be found all over the country. In parts of the Northeast and in our frontier state of Arunachal Pradesh, the Ramakrishna Mission has been a pioneer institution. In Maoist-troubled Chhattisgarh, he had seen the dedication with which the Ramakrishna Mission has worked among very poor and underprivileged tribal communities in Narayanpur.

The President said that Indian culture and spiritualism have attracted people from other countries for centuries.

Buddhist monks from China came to Nalanda. Today, the appeal of Yoga and of Vipasanna to people across the world  and the response to International Yoga Day  is another example. Sister Nivedita was part of this tradition, and came to India and to Swamiji for enlightenment. And yet she was different. She did not come and learn a little and leave. She learnt a lot  and stayed on. She made India her lifes mission. And though born in Ireland, she became an Indian nation builder.
The only American citizen to be convicted in a US jury trial of successfully joining the overseas has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Twenty-seven-year-old Mohamad Khweis of Alexandria, Virginia, was sentenced today in federal court in Virginia after being convicted on terrorism charges earlier this year.

Khweis traveled to Islamic State-controlled territory in Iraq and Syria in December 2015, even obtaining an official membership card. But he found life there distasteful and escaped after a few months.

The 20-year sentence was halfway between the 35-year sentence sought by prosecutors and the five-year term requested the defense. Khweis' lawyers argued that a harsh sentence would deter other Americans who joined the from quitting.

(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 US and China agreed to recognise the others aircraft safety approvals, which may boost the Asian nations burgeoning aviation industry and make it easier for like Boeing to sell products there.
Spain dissolved Catalonia's parliament today and called new regional elections after separatists voted for independence in a sharp escalation of a constitutional crisis that has stoked alarm in Europe.

In a televised address after an emergency cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he had also removed secessionist Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and his executive.

Rajoy moved swiftly after the Senate gave his government sweeping powers to impose direct rule on the semi-autonomous region to quash its drive to break away from Spain.

ALSO READ: Catalans declare independence as Spain gets power to strike

He called for regional elections on December 21 as part of efforts to "restore normality" after the vote in the Catalan parliament plunged Spain into uncharted waters.

After a months-long standoff with Madrid, regional lawmakers voted 70 to 10 in the 135-member parliament to declare Catalonia "a republic in the form of an independent and sovereign state".

Demonstrators in Barcelona broke out in ecstatic shouts of: "Independence!" as the result was announced, while separatist MPs cheered, clapped and embraced before breaking out in the Catalan anthem.

But any cause for joy was soon nipped in the bud with Rajoy's announcement.

"We Spaniards are living through a sad day in which a lack of reason prevailed upon the law and demolished democracy in Catalonia," he said.

Madrid's allies in the European Union and the United States rallied behind Rajoy, voicing alarm over the latest developments in the deep constitutional crisis, and expressing support for a united Spain.

Analysts say Catalonia government, now dissolved, would have had no legal power to execute the independence vote.

Dozens of opposition MPs had walked out before the secret ballot in the Catalan parliament, one lamenting "a dark day" for democracy.

Shares in Spanish companies, particularly Catalan banks, dropped sharply after the vote.

Catalonia, a region of some 7.5 million people, accounts for about 16 per cent of Spain's population, a fifth of its economic output and attracts more foreign tourists than anywhere else in the country.

The measures were approved by the Senate under Article 155 of the constitution, designed to rein in rebels among Spain's 17 regions.

Spain's prosecuting authority also announced it would file charges of "rebellion" -- punishable by up to 30 years in jail -- against Puigdemont next week.

EU President Donald Tusk insisted Madrid "remains our only interlocutor" in Spain after the independence vote that could test the stability of a key member of the bloc.

Wary of nationalist and secessionist sentiment, particularly after Britain's dramatic decision last year to leave the EU, the bloc has stood firmly behind Madrid in the increasingly vitriolic feud.

Tusk urged Madrid to exercise restraint, tweeting: "I hope the Spanish government favours force of argument, not argument of force."



Puigdemont had also urged calm.

"We will have to maintain the momentum of this country (Catalonia) in the coming hours," he told lawmakers and onlookers in Barcelona, while urging them to do so in the spirit of "peace, civic responsibility and dignity."



The United States, one of Spain's NATO allies, declared backing for Madrid using "constitutional measures to keep Spain strong and united".

Germany, France, and Britain, too, rejected the notion of Catalan independence, while the United Nations urged all concerned "to seek solutions within the framework of the Spanish constitutional and through established political and legal channels."



There are deep concerns over the economic impact of the showdown, with nearly 1,700 companies having recently moved their legal headquarters out of Catalonia, a region with an economic output equivalent to that of Portugal.

Catalan resentment at Madrid's perceived interference has been building for years, culminating in an October 1 independence vote deemed illegal by the central government and the courts.

The 2008 economic crisis compounded the bitterness, with Catalans feeling they contribute more to the central purse than they get back.

But while fiercely protective of their language, culture and autonomy -- restored at the end of the 1939-1975 dictatorship of Francisco Franco -- Catalans are deeply divided on independence.

Catalan authorities said 90 per cent voted "Yes" in the unregulated referendum now held up by secessionist leaders as a mandate for independence.

Only about 43 per cent of voters turned out, however, with many anti-secessionists staying away and others prevented from casting their ballot by Spanish police in a crackdown that turned violent.

Rajoy sought today to place the blame for Spain's worst political crisis in decades squarely on separatist shoulders.
"Last days are always very emotional," Bollywood star Alia Bhatt has penned down a heartfelt message on the final day of 'Raazi's shoot.

The 'Badrinath Ki Dulhania' star shared a candid picture of herself with director Meghna Gulzar on Instagram with an emotional message.

Her caption reads as, "And we wrapped #RAAZI last night.. Last days are always very emotional because you live with the character for soo many months and then you have to let it go. This is pretty much how our life looked like on set - My director and I just totally lost in our own little world hope you guys love the film as much as we loved making it."

In the film, Alia plays the role of a Kashmiri girl who is an Indian spy and is married to a Pakistani army official.

Also starring Vicky Kaushal, the thriller is based on Harinder Sikka's novel 'Calling Sehmat'.

'Raazi' is slated to release on May 11, 2018.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least five people were killed and four others were stated to be critical after consuming illicit liquor in Danwar village of Bihar's Rohtas district.

Shahabad Deputy Inspector General of Police Mohd Rehman confirmed the incident and suspended the Station House Officer (SHO).

Rehman said that strict action will also be taken against the excise department.

The DIG along with the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police reached the spot to take stock of the situation.

It is to be noted that there is a complete ban on alcohol consumption in Bihar.

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The multibillion-dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's 'Belt and Road Initiative', will benefit China more than Pakistan due to lack of Pakistani input in the project.

The lack of Pakistani input into the CPEC, which the government said would drive economic growth to a targeted 6 per cent this financial year, adds to concerns that its benefits might not be as widely distributed as initially thought, the South China Morning Post reported, adding that it runs the risk that Islamabad will be left paying interest on loans to Chinese banks way into the future.

According to the news report, Chinese banks are keenly waiting to get their share of the pie, holding more than $20 billion for potential financing, much of it has already been filled by the Chinese, with Pakistani lenders getting a little look in.

"As of now, around $6 billion to $7 billion worth of projects are likely going on. Out of that, 10 per cent, or around 50 billion rupees ($470 million), can be local financing," the South China Morning Post quoted Saad Hashemy, research director at Karachi brokerage Topline Securities, as saying.





ALSO READ: CPEC violating rights of Gilgit-Baltistan residents: European think tanks

"It seems the lion's share of financing will come from China itself," Bilal Khan, a senior economist at Standard Chartered, said.

The Thar coal mine worth $3.5 billion, which is expected to generate 1.3 gigawatts of electricity, is one of the most expensive energy projects.

China will also spend $5.5 billion for a significant upgrade of Pakistan's rail system.





ALSO READ: China's One Belt One Road: US backs India, says CPEC crosses disputed land

Meanwhile, local lenders, both Islamic and conventional, are keen to deploy funds after parking much of their advances in government securities, holding 82 per cent of the total 9.26 trillion rupees of local securities, the report said.

Pakistan's banks will have minimal opportunities for direct financing in projects as the private sector at the government level is not so much involved in the project.

When the was announced a few years back, it was anticipated that the project would mostly be funded with Chinese money as Pakistan was not in a position to deploy the necessary capital after taking an Monetary Fund bailout in 2013.





ALSO READ: In Mao's league? Xi Jinping's BRI a political masterstroke, says expert

China Development Bank is providing $7.9 billion, according to a report by the state-run China News Service, and Bank of China said it had lent more than $80 billion as of the end of June.

The national leader of the government affair unit of Deloitte, Norman Sze, has said that the financing demand for the project has since increased from more than $40 billion in 2015 to $62 billion this year, and most of the funding so far has come from Chinese banks.

He added that the finance sector in Pakistan is not very advanced and mature to participate in the projects, but it would be difficult for them to meet such a huge financing demand.

However, China has faced criticism for its decision to import goods and labour for the projects at the expense of the local market.
An FIR was lodged by the Chattisgarh Police on Saturday against president of state Congress Committee Bhupesh Baghel and journalist Vinod Verma in state minister sex CD case.

The FIR was registered under relevant sections of IT act.

Verma, who was arrested in connection with extortion and blackmailing case, had said that he has 'a sex CD 'of the Chhattisgarh minister.

"I have a sex CD of Chhattisgarh Minister Rajesh Munat and that is why the state government is not happy with me," he said.

An FIR was filed against Verma by a person named Prakash Bajaj, who accused the journalist of blackmailing him over a certain 'vulgar' video that features his boss.

However, Munat yesterday said the sex CD, which Verma claimed to have against him, was fake and asked Chief Minister Raman Singh to order probe.

"The sex CD is fake. I appeal to the chief minister to get this investigated from any agency. I condemn this," Munat said.

Munat's response came after Chhattisgarh Police arrested Verma from his residence in Indirapuram in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad.

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Five people were injured after they were allegedly attacked by Rohingya miscreants in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar last night, The Daily Star reports.

According to the news report, a fight broke out when a group of social workers guarding the Balukhali camp tried to stop a gang of Rohingya miscreants, who tried to enter the camp.

A police official said the Rohingya refugees in the camp caught two of the attackers, who were handed over to the police, adding, two cut rifles and six cartridges were also recovered from them.

More than 5,00,000 Rohingya people have fled to Bangladesh since the Myanmar security forces launched an operation in response to alleged attacks by militants on August 25 against 30 police posts and a regimental headquarters.

Earlier this month, Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmood Ali said a total of 3,000 Rohingya refugees were killed since the army crackdown.

On October 12, a United Nations report based on interviews conducted in Bangladesh found that brutal attacks against Rohingya people in the northern Rakhine state have been well-organised, coordinated and systematic, with the intent of not only driving the population out of Myanmar, but preventing them from returning to their homes.

The Rakhine state is home to the Rohingya community of Myanmar, ethnic Muslims, who have long faced persecution in the Buddhist-majority country, especially from the extremists.

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French Minister for armed forces Florence Parly on Saturday visited western naval command here.

A thirteen-member French delegation also accompanied her.

During the visit, Parly interacted with Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command.

Aspects related to maritime security cooperation, bilateral exercises, ship visits, training, equipment, technology and professional exchanges were discussed.

Relations between France and India are being accorded priority by both sides as seen by the recent high-level interaction between the two countries. Defence cooperation has also witnessed heightened emphasis by both sides.

Interaction between the Indian French navies has, over the years, nurtured into a strong partnership based on mutual interests. Naval cooperation had progressed most encouragingly in recent years and the increasing scale of operational interaction is indicative of a growing understanding between the two navies.

On Friday, Parly met Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi and it was decided that India and France will jointly conduct naval exercise 'Varuna' next year.

The Varuna naval exercise is an integral part of France-India strategic relationship in the 21st century and consists of naval cooperation drills between the French Navy and the Indian Navy.

The joint-exercises are held either in the Indian Ocean or Mediterranean Sea with the aim of improving Indo-French coordination on capabilities like cross-deck operations, replenishment-at-sea, minesweeping, anti-submarine warfare and information sharing.

Sitharaman and Parly also discussed regional and international developments of mutual interest. The ministers reiterated their strong intention to further expand bilateral cooperation on counter- terrorism.

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August 22, 2022, Monday

Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai said that there will be pro and anti-beliefs and arguments on noted personalities, but it must ...
The strategic relationship between India and the US is going to define the rest of the 21st century, said a top American diplomat.

"India's visit was 'an extremely friendly and very wide-ranging dialogue on how we can partner together on the strategic relationship that we think is going to define the rest of the 21st century," said Alice G Wells, the Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs and Acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

While explaining about the South Asian Strategy at the press briefing by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on his just concluded trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, Wells said India has been assigned "an important role" to stabilise Afghanistan economically.

"We've given an important role to India on helping to stabilise Afghanistan economically and to build its human resource capacity," Wells said, adding, "Since 2001, India has invested $2 billion in Afghanistan."

Wells further emphasised that there was a bilateral component to the visit and discussed about how the two countries with shared values - a respect for democracy, transparency, freedom of navigation, for economic development - can inculcate these in the broader Indo-Pacific region, while working with important partners like Japan and Australia.

"I thought the visit to Gandhi Smriti was very moving, and again, really was a touchstone for what unites," said Wells.

She opined: that the State Secretary has laid out a lot of ambitions for the relationship with India since the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit in June.

"We want to build on the June visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the President, and just say, How do we take this relationship to the next level?," Wells said.

"Obviously, we'd like to deepen the military-to-military cooperation that has moved very quickly; over the last decade we've gone from zero to 15 billion in defence sales," she added.

"There are important defence agreements that the two countries can move forward on that will make it easier for the US to share classified data and that will facilitate sales like the F-16 or the F-18 and will help create a defence technology partnership, which is what India is seeking, but which will also create jobs for Americans at home," Wells further said.

Wells further emphasised that the US would like to expand the bilateral trade and investment dimension of the relationship and have two important meetings going on the Trade Policy Forum and the Commercial Dialogue.

"We'd like to expand the bilateral trade and investment dimension of the relationship. We have about UD 115 billion in trade, USD 40 billion in bilateral investment," she said, adding, "But we see this as a two-way street. Later this month the Indian firm Mahindra is opening an auto plant in Michigan."

The November Global Entrepreneurship Summit will be attended by Ivanka Trump, which is going to bring together 1,300 entrepreneurs and investors which will demonstrate the entrepreneurial spirit of the relationship.

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Italy's Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni will arrive on a two-day state visit to India on Sunday.

Gentiloni will meet Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj later in the day.

On October 30, Gentiloni will be given a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhawan and will also lay the wreath at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation.

He will call on Vice President M.Venkaiah Naidu and President Ram Nath Kovind.

Gentiloni will also meet his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi.

The two leaders will hold delegation devel talks and will exchange agreements and press statements.

Besides official meetings, Gentiloni will also interact with Indian and Italian Chief Executive Officers (CEO)s.

The visiting dignitary will also deliver a lecture at an event organized by Observers Research Foundation (ORF), a Delhi-based think tank.

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Pakistan has the freedom to choose or not to choose to adhere to the strategy adopted by the United States for South Asia, a top American diplomat has said.

"And again, all of this is about Pakistan's sovereign choice. This is not about America giving dictation. We've described our strategy, we've described a very important role for Pakistan, who we see as a very important country in the region, but it's up to them whether or not they want to work with us on this strategy. And if they don't, as the Secretary said, we'll adjust accordingly," said Alice G Wells, the Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs and Acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

While underscoring US' concern, at the press briefing by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on his just concluded trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, Wells said that the longstanding relationships with the militant and terrorist organizations threaten Pakistan's stability.

"But under the strategy, we've laid out some very specific expectations of how Pakistan can help create the conditions that will help bring the Taliban to the table," said Wells.

Wells stated that US would like to see the strategic commitment brought against other militant groups, whether they are operating or have used Pakistan's territory, whether they are directed against India or directed against Afghanistan.

"We saw - you see already the spillover of the sectarianism that has been building in Pakistan over the last several decades. We believe that the Taliban leadership and the Haqqani Network still retain an ability to plan, to recuperate, and to reside with their families in Pakistan. The Quetta and Peshawar leadership councils of the Taliban have their names for a reason," Wells said.

"And what we saw in 2014 was we saw Pakistan make a strategic decision to defeat the terrorist groups that were targeting the Government of Pakistan. And with great loss of life, great courage, great vision about what needed to be done, Pakistan has fought that battle and now has regained control and sovereignty over the FATA territories," she added.

Wells also talked about the "extremely candid" conversation that took place with the Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and the civilian and military leadership team.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called upon the media fraternity to play a constructive role in democracy.

Addressing the media at 'Diwali Milan' programme at the BJP headquarters here, the Prime Minister said, "Media must play a constructive role in democracy."

The Prime Minister also stressed upon the importance of democracy stating that political parties must discuss democracy.

"It is a challenging time for us and we still have to do a lot more work. It is important to discuss democracy in political parties," he added.

The Prime Minister also thanked the media for supporting and lauding Centre's cleanliness drive 'Swachh Bharat.'

"The country has witnessed the positive role played by media in making the Swachh Bharat Mission a success," he said.

BJP president Amit Shah along with senior party leaders, including G V L Narsimha Rao and Sambit Patra, were also present at the event.

Union Minister Smriti Irani also participated in the event.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday attended a 'Diwali Milan' programme at the BJP office.

BJP president Amit Shah along with senior party leaders, including G V L Narsimha Rao, Sambit Patra was present at the event.

Union Minister Smriti Irani also participated in the function.

Prime Minister Modi and the BJP chief will be addressing the media during the event.

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French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly on Saturday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi.

India and France will jointly conduct naval exercise 'Varuna' next year.

This was decided during a meeting between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Florence Parly on Friday.

India and France also vowed to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation as a key pillar of the strategic partnership.

A range of measures to expand military to military ties, including enhancing the scope of their joint exercises, in particular the Varuna naval exercise scheduled in early 2018, were agreed upon.

Both countries will also actively explore additional measures to facilitate operational level interactions between their respective armed forces.

They also discussed regional and international developments of mutual interest.

The ministers reiterated their strong intention to further expand bilateral cooperation on counter- terrorism.

Recognising the growing significance of maritime security in the Indo-Pacific and the need for greater maritime domain awareness, India and France will further expand information sharing arrangements building upon the Technical Arrangement on Exchange of White Shipping information signed earlier this year.

The two leaders also comprehensively reviewed developments in defence equipment and industry cooperation, where France is a major partner.

They agreed to strongly support projects for defence manufacturing under the 'Make in India' initiative as well as promote defence technology and R&D cooperation.

This was Parly's maiden visit to India as the French Minister for the Armed Forces.

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Rebel Janata Dal (United) MLA from Gujarat Chhotubhai Vasava on Saturday confirmed his alliance with the Congress party for the upcoming state assembly elections in Gujarat after meeting Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in Delhi.

General Secretary in charge of the Gujarat unit of the Congress party and former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot was present in the meeting.

"We will contest the election in alliance with the Congress, We will work, fight and win it," Vasava said.

Vasava said they have not discussed the distribution of seats among the two parties.

"We did not talk about the seats in this meeting but we are definitely going to talk about that very soon," the MLA said.

"We discussed fighting the elections together in alliance and we will win for sure," he added.

The leader said the recent split of JD(U) will not cause problems in the alliance.

"That will not be a problem. We will meet him again and I will strongly keep my viewpoints before him," he said.

Talking about the agenda of the newly-formed alliance in the upcoming elections, Vasava said, "we want beneficiaries for the poor. We will fight for the rights of which they were deprived till now".

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Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Revanth Reddy on Saturday tendered his resignation from all party posts and membership and his MLA seat.

Reddy submitted his resignation letter in the office of TDP President N. Chandrababu Naidu.

"I tender my resignation of my seat in the house," read his resignation letter.

Earlier, Reddy had reportedly said he didn't want to continue in the party but would carry on his fight against Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

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It will not be until December until the ownership of six remaining Gordys Market stores, including three in Chippewa County, is resolved.

Attorney Michael Polsky, appointed receiver for the financially troubled Gordys Market, said Friday that the stores will be auctioned off later this year, but would not give a date.

The remaining stores are in downtown Chippewa Falls, Lake Wissota, Cornell, Ladysmith, Barron and Chetek. Isaacson will hold a hearing on the sale of those stores at 1:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11.

Polsky said the stores may be sold in different combinationsa buyer may purchase an individual store, or all six stores.

No mention was made of the fate of Stanleys Gordys store.

The last time Polsky held an auction of Gordys stores was on Sept. 25, four days before the Sept. 28 court hearing where the sale of 11 stores was approved. The auction itself was held in Milwaukee.

Madison attorney James Sweet on Sept. 28 said he is representing a group, including members of the Gordy Schafer family, that is interested in buying the six stores. Sweet attended Fridays proceeding in Chippewa County Court, but did not speak.

Sold on Sept. 28 were Gordys locations in Black River Falls, Osseo, Augusta, Whitehall, Shell Lake, Spencer, Rice Lake, and closed stores on Hamilton Avenue and Clairemont Avenue (near Shopko), both in Eau Claire, Hayward and Chippewa Commons.

Owes $44 million

Despite the store sales, Gordys Market owes a lot of money. Nash Finch has a lawsuit against Gordys Market, seeking $86 million while Settlers Bank of Madison wants $4.9 million.

Gordys puts the amount it owes Nash Finch as $44,154,136, plus what it calls liquidated damages, costs and attorney fees.

Polsky said employees of Gordys have put in claims they are owed $51,650 as of Monday, Oct. 23.

He said as of the same date, there are unsecured claims filed for $10.4 million. (The publisher of the Herald, River Valley Newspaper Group, has filed one of those unsecured claims.)

There were claims filed as of an half-hour ago, Mr. Polsky, Isaacson said. He said he has a stack of claims two feet tall.

A lot of people are affected by Gordys not paying their bills, Isaacson said. The deadline to file the claims is Nov. 30.

Neillsvilles fate

Left hanging at Fridays court hearing was the fate of the Neillsville store.

Isaacson ruled in favor of Polsky, who subpoenaed Gordon Schafer to give a deposition about the ownership of the Neillsville store.

Hansens IGA, which has a store in Stanley, objected to the sale of the store to Randy Goetz of Family Foods for $150,000. Hansens had bid $125,000.

Polsky claimed during Fridays hearing the value of the Neillsville store was much more than what it got in the auction, and was lowered because of the conduct of Hansens.

Schafer Properties owned the rights to the store and secured an option agreement to sell it to Hansen and another company four days before the auction, attorney Deanne Koll said while arguing against forcing Gordy Schafer to give a deposition. This is a fight between two wholesalers about who gets the Neillsville property, Koll said, saying Polsky has executed legal gymnastics to undo that deal for the store.

Gordy is caught in the middle, Koll said. He entered into an agreement with one of them and now hes caught in the middle.

Attorney Joseph M. Peltz, speaking on behalf of Polsky, said two of Gordy Schafers sons, Rick and Jeff Schafer, did not vote for the sale to Hansens, and Polsky wants to find out which of the Schafer companies owns the property.

If there were deals made to suppress competition...I think I should know about that, Isaacson said in ruling in favor of Polsky. He ordered the deposition be scheduled promptly.

Sale gets OK

Isaacson on Friday also approved the sale of Gordys Market stores in La Crosse, Arcadia and Galesville to Nash Finch, and rebuffed an attempt by grocer Quillins to buy the stores.

In an auction for the stores, Quillins bid of $450,000 fell short of the $550,000 by Nash Finch. Quillins claimed it previously made an agreement with the stores landlord, Hegenbarth Investments, LLC, to assign the lease to Quillins.

Its our position that the rules of the auction were not followed and if they had been followed, our bid would have been successful, said attorney David B. Russell, representing Quillins. He said the chain did its homework before the auction, which took place Sept. 25, and that the landlord of the property of the three stores would not allow anyone else to bid.

The rules were set. They were established. They were not followed, Russell said.

Polsky argued the auction rules were changed to allow someone not approved by the landlord to buy the stores.

That was the result of Quillins misconduct, Polsky said of the changed rules.

He claimed that, at the auction, Quillins indicated that no one else would be acceptable to Hegenbarth Investments LLC, and that there would be no reason for anyone else to bid.

Im not in the business of selling groceries, Isaacson said. But he said it would seem to him that if one of the bidders suggested the landlord would accept only one bidder, that bids for the stores would be stifled.

Polsky was appointed as a receiver under a method spelled out in whats called Wisconsin Chapter 128, a voluntary debt consolidation plan.
The Sikh community in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkwa (K-P) has demanded the provincial government to introduce a Sikh marriage bill in order to solve various legal problems faced by the community.

The Express Tribune quoted a local Sikh elder Gorpal Singh as saying that said the Punjab Assembly has already introduced a bill and it is high time for the K-P assembly to follow suit.

"We are faced with a lot of problems. When we open a bank account we are asked to give name of a heir. As there is no registration of Sikh marriages it is very difficult to prove inheritance," he said.

Singh added that there is also no specific rule to resolve domestic issues in the traditional and religious way if a couple goes to court.

Asserting that Sikh is religion different from the Hinduism, he said that some people confuse us with the Hindu community and also emphasised that the Hindu marriage bill or act can't be applied on us

Singh informed that the Sikh community was recently told by some officials that the K-P government was keen on taking a decision on the issue and they really welcomed the proposal.

He suggested the local Sikh community should be taken into confidence prior to the tabling of the bill as there is no representative of the Sikh community in the assembly.

Another Sikh leader Baba Jee Amarjit Singh also welcomed any move on part of the PTI government to solve problems of the community through fresh legislation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Minister Smriti Zubin Irani on Saturday hit out at Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram for his J-K remark, saying the Congress was willing to sacrifice nationhood for political gain.

Irani's comment came after, Chidambaram earlier in the day, said when people of Jammu and Kashmir ask for 'azadi' they seek greater autonomy.

The Union minister termed the former finance minister's remark as "shocking and disgusting" and said that it reflect the mentality of the Congress party.

"Quite shocking and disgusting that Chidambaram speaks about breaking the unity of India into piece and supports those people who have actually murdered our security forces just so that they can play havoc in the state of Jammu and Kashmir," Irani told ANI.

"I am not surprised because Mr Chidambaram remark reflects the Congress party's mentality," she added.

She even launched a salvo at Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, saying that the former supported those who raised 'bharat tere tukde honge' slogans in the JNU.

"For them, to talk about 'azaadi' where Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was born who gave his entire life and all his efforts so that India stood united under one constitution. What message is the Congress party giving? At the doorstep of political gain, they are willing to sacrifice nationhood," she said.

Irani said the Congress party is making such remark so that they can politically benefit from it in the poll-bound state of Gujarat.

"Given the upcoming elections, (it) is a sorry state of affairs displayed in the disposition of Congress leaders today," Irani said.

Chidamabaram, during an interactive session in Rajkot, had said that people of J-K seek greater autonomy when they ask for 'azadi'.

"The demand in Kashmir is to respect in letter and spirit the Article 370 and that means they want greater autonomy. My interactions in Jammu and Kashmir led me to the conclusion that when they ask for Azadi, overwhelming majority wants autonomy," Chidambaram had said.

The former finance minister had also said the Centre should find out the areas in the state where autonomy can be given.

"I think we should seriously examine the question (of autonomy to J-K) and consider on what areas we can give autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir. It's perfectly within the Constitution of India: Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India, but it will have larger powers as promised under Article 370," he added.

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Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who was admitted to Sri Ganga Ram Hospital yesterday after she complained an upset stomach, was discharged today at 4 pm.

Hospital chairman (board of management) Dr D. S. Rana said, "Sonia Gandhi has recovered from upset stomach and has been discharged. Her condition at the time of discharge was stable and she has been advised to rest."

In May, the Congress chief was admitted to the same hospital due to food poisoning.

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United States President Donald Trump had fun talking with the kids of White House reporters during a pre-Halloween visit at the Oval Office.

"I cannot believe the media produced such beautiful children," The Hill quoted Trump as saying in the Oval Office, surrounded by about 10 kids, who were dressed up in costumes ranging from Princess Leia to Batman.

"How the media did this, I don't know," he said.

The kids then gathered around the President who continued to crack jokes about the White House press corps.

"Do you know who they are? They're the friendly media," he said gesturing toward the cameras. "That's the press."

"These are beautiful, wonderful children," he said later. "You gonna grow up to be like your parents? Mmm, don't answer. That could only get me in trouble, that question."

White House reporters and their children were invited into the Oval Office to meet with the US president ahead of the White House's Halloween party on Monday.

The first lady Melania Trump's office said in a statement that the White House Halloween Party will include "bats and orange pumpkins with profiles of past presidents," adding, "Fog will fill the air, and the trees and south facade will be lit with different colors throughout the night.

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White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has said that US President Donald Trump is mobilising the entire administration to confront opioids crisis.

Addressing at a press briefing on Friday, Sanders said, "By directing the declaration of a nationwide public health emergency to address the opioids crisis, the President is mobilising his entire administration to confront this issue."

"The President's stirring remarks yesterday, which included a powerful story of how addiction impacted his family, set the stage for the country to unite behind this fight to save lives," she added.

President Trump has directed the Department of Health and Human Services to declare the opioids drug addiction in the country a public health emergency.

The US President made the announcement at a ceremony in the White House East Room, attended by families affected by opioid abuse, members of Congress and administration officials.

The Press Secretary mentioned that in the wake of Trump's announcement, several Cabinet members and agency heads are traveling around the country to events related to the opioids crisis.

"Among those participating in events are Attorney General Sessions, Secretaries Shulkin and Carson, Acting Secretary Hargan, Surgeon General Adams, and Acting ICE Director Homan. These events illustrate that the President truly has made this issue an administration-wide priority," she confirmed.

The US President's directive intends to grant funds towards efforts to combat opioid abuse and would ease certain laws and regulations to address it.

In 2016, the drug abuse was reported to have claimed more than 59,000 lives.

Trump stressed on ending the long continuing addiction and said: "It is time to liberate our communities from this scourge of drug addiction."

He said the plan is to set aside the rule barring Medicaid -a social health care programme- from funding many drug rehabilitation facilities, requiring federally employed prescribers to be trained in safe practices for opioid prescriptions, and a new federal initiative to develop non-addictive painkillers.

Further elaborating, he said the administration would produce "really tough, really big, really great advertising" in efforts to convince citizens to not use opioids.

"This was an idea that I had, where if we can teach young people not to take drugs, it's really, really easy not to take them," Trump said, adding that an advice from his brother to never take a drink has worked for him.

"We are going to overcome addiction in America," President Trump averred.

In August, Trump called the opioid crisis a "national emergency," but did not sign a formal declaration designating it as such.

Trump announced the tackling of opioid abuse as one of his key steps, when he assumed office. However, he has received criticism from certain sections for allegedly taking only limited actions to address the crisis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Foreign Minister of Tunisia Khemaies Jhinaoui, who is on a four-day visit to India, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday afternoon.

The minister is here to co-chair the 12th India-Tunisia Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) along with Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister of India.

The JCM will enable both the countries with a comprehensive review of bilateral cooperation in political, economic and cultural areas and people-to-people exchanges, a press release by Ministry of External Affairs said.

Both the countries will also be signing agreements and Memorandum of understanding (MoU)s.

Besides official meetings, Jhinaoui, will address the business sessions to be organised by apex chambers of commerce and industry and will deliver a keynote address on "New Tunisia and emerging democracy in an age of challenges and global threats" to be organised by the Indian Council for Affairs, the statement added.

Economic cooperation between the two countries is deepening with Indian investments in various sectors, it said.

India has traditionally had close and friendly bilateral relations with Tunisia.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Foreign Minister of Tunisia Khemaies Jhinaoui will be visiting India for co-chairing the 12th India-Tunisia Joint Commission Meeting along with External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj.

"The Tunisia Foreign Minister will be visiting India from October 28 to October 31," stated a press release by Ministry of External Affairs.

Jhinaoui will be accompanied by a high level business delegation representing diverse areas of business, trade and investments.

"India has traditionally close and friendly bilateral relations with Tunisia. The economic cooperation between the two countries is deepening with Indian investments in various sectors, including fertilizers, automobile, pharma, textiles etc," said the statement.

During this visit, the EAM will be holding discussions with Jhinaoui on a wide-range of issues of shared common interest.

The meeting will enable both the countries with a comprehensive review of bilateral cooperation in political, economic and cultural areas and people-to-people exchanges.

Both the countries will also be signing agreements and Memorandum of understanding (MoUs).

"The Foreign Minister will be calling on Hon'ble Prime Minister. Besides official meetings, Jhinaoui will address the business sessions to be organised by apex chambers of commerce and industry and deliver a keynote address on 'New Tunisia and emerging democracy in an age of challenges and global threats' to be organised by the Indian Council for Affairs, said the EAM.

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Two people have been arrested in connection with consumption of illicit liquor in Danwar village of Bihar's Rohtas district, Patna Director General of Police (DGP) P. K. Thakur said on Saturday.

"We raided the house of the person where this incident took place, and two people have been arrested. Interrogation is currently underway," Thakur told reporters.

Thakur also said that four deaths are confirmed into the incident, while two people are undergoing treatment at the hospital, whose statements will be recorded once there condition is stable.

As per Thakur, the incident took place after a group of people consumed liquor at a person's house who had invited them after conclusion of Chhath festival celebrations.

"We are interrogating from all aspects, and have recovered the samples also. The statements of villagers will also be recorded, and action will be taken," Thakur added.

Eight policemen, including the Station House Officer (SHO), have so far been suspended in connection with the case.

It is to be noted that there is a complete ban on alcohol consumption in Bihar.

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British High Commissioner to India, Sir Dominic Asquith, launched the 2017-18 TECH Rocketship Awards before an audience of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, start-ups and a judging panel including Saurabh Srivastava and Mohandas Pai here yesterday evening.

The 2017-18 TECH Rocketship Awards, targeting India's top tech entrepreneurs and scale-up businesses, is offering seven prize packages to the UK. Lucky winners will receive tailored packages in the UK to help them achieve international their ambitions of growth with a fully paid-for business development and partnership programme.

The awards, an initiative by the UK's Department for International Trade (DIT) in India, have been running for three years and have seen endorsement from The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, British Prime Minister Theresa May and some of biggest names in Indian business

High Commissioner Asquith said: "The UK's position as a home-from-home for Indian tech companies is as strong as ever. Nearly a third of all Indian investment into the UK is in tech and telecommunications and we are fully-committed to supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his vision for 'Startup India'. The UK is open for business and through TECH Rocketship Awards we are looking to help the next batch of leading young Indian entrepreneurs scale-up and go global via the UK."

The awards provide an excellent platform for Indian SMEs to grow their business overseas by using the UK as a springboard. We wish the competitors the very best!"

This year's six award categories - Fin-tech, Med-tech, Internet of Things, Cloud Computing and Data Analytics, Cyber Security and Artificial Intelligence - reflect some of the areas of greatest potential in terms of opportunity and demand in the UK and India.

These are the UK's fastest growing tech sectors and are aligned with the UK Government's investment priorities. There is an additional spot under the 'Judges award for Creativity'.

This year the awards will be judged by significant Indian entrepreneurs and thought-leaders like Indian Angel Network(IAN)'s founder Saurabh Srivastava, Kiran Muzamdar Shaw, Digital India Foundation Head Arvind Gupta, NASSCOM Chairman Raman Roy, Fin-tech entrepreneur Alok Vajpeyi, Shradha Sharma founder of YourStory along with Investors like IDG Ventures and SIDBI Ventures.

Saurabh Srivastava, Founder IAN, said, "The UK government's vision to support Indian tech SMEs and start-ups is completely aligned with ours. I am delighted to be a part of this program which helps create wealth for entrepreneurs and investors, drives economic growth in the region and builds another track of early stage ventures between India and UK. This platform not only provides an opportunity for Indian entrepreneurs to network and identify trade opportunities, but also gives UK based investors an access to the pool of India's most innovative businesses."

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson and MD of Biocon Limited, said, "The Tech Rocketship Awards are forerunners in supporting Indian start-ups to go global. The Department for International Trade, is the UK Government's commercial organisation which supports global companies to set up in the UK. It is great for me to be associated with the Awards and I am looking forward to being introduced to the start-ups in the life sciences sector who apply for the competition."

T.V. Mohandas Pai, Chairman of Manipal Global Education, said, "Tech Rocketship Awards have supported India's high growth tech companies year on year to get access to the UK's world-class tech ecosystem. The awards give a platform to young Indian entrepreneurs and businesses to springboard their business internationally. The programme for the winners is awesome as they get an opportunity to pitch before Indian and British VCs. Winners from previous years have already landed great offers in the UK. I am excited to be associated with the awards and I wish the applications the very best."

The awards are being delivered with assistance from Indian Angel Network, alongside number of other delivery partners Including Startupbootcamp, T-Hub, TiE Delhi, Deloitte and a range of potential funders

The competition winners' trip to the UK will include opportunities to pitch to UK Venture Capitalits, a programme at London Tech Week, curated partnerships with established UK companies like Harper Adams University and Sensor City and exposure to the UK's thriving tech ecosystem, financial services and R&D opportunities. They will also get a chance to spend quality time with companies across the UK.

Applications are open to Indian tech entrepreneurs under 40 in India who have been operating a company created from the year 2000 onwards. The competition is open now and will close on Midnight of December 9, 2017.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The deputy governor of Afghanistan's Kunar province Muhammad Nabi Ahmadi, has been abducted by unidentified gunmen in Dabgari area of Peshawar.

"At first we thought that he was somewhere nearby when he didn't respond to our calls. We then informed the Kabul government and also the Pakistani high-ups about him," The Express Tribune quoted newly appointed Afghan Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Consul General Moeen Mrastyal, as saying on Saturday.

The consul general informed that the deputy governor had arrived in Peshawar on Thursday and scheduled an appointment with a doctor in Dabggari the next day.

He added that the deputy governor was abducted by unidentified gunmen in Dabggari on Friday and since then haven't heard anything about him.

Mrastyal said he was in regular touch with the K-P law-enforcement agencies and had also informed the K-P governor about the abduction.

"We hope that he will be rescued soon," he said.

Police have also confirmed Ahmadi's abduction and said they were trying to locate the afghan deputy governor and rescue him.

Last year, former Afghan governor Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi was rescued in Mardan, two weeks after he was abducted in Islamabad.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In July, the legislative committee of Dunn County approved a referendum question that is unprecedented in rural America. The question asked Congress and the U.S. president to nationalize health care.

Its chances of success looked good ahead of the Nov. 8 referendum. Results of this referendum could make waves in Wisconsin.
A United States service member has been killed and six other crew members have been injured in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan's Logar province.

"A U.S. service member has died as a result of injuries sustained during a helicopter crash in Logar province, late Friday evening," reported Khaama Press, quoting the NATO-led Resolute Support mission's statement.

The six wounded US crew members are receiving medical treatment.

The statement said the crash was not a result of enemy action.

"We can confirm the crash was not the result of enemy action. We have full accountability of all personnel and the crash site has been secured," the statement further added.

The circumstances of the crash are being investigated.

Commander of the Resolute Support General John Nicholson expressed deep sadness and extended heartfelt sympathies to fallen comrade's friends and family, reported Khaama Press.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senior Congress leader P. Chidamabaram on Saturday said that when people of Jammu and Kashmir ask for 'azadi' they seek greater autonomy.

"The demand in Kashmir is to respect in letter and spirit the Article 370 and that means they want greater autonomy. My interactions in Jammu and Kashmir led me to the conclusion that when they ask for Azadi, overwhelming majority wants autonomy," Chidambaram said during an interactive session here.

The former finance minister also said the Centre should find out the areas in Jammu and Kashmir where autonomy can be given.

"I think we should seriously examine the question (of autonomy to J-K) and consider on what areas we can give autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir. It's perfectly within the Constitution of India: Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India, but it will have larger powers as promised under Article 370."

Chidambaram's statement comes close to the heel of appointment of former Intelligence Bureau director Dineshwar Sharma as interlocutor for J-K by the Modi government.

It is notable that in 2010, Chidambaram as Home Minister in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government appointed three interlocutors- noted journalist Dilip Padgaonkar, Prof. M. M. Ansari, Information Commissioner and Prof. (Mrs) Radha Kumar, trustee of Delhi Policy Group- to hold dialogue with all stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir.

Article 370 of the Indian constitution is an article that gives autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has traditionally favoured abrogation of the Article 370.

As BJP's prime ministerial candidate , Narendra Modi had also called for a debate on Article 370 of the Indian Constitution during his General Election campaign in 2013.

Addressing a rally in Jammu, Modi challenged the critics of the BJP's demand for abrogation of Article 370 to at least debate whether the article had benefited or harmed the people of the state.

After his government assumed power at the Centre, Minister of State in the PMO, Jitendra Singh on May 27, 2014 made it clear that the BJP stands for abrogation of Article 370, but wants to have a democratic approach to find a lasting solution to the issue.

On the other hand, BJP's ally in J-K- the People's Democratic Party- favours the Article 370.

On July 28, J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti warned the Central Government against diluting Article 370, which grants special status to the state.

"Any changes in the Article 370 will not be acceptable. I won't hesitate in saying that nobody will even hold the Tricolour in Kashmir if the article is scrapped," she had said.

On the other hand, Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh said on October 1 that Article 370 has caused harm to Jammu and Kashmir.

Apart from Article 370, Article 35 (A) of the Indian Constitution is also under question.

Article 35A of the Indian Constitution is an article that empowers the Jammu and Kashmir state's legislature to define "permanent residents" of the state and provide special rights and privileges to those permanent residents.

The Article 35 (A) is also challenged and the matter is pending before the Supreme Court of India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
World Stroke Day is observed on the October 29, each year.

Stroke, the most commonly heard reason of mortality in India after road accidents, is a condition where the brain does not receive enough oxygen or nutrients, causing brain cells to die.

Researches show that India will report almost 1.6 million cases of stroke annually by 2020 out of which one third would be disabled.

A stroke, also known as a cerebrovascular accident or CVA, occurs when part of the brain loses its blood supply and stops working. This causes the part of the body, that the injured brain controls, to stop working.

This loss of blood supply can be ischemic because of lack of blood flow, or hemorrhagic because of bleeding into brain tissue. A stroke is a medical emergency because strokes can lead to death or permanent disability.

What are the warning signs or symptoms?

There may be no warning signs of a stroke until it actually occurs. You might be having symptoms that may warn you that you might be about to have a stroke.

General symptoms of a stroke, according to Dr Walia Murshida Huda, Senior Medical Officer, Healthians, MBBS, MBA (H.C.A), FICM, include FAST, i.e:

- Face: Does the face droop on one side when the person tries to smile?

- Arms: Is one arm lower when the person tries to raise both arms?

- Speech: Can the person repeat a simple sentence? Is speech slurred or hard to understand?

- Time: During a stroke every minute counts. If you observe any of these signs, call your local emergency number immediately.

Other symptoms of a stroke include:

All strokes involve symptoms that relate to impairment of nerve function. A patient might complain of a few of the following or all of the following symptoms:

- Confusion

- changes in the level of consciousness

- trouble speaking

- trouble understanding speech

- vertigo

- balance problems

- headache

- nausea

- vomiting

Nausea, sometimes accompanies a stroke, particularly when the stroke involves bleeding inside the brain. The symptoms typically arise suddenly and most commonly occur on one side of the body as the brain controls the ipsilateral part of the body, i.e. brain lobes control opposite parts of the body. Example, a right brain stroke would make the left side of the body weak.

Depending on the part of the brain where the stroke has occurred, be it ischemic or hemorrhagic the effect would be seen in the body. The brain controls different functions of the body like speaking, hearing, listening other than the motor functions.

For example, most people's speech center is located in the left half of the brain so a stroke affecting the left side of the brain would affect speech and comprehension. It also would be associated with weakness of the right side of the body.

Who is at a higher risk of stroke?

Many factors can increase your risk of a stroke. Some factors can also increase your chances of having a heart attack. Potentially treatable stroke risk factors include:

Lifestyle risk factors

- Being overweight or obese

- Physical inactivity

- Heavy or binge drinking

- Use of illicit drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamines

Medical risk factors

- High blood pressure

- Cigarette smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke

- High cholesterol

- Diabetes

- Obstructive sleep

- Cardiovascular disease

Other factors associated with a higher risk of stroke include:

- Personal or family history of stroke, heart attack or transient ischemic attack.

- Being age 55 or older.

- Men have a higher risk of stroke than women

What to do if you feel FAST with a patient?

Time is the key to recovery in a stroke patient. If you feel someone around you has symptoms of stroke, the patient should be rushed to a hospital in emergency services. If during the initial phase of the attack the treatment is given, maximum number of brain cells could be prevented from dying as death of brain cell is an irreversible process. The damage which has been caused by the death of brain cells cannot be recovered.

The following things can be done other than taking him to the hospital

- Make the patient lie on one side with their head slightly raised and supported in case they vomit.

- Check to see if they're breathing. If they're not breathing at all, perform Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation. If they're having difficulty breathing, loosen any constrictive clothing.

- Do not give them anything to eat or drink.

- If the person is showing any weakness in a limb, avoid moving them.

- You yourself need to be calm and patient to tell and brief the doctor about the event.

What would happen at the hospital?

On physical examination a doctor in the emergency would be able to confirm if it is a Stoke. To confirm it clinically a CT Scan or MRI of the brain would be done which would confirm on the type of stroke i.e. ischemic or hemorrhagic, and the lobe of the brain where it has occurred.

PS: There is an urgency to make the diagnosis and determine whether treatment clot-busting drugs to "reverse" the stroke is a possibility. The time frame to intervene is narrow and may be as short as 3 to 4  hours after onset of symptoms

The specialist which is generally a Neuro physician or Neuro surgeon would further decide on the treatment and keep the patient in the Intensive Care Unit for further care.

What is the treatment of Stroke?

Depending on the type of stroke the treatment is planned. For an ischemic stroke, the treatment is generally through medications by a Neuro physician. If the stroke is hemorrhagic then the intervention of a Neuro surgeon may be required to remove the blood clot depending on the site of clot. If the clot is deep inside the brain it is generally not operated upon. If the cloth is in the outer coverings or near the coverings of the brain the Neuro surgeon might take a call.

How to recover from a Stroke?

After first aid and treatment, the stroke recovery process varies. It depends on many factors, such as how fast treatment was received or if the person has other medical conditions. The first stage of recovery is known as acute care. It takes place in a hospital where your condition is assessed, stabilized, and treated. Rehabilitation is usually the next stage or the main of stroke recovery. The goals of rehabilitation are:

- strengthen motor skills

- improve mobility

- limit use of the unaffected limb to encourage mobility in the affected limb

- use range-of-motion therapy to ease muscle tension

-

Preventing a stroke

The best way to prevent a stroke is to address the underlying causes. This is best done by living healthfully, which means:

- Eating a healthy diet.

- Maintaining a healthy weight.

- Exercise regularly.

- Don't smoke.

- Avoiding alcohol or drink moderately.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Ministry of Rural Development is making all efforts to ensure adequate fund flow to the States / UTs under MGNREGS. It has released Rs. 40,480 crore so far in this Financial Year which is around Rs 4,500 crore more than the release during the corresponding period of the last financial year.

As per the financial norms, after 30th September of every year, the States/UTs are required to submit Audited Reports and Utilization Certificates (UC) of previous financial year along with other requisite information in prescribed formats for release of second tranche of funds. To facilitate the submission of proposal for second tranche, the Ministry conducted a special Mid-Term Review with the States and UTs during the period from 29th August to 13th October 2017.

The submission of complete proposal including Audited Reports and UCs is mandatory for ensuring financial discipline. The Ministry has been scrutinizing the complete proposals with promptness and has been releasing funds. Immediate action has been taken on proposals submitted so far by Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jammu & Kashmir and proposals have been processed. The Ministry has been constantly engaging with the rest of the States / UTs for submission of proposals without delay.

The current Financial Year is marked by the highest ever budget allocation of Rs. 48,000 crore. The table below gives a glimpse of the revised estimate at the Centre's level and the expenditure in the States/UTs over the last 7 years.

2011-12 31,000.00 37,072.822012-13 30,287.00 39,778.292013-14 33,000.00 38,511.102014-15 33,000.00 36,025.042015-16 37,345.95 44,002.592016-17 48,220.26 58,531.462017-18* 48,000.00 40,725.05

* Figures as on 27.10.2017

The Government has provided much higher allocations to the Ministry of Rural Development in the last three years. As is evident from the table below, the allocation to Rural Development programmes for creation of infrastructure, rural housing and employment has gone up from 0.50% of the GDP in 2012-13 to 0.63% of the GDP in 2016-17:

CroresYear GDP at Current Prices (2011-12 Series) MGNREGS Exp. % of GDP Releases by MoRD for all Programmes Releases as % of GDP1 2 3 4 5 6 2012-2013 9944013 39,778.82 0.40 50,161.86 0.50 2013-2014 11233522 38,552.62 0.34 58,623.08 0.522014-2015 12445128 36,025.04 0.29 67,263.31 0.54 2015-2016 13682035 44,002.59 0.32 77,321.35 0.57 2016-2017 15183709 58,531.46 0.39 95,096.04 0.63

There is no paucity of funds for MGNREGS at this juncture. However, the Ministry has sought additional funds from the Ministry of Finance for meeting additional requirements.

In line with the directives of Hon'ble Supreme Court the Ministry is taking all steps to ensure timely payment of wages as well as payment of compensation for delay in payment of wages.

Due to constant efforts, the situation has improved considerably. The timely signing of FTOs has improved from 43.6 % to 84.9 %.

The Ministry is also regularly reviewing the process from the generation of FTO to the actual credit of the wages into the accounts of the workers. It has been constantly following up with Chief Managing Directors of Banks, NPCI, PFMS, Department of Posts and Department of Financial Services to ensure credit of wages into the accounts of the workers within 24 hours of release.

The Ministry is constantly monitoring the status of payment of compensation for delay in payment of wages with respect to amount not approved, amount approved and payments made. As on date, out of Rs. 80.58 crore of approved delay compensation since coming in force of the provisions for compensation for delay in payment of wages, Rs. 51.40 crore have already been paid due to the constant engagement with the states.

The Ministry had constituted a committee for revisiting the existing wage rate linked to CPI-AL under the chairmanship of Shri Nagesh Singh, Additional Secretary, MoRD. The committee has submitted a report recommending the indexation of wages to CPI Rural. The recommendations have been sent to the Ministry of Finance for consideration.

The Ministry has been making it clear that there are no preconditions like Aadhaar number linkage to bank account, uploading of photograph on electronic Job card or denial of work to households not possessing toilets, for getting wage employment under the Programme. All steps are being taken to ensure that all demands for wage employment are met on the ground.

The Ministry is committed to making adequate funds available for implementation of programme and ensuring timely payment of wages along with greater focus on drought proofing, agricultural & allied activities and diversification of livelihoods.

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The BharatNet project, which aims to deploy high-speed optical fibre cables across rural areas of the country, has now reached 83,000 gram panchayats, Ms Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, said.

Ms Sundararajan said that by December this year the first phase of BharatNet will be complete. This would provide 100,000 gram panchayats with broadband connectivity by laying underground optic fibre cable lines. The DoT is aggressively monitoring the prestigious BharatNet initiative that aims to provide Internet connectivity to 2.5 lakh gram panchayats or village blocks by March 2019. The entire project, when complete, is expected to give a fillip to reaching out e-commerce services, including e governance, education and television services to far flung areas of the country.

The DoT Secretary said that fibreisation was a national imperative and the government, industry and chambers of commerce needed to work in coalition to achieve the objective of doubling the telecom footprint in the country by 2020.

Quoting from internet guru Mary Meeker's 2017 report released in May this year, she said that there are over 355 million monthly active internet users in India, where nearly 109 million smartphones were shipped in 2016. Nearly 46% of internet users in India consume content in local languages. In the first quarter of 2017, 27 million smartphones were shipped. Most Indians used the internet on their mobile phones (80% usage was on mobile as compared to the global average of 50%). The most used browser in India was UC Browser, followed by Chrome and Opera.

WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Shareit, Truecaller and Facebook are the most used apps in India.

These figures, she said threw up challenges in the policy domain, particularly in terms of security; data privacy and protection; data regulation and data monetisation.

Mr. Som Satsangi, Managing Director, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, who shared the industry perspective, said that with the impending large-scale migration of people from the rural areas to the proposed smart cities, the challenge before industry would be to meet their rising expectations and services on demand. Industry, he said, should be ready to bring low-cost, affordable solutions to the aspirational people at the bottom of the pyramid.

Mr. Anant Goenka, Executive Director, Indian Express Group, in his remarks, said that India would soon overtake China as the consumer base for telecom and IT and therefore, if the objective was to shape digital India, there was a need to look beyond the current trends as also figure out how the country would leverage the database of 'Aadhaar' and at the same time tackle the privacy debate.

Mr. Virat Bhatia, Chairman, ICT & Digital Economy Committee of FICCI, said that following the government initiatives, the internet landscape of India is about to experience a tectonicshift. The next millions of users that will come on the internet by 2020, will utilise ICT as socioeconomic tool of development. To fulfil the dream of 'New India', we all have to work towards good governance and streamlining the marginalized section of the society and transforming India into an empowered and inclusive knowledge-based society, he said.

He said that with the focus on the sustainable growth and development of the digital economy of India, FICCI ICT and Digital Economy Committee continues to work with the industry, government and other stakeholder to come together for policy change and participate in mutual interaction and benefit of the sector.

Dr. Sanjaya Baru, Secretary General, FICCI, emphasized the need to have pre-policy consultations between the government and industry rather than resort to post-policy alterations which leads to needless confusion. FICCI, he said, would initiate closed-door consultations for industry so that its representatives can have a free and frank discussion with policy makers in the government.

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The AAP's maiden foray into urban local body polls in Uttar Pradesh was engulfed in a a major crisis on Saturday when many senior party leaders accused Lucknow district convener Gaurav Maheshwari of getting his wife named as the party candidate for Lucknow mayor by deceit and fraud.

Several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders met state spokesman Vaibhav Maheshwari here and gave documentary evidence supporting their allegations, noting neither them nor the authorized screening committee had named Priyanka Maheshwari as the official mayor candidate, but still posters and banners bearing her name as one had been plastered all across the city with "bad intent and fraudulent means".

AAP leaders told IANS that there was no document to prove that the party had named here as their candidate.

They have also alleged that naming of Kamlendra Singh as the new district convener was also done fraudulently.

Vaibhav Maheshwari told IANS that the leadership was seized of the matter and an appropriate decisions, based on the founding principles of the party, would be taken soon.

"Our party is very tough on matters involving fraud and forgery and all that needs to be done will be done" he said.

He added that the party in-charge Sanjay Singh is being informed of the complaints and action will be taken soonest.

--IANS

md/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh on Saturday predicted a win for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the forthcoming Gujarat assembly elections, saying there was no one in that state or even in the country to match the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In Varanasi to attend an event, the former Samajwadi Party leader said that Modi was "above the gravity pull of in India" and added that he was too towering a personality to be matched by his political opponents.

Terming Patidar leader Hardik Patel as a "deflated balloon" who would meet the political fate of former state Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, he said: "There is no one to dent the aura of Modi and the BJP will drive home with a good majority."

He also took a dig on his former colleague Mohd Azam Khan, whom he called a "donkey".

He also took on the Shiv Sena for the sustained attacks on the BJP and advised its chief Uddhav Thackeray to join the Congress. "I am surprised that despite pinpricks to its alliance partner BJP, why are Shiv Sena ministers still in the NDA government at the centre?" he asked.

--IANS

md/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress on Saturday said the ruling BJP was "rattled" at the prospect of defeat in Gujarat and was thus making "baseless" terror allegations against Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel.

Reacting to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's allegations against Patel, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the BJP was hatching a conspiracy against the Congress MP and asked the party to look inwards.

The Congress leader said: "The BJP is staring at defeat in Gujarat and that is why they are rattled and making such baseless allegations against Congress leaders. Truth will win and the BJP will be defeated in Gujarat."

Rupani on Friday night demanded Patel's resignation from the Rajya Sabha alleging his links with Mohammed Qasim Stimberwala, one of the two alleged Islamic State operatives arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad on Wednesday in Surat. The arrested suspects were allegedly planning to blow up a synagogue in Ahmedabad.

Patel has rubbished the charge that he had links with Stimberwala.

"Sardar Patel Hospital is a charitable hospital in which 150-200 employees work. Neither Ahmed Patel nor any of his family members is a trustee of the hospital. They also don't hold any office of profit in the hospital," said Surjewala, adding that Stimberwala was one the employees.

He said the ATS should initiate a probe against the suspected terrorists if it has evidence.

"The Gujarat Chief Minister, in order to hide his incapability, is trying to hatch a conspiracy against Congress leader Ahmed Patel and making baseless allegations against him in a very despicable attempt," the spokesperson said.

"The Congress has always fought against terrorism while the BJP has had an opposite record. Would Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah explain how terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's wife came to Mumbai under their nose in March 2016 and then left the country. How the Maharashtra government and intelligence agencies didn't even get a whiff of it and could not arrest her?"

Surjewala also said that some Islamic State agents arrested in Madhya Pradesh were found to have links with the BJP. "One of them Dhruv Saxena, was also a member of BJP's IT cell," he said.

"Is it not true that the BJP-PDP government in Jammu and Kashmir gave compensation to the family of terrorist Burhan Wani in December 2016," Surjewala asked.

He also pointed out that the previous NDA government had released dreaded terrorists like Maulana Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed Jargar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh from the Indian custody in the Kandahar hijacking incident.

"A Maharashtra BJP leader Eknath Khadse had to resign for his alleged links with Dawood. So, the BJP should look inwards before pointing fingers at others."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The BJP on Saturday sought clarification from Congress President Sonia Gandhi over alleged links of her Political Secretary Ahmed Patel to a suspected terrorist arrested in poll-bound Gujarat, saying if the party doesn't come clean over the issue it will be linked to terrorism by people.

"The investigative agencies have arrested an IS suspect from a hospital in Gujarat. Ahmed Patel is associated with the hospital. Congress will have to answer. It cannot run away," Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said at a press conference.

He said that the Congress President and Vice President Rahul Gandhi needs to come forward and clarify on the matter.

"Terror suspect's link to hospital is a serious issue. It's a matter of national security. We want Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to give clarification," he said.

The Minority Affairs Minister said that the NDA government has adopted a zero tolerance policy against terrorism and hit out at Congress leadership for defending Patel.

"After few days people will used to say 'Congress ka hath Atank ke sath' like they used to say earlier 'Congress ka haat corruption ke sath'. People are questioning Ahmed Patel's link to IS operatives. Congress has a history of favouring anti-national elements," he said.

Referring to Mohammed Qasim Stimberwala, one of the two alleged IS operatives arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad from Surat on Wednesday, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had demanded resignation of Patel from the Rajya Sabha.

Stimberwala had resigned recently as an eco-cardiogram technician in the Sardar Patel Hospital and Heart Institute in Ankleshwar, which Patel had helped grow into a modern facility.

Patel was one of the trustees during the hospital's formative years as a modern hospital and the only one in the entire Bharuch district with latest equipment and technology with facilities for heart surgery. He had resigned as a trustee in 2014 facilitating a new board of trustees to take over the facility.

The ATS, which picked up Stimberwala and Ubed Ahmed Mirza, claimed that they were planning to attack a Jewish synagogue in Khadia area of Ahmedabad and had even carried out reconnaissance of their target.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
National Award winning actor Akshay Kumar, who attended the grand audio launch of his debut Tamil film "2.0" here, said that the Hindi film industry has a lot to learn from southern cinema.

Akshay along with filmmaker S. Shankar, megastar Rajinikanth, Oscar winning composer A.R. Rahman, actress Amy Jackson and producer Allirajah Subaskaran of Lyca Productions attended the audio launch of the 3D sci-fi entertainer here at the Burj Park on Friday.

"Rajini sir is the real superstar. I would like to thank Shankar sir for giving me the opportunity of working with a legend like Rajinikanth. I could've never imagined that I will get a chance to work in such a big and costly film like '2.0'," Akshay said.

"I have done 130 films (in Bollywood). '2.0' was my 131st film. I can only say that during the making of those 130 films, I got to learn little from every film, but I was learning throughout the shooting of this film.

"There's a lot that we have to learn from South because the way they work, we have to understand a lot now. They work in unity and respect each other's talent, we have to learn that," he added.

Hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar, actor Rana Daggubati and RJ Balaji, the audio launch of the film was also attended by Rajinikanth's family, including his wife Latha, daughters Aishwarya and Soundarya, and son-in-law and actor Dhanush among others.

A sequel to the 2010 Tamil blockbuster "Enthiran", the film "2.0" has been made on a lavish budget.

Akshay will be essaying the prime antagonist in the film as an eccentric scientist called Richard, while Rajinikanth returns as scientist Vaseegaran.

The film is slated for a release in early 2018.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MADISON  The federal government has reached a $2.3 million settlement with the family of a former Marine who died from a drug overdose in 2014 at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which would bring to a close the familys wrongful death lawsuit against the government.

The settlement, set out in court papers filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Madison, would provide about $1.65 million up front to the widow and daughter of Jason Simcakoski, 35, of Stevens Point, who died on Aug. 30, 2014, at the Short Stay Mental Health Recovery Unit in the Tomah VAs Community Living Center.

Some of that money, up to $586,000, would pay attorney fees and expenses.

The remaining $659,100 would be set up in annuities for Simcakoskis widow, Heather Simcakoski, and their daughter, Anaya.

Because the settlement involves a minor, it still must be approved by U.S. District Judge James Peterson. A hearing on the settlement will be held Wednesday, when Peterson is expected to hear from a guardian ad litem appointed for Anaya Simcakoski about the reasonableness of the settlement, and how it is to be managed for the girl.

The family sued the government in August 2016, nearly a year after filing a claim against the VA that went unanswered. The lawsuit states that the VA had told the family that it intended to take full responsibility for Simcakoskis death.

The settlement agreement states that the settlement should not be construed as an admission of liability or fault on the part of the United States, its agents, servants or employees, and it is specifically denied that they are liable to the plaintiffs.

Instead, the settlement is a compromise of disputed claims, the document states, done to avoid the expenses and risks of further litigation.

Simcakoskis death led to the firing of the Tomah VAs chief of staff, Dr. David Houlihan. Earlier this month, the former head of the medical center, Mario DeSanctis, was allowed to resign, with a $163,000 settlement, after negotiations that followed his firing in 2015.

The Tomah VA came under fire in 2015 after an Inspector Generals report, released after Simcakoskis death, found that opioid painkillers were being overprescribed by doctors at the medical center, earning it the nickname Candy Land.

Simcakoski, who was honorably discharged from the Marines in 2002, had been treated at VA facilities from 2006 to 2014 for a variety of conditions, and was admitted to the Tomah VAs Acute Psychiatric Unit on Aug. 10, 2014, then transferred to the Short Stay unit.

He was prescribed drugs there to treat his pain, including Suboxone. The morning of Aug. 30, 2014, he was so sedated he could barely speak, his family said, and later that afternoon was found unresponsive. He died after life-saving attempts were made, although they were not started for about 10 minutes after he was found.

The Monroe County Medical Examiners Office said that Simcakoski died from mixed drug toxicity. A review by the VA Office of Inspector General found that doctors who prescribed opioid drugs to Simcakoski failed to talk with him about the risks of the treatment, and noted delays in the start of CPR to Simcakoski and the lack of medication at the Tomah VA to reverse drug overdoses.
A 21-year-old man from the UK has been charged with being a member of the Islamic State (IS) terror group, officials from Syria's Kurdish region said on Saturday.

Jack Letts, dubbed "Jihadi Jack", travelled to Syria in 2014 and was later captured by the Kurdish-led YPG, the group fighting against IS, when he left IS territory, the officials told the BBC.

Letts was captured in May.

A statement given to the BBC from the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (DFNS), a self-declared autonomous region, said Letts had been taken to a prison in Qamishli, Rojava, northern Syria.

It said the case was still under investigation by the local police force of the DFNS, the Asayish.

Letts converted to Islam while at Cherwell comprehensive school in Oxford.

He travelled to Jordan, aged 18, in 2014. By later that year he was in IS-controlled territory in Syria. Letts married in Iraq and now has a child.

His parents have denied he went to Syria to fight with IS, and started a petition that claimed he had "disappeared in a Guantanamo-style black site" in Kurdish-controlled territory.

But Sinam Mohamad, the European representative of DFNS, strongly disputed this.

She told the BBC that its judicial bodies respected international human rights law and were treating Letts in accordance with the Geneva Convention and international human rights standards.

--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 and BJP on Saturday sparred over terror allegations against Ahmed Patel, with the ruling party on Saturday seeking clarifications from Congress President Sonia Gandhi over the allegations against her political secretary. The Congress said the BJP was "rattled" at the prospect of defeat in Gujarat and was thus making "baseless" charges against the leader.

The BJP said if the Congress doesn't come clean on the issue then it will be linked to terrorism by people.

The Congress said the BJP was trying to take revenge against Ahmed Patel for the Rajya Sabha election defeat and they "should refrain from politicising the issue" and not link it with the Gujarat elections.

"The investigative agencies have arrested an IS suspect from a hospital in Gujarat. Ahmed Patel is associated with the hospital. Congress will have to answer. It cannot run away," Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said at a press conference.

He said that Congress President and Vice President Rahul Gandhi need to come forward and clarify on the matter.

"Terror suspect's link to hospital is a serious issue. It's a matter of national security. We want Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to give clarification," he said.

The Minority Affairs Minister said that the NDA government has adopted a zero tolerance policy against terrorism and hit out at the Congress leadership for defending Patel.

"After a few days people will start saying 'Congress ka hath Aatank ke sath' like they used to say earlier 'Congress ka hath corruption ke sath'. People are questioning Ahmed Patel's links to the IS operatives. Congress has a history of favouring anti-national elements," he said.

Referring to Mohammed Qasim Stimberwala, one of the two alleged IS operatives arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad from Surat on Wednesday, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had demanded resignation of Patel from the Rajya Sabha.

Stimberwala had resigned recently as an echo-cardiogram technician in the Sardar Patel Hospital and Heart Institute in Ankleshwar, which Patel had helped grow into a modern facility.

Patel was one of the trustees during the hospital's formative years. He had resigned as a trustee in 2014 facilitating a new board of trustees to take over the facility.

Reacting to Gujarat Chief Minister Rupani's allegations against Patel, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the BJP was hatching a conspiracy against the Congress MP and asked the party to look inwards.

The Congress leader said: "The BJP is staring at defeat in Gujarat and that is why they are rattled and making such baseless allegations against Congress leaders. Truth will win and the BJP will be defeated in Gujarat."

"Sardar Patel Hospital is a charitable hospital in which 150-200 employees work. Neither Ahmed Patel nor any of his family members is a trustee of the hospital. They also don't hold any office of profit in the hospital," said Surjewala, adding that Stimberwala was one the employees.

He said the ATS should initiate a probe against the suspected terrorists if it has evidence.

"The Gujarat Chief Minister, in order to hide his incapability, is trying to hatch a conspiracy against Congress leader Ahmed Patel and making baseless allegations against him in a very despicable attempt," the spokesperson said.

"The Congress has always fought against terrorism while the BJP has had an opposite record. Would Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah explain how terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's wife came to Mumbai under their nose in March 2016 and then left the country. How the Maharashtra government and intelligence agencies didn't even get a whiff of it and could not arrest her?"

Surjewala also said that some Islamic State agents arrested in Madhya Pradesh were found to have links with the BJP. "One of them Dhruv Saxena, was also a member of BJP's IT cell," he said.

"Is it not true that the BJP-PDP government in Jammu and Kashmir gave compensation to the family of terrorist Burhan Wani in December 2016," Surjewala asked.

He also pointed out that the previous NDA government had released dreaded terrorists like Maulana Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed Jargar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh from the Indian custody in the Kandahar hijacking incident.

"A Maharashtra BJP leader Eknath Khadse had to resign for his alleged links with Dawood. So, the BJP should look inwards before pointing fingers at others."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Distancing itself and taking a different stand from senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram's remark on Jammu and Kashmir, the party on Sunday said the state is an integral part of India and will always remain so.

Chidambaram, the former Union Home Minister, on Saturday said the appointment of an interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir was a "diversionary" tactic and felt the "Azadi" demand meant people want autonomy which should be seriously examined.

"While individuals may have different personal opinions, Congress believes that the solution for lasting peace and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir lies solely within the framework of Constitution," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala in a statement.

"Opinion of an individual is not necessarily the opinion of the Congress party. In our democracy, individuals are entitled to opinions," he added.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also hit out at Chidambaram and sought a clarification from Congress.

"It's a serious issue whether statement that has come from a prominent Congress leader is Congress' official stand or not? Congress should clarify immediately.

"The position Congress has taken with regard to 'Azadi' or autonomy to be given to Jammu and Kashmir, goes directly contrary to India's national interest," said Jaitley.

The Congress has slammed the Narendra Modi government for not having any clear-cut policy to restore normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir and also tackle terrorism.

"Congress has always believed that dialogue and discussion is the way forward for restoration of normalcy in the state, but it can only be within the framework of our Constitution. This is non-negotiable," Surjewala further said.

Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its policy on Jammu and Kashmir, Surjewala said: "Forty-one months of NDA-BJP regime has seen the situation deteriorate rapidly with terrorism on the rise, border ceasefire violations at an all-time high and our security forces valiantly fighting the onslaught of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism on a daily basis."

"A power hungry coalition of PDP-BJP in Jammu and Kashmir has utterly failed to restore normalcy in the state with BJP government at the Centre having no clear-cut policy either on tackling terrorism or on restoration of normalcy in the state," he said.

"Congress has always worked towards providing equal development, equal financial allocation and equal opportunities to the three regions of state of Jammu and Kashmir," he added.

Surjewala further said: "Ten years of UPA-Congress government proved to be a watershed in restoring normalcy, promoting economic activity and tourism, creating infrastructural development, engaging with the people within the framework of our Constitution and fighting terrorism/militancy decisively."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress efforts to build a broad social coalition in Gujarat by taking support of "disparate" groups will "backfire", feels BJP's top party leadership which acknowledges that there are some concerns among sections of traders on GST but is confident they will overcome the issue.

Expressing confidence of winning the forthcoming assembly polls in Gujarat, the BJP leadership is also sure of getting more than three-fourth majority in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls. But it has not taken a final call on projecting a chief ministerial candidate in the hill state where elections will be held in November 9.

Calling it a "caste alliance" the Congress' attempts to bring together Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakore and Jignesh Mewani in Gujarat, BJP leaders said the opposition party will find it difficult to reconcile demands of Patidar leader Patel with that of OBC leader Thakore, who has joined the Congress. They said the Congress will also not find it easy to meet the demands of Dalit leader Mevani. The BJP has been in power for more than 20 years continuously in Gujarat.

A senior BJP leader said that due to the disparate demands of the social groups in Gujarat, it will be nearly impossible for the Congress to form a cohesive alliance and the opposition party will not even get 61 seats it got in the 2012 elections. Gujarat will go for two-phased polls on November 9 and 14.

BJP leaders acknowledged that a section of traders in Gujarat had concerns over the Goods and Services Tax (GST) but said that the relief steps announced by the government this month had helped allay their apprehensions.

The BJP leaders said that the traders in Gujarat had faced "more difficulties" in the past and their relation with the party was "so strong" that they will vote for it despite some perceived difficulties.

The leaders expressed confidence of continuing to get the support of the large Patidar community in the state and said the problems that Congress will face are already coming out in the open.

Hardik Patel, who heads the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), on Saturday issued an ultimatum to the Congress to clarify its position on quotas for Patels by November 3.

"Congress must clarify how it proposes to give reservations constitutionally by November 3, 2017. If it does not make its stand clear, an episode similar to Amit Shah could repeat in Surat," Patel tweeted.

While Patidar agitators are in favour of the community getting reservation within the existing quota for OBCs, Thakore has said in interviews that there should be separate reservation for the economically disadvantaged among the forward castes in Gujarat.

The Supreme Court-laid down norms on reservation say that quotas cannot exceed 50 per cent.

Congress has indicated that it is looking to forge an alliance for the Gujarat polls.

Apart from rebel JD-U leader Chotubahi Vasava, who helped the party during Rajya Sabha polls, the party is exploring tie-up with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Gujarat Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki had earlier this month said that "three young leaders Hardik Patel, Jignesh Mewani and Alpesh Thakor have already ensured their support for us. Everyone is coming together."

BJP leaders expressed confidence that they will achieve their target of winning 150 seats in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly.

In Himachal Pradesh, BJP leaders said they would win "58-72 seats" in the 68-member assembly.

They said a final decision on a chief ministerial candidate for the state would be taken in the coming days and the deciding factor would be how the party can make optimum gains.

A BJP leader said the party has won two elections by not projecting a chief ministerial candidate in Uttarakhand, a hill state.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Authorities in Punjab on Saturday collected the DNA samples of members of some familiesof the 39 Indians who went missing in Iraq's Mosul in June 2014 after the town fell in the hands of terror organization Islamic State.

The DNA samples of at least three members of each of the eight families from Amritsar district were collected by a team of doctors of the Government Medical College in Amritsar.

The Ministry of External Affairs had recently directed the state government to collect the DNA samples so that these could be sent to Iraq for the authorities there to verify the whereabouts of the 39 missing Indians.

With no word from the Central government or Iraqi authorities on whether the missing men were still alive, the distraught families, who have been hoping to hear about the well-being of the missing relatives, on Saturday indicated that much of their hopes of seeing their loved ones again were dashed.

"We have come here for the second time. No one is telling us anything about our loved ones," said Sardara Singh, 70, father of a missing youth from Amritsar district.

Members of other families said that they had no idea why the samples were being collected.

"No one from the administration is telling us why the DNA samples are being collected," said a woman relative of one of the missing men.

After Mosul was freed from the IS in July this year, there was hope that the missing Indians will be found.

However, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, during his India visit in July, said he was not sure if the missing Indians were alive or not. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had earlier assured the families, who have met her several times, that all efforts were being made to trace them.

The affected families, who are all from poor backgrounds mostly from rural areas of Punjab, say they can do nothing else but pin hope on the government's and the minister's assurances. A man from Punjab, Harjit Masih, who escaped from the clutches of IS in June 2014 had claimed that all 39 Indians had been killed. However, Sushma Swaraj has maintained that there was no information confirming their deaths.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Despite a total prohibition on liquor in Bihar, five persons on Saturday died in Rohtas district after consuming moonshine, while one continues to battle for his life.

According to district police officers, the five deaths were reported in Danwar village.

"After the end of four-day-long Chhath festival, a group of villagers consumed liquor late on Friday night. Soon, they fell ill and their condition deteriorated. Five of them died early on Saturday," Rohtas district Superintendent of Police Manavjeet Singh Dhillon said.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar taking serious note of the incident has ordered a probe.

Stern action will be taken against those found guilty, an official in Chief Minister's office said.

Officer-in-charge of Kachwa police station Mukesh Kumar under whose jurisdiction the Danwar village comes, has been suspended.

Deputy Inspector General Sahabad range Mohammad Rahman has recommended action against the SDPO and other police officials.

The incident has again exposed that alcohol is freely available in black market in the state, where prohibition came into effect on April 5, 2016.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Four Bangladeshi civilians have been injured allegedly in an attack by Rohingya migrants at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar district, a media report said on Saturday.

A senior police officer told bdnews24 the attack occurred at the Balukhali camp around 1 a.m.

The refugees acted on suspicion that the civilians were robbers, the official said.

The victims had injuries caused by sharp weapons.

The police were conducting an operation to arrest the attackers, the officer added.

Since the ongoing violence began late August in Myanmar's Rakhine state, over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh seeking refuge.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A multi-species action plan to conserve 15 vulture species, including four that are critically endangered in India, was adopted at a UN global wildlife conference in the Philippines on Saturday.

Likewise, the whale shark, a victim of over-fishing also in India, got global protection too.

"Multi-Species Action Plan to Conserve African-Eurasian vultures adopted at #CMSCOP12 in Manila!" the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) tweeted.

"WhaleShark gets full protection! CMS App I Listing adopted at #CMSCOP12 in Manila!"

In another tweet UNEP added: "All Resolutions on African Carnivores Conservation (joint CMS-CITES/Cheetah/WildDog/Lion) adopted at #CMSCOP12 in Manila!"

Announcements in this regard were made in Manila at the concluding session of the 12th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species, or CMS COP12, the only international treaty devoted exclusively to migratory animal species.

Delegates from over 120 countries, including India, had gathered there.

The multinational plan to thwart the sudden and severe decline in vultures across Africa, Asia and Europe, including three critically endangered Indian species, was presented at the summit.

Experts estimate the majority of African-Eurasian Vultures are critically endangered and at "very high risk" of extinction in the wild, mainly due to poisoning.

Unless effective conservation measures are implemented, there is a significant likelihood that several of these species will become extinct in the near future, they say.

Experts say widespread over-fishing is driving many shark species, including world's largest living fish whale shark, to extinction.

India is among 121 nations that are home to this species with continuing global population declines. The major threats to it are fisheries catches, bycatch in nets and vessel strikes.

Three countries -- the Philippines, Israel and Sri Lanka -- had jointly submitted a proposal in the summit for the inclusion of the whale shark, found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, in Appendix I of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) for its conservation.

The proposal has been adopted, a spokesperson for CMS COP12 told IANS.

Likewise, proposals for conservation of the blue shark, common guitarfish and development and management of marine protected area networks within Asean region have been adopted, the spokesperson said.

As per the action plans submitted by the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Africa's lions, wild dogs, leopards and cheetahs got increased protection to halt their serious decline.

Resolution on the African elephant action plan was also adopted.

Proposals submitted by Mongolia to protect two of Central Asia's rarest species, Przewalski's horse and the Gobi bear, also got nod.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
France's Defence Minister Florence Parly on Saturday led a 13-member high-powered delegation to the Western Naval Command and Mazagon Docks Ltd here, officials said.

She interacted with Vice-Admiral Girish Luthra, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, WNC and discussed aspects related to maritime security cooperation, bilateral exercises, ship visits, training, equipment, technology and professional exchanges.

Relations between India and France are being accorded top priority by both countries as seen by recent high-level interactions between the nations, with the upcoming visit of French President Emmanuel Macron in the second week of December.

Interaction between the Indian Navy and French Navy has nurtured into a strong partnership based on mutual interests over the years.

The naval cooperation between the two has progressed most encouragingly in recent years and the increasing scale of operational interactions is an indicative of the growth of understanding between the two maritime forces.

Parly on Friday had laid the foundation stone for the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited's Rs 6,500 crore facility coming up at the Dhirubhai Ambani Aerospace Park in Nagpur.

Expected to start production from the first quarter of 2018, the DRAL project marks the largest foreign direct investment in the Indian defence sector acquired by the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group.

She also met Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi and discussed ways and means to boost defence ties between the two nations.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday flagged off a Roll-on-Roll-off (RoRo)-cum-general cargo vessel carrying 185 trucks from Chennai Port to Mongla port in Bangladesh which is expected to save around 15-20 days of travel time.

Digitally flagging off the vessel from Nagpur, Gadkari said that transport through the sea route will save about 15-20 days of travel time.

"As per our government's vision, our first priority is waterways, followed by railways and roadways. Transport by sea not only reduces cost, it also saves time and reduces carbon footprint," he said.

Gadkari, also the Road Transport and Highways Minister, called upon all automobile manufactures to use coastal shipping mode for transporting their vehicles.

So far, such trucks being exported by Ashok Leyland were being sent to Bangladesh through the land route, travelling a distance of about 1,500 km.

For this trip alone, a total of around three lakh vehicle kms of road travel will be saved as the land route is longer and much time is lost at the congested Petrapole-Benapole check point at the Indo-Bangladesh border, a Shipping Ministry statement said.

"Initiatives like this are aimed at providing innovative logistic chain solutions under Sagarmala. The ultimate objective is to save logistic costs and time of transportation and boosting trade by making Indian goods competitive in international markets," the statement said.

The Coastal Shipping Agreement between India and Bangladesh was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh in June 2015.

Based on the agreement, sea transportation from Indian to Bangladesh ports is being treated as coastal movement, making it eligible for 40 per cent concession on vessel related and cargo related charges.

For coastal movement through RoRo vessels, 80 per cent concession on vessel related and cargo related charges are applicable in Indian ports, the Shipping Ministry said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Its been a little over a week since the #Metoo campaign found its mojo, prompting social media to erupt in a girl power storm of women who decided that enough was enough. I wrote about it in my last column and really had no intention of returning to the same trough so soon.

But I simply cant ignore what is happening with this sexual assault business, and at the risk of getting more hate mail (and a few timid attagirls!) this weeks column is going to be #Metoo 2.1.

Or, as I prefer to call it, Happy Halloween.

About a year ago, I read an amazing book on the Salem witch trials. In the past, Id thought of the 17th century tragedy whenever there was a fever-pitched series of accusations against priests, day-care center owners and people named Bill. Its not that the accusations were all lies, or that the accusers all had suspicious motives.

What sent the shiver up my spine was that horrifying feeling of being pulled by a rip current into the deepest end of an ocean, and there were no life rafts strong enough to bring us back to the shores of sanity, clarity and context.

The Salem witch trials showed what happens when people suspend their judgment and allow the mind to be governed by a sense of vengeance. Empathy and compassion are substituted for fairness and common sense, and while we always want to comfort the afflicted, the lines become blurred when society facilitates the creation of avenging angels.

And thats what I see happening in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein situation. Weinstein is a fiend, a groper, a rapist, repulsive by every possible metric we use to measure human beings. There are others like him, some well-known but most known only to their innocent, low-profile prey. It is right to bring attention to their crimes and make sure that we police these aberrant predators, including those who exploit men and boys. That was my point last week. But its starting to get out of hand, and what was once a murmur has turned into an indiscriminate roar.

Just because there are hundreds and perhaps thousands of women coming out to say they were abused, this is not proof that an epidemic exists. It is, however, proof that a sea change has taken place in how we deal with allegations of sexual assault.

To keep within the Halloween horror theme, that razor-edge pendulum is swinging away from disbelief of women to a knee-jerk acceptance that men are predatory creatures. Neither extreme is fair. And both are very, very dangerous.

Now, even the most trivial things are considered worthy of attention, and if you criticize the veracity or weight of the allegations, be ready for the blowback.

On Twitter, someone who called herself an assault victim who counseled rape victims in the past accused me of being a handmaid whose happy feminine face covered up for the fascist men. Then, someone emailed to call me shameful because I wasnt a sympathetic sister, and told me that she had spent two decades cheating on her kind husband because of abuse-induced low self esteem. Im shameful, but shes fornicating. OK.

And then we have Elizabeth Warren, who, on Meet the Press, jumped on the #Metoo bandwagon with a tale of being chased around an office desk years ago as a baby law professor by a mentor. Except for the fact that the man had polio, and couldnt navigate without crutches or a wheelchair, and Warren had eulogized him at his memorial service in 1997. Of course, its not the first time shes bent the truth.

But nothing tops the woman who said that 89-year-old George H.W. Bush, confined to a wheelchair, touched her from behind and made a dirty joke at a photo op, which traumatized her so much that she waited almost four years to mention it to anyone. Imagine how devastated she would have been if hed circled her in his motorized Rascal.

The poor man, who probably has no memory of the incident, was forced to apologize, and Im thinking Barbara is now keeping him tied to a post with one of her longest string of pearls.

Everywhere you look, women are telling tales of assault, as if they were all Stepford Wives formed in the image of Gloria Allred. I remember working at a fast food place in the late 70s and having a manager tell me that my breasts were smaller than the McNuggets. Not a charmer. But neither was he Jack the Ripper.

And now were supposed to sit back and believe that getting poked on the tuckus by an elderly ex-president is newsworthy.

I cant decide whether to laugh or scream.
"Wonder Woman" star Gal Gadot has dropped out of an awards celebration honouring director and producer Brett Ratner.

Gadot was set to present the Tree of Life Award to Ratner at a dinner for the Jewish National Fund on Sunday at the Loews Hollywood Hotel here. However, the actress backed out of the event within the last 24 hours, reports variety.com.

Gadot's representatives did not respond to repeated requests for comment about her decision. Ratner's representatives also declined to comment.

Nina Gordon, a spokeswoman working on the event, said the organisation was told that Gadot had a scheduling conflict.

"Apparently she is stuck on promo stuff for 'Justice League' for China, and she's not going to be back in time. We just found this out and everyone is scrambling," Gordon said.

In an Instagram post on Friday, Gadot said: "That's it for now, China. Thank you for having us."

The news of Gadot's withdrawal from the event comes as leading Hollywood figures face increasing scrutiny in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sex harassment scandal.

Ratner was once accused of masturbating in front of actress Olivia Munn on a movie set. Ratner is also close friends with director James Toback, whom more than 300 women have recently accused of sexual misconduct.

Gadot posted recently on Instagram saying "Bullying and sexual harassment is unacceptable! I stand by all the courageous women confronting their fears and speaking out. Together we stand. We are all united in this time of change."

--IANS

sug/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Renowned Gandhian Ziad Medoukh of Palestine was Saturday conferred this year's "Jamnalal Bajaj International Award for Promoting Gandhian Values Outside India".

Besides, Shashi Tyagi, Founder and Secretary of Gramin Vikas Vigyan Samiti (GRAVIS) was chosen for "Outstanding Contribution in the field of Constructive Work", Praveen Nair, the Founder-Trustee of Salaam Baalak Trust, New Delhi for "Development & Welfare of Women and Chidren", while Delhi NGO Jan Swasthya Sahyog was named for "Application of Science & Technology for Rural Development".

Presenting the awards here this evening, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recalled the services of the late industrialist and freedom fighter Jamnalal Bajaj in whose memory the annual awards were instituted 40 years ago.

"The power of freedom struggle of Mahatma Gandhi was such that it inspired from every section of society to become a part of it. Ordinarily, one would consider members of society who had large businesses and industry to defend, to protect, to be reluctant to become part of this (Freedom movement).

"However, this was one relationship between Gandhiji and Jamnalal Bajaj in which a business leader had put almost everything at stake and sacrificed, not merely sacrificed but had most members of his family become activists in the freedom struggle, and many landed in jails.

"We have very few such examplesa If this kind of transparent relationship between those in public affairs and those in industry is recreated, probably its ability to inspire and contribute to society will be much higher," Jaitley said.

Lauding the 2017 awardees, he said these individuals have worked in these different areas of work under extremely difficult and challenging circumstances.

"They are marginal people who don't do it for any rewards or awards or the fame they got today. For them, its all incidental, they do their work for the deep sense of social commitment and leave their footprints in history. Theire contribution is most remarkable," he said.

A staunch believer in democracy, freedom and human rights, Medoukh is researcher, professor and the Director of the French Department at the Al-Aqsa University in Gaza.

Known for his brilliant testimony of non-violence that he presents to his students, Medoukh is one of the prominent speakers for Palestine in French-speaking countries, participates and imparts training in non-violence to teachers and youth in Europe and Middle East.

In 2006, he and his friends founded a Peace Centre based on the principles of nonviolent Economy of Mahatma Gandhi which has played a crucial role in education as a form of non-violence resistance in Palestine.

Shashi Tyagi had in 1980 shifted with her husband from Banwasi Sewa Ashram in Uttar Pradesh to the Thar Desert in Rajasthan's Jodhpur and launched various social-community projects covering people in 1,200 villages spread across Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Nagaur, Jaipur and Barmer districts.

Mother of renowned film-maker Mira Nair, Praveen Nair established the Salam Baalak Trust in 1988 on New Delhi railway station, inspired by the film "Salaam Bombay" on the life of Mumbai streetchildren.

In 25 years, the SBT has grown into an institution employing 200 which provides support services to more than 8.500 children in Delhi NCR through 25 centres.

The Jan Swasthya Sahyog started in 1999 by a group of AIIMs post-graduates and health professionals addresses inequality in rural health care, clinical and community outreach programmes, to evolve low-cost technology for cheaper health care, etc.

--IANS

qn/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India has emphatically raised with the US administration the issue of H1B and L1 visas, which have facilitated the entry Indian IT professionals, thereby, immensely benefiting the American economy, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Saturday.

"We raised very strongly the issue of Indian professionals and H1B and L1 visa issues," Prabhu told reporters here at the end of his official visit to the US during which India held the first trade talks with the US following the election of President Donald Trump.

"We are raising this issue the US economy itself will find it difficult to cope with the reality because the country has immensely benefited by IT professionals penetrating into the market by offering services that has improved their productivity," he said.

Following Trump's election on a protectionist platform, the US has announced stricter norms for issuing the H1B and L1 visas.

During his visit over October 25-28, Prabhu held talks with the US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer under the framework of the bilateral Trade Policy Forum (TPF) and co-chaired India-US Commercial Dialogue along with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

Prabhu said both countries agreed to address the issue of trade deficit by increasing and diversifying bilateral trade.

He also said India has sought easing of procedures for export of mangoes and pomegranates to the US.

Prabhu cited Ross as saying that reducing imports from India is not an option to address the trade deficit.

"The Commerce Secretary clearly said that trade deficit is an issue, but not by reducing imports from India but promoting more exports from the US to India which is absolutely a very positive and an extremely forward-looking idea, which we welcome," Prabhu said.

Declaring that India would actually be able to buy more from the US in few years, he noted that New Delhi has started buying crude oil from Washington and there was great potential for America in the fast-expanding aviation market in India.

At the end of his visit, Prabhu leaves for Cuba, where he will be in Havana from October 28-31 to hold discussions on boosting bilateral trade.

--IANS

bc/ahm/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actress Megan Fox says she knows that she is a "product" but doesnt like the term.

Fox, who is considered as one of Hollywood's most iconic sex symbols, doesn't have any qualms with being looked at in that way, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"It's just a biological fact: sex does sell. But I wish it was more gender equal. I'm happy to buy some sex, too. It's not wrong, it just needs to go both ways. Women shouldn't have to carry the burden. And I think we have so far," Fox told Cosmopolitan magazine.

Fox doesn't enjoy being seen as a "product", but she's come to accept it as part and parcel of her acting career.

"I understand I'm a product -- but I don't have to like it. The truth is, I'm actually very private," she added.

--IANS

sas/ks

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India will host the next UN global wildlife conservation and international species protection conference in 2020, it was announced on Saturday in the Philippine capital.

"#India to be the host of the next CMS Conference of the Parties #CMSCOP13! Officially announced at the closing #CMSCOP12 plenary, in Manila," the UN for Environment Programme tweeted.

An announcement in this regard was made on the last day of the week-long 12th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals or CMS COP12, the only international treaty devoted exclusively to migratory animal species.

Delegates from 91 countries participated in the CMS COP that is held once in three years. This was for the first time the summit was held in Asia.

"An intensive week of negotiations have resulted in a stronger commitment by countries to step up their efforts to conserve the planet's migratory wildlife," an official statement quoting CMS Executive Secretary Bradnee Chambers said.

The CMS COP12 in Manila has been the largest-ever meeting in the 38-year history of the convention, which is also known as the 'Bonn Convention' after the German city in which it was signed.

The summit saw some notable outcomes, including a vulture multi-species action plan to better protect 15 species of Old World Vulture in more than 120 countries, comprising four that are critically endangered in India.

Governments also agreed to cooperate on reducing the negative impacts of marine debris, noise pollution, renewable energy and climate change on migratory species.

Other mammals that will benefit from the additional protection include the African wild ass -- the most endangered wild equid in the world -- Przewalski's Horse and four species of Lasiurus Bat.

The proposal to add the Chinkara (Indian gazelle) was withdrawn.

Addressing the Plenary of COP12, UN Environment Executive Director Erik Solheim said the sustainable development goals were directed at both "people and planet".

He added that new technologies and political commitment could protect both the planet and bring development to people with the same policies.

--IANS

vg/in/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A day after tweeting about the risk of a flood in North Chennai, actor Kamal Haasan on Saturday visited the Ennore Creek and spoke to the residents.

Residents living near Ennore Creek were surprised to see the star visit their locality along with few environmentalists and social activists.

Haasan, who is planning to launch a political party, also spoke to the residents and heard their problems.

Haasan on Friday voiced his concern on the environmental impact due to the dumping of the ash waste by power plants in river Kosasthalaiyar and also warned about possible flooding of north Chennai.

In a series of tweets, Haasan said that the Vallur Thermal Plant and North Chennai Thermal Plant are dumping their ash waste in the river, and cited expert opinion to warn that north Chennai would get flooded even during normal rains.

He also noted that the forecast now is more than normal rainfall which, in turn, puts at risk 10 lakh people in that area.

The actor said a good government should find a permanent solution for the problems faced by the people.

Haasan also warned the government and the people that it would be dangerous for Chennai if the Ennore Creek is ignored.

--IANS

vj/sug/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police placed Dalit writer and social activist Kancha Ilaiah under house arrest here on Saturday to stop him from leaving for Vijayawada to address a public meeting.

Policemen were deployed outside his house in Tarnaka. A team from Andhra Pradesh has conveyed to him that he will be arrested if he steps out of the house.

A large number of Ilaiah's supporters gathered outside his house. One of the supporters said they were determined to leave for Vijayawada.

The police team on Friday served notice on the Dalit thinker, informing that there is no permission for the public meeting in Vijayawada as prohibitory orders were in force in the city.

Some Dalit and backward classes organisations had planned to organise to express solidarity with Ilaiah, facing threats from various groups from Arya Vysya community.

The Hyderabad High Court on Friday had refused to give directions to Andhra Pradesh Police not to grant permission to Ilaiah to conduct a meeting in Vijayawada. The court was hearing a petition filed by Arya Vysya Sangham.

Arya Vysya-Brahmana Aikya Vedika or the joint committee of Arya Vysya and Brahmin communities had threatened severe consequences if Ilaiah was allowed to visit Vijayawada and hold the meeting.

The joint committee had also planned to organise a meeting but dropped its plans after police imposed orders banning meetings and rallies in the city.

Ilaiah alleged that the governments of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were trying to suppress freedom of expression.

The writer has been facing protests from the Arya Vysya groups for describing the trading community as social smugglers in his Telugu book "Samaajika smugglerlu komatollu".

Arya Vysya communities are seeking a ban on the book and the arrest of the writer for hurting their sentiments.

The Supreme Court on October 15 refused to ban the book.

--IANS

ms/in/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The appointment of an interlocutor is not a U-turn in the government's Kashmir approach as militants and their supporters would be tackled militarily while those who want to have a dialogue can come and talk, BJP leader and its Kashmir in-charge Ram Madhav said on Saturday.

Madhav rebutted opposition criticism to the move, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Kashmir policy was "consistent" in a sense that tackling the issue needed a multi-pronged approach that called for different activities to be taken up simultaneously.

"And one of them is to tackle terrorists through strong military action. Whoever indulges in anti-national activities in the valley - whether in the form of indulging in terrorism or in the form of promoting it, sponsoring it, supporting it - will be caught. That will continue. But if somebody wants to come and talk to the central government, they can talk to the representative," he told CNN-New18 TV news channel.

Asked if it was not a complete shift from the government's approach of refusing to talk to the Hurriyat and an acknowledgement that the solution to the Kashmir problem lay in dialogue, Madhav said talks would be held with "sections that are ready to engage... but you will deal with sections in an appropriate manner that are out to indulge in terror".

The government on Monday appointed former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma as an interlocutor to open talks with all stakeholders in Kashmir.

Madhav ruled out any involvement of Pakistan in the government's Kashmir approach, saying it would talk to the neighbouring country but only about the parts of the state under Islamabad's control.

"Otherwise, the Kashmir issue is an internal matter for our government. We will talk to the people of the state, to different groups of the state. No outside power has any locus standi on that."

He also said Kashmir was moving towards peace as "things have gradually settled down" in the valley.

"Normal political activity has also started. The government of the day, BJP and PDP, is now focusing more and more on development. Now why a special representative has been appointed to talk to different groups in the state - you see the Home Minister has made it clear that the government's doors are open for groups that want to talk.

"It also should be understood that it cannot be done by the Home Minister or somebody at that level. So we decided that Dineshwar Sharma will be the government's representative to talk to different groups, and talking is never an option we shut down."

He said the approach was "very different" from the previous UPA government.

"They (the UPA) had a great Kashmir policy, which landed the state in such a big turmoil and complete mess. This is the result of the so-called Kashmir policy of the Congress government. Today in power, we are putting a different approach in tackling the problem, and we are sure that at the end of the day we will have an amicable solution."

Reacting to Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad's remarks that hundreds of lives of civilians as well as security forces could have been saved if there was no confusion in the BJP government's approach, Madhav said: "Under their government, the loss of life was maximum -- loss of lives of innocent people.

"Under this government, yes there are people dying, but those who are dying are terrorists. And if Azad's sympathy lies with terrorists, I can't help. We are trying our best to ensure minimum civilian casualties."

Asked about the possibility of Sharma talking to the Hurriyat leadership, Madhav said it was up to the separatist leadership to decide if they were "willing to talk". It "is a question you have to ask them".

"We have appointed a representative to engage with the groups. It cannot go on eternally. At some point we will have to assess the results. While I wouldn't say any specific timeline, this cannot be an unending process. Dialogue has to start and end somewhere."

--IANS

sar/rn

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Legalizing and regulating gambling and betting will not only create employment opportunities for millions of people, but would also help government earn huge revenue from the sector, experts said on Saturday.

However, responsibility of ensuring welfare and safeguarding the interests of the vulnerable sections of society should be kept in mind while regularizing betting, they said.

Speaking at the All India Gaming Summit here, Law Commission Chairman Balbir Singh Chauhan said the issue of gambling and betting had to be addressed by experts of the industry and that the Law Commission would welcome their opinions and incorporate them in its report.

"As per the industry reports, regularizing and legalizing the sector will bring in revenue and employment. But responsibility of ensuring welfare and safeguarding the interests of the vulnerable sections of society should be kept in mind while regularizing betting and gaming," a statement quoted Chauhan.

The summit organised by All India Gaming Federation addressed topics such as ills of the present system, issues and challenges and self regulation in skill gaming.

Rajya Sabha Member and senior advocate of the Supreme Court K.T.S. Tulsi said if betting was legalized and regulated, it would provide direct employment to 5,70,000 people and indirect employment to millions.

"Besides, government can earn huge revenue by legalizing the sector. For example, on a turnover of Rs 1,50,000 crore, the government can earn a TDS of Rs 4,500 crore," he said.

Sarika Bijen Patel, Commissioner of UK Gaming Commission, said that the UK's gambling laws were very comprehensive and included both betting and gambling.

Phil Harisson, Regulator at Gaming Laboratories International (Australia), said it was impossible to restrict gambling and hence regulation was the best solution.

--IANS

vv/rn

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain on Saturday gave two versions about the railway's target for linking the remaining northeastern state capitals by railway network.

The Minister while addressing a function to flag off the Agartala-Delhi Rajdhani Express said that all the remaining state capitals of the northeastern states will be connected with railway network by 2019.

However, after the event, speaking to reporters on the sidelines, he gave a different date.

"All the capitals of the remaining northeastern states will be linked with Broad Gauge railway network by 2019. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given priority for the infrastructure development of the northeastern states," Gohain said before flagging-off the Rajdhani Express between Agartala and Delhi's Anand Vihar station.

Later, while speaking to the media after the function, he said that after the Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh capital cities, Manipur capital Imphal would be connected by railway network by 2022.

"Due to land related problems, the expansion of railway network in Sikkim and Meghalaya has turned into a non-starter. Work is on to increase the railway network in Mizoram and Nagaland," he said, without providing any target to link the state capitals of the two states.

Earlier, the railway authorities and ministers had announced on a number of occasions that all state capitals of northeast India would be linked with broad gauge railway track by 2020.

With the extension of the metre gauge track up to Agartala through southern Assam, Tripura became the first state capital in the northeast in October 2008 to be brought on India's rail map after independence. Subsequently, the metre gauge line was converted into broad gauge.

Arunachal Pradesh's Itanagar was put on the railway map of India in April 2014.

"For expansion of railway networks in the northeastern states, there is no dearth of funds. The present NDA government has asked the Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) to speedup the works of the ongoing railway projects in the northeast," the Minister added.

Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy along with PWD and Revenue Minister Badal Choudhury, Transport Minister Manik Dey, two CPI-M MPs Jitendra Choudhury and Sankar Prasad Datta, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Dilip Sarkar and NFR General Manager Chahatey Ram spoke at the event.

Tripura ministers and MPs have demanded a railway division and a railway recruitment board in Tripura and to shift the Rajdhani Express' destination to New Delhi Railway Station instead of Anand Vihar.

"Due to huge congestion in New Delhi Railway Station, the trains going from eastern India are stationed at Anand Vihar station and those coming from southern India are placed at Hazrat Nizamuddin station," Chahatey Ram told the media, responding to the Tripura demand.

"The size and railway network in Tripura does not permit setting up a separate railway division in the state," the Minister told reporters.

--IANS

sc/rn

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON  Out: Jeff Flake.

In: Roy Moore.

This week brought a clarifying moment in the sad denouement of the once-proud GOP into an organ of grievance and intolerance. Flake, a Republican from Arizona, said he was retiring from the Senate. This honorable man and faithful conservative followed another good man, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., in concluding that there is no place for their service in Trumps America.

Yet even as Flake bowed out Tuesday, Senate Republicans were tightening the partys inevitable embrace of the new: Ten Commandments judge Roy Moore, who after his GOP primary win is very likely to be the next senator from Alabama. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., a longtime leader in his partys race to the bottom, issued a statement Tuesday endorsing Moore. Two other senators reportedly will hold a fundraiser for Moore, and GOP leadership, with its silence, is tacitly accepting that Moore is its man.

The torch was passed. This is no longer the GOP of Flake, who carried the flame for Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. Its not even Donald Trumps; he was just using it. The GOP is now the party of Roy Moore.

In the spirit of those in and out features my newspaper colleagues do at years end, lets look at whats out in the GOP  the sentiments voiced by Flake in his moving speech Tuesday  and whats in  some of the memorable words of Moore.

Out: I rise today with no small measure of regret, regret because of the state of our disunion, regret because of the disrepair and destructiveness of our politics, regret because of the indecency of our discourse.

In: Homosexual behavior is a ground for divorce, an act of sexual misconduct punishable as a crime in Alabama, a crime against nature, an inherent evil, and an act so heinous that it defies ones ability to describe it. ... [T]he homosexual conduct of a parent  conduct involving a sexual relationship between two persons of the same gender  creates a strong presumption of unfitness that alone is sufficient justification for denying that parent custody.

Out: When a leader correctly identifies real hurt and insecurity in our country and instead of addressing it, goes looking for somebody to blame, there is perhaps nothing more devastating to a pluralistic society.

In: Moore: Do you know that bestiality, the relationship between man and beast, is prohibited in every state?

Interviewer [who had been asking about gay rights]: Did I ask you about having sex with a cow? Or a dog?

Moore: No, you didnt, [but] its the same thing.

Out: American leadership looks to the world and just as Lincoln did sees the family of man. Humanity is not a zero-sum game.

In: Interviewer: [Ronald Reagan] said that Russia was the focus of evil in the modern world.

Moore: You could say that very well about America, couldnt you?

Interviewer: Do you think?

Moore: Well, we promote a lot of bad things, you know.

Interviewer: Like?

Moore: Same-sex marriage.

Interviewer: Thats the very argument Vladimir Putin makes.

Moore: Well, then, maybe Putin is right. Maybe hes more akin to me than I know.

Out: The impulse to scapegoat and belittle threatens to turn us into a fearful, backward-looking people. In the case of the Republican Party, those things also threaten to turn us into a fearful, backward-looking minority party.

In: In 1857, the United States Supreme Court [in Dred Scott] did rule that black people were property. ... But this [gay-marriage] ruling in Obergefell is even worse in a sense.

In: Now we have blacks and whites fighting, reds and yellows fighting, Democrats and Republicans fighting, men and women fighting.

In: My personal belief is that he [President Barack Obama] wasnt born in the United States.

In: There is no such thing as evolution.

In: You wonder why were having shootings and killings here in 2017? Because weve asked for it. ... Weve taken prayer out of school.

In: False religions like Islam who teach that you must worship this way are completely opposite with what our First Amendment stands for.

In: There are communities under sharia law right now in our country. ... Well, theres sharia law, as I understand it, in Illinois, Indiana  up there. I dont know.

In: America the Beautiful, or so you used to be,

Land of the Pilgrims pride, Im glad theyre not here to see,

Babies piled in dumpsters, abortion on demand,

Oh, sweet land of liberty, your house is on the sand.

As Flake said on the Senate floor: Heaven help us.
Visiting US Secretary of Defence James Mattis warned on Saturday that North Korea will be defeated with a "massive military response" if it attacks his country or its allies.

He said he "can't imagine" accepting North Korea as a nuclear power, reports Yonhap News Agency.

"Make no mistake, any attack on the United States or our allies, will be defeated," he said at a joint press conference with his South Korean counterpart Song Young-moo after their talks here.

"Any use of nuclear weapons will be met with a massive military response."

His remarks came after the conclusion of the 49th annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) between the US and South Korea, held at the Defence Ministry.

He pointed out the allies' coordination has taken on new urgency as North Korea has accelerated its threats with "illegal" and "unnecessary" nuclear and missile programmes.

The North's military is overmatched by the allies' combined defence posture, he stressed.

"If it remains on its current path of ballistic missiles and atomic bombs, it will be counterproductive, in effect, reducing its own security," the Pentagon chief said.

Upon his arrival in South Korea on Friday, Mattis said that the American government did not want a war with North Korea, but rather initiate a process to achieve a complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

Mattis' statement came during his visit to a border guard post and the Joint Security Area, which is part of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the two Koreas.

He urged the Kim Jong-un regime to halt provocations that threaten others "with catastrophe".

Mattis' trip to the region comes ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to Asia next week.

However, Trump will most likely forgo a visit to the heavily fortified border, according to the White House.

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The final shootout in the old Wild West movies has the camera dwell on the blaze engulfing the Sheriff's office. The Sheriff leads the charge into the saloon where the bad men lounge around.

If this analogy is to be applied to the final blow up taking place in West Asia, particularly since the Russians entered Syria in 2015 to help fight "terrorist outfits" like Jabhat al Nusra, Al Qaeda, ISIS and so on, the script will have to be expanded on an epic scale, focused not on one saloon but on a series of them, serving clusters of homesteads. Kobane, Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Homs, Palmyra, Mosul, Raqqa, Kirkuk....

I can set the scene for the script having travelled to Homs, Hama, Daraa at the outset when US Ambassador Stephen Ford was promoting democracy, meeting insurgents. It was an open road show.

Americans had said at the very outset of their involvement in Syria that they would not have boots on the ground. The Russians had indicated no such squeamishness. In other words, Russians would have a ringside seat on Americans' messy involvement with Nusra here or Al Qaeda there.

These gangs were instantly transformed into freedom fighters whenever there was need. Simply put, terrorists fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were freedom fighters, worthy of support in training with lethal weapons. But Assad fighting terrorists was foul: he was a thug, thwarting democracy. Heads I win; tails you loose. Of course, there must be excesses committed by Assad, like us in Kashmir, but the larger context dwarves these.

If you find my tone at a variance from what you have seen and read on Syria, do please watch Congressional hearings with Army Commanders managing the Syrian show. Not to be missed is the hapless Defence Secretary, Ashton Carter, admitting before a full press corps how a $500 million programme to train Syrians had to be abandoned because the trainees handed their weapons to Jabhat al Nusra and found safe passage to few know where.

The mad pursuit for a New Middle East, repeatedly thwarted, keeps resurfacing, hydra-like. The driving force behind the neo con dream has metastasized into all sorts of outlandish and frightful scenarios.

Has the strategic community forgotten founder of Blackwater, Eric Prince's idea of "governing" Afghanistan exactly as the British governed India in early 20th century - under a "Viceroy"? Yes, the written proposal was under active consideration of the President of the US last summer, with his adviser Steve Bannon grinning from ear to ear at the prospect of Afghan raw materials funnelled suitably into Trump's "America first" receptacle. Read the Atlantic magazine on that theme. The deal was almost done.

Never mind if they were not allowed to reinvent the British empire in Afghanistan. The world's biggest provider of mercenary fighting units controls other fiefdoms. They are part of the core group advising the Abu Dhabi ruler. Thanks to Blackwater, Latin American soldiers are fighting for the Saudis in Yemen. How will countries like Colombia utilize their citizens trained and tested in combat when they return home? Bogota may not have the money to afford Blackwater, but surely Trump may find battle-ready Colombians useful against a country on his hit-list: Venezuela.

The most sinister part of the post 9/11 wars inaugurated by the US in West Asia is their endlessness. This has become so, particularly after the Afghan and Iraqi experience. The US learnt at great cost that troops in both theatres were inextricably bogged down in the quicksand. Wisdom dawned. Air power, missiles, drones would provide cover, if needed, to "indigenous" foot soldiers, armed to the teeth with fierce Jihadism and financed, well, by Saudi Arabia. Qatar, Turkey, the Emirates have all had their hand in this till.

In its first, experimental stage this Jihadism was able to push back Soviet power from Afghanistan in 1989. The carelessness with which the US turned its back on this high voltage takfirism was stunning. US strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski's terse comment was typical: "We were focused on bringing down the Soviet Union; we were not worried about some stirred up Muslims."

These "stirred up" Muslims boomeranged in Kashmir, Cairo, Algiers. Post 9/11 wars, with Jihadist foot soldiers, has left a rich crop of Jihadists in platoon and company strength.

Robert Fisk, authoritative journalist on West Asia, has a telling piece in The Independent: "ISIS has lost Raqqa - so where will its fighters head to next?" The Syrian Democratic Forces, mostly Kurdish, backed by the Americans, were supposed to be fighting the IS.

What has actually happened is mind boggling. US air power has flattened Raqqa on the scale of Dresden in World War II. But by Fisk's testimony, 275 IS fighters have been freed to go where they like. Deir ez-Zzor is one destination. But they can be relocated far afield to unsettle any targeted society with a Muslim minority.

The Moscow initiative on Afghanistan had anticipated some of this. When China, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and eventually even India and several Central Asian countries met in Moscow last April, the main item on the agenda was that Taliban, being an Afghan National entity, should be incorporated in Kabul's power structure. The move would isolate the IS, Al Qaeda and their affiliates and thus prevent them from unsettling countries in the region.

The Moscow initiative came after Trump's announcement: he would drastically scale down in Afghanistan. But, true to form, Trump changed his mind. He is now embarked on an open ended involvement in Afghanistan - with all accompanying dangers. In the name of fighting the IS, Afghanistan may end up becoming a hatchery for multiples of IS and Al Qaedas. The Mujahideen will have come full circle.

Has Islamic militancy increased since the global war on terror was launched? An honest answer will place this piece in perspective.

(A senior commentator on political and diplomatic affairs, Saeed Naqvi can be reached on saeednaqvi@hotmail.com. The views expressed are personal.)

--IANS

naqvi/mr/ky

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that defence cooperation is one of the key pillars of strategic partnership between India and France and called for greater cooperation under 'Make in India programme in defence manufacturing.

Modi, who met France's Defence Minister Florence Parly, discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest.

An official release said that Parly briefed the Prime Minister about developments in bilateral defence cooperation.

"The Prime Minister said that defence cooperation is one of the key pillars of the Strategic Partnership between India and France and called for greater cooperation in the 'Make in India' framework in defence manufacturing and joint research and development," the release said.

Modi said he looks forward to receiving French President Emmanuel Macron in India at his earliest convenience.

--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 Saturday urged the media to debate democracy and the democratic values of political parties for transparency in the evolution of their leadership and in their recruitment.

"You (the media) show us what we need to focus on. Democracy in political parties is something that the country is adapting to. We need to have transparency in the recruitment that political parties do. How the leadership of a political party evolves? What kind of opportunities are given to new generations. Do democratic values form the core of their values. It should become an issue of our debate and deeply so," Modi said in his address to the media at the BJP's annual Diwali Milan here.

At the event that was also attended by BJP President Amit Shah along and other senior party leaders, the Prime Minister highlighted media's positive role in promoting democratic values in India.

"Democracy in political parties is a subject more people should know more about. It is true that the funding of political parties is a point of media discussion and many things come out in the open. But overall, how they are formed, how they function, how they recruit, their values, their ideologies and their weaknesses, what is the reason behind such weaknesses... all this should be debated," he said, adding that political parties evolving "with a true democratic spirit is necessary for the country, necessary for a democracy".

"I hope the people who are here will one day carry the debate forward."

He paid his gratitude to to media for its "positive role" it played in making the Swachh Bharat Mission a success, despite criticizing the government over other issues.

"Half of the newspaper pages would be filled with the government's criticism. But when it comes to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, all are on the same page. I thank each one of you for making it a personal mission."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India and Bangladesh will restore the pre-1965 status of rail connections between the two neighbours, Bangladesh Railway Minister Mazibul Hoque said here.

"India and Bangladesh will jointly restore the pre-1965 status of our rail connections.

"Currently India and Bangladesh have four operational rail links between West Bengal and western Bangladesh. More rail connections would be restored in the near future," Hoque told IANS here on Friday night.

"The Agartala-Akhaura (Bangladesh) new rail link will be operational within a year. Funded by India, the necessary works for laying the new 15-km rail track between Agartala railway station and Akhaura railway station has already started."

The Bangladesh Minister is here to attend the Rotary Clubs of India and Bangladesh's two-day third "Setubandhan" international programme.

The state-run Indian Railway Construction Company (Ircon) will lay the five km track on the Indian side while the remaining 10 km would be laid by the Bangladesh railways.

The Rs 963 crore ($145 million) project was finalised in January 2010 when Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met her then Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi.

Former Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Majibul Haque, jointly laid its foundation stone here on July 31 last year.

The Indian government would bear the entire cost of the project. The issue had also figured during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Sheikh Hasina during his visit to Dhaka in June 2015.

"India is the best friend of Bangladesh. The country sheltered lakhs of Bangladeshi men and women in the 1971 Liberation War and helped a lot to create a sovereign country of Bangladesh," said Hoque, who is himself a Bangladeshi "Mukti Yoddha" (freedom fighter) and trained in Tripura during the nine-month-long war.

The four operational railway links between India and Bangladesh are Petrapole-Benapole, Gede-Darshana, Radhikapur-Biral and Singhabad-Rohanpur.

Two more rail connections have been proposed. Feni (Bangladesh)-Belonia (India) will connect Tripura with the Bangladesh sea port of Chittagong, and West Bengal's Siliguri will connect Panchagarh in North-Western Bangladesh, opening the scope for future cargo movement.

India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during her visit to Bangladesh earlier this week said a significant area of the bilateral cooperation is the quest to increase connectivity through restoration of pre-1965 links encompassing road, rail, water and coastal shipping.

The frequency of the Dhaka-Maitree express has been increased. The journey time of the Dhaka-Kolkata Maitree Express will be reduced from nine to six hours, by doing away with the two-phased immigration checks at the Indian border of Gede and Bangladesh border of Darshana.

The inaugural commercial run of the Kolkata-Khulna second passenger train service is expected to start by the middle of next month. More bus services linking the cities of Bangladesh and India have also begun.

The Kolkata-Khulna passenger train service was operational till 1965.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nine British servicemen have been thrown off a nuclear submarine after testing positive for drugs, the Ministry of Defence announced.

The servicemen were dismissed from duty from HMS Vigilant -- which carries the Trident nuclear deterrent, reports the BBC.

The Royal Navy said it did not tolerate drugs misuse, adding: "Those found to have fallen short of our high standards face being discharged from service."

Earlier this month, the submarine's captain was relieved of his command after an alleged "inappropriate relationship" with a member of his crew.

The Royal Navy said at the time that an investigation was ongoing and operations were not impacted.

HMS Vigilant is one of Britain's four Vanguard-class submarines which carry up to eight Trident missiles armed with nuclear warheads.

--IANS

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Former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday asserted that demonetization and Goods and Services Tax (GST) have had a "sledgehammer" impact on the small and medum businesses as well as slowing down job growth in the country.

In "Samvad", an interaction with businessmen in Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupanis' hometown, he said the twin measures had destroyed the economy completely.

Questioning the description of demonetisation as "a bold step", he said it was actually reckless and foolish.

"What's a bold step? A farmer who commits suicide is also a bold step? Do you welcome it? Committing suicide also requires courage. I call it rash, reckless and an adventurous step. Demonetisation has destroyed lives.

"For two to three months, millions of people stood in queues to exchange notes. Nearly, 140 people lost their lives. Carpenter, rickshaw pullers, plumbers, who depend on daily cash earnings, went without business for two months. Demonetisation was a foolish step."

The Congress leader said the note ban had failed to achieve its much-touted objectives like ending black money and curbing terror funding, adding India did not have black money but a tax-evading "shadow economy".

"There is nothing like black money but merely income which is taxed and income that is taxable but escapes the tax net. India's shadow economy is around 12 per cent. There are many European countries whose shadow economy is more than 12 per cent. Even the US has around eight per cent shadow economy. What is shadow economy? It is income that your tax system is not able to capture," he said.

"The answer to shadow economy is to make your tax system more efficient. If you put cruel tax rates, people will avoid it. People will say why should I pay. If you make the tax system friendly, they will pay.

"The answer is not demonetisation. It's like saying there is a mosquito in my house, so I am going to burn down my whole house," he added

On the GST, Chidambaram said it was a good move but hastily implemented, while the requirement to file three returns online every month had forced small and medium businesses to shut down.

Attacking the government over lack of employment generation, he said: "There are no jobs today. Jobs will be created only if small and medium businesses grow. To help them grow, small businesses should not be required to register. Medium businesses must be given the right to self-certification."

Ridiculing the government's claims that the economy was on a strong wicket, he asked why it had announced the Rs 5 lakh crore Bharatmala project and bank recapitalisation all of a sudden.

"In your heart, you know things are not good. In the last six quarters, the growth rate has gone down from 9.1 per cent to 5.7 per cent, a drop of 3.4 per cent.

"India doesn't deserve growth rate below 5.7 per cent and it is possible to take it up by taking right steps and not taking wrong steps. But for that to happen, the government must acknowledge that they committed a mistake through demonetisation and GST. The government must hire someone from outside to correct the mistakes. Those in government can't do it as they are the ones who have committed the mistakes."

On agricultural distress in Gujarat, he claimed that 1,326 farmers committed suicide in the state over the last four years.

Taking a dig on the Modi government's talk about "vikas", he said, "People talk about growth. But what is the use of rozgar-mukta vikas (jobless development)."

Terming the Modi government's priorities misplaced, Chidambaram said: "They will invest Rs 1 lakh crore on bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. How many people will travel in it. Around 300 or 400? Can't we give Rs 1 crore to each school so that new buildings are built, toilets are built, teachers are hired?"

"Our priority is education, health, employment. Instead, they could have focused on making the existing rail network better, cleaner and efficient," he argued.

--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 will be on a day-long visit to Karnataka on Sunday for participating in various functions in Ujire, Bengaluru and Bidar, said an official on Saturday.

"The Prime Minister has a busy day, as he is scheduled to participate in seven-eight functions at three places across the state," an official coordinating Modi's programmes told IANS here.

Flying into Mangaluru from New Delhi, Modi will reach Dharmastahla in Dakshina Kannada district in a helicopter and offer prayers to Hindu god Shiva at the Manjunatheshwara temple, 100km away from the port city.

"Modi will address a public rally at Ujire, a small town near the west coast, near Dharmasthala and hand over RuPay cards to some of the 12-lakh Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) account holders," said the official.

The Prime Minister will also launch the digitised cashless Self-Help Groups (SHG) transactions in the state Charitable trust of the Sree Kshetra Dharmastala Rural Development project is organising the public function and the launch of the Rupay cards and SHG transactions at the rally.

"Our volunteers have helped over a million members of the SHG across the state in opening the PMJDY accounts in the banks," said Project Executive Director L.H. Manjunath from the Dharmasthala temple town.

A few of the beneficiaries will transact on the RuPay cards in the portable mini ATMs at the event in the presence of Modi and other dignitaries.

"The Prime Minister will also launch a campaign to 'Preserve Mother Earth and Transfer to the Next Generation' of the trust.

Post-launch, Modi will fly to Bengaluru to attend a public function organised by the Vedanta Bharati at the Palace grounds in the city centre.

"A mass recitation of the Soundarya Lahari hymn of Adi Shankaracharya will be held at the event in the Prime Minister's presence," added the official.

Later, Modi will dedicate the 110km Bidar-Kalaburgi railway track in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region that would reduce distance between Bengaluru and New Delhi by 380km and travel time by six to eight hours.

The new track will also provide direct rail connectivity from Bengaluru to Bidar in the state's northern region, about 690km away from the state capital.

Though foundation for the project was laid over two decades ago in 1996, its construction work began only in 2000 and dragged on for years due to meagre fund allocation by the Railway Ministry.

This escalated its cost to a whopping Rs 1,542 crore from the original estimate of Rs 370 crore. Land acquisition between the towns also delayed its completion.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The West Bengal Police on Saturday intercepted a boat of armed men suspected to be pirates in South 24 Pargana district's Sundarban region and engaged in an exchange of fire, a senior officer said.

Police have seized the boat but the miscreants managed to flee.

"When Our team approached an unidentified boat in the coastal sea area in the Sundarban's Jharkhali at around 1 a.m. on Sarurday, the miscreants in the boat opened fire," Baruipur Superintendent of Police Arijit Sinha told IANS.

"There were around six to seven miscreants in the boat who jumped into the water and fled. We have seized the boat and recovered two fire arms and several rounds of ammunition from there," he said.

The officer said they had prior information about a group of miscreants, trying to hijack the cargo ships that travel from Bangladesh through the area.

"The miscreants might be hiding in the nearby Damalberia forest. Some of our officers are running a combing operation to find them out.

"The area is sensitive as several cargo ships from West Bengal to Bangladesh and other states travel through this water. We have increased the vigil to stop any unfavourable incidents from happening," the officer added.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu strongly took up Indian concerns over the H-1B and L-1 visas with the US, and pointed out the contribution of skilled Indian professionals to make US companies more competitive, an official statement said on Saturday.

"The minister for Commerce and Industry strongly took up the Indian concern with regard to problems faced by Indian services companies in obtaining H-1B and L-1 visas. He requested the US to ease the movement of skilled professionals, which has over the years contributed towards making US companies more competitive," the statement said.

During the 11th Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meeting, held in Washington on Thursday, Prabhu also took up the issue of mismatch between the US visa and the US social security regimes, wherein Indian professionals making social security contributions do not receive their due benefits upon their return to India.

Prabhu urged the US to revisit its position and work towards achieving a "totalisation agreement".

The Minister discussed the issues with US Trade Representative, Ambassador Robert Lighthizer and his team.

Prabhu pointed out that as the Indian economy grows, and with the renewed emphasis on reviving US manufacturing, there will be greater opportunities for US exports to India.

"In this context, he pointed out that India has already started to import crude oil and new Liquefied Natural Gas exports are expected to commence early next year," the statement said.

On market access in areas of interest to each other, Prabhu noted progress on issues like ground handling operations, import regulations relating to poultry, export of pork to India, that have been raised by the US side. He also sought easing of procedure for export of Indian mangoes and pomegranates and market access for table grapes from India.

While responding to the US concerns on price controls on medical devices, the Minister explained the need to bring about a balance between the demand for optimum medical facilities and affordable healthcare to Indian citizens.

Following Donald Trump's election on a protectionist platform, the US has announced stricter norms for issuing the H-1B and L-1 visas.

Declaring that India would actually be able to buy more from the US in few years, he noted that New Delhi has started buying crude oil from Washington and there was great potential for America in the fast-expanding aviation market in India.

Prabhu will also leave for Cuba, and be in Havana from October 28-31 to hold discussions on boosting bilateral trade.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On Oct. 6 in the New York Times, an article appeared written by Robert Pear, Rebecca R. Ruiz and Laurie Goodstein. The article quoted President Trump as saying We will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied or silenced anymore. Whose faiths pray tell are you talking about President Trump?

On Tuesday we will celebrate one of the oldest religious festivals in the world. That of Halloween, All Hallows Eve or as many people know it, the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celtic people were observing Halloween in in 43 AD when the Roman Empire conquered the Celts, and in all probability also before the birth of Christ.

The History Channel provides this explanation: The Celts celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the New Year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred.

On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

The Wiccan and Pagan religions have been around longer than many. Most of our Christian religious holidays have been blended with the Wiccan and Pagan religious holidays. Of course the Catholic/Eastern Orthodox religions are probably the oldest Christian-based religions, but the Jewish religion precedes all western religions. The Protestants of course have Reformation Day on Oct. 31 that started a new branch on the religion tree.

Our president appears to believe in one true religion: Fundamentalist Christianity. Though to be honest with you I doubt if he ever practices it. Fundamentalist Christianity is defined in the dictionary as: a movement in 20th century Protestantism emphasizing the literally interpreted Bible as fundamental to Christian life and teaching. This is usually considered a branch of the Protestant religion, though I know Fundamentalist Catholics.

I do not wish to give any sermons today nor am I trying to convert you to anything. I am taking time to point out to President Trump and to you that there are legions of folks out here that do not believe as President Trump does; it is dangerous to interpret who and what people of faith are.

What are people of faith? They are people who believe in any manner of religion or in fact no religion at all. When President Trump talks about the silencing of people of faith, I wonder if he means those who believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Is he talking about Buddhists, Taoism, Voodoo, Shinto, Islam, Wiccan, Amish, Pagan, Mennonites, Druids or Mormonism?

My guess he is talking about folks just like him.

Halloween represents the most basic question in the universe. Behind the trick and treat, the apple bobbing, and mischief done on Halloween lies the question we all want answered: What happens when we die and where if anyplace do we go? Despite peoples best intentions, we cant provide the answer to that basic question. Our life is brief; time is not.

Harry Houdini the great illusionist of the 20th century died on Halloween in 1926. On his death bed he gave his wife a series of secret passwords so she would know if and when his spirit returned. After 10 years, she gave up, apparently saying 10 years is long enough to wait for any man. She died in 1943 having never heard from Harry.

Life can be both mystery and majesty. The veils between what is real and what is not are thin this time of year. Go out on Halloween night; drink in the night and the world. Who knows, perhaps Harry Houdini will pay you a visit. If he does, say Hi for me.
A candlelit assembly will be held at India Gate on Sunday to demand justice for Pradhuman Thakur, who was murdered at Ryan International School in Gurugram in September.

The assembly, being organised by newly-formed trust Pradhuman Foundation has been called by Barun Chandra Thakur, the father of the deceased child. Pradhuman's mother would also take part in the gathering.

In a statement, Barun said that his son's murder was not an isolated incident but that such incidents had become a norm.

He said that his trust would be working for the safety and security of the children across the country.

"The aim of the trust would be to create a sense of accountability amongst educational institutes and ensure that such horrendous incidence are not allowed to happen," he said.

He added that the civil society must take up the matter and ensure that enough traction and chorus is created around the issue and the culprits are booked and punished.

"It will serve the dual purpose of justice and deterrence."

Pradyumn, a class-II student of Ryan International School Gurugram, was murdered by slitting his throat by a sharp-edged weapon on the morning of September 8. The Haryana police said that he was killed by bus conductor Ashok Kumar inside the toilet as the boy resisted a bid to sodomise him.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday asked for formulation of a system to provide copies of high court judgments in local or regional language to make them "understandable to litigating parties in a language they know".

He also said that the delay in justice delivery was "a pressing concern" in the country.

"High Courts deliver judgements in English, but we are a country of diverse languages. The litigant may not be conversant with English and the finer points of the judgment may escape him or her," Kovind said while addressing the valedictory function of the Kerala High Court's diamond jubilee celebrations.

"The litigating parties will thus be dependent on the lawyer or another person to translate the judgment. This can add to time and cost."

The President said a system could be evolved to make "certified translated copies of judgments" available by the high courts in the local or regional language.

"This could happen in a period of say 24 or 36 hours after the judgement is pronounced. The language could be Malayalam in the Kerala High Court or Hindi in the Patna High Court, as the case may be," he said.

Kovind suggested that the judiciary and the legal fraternity could to discuss it and take "appropriate" decision.

Calling the delay in justice delivery a pressing concern, he asked for mechanisms to ensure quick disposal of cases, since "often those who suffer are among the poorest and most underprivileged in our society".

The President said that an approach could be considered to make "adjournments the exception in an emergency situation rather than a tactic to prolong court proceedings".

"We must find a way forward. And I am happy to note that the judiciary in moving ahead in this direction," he said.

Kovind said the society and economy had become more complex and more integrated with the global system.

"The challenges before the judiciary too have grown. The nature of disputes and cases that come to our courts has gradually undergone change," he said.

"The dynamism and evolution in business and trade law and in financial markets; the changing nature of intellectual property and technology; and the still emerging norms of the digital sphere and of Internet law and governance - these are among examples of new questions and frameworks that the judiciary has had to grapple with. It has done so admirably and with enlightenment and thought."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Winston Churchill's observation that America can be depended upon to do the right thing after it has tried all the other alternatives is applicable to most countries.

The government's latest initiative on Kashmir has come at the end of a similar tortuous route when it tried everything from a "muscular approach", as the Congress has said, to letting the sword of abrogating Article 35A of the Constitution hang over the state's head.

Like Article 370, which is anathema to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Article 35A underlines the state's special status by preventing non-locals fromk, buying or owning property in Kashmir.

But now the government wants to start a dialogue with its critics although, till recently, it appeared that the use of force was its most preferred option.

It isn't only that the security forces added the pellet guns to their armoury for use against stone-throwers, in addition, of course, to an occasional recourse to real bullets if the situation warranted.

The forces also edged close to violating the Geneva Convention in the infamous incident when they tied a local person to the bonnet of a jeep as the vehicle traversed trouble-prone areas to deter those who were throwing stones.

Unfortunately, this crude display of the innate power of the authorities was acclaimed by, among others, the army chief, while a well-known Bollywood actor wanted a prominent human rights activist, who is a woman, to be similarly strapped to a jeep.

Given this atmosphere of virulence, it would have seemed that the government had only a one-track approach to the situation in Kashmir, which was to cow down the restive population by a formidable show of force.

Yet, as is known, such a blinkered attitude has rarely led to success in insurgency-prone areas, not least because democracies are invariably at a disadvantage when it comes to the use of unchecked power.

The reason is the prevalence of the system of checks and balances which calls for accountability lest any one section of the government cross a given limit.

In Kashmir, for instance, the Supreme Court has questioned the use of pellet guns in view of the danger they pose of not only blinding the demonstrators but also bystanders.

Furthermore, the government's opponents have called for the withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in view of the leeway which it gives to the security forces while its inbuilt safeguards against misuse haven't always been in evidence.

It came as a matter of considerable relief, therefore, when the Prime Minister pointed out in his Independence Day address to the nation that the solution to the problem did not lie in abuses or guns but in embracing the Kashmiris. "Na gaali se, na goli se, Kashmir me parivartan hoga gale lagaane se," he said.

Now, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has taken the cue from Narendra Modi by appointing an interlocutor for reaching out to the dissenters.

The government, therefore, can be said to be approaching the stone-pelters not with anyone tied to a jeep but on foot with open arms.

This is not the first time, of course, when such a conciliatory approach has been tried when belligerent measures had failed. But this is the first gesture of its kind by the Modi government.

The last intervention by a group of interlocutors took place when Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister.

But its recommendations about reducing the army's visibility, reviewing the AFSPA, lifting the Disturbed Areas Act and expeditiously probing instances of human rights violations were ignored, as were the suggestions of others like N.N. Vohra, who was appointed in 2003 to investigate the causes of the continuing unrest. Vohra is now the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.

It is possible that the change of government because of the departure of Manmohan Singh in 2014 and of Atal Behari Vajpayee in 2004 led to the reports of the earlier teams being mothballed.

Since the present government has at least a year-and-a-half to go, the new man for addressing the longstanding problem -- Dineshwar Sharma -- will have time on his hands.

But it is not so much the question of time as the sincerity of some of the stakeholders, such as the separatists whose loyalty to the government is under a cloud, which can hinder any forward movement.

Moreover, the differences among them -- such as between the hawkish Syed Ali Shah Geelani and the moderate Mirwaiz Umar Farooq -- will complicate the task of the official representative.

Thankfully, the government has given Sharma a free hand to choose to whom he wants to talk. But the hyper-nationalists in the Hindutva camp, who include a few television commentators, can queer the pitch for a meaningful dialogue at a time when suspicions are rife.

The prevailing lack of trust between the opposing sides was emphasised by former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha -- now a prominent critic of Modi -- when he visited Kashmir along with a delegation of "concerned citizens" and noted the "alienation of the masses of people who have lost faith in us".

Retrieving Kashmir, therefore, from the "mess" which India has created, according to A.S. Dulat, a former Indian spy-master, will be a gargantuan task.

(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 influx of Rohingya refugees arriving in Bangladesh after fleeing violence in Myanmar continued on Saturday despite the two countries signing an agreement to stop the exodus.

"I do not see that the Rohingya influx has stopped. Normally, 1,000 to 2,000 Rohingyas enter Bangladesh daily, and it is continuing," Shah Kamal, secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, told Efe news on Saturday.

"The influx did not stop. We cannot even say it has slowed down."

According to the official, at least 500 Rohingyas entered the county on Friday.

He said that in the last four to five days, 500-700 Rohingyas had been arriving every day.

"We do not see any change in the number of Rohingyas entering Bangladesh after the agreement."

In its latest report on Friday, the UN Inter Sector Coordination Group said that around 605,000 Rohingyas had arrived in Bangladesh in the last two months, excluding around 1,125 who had arrived a day before and had not been counted as they were still in transit.

The crisis began on August 25 when an insurgent group of the Rohingya Muslim minority staged a series of attacks on police and army posts in Myanmar's Rakhine state, to which the Myanmar military responded with an ongoing large-scale offensive.

Myanmar does not consider the Rohingyas to be citizens, while Bangladesh, where around 300,000 Rohingyas were living before the start of the current crisis, also treats them as foreigners.

(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.)
An Indian Army soldier was injured on Saturday in accidental firing on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.

The soldier, identified as Naik Abdul Haq of the Jammu and Kashmir Light infantry (JAKLI) regiment was injured in Tarkundi area of Balakote sector, police sources said.

He has been shifted to a hospital.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress President Sonia Gandhi was on Saturday discharged from the city's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, a day after she was admitted for an upset stomach, said hospital authorities.

"Madam Gandhi has recovered from the upset stomach. Her condition at the time of discharge was stable and she has been advised rest," said D.S. Rana, Chairman, (Board of Management) SGRH.

Gandhi left the hospital at 4 p.m.

The Congress chief was in Shimla when she complained of an upset stomach. She was brought to Delhi and admitted to SGRH on Friday.

Gandhi had been admitted to SGRH earlier for a shoulder injury and respiratory related problems.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tens of thousands of people from more than 20 countries on Saturday took part in Taiwan's Gay Pride Parade, which played out in the nation's capital, Taipei.

The rally, led by a huge rainbow flag, kicked off from Ketagalan Boulevard and had the highest attendance in the event's 14 years history, according to officials.

"The slogan of this year's edition is 'Make Love, Not War - Sex Ed (education) is the Way to Go. The shared hope is to legalize gay marriage soon," an organisers spokesman told Efe.

Following a Constitutional Court ruling to legalize same-sex marriage five months ago, Taiwan was waiting for legislation to be approved that would turn it into the first Asian country to legalize equal marriage.

Such marriages should be legal within two years.

This year's march has presented the island as Asian a regional pioneer in gay rights and recognized the country's work offering shelter to LGBT people escaping persecution in other countries.

A total of 12 countries, as well as the European Union, praised Taiwan for promoting respect and tolerance.

Taiwan's pride march attracted a large contingent of foreign participants.

However, several LGBT groups have criticized the delay in implementing the laws, urging for them to be approved immediately.

--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 Saturday accused the ruling BJP of making "baseless" terror allegations against Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel in a "despicable attempt" to avoid an electoral defeat in poll-bound Gujarat.

Reacting to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's allegations against Patel, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the BJP was hatching a conspiracy against the Congress MP and asked the party to look inwards.

Rupani on Friday night demanded Patel's resignation from the Rajya Sabha alleging his links with Mohammed Qasim Stimberwala, one of the two alleged Islamic State operatives arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad on Wednesday in Surat. The arrested suspects were allegedly planning to blow up a synagogue in Ahmedabad.

Patel has rubbished the charge that he had links with Stimberwala.

"Sardar Patel Hospital is a charitable hospital in which 150-200 employees work. Neither Ahmed Patel nor any of his family members is a trustee of the hospital. They also don't hold any office of profit in the hospital," said Surjewala, adding that Stimberwala was one the employees.

He said the ATS should initiate a probe against the suspected terrorists if it has evidence.

"The Gujarat Chief Minister, in order to hide his incapability, is trying to hatch a conspiracy against Congress leader Ahmed Patel and making baseless allegations against him in a very despicable attempt," the spokesperson said.

"The Congress has always fought against terrorism while the BJP has had an opposite record. Would Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah explain how terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's wife came to Mumbai under their nose in March 2016 and then left the country. How the Maharashtra government and intelligence agencies didn't even get a whiff of it and could not arrest her?"

Surjewala also said that some Islamic State agents arrested in Madhya Pradesh were found to have links with the BJP.

"A Maharashtra BJP leader Eknath Khadse had to resign for his alleged links with Dawood. So, the BJP should look inwards before pointing fingers at others."

The Congress leader said: "The BJP is staring at defeat in Gujarat and that is why they are rattled and making such baseless allegations against Congress leaders. Truth will win and the BJP will be defeated in Gujarat."

Rupani has also sought Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's clarification on the matter.

--IANS

sid/sar/rn

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Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui, who is here to participate in a Joint Commission Meeting with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Saturday.

"Held fruitful tals with Tunisia's Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Khemaies Jhinaoui. India cherishes deep-rooted friendship with Tunisia," Modi tweeted after the meeting.

Jhinaoui, who arrived here earlier in the day on a four-day visit to India, will participate in the 12th India-Tunisia Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) with Sushma Swaraj.

"During this visit, the External Affairs Minister will be holding discussions with Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui on a wide-range of issues of shared common interest," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

"The JCM will enable both countries a comprehensive review of bilateral cooperation in political, economic and cultural areas and people-to-people exchanges," it stated, adding that both countries would also be signing agreements and memorandums of understanding.

Jhinaoui, who is accompanied by a high-level business delegation representing diverse areas of business, trade and investments, will address business sessions to be organised by the apex chambers of commerce and industry.

The re-engagement with the North African country comes more than a year after then Vice President Hamid Ansari's visit to Tunisia in June last year. The two countries had inked several MoUs.

Bilateral trade between India and Tunisia stood at $370.46 million in 2016.

The North African country has been a reliable source for phosphates and India accounts for around 50 per cent of

Tunisia's global phosphoric acid exports.

India, on the other hand, exports a wide range of products, including knocked-down kits, automobiles, electrical items, cotton, mechanical engines, organic chemical products, rubber, rice, coffee and spices.

--IANS

ab/rn

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Writer, film producer and former actress Twinkle Khanna feels honoured to get the Popular Choice Award at the sixth edition of Bangalore Literature Festival for her book "The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad".

Twinkle tweeted the news on Saturday.

"A great honour to win an award with such wonderful writers -- See you at the Bangalore Literature Festival tomorrow (Sunday) in Bengaluru," she tweeted.

The fest will take place in Bengaluru on Saturday and Sunday.

"The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad" is Twinkle's second book which released this year. Her first book was "Mrs Funnybones", released in 2015, which was an instant hit with readers looking for a light read.

On the film front, Twinkle has co-produced Akshay Kumar starrer "Padman", also featuring Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte in lead roles.

The film tells a true story of Arunachalam Muruganantham's journey to make affordable sanitary napkins.

--IANS

ks/sug/vm

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Religious Liberty and Free Speech are Important Issues for Catholic Lawyers Nationwide

The 2017 Annual Conference Spearheads a Dialogue for Protecting the Church and Conscience Beliefs Against Government Intrusion



KANSAS, Mo., Oct. 27, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Catholic Bar Association based in Kansas City, Missouri will host its annual conference beginning Thursday, November 2  Saturday, November 4, 2017.



Joshua McCaig, the President of the Catholic Bar Association said "We are expecting attendees from all over the country. Our vision is to engage our culture, talk about our constitutional rights that are important to our members and actively be involved in our communities for the protection of religious freedom."



Special guests and featured speakers include President and CEO for Solidarity HealthShare, Bradley Hahn. Hahn stated. "It is inappropriate to call the Affordable Care Act affordable. It's the complete opposite and its effecting our nation's families, single mothers, veterans, aging citizens and most of our children."

What: The 2017 Catholic Bar Association Conference



Where: Kansas City Marriott Downtown

200 W. 12th Street, Kansas City, MO 64105



When: November 2-4, 2017, at 12:15 PM

One last thing.

CEO, Bradley Hahn for Solidarity HealthShare will be featured for the 2017 conference. His speech will focus on conscious protection, our religious freedoms and will highlight the savings Solidarity provides for the household. "It is inappropriate to call the Affordable Care Act affordable. It's the complete opposite and its effecting our nation's families, single mothers, veterans, aging citizens and most of our children."



A Mother's Endorsement of Solidarity HealthShare: "Solidarity HealthShare opened up the doors for my family to meet with their health care provider of their choice. The patient and doctor doors were finally opened to us after many years of being restricted into a network that ended up causing our family to physically and financially suffer through multiple hardships. I have recommended Solidarity HealthShare to many friends who are mothers, Solidarity makes it affordable for the American Family." -- K Soper


US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney will lead an agribusiness trade mission to India from October 30 to November 3.

According to a release, in his first international trip as Under Secretary, McKinney will head a delegation of approximately 50 business and trade association who seek ht to grow US agricultural exports to India.

"US agricultural exports to India have grown nearly 250 per cent over the past decade, but the country's barriers impede exports of many of our products," the release quoted McKinney as saying.

Mission participants will travel to New Delhi and Mumbai, connecting with potential customers and learning first-hand about local market conditions, reads the release.

In-country staff from USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service will arrange meetings between US delegates and more than 150 Indian companies along with importers from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, who will travel to India for the mission.

Participants will also meet with government and industry officials and visit local processing facilities and retail outlets, as per the release.

The US agricultural exports to India totalled nearly $1.3 billion in 2016, with tree nuts, cotton, pulses, fresh and processed fruits, and prepared foods accounting for more than 80 per cent of those exports.

The US is India's top ethanol supplier, with sales totalling nearly $176 million in 2016, the statement said.

--IANS

spk/vm

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US Vice President Mike Pence has said that Washington will keep up economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea to curb its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Pence made the remarks on Friday during a visit to an Air Force base in North Dakota, home to both B-52 bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles, Xinhua news agency reported.

The US will continue to apply "economic and diplomatic pressure" so as to make Pyongyang "abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs," Pence said.

He also warned "all options are on the table" and the US will defend itself "with military power that is effective and overwhelming" when it is forced to do so.

Meanwhile, visiting US Secretary of Defence James Mattis also on Friday in Seoul said that "his country seeks no war, but the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula".

The comments from the top Trump administration officials comes days before President Donald Trump's Asia trip which is slated for November 3-14.

It would be his first trip to the region since assuming office, during which he would visit South Korea.

North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test early in September and a series of ballistic missile launches in recent months.

In response, the UN Security Council adopted a new resolution toughening sanctions on Pyongyang over its most powerful nuclear detonation.

--IANS

in/

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Prime Minister on Saturday called upon the media fraternity to play a constructive role in democracy.

Addressing the media at 'Diwali Milan' programme at the BJP headquarters here, the Prime Minister said, "Media must play a constructive role in democracy."

The Prime Minister also stressed upon the importance of democracy stating that political parties must discuss democracy.

"It is a challenging time for us and we still have to do a lot more work. It is important to discuss democracy in political parties," he added.

The Prime Minister also thanked the media for supporting and lauding Centre's cleanliness drive 'Swachh Bharat.'

"The country has witnessed the positive role played by media in making the Swachh Bharat Mission a success," he said.

BJP president Amit Shah along with senior party leaders, including G V L Narsimha Rao and Sambit Patra, were also present at the event.

Union Minister Smriti Irani also participated in the event.
Prime Minister on Saturday called for a debate on democracy within political parties in the country. Though he did not name any outfit or person, the comment  articulated during the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJPs) Diwali celebrations  comes at a time when opposition Congress is poised for a leadership change.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday indicated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was more than confident of winning the Gujarat Assembly elections in December.
Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munat has filed a complaint against state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel and senior journalist Vinod Verma for allegedly tarnishing his image through a "fake" sex CD.

A case was registered last evening at the Civil Lines police station here against Baghel, Verma and others under section 67 (A) of the Information Technology Act following the minister's complaint, Station House Officer (SHO), Civil Lines, Hem Prakash Nayak told PTI.

"A copy of the CD has been submitted to the police station and it will be sent for forensic examination," he said.

Munat, considered close to Chief Minister Raman Singh, was accompanied by state BJP president Dharam Lal Kaushik, his over half-a-dozen cabinet colleagues and other party leaders, while filing the complaint.

Talking to reporters yesterday, Munat had alleged that the CD in question was fake and urged the chief minister to order a probe to find the truth.

"The (sex) CD is fake. It is an attempt to malign my image," he had said.

The minister further appealed to the chief minister and Kaushik to get the matter investigated from any agency.

Yesterday, the Civil Line police had also arrested two AAP supporters for allegedly blackening Munat's nameplate while protesting outside his official residence over the row.

Verma, who was arrested in connection with an extortion and blackmailing case from Ghaziabad by Chhattisgarh police yesterday, had claimed that he had a sex CD of the Chhattisgarh minister.

Police also claimed to have recovered 500 "porn" CDs, a pen drive and a laptop from Verma.

A Ghaziabad court had granted the Chhattisgarh Police the transit remand of Verma till October 30 and he is expected to reach Raipur this afternoon.
More than 130 schools in Gurgaon have failed to submit self-certificates pertaining to the security and safety on their campuses and transport services, an official has said.

The city police will register FIRs against 135 schools for failing to submit the certificates. The directions were issued by the district education department, Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh said yesterday.

The Gurgaon administration and the department had issued several guidelines to schools on safety and security following the killing of a seven-year-old boy in Ryan International School in Bhondsi here on September 8.

"On the basis of these guidelines, we had asked all private schools to submit the self certification before the district education department within 15 days.

"So far, the department has received certificates from 223 schools, while the remaining 135 schools including a branch of the Ryan International School, have not submitted the same," Singh said.

The DC said as the order was issued under the CrPC section 144, the 135 schools, which have not fulfilled the safety guidelines are liable to face action.

The district education department has written a letter to Gurgaon Police Commissioner, Sandeep Khairwar, to register separate FIRs against these schools under relevant IPC sections, he said.

The schools were directed to install CCTV cameras, built separate toilets for non-teaching staffs, deploy women attendants at toilets for primary students, and also install CCTV and GPS school buses among others.

"The 223 schools which have submitted safety compliance certificates will undergo random checking by the district education department, The department will be entitled to take actions against those flouting the safety guidelines," Singh added.

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Twenty-one social activists, who tried to take out a procession without permission here today, were taken into preventive custody, police said.

The 21 social activists were taken into preventive custody here for trying to take out an "unauthorised" procession, a senior police official said.

The procession was planned against the backdrop of a controversy over a book written by writer Kancha Ilaih.

The book, 'Samajika smugglers komatollu' (Komatis are social smugglers) triggered a row with those belonging to the community taking objection to it.

Meanwhile, CPI(M) state secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram claimed in a release that the procession was planned to express solidarity with the associations of Dalits and others.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three bovine smugglers and a cow vigilante have been arrested from Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said today.

"Intensifying the drive against people indulging in unlawful activities, the Rajouri police had detained three notorious bovine smugglers and a cow vigilante. All three were sent to jail yesterday," a police official said.

The bovine smugglers have been identified as Mohd Ghafoor of Khablan Thanamandi, Mohd Khaliq of Rajdhani Thanamandi, Muzaffar Iqbal of Choungoran Kalakote (bovine smugglers), as well as Nirmal Singh of Gunda Khwas, he said.

All of them have been booked under the Public Safety Act on the orders of the district magistrate, Rajouri, and have been lodged in the Central Jail, Kot Bhalwal, Jammu, police said.

The three smugglerswere found involved in illegal trade of bovines, thus posing a serious threat to communal harmony, the officer said.

The cow vigilante, on the other hand, is accused of taking law into his hands by assaulting people, including an elderly man at Gunda area, police said.

The police have also identified other notorious drug peddlers, bovine smugglers and thieves, and will take stern action against them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Six women were killed and six others injured after a speeding tipper rammed into their auto at Modekurru in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh in the early hours today.

The accident occurred when the women from Allavaram village were going to Lord Venkateswara Temple at Vadapalli, the police said.

Five of the auto passengers were killed on the spot, while another died on way to the hospital.

One of the injured was later shifted to a government hospital in Kakinada.

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu expressed grief over the accident and ordered a detailed inquiry into it. He directed the officials to submit a report to him on the accident.

Deputy Chief Minister (Home) N China Rajappa rushed to the accident site at Modekurru and later to the hospital to inquire after the health of the injured.

State Health Minister K Srinivas also spoke to district health officials in East Godavari.

Police took the tipper driver into custody and launched an investigation.

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BJP president Amit Shah would address 10 rallies in as many Assembly constituencies, spread over seven districts of poll-bound Himachal Pradesh, the party said today.

He would campaign in the state for five days and address rallies at Banikhet in Dalhousie constituency and Chhalwara in Jwali on October 30, at Toki in Indora and Rajgarh in Pachhad on October 31 and in Seraj and Hamirpur on November 1, a BJP release said.

Shah would also address public meetings at Jaisinghpur and Gagret on November 3 and at Rampur and Baddi on November 6.

The campaigning for the November 9 Assembly polls will conclude on November 7.

Meanwhile, Rakesh Kanwar, Deputy Commissioner, Solan, said no panchayat in the Arki Assembly constituency, from where Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh is contesting the election, had threatened to boycott the polls.

He dismissed the reports, claiming that panchayats in Arki were planning to boycott the polls, as wrong and false and said the heads of these bodies had stated that there was no such plan.

Kanwar said the Electoral Officer of Arki, Esha Thakur, was directed to conduct an inquiry into the matter and a team comprising Arki Tehsildar Ravish Chandel and Block Development Officer Jaywanti Thakur, along with the naib tehsildar, today visited the area and after a detailed verification, came to the conclusion that the was bogus.

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A newborn boy was allegedly abducted by an ASHA worker from a government primary health centre in the district but was rescued in Shahpur area, police said today.

Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) Rajkumari was arrested yesterday in connection with the incident, Station House Officer of Shahpur Police Station B P Singh said.

According to a complaint filed with the police, Rajkumari allegedly abducted the newborn from the health centre in the district.

The baby was found when the police raided a house in Madawli village. Police were lokking for the couble on whose instruction Rajkumari abducted the baby.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
AAP MLAs Saurabh Bhardwaj and Madan Lal, who are heading the Petition and Privileges committees of the Delhi Assembly, today said that judiciary should not "interfere" in the proceedings of house panels.

Their statement comes after several bureaucrats against whom the assembly panels had initiated action recently got a stay from the Delhi High Court.

With the officers frequently approaching courts, Bharadwaj said that the assembly would appoint its lawyers so that it has proper representation in court.

Addressing a press conference at the CM's Committee Room in Delhi Assembly, Petition Committee's Chairperson and AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj said that the assembly committees are fixing accountability of officers.

"When action is initiated against lax officers, they approach the high court and get a stay. Separation of powers of judiciary and legislature is clearly mentioned in the Constitution according to which the court cannot interfere in the Assembly committees' proceedings," Bharadwaj told reporters here.

He said, "According to our (Assembly) Speaker, judiciary and legislature should respect each other."



Privileges Committee's chairperson Madan Lal alleged that the officers "are running away from their responsibility".

Recently, PWD Principal Secretary Ashwani Kumar had approached the high court which had stayed the "breach of privilege proceedings" initiated by the Privilege Committee of the Delhi Assembly.

Also, Chief Secretary M M Kutty had also got a stay from the court on a show-cause notice issued by an assembly panel.

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At least 14 people were killed in coordinated car bombings followed by an attack on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu, claimed by Shabaab Islamists.

Following the blasts yesterday, witnesses reported hearing gunfire at the Nasa Hablod Hotel 2 which was sealed off by security forces with gunmen believed to be inside.

"About 14 people, most of them civilians, were confirmed dead so far and the security forces are still working to ensure the area is clear," said security official Mohamed Moalim Adan.

He said "sporadic gunfire" was continuing with at least two gunmen from the Shabaab Islamist group believed to be inside the hotel. One senior police official and a former MP were among the dead.

The attack came two weeks after a massive truck bomb exploded in central Mogadishu, killing at least 358 people, making it the deadliest attack in the troubled country's history.

The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab claimed yesterday's bombing and hotel assault in a statement on its Andalus radio station.

"The Mujahedeen fighters are inside Nasa Hablod 2 hotel where... apostate officials are staying," said the brief statement.

Mogadishu's Aamin ambulance service removed bodies from the scene and evacuated 17 wounded, its director Abdukadir Abdurahman said.

Police official Ibrahim Mohamed said the attack started when a car bomb went off at the entrance to the hotel while "a minibus loaded with explosives" was detonated at a nearby intersection.

Witnesses then reported hearing shooting from inside the hotel.

"We can hear the gunfire but it is difficult to know who is fighting, the forces cordoned off the building and no one can go close to it," said Abdulahi Nure.

Fellow witness Ismail Muktar said, "We can hear sporadic gunfire and grenade blasts and the area is very dark because the electric line was cut off amid the blast."



"Most people fled the hotel through a back door but some are still trapped inside," said Mohamed Dek, who was escaped the hotel after the initial explosion.

"I was very lucky," he added.

The Nasa Hablod 2 is a popular hotel located in the north of the city whose sister hotel, the Nasa Hablod, was hit by Shabaab militants in June 2016, in an attack that killed 11 people, including a junior minister.

The Shabaab has made attacks on hotels -- commonly beginning with a suicide car bombing followed by an invasion by gunmen -- a regular strategy in its decade old battle to overthrow successive internationally-backed governments in Mogadishu.

The Shabaab lost their foothold in Mogadishu in 2011 but have continued their fight, launching regular attacks on military, government and civilian targets in the capital and elsewhere.

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The BJP today accused Ahmed Patel of having "deep relations" with a Gujarat hospital where an alleged ISIS operative worked before his arrest, even as the Congress defended its senior leader, dubbing the demand for his resignation from the Rajya Sabha as "outrageous".

Patel, political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is in the eye of a political storm after Gujarat ATS arrested two suspected Islamic State operatives from Surat for allegedly planning terror attacks.

One of them was Kasim Stimberwala, who worked as a laboratory technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district with which Patel had been associated as a trustee.

"Patel has deep relations with the hospital since 1979. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi owe an explanation to the people (on this issue)," Union minister and senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters in New Delhi.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had yesterday sought the resignation of Patel from the Rajya Sabha.

"This is a serious issue, as a terrorist was arrested from a hospital which is being run by Ahmed Patel...Patel, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress must come clean on the issue. We also want Patel to resign as Rajya Sabha MP," Rupani told a press conference.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who was in Gujarat's Rajkot, today called Rupani's demand "outrageous".

"I am amazed by this kind of outrageous demand. Ahmed Patel was a trustee of the hospital and had resigned in 2015. This person who was arrested seems to have joined the hospital as a technician last year and had resigned a couple of days prior to his arrest," the former Union minister said.

"Now, if somebody who has joined in the last one year as a technician has ISIS connect, then how a trustee of three years ago is responsible," he asked at a press conference.

Patel had rejected the charge as "completely baseless", and urged the BJP not to politicise matters pertaining to national security and divide the peace-loving Gujaratis.

The Congress' communications department head Randeep Surjewala also slammed the BJP for its attack on Patel, one of the party's key stragetists and a long-standing Gandhi family loyalist, calling it a "sinister conspiracy".

Surjewala said that neither Patel nor his family members were trustees of the hospital, named after Sardar Patel, or had any role in its administration.

Mounting a counteroffensive, Surjewala also asked the saffron party to come clean on why the central and Maharashtra governments were clueless when underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's wife visited Mumbai and flew back to Pakistan last year.

"Rupani has resorted to making such despicable statements and conspiracy for the BJP is afraid that 6.5 crore Gujaratis are going to reject it completely (in the Assembly polls). This shows the level to which the failed chief minister can stoop to out of fear of BJP's defeat," Surjewala said in a statement in the national capital.

He alleged that the BJP-led governments and its leaders have proved to be weak in the fight against terrorism.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The BJP today stepped up attack on the Congress, alleging its senior leader Ahmed Patel's "deep relations" with a Gujarat hospital where an alleged ISIS operative had worked before his arrest.

Union minister and senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi demanded an explanation from party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi on the issue.

Patel had "deep relations" with the hospital since 1979, Naqvi said at a press briefing at the BJP headquarters here, adding that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi owe an explanation to the people.

"It is not mere coincidence that Patel had deep relations with a hospital that also had links with terrorists," he said.

Two suspected ISIS operatives were arrested by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) three days ago. According to an FIR, one of the accused, Kasim Stimberwala, earlier worked as a technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had yesterday alleged that a suspected ISIS operative arrested recently used to work at the hospital where Patel had been a trustee earlier.

Naqvi said that the BJP held national security above politics and claimed that the party was not trying to malign the Congress in view of the Gujarat Assembly polls.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress hit back at the BJP today over "failed" Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's demand that its leader Ahmed Patel resign from the Rajya Sabha on charges that a suspected ISIS operative used to work at a hospital where the latter had been a trustee.

Launching a counter-attack, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the BJP resorted to such "sinister conspiracy" due to its "trepidation" of defeat in Gujarat, which goes to Assembly polls in two phases in December this year.

Surjewala said that neither Patel nor his family members were trustees of the hospital, named after Sardar Patel, or had any role in its administration.

Surjewala stressed that the issues relating to national security are not "toyed with or politicised" and listed names of its leaders including former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi "who sacrificed their lives in the fight against terrorism".

Seeking to turn the tables on the BJP, he also asked the saffron party to come clear as to why the central and Maharashtra governments were clueless when underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's wife visited Mumbai and flew back to Pakistan last year. Surjewala also asked whether it was true that former Maharashtra minister Eknath Khadse had to step down owing to his links with Dawood Ibrahim.

Two suspected ISIS operatives were arrested by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) three days ago. According to an FIR, one of the accused, Kasim Stimberwala, earlier worked as a technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district.

At a press conference yesterday, the Gujarat chief minister said, "This is a serious issue, as a terrorist was arrested from a hospital which is being run by Ahmed Patel...Patel, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress must come clean on the issue. We also want Patel to resign as Rajya Sabha MP."



"Rupani has resorted to making such despicable statements and conspiracy for the BJP is afraid that 6.5 crore Gujaratis are going to reject it completely (in the Assembly polls). This shows the level to which the failed chief minister can stoop to out of fear of BJP's defeat," Surjewala said in a statement.

Referring to Ahmed Patel's tweets on the episode, Surjewala said the senior leader himself has called for strict action by the Gujarat ATS in the case.

Surjewala said that the BJP should not teach it lessons on national security.

He alleged that the BJP-led governments and its leaders have proved to be weak in the fight against terrorism.

"Is it not true that the PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir offered compensation and job to the family of (Hizbul Mujahideen commander) Burhan Wani? Isn't it true that the state government made Asiya Andrabi, involved in anti-India activities, ambassador of 'Beti Bachao' (save girl) campaign?" he asked.

Surjewala also referred to the 1999 Kandahar plane hijack episode to attack the BJP and asked "didn't the previous NDA government release (extremist group Jaish-e-Mohammad's chief) Maulana Masood Azhar and others in Afghanistan?"



Speaking to reporters earlier at the Congress headquarters, Congress leader Pawan Khera said Rupani had levelled allegations against Patel as the BJP was "seeking revenge of its defeat in Rajya Sabha election in Gujarat".

Patel had won the contest.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Blood-thinning drugs may not only prevent stroke in patients with abnormal heart rhythm, but also significantly reduce the risk of dementia, according to a study.

In the study, among 444,106 patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) or abnormal heart rhythm, those who were taking anticoagulant drugs to prevent blood clots at the start had a 29 per cent lower risk of developing dementia than those who were not on anticoagulant treatment.

When researchers at Karolinska Institute in Sweden looked at what happened during the period of time that the patients continued to take the drugs, they found an even bigger, 48 per cent reduction in the risk of dementia.

The study, published in the European Heart Journal, is the largest ever to examine the link between anticoagulant treatment and dementia in AF patients.

It looked at data from Swedish registries for patients between 2006 and 2014.

The results strongly suggest that oral anticoagulants protect against dementia in AF patients, researchers said.

"In order to prove this assumption, randomised placebo controlled trials would be needed, but such studies cannot be done because of ethical reasons. It is not possible to give placebo to AF patients and then wait for dementia or stroke to occur," they said.

AF is known to carry an increased risk of stroke and dementia, and anticoagulants have been shown to reduce the likelihood of stroke.

Until now it was not clear whether anticoagulants could also prevent dementia, researchers said.

However, it was thought possible because if the drugs can prevent the big blood clots that cause stroke, they might also protect against the small clots that can cause unnoticed microscopic strokes that eventually lead to cognitive deterioration, they said.

Researchers identified all patients in Sweden who had a diagnosis of AF between 2006-2014. They checked on what drugs had been prescribed and dispensed following the diagnosis.

The researchers followed the patients' progress and this provided them with 1.5 million years of follow-up, during which time 26,210 patients were diagnosed with dementia.

When they first joined the study, 54 per cent of patients were not taking oral anticoagulants such as warfarin, apixaban, dabigatran, edoxaban or rivaroxaban.

The researchers found that the strongest predictors for dementia were lack of oral anticoagulant treatment, ageing, Parkinson's disease and alcohol abuse.

They also found that the sooner oral anticoagulant treatment was started after a diagnosis of AF, the greater was the protective effect against dementia.

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Bollywood films are becoming popular in Egypt and steps are being taken to bring Indian movies, including classics like "Sangam", "Mother India" and others, onto the big screen, the Indian envoy has said here.

India's Ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya and popular Egyptian star Rania Farid Shawky were speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Indian Film Festival at Al- Hanager cinema, which also saw participation from many Bollywood fans.

The festival, which is organised by the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC) of the Embassy of India in Cairo, in collaboration with the Culture Development Fund of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, runs until November 2, presenting a variety of Indian films.

The Film Festival features an eclectic mix of contemporary and evergreen Hindi films featuring leading stars Shahrukh Khan to Amitabh Bachchan and others. The films include "Devdas", "Mera Naam Joker", "Drishyam", "Mother India", "Black", "Swades" and "Sangam".

The Indian Embassy had organised other festivals like the Tagore festival (last May), which had shown five films of Tagore, but this is the first time this year to hold an Indian film festival showing different films.

"We wanted to bring Indian movies onto the big screen because in Egypt you see them only on the television so that is why we wanted to bring some old Classic films like Sangam, Mother India and others which are very well known and some contemporary films," Bhattacharyya told PTI.

"We took all the films which are with English subtitles so that they are easy to understand. They are all award- winning films and some of them are very well known," the Ambassador said.

The Ambassador also said that there are plans to have regular Indian films showing in Al-Hanager Cinema in future.

"We would like to have regular screening of Indian films on regular bases at least once a month, we'd also like to have retrospectives of some of the very well-known directors," the Ambassador added.

There is a Film Club at MACIC, where Indian films are screened twice a month and people have discussions on them.

"We'd also like to being films other than Bollywood so that the regional films which are actually gaining popularity can also be shown in Egypt," the Ambassador said.

Well-known Egyptian actress Rania Farid Shawky told PTI that Indian movies have a great viewership and a large number of fans in Egypt.

"During the last period the Indian movies became rarely screened in Egyptian cinemas but, currently the movies started to make a comeback to Egyptian cinemas. This is great but we need more," said the actress.

Shawky also added that on the other side Indian series are gaining more and more audience and are making great success in Egypt.

Shawky, daughter of late legendary actor Farid Shawky, said that she likes the Indian movies very much.

"Indian movies are a blend of happiness, tears and laughter, it moves all one's feelings in one time. As for dances and singing, they are another enjoyment," she added.

"The Indian movies play on fundamental themes in human lives like injustice and passion, and they take all your attention," said Shawky.

The film festival ends in Cairo on November 2, and starts again in Alexandrian on November 5 to November 11, where films will be screened at El Horraiya Creativity Centre in Alexandria.

India is expected to participate in the upcoming edition of the Cairo International Film Festival, which will start next month.

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Bullock cart owners today blocked the Pune-Nashik Highway near Chakan here demanding lifting of the ban on bullock cart races in Maharashtra.

They also sought a ban on the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an NGO which has been campaigning against such races.

The blockade disrupted traffic on the busy highway for three to four hours.

The Bombay High Court on October 11 refused to lift its ban imposed on bullock cart races in Maharashtra. The order came ahead of Diwali festivities when bullock cart races are organised across the state.

"The Maharashtra government passed a bill to resume bullock cart races and the President of India, too, approved it. However, a petition was filed against the bill in the High Court and the court banned bullock cart races," said Ramkrushna Takalkar, an office-bearer of the All India Bullock Cart Owners' Association.

"Several cases have been registered against the PETA in other countries as they are involved in malpractices. We demand that government ban the PETA and initiate an inquiry against it," he said.

He said the state government should approach the Supreme Court and put forth their side strongly so that the ban on races is lifted.

The 'rasta roko' (road block) disrupted traffic on the highway near Talegaon Chowk for three to four hours.

Police detained several members of the association and leaders, including Shirur MP Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil, MLAs Mahesh Landage and Suresh Gore, and several others. They were later released.

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An overloaded passenger bus today veered off a road and plunged into a river in Nepal's Dhading district, killing at least 19 people and leaving 16 others injured, police said.

The bus, en route to Kathmandu from Rajbiraj, fell into the Trishuli River while negotiating a turn at Ghatabesi, 70 km west of Kathmandu, around 5:00 am, said Superintendent of Police, Dhading, Dhruba Raj Raut.

Security personnel, including those from the Nepal Army and Armed Police Force, rescued 16 injured passengers who had fallen into the river in the accident along the Prithvi Highway.

The rescue teams have pulled out 19 dead bodies so far and the search was on for other missing passengers, Raut said.

All injured passengers were taken to nearby hospitals, but two of them who suffered serious injuries were rushed to Kathmandu for treatment, the police said.

According to preliminary reports, the accident occurred because the driver failed to take the high speed bus under control at the turning point due to poorly visibility, the police said.

Altogether 52 passengers were travelling on the bus, police said.

While the police prima facie blamed visibility for today's accident, such mishaps are not uncommon in the Himalayan nation and occur mostly due to poor infrastructure and reckless driving.

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Canadian special forces have temporarily suspended military assistance to Iraqi troops due to tensions between the Middle Eastern country's military and Kurdish fighters, the defence ministry has said.

Cooperation will resume "once more clarity exists regarding the inter-relationships of Iraqi security forces, and the key priorities and tasks going forward," said Dan Le Bouthillier, a spokesman for Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, yesterday.

Earlier yesterday, Iraqi forces paused operations against the Kurds to allow for talks after the two sides -- both armed and trained by the US -- exchanged heavy artillery fire in the latest flare-up of a crisis sparked by a Kurdish independence vote last month.

Canada, which is part of the international coalition fighting the Islamic State group, said that although its special forces were suspending their mission in training and assisting Iraqi forces in the country's north, its work in other areas continued.

That includes supporting the coalition in tactical aviation, intelligence, targeting, command and control, and at a medical facility.

Canada tripled its special forces contingent in Iraq in February 2016 to 210 troops.

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Catalonia's secessionist leader on Saturday defiantly called for "democratic opposition" to direct rule imposed by the central government on the semi- autonomous region after its parliament declared unilateral independence.

"The best way to defend what we have achieved to date is democratic opposition to the application of article 155," Carles Puigdemont, who was officially deposed by Madrid yesterday, said in a carefully-worded televised statement that appeared to indicate he did not accept his dismissal.

Puigdemont was referring to the never-before-used constitutional article that gives Madrid the takeover powers, adding he and his team would keep working "to build a free country."



In his first comments since being deposed as president of Catalonia, flanked by a Catalan and EU flag, he did not clarify whether he would carry on as leader of a new republic that is not recognised by Madrid or abroad.

In a copy of his speech sent to AFP, he signed off as "president of the Catalan government," implying he considered himself to still officially be head of the semi-autonomous region.

He stopped short of signing off as president of the republic, though.

In a cryptic message, Puigdemont also asked Catalans to defend the republic proclaimed by the regional parliament.

"We need to keep defending the stage in which we have entered with a tireless sense of civic responsibility and peaceful commitment."



He added that "in a democratic society, only parliaments can pick or dismiss presidents."



The Catalan parliament, however, has been dissolved by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who also called snap regional elections on December 21 in a bid to restore "normality."



Spain's central government has also been granted sweeping powers by the Senate to dismiss Puigdemont and his executive, and take control of all regional ministries.

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The CBI has registered a fresh case against Sterling Biotech Limited, which was under probe for allegedly bribing senior tax officials, for defaulting loans worth over Rs 5,383 crore.

The agency has booked Gujarat-based Sterling Biotech, its Directors Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara, Dipti Chetan Sandesara, Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara and Vilas Joshi, Chartered Accountant Hemant Hathi, former Director Andhra Bank Anup Garg and other unidentified persons.

The CBI has alleged that the company had taken loans of over Rs 5,000 crore from a consortium led by Andhra Bank which have turned into non-performing assets.

The FIR has alleged that the total pending dues of the group companies were Rs 5,383 crore as on December 31, 2016.

The directors of the company "connived with the in-house chartered accountant and falsified material records of the company", such as production, turnover and investments in capital assets, the FIR alleged.

"This was allegedly done using various India-based entities and those situated abroad," it alleged.

The company was earlier booked by the CBI in August for allegedly bribing senior Income Tax department officials.

On June 28, 2011, the IT department had conducted searches and seizures at 25 premises of Sterling Biotech Ltd, during which a diary containing hand-written records of financial transactions was found, the FIR in that case had alleged.

"Some of these names were appended with further references such as IT or Commissioner etc," it had alleged.

In the present case, the CBI has booked all the accused for criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and corruption among other charges.

The CBI has alleged that false and fabricated documents and manipulated balance sheets were prepared for getting loans sanctioned from the banks which were later diverted for personal purposes.

It said that in an attempt to cheat the banks and falsely represent market capitalisation of the group companies, the shares in India and abroad in the names of non-promoters were held by directors themselves and were concealed from banks.

The CBI FIR alleged that the directors had quoted false documents under their signatures with "mala fide intention" to induce banks to sanction and release the credit limits.

"In three areas manipulation was substantial -- reporting of turnover of companies, reporting of investments in capital goods (fixed assets) and taxes to be paid on the manipulated turnover," it alleged.

The agency alleged that the company had purchased capital goods worth only Rs 50 crore for the year March 31, 2008, but in bank accounts it showed Rs 405 crore of which Rs 355 crore was to be diverted through the group companies.

"Actual turnover of all factories of SBL was Rs 304.80 crore during 2007-08 whereas in Income Tax return and in the balance sheets it was shown as Rs 918.30 crore," the FIR alleged.

The FIR said benami entities of the group were used for trading in the shares of SBL as off market transactions.

Shares of SBL and Sterling International Enterprises were being covertly traded by the Sandesaras making it a clear case of insider trading and amounts to fraud on general public, it alleged.

"The SBL has diverted the loan amounts to entities abroad through its group companies by adopting circuitous route," the FIR alleged.

It said Sandesaras were allegedly supplying regular money in Delhi to the then Director Andhra Bank Anup Kumar Garg with the help of hawala operators.

"The turnover of SBL group companies was falsified under a design and a scheme. Bogus invoices of sale and purchase and corresponding transfer of money from companies was done and falsified data and figures were taken on record of companies and those falsified accounts and records were further certified by their chartered accountant," the FIR alleged.

The CBI has alleged that chartered accountant Hathi provided active guidance to manipulate the financial data to cheat the banks for arranging higher loans inspite of the company being ineligible for them.

"The accounts of Sterling Port Limited, Natasha Investment Company Limited and Sterling International Enterprises (all group companies of Sterling Biotech Limited) have also been used for diversion of funds," it alleged.

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The Centre has given its nod to Sikh pilgrims to celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev at Nankana Sahib in Pakistan, according to an official of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which is responsible for managing gurdwaras in India.

Located in Hasan Abdal city in the Punjab province of Pakistan, Nankana Sahib is the birth place of the first Sikh Guru and the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev.

Scores of Sikhs from all over the world visit the city to celebrate his birth anniversary in the month of November every year.

Earlier in June, the Centre had denied permission to a 251-member Sikh delegation to visit Pakistan on the occasion of the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the ruler of the 19th century Sikh empire, citing security reasons.

The SGPC official said a delegation of Sikh pilgrims would leave for Pakistan on two special trains from the Attari railway station on November 2 to celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev on November 4.

Around 2,000 pilgrims would cross over to Pakistan, he said.

During their stay in Pakistan, the devotees would also pay obeisance at Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Lahore, Kartarpur Sahib, Rodi Sahi, Sacha Sauda, Dehra Sahib and Bhai Lalo Di Khuhi in different provinces of Pakistan.

They will return to India on November 11.

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The Pune police today registered a cheating case against city-based developer D S Kulkarni and his wife based on a complaint of a senior citizen who failed to get back his investment from the real-estate group.

Besides, cheating, D S Kulkarni, popularly known as DSK and his wife have also been booked for criminal breach of trust, said police.

There are around 8,000 depositors who have reportedly invested around Rs 485 crore with D S Kulkarni's group but due to a financial crisis, the investors have failed to get their money back from the developer.

For the last several months, all these investors, largely pensioners, have been queuing up at DSK's office here in Pune.

As many as 170 depositors who have invested in the Fixed Deposit (FD) scheme of the DSK group, had even approached the Pune police couple of months ago, demanding a cheating case be registered against the firm.

"We have registered a case under relevant sections of the IPC and the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act against D S Kulkarni and Hemanti Kulkarni," said Prabhakar Shinde, senior inspector at the Shivaji Nagar police station.

He said the complaint was filed by Jitendra Mulekar (65), who claimed to have invested Rs 4,40,647 in the scheme.

Mulekar claimed he neither received the principal amount nor the interest since February 2017.

The police said the economic offences wing is investigating the case.

"We are scrutinising other applications and verifying the exact amount invested by all the investors," said a police officer from the EoW.

Despite repeated attempts, D S Kulkarni could not be reached for a comment.

However, in a video, released by DSK himself earlier this year on social media, the real estate developer had replied to all allegations and queries of deposit holders and investors.

"People have been investing with the group for the last 35 years and they were getting their returns on time. The firm started facing financial crunch from October 2016 as the real estate was going through a tough time and at the same time demonetisation exercise was announced, which added to cash crunch," Kulkarni had said in the video message.

He had said that out of 21 construction projects, the work at 13 sites had stopped.

"We are working on all the fronts to find a solution to raise cash and I would like to ensure my investors that they will not lose their money," he had said.

DSK had in September stepped down from the post of managing director of DS Kulkarni Developers Limited (DSKDL).

His son Shirish has succeeded him as the new managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the company.

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The Congress today continued to demand immediate release of journalist Vinod Verma, who has been arrested by the Chhattisgarh police for suspected blackmailing and extortion in connection with a "sex CD", allegedly involving a state minister.

The party also demanded the resignation of the Chhattisgarh minister, "whose sex scandal Verma was investigating", and pitched for an independent probe into the entire episode.

"The Congress demands that Verma is released immediately and the entire episode is probed independently. We also demand the resignation of the Chhattisgarh minister," Congress leader Pawan Khera told reporters here.

He said Verma was arrested even though no FIR was lodged against him and added that the Chhattisgarh minister concerned too had not stated that the journalist blackmailed or threatened him through phone calls or text messages.

"Is it a crime if Verma was investigating a sex scandal involving a BJP minister?," the Congress leader asked.

He accused the BJP governments at the Centre and in Chhattisgarh of attacking mediapersons "whenever they try to show the mirror" to those in power.

Khera also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "silence" when those who showed a mirror to the BJP governments were targeted.

"In 2005, BJP leader Sanjay Joshi had to resign after a CD surfaced. Modi (then the Gujarat chief minister) had put pressure then and Joshi had to resign from the BJP national executive. Modiji, will you also seek the resignation of the Chhattisgarh minister?," he asked.

Verma was arrested by the Chhattisgarh police from his Ghaziabad residence at around 3.30 am yesterday. Around 500 CDs with pornographic contents, Rs 2 lakh in cash, a pen drive, a laptop and a diary were seized from his house.

The senior journalist, who had earlier worked with the BBC Hindi service and Amar Ujala, has claimed that the Chhattisgarh police is not happy with him as he is in possession of a "sex CD" involving a minister of that state.

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The vice-president of BJP's Delhi unit, Sardar Kulwant Singh Baath, has resigned over an issue involving his absence from a recent event attended by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

In his resignation letter on October 25, Baath said that he was stepping down as the Delhi BJP vice-president as he could not contribute to the party's events and programmes in the past few days.

The Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, an affiliate of the RSS, celebrated Guru Gobind Singh's 350th birth anniversary here on Wednesday. The event was participated by Bhagwat and several central ministers.

Baath told PTI that he was tied to a 'hukamnama (edict)' of the Akal Takht in 2004, that asked Sikhs to boycott events organised by the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat.

"Unless the issue is resolved, it will be a tricky situation for me," he said.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said no decision has been taken yet on Baath's resignation. "His resignation letter has been received but a decision on it is yet to be taken," he said.

Baath joined the BJP some nine months ago and was appointed as a vice-president.

Delhi BJP sources said that Baath was close to the Siromani Akali Dal (SAD) even after joining the BJP.

Baath said that he resigned on "personal ground" and had nothing against the BJP or its leaders, adding that he had no plans to join the SAD.

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Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has charged Delhi University (DU) with attempting to "stall" the formation of governing bodies in 28 colleges funded by it, hurting the interests of teachers and students.

In a letter to DU Vice Chancellor (VC) Yogesh Tyagi, Sisodia expressed his "unhappiness" over "under-hand politics" in the matter.

"This dirty politics is going to affect the teachers and students of these colleges," he said.

The Delhi government funds 28 colleges that are affiliated to DU.

Sisodia alleged that DU had been "holding up" the formation of governing bodies by "delaying" the lists of its nominees in the bodies to be sent to the government.

The term of the previous governing bodies ended on October 31, 2016.

The staff of the colleges are suffering due to non- payment of salaries in absence of the governing bodies, he said and added that he was ordering the release of funds for payment of salaries of one month.

The deputy chief minister asked the VC why the university withdrew its panel of nominees sent in February this year and emphasised that the government's list of governing bodies would be final.

"We do not accept this withdrawal. The government is making it clear that the list of governing bodies sent on August 25, 2017 (to DU) is the final list and must be approved by the university," he wrote to the VC. It meets all norms and guidelines of DU, he added.

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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al- Sisi has named a new armed forces chief of staff, the presidency said in a brief statement today.

He appointed former defence ministry secretary general Mohammed Farid Hegazy to the post, it said, without giving a reason for the change.

His predecessor Mahmoud Hegazy, who had held the post since March 2014, was named a presidential adviser.

Linked to Sisi through the marriage of their respective children, Mahmoud Hegazy recently returned from Washington where military chiefs had gathered to discuss fighting "terrorism".

Mohammed Farid Hegazy's appointment is a major change in the military establishment.

Sisi came to power after the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, for whom he had served as defence minister.

The country's armed forces have since faced an Islamist insurgency including by the Islamic State group, with hundreds of policemen and soldiers killed.

The insurgency is concentrated on North Sinai province, although IS has also extended its presence to southern Egypt and the Nile Delta, north of the capital.

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As many as three FIRs have been filed in connection with the killing of a man wanted in a dacoity case and injuring another allegedly by the Andhra Pradesh police in Jalore district, the police said.

A woman was also killed after being hit by the car of the suspects which was being chased by the Andhra Pradesh Police.

A three-member team of the Andhra Pradesh Police yesterday chased the car of Bheem Singh and Bharat Purohit. Singh had been evading arrest in a dacoity case.

During the chase, Singh lost control over the car and it hit Damta Jogi (55), leading to her death.

The Andhra Pradesh police officials opened fire on the duo leading to the death of Singh, while Purohit was injured.

The Rajasthan Police had claimed that their Andhra Pradesh counterparts did not inform them about the operation beforehand.

"Three separate FIRs were lodged, one of them was against the deceased and Bharat Purohit for opening fire at the police when they tried to stop them. The second was on Purohit's complaint against four unnamed people for injuring him and killing Bheem Singh," SHO of Sanchore police station Sukhram Bishnoi said.

"The third FIR was filed on the complaint of the family members of the deceased woman in connection with her accident and death," the officer said.

The post-mortem of Bheem Singh would be done today, the police said, adding the body of the deceased woman has been handed over to her family members.

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Bangladesh's main opposition BNP today urged Premier Sheikh Hasina to follow in the footsteps of India's former prime minister Indira Gandhi, in handling the Rohingya crisis as the country is confronted by a refugee problem similar to the one faced by India in 1971.

"We saw the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visiting important countries during our 1971 Liberation War. Only then the global initiative (to stop the Pakistani genocide) began," Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.

He said BNP had long been advocating that the premier should play a special role to resolve the Rohingya crisis to convince countries which still support Buddhist-majority Myanmar, allowing it to carry on alleged atrocities against ethnic minority Rohingya Muslims.

The BNP is known for its hawkish stance on India as opposed to Hasina's ruling Awami League.

India crucially supported Bangladesh's 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan and offered refuge to nearly 10 million Bengalis who fled their homes in the face of genocide.

Alamgir's comments came as BNP chief and ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia departs for Cox's Bazar to witness the Rohingyas' plight as over 600,000 forcibly displaced people have taken refuge in southeastern Bangladesh after fleeing their homes in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

Bangladesh had previously sheltered 400,000 Rohingyas for the past few decades while the latest influx began on August 25 with a Myanmar army crackdown in response to alleged insurgent attacks on their security outposts in Rakhine.

Aid agencies and rights groups said the Rohingya crisis is spinning out of control with escalating violence, worsening health situation and poor access to conflict zones in Rakhine state fuelling the humanitarian crisis.

"I worry that this continued context of fear and violence is spinning out of control and will only lead to displacement of more people," International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) chairman Peter Maurer said this week.

UN investigators said during the latest crackdown, Myanmar's security forces fired indiscriminately on unarmed civilians, including children, and committed widespread sexual violence.

Despite initial reluctance to allow the Rohingya influx, Dhaka decided to provide them refuge on "humanitarian grounds".

But it has turned into the scene of the world's biggest refugee crisis presently while Dhaka tries to mobilise sustained global pressure on Myanmar to take back the Rohingyas while stopping alleged atrocities in Rakhine.

Hasina last month visited the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar and then attended the UN General Assembly in New York where she highlighted the plight of the Rohingyas and the impact of the crisis on Bangladesh.

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Former US President Barack Obama has been called for jury duty in Chicago.

Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans yesterday told county commissioners during a budget hearing that Obama, who owns homes in Washington, DC, and Chicago's Kenwood neighbourhood, will serve in November.

He is registered to vote in Chicago.

Evans says Obama's safety will be "uppermost in our minds" when he serves.

Those called can be put either in the pool for criminal case or civil hearings. They can be called to any of the county's Chicago or suburban courthouses.

All jurors watch a decades-old video about their duties narrated by a mustachioed Lester Holt, once a local reader and now anchor of NBC Nightly .

Jurors in Cook County are paid USD 17.20 for each day of service.

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Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday flagged off export of Ashok Leyland trucks by coastal route to Bangladesh, and appealed to automobile manufacturers to opt for mode to transport vehicles.

Transportation by road was costly and would pollute the environment the Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways said.

That is the reason that we have decided to use waterways and coastal transport. This is going to reduce the cost, save time and at the same time will be very good for environment. I appeal to all automobile manufacturers to use waterways for transporting their automobiles, he said over video conferencing from Nagpur.

He flagged off auto major Ashok Leylands consignment of 185 trucks transported through the roll-on roll-off (RoRo) coastal movement from Chennai Port to Mongla Port in Bangladesh.

He recalled that India had signed a agreement with Bangladesh during Prime Minister Narenda Modis 2015 visit there.

RoRo service was already happening between Chennai and Kochi and Kochi to Kandla and this is a great example which is going to inspire and motivate all automobile manufacturers, Gadkari added.

Minister for State for Shipping and Road Transport, Pon Radhakrishnan said export of trucks by Ashok Leyland by sea route to Bangladesh would reduce the time by about 15-20 days as it takes only five days to reach the destination by sea.

The benefits include avoiding pollution and possible accidents, the Minister, present at the Chennai Port, added.

Ashok Leyland Managing Director Vinod K Dasari said the company had been exporting trucks to Bangladesh for 40 years using the road route and added that various issues, including congestion at the border and delay in crossing it had prompted them to think of an alternative following which the government suggested the sea route.

We do about 5,000 vehicles per year for Bangladesh. This is the first lot of 185 vehicles (through RoRo) and hopefully we continue to do more and use this as a route rather than the long (road) route, he said.

The cost-wise benefits of opting for the sea route were still being worked out, he said, adding I hope it is more profitable and if profitable we will do more. Meanwhile, a government release said transportation from Indian ports to Bangladesh ports is being treated as coastal movement, making it eligible for 40 per cent concession on vessel-related and cargo-related charges.

For coastal movement through RoRo vessels, 80 per cent concession on vessel-related and cargo-related charges are applicable in Indian Ports, it said.

Chennai Port started coastal RoRo service in August 2016 when 800 Hyundai cars were shipped on RoRo vessels from Chennai to Pipavav in Gujarat for local distribution, it said.

Initiatives like this are aimed at providing innovative logistic chain solutions under Sagarmala. The ultimate objective is to save logistic costs and time of transportation and boosting trade by making Indian goods competitive in international markets, it added.
The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) today issued notice to a construction company to complete an elevated road project by the end of next month or else it will be debarred, an official said.

During an inspection of the road, District Magistrate and Vice Chairperson of GDA Ritu Maheshwari summoned the representatives of the construction company.

She rejected the request of the company to complete the assignment till the end of this year and gave them one month grace.

Maheshwari instructed GDA chief engineer S S Verma to issue an ultimatum in writing to complete the road prject.

In case the company fails to finish the project, it will be black listed, she said.

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The Shiv Sena in Goa has demanded apology from state Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho for his statement against panchayat secretaries claiming them to be corrupt.

In an interview to a local channel, Godinho had claimed that panchayat secretaries were responsible for teaching panch members to indulge in corrupt practices.

"It is unfair and sad on the part of the minister to shield the corrupt panch members who have been the main reason for the worsening panchayat bodies which are directly affecting the day-to-day life of the people," Sena's Goa spokesman Rakhi Naik told reporters here.

"Shiv Sena appeals panchayat minister to tender unconditional apology to all the panchayat secretaries as many of whom have worked for the betterment of panchayat bodies without indulging into corrupt practices," Naik added.

She said the statement by panchayat minister will come as an encouragement of those "rogue" panch members who have been exploiting people without being afraid of the consequences.

Naik narrated her personal experiences with panch members.

"Our party in past had met similar kind of situation when despite exposing the illegalities by Neturlim panchayat in South Goa, there seems to be no action taken against them," she said.

The spokesman said "police have filed First Information Report against sarpanch Rajani Gaonkar, deputy sarpanch Abhijit Desai and panch member Prakash Bhagat accusing them of criminal conspiracy, forgery and criminal misappropriation of money."



"But till date not even their statement has been recorded by Sanguem police," she added.

Sena said it is condemnable that panchayat minister is making all the secretaries look like corrupt class of people, just because they are government servants and have no voice.

The state government should set an example by taking action against the panch members of Neturlim panchayat so that no panch will dare to trouble the people in future and indulge themselves in the corrupt practices, she said.

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The ministerial panel chaired by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi today flagged issues faced by taxpayers in filing GSTR-2 and asked Infosys and GST Network (GSTN) to streamline the system.

At a meeting of the Group of Ministers on the functioning of GSTN, it was felt that the focus of the portal should now be on invoice matching done through filing of GSTR-2, for which the last date is October 31.

"We have flagged the issues being faced by businesses in various states. There are problems regarding uploading the returns and matching invoices. This the first time GSTR-2 is being filed and hence there are issues," said Modi.

So far, nearly 12 lakh businesses have filed GSTR-2 returns. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was rolled out on July 1.

The panel assigned more functions to which handles the technology backbone for GST as well as IT major Infosys, responsible for the back-end processes.

"GSTR-2 is more challenging because there will be matching of invoices. As many as 45 crore invoices were uploaded in GSTR-1 which have to be matched," Modi added.

While sales return or GSTR-1 was filed until October 10, it has to be matched with purchase return GSTR-2.

The primary focus of so far has been registering taxpayers in GST, making the files GSTR-3B, GSTR-1 and composition of dealers. Now, will focus on GSTR-2.

The GoM also raised the issues faced by businesses in different states and asked Infosys to deploy their engineers there.

"We had earlier asked Infosys to deploy engineers in major states by October 30. They have done so in 9 states and sought time till November end to deploy in other states," Modi said.

Infosys has already deployed more than 100 IT people in their team for GSTN functioning.

Modi said that the GoM has given a mandate to Infosys and GSTN to make the IT system more user-friendly.

"There should be more pop up messages, more offline utilities, editing facilities for businesses transacting on the portal," he said.
The Madras High Court has directed the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) to enhance compulsory personal accident cover from Rs 1 lakh to not less than Rs 15 lakh, enabling vehicle owners paying premium to get adequate compensation in the event of death or bodily injury.

A division bench comprising justices R Subbiah and A D Jagadish Chandira gave the order while allowing an appeal by United India Insurance Co. Ltd, Neyveli.

Referring to an IRDA note in the policy, the judges said that the policy to compensate vehicle owners by virtue of the personal accident cover was introduced 15 years ago. In 2002, Rs one lakh envisaged under it might have been enough to meet medical expenses of the injured owner to a certain extent.

However, 15 years had lapsed and medical treatment costs had sky-rocketed, the judges said and directed IRDA to enhance the compulsory personal accident cover from the existing Rs one lakh to at least not less than Rs 15,00,000.

The bench directed IRDA to have consultation with all stakeholders before enhancing the premium for getting compensation under the compulsory personal accident cover.

The judges also directed IRDA to undertake and complete such an exercise within six months from the date of receipt of a copy of the judgement.

The enhanced amount would add to some succour or solace to victims of road accidents, who are vehicle owners, who may incidentally sustain physical injury or die, they said.

"It is unfortunate that the owner of the vehicle,who pays premium amount for risks that may be confronted by the third party or due to any other factor, is not getting adequate compensation in the event of his or her death or bodily injury, the judges said.

The matter relates to an appeal by the insurance firm, challenging the award of total compensation of Rs 51,37,125 and the April 28, 2015 decree by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (Subordinate Judge), Neyveli, by which the claim petition filed by the legal heirs of a deceased motorist was allowed.

The insurance company submitted that under Section 147 of Motor Vehicles Act,the risk of the deceased,who is the vehicle owner, was not required to be covered by them.

If at all the claimants/respondents were entitled, it could only be to a maximum amount of Rs one lakh and nothing more, it said and sought dismissal of the petition.

As the court felt IRDA's assistance was necessary for disposal of the appeal, the bench directed it to depute one of its counsel to assist the court in the matter.

IRDA's counsel drew the court's attention to provisions of Section 146 of MVA and submitted that it was not necessary to provide insurance coverage for the owner of the vehicle, who sustained injury or died due to his/her own negligence.

This section mandates that vehicle owners get compulsory insurance for motor vehicles against liability for death/ bodily injury to persons/property caused by use of vehicle.

The bench, while referring to various Supreme Court orders, allowed the appeal by United India Insurance and said it cannot be fastened with any liability under provisions of MVA for death of the victim, who was the owner of the vehicle, when no other motor vehicle was involved in this case.

"Therefore, the question of the insurer being liable to indemnify the deceased/owner of the vehicle does not arise," the court said.

Since the victim was the owner of the two-wheeler and not a third party, the claim petition filed by the claimants would not come within the purview of Section 146 or 147 of MVA for the purpose of payment of compensation, the judges said.

"Therefore, we hold that the impugned judgement and decree of the Tribunal cannot be sustained. The appeal filed by the insurance company deserves only to be allowed."



At the same time, it is needless to mention that the claimants were entitled for payment of Rs one lakh only towards personal accident cover proportionate to the premium paid by the deceased, the bench said.

"We are pained to observe that as per the Indian Motor Tariff, compensation payable to the legal heirs in case of death or bodily injury suffered by the owner of the vehicle is restricted to Rs 1,00,000 only in case of two-wheeler and Rs 2,00,000 in case of four-wheeler, by virtue of compulsory personal accident cover mooted by the statutory authorities in charge of regulating the Motor Insurance Policies," it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Donald Trump had fun interacting with a group of children of the White House reporters whom he hosted at the Oval Office ahead of his first Halloween Party as the US president.

As he handed out candies to the children, who were all dressed up for the Halloween, Trump did not forget to crack jokes on the media.

"I cannot believe the media produced such beautiful children," he remarked, evoking laughter. "How the media did this, I don't know," Trump said, as he asked the children to come around the Resolute desk for a photograph.

Trump, who has a complicated relationship with the press, also made some light-hearted banters with the children about their parents' profession.

"You gonna grow up to be like your parents? Mmm?" he asked one child, adding: "Don't answer. That can only get me in trouble, that question."



"So, how does the press treat you? I bet you get treated better by the press than anybody in the world," he said.

Trump pointed at the pool of reporters and asked the children, "Do you know who they are? They are the friendly media."



He comforted one young girl, who was clearly a little nervous and crying. "Are you crying? Come here, sweetheart. You OK, honey?" he said. One of the other kids told Trump, "She's Japanese." Trump responded, "She's Japanese. Beautiful. I'm going to be in Japan in two weeks."



Soon White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders appeared with some candies for President Trump to be handed out to the children. Trump chatted with the children as they picked out a treat and asked them if the Halloween was special and they were having a good time.

"Well, you have no weight problems, that's the good news, right?" he said, handing them out candies. "So you take out whatever you need. If you want some for your friends, take them. We have plenty," he added.

"I like that hair what colour is that?" he asked a girl dressed as a unicorn. "Purple? Beautiful." Trump then asked the kids, "So how does the press treat you?" He himself gave the answer. "You get treated better by the press than anybody in the world, right?" he said, amidst laughter.

"Well, congratulations, folks! You did a good job," he told the reporters, referring to the children and added: "I wouldn't say you (the press) did very well here (pointing to himself). But really, beautiful children."



First Lady Melania Trump yesterday announced Halloween at the White House on October 30. During this event, trick-or- treaters will enjoy seeing the South Portico decorated in spider webs, creating a festive look and feel. There will also be bats and orange pumpkins with profiles of past presidents. Fog will fill the air and the trees and south facade will be lit with different colours throughout the night, the White House said.

During the event, the Trumps will hand out cookies made at the White House Pastry Kitchen, as well as Presidential M&M's -- the commemorative, coloured chocolates given to guests of the President -- and other candies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A CBI court today rejected the bail plea of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Z H Zaidi in the case of custodial death of an accused in the rape-and-murder of a teenage girl in Kotkhai in Himachal Pradesh.

The court extended the judicial remand of Zaidi, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Manoj Joshi and six other policemen by two weeks up to November 12 in the case.

Zaidi, the then Theog DSP Joshi, the then Staton House Officer of Kotkhai, one Assistant Sub-Inspector, three head constables and one constable were arrested by the CBI on August 29.

Suraj Singh, an accused in the rape-and-murder case, was killed allegedly by another accused in the case at Kotkhai police station on the intervening night of July 18 and 19, triggering a massive public outrage.

Suraj Singh, a 29-year-old labourer from Nepal, was among six people arrested by the local police.

The remaining five accused in the rape-and-murder case have been released on bail as the CBI failed to file the charge sheet within 90 days.

Zaidi was heading a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case of rape-and-murder of the minor school girl in Kotkhai area of Shimla in early July.

The case was later transferred to the CBI on the orders of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

The Class X student had gone missing on July 4 and her naked body was recovered from Haliala forests in Kotkhai on July 6.

The CBI has so far submitted six status reports and the high court has directed the CBI to file the charge sheet in the custodial death case by November 30.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Assailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation, senior Congress leader today said he would have quit as finance minister if forced to implement the measure.

He also targeted Modi over "hasty" implementation of the GST, and his pet bullet train project.

"If my prime minister had asked me to do demonetisation, I would have advised him 'please don't', and if he had insisted, then I would have resigned," he told reporters on the sidelines of an event where he delivered a lecture on 'The state of economy'.

Noting that demonetisation and "rushing through with the GST were two major mistakes" of the Modi government, he said, "demonetisation was a bad idea, full stop. GST is a good idea, but it has been hastily implemented. It should have been implemented with due care and attention."



Pitching for a cap on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) at 18 per cent, the former Union minister flayed multiple slabs in the rate structure.

Delivering the lecture on the economy organised by the local trading community, Chidambaram said the prime minister's ambitious bullet train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai should not have been a priority.

Focus, he said, should have been on improving safety, cleanliness, better compartments and stations, better signalling systems and improving suburban transport.

"Hardly 600 people will use bullet train (on one-way journey) when it is completed, and the government has borrowed the huge amount of money from Japan for this. Instead, the government should utilise the money for health and education, which the people want," he said, adding bullet train can become a priority 10-15 years later not now.

He also flayed the Gujarat model of development, saying "Vikas gandothayoche (development has gone crazy)". The Congress has launched a social media campaign in the poll-bound state by the same name.

Chidambaram criticised the Election Commission for not declaring the dates for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh polls simultaneously.

"There was an unusual delay in declaring poll dates for Gujarat. The only conclusion is that the (central) government wanted to prevent the announcement of sops by the Congress government there (in Himachal) and wanted to do the same in Gujarat. The EC could have either declared it (the polls) together on October 12 or on October 24."



Apparently targeting the government over the arrest of journalist Vinod Verma in connection with the alleged sex tape scandal involving a Chhattisgarh minister, Chidambaram alleged efforts were being made to "silence" critics, especially journalists who do investigative stories.
Actor Andrew Garfield said it was "incredibly inspiring" for him to play a disabled character in his new film, "Breathe".

The 34-year-old actor plays Robin Cavendish, the real- life polio patient, in the film helmed by Andy Serkis, reported Contactmusic.

"I'm an able-bodied actor playing someone who is disabled. It was wonderful, incredibly inspiring. I got to learn a lot about myself and my privilege and the things that I take for granted," Garfield said.

"The fact that I have a body and I can move it. That's one of the main things I took away from the film," he added.

Garfield said the movie was a learning experience for him.

"I thought, here's a man I can learn from because I haven't faced the kind of adversity he's faced, and yet he had this unquenchable spirit and longing to live. And I found that incredibly uplifting and inspiring."



"Breathe", which also stars "The Crown" actor Claire Foy, marks the directorial debut of Serkis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bangladesh Railway Minister Mujibal Haque said an initiative has been taken to reconnect railway lines with India in 12 places, which were snapped after partition of the country in 1947.

"We want to restore all the railway lines which existed before the partition of India. Now the initiative is on to restore rail connectivity in twelve places between Bangladesh and India. Both the governments are cooperating with each other in this regard," he told reporters here last evening.

Haque was in the capital to attend a conference of Rotary Clubs of both the countries. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar inaugurated the conference.

The Bangladesh minister said the second rail bridge on the Titas and the Bhoirab rivers in Brahmanbaria district of his country was completed with funding from India, and that it would be inaugurated soon.

Apart from the 'Moitree Express' which runs between Dhaka and Kolkata, he said another train 'Bandhan Express' to run between Khulna in Bangladesh and Kolkata, was likely to be launched next month.

"There is also a proposal from Bangladesh side to launch a train to connect Rajshahi in Bangladesh and Kolkata," he said.

Haque noted that the progress of the 15-km long ongoing Agartala-Akhaura project was satisfactory and land acquisition for the purpose in Bangladesh side was complete.

Land acquisition for the project in Indian side has also been completed, West Tripura District Magistrate and Collector, Milind Ramteke told reporters earlier.

The central government has released Rs 97.63 crore to acquire the land, he said.

The process of laying railway tracks to connect Agartala with Akhaura in Bangladesh would be completed next year, Haque said.

Out of the 15-km track, five km would be on Indian side and the rest in Bangladesh.

Ramteke stated that the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) was the nodal agency for implementation of the project in Indian side.

Former railway minister Suresh Prabhu and Haque had jointly laid the foundation stone of the project here on July 31 last.

A flyover of 3.7 km will be constructed on the Indian side to save cultivable lands and the entire project cost will be borne by the central government.

New Delhi is keen to establish the rail link as it will connect West Bengal and Tripura through Bangladesh.

The 1,700 km distance between Agartala and Kolkata, which goes through the chicken neck in Siliguri, would be reduced to 350 km if passengers could move through Bangladesh, officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India will issue a special stamp to commemorate the birth centenary of South African ANC leader Oliver Reginald Tambo.

Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh had shared this with the South African government during his visit to the country earlier this month, Indian High Commissioner to South Africa Ruchira Kamboj said.

An official launch of the stamp is planned early next year.

A host of events yesterday marked the 100th birthday of Tambo, who led the African National Congress (ANC) in exile after his lifelong friend and South Africa's anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela was jailed for 27 years before being released to become the country's first democratically-elected president in 1994.

A life-size statue has been put up at the international airport in Johannesburg named after Tambo, while huge housing and other social developments have been opened in the rural area of Bizana, where he was born.

Tambo returned to South Africa with his family in 1990 when the ANC was not banned, but refused to take up any official position as the ANC prepared to govern the country.

He had a state funeral after he died on April 24, 1993 of cardiac arrest.

During a visit to India in 1980 to accept the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding on behalf of Mandela, who was still in prison, Tambo lauded the country for its support in the anti-apartheid struggle.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India has again flagged its concerns to the US over problems being faced by Indian companies in procuring H-1B and L-1 visas for professionals and asked it to revisit its position on the matter.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has asked the US government to ease the movement of skilled professionals who have over the years contributed towards making US companies more competitive.

Prabhu had "productive discussions" with the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Robert Lighthizer and his team in a cordial, friendly and positive manner, According to an official statement.

The commerce minister took up India's concerns with regard to problems faced by Indian services companies in obtaining H-1B and L-1 visas at the 11th Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meeting, which was held in Washington on October 26, 2017, the statement said.

During the meeting, discussions were held on issues related to bilateral trade between the two countries, areas of mutual cooperation, market access in agriculture, non- agricultural goods and services and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).

Prabhu noted that the TPF serves as a robust platform that contributes towards promoting bilateral trade and investment between India and the US, the statement said.

On the US concerns related to trade deficit with India, the minister pointed out that the issue of trade deficit should be viewed in the larger context of the growing economic and strategic partnership between the two countries that has grown and strengthened in recent years.

He also took up the issue of mismatch between US visa and social security regimes, wherein Indian professionals making social security contributions do not receive their due benefits upon their return to India, the statement added.

"He urged the US to revisit its position and work towards achieving a totalisation agreement," it said.

While responding to US concerns on price controls on medical devices, Prabhu stressed on the need for a balance between the demand for optimum medical facilities and affordable healthcare to its citizens.

"India desires to address the concerns of providing affordable healthcare to its citizens and balancing it with the need to introduce high-end technology," the statement said.

Noting that India has made significant investments in the US and Indian skilled workers and students make important contributions to the US economy, Prabhu said, "As the Indian economy grows, and with the renewed emphasis on reviving US manufacturing, there will be greater opportunities for US exports to India."



In this context, he pointed out that India has already started to import crude oil and new Liquefied Natural Gas exports are expected to commence early next year.

Indian aviation companies such as Spicejet and Jet Airways have placed orders for over 300 aircraft valued at several billions of dollars, Prabhu said.

The minister said these developments will go a long way in fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump's desire to have a free, fair and balanced trade between India and the US.

Prabhu also sought the support of the US to India's proposal on the Trade Facilitation in Services Agreement which has been tabled by India at the WTO.

At the conclusion of TPF, the statement said it was decided that the two countries will continue to work towards building strong trade and investment ties to realise mutual gains from the partnership.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India has very strongly raised the issue of H1B and L1 visas with the US, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Saturday, asserting that the American economy will find it difficult to cope with the reality, as it has been immensely benefited by Indian information technology (IT) professionals.

The US has tightened the norms for issuing the most sought-after H1B and L1 visas in line with the Trump administrations goal to protect American workers from discrimination and replacement by foreign labour.

In a new directive, the Trump administration this week made it more difficult for the renewal of these visas, popular among Indian IT professionals, saying that the burden of proof lies on the applicant even when an extension is sought.

Under the current US rules, Indian IT professionals working in the US on H1B visas do not get back their hard-earned contribution to Social Security, which runs into at least $1 billion per annum.

We raised very strongly the issue of Indian professionals, and H1B and L1 visa issues, Prabhu said after the first US-India bilateral Trade Policy Forum (TPF) under the Trump administration, which was also attended by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

We explained to them that we are not raising this issue because Indians will find it difficult to come, because US economy itself will find it difficult to cope with the reality because the US has immensely benefited by IT professionals penetrating into the market by offering services that have improved their productivity, Prabhu said.

Batting for Indian IT companies, he also strongly raised the issue of totalisation. I hope they will look into the issue, Prabhu said, as he pointed out towards the issue of mismatch between US visa and US social security regimes, wherein Indian professionals making social security contributions do not receive their due benefits upon their return to India.

Meanwhile, the US and India have also agreed to address the issue of trade deficit by increasing and diversifying bilateral trade, the minister said as he sought easing of procedures for export of mangoes and pomegranates to the US.

Taking note of Americas concern on price controls on medical devices, Prabhu, during his meetings with Lighthizer on Thursday, encouraged US companies to take benefit of the Make in India policy and establish manufacturing facilities in India, which would considerably bring down the cost.

During the inaugural India-US Commercial dialogue, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross stressed on the need to increase bilateral trade between the two countries to address the issue of trade imbalance, a point which keeps on popping up in the remarks of US President Donald Trump.

Reducing imports from India is not an option, Ross was quoted as saying by Prabhu.

The Commerce Secretary clearly said trade deficit is an issue, but not by reducing imports from India but promoting more exports from the US to India, which is absolutely a very positive and forward-looking idea, which we welcome, Prabhu told reporters at the conclusion of his two-day visit to Washington DC.

In the next few years time, India would actually be able to buy more from the US. India has started buying crude oil from the US, he said, adding that there is great potential for the US in the fast expanding aviation market in India.

Indian aviation companies such as Spicejet and Jet Airways have placed orders for over 300 aircraft, worth several billions of dollars.

As American companies shift their manufacturing base from China to the US, this would also result in more American export to India, Prabhu said.

He said the two countries have agreed to work on the issue of poultry, pork and intellectual property right.

We already have made some substantial progress, he said.

Acknowledging that there is a very strong issue on medical devices, Prabhu said he explained to his American counterpart that public health is a priority issue for the Indian government.

This is something we would have to balance between the commercial interest and the larger public interest, he said, adding that there is a review due early next year, during which concerns of the US would be relayed back to the reviewers.

Prabhu said that his meetings have yielded very positive results in removal of barriers in export of Indian mangoes to the US. The US market was opened up for Indian mangoes during the tenure of former president George W Bush. But, in reality US adopted tougher irradiation procedure, which not only makes its very expensive, but also time consuming.

India has been demanding pre-clearance be transferred to Indian National Plant Protection Organisation, which is well equipped and trained to do the necessary inspection and meet the US standards.

Of course, you should get pomegranates and table grapes also, Prabhu said, referring to the progress made in removing hurdles towards export of these products to the US.

Prabhu said, India has sought cooperation from the US on certain technology sectors like artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and aviation.

While acknowledging significant areas of progress in the commercial relationship, Prabhu and Ross shared candid feedback on a range of market access issues that can be addressed to expand trade and investment opportunities.

Ross highlighted the potential to enhance trade by lowering tariff and non-tariff barriers and committing to the use of international standards.

While recognising the reforms that India has undertaken to simplify tax and bankruptcy procedures for industry, he indicated that greater effort in this direction would ensure a more meaningful and balanced trade relationship.

Prabhu appreciated the growing strategic and economic relationship between India and the US.

Emphasising the liberalisation measures undertaken in India, he reaffirmed his governments commitment to make India a favoured investment destination.

While responding to US concerns on price controls on medical devices, Prabhu mentioned about the need to bring about a balance between providing optimum medical facilities and affordable health care to its citizens.

India desires to address the concerns of providing health care to its citizens at reasonable costs and balancing it with the need to introduce high-end technology, he said as he encouraged American companies and manufacturers of medical devices to establish manufacturing facilities in India.
A 21-year-old British Muslim convert dubbed 'Jihadi Jack' has been charged with being a member of the ISIS terrorist network, media reports said today.

Jack Letts had travelled to Syria in 2014 and was later captured by the Kurdish-led YPG the group fighting against ISIS when he fled Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the terror network earlier this year.

The man from the city of Oxford has claimed in the past that he is opposed to ISIS ideology.

Quoting a statement issued by the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (DFNS) a self-declared autonomous region, the BBC said Letts had been taken to a prison in Qamishli, Rojava, northern Syria.

"Jack Letts is currently under investigation by local and global anti-terror units. Once the investigation is concluded, the outcome will be communicated to Jack's parents, and their legal representatives and to the officials of relevant governments," the statement said.

Jack Letts, who also holds a Canadian passport, remains in the custody of the local DFNS police force, the Asayish.

The statement adds: "We ask the parents of Jack Letts and their legal representative to ask the UK and Canadian governments to officially request the handover of Jack Letts from the officials of the DFNS so that the handover can proceed officially.

"However, so far there has been no official request from neither Canadian or British governments."



The communication marks the first time that Kurdish forces have confirmed the capture of Letts as a prisoner of war.

Letts had converted to Islam while at Cherwell comprehensive school in Oxford and travelled to Jordan, aged 18, after dropping out of school.

He reportedly got married in Iraq and now has a child.

His parents, John Letts and Sally Lane, have denied he went to Syria to fight with ISIS, and have started a petition that claims he had "disappeared in a Guantanamo-style black site" in Kurdish-controlled territory.

But Sinam Mohamad, the European representative of DFNS, denied the allegation.

"We refute all these baseless allegations," she told BBC.

Letts' parents also went on a week-long "hunger-strike" in protest recently, claiming that the British government had not done enough to help their son.

His mother claims her son has been in contact to say that him and a group of his friends were working against ISIS from the inside.

"In fact I've spoken to some of his friends and they are still in hiding. They say things were made very, very difficult for them when Jack was labelled a terrorist by the British Government because it then compromised their position," she said.

The couple have previously themselves pleaded not guilty to charges of funding terrorism after being accused of sending money to Jack.

"The government is unable to provide support to British nationals in Syria as the UK government does not have consular representation there," the UK Foreign Office said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) suffered a setback in Telangana today as the state working president and MLA, A Revanth Reddy, quit the party saying the recent happenings in the state unit pained him.

Revanth, who flew down to Vijayawada for a meeting with TDP supremo and Andhra Padesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, is understood to have handed over his resignation letter to Naidu's private secretary and immediately left for Hyderabad.

When asked about it, Chandrababu Naidu told reporters that he has not received Revanth's resignation letter.

"Resignations are not new in TDP. Some people take decisions in their own interests," he remarked.

Revanth was arrested in the "cash-for-vote" case after he was caught on camera allegedly offering money to a nominated MLA for his vote in the MLC election in 2015.

For the past few days, there has been a turmoil in Telangana TDP with reports claiming that Revanth, who is an MLA from Kodangal in Mahbubnagar district, met Rahul Gandhi and was about to join the Congress.

Revanth also caused a stir by accusing some leaders of Andhra Pradesh TDP, including two ministers, of securing huge financial contracts from the TRS government in Telangana.

He, however, maintained a stoic silence over his future plans and had been saying that he would speak directly with Chandrababu Naidu upon the CM's return from abroad.

He met Chandrababu Naidu in Hyderabad yesterday, but the TDP chief summoned Revanth and other party leaders from Telangana for a detailed meeting in Vijayawada today.

Revanth flew down to Vijayawada, visited the Kanaka Durga temple and came to the CM's camp office for the meeting.

As the chief minister's arrival was delayed, the rebel leader handed over his resignation letter to Chandrababu Naidu's PS and left for Hyderabad.

Chandrababu was later closeted in a meeting with other leaders from Telangana.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Veteran film star Kamal Haasan today visited the Ennore Creek area and listened to people's grievances, days after be voiced concern over encroachment and flyash from power plants affecting livelihood of the fishermen there.

The actor, who has been facing criticism that he was engaging only in "Twitter politics" with his posts on microblogging site instead of going to the people and working to resolve their problems, was given a tour of the creek area.

The actor heard the travails of residents, mainly regarding fly ash deposits.

He was accompanied by environmentalist Nithyanand Jayaraman and local people, and a video clip of his visit was released here by his publicist.

The local women requested him to "do something" to end problems due to pollution and claimed many families had to quit the locality.

Some of them even tried falling at his feet, but he stopped them.

On October 26, in a statement on Twitter, the actor had said that "Kosasthalaiyaru (river) near Chennai is the lifeline of fishermen".

He had said that though the river was not fully polluted, about 1,090 acres of land in the rivermouth was lost due to encroachment.

While just usual rains could flood North Chennai, he said about 10 lakh residents of North Chennai would be affected if the area was going to see more showers this monsoon, adding "this is a caution...not a criticism about what had happened (seen as a reference to 2015 floods)."



Flagging the issues of encroachment, environmental degradation and the need to prevent flooding, he said finding a "permanent solution for the people is the hallmark of a good government".

He had said the Vallur and North Chennai power stations in the area were depositing fly ash in the river, which has been opposed by environmental activists for a long time.

He blamed the government for not paying heed to the problem, despite opposition of fishermen and local people.

The actor said he had "heard" that further land was being "usurped" in the creek area in North Chennai.

Kamal Haasan's visit comes two days after he had said that he would be coming up with a "communication strategy" on November 7, his birthday, to interact with the youth.

Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan and VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan welcomed the actor's visit.

State Fisheries Minister and senior AIADMK leader D Jayakumar said while his visit and suggestions were welcome, views with ulterior motives were not acceptable.

The actor in a tweet today thanked both Thirumavalavan and Radhakrishnan for welcoming his visit and said it added to his enthusiasm.

Jayakumar's remarks came against the background of several AIADMK ministers saying that they would respond to Kamal Haasan's critical remarks after he joined politics.

Meanwhile, Tiruvallur district authorities, under which the creek area falls, said that the issue of pollution would be looked into.

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BJP general secretary Ram Madhav today said the Centre's interlocutor for Kashmir Dineshwar Sharma has the mandate to talk to everyone including the separatists.

"Whosoever will come forward, he (Sharma) can talk to him. He has that mandate.... You should ask this to the Hurriyat whether they are ready to talk," Madhav told reporters here when asked whether the interlocutor would hold dialogue with the separatists.

Asked whether the interlocutor would also talk to Pakistan, the BJP leader said "this time, the announcement has been made that Sharma would talk with all groups in Jammu and Kashmir.

He said the Centre had announced that talks will be held with those who are willing and so it appointed the interlocutor.

"The Home Minister (Rajnath Singh) cannot talk every time and that is why the government of India appointed the representative and he will talk with all groups and leaders of J-K as a representative of the government of India," Madhav said.

Asked if there were any conditions for talks with those who are "outside the mainstream and do not accept the Constitution", he replied, "We want the whole population and sub-sections of J-K to become mainstream".

On former Union home minister P Chidambaram's suggestion on autonomy, Madhav alleged that the Kashmiri people and the whole country "are bearing the brunt of the mistakes" that were committed by Chidambaram and his party during their government.

"We do not need this advice. The present government would seek advice from well wishers of J-K and would act definitely in future. We do not need advice from Chidambaram," he retorted.

Meanwhile, senior state BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh said that while the interlocutor is free to talk to everyone, including Hurriyat, there can be no dialogue with those wielding the gun.

He said the state government wanted the dialogue to start soon and everyone should come forward and place their point of view.

"Whoever carries a gun in his hand, it is no use to talk to him. Otherwise, the interlocutor is free to talk to everyone," Singh told reporters.

When asked whether Hurriyat was a stakeholder and if the interlocutor would talk to the separatists, he said, Definitely. We have not said no to anyone.

Anyone can talk. But you must remember that when Union Home Minister (Rajnath Singh) came here, (Chief Minister) Mehbooba (Mufti) wrote a letter to Hurriyat to come forward to talk. If we were not ready to talk to them, such a letter would not have gone out.

"They also shut their doors to the Parliamentary delegation. But, we believe this is a good opportunity and everyone should come forward for peace and prosperity of J-K and for the future of its youth, he said.

He was referring to the visit of a few members of a Parliamentary delegation to the residence of Syed Ali Shah Geelani in September last year.

Geelani had refused to meet the members of the delegation.

On whether a formal invitation would go to the separatists, the deputy chief minister said "the interlocutor has been fully empowered to talk to anyone and he will decide it. The state government has no role in it.

He said BJP has had a consistent stand from the beginning on dialogue.

We had said that talks was the only way forward and had mentioned it prominently in the agenda of alliance (the common minimum programme between coalition partners the PDP and the BJP)," he said.

"... We had also said that talks would be held in a way they were held in (former Prime Minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayees time.

"So, it was clear that with whom the talks willbe held," he said.

The BJP leader noted that in the past some people from the separatist camp were eliminated when they expressed desire to talk.

But, "the time is appropriate now for the dialogue, he added.

Asked about the NIA investigation against some separatist leaders and its impact on the talks, Singh said "the NIA is an autonomous body, so it has its own mandate".

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To bridge a wide gap in its portfolio in the mid-segment, Tata Motors' British luxury marquee JLR today launched the fifth generation in a seven-seater format at a price point ranging from Rs 71.38 lakh to Rs 82 lakh.

The full size seven-seater premium SUV comes with both a 3-litre petrol and diesel powertrain options and offers a host of features such as full-sized spare wheel with an automatic tyre lifting option and intelligent seat fold functionality - both industry firsts. The new model comes in six variants.

It also boasts of the highest wading depth of 900 mm, (Merc's GLS has only 600 mm while Q7 of Audi offers only 500 mm) which will help the vehicle wade through flooded streets, the company said.

Rohit Suri, president and managing director, Jaguar Land Rover India, said the Land Rover portfolio had a yawning gap in the mid-segment from a pricing angel.

"Our Land Rover models range from the Rs 42-lakh Discovery Sport and the Rs 1.66-crore priced Range Rover leaving a yawning gap in the middle. The new Discovery fills that gap, which should help further build onto our already high growth we have had so far this year," Suri told PTI.

He parried a direct answer about sales expectations from the new Discovery by said the initial response has been very good having already received over 800 'interests' in the car. But he refused to quantify the pre-launch bookings for the new SUV which will be imported from its British plant.

"We are already booked for the first two months," was all he would proffer when asked about pre-bookings.

Suri said the new Discovery distinguishes itself from most of its competition on its design appeal, intelligent versatility, enabling technology and a host of capability related features.

It also offers the world's first intelligent seat fold system enabling one to configure the seating from inside.

Land Rover launched the first Discovery 28 years ago and the latest model is the fifth generation.

Suri said India is the only market where the new Discovery offers headroom for seven adults across the three rows of seating. It also offers permanent four-wheel drive.

The Land Rover range here includes the Discovery Sport (starting at Rs 42 lakh), Range Rover Evoque (starting at Rs 44.44 lakh), the new Discovery (starting at Rs 71.38 lakh), Range Rover Sport (starting at Rs 93.82 lakh) and Range Rover (starting at Rs 166.42 lakh).

JLR had reported a 45 per cent growth in the first nine months of the year to over 2,940 units and sells through 25 outlets. The company added two dealers this year and may add a similar numbers next year as well, Suri said.
Ruling out any differences about leadership within the party ahead of the 2018 Assembly polls, Karnataka PCC President G Parameshwara today said the legislature party will decide on the Chief Minister, post the election results.

"Our first goal whether it is chief minister or me is to cross 113 (assembly seats) mark. After that there is always a convention in the Congress party that legislature party selects its leader- who will contest, who will get selected (as leader) no one knows as of now...." Parameshwara said in response to a question about the chief ministerial candidate.

Speaking to reporters on completing seven years in office as the Pradesh Congress Committee chief, he said "There is no other short cut method for it..."



Parameshwara, however, declined to comment on Siddaramaiah's repeated claims that he will be the next chief minister.

Aiming to retain power in Karnataka, one among Congress party's last surviving bastions in the country, the party leadership has announced that Siddaramaiah will lead the party during the elections.

Noting that the Congress leadership has "already announced" that Siddaramaiah will lead the party during the elections, Parameshwara said, "we have all agreed to their decision and are working together towards retaining the power once again."



Rejecting any differences within the party about going to elections under Siddaramaiah's leadership, he said, "our confidence of regaining power comes from the programmes that we have given to the people of the state."



Asked about Congress party's target for the upcoming elections, he said, "when we say we will form the government on our own, we will obviously have to cross 113 seats mark (out of 224)."



He also ruled out the possibility of a coalition government.

Congress is conducting surveys to collect data to help it select candidates and decide strategy for the 2018 assembly polls.

"We have not started the process of selection of candidates yet, but we are now looking at individual constituencies where we can win or loose. We are analyzing each of the 224 constituencies," he said.

Strongly backing minister K J George who has been booked by CBI over the mysterious death of a police official, Parameshwara said there is no reason for him to resign.

"Let CBI investigate, we don't have any problem...let them investigate on the basis of the merit and let the truth come out. There is no reason for George to resign, this is our party's decision and also the decision of the government," he said.

Hitting out at the BJP for demanding George's resignation, the KPCC President said their demand is not based on facts, but with political mindset.

"They are not concerned about the merit of the case or direction of the court. They are only concerned about the political gain they can get out of it," he added.

The state assembly polls are due next year.

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The Tamil Nadu government has said that the estimate of Rs 1,11,000-crore loss in illegal granite mining in Madurai district done by the Madras High Court- appointed legal commissioner U Sagayam was "erroneous and disputable", and rejected his recommendation for a CBI probe.

Stating this in a detailed rejoinder to the report submitted by Sagayam, Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan said in the Madras High Court recently that the government had accepted 131 of 212 recommendations of Sagayam and rejected 67 as these were beyond the scope of relevant laws and rules.

"When the special officer/legal commissioner commended the steps taken by the district administration, police and the government, there is no necessity warranting recommendation of a CBI inquiry. Further the legal commissioner has also not assigned any valid reason in support of his recommendation for CBI inquiry," she said.

The chief secretary said the government had taken effective action on the irregularities noticed at the granite quarries.

The rejoinder said Sagayam's recommendations had been accepted and implemented by the government, wherever feasible.

The government recovered 1,35,462 granite blocks stocked on patta lands unauthorisedly and 27,020 on government poromboke lands. All these were seized, assessed and valued, but could not be sold due to pending litigation in the high court, the chief secretary said.

She said Sagayam had uniformly valued and fixed the price at 1,200 US dollars per cubic metre though the amount would be paid only to Indian granite with right texture, colour, grade and size.

"Madurai blocks (granite) fetched prices ranging from 500 to 700 US dollars only. The rate of granite blocks vary depending upon these factors. Uniform rate cannot be adopted. However, the special officer/legal commissioner had taken the value of Indian granites instead of Madurai granites."



The chief secretary said Sagayam had sourced data from the geology department relating to granites in block and got details from the trade on export of granite in slabs and tiles. But while valuing its worth, he had compared and analysed two sets of data though these are non-comparable.

The unit measurement of granite blocks declared by exporters in customs documents is in cubic metres and that of granite slabs and tiles in trade is in square metres.

Hence, it was obvious that the two sets of data were not comparable for analysis. So Sagayam's conclusions are "unfounded and misconceived and stands rebutted", the chief secretary said.

On Sagayam's recommendations to fix CCTVs linked to the e-domain of the mines department to keep a tab on mining, she said state-run TAMIN (Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited) had introduced a quarry management system to monitor day-to-day activities of mines, quarries and factories in 2012 itself.

She rejected one of Sagayam's key recommendations to punish errant officials, saying the estimation in his report was based on transport permit issued by the department of geology and mining. It had not revealed any factual details of collusion of department officials with lessees in their tax evasion efforts.

"In the absence of prima facie case made against the officials of the department, it is considered that no further action is required in this matter."



The high court had appointed Sagayam as legal commissioner on September 11, 2014 in response to a PIL by 'Traffic' Ramaswamy, a social activist, and directed him to inspect mines and submit a report to it as he was the one who originally filed the initial report on the granite quarry violations.

Sagayam commenced his inquiry on December 3, 2014 and submitted his report on November 23, 2015.

Ramaswamy had sought a direction to consider his representation and prosecute illegal mines in Tamil Nadu and their transactions by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

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President Ram Nath Kovind today stressed the need to make high court judgements understandable to litigants in a language they know and suggested setting up of a mechanism to issue certified translated copies of verdicts.

The President also advocated for speedy disposal of cases as "the poorest and most underprivileged" in the society were the sufferers of delayed justice.

"Delay in delivery of justice is a pressing concern in our country. Often those who suffer are among the poorest and most underprivileged in our society. We must find mechanisms to ensure quick disposal of cases," he said while addressing the valedictory function of the diamond jubilee celebrations of the High Court of Kerala here.

"We could all consider an approach that makes adjournments the exception in an emergency situation rather than a tactic to prolong court proceedings. We must find a way forward," the President said at the function also attended by several judges including Chief Justice of India Justice Dipak Misra and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Kovind said it was important to not only take justice to the people, but also to make it understandable to litigating parties in a language they knew.

"High Courts deliver judgements in English, but we are a country of diverse languages. The litigant may not be conversant with English and the finer points of the judgement may escape him or her. The litigating parties will thus be dependent on the lawyer or another person to translate the judgement. This can add to time and cost," he said.

The President suggested that a system could be evolved whereby certified translated copies of judgements were made available by the high courts in local or regional languages.

"This could happen in a period of say 24 or 36 hours after the judgement is pronounced. The language could be Malayalam in the Honourable Kerala High Court or Hindi in the Honourable Patna High Court, as the case may be," Kovind said adding he was only making a suggestion in this regard.

"It is for the judiciary and the legal fraternity to discuss this and decide as appropriate," he said.

The President also said the judiciary and justice delivery mechanism of the country would need to continue to keep up with technology and with changes in the society, as indeed they have been so capably doing.

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A man has been arrested by the customs for allegedly trying to smuggle out of the country codeine-based cough syrup, officials said today.

The accused, a native of Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, was intercepted by the customs officials yesterday when he was to board to a flight to Riyadh, they said.

He was carrying 120 bottles of Phensedyl cough syrup concealed inside a carton, the officials said.

The cough syrup contain codeine, a narcotic substance banned under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, they said.

Codeine is also an opiate and used in reducing pain, the officials said. The medicine containing it can be bought against a prescription.

The passenger has been arrested and a case under the NDPS Act has been registered, the officials said.

He was produced before a court here which has sent him to jail, they said.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called for a debate on internal democracy in political parties, asserting that the growth of "true democratic spirit" within them is necessary for the country's future.

Modi made these remarks in a brief speech to the media at a 'Diwali Milan' event at the BJP headquarters as he pointed out that funding to political parties is often debated but not their values, ideologies, internal democracy and how they give opportunities to the new generation of leaders.

The country, he said, is not much aware of the practise of democracy within parties and the media should turn its attention to it, he said.

"Whether democratic values are a part of their (parties) core values or not, should be debated widely.... I believe that the development of a true democratic spirit within political parties is necessary not only for the the country's future but also for democracy," he said.

Though the prime minister made no reference to any rival party, but his comments come against the backdrop of reports that the Congress may elevate its vice president Rahul Gandhi as president in place of his mother Sonia Gandhi.

The BJP has often accused the Congress of practising dynasty politics and juxtaposed that with the rise of its party workers to top echelons to project itself as a party with a difference.

Modi also acknowledged that there are many voices within the BJP as he noted that when it was a small organisation earlier or during the times of Jana Sangh, its forerunner, there used to be "ideological harmony" from its central leadership down to workers in the bottom rung.

The party's expansion may be a reason behind divergent views, he said.

He also praised the media for its support to 'Swachh Bharat' (Clean India) project, saying it has spoken in one voice over the issue even if it might have been critical of the government over other matters.

The media has joined the scheme in "mission mode", he said, adding that the country has still a long way to go to achieve international standards of cleanliness but the campaign has built an atmosphere its its favour.

On the occasion, the prime minister also made some light remarks recalling his initial days as a party office bearer in its headquarters when at times he had to look for journalists and fondly remembered his regular interactions with the media.

He said both the ruling party and the media may have expectations as well complaints from each other but they have to get along happily amid these differences.

In his remarks, BJP chief Amit Shah noted that Diwali marks the beginning of the new year in Gujarat, a state from where he hails from, and said the country has met various challenges successfully during the last year and moved ahead under the Modi government.

"We are entering the new year with a lot of positivity," he said.

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Two foreign journalists working for Turkish state media have been detained for more than 24 hours in Myanmar for flying a drone over a parliament building in the capital, the government said today.

The incident comes during high tension between Myanmar and Turkey, which has lambasted the Southeast Asian nation for its treatment of the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority.

Last month Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Myanmar of incubating "Buddhist terror" and carrying out a genocide against the Muslim group.

The reporters, Lau Hon Meng from Singapore and Mok Choy Lin from Malaysia, were arrested yesterday in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw while they were on assignment for Turkish state broadcaster TRT.

They are "under interrogation for flying a drone over the Hluttaw (parliament) building", said a statement published by Myanmar's Ministry of Information.

The pair was working with well-known Myanmar journalist Aung Naing Soe, whose house in Yangon was searched by authorities last night, according to local media.

More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar's Rakhine state since late August, running from burning villages they say were set alight by soldiers and Buddhist mobs.

Several journalists have been arrested in Myanmar this year, fuelling fears of an erosion of the press freedoms which blossomed after the end of junta rule in 2011.

Many have been charged with defamation or arrested for reporting on armed rebel groups.

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Myanmar's government will harvest rice from abandoned farmland in violence-scorched northern Rakhine, state media said today, a move likely to raise concerns about the prospect of return for more than half a million Rohingya who have fled communal unrest in the area.

The border region has been emptied of most of its Muslim residents since late August, when Myanmar's military launched a crackdown on Rohingya rebels that the UN says likely amounts to ethnic cleansing.

Hundreds of villages have been razed to the ground, with more than 600,000 Rohingya -- a stateless group in mainly Buddhist Myanmar -- fleeing across the border for sanctuary in Bangladesh.

Under intense global pressure, Myanmar has agreed to repatriate "scrutinised" refugees who can prove their residence in Rakhine.

But details of the plan remain thin, seeding concern about who will be allowed back, what they will return to and how they will manage to live in a region where anti-Rohingya hatred remains sky-high.

Today state media announced the government would begin harvesting 71,000 acres of rice paddy in Maungdaw -- the Rohingya-majority area hardest-hit by the violence.

The Global New Light of Myanmar report said workers would be bused in from other parts of the country to assist with the harvest.

"For the time being, we were only assigned to harvest, dry and store," said Then Wai, head of Maungdaw town's Agricultural Department.

Government officials could not be reached for comment about what would happen to the rice or where the proceeds would go.

Myanmar denies the charge of ethnic cleansing and defends the military campaign as a counter offensive targeting Rohingya militants who attacked police posts in late August, killing at least a dozen.

But media, rights groups and the UN have documented consistent accounts of atrocities at the hands of Myanmar security officers.

Yesterday UN rights experts said they were "deeply disturbed" after speaking to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

The accounts they heard "point to a consistent, methodical pattern of actions resulting in gross human rights violations affecting hundreds of thousands of people," said Marzuki Darusman, who chairs the fact-finding mission.

Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi -- who has no control over the powerful army -- recently created a committee to oversee resettlement in Rakhine, where tens of thousands of other minority groups were also internally displaced by the violence.

The construction of homes for minorities such as the Mro has begun, according to state media, while Suu Kyi's government has enticed business tycoons to donate to the rebuilding effort.

But fear abounds that the rehabilitation will sideline the Rohingya -- a group that has suffered under decades of state-backed discrimination.

Myanmar refuses to recognise the Rohingya as a distinct minority, rendering the 1.1-million strong group stateless.

The army has spread the view that they are foreign interlopers from Bangladesh, despite having lived in Myanmar for generations.

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North Korea sent back a South Korean fishing boat and its crew who Pyongyang says were detained for crossing the eastern sea border between the rivals.

While the North's state media said the decision was based on humanitarian grounds, experts said it wasn't clear whether the repatriation reflected intentions to improve relations with the South amid heightened animosity over Pyongyang's expanding nuclear program.

The boat's 10 crew members included not only South Koreans, but also three Vietnamese fishermen, which might have influenced the North's decision for a quick repatriation, said Hong Min, an analyst at Seoul's Korea Institute for National Unification.

Hours after announcing the repatriation plans through the Korean Central Agency, North Korea sent back the boat and fishermen in designated waters off the peninsula's eastern coast yesterday evening. The fishermen, who arrived at the South Korean port of Sokcho late yesterday, appeared to be in good health, a South Korean coast guard official said.

The fishermen will be questioned by South Korean authorities over the circumstances of their detention and their experience in the North, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity citing office rules.

The fishermen didn't leave the ship as officials searched the vessel for nearly two hours in Sokcho before they were escorted to another port in nearby Uljin, where they might be questioned.

The KCNA announcement came hours before US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis visited the heavily-armed land border between the Koreas and stressed Washington's commitment to defend ally Seoul against North Korean threats.

The agency said the South Korean boat, 391 Hungjin, was captured at dawn Saturday after it "illegally intruded" into North Korean waters. The crewmen deliberately entered North Korean waters for fishing, but "honestly admitted their offence, repeatedly apologizing and asking for leniency," the agency said.

Earlier on Friday, Baik Tae-hyun, spokesman of South Korea's Unification Ministry, said maritime police had been searching for the boat after it was reported missing. He refused to say whether the South thought the boat had intruded into North Korean waters before the North's announcement.

"It's fortunate that our fishing boat and fishermen are being sent back," said Baik, who added that it was likely the first time Pyongyang used its state media to inform Seoul of a decision to repatriate South Koreans.

The Koreas, which haven't held formal talks in nearly two years, have relied on media announcements to communicate since February last year, when the North declared to end all contact over direct communication lines between the countries.

Pyongyang was angry over Seoul's decision to pull South Korean companies out of an industrial park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, the last remaining major symbol of cooperation between the rivals. That move followed the North's fourth nuclear test in January 2016 and a subsequent long- range rocket launch.

The Unification Ministry said North Korea last detained a South Korean fishing boat in 2010 before returning it. South Korea often sends back North Korean fishermen who enter its waters, including several times this year. But it's more unusual for South Korean boats, which are equipped with better navigation equipment, to drift into the North.

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A Nepalese man was killed when his motorcycle was struck by a vehicle in Noida area, the police said today.

The Nepalese man, who was on a motorcycle, was critically injured when his bike was struck by another vehicle near Chhalera village, Noida.

He was rushed to a district hospital where he was declared brought dead.

In a separate incident in Dankaur area, a car collided head on with an autorickshaw. The auto driver and one passenger were injured in the incident. They were admitted at a hospital.

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A Nigerian national was found murdered at a flat in Hanuman Nagar area of Nallasopara in neighbouring Palghar district, police said.

The body of the Nigerian, with legs tied with a rope, was lying in the flat since last three to four days. Neighbours informed police after a foul smell spread in the area, they said.

"We have found the body of a foreign national but his identity is yet to be ascertained," a senior police official of Palghar said.

The body has been sent for post-mortem to ascertain exact cause of the death, said the official.

An offence of murder has been registered at Nallasopara police station and probe is underway, he said.

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The Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) today said it will contest its "traditional" four to five seats in Gujarat and urged the Election Commission to reject the Sharad Yadav faction's claim over the party symbol so that it can fight the assembly election.

Its chief spokesperson K C Tyagi said there have been no talks with the BJP for alliance in Gujarat assembly polls, though they are part of the Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Hitting out at the rival faction, Tyagi cited documents filed with the EC by its then general secretary Javed Raza, who is now with Yadav, on unanimous election of Nitish Kumar as its president last year.

"The rival faction has submitted a fresh set of documents supporting its claim on the party symbol 'arrow' in the EC on October 26 despite the fact that poll body has already announced that JD (U) led by Nitish Kumar is the real Janata Dal (United)," he said.

The JD(U) leader alleged that the Sharad Yadav-led group has submitted "forged" documents in the Election Commission which amounts a clear case of "forgery and contempt".

He said the EC should reject them and take a quick decision on the matter as his party would need the symbol to contest Gujarat polls.

Tyagi said his party will contest on four to five "traditional" seats in Gujarat.

The party's lone MLA in Gujarat, Chhotubhai Vasava, has joined hands with Yadav. Vasava is Yadav faction's acting president.

Tyagi said his party has traditionally enjoyed support from people in these seats and there have been no talks so far with the BJP for an alliance in the state polls.

"Our candidates have been winning anywhere between one to five seats in Gujarat elections and our party would field candidates on these seats as it has a traditional vote bank," he told a press conference.

Asked about any likely alliance with the BJP, the JD (U) leader said, "There are currently no talks with the BJP for alliance in the elections, nor there is any possibility of such talks."



The election to 182-member Gujarat Assembly will be held in two phases on December 9 and December 14, while counting of votes will be on December 18.
Odisha government today hiked the monthly remuneration of Gram Rozgar Sevaks (GRS) by Rs 2,000 a month.

Panchayati Raj Minister Pradeep Maharathy announced the hike in the remuneration of the GRS.

The GRS will now get a monthly remuneration of Rs 7,000 instead of Rs 5,000 besides other monetary incentives, Maharathy said.

The GRSs were appointed by the state government on a contractual basis in 2006 to monitor implementation of different welfare schemes in villages.

The GRSs had launched an agitation demanding an increase in their wages.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and Union Oil and Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan alleged that the announced wage hike is "insufficient" and is nothing more than instigating the sevaks further.

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The Congress today sought to distance itself from the remarks of former Union minister P Chidambaram on Jammu and Kashmir, saying the "opinion of an individual is not necessarily the opinion of the party".

Chidambaram pitched for greater autonomy for the restive Jammu and Kashmir yet again today, drawing stinging criticism from the BJP, with Union minister Smriti Irani calling it "shocking and shameful".

Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters here that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of Indian and "will always remain so unquestionably".

Asked about Chidambaram's remarks, he said, "The opinion of an individual is not necessarily the opinion of the Indian National Congress. In our democracy, individuals are entitled to their opinion."



The Congress has always believed that dialogue is the way forward for restoration of normalcy in the state, but it can only be within the framework of our Constitution, Surjewala said.

He said the party had constituted a policy-planning group under the chairmanship of former prime minister Manmohan Singh to carry forward the peace initiative in the state.

The group will visit Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the Kargil and Ladakh regions, between November 10 and 12.

Once the group concludes its deliberations, it will submit a report and share feedback and experience with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he said.

"So, it would be wrong to prejudge the issue," he said.

The Congress spokesperson hit out at the governments at the Centre and in Jammu and Kashmir over their handling of the situation in the state and asked the ruling parties "to introspect" on the issue.

He recalled "how terrorist Masood Azhar was released and taken to Kandahar" in Afghanistan after an Indian Airlines flight was hijacked during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

Whereas, 10 years of the Congress-led UPA government proved to be a watershed in restoring normalcy, promoting economic activity, tourism and infrastructural development, engaging with the people within the framework of the Constitution and fighting terrorism and militancy decisively, he said.

Surjewala also asked the BJP government to list the steps it has taken to restore normalcy and peace in the state and its roadmap to ensure development there.

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A leader of a key opposition party in Pakistan was killed along with his brother when a bomb blast ripped through their vehcile in the restive Balochistan province, according to the police.

Awami National Party (ANP) leader Abdul Razzaq and his brother Abdul Khaliq were on their way to Pishin to attend a public rally when the explosion took place along the Harnai Shahrag road yesterday, a police officer said.

The two were killed on the spot, Harnai deputy commissioner Abdul Salam said.

The ANP has eight members in total in Parliament.

"It was a roadside explosive detonated when their vehicle was passing through the area," he said.

In another incident, two people were killed when they stepped on landmines planted on the Chattar area of Nasirabad district last evening.

"Bullock-cart rider Bhagia Khan and a young shepherd, Hadi, stepped on the landmines while passing through the area," a police official said.

In a separate incident, the Lahore-bound Akbar Bugti Express derailed in Mach area of Bolan district when a bomb exploded, the police said.

The bomb was planted near the railway track and six people were injured in the incident, they added.

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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami has inaugurated the second phase of Thanjavur bypass road, constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 42 crore.

Palaniswami inaugurated the bypass road from here through video conferencing yesterday, an official release said today.

The dedication of the 5.2 km long two-way road has led to the completion of the ring road for Thanjavur and it will help address congestion problem in the city, the release said.

Further, it will cut down travel time of heavy vehicles coming from nearby Kumbakonam, Tiruchirappally and Puthukottai among others, passing through Thanjavur and proceeding to various destinations in the state, it said.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated a railway over bridge at Thanjavur and a bridge across Malatar river in Villupuram district, the release said.

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Senior Congress leader pitched for greater autonomy for the restive Jammu and Kashmir yet again on Saturday, drawing stinging criticism from the BJP, with Union minister Smriti Irani calling it "shocking and shameful".

"The demand in the Kashmir Valley is to respect the letter and spirit of Article 370, that means they want greater autonomy. My interactions in J&K led me to the conclusion that when they ask for azadi, mostly, I am not saying all... the overwhelming majority, they want autonomy," he told reporters in Gujarat's Rajkot.

"Yes, I do," Chidambaram said when he was asked if he still thinks that Jammu and Kashmir should be given greater autonomy.

Chidambaram had in July 2016 advocated greater autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir, saying India should restore the "grand bargain" under which Kashmir had acceded by granting a large degree of autonomy to it. He had warned that otherwise the country will have to pay a "heavy price".

Reacting sharply, the said, it was not surprising to see Chidambaram make such comments given his leader supported those who gave slogan of "Bharat tere tukde honge", an apparent reference to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi backing those who protested the arrest of student leader Kanhaiya Kumar in the JNU row.

Kumar, then the JNUSU president, and a few others were arrested on the charge of sedition after anti- slogans were allegedly raised at an event on the campus in February last year to protest the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

"Shocking that PC bats for separatists & 'azadi' but then not surprising given that their leader supported 'Bharat tere tukde honge' naara!" Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani tweeted.

Shocking that PC bats for separatists & azadi but then not surprising given that their leader supported Bharat tere tukde honge  naara!  Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) October 28, 2017

"Shameful given that PC spoke in Gujarat, the birthplace of Sardar Patel ; a man who dedicated his life for the unity & prosperity of India," she added.

Chidambaram said the question of greater autonomy should be "seriously examined" and it should be considered in which areas it could be granted.

"It's (autonomy) perfectly within the Constitution of India. Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India but it will have larger powers as promised under Article 370," he said.

In Srinagar, general secretary Ram Madhav Madhav alleged that the Kashmiri people and the whole country "are bearing the brunt of the mistakes" that were committed by Chidambaram and the Congress government.

"We do not need this advice. The present government would seek advice from well-wishers of J-K and would act definitely in future. We do not need advice from Chidambaram," Madhav, the BJP's pointsman for Jammu and Kashmir, said.

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Participating in a brief intervention delivered by their peers in community settings may help youth and young adults to reduce smoking, a study suggests.

Intervention can be an important tool in outreach aimed at preventing regular tobacco use in an age group heavily targeted by industry marketing, researchers said.

Researchers from University of California Davis in the US asked 30 high school and college students to provide five to ten minute intervention, which included one-on-one education, motivational messages, the "quit kits" and referrals to quit- smoking resources.

Over a four-year period, the team delivered the intervention to 279 younger smokers at a booth set up at about 30 street fairs, concerts, mall activities.

Follow-up calls were made to 76 participants three times within six months to collect information and determine whether or not the intervention worked.

Researchers noted that the quit rate for people who participated in the intervention was 12.5 per cent at six months, given that only about five per cent of smokers are typically able to quit on their own.

The study, published in the Journal of Community Health, showed that the most effective tools in the intervention were informational conversations about the consequences of smoking and a "quit kit" of behaviour-replacement activities.

"Tobacco-cessation efforts aimed at newer smokers often do not work, likely because they are based on what works for longer-term smokers versus younger smokers who identify as social smokers," said Kimberly Bankston-Lee from UC Davis.

"One of the key differences with our approach was the comfort factor. Younger smokers were able to interact with people their own age in locations where they all typically hang out," she added.

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The Kerala Police is trying to confirm about the death of five Islamic State (IS) sympathisers from the district in Syria, the Kannur DSP said today.

"We came to know about the death of five men from the district through their relatives. We are trying to confirm about their death," said Kannur Deputy Superintendent of Police P P Sadanandan.

"The about the death of one of them, Muhammed Shajil (25) was conveyed by his wife in a foreign country, to his uncle. The wife of another Rishad disclosed information about his death to her mother," he added.

"Similarly, newsabout the death of the other three, Shahanad (25), Shameer (45) and his elder son Salman (20) were also received by their relatives from their kin in various places," the DSP said.

"They had died at various periods of time between 2014 and 2017," he said when asked about the time of their deaths.

Sadanandan, who is the investigating officerinto the case relating to the recent arrest of five persons, allegedly with links to the terrorist outfit, said, "We are going to take them under police custody today for further interrogation."



Three youths - Mithilaj, Abdul Razzak and Rashid- with suspectedlinks to the IS were arrested by the Valapattinam police in the district on October 25 followed by the arrest of two others the next day.

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A policeman from south Kashmirs Shopian district has deserted the police force and joined militant ranks, the police said here on Saturday.

Ishfaq Ahmad Dar, a resident of Heff village of Shopian, has deserted the force and joined militant ranks, inspector general of police (IGP) Kashmir Range, Munir Ahmad Khan told PTI.

I can confirm you that Dar has joined militant ranks, Khan said.

He however, declined to name the militant outfit Dar has joined.

I cannot tell you which militant outfit, we are still trying to ascertain that, the IGP said.

Dar, posted in Budgam district, was undergoing training in Kathua district in Jammu region of the state, where from he took leave earlier this week.

He returned home and went missing from there, following which his family lodged a missing report in a police station yesterday.

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Indian culture and spiritualism have attracted people from other countries for centuries, President Ram Nath Kovind said today.

Speaking at the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Sister Nivedita, organised by the Ramakrishna Mission in New Delhi, Kovind said she was part of this tradition, and came to India and to Swami Vivekananda for enlightenment.

He said Buddhist monks from China came to Nalanda in ancient times.

Today, the appeal of yoga and vipasanna to people across the world -- and the response to International Yoga Day -- is another example, he said.

"Sister Nivedita was part of this tradition, and came to India and to Swamiji for enlightenment. And yet she was different. She did not come and learn a little and leave. She learnt a lot -- and stayed on," he said.

He said she made India her life's mission and became an Indian nation builder even though she was born in Ireland.

"Sister Nivedita's original name was Margaret Noble. True to her name, she served India with nobility. She was a pioneer in girls' education in India and in providing health services to the poor," he said.

Kovind said Swami Vivekananda was one of those who shaped our modern national consciousness.

"He rediscovered Indian values not only for us but for the world. He was a true cultural ambassador, as became so apparent during his visit to Chicago in 1893 for the Parliament of Religions," he said.

He said his legacy is reflected in the Ramakrishna Mission, which is itself 120 years old and has grown from strength to strength.

"The Ramakrishna Mission's education and health-care initiatives, its schools and hospitals, can be found all over the country. In parts of the Northeast and in our frontier state of Arunachal Pradesh, the Ramakrishna Mission has been a pioneer institution," he said.

Kovind said in "Maoist-troubled" Chhattisgarh, he had seen the dedication with which the Ramakrishna Mission has worked among very poor and underprivileged tribal communities in Narayanpur.

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A protest by resident doctors of the premier AIIMS against "improper implementation" of the Seventh Central Pay Commission's recommendations entered its third day today.

The protesting doctors continued to work while fasting.

The doctors alleged that revised allowances under the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) had been implemented in other central government hospitals including RML Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital and autonomous institutes such as the Chandigarh-based PGIMER, but doctors at the AIIMS were yet to get the benefits.

Around 2,000 resident doctors taking part in the fast held a peaceful protest from 1 pm to 2 pm in front of the hospital main gate and announced that they would not break their fast until their demands were fulfilled.

They were joined by the nurses' union, officers' association, society of young scientists, students' union and karamchari union among others.

"The health minister is not at all interested in the problems of the staff of the AIIMS and there is complete apathy to our demands. This (protest) will continue till we get approval for the release of our revised pay according to the 7th CPC recommendations from the health ministry.

"The government should realise the risk of working without food in hospital settings," AIIMS resident doctors' association president Harjit Singh Bhatti said.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the AIIMS Resident Doctors Association (RDA) said even one-and-a-half years after the implementation of the commission's recommendations and four months of allowance approval in other medical institutes, the AIIMS doctors here still did not get the revised pay because of administrative lapses.

"We have remained silent for a long time, hoping for a response from the health ministry. But there has been a complete lack of constructive steps taken by the ministry.

"Being a responsible citizen and a doctor we will not hamper the facilities for patients. In our further action to put our demands forward we will work continuously without consuming food," former AIIMS RDA president Vijay Kumar said.

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Catalonia's separatist leader Carles Puigdemont has dreamed since childhood of independence from Spain.

But the man who has said he is willing to go to jail over the fate of the region has now been removed from office and faces charges of "rebellion" after he and his separatist lawmakers voted to declare Catalonia an independent republic.

The 54-year-old former journalist with the shaggy brown mop of hair has become the face of the Catalan independence movement, both liked and disliked.

"Puigdemont to jail," defenders of Spanish unity shout regularly.

His secession push has prompted hundreds of companies to flee the region since October 1, when he raised the stakes by holding an independence referendum that was banned by the courts and the central government.

Yesterday, Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he had dissolved the Catalan parliament and called regional elections on December 21 under sweeping powers approved by the Senate to stop the secessionist movement.

Rajoy said he had also formally removed Puigdemont and his executive from office as part of measures to "restore normality" after the Catalan parliament voted to declare independence.

So where does the determination of this married father of two girls come from?



In a biography published in 2016, Carles Porta, a journalist and friend of Puigdemont, describes him as an "honest and resilient" man, a dyed-in-the-wool partisan of independence.

"He has this quality (or this flaw): he's stubborn," Porta wrote.

But a high-ranking critic who knows him but refused to be identified in order to speak freely, said he "does not have much preparation... to take on this big challenge", even though he has the independence of Catalonia "in his blood, as a unique driving force".

Puigdemont's destiny changed in January 2016 when he was selected to lead a coalition of separatist parties which had won a majority of regional parliament seats, with a mandate to pursue independence.

Mayor of the city of Girona since 2001 and a lawmaker in the regional parliament, Puigdemont replaced Artur Mas as the Catalan president, becoming the Spanish government's public enemy number one.

He does though share one thing in common with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy: both suffered serious car accidents when they were younger.

Rajoy has his scars hidden under his beard, Puigdemont on his forehead, under his fringe.

Puigdemont was born in Amer, a small mountain village of 2,200 people, on December 29, 1962, the second of eight siblings.

The son and grandson of bakers, he was just nine when he was sent to boarding school and "learnt to be a fighter", Porta says.

He was 13 when Spain's dictator Francisco Franco died in 1975.

Hugely attached to the Catalan language and passionate about history, the teenager would forever remember Franco's severe repression of the region.

In 1980, he joined Convergencia Democratica de Catalunya, the conservative and nationalist party which became the Catalan European Democratic Party in 2016.

Hired in 1982 by the nationalist newspaper El Punt Avui, he rose up through the ranks and became editor, combining journalism with activism.

At the time, pro-independence Catalans were still a minority.

In the summer of 1991, he travelled to the Republic of Slovenia, which had just declared independence from Yugoslavia after a banned referendum, followed by a brief armed conflict.

In the following years, he sought to widen support for independence, always by peaceful means, inspired by India's icon, Mahatma Gandhi.

At ease with social media, he also speaks French, English and Romanian -- his wife Marcela Topor comes from Romania.

Puigdemont founded a Catalan agency and an English- language newspaper about the region, and headed up the Association of Municipalities for Independence, which brings together local entities to promote the right to self- determination.

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The Art of Living Foundation has said that its founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has been in touch with several imams and swamis, including Acharya Ram Das of Nirmohi Akhara, to help find an out-of-court settlement to the Ram temple dispute.

The Foundation, however, said it was too early to draw any conclusions and that these discussions were not done on behalf of the government.

"Ravi Shankar has been in touch with several imams and swamis, including Acharya Ram Das of Nirmohi Akhara," the Art of Living Foundation said in a statement here.

"Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is of the view that the prevailing mood on the Ram Mandir issue provides an opportunity for people from both communities to come together, show their magnanimity and settle the dispute out of court," it added.

The Foundation said these discussions, not done on behalf of any government or organisation, had brought to the fore the positive energy and willingness of leaders from both communities to move forward and arrive at an amicable solution.

However, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has reportedly denied holding any meeting with Ravi Shankar.

The Board yesterday said it was ready to talk to Ravi Shankar if he wanted, for they would not have any issue in having a conversation and in helping find a solution.

The Allahabad High Court, in 2010, had ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77-acre area at Ayodhya among Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and Lord Ram Lalla.

The Supreme Court decided to reopen the hearing after based on 13 appeals filed against the 2010 judgement in four civil suits. It is all set to hear the historic Babri Masjid-Ram Temple case from December 5.

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A self-styled septuagenarian godman has been booked for allegedly molesting a 45-year-old woman in north Delhi's Sabzi Mandi area, police said today.

Mahant Sundar Das was booked following a court order on October 2, for the crime allegedly committed three years ago, they said.

He has been charged with one count of assault or criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty, one count of sexual harassment and one count of criminal intimidation, Jatin Narwal, deputy commissioner of police (north), said.

"The matter is under investigation," Narwal said.

Das runs an ashram in Sabzi Mandi area where the victim used to visit along with her family. The woman in her complaint alleged that Das molested her in November 2014 and threatened her against reporting the matter to the police.

When the woman's husband learnt about the matter in May this year, the family tried to file a complaint at the Roop Nagar police station. But an FIR could be registered due to jurisdictional reasons, the police said.

The complainant later approached a court, which ordered the police to register a case against the accused.

No arrest has been made in the case so far, the police added.

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The Shiv Sena today hit out at the BJP-led Maharashtra government over "hasty" implementation of the Rs 34,022 crore loan waiver scheme for farmers, alleging it has increased their miseries instead of providing relief.

An editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said, "The government rushed to seek credit for loan waiver implementation, which has now backfired. It is a classic example of how haste spoils crucial decisions like this and how common people suffer due to it."



"The whole exercise of loan waiver implementation has, in fact, increased the miseries of farmers instead of providing relief to them," the Sena, which is a part of the ruling alliance in Maharashtra, alleged.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party was often at loggerheads with the BJP and has been vocal in criticising the Modi government.

"Loan waiver has been a life or death situation for farmers, but the ruling government tried to seek credit over it," the 'Saamana' editorial said.

Recently, the Maharashtra government released Rs 4,000 crore under the first phase of the Rs 34,022 crore farm loan waiver scheme.

The Sena asked if the state government insisted on online registration of farmers, then how come "technical errors" occurred while finalising the list of beneficiaries.

"It shows poor preparation by the state administration before implementing such a big decision," it said.

The Sena said the government had claimed that farm loan up to Rs 1.50 lakh will be waived, then how come farmers got certificates of waiving of only Rs 10,000.

"Is it not a cruel joke on farmers' plight," it asked.

Sena also alleged that the departments involved in implementation of the scheme are not accepting their mistakes, which has increased the farmers' woes.

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An alleged sharpshooter carrying a reward of Rs one lakh was arrested on the DND Flyway, police said today.

Pradip Rana, 35, was arrested following a tip-off on the flyway on Thursday evening, said Pramod Kushwaha, DCP (Special Cell).

He tried to escape by whipping out a country-made gun but was overpowered before he could open fire at the police team, Kushwaha said, adding that two sophisticated revolvers, a pistol and live cartridges were seized from his possession.

Rana was being pursued by the police in connection with serious crimes, including contract killings and ransom demands. He was allegedly involved in three contract killings, and extortion demands from bookies and property dealers.

A cash reward of Rs one lakh was announced last year by the Delhi Police to anyone who provided information leading to his arrest, the DCP said.

During interrogation, he admitted to his role in abduction of a real-estate developer, Ram Pratap, from Rohini Sector 24. He named his accomplices as Paramjeet Dalal, Deepak Chauda and Mohit Chhabra, the officer said.

"The kidnappers released the realtor after Rs 26-lakh ransom was paid to them," he said.

Chauda and Chhabra were arrested earlier, Dalal remains at large.

Rana was previously arrested in connection with cases registered under the Arms Act in 2012 and 2015, Kushwaha said.

In March 2015, Rana and his aides were allegedly involved in a double murder in Bindapur area. They had gunned down two members of a rival gang, the officer said.

In 2009, Rana and his accomplices allegedly killed his partner in cable business, Satish, over a business dispute, he added.

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A suicide bomber killed at least three people today at the funeral of an anti-jihadist Sunni fighter in Iraq, security and medical sources said.

The bomber struck as condolences were being given at the funeral of the fighter from tribal paramilitaries battling the Islamic State group.

He detonated an explosive belt outside a mosque in Al- Mashahada some 40 kilometres north of Baghdad, the security source said.

The military command in the capital said the attack killed a guard and two civilians, while a medical source said that another 12 people were wounded.

Despite being under increasing pressure in both Syria and Iraq, IS cells remain active north of Baghdad.

The jihadist group has carried out bloody attacks both in the capital and across the country.

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In yet another prompt response to a request for help, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today asked the Indian embassy in Kuala Lumpur to help an Indian family get their travel documents, despite the mission being closed on weekends.

Swaraj's response came after one, Meera Ramesh Patel, sought the former's intervention saying her family was at the airport and had lost their passports.

"Indian Embassy in Malaysia: This is an emergency case. Pls open the Embassy and help the Indian family @hcikl," the minister said in a tweet.

Responding to Swaraj's request, the Indian embassy in Malaysia tweeted that the family members have been contacted and the matter was being resolved.

Earlier in her tweet to the Union minister, Patel said, "@SushmaSwaraj Mam my family is in malasia airport and lost their passports. Due to weekend Indian Embassy is closed. Please help".

In yet another case, the external affairs minister requested the Indian embassy in Washington to help an Indian student who had lost her passport.

In a tweet, Anusha Dhulipala said she was a student in the United States and had lost her passport because of which she could not travel anywhere.

"@SushmaSwaraj I really need help as they say I have to go to India to get my Visa its my exams time I cant travel without passport sooner," she said.

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Sammys receives donation

COLUMBUS -- In September, SeneGence International distributors from all over the nation partnered with Sammys Superheroes Foundation to raise awareness of childhood cancer.

Columbus-based Sammys Superheroes Foundation received $30,000 from the companys "Go Gold" campaign. The local nonprofit was one of four dedicated to research and awareness outreach chosen to receive funds.

For more information, visit www.sammyssuperheroes.org.

Bank makes local donation

OMAHA -- First National Bank awarded a total of $996,000 in community development grants to 58 organizations, including $694,500 to 32 organizations in Nebraska.

In the Columbus area, a $10,000 grant was awarded to The Zone after-school program. The funds will support the tutoring and mentoring of disadvantaged seventh- through 12th-graders to promote high school graduation and leadership.

Election official recognized

LINCOLN -- A local county election official was honored by Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale for her expertise, leadership and dedication in running statewide and local elections.

Platte County Election Commissioner Diane Olmer received an NASS medallion, a national award given by the National Association of Secretaries of State. The presentation by Gale was made during a recent training workshop hosted by his office in Kearney.

Olmer, who was also recognized for serving 20-plus years in office, has held various offices for the Nebraska Association of County Officials, including on its legislative committee. In addition, she was member of the Vote Nebraska Initiative project for the Secretary of States Office and is a current member of Gales Election Officials Advisory Committee and the Election System Task Force.

In addition to her outreach efforts, Diane is known to be a very hands-on supervisor, Gale said. Staff members say there is not a single aspect of the job that Diane doesnt know and isnt afraid to do herself, if the situation calls for it.

Girl Scouts honors volunteers

NORFOLK -- Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska recently honored area volunteers who have gone the extra mile.

The following awards were given to local volunteers during the Volunteer Awards Ceremony at Norfolk Country Club earlier this month: Bellwood - Jenny Jacobson, Volunteer of Excellence Award; Columbus - Jaymee Levander, five years of volunteer service pin; Melodee Pedersen, Helpful Adult Award; St. Edward - Susan Nissen, 25 years of volunteer service pin, Volunteer of Excellence Award.

Hagel dinner a success

COLUMBUS -- The Chuck Hagel Legacy Dinner held Sept. 22 at Scotus Central Catholic was attended by more than 300 guests.

The event provided Scotus with the opportunity to raise funds for the new STEAM Lab and honor one of its most distinguished graduates, former U.S. Sen. and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, a 1964 graduate.

The dinner itself had net proceeds of just over $7,770, and to date 95 donors have provided a total of $273,645.50. That brings the current fundraising total for the STEAM Lab to $281,416.66.

The Scotus lab will feature equipment for 3-D printing, robotics, cyber security, biomechanics, graphic design, virtual-reality devices, drones, video production, audio production and a variety of material and experimental supplies. Scotus also expects to work in partnership with the University of Nebraska at Omahas STEM program to develop the curriculum and provide teacher training for the lab.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami has urged the Centre to take immediate steps to secure the release of 54 Indian fishermen apprehended by Sri Lanka.

140 fishing boats are also in Sri Lanka's custody and this is fuelling unrest among the fisher folk, he noted.

"I strongly urge you to ... take up the alarming and frequent abduction of our fishermen in their traditional waters with the highest authorities in the Sri Lankan government," he said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday.

He appealed to Modi to ensure the safety and security of Indian fishermen in the Palk Bay.

Palaniswami said recently 46 fishermen and their nine mechanised fishing boats were apprehended in separate incidents.

The fishermen had set sail from Ramanathapuram and Pudukottai districts of Tamil Nadu. They were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy between September 11 and October 26, he said in the letter.

"So far, in 2017, 317 Tamil Nadu fishermen and 62 fishing boats have been apprehended in 59 incidents and 263 of these fishermen have been released after considerable persuasion by the governments of India and Tamil Nadu," he noted.

Sri Lanka released only 36 fishing boats out of 61 fishing boats seized in 2015, he said.

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To counter Chinas growing silk production, the Government of India has pumped in Rs 690 crore in 24 districts in the North East region, Central Silk Board (CSB) chairman K M Hanumantharayappa said today.

"Under North East Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS), 24 projects worth Rs 690 crore is being implemented in NE states and of these, six are in Assam, one in Sikkim, two each in Meghalaya and Manipur and the rest in other states," Hanumantharayappa told PTI on his one day visit to the state.

He said the scheme is being implemented under two broad categories - the Integrated Sericulture Development Project (ISDP) and the Intensive Bivoltine Sericulture Development Project [IBSDP] covering Mulberry, Eri and Muga.

The scheme is aimed at a holistic development of sericulture in all its spheres from plantation development to production of fabrics with value addition at every stage of production chain.

"All four commercially exploited varieties of silk



mulberry, muga, eri and tasar are produced in the North-east and this region contributes about 21 per cent of the total silk production in the country," he said.

The Silk Board chairman also informed that the government has big plans as far as promotion of silk farming is concerned to meet the domestic demand and also at the same time to counter Chinas Silk production.

He also lauded the eri production which has reached 3,600 tonne in 2016-17 even as muga production was 141 tonne and production of mulberry silk stood at 45 tonne this year.

In Meghalaya, the Centre has funded a pilot mulberry project for three years worth Rs 29 crore at Thadlaskein in West Jaintia Hills district and also at the government farm at Laban.

The mulberry farms in Meghalaya are almost a 100 year old, first set up by the British in 1925 but their growth story after Independence is negligible and is a dying art at present.

Taking a cue from what the British did, the Centre has identified three districts in Meghalaya and an intensive awareness campaign will be launched to help draw back silkworm farmers to the trade.

"Before we started silk board, British had identified Shillong as a centre for rearing silkworms. We are implementing a Rs 29 crore 3 year n-to-n project in Mulbery production wherein nursery, land development, plantation, rearing tools, rearing house, irrigation for plantation, cocoon, product development, marketing and training for farmers," he said.

The Integrated project for Eri, Mulbery and Muga is in West Jaintia Hills district, Williamnagar in East Garo Hills and Trikkikilla in West Garo Hills district, the Central Silk Board, chairman added.

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Union minister K J Alphons visited an injured Swiss couple, who were allegedly attacked in Agra's Fatehpur Sikri by a group of youths, at Apollo Hospital here today, an official statement said.

The minister of state (independent charge) for tourism also had discussion with the hospital management and doctors regarding their treatment, the statement said.

Both the patients are fast recovering and are very happy about the treatment that they are getting at the hospital, it added.

The couple, Quentin Jeremy Clerc (24) and Marie Droz (24), from Lausanne in Switzerland, who came to India on September 30, was chased and attacked on Sunday with stones and sticks by a group of four youths in the tourist town of Fatehpur Sikri, about 40 km from Agra, according to media accounts of the incident



They told the media that as they lay on the ground bloodied and bruised, bystanders began taking videos of them on their mobile phones.

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Tunisia's Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui will co-chair with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj the joint commission meeting between the two countries during his visit here, the external affairs ministry said today.

Jhinaoui is visiting India from October 28-31 for co- chairing the 12th India-Tunisia Joint Commission Meeting along with his Indian counterpart, it said.

During his visit, the Tunisian minister will also call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Swaraj will hold discussions with Jhinaoui on a wide- range of issues of shared common interest.

The joint commission meeting will enable both countries to comprehensively review bilateral cooperation in the political, economic and cultural spheres and enhance people- to-people exchanges. Both countries will also be signing agreements and MoUs, the ministry said in a statement.

He will be accompanied by a high-level business delegation representing diverse areas of business, trade and investments, the statement said.

Besides official meetings, Jhinaoui will also address business sessions to be organised by the apex chambers of commerce and industry and deliver a keynote address on 'New Tunisia and emerging democracy in an age of challenges and global threats' to be organised by the Indian Council for World Affairs.

India has traditionally had close and friendly bilateral relations with Tunisia.

The economic cooperation between the two nations is deepening with Indian investments in the country's various sectors, including fertilisers, automobile, pharma, textiles etc, the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Goals of the Swachh Bharat Mission can't be attained without upgradation of urban local bodies with latest technology and knowledge and linking them with career advancement, recommends a report by climate think tank TERI.

It also highlights the plight of the people involved in de-sludging suggesting that the government should impart required skills to such people and combine training with immediate placement.

"Making capacity-building activities for the urban local bodies mandatory and linking them with career advancement would help in integrating capacity building with rest of the development plans of cities. It will close the gap in capacity enhancement efforts to attain the goal of the mission," suggests the TERI report.

It is part of a three year (2014-17) collaborating programme undertaken by TERI, Coca-Cola India and USAID.

The report has recommended that by bringing in the improvements in the capacities of the key institutions involved in smooth functioning of the urban water and sanitation sector, it is essential to use the funds set aside for capacity building by the mission in urban areas.

"Improve the capacity of urban local body officials to undertake preventive maintenance of sanitation infrastructure networks," says the report.

It has also suggested enhancing institutional, financial and human resource capacities of these bodies for improved management of faecal sludge and septage.

Taking a page out of the success story of Bangladesh in eliminating outside defecation by strengthening the communities at the grass root level, the report has recommended that the government educate, motivate and mobilise households and communities towards enhanced engagement in planning and implementing sanitation services.

Emphasising on the contribution of non-governmental organisations, the report has urged the government to enhance the capacities of the NGOs and other partners to engage themselves effectively in the entire water, sanitation and hygiene sector.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US is keen to move forward on some important defence agreements with India that will make it easier for the Trump administration to share classified data and facilitate the sale of F-16 and F-18 fighter jets to New Delhi, a top American diplomat has said.

The Trump administration last month told Congress that it "strongly supports" the sale of F-18 and F-16 fighter jets to India and asserted that the proposals have the potential to take the Indo-US defence ties to the next level.

There are important defence agreements that the two countries can move forward on, Alice G Wells, acting assistant secretary of state for the South and Central Asian Affairs, told reporters yesterday.

The agreements will make it easier for the US to share classified data and that will facilitate sales like the F-16 or the F-18 fighter jets and will help create a defence technology partnership, which is what India is seeking, but which will also create jobs for Americans at home, she said.

"This is a dynamic relationship which really hasn't begun to see the potential yet," Wells said.

Wells had accompanied US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on his just concluded trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

"This was an extremely friendly, very wide-ranging dialogue on how we can partner together on the strategic relationship that we think is going to define the rest of the 21st century," Wells said.

While there was a bilateral component to the visit, they talked about how the two countries with shared values - a respect for democracy, transparency, freedom of navigation, for economic development - can inculcate these values in the broader Indo-Pacific region, working with important partners like Japan and Australia.

"Tillerson's visit to Gandhi Smriti was very moving and was a touchstone for what unites that this relationship is very much one built on values," she said, adding that the Secretary of State laid out a lot of ambitions for the relationship.

"We want to build on the June visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the President (Donald Trump). We'd like to deepen the military-to-military cooperation that has moved very quickly; over the last decade we've gone from zero to 15 billion in defence sales.

"We'd like to expand the bilateral trade and investment dimension of the relationship. We have about USD 115 billion in trade, USD 40 billion in bilateral investment," Wells said, noting that this week they have two important meetings going on, the Trade Policy Forum and the Commercial Dialogue.

The US sees this as a two-way street. In November Mahindra is opening an auto plant in Michigan.

"We've seen purchases of Boeing aircraft, all of which produce, again, thousands of jobs for American citizens," Wells said.

Later in November, the president's daughter Ivanka Trump will attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit which is going to bring together 1,300 entrepreneurs and investors, demonstrate the entrepreneurial spirit of the relationship.

"During his India visit, Tillerson focused on how they can promote regional stability. In the South Asia strategy, we have given an important role to India on helping to stabilise Afghanistan economically and to build its human resource capacity," she said.

Since 2001, India has invested USD 2 billion in Afghanistan. They have pledged another USD 1 billion by 2020.

India has projects in 31 provinces and all of these projects have been very well received.

"They are constructive, and I think it has demonstrated that India is an important and valuable partner.

"At the same time, we have made it clear to everyone that we would never tolerate anyone's soil being used against the other. On the fight against terrorism, building on the joint designation we did of Harakat ul-Mujahidin during Modi's visit, we're looking forward to working with the the Indians on identifying additional designations that we should pursue together," Wells added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A notorious landlord in San Francisco has been slapped with a USD 3.5 million fine by a jury which found her guilty of ousting a family from its home of 21 years to rent the unit at a higher price.

The jury this month found Anne Kihagi guilty of violating the law when she evicted tenants - Dale Duncan, his wife Marta Mendoza and their then-6-year-old daughter - from their home on Hill Street, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The judgement is the largest in a single-unit landlord- tenant case not involving personal injury claims in the nation, the paper quoted attorneys for the family as saying.

According to the family, Kihagi evicted them after saying that her sister Christina Mwangi would be occupying the unit.

In San Francisco, landlords can legally evict tenants if they or a family member plans to move in.

But the family sued last year, saying the owner move-in was a sham, and that Kihagi instead intended to rent the unit out at a market-rate price. At the time, the family was paying about USD 1,300 per month for its rent-controlled unit.

"The jury determined that (Mwangi) never moved in and never intended to move in," Steven McDonald, an attorney for the family, said yesterday.

Shortly after Kihagi bought the five-unit Hill Street building in 2014, she took a number of bewildering actions aimed at making life difficult for all of her rent-controlled tenants, the paper quoted McDonald as saying.

"At one point, all of a sudden, she reduced garbage services by half without telling tenants. She would shut off electricity in common areas, and she would retaliate if (tenants) complained," he said.

Mendoza said she and her family are relieved to be through the ordeal, but she misses the home she was forced out of.

A San Francisco Superior Court jury awarded the family USD 1.17 million in damages this month after a four-and-half- week trial, but Superior Court Judge Andrew Y S Cheng tripled that amount last week, the paper said.

Under San Francisco law, judges can triple the amount of damages awarded to victims whose rights have been violated under the citys rent ordinance.

Richard Diestal, an attorney for Kihagi, did not respond to requests for comment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US is looking at a "working-level" quadrilateral meeting in the near term with India, Japan and Australia and offer countries in the Indo- Pacific region an alternative to predatory financing or unsustainable debt, the Trump Administration has said.

The US yesterday came out in support of the Japanese move in this regard, which was revealed early this week by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono in an interview to Nikkei business daily, by asserting that the quadrilateral group is a "natural stepping stone" from the very productive trilateral conversations, exercises, and cooperation it has had with Japan and Australia.

Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice G Wells told reporters here that she expects the first of those meeting at the working level to be held fairly soon, which includes her counterparts in India, Japan and Australia.

Responding to questions, Wells refuted reports that such a move is aimed at containing China.

But she did referred to "predatory financing" a term increasingly being used by the US for China's developmental and assistance model to the countries in the region, as being on the agenda of the four countries India, US, Japan and Australia.

"I think it's hard to see a meeting of diplomats from four countries as a plan to contain China," said Wells, who accompanied the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on his maiden trip to South Asia Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

The quadrilateral is a natural expression and convergence of interests between democratic countries in the Indo-Pacific region and it's a natural stepping stone from the very productive trilateral conversations, exercises, and cooperation between India, Japan, and the US, she said.

"The countries that share values have an opportunity to provide alternatives to countries in the region who are seeking needed investment in their infrastructure and in their economic development, and so making sure that we coordinate our initiatives and provide these countries with alternatives that don't include predatory financing or unsustainable debt, that would certainly be on the agenda," Wells said.

"The quadrilateral that the Japanese foreign minister discussed would be building on what has been a very productive trilateral that we have with India and Japan, and if you look at the largest military exercise that we do, Malabar, Japan is a part of that exercise," she said.

"As we explore ways to deepen and try to inculcate some of the values freedom of navigation, maritime security, humanitarian assistance, disaster response, transparency



Australia would be a natural partner in that effort as well," she said.

"We're looking at a working-level quadrilateral meeting in the near term, but I think the idea is how do we bring together countries that share these same values to reinforce these values in the global architecture," the top American diplomat said.

Wells said the quadrilateral is a positive vision.

"As Secretary of Defense (Jim) Mattis said, two weeks ago, there are many belts and many roads. So what does the US have to offer? What does the US, Japan, Australia, other countries, India, other countries that share the values of transparency, sustainable debt, responsible development what do we have to offer," she noted.

This is not to counter something; it is a positive vision of what important democracies in the Indo-Pacific region should be doing and how these four countries can work better together.

"How do we work with one another, the countries of the region, to make sure that our development projects are mutually reinforcing, and how do we build on connectivity so that there is an alternative and very sustainable initiative that can address legitimate development needs of these countries?" she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US shares India's concern over the "potentially destabilising consequences" of a large exodus of Rohingya into Bangladesh, a senior American diplomat has said.

Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs and Acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Alice G Wells said the issue of Rohingya's did came up during the just concluded trip by the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to India.

"The Rohingya issue was raised. We of course share India's concern over the potentially destabilising consequences of a large exodus of Rohingya into Bangladesh," Wells said.

Meanwhile, Wells said US feels that there is "need to ensure that the government in Myanmar stands up responsibly for its commitment to protecting" the citizens within Rakhine State.

(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 US is waiting to see the practical steps taken by Pakistan over the next weeks and months in its war against terrorism, a top American diplomat has said asserting that the Trump Administration is moving quickly on its own strategy to fight against terror groups.

The Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs and Acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Alice G Wells, who was part of the US delegation Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's trip to the region told reporters in a briefing that it is all about Pakistan's strategic choice.

"This is about Pakistan's sovereign choice. This is not about America giving dictation. We've described our strategy, we've described a very important role for Pakistan, who we see as a very important country in the region, but it's up to them whether or not they want to work with us on this strategy. And if they don't, as the Secretary said, we'll adjust accordingly," Wells said.

During his just-concluded visit to Pakistan, Tillerson stressed the importance of Pakistan "moving quickly" to demonstrate good faith and efforts to use its influence to create the conditions that will get the Taliban to the negotiating table.

"These are things that are seen and felt and measurable, and so we look forward over the next weeks and months to see the practical steps that Pakistan takes out of its own self- interest and ensuring that its own country is not destabilised by some of the actions of the groups that have been able to use its territory," she said.

"I can't give you an explicit timetable, but we're moving very quickly ourselves on our own strategy and in reinforcing on the military side our ability to demonstrate to the Taliban that they cannot win this war. We are going to make equally rapid progress on the diplomatic side or have equally-high expectations on the diplomatic side of responsiveness," she said.

Wells asserted that the Taliban leadership and the Haqqani Network still retain an ability to plan, to recuperate, and to reside with their families in Pakistan.

The Quetta and Peshawar leadership councils of the Taliban have their names for a reason, she noted.

"What we saw in 2014 was we saw Pakistan make a strategic decision to defeat the terrorist groups that were targeting the government of Pakistan. And with great loss of life, great courage, great vision about what needed to be done, Pakistan has fought that battle and now has regained control and sovereignty over the FATA territories," she said.

"We'd like to see the same strategic commitment brought against other militant groups, whether that are operating or have used Pakistan's territory, whether they are directed against India or directed against Afghanistan," she added.

Tillerson, during his meetings with the Pakistani leadership, had an extremely candid conversation with the Prime Minister and the civilian and military leadership team, she said.

The Secretary underscored that the strategy is an opportunity; since Pakistan, with the exception of Afghanistan, has the most to benefit from a stable and peaceful country next door.

He noted that at several critical junctures over the last 70 years, the US has worked very closely with Pakistan, and the Coleman hostage is an example of what they can do when together.

"But under the strategy, we've laid out some very specific expectations of how Pakistan can help create the conditions that will help bring the Taliban to the table.

And I think the longstanding relationships with the militant and terrorist organizations our concern is that they threaten Pakistans stability.

You see already the spillover of the sectarianism that has been building in Pakistan over the last several decades, she said.

According to Wells, over the last four years, Pakistani officials and the Taliban both thought the US was withdrawing.

"They were hedging against a chaotic departure. They were hedging against an uncertain security environment," she said.

"What the South Asia strategy gives them, is certainty that we're there, we're not going to let the Taliban win, that we're prepared to invest the resources that will be, at a minimum, a stalemate but a stalemate increasingly in the government's favor," she said.
AG speaking to Lions Club

COLUMBUS  Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson is scheduled to visit the Columbus Noon Lions Club at Monday's meeting.

The Lions meet over the noon hour in the club room at Hy-Vee. Anyone wishing to hear Peterson's presentation is invited to attend. No RSVP is needed.

Presentation on emerald ash borer

COLUMBUS -- The Nebraska Tree Service and NCEF will host an event from 4-6 p.m. Monday at Columbus Public Library discussing the emerald ash borer, its impact on Nebraska and measures homeowners can take to combat the insect.

Jennifer Morris, a Nebraska Forest Service tree health specialist, will give the presentation, which is open to the public.

Medicare program in Columbus

COLUMBUS -- The state has developed a program to educate older Nebraskans and people with disabilities about their health insurance options.

Terry Lab, a coordinator for the Nebraska Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) will be at the Columbus Resource Center on Monday, Friday, Nov. 7, Nov. 17 and Nov. 30. Call 402-563-4444 for an appointment on one of these dates. Bring prescriptions and Medicare information with you.

These sessions are free, unbiased and confidential.
The US wants to deepen military relationship and expand bilateral trade with New Delhi which will ease the sale of the F-16 and F-18 jets to India and will also help create a defence technology partnership, a top American diplomat has said.

"This is a dynamic relationship with really" hasn't "begun to see the potential yet," Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs and Acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Alice G Wells, told reporters here.

Wells accompanied Tillerson on his just concluded trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

"This was an extremely friendly, very wide-ranging dialogue on how we can partner together on the strategic relationship that we think is going to define the rest of the 21st century," Wells said.

While there was a bilateral component to the visit, but they talked about how the two countries with shared values a respect for democracy, transparency, freedom of navigation, for economic development can inculcate these values in the broader Indo-Pacific region, working with important partners like Japan and Australia.

"Tillerson's visit to Gandhi Smriti was very moving, and again, really was a touchstone for what unites that this relationship is very much one built on values," she said adding that the Secretary of State laid out a lot of ambitions for the relationship.

"We want to build on the June visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the President, and just say, How do we take this relationship to the next level?," she said.

"Obviously, we'd like to deepen the military-to-military cooperation that has moved very quickly; over the last decade we've gone from zero in defence sales to 15 billion in defence sales," Wells said.

"There are important defence agreements that the two countries can move forward on that will make it easier for the US to share classified data and that will facilitate sales like the F-16 or the F-18 and will help create a defence technology partnership, which is what India is seeking, but which will also create jobs for Americans at home," she said.

"We'd like to expand the bilateral trade and investment dimension of the relationship. We have about $115 billion in trade, $40 billion in bilateral investment," she said noting that this week they have two important meetings going on, the Trade Policy Forum and the Commercial Dialogue.

US sees this as a two-way street. In November Mahindra is opening an auto plant in Michigan.

"We've seen purchases of Boeing aircraft, all of which produce, again, thousands of jobs for American citizens," Wells said.

Later in November the Global Entrepreneurship Summit to be attended by Ivanka Trump, which is going to bring together 1,300 entrepreneurs and investors, really demonstrate the entrepreneurial spirit of the relationship.

"During his India visit, Tillerson focused on how they can promote regional stability. In the South Asia strategy, we've given an important role to India on helping to stabilise Afghanistan economically and to build its human resource capacity," Wells said.

"Since 2001, India has invested $2 billion in Afghanistan. They've pledged another $1 billion by 2020. India has projects in 31 provinces and all of these projects have been very well received. They're constructive, and I think it's demonstrated that India is an important and valuable partner," she said.

"At the same time, of course, we've made it clear to everyone that we would never tolerate anyones soil being used against the other," she added.

Finally, on the fight against terrorism, building on the joint designation we did of Harakat ul-Mujahidin during Prime Minister Modi's visit, we're looking forward to working with the the Indians on identifying additional designations that we should pursue together," Wells said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today said that when people of Jammu and Kashmir ask for "azadi", most of them mean they want greater autonomy.

Chidambaram, a former home minister, who has in the past advocated greater autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir, today reiterated that the state should be given more powers under Article 370 of the Constitution.

"Yes, I do," Chidambaram said when he was asked if he still thinks that Jammu and Kashmir should be given greater autonomy.

"The demand in the Kashmir Valley is to respect the letter and spirit of Article 370, that means they want greater autonomy. My interactions in J&K led me to the conclusion that when they ask for azadi, mostly, I am not saying all... the overwhelming majority, they want autonomy," he said.

"Therefore, I think that we should seriously examine that question and consider in what areas we can give autonomy to J&K," he said.

"It's (autonomy) perfectly within the Constitution of India. Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India but it will have larger powers as promised under Article 370," he said.

Chidambaram had in July 2016 advocated greater autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir.

He had said India should restore the "grand bargain" under which Kashmir had acceded by granting a large degree of autonomy to it. He had warned that otherwise the country will have to pay a "heavy price".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President today said he will release all files associated with the assassination of former president John F Kennedy to end all "conspiracy theories".

Trump said this in a tweet a day after the National Archives, at his direction, released more than 2,800 secret files related to the assassination of Kennedy on November 22, 1963.

At the same time, he agreed to the request from various intelligence and security agencies mainly FBI and CBI, to withhold quite a number of such files, which remains away from the public domain, thus increasingly providing fodder to conspiracy theories.

In his tweet, Trump said after strict consultation with his Chief of Staff, General John Kelly, the CIA and other agencies, "I will be releasing ALL JFK files" other than the names and addresses of any mentioned person who is still living.

"I am doing this for reason of full disclosure, transparency and in order to put any and all conspiracy theories to rest," Trump said, a day after he ordered a large number of JFK files still be under the wraps.

At the same time, he ordered a 180-day review of all such files.

"This temporary withholding from full public disclosure is necessary to protect against harm to the military defence, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or the conduct of foreign relations that is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in immediate disclosure," Trump said in a memo.

The American public expects  and deserves  its government to provide as much access as possible to the Kennedy assassination records so that the people may finally be fully informed about all aspects of this pivotal event, Trump argued.

Trump's Attorney General Jeff Sessions agreed and said that there is need to expedite the process.

"We are working this weekend. We are going to be working every way possible to expedite the production of these documents as completely as possible and they will be virtually, completely revealed from the FBI files," he told Fox News in an interview.

Sessions said Trump is right to say to get these materials out.

"Some of the documents have already been produced today and they will be moving faster, there will not be, I believe, any significant redactions  redaction that may have been suggested will not be in there," he said.

"There's going to be virtually complete disclosure. Some people who are alive may not need their names or their current addresses revealed. Lot of it is extraneous entirely," Sessions said.

(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.)
Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos on Friday unseated fellow tech billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as the richest person in the world. Bloomberg on Friday put out its daily ranking of the world's richest people - Bloomberg Billionaires Index - which showed that Jeff Bezos added USD10.4 billion to his net worth as Amazon shares rose 13 percent.

At the close of US markets on Friday, Bezos had a net worth of $93.8 billion, $5.1 billion ahead of Bill Gates, the Bloomberg index showed. This year alone, Amazon founder has added $28.5 billion to his fortune. Jeff Bezos with the total net worth of $93.8 billion tops the Bloomberg Billionaires Index while Bill Gates with the net worth of $88.7 billion is at the second spot.



This is second time when Jeff Bezos has replaced Bill Gates from the world's richest person list. Earlier in July, Bezos had briefly pushed Microsoft co-founder to second spot after Amazon shares jumped 1.6 per cent in a day. Bill Gates had been the world's richest person since 2013. Bezos has benefited from the seemingly boundless expansion of Amazon into new markets. The once-bookseller plans to acquire Whole Foods Market Inc, at the same time it is making strides in the fashion business, Hollywood, enterprise computing and general retail from India to Mexico.



Earlier this year, Bill Gates donated 64 million of the Microsoft's shares worth US$4.6 billion. Reports suggest that this was the largest gift that Gates made since 2000. Bill gates gave away $16 billion worth of Microsoft shares in 1999 and $5.1 billion a year later, according to calculations by Bloomberg. According to a review of two decades worth of Gates Foundation tax returns and annual reports and regulatory filings, Bill and Melinda Gates have given away about $35 billion of stock and cash since 1994.



In 2011, some analysts observed that Bill Gates didn't lose his title as the world's richest-man, he gave it away by billions into his charitable foundation - The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2010, Bill Gates had lost his richest person title to Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim. It was the second time when Gates lost his top position since 1995. But financial analyst believed that it was Bill Gates philanthropy that had cost him richest-man title.
Maruti Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava on Friday said the company plans to build electric cars but there was still no clear roadmap on how the government aimed to achieve its target to electrify all new vehicles by 2030. "We will make electric cars but I can't give you the date just now because it is all very much a work in progress," R.C. Bhargava told journalists after the company announced a 3 per cent rise in the July-September quarter profit at Rs 2,484.3 crore.

The government is working on a new auto policy that promotes the use of electric cars, and a draft is likely to be made public before the end of the year. This is a shift from an earlier policy that promoted hybrid and electric vehicles. Sales of electric cars in India remain negligible, however, mainly due to the high cost of batteries which make the vehicles expensive and out of reach for many buyers.

A lack of charging stations also makes the whole proposition unviable for now. Maruti's parent, Suzuki Motor Corp, has electric car technology which it can provide, Bhargava said. The Japanese parent was also in talks with Toyota Motor Corp to form an alliance which may include sharing technologies like hybrid and electric.

Maruti also manufactures hybrid cars, demand for which has gone down after the government went in for a sharp increase in taxes on them. Bhargava said the future of hybrid cars in India would depend on the level of taxes and the company was in talks with the government to lower them. He also aid that while the company continued to expect double digit sales growth over the remainder of fiscal 2018, it would slow from the 18 per cent posted in the second quarter. Maruti, which provides the bulk of Suzuki Motor's revenues, sold a total of 492,118 vehicles during the quarter, up about 18 percent from a year ago.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today flagged off export of Ashok Leyland trucks by coastal route to Bangladesh, and appealed to automobile manufacturers to opt for coastal shipping mode to transport vehicles. Transportation by road was costly and would pollute the environment even as there was the risk of accidents, the Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways said.

"That is the reason that we have decided to use waterways and coastal transport. This is going to reduce the cost, save time and at the same time will be very good for environment." "I appeal to all automobile manufacturers to use waterways for transporting their automobiles," he said over video conferencing from Nagpur.

Earlier, he flagged off auto major Ashok Leyland's consignment of 185 trucks transported through the roll-on roll-off (RoRo) coastal movement from Chennai Port to Mongla Port in Bangladesh. He recalled that India had signed a coastal shipping agreement with Bangladesh during Prime Minister Narenda Modi's 2015 visit there.

RoRo service was already happening between Chennai and Kochi and Kochi to Kandla and "this is a great example which is going to inspire and motivate all automobile manufacturers," Gadkari added.

Minister for State for Shipping and Road Transport, Pon Radhakrishnan said export of trucks by Ashok Leyland by sea route to Bangladesh would reduce the time by about 15-20 days as it takes only five days to reach the destination by sea. The benefits include avoiding pollution and possible accidents, the Minister, present at the Chennai Port, added.

Ashok Leyland Managing Director Vinod K Dasari said the company had been exporting trucks to Bangladesh for 40 years using the road route and added that various issues, including congestion at the border and delay in crossing it had prompted them to think of an alternative following which the government suggested the sea route.

"We do about 5,000 vehicles per year for Bangladesh. This is the first lot of 185 vehicles (through RoRo) and hopefully we continue to do more and use this as a route rather than the long (road) route," he said.

The cost-wise benefits of opting for the sea route were still being worked out, he said, adding "I hope it is more profitable and if profitable we will do more."

Meanwhile, a government release said that following the 2015 agreement between the two countries, transportation from Indian ports to Bangladesh ports "is being treated as coastal movement, making it eligible for 40 per cent concession on vessel-related and cargo-related charges." "For coastal movement through RoRo vessels, 80 per cent concession on vessel-related and cargo-related charges are applicable in Indian Ports," it said.

Chennai Port started coastal RoRo service in August 2016 when 800 Hyundai cars were shipped on RoRo vessels from Chennai to Pipavav in Gujarat for local distribution, it said.

"Initiatives like this are aimed at providing innovative logistic chain solutions under Sagarmala. The ultimate objective is to save logistic costs and time of transportation and boosting trade by making Indian goods competitive in international markets," it added.
Applications have been invited from corporate entities for submission of a resolution plan for debtridden Jaypee Infratech to move ahead with the process under the insolvency law. The NCLT-appointed insolvency resolution professional (IRP) Anuj Jain has invited expressions of interest (EoI) from corporates having a minimum net worth of Rs 1,000 crore as well as investment companies and fund houses with minimum assets under management of at least Rs 1,000 crore. The last date for submitting EoI is November 7.

Listing out the eligibility criteria, the IRP said the parties interested will have to satisfy the mandatory requirements of the resolution plan provided in the under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and its regulations. They should have the ability to execute real estate projects either directly or through joint ventures, contractors and the like through a resolution plan to be sanctioned under the IBC.

The corporate entities should be of good financial health and repute as well as have the ability to invest Rs 2,000 crore or more to complete the construction of flats. Interested parties should protect the interest of homebuyers generally and in particular by timely construction and possession of flats. Jaypee Infratech, part of the debt-ridden Jaypee group, has defaulted on Rs 526.11 crore outstanding loan to IDBI Bank.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has admitted the application by an IDBI Bankled consortium seeking resolution for Jaypee Infratech under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The invitation for EOI's carries the process forward. Jaypee Infratech, which is into road construction and real estate business, has constructed the Yamuna Expressway, connecting Delhi and Agra.

The company is developing more than 30,000 flats in Noida, most of which are incomplete. Homebuyers have been protesting against inordinate delays in completion of the projects. The Supreme Court had on Wednesday rejected the Jaypee group's plea to let it hive off the rights of multi-crore sixlane Yamuna Expressway connecting Greater Noida with Agra in order to raise funds to repay the homebuyers .

The group had approached the court seeking permission to hive off the rights of the expressway and recall the September 11 order in which the court had asked it to deposit Rs 2,000 crore to refund home buyers. However, IDBI Bank had opposed the plea on the ground that the Yamuna Expressway did not belong to the Jaypee Group and the concession agreement with the government was not transferable.

The counsel for Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority had also informed the court that the rights under the concession agreement for the expressway project were non-transferable. The Supreme Court, however, extended the time from October 27 to November 5 for the company to deposit Rs 2,000 crore.
COLUMBUS  Eighteen Columbus homes are about to go on the market.

Theres just one catch  the buyers must move them off their current lots and out of the path of the planned 12th Avenue viaduct by May 1 or theyll be demolished.

The city had to acquire all or part of 49 properties, including temporary construction easements, for the approximately $13 million viaduct that will stretch from Ninth to 16th streets while veering roughly a block west to avoid a Loup Public Power District service center and two cemeteries.

These 18 houses, located along 11th through 15th streets and 12th and 13th avenues, are among those properties. Ten garages  four two-vehicle and six one-vehicle  and several small sheds are also up for grabs during the citys surplus auction set for noon Nov. 5 at 10th Street and 30th Avenue.

City Engineer Rick Bogus said the city decided to sell the houses, instead of demolishing them, because the housing supply is low in Columbus.

We want to at least provide an opportunity for people to move them, he said.

But that wont be easy to do.

Any structure moved to another location within Columbus or its 2-mile zoning jurisdiction must be brought up to city code. There are fewer rules in the county, which doesnt have zoning.

Its also expensive to move a house.

Thats why City Finance Director Anne Kinnison doesnt expect the auction to net a large amount of money.

You dont get much because theres so much cost in moving them, she said.

For example, the city sold four houses in 2013 to clear the runway protection zone just north of Columbus Municipal Airport. Those residences, clustered along Old Monastery Road and 46th Street just south of Lost Creek Parkway, brought a combined $23,800 during a public auction, making up only a small fraction of the approximately $1 million it cost to acquire the residential properties and relocate the families who once lived there.

Kinnison expects to see a similar situation next weekend.

The city has spent $3.4 million so far to acquire properties for the 12th Avenue viaduct, including the purchase prices, relocation assistance for property owners and tenants, a $363,000 contract with Omaha-based Midwest Right of Way Services and some utility expenses.

Each owner is paid a negotiated price for their property plus assistance to find a new home.

Sometimes, Kinnison said, that means upgrading to a larger or newer house if something comparable isnt available on the market.

I do think the property owners come out good in the end, she said.

Kinnison described the 18 houses to be sold as modest-sized, older homes, some of which can be moved and others that likely cant. Several are two-bedroom, ranch-style homes.

They have kind of limited value, she said. But obviously we want to maximize what we can.

Proceeds from the auction will be used to reduce the amount of local sales tax revenue needed to pay for the citys share of the project.

Buyers who dont want to relocate a house or garage can opt to salvage what they can and leave the remainder. The city will contract with a company to tear down whats still standing after May 1.

Next weekends auction, run by Grubaugh Auction Service, also includes used vehicles, bicycles, tools, office equipment and furniture and other items. More information can be found at www.rgauctions.net.

The city only has one property left to acquire for the viaduct  a portion of the LPPD land just west of the service center building at 12th Avenue and 14th Street  and some residents impacted by the project still need to move out.

Columbus is responsible for roughly 10 percent of the viaducts costs, with federal funding covering about 80 percent and Union Pacific Railroad paying the remainder.

Since the city paid for the property acquisitions and design work up to this point, Kinnison expects to see a federal reimbursement when the construction bid is awarded.

I think they will actually owe us some money back, she said.

The project is expected to be bid by the Nebraska Department of Transportation next fall with construction occurring in 2019 and 2020.
The Oct. 30, 1963, Lincoln Star newspaper article included just a brief description of the event: A 3-year-old boy was killed Monday when he fell from a tractor. The boy was riding with his father when he tumbled to the ground and was run over." Survivors in addition to his parents were a brother and sister.

This is something that most of us will thankfully never experience. When we pause and think of this event, however, one wonders about the effect on surviving family members. How did the father deal with the grief? Was there guilt? Were personalities altered? Was there counseling? While there were no follow-up newspaper articles to provide easy answers, observations were made.

In this case, the father did not commit suicide. A recent study looked at the mental health of farmers and noted that suicide rates in some groups of farmers are higher than the general population. Conclusive data do not exist to indicate if farmers and farming families experience higher rates of mental health problems compared with the non-farming community. The study clearly found that farming is associated with a unique character set that is potentially hazardous to mental health.

The farmer really never spoke much about the accident that killed his son. It wasnt a pretty scene, with the boys skullcap off and filled with dark red blood. The father then loaded the lifeless body on the heaping mound of yellow ears of corn in the tractor-pulled wagon and drove home from the field. The sight at the farmstead was a streak of red several feet long across the yellow.

The mother said the trauma associated with this caused her hair to turn prematurely white. The 4-year-old brother seemed lost, finding small items that belonged to the deceased such as a plastic toy wristwatch. Many people comforted the parents. The only person to comfort the surviving brother was the father who explained at the accident scene that the dead boy was now with Jesus in heaven.

Some scenes and life events are seared into your memory. Seeing your dead brothers lifeless body on the green grass with the red blood in the skullcap is one that is not expected to be forgotten, nor is the realization that it could have or should have been you.

The calendar is at Oct. 28. Corn harvest is in full swing. This harvest season brings about many people who are in a hurry. While farm implements and tractors now have many more safety features than in 1963, accidents can still happen. Please take your time and be safe.

Stress can also be high this time of year. Tell your family members you love them. You dont want to miss the opportunity to do something important like this.
KEARNEY  A Utah-based airline is expected to add Kearney to its list of flights after the local airport finishes replacing its runway.

How soon SkyWest could start flying between Denver and Kearney depends upon the $12 million project and on Essential Air Service contract approval for the St. George, Utah-based company.

The runway's original concrete surface was poured in World War II. Layers of asphalt were added over the years, according to airport manager Jim Lynaugh. Those must be removed before the subsurface can be prepared for the new pavement. The work is scheduled to be finished in September.

While the main runway is closed, the airport's secondary runway is available for smaller aircraft.

Kearney hasn't had commercial passenger service since Sept. 10, when Anchorage, Alaska-based PenAir halted flights to some communities in Kansas and Nebraska after filing a bankruptcy reorganization plan. The airline had been deluged with complaints for months about flight delays and cancellations, which PenAir blamed on a shortage of planes and pilots.

Officials for airports in the Nebraska cities of North Platte, Scottsbluff and Kearney subsequently asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to award PenAir's federally subsidized contract to SkyWest. SkyWest operates under the United Express flag and has a fleet of 417 aircraft and operates over 2,000 flights a day to 219 North American destinations.

The department has done so for North Platte and Scottsbluff, and Kearney City Manager Mike Morgan said Thursday he expects SkyWest to be approved for Kearney as well.

It will take some time to get through negotiations and set up the systems needed to operate in North Platte, officials there said. The hope is that the service to Denver will begin in March.

Western Nebraska Regional Airport manager Darwin Skelton said details still to be worked out but added that SkyWest's contract for its Scottsbluff flights will begin on Feb. 1 and run through January 2020.
"It's difficult to say as to why Canberra is over represented, but it could be due to more people using the website to report attacks," he said.
Regardless of who out of the three major bike sharing players already in Australia - ofo Australia, oBike and Reddy Go - receive the go-ahead from the territory government, it's expected they would be forced to abide by certain conditions or risk their license being suspended.
There was also some disagreement as to whether he had breached his agreement with the medical board not to treat patients with mental health issues, despite records from his own surgery indicating he had.
The NSW government scrapped plans to ban greyhound racing in the state last year, but the ACT government has pressed on with its own plans to ban it, despite no evidence of cruelty in the local industry.
The court heard that Guot and Chut are wanted for similar offences in several other jurisdictions, which meant they were subject to section 9D of the ACT Bail Act. This meant they had to show special or exceptional circumstances to be granted bail.
"On behalf of all members of the Edmund Rice Education Australia community, I warmly congratulate Joe on this significant appointment and we look forward to welcoming Joe and his family into the St Edmund's College community later in the year," he said.
Anyway, to return to the Parliament House manual, it seems unlikely that those who may wish to have it (such as protestors and anarchists) would have had the opportunity to get it, while those who may have the means (like foreign spy espionage services) would not be interested in such a low-level working document. The manual would have contained new physical-security measures but would not facilitate access to Parliament House, because access data is continually renewed.
The diversity of our community amazes me.

On Oct. 13, I attended the inaugural Centro Hispano gala. This event was held at the Ramada and attended by a great cross-section of our community. The goal of Centro Hispano is to have a more diverse and inclusive business community in Columbus. Through this partnership, 10 Hispanic-owned businesses have joined the chamber of commerce. This is awesome and the gala highlighted this and many individuals who have helped move these relationships forward.

Continuing on with this diversity theme, do you realize the diverse nature of our business community and its importance to Columbus? In the 10 months that I have been your mayor I have had the honor of being part of milestone events at three of our community's major employers  Cargill, with the opening of their remodeled facility; ADM, celebrating their 25 years of operation in Columbus; and just this week BD with a very special celebration.

BD celebrated 15-50-Future. Fifteen years in the east plant, 50 years of cannula production at the west plant and the future  the groundbreaking at the east plant for a 69,000-square-foot expansion. Just imagine a company based in New Jersey that came to Columbus in 1949 and started a new plant with 15 employees now employs 1,690 area residents.

It is these manufacturers, and many others, that continue to allow Columbus to prosper and grow. The great mixture of ag-related businesses to businesses like BD, with their medical-related products, has allowed Columbus to stay strong while other communities have often struggled or stagnated during economic downturns. This diversity is a great asset.

Activity within the city continues with many construction projects underway. The Glur Park lift station has transferred over and is complete. The Third Avenue viaduct is continuing to move forward. We have a NDOR traffic cam at the site tracking the construction. Take the time to get online and view the progress. The 18th Avenue pedestrian overpass is also progressing close to schedule.

Property acquisitions are finalizing on the 12th Avenue viaduct and we should be able to roll into this project when Third Avenue is complete. The East Highway 30 lift station is moving along and should be completed soon. Work will soon begin on the new Quail Run lift station. And let's not forget the huge project that is taking place at our wastewater treatment plant. When this is complete Columbus will have a state-of-the-art treatment facility that will serve our community for many years to come.

Columbus, Something Good! As always, I am available for questions, comments and concerns.
Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

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You are our people. You Care. We Care2.
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In which Europe do we want to live?





Europe is changing. Only litte people in the European Union are aware that this Europe plays a role in their daily lives. Because it is the municipalities and regions of Europe where we live and work, it is also the municipalities and regions of Europe having a strong influence on the future of Europe.





Representatives of the regions and municipalities of the EU therefore play a special role in the discussion process on the future of the EU. They are gathered in the European Committee of the Regions and have a direct link to the democratically elected assemblies in the regions as well as the cities and municipalities.





With the White Paper on the Future of Europe, the European Commission launched a process of reflection on the EU in 2025. In order to accompany this debate on the future of Europe from a regional perspective, the Committee of the Regions has begun to prepare the opinion on "Reflecting on Europe". Through citizens' debates, he also involves the citizens in the regions of the EU.





CulturalAREA EUROPE - Perspectives for 2025





In Magdeburg, we want to make the reflection on the future of Europe concrete in the subject of culture. For centuries, culture has linked the people of Europe across borders. The European Union also defines itself as a common cultural space with boundless diversity. Without cooperation in the cultural sector, the future of Europe would be poor.





We would like to talk with culture-makers and politicians in the cultural sphere about how culture influences the daily life of EU citizens. What is the role of culture for identification with Europe and the quality of life of its citizens? What makes cross-border cultural cooperation possible? How does the EU promote the exchange of cultural workers? What are the prospects for culture and culture promotion of the EU by 2025?





We are talking about these questions and much more with:





Karen Stone - General Director of the Theater Magdeburg

Dr. Michael Schneider - State Secretary, Chairman of the Group of the European People's Party in the European Committee of the Regions

Edilia Ganz - Director FEDORA Germany

Tamas Szalay - Head of the Organization of the City of Culture Magdeburg 2025

Nathalie Wappler - Program Director of the MDR

Damien Chapuis - Director Institute Francais Saxony-Anhalt

Soren Herbst - European Committee of the Regions, City Council and member of the Culture Committee
For BMW enthusiasts, wed imagine, it could hardly get much better than picking up a new M car straight from the factory. Except maybe picking up a BMW race car.



Thats just what took place on Wednesday at BMW Welt  the automakers brand experience center in Munich. Thats where customers can take delivery of their new road-going Bimmers, but for the first time, the facility was used to hand over a new batch of racers.

The vehicle in question is the new M4 GT4, which has undergone an exhaustive development process and is now in the hands of its first customer racers. Built to comply with GT4-class regulations, the competition-spec M4 has undergone some 20,000 miles of testing  not just at the hands of BMWs own factory test drivers, but by some of the teams that are to run it as well.

A couple of junior development drivers drove one to victory upon its debut a few weeks ago at Catalunya In the GT4 European Series Southern Cup. Another was entered in the grueling 24-hour race at the Nurburgring this past May, where it finished first in its SP 8T class (and 36th overall). Meanwhile privateers Schubert Motorsport, Walkenhorst Motorsport, and Sorg Rennsport each helped fine-tune the package for customer teams.

With all that said and done, four European teams picked up their M4 GT4s at BMW Welt this week. Another four will receive theirs in North America, along with four more in Australia and Asia. You can order one, too, if youre planning to start your own racing team (or already have one). All it takes is the small matter of 169,000 euros or just under $200,000 in Europe (plus tax).

Photo Gallery

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The Bloodhound SSC has successfully completed its first test, reaching 200 mph on two separate runs at the Newquay Airport in the UK.



Each of the runs saw the jet and rocket-powered car accelerate to 200 mph (320 km/h) in less than 1300 meters (4,265 feet) and served as crucial tests for the vehicles steering, brakes, suspension and data systems. Additionally, it enabled the Bloodhound team to measure the efficiency of the EJ200 jet engine.

Following the successful shakedown, the Bloodhound SSC will head to South Africa for two high-speed runs at the Hakskeen Pan in 2018. The team plans to use the 11-mile track to push the SSC to speeds of over 600 mph (965 km/h).

If all goes well, Bloodhound SSC driver Andy Green wants to exceed 800 mph (1287 km/h) in 2019, beating the former land speed record of 763 mph. In 2020, a pair of extra rockets will be added to the car to hopefully push it beyond 1000 mph (1600 km/h).

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Photo: Contributed - RCMP This 2011 Corvette was stolen from a Penticton showroom late Thursday night

Penticton RCMP is seeking public assistance in locating a stolen 2011 Chevrolet Corvette, taken from a local dealership showroom floor late Thursday night.

Shortly before midnight Thursday Penticton RCMP received a report of smashed glass and a car speeding away from the Huber GMC dealership in Penticton. RCMP officers arrived on scene and found a showroom glass bay door smashed open and possibly a car missing from showroom floor.

Photo: Contributed - RCMP

An employee attended to assist police and confirmed that a silver 2011 Special Heritage Edition Grand Sport Corvette was missing from the floor.

Shortly after their arrival and as RCMP officers examined the scene, the vehicle sped past on Eckhardt Ave toward Hwy 97.

An RCMP officer in a marked police vehicle was able to follow the car a short distance as it left Penticton and confirmed its direction of travel as northbound on Hwy 97.

Given the rate of speed and manner in which the vehicle was being driven RCMP officers did not initiate a pursuit of the suspects and vehicle.

Details and description of the car was relayed to the Summerland RCMP officers. The Vette was then seen and clocked on radar travelling at 220 km/h in the Trout Creek Summerland area on Hwy 97.

RCMP detachments to the North including the West Kelowna RCMP were also advised and set up a roadblock near the connector area however the vehicle was not observed and believed to have turned off the highway prior to that location.

Penticton RCMP are continuing their investigation into the break-in and are asking that anyone with information regarding the break in and theft contact the Penticton RCMP at 250-492-4300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Photo: RCMP

Fireworks may seem like a natural fit for Halloween, but in fact they have been illegal in most of the Central Okanagan for years.

They are illegal in Kelowna, West Kelowna, Peachland, Lake Country, Westbank First Nation and throughout the Regional District of Central Okanagan. In Lake Country and West Kelowna, fireworks may only be set off with a special permit from the fire department.

"We are not trying to ruin anyone's fun, but fireworks are incredibly dangerous, not only to people who are setting them off without the proper training, but also the destruction they might cause," said West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund.

In Lake Country, the municipality will again hold a community Halloween celebration, which will include a bonfire and fireworks show.

Fire Chief Steve Windsor says the show is set for 8 p.m. Tuesday at Beasley Park with a bonfire at 6 p.m.

One store on Okanagan Indian Band sells fireworks, but Chief Byron Louis is not encouraging their use.

He says conditions are still dry, and he fears careless use could spark fires.

The band will also be letting off controlled fireworks for the community.

RCMP Cpl. Jesse O'Donaghey says police will be keeping an eye out on Halloween night.

"Each and every Halloween, an increased amount of children and adults end up in hospital emergency rooms for treatment of firework-associated injuries," said O'Donaghey.

You could face a fine of $250 for letting off fireworks in the City of Kelowna without a permit.
Photo: BC SPCA Image of new SPCA building.

West Kootenay is getting a new home for abused, neglected, abandoned and injured animals.

Construction has begun on a new 4,250-square-foot facility located at 124 Heritage Way and its doors are expected to be open by June 2018.

We are extremely excited about the new centre and are grateful to the provincial government, the Columbia Basin Trust, the City of Castlegar and all the generous animal lovers who have joined with us to make this urgently needed facility a reality, said Craig Daniell, chief executive officer of the BC SPCA.

The new $2.69 million facility will ensure the highest levels of health and welfare for dogs, cats and small animals.

A designated area for temperament and behaviour assessments and specialized isolation areas for sick and injured animals has been planned for the new building.

The centre will also have a multi-purpose space that can be used for dog training, SPCA youth camps, workshops and other events for the community, said Daniell.

BC SPCA plans to replace or refurbish gaining facilities in their 12 communities over eight years. Ten million dollars have been contributed from The Province, with $900,000 being used for the West Kootenay location.
In the Central Okanagan (from Peachland to Lake Country), more than 95 families open their homes and their hearts to children and youth in need of a safe place to live.

They care for children of all ages, from newborns to eighteen year olds, who come to fostering for many different reasons. Sometimes they stay for a day or two, sometimes for a year or longer. Often they develop relationships that last a lifetime.

What does it take to be a Foster Parent? Foster Parents are patient and loving and understand how to meet the diverse needs of children and youth. Foster Parents maintain a stable, structured and positive home environment. Foster Parents train regularly to improve their skills and they support children and youth to maintain family & cultural connections.

Most of all, Foster Parents care. Theyre willing to meet the challenges of helping children and youth through difficult times, because they believe they can make a difference. October is Foster Family Appreciation Month in B.C. If you know someone who is a Foster Parent, please let them know how special they are. I think every one of them is terrific!

Cyndee Sapiano
More than 100 Grade 7-9 girls experienced engineering first-hand, Friday, at UBC Okanagan.

The GoENG Girl event allowed the youths to try their hands at activities in a field that is traditionally dominated by men.

There's more male students than female students, so you just kind of get used to that different dynamic than when you were in high school, said Marie O'Brien, a UBC Okanagan engineering graduate student and organizor of Friday's event. We're really striving to bring that percentage up to 50-50, just because it brings different ideas, different thought processes to the field.

O'Brien's research involves high-level decision making for self-driving vehicles.

Tanya Chartrand, undergraduate program assistant with UBC Okanagan's School of Engineering, says Friday's event helps break down stereotypes that surround the program.

Women have a different perspective than men do and both are really valuable and both need to be heard, Chartrand said. It's accessible and creative and dynamic.

O'Brien said seeing the young women problem solving and figuring things out makes the event worth it.

I love seeing them get excited about it and going and telling each other 'this was really fun, I really like doing this, I want to do more of it,' O'Brien said.
Photo: OSNS Jean at work knitting scarves

The OSNS Child and Youth Development Centre has launched a program that aims to give children a distinctive stuffed toy representing its mascot Otis the Bear.

The toy is meant to provide comfort and a link between a childs home and the programs they attend.

But we wanted more, said executive director Manisha Willms. We wanted each Otis to have a distinct scarf that would individualize the bear for each child. We are so lucky to have found Jean.

Jean is a volunteer with the Penticton Hospital Auxiliary, where she knits blankets, clothing and baby caps for sale. Now she knits small unique scarves for every Otis the Bear.

Nearly all of the yarn used by Jean is donated.

Knitting is a dying art popular amongst the older generation. Many families of the elders who have passed on have donated their family members leftover yarn to the gift shop said Jean.

Each unique scarf has an embroidered OSNS logo and a button. I use big buttons so that the children can practice taking the scarf on and off, said Jean.

The OSNS has launched an Otis the Bear Campaign to raise awareness.

Businesses are challenged to borrow an Otis and take pictures of him in their workplace. Look for pictures of Otis on social media with the hashtag #smileiwithotis.

If you would like to make a donation of yarn or buttons to the Penticton Hospital Auxiliary you can do so to the Penticton Hospital gift shop.
Photo: Contributed

Surrey RCMP is asking for help after a pit bull puppy was stolen.

On September 28 at 3:00 p.m, Surrey RCMP were contacted after an eight week old pit bull named Tank had been stolen from its owner.

The owner, who had advertised the puppy for sale online, was contacted by a potential buyer and a meeting was arranged at Fleetwood Park near 80th Avenue and 160th Street.

At the meeting, two male suspects met the victim and one grabbed the puppy and ran off. The second male grabbed the victims cell phone and punched her in the face.

The suspects are described as South Asian males in their 20s. One suspect was wearing a black hoodie with Crooks and a picture of Monopolys Rich Uncle Pennybags on it. The second male was wearing a blue sweatshirt and pullover red hoody.

Tank is described as a black pit bull with white accents on his chest, feet, and chin. He has a very distinctive small white line that runs over his nose.

This isnt the first time weve seen this style of robbery utilizing online classifieds, said Corporal Scotty Schumann.

Police recommend being extremely careful when buying or selling merchandise online and meeting up with unknown persons. To reduce your likelihood of becoming a victim to a personal robbery have a friend go with you and meet in a very public place, he said.

Anyone with more information is asked to contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502.

If they wish to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or www.solvecrime.ca.
Photo: Colin Dacre Dix speaking to reporters in Penticton on Friday

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix toured South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver Friday afternoon, meeting with doctors and nurses about healthcare in the region.

They are preparing proposals for us to take a look at, they were describing some of the issues they had at the hospital, Dix said. It was intended to be a learning trip, and I learned a lot.

He said doctors voiced concerns about the hospitals dated and cramped ER. Dix also heard about suggestions for improvement in the way doctors are paid.

Local Liberal MLA Linda Larson accompanied Dix on the visit to SOGH, which has been plagued by ER closures due to staffing shortages in the past.

Earlier in the day in Penticton, the Health Minister told reporters he is very conscious of the high need for doctors and nurses in the South Okanagan.

Good primary care is important to communities such as Osoyoos and Oliver in terms of attracting people and community life. Its particularly important for seniors and their ability to stay in a community as well.

The task of attracting physicians to the region will need to be an ongoing task, he said, calling the region a high priority.
Photo: Google Street View Parkway Elementary School in Penticton saw the highest enrolment increase of any school in SD67, with 29 more students attending this year.

Student enrolment numbers in School District 67 Okanagan-Skaha have been tallied for the school year, and across the district those numbers are nearly identical to last year.

There are 5,617 students attending 17 elementary, middle and secondary schools in SD 67 this year. That compares to 5,608 last year, an increase of just nine students.

None of those totals include international or ConnectED student enrolment in the district.

Parkway Elementary has seen the largest enrolment increase of any school in the district, with 29 more students in its classrooms.

The largest decrease in enrolment was at Penticton Secondary School, where 24 fewer pupils are attending this school year.

Since 2013-14, there has been a total increase of 54 students in the school district.
The Vernon Jubilee Hospital Auxiliary has been in operation for more than a century, and has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

Valerie Tribes, auxiliary president, said the group started in 1907 and on Friday celebrated 110 years or raising money for the hospital.

The first purchase the auxiliary made for the hospital was an horse-drawn ambulance.

Since then, the auxiliary has raised more than $2 million and provided countless hours of volunteer work.

Generally, we raise funds for equipment and patient comfort items that don't get funded any other way, said Tribes.

The auxiliary operates the gift shop which is its main way of raising funds, but they also have several special fundraisers throughout the year.

Everybody at one time or another needs the hospital so we like to make sure it's got what it needs for everybody in the community, she said.
Photo: Darren Handschuh

Hundreds of goblins, ghosts and ghouls will roam the sidewalks of Downtown Vernon on Halloween.

The annual Downtown Vernon Association Treat Trail returns from 3 to 5 p.m.

More than 60 businesses will hand out candy and other goodies.

Motorists are asked to avoid 30th Avenue during the event to improve pedestrian safety, said Dudley Coulter with the DVA. If you must travel downtown, please do so with extreme caution and be patient," he said.

Trick-or-treaters 12 and under are encouraged to pick up their official Treat Trail bag and map at the DVA tent in Justice Park.
Few, if any, owners and trainers have been more on a mission to win a single race than Coolmore and Aidan OBrien when it comes to the Breeders Cup Classic, which has eluded them for 17 years.

Here they are still trying to avenge the neck defeat of Giants Causeway at the hands of Tiznow back in 2000. In between, there has been another gut-wrenching defeat by a head, a tough loss to an archrival from back home over a synthetic surface, and the heartbreaking fatal injury to one of Ballydoyles most beloved stars, who had been brought back in training after being retired.

They even ran their superstar Galileo, who has taken over as Coolmores foundation sire and is responsible for the vast majority of their major stakes winners, producing them in mass quantity as if off an assembly line.

Perhaps this is OBriens year, as he broke Bobby Frankels all-time record for group/grade 1 wins in a single year just today (Oct. 28), saddling Saxon Warrior to win the Racing Post Trophy, his 26th group 1 victory of the year. His first group 1 winner of the year just happened to be Churchill, one of his two possible starters in the Breeders Cup Classic. What a way that would be to bookend the year.

One thing OBrien has proven over the years is that there isnt a horse alive he is afraid of, even if means taking him on with a horse who has never run on dirt or all-weather and doesnt have much of a dirt pedigree.

After running in the Classic against the likes of Curlin, Zenyatta, Tiznow, Bernardini, Invasor, Saint Liam, Fusaichi Pegasus, Medaglia dOro, Street Sense, and War Emblem, he even had the audacity to take on Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in 2015 with five-time group 1 winner Gleneagles, who finished last.

OBrien said several years ago, You just continue to do your best every day. Weve had some near misses, but thats the way it goes. Sometimes you make good decisions and sometimes you make bad decisions. All you can do is try to learn from the bad ones. Some people have just done a better job than we have, but thats the reality of it.

Each year, you hope you have a horse good enough to run in it. You need a very good horse and he cant have any flaws. Its frustrating never to have won it, and weve had some bad luck, but there are loads of things in life than can frustrate you. All you can do is give it your best and hope some day it will happen. In the meantime, you make whatever changes accordingly you feel you have to make, and if it doesnt go right you learn from it and try again. I think its great that the lads (Coolmores John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith) are happy to keep doing it. And its just great to have a horse good enough to run in it almost every year. Its very special.

This year it could be doubly special. After a one-year absence, OBrien is back again with, not one, but two possible runners to square off against former Horse of the World Arrogate and the red-hot Gun Runner, and several other top-class American horses.

One of them, War Decree, looks extremely logical, being by Claiborne stallion War Front and coming off an impressive victory on the all-weather track at Dundalk. The other, however, is the aforementioned Churchill, whose first preference in the Classic came as a surprise, considering his victories in the English and Irish 2,000 Guineas and placings in the one-mile Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Juddmonte International stretching out to 1 5/16 miles. The son of Galileo looks like a pure miler, but OBrien has always loved stretching milers out to 1 1/4 miles in the Classic. So, as of now, well look at two possible starters for the Classic.

Regardless of where Churchill runs and even with the heavy dose of talent in the Classic that includes six U.S. grade 1 winners, dont overlook War Decree, who will be a huge price. Yes, hes strictly a guess and seems up against it form-wise, but if youre confused who to lean towards among the American horses, you might want to consider him in the hope he can be another Declaration of War, who nearly pulled it off in 2013, getting beaten two noses by Mucho Macho Man and Will Take Charge. And War Decree, like Declaration of War, is a son of War Front.

War Decree looked like he was going to be a major player right from the start, winning two of his first three starts, including an impressive victory over future UAE Derby and UAE 2,000 Guineas winner and group 1 Prix Jean Prat winner Thunder Snow, the Irish 2,000 Guineas runner-up, in the group 2 Vintage Stakes at Goodwood. In that race he also defeated Boynton, who had delivered him his only defeat in the group 2 Superlative Stakes at Newmarket.

Following a disappointing effort in the Craven Stakes, OBrien wheeled him right back two weeks later in the French Derby. Sent off at 4-1, he was caught looking sideways at the start and broke about three lengths behind the field. Shuffled back to the rear of the 12-horse field, he found himself engulfed by horses in the stretch with nowhere to run. He was in so much traffic he was barely visible. Ryan Moore kept angling him out looking for room, getting bumped along the way. He finally found an opening and closed resolutely to finish fifth, beaten only 2 1/2 lengths by Brametot, winner of the French 2,000 Guineas and eventual fifth-place finisher in the Prix de lArc de Triomphe.

Sidelined for almost four months after that race, OBrien skipped Champions Day at Ascot and ran him in a 1 1/4-mile race on the all-weather track at Dundalk, obviously with the Breeders Cup Classic in mind.

Facing a pretty strong field, headed by the classy filly Abingdon, second in the group 2 Lancashire Oaks and third in the group 2 Prix de Pomone, War Decree sat comfortably behind horses, then showed an excellent turn of foot, charging to the front after switching leads beautifully and drawing off with fluid strides to win by 2 1/4 lengths under a hand ride without being touched by the whip. You had to love the way he was striding out at the wire.

OBrien said he was absolutely thrilled with his comeback run. Jockey Donnacha OBrien said the colt has a lot of natural talent and needs hard ground.

War Decree now drops seven pounds off that race, in which he carried 129 pounds. He is not one of OBriens afterthoughts for the Classic following an extensive campaign and having already run in his targeted race, such as the Arc or Champion Stakes. He is still on the improve, is fresh, and has shown he at least handles an all-weather track. And being by War Front, he should, like Declaration of War, have no trouble taking to the dirt.

As for Churchill, he obviously has proven a lot more than War Decree in top-class company all year, but as mentioned has never run on dirt and is bred more for the grass, being by Galileo. But he is extremely talented and was narrowly beaten for second in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on soft ground by Europes top miler Ribchester, who is headed for the Breeders Cup Mile.

If OBrien does decide to run Churchill in the Classic, you can bet there is a good reason for the decision. Well stay tuned with him.

But if youre willing to take a shot that maybe this finally will be the year OBrien conquers the Classic, there are enough angles and enough unknown factors to suggest that War Decree could be worth the gamble at a big price.

And if it doesnt work out for OBrien this year, you can be sure hell be back. One year it is going to happen.

Hopefully, well live long enough, OBrien said. As long as were alive well keep trying.
Photo: pixabay

New census data released this week shows 3,150 seniors over the age of 65 are living alone in Penticton, nearly three-in-ten of the citys 10,820 seniors.

As people age, they are more and more likely to end up living alone and at risk of loneliness.

Those in social isolation are at an increased risk of depression, premature death and poor general health according to HelpAge Canada.

In Penticton, the Seniors Drop-In Centre provides a popular social outlet for a membership that flirts with 1,000 people at times.

The whole day is full of activities they are involved in all well attended, said Don Wilson, centre board president.

With dances held every weekend, Wilson is confident the centre plays a big part in the social life of many Penticton seniors.

Self-funded and operated by an army of volunteers and just two staff, Wilson added the centre is busy as ever  especially the parking lot.

The pickleball, bocce and horseshoe players also use the centres parking lot, leading to an informal request being forwarded to city hall earlier this month for more parking.

Across B.C. 24.8 per cent of people over the age of 65 live alone.
Photo: Josh Delaney

A pickup ended up on its roof in a collision at a busy Vernon intersection, late Friday afternoon.

The truck is said to have rolled three times, according to unconfirmed witness reports.

The front end of a compact sedan was also demolished in the crash, at the intersection of busy 25th Avenue and 34th Street, by the Esso station and Wholesale Club grocery store.

Witnesses say it does not appear anyone was seriously injured in the collision.
Photo: Contributed

Growing up, I never thought I would get to live next to the Great Pumpkin Patch.

Imagine my delight the first year I watched the pumpkins grow and change colour in the field behind our house. Magically, they appeared through the leaves and began to glow in orange and pink tones.

Now, that we are almost at Halloween, I feel just like Linus, excited to see if the Great Pumpkin will land and visit us.

OK, so Im a bit of a sucker when it comes to holidays and getting in the spirit. Well, why not? Life is busy, and mostly serious. Look deep down in your soul... Dont you want a bit of silliness to creep in, once in a while?

Living on the Westside at the edge of Westbank, we have agricultural land all around us. Paynters Fruit Market is just down the road. But throughout the Okanagan there are pockets like this with orchards and fields and vineyards.

Farm markets are not a rare thing in our part of the world, and the end of the harvest season is our last chance to enjoy them.

You may already have your pumpkin for Halloween, all set up for carving into a suitable Jack OLantern. But you could take a trip out to visit the fields, pick an apple off a tree or even out of a bin, polish it off on your shirt and sample the crisp taste of fall.

Or pile the kids in the car and let them run in an orchard. Take some family photos with all the fall colours. Doesnt that sound more fun than a trip to Walmart or Safeway?

Every season deserves respect. As I wrote about a month ago, fall often takes me by surprise. Therefore, I feel it deserves a proper toast to send it off before I prepare for winter. So my final gesture of the growing season is to stop by at Paynters Market and get a pumpkin for roasting and apples for baking.

I enjoy the beautiful view as I share an apple with the dogs (they shouldnt eat the seeds, so they cant have a whole one.) I highly recommend it. Your soul will thank you, and so will your local farmer.

I have given you references for places to go; if you need a simple recipe, how about Apple Phyllo Strudel Cups? This one is dairy free, nut free and kid-tested. You can treat yourself to a taste of fall and not even feel guilty.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Photo: CTV Police respond to reports of shots fired in Abbotsford.

A man in his 30s was rushed to hospital after being shot in Abbotsford Friday evening.

At around 5:25 p.m., police received a report of shots fired in the Townshipline and Bradner roads area.

However, when they arrived they did not find a victim.

As police were investigating, a man suffering an apparent gunshot wound arrived at the emergency department of Mission Memorial Hospital.

Police have not said if any suspects have been arrested or how badly the unidentified man was injured.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact Abbotsford police or Crime Stoppers.

Police are continuing their investigation.

- with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: CTV Police are on the look out for a suspect after a man was stabbed in Esquimalt.

Police are on the look out for a suspect after a man was stabbed in Esquimalt.

The stabbing sent the man to hospital with what is believed to be non life-threatening injuries.

Officers were called to the 1200-block of Esquimalt Road after 10 p.m. Thursday after witnesses reported seeing a man slash another man.

Witnesses have provided a description of the attacker to police, but an arrest has not yet been made.

Anyone with information on the incident who hasn't spoken to investigators is asked to call 250-995-7654 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

- with files from CTV Vancouver Island
Felony or misdemeanor?

Simple assault or aggravated assault?

The difference in charges may not seem that great, but can have large and lasting ramifications. In Pennsylvania, what charges get filed and who gets to make that initial decision varies from county to county.

All criminal charges in Cumberland County must be approved by the district attorneys office before being filed.

Were 20-plus years into that here in Cumberland County, so there are a lot of people who have worked in the system who dont know any different, Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed said.

In neighboring Franklin, Adams, Perry, Dauphin and York counties, the initial decision of what to charge is largely driven by police.

Dauphin County requires prosecutor's approval of some charges but not all, according to the Pennsylvania District Attorneys' Association.

You want to have the appropriate charge charged, Freed said. You dont want to be in a situation where Im going to charge a million things so that I end up with one thing. You want to charge a case appropriately.

Bringing a prosecutor into the initial charging decision may provide a buffer to overcharging, according an analysis of court records conducted by The Sentinel.

The Sentinel reviewed all criminal cases filed in Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Adams, York and Perry counties in 2016 and separated out all simple assaults and aggravated assaults.

One of the main differences between defining simple assault and aggravated assault is the severity of the injury to the victim.

For simple assault, the defining standard is causing or attempting to cause bodily injury. Aggravated assault requires causing or attempting to cause serious bodily injury. However, what accounts for "serious" injury can be subjective.

Cumberland County featured the lowest ratio of charged aggravated assault to simple assault than any of the surrounding counties, according to The Sentinels analysis.

More than 88 percent of all charged assaults in the county in 2016 were deemed simple assault, the analysis found. That is roughly nine to 18 percentage points higher than all other counties.

We have to make sure we are charging appropriately and not just charging agg so we can get the simple, Freed said.

Fees

If defendants are being charged with felony aggravated assault in one county or misdemeanor simple assault in another for the same behavior, it can raise a host of costs for both the defendant and the county.

(A case) can result in increased bail if its charged inappropriately high, Freed said.

In 2016, the median bail for a person charged with simple assault, but not aggravated assault, in Cumberland County was $10,000, according to court records. Less than 7 percent of those defendants had bail set at more than $50,000. Nearly 40 percent were released without having to pay any bail, according to The Sentinels analysis.

Less than one quarter of all defendants charged with simple assault last year in Cumberland County were unable to post bail, court records show.

At the same time, the median bail for a person charged with aggravated assault in the county was $50,000, five times higher than the misdemeanor counterpart, according to The Sentinel analysis.

Nearly half of all these defendants were unable to post bail, The Sentinel found.

Any defendant who is unable to post bail is taken to their county jail or prison where they remain until they come up with the money, have their bail reduced or complete their case.

Sitting at only 54 percent of total capacity, Cumberland County Prison had the lowest utilization of the six counties examined, according to Measures for Justice, a nonprofit organization that provides county-level data on criminal justice systems.

Dauphin and Adams counties jails were both above 100 percent capacity. None of the other counties had jail capacity utilization below 80 percent, according to Measures for Justice.

Cumberland County also had the highest percentage of defendants released pretrial between 2009 and 2013, with roughly 85 percent of all defendants being released, according to Measures for Justice.

At charging, we are making a probable cause determination, Freed said. Its not beyond a reasonable doubt.  Do I have reasonable cause to show that someone tried to cause serious bodily injury?

Charges

Freed said the determination and oversight at charging is not a guarantee the defendant will be convicted and does not necessarily mean charges will not be reduced as the case moves forward.

I have probable cause to charge, he said. That doesnt mean I have sufficient evidence to convict.

However, Cumberland County also has the highest conviction rate of the six counties reviewed, according to Measures for Justice.

Nearly 87 percent of cases between 2009 and 2013 resulted in a conviction in Cumberland County. In Franklin County, that number was less than 73 percent, according to Measures for Justice.

Reasonable minds can differ about what charges should be filed and what amount of charges should be filed, Freed said. Should you charge everything that can possibly be charged?

I dont have my head in the sand. Im not going to sit here and say that doesnt happen around the country, he said. Thats the policing every assistant district attorney has to do. Thats the policing every elected or appointed district attorney has to do.  You have to have that probable cause.

This story was produced as a project for the 2017 John Jay/Measures for Justice fellowship.
It now appears South Middleton School Board will wait until after an appointment is made before updating the public on the progress of the search for a new superintendent.

The board-as-a-whole posted a statement last week on the district website just two days after a retired school administrator told Board President Michael Berk, The process is dragging out.

Dean Clepper, former principal of the W.G. Rice Elementary School, asked the board for an update during a public comment period of the Oct. 16 board meeting.

The public after four months deserves to know where we stand in securing a superintendent to run the district, Clepper said. The final set of interviews was a couple weeks ago. The amount of time that has been taken is doing nothing but to hurt the school district. The public deserves to know where you are and what is going on and when a decision is finally going to be made.

The board will be meeting, Berk told Clepper in response, referring to an executive session scheduled for after the Oct. 16 meeting. Sometimes these processes take a little bit longer to do the due diligence.

Berk and Clepper had further words on this issue outside the district office wing in the public parking lot of the Iron Forge Elementary School. The heated exchange between the two men took place after the regular board meeting but before Berk went back inside for the executive session.

It started in July.  You knew in July, Clepper told Berk.

We decided to go through a process, and we are running about two weeks late, Berk said in response. If you question my work ethic as a board president, you are crazy. You know better than that.

Update announcement

Two days later, on Oct. 18, the board posted a statement that concluded with the sentence: We expect to provide another update as soon as we have formally appointed the next superintendent.

The statement outlined the steps the board had taken since late summer including an advertising and recruiting period and two rounds of interviews with candidates.

At this point, we are moving to the final phase of this process which is expected to result in the selection and appointment of the next superintendent for the South Middleton School District, the statement reads. The board appreciates the number of community members who have provided their thoughts at board meetings and through conversations with individual board members.

Its been just over three months since Al Moyer announced in mid-July that he would step down as the district superintendent effective Aug. 18. A board majority on Aug. 7 agreed to pay Templeton Advantage of Newport a maximum fee of $11,750 to conduct an expedited search for applications.

On Aug. 21, Berk outlined a schedule that called for all applications to be submitted by early September, with the first round of interviews planned for the week of Sept. 11 and the second round the week of Sept. 25.

The goal in late August was to name a new superintendent in October, but no action was taken by board members at the Oct. 2 or Oct. 16 board meetings. The board on Aug. 21 did appoint Bruce Deveney acting superintendent until a permanent replacement could be hired. Deveney is a former superintendent of the East Pennsboro Area School District.

During the Oct. 16 meeting, Clepper suggested board members consider the longevity of past administrative positions held by applicants for the South Middleton superintendent job.

It takes a person whether principal, classroom teacher, assistant superintendent or superintendent, more than two to three years in a position to see the fruits of their labors, Clepper said. In doing your due diligence, I would only ask that you look at the candidates and their length of time.

Public meeting

State law allows school boards to discuss personnel issues behind closed doors in executive session. However, any decision to hire a person would need to be made during a public meeting.

Unless a special meeting is called and advertised, the board has only have two more opportunities to vote on the appointment of a superintendent before three new board members are seated at the Dec. 4 meeting.

Four four-year seats are open on the South Middleton School Board heading into the Nov. 7 general election. Three of them are occupied by incumbents who have decided not to run for reelection. They are Tom Merlie, Robert Winters and Scott Witwer.

Only incumbent Stacey Knavel filed the paperwork to run for office. She is on the November ballot along with John Greenbaum, Jon Still and Denise MacIvor who earned write-in spots during the May Primary.

It has been the past practice of school boards to seat newly elected members during a reorganizational meeting held in early December after a general election. That means the outgoing South Middleton School Board members have to vote on a superintendent appointment at the Nov. 6 or the Nov. 20 board meetings if they want to have a say on the decision.

Unlike four years ago, when Moyer was in the running for superintendent, current board leadership has been quiet on the current superintendent search. On Sept. 26, The Sentinel reported that closed-door interviews would be conducted that week with an unspecified number of applicants vying for the superintendent job.

During a phone interview, board president Michael Berk would not comment on when the interviews were scheduled, the number of applicants seeking the job or the number selected for hourlong interviews before the board-as-a-whole.

Also, Berk would not comment on where the applicants are from or whether Assistant Superintendent Joseph Mancuso is in the running for the job. There has been public support for Mancuso to be appointed the superintendent.

The school board in late June 2013 appointed Al Moyer the superintendent following a much more open process that included an early June town hall meeting in which the public could ask the contenders questions.
Chino, CA (91710)

Today

A clear sky. Low near 50F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Stronger winds in and below canyons and passes..

Tonight

A clear sky. Low near 50F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Stronger winds in and below canyons and passes.
This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact The Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions
Pennsylvania is blessed with abundant natural resources. For more than 200 years, our coal, timber, oil, and natural gas have been the raw materials that have built our nation. Today, thanks to our abundance natural gas resources, we have another generational opportunity to unleash American manufacturing.

That rebirth of good-paying, middle-class manufacturing jobs starts at the wellhead. Over the past decade, Pennsylvania, with its abundant shale resources, has emerged as the nations second largest natural gas producing state. In fact, if the Appalachian Basin  Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia  were a country, it would be the worlds third largest natural gas producer.

Alongside the safe, continued development of clean, burning natural gas has come good-paying jobs, new tax revenues, and significantly improved air quality. According to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study, natural gas development supports more than 320,000 jobs and contributes $45 billion to the Commonwealths economy. The study found that for every job generated in the oil and gas industry an additional 2.7 jobs were produced throughout the U.S. economy.

Why limit our energy opportunity when that resource has the potential to unlock a Made in the U.S.A. revolution?

Natural gas and natural gas liquids are the primary feedstocks to many manufacturing and petrochemical facilities, including the development of plastics. These operations rely on an affordable, reliable natural gas source, giving Pennsylvania a natural energy advantage to attracting new manufacturers.

We are nearly a decade into Americas shale energy revolution, however, were just in the early stages of realizing the downstream manufacturing opportunities tied to natural gas.

Earlier this month Chevron and Peoples Natural Gas launched the Forge the Future initiative with an economic analysis from McKinsey & Company that examines these downstream opportunities. The report projects Pennsylvania could see a $60 billion increase in gross domestic product over the next decade and over 100,000 more jobs, the majority of which would fall in the manufacturing sector if the Commonwealth fully embraces its energy opportunity.

As Pennsylvania Manufacturing Associations Dave Taylor said late last year, we have a unique, generational opportunity to move the Commonwealth and our nation forward by leveraging our energy resources into much-needed job creation.

In fact, the ethane cracker plant in Beaver County is a perfect example of Pennsylvanias manufacturing future. Construction has begun on the plant that will take natural gas liquids in the form of ethane and produce the plastic used in nearly every consumer product. With 6,000 jobs supported during construction and another 600 when the plant is operational, this facility is just the first of what could be many more new plastics and petrochemical manufacturing facilities throughout the Commonwealth.

To fully realize our manufacturing opportunity ahead, we need the right mix of production, infrastructure and policies that will drive job-creating investment and economic growth.

An IHS Markit report, commissioned by the Wolf administration, released earlier this year concluded that Pennsylvanias strong natural gas liquids production could attract four more ethane crackers to the region, totaling up to $3.7 billion in added investment. The researchers also concluded that the Commonwealth must begin taking immediate steps to support a long-term strategy that will maximize in-state economic development in order to remain competitive.

We are excited that Pennsylvanias natural resources are once again presenting an opportunity for long-term sustained economic growth.

With our operators committed to safely developing and moving our natural gas resources to market, policymakers, too, need to recognize this opportunity and look toward pro-growth solutions to attract investment, not drive it away.
Will Harvey Weinstein reshape the national discussion about sexual harassment at work?

The scandal that rocked Hollywood and toppled the career of the famous producer has raised the discussion of workplace misconduct to a new level. Coming on the heels of other sexual harassment scandals involving high-profile men like Bill OReilly and Roger Ailes of Fox News, the Weinstein case is prompting a re-evaluation of how harassment is handled in the workplace.

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If we can see a silver lining in this horrible situation, it has started a dialogue, said Michelle Lee Flores, an employment litigation attorney with Cozen OConnor in Los Angeles. Its a paradigm shift. I think it will encourage and empower people to speak up.

Some efforts to address the situation have already begun. A large-scale anti-harassment training program was introduced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission a day before the Weinstein allegations were first reported by The New York Times earlier this month. The program includes tools for responding to harassing behavior and teaches bystanders when and how to intervene.

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While sexual harassment is in the spotlight now, complaints filed with the EEOC, the federal agency that enforces U.S. labor law, havent changed much. Almost 30 percent of the 91,500 complaints received by the EEOC in 2016 included an accusation of sex-based workplace harassment. In Illinois, 1,325 claims of sex-based harassment were filed with the agency last year. Thats a slight uptick from the previous two years, but complaints have held fairly steady over the past decade.

However, those numbers may barely scratch the surface. The EEOC estimates that three-fourths of people who are sexually harassed on the job dont tell anyone.

To truly put an end to harassment in the workplace, experts say not only must there be strong anti-harassment policies in place, there also must be real consequences for harassers. And most importantly, there must be a culture that doesnt ignore the behavior.

Were talking about an issue that is endemic to the American workplace, said Sharmili Majmudar, director of strategic partnerships at Women Employed, a Chicago-based advocacy organization. We have to look at two really large areas: One is how do we make it safe and easy for people to report sexual harassment, and how do we ensure the workplace culture becomes one that is intolerant of it.

Thats especially important when there appears to be a big divide in how companies say theyre handling the issue and the perception of employees. A recent survey by Sheryl Sandbergs LeanIn.org revealed that while a majority of American companies offer anti-harassment training, only a third of women say disrespectful behavior is quickly addressed.

And the lack of progress appears to be most notable at the top echelons of corporations. An August survey of more than 400 directors of public and private companies found that sexual harassment had not been a topic of discussion at the board level. The survey, conducted by The Boardlist and Qualtrics, questioned a group of primarily female board members and found that they were uncomfortable bringing up the issue with their male counterparts.

For decades, organizations have carefully crafted their anti-harassment policies and procedures, including employee training and anonymous email and phone hotlines for reporting inappropriate behavior. But most companies are reluctant to discuss those policies or share details about them.

Several large public or privately held businesses contacted by the Tribune did not respond to a request for comment or declined to comment on their sexual harassment policies and procedures. Companies that did respond said they strongly oppose any form of sexual harassment and have always had a strict anti-harassment policy.

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But having a policy isnt enough to address the problem, said Lauren Edelman, professor at the University of California at Berkeley. Employers and managers need to be proactive so they can help prevent a problem before it develops, she said.

That means midlevel managers must be accountable for what happens in their departments, and companies should conduct anonymous surveys to measure whether employees have been harassed. The best companies take a critical extra step: They circle back to a victim after dealing with the issue, inform the employee of what changes are being made as a result of the complaint and ask if the employee feels comfortable with the outcome, attorney Flores said.

Edelman said the Weinstein case and others before it might signal that employers are getting the message that banishing sexual harassment in all forms  whether persistent compliments that make a woman uncomfortable or more pervasive moves like inappropriate touching  is good for business.

You would think this would be a wake-up call, she said. If thats the case, I would expect leaders to be more serious about taking real measures to end harassment.

Beyond the often significant emotional, physical and economic harm to victims, there are high legal and financial costs for businesses. In 2015, the EEOC recovered $164.5 million through lawsuits filed over sexual harassment charges. This summer, Ford settled a sexual and racial discrimination suit brought by the EEOC for $10 million tied to misconduct allegations at two Chicago-area plants.

Agreements to keep private settlements quiet are also an obstacle to stopping workplace harassment because nondisclosure agreements keep the incidents under wraps. A lot of organizations had been keeping quiet when they found out that administrators or other important officials have engaged in sexual harassment, Edelman said. Theyve made private deals  as was reported in the Weinstein case  to pay off women or give a slap on the wrist of the offender.

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For anti-harassment policies to be most effective, companies need to focus on helping end harassment rather than merely protecting a business from being sued, Edelman said.

Because just saying you have a zero-tolerance policy alone is symbolic, Edelman said. You have to back it up or its not going to work.

sbomkamp@chicagotribune.com

crshropshire@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @SamWillTravel

Twitter @corilyns

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RELATED

[ Halperin apologizes for 'crude and aggressive' behavior as harassment accusations mount ]

[ All of the women who have accused Trump of sexual harassment are lying, White House says ]

[ 12 hours vs. 20 minutes: Fox News focuses on Weinstein harassment, ignoring O'Reilly ]

[ Allred urges Weinstein Co. to set up settlement fund as over 60 women allege sexual misconduct ]
Chicago 

As historical buildings in Pilsen are appraised by potential real estate buyers, residents from the neighborhood are nervous about what could happen to not only their homes, but their community anchors. The Association Pro Workers Rights (APO), one of the few five-story buildings along 18th St., is the latest one in residents gentrification radar.

This week, a group of Pilsen people calling themselves Friends of APO pointed to the former Casa Aztlan center, which fell to mismanagement and new development, determined for history not to repeat itself.

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APO, a non-profit organization which they say has been dormant for years and is located across the street from the popular Jumping Bean cafe, has been approached by artists and community members across the years who want to see it become a more welcoming space for neighbors.

City records from the year 2000 show the transfer of property from the Latin American Council of Christian Churches, based in Texas, to APO for the sum of one dollar.

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APO began inside a factory when underpaid workers were going on strike for better working conditions, led by the late Pablo Torres. They took on multiple campaigns in the 1970s to fight hiring discrimination against Latinos in companies and public entities like Greyhound, the U.S. Postal Service, Peoples Gas, and Cook County Hospital, said Bernardino Echeverria, 62.

Echeverria, who was the vice president of APO in 1983 before returning to Mexico to care for his parents, said he recently reached out to his contemporary, Raquel Guerrero, by phone, but was referred to her daughter Leticia, who allegedly manages the building.

Guerrero did not respond to requests for comment.

Friends of APO, composed of former members, their children, and several organizations, say they want to know who makes up the Board of Trustees and move forward from there.

They mailed a letter to APO, dated October 16, that read: It is our wish we can work together in rehabilitating APOs building and to make sure we do not lose this community center to condominium developers or to the city due to building violations or property tax debts.

According to the Cook County Reporter of Deeds, in May 2017 the City of Chicago filed a pending lawsuit against the property at 1430 W. 18th St. for building code violations. The named defendants are Maria L. and Juan F. Ruvalcaba, unknown owners, and non-record claimants.

To determine the next steps in their effort to transform the building into a robust community center, Friends of APO will hold an open assembly on Saturday, October 28, at 10 am at St. Pius Church, 1900 S. Ashland Ave.

The developers are not here to create community or to bring resources to our youth. Only we can do that. So we invite the community to help us figure out how to rescue our spaces in Pilsen, said Friends of APO member, Manuel Revueltas.
Presidential campaigns are nasty. During the last election, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump opened a fresh window into just how far into the gutter some candidates are willing to go.

Both candidates were flawed from the start. With Clintons email servers and Trumps pussy tape, there was already enough dirt floating around to keep the American people distracted. But that wasnt enough for either campaign. Each needed something nastier to make the voters hate the opposing candidate more than they already did.

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We learned months ago how desperate the Trump campaign was to discredit Clinton. When the Russians offered his campaign more damaging information on the Democratic nominee, Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., responded with, I love it.

Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and campaign manager Paul Manafort joined Trump Jr. in a clandestine meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer at Trump Tower. As it turned out, they left empty-handed.

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And weve recently learned that the Clinton campaign wasnt as pristine as it wanted us to believe it was. The former secretary of states people were doing some voracious digging of their own to give their candidate an edge.

As Trump moved closer to clinching the Republican nomination, the Democrats started paying for the Russian dossier that had been initiated and financed by a conservative website backed by a GOP donor, according to The New York Times. It would eventually turn out to have some juicy, though unsubstantiated, tidbits on the businessman turned politician.

There were alleged romps with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel. Bribes reportedly were made to look like real estate deals. But most important, the document detailed Kremlin-directed cyberattacks on Clinton aimed at getting Trump elected.

Of course, Clinton claims to have known nothing about any of this. But in order to believe her, we would also have to believe Trumps assertion that he knew nothing about his sons secret meeting with the Russian lawyer. If the candidates didn't know what was going on, they should have known.

That Russian-sponsored cyberattack revealed something else about the Democrats, too.

In the midst of the presidential campaign, Clintons people had conspired to keep Sen. Bernie Sanders from winning the Democratic nomination. Democrats had sought to undermine the Vermont Independent with voters and even took steps to derail his campaign, according to the hacked emails made public by WikiLeaks.

Since the election, Americans have been consumed by investigations into the Trump campaign's alleged ties with the Russians.

Regardless of how the probes turn out, Trump will never be able to gain the trust of most Americans. To many of us, he was badly soiled before he even entered the race.

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Whether Trump had direct knowledge of Russias attempts to influence the elections or actually assisted them in doing so, the majority of Americans will continue to view him as a conniving, dishonest cheat who never should have made it to the White House.

But Clinton didnt come out of the election untarnished, either. Her hands arent as dirty as Trumps, but they certainly arent spotless.

Both candidates took turns creating the cesspool. And the American people have been left to clean up the mess.

We never were naive enough to think that presidential campaigns were honest and fair. We dont always expect the best candidate to win. Theres lots of evidence over the years to prove that isnt the case.

We have come to expect the contentious televised debates, the piercing personal attacks and the dishonest advertisements. But we are taken aback when we are allowed to witness the depths to which candidates are willing to dive in order to get to the White House.

Richard Nixon gave us a glimpse in 1972. In the midst of his re-election campaign, his operatives bugged the offices of the Democratic National Committee, resulting in the Watergate scandal that led to his resignation in 1974. Americans prayed that we would never see such an election scandal again.

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At this point, its anybodys guess where the Russia probe will lead. Most Americans believe theres something there. We just dont know what it is or how deep it is buried.

When presidential candidates betray Americans trust, it puts a stain on our democracy. It stymies the Democratic process that dims our nations once-shining light.

But more than that, it creates a distrust that only serves to make Americans more cynical about the election process. Cynicism can lead to apathy. And apathy keeps more and more of us from going to the polls.

In this past election, America lost. The only clear winner was Russia.

dglanton@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @dahleeng

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[ Republicans and Democrats who care about America must speak with one voice against Donald Trump ]

[ Our 2 choices: Do we believe Donald Trump or the media? ]

[ Gen. John Kelly comes out to defend a coward ]
ACLU of Illinois Communications Director Ed Yohnka takes questions from audience members at a stop at Elgin Community College on Thursday. ( Rafael Guerrero/Courier-News )

Threats to civil liberties have been worse under the Trump administration than originally envisioned, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union said.

Ed Yohnka, of the ACLU of Illinois, spoke to the Elgin Community College community and the Elgin area League of Women Voters during an evening guest appearance at ECC Thursday.

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It was not Yohnka's first appearance at the college this year, having made a presentation in January, one week before Donald Trump took office.

"I painted a fairly bleak picture of what civil liberties and civil rights would be under a Trump administration," he said, referring to his January visit. "And as often happens in making predictions, I was wrong: it's been worse."

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He told the audience of instances the Trump administration's actions have caught the attention of the ACLU: the first travel ban in the winter; the president's comments after the Charlottesville protests; and the recent court battle over a Central American immigrant minor trying to get an abortion.

Many of these administration moves led to court battles, some from the ACLU. For instance, the ACLU has challenged all three versions of the travel ban, arguing the bans have been to primarily restrict travel for those who are Muslim, he said.

One silver lining, though, amid ACLU's issues with the administration's actions has been the continuous activism from civil liberties supporters, he said. According to Yohnka, ACLU membership in Illinois has increased from about 14,000 last November to about 70,000 this fall.

When asked how many had participated in either the Women's March in January or the airport protests shortly after, most in the audience raised their hands, some for both events.

"They even went to airports where there weren't international flights," Yohnka said. "The fact you would go to O'Hare on a Saturday night, who wants to go to an airport on a Saturday night?"

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"If we're not protecting our most vulnerable, we're not protecting ourselves," Yohnka said.

Yohnka's appearance was the latest event held at ECC related to some of the divisive developments that have surfaced over the past year. Earlier this fall, ECC held a discussion on Confederate monuments and symbols. Next month, there will be another in its Targets of Hate series, this time on hate speech and the freedom of speech.

Antonio Ramirez, history professor at ECC, said these events have interest from students and those outside the college. The Confederate monuments presentation filled the ECC auditorium nearly to capacity.

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The topic of millennials had been brought up by the audience during Q-and-A; Yohnka said while the younger generations were the most inclusive and welcoming of all, they had a penchant of limiting speech for fears of offending someone or something.

Ramirez largely agreed, saying they have shown an interest on the sensitive matters, willing to engage and participate. For instance, Ramirez was in the process of taking some students down to Springfield to learn and talk of state politics.

"I do think millennials care about these issues, about their civil liberties," Ramirez said.

raguerrero@tribpub.com
Erika Villagomez, of Elgin, died Sept. 30 after a driver rear-ended her in Wheaton going 135 mph, officials said. (Jenny Lee)

On the morning of Sept. 30, Jenny Lee and Erika Villagomez had breakfast in Wheaton after going out the previous night in Chicago. At about 11 a.m., Villagomez left Lee's Wheaton residence.

It would be the last time Lee would see her best friend.

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During that late morning, according to DuPage County prosecutors, Villagomez was rear-ended by Brian Thunderkick, who was driving 135 mph down westbound Butterfield Road. Villagomez, 22, of Elgin, died after her car burst into flames, the scene of the crash not far from where Lee lives.

As a Monday court date for Thunderkick approaches, Villagomez' friends and family remain in shock.

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"I will never ever forget her and it's a struggle to go to class and see her empty desk," said Lee, 24.

She described Villagomez as "very ambitious, driven, strong, and more than anything  real." She may have been blunt and honest about anything, but that was her way of showing she cared, Lee said.

Villagomez was a senior at Northern Illinois University, double majoring in accounting and operations management and information systems. Lee said her friend had big plans after graduation, which was to happen at the end of the school year. She wanted to go into consulting or work at a large accounting firm, Lee said. Villagomez wanted to one day set up a scholarship fund, she added. She also wanted to financially assist her two younger siblings' higher education goals.

"She was the poster child to her parents," Lee said. "Trust me when I tell you that she was special. The way she viewed life, you would not believe that she was only 22."

Alberto Villagomez, Erika's younger brother, said she was someone to look up to, a best friend to him, someone who would be willing to help when asked.

"She was a leader for everyone and always tried her best," he said. "Unfortunately God took her away from us at a young age. She might not be here but she will always be in our hearts."

Villagomez' cousin, Juan Alvarez Murillo, set up a Gofundme account in honor of Erika. The goal is to help Villagomez' parents through funeral expenses, as well as any needs they may have in the aftermath.

As of Friday, the crowdsourcing campaign had raised almost $3,400, with a $10,000 goal.

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While the money is intended to go toward the immediate costs in the wake of her death, Alvarez Murillo hoped some would go toward her two siblings, an 11-year-old sister and 18-year-old Alberto. For his cousin, family was most important, and she wanted to help them get their education, he said.

Most of the family lives in Elgin, he said. Many people from Villagomez' hometown in Mexico, where she was buried, live in the Elgin area, Alvarez Murillo said, and the support from the family has been tremendous, bringing them closer together in light of the tragedy.

Alvarez Murillo described Villagomez as the kind of person who could "talk to anybody," an integral part of their large, extended family.

"She worked so hard because she always wanted to give her parents the life that they deserved," said Jocelyn Depaz, a friend and roommate of Villagomez. "She worked so hard because she was always fortunate of the opportunities that were given to her. She knew that her parents left everything behind, and she was going to make the most of the opportunities given to her."

Depaz had known Villagomez since the two attended Elgin High School. After high school, the two briefly lost touch before reconnecting again in NIU, she said. Spending time with her was an adventure, Depaz said. Their next big adventure was to happen once they graduated, a moment that had them excited.

"It breaks my heart" that she won't be there on graduation, Depaz said.

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Friends and family described Erika Villagomez as someone who could be looked up to. (Jenny Lee )

Those who knew Villagomez will be closely following the court proceedings of Thunderkick, 62, who has been released from DuPage County Jail, according to county officials. On Oct. 14, Thunderkick posted 10 percent of a $150,000 bail, despite DuPage County prosecutors attempting to increase the bail amount.

Lee said it was disturbing for her how low the amount was. She said she would be in attendance at the courthouse on Monday.

"A person died, I don't know how inconsiderate they can be," Lee said. "It is a slap to the face to their family and friends."

Alvarez Murillo said while he understands every case is different, he has heard of cases in which bail was set much higher for lesser offenses.

"I don't get it, how do you get out with only $15,000 when he killed somebody?" he said.

raguerrero@tribpub.com
Drew Peterson in the courtroom after being found guilty of the murder of Kathleen Savio. (Cheryl A. Cook, for the Chicago Tribune)

From early on in his wife Stacy's disappearance, Drew Peterson passed himself off as a devil-may-care serial marriage victim, unfairly suspected in the death of one wife and the disappearance of another.

Stacy Peterson has now been gone for 10 years  she was last seen on Oct. 28, 2007, and reported missing the following day  and by now even Peterson's son Stephen Peterson has admitted that his father's joking attitude is "not funny anymore."

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Even early supporters like his son came to believe that there was no good explanation for the disappearance of Stacy, Drew's fourth wife, and the passing of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, who was found dead in a bathtub in 2004.

Authorities took a new look at Savio's death after Stacy Peterson disappeared. A jury eventually convicted Drew Peterson of Savio's murder, and he was sentenced to 38 years in prison.

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Much has happened in the case even since then, with a recent Illinois Supreme Court decision upholding his conviction.

In between, Peterson was also found guilty of trying to arrange a hit on Will County's top prosecutor, adding 40 years to his prison sentence.

As the story unfolded with one bizarre twist after another, Peterson became an infamous national figure who seemed to enjoy the attention he was getting even as he repeatedly proclaimed his innocence. While being sentenced for Savio's murder, he interrupted proceedings with the outburst: " I did not kill Kathleen!"

To mark the 10th anniversary of Stacy Peterson's disappearance, her family planned to gather with friends and family at 2 p.m. Sunday to celebrate her life and raise funds for Team Watters Sonar, a nonprofit volunteer group based outside St. Louis that conducts water searches and recoveries and has assisted in the search for Stacy Peterson, her sister said. Tickets are $15, and the event takes place at the Levy Center in Bolingbrook.

Stacy Peterson's sister Cassandra Cales, a 32-year-old single mother, says she accepted from the beginning that her sister was murdered, but has never given up trying to find her.

"I'm still not stopping," Cales said. "My search will continue until I get the answers and bring Stacy home."

She wants to keep Stacy in the news so that someone who knows something about what happened to her will come forward.

As the case became a national scandal  even spawning a TV movie starring Rob Lowe as Drew Peterson  each person closely involved has had their lives altered forever.

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Stacy and Drew Peterson in 2007. (Chicago Tribune)

Stacy Peterson

Stacy Peterson was just 23 when she disappeared, 30 years younger than her husband. They had two children together who are now adolescents. She also adopted Drew Petersons two children with Savio; they are now young adults.

By all accounts, she was in love with Drew when they married. But he soon grew controlling, not letting her talk to her friends, pressuring her to get breast implants and constantly suspecting her of cheating, Cales said. Stacy disappeared the day before she was going to see a divorce attorney.

Illinois State Police named Drew Peterson a suspect in Stacy's disappearance, which remains an active investigation, but he has never been charged in the case, and she has never been found.

Cales said much of her extended family will fly in for the memorial Sunday. She said she still get tips about Stacy that she shares with police, but she said she is frustrated that they wont share any of the details of their investigation with her, citing confidentiality.

"It's just so frustrating," she said. "The law needs to change."

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 35 An Illinois Department of Corrections van carrying Drew Peterson arrives at the Randolph County Courthouse in Chester, Ill., on May 23, 2016. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)

Drew Peterson

Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, called Menard Correctional Center, where he was held, a "living hell." Earlier this year, prison officials had him transferred to a federal prison in Indiana after determining that he was a threat because of the murder-for-hire plot.

In April, he was attacked by another prisoner with a food tray in the chow hall but was not seriously injured, sources said. His son has told the Tribune that, on the phone, Drew remains in good spirits, despite having previously said in court that he was suicidal in prison.

He is eligible for parole in 2081.

Peterson's attorney Steven Greenberg said Friday that he will file a petition for a rehearing before the state Supreme Court, calling the ruling upholding the murder conviction "indefensible and unsupportable."

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If the state court rules against him again, they'll take the case to federal court.

Greenberg said of Peterson, "His spirits are good, and he's going to keep fighting because, notwithstanding public opinion, he did not commit the crime and the evidence did not prove it."

Drew Peterson was convicted of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, and sentenced to 38 years in prison. (Savio family photo)

Kathleen Savio

Savio was Drew Peterson's third wife and was 38 when she was found dead in a dry bathtub at home in Bolingbrook in 2004, weeks before a scheduled hearing on money and custody matters in their divorce. Peterson at the time said she must have fallen and hit her head, which local police initially accepted.

But after Stacy Peterson disappeared, investigators reopened the case. Savio's body was exhumed, and the coroner ruled her death a homicide, eventually leading to charges against Drew Peterson.

No physical evidence or witnesses linked him directly to the death, but prosecutors used incriminating statements that Savio and Stacy Peterson had told associates that Drew Peterson had made.

Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow arrives at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet in 2012 during the Drew Peterson trial. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune)

James Glasgow

Peterson's third alleged victim was the man who put him behind bars. Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow made the decision to charge Peterson despite criticism that he lacked physical evidence and relied on hearsay testimony.

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While Peterson was in jail awaiting trial, police recorded him in phone calls talking about what Glasgow said was an "evil plot" to have the prosecutor killed.

Peterson was convicted of a murder-for-hire plot and sentenced to an additional 40 years in prison, which all but guarantees he'll die behind bars.

Glasgow was unopposed for re-election last year, and is the longest-serving state's attorney in Will County.

Stephen Peterson, son of convicted murderer Drew Peterson, and Melissa Moore, host of the TV show "Monster in My Family," talk in the Bolingbrook home in 2016 where Drew Peterson lived with his fourth wife, Stacy, who is missing and presumed dead. (Lifetime)

Stephen Peterson

Drew Peterson's son was an Oak Brook police officer who lost his job in 2011 for failing to disclose that after Stacy Peterson's disappearance, he hid his father's guns and checks worth more than $200,000.

The younger Petersons marriage ended, and he moved into the home in Bolingbrook that Drew and Stacy once shared. He now is acting as guardian to Drew and Stacys two children, and also has looked after Drews two sons with Savio.

Cassandra Cales objected that Stephen doesnt let her see the children.

Stephen Peterson told the Tribune in February that he had been living on Drew's pension payments until they ended last year. He said the financial pressure since then prompted him to agree to a $10,000 payment to participate in an episode of the Lifetime show, "Monster in My Family."

Peterson told the Tribune he planned to look for work, possibly in law enforcement.

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rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com

Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

Twitter @RobertMcCoppin

RELATED

Timeline: The Drew Peterson case 

Drew Peterson gets 40 extra years for plot to kill prosecutor 

PDFs: Drew Peterson case file 

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Drew Peterson's son: Father 'probably' killed both wives 

Contrite former Peterson attorney Brodsky apologizes for 'going too far' 






Police tape sits outside the building where a 16-year-old girl was fatally shot in face on 6600 block of South Marquette Road Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017 in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Updated Oct. 31, 2017 12:05 p.m.  A 3-year-old boy was shot in the back while riding in a car in the Washington Park neighborhood on the city's South Side early Sunday, police said.

He was among nine people injured and one killed in shooting attacks across the city between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, according to police.

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The boy was sitting in the back seat of a car as a man drove it near the intersection of South Wabash Avenue and East 60th Street, police said. The car, a white Pontiac Grand Am, was heading west on 60th and halted at a stop sign when someone in a different vehicle pulled up on the passenger side of the car and fired shots, police said.

The Pontiac driver sped away and later realized the young boy was shot, police said. He drove to Holy Cross Hospital, where the boy was initially in serious condition. The boy was later transferred to Comer Children's Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.

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The Pontiac was parked outside the emergency room entrance of Holy Cross as officers arrived at the hospital to investigate. At least five bullets pierced the exterior passenger side.

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Earlier on the Northwest Side, a 21-year-old woman who was inside a Portage Park apartment with a man was fatally shot when a gun one of them was handling discharged about 10 p.m., police said.

Nadia Manjarrez was struck in the head and was pronounced dead at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center at 10:50 p.m., according to the medical examiner.

Officers recovered a weapon on scene and took a 37-year-old man into custody. Detectives were investigating details of the shooting.

In an attack on the West Side, an 84-year-old woman suffered cuts to her face from shattered glass after a bullet likely hit her window on Saturday afternoon.

About 12:45 p.m., police were called to the 1500 block of South Homan Avenue in Lawndale on the city's West Side. At first, officers thought she was grazed but later realized that she was cut and not shot.

The shooter was in a black SUV but got out of the vehicle before opening fire, aiming toward another vehicle in the same block, police said. The woman was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was in good condition, according to authorities.

In other shootings:
A Chicago-area chiropractor was found guilty on 18 counts of health care fraud in connection with about $10 million in false insurance claims made over nearly a decade, according to an indictment released by the FBI.

Enrique "Henry" Posada, 55, owner of Associated Back Care and Rehabilitation at 4354 W. 63rd St. in West Lawn, and who was a licensed chiropractor from 1996 until July of this year, was found guilty at the conclusion of a jury trial Friday. The charges, initially announced in March by Joel R. Levin, acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, were that Posada presented false inventories to insurance companies  including, but not limited to Medicare  for services that never were provided, the indictment states.

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The 18 charges stem from 18 occurrences when the FBI said Posada tried to use the same scheme to defraud a number of health care benefit programs, including Medicare, Cigna, Independence Blue Cross, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, National Association of Letter Carriers and Humana on dates in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Calls to Posada requesting comment were not immediately returned Saturday.

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According to the indictment, Posada is accused of submitting the claims as far back as 2008, and on at least one occasion he is accused of submitting claims to an insurance company for services provided to patients in Illinois on dates when Posada wasn't even in the state.

Further, the indictment states: "Posada, at times, used the names and identifying information of certain individuals, including patients without their knowledge or authorization, and caused the creation of fraudulent claims submitted by ABC to health care benefit programs."

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When the indictment was returned March 16, Posada, of Clarendon Hills, pleaded not guilty, officials said.

Posada is accused of depositing the money he received from the health care benefit program to a bank account for the parent company of ABC, Spine Clinics of America S.C., the indictment states. Of the money fraudulently obtained, officials allege he then used at least $5 million on personal purchases.

In its indictment, the grand jury further alleged Posada is to forfeit to the United States any property derived from the money that can be traced to this illegal scheme. As such, the government states it is owed more than $5 million, plus $850,000 in cashier checks; a 2013 Lexus; and a house in Watseka, Ill., according to the indictment.

Records show that Posada's most recent chiropractor's license was set to expire at the end of July of this year. According to FBI spokesman Garrett Croon, it's not clear whether Posada was prevented from extending his license as a result of the indictment.

Croon said Posada is expected to be sentenced at a court appearance in February of next year.

Health care fraud is punishable by as many as 10 years in prison, according to the March news release from Levin.

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kdouglas@chicagotribune.com

@312BreakingNews
A boat passes as guests attend the grand opening of Apple's Chicago flagship store on Oct. 20, 2017. The store plans to dim its lights at night to prevent bird strikes during migration season. (Scott Olson / Getty Images)

Facing criticism from wildlife groups who say its glassy new Chicago store is causing deadly bird strikes, Apple plans to dim the stores lights Friday night, a company spokesman said, and will continue to do so during the fall migration season.

Members of Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, a volunteer group that rescues migrating birds that collide with buildings, have said theyve found dead birds at the Apple store since it opened Oct. 20. The group blames the stores exterior glass walls and night lighting. At night, according to experts, birds often become disoriented by city lights, then crash into buildings and fall to the ground.

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In response to the criticism, Nick Leahy, a spokesman for the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer-maker, said Friday: Starting tonight, at least until we can get through the migratory season, we will get the lights down as much as can overnight.

Located at 401 N. Michigan Ave., the store is on the north bank of the Chicago River and not far from the lakefront, a major bird migratory route.

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The stores manager, Leahy said, acknowledged that there had been bird strikes, but it wasnt a larger number.

The city of Chicago has a Lights Out program that encourages the owners and managers of high-rises to turn off or dim decorative lights. The Apple store is two stories tall.

A city website describing the Lights Out program says: Thousands of migratory birds are settling to rest in the early morning hours, seeking shelter and food after their long migratory journey. They can collide with lighted glass as they try to enter the space behind it. Research has shown that birds do not see glass.

London-based Foster + Partners designed the $27 million store, whose facade consists of huge sheets of floor-to-ceiling glass. The firms chief designer on the project, Stefan Behling, said the architects had studied the possibility of bird strikes and had concluded that it would not be a problem.

bkamin@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @BlairKamin

[ Column: Apple's new flagship store an understated gem on the Chicago River ]

[ With hugs and cheers, Apple store opens at site of Chicago's first settlement ]
A review of Cook Countys fundamentally flawed property tax system is stuck in neutral more than three months after Board President Toni Preckwinkle ordered it up, but Assessor Joseph Berrios denies hes trying to delay the study until after he runs for re-election in March.

Appearing at a Friday budget hearing, Berrios could offer no timeline on the studys completion, drawing criticism from a county commissioner who wanted answers. Later, a Preckwinkle aide would only say they were making deliberate progress and continuing to engage with the various stakeholders.

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Everyones goal is to get this right and our belief is that by continuing to work in good faith we can achieve that, Preckwinkle spokesman Frank Shuftan said.

The uncertainty remains four months since the Chicago Tribune published its Tax Divide series. The investigation concluded the countys property tax system created an unequal burden on residents, handing huge financial breaks to homeowners who are well-off while punishing those who have the least, particularly people living in minority communities.

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Preckwinkle, who is seeking a third term next year, is an ally of Berrios, the powerful county Democratic chairman. In July, Preckwinkle announced that an outside evaluation of the property tax assessment system was underway, with a group called the Civic Consulting Alliance heading it up. She did so as Berrios was being grilled by commissioners during a hearing in the wake of the Tribune series.

On Friday, Berrios was back on the hot seat at his annual budget hearing. He faced questions from Commissioner Richard Boykin, an Oak Park Democrat who represents large swaths of the West Side and Maywood, areas where many low-income African-American homeowners live.

What has happened (since Preckwinkles announcement)? Boykin asked.

Berrios said both the Consulting Alliance and Tyler Group  a contractor being paid to work on county computer systems  were looking into the issue.

There are various different (assessment) models out there, Berrios said. The model that Cook County has used has been one that has been very efficient, and they are looking at it all, and if they can come up with a better system, we will absolutely use a better system.

Pressed on how quickly the work would be done, Berrios said the Consulting Alliance had been given space to work in his office, but he wasnt going to give them a deadline.

Whether I like the report or dont like the report, theyre gonna come up with an independent report, and for me to tell them they need it by a certain date and demand that they finish it by a certain date, to me would be unfair to them, Berrios said. Theyre coming in to look at not only the system, theyre looking at the entire system within the office. And theyre going to look at the Board of (Tax) Review also.

A few minutes later, Commissioner Peter Silvestri, an Elmwood Park Republican, asked about the status of the review. Responded Berrios: I cant tell them what to do.

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The hearing came a day after county Clerk David Orr, an independent Democrat, endorsed first-time candidate Fritz Kaegi in his bid to unseat to unseat Berrios in the March primary election.

Orr said hes frustrated that there have been no changes since the Tribunes stories ran in June. In the meantime, thousands of homes have been reassessed, he said. And despite Preckwinkles July announcement, two steering committee meetings to move that process along have since been canceled, Orr said.

I believe the assessors problem is enormous and it is getting not enough attention, Orr said in a recent interview. This is like this great big threat is all around us, and were still peddling along with our tricycle.

After Fridays hearing, Berrios said further meetings were put off because lawyers for the county and Consulting Alliance were determining how far they could go legally, given court cases that the countys defending right now.

It had nothing to do with us, Berrios said when asked if political motivations played a role. Weve been cooperating.

Berrios said he expected another steering committee meeting in the next week or two. I want them to tell me where theyre at, he said.

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The steering committee met once, in August, when a timeline for the study process was distributed. Officials hoped to agree on specific improvement areas by mid-November and have solutions developed before Christmas.

Asked by the Tribune if there was any effort to push off completion of the study until after the March primary, Berrios said: No, not all. I want to know what the heck is going on.

If they come in with an idea that makes the system better, I will implement it immediately, Berrios said

It wouldnt be the first time Berrios promised changes to the system.

The Tax Divide series noted that Berrios issued a July 2015 news release stating that his office had adopted new state-of-the-art computer models designed to improve accuracy and address persistent inequalities in the assessment system put together with the help of outside experts. Berrios never fully implemented that system, the series concluded.

In July, Berrios said that the newer system  a model backed by a MacArthur Foundation grant  was inaccurate. The new model was created under the direction of Christopher Berry, a University of Chicago public policy professor who has maintained no further studies are needed and would be a waste of time.

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After Fridays hearing, Boykin said he remains concerned about the state of the county assessment system.

Theres no timeline that he put forward that taxpayers of Cook County are going to get an assurance that were going to get a system in place thats going to be fair in terms of these assessments, Boykin said.

Taxpayers, he added, would say the system is broken, and its badly broken and in need of serous repair. Quite frankly, we cant just have window dressing, and put these committees forward to get through the next election.

hdardick@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @ReporterHal

RELATED

[ Cook County Clerk Orr backs Berrios challenger in assessor race, citing 'need to clean up' office ]

[ Cook County property tax system helped wealthy homeowners at others expense ]

[ Scrutiny builds over Berrios property tax assessments; inspector general investigating ]

[ Cook County property tax rates: Look up your town, estimate your bill ]
State Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, speaks during a ceremony at the Pritzker Military Museum and Library in Chicago on Sept. 27, 2017. (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune)

A three-term lawmaker from Wheaton said Saturday that she has begun circulating candidacy petitions to challenge Gov. Bruce Rauner in the Republican primary.

Rep. Jeanne Ives, who has been weighing whether to make the race for weeks, also selected as her running mate a little-known former one-term lawmaker. Richard Morthland of Cordova is now a Rock Island County Board member after serving in the Illinois House from 2011 to 2013. He was defeated for re-election by Democratic Rep. Mike Smiddy of Hillsdale.

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Ives said she does not plan on making a formal candidacy announcement until securing the signatures needed to appear on the March 20 primary ballot. Candidates for governor need a minimum of 5,000 valid signatures by Dec. 4 to qualify.

We are doing everything possible to get on the ballot. I would say nobodys running until theyre on the ballot. Weve got catch-up work to do here so weve got to put out the petitions and get the signatures. When weve got that done, we can officially announce, Ives said.

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We know that were behind the curveball here to some degree in that weve only got about a month to put it all together, she said.

Responding to the move, Rauners campaign issued a statement that did not mention Ives and focused on the governors favorite political target, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Ives has been one of the most vociferous conservatives to condemn Rauner since he signed legislation late last month to expand taxpayer-subsidized abortions to women covered by Medicaid and state employee health insurance.

Rauner's decision led some rank-and-file Republican lawmakers to defect. The governor had committed in April to vetoing the measure as he sought to keep GOP legislators unified against the General Assemblys Democratic majority.

Ives challenge reflects a deterioration of an Illinois Republican Party that was reborn with Rauners win over then-Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn in 2014. Rauner used his wealth as a private equity investor to fund his own campaign, as well as to construct a GOP infrastructure that fed money into legislative campaigns to help ensure loyalty among the rank and file. Ives campaign fund received $4,000 from Rauner shortly after he took office.

Rauner, who formally announced his re-election bid Monday, has a formidable $65.5 million in his campaign fund and deep pockets and wealthy allies to add even more. Republicans have said privately that Ives would need well in excess of $1 million to provide a legitimate challenge. Ives had about $8,500 in her campaign fund to start October and has since added $14,000.

We continue to work on that every single day, Ives said of lining up financial support. Were heartened by the initial contributions weve received, which I will not discuss at this time, and the commitments that have been made.

She said the commitments she has received so far are enough to get started with a campaign.

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Obviously thats a big issue. To get your message out, youve got to have the money behind you, she said. Unless you can self-fund like the other billionaires in the race, (raising money is) an ongoing process for any candidate. Were not intimidated by it either.

Ives said she selected Morthland, an associate professor at Black Hawk College, as her lieutenant governor candidate because he also represents Illinois.

Hes a farmer. He comes from an area thats outside the suburban area. Hes somebody who is recognized for having been elected before and hes a professional also as a community college teacher, she said.

rap30@aol.com

Twitter @rap30

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[ Harley-riding Rauner kicks off re-election bid with new video, Madigan criticism ]

[ Rauner recruits neighboring governors to rip Madigan on tax hike ]

[ Ex-Gov. Pat Quinn looks at possible attorney general bid ]
Former Gov. Pat Quinn is eyeing a political comeback, planning a bid for Illinois attorney general, a spokesman confirmed Friday.

Quinn, who has been on and off public payrolls and in and out of public offices since the early 1970s, lost a 2014 re-election bid to Republican Bruce Rauner. In that election, Quinn collected 46 percent of the vote in a state that leans Democratic against a first-time businessman who vastly outspent him.

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Now Quinn could join a Democratic attorney general primary field thats already quite crowded after four-term incumbent Lisa Madigan opted not to run again. The former governor did not return phone calls seeking comment Friday, but a spokesman said Quinn is looking at the race and theres more to come next week.

In addition, David Vaught, Quinns former budget director, told the Tribune that Quinn plans to appear before Cook County Democratic Party leaders at a Nov. 3 endorsement session. Quinn has been doing some polling, sources said.

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Hes a fighter who never gives up, Vaught said. He hasnt won every election, but hes had the guts to run and Im sure there is a little buyers remorse out there.

Several Democratic leaders said privately they were surprised at a Quinn candidacy, but they acknowledged that the former governor would likely have the advantage of name recognition over the other seven Democratic hopefuls.

At the same time, a Quinn candidacy could help rejuvenate Republicans who have seen their ranks divided following Rauners signature on legislation expanding taxpayer-subsidized abortions.

Rauner controls the Illinois Republican Party, which is solidly behind Erika Harold, the Urbana attorney whose winnings in the 2003 Miss America pageant paid for her tuition at Harvard Law School. Harold would face Quinn in the fall if both were to emerge from the March primary election.

Beyond the attorney generals race, a Quinn candidacy would allow Rauner and the GOP to attempt to tarnish Democrats in general by reusing much of the material from 2014. That includes a flier linking Quinn, his imprisoned predecessor former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan as corrupt career politicians destroying Illinois.

Others in the Democratic field include Chicago Park District Board President Jesse Ruiz, state Sen. Kwame Raoul of Chicago, state Rep. Scott Drury of Highwood, Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering, former Chicago civilian police authority administrator Sharon Fairley, 33rd Ward Democratic committeeman Aaron Goldstein and former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti.

Quinn reported $231,991 in his campaign fund, along with $31,000 of debts to others that date back to 1986. He still pays rent for a campaign headquarters and to keep a website domain.

Quinn, who turns 69 in December, has made a career of Illinois politics. After graduating from Georgetown Law School, he volunteered for then-Democratic Gov. Dan Walker and soon went to work for him. But Quinn left state government in 1975 amid a legislative investigation of governor aides placed on various state agency payrolls.

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Quinn lost a primary bid for treasurer in 1986 and won the office four years later but was defeated in 1994 for secretary of state. In 1998 he lost a primary for lieutenant governor, but he won the office in 2002. Joining a ticket with Blagojevich, Quinn replaced the impeached governor in 2009 and won election in 2010, only to lose to Rauner in 2014.

Quinn also lost a 1996 effort for U.S. Senate. A run for attorney general would leave the office of comptroller as the only statewide elected title that Quinn has not sought.

mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com

rap30@aol.com

[ Former federal prosecutor, MSNBC regular joins race to succeed Lisa Madigan ]
BARCELONA, Spain  Catalonia's ousted separatist president on Saturday called on Catalans to peacefully oppose Spain's imposition of direct rule in the region, in a veiled refusal to accept his Cabinet's dismissal as ordered by central authorities.

Spain took formal direct control of Catalonia on Saturday, dismissing the region's defiant separatist government, including Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, a day after lawmakers passed a declaration of independence for the prosperous northeastern region.

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The move came after one of the most tumultuous days in the country's recent history, as the national parliament in Madrid approved unprecedented constitutional measures to halt the secessionist drive by the regional parliament in Barcelona.

Hundreds of thousands flooded the streets of Barcelona Sunday to call for Catalonia to remain part of Spain, two days after regional lawmakers exacerbated a political crisis by voting for the wealthy region to secede.

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Organizers said the rally's goal was to defend Spain's unity and reject "an unprecedented attack in the history of democracy." Leaders of rival pro-union parties from the ruling conservatives, the pro-business liberals and the socialists joined together under the slogan "We are all Catalonia. Common sense for coexistence!"

Societat Civil Catalana, the pro-union grassroots group who organized the demonstration, said more than 1 million people turned out, while the police put the figure at 300,000.

The mood was festive, with demonstrators waving Spanish, Catalan and European flags and chanting slogans in favor of remaining part of Spain. "We won't let Spain to be torn apart into pieces," read one banner. "The awakening of a silenced nation," read another.

No incidents of violence were reported.

Friday's vote by pro-independence lawmakers in favor of independence, and Madrid's response triggering unprecedented constitutional powers taking control of Catalan affairs, was the climax of Spain's worst political crisis in decades. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has dissolved Catalonia's parliament and called a new regional election for Dec. 21.

"Catalan leaders have broken the law. The central government has let this situation go for too long, for even 30 or 40 years, thinking that we were never going to arrive to this extreme, but here we are," said Angelita Cuesta, a 66-year-old retiree at the rally. "Our society is fractured, there are family members and friends who no longer can talk about politics to avoid conflict."

Three weeks ago, the same group organized another mass rally that brought hundreds of thousands onto Barcelona's streets. That was by far the largest pro-union show of force in Catalonia in recent years, in contrast to huge rallies by separatists.

"We have organized ourselves late, but we are here to show that there is a majority of Catalans that are no longer silent and that no longer want to be silenced," Societat Civil Catalana president Alex Ramos said.

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A protester holds a sign reading "Puigdemont to prison" during a demonstration calling for Spanish unity in Madrid on Oct. 28, 2017, a day after direct control was imposed on Catalonia by Madrid. Carles Puigdemont is the Catalan regional president. (Javier Soriano / AFP/Getty Images)

A flag with text in Catalan that reads "The people lead" is held up as people gather to celebrate the proclamation of a Catalan republic at Sant Jaume Square in Barcelona on Oct. 27, 2017. (Pau Barrena / AFP/Getty Images)

Members of Spain's central government, including Health Minister Dolors Montserrat, and Enric Millo, who is Madrid's representative in Catalonia, also attended the rally. No major pro-independence marches were expected.

Catalonia's separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, who was fired along with his regional government on Saturday, has called for Catalans to engage in peaceful opposition to Spain's takeover of regional affairs.

In a televised message Saturday, he said he and other regional officials fired by Madrid would keep "working to build a free country," in a veiled refusal to accept his Cabinet's dismissal.

The top politicians for pro-union parties wanted to use Sunday's rally as a launch-pad for the critical elections in just over six weeks.

"It's time to take over the streets and take over the ballot boxes," said Albert Rivera, the leader of the center-right Citizens party.

Separatists won 48 percent of the vote in Catalonia in the 2015 regional election, although they took more seats in the regional parliament because of Spanish election law which gives more weight to sparsely populated areas.

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Oriol Junqueras, the ousted vice president of Catalonia's rebellious government, wrote in an open letter in Catalan newspaper El Punt-Avui on Sunday that separatists should consider participating in the elections. Some secessionists have argued for a boycott.

The Catalan parliament's vote to secede came after an Oct. 1 referendum in favor of independence deemed illegal by Spain's constitutional court. Opponents to secession boycotted the vote after separatists violated parliament rules to push through its convocation.

Voting on the day itself was marred by violence when national police clashed with people attempting to cast their ballots, in what was widely seen in the region as a heavy-handed response by Spanish police. Spain's government said the police response was proportionate.

There are fears the political turmoil could also have a severe economic impact on the region.

Addressing the crowd at Sunday's rally, Josep Borrell, former European Parliament president and a Spanish ex-minister, said the central government's move to take control of some regional affairs under the Constitution's Article 155 was the only thing preventing a full-blown economic crisis in Catalonia.

If the government had not triggered the constitutional powers, "many of you would have lost your jobs . and if that hasn't happened it's because thanks to the application of Article 155 businesses and markets understand that there won't be (secession)," he said.

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If Spain had not taken over, even more business would have left Catalonia in recent weeks that the 1,700 companies which relocated headquarters to other parts of Spain recent weeks, he said.

Spain's government has said the ousted Catalan leaders could be charged with usurping others' functions if they refuse to comply with their firing. On Sunday, a Belgian government official said it would be "not unrealistic" for Puigdemont to ask for asylum, and warned it would create serious diplomatic difficulties with fellow European Union member state Spain.

Asylum State Secretary Theo Francken said on Twitter that "it is possible to ask for asylum as an EU subject" in Belgium, adding it was up to independent asylum authorities whether to grant it.

The 28-nation EU is considered a bloc where the rule of law applies and granting asylum based on arguments that repression would endanger the full exercise of one's rights would be exceptional.

"If you assess the situation at this stage, including the prison terms and the repression from Madrid," Francken told VTM network, "there is the question whether a person like that can get a fair trial, of course."

In another tweet, he stressed Belgium wasn't seeking such a scenario. "I am not rolling out the welcome mat," he said.

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In the past, some Basque separatists have asked for asylum in Belgium and weren't extradited to Spain, causing years of friction.

Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.
Tropical Storm Philippe was passing over the Florida Straits about 75 miles southwest of Key West as of 11 p.m. Saturday, the National Hurricane Center said.

The storm formed just before 5 p.m. Saturday, and soon shifted west, putting more of South Florida in the cone; a tropical storm watch was issued for coastal South Florida from Miami-Dade to the Upper Keys on Saturday.

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Heavy rains across parts of South Florida began Saturday afternoon from the fringes of the fast-moving storm as it raced across Cuba at about 29 mph. By 11 p.m., it had slowed to 24 mph.

The rains were expected to be heavy overnight Saturday and into Sunday.

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A flood watch has been issued for Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties through 8 a.m. Sunday, with two to four inches of rain possible, and six inches in isolated areas. An isolated tornado threat continues through Sunday morning.

The winds have already damaged some structures, including several mobile homes in Boynton Beach, according to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Crews responded just after 6 p.m. to reports of damaged homes near the 4000 block of 88th Court South inside Parry Trailer Village.

Crews reported moderate damage to the homes and debris throughout the neighborhood. Firefighters went through the neighborhood looking for any possible victims and assessing the damage, Captain Albert Borroto said.

The worst of the storm was forecast to pass closest to South Florida from until about 2 a.m., with Miami-Dade expected to experience the highest winds, and Broward and Palm Beach facing the possibility of a few inches of rain.

The storm had top sustained winds of 40 mph after reaching tropical storm strength by 5 p.m., which means winds of 39-73 mph, the hurricane center said.

The tropical storm watch applies to coastal Miami-Dade County, which means everything east of Interstate 95 from the Broward County line to downtown, and then east of Dixie Highway through Homestead.

The storm is expected to move quickly through the region Sunday morning. A strong cold front is following behind it, which could produce lows in the 50s Sunday night.

Gov. Rick Scott met with officials from the Florida Department of Emergency Management and urged state residents to be on alert.

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As we do with every storm, Floridians must remain vigilant and be prepared right now for any potential impacts from [Tropical Storm Philippe], the governor said, in a statement issued late Friday afternoon. It is critical that families pay attention to weather alerts, especially to local watches and warnings.

The South Florida Sun Sentinels news partner WPEC CBS12 News reported that a tornado touched down by Interstate 95 near downtown West Palm Beach on Saturday.

CBS12 captured the touchdown on the Kravis cam.
WASHINGTON  Paul D. Ryan has traveled a long way from the soaring rhetoric he delivered on his first day as House speaker. "Nothing could be more inspiring than a job well done," he said after claiming the gavel. "Nothing could stir the heart more than real, concrete results."

Now, the Wisconsin Republican is more likely to sound like a hardened realist, cracking jokes about how little gets done - and even poking fun at himself. As the guest speaker at a black-tie gala Wednesday, Ryan exhorted the media to "keep your heads up" despite poor approval ratings. "It could be a whole lot worse," he said. "They could be my approval ratings."

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Exactly two years ago Sunday, on Oct. 29, 2015, Ryan, then 45, succeeded Republican John A. Boehner of Ohio, then 65, with an aura of generational change - and a promise of policy-focused leadership.

So far, he hasn't delivered. Even after Republicans claimed control of both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue in January, Ryan is still searching for a signature achievement. His enemies and allies alike say he needs a big win, soon.

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The coming week brings what may shape up as his last, best chance to achieve one - and the most important moment of his 19-year congressional career: the debut of legislation to rewrite the tax code.

Taxes are supposed to be Ryan's issue, his policy wheelhouse. As the disciple of the 1980s fiscal conservative Jack Kemp, Ryan's rhetoric is never loftier than when espousing free-market principles and the belief that lower taxes and a streamlined code can help businesses, the economy and even the impoverished.

He has craved this moment. He also has good reason to dread it.

A major question is whether much has changed since an unruly House Republican Conference, as the caucus is known, forced Boehner out and ground governance to a halt. The conference remains deeply turbulent under Ryan - and divided, particularly on the issues of taxes, spending and the national debt.

Failure to advance tax legislation - even if defeat comes in the Senate, as happened in July with legislation to revise the Affordable Care Act - would be crippling. One possibility if Republicans head into 2018 having to explain why they failed on both health care and taxes: a political bloodbath that drops the GOP into the minority and boots Ryan off the dais.

"The 115th Congress, if we go 0 for 2, gets a failing grade," said Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., the leader of one of the House's conservative caucuses. "I think a lot of us may not come back."

Tax reform, in Ryan's ideal, was supposed to be bigger than tax cuts. It was supposed to be revenue-neutral - lowering some taxes, raising others, closing loopholes and simplifying the code. It wasn't supposed to be so easy to criticize for lowering taxes on corporations and higher-income Americans.

President Donald Trump has complicated the challenge by rejecting Ryan's branding of tax "reform" - instead calling the effort "tax cuts" and sometimes "tax cuts plus." The president may not be wrong about that distinction, but he has contributed to a mashed-up message on what the bill would actually do, whom it would benefit - and importantly, how much it would cost.

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Even modest tax legislation would in some ways fulfill Ryan's calling - and offer some much needed momentum to Republicans heading into potentially difficult midterm elections next year.

But it requires something that the GOP caucus has long been loath to consider: compromise. In the Boehner days, the "grand bargains" that Republican leaders sought with then-President Barack Obama frequently ended in ignominious defeat. Skeptics remain dubious that this year's bargain will end any differently.

"I think the broken process has not been fixed, and there are some aspects that have gotten worse over the past few years," Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., a member of the rebellious Freedom Caucus.

One problem, Amash said, is that Ryan's promise of a bottom-up approach has not materialized. Ryan has won some credit for earlier engagement with the GOP's restive wings, including a weekly lunch with representatives of the Freedom Caucus, Walker's Republican Study Committee and the moderate Tuesday Group. But as Amash noted, "It doesn't mean they are actually taking our input."

Unlike past years, the GOP moderate wing is a big part of Ryan's challenge. Aspirational and even wonky ideas - repealing the ACA, for instance - were easier to vote for with the certainty of an Obama veto across town.

Voting on legislation that could become law is harder - and moderates have put up a bigger fight this year, on both health care and taxes, than in any of the previous six years of the House GOP's tenure in the majority. These moderates nearly defeated the budget outline that passed Thursday, including enabling language to pass a tax bill, because the emerging tax proposal might eliminate the federal deduction for state and local taxes - a big hit to workers in the blue states where many of these moderate lawmakers live.

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"If you have the Freedom Caucus, and you have New York and New Jersey, you're talking about two opposite ends of the spectrum - and a president who sometimes goes his own way," said Rep. Peter T. King, R-N.Y., who voted against the budget outline.

In the Trump era, no one seems particularly happy with Ryan.

Some in the conservative intelligentsia, who spent years promoting him, have turned against him for not denouncing whom they see as an anti-intellectual president who rejects Kemp's free-market, supply-side philosophy. Staunch Trump supporters don't trust Ryan because of his wobbly support during the 2016 campaign.

Democrats now suspect that Ryan, historically unpopular in national polling, might be a more effective boogeyman than Trump in TV ads against Republican incumbents.

Liberal satirists have published a 192-page parody magazine devoted to mocking Ryan, poking fun at "the most unpopular politician in America" and his image as thoughtful policy prince who never delivers.

And yet Ryan still has strong support from the people who matter most in keeping his job: House Republicans - even those facing tough campaigns next year. "Speaker Ryan is always welcome in New Jersey. He's always welcome in New Jersey," said moderate Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J.

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Ryan, married with young children, dreaded that part of the job when he took the post two years ago - the endless fundraising and travel. But he's blown away the very high cash levels that Boehner hauled in, in part because big donors prefer talking to a high-profile former vice-presidential nominee over the genial but less meaty Boehner.

In a cruel twist, failure to enact policy could be Ryan's downfall.

For the past 30 years, every speaker, Democrat or Republican, has left the job on bad terms, either losing the majority or being chased out by their own party.

Ryan will find out soon whether he's about to continue that trend.

"If we're still batting zero on these large items, when it comes to next year, I don't think he'll be by himself," said Walker. "I think a lot of us will be in trouble."
An Oswego police investigation into alleged prostitution and business license violations at one of the city's massage spas resulted in charges against two women in their 50s, police announced.

Yiling Peng, 55, of the 4000 block of Route 71, is charged with prostitution and unlicensed massage, both class A misdemeanors. Yune Zhou, 50, of the 1800 block of South Melody Court, Chicago, is charged with aiding and abetting an unlicensed massage, also a class A misdemeanor.

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Oswego police said in a news release they completed the "long term" investigation on Wednesday. The investigation, involving N Spa on the 4500 block of Route 71, culminated when police arrested Peng and Zhou about 2 p.m. Wednesday. Both women were released after posting a 10 percent bond toward their $1,500 bails and are due in court Nov. 22.

The Village of Oswego ticketed the business for a building occupancy code ordinance violation and the business registration is suspended until the violation is resolved, police said.

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hleone@tribpub.com

Twitter @hannahmleone
A 26-year-old Aurora man pleaded guilty Friday to driving drunk and high on marijuana in the 2016 crash that killed a 9-year-old girl.

Anthony S. Potochney, 26, of the 900 block of North Avenue, pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated driving under the influence, including one class 2 felony and two class 4 felonies, and failure to stop after an accident involving personal injury or death, a class 4 felony. He could get a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison for the crash that killed Katie Jonak.

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"This crime was entirely preventable, the result of Mr. Potochney's selfish and irresponsible choices," Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon said in a statement Friday. "He was drunk, high on drugs, and driving 85 mph through downtown Aurora. He showed a complete disregard for other people."

Calling those factors "exceptionally aggravating," McMahon said Potochney, who is currently assigned to a county public defender, should be held accountable.

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The guilty plea is a turnaround from this January, when Potochney pleaded not guilty to the entire 13-count indictment issued in December charging him with reckless homicide, three counts of failure to stop after an accident and nine counts of aggravated driving under the influence, the Beacon-News reported.

Kane County Associate Judge Linda S. Abrahamson accepted the plea Friday and gave Potochney a new court date of Jan. 16, 2018, at the county judicial center in St. Charles. If she determines extraordinary circumstances are a factor, he could get off with probation. Otherwise, he faces between three and 14 years in prison.

On Oct. 7, 2016, Katie Jonak, 9, of the 2900 block of Arbor Lane in Aurora, was a passenger in a 2009 Toyota Sienna minivan driven by her 40-year-old mother, police said last year. Two of Katie's friends, girls ages 10 and 12, were also in the car.

In court, Kane County First Assistant State's Attorney Jody Gleason and Assistant State's Attorney Christine Bayer said Jonak was in the back left seat while her mother drove her and her friends home from a play rehearsal. They were northbound on Broadway Street, or Route 25, south of Pierce Street.

Potochney was driving a 2003 Cadillac Deville southbound on Broadway. At about 9:12 p.m., his Cadillac crossed into the northbound lane, prosecutors said. Jonak's mother swerved to avoid it, but Potochney struck the minivan's left side, according to a news release from the Kane County State's Attorney's Office.

Once his car stopped, Potochney ran away from the scene. When medics arrived, Katie Jonak was unresponsive, prosecutors said. Aurora Fire Department paramedics took Katie and the other girls to Presence Mercy Medical Center, where Katie was pronounced dead at 9:44 p.m.

Both of the other girls were hospitalized, one for injuries including a bruised lung and the other with a hip injury, prosecutors said.

Following the crash, the Beacon-News reported that Katie was a young actress at Spotlight Youth Theatre, the daughter of Westmont Junior High School Principal John Jonak, and a student at Bethel Early Learning Center. School and theater leaders and family friends described Katie as sweet, passionate and tender-hearted, a loving sister to her two siblings.

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"These children had been... participating in an activity they enjoyed," McMahon said. "Katie never made it home. Parents should not have to suffer the unimaginable grief of burying their child."

Aurora police found and arrested Potochney the night of the crash near the High Street Bridge, crediting witnesses with identifying him as the Cadillac driver.

At the hospital where Potochney was taken for treatment of minor injuries, an Aurora police officer noted that he refused to submit to testing that would determine his blood-alcohol content level, the Beacon-News reported. However, prosecutors said his blood was drawn 4.5 hours after the crash, revealing a blood-alcohol concentration of .193.

Police reported that Potochney smelled of alcohol and marijuana and had "slurred" speech, according to a DUI report.

Prosecutors said Potochney admitted to police that he'd had six Coors Lights and four drinks' worth of Captain Morgan, and smoked marijuana, that evening.

Just before the collision, the Cadillac was going about 85 mph in a 35 mph zone, prosecutors said.

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As of Friday afternoon, Potochney was still in the county jail, where he's been since his arrest. After he pleaded guilty, Abrahamson revoked his right to post bail, which had been reduced from the initial $750,000 to $300,000.

A civil wrongful death lawsuit Jonak's family filed against Potochney in February was dismissed in September, records show.

hleone@tribpub.com

Twitter @hannahmleone
As the number of non-white children grows in the Aurora area, a national report found children of color and those living in immigrant families continue to face challenges to success.

The 2017 Race for Results report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, made public recently, uncovered setbacks nationally for children of color and immigrant children that foundation officials called a "national crisis" in a statement.

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In Kane, Kendall, DuPage and Will counties, children fare better than the state average by some measures, such as the number of kids living in poverty and the rate of households struggling with food insecurity. But large educational gaps exist between the same groups of students in different school districts, which could indicate "systemic" problems, said Anna Rowan of Voices for Illinois Children, which partners with the Casey Foundation on reports.

"These four counties in particular can get by on their averages for the whole county," she said. "And they look good ... but when you actually unpack the data and ask yourselves are all kids or all groups of kids in this county getting the same opportunities, then you know that there are disparities."

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Amid a national debate on immigration, the report found children of immigrants make up 30 percent of low-income kids in the United States, though they represent slightly less than one quarter of all U.S. children. Looking at 12 education, health and economic factors, the report found gaps in the way black, American Indian and Latino children fared compared to white, Asian and Pacific Islander children nationwide, though in no group did all children meet all measures.

To address these issues, the report called for increasing economic opportunity for parents and helping children meet certain milestones. It also called for keeping families together and in their communities, which included factoring in children in immigration enforcement decisions.

In Illinois, black and Latino children face barriers to opportunity based on the set of factors measured in the report, Rowan said. White and Asian children tend to fare better.

The Latino child population in Kane, Kendall, DuPage and Will counties, like the state's, has increased sharply since 2000, Casey foundation numbers show.

"Within Illinois we're seeing these large disparities," she said. "And then we're also seeing our African American kids face more challenges than other kids nationally."

By some Voices for Illinois Children economic measures, children in Kane, Kendall, DuPage and Will counties fare well.

The child poverty rate in each county is below the state average  16 percent in Kane in 2015, 7 percent in Kendall, 9 percent in DuPage and 11 percent in Will, compared to 19 percent statewide  as is the rate of households experiencing food insecurity  5.7 percent in Kane in 2015, 5.8 percent in Kendall, 7.3 percent in DuPage and 7.7 percent in Will, compared to 11.7 percent statewide  according to Voices for Illinois Children data.

Anna Rowan (Voices for Illinois Children)

But Rowan said low rates of preschool enrollment for low-income kids is a concern, pointing specifically to DuPage and Will counties. All four counties' preschool enrollment rates for low-income students were below the statewide rate, Voices for Illinois Children data shows.

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When it comes to education, there are large differences in achievement across districts among the same groups of students, Rowan said. For example, she highlighted large differences in low-income students' recent test performance across districts.

One explanation for the differences could be in the different resources school districts receive, which has been a topic of debate as the state has worked to revamp the way it funds education, Rowan said. Effective and experienced educators and high-quality curriculum make a difference, she said.

Often, she said, people are tempted to blame low test scores on students' poverty level. But the ranges of scores among the same group of students shows otherwise.

"You know it's not the students," she said. "It's other systemic factors that we need to address."

sfreishtat@tribpub.com

Twitter @srfreish
St. Charles police are continuing to investigate the Thursday afternoon events resulting in a 28-year-old man being hospitalized after calling police and saying he'd been shot.

"We believe this incident was isolated and contained to the home in question," St. Charles Police Chief James Keegan said in a statement. "I thank everyone for their concern and understanding."

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Though initially reported as an armed robbery, police on Friday said based on witness interviews, evidence and information left at the scene, they don't think there had actually been an armed intruder. However, police did not say whether they believe the man injured himself or if another person was involved. It was also not clear Friday if his injury was from a gunshot or something else.

"These interviews, coupled with both the time line of the events and the evidence evaluated by crime scene technicians, lead us to believe that the manner in which this crime was reported did not occur," police stated in a news release.

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About 2:25 p.m. Thursday, officers responded to the 3600 block of Grand View Court in St. Charles, where a caller said he'd been shot and that a residential burglary was in progress, police said.

The 28-year-old man who called had a wound in his shoulder area that is not considered to be life-threatening and St. Charles fire department medics took him to Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva, police said.

Nearby schools went on soft lockdown and delayed buses as police searched for a possible burglar on the loose. Police said they apologized for any inconvenience the safety measures caused parents, students and other drivers. However, police said, they were just trying to keep everyone safe.

"As in any case involving the use of a weapon and the threat to public safety, an overabundance of caution was used in maintaining the safety of not only area residents but also students at nearby St. Charles North High School and those students being bused into the area from nearby grammar schools," police said.

The man who called in the report was treated for his injuries but remains hospitalized at Delnor, police said.

Police said detectives are continuing to investigate and have been consulting with the Kane County State's Attorney's Office about "any criminal wrongdoing" involved.

hleone@tribpub.com

Twitter @hannahmleone
Development of the Rock Island Station Shopping Center in New Lenox has been further delayed as village officials again have agreed to give CVS more time.

The village is selling the 1.6 acre site at the northeast corner of U.S. 30 and Cedar Road to the national pharmacy for $1.7 million, but the closing has been pushed back from Monday to Dec. 29, according to the amended agreement recently approved by the board.

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The development plan was approved in July and in August, the board previously extended its sales agreement for 60 days this summer.

Both times, CVS needed additional time to get approval from the Illinois Department of Transportation for changes to U.S. 30, Mayor Tim Baldermann said.

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CVS needs to know the scope of work before it can begin construction, he said.

The national chain plans to build a 13,000 square foot pharmacy in front of the existing Metra train station.

Church Street will be closed and a deceleration lane will be added on U.S. 30 in front of the store, according to the mayor.

"I am confident this will be the last extension," he said.

The real estate agreement initially was approved by the board in March 2016. The latest amendment stipulated that the buyer "shall no longer have any more options to extend" the terms of the agreement, but Baldermann said the village "could extend it if we had to."

CVS is the anchor to the Rock Island Station Shopping Center, which will be built by two developers.

The village closed on the sale of the adjacent 1.1 acre parcel in December 2016 to Heidner Properties, which is expected to construct a retail center for Fleckenstein's Bakery, Durbin's Restaurant and Zembar Jewelry Store.

In June, 2015, the village bought four former businesses on this corner  BP Amoco, Hutchins Cleaners, the Pit Stop tavern and the shuttered House of Hughes restaurant  with plans to redevelop the site and generate sales tax revenue to finance the construction of a new Metra train station.

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Baldermann said Heidner is waiting for CVS so the site work can be done at the same time, and he expects construction to begin in the spring.

Meanwhile, he said he has been "frustrated" by IDOT's delays.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Baldermann said area mayors met with state legislators recently and expressed their concerns about delays in state-related projects.

It is "taking forever," he said.

New Lenox officials also decided not to wait for IDOT to make improvements to the medians on U.S. 30 near Interstate 80.

The village is eager to beautify that area to spur development, and will replace the broken concrete with landscaped medians in the spring  work the state should be doing, he said.

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"If we wait for the state, it could be five more years," Baldermann said.

slafferty@tribpub.com

Twitter @SusanLaff
The handmade treats at Short & Sweet-Tasty Treats in Frankfort include candy and caramel apples, fudge and chocolate bacon. (Donna Vickroy/Daily Southtown )

To get to the heart of Maria Zientara's reason for opening a new candy shop in Frankfort, you have to look beyond the flying saucers, candy buttons, handmade fudge and chocolate covered bacon strips.

You have to hold up a shimmering red candy coated apple.

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For Zientara, it symbolizes both sweetness and nostalgia, both fun and comfort, both indulgence and simplicity  all the things she hopes her customers feel when they walk through the doors of Short & Sweet-Tasty Treats, 9975 W. Lincoln Highway.

Zientara calls the store "an old fashioned candy shoppe," but its mission is very much a modern one.

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"I just want to make people feel good," Zientara said.

The world is a stressful place, she said.

"I know sitting down with a good cup of coffee and a good piece of chocolate makes me feel good," she said.

Seated inside the colorful shop one autumn morning, flanked by three of her cousins who help dip the candy apples, stir the caramel and get the place ready for children's birthday parties and adult chocolate tastings, Zientara turned down the retro music and shared her small business story, which began just a few years ago when she turned 40.

After years of working in the restaurant industry, Zientara did what a lot of mid-lifers long to do: she followed her dream to open her own business.

A graduate of Stagg High School in Palos Hills, Zientara had fond memories of her parents taking her to Michigan Avenue in Chicago when she was a kid so they could buy candy apples from a street vendor.

"A guy would be dipping them right on the street. They were so cool, all steamy and red," she said. It was a magical experience and a feeling she likes to revisit. So, as she pondered what to apply her creative mind to, candy apples were the first thing that came to mind, even though at the time she didn't know how to make them.

After five years of selling her wares at local farmers markets, Maria Zientara opened Short & Sweet-Tasty Treats in Frankfort. The shop makes custom favors for showers and weddings. (Donna Vickroy/Daily Southtown )

She began by going door to door to businesses in Tinley Park, where she lives with her husband Randy and their three children, to see if anyone else was already selling them. No one was.

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So, she got to work learning how to make them.

"Then I bought equipment and we rented a kitchen in Homer Glen," she said.

"I first started selling them at the Tinley Park farmers market in 2012," she said.

That endeavor soon swelled to nine local markets each week. From Frankfort to Bedford Park to Kankakee, she said people would ask the same questions, first, "Are they candles?" because there were so many colors, and, then, "why don't you make caramel apples?"

"So as we grew, we started making our own caramel," she said.

That opened the gates on all kinds of treats, which now number 20 and include turtles, turtle logs, sea salt caramels and peanut butter cups.

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"But it was crazy," she said, of the set up, tear down and delivery efforts that went into the farmers markets gig.

As sales soared she considered getting a food truck but decided she didn't want to work around the many ordinances in the suburbs.

"Plus, I wanted something my kids could do with me," she said. Her middle daughter, Gina, 14, especially loves to help in the kitchen.

So, she set her sights on a brick and mortar shop. It opened in February.

"This is a dream come true," she said, "being right here in Frankfort and having my own kitchen."

Complimenting her assortment of handmade sweets is an array of vintage candies that include Slow Poke suckers, wax lips and whistle pops, as well as coffees, smoothies and ice creams.

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"We want this to be a place where parents and kids can come together and find something cool," she said. "(Our generation) had really cool candy when we were kids. We had the best candy."

Among the treasures beckoning from brightly colored displays are Mary Janes and roller lip glosses, things some of us haven't seen for decades.

"We're trying to recreate that warm, nostalgic feeling," she said.

The shop also customizes favors for showers, weddings and parties.

Zientara said she hopes people will see it as a place to gather, relax and catch up.

"She brings people together, makes them feel good," says cousin Sara Piwowarski.

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Audrey Paulus, 2, shops with her mom, Lisa Paulus, for treats at Short & Sweet-Tasty Treats in Frankfort, where vintage candy and handmade items are displayed. (Donna Vickroy/Daily Southtown )

The Nov. 10 chocolate tasting filled to capacity within hours. Coming soon, a gingerbread house workshop and more tasting events.

"People are looking for places to go, places that aren't just a bar," Piwowarski said.

Cousin Rae Ann Majewski said, "The world is so busy today. It's hard for married couples to find time to get together, let alone friends. You almost have to make a date to spend time with your friends today."

A place like Short & Sweet-Tasty Treats, the women say, gives people a reason to meet and a destination.

"That's where Maria's coming from," Majewski said. "She's all about family, friendships and getting people together."

Zientara said, growing up, she was influenced and inspired by "my Auntie Eleanor, who lived with my grandmother."

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Her Italian grandmother was an impressive cook who would sit the cousins down with a big pot of sauce and a loaf of Wonder Bread. But her aunt was the baker of the family. "She'd wait for Grandma to go to bed and then say, 'Want to make some cupcakes?'"

Zientara has fond memories hanging with her cousin Chris Gallagher, too. The two are only three weeks apart in age.

"We've been close our entire lives. We're better than sisters because we never fought like sisters would," Gallagher said.

Of all the handmade treats in the shop, Gallagher said, "Anything made with her caramel is, like, ridiculous. It's that good."

Halloween is just around the corner and America's children will take to the streets gathering sweets for today and memories for tomorrow.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

But candy's value shouldn't end with youth, Zientara said.

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"Indulgence doesn't have to be expensive and it doesn't have to be over the top," she said.

Sometimes, she added, you just want a little something to comfort, to calm, to stoke the memories.

"We come from a long line of people who believe food is love," she said.

"That's what I want this shop to be."

dvickroy@tribpub.com

Twitter @dvickroy
Malissa Ancona, the Leadwood woman charged with the murder of her late husband, Frank Ancona, was agreed to testify against her son, Paul Jinkerson, who is also charged in the Feb. 9 murder.

St. Francois County Prosecuting Attorney Jerrod Mahurin said anytime a witness is "endorsed" under similar circumstances, the prosecution does so with the expectation that the witness will be cooperative in providing testimony.

Mahurin said that during a hearing Friday morning Jinkersons defense attorney requested a continuance in the case due to the fact that Malissa Ancona would be testifying, which has not been ruled on yet by Judge Wendy Wexler-Horn. The defense also requested a deposition of Ancona, which Mahurin said his office is prepared to handle.

A hearing on Jinkersons case is scheduled for Nov. 17, with his trial scheduled to begin Dec. 4.

Ancona, 44, the victim's wife, was charged with first degree murder, felony armed criminal action, tampering with physical evidence and abandonment of a corpse.

Jinkerson, 24, was the victims stepson and was charged with murder in the first degree, felony armed criminal action, tampering with physical evidence and abandonment of a corpse.

According to a probable cause statement, the murder occurred on Feb. 9 at 1124 Mill St. in Leadwood. Frank Ancona was shot and killed inside a bedroom of his home and then was put into Jinkersons vehicle. Frank Ancona's body and his car were taken to Washington County and dumped in separate locations.

Frank Ancona was reported missing after his employer reached out to the Leadwood Police Department with concerns of his whereabouts. The employer reported Ancona had not shown up for work that Wednesday or Thursday, which was out of character for him.

The car was seen parked in the Mark Twain National Forest on a forest service road on Feb. 9, but at that time Ancona had not yet been reported missing. Later, when he was reported missing, the forest service worker who had seen the car earlier notified authorities of where the car had been parked and officers returned to that location and found it..

Frank Ancona's body was found in the Belgrade area on the banks of the Big River off Route C on Feb. 11 by a family out for a fishing trip.

A search warrant was served at the Ancona home on Feb. 11, which revealed extensive blood evidence in the master bedroom. Malissa Ancona was at the home prior to and during the service of the search warrant.

An investigator reported that she admitted to him in a recorded interview that her biological son, Jinkerson Jr., shot and killed Frank Ancona while he was asleep.

Malissa Ancona also admitted that she failed to report the crime and, additionally, attempted to destroy evidence and altered the crime scene in an attempt to conceal what had happened. It was said that she was "acting in concert" with her son.

Malissa Ancona was taken into custody for questioning after the search warrant was served. She was later released but picked up a second time on a 20-hour hold for investigation.

An autopsy confirmed Frank Ancona, the self-proclaimed Imperial Wizard of a group with close ties to the KKK, died as a result of a gunshot to the head.
Davis McCarty's artwork, 1835 Expedition, was installed on the Riverside Drive Promenade in Elgin Oct. 28 during the citys Art Harvest. (Gloria Casas / The Courier-News )

Davis McCarty lifted colorful pieces of acrylic glass into his sculpture, titled "1835 Expedition," on Elgin's Riverside Drive Promenade and secured each into position. As he took a short break, a woman walking past had a question for him.

"Is that permanent?" Ginger Pertell asked.

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"I hope so. It would be hard to move," McCarty said.

"It's pretty," Pertell said, a lifelong Elgin resident who said she remembers when the promenade was a parking deck attached to downtown's once-premier department store, Joseph Spiess Co. The store was demolished in 2005, and the changes made since then "unbelievable," she said.

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"It's remarkable, all the things they've done," Pertell said. "I love it. I love my town."

Elgin continues transforming, said McCarty, who was one of three artists whose works were officially unveiled Saturday during the city's Art Harvest festival celebrating public art.

The three pieces were chosen through a public contest, Cultural Arts Commission Liaison Amanda Harris said. McCarty was one of the winners, as was artist Joanna White, who produced the mural "Which Way" at the Hemmens Cultural Center, and a stainless steel sculpture titled "Continuum" by Nathan Pierce, also located on the promenade.

Artist Joanna White speaks with a young girl about her mural, Which Way, which was installed at the Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin. (Gloria Casas / The Courier-News )

"It's pretty amazing, not just because of the work it has taken but because everyone is rallying around it and being supportive and invested," Harris said. "It's hard to be invested in the art when it is all theoretical. Once you start seeing things going up, the more exciting it is."

Elgin's Cultural Arts Commission began working on a public art plan more than a year and a half ago but its efforts gained more attention when a controversy erupted over a mural titled "American Nocturne." The mural had been located in a downtown alley for about 10 years until someone pointed out that it depicted a crowd captured in a photograph of a 1930s-era lynching of two young black men.

The work was relocated and city officials held numerous hearings to discuss the mural and the future of public art.

While the controversy was difficult, it helped facilitate community-wide discussions about art and the mural's topic, Harris said. "It also had a massive impact on the Public Art Plan" in that about 75 percent of it came from community input, she said.

"It is in response to the people and what they see Elgin becoming as a city of art." Harris said.

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Public art is now vetted differently and is thoroughly evaluated by different levels of city government, she said.

Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain said the works unveiled during Art Harvest are "the bright side" of the controversy. "Sometimes, good things can come out of bad situations," he said.

"This has been years in the making," Councilman Tish S. Powell said. "It's great to finally get to the point to see the fruits of your efforts. This is something we are really proud of and we want to be known as the city of arts."

McCarty, who worked for Arthur Schuman Cheese and commuted from Chicago to Elgin for five years, is honored to be part of the city's art scene.

"It's special to me to put a piece of art where I spent my formative years," he said.

"1835 Expedition" is based on the year Elgin was founded and represents the future, specifically space exploration, McCarty said. He used dichromatic Plexiglas to create the colorful tiles that form a large, star-like structure. NASA used the same material for a short time but it was difficult to work with and very expensive, he said.

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McCarty uses it in his work because he likes the two dimensions it creates, he said.

"It totally reacts to the users," he said. "It depends where you stand and where you look."

He is using the same material on a piece being installed in Chicago titled "Quantum Me." The stainless steel sculpture looks like a portal and will be installed at 99th Street and Walden Parkway along with a sister piece that shows the portal coming out of the Earth, installed in Rogers Park, he said. McCarty also is working on an art project at an African-American prep school in Washington, D.C., he said.

Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
Students recall their days in the Evanston Township High School theater department after a pair of lawsuits filed Oct. 25 alleged the former drama teacher sexually abused students. (Genevieve Bookwalter / Pioneer Press)

Some alumni of Evanston Township High School's drama classes remembered a thespian world all their own in the school's Upstairs Theatre: a place they could escape to during lunch, after school, all weekend if necessary to build sets, rehearse roles and generally hang out with the tight-knit group of students who gathered there.

They also recalled their teacher, Bruce Siewerth, who cast plum parts and assigned prized positions in a department known for a lengthy list of alumni who have gone on to successful careers in Hollywood.

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Now, Siewerth is the focus of an Evanston police investigation and named in two lawsuits that allege he molested boys under his tutelage during his tenure at ETHS from 1965 to 1999. According to the lawsuits and student allegations, Siewerth requested sexual favors from boys in exchange for starring roles. Those included everything from touching boys' genitals, to wrestling with them backstage, to taking them to see "hardcore gay pornography" on class trips to New York.

Siewerth has not been charged with a crime, and did not respond to calls for comment for this story. No one answered the door when a reporter visited his home on Thursday. Reached by phone earlier this month, Siewerth denied the allegations.

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"I'm not a sexual predator for goodness sake. I'm a grandfather," Siewerth said on Oct. 12. "These are people who don't like me because I didn't cast them. I don't know why it's coming up now."

Asked specifically whether he ever inappropriately touched students, Siewerth said: "Who knows; as a drama teacher, you're dealing with setting people up, what they should be doing, what they shouldn't be doing."

ETHS District 202 and the District 202 school board also were named in the two lawsuits, filed Wednesday by two former students listed as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2, who graduated in 1979 and 1980.

Supt. Eric Witherspoon did not return calls or emails for this story. His assistant told a reporter on Thursday that he was "not available."

Attempts to reach District 202 school board members on Friday, including board president Pat Savage-Williams, were unsuccessful.

Allegations of Siewerth's sexual misconduct began on Facebook earlier this month, days before ETHS was to host a 60th anniversary tribute to YAMO, its popular student variety show. School officials said Siewerth had bought a ticket to the tribute show. ETHS officials issued a no-trespassing letter to Siewerth, banning him from campus and not allowing him to attend school-sanctioned events.

Evanston police on Oct. 12 confirmed they were investigating the allegations after being contacted by school officials following the Facebook post. Since then, police said they have received dozens of calls from former students about the teacher and are working with those interested in filing a report.

On Friday, Evanston police Commander Joeseph Dugan said the number of people calling the department about Siewerth is "still growing."

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One alumnus, who graduated in 1971 and asked not to be named, recalled what he referred to as the "zipper game."

The student would stand still while his zipper was pulled down, the alumnus said.

"Can you focus? Can you concentrate?" he remembered Siewerth asked, during what was billed as a performance exercise. "It was almost a point of pride."

"There was this whole world of, are you tough enough for theater?" the alumnus recalled.

Alumna Katharine Jager, who graduated in 1994, said Siewerth "was constantly blurring boundaries and creating a sexually charged atmosphere."

A look at Siewerth's personnel file, obtained by the Evanston Review through a Freedom of Information Act request, shows that many alumni shared fond memories of their time working with him.

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"As I think about my sojourn at ETHS, it truly was a great time  and you made a very big and generous contribution to my education and personal growth," wrote one alumnus in 1992. "Reflecting back, I don't think I ever said, 'Thank you.' (Not many 18 year olds would, I venture.) But 21 years (!?!) later, that thanks is very much overdue."

Teacher evaluations, along with "disciplinary reports, letters of reprimand or other letters of disciplinary action which are more than four years old" were not included in the ETHS FOIA response, as required under Illinois law.

Nancy Cusack, mother of ETHS graduates and noted actors John and Joan Cusack, said she had problems with how she said Siewerth treated Joan while Joan was his student. Cusack was not aware of the allegations of sexual abuse until this week, she said.

"When Joanie was a freshman he would take some students to (University of Illinois) over Christmas break," Cusack remembered.

Joan Cusack was sick and couldn't go, and Siewerth told her afterward that "he couldn't cast her" for reasons that had to do with her mental or physical health, Cusack recalled.

"Whatever it was, it was so abhorrent for a teacher to say that to a child," Cusack said.

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"We called to speak to him and the principal" about it, Cusack said, but an "enormous snowstorm" rolled in, school was canceled and by the time class resumed "it went off the radar."

"He was a very strange man and set off very negative vibes," Cusack said.

Jager said her mom in the 1990s reached out to complain about Siewerth's behavior, but was "rebuffed."

"It was a big shrug" from ETHS administrators, Jager recalled. "She was mad. She was ready. She wasn't alone."

"The sense of power he wielded in that small little world was immense," said Leslie Brown, a 1988 ETHS graduate and former Upstairs Theatre student who now works as executive director of Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston.

Brown said her son is a junior at ETHS, so she looks at the situation as an alumna, a friend to those who have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse and a mother of a current ETHS student.

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"It's going to be a trying time for that school district, for our school district," Brown said. She said she has confidence in Witherspoon and his ability to steer the district through challenging situations.

Witherspoon "is a voice of strength, a voice of compassion. He loves those students," Brown said.

gbookwalter@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @GenevieveBook
Illinois Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti and Lake County Health Department Executive Director Mark Pfister tour health department facilities Friday as part of a statewide information-gathering effort on the opioid crisis. (Jim Newton/News-Sun )

Through services that stress education, overdose rescue and easily available treatment such as the progressive A Way Out program, Lake County authorities have sought to be statewide leaders in addressing the growing opioid crisis.

On Friday, local officials got some recognition for that, when Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti, her staff and state officials stopped by the Lake County Health Department in Waukegan to tour its substance-abuse facilities and discuss the county's response to the crisis.

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After hearing from health officials and recovering addicts who have been beneficiaries of the programs, Sanguinetti said it was clear Lake County is ahead of the curve in addressing the crisis.

"I think you guys are a role model," Sanguinetti said as she talked with Health Department Executive Director Mark Pfister and other local officials.

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Sanguinetti added she has seen a lot of different approaches to heroin and opioid problems in counties across the state, including hearing from a sheriff who  when asked about his approach to the opioid crisis  responded that it consisted of arresting those involved.

"You can't arrest your way out of this epidemic," Sanguinetti said.

Since Lake County's organized distribution of naloxone to first-responders began in late 2014, officials report roughly 200 lives have been saved locally by police officers and firefighter/paramedics using the antidote.

"I'm naloxone trained. I'm a big advocate," Sanguinetti said.

She also praised the health department's residential and outpatient programs that emphasize continued support and help after initial treatment.

"What I like here is there is a feeling that this is very much a community culture," she said.

According to Sanguinetti, since Gov. Bruce Rauner created an Opioid Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force last month, officials have been in the process of assembling an action plan that will include a statewide 24-hour addiction services hotline for those in crisis.

She added the scrambling that can be involved in finding people treatment options costs lives as overdoses have increased with the use of drugs such heroin cut with fentanyl.

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"We can't be asleep at the wheel," she said. "People are dying. Time is of the essence."

Pfister said much of Lake County's success has stemmed from a bipartisan effort between law enforcement, health care and political leaders to devise programs that successfully address the problem.

He said the local programs are "supported by a great partnership."

Jimi Walsh, a Mundelein native, describes his cycle of heroin addiction and how he found recovery through Lake County Health Department programs. (Jim Newton/News-Sun )

Providing a firsthand perspective Friday was Mundelein native Jimi Walsh, who after surviving a cycle of drug abuse that began with stolen prescription drugs and led to a heroin addiction, is clean after completing residential treatment at the health department.

Walsh, sporting an "I Hate Heroin" wristband, said heroin led him to choose homelessness for its ease, landed him in trouble with the law and eventually to several stints in jail.

His problem began, he said, when after being a straight-A student and athlete in high school, he left Indiana University and moved to Chicago, where he fell into the drug culture.

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At first it was fun, he said.

"Then I started shooting up, and things went downhill fast," Walsh said. "I slept on streets and trains."

While serving his last jail sentence, Walsh said it was long enough to provide him with time to think and reflect while off drugs. Things started changing then, he added.

When he first entered the residential treatment program at the health department, Walsh said, he left because he felt he couldn't do it. But two days later, he called the health department and was allowed a second chance in the program.

"I've been doing good ever since," he said.

Pfister said Walsh and others who have been through the program make themselves available to new people in treatment, a valuable service to the community.

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According to the governor's office, nearly 1,900 people died due to overdoses last year in Illinois. The new task force's goal is to reduce opioid-related overdose deaths by one-third within three years.

jrnewton@tribpub.com

Twitter @jimnewton5
President Trump speaks at the White House Thursday before signing a presidential memorandum to declare the opioid crisis a national public health emergency. (Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post )

President Donald Trump this week declared what people in DuPage, Kane, Kendall and Will counties have known for years: opioid abuse is a national public health emergency.

While local officials were thrilled the issue was finally brought to the national limelight, many questioned if it will have any trickle-down effect in terms of making more resources available.

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Oswego mom Robin Dale finds hope in Trump's announcement  if it means additional funding for treatment and educational programs.

She has made it her mission to raise awareness of drug abuse after witnessing her own son's battle with heroin addiction.

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"The opioid epidemic definitely is a public health emergency," she said. "I hope this isn't something that falls through the cracks. I have been waiting to hear this is a public health emergency for a long time.

"We need to raise awareness that the drugs our kids are using are killing them," she said. "My son has lost probably 10 friends and I have attended so many funerals. This shouldn't be. Society needs to realize this is a disease. We have treat addiction as we treat cancers, diabetes or heart disease. Sending people to jail isn't the solution," she said.

It was only after high school that she realized her son was addicted to heroin. He is now 26 years old, clean and working at job out-of-state, she said.

"I talk to parents in Oswego and they don't think it can happen to their child," she said.

Naperville anti-heroin crusader Tim Ryan said it's great the president is talking about this "but the rubber will hit the road (when Trump announces) a true plan of action. We need many more beds for people without insurance or state insurance."

Ryan urges government officials to seek guidance from people in recovery programs because they know what does and doesn't work.

"We can toss money, but it needs to be located in the right areas like more sober-living homes for when people come out of treatment," he said. "We will never get rid of drugs. We need to start to look at this a whole different way."

The president laid out steps to combat addiction and abuse, promising a "massive advertising campaign" that puts special emphasis on discouraging young people from trying drugs.

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Experts have concluded that similar drug prevention campaigns in the 1980s and 1990s fared poorly under scientific review and did little to prevent drug use.

Aaron Weiner, director of addiction services at Linden Oaks Behavioral Health in Naperville, said the best way to educate young people is to make sure they know the risks.

It's also important to curb the stigma associated with drug use by speaking openly and starting conversations, he said. Many people taking opioid pain pills are afraid to say they're addicted because they're worried about what their family or their physician will say.

"While (Trump's) declaration will help draw attention to the problem and provide some additional resources, the more powerful statement will be the way we talk about addiction every day," Weiner said.

DuPage County has aggressively worked to reduce the number of opioid deaths annually, and this fall was awarded a $1.5 million grant to increase training and medication for emergency treatment of opioid overdose.

"From a local public health perspective, I do view the declaration as a positive step  and indicates a level of awareness that we have not yet received regarding the toll that this crisis has taken on every community across the United States, including DuPage County," said Karen Ayala, executive director of the DuPage County Health Department.

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"As an agency, we look forward to addressing the issues around access to treatment for individuals who are addicted through this opportunity," Ayala said.

Data from the DuPage County Coroner's Office shows 78 deaths were attributed to heroin overdoses in 2016, compared to 51 in 2015. No information was posted on 2017, and the coroner was not available for comment.

To stem the rising death count, county officials introduced the DuPage Narcan Program to teach first responders how to administer Narcan, a drug that reverses the effects of opioids.

As of September, 105 lives in DuPage County were saved in 2017 and a total of 344 lives since it was initiated in 2013.

Kane County Health Department Executive Director Barb Jeffers said she was glad the opioid crisis is being addressed at the national level.

The number of opioid overdose deaths has risen in the last four years, with 38 in 2013, 35 in 2014, 35 in 2015 and 60 in 2016.

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Kane County started its Narcan program in 2014, working with 26 towns to make the overdose antidote drug available and to train public safety workers on how to use it. Thus far, it has saved 80 lives, Jeffers said.

Expanding first responder training and addiction treatment programs is being studied by the House Bipartisan Heroin Task Force, said U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Schaumburg, a member of the task force.

"The opioid crisis is absolutely a public health emergency, but this declaration does not include our communities and first responders needed to make a difference," Krishnamoorthi said in a statement. "As a member of the Oversight Committee, I'm also working to reduce the prices of lifesaving overdose treatments."

While U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, applauds the president's decision to declare "what too many communities in Illinois and across American already know: the opioid crisis is a public health emergency," he'd like to see money to fund efforts.

Speaking in a release, Foster said if the president is serious about helping those who are dependent on opioids and their families, he needs to provide communities with the financial resources needed to fight it.

"The Trump administration should also fund scientific research that has helped us understand the science of addiction and develop new lifesaving treatments instead of cutting it from budget proposals," he said.

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Such research hits close to home.

Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont has performed groundbreaking research on protein receptors to understand the brain's response to drugs, yet Trump's fiscal year 2018 budget proposes major cuts to the U.S. Department of Energy, which funds Argonne and its research, Foster said.

Prevention, treatment and research aren't the only area affected by the opioid epidemic. The rising number of drug overdoses can cost a county  and ultimately taxpayers  money.

Will County Coroner Patrick O'Neil said there is no way to examine someone who's died and determine it was caused by a drug overdose without toxicology testing.

"From our perspective, it's costing thousands of dollars," he said.

In the last week, Will County's had nine deaths related to heroin, fentanyl and fake fentanyl.

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"Our office is just overwhelmed. We certainly could use a few more employees to handle the cases," O'Neil said.

Deaths in Will County in 2016 attributable to heroin or fentanyl totaled 78, compared to 53 reported in 2015. The number of heroin/fentanyl overdose deaths in 2017 stand at 58, according to the latest figures.

State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, said the opioid crisis continues to be a growing problem in her district and throughout Illinois.

"I am happy to see the president wants to tackle this issue head-on," Chapa LaVia said.

"It's my hope that he will put the necessary resources behind his requests so that we can save lives. I am ready to work with all of our partners to do whatever we can to get the resources out to those who need them the most," she said.

One way health professionals are dealing with the opioid crisis directly is through medication-assisted therapy programs.

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Jerry Skogmo, executive director of the Renz Counseling Center in Elgin, said Renz started such a program and has had about 20 people participate in it, he said.

Linden Oaks Behavioral Health, the psychiatric service provider for Edward-Elmhurst Health, opened a long-term MAT clinic this year.

The Naperville program is open to anyone who is motivated to stop using opioids. No physician referral is needed, and some people can begin their treatment journey at the clinic.

Courier-News reporter Mike Danahey, freelance reporter Linda Girardi and The Associated Press contributed.

subaker@tribpub.com

Twitter @SBakerSun1
Naperville City Council members and city staff Monday will begin discussing the city's proposed $445.4 million budget for 2018 that could bring with it a $62 property tax increase for the average Naperville homeowner.

The first budget workshop meeting is set for 6 p.m. Oct. 30, the first of three in which department requests will be presented.

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The proposed spending plan represents a 0.93 percent increase over the $441.3 million 2017 budget. About $50 million will come from property taxpayers, about $3 million more than last year, city officials said.

With a projected 4 percent increase in the city's equalized assessed value  a projected $6.9 billion  the estimated property tax rate would be 0.72 percent. That represents a $0.02 increase from the current rate. The owner of a home valued at $380,000 would see their property bill increase from $810 to $872, according to city staff.

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"This would allow the city to take advantage of some of the EAV growth we've seen," said Erik Hallgren, financial services supervisor for the City of Naperville.

Revenue for 2018 is projected to be $454.3 million, allowing the city to continue to build an emergency surplus.

Employment costs make up 61 percent of the budget. In next year's proposed spending plan, the city would reduce the number of positions by the equivalent of 4.6 full-time positions through reorganizion and reductions in the legal department, city manager's office, police department and water/wastewater utility, according to city documents. The proposal would not require any layoffs as the positions affected are either vacant or eliminated through restructuring, according to City Manager Doug Krieger.

The city has reduced staff by the equivalent of about 150 full-time positions from 2008 to the proposed 2018 plan.

Pressure to keep the budget relatively flat given the pension increases, new state fees, state funding reductions, street maintenance/improvement needs and the council's desire to keep a $2 million property tax abatement in place presented challenges, officials said.

The City of Naperville's required pension contribution has increased by $4.3 million  or about 37 percent  from 2016 to 2018. Naperville pension obligations in 2016 were $11.7 million, then $13.8 in 2017 and a projected $16.0 million for 2018.

On the state level, a new 2 percent administrative fee for the collection of Naperville's home rule sales tax adds up to about $175,000 while a reduction in revenue from the Illinois Local Government Distributive Fund means a loss of $750,000.

Uncertainty in what the General Assembly may or may not cut also makes it hard to plan for the future, Krieger said.

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"It's not really what is known, but the risk of the unknown," he said. "The state of Illinois is facing significant financial challenges right now."

The proposed budget includes $51.9 million for capital projects in 2018. Among the work planned is reconstruction of North Aurora Road from Frontenac Road to Weston Ridge Drive and the downtown Washington Street bridge, water and wastewater infrastructure maintenance work, and library improvements and maintenance.

A 2017 evaluation of Naperville's road maintenance program determined the city should be spending $12 million annually on city streets in order to maintain their current condition. That's about $2 million more than the $10.2 million the city spent in 2017.

To mitigate the impact of that increase, the city plans to build up to the recommended $12 million annually by increasing the spending incrementally by $500,000 annually over four years, starting with $10.5 million in 2018. The city also plans to phase-in the LED streetlight conversion and delay the North Aurora underpass project until 2019.

As far as new and continued initiatives for 2018, the city plans to further invest in Connect for Life, a program that helps people overcome addiction; develop an administrative hearings system for some ordinance violations; and upgrade security at city facilities. A special census will be conducted in 2018 that could mean a population increase of 4,650 residents and $1.67 million in new federal revenue over the next three years after its completed.

The second and third budget workshops are scheduled for Nov. 13 and 27. Budget approval is expected on Dec. 5 and the property tax levy approval should take place on Dec. 19.

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ehegarty@tribpub.com
A group of volunteers get ready to set up tents at a previous Sleep Out Saturday event, which raises awareness of the homeless problem in DuPage County and money for transitional housing. ( Bridge Communities )

Are my kids cold? Are they hungry? Could I lose them if someone finds them sleeping in my car?

Those are the thoughts that keep Amy Van Polen awake at night when she and her children participate in Sleep Out Saturday, a fundraiser for Bridge Communities, a nonprofit group that provides housing, employment help and other services for the homeless in DuPage County.

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The event being held Nov. 4 asks members of church groups, social organizations, scout troops and businesses to spend the night sleeping outside in a cardboard box, a car or a tent to raise awareness of family homelessness in DuPage County and money for transitional housing.

More than 1,000 people are registered to participate in the 14th annual Sleep Out event, including Naperville's St. Timothy Lutheran Church, Good Shepherd Church, DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church, Naperville Evangelical Covenant Church, Our Saviour's Lutheran Church youth group and a teen group called Girls & Guys Helping Others.

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Registration is still open at sleepoutsaturday.org.

It's an eye-opening experience, said Chad Pedigo, director of community engagement for Bridge Communities.

"You're driving all around your neighborhood and seeing people sleeping outside and spending a cold night out there," Pedigo said. "That experience stays with them. It creates empathy and understanding for those who do not have a place to call home."

Van Polen, of Wheaton, said she started participating in Sleep Out Saturday 10 years ago, when her daughter Lauren Ruse was 6 years old.

"The second year we were doing this and getting ready to sleep in a tent, my daughter said, 'Do homeless families sleep in tents?' I said, 'Often they'll sleep in a car.' She said, 'That's what we should do and experience what those families are going through,'" said Van Polen, whose son 12-year-old son Aidan Ruse began joining them about seven years ago.

"The three of us very uncomfortably sleep in our car," she said. "This is not a camping experience. It's not, let's bring snacks and have pizza delivered and sing 'Kumbaya," she said. "I like the conversations I have with my kids. I appreciate the perspective that it gives my children."

Members of Our Saviours Lutheran Church in Naperville pose with a sign for Sleep Out Saturday, an event in which people sleep outside overnight to raise money and awareness of the homeless issue in DuPage County. (Bridge Communities)

Pedigo said family homeless is a problem in DuPage County that tends to be "invisible" but can impact the larger community, such as when children attend school stressed out because their family is living in a car.

"We picture the individual holding a sign on the street," Pedigo said. "But there are hundreds of families experiencing homelessness who are not fitting that bill."

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Bridge Communities has helped more than 100 homeless parents and children in Naperville, providing free apartments, employment counseling and other resources for up to two years, he said.

"These are your neighbors trying to restore their lives and a sense of hope," Pedigo said.

Every Sleep Out Saturday participant is required to either collect funds for Bridge Communities or pay a $100 registration fee. This year's fundraising goal is $150,000  the cost to house 10 families for one year.

Several activities will be part of the Sleep Out, including a rally from 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 4 in downtown Glen Ellyn. Former homeless families who were helped by Bridge Communities will share their stories on stage and in a video during the event.

"My kids get to listen to testimonials. There's a thousand people (at the rally). That's important to see they are part of something much larger than just our family doing this," said Van Polen, whose family has raised more than $1,500 this year.

When participants leave the rally and find a spot to sleep outside for the night, "you can really experience the fear and uncertainty (homeless) people would experience," she said.

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"As a parent, sleeping in my car on a street or in a parking lot is scary to be honest with you," Van Polen said. "I rarely sleep. I'm constantly trying to make sure my kids are covered. It's cold. You don't have the car running."

She also does a lot of thinking about how a homeless mother and child "do homework, get ready to go to school, get ready for work."

Pedigo said the event helps hundreds of people "understand and learn what you can do" about the problem. The "SOS is the acronym for Sleep Out Saturday because we're trying to send a signal for the homeless," he said.

Diane Moca is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
All votes in the CO-3 election won't be counted until the end of this week
David Fears was born and raised three-and-a-half hours north of Park Hills in Normal, Illinois. After graduating high school and attending a couple years at Heartland Community College, he enlisted in the Army infantry as a mortarman.

Fears was in the Army for eight years with deployments in both Iraq and Afghanistan, in addition to three years he spent in Germany. After leaving the Army in 2015, he moved to Connecticut. Like many service members returning from deployment, he experienced and still grapples with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Substance abuse and PTSD go hand-in-hand because a lot of people self-medicate the PTSD with alcohol, opiates or whatever, he said.

Now four months clean, David said his self-medication started with drinking and, on a whim, turned into heroin use. Unlike some suffering from substance abuse disorder, David did not experiment with pills before trying heroin.

I never was big on pills, he said. The way I started was that I used to drink a lot. I used alcohol to self-medicate. I was really drunk one night and somebody offered me a little bit and I was like, OK. The very first time I did it I shot it. I used to do EMT stuff back in the day so I knew how to give shots.

David said after that first shot, it was game over.

I fell in love, he said. It did everything I wanted it to and it was way quicker than drinking. I didnt have to sit there for hours drinking. You do it and a few seconds later, bam.

For a year David self-medicated his PTSD using heroin. He said a year may not seem like that long compared to some people, but the rate at which the drug can take over your life is faster than most know.

David was able to get clean last year, but was using again after a couple months.

I did a detox and a month-long rehab last August, he said. I kind of swore it off and I was clean for two months, then I started using again.

Before he started using, David said he had always told himself that he would never be a junkie with a needle in his arm.

The thing that really made me stop this time is that I started thinking about robbing people, he said. I took a step back. Thats not me at all. It just turns you into a completely different person and you do things you never thought you would. Thats when I was like, This has got to change.

When you start going through withdrawals from heroin, its like youre dying, he added. You get diarrhea, upset stomach, cold sweats and tremors. With the tremors you start shaking and its like restless leg syndrome, but its your whole body and you cant stop it. You cant do anything.

Davids friend Amelia, who is herself three years clean, described withdrawals as being like having the flu except 20 or 30 times worse.

Amelia started using heroin in a similar way to David, but used for a longer period of time. Two weeks before she began using heroin she kicked an ex out for having the drug in the house.

I was young and dumb, she said. It started when I was like 20 and I was in a party state of mind where Id do anything, try anything. I just got kind of hooked. I was using for maybe five or six years, I got clean for a year, then I got back on it for another three or four years and now Ive been clean for three years.

David and Amelia agreed that as their substance abuse progressed, it became more and more apparent that they were being changed.

It was a slow, gradual thing, Amelia said. I didnt go immediately into shooting it. For the first six years I would never touch a needle. I just sniffed it. And there was a big difference to me  I was so paranoid with it all and tried to hide it as much as possible. But you get to a point where youre just like, Somethings got to change. But its so hard to change. Youve got this leash on you thats not going to let you go.

David is currently undergoing treatment for his PTSD, and said that once the program is over he is considering returning to school for electrical engineering.

Despite only using for a year, David said heroin had a huge effect on his life that still follows him after four clean months.

It wasnt something where I continued my life and it was just a little phase, he said. It greatly impacted by life. Its a huge part of why I am where I am now.
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Chinese film "Angels Wear White" won the Best Film Award late Friday at the 54th International Antalya Film Festival in Turkey's Mediterranean City of Antalya, the first time a Chinese film wins the highest award of this event.

The film, directed by Chinese female director Wen Yan (also known as Vivian Qu), tells a story that happens to two adolescent Chinese girls who are sexual assaulted by a middle-aged man at a hotel and feel helpless in seeking justice.

"The film focuses on a worldwide social problem, and thus eventually calls up common awareness among audiences," Wen told Xinhua after the award ceremony.

Moreover, the Best Actress Award was given to Wen Qi, a 14-year-old Chinese actress who roles a vital hotel waitress in "Angels Wear White".

The Best Director Award was given to Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof for his film "A Man of Integrity".

The International Antalya Film Festival, one of the longest-running art events in Turkey, attracts 10 movies from different countries to participate in its competition section this year.
With southeast Missouri being particularly affected by the opioid crisis, service providers as well as state and federal departments are stepping up to the challenges posed by the situation.

The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has awarded grants to states on the basis of need, with a total estimated funding of $485 million per year. Missouri was awarded about $10 million a year for two years.

The awards are known as State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis Grants, or Opioid STR for short. According to Southeast Missouri Behavioral Health Centers Director of Clinical Compliance and Physician Services Clif Johnson, southeast Missouri has been designated a high-need area for those grant dollars to go to work.

For this area, meaning St. Francois County, Washington County, over through Crawford and Dent County, its a target for extra funding, Johnson said. Weve received our second grant to help target the uninsured population thats becoming dependent on opioids because of the number of overdoses in general, not just deaths.

SEMO Behavioral Health Director of Administrative and Support Services Dan Adams said the focus of the second grant is slightly shifted from that of the first, though both were awarded to combat opioid abuse in the community.

The focus of the first grant for this area was more targeting the illegal use of prescription opioids because it was really high, Adams said. But its changed so that heroin is as much a problem as prescription drugs.

The grant dollars came at the perfect time for SEMO Behavioral Health, as they had begun employing a new system of support for clients including medication-assisted treatment and telehealth services.

The big term being used now is medication first, Johnson said. So the focus is that if you come here, call in or walk in and youre an opioid user, youre going to get in front of a physician and get medication first. Were not going to mess with paperwork, assessments, or the regimens you go through when you go to see your physician. Youre going to see a nurse for your vitals check and then youre going to get in front of a doctor.

Adams said the idea of providing opioid-dependent clients with medication as quickly as possible is because of past experience with those who were facing withdrawal symptoms.

Its frustrating when you get somebody in and they start withdrawing, Adams said. They know how to feel better so theyll walk out and use.

With the old way youd suffer through social-setting detox and then if you can make it four or five days and get through the diarrhea and vomiting, then wed get you some help. But you realize we dont do anybody any good if they walk out. So weve got to keep them here and the way to keep them here is to make them feel better.

Johnson said clients who were not undergoing residential detox would often not return after the first visit because the withdrawal symptoms became too great to bear. The point of medication first is to quickly get a client onto medication that eases those symptoms so they are more likely to continue treatment and counseling.

If they started feeling bad they might go and use, Johnson said. And the problem is if they go use they may overdose and die. I mean, people are dying so we had to do something different as a treatment provider because this is something we havent ever seen with people dying like this and the community afraid.

Families are afraid, clients are afraid, law enforcement is afraid  they dont know what to do with all of these overdoses. Thats why you see families and clients starting to get Narcan.

Once a client receives medication, often Suboxone, and are feeling better, Johnson said it is then easier to convince the client to take the steps to further resources.

They have all the problems a normal substance abuse disorder client has, Johnson said. They have family issues, children issues, job issues, legal issues and housing issues. But if theyre not feeling good and theyre craving, then youre not going to be able to deal with it. And if theyre not alive, were not going to get anywhere.

Its Maslows Hierarchy of Needs, Adams explained. If somebodys hungry or thirsty, youre not going to talk to them about self-actualization. And if theyre sick and vomiting, you cant say, Hey, you really need to change your lifestyle. You take care of the vomiting first and get them on medication.

Adams said a "perfect set of circumstances" occurred to produce the opioid epidemic existing today, especially for those who first became addicted to prescription opioids before moving on to heroin.

Weve had the perfect storm, he said. Physicians that went through medical school in the late '80s and into the '90s were told to treat the pain, so there were a lot of prescriptions for opioids. There was research, mostly done by pharmaceutical companies that said if youre really in pain you dont become addicted.

So you get that group, then after all the opioid abuse stuff came out, medical schools started teaching the opposite. So you have new doctors coming in the last five or six years who wont prescribe an opioid for a chronic condition. So they may come into a practice where theres been another doctor and theyll have patients that are really addicted to opioids for their chronic pain and theyll cut them off.

Adams said at the same time, a high grade of heroin has been coming into the country that can be effective without injection, allowing those with substance abuse disorder to avoid the use of needles.

Staff pointed out SEMO Behavioral Health Center was a particularly good candidate to receive grant funds because the service provider had already put in place much of the infrastructure for the programs being employed today.

We were in a good position to get these grants and we could implement them quickly, Johnson said. We could start treating clients immediately. We were the first to get the STR grant and we were literally the first in the nation to start seeing clients.

A key component of the centers effectiveness is the inclusion of telehealth, which allows doctors to connect with clients who are miles away via specialized communication equipment. This is particularly effective in rural communities where there is a shortage of physicians and a large number of potential clients.

Weve been so fortunate, Adams said. We got our first telehealth equipment through a grant with the University of Missouri. We thought, Oh, this will be great for psychiatry.

The equipment was first used to connect autism specialists in Columbia with clients here in southeast Missouri, saving families hours of travel time and expense. When the idea arose to use the telehealth program to get opioid abuse clients quick treatment, the center received support from the Missouri Department of Mental Health, which Adams says is a national leader.

So when we decided to do more telehealth, the Department of Mental Health was like, Yeah, we think outside the box. Lets go for it. So we didnt run into the bureaucratic nightmares that a lot of state have. The Missouri Department of Mental Health has been great.

The Farmington SEMO Behavioral Health Centers Director of Services Rob Gould said the expanded resources allow the center to find a way to help someone affected by substance abuse disorder, one way or another.

No matter what  if a client comes in, calls in, gets dragged in or the police bring them in, theyre not going to get turned away, he said. We will find a way to get you in no matter what program it is. Well find a way to help.

Johnson said while the community has been very open and accepting of the work being done by SEMO Behavioral Health Center, there are sometimes still problematic attitudes encountered.

Sometimes theres an attitude of, Why should we spend money on those people? he said. Theres that stigma, which I think keeps people from wanting to get help because theyre thrown in that basket.

Its a hard stigma to break through, he said. And its a shame that it takes a crisis like the opioid crisis to get people to kind of pay attention. But I think people are still thinking, Well, they just need to quit. Why should we spend all this money? And thats a hard nut to crack.
A delegation from China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region concluded its two-day visit to Houston, Texas of the United States on Friday, with the aim of enhancing mutual understanding.

The delegation, organized by the State Council Information Office of China, visited the Asia Society Texas Center and the University of St Thomas Houston respectively.

Zuo Feng, deputy director general of the Bureau of Human Rights of the State Council Information Office of China, briefed scholars and some local Chinese people on China's stance on Xinjiang-related issues, the implementation of ethnic and religious policies in the region, and its recent development.

Zuo explained that the main purpose of their visit is to promote the understanding of Xinjiang Autonomous Region among Americans, especially academia, and enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

In the forums organized by the Asia Society Texas Center and the University of St Thomas, Zuo discussed with scholars, answered questions about education, employment and human rights issues in Xinjiang.

Attending the forum held by University of St. Thomas, Chinese Consul General in Houston Li Qiangmin said China will continue following the path of peaceful development, pursuing a mutually beneficial and open strategy, and further enhancing cooperation and collaboration with major countries.

During the visit, the Chinese delegation communicated with scholars in Houston's think tanks and universities. Li said he believed it is significant to deepen the exchanges between China and the United States, and promote understanding, mutual trust and friendship.

Charles Foster, former chairman and a board member of the Asia Society Texas Center, recalled his visit to Xinjiang during the discussion. He said that the participants have learned more about China's ethnic policies as well as the development of Xinjiang.

Richard Ludwick, president of University of St Thomas, said he believed openness is the signal sent out by the delegation. The university is willing to build a bridge so that students from Xinjiang and America will have more chances to visit each other, he said.

The delegation will leave Houston for New York on Saturday. Later, they will visit Ottawa and Toronto in Canada.
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A freight train loaded with Chinese goods left Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, Saturday, bound for Dourges in France.

It marked the start of a new direct China-Europe freight train route stretching 10,815 kilometers.

The train will pass through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany, reducing the transporting time to France by nearly 20 days compared with ocean shipping, as well as carbon dioxide emissions.

The first train's 41 containers include electric products and sportswear.

About 16 Wuhan-Europe freight routes have been launched since 2012, linking Wuhan with more than 60 cities in Europe, Central Asia and West Asia.

As of October 20, 277 trains carrying a total of 25,000 containers had travelled the route this year.
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Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang on Friday held a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.

The two had in-depth exchange of views on the preparations for anticipated economic results during U.S. President Donald Trump's upcoming visit to China, as well as matters related to China-U.S. economic and trade ties.

Trump is expected to visit China next month as part of his five-stop tour in Asia that will also take him to Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines.
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The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said more than 500 refugees fleeing the unrest in the Republic of Togo had arrived in Ghana.

A statement received here on Friday said the UNHCR, is working with the authorities in Ghana to support over 500 recently arrived Togolese asylum-seekers, fleeing the recent political unrest in their country.

"So far, 513 asylum-seekers have been registered by the Ghanaian authorities, after arriving in remote northwestern parts of Ghana, including Chereponi, Zabzugu and Bunkprugu-Yunyou," the statement added.

Military in the former French colony of Togo have been cracking down on opposition supporters staging street protests against the alleged intention of President Faure Gnassingbe to extend his tenure by amending the constitution.

The statement said majority of those who have fled to Ghana were being hosted by local families and some in community centers.

"A joint UNHCR/Ghana Refugee Board mission is currently on its way to those remote areas to assess the situation. Togolese seeking safety, including women and children, told UNHCR staff that they had fled on foot, walking from their homes in Togo's Mango region, bordering Ghana. They said they were fleeing human rights abuses after the recent political protests," the statement said.

The government of Ghana, with local authorities and host communities according to the statement is providing the recent asylum seekers with emergency humanitarian aid including food and non-food items.

UNHCR said together with the Ghana Refugee Board (GRB) and the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), it continues to monitor the situation and is working on a response plan in case of an increase of arrivals, including the prepositioning of relief items.

With reports about refugee arrivals in both Benin and Burkina Faso as well, the UN refugee agency said it was working with authorities in those countries on emergency preparedness, including the development of contingency plans, in case of refugee influx in these countries.
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Mexico has already overcome the crisis caused by the two strong earthquakes which rocked the nation in September and the country will now focus on reconstruction process, said Minister of the Interior, Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, on Friday.

Appearing in front of the Chamber of Deputies, Osorio Chong said that the disaster response had been coordinated, agile and opportune thanks to the strengthening of the National Civil Protection System over the last five years, at the federal, state and municipal levels.

On September 7 and 19, Mexico saw two earthquakes of 8.2 and 7.1 magnitude, which killed 471 people and damaged over 180,000 houses in eight states, including Mexico City.

"The opportune response of the institutions has allowed that, despite the devastating extent to the September earthquakes, the emergency has today been overcome and we find ourselves in the reconstruction process," said Osorio Chong.

He added that the National Emergencies Committee has remained in session since September 7, analyzing the facts and determining the urgent measures to be taken.

According to Osorio Chong, the earthquakes showed that Mexico is a solidary and generous nation which responded to adversity with determination, while showcasing its strength.

"It was with this spirit that society took to the streets to help those in need, and it was with this vision that the institutions, staffed by Mexicans of great bravery, responded with speed and commitment to the emergency," he said.
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A third woman has accused former U.S. President George H.W. Bush of sexual harassment, claiming the currently 93-year-old told her a "David Cop-a-feel" joke and groped her.

In an article released in Slate late Thursday, novelist Christina Baker Kline said the incident occurred during a photo op at an event in April 2016.

According to Kline, it was her first time to meet the former president, who was in a wheelchair and she "had to lean close to hear" his response. Just as the photographer snapped the photo, the former president "squeezed my butt, hard."

Kline said that both her husband and former first lady Barbara Bush were present at the photo op. A friend of the Bush family, she said, later asked her to be "discreet" about the incident.

Two other women, actresses Heather Lind and Jordana Grolnick, came forward earlier this week to claim that they were groped by the 41st president while taking photos with him at separate events. The two also said Barbara Bush saw the incidents.

In response to Kline, Bush family spokesperson Jim McGrath pointed Slate to a prior statement he released on Wednesday shortly after Lind made accusation.

"At age 93, President Bush has been confined to a wheelchair for roughly five years, so his arm falls on the lower waist of people with whom he takes pictures. To try to put people at ease, the president routinely tells the same joke - and on occasion, he has patted women's rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner," the statement read.

"Some have seen it as innocent; others clearly view it as inappropriate. To anyone he has offended, President Bush apologizes most sincerely," said the statement.

On Thursday, McGrath told The Washington Post that Barbara Bush had no comment about the allegations from Lind and Grolnick.

The accusations against the 41st U.S. president follows the wave of recent public sexual harassment and assault allegations against film executive Harvey Weinstein, director James Toback and others.

Millions of Americans have since taken to Facebook and Twitter, using #MeToo as they post their own experiences with sexual abuse.
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Britain will not recognize the Catalan parliament's declaration of independence, a spokesperson of the country's prime minister said Friday.

The spokesman said the declaration was based on a vote that had been declared illegal.

Shortly after the Catalan regional parliament voted to declare independence from Spain, the Spanish parliament approved direct rule over the region.

"The UK does not and will not recognize the unilateral declaration of independence made by the Catalan regional parliament," the spokesperson said.

"It is based on a vote that was declared illegal by the Spanish courts. We continue to want to see the rule of law upheld, the Spanish constitution respected, and Spanish unity preserved," the spokesperson added.
DEAR ABBY: I'm in my early 20s, and my 18-year-old sister, "Judy," is attending community college. All my memories of her consist of her putting me down. We reconciled just as I was moving out.

Abby, she is extremely dependent on the family. She cannot do for herself. If I refuse to help her, I am told by my family that I'm selfish or a "b----." They have a running joke that she's going to live with me and be dependent on me when our parents die. I have heard that Judy is actually OK with it and looks forward to the day I can support her.

I have tried pointing out that it's neither healthy nor realistic, and her issues aren't my fault, but again, I am put down. They say we're family and it's my job to take care of her. But when did family become a job? -- OVERWHELMED SISTER

DEAR OVERWHELMED SISTER: Rather than listen to hearsay, ask your sister directly if she expects you to support her in years to come, because it may not be true. However, if it is, she needs to hear firsthand that it's not going to happen.

If your parents truly believe that your sister will not become self-sufficient, point out to them that they had better start putting money into a trust for her, if they haven't already, and name a trustee other than you. Being her caretaker is not your job, and you should not allow yourself to be bullied, shamed or ridiculed into agreeing to it.

DEAR ABBY: My fiance always sets his alarm for between 5 and 6 a.m. for work or school. His clock has two alarms, which he sets 10 minutes apart. If he doesn't get out of bed on the second alarm, he either hits "snooze" or turns it off and goes back to sleep.

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I wake up at 5 a.m., so I make sure he's awake before I leave at 5:30. However, on Tuesdays and Thursdays -- or any day that I don't get up to wake him -- he's late for work or school.

I have tried telling him that I won't wake him up and he needs to be responsible for himself because I don't want to get up every morning at 5. This hasn't worked. Help! -- MORNING MARY IN MOSCOW, IDAHO

DEAR MARY: I'll try, but you may not like what I have to say. Much as you want to help your fiance, what you have done is enable him to "mom-ify" you. Until he suffers the consequences for his chronic tardiness, nothing will change, and he will continue to place the burden of dragging him out of bed squarely on your shoulders.

DEAR ABBY: I'm a woman who was honorably discharged from the military recently and am now in an electrical construction apprenticeship. I'm starting a great career in a field I love that can give me a comfortable living without having to rely on a second job.

My problem is my family. Most of them are convinced that I hate men or I wish I was one. The rest are sure that I will emasculate anyone I would start dating.

I'm not a lesbian, and I like being female. I have no problem with anyone who follows different life paths than mine. My family is basing these opinions purely on what I have chosen to do for work. In their opinion, because I chose to work in what is considered nontraditional employment for "nice young ladies," as they put it, and can work on my house and car without extra assistance, it must be true.

I have tried repeatedly to explain that what I have chosen for a living has no bearing on my gender identity or my sexual orientation. They are completely ignoring anything I have to say about my life and life choices. Sometimes I wonder how I'm even related to these people. If I were asked to deploy back to the war zone, I'd happily leave tomorrow, because it would be easier than dealing with the small-minded, narrow viewpoints I'm encountering here at home. -- HOW CAN I MAKE THEM LISTEN?

DEAR HOW: It is beyond sad that you would find returning to a war zone more appealing than dealing with the pressure you're receiving because of your career choice. But please try not to blame your family for their outdated thinking. Many people are unaware that women are now being trained -- and succeeding in -- high-paying jobs once held only by men.

Because your relatives refuse to believe that you're heterosexual, stop wasting your time trying to convince them otherwise. Live your life in an authentic way, and if you meet a nice man and decide to settle down with him, eventually they'll realize they were mistaken.

DEAR ABBY: I am in my late 40s and live in New York City. I was taught to hold doors open for women and to allow women to exit the elevator first. Problem is, in our lobby there are two separate glass doors that must be opened to walk outside the building. If I let a woman neighbor leave the elevator first, she will then have to open and hold both doors for me. But I always feel awkward if I don't allow them out first, and I sometimes worry they think I'm rude for walking ahead. Sometimes I even want to explain my actions. I just figure holding and opening two heavy glass doors is more polite than allowing someone to exit the elevator first. What's the proper protocol in a situation like this? -- A GENTLEMAN IN NEW YORK

DEAR NEW YORK GENTLEMAN: While it is polite for a man to hold a door open for a woman, it would also be considered good manners if she returns the favor if she's the first to reach the lobby door. As to the rule of etiquette for elevators, the person at the front of the elevator should exit first, if the elevator is crowded.

DEAR ABBY: Taking care of a loved one who has Alzheimer's is difficult. My boyfriend came up with a brilliant idea to help me maintain my own space (the basement in the family home) and still keep track of my mom upstairs. A baby monitor! I could hear everything going on upstairs, at night especially, and it made a challenging time much easier.

Both of my parents had Alzheimer's disease, and I wish I had known about the monitor when Dad was still alive. I hope this will help others to be more effective caregivers without compromising their own lives. -- MISSING MOM AND DAD IN MONTANA

DEAR MISSING: So do I, because placing a baby monitor in the room of a sick person of any age is a good idea in case the person needs assistance. I have heard of this being done not only with Alzheimer's patients but also with people in hospice programs whose caregivers can't be with them every minute. Thank you for writing.

DEAR ABBY: I was unhappily married years ago and conceived a child by an ex-boyfriend. My son is now 31. I divorced my husband 28 years ago. He knew the baby was not his, but claimed him as his own son. He refused to do a DNA test when we were going through the divorce. He died a few years ago.

I am in contact with my son's biological father. They look identical, and my grandson looks just like his father and grandfather.

My guilt is consuming me. I want to tell my son that even though the dad he knew all his life is gone, he still has a chance to get to know another father who is his blood. On the other hand, I don't want to ruin my relationship with my son and grandchildren, whom I love very much. How can I tell the truth without hurting my son and our relationship? -- RIGHTING A WRONG

DEAR RIGHTING: Better late than never. Your son needs to know that the man who raised him and claimed him as his own was not his biological father so that he can have a complete medical history. If the birth father wasn't interested in knowing or supporting his son, he sounds more like a sperm donor than a "blood" relative to me. Do not be surprised if your son isn't interested in knowing more about his birth father than the information I suggested.

DEAR ABBY: My mother died from a heroin overdose when I was 8. As a mother with children of my own, I often find myself getting upset when people say nice things about her -- things that would normally make people feel good, such as, "Oh, she would have been so proud of you," or, "She was such a great woman." I feel that if she was such a great woman, she wouldn't have chosen drugs over her (or our) well-being. How can I let go of the anger I feel toward her when everyone else sees her only in a good light? -- MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT MOM

DEAR MIXED FEELINGS: I'm sorry for the loss of your mother at such a tender age and under such tragic circumstances. Far more is understood about drug addiction today than was known when you were a child. We now know that addiction can be less about a lack of character than a medical problem.

I seriously doubt that when your mother gave herself her final fix she realized it would be her last. While I sympathize with your anger at being cheated out of her presence in your life, it would be better for your own quality of life if you could accept that she was a human being and fallible. A licensed mental health professional can help you work through your anger, and I hope you will talk to one soon.

DEAR ABBY: We host many gatherings in our home during the year, including picnics. We have a downstairs bathroom that is intended for guests. But twice now, I have encountered guests using my upstairs bathroom. I have never offered it, and I'm offended that they take it upon themselves to go uninvited into private territory. I would never do that in someone else's house. Am I wrong, or are they overstepping the boundaries here? -- WONDERING IN THE EAST

DEAR WONDERING: To use your upstairs bathroom without asking your permission is overstepping. The exception might be if the downstairs bathroom was in use, and the need to get into one was urgent.

DEAR ABBY: My three best friends over the last four years recently decided to start a business together. They said I was more than welcome to join them, but financially I wasn't able to swing it. I work part-time, so I have been helping them when I can.

When we get together for dinner once a month, most of their conversation focuses on their business. But recently they discussed a shopping trip they took together. They went on a day I could have gone, but I was not invited. Should I take this -- and other similar incidents -- as a hint that our friendship has run its course? -- FEELING LEFT OUT

DEAR FEELING LEFT OUT: Talking about the shopping trip in front of you was insensitive. However, you may not have been invited because your friends were afraid you might be embarrassed it you could not participate in the shopping. You mentioned that their business arrangement is recent. They may be discussing business because that's what is on their minds.

Don't write them off or withdraw just yet. You can always do that. Wait to see how things play out.

DEAR ABBY: Help! I'm a 67-year-old man being relentlessly chased by a 68-year-old woman. I have told her I want to date other women and will be moving out of the country at the end of the year. Despite this, she is constantly trying to maneuver me into an exclusive relationship, probably ending in living together. I don't want to hurt her, but I'm at a loss as to how to get her to back off. -- HAPPILY UNCOMMITTED

DEAR UNCOMMITTED: Here's how. Tell her you can't handle the pressure she's putting on you and end the relationship NOW.

DEAR ABBY: I am in a predicament. My therapist is great, but sometimes I think she shares too much. Last time I went, she was running late. When I finally got into her office, she told me the previous patient was nonverbal and had painted her nails during the session. Later in the session, she confided that years ago she had been date raped.

Abby, I am in counseling because my father raped me when I was 15 (I am now 24). Her sharing has me worried because I don't want her telling others what I say or do during counseling. Further, her story of the date rape scared me. She described a situation that is not uncommon for me to be in, and it caused something almost like a flashback in me. I think what she did was insensitive, to say the least.

I have nobody else to ask, so what should I do? I'm getting counseling for free now due to my income, and it took months to get set up with a counselor. Should I report her or accept that this was a mistake and say nothing? If I need to report her, how would I go about doing that? -- CONFLICTED ABOUT IT

DEAR CONFLICTED: You should change therapists because it appears this one has more problems than you do. As to what agency you should report her breach of professional ethics to, contact the state organization that has licensed her to practice.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069
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The United States said on Friday that Catalonia is an integral part of Spain and it supported Madrid's efforts to keep the country united after Catalan lawmakers voted to declare independence.

"Catalonia is an integral part of Spain, and the United States supports the Spanish government's constitutional measures to keep Spain strong and united," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

The announcement came shortly after Catalan lawmakers voted Friday to secede from Spain, with 70 ballots in favor of independence, 10 against and two blank ballots in the 135-member regional parliament.

Shortly afterward, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy described the decision taken by the Catalan Parliament as "a crime."

The Spanish Senate, reacting to the move of the Catalan assembly, approved the application of article 155 of the Spanish Constitution by 214 votes to 47.

This article will suspend Catalan autonomy, see Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and his government sacked and hand control of the region's key institutions to Madrid.
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French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was his only interlocutor in Spain, reiterating Paris' full support to the Spanish government after the Catalonian region unilaterally declared independence from Madrid.

"There is a rule of law in Spain, with constitutional rules. Rajoy wants to enforce them and he has my full support," Macron told French press on Friday in French Guiana, where he makes a two-day visit.

In a separate statement, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France "won't recognize the declaration of independence that the Catalan parliament has adopted."

Expressing concern about the situation in the Spanish region, Le Drian added "the constitution in Spain must be respected. It is therefore within this framework, which is that of the rule of law, that the question of Catalonia must be considered."

Earlier on Friday, the Catalan regional assembly declared "the formation of a Catalan Republic as an independent and sovereign state with social and democratic rights."

On Oct. 1, Spain's northern region of Catalonia, led by a regional government, held a referendum over independence which Madrid said was illegal.
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The upper house of Spain's parliament, the Senate, on Friday authorized the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to rule Catalonia directly from Madrid, triggering Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution minutes after the restive region declared independence.

Rajoy is now expected to convene his cabinet to adopt the first measures to govern Catalonia. This includes firing the Barcelona government and assuming direct supervision of Catalan police forces.

Catalonia's parliament declared independence in a disputed vote on Friday in defiance of the Madrid government. Although the declaration was in effect a symbolic gesture, the moves by both sides take Spain's crisis to a new level.

The triggering of Article 155 allows Madrid to dissolve the Catalan regional government, take control of ministries and call fresh elections.

Spain is in its worst political crisis in decades after a "Yes" vote in a banned October 1 referendum on independence in Catalonia. The region, one of the 17 in the country, enjoys a high level of autonomy.

Earlier on Friday, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy asked the Senate, where his party holds a majority, to "proceed to the dismissal of the president of the Catalan government, his vice-president and all regional ministers." Senators gave Rajoy a standing ovation.

Crowds gathered in Barcelona on Thursday amid speculation that Catalonian leader Carles Puigdemont was set to declare independence or call a snap election in a bid to avoid rule from Madrid  but he canceled a planned address and called on the regions parliament to decide the way forward.

Puigdemont said he had decided not to call an election because he had not obtained guarantees from the central government that the move would stop the imposition of direct rule in Catalonia.

"I was ready to call an election if guarantees were given. There is no guarantee that justifies calling an election today," Puigdemont said.

How did it get here?

On October 1, Catalonia held an independence referendum that the Spanish government declared was illegal. The next day, Puigdemont said 90 percent of voters opted for independence on a 43 percent turnout.

On October 5, the Spanish Constitutional Court suspended a Catalan parliament session, which could have been used to officially declare independence. On October 10, Puigdemont said the region had won the right to independence but didn't make a formal declaration.

Rajoy called on Puigdemont to clarify his intentions, but the Catalan leader missed two deadlines to state whether he would pursue independence for Catalonia.

CGTN Graphic

It prompted Madrid to turn to the never-before-used Article 155 of the constitution, designed to rein in rebel regions.

Article 155 gives the government ill-defined and untested powers to act when the country's "general interests" come under threat.

The Catalan parliament called the move a "de facto coup d'etat." Puigdemont said Madrid failed to respect the rule of law, and called for a regional parliament meeting.

With Article 155 triggered, measures imposed by the Spanish government will come into effect on Saturday, and remain in place for up to six months  until elections are called and a new Catalan parliament sworn in.

CGTN Graphic

What happened outside the government?

Catalonia is one of 17 regions, with varying degrees of autonomy, that make up Spain.

The region accounts for 16 percent of Spain's population and 20 percent of its economic output. The 7.5 million people are fiercely protective of its language and culture and have long struggled for autonomy, which was restored after the repressive 1939-1975 rule of Francisco Franco.

Catalans, however, are deeply divided on independence from Spain.

About 43 percent of eligible voters  over two million people  voted in the ballot on October 1. But the Catalan government said many voters were stopped by riot police. Clashes were filmed, and officials said 893 people needed medical attention after being dragged from polling stations.

On October 3, 40 unions, political and social groups as well as 700,000 people angered by the riot police's actions took to the streets in Barcelona. Public transport and markets were disrupted.

Pro-unity rallies were seen across Spain, including in Barcelona, in the following weeks.

When the country was celebrating its National Day on October 12, massive crowds rallied in Barcelona calling for unity.
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Scientists plans to launch a sounding rocket for a fifteen-minute flight on Monday, which is expected to shed light on the nature of the intergalactic medium, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said Friday.

The Dual-channel Extreme Ultraviolet Continuum Experiment, or DEUCE for short, will launch aboard a Black Brant IX sounding rocket equipped with special ultraviolet optics from the White Sands Missile Range Las Cruces, New Mexico.

It is planned to measure starlight from a pair of nearby hot stars in the constellation Canis Major, aiming to help researchers understand how the intergalactic medium, or IGM for short, gained its current state, according to the U.S. space agency.

"DEUCE is about being able to better understand if and how star-forming galaxies ionized the early universe," Nicholas Erickson, a graduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder working with the project, said in a statement.

"This ionizing light has never been measured accurately in hot stars, and DEUCE will make the first calibrated measurement of it, telling us the contribution stars could have had to helping ionize the universe," he said.

Most of the matter in the universe resides in the dark voids in between. Spread out over unfathomable distances, IGM, the cold, diffuse gas between galaxies, hardly emits any light, making it difficult to study.

Scientists know that the IGM, which is mostly hydrogen, has been blasted with high-energy radiation, causing the electrons to break apart from their atoms, a process known as ionization.

"It's a hard measurement to make, because there still is neutral hydrogen between stars that is extremely effective at absorbing the starlight at these wavelengths," said Erickson. "To be seen at Earth, you need a really bright star that's close by, and there are only two stars that are viable candidates for this measurement."

The experiment uses a microchannel plate detector, the largest ever flown in space, to measure the starlight. The mission, in addition to providing scientific data, will test this type of large UV detector for readiness in future large-scale space missions, according to NASA.

During two flights, DEUCE will look at two young, bright stars, first Beta Canis Major and later Epsilon Canis Major, using a telescope sensitive to ultraviolet light. The experiment is scheduled to launch again in December 2018, to look at Epsilon Canis Major.

And the two stars are close enough that their light reaches Earth before being fully absorbed by interstellar gas, allowing researchers to measure the amount of starlight to see if it's enough to significantly contribute to the amount of ionized gas in the IGM.

NASA's sounding rocket program, based on NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility, flies 20 rockets annually, testing new instruments and supporting cutting-edge research in astrophysics and heliophysics.
Have you noticed? In recent public comments, the lawmakers investigating the Trump-Russia affair, along with some of the commentators who dissect its every development, seem to be focusing more on the facts of Russia's attempts to interfere with the 2016 election and less on allegations that Donald Trump or his associates colluded with those efforts.

Some of that could be just an impression. But the fact is, the subjects that have dominated discussion of the Trump-Russia matter lately -- Facebook and other social media ads and the most recent update from Senate Intelligence Committee leaders Richard Burr and Mark Warner -- do not necessarily point toward collusion. Rather, more often than not, the latest talk points toward Russian "active measures," that is, the effort to disrupt the 2016 campaign.

Why the change?

"Because that's where the evidence is going," one lawmaker who follows the matter closely told me in a text exchange. "I mean, things could always change, but that observation is just the reality of the situation right now, as I see it."

"Because they've been spinning their wheels on something for which evidence has yet to emerge," said another lawmaker.

"I think it's 1) the Mueller probe means that stuff (allegations of collusion) is sort of in his wheelhouse now," said yet another lawmaker, "and 2) I think there's recognition that Trump himself is unlikely to be implicated in this."

In a recent speech to the San Mateo County, California Republican Party, House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes said that at this moment investigators have more evidence of Democrats colluding with Russians than of President Trump doing so.

The Russian effort to interfere in the election was always supposed to be the heart of the investigation. And if the Russian plot were in fact the only subject of the probe, there would probably be a lot of bi-partisan agreement and cooperation. But the investigation early on included allegations of collusion and has been politically radioactive since.

In recent days, one of the president's chief accusers, Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, has found himself pushing back against suggestions there's not much evidence of collusion.

"If it was so obvious, it if were so egregious, you should have known by now," CNN's Chris Cuomo, paraphrasing the investigation's critics, asked Schiff earlier this month.

"Well, no one's saying this was obvious," Schiff answered. "Obviously, there was a deep interest in the Russians in keeping their work hidden. But you can't say there's no evidence of collusion."

"We've seen even in the public realm, I think, very graphic evidence that the Trump campaign was willing to collude with the Russians," Schiff continued. That was most likely a reference to the infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting which Kremlin-connected Russians enticed Donald Trump, Jr. into attending by promising dirt on Hillary Clinton. In fact, the Russians wanted to push their goal of killing the Magnitsky Act, and the meeting, by all accounts, ended quickly. But Schiff argues that it suggests the willingness to collude, if not collusion itself.

"So you can't say even in the public realm, let alone what we're looking at (in secret), that there's no evidence," Schiff concluded. "Now, is there proof beyond a reasonable doubt? Are we ready to announce a conclusion? We're not there yet."

For his part, Senate Intel chief Burr recently noted that one part of the committee's probe was "to look into any collusion by either campaign during the 2016 elections."

The "by either campaign" was a point not heard much in public discussion of the investigation. (After all, some investigators looking into the Trump dossier characterize it as Democrats paying Kremlin-linked Russians for compromising information on Donald Trump.) In any event, under questioning by reporters, Burr said the probe into collusion is still open and the committee "continues to look into all evidence to see if there was any hint of collusion." But he gave no indication one way or the other about what had been found.

None of this is definitive. And that's without noting that the Mueller investigation appears to be going full steam, although in precisely what direction is not publicly known.

But the tone of the public discussion seems to be changing -- away from collusion and toward Russia. Yet another lawmaker agreed that appears to be the case, and in a text message suggested there's a simple reason: "Maybe reflects where they think it's heading."

Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner.
XIAMEN - Cargo trains departing eastern Chinese city of Xiamen, located in the Fujian Free Trade Zone (FTZ), saw rise in exports to Central Asia in the first nine months of this year, local authorities said Friday.

During the period, cargo trains carried a total of 1,539 containers, an increase of nearly 95 percent year-on-year, according to the Xiamen Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.

Chinese goods worth $43 million, a year-on-year increase of nearly 190 percent, have been exported to the region along the route.

The exports include electronics, clothing and textiles, food, as well as automobile parts. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are the two major importers.

The direct cargo train line, opened in 2015, is the only one linking a Chinese FTZ with Central Asia.
NAIROBI - Beijing and Guangzhou cities in China are becoming popular destinations for Kenyan entrepreneurs, who have established a niche in the Chinese cities.

From importing unique and durable construction materials to furniture and leather products, to second hand clothes, this is evident by the frequent Kenya Airways flights to Guangzhou every week.

A spot check at most of these flights en route to Guangzhou reveals that majority of the passengers are Kenyans who are either going for a business trip, seminar, or importing goods from the one of the world's developed cities.

According to one of the Kenya Airways (KQ) flight cabin crew, none of the KQ flights has ever flew Guangzhou with less than 50 Kenyans.

"You can check the records in our office. The city has become a second home for Kenyan entrepreneurs," said the cabin crew as she boarded the 11 pm plane to Guangzhou.

And this is evident by the adverts placed on local dailies inviting entrepreneurs wishing to travel to the big city. The entrepreneurs are offered subsidized costs in hotel books and air ticket on a first come basis.

Xinhua caught up with Dinah Konzole, a Kenyan entrepreneur on her way to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport rushing to book the last flight to China on a Wednesday evening.

Konzole, an entrepreneur who owns one of the largest boutique (beauty shop) in Kenya said she never misses to travel to the big city once or twice a month.

"I'm a frequenter flier. I love this city. The environment is conducive and people here are welcoming. The infrastructure is quite amazing ranging from the buildings, the roads, wow," said Konzole.

She imports ladies handbags, shoes, clothes, jewelries and beauty products.

Walter Riungu, another Kenyan business entrepreneur said it is six years since he established a business in Beijing.

The founder of China Africa Merchants Advisors Limited, a trade and investment advisory firm which operates in China, Kenya and Zambia, said his company assists Chinese companies to secure commodities in Africa while handling the procurement of capital equipment and sourcing of financing in China for African companies.

According to Riungu, his business has been doing well given that it was established as a result of gap in the market.

He said Beijing is a popular city to many Kenyans who visit it more often.

"Beijing is constantly a growing city. You set up a business, it catches up very fast so long you establish your relations with the good hearted people around here," Riungu said in an recent interview with Xinhua.

Some other Kenyan business entrepreneurs have come together to mobilize funds for air tickets and hotel bookings to enable them to attend business seminars and import goods as well.

The team of 27 businessmen and women who are dealers in construction materials and furniture shops said they have a joint account in which they make deposits every month to enable them to attend the seminars annually.

"The seminars open our mind to think globally and make the right decisions in our business. Last year we attend the China-Africa business summit held in Guangzhou which brought all business people across the world. It was an opportunity for us to network and even sign big business deals," said Joakim Olando, an entrepreneur based in Kenya.
China and the European Union are planning further cooperation in the science and technology sector to sustain and nurture innovation.

The EU plans to invest 30 billion euros ($34.8 billion) from 2018 to 2020 to support global programs in science, technology and innovation through its Horizon 2020 program.

Up to 100 million euros will be used specifically to promote cooperation with China.

The Ministry of Science and Technology will invest 200 million yuan ($30.1 million) to aid China-based entities that will participate in the program during the period.

The move is in line with General Secretary Xi Jinping's remarks during the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China which emphasized that innovation is the primary force driving development.

The investment will mainly be used to provide financial support to entities in China to cooperate with Europe in science, technology and innovation.

Five areas, including safer and greener aviation, surface transport, and environment and sustainable urbanization will be key priorities.

"Innovation has become a pillar of EU-China relations, and science and technology cooperation will bring new impetus for the future development of both two sides," said Robert Sanders, head of the European Business and Innovation Center Network.

Within the framework of Horizon 2020, the European Network of Research and Innovation Centers and Hubs (ENRICH), a platform promoting science, technology and innovation between Europe and China, has also opened its doors.

"One of the biggest problems that European companies and organizations face is that they lack a channel for cooperation with their Chinese counterparts," said Sara Medina, coordinator of ENRICH and a board member at SPI, a Portugal-based consulting firm.

To tackle the problem, ENRICH will build a bridge between China and Europe through its platform by providing services related to scientific and technological innovation including consultancy, soft-landing, co-working, and training for European companies and research organizations.

"Currently, China is developing at an unprecedented speed with a huge market for innovative businesses. It is the ideal time for us to expand our businesses in China," said Hans Marius Schuster, CEO of Hydrogen Society, a Germany-based energy company attracted to the platform.

More than 50 European companies and institutes from over 10 countries including Belgium, Finland and Romania have been roped in by ENRICH for cooperation with China.

"The ultimate goal is to help European researchers take their first steps in the Chinese market and to help Chinese researchers have better interactions with their European counterparts," said Richard Deng, chief representative of SPI China.
WASHINGTON - The US Commerce Department on Friday set preliminary dumping margins on imports of aluminum foil from China, which has urged Washington to abide by World Trade Organization (WTO) rules in its related investigation.

The department said in a statement that Chinese exporters of aluminum foil had sold their products in US market at prices "that resulted in preliminary dumping margins of 96.81 percent to 162.24 percent."

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has urged the US authorities to implement decisions of the WTO and appellate bodies and give Chinese exporters fair counter-argument rights.

Punitive duties could be imposed after both the US Commerce Department and the US International Trade Commission (USITC) make affirmative final rulings. The Commerce Department is currently scheduled to make its final determination around Feb 23, 2018.

Improper trade measures are believed to hurt the interests of Chinese aluminum foil exporters, US downstream sectors and final consumers, leading to a lose-lose situation.

The Commerce Department launched anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into imports of aluminum foil from China in March, in response to a request from the US Aluminum Association Trade Enforcement Working Group.

Imports of aluminum foil from China were estimated at $389 million in 2016, it said.
HONG KONG - Being China's special administrative regions, both Hong Kong and Macao possess unique advantages which enable them to play different but complementary roles in the country's development, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government Chan Mo-po said here Friday.

Chan co-chaired the 10th Hong Kong-Macao Cooperation High Level Meeting here with Macao's Secretary for Economy and Finance Leong Vai Tac.

The two sides signed the HK-Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) before the meeting.

Noting the arrangement covers investment, intellectual property, economic and technical cooperation, as well as goods and services trade, Chan said the commitments go beyond those undertaken by the two sides under the World Trade Organization.

"Complementing the development strategy of the Belt and Road Initiative, the bay area development will present historic opportunities for the future development of Hong Kong and Macao," Chan said.

The HK-Macao CEPA will take immediate effect, while commitments on the liberalization of goods and services trade will come into effect on Jan 1, 2018.

In the meeting, both sides pledged to continue creating a business-friendly environment for companies of the two places and jointly promote multi-destination itineraries, investment, and trade and exhibition.

They also agreed to work with Guangdong province to press ahead with the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
WUHAN - A freight train loaded with Chinese goods left Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, Saturday, bound for Dourges in France.

It marked the start of a new direct China-Europe freight train route stretching 10,815 kilometers.

The train will pass through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany, reducing the transporting time to France by nearly 20 days compared with ocean shipping, as well as carbon dioxide emissions.

The first train's 41 containers include electric products and sportswear.

About 16 Wuhan-Europe freight routes have been launched since 2012, linking Wuhan with more than 60 cities in Europe, Central Asia and West Asia.

As of October 20, 277 trains carrying a total of 25,000 containers had travelled the route this year.
BRUSSELS - The European Union (EU) regulators gave the green light to a joint takeover by Chinese and German companies in auto sector Friday, saying the deal would not raise competition concerns.

The European Commission has approved under the acquisition of joint control over Bosch Automobile Steering (Nanjing) Co Ltd (ASCN) of China by Bosch of Germany and Huayu Automotive Systems Company Ltd (HASCO) of China, it said in a statement.

The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition "would raise no competition concerns given that the companies' activities do not overlap in the EEA (European Economic Area)," said the EU executive arm.

ASCN, predominantly in China, is active in the production of power assisted steering gears and a subsidiary of Bosch, which is a supplier of technology and services for the automotive industry.

HASCO is active in the development, production and sale of automotive components for a variety of car manufacturers.
Tests to ensure firms can make pre-commercial products quickly

China will start the third phase of 5G technical tests next year, as it aims to get pre-commercial 5G products ready when standards on the next-generation communication technology are expected to come out in June 2018.

Wen Ku, director of the telecom development department at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at a news conference on Friday that "the third phase of technical tests is to ensure that companies are capable of making pre-commercial 5G products."

According to him, more efforts will be made to accelerate tests on network planning, systems, chips and other products of the industrial chain, which will help lay down a sound foundation for the fast development of a 5G network in China.

The move is part of the country's broad push to gain a lead in the race toward commercializing 5G, a communication technology which is expected to revolutionize the world.

It will allow consumers to download an 8-gigabit movie in seconds and execute tasks that are thrilling but impossible in the 4G era, such as self-driving cars.

"We aim to closely follow the global community's schedule on 5G standards. As soon as a standard is finalized, we will optimize equipment and modify our tests in accordance with it," Wen said.

"The goal is to launch pre-commercial 5G products as soon as the first version of standards comes out," he added.

Currently, the country is pushing forward the second phase of 5G tests. Domestic and foreign telecom firms are playing an active role in the process, with contributions from Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, ZTE Corp, Ericsson AB and Nokia Corp.

In September, the second phase of tests on the 5G network's wireless part was finished. Telecom companies have met the key performance requirements set up by the International Telecommunication Union, such as the peak rates of internet speed, Wen said.

Chinese firms are working hard to put 5G into trial operation in 2018. A report by Beijing's China Academy of Information and Communication Technology predicted that the next-generation super-fast internet will drive 6.3 trillion yuan ($946.8 billion) of economic output in the country by 2030.

The stakes and rewards are so high that China Mobile Communications Corp aims to deploy more than 10,000 5G "base stations" by 2020.
The therapeutic system of traditional Chinese medicine might have taken shape hundreds of years earlier than previously thought, according to researchers from Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Sichuan province.

Their assumption is based on a study of ancient medical books made of 920 bamboo slips unearthed from an ancient tomb in Sichuan from 2012 to 2013.

The bamboo slips found in the ancient tomb in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, have more than 200 names of diseases. They are named after the pathogenesis, etiology and changes of diseases, according to Li Jiming, dean of the School of Chinese Classics at Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Since 2013, Li has studied the characters on the bamboo slips with a team of researchers.

He thinks the medical books made of bamboo slips might have been written by Bian Que (407-310 BC), a famous physician in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), or his disciples, as they narrate how Bian diagnosed patients' diseases by taking their pulse and inspecting their skin color.

The medical books made of the bamboo slips have many similarities to the medical book Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases written by Zhang Zhongjing, one of the country's most celebrated physicians, during the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD25-AD 220).

The similarities include diagnosing patients by inspection and pulse-taking, use of acupuncture, description of diseases, prescription for diseases and arrangement of different medicinal herbs in the same dose, Li said.

To make way for the construction of a subway line in Chengdu, the Chengdu Institute of Archaeology and Jingzhou Cultural Relic Protection Center in Hubei province excavated a graveyard dating to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24) from July 2012 to August 2013.

Archaeologists opened four tombs, finding nine sets of medical books made of 920 bamboo slips with some 20,000 characters and a lacquer model of a human body for traditional Chinese medical use.

Medical bamboo slips had never been excavated in Sichuan before and the lacquer model is the second of its kind found by Chinese archaeologists, according to Xie Tao, deputy chief of the Chengdu Institute of Archaeology.

In 1993, the country's first lacquer model of a human body for traditional Chinese medical use was unearthed in Mianyang, Sichuan. But it did not have acupuncture points like those on the second lacquer model, he said.
Li Xiuying celebrated her 96th birthday on Oct 10 with her family. As she reached 96, the "old age premium" - a sum she had been receiving on her birthday since 2002 from the Caoqiao village committee - more than doubled from 40,000 yuan ($6,010) to 100,000 yuan.

"The policy's good. I'm truly thankful," Li said as she sat in an armchair in her apartment, greeting guests who came to send their regards ahead of Chongyang Festival, which falls on Saturday this year.

The festival, which is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, celebrates the elderly and offers an opportunity to show respect for their contributions.

In Caoqiao, all the villagers over 75 receive the premium on their birthday, with the amount depending on the recipient's age.

Those between 75 and 80 receive 10,000 yuan per year, and another 10,000 yuan will be added to the premium for villagers of the next five-year age group. But villagers over 95 receive 100,000 yuan.

In 2017, more than 240 villagers were entitled to this birthday gift, and more than 2 million yuan had been given out in the first half of the year, according to the village committee.

"Caoqiao will continue this premium policy for the elders, and the amount will increase further in accordance with village revenue," said Sun Wentao, director of the village's publicity office.

Caoqiao is located in Fengtai district in the southwest suburb of Beijing and has been enriched by a collectively-owned flower business since the early 1990s. In 2002, the villager shareholders voted to set up a premium for people above the age of 80. The initiative is intended to provide a financial guarantee for the elderly, and to encourage children - usually in their 50s - to take better care of their parents.

At the beginning, those between 80 and 90 could only receive 3,000 yuan, and those between 91 and 100 can get 6,000 yuan. Those 100 and above would receive 9,000 yuan. But as the village revenue increased, the village committee lowered the recipient age to 75 and increased the amount.

Guo Liming, 55, a Caoqiao resident whose mother is also a beneficiary of the premium, said there had been children who wouldn't take care of their parents because of the financial burden, and the premium now encourages children to treat their parents better.

"Children tend to take better care of their aged parents when the elders are financially independent," he said.

Gao Shumin, 68, who will receive the premium in seven years, said she would consider donating the money to people in need, because so far the villagers above 65 can get full reimbursement for their medical expenses - one of the few costly items for the elderly.

"Though a small amount, I wish the money would benefit people really in need," she said.
A few days ago White House Chief of Staff, former General John Kelly gave a speech. The speech mainly discussed the procedures taken when an American soldier dies in action and how heart-wrenching it is for commanders, or anyone, to call or write the family.

After expressing the difficulty in expressing condolences to the widow of a fallen soldier, Mr. Kelly opened up his heart. What America saw behind that podium was not a politician or even a General; we saw a patriot  a man that loves his country and every man and woman that puts on a military uniform.

He said, that he, ... was stunned  and broken-hearted that a member of Congress would listen in during a phone call from the President of the United States to young wife of an American soldier. Mr. Kelly went on to say, You know when I was a kid growing up, a lot of things were sacred in our country.

Mr. Kelly mentioned four things that were sacred when he was a kid  women, life  the dignity of life, religion, and Gold Star Families. Mr. Kelly is correct  when he was a kid these things were sacred. God also places these things on a pedestal of honor.

WOMEN

God tells husbands that their prayers would be hindered if they do not give honour unto the wife (1 Peter 3:7). Think of how profound this is; how much God will listen to a man is directly related to the honor and respect he gives the woman in his life.

Being born in the 1950s, as Mr. Kelly was, I remember the respect women were treated with when we were kids. Women would wait at a door for the man with her to open it. I was about ten years old with my dad when he held the door open for a woman, and she said, Go on in, I'm fully capable of opening the door."

Dad's response was classic, When was the last time you saw the President open his own door? It's a matter of respect, not capability.

Dad drilled into me as a child to never hit a girl (woman). If she hits you, you walk away, if she has a knife  run away, if she has a gun  hide, but under no circumstance ever hit a girl. The never hit a girl speeches I heard as a child (believe me I heard it more than once) were to teach me a broader philosophy of honor and respect for the opposite sex. I was to honor my future wife by remaining a virgin until the honeymoon; I was to respect her by honoring my marriage oath to her by never cheating or leaving, I was to honor her by being the type of man my wife would never want to leave, and always to hold open the door.

LIFE  THE DIGNITY OF LIFE

We are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Humankind is the only species in the universe with this distinction. We have soul, spirit, and body, just as God does. Respect for human life shows honor to God.

Parents of the 50s and 60s taught their kids the taking of life should only occur in extreme circumstances; to avoid the taking of another life (self-defense or war) or as punishment for murder (capital punishment). Life was sacred. Life is becoming less revered in America. The city of Chicago is the best example. Through October 19, the 290th day of the year, there have been 557 murders in Chicago in 2017. 1.91 killings a day.

RELIGION

Religion, or the public worship of God, was expected back in the day. However, today the proper thing to do is keep religion inside the home or church. Cross-shaped memorials to veterans are ordered removed by court order. Manger scenes are absent from the town square. Athletes now take a knee in protest instead of prayer before games. God said, If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Lies, gossip, cuss words are all examples of people not bridling their tongue. As four letter words abound in American speech these days, God says this makes our religion vain. Mr. Kelly is right. Religion is no longer sacred.

GOLD STAR FAMILIES

For those that do not remember, starting in WWI, families would display a flag with a blue star for everyone in the household that was serving in the military. When a soldier died in action, the star changed from blue to gold. There is no greater love than laying your life down for someone else (John 15:13, Romans 5:7-8). American men and women have laid down their lives for their country and fellow countrymen. Their families deserve a place of respect. By disrespecting the American soldier, we show dishonor to those who have died serving their country and any disrespect to them is a slap in the face to the families they left behind.

Is there anything sacred anymore?

Preacher Tim Johnson is Pastor of Countryside Baptist Church in Parke County Indiana. Email: preacherspoint@gmail.com. Preacher Johnson is available for revivals, prophecy conferences, and other speaking. His sermons can be found on SoundCloud. All Scripture KJV.
NANJING - Ten Nanjing Massacre survivors gathered and celebrated the Chongyang Festival, which falls Saturday, in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing.

The 10 people each aged around 90 years old visited tourist attractions with their families.

"It feels good to visit Nanjing on the Chongyang Festival," said Xia Shuqing, one of the survivors.

The Chongyang Festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, and is a day to pay respect to seniors in China.

The year 2017 marks the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, in which more than 300,000 Chinese were brutally murdered by Japanese invaders when they occupied Nanjing on Dec 13, 1937, marking the start of six weeks of destruction, pillage, rape and slaughter in Nanjing.

There are only 100 living survivors of the atrocity.
BEIJING - Key members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) respectively held meetings on Thursday to comprehend the meaning of the 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress.

The 19th CPC National Congress was held from Oct 18 to 24 in Beijing.

The meeting of the Leading Party Members' Group of the 12th NPC Standing Committee was presided over by Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee.

The meeting stressed the "study and implementation of the spirit of the CPC national congress," especially "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era," said a press release on Saturday.

It also underlined "the integration of the Party leadership, the position of the people as masters of the country, and the rule of law."

The leading Party members of the 12th NPC Standing Committee will "firmly adhere to the report delivered by Xi, the new CPC Central Committee with Xi at the core, the revised Constitution of the CPC and the work report of the 18th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection," which were adopted at the congress, said the press release.

Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, presided over the meeting of the Leading Party Members' Group of the 12th CPPCC National Committee, which stressed that the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and the first plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee must be thoroughly comprehended and implemented.

According to the meeting, political advisors must uphold the report delivered at the CPC national congress and resolutions adopted. They must give full support to the new CPC Central Committee with Xi at the core.

The meeting listed the study and implementation of the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and the first plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee as their primary political task.

CPPCC members must follow new requirements brought about by the report to the congress and seek pragmatic plans to "promote the development of the people's political consultative system."
The first China-Slovakia block train set off on Friday from Dalian, Liaoning province, linking Northeast China's biggest seaport with Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.

Loaded with 41 20-foot equivalent units of electronic products, machinery parts and light industrial products, the train is heading for Bratislava via Russia and Ukraine.

"It will greatly reduce the heavy traffic of China-Europe freight trains in Malaszewicze, Poland," Duan Guoqiang, vice-president of Panjiang Logistics Co Ltd, said.
The Chongyang Festival falls on Oct 28 this year.[Photo/IC]

The 9th day of the 9th lunar month is the traditional Chongyang Festival, or Double Ninth Festival, which falls on Oct 28 this year.

In an ancient and mysterious bookYi Jing, orThe Book of Changes, number "6" was thought to be a Yin character, meaning feminine or negative, while number "9" was thought to be Yang, meaning masculine or positive. Therefore, the number nine in both month and day create the Double Ninth Festival, or Chongyang Festival.

Chong in Chinese means "double." Also, as double ninth was pronounced the same as the word to signify "forever", both are "Jiu Jiu," Chinese ancestors considered it an auspicious day worth celebration. That's why ancient Chinese began to celebrate this festival long ago.

Here are 6 things you may not know about Double Ninth Festival.
Hua Xiaoyi, a Chinese classical dancer, will stage her first contemporary dance work. [Photo Provided to China Daily]

Hua Xiaoyi, a long-haired beauty, has the image traditionally associated with a Chinese classical dancer. However, the 25-year-old Hua is going against her long career as a Chinese classical dancer and will stage her first contemporary dance work, titled Every Moment, in Beijing on Oct 31 and Nov 1 before heading to Shanghai on Nov 21 and 22.

Consisting of four sections, the dance work is choreographed by three artists, including Chinese choreographers Gao Chengming, Lou Menghan and British choreographer-dancer Akram Khan.

From different perspectives, the three choreographers explore the identities of women.

"In my past works, I have portrayed different female roles. But with this work, I want to be myself," says Hua. "Every Moment displays some significant moments from my life, which are subtle but powerful to me. I hope that the audiences will look back at their own special moments after watching this work."

In 2013, as the top student in her class, Hua went to study at the Purchase College in New York as an exchange student for three months, where she received training in contemporary dance and ballet.

Besides training, Hua also watched a variety of performances in New York.

One of the shows, Desh, by Akram Khan, changed her view about dancing.

Recalling the performance, Hua says: "In one and a half hours, he displays himself through rich dancing vocabularies, which are independent and interesting. I want to dance like him.
Maksim Mrvica is about to kick off a 34-city tour of China.[Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

Maksim Mrvica, a Croatian pianist has just premiered two singles in Beijing, New Silk Road and China Rhapsody

In 2001, Maksim Mrvica, a Croatian-born classical pianist studying in Paris, gained fame as a promising young musician after winning piano competitions in Europe. After watching his performance on TV that year, Tonci Huljic, a Croatian songwriter and producer, approached Mrvica and introduced him to Mel Bush, a concert promoter and music manager, who put on concerts for artists like Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, and Elton John.

At that time, Bush was looking for a classical pianist and hoping to break into the classical crossover market. On meeting Maksim, Bush was impressed by both his rock star image - tattoos, chic hairstyle - and solid piano playing technique.

Bush signed Mrvica on the spot after hearing him play just one piece.

Nearly two decades later, Mrvica, with 11 crossover albums since 2003, has grown into one of the top selling crossover pianists in the world.

His albums, including the hit one, Croatian Rhapsody, in 2015, have sold more than 4 million copies in 57 countries.

Meanwhile, the pianist has just premiered two singles in Beijing, New Silk Road and China Rhapsody, both written by Huljic.
Egg in eggs, presented in a transparent tea bowl.[Photo provided to China Daily]

It's out with the white linen as a Beijing restaurant looks to include a touch of Zen at the table

When it comes to fine dining in Beijing, white tablecloths are often the calling card. Think of those traditional, formal French and Italian restaurants in five-star hotels in which the cuisine on offer is classic European fare. You can't really complain about that, even if sometimes it can seem a little humdrum.

Katie Li, a Chinese Australian restaurateur, reckons fine dining in Beijing is developing very slowly, particularly when compared with what is happening in Shanghai, and lags far behind Western countries.

"White tablecloths? That really is old hat," says Li, owner of the Tiago restaurant group, reflecting on a recent gourmet trip she made visiting some of the top fine dining restaurants in the world.
David Preston, chairman and chief executive officer of Boehringer Ingelheim in China. [Photo by Gao Erqiang / China Daily]

Editor's note: The Honorable Citizen of Shanghai Award is the highest tier in the Magnolia Awards which are presented to foreigners who have made significant contributions to the city's development. Named after the city's flower, the Shanghai Magnolia Awards have been given out annually since 1989 and is among the highest honors a foreigner can receive in the city.

After living in Shanghai for 21 years, David Preston can now consider himself to be more of a Shanghainese than an expatriate.

On Sept 30, the South African was conferred the Honorable Citizen of Shanghai Award, the highest tier in the prestigious Magnolia Award that the local government can present to foreigners in recognition of their contributions to the city's social and economic development.

The Magnolia Awards have been presented annually since 1989. There are three categories: Magnolia Silver, Magnolia Gold and Honorable Citizen of Shanghai.

Preston, who is the chairman and chief executive officer of Boehringer Ingelheim in China, had previously won the Silver and Gold awards in 2013 and 2015 respectively.

Like many expatriates, Preston came to China for business. He ended up falling in love with a Chinese woman and starting a family with her. The couple have two daughters, Caitlin, 6, and Charlotte, 2.

Before taking the helm of Boehringer Ingelheim's China operations in 2009, Preston worked for Xian-Janssen, the US-headquartered pharmaceutical maker's China joint venture, and French-based Sanofi-Aventis.

He lived in Xi'an, Shaanxi province and Beijing before settling down in Shanghai in 1996 when Sanofi allowed him to choose a city to set up its China office. Preston said he chose Shanghai largely because of the city's pool of quality local talent that comprised many returnees who studied overseas.

Born to two English parents in Cape Town in South Africa, Preston said he had always desired to be in an industry where he could work in foreign countries and be exposed to different cultures. After graduating with a degree in business and commerce, he joined the pharmaceutical industry as he believed it would provide him with the opportunity to see the world.

Preston was right. He was posted to Belgium not long after he started his career and worked in that country till 1992 when an opportunity in China came up.

"China was opening-up and I thought that it would become extremely open one day. I knew it was the right time to go to China," he recalled.

More than two decades later, Preston said that he is still intrigued at how his adopted country is still in its "golden phase".

"You always feel that there's something new and exciting that's happening. And when it happens, it is so quick," said Preston, snapping his fingers as he cited examples of innovation such as Mobike, the world's first dockless and cash-free bike sharing platform.
To Larry Chan, his father Carlos has always been a doting figure, a successful businessman and a generous philanthropist that he and his five siblings have always tried to emulate.

Carlos introduced Liwayway, the family's snack business in the Philippines, to China in 1993, setting up two joint ventures in Shanghai and creating the brand Shanghaojia, a Chinese equivalent of its already successful Oishi back in the Philippines. Over the span of a decade, the brand grew to become one of the most popular in the market.

In 2005, Carlos was conferred the Honorable Citizen of Shanghai Award for his outstanding contributions to the city's development. The event was a major affair for the family. After all, Carlos was the first Filipino to receive the accolade.

Following the award ceremony, Chan's mother told him matter-of-factly that he should also attempt to bring home another award for family.

To Chan, that was simply too tall a task. "That's not possible," was his reply.

On Sept 30, Chan was made to eat those words as he became one of the two foreign residents in Shanghai to receive the award. Since its launch in 1989, the Honorable Citizen of Shanghai Award has only been given to 43 expatriates.
Foreign Ministry also urges US to block Taiwan leader's transit in Hawaii, Guam

The Republic of Korea should work with China to return bilateral ties to healthy development, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Friday, when requested to comment on reports that ROK President Moon Jae-in has proposed to meet with President Xi Jinping.

Geng told a daily news conference in Beijing he had no news to release about meetings between the two leaders. "We hope China and the ROK will work together and push bilateral ties back to the track of healthy and stable development as soon as possible," Geng said.

Moon was among the leaders of political parties or countries that sent messages congratulating Xi on his re-election as general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Moon expressed in the congratulatory letter his hope to meet with Xi in the near future, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Xi and Moon met for the first time in Germany in July.

Ties between the two countries hit obstacles as the ROK decided last year to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system. China has repeatedly voiced its opposition to the deployment, which damaged China's strategic security interests and undermined the regional strategic balance.

Also at Friday's news conference, Geng urged the United States not to allow Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen to transit through the US. Tsai is scheduled to transit through Hawaii and Guam during a visit to Pacific countries starting Saturday.

"The one-China principle is the general consensus among the international community. It is also the principle that we have always been sticking to when dealing with Taiwan's foreign exchanges," the spokesman said.

Tsai's "true purpose behind her so-called 'transit' is self-evident", Geng said.

"We hope the US will observe the one-China policy and the principles of the three joint communiques between China and the US, not allow her 'transit', and not send any wrong signals to the 'Taiwan independence' forces," the spokesman said, asking the US to take concrete measures to maintain the general situation of China-US ties as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits.

China has lodged "solemn representations" to the US about the issue, Geng said.
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BRATISLAVA - Expected to arrive with containers in two weeks, the first Chinese freight train to Bratislava has left its homeport in Dalian, Slovak Transport and Construction Minister Arpad Ersek announced Friday.

The trial train from China is the first ever whose route will cross almost the whole of Slovak territory, Ersek said, adding that rail freight transport from China to Slovakia has been resumed after a break of over one year.

"Transport of containers to Slovakia means significant headway in rail freight transport in Slovakia. It's chiefly about saving time, and it also opens up new trading opportunities," said Ersek, who views it as an opportunity for further developing cooperation with Chinese, Ukrainian and Russian partners.

The Chinese Communications and Transportation Association estimates that around 500 trains will run from China to Europe via Slovakia in 2018, according to Ersek.
TORONTO - The Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day Act, or Bill 233, set to establish Dec 13 as Nanjing Massacre Commemoration Day, passed its second reading Thursday with unanimous consent in the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba.

Manitoba joins a growing movement in Canada to recognize and commemorate the Nanjing Massacre, Canadian New Democratic Party (NDP) said Friday. On Thursday, the legislature of Canadian province of Ontario passed a motion recognizing Dec 13 in each year as Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day.

The No 66 motion, adopted by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, was the first of its kind in a Western country.

The motion was introduced by Chinese-Canadian lawmaker Soo Wong in a bid to acknowledge and honor the over 300,000 victims of the Nanjing Massacre, a heinous crime committed by the Japanese militarists during World War II.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre.

"We are thrilled to see this legislation pass with unanimous support. It is important to recognize and reflect on the wrongs of the past in an effort to heal and move forward," said Flor Marcelino, a NDP lawmaker of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, who introduced the bill in the province.

Manitoba's growing Chinese community includes many families who have direct connections with the victims and survivors of the Nanjing Massacre and are excited about the news.

"Recognizing Dec 13 as Nanjing Massacre Commemoration Day is an opportunity to gather, remember, and honor the victims and families here in Manitoba," she said.

Marcelino, the first woman of color to be elected as a lawmaker in the province, was named interim leader of the NDP and leader of the opposition in the Manitoba legislature in 2016.

Noting that efforts have been made elsewhere in Canada to formally recognize the Nanjing Massacre and honor the victims, Marcelino said that Manitoba strives to be a place where human rights are recognized and victims of human rights abuses, war crimes and sexual violence are remembered and honored.
TOKYO - Senior diplomats from China and Japan have exchanged views on a number of security issues at the 15th China-Japan Security Dialogue held in Tokyo.

Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou and Japanese Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeo Akiba, co-chaired the dialogue on Friday which was attended by foreign affairs and security officials of both countries.

Kong also met with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono during his visit.

Kong told Kono that Sino-Japanese relationship has seen a number of positive interactions recently but is still faced with complicated factors.

As this year marks the 45th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic ties, and next year will be the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Peace and Friendship Treaty, Kong urged the two sides to take the opportunities to overcome obstacles and interruptions and consolidate the momentum of the improvement of bilateral relations.

Kono, for his part, offered congratulations on the success of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and said that Japan attaches importance to its relationship with China and is willing to make joint efforts with China to improve and develop bilateral relations.

During the security dialogue, the two sides exchanged views on the regional and world security situation, security policies of China and Japan and bilateral security communication and cooperation.

The Chinese side said that China, as always a participant and facilitator of international peace and stability, will steadfastly adhere to the path of peaceful development and call for fostering a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security.

The Chinese side also said China has also expressed concerns on Japan's movements in the security and military areas in recent years, hoping that Japan sticks to peaceful development and plays a constructive role in regional peace and stability.

The Japanese side briefed their Chinese counterparts on Japan's defense and security policies, saying Japan will continue to be a peaceful country and stick to the "defense only" posture and the Three Non-Nuclear Principles.

The two sides agreed to continue carrying out dialogues, enhance crisis management and control, and play active roles in improving bilateral relations.
BRUSSELS - European Leaders on Friday sided with Madrid amid spiraling tensions prompted by the Catalan parliament's unilateral declaration of independence.

"For EU nothing changes. Spain remains our only interlocutor," European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted. "I hope the Spanish government favors force of argument, not argument of force."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday stressed the "constitutional order" in a speech at the Conference of Presidents of the Outermost Regions in French Guiana.

"The European Union is first and foremost a set based on the rule of law, respect for it. It's true in the French Republic ... This is also true in Spain. The constitutional order is what it is, it must be respected," he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who attended the conference with Juncker, underscored that Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is his only interlocutor in Spain, reiterating France's full support to the Spanish government.

"There is a rule of law in Spain, with constitutional rules. Rajoy wants to enforce them and he has my full support," Macron said.

In a separate statement, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France "won't recognize the declaration of independence that the Catalan parliament has adopted."

A spokesperson of British Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain will not recognize the Catalan parliament's declaration of independence.

"It is based on a vote that was declared illegal by the Spanish courts. We continue to want to see the rule of law upheld, the Spanish constitution respected, and Spanish unity preserved," the spokesperson added.
The Last da Vinci

As fascinating as any best-selling thriller, the rediscovery of Leonardos Salvator Mundi, one of fewer than 20 surviving paintings accepted as from the artists own hand, has caused a worldwide media sensation. The next chapter will see this masterpiece being offered at Christies in New York

In 2011, the dramatic public unveiling of Salvator Mundi (Saviour of the World) in the exhibition Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan at The National Gallery in London caused a worldwide media sensation. Painted by one of historys greatest and most renowned artists, whose works are exceedingly rare  fewer than 20 paintings in existence are generally accepted as from the artists own hand  it was the first discovery of a painting by Leonardo da Vinci since 1909, when the Benois Madonna, now in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, came to light. Without question the greatest artistic rediscovery of the 21st century, this singular example of a painting by da Vinci in private hands will be offered as a special lot in the Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale on 15 November at Christies in New York. Salvator Mundi is a painting of the most iconic figure in the world by the most important artist of all time, says Loic Gouzer, Chairman, Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christies in New York. The opportunity to bring this masterpiece to the market is an honour that comes around once in a lifetime. Despite being created approximately 500 years ago, the work of Leonardo is just as influential to the art that is being created today as it was in the 15th and 16th centuries. We felt that offering this painting within the context of our Post-War and Contemporary Evening Sale is a testament to the enduring relevance of this picture.

Its inclusion in the National Gallerys landmark exhibition of 2011-12  the most complete display of Leonardo's rare surviving paintings ever held  came after more than six years of painstaking research and inquiry to document the paintings authenticity. This process began shortly after the painting was discovered  heavily veiled with overpaints, long mistaken for a copy  in a small, regional auction in the United States. The paintings new owners moved forward with admirable care and deliberation in cleaning and restoring the painting, researching and thoroughly documenting it, and cautiously vetting its authenticity with the worlds leading authorities on the works and career of the Milanese master. Dianne Dwyer Modestini, the conservator who restored the work in 2007, recalls her excitement after removing the first layers of overpaint, when she began to recognise that the painting was by the master himself. My hands were shaking, she says. I went home and didnt know if I was crazy.

What is known for certain is that it belonged to King Charles I (1600-1649), where it is recorded in the inventory of the royal collection drawn up a year after his execution

The painting disappeared from 1763 until 1900 when  its authorship by Leonardo, origins and illustrious royal history entirely forgotten  it was acquired from Sir Charles Robinson, who purchased the picture as a work by Leonardos follower, Bernardino Luini, for the Cook Collection, Doughty House, Richmond. By this time, Christs face and hair had been extensively repainted. A photograph taken in 1912 records the works altered appearance. In the dispersal of the Cook Collection, the work was ultimately consigned to auction in 1958 where it fetched 45, after which it disappeared once again for nearly 50 years, emerging only in 2005  its history still forgotten  when it was purchased from an American estate. In 2007, an extensive restoration of Salvator Mundi was undertaken by Dianne Dwyer Modestini, Senior Research Fellow and Conservator of the Kress Program in Paintings Conservation at the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Dr. Modestini has extensively documented the paintings state of preservation and her conservation process, concluding that the painting was indeed an autograph work by Leonardo da Vinci.

Open a larger version of this image Both of Christs hands, the exquisitely rendered curls of his hair, the orb, and much of his drapery are in fact remarkably well preserved and close to their original state

Both of Christs hands, the exquisitely rendered curls of his hair, the orb, and much of his drapery are in fact remarkably well preserved and close to their original state. In addition, the painting retains a remarkable presence and haunting sense of mystery that is characteristic of Leonardos finest paintings. Above the left eye (right as we look at it), are still visible the marks that Leonardo made with the heel of his hand to soften the flesh, as Martin Kemp has observed. The face is very softly painted, which is characteristic of Leonardo after 1500. And what very much connects these later Leonardo works is a sense of psychological movement, but also of mystery, of something not quite known. And he draws you in but he doesnt provide you with answers. It has the uncanny strangeness that the later Leonardo paintings manifest.

Open a larger version of this image Above the left eye (right as we look at it), are still visible the marks that Leonardo made with the heel of his hand to soften the flesh, as Martin Kemp has observed

As the possibility of Leonardos authorship became clear, it was decided to show the painting to a group of international scholars and experts in Leonardos works, so that an informed consensus about its attribution might be obtained. The initial phase of the conservation of the painting had been completed in the autumn of 2007. At that time, the painting was viewed by Mina Gregori (University of Florence) and Sir Nicholas Penny (then, Chief Curator of Sculpture, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; subsequently Director of The National Gallery, London). The study and examination of the painting by a panel of international scholars resulted in a broad consensus that Salvator Mundi was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.



The study and examination of the painting by a panel of international scholars resulted in a broad consensus that Salvator Mundi was painted by Leonardo da Vinci

In 2008, the painting was studied at The Metropolitan Museum of Art by museum curators Carmen Bambach, Andrea Bayer, Keith Christiansen, and Everett Fahy, and by Michael Gallagher, Head of the Department of Paintings Conservation. In late May of the same year, the painting was taken to The National Gallery, London, where it was studied in direct comparison with The Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardos painting of approximately the same date. Several of the worlds leading Leonardo scholars were also invited to study the two paintings together. These included Carmen Bambach of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, David Allan Brown (Curator of Italian Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.), Maria Teresa Fiorio (Raccolta Vinciana, Milan), Martin Kemp (University of Oxford), Pietro C. Marani (Professor of Art History at the Politecnico di Milano) and Luke Syson, the Curator of Italian Paintings at The National Gallery, who would be the curator of the exhibition, Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan. More recently, following the completion of conservation treatment in 2010, the painting was again examined in New York by several of the above, as well as by David Ekserdjian (University of Leicester). Again, there was broad consensus that Salvator Mundi was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, and that it is the single original painting from which the many copies and student versions depend. Individual opinions vary slightly in the matter of dating  most of the consulting experts place the painting at the end of Leonardos Milanese period in the later 1490s, contemporary with The Last Supper, while others believe it to be slightly later, painted in Florence (where the artist moved in 1500), contemporary with the Mona Lisa.



Open a larger version of this image Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, circa 1502. Musee du Louvre, Paris. Photo: Scala / Art Resource

The reasons for the unusually uniform scholarly consensus that the painting is an autograph work by Leonardo are several, including the previously mentioned relationship of the painting to the two autograph preparatory drawings in Windsor Castle; its correspondence to the composition of the Salvator Mundi documented in Wenceslaus Hollars etching of 1650; and its manifest superiority to the more than 20 known painted versions of the composition. Furthermore, the extraordinary quality of the picture  notably the blessing hand and the hair  and its close adherence in style to Leonardos known paintings from circa 1500, solidified this consensus. Powerfully convincing evidence of Leonardos authorship was provided by the discovery of numerous pentimenti  preliminary compositional ideas, subsequently changed by the artist in the finished painting, but not reflected in the etching or painted copies. The most prominent of these  a first position for the thumb in the blessing hand, more upright than in the finished picture  was uncovered and photographed during the conservation process.



Open a larger version of this image Powerfully convincing evidence of Leonardos authorship was provided by the discovery of numerous pentimenti, such as in the palm of the left hand seen through the transparent orb

Other pentimenti have been observed through infrared imaging. Luke Syson notes several of these lesser adjustments of the contours elsewhere (such as in the palm of the left hand seen through the transparent orb). Such changes of mind, he writes, are typical of Leonardo and would be surprising in a copy of an existing design. The head was perhaps executed with the aid of a cartoon; when the picture is examined in infrared, spolveri  pouncing  can be seen running along the line of the upper lip. The rest of the body has a much looser, brushy underdrawing, with further small changes of mind. This combination of careful preparation for the head and much greater improvisation for the body is characteristic of Leonardo. The painting technique is close to that of the Mona Lisa and the Saint John the Baptist, Syson continues, the face in particular built up with multiple, extremely thin paint layers, another technical aspect that makes Leonardos authorship certain. Like both of these pictures, Salvator Mundi may well have been painted over an extended period of time. Technical examinations and analyses have demonstrated the consistency of the pigments, media, and technique discovered in Salvator Mundi with those known to have been used by Leonardo. Syson notes particularly the use of precious lapis lazuli in the Christs celestial blue clothes, a practice that was unusual at this date, suggestive of the opulence of the commission.

The many changes, large and small, that Leonardo made in the process of the creation of Salvator Mundi... speak to the probing nature of his genius
An unlicensed, after-hours club that advertised "free liquor all night" online has been temporarily closed for illegally serving alcohol.

Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan obtained a restraining order last week to temporarily close Dixie Warehouse at 2265 Dixie Drive.

In a lawsuit filed in the 125th District Court of Harris County, Ryan's office allege that the club was open after 2 a.m.  after which Texas bars prohibit the sale of alcohol  and advertised "free trashcan punch."

The lawsuit also alleges that the club was selling alcohol to minors.

Like a bevy of other lawsuits filed by Ryan's office against similar off-the-books clubs, the Dixie Warehouse was the site of multiple violent crimes, including an Oct. 12 shooting that wounded three people in its parking lot.

The restraining order follows a year in which Ryan's office has targeted unlicensed clubs, which are in many cases hotbeds for crime.

"My office will continue to work with law enforcement to shut down these illegal bars, which often breed violent assaults, shootings and drunk driving," Ryan said in a statement. "They are a threat to our community, and young people who frequent these bars are unwittingly placing themselves in dangerous situations."
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When Chris Field posted his review of Blue Bell's new Christmas-themed ice cream on Facebook, he did not expect to find fame.

Yet two days after sharing his thoughts on "Christmas Cookie," his review has been shared more than 26,000 times.

"Christmas Cookies ice cream is described by Blue Bell as being 'Sugar Cookie Flavored Ice Cream with Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle, and Sugar Cookies, Red Sprinkles and a Green Icing Swirl," read Field's review on Facebook.

"What Blue Bell should have said was 'if you love baby Jesus, Santa Claus, puppies wearing Santa hats, or the sound of children laughing on Christmas morning -- you need this ice cream in your life.' It's just that good," he continued.

EXPLAINED: Why astronauts are eating Blue Bell instead of freeze-dried ice cream

"It's crazy," Field told Chron.com of people's reactions. "It's been completely organic, it's my personal page and after a few hours I got a couple of hundred shares."

By Wednesday evening Field said he was getting several shares on the review every time he refreshed his Facebook page.

Field's latest Blue Bell ice cream review is his fourth and by far the most successful.

"It's gone global," he said. "I had a lady from Guatemala tell me she would try to get it shipped in time for Christmas."

"One pregnant lady said it sound so delicious that she visited five grocery stores until she was able to find it," Field said.

Even companies have reached out to Field, a 35-year-old native Houstonian who lives in College Station.

"Other food retailers are contacting me and asking me if they can mail me products, like salsa, wine and barbecue," Field said. He's still considering their offers.

SNUBBED: Popular Blue Bell flavor is back, but only in Louisiana

Most notably, Field said the viral review has funneled attention to Mercy Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rescuing child slaves. Field, the CEO and founder, said the group rescued its 100th child a week ago.

"Because people are really excited about the ice cream, I've been able to link to my nonprofit," Field said. "We've gotten 500 new likes on our Facebook page just in the last two days."

"I've had new messages telling us they've never heard of it and saying 'I didn't know it existed, I'm so glad I found it even if through a Blue Bell review."

See Chron.com's list of the best flavors of Blue Bell ice cream above.

Fernando Ramirez is a reporter for Chron.com and the Houston Chronicle. You can read more of his stories here and follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93


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Six blocks from Minute Maid Park, where 41,000 fans watched the Astros defeat the Dodgers in Game 3 of the World Series, Hillary Clinton stepped up to bat.

The crowd, some 1,000 International Women's Forum & Leadership Foundation gala-goers, was significantly smaller - though just as invested.

This time last year, many of the conference's business owners, tech innovators, and civic leaders rooted for Clinton in the historic 2016 presidential election. Their team lost.

But on Friday night, inside of Hilton Americas Houston's fourth-floor ballroom, Clinton was indisputably MVP-elect.

"She has broken many glass ceilings and has the scars to show for it," said Donna Shalala, who co-inducted Clinton into IWF's 2017 Hall of Fame with Ann Drake.

Drake met Clinton  "then, she was just Hillary Rodham" - in ballet class when they were eight years old. She shared stories of how their friendship blossomed throughout high school, college, and after "Hillary met a dashing young man from Arkansas at law school."

Dozens of pre-teen and teenaged girls listened intently, with incredulous eyes and bobbing ponytails, as a video presentation illustrated Clinton's ascent from first lady to senator, secretary of state, and the first female candidate to be nominated for president by a major U.S. political party.

The word "resilient" was thrown around.

"Defiant" is another fitting descriptor, as Clinton ignored her physician's orders to hobble across the induction stage with her foot in a boot.

"I tripped on some stairs recently, and my doctor told me to RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevate)," she explained. "In addition to RICE, I said I'm also going to IWF."

Despite landing in Houston at 7.pm., Clinton managed to squeeze in time with Mayor Sylvester Turner, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, and Sammy Saldivar, the Katy pastor who lost six family members in Hurricane Harvey floodwaters.

"Houston's comeback and your Astros have comeback... makes me feel great because I won Houston and Harris County," she quipped before turning attention to gender issues.

"When you stand up or speak out against injustice, it's exhausting. But we cannot give up. And the only way we're going to get sexism out of politics is to get more women into politics."

By her estimation, more than 19,000 women have elected to run for public office in the past year. Government sector aside, Clinton encouraged championing work places that are more fair and equal across the board.

"We have to reinforce (female colleagues with) ideas," she said. "It's not enough for women like us to climb the career ladder, we have to lift other women up, too. Particularly young women."

The International Hall of Fame gala chaired by Susan Criner and Lauren Rottet honored nine additional trailblazers who are leading the charge. Among them, Bayou City-native Joanne King Herring and IWF Canada-Calgary's Mary Rozsa de Coquet each received deafening applause.

The black-tie affair capped a week's worth of panels, receptions, and luncheons helmed by conference co-chairs Gracie Cavnar and former mayor Annise Parker. Organization insiders report that as one of IWF's most active outposts, Houston volunteered to host the invitation-only annual gathering, and remained committed post-Hurricane Harvey.

Clinton dropped the r-word (resilient) to commend city-wide efforts, many of which were orchestrated by leaders in that very room. "When women are willing to roll up our sleeves and get to work, we get the job done."

A home-run for girl power. And the crowd roared on.
AUSTIN - Prosecutors will not pursue charges against Texas Attorney General Paxton for allegedly violating the state's bribery and corrupt influence laws by taking money from someone whose company was under investigation by his office.

Kaufman County Criminal District Attorney Erleigh Wiley announced late Friday that his office closed its investigation into a $100,000 gift that James Webb, the CEO of Preferred Imaging, made in 2015 to help fund Paxton's legal defense fund. The attorney general's office agreed in 2016 to a $3.5 million settlement to resolve its investigation into Webb's company for Medicare fraud.

State law bans agency officials like Paxton from accepting a "benefit" from someone under the agency's oversight. However, the ban does not apply to a gift "conferred on account of kinship or a personal, professional, or business relationship independent of the official status of the recipient," according to Chapter 36 of the penal code.

Wiley said in a written statement just after 6 p.m. Friday that the gift did not violate state law because "Paxton had a personal relationship with the donor."

"Accordingly this investigation has been closed," Wiley said.

Paxton's legal team has previously said he has done nothing wrong. A spokesman for the Attorney General's Office said earlier that Paxton had no knowledge of the investigation into Webb's company and the office participated little in the investigation. Paxton has fully cooperated and "all the donations given to the Paxton legal defense effort are in full compliance with state law," Matt Welch, Paxton's legal defense and campaign spokesman, said in a previous statement.

Paxton was indicted in 2015 by a Collin County grand jury on two charges of first-degree felony securities fraud and one third-degree charge of failing to register as an investment adviser with the state.

That same year, Webb cut Paxton the six-figure check to fund his legal defense. It was among two dozen such gifts the newly elected attorney general received from wealthy givers he labeled as "family friends" that year, totaling $329,000, according to his personal financial statement filed with the state. In 2016, state and federal agents made a settlement with Webb's company, Preferred Imaging.

The Texas Civil Medicaid Fraud Division and the U.S. Justice Department had been conducting a probe of Webb's company, which provides diagnostic imaging for patients in facilities located in Texas, Illinois and Kentucky. A whistleblower accused the company of violating Medicaid billing rules, according to the Northern District of Texas' U.S. Attorney's Office.

Webb, of Frisco, is a former law client of Paxton's, according to Paxton's spokesman.

Webb has been a regular campaign contributor of Paxton's for years. He gave him his first political donation in 2013 when the Republican from McKinney was running for attorney general, according to campaign finance records. He has contributed heavily to other Republican candidates' political campaigns since then.

Paxton, from Collin County, is in a fight for his political career. For more than two years has fought to beat charges that he committed felony securities fraud when persuading friends and colleagues to invest in Servergy, a North Texas tech company, without disclosing he was making a commission.

Paxton has maintained his innocence and has said he expects to beat the charges, which he contends are part of a political witch hunt.
A 31-year-old man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of raping a teenager in his pickup truck outside the girl's home this summer.

Timothy Rodriguez, of San Antonio, was charged with sexual assault of a child. He was booked into the Bexar County Jail on a $75,000 bond.

RELATED: California artist recreates image of unidentified woman found dead in East Side ditch in 1990

Police said the abuse was first reported in August after the 14-year-old victim's parents discovered she had been talking on the phone with Rodriguez, whom they had recently met at a neighborhood barbecue, for long periods of time.

According to court records, the victim and suspect connected over Facebook after the barbecue and began to regularly communicate with each other through social media.

Now Playing: "There is a lot more that I want to say about this, but federal law and provisions in the collective bargaining agreement with the police union prevent me from doing so," Sculley said before taking questions. Video: San Antonio Express-News

On July 29, Rodriguez allegedly parked his pickup truck outside her home at 2 a.m. and asked her to come outside. He then raped her as she cried and continuously told him "No," the affidavit says.

She eventually pushed him off of her, according to the affidavit, and retrieved her clothes after some haggling with Rodriguez.

RELATED: More than 130 cases mishandled by SAPD detective assigned child sex abuse, injury, officials say

Her parents contacted police on August 1, and she participated in a follow up interview on August 9, during which she told police Rodriguez had raped her, authorities said.

It wasn't until Oct. 21 that police recorded a statement from the girl. On Oct. 25, police secured an arrested warrant affidavit, which was executed the following day, and Rodriguez was booked into jail.

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

Caleb Downs is a crime reporter for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here.| cdowns@mysa.com | Twitter: @calebjdowns
AUSTIN - Prosecutors in North Texas will not pursue charges against Texas Attorney General Paxton for allegedly violating the state's bribery and corrupt influence laws by taking money from someone whose company was under investigation by his office.

Kaufman County Criminal District Attorney Erleigh Wiley announced late Friday that his office closed its investigation into a $100,000 gift to help Paxton combat securities fraud charges.

In 2015, James Webb, the CEO of Preferred Imaging, made the large donation to help fund Paxton's legal defense fund. The year after Webb gave his gift, the attorney general's office agreed to a $3.5 million settlement, ending its investigation into Webb's company for Medicare fraud.

State law bans agency officials like Paxton from accepting a "benefit" from someone under the agency's oversight. However, the ban does not apply to a gift "conferred on account of kinship or a personal, professional, or business relationship independent of the official status of the recipient," according to Chapter 36 of the penal code.

Wiley said in a written statement just after 6 p.m. Friday that the gift did not violate state law because "Paxton had a personal relationship with the donor."

"Accordingly this investigation has been closed," Wiley said.

Paxton's legal team has previously said he has done nothing wrong. A spokesman for the attorney general's office said earlier that Paxton had no knowledge of the investigation into Webb's company and the office participated little in the investigation. Paxton has fully cooperated and "all the donations given to the Paxton legal defense effort are in full compliance with state law," Matt Welch, Paxton's legal defense and campaign spokesman, said in a previous statement.

Paxton was indicted in 2015 by a Collin County grand jury on two charges of first-degree felony securities fraud and one third-degree charge of failing to register as an investment advisor with the state.

That same year, Webb cut Paxton the six-figure check to fund his legal defense. It was among two dozen such gifts the newly elected attorney general received from wealthy givers he labeled as "family friends" that year, totaling $329,000, according to his personal financial statement filed with the state. In 2016, state and federal agents made a settlement with Webb's company, Preferred Imaging.

The Texas Civil Medicaid Fraud Division and the U.S. Justice Department had been conducting a probe of Webb's company, which provides diagnostic imaging for patients in facilities located in Texas, Illinois and Kentucky. A whistleblower accused the company of violating Medicaid billing rules, according to the Northern District of Texas' U.S. attorney's office.

Webb, of Frisco, is a former law client of Paxton's, according to Paxton's spokesman.

Webb has been a regular campaign contributor of Paxton's for years. He gave him his first political donation in 2013 when the Republican from McKinney was running for attorney general, according to campaign finance records. He has contributed heavily to other Republican candidates' political campaigns since then.

Paxton, from Collin County, is in a fight for his political career. For more than two years has fought to beat charges that he committed felony securities fraud when convincing friends and colleagues to invest in Servergy, a North Texas tech company, without disclosing he was making a commission.

Paxton has maintained his innocence and has said he expects to beat the charges, which he contends are part of a political witch hunt.

Jeremy Wallace writes about state politics and government for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter at @JeremySWallace
The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.
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PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- Lake county officials reported Friday on their trip to Washington, D.C., to find a way to keep the Perry nuclear power plant profitable enough to continue operating.

At stake are the significant economic effects that are likely to occur if the plant closes, said Lake County Commissioner Jerry Cirino.

FirstEnergy wants to gets out of the power-generating business because of competition from new natural-gas plants that are much cheaper to run than old-line nuclear and coal-fire generating plants.

Cirino said the officials' efforts are not on behalf of FirstEnergy, but about the economic impact if the utility company closes the Perry plant and the Davis-Besse plant east of Toledo. The company says it wants to close or sell them.

At the very least, the local officials want government help to make the plants profitable enough to sell. The goal would be for another operator to keep them going, thereby preserving jobs, millions of dollars that flow into public coffers and property values.

Cirino said Perry is the single largest taxpayer in Lake County, paying in excess of $50 million annually. The company also employs nearly 800.

A bill had been introduced in the Ohio General Assembly to provide zero-emission credits for the nuclear plants. That was derailed, but a second version is pending, said State Rep. Ron Young who attended the Friday meeting. He warned that if the second bill fails, there might not be a third.

Cirino said he, Jack Thompson, the superintendent of Perry Local Schools, and Ottawa County officials talked to representatives of the Department of Energy on Oct. 19. They asked the DOE to help set up future meetings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which has a board appointed by the president and is independent of the of the Department of Energy.

Rep. Dave Joyce also attended Friday and said he has been working with local officials to keep Perry operating.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said Friday that it is forming new enforcement teams in Cleveland and Cincinnati that will focus on eradicating the flow of heroin and fentanyl.

The two enforcement teams are among six that the agency is forming across the U.S. to combat an opioid epidemic that claimed roughly 34,500 lives last year. The other four enforcement teams will be in New Bedford, Massachusetts; Long Island, New York; Charleston, West Virginia; and Raleigh, North Carolina, the agency said in a news release.

The DEA chose the six locations by studying data related to opioid overdose deaths and heroin and fentanyl seizures. The teams' investigations will not be limited to the geographic areas near those cities, the agency said.

"The DEA's top priority is addressing the opioid epidemic and pursuing the criminal organizations that distribute their poison to our neighborhoods," the agency's acting administrator, Robert W. Patterson, said in a news release. "These teams will enhance DEA's ability to combat trafficking in heroin, fentanyl, and fentanyl analogues and the violence associated with drug trafficking."

The agency's fiscal year 2017 budget includes funding to establish the teams, which will be comprised of DEA special agents and state and local task force officers. The teams are part of a broader DEA strategy that also includes enforcement against international and domestic drug trafficking organizations, the agency said.

The teams are being established at a time when drug overdoses are the leading cause of injury-related death in the U.S. Nearly 54 percent of the country's 64,000 drug overdose deaths in 2016 were caused by opioids, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics show.

In Ohio, more than 4,050 people died of unintentional drug overdoses in 2016, with many of those being caused by opioids. In Cuyahoga County, heroin and fentanyl killed more people last year than homicides, suicides and car crashes.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, said in a statement Friday that the DEA enforcement teams will help keep heroin and fentanyl out of the state.

"Fentanyl has quickly become one of the biggest culprits of the drug overdoses tearing apart Ohio families, and this investment will mean more agents in Ohio working to stop the illegal forms of this drug from taking more lives," Brown said in a statement.

Officials in Cuyahoga County and statewide have taken steps to curb the opioid epidemic by addressing prescription drug abuse, which experts say is inextricably linked to heroin and fentanyl abuse.

On Friday, Cuyahoga County officials, including County Executive Armond Budish and Prosecutor Michael O'Malley, announced the filing of a lawsuit that accuses several major prescription drug companies of intentionally misleading the public about the dangers of painkillers as they raked in "blockbuster profits."

The lawsuit is similar to one Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine filed over the summer against some of the same manufacturers.

Cuyahoga County officials are also urging residents to return unused and unnecessary prescription drugs Saturday during the annual Take Back Your Meds Day. The annual event, which is part of the DEA's National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, will feature more than 40 locations where people can return prescription drugs throughout the county.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Friday's crime and courts comments section.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- One person was killed in a Friday night shooting on Cleveland's East Side, police said.

The man, who was only identified as 19-year-old, was shot in the head just before 7 p.m. in the city's Glenville neighborhood.

Police said the man was in a late model Toyota Corolla that crashed into the side of New Bethel Baptist Church at the corner of East 93rd Street and St. Clair Avenue.

A 17-year old and 15-year-old, both males, also sustained injuries in the crash. Authorities initially said the people in the vehicle were hurt in the crash. It's unknown if the teenagers were also struck with gunfire.

All three passengers were taken to University Hospitals to be treated for injuries. The person was pronounced dead at University Hospitals. Homicide detectives are currently investigating the shooting, authorities said.

Police did not give any details on why the shooting occurred.

The Toyota Corolla was badly damaged when it collided with the church.

Police closed the intersection while they investigated the incident.

A car crashed into a church in Cleveland's East Side Friday night after it was shot at, police say.

To comment on this story, visit Friday's crime and courts comments section.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A female state employee rejected an Ohio senator's advances more than a dozen times over two months, according to a state document released late Friday.

Cleveland.com had requested records on sexual harassment complaints involving lawmakers after the Oct. 17 resignation of Cliff Hite, a GOP state senator from Findlay who admitted to inappropriate behavior.

The five-page memorandum was a summary of a sexual assault complaint from an Ohio Legislative Service Commission employee, to a top LSC official.

Days after his resignation, Hite admitted to hugs and inappropriate conversation with a state employee. He did not reply to a message from cleveland.com Friday night.

The LSC is the General Assembly's nonpartisan staff, helping lawmakers with a variety of tasks - from arranging hearings to providing research and analysis on bills. It's unclear in what capacity the woman worked.

The allegations come at a time when women are speaking out against sexual harassment following high-profile allegations against Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein and a "me too" social media campaign aimed at raising awareness of how prevalent the issue is. Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof said after Hite's resignation that senators and staff would be required to attend mandatory sexual harassment training.

The harassment began in August, shortly after the LSC employee met Hite, the memo says. He first commented on her outfit, the memo states. He twice asked her to look him up on Facebook. The second time she told him it was inappropriate for her to friend him. Eventually, he sent her a Facebook friend request and she accepted, having reviewed his friends list and seeing a number of Statehouse employees on it, the memo says.

Hite then began messaging the employee on Facebook, asking how her weekend went and saying, "Did you miss me?" She blocked him from contacting her, according to the document.

The next day, Hite entered her office and questioned why she blocked him. She replied that it was inappropriate. He left the office, then returned and sat down. He told her that he couldn't stop thinking about her and he needed a f--- buddy, according to the woman.

"He said that he had an affair before, that he had a condo, and that no one would ever know," the document states. "According to complainant, he continued to try to convince her for more than an hour. He provided details about his sex life with his wife, including the length of time since they had engaged with sexual relations."

Hite told the woman he was a "grown man with needs," according to the document. She said she told him "no" eight to nine times, the document states.

He told her he could sexually please her and "You know where to find me," the document states.

Through the end of August and through September, Hite continued to ask the woman if she changed her mind. She told him "no," the memo said, and made it clear she would never change her mind.

Hite continued to visit the woman at her office when he was in Columbus, going behind her desk and getting in her personal space, the memo said. He asked for hugs. He made jokes about the size of his feet. He told her no one would have to know about a sexual relationship - he could stay married and she could remain engaged, the memo states.

Hite was jovial, the memo states, but pushed the boundaries. The woman felt like she was his personal counselor. He asked her if she liked sex, the memo said.

On Oct. 10, Hite asked the state employee to attend a reception with him. He hugged her and he told her she felt good. He begged her to get together with him, the memo states, and that no one would know.

Hite walked with the woman through the underground parking garage that connects the Statehouse to the Riffe Center, where many state offices are located. The woman spotted another LSC employee and used it as a chance to get away, the memo said.

She later returned to the parking garage to walk to the Statehouse. Hite was in his convertible, waiting for her, she said in the complaint. He told her to get into his car, then drove alongside her until she entered the Statehouse, the memo says.

"She said that he asked if she liked his car, and she said 'yes,'" the memo states. "She also stated that he asked if this was offensive to her, and she stated, 'Every minute.'"

The next morning, he entered her office with two bouquets of flowers that a floral company was giving away. One had a note attached, that was included in the document given to cleveland.com, which said if she liked his convertible she would like him too. His office number - 101 -- was at the bottom of the note.

He then said, again, that they could engage in a relationship, the memo states.

"We can stop if it doesn't work out," he said, according to the memo.
There's no doubt that both sides on the Issue 2 drug-pricing ballot issue in Ohio hope voter doubts created by their conflicting claims and accusations will bring them victory.

But let's cut through the clutter: As much as Issue 2 might feel good, it's unworkable.

As just one example, Issue 2 requires the state to pay "no more for prescription drugs than the price paid by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs."

As our editorial board pointed out in a Sept. 15 editorial opposing Issue 2, Ohio may find it impossible to learn the VA's lowest drug prices to match them, since the VA sometimes seeks confidential discounts on top of its federally mandated 24 percent discount. And private drug companies cannot be compelled by Issue 2 to give the state, or pharmacies, the same price it gives the VA.

And that's not even to mention the expensive litigation that's likely to ensue - for which, astoundingly, taxpayers would be on the hook for legal fees for backers of the ballot measure, under its provisions.

Let's not go down that road. Say no to Issue 2.

About our editorials: Editorials express the view of the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer -- the senior leadership and editorial-writing staff. As is traditional, editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the news organization.

Have something to say about this topic? Use the comments to share your thoughts, and stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using the Notification Settings (in blue).

* Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

* Email general questions about our editorial board or comments on this editorial to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.
Larry Nelson of North Albany provided four pumpkins for Friday morning's "Squishing of the Squash" at the Oregon Zoo.

One of them is pretty small, he warned. Just a few hundred pounds.

Nelson, 52, is a part-time machinist at Oregon State University and a member of the Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers, a national club based in Oregon and Washington. Club members provide the zoo with giant gourds each year for the elephants to smash and eat.

About five years ago, he said, fellow club member Brent Savage of Portland, who had been donating the pumpkins, asked whether Nelson wanted to help. Nelson said he would and has been driving his squashes north each October ever since.

This year, Nelson brought three large pumpkins along with the "little" one. They weighed in at size large (550 pounds), extra large (850 pounds) and gourdzooks (just shy of 1,000 pounds).

The squish is an annual treat for the pachyderms, who like to play with their food before tucking in.

"They just open the gates and the elephants come running to the pumpkins. They must be able to smell 'em," said Nelson, who always makes it a point to stay for the show.

"They smash them, they push them around, they climb on them and eat them," he said. "They are a lot of fun to watch."

Nelson has been growing giant pumpkins for about a decade. He got started after answering an online ad from an Albany-area farmer, Scott Holub, who was looking for room to grow his massive gourds.

Nelson offered part of his nine acres and Holub gave Nelson some starts. "And I got hooked," Nelson recalled.

Before getting connected with the zoo, Nelson would provide his giant pumpkins to carvers and to the annual West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta in Tualatin. And for several years, he'd invite over family and friends, hook up a crane and drop a pumpkin on an old car.

How to grow a giant pumpkin? Start with good seeds and good soil, put in some good work on weeding and fertilizer  and then hope for good luck, Nelson said. "There really is no secret. It's just a lot of work."

Weather matters. You plant the seed in April, but the pumpkin itself doesn't begin to grow until about July, Nelson said. Because the growing time is only about 100 days, big gourds can sometimes swell by 40 to 50 pounds a day. And if they get too much water  in a giant rainstorm, say  they can split.

"Some things are just out of my control," he said.

Nelson doesn't use chemicals to grow his pumpkins. This year's crop was open-pollinated, so the seeds don't need to be saved from the ones going to the zoo.

"I really like helping out the zoo. Its a real big fundraising event on that day  the parking lots full and the zoo makes money and everyone is happy," he said.

Nelson said his interest in the giant vegetables has been waning in recent years. He grew his biggest pumpkin to date, 1,468 pounds, about five years ago and hasn't managed to match it yet.

Still, he said, he figures he'll grow some again next year. Maybe even hold another Giant Pumpkin Drop, if he has a vehicle in need of smashing.

"I think Im getting re-inspired," he said.
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp has charged the state agency that programs and runs the states voting systems with inexcusable conduct or gross incompetence.

But despite the undeniable ineptitude of voting system administrators at Kennesaw State Universitys Center for Elections Systems  who answer to Kemp  Georgias elections are safe and our systems remain secure, Kemp insisted Thursday.

Good luck trying to reconcile those statements.

Kemps verbal gymnastics were triggered by reports this week that voting data stored on a computer server at KSU was destroyed in early July. The server is a critical piece of evidence in a lawsuit questioning the security and accuracy of Georgias voting machinery.

Kemp is a defendant in the suit. Though Georgia law gives his office responsibility for overseeing state election systems, Sara Henderson, executive director of Common Cause Georgia, notes that Kemp has repeatedly denied involvement in the universitys decisions on voting machine security.

Georgia is not creating a climate of voting integrity for our citizens by continuing to blame shift, Henderson told the Associated Press.

The lawsuit challenges the reported results of a special election in June in Georgias 6th Congressional District. The hotly-contested race to replace former U.S. Rep. Tom Price was won by Republican nominee Karen Handel, who took office shortly after Kemps office certified the results.

Before the voting, Common Cause called on Kemp and other Georgia officials to conduct the special election using paper ballots, which can be audited after Election Day to ensure that the winner of the initial vote count actually received the most votes. The state declined the request and used electronic voting machines that produce no paper record and have been shown to be vulnerable to computer hacker attacks.

The plaintiffs in the case contend that a misconfigured server at the KSU center exposed more than 6.5 million voter records and other information that could be used to alter the returns.

KSU officials insisted this week that data on the server was copied by the FBI shortly after the June 20 election and that the server was then returned to the Center for Elections Systems. Because the FBI concluded that the server had not been compromised, KSU officials then erased the data and prepared to use the server for other purposes, the university added. Contacted by the Associated Press, FBI officials in Atlanta declined comment on whether they still have the data.

###
CORNWALL, Ontario  St. Lawrence College students gathered at the Cornwall campus last Thursday, Oct. 25, rallying to encourage management and union to return to the bargaining table.

With the strike now in day 13, Ontario students are hopeful for a solution that will get back in the classroom.

Rally organizer, Ohentiioa Lahache-Deering says that she while she is sympathetic of the facultys request, she hopes the end is in sight.

Personally, I support the staff, and what theyre asking for, said Lahache-Deering. But really, we want them to get back to the table, so we can get back to class.

Lahache-Deering is in her first year of the BScN program, and says that even if the semester is salvaged, she worries that students may return to a chaotic course load.

Because Ive been in post-secondary before, I know I need to kind of keep it up on my own, said Lahache-Deering. But Im a little afraid for the people just out of high school who are likely going to come back to a really rushed semester.

CUPE representative, Grant Currie says that although many resources are still available for students during the strike, theres no real substitute for in-class learning.

The college may think that a set of powerpoint slides on Blackboard is teaching, but its not, said Currie, Its not. Its the discussion, the facilitated learning, and the implied learning that comes from the interaction between the students and the professors.
Cloud News

Equinix, Oracle Advance Hybrid Connectivity

Joseph Tsidulko

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Global co-location powerhouse Equinix expanded connectivity to Oracle's second-generation cloud centers this week from its American and European facilities, enabling some of the largest enterprise customers to tap advanced Oracle services.

Equinix, which offers network neutral connectivity around the world, introduced Oracle's FastConnect service across 16 of its IBX data centers in North America and Europe by leveraging the interconnectivity provided by its Equinix Cloud Exchange.

FastConnect establishes private, high-speed links to Oracle's Gen2 cloud regions, where services like bare-metal compute and bare-metal database are available. Some Equinix facilities already had deployed Oracle FastConnect Classic, which only connects to Oracle regions without those latest cloud services.

[Related: Verizon, Equinix Promote Hybrid IT By Putting Data Center, Network And Security Services On One Menu]

The expansion of FastConnect is important to enterprises since Oracle's Gen1 data centers, or its "classic cloud," already are considered legacy technology among Oracle's partners, Abdul Sheikh, CTO of New York-based Oracle partner Cintra, told CRN.

"The bare-metal, or Gen2, is definitely where all of our focus and momentum is right now," Sheikh said. "So customers seeing the maturity of Equinix products into that space is an absolute must. Until that box is checked its a bit of a barrier."

Robert Blackburn, Equinix's global managing director for Oracle strategic alliances, told CRNFastConnect is "necessary to achieve consistent network performance and the throughput you need to run heavy-duty enterprise workloads."

Oracle's dedicated connection service delivers the consistent performance for production-grade hybrid environments, he said.

Washington, D.C, previously was the only one of Equinix's IBX data centers in North America to offer FastConnect. Now eight othersAtlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Silicon Valley and Torontocan access that facility, through the cloud exchange, as a gateway to Oracle.

Equinix also deployed Oracle's technology in Frankfurt, and made it possible for several European IBX facilities to connect through there, via the exchange, directly to Oracle's advanced cloud regions.

Equinix is looking to build the relationship with its neighbor in Redwood City, Calif., because of Oracle's focus on helping a large base of enterprise customers transform their infrastructure to embrace cloud, Blackburn told CRN.

"We have a similar mission," he said. "Enterprise is our fastest-growing customer segment. We're enabling the interconnection to the cloud, helping customers optimize and manage their network so they can achieve that with their cloud provider of choice. And we can do that because we're the leading interconnection partner for those major services providers."

A channel program Equinix introduced in 2015 is seeing a growing base of systems integrators, many of which overlap with the Oracle PartnerNetwork, Blackburn said.

Those partners are "cloud-ready and can provide recurring services as well as integration capabilities that customers need," he told CRN.

Oracle's cloud business has been taking off. A late entrant into the public cloud arena, Oracle is leveraging its install base, technical aptitude and financial resources to catch up to Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service providers that have been on the market longer. The bare-metal offerings in its Gen2 cloud are a key component of that strategy.

Cintra's Sheikh said big companies are looking to modernize IT infrastructure by leveraging hybrid resources.

Cintra sees Equinix as a key enabler of those strategies through the locality delivered by its industry-leading footprint of more than 175 data centers, and the unparalleled connectivity built into those facilities that allows customers to avoid traversing the public internet, and suffering latency as a result.

The ability to build a private cloud in an Equinix environment that is "already hard-wired into all of the public clouds" solves a major problem for many large enterprises, Sheikh said. "That effectively mitigates the risk of user-experience deterioration in going to the public cloud."

Equinix delivers a credible multi-cloud story to customers. They can optimize private clouds for everything they're not comfortable putting in a public cloud, then provision analytics from Google, e-commerce from Amazon Web Services, deploy Oracle workloads on Oracle infrastructure, or Windows workloads on Microsoft Azure.

"That resonates with our customers," Sheikh said. "The right mix of clouds and on-prem modernized data center strategies."
Face Off

Apple's redesigned iPhone model, the iPhone X, launched pre-orders on Friday and the company has been describing the early demand as "off the charts." Translation: Getting an iPhone X may not be easy. Of course, the X is not your only option for a large-screen smartphone. Samsung's Galaxy S8 Plus remains a strong choice for anyone looking for a powerful, premium smartphone.

Which is the better fit for you?

In the following slides, the CRN Test Center compares Apple's iPhone X vs. Samsung's Galaxy S8 Plus on specs and price.
NEW HAVEN  Access Health CT is encouraging people in the individual insurance market to check out its exchange as the higher-end plans can be a better deal this year given all the conflicting decisions coming out of Washington.

The open enrollment period for Connecticut starts Wednesday and runs through Dec. 22 for coverage that goes into effect in January.

It is shorter than in previous years and the federal government has pulled funding to market the health care exchanges, but Access Health officials say they are trying new strategies to overcome that.

Still, a recent study by the Kaiser Foundation found only 15 percent of the country was aware that open enrollment was about to start.

That is kind of scary, Jim Wadleigh, Access Health CT CEO, said in an interview at the New Haven Register.

The start dates for enrollment around the country are also not consistent, which adds to the confusion.

Connecticut this year will increase the physical sites from two to 10, where residents can consult personnel or brokers, at no cost, to help them enroll in the health exchange.

Their hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and no appointment is necessary.

For New Haven County, there will be one in New Haven at 2 Howe St. at a Yale New Haven Hospital facility. There will be one at the Margaret Egan Center in Milford and in Waterbury at the Family Life Center.

The phone number for Access Health is 1-855-909-2428.

On five Saturdays during the period there will be enrollment fairs at different towns. On Nov. 9 it will be at the Miller Senior Center in Hamden as part of the New Haven County outreach.

The city of New Haven has about 1,800 people enrolled in private insurance through the exchange, while 62,000 are using Medicaid.

New Haven County has 21,000 people in private insurance under Access Health CT with 120,000 enrolled in Medicaid. Wadleigh said New Haven County represents some 20 percent of the Access Health CT market.

The exchange will have the same carriers this year, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield and ConnectiCare.

Given all the confusion over whether the federal government would pull the cost-sharing subsidies for low-income individuals, the state Insurance Department approved rate increases to cover that possibility with a 16.7 percent rate jump tagged to the middle tier Silver Plan.

As it turned out it was a great decision that the state of Connecticut made, Wadleigh said as there are 10 states that are scrambling now to adjust their rates.

That is a monster change to be shoving through your system a week before open enrollment begins, Wadleigh said.

The Trump administration subsequently did decide to end those subsidies, but they will continue to be covered, just in a different way.

While the perception is rates on average are anywhere from 25 percent to 35 percent increases, the full coverage of cost-sharing reductions has now been moved into the other financial help called advanced premiums tax credits, Wadleigh said.

For public inspection, there is a 25-page document on the Access Health website on plan designs and rates.

The Silver plans are the determining factor for how the premium tax credits are paid to consumers across the country

Because of this, Wadleigh said there are now many scenarios where it is cheaper for a consumer to buy up to the Gold plan to get more coverage than it would be to stay in Silver.

If a resident were to qualify for advanced premium tax credits, Wadleigh said, in many cases the Bronze plans would be significantly less and, in some cases, are free, although he is not recommending people buy less coverage.

An advanced premium tax credit is financial help for individuals who make under 400 percent of the federal poverty level

For a family of four that is a household with less than $90,000 a year in income. For individuals, that is in the area of $35,000 to $40,000 a year, he said.

These credits are only applicable to persons who buy on the health exchange.

There is an advantage to buying your health insurance ... on an exchange, Wadleigh said.

As for persons whose income varies throughout the year, Wadleigh said the only thing that counts is the total at the end of the year, if you are getting tax credits.

He suggests people estimate conservatively so they dont end up having to pay back those credits. There is a sliding scale on the website to help residents. He encouraged those who sign to get financial help in making their decisions.

Stay in tune as to what your income is for the year, Wadleigh advised.
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HARTFORD  Connecticuts solar power industry wants a court to block the General Assembly from confiscating money earmarked for Green energy projects and instead using it to balance the state budget.

Mike Trahan, executive director of SolarConnecticut, said lawmakers improperly diverted $175 million from clean energy and solar ventures to the General Fund. The funds come from a surcharge that electric and natural gas customers pay each month.

Consumers were promised the surcharge they pay would be returned in the form of lower energy bills and this budget breaks that promise, Trahan said.

This surcharge account belongs to people that pay utility bills, Trahan said. It has nothing to do with financing state government operations. [We] are pursuing legal action to block state lawmakers from confiscating a surcharge on utility bills and using those funds to balance the state budget.

The sweep of funds had been opposed for months by environmentalists and other activists, which argued the money helps the state meet climate change goals, lower overall energy costs and develop cutting edge renewable energy sources.

The money also supports a growing energy efficiency industry, which now employs more than 34,000 workers in Connecticut. More than 100,000 homes and businesses have taken advantage of programs offered by the utility consumer accounts, industry experts said.

Vivian Perez, owner of HE-Energy Solutions in Stratford, said the surcharge on electric bills keeps thousands of contractors and energy and solar conversion workers employed across the state.

We created a workforce, Perez said. We educate [workers] and give them a very specialized skill set. Many of these cuts will force us to lay off workforce.

Raiding utility customers

The money to pay for big and small renewable energy and efficiency projects resides in three state programs created by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy: the Connecticut Green Bank, the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

To help close multibillion deficits in the states two-year, $41 billion budget approved this week, lawmakers diverted money from dozens of accounts and departments to the General Fund.

The Energy Efficiency Fund was cut by $127 million over the next two years; the Green Bank lost $28 million in funding; and the RGGI was reduced by $20 million.

All three programs receive direct and indirect money from the small surcharge included on electric and natural gas bills. In 2016, the surcharge pumped $215 million into the Energy Efficiency Fund, which is typically used by homeowners and small businesses to lower the cost of energy upgrades and solar conversions.

The Green Bank issues loans for a variety of projects, ranging from heating and cooling system conversions to building solar arrays and fuel cell plants that produce electricity. The RGGI is nine state pollution cap trade program designed to reduce the regions carbon emissions.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said he supports the Green funds and is sympathetic to complaints the money should not be diverted.

Im not a fan of raiding those funds, Duff said. But maybe their mission should be to educate legislators and others about the importance of these funds instead of filing a lawsuit.

Bridgeport fuel cell

Jennifer Arasimowicz, vice president for Fuel Cell Energy in Danbury, said the Green Bank has helped finance dozens of renewable energy projects across the state and has created thousands of jobs  including the landmark five mega-watt fuel cell power plant in Bridgeport.

The Green Bank facilities the entry of private financing, Arasimowicz said. The loan [for the Bridgeport plant] facilitated construction of the project, which then [generated] taxes to the state equivalent to the amount of the loan. The Connecticut Green Bank paved the way for multiple mega-watt field parks in the U.S.

Tim Fabuien, chairman of the Home Performance Alliance of Connecticut, said diverting the fund to pay for other needs is short sighted.

Raiding utility customers energy accounts  whether its $100 million, $20 million, or $2 million  will mean hundreds or even thousands of job losses and higher energy costs for families and businesses, Fabuien said.

Trahan said he is recruiting contractors and others who work or benefit in the industry to join the lawsuit and share legal expenses.

Legislators know all about this, Trahan. They know the impact this will have. They just dont care.

Kelly Donnelly, a spokeswoman for Malloy, said the governor plans to carefully review the budget adopted this week before deciding whether to sign or veto it.

Although Donnelly did not respond to a request for comment on a potential legal challenge over the Green cuts, Malloy earlier in the week sent signals to lawmakers that there is a limit to how much they can take from the fund.

I remain committed to our ratepayers and to protecting these funds that reduce energy costs while reducing our dependency on fossil fuels, Malloy said.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Contributed photo Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Laura Weiss / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 5 of 5









Deirdre M. Daly announced her resignation  effective as of midnight Friday  after more than four years as the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

It has been a great honor and privilege to serve as Connecticuts United States Attorney, Daly said in a prepared statement. I am extremely proud of the tremendous accomplishments of the women and men of this office. I applaud their tireless work holding our most violent offenders accountable and standing up to those who abuse their power and influence, whether in government or on Wall Street.
DURHAM, N.H. (AP)  Universities are urging students in search of an attention-grabbing costume this Halloween to pass on sombreros, Native American headdresses and blackface.

Those are some of the costumes grabbing the attention of university administrators who are increasingly concerned that certain costumes are becoming flashpoints in campus debates over race and culture. While not outright prohibiting any costume, administrators are using letters, campus forums and advertising campaigns to encourage students to pick outfits that dont offend classmates of color.

Some, like the University of Texas at Austin, issued a flyer encouraging students to consider how a costume aligns with an organizations values and whether it is reflective of a certain racial group, gender, and/or economic class. It also includes a list of harmful themes or costumes: any painting or tinting of skin, stereotypes of Asian culture, cowboys and Indians, or south of the border/fiesta. Comic book heroes and time period themes are fine.

At Southern Utah University, dozens of billboards have been put up and shared on social media with the message, My Culture is not a Costume, along with images of students of color holding photos of people wearing costumes from their race or culture. Similar poster campaigns have spread to other schools, including the University of Denver and University of New Hampshire.

We launched it during this time because ... Halloween is when we start to see a lot of those offensive costumes, said Maria Martinez, Southern Utahs director of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, who says she got the idea from Ohio University. Students wanted to send a reminder because they do feel disrespected when someone shows up in a costume that represents their culture, particularly when its an inaccurate stereotype.

Supporters see the campaigns as a chance to start a conversation about cultural appropriation  adopting aspects of someone elses culture  and to educate students about their own cultures and about why dressing as a Mexican immigrant or Pocahontas might be a problem.

A lot of people are like I am, just wearing a poncho like Im not trying to appropriate a culture, said Juan Gomez-Rivadeneira, a 21-year-old member of the University of New Hampshires Latino student association Mosaico. He says they have to know why people view it a certain way, even though it wasnt their original intention.

Critics see the move as another example of political correctness and fear it will lead to a host of costumes being prohibited and turn students off from celebrating Halloween. In 2015, a Yale University faculty member resigned after her calls for students to push boundaries with Halloween costumes sparked protests. She was responding to calls by the university for students to avoid wearing racially insensitive costumes.

The cultural temperature on this has gotten so high that nothing is appropriate anymore. We are getting to the point where prohibition is the rule, said Michael Rectenwald, a professor of Global Liberal Studies at New York University, who has criticized Halloween costume policies.

Inspired by several racial incidents at UNH this year, including white students wearing ponchos and other Mexican attire during Cinco de Mayo, the Student Senate earlier this month passed a resolution calling on the administration to denounce the insensitivity of acts of cultural appropriation and racism that commonly occur when students celebrate Halloween. A letter from administrators was sent to students this week encouraging them to be respectful of others heritages.

Students at UNH said theyd seen the Halloween posters in their resident halls with the message, You wear the costume for one night. I wear the stigma for life.

Many said they understood the concerns, and a few said it had them reconsidering costume choices  including a student who was talked out of wearing a Native American chiefs attire. Others said it was unnecessary for the school to suggest what they wear and complained that their decision to wear an ethnic costume was aimed at celebrating a culture, not mocking it. Others feared that the campaign only sowed confusion, leaving students wondering if any costume was safe.

Im kind of 50-50 on it. I feel like its dramatic. They are being a little excessive, said Sarah Smith, a 19-year-old UNH sophomore. I definitely feel the knowledge is good and that people should respect other people. But I also believe that literally any costume that somebody wears, somebody can find a problem with it.
A woman has set up a website that helps elderly people plan their funerals after discovering how fake comparison website are misleading customers by luring them in and using their personal details to pester them with calls.

Sally Hill, 42 from Leeds set up the UK's first website that compares all national providers of funeral plans without asking visitors for their personal details after discovering a gap in the market for a genuine comparison site.

She was inspired to set up FuneralPlanMarket.com after discovering that people are visiting websites where they believe they will get a list of results to compare funeral plan options - like they do when comparing insurance, for example.

Sally explained: 'Typically these fake comparison sites get visitors to fill out their details and then target them later for a nasty sales call. They are duping people and it must be hugely disappointing to be treated like that when you simply want to find the best deal for your own funeral.

'The customer is then predominantly only offered the option of one supplier. This doesn't provide them with the impartial comparison they required to enable them to make an informed choice.

'Even worse many customers are forced into buying a funeral plan that is far more expensive than comparable plans available.

Sally Hilly from Leeds set up FuneralPlanMarket.com after discovering so-called comparison sites were using people's details to target them with calls and sell them expensive plans (stock image)

'None of these sites actually provide a comparison for customers to compare funeral plans.

'In addition, many of these fake comparison sites do not notify the customer that they will receive a phone call and those that do, do so in very small writing, which is often faded  all of these practices are in breach of data protection rules.'

'It also raises the question as to why search engines allow them to advertise?'

Sally previous worked in the energy comparison site sector and decided to set up a service for funeral plan price comparisons when she discovered that none existed.

'Because of my previous role as the founder and director of an energy price comparison website, I understand the very high standards of practice required to achieve Ofgem accreditation and I wanted to bring those same requirements to the funeral plan market.

'When I began to research the market in February of this year I was even more amazed that websites were posing as comparison sites when this was not the case,' she recalled.'

Sally previously founded an energy market comparison site and wanted to bring the same high standards of practice required to achieve Ofgem accreditation to the funeral plan market

While fake comparison sites may be unethical, is there anything illegal about them?

'The key here is data protection regulation,' Sally explained. 'The new General Data Protection Regulations (GPDR) that come in to force next year should help.

'These will require websites to be more clear about why they are requesting customer information and what they are going to do with it.

'That said a number of the website operating fake comparison sites are not complying with the existing requirements.

'For example, one I know of does not include any text regarding consent or agreement to privacy policies.

'The challenge with adequate legislation is enforcement and if search engines allow websites to advertise that do not comply with the relevant requirements this is very challenging.'

If you are concerned about a comparison website, the warning sign is being asked for personal details.

'If a website requires your telephone number to be a mandatory field, for you, to be provided with a comparison service then it is unlikely that you will be able to compare prices on that website,' Sally said.
Asking someone out requires a lot of bravery and charm - but according to one college student, the real secret to a successful date proposal is actually a masterful grasp of the English language and all its persuasive powers.

To prove his theory, the young man - known only as Jake - enlisted the help of his English professor in order to craft the perfect text message to ask out a crush, using persuasion theory to create an irresistible offer.

Using a basic understanding of ethos, pathos, and logos, otherwise known as the modes of persuasion, the duo penned a succinct, yet incredibly effective, date night proposal which they knew Jake's crush Hannah would be powerless to refuse. And they were right.

Who knew? Twitter user Jake wanted to ask his friend Hannah out, but didn't know how so he consulted his English professor who helped him use the academic modes of persuasion

Works like a charm! He crafted his text delivering the bare bone ethos, pathos, and logos argument, and to his surprise it worked and she suggested a Friday night date

Map it out! Jake and his teacher even created a triangle diagram with the date, Jake, and Hannah as the three vertices and they constructed three academic-based arguments

Jake's invite to dinner centered on the three main points of persuasion:

Ethos (an appeal to ethics): Jake did not pressure Hannah, nor did he insist that the date be romantic. Instead he offered a friendly outing with a 'cool' guy

(an appeal to ethics): Jake did not pressure Hannah, nor did he insist that the date be romantic. Instead he offered a friendly outing with a 'cool' guy Pathos (an appeal to emotion): His proposal suggested that the dinner would be full of fun and excitement

(an appeal to emotion): His proposal suggested that the dinner would be full of fun and excitement Logos (an appeal to logic): Knowing that Hannah was moving apartments, Jake offered a meal to help fuel her through the move, also suggesting that the evening out would mean free food for her, as well as a stress-free escape from the rigors of her work

Thrilled that his incredibly persuasive offer had gone down so well, Jake immediately took to Twitter to share his success story, revealing the actual text message that came out of his discussion with his professor.

'Yooo I have about zero skills when it comes to texting girls so I legit asked my English professor to help me draft a text to a girl and we STRAIGHT ETHOS, LOGOS, PATHOSED MY WAY INTO A DATE [sic]' Jake captioned his viral tweet.

'Hey, I hate to come on too strong here but if you could use a stress-free night after work or need some food to keep you alive while you're moving into your new apartment, I would love to take you to dinner,' Jake's text to Hannah read.

'It would be fun and a great way for me to see your dog, which is low key why I'm doing this.'

Alongside the words, and a grab of his triumphant text conversation with Hannah, Jake also shared the triangle graph he made with his professor that analyzed his predicament and created three conversation points, stemming from the English rhetorical modes of persuasion.

Knows his stuff! Jake (above) was shocked his theoretical flirting approach worked and unintentionally inspired thousands of Twitter users to try the tactic out for themselves

Slick rick! Jake's post went Twitter viral with many applauding his hilarious use of school theory, amassing over 74,000 retweets and more than 316,000 likes

Shoot your shot! Many users admired Jake's boldness and going for the date, even if it was an odd text, but it proved to work out perfectly

Taking notes! Many male users shared they were avidly taking notes on Jake's tactics, willing to try it out for themselves to win some dates using the English theories

Keep us updated! Twitter fans were invested in Jake's relationship with Hannah, and demanded constant updates on their romantic future together

Listen up, boys! One user told guys to give his lesson a keen eye, saying that men's typical approaches to women are far too curt and careless, compared to Jake's thoughtful message

Twitter users cracked up with the message that reminded students of their dormant high school and college English lessons, that they hardly exercised outside of academic environments, but proved wildly successful for Jake. His tweet racked up over 74,000 retweets and over 316,000 likes.

The screenshot of their text conversation reveals that Hannah missed a quiz because she was tired from working and neglected to do her readings. Jake then saw his chance to shoot his shot, and sent his perfectly-worded message.

And Hannah's response was surprisingly positive, sending Twitter into cheers of hooray.

'Hey that would be great! How about Friday night? I get off work at 6:00. I'll be sure to bring Winston,' she replied, even adding a cheeky winking face.

Attached to the conversation was a persuasion graph that displayed Jake's three main argument lines. His ethos reason was he didn't want to be too pressing and would offer a stress-free friendly environment, logos was the hang out would provide a free meal, and pathos was the friend date would be fun and maybe even lead to more.

He even drew a triangle diagram with the three points being his purpose, himself the speaker, and Hannah, his objective.

His message used each argument in its simplest form, with no frilly language or pizzazz added.

And Twitter users couldn't help but applaud Jake for his slick moves.

Teacher's joy: One man shared that his old English teacher would be overjoyed to hear students practically applying the old theories

AP skills! Audrey remembered the terminology thanks to her high school AP courses which taught the persuasion theories, and hoped it could benefit her in similar ways

Straight A's! Luke was left in stitches of laughter and reminded to avoid fallacies in his spotless persuasion argument, just as English language lessons taught

Welp! The post made some students sad comparing their lazy and careless English teachers

Dream man! One Twitter user thought Jake was a diamond in the rough because he felt reflective enough to ask for help from a trusted, mature adult

'That's some smooth s*** there my guy that text is slick as f***,' user Jordan applauded.

The message touched several girls as well, with one user requesting Jake hit her up if things with Hannah fall through, utilizing the same modes of persuasion but to a lesser degree.

'Hit me up if it doesn't work out but not in a creepy way ya feel like I don't know I love you,' Twitter user Melody wrote.

The attentive message had others encouraging other guys to follow suit with more thoughtful messages when pursuing dates.

'More women would say yes to you guys if you put the effort into it, but mots of y'all just say what you doing,' Sergio wrote.

Most Twitter users, however, shared a good laugh with the use of old vocabulary words and academic theory.

'Yes those AP Language skills could come in handy for me,' one twitter user Audrey wrote.

And others were touched by the English professors dedicated to helping a student, even in the love department.

'My English professor hasn't even graded the paper we turned in a month ago,' one user lamented, comparing his teacher to the Jake's role model mentor.

Another found Jake charming for acknowledging his need for help.

'Asking the English professor for help shows this guy has skills many lack: self-assessment and selection of appropriate advisers,' a Twitter fan added.

It remains unclear if Jake and Hannah went on their fateful date, but when they do they'll have plenty of Twitter users to update on their relationship and on the success of the schoolbook modes of persuasion.
Gigi Hadid has covered countless international issues of Vogue magazine over the years, but the model has revealed that her very first appearance in the French version of the publication happened by accident  when she was just five years old.

The 22-year-old daughter of reality star and former model Yolanda Hadid took to Twitter on Thursday to ask her 6.9 million followers to help her find an image of herself photobombing a Vogue Paris shoot that appeared in the magazine sometime during the early 2000s.

'SOS! Looking for that photo of me when I'm really young (5 maybe?) when I got caught in a French vogue photo shoot .. any1 have it?' she tweeted.

'SOS': Gigi Hadid, 22, took to Twitter on Thursday to ask her 6.9 million followers to help her find an image of herself photobombing a Vogue Paris shoot when she was five years old

Now that's a throwback! Fans were quick to share the image, which sees little Gigi clutching an Eiffel Tower souvenir while cluelessly standing in front of a Vogue model

'Girl you're fast': One person commented on how quick the Twitter user @burgerqueengigi was to post the photo the model was looking for

Amazing: Seventeen years after that photo was taken, Gigi is now one of the most famous models in the world

The Twitter account @burgerqueengigi was quick to share the image in the comments section of Gigi's post, writing: 'gotcha!'

The speedy response prompted one Twitter user to respond, 'Girl you're fast.'

The editorial image sees little Gigi standing in front of model who is posing with her hand on her hip to show off the kimono-inspired cape, red lace top and embroidered pants she was wearing.

The shoot took place in the middle of a crowded tourist area in Paris, and Gigi look adorably clueless to what is going on around her as she stand in front of the model, holding a mini Eiffel Tower souvenir.

Then and now: The Twitter user known as @javaddwsk shared the image along with three of Gigi's Vogue Paris covers - two of which appeared on the same issue

Sixteen years later! Gigi stripped down to nothing for her first Vogue Paris cover, appearing naked on the March 2016 issue

Covering up: The blonde beauty also donned a bedazzled jacket for that issue's alternative cover

Back at it: Gigi covered Vogue Paris for the second time for the magazine's November 2016 issue

Five-year-old Gigi has her blond hair pulled back in a windblown ponytail, and she is wearing a white long-sleeve top and matching pants featuring laser cutouts at the hem.

In addition to her Eiffel Tower souvenir, Gigi appears to be holding a camera.

Another Twitter user known as @javaddwsk shared the image along with three of Gigi's Vogue Paris covers.

'OH MY and now you're like these... what a queen we stan,' the person tweeted.

Too cute: Some people replied to Gigi's initial request by sharing photos of her as Guess model

Not quite right: This Twitter user knew these snapshots of Gigi weren't but Vogue, but she shared anyway

Throwbacks: Plenty of people shared family shots of little Gigi posed with her mom, Yolanda Hadid, and her model sister, Bella

Back in the day: One particularly humorous throwback photo sees Gigi wearing glasses a mix-matched snowsuit

'U da best!' Gigi clearly appreciated their help, and she returned to her post to thank her fans

Plenty of people clamored to help the runway queen; however, only a few people were able to immediately find what she was looking for.

Some people shared snapshots of Gigi modeling for Guess as a child, while others posted some other pretty great shots of her as a kid.

Gigi clearly appreciated their help, and she returned to her post to show her fans how grateful she is.

'Love u guys for this.. lol u da best,' she tweeted.
One bird lover was left with no choice but to give up her white parrot, due to her declining health, and the abandonment left her feathered friend crestfallen.

Snowball, a white Goffin's cockatoo, wasn't like himself for days after joining the Rhode Island Parrot bird sanctuary. The tiny bird said very little and kept his head and beak down for days in a heartbroken state.

But one sanctuary volunteer's hair turned out to be just what the male chirper needed and Snowball now uses Erica Collins' hair as a rope swing to sway back and forth for fun.

If it ain't got that swing! Snowball us a white Goffin's cockatoo who cheers himself up by latching onto a volunteer Erica Collins' hair with his claws and swaying side to side

Snow angel! The adorable parrot, 22, is a new addition to the bird sanctuary but was sad for days feeling abandoned by his prior owner, until he found the swinging activity to cheer up

Snowball, 22, is an intelligent bird, and according to the sanctuary experts the Indonesian breed are so empathetic, they even morn the loss of people close to them.

'He was the saddest little thing,' Erica, 38, of Warwick, Rhode Island explained to SWNS media.

The usually happy bird simply 'sat in his cage with his head down' for weeks instead of flying around gleefully, saddened by the sudden separation from his prior owner.

But now the cockatoo is squawking with joy like never before, all thanks to his fun swinging activity where he latches onto Erica's hair with his claws like a rope swing, and lets his body hang upside down to enjoy the ride.

Snowball's hands upside down in the aerodynamic fun, with his beak lose as he's propelled left and right.

He swings for over a minute, while visitors watch absolutely enthralled by the goofy display.

Sweet thing! The Indonesian breed is very playful and likes to sing in addition to swing

Bird whisperer! Erica Collins, 38, (above) works with nearly 80 birds at the Rhode Island Parrot bird sanctuary, and Snowball has taken a particular liking to her for her hair

Busy at work! Erica hangs out with the birds while cleaning a cage at Snowball's home, joining the many birds looking for new welcoming homes

Attachment issues! Sanctuary volunteers describe the adorable bird is very playful like 'a little kid' and is captured in a cheeky moment above where he claws at a volunteer's backside

The picked up hobby was a surprise for the mom-of-one.

'Out of the blue Snowball decided flew to my ponytail and just started swinging. Once he had started he kept doing it,' Erica recalled.

'I remember thinking, He better not bite my butt! He was having a great time and didnt want to stop' she joked.

And Snowball loved basking in all the attention.

'It was hilarious. It was a great moment. Everyone was laughing and was amused at how playful he was,' she shared.

'He is very playful. He was behaving like a little kid,' she added.

Snowball joins nearly 80 other birds in the sanctuary, but he seems to have a preference for Erica's blonde locks as his go to activity.

Erica shares that the happy go lucky bird Snowball also enjoys singing and is still looking for a new family.
Onesies are pretty standard attire for newborn babies - but as far as new father Spencer Pratt is concerned, what looks stylish on his newborn son Gunner is good enough to go in his closet too.

Putting an adorable spin on the famous phrase 'like father, like son', the 34-year-old and his baby boy posed for a sweet series of photos while wearing matching winter-themed onesies and enjoying a cute cuddle on a bed covered in crystals.

In the shoot, former reality star Spencer can be seen modeling an adult version of the same tiny Fair Isle-patterned navy OnePiece outfit that his son, who was born on October 1, is snuggled up in, while laying happily in his father's arms.

What a pair! Spencer Pratt and his baby son Gunner modeled matching onesies in an adorable photo shoot which took place in the family's home

Sweet dreams: The 34-year-old former reality star and his son both donned navy winter-themed ensembles by OnePiece for the heartwarming father-son shoot

Cuddles: Spencer and his son were surrounded by crystals which were strewn across the bed

The new father shared one of the three images, which show the pair wearing OnePiece's 'Lusekofte' style, on his Instagram account, aptly captioning it with: 'Like father, like son.'

Spencer and Gunner's adorable daddy-son photo shoot comes just days after the former star of The Hills suffered a tragedy when he had to say goodbye to one of the much-loved hummingbirds that had been visiting him at his California home every day.

The tiny birds featured in almost half of his Instagram posts, and Spencer was understandably left distraught when one of the sweet hummingbirds - named Hummer Angel - passed away in the midst of a sweltering heatwave.

So devastated was Spencer by the tragedy that he actually broke down in tears as he held a touching funeral service for his pet, which was documented on his Snapchat and Instagram accounts.

'He's dead and I don't know why,' wept the reality star, clearly distressed.

Snug as a bug: Before sharing his onesie pictures, Spencer took to his Instagram Story to post several pictures and images of Gunner Stone snoozing away at one of his dad's karate sessions

Pow pow: While Spencer threw some punches, Gunner enjoyed a sweet snooze on the floor

Dance off! The former reality star, who welcomed his first-born with wife Heidi Montag, 31, on October 1, also found some time to throw some shapes

The emotional video began with a shirtless Spencer walking into his house while filming, clearly already upset.

'Close your eyes if you easily cry, but I want people to know what I'm dealing with today,' said the Celebrity Big Brother star.

He then showed footage of the tiny, lifeless bird. 'He's so precious,' cried Spencer.

The television personality admitted: 'I feel guilty that I slept in a little later, like if I'd got out here earlier and seen him...'

'I really think it's this heat,' added the father of one. 'I don't think he got to the nectar.'

Los Angeles is in the midst of a Fall heatwave, with record-setting October temperatures being measured across the city.

Can't get enough! Spencer changed into another onesie, this time featuring camouflage print, before sharing a video of it on his Instagram Story

Snuggle up: After losing one of his beloved hummingbirds to a brutal California heat wave, Spencer sought comfort in his newborn son

Cute kid: The three-week-old has featured prominently on his dad's Instagram since his birth

Pratt then held a funeral service for his lost friend, placing the body in a small, flower-lined box.

He waved incense over the grave and after covering the makeshift coffin with soil, erected a cross as the words 'RIP Hummer Angel' were displayed onscreen, and Yesterday by The Beatles and Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley played in the background.

After the funeral, Pratt grabbed some consoling cuddles with three-week-old Gunner Stone, in a series of images and clips that both he and his wife Heidi Montag, 31, posted to Instagram.

And it seems that Spencer has continued to find comfort in his baby boy, taking to Instagram Story once again on Thursday and Friday to share images and videos of himself spending some quality time with Gunner Stone, from cozying up together on the couch to taking part in a father-son karate lesson.

Distressed: Spencer was left distraught when one of his treasured hummingbirds, 'Hummer Angel', passed away on Tuesday in the midst of the Californian heatwave

Rest in peace: 'Close your eyes if you easily cry, but I want people to know what I'm dealing with today,' said the former Celebrity Big Brother star

Father and son time: After the funeral, Pratt grabbed some consoling cuddles with his three-week-old baby son, Gunner

New mother: Spencer's wife and The Hills co-star Heidi Montag, 31, gave birth to the couple's first son just three weeks ago

And though he's less than a month old, the boy is already no stranger to social media, posting his own Instagram story for his 43,400 followers to see.

Heidi and Spencer, who have been married for nine years, famously met on iconic reality show The Hills that ran from 2006 until 2010.

They eloped to Mexico in November 2008, before hosting a wedding ceremony in Pasadena, California, in April 2009.

Heidi admitted she was 'overwhelmed with joy' at being a mother in an interview with US Weekly magazine earlier this month.

She said: 'I'm feeling great. I'm so overwhelmed with joy. I find myself crying just looking at him.

'It was probably the best possible labor. I wanted to do it naturally so I didn't get an epidural.'
ELKO  Great Basin College nursing students will host a free Community Preschool Health Fair Nov. 2 from 5-7 p.m. at the Great Basin College Childcare Center.

Parents of children aged 2-5 years old are encouraged to bring their preschoolers to learn more about health care and participate in health related screenings.

The Spring Creek Lions Club will be providing vision screenings, while nursing students will provide body mass index and hearing screenings.

Nursing students will also be providing interactive classes on hand-washing, nutrition and dental care.

Dr. Morris Gallagher will be providing dental care items for the preschoolers to learn how to brush their teeth during the dental care teaching.

For more information, call 753-2020.
Bonfire goers are being warned about the potentially blinding injuries that could occur as a result of fireworks, sparklers and flying debris.

A leading eye surgeon said accidents can cause corneal abrasions, ruptures of the globe of the eye, retinal detachment, and chemical and thermal burns to eyelids.

Ophthalmologist Daniel Ezra, from the world-famous Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, said that people should not be complacent because injury cases may seem rare.

He reminded people that every year in the UK ten people lose their sight due to fireworks. Furthermore, around 300 people annually suffer serious eye injuries during Guy Fawkes celebrations.

Additionally, he said many people mistakenly believe sparklers are harmless due to their size, but revealed they burn at 1,800 (982C)  hot enough to melt gold.

Bonfire goers are being warned about the potentially blinding injuries that could happen (stock image)

Harley Street and Moorfields Eye Hospital ophthalmologist Daniel Ezra

He said: 'While the number of firework related eye injuries may seem fairly small, they occur year after year, indicating that there is a serious need to raise awareness of the type of injuries they can pose, especially to the eyes.

'All of these injuries could cause long-term eye damage or severely affect your vision. And unfortunately, it happens more than you think.

'Sometimes, the damage can be so severe that the eye needs to be removed.'

Mr Ezra has shared his expert tips for enjoying bonfire night safely next weekend.

Seek medical attention immediately

Even for seemingly mild injuries, quick action can minimise long-term damage.

Do not rub, rinse or apply pressure to the injured eye, or remove any objects stuck in the eye. Pressure often does more harm than good when it comes to an eye injury.

Wear protective eye wear

For those who are lighting fireworks, you should always wear protective eye-wear with side shields to protect your eyes from injuries that can-do harm to your eyesight.

A good pair of eye goggles will protect you from even the most serious accidents.

Onlookers should also aim to wear eye protection as nearly half of people injured by fireworks are bystanders.

Supervise your children

If sparklers are held too close to the eye, the hot embers can damage the cornea and permanently affect the vision.

Always supervise children using sparklers  the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) do not recommend giving sparklers to children under five.
Listen to any big-wig in the NHS and youll hear the same mantra repeated again and again: the NHS needs fewer beds.

This belief runs like a cancer through all the upper tiers of the NHS, repeated ad nauseam in board meetings by managers who have no idea what its really like at the coalface.

They hang on to this because it offers a solution  albeit a fantasy  that the NHS can carry on cutting beds, and therefore costs, without this having any material impact on patient welfare.

Listen to any big-wig in the NHS and youll hear the same mantra repeated again and again: the NHS needs fewer beds, this belief runs like a cancer (file photo)

So we see the closing of wards and the moving of services into the community, and were told that this is really in the patients interest and more efficient. But thats utter rubbish.

We already have some of the lowest bed numbers of any developed nation. In fact, the NHS has the lowest number of beds of any comparable health system.

Is it that the rest of the developed world is simply wasteful and lazy? Or is it that the political rhetoric of axing beds is a cost-cutting exercise thats gone too far?

The situation is particularly bad in mental health, where beds have been reduced by 15,000 in the past six years alone. What do NHS officials think the patients in these beds were doing? Twiddling their thumbs and having a rest, courtesy of the taxpayer? They were in these beds because they were seriously unwell.

The NHS has the lowest number of beds of any comparable health system (pictured, people wait on trolleys in Royal Glamorgan Hospital during January this year)

And now that these beds have gone, there hasnt been a sudden, miraculous drop in the need for them. Instead, we have seen a massive increase in the number of private beds being used to deal with demand. Up to half of all private mental health beds in Britain are now used by the NHS.

Weve also started hearing stories about mentally-ill people having to sleep in police cells, for example, because there are no beds to admit them.

Instead of keeping beds, we have schemes such as the one proposed this week, with one hospital trust announcing plans to adopt an Airbnb system whereby members of the public with a spare room would be paid 1,000 a month to put up patients and provide three microwave meals a day and drinks.

On the face of it, you can see some logic in this. Patients who are well enough to be discharged, but cant be because theres no one at home to cook for them and see to their basic needs, are taking up beds and preventing new patients being admitted.

But I fear it would be the thin edge of the wedge, where more seriously-ill patients would end up in someones home  and just think if something were to go wrong.

Sometimes patients need to be in hospital and cant just be shoved onto a put-up bed in someones spare room next to the Christmas tree decorations and old photo albums.

Imagine if that was your granny. Theres been such a backlash, the proposals have been kicked into the long grass. My question is: how could NHS bosses not have seen that coming?

Listen to any big-wig in the NHS and youll hear the same mantra repeated again and again: the NHS needs fewer beds, this belief runs like a cancer Dr Max Pemberton

It reminds me of the proposal to train receptionists to triage calls and decide whether patients should see a doctor or not. Its ridiculous and insulting cost-cutting that anyone with half a brain cell could spot the flaws in.

Too often these schemes are really just window-dressing and a way of avoiding the real issue. They reveal just how out of touch NHS bosses are with most of the population  the people who actually use the health service.

High up in the NHS food chain there is a generally complacent and disingenuous view of patients. Ministers and managers, who are concerned only about budgets and targets, seem to be viewing the actual users of the NHS  the patients  as tedious, demanding annoyances, spoiling a perfectly good bar-graph and leaching money from the coffers.

If only they could get rid of patients, how efficiently the NHS would be run.

Theyve forgotten that the NHS belongs to the taxpayer. We pay for it and we use it. There isnt a bed crisis because of too many patients; theres a bed crisis because there arent enough beds.

Managers are too busy number-crunching. They dont look up from their clipboards long enough to see that, because of their decisions, the service that people have paid for is failing them.

A genius idea to stop superbugs

We all know that something has to be done about the impending crisis of antibiotic resistance.

If we do nothing, then in just a few years the antibiotics we now use will no longer work  and well be faced with a nightmare situation in which a simple scratch could end up killing you.

This week, Public Health England launched a major campaign, Keep Antibiotics Working, to address this and to educate the public about the risks of overusing antibiotics.

As well as adverts warning of the danger, it has enlisted the help of psychology in what I think is a very clever move.

We all know that something has to be done about the impending crisis of antibiotic resistance (file photo)

Patients want to do the right thing. However, they also want to feel theyve been listened to by their doctor and that their concerns have been addressed.

The problem is that in many patients minds, the evidence of this is walking out of the surgery clutching a prescription. If they leave without one, many people feel short-changed.

As part of the new campaign, Public Health England has worked out a way of getting round this, with Treating your infection prescription pads for GPs to fill in.

The sheet explains how long to expect the symptoms to last, and what the doctor recommends you do to manage the symptoms.

Its personalised for the patient, and includes a back-up antibiotic prescription that can be collected after a period of time set by the doctor if the symptoms dont improve. Genius.

Trials of this have been overwhelmingly positive. At one of the surgeries, patients say it has meant the doctor spends longer listening to them, rather than wasting time explaining why they arent going to prescribe antibiotics.

If were to keep antibiotics working for the next generation, this is precisely the lateral thinking that is required.

Work can be best thing for depression

Theres no doubt that public understanding about mental health is growing. Sure, theres still stigma, but by and large over the past few years the general public has become more sensitive about it.

However, theres a lag in how employers respond to it.

While its all very well telling people its good to talk and encouraging them not to suffer in silence with depression, for instance, thats not much good if those in work arent given the support they need to receive help.

We know that being in work is the best thing for the majority of those with a mental illness. It provides structure, purpose and routine (file photo)

It might surprise you to know that I spend a good proportion of my working week not actually delivering treatment to my patients, but talking to their bosses about allowing them time off to go to their appointments.

The problem with mental health is that its not like many other conditions that require either a couple of outpatient appointments a year or a one-off operation with a week or so to recuperate. It takes time and a commitment to attend regular appointments, often once or twice a week for months.

With varying success, I threaten, plead and cajole bosses into giving my patients time off to attend psychotherapy, outpatient appointments and other commitments. But if they refuse, the patient has to go on long-term sick leave or resign and apply for benefits.

This is ridiculous. We know that being in work is the best thing for the majority of those with a mental illness. It provides structure, purpose and routine.

Its also better for employers. Far better to keep an experienced member of staff and make concessions than to have to recruit and train someone else.

Its an often forgotten fact that mental illness doesnt mean you cant work: in fact, far more people experiencing mental health problems are in employment than arent.

This week, a report co-authored by Paul Farm, the chief executive of the charity Mind, and backed by Theresa May, found that around 300,000 people a year lose their jobs due to mental ill-health, at a cost  through lost productivity  of around 99 billion.

Sadly, my experiences chime with its findings: that mental illness is still a taboo subject for employers. The report proposes that companies allow flexible working for these employees. It seems so simple  and so right.

A truly horrific statistic emerged this week: one in five children will be obese when they leave primary school, and another third overweight.

Evidence suggests that if someone was overweight as a child, theyre unlikely to be a normal weight as an adult. Theyre condemned to a life of obesity  with all the associated ill health.

There is only one place to point the finger of blame: at parents. Given the health implications of obesity, this strikes me as nothing less than child abuse. What I find bizarre is that if a child is severely underweight, social services are all over the family like a rash. Why are we so blase when its obesity?
Former magicians assistant Debbie McGee, 58, has wowed fans of BBCs Strictly Come Dancing with her eye-popping flexibility  which would no doubt be the envy of a woman half her age.

And for those wanting to emulate the effortless way she slides into the splits (or, perhaps even the showstopping standing version), help may be at hand.

A new book, Even The Stiffest People Can Do The Splits, promises that just about anyone can achieve limber legs like Debbies  and in just four weeks.

Former magicians assistant Debbie McGee, 58, has wowed fans of BBCs Strictly Come Dancing with her eye-popping flexibility

Written by Japanese yoga-queen Eiko, it sold more than 1.6million copies in her native country.

The former aerobics instructor is now bringing her stretching bible to Britain which, according to exercise experts, could result in a plethora of health benefits for readers.

Eikos programme  outlined here  promises to deliver improved circulation, eased back pain, increased flexibility and that ability to do the splits.

All thats needed, she claims, is four weeks of three daily stretches lasting a few minutes. This consists of two core stretches plus one extra that changes each week

All thats needed, she claims, is four weeks of three daily stretches lasting a few minutes. This consists of two core stretches plus one extra that changes each week.

With more than six million views on the authors YouTube tutorial video, the 50-year-old is massively popular and, according to followers, results in agility improvements for people of all ages.

Sugako Nishino, 72, claims to be lighter, trimmer and more limber than her 53-year-old daughter since visiting Eikos studio.

According to Eiko, people who have been inflexible since childhood and those whose bodies have stiffened ought to succeed.

She joins a recent surge in Britons quest for flexibility. According to business analysts Ibis, we spend an average of 790 per year on stretch-heavy yoga classes, with the number of Britons practising doubling in the past 20 years.

According to Eiko, people who have been inflexible since childhood and those whose bodies have stiffened ought to succeed

Tim Allardyce, osteopath and clinical director of Surrey Physio, regularly sees the benefits of stretching exercises in his clients. We get stiffer as we get older because theres a loss of collagen between our joints, he says.

Once people get stretching, they usually find a staggering reduction in pain and inflammation. Maintaining flexibility is one of the most important foundations for overall fitness. It allows you to move your body, and an active lifestyle is key to good health.

Eiko began working as an aerobics instructor in her 20s. I suffered from back aches, she said. Yoga movements were difficult for someone as inflexible as I was.

After identifying the individual stretches that would achieve maximum flexibility, Eiko developed a method that could be taught easily.

So, are you willing to put it to the test? Try some of Eikos ultra simple moves for yourself

Even The Stiffest People Can Do The Splits, by Eiko, is published by Yellow Kite, priced 9.99. Offer price 7.99 (20 per cent discount) until November 5. Order at www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 0844 571 0640; p&p free on orders over 15.
Our History Of The 20th Century: As Told In Diaries, Journals And Letters

Travis Elborough

Michael O'Mara Books 25

Rating:

The great diarists offer us a secret history of their times. Jokes and rumours, hopes and fears: these intangibles would evaporate into thin air were it not for the diarists jotting them down.

This fascinating anthology tracks the 20th century through diaries, journals and letters, though mainly diaries. At its best, it opens up secret peep-holes on to some of the key events of the century, and allows us to see them from unexpected angles.

Take sick jokes, for instance. People tell them to each other, and then forget them with the passing of the days. These jokes are lost to historians, and therefore to history.

Left-wing intellectual Beatrice Webb in 1922 she came away with a very favourable impression of the future Fascist leader Oswald Mosley (above)

But every now and then, a diarist writes one down, allowing future generations to see what made people laugh at the time.

When the crooked newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell drowned off his yacht in 1991, he was the subject of a lot of sick jokes. But you will never find them in the usual biographies of Capn Bob, as he was known, because they were rarely noted down.

However, around the time of his death, the journalist Virginia Ironside recorded in her diary: Lots of good Maxwell jokes, of course. Did you hear about Bob  bob  bob  bob  bob.

And, like jokes, rumours have a tendency to disappear, yet most people are gripped by them, often preferring them to the truth. A little-known woman called Mrs Henry Dudeney, who lived in Lewes, East Sussex, during the first half of the 20th century, was alert to a variety of contemporary rumours, not least those concerning King Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson.

We talk, up and down the High Street, in and out of the house, of nothing but the King, she writes in her diary on December 5, 1936. Some say he made over the Duchy of Cornwall to that Simpson fiend. Others say he cant. Some say she is a spy from Russia.

Beatrice Webbs first impression of the young Winston Churchill (above) in 1903 was of a restless, self-regarding personality with a lack of moral and intellectual refinement

Three years later, in 1939, the same diarist records: The rumour now is that Hitler is either dead or disposed of but has half a dozen doubles, and that Goebbels is the real villain of the piece.

Mr Spokes said he couldnt understand why our Secret Service hadnt got rid of Hitler long ago. It is always done. People said the same of Mrs Simpson, now the (so-called) Duchess of Windsor: Why dont they bump her off? 

Over time, first impressions also disappear, to be replaced by the solemn verdict of history. So it is as well to realise that the Left-wing intellectual Beatrice Webbs first impression of the young Winston Churchill in 1903 was of a restless, self-regarding personality with a lack of moral and intellectual refinement.

On the other hand, in 1922 she came away with a very favourable impression of the future Fascist leader Oswald Mosley.  Here is the perfect politician who is also a perfect gentlemen I said to myself as he entered the room He seems to combine great personal charm with solid qualities of character, aristocratic refinement with democratic opinions.

History tends to overlook inconvenient truths, while diarists, writing in private, are much more frank. In his 1955 diary, Harold Macmillan, at that time Churchills Defence Minister, recorded that at one Cabinet meeting Churchill proposed the slogan Keep Britain White in response to unease about immigration from the West Indies.

During the Second World War, Gladys Langford, a diarist in London, noted complaints about the children evacuated to the countryside. Evacuees are usually sentimentalised, but not here.

The Beatle who is married to an Asiatic Lady was on The Frost Programme, writes the neurotic comic Kenneth Williams on seeing John Lennon (above) in 1969

Teacher friends tell Gladys that the children are unruly, foulmouthed and dirty in some instances. Some have infectious complaints.

And conventional histories of the home front seldom mention the fact that many people killed their family pets at the outbreak of the Second World War, so that food could be conserved.

Lots of people are carrying cats about in baskets, evidently to be destroyed, wrote Gladys Langford: in a useful footnote, Travis Elborough writes that this led to a rapid increase in mice and rats in urban areas.

Likewise, the history books have it that Queen Victorias death in 1901 was deeply traumatic to the British. But the account of her funeral by the hugely successful novelist Arnold Bennett tells a different story.

The people were not, on the whole, deeply moved, whatever journalists may say, but rather serene and cheerful, he noted.

Aptly enough, Elborough begins his lively compilation with Queen Victoria writing in her diary on January 1, 1900. I begin today a new year & a new century, full of anxiety & fear of what may be before us.

In some ways, this sets the mood for her fellow diarists throughout the ensuing century. At the turn of the century, they are worrying about raising the speed limit on the new-fangled motor car from 12mph to 25mph; at the end of the century, they are worrying about the predicted Millennium Bug.

And there are endless anxieties in between: worries about suffragettes and the general strike, worries about the atomic bomb and fast food. How reluctantly we inhabit our century, notes the artist Keith Vaughan in 1965, and its a quote that could serve as the books presiding motto.

The history books have it that Queen Victorias death in 1901 was deeply traumatic to the British. But the account of her funeral by the hugely successful novelist Arnold Bennett tells a different story

In 1978, Michael Palin confides to his diary his worries about McDonalds, which has just come to Britain. A thought struck me as I left  the bags in which you are given food at McDonalds are almost identical in texture, shape and size with the vomit bags tucked in the seat pockets of aircraft.

Many of these worries are still with us today. Back in 1912, one diarist is already worrying about an enormous number of cheap foreign cars that are beginning to flood the market.

The invasion of American cars threatens to deprive thousands of English workers of employment. Its interesting, too, that, by 1901, celebrities were already sick to death of being mobbed, among them General Baden-Powell, the hero of Mafeking, later to become founder of the Boy Scouts.

BP is tired of the adulation which he gets wherever he goes, writes the editor R D Blumenfeld. He says he still cannot go to a theatre or public place without being cheered at and mobbed.

As the century progresses, so the celebrity mountain grows, and not to everyones delight. The Beatle who is married to an Asiatic Lady was on The Frost Programme, writes the neurotic comic Kenneth Williams on seeing John Lennon in 1969.

The man is long-haired & unprepossessing, with tin spectacles and this curious, nasal, Liverpudlian delivery: the appearance is either grotesque or quaint & the overall impression is one of great foolishness.

He then adds, for good measure: I think this mans name is Ringo Starr.

Elborough raids Tony Benns voluminous diaries for a pedestrian mention of Kennedys assassination in 1963

Compelling as it is, this anthology has a shortcoming that arises from its basic format. Understandably, Elborough wants to include as many references as possible to the key events of the 20th century  for instance, the suffragettes, or the assassination of President Kennedy, or the Falklands War.

Yet the best diarists tend to mention such current events only in passing, their main focus of attention being on their own lives, and the lives of their immediate circle. This means, particularly in the final third of the century, that the fascinating comings and goings of everyday life tend to be sacrificed in favour of drab mentions of news headlines.

For example, Elborough raids Tony Benns voluminous diaries for a pedestrian mention of Kennedys assassination in 1963. Why? Benn was not in Dallas at the time, but in Acton, and he heard about the Presidents death on a news bulletin.

IT'S A FACT In 2015, the British Library paid 220,000 for Kenneth William's acerbic diaries and letters, 85 per cent of which had not been published. Advertisement

It was the most stunning blow, he wrote, which is as banal a reaction as it would be possible to have.

Strange, too, that Elborough chose to pick an outsiders uninteresting account of Mrs Thatchers downfall rather than a more vivid extract from a diarist closer to the centre of events, such as the rip-roaring, minute- by-minute account offered by Alan Clark.

Who knows? Perhaps the expense of copyright permissions played their part in his final selection: yet another anxiety to add to a century of anxieties.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has chalked up its strategy to counter the rhetoric of Patel-Patidar votes slipping out of its kitty in the high voltage Gujarat Assembly elections.

BJP observers in the state see a clear-cut divide in the influential Patel community and have thus ruled out any jolt to the BJP in the polls.

Party leaders believe that a strong organisational set-up would help BJP wrest power for the sixth consecutive term as they also argued that the party would reap benefits as a result of the recently commissioned Sardar Sarovar Dam.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures while being garlanded in rose petals in the formation of a map of Gujarat State at Bhaat village on the outskirts of Ahmedabad

A BJP leader overseeing poll preparations in Gujarat said a large section of Patel community was engaged in various trade, including educational institutions that came up during the last five regimes of the BJP government.

For most part of this period, the state was ruled by the Narendra Modi-led government.

It is essentially for this reason that the Patels could not afford to elect a weak government in the state, the leader claimed.

Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi at the inauguration of the International Conference on Consumer Protection for the east, south and south-east countries

Gujarat has over 52 universities out of which only seven are run by the government, while nearly 45 private universities are owned by the Patels.

'Privatisation of education is one of the policies associated with the Narendra Modi regime in Gujarat and the community (Patel) knows the advantage of having a BJP-government in the state.

'Apart from these universities, a number of leaders from Patel community run schools and others institutions,' the BJP leader maintained.

The BJP sources cited examples like Ganpat University in Mehsana district owned by former BJP Minister Anil Patel and his family, while a number of educational institutes in Kalol are also owned by a prominent Patel community leader.

Other private universities owned by the Patel community are Nirma University in Ahmedabad, DD Desai University in Nadiad, Charusat University in Anand and Navrachna University in Vadodara.

The BJP observers working in Gujarat from different parts of the country were also optimistic of the party getting benefited by the Sardar Sarovar Dam.

Kedarnath: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a public meeting at Kedarnath in Uttarakhand

Notwithstanding protests arising due to displacement of certain sections, party leaders claimed that benefits from the project are immense.

Official estimates claim that nearly 18.45 lakh hectare land is projected to be irrigated by this water  a very large area by any standards.

While the Narmada water will will increase agricultural production to the tune of about 87 lakh tonne per annum, it will also provide drinking water to 9,500 villages and 173 towns of Gujarat.

Modi, on his 67th birthday, unveiled a plaque dedicating the major water project to the nation

The project has been mired in controversy and has faced stiff opposition from villagers affected by it

Vedic hymns were sung by students during Modi's visit

Most of the areas covered are drought-prone and parched. However, the BJP has deployed a strong team of workers at every level to defy anti-incumbency and communicate government's achievements to the voters.

The party claims to have appointed more than seven lakh in-charge of each page of electoral rolls at booth level who will be primarily responsible for bringing voters to the polling stations.

The party hopes to continue its dominance of more than 60 urban and semi-urban seats that will play a crucial role in BJP's victory.

The BJP's last loss in Gujarat Assembly elections came in 1990. From 1995, over five elections, the BJP got a majority on its own.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi having spent almost five years in Garudchatti near the Kedarnath shrine as a sanyasi, the government is going to get the ashram there rebuilt as part of the Kedarnath reconstruction plan.

The prime minister reviewed the plan's progress during his visit to Mussoorie.

'The small ashram at Garudchatti was where the prime minister stayed for almost five years between 1985 to 1990 as a sanyasi.

'The place is going to be reconnected with the Kedarnath shrine and the ashram there is also going to be reconstructed,' officials explained.

It's been a busy year for Narendra Modi, who has also met with President Donald Trump

Garudchatti, three kilometres from Kedarnath temple, was completely devastated during the 2013 disaster.

A bridge would be constructed in the area to link up with the Kedarnath valley.

The prime minister previously visited Kedarnath on October 20, which was his second visit to the shrine this year, and will visit again in May next year.

The BJP also has plans of launching its poll campaign for 2019 from Kedarnath temple in October 2018, when projects commissioned by the prime minister are scheduled to be completed.

Those projects include widening the access road to the temple and construction of banks along the two rivers Mandakini and Saraswati which flow from there.

The prime minister also inaugurated a project centred on rebuilding the samadhi of Adi Guru Shankaracharya.

The reconstruction plan is being carried out by the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering under Col Ajay Kothiyal.
Prayers should be banned at the Taj Mahal, the history wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh  Akhil Bhartiya Itihaas Sankalan Samiti  has demanded.

The Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays to facilitate prayers.

While reacting to raging controversy over the monument after a BJP lawmaker called it a blot, the RSS affiliate body's national organisation secretary Dr Balmukund Pandey said: 'Taj is a national heritage, why allow Muslims to use it as a religious site? Permission to perform namaz at Agra's Taj Mahal should be withdrawn.'

Adding more fuel to the fire, Dr Pandey also demanded that if namaz is allowed then permission to perform Shiva prayers should also be granted to the Hindus.

Just a few days ago, members of a right-wing organisation Hindu Yuva Vahini were forcibly taken away by security personnel for attempting to recite Shiva Chalisa on the Taj premises.

The Taj Mahal is reflected on a river in the northern Indian city of Agra

The workers were demanding their rights to perform prayers, claiming Taj was a Shiva temple before it was converted into a mausoleum.

'There is ample evidence that Taj Mahal was a Shiva temple constructed by a Hindu king, Taj is not a symbol of love. Emperor Shahjahan married within four months of his queen Mumtaz Mahal's demise,' claimed Dr Pandey.

'We are collecting evidence and will soon detail every aspect of it.'

Tourist admire the view

Excerpts from a book written by PN Oak which claims Taj to be Tejo Mahalaya are being aired on social media.

Hindu motifs on Taj Mahal are often cited to give credence to these claims.

Dr Pandey said a lot of research had been done on Taj but some of it was not allowed by previous governments to be published.

'There is evidence that Taj was a temple and perhaps because of this reason when India gained independence, it was decided to keep status quo of all monuments constructed before 1945 except for those at Ayodhya, Varanasi and Mathura,' added Dr Pandey.

'Our organisation is compiling a list all such monuments which were demolished by the Muslim rulers to construct mausoleums or other buildings,' he said.

'History is written on the basis of research by professors, we are doing this job, we want that government should open up room number 22 of Taj Mahal which remains locked up.

A visitor takes a picture near the Taj Mahal

'We are sure there are lot of Hindu artefacts there to prove what we are saying.'

But historians are unanimous that there was never a temple at the site where Taj stands today.

Prof Najaf Haider of JNU said: 'Land belonged to Maan Singh and is currently in possession of his descendent Jai Singh.

'When the king and his counsellors chose this place, he offered it as a tribute to the king which was accepted and in lieu of mansions. So this is the description... and so there is no reason unless you have a very strong evidence to the contrary which we don't.'

Prof Salil Mishra of Dr Ambedkar University said: 'We know certain things as fact that there was a temple in Mathura and next to it, there's a mosquein Varanasi also, it happens about Somnath we know and no historian really disputes it.

'However, about Taj Mahal and other similar buildings, there is no such evidence. So we cannot really conclude on any basis that there was a temple to make this building.'

Taj Mahal's architecture, the building material used, the motifs are all characteristic of the period of Shahjahan's rule.

The Archaeological Survey of India maintains that the Taj Mahal is a tomb and not a temple as claimed by a group of petitioners. The Union culture ministry in November 2015 told Lok Sabha that there was no evidence of any temple at the Taj.
Taking advantage of the rise of online shopping, fund managers are going on a spending spree of their own  but theyre buying up warehouses.

The growing trend towards e-commerce has created intense demand for huge warehouses from which retailers can ship their goods.

Companies need an efficient network if they are to be able to offer customers speedy delivery of their favourite items.

Profiting from the online boom: Tritax Big Box is a trust investing in big distribution centres

Nathan Sweeney, senior investment manager at Architas, says: Any company selling their goods online wants a warehouse, and the bigger the better.

These so-called mega sheds need to be in great locations with excellent transport links, close to large cities. The main hub needs to be able to access most of the UK within a certain time frame and then smaller, satellite locations are needed to get items to customers faster as same-day and one-day deliveries become increasingly popular.

But internet giants such as Amazon and Currys dont want to build their own so they rent them for long periods from specialist companies, which benefit from the rise in the value of the warehouse and the steady rental income received from the tenant.

And while many property funds have a proportion of their cash invested in these assets, Sweeney likes Tritax Big Box, which specialises in this type of real estate.

Tritax, which yields around 4.3 per cent, is so in demand that its shares currently trade at a premium of 11 per cent.

Internet giants such as Amazon and Currys dont want to build their own warehouses, so they rent them for long periods from specialist companies

Veteran investor Neil Woodford has also revealed he is tapping into the trend. The fund manager invested in Warehouse Real Estate Investment Trust when it floated on the stock exchange in September. Warehouses buildings are, on average, just one mile from city centres or major highways. It aims for a dividend yield of 5.5 per cent.

At a time when demand for commercial property and office space is faltering because of Brexit uncertainty, e-commerce is only becoming more important. One of the major drivers of this trend is the fact that retailers cannot ignore it.

Tom Walker, manager of the Schroder Global Cities Real Estate fund, says: The retailers which are going to be the winners of the future are those which embrace an omnichannel approach where they use their stores as adverts for their products and customers come to look and then go home and order online.

And Jonathan Holland, manager of the L&G Industrial Property investment fund, says its not just the healthy dividends which make warehouses attractive investments.

Mega-sheds and the land theyre built on have the potential to rapidly rise in value too. They are expected to grow around 6 per cent a year over the next five years.

As well as that, a shortage of supply in areas such as London has seen some rents double over the past five years.

And this trend is not just shaking up retail in the UK. Schroders Walker likes Australian logistics specialists Goodman Group and Californian real-estate firm Rexwood. Walker says: People think of property as quite a safe, sleepy asset but the effect e-commerce is having is huge.
Milo Yiannopoulos has taken a swipe at outspoken feminist Clementine Ford, labelling her 'vindictive, spiteful' and 'particularly unintelligent'.

The so-called 'internet super villain' said he feels sorry for the 'poor lamb' and once again challenged Ms Ford to a one-on-one debate.

'Clementine is a sort of useful idiot. She's one of those people who doesn't really understand what she's parroting,' Yiannopoulos said on Monday.

'She obviously reads American blogs and watches American culture wars and thinks she can reproduce that in Australia.

Milo Yiannopoulos (left) has taken a swipe at outspoken feminist Clementine Ford (right), labelling her 'vindictive, spiteful' and 'particularly unintelligent'

The so-called 'internet super villain', who likens feminsism to cancer, said he feels sorry for the 'poor lamb' and once again challenged Ms Ford to a one-on-one debate

'She strikes me as particularly unintelligent and misguided. I feel for her, the poor lamb. Hopefully she'll except my invitation to debate.'

Yiannopoulos, who revealed earlier this month he wanted to debate the polarising figure, said he didn't think the challenge would be accepted.

'Of course not. She's terrified of me and she knows she'll lose the debate - but let's see,' he said.

'Maybe I'll doorstop her - maybe I'll show up and try to get an interview on camera.'

Ms Ford previously slammed Yiannopoulos for pronouncing her name as 'Clementeen' and said: 'It's tyne, like Milo has a tyne-y brain'

Yiannopoulos (pictured in New York in April) told Mark Latham's Outsiders program this month he wanted to debate the polarising figure but didn't think the challenge would be accepted

Ms Ford has lashed out at Yiannopoulos on social media in the past, calling him 'Milo Whinopoulos' and saying he 'can go f*** himself'.

She slammed him for pronouncing her name as 'Clementeen' and said: 'It's tyne, like Milo has a tyne-y brain'.

Yiannopoulos pronounced her name the same way speaking to Daily Mail Australia this week.

Ms Ford has also described Yiannopoulos as a 'liar' and as a threat to women, girls and transgender people and suggested Trump voters would not buy his book because they cannot read.

Daily Mail Australia has approached Ms Ford for comment.

Yiannopoulos' highly controversial views have seen him banned from Twitter and depart from his role with conservative website Breitbart News.

Yiannopoulos stops to take a picture after speaking during a free speech rally at U.C. Berkeley last month

From opposing gay marriage - despite being openly homosexual and married to his partner  to his criticism of the transgender rights agenda and the 'Black Lives Matter' movement, his ideas are often divisive.

He has previously likened feminism to cancer and Islam to AIDS, while sparked outrage when he said sexual relationships between underage boys and men could be consensual.

Ahead of his upcoming Australian tour, his opponents started a petition demanding Minister for Immigration Peter Dutton deny Yiannopoulos a visa.

As of Monday, it had attracted just over 1,000 signatures.

A counter-petition, set up by political commentator Mark Latham, has been signed well over 11,000 times.

From opposing gay rights to his comments on transgender issues and the 'Black Lives Matter' movement, Yiannopoulos ' ideas are often divisive

'Aren't they sweet? The best they could do was marshal 900 people to sign that petition,' Yiannopoulos said.

'I just find it adorable and charming when people get so upset about a gay man having the wrong opinions and telling the wrong jokes.'

Yiannopolous will bring his Troll Academy Tour to Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast from December 1.

'The response had been absolutely amazing. We've just announced a second show in Sydney - the first one sold out in a couple of weeks,' he said.
One may not be a real captain, the other not a real colonel.

But together, they worked with military precision to break a Guinness world record this week... for the most shaving foam pies flung in someone's face in one minute.

'Captain Calamity' and 'Colonel Custard' - aka Dov Citron and Paul Megram respectively - beat the long-held record, which stood at 71 pies, on Monday.

The Colonel took on the flinging role while the Captain bravely received the incoming foam projectiles.

'Captain Calamity' and 'Colonel Custard' - aka Dov Citron (above) and Paul Megram respectively - are the new Guinness world record holders for most shaving foam pies flung in someone's face in one minute

They achieved their moment of glory at Kidtropolis at ExCeL in East London, on Monday with the Captain acting as 'receiver' and the Colonel as 'flinger'

The previous record stood at 71 pies. The pair (Paul 'Colonel Custard' Megram, right) equalled this on their second attempt - and beat it with a magical 72nd pie on their fourth and final attempt

Their moment of glory occurred at Kidtropolis at ExCeL in East London, where they managed to equal the previous record on their second attempt, but then broke it on their fourth - and final - attempt by one all-important pie: a messy but magical 72.

Mr Citron, 40, of Edgware, north-west London, told MailOnline: 'I have been pied by children at shows, parties and events for 15 years but nothing like this volume of shaving foam in such a short window of time.

'The key is to stay calm, close your eyes, hold your breath and brace yourself.'

Captain Calamity told MailOnline: 'I'm hooked now... I wonder if there's a record involving slime or some other revolting substance. I'd love to do that'

The children's entertainer added: 'I have been breaking things from an early age. I broke most of my toys. I break dishes and glasses all the time. I even broke my foot and my finger, so it was only natural to progress on to breaking records.

'I used to get a Guinness World Record Book every year for my birthday when I was a kid and I always loved looking at the daftest records best. Never in a million years did I think I would join the ranks of these select few.'

The pair had the option to stand during the challenge but both instead chose a kneeling position - with Mr Megram, 50, holding his hands aloft as he was constantly handed more pies by assistants.

Mr Citron, 40, of Edgware, north-west London, told MailOnline: 'I have been pied by children at shows, parties and events for 15 years but nothing like this volume of shaving foam in such a short window of time'

The Captain, who is also the star of The Captain Calamity Adventures YouTube show for kids, is now bitten by the record-breaking bug - and wants to attempt a record involving slime

Guinness rules stipulate that the distance between the two must be 1.50 metres, the pies have to fill the plate and have a peak, and only shaving foam can be used - and the flinger can be handed the pies.

Mr Megram - a former UK children's entertainer of the year, from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire - did not let the side down, and was a veritable pie-tossing machine.

'I must admit I was exhausted. It was so much fun but I didnt realise just how strenuous it would be. The pies were coming in at a rate of nearly two every second- and only the ones that hit were counted,' he said.

Pie-tossing machine Mr Megram admitted being exhausted after hurling the foam pies in the world record attempt

And is the Captain, who is also the star of The Captain Calamity Adventures YouTube show for kids, now bitten by the record-breaking bug?

'Of course. I'm hooked now,' he told MailOnline. 'I wonder if there's a record involving slime or some other revolting substance. I'd love to do that.'

The previous holder of the record was Ashrita Furman, of Brooklyn, New York.

As of 2017, Furman has set more than 600 official Guinness Records and currently holds more than 191 records, including the record for holding the most Guinness world records.

The pies for the record attempts used to contain custard but, owing to food-wastage concerns, Guinness changed it to shaving foam-only.
A 10-year-old Ohio boy has been charged with felony fleeing and eluding after allegedly leading police and state troopers on a 45-mile pursuit that reached speeds of 100mph because he was 'bored'.

Erie County Prosecutor Kevin Baxter says a judge will hold a hearing Friday to determine if the boy should remain in a juvenile detention center.

The boy took his mother's boyfriend's car from his Cleveland home on Thursday and led police on a high-speed interstate pursuit that continued with state troopers chasing him on the Ohio Turnpike, according to authorities.

Scroll down for video

Authorities say a 10-year-old boy led police on a high-speed pursuit on Thursday that began in Cleveland and ended miles away along the Ohio Turnpiken after state troopers boxed him in

As the officers maneuver around a tractor-trailer, an officer finds an opening allowing him to intentionally hit the car (right) in order to bring it to a stop

Dashcam video from the Ohio State Highway Patrol shows the car being driven into a ditch to avoid spike strips, and continuing on the opposite side of a metal barrier as the driver flees the officers.

The pursuit ended when a trooper nudged the car into a sign on a grassy berm and prevented it from returning to the roadway.

Officers raced to the car and demanded the boy roll down the window and get out, as seen on video.

The video shows the officer ram the car that then knocks over a road sign (pictured)

Troopers are then seen pulling the boy (pictured in red) out of the car through the window. He kicked at the troopers and spit on them off camera, state patrol Lt Richard Reeder said

He allegedly kicked at the troopers and spit on them off camera, state patrol Lt Richard Reeder told Cleveland.com.

The boy also told officer he stole the car because he was 'bored' while waiting for his sister to take him to school that morning.

His mother's boyfriend called police and his mother jumped in her car and followed him.

At one point, a trooper pulled up next to the boy and motioned for him to stop. The boy shook his head and sped up, police told the news outlet.

Shocked drivers also called police about the child driving at high speeds that topped 100mph.

The chase ended at 9.49am, about an hour after he took off. No one was injured in the incident and no other cars were damaged during the chase.

His mother told police that it was the second time her son took a family member's car for a joyride in two weeks, according to Cleveland.com.

The other incident took place on October 16. But he didn't get far because the car had three flat tires.

r
ELKO  How can the Elko community put dementia patients and their families at ease?

That is the question posed by Dementia Friendly Elko, a committee recently formed to create awareness about those suffering from dementia in the community.

A survey created by the Sanford Center for Aging asks for public input on what services are needed in Elko for dementia patients and their caregivers.

The survey is due Oct. 31 and can be completed online or printed and delivered to the Elko Senior & Active Lifestyles Center at the Terrace at Ruby View.

Initiated by Dr. Jennifer Carson, research assistant professor for the school of community health sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno, Dementia Friendly of Elko began meeting at the Terrace in July in an effort to tackle misinformation about people living with dementia.

Its not the long goodbye, Carson said. Those living with dementia are still themselves.

Carson, who is also director of the gerontology academic program at UNR, said her heart for dementia patients and their caregivers began as a teen when she worked in a nursing home.

The goal of Dementia Friendly USA is to provide basic education about dementia, Carson said, which is seeking to change how dementia is viewed and the amount of support given to caregivers.

Dementia Friendly also provides training on their website that shows people how to identify and assist those who may have early-stage dementia in several community sectors including restaurants, retail, banks and pharmacies.

Once someone views all the videos, they may register as a dementia friend for free, Carson said.

The videos are a simple way to help engage the broader community in learning about dementia and not overwhelming them with clinical information that may not be helpful, Carson said.

Dementia Friendly America is expanding throughout the country, with committees in southern Nevada and the Reno area.

To fill out the survey or print out a copy, go to https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/3838265/Dementia-Friendly-Community-Awareness-Survey-Elko.

To learn more about Dementia Friendly Elko, contact the Terrace at 738-3030.
The number of people regularly working nights has increased by 260,000 in the past five years, according to new analysis.

Britain's late-night workforce has almost reached 3.2 million after a 9% rise, said the TUC.

One in eight people now work nights, rising to one in six for black workers.

Britain's late-night workforce has almost reached 3.2 million after a 9% rise, said the TUC

Three out of five night workers are male, the study found.

The North West and Yorkshire have the highest rates of night working, with one in nine workers on night duty.

Night working is most common in sectors such as security, logistics, manufacturing and healthcare.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: 'As the clocks change, most of us can look forward to an extra hour in bed, but while we sleep, Britain's late-night workforce will be busy.

The North West and Yorkshire have the highest rates of night working, with one in nine workers on night duty

'Whether it's firefighters keeping watch, or drivers delivering packages across the country, we all depend on the UK's army of night workers.

'Night work can play havoc with family and social life, and have long-term health impacts. Many of the jobs are tough and often solitary.

'That's why night workers deserve strong rights and protections at work, to make sure they can get on with the job safely and happily.'
A Queensland man accused of kidnapping and raping a British backpacker during a horrifying outback ordeal has been named.

Marcus Allyn Keith Martin, from Cairns, is alleged to have repeatedly raped the 22-year-old female tourist and held her against her will for two months, as they embarked on a nightmare 1,500km road-trip.

The 23-year-old's identity can be revealed after being protected under Queensland law now that he has been committed to stand trial, The Courier Mail reports.

Cairns man Marcus Allyn Keith Martin (pictured) has been identified as the man accused of kidnapping and raping a 22-year-old female British backpacker earlier this year

The 22-year-old female tourist (seen on CCTV footage at a petrol station) was allegedly held against her will for two months and forced to embark on a nightmare 1,500km road-trip across Queensland

The case made international headlines back in March after it came to a dramatic conclusion following the victim's rescue.

The woman had allegedly been driving a white Mitsubishi Pajero in Mitchell, south central Queensland, when she stopped at a petrol station to fill up.

A service station assistant claimed the woman had been 'in a state of shock' as she came in and eventually drove off without paying, prompting them to notify police.

After the victim was pulled over by officers at a traffic stop the ordeal finally came to an end, with her alleged captor found hiding in the back of the vehicle.

The 23-year-old's identity can be revealed after previously being protected under Queensland law given he has now been committed to stand trial, The Courier Mail reports

The case came to a dramatic conclusion when the victim fled a petrol station in Mitchell without paying for fuel and was pulled over by police during a traffic stop, with officers discovering the alleged captor hiding in the back of the vehicle (pictured)

Martin (pictured) and the young woman are believed to have met in Cairns in January with police alleging the 22-year-old victim was then raped in a Cairns hotel the following month

TIMELINE OF THE HORROR ROAD TRIP JANUARY AUSTRALIA DAY WEEKEND: British backpacker meets man, 22, at a 'bush doof' party in Cairns. FEBRUARY Police alleged the 22-year-old tourist was raped in a Cairns hotel room. MARCH 1-5 The woman was allegedly forced to drive the suspect as they travelled south. She was allegedly beaten and repeatedly raped during this time. MARCH 5 The woman was rescued after being pulled over by police. The man was arrested and charged. Advertisement

When police approached the vehicle, they reportedly found the injured woman at the wheel, stating she appeared 'terrified'.

The woman was later treated for facial fractures, bruises and cuts to her body, with officers describing what happened to her as 'quite catastrophic'.

'We have potentially saved this young girl's life, given what's happened to her, the extent of what's happened and over the period of time, anything may have transpired,' Detective Inspector Paul Hart said at the time.

'From our investigations it would seem as they have been living in the vehicle and we'll be alleging that they've travelled throughout different parts of the state with her basically been told to take him to different locations.'

The pair are believed to have met in Cairns in January with police alleging the 22-year-old victim was raped in a Cairns hotel the following month.

Police pulled the vehicle over on March 5 after the victim fled the petrol station (pictured in CCTV footage) and said she appeared 'terrified'

Martin (pictured) faces charges including four counts of rape, eight counts of assault, four counts of strangulation and two of deprivation of liberty

Martin faces charges including four counts of rape, eight counts of assault, four counts of strangulation and two of deprivation of liberty.

One rape charge concerns an alleged offence between February 3 and 28, with three other rape charges relating to the road trip between March 1 and 5, according to News Corp.

Martin is reportedly yet to enter any pleas and has been in custody since his arrest, with bail refused.

He will face the District Court in Roma at an unspecified date.

The woman was allegedly made to travel nearly 1,500km from Cairns during the terrifying ordeal
Archaeologists are trying to identify human remains found at the first permanent English colonial settlement in the United States.

The remains were found in an historic church at Jamestown, Virginia. A team composed of members of the Jamestown Rediscovery project and the Smithsonian believe they may be a historically significant figure, the Washington Post reports.

Candidates include Lord De La Warr, after whom the state of Delaware is named; John Rolfe, the husband of Pocahontas and George Yeardley, an early governor of the Virginia colony.

Archaeologists seek to identify human remains found in a Jamestown, Virginia church (pictured)

Kelsey Watson trowels the chancel aisle to find any surviving evidence of the floor and any burials cutting through it

Researchers believe the bones could be the remains of Lord De La Warr, also known as Thomas West, after whom the state of Delaware is named

Another candidate is John Rolfe, a tobacco planter known for his marriage to Pocahontas. The couple is pictured at left in an illustration of their 1613 wedding. At right are Q'orianka Kilcher and Christian Bale, who respectively portrayed Pocahontas and John Rolfe in the 2005 Terrence Malick film 'The New World'

The team is seeking to find the remains of individuals who have been unearthed from small churches scattered around the archaeological site. Members are specifically looking for members of the aristocracy, whose coffins had a particular 'anthropoid' (i.e. human-like) shape.

The old colonial site has been heavily built upon over the centuries, which makes excavations difficult; archaeologists told the Washington Post that there are sometimes up to four layers of burials to sift through.

Further compounding the difficulty is the fact that the archaeological site has itself been altered by earlier excavations in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Earlier archaeologists did not employ the same scientific methods today, and damaged some findings, today's team says.

This past week, a time capsule from a group of 1900s archaeologists was discovered in Jamestown. Within was a note that was deemed illegible, WYDaily reports.

Pictured is a map of Virginia as described by Captain John Smith, who legend has it fell in love with Pocahontas, the daughter of a local Native American chief

English settlers are pictured in this engraving setting up their first camp at Jamestown in 1607

Jamestown was established in 1607 and held its first representative assembly in 1619.

Life for the colonists, who were not used to the brutally hot summers and swampy terrain, was difficult. Raids by local Native American tribes were common, and starvation was prevalent; only three years after its founding, colonists tried to abandon the site.

But Lord De La Warr, also known as Thomas West, arrived to become governor of the Virginia Colony and forced the settlers back into their abandoned homes. He instituted a strict penal code for the colonists and also instituted harsher relationships with Native American tribes.

He died at sea in 1618, and is believed to be buried in Jamestown.

John Rolfe was a businessman who found success in growing tobacco around Jamestown. He is well known as the husband of Pocahontas, the daughter of a local Native American chief who legendarily fell in love with Captain John Smith. He died in 1622 in Virginia.

George Yeardley served as Virginia governor off and on until his death in 1627.

Jamestown is the oldest English colonial settlement in the United States

A time capsule left by previous archaeologists was found in Jamestown this past week. Its message was deemed illegible

Pictured is a birds-eye view of Jamestown, which is near the living history museum of Williamsburg

The scientists noted that the bones found are those of a 'sturdy' and 'big' man.

'These are beautiful bones, in terms of preservation,' one scientist told the Washington Post.

The team believes that it may be possible to extract DNA from the bones.

Today, Jamestown is a tourist attraction near the living history museum of Williamsburg, Virginia.
A Florida man has been sentenced to death for killing his wife and five children.

Mesac Damas, 41, was sentenced by a judge Friday after waiving his right to a jury and to have attorneys present mitigating evidence, the Naples Daily News reports.

He pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree murder last month. He had also asked for the death penalty.

Judge Christine Greider told the court: 'Because death is a unique punishment in its finality, its application is reserved only for those cases where only the most aggravating and least mitigating circumstances exist.'

Damas has been in custody since 2009 after he confessed to murdering wife Guerline, 32, and children Michzach, nine; Marven, six; Maven, five; Megan, three; and 11-month-old Morgan.

Mesac Damas has been sentenced to death after he pleaded guilty to six counts of premeditated first-degree murder for murdering his wife and five children in their home in North Naples, Florida

Damas previously said: 'I love my people, my wife and children. But this thing happened. I dont have an answer for it. I wish I had an answer for it, but I dont'

Handing down the death sentence, Judge Christine Greider told the court: 'Because death is a unique punishment in its finality, its application is reserved only for those cases where only the most aggravating and least mitigating circumstances exist'

'I love my people, my wife and children. But this thing happened. I dont have an answer for it. I wish I had an answer for it, but I dont,' Damas previously said in court.

'When I stand before the great God, I will ask him a lot of questions. From now on, Im just going to put my trust in him, and say sorry to the whole world.'

The six victims were found in the family's home with stab wounds and their throats slashed on September 18 by Collier Sheriff Kevin Rambosk after the family asked police to conduct a welfare check.

Damas fled to his home country of Haiti but was arrested and returned to the US. He said he went to Haiti to say goodbye to his family and claimed he was going to turn himself in.

He had previously admitted to killing his family to a Naples News reporter, telling him 'Only God knows' when asked why he did it.

Damas killed his wife, Guerline (left), and their five children (right) pictured left to right: Megan, three; Michzach, nine; Morgan; 11 months; Maven, five, and Marven, six

He then blamed the six murders on his mother-in-law, saying she 'pretty much made me do it - the devil, her spirit, whatever she worships'.

He told the reporter he wanted the jury to immediately send him to death before adding that his children and wife were innocent, that 'everybody's innocent'.

'Then why, why would you kill them?' the reporter asked.

'The devil,' he responded. 'The devil exists...When I did it my eyes was closed, right now my eyes are open.'

Damas' trial had been delayed by mental competency issues, Fox 4 reported.

His attorneys had argued that he had suffered a traumatic brain injury and had a long history of mental illness that began during his childhood in Haiti.
Neilson Rizzuto, 25, pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree vehicular negligent injury and a misdemeanor charge on Friday

The driver of a pickup truck that plowed into a crowd at a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade in February pleaded guilty to 11 felony charges Friday.

Sentencing is set for January 12 for 25-year-old Neilson Rizzuto.

He entered guilty pleas Friday to felony charges of first-degree vehicular negligent injury, plus a misdemeanor charge.

Last month, he had pleaded guilty to 13 misdemeanors in connection with the crash.

Each of the 11 felony counts carries up to five years in prison.

As many as 32 people were reported hurt in the February 25 crash on the route of the Endymion parade.

New Orleans media reported that some victims attended Friday's hearing and described injuries, including broken bones and lacerations.

Faye Bertrand described physical pain and the emotional toll of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Police respond to the scene were a pickup truck driven by Rizzuto plowed into a Mardi Gras parade last February

She said she was leaving the parade in a car with her family members when Rizzuto rammed them from behind, slamming their car into a utility pole.

'I blacked out and had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital with injuries to my head, my neck, my abdomen, back and my knee. I'm in pain every day. I suffer from insomnia, migraines, and what has been diagnosed as PTSD.

'It seems like it's a nightmare on some days,' said Bertrand, according to an account in The New Orleans Advocate.

More victim impact statements are expected at January's sentencing.

The truck crashed along the Endymion parade route. At least 32 people were injured in the crash

People walk away from the scene of the crash on February 25. Each of the 11 felony counts against Rizzuto carries up to five years in prison

'By pleading guilty, he's accepting full responsibility for all the remaining counts,' Rizzuto's defense attorney Nanak Rai told NOLA.com|The Times-Picayune.

The accident came during one of the busiest nights of Mardi Gras when thousands of people throng the streets of Mid-City to watch elaborate floats and clamor to catch beads and trinkets tossed from riders.

Police had said that a breath alcohol test determined that Rizzuto's alcohol level was three times the legal limit after the he was arrested.

Rizzuto had worked as a bouncer at a daiquiri shop.
Plastic is now so widespread it can be found in the air we breathe and in household dust, experts have warned.

The air contains fibres from polyester clothing, traffic debris and fragments from water bottles and litter, according to research.

Professor Tamara Galloway blamed inappropriate disposal of plastics for particles entering the atmosphere  as they eventually get broken down and are picked up by wind currents.

It had previously been thought they could only get into the human body from eating fish which contained microplastics from the ocean.

The air contains fibres from polyester clothing, traffic debris and fragments from water bottles and litter, according to research

While there is no clear evidence that plastic in the air is harmful, studies show children could now ingest more than 3,000 plastic particles a year.

Professor Galloway, an expert in ecotoxicology at the University of Exeter, said: Most people will not be aware that there are tiny particles of plastic in road dust and in the air.

'These are preliminary findings and there has not yet been any comprehensive research to determine whether there is any significant risk to human health.

At this stage it seems critical that fully funded research is conducted to explore this, and to determine how exposure through dust and land-based debris compares to exposure through eating contaminated seafood, for example.

Presenting her report at a UN conference last month, she added: I think many people will be surprised by the evidence on plastic now. It is not plastic which is the problem, but the inappropriate disposal of it.

Plastic in itself is not toxic and most of the estimates suggest the amount we are exposed to is probably too low to have an effect, but we just dont know.

Researchers have found plastic in the air is mainly brought down by rainfall, and often consists of fibres from synthetic clothing like fleeces which have gone through washing machines.

Other sources include plastic debris, traffic cones, speed bumps and waste blown from landfill sites  all of which are broken down into tiny particles by sunlight, wind and water.

Many are washed into waterways, but their tiny size means they can be taken up into the air, entering the atmosphere as particles before being deposited back as atmospheric fallout, for example in urban dust.

While there is no clear evidence that plastic in the air is harmful, studies show children could now ingest more than 3,000 plastic particles a year

Last year Professor Frank Kelly, an expert in environmental health from Kings College London, told the House of Commons environmental audit committee that if plastics were airborne, we could breathe them in.

He said: If we could breathe them in, they could potentially deliver chemicals to lower parts of our lungs, even across into our circulation  in the same way we worry about vehicle emissions these days.

French researchers recently estimated from an atmospheric study that between three and ten tonnes of synthetic fibres are dumped on to a city the size of Paris every year.

And Iranian scientists who analysed street dust reported that children could swallow as many as 3,200 plastic particles a year.

It has already been estimated that there could be up to 50 particles of plastic in an average plateful of shellfish such as mussels or oysters.

But the Iranian study, published this summer, also found adults could swallow more than 1,000 microplastic particles a year from dust, concluding: Street dust is a potentially important source of microplastic contamination in the urban environment.
One of Australia's most iconic historical writers, who wrote poetically about colonial life and 'mateships' with other men, could have been gay, an author has claimed.

Henry Lawson's emotional instability and abuse of alcohol were signs of how 'destructively conflicted' he was over his sexuality and effeminacy, according to Australian author Frank Moorhouse.

Mr Moorhouse believes the writings of the legendary figure, whose face long appeared on the $10 note, indicated he could have potentially been bisexual or bi-gendered.

Compiling his findings into a series of essays, Mr Moorhouse discovered the bush poet's battle with 'conventional masculinity'.

Australian author Frank Moorhouse believes bush poet Henry Lawson (pictured in 1915) could stand as a 'hero' for the LGBTQ community

He believes the man's 'unresolvable inner tensions of his sexuality', though never overtly revealed, were written clearly throughout his old tales.

'I speculate that his effeminate personality contributed to both his abuse of alcohol, which can be both a relief from, and a form of, emotional absence within a relationship,' Mr Moorhouse wrote in The Drover's Wife: A celebration of a great Australian love affair.

'He may yet become a hero to all Australian queer kids, or the broader LGBTQI movement,' he wrote in an article for Sydney Morning Herald.

Lawson shared a particularly deep 'singularly intense bond' with a man named Jim Gordon; they trekked and slept under the stars for three months together.

They were separated for over 20 years following the trip but later re-kindled their 'mateship' and became inseparable.

Lawson's effeminate personality and abuse of alcohol were signs of how 'destructively conflicted' he was over his sexuality, Australian author Frank Moorhouse (pictured) said

After their first meeting, Gordon described how Lawson had 'eyed him off' with 'the most beautiful and remarkable eyes' he'd ever seen which were, 'soft as velvet and of a depth of brownness that is indescribable'.

When they were reunited, Lawson wrote: 'we were very young men then, those pasts are boys' pasts; and being but recently re-mated we haven't got to speak of those pasts yet. There's a certain shyness about the matter, if you understand, which may or may not deepen as those 25 year pasts are cleared up.'

The pair would walk arm in arm or holding hands and 'loathed to part' at the end of each day, according to author, Professor Gregory Bryan, who wrote a book about the their closeness.

Lawson (pictured in 1915) shared a particularly deep 'singularly intense bond' with a man named Jim Gordon; they trekked and slept under the stars for three months together

Their face-to-face relationship covered just five years, but they each wrote several letters and poems dedicated to one another.

Lawson died in 1922, aged 55, with his old friend writing, 'The stars have never seemed so bright / Since Lawson walked with me.'

Moorhouse believes Lawson would be less 'destructively conflicted about, and disturbed by, his effeminacy and may be bolder in his assertion of implied self' had he been alive today'.
The son of a Canberra mother who was mauled to death by her pet pitbull, Simba, has paid tribute to the woman who was 'the most important person in his life'.

Tania Klemke was killed Wednesday morning after stepping in when her beloved dog began to bite the leg of her partner.

Her son, Cody Baker, said he could not stop imagining his mother's final moments and 'her screaming for her life', but emphasised her love for the animal, the ABC reports.

The son of Canberra mother Tania Klemke, who was mauled to death by her pet pitbull, Simba, has paid tribute, calling her 'the most important person in his life'

'I found out my mum had passed in a terrifying way by a dog that loved her so much,' he said.

'I still can't believe it  I've lost the most important person in my life, the woman that gave birth to me, the woman that made me who I am today.'

The 22-year-old said he was hurt his mother would never be able to watch her three children grow-up and felt as though she would still greet him when he visited the Watson home.

'She did not deserve this and she definitely didn't f***ing deserve to go the way she did,' Mr Baker said.

Tania Klemke (pictured) was killed Wednesday morning after stepping in when her beloved dog began to bite the leg of her partner

Her son, Cody Baker, said he could not stop imagining his mother's final moments and 'her screaming for her life', but emphasised her love for the animal (pictured)

Police were called to the home around 4am after neighbours reportedly heard desperate screams coming from Ms Klemke's residence.

Officers arriving at the premises tried to save Ms Klemke's life, however the pitbull then turned on them, forcing them to shoot it dead.

The woman's partner is in hospital recovering from a serious wound to his leg, sustained during the dog attack.

Ms Klemke reportedly knew the dog was dangerous but would not get rid of him because he once 'took a bullet' for her during a violent home invasion, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The 22-year-old (pictured with his mother and the dog) said he was hurt Ms Klemcke would never be able to watch her three children grow-up

Pictures of the dog and Ms Klemke appear to show a deep bond, with one photo showing her son Cody nuzzling Simba's face as Ms Klemke sits nearby, unconcerned.

However, speaking out after Ms Klemcke's death, shocked friends said she had warned them about stopping by the property as the dog had a habit of attacking visitors.

In one instance in August, a person was left needing 42 stitches after being bitten by the pitbull.

On Wednesday, ACT city services minister Meegan Fitzharris confirmed rangers and police were called out to the property in August to deal with the animal.

Police had also been forced to draw weapons on the dog on that occasion, but it was allowed to remain at the property.

Police were called to the home around 4am after neighbours reportedly heard desperate screams coming from Ms Klemke's residence and found her inside

Officers arriving at the premises tried to save Ms Klemke's life, however the pitbull turned on them, forcing them to shoot it dead

'Clearly the dog was dangerous, clearly the dog has attacked someone overnight, someone we understand to be their owner or carer and that woman has died,' Ms Fitzharris said.

'Whether we knew enough at the time to have it declared as a dangerous dog is another matter we're following up on.'

Describing the death as 'tragic', a spokesperson for ACT Police said there would be an ongoing investigation.

'On arrival police were directed by a male in the backyard into the premises towards a female that was lying inside,' the spokesman said.

'A dog was also inside the premises. Police entered and attempted to provide first aid to the woman inside the house.

'While she was being worked on the dog attacked police officers, forcing them to fire a number of shots.'

Simba (pictured) had previously left a person was needing 42 stitches, with rangers and police previously sent to the property after an incident in August
New audio has emerged of security guard Jesus Campos reporting shots fired at the Mandalay Bay Resort during the October 1 massacre - but mystery still surrounds the exact timeline of the shooting.

Whether Campos was shot prior to the massacre or afterward remains unknown, as police have flip-flopped on the exact order of events, and MGM, which leaked the recording to ABC News, isn't saying when the recording took place.

Meanwhile, it's emerged that Campos - who has almost completely avoided speaking publicly about the shooting - has been kept out of the public eye by his employers, MGM.

The resort company is keeping the security guard in an unidentified hotel - leading to concerns that they may be trying to influence his testimony.

Scroll down for video

Jesus Campos (left, with colleague Stephen Schuck on TV's Ellen) reported shots fired from the room (right) of Las Vegas killer Stephen Paddock, newly released audio reveals

Police have wavered on whether Paddock fired from two windows of MGM's Mandalay Bay Resort (pictured) before or after he shot Campos. MGM isn't saying when his call was made

In the days after the shooting, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said that Campos had interrupted Paddock's 10-minute shooting spree.

Paddock saw Campos coming on cameras he'd set up, fired through the door of his sniper's nest, and injured the guard, Lombardo said. He claimed Paddock then stopped firing on crowds, just minutes before police arrived.

Days after that, however, a revised timeline was released that said Campos was fired on before Paddock started shooting at the crowds.

That left Lombardo unable to explain why Paddock fired for 10 minutes, then stopped firing for an hour before police burst into his room to find him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Last week the timeline changed again, saying Campos was shot around the time that Paddock opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival.

In the audio obtained by ABC News, Campos can be heard saying, 'Hey, there's shots fired in, uh, [floor] 32 [room] 135.'

A crackling sound that could be gunfire from Paddock's rifles - some of which were modified to fire at auto speed - can be heard behind his voice.

ABC said the audio was supplied by MGM Resorts, which runs the Mandalay Bay Resort, but says the company won't say exactly when he called in the shooting.

That means Campos himself holds the key information about how the shooting occurred - and MGM are ensuring that he's not talking to anyone, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

It has also emerged that Campos is staying in an unnamed property owned by MGM for free. The company says they're trying to protect their 'overwhelmed' employee from the media

Campos' only media appearance was in a softball interview with Ellen, in which he was not asked about the timeline confusion

The company has been paying the tab for Campos - who has avoided the media - to stay in one of their properties since he was identified on October 4, Campos' lawyer, Frank Flansburg III, said.

That's raised eyebrows for some.

'There's a suspicion that they are trying to shape his testimony and don't want him to provide information to the public about the incident,' Las Vegas attorney Will Kemp told the Review- Journal.

'Obviously, they want him to come out with a version of the timeline that's favorable to them,' said Kemp, who sued the MGM Grand after its deadly fire in 1980.

Another lawyer, Robert Eglet, whose company has surveyed the Mandalay Bay, said: 'Potentially, if they are influencing him in any way on his testimony, it's reasonable for people to suspect that they could be engaging and trying to control what his testimony or what his statement would be.'

But MGM Resorts' senior VP, Alan Feldman, said the company was just ensuring the well-being of one of its employees.

'When his name became public, Jesus was inundated with media coming to his home,' he said.

'Out of concern for our employee's safety, we provided a room for him. This was a very unusual circumstance, and our first and only concern was his safety.'

He added: 'He went from being a private citizen with no attention to suddenly being in the spotlight, and it was overwhelming while he was trying to recover from the tragedy.'

There is concern from some that MGM could influence Campos' testimony about the shooting (victims seen left) by Paddock (right). An MGM spokesperson said cops had visited Campos

He added that police had visited Campos and had also given the security guard the all-clear for a visit to Mexico, which he took shortly after the shooting, despite his injury.

Campos was born in Southern California and moved to Las Vegas as a teenager.

Chicago attorney Robert Clifford said he believed the MGM's explanation.

'Here's a man who just witnessed one of the most dramatic episodes a human being could witness, and they're trying to do the right thing to protect him from the hyper paparazzi-type environment that must be swirling around this tragedy,' he said.

Vegas defense attorney Thomas Pitaro agreed: 'As long as police are satisfied with the access they're getting to him, I don't see it as a problem.

'They're doing what they should be doing, taking care of their employee.'

Campos has only made one appearance in the media - in a softball interview with Ellen DeGeneres, who did not raise questions about the timeline.

Campos, a California native, also visited Mexico shortly after his shooting. According to the MGM spokesperson, police gave Campos permission to leave the country

On Wednesday the New York Times released a new version of the timeline, based on an analysis of the footage by experts.

They determined that Paddock began firing at the Route 91 Harvest festival concertgoers at 10.05pm, starting out with single shots.

Campos was shot a minute later - at 10.06pm - and not before the massacre began, as police had said earlier - they added.

Senior producer Malachy Brown, in a separate article about the timeline, explained how the study was produced: 'The process can be as simple as comparing a video with Google Street View to identify camera location or extracting file data with a smartphone app - or as difficult as analyzing each frame of a video and the amplitude and frequency of every second of audio.'
Two Lithuanian gangsters were jailed yesterday for trying to smuggle a cache of guns into Britain hidden in a secret compartment in their car.

Aivaras Vysniauskas, 33, and Gytis Vysniauskas, 46, were sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison after the haul of Russian weapons were discovered in their specially-adapted Peugeot.

The men, who are not related, were stopped at Dover in March 2016 with a haul containing 10 Baikal handguns, 10 silencers and more than 100 rounds of 9mm ammunition.

Police said the guns, which had their serial numbers filed off to prevent identification, could have brought death to the streets of the UK.

Investigators suspect the weapons would have been sold on to underworld figures such organised crime gangs and drug barons.

Aivaras Vysniauskas, 33, and Gytis Vysniauskas, 46, were sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison after the haul of Russian weapons were discovered in their specially-adapted Peugeot

They were stopped at Dover where police discovered 10 Russian-made Baikal handguns (pictured) in their cra with the serial numbers filed off to prevent identification

The men were apprehended by Border Force officers after entering the UK, and the case was then handed to the National Crime Agency (NCA).

A search of their car revealed a purpose-built space for smuggling contraband and illegal weapons around the transmission housing.

Debbie Cook, Dover operations manager for NCA, said: Aivaras and Gytis Vysniauskas were gun runners working for a criminal network, and our investigation into the wider network around them continues at home and overseas.

These lethal weapons were destined for the criminal marketplace where they would have had the potential to do untold damage.

Aivaras claimed he built the hidden compartment in the car himself, after buying the Peugeot in Lithuania.

He admitted to importing firearms in April last year and was sentenced to 10 years in prison at Canterbury Crown Court in Kent.

Gytis, the passenger in the vehicle, denied all knowledge of the weapons, but after his DNA was found on the weapons he received a 15-year term.

A search of their car revealed a purpose-built space for smuggling contraband and illegal weapons around the transmission housing. Their stash included this ammunition (pictured)

The men were apprehended by Border Force officers after entering the UK. 10 silencers (pictured) were found stashed in their car

Their specially adapted Peugeot was used to transport the illegal arms. Investigators suspect the weapons would have been sold on to underworld figures such organised crime gangs

Aivaras told investigators he had lived in Great Yarmouth before returning home to Lithuania to buy the motor.

Gytis lived in Kaunas, Lithuania before making his ill-fated journey to UK shores.

Dave Hutchinson, deputy director of Border Force South East and Europe, said: The smuggling of firearms through our border is a major threat to the safety and security of the UK.

This was a sophisticated concealment but these dangerous weapons were stopped from reaching our streets due to the skills and expertise of Border Force officers.

This case is testament to the tireless work of Border Force, who work 24/7 across our ports and airports to detect and seize dangerous items like these to keep the border secure and our communities safe.

We will continue working closely with the NCA and other law enforcement partners to ensure criminals like Aivaras Vysniauskas and Gytis Vysniauskas, who seek to profit from the misery of others, are brought to justice.

Baikal pistols were manufactured in Russia towards the end of the communist era as a variant of the Makarov pistol.

Normally designed to fire a CS gas cartridges, the guns can be modified to fire lethal bullets to provide a cheap weapon for criminals.

Police have warned that criminals are attempting to buy guns for up to 3,000 each.
Dear Doctor: I normally get a flu shot every year, but now Im pregnant and have read that the vaccine might cause miscarriages. Is this true?

Dear Reader: First, lets explain why this is an issue: Pregnant women who contract influenza are more likely to develop complications from the influenza virus. The most striking example of this occurred during the H1N1 pandemic in 2009, when pregnant women accounted for 5 percent of virus-related deaths, but comprised only 1 percent of the population.

In general, pregnant women with influenza are more likely to require hospitalization and more likely to end up in the intensive care unit. They also have a greater likelihood of giving birth to children with cleft lip, neural tube defects (spina bifida), hydrocephalus (increased fluid within the brain) and heart defects. These complications of influenza led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2004 to recommend that all pregnant women get the influenza vaccine, regardless of trimester.

Now lets look at the safety of the vaccine itself.

A recent study in the journal Vaccine obtained data from health care organizations in five states about women who were pregnant during the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 flu seasons. The authors determined which ones had been vaccinated with the standard influenza vaccine and which ones suffered a spontaneous abortion, or miscarriage. They found that 485 women had a miscarriage; they then compared these women to 485 pregnant women who didnt have a miscarriage.

The major difference was seen among women who were vaccinated the year before they were pregnant and then repeated the vaccination when they were pregnant. Of those, 17 women in the miscarriage group had the vaccine within 28 days prior to the miscarriage. Women in the group who didnt have miscarriages were five times less likely to have had the flu vaccine in that preceding 28 days.

Its possible that an inflammatory response could be to blame for the miscarriages. Because the first shot primes the immune system, the second shot gives a greater immune response, leading to inflammation. Excessive inflammation can then lead to a spontaneous abortion.

However, the authors stressed that their study found a correlation, not a causation. Here are some other factors that emphasize the far-from-conclusive nature of the study:

First, the number of women in this part of the study was small: 17 in the miscarriage group and four in a group who didnt have a miscarriage at the same time. Second, women at increased risk of miscarriage may be more likely to seek medical help and thus be more likely to get a flu shot.

Obviously, a larger study is needed to verify  or repudiate  the possible connection. But, ethically, this may be difficult. A researcher would have to compare pregnant women who had the flu vaccine the year before, and give one group the flu shot in the first weeks of pregnancy and not the other. Yet the risks of going unvaccinated are simply too great.

Until we have further data, I would recommend flu shots in pregnancy to prevent the risk of maternal death and birth defects.
If you want to enjoy splendid autumn colours like this Lake District scene, then make the most of them this weekend.

Because after the clocks go back to mark the end of British Summer Time tonight, the recent mild spell is set for an abrupt end.

Many areas will experience the first frosts of winter during the early hours of Monday, with the thermometer plunging as low as -4C (25F) in Scotland and isolated areas.

After the clocks go back to mark the end of British Summer Time tonight, the recent mild spell is set for an abrupt end. Pictured: Loughrigg Tarn in the Lake District

This follows temperatures as high as 23.5C (74F) in south-east England earlier this month.

Meteogroup forecaster Richard Martin-Barton said: People may experience a real shock to the system.

Temperatures are going to drop all of a sudden. It will be really noticeable Sunday night into Monday.

Today the South and East are set for pleasant temperatures up to 17C (63F) but the west and north will be cloudier and breezy, with patches of rain.

Tomorrow will feel significantly cooler but most places should stay dry with sunny spells except for a few showers near the east coast.

Oli Claydon of the Met Office said: Theres a high pressure system to the west of us, and low pressure to the east, and theyre working together to move warm and cold air around.

Many areas will experience the first frosts of winter during the early hours of Monday, with the thermometer plunging as low as -4C (25F) in Scotland and isolated areas
Meat alternatives made from soya have long been the preserve of dedicated vegetarians or hard-up students.

Now they have had an upmarket makeover as even meat-lovers increasingly seek out lower-calorie, healthier choices.

M&S and Waitrose both launched their first faux meat products this week which they claim are indistinguishable from the real thing.

They say their customers appetite has never been higher for healthy meat-free alternatives from the soya bean crop.

M&S has a range of soya protein veggie mince it says tastes, looks and smells like beef, plus veggie chicken chunks.

Marks and Spencer and Waitrose have launched a their first faux meat products this week which they claim are indistinguishable from the real thing. Pictured is a home-cooked curry

Waitrose has collaborated on a range of soya protein ready-meals including curries and lasagne which it says looks like and has the texture of meat.

It said it is responding to the rise of the flexitarian  flexible vegetarians who go meat-free several days a week.

While supermarkets such as Asda and Tesco have stocked their own-brand soya mince and chicken for some time, there are now growing numbers of luxury labels as well.
A second person has been charged with the kidnapping and torture of a teenager south of Brisbane.

The 46-year-old man will appear in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Monday, charged with kidnapping, torture and extortion of 19-year-old Tyler Faulkner who was found badly injured by police in a Waterford West home last Wednesday.

Christine Louise Thomson, 40, appeared in court earlier this week and was remanded in custody till another hearing in January.

Tyler Faulkner, who was allegedly kidnapped and assaulted for three days by a woman, 40, who thought she stole her car, was found by police at a home in Brisbane's south during a routine visit

A dispute over a missing car is believed to be one of the reasons 40-year-old Christine Louise Thomson (pictured) allegedly kidnapped and assaulted the 19-year-old girl in Brisbane's south

The teenage girl was allegedly kidnapped and assaulted for three days by Ms Thomson who believed she stole her car.

Shocked police discovered Miss Faulkner allegedly being held against her will during a routine visit to a suburban home in Brisbane's south on Wednesday night, according to The Courier Mail.

The 19-year-old, who knew her alleged kidnapper Ms Thomson, was found tied up in a bedroom, with injuries police believe were consistent to a serious assault.

Ms Faulkner is currently in hospital with broken bones, cuts and burns.

Ms Thomson allegedly threatened Ms Faulkner (pictured) at a location on Monday before driving her to an unknown location where she assaulted the teen

Ms Thomson is accused of kidnapping the girl on Monday, holding her until Wednesday night at the Logan City home (pictured)

Ms Thomson allegedly threatened Ms Faulkner at a location on Monday before police claim she drove her to the home where she assaulted the teen, holding her captive.

On Wednesday night, police went to the Logan City home for other matters, where both women were found, along with Ms Thomson's two primary school-aged children, including her nine-year-old daughter, and her partner.

Ms Thomson, who was convicted for stabbing a police dog seven years ago, was also the first woman ever shot by Queensland police with a neighbour describing the incident as unsurprising, according to 9 News.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Wendy Moman said the victim of the 'horrendous assault' could still be a captive of the 40-year-old woman if it weren't for the coincidental police visit.

Detective Inspector Tod Reid told reporters the 19-year-old was found with 'bruising, abrasions, lacerations and some burns to various parts of her torso and face'.

'Monday morning she was brought here against her will and held here [in the 40-year-old's home] for that three day period,' he said.

Ms Faulkner (pictured) is currently in hospital with broken bones, cuts and burns

Thomson and her alleged victim were known to one another, police told reporters on Thursday

'We're very pleased to make sure that she's now safe... she's obviously very shaken up.'

Police say it appears the teenager was given food and water over the three day ordeal.

Ms Thomson's two children have been 'relocated', police said.

The children were reportedly told by their mother that she was looking after the teenager because she was sick, according to 9 News.

The mother-of-two fronted Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Thursday for charges including kidnapping, torture and deprivation of liberty.

The 40-year-old was refused bail and will remain in custody until January 17.
A new theory has emerged about the final resting place to William Shakespeare

A scholar claims he has cracked a secret code which unearths the real resting place of Britain's best known bard, William Shakespeare.

Alexander Waugh says that the literary luminary is actually buried beneath Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey - not the Holy Trinity church in Stratford-upon-Avon as previously thought.

The writer, who is grandson of novelist Evelyn Waugh, said that he discovered the new theory after decoding encryptions in the title and dedication pages of Aspley's edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets of 1609.

He is due to present his research at a conference tomorrow at the Globe Theatre in London, which is a reconstruction of an Elizabethan playhouse.

Alexander Waugh (pictured) says that the literary luminary is actually buried beneath Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey - not the Holy Trinity church in Stratford-upon-Avon

Hidden geometries, grid patterns and other clues revealed that Shakespeare was actually buried underneath his 1740 monument in Poet's Corner at Westminster Abbey, Mr Waugh told the Guardian.

There is a school of thought that contends that Shakespeare's plays and poetry were actually written by someone else, and some people believe that that person was Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford.

Mr Waugh now claims that his research shows that the decoded sonnets reveal the words 'Edward de Vere lies here' - adding another layer of intrigue to the mystery.

He said that scholars had always claimed that the mysterious dedication page on Aspley's edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets of 1609 must have been encrypted because it did not make sense.

'It's got those funny dots all over the place and there's something very weird about it. I've finally cracked it.

'The title page and dedication page have encrypted in them the exact church, the exact part of that church and the exact spot  where Shakespeare is buried.

'It's like an old-fashioned treasure island map. You overlay the title page on to a ground plan of Poet's Corner and it points to exactly where he's buried. It's just phenomenal,' he said.

Alexander Waugh says that the literary luminary is actually buried beneath Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey (pictured)
When suffering from a bad cold, many of us stock up on Lemsip or Sudafed to try to ease the pain.

But it appears some of our go-to remedies may not be as effective as we had hoped.

The latest guidance from the health watchdog has revealed that taking oral decongestants  which are designed to relieve congestion by reducing inflammation and mucus production  may not actually help ease the symptoms of sinus infections.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has also suggested that placing a towel over your head and inhaling steam from a bowl may also be a waste of time.

Traditional cold treatments such as Lemsip and Sudafed may do nothing to combat a blocked nose, health chiefs have warned (file photo)

Health experts said that those suffering from sinusitis, which presents itself as head pain, a high temperature and a blocked or runny nose, should instead just take paracetamol.

The majority of cases end up clearing on their own within a few weeks, but paracetamol may help to relieve pain and fevers.

Nices report said: It was reasonable to consider paracetamol or ibuprofen for acute sinusitis despite no evidence for their use in this condition. This is because these medicines have well-established efficacy and safety profiles for managing pain and fever generally.

Based on experience, the committee agreed that people with acute sinusitis may wish to try self-care with nasal saline or nasal decongestants to relieve nasal congestion, but it should be explained that there is not enough evidence to recommend these.

It should be explained to people that no evidence was found for using oral decongestants, antihistamines, mucolytics [which loosen mucus], steam inhalation or warm face packs in acute sinusitis.

Nine in ten sinusitis sufferers who see doctors are prescribed drugs including antibiotics.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has also suggested that placing a towel over your head and inhaling steam from a bowl may also be a waste of time (file photo)

Dr Tessa Lewis, a GP and chairman of the managing common infections guidance committee, told the Daily Telegraph: We know that most people with sinus infections will recover in a couple of weeks without needing any antibiotics. Health professionals can help their patients cope with this infection and the sometimes unpleasant symptoms it can cause.

They should tell them that theyll probably be feeling this way for a while, and that unless they are very unwell, the best thing to do is to take paracetamol and take it easy.

The guidance said GPs should avoid handing out antibiotics unless the symptoms had lasted longer than ten days.

Professor Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive at Nice, said: Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest dangers to our health, which is why we must all work together to fight it.

Our new guidance will help healthcare professionals to use antibiotics efficiently and only when they are really needed.
A surfer has been rushed to hospital after being bitten on the foot by a shark.

The 31-year-old swam to the shore at Birubi Beach in Port Stephens with puncture wounds to his foot at around 9.30am on Saturday.

He was treated by paramedics and an off-duty nurse on the sand before being taken to John Hunter Hospital when the 'bleeding became a bit of a problem,' a media spokesperson for the lifeguard tower told Daily Mail Australia.

The 31-year-old swam to the shore at Birubi Beach in Port Stephens (pictured) with puncture wounds to his foot at around 9.30am on Saturday

Swimmers at the popular beach spot heard a shark alarm sound shortly after the attack and were asked to stay away from the water.

Birubi Beach has been closed while authorities decipher whether the injury was actually caused by a shark.

Officers from Port Stephens Local Area Command are working with officers from the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.

The incident comes just a year after a 2.5m great white shark was spotted on Birubi Beach (pictured) causing terrified swimmers to flee the water in panic

The incident comes just a year after a 2.5m great white shark was spotted on Birubi Beach causing terrified swimmers to flee the water in panic.

The iconic surf spot was recently chosen by the World Surf League to host the women's qualifying series finale, which was previously held at Cronulla in Sydney's south.

Police are urging anyone with information in relation to this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 00.
A horrifying case of animal cruelty that left three dogs completely emaciated has finally come to an end, five years on from their neglect first being reported to RSPCA.

Nathan Douglas Houlison, from Gracemere in Queensland, has been banned from owning pets for five years after leaving his dogs in an abandoned home with no food and dirty water.

The 43-year-old pleaded guilty to six breaching duty of care towards animal charges on Tuesday at Rockhampton's Magistrates Court, The Morning Bulletin reports.

Nathan Houlison has been banned from owning pets after neglecting his three dogs in a home with no food or water. Male adult Doberman, Tyler, pictured

Between October 2012 and August 2015 the RSPCA received 14 complaints against Houlison, the organisation's lawyer Jordan Ahlstrand told court.

An adult female and male Doberman, Taylor and Tyler, as well as a younger male, were found living in disgusting conditions suffering from several health issues.

RSPCA Inspector Claire Gordon visited the property on four occasions in July 2016, after multiple failed attempts to contact Houlison, before seizing the dogs on July 13.

The dogs were found with dirty green water, no food, and protruding hip and rib bones, with one located in a confined room surrounded by rubbish and faeces.

An adult female and male Doberman, Taylor and Tyler, as well as a younger male (pictured), were found living in disgusting conditions suffering from several health issues

All three were riddled with ticks and flees, the two elder pooches were infested with hookworm and the youngster's toenails were so long she could barely walk.

The immature Doberman, who later was named Coco, was able to be re-homed, as was one of the elder dogs, but unfortunately the other wasn't due to behavioural issues.

Ms Gordon was only able to reach Houlison via phone in May this year, 11 months after the seizure of his dogs.

Apparently the man, who has previously been charged for amphetamine possession, abandoned the dogs because he was 'scared' to visit the property.

The dogs were found with dirty green water, no food, and protruding hip and rip bones, with one located in a confined room surrounded by rubbish and faeces

The immature Doberman was able to be re-homed, as was one of the elder dogs, but unfortunately the other wasn't due to behavioural issues. Taylor pictured

'He admitted not attending to the dogs everyday, stated he was too scared to attend the property as people were "after" him,' Mr Ahlstrand said.

'He admitted the inside of the house was disgusting as evident by the photos ... but he felt he had no other choice.'

'He left the dogs at the property to protect them and he knew the dogs were in poor condition and he did admit to not feeding them.'

Houlison was ordered to pay $5000, of which half would go to RSPCA, as well as the vet bill of $3167.96, the summons cost of $92.90 and $1200 for professional costs.
Men are most positive when they are married and value honesty and sensitivity above having the perfect body, according to a new study.

The analysis of more than 2,000 men found men place a high value on reliability and dependability, with 97 per cent saying they wanted these qualities.

Honesty was valued by 96 per cent of men and loyalty by 95 per cent - versus just 7.4 per cent of men who thought attaining the ideal body was very important.

The analysis of more than 2,000 men found men place a high value on reliability and dependability, with 97 per cent saying they wanted these qualities

Researchers at University College London also found nine out of ten men believe romance is important, reported The Times.

The study, done in partnership with U.S. grooming firm Harry's, also found a greater willingness to 'open up', with 44.4 per cent concerned about their mental health.

Single men were the least positive and married men the happiest.

Martin Daubney, former editor of Loaded who founded the MenandBoysCoalition, said the research showed men were 'sweet' and 'valued being in love'.

'British men are rejecting the superficialities of lad and gym culture and are instead ready to embrace a more progressive mindset,' he said.

Axe body spray recently released an advert showing how harmful cliches about masculinity can hurt men, and at times shatter their self-confidence.

Honesty was valued by 96 per cent of men and loyalty by 95 per cent - versus just 7.4 per cent of men who thought attaining the ideal body was very important

Unveiled on Tuesday, the new clip is titled 'Is it OK for guys', and features some of the questions that can cross men's minds when they wonder if they're living up to society's standards.

The idea behind the ad is to show how preconceived ideas about what it means to be a manknown collectively as toxic masculinitycan be harmful to guys who feel like they don't want to, or can't, confirm to them.

Axe's new ad is quite a turnaround from the brand's previous commercials, which typically promised men they would have more luck seducing attractive women if they used its products.

In the company's former ads, men could often be seen using body spray in a bid to attract more ladieseffectively reinforcing the ideas about masculinity that are now being criticized in the new video.

The latest commercial rejects that, opening with a statistic from Brazil-based gender equality NGO Promundo, which states 72 per cent of guys have been told how a 'real man' should behave.
Three West Australian police officers have been put under investigation after a disturbing video of an arrest was played in court.

The officers, known as Hitchen, Richardson and Thompson, originally claimed a woman grabbed one of their guns during the confrontation.

However, shocking footage captured by a witness shows otherwise, with the officers seen kicking the woman to the ground and unleashing more than 20 punches on another man.

Scroll down for video

Three West Australian police officers have been put under investigation after a disturbing video of an arrest was played in court, showing them kicking a woman and punching a man in the face

Jacqueline Briffa faced three charges of assaulting a police officer and attempting to possess a firearm, with all thrown out in court after the video was played, The West Australian reports.

The incident occurred in Hamilton Hill, south west of Perth, and was filmed by witness Elise Svanberg, who described the scene as 'awful'.

'It ended up being 19 police officers and nine police cars... it was awful and that's not their job,' she told 7 News.

The magistrate called the allegations Ms Briffa had tried to remove one of the guns as 'frankly nonsense' before throwing the charges out.

Meanwhile, the man who was punched multiple times walked away with a $100 fine after being charged with obstructing police.

The officers pictured in the video have been placed under review, but have been allowed to remain on full duties.

The incident occurred in Hamilton Hill, south west of Perth, and was filmed by witness Elise Svanberg (pictured), who described the scene as 'awful'
Former President Barack Obama has been called to serve jury duty in Chicago.

Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans told county commissioners during a budget hearing on Friday that the former commander-in-chief, who owns homes in both Washington, DC, and Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood, will serve in November.

Evans told the Chicago Tribune that necessary precautions would be taken to accommodate security and scheduling needs. He did not specify the date or courthouse location Obama will report to next month.

Former President Barack Obama (pictured, October 2017) has been called for jury duty in Chicago, where he is registered to vote, and is planning to serve in November

Jurors can be summoned for civil or criminal trials and can be called to any of the county's Chicago or suburban courthouses. It's unknown which courthouse Obama will report to (Pictured, Municipal Court of Chicago)

Obama, who is registered to vote in Chicago, is not the first celebrity to serve jury duty in Cook County. In 2004, legendary talk show host Oprah Winfrey was called to serve for a Chicago murder trial.

Jurors can be summoned for civil or criminal trials and can be called to any of the county's Chicago or suburban courthouses.

'Although it's not a place where the public can earn a lot of money, it is highly appreciated,' Evans said of Obama's choice to serve. 'It's crucial that our society get the benefit of that kind of commitment.'

Jurors in Cook County are paid $17.20 for each day of service.

Obama will be following in the footsteps of presidential predecessors George W Bush and Bill Clinton, both of whom appeared for jury selection after leaving the White House.

Bush was summoned to the George Allen Dallas County Civil Court building in August 2015. Although not ultimately selected, he spent approximately three hours at the court and posed for photos with his fellow jury candidates.

Former President George W Bush was summoned to the George Allen Dallas County Civil Court building in August 2015. Although not ultimately selected, he spent approximately three hours at the court and posed for photos with his fellow jury candidates (left and right)

'If the former President can show up for jury duty what excuse do you have? #civicduty,' tweeted a spectator.

In March 2003, Bill Clinton was Prospective Juror No. 142 in federal court in Manhattan. The Associated Press reported that Clinton's name was never disclosed at a hearing but his questionnaire answers, read aloud in the courtroom, provided the giveaway.

Under previous jobs held, the respondent answered 'President of the United States'.

The case was eventually dismissed.

Obama has been summoned for jury duty before - in 2010 - but he had to skip it as he was delivering the State of the Union address.
125 YEARS AGO

October 22, 1892: Six race horses from Salt Lake City were taken off the train here last Sunday for Tuscarora. There promises to be some good races at Tuscarora the coming week.



A number of Elkoites will take in the races at Tuscarora next week. The races commence Monday and continue five days.



Harry Van Drielen has put up another stove in Freeman Hall and hereafter proposes to keep the hall warm when gatherings are held there.



Work on the new Presbyterian Church began last Monday and already quite a showing has been made. The lots have been cleared off and rock for the foundation is now on the ground.



100 YEARS AGO

The museum is missing the 1917 newspapers from the Elko Daily Free Press and there is no microfilm from October 1917 through December 1917. Sorry for the omission.

75 YEARS AGO

October 22, 1942: Seventeen of the 4,000 soldier-miners being released from active service to take up the business of supplying strategic metals to the nation arrived in Elko today. Nine of those were on their way to Copper Canyon and eight were going to Rio Tinto. These are the first miners to arrive in Nevada to aid in the relief of the labor shortage, it is understood here. The men were in uniform upon their arrival in Elko and were taken immediately to the mines to which they were assigned. It is understood that the men are under orders to work in the mines, just as they would be assigned to a special engagement in the army. There has been a vital shortage of qualified miners in various section of the country and men, particularly those with experience, have been sought at the Rio Tinto and Copper Canyon mines.

October 23, 1942: The Wendover Field band of 16 pieces will furnish the music for the Elks Charity Ball on November 14th, according to an announcement made today by Robley Burns, chairman of the committee in charge. The band has been heard regularly over KSL and will soon be playing over that station again. It is composed of members formerly with big name bands, one of them being Sergeant Gilbert, who was a member of the Ted Rio Rito band before he enlisted in the service.

October 26, 1942: Price Administrator Leon Henderson ordered nation-wide rationing of coffee effective midnight, November 28th, upon a basis of one pound each five weeks  about a cup a day for all persons over 15 years of age. Coffee sales will be frozen at midnight, November 21st.

50 YEARS AGO

October 24, 1967: Land preparation is under-way north of Elko on the first dam in the Elko Watershed Project, a joint project of the city of Elko and the U.S. Soil Conservation Service. The finished product will be 60 foot high earth-filled dam. Pipe under the dam will carry spring runoff water at a controlled rate, with the pipe larger than necessary to allow visual inspection crawl-through annually. A constriction at the upper end will determine runoff flow.

October 25, 1967: Three pens of calves produced through artificial insemination will be sold at the calf sale in Elko October 28. This is the first time that such calves have been offered at the Elko sale. They will be sold by Russell Weeks of Clover Valley, prominent Elko County rancher, who was recently elected president of the Elko County Farm Bureau.

October 27, 1967: Gov. Paul Laxalt received a four-point report today on the possibility of establishing a ski resort in the Tent Mountain area in Starr Valley near Wells. The report was prepared by Dick Dilworth, a member of the far west Ski Association and a top skier himself. Dilworths report said The necessary terrain for a major size ski report is there; three to four miles of paved road would be necessary to reach the mountain and there was insufficient information about the yearly snowfall, wind, conditions, temperatures and drifts to forecast the likelihood of good ski conditions throughout the winter.

25 YEARS AGO

October 22, 1992: CG Properties, which recently sold Monte Carlo Apartments for $5 million, has sold Sagecrest apartments for $6.1 million. CG Properties, a subsidiary of Newmont Gold Company, sold the property late last month and the deed was recorded at the Elko County Courthouse Pct. 1. It was sold to John H. Deeter Trust of Reno. The complex on Connelly Drive has 200 units.

October 24, 1992: Contractors for Paiute Pipeline have begun work on a natural gas pipeline extension. Paiute is constructing a 26-mile loop, which will run west of Carlin into Eureka County and back to hook into an existing parallel line between Carlin and Elko. The new 12-inch line is expected to provide enough storage to meet demand this winter; it should be completed by the end of November. The line would be a temporary gas-storage facility to be used during extremely cold winter days.



A grand opening of Murdock Travel Managements Elko office at 347 Seventh St. is scheduled for 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Murdock Travel, headquartered in Salt Lake City, purchase the Magic Carpet Travels agencies in Elko, Twin Falls and Burley, Idaho, recently to complete the buyout of all Magic Carpet agencies. Karen Taufer, a 20-year Elko area resident, continues as manager. She managed Magic Carpet for three years.
Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed a new deputy prime minister will not be appointed and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will act as prime minister during his trip to Israel.

'Julie Bishop will be acting Prime Minister while I will be overseas, and Nigel Scullion has been appointed interim leader of the National Party,' Mr Turnbull said in a press conference on Saturday.

He also took the opportunity to discuss what would happen in the morbid circumstance of him falling ill or being killed during his trip overseas.

In the rare event, he explained Scullion would be appointed to the top position.

Malcolm Turnbull (pictured) has confirmed a new deputy prime minister will not be appointed and foreign minister Julie Bishop will act as prime minister while he's in Israel

'If I was killed... then the traditional order of precedence is for the coalition, the Deputy Prime Minister, who is leader of the Nationals, and then the deputy leader of the Liberals and then the Leader of the Government in the Senate.'

But during his impending expedition, he said after deliberation with Mr Scullion, it was decided Ms Bishop would be an appropriate temporary fill-in.

'Nigel and I, having thought about this and discussed this carefully and with our colleagues, we've agreed in these special interim circumstances, Julie will be acting PM while I'm away.'

Mr Turnbull also ensured he would continue his prime ministerial duties while abroad, and Ms Bishop would be solely used for the purpose of fulfilling physical orders of business.

'Julie Bishop (pictured) will be acting Prime Minister while I will be overseas, and Nigel Scullion has been appointed interim leader of the National Party,' Mr Turnbull said on Saturday

Barnaby Joyce (pictured) is not currently in the parliament and therefore is not eligable to step in as acting prime minister

'The acting prime minister is a role that is really designed to cover circumstances where, for example, it was urgent for a document to be signed, with my consent, obviously, but I'm not in the country to sign.'

Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce would have filled the top position, had he not been among the five disqualified by the High Court on Friday.

'Barnaby Joyce remains the leader of the federal Nationals but he is not currently in the parliament and therefore the normal order of precedence in terms of acting Prime Minister falls to Julie Bishop as deputy leader of the Liberal Party and Foreign Minister.'

Mr Turnbull's trip to Israel is set to go ahead as planned despite the Government's citizenship scandal, which Labor's Penny Wong labelled 'utter chaos'.

He is set to meet Israeli and Palestinian leadership and attend business events for the centenary of the Battle of Beersheba, the first by an Australian leader since 2000.

Mr Turnbull's trip to Israel is set to go ahead as planned despite the Government's citizenship scandal, which Labor's Penny Wong labelled 'utter chaos'

A senior spokesperson for interim Nationals leader Nigel Scullion said no current member of parliament would be sworn in or appointed as the deputy prime minister, with Barnaby Joyce expected to return to the role pending a successful by-election outcome.

'In terms of the spirit of the (Coalition) agreement, I think it's black and white. There's no doubt about that,' the spokesperson told AAP on Saturday.

Nationals MP and government frontbencher Darren Chester also said the role of deputy prime minister would remain vacant.

'As of today, it is held in abeyance,' Mr Chester told the ABC on Saturday.

'We think (Barnaby Joyce) will do very well in the by-election. He will then resume as deputy prime minister.'

The by-election in New England will be held on December 2.
The murder of Lee Harvey Oswald could have been prevented after the FBI were warned of his impending death - but Dallas police failed to protect him, it has emerged.

Nearly 3,000 documents related to JFK's shooting have been declassified by The White House, among them remarks made by then-FBI boss J Edgar Hoover the day Oswald died.

According to Hoover, the FBI were contacted by a man who said a 'committee' was plotting to kill Oswald, who had been arrested for killing the president; the feds then told police in Dallas to protect the presidential assassin.

Instead, Oswald was walked out in front of a crowd, cameras - and local nightclub owner Jack Ruby, who marched out and shot him dead.

Scroll down for video

Newly released memos from J Edgar Hoover reveal that the FBI had been warned by a man with a 'calm' voice that a 'committee' was planning to kill Lee Harvey Oswald (pictured being shot)

Hoover said the feds told Dallas PD twice to protect Oswald, but the man was still gunned down by small-time crook Jack Ruby (pictured); Hoover said that was 'inexcusable'

Speaking on November 24, 1963, the morning Oswald was killed, Hoover said: 'There is nothing further on the Oswald case except that he is dead.

'Last night we received a call in our Dallas office from a man talking in a calm voice and saying he was a member of a committee organized to kill Oswald.

'We at once notified the chief of police and he assured us Oswald would be given sufficient protection.

'This morning we called the chief of police again warning of the possibility of some effort against Oswald and again he assured us adequate protection would be given.

Hoover (pictured) also worried about the public believing in a conspiracy theory. The documents are some of almost 3,000 released by the White House this week

'However, this was not done.'

Oswald was being transferred to Dallas County Jail when Ruby, who claimed to have mob connections, fired the fatal shot.

Hoover - who headed the FBI and its predecessor, the Bureau of Investigation, for a total of 48 years - said that getting Oswald killed before he could be interviewed was 'inexcusable.'

'It will allow, I am afraid, a lot of civil rights people to raise a lot of hell because he was handcuffed and had no weapon,' he said.

'There are bound to be some elements of our society who will holler their heads off that his civil rights were violated - which they were.'

Hoover also expressed concerns about conspiracy theories forming around Kennedy's murder, just days after the death.

'The thing I am concerned about, and so is [deputy attorney general Nicholas] Katzenbach, is having something issued so that we can convince the public that Oswald is the real assassin,' he wrote.

He suggested that 'instead of a Presidential Commission, we can do it with a Justice Department report based on an FBI report'.

Hoover's suggestion was ignored and instead, President Lyndon Johnson set up the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination the following week.

The notes also reveal that the Soviet Union also suspected a conspiracy organized by the right-wing, or possibly Lyndon Barnes Johnson, Kennedy's successor.

All of the documents are related to the killing of JFK (pictured) in 1963. They also say that the Soviets believed Kennedy was killed either by Lindon Barnes Johnson or right wingers

They certainly didn't believe that Oswald - a 'neurotic maniac who was disloyal to his own country and everything else' - was the killer, the notes claimed.

'Our source further stated that Soviet officials were fearful that without leadership, some irresponsible general in the United States might launch a missile at the Soviet Union,' a note says.

The documents also say that the Cuban ambassador to the US met the news of Kennedy's murder with a 'happy delight'.

It's not clear how Ruby might have got into the basement that Oswald was being transported through when he was shot.

But another memo released by the White House said that according to an FBI informant, Ruby had a 'good in' with the Dallas PD.

Ruby himself died of cancer in his prison cell four years later.
Conspiracy theorist have attacked Matejka and his family since the shooting

A Canadian man who was shot in the head during the Las Vegas shooting massacre earlier this month is being mercilessly attacked with death threats by conspiracy theorists over social media.

Braden Matejka was shot and wounded during the Route 91 Harvest festival in front of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on October 1.

Stephen Paddock killed 58 people including himself as he fired upon the crowd from the 32nd floor window of the Mandalay Bay, wounding hundreds of others.

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Braden Matejka (pictured left) was shot in the head during the worst mass killing in US history earlier this month in Las Vegas

'You are a lying piece of s*** and I hope someone truly shoots you in the head,' one person posted to Matejka's Facebook page.

Stephen Paddock killed 58 people including himself and wounded hundreds of others on October 1

Another wrote: 'Your soul is disgusting and dark! You will Pay for the consequences.'

Matejka said that memes with his picture have also started to pop up with crude captions, according to The Guardian, leading him to close down his social media accounts.

His family, however, has still had to brave a torrent of vitriol coming from anonymous users of the Internet.

'There are all these families dealing with likely the most horrific thing they'll ever experience, and they are also met with hate and anger and are being attacked online about being part of some conspiracy,' his brother, Taylor Matejka, told the Guardian.

Conspiracy theorists accuse Matejka of being a 'crisis actor' or someone being apart of an elaborate hoax devised by the government

Miraculously, Matejka's wound was not life-threatening and he was driven by a stranger to a nearby hospital

The shooting occurred on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Resort and Casino during the Route 91 Harvest festival

'It's madness I can't imagine the thought process of these people. Do they know that we are actual people?'

Conspiracy theorist are convinced that the deadly assault at Mandalay Bay was either a plot by the government or hoax performed by 'crisis actors,' and have taken to attacking survivors of the worst mass shooting in American history.

'A really sad part of this is that a lot of people think they're fighting the good fight and exposing truth,' Taylor Matejka said.

Matejka was in the crowd that night to celebrate his birthday with his girlfriend after traveling from Canada.

Miraculously, Matejka's wound was not life-threatening and he was driven by a stranger to a nearby hospital.

'I'm just so grateful that we're still here, and I can't express how sorry I am for the people that didn't make it,' Amanda Homulos, Matejka's girlfriend, said.
Disgraced former Sydney deputy mayor Salim Mehajer is threatening to sue a number of prominent media outlets in Australia's 'largest defamation case'.

The 31-year-old property developer has hired his sister, Sydney solicitor Zenah Osman, to represent him in the case which is seeking an extraordinary $103million in damages.

In a letter Ms Osman sent to Fairfax, which has not been named as a potential target in the lawsuit, Mr Mehajer outlines his personal reasons for bringing the action.

Disgraced former deputy mayor Salim Mehajer is threatening to sue a number of prominent media outlets in Australia's 'largest defamation case'

The 31-year-old property developer has hired his sister, Sydney solicitor Zenah Osman (pictured), to represent him in the case which is seeking $103 million in damages

'Being in the media spotlight is tough and brutal. One must be very patient and enduring,' the statement begins.

'I let the media throw in all the punches for the past twenty months and watched my case build just like a business deal. I think now though, it has reached its peak and it's time I commenced legal proceedings. All proceeds will be donated to charity.'

The largest defamation case in Australia's history was that of actress Rebel Wilson's suit against Bauer Media, with the Victorian Supreme Court awarding the Pitch Perfect star $4.56 million.

Ms Osman is looking to well and truly beat that record for her client Mr Mehajer and has outlined some of the main titles they plan to focus on.

The largest defamation case in Australia's history was that of actress Rebel Wilson's (pictured) suit against Bauer Media, with the Victorian Supreme Court awarding the Pitch Perfect star $4.56 million

Ms Osman is looking to well and truly beat that record for her client Mr Mehajer (pictured) and has outlined some of the main titles they plan to focus on.

'Our client will be commencing legal action against, not limited to, Channel Seven, A Current Affair and The Daily Telegraph, which will be in our view Australia's Largest Case of Defamation,' the statement continued.

The legal action comes just a week after the former Auburn mayor was involved in a car accident which prevented him from attending the first day of his trial for allegedly assaulting a taxi driver.

The assault allegedly happened outside The Star casino on April 2 where it is alleged Mr Mehajer threw an eftpos machine at the driver's face.

The legal action comes just a week after the former Auburn mayor was involved in a car accident which prevented him from attending the first day of his trial for allegedly assaulting a taxi driver

He was also charged with allegedly stealing a $1500 black iPhone from the driver and 'intentionally destroying' a second iPhone belonging to a casino worker.

Later that day the 31-year-old was charged with allegedly assaulting Channel Seven journalist Laura Banks when she got caught between a car door and the Porsche he was attempting to drive away in.

He was expected to face court for that charge on Wednesday, before the car crash.

Later that day the 31-year-old was charged with assaulting Channel Seven journalist Laura Banks (pictured) when she got caught between a car door and the Porsche he was attempting to drive away in

He was expected to face court for that charge on Wednesday, before the car crash (Laura Banks pictured)

Mr Mehajer was also a no-show at another District Court dispute, involving the stonemason behind the marble spiral staircase at his Lidcombe mansion.

He advised his solicitor he was in Canberra following the death of his grandmother at the time of that court appearance.

But judge ruled Mehajer would have had 'no doubt' of the hearing date and ruled for him to pay a bill of nearly $670,000 plus legal costs to the tradesman.

Mr Mehajer has pleaded not guilty to the assault charges.
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A Dallas architect has taken 14 shipping containers and transformed them into a stunningly modern 3,700-square-foot three-bedroom home.

The home, dubbed 'PV14', also boasts a 1,400 sq ft roof deck that can fit up to 150 people, a 40ft long swimming pool on the ground floor and a 360 degree view of White Rock Lake and the sparkling lights of the city's downtown.

Matt Mooney wanted to stay true to the materials that became the foundation for his home.

Dallas architect Matt Mooney first dreamed up the idea for a home built out of shipping containers more than 25 years ago

The home features a 40-foot-long swimming pool and is located in White Rock Lake, a neighborhood of Dallas

The home's open-floor first level is dedicated to entertaining. Pictured is an open kitchen and living room

A man works on a Mac computer in the open kitchen and living room area of the home

The ceilings have been left exposed and the shipping container gates remained unpainted when they were converted into bedroom doors.

Architect Michael Gooden, who worked with Mooney on PV14, said the designers wanted people to know what they were standing in when they stepped into the home.

Gooden said the house's walls are made of sheet rock, which would make the home look 'normal' if the ceilings weren't left exposed, he told D Magazine.

Because the walls of the shipping containers were removed, Gooden said columns had to be placed around the house to restore structural integrity to the materials.

A construction worker works on the railing for a staircase in the home. The house's walls are made of sheet rock

A child looks up at the home built of 14 shipping containers, which is pictured while under construction

Shipping containers were stacked in place via a crane and the help of construction workers

Pictured is an interior of the home while it was under construction

A child walks along the under-construction floor. Spray foam was used between the building layers, to provide insulation that the containers can't provide

The staircases to different floors parallel each other, as this image shows

Spray foam was also used between the building layers, to provide insulation that the containers can't provide, according to Inhabitat.

But one of the most striking uses of the containers is the two-story, glass-paneled tower that overlooks and mirrors the shape of the house's long, slim pool, which carries the tower's reflection.

On the house's open-floor first level, which is dedicated to entertaining, the polished cement used for the ground corresponds to the sleek steel of the shipping containers revealed overhead.

The upstairs levels are outfitted with maple wood floors to complement the views of the nearby park and lake, which provide a wallpaper for the house thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows.

Pictured is a view of the finished living area, taken from the kitchen. A man is pictured walking up the stairs

The bathroom features two mirrors and a mirror cabinet. It also has two sinks. It opens on to the bedroom

Pictured is another view of the large and open first-floor, which features a small dining area and a snug area with a beanbag chair

Pictured is one of the home's three bedrooms. The upstairs levels are outfitted with maple wood floors to complement the views of the nearby park and lake

Pictured is a view from the stairwell showing the open first floor

A chair with angular supports is in the foreground of this image of the open first floor

Pictured is a view of the 1,400-foot deck outside the home which offers views of the surrounding area

Pictured is a twilight view of the home, which comes complete with a pathway and a wall that appears to be made of wooden stumps

Deep porches protect the home from direct sunlight while still allowing natural light to seep in, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Mooney knew he wanted to build a home out of shipping containers more than 25 years ago, but it was only just recently he and his wife Barbara, a retired nurse, found the perfect spot - in the same neighborhood, White Rock Lake, where they had lived for 23 years.

A crew of 18-wheelers, with an audience of 200 people, transported the shipping containers to the chosen spot, which is on one of the highest elevations in the city - offering one of the best views.

And after more than two years of design and construction, and a final tour for the Dallas chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the couple had been planning to finally move into their new home .

Pictured is a daytime view of the home. Deep porches protect the home from direct sunlight while still allowing natural light to seep in

The home offers views of Dallas (far left), a Texas city that anchors the nation's fourth-largest metropolitan area

The house's walls are made of sheet rock, which would make the home look 'normal' if the ceilings weren't left exposed,

Pictured is a nighttime view of the home. One of the most striking uses of the containers is the two-story, glass-paneled tower that overlooks and mirrors the shape of the house's long, slim pool, which carries the tower's reflection

Pictured is another nighttime view of the home. Matt Mooney wanted to stay true to the materials that became the foundation for his home

It was only just recently Mooney and his wife Barbara, a retired nurse, found the perfect spot to build their home

When they built their home, they had been living in the White Rock Lake neighborhood for 23 years

Pictured is another view of the home while it was under construction

A container is being lifted onto the home. The Dallas skyline appears in the distance across White Rock Lake

A crew of 18-wheelers, with an audience of 200 people, transported the shipping containers to the chosen spot

The containers are pictured being placed on top of each other during the construction of the home

A shipping container lies on a wooden design against a majestic blue and cloudy sky
President Donald Trump has ordered all documents related to the assassination of former President John Kennedy to be released after consulting with US intelligence agencies.

The majority of the files were released on Thursday, with the National Archives and Records Administration making 2,800 of the 3,100 documents publicly available for the first time.

Trump said that he consulted with chief of staff John Kelly and the security establishment, including the CIA and FBI, before announcing the decision on Twitter on Friday.

He said the names of addresses of people still alive will be redacted.

Trump had order the release of all the documents after publicizing 2,800 of the 3,100 new files just 24-hours earlier

The President said that releasing the documents will put 'any and all conspiracy theories to rest,' according to CBS News.

The National Archive said that they will hold onto redacted records for an additional 180 days in order to conduct a thorough review.

Trump said that he consulted with chief of staff John Kelly (*pictured) and the security establishment before making his decision

The CIA and FBI recommended keeping the files temporarily under wraps, saying that they were concerned the documents could potentially reveal names and activities from the near past that may still have an impact on current operations.

Some of the new information gathered in the 2,800 documents released on Thursday evening showed that the FBI was aware of Jack Ruby, the man who killed JFK's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.

The files also showed that former FBI head J. Edgar Hoover frustrated over Oswald's murder, and the Soviet Union's 'shock' over the murdered president, according to ABC News.

The Soviets told Hoover that 'church bells were tolled in the memory of President Kennedy' and that they preferred Kennedy as the US head of state because they felt they had a 'mutual understanding' with him.

U.S. President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy walk down the steps of Air Force One less than an hour before his assassination

As the nation mourned in disbelief, Oswald was shot and killed in police custody by Jack Ruby

The 1992 JFK Assassination Records Collection Act, signed by President George H.W. Bush, set a 25-year timetable for declassification of assassination records dealing with President Kennedy.

President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed on November 22, 1963, while riding in his motorcade in Dallas, Texas.

As the nation mourned in disbelief, Oswald was shot and killed in police custody by Jack Ruby - forcing Americans to consider whether their government was hiding what it knew of the assassination.

The event remains in the nation's living memory for a significant slice of the country. Forty-nine million Americans, or 15 percent of the country, are age 65 and over, according to the Census Bureau. They were around age 11 or older at the time.

The Warren Commission did little to settle the matter. Theories abounded that Oswald's murder was a cover-up for a conspiracy or government ineptitude. The deadly aim of a lonely, alienated gunman seemed hard to fathom.

"A gnat simply does not kill a lion," is how Saul Pett of The Associated Press described what was fueling the search for answers. He wrote the introduction to the Warren Report.
New 'Golden Gaytime Sanga' also still available and will be sold in 2017 and 2018

The Gaytime Unicorn, Pina Colada and Choc Mint McMint Face are now in stores

Streets Ice Cream has released three new flavours of the iconic Golden Gaytime

Streets Ice Cream has gifted Australia with an early Christmas present - three new Golden Gaytime flavours PLUS an ice cream sandwich.

The new iterations of the famous ice cream - Gaytime Unicorn, Pina Colada and Choc Mint McMint Face - have already hit stores nationwide.

This announcement comes less than a week after Streets unveiled the new 'Golden Gaytime Sanga'.

The Gaytime Unicorn, Pina Colada and Choc Mint McMint Face are available in Australia now

Streets unveiled the new 'Golden Gaytime Sanga' last week to rave reviews from consumers

'Everyone knows you can't have a Gaytime on your own, so grab a couple of friends and try the limited edition crumb range together', Marketing Manager Scott Mingl said,

'It's no secret that Aussies love Gaytime surprises so why not give them a threesome they'd never expect [they know their puns]'.

The Golden Gaytime Sanga, unveiled on October 25, features a 'no stick, eating versatility, improved crumbs and biscuit casing' treat.

In September, the brand released 'Crumbtins' - the iconic crumbs perfect to sprinkle over cakes, cocktails and cereal.

Golden Gaytime Sanga (left) and Golden Gaytime Crumbs (right) were also released in 2017

The three new flavours, Gaytime Unicorn, Pina Colada and Choc Mint McMint Face, are available in packs of four in stores nationwide for $7.99.

The Gaytime Unicorn is the only one available solo for $3.40, according to the Herald Sun, and the one that has ice-cream fans going crazy.

The Golden Gaytime Unicorn has proved the most popular of the three new Gaytime flavours

The Golden Gaytime Unicorn is based on the Unicorn Breath from the Gaytime pop-up shop

Twitter users have taken to the social media platform to praise the new invention, calling it, 'soooooo delicious!' and complaining that their local stores had sold out of stock.

The new flavours will reportedly be on sale until at least the end of summer 2018.

Streets also threw their support behind the 'Yes' campaign for the same-sex marriage survey, releasing a limited edition 'Rainbow Gaytime'.
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Sacked Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has defied Madrid by vowing to go to work on Monday as normal unless he is 'forcibly prevented' by the national police.

It comes after the increasingly confrontational leader called on his fellow Catalans to 'peacefully resist' attempts by the Spanish authorities to impose direct rule from Madrid in a television address from his hometown of Girona.

His words came after the country's Prime Minister seized control of the regional government, replaced its ministers and sacked its police chief following the authority's controversial declaration of independence.

Mr Puigdemont vowed to continue to 'work to build a free country' and urged viewers to behave with 'calm and perseverance', as well as maintaining a 'sense of perspective' in the tumultuous days ahead.

One senior official, Josep Rull, went one step further that Mr Puigdemont, saying that he intended to return to work 'as a minister in the new Catalan Republic'.

In a speech to colleagues, he said: 'Nelson Mandela said that a winner is a dreamer who never gives up Never, never have we surrendered the challenge of leaving our children a better country.'

This afternoon the Spanish government said it would welcome Mr Puigdemont's participation in regional elections it has called for December.

Today officers cast a ring of steel around the region's parliament in Barcelona as demonstrators took to the streets of Madrid in support of a united Spain.

The Catalan police chief Josep Trapero was removed from his post at around 4am this morning amid concerns that local police would resist the national force.

It came after unionists clashed with separatists in Barcelona last night as tens of thousands of locals celebrated independence.

In one incident a pro-separatist radio station was attacked with journalists forced to barricade themselves inside.

Pope Francis today echoed Mr Puigdemont's calls for calm and urged the EU to 'recover the sense of being a single community' in a speech at the Vatican, although he did not specifically refer to Catalonia.

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This afternoon unionists honked their horns and sang pro-Spanish songs in the first significant anti-separatist protest since independence was declared last night and Madrid took over direct control of the Catalan government

Hundreds of bystanders reacted with smiles and cheers, with many punching the air and waving Spanish flags in response as the motorcade went past

There was a palpable sense of relief as the quiet majority of pro-unionist Catalan bystanders saw their voices expressed in public after independence supporters have dominated he narrative of recent days. Pictured: Attendees of the protest

The riders were accompanied by at least 100 cars who supported he rally by flying flags, sounding horns and playing Spanish songs from their radios

Spanish State Secretaries and undersecretaries attend a meeting at the State Secretary of Land Management to start undertaking their respective duties at the Catalan regional ministries after Madrid imposed direct control over the region

Catalan regional police stand guard the morning after the Catalan regional parliament declared independence from Spain

Regional police chief Josep Trapero was sacked amid concerns that local police would resist the national force as it imposes central government control on the region

Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont gives a speech on national television this afternoon. The politician urged citizens of Catalonia to 'peacefully resist' direct rule from the Spanish government

Protesters in Madrid hold up a sign calling for Catalan regional president Mr Puigdemont's imprisonment this morning

Other protesters at the demonstration in the capital's Plaza de Colon held signs saying: 'No to the impunity of coup plotters'

The demonstration comes the day after the Catalan government was sacked for declaring independence following a controversial referendum

The unionist motorcycle parade reached the entrance of Barcelona port, where this man waved around a European Union flag

The demonstrators, pictured here at the end of the protest, were honking horns to show their solidarity with Spain's national police, and opposition to the declaration of independence by Catalonia

The demonstrators, noisy but peaceful, headed towards the port, where reinforcements of national police and Spain's Guardia Civil have been staying since they were deployed in the area before the illegal independence referendum

People wave Spanish and Catalan flags as they take part at a demonstration to support Spanish National Police and Civil Guard agents who guard Barcelona port

The independence flag of Catalonia is held up at Saturday's La Liga football match between Athletic Bilbao and FC Barcelona

Revellers hold fireworks as they take part in a 'Correfoc', or 'run with fire', party in Cornella Llobregat, outskirts Barcelona

The traditional festival originates from medieval street theatre that represented the fight of good against evil through parades featuring fireworks and effigies of the devil

What happens now? Direct rule Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sacked Catalonia's government including regional president Carles Puigdemont and his deputy Oriol Junqueras and assumed direct control over the region. Central government ministries will assume directly the powers of the Catalan administration until a regional election takes place on Dec. 21. Elections It is not clear whether a snap regional election will resolve the crisis. An opinion poll published by the El Periodico newspaper on Sunday showed a snap election would probably have results similar to the last ballot in 2015, when a coalition of pro-independence parties formed a minority government. Other opinion polls have shown Catalonia is almost evenly split between pro- and anti-independence supporters. Civil disobedience Catalonia's main secessionist groups have called for widespread civil disobedience. They also instructed civil servants not to obey orders from Madrid and respond with peaceful resistance. It is unclear whether such calls will be followed or not. Use of force Spain's government said it was not planning to make any arrests, but it is unclear how it will proceed if the current regional administration staff refuse to leave their offices. A growing number of analysts fear this could lead to a physical confrontation if national police, who used heavy-handed tactics to thwart an Oct. 1 vote on independence, seek to intervene. Police One of the main problems over the implementation of direct rule will relate to Catalonia's own police forces, the Mossos d'Esquadra. Rajoy said the Mossos chief would be fired. But a group of Mossos favouring independence has already said they would not follow instructions from the central government and would not use force to remove ministers and lawmakers from power. Several officers told Reuters they believed the 17,000-strong force was split between those who want independence and those who oppose it. The Mossos, whose chief is under investigation on suspicion of sedition, will have to act on direct orders from their new bosses. If deemed necessary, Mossos officers may be replaced by national police. Finances The Economy Ministry has already increased its control over regional finances, to block the use of state funds to organise the secession bid, and started paying directly for essential services. Under the new proposal, Madrid will take full financial control. Many companies have however said on condition of anonymity that they feared a new Catalan treasury could start levying taxes, and that they would seek to move their tax base outside Catalonia. It is also possible that some pro-independence Catalans will stop paying their taxes to the Spanish treasury. Public media The Spanish government had initially said it would control widely watched Catalan public television TV3, but it eventually dropped that plan. The media is likely to play an important role in the run-up to the new election in Catalonia. Advertisement

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has stripped Catalonia's most senior police officials of their powers and taken control of its civil service, finances and public media ahead of snap local elections announced for December 21.

And Spain's top prosecutor has warned that the local politicians responsible for the independence vote could face treason charges and up to 25 years in prison, with arrests planned for as early as Monday.

This morning thousands of unionists protesters took to Madrid's Plaza de Colon as they called for Mr Puigdemont to be jailed.

And at around 5.30pm hundreds of motorcyclists draped in Spanish flags roared through Barcelona in a massive show of support for Madrid.

Bystanders reacted with smiles and cheers, with many punching the air and waving Spanish flags in response.

Mr Rajoy announced that he had sacked the local government on television last night, adding that 'central government will assume the powers of the Catalonian administration'.

He said: 'Spain is living through a sad day. We believe it is urgent to listen to Catalan citizens, to all of them, so that they can decide their future and nobody can act outside the law on their behalf.

'Today, the Catalonia parliament has approved something that in the opinion of a large majority of people not only goes against the law but is a criminal act.'

Mr Rajoy's deputy Soraya Saenz de Santamaria has been put in charge of the Catalan government until the local elections.

She will coordinate other ministries that take over functions of Catalonia's regional departments, including finances and security, and appoint officials to implement orders from Madrid.

Some among Catalonia's roughly 200,000 civil servants have said they will refuse to obey orders from Madrid.

The prime minister's announcement last night was met with jeers and whistles outside the government palace in Barcelona.

The declaration of independence comes after the region held an independence referendum on October 1 during which more than 800 people were hurt in clashes.

Trapero is already under investigation on charges of sedition after being accused of 'preventing the application of laws' during the controversial public vote.

He has already been replaced by Ferran Lopez, who is seen by Madrid as a more compliant figure likely to work with central government.

Yesterday's result sparked celebrations in the streets of Barcelona where separatists were seen drinking cava, the sparkling wine made in Catalonia, in the street.

But the declaration has failed to gain recognition from the international community.

British Prime Minister Theresa May condemned the decision as 'illegal'.

While Germany, France, Italy and the USA also said they will not recognise a sovereign Catalonian state and nor will the EU.

The 28-nation bloc's president, Donald Tusk, last night urged Spain not to descend into violence amid the tensions.

In contrast, Scotland's SNP government said that it 'respects and understands' Catalonia's vote for independence, and said Catalans 'must have the ability to determine their own future'.

And in Berlin this afternoon pro-Catalan independence protesters were seen demonstrating outside the Brandenburg Gate.

The Spanish senate voted to impose direct rule on the region just 40 minutes after the Catalan parliament backed independence.

But before the vote in Barcelona, opposition parties stormed out of parliament in protest - with pro-independence MPs draping their empty seats with Catalan flags.

Spain's king, Felipe VI, who has spoken out firmly against Catalan independence in the past, has cleared his diary for the week in order to focus on dealing with the emergency.

Independence was approved with 70 MPs in favour, 10 against and two blank ballots in the 135-member parliament.

Spain's constitutional court has started a review of the independence vote held in Catalonia's parliament, with the state prosecutor and other parties given three days to make allegations of wrongdoing.

After the vote, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont said: 'Today our legitimate parliament, that came out of a democratic election, has taken a very important step. The legitimate representative of the citizens have followed the people's mandate.

'Now we are facing times when we will need to keep calm and peaceful and always keep dignity, as we've always done. Long live Catalonia!'

Pro-independence groups have vowed a campaign of civil disobedience to protect public buildings on the event of a crackdown by Madrid, which may involve the feared national riot police and even the army.

Mr Trapero has been replaced by Ferran Lopez, pictured right with the Spanish Minister of Home Affairs Juan Ignazio Zoido. Lopez is seen by Madrid as a more compliant figure likely to work with central government

Catalonia's police chief Josep Trapero, pictured earlier this month, was removed from his post at 4am this morning

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy tonight sacked the Catalan government along with the region's police chief and ordered elections for December 21 after a special Cabinet meeting to discuss his response to the crisis

The sacked Catalan president hugs a supporter in Girona. The politician vowed to continue to 'work to build a free country' in his televised speech this afternoon

Mr Puigdemont poses on a bridge in front of buildings displaying Catalan flags and pro-independence banners during his walkabout in Girona

Mr Puigdemont gives a thumbs up to dozens of supporters as he leaves a restaurant in Girona, a Catalan city around 50 miles from Barcelona, this afternoon

Thousands of Catalans gathered outside the parliament building and cheered and danced after the motion passed.

The Spanish prime minister wrote on Twitter immediately after the vote: 'I ask all Spaniards to remain calm. The rule of law will restore legality in Catalonia.'

After the vote in Barcelona, MPs stood to chant the Catalan anthem while Puigdemont and his vice president, Oriol Junqueras, exchanged congratulatory embraces and handshakes.

Puigdemont added in his remarks after the vote: 'It is the institutions and also the people who have to work together to help build a country.'

Reacting to the crisis, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned of 'more cracks' emerging in the EU.

The European Union will only deal with the central government in Madrid, according to the president of the European Council Donald Tusk.

'For the EU nothing changes. Spain remains our only interlocutor. I hope the Spanish government favours force of argument, not argument of force,' Tusk wrote on Twitter.

Antonio Tajani, who was appointed President of the European Parliament earlier this year, was similarly scathing, saying 'nobody' in the EU would recognise Catalonia as an independent country.

He later praised Spain's decision to call a new election in Catalonia after the region's unilateral declaration of independence, saying it was 'the right thing to do.'

Catalan separatist flags are held up as fireworks go off in Sant Jaume Square in front of the Catalan regional government headquarters during celebrations on Friday night

The firework displays last night took place after a day of fast-moving political developments and the situation remains tense into tonight

The government and Spain's Constitutional Court have both said the secession bid was illegal, and after Friday's independence vote, Rajoy said it was a move that 'not only goes against the law but is a criminal act'

Violence flared on the streets of the Catalan capital on Friday night as furious unionists attacked Catalunya Radio, blaming journalists there for causing the independence declaration with their 'fake news'

A unionist protester is searched by the Catalan police during the anti-independence demonstration on Friday night

Pro-independence supporters carry an 'Estelada' or independence flag in downtown Barcelona yesterday evening where thousands of people gathered

Catalan police stands preventing demonstrators from moving forward during a march against the unilateral declaration of independence approved by the region's parliament yesterday

Anti-independence activists are prevented from moving forward by Catalan police as they marched through Barcelona last tonight

Among the thousands of people waving Catalan flags were a significant number of protesters with Spanish ones, including this man, pictured

There was a heavy police presence as officers made sure a march against independence from Spain went ahead peacefully

Pro-independence supporters release fireworks and wave 'estelada' flags in the square outside the Palau Generalitat in Barcelona

There are fears the raucous scenes on the streets of Barcelona this evening could turn violent as passions run high over the independence debate

Rajoy's announcement was met with jeers and whistles outside the government palace in Barcelona, where thousands have been celebrating the independence declaration

The declaration of independence was criticised by world leaders including Theresa May, who tonight said Britain 'will not recognise' Catalan independence as it was based on an 'illegal' vote. Pictured: Anti-independence protesters in Barcelona

BREAKING NEWS: Catalonia declares independence BREAKING NEWS: Catalonia declares independence Full story: http://dailym.ai/2y8hjZN Posted by Daily Mail on Friday, October 27, 2017

The independence motion was passed in the 135-strong assembly with 70 votes in favour, 10 against and 2 blank ballots, the assembly's speaker said. Pictured: A crowd in Barcelona reacts to the news yesterday

Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage said the declaration of independence had been caused by the 'appalling behaviour' of the Spanish Government who had pushed Catalonia 'too far'.

He added: 'This is going to turn into the EU's most undesired nightmare.'

The main secessionist group in Catalonia, the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), called on civil servants to meet orders from Madrid with 'peaceful resistance'.

Shares in Catalan banks fell sharply in response to the news - dragging the entire stock market with them.

CaixaBank, Spain's third largest lender, fell by around five per cent while Sabadell, the country's fifth biggest bank, fell roughly six percent.

Nearly 1,700 companies have moved their headquarters outside of Catalonia since the referendum.

The Ibex 35 stock index was down 1.3 percent on a day when most European markets rose. Spanish bonds were also down, but just slightly.

The market movements are modest, considering the momentous nature of the conflict. Catalonia accounts for a fifth of the Spanish economy, which is the fourth-largest in the 19-country eurozone.

Investors seem to believe the crisis will be resolved, though analysts say the risks are growing daily. Spain's Senate in Madrid has approved measures for the central government to take direct control of Catalonia.

Stephen Brown, economist at Capital Economics, said: 'We still think that the economic effects of this political crisis will be manageable.'

The Catalan parliament finally declared the region independent on Friday after Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy said he wants Spain to take direct control of Catalonia. Pictured: President Puigdemont voting

Before Friday's vote, opposition parties stormed out of parliament in protest - with pro-independence MPs draped their empty seats with Catalan flags

Attention now turns to the government in Madrid, which has invoked article 155 of the constitution, dismantling Catalonia's autonomy. Pictured: Jubilant Catalans celebrate the news

The Spanish prime minister - pictured at yesterday's cabinet meeting - wrote on Twitter immediately after the vote: 'I ask all Spaniards to remain calm. The rule of law will restore legality in Catalonia'

Prime Minister Rajoy presides over an extraordinary cabinet meeting that was called this afternoon at Moncloa Palace in Madrid

The proposal for independence made by the ruling Catalan coalition Junts pel Si (Together for Yes) and their allies of the far-left CUP party said: 'We establish a Catalan Republic as an independent and sovereign state of democratic and social law'. Pictured: Puigdemont with his wife yesterday

Legislators from both parliamentary groups in Catalonia have a slim majority which allowed them to pass the motion during a vote on Friday. Pictured: Puigdemont arriving at the parliament yesterday

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and Vice President Oriol Junqueras, left, chat during the session inside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona yesterday

Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and his wife Marcela Topor arriving at the Catalan parliament in Barcelona yesterday

The senate, where Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's Popular Party holds a majority, met to vote on steps to depose Catalonia's secessionist government before the week is out. Pictured: Spain's PM arriving in Parliament yesterday morning

Catalan secessionists have already registered a motion with their parliament to proclaim independence from Spain though it is unclear whether the text would be put to a vote, newspaper La Vanguardia said. Pictured: Rajoy yesterday in the senate

Speaking to the senate, Rajoy (pictured being applauded by lawmakers) said Spain had to force Catalonia to submit to the Spanish constitution. He also attacked the region for 'mocking democracy' in a way reminiscent of the era of fascist Spanish leader Francisco Franco, and said he wanted 'a return to legality'

The unprecedented move could spark violence or push the rebel region's parliament to declare independence. Pictured: Rajoy being applauded in the senate yesterday morning

The invocation of Article 155 has resulted in the whole Catalan goverment being dismissed. Pictured: Rajoy speaking to the senate yesterday, urging lawmakers to adopt the measure

A member of the Catalan parliament who is opposed to independence holds a 'No' ballot during the independence voting session

Opponents of Catalan independence shouted across the wooden benches in the parliament, while those in favour sung the national anthem after the outcome of the vote was announced

This opponent of independence held a Spanish flag during the heated session in the Catalan parliament yesterday

On Thursday afternoon in the Catalan town of Girona, supporters of the region's independence bid removed the Spanish national flag from the town hall building and replaced it with the Catalan regional flag.

Video footage filmed in Girona, northeast of the regional capital of Barcelona, showed a crowd cheering 'out, out, out with the Spanish flag!' shortly after Catalonia's parliament voted to declare an independent republic.

Speaking to senators yesterday, Rajoy said Spain had to force Catalonia to submit to the Spanish constitution.

He also attacked the region for 'mocking democracy' in a way reminiscent of the era of fascist Spanish leader Francisco Franco, and said he wanted 'a return to legality'.

The approved proposal for independence made by the ruling Catalan coalition Junts pel Si (Together for Yes) and their allies of the far-left CUP party said: 'We establish a Catalan Republic as an independent and sovereign state of democratic and social law.'

MPs from the opposition Socialists and Citizens parties, who walked out before the vote, had announced earlier that they would boycott the vote.

Lawmakers from Partido Popular - the ruling party at the national level, but a minority in Catalonia - also walked out after placing Spanish and Catalonia official flags in their empty seats.

'Today is the day that many Catalans' long-held desire will be fulfilled, but tomorrow the cruel reality will set in with the Spanish state armed with its interpretation of Article 155,' the former speaker of the Catalan parliament Joan Rigol i Roig, said before the vote. 'We can only hope that the conflict remains in the political realm.'

A socialist lawmaker in the parliament lambasted the separatists for bending national and regional laws to move toward declaring independence before the vote and vowed to work 'for the return of legality to public institutions.'

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont said he will not call a snap election during a statement at the Palau Generalitat in Barcelona on Thursday

Catalonian could explode into violence this morning as the Spanish parliament is due to seize control of the rebel region in a bid to end its struggle for independence. Pictured: Angry protesters in Barcelona yesterday

Catalan independence supporters gathered outside the Parliament of Catalonia ahead of the vote to call for independence from Spain - a demand they were soon granted

Thousands of protesters in Barcelona cheer in response to the news that the Catalan parliament has voted to declare independence from Spain

Rajoy's cabinet enaacted measures to take control of Catalonia during a special meeting. Pictured: Protesters in Barcelona before the vote in parliament

People cheer as they watch on giant screens in Barcelona as the Catalan parliament votes in favour of the region's independence from Spain

After the vote, Puigdemont said: 'Today our legitimate parliament, that came out of a democratic election, has taken a very important step.' Pictured: Champagne is broken open in celebration of the declaration

People celebrate after Catalonia's parliament voted to declare independence from Spain in Barcelona, the region's capital

Pro-independence groups have vowed a campaign of civil disobedience to protect public buildings on the event of a crackdown by Madrid, which may involve the feared national riot police and even the army

There are fears the developments could lead to violence as Spain attempts to impose rule on the rebellious region. Pictured: A delighted woman celebrates the news in Barcelona

The European Union will only deal with the central government in Madrid, the president of the European Council Donald Tusk said in response to the news. Pictured: Champagne flowing in the streets of Barcelona

Thousands of Catalans gathered outside the parliament building (pictured in the centre) and cheered and danced after the motion passed

A young woman reacts outside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona after the news filters out to the crowd watching the parliamentary session in the street

Spokesman Eva Granados said the separatists are 'thoughtless' and asked them why to build a new country based on a concept of democracy that is 'intolerant and sectarian,' and that excludes those opposed to independence.

Meanwhile Carlos Carrizosa, spokesman for the pro-union Citizens party, ripped up the copy of the proposed law to declare independence during the debate prior to the vote.

He said: 'With this paper you leave those Catalans who don't follow you orphaned without a government, and that's why Citizens won't let you ruin Catalonia.'

He added that 'today is a sad, dramatic day in Catalonia. Today is the day that you (secessionists) carry out your coup against the democracy in Spain.'

Waving Catalan flags and chanting 'independence' and 'freedom,' thousands of demonstrators rallied outside the park in which parliament is located, hoping to see the proclamation of a new independent state by the end of the day.

Several hundred Catalan town mayors also joined in a chant for 'Independence!' inside Catalonia's regional parliament building ahead of yesterday's vote.

A 68-year-old protester, Jordi Soler, said: 'I am here today because we will start the Catalan Republic.'

Soler said 'today is the last chance,' noting that President Puigdemont had offered to negotiate with the central government in Madrid, 'but Madrid is starting with total repression and there is no longer any (other) option.'

Spain is expected to send its own representatives to rule the region for as long as the 'exceptional situation' persists, Rajoy said yesterday.

It would also mean that Catalonia's police force, public broadcasters and parliament would come under the direct control of the central government.

Tensions: University students caused chaos after calling a 'strike' to demonstrate the Spanish government's looming revoking of Catalan autonomy, but it saw lectures cancelled and others prevented from entering university grounds

Catalonia's regional government met on Thursday night to debate its next move before Madrid carries out a threat to start revoking its powers from Friday morning

Mr Puigdemont sat glumly as he listened to the debate, while outside supporters of independence branded him a 'traitor'

Supporters of independence gathered outside the parliament building where they listened to the debate on their phones

Marchers who took to the streets of Barcelona on Thursday sat outside the parliament building ahead of another march planned for 10am on Friday

Mario Rajoy, Spain's Prime Minister, is pictured (second left) on a banner which reads 'Republic'. He has taken a firm line against Catalonian independence, accusing Mr Puigdemont of holding an illegal referendum

Catalonia since the referendum: A timeline of the crisis October 1: Violence-hit referendum. Hundreds of thousands of Catalans vote in an independence referendum that goes ahead despite a court ban deeming it unconstitutional. Spanish riot police try to block the vote. Shocking footage emerges of them using batons and rubber bullets on crowds and roughing up voters. The Catalan government says 90 percent of those who voted backed independence, but turnout was only 43 percent as many who oppose a split boycotted the referendum. October 3: General strike. A general strike called by unions and political groups disrupts Barcelona's port, transport and some businesses. Up to 700,000 people demonstrate in the city against police violence, defending the right to vote. King Felipe VI accuses Catalan leaders of threatening Spain's stability and urges the state to defend 'constitutional order'. October 5: Business exodus begins. Banco Sabadell, Catalonia's second largest bank, announces it will shift its registered domicile out of the region. More than 1,600 companies follow suit in a bid to minimise instability. October 7-8: Mass protests. Tens of thousands of people demonstrate across Spain on October 7, some demanding unity, others demanding dialogue. The next day hundreds of thousands march in Barcelona to back unity with Spain. October 10: 'Suspended' independence declaration. In a move that sparks widespread confusion, Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and his separatist allies sign a declaration of independence, but say they are suspending its implementation to allow for time for negotiations with Madrid. The next day, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy gives Puigdemont until October 16 to clarify his stance. October 16: Separatists detained. Puigdemont refuses to say whether he had declared independence and instead calls for dialogue. Madrid gives him an extended deadline of October 19 to say whether he is planning to secede. A court orders the leaders of two powerful grassroots independence groups, Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sanchez, to be detained pending an investigation into sedition charges. Their detention prompts tens of thousands to protest in Barcelona the following night. October 21: Spain to sack Catalan government, force elections. Rajoy takes drastic steps to stop Catalonia breaking away, employing previously unused constitutional powers to seek the dismissal of Puigdemont's government and new elections for the Catalan parliament. The Senate has to approve the measures. Some 450,000 people join a separatist protest in Barcelona, with Puigdemont accusing Rajoy of 'the worst attack on institutions and Catalan people' since Spain's dictatorship. October 25: Puigdemont declines Senate meeting. Puigdemont turns down an invitation to address legislators in the Spanish Senate to state his case for independence, with a source saying he declined because Madrid 'has already announced that it will implement Article 155 no matter what'. Puigdemont then calls an urgent brainstorming meeting with his cabinet and pro-independence civil groups. October 26: No regional elections, says Puigdemont. In a highly-anticipated address to the nation, Puigdemont says he considered calling elections to stave off the central government's takeover bid, but received 'no guarantees' to make this possible. In the hours before Puigdemont's announcement, there had been feverish speculation that he would dissolve parliament and announce elections in a bid to keep Madrid at arm's length. October 27: Takeover v. independence. In Rajoy's presence, Spanish senators meet to adopt drastic measures to seize control of Catalonia. Rajoy asks the Senate for the go-ahead to depose Puigdemont and his executive in a bid to stop their independence drive. In response, Catalan separatist parties file a resolution in the regional parliament in which they seek declare independence from Spain. 'We declare Catalonia an independent state in the form of a republic,' reads the start of the draft motion crafted by separatist lawmakers, which hold a majority in the regional parliament that may later proceed to a vote. Thousands of activists gather outside the Catalan parliament to add their voice to the push for a break with Spain. October 28: Madrid fires police chief. Spain moves to assert direct control over the region, formally removing top officials including Puigdemont and Josep Lluis Trapero, the chief of Catalonia's regional police, the Mossos d'Esquadra. Thousands of people in Madrid gather under a giant Spanish flag in anger at Catalonia's independence declaration. Puigdemont responds to Madrid's actions by calling for 'democratic opposition' to direct rule. Advertisement

Opposite sides: The rival leaders Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy The 62-year-old leader of the conservative Popular Party (PP) has served as Spain's Prime Pinister since December 2011. With a reputation as a political survivor, Rajoy is known for his strategy of playing for time to wear down his foes. He began a second term last November after the left tore itself apart during 10 months in which Spain had no government following inconclusive elections. He now heads a minority government backed by the centrist Ciudadanos, founded in Catalonia as an anti-independence party. The premier's detractors accuse him of failing to stop separatist sentiment from surging in Catalonia. Some say he even encouraged it after his party successfully pushed for the partial annulment of a 2006 statute of Catalan autonomy. That statute, negotiated with the then-ruling Socialists, had given the region expanded powers and described Catalonia as a 'nation' within Spain. Many Catalans viewed the episode as a humiliation. Rajoy argues he could not give his approval for a Catalan independence referendum because it violates Spain's constitution, which declares the country indivisible. He told parliament Wednesday that suspending Catalonia's autonomy was 'the only possible response' to Puigdemont's independence push - a move some fear could spark unrest. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont The 54-year-old conservative president of Catalonia, a former journalist, has advocated for independence since his youth. The former mayor of Girona became head of the regional government in January 2016, replacing fellow conservative Artur Mas who was mistrusted by far-left separatists. Puigdemont is under pressure from hardcore separatists to declare independence in defiance of the central government. The separatist leadership says voters who took part in a banned secession referendum on October 1 overwhelmingly backed breaking away from Spain. But turnout was just 43 per cent as Catalans in favour of remaining in Spain mostly boycotted the ballot, which did not meet international standards. Puigdemont yesterday ruled out fresh regional elections as a way to ease the crisis and left it up to Catalonia's regional parliament to decide whether to proceed with a declaration of independence. He also warned in a letter to the Senate that the crisis will escalate if Madrid takes over Catalonia's powers. Puigdemont has said he is willing to go to jail over his separatist drive. He is under investigation for alleged civil disobedience. He is also being investigated for abuse of office and misuse of public funds for staging the plebiscite. Advertisement

Catalan president Carles Puigdemont (right) and Catalan regional vice president and chief of economy and finance Oriol Junqueras attend a session at Catalan parliament on Thursday evening

Hands up: Students gesture as they march during a protest against the Spanish government announcement of implementing the article 155 in Catalonia

Voices: Protesters demonstrate during a Catalan pro-independence strike of university students in Barcelona, Spain

A snap regional election could defuse Spain's deepest political crisis in decades - sparked by the October independence referendum in Catalonia which Madrid has branded 'illegal' - but so far the President has decided not to

Real Madrid heading to Catalonia as crisis escalates Real Madrid face Catalan club Girona on Sunday amid heightened tensions in the northeastern region, which is seeking independence from Spain. Pictured: The side playing Fuenlabrada yesterday Real Madrid are trying to keep the focus on football as it travels to Catalonia to play a Spanish league match this weekend. Madrid face Catalan club Girona on Sunday amid heightened tensions in the northeastern region, which is seeking independence from Spain. It will be Madrid's first trip to Catalonia since the crisis escalated. Madrid, seen as the club of the Spanish establishment, have reportedly taken precautions ahead of its trip, including not using its official team bus, but it has tried hard to distance itself from the political turmoil. 'We'll play our game without thinking about anything else,' Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. 'I'm not going to ask the fans for anything. We're thinking about the game. We hope it's a good match and nothing more than that.' He said players are not concerned about their safety during the trip to Girona, a city filled with pro-independence sentiment just north of Barcelona. 'We're not worried about Catalonia because security will be as it always is,' Zidane said. Reports in Spain said there was a possibility that the game could be called off because of the situation in Catalonia, but the club was not yet making and drastic changes to its travel plans. Madrid faced Catalan club Espanyol in Madrid on the day of the independence referendum, when the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium was packed with fans carrying Spanish flags and showing their support of a unified country. Madrid rival Barcelona have been deeply involved in the Catalonia issue. It has publicly defended the region's right to choose, but it did not openly advocate independence. A unilateral declaration of independence would create problems for the club because it wants to keep playing in the Spanish league. Barcelona played its league match against Las Palmas without fans at the Camp Nou to protest against the Spanish government's actions during the referendum. Pro-independence flags and chants have always been present at Camp Nou, and they have intensified in recent weeks. There were no problems when Barcelona traveled to the Spanish capital to face Atletico Madrid a few weeks ago, although the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium was also filled with Spanish flags. Barcelona leads the Spanish league with 25 points from nine matches, four points more than second-place Valencia. Defending champion Madrid is five points off the lead, and Atletico Madrid is further point behind. Barcelona play at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday. Advertisement

Decision time: Carles Puigdemont 's wife Marcela Topor, pictured together in January at a fashion show in Barcelona

Still no answer: Spain has demanded that Puigdemont withdraws his 'suspended' declaration of independence, but he has not yet chosen to do so

Judgement day: Puigdemont is seen with Deputy President, Oriol Junqueras, left, and regional Presidency minister, Jordi Turull, right as they make their way to take part in the weekly regional cabinet meeting in Barcelona, on Tuesday
Two people have reportedly been killed when light plane crashed near the busy Pacific Highway on the Central Coast of NSW.

The wreckage of the plane was found near Johns River, after it failed to reach its intended destination of Taree.

The two-engine Cessna 182 aircraft narrowly missed motorists on the southbound highway after it crashed at the edge of the road.

Two people have died following a plane crash close to the Pacific Highway in New South Wales

The two-engine Cessna 182 aircraft narrowly missed motorists on the southbound highway

It also narrowly avoided a major railway line.

The plane departed from Toowoomba on Saturday afternoon, but reportedly crashed 40km south of Port Macquarie.

The Rural Fire Service and NSW Fire and Rescue were called to the scene about 4pm, where they are containing a small fuel leak. according to Channel 9.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner, while the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will undertake an investigation into the crash.

Rural Fire Service and NSW Fire and Rescue were called to the scene about 4pm on Saturday
Two men who plotted to traffic illegal immigrants into the UK were caught after they unwittingly recruited an undercover police officer as their driver.

The officer, named only as Charlie to protect his identity, spent nearly five months posing as a HGV driver to build a case against Scott Downie and Anthony Corkovic.

The pair, both from Salford, in Greater Manchester, have now both been jailed for seven years each after trying to smuggle people into the country on two occasions.

They were arrested in the UK alongside their co-defendant Jetlind Gjyriqi, from London, who has also been jailed, shortly after Charlie tipped off police of the location of a drop-off point in Belgium.

Downie and Corkovic planned a test run to bring seven people from Lille, in France, to the UK but this was cancelled at the last minute, and Gjyriqi became involved in a second plot to traffic Albanian nationals into the UK from Belgium.

Scott Downie (left) and Anthony Corkovic (right), of Greater Manchester, have been jailed for seven years each after trying to smuggle people into the country on two occasions. They were arrested alongside their co-defendant Jetlind Gjyriqi, from London, who has also been jailed, shortly after Charlie tipped off police of the location of a drop-off point in Belgium

Manchester Crown Court heard how Downie came to the attention of the National Crime Agency after a car linked to him was flagged up as part of a probe into unlawful immigration.

Investigators discovered that Downie and Corkovic were discussing the possibility of bringing illegal immigrants into the UK on HGVs, and that they needed a driver.

About a month later, the NCA sent Charlie undercover to pose as a HGV driver ready to be recruited for such operations.

Prosecutor Alex Leach said that on March 27, Charlie met with Downie and Corkovic at the Trucker's Rest Cafe on the A5 in Cannock, Staffordshire.

During their meeting Downie offered to pay Charlie 2,000 per person smuggled into the UK, and said he could guarantee between 15 to 20 people a trip.

He said they had a contact in France, who they called 'The Chink'.

Charlie was told that after he arrived in his HGV at the location, his passengers would be loaded into the back of the van without him having to leave the driver's seat.

They agreed to transport seven people as a 'test run', for which Charlie would be paid 3,000 a head because of the reduced number of travellers.

In further discussions Downie told Charlie that there were between 75 to 100 people waiting to be smuggled into the UK.

Charlie met Downie and Corkovic again on March 30 at Trafford Park, where they asked him to select a pick up location close to Lille.

On May 2 he spoke to the contact in France, who spoke in 'heavily Chinese accented English'.

The operation was due to take place on May 31, and Charlie arrived at the agreed location in Belgium.

Gjyriqi (pictured), 31, of London, was sentenced to five years and two months

But Downie was told that the contact had refused to travel, because he had been caught committing the same offence in the country and faced deportation if caught.

They tried to rearrange a pick up point near Lille but the deal was cancelled.

Charlie stayed in contact with Downie and Corkovic in the following weeks to see if there was any more work available.

Corkovic said he had been in in touch with a group of Albanians in London, who had been smuggling five to six people in the UK every week.

They agreed Charlie would be paid 2,750 per person smuggled as driver, and that the pick up point would be in Belgium.

Charlie spoke to Gjyriqi on the phone and later met in person with Corkovic near Victoria bus station in London, on July 28.

During the meeting they agreed that Charlie would transport groups of about seven people, including families and children, from Oostkamp in Belgium to Hull, but later agreed to increase this to 11 people per trip.

The pick up was organised for August 2, and Belgian police were tipped off about the location.

Officers observed two cars containing a number of men and Charlie's HGV arriving shortly after.

Charlie went to a nearby cafe, and six men entered the HGV under the instruction of Gjyriqi.

Following the incident, the three men were arrested in the UK and all refused to answer questions.

The six migrants were removed from the van and deported. The drivers of the two cars drove off but have since been prosecuted in Belgium.

Judge Martin Steiger QC said the offences involved the 'ruthless exploitation' of people who want to live in the UK.

He said: "If Charlie wouldn't have been an undercover police officer, this trafficking would have taken place."

Gjyriqi's barrister Ben Kaufman said his client had been trafficked into the UK about three years ago, paying 10,000 for the privilege.

He said Gjyriqi went along with the scheme to earn money to pay off the fee.

Corkovic and Downie's barristers said the pair had been acting on the orders of others.

After the hearing, NCA senior investigating officer Jez Hope said: "We are doing everything possible to prevent people smuggling which is a priority threat for the National Crime Agency.

"We have knocked a hole in this organised crime group's abilities. Organised immigration crime cuts across borders so it's vital that international law enforcement shares intelligence and works together."

Corkovic, 28, was jailed for seven years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of conspiring to assist unlawful immigration, and received a further three months for unrelated driving offences.

Downie, 31, was sentenced to seven years in prison, and Gjyriqi, 31, of London, was sentenced to five years and two months.
HONOLULU (AP)  Their engine was crippled, their mast was damaged and things went downhill from there for two women who set out to sail the 2,700 miles from Hawaii to Tahiti.

As their 50-foot sailboat drifted helplessly in the middle of the Pacific for months, their water purifier conked out, sharks started ramming their vessel, their food ran low and their distress calls and signal flares went unanswered day after day.

Some nights they went to sleep wondering if they would live to see the sun rise.

Then their fortunes changed Tuesday: Five and a half months after Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava embarked on a journey that might normally take about three weeks, a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted their boat 900 miles off Japan and thousands of miles in the wrong direction from Tahiti.

The Navy sent the USS Ashland to their rescue.

I had tears in my eyes, said Appel, the Sea Nymphs 48-year-old captain, who blew kisses to her rescuers as they pulled alongside.

She and Fuiava quickly clambered aboard, followed by their dogs Zeus and Valentine, who were hoisted up.

It was actually quite mind-blowing and incredibly humbling, she told reporters during a conference call from the ship.

All four looked remarkably fit, and Appel credited that to veteran sailors who had warned them to prepare well for the voyage. They had packed enough food that could last for a year, mostly dried goods like oatmeal and pasta.

They said pack every square inch of your boat with food, and if you think you need a month, pack six months, because you have no idea what could possibly happen out there, Appel said. And the sailors in Honolulu really gave us good advice. Were here.

Appel, who has been sailing the Hawaiian islands for a decade, said she had planned this voyage for more than two years. She and Fuiava were to spend about 18 days getting to Tahiti, then another six months or so cruising the thousands of small islands that dot the South Pacific before returning to Hawaii.

But she acknowledged that perhaps she and Fuiava, a novice at sea, werent as ready for the crossing as they could have been.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into, she said. When I asked Natasha, I told her I have no idea whats going to happen out there and she said, Thats OK, Ive never sailed.

The two set sail on May 3 and ran into trouble almost immediately, Appel said, hitting a storm that pounded their vessel with 50 to 70 mph winds for three days as they traveled the Hawaiian islands. The boat seemed to hold up fairly well through that, however, so they decided to continue.

Their engine went out toward the end of the month. They thought they could continue on with just their sails, but the rigging on the 57-foot mast was damaged and they were unable to make any headway.

So they drifted, sending out distress signals every day for 98 days straight. They said they also tried without success to hail a number of ships and fired off 10 signal flares. One of their cellphones had been washed overboard early in the voyage, and they were out of cell range anyway.

One night, a group of tiger sharks began attacking the vessel, and the next morning, a shark returned and rammed the boat again, Appel said, adding, We were just incredibly lucky that our hull was strong enough to withstand the onslaught.

There is a true humility to wondering if today is your last day, if tonight is your last night, she said.

As the months passed, the pair discovered they were going through their food much faster than they had anticipated. Ninety percent was gone by the time they were rescued, some of it having been fed to their dogs after their pet food supply ran out.

Meanwhile, loved ones had no idea where they were. Appels mother said she contacted the Coast Guard when she hadnt heard from her daughter a week and a half into the voyage.

Still, as the months passed, Joyce Appel said she never lost hope that the pair would be found.

She is very resourceful and shes curious, and as things break she tries to repair them. She doesnt sit and wait for the repairman to get there, said Joyce Appel, 75, who lives in Houston. So I knew the same thing would be true of the boat.

She finally got a call from her daughter early Thursday.

She said, Mom? and I said, Jennifer!? because I hadnt heard from her in like five months, she said. And she said, Yes, Mom, and that was really exciting.

Despite the ordeal, the pair said there were positive moments, such as when they fixed their broken water purifier and used their long days adrift to learn more about the sea and the weather.

You may as well use the time you have to do something beneficial, Fuiava said.
The son of the pilot who helped deliver a critical blow to the Nazi warship Bismarck is locked in a battle with Wikipedia in an attempt to win the proper recognition for his father's accolades.

On the internet encyclopedia, another pilot called John Moffat who wrote the book 'I Sank the Bismarck' is given credit for the feat.

Yet it has been proven that Sub-Lieutenant Kenneth Pattisson delivered the damaging blow to the torpedo that disabled the ship's rudder, not Mr Moffat.

However Wikipedia still credits Mr Moffat and Rodney Pattisson claims his father has been denied credit due to the mistake of an amateur American historian.

Sub-Lieutenant Kenneth Pattisson delivered the damaging blow to the torpedo that disabled the ship's rudder, not John Moffat who wrote the book 'I sank the Bismarck'

Mr Pattisson, a two time Olympic gold medal-winning sailor, has his father's claim supported by senior Royal Navy officers, along with the Fleet Air Arm museum and Navy Wings, who are responsible for the upkeep of vintage naval planes.

John Moffat wrote the book 'I sank the Bismarck' although it has been proven he did not sink the Nazi warship

Mr Moffat's account of the events involving the Bismarck went unchallenged until the wreckage was found nearly three miles underwater. Underwater cameras showed that the torpedo blasted the starboard side, yet Mr Moffat refused to alter the title of the book. He died last year, aged 95.

Mr Pattisson, 75, said: 'He spent the last nine years of his life being wined and dined at naval functions because he was good for fundraising. He revelled in it. He was introduced as the man who crippled the Bismarck. He didn't say "no I didn't". He just stood there and smiled.'

Rear Admiral John Tolhurst, the former captain of aircraft carrier HMS Invincible, has also written to Wikipedia in an attempt to correct the factual error on their webpage.

He told the Times: 'I'm totally convinced that the torpedo must have been launched from the starboard side. Unfortunately the Fly Navy Historic Trust [now Navy Wings] paraded Moffat around to help their fundraising.

'There's no doubt he enjoyed the glow and he allowed it to happen and there were no survivors around to argue.'

Former first sea lord and chief of defence staff, Lord Boyce, has also voiced support for Mr Pattisson's claims.

He said: 'I don't know whether John Moffat claimed in so many words to have sunk the Bismarck but it is fair to say he was economical with the truth and didn't set the record straight when people said he had.'
'New talent' does not necessarily mean 'young talent', especially when it comes to the BBC, says the head of its factual department, Alison Kirkham.

If we cast our minds to the world of factual television, who are its biggest stars? She asks.

'It's David Attenborough and Mary Berry. And I think society for too long hasn't revered experience or wisdom,' she says.

'People always interpret 'new talent' as 20-year-olds new on the block.

'But I always say, in the specialisms when we're thinking about new talent: who's the 70-year-old that we haven't discovered yet?'

TV producers are seemingly realising that older stars can be a hit with young people.

Head of the BBC's factual department Alison Kirkham (pictured) says TV bosses are waking up to the fact that older presenters are popular with young viewers

Taking Sir David and Marry Berry, who are 91 and 82 respectively, as an example, their fan bases have no specific age group.

Kirkham adds: 'Mary Berry has a huge young following. Planet Earth II had a bigger 16-34 audience than The X Factor.

'Sometimes there are preconceived notions that in order to appeal to a young audience it's got to be youth TV, and it was demonstrated with something like Planet Earth that when you make brilliant programming and get a big audience, a lot of it will be young.'

But while she tells The Telegraph it is not 'on a massive hunt for older talent specifically, nor younger talent specifically, our programmes should reflect our audiences at their broadest... what is key is expertise.'

Tomorrow is the launch of Blue Planet II, narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

It is Kirkham's 'blue-chip' landmark series, and ratings are expected to be high.

She says the second edition is 'Blue Planet for the next generation', showcasing what the latest technology is capable of in the natural world.

There could be a repeat of last season, with scenes from the programme being so loved by their audiences they go viral on social media, like that plucky little iguana escaping from racer snakes in Planet Earth II.

And that was not just any old viral video, it also won Bafta's Best TV moment award.

Blue Planet II, narrated by legendary nonagenarian David Attenborough (pictured) debuts on Sunday on BBC One

Kirkham mentions the change in the way people are watching TV, increasingly on smartphones and tablets on public transport.

She tells the newspaper: 'People aren't even watching it with audio, so you need subtitles to be on screen. It's just different behaviour and that's exciting.

'But I don't think the age of linear is dead. Look at the audiences we're bringing to Planet Earth, to Rio Ferdinand, to the Antiques Roadshow Holocaust edition - people still want that event television, and with BBC One our ambition is to bring the nation together around these universal moments.'

Kirkham's CV is undoubtedly impressive. Starting with the BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she then moved onto ITV's This Morning and I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

She was appointed controller of the factual department in September last year.

Next year, she told The Telegraph to expect more 'schedule-interrupting' 90-minute documentary films.

She says: 'I want that moment where you surprise the audience with something of real ambition and scale, signalling: this is something special, come to it.'

By that she means the recent Diana documentary and a forthcoming film about heart transplant surgery.

Her other new announcements include a documentary commissioned in the wake of the Grenfell disaster about the disparity between the rich and poor living in the London Borough of Kensington.

We can also expect films about the Suffragettes and dementia.

But there will be fewer three-part series, possibly because it's difficult for them to hold viewers' attention.

She adds: 'There was a time when it felt like there were a lot of three-parters that were all good on their own terms but perhaps were more missable.'

Former Great British Bake Off host Mary Berry (pictured), 82, may have left the BBC programme when it moved to Channel 4, but is still a hit with viewers, says Kirkham

The Suffragettes film will be presented by Lucy Worsley - who seems to be on our screens more often than news or weather presenters.

In the past year she has been on screen guiding us through opera, the court of Elizabeth I, the private life of Jane Austen and the wives of Henry VIII, and before that she was sharing her expertise on the Romanovs, Versailles, Mozart, Blackpool, the WI, the Georgians and the art of horse dancing.

But Kirkham says there is still more Worsley gold left to come.

She says she is the 'perfect person to do Suffragettes', adding: 'Lucy is much-loved and brilliant at what she does, and there's absolutely a place for her within our history content.'

She also points out that other history presenters are on the BBC's books, including David Olusoga - one of several black and ethnic minority faces hired in recent years, along with Nikki Fox on Watchdog and Dr Zoe Williams on Trust Me, I'm A Doctor.

Kirkham feels 'really, really strongly' that on-screen talent has to be diverse 'whether or not that is ethnic diversity or socio-economic background or gender.'

She says: 'We have to reflect Britain back to itself. And we don't want diverse voices consigned to talking about diverse issues.

'To have people like Nadiya Hussain on the channel or Anita Rani presenting Countryfile - not only is it incumbent on us, but it benefits our content.'

Lucy Worsley (pictured) is soon to be present an extended BBC documentary on the Suffragettes

The factual director was also keen to defend the corporation against criticism that too much of its history programming is for unseasoned historians.

She adds: 'We have to cater for different bits of the audience.

'It might be that they love Mary Beard and find Back In Time For Dinner too frivolous - that's fine.

'But it's a universal licence fee and I don't think we should only be making specialist programmes for one bit of the audience.'

Commenting on the loss of The Great British Bake Off, who's move to Channel 4 has been hailed a roaring success by many, she is keeping positive.

She says: 'You always want room to innovate and we've certainly got that now. We've got slots and money to innovate with.'

The Big Family Cooking Showdown, hosted by Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain and Zoe Ball, is being touted as the BBC's new answer to GBBO.

But Kirkham denied it is a derivative, saying: 'It was a really charming show that embraced the diversity of cultures in Britain, that celebrated families together, that got into people's homes. So I think it was different.'

She does not reveal if it's being commissioned for a second series, but also fails to refer to it in the past tense.

She wants to make families more prominent across the shows she takes charge of.

She tells the newspaper: 'I don't think we see families enough together.

'There's something incredibly moving about seeing people who love each other together on screen.'

Tomorrow night she will be closely following the reaction to Blue Planet II on social media, saying: 'No one goes on forever but if anyone could you would hope it were David Attenborough, and he's showing no signs of slowing down.'
Seven senior male Oxfam officials have been investigated over safeguarding allegations in the past year, including sexual harassment and the covering up of exploitation.

The seven men in question are working as country directors in Africa, Asia and Latin America. A total of 37 country directors are supervised by Oxfam GB.

These particular cases are among 87 sexual exploitation claims involving the charity's staff members in 2016 and 2017, compared to the 26 in the previous year.

Seven senior male Oxfam officials, who worked as country directors in Africa, Asia and Latin America, are being investigated over safeguarding allegations, which include sexual harassment and covering up exploitation. File image used

The Department for International Development (Dfid) is urging the NGO giant to investigate the allegations 'as a matter of urgency' after The Times brought them to light.

The Charity Commission is also looking into the claims.

Those investigated will also include Oxfam's dismissal of Lesley Agams in 2011, when she was its country director in Nigeria, three months after the 51-year-old confessed she was sexually assaulted by a senior official.

A spokesman for Dfid said told the newspaper it has a 'zero-tolerance' approach to sexual misconduct, saying: 'We expect our partners to have robust systems and processes in place to prevent such behaviour.

'Oxfam have informed us that they are investigating these allegations and we expect this to be carried out as a matter of urgency and in full compliance with the Charity Commission.'

The most up-to-date accounts available for Oxfam, for the year 2015-16, show it received 200million from the UK Government and 115million in public donations.

Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central Chi Onwurah has tabled a question to ministers asking whether the Government department ensures the charities it supports have adequate safeguarding policies.

She told The Times: 'Sexual harassment is generally associated with power disparities.

'The humanitarian sector clearly suffers from this with well-paid employees channelling significant funding in countries where the average income may be a dollar a day and civil structures and protections may be limited.

'It is absolutely imperative that organisations like Oxfam have a clear zero-tolerance approach and the controls in place to support that.

'Dfid have assured me that the organisations they fund must meet these high standards but I find it hard to reconcile that with having seven out of 37 country directors under investigation.'

Oxfam admitted the investigations into the directors 'included covering up a safeguarding complaint, physical intimidation, verbal sexual harassment (including comments about the physical appearance of female staff members) and undisclosed and potentially exploitative relationships in the line of management'.

Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central Chi Onwurah (pictured) has tabled a question to ministers asking whether Dfid ensures the charities it supports have adequate safeguarding policies

Two investigations have already been concluded and Oxfam told the newspaper: 'One country director has been dismissed and the other is currently being dealt with. The reason for the dismissal was not the safeguarding allegations.'

The charity stressed the increase in incidents is the result of a better policy on reporting them.

A spokesman said: 'Oxfam treats complaints of sexual abuse and exploitation very seriously.

'We have a confidential whistleblowing helpline, safeguarding contact points within our country programmes and a dedicated safeguarding team.

'All new staff have to sign a code of conduct which stipulates that any form of sexual abuse and exploitation or child abuse is prohibited.'

The Charity Commission is currently trying to establish how the trustees of Oxfam were responding to the individual allegations.
The spending habits of millennials should not be criticised by older generations that were just as frivolous, the boss of Metro Bank said.

The bank's chief executive Craig Donaldson says baby boomers also splashed the cash in their 20s despite them being stereotyped as frugal.

Responding to suggestions that younger people struggle to get on the housing ladder because of their expensive tastes, he dismissed older critics of millennials' 'avocado brunch' lifestyles as jealous.

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Craig Donaldson dismissed critics of millennials' 'avocado brunch' lifestyles as jealous and questioned the baby boomer stereotype of frugality

'When the older generation look back at what they did, they did the same,' he told The Telegraph.

'We used to go to the greasy spoon to get a full English after playing rugby and being out the night before.

'We should celebrate young people having a good time. When they look back theyll realise that actually we [older people] were just jealous.'

The 45-year-old's annual earnings exceed 1 million, but in his 20s he survived on pasta and tomato ketchup at the end of each month due to careless spending.

His comments contrast with statements from Australian property developer Tim Gurner, who suggested millennials had only themselves to blame for not being able to buy houses.

'When I was trying to buy my first home, I wasnt buying smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each,' he said.

'Were at a point now where the expectations of younger people are very, very high.'

The Metro Bank boss's comments contrasted with those of Australian property developer Tim Gurner, who suggested millennials expect too much

But Mr Donaldson pointed out that millennials graduated in the aftermath of the 2008 recession, adding he also graduated in a recession in the 90s.

'Graduating in a recession makes you work hard,' he said.

'It makes you appreciate what youve got.

'I think people are more resilient than we give them credit for.'

Speaking at Metro Bank's latest drive-through branch in London, he said banking apps would ensure younger people are able to deal with financial difficulties.
Michael Gove was forced to apologise for making a 'disgusting' joke live on Radio 4 comparing being interviewed by John Humphrys with entering Harvey Weinstein's bedroom.

The cabinet minister told the presenter: 'Sometimes I think coming into the studio with you John is a bit like going into Harvey Weinsteins bedroom  you hope to emerge with your dignity intact.'

The Tory MP was branded a 'gormless pillock' and 'unfunny cretin' after his remarks on BBC's special edition marking the show's 60th anniversary.

Michael Gove told John Humphrys that doing a radio interview with him is like entering Harvey Weinstein's bedroom

Apologies for my clumsy attempt at humour on R4 Today this morning -it wasn't appropriate. I'm sorry and apologise unreservedly  Michael Gove (@michaelgove) October 28, 2017

Veteran Labour politician Neil Kinnock, appearing alongside Mr Gove, waded in with a joke about groping.

'John goes way past groping. Way past groping,' he said.

The former Labour leader has yet to issue a public apology despite demands and one listener writing: 'Sexual violence is no punchline'.

And Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine Tweeted: 'Neil Kinnock's reaction to the Harvey Weinstein joke by Michael Gove is the strangest thing about it.'

The jokes were met with laughter and applause from the audience in the studio

in London's Wigmore Hall and the BBC's Nick Robinson Tweeted Gove's joke with a hashtag celebrating the show's anniversary.

Gove was forced to apologise over his remarks on the 60th anniversary show, which were met with laughter

Neil Kinnock joked that John Humphrys goes way past groping during the BBC Radio 4 show

But listeners criticised Mr Gove for his joke on Twitter, where his remarks were branded 'disgusting', forcing him to apologise on social media leading Nick Robinson to clarify he was Tweeting a newsworthy quote without comment.

Michael Gove and John Humphreys guffawing as they joke about Weinstein's groping is not how I want to start my day #r4today  Isobel (@E2Teacher) October 28, 2017

Another Twitter user wrote: 'Think rape and sexual assault is something to joke about, do you?'

I know many people are offended by this. To be clear - I tweeted a newsworthy quote without comment https://t.co/efWPRFMsyb  Nick Robinson (@bbcnickrobinson) October 28, 2017

Actor Stephen Mangan Tweeted 'morning. Here's a rape joke from Michael Gove to start your day' and Lily Allen called the Environment Secretary a 'bonehead'.

Former Labour minister Lord Adonis said: 'Seriously inappropriate 'joke' sums up a discreditable episode of @BBCr4today self-congratulation.'

Twitter user Steph Howarth said she was 'aghast' at the joke, adding: 'Surely nobody with an inch of sense or humanity would think this was a joking matter?'

Number 10 declined to comment directly on Mr Gove's remarks but echoed comments made by the prime minister yesterday when she urged victims of sexual harassment in Westminster to come forward.

'Any reports of sexual harassment are deeply concerning. The prime minister was very clear that any unwanted sexual behaviour is completely unacceptable in any walk of life including politics,' a spokeswoman said yesterday.

In recent weeks scores of women have accused Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment.

The producer denies all allegations of non-consensual sex but has been sacked by his own film company.

Three privileged white men - John Humphries, Neil Kinnock and Michael Gove using sexual assault as a punchline. Seriously @BBCRadio4   Mic Wright (@brokenbottleboy) October 28, 2017

The allegations are being investigation by police in the UK and the US, with some women reporting attacks in London.

Mr Gove's remarks come after James Corden was forced to apologise over jokes he made about Weinstein while he was hosting the AmfAR charity gala in Los Angeles.

He said: 'It's a beautiful night here in LA. So beautiful, Harvey Weinstein has already asked tonight up to his hotel to give him a massage.'

Labour MP Stella Creasy noted the similarity between the remarks from Gove and Corden, writing: 'Gove joking about sexual assault just as crass too.'

It comes amid the row over MPs' conduct prompted by reports that at least four have been the subject of sexual misconduct allegations.

Labour backbencher Jared O'Mara has had the party whip suspended over a series of misogynistic and homophobic online postings.

He has also been accused of calling a constituent an 'ugly bitch' - a claim which he denies.
Disgraced property developer Salim Mehajer has had his plans for a huge mansion in a Sydney suburb scrapped after neighbours objected.

The 31-year-old former Auburn deputy mayor planned to bulldoze a house and build a three-storey property on a site facing the water at Canada Bay in Sydney's inner-west after buying it for $1.4million in 2015.

Neighbours strongly objected to the proposal and have had their wishes fulfilled as the local council rejected Mehajer's application, according to 7 News.

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Disgraced ex deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has had his plans for a huge mansion in a Sydney suburb scrapped after neighbours objected

Salim Mehajer planned to bulldoze a house and build a three-storey property on a site facing the water at Canada Bay in Sydney's inner-west

Neighbours strongly objected to the proposal and have had their wishes fulfilled as the local council rejected Mehajer's application

Next-door neighbour Keith Beale, 92, was one of the neighbours who opposed Mehajer's mansion, calling the plans a 'monstrosity'.

Fellow neighbour and giraffe keeper Jimmy Sanders said the property would look 'more like a nightclub or a pub than a house'.

Sheila Axiak said everyone else in the area had to follow council regulations.

'What makes him so different?' she said.

The Council of Canada Bay rejected Mehajer's proposal as the plot is limited to single-storey developments.

They also felt the proposed property would have an unacceptable impact on surrounding homes, as well as having 'excessive bulk and scale'.

Mr Beale warned Mehajer was in for a fight if he appealed the ruling.

'He'll spend another fortune trying to get it up.'

Mehajer told 7 News he was now planning to build an aged-care facility on the site.

The Council of Canada Bay rejected Mehajer's proposal as the plot is limited to single-storey developments

The decision comes as Mehajer plans to sue a number of prominent media outlets in Australia's 'largest defamation case'.

He hired his sister, Sydney solicitor Zenah Osman to represent him in the case.

Mehajer is seeking an extraordinary $103million in damages.

He put his palatial Lidcombe mansion up for rent in August after the house was made famous by his $35million wedding.
A British-born Soviet spy linked to the assassination of US President John F Kennedy confessed to his family in Grimsby that he was 'under investigation' by the FBI.

In an astonishing letter to relatives he had visited for four days in November 1963, at the time of the Dallas shooting, Albert Osborne told them he was being hunted by American security services.

Mr Osborne is believed to have made a tip-off call to British press warning of JFK's assassination just 25 minutes before his death, new documents released by the US government on Friday have revealed.

In an astonishing letter to the family he had visited at the time the world leader was killed in 1963, Albert Osborne confessed he was being hunted by America's top security services

In a desperate attempt to appease his alarmed family, after the FBI called at their North East Yorkshire council semi seeking him, Osborne said that his 'conscious is clear' when it came to his suspected connection to John F Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald

Osborne, sent his letter posted from Texmelucan, in the Mexican state of Puebla, to his family just five months after the assassination

The suspected Soviet spy had befriended Oswald while on a bus to Mexico two months before the assassination - but insisted to relatives that his 'conscience is clear'.

But in his letter, he told family: 'For the past few months I have been under investigation by the American FBI.

'They claimed when I travelled to Mexico City on Sept 25th, a man named Lee Oswald sat next to me and held a conversation with me.

'While I have not the slightest idea of travelling with such a man, they still are questioning about what he talked about.

'It is strange in this day and age how a person can get involved. But my conscience is clear on this matter. So why should I worry.'

Mr Osborne is suspected of making a tip-off phone call warning of JFK's assignation while he was staying in Grimsby.

New documents released by the US government yesterday show the Cambridge News newspaper received a call shortly before 6pm on November 22, 1963, warning 'Call the American Embassy in London for some big news'.

Around 25 minutes later President Kennedy was shot dead in Dallas, Texas.

Osborne reveals in his letter that he is being accused of befriending JFK's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (pictured), but claims his memory doesn't register it despite claims they travelled and chatted on a bus together from Mexico to Dallas, Texas

It is also believed that Osborne tipped off the British press that JFK would be assassinated 25 minutes before the 'shot heard round the world' on November 22, 1963. JFK is pictured above just minutes before his death in Dallas, Texas

Mr Osborne had been staying with his sister Lillie Featherstone at the time.

While he was there, the colourful spy met his Lillie's son  his nephew Byron Featherstone  and his son Daryl, then 12, at their council house in the Lincolnshire town.

Osborne's letter was revealed exclusively to MailOnline from his relative, Daryl Featherstone, who still lives in Grimsby

Daryl recalled: 'I don't remember much about the visit, I was only a young lad but I do remember my uncle, he was quite a character.

'I had previously met him when I was a lot younger, may about three, and he had given me the bible stories book which I still have.'

Fifty-four years on from that visit, Daryl gave MailOnline Mr Osborne's incredible letter dated April 13, 1963, thanking the family for letting him stay and addressing speculation linking him to Oswald.

Daryl kept the letter after his father Byron died aged 96.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Mr Osborne's great nephew Daryl said: 'For all I know the relative I met as a young boy was linked to the President's murder.

'It is a shocking and overwhelming thought that he may have been involved but now but perhaps we'll never know.

'Uncle Albert, that's what I called him, seemed quite shady and I can't believe after all this time that a very ordinary family growing up in a council house in Grimsby is now linked to a worldwide historic event that everyone's talking about. It's beyond belief.

Featherstone recalled how he had met Osborne, referred to simply as Uncle Albert, just twice at home. One meeting was when Featherstone was toddler and was handed as a gift a child's first prayer book

Inscribed on the inside cover of the prayer book, Osborne wrote: 'To Daryl from Uncle Albert Christmas 1953'

Pictured above is the house where Albert Osborne visited Daryl Featherstone in Grimsby decades ago

'I only met him twice and remember him being a big guy and quite friendly but a bit dodgy.

It's the most dreadful thought for our family he may have been an accomplice to the President's shooting. We're heard all sorts of rumours.

'They're mind blowing and intriguing. My poor dad died two months ago and went to his grave never really knowing the truth, although I think he suspected.'

Daryl, a grandfather of two, added: 'For all we know he could have been involved in a conspiracy to assassin, it's surreal to think about and there's a lot to take on board. It's intriguing. It's history.

'He was a sharp shooter in the Army, a very good shot and may have passed on some expertise knowledge.'

Daryl recalled how he had met his great uncle, referred to simply as Uncle Albert  his grandmother Lillie Featherstone was Albert's sister - just twice at home.

Once when he was toddler and was handed as a gift a child's first prayer book, with a neatly scrolled Italic note on the inside cover: 'To Daryl from Uncle Albert Christmas 1953.'

A Knoxville news Sentinel paper from 1993 featured a story about Osborne's alleged connections to Oswald. The reporter sent it to Osborne's family as a keepsake

The store about Oswald in the Knoxville News Sentinel was published on November 28, 1993, 30 years after Kennedy's November 23, 1963, death

The second significant time was when he visited the family home a few days before JFK's killing when Daryl was aged just 12.

He recalled: 'He spent an evening visiting us at the family council house before going off to another relative's house where he is believed to have made that phone call.

'Not many people had home phones in those days but my dad and grandad were both taxi driver so it may have been a necessity for their job.

'I was too young at the time to have known what was going on by my dad later spoke about it.'

Daryl told how the FBI and Scotland Yard turned up at his parents' home a few days after the President's assassination.

He explained: 'My father told them he had visited briefly for an evening before travelling off to Italy.

'Officers just wanted to know where he was but never mentioned the assassination as they knew he had been in Grimsby at the time of JFK's murder.'

Daryl, who lives with wife of 43 years Sue, said: 'It is the strangest feeling that normal people like us from this little seaside town can be connected to something that was so huge at the time.'

Mr Osborne, who travelled the world and lived in Mexico as a missionary, died in San Antonio, Texas, aged 75, in 1966 - three years after the assassination.
Spain's Catalan crisis has stopped simmering and boiled over as, after weeks of dithering, the regional parliament voted to declare independence.

The reaction of the national government in Madrid was immediate  and unprecedented, revoking Catalonia's autonomy and approving measures that allow it to impose direct rule over the region, at least until a new regional government is elected.

It raises the prospect of the feared civil guard and even the army being deployed as thousands of pro-independence voters last night took to the streets to celebrate.

Catalan police stands preventing demonstrators from moving forward during a march against the unilateral declaration of independence approved earlier by the region's parliament

If ever there was a time for cool heads, it is now. But even as the Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy was appealing for calm, some Catalans were threatening a campaign of civil disobedience in the event of a crackdown by Madrid.

Now a battle of wills that could turn ugly is on the cards. There are few in Spain who do not fear a looming confrontation between the Mossos, the local Catalan police committed to protecting their political leaders and public buildings, and forces from Madrid trying to suppress secession.

The risk of violence should not be underestimated. Think back to the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991.

Few thought that Serbs, Croats, Bosnian Muslims and Kosovo Albanians would sink to the level of the brutal civil wars which wrecked the Balkans, but once blood is shed  even by accident  emotions can rapidly get out of hand.

No one knows how many of Catalonia's 7.5million inhabitants truly want to break with Spain. In the illegal referendum earlier this month that triggered the present crisis, more than 90 per cent voted to leave. But only about 43 per cent of the population actually voted. Many pro-Spanish Catalans boycotted it.

A unionist protester is searched by the Catalan police during the anti-independence demonstration on Friday night

However, it is clear that a vocal and dedicated group are determined now that their 'nation' should be independent, the autonomous powers it has enjoyed for decades are no longer enough.

Living in Spain's richest region, Catalans have long been resentful at seeing so much of their taxes disappear to Madrid to 'subsidise'  as they see it  the rest of the country. But economics are only part of the crisis.

The Catalan sense of 'self' is ferociously strong  they are defined by their own language, culture, cuisine and a long tradition of defying Madrid. Catalan identity has been permitted to flourish only since the death of the dictator Franco in 1975, and of course Spanish politics continues to be haunted by the civil war fought by Franco's Nationalists against the Republicans in the 1930s.

The fact that their great-grandparents and grandparents fought against Franco, while the PM Mariano Rajoy's family sided with the dictator, is not lost on the Catalans today.

As for the EU, it has shown itself insensitive to the interests of small regions. Brussels and member governments of the EU, including our own, have said from the start that they won't recognise a breakaway Catalonia which will not be allowed to join the EU or keep the euro.

The tenacity of Madrid as it contemplates a possible break-up is a key factor in the dangerous days and weeks ahead.

The government and Spain's Constitutional Court have both said the secession bid was illegal, and after Friday's independence vote, Rajoy said it was a move that 'not only goes against the law but is a criminal act'

Again, there are historical lessons. Madrid lost control of Gibraltar to Britain in 1704, but more than 300 years on still lays claim to the Rock.

Even in the unlikely event of Catalonia managing some kind of functioning independence without open conflict with Spain, the fact remains that Madrid can block its access to the EU and other international bodies, so that the self-proclaimed state will effectively be under siege.

Prime minister Rajoy has called an election for the Catalans on December 21  but this time it will be the Catalan nationalists who stay away.

At the very least a tug of war, if not violence, is coming fast to Catalonia.

No one in Spain seems able to act as an honest broker  certainly not King Felipe who, perhaps unwisely, has intervened to side with Madrid  while its partners in the EU refuse to do so.

What Spain needs now is friends to help mediate and calm things down.
As the same-sex marriage postal survey draws to a close, gay Australians are speaking out about being subjected to horrific abuse during the months-long campaign.

From bricks through windows to friends committing suicide, young people around the country want the wider Australian community to understand the postal survey has been an unpleasant ordeal for many.

Some have been abused in the street, while others have been the target of hateful graffiti and discrimination in the workplace. Still more around the country have been threatened with violence and even murder.

One Sydneysider came home to find the phrase 'No to F*gs' written on the property gate

Pride banners and rainbow flags hanging outside homes have been the target of hateful graffiti

A hand-written Vote No' flyer claims that 'AIDS [is] nature's defence against homosexuality'

'It is important that people understand that they are insulting, abusing and vilifying real people, real human beings,' a 24-year-old Sydney 'Yes' campaigner told Daily Mail Australia.

'This could have been peacefully resolved in parliament but instead it's been forced into our workplaces, homes, schools and private lives. It's tearing families apart and it's causing irreparable harm.

'The people whose windows are being smashed, whose houses are being defaced and whose rights are being withheld are all individuals. And they are being forced to bear the brunt of this painful debate that will ultimately decide their future.'

Gay Australians have revealed the hate they have endured from members of the 'No' campaign

The word 'no' has been graffitied on mailboxes, houses and in skywriting all over the Australia

'A [gay] friend of mine works as a waiter at a restaurant,' revealed a Melbourne woman.

'He was dressed neatly, professionally, just his usual work-appropriate self.

'He went to take an order from a customer - who immediately told him to go and get somebody else, because he refused to be served by a f***ot.

'My girlfriend had the same slur yelled at her out of a car (amongst other choice words) when she was leaving a rally wearing a rainbow flag.

'And I was recently told that the only good thing Hitler did was round up and kill gay people.'

'I got threatened with rape, murder and bashing all in one day,' one gay teenager told Daily Mail Australia.

'And I count myself lucky because they were only threats.'

The Coalition for Marriage attracted around 1000 people at their 'No' rally in Darling Harbour

Even allies of the LGBTQ community are feeling the hate and vitriol - one woman was instructed not to wear any marriage equality badges in the office.

'As a straight individual who this debate doesn't even affect, I am still extremely offended but the hatred brought out in this survey,' said a 24-year-old Sydney woman.

'This week, after wearing my equality badges on my bag I was told 'not to wear my f***ot badge' at work. Some of the things my boss said made me physically sick.

'He said that homosexuality was a genetic defect, that gay people are genetically programmed not to reproduce so that they become extinct. If this isn't hatred and negativity I don't know what is.'

The girl, who has a sister in a committed same-sex relationship, eventually resigned because of the 'rampant homophobia' in the office that was 'getting [her] down every day'.

'Seeing my sister and her girlfriend struggle has been so eye opening,' she added. 'As to how far we actually are from equality - we have a long, long way to go.'

Another Melbourne woman has commented that the posters that have been plastered all over the city saying 'homosexual parents are more likely to abuse their children' are extremely upsetting, as well as 'just a lie'.

'I'm drowning in the horrible stuff,' she told the Daily Mail. 'How can people not see it?'

One heartbroken woman claimed that her friend committed suicide after being subjected to 'a bunch of vitriolic hate'.

'[We are] still in a lot of pain over it - and I can't imagine how her family and loved ones are feeling right now,' she said.

'It is completely unacceptable and irresponsible of the government to have this postal vote. It has literally cost lives.'

'It has literally cost lives': A woman has reportedly committed suicide after 'vitriolic hate'

'Vote No': People against marriage equality have repeatedly used sky writing to communicate

A 23-year-old Sydneysider told Daily Mail Australia that her girlfriend has been unable to leave the house for fear of being harassed or abused again.

'A couple of years ago, she was beaten severely enough to go into a coma because she kissed her [same-sex] partner goodbye in public,' the woman said.

'Despite this, she's had mail in her letterbox telling her that she's wrong and an abomination, and it we've also had our front door vandalised (graffiti with 'die f*gs') because we chalked a rainbow on our front wall.

'It's been horrible for her mental health; to top it off, because she hasn't been able to make it into work, she recently lost her job.'

A Perth woman who suffered through homophobic bullying in high school has spoken out about the 'horrible' effect that the plebiscite has had on her.

'I really thought it wasn't going to affect me because I dealt with so much homophobic bullying from staff and students at my Christian private school but nope, apparently I am not immune quite yet,' she said.

'This has been hard for all of us, not just active campaigners but regular people trying to live their lives. I can't wait until it's over...I hope people can see how vile some of the 'No' campaigners have been.'

'Can't wait until it's over': The 'Yes' campaign is in the lead as the results announcement looms

The inside of Sydney train carriages were repeatedly defaced with the words 'Vote No To F*gs'

In September, photos surfaced of obscene graffiti inside a train carriage, including swastikas and the phrases 'vote no! to f*gs' and 'f***ots not welcome', according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The photos were uploaded to the Reddit website last week by a user who said they saw the 'absolutely f***ing disgusting' graffiti on a train journey to Circular Quay.

Queensland police are also investigating an apparent vandalism spree in South Brisbane targeting homes flying the rainbow flag, where windows were smashed with rocks.

Property owner Ms Hill said she heard a man yelling homophobic slurs such as 'you f***ots, you p***ters' and that three large rocks were thrown through her windows.

A Melbourne house had its windows smashed with three rocks and was defaced with swastikas

'It happened really fast and I was also incredibly terrified,' she told Fairfax Media last month.

'I'm a bi woman and one day I might want to marry the woman that I love. We live on a main street and we just wanted everyone who walks past to feel that they were loved and supported.

'This is the first thing that I've experienced as blatant homophobia.'

Hundreds of people have also reported receiving hate mail from the 'No' campaign or from people against same-sex marriage.

Another flyer was posted into mailboxes in Sydney's West and told people to 'Post Your NO'

Prominent marriage equality campaigners have perhaps been targeted the worst, with explicit and cruel messages being sent straight to their phones or left on their Facebook walls.

One Sydney-based activist received dozens of messages that called her 'the stinky unshaven p***y feminist type' and suggesting that gay people be thrown off buildings.

Another underlined the importance of being open and attentive to the struggles of others: 'It's hard to understand things you've never ever experienced. That's why we have to listen to minorities...That's the best thing we can do.'

A Sydney marriage equality activist has received dozens of hurtful and abusive text messages

In the aftermath of the survey, the Australian Institute will be conducting an investigation into the impact of the debate on collective LGBTQ mental health.

Material that was damaging and misinformed is currently being collected as part of senate submission on the effects of the plebiscite on the gay community is also being prepared.

Labor's spokeswoman for equality, Terri Butler, said the homophobic incidents were 'abhorrent' and underlined why a 'national opinion poll on people's human rights' was a bad idea.

'This is an inherently bad process,' she told Fairfax Media. 'You can try to ameliorate the worst aspects of it but you can't fix a process that's inherently wrong.

'At the end of the day, we're asking a majority to cast judgment on the human rights of a minority.'
An Oxford man dubbed 'Jihadi Jack' has been charged with being a member of Islamic State.

Jack Letts, 21, has been charged after travelling to Syria in 2014, Kurdish officials have said.

After arriving in Syria, Mr Letts was captured by the Kurdish YPG after leaving Islamic State territory.

Officials from the country's Kurdish region told the BBC Mr Letts was captured in May this year.

Jack Letts, who became known as Jihadi Jack after travelling to Syria in 2014, has been charged with being a member of Islamic State

The Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (DFNS) said Mr Letts is in prison in Qamishli, Rojava, northern Syria.

The self-declared autonomous region said the case is being investigated by its local police force, the Asayish.

Mr Letts converted to Islam while attending Cherwell comprehensive school in Oxford and travelled to Jordan when he was 18 after dropping out of A-levels.

He entered Islamic State-controlled territory in Syria in autumn 2014 before marrying in Iraw and fathering a child.

A petition was started by his parents, who deny he went to Syria to fight with the terrorist group and claimed their son had 'disappeared in a Guantanamo-style black site'.

The European representative of DFNS Sinam Mohamed disputed this, telling the BBC the region respects human rights and was treating Mr Letts in accordance with the Geneva Convention.

'We refute all these baseless allegations,' she said.

'The Democratic Federation of Northern Syria's policy with regard to prisoners of war is clear and fair.

'ISIS brought inexplicable levels of terror on the peoples of Northern Syria/Rojava

'Despite this fact, the DFNS is not less committed than European countries to treating the fighters from this terror group according to international human rights standards."

Sally Lane and John Letts went on hunger strike in protest at what they see as the government's lack of help for their son

John Letts and Sally Lane went on a week-long hunger strike in protest at the alleged lack of action by the British government to help their son.

They said that they have had no confirmation of whether he is still alive since July.

But Ms Mohamad's statement gives shed light on a possible handover of Canadian passport holder Mr Letts to British authorities.

It said Kurdish officials are willing to hand over prisoners of war to their home country after a proper investigation.

'Jack Letts is currently under investigation by local and global anti-terror units,' it said.

Supporters of John Letts and Sally Lane outside the Old Bailey as the couple face charges of funding terrorism

'Once the investigation is concluded, the outcome will be communicated to Jack's parents, and their legal representatives and to the officials of relevant governments.

'Therefore, we ask the parents of Jack Letts and their legal representative to ask the UK and Canadian governments to officially request the handover of Jack Letts from the officials of the DFNS so that the handover can proceed officially.

'However, so far there has been no official request from neither Canadian or British governments.'

Rory Stewart, minister for international development said this week that people who have travelled to fight in Syria are 'a serious danger to us' and should die.

'I'm afraid we have to be serious about the fact these people are a serious danger to us, and unfortunately the only way of dealing with them will be, in almost every case, to kill them,' he said.

Rory Stewart says the country has to kill people who have gone to fight for Islamic State in Syria

Security minister Ben Wallace said previously that the government would prefer suspected Islamic State - also known as Daesh - fighters are returned to the UK to face prosecution.

'We have planned and prepared for the risk posed by British returnees as Daesh (IS) is defeated,' he said.

'Our ultimate aim is to prosecute, but it's not straightforward.'

John Letts and Sally Lane pleaded not guilty to funding terrorism after they were accused of sending money to their son.

Their solicitor said they declined to comment.

The Foreign Office said: 'The government is unable to provide support to British nationals in Syria as the UK government does not have consular representation there.'
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Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is set to announce the date of the next state election.

The election will be held on November 25, according to the Courier Mail.

Ms Palaszczuk is expected to make an official announcement of the snap election on Sunday.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is set to announce the date of the next state election

She came to power in January 2015, and her Labor party will go up against the the Liberal National Party led by Tim Nicholls.

A rebel MP and the ill health of another are understood to be contributing factors for the Premier to call an early election.

Member for Pumicestone Rick Williams quit Labor and Agriculture Minister Bill Byrne is in poor health with heart issues, meaning he will struggle to attend the last weeks of Parliament.

The election will be the first since 1989 that Queenslanders will use a compulsory preferential voting system.
Mr Justice Peter Smith (PS): Right, Mr Turner, here is a question for you. What happened to the luggage?

Jon Turner (JT): My Lord, the position remains that set out in the letter from Slaughter and May of 15 July, that we are not dealing with that as parties in these proceedings.

PS: I am asking you: what has happened to the luggage?

JT: My Lord, so far as the parties to these proceedings, including Slaughter and May as the representative of British Airways for these proceedings, are concerned, we have said, and we maintain, that we are not getting involved because we trust that that will be dealt with expeditiously, in the ordinary course of events

PS: In that case, do you want me to order your chief executive to appear before me today?

JT: I do not wish your Lordship to do that; and I would say, if your Lordship will permit me to develop my submissions, that that would be an inappropriate mixture of a personal dispute --

PS: What is inappropriate is the continued failure of your clients to explain a simple question, namely, what happened to the luggage? It has been two weeks since that happened now. Or are you saying that if I had a piece of luggage that was just lost, that would lead me to recuse myself from the case?

JT: I am not saying that, my Lord. If I may, I will develop the submissions on this because --

PS: No, I want an answer to my question. If you are not going to --

JT: In that case, let me answer both of those questions. I am not saying that a mere dispute over mislaid luggage of your Lordship's would itself, in itself, be grounds for recusal. Our position, as set out in the submissions that we have made and the letters, is that this dispute extends beyond a mere dispute about mislaid luggage.

Secondly, in relation to the overlap between the personal dispute and the litigation before your Lordship, we say that no linkage should be made, because that contributes to the impression of bias.

PS: If the dispute over the luggage had gone to litigation, you are not saying I shouldn't have told the parties in this litigation of that dispute, are you? I just find that an impossible submission. I just wonder what thunderbolts would have come in my direction if your solicitors had found out that I was in a dispute with BA and not told them, and BA didn't know of my connection with this litigation and I commenced proceedings against BA, and then I suddenly tell your lawyers that: oh, by the way, I am suing your clients. Are you seriously suggesting there isn't a necessary linkage that has got to be ventilated?

JT: Our position, my Lord, is that where your Lordship initiates a personal dispute with British Airways -

PS: I didn't initiate a personal dispute. BA's associated company retained my luggage. It is not my fault that that happened. I am the victim. I read the whole of your correspondence. The more I read it, I got the impression that BA was trying to portray itself of the victim of this case and being oppressed by wicked Mr Justice Peter Smith. It is just ridiculous.

The reason I called you and Mr Harris and your lawyers in was that I wanted to head off a situation whereby it would escalate out of control and lead to the present application.

JT: My Lord, I do understand that and this is not a criticism of your Lordship's motivations in any way.

...

PS: As far as I am concerned, the key fact in this case is: what happened to the luggage; and your clients know what happened to the luggage and they are not telling me. And your solicitors and you are deliberately not asking. Your reasons might be as you say, but what is being withheld from me is what is the key point in this issue, by the people who seek to recuse me from the case

...

PS: Now, I am entitled, therefore, to know, because if there is -- and I have always made this position clear; if there is a perfectly understandable operational reason as to why the whole of the flights' luggage was left behind in Florence -- note, the whole of the flight, not just mine, the whole of the flights' luggage was left behind -- if it was for perfectly reasonable operational reasons, then I will accept that. That has been my stance ever since I contacted the chairman.

I contacted the chairman because the BA helpline is misdescribed. Because when I contacted them, they said, "It is nothing to do with us, it is down to Vueling", despite the fact that I booked my flight with BA and BA took my money. That appears to be irrelevant.

The Vueling helpline was even worse, because although we were all given a personalised lost luggage number, it never got onto their system. So when you are on the Vueling airline helpline, they said, "Come back to us when your luggage goes on our computer system". They couldn't even tell me where the luggage was till it, without warning, spontaneously arrived at my house last Thursday

In those circumstances, I went to the BA website and the BA website says the chairman is anxious to have comments from customers, and there is his email address, so I sent him an email.

That is reinforced by an article which I referred to in the correspondence. Apparently he likes reading customers' emails. It doesn't appear to be necessarily he does anything about it, but he obviously likes reading them over his breakfast.

So your clients must know now, nearly two weeks after the event, what happened to the luggage.

...

PS: BA as a group, as a company in a group, clearly know what happened to the luggage, because, as I said in my original email, they cannot have accidentally left the whole of the flight's luggage off the plane, can they? I mean, I am intrigued. It might be for some reason they only had 3 gallons of fuel in the plane, it would run out unless they took everything off, which is a bit difficult because the plane was actually being refueled when we got there. But equally, it is impossible to believe that the pilot, who has to sign the documentation as to what is the weight and composition of the weight in the plane, did not know that his hold was empty; and it is equally impossible for the ground staff not to know that the luggage was not there

These are things which, I accept, I am struggling to find a rational explanation for. But then I don't operate airlines. I don't know what goes on. But I do know this, Mr Turner: it is clearly within the knowledge of your client to explain.

JT: My Lord, you know, of course, that this was not a BA aeroplane. This was another operator.

PS: In the same group.

JT: This is a Spanish low cost operator.

PS: That itself is an interesting story, because I bought my ticket with BA and I was given a BA flight number, until the day before I signed in, when it suddenly got changed to a Vueling number.
Police in Queensland are appealing for public information to find a 34-year-old man who snatched a two-year-old girl from her home.

Patrick Derrick is believed to have taken the child from her Sandstone Point home on Saturday morning, following an altercation with a woman.

Police report the man is known to the little girl and may be travelling between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.

Patrick Derrick, 34, (pictured) is believed to have taken the child from her Sandstone Point home on Saturday morning, following an altercation with a woman

The man is believed to be travelling in a blue 2011 Toyota Hilux utility (similar to the one pictured) with Queensland registration 464WGO

The man is believed to be travelling in a blue 2011 Toyota Hilux utility with Queensland registration 464WGO.

The two-year-old girl is described as Caucasian, with brown shoulder-length hair and brown eyes.

Patrick is described as being Caucasian in appearance, about 176cm tall with brown hair.

Police hold concerns for the childs safety and are urging anyone with information regarding the matter to contact police.

If you have information for police, contact Policelink on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
A woman who hacked off her drunk husband's penis when he tried to rape her in front of their children is facing attempted murder charges

A woman who hacked off her drunk husband's penis when he tried to rape her in front of their children is facing attempted murder charges.

The enraged wife, not named in local media, told police her husband named as R. Ravinder had come home after a lunchtime drinking session and began to grope her.

She says she grabbed a kitchen knife and sliced off his genitals, say investigators in Sirisedu, India.

Ravinder, 40, is reported to be recovering in hospital, but local media did not report whether surgeons were able to reattach his severed manhood.

A local police chief told Indian media: 'The incident took place when Ravinder was harassing the woman after getting drunk.

'Neighbours told us that the couple often fought whenever Ravinder came home drunk.

'Unable to bear the harassment, she took a knife and chopped off his penis. We have filed a case under section 307 of IPC (attempt to murder) against the woman.

'Ravinder is now being treated at a government hospital in Jammikunta.'

But his wife remains defiant, saying she acted in self-defence.

She told local media that her husband harassed her sexually every time he got drunk.

Ravinder, 40, is reported to be recovering in hospital, but local media did not report whether surgeons were able to reattach his severed manhood

But when he tried to rape her in the presence of her children, she became so angry and frightened that she was forced to use extreme measures to stop him.

It was not clear whether rape charges against the injured husband were being pursued.

Three months ago in a similar incident in Tamil Nadu, a wife now facing assault charges chopped off her husband's penis when she discovered he was cheating on her.
The businessman who died with his partner in a plane crash north of Sydney lost his beloved wife three years ago before his new girlfriend died in a motorcycle accident in May 2016.

Grant Burley and his new partner were killed when the 310 Cessna he was flying crashed near the busy Pacific Highway on New South Wales' Central Coast about 4pm on Saturday.

The wreckage of the plane and the bodies of Mr Burley and his partner were found near Johns River after setting off from Toowoomba, according to the Daily Telegraph.

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Grant Burley and his new partner were killed when the 310 Cessna he was flying crashed near the busy Pacific Highway on New South Wales' Central Coast

Mr Burley's wife Kym died three years ago, and the heartbroken businessman thought he had found love again with new girlfriend Klaire Sampson

Two people have died following a plane crash close to the Pacific Highway in New South Wales

Mr Burley's wife Kym died in her sleep three years ago.

The grieving widow posted online he would miss 'her wit, her cheeky smile and sense of humour which was always lurking around'.

'I have lost my best friend , my wife and many people have lost the light she bought into their life of which there are plenty,' he wrote.

Kym was remembered as an animal lover, a supportive friend, and a shining light to friends.

On a Facebook tribute page, Mr Burley revealed his wife also flew light planes, taking the pair of them away together for the final time the Christmas before she died.

Mr Burley's wife Kym (left) died in her sleep in 2014 after nearly 20 years together

Mr Burley shared online he would miss the woman's 'wit, her cheeky smile and sense of humour'

She was remembered by friends as an animal lover, and also flew light planes recreationally

Years on, the heartbroken businessman thought he had found love again with new girlfriend Klaire Sampson.

That was before tragedy struck once again in May 2016 when Ms Sampson, a mother to young children, died in a motorcycle crash.

A once again shattered Mr Burley expressed his grief in an online memorial, noting his new partner 'filled such a large void in my life'.

'I will be forever captured by your wit, sense of humour and above all adventurous nature,' he wrote.

'Your smile shed a light brighter than all else in every room you entered. You left a lasting and positive impact upon all who came into your life.

'I love you from the bottom of my heart and there are no words in any dictionary to articulate the sense of loss I endure and nothing that will ease the pain I have.'

A heartbroken Mr Burley eventually found love again with Klaire Sampson (left), but lost her too, soon after

Klaire, a mother to young children, died in a motorcycle crash last year, leaving Mr Burley shattered with grie

Following Saturday's disaster, Mr Burley's devastated nephew Lucas Young said the financial executive was being remembered as an 'exceptional pilot'.

'All I can say is may he fly high above us all as an angel.'

According to locals Mr Burley had a private airstrip at his rural property at Johns River.

Mr Burley worked for Burley White & Co, and owned a residential village as well as leasing specialty aircraft to the New Zealand Government and had advised the Australian government on laws concerning money laundering.

In a statement, the Australian Transportation Safety Bureau said they will be investigating the accident.

The light plane narrowly missed motorists on the southbound highway after it crashed at the edge of the road.

The two-engine 310 Cessna aircraft narrowly missed motorists on the southbound highway

It also narrowly avoided a major railway line.

The Rural Fire Service and NSW Fire and Rescue were called to the scene about 4pm, where they are containing a small fuel leak according to Channel 9.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner, while the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will undertake an investigation into the crash.

Rural Fire Service and NSW Fire and Rescue were called to the scene about 4pm on Saturday
In the Trump family, it seems you can never be too young to start spreading the family's political message.

On Saturday, Donald Trump Jr. shared photographs of his three youngest children in their Halloween costumes.

Revealing that kids Chloe, three, Tristan, six, and Spencer, five, had chosen to dress up as soldiers and police officers, the president's son couldn't resist a jibe as he boasted about their choice on social media.

'Kids have their costumes ready. So cute and its nice to see they respect law enforcement and the military already.

'See how easy that is?!?!' he quipped as he posted the photographs on Instagram.

All of the children offered a sweet salute for the camera as they had their photograph taken.

Donald Trump Jr. shared photographs of his children's Halloween costumes on Instagram on Saturday. Chloe, three, was dressed as a police officer while Tristan, six, and Spencer, five, dressed as troopers

Chloe, the youngest in the family, was dressed as a police officer while her older brothers wore Trooper costumes.

Not pictured were Donald Trump III, eight, and his older sister Kai, 10.

Trump Jr. , 39, couldn't resist a jibe as he shared the photo online

Earlier in the week, Ivanka Trump treated fans to a glimpse of her son Joseph's catboy costume.

In her own Instagram post, he appeared sitting on a bale of hay as he posted for the camera.

Eric Trump, who welcomed his first child with wife Lara earlier this year, has also been proudly sharing photographs of his family.

While it's unclear whether his Tabasco t-shirt was intended as a costume or mere outfit, one-month-old Eric Luke looked every bit as adorable as his cousins in a photo shared by his father this week.

Ivanka Trump shared this photo of her son Joseph in his catboy costume earlier in the week

Eric Trump also shared a photo of his one-month-old son Eric 'Luke' earlier in the week in an adorable Tabasco t-shirt

Eric's wife Lara was also keen to get into the holiday spirit but drew ridicule when she shared this snap of her 'MAGA Pumpkin Hat' which critics said bore a striking resemblance to her father-in-law

The president is not due to attend any public Halloween events over the weekend.

He kicked off his weekend with his routine Saturday morning tweet, complaining this time about the lack of news coverage of the 'GREAT' GDP figures released on Friday.

He also thanked former president Jimmy Carter for his 'nice remarks' to The New York Times last week.

Carter acknowledged Trump's long-standing complaint that the media have been 'harder on him than any other president'.

Carter said of the press: 'I think they feel free to claim that Trump is mentally deranged and everything else without hesitation.'
Rebecca Bredow, 40, of Ferndale, spent five days in jail for refusing a court order to vaccinate her nine-year-old son

A Michigan mother who previously spent a week in jail for refusing to vaccinate her son will return to court to try and prevent the nine-year-old from receiving any future shots.

Rebecca Bredow, 40, was jailed for five days after a judge found her in contempt of court on October 4 after ignoring a September 27 order to vaccinate the child.

Now Bredow must convince Oakland County Circuit Judge Karen McDonald that avoiding future shots is 'in the best interest of her child,' her lawyer Clarence Dass said to USA Today.

Bredow plans to bring in an expert to speak against vaccinating the child, though it is not confirmed who it will be.

McDonald has said that Bredow had agreed in November 2016 to follow a pediatrician's advice and vaccinate the child during a custody battle with her ex-husband.

Bredow had previously taken 'full responsibility' for failing to follow the court orders, saying that vaccinations go against her beliefs and that she should have made her objections to them sooner.

However, her lawyer now disputes that she agreed to that provision.

Bredow will now return to court in an attempt to prevent her husband from allowing her son to receive any future vaccinations

'That was never placed on the record. It was done by the lawyers in chambers,' Dass said. 'She didn't know that was part of the order.'

McDonald sentenced Bredow to five days in the Oakland County Jail.

'I understand that you love your children. But what I don't think you understand is that your son has two parents, and dad gets a say,' Judge McDonald said.

Bredow, who is from suburban Detroit, agreed to immunize her son last November during a custody battle with her husband, the judge noted in court on Wednesday. However, she went back on that agreement, which landed her in jail

In her absence, the boy's father saw to it that he was given the shots.

'I was trying to protect my kids,' she said to ABC News. 'I was trying to stand up for what I believed in, and it was worth it for me to try and take the risk, because I was trying to stop the vaccinations from happening.'

'Never in a million years did I ever think that I would end up in jail standing up to try to protect my kids, and standing up for my beliefs,' Bredow added.

She said her time in jail 'was the longest five days of my life.'

Bredow said she was 'outraged' and 'devastated' to find out that her son had been vaccinated against her will.

Bredow had previously said she takes 'full responsibility' for disobeying court orders, but her lawyer now says that she didn't know vaccinating her son was part of the order

Bredow was handcuffed and booked into jail after refusing to take her nine-year-old son to be vaccinated, despite agreeing to do so in a custody battle with her son's father

In the state of Michigan, schools require students to receive vaccinations before entering Kindergarten and up until 7th grade, while transfer students are required to be administered vaccines into their high school years.

However, Michigan is one of 17 states that allows for medical, religious, and philosophical exemptions from vaccines.

Bredow told reporters that her decision to not vaccinate her child was part of her religious beliefs and she believes it was within her rights as the boy's mother to choose what kind of care he should have.

'I still stand by my choices because I stand up for what I believe in,' Bredow previously said.
A suspected arsonist was taken into police custody on Saturday night after three 'suspicious fires' in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton.

The man allegedly set fire to Monash Universitys Islamic Centre in Beddoe Avenue, before lighting a second blaze in the garage of a vacant home 100m away.

A car parked in the nearby suburb of Mulgrave was set alight less than ten minutes later, according to 9NEWS, and firemen were forced to fight all three blazes at once.

A firebug started a blaze at Monash Universitys Islamic Centre in Melbourne on Saturday night

The arsonist started a second fire in the garage of a vacant home of Beddoe Avenue in Clayton

A third fire was started in a car ten minutes later as firemen attended to the first two blazes

The man who is allegedly responsible was apprehended after police saw him entering the Islamic centre on a CCTV camera.

Police have confirmed that the fire at the Islamic Centre was 'not religiously motivated', although they do question how the firebug gained access given that the building is patrolled day and night.

The 42-year-old man was later caught in Wheelers Hill, and charged with eight offences. He will face court on Sunday morning.

Authorities will allege that he lit fires all along Beddoe Avenue, but are still investigating his motives for targeting the area.

Local Fulvia Vazzoler told media that there was a general feeling of unrest in the area, after more than seven properties were targeted this year.

'It's just senseless, senseless and stupid,' another resident told Channel 9.

Vacant homes, constructions sites and properties marked for demolition - all on Beddoe Avenue in Clayton - have been the site of suspicious blazes in recent months.

More than seven suspicious fires have been lit all on Beddoe Avenue in the last few months
A 36-year-old man has been arrested after a cyclist died and two others were injured in a car crash in Wales.

A 26-year-old man from Cardiff was declared dead at the scene in Vale of Glamorgan on Saturday, while two other cyclists were taken by ambulance to the Princess of Wales Hospital.

The 36-year-old man was being held on suspicion of dangerous driving after the 7.20am incident on the A48 between the Cowbridge by-pass and Pentre Meyrick.

A 36-year-old man was being held on suspicion of dangerous driving after a cyclist died and two others were injured in a car crash on the A48 between the Cowbridge by-pass and Pentre Meyrick in Wales on Saturday around 7.20am (file photo)

A 26-year-old man from Cardiff was declared dead at the scene in Vale of Glamorgan on Saturday, while two other cyclists were taken by ambulance to the Princess of Wales Hospital

The two injured cyclists were treated for non life-threatening injuries.

The A48 was closed in both directions for five hours as officials continued their investigation into the crash.

A South Wales Police spokesman told Wales Online: 'Police in the Vale of Glamorgan are investigating a fatal road traffic collision which happened at around 7.20am this morning when a white Skoda Octavia collided with a group of three cyclists on the A48 between the Cowbridge bypass and Pentre Meyrick.

The A48 was closed in both directions for five hours as officials continued their investigation into the crash

Officers investigating the crash have asked witnessed or anyone who may have seen the manner in which the car was being driven before the crash to contact South Wales Police

'A 36-year-old local man has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.'

Officers investigating the crash have asked witnessed or anyone who may have seen the manner in which the car was being driven before the crash to contact South Wales Police.

Police can be reached on 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 and quote reference 1700418785.
A resurfaced document described the CIA's $150,000 offer to have Cuban leader Fidel Castro assassinated - but the mob insisted on taking the job for free.

The underworld murder-for-hire contract was detailed in a summary of a May 1962 CIA briefing for then-Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

By then, the Kennedy White House had launched its unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and several assassination attempts against Castro had failed.

At least two efforts to kill Castro were made with CIA-supplied lethal pills and organized crime-made muscle in early 1961, according to the document.

The document was made public in 1997 and contained in an Associated Press report at that time but has resurfaced along with thousands of never-before-seen documents known as the 'JFK files' which President Trump declassified this week.

Chicago mobster John Roselli (left in 1950s) was offered $150,000 to kill Fidel Castro (right in 2002) by the CIA. He and an associate turned it down but took $11,000 in expense payments for the unsuccessful mission

The CIA's efforts to kill Castro have been well-documented and their attempt to recruit the mob to carry out the killing has long been suspected.

In 1975, Roselli made reference to it as he testified for a Senate Intelligence Committee

The CIA's mob contacts included John Roselli, a top lieutenant to Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana.

He was never told who was behind the offer but said he suspected it was the CIA.

Giancana and Roselli, later victims of mob hits, said they want no part of any payment - but still, $11,000 in payments were made for expenses.

The mobsters had come to the attention of the CIA a year earlier when Giancana asked a CIA intermediary to arrange for putting a listening device in the Las Vegas room of an entertainer he suspected of having an affair with Giancana's mistress.

Notorious crime boss Sam Giancana was approached by CIA officials with the offer. He is pictured in 1965

Details of the plot were included in a 1962 briefing for the then Attorney General Robert Kennedy (above in the 60s). He was disappointed given his ongoing efforts to take down organized crime

The task was handed off to a private investigator named Arthur Balletti, who put the listening device in a phone in the hotel room. 'The CIA reportedly did not know of the specific proposed wiretap.'

Told later about 'everything,' Kennedy was 'unhappy, because at that time he felt he was making a very strong drive to try to get after the Mafia.

'So his comment was to us that if we were going to get involved with the Mafia, in the future at any time, to 'make sure you see me first.'

The plot was unsuccessful along with hundreds of other attempts on Castro's life.

Roselli was killed in 1976, a year after appearing at the Senate Intelligence Committee. Giancana died the previous year.

Roselli spoke about the plot at a 1975 Senate Select Committee hearing (above)




Bill Maher has suggested that powerful, married men sexually harass women because they have 's***y sex lives'.

The host of HBO's Real Time made the bold statement on the Friday episode of his talk show, suggesting that men were going after other women because they're not being 'satisfied' at home.

Social media response was rapid with users quick to scold Maher for shifting the blame to the wives of accused men.

Bill Maher suggested on the Friday episode of his show 'Real Time' (pictured, left, with Joy Behar) that married men sexually harass women because they have 's***y sex lives'

Maher (left) and Behar were discussing why so many of the men accused of harassment were married, such as media mogul Harvey Weinstein (right), when he made the comment. Behar replied: 'Let's leave the wives at out of it. The wives are home minding their own business.'

Maher was sitting down with comedian Joy Behar to talk about her new book when they got on the subject of Bill O'Reilly and the recent news that he paid $32million to settle a sexual harassment claim in February.

From there, Maher pointed out that many of the recent powerful men of Hollywood accused of sexual abuse - among them Harvey Weinstein, Steven Seagal, and James Toback - always seem to be married.

When Behar wondered out loud why that might be the case, Maher suggested: 'Because they have sh**** sex lives.'

'They're bored at home? No, that's got nothing to do with it,' Behar replied. 'Let's leave the wives at out of it. The wives are home minding their own business while these jerks are jerking off.

Social media users lambasted Maher for placing the blame on a third party.

'Harassment and sexual assault are not about sex, it's about power. If getting off were the only reason, they have two hands and [money],' wrote one user.

Another commented: '@billmaher did you seriously just blame wives for men's sexual assault harassment?'

'Yeah, because single men NEVER EVER sexually harass women????' one user sarcastically tweeted.

Social media response was rapid with users quick to scold Maher for shifting the blame to the wives of accused men

Married men in Hollywood who have been accused of sexual harassment or assault include actor and director Steven Seagal (left) and screenwriter James Toback (right)

Last week, Maher was in hot water after claiming that President Trump's call to a Gold Star widow was 'worse' than Harvey Weinstein's growing list of women claiming sexual harassment and assault.

The political satirist addressed reports that Trump told the widow Sgt La David Johnson, who was killed in Niger, that her husband 'knew what he signed up for' during a condolence call.

'On Monday, Trump called the pregnant widow of a dead American soldier to console her and ended up pouring salt in the wound and feuding with her all week,' said Maher.

'I mean, if you could take a week where it was revealed that Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted every single female in show business and still be the worst fat, gross creep, that's pretty good.'

As of Saturday morning, a total of 60 women have accused Weinstein of behavior ranging from requests for massages to intimidating sexual advances to rape.
A grand jury voted Thursday to charge two Brooklyn narcotics officers after they allegedly raped an 18-year-old teen while she was handcuffed. The girl (pictured) says she was violated in the parking lot of a Chipotle on September 15

Two NYPD narcotics officers have been charged with first-degree rape after a teenage girl claimed they assaulted her while she was in handcuffs in Coney Island.

The 18-year-old, who tweets under the name Anna Chambers, alleges that one NYPD detective raped her and both forced her to perform oral sex in a Chipotle parking lot after she was caught smoking marijuana on September 15.

Officers Eddie Martins and Richard Hall are expected to turn themselves in early next week for arraignment, according to the New York Post.

The woman confirmed to DailyMail.com that she is the victim and given permission for her identity and photos to be published. The officers have not yet been pictured.

A grand jury voted on Thursday to indict the officers after listening to a week of testimony, including the accuser taking the stand.

The two detectives, from the NYPD's Brooklyn South narcotics squad, did not deny the sexual acts but claimed they were consensual.

After the allegations broke they and their supervisor were placed on modified duty and stripped of badges and guns. The two officers have since been suspended without pay.

If convicted, the cops would face a minimum of three years and a maximum of 25 years in prison.

Mark Bederow, Martins' attorney, said: 'The dynamic will change when there are court proceedings. The allegations repeatedly and publicly alleged by the plaintiffs lawyer will need to be supported by credible evidence and withstand scrutiny.'

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The charges come after the officers spent last week attempting to discredit the woman, claiming that she posted 'provocative' selfies to her Instagram and Twitter after the alleged attack

The indictment comes after the officers spent last week attempting to discredit their accuser in a letter to prosecutors.

The officers do not deny they had sex with the woman, but claim it was consensual. They have been suspended without pay

The letter observed how she filed a $50million claim against the city earlier this month and has posted 'provocative' selfies on her Instagram and Twitter after the alleged attack.

The defense lawyers for the officers urged prosecutors 'to further investigate Chambers' dubious claim before you ask the grand jury to return an indictment against Martins and Hall.'

The teen took to Twitter to express her dismay that the officers claimed the sex acts were consensual, including sharing a DailyMail.com article about the horrifying claims.

'She was shocked that the [cops] would say it was consensual after everything that was done to her. She wanted to get the word out,' her lawyer Michael David told the New York Post.

'She just wants everybody to know it's an absolute lie that this was consensual. She was raped. She was viciously, brutally raped in handcuffs. It's the truth.'

'She's embarrassed. She's very depressed over this. Her whole life had changed after this experience. She's afraid of the police, and she really wants justice to be served here.'

The young woman sought help from NYU Langone Hospital, in New York, after the incident.

The cops' DNA was found on a rape kit performed on the woman.

She also spoke to a friend about the alleged sexual assault and reported it to the police.

The alleged rape and sexual assault is said to have taken place on Coney Island (file picture)

The officers allegedly targeted the woman after finding prescription drugs in her car during a traffic stop.

They allegedly let two young men who were with her leave, before ordering her to undress so they could 'search for drugs.'

They did not find any narcotics, but handcuffed her anyway before pressuring her into sex, according to her lawyer.

'You'll spend three hours in the precinct,' they allegedly told her, David said. They also allegedly said: 'This is what you're going to do for us, and we'll let you go.'

The teenage girl claims that an NYPD detective raped her and another forced her to perform oral sex after she was caught smoking pot in Coney Island (file image)

'There was zero consent,' David said. 'The cops were over 6 feet tall. She's very petite, like 5-2 and maybe 100 pounds. There's nothing she could do.'

One of the male friends she was with went to the police station about a half-hour after he was released by the cops. He had been told the officers were taking the woman there, but no one had been brought in.

He left the station and found the woman visibly upset and waiting by his car.

'Her hair was a mess, and she ran up to me and gave me a hug, and she was like, "They f****d me. They f****d me,"' he said.
A couple from Cardiff have given up their successful careers and sold their home to travel around the world with their two young sons.

Andrea and Ben Williams plan to travel around the world with their sons, Ethan, seven, and Alex, five, for the next few months before eventually resettling in Australia.

The family have already explored Spain, France, Belgium, Mexico and the Caribbean, and will next week jet off from the UK once more.

Andrea and Ben Williams (pictured together left), of Cardiff, Wales, plan to travel around the world with sons Ethan, seven, and Alex, five (pictured together right), for the next few months before eventually resettling in Australia next year.

After several months of traveling, the family plans on on settling in Australia, so the young boys can start school there in January. Pictured above, Ethan and Alex on another trip

The idea began at the start of the year when the family put together a bucket list of things they've always wanted to do.

Earlier this year, the family went to several music festivals, including Glastonbury, and went swimming with turtles and stingrays.

After leaving Wales next week, the family will first head to Dubai, then South Africa before heading to Sydney and the Gold Coast in Australia.

They plan on settling in Australia, so the young boys can start school there in January.

'People think we are mad,' 36-year-old Andrea, from Cardiff Bay, said. 'Friends have said "but you have a lovely life, lovely friends and family, you're doing really well, have good jobs, a lovely place to live - why would you want to move?"

After leaving Wales next week, the family will first head to Dubai, then South Africa before heading to Sydney and the Gold Coast in Australia. Pictured above Ben Williams with one of their young sons

'But this is about finding time to be together as a family and getting use of the years when they are young.'

She said her husband was looking for a 'new challenge', and the family wanted to 'move house anyway', so they decided now was the 'right time' to head for Australia.

Andrea, an advocate for families with deaf children in Wales, has always had the travel bug - she was born in Africa and travelled plenty with her parents while growing up.

She moved to the UK when she was eight, and headed to Australia in 1997 when she was a teenager.

Andrea and her husband later moved to Cardiff, Wales, to start a family.

Andrea (pictured center with one of her son), an advocate for families with deaf children in Wales, has always had the travel bug - she was born in Africa and travelled plenty with her parents while growing up

But now they've decided to head off again, as Ben announced he was taking a break from his top-salary job as a sales director at GDS Group.

Andrea said that the family is nervous, she's looking forward to giving her sons a chance to see the world.

'The boys are older now and I want them to think about the world,' she told Wales Online. 'I travelled a lot when I was a kid and it didn't do me any harm. When you have kids everything in your life is routine and we are breaking that routine.

'You never know what is going to happen but it's about taking the opportunity and make sure you have no regrets.'

The mother-of-two has set up a blog to follow the family's travels, called Little Footsteps Big Adventures.
Convict Todd Wayne Boyes, 44 of Caldwell, Ohio, escaped the South Central Regional Jail in Charleston, West Virginia

A prisoner who allegedly tried to kill a police officer escaped from jail and staff failed to act for 48 hours, an attorney has claimed.

Early Wednesday morning, inmate Todd Wayne Boyes, 44 of Caldwell, Ohio, escaped the South Central Regional Jail in Charleston, West Virginia, and has yet to be located.

Officials at the jail have said they were not aware that the inmate - who had pleaded guilty to attempted murder - had gone missing at the time.

Attorney Kevin Davis said he entered the jail that afternoon after his client - another inmate - told him he had an urgent matter he needed to discuss, according to WSAZ.

Davis' client then informed him that 'someone named Todd who had his fingers blown off had somehow gotten civilian clothes and escaped,' the website reported. Davis said he raised the alarm.

The day after the inmate went missing, jail officials had not taken action on the matter, Davis' client informed him. That's when police got involved.

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Officials at the jail have alleged they were not aware that the inmate had gone missing at the time. Boyes left the jail wearing khaki pants and a dark shirt

In a surveillance photo from instead the jail, Boyes is shown wearing a dark-colored long sleeve shirt and khaki pants - which he had obtained from an unknown source.

The Department of Military Affairs & Public Safety has since released a statement on the matter.

'Officials at both the Regional Jail Authority and the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety consider the incident to be a grave and unacceptable breach of their core duty to protect their fellow West Virginians.

'We intend to address the episode and the results of the ongoing investigation with the utmost seriousness.'

One inmate's attorney, Kevin Davis, said he entered the jail (pictured) that afternoon after his client told him he had an urgent matter he needed to discuss

The inmate was set to be sentenced Friday after he pleaded guilty in late September to the attempted murder of a police officer.

Boyes stole the officer's vehicle, fled the scene and caused bodily injury to the cop - who was preparing to arrest Boyes for carjacking cars.

According to a Public Safety Notification by Metro 911, the missing inmate stands 5 feet 6 inches and weighs 220 pounds.

Police said the public should consider Boyes 'armed and dangerous'.

'We intend to address the episode and the results of the ongoing investigation with the utmost seriousness,' authorities said.
Canadian judge Jean-Paul Braun made the comments in May while presiding over a sexual assault case

A Canadian judge has sparked outrage by saying a 17-year-old sexual assault victim was 'overweight but had a pretty face' and may have been 'flattered' by her attacker's attention.

Judge Jean-Paul Braun made the remarks in May during the case of taxi driver Carl Figaro, 49, who he found guilty of sexual assaulting the girl in his car after taking her home in Quebec.

Figaro forced himself on her and licked her face then felt her breasts and genitals over her clothes before forcibly unbuttoning her shirt. She then escaped into her home.

Braun found him guilty of sexual assault but shockingly referred to the girl's appearance and suggested she had enjoyed the attention of an older man who the judge deemed handsome.

He also argued there are varying levels of consent dependent on different sexual interactions and that the same permission was not needed to kiss someone as it was to touch someone's rear.

Figaro will return to court in November to face sentencing but the judge's comments have gained criticism in the meantime.

Justice Minister Stephanie Vallee deemed them 'unacceptable' this week and vowed to file a complaint with Quebec's magistrate council, CBC reports.

In May, Braun shared his belief that the victim was 'flattered' by the attack because he deduced it might have been the 'first time she'd been given attention'.

He called her 'voluptuous' and said she was 'a bit overweight'.

Justice Minister Stephanie Vallee (pictured) has vowed to file a complaint with Quebec's magistrate council

Braun also said that it was 'acceptable' for the taxi driver to try to kiss the girl but not to force himself on her in any other way.

During the trial, the unidentified victim explained that she agreed to give the driver her phone number because she was frightened he would attack her or lock the doors if she didn't.

The driver previously hung around outside the cafe where she worked but he denied premeditating the attack.

Bizarrely, Judge Braun noted during the proceedings that Figaro was what he deemed a handsome man who took care of his appearance.

He remarked that he wore designer cologne on the weekends and cheaper versions during the week.

Quebec's magistrate council has not commented on whether it is investigating Braun.

Braun previously drew ire in 2013 when he remarked in the case of an engineer accused of harassing and groping a 19-year-old female colleague that it was not 'the crime of the century'.
Chancellor Philip Hammond, pictured, is facing a Commons backlash

Philip Hammond is facing a backbench rebellion over a 6billion tax loophole for foreign non-dom property owners.

They must pay tax on residential property sales but the government is not including profits made on commercial buildings.

It means that foreign owners can declare their flats and houses in Britain are for commercial use before they sell them- meaning they don't have to pay a levy, reports The Sun.

The omission has created a loophole worth approximately 6billion that is set to spark a Commons showdown, according to campaigners

Mr Hammond is now facing a rebellion from a cross-party coalition of Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and SNP MPs when the Finance Bill is put to a vote on Tuesday.

Labour MP Stella Creasy said: 'Why should British businesses have to pay this tax but foreign ones get away with it?

'It should be a level playing field, and we can't afford to keep giving them a free pass.

'We also need to raise more money for the public services we desperately need. Police stations are still closing.'

Labour MP Stella Creasy said: 'Why should British businesses have to pay this tax but foreign ones get away with it?'

It comes just weeks before the Autumn Budget is released on Wednesday 22nd November.

A Treasury spokesman said: 'HMRC has seen no evidence of foreign nationals changing the status of their properties to avoid paying capital gains tax'.

In April this year millions of small business were given a reprieve after ministers shelved plans to force them to file an extra four tax returns a year.

Foreign non-doms must pay tax on residential property sales but the government is not including profits made on commercial buildings

The radical tax reporting system was due to be rolled out in 2018 and pilot schemes were already under way.

Businesses would have been forced to file quarterly returns for income tax and National Insurance  plus their usual annual tax return in January  making it a total of five tax returns.

They would also have been required to keep digital accounting records.
More than 120 Americans who were recruited to fight for ISIS are unaccounted for, according to a new report.

This week, the Soufran Center - a Washington-based security intelligence consultancy - released 'Beyond the Caliphate: Foreign Fighters and the Threat of Returnees'.

In the report, the agency said that at least 5,600 citizens or residents from 33 countries have returned home, making up approximately 15 per cent of ISIS's fighters.

However, for the United States, of the 129 fighters who succeeded in leaving the country, only seven have returned home.

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More than 120 Americans who were recruited to fight for ISIS are unaccounted for, according to a report released by the Soufran Center - a Washington-based security intelligence consultancy. American Alberto Renteria (pictured) is believed to still be alive

The report says of the 129 fighters who succeeded in leaving the country, only seven have returned home. Americans Zakia Nasrin (left) and Jaffrey Khan (right) are believed to be alive. The couple met online and married in 2014 before leaving Ohio for Syria

In 2015, the US government estimated that approximately one in five of the American fighters who fled to join ISIS were killed in war zones.

However, there are no exact numbers of how many were killed abroad or how many may have escaped into other countries - leaving the whereabouts of many unknown.

An FBI spokesperson told Fox News that 300 Americans have 'traveled or attempted to travel to Syria and Iraq to participate in the conflict' - including those have joined other armed groups, such as the US-backed People's Protection Units, Peshmerga or Free Syrian Army.

'While this number is lower in comparison to many of our international partners, we closely analyze and assess the influence groups like ISIS have on individuals located in the United States, who are inspired to commit acts of violence,' the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also said of the 300 US fighters, approximately 40 died after traveling to Iraq or Syria.

Among those still believed to be alive, but not named in the report, are Zakia Nasrin, Jaffrey Khan and Alberto Renteria.

Nasrin and Khan, both now 25, met online and married in 2014 before leaving Ohio for Syria. The last their families heard, the couple was working in a hospital in Raqqa and had a one-year-old daughter, reported NBC News.

Renteria, who is of Mexican descent, grew up in Gilroy, California. He was raised Catholic but became a devout Muslim before fleeing to Syria in March 2014, when he was 24, according to NBC News. His whereabouts since then are unclear.

An FBI spokesperson said that 300 Americans have 'traveled or attempted to travel to Syria and Iraq to participate in the conflict' - including those have joined other armed groups (Pictured, Kurdish soldiers from the Anti-Terrorism Units escort a blindfolded Indonesian man suspected of Islamic State membership, at a security center in Kobani, Syria)

The number of Americans is small compared to foreign neighbors. The European Union had 5,000 residents flock to ISIS while Jordan had 3,000 fighters (Pictured, a fighter from ISIS, armed with a knife and an automatic weapon, stands next to captured Syrian army soldiers)

Of the 5,000 residents of the European Union who flocked to Iraq and Syria, a quarter are believed to have returned home.

The countries with the highest number of foreign fighters included Jordan at 3,000 with around 50 returning home.

In France, 271 of 1,910 fighters have returned, and in Morocco, 198 have gone home out of 1,623.

'America does not strip the citizenship of those who join ISIS, so we can't prevent them from coming home,' national security expert Ryan Mauro, from the Clarion Project, told Fox News.

'A lot of these returning ISIS recruits are likely disillusioned with the caliphate, but we must not mistake disappointment with a rejection of jihadist thinking overall.'
Yet more secret kitchens lurking in some of our city's grubbiest corners have been revealed as supplying takeaways for well-known restaurants brought to your door by Deliveroo.

10 more Deliveroo Editions - also dubbed 'dark kitchens' have been discovered in a drab car park in east London within biking distance of the city's moneyed Canary Wharf businesses and glittering apartment blocks.

The food courier service has been setting up these prefabricated kitchens for swanky eateries that are located close to their customer base without having to pay the premium for a high street location.

Trade boosted by online ordering and delivery services like Deliveroo have allowed restaurant's takeaway business to soar.

Deliveroo has been setting up their Editions satellite kitchens which supply takeaway meals for many restaurants from shipping-container like metal boxes in industrial estates across Britain

Deliveroo has revolutionised Britains takeaway market in four years and the company is thought to be worth as much as 1.1 billion.

And these remote kitchens are part of the company's plan for further growth.

Deliveroo finds and equips the locations, then rents them out to the restaurants, which employ and train the kitchen staff.

These dark kitchens may allow savings to be passed on to consumers for restaurant-quality food delivered from a location that requires less cash to fund it but some customers have been shocked at the unlikely location of the kitchens.

The newly discovered site in east London provides food from 10 shipping container-like boxes which produce food for for restaurants including the Thai chain Busaba Eathai, the US-style MeatLiquor diners, the Franco Manca pizza parlours and Motu, an Indian food specialist set up by the family behind Mayfairs Michelin-starred Gymkhana,The Guardian reports.

The boxes have no windows and workers said that the kitchens are generally either too cold or too hot.

Deliveroo now operates 11 sites which are home to 66 'dark kitchens' in car parks and industrial estates across London, Leeds, Reading and Hove.

The Daily Mail previously uncovered prefabs cropping up in corners of industrial estates staffed with chefs who cook food to order as outposts for the restaurants sit-down locations.

The fashionable Cocotte restaurant in Londons Notting Hill uses this remote kitchen service.



Deliveroo Editions in Valmar Industrial Park,Camberwell. Deliveroo have set-up portacabin kitchens in areas with few good restaurants to produce food for delivery by Deliveroo only

A wheely good service: A team of Deliveroo riders named after Leicester City FC players sets off from Peter Pizzeria in Leicester to deliver freebies to football fans in celebration of the club winning the Barclays Premier League, ahead of the team lifting the trophy this weekend

While Deliveroo customers living close by will receive their food from the actual restaurant kitchen, those further afield will instead be serviced by a satellite kitchen in a car park in the altogether more edgy South London borough of Camberwell, some six miles south of its actual premises.

And Cocotte is by no means alone in choosing these metal containers to act as alternative kitchens.

Other restaurants churning out Deliveroo orders from this rather grim-looking car park include Busaba Eathai, a chain with 14 restaurants in London and St Albans that serves Thai food, and Motu Indian Kitchen, set up by the family behind the Gymkhana restaurant in Mayfair  one of the worlds highest rated Indian restaurants.

Pizza joint Crust Bros and Gourmet Burger Kitchen have also taken premises there.

Although meals emerging from the car park kitchens are flagged up online as coming from a Deliveroo Editions restaurant, how many of its customers actually know what that means?

But this, apparently, is the future for Deliveroo. It is determined to expand into areas that have so far been restricted due to their distance to High Streets.

In a programme being rolled out across the country, it is setting up hubs of multiple kitchens in areas that are currently poorly served by the sorts of restaurants it knows to be popular with its customers.

And these Deliveroo Editions bases  dubbed dark kitchens  will, in some cases, be like the one on Valmar Road in Camberwell: little more than metal huts in the car park of an industrial estate.

Cocotte (above) in London s fashionable Notting Hill is by no means alone in choosing these metal containers to act as alternative kitchens

Restaurants will then rent out these spaces to produce food solely for delivery.

Of course, more sales means more cash for Deliveroo. As well as a 2.50 delivery charge, it takes a hefty commission on each meal sold (reported to be as high as 25 per cent).

But there are significant problems with this new model  not least that it seems rather contrary to Deliveroos promise to bring your favourite restaurant direct to your front room.

We all thought Deliveroo delivered food from restaurants, says one campaigner against the South London hub. We didnt know it was delivered from a metal box at the back of a warehouse.

No doubt it must be very profitable  it does not have to build a restaurant, the staff are all disposable and the customers dont have a clue what is going on.

It is like setting up a container at a festival and selling food all day without any of the normal overheads. And what happens to all the restaurants nearby on the High Street  surely they will suffer?
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The grim reality of manual child labor in the early 20th century has been captured in a series of heartbreaking images.

The images have been colorized to fully capture the tragedies the children were forced to endure at ages as young as 12.

One of the images shows a 14-year-old Italian girl working in a paper box factory in 1914. Another captures a young girl working on artificial flower petals.

A photograph captured a young boy working as a doffer in Alabama. When asked how old he was, he hesitated before replying: 'I'm 12.' Labor regulations mandated a minimum age of 12 for children to work.

The first federal child labor law in the U.S. was signed into law in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson. The law regulated interstate commerce involving goods produced by employees under the ages of 14 or 16.

UNICEF estimates that 168 million children aged five to 17 are currently involved in forced labor. However, globally the incidence of child labor has decreased from 25 percent to 10 percent from 1960 to 2003.

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Donnie Cole hesitated before he said he was twelve years old. Another young boy nearby said: 'He can't work unless he's twelve.' Child labor regulations were conspicuously posted in the mill in Birmingham, Alabama

This photograph captures a young girl working on artificial flower petals. She was 'goffering' rose petals in 1905

This photo shows a little spinner in Globe Cotton Mill in Augusta, Georgia. The overseer at the mill admitted that she was regularly employed

Little Jennie was just 51 inches tall when this photograph was taken in December of 1908. Jennie was one of thousands of children forced into manual labor in the early 20th century

This photograph captures the tragic face of a 14-year-old Italian girl who was forced to work in a paper factory in 1913

This photograph was taken in November of 1910 and shows a young boy who worked in a cotton mill. It is unknown his name or how old he is
A church once attended by President George Washington will take down a memorial honoring him, its leaders have decided.

The Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia, announced this week that it will remove a stone plaque that reads 'In memory of George Washington' currently displayed on the left side of the altar in memory of the first president of the United States.

A plaque on the right side of the altar honoring confederate leader Robert E. Lee will also be removed, according to the Washington Times.

A church attended by President George Washington has decided to remove a stone plaque honoring him that is currently displayed on the left side of the altar

Washington attended the Christ Church in Alexandria (pictured) for more than 20 years and bought one of its pews in 1773

Washington helped found the church as an original benefactor, buying pew number five (pictured) when it opened in 1773 and attending for over two decades

'The plaques in our sanctuary make some in our presence feel unsafe or unwelcome. Some visitors and guests who worship with us choose not to return because they receive an unintended message from the prominent presence of the plaques,' the church leaders said.

'Many in our congregation feel a strong need for the church to stand clearly on the side of "all are welcome - no exceptions,"' they added.

The first president became a slave owner at the young age of 11, after his father died and left him 10 slaves along with the 280 acre family farm near Fredericksburg, according to the Mount Vernon website.

He went on to purchase more slaves, and at the time of his death, Mount Vernon's slave population consisted of 317 people - although the website claims less than half of them were owned by Washington, with the others having been owned by his wife's first husband, whose possessions went to her after he died without a will.

According to Rev. Noelle York-Simmons, the rector of the church, the decision was made by a unanimous vote of the vestry.

But the church may have a hard time disassociating from Washington, as it was an important part of the president's life - one so important that his family donated one of his Bibles to the church after his death.

A plaque on the right side of the altar honoring confederate leader Robert E. Lee (pictured) will also be removed

'The plaques in our sanctuary make some in our presence feel unsafe or unwelcome,' the church leaders said. Pictured is the Christ Church's altar

Washington helped found the church as an original benefactor, buying pew number five when it opened in 1773 and attending for over two decades, as reported by the Washington Times.

Although the Washingtons were generous with the church, the president's main worshiping place was Pohick Church, south of Mount Vernon.

Church leaders say the two memorials make some visitors feel unwelcome

Lee, on his part, attended Christ Church since he was three, and the church was so important to his family that his daughter Mary Custis Lee left it $10,000 in her will, which was used to begin the church's endowment.

The church's move comes amid national outrage over confederate monuments after a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville about a statue of Lee left one counter-protester dead.

President Donald Trump has said numerous times that the outrage over confederate monuments would eventually affect Washington's memory.

Although the outrage hadn't yet been directed at monuments of Washington, the church said the two plaques were inextricably connected because they were erected at the same time in 1870 and visually balance each other one each side of the altar.

The Washington family pew also has small markers, as does the location where Lee was confirmed, and the church said that those memorials can alienate church-goers because there's no context offered about why they're there.

Rev. Noelle York-Simmons, the rector of the church, (pictured) said the decision was made by a unanimous vote of the vestry

'Because the sanctuary is a worship space, not a museum, there is no appropriate way to inform visitors about the history of the plaques or to provide additional context except for the in-person tours provided by our docents,' said the church's leaders.

The plagues are scheduled to come down next summer, but where they'll go is still unclear.

'The new display location will be determined by a parish committee. That location will provide a place for our parish to offer a fuller narrative of our rich history, including the influence of these two powerful men on our church and our country,' Rev. York-Simmons told the Washington Times.
American Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has issued a warning to North Korea that the country is no match for a decades-old US-South Korean alliance.

'Make no mistake - any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming,' he said during a news conference in Seoul on Saturday.

With South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at his side, Mattis accused the North and Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs - and said the threat of a nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating.

Mattis said North Korea engages in 'outlaw' behavior and that the US will never accept a nuclear North.

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American Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (center, with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-Moo, left, on Saturday in Seoul) has issued a warning to North Korea that the country is no match against a decades-old US-South Korean alliance

Mattis accused the North of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs - and said the threat of a nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating (Kim Jong Un waves at parade participants at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, in undated photo)

'North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbors and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs,' he said, adding that US-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration thus has taken on 'a new urgency'.

'I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power,' he said.

As he emphasized throughout his week-long Asia trip, which included stops in Thailand and the Philippines, Mattis said diplomacy remains the preferred way to deal with the North.

Mattis' comments did not go beyond his recent statements of concern about North Korea, although he appeared to inject a stronger note about the urgency of resolving the crisis.

While he accused the North of 'outlaw' behavior, he did not mention that President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his own rhetoric.

In August, Trump warned the North not to make any more threats against the US and said that, if it did, it would be met with 'fire and fury like the world has never seen.'

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to counter what it believes is a US effort to strangle its economy and overthrow the Kim government.

Mattis said that US-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration has taken on 'a new urgency' with the growing threat of a nuclear attack from North Korea (Mattis, rear right, and South Korean Defense Minister Song inspect a guard of honor from a car on Saturday)

South Korea's conservative politicians have also called for the US to bring back tactical nuclear weapons that were withdrawn from the Korean Peninsula in the 1990s, but Mattis and Song (left and right, on Saturday) were strongly dismissive of the idea

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to counter what it believes is a US effort to strangle its economy and overthrow the Kim government (Kim, center, supervises the test-fire of a ground-to-ground medium-to-long range strategic ballistic missile in an undated photo)

South Korea's conservative politicians have also called for the US to bring back tactical nuclear weapons that were withdrawn from the Korean Peninsula in the 1990s, which they say would make clearer the US intent to use nukes in a crisis.

But Mattis and Song were strongly dismissive of the idea.

'When considering national interest, it's much better not to deploy them,' said Song, adding that the allies would have 'sufficient means' to respond to a North Korean nuclear attack even without placing tactical nukes in the South.

Trump entered office declaring his commitment to solving the North Korea problem, asserting that he would succeed where his predecessors had failed.

His administration has sought to increase pressure on Pyongyang through UN Security Council sanctions and other diplomatic efforts, but the North hasn't budged from its goal of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including missiles capable of striking the US mainland.
Lying on a filthy mattress in a grim, windowless cell surrounded by murder suspects, Jamie Harron struggled to make sense of his cruel, Kafkaesque predicament.

Only a few hours earlier the 27-year-old electrician was sampling Dubais glitzy nightlife; his last burst of fun before flying, the next day, to Afghanistan to complete a lucrative contract.

Mr Harron had been to Dubai many times before. Hed always found its superficial glitter appealing, but now he was experiencing the desert citys dark heart  facing an indeterminate prison sentence for an impossible crime. Hed brushed past a man in a crowded bar. Yet somehow this split-second encounter was threatening his very future  inexplicably, he was looking at a charge of a serious sexual assault.

Jamie Harron, the Briton who was imprisoned in Dubai for touching a man, has exclusively revealed what happened to him to MailOnline

Mr Harron was out in the UAE for one last burst of fun before flying, the next day, to Afghanistan to complete a lucrative contract

Eventually, after an international outcry, reason prevailed and he was cleared by the ruler of the emirate, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Now free, Mr Harron told The MailOnline in an exclusive interview: The whole thing was a nightmare from start to finish.

This has ruined four months of my life  I lost all my savings, 60,000, and my job, and my reputation has been damaged.

And in a warning to Britains one million annual visitors to Dubai, he added: People should be very wary. The legal system in Dubai is a shambles and if this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.

The case, Mr Harron acknowledges, raised some unexplained questions. Surely there was more to the story than was reported? Perhaps Mr Harron was gay and, in a country where homosexuality is common but remains illegal, had made a pass at the wrong man?

Speaking to the MailOnline, he said: People should be very wary. The legal system in Dubai is a shambles and if this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone. He is pictured with mother Patricia and sister Jordan

He added: This has ruined four months of my life  I lost all my savings, 60,000, and my job, and my reputation has been damaged. He is pictured arriving home and being greeted by his mother

Determined to dispel such suggestions, he explains what really happened that night and reveals that the police allegation against him was even more bizarre  and ludicrous  than previously stated.

He was accused of thrusting his hand down the mans shorts and penetratively assaulting him  an act, he emphasises, that was simply not possible. Of course I never did that  and I am not homosexual, he says. Indeed he believes the incident may have been sparked after he got chatting to a waitress whom the other man had shown an interest in.

He was in there before us, and I think he was maybe trying to talk to her before, and then us two young guys come and start chatting to her and having a laugh, and he had a problem with it.

The whole drama unfolded in July after Mr Harron, from a suburb of Stirling, decided to stop off in Dubai after a stint working in Afghanistan, earning 7,000 a month as a contractor for an American construction firm at the Bagram military airbase. He had booked a two-day stopover en route home and was looking forward to catching up with a friend.

The young Scot  now single after a number of long-term relationships  had been to the emirate nine times and was well aware of the strict Islamic laws which criminalise being drunk in public.

After a meal at his friends villa on July 15, they headed out at around 10pm to the Rock Bottom, a busy American-themed bar with a live rock band.

After a meal at his friends villa on July 15, the pair headed out at around 10pm to the Rock Bottom, a busy American-themed bar with a live rock band. It was there that he chatted to the attractive waitress and became aware that a middle-aged man  Mr Tabaza, the boss of an engineering firm  was repeatedly glancing over at them

Then, as Mr Harron and his friend moved through the busy bar toward a free table, they had to pass Mr Tabaza and his friends. Moving past him, he extended the open palm of his right hand to avoid bumping into Mr Tabaza, but brushed against his hip

Immediately, the man took objection and started speaking quickly in Arabic. As I passed this guy, with a drink in my hand, I put my hand out like you would in a pub when youre passing somebody, its just natural', Mr Harron said

And I said sorry mate as I did it. It was a tight gap with the table and I guided my way past him  I just scuffed him, like put my hand on him to move past and not spill my drink or lose balance'

It was there that he chatted to the attractive waitress and became aware that a middle-aged man  Mr Tabaza, the boss of an engineering firm  was repeatedly glancing over at them. He was with two others and all three were dressed in shorts.

Then, as Mr Harron and his friend moved through the busy bar toward a free table, they had to pass Mr Tabaza and his friends. Moving past him, he extended the open palm of his right hand to avoid bumping into Mr Tabaza, but brushed against his hip.

Immediately, the man took objection and started speaking quickly in Arabic. As I passed this guy, with a drink in my hand, I put my hand out like you would in a pub when youre passing somebody, its just natural.

When Mr Harron and his friend sat down at a table further down the bar, they heard the man still shouting, and saw him gesticulating wildly towards them

And I said sorry mate as I did it. It was a tight gap with the table and I guided my way past him  I just scuffed him, like put my hand on him to move past and not spill my drink or lose balance. He then started saying something, but he was talking a foreign language. I apologised for pushing past him again.

When Mr Harron and his friend sat down at a table further down the bar, they heard the man still shouting, and saw him gesticulating wildly towards them.

It just escalated from there. I said to my friend, Is he shouting and pointing at me? Next thing I knew he was on his phone. I heard him say, in English, Do you know who I am? I will make sure you are deported. At first I thought he was just having a laugh. I sat down with my mate and we started talking about work.

Then around 25 minutes later Mr Harron saw police arrive outside and Mr Tabaza speaking to them. Mr Harron joined them all outside to find out what was going on.

Mr Harron adds: He was saying to the police, Hes been drinking Do you know who I am? Then they all started speaking Arabic, I didnt know what was going on.

When officers asked Mr Harron to go to the police station, he was happy to oblige.

Acutely aware his flight was leaving the next morning, he just wanted to defuse the situation but the next thing he knew, he found himself handcuffed and thrown into a holding cell at the Al Barsha jail. I was then taken to get breathalysed. I thought I was getting out after that. But then I was taken downstairs and flung in with everybody in the big jail cell.

His fellow inmates included suspected murderers and thugs.

Then around 25 minutes later Mr Harron saw police arrive outside and Mr Tabaza speaking to them. Mr Harron joined them all outside to find out what was going on

When officers asked Mr Harron to go to the police station, he was happy to oblige. Acutely aware his flight was leaving the next morning, he just wanted to defuse the situation but the next thing he knew, he found himself handcuffed and thrown into a holding cell at the Al Barsha jail

He said: I felt depressed and really hopeless, and I just felt like I was alone, on my own out there.

Sleeping on a threadbare mattress on the stone floor, with only a thin blanket for comfort, he soon grew exhausted. The cell was about the size of my living room at home; at one point there were ten guys in it.

I didnt shower for four days, and I was just stinking. I would get a bit of time each day to walk on the prison roof, but it was 50C and I would become drenched in sweat almost immediately. I had no toothbrush for five days either, and no way to keep clean.

Missing his flight to Afghanistan the morning after he was detained also meant Mr Harron had automatically lost his job. Mr Tabaza is pictured

After several days he was eventually brought before a prosecutor to hear the charges against him. Only then did he realise he was being accused of a serious sexual assault.

I was in shock. I said Of course I never did that. That man was fully clothed, and we were in a public bar. That is absolutely ridiculous.

Mr Harron spent eight days in prison before his friend managed to arrange bail. He says: When I got out of jail, I went to the prosecutor and was given my case number and a bit of paper with the three charges on it: indecent behaviour, drinking, and sticking up my middle finger in a rude gesture. But when I went to him later, he told me I was being charged for poking this man in the back. I was so confused, and was being told different things.

Missing his flight to Afghanistan the morning after he was detained also meant Mr Harron had automatically lost his job.

Having had his passport taken away from him, Mr Harron had to remain in Dubai while awaiting trial. The charges were dealt with in two separate hearings but he missed the first one on October 5 because he says there was a mix up with his lawyers. He was found guilty of making a rude gesture and drinking alcohol and sentenced in his absence to 30 days in prison.

However, he was allowed to lodge an appeal without being locked up. He said: The lawyers were a weight off my shoulders at first, but they were of little help  they gave me no information.

The next day, he contacted campaign group Detained In Dubai.

Last Sunday the court found Mr Harron guilty of indecency and sentenced him to three months in jail. A day later, amid a media campaign to bring him home, Mr Harron was cleared by Sheikh Mohammed (right)

Mr Harrons mother Patricia, 55, a sales executive, said: I cant tell you the pain I felt when I was told he was in prison. It was like someone was twisting my gut. Its terrible. I am just so happy to have him home'

Things only moved after the public found out and Detained In Dubai was a godsend.

On October 8, at a second hearing to deal with the indecency charge, he pled not guilty. However, by that time, all mention of the serious penetrative sex assault had vanished.

A spokesman for Mr Tabazas company Neuman & Esser put out a statement on October 12, saying: During a private visit to a club in Dubai, one of our employees was touched by the suspect on the thigh several times.

Last Sunday the court found Mr Harron guilty of indecency and sentenced him to three months in jail. A day later, amid a media campaign to bring him home, Mr Harron was cleared by Sheikh Mohammed. He made a special order for Mr Harrons convictions to be dismissed with full exoneration and his passport was returned.

Mr Harron flew home to Scotland on Tuesday and was greeted by his family. They had been advised not to fly to Dubai to support him in case they were also arrested and charged with cybercrime  for criticising the state on social media. He said: I was so excited when I saw my family  I just wanted to go home. I just went back to my mum and dads, and was so tired. It was really good to be back home.

Mr Harron has no plans to return to Dubai: The laws there are not great, and people can take advantage. It was my word against his, and it has led to this  its crazy

Mr Harrons mother Patricia, 55, a sales executive, said: I cant tell you the pain I felt when I was told he was in prison. It was like someone was twisting my gut. Its terrible. I am just so happy to have him home.

Mr Harron has no plans to return to Dubai: The laws there are not great, and people can take advantage. It was my word against his, and it has led to this  its crazy.

Radha Stirling, of Detained In Dubai, said: What happened to Jamie Harron, could happen to any tourist. The UAE markets and promotes itself as one thing, but has not changed the laws to reflect its desire to become more modern.

The Foreign Office said it had been in contact with Mr Harron, but declined to comment further.

Neuman & Esser said Mr Tabaza did not wish to comment.
Six Britons, including two models, were robbed of their jewellery and valuables by a masked machete-wielding gang who forced their way into a luxury villa in South Africa.

Model Sarah MacDonnell, who was in Cape Town for a yoga wear shoot, told The Mail on Sunday that she did not expect to survive the ordeal, in which the robbers escaped with 80,000 of valuables.

The 39-year-old revealed how the groups nightmare began after her boyfriend, a fellow model identified only as David, stepped outside their room for a cigarette at the 870-a-night Maison Noir in the shadow of Table Mountain.

Three men wearing balaclavas  lying in wait after cutting through a fence  grabbed him from behind, threatened him with machetes and a screwdriver, and forced him back into the villa.

Ms MacDonnell said: I was on the loo and one of these guys suddenly appeared right next to me and put a screwdriver against my throat, then hauled me on to the floor.

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Model Sarah MacDonnell was in Cape Town for a yoga wear shoot when armed raiders attcked her and her companions in their luxury villa in South Africa

The Maison Noir villa is advertised on Airbnb as a five-star luxurious mountainous private retreat and costs 870 per night

David was brought into the bathroom by the other two men and his hands were tied up with an iPhone cord. It was petrifying.

One guy started asking me what valuables we had, and where the safe was.

He quickly got quite aggressive because I had no idea about the safe, and he was violently pushing me around the bathroom to make me tell him.

After ransacking the couples possessions, the gang dragged both of them to the other guests rooms.

At Ms MacDonnells request, the MoS has agreed not to name the four women (two photographers, a make-up girl and an assistant), who are now receiving trauma counselling back in the UK.

All were working on a shoot for Manuka Life, a high-end London yoga and leisure wear company, of which Ms MacDonnell is creative director.

Incredibly, the youngest of the party  Ms MacDonnells assistant in her 20s  was in bed wearing ear plugs and slept through the ordeal.

The model was in Cape Town for a shoot for her yoga line Manuka Life (pictured)

The machete wielding gang tied the group up in their villa and Sarah (pictured) said she thought that the masked men would murder them

When we five were all tied up, the gang were arguing among themselves about whether they were going to leave, said Ms MacDonnell.

Thats when it got really scary because you think youre going to get murdered  or worse.

I really felt I wasnt going to make it, but I felt so protective of everyone. I was thinking, if they start using the knives or slash someones throat, what could I pick up, what could I do?

We all behaved calmly and gave in, but it did feel it was about to turn. All I can say is we were so lucky  it just wasnt our time to go.

I really want to credit David for being a calming influence on everyone  including the robbers  without trying to control the situation.

No one had an ego and I think thats why were alive. He was incredible. Luckily we had enough things between us that they could take and be satisfied.

She said that the gang gave conflicting signals about their victims likely fate, allowing one woman to put her trousers back on, and agreeing to a request not to take the Britons passports.

Then one of the robbers took off his balaclava, which really worried me, because then weve seen his face, so hes got nothing to lose, she added.

Eventually the robbers decided to leave. One of the women  who had managed to hide a mobile phone under a blanket  got a number for the Cape Town police and the alarm was raised.

The gang escaped with cash and equipment, including cameras, laptops and phones.

Ms MacDonnell added: The police told us there was minimal security at the property.

The gang cut a hole through the fence. We were told on arrival that the manager feels so safe he doesnt even lock his door.

Maybe we were naive, but theres so much glass in the place, you feel as if youre in a goldfish bowl.

The next day a security team was brought in to put in extra measures. Unfortunately that was an afterthought. 

The villa, which is advertised on Airbnb as a five-star luxurious mountainous private retreat, costs 870 per night.

Run by two expat Americans, it is said to be a blend of Balinese and African influences.

The Mail on Sunday contacted Maison Noir and were given a number for a manager by staff. However, when the call was answered, the man refused to take questions.
A convicted sex attacker freed from prison is alleged to have kidnapped and raped two women before dismembering their bodies and grinding their remains in a mincing machine.

Alexandr Maslennikov, 31, then fed them to dogs, according to reports citing law enforcement sources in southern Russia.

The women, Olga Shaposhnikova, 28, and Daria Labutina, 29, had been missing since visiting Voice karaoke club in the industrial city of Volzhsky on October 13.

Their mobile phones stopped working immediately and frantic relatives could not reach them.

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Alexandr Maslennikov (pictured) is alleged to have kidnapped and raped two women before dismembering their bodies and grinding their remains in a mincing machine

The women, Olga Shaposhnikova (left), 28, and Daria Labutina (right), 29, had been missing since visiting Voice karaoke club in the industrial city of Volzhsky on October 13

Police established the women had left the club with Maslennikov, who had been freed from jail in May after serving 11 years for rape, sexual assault and robbery and a manhunt was launched

Police established that the women had left the club with 6ft 6ins Maslennikov, who had been freed from jail in May after serving 11 years for rape, sexual assault and robbery.

He drove the women - who both worked at a local shopping mall - to his home where he is alleged to have raped and killed them, say police.

'The criminal dismembered their bodies and ground them up with a mincer,' reported Moskovsky Komsomolets citing law enforcement sources.

Their remains were 'fed to dogs', according to local reports.

Body parts of the women were also found in a forest near the city, in Volgograd region, say police sources.

Five days after the women vanished, charges of 'murder of two people' were laid against Maslennikov in absentia and he was put on the Russian wanted list.

The local mayor offered a 700,000 rouble reward (9,100) for information on the suspect.

Earlier this week Maslennikov was detained by police near Moscow, where he had fled and started dating another woman. A video showed him being bundled into a police van

He drove the women, including Ms Labutina (pictured), to his home where he is alleged to have raped and killed them, say police

Earlier this week Maslennikov was detained by police near Moscow, where he had fled and started dating another woman.

Officers believe the mother-of-one, who worked as a hairdresser, could have become Maslennikov's next victim.

She had earlier been his penpal.

A video shows armed police manhandling the suspect into a police van before his return to Volzhsky - 615 miles southeast of Moscow - for questioning.

When the two women went missing, a huge search was launched and women were warned to take extreme care going out at night.

A colleague of shoe shop sales assistant Ms Shaposhnikova said: 'We are still in a state of shock.'

The dead woman was 'cheerful and friendly, a good and responsible colleague.

'She was always been a pleasure to work with.'

Ms Labutina - who worked in a shop selling jeans and is believed to have had children - was described as 'quiet and home-loving'.

A friend said: 'It was the first time when they both decided to go out and chill together in a very long time - and then this happened.'

Five days after the women vanished, charges of 'murder of two people' were laid against Maslennikov in absentia and he was put on the Russian wanted list

The families of both women were said to be 'devastated and in total shock'

The families of both women were said to be 'devastated and in total shock'.

Friends of the pair expressed surprise that they would have voluntarily got into the car of an unknown man.

Both had partners but they were on a rare girls' night out when they disappeared.

The suspect's father, also called Alexandr Maslennikov, said during the search: 'I don't believe that he killed them.

'Why would he need to kill two pretty girls?

'I don't know where the girls are.'

A former classmate of the rapist said: 'He was very unfriendly and reserved at school, and also somewhat slippery in that he could lash out at other children but only those who were weaker than him.

'He was a negative personality overall.'

A neighbour said Maslennikov's father was an alcoholic but that his mother and sister were 'lovely' people.

'I'm in shock the son - who I haven't seen for years - is involved in the disappearance of these women.

'The whole city is talking about it and praying for them.'
The brother of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock used 'evil smart' tactics to avoid authorities before being arrested for child pornography.

Bruce Paddock, 58, was on the run for more than two years before his arrest on Wednesday, reported TMZ. He allegedly would change his appearance and would move often to avoid police.

Reportedly, Bruce would rig his various homes with booby traps - which included tying propane tanks to the doors and would use cameras to create a homemade surveillance system.

The account is similar to how his brother, Stephen, had cameras set up in his Mandalay Bay hotel room to check if someone was coming as he fired on the music festival crowd from his window.

Police found more than 600 child pornography images on Bruce's computer, which was left behind in a Sun Valley auto repair shop where he squatted in 2014. But after he was evicted he disappeared and police had been searching for him ever since.

Bruce Paddock, 58 (pictured), the brother of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock, allegedly was on the run from police for more than two years before his arrest on Wednesday. He reportedly would change his appearance and would move often to avoid police

Allegedly, Bruce would rig his various homes with booby traps - which included tying propane tanks to the doors and would use cameras to create a homemade surveillance system. He entered a plea of not guilty to felony charges on Friday (pictured)

After the shooting, police said they received got a tip about Bruce's whereabouts and tracked him down to an assisted living center, where he was awaiting surgery for spinal stenosis.

Bruce entered a plea of not guilty to felony charges of possession of child pornography and sexual exploitation of a child on Friday.

His public defender asked that he be released under ankle monitor surveillance back to the assisted living facility, citing his disabilities as the reason why.

The judge denied the request and instead set up a bail review hearing on November 3.

After the shooting, police said they received got a tip about Bruce's whereabouts and tracked him down to an assisted living center, where he was awaiting surgery for spinal stenosis (pictured)

Police found more than 600 child pornography images on Bruce's computer, which was left behind in a Sun Valley auto repair shop where he squatted in 2014

According to the 20-page criminal complaint, Bruce faces one count of possession of more than 600 images of child pornography and 19 counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

Police say the crimes happened between January 1, 2014 and August 30, 2014.

The LAPD released Bruce's mugshot 'in case there may be victims of unreported incidents'.

Bruce's older brother Stephen (pictured) committed suicide on October 1 after killing 58 people and injuring more than 400 from his sniper's nest in the Mandalay Bay hotel

They say his arrest has nothing to do with the Las Vegas shooting.

Bruce is being held on $60,000 bail.

TMZ previously reported that Bruce lives a 'nomadic life' and has a long criminal history including convictions for petty theft and vandalism.

Bruce also threatened to murder a property owner in 2014, while he was squatting at a home in the San Fernando Valley.

The home owner, Hector Cruz, told KTLA that Bruce was a longtime friend and he was going through a hard time that year when he asked to come over to his auto shop to fix his car.

Instead, he ended up squatting in the attic of the business and soon became a nuisance to workers.

Cruz said that when he found out Bruce was tampering with machinery and equipmen, the man snapped.

He said Bruce got into a fighting stance with clenched fists and told him 'If you keep f****** with me I am going to kill you and drop you in the desert.'

On another occasion, he brought a gas canister up into the attic and threatened to set the auto shop on fire.

'He told me he was going to kill me,' Cruz said.

Cruz described Bruce as a drug user, who sold meth and weed.

Cruz was eventually able to get a retraining order and Bruce fled the shop, leaving his computer with the damning images behind.

Investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the October 1 shooting

Crime seems to run in the Paddock family. Bruce and Stephen's father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, was a notorious bank robber who was on the FBI's most Wanted List for nearly a decade.

Benjamin was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a series of bank robberies in the late 50s and early 60s. But in 1968, he broke out of jail and went on the run.

He was put on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List form 1969 until 1977 - when he was caught at a bingo parlor he started in Oregon. He died in 1998 at a correctional facility in Texas at the age of 71.

During his lifetime, he was diagnosed as being psychopathic.

Stephen was the oldest of his four sons with Dolores Irene Hudson. The 64-year-old killed 58 people and injured more than 400 after opening fire from his sniper's nest in the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino on October 1. Stephen committed suicide as police stormed his room.

Stephen and Bruce's father Benjamin was a notorious bank robber who was on the FBI's Most Wanted List for nearly a decade

Stephen and Bruce have two other brothers. Youngest Eric, 57, lives in Florida near their 89-year-old grandmother and Patrick, 60, is an engineer in Tucson.

Police continue to search for a motive in the Las Vegas shooting.

Stephen's family have said that he didn't show any sign of mental illness and seemed to have his life together - after making millions from investing.

'My brother was the most boring one in the family,' Patrick Paddock told the New York Times. 'He was the least violent one in the family, over a 30-year history, so its like, who?'

But investigators have since discovered that Stephen started to show signs of angst in his final years, when he began to build up a massive stockpile of weapons.

Several people noted that he started to smell of alcohol often.

He was also reportedly prescribed the anti-anxiety drug Valium, which he was taking in its highest dose by June 2017.

The side effects of the drug - which include suicidal thoughts and unusual risk-taking behavior - can be magnified when mixed with alcohol.
Katrina Percy quit her 240,000-a-year post as chief executive at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust last year

The NHS boss who resigned in disgrace after failing to investigate more than 1,000 deaths at the mental health trust she ran is now touting for business and boasting of her expertise in patient care.

Katrina Percy quit her 240,000-a-year post as chief executive at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust last year after a furore over hundreds of fatalities  including patients who hanged themselves from ligature points that had not been removed.

But now, to the fury of families whose loved ones died, Ms Percy is advertising herself as a 'strategic consultant' on networking website LinkedIn.

She boasts: 'I have a track record of inspiring individuals, organisations and systems to transform the way they operate and have developed a reputation as a highly regarded chief executive.'

She adds that she is known for 'creating a culture which is open, accessible and energised' and as CEO improved staff 'productivity, innovation and quality'.

Last night a father whose son died at 28 of a drugs overdose while in the care of the trust  which now faces three prosecutions over patient deaths  accused Ms Percy of 'rubbing salt in the wounds' of bereaved families.

Richard West, whose son David died in 2013, said: 'Families are up in arms that she is trying to make a comeback in this way. People are now aware of the trust and what went on there. It is a travesty that Ms Percy hasn't faced personal public scrutiny over this.'

Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb, who was Health Minister when Ms Percy was at the trust, warned that it would be 'entirely inappropriate' for NHS hospitals to offer her work, adding: 'Katrina Percy clearly has a high opinion of herself but this is unlikely to be shared by the families of those who were failed in the most appalling way.

The NHS boss resigned in disgrace after failing to investigate more than 1,000 deaths at the mental health trust she ran. Pictured is a NHS sign at a medical centre unrelated to Ms Percy

'Her boasts about improving patient care and creating an 'open and accessible' culture are as insulting as they are wholly inconsistent with the way Southern Health behaved during her tenure.

'How she can claim to offer 'inspirational and visionary leadership' is beyond belief after so many deaths went uninvestigated.'

John Green, who was a governor of the trust and resigned over Ms Percy's leadership, added: 'I'm astonished she has the cheek. She brought the organisation to its knees with constant denials and cover-ups.'

Last night, when asked about her LinkedIn profile, Ms Percy said: 'I'm not working in that field.' She refused to add further comment.
Jack Letts, the middle-class Muslim convert from Oxford who escaped the former ISIS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria only to become a prisoner of a Kurdish militia, claims he has been tortured and fears he is losing his mind.

The Mail on Sunday today publishes a harrowing series of text and internet audio messages that Letts, 21  once dubbed Jihadi Jack  has sent from prison in the enclave of Rojava, controlled by the Kurdish PYD group, to his parents, John and Sally.

The couple have just ended a week-long hunger strike hoping to draw attention to his plight.

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Jack Letts, the middle-class Muslim convert from Oxford who escaped the former ISIS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria only to become a prisoner of a Kurdish militia, claims he has been tortured and fears he is losing his mind

The messages reveal that, after being captured by the Kurds following his escape from ISIS, he was initially treated well, and told he would be handed over to the British within days. However, conditions rapidly deteriorated.

The messages say that Letts  who has a history of mental illness  was forced to endure long periods of solitary confinement, deprived of food and exercise, threatened, then subjected to torture.

He claims Britain has done nothing to help achieve his release, and despite his repeated pleas, has sent no one to visit him even though the Kurds are Britains allies in the fight against Islamic State.

Nothing has been heard from him since a final, desperate audio message on July 8, which ended with a warning that he planned some kind of protest, although he knew this might get him shot.

The Mail on Sunday today publishes a harrowing series of text and internet audio messages that Letts, 21, sent from prison in the enclave of Rojava to his parents John Letts and Sally Lane (pictured)

Jack Letts (pictured as a child) converted to Islam aged 16 after dropping out of school as a result of mental illness

Yesterday his Kurdish captors issued a statement in response to questions from this newspaper.

It said Letts had been charged with being an ISIS member, although his case was still under investigation, that he was being well treated and that he was still in weekly contact with his family.

But Sally Letts said: Thats rubbish, a blatant lie and it discredits all their other claims. We have not heard a peep from him since July 8.

The internet audio files and texts sent to Lettss parents reveal:

Claims that his captors told him they were fed questions by British officials  suggesting that the UK Government knows where he is and who is holding him;

By July, Letts was getting at best one meal a day but some days no food at all;

A claim that he could prove he had been tortured and was scared of electricity  suggesting he had been given or threatened with electric shocks.

BRITON'S ANGUISHED MESSAGES TO PARENTS Voice recordings and phone messages sent home by Letts: Early hope upon capture May 3: Im still in Syria but Im genuinely out of Isis territories. The Kurds are being good to me. May 7: It is very clear that I was not a member of said group [ISIS]. I was within their territories, openly saying that theyre not [preaching] the truth. People genuinely thought I was crazy for doing that. Mum, I think the whole process of handing me over may be starting. First doubts May 26: I dont understand why Im in prison. June 1: Im just outside of the city, it looks like it used to be a school, now its a prison. It has guard towers. Its the terrorism prison. First threats of torture June 1: Two people from intelligence branch came and asked me questions. They said the questions came from England. It was What is the colour of your dads car? What is the first pet you had? Its stupid, trying to check my identity after three weeks of solitary confinement. June 19: [They] threatened me with torture. They say theyll put me in a box. Conditions worsen June 19: Tell them to get me out of here. I dont even care if Britain puts me in prison. Rather ten years over there than two days here. I cant take it here. Every now and then I get threatened with torture. July 1: They are starting to forget to bring me food. Now they only let me out for ten minutes. And the phone is now more taboo. Pleas for help from Britain June 19: The people here have told me theyre speaking to England. I cant stay here any longer Cant they just send someone to come and get me? Mental health deteriorates June 25: Yesterday I had... a mental breakdown. Even the guards here were surprised. I actually went insane. I was punching the wall and my hand was bleeding. Desperate last audio files July 8: My health situation has got much worse. Now they dont bring me food. Theres no such thing as going out any more. And then they punish you. Ive actually been tortured, intimidated. I dont want to still be here after a week because Im scared of electricity. Its one of my fears. Mum, Ive actually been tortured. I can prove it as well. Within a week Im going to start fighting back. What Im going to do might result in me getting shot, but Ive made my decision. After July 8, there has been no contact. Advertisement

The Kurdish security force holding him, known as the Asayish, has been condemned for holding prisoners without charge in poor conditions by both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Lettss father, John, 57, an organic farmer and botanist, and his mother, Sally, 55, who works in publishing, say they fully accept that if and when their son returns to Britain, he should be detained and questioned, and if the evidence merits it, charged with an offence.

THE TROUBLED MIDDLE-CLASS BOY BROUGHT UP IN AN OXFORD HOME Jack Letts converted to Islam aged 16 after dropping out of school as a result of mental illness. He went to Kuwait to study Arabic in 2014  but to the horror of parents John and Sally, right, had himself smuggled across the Syrian border. Advertisement

His parents acknowledge that a court might find that merely travelling to ISIS territory constituted a crime, and would test his claims that he did not share the terror groups aims. In the picture shown here, Letts points with one finger in the air  a pose common among Islamic extremists known as the finger of Tawheed, and is meant to symbolise the oneness of God. But John said: Were supposed to be fighting for British values  due process, Magna Carta, the rule of law. How can we square that with letting Jack rot in a Kurdish jail, subject to ill-treatment?

The Mail on Sunday put questions about Lettss treatment to four separate PYD institutions, including the Asayish. In response, Sinam Mohamad, its European representative, issued a statement to all media organisations which included the claim that Letts is still in weekly contact with his family.

She said that he is being treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention and international human rights standards and that Jack Lettss parents have been informed and reassured about his wellbeing.

She said the claims of ill-treatment and torture were baseless, adding that Jacks parents were attempting to manipulate the facts and reality. She said the Kurds were willing to hand over prisoners of war to their original country after [they are] properly investigated but also revealed that Britain has not asked the PYD to send Letts home, and neither has Canada. Letts has dual UK/Canadian nationality.

The messages from Letts come amid a political furore sparked by Foreign Office Minister Rory Stewart, who said last week that the only way to deal with former British ISIS fighters will be, in almost every case, to kill them.

HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN THE GRIM PRISONS RUN BY KURDISH SECURITY FORCES Having escaped from ISIS, Letts is a prisoner of the Kurdish Asayish security force. Reports by Amnesty International say it has held other prisoners, unlawfully in poor conditions, and denied them food and medical treatment. Prisoners watch television as one of them reads a newspaper inside Derick central prison, east of Syrian Kurdish city of Qamishli in Hasaka governorate Advertisement

Others, such as Max Hill QC, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, disagree, saying those who travelled out of a sense of naivety, possibly with some brainwashing should be reintegrated into British society. Yesterday Mr Stewart declined to comment on Letts.

The issue was further highlighted by Buckinghamshire former grammar schoolboy Shabazz Suleman, 21, who once praised both ISIS and terror attacks in the West. He also escaped from Raqqa, and has sent messages saying he is prepared, if allowed home, to face trial.

The Lettses solicitor, Tayab Ali, said Jack told him that his Kurdish interrogators claimed they were fed questions by the British. Mr Ali said he feared the Government was using the Asayish and its prisons as a black site for UK detainees, so outsourcing the task of deciding their fate to the Kurds.

He added: Jacks claim that his captors were given questions by British officials has troubling precedents  the cases of people captured in Pakistan and Afghanistan and tortured after 9/11, which led to Britain being accused of complicity and forced to pay millions of pounds in damages. Here too, we would be complicit in ill-treatment and unlawful detention.

Brought up in an affluent Oxford neighbourhood, Jack Letts converted to Islam at 16 after suffering mental health problems that disrupted his schooling. At first, his family was delighted: his faith, John said, gave him a new purpose. He went to study Arabic in Kuwait in May 2014  then disappeared.

On September 2, he spoke to his mother Sally on a crackly phone line, revealing he was in Syria. It soon became apparent that by this, he meant ISIS-controlled Raqqa. John said: He was told they were trying to create an Islamic state, and he wanted to see it for himself.

As this newspaper has previously disclosed, in earlier messages from Raqqa, Jack claimed he swiftly became deeply critical of ISIS. He has always denied playing any part in the fighting.

By the autumn of 2015, he said he was desperate to leave, telling his parents that the groups crimes were flagrant breaches of Islamic law. After speaking out publicly, he was, he claimed, detained several times in ISIS jails.

After escaping Raqqa by trekking across a minefield, Jack reached Rojava and sent the first of his recent messages via the Telegram app on May 3.

At first, he was held in a house with a pool. He thought his handover to Britain was imminent.

Soon, however, unease crept in. On May 26 he said: Theyre treating me well but Im chilling in solitary confinement with loads of beetles and sometimes get into fights with millipedes. I dont understand why Im in prison I just want to know whats going on.

Conditions continued to worsen. His claim about Britain providing questions came on June 1, when he said: Two people from intelligence branch came and asked me questions. They said the questions came from England.

Among the questions were: what is the colour of your dads car, and what is the first pet you had. They were, Jack said, trying to check my identity after three weeks of solitary confinement.

Oxford-born 'Jihadi Jack' is charged by Kurdish officials with being a member of ISIS after he was captured in May Jack Letts, 21, has been charged after travelling to Syria in 2014, Kurdish officials have said. After arriving in Syria, Mr Letts was captured by the Kurdish YPG after leaving Islamic State territory. Officials from the country's Kurdish region told the BBC Mr Letts was captured in May this year. The Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (DFNS) said Mr Letts is in prison in Qamishli, Rojava, northern Syria. The self-declared autonomous region said the case is being investigated by its local police force, the Asayish. Mr Letts converted to Islam while attending Cherwell comprehensive school in Oxford and travelled to Jordan when he was 18 after dropping out of A-levels. He entered Islamic State-controlled territory in Syria in autumn 2014 before marrying in Iraw and fathering a child. A petition was started by his parents, who deny he went to Syria to fight with the terrorist group and claimed their son had 'disappeared in a Guantanamo-style black site'. The European representative of DFNS Sinam Mohamed disputed this, telling the BBC the region respects human rights and was treating Mr Letts in accordance with the Geneva Convention. 'We refute all these baseless allegations,' she said. 'The Democratic Federation of Northern Syria's policy with regard to prisoners of war is clear and fair. 'ISIS brought inexplicable levels of terror on the peoples of Northern Syria/Rojava 'Despite this fact, the DFNS is not less committed than European countries to treating the fighters from this terror group according to international human rights standards." John Letts and Sally Lane went on a week-long hunger strike in protest at the alleged lack of action by the British government to help their son. They said that they have had no confirmation of whether he is still alive since July. But Ms Mohamad's statement gives shed light on a possible handover of Canadian passport holder Mr Letts to British authorities. It said Kurdish officials are willing to hand over prisoners of war to their home country after a proper investigation. 'Jack Letts is currently under investigation by local and global anti-terror units,' it said. 'Once the investigation is concluded, the outcome will be communicated to Jack's parents, and their legal representatives and to the officials of relevant governments. 'Therefore, we ask the parents of Jack Letts and their legal representative to ask the UK and Canadian governments to officially request the handover of Jack Letts from the officials of the DFNS so that the handover can proceed officially. 'However, so far there has been no official request from neither Canadian or British governments.' Advertisement

It is believed Jack is being held in the Alaya terrorist prison near Qamishli. On June 19 he said: Im asking [the British Government] to help me. Tell them to get me out of here. I dont even care if Britain puts me in prison. Rather ten years over there than two days here.

I cant take it here. I eat one meal a day. Every now and then I get threatened with torture they say theyll put me in a box.

Meanwhile, Lettss parents and his Labour MP, Anneliese Dodds, asked Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt to help. There was nothing, he wrote, he could do, because the FCO [Foreign and Commonwealth Office] is not able to provide consular assistance in Syria.

Mr Burt added in a letter to Ms Dodds in August: Should Mr Letts be able to travel to a neighbouring country and present himself to a British Embassy or consulate, we would consider what assistance we could provide there.

Jacks last message, on July 8, was the most chilling. My health situation has got much worse. Now they dont bring me food You can knock on this metal door for half an hour and they dont come. And when they come theyre angry because you knocked the door Ive actually been tortured, intimidated I dont want to still be here after a week because Im scared of electricity. Its one of my fears. Mum, Ive actually been tortured. I can prove it as well.

Letts had already given vivid descriptions of losing his mind. He would not, he said, commit suicide. But he was determined to make some sort of protest.

What Im going to do might result in me getting shot, but Ive made my decision within a week Im going to start fighting back.

He suggested he thought he had nothing to lose. Im not being dramatic, I actually dont think theres anyone coming to get me out.

John said: You might be eating a meal, or enjoying a nice warm bath  and then you feel guilty, because it suddenly hits you: right now, Jack might be being tortured.

Sally added: The hardest thing is the nothingness, the lack of certainty: no one replying to our questions, neither the British nor the Kurds. Thats why we fasted. We felt wed exhausted all our options, and no one was taking any notice.

Amnesty International issued an urgent action demand in June after publishing a damning report on human-rights abuses in Rojava in 2015. Last night Ilan Hogarth, Amnesty UKs head of policy, said: Any suggestion that the UK is party to Mr Lettss lengthy detention is concerning.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said she could not comment on the claim that Jacks interrogators had been given questions by UK officials, nor the suggestion that Britain outsourced detention to the Kurds.

She added: The Government is unable to provide support to British nationals in Syria as the UK Government does not have consular representation there.
The sailor met the prostitute, Abria Gooden, in a bar near the port of Kings Bay, Georgia, not far from where the sub had docked just days earlier

A British sailor from a Trident nuclear submarine bedded a prostitute and then stole the money he had given her, according to a police report seen by The Mail on Sunday.

The crewman is from HMS Vigilant  now dubbed HMS Sex And Cocaine after four officers were disciplined for having affairs with fellow crew and nine sailors were kicked out of the service after testing positive for the class-A drug.

The sailor met the prostitute, Abria Gooden, in a bar near the port of Kings Bay, Georgia, not far from where the sub had docked just days earlier.

After giving Ms Gooden $160 (120) and having sex with her, he took the money back from her purse as she was getting dressed, according to a US police report.

Last night, a senior US police officer accused other Vigilant sailors of lying in a bid to obstruct the investigation into the alleged theft.

The policeman said they gave a fake name  Stephen Dwight  for their comrade, and also claimed they belonged to HMS Valiant, a submarine withdrawn from service 23 years ago.

The embarrassing claims threaten to further damage the Royal Navys reputation following the shock disclosure that sailors from HMS Vigilant took cocaine after she docked in the United States last month.

Four officers, including the subs captain Commander Stuart Armstrong, have also been removed from the vessel amid claims of sexual affairs and booze-fuelled parties.

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Policeman Gary Nichols then accompanied Ms Gooden into the bar. He later wrote: Ms Gooden spoke with some of the other male subjects in the Wee Pub, who she identified were with the male who stole from her'

The official police report described how at just before midnight on September 18 prostitute Ms Gooden, 28, told a police officer a British male had stolen her money and run off to a bar called the Wee Pub.

Policeman Gary Nichols then accompanied Ms Gooden into the bar. He later wrote: Ms Gooden spoke with some of the other male subjects in the Wee Pub, who she identified were with the male who stole from her.

'They told her the males name was Stephen Dwight and he was a sailor with the British Navy stationed on the Valiant.

'Ms Gooden stated she met Mr Dwight at 10.40pm and at 11pm they went to an ATM got some money and Mr Dwight gave her $160.

'They then went to the Cumberland Inn and Suites. They had sexual intercourse and while she was getting dressed Mr Dwight took the money from her purse and ran out of her room.

Last night the Royal Navy confirmed it had no record of a submariner called Stephen Dwight.

Last night the Royal Navy confirmed it had no record of a submariner called Stephen Dwight. Pictured: HMS Vigilant

The local police commander is adamant that the men in the bar gave deliberately misleading answers.

Lieutenant Shannon Brock told The Mail on Sunday: The Royal Navy sailors lied to the police.

Stephen Dwight is a fake name and we suspected then that there was a likelihood of the name not being correct.

They also definitely said they were from HMS Valiant not HMS Vigilant.

Stephen Dwights alleged crime is listed on the US police report as Theft by Taking-Misdemeanor.

The same document says a second submariner, also believed to be a Vigilant sailor, paid for the hotel room.

Mess space sleeping quarters on board HMS Vigilant, a Vanguard-class submarine

The manager of the Cumberland Inn and Suites, Richard Butler, said the second submariner had received a military discount when he paid $62 for the room and used a passport to confirm his identity.

US police dropped their investigation into the theft when they were unable to establish Stephen Dwights real identity.

The Royal Navy said: If a member of the Armed Forces is found to have fallen below the high standards expected, appropriate action will be taken.
Terror suspects including jihadis returning from fighting in Syria are to be offered taxpayer-funded homes, counselling and help finding jobs to stop them carrying out attacks in Britain.

The top-secret Government strategy, codenamed Operation Constrain, could even allow fanatics to jump to the top of council house waiting lists.

Official documents seen by The Mail on Sunday reveal that up to 20,000 extremists previously investigated by MI5 will be targeted with what critics last night described as bribes aimed at turning them away from extremism.

The top-secret Government strategy, codenamed Operation Constrain, could even allow fanatics to jump to the top of council house waiting lists

The highly contentious nationwide programme is due to start next year, with police and cash-strapped councils hoping the Home Office will pay for it out of its 900 million counter-terrorism budget.

Last night, terrorism expert Professor Anthony Glees, of Buckingham University, said: You cant bribe people not to be terrorists.

And Tory MP Andrew Bridgen added: This sounds like a reward for being on a list of potential terrorists. You cant buy peoples loyalty to this country.

The move comes amid growing concern at the huge number of radical Islamists living in Britain who the security services are unable to track effectively.

Fanatics who had been under surveillance by MI5 in the past were among the perpetrators of the two terror attacks in London and one in Manchester this year that left 35 people dead.

The intelligence agencies fear as many as 20,000 former subjects of interest  people who had been monitored but later dropped off the radar  could be plotting fresh atrocities. It is this group that will be targeted by the new scheme.

RETURNING JIHADI Fanatics who have returned to Britain after fighting for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq are among those who will be benefit from Operation Constrain. Last year, The Mail on Sunday reported how Maarg Kahsay, above, from Tufnell Park, North London, went to Syria and joined IS after skipping bail during a rape trial in August 2014. Kahsay, 26, who already lives in a council flat, will now be able to get help with finding a job, training and even receive counselling. WESTMINSTER ATTACKER MI5s watchlist consists of 20,000 extremists who are not currently part of active investigations by MI5 or counter-terrorism police. Khalid Masood, above, was on that list when he launched the Westminster Bridge atrocity in March this year, which killed five people, including a police officer, before he was shot dead. Masood, 52, from Birmingham, had first come onto MI5s radar at a time when he was living in Luton and was in contact with extremists. Advertisement

A fierce debate has also raged about how to deal with the estimated 360 battle-hardened jihadis who have returned to Britain after fighting with Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and the ones who may come back now after the fall of the so-called caliphate.

Terror law watchdog Max Hill QC caused a storm earlier this month when he said naive teenagers should be allowed to reintegrate into society, while Foreign Office Minister Rory Stewart said most followers of ISs hateful doctrine posed a serious danger to the UK and should be killed.

But the MoS can reveal that the Home Office, police and local authorities have been secretly drawing up plans for a massive increase in attempts to turn vulnerable individuals away from terrorism.

Under the existing deradicalisation programme Prevent, teachers, doctors and social workers can refer people they fear may turn to extremism. The new Operation Constrain scheme, however, will involve police and social workers contacting people already on MI5s databases to assess what danger they pose and what it would take to integrate them into society.

A Whitehall source said: We are planning a number of pilots to explore the best way to diverting such people from terrorism and extremist activity.

Atrocity: Westminster Bridge killer Khalid Masood surrounded by armed police on March 22

In hotspots for terror suspects such as Birmingham, Manchester and London, local police will be handed details of potential terrorists by counter-terrorism police and MI5 and will visit them in person. A local panel will then decide what interventions could work.

If the extremists do not have suitable accommodation, the councils housing department will try to put them in social housing and may pay their rent if they are poor. They could also be given priority on waiting lists.

If the terror suspect is unemployed or lacks qualifications, they could be helped into education or training, then found a job with public bodies or charities.

And if they have mental health problems they will be referred to appropriate charities or the NHS.

Sources said the interventions will mean police and Prevent officers being able to send back assessments about the risk the extremists pose.

But critics are likely to question the value of Operation Constrain, given that many known terrorists already enjoyed generous benefits or came from comfortable backgrounds, even using state welfare payments to fund their plots.

The Home Office said: We are reviewing our counter-terrorism strategy to make sure we respond to the evolving threat in the most effective way we can.
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Neo-Nazis were forced to cancel a 'White Lives Matter' rally after they were outnumbered and taunted by counter-protesters in Tennessee.

A group of 300 white supremacists gathered in Shelbyville on Saturday afternoon to protest the increase in the number of refugees living in the area.

The event was organized by many of the people who were involved in the march in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this summer, that descended into violence.

But between 800 and 1,000 demonstrators confronted them in the street, in front of a heavy police presence, and put a stop to a second planned event in Murfreesboro just a few hours later.

The two cities are just southeast of Nashville, where there has been an increase in refugees from Somalia, Iraq and other countries.

One man was arrested during the rally after he was deemed a threat for displaying erratic behavior during a White Lives Matter Rally that took place Saturday.

John Gill Anderson, 20, was charged with disorderly conduct stemming from the event in Shelbyville on U.S. Highway 231 and Lane Parkway around 12:30 p.m.

Shelbyville police Lt. Brian Crews, who stood in for the rally, said the man 'refused to cease and desist when told,' leading to his temporary custody, according to the Tennessean.

Michael Hill leads the White Lives Matter rally in Shelbyville, Tennessee, on Saturday. His 300 neo-Nazis were outnumbered by up to 1,000 counterprotesters. A second rally later that day saw just 30 Nazis in attendance

A white supremacist tears up an anti-fascist flag at the rally on Saturday. The rallies were intended to protest the increased number of refugees from the Middle East in the area

A member of a group called the National Socialist Movement holds up a shield with the group's logo in Shelbyville. The neo-Nazis moved on to Murfreesboro but canceled after their numbers dropped to just 30, leaving them vastly outnumbered

A member of a group titled The Traditionalist Worker Party, wearing a WWII Nazi soldier's helmet, stands at the Shelbyville rally. Counter-protesters mocked the white supremacists during the event

Counter-protesters in Shelbyville chant and hold up signs opposite the neo-Nazi rally. In between the two groups was a substantial police presence. Only one person was arrested for 'erratic' behavior, and no-one injured

Counter-protesters sing hymns and chant during the Shelbyville rally. Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam said state and local law enforcement officials would be out 'in full force' for the two white nationalist rallies

Police officers from throughout middle Tennessee prepare for a White Lives Matter rally in Shelbyville. No injuries were reported at that event, although one man was arrested

Police arrested a man in Shelbyvile after he was deemed a threat for displaying erratic behavior during the White Lives Matter Rally there

John Gill Anderson, 20, was charged with disorderly conduct stemming from the event in Shelbyville located on US Highway 231 and Lane Parkway around 12:30pm

Anderson (seen being led away center) insisted he was one of the counter protesters in an interview after his arrest

Aside from the arrest, authorities said there were no violent incidents and 'everything went lovely,' Crews confirmed in the interview with the local newspaper.

'As far as we know everything is over. We're taking down our fences,' the officer added.

Also Saturday afternoon, another white nationalist rally took place in the city of Murfreesboro - about 25 miles north of Shelbyville.

The demonstrators chanted and marched on Veterans Parkway and Church Street south.

Counter-protesters chanted things like 'show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!' and 'Murfreesboro loves,' the Tennessean reported.

The rally created a ruckus for travelers in the area, too - who were heard honking their car horns and shouting along.

The second rally, in Murfreesboro, say far more counter-protesters (pictured) than actual neo-Nazis and other white supremacists, who numbered just 30 - a 90 per cent drop-off rate after the Shelbyville rally

Counter-protesters chant at the small number of neo-Nazis in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, holding up signs saying 'Imposters' and 'You are not welcome here'

Two men hold Confederate flags during a 'White Lives Matter' rally on October 28, 2017 in Murfreesboro

Police were out in force in Murfreesboro but in the end they weren't needed, as the rally dissipated of its own accord

Organizers ordered both protesters and counter-protesters to stay on separate sides of the street for precautionary purposes.

Murfreesboro resident Sherry Walker, 57, burned sage as she trotted through the controversial rally.

'The smoke is lifting our prayers to heaven ... 'It's for cleansing and healing and peace,' Walker said at the event.

Brad Griffin, who assisted in organizing the Shelbyville rally, said the event lasted for three hours from 10am to 1pm.

The Murfeesboro rally kicked off in the afternoon will likely continue through the evening.

The White Lives Matter protests were hosted by organizations involved in the deadly Charlottesville, Virginia attacks.

White Lives Matter protesters demonstrate during the rally on October 28, 2017 in Shelbyville, Tennessee

A protester is seen shouting into the microphone during the Shelbyville rally where hundreds of protesters and counter-protesters gathered

People hold a sign that reads '100% socialist, 100% nationalist' while standing on the streets

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said state and local law enforcement officials were 'in full force' for the two white nationalist rallies

Protesters are shown arriving to the White Lives Matter rally in Shelbyville, Tennessee Saturday morning

The Shelbyville and Murfreesboro rallies were hosted by Nationalist Front, which is a coalition of several white supremacist organizations

Counter-protesters line the street across from a White Lives Matter rally in Shelbyville, Tennessee
They're the kind of letters  written by a ladys maid and verging on scandalous  that would have Downton Abbeys stoic butler Carson reaching for the pantry port.

Spiced with high-society gossip and below-stairs indiscretions, the missives had lain forgotten, in time-honoured fashion, in a dusty box at the back of a wardrobe.

And now, after 90 years, their contents are published for the first time here in The Mail on Sunday.

The letters author, Ethel North, chronicled events in and around Highclere Castle  where ITVs Downton was filmed  throughout the 1920s and early 1930s.

Royalty frequently moved within her orbit: she encountered Prince George and his fast-living lover, and his brother, the future King Edward VIII.

And she adored Field Marshal Earl Haig. She also met numerous politicians and writers such as Rudyard Kipling.

Ethel North (left) was personal maid to Lady Burghclere, sister of the 5th Earl Carnarvon. Ethel sent letters to her friend Elsie Merrall which chronicled events in and around Highclere Castle where ITVs Downton was filmed and which features Joanne Frogatt (right) as the maid Anna

The letters give readers a porthole through history and into the lives at Highclere Castle

Mostly she captured everything with a devastatingly sharp eye, though she wasnt always spot-on.

Writing in August 1928 of the marriage of the youngest daughter of her mistress, Lady Burghclere, to Evelyn Waugh, one of the 20th Centurys greatest prose stylists, Ethel said: As far as we can judge [he is] a very unsatisfactory young man whose only living is an occasional book. Time alone will show, of course.

Against a backdrop of social upheaval, Downton Abbey followed the lives of the Earl of Grantham, his wife Cora and their family and servants during the same period that Ethel was in service, and was loosely inspired by Highcleres aristocratic inhabitants, among them the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun with Howard Carter.

Having trained as a dressmaker, Ethel, a butchers daughter from Leicester, began working for Lady Burghclere, the Earls formidable older sister, in 1919, aged 29.

Set in 5,000 acres of Hampshire countryside, 300-room Highclere, attracted the beau monde. And her mistress was also at the heart of London society.

Ethel recorded her encounters with all she met (and all she saw and heard) in perceptive detail for the benefit of her best friend, Elsie Merrall.

It was Elsies granddaughter, Melissa Lawrence, who found the letters  about 80 in all  after the death of her mother, and she is now turning them into a book.

In October 1929, Ethel wrote on Highclere notepaper of a visit from banking heiress Poppy Baring, who had been romantically involved with Prince George, Duke of Kent.

Prince George's girlfriend at the time, Miss Poppy Baring (left) daughter of Lady Barling. Ethel met many major figures of historical importance, and her favourite was probably Field Marshall Earl Haig (right), commander of British forces on the Western Front in WWI

[She was] quite intelligent but quite plain, I thought. The King and Queen were so afraid he was going to marry her, they sent round to all the marriage register offices, forbidding the Registrar to marry them She has now married a man named Thursby.

'I do not know if it will be a lasting union. She was apparently much too gay for the King and Queen.

In the same letter she relates a story about Georges brother, the Prince of Wales, commonly known as David  later Edward VIII.

At the time his great love was Freda Dudley Ward, who was only supplanted in his affections by Wallis Simpson.

Ethel recalls that a friend of Lady Burghclere went to call on Mrs Dudley Ward whose little girl appeared on the scene first, wearing an exquisite bracelet.

Lady M said to her, What a pretty bracelet. Who gave it to you? A gentleman, replied the infant. Whats his name? asked Lady M. The child hesitated and then said, I dont quite know. The servants call him Your Royal Highness but Mamma calls him David, darling. 

Both Ethel and Lady Burghclere, a biographer, share a fervent love of the arts, with Ethels thirst for knowledge manifest in many of the letters.

They also delight in overseas sojourns, travelling extensively in Europe, Africa and the United States, almost always staying with distinguished friends.

It was in Rome that Ethel met Field Marshal Haig, commander of British forces on the Western Front in the First World War. She wrote to Elsie: My Dear, I love him [Haig]. He is so shy and quiet.

It is very difficult for me to believe he commanded the British Army and he talks in such a slow, almost hesitating way. So different from what one imagines of a great soldier.

Their eldest girl gives them a lot of trouble. A real young modern. General Haig can do nothing with her and hes been awfully kind to her, riding one old horse himself to hounds and giving her three young and fresh ones, so each days hunt may be as enjoyable as the preceding one Strange.

Young couple in love: Evelyn Waugh with his first wife Evelyn Gardner pictured in 1928

'He can command an army but not one girl of 18! Elsewhere she writes of the Queen Mother, then the 26-year-old Duchess of York, who was pregnant with the future Queen.

The Duchess expects to have her baby at the end of April or beginning of May.

'They are coming to live at the bottom of Green Street [Lady Burghcleres Mayfair residence] next month  40 Grosvenor Square.

'The King and Queen are awfully pleased. The Queen said a strange thing the other day to Lady Margaret [Lady Burghcleres sister].

In talking about the Duchess she said, Yes, she is such a dear little thing and so kind and friendly towards us. This is much for the Queen to say.

At this stage, Lady Burghclere was widowed; her husband had been a prominent Liberal politician and president of the Board of Agriculture.

The couple had four daughters whom Ethel found moody and selfish. The youngest, Lady Evelyn, left Evelyn Waugh (they were known to their friends as He-Evelyn and She-Evelyn) after less than a year of marriage.

Ethel, writing in August 1929, said it caused Lady Burghclere great concern. Wicked Miss E left her husband a fortnight ago to go off with another young man, worse off than her husband These girls were never meant for marriage.

She wrote of another of the daughters, saying: Juliet has also been troublesome and Lady B has had to pay 700 in debts for her during this last month. I think they must all be bewitched, or is this what is called the modern spirit?.

After the 5th Earl of Carnarvons death in 1923, his widow, Almina, married again just eight months later, with indecent haste, according to Ethel.

It is hard to imagine her fictional Downton counterpart  maid Anna (played by Joanne Froggatt)  being quite so forthright.

Ethel wrote: I expect you saw the announcement of the Countesss marriage, writes Ethel. I knew I was right. There was far too great a show of grief eight months ago to carry any weight with me.

'It is never real. Lady B and indeed the rest of the family are distressed and angry. My lady has given the order Not at Home if she calls, so they are evidently sending her to Coventry.

While the early letters referred to Lady Burghclere as milady, as the years passed she became Lady B. And in many of her musings, Ethel appears to appropriate some of the older womans language, describing a scene or building as delicious.

Occasionally, Ethel relates details of her work, describing in May 1922 the preparations for Lady Evelyns presentation at court as a debutante. It meant a lot more for me to do as I have many dresses to make, she wrote.

After the First World War, many noble families saw a decline in their fortunes. Ethel wrote in 1933: We [Ethel and Lady B] sold a lot of gold ornaments to pay our fare [to Portofino] because Lady Bs income has sunk from 4,000 a year to 2,000, which is very little, accustomed as she has been to living in great state. The taxes are indeed crippling everybody but I suppose we shall survive it.

In addition to casting a fascinating light on the inter-war period, the letters chart Ethels close relationship with Lady Burghclere, which went beyond the classic mistress-servant dynamic.

We have been quite extraordinary friends and companions, the greatest I ever had.

And after Lady Bs death in 1933, she wrote: She was my most intimate friend I am glad I was so much use to her.
One of Theresa Mays Brexit Ministers was at the centre of a new Westminster sexism row last night after admitting he called his secretary sugar t*ts and got her to buy sex toys for him.

Commons secretary Caroline Edmondson told The Mail on Sunday that International Trade Minister Mark Garnier called her sugar t*ts in front of witnesses.

And she said he gave her cash to buy two vibrators at a sex shop in Soho  and stood outside the store while she bought them.

Commons secretary Caroline Edmondson told The Mail on Sunday that International Trade Minister Mark Garnier (pictured) called her sugar t*ts in front of witnesses

The disclosures about Mr Garnier came as:

Former Cabinet Minister Stephen Crabb admitted sending explicit messages to a 19-year-old woman after a job interview at Westminster.

Cabinet Minister Michael Gove sparked outrage by making a tasteless joke about Harvey Weinstein on BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

Campaigning anti-sleaze Labour MP John Mann called for a Commons Sex Pest Tsar to protect women at Westminster from male predators.

Claims emerged that women have had their drinks spiked with date rape drugs in Commons bars.

Theresa Mays spokesman said on Friday that unwanted sexual behaviour was completely unacceptable and any Ministers found to have acted inappropriately would face serious action.

And Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn yesterday condemned warped and degrading behaviour at Westminster. He talked of a culture that has tolerated abuse for far too long and thrives in the corridors of power.

Ms Edmondson said wealthy ex-banker Mr Garnier told her that one of the sex toys was for his wife, also called Caroline, while the other was for a female assistant in his Wyre Forest constituency office in the West Midlands.

Father-of-three Mr Garnier, 53, one of International Trade Secretary Liam Foxs deputies, last night confirmed the claims. Im not going to deny it, because Im not going to be dishonest, he said. Im going to have to take it on the chin.

Former Cabinet Minister Stephen Crabb admitted sending explicit messages to a 19-year-old woman after a job interview at Westminster

He said his sugar t*ts comment was part of an amusing conversation about TV comedy Gavin And Stacey. In the show, the term is used to describe an attractive woman.

Asking Ms Edmondson to buy sex toys in Soho was good-humoured high jinks, he said.

He denied it constituted sexual harassment. Mr Garnier said that the sex toys were bought after a Christmas lunch. We bought some soap sets, that sort of stuff, scented candles. The vibrator shop was high jinks.

Mr Garnier said he told Ms Edmondson he didnt think it was a good idea, but she had gone ahead. I hung around outside and she went into this shop. That was it.

He said they later fell out and claimed that disgruntled Ms Edmondson has been using [the incident] against me ever since.

He vehemently denied sexual harassment, saying: Not at all. It absolutely does not constitute harassment.

Ms Edmondson, pictured, said wealthy ex-banker Mr Garnier told her that one of the sex toys was for his wife, also called Caroline

He conceded that in the current post-Harvey Weinstein sexism climate it could look like dinosaur behaviour but added: In the context of the time, we got on fine.

Last night, Ms Edmondson hit back at Mr Garniers version of events and called him a s**t.

She said: He has lied. He suggested to me in a Commons bar one evening that we went shopping for sex toys in Soho. The next day, he said, Come on, lets do it.

He took me to Soho and gave me the money to buy two vibrators. He stood outside the shop while I did. He said one was for his wife and the other was for a woman who worked in his constituency office.

She added: Another time in the bar he said to me in the hearing of others, You are going nowhere, sugar t*ts.

He was worried I was going to go off and work for another MP. It was awful.

Shortly after the incidents in 2010, Ms Edmondson, who is married, stopped working for Mr Garnier. She is now Commons secretary to former Cabinet Minister John Whittingdale.

In a second sex controversy, Mr Crabb confirmed he sent explicit messages to a 19-year-old woman he interviewed for a job in 2013, when he was Welsh Minister. It happened before a separate incident involving messages of a sexual nature sent to a different young woman during the EU referendum campaign.

This led to his Cabinet resignation last year.

Mr Crabb is understood to have sent flirtatious messages to the teenager and met her for a drink at the Commons. They also met by chance at the Tory conference in Manchester four weeks ago.

Mr Crabb said last night he had been foolish but insisted there was no sexual contact and he had not kissed her.

We exchanged messages which talked about sex but none of it was meant seriously.

We met for coffee a few times and had a glass of wine once at the Commons, but nothing more. I accept any kind of sexual chatter like this is totally wrong and I am sorry for my actions.

Mr Crabb has been trying to rebuild his marriage since similar claims last year.

Mr Corbyns comments yesterday came after he had been criticised for being too slow to act over misogynistic and homophobic comments by Labour MP Jared OMara.

A No 10 spokeswoman said: The Prime Minister has been clear that any victims of unwanted sexual attention should come forward.
A plan to bulldoze a 100 million Whitehall department built 30 years ago to make way for a palatial replica Commons in case the existing one is blown up has been condemned as barking mad.

Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom wants to demolish Richmond House, currently Health Secretary Jeremy Hunts NHS HQ, as part of a refurbishment of Parliament costing up to 5.7 billion.

The Grade II listed Richmond House cost 44 million when it was opened in 1987  equal to more than 100 million today.

Under Mrs Leadsoms plan, it would be knocked down and replaced by a permanent replica Commons, complete with debating chamber and offices, at an estimated cost of more than 200 million.

Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom wants to demolish Richmond House (above), currently Health Secretary Jeremy Hunts NHS HQ, as part of a refurbishment of Parliament costing up to 5.7 billion

The plan for a permanent contingency (debating) chamber on the site of Richmond House is revealed in a leaked letter written by Mrs Leadsom. Insiders said it could be used both while Parliament is repaired and in the event of a fire or terror attack

It is over double the cost of the previous 85 million plan to build a wooden temporary debating chamber inside Richmond House while the nearby Palace of Westminster gets a long-overdue renovation.

That refurbishment could take 11 years.

The plan for a permanent contingency (debating) chamber on the site of Richmond House is revealed in a leaked letter written by Mrs Leadsom. Insiders said it could be used both while Parliament is repaired and in the event of a fire or terror attack.

The plan follows a security review carried out after a knifeman gained access to Parliament and murdered PC Keith Palmer earlier this year.

But Tory MP Sir Edward Leigh denounced the idea as barking. He told The Mail on Sunday: The public will be outraged that while we are still trying to find new homes for the Grenfell victims, MPs are to waste hundreds of millions on a second House of Commons built of glass and marble. I was shocked when Mrs Leadsom told me that Richmond House is to be flattened to achieve this.

I told her there is no replica US Congress in Washington and we dont need one here.

Under Mrs Leadsoms (left) plan, it would be knocked down and replaced by a permanent replica Commons, complete with debating chamber and offices, at an estimated cost of more than 200 million. Right, Jeremy Hunt

Sir Edward was backed by former Minister Shailesh Vara, whose call to slash the 5 billion repair bill by staying in the Commons while repairs are carried out has been supported by 100 MPs on all sides of the House.

Mr Vara said: Of course we must plan for an emergency but there is no justification for knocking down an entire state-of-the-art Whitehall office block to make way for a vastly expensive alternative Commons. It leaves us wide open to claims of double standards. Sir Edward added that Mrs Leadsom should be stripped of control of the parliamentary refurbishment.

We need someone like Mr Vara to take control and restore common sense and prudence, he said.

Designed by Sir William Whitfield, Richmond House was opened in 1987 when Margaret Thatcher was in No 10.

Its neoclassical striped brick facade earned it listed status and would be the only part of the building to survive if Mrs Leadsoms proposal went ahead.

Mrs Leadsom declined to comment last night. But sources close to her insisted any decision would be for the House of Commons Commission, not for Mrs Leadsom alone.
The Cabinet was dragged into the Harvey Weinstein row last night after Michael Gove had to apologise for a tasteless joke about the sexually depraved movie mogul.

Environment Secretary Mr Gove sparked uproar on social media after comparing being interviewed on BBC Radio 4s Today programme to going into Weinsteins bedroom.

You just pray that you emerge with your dignity intact, he said.

The Cabinet was dragged into the Harvey Weinstein row last night after Michael Gove (pictured) had to apologise for a tasteless joke about the sexually depraved movie mogul

Environment Secretary Mr Gove sparked uproar on social media after comparing being interviewed on BBC Radio 4s Today programme to going into Weinsteins bedroom

Mr Gove swiftly apologised for the comment on Twitter and said it was a 'clumsy attempt at humour'

Theresa Mays vow to take serious action against Ministers who behaved inappropriately fuelled calls last night for her to act against Mr Gove and other Ministers who have faced similar allegations in recent years, including:

- Claims that Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon called a woman a slut and that his minder moved in to separate him from a Russian blonde he met while drinking at a Westminster cocktail party;

- A text to a Tory friend by Brexit Secretary David Davis saying he wouldnt kiss Labours Diane Abbott as I am not blind.

Mr Goves Weinstein joke was made when he appeared in a live Radio 4 Today broadcast.

He told host John Humphrys: Coming into the studio with you, John, is a bit like going into Harvey Weinsteins bedroom.

Mr Gove went on: You just pray that you emerge with your dignity intact.

Tory MP Anna Soubry accused him of belittling the suffering of Weinsteins victims.

In the past it has been alleged Brexit Secretary David Davis (left) said he wouldnt kiss Labours Diane Abbott (right) as I am not blind

She tweeted: It insulted victims of rape & other sexual assaults & perpetuated pathetic notion that these crimes are not to be taken seriously.

Hours later, a repentant Mr Gove wrote on Twitter: Apologies for my clumsy attempt at humour on R4 Today this morning  it wasnt appropriate. Im sorry and apologise unreservedly.

Dozens of female film stars and former employees have accused Hollywood producer Weinstein of raping and molesting them, often in hotel rooms. He says any sexual relations were consensual.

It is not the first time that the Environment Secretary has made near-the-knuckle sexual remarks: a young Gove once enraged Rolling Stone Mick Jagger by joking about his private parts after they stood next to each other at urinals at an Oxford University event.

As a journalist on The Times, he once posed for a group photograph on a cold winters day  and told the photographer: Hurry up, its so cold my **** has shrunk all the way up to my knee.

The Mail on Sunday revealed three years ago that Sir Michael Fallon had allegedly called a woman a slut in a bar.

Sources close to Fallon confirmed he had been drinking and had apologised after using a wrong term towards the woman, but denied he called her a slut.

The incident came during a clash between Sir Michael and Daily Telegraph writer Bryony Gordon.

She claimed a member of David Camerons new female-friendly Cabinet had approached her in a grotty bar near Westminster and called her a slut.

She said the mystery Tory Minister asked her: Do you know that slut who writes that column at the back of the [Telegraph] magazine? Bryony Gordon? Ms Gordon replied: Yes. Because that slut is me.

Ms Gordon, 36, said the Minister blushed crimson and apologised profusely. This newspaper established that the incident happened in 2010 in the Marquis of Westminster pub in Pimlico.

Newspaper columnist Bryony Gordon (left) claims that Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon (right) called her a slut

We also disclosed how Sir Michael faced further questions over a separate incident in 2013 in which his party minder intervened to get him away from a Russian blonde after he gatecrashed a party.

The episode took place at the Roux At Parliament Square restaurant, owned by renowned chef Michel Roux Jr.

A witness said Sir Michael spent a large part of the evening with a tall, young woman in a figure-hugging skirt who said she was a Russian student.

According to some reports, he was swaying and touched her. The claims were rejected by friends of Sir Michael. His parliamentary aide, Tory MP Therese Coffey, was said to have moved in on them and split them up.

Fallon has been happily married to his wife Wendy for 30 years. The couple have two sons.

In February, this newspaper revealed how Brexit Secretary David Davis was caught up in a sexism row after saying he wouldnt kiss Labours Diane Abbott as I am not blind.

The rumpus came after he was said to have made a light-hearted attempt to embrace and kiss Ms Abbott in a Commons bar following a key Brexit vote.

Ms Abbott told him to **** off! Afterwards, a Tory pal texted Mr Davis: Cannot believe you made an attempt to give DA [Diane Abbott] a hug!

Davis replied: Didnt. I whispered in her ear Thanks for your vote hence the F off. I am not blind.
North Korea has conducted mass evacuation drills in towns across the country as possible preparation for war, it was reported on Saturday.

Sources in the isolated Communist country reported that the rare drills were being conducted in secondary and tertiary cities and towns over the course of the last week.

There were no reported drills in the capital, Pyongyang.

News of the drills, which included so-called blackout exercises whereby whole towns would turn out all the lights at night time so as to avoid illuminating enemy targets, was first reported by NK News.

I have never heard of this type of training exercises before in North Korea, but am not surprised, Chun In-bum, a former South Korean military officer, said.

They must realize how serious the situation is.

NK News quoted an anonymous source as saying that the last time drills which approached this scale were conducted was in 2003, when North Korea carried out air raid exercises.

North Korea has conducted mass evacuation drills in towns across the country as possible preparation for war, it was reported on Saturday. The photo above, which was released in August 2017, shows North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un (center) alongside military officers

I have never heard of evacuation exercises happening before, one source told NK News.

News of the reported drills came in light of heightened diplomatic tensions between North Korea and the West.

Earlier on Saturday, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis issued a warning to North Korea that the country is no match for a decades-old American-South Korean alliance.

'Make no mistake - any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming,' he said during a news conference in Seoul on Saturday.

With South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at his side, Mattis accused the North and Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs - and said the threat of a nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating.

Mattis said North Korea engages in 'outlaw' behavior and that the US will never accept a nuclear North.

'North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbors and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs,' he said, adding that US-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration thus has taken on 'a new urgency'.

Earlier on Saturday, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis issued a warning to North Korea that the country is no match for a decades-old American-South Korean alliance. Mattis (left) is seen above on Saturday in Seoul alongside South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-Moo

'I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power,' he said.

As he emphasized throughout his week-long Asia trip, which included stops in Thailand and the Philippines, Mattis said diplomacy remains the preferred way to deal with the North.

Mattis' comments did not go beyond his recent statements of concern about North Korea, although he appeared to inject a stronger note about the urgency of resolving the crisis.

While he accused the North of 'outlaw' behavior, he did not mention that President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his own rhetoric.

In August, Trump warned the North not to make any more threats against the US and said that, if it did, it would be met with 'fire and fury like the world has never seen.'

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to counter what it believes is a US effort to strangle its economy and overthrow the Kim government.

South Korea's conservative politicians have also called for the US to bring back tactical nuclear weapons that were withdrawn from the Korean Peninsula in the 1990s, but Mattis and Song (left and right, on Saturday) were strongly dismissive of the idea

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to counter what it believes is a US effort to strangle its economy and overthrow the Kim government (Kim, center, supervises the test-fire of a ground-to-ground medium-to-long range strategic ballistic missile in an undated photo)

South Korea's conservative politicians have also called for the US to bring back tactical nuclear weapons that were withdrawn from the Korean Peninsula in the 1990s, which they say would make clearer the US intent to use nukes in a crisis.

But Mattis and Song were strongly dismissive of the idea.

'When considering national interest, it's much better not to deploy them,' said Song, adding that the allies would have 'sufficient means' to respond to a North Korean nuclear attack even without placing tactical nukes in the South.

Trump entered office declaring his commitment to solving the North Korea problem, asserting that he would succeed where his predecessors had failed.

His administration has sought to increase pressure on Pyongyang through UN Security Council sanctions and other diplomatic efforts, but the North hasn't budged from its goal of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including missiles capable of striking the US mainland.
A firefighter who responded during the September 11 terror attacks and spent most of his life helping others, was remembered at a funeral on Saturday.

Robert Tilerarcio, 58, was remembered by friends and family at the funeral Mass held at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Massapequa, New York.

'Bobby was loved by many,' said colleague LeRoy McGinnis in a eulogy, accoording to the New York Daily News.

Robert Tilerarcio, 58, was remembered by friends and family at the funeral Mass held at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Massapequa, New York

Tilerarcio had fought tremendously for the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act that passed in 2011 under former President Obama, which honored those who had been sick or injured during the September 11, 2011 terror attacks

'The wealth of a man's life should not be judged from what he owns, but by the lives he touched and the friendships he made.

Tilerarcio had been influential in the passing of the Zadroga Act, which helped those poisoned during their work at Ground Zero.

Referring to the firefighter's nickname, he added: 'Skippy made a lot of friends. I'm one of them. We miss him. We love him.'

 Slide me  Exposed to toxins from the World Trade Center after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the father-of-two - who had been with the Engine Company 266 in Rockaway Beach, Queens since 1983- died from a brain tumor on October 25

The firefighter had been at Ground Zero for more than 48 hours on the bucket brigade, according to family members (stock)

Tilerarcio's body lay in a casket close to the alter beneath a red cloth and had a photo of him to the side. The firefighter was remembered for being funny and lovable.

'He also did comedy,' said McGinnis.

Going back and forth to Washington D.C. on numerous occasions, he was a fighter for the law even before his own diagnosis

'I heard he sometimes refused to get off the stage. Good for him.'

Exposed to toxins from the World Trade Center after the September 11 terrorist attacks, Tilerarcio - who had been with the Engine Company 266 in Rockaway Beach, Queens since 1983- died from a brain tumor on October 25.

The firefighter had been at Ground Zero for more than 48 hours on the bucket brigade, according to family members.

He is proceeded by his wife and two children.

Tilerarcio had fought tremendously for the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act that passed in 2011 under former President Obama.

Going back and forth to Washington D.C. on numerous occasions, he was a fighter for the law even before his own diagnosis.

His two children (left) and wife (right) were in attendance at the funeral and had their arms linked as they remembered the firefighter

Tilearcio's (center) death marks the 15th FDNY member to die from a 9/11 illness this year. According to local officials, 159 FDNY and 133 NYPD personnel have died from 9/11-linked illnesses, so far

It was named after James Zadroga, a NYPD officer who suffered a respiratory disease that was linked to the World Trade Center. He had had no history of smoking or asthma prior to 9/11.

Tilearcio's death marks the 15th FDNY member to die from a 9/11 illness this year. According to local officials, 159 FDNY and 133 NYPD personnel have died from 9/11-linked illnesses, so far.

The federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund has distributed $2.8 billion to nearly 17,000 people as of August who are suffering from 9/11 related illnesses and injuries.
Huddled beneath an ugly concrete flyover, at least 50 teenage girls shiver in the relentless drizzle as lorries thunder by overhead.

With flimsy duvets the only barrier against the biting cold October night, it is hard to think of a more desperate location to sleep out. Yet most of the girls have been here for several nights on end.

But despite bleak appearances they are far from destitute and homeless. In fact, all of them have been braving the elements simply to get close to their idol, One Direction star Harry Styles.

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Harry Styles fans seen sleeping underneath the Hammersmith flyover prior to the star's first London concert

Tonight, the floppy-haired heart-throb performs his first UK solo gig at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, West London, as part of his 81-date sell-out world tour.

Although they have tickets, getting to the front of the standing section of the auditorium, closest to the stage where Harry will perform, is the ultimate goal for these Directioners, the name given to superfans of the boy band when it formed in 2010.

Many have travelled from all over the world for the opportunity. Some have rented nearby Airbnb apartments or hotel rooms, which they visit briefly to shower and use the toilet because otherwise they would forgo their precious positions in the queue. And some have been here since last Monday, camping outside the concert venue.

By Friday night the camp had become a sea of onesies, Primark duvets, sleeping bags, hoodies and singing (of Harrys songs, obviously). Food rations are picked up from the nearby Tesco or McDonalds, or deposited by Deliveroo.

Harry Styles fans show off their wristbands as they wait in line ahead of the Harry Styles concer

Harry Styles fans sleeping under Hammersmith flyover, waiting for his concert on Sunday evening

Harry Styles fans sleeping under Hammersmith flyover, waiting for his concert on Sunday evening

Although they have tickets, getting to the front of the standing section of the auditorium, closest to the stage where Harry (pictured) will perform, is the ultimate goal for these Directioners, the name given to superfans of the boy band when it formed in 2010

Pharmacy student Ariadna Esbo, 19, came all the way from Barcelona with three friends, also from Spain. We have been here since Wednesday and we have been really cold. You really feel it at about 7 am, but we have three layers, three pairs of socks on and we are keeping warm in our duvets, she said.

My Mum knows we are coming to the concert but she thinks we are spending our other days at tourist attractions, not sleeping here.

For another teen, who has been camping since Thursday, this is just one of 19 of Harrys gigs she plans to attend. Nothing is too much for Harry, she said.

But asked if she hoped he would come and thank them for their loyalty, she joked: Id rather he didnt, he would think we are crazy.

Harry Styles fans sleeping under Hammersmith flyover waiting for his concert on Sunday evening

Harry Styles fans sleeping under Hammersmith flyover waiting for his concert on Sunday evening
Woody Harrelson has revealed that he had dinner with Donald Trump - and it left a bad taste in his mouth.

The actor told Bill Maher on Friday's edition of Real Time that he was put off his food by Trump's 'narcissism'.

'I had to walk out halfway through, smoke a joint, just to steel myself for the rest of the thing,' Harrelson recalled. 'It was brutal.'

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Woody Harrelson recalled on Friday a 2002 dinner with a 'vulgar' and 'narcissistic' Trump who talked about himself relentlessly - to the point that Harrelson had to smoke a joint

Harrelson was appearing on the show to promote his new film LBJ, in which he plays the former president, and segued onto the current commander-in-chief when asked about Johnson's brusque personality.

Johnson was rude in private, Harrelson said, but 'he wasn't publicly vulgar like our president incumbent.'

With some poking by Maher, Harrelson then went on to recall the uncomfortable dinner.

'I got invited by [then-wrestler-turned Minnesota Governor] Jesse Ventura,' he explained.

'Back in 2002, I was in New York, and he said "Would you come with me, Trump's going to try to get me to be his running mate on the 2004 ticket" - Democratic ticket.'

'Right, he was a Democrat then,' Maher noted.

'Yeah, he didn't care, so long as he--' Harrelson said, stopping short of saying quite what it was Trump wanted.

Not that it was hard to glean from Harrelson's recollection of the meal: Attention. A lot of attention.

Harrelson told Bill Maher (right) that he was invited by Jesse Ventura, whom Trump wanted to court for a VP slot in a potential 2004 presidential run for the Democrats

'It was brutal, it was brutal,' the actor said. 'I've never met a more narcissistic man, he talked about himself all the time.'

'So he's changed a lot?' Maher quipped.

'Yeah, you could see the standard he was going to bear,' Harrelson added.

Harrelson's recollection may be somewhat confused - or else he's had more dinners with Trump than he cares to recall.

On Christmas Eve 1998, Trump was photographed alongside both Ventura and Harrelson after the three had dined together.

Ventura had been pushing to get Trump to run for president on the Reform Party ticket during the meal, they said.

However, they didn't immediately come out and announce their conclusions, instead joking that they had both decided to back Harrelson for president.

That evening Trump announced during an interview with Larry King Live that he had launched an exploratory group to look into his Reform Party push.

Trump won both primaries, but ultimately withdrew from the presidential run, leaving John Kerry and George W Bush to duke it out between themselves.

Meanwhile, Harrelson is unlikely to run for office himself as he's not much of a fan of governmental structures.

'No. I don't believe in politics,' he told Politico in 2013. 'I'm an anarchist, I guess you could say. I think people could be just fine looking after themselves.'
A 10-month-old baby faces losing all her limbs after contracting a rare and aggressive form of meningitis.

Kia Gott, from Wyke in West Yorkshire, has had one arm amputated and is soon to have a leg removed after she was struck down with meningitis C septicaemia.

Doctors said she could lose her hearing and sight and also be left 90 per cent brain damaged.

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Kia Gott, from Wyke in West Yorkshire, has had one arm amputated and is soon to have a leg removed after she was struck down with meningitis C septicaemia

Doctors said she could lose her hearing and sight and also be left 90 per cent brain damaged

The baby's parents, Vikki and Paul (pictured), took her to the GP four weeks ago with a temperature and vomiting but was to accident and emergency hours later

The baby's parents, Vikki and Paul, took her to the GP four weeks ago with a temperature and vomiting but was to accident and emergency hours later.

Mr Gott's aunt, Donna, said Kia's mother has stayed at Leeds Infirmary during the baby's treatment and wants to warn other people to watch out for the symptoms.

She told The Telegraph and Argus: 'They know she is in a bad way, but they can't grasp she can't hear or see them.

'They believe she is responding to them and their voices and when Elsie sings her nursery rhymes.

'She is yawning, moving her head and her arm. The hospital has said it's the worst case of Meningitis C they have seen there in 25 years.'

The vaccine for Meningitis C for 12-week old babies was discontinued by the NHS from July 1 2016.

She will lose all of her limbs, her sight and hearing and suffer 90 per cent brain damage in the worst case doctors have seen in 25 years (Kia Gott before her illness with sister Elsie, four)

Kia Gott, before her illness, while enjoying a cuddle with her eight-year-old brother Kayden

Mr Gott aunt, Donna, said Kia's (pictured) mother has stayed at Leeds Infirmary during the baby's treatment and wants to warn other people to watch out for the symptoms

This was because the success of the MenC vaccination programme meant there were almost no cases of MenC disease in British babies.

All children continue to be offered the Hib/MenC vaccine at one year of age.

Kia's father is self-employed and has had to return to work to support the family.

Friends of the family have now raised more than 9,000 to help them on a JustGiving page, which you can find here.

The vaccine for Meningitis C for 12-week old babies was discontinued by the NHS from July 1 2016.This was because the success of the MenC vaccination programme meant there were almost no cases of MenC disease in British babies

Friends of the family have now raised more than 9,000 to help them on a JustGiving page
For most holidaymakers, travel insurance offers peace of mind.

But, when disaster strikes on foreign soil, some of the industry's leading companies in the UK - including Nationwide, Admiral and Axa - are stranding policy-holders and sometimes make matters worse, frequently with third-party call operators.

That's according to Which?, who've published a damning report on how some insurance companies have left claimants devastated. One told MailOnline Travel that her claim for her husband's intensive care treatment in Japan following a cardiac arrest was treated 'like she'd lost a pair of glasses'.

Abandoned: During a trip to Japan in 2015, Beverly Waugh (pictured), 48, from Wraysbury, found herself in a nightmare when her husband suffered a cardiac arrest - but said the situation was made worse by Axa's Barcelona insurance agents, who 'treated her as just another reference number'

In the report, the consumer advice group details how rising numbers of needy tourists are suffering sub-standard service with costly, long-distance calls and jobsworth agents needlessly complicating already-difficult situations.

Beverly Waugh, 48, from Wraysbury, near London, experienced this treatment first-hand.

Her husband suffered a cardiac arrest during a trip to Japan in 2015. He underwent heart surgery and spent 16 days in the intensive care unit of a Tokyo hospital.

He was eventually airlifted to the UK, but passed away on January 21, 2016.

His travel insurance, provided by Axa, covered the costs, but Mrs Waugh said the process of getting her claim approved by the company's Barcelona call centre was chaotic, convoluted and emotionally insensitive.

'I look back now and it was like an out-of-body experience,' she told MailOnline Travel. 'It was very difficult to explain my situation without being in floods of tears, but every day I had to call a service centre in Barcelona and detail the situation.

'I never spoke with the same person twice, so was constantly having to relive the worst experience of my life.

'That went on for nine days and there was absolutely no humanity. My husband collapsed on New Year's eve and at one point the agent said to me: "It's a bad time of year for this to happen." It was horrendous. I was just a reference number to them. I got the same level of care as if I'd lost a pair of glasses.'

In 2015, the Financial Conduct Authority investigated outsourcing in the insurance industry, saying: In many cases insufficient consideration had been given by all parties to the interests and fair treatment of customers

During this time, Mrs Waugh feared Axa wouldn't pay the mounting medical bills - and found herself considering more desperate action, including selling her home.

'That nagging doubt was terrifying,' she added. 'I felt the need to prove I wasn't scamming them. And, on top of everything else, I had to start thinking about remortgaging the house, which was awful.'

Stranded in Japan, she similarly wasn't afforded practical help, such as a translator. Thankfully, compassionate hotel staff were on-hand to step-in.

'That got me through,' she said. 'By a stroke of luck I was staying in the Hilton, which is located next to the hospital. Every day, without fail, the hotel manager would escort me to the ward and translate what the doctor was saying. He did that for 16 days. The insurance didn't do anything of the kind.'

Sadly, by the time Axa eventually approved Mrs Waugh's claim, her husband had died. But, shortly before, they asked her to resubmit the claim for a second time - even though it had already been approved - because of a flaw in their system.

'They said they couldn't access the same database which was used when I was in Japan, so I had to go through the process again in the UK,' she said.

Axa eventually apologised to Mrs Waugh, telling her: 'Our goal as an insurer is not only to pay the claims of our customers but deal with them sensitively at their time of need. On this occasion, we have fallen short of our standards.'

They also gave her 100 compensation.

'Insurers must do more to ensure that customers are treated fairly, promptly, and with careful consideration of their situation,' said Rory Boland, Which? Travel editor

But, despite this, its practice doesn't appear to have changed. The same branch of the company in Barcelona is still fielding calls from policy-holders in need, despite Axa upholding complaints relating to it, Which? said.

'They apologised, but that wasn't enough for me,' said Mrs Waugh. 'I wanted to know that policies have changed. There should be a categorisation where, when people are in an extreme situation, they get an elevated level of care from people who are trained to make it as easy as possible.'

Many might wonder if she would have had better care had she been able to deal directly with a dedicated agent in Britain.

Meanwhile, the Which? study also reported similar incidents from customers of other companies.

Specifically, it detailed that retired doctor Dr Geoffrey Pullen was left frustrated after purchasing his insurance from Nationwide, only to find that his medical claim for treatment for a gastric bleed he self-diagnosed in Bhutan was handled by a third party called UK Insurance.

One tourist was given 400 compensation after an experience with a third-party firm used by Nationwide

This company needed a medical report but Dr Pullen had huge problems getting the fax through.

He told Which?: 'Even when the fax appeared to be successfully sent, UK Insurance told me it hadn't been received. In the meantime, agents stuck rigidly to the formula "no form, no help".'

He eventually faxed the form from Bangkok but due to a blemish on the fax there was a further delay because UK Insurance staff read his haemoglobin level of 11g/dl as 1.1g/dl.

That level would mean he was dead.

Dr Pullen said he 'would have been appalled if any nursing member of his department had failed to spot such an obvious error'.

UK Insurance said its staff knew the amount was an error but offered Dr Pullen 100 compensation for the delays, an amount later increased to 400 after intervention from the Financial Ombudsman.

Nationwide told Which?: 'Our patients health and welfare is of paramount importance in the event of an illness while they are abroad.

The Which? report also details the case of Margaret Hogan, whose sister Helen died of sepsis on a 60th birthday trip to Jamaica.

The report said that Margaret had an insurance policy from Admiral that was administered by Rock Insurance and underwritten by a third company, AmTrust, which had appointed Global Response to deal with claims.

Margaret requested cover for the repatriation of Helen's body. Nine days later Global Response emailed her to say that they needed more documentation because Helen had an 'undeclared pre-existing condition' that might invalidate her policy.

The insurer paid up after a second later from the GP, but Helen's family, Which? said, are still in the dark about what the pre-existing condition was and were angry that there was an insinuation that they'd deliberately failed to declare something.

'Its not right that desperate, sick or bereaved travellers can be left at the mercy of ill-informed and unsympathetic third-party call handlers Rory Boland, Which? Travel editor

A representative for Admiral told MailOnline: 'Currently, Admiral Travel insurance is a white label product so is underwritten and administered by a third party.

'They are audited regularly and we are satisfied that they provide excellent service. However it is always disappointing to hear of any customers who are unhappy with the service they have received.'

Admiral and Rock told Which? that they were sorry to hear of Helen's death and that communication could have been improved, but that everything was done 'according to protocols'.

Rory Boland, Which? Travel editor, said the practice of outsourcing is common, despite being considered by some to be morally questionable.

'Its not right that desperate, sick or bereaved travellers can be left at the mercy of ill-informed and unsympathetic third-party call handlers,' he said. 'Insurers must do more to ensure that customers are treated fairly, promptly, and with careful consideration of their situation.'

In 2015, the Financial Conduct Authority investigated outsourcing in the insurance industry. It said: We found in many cases that insufficient consideration had been given by all parties to the interests and fair treatment of customers.
Ucoms mobile customers will benefit from the best internet roaming rate of 8 AMD/MB when travelling to Georgia, Egypt or the UAE

Ameriabank Launches Google Pay and Google Wallet Support for Card Users in Armenia

Karen Vardanyan donated 112 million drams for the medical equipment for National Center for Infectious Diseases.

UCOM HAS INTRODUCED FUTURE NETWORK WI-FI 6E ROUTERS

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

Google Ad

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

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
She's one of the world's most coveted models, having stormed the Victoria's Secret runway on numerous occasions.

And Doutzen Kroes proved just why she's so in demand, as she posed up a storm for her new Hunkemoller underwear collection.

The Dutch beauty, 32, posed up a storm in a range of steamy lingerie sets, showing off her enviable curves.

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Heaven-sent! Doutzen Kroes proved just why she's so in demand, as she posed up a storm for her new Hunkemoller underwear collection

Dressed in a lace strapless corset bra and coordinated waspie, she showcased her slender waist and shapely thighs, adorned with suspender straps and semi sheer stockings.

With her trademark blonde locks sporting a straight-out-of-bed look, she opted for minimal make-up, making the most of her natural beauty and enviable bone structure in the bedroom-inspired shoot.

Another steamy look saw the mother-of-two slip into a baby blue bra set, the thong finish giving a cheeky glimpse at her shapely derriere.

Hot stuff! The Dutch beauty, 32, posed up a storm in a range of steamy lingerie sets, showing off her enviable curves

Feeling blue! Another steamy look saw the mother-of-two slip into a baby blue bra set, the thong finish giving a cheeky glimpse at her shapely derriere

And injecting a further twist to her look, she soon donned a figure-hugging lace bodice, dressing up the look with heels and a sheer kimono.

Doutzen and her DJ husband of seven years, 38, Sunnery James share two young children Phyllon Joy, 6, and Mylenna Mae, 2, and Sunnery has been openly supportive of his wife's career.

Speaking as she returned to the catwalk following her maternity leave in 2015, Sunnery described the blonde bombshell as a 'power woman', telling Hello! Fashion: 'I'm really excited to see her. I can't really describe it, it's an amazing moment.

'I see her looking at me when she walks the catwalk and I just think, 'Wow, you're doing it again'. She's a power woman.'

Natural beauty! With her trademark blonde locks sporting a straight-out-of-bed look, she opted for minimal make-up

Sizzling! Dressed in a lace strapless corset bra and coordinated waspie, she showcased her slender waist and shapely thighs, adorned with suspender straps and semi sheer stockings

Minimal! She made the most of her natural beauty and enviable bone structure in the bedroom-inspired shoot

And speaking about her post-baby body, he added at the time: 'She has been eating healthily, 50 per cent working out and 50 per cent eating healthily, but it's the breastfeeding that's been shrinking her. My little daughter made it happen!'

The Victoria's Secret model- who became an 'Angel' for the brand in 2008, has previously spoken out about how she has kept her body in top shape after having two children, crediting her healthy lifestyle.

Speaking to Popsugar, she explained recently how she builds nature into her beauty regimes in order to achieve her lust-worthy looks.

'Balance is my secret,' she explained. 'I simply take the time to recharge. Healthy food, sport and well being have always been fundamental in my life. They are my motto.'

Sprucing up! Injecting a further twist to her look, she soon donned a figure-hugging lace bodice, dressing up the look with heels and a sheer kimono

Legs for days! Injecting a further twist to her look she soon dressed up the look with heels

Yummy mummy! The Victoria's Secret model- who became an 'Angel' for the brand in 2008, has previously spoken out about how she has kept her body in top shape after having two children, crediting her healthy lifestyle
She is set to appear at a signing for her new book, Pretty Fun, in Santa Monica on Monday.

And Kate Hudson was seen catching a flight out of New York City, clad in eye-catching plaid.

The actress, 38, also toted a lovely piece of designer, Louis Vuitton luggage, complete with her monogrammed initials.

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Autumnal: Kate Hudson, 38, was seen catching a flight out of New York City, clad in eye-catching plaid Fay coat

Kate tucked in a blue T-shirt into a pair of ripped, black denim.

The mother-of-two kept warm in a black-and-white Fay coat. She also added a touch of menswear with pointed-toe, Oxford-style shoes.

The Oscar-nominated star toted a slouchy purse and structured handbag, alongside her designer luggage.

Trendy: The mother-of-two tucked in a blue T-shirt into a pair of ripped, black denim

'KGH': The actress, 38, toted a lovely piece of designer, Louis Vuitton luggage, complete with her monogrammed initials

On Thursday, Kate attended the Fast Company Innovation Festival.

The Fabletics co-founder, whose subscription-based active-wear company celebrated it's fourth anniversary earlier this month, spoke to Page Six about women in the workforce and sexual harassment.

'We need more women on boards. We need to have more of a female voice in any business and the truth is, when you're one woman against a board of seven men, your voice isn't always loud until we start making it loud,' she began.

'And then you make it loud, and you become the difficult one. This is an age-old story that we've heard over and over and over again. Now, instead of the eyes rolling when women talk about this, it's actually saying, "Oh, we need to start addressing it and looking at it and not make this an issue anymore.'''

'We need to have more of a female voice in any business': On Thursday, Kate attended the Fast Company Innovation Festival and spoke to Page Six about women in the workforce

'It should be addressed, and it should be addressed immediately': She also talked on sexual harassment, and proposed 'an absolute no tolerance' policy to combat it

In recent weeks, alleged sexual harassment of women in both the workforce and in general have gained national attention, through the expose of media mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Kate proposed 'an absolute no tolerance' policy to combat sexual harassment scenarios.

'As far as sexual harassment is concerned, I think there should be an absolute no tolerance [policy] in any business, with human resources trying to fluff off women trying to make claims about these things.'

'It should be addressed, and it should be addressed immediately, and that should go at this point without saying. I'm so glad this is going on right now as a conversation because it just happens all the time.'
Australian TV veteran Kerri-Anne Kennerley has revealed the real reason she believes Lisa Wilkinson quit the Today show.

In the wake of the 57-year-old's defection to The Project, reports indicated she quit because Nine network wouldn't pay her the same as co-host Karl Stefanovic.

But speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia at the Cosmopolitan Women of the Year Awards on Thursday, Kerri-Anne said the fallout had 'nothing to do with gender.'

'Not a gender issue': Australian TV veteran Kerri-Anne Kennerley has revealed the real reason she believes Lisa Wilkinson quit the Today show

'I have a slightly different view. I don't see it as a gender issue... There's been a lot of speculation but I don't think that anybody's really got it right.'

The 64-year-old TV icon continued: 'The real gender pay gap and discrimination happens at the coal-face [front-line] of women who do far more menial jobs.'

'... the same jobs that a lot of men do and definitely don't get the same pay.'

Pay parity: In the wake of the 57-year-old's defection to The Project, reports indicated she quit because Nine network wouldn't pay her the same as co-host Karl Stefanovic

The journalist continued to draw distinctions between a multi-million salary dispute and every-day women earning an average income.

'It could be a five dollar an hour difference, [but] they've [still] got to put food on the table and a roof over their heads,' she said.

'Let's not dilute the gender pay gap discrimination issue and [dilute the importance of that issue] away from those women at the coal-face.'

The real issue: The 64-year-old TV icon continued: 'The real gender pay gap and discrimination happens at the coal-face [front-line] of women who do far more menial jobs'

Different: The journalist continued to draw distinctions between a multi-million salary dispute and more typical digressions found in more average income positions

But with Lisa and Karl's alleged dispute, rumoured to be in pursuit of a figure in excess of $2 million, the former Mornings host said there's no comparison.

Making it clear that she wasn't disparaging Lisa's monumental stance, she added: 'Go for it girl, if you can get it, 100 points to you...'

'But that's just a negotiation that didn't work out the way you wanted. Nothing to do with gender.'

Diluted: She continued: 'Let's not dilute the gender pay gap discrimination issue and [dilute the importance of that issue] away from those women at the coal-face'

Nothing compares: But with Lisa and Karl's alleged dispute, rumoured to be in pursuit of a figure in excess of $2 million, the former Mornings host said there's no comparison

Earlier this month, Lisa Wilkinson took to Twitter, announcing that the episode of Today she'd filmed that day would be her last.

It corroborated claims made by The Daily Telegraph the day before Lisa's announcement, which alleged a pay dispute had stalled her contract negotiations.

The report then suggested the dispute was simple: Lisa wanted the same money as Karl, 43, but he was 'rumoured to be on twice as much.'

Go get it! Making it clear that she wasn't disparaging Lisa's monumental stance, she added: 'Go for it girl, if you can get it, 100 points to you...'
Scarlett Johansson shed tears as she learned the tragic fate of her ancestors in World War II.

The actress sat down with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. for an episode of PBS Finding Your Roots, in which she discovered her great great uncle died in the Warsaw ghetto in Poland during the Nazi invasion.

'I mean, you really couldn't imagine the horror. Its just so crazy to imagine,' the 32-year-old said holding back tears, in a clip obtained by People.

Family history: Scarlett Johansson, 32, has learned the sad fate of family members in World War II on PBS' Finding Your Roots

'Wow, thats sad,' she said after reading the family document, 'And I promised myself I wouldnt cry. But its hard not to.'

While her Jewish great-grandfather worked as a grocer in New York City, his brother  along with his family  died in the prison-like setting.

The ghetto was 'a 1.3-square mile area sealed off from the rest of the city where authorities forced all of the citys Jewish residents to live. At its peak, more than 400,000 Jews were crammed into the ghetto, living in squalid conditions with insufficient food rations. No more than 20,000 of them survived the Holocaust,' according to PBS.

Sad news: She discovered her great great uncle died in the Warsaw ghetto in Poland during the Nazi invasion

The horror: 'I mean, you really couldnt imagine the horror. Its just so crazy to imagine,' Scarlett said holding back tears

'Its crazy to imagine that Saul would be on the other side selling bananas on Ludlow Street. And how different it would be being in America at that time,' said Scarlett.

'The fate of one brother versus the other.'

But the discovery led Scarlett to feeling more connected to her past.

Ripped apart: While her Jewish great-grandfather worked as a grocer in New York City, his brother  along with his family  died in the prison-like setting

'It makes me feel more deeply connected to that side of myself, that side of my family. I didnt expect that,' she added.

Season four of the acclaimed series started October 7.

The series uses traditional genealogical research and genetics to discover the family history of well-known Americans.

In her episode, Scarlett will also learn about her fathers Danish roots.

Positive spin: 'It makes me feel more deeply connected to that side of myself, that side of my family. I didnt expect that,' she added
She's the PR queen who is also a doting mother to Pixie, six, and Hunter, three.

And on Saturday, Roxy Jacenko, 37, and her young children stepped out for the premiere of kids film My Little Pony: The Movie.

The family trio appeared to be extremely excited as they walked the red carpet in Sydney.

Jumping for joy! Roxy Jacenko and her children Pixie, 6, and Hunter, 3, look VERY excited as they attend My Little Pony: The Movie film premiere

The Sweaty Betty PR founder opted for a casual ensemble that included a plain white t-shirt and a pair of light blue denim shorts.

She matched her shirt with white sneakers, and accessorised with a pair of aviator sunglasses and a large pink handbag.

Gone were the pink locks she rocked for breast cancer awareness, as she returned to her traditional straight, blonde hairstyle.

Happy bunch: The family trio appeared to be in good spirits as they walked the red carpet in Sydney

Keeping it casual: The Sweaty Betty PR founder opted for a casual ensemble that included a plain white t-shirt and a pair of light blue denim shorts

Back to basics: Gone were the pink locks she rocked for breast cancer awareness, as she returned to her traditional straight, blonde hairstyle

The mother-of-two went for a natural look as she opted to wear minimal make-up.

Her son Hunter matched her outfit by also wearing white sneakers and denim shorts, along with a red polo top.

Pixie wore the same shoes as Hunter, albeit in a larger size, as well as a light pink cardigan and skirt.

Having some fun: The adorable family played up for the cameras as they attempted to have their photo taken while in mid-air

Matching: Pixie wore the same shoes as Hunter, albeit in a larger size, as well as a light pink cardigan and skirt

The adorable family played up for the cameras as they attempted to have their photo taken while in mid-air.

They pulled it off after a couple attempts, much to Hunter's visible delight.

Also in attendance was Nine news presenter Amber Sherlock who arrived with her daughter Piper.

The 41-year-old wore a floral playsuit with long, cuffed sleeves and beige heels.

Piper looked every bit the future fashionista in a beige fit and flare dress and white sandals.

Classy mother-daughter duo: Also in attendance was Nine news presenter Amber Sherlock who arrived with her daughter Piper

Stylish ensemble: The 41-year-old wore a floral playsuit with long, cuffed sleeves and beige heels

Like mother, like daughter: Piper looked every bit the future fashionista in a beige fit and flare dress and white sandals

Meanwhile, Studio 10 co-host Jessica Rowe arrived at the premiere with her two daughters Allegra and Giselle by her side.

The 47-year-old showcased her slender figure in a peach midi-dress with frills around the shoulders.

She completed her Saturday ensemble with a pair of brown suede heels and a pair of silver earrings.

Proud display: Meanwhile, Studio 10 co-host Jessica Rowe arrived at the premiere with her two daughters Allegra and Giselle by her side

Family outing: She completed her Saturday ensemble with a pair of brown suede heels and a pair of silver earrings

Aussie actress and singer Melissa Tkautz arrived at the premiere with her children Cuba and Ayla Nicholas.

The 43-year-old flaunted some cleavage in a low-cut floral maxi-dress.

She wore her hair loosely as her luscious blonde locks fell freely across her shoulders.

Melissa and her children also appeared to be in good spirits as they offered a wave for the cameras.

Bucking the trend was fellow Real Housewife of Sydney Krissy Marsh who arrived in a white blazer and pants, alongside daughter Milana.

Happy mother: Aussie actress and singer Melissa Tkautz arrived at the premiere with her children Cuba and Ayla Nicholas

Happy to be there: Melissa and her children also appeared to be in good spirits as they offered a wave for the cameras

Flaunting it! The 43-year-old flaunted some cleavage in a low-cut floral maxi-dress
She recently admitted she would miss her other half while he presents I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Outta Here in Australia.

And Stacey Solomon, 28, made the most of her time with beau Joe Swash, 35, as they attended the Halloween In The City bash at M Threadneedle Street in London on Friday.

The former X Factor star opted for a Gothic unicorn ensemble, while her ex-Eastender partner opted against costume.

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Turning heads! Stacey Solomon, 28, made the most of her time with beau Joe Swash, 35, as they attended the Halloween In The City bash at M Threadneedle Street in London on Friday

Injecting a healthy helping of biker chic to the look, Stacey slipped her shapely pins into a pair of leather-look leggings, elongating her stature with glitzy-heeled block sandals.

With a further splash of colour, she teamed it with an olive biker jacket, donning dramatic white make-up and pointy ears.

Completing her impressive ensemble, Stacey added a silver wig and glitter-encrusted horn to the look, accompanied by casually-clad boyfriend Joe, who carried her shopping bags as they left the event.

Too cool for school? The former X Factor star opted for a Gothic unicorn ensemble, while her ex-Eastender partner opted against costume

Chic! Injecting a healthy helping of biker chic to the look, Stacey slipped her shapely pins into a pair of leather-look leggings, elongating her stature with glitzy-heeled block sandals

Stacey and Joe, who recently marked two years of dating, are now facing the prospect of being forced apart for several weeks, as he prepares to return to Australia to host the new series of I'm A Celebrity's spin-off show Extra Camp.

While his girlfriend had joined him on the presenting team last year, Stacey will not be returning and will instead be at home in the UK - but speaking exclusively to MailOnline, she insists the pair 'won't even notice the time go' during Joe's absence.

Addressing her exit from the show, Stacey said: 'I am sad not to be going back because I loved it, I had the best time ever.'

Gentleman: Completing her impressive ensemble, Stacey added a silver wig and glitter-encrusted horn to the look, accompanied by casually-clad boyfriend Joe, who carried her shopping bags as they left the event

Absence makes the heart grow fonder! Stacey and Joe, who recently marked two years of dating, are now facing the prospect of being forced apart for several weeks

While the cat's away! While his girlfriend had joined him on the presenting team last year, Stacey will not be returning and will instead be at home in the UK

Proving that there is no bad blood between her and show producers for deciding to keep her boyfriend on the show and not her, Stacey continued: 'Joe has been on [the show] for 10 years, I haven't, it wouldn't be right without him.

'I did it once and I can understand that they want to keep it current and have the new winners in.

'I worked hard, did a great job and thoroughly enjoyed myself, got the opportunity to have the experience and now I can watch it in its next stage which is exciting.'

Getting into the Halloween spirit: Singer Dionne Bromfield rocked a tasseled miniskirt and metallic crop top for her belly dancer costume

Looking good: The 21-year-old teamed her exotic look with grey suede thigh high boots

She and Joe first confirmed their relationship in January 2016 and things have only gone from strength to strength for the pair.

Stacey has openly revealed her hopes for the duo to tie the knot and have children together.

She is already mum to two sons Zachary, nine, and Leighton, five, from previous relationships, while Joe is dad to son Harry, 10, whom he shares with his ex-girlfriend Emma Sophocleous.
Anna Heinrich has been accused of deleting Instagram comments which criticised her sister Charlotte for cultural appropriation.

On Friday, negative comments flooded-in on a post from The Bachelor star, which showed her posed next to her sister, who was dressed as a Native American.

A day later, some fans accused the 30-year-old of deleting negative comments, with one writing: 'Wow. All the posts about cultural appropriation have been deleted.'

A Halloween nightmare? Anna Heinrich has been accused of REMOVING comments slamming sister Charlotte's Native American costume for 'cultural appropriation' this week

Another added: 'makes it even worse.'

Both of these comments also appear to be have been deleted and no longer show-up on the post.

However, other comments that still remain on the post defend Anna's sister and her choice of costume, with one writing: 'I culturally appropriated the hell out of Oktoberfest the other week. Had a great time.'

Deleted? Some fans accused the 30-year-old of deleting negative replies, with one writing: 'Wow. All the posts about cultural appropriation have been deleted'

Discussion: Another added: 'makes it even worse'

'Wow! You ladies look amazing!' another cheered.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Anna Heinrich for comment.

The criticism revolved around Charlotte's choice of outfit, which featured a re-creation of a Native American headdress with a feather centre-piece.

Photo-ready! Like her sister Anna, Charlotte enjoys a fruitful career as an Instagram model

Meanwhile, Anna and her other sister, Andrea, also dressed up for Halloween weekend celebrations.

The Bachelor beauty, who is currently engaged to season one star Tim Robards, went as Addams Family character Wednesday Adams.

Andrea channeled Julia Roberts infamous cut-out crop top from the movie Pretty Woman.
She's the blonde bombshell who first appeared on the 2011 season of Australia's Next Top Model.

And in the years since, Simone Holtznagel has made quite the splash on the international fashion scene.

On Thursday, the 24-year-old Playboy pin-up was out in Los Angeles, fresh from shooting a holiday campaign with American brand Guess.

From Wollongong to the world! On Thursday, Simone Holtznagel took to Instagram to share a sultry snap that showed her flaunting her famous bust whilst out to dinner in Los Angeles

Simone took to Instagram to share a snap of herself at hip West Hollywood restaurant, Goldie's.

In the picture, the Wollongong-born stunner sits at a table and appears perfectly made-up, sporting freshly applied highlighter and a dewy pink lip.

However, it was impossible for the eye not to be drawn downward to braless Simone's bust.

Busting out! It's not the first time the blonde has shared pictures to social media showing off her famous assets

The well-endowed beauty drew further drew attention to her copious cleavage by wearing a very low-cut spaghetti-strap singlet top.

'Post @Guess Holiday shoot serving major Anna Nicole hair vibes,' Simone captioned the picture, referencing the late Anna Nicole Smith- a busty model who also appeared in Guess campaigns.

It's not the first time the blonde has shared pictures to social media showing off her famous breasts.

Well endowed: Earlier in the month, Simone snapped a picture posing in a very low-cut floral top as she enjoyed an alcoholic beverage

Earlier in the month, Simone snapped a picture posing in a very low-cut floral top as she enjoyed an alcoholic beverage.

The star has previously appeared in the pages of Playboy magazine, and paid tribute to Hugh Hefner last month following his death.

'Mr H Hefner. It was an honor to be on the cover of your magazine @playboy,' she wrote on Instagram after hearing the news of his passing.
She's one of Australia's hottest modelling exports, known for strutting runways in the world's most coveted clothes.

But on Friday night, Shanina Shaik swapped haute couture for fancy dress as she headed out to a Halloween party in New York.

The Melbourne-born beauty, 26, took to Instagram to share a snap that showed her dressed as an alien accompanied by the caption 'Not from this world'.

Feeling spooky! Dressed as an alien, the model tied her hair into space buns, wore a bright blue lipstick and added a pair of fake ears

For her spooky look, the model tied her hair into space buns, wore bright blue lipstick and added a pair of fake ears.

She also wore a tight silver spandex jumpsuit that showed off her ample cleavage.

The flawless selfie was completed with the addition of a several alien emojis.

Skin-tight! The fashion star showcased her model frame in the eye-wateringly tight ensemble

She's in hot water! Shanina Shaik stripped down for a bath on Thursday, taking to image to share a racy image of herself submerged in the tub

The previous day Shanina shared a snap as she cast away her clothes, kicking back completely naked in the bath of her hotel room.

'Bathtime baby' Shanina captioned the image, which showed her left hand obscuring her breast as she sat in the hot water.

It's unclear who captured the image, but it appeared the stunner was either ready to relax or in the mood for romance as a candle sat burning beside the bath.

Bra-vo! Shanina Shaik, 26, flaunted her cleavage in a plunging black undergarment in a snap shared to Instagram on Thursday, as she enjoyed an A$AP Mob concert in Los Angeles

It comes after the Shanina last week enjoyed an A$AP Mob concert in Los Angeles.

The model looked sensational, highlighting her bust in a skimpy black bikini, teamed with a plunging white tank.

The Good American ambassador also opted for a pair of loose-fitting denim jeans with large pocket detailing, and white sneakers.

Running one hand playfully through her tresses, Shanina drew attention to her striking facial features that appeared to sport a minimal makeup palette.

Making lighthearted fun of the humidity at the concert, the brunette beauty captioned the photo: 'My hair had no hope in that concert,' alongside the hash-tags #itwaslit, #asapmob and #toocozytour.
Halloween is the one time of year when resurfacing your deepest, darkest memories is applauded.

So three cheers for Bachelor veteran Sam Frost, who slammed her ex and season two star Blake Garvey with a brutal-yet brilliant costume and social post on Friday.

Seen holding a rose, and sporting an outfit similar to her series promo snap, she wrote: 'reliving my nightmare... getting engaged for 12.3 seconds on national TV.'

Bachelor veteran Sam Frost , who slammed her ex and season two star Blake Garvey with a brutal costume and social post on Friday

Taken at fellow bachelor star Anna Heinrich's Halloween-themed birthday, the split panel post included the picture Sam used for costume inspiration.

The savage photo caption referenced her doomed relationship with Blake, who proposed to her at the end of the 2014 season, only to dump her days later.

Bad memories: The savage photo caption referenced her doomed relationship with Blake, who proposed to her at the end of the 2014 season, only to dump her days later

Proposed: Despite popping the question, their reality TV romance didn't last long

The former radio star nailed the look, which even went so far as matching her very 2014 fake tan and side-part hairstyle from the original image.

Unable to find the exact gown, Sam improvised with a cobalt blue version of the glittery, strapless number.

Also seen doing the rounds at the star-studded soiree, the stunner flashed a hint of cleavage and exposed her slender frame.

While Blake Garvey appears to have disappeared off the face of the earth following his widely criticised antics, Sam has gone from strength to strength.

Second chance: She earned the chance to star on the following season of The Bachelorette, eventually picking Sasha Mielczarek

Loved up: Her days of relationship woes appear to be through, with the beauty currently head-over-heels in love with hunky Bondi local Dave Bashford

She earned the chance to star on the following season of The Bachelorette, eventually picking Sasha Mielczarek.

While their relationship also fell apart, it lasted a commendable eighteen months, and the pair remain on reasonably good terms.

Her days of relationship woes appear to be through, with the beauty currently head-over-heels in love with hunky Bondi local Dave Bashford.

Sam's career is also on the up-and-up, with her debut on beloved soap Home and Away set to premiere in the coming months.

Long time friends: Sam went public with their romance in July after months of speculation




They're the celebrity couple who have been off-again and on-again for almost a decade.

But Ruby Rose, 31, and Jessica Origliasso, 32, have now finally been together for one year, cementing their romance with plenty of romantic moments.

The loved up pair took to social media on Friday to celebrate their one-year anniversary.

'We survived a year and didn't kill each other!': Ruby Rose (right) and The Veronicas star Jessica Origliasso (left) celebrate their one-year anniversary together

'We survived a year and didn't kill each other!' The Veronicas star Jessica posted to Instagram from a romantic candlelit location.

She added: 'Happy anniversary baby. Thanks for letting me sleep with [my dog] Chance on my side of the bed every night. I love you.'

Ruby also took to social media to gush over her girlfriend, posting a throwback picture of the pair on a projector at the same candlelit location.

The Orange Is The New Black star also posted a separate throwback picture to Instagram to mark the momentous occasion.

Romantic: The loved up pair took to social media on Friday to celebrate their one-year anniversary

Going strong! Ruby gushed over her girlfriend, posting a throwback picture of the pair on a projector at the same candlelit location

'And happy almost 10 years of on and off...': The Orange Is The New Black star also posted a separate throwback picture to Instagram to mark the momentous occasion

'Happy 1 year baby.. and happy almost 10 years of on and off and on and off and on and off and on haha,' she wrote.

The one-year anniversary comes the same week Ruby slammed body shamers for calling her too thin, after images of her surfaced looking very slender at the CFDA and Vogue Fashion Fund gala on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Ruby uploaded an Instagram snap of herself wearing a stomach-baring crop top at the event, prompting some followers to claim she looked too thin in the comments section.

'We survived!' The Veronicas star Jessica (right) posted to Instagram from a romantic candlelit location

Rocky road: The celebrity couple have been off-again and on-again for almost a decade

Hitting back: The one-year anniversary comes the same week Ruby slammed body shamers for calling her too thin, after images of her surfaced looking very slender at the CFDA and Vogue Fashion Fund gala on Wednesday

Outspoken Ruby didn't hold back in hitting out at her critics, responding to one comment asking her to 'inspire fans' by putting on weight.

'How could I inspire people to overcome something I know nothing about? I can inspire them to go plant based and stop eating the nasty processed food, fast food and cancer causing foods,' she wrote.

'I can inspire them not to drink soda or alcohol and how to train well... but maybe you can train yourself to stop seeing what you think is the only way to achieve someone elses body type.'

Return fire: Outspoken Ruby didn't hold back in hitting out at her critics, responding to one comment asking her to 'inspire fans' by putting on weight.
She's rocked the fashion world wearing top designer couture.

And Kaia Gerber was having some fun dressing up in 1970s glamour for the Casamigos Halloween party in Los Angeles on Friday night.

The ingenue, 16, channeled her model parents - Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber -as she donned a sartorial wonder for the annual fete hosted by the tequila brand.

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Wunderkind: Kaia Gerber, 16, was having fun dressing up in 1970s glamour for the Casamigos Halloween party in Los Angeles on Friday night

The wunderkind was a throwback sensation as she was ready for the spooky holiday in a shiny ensemble, dazzling in a fun outfit that looked ready for Studio 54 in its heyday.

Kaia wore a gold sparkly top and aqua coloured skirt to highlight the decade's signature eclectic fashions, teaming the look with silver toned platform shoes that were reminiscent of the disco era.

The rising star was joined by a slew of legendary models, including Alessandra Ambrosio and Joanna Krupa for big Halloween bash.

Ingenue: The ingenue channeled her model parents - Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber -as she donned a sartorial wonder for their Tequila Casamigos annual fete

Impress: The wunderkind was a throwback sensation as she was ready for the spooky holiday in a shiny ensemble

Kaia posed with her model brother Presley Gerber who rocked also rocked a hippy vibe in an art deco-style printed shirt, teamed with simple jeans and trainers, topped off with a pair of stylish aviator specs.

Kaia is the face of Hudson Jeans and she spoke to People at the brand's spring/summer 2018 preview event in New York on Friday.

She also weighed in on how many pairs of jeans she owns - 'too many' - and revealed that her model mentor is Karlie Kloss.

Model siblings: Kaia posed with her model brother Presley Garber as they arrived at the party together

Disco diva: The fashion rising star embraced the 70s theme, showcasing her incredible figure

Heyday: The Chanel runway alum looked dazzling in a fun outfit that looked ready for Studio 54 in its heyday

Star girl: She wore a gold sparkly top and white mini dress to highlight the decade's signature fashions

Kaia has rapidly become one of the most sought-after models in the world and she has just returned home to Malibu, California, after her first month of Fashion Week shows in New York, London, Paris and Milan.

She said one of the things she learned during her busy September was 'the importance of downtime.'

And she shared this nugget of advice from Cindy: 'My mom just said not to be afraid to show my personality on the runway.

'As for beauty, she has always told me that less is more.'

Shoe maven: Her big heeled silver toned shoes were reminiscent of the disco era

Sibling glamour: Kaia posed with her model brother Presley Gerber who rocked a hippie vibe as well

Spokesgirl: Kaia is the face of Hudson Jeans and she spoke to People at the brand's spring/summer 2018 preview event in New York on Friday

Kaia penned an emotional Instagram post when she was given the opportunity to open the Chanel show during Paris Fashion Week, writing: 'OPENING CHANEL! Never in my life could I have even dreamt this. Karl, there are no words to describe how special this was to me. YOU'RE A LEGEND.'

Kaia is signed to IMG Models and has been juggling her fashion career alongside her school work, insisting that her education comes first. She told Miss Vogue: 'Its really difficult, because you have a lot of different things going on. I go to school everyday, and that does come first.'

'I try to separate my modeling work from my school life because I dont want people to think of me differently or that I am a certain way because of it.

'I think I do a pretty good job of separating it, I dont really talk about it with my friends. Other than my friends that are part of the industry, and I guess thats different.'

Top model: Kaia has rapidly become one of the most sought-after models in the world and she has just returned home to Malibu, California, after her first month of Fashion Week shows in New York, London, Paris and Milan

Dancefloor: The siblings were seen heading into the party together, looking as if they had been pulled from the sunset strip
She's one of the most glamorous supermodels in the industry, rocking a slew of stylish outfits whether she's out and about or rocking the catwalk.

But Alessandra Ambrosio seemed to embrace disco chic on Friday as she attended the Casamigos Halloween party in Los Angeles hosted by George Clooney, Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman, the co-founders of the Tequila brand.

The 36-year-old model showcased her incredible abs in a criss-cross top and white pantaloon trousers allowing her amazing figure to be on full display.

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D-I-S-C-O: Model Alessandra Ambrosio, 36, showed off her incredible abs in a disco-inspired look for the Casamigos Halloween party on Friday in Los Angeles

The mother-of-two rocked her white trousers with silver detailing, perfectly matching the top with sequin embellishment.

Alessandra kept her brunette tresses poker straight for the look, rocking a strong centre-part that screamed disco chic.

Her makeup perfectly matched the look, with a dramatic silver smoky eye accentuating her strong features.

Alessandra joined a slew of other models in attendance at the event, including Charlotte McKinney, Molly Sims and Cindy Crawford.

The brunette beauty donned kept her jewelery to a minimum, rocking a simple chain necklace and bracelet.

Incredible: The model showed off her amazing abs in the look which consisted of white pantaloon trousers and a silver criss-cross top

Dancing Queen: The mother-of-two kept her brunette tresses poker straight in the look

Alessandra is currently in full-on Victorias Secret Fashion Show training mode, working out four or five days a week for the telecast taking place November 28 in Shanghai.

'I have been working with Tracy [Anderson] for last couple years, and what I love about her classes that it does not feel like exercise,' she told Bravo last week.

'It's almost like taking a fun dance class that targets all of your muscle groups, and you get amazing results...she also has online classes, so when I travel, I am able to work out in my hotel room.'

The runway legend has been modelling for the brand since 2001.
They found love on last year's season of The Bachelorette.

And Georgia Love and Lee Elliott appear just as smitten with each other a year after their romance was revealed in the matchmaking series' finale.

The loved-up couple both took to Instagram on Saturday to celebrate the moment they could finally parade their affection in public.

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Loved-up as ever! Former Bachelorette couple Georgia Love and Lee Elliott celebrate 'finaleversary' one year after debuting their relationship to the public

The BIG reveal! Georgia's finale, where she confessed her love for mechanical plumber Lee, aired on Channel Ten on October 27, 2016

Georgia's finale, where she dumped Matty J for Lee, aired on Channel Ten on October 27, 2016, with the couple forced to keep their love under-wraps until the public announcement.

Georgia shared a cute photo of the couple holding hands walking through a vineyard to mark the special date.

She wrote: 'One year ago we were finally allowed to walk down the street together and this is pretty much how weve been doing it ever since.'

'One year ago we were finally allowed to walk down the street together': Georgia marked the special day by uploading a couple picture together

The TV journalist's beau also took the opportunity to celebrate, posting a photo of the pair at his sister's wedding.

As Georgia blew Lee a kiss, he sweetly captioned the happy snap: 'It was always you.'

He also affectionately dubbed the day with the use of the hashtag: 'finaleversary.'

'It was always you': Lee also shared a photo of Georgia blowing him a kiss as they attended his sister's wedding

Always celebrating! As the final generally airs weeks after the actual couple becomes 'official', the pair recently took a romantic European holiday to celebrate a year of being together

As the final generally airs weeks after the actual couple becomes 'official', the pair recently took a romantic European holiday to celebrate a year of being together.

The reality show lovebirds have shown no signs of slowing down with their relationship, but are in no rush to get engaged.

Georgia told News Corp in June: 'We want to move in together when we both decide we want to stay together every single night, not because of the public perception.'

'A wedding isn't on the cards, and a baby definitely is not on the cards,' she added at the time.
She dated Alex Mytton for nine months, after Nicola Hughes enjoyed a two-year romance with him.

But Lottie Moss and the former Made In Chelsea star proved there was no bad blood between them on Friday night, as they partied together at a Halloween bash in London.

The half-sister of Kate Moss, 19, showcased her svelte physique in a skintight bodysuit and fishnets as she left the party with Nicola, 27.



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Similar taste in men: Lottie Moss and Nicola Hughes, who both dated Alex Mytton, proved there was no bad blood between them on Friday night, as they partied together at a Halloween bash in London

Sticking to a monochrome look, Lottie added height to her model frame with some thigh-high leather boots.

In a nod to the Halloween theme, she added some bunny ears and intricately-done fake blood make-up around her neck.

Styling her glossy blonde locks in tousled waves, she plumped her pout with a slick of scarlet lipstick.

Irish reality star Nicola, meanwhile, rocked a white lace bodysuit teamed with ivory tights and navy suede lace-up boots.

Looking good: The half-sister of Kate Moss, 19, showcased her svelte physique in a skintight bodysuit and fishnets

Killer footwear: Sticking to a monochrome look, Lottie added height to her model frame with some thigh-high leather boots

Addressing the fact they both dated Alex Mytton, Nicola shared a giddy video of them giggling in a car as they made their way to the party.

Laughing off their similar interest in men, she captioned the Instagram clip 'Whose ex is next' in a reference to MTV dating show Ex On The Beach.

Lottie is often seen hanging out with the cast of MIC and initially began dating Alex in November last year.

They were together on and off for nine months, before calling it quits on their relationship for good in July.

Nod to the Halloween theme: She added some bunny ears and intricately-done fake blood make-up around her neck

Just hanging out: She looked engrossed in conversation as she chatted to pals in the smoking area

Mane attraction: Styling her glossy blonde locks in tousled waves, she plumped her pout with a slick of scarlet lipstick

Following a 'rocky few months' and 'cheating' claims, the couple split, with a source telling The Sun at the time: 'Alex has been away all summer filming for Made in Chelsea in Ibiza.

'They havent spent as much time together as they would have liked to but things have been rocky for a few months now.

'Alex is very fond of Lottie and they may find a way to work through their differences but for now theyve definitely called it quits.'

Former flames: Lottie began dating Alex in November (pictured) last year. They were together on and off for nine months, before calling it quits on their relationship for good in July

In the past: Alex and Nicola dated on and off for two years after meeting in August 2014 while he was DJing in Ireland

Laughing it off: Addressing the fact they both dated Alex, Nicola shared a giddy video of them giggling in a car as they made their way to the party

Two months following their break up, Alex was seen reuniting with his former flame Nicola Hughes at a party.

Sources claimed Alex was 'doing his best to charm Nicola' and that their 'chemistry' was undeniable.

Alex and Nicola dated on and off for two years after meeting in August 2014 while he was DJing in Ireland.

Meanwhile, after the photo of him and Nicola emerged, Alex clashed with Lottie via Twitter, with the aspiring model telling her ex-beau to 'grow up'.

Despite their split, it seems the pair have remained amicable and are often seen spending time in the same circle.

Oh dear: They split following a 'rocky few months' and 'cheating' claims while Alex was filming Made In Chelsea in Ibiza

Hmm: Two months following their break up, Alex was seen reuniting with his former flame Nicola Hughes at a party
Model Joanna Krupa donned an iconic look on Friday, as she dressed up as Sandy from the 1978 film Grease to attend the Casamigos Halloween Party in California.

The 38-year-old looked incredible in the ensemble, as she strutted into the bash with every bit of swagger Sandy shows at the end of the film.

With a cigarette in hand, the Polish model stood out in the sea of Halloween party-goers.

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Grease lightning! Model Joanna Krupa, 38, rocked a sexy ensemble on Friday as she attended the Casamigos Halloween party as Sandy from Grease

Joanna donned the signature tight-fitting black trousers for the party, as well as a black bandeau style top that showed off both her amazing abs and incredible cleavage.

Finishing the look with a gold and black belt and red pointed toe pumps, Joanna looked as if she had been plucked from the film itself.

The reality TV star also posed with producer Traci Szymanski, who was rocking an outlandish costume that included an enormous blonde afro wig.

Smoking hot siren: Joanna rocked a sexy all-black ensemble in form-fitting black trousers and black bandeau top for the look made famous by the 1978 film

Joanna kept her blonde locks styled in voluminous curls that are quintessential with look, and her makeup was equally dramatic.

The small screen star had her eyes done in a dramatic winged eyeliner style, with cateye flicks both above and under the eye.

The actress finished off her look with a simple pink lipgloss and pointed nails that added to the 'power dress' vibe of the look.

Throwback: Joanna posed with producer Traci Szymanski, who rocked an enormous blonde afro wig

Newly-divorced Joanna recently shared an impassioned post where she chided people who do not exercise.

The Real Housewives Of Miami star explained that she puts effort into her fitness regime and other people can do it too if they are determined.

'There is absolutely no excuse in not staying fit and healthy at any age! Motivation and drive is the key

'Over the years during my career I heard so many comments ... 'she probably starves herself etc' I have always eaten anything I wanted.'
She's notorious for her fiery temper, getting into clashes with her housemates during a stint on Celebrity Big Brother.

And Farrah Abraham seemed to embrace her fierce nature on Friday, donning a bight red wig as part of a risque Halloween costume.

The 26-year-old mother-of-one rocked a revealing Arial costume for a Los Angeles Pumpkin Patch party, where the reality TV star was seen petting animals and playing on the inflatable rides.

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Fiery: Teen Mom star Farrah Abraham, 26, channelled The Little Mermaid in a risque Ariel costume for a pumpkin patch Halloween party on Friday

Farrah rocked the busty ensemble, with the shall bar giving her already ample cleavage a boost, and her abs on full display in the sparkled green 'tail' skirt.

The Teen Mom star wore black leggings under her skirt to preserve her modesty as she slid down the slide, with simple sandals adding to the beachy look.

Joined by her eight-year-old daughter Sophia, Farrah was seen enjoying a day in the California sunshine in her Disney-inspired look.

Feisty: The notoriously opinionated reality star was seen enjoying a day on the patch with her daughter, rocking a costume straight from the iconic Disney classic

Hothead: Farrah donned a bright red wig for the day out, which saw her petting farm animals and riding on inflatable ride

Sliding down an inflatable slide, the mother looked like she was having a whale of a time on the day out with her daughter.

The feisty screen star has recently been seen on screen with her on/off boyfriend Simon Saran in a Teen Mom 2 special, after he declared he loved Farrah.

As the couple took a trip to San Francisco, the businessman declared his love for Farrah, but did not get the response he was expecting.

Glam: Farrah rocked a revealing shell bust bra that showed off her ample cleavage

Wheee! To preserve her modesty Farrah donned leggings underneath her green 'tail' skirt

'I still want to date you, I love you,' Simon exclaimed during the trip.

'Then maybe you shouldn't be weird with other people and call them 'babe' and hug them and take pictures with other people,' huffed Farrah

'You cannot interact with other girls who are like basic b****es,' she added.

During the special, Farrah took the chance to learn more about her beaus Indian culture, trying traditional clothing and learning how to cook classic Indian dishes.
He's the star of the latest Hollywood blockbuster Thor: Ragnarok.

But Chris Hemsworth is apparently searching for something more in life, and seriously ponders about being someone completely different.

In a post to Instagram on Saturday, the 34-year-old reevaluated his life's purpose, claiming that he wanted to be American actor and friend Chris Pratt.

'It's true': Chris Hemsworth jokingly admitted he would like to become Chris Pratt one day, in a post to his Instagram on Saturday

'It's true,' he jokingly captioned.

Chris appeared alongside a photo of a man smoking a cigarette in his right hand, with the writing underneath the image claiming, 'Everyone wants to be Chris Pratt. Even I want to be Chris Pratt.'

Clutching his hands together and appearing to be kneeling down in a praying fashion, the Australian star looks to be hopeful of achieving the dream of becoming the famous action star, that has so far eluded him.

It's not the first time the Thor star has spoken admiringly about Chris Pratt, telling Elle Magazine in September he had been nervous around the Guardians of The Galaxy star during filming.

'Everyone wants to be Chris Pratt': The Hollywood star is a good friend of Chris Hemsworth

Bring it home! It comes after Chris claimed he would be pushing for more Hollywood blockbusters to be filmed on Australian soil

'The first time I really met Chris Pratt  and went on set with him and the Guardians  I was weirdly shaken. [Laughs] I dont know why. Hes just so charismatic. And good at what he does,' Chris confessed.

The starstruck moment comes after Chris claimed he would be pushing for more Hollywood blockbusters to be filmed on Australian soil, after the latest Thor movie was filmed in Queensland on the Gold Coast.

The hunky actor told The Daily Telegraph earlier this month: 'I would love to shoot everything here!'

'I would love to shoot everything here!' Thor star Chris Hemsworth admits he's 'trying' to get ALL his movies filmed on Australian soil

While being interviewed on the red carpet at Australia's Thor: Raganok premiere on the Gold Coast two weeks ago, Chris - sporting an ISAIA suit - praised his local filming experience.

'This is one of the best experiences Ive had on a set and to catch up with them have them see all their hard work is very special,' he said.

Chris added: 'Anything I read or anything that comes my way, Im trying to bring back here.'
She is currently expecting her third child, a boy, with husband Cash Warren, with the couple already parents to daughters Honor Marie, nine, and Haven Garner, six.

And Jessica Alba has shown she knows how to dress her bump as she donned a relaxed but stylish ensemble while heading through LAX airport on Friday.

The 36-year-old actress and businesswoman covered her bump in a stylish blue jumpsuit with pinstripe detailing, along with several layered knits to keep cosy for her travels.

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Bumping along: Pregnant Jessica Alba, 36, kept it comfy on Friday as she arrived in LAX airport rocking a relaxed stripy jumpsuit and layered over-sized cardigans

Jessica rocked both nude and navy blue over-sized cardigans, along with comfy suede blue plimsolls, and a matching quilted chain-strap bag.

Jessica covered her brunette tresses in a matching blue Gerard Darel hat, keeping a low profile as she headed through the terminal.

The mother-of-two was recently spotted in New York as she attended a business event for the Honest company, a consumer goods brand the actress founded in 2012.

Documenting her business trip on Instagram, the Sin City star also recently revealed to her followers the gender of her new arrival.

Wrapped up: The mother-of-two was all bundled up in a stripy jumpsuit and layered oversized cardigans as she arrived back from a business trip to New York

Comfy: The Honest Company founder was in NYC for business events, but also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to talk about her impending arrival

Excited: Jessica is currently expecting her third child, and revealed the followers earlier this week that she was having a baby boy

After announcing she was expecting her third child in July, Jessica revealed she was having a boy in an adorable Instagram video.

Releasing a box of blue balloons and confetti with her daughters in the video, the star wrote: '@cash_warren and I couldnt be more thrilled to announce... #officiallyoutnumbered #babyboy #cantwaittospoilhim #hugsandkissesforlife #soontobemamaofthree'

During her time in New York, the actress also made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, discussing a name for her new son that husband Cash had suggested but she was not so keen.

Cute couple: Jessica, who accessorized with a Gerard Darel hat, is expecting her third child with husband Cash Warren, who she met on the set of Fantastic Four back in 2004

She said: '[Cash] said, "We should name it Dick with a silent H". He thinks its, like, old school.'

The starlet also added that while she thought she was not getting any pregnancy cravings, she had actually been craving a lot of Japanese food.

She added: 'I actually dream about desserts, but Im trying not to gain so much weight with this baby so I just dream about them. I want all the shaved ice with ice cream on the bottom. That's my thing.'
It was the controversial show that saw viewers drop like flies.

But on Friday, Network Seven revealed they'd be renewing Yummy Mummies for a second season.

The show that followed four lavish mums-to-be around as they awaited the birth of their children, initially attracted attention for their outlandish views on breastfeeding in public.

Will you watch? But on Friday, Network Seven revealed they'd be renewing Yummy Mummies for a second season

'Follow Lorinksa [Merrington] as she takes little "Lady Penelope" to purchase her first designer outfit with matching high heels,' read Seven's official statement.

'Meanwhile, Rachel [Watts] is buying a new home for baby Harvey and Jane's [Scandizzo] younger toddler Jenson is visiting the bank manager to open his first account.'

'Then there's first ponies, holiday homes, birthday parties and more!'

Second time lucky? 'Follow Lorinksa [Merrington] as she takes little "Lady Penelope" to purchase her first designer outfit with matching high heels'

Adelaide's Versace enthusiast Maria DiGeronimo and her mother Margarita have declined to take part in a second season, the Adelaide Advertiser reported earlier this month.

The duo who were known to stir the pot and struggled to befriend the Melbourne mums.

Despite Seven branding the show as a 'future smash' during their upfronts last year, the show failed to deliver on its hype.

What about Maria? Adelaide's Versace enthusiast Maria DiGeronimo and her mother Margarita will not return for a second run

The series failed to capture viewers during its first run was bumped from a prime 7:30pm slot to a 9:30pm slot.

Starting the eight episodes series with 755,000 viewers, the finale (which was aired only one month later) only managed to attract 207,000 fans.

Preventing any time slot switching repeats, the new series will air exclusively on Plus Seven, the channel's online streaming service.
Petra Ecclestone has made her first public appearance since her acrimonious divorce from James Stunt was finalised in a five-minute court hearing this month.

The 28-year-old heiress, and her daughter Lavinia attended her father Bernie Ecclestone's 87th birthday party at London's Zuma restaurant on Saturday, where she was supported by her elder sister Tamara and her daughter Sophia.

Petra seemed in good spirits on the outing, and looked stylish in a pair of leather skintight trousers that she teamed with a white top and leopard print coat.

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First outing: Petra Ecclestone has made her first public appearance since her acrimonious divorce from James Stunt as she attended her father Bernie Ecclestone's 87th birthday party at London's Zuma restaurant on Saturday with daughter Lavinia

Tamara also cut an effortlessly chic figure as she teamed black leggings with a varsity jacket, whilst she boosted her frame with a pair of heeled black ankle boots.

Her daughter Sophia, three, looked adorable as she cuddled up to her mum whilst clad in a star print jumper and matching tights.

F1 boss Bernie was also seen heading into his birthday bash, looking dapper in a brown suede jacket.

Family first: Petra was supported by her elder sister Tamara and her daughter Sophia

The outing came after months of back and forth between Petra and her businessman ex- husband James during a bitter fight over their estimated 5.5billion fortune.

When their heavyweight legal teams came earlier this month, a judge again today it emerged the warring pair have agreed what will be one of Britain's biggest ever divorce settlements.

Speaking after the hearing, Bernie told MailOnline: 'I'm just glad it's over. Petra is too. She has been very tolerant and has been concerned about James.

'Now we are going for a family meal, but we were doing that anyway. No champagne, no big celebration. Just Petra and her sister, me, her mother and the family.'

Looking good: Petra seemed in good spirits on the outing, and looked stylish in a pair of leather skintight trousers that she teamed with a white top and leopard print coat

All-smiles: Petra seemed in good spirits at the party as she prepared for an evening of celebrations with her family and friends

Neither Petra or James were in court for the short hearing, and details of how their assets will be split have not been made public.

James said after the hearing: 'I am devastated that my marriage has broken down. I love Petra and our children.'

He said the couple's 'most important responsibility' was now 'being mother and father to our wonderful children'.

Chic and cheerful! Tamara also cut an effortlessly chic figure as she teamed black leggings with a varsity jacket, whilst she boosted her frame with a pair of heeled black ankle boots

Superstar! Tamara's daughter Sophia, three, looked adorable as she cuddled up to her mum whilst clad in a star print jumper and matching tights

Birthday boy: F1 boss Bernie was also seen heading into his birthday bash looking dapper in a brown suede jacket whilst his wife Fabiana Flosi looked chic in cream

Despite a bad-tempered court hearing earlier this year, at which James clashed with Bernie, a representative for the 35-year-old said he wants to remain 'firm friends' with his now-ex-wife.

At the heated court hearing earlier this year, a judge heard how Mr Stunt had been abusive, violent and took overdoses during his marriage to the glamorous heiress.

The judge warned the pair that being locked in long-running litigation over the split would only make matters worse for all involved.

Family affair: The Ecclestone sisters looked in great spirits on the outing with their daughters

Loving life: It was all-smiles from the family as they prepared to celebrate Bernie's birthday

On being told the parties had come to an agreement today, Judge Robin Tolson QC said: 'I'm delighted about that and I congratulate both parties.'

Philip Cayford QC, representing James, said: 'Clearly both parties have come to agreement which is an extremely desirable outcome.'

James and Petra share three children, daughter Lavinia, four, and twin boys James Jr and Andrew, two.
Minka Kelley and Chad Michael Murray are down south in Georgia for their new film The Beach House.

The duo were spotted shooting an emotional scene for the Hallmark film Friday in the city of Savannah, Georgia.

The 37-year-old actress looked stylish in a striped blouse and jeans while the handsome One Tree Hill alum comforted her in his arms.

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Southern blues: Minka Kelley and Chad Michael Murray were spotted shooting an emotional scene for their film The Beach House Friday in the city of Savannah, Georgia

The rumored girlfriend of Jesse Williams kept a fresh, natural face as she tucked her chestnut colored tresses back into a ponytail.

Chad, 36, was dapper in a maroon tee worn with distressed denim as he held his on screen opposite by the shoulders.

As the acting pair exchanged dialogue in front of a line of parked cars, Minka broke down into tears while the former teen heartthrob held her.

Natural beauty: The rumored girlfriend of Jesse Williams kept a fresh, natural face as she tucked her chestnut colored tresses back into a ponytail and donned a striped shirt

A shoulder to lean on: Chad, 36, was dapper in a maroon tee worn with distressed denim as he held his on screen opposite by the shoulders to comfort her

Earlier in the week the pair were spotted shooting another scene out in Savannah, Georgia.

The film is an adaptation of Mary Alice Monroe's beloved novel about a woman who must return to her rural hometown to deal with her past.

In addition to featuring the talents of Minka and Chad, actress Andie MacDowell is in the cast while also working behind the scenes as executive produce.

On location! Since Minka started filming in Georgia she's been keen on sharing beautiful shots like the one above which show the beautiful Southern scenery

Since Minka started filming in Georgia she's been keen on sharing shots of the beautiful Southern scenery on Instagram.

On Thursday she posted video sailing down a river while earlier in the week she dedicated a post to her dog frolicking around in the sun set to the tune of zip dee doo dah.

For her next project Minka will dive into the DC Comics universe, starring in the TV series Titans which is set to debut in 2018.
They grew up in the limelight as the children of famed pop star Michael Jackson.

And Paris, 19, and Prince, 20, looked completely comfortable in costumes on the red carpet at the Heal LA and TLK Fusion Present the 2nd Annual Costume for a Cause at the Jackson family home in Encino, California on Friday night.

The siblings, who lost their famous father in 2009, grinned from ear-to-ear in quirky get-ups for the early Halloween bash. |

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Buddies! Paris, 19, and Prince, 20, looked completely comfortable in costumes on the red carpet at the Heal LA and TLK Fusion Present the 2nd Annual Costume for a Cause at the Jackson family home in Encino, California on Friday night

Paris looked comfortable as she donned a bright purple long-sleeved onesie with a large yellow belly.

Her furry costume included a plum-colored hood which featured large yellow horns and the top of an open mouth.

Adding even more mystery to the creative ensemble was a pair of large yellow wings and dinosaur spikes running down her back.

Sibling love: The siblings, who lost their famous father in 2009, grinned from ear-to-ear in quirky get-ups for the early Halloween bash

Painted lady: The blonde bombshell added bright white stripes of paint to her face and donned a few colorful necklaces

Paris kept comfortable all the way down to her toes in a pair of fluffy purple animalistic slippers with extended black toenails.

The blonde bombshell added bright white stripes of paint to her face and donned a few colorful necklaces.

Prince covered up in a unique white bodysuit with black strands streaming up and down his body.

Smile! Paris looked comfortable as she donned a bright purple long-sleeved onesie with a large yellow belly

Spooky! Prince covered up in a unique white bodysuit with black strands streaming up and down his body

The footed-suit left little to the imagination as he peeks of a long white turtleneck popped through the neckline.

Adding more interest to his costume, Prince donned a black mask with large red and white eyes.

The siblings made sure to have some fun on the red carpet of the star-studded bash as Paris posted a cute Instagram video.

Good times! The siblings made sure to have some fun on the red carpet of the star-studded bash as Paris posted a cute Instagram video

Lift me up! The budding supermodel could be seen laughing with her brother as she caught a ride on his back

The budding supermodel could be seen laughing with her brother as she caught a ride on his back.

Paris is Michael's daughter by his second wife Debbie Rowe, who was married to him from 1996 to 1999, succeeding Lisa Marie Presley.

The siblings have a younger half-brother Blanket, who was born via surrogacy.
They always make sure to set aside time for date nights despite his busy schedule filming the sequel to Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them.

And Eddie Redmayne and Hannah Bagshawe looked typically loved up when they took a night off being mum and dad to one-year-old Iris as they headed out to a glam party in Venice, Italy on Saturday.

Hannah, 34, put on a leggy display in a silken cream mini dress which showed off her toned pins as she and her Oscar-winning husband took a water taxi to the OMEGA bash in the beautiful Palazzo Pisani Moretta on the floating city's Grand Canal.

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Date night! Eddie Redmayne (R) and Hannah Bagshawe (L) looked typically loved up when they took a night off parenting duties for baby Iris as they headed out to a glam party in Venice, Italy

The brunette publicist sported a stylish splash of blonde ombre in her hair, which she wore in a tousled bun with a few strands loose to shape her face.

The beauty, who first met Eddie while he was studying at Eton College, turned heads in the sultry frock which featured a sophisticated high neckline, long sleeves and chic frills from top to bottom.

Injecting a splash of colour to complete her party-going look, Hannah opted for a slick of bright crimson lip stick as she flashed a winning smile alongside her husband of three years.

Water good-looking pair: Hannah, 34, put on a leggy display in a silken cream mini dress which showed off her toned pins as she and her Oscar-winning husband took a water taxi to the OMEGA bash in the beautiful Palazzo Pisani Moretta on the floating city's Grand Canal

Looking good: The brunette publicist sported a stylish splash of blonde ombre in her hair, which she wore in a tousled bun with a few strands loose to shape her face

Striking: The beauty, who first met Eddie while he was studying at Eton College, turned heads in the sultry frock which featured a sophisticated high neckline, long sleeves and chic frills from top to bottom

Loved up: At one point Hannah turned to gaze at the beautiful canal views around her, no doubt drinking in the atmosphere in one of the most romantic cities in the world

At one point Hannah turned to gaze at the beautiful canal views around her, no doubt drinking in the atmosphere in one of the most romantic cities in the world.

Meanwhile the Theory of Everything star cut a dapper figure in a navy two-piece suit which he layered over a crisp white shirt.

The Westminster-born talent, whose breakthroughs into Hollywood came in the form of My Week With Marilyn in 2010 and Les Miserables in 2011, accessorised with a slender black bow tie and a chunky black-and-silver watch.

Injecting a splash of colour to complete her party-going look, Hannah opted for a slick of bright crimson lip stick as she flashed a winning smile alongside her husband of three years

Meanwhile the Theory of Everything star cut a dapper figure in a navy two-piece suit which he layered over a crisp white shirt as the couple enjoyed their night time water taxi ride

Cosy pair: The Westminster-born talent, whose breakthroughs into Hollywood came in the form of My Week With Marilyn in 2010 and Les Miserables in 2011, accessorised with a slender black bow tie and a chunky black-and-silver watch as he cuddled up to his wife

Eddie will return for the next instalment of Fantastic Beasts as Newt Scamander alongside War And Peace star Callum Turner, who will play Newt's brother.

Jude Law will join the series as a young Albus Dumbledore and the story will pick up where the first film left off, but this time with 1920s Paris as the setting.

Shooting has begun in the Warner Brothers Studios in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, where the original Harry Potter movies were filmed.

Perfect match: The pair looked loved-up and relaxed as they arrived to the event together

Eddie - who pursued a brief career in modelling before turning to the stage - posed up a storm on arrival to the glam party

O-mega bucks: The watch firm's CEO Raynald Aeschlimann posed alongside the British actor

Party o'clock: Eddie (pictured with Raynald and Hannah) will return to the big screen as Newt Scamander in the next instalment of Fantastic Beasts

Shooting has begun for the next instalment of Eddie's Fantastic Beasts series, in the Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, where the original Harry Potter movies were filmed

Meanwhile, Pixie Lott and Oliver Cheshire attended the star-studded bash in their designer threads.

On Monday, the starlet confessed she is in no hurry to walk down the aisle with her hunky lover when she made a televised appearance on Lorraine.

The Bromley born beauty revealed the pair are enjoying a new phase of their seven-year relationship after Oliver popped the question in November 2016.

Dazzling duo: Pixie Lott and Oliver Cheshire attended the star-studded bash in their designer threads

Suit you: Pixie stunned in her sequin suit

Sizzling: She teamed her sizzling look with a kooky box clutch

Pixie divulged: 'We will get round to it at some point. we don't want to rush it.

'I was 19 when we got together, he was my first serious boyfriend. we're still going strong.'

The songstress is focusing on her career as a singer in 2017 as she has made her comeback to the great and the good of the music industry after three years.

Dashing: Pixie's other half Oliver complemented her in his dashing suit

No rush: On Monday, the starlet confessed she is in no hurry to walk down the aisle with her hunky lover when she made a televised appearance on Lorraine (Pictured with Omega CEO Raynald Aeschlimann on the right)

To the future: The Bromley born beauty revealed the pair are enjoying a new phase of their seven-year relationship after Oliver popped the question in November 2016

While the golden-haired beauty is determined she wants their wedding to be 'absolutely perfect', she revealed they will definitely put a date in the diary for 2018.

Speaking at the BBC Music Awards in December, she told MailOnline: 'Next year's going to be super busy with new music and other stuff and I don't want to rush because it I want it to be absolutely perfect.

'If I don't get time to do it then it'll definitely by 2018 for sure.'

Style savvy: Male model David Gandy looked suave in his cream tuxedo jacket
The galaxy has lost a true talent.

Star Wars costume designer John Mollo has died at the age of 86, according to The Time Of London.

The British-born wardrobe genius made some of the best costumes in the galaxy including looks for Princess Leia, Darth Vader and Han Solo.

The force is with him: Star Wars costume designer John Mollo has died at the age of 86, according to The Time Of London. Seen with Natalie Wood and Darth Vader in 1978

Getting it white: He made this dress for Princess Leia; it has since become a favorite Halloween costume

He said when George Lucas asked him to work on the first Star Wars movie, which came out in 1977, he had never really seen a science fiction movie before.

'Since I had just finished the work for Kubrick I thought Id investigate and met George Lucas at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood,' he said.

'We discussed a few concepts when I joined the team, and George had a clear vision of what he was looking for.

The look was out of this world: Carrie looked regal in her white gown

So thoughtful: Mark Hamill as Luke in his desert togs that made him look like a Jedi monk

Shoo-out: 'He liked the idea of the baddies having a fascist look about them, with the heroes reflecting the look of heroes of the American Wild West,' he told www.starwarshelmets.com

'He liked the idea of the baddies having a fascist look about them, with the heroes reflecting the look of heroes of the American Wild West,' he told www.starwarshelmets.com.

Mollo was a military buff and had already worked as an adviser on several films.

So he drew on his background.

His pal: Here Solo, played by Harrison Ford, is seen with Chewbacca

Darth Vader's helmet was inspired by the helmets worn by Nazi soldiers during WWII.

Several looks for the Empire also have a military feel. Han Solo, played by Harrison Ford, looked like a cowboy.

Leia was the virginal angel with her white frock.

Both Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi wore outfits that made them look like monks.

So Third Reich: Darth Vader's helmet was inspired by the helmets worn by Nazi soldiers during WWII

That was Mollo's design for the Stormtrooper's white suit, which has been used in every Star Wars movie, including 2015's The Force Awakens.

The next Star Wars movie is The Last Jedi, which comes out December 15.

When Mollo won his Academy Award for his clothes in Star Wars, he said on stage: 'As you see, the costumes from Star Wars are really not so much costumes as a bit of plumbing and general automobile engineering.'

He got the gold: With Darth Vader, a woman dressed as Leia and a Stormtrooper

He was joined by Darth Vader, Princess Leia and Stormtroopers.

The creative genius won an Oscar for his costumes for Richard Attenborough's 1982 drama Gandhi.

He got his start on the 1966 film Charge Of The Light Brigade.

Other films he contributed to were Zulu Dawn, Barry Lyndon and Nicholas and Alexandra.

After Star Wars John worked on Ridley Scott's 1979 hitAlien.

Then came Gandhi.

But he was back to sci-fi with The Empire Strikes Back in 1980.

His other films include Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984), King David (1985), Revolution (1985), Cry Freedom (1987), Hanna's War (1988), White Hunter Black Heart (1990), Air America (1990), Chaplin (1992), The Three Musketeers (1993), The Jungle Book (1994) and Event Horizon (1997).
It's reportedly been a tough season for Vanessa Lachey and Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

But if the actress and the ballroom dancer have any tension between them, they are keeping it well hidden.

On Saturday the Dancing With The Stars partners looked to be in good spirits as they headed to rehearsals in Los Angeles.

Twice as nice: It's reportedly been a tough season for Vanessa Lachey and Maksim Chmerkovskiy. But if the actress and the ballroom dancer have any tension between them, they are keeping it well hidden on Saturday

Vanessa wore a black T-shirt and grey speckled leggings with black Nike trainers. She carried a tote bag and her pink cell phone.

Maksim was weighed down by what looked like a brief case.

He too had on a black top and grey leggings with black sneakers. The star added a blue cap with yellow embroidery.

Off to salsa: Vanessa wore a black T-shirt and grey speckled leggings with black Nike trainers. She carried a tote bag and her pink cell phone

Coffee for two? Maksim was weighed down by what looked like a brief case. He too had on a black top and grey leggings with black sneakers. The star added a blue cap with yellow embroidery

He carried coffees for two. It's likely the other one was for Lachey.

When they last performed, Lachey lost part of her dress.

She put on an expert display on Monday night despite her skirt falling off 20 seconds into her quickstep.

She and pro partner Maksim didn't let it affect them, gliding through the rest of the dance  and even earning their strongest score yet.

Pro: Vanessa put on an expert display on Monday night's Dancing With The Stars, despite her skirt falling off 20 seconds into her quickstep

Co-host Tom Bergeron could even be seen running out onto the ballroom floor, and scooping up the jettisoned skirt during the live performance.

'I lose my skirt right in front of the judges. It looks like bribery,' she joked to Bergeron afterwards. 'Hey, if its for extra points, Ill take it.'

And earn extra points it did, securing nines across the board and the couple's best performance so far.

'It took me back to season one when Kelly Monaco had a wardrobe malfunction and it actually sent her over the top,' judge Carrie Ann Inaba praised.

Step over: She and pro partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy didn't let it affect them, gliding through the rest of the dance  and even earning their strongest score yet

Bribe: 'I lose my skirt right in front of the judges. It looks like bribery,' she joked to Bergeron afterwards. 'Hey, if its for extra points, Ill take it.'

'What I saw was you  something happened and you just let yourself go and it was such a fantastic performance! You are the epitome of class and grace.'

Lachey concluded: 'Freedom, no skirt!'

before the dance, Maks and Vanessa described their preparation during rehearsals.

'I got the quickstep on steroids. Its [one minute and 40 seconds] of straight energy,' Vanessa explained

Best: And earn extra points it did, securing nines across the board and the couple's best performance so far

Repeat: 'It took me back to season one when Kelly Monaco had a wardrobe malfunction and it actually sent her over the top,' judge Carrie Ann Inaba praised

'This week has been the most work that weve done, but its also been the most fun that weve had.'

'Weve been dancing together for over a month now and we know what each others thinking,' she continued. 'Maks and I are more focused than ever right now and nothing is going to get in our way.'

Sadly for Vanessa and Maksim's other halves  Nick Lachey and Peta Murgatroyd  it their last dance, as they got the boot.

Fun: 'This week has been the most work that weve done, but its also been the most fun that weve had,' Vanessa claimed
She's the fashion model who has impressed viewers with her interior design acumen.

And Elyse Knowles and her boyfriend Josh Barker are predicted to emerge as the winners of this season's The Block competition.

The 24-year-old spoke with News Corp this week ahead of Sunday's finale, where she described the roller coaster of emotions she was feeling ahead of the show's climax.

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Standouts: Elyse Knowles and her boyfriend Josh Barker are predicted to emerge as the winners of this season's The Block competition

'It has been three months of stress and tears and no sleep,' the former Miss Universe Australia told the publication.

'Josh woke up at 4am and couldnt get back to sleep and started painting. I didnt get any sleep at all,' she added.

The couple are hoping to best the success of last season's winners, Will Bethune and Karlie Cicero, who went home with an impressive $815,00 in prize money.

'It has been three months of stress and tears and no sleep,' the former Miss Universe Australia said

Elyse and Josh alongside Sticks and Wombat, Ronnie and Georgia, Hannah and Clint, and Jason and Sarah have built homes valued between $2.4 million to $2.6 million.

Sportsbet have predicted Elyse and Josh's efforts to award them the prestigious number one spot, leading the pack with odds of $1.60.

Buyer advocates Frank Valentic, Greville Pabst and Nicole Jacobs offered the duo's style and workmanship would edge them ahead, in addition to the immense amount of natural light in their home.

'If they hit $3 million, it wouldnt be something youd consider to be a crazy result,' Frank said

Speaking to News Corp earlier in the month, Frank said he wouldn't be surprised if the couple's home hit $3 million.

'If they hit $3 million, it wouldnt be something youd consider to be a crazy result,' he said.

According to reports, over 300 people showed up in the Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick to witness the sale of the once dilapidated five homes for the auction.
Violent protests in Kenya over the disputed presidential re-run have left nine people dead since Thursday

Kenya was stuck in limbo Saturday as a repeat election remained on hold in flashpoint opposition areas, while some picked up the pieces from violent protests that have claimed nine lives.

There was little doubt that President Uhuru Kenyatta would win by a landslide after Thursday's election was boycotted by his rival Raila Odinga, however low turnout is likely to tarnish the credibility of a vote that has deeply polarised the east African nation.

Election commission chief Wafula Chebukati said he would announce Sunday when voting would take place in 25 western constituencies where violent protests and security fears prevented polling from taking place.

With voting incomplete, it remained unclear whether the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) would wait to declare a victor.

Tensions remained high in the Nairobi's Kawangware slum

"The answer to that question we will arrive at when we reach there. We still have a couple of days to make that decision," said another IEBC commissioner Abdi Guliye.

Thursday's election was held after the Supreme Court annulled the results of an August 8 vote over widespread irregularities, sparking weeks of acrimonious political rhetoric and legal battles.

Despite Odinga's call for supporters to stay home on voting day, protesters took to the streets, blocking voting and engaging in running battles with police.

Tensions remained high Saturday, however opposition strongholds remained largely calm a day after two were killed in clashes in western Homa Bay and the Nairobi slum of Kawangware -- taking the total death toll to nine.

- 'We were targeted' -

After two days of protests, signs of life returned to Kenya's western city of Kisumu, where shops reopened and people and traffic were back on the streets

In Nairobi's poor Kawangware neighbourhood, members of Kenyatta's Kikuyu tribe stood over the blackened remains of their houses and shops after a night of clashes with Odinga supporters.

Both sides were armed with machetes, knives, clubs and rocks. Police said officers shot one man dead but residents claim others also died or were maimed in the clashes.

What started the violence is disputed, with each side blaming the other, but both acknowledge the ethnic logic of what followed.

"We were targeted because this is a Kikuyu place," said Geoffrey Mbithi, a 42-year-old hotelier whose three-room guesthouse is now a pile of bent and blackened corrugated tin sheets.

"This is about tribalism."

Politics in Kenya is divided along ethnic lines, and the Kikuyu -- the largest grouping -- have long been accused of holding a monopoly on power and resources.

The ongoing political crisis and rumbling violence has left many Kenyans in despair

At least 49 people have now died since the August election in Kenya's worst crisis since a 2007 vote sparked months of politically-driven ethnic violence that left 1,100 people dead.

While the dynamics of 2017's political crisis are very different, the memory of the bloodshed a decade ago is never far away.

"From past experience, sporadic incidents of violence quickly burst into a conflagration with tragic consequences. We are likely to go this direction unless quick action is taken," the Daily Nation wrote in an editorial.

In Kisumu, Kenya's third largest city where three people died on polling day, opposition supporters were still on alert to block plans to deploy election material, although shops opened and transport was circulating.

- Fractured nation -

A dead cat was hung up by the road in the western Kenyan city of Kisumu in a nod to opposition leader Raila Odinga's political euphemism about "slaying the cat"

Plans to restage voting in the region on Saturday were delayed after Chebukati said he feared for the safety of his staff.

According to the Supreme Court, the election re-run must be completed by October 31.

At a main roundabout in the city, someone had hung up a dead cat. In recent days, ahead of each announcement, Odinga promises to announce his next moves on how to "slay the cat".

Richard Ogilo, 24, pointed to the carcass and said: "Look there is a member of IEBC (election board) at this roundabout. This is Wafula Chebukati. Let him know that we do not want elections."

While the Supreme Court ruling was hailed as a chance to deepen democracy, the acrimonious bickering between Odinga and Kenyatta -- whose fathers were rivals before them -- has sharply divided a country where politics is already polarised along tribal lines.

Map of Kenya locating areas where clashes broke out between police and supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga on election day

But two weeks before the new elections, Odinga pulled out, calling for a boycott on the grounds that the electoral commission had not made the necessary changes to ensure a free and fair vote in a call that was widely observed.

"Leaders must now begin preaching the message of reconciliation and co-existence. Elections have deeply divided the people and we need to repair the fractures," said the Daily Nation editorial.

Observers expect further legal challenges over the re-run.

Odinga has vowed a campaign of "civil disobedience" and is demanding another new election be held within 90 days.
Efforts to encourage birth control in Rohingya refugee camps have failed, with some parents having up to 19 children

Bangladesh is planning to introduce voluntary sterilisation in its overcrowded Rohingya camps, where nearly a million refugees are fighting for space, after efforts to encourage birth control failed.

More than 600,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh since a military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar in August triggered an exodus, straining resources in the impoverished country.

The latest arrivals have joined hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled in earlier waves from Myanmar's Rakhine state, where the stateless Muslim minority has endured decades of persecution.

Most live in desperate conditions with limited access to food, sanitation or health facilities and local officials fear a lack of family planning could stretch resources even further.

Pintu Kanti Bhattacharjee, who heads the family planning service in the district of Cox's Bazar where the camps are based, said there was little awareness of birth control among the Rohingya.

Bangladesh says some 20,000 Rohingya women are pregnant and 600 have given birth since arriving in Bangladesh, though the figures may not account for the births that take place with no formal medical help

"The whole community has been deliberately left behind," he told AFP, citing a lack of education in Myanmar, where the Rohingya are viewed as illegal immigrants and denied access to many services.

Bhattacharjee said large families were the norm in the camps, where some parents had up to 19 children and many Rohingya men have more than one wife.

District family planning authorities have launched a drive to provide contraception, but say they have so far managed to distribute just 549 packets of condoms among the refugees, who are reluctant to use them.

They have asked the government to approve a plan to launch vasectomies for Rohingya men and tubectomies for women, Bhattacharjee told AFP.

But they are likely to face an uphill struggle.

Many of the refugees told AFP they believed a large family would help them survive in the camps, where access to food and water remains a daily battle and children are often sent out to fetch and carry supplies.

Others had been told contraception was against the tenets of Islam.

Farhana Sultana, a family planning volunteer who works with Rohingya refugees in the camps, said many of the women she spoke to believed birth control was a sin.

"In Rakhine they did not go to family planning clinics, fearing the Myanmar authorities would give medicine that harms them or their children," Sultana said.

Many of the women in Rohingya refugee camps believe birth control is a sin, according to one family planning volunteer

Volunteers said they struggled to sell the benefits of birth control to Rohingya women, most of whom came to them for advice on pregnancy complications or help with newborns.

Sabura, a mother of seven, said her husband believed the couple could support a large family.

"I spoke to my husband about birth control measures. But he is not convinced. He was given two condoms but he did not use them," she told AFP.

"My husband said we need more children as we have land and property (in Rakhine). We don't have to worry to feed them," she said.

- Population control -

Bangladesh has for years run a successful domestic sterilisation programme, offering 2,300 taka ($28) and a traditional lungi garment to each man who agrees to undergo the procedure.

Rohingya Muslim refugees are seen by medical personnel inside a government-run family planning centre in the Bangladeshi town of Palongkhali

Every month 250 people undergo sterilisation in the border town of Cox's Bazar.

But performing the permanent procedure on non-Bangladeshi nationals requires final approval from a committee headed by the health minister.

The idea is particularly contentious given the sensitivity of the issue in Myanmar. The widespread perception that the Rohingya population is mushrooming is a key source of the tensions that have spiralled in recent months.

No official data is available on birth rates among the Rohingya, who are excluded from the census in Myanmar.

But many of the ethnic Rakhine Buddhists accused of taking part in attacks on Rohingya villages that have driven hundreds of thousands into Bangladesh say they fear being displaced by the Muslim minority.

The Rohingya face official restrictions on the number of children they can have in Myanmar, although this has not been widely enforced.

Rights activists working in the camps in Bangladesh said some believed pregnancy provided protection against rape or other attacks in Myanmar, where the military has been accused of sexual violence against Rohingya women and girls.

"Some of them told us that if a woman was pregnant, she had less chance of being targeted by the military or attackers."

Bangladesh officials say some 20,000 Rohingya women are pregnant and 600 have given birth since arriving in Bangladesh, though this may be an underestimate as many births take place with no formal medical help.

"Sterilisation of the males is the best way to control the population," said Bhattacharjee.

"If a man is sterilised, he cannot father a child even if he marries four or five times."
Anyone charged in the investigation led by former FBI director Robert Mueller, who is shown in this June 21, 2017 file photo, could be taken into custody as early as Monday, CNN said

A Washington grand jury on Friday approved the first charges in the probe led by independent prosecutor Robert Mueller, CNN reported, citing sources briefed on the matter.

The approval of the charges -- details of which remain unclear -- would mark a major step forward in the sweeping investigation into potential links between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential vote.

A federal judge ordered that the charges stay sealed, the cable news network said, reporting that anyone charged could be taken into custody as early as Monday.

Reached by AFP, both Mueller's office and the US Department of Justice declined to comment on the CNN report.

Mueller, a former FBI director, was tapped in May to head the Russia probe -- one of several ongoing investigations on the matter -- shortly after Trump's shock sacking of then-FBI director James Comey.

That Mueller had impaneled a federal grand jury to investigate potential Russian meddling was seen as a step toward possible criminal indictments.

Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing but his abrupt firing of Comey is reportedly an area of interest to investigators, along with Trump's eldest son's meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer during the campaign and Trump's meetings at the White House with Russian officials.

Mueller's team has also scrutinized foreign lobbying done by Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and the president's former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
US might impose sanctions against buyers of Russian weapons (video)

Voice of America From January 29, 2018, the United States will launch sanctions against private companies and individuals who will have "significant deals" with a number of companies and individuals in the Russian defense and intelligence fields. State Department Spokesman Heather Nauert said the United States executive body had already compiled a list of individuals and companies that were parts of the Russian security sector, the collaboration with which could lead to sanctions. "Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has ordered the State Department to develop a guideline for the public, which lists individuals and companies that are part of Russia's security or intelligence spheres." More than three dozen Russian companies are involved in the preliminary version of the list released by The New York Times, including Almaz Antey, a manufacturer of missile systems, Kalashnikov and Uralvagonzavod weapon manufacturers, as well as Sukhoi and Tupolev military corporations. Heather Nauert said that the full list would be published in the next few days, but first it had been presented to the US Congressmen. To remind, according to the law adopted by Congress, the US Department of State has committed itself to regularly submit a list of Russian Defense and Intelligence Officers with whom citizens and companies in the United States and other countries, who cooperate with them may be subjected to sanctions. "From January 29, 2018, the law will require the Secretary of State to impose certain sanctions against companies that, being aware of the sanctions in advance, will make substantial deals with those involved in the list." According to a law passed by the Congress earlier, those individuals and companies can avoid sanctions whose cooperation with those in the list is connected with civilian purposes and does not contradict the US interests. In response, the Russian Federation has decided to conduct a series of ballistic missiles tests, and ban pork imports from the United States to Russia.
A Vietnamese dissident blogger's daughter has called on the US First Lady to push for her mother's release from prison

The 10-year-old daughter of Vietnamese dissident blogger "Mother Mushroom" has written a letter calling on the US First Lady to push for her mother's release from prison ahead of President Donald Trump's visit to the communist nation next month.

The girl's mother, whose real name is Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, is among more than two dozen Vietnamese who have been jailed as part of a sweeping crackdown on dissent over the past year.

Analysts say the authoritarian regime has been emboldened by the rise of Trump, who is seen as taking a softer approach on human rights.

The handwritten letter by Nguyen Bao Nguyen, whose nickname "Mushroom" is the root of her mother's pen name, comes ahead of the American president's first official visit to Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November.

"Please help my family re-unite because I know my mother did nothing wrong," 10-year-old Nguyen Bao Nguyen wrote in the note posted on her grandmother Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan's Facebook page Thursday.

Lan said it is the fourth letter the girl has penned to the First Lady, who bestowed Quynh with a "Woman of Courage Award" in March.

The move riled Hanoi, who said it was "not appropriate and of no benefit for the development of relations between the two countries".

"I told my granddaughter that Mrs. Trump is very busy, her assistant might read the letter, so we can only hope," Lan told AFP.

Quynh was handed a 10-year prison sentence in June on charges of spreading anti-state propaganda through Facebook posts that touched on politics and environmental issues.

The 37-year-old is one of Vietnam's most vocal critics, penning regular blog posts on the authoritarian country's human rights record, deaths in police custody and the handling of a toxic leak that killed tonnes of fish last year.

The United States, Britain and the European Union have all called for her release.

Trump's first visit as President to the Southeast Asian country will take him to the APEC summit in Da Nang and onwards to Hanoi for meetings with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang and other senior leaders.

It is part of a wider Asia tour which will see the American leader visit Japan, South Korea, China and the Philippines.

Human Rights Watch, which says at least 28 people have been arrested on dubious charges over the past year, and has called foreign governments to put pressure on Vietnam's dismal rights record at the APEC meeting.
US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis speaks during a joint press conference with South Korea's Defence Minister Song Young-Moo after the Security Consultative Meeting at the Defence Ministry in Seoul, on October 28, 2017

US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis on Saturday warned North Korea of a "massive military response" to any use of nuclear weapons as tensions remain sky-high ahead of Donald Trump's visit to South Korea.

Pyongyang in recent months has sparked global alarm by conducting a sixth nuclear test and test-launching missiles capable of reaching the US mainland, while Trump and the North's young ruler Kim Jong-Un have traded threats of war and personal insults.

Mattis, on a trip to Seoul for annual defence talks, maintained that diplomacy remained a "preferred course of action" but stressed, "our diplomats are most effective when backed by credible military force".

"Make no mistake -- any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated," Mattis said at a joint press conference with his South Korean counterpart Song Young-Moo.

"Any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response, effective and overwhelming," Mattis said, adding Washington "does not accept a nuclear North Korea."

"I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States will accept North Korea as a nuclear power," he said.

Mattis did not specify the threshold of nuclear weapon activity that would trigger a military response. Pyongyang's Foreign Minister Ri Yong-Ho said on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month that his country could test a nuclear bomb over the Pacific.

But Mattis said Pyongyang should "harbour no illusion", saying the isolated state is militarily "overmatched" by the US and South Korea -- a key ally of Washington that hosts 28,500 US troops.

- 'Not rushing to war' -

Mattis' trip comes ahead of Trump's first presidential visit to South Korea next month as part of his Asia tour which also includes Japan, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.

All eyes will be on Trump's message to the North and Kim. Trump is expected to deliver a speech at the South's parliament and to visit an US military base during a November 7-8 trip to Seoul.

Trump's recent remark that "only one thing will work" with the North fuelled concerns of a potential conflict on the divided peninsula where the 1950-53 Korean War had left millions dead.

But Mattis has repeatedly stressed a diplomatic solution to ease tension during his trip to Asia this week, saying Washington was "not rushing to war" and its goal was "not war."

Some Trump advisers have said US military options are limited when Pyongyang could launch an artillery barrage on the South's capital Seoul -- only about 50 kilometres from the border and home to 10 million people.

Pyongyang in recent months sparked global alarm by conducting a 6th nuclear test and test-launching missiles capable of reaching the US mainland, while Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un have traded threats of war and personal insults

The North is estimated to have some 10,000 artillery pieces and at least 50 short-range missiles stationed along its heavily fortified border with the South.

The country has made significant progress in its atomic and missile technology under Kim, who took power after the death of his father and longtime ruler, Kim Jong-Il, in 2011.

Since then he has overseen four of the country's six nuclear tests and hailed its nuclear weapons as a "treasured sword" to protect itself from potential invasion by the "imperialist enemy" the US.

Growing nuclear threats by the North prompted calls by some Seoul lawmakers to deploy tactical US nuclear weapons in the South, but Song dismissed such a possibility.

"We believe that tactical nukes are not worth deploying to the Korean peninsula," Song said, adding Seoul was capable of responding to potential nuclear attacks by the North without its own atomic weapon.
Myanmar farmland abandoned by fleeing Rohingya, shown here waiting for relief aid at Balukhali refugee camp in Bangladesh, will be harvested by government workers

Myanmar's government began harvesting rice from farmland abandoned by Rohingya in northern Rakhine on Saturday, officials said, a move likely to raise concerns about the prospect of return for more than half a million refugees who have fled communal violence in the area.

The border region has been emptied of most of its Muslim residents since late August, when Myanmar's military launched a crackdown on Rohingya rebels that the UN has described as "textbook" ethnic cleansing.

Hundreds of villages have been burned to the ground, with more than 600,000 Rohingya -- a stateless group in mainly Buddhist Myanmar -- fleeing across the border for sanctuary in Bangladesh.

Under intense global pressure, Myanmar has agreed to repatriate "scrutinised" refugees who can prove their residence in Rakhine.

But details of the plan remain sketchy, seeding concern about who will be allowed back, what they will return to and how they will live in a region where anti-Rohingya hatred remains sky-high.

On Saturday the government began harvesting 71,000 acres of rice paddy in Maungdaw -- the Rohingya-majority area hit hardest by the violence -- according to state media and a local official.

"We started harvesting today in Myo Thu Gyi village tract," Thein Wai, the head of Maungdaw's Agricultural Department, told AFP.

"We are going to harvest some paddy fields of Bengalis who fled to Bangladesh," he said, using a pejorative term for the Rohingya commonly used by officials and the Buddhist public.

The official said he did not know what government would do with the rice or its proceeds.

Workers were bused in from other parts of the country to assist with the harvest, according to the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar.

- 'Deeply disturbed' -

Rights groups blasted the government's harvest as part of a systematic effort to expunge the Rohingya from Rakhine.

"Government officials leading the harvest are clearly more concerned about these fields of abandoned rice than they ever were about the Rohingya people who sowed it," said Human Rights Watch's Phil Robertson.

"This all reinforces a singular, local level Rakhine message to the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh that what's yours is now mine, and you're not welcome back."

Fortify Rights said the harvest was an "outrageous" move by authorities who have a long history of land grabs, particularly in ethnic minority frontiers.

Myanmar has denied charges of ethnic cleansing and defended its military campaign as a counter offensive targeting Rohingya militants who attacked police posts in late August, killing at least a dozen.

But media, rights groups and the UN have documented consistent accounts from Rohingya refugees of atrocities at the hands of Myanmar security officers, who are accused of killing civilians, raping women and torching homes in the wake of the rebel raids.

On Friday UN rights experts said they were "deeply disturbed" after speaking to refugees in Bangladesh.

Rohingya Muslim refugees carry relief aid at Nayapara refugee camp in Teknaf, Bangladesh

The accounts they heard "point to a consistent, methodical pattern of actions resulting in gross human rights violations affecting hundreds of thousands of people," said Marzuki Darusman, who chairs the fact-finding mission.

Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi -- who has no control over the powerful army -- recently created a committee to oversee resettlement in Rakhine, where tens of thousands of other minority groups were also internally displaced by the violence.

The construction of homes for minorities such as the Mro has begun, according to state media, while Suu Kyi's government has enticed business tycoons to donate to the rebuilding effort.

But fear abounds that the rehabilitation will sideline the Rohingya -- a group that has suffered under decades of state-backed discrimination and rising Islamophobia.

Myanmar refuses to recognise the Rohingya as a distinct minority, rendering the 1.1-million strong group stateless.

The army has spread the view that they are foreign "Bengalis" from Bangladesh, despite many having lived in Myanmar for generations.
The Indonesian fireworks factory had only been operating for six weeks when the fire broke out, killing nearly half of the company's employees and injuring 45 others

Three suspects have been named in connection to a deadly blaze at an Indonesian fireworks factory that killed 48 workers and was caused by sparks from welding equipment, police said Saturday.

The factory outside Jakarta had only been operating for six weeks when the ferocious fire broke out on Thursday, killing nearly half of the company's employees and injuring 45 others in one of Indonesia's worst industrial accidents in recent memory.

Factory owner Indra Liyono was named a suspect by police along with the company's operational director Andri Hartanto and welding equipment operator Subarna Ega.

The trio could face a maximum of five years in prison and a Rp 500 million ($37,000) fine for workplace negligence resulting in death.

"The witnesses' testimonies and forensic test revealed the cause of the fire was the welding equipment sparks which spread to the fireworks material," Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono told a press conference.

Liyono and Hartanto have been questioned by police while Ega's whereabouts are unknown.

Police also said that the company, Panca Buana Cahaya Sukses, employed at least three underage children, a violation which could lead to its closure.

Deadly fires are not uncommon in Indonesia, a sprawling country of more than 250 million people where safety regulations are often flouted.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) said Indonesia needed to increase its number of labour inspectors, which was fewer than 2000, and raise safety awareness among workers.
Part of Myanmar's Parliament complex in Naypyidaw pictured on August 25, 2015

Two foreign journalists working for Turkish state media have been detained for more than 24 hours in Myanmar for flying a drone over a parliament building in the capital, the government said Saturday.

The incident comes during high tension between Myanmar and Turkey, which has lambasted the Southeast Asian nation for its treatment of the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority.

Last month Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Myanmar of incubating "Buddhist terror" and carrying out a genocide against the Muslim group.

The reporters, Lau Hon Meng from Singapore and Mok Choy Lin from Malaysia, were arrested on Friday in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw while they were on assignment for Turkish state broadcaster TRT.

They are "under interrogation for flying a drone over the Hluttaw (parliament) building", said a statement published by Myanmar's Ministry of Information.

Last month Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Myanmar of incubating 'Buddhist terror' and carrying out a genocide against the Muslim group

The pair was working with well-known Myanmar journalist Aung Naing Soe, whose house in Yangon was searched by authorities on Friday night, according to local media.

More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar's Rakhine state since late August, running from burning villages they say were set alight by soldiers and Buddhist mobs.

Several journalists have been arrested in Myanmar this year, fuelling fears of an erosion of the press freedoms which blossomed after the end of junta rule in 2011.

Many have been charged with defamation or arrested for reporting on armed rebel groups.
Taiwan looks set to become the first place in Asia to legalise gay marriage after the constitutional court said in May that laws preventing same-sex unions violated the constitution's guarantee of freedom of marriage

A sea of rainbow flags and glitzy costumes filled downtown Taipei Saturday as tens of thousands marched in Asia's largest gay pride parade, the first since Taiwan's top court ruled in favour of gay marriage.

The island looks set to become the first place in Asia to legalise gay marriage after the constitutional court said in May that laws preventing same-sex unions violated the guarantee of freedom of marriage.

It gave the government two years to implement the decision.

The anticipation was felt in Saturday's parade, as dancing crowds in colourful wigs and sequined outfits made their way through the capital's centre alongside vans blasting music.

Taiwan's constitutional court gave the government two years to implement the decision and the anticipation was felt in Saturday's parade

Many spared no effort in dressing up, from a man posing in a sweeping bridal dress and a tiara to another donning an inflatable dinosaur costume.

But behind the celebrations, some are frustrated at the lack of progress in changing the current marriage laws since May.

"A lot of people cannot afford to wait two years," said Joseph Wu, 46, dressed in a matching kilt and rainbow turban with his partner of six years.

"We just want the same things heterosexual couples have. We also do our military service, we pay the same taxes, so why can't we have the same thing?" he said.

Many spared no efforts in dressing up at Asia's largest pride parade in downtown Taipei

Hino Chen, 29, echoed this sentiment, adding that he hopes the government will change the civil code rather than enact a separate law to enable gay marriage -- which critics say is still discriminatory.

"We are the same. We also want to start our own families," he told AFP.

Gay rights activists expressed frustration last month when a Taipei administrative court rejected a request from a lesbian couple to marry, saying they can only register when relevant laws are in place.

Gay rights activists expressed frustration last month when a Taipei administrative court rejected the request from a lesbian couple to marry, saying they can only register when relevant laws are in place

Still, Taiwan is seen as one of the most progressive societies in Asia when it comes to gay rights.

For Benny Chan from Hong Kong, it was worth travelling to Taipei just for the parade.

He was dressed as a Chinese empress in a strapless full-length gold gown, which he says he would not dare to wear in Hong Kong.

"Hong Kong is more conservative, maybe because of China's influence," Chan, 35, told AFP.

"Only when I'm in Taiwan can I dress like this and not be afraid to express myself."
A Yemeni girl drinks water from a well in an impoverished village on the outskirts of Hodeidah on July 23, 2017 as the region faces acute water shortages

UN aid chief Mark Lowcock on Saturday voiced alarm at the "shocking" humanitarian conditions in conflict-hit Yemen and called on warring parties to respect international law.

Concluding a five-day mission, his first to Yemen, the UN head of humanitarian affairs and emergency relief said the war in the impoverished Arab nation should end through a political process.

"I came to Yemen to better understand the deteriorating humanitarian crisis, including the fastest-growing cholera epidemic the world has ever seen, the world's largest food insecurity and conditions of widespread population displacement," Lowcock said.

"It's been shocking to see the terrible impact of this man-made conflict," he told reporters before leaving Sanaa.

"The UN calls on all parties... to uphold the highest standards of international humanitarian law and respect human rights with respect to everyone including detainees and journalists," he added.

Lowcock is scheduled to speak at a one-day high level meeting on the humanitarian response to the Yemen crisis in Riyadh on Sunday.

During his visit, Lowcock held talks in Aden, where the internationally recognised government is based, and in rebel-held Sanaa, as well as visiting several other areas.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock (R) visits a camp for displaced people in the Yemeni province of Hajjah on October 26, 2017

He said he urged officials in Aden and Sanaa to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches all those who need it, and called for reopening Sanaa airport for commercial and humanitarian flights.

Lowcock said he saw severely malnourished children, visited hospitals with barely any electricity and water and met health workers who have not been paid for months.

The United Nations is providing direct assistance to seven million Yemenis, but the programme needs to do more and it requires more support, he said.

Since 2014, a rebel alliance of Iran-backed Huthi militias and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have fought the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi for control of the impoverished country.

A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in support of the Hadi government in March 2015.

The UN has described Yemen as the world's number one humanitarian crisis.

More than 8,650 people have been killed in the conflict and around 58,600 others have been wounded, many of them civilians.
An Indian soldier stands guard near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the India Gate monument, which bears the names of some 70,000 Indian soldiers who died during World War I, in New Delhi

Indian defence authorities will travel to France in November to identify and bring back remains of two Indian soldiers killed during World War I, an army official said Saturday.

The remains of two unnamed soldiers of the Garhwal Rifles along with their regimental insignia were found in September 2016 in a field near the northwestern French town of Laventie, nearly 70 kilometers (43 miles) from Dunkirk.

The remains of a British and German soldier were also found from the site during civic work by local authorities.

The combatants are believed to have been killed in a battle with Germans, nearly a hundred years ago.

France informed India about the discovery, and Delhi said it would send a team of four officials, including a brigadier from the regiment, to identify the soldiers and artefacts found with them and bring back their remains.

"Some artefacts, including the regimental insignia, have also been found. We will try our best to identify them, although it will be difficult," said Colonel Ritesh Roy of Garhwal Rifles.

"The bodies were buried for more than 100 years, so very little is left," he said.

The Garhwal Rifles, named after the northern Himalayan region of Garhwal, was raised in 1887 as part of the Bengal Army before it was incorporated in the British Indian Army.

It remains an infantry regiment in the Indian Army.

The regiment had an active role in both the First and Second World Wars and lost nearly 700 men in WWI and another 350 in WWII.

Two of its soldiers were awarded Victoria Cross -- the highest gallantry award in United Kingdom and Commonwealth -- for their bravery during World War I.

Over a million soldiers from the Indian subcontinent served the Allied Powers during World War I, with nearly 70,000 of them dying.

Another 2.5 million Indian soldiers participated in World War II.
Concerns are growing over the health of Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai ahead on 2018's elections

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has flown to South Africa for medical care, a party official told AFP Saturday, as concerns grow over his health ahead of next year's election.

Tsvangirai, a former prime minister and veteran opponent of President Robert Mugabe, announced last year that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer and had begun chemotherapy.

Tsvangirai hopes to lead a united opposition into 2018's general elections as Mugabe seeks to extend his 37-year-long stranglehold on power.

"President Tsvangirai went to South Africa for medical reasons," a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party official told AFP. "He is recovering."

Tsvangirai, 65, was also flown to South Africa in September for medical treatment before being discharged and returning to Harare in early October.

He won the most votes in the first-round of the 2008 presidential elections, but poll officials said it was not enough to avoid a run-off against Mugabe.

As ZANU-PF ruling party loyalists unleashed a wave of violence, Tsvangirai pulled out of the race and became prime minister in a power-sharing government in which he was widely seen as being outmanoeuvered by Mugabe.

Mugabe, 93, regularly flies to Singapore, reportedly for health reasons. Details of his medical condition are kept under wraps, but he recently said doctors had given him a clean bill of health.

The World Health Organization briefly appointed Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador in before rescinding the offer last week following widespread outrage.
Tanzania has vowed to deport foreigners campaigning for gay rights in a country where gay male sex is punishable by anything from 30 years to life imprisonment

Tanzania has deported three South African lawyers arrested last week for "promoting homosexuality", their organisation said in a statement.

The Initiative for Strategic Litigation (ISLA) in Africa said that the three had been "deported earlier this evening", in the statement dated Friday.

The lawyers were amongst a group of 13 people, including a Ugandan and Tanzanians, who were arrested last Tuesday at the Peacock hotel in Dar es Salaam.

Local police chief Lazaro Mambosasa said they had been "promoting homosexuality".

"Tanzanian law forbids this act between people of the same sex, it is a violation of our country's laws," said Mambosasa.

Just days later an NGO, the Community Health Education Services and Advocacy (CHESA) centre, was suspended on the same charge and accused of organising a workshop at the Peacock hotel.

CHESA and ISLA insisted they were merely coordinating a "legal consultation" to challenge a government decision to limit the provision of some health services.

In February, Tanzania provoked criticism notably from the United States after announcing the closure of several health centres specialising in AIDS prevention, alleging they were fronts for promoting homosexuality.

Tanzania has vowed to deport foreigners campaigning for gay rights in a country where gay male sex is punishable by anything from 30 years to life imprisonment.

In July 2016, the government banned the import of some lubricant gels alleging they were used exclusively by homosexuals.

Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu said the sale and occasional free distribution of the gels encouraged gay sex.

According to Amnesty International, homosexuality is illegal in 38 of 54 African states and is punishable by death in Mauritania, Somalia and Sudan.

Uganda repealed a 2014 move to impose the death penalty on gay people.
Ucoms mobile customers will benefit from the best internet roaming rate of 8 AMD/MB when travelling to Georgia, Egypt or the UAE

Ameriabank Launches Google Pay and Google Wallet Support for Card Users in Armenia

Karen Vardanyan donated 112 million drams for the medical equipment for National Center for Infectious Diseases.

UCOM HAS INTRODUCED FUTURE NETWORK WI-FI 6E ROUTERS

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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

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Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

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
An Iraqi fighter loyal to the federal government removes a sheet metal sign painted with the colours of the Kurdish flag from a building in Altun Kupri, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Kurdish capital of Arbil

Iraqi and Kurdish commanders made "progress" in talks Saturday on Kurdish fighters withdrawing from disputed areas, Iraq's chief of staff said hours before a truce in clashes over a key border post was due to expire.

But General Othman al-Ghanimi told reporters after the talks in central Nineveh province that there are "sticking points" that still need to be resolved.

"We have reached an agreement on some points," he said, adding that the Iraqi side is still waiting to hear from the Kurds on a number of other issues.

"There has been progress but the definitive solution is in the hands of the other (Kurdish) delegation. They must return to Kurdistan for consultation and give us their answer," Ghanimi said.

"We will remain in touch by phone," he added.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Friday night ordered a 24-hour ceasefire in clashes between federal forces and Kurdish peshmerga fighters.

The two sides had faced off since Thursday as Iraqi forces sought to capture the vital oil export point of Fishkhabur on the border with Turkey.

Both armed and trained by the US in the fight against the Islamic State group, they had exchanged heavy artillery fire in the latest flare-up of a crisis sparked by a Kurdish independence vote on September 25.

Abadi's spokesman earlier Saturday told AFP that a "joint technical committee" comprising Iraqi and Kurdish delegates was meeting to find a solution to the stand-off at the border post.

- Return to 'Blue line' -

"The main task of this joint technical committee is to allow the deployment without violence of federal forces along the borders," Saad al-Hadithi said.

"Commanders of the federal forces and of the peshmerga are meeting to allow for this redeployment in a peaceful and humane fashion," he said.

The aim of the talks was to negotiate the return to a 2003 "blue line" restricting autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan to the three northern provinces of Arbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah, said Hadithi.

A Kurdish official said the US-led coalition pushed them towards negotiations.

Since mid-October, Iraqi forces have reclaimed the entire oil-rich province of Kirkuk, stripping the Kurds of a major chunk of their oil revenues and dealing a crippling blow to their hopes of independence.

Iraqi forces fire mortar rounds against Kurdish peshmerga positions near Fishkhabur on the Turkish and Syrian borders in the Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region, on October 26, 2017

On Friday, the Iraqi military gave the Kurds an ultimatum to withdraw from the Fishkhabur border area where rival pipelines belonging to the two sides cross into Turkey.

Since the US-led invasion of 2003, and especially in the thick of a lightning advance across northern Iraq by IS in 2014, the Kurds had taken control of the territories disputed with Baghdad.

But Iraqi forces have over the past two weeks recaptured all of the disputed lands, much of it without Kurdish resistance.

Iraq's constitution adopted during the US-led occupation of 2003-2011 provides for plebiscites in the disputed areas on their possibile incorporation in the autonomous Kurdish region.

Baghdad insists, however, that the constitution provides for Iraqi federal control of the country's borders.
The fire in Nairobi's Kawangware slum began after several groups of young men from different ethnic groups began fighting over Thursday's divisive election

"That was the bedroom," said Steven Chege pointing to a tangle of charred wire, blackened metal sheets and burned wood. "And that was the first room," the 32-year-old said, gesturing at a melted stereo and a shattered television among the smouldering ashes.

"The intention was to burn us alive in our houses."

Chege's ruined house, beneath the skeleton of an advertising hoarding at Congo Junction in Nairobi's poor Kawangware suburb, was one of dozens of shops and homes burned when political protests took a dangerous turn on Friday with rival neighbouring communities fighting in the usually crowded streets.

The incidents of violence that have scarred this Kenyan election period have almost all featured stone-throwing opposition protesters against police using tear gas, water cannons and, sometimes, bullets.

Nearly all of the 49 people killed since the initial August 8 poll were shot dead by police, and almost all of them were supporters of the opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition, living in the Nairobi slums of Kawangware, Kibera and Mathare, or in the western city of Kisumu and its surrounding area.

All are strongholds of the opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Dozens of shops and houses were burned to the ground when political protests took a dangerous turn in the Nairobi slum of Kawangware

But in Kawangware on Friday afternoon, the day after the opposition boycotted a re-run presidential vote, the routine battles between police and protesters became something different as dozens of men, believed to be members of President Uhuru Kenyatta's Kikuyu tribe, fought against NASA-supporting Luos, Luhyas and Kisiis.

Both sides were armed with machetes, knives, clubs and rocks. Police said officers shot one man dead but residents claim others also died or were maimed in the clashes.

- Ethnic bent -

What started the violence is disputed, with each side blaming the other, but all acknowledge the ethnic logic of what followed.

"We were targeted because this is a Kikuyu place," said Geoffrey Mbithi, a 42-year-old hotelier whose three-room guesthouse is now a pile of bent and blackened corrugated tin sheets.

"This is about tribalism."

The blaze ripped through shops, stalls and houses in Nairobi's Kawangware slum

The unrest, though isolated and lasting only hours, was reminiscent of the widespread politically-motivated tribal violence that followed a disputed election a decade ago in which more than 1,100 people died during two months of upheaval.

"I was inside the house when I heard people saying, 'Fire! Fire! Fire!'," said Rose Kiema, a 50-year-old seamstress who has lived and worked at Congo Junction since the 1980s.

She ran away, only returning on Saturday morning to find the still-smoking wreckage of her mangled sewing machines. Nearby, lay three chickens and a tethered goat that had burned alive in the inferno, a charred cabbage and singed shoes from the cobbler's shop.

Kiema and others blamed NASA-supporting youth for the arson, and a local politician for inciting the attack.

- 'Because we voted' -

"We were targeted because we do not support NASA," said Josphat Gatimu, a 62-year-old with a small dishwashing and laundry service, both his machines burned beyond salvage. "We voted, that is the only reason we are getting this."

A mile down the road, groups of mostly young men stood around chatting. There was no sympathy here for the shopkeepers of Congo Junction, nor denials of involvement in the arson which they said was justified retaliation.

"This place, it is a NASA stronghold," said one man in his 20s who did not want to be named.

Groups of young men carrying machetes and knives could be seen stalking through the streets of the Kawangware slum in Nairobi

"What is going on here is the government is trying to force some bad groups from another community... to come and intimidate us," he said, referring to the 'Mungiki', a feared Kikuyu gang known for running protection rackets and violently defending tribal business interests.

During the election violence of 2007-8, Kenyatta was accused by the International Criminal Court of ordering their deployment, but he always denied it. The term is now widely applied to groups of armed Kikuyu men, like the ones who showed up in Kawangware on Friday.

"If Mungiki come, even if it is thousands and thousands, we will defend ourselves, we will fight them," said the man, a member of the Luhya tribe.

"If they don't send police and Mungiki in this stronghold, then we are at peace, as you see," he said standing at a crossroads marked by another burned property which was also, they said, owned by a Kikuyu.
The soldier who died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan has been identified by the Pentagon.

Chief Warrant Officer Jacob M. Sims, 36, died October 27 in Afghanistan as a result of wounds sustained in a helicopter crash outside Kabul, the Department of Defense announced Sunday.

Six other crew members on board the helicopter were injured in the crash, which a local official said occurred when the aircraft hit a tree.

Sims, who was born in Oklahoma and lived in Juneau, Alaska, was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.

Chief Warrant Officer Jacob M. Sims, 36, died October 27 in Afghanistan as a result of wounds sustained in a helicopter crash outside Kabul

He enlisted in the Army in 1999 and served in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

His awards and decorations include an Army Achievement Medal, a National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal and a Global War on Terrorism Medal.

The Pentagon has said nothing about the circumstances of the crash other than it was not the result of enemy fire. The Taliban had claimed on Twitter that its militants brought down the chopper.

'We can confirm the crash was not the result of enemy action,' NATO's Resolute Support mission said in a statement. 'We have full accountability for all personnel and the crash site has been secured.'

Provincial governor spokesman Salim Saleh told AFP that the helicopter hit a tree after a 'successful' operation to support ground troops in Kharwar district.

'When the foreign forces were leaving the area, their helicopter hit a tree and crashed. The forces cordoned off the area for hours to take their wounded soldiers out of the area,' he said.

The Pentagon has said nothing about the circumstances of the crash other than it was not the result of enemy fire. An MH-47 Chinook is seen in this file photo

The death brought the number of US soldiers killed in action in Afghanistan so far this year to 11, two above the tally for the whole of 2016.

The last US soldier to be killed in action died in August during an operation targeting Islamic State group insurgents in restive eastern Afghanistan.

US forces are supposed to be in non-combat roles in the country, but continue to provide air support for Afghanistan's fledgling security forces, who are struggling to beat back the Taliban and ISIS militants.

As part of a new strategy outlined by President Donald Trump in August, America is sending more than 3,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, on top of the 11,000 already deployed there to help Afghan forces.
UN Security Council ambassadors, pictured here meeting with Burkina Faso's President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, visited the Sahel region with a view to launching the anti-Jihadist G5 Sahel force

France is facing a tough diplomatic battle to convince the United States to lend UN support to a counter-terrorism force for Africa's Sahel region, where insurgents have killed UN peacekeepers and US soldiers.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will lead a UN Security Council meeting on Monday that will look at ways of shoring up the G5 Sahel force set up by Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

France wants donors to step up, but is also looking to the United Nations to offer logistic and financial support to the joint force -- which is set to begin operations in the coming days.

The United States however is adamant that while it is ready to provide bilateral funding, there should be no UN support for the force.

"The US is committed to supporting the African-led and owned G5 Joint Force through bilateral security assistance, but we do not support UN funding, logistics, or authorization for the force," said a spokesperson for the US mission.

"Our position on further UN involvement with respect to the G5 Sahel joint force is unchanged."

The vast Sahel region has turned into a hotbed of violent extremism and lawlessness since chaos engulfed Libya in 2011, the Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012 and the rise of Boko Haram in northern Nigeria.

Earlier this month, militants linked to the Islamic State ambushed and killed four US soldiers on a reconnaissance patrol with Nigerien soldiers near the Niger-Mali border.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali has lost 17 peacekeepers in attacks this year, one of the highest tolls from current peace operations.

- Four options -

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has come out in favor of multilateral backing, writing in a recent report that the establishment of the G5 force "represents an opportunity that cannot be missed."

Guterres has laid out four options for UN support, from setting up a UN office for the Sahel to sharing resources from the large UN mission in Mali.

In response, US Ambassador Nikki Haley wrote to Guterres this month to reaffirm the US "no" to UN involvement, officials said. The United States is the UN's biggest financial contributor.

The battle over UN backing for the Sahel force is shaping up as Haley is pushing for cost-saving measures after successfully negotiating a $600-million cut to the peacekeeping budget this year.

After leading a Security Council visit to the Sahel last week, French Ambassador Francois Delattre said most countries on the council want the United Nations to help.

"The key question now is not about the relevance of the G5 Sahel force, nor the need to support it, but it is about the best way to convey this support," said Delattre.

A "mix of both multilateral and bilateral support" is needed, he said.

- A long list of gaps -

The price tag for the G5 force's first year of operations is estimated at 423 million euros ($491 million), even though French officials say the budget can be brought down closer to 250 million euros.

So far, only 108 million euros have been raised, including 50 million euros from the five countries themselves. A donor conference will be held in Brussels on December 16.

"UN logistical support could make a big difference," said Paul Williams, an expert on peacekeeping at George Washington University.

"To become fully operational, the force needs to fill a long list of logistical and equipment gaps," he said -- from funding for its headquarters to intelligence-sharing and medical evacuation capacities.

Williams said US reservations were not just about cost, but also about the mission's operations, which Washington sees as ill-defined.

The G5 is "a relatively blunt military instrument for tackling the security challenges in this region, which stem from a combination of bad governance, underdevelopment and environmental change," he explained.

"At best it might limit the damage done by some of the criminal networks and insurgents, but even then, its gains will not be sustainable without adequate funding."
Some 600,000 Rohingya refugees such as these selling clothes at Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia, have arrived in Bangladesh since an August military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar triggered an exodus, giving rise to growing tensions

A young Rohingya man hacked to death a Bangladeshi man on Saturday, police said, amid growing tensions in southeastern Bangladesh which has seen a massive influx of refugees from neighbouring Myanmar.

More than 600,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh since a military crackdown in Myanmar in August triggered an exodus, straining resources in the impoverished country.

Police said the attack by the Rohingya man was linked to a family dispute. It is the latest of a string of crimes in the area which have alarmed local authorities.

"We've stepped up security after these incidents," deputy chief of Cox's Bazar district Afruzul Haq Tutul told AFP.

The district's state prosecutor Mamtaz Ahmed told AFP that crime had recently increased in the area.

The UN has described Myanmar's crackdown on the Rohingya as "textbook" ethnic cleansing, and many of the refugees who arrive in Bangladesh bring horrific stories of brutalities including murders, rapes and arson.

This has prompted an unprecedented outpouring of sympathy in Muslim majority Bangladesh.

But Rohingya now outnumber Bangladeshis by two to one in the two main refugee towns of Teknaf and Ukhia in Cox's Bazar district, and local tensions are rising.

Locals complain that Rohingya are squeezing out poor Cox's Bazar villagers from the job market, especially in the booming construction sector and the fishing industry.

"The majority of the fishermen in our fishing trawlers are Rohingya. They are hard working and they can be employed at a low cost," Jashim Uddin, who owns a small fishing trawler, told AFP.

Others complained the influx of Rohingya had caused food prices and transport costs to spike.

"The vegetable prices are at a record high. But nobody seems to care or listen to our woes. They only care for the Rohingya," said Nazir Ahmed, a Bangladeshi resident of Ukhia.
An ICC probe of Burundi begun in 2016 following reports of crimes committed amid a violent political crisis triggered when President Pierre Nkurunziza ran for a third term in office will continue

Thousands of Burundians on Saturday answered the government's call to celebrate the country's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, cheering the "historic" day using slogans such as "bye bye ICC".

Burundi on Friday became the first ever nation to leave the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal, set up some 15 years ago to prosecute those behind the worst atrocities on the planet.

Burundi hailed it as a "historic" day and called on people to rally across the country on Saturday.

Some 5,000 people -- including hundreds of drivers of bicycle taxis, motorcycle taxis and tuk-tuks -- marched through the streets of the capital Bujumbura, singing and dancing to the sound of a brass band.

Burundi mediator Edouard Nduwimana called on the demonstrators "to pray for the other African countries so they can follow Burundi's example".

Nduwimana branded the ICC "arrogant", saying the tribunal was "contemptuous towards us" and wanted "to pursue victims instead of their persecutors".

Other demonstrations were held simultaneously in other major towns, national radio reported.

Activists have mourned what was seen as a major blow to international justice, with Lambert Nigarura, president of the Burundi Coalition for the ICC, saying that Bujumbura's decision to withdraw came "at a time when the machine continues to kill with impunity in Burundi".

ICC officials said Friday however that a preliminary probe launched by the prosecutor in April 2016 into possible crimes against humanity in the central African nation would continue.

The probe, started by ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, was initiated after reports of "killing, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as cases of enforced disappearances" in the country.

The reports came amid a violent political crisis triggered when President Pierre Nkurunziza ran for a third term in office, winning July 2015 elections which were boycotted by the opposition.

Overall, the violence in Burundi has claimed between 500 and 2,000 lives, according to differing tolls provided by the UN or charity groups and more than 400,000 Burundians have fled abroad.

Set up in 2002, the ICC based in The Hague has often come under fire from some countries who claim it is unfairly targeting African nations.
Somalis joined demonstrations earlier this month after a massive truck bombing killed 358 people in deadliest attack to hit the conflict-torn nation

A car packed with explosives blew up outside a hotel in Mogadishu on Saturday as a minibus also exploded at a nearby junction, with the emergency services reporting "many dead bodies".

Witnesses reported hearing gunfire and said the entire area around the Nasa Hablod hotel was sealed off by security forces to keep people away.

"A car loaded with explosives went off at the entrance of Nasa Hablod Hotel and there is gunfire," police official Ibrahim Mohamed told AFP, saying it looked like a coordinated attack.

"There was another minibus loaded with explosives which went off a nearby intersection," he said, confirming there were casualties but without giving an initial number.

The blasts occurred just two weeks after a huge truck bombing in the Somali capital which killed at least 358 people, making it the deadliest attack in the country's history.

Somalia's Aamin ambulance service said there were "many dead bodies" in a posting on its official Twitter feed, adding that it had already evacuated 15 wounded people from the area.

An AFP correspondent at the scene also reported seeing two people lying on the ground but their condition was not immediately clear.

The Nasa Hablod is a popular hotel located in the north of the city.
Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani came under growing opposition from his detractors after he organised the September 25 referendum on Kurdish independence that triggered a deep crisis with Baghdad

Parliament in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region said it will meet Sunday to redistribute the powers of president Massud Barzani who is facing pressure to quit after last month's independence vote.

A statement from Barzani will be read out at the meeting which is set to open at 1100 GMT, parliament said on Saturday.

On Tuesday, parliament decided to freeze the activities of Barzani, his vice-president Kosrat Rasul and the head of the presidential cabinet, Fuad Hussein.

Barzani came under growing opposition from his detractors after he organised the September 25 referendum on Kurdish independence that triggered a deep crisis with Baghdad.

The federal government opposed the vote which it deemed unconstitutional, and its forces have since seized a swathe of disputed territory from Kurdish fighters.

Iraqi Kurdistan's main opposition party, the Goran movement, called on Barzani to step down after the loss of Kurdish-controlled territory.

Kurdish MP Iden Maarouf said parliament will meet on Sunday to see how best to "redistribute the president's powers" among the legislative, executive and judicial authorities.

Despite scoring a major victory with a resounding "yes" for independence in the referendum, Barzani now finds himself increasingly isolated.

After the vote, the sweeping operation by the central government reclaimed from the Kurds swathes of territory and oilfields in and around the disputed province of Kirkuk.

The loss of the oilfields, which provided income that would have been critical to an independent Kurdish state, sparked recriminations among the Kurds.

Two main parties dominate political life in Kurdistan, Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of late Iraqi president Jalal Talabani.

Iraq's current president, Fuad Masum, is also a member of the PUK and had supported a UN-backed push for dialogue between the Kurds and Baghdad before the referendum.

After the vote Masum said the independence referendum had triggered the assault on Kirkuk.

On Tuesday, when parliament froze Barzani's powers, it also announced its decision to hold legislative elections in eight months.

Regional legislative and presidential elections had both been due on November 1 but were postponed after Baghdad seized territory and oilfields from the Kurds.

The Kurdish parliament has not set a date for a new presidential election.

The mandate of Barzani, the first and only elected president of the autonomous Kurdish region, expired in 2013.

It was extended for two years and then continued in the chaos that followed the Islamic State group's sweeping offensive across Iraq in 2014.
In the attack, a car bomb exploded outside the Nasa Hablod 2 hotel, while a minibus blew up at a junction nearby

At least 14 people were killed in coordinated car bombings followed by an attack on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday, claimed by Shabaab Islamists.

Following the blasts, witnesses reported hearing gunfire at the Nasa Hablod Hotel 2 which was sealed off by security forces with gunmen believed to be inside.

"About 14 people, most of them civilians, were confirmed dead so far and the security forces are still working to ensure the area is clear," said security official Mohamed Moalim Adan.

He said "sporadic gunfire" was continuing with at least two gunmen from the Shabaab Islamist group believed to be inside the hotel. One senior police official and a former MP were among the dead.

The attack came two weeks after a massive truck bomb exploded in central Mogadishu, killing at least 358 people, making it the deadliest attack in the troubled country's history.

The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab claimed Saturday's bombing and hotel assault in a statement on its Andalus radio station.

"The Mujahedeen fighters are inside Nasa Hablod 2 hotel where... apostate officials are staying," said the brief statement.

Mogadishu's Aamin ambulance service removed bodies from the scene and evacuated 17 wounded, its director Abdukadir Abdurahman said.

Police official Ibrahim Mohamed said the attack started when a car bomb went off at the entrance to the hotel while "a minibus loaded with explosives" was detonated at a nearby intersection.

- Gunfire inside the hotel -

Witnesses then reported hearing shooting from inside the hotel.

"We can hear the gunfire but it is difficult to know who is fighting, the forces cordoned off the building and no one can go close to it," said Abdulahi Nure.

Fellow witness Ismail Muktar said, "We can hear sporadic gunfire and grenade blasts and the area is very dark because the electric line was cut off amid the blast."

"Most people fled the hotel through a back door but some are still trapped inside," said Mohamed Dek, who was escaped the hotel after the initial explosion.

"I was very lucky," he added.

In June 2016, Shebaab militants staged a similar attack on a hotel owned by the same people, with an almost identical name, killing 11 people

The Nasa Hablod 2 is a popular hotel located in the north of the city whose sister hotel, the Nasa Hablod, was hit by Shabaab militants in June 2016, in an attack that killed 11 people, including a junior minister.

The Shabaab has made attacks on hotels -- commonly beginning with a suicide car bombing followed by an invasion by gunmen -- a regular strategy in its decade old battle to overthrow successive internationally-backed governments in Mogadishu.

The Shabaab lost their foothold in Mogadishu in 2011 but have continued their fight, launching regular attacks on military, government and civilian targets in the capital and elsewhere.
The car bombs occurred just two weeks after a huge truck bombing in the Somali capital which killed at least 358 people, making it the deadliest attack in the country's history

At least 14 people were killed in coordinated car bombings followed by an attack on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday, a security official said.

"About 14 people, most of them civilians, were confirmed dead so far and the security forces are still working to ensure the area is clear," said security official Mohamed Moalim Adan.

"Sporadic gunfire" was continuing with at least two gunmen from the Shabaab Islamist group believed to be inside the Nasa Hablod Hotel 2, he added.

One senior police official and a former MP are among the dead.

The attack comes two weeks after a massive truck bomb exploded in central Mogadishu, killing at least 358 people, making it the deadliest attack in the troubled country's history.

The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab claimed Saturday's bombings in a statement on its Andalus radio station, saying its fighters had forced their way into the hotel.

"The Mujahedeen fighters are inside Nasa Hablod 2 hotel where... apostate officials are staying," it said.
Hamas security chief Tawfiq Abu Naim, seen being visited in hospital Friday by Gaza's senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, said the group wanted to achieve national unity "at all costs"

Hamas security chief Tawfiq Abu Naim left hospital Saturday after being wounded in a car bombing and pledged that an agreement aimed at ending a decade-long rift with rivals Fatah would remain on track.

The Friday explosion that moderately wounded Abu Naim was branded by the Hamas interior ministry as "a failed assassination attempt."

Hamas chief Ismail Haniya signalled Israel was to blame, but no one has claimed responsiblity.

Abu Naim said in a statement on Saturday that "the objectives of those who committed this despicable act will not be achieved."

"We are determined to leave the split behind and realise the important national unity at all costs," he said.

Abu Naim said a November 1 deadline for Hamas to hand over border crossings to the Palestinian Authority would be adhered to.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement signed a reconciliation accord on October 12 with Islamist movement Hamas, which has run the Gaza Strip for 10 years.

Under the deal, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority is to resume control of Gaza -- which Hamas seized in a near civil war with Fatah in 2007 -- by December 1.

The fate of the Hamas security forces after it transfers power to the PA in the territory is one of the most delicate issues facing the reconciliation process.

Abbas wants the handover to be comprehensive and include all security institutions, but the Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, has said "no one" can force his group to disarm.

Israel and the United States have meanwhile said that Hamas must disarm as part of any unity government.

They have also said it must recognise Israel.

The Abbas-led Palestine Liberation Organisation has recognised Israel, but Hamas has not.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008.
KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) - Two cousins kidnapped, suffocated and executed a gender-fluid Iowa teenager whom they pursued for sex after a chance encounter at a grocery store, a prosecutor said Thursday as he outlined the murder case against one of them.

The men tried to conceal the slaying of 16-year-old Kedarie Johnson, but left behind a "trail of evidence" that would connect them to the crime, prosecutor Christopher Perras told jurors in his opening statement.

"One of the men responsible for Kedarie's abduction and murder is that man, the defendant, Jorge Sanders-Galvez," Perras said, pointing across the courtroom.

Jorge Sanders-Galvez stands during his murder trial Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017, in Keokuk Iowa. Sanders-Galvez is one of two men accused of killing Iowa teenager Kedarie Johnson. (Zach Boyden-Holmes /The Des Moines Register via AP, Pool)

He said he would ask jurors to "get justice for Kedarie" by finding Sanders-Galvez guilty of first-degree murder at the end of the trial, which could last two weeks. The other defendant, 25-year-old Jaron Purham, is expected to be tried later. Both face life in prison if convicted.

Sanders-Galvez's attorney has not outlined a defense. He decided not to make an opening statement Thursday, and he declined comment to The Associated Press ahead of the trial.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions assigned Perras, a Washington, D.C.-based federal prosecutor who has handled several hate crimes cases, to assist local prosecutors at the trial, which was moved outside of Burlington following extensive pretrial publicity in the eastern Iowa city of 25,000 people where the crime occurred. It's unusual for federal prosecutors to help in state cases, and Sessions' move has drawn attention to the March 2016 killing of the popular Burlington High School student who identified as both male and female.

Perras delivered a 25-minute opening statement as Johnson's mother sat in the front row. He said Johnson was an ordinary high school student in every way but one: He was a boy who sometimes liked to dress and act as a girl named Kandicee. Fellow students at first "thought that was pretty weird," Perras said, but soon began to accept Johnson's gender nonconformity.

"With his beaming smile and friendly attitude, it was hard not to," Perras said.

The night of the killing, Johnson taught a class at a youth community center, then went to a Hy-Vee grocery store, where he often used its wireless internet connection, Perras said. Sanders-Galvez and Purham had been smoking marijuana with friends and went to the store to get food, Perras said.

Johnson, who was wearing black leggings, a pink head band and long hair extensions, looked to the men like "a cute high school girl all by herself," Perras said. Surveillance video shows Johnson flinging his braids and smiling while leaving the store - with a red Impala driven by the men following.

Johnson walked to a classmate's nearby home, telling her he was scared and being followed by a man named "Lumni," which is Sanders-Galvez's nickname. That classmate testified Thursday that she saw a red car outside and offered to give Johnson a ride home. Johnson declined, insisting he would be fine.

Perras said the men got Johnson in their car and drove to a home where the cousins had been staying and where they'd joined each other in sexual encounters with women. He said a struggle ensued and the cousins stuffed a rag down Johnson's throat and put a plastic bag around his head. They threw the teen in their car and drove to an alley, where they shot Johnson twice in the chest and dumped his body, pouring bleach all over the body to try to destroy DNA evidence, Perras said.

Perras said Sanders-Galvez purchased the gun, a chrome .357 revolver, weeks earlier on Facebook. Sanders-Galvez gave the gun to a friend hours after the killing, then retrieved it later and fled about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south to St. Louis with Purham, who had the gun in his car when he was arrested weeks later, Perras said. Testing at the Iowa crime lab linked the bullets used to kill Johnson to the weapon.

Other evidence Perras said authorities recovered included Johnson's backpack at the home where the cousins were staying and incriminating text and Facebook messages sent the night of the killing.

Sanders-Galvez also used his cellphone to search the internet 57 times for information about the investigation in the following weeks, beginning at 4 a.m. the day after Johnson's death, he said.

"As the police were closing in, it seemed to be the only thing on the defendant's mind," he said.

___

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Jorge Sanders-Galvez stands during his murder trial Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017, in Keokuk Iowa. Sanders-Galvez is one of two men accused of killing Iowa teenager Kedarie Johnson. (Zach Boyden-Holmes /The Des Moines Register via AP, Pool)

Jorge Sanders-Galvez attends his murder trial Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017, in Keokuk Iowa. Sanders-Galvez is one of two men accused of killing Iowa teenager Kedarie Johnson. (Zach Boyden-Holmes /The Des Moines Register via AP, Pool)

Jorge Sanders-Galvez, second from right, listens during his murder trial Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017, in Keokuk Iowa. Sanders-Galvez is one of two men accused of killing Iowa teenager Kedarie Johnson. (Zach Boyden-Holmes /The Des Moines Register via AP, Pool)

Jorge Sanders-Galvez stands during his murder trial Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017, in Keokuk Iowa. Sanders-Galvez is one of two men accused of killing Iowa teenager Kedarie Johnson. (Zach Boyden-Holmes /The Des Moines Register via AP, Pool)

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Perras gives an opening statement in the murder trial of Jorge Sanders-Galvez, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017 in Keokuk Iowa. Sanders-Galvez, is one of two men accused of killing Iowa teenager Kedarie Johnson. (Zach Boyden-Holmes /The Des Moines Register via AP, Pool)
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - In one of the most momentous days in recent Spanish history, Spain fired Catalonia's regional government and dissolved its parliament Friday after a defiant Catalan declaration of independence that flouted the country's constitution.

Lawmakers in the Catalan parliament voted to unilaterally declare independence, prompting the swift crackdown by the Spanish government, which also called an early election in the region.

Hours after Catalonia's secession move, the Spanish Senate granted the government special constitutional powers to stop the wealthy region's move toward independence.

People wave "estelada" or pro independence flags in Barcelona, Spain, after Catalonia's regional parliament passed a motion with which they say they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative government then called an urgent Cabinet meeting late Friday, after which Rajoy emerged to announce the emergency measures, including regional elections called for Dec. 21.

In Barcelona, Catalonia's regional capital, Rajoy's announcement in a televised address was greeted with jeers and whistles of disapproval from crowds who had gathered at the gates of the government palace to celebrate their parliament's moves toward independence.

"It's not about suspending or meddling in the self-government (of Catalonia), but to return it to normality and legality as soon as possible," Rajoy said.

The government and Spain's Constitutional Court have both said the secession bid was illegal, and after Friday's independence vote, Rajoy said it was a move that "not only goes against the law but is a criminal act."

Rajoy also said he was firing the head of the Catalan regional police, shutting down the Catalan government's overseas offices, and dismissing its representatives in Madrid and in Brussels, where the European Union has its headquarters.

After the Catalan parliament independence vote, Rajoy said it was a move that "in the opinion of a large majority of people not only goes against the law but is a criminal act."

The Senate's decision giving Rajoy special powers trumped the Catalan regional parliament's vote to secede, which was doomed because the Constitutional Court has already consistently ruled against any steps toward independence.

The battle around Catalonia's future is far from over, however.

Madrid's move to take away Catalonia's regional powers was sure to be seen as a humiliation and a provocation by Catalans and a backlash was expected, with planned street protests and the possibility that regional government workers could follow a policy of disobedience or non-cooperation.

On top of that, the Dec. 21 election could deliver a steadfastly pro-independence Catalan parliament, even if recent polls have suggested the region of 7.5 million people is roughly evenly split on secession.

Many Catalans strongly oppose independence and a group of so-called unionists was organizing a large-scale protest in Barcelona on Sunday.

A spokesman for Spain's prosecutor's office, meanwhile, said it would seek to bring rebellion charges against those responsible for the Catalan independence vote.

The tense day, featuring emotional speeches and scenes of joy and despair, went to the heart of Spain's political and cultural history.

The 1978 constitution, drawn up after the end of Gen. Francisco Franco's decades-long dictatorship, created a decentralized Spanish state that devolved power to 17 autonomous regions, including Catalonia. The regions have broad administrative and legal powers. The Spanish constitution, however, also describes Spain as "indivisible."

Catalonia has its own cultural traditions and its own language. Having long seen itself as different from the rest of Spain, the Catalan drive for independence began in 2010 when the Constitutional Court struck down key parts of a groundbreaking charter that would have granted the region greater autonomy and recognized it as a nation within Spain.

Catalonia represents a fifth of Spain's gross domestic product and many want the tax revenues generated by the prosperous region to remain at home.

The motion to secede was approved by the 135-member Catalan parliament, where secessionists hold a slim majority, with 70 votes in favor. Opposition lawmakers had walked out of the chamber in protest ahead of the vote.

After the vote officials and lawmakers let loose cries of "Freedom!"

In an emotional scene, regional leader Carles Puigdemont called on cheering fellow separatists to remain peaceful.

"In the days ahead we must keep to our values of pacifism and dignity. It's in our, in your hands, to build the republic," Puigdemont said.

Outside parliament, thousands who had gathered cheered the news, some dancing and raising a toast. In Barcelona, people crowded around TV sets to watch the historic events unfold. The famous Sant Jaume Square outside the regional government office was packed with thousands of people celebrating. Many were draped with the "Estelada" flag that adds a blue triangle to the red and yellow Catalan flag and has become a symbol of the separatist struggle.

"I feel so emotional after the huge fight we went through, we finally got it ... the independence of Catalonia!" said 74-year-old Rosalina Cordera Torelles.

Nearby, 24-year-old Rita Carboneras could hardly contain her excitement.

"I'm super, super, super happy. Super excited," she said. "So relieved. Now we are Catalan at last. We can be ourselves. We are just happy, look everyone around. Everything is so exciting."

The exhilaration was short-lived. Some 500 kilometers (300 miles) to the southwest, the Senate in Madrid voted by an overwhelming margin of 214 to 47 in favor of granting the government exceptional powers.

The main opposition Socialist and pro-business Citizens parties support Rajoy's stance on Catalonia, and many Spaniards outside the region are scornful of Catalonia's secession ambitions.

Rajoy has also received support from outside Spain, with other European leaders, including Germany, France and Britain, rejecting Catalonia's claims. The U.S. administration also backed Rajoy, after President Donald Trump last month branded the Catalan independence ballot as "foolish."

"Catalonia is an integral part of Spain, and the United States supports the Spanish government's constitutional measures to keep Spain strong and united," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

Also supporting Rajoy's warnings of trouble in Catalonia if it forges ahead with its secession bid, more than 1,500 businesses have moved their official headquarters out of Catalonia this month to ensure they can continue operating under European Union laws if Catalonia secedes.

The EU says Catalonia will be tossed out of the bloc if it leaves Spain and would have to apply to become a member, a lengthy process.

___

Giles reported from Madrid. Elena Becatoros and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona contributed.

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, centre, is applauded after a speech at the Senate in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Rajoy has appealed to the country's Senate to grant special constitutional measures that would allow the central government to take control of Catalonia's autonomous powers to try to halt the region's independence bid. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy makes a speech at the Senate in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Rajoy has appealed to the country's Senate to grant special constitutional measures that would allow the central government to take control of Catalonia's autonomous powers to try to halt the region's independence bid. (AP Photo/Paul White)

A woman draped in an independence flag walks outside the Catalan parliament, in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont said Thursday he considered calling a snap election, but was choosing not to because he didn't receive enough guarantees that the government's "abusive" moves to take control of Catalonia would be suspended. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

People gather outside the Catalan parliament in support for a unilateral declaration of independence, in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont said Thursday he considered calling a snap election, but was choosing not to because he didn't receive enough guarantees that the government's "abusive" moves to take control of Catalonia would be suspended. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

A man draped in an independence flag walks outside the Catalan parliament, in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont said Thursday he considered calling a snap election, but was choosing not to because he didn't receive enough guarantees that the government's "abusive" moves to take control of Catalonia would be suspended. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy waits to make a speech at the Senate in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Rajoy has appealed to the country's Senate to grant special constitutional measures that would allow the central government to take control of Catalonia's autonomous powers to try to halt the region's independence bid. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy makes a speech at the Senate in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Rajoy has appealed to the country's Senate to grant special constitutional measures that would allow the central government to take control of Catalonia's autonomous powers to try to halt the region's independence bid. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Basque activists from "Bizi" ("Live" in Basque) hold a flag of the Basque region, left, and an independence Catalonia flag after setting up a banner on the facade of the Spanish Consulate in Bayonne, southwestern France, Friday, Oct.27, 2017. In an impassioned addressed, Spain's prime minister on Friday appealed to the country's Senate to grant constitutional powers that would allow the central government to take control of Catalonia's authorities. Banner refers to jailed Catalonia leaders Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart and reads "Stop the totalitarian drift" . (AP Photo/Bob Edme)

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy acknowledges applause from the chamber after a speech at the Senate in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Rajoy has appealed to the country's Senate to grant special constitutional measures that would allow the central government to take control of Catalonia's autonomous powers to try to halt the region's independence bid. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Protesters hold fake handcuffs as they take part a rally outside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's parliament on Friday will resume debating its response to the Spanish government's plans to strip away its regional powers to halt it pushing toward independence.(AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

Protesters take part in a rally outside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's parliament on Friday will resume debating its response to the Spanish government's plans to strip away its regional powers to halt it pushing toward independence.(AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont gestures during a session inside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalan separatist lawmakers have filed a motion to hold a vote in the upcoming regional parliament session on whether to establish a republic independent of Spain. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Protesters hold Catalan flags during a rally outside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's parliament on Friday will resume debating its response to the Spanish government's plans to strip away its regional powers to halt it pushing toward independence.(AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

Protesters wave a Catalan flag during a rally outside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's parliament on Friday will resume debating its response to the Spanish government's plans to strip away its regional powers to halt it pushing toward independence.(AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

Protesters shout as they watch Catalan President Carles Puigdemont speaking in parliament, on a giant screen during a rally outside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's parliament on Friday will resume debating its response to the Spanish government's plans to strip away its regional powers to halt it pushing toward independence.(AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

Delegates applaud after a speech as Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, bottom left, smiles during a session inside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalan separatist lawmakers have filed a motion to hold a vote in the upcoming regional parliament session on whether to establish a republic independent of Spain. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Delegates including Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, bottom center, attend a session inside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalan separatist lawmakers have filed a motion to hold a vote in the upcoming regional parliament session on whether to establish a republic independent of Spain. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont sings the Catalan anthem inside the parliament after a vote on independence in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's regional parliament has passed a motion saying they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic.(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Pro independence supporters celebrate in the street in Barcelona, Spain, after Catalonia's regional parliament passed a motion with which they say they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, center, Vice President Oriol Junqueras, left, and Carme Forcadell, the parliament president, sing the Catalan anthem inside the parliament after a vote on independence in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's regional parliament has passed a motion saying they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic.(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

People wave "estelada" or pro independence flags celebrating in the street in Barcelona, Spain, after Catalonia's regional parliament passed a motion with which they say they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

Pro-independence supporters react as they watch the parliament session on a huge screen during a rally outside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's regional parliament has passed a motion saying they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic. Separatist lawmakers erupted in applause as the vote was approved with 70 votes in favor of independence, 10 against and 2 blank ballots. Most opposition lawmakers had left the chamber in protest moments before the vote. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, center, speaks to a crowd inside the Catalan parliament after a vote on independence in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's regional parliament has passed a motion saying they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic.(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

People react as they celebrate the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia outside the Catalan Parliament, in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonias' regional Parliament passed a motion Friday to establish an independent Catalan Republic. (AP Photo/ Emilio Morenatti)

People react as they watch the parliament session on a huge screen during a rally outside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's regional parliament has passed a motion saying they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic. Separatist lawmakers erupted in applause as the vote was approved with 70 votes in favor of independence, 10 against and 2 blank ballots. Most opposition lawmakers had left the chamber in protest moments before the vote. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

People react as they celebrate the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia outside the Catalan Parliament, in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonias' regional Parliament passed a motion Friday to establish an independent Catalan Republic. (AP Photo/ Emilio Morenatti)

People react as they watch the parliament session on a huge screen during a rally outside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's regional parliament has passed a motion saying they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic. Separatist lawmakers erupted in applause as the vote was approved with 70 votes in favor of independence, 10 against and 2 blank ballots. Most opposition lawmakers had left the chamber in protest moments before the vote. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, center right, and Vice President Oriol Junqueras, center left, gather with other lawmakers after a vote on independence on the steps inside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's regional parliament has passed a motion saying they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic.(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

People react as they watch the parliament session on a huge screen during a rally outside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's regional parliament has passed a motion saying they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic. Separatist lawmakers erupted in applause as the vote was approved with 70 votes in favor of independence, 10 against and 2 blank ballots. Most opposition lawmakers had left the chamber in protest moments before the vote. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, right, and Vice President Oriol Junqueras applaud after a vote on independence inside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's regional parliament has passed a motion saying they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic.(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Maria Salut, 50, center, reacts as they celebrate the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia outside the Catalan Parliament, in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonias' regional Parliament passed a motion Friday to establish an independent Catalan Republic. (AP Photo/ Emilio Morenatti)

Opposition Catalan lawmakers hold Spanish national flags and Estelada's before leaving the chamber to boycott a vote on independence inside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's regional parliament has passed a motion saying they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic.(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Maria Salut, 50, reacts as they celebrate the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia outside the Catalan Parliament, in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonias' regional Parliament passed a motion Friday to establish an independent Catalan Republic. (AP Photo/ Emilio Morenatti)

People react as they celebrate the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia outside the Catalan Parliament, in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonias' regional Parliament passed a motion Friday to establish an independent Catalan Republic. (AP Photo/ Emilio Morenatti)

A book of the Spanish constitution is placed on the benches of opposition Catalan lawmakers who left the chamber to boycott a vote on independence inside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's regional parliament has passed a motion saying they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic.(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

People react as they celebrate the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia outside the Catalan Parliament, in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonias' regional Parliament passed a motion Friday to establish an independent Catalan Republic. (AP Photo/ Emilio Morenatti)

Maria Salut, 50, center, reacts as they celebrate the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia outside the Catalan Parliament, in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonias' regional Parliament passed a motion Friday to establish an independent Catalan Republic. (AP Photo/ Emilio Morenatti)

People react as they celebrate the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia outside the Catalan Parliament, in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonias' regional Parliament passed a motion Friday to establish an independent Catalan Republic. (AP Photo/ Emilio Morenatti)
GRAMBLING, La. (AP) - Authorities in Louisiana have charged a fellow student in the deaths of a Grambling State University student and his friend.

Jaylin M. Wayne, a 19-year-old freshman from St. Louis, faces first-degree murder charges in the shooting that killed the two after a fight earlier this week on the Louisiana college's campus, Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Office spokesman Maj. Stephen Williams said in a news release.

The shooting followed an altercation that started inside a dorm room and spilled out into a courtyard about midnight Tuesday, Williams said. Wayne turned himself in Thursday evening after his arrest warrant was issued.

This photo provided by the Lincoln Parish Sheriffs Office via The News-Star shows Jaylin M. Wayne. The Grambling State University student was arrested Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017, and faces first-degree murder charges, Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Office spokesman Maj. Stephen Williams said in a news release. Wayne was arrested in connection to a shooting that killed another student and his friend after a fight on the Louisiana college's campus, authorities said. (Lincoln Parish Sheriffs Office/The News-Star via AP)

Sheriff Mike Stone said in a statement earlier this week that the suspect and victims knew each other "to some extent." He stressed that the shooting wasn't random or an act of terrorism.

"It became apparent very early in the investigation that this was not some random occurrence, that these people did know each other," Grambling State President Richard Gallot Jr. said in a telephone interview after the student's arrest.

University spokesman Will Sutton identified the victims as Grambling junior Earl Andrews and Monquiarious Caldwell, both 23 and from Farmerville, Louisiana, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Grambling. It appeared that Caldwell was coming to the aide of Andrews when he was shot, according to a sheriff's department news release.

Classes have been held as usual at the historically black college in northern Louisiana, where nearly 5,000 students are enrolled.

But Gallot said the campus will have "increased police and security" this week. He also said that student leaders decided to hold a "peace walk" on Friday instead of a homecoming pep rally.

"It's a very sad and unfortunate situation," he said.

Andrews' brother, Ledarius Heard, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that Andrews and Caldwell were friends from high school and cousins by marriage. Heard, 31, said his brother, who lived with him off campus in Ruston, was studying criminal justice and hoped to move to Texas after graduation to be closer to his 1-year-old son.

The deadly shootings happened during the school's homecoming week. Heard said Andrews typically came home immediately after his classes but had been on campus Tuesday night to hang out with friends during homecoming week.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the John F. Kennedy assassination files (all times local):

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7:30 a.m.

This image provided by the Warren commission, shows Warren Commission Exhibit No. 697, President John F. Kennedy at the extreme right on rear seat of his limousine during Dallas, motorcade on Nov. 22, 1963. His wife, Jacqueline, beside him, Gov. John Connally of Texas and his wife were on jump seats in front of the president. President Donald Trump is caught in a push-pull on new details of Kennedy's assassination, jammed between students of the killing who want every scrap of information and intelligence agencies that are said to be counseling restraint. How that plays out should be known on Oct. 26, 2017, when long-secret files are expected to be released. (Warren Commission via AP)

Newly released files say a British newspaper received an anonymous call about "big news" in the United States minutes before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

A batch of 2,800 declassified documents includes a memo to the director of the FBI, dated November 26, 1963, about a call received by the Cambridge News on November 22.

It says the caller said that "the Cambridge News reporter should call the American Embassy in London for some big news, and then hung up."

The memo says Britain's MI5 intelligence service calculated that the call came 25 minutes before Kennedy was shot in Dallas.

Anna Savva, a current Cambridge News reporter, says the paper has no record of who took the call. She said Friday that learning of the call was "completely jaw-dropping."

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3:40 a.m.

President Donald Trump has blocked the release of hundreds of records on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, bending to CIA and FBI appeals, while the National Archives came out Thursday night with a hefty cache of others.

"I have no choice," Trump said in a memo, citing "potentially irreversible harm" to national security if he were to allow all records to come out now. He placed those files under a six-month review while letting 2,800 others come out, racing a deadline to honor a law mandating their release.

The documents approved for release and made public late Thursday capture the frantic days after the Nov. 22, 1963, assassination, during which federal agents madly chased after tips, however thin, juggled rumors and sifted through leads worldwide.

They include cables, notes and reports stamped "Secret" that reveal the suspicions of the era - around Cubans and Communists.

Part of a file, dated Nov. 24, 1963, quoting FBI director J. Edgar Hoover as he talks about the death of Lee Harvey Oswald, released for the first time on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017, is photographed in Washington. The public is getting a look at thousands of secret government files related to President John F. Kennedy's assassination, but hundreds of other documents will remain under wraps for now. The government was required by Thursday to release the final batch of files related to Kennedy's assassination in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. But President Donald Trump delayed the release of some of the files, citing security concerns. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities say an off-duty New York state parole officer who was fatally shot inside her apartment by a police detective had fired first.

State police officials conducting the investigation into the Oct. 4 shooting in Canandaigua said Friday that 48-year-old Sandy Guardiola was lying in her bed when Detective Sgt. Scott Kadien checked on her at the request of another parole officer.

Officials say Kadien spoke to her briefly and left the bedroom to summon help. When he re-entered the room, she was holding a handgun.

Police say Kadien retreated and told her not to shoot. Officials say Guardiola fired once, hitting a wall. Officials say he ordered her to drop the gun, but when she raised it again he fired, hitting her three times.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on questions surrounding a $300 million contract for Puerto Rico's power grid (all times local):

4:50 p.m.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke says he "had absolutely nothing to do" with a $300 million contract awarded to a small company from his hometown to help restore Puerto Rico's power grid.

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2017, file photoInterior Secretary Ryan Zinke speaks on the Trump Administration's energy policy at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. The Trump administration said Oct. 27 it had no involvement in the decision to award a $300 million contract to help restore Puerto Rico's power grid to a tiny Montana company in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's hometown. White House spokesman Raj Shah said Friday that federal officials played no role in the selection of Whitefish Energy Holdings by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

In a statement Friday, Zinke labeled as "completely baseless" any "attempts by the dishonest media or political operatives to tie me to awarding or influencing any contract" involving Whitefish Energy Holdings.

The contract for the tiny company based in Zinke's hometown of Whitefish, Montana, has drawn a bipartisan chorus of criticism from Capitol Hill. The internal watchdog at the Department of Homeland Security says it is investigating the contract and will look for any "inappropriate relationships" associated with it.

Zinke said he welcomes "any and all investigations" and encouraged the Interior Department's inspector general to review the matter.

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4 p.m.

An internal watchdog at the Department of Homeland Security says it will review the decision to award a $300 million contract to help restore Puerto Rico's power grid to a tiny Montana company in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's hometown.

A spokesman for the department's inspector general says federal auditors will look into the selection of Whitefish Energy Holdings by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. Spokesman Arlen Morales says they will look for the presence of any "inappropriate relationships" with the contract.

The Trump administration is seeking to distance itself from the issue amid a bipartisan chorus of criticism from Capitol Hill.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Zinke has personally assured President Donald Trump that he had nothing to do with the contract.

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1:35 p.m.

The White House says it's unaware of any federal role in the decision to award a $300 million, no-bid contract to a tiny Montana company to help restore Puerto Rico's power grid.

White House spokesman Raj Shah says the decision to award the contract to Whitefish Energy Holdings was made exclusively by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.

FEMA also says the contract decision was made by the power authority.

Congressional Democrats are calling for an investigation into how Whitefish got the contract. The 2-year-old company is based in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's hometown.

It had just two full-time employees when the storm hit on Sept. 20. It has since hired more than 300 workers.

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12:25 p.m.

Congressional Democrats are asking the inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security to investigate a $300 million no-bid contract awarded to a tiny Montana company to help restore Puerto Rico's power grid.

Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said the contract awarded to Whitefish Energy Holdings "raises every red flag in the book." The 2-year-old company, based in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's hometown, had just two full-time employees when the storm hit Sept. 20. It has since hired more than 300 workers.

Reps. Peter DeFazio of Oregon and Raul Grijalva of Arizona also asked for the inspector general to investigate. DeFazio is top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, while Grijalva is the top Democrat on Natural Resources.

___

10:52 a.m.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it had no involvement in the decision to award a $300 million contract to help restore Puerto Rico's damaged power grid. The contract went to a tiny Montana company from the hometown of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

FEMA said in a statement Friday that any language in the contract saying the agency approved the deal with Whitefish Energy Holdings is inaccurate. FEMA says it hasn't approved any reimbursement requests from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority for money to cover the ongoing repairs to the island's power grid following Hurricane Maria.

FEMA says its initial review raises significant concerns about how Whitefish got the deal and whether the contracted prices are reasonable.

Multiple congressional committees have now launched investigations into the contract.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The Latest on calls to remove a Confederate marker at the Texas Capitol that rejects slavery as an underlying cause of the Civil War (all times local):

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6:15 p.m.

The office of Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is pushing back on whether he endorsed the removal of a Confederate marker at the state Capitol during a private meeting with a black lawmaker.

Abbott spokeswoman Ciara Matthews says the governor pledged to Democratic state Rep. Eric Johnson that state officials would look into a plaque that rejects slavery as an underlying cause of the Civil War. But she says the governor didn't agree to remove it.

Johnson told The Associated Press that he concedes Abbott didn't explicitly say the plaque would be taken down. But he says the governor agreed it was historically inaccurate and indicated that he supported its removal.

Johnson called Abbott's characterization of the meeting "mind-boggling" and says he might release meeting notes taken by his staff.

Johnson has for months called for its removal as Confederate markers come down nationwide.

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4:30 p.m.

A black Texas lawmaker says Republican Gov. Greg Abbott privately told him that he supports removing a Confederate marker inside the State Capitol that rejects slavery as an underlying cause of the Civil War.

An Abbott spokeswoman Friday stopped short of saying the plaque would come down and did not say if the plaque is appropriate. Ciara Matthews says the governor will ask state officials to look into the issue.

But Democratic state Rep. Eric Johnson says Abbott seemed to agree a 1959 plaque titled "Children of the Confederacy Creed" was historically indefensible. He says Abbott didn't try defending the plaque during a meeting in Dallas.

Johnson has for months called for its removal as Confederate markers come down nationwide.

Abbott has said previously that removing monuments won't erase history.
PHOENIX (AP) - The Latest on the arrest of a drug company founder on conspiracy charges related to a prescription opioid cancer drug (all times local):

5:12 p.m.

Health care analyst Steve Brozak says this week's arrest of an Arizona drug company founder in a fraud and racketeering case is the latest example of how profits have become more important than health for many U.S. pharmaceutical firms.

Brozak says the aggressive marketing that federal prosecutors described at Insys Therapeutics of Chandler, Arizona has become acceptable - a trend he does not welcome.

He is a New Jersey-based analyst with WWB Securities, a health care research firm that tracks companies in the sector.

Brozak said Friday he believes that Insys founder John Kapoor was arrested only because the drug involved in the marketing effort was an opioid, in this case a mouth spray that delivers the highly addictive fentanyl to end-stage cancer patients.

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12:13 a.m.

The drug company founder charged with leading a nationwide conspiracy to bribe doctors and pharmacists to widely prescribe an opioid cancer drug for people who didn't need it came to the U.S. for postgraduate studies and for a time was listed among Arizona's richest billionaires.

Forbes several years ago listed John N. Kapoor, the founder of Insys Therapeutics, as having a worth of $2.4 billion. That worth has fallen amid indictments of numerous fellow Insys executives. But Forbes still listed Kapoor's worth at $1.75 billion on Thursday as he went to U.S. federal court in the fraud and racketeering case.

Kapoor and some of his colleagues were charged with pushing prescriptions for the addictive drug the same day President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - The man who may soon be king of Saudi Arabia is charting a new, more modern course for a country so conservative that for decades there were no concerts or film screenings and women who attempted to drive were arrested.

Since catapulting to power with the support of his father, the king, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has pushed forth changes that could usher in a new era for one of the United States' most important allies and swing the kingdom away from decades of ultraconservative dogma and restrictions. He's introduced musical concerts and movies again and is seen as the force behind the king's decision to grant women the right to drive as of next year.

Opposition to the changes has so far been muted, but some critics of the prince have been detained. When social openings in the kingdom were taking place four decades ago, Sunni extremists opposed to the monarchy laid siege to Islam's holiest site in Mecca.

FILE- In this Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017 file photo released by Saudi Press Agency, SPA, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speaks at the opening ceremony of Future Investment Initiative Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's crown prince has promised to return the ultraconservative kingdom to a more "moderate" Islam. (Saudi Press Agency via AP, File)

Prince Mohammed's agenda is upending the ruling Al Saud's longstanding alliance with the kingdom's clerical establishment in favor of synchronizing with a more cosmopolitan, global capitalism that appeals to international investors and maybe even non-Muslim tourists.

The prince grabbed headlines in recent days by vowing a return to "moderate Islam." He also suggested that his father's generation had steered the country down a problematic path and that it was time to "get rid of it."

In his sweeping "Vision 2030" plan to wean Saudi Arabia off of its near total dependence on petrodollars, Prince Mohammed laid out a vision for "a tolerant country with Islam as its constitution and moderation as its method."

Prince Mohammed, or MBS as he is widely known, used a rare public appearance on stage at a major investor conference in the capital, Riyadh, this week to drive home that message to a global audience.

"We only want to go back to what we were: Moderate Islam that is open to the world, open to all religions," he said in the ornate grand hall of the Ritz-Carlton. "We will not waste 30 years of our lives in dealing with extremist ideas. We will destroy them today."

His remarks were met with applause and a front-page article in Britain's Guardian Newspaper. In expanded remarks to the paper, the 32-year-old prince said that successive Saudi monarchs "didn't know how to deal with" Iran's 1979 revolution that brought to power a clerical Shiite leadership still in place today.

That same year Saudi rulers weathered a stunning blow: Sunni extremists laid siege to Islam's holiest site in Mecca for 15 days. The attack was carried out by militants opposed to social openings taking place at the time, seeing them as Western and un-Islamic.

Indeed, Sunni extremists have used the intolerant views propagated by the ideology known as Wahhabism to justify violence against others. Wahhabism has governed life in Saudi Arabia since its foundation 85 years ago.

The ruling Al Saud responded to the events of 1979 by empowering the state's ultraconservatives. To hedge the international appeal of Iran's Shiite revolution, the government backed efforts to export the kingdom's foundational Wahhabi ideology abroad.

To appease a sizeable conservative segment of the population at home, cinemas were shuttered, women were banned from appearing on state television and the religious police were emboldened.

Much is now changing under the crown prince as he consolidates greater powers and prepares to inherit the throne.

There are plans to build a Six Flags theme park and a semi-autonomous Red Sea tourist destination where the strict rules on women's dress will likely not apply. Females have greater access to sports, the powers of the once-feared religious police have been curtailed and restrictions on gender segregation are being eased.

Unlike previous Saudi monarchs, such as King Abdullah who backed gradual and cautious openings, Prince Mohammed is moving quickly.

More than half of Saudi Arabia's 20 million citizens are below the age of 25, meaning millions of young Saudis will be entering the workforce in the coming decade. The government is urgently trying to create more jobs and ward off the kinds of grievances that sparked uprisings in other Arab countries where unemployment is rampant and citizens have little say in government.

The prince has to find solutions now for the problems he is set to inherit as monarch.

"What MBS is doing is a must requirement for any kind of economic reform. Economic reform requires a new Protestant ethic if you will, a new brand of Islam," said Maamoun Fandy, director of the London Global Strategy Institute.

This new Saudi version of "moderate Islam" can be understood as one that is amenable to economic reforms; it does not close shops at prayer time or banish women from public life, Fandy said.

In other words, Saudi Arabia's economic reforms require social reforms to succeed.

Buzz words like "reform," ''transparency" and "accountability" - all used by the prince in his promotion of Vision 2030 - do not, however, mean that Saudi Arabia is moving toward greater liberalism, democracy, pluralism or freedom of speech.

The government does not grant licenses to non-Muslim houses of worship, and limits those of its Shiite Muslim citizens.

The prince has also made no mention of human rights concerns. If anything, dozens of the prince's perceived critics have been detained in a warning to others who dare to speak out.

Some of those arrested were seen as critics of his foreign policies, which include severing ties with Qatar, increasing tensions with Iran and overseeing airstrikes in Yemen that have killed scores of civilians and drawn sharp condemnation from rights groups and some in Washington.

Meanwhile, Prince Mohammed faces a Saudi public that remains religiously conservative. That means he still needs public support from the state's top clerics in order to position his reforms as Islamic and religiously permissible.

These clerics, many of whom had spoken out in the past against women working and driving, appear unwilling or unable to publicly criticize the moves. In this absolute monarchy, the king holds final say on most matters and the public has shown it is welcoming the changes.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE - Aya Batrawy, an Associated Press reporter since 2011, has reported on the Middle East for the past decade and has led AP's coverage of Saudi Arabia since 2013.

FILE- In this Monday, Jan.17, 2005 file photo, pilgrims circle the Kabaa at the Great Mosque, Islam's holiest shrine, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's crown prince has promised to return the ultraconservative kingdom to a more "moderate" Islam. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) - One of Utah's senators says President Donald Trump has decided to reverse protections established by two Democratic presidents to more than 3.6 million acres at two national monuments in the state.

Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch says he's "incredibly grateful" that Trump called him on Friday to say he is approving Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's proposal on the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.

The White House isn't confirming the decision ahead of Trump's announcement.

FILE - This May 8, 2017, file photo shows an aerial view of Arch Canyon within Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. President Donald Trump is shrinking two national monuments in Utah, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante, accepting the recommendation of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to reverse protections established by two Democratic presidents, a Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Friday, Oct. 27. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, File)

Hatch says he and Trump believe there should be protections for the monuments but there is "a better way to do it" by working with local officials and tribes.

Environmental groups have promised to take the Trump administration to court to block any attempts to rescind or reduce the monument designations.

FILE - In this May 9, 2017, file photo, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke takes a horseback ride in the Bears Ears National Monument with local and state representatives in Blanding, Utah. President Donald Trump is shrinking two national monuments in Utah, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante, accepting the recommendation of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to reverse protections established by two Democratic presidents, a Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Friday, Oct. 27. (Scott G Winterton/The Deseret News via AP)
Champion mare Winx - the world's highest-rated turf thoroughbred - made more racing history on Saturday by winning her third Cox Plate at Melbourne's Moonee Valley course, becoming the top-earning horse in Australasian racing.

Winx won her 22nd successive race by taking out the 2,040-meter weight-for-age event, rated by many as the top-quality race in Australia and New Zealand.

In beating former New Zealander Humidor by a long neck, the six-year-old became only the second horse to win three Cox Plates since its inception in 1922. The great Kingston Town won his hat-trick from 1980-1982.

Winx, trained in Sydney by expatriate New Zealander Chris Waller, took her earnings to 15,577,000 Australian dollars ($11.96 million), surpassing triple Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva's previous Australasian record of A$14.5 million ($11.14 million).

The daughter of Irish stallion Street Cry didn't have things her own way, however, having to fight off Humidor's determined challenge in the straight under her regular rider Hugh Bowman. She broke her own track record by 0.04 seconds, with a time of 2 minutes, 2.94 seconds.

English horse Folkswood was third, 4-1/4 lengths behind Humidor.

"We are in the presence of greatness," an emotional Bowman said after the race. "She will be recognized as one of the greatest horses to grace the Australian turf, and to be a part of her career I can't explain how much that means."

Winx, who has now won 26 of her 32 career starts, also matched the Australasian record of 15 Group 1 wins set by former sprinting star Black Caviar. Three more successive wins will put her equal with that unbeaten mare's record 25 straight victories.

Winx, who may compete at England's Royal Ascot meeting next June, is also expected to pass American dirt runner Arrogate as the overall top-rated horse in the world when the next set of World Thoroughbred Rankings compiled by the France-based International Federation of Horseracing Authorities comes out in November.

Only 11 horses have won more successive races than Winx's 22, several of them in lower-level racing jurisdictions and against less-than-top quality opposition.

Kincsem, a Hungarian mare who raced in the 1870s, was unbeaten in 54 starts, while Puerto Rica's Camarero won 56 straight - in a career featuring 73 wins from 76 starts - in the 1950s.
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - It's a romantic idea - sailing across the ocean, sleeping under the stars.

But earlier this week, the U.S. Navy rescued two women adrift in the Pacific Ocean about 900 miles off Japan, at sea for months after their sailboat became disabled.

While some people wing it, experts recommend thoroughly understanding what you're getting into and being as prepared as possible - taking lessons, having emergency and navigational gear, and packing more than enough food.

In this Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017 frame from video provided by the U.S. Navy, Jennifer Appel, left, and Tasha Fuiava, who with their dogs were rescued after being lost at sea for several months while trying to sail from Hawaii to Tahiti, are interviewed aboard the USS Ashland in the South Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Navy rescued the women on Wednesday after a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted them about 900 miles southeast of Japan on Tuesday and alerted the U.S. Coast Guard. The women lost their engine in bad weather in late May, but believed they could still reach Tahiti. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jonathan Clay/U.S. Navy via AP)

John Neal, who with his wife, Amanda, conducts sail-training trips and seminars through their company, Washington state-based Mahina Expeditions, said crossing oceans is easier than it's ever been. He cites modern instrumentation and sail-handling systems as examples.

"So it's not uncommon to have people who are very new to sailing take off and literally sail around the world," he said. "And most of them make it, and the rest you never hear of."

The women had left Hawaii in May in hopes of reaching Tahiti and exploring islands in the south Pacific. Details of their ordeal were still unfolding.

The boat's captain, Jennifer Appel, said she has traveled the Hawaiian islands and planned the Tahiti voyage for more than two years. But she said she and Tasha Fuiava may not have been as ready as they could have been.

"I had no idea what I was getting myself into," she said. "When I asked Natasha, I told her I have no idea what's going to happen out there and she said, 'That's OK, I've never sailed.'"

Some tips for long sailing trips:

GETTING READY

For newcomers, Neal recommends sailing lessons and navigation courses. He also suggests they gradually get comfortable in different wind conditions, going out, say, at 15 knots, then 20 knots, then 25 knots and learning what sail combinations work in increasingly strong winds.

"That way, when you get halfway across the ocean and you get into a tropical squall where the winds could go up to 50 or 60 knots, you don't freak out," he said.

As for the boat, experienced sailors would have professionals inspect it - its sails, its engine - before leaving, said Mike Michelwait, owner of the Honolulu Sailing Company, a sailing school and charter company.

If you're unfamiliar with engines, have a mechanic check it out and recommend spare parts you should carry - "and have plenty of them on board. If the maintenance is done properly you shouldn't have a problem," he said.

EQUIPMENT

The U.S. Coast Guard requires certain gear, like life jackets, a horn, a bell and flares, Neal said.

He additionally has GPS units, satellite phones and emergency radio beacons, which he said cost $250 and allow for the nearest marine rescue coordinating center to know your exact position to within 30 meters of the boat, no matter where you are.

Such gear has become standard, but whether someone has something can depend on experience, finances or personal preferences, said Phil Moritz, a semi-retired dentist from Alaska who has been sailing much of his life.

Neal said a satellite phone can cost $1,200, and it would be strange not to have long-range communications. But he said not everyone can afford one.

Appel said they had a VHF radio, a ham radio, a weather satellite and a radio telephone, all of which didn't work because they had a communications failure with their antenna. A satellite phone they carried also never seemed to connect.

"We had six different ways to communicate, multiple backups and none of them functioned properly," she said. "It exceeds Murphy's Law."

Appel and Fuiava sent out daily distress signals and said they fired signal flares and unsuccessfully tried hailing different ships. They lost one of their cell phones early on but were out of cell range anyway.

FOOD AND WATER

People generally would plan to have food for twice the amount of time they expect to be out, Neal said. Dry foods, like pasta and oatmeal, don't take up a lot of space and don't weigh much.

Moritz said food was never his biggest worry.

"I always look at water as being the most finite thing," he said. "When I was using a water maker, every day I was generating water, I would fill the boat up, even though it's weight, as far as I could thinking, Well, this could be the last day you have before it breaks or something else breaks."

Appel said they had a working water maker and they still had food when they were rescued.

SAILING

Michelwait, who has sailed the route from Hawaii to Tahiti several times, said he wouldn't take a trip like that with any less than three experienced sailors. The women were on a 50-foot boat. "That's a lot of boat to handle," he said.

Neal and his wife, on their website, also say being in good physical shape is important. "Ocean voyaging is more physically demanding than most people expect, even on a large, modern and comfortable boat," their site says.

___

Associated Press reporter Caleb Jones contributed from Honolulu. Bohrer can be reached at https://twitter.com/beckybohrerap.

In this Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017 still image taken from video provided by the U.S. Navy, Jennifer Appel, of Honolulu, blows kisses as rescuers approach her crippled sailboat, the Sea Nymph, after being lost at sea for months, about 900 miles southeast of Japan. Their engine was crippled, their mast was damaged and things went downhill from there for two women who set out to sail the 2,700 miles from Hawaii to Tahiti. A Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted their boat off Japan and thousands of miles in the wrong direction from Tahiti. The Navy sent the USS Ashland to their rescue. (U.S. Navy via AP)

In this Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017 frame from video provided by the U.S. Navy, Jennifer Appel, left, and Tasha Fuiava, who with their dogs were rescued after being lost at sea for several months while trying to sail from Hawaii to Tahiti, are interviewed aboard the USS Ashland in the South Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Navy rescued the women on Wednesday after a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted them about 900 miles southeast of Japan on Tuesday and alerted the U.S. Coast Guard. The women lost their engine in bad weather in late May, but believed they could still reach Tahiti. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jonathan Clay/U.S. Navy via AP)

CORRECTS NAME TO TASHA FUIAVA-In this Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017 photo, sailors from the USS Ashland approach a sailboat with two Honolulu women and their dogs aboard as they are rescued after being lost at sea for several months while trying to sail from Hawaii to Tahiti. The U.S. Navy rescued the women on Wednesday after a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted them about 900 miles southeast of Japan on Tuesday and alerted the U.S. Coast Guard. The women, identified by the Navy as Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava, lost their engine in bad weather in late May, but believed they could still reach Tahiti. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jonathan Clay/U.S. Navy via AP)

CORRECTS NAME TO TASHA FUIAVA- In this Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017 photo, USS Ashland sailors help Zeus, one of two dogs who were accompanying two Honolulu women who were rescued after being lost at sea for several months while trying to sail from Hawaii to Tahiti. The U.S. Navy rescued the women on Wednesday after a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted them about 900 miles southeast of Japan on Tuesday and alerted the U.S. Coast Guard. The women, identified by the Navy as Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava, lost their engine in bad weather in late May, but believed they could still reach Tahiti. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jonathan Clay/U.S. Navy via AP)

In this Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017 frame from video provided by the U.S. Navy, Jennifer Appel, left, and Tasha Fuiava, who with their dogs were rescued after being lost at sea for several months while trying to sail from Hawaii to Tahiti, are interviewed aboard the USS Ashland in the South Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Navy rescued the women on Wednesday after a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted them about 900 miles southeast of Japan on Tuesday and alerted the U.S. Coast Guard. The women lost their engine in bad weather in late May, but believed they could still reach Tahiti. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jonathan Clay/U.S. Navy via AP)

In this Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017 frame from video provided by the U.S. Navy, Jennifer Appel, left, and Tasha Fuiava, who with their dogs were rescued after being lost at sea for several months while trying to sail from Hawaii to Tahiti, are interviewed aboard the USS Ashland in the South Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Navy rescued the women on Wednesday after a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted them about 900 miles southeast of Japan on Tuesday and alerted the U.S. Coast Guard. The women lost their engine in bad weather in late May, but believed they could still reach Tahiti. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jonathan Clay/U.S. Navy via AP)
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Catalonia's ousted leader called for peaceful opposition to Spain's decision to take direct control of the region, saying Saturday that he and other regional officials fired by the central government will keep "working to build a free country."

Carles Puigdemont's comments, made in a recorded televised address that was broadcast as he sat in a cafe in his hometown of Girona, were a veiled refusal to accept his Cabinet's dismissal as ordered by central authorities.

They came a day after one of the most tumultuous days in Spain's recent history, when Catalan lawmakers in Barcelona passed a declaration of independence Friday for the prosperous northeastern region, and the national parliament in Madrid approved unprecedented constitutional measures to halt the secessionist drive.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont speaks during a statement at the Palau Generalitat in Barcelona, Spain, on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Catalonia's separatist leader has called on Catalans to peacefully oppose Spain's takeover, in a staged appearance that seemed to convey that he refuses to accept his firing, which was ordered by central authorities (Presidency Press Service, Pool Photo via AP)

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy also dissolved the regional parliament and called a new regional election to be held on Dec. 21.

In his televised statement, Puigdemont said only the regional parliament can elect or dismiss the Catalan government, vowing to "continue working to build a free country."

"The best way we have to defend the achievements to date is the democratic opposition to the application of Article 155," Puigdemont said in reference to the constitutional clause that gave Madrid direct control of affairs in Catalonia.

Despite his defiant tone and the use of the official Catalan government emblem, the Catalan and European Union flags but no sign of the Spanish one, some political commentators saw his mention of "democratic opposition" as laying the groundwork for political campaigning for the regional election in less than two months.

"Our will is to continue working to fulfill the democratic mandates and at the same time seek the maximum stability and tranquility," Puigdemont said. Separatists argue that a controversial victory in a banned Oct. 1 referendum legitimizes them to split from Spain.

Andrew Dowling, a specialist in Catalan history at Cardiff University in Wales, said the statement was "vague and imprecise, certainly not like the president of a new country."

"They have led 2 million Catalans to believe in independence, so it's a big problem to tell them now that it's actually difficult to build a state when Spain has the upper hand of the law on its side," Dowling said. "They are trapped by their own rhetoric."

After Spain's central authorities made the takeover official early Saturday, Puigdemont and the 12 members who until Saturday made up the Catalan Cabinet are no longer paid.

Spain's government has said they could be charged with usurping others' functions if they refuse to obey, which could throw the region into further turmoil by prolonging a monthlong standoff.

In comments that were met late Friday with jeers and whistles of disapproval by secession supporters in Barcelona, Rajoy said the declaration of independence "not only goes against the law but is a criminal act."

Spanish prosecutors say top Catalan officials could face rebellion charges as soon as Monday.

Refusing to comment on Puigdemont's televised address, Rajoy's office said on Saturday that his actions will be a judicial affair from now on and that the Dec. 21 election would be the way "to return dignity to the Catalan institutions."

It's not clear at all whether a new election would solve Spain's problems with separatists in Catalonia. Polls suggest pro-independence parties would likely maintain their slim advantage in parliamentary seats but wouldn't get more than 50 percent of the vote.

Beyond any possible resistance from top Catalan officials, it's unclear how Rajoy's government in Madrid will be able to exert its control at lower levels of Catalonia's vast regional administration.

Catalonia had secured the ability to govern itself in many areas, including education, health and policing, since democracy returned to Spain following the death of dictator Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975.

Some among Catalonia's roughly 200,000 civil servants have said they will refuse to obey orders from Madrid. They risk being punished or even fired under the special powers granted to central authorities by the nation's Senate on Friday.

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria will be Rajoy's point person in running Catalonia until the new regional election. She will coordinate other ministries that take over functions of Catalonia's regional departments, including finances and security, and appoint officials to implement orders from Madrid.

In one of the first moves, Spain's Interior Ministry published an order to demote Josep Lluis Trapero from his position as head of the regional Mossos d'Esquadra police in Catalonia. He was allowed to remain as commissar, but he later released a statement saying he was resigning from the force.

Trapero became a divisive figure as the public face of the police response in mid-August to deadly extremists' attacks in and near Barcelona. He was praised for effectiveness but also criticized for coordination problems with other national police forces.

Spain's National Court is also investigating him as part of a sedition probe related to the banned Oct. 1 independence referendum, when the regional police were seen as acting passively - not aggressively - to halt the vote deemed illegal by a top Spanish court.

Trapero's boss, regional police director Pere Soler, said in a statement that he accepted his firing by central authorities in Madrid.

Pro-independence supporters gather near the Palau Generalitat in Barcelona, Spain, after Catalonia's regional parliament passed a motion with which they say they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Pro-independence demonstrators cheer outside the Catalan parliament, in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017.Catalan lawmakers voted Friday to secede from Spain, shortly before Spain's Senate approved a request by the central government to take direct control of Catalonia's affairs.((AP Photo/ Emilio Morenatti)

Pro-independence demonstrators cheer outside the Catalan parliament, in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalan lawmakers voted Friday to secede from Spain, shortly before Spain's Senate approved a request by the central government to take direct control of Catalonia's affairs.((AP Photo/ Emilio Morenatti)

Anti-independence supporters shout slogans and wave Spanish flags as they march against the unilateral declaration of independence approved earlier by the Catalan parliament in downtown Barcelona Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalan lawmakers voted Friday to secede from Spain, shortly before Spain's Senate approved a request by the central government to take direct control of Catalonia's affairs.(AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

EDS NOTE : SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN. - A child rests on a man's shoulders with a "estelada" or pro independence flag in the background as pro-independence supporters gather in the square outside the Palau Generalitat in Barcelona, Spain, after Catalonia's regional parliament passed a motion with which they say they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

A Catalan policeman talks to an anti-independence supporter as demonstrators are prevented from moving forward during a march against the unilateral declaration of independence approved earlier by the Catalan parliament in downtown Barcelona Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalan lawmakers voted Friday to secede from Spain, shortly before Spain's Senate approved a request by the central government to take direct control of Catalonia's affairs.(AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - The Latest on the Spain-Catalonia political crisis (all times local):

4:35 a.m.

The European Parliament's president says no one will ever recognize Catalonia as an independent country.

People wave Spanish flags during a mass protest by people angry with Catalonia's declaration of independence, in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Opponents of independence for Catalonia held the rally in the Spanish capital as thousands of people turned out in the Plaza de Colon. The rally comes after one of the country's most tumultuous days in decades. Signs read ' No to the impunity of the Coup Ieaders' and 'Puigemont to Prison'. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Antonio Tajani says Catalonia's independence referendum was illegal and state of law should be restored. He also spoke against EU mediation, saying the crisis is an internal Spanish issue.

Catalonia's separatist leader on Saturday called on Catalans to peacefully oppose Spain's takeover.

___

8:30 p.m.

The European Parliament's president says that Spain's decision to call a new election in Catalonia after the region's unilateral declaration of independence "was the right thing to do."

Antonio Tajani spoke to reporters Saturday while leaving the Vatican after a forum on Europe's future.

Tajani said that Europe's position is very clear: "No one will ever recognize Catalonia as an independent country. The referendum was illegal ... The state of law should be restored."

He said that the election will allow Catalans to "decide what kind of government they want to have. All should happen according to the Spanish Constitution."

Tajani added that Europe hopes that dialogue can help resolve the "difficult situation," adding "this does not mean that European Union could mediate, because it is a Spanish internal issue."

___

6:05 p.m.

About 150 people on motorbikes and in cars are holding a rally through Barcelona streets, waving Spanish and official Catalan flags.

The demonstrators are honking horns to show their solidarity with Spain's national police, and opposition to a declaration of independence by Catalonia.

The motorized demonstration comes a day after Catalan lawmakers voted in favor of a declaration of independence from Spain, and Spain's national government imposed direct rule in the region, dismissing the regional government. Opposition lawmakers who disagreed with secession walked out on the vote.

The demonstrators, noisy but peaceful, were heading toward the port, where reinforcements of national police and Spain's Guardia Civil have been staying since they were deployed in the area before a banned Oct. 1 referendum on independence.

___

2:45 p.m.

Catalonia's separatist leader has called on Catalans to peacefully oppose Spain's takeover, in a staged appearance that seemed to convey that he refuses to accept his firing, which was ordered by central authorities.

Carles Puigdemont said in a brief statement that appeared to be pre-recorded that "we will continue working to build a free country." Spain's La Sexta TV channel simultaneously showed live footage of Puigdemont having lunch in a bar in central Girona, his hometown, occasionally interrupted by residents who asked him to pose for selfies.

Puigdemont's appearance on public regional TV3 broadcaster showed him speaking from a podium with the official emblem of the Catalan regional government. Behind him there were the Catalan and European Union flags, but not the one from Spain.

Spain took formal direct control of Catalonia on Saturday, dismissing the region's defiant separatist government a day after lawmakers passed a declaration of independence for the prosperous northeastern region.

___

2:25 p.m.

The Catalan separatist leader, Carles Puigdemont, has scheduled a televised addressed at 2.30 p.m. (1230GMT) in his first public appearance since the Spanish government fired him.

Spain took formal direct control of Catalonia on Saturday, firing the region's defiant separatist government a day after lawmakers passed a declaration of independence for the prosperous northeastern region.

But Puigdemont and other members of his Cabinet have not made clear if they aim to obey the Spanish directive or offer resistance.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has ordered the dissolution of the Catalan regional parliament and called a new regional election for Dec. 21.

___

2:05 p.m.

Officials in Europe are speaking out against Catalonia's declaration of independence.

European Union President Jean-Claude Juncker, speaking from French Guyana, said "there isn't room in Europe for other fractures or other cracks. We've had enough of those."

Juncker said the EU wants "to respect the Spanish constitutional and legal order. We are not in favor of letting Europe develop so that tomorrow we'd have 95 member states. Twenty-eight is enough for now."

Greece also expressed concern Saturday about Catalonia's independence bid, saying it supports Spain's territorial integrity.

Greek government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos says "we are particularly concerned about the situation in Spain and repeat that Europe can only go forward united ... unilateral actions cannot be accepted."

___

1:45 p.m.

Catalonia's regional police agency has issued a statement saying it is operating as normal even though its chief has been fired by Madrid as Spain's central government tries to halt the region's independence movement.

The regional police wrote on Twitter on Saturday morning that "protecting and guaranteeing the safety of people is our priority. We continue working normally."

Catalan lawmakers declared independence on Friday. The move prompted the Spanish government to take direct control of the northeastern region's affairs, sacking its regional separatist government and calling for a new election in December.

___

1:15 p.m.

Opponents of independence for Catalonia are holding a rally in the Spanish capital of Madrid. Thousands of people have turned out in the Plaza de Colon, many waving Spanish flags or wearing them around their shoulders.

The rally comes after one of the country's most tumultuous days in decades.

On Friday, lawmakers in the northeastern region of Catalonia passed a declaration of independence in the regional parliament. Shortly afterward, Spain's Senate gave the central government in Madrid the power to take direct control of the region and fire its separatist government.

Spain fired Catalonia's regional leaders on Saturday morning.

___

8:05 a.m.

Spain has taken direct control of Catalonia and sacked the region's defiant separatist government by publishing special measures overnight in an official gazette online.

The move early Saturday came after separatist Catalan lawmakers passed a declaration of independence on Friday.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who now replaces Catalan President Carles Puigdemont as the top decision-maker in the northeastern region, has dissolved the regional parliament and called a new regional election on Dec. 21.

Puigdemont and the 12 members of the Catalan Cabinet will no longer be paid and could be charged with usurping others' functions if they refuse to obey.

There was no immediate response from the top Catalan officials. Only the director of the Catalan regional police, who was also fired, issued a statement saying he would comply.

People wave Spanish flags during a mass protest by people angry with Catalonia's declaration of independence, in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Opponents of independence for Catalonia held the rally in the Spanish capital as thousands of people turned out in the Plaza de Colon. The rally comes after one of the country's most tumultuous days in decades. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont sings the Catalan anthem inside the parliament after a vote on independence in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonia's regional parliament has passed a motion saying they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic.(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

In this photo taken on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017, Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria arrives to take her seat for a news conference given by Spain's Premier Mariano Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid. Spain took formal direct control of Catalonia on Saturday Oct. 28, 2017, firing the region's defiant separatist government, and Vice President Soraya Saenz de Santamaria will be tasked to run Catalonia until Dec. 21, when Catalans are expected to choose a new regional parliament in early elections. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Pro-independence supporters gather near the Palau Generalitat in Barcelona, Spain, after Catalonia's regional parliament passed a motion with which they say they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Pro-independence demonstrators cheer outside the Catalan parliament, in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017.Catalan lawmakers voted Friday to secede from Spain, shortly before Spain's Senate approved a request by the central government to take direct control of Catalonia's affairs.((AP Photo/ Emilio Morenatti)

Pro-independence demonstrators cheer outside the Catalan parliament, in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalan lawmakers voted Friday to secede from Spain, shortly before Spain's Senate approved a request by the central government to take direct control of Catalonia's affairs.((AP Photo/ Emilio Morenatti)

Anti-independence supporters shout slogans and wave Spanish flags as they march against the unilateral declaration of independence approved earlier by the Catalan parliament in downtown Barcelona Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalan lawmakers voted Friday to secede from Spain, shortly before Spain's Senate approved a request by the central government to take direct control of Catalonia's affairs.(AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

EDS NOTE : SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN. - A child rests on a man's shoulders with a "estelada" or pro independence flag in the background as pro-independence supporters gather in the square outside the Palau Generalitat in Barcelona, Spain, after Catalonia's regional parliament passed a motion with which they say they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

A Catalan policeman talks to an anti-independence supporter as demonstrators are prevented from moving forward during a march against the unilateral declaration of independence approved earlier by the Catalan parliament in downtown Barcelona Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalan lawmakers voted Friday to secede from Spain, shortly before Spain's Senate approved a request by the central government to take direct control of Catalonia's affairs.(AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Catalan riot police escorts demonstrators as they march against the unilateral declaration of independence approved earlier by the Catalan parliament in downtown Barcelona Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalan lawmakers voted Friday to secede from Spain, shortly before Spain's Senate approved a request by the central government to take direct control of Catalonia's affairs.(AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A woman takes a newspaper with a picture of Catalonia President Carles Puigdemont in a kiosk in Barcelona, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Catalan lawmakers voted Friday to secede from Spain, shortly before Spain's Senate approved a request by the central government to take direct control of Catalonia's affairs. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
BANGKOK (AP) - Thailand's new king led a royal merit-making ceremony for his late father's relics on Saturday, the fourth day of an elaborate five-day funeral that caps a year of mourning.

Buddhist monks from Thailand and abroad chanted prayers as King Maha Vajiralongkorn lit candles during the ceremony at the throne hall at Bangkok's Grand Palace.

On Thursday, a ceremonial urn representing King Bhumibol Adulyadej's remains was transferred from the throne hall to an ornate crematorium in somber processions involving thousands of troops, a golden palanquin, a gilded chariot and a royal gun carriage.

In this Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, photo, participants march in religious rituals to move the ashes of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, following a royal cremation ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand. Thailand's new king led a royal merit-making ceremony for his late father's relics on Saturday, the fourth day of an elaborate five-day funeral. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Just before midnight Thursday, smoke rose from the crematorium, which was built across from the palace in the year since Bhumibol died at age 88, signaling his cremation had taken place following a day of spectacular funeral processions broadcast worldwide.

On Sunday, the final day of the funeral, Bhumibol's cremated remains are set to be enshrined in spiritually significant locations.

Bhumibol's death on Oct. 13, 2016, after a reign of seven decades, sparked a national outpouring of grief for a monarch who was regarded by many Thais as a father figure. Yet it also ushered in a sense of uncertainty for Thais who had grown used to Bhumibol serving as a unifying presence in a country regularly beset by political upheaval.

In this Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017, photo, the symbolic urn is transported during the funeral procession of late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej past Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand Thailand's new king led a royal merit-making ceremony for his late father's relics on Saturday, the fourth day of an elaborate five-day funeral. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump and his vice president came out this past week with initiatives that are not as big, bold or immediate as they appeared.

Despite the drum-roll implied in Mike Pence's recent remarks to Christians, the U.S. is not suddenly walking away from U.N. humanitarian relief programs and switching all that money directly to persecuted religious groups. And Trump's action on the opioid epidemic counts on a powerful anti-drug punch from advertising, a feeble weapon at least in the past.

A look at their statements and other rhetoric from the week:

In this Oct. 26, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump speaks during an event to declare the opioid crisis a national public health emergency in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence came out recently with statements on opioids and humanitarian aid that appear big, bold and immediate. An AP Fact Check finds there's less than meets the eye to them. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

TRUMP on a planned ad campaign against the opioid epidemic: "I think that's going to end up being our most important thing. Really tough, really big, really great advertising, so we get to people before they start." - remarks Thursday.

THE FACTS: He may prove history wrong, but past marketing efforts to scare young people from using drugs had poor results. More broadly, Trump's declaration of opioid overdoses as a public health emergency is not as consequential as it might sound. It does not bring new dollars to the anti-opioids fight. It does make it easier for the government to shuffle resources and make other changes, such as expanding access to medical services in rural areas.

As for advertising, the government spent nearly $1 billion from 1998 to 2004 on a campaign to discourage illegal drug use by young people. A study financed by the National Institutes of Health concluded in 2008 that the campaign "had no favorable effects on youths' behavior" and may have prompted some to experiment with drugs, an unintended "boomerang" effect.

A 2009 review of 20 studies of school-based D.A.R.E. programs found that students in the programs were about as likely to try drugs as those who didn't. Founded in the early 1980s, D.A.R.E sent police officers into thousands of U.S. schools to warn about the dangers of drugs.

More recently, anti-drug campaigns have appealed to teenagers' desire for independence and self-control rather than drug fears. A 2011 study of the government's "Above the Influence" campaign suggested eighth-graders who had seen the campaign were slightly less likely to have tried marijuana than those who had not.

___

PENCE, on redirecting U.S. humanitarian foreign aid: "While faith-based groups with proven track records and deep roots in these communities are more than willing to assist, the United Nations too often denies their funding requests. My friends, those days are over. ... . Tonight, it is my privilege to announce that President Trump has ordered the State Department to stop funding ineffective relief efforts at the United Nations. And from this day forward, America will provide support directly to persecuted communities through USAID." - remarks Wednesday to a group helping Christians in the Middle East.

THE FACTS: "From this day forward" is a stretch, as are Pence's other references to immediate change. The government is to study the matter. Studies take time, especially when multiple agencies are involved, and lead to conclusions that can't always be foreseen at the start.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said not all U.N. relief programs would be cut off from U.S. financing. "The U.N. will still get some of its money for this, but we will look for other avenues in which to more efficiently fund these types of religious minorities so that they can eventually return back home," Nauert said.

A White House official says the goal is to make sure necessary levels of relief are steered to persecuted religious minorities in the Middle East and as part of that, more grants will go directly to religious organizations and other groups. An analysis will be done by the State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development and the Office of Management and Budget, in conjunction with the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., "to determine how appropriated funds can best be spent," the official said. This background was shared on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to be identified.

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Also from this past week:

TRUMP: "Bob Corker, who helped President O give us the bad Iran Deal & couldn't get elected dog catcher in Tennessee, is now fighting Tax Cuts...." And: "Corker dropped out of the race in Tennesse when I refused to endorse him, and now is only negative on anything Trump. Look at his record!" - tweets Tuesday.

THE FACTS: Trump, who spelled Tennessee right the first time, continues to label the Republican senator an enabler of the Iran nuclear deal when he was a leading critic of it. Corker had nothing to do with the 2015 international agreement forged by the U.S. and other world powers to constrain Iran's ability to build a nuclear arsenal. He argued at the time that President Barack Obama should have made the international pact a treaty subject to approval by the Senate. When Obama didn't do that, Corker helped fellow senators write legislation that subjected the accord to periodic congressional review. The legislation would have blocked the deal if that effort got enough votes. It didn't. Obama brought the deal into effect, not Congress.

On Corker's political fate, Trump actually urged Corker to stand for re-election next year during a private meeting in September, the AP learned. And Corker's chief of staff, Todd Womack, said Trump called Corker after that to ask that he reconsider his decision to leave the Senate. Trump "reaffirmed that he would have endorsed him, as he has said many times," the aide said. Trump has not substantiated his competing claim that he withheld an endorsement of Corker and that's why the senator decided to leave Washington.

___

Trump, on a contract landed by Boeing from Singapore Airlines: "In terms of the orders it's about $13.8 billion and most importantly it's about 70,000 jobs." - at the signing of a "certificate of purchase" staged at the White House on Monday.

THE FACTS: Yes, but.

Boeing says the order will "sustain" more than 70,000 direct and indirect U.S. jobs for the company, its suppliers and others. The company did not say they were new jobs. The estimate of jobs and the value of the contract is based on full list price of the 39 planes Singapore Airlines has agreed to buy. Airlines routinely receive deep discounts from the list price of planes. So the contract, while unquestionably a big one, may end up worth less than $13.8 billion and have a less dramatic effect on employment than billed.

The contract wasn't as new as it appeared: Singapore Airlines announced Feb. 9 that it signed a letter of intent to order the 39 planes from a U.S. manufacturer. Boeing booked the order in June but did not identify the buyer until this past week. Given the lengthy negotiations involved in airline purchases, it's clear the order - announced by Singapore Airlines less than three weeks after Trump was sworn in - largely came together when Barack Obama was president. It's unlikely either president had much to do with it.

___

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Josh Lederman, Ken Thomas, Jill Colvin and Matthew Perrone in Washington and David Koenig in Dallas contributed to this report.

___

Find AP Fact Checks at https://apnews.com/tag/APFactCheck

Vice President Mike Pence addresses the In Defense of Christians' fourth-annual national advocacy summit in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - After Superstorm Sandy flooded the first floor of his New Jersey home with 4 feet of water, Rich Bindell shelled out tens of thousands of dollars to a contractor he knew was approved by the state and had done other work in his town.

Five years after the storm, the construction project remains unfinished and the contractor faces up to 10 years in prison after admitting this month to scamming more than 30 homeowners and employees of about $1.9 million.

James "Jaime" Lawson is one of more than 200 people charged in New Jersey with $11 million worth of Sandy-related fraud in a list that continues to grow five years after the storm. Most of those cases involved homeowners filing fraudulent applications for relief funds, but others have been contractors like Lawson.

This photo taken July 7, 2017, shows James "Jamie" Lawson, a home contractor who is accused of stealing $1.5M from more than a dozen homeowners by agreeing to do work - then bailing, smiling at some of the people he defrauded during his detention hearing in State Superior Court in Toms River, N.J. Under terms of the plea agreement, Lawson faces up to 10 years in prison for financial facilitation of criminal activity and theft. (Thomas P. Costello /The Asbury Park Press via AP, Pool)

Others including engineering companies and mortgage brokers have been charged with fraud in New York after authorities say they scammed federal loan programs after the storm.

Prosecutors and victims say their experience after Sandy in choosing contractors who saw opportunity in chaos can provide lessons to residents in Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico after recent devastating storms there.

"The cases involving contractors defrauding victims, to me, are the worst of the worse," Attorney General Christopher Porrino said. "You've got people down and out trying to put their lives back together. It's like getting hit twice."

Complaints started coming in about a month after Sandy, said Sgt. Mark Malinowski of the Ocean County prosecutor's office economic crimes unit. The county was one of the state's hardest hit by Sandy.

Malinowksi believes people let their guards down when they're using government grant money to pay for repairs. "It's different than taking money out of their personal checking accounts," he said.

Bindell contacted contractors to get price quotes and through word of mouth he learned about Lawson in the summer of 2015.

"He did some jobs in town and I went to look at them. He was cheaper than the other guys and he was listed as an approved contractor," Bindell said.

The nearly $150,000 project would take six to eight months to complete, Bindell said he was told. However, it took Lawson almost a year to complete the plans and Bindell said when he started work, Lawson was fined for elevating the home without a permit.

The project sat while Bindell and his family, in their rented home, reached out to Lawson by phone and texts. It was then Bindell received a call from an adviser with the government's Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation program, which had revoked Lawson's permit for lack of insurance.

Bindell received much of his money back from the government, but is still out about $20,000 from the scam. He then had to tap into his retirement savings and use a home equity loan to come up with the extra $160,000 to fix the work Lawson had started. The project to raise the house and repair flood damage is ongoing and he has been renting a home elsewhere with his wife and two children since.

Based on his experience, he advises other storm victims to take their time rebuilding.

"I'd do my own background check. Don't take the state's word for anything," he said. "Make sure the contractor is not taking on so many jobs."

Porrino has written attorneys general in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico with the identities of some of the fraudsters.

"You have to be really skeptical," Porrino said. "Anytime you're paying in advance for service you're at risk."
WARRINGTON, Fla. (AP) - A man was shot by deputies after they say he fired at them prompting a Florida school and church to go on lockdown.

Escambia County Sheriff's officials say the unidentified man walked into a Panhandle bank Friday morning and told employees to call police or that someone would get hurt. He fled the bank and deputies caught up with him near Redeemer Lutheran Church and School.

Deputy Chip Simmons said the suspect fired at deputies and they returned fire. The suspect was taken to the hospital. His condition was not known.

The Pensacola News Journal reports a deputy suffered minor injuries, but no other details were released about the incident.

The school was on lockdown for about 30 minutes.

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Information from: Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com
NEW YORK (AP) - A mural of Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay, his arms crossed in defiance, looms over the hallway of the Queens recording studio where he was shot to death 15 years ago. The memorial gives no hint of a disturbing footnote to the DJ's tale of fame and misfortune: The killer, so far, has gotten away with it.

New York City police detectives acknowledge that their investigation into the October 30, 2002, killing of the artist, whose given name was Jason Mizell, has gone cold. But some in the borough where Jam Master Jay, Joe "Run" Simmons and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels emerged as rap sensations in the 1980s hold out hope that witnesses could still come forward.

"It's not resolved to the legal eye, but the street always talks," said Jeremy "JL" Lam, a friend of Jam Master Jay's family and a partner in the latest version of the Queens studio.

FILE--This photo from Oct. 7, 1986 shows Run-D.M.C.'s Jason Mizell, known as Jam-Master Jay, as he pose during an anti-drug rally at New York's Madison Square Garden. Fifteen years after he was killed in a New York City recording studio, police seem no closer to solving the crime. (AP Photo/G. Paul Burnett, File)

Family members, however, are less optimistic.

"We know it's any anniversary but we don't like to talk about it much anymore," Jam Master Jay's older sister, Bonita Jones, said from their mother's home in North Carolina.

A cousin, Ryan Thompson, believes the potential witnesses may never come forward because they "could go to jail as accomplices."

Thompson, also a DJ using the moniker "Base," credits himself with introducing Run-DMC to one of its signature fashion statements: Adidas sneakers without laces. But Mizell should be remembered more "for the music he created and his kindness."

That music included spinning the turntable on such Run-DMC hits as "King of Rock," ''It's Tricky" and a remake of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way." And one of Jam Master Jay's acts of kindnesses included opening a 24/7 studio in a then-violent section of Queens for artists who needed a start. Famed rapper 50 Cent was among those he mentored there.

It was in that studio on the night before Halloween 2002 when police say two armed men were buzzed inside. Thompson, once hired as security "to keep the riff raff out," said he had left the job because he wasn't getting paid.

According to some reports, the 37-year-old Jam Master Jay hugged one of the men before gunfire erupted. One round missed him but a second, fired from point-blank range, entered the left side of his head. The men vanished.

Speculation followed that Jam Master Jay, who was drowning in debt, may have been killed on orders from someone to whom he owed money.

Police said there were at least four other people in the studio at the time. But none provided enough details to produce fruitful leads. Thompson said a security camera in the studio was broken.

Prosecutors later identified a career criminal serving time for armed robbery a suspect. But he denied involvement and was never charged. Then the case went cold.

Following the killing, a news photo showed Jam Master Jay's body being removed from the back of the building through an emergency exit while mourners flocked to the scene to pay tribute. Two more showed DMC hugging Public Enemy's Chuck D during the impromptu wake and a handwritten poster reading, "Rest in Peace, We'll Fight 4 Justice."

Fifteen years later, reminders of the tragedy are harder to find. There's the recording studio mural and, inside, a plaque on a closet door with his "JMJ" record label insignia.

"He's right there, so there's no getting away from it," performer Jaquan "Tipsy" Hardaway, said of the mural as he walked into the studio last week.

A founder of the current Signature Soundz Studios, Alix Dontfraid, agreed that it still feels a "little spooky" there. But he also tries to stay positive.

Jam Master Jay "could have built this studio anywhere, but he built it here, where it was needed," he said. "That's an energy I'm trying to perpetuate."

This photo from Oct. 7, 1986 shows Run-D.M.C.'s Jason Mizell, known as Jam-Master Jay, as he pose during an anti-drug rally at New York's Madison Square Garden. Fifteen years after he was killed in a New York City recording studio, police seem no closer to solving the crime. (AP Photo/G. Paul Burnett, File)

This Thursday Oct. 26, 2017 shows a hallway wall mural of rap group Run-D.M.C., prominently featuring Jason Mizell, right, known as Jam-Master Jay, near the doorway entrance, left, to the room where he was shot. Fifteen years after he was killed in a New York City recording studio, police seem no closer to solving the crime. (AP Photo/Tom Hays)
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis says that Christians can help shape Europe's future by promoting political dialogue "especially where it is threatened and where conflict seems to prevail."

The pope's fifth speech on Europe on Saturday comes a day after the regional parliament in Catalonia made a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain, and as Britain negotiates its exit from Europe after four decades.

Francis told church and political leaders that politics, rather than promoting dialogue as it should, "is becoming instead a forum for clashes between opposing forces."

Pope Francis shakes hands with Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano on the occasion of the Conference of International Humanitarian Law, at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. (L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP)

He cited the prominence of extremist and populist groups that "make protest the heart of their political message, without offering ... a constructive political project."

He said Christians can help by underlining that Europe is "made up of people," not institutions and statistics.
PARIS (AP) - The Paris prosecutor's office is investigating allegations of rape and sexual assault against prominent Swiss Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, who denies any wrongdoing.

Le Monde and Le Parisien newspapers reported Saturday that a woman filed a complaint this week against Ramadan for an alleged rape in 2009. Last week, a woman said she was assaulted by Ramadan in 2012.

Paris prosecutors say they have opened a rape and sexual assault investigation against Ramadan following the first complaint. Ramadan's lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, has denied the accusations and says his client is suing for "false allegations."

Ramadan teaches Islamic Studies at Oxford University and has written numerous books on Islam and the integration of Muslims in Europe.
DELTONA, Fla. (AP) - Authorities say a Florida woman has been arrested after stealing 47 guns from her ailing father's collection.

Volusia County Sheriff's officials say 58-year-old Robert Carter suffered a stroke last year. He recently moved to a rehabilitation center and asked family members to check on his home and gun collection after Hurricane Irma.

Authorities arrested his daughter 30-year-old Crystal Gorman on Thursday, charging her with grand theft and 19 counts of dealing in stolen property.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports she sold the firearms to pawn shops. Authorities said they could trace the weapons because Carter had a list of their serial numbers. Most had already been resold.

Gorman is being held without bond. It's unclear if she had an attorney to comment on the charges.

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Information from: Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal, http://www.news-journalonline.com
SAO PAULO (AP) - Hundreds of men and women have joined forces with firefighters to help control a wildfire that has ravaged more than a quarter of a national park in Brazil's central state of Goias.

Brazil's Environment Ministry says nearly 160,000 acres of the 595,000-acre Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park has burned since it began Oct. 10.

The recently formed Network Against Fire is a group composed of people residing in areas near the park that provide transportation, meals, and manpower to help the firefighters.

Wildfires burn in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Hundreds of men and women have joined forces with firefighters to help control the wildfire that has ravaged more than a quarter of the national park. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

On its Facebook page is says some 200 volunteers are helping the close to 180 firefighters battling the blaze.

The ministry's Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation manages the parks.

It has said the fire is expected to be extinguished within the next two days.

Locals work to contain a wild fire in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Hundreds of men and women have joined forces with firefighters to help control the wildfire that has ravaged more than a quarter of the national park. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Locals work to contain a wild fire in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Hundreds of men and women have joined forces with firefighters to help control the wildfire that has ravaged more than a quarter of the national park. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Locals work to contain a wild fire in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Hundreds of men and women have joined forces with firefighters to help control the wildfire that has ravaged more than a quarter of the national park. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

A man works to contain a wild fire in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Hundreds of men and women have joined forces with firefighters to help control the wildfire that has ravaged more than a quarter of the national park. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Chapada dos Veadeiros

A man works to contain a wild fire in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Hundreds of men and women have joined forces with firefighters to help control the wildfire that has ravaged more than a quarter of the national park. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

A man works to contain a wild fire in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Hundreds of men and women have joined forces with firefighters to help control the wildfire that has ravaged more than a quarter of the national park. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

People look as a wild fire burns in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Hundreds of men and women have joined forces with firefighters to help control the wildfire that has ravaged more than a quarter of the national park. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

A wild fire burns in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Hundreds of men and women have joined forces with firefighters to help control the wildfire that has ravaged more than a quarter of the national park. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

A wild fire burns in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Hundreds of men and women have joined forces with firefighters to help control the wildfire that has ravaged more than a quarter of the national park. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Firefighters walk in to contain a wildfire in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Hundreds of men and women have joined forces with firefighters to help control the wildfire that has ravaged more than a quarter of the national park. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

A large swath of land charred by wildfires stands in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Hundreds of men and women have joined forces with firefighters to help control the wildfire that has ravaged more than a quarter of the national park. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

A large swath of land charred by wildfires stands in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Hundreds of men and women have joined forces with firefighters to help control the wildfire that has ravaged more than a quarter of the national park. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Former US president Barack Obama has been called for jury duty in Chicago.

Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans told county commissioners during a budget hearing on Friday that Mr Obama, who owns homes in Washington, DC and Chicagos Kenwood neighbourhood, will serve in November.

He is registered to vote in Chicago.

(Ben Stansall/PA)

Mr Evans said Mr Obamas safety will be uppermost in our minds when he serves.

Former Pres. Obama was called for jury duty and will serve next month, chief judge Evans says. "It is highly appreciated," Evans tells Trib  Steve Schmadeke (@SteveSchmadeke) October 27, 2017

Those called can be put either in the pool for criminal case or civil hearings.

They can be called to any of the countys Chicago or suburban courthouses. All jurors watch a decades-old video about their duties narrated by a mustachioed Lester Holt, once a local news reader and now anchor of NBC Nightly News.

Jurors in Cook County are paid 17.20 US dollars (13.10) for each day of service.
Chelsea midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko is a man of his word.

The France international, who arrived at Stamford Bridge from Monaco in the summer, promised to dye his hair Chelsea colours when he scored his first Premier League goal for the club.

And after finding the net against Crystal Palace on October 14, Bakayoko has done just that, uploading a video to Instagram parading his new blue hair.

Tiemoue Bakayoko scored his first Premier League goal earlier this month
Owen Farrell scored 19 points as Saracens moved back to the top of the Aviva Premiership with a bonus point 44-13 win over London Irish at Allianz Park.

Mako Vunipola forced his way over in an opening half which saw Farrell miss three attempts at goal but still manage a conversion and two penalties.

The England fly-half converted his own try after the break though as Liam Williams and Chris Wyles ensured the bonus point before two late Nathan Earle scores.

David Paice managed a consolation score for Irish but Saracens remain unbeaten at home in the league since March 2016.

Fly-half Tommy Bell knocked over an early penalty but a powerful run by Vunipola soon had the home side ahead following some poor Irish tackling.

FT: @Saracens 44-13 @LiRFC



Five tries in the second half sends Saracens back to the top of the league#AvivaPrem pic.twitter.com/QrohA9xbBm  Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) October 28, 2017

Farrell added the conversion but then missed his next two penalties as Saracens struggled to make their possession pay  and in a rare venture into the Saracens half, London Irish earned a second penalty and Bell reduced the deficit to a single point on the half hour.

Saracens fly-half Farrell sent his third penalty of the afternoon wide of the uprights before eventually adding to the home sides points tally on 32 minutes.

London Irish then saw second row Paul Teofilo sent to the sin bin for an off-the-ball tackle.

The hosts kicked for the corner and earned a penalty in front of the posts which Farrell slotted to give Saracens a 13-6 advantage at the break.

And after a disappointing first 40 by his own high standards, it was Farrell who popped up to take an offload from winger Williams to give Saracens their first try of the second half.

Chris Wyles

Irish skipper Paice pulled a try back from a powerful driving maul on 50 minutes, with Bells conversion reducing the deficit to seven points.

However, the two-time European champions were soon back on the front foot as Williams took advantage of space out on the right wing to cross the tryline.

Farrell added the extras and a moment of magic from Andy Goode, who collected his own chip over the Irish defence, set up Wyles for the bonus point score.

Wyles turned provider as he cut an excellent line through the Irish defence with 65 minutes gone, allowing Nathan Earle to dot down unopposed.

And the replacement demonstrated his speed again as he burst through for his second try in the final moments.
Pope Francis has said Christians can help shape Europes future by promoting political dialogue especially where it is threatened and where conflict seems to prevail.

The popes fifth speech on Europe on Saturday comes a day after the regional parliament in Catalonia made a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain, and as Britain negotiates its exit from Europe after four decades.

Remember the sufferings of every person in your heart. Then bring them all to God in your prayers.  Pope Francis (@Pontifex) October 28, 2017

Francis told church and political leaders that politics, rather than promoting dialogue as it should, is becoming instead a forum for clashes between opposing forces.

Pope Francis urges Europe's Christians to promote political dialogue

He cited the prominence of extremist and populist groups that make protest the heart of their political message, without offering  a constructive political project.

He said Christians can help by underlining that Europe is made up of people, not institutions and statistics.
Anthony Joshua endured a frustrating night before eventually stopping Carlos Takam and defending his IBF and WBA heavyweight titles in 10 rounds in Cardiff.

In his first fight since ending the career of the great and once-dominant Wladimir Klitschko, 28-year-old Joshua required his advantages in size, speed and power to gradually wear down his previously little-known opponent from France.

Bigger fights against superior opponents are expected to follow in 2018  but in defeating his mandatory challenger and excluding that with Klitschko, the Briton unexpectedly faced the toughest match-up of his career.

 The KO show continues! @anthonyfjoshua stops Takam to retain his World Heavyweight Titles and move 20-0! #JoshuaTakam pic.twitter.com/xw2IMRCDW3  Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) October 28, 2017

If the crucial question was when and not if the champion would stop his challenger, the answer was likely to come in the extent of the 36-year-olds aggression and ambition.

Having replaced the injured Kubrat Pulev he had accepted his first world title fight at less than a fortnights notice, and concerns persisted that - against such a dangerous puncher - he would be content merely to survive.

In front of a world record indoor fight crowd of an estimated 76,000 under the roof at the Principality Stadium - comfortably beyond the 63,315 present when Muhammad Ali defeated Leon Spinks at the New Orleans Superdrome in 1978 - he instead largely fought to win.

FIGHT. IS. OVER.



Ref stops the fight and @anthonyfjoshua remains an undefeated & unified champion at 20-0.

 @MatchroomBoxing pic.twitter.com/zjz01YZOtn  SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) October 28, 2017

Regardless, from the opening round, Joshua - who on Friday had weighed in at a career-heaviest 18st 2lbs, against his 16st 11lbs opponent - made much of his significant size advantage.

Fighting with some of the patience he had required in his first world title defence against Dominic Breazeale in 2016, he largely dominated with his concussive jab until openings emerged in the second round.

It was then that he landed his first hurtful right hands, and that Takam attempted to use his head in close, catching the champions nose and appearing to break it.

While in the third Joshua again edged forward and led with mixed success with his right, at its conclusion he smiled at his opponent, and thereafter showed greater aggression.

After first hurting Takam with a right uppercut and then a powerful combination, he sent the challenger to the canvas for the first time with a clubbing left.

Swelling had by then appeared by Joshuas right eye, and a significant cut opened by Takams left, and to the extent that in the fifth, referee Phil Edwards asked the ringside doctor to examine Takams condition.

Throughout both the sixth and seventh, Joshua landed hurtful punches in bursts that Takam - having previously only been stopped by Russias proven Alexander Povetkin and showing impressive punch resistance - continued to take.

He then landed a left-right combination of his own, prompting Joshua to showboat. The champions pace then gradually slowed, perhaps even in recognition that for the first time he may have to go the 12-round distance.

Anthony Joshua

When throughout the ninth Takam repeatedly dabbed at the blood by his eye that was again checked by the ringside doctors, a stoppage again appeared more likely.

It finally arrived in the 10th but to neither fighters nor the crowds true satisfaction. Another big right hand clearly hurt the challenger, who fell back under the intense pressure, and continued to take heavy punishment.

After falling against the ropes and amid his struggles to fight back, Edwards intervened to wave the action over after one minute and 34 seconds, to Takams anger and boos from some of those in attendance.

The reality is the decision was fair and defeat was inevitable, but 24 years after Lennox Lewis defeated Frank Bruno in Cardiffs last world heavyweight title fight, Joshua had not made the statement he had hoped for.
HARARE, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is back in a South African hospital for a medical review, nearly two weeks after he returned home from that country, his spokesman said on Friday, denying reports that he was critically ill.

Tsvangirai, who suffered severe vomiting after a party meeting and was in September airlifted to a Johannesburg hospital where he spent nearly a month receiving treatment and recuperating.

He returned to Zimbabwe on Oct. 13 but has not been seen in public since.

"He came back knowing full well he would return for a review and he went for the review as scheduled," Luke Tamborinyoka, Tsvangirai's spokesman said.

He could not say when he expected Tsvangirai back.

Tsvangirai's illness has divided the opposition, with some senior party officials saying the former trade unionist should consider stepping down to make way for a younger and fit leader.

Tsvangirai, 65, declared last year that he was receiving treatment for colon cancer. Despite the illness, he is leading an opposition alliance to challenge 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe in elections next year. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by James Macharia and Toby Chopra)
By Emily Flitter

NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will shrink the size of two national monuments in Utah, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah said on Friday, a change that will open parts of them to drilling and mining but which Democrats, environmental groups and Native Americans are vowing to fight.

The decision would mark the Trump administration's most symbolic land designation to date, reflecting its broader effort to boost development on federal land while rolling back Obama-era environmental and conservation efforts.

(GRAPHIC: http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/TRUMP-EFFECT-ENERGY/010051272EC/index.html#Lands)

The two Utah sites, Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, are among several that U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has recommended reducing in size in order to make way for more industrial activity.

Zinke was charged by a Trump executive order in April to review some 27 such monuments that were created by past presidents under the Antiquities Act - a century-old law that protects cultural artifacts and other historical objects but which Trump has said has been misused as a way to put huge tracts of land off limits to development.

Former President Barack Obama designated the 1.35-million-acre Bears Ears site - named for its iconic twin buttes - as a national monument during his final days in office.

"I was incredibly grateful the President called this morning to let us know that he is approving Secretary Zinke's recommendation on Bears Ears," Hatch said in a statement emailed to Reuters. The statement did not provide details on the exact changes to the boundaries or the legal mechanism the administration might use to make the changes.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, when asked about the monument decision, said she did not want to get ahead of the president's announcement. "I can tell you he (Trump) will be going to Utah in the first part of early December," she said.

Trump met with Zinke in the Oval Office on Friday.

Sanders said both Trump and Zinke spoke to Hatch and Utah's other U.S. senator, Mike Lee, during the course of the meeting. Lee has also supported shrinking the sites.

While national parks are created by Congress largely to protect outstanding scenic features or natural phenomena, national monuments are created by presidents, in recognition of a site's cultural, historical or scientific importance.

OPPOSITION

Industry groups like the oil lobbying organization the American Petroleum Institute have said in the past that both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante were unfairly designated as monuments and needed to be reviewed.

Green groups and scientists have supported the designations and condemned any move to reduce their size.

"Any efforts to take away protections for America's lands and waters will be met by deep opposition and with the law on our side," said Jamie Williams, president of The Wilderness Society, in a statement on Friday.

The Navajo, who consider Bears Ears sacred ground, on Friday followed up their comment in September that they would sue the Trump administration for violating the Antiquities Act if it tried to reduce the monument's size.

"The Navajo Nation stands ready to defend the Bears Ears National Monument. We have a complaint ready to file upon official action by the President." Ethel Branch, the Navajo Nation's attorney general, said in an email to Reuters on Friday.

Grand Staircase, which was designated a national monument by President Bill Clinton in 1996, has drawn concern because an archeological site lies beneath it where two dozen new species of dinosaurs have been discovered. A coal deposit also lies beneath Grand Staircase. Paleontologists are worried the site could be destroyed if the monument's size is reduced, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday.

A spokesman for Representative Rob Bishop, a Republican from Utah who is chairman of the House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee, said on Friday that Bishop was working on legislation "that will protect the antiquities in the Bears Ears region, ensure that local voices are heard and bring some finality to this issue once and for all."

(Reporting by Emily Flitter; Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Roberta Rampton in Washington; Editing by Andrew Hay and Leslie Adler)
By Adriana Brasileiro

MIAMI, Oct 28 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A plan by British billionaire Richard Branson to lead a post-hurricane rebuilding effort in the Caribbean, with a focus on clean energy projects, may include debt relief negotiations mediated by the International Monetary Fund.

Branson is spearheading a plan to help Caribbean nations recover after Hurricanes Irma and Maria ravaged several islands. The centerpiece of the plan is a push to replace outdated fossil-fuel power grids with renewable energy systems that can withstand extreme weather and boost economic development in Caribbean.

For the past month, the founder of the Virgin Group conglomerate has been in talks with some of the worlds top multilateral lenders and foundations to set up a fund to finance what he called the Disaster Recovery Marshall Plan - a reference to a program to rebuild Western Europe after World War Two.

The effort focuses on "a green energy revolution" to make Caribbean economies more sustainable, Branson said.

The businessman has lived in the British Virgin Islands for more than a decade and weathered Hurricane Irma inside a cellar on Necker, his private island.

"We want to move the Caribbean countries into clean energy and make them more sustainable, which will make dealing with hurricanes much easier," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview in Miami.

"The Caribbean heads of state agree with one voice that this is a good idea," he added.

The resilience push aims to provide immediate and long-term relief assistance, as well as better insurance policies against natural disasters.

Branson said that he met with IMF chief Christine Lagarde during the funds annual meeting in Washington earlier this month and that she offered to facilitate meetings between Caribbean nations and creditors to reduce the costs of existing debt.

"We will talk to the Caribbean heads of state and see if they would be interested in that," Branson said. "It could save them a lot of money."

The IMF said it is "closely engaged with the authorities in the Caribbean, and is exploring ways in which it can help member countries affected by the hurricanes, including the provision of financing through rapid credit facilities," according to an e-mailed statement from director of communications Gerry Rice.

The World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank have agreed to finance a secretariat that will manage the Caribbean recovery efforts, Branson said. He added the World Bank is working to lower borrowing costs on its loans to help Caribbean nations implement projects.

Branson is a longtime clean energy activist and investor. In 2009 he co-founded the Carbon War Room, a global non-profit organization that aims to strengthen and expand economic efforts not reliant on fossil fuels.

His Virgin group last year acquired BMR Energy, a developer of wind energy projects in the Caribbean and Latin America. The companys main asset is a wind farm in Jamaica. The company is Bransons first investment in wind energy.

The 36 megawatt plant, 90 kilometers from Kingston, is the countrys largest private-sector renewable energy project and is expected to reduce greenhouse gases each year by an amount equivalent to taking 13,000 cars off the road.

The plant serves about 15,000 customers with 11 wind turbines that can generate 1200,000 megawatts per year or about 3 percent of Jamaicas energy demand.

Bruce Levy, the companys CEO, said the Jamaica project is a good example of how the inclusion of renewables in the energy mix can help Caribbean nations reduce dependence on dirty fuels and cut energy prices, which could boost their economic development.

"The price of solar and other renewable technologies has come down significantly over the last two years, so now it will make a lot more sense," he said in an interview, adding that the idea of revamping entire energy grids in the Caribbean has gained momentum in the aftermath of Irma and Maria.

Caribbean nations pay some of the highest prices for fuel in the world because of the logistical difficulties in transport and distribution, Levy added.

Like most of its neighbors, Jamaica relies heavily on imported fossil fuels to power its electricity grid, which could face threats from disruptions such as hurricanes.

Building smaller grids with solar and wind generation means that systems can be more easily and quickly fixed when hit by storms, or that only part of the grid system would be affected, Levy said.

Cost reductions would also come from more efficient transmission and distribution systems, he said.

Branson said he saw first-hand how the solar-powered micro-grid on Necker island survived Irma, while many other facilities on the island were destroyed.

"Our solar panels were built so well that they were back up and running 24 hours after the hurricane," he said.

He said the investment in a solar power system for the island was paid back in three and a half years. (Reporting by Adriana Brasileiro; editing by Laurie Goering :; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women's rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate)
By Daina Beth Solomon

MEXICO CITY, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Mexico's elite Tecnologico de Monterrey university said on Friday that structural shortcomings contributed to the collapse of walkways on its Mexico City campus in an earthquake last month, killing five college students.

Rashid Abella Yunes, the school's vice-president for the Mexico City region, told Reuters that examinations showed two sets of pedestrian bridges stretching between three buildings were too weak to withstand the Sept. 19 quake that toppled dozens of buildings and killed nearly 230 people in the capital.

"The supports that were supporting the bridges were just 15 centimeters, which to the judgment of experts could have been larger," he said. "The buildings made the bridges lose support, and they fell."

Abella added that the university was leaving to Mexico City prosecutors the task of determining if any of the architects, contractors or inspectors that it hired between 1991 and 1998 to build the bridges could be held responsible.

None of the professionals that Abella said worked on the bridges were immediately reachable for comment.

Construction and safety documents published last month by the Tlalpan district, where the campus is located, included an August 2017 structural safety certificate.

Abella also said that Mexico City's construction regulations do not specify the size that bridge supports need to be in order be structurally sound.

The university, renowned for its engineering program, attributed its findings to Mexico City-based engineering firm Garcia Jarque Ingenieros, which it hired to investigate the collapse.

A group of nearly 100 alumni have been pressing the school to explain how the bridges were constructed.

"Of all of the doubts that we've had, none are resolved," said Carlos Brito, a 2010 graduate.

Family members of two students who died at the site said their children were crushed by falling bridges as they raced out of the ground-floor cafeteria beneath.

Juan Carlos Alvarez Blanco said his son, 19-year-old engineering student Juan Carlos, decided to stay on campus for lunch and died attempting to exit the cafeteria.

"We want facts," he said last week. "Along with the other four families, we are very, very devastated."

A relative of another student who died, who asked to not be named, said the young man, who studied engineering, had also been in the cafeteria.

Both family members declined to provide further comment on Friday. (Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon, Editing by Dave Graham and Richard Borsuk)
PHNOM PENH, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Cambodia on Saturday deported 61 Chinese nationals wanted in China on suspicion of extorting money from people there over the internet and by phone, Cambodian police said.

Several hundred suspected scammers have been arrested in Cambodia, which has emerged as a major centre of rackets that have cost the victims billions of dollars.

Pictures sent to Reuters on Saturday showed suspects wearing red shirts with their wrists bound together ahead of the deportation.

Uk Heisela, chief of investigation at Cambodia's immigration department, said Chinese police had arrived to pick up the suspects.

"The Immigration Department deported 61 suspects, including 13 women, who were involved in extortions on the internet," Uk Heisela told Reuters.

Uk Heisela said they had been detained during raids on Oct 17 and Oct 21 in the capital, Phnom Penh, and in Kandal and Preah Sihanouk provinces.

There were no Taiwan suspects among the 61.

Taiwan has been unhappy that Taiwanese extortion suspects have been deported to China in the past and has accused Phnom Penh of acting at the behest of Beijing.

China considers self-ruled Taiwan sovereign territory and Cambodia is one of China's closest allies in Southeast Asia. (Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Nick Macfie)
PHNOM PENH, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Cambodia police on Saturday deported 61 Chinese nationals wanted in China on suspicion of extorting money over the internet and by phone, they said, but Taiwan said 19 were from Taiwan.

Several hundred suspected scammers have been arrested in Cambodia, which has emerged as a major centre of rackets that have cost the victims billions of dollars.

Pictures sent to Reuters on Saturday showed suspects wearing red shirts with their wrists bound together ahead of the deportation.

Uk Heisela, chief of investigation at Cambodia's immigration department, said Chinese police had arrived to pick up the suspects.

"The Immigration Department deported 61 suspects, including 13 women, who were involved in extortions on the internet," Uk Heisela told Reuters.

Uk Heisela said they had been detained during raids on Oct 17 and Oct 21 in the capital, Phnom Penh, and in Kandal and Preah Sihanouk provinces.

Taiwan's government said 19 of them were from Taiwan, and that it had lodged a strong protest with China about the deportations.

Taiwan has been unhappy that Taiwanese extortion suspects have been deported to China in the past and has accused Phnom Penh of acting at the behest of Beijing.

China considers self-ruled Taiwan sovereign territory and Cambodia is one of China's closest allies in Southeast Asia. (Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Additional reporting by Jess Macy Yu in TAIPEI; Editing by Nick Macfie)
CAIRO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi appointed a new armed forces chief of staff on Saturday, and the interior ministry dismissed several high-ranking officials in an apparent reorganisation of the country's security command.

No reason was given for the reshuffle, but the interior ministry decision came a week after a deadly attack on a police operation in a western desert area of Giza Province, in which the ministry said 16 police were killed after coming under heavy fire.

Egyptian forces have been fighting several armed Islamist groups, mostly in the northern part of the Sinai peninsula, since Sisi helped lead the military overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013.

Hundreds of members of the security forces have been killed in attacks by militants in recent years. A local Islamic State affiliate has been the main foe of the security forces in the north Sinai.

A statement from the presidency said Gen. Mohamed Farid Hegazy would replace Gen. Mahmoud Hegazy, who has been made the president's adviser for strategic planning and crisis management.

In a separate statement, the interior ministry announced that it had replaced several high-ranking officials, including the head of homeland security, assistant to the minister for security in Giza province, the director of Giza's security and director of operations for central security.

It gave no further details on the shakeup. No militant group has yet claimed responsibility for last week's attack on the police in a remote desert area of Giza, about 130 km (80 miles) southwest of the capital Cairo.

Thirteen militants were killed in a raid on a farm hideout in the region on Friday. State news agency MENA quoted a security official as saying it was "revenge for the blood of the men who were martyred last week in the oasis".

The vast western desert region has always been a security headache with arms flowing across the frontier with Libya, where militant groups have found shelter since the country fell into chaos after the 2011 end of Muammar Gaddafi's rule.

Sisi is a former military commander elected by a landslide in 2014 and presents himself as a bulwark against Islamist militancy. He is widely expected to run for re-election next year. (Reporting by Mostafa Hashem; Writing by Arwa Gaballa; Editing by Patrick Markey and Andrew Roche)
The Catalan regional parliament has voted to declare independence from Spain, while the Spanish parliament has approved direct rule over the region, BBC reported last evening.

Catalan MPs had easily approved the move amid an opposition boycott.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had told senators direct rule was needed to return "law, democracy and stability" to Catalonia.

The crisis began earlier this month when Catalonia held a controversial referendum on independence.

The Catalan government said that of the 43% of potential voters who took part, 90% were in favour of independence.

But Spain's Constitutional Court had ruled the vote illegal. A motion declaring independence was approved on Friday with 70 in favour, 10 against, and two abstentions in the 135-seat chamber.

The measure calls for the transfer of legal powers from Spain to an independent Catalonia. But the Spanish Constitutional Court is likely to declare it illegal, while the US, UK, Germany and France all expressed support for Spanish unity.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU "doesn't need any more cracks, more splits".

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has called for supporters to "maintain the momentum" in a peaceful manner.

Crowds have been celebrating the declaration of independence and Spanish flags have been removed from some regional government buildings in Catalonia.

The pro-independence crowd outside the parliament followed the session vote by vote.

The crowd met every Yes vote with a cheer - and every No with a boo. At the end, there was a huge cheer.

Soon after the vote at the regional parliament, the Senate - Spain's upper house - made the unprecedented step of approving measures allowing the Spanish government to impose direct rule over Catalonia.

There were 214 votes in favour and 47 against. Urging calm, Prime Minister Rajoy said: "Spain is a serious country, it is a great nation and we are not prepared in any way to allow some people to liquidate our constitution."

He is holding a cabinet meeting to decide what measures to take. It could include the firing of Catalan leaders, and the Spanish government taking control of the region's finances, police and publicly owned media.
Ven. Elle Gunawansa Thera yesterday asked the government not to deceive the people with regard to the Steering Committee (SC) report and urged the MPs to avoid supporting it when presented in Parliament.

The interim report is to be debated in Parliament on October 30, 31 and November 1.

The monk told a news conference organised by the Yuthukama Forum that MPs especially those from the two factions of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) should not support the interim report.

By all means, the MPs can keep the vehicles and all privileges they enjoy but please dont support this sin. I will visit constituencies represented by the MPs and make people aware of the dangers if this report is approved, he said.

The monk said he had no faith in any political party and said politics had dragged the country to an abyss and it was clergy and the laity who were maintaining this country.

He said neither the Prime Minister nor anyone else had the right to question the statement made by the Karaka Sangha Sabha.

We dont ask whether the Premier or the Ministers whether they were there when Cabinet decisions are made, the Thera said.

With regard to the proposal to abolish the executive presidency, the Thera said the 13th Amendment to the Constitution should be abolished before pruning the powers of the presidency.

Former Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) Secretary Sarath Wijesinghe said the 13A was forced on us by outsiders.

The current Constitution too has federalist features. Its unitary character has been preserved because of the powers of the executive presidency. The US and India can afford to maintain a federal system because those countries are enormous but not small like ours, he said and added that the questions asked by the BASL on the constitutional-making process were compiled legally.

If anyone has quarries or doubts about the legality of the way the questions were asked, they can attend the upcoming BASL conference today and see for themselves, Mr. Wijesinghe said.

Former Ruhuna University Vice-Chancellor Susirith Mendis said a constitutional draft had already been prepared and the proposed three-day debate on the interim report was an eyewash.

He said the new Constitution was a result of an international conspiracy and the constitutional process had become a play of words.

Yuthukama Forum Head Gevindu Kumaratunga said there was no need to bomb Parliament because the committee report itself would become a bomb if it was passed. We urge the government to throw this report into the Diyawannawa, he said. (Lahiru Pothmulla)
Commander Dinesh Bandara has been appointed as the new Media Coordinator of the Sri Lanka Navy with effect from yesterday.

Commander Bandara succeeds Commander Lankanatha Dissanayake in the post.

Commander Bandara who studied at Mawathagama Central College, joined the Sri Lanka Navy in 1996 as an Officer Cadet of the 25th Intake.

He is a gunnery specialist and underwent his long specialization course at the INS Dronacharya, Kochi, India. Further, Commander Bandara has successfully completed the Naval Command and Staff Course in China, International Surface Warfare Course in USA and Coast Guard Maritime Officer Course in USA.

Prior to his appointment as the Navy Media Spokesman, he was the Officer Training Officer at the prestigious Naval and Maritime Academy in Trincomalee.

Moreover Commander Bandara has held appointments of Deputy Director (Operations and Training) Sri Lanka Coast Guard, Commanding Officer, Executive Officer and Officer in Charge of a number of ships and craft of the Sri Lanka Navy. (Darshana Sanjeewa)
An expert in police interrogation techniques believes Jens Soering should never have been convicted of the 1985 double murder of a Bedford County couple because his confession was full of factual errors.

At a news conference Friday, Andrew Griffiths, a retired detective superintendent from Sussex, England, said inconsistencies in the confession and the fact that Soering quickly recanted it, should have rendered it useless in court.

Soering, the German national convicted of killing his then-girlfriends parents when the two were students at the University of Virginia, has maintained his innocence since his conviction in 1990.

Griffiths, who also examined the coerced confession of Robert Davis  who recently was pardoned by Gov. Terry McAuliffe in a 2003 double murder in Crozet  said Soerings confession was different, in that he volunteered the information he gave to police.

I looked at the consistency of what he said compared to other evidence at the crime scene, based on the fact he had recanted his confession almost as soon as he had made it, really, Griffith said.

In the confession, Soering said Nancy Haysom, mother of Soerings then-girlfriend Elizabeth Haysom, was wearing jeans when she was killed, but according to the evidence and a post-mortem examination, she was wearing a neck-to-ankle floral housecoat, Griffiths said.

Griffiths also said Soering was completely wrong about where Nancy Haysoms husband, Derek Haysom, was killed.

When the argument became a physical row, Jens said he got up and went behind him to cut his throat with a steak knife from his place setting at the dining room table, Griffiths said. There were no place settings at the table in the crime scene photos.

There was also very little blood where he said he inflicted what was a horrific wound, he said.

The difference between this case and Davis case is that Soering set out to convince the police he did it, in order to protect Elizabeth Haysom, which Griffiths said was made obvious by all the errors in his story.

I concluded that his confession was unreliable and could not be viewed as a valid confession that could convict him, he said.

Nancy and Derek Haysom were brutally killed in their Bedford County home on March 30, 1985. The couple was found with dozens of stab wounds and their throats cut from ear to ear. Elizabeth Haysom eventually pleaded guilty to first-degree murder as an accessory before the fact.

She is serving a 90-year prison sentence, and will be paroled in 2032 at the latest.

Professor Mary Tate, founder and director of the Institute for Actual Innocence, sent a statement summarizing her support for Soerings innocence. She was unable to attend Fridays news conference in person.

Soerings attorney, Steve Rosenfield, read the statement, which detailed the evidence that convinced Tate of Soerings innocence.

Type O blood stains were the key piece of evidence used to convict Soering, Tate said, but a 2009 DNA test eliminated him as the source of the blood.

Dr. Moses Schanfield, an expert in both serology and DNA testing, said the blood type is the most common in the United States, and that he disagreed with the prosecutions position that Soering was the only possible contributor of the stains at the Haysom residence.

This is not probative evidence, Schanfield said.

In my experience, based on genetic evidence, Jens would never have gone to trial or been convicted.

Chuck Reid, one of the original investigators in the case, also was scheduled to speak at the news conference, but could not attend due to a death in his family. Instead, Rosenfield read a statement Reid prepared.

Reid was one of the investigators in the forensic examination of the rental car Elizabeth Haysom claimed Soering drove back to a hotel room from her parents home. Haysom had testified that Soering was wrapped in a sheet that was covered in blood.

Investigators did not detect any blood in the car, according to Reid.

Crime scene photos show the top sheet missing from the Haysoms bed and, looking at photos of Nancy Haysoms body, Albemarle County Sheriff Chip Harding  who threw his support behind Soering earlier this year  noticed swirls in the blood around her body. In his statement, Reid said it looked like whoever had committed the murders tried to cover up footprints, wrapped the murder weapon and bloody clothing in the sheet and then threw it away.

Early in the investigation, Reid wrote that he did not believe Soering was the murderer, but he was not part of an interrogation that took place in England, where Soering and Haysom had fled and eventually were arrested. He also was not called to testify in court.

All of the evidence gathered by Rosenfield from different experts has been sent to the governors office. Its unclear when a review of the case will begin, and Harding said he was not given a projected date of completion.

Soering had an Oct. 10 hearing before the Virginia Parole Board, at which both former German President Christian Wulff and German Ambassador Peter Wittig spoke on his behalf, Rosenfield said.

Wittigs appearance was the first time a German ambassador had appeared at a United States parole hearing on behalf of a German citizen, according to Rosenfield.

He did so because his countrymen  the citizens and the government  support Jens Soering coming back to Germany, he said.

Rosenfield said its unclear when the parole board will deliver a ruling. The parole board took eight months to deliver a ruling after Soerings last hearing in September 2016.
Charlottesville-based online wedding marketplace Borrowed and Blue announced on Oct. 16 that it would be shutting down immediately, ending a six-year run that saw the opening of two offices, the hiring of dozens of people and millions of dollars in fundraising.

The announcement drew questions and concerns from dozens of supportive patrons on the companys Facebook page, but Borrowed and Blue has thus far remained mum about the reason behind the unexpected closure.

One day after the announcement, CBS19 News reported that it had obtained an email sent by company management to staff, informing them that an audit revealed significant personal charges on a company credit card by a co-founder.

The business was founded in 2011 by husband and wife duo Adam and Christin Healey, who have not responded to requests for comment on the matter. Per CBS19s report, Christin Healey was the one accused of misusing company funds, while Adam Healey, CEO of the enterprise, was found by the companys board as having shown poor judgment, and that the board thus decided to shutter the business.

With offices in downtown Charlottesville and Boulder, Colorado, Borrowed and Blue employed more than 20 people, who were laid off on Oct. 13.

In January, a Series A fundraising round netted the company $7 million in investments through the efforts of Boulder-based venture capital firm Foundry Group. At the time, the site helped couples to plan weddings, gather ideas and connect with vendors. Adam Healey said in January that the new funding would allow for couples and vendors to do business directly through the Borrowed and Blue website.

That money, along with $2.5 million raised in 2016 in seed funding, will be returned to investors, according to CBS19s report.
Usually, its the criminals who are shuffled out to stand in a line-up for identification.

This time, its the stolen goods themselves. Which just happen to be pumpkins. (Oh, and one gourd.)

In the St. Louis suburb of Maryland Heights, Missouri, residents had been complaining about their fall decorations disappearing from their yards and doorsteps.

Police apparently didnt have much trouble tracking down the suspects, three teenage boys who were driving a pumpkin-filled SUV that was "top-to-bottom orange," according to a police captain.

Next day, police photographed a lineup of the purloined pumpkins (and gourd) and posted it to Facebook. Next thing they knew, they were inundated with calls from people trying to identify and reclaim their missing pumpkins (or gourd).

Now, mind you, the pumpkins werent even carved into jack-o-lanterns, so its not as if you could pick out your very own pumpkin via facial recognition.

Nonetheless, police say a number of people have recognized their particular pumpkins and reclaimed them. (No word on the gourd.)
"May you live in interesting times" is an apocryphal "Chinese curse" and was interpreted by the English to include disorder and conflict. Today we live on the edge of uncertainty, with the T-man swinging wildly in the seat of power without a moral compass to guide him. For comparison, let's look at the past.

Over centuries, London was the capital of Western thought and commerce. Originally a castle, the Tower of London was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and has served many functions over the centuries, including armory, treasury, menagerie and home of the crown jewels of England. But most infamously, the Tower served as a prison during the 16th and 17th centuries. Seven people were executed inside its walls, and the favored place of execution was the notorious Tower Hill on its north side.

Perhaps this is a thin stretch as an analogy, but today Americans can point to an edifice located in our financial and cultural capital that reaches toward the sky and is known as Trump Tower. Does this tower serve as a symbol of unchecked ego and ruthless greed or golden success? I suggest that we must turn our moral compass on high to find the answer.

I also suggest we vote our consciences in November and send a message to the Trumpster. A vote for Ralph Northam and Mark Herring will both safeguard progressive programs for our state and notify the political players in Washington that the citizens of Virginia have spoken loud and clear.

Julius W. Neelley, Fluvanna County

References:
Chennai: The Madras High Court on Friday asked the HRD Ministry if there was any scheme available with it to deal with unemployment engineering graduates in the country.

Justice N Kirubakaran was hearing a petition by S K Natarajan seeking a direction to the state government to implement the Tamil Nadu State Level Placement Programme in top IT firms in a fair and effective manner for holding a common campus recruitment programme for students of all engineering colleges, including his daughter.

The petitioner sought a direction against the conduct of such interviews only in select colleges.

Impleading the ministry, the judge said a larger issue is involved in the petition with regard to the opening of more number of engineering colleges and production of more number of engineering graduates, resulting in the problem of unemployment.

"The ministry is directed to answer as to whether there is any scheme available with the department to deal with unemployment problem of the engineering graduates in our country and if it is so, what is the scheme?" the judge said.

The judge also impleaded the All India Council for Technical Education in the matter with a direction to file a report on the number of engineering colleges in the country, students admitted, and their employability by November 7.
Chennai: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday flagged off export of Ashok Leyland trucks by coastal route to Bangladesh, and appealed to automobile manufacturers to opt for coastal shipping mode to transport vehicles.

Transportation by road was costly and would pollute the environment even as there was the risk of accidents, the Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways said.

"That is the reason that we have decided to use waterways and coastal transport. This is going to reduce the cost, save time and at the same time will be very good for environment."

"I appeal to all automobile manufacturers to use waterways for transporting their automobiles," he said over video conferencing from Nagpur.

Earlier, he flagged off auto major Ashok Leyland's consignment of 185 trucks transported through the roll-on roll-off (RoRo) coastal movement from Chennai Port to Mongla Port in Bangladesh. He recalled that India had signed a coastal shipping agreement with Bangladesh during Prime Minister Narenda Modi's 2015 visit there.

RoRo service was already happening between Chennai and Kochi and Kochi to Kandla and "this is a great example which is going to inspire and motivate all automobile manufacturers," Gadkari added.

Minister for State for Shipping and Road Transport, Pon Radhakrishnan said export of trucks by Ashok Leyland by sea route to Bangladesh would reduce the time by about 15-20 days as it takes only five days to reach the destination by sea. The benefits include avoiding pollution and possible accidents, the Minister, present at the Chennai Port, added.

Ashok Leyland Managing Director Vinod K Dasari said the company had been exporting trucks to Bangladesh for 40 years using the road route and added that various issues, including congestion at the border and delay in crossing it had prompted them to think of an alternative following which the government suggested the sea route.

"We do about 5,000 vehicles per year for Bangladesh. This is the first lot of 185 vehicles (through RoRo) and hopefully we continue to do more and use this as a route rather than the long (road) route," he said.

The cost-wise benefits of opting for the sea route were still being worked out, he said, adding "I hope it is more profitable and if profitable we will do more."

Meanwhile, a government release said that following the 2015 agreement between the two countries, transportation from Indian ports to Bangladesh ports "is being treated as coastal movement, making it eligible for 40 per cent concession on vessel-related and cargo-related charges."

"For coastal movement through RoRo vessels, 80 per cent concession on vessel-related and cargo-related charges are applicable in Indian Ports," it said.

Chennai Port started coastal RoRo service in August 2016 when 800 Hyundai cars were shipped on RoRo vessels from Chennai to Pipavav in Gujarat for local distribution, it said.

"Initiatives like this are aimed at providing innovative logistic chain solutions under Sagarmala. The ultimate objective is to save logistic costs and time of transportation and boosting trade by making Indian goods competitive in international markets," it added.
A body of lawyers, CAs and tax practitioners, welcomed the decision of CBDT to extend the last date of e-filing of IT returns till October 31.

Mumbai: A tax professionals' body has sought extension of the time for e-filing of income tax returns for the entities "where tax audit report or transfer pricing report or other audit reports are prescribed" till November 30.

Among other things, it has cited non-availability of clerical staff at chartered accountants' offices due to GST roll-out as a reason.

The All India Federation of Tax Practitioners (AIFTP), a body of lawyers, CAs and tax practitioners, welcomed the decision of the Central Board of Direct Taxes to extend the last date of e-filing of IT returns till October 31.

However, saying that its members are facing difficulties in filing returns by this date, it asked for further extension till November 30 in a letter to the CBDT chairman last week.

"This year, professionals are busy in making compliance with GST obligations... the technical glitches in the system have aggravated the problems," the letter said.

Besides, the CBDT has revised e-filing income tax return (ITR) preparation utilities for filing all types of ITR forms, tax audit report under section 44AB and also the schema for tax audit reports, the Federation said.

"Moreover, important changes have been made in audit reports for companies and in audit reports for other than companies. Due to schema updation, respective software has also to be updated, which will take some time," the letter said.

The CA examination is scheduled from November 1 and most of the articled clerks and assistants are on leave, the Federation claimed.

"Under these circumstances, we request you to consider further extension of date for filing of the income tax returns at least for a month, up to November 30, in cases where tax audit report or transfer pricing report or other audit reports are prescribed," the letter said.
Mumbai: Former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday raised several questions over Modi government's claim that all was well with the Indian economy. According to him, Indian economy saw its best performance during five years of first UPA government led by Dr Manmohan Singh.

Chidambaram was referring to Rs 2.11 lakh crore or roughly $33 billion recapitalisation of ailing public sector banks that are reeling under a total bad loans or non-performing assets worth Rs 10 lakh crore or more than $154 billion.

"Indian economy grew 8.5 per cent between 2004 and 2009, which is the best ever rate in India so far. But it has slowed down terribly since 2014," Chidambaram was quoted by a report in The Indian Express.

It may be noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi rose to power riding the anti-black money and anti-corruption wave prevalent in country in the run up to the 2014 general elections. Modi took oath of the office of the Prime Minister on May 26 that year.

PC as he is popularly called also took dig at incumbent Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who at a press conference last week had claimed India's macro-economic indicators were strong. Finance Minister says macroeconomics are strong. If the economy is strong, why announce 6 lakh crore Bharatmala programme? Why bank recapitalisation? Chidambaram asked.

At the widely-publicised press conference held last week, Jaitley along with his key aides in the Finance Ministry unveiled big bang reforms to overcome slowdown. In June, government statistics showed India's GDP grew at a record low of 5.7 per cent, a slide mainly triggered by on-off policy decisions like scrapping of high value notes and rollout of Goods and Services Tax.

Apart from recapitalisation of public sector banks, the finance ministry also informed it has earmarked Rs 7 lakh crore for infrastructure projects that aims to further enhance India's vast network of highways. The national highways will be built under Modi's Bharatmala roads project.

Chidambaram continues his criticism of government's poor handling of economic affairs: Economy is at inflection point. If you take right steeps, it will go up but will go down if wrong steps are taken."
Rating:

Cast: Kalki Koechlin, Richa Chadha, Sudhanshu Pandey

Director: Howard Rosemeyer

Despite having come a long way, Bollywood gingerly attempts telling stories that are not formulaic, or digress from the tried and tested formats. Therefore, judging purely on the merits of its title, I was expecting this weeks release Jia Aur Jia to be a thrilling ride, or a perfect thriller that has two starkly different women sharing the same name as its leads.

Choreographer Howard Rosemeyer may have been a creative person in the past, but his debut film as a director, is a non-starter right from the word go. The opening scenes trip on the dainty feet of its two lead actors  Jia Venkatraman (Richa Chadha) and Jia Garewal (Kalki Koechlin) who are seen excitedly gung ho about a twin sharing arrangement on a vacation to Sweden. Together, as they embark on a life-changing journey, one begins to explore the numerous possibilities that such a tale could possibly gravitate towards. That they are exact opposites and bear nothing in common, besides their names, is made clear by Chadhas stoic demeanour and Koechlins unnecessary ebullience in the opening scenes. That they could also be hiding secrets is known with the help of varied contrivances as we also get to know that Jia Garewal runs a bakery in Panchgani, and the other Jia is a corporate honcho. Soon, the film veers from verbal wrangling to Stockholm, Kullaberg and Ystad and a few nondescript locations in Sweden where they are forced to share rooms, and end up empathising with each other and becoming friends in the bargain.

As two young girls, shouldnt they be having loads of fun along the way, more so, since they dont exactly have a mission, or any specific purpose? Their holiday, as it turns out, is a getaway from either hurried life that they have led, or from the unspoken but the preceding distressing times of yore, which they are obviously running from. In the new unfamiliar land, they also run into a fellow Indian Vasu Bergman (Arslan Goni) who although comes from a rich background, but looks equally unsure about himself. Strangely, the script doesnt add some heft to their scenes together to warrant some bonding between the two: while one Jia who loves to smoke and guzzle drinks, is trying hard to make a point of being rebellious, the other struggles to look sombre and thoughtful, for whom, it seems, life is encumbered with a heavy load but moves along at a measured pace. Chadha, who has proved her mettle in several films in the past, is pathetic in displaying her plaintive existence. If the characters here are often sparing with their words, or even withholding, the visuals could have spoken volumes.

For a road movie about the metaphoric journey and the accompanying and its correlated bonding, its silent on what brings people together. The smooth talk and worldly wit that gets the affairs started and keeps them going remain invented, illusory and dispassionately emotionless.

Kalkis whole trope of the liberal woman who loves alcohol and sex is quite corny, specially since she is made to do scenes that are completely out of context. Like for instance, her jumping into bed for a one-night stand with a man she has barely known, but still professing undying love for him is out-of-sync with the films pace and the back stories that they both seem to be burying.

The job of convincing us that he could juggle two beautiful women is Rosemeyers. But as far as chick flick escapism goes, its hardly challenging work for him, considering even with Azizs interesting premise about two diametrically opposite characters on a journey together he is way out of his depth. As is Koechlin, who is simply unable to make her sassy lines and sexy outfits come together and convince us to laugh. She overplays throughout but is still marginally better than Chadha, who too looks and acts surprisingly dated, predictable and in a one-key manner. Given the cast involved, its nothing short of a disappointment.

The characters development of friendship seldom pushes past insights predicated on a fundamental tension between characters. This is arguably the phoniest film youll see this year, marred by clumsy direction, over-obvious acting and a wooden script that skews, and is downright boring.

The screenplay by Mudassar Aziz relies on cliched passages of negotiating a story  an accident, a forced reconciliation between characters, the constraints of finding a semblance of understanding and love, etc. Throughout its running time, the narrative never shirks the sense that its scenes have been most unimaginatively penned, and hence depicted in its entire 93 minutes of runtime. Just why was made into a full-length feature film, one fails to gather. Perhaps, a television series with two sexy anchorpersons cruising along cities and trying out new recipes on a travel and cookery show would have been a better deal!

The writer is a film critic and has been reviewing films for over 15 years. He also writes on music, art and culture, and other human interest stories.
Macron's meeting with the three junior ministers was interrupted by the sound of Nemo relieving himself noisily and at length behind them.

President Emmanuel Macron's dog Nemo has been filmed casually peeing on an ornate fireplace at the Elysee Palace as the French leader met with members of his government.

Macron's meeting with the three junior ministers was interrupted by the sound of Nemo relieving himself noisily and at length behind them, much to their amusement.

"He is doing something quite exceptional," says Macron in the video recorded by the LCI news channel.

"It happens often?" asks one of the ministers.

"No," Macron replies laughing, "You have triggered a totally unusual behaviour in my dog."

Nemo, a black two-year-old labrador-griffin cross, is regularly photographed accompanying Macron and his wife Brigitte on official duties.

The Macrons adopted the dog from a rescue centre in August.

Nemo is not the first presidential pooch to misbehave.

Nicolas Sarkozy's dogs reportedly caused thousands of euros (dollars) worth of damage to furniture in the palace.

And Jacques Chirac's Maltese Bichon Sumo, apparently unable to cope with a return to the humdrum life after leaving the gilded splendour of the Elysee, had to undergo treatment for depression after biting his master three times.
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Womens Commission has ordered a police inquiry into the present condition of Hadiya, alias Akhila, whose conversion to Islam and marriage is under judicial review. Womens Commission chairperson M.C. Josephine ordered the Kottayam district police chief to submit a report on Hadiyas condition immediately. A police officer not below the rank of DySP should be entrusted with the inquiry, she added.

The commission gave the fresh orders in view of reports that Hadiya was facing torture in her house and that her life was under threat. There were also reports that she was being forcibly intoxicated. Social commentator Rahul Easwar on Thursday released a video of Hadiya in which she said that she was being attacked by her father and that she feared a threat to her life.

Easwar, the grandson of famed Sabarimala hill shrine supreme priest, said that he had released the video in order to get the Supreme Courts attention to Hadiyas plight. Though Hadiya was provided police protection on the direction of the court, Easwar does not think she is safe in her home.

Easwar said that the video in his possession had visuals of the torture she had faced in her house. He said that he had not released them as it has communal overtones. He said that he will produce it before the court. Easwar had earlier lodged complaints with Kerala State Womens Commission and Human Rights Commission against the human rights violations faced by Hadiya.

Hours after Hadiyas shocking video emerged, her husband Shefin Jahan requested Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to intervene. In the petition given to the chief minister, Shefin mentioned that Hadiya, who has been under house arrest for over 5 months is going through severe human rights violation. Shefin also requested the home department to take suo moto action based on the video.

However, Hadiyas father Ashokan K.M. has dismissed the charges. He dismissed Easwars allegations saying that he didnt have time and that there was no need for him to comment on what Easwar says. It may be recalled that Hadiyas father had earlier lodged a police petition against Easwar for making public a video footage of Hadiya engaged in an argument with her mother over her conversion to Islam.

The Kerala High Court earlier had annulled the marriage of Hadiya with Shefin Jahan and given her under protective custody to her father.

It was also alleged to be an act of love jihad. Shefin later approached the Supreme Court against it and the matter was under the apex courts consideration. A group of womens rights activist had sought the intervention of the Womens Commission in the matter and the commission even planned to approach the court.
Naidu further said a mega seed park will be set up in association with Iowa University in the United States. (Photo: ANI | Twitter)

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, on Saturday, said that his three-nation tour was aimed at bringing 10 billion dollars investment into the state.

"My three-nation tour is aimed at 10 billion dollars investment and 50,000 jobs. I have this time focused on agricultural technology as continuation to our focus on Information and Technology (IT), Naidu said in Vijayawada.

He added that Telugu people are the richest community in Silicon Valley and are Andhra Pradesh's pride.

"In the past three years, we have cleansed agriculture sector. We gave priority to water management, so that most problems of the farmers are solved. Food habits are changing worldwide, so we widened our focus on horticulture too," Naidu asserted.

He further said a mega seed park will be set up in association with Iowa University in the United States.

"We have come to agreement with Wageningan University in Netherlands also. In November, we are going to hold a hackathon in association with Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Bill Gates will attend the event on the last day," Naidu added.

He was accompanied by a high-level delegation who travelled to the United States, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and United Kingdom from October 18 to 26.
CHENNAI: As many 46 fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been apprehended between September and October by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing into its water, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami told Prime Minister Narendra Modion Friday and sought his intervention to get them released. He said 46 fishermen and nine mechanised fishing boats who set sail for fishing from Ramanathapuram and Pudukottai Districts of Tamil Nadu have been apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy on September 9, September 19, October 5, October 11, October 16, October 20 and October 26.

The Sri Lankan Navy continues to harass our fishermen who pursue their humble livelihood of fishing in their traditional waters of Palk Bay. The Government of Tamil Nadu is extremely concerned about the continuing instances of apprehension and detention of our fishermen, Palaniswami told Modi. He also said in 2017, 317 Tamil Nadu fishermen and 62 fishing boats have been apprehended in 59 incidents and 263 of these fishermen have been released.

Even though the fishermen have been released from time to time, their boats and fishing gear, the only means of livelihood of these poor fishermen families are still impounded in Sri Lanka. These fishing boats are deteriorating due to prolonged exposure to the inclement weather and lack of maintenance, the CM said. I strongly urge you to personally intervene and take up the issue of the alarming and frequent abduction of our fishermen in their traditional waters with the highest authorities in the Sri Lankan Government so as to ensure the safety and security of Indian fishermen in the Palk Bay from Tamil Nadu, Palaniswami told the PM.

The CM also recalled that his predecessor Jayalalithaa had in her personal capacity moved the Supreme Court challenging on extremely valid and legal grounds the constitutional validity of the Indo-Sri Lanka agreement of 1974--by which the Katchatheevu island was ceded by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to Sri Lanka-and the TN government had subsequently impleaded itself in the case.Hence in our view the IMBL is not a settled issued, the CM said.
Bengaluru: Tree killers were at it again. Branches of 30 trees on the median of the Outer Ring Road near Marathalli on Wednesday were chopped just to ensure that a couple of hoardings are visible.This comes a few months after 25 trees were poisoned on the same stretch for the same reason.

An official from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palikes forest cell, who did not want to be named, said, It is suspected that the trees were chopped on Wednesday to make the hoarding visible. A complaint has been registered with the forest cell, who are enquiring to find out who cut the branches off the trees. We will also check with the BBMP advertisement department to know the advertising agency that has erected the hoardings. We have requested the advertisement department to pull down the hoarding immediately.

Mr Vijay Nishanth, who is known as tree doctor and an environmental activist, told Deccan Chronicle, One of my friends informed me that the trees had been mutilated after he learnt it from the Facebook. I asked him to check the spot and he confirmed it. I rushed to the spot and found that branches of pongamania trees, behandi trees and Tabebuia Rosea were mutilated. I applied liquid banadages and removed the fungus. We have to provide the trees with nutrition, like manure and fertilisers, for them to re-grow.

It is unfortunate that people cut trees unnecessarily. Everyone should think about the state of the environment we live in. The public should be more environment conscious, so that we can live in a better world, he said.
New Delhi: The Railways is working on a proposal to create a suburban railway network for Bengaluru, much like the one in Mumbai, to decongest the city and link it to the airport, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.

Mr Goyal said the idea was suggested to him before he took over as the railway minister by BJP leader Ananth Kumar, who told him that he had been pushing for a suburban rail service for the city since 1996. He said that during a review meeting of South Western Railway on September 18, he asked the officials to study the city for a rail network and come up with a preliminary project report for an elevated network. Possibly also have a road on top of the rail to connect the airport to places of work in the city, Mr Goyal said, speaking at the International Conference on Green Initiatives and Railway Electrification here. He said he that gave the SW Railways 30 days to come up with a plan. But on September 20, when he was in the city again, he was given a document listing out initial action plans on the project to be executed within 28 days. On September 26, Mr Goyal said the SW Railway construction wing of Bengaluru awarded the consultancy to the Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) for a conceptual planning and study of the proposal.

By October 1, the minister said he was presented with a rough assessment on the availability of land for commercial use, including the relocation requirements. They used Google to locate and prepare the plan where land is available because the scheme has to be self-financed. Then they identified various sections which need to be elevated and also pointed out which were to be done on ground," he said. By October 18, the RITES had already finalised an initial conceptual plan with drawings of how the project will look like, where the routes will be and with height and elevation details, he said. In a month, we have a proposal upon which the Railways can now start deliberating. I am sharing this to reflect the new confidence with which the Railways is working with the commitment to time-bound delivery of services, said Mr Goyal.
A track test being conducted at Margutti tunnel near Bidar. PM Narendra Modi will open the Bidar-Kalaburagi railway line on Sunday.

Bengaluru: Top leaders of BJP including Union minister for human resources development, Prakash Javadekar, and Union railways minister, Piyush Goyal, chaired a series of meetings to review the state unit's readiness for next year's elections to the Legislative Assembly.

Mr. Javadekar and Mr. Goyal chaired meetings with members of booth empowerment committee, campaign committee, political affairs committee, state office bearers, and the core committee. Besides, the party has also reviewed preparations for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Karnataka and the rally scheduled to be addressed by the leader in Bidar on October 29.

Sources in the party said Mr. Javadekar instructed the party cadre to mobilize large number of people for the rally in Bidar. He asked party workers to attend the meeting in large numbers from Hyderabad Karnataka region. Regarding empowerment of booth committees, Mr. Javadekar took inputs from the members.

In his last meeting, Mr. Javadekar had instructed to conduct booth empowerment programmes in each booths and assigned the party leaders take in-charge of boots, today he has reviewed the progress of works.

Meanwhile, the party is yet to finalise the list of candidates for elections to the Council from six graduate and teachers constituencies. It has asked members of respective district core committees to meet once again and send three names to the core committees.
The Hyderabad police had invested in the video enhancement system to analyse the footages without the help from forensic laboratories to avoid delay. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: CCTVs have helped the city police solve many sensational cases, including the Chandni Jain murder case and the daring daylight cigarette heist.

A boy, whose kidnapper threatened to kill him, was safely returned to his family within 24 hours with CCTVs playing a crucial role in solving the case.

During the Ganesh festival, the SHE Team booked 30 males, including eight minors, for harassing women during the immersion processions based on CCTV footage.

We can assure a 99 per cent crime detection rate due to the availability of cameras, said V. Satyanarayana, DCP, south zone.

Having tasted success, the police is widening the scope of CCTVs, which currently cover vast areas, while it was limited to certain hotspots earlier. It has been helping us in many ways in prevention and detection of crime. Previously, due to lack of CCTVs, we had to get feedback from locals. Whereas now, we get solid evidence on events, helping us get a clear picture, added the DCP.

Though CCTVs are a nemesis for anti-social elements, they have saved the fate of innocent people many times. There have been instances where innocent persons were wrongly accused by the mob. After we examined our camera feed, we saved several people, noted the DCP.

The Hyderabad police had invested in the video enhancement system to analyse the footages without the help from forensic laboratories to avoid delay.

Apart from locals, there are several agencies helping with CCTVs. Some companies do it under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and MLAs and MPs contribute from their local area development funds.

Investigation into kidnapping cases, property offences, murders, and even traffic accidents now depend on CCTVs. Linking CCTVs of private parties with the local police has revolutionised crime detection, a senior police officer from Hyderabad said.
The actor heard the travails of residents, mainly regarding fly ash deposits. (Photo: PTI)

Chennai: Veteran film star Kamal Haasan, on Saturday, visited the Ennore Creek area and listened to people's grievances, days after he voiced concern over encroachment and fly ash from power plants affecting livelihood of the fishermen there.

The actor, who has been facing criticism that he was engaging only in "Twitter politics" with his posts on microblogging site instead of going to the people and working to resolve their problems, was given a tour of the creek area.

The actor heard the travails of residents, mainly regarding fly ash deposits.

He was accompanied by environmentalist Nithyanand Jayaraman and local people, and a video clip of his visit was released in Chennai by his publicist.

The local women requested him to "do something" to end problems due to pollution and claimed many families had to quit the locality.

Some of them even tried falling at his feet, but he stopped them.

On October 26, in a statement on Twitter, the actor had said that "Kosasthalaiyaru (river) near Chennai is the lifeline of fishermen".

He had said that though the river was not fully polluted, about 1,090 acres of land in the rivermouth was lost due to encroachment.

While just usual rains could flood North Chennai, he said about 10 lakh residents of North Chennai would be affected if the area was going to see more showers this monsoon, adding "this is a caution...not a criticism about what had happened (seen as a reference to 2015 floods)."

Flagging the issues of encroachment, environmental degradation and the need to prevent flooding, he said finding a "permanent solution for the people is the hallmark of a good government".

He had said the Vallur and North Chennai power stations in the area were depositing fly ash in the river, which has been opposed by environmental activists for a long time.

He blamed the government for not paying heed to the problem, despite opposition of fishermen and local people.

The actor said he had "heard" that further land was being "usurped" in the creek area in North Chennai.

Kamal Haasan's visit comes two days after he had said that he would be coming up with a "communication strategy" on November 7, his birthday, to interact with the youth.

Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan and VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan welcomed the actor's visit.

State Fisheries Minister and senior AIADMK leader D Jayakumar said while his visit and suggestions were welcome, views with ulterior motives were not acceptable.

The actor in a tweet on Saturday thanked both Thirumavalavan and Radhakrishnan for welcoming his visit and said it added to his enthusiasm.

Jayakumar's remarks came against the background of several AIADMK ministers saying that they would respond to Kamal Haasan's critical remarks after he joined politics.

Meanwhile, Tiruvallur district authorities, under which the creek area falls, said that the issue of pollution would be looked into.
In a strongly worded message, Hardik has also warned the Congress of consequences similar to that of BJP chief Amit Shah during a rally in Surat in 2016. (Photo: File)

Ahmedabad: Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel, who has put forward a set of demands before the Congress as a pre-condition for extending support to the party in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls, on Saturday asked it to make its stand clear by November 3 on how it would ensure reservation for the community.

In a tweet, he also threatened that the Patidar community would oppose Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Surat on November 3, like it did to BJP president Amit Shah during one of his public gatherings in the city.

"3/11/2017 tak Congress Patidar ko Samvedhanik aarakshan kaise dengi, us mudde par apna stand clear kar de nahi to Amit Shah jaisa mamla Surat mein hoga (Congress should make its stand clear by November 3 on how it will provide reservation to the Patidar community under the Constitution, otherwise the Amit Shah episode will be repeated in Surat)," he tweeted.

3/11/2017       ,                  Hardik Patel (@HardikPatel_) October 28, 2017

On September 8, 2016, Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) members disrupted an event where Patidar leaders were facilitated. Members threw chairs as Amit Shah spoke and shouted Hardik, Hardik, and Jai Sardar, Jai Patidar.

Dinesh Bambhaniya, a PAAS convener, said the organisation and the community it represented would take a call on whether to support the Congress in the Assembly polls only after the opposition party made its stand clear on the issue.

He asserted that Hardik or anyone else from the PAAS had no plans to meet Rahul Gandhi until the Congress convinced the Patidar leaders as regards how would it ensure reservation for the community.

This reaction from Patel comes as a shock for Congress which is moving rapidly to firm up alliance with Patidar community leader Hardik Patel. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is also expected to meet the Patidar leader on November 1.

Hardik Patel had said that he was scheduled to meet Rahul during the latter's Gujarat visit between November 1 and 3.

"If he promises OBC status when the Congress is voted to power in Gujarat, PAAS will declare its support to the Congress for the assembly elections," Patel had said.

The 24-year-old Hardik Patel had told the media that assurances by senior Congress leaders of support for the community's demand for Other Backward Classes (OBC) status - guaranteeing quotas in jobs and education, could see him return the favour.

The Congress has so far maintained that it will offer a 20-per cent reservation to the economically backward classes (EBC), without disturbing the 49-per cent reservation given to the scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST) and other backward classes (OBC).
A purported picture of a Jammu and Kashmir policeman with an AK-47 assault rifle is doing the rounds of social media fuelling rumours that he has joined the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as he did not report for duty following a leave. (Screengrab)

Srinagar: A Jammu and Kashmir policeman, who went missing earlier this week is reported to have joined Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant outfit.

A picture of Ishfaq Ahmed Dar, who was posted at the Police Training Centre (PTC) in Kathua district of the State showing him holding an AK-47 assault rifle has gone viral on social media.

The police officials said that preliminary investigations confirmed Dar has joined the militant ranks.

Dar who was on leave, failed to return to his duty.

He was supposed to report back to duty on October 23 but he failed and the preliminary investigations have confirmed he has joined the LeT terror outfit, said a police officer who spoke to this newspaper on condition of anonymity.

We will take legal action against him, Kathua said, an official of the PTC.

Dar, a resident of Heff Shirmal village of southern Shopian district, a hotbed of militancy, had joined the police in 2012, the officials said.

The police sources said that in the last two years as many as eight policemen have deserted the police and joined the militants ranks in Jammu and Kashmir.

In May this year, a police constable Syed Naveed Mushtaq fled with four INSAS service rifles including one of his own from a FCI store in central district of Budgam, where he was deployed as part of a posse of cops on guard duty. Later it was learnt that he has joined Hizb-ul-Mujahedeen militant outfit.

In January last year, Shakoor Ahmed, a personal security officer (PSO) of Deputy Superintendent of police Bijbehara in Anantnag district had escaped from the residence of the officer with four service rifles.

Yet another policeman Naseer Ahmed Pandit, a resident of southern Pulwama district, had decamped with two AK rifles on March 27, 2015 from the residence of PDP Minister Altaf Bukhari in Srinagar and subsequently joined the Hizb-ul-Mujahedeen. He was, however, killed in an encounter in Shopian district in April 2016.
Kannur: The police on Friday released the photographs of five persons, all natives of Kannur who were killed in Syria after joining the Islamic State. It is for the first time the police has confirmed their death though there were reports earlier of their killings based on feedback received by their kith and kin through communication platform like Telegram.

The victims are T.V. Shameer, a native of Pazhanchira near Pappinissery, his son Salman, A.V. Shahnad from Chalad, Muhammed Shajil from Mundery, Chakkarakkallu, and Rihsal from Valapattanam. The photographs, which were given earlier by the central intelligence agencies, were handed over to the media after perusing the communications of those arrested recently and also getting confirmation from them.

DySP P.P. Sadanandan, who is investigating the case, told DC that the police had been trying to confirm the deaths though the photographs were received much earlier. We have no other evidence like the body or foolproof visuals of the body. But the deaths have been confirmed by verifying multiple sources, he added.

It was in December 2015 that Shameer along with his wife Fousiya, children Safvan, Salman and Najiya went to Syria. Shahnad joined IS camp during his job in Bahrain.



Shijith went to Syria in October 2016 along with his wife Shahnas, children Mishva and Abdulla Vahid. It was his wife who first informed the relatives about his death during the IS war. She had also asked the relatives to pray for him and also do other religious ceremonies, according to police.

Rishal, native of Valapattanam, went to Syria in 2014 along with his wife Huda. Later his relatives received a message from the couple that they were trapped in IS camp and unable to escape. Police also confirmed the death of three persons from Kozhikode and Malappuram who went along with Rishal.

It may be recalled that police had arrested the other day three persons who were deported by Turkey after they were arrested from Syria border while trying to enter the IS controlled zones. Two others who were on with a recruiting drive also were arrested.
Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani said in Gandhinagar that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Patel owe a clarification to the nation as the matter pertains to national security. (Photo: File)

New Delhi/Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday demanded Congress leader Ahmed Patel's resignation as Rajya Sabha MP, alleging that a suspected ISIS operative arrested recently used to work at a hospital where Patel had been a trustee earlier.

Patel rejected the charge as "completely baseless" and urged the BJP not to politicise matters pertaining to national security and divide the peace-loving Gujaratis.

Union minister Prakash Javadekar also said that the Congress "owes an explanation as to how a terrorist had been working there for so long".

Two suspected ISIS operatives were arrested by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) two days ago. According to an FIR, one of the accused, Kasim Stimberwala, earlier worked as a technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district.

Rupani said in Gandhinagar that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Patel owe a clarification to the nation as the matter pertains to national security.

"This is a serious issue, as a terrorist was arrested from a hospital which is being run by Patel... It has now been revealed that though Patel had resigned as a trustee of that hospital in 2014, but he is still at the helm of the hospital's affairs," the Gujarat CM alleged.

"Imagine what would have happened if these two terrorists were not arrested... Patel, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress must come clean on the issue. We also want Patel to resign as Rajya Sabha MP," he demanded.

"It has now been revealed that Kasim had resigned just two days before he was arrested. This raises several questions. Patel must clarify how such a person got a job in his hospital and why he resigned just days ahead of his arrest," Rupani said.

Replying to the charges, Patel tweeted, "My party and I appreciate the ATS' effort to nab the two terrorists. I demand strict and speedy action against them. The allegations put forward by the BJP are completely baseless."

In another tweet, he said, "We request that matters of national security not be politicised keeping elections in mind. Let's not divide the peace loving Gujaratis while fighting terrorism."

Javadekar said in Bengaluru the Congress owes an explanation as to "how a terrorist could work so long at the hospital".

The two IS suspects "were planning attacks on a Jewish religious place", he said.

Congress in-charge of communications Randeep Surjewala came to the defence of Patel, saying neither he nor any of his family members was a trustee of the Bharuch Hospital where the alleged terrorist was working.

"A frustrated BJP facing imminent defeat in Gujarat is resorting to levelling reckless and baseless allegations against Ahmed Patel," he said.

Sardar Vallabhai Patel Hospital is a charitable hospital and it has between 150-200 employees including doctors and technicians, he said.

"The BJP is being shown the door by 6.5 crore Gujaratis and a defeated BJP is clutching onto the polarising straws of blatant lies to reset the agenda. It will never succeed in its sinister conspiracies," the Congress leader said.

He said the BJP should stop preaching about fighting terrorism to anyone.

"The BJP's track record on terrorism is quite dismal. Will Amit Shah and Vijay Rupani answer as to who permitted dreaded terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's wife to visit Mumbai and leave unscathed with the entire government sleeping over the same," he asked.

"The truth is that Vijay Rupani and his government fired upon and killed farmers in Dahod in Gujarat. The BJP is trying to divert attention," he alleged.

The two suspected IS operatives had allegedly planned to carry out a "lone wolf" attack on a Jewish synagogue in Khadia area of the city.
New Delhi: Visiting French defence minister Florence Parly on Friday met her Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman and discussed ways to further boost military ties, co-developing and supply of military platforms besides paving the ground for the forthcoming India visit of President Emmanuel Macron to New Delhi in December. The talks included deliberation of the regional security situation, enhancing maritime cooperation, transfer of critical technology for various defence projects and ways to ramp up overall strategic ties, an official said.

Parly, who is here on a two-day visit, is also likely to meet PM Narendra Modi. Parly is likely to push for a follow on order of additional Rafale fighter jets, after the delivery of 36 jets under a Rs 58,000 crore deal finalised last year. The French embassy had said in a statement on Thursday that Parlys visit is aimed at strengthening all aspects of Frances fast developing defence cooperation with India, its foremost Asian strategic partner.

French major Dassault Aviation will invest over 100 million euros in a joint venture with Reliance Aerospace to manufacture aircraft components as part of the offset obligation connected to the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France. The Dassault-Reliance joint venture represents the largest ever foreign direct investment in the defence sector in India, the companies said in a joint statement. The foundation laying ceremony of the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited manufacturing facility was held on Friday at the Dhirubhai Ambani Aerospace Park in Mihan SEZ near Nagpur airport.
Sitharaman discussed various issues relating to implementation of the government's 'Make in India' initiative in the defence sector. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday issued directions to officials for addressing top military firms' concerns over licensing and tax issues and reiterated the government's commitment to facilitating private sector's participation in defence manufacturing.

Sitharaman discussed various issues relating to implementation of the government's 'Make in India' initiative in the defence sector with representatives of industry chamber Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), including top executives of a number of Indian and foreign defence firms.

The defence minister issued directions to the team of officers headed by the Defence Secretary for time-bound action on key issues raised at the round table, including the resolution of licensing with the Home Ministry, tax-related matters with the Finance Ministry and commercialisation of technologies developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the defence ministry said in a statement.

It said a wide range of issues, including matters relating to licensing, taxes and duties and ways to speed up the procurement processes were discussed at the meeting.

Ways to streamline the offsets regime and creation of a tiered defence industrial ecosystem with full integration and skilling of manpower in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises sector were also deliberated upon during the meeting.

Sitharaman conveyed to the top executives of the private defence industry that the government was "fully committed" to removing all the stumbling blocks and facilitating private participation in defence manufacturing with the objective of bringing high value foreign investment into the sector, officials said.

She told them that focus of the initiative is to ensure self-reliance in meeting the country's defence needs and that the government will provide a level playing field to the industry.

Sitharaman also asked the officials to ensure timely conclusion of procurement proposals.

In May, the government had unveiled the strategic partnership model under which select private firms will be roped in to build military platforms such as submarines and fighter jets in India in partnership with foreign entities.

"The present government has taken a series of significant policy initiatives, including promulgation of DPP (defence procurement procedure) 2016 which gives highest priority to indigenous design and manufacture of defence equipment, introduction of Strategic Partnership model, liberalisation of FDI norms and providing a level-playing to private industry," the defence ministry said.
Bengaluru: Have you been to a public park which has a separate area for women to exercise? Then visit Coles Park, also known as Freedom Fighters Park in Pulakeshi Nagar, where women can walk and exercise without worrying about men ogling at them.

Around six months ago, area corporator A.R. Zakir, along with BBMP officials, ensured that women have their own space in the park and designated an area where men are not allowed. The step was taken after women who visit the park daily complained that they feel uncomfortable when men sit and stare at them, which prevented them from going on walks and exercising.

The park opens for the public from 6 am to 11 am and from 4 pm to 7 pm. The area is also manned by private security guards.

Suzanne D Souza, a resident of Coles Park and a blogger, who goes for a morning walk every day at the park, said, It was a nightmare for women to visit the park without the company of their male friends as men just sat there and kept looking at women exercising and making them uncomfortable. These men also indulged in eve-teasing. We had complained to the security guards of the park, but in vain. We had also informed the jurisdictional police. They used to patrol the area, but were never there all the time.

Several women walked up to the corporator and requested him to stop the menace. Zakir said, We received several complaints of men trying to misbehave with women at the park. I immediately met the BBMP officials concerned and gave them the idea of designating a separate space for women inside the park and they agreed to it. We got basic exercising equipment, installed them and cordoned off the area. We also appointed a few security guards to ensure that no men entered the space or misbehaved with women.

Mayor Sampath Raj said, It is the need of the hour and we are planning to implement the idea at all parks falling under the BBMP jurisdiction. Women should have their freedom to enjoy their walk without worrying about men trying to misbehave. There are more than 350 parks in the city and we will designate separate area for women at all parks at the earliest.
Thiruvananthapuram District collector K. Vasuki presents a memento to President Ram Nath Kovind during a civic reception accorded to him in the state capital on Friday. (Photo: Peethambaran Payyeri)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday hailed Keralas progress in the fields of education, health and pancayatraj .

At the civic reception organised by the government in his honour here, the President said the states emphasis on human development, health-care and education was an example for the rest of the country. In sanitation, Keralas achievements are praiseworthy. In local self-government and panchayati raj, again Kerala has deepened our democracy, he said.

The President said that people of Kerala were educated and knowledgeable. The people of the state are always willing to use their knowledge and education to venture out and help build our nation and to contribute to the well-being and the prosperity of other regions, he said.

He said historically Kerala is a land of spiritualism, with a tradition of spiritual leadership and social reformers extending from Adi Shankaracharya to Sri Narayana Guru to Ayyankali and so many others.

The President said that Keralas traditions and thinking have been humanistic, people-oriented and democratic.

Today Kerala continues to attract the international community. This beautiful state is one of Indias leading tourism destinations, he said and added that just as outsiders had flocked to Kerala, the people from here too had ventured out of their home state and contributed to the world.

Mr Kovind said the Malayalee migrant community was the backbone of the work-force of so many Gulf States. And it faithfully sends back remittances to help in the development of Kerala and of India, he said.

Governor P. Sathasivam, chief minister Pinaryi Vijayan and his Cabinet colleagues, opposition lead Ramesh Chennithala , senior bureaucrats and police officers, a cross section of society attended the reception. Mementos, memorabilia and gifts were presented to the President on the occasion.

Kovind greets in Malayalam Lal-starrer Villain

President Ram Nath Kovind greeted the audience in Malayalam. Sah-odari, Sahodaran mare ningalkku ente namas-kaam, he said amidst thunderous applause.

President recollected that a month ago Chief Minister Pinaryi Vijayan had invited him to inaugurate Techno City and to the civic reception. I told him to forget the reception but I will come for the Techno City inauguration. But he insisted. No Sir I will invite you only if you accept our invitation for the civic reception as well, he said amidst laughter from audience.

Mr Kovind revealed that the Vote of Thanks precedes his speeches ever since he took charge.
Rohingya families have been staying in refugee camps at Balapur for several years.

Hyderabad: Fifteen Rohingya families have reportedly left Hyderabad in the last one week to seek refuge in Bangladesh because their future in India is uncertain.

Rohingya families staying in refugee camps at Balapur for several years say that following the recent fight between the Union government and human right organisations over their stay in India, a sense of insecurity pervades the camps.

At some point of time, we will have to go. Realising this, a few families have left in the last one week, says Mohammed Idris, who works as a daily labourer.

Idris came to India through Bangladesh five years ago and has been staying in the Balapur camp. He has a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) refugee card and yet feels insecure in this country.

Another refugee, Inayath ur Rahman, said that following the recent announcements from the government that Rohingyas would be deported, several NGOs and others came to the camps.

Rohingyas at mercy of border police

All of them helped us with rations, clothes and blankets. But no one came forward to assure us that we will be allowed to stay here. I think it is because we are not voters, a refugee, Inayath ur Rahman said.

Most of those staying in the camps here have lost everything in Myanmar, which has been systematically decimating Rohingyas over several years.

They escaped from their country in the hope that they would not have to face the same persecution elsewhere, but the Indian government has taken a belligerent stand against them.

Bangladesh is the only country that has taken them in and is trying heroically to cope with the thousands flooding in every day.

Those who have left the camps here will be going to Bangladesh if at all the police at the border allow them to cross over now, said another Rohingya refugee.

Around 4,000 Rohingyas are living in camps in Balapur, Hafeezbabanagar C block, Kishanbagh and M M Pahadi in the Old City.

Mazher Hussain, chief executive director of the Confederation of Voluntary Organisations, says there is a sense of insecurity among Rohingyas in the city.
Vijay Ram and his wife Mala Devi, residents of Bandu village in Garhwa district of Jharkhand, had claimed that Geeta was their daughter, Tunni Kumari alias Guddi. (Photo: PTI)

Indore: Geeta, the speech-impaired Indian girl who returned 14 years after accidentally landing in Pakistan, on Friday reportedly didn't recognise a couple from Jharkhand who had claimed that she was their daughter.

Vijay Ram and his wife Mala Devi, residents of Bandu village in Garhwa district of Jharkhand, had claimed that Geeta was their daughter, Tunni Kumari alias Guddi.

Tunni Kumari had disappeared nine years ago from her in-laws' house in Rohtas district of Bihar, they said.

The couple and their son on Friday a closed-door meeting with Geeta at the Collector's office in Indore.

The meeting lasted for about 45 minutes.

According to Gyanendra Purohit, a sign language expert who was present during the meeting, Geeta didn't recognise them.

"Geeta said through sign language that the couple are not her parents," Purohit told reporters.

Collector Nishant Warwade said, "Since I don't know sign language, I won't be able to give precise answer at this moment as to whether Geeta recognised the family or not. DNA test would show whether the couple are her biological parents."

DNA samples of Geeta and the couple would be tested at a laboratory in Delhi and results are expected within a week, he said.

Geeta was found by Pakistan Rangers on the Samjhauta Express at Lahore railway station when she was around seven years old. Karachi-based Edhi Foundation looked after her while she was in Pakistan.

Since returning to India in October 2015, Geeta has been living at an institution for deaf children here. So far at least ten couples have claimed that she is their long-lost daughter, but none of the claims were proven to be true.
The state government said that in the in the interest of the public the exemption was given for the Tadicherla captive coal block -1 including belt conveyer corridor. (Representational Image/PTI)

Hyderabad: The state government has exempted from its Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study for land acquisition required for coal mining projects to meet the coal requirement of Kakatiya thermal power plant.

The state government said that in the in the interest of the public the exemption was given for the Tadicherla captive coal block -1 including belt conveyer corridor. In this 335.22 acres are government and assigned lands, 40.05 acres are patta lands. This state government issued orders to this effect recently.
Revanth was arrested in the cash-for-vote case after he was caught on camera allegedly offering money to a nominated MLA for his vote in the MLC election in 2015. (Photo: File)

Amaravati: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) suffered a setback in Telangana, on Saturday, as the state working president and MLA, A Revanth Reddy, quit the party saying the recent happenings in the state unit pained him.

Revanth, who flew down to Vijayawada for a meeting with TDP supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, is understood to have handed over his resignation letter to Naidu's private secretary and immediately left for Hyderabad.

When asked about it, Chandrababu Naidu said that he has not received Revanth's resignation letter.

"Resignations are not new in TDP. Some people take decisions in their own interests," he remarked.

Revanth was arrested in the "cash-for-vote" case after he was caught on camera allegedly offering money to a nominated MLA for his vote in the MLC election in 2015.

For the past few days, there has been a turmoil in Telangana TDP with reports claiming that Revanth, who is an MLA from Kodangal in Mahbubnagar district, met Rahul Gandhi and was about to join the Congress.

Revanth also caused a stir by accusing some leaders of Andhra Pradesh TDP, including two ministers, of securing huge financial contracts from the TRS government in Telangana.

He, however, maintained a stoic silence over his future plans and had been saying that he would speak directly with Chandrababu Naidu upon the CM's return from abroad.

He met Chandrababu Naidu in Hyderabad on Friday, but the TDP chief summoned Revanth and other party leaders from Telangana for a detailed meeting in Vijayawada on Saturday.

Revanth flew down to Vijayawada, visited the Kanaka Durga temple and came to the CM's camp office for the meeting. As the chief minister's arrival was delayed, the rebel leader handed over his resignation letter to Chandrababu Naidu's PS and left for Hyderabad.

Chandrababu was later closeted in a meeting with other leaders from Telangana.
The High Court in 2011 set aside the circular of the Wakf Board holding that there was no provision under Act 1880 for the Board to meddle with the affairs of the qazis.

Hyderabad: The absence of rules and stringent provisions in the Qazis Act 1880 or the Wakf Act 1995, to regulate the duties and responsibilities of the qazis and punish the errant ones, has led the qazis to keep indulging in sham marriages.

Though the Qazis Act empowered the state government to appoint a qazi. It does not give any power to regulate their functions, except removal whenever they are caught indulging in malpractices.

Section 2 of the Act 1880 stipulates that wherever it appears to the state government that any considerable number of Muslim residents in any local area desire that one or more qazis should be appointed for a local area, the state government may, if it thinks fit, after consulting the principal Muslim residents in such a local area, to select one or more fit persons and appoint him or them to be qazis for such local areas.

The Act also stipulates that the state government may, if it thinks fit, suspend or remove any qazi appointed under this Section who is guilty of any misconduct in the execution of his office, or who is for a continuous period of six months absent from the local area for which he was appointed.

The erstwhile AP Wakf Board had in 2002 made an attempt to regulate the functions of the qazis by issuing a circular determining the fee payable to the qazis/Naib (deputy) qazis for performing a marriage and requiring that qazis obtain marriage booklets, sianamas and registers from the Inspector Auditors of the Wakf Board of the respective districts for a sum of `510 for ten marriages.

The High Court in 2011 set aside the circular of the Wakf Board holding that there was no provision under Act 1880 for the Board to meddle with the affairs of the qazis. Mr Muqeeth Qureshi, a senior advocate who is well versed with Mohammedan Law, explained that the Qazis Act 1880 is a Central Act. He said that there was always a provision under the Central Acts for the state government to frame their own rules to implement the Act, but the Qazis Act, which contains only four sections remains silent in the aspect of framing rules by the state government.

He said that Section 2 of the Qazis Act which deals with the appointment and removal of Qazis and Section 4 which deals with the powers of the Qazis, contradict each other. Mr Qureshi said that almost two decades ago, the AP High Court directed the Central and State governments to amend the Qazis Act to suit current situations.

He opined that the state government can either make its own rules to regulate the functions of the qazis or take steps after consultation with the Centre to amend the Qazis Act as per the directions of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

He felt that the implementation of the Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act will definitely curb sham marriages, as the registration will involve meticulous scrutiny of documents, in addition to careful examination of the bride and groom before the issuing of marriage certificates.

Mr Qureshi said that in the year 2011, a division bench of the Hyderabad HC ruled that the Wakf Board had no power to meddle in the affairs of the qazis. In spite of this, the Board is still issuing marriage certificates. which is improper.

Mr M.A.K. Mukheed, advocate of the High Court and former counsel for the Wakf Board said, We represented the state government to frame rules to regulate and prevent the marriages of Muslim girls to foreign nationals.

What the HC says
Senior Journalist Vinod Verma was arrested from his Ghaziabad residence at 3:30 am on Friday. (Photo: Facebook/Vinod Verma)

New Delhi: Hitting out at the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday said it was shameful that the opposition party was confusing media freedom with criminal activities, remarks made after the ruling party was accused of squeezing press freedom, following the police taking a journalist into custody on extortion charges.

After the arrest of senior journalist Vinod Verma by the Chhattisgarh police around 3:30 am on Friday, the Congress had demanded his immediate release and accused the BJP, which is in power in that state, of squeezing media freedom.

"It is utterly shameful that the Congress is confused between media freedom and criminal activities beyond the realm of media space. Attempt to blackmail is a serious criminal offence and the Congress is showing its political bankruptcy by defending it," BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said.

Verma was arrested from his Ghaziabad residence. About 500 CDs with pornographic contents, Rs 2 lakh in cash, a pen drive, a laptop and a diary were seized from his house.

Demanding his release, Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken had also called for a judicial probe into the "serious sex-related allegations" against a Chhattisgarh minister named by Verma.
Chidambaram's statement comes close to the heel of appointment of former Intelligence Bureau director Dineshwar Sharma as interlocutor for J&K by the Modi govt. (Photo: File)

Rajkot: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, on Saturday said that when people of Jammu and Kashmir ask for 'azadi' they seek greater autonomy.

"The demand in Kashmir is to respect in letter and spirit the Article 370 and that means they want greater autonomy. My interactions in Jammu and Kashmir led me to the conclusion that when they ask for Azadi, overwhelming majority want autonomy," Chidambaram said during an interactive session in Rajkot.

The former finance minister also said the Centre should find out the areas in Jammu and Kashmir where autonomy can be given.

"I think we should seriously examine the question (of autonomy to J&K) and consider on what areas we can give autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir. It's perfectly within the Constitution of India: Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India, but it will have larger powers as promised under Article 370."

Chidambaram's statement comes close to the heel of appointment of former Intelligence Bureau director Dineshwar Sharma as interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir by the Modi government.

Read: India picks former spy chief Dineshwar Sharma to lead talks on Kashmir

It is notable that in 2010, Chidambaram as Home Minister in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government appointed three interlocutors - noted journalist Dilip Padgaonkar, Prof MM Ansari, Information Commissioner and Prof (Mrs) Radha Kumar, trustee of Delhi Policy Group - to hold dialogue with all stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir.

Article 370 of the Indian constitution is an article that gives autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has traditionally favoured abrogation of the Article 370.

As BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi had also called for a debate on Article 370 of the Indian Constitution during his General Election campaign in 2013.

Addressing a rally in Jammu, Modi challenged the critics of the BJP's demand for abrogation of Article 370 to at least debate whether the article had benefited or harmed the people of the state.

After his government assumed power at the Centre, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, Jitendra Singh on May 27, 2014 made it clear that the BJP stands for abrogation of Article 370, but wants to have a democratic approach to find a lasting solution to the issue.

On the other hand, BJP's ally in Jammu and Kashmir - the People's Democratic Party - favours the Article 370.

On July 28, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti warned the Central Government against diluting Article 370, which grants special status to the state.

"Any changes in Article 370 will not be acceptable. I won't hesitate in saying that nobody will even hold the Tricolour in Kashmir if the article is scrapped," she had said.

On the other hand, Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh said on October 1 that Article 370 has caused harm to Jammu and Kashmir.

Apart from Article 370, Article 35 (A) of the Indian Constitution is also under question.

Article 35A of the Indian Constitution is an article that empowers the Jammu and Kashmir state's legislature to define "permanent residents" of the state and provide special rights and privileges to those permanent residents.

The Article 35 (A) is also challenged and the matter is pending before the Supreme Court of India.
Hyderabad: Former TD MP Nama Nageshwara Rao was booked on Saturday for threatening a woman that he would make public her private pictures.

In due course, I came to know that he is a womaniser and that a harassment case was filed against him in Delhi by a former MLC from Karnataka. When I spoke to Nirmala (the former MLC), she revealed his illegal affairs. When I questioned him about them, he said that it was his hobby and with his money and power he could do anything he wanted, she alleged.

She alleged that after she asked Mr Nageshwara Rao about his personal life, he developed a grudge and started harassing her.

He assaulted me several times at my home and threatened that he would make public my naked pictures. He spread a rumour that minister Tummala Nageswara Rao was using me to blackmail him. I opposed this and asked him to clarify that it was false, but he abused me and continued to harass me. she said.

In the complaint to the Jubilee Hills police on August 10, Ms Ramakrishnan stated that Mr Nageshwara Raos brother Seetaiah had sent goons and threatened her son, who studying in Khammam.

In this regard, I had lodged a complaint with the Jubilee Hills police on July 30. My son and I are getting threat calls from Nageshwara Rao and his brother, she said, adding that she had submitted the audio and video recordings of the conversations to a sub-inspector at the Jubilee Hills police station. Though the complaint was admitted on August 10, a case was not registered.

Two days later, Mr Seetaiah lodged a complaint stating that Ms Ramakrishnan had come to their office and threatened them and was threatening them over internet calls. That case was registered the same day.

Much before this, Ms Ramakrishnan had lodged a complaint against one Mikkilineni Narender, stating that he was harassing her. She later told her friends that Narender was a follower of the Nama brothers and working on their behalf.

When I filed a complaint in August, police did not register a case and it was delayed. Many senior TD leaders approached me to withdraw the case. Now that I was planning to approach the court, police came to know of it and hurriedly registered a case. she said.

ACP Banjara Hills N. Murali said that in her first complaint Ms Ramakrishnan had mentioned only Narenders name, but she had returned with the names of Mr Nageshwara Rao and Mr Seetaiah and lodged a fresh complaint stating that Narender was acting on their behalf.

Never in the inquiry of the first case did she tell us this. When we asked her, she said she was scared as they were allegedly spreading rumours against her, the ACP said.

We have collected all the audio and video clips and sent them to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis. Based on the reports, the investigation will proceed, the Banjara Hills ACP said.

Nama denies blackmail

TD leader Nama Nageshwara Rao, who was in Tirupati to attend a party meeting, said that his life was like an open book and that he had never threatened or blackmailed anyone.

I have a helping nature and have never caused harm to anyone. I learnt about this issue just now. I am not aware of the complete picture. What is the political motive behind this will come out and I am ready to face them legally. Mr Nageshwara Rao said.
New Delhi: Taking an indirect jibe at dynasty politics and one-man rule in political organisations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called for a debate on internal democracy in political parties, asserting that the growth of true democratic spirit within them is necessary for the country's future.

Though the Prime Minister made no reference to any rival party, but his comments come against the backdrop of reports that the Congress may elevate its vice president Rahul Gandhi as chief in place of his mother Sonia Gandhi.

The BJP has often accused the Congress of practising dynasty politics and juxtaposed that with the rise of its party workers to top echelons to project itself as a party with a difference. He also praised the media for its support to Swachh Bharat project, saying it has spoken in one voice over the issue even if it might have been critical of the government over other matters.

The media has joined the scheme in mission mode, he said, adding that the country has still a long way to go to achieve international standards of cleanliness but the campaign has built an atmosphere its its favour.
He alleged that some officials were misleading the government with claims that the dealers were diverting PDS rice. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: Ration dealers will go on strike from November 1 opposing the proposed introduction of the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme and demanding an increase in dealer commissions.

Dealers alleged that the government had failed to fulfil the promise of increasing their commission and was trying to close ration shops in the name of DBT, which would render 17,200 dealers and 25,000 workers jobless.

Telangana Ration Dealers Welfare Association president Nayi Koti Raju said they had waited for three-and-a-half years. Not a single promise made by the government on our demands has been fulfilled so far, he said. We will not allow this to happen and intensify our agitation till the government withdraws DBT proposal, Mr Raju said.

He alleged that some officials were misleading the government with claims that the dealers were diverting PDS rice.

There is no scope for irregularities after the PDS system went online and GPS was installed on trucks transporting PDS rice, CCTV cameras at godowns and bio-metric devices at ration shops. Every activity at every stage is being monitored by officials in Hyderabad Dealers are only maligned with a malafide intention of closing down ration shops and bring DBT, Mr Raju said.

He claimed that the government owes the dealers Rs 415 crore since October 1, 2015, as per the provisions of Food Security Act. He said Telangana state paid the lowest commission to dealers.
The earliest known inscriptions in Kannada date back to the 4th century BC. By 400 A.D., however, the Sangam era, which flourished from about 300 BC, made little or no reference to Kannada as a language. As the local script evolved it became a point of great pride for its people, who used it prolifically. Over 55,000 inscriptions were found in the area, historian Dr S. Settar tells Aksheev Thakur, as he retraces Deccan history through the evolution of its languages.

When Hoysala Sculpture in the National Museum was published in 1975, Dr. S Settar, then Professor of History and Archaeology at Karnataka University, set himself apart as one of the state's most distinctive historians and scholars. Now a senior faculty member at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Dr. S Settar will take the stage this weekend at the Bangalore Literature Festival to discuss the origins of the Kannada language.

Linguistic conflicts are a major part of mainstream life today, with bitter struggles to safeguard and promote local tongues, spurred on perhaps by the age, marked by integration and global togetherness. It may surprise some to know, therefore, that the seeds of this conflict were first sown thousands of years ago. Dr Settar takes us back to 300 BC, to the time of the great Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, who introduced the Brahmi script to Deccan India. This, he says, gave birth to the two oldest languages of India  Tamil and Kannada.

The emperor brought with him the Brahmi script and also Prakrit, the language of the masses. Religious icons like the Buddha and the Jain Tirthankaras owe their popularity, in part, to the fact that they sought the language of the masses, Prakrit, in their journey away from traditional Vedic teachings, he explains. This was a significant departure, one Dr Settar puts in perspective with an analogy: the pervading Brahminical attitudes of the time. Brahmins considered the consumption of onion and garlic to be non-Aryan, while any language that wasnt Sanskrit was shunned as foreign. This orthodoxy, he explains, made Sanskrit the language of the elite, leading to religious offshoots of Hinduism that emphasised use of the common tongue.

This is why the masses never learned Sanskrit, which was a means of verbal communication, he said. It was used to orally transmit the Vedas, which werent written down at the time, while providing the Brahminical classes with assurance that Vedic teachings wouldnt be received by anyone outside the Aryavarta region.

However, with the advent of Kushanas, who Dr Settar points out were vociferous advocates of Hinduism, Sanskrit was revived. It is interesting to note down that the first Mahakavya in Sanskrit was written by a Buddhist monk, Buddhaghosa in 1-2nd Century AD. This is due to the importance Sanskrit enjoyed under Kushanas, he says.

The Buddhists, after the arrival of Kushanas, used Sanskrit for over 300 years and by 300 A.D., Kannada developed. Though vernacular languages were spoken in South India at a time when Sanskrit was widely used in Aryawarta, verbal communication in the Deccan region was not disciplined.

The Kannada script, however, evolved from Brahmi. In his research, Dr Settar found that communication in South India, dating back to between BC 300 to and AD 300, was in Prakrit. Although Tamil and Kannada were branches of the Adi-Dravida system, there was very little interaction between the two languages.

He found that early communication in South India from 300 BC to 300 AD took place in Prakrit. After the fourth century, however, the interaction between Kannada and Sanskrit began to grow as a result of political rivalry. Kannadigas received no references in the Sangam era, a period rich in language, culture and art, which centered around Madurai. The script, when it did evolve, was used extensively  over 55,000 inscriptions were found in the region, Dr Settar says. Several centuries later, the Bahmani Sultanate, a Muslim state of the Deccan region founded in 1347, brought Urdu to Karnataka soil.

"Sanskrit and Kannada were used in tandem till about 600 A.D., after which the former became restricted once more to the priests. By 400 AD, Brahmi ceased to exist and Kannada, Tamil, Marathi and Malayalam scripts developed, he explains.

Dr Settars 10-volume series on the ancient writings of Kannada Language and Script is due for release next month. Over 2,250 inscriptions in Kannada have been written on stone and copper plates between 400 and 1000 AD, which, Dr. Settar says with a smile, is the highest in the world.

Over 2,250 inscriptions in Kannada have been written on stone and Copper plates from 4 Century AD to 10 Century AD which Dr Settar with a smile says is the highest in the world. This book is a mammoth effort, the product of nearly 30 years of research, as Dr Settar toiled to put the inscriptions together in chronological order. The books will also throw light on the evolution of the1600-year-old Kannada script, which has evolved continuously since 400 A.D.

The series will help greatly with the etymology of certain words. Karnataka boasts a large number of written communication. Out of the 18 minor Ashokan rock edicts that exist in India, over nine were found in Kannada, throwing light on the development and prolific growth of the ancient language.
The police said that they had found a marriage certificate in possession of the man along with passport and few thousand Indian currency notes.

Hyderabad: The city police late on Saturday night reportedly picked up a foreign national on charge of marrying a minor girl from the city.

According to the police, the man, reportedly a Bahrain national, had come to the city last week and married the minor from Talabkatta in the Old City. On information from reliable sources, a police team headed by an inspector monitored their movements and reportedly picked up the Bahrain national and one more person for questioning.

The police said that they had found a marriage certificate in possession of the man along with passport and few thousand Indian currency notes. The police is trying to trace the qazi who solemnised the marriage.

Elsewhere, the probe into the case of Gulf nationals marrying minors from the city took a new turn with investigation revealing that one Arif who was earlier caught by the police for arranging the marriage of a Qatar national with minor girls from the city had bought a house for Rs 22 lakh.

His earnings are meagre. Arif tried to convince us saying that he bought the house after working for two months with the Qatar Army. The house cost him `22 lakh and there is something suspicious, said a senior police official.

Police suspects that the house was purchased by a Qatar national who is now staying in a plush hotel in Banjara Hills. We suspect that the Qatar national who was earlier caught in a case registered at Kalapather police station had given money to the broker. Whenever, he was in the city, the Qatar national stayed here. He came frequently, said the police.

The police is now checking the details of all the houses which were sealed during the recent raids following the crackdown on contract marriages, according to a source.

We knew that the foreign nationals stayed at private guest houses. Now there's a new revelation and a thorough probe is being conducted, said the official. The police had detained two brokers and identified three women who were allegedly involved in human trafficking.

The examination of records seized from the office of the chief qazi of Mumbai, Farid Ahmed Khan, revealed that he had issued about 16,800 certificates in 27 years. Of these about, 1,800 marriages certificates pertained to Hyderabad alone, a police source told this newspaper.
Hyderabad: Mere poster campaign will not curb ragging, said Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University vice-chancellor after ten students were suspended from the hostel on Friday for ragging juniors.

Educational experts said that there should be strict monitoring to curb ragging in institutions. JNTU was one of the first varsities to install CCTVs in hostels and the step helped in nabbing the culprits.

Praveena Reddy, an educational expert, noted, The university continues to monitor students. However, every year we see cases of ragging. The idea of a senior showing power over a junior is wrong. There should be constant interaction between juniors and seniors.

The university authorities said that they will increase the preventative measures. N. Yadaiah, registrar of JNTU, said, We have appointed more security personnel in the hostels and have ensured that students who were caught have been suspended from the hostel.

Students said that there is harmless ragging in every campus. Nabhan Salam, a second year student, said, We often have an informal session for introduction with our seniors in the hostel. We joke around and they make us do silly things. A better bond is formed this way but this cannot be termed as ragging unless a student feels humiliated.
Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah turned the heat on about a dozen Union ministers and other BJP leaders facing criminal charges by demanding their resignation while rising to defend his cabinet colleague K J George a day after the minister was named the prime accused in the FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case of mysterious death of deputy superintendent of police M K Ganapathi on Friday.

Let them also resign. Why should they continue?" asked a combative Mr Siddaramaiah while making known that the ruling Congress would contest the case of FIR on political lines with the BJP as he charged leaders of the party with using the premier investigating agency as a political tool. He named his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath and other BJP leaders facing criminal charges during an elaborate defence of Mr George during his interaction with media persons. "Politically, the Congress is very confident of facing the BJP. They have no moral right (to ask for Mr George's resignation)" he said after a closed-door meeting with senior ministers and party leaders on the impact of the FIR registered against Mr George and two senior police officers-DGP (Intelligence) A.M. Prasad and IGP Pranov Mohanty-on the image of the government ahead of next year's elections to the Legislative Assembly, he told media persons in Bengaluru.

Describing the demand of BJP leaders for Mr George's resignation as politically motivated, Mr Siddaramaiah said the FIR did not warrant Mr George's exit from the cabinet as the minister had resigned as soon as a FIR was registered by the CID. The minister has agreed to cooperate with officers of CBI investigating the death of Mr Ganapathi. Besides, there was no question of the minister influencing officers of CBI as it was a Central investigating authority. Mr George had resigned on moral grounds earlier and returned to the cabinet after officers of CBI issued a green chit and filed a B report in the case. The latest FIR was a continuation of one filed in the local police station by officers of CID and therefore did not merit the exit of Mr George, he added.

With the CBI registering a FIR, leaders of BJP upped the ante against Mr George and the state government with state unit leader B.S. Yeddyurappa threatening state-wide protests in case the minister does not quit immediately. The FIR was registered soon after files related to the case were handed over to the CBI by officers of CID on Thursday. The CBI has launched a probe following a directive from the Supreme Court on an appeal filed by Mr Ganapathi's father, Mr M.K. Kushalappa, with a plea for investigation by the investigating agency.

A year later...

The body of DySP M K Ganapathi was found hanging at Vinayaka lodge in room number 315, on 7th July 2016, in Madikeri.

Prior to his death, he had given an interview to a local TV channel in Madikeri, in which he had accused Minister Mr K.J. George and two senior Police officers Mr Pranab Mohanthy and Mr A.M. Prasad.

Mr Ganapathis son Nehal Ganapathi who had filed a private complaint with Principal Judge of JMFC Court in Madikeri, stepped back and didn't file any objection to the B report filed by CID. But Ganapathi's brother Maachaiah appealed to the court to include the names of his father, mother, sister and himself in the case and permit them to continue the case.

The family members approached the Supreme Court after High Court had dismissed the petition to hand over the case to CBI.

A judicial probe is still on.

M K Ganapathi

Were not misusing the CBI to file FIR and harass George, asserts Javadekar

Union minister for human resource development Prakash javadekar denied on Friday that the Centre had misused the CBI to file a FIR against Bengaluru Development Minister, K.J. George in the M.K. Ganapathi suicide case as alleged by the state government.

Speaking to reporters at the BJP office here, Mr. Javdekar said the CBI had registered an FIR against Mr. George in the case not on the Union government's, but the Supreme Court's orders.

"Chief Minister Siddaramaiah cannot protect his trusted minister this time. All these days he has protected corrupt ministers in his Cabinet, but he cannot do the same with Mr. George in Dy.SP Ganapathy's suicide," he warned.

Senior BJP leader in charge of the party's affairs in Karnataka, Muralidhar Rao, too contended that the state government was making baseless allegations against the BJP government at the Centre when the CBI had registered the case against the minister on the Supreme Court's directions. "The Centre has no role to play," he asserted.

Also alleging that the CM was making a desperate attempt to protect his minister, he said he had to respect the judiciary and drop Mr. George from the Cabinet as he had been named the first accused in the Dy.SP's suicide.

Demanding Mr George's resignation as well, BJP general secretary, Shobha Karandlaje wondered why he had not quit already when the CBI had filed an FIR against him. "Mr George had resigned when the CID registered a case, which means he knew it would give him a clean chit," she charged.

Contending there was a possibility of evidence being destroyed in the case, she said it was only appropriate for the Minister to step down immediately. " If he doesn't, the BJP will launch a statewide protest against him and the Chief Minister," she warned.

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao alleged in Delhi that George, is Siddaramaiah's conduit to the top Congress brass. "So he is helpless in acting against him. Mr Siddaramaiah should tell people what is his compulsion in continuing with a tainted minister facing grave charges and if his hands have been forced by the Congress leadership as George is a major fund-raiser,"Mr Rao said. Mr Siddaramaiah's defence of his minister is a sign of utter shamelessness, and his claim of political vendetta exhibits a lack of sensitivity for the family of Ganapathy,, he added.
An ACB official takes away a bag seized from the residence of nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson on Sunday. Right, A TV grab of TD MLA Revanth Reddy offering the bribe to (Photo: File/S. SURENDER REDDY)

Hyderabad: A sting operation showing former MLA A. Revanth Reddy offering a bribe to nominated MLC Elvis Stephenson 30 months ago, followed by the release of an audiotaped phone conversation which purported to show the alleged involvement of TD president and AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu precipitated the downfall of the party in the state.

The party had won 15 MLAs and a vote share of 22 per cent in Telangana state, leading Mr Naidu to vociferously proclaim in his speeches, I will haunt you, I will remain here to fight against you (against KCR). Mr Naidu had said he would visit the state every week and lead the party in taking up agitations against the Chandrasekhar Rao government.

Then the sting operation was telecast on May 31, 2015, showing Mr Revanth Reddy offering Rs 50 lakh cash to Mr Stephenson to vote in favour of TD MLC candidate Vem Narender Reddy.

Mr Revanth Reddy was arrested and remanded for a month in jail, and still faces the cases as Accused No 1. There was no case lodged against Mr Naidu for his alleged telephonic conversation with Mr Stephenson, the case remained as a weapon for his critics.

After this, Mr Naidu confined his activities to the AP capital, leaving the party affairs in Telangana state to local leaders. TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao took advantage of the situation and admitted 12 TD MLAs into the ruling party, giving the impression to TD cadre as well as leaders that their ultimate destination should be the TRS. Even traditional TD supporters started moving towards the TRS.

The exit of Mr Revanth Reddy, who is set to join the Congress, has further weakened the TD in Telangana state. The mood in the TD is that it will disintegrate further as many leaders look to alternative parties like the Congress, TRS and the BJP.
The companies named include mainstays of Russia's export industry such as military arms supplier Rosoboron export. (Photo: AFP)

Washington: Under pressure from an impatient Congress, President Donald Trump's administration belatedly published a list of Russian firms and agencies to comply with a new sanctions law.

Trump had opposed the law, which restricted his authority to loosen measures imposed to punish Russia for its meddling in Ukraine and alleged interference in US politics.

But he begrudgingly signed off on the "Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act" in August after lawmakers passed it with a veto-proof majority.

Under the act, the State Department was obliged to draw up within 60 days a list of contractors with ties to Russia's military and intelligence agencies.

On Thursday it finally sent the list to Congress, 25 days late, and yesterday it published it on its website.

The companies named include mainstays of Russia's export industry such as the huge military arms and vehicle supplier Rosoboron export and iconic firearms pioneer Kalashnikov.

Appearing on the list does not mean that the firms themselves face sanctions, but measures may be taken against entities that conduct "significant transactions" with them.

Some of the firms and entities listed are already subject to direct US sanctions under separate laws or executive orders.

A senior State Department official said the administration shares Congress' intent to respond "to Russia's malign behaviour with respect to the crisis in eastern Ukraine, cyber intrusions and attacks, and human rights abuses."

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said that by banning transactions with the listed firms the US could limit "the sale of advanced Russian weaponry around the world."

Russia's arms export industry is a major plank of its economy and its clients include not only US foes like Iran and Syria, but important defence partners like India.

Some of Washington's allies in the Middle East have flirted with buying Russian air defense systems and some NATO allies in eastern Europe still use Russian-designed equipment.

The list of 39 entities includes Russia's main intelligence agencies - the FSB, SVR and GRU -- and PO KSI, a tech company that the US has alleged trains Russian hackers.

Among the manufacturers and design bureaux listed for their ties to the military are state and para-statal agencies as well as nominally private companies.

These include aviation giants like Sukhoi and Tupolev and specialists in space research and missile technologies.

The list was published this week after complaints from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers that the administration appeared to be dragging its feet.

On Thursday, Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and in recent weeks a sharp critic of Trump, welcomed the delivery.

But he warned: "Congress will expect thorough and timely consultation until full implementation is complete."

The United States has already imposed a range of sanctions on Russia in response to human rights violations and its actions in Ukraine, but the new law goes further.

It will doubtless further chill already frosty US ties with President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin, which once hoped that Trump's election would hasten the end of such measures.

Any prospect of rapid detente has been wrecked by a diplomatic stand-off and by the ongoing investigation into Russia's alleged role in Trump's 2016 election victory.

The president himself has angrily dismissed suggestions that Putin weighed in by directing an army of hackers and internet trolls to smear Trump's rival Hillary

Clinton.

But US intelligence agencies believe Moscow at least tried to influence the result, and a US special prosecutor is investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded in this.

Against this background, when Congress passed its act it included language to limit Trump's ability to ease sanctions on Russia unilaterally, angering the White House.

Nevertheless, the State Department officials who presented the list insisted the administration will cooperate with Congress in implementing the sanctions.

"On the question about interference in the election, I think it's very clear. The intelligence community has established very clearly what that issue is," one said.

"We will be implementing the sanctions legislation robustly in keeping with Congress' intent and the facts that precipitated that legislation, including interference in our election."
The planned voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti aboard a 50-foot sailboat didnt start off well for Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava and then it got worse. (Photo: AP)

Honolulu: The planned voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti aboard a 50-foot sailboat didnt start off well for two Honolulu women. One of their cellphones was washed overboard and sank to the bottom on their first day at sea.

From there, things got worse. Much worse.

About a month into their trip, flooding from a storm crippled their engine. The 57-foot mast was damaged. And then, as they drifted thousands of miles in what turned out to be a five-month ordeal out in the middle of Pacific, the water purifier conked out and sharks started bumping the boat menacingly.

Every day for 98 days straight, the women sent out a distress call to no avail.

But the two sailors, accompanied by their dogs, were resourceful and well-prepared with more than a years worth of food, and on Wednesday they were finally rescued by the US Navy about 900 miles off Japan and thousands of miles from their destination.

Thank God weve been rescued, Jennifer Appel, 48, told reporters in a teleconference arranged aboard a Navy ship. I had tears in my eyes. It was incredibly emotional.

The USS Ashland picked up Appel and Tasha Fuiava after a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted their crippled vessel Tuesday and alerted the Coast Guard.

In photos and video provided by the Navy, one of the women blew kisses as a rescue boat approached. Both women, and their dogs, Valentine and Zeus, looked fit and vigorous. Fuiava flashed a smile as she climbed a ladder onto the Ashland.

Asked if they ever thought they might not survive, Appel said they would not be human if they did not. She credited the two dogs with keeping their spirits up.

There is a true humility to wondering if today is your last day, if tonight is your last night, Appel said.

The two women lost their engine in bad weather in late May but believed they could still reach Tahiti by sail. But the damage to their mast made it difficult to make any progress.

Twice, sharks menaced them.

They were horrific, Appel said.

A group of five tiger sharks 20 to 30 feet long decided to use the sailboat to teach two younger sharks how to hunt, attacking the vessel at night. The next morning, one 20-footer that Appel called a really poor loser returned and attacked the side of the boat.

We were just incredibly lucky that our hull was strong enough to withstand the onslaught, Appel said.

But the experience wasnt all the stuff that nightmares are made of. They said they enjoyed learning about the ocean, its features and the weather. We got to figure out how the ocean works, Appel said.

You may as well use the time you have to do something beneficial, said Fuiava

Appels mother said she never gave up hope her daughter would be found.

She is very resourceful and shes curious, and as things break she tries to repair them. She doesnt sit and wait for the repairman to get there, said Joyce Appel, 75, who lives in Houston. So I knew the same thing would be true of the boat.

The mother said after not hearing from her daughter about a week and a half after the younger woman left Honolulu, she called the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard, in Hawaii, did a search and rescue effort, she said. I waited and waited and waited to see when I would hear from her.

She said she got a call from her daughter early Thursday more than five months after they had last spoke.

She said, Mom? and I said, Jennifer!? because I hadnt heard from her in like five months, she said. And she said, Yes mom, and that was really exciting.

The mother said the pairs water purifier had stopped working and they were down to their last gallon of water when Jennifer got it fixed.

The Navy said that two months into their trip, well after they were scheduled to arrive in Tahiti, the women began making distress calls, but there were no vessels close and they were too far out to sea for the signals to be detected on land.

That was incredibly depressing, Appel said. And it was very hopeless, but its the only thing you can do, so you do what you can with what you have. You have no other choice.

The women said they also tried without success to hail a number of ships and fired off 10 signal flares.

They told the Navy that they survived because they had packed the water purifier and enough food for a year, mostly dried goods like oatmeal and pasta.

They were given a medical check-up, food and beds aboard the Navy ship, where they will remain until the next port of call, the Navy said.

They said they have no fear of getting back in the water for some more sailing. They said they are hoping another ship rescues their sailboat, which was left adrift, and they would like to fix it and sail it back to Honolulu.

Well, you got to die sometime, Appel said. You may as well be doing something you enjoy when youre doing it, right?
The woman, said to be found in the bedroom of the apartment unit with a knife beside her, had suffered multiple stab wounds, including one in the chest. (Representational Image | Photo: File)

Singapore: A 50-year-old Indian-origin man has allegedly stabbed to death a woman, believed to be his wife, at a house in Singapore, media reports said Saturday.

Krishnan Raju has been charged in the State Court with causing the death of 44-year-old Madam Raithena Vaithena Samy on Thursday between 9:00 and 10:48 PM (local time) at a condominium in Jalan Loyang Besar, The Straits Times reported.

If convicted, he faces the death penalty, it said. The police believe that the woman was the wife of Krishnan who owns a transport company, the report said.

He had entered Malaysia before returning to Singapore, where he surrendered himself to the police at Woodlands Checkpoint, about 10 hours after the incident, the report said.

The woman, said to be found in the bedroom of the apartment unit with a knife beside her, had suffered multiple stab wounds, including one in the chest, it said.

Krishnan, who appeared emotionless as the charge was read out to him, has been remanded at the Central Police Division, with permission to be taken out for investigation, the report said.

He will be back in the court on November 3, it added.
Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria demanded that any transfer of armed drones should also be closely examined in the context of the guidelines of the multilateral export control regimes, including the Missile Technology Control Regime, which place certain limitations on such transfers. (Photo: File | Representational)

Islamabad: Pakistan on Friday opposed supply of armed drones by the US to India, warning that it could increase the chances of military misadventures" leading to a conflict in the region.

The remarks by the Foreign Office spokesman came days after a senior Trump administration official said that the US was "considering" India's request for armed drones for its air force's modernisation drive. "Use of armed drones can lower the threshold for conflict, since it can encourage military misadventures, especially in the backdrop of irresponsible discourse about limited military operations below the strategic threshold," Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said in Islamabad.

Zakaria said that Pakistan has consistently maintained that preserving regional stability should be the fundamental consideration in any international arms transfer.

He said "extra-regional powers" should be mindful of such actions, which can undermine strategic stability in South Asia. He demanded that any transfer of armed drones should also be closely examined in the context of the guidelines of the multilateral export control regimes, including the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which place certain limitations on such transfers.

Zakaria said that even if such transfers are below the prescribed thresholds, they definitely violate the spirit of the control regimes, which are aimed at controlling the proliferation of destabilising weapon systems, which can threaten regional peace and stability.

"We hope that the members of MTCR and other export control regimes fully understand their responsibility in not letting any countrys membership of such groupings constitute a carte blanche for proliferation of destabilising weapon systems," he said.

Talking about Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's recent visit to Islamabad, he claimed that the US side admitted that Pakistan had two troubled borders and the South Asia Strategy would address these issues.

To a question about "Indo-US coziness", the spokesman said Pakistan was not against any bilateral relationship between them but "it should not be based on agenda of containing China or threatening Pakistan."

"We are concerned with the role US is giving to India in the region. It will only aggravate the situation and endanger the peace and stability in this part of the world," he said. Indian actions and policies, as you are aware, have been a cause of serious concern for many of its neighbours over several issues. We believe that countries should resolve their issues through engagement and dialogue," he said.

When asked whether the Pakistani leaders raised the issue of India's alleged interference in Pakistan during their talks with Tillerson, Zakaria responded by saying that Pakistan side "did raise the issue of Indian involvement in terrorism in Pakistan, and also mentioned the subversive activities carried out by RAW using terrorists based in Afghanistan."

"We also raised the issue of ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control and Working Boundary...We also highlighted plight of Kashmiris," he said, adding that Pakistan would continue to extend moral, diplomatic and political support to the Kashmir cause. "We call for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with relevant UNSC Resolutions," he added.

Zakaria also announced that Dr Muhammad Faisal has been nominated as the new spokesperson of the Foreign Office. Faisal has been working as head of South Asia and SAARC affairs at the ministry of foreign affairs. He has repeatedly summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner to the Foreign Office in recent months.
I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power, Jim Mattis said. (Photo: AP)

Seoul: US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday the threat of nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating.

In remarks in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at his side, Mattis accused the North of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs - and vowed to defeat any attack.

Mattis said North Korea engages in "outlaw" behaviour and that the US will never accept a nuclear North.

He added that regardless of what the North might try, it is overmatched by the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old US-South Korean alliance.

"North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbours and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs," he said, adding that US-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration thus has taken on "a new urgency."

"I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power," he said.

As he emphasized throughout his weeklong Asia trip, which included stops in Thailand and the Philippines, Mattis said diplomacy remains the preferred way to deal with the North.

"With that said," he added, "make no mistake - any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming."

Mattis' comments did not go beyond his recent statements of concern about North Korea, although he appeared to inject a stronger note about the urgency of resolving the crisis.

While he accused the North of "outlaw" behaviour, he did not mention that President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his own rhetoric. In August, Trump warned the North not to make any more threats against the United States, and said that if it did, it would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen."

Song, the South Korean minister, told the news conference that he and Mattis agreed to further cooperation on strengthening Seoul's defense capabilities, including lifting warhead payload limits on South Korean conventional missiles and supporting the country's acquisition of "most advanced military assets." He offered no specifics and refused to answer when asked whether the discussions included nuclear-powered submarines.

Some South Korean government officials have endorsed the nation getting nuclear-powered submarines amid calls for more military strength. There's a growing concern among the South Korean public that North Korea's expanding nuclear weapons arsenal, which may soon include an intercontinental ballistic missile that could target the US mainland, would undermine Seoul's decades long alliance with Washington.

South Korea's conservative politicians have also called for the United States to bring back tactical nuclear weapons that were withdrawn from the Korean Peninsula in the 1990s, which they say would make clearer the US intent to use nukes in a crisis. But Mattis and Song were strongly dismissive of the idea.

"When considering national interest, it's much better not to deploy them," said Song, adding that the allies would have "sufficient means" to respond to a North Korean nuclear attack even without placing tactical nukes in the South. Mattis said current US strategic assets are already providing nuclear deterrence and that the South Korean government has never approached him with the subject of tactical nukes.

Also discussed in the meeting were the conditions under which South Korea would be given wartime operational control of its forces. Currently, if war with the North broke out, the South's forces would operate under the US-led UN Command.

Trump entered office declaring his commitment to solving the North Korea problem, asserting that he would succeed where his predecessors had failed. His administration has sought to increase pressure on Pyongyang through UN Security Council sanctions and other diplomatic efforts, but the North hasn't budged from its goal of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including missiles capable of striking the US mainland.

If Trump sticks to his pledge to stop the North from being able to threaten the US with a nuclear attack, something will have to give - either a negotiated tempering of the North's ambitions or a US acceptance of the North as a nuclear power.

The other alternative would be US military action to attempt to neutralize or eliminate the North's nuclear assets - a move fraught with risk for South Korea, Japan and the United States.

At his Seoul news conference, Mattis said the North is, in effect, shooting itself in the foot.

"If it remains on its current path of ballistic missiles and atomic bombs, it will be counterproductive, in effect reducing its security," he said.

Mattis touched off unease in South Korea last month when he told reporters at the Pentagon that the United States has military options for North Korea that doesn't put Seoul at risk. At Saturday's briefing, Mattis didn't offer a direct answer to what those options are or how and when they would be used.

"Our military options as I mentioned are designed to buttress the diplomats' efforts to maintain a deterrence stance and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula," he said. While the allies are committed to deterring North Korea, they also need "many different military options that would realistically reduce that threat as low as possible," Mattis said.

"And yes, we do have those options," he said.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to counter what it believes is a US effort to strangle its economy and overthrow the Kim government.

This was Mattis's second visit to South Korea since taking office in January. He made a point of going to Seoul and Tokyo on his first overseas trip in February, saying he wanted to emphasis the importance he places on strengthening alliances and partnerships.

On Friday he visited the Demilitarized Zone that forms an official buffer between the two Koreas. He appeared there with Song in what they both called a show of solidarity.

US government officials for decades have confidently but mistakenly predicted the approaching collapse of North Korea, given its economic and political isolation.

Twenty years ago, Mattis's predecessor five times removed, William Cohen, said as he peered into North Korea from inside the DMZ that its communist system was "decaying and dying." His view was widely shared in Washington, but, like others, he underestimated the resilience of Pyongyang's family dynasty, which began with Kim II Sung. The current ruler assumed control of the country shortly after his father, Kim Jong-II, died in December 2011, and has accelerated the country's nuclear and missile programs.Jim mattis, kim jong un, Donald trump, nuclear attack, song young moo
We saw the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visiting important countries during our 1971 Liberation War. Only then the global initiative (to stop the Pakistani genocide) began, said BNP secretary general. (Photo: AFP)

Dhaka: Bangladeshs main opposition BNP urged Premier Sheikh Hasina Saturday to follow in the footsteps of Indias former prime minister Indira Gandhi, in handling the Rohingya crisis as the country is confronted by a refugee problem similar to the one faced by India in 1971.

We saw the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visiting important countries during our 1971 Liberation War. Only then the global initiative (to stop the Pakistani genocide) began, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.

He said BNP had long been advocating that the premier should play a special role to resolve the Rohingya crisis to convince countries which still support Buddhist-majority Myanmar, allowing it to carry on alleged atrocities against ethnic minority Rohingya Muslims.

The BNP is known for its hawkish stance on India as opposed to Hasinas ruling Awami League.

India crucially supported Bangladeshs 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan and offered refuge to nearly 10 million Bengalis who fled their homes in the face of genocide.

Alamgirs comments came as BNP chief and ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia departs for Coxs Bazar to witness the Rohingyas plight as over 600,000 forcibly displaced people have taken refuge in southeastern Bangladesh after fleeing their homes in Myanmars Rakhine state.

Bangladesh had previously sheltered 400,000 Rohingyas for the past few decades while the latest influx began on August 25 with a Myanmar army crackdown in response to alleged insurgent attacks on their security outposts in Rakhine.

Aid agencies and rights groups said the Rohingya crisis is spinning out of control with escalating violence, worsening health situation and poor access to conflict zones in Rakhine state fuelling the humanitarian crisis.

I worry that this continued context of fear and violence is spinning out of control and will only lead to displacement of more people, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) chairman Peter Maurer said this week.

UN investigators said during the latest crackdown, Myanmars security forces fired indiscriminately on unarmed civilians, including children, and committed widespread sexual violence.

Despite initial reluctance to allow the Rohingya influx, Dhaka decided to provide them refuge on humanitarian grounds.

But it has turned into the scene of the worlds biggest refugee crisis presently while Dhaka tries to mobilise sustained global pressure on Myanmar to take back the Rohingyas while stopping alleged atrocities in Rakhine.

Hasina last month visited the Rohingya camps in Coxs Bazar and then attended the UN General Assembly in New York where she highlighted the plight of the Rohingyas and the impact of the crisis on Bangladesh.
A purported picture of a Jammu and Kashmir policeman with an AK-47 assault rifle is doing the rounds of social media fuelling rumours that he has joined the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as he did not report for duty following a leave.



The policeman was posted at the Police Training Centre (PTC) in Kathua district in the state.

"Ishfaq Ahmed had gone on leave from PTC Kathua. He was supposed to report back on October 23 but failed to return. We will take legal action against him," a senior officer of PTC Kathua told PTI.

On whether he had joined the LeT in South Kashmir, when he had gone on leave, the officer said that details are being verified.

A resident of Heff Shirmal village in southern Shopian, Ahmed joined the police in 2012, the official said.

In recent past, eight police personnel have deserted police ranks and joined the militancy in Kashmir.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday said the Rashtrapati Bhavan has made some changes in the schedules of events attended by him to ensure that guests remain present for the national anthem.



According to the changed schedule, the vote of thanks would precede the President's speech so that the audience would stay on for the national anthem.

"This is a little change that we have adopted on the basis of suggestions received from different quarters," he said at a civic reception hosted by the Kerala government to honour him.

"Normally, in such programmes, the vote of thanks is given after the speech of the chief guest. But during my three last months, Rashtrapati Bhavan has received so many suggestions. "They said that 'sir when you finish your speech, people stand up and do not even care for the national anthem and try to leave the place without listening to the vote of thanks," the President said.

"That way our people are not showing respect to the national anthem. So we decided.... let us have the vote of thanks before the speech of the President," he said.

"After I finish the speech, I will go to the seat and everybody will stand to honour the national anthem," he said.

Kovind, who began his address in Malayalam with 'sahodhari sahodaranmare (sisters and brothers), said all languages should be given thrust. The President said that historically, Kerala is a land of spiritualism, with a tradition of spiritual leadership and social reform, extending from Adi Shankaracharya to Sri Narayana Guru to Ayyankali and so many others.

Kerala's traditions and thinking have been humanistic, people-oriented and democratic, he said, adding that emphasis on human development and health-care and education in the southern state has set an example for the rest of the country.

The President said that not only are the people of Kerala educated and knowledgeable, they are willing to use that to venture out and to help build the nation and to contribute to the well-being and the prosperity of other regions.

"Kerala continues to attract the international community. This beautiful state is one of Indias leading tourism destinations," he said. He stated that just as outsiders have flocked to Kerala, Kerala's people too have ventured out of their home state and contributed to the world.

"The Malayalee migrant community is the backbone of the work force of so many Gulf States. And it faithfully sends back remittances to help in the development of Kerala and of India," he said. Remembering his predecessor K R Narayanan, the first Keralite to become the President, Kovind said he was happy to be in Kerala for the second time this month.

"And I am happier still to be here on the birth anniversary of Dr K R Narayanan, a distinguished son of Kerala and one of my honourable predecessors in the Presidential office."

Kovind earlier this month had launched various welfare schemes of Matha Amrithanandamayi Math at nearby Vallikavu in Kollam district. Earlier in the day, the President paid tributes to social reformer Ayyankali by garlanding his statue here.

Addressing the meeting, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Kovind was a President who captured the hearts of the people of Kerala within a short span of him assuming office. With his last outing in Kerala, people have realised he is not a President who lives in 'dantha gopuram', (Malayalam phrase for a state of privileged seclusion ), Vijayan said.

Kovind will attend the valedictory function of the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Kerala High Court in Kochi tomorrow returning to Delhi.
The Art of Living Foundation has said that its founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has been in touch with several imams and swamis, including Acharya Ram Das of Nirmohi Akhara, to help find an out-of-court settlement to the Ram temple dispute.



The Foundation, however, said it was too early to draw any conclusions and that these discussions were not done on behalf of the government.

"Ravi Shankar has been in touch with several imams and swamis, including Acharya Ram Das of Nirmohi Akhara," the Art of Living Foundation said in a statement here.

"Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is of the view that the prevailing mood on the Ram Mandir issue provides an opportunity for people from both communities to come together, show their magnanimity and settle the dispute out of court," it added.

The Foundation said these discussions, not done on behalf of any government or organisation, had brought to the fore the positive energy and willingness of leaders from both communities to move forward and arrive at an amicable solution.

However, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has reportedly denied holding any meeting with Ravi Shankar. The Board yesterday said it was ready to talk to Ravi Shankar if he wanted, for they would not have any issue in having a conversation and in helping find a solution.

The Allahabad High Court, in 2010, had ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77-acre area at Ayodhya among Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and Lord Ram Lalla. The Supreme Court decided to reopen the hearing after based on 13 appeals filed against the 2010 judgement in four civil suits. It is all set to hear the historic Babri Masjid-Ram Temple case from December 5.
Six women on their way to a temple in a nearby town died in an accident near Modekurru of Kothapet block, East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh in the wee hours of Saturday. A speeding truck rammed the autorickshaw in which 13 passengers were travelling. While five women from Allavaram died on the spot, one more died on the way to hospital. The remaining were rushed to the KIMS hospital in Amalapuram, where their condition is said to be stable.



According to Ravulapalem circle inspector B Peddiraju, the women were on their way to Vadavalli Venkateswara Swamy temple when the accident occurred. Relatives have identified the bodies of of the victims, Pilla Bhavani, Pilla Padmavathi, D Ananthalakshmi, Pulimela Ananthalakshmi, Nagamani and Pilla Durga. The truck that hit the three-wheeler was carrying sand and was moving at a high-speed, eye witnesses said.

The accident occurred a day after the one in Vijayawada that took the lives of three bikers who were hit by an APSRTC bus running without proper brakes. Recently, four Spanish nationals, including a woman, were killed in Chittoor district as the mini-bus in which they were travelling collided with a truck.

DH News Service
Bangladesh is planning to introduce voluntary sterilisation in its overcrowded Rohingya camps, where nearly a million refugees are fighting for space, after efforts to encourage birth control failed.



More than 6,00,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh since a military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar in August triggered an exodus, straining resources in the impoverished country.

The latest arrivals have joined hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled in earlier waves from Myanmar's Rakhine state, where the stateless Muslim minority has endured decades of persecution.

Most live in desperate conditions with limited access to food, sanitation or health facilities and local officials fear a lack of family planning could stretch resources even further.

Pintu Kanti Bhattacharjee, who heads the family planning service in the district of Cox's Bazar where the camps are based, said there was little awareness of birth control among the Rohingya.

"The whole community has been deliberately left behind," he said, citing a lack of education in Myanmar, where the Rohingya are viewed as illegal immigrants and denied access to many services.

Bhattacharjee said large families were the norm in the camps, where some parents had up to 19 children and many Rohingya men have more than one wife.

District family planning authorities have launched a drive to provide contraception, but say they have so far managed to distribute just 549 packets of condoms among the refugees, who are reluctant to use them.

They have asked the government to approve a plan to launch vasectomies for Rohingya men and tubectomies for women, Bhattacharjee said. But they are likely to face an uphill struggle.

Many of the refugees said they believed a large family would help them survive in the camps, where access to food and water remains a daily battle and children are often sent out to fetch and carry supplies.

Others had been told contraception was against the tenets of Islam.

Farhana Sultana, a family planning volunteer who works with Rohingya refugees in the camps, said many of the women she spoke to believed birth control was a sin.

"In Rakhine they did not go to family planning clinics, fearing the Myanmar authorities would give medicine that harms them or their children," Sultana said.

Volunteers said they struggled to sell the benefits of birth control to Rohingya women, most of whom came to them for advice on pregnancy complications or help with newborns.

Sabura, a mother of seven, said her husband believed the couple could support a large family.

"I spoke to my husband about birth control measures. But he is not convinced. He was given two condoms but he did not use them," she said.

"My husband said we need more children as we have land and property (in Rakhine). We don't have to worry to feed them," she said.

Bangladesh has for years run a successful domestic sterilisation programme, offering 2,300 takas ($ 28) and a traditional lungi to each man who agrees to undergo the procedure.

Every month 250 people undergo sterilisation in the border town of Cox's Bazar.

But performing the permanent procedure on non-Bangladeshi nationals requires final approval from a committee headed by the health minister.

The idea is particularly contentious given the sensitivity of the issue in Myanmar. The widespread perception that the Rohingya population is mushrooming is a key source of the tensions that have spiralled in recent months.

No official data is available on birth rates among the Rohingya, who are excluded from the census in Myanmar.

But many of the ethnic Rakhine Buddhists accused of taking part in attacks on Rohingya villages that have driven hundreds of thousands into Bangladesh say they fear being displaced by the Muslim minority.

The Rohingya face official restrictions on the number of children they can have in Myanmar, although this has not been widely enforced.

Rights activists working in the camps in Bangladesh said some believed pregnancy provided protection against rape or other attacks in Myanmar, where the military has been accused of sexual violence against Rohingya women and girls.

"Some of them told us that if a woman was pregnant, she had less chance of being targeted by the military or attackers."

Bangladesh officials say some 20,000 Rohingya women are pregnant and 600 have given birth since arriving in Bangladesh, though this may be an underestimate as many births take place with no formal medical help.

"Sterilisation is the best way to control the population. If a man is sterilised, he cannot father a child even if he marries four or five times," said Bhattacharjee.
Belgium's royal couple, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, will visit India from November 5 to 11 on an invitation from President Ram Nath Kovind.



The royal couple will be accompanied by six ministers of the Belgian government and a high-powered business delegation comprising CEOs of 86 companies and 13 chiefs of academic institutions, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated.

This is going to be King Philippe's first visit to India after his ascension to the throne in 2013.

"The visit would further strengthen the historically strong ties between the two countries," said Raveesh Kumar, MEA spokesperson.

Belgium was also among the first European countries to establish a diplomatic mission in India after Independence.

India is at present Belgium's second largest export destination and third largest trade partner outside the European Union.

The bilateral trade amounted to $ 13.28 billion in 2016-17. Exports from India to Belgium accounted for $ 5.65 billion, while imports from Belgium accounted for $ 6.62 billion.

Diamond trade overwhelmingly dominates Indo-Belgian commerce. Trade in gems and jewellery constitutes over 75% of the bilateral trade and diamonds make up more than 80% of Belgian exports and more than 40% Belgian imports from India.

Belgian companies' cumulative investment in India is worth over $ 1.01 billion for the period April 2000 - June 2017.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also have meetings with King Philippe.

DH News Service
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj got officials of Indian missions in Abu Dhabi and Kuala Lumpur work on holidays to issue travel documents to stranded people, who contacted her through Twitter.



Sushma made the Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi open on Friday  a holiday in United Arab Emirates  to issue visa to Kartik Krishnaswamy, a citizen of United Kingdom so that he could attend his mother's funeral in Bengaluru.



Swaraj swung into action after Krishnaswamy's cousin Nikhil Vasuki got in touch with her on Twitter. @SushmaSwaraj Kartik Krishnaswamy, UK citizen, ph +447789694098, stuck in Abu Dhabi en route to BLR (Bengaluru) mother funeral, pls help with visa urgent, Vasuki tweeted to External Affairs Minister early on Friday. Later, Swaraj tweeted to Vipul, Consul General of India in Dubai, to help Krishnaswamy.



Indian diplomats in UAE soon got in touch with Krishnaswamy.



Visa office was opened on holiday to assist Mr Krishnaswamy and another case, Navdeep Suri, Ambassador of India to UAE, later posted on Twitter. NRIs can help by getting OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) card and avoid such situations, he added.



The officials at the High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur had to work on Saturday after Swaraj received a tweet from Meera Ramesh Patel, who informed her that members of her family had lost passports and consequently got stranded at the airport in the capital of Malaysia.



Mam...my family is in Malaysia (Malaysia) airport and lost their passports. Due to weekend, Indian Embassy is closed. Please help, Patel tweeted to External Affairs Minister, who soon tweeted to High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur: Indian Embassy in Malaysia: This is an emergency case. Pls open the Embassy and help the Indian family.





An official of the High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur soon got in touch with Patel, collected phone numbers of the members of her family, got in touch with them and helped them get emergency travel documents.



Family members have been contacted, the matter is being resolved, the High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur later posted on Twitter.


Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Saturday appealed to automobile manufacturers to opt for coastal shipping mode to transport vehicles.



Transportation by road was costly and would pollute the environment even as there was the risk of accidents, Gadkari said after flagging off the export of Ashok Leyland trucks by the coastal route to Bangladesh via video conferencing from Nagpur.

"That is the reason that we have decided to use waterways and coastal transport. This is going to reduce the cost, save time and at the same time will be very good for the environment," he said.

The consignment of 185 trucks will be transported through the roll-on roll-off (RoRo) coastal movement from Chennai Port to Mongla Port in Bangladesh.

He recalled that India had signed a coastal shipping agreement with Bangladesh during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit in 2015.

RoRo service is operational between Chennai and Kochi and Kochi to Kandla, and "this is a great example which is going to inspire and motivate all automobile manufacturers," Gadkari added.
Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munat has filed a complaint against state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel and senior journalist Vinod Verma for allegedly tarnishing his image through a "fake" sex CD.



A case was registered last evening at the Civil Lines police station here against Baghel, Verma and others under section 67 (A) of the Information Technology Act following the minister's complaint, Station House Officer (SHO), Civil Lines, Hem Prakash Nayak told PTI.

"A copy of the CD has been submitted to the police station and it will be sent for forensic examination," he said.

Munat, considered close to Chief Minister Raman Singh, was accompanied by state BJP president Dharam Lal Kaushik, his over half-a-dozen cabinet colleagues and other party leaders, while filing the complaint.

Talking to reporters yesterday, Munat had alleged that the CD in question was fake and urged the chief minister to order a probe to find the truth.

"The (sex) CD is fake. It is an attempt to malign my image," he had said.

The minister further appealed to the chief minister and Kaushik to get the matter investigated from any agency.

Yesterday, the Civil Line police had also arrested two AAP supporters for allegedly blackening Munat's nameplate while protesting outside his official residence over the row.

Verma, who was arrested in connection with an extortion and blackmailing case from Ghaziabad by Chhattisgarh police yesterday, had claimed that he had a sex CD of the Chhattisgarh minister.

Police also claimed to have recovered 500 "porn" CDs, a pen drive and a laptop from Verma.

A Ghaziabad court had granted the Chhattisgarh Police the transit remand of Verma till October 30 and he is expected to reach Raipur this afternoon.
Saddled with surplus pulses, the Centre is all set to cut down on the 20 lakh tonne buffer stock that was created after the prices of the kitchen staple had shot through the roof two years ago.



With prices of pulses touching Rs 200 per kg in 2015, the Centre had first announced a buffer stock of eight lakh tonnes of the primary protein source for vegetarians and later enhanced it to 20 lakh tonnes.

"We still have 18 lakh tonnes of pulses and are in the process of offloading to replenish the stock," a senior official in the Department of Consumer Affairs told DH.

He said the buffer stock policy had achieved one of its key goals a encouraging farmers to take up production of pulses in a big way.

"In 2016-17 we had a record production of pulses and farmers are expected to repeat the rich harvest this year too," he said.

India had harvested a record 22.95 million tonnes of pulses in 2016-17 crop year on the back of good monsoon and incentives provided by the government through higher support price.

The official said that the government has embarked on a consultation process to review the buffer stock limit from the existing 20 lakh tonnes as farm output is expected to remain in the higher trajectory.

"A committee under Ramesh Chand, member, Niti Ayog, has been set up to review the buffer stock limit," he said, adding that there could be a downward revision to the existing limit of 20 lakh tonnes.

India is also expected to review its bilateral agreement with Mozambique, signed during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2016.

Earlier this month, Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan had announced that the Centre would dispose of immediately 5.5 lakh tonnes of pulses at lower rates to five states to meet the demands of central welfare schemes such like midday meal programme and for sale through the public distribution system.
The Shiv Sena today hit out at the BJP-led Maharashtra government over "hasty" implementation of the Rs 34,022 crore loan waiver scheme for farmers, alleging it has increased their miseries instead of providing relief.



An editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said, "The government rushed to seek credit for loan waiver implementation, which has now backfired. It is a classic example of how haste spoils crucial decisions like this and how common people suffer due to it."

"The whole exercise of loan waiver implementation has, in fact, increased the miseries of farmers instead of providing relief to them," the Sena, which is a part of the ruling alliance in Maharashtra, alleged.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party was often at loggerheads with the BJP and has been vocal in criticising the Modi government.

"Loan waiver has been a life or death situation for farmers, but the ruling government tried to seek credit over it," the 'Saamana' editorial said.

Recently, the Maharashtra government released Rs 4,000 crore under the first phase of the Rs 34,022 crore farm loan waiver scheme.

The Sena asked if the state government insisted on online registration of farmers, then how come "technical errors" occurred while finalising the list of beneficiaries.

"It shows poor preparation by the state administration before implementing such a big decision," it said.

The Sena said the government had claimed that farm loan up to Rs 1.50 lakh will be waived, then how come farmers got certificates of waiving of only Rs 10,000.

"Is it not a cruel joke on farmers' plight," it asked.

Sena also alleged that the departments involved in implementation of the scheme are not accepting their mistakes, which has increased the farmers' woes.
A 21-year-old British Muslim convert dubbed 'Jihadi Jack' has been charged with being a member of the ISIS terrorist network, media reports said today.



Jack Letts had travelled to Syria in 2014 and was later captured by the Kurdish-led YPG the group fighting against ISIS when he fled Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the terror network earlier this year.

The man from the city of Oxford has claimed in the past that he is opposed to ISIS ideology.

Quoting a statement issued by the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (DFNS) a self-declared autonomous region, the BBC said Letts had been taken to a prison in Qamishli, Rojava, northern Syria.

"Jack Letts is currently under investigation by local and global anti-terror units. Once the investigation is concluded, the outcome will be communicated to Jack's parents, and their legal representatives and to the officials of relevant governments," the statement said.

Jack Letts, who also holds a Canadian passport, remains in the custody of the local DFNS police force, the Asayish.

The statement adds: "We ask the parents of Jack Letts and their legal representative to ask the UK and Canadian governments to officially request the handover of Jack Letts from the officials of the DFNS so that the handover can proceed officially.

"However, so far there has been no official request from neither Canadian or British governments."

The communication marks the first time that Kurdish forces have confirmed the capture of Letts as a prisoner of war.

Letts had converted to Islam while at Cherwell comprehensive school in Oxford and travelled to Jordan, aged 18, after dropping out of school.

He reportedly got married in Iraq and now has a child.

His parents, John Letts and Sally Lane, have denied he went to Syria to fight with ISIS, and have started a petition that claims he had "disappeared in a Guantanamo-style black site" in Kurdish-controlled territory.

But Sinam Mohamad, the European representative of DFNS, denied the allegation.

"We refute all these baseless allegations," she told BBC.

Letts' parents also went on a week-long "hunger-strike" in protest recently, claiming that the British government had not done enough to help their son.

His mother claims her son has been in contact to say that him and a group of his friends were working against ISIS from the inside.

"In fact I've spoken to some of his friends and they are still in hiding. They say things were made very, very difficult for them when Jack was labelled a terrorist by the British Government because it then compromised their position," she said.

The couple have previously themselves pleaded not guilty to charges of funding terrorism after being accused of sending money to Jack.

"The government is unable to provide support to British nationals in Syria as the UK government does not have consular representation there," the UK Foreign Office said.
Patel quota stir leader Hardik Patel, who has been cornered by his opponents on links with the Congress, on Saturday sought to distance himself from the party by sending out an ultimatum to it on quotas to Patels.



"Congress must clarify how it proposes to give reservations constitutionally by November 3. If it does not make its stand clear, an episode similar to the Amit Shah event could repeat in Surat," he tweeted on Saturday. Hardik has been claiming that if Congress clarifies its stand for quotas to Patels, he would not have any issue supporting the party in the Assembly election.

Several Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) members had, on September 8, 2016, apparently created ruckus at Shah's rally, forcing Shah to cut short his speech. Recently, when Shah sought to kick off Gujarat Gaurav Yatra from Karamsad on October 1, several Patel youth tried to disrupt the event by raising slogans.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is slated to hold a rally in South Gujarat during his three-day visit to the region from November 1 or November 3.

The statement by Hardik comes a day after audio clips purportedly of PAAS leader Narendra Patel regarding financial dealings between PAAS and Congress began doing rounds. These clips are said to have the voice of Narendra Patel talking to an unknown person and revealing how, over time, Congress has been funding activities of the Patel quota stir. In the audio, Narendra Patel names Ahmed Patel, political advisor to the Congress president, state Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki and former MP from Mehsana Jivabhai Patel as extending financial help to PAAS activities.

Earlier, CCTV footage of Hardik sneaking into a five-star hotel where Rahul Gandhi was staying during his visit to Ahmedabad, were aired on local television channels.

With BJP claiming that Hardik's quota stir was supported by the Congress indirectly, the CCTV footage and audio clips gave much fodder to opponents of Hardik to hit out at him.

The Congress, on its part, has said it will keep the current 49% quota for SC/STs and OBCs intact and create legal provisions for 20% quota for communities having no reservation. "We will give quotas for the poor and the middle class strictly as per the Constitution," Manish Doshi, Congress spokesperson, said.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLA and working president of the Telangana unit A Revanth Reddy bid goodbye to the party on Saturday.



Reddy arrived in Amaravati with Telangana TDP leaders for a meeting with national president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

Reddy handed over his resignation letter to Naidu's office immediately after the first round of meeting.

Reddy, who said that he will be back after lunch, never returned.

Taken aback by his blue-eyed boy's decision, Naidu, who was addressing a press conference, said that he has not received the resignation letter.

"People come and go. Party stays. Few people based on their present needs take certain decisions," Naidu said.

Reddy, whose entry into the Congress seems certain now, played it safe while quitting the TDP by not ruffling any feathers.

A source said Reddy, in his letter to Naidu, called him a father figure who helped him grow.

However, he blamed fellow Telangana TDP leaders for backstabbing the party by joining hands with Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekhar Rao.

He also alleged that certain ministers from Andhra Pradesh were getting closer to Rao, hurting the TDP's chances of a revival in Telangana.

Reddy will announce his future course of action after meeting his cadre in Kodangal, his constituency.

While the proposed meeting with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has not been fixed, sources within the party said that there is every possibility that Reddy could be drafted into the party in New Delhi, if required.
With Rahul Gandhi's elevation as Congress chief imminent, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged the media to debate on the democratic values of various political parties for transparency in the evolution of their leadership.



Modi also said a lot of voices are heard often within grown-up parties that have expanded their base.

"It is no longer seen that a party's view is made by senior leaders and everyone down the line speaks the same view. Many a time, different views are expressed," he said.

Modi, who was speaking at the annual BJP 'Deepavali Mangal Milan' organised for the media, appeared to be alluding to recent controversies like the one on Taj Mahal.

Modi said it was essential that political parties develop with a "true democratic spirit."

"Democracy within political parties is a subject that more people should know more about. The funding of political parties is a point of media discussion and many things come out in the open. But overall, the debate in the media must also focus on how they are formed, how they function, how they recruit and develop leadership and foster their values and ideologies. Their weaknesses should also be debated," he said.

The prime minister said political parties must evolve "in a true democratic spirit which is necessary for the country."

Modi was flanked by a younger generation of BJP leaders, including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani.

The event was also attended by party president Amit Shah, Union ministers Dr Jitendra Singh and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Modi paid his gratitude to the media for its "positive role" in making the 'Swachh Bharat' (Clean India) Mission a success, despite criticising the government over other issues.

"Half of the newspaper pages are filled with the criticism of the government. But when it comes to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, all are on the same page. I thank each one of you for making it a personal mission."

Modi also expressed his regret over not being able to interact with the media as often as he used to when he was a BJP functionary.



"Journalists are able to observe things from a different perspective as they move around and talk to many people. There are occasions when things may get distorted but a lot of feedback comes, which is useful for us," the prime minister said.

While the government and media may have complaints against each other, Modi hoped the two can still amicably work together as both care for the country's interests.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will skip the only public event that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend on Sunday, a clear indication of the increasing tension between the two.



Modi is slated to inaugurate the new Bidar-Kalaburgi railway line in Bidar.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said he could not participate as he was invited at the last minute, blaming the Railways for not keeping the state government in the loop.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi told French Defence Minister Florence Parly that New Delhi was keen to step up cooperation with France in defence manufacturing within the 'Make in India' framework.



Parly, who is on a visit to New Delhi, called on the prime minister on Saturday.

She briefed Modi about the developments in India-France bilateral defence cooperation and her parleys with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Modi told the french minister that defence cooperation was one of the key pillars of the strategic partnership between India and France.

He called for greater cooperation in 'Make in India' framework in defence manufacturing and joint research and development, according to a press release issued by the Prime Minister's Office.

They also discussed "regional and global issues of mutual interest".

"Discussed furthering India-France defence cooperation during the meeting with @florence_parly, France's Minister for the Armed Forces," Modi tweeted after the meeting.

"Make in India offers great opportunities for defence manufacturing, joint research & development," Parly posted on Twitter.

"With @narendramodi, India is a key partner (of France). Shared values and convergence on major regional and international issues,"

Modi told Parly that he looked forward to hosting French President Emmanuel Macron in India.

Macron, who took over as French president in May, is likely to visit New Delhi in December.

Parly was in Nagpur in Maharashtra on Friday to attend the ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL) manufacturing facility in Mihan.

The facility, set up by a joint venture between French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation Limited and Reliance Aerospace Limited of India, will manufacture several components related to offset obligation under $ 7.87 billion (nearly Rs 59,000 crore) deal to buy 36 Rafale combat aircraft India procuring from France.

On Friday, Sitharaman and Parly discussed a host of issues, including the regional security situation, enhancing maritime security cooperation, transfer of critical technology from France for various defence projects in India and ways to ramp up overall strategic ties.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today dubbed as "outrageous" the BJP's demand for resignation of Ahmed Patel from the Rajya Sabha over the issue that a suspected ISIS operative arrested recently used to work at a hospital where the latter had been a trustee.



"I am amazed by this kind of outrageous demands," Chidambaram told reporters here.

"Ahmed Patel was a trustee of the hospital and had resigned in 2015. This person who was arrested seems to have joined the hospital as a technician last year and had resigned a couple of days prior to his arrest," the former Union minister said.

"Now, if somebody who has joined in the last one year as a technician has ISIS connect, then how a trustee of three years ago is responsible," he asked.

Yesterday, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani demanded Patel's resignation as Rajya Sabha MP, alleging that a suspected ISIS operative arrested recently used to work at a hospital where Patel had been a trustee earlier.

Patel had rejected the charge as "completely baseless" and urged the BJP not to politicise matters pertaining to national security and divide the peace-loving Gujaratis.

Rupani was referring to the recent arrest of two suspected ISIS operatives by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS).

As per the FIR, one of the accused, Kasim Stimberwala, used to work as a technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district.
Veteran film star Kamal Haasan today visited the Ennore Creek area and listened to people's grievances, days after be voiced concern over encroachment and flyash from power plants affecting livelihood of the fishermen there.



The actor, who has been facing criticism that he was engaging only in "Twitter politics" with his posts on microblogging site instead of going to the people and working to resolve their problems, was given a tour of the creek area.

The actor heard the travails of residents, mainly regarding fly ash deposits.

He was accompanied by environmentalist Nithyanand Jayaraman and local people, and a video clip of his visit was released here by his publicist.

The local women requested him to "do something" to end problems due to pollution and claimed many families had to quit the locality.

Some of them even tried falling at his feet, but he stopped them.

On October 26, in a statement on Twitter, the actor had said that "Kosasthalaiyaru (river) near Chennai is the lifeline of fishermen".

He had said that though the river was not fully polluted, about 1,090 acres of land in the rivermouth was lost due to encroachment.

While just usual rains could flood North Chennai, he said about 10 lakh residents of North Chennai would be affected if the area was going to see more showers this monsoon, adding "this is a caution...not a criticism about what had happened (seen as a reference to 2015 floods)."

Flagging the issues of encroachment, environmental degradation and the need to prevent flooding, he said finding a "permanent solution for the people is the hallmark of a good government". He had said the Vallur and North Chennai power stations in the area were depositing fly ash in the river, which has been opposed by environmental activists for a long time.

He blamed the government for not paying heed to the problem, despite opposition of fishermen and local people.

The actor said he had "heard" that further land was being "usurped" in the creek area in North Chennai. Kamal Haasan's visit comes two days after he had said that he would be coming up with a "communication strategy" on November 7, his birthday, to interact with the youth. Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan and VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan welcomed the actor's visit.

State Fisheries Minister and senior AIADMK leader D Jayakumar said while his visit and suggestions were welcome, views with ulterior motives were not acceptable.

The actor in a tweet today thanked both Thirumavalavan and Radhakrishnan for welcoming his visit and said it added to his enthusiasm. Jayakumar's remarks came against the background of several AIADMK ministers saying that they would respond to Kamal Haasan's critical remarks after he joined politics. Meanwhile, Tiruvallur district authorities, under which the creek area falls, said that the issue of pollution would be looked into.
As President Xi Jinping took charge of his second term with leadership status similar to modern China's founder Chairman Mao Zedong, observers said his latest grandiose title aims to take personality cult to next level.

The once-in-a-five-year Congress of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) which concluded here this week endorsed a second five-year term for 64-year-old Xi and amended the party Constitution to add his name and ideology.

It also elected new leadership headed by Xi to rule the world's second-largest economy for the next five years.

Presiding over the first group study of the new 25-member Politburo of the CPC, a high power policy body, Xi asked the CPC members to "study CPC congress spirit, and adhere to and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era."

"Socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era" is the new ideological theory proposed by him for the party to firm up its power base in the country in the coming decades, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.

In his address, Xi said members of the Politburo should regard the study and implementation of CPC Congress spirit "as their first Party course to improve their political and theoretical level, in order to better take the duties bestowed by the Party and the people".

"Empty talk will lead the country astray, and hard work can rejuvenate the nation," Xi said, adding that if one-tenth of effort goes to planning, nine-tenths should go on implementation.

His theory has been enshrined in the Constitution of the 96-year-old party, which is in power in China since 1949, elevating him on par with Mao and his successor Deng Xiaoping.

Significantly, an official statement issued after the new Politburo meeting yesterday said the Politburo members should firmly safeguard Xi's position as the party's "Core" leader.

The "Core" leader status was conferred on him by the party earlier making him a supreme leader like Mao and Deng.

The CPC enshrined Xi's name along with his political theory in its charter, meaning any attempt to challenge him or his thinking would now be seen as defiance against the party, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported today.

"Now (the party) is taking one step at a time to cement the cult of personality (surrounding Xi)," Wu Qiang, an independent commentator and former political science lecturer at Tsinghua University in Beijing, told the Post.

Jeremy Brown, a history professor at Simon Fraser University who specializes in China in the Mao era, said despite the propaganda drive, the eulogizing of Xi was unlikely to resonate with the public in the way the cult of Chairman Mao did half a century ago.

"The personality cult (around Xi) is already there and has been building for some time now. But my sense is that it is (merely) background noise for non-officials and nowhere close to how the Mao cult intruded into everyday life during the 1960s," he said.

"Officials and propagandists today feel the need to express loyalty through affirming Xi's 'greatness', but they are only a slice of Chinese society," Brown said. "For everyone else, it's more like Putin in Russia a leader who presents himself as strong and indispensable."

The official statement said the politburo members should strictly abide by the CPC Constitution and political rules, fully implement the guidelines adopted at the 19th CPC National Congress, and follow the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi at the core.
All central tribunals should be brought under the law ministry, the Law Commission has said, while also suggesting a CJI-headed panel to appoint chairmans and vice-chairmans to give them greater independence.

In a 272-page report Submitted to the Law Ministry, the Commission headed by former SC judge Justice B S Chauhan also reiterated that orders of the tribunals should be considered final though the aggrieved parties can challenge it.

Allowing various departments and ministries to hold administrative control over the tribunals would only make them subservient to the executive, whose disputes the tribunals are adjudicating.

The report also called for uniformity in appointment, tenure and service conditions of the chairman and members of the tribunals.

For filling the posts of a tribunal's chairman, vice-chairman and judicial representatives, it recommended creation of a selection panel headed by the CJI, or a sitting Supreme Court judge as his nominee, and two central government representatives not below the rank of Secretary.

For selecting a tribunal's administrative, accountant, technical, expert or revenue members, a panel headed by a central government nominee should be created in consultation with the CJI. It also said vacancies should be filled as early as six months.

Expressing its reservations on reappointing a tribunal's chairman and others, it said it would compromise its independence and fairness. "One may be inclined to decide matters in a manner that would ensure their reappointment," the report said.
"Number of foeticides, especially female foeticides, have been increasing day-by-day and most of those involving in such heinous crime are the families of the victim. The menace of dowry is prevalent in every community and this is a big torture for women", lamented State Human Rights Commission Chairperson Meera Saxena.



Speaking at a programme organised to inaugurate the district unit of 'Human Rights Protection & Corruption Eradication Bureau', at Parijat Kalyan Mantap in Hiriyur in Chitradurga district on Friday evening, she said that each one of us have the right to live. But practices like child labour, prostitution, human trafficking, Devadasi, manual scavenging and the like question the right to live. Traditions like child marriage take away the education rights of children, especially girls. Girls become physically and mentally weak by it. Not treating a child properly because it is a girl child is also torturing. Such social menace can be checked and progress can be achieved only when women unite and fight against it.

She said that many people including the educated ones lack awareness on human rights. While those unaware must be told about it, those aware of it must oppose whenever they come across cases of violation of human rights. They must seek legal help for this. She added that all physically challenged persons, religious minorities and sexual minorities have equal rights and people must not look at them with disgrace.

Ms Saxsena said that there are laws protecting senior citizens but still there are a number of cases where senior citizens are harassed and assaulted by the family itself. Such issues can be solved by the committee formed under the presidentship of the deputy commissioner.

She said that government employees not responding to the problems of the public is also violation of human rights. Therefore, government employees must respond to the problems of the people and earn respect and love.

She also informed that a lesson on human rights is being included in text books to make children aware.

District Sessions Court judge S B Vastramutt said that corruption is growing at a rapid speed in the society and greed of man is main reason for this. Just taking bribe is not corruption. Not disposing off files on time is also form of corruption. Authorities must not step backward in registering cases of human rights violation. In case of exploitation by the police, people can bring it to the notice of other authorities by dropping in a written complaint in the complaint box kept in the court premises. Uneducated people can directly approach the judge and lodge a complaint.

Deputy Commissioner V V Jyotsna said that parents must not force their dreams and aspirations on their children. They must allow the child to think independently and take right decisions. She said that people must lead an honest and respectful life.

Corporation Commissioner Ramesh Sunagar, Human Rights Protection & Corruption Eradication Bureau State President Pradeepkumar, Navayuga Shobha, Senior Civil judge Santosh Palled, Tahsildar Venkateshaiah, T Pandurangaiah, L Madhusudan and others were present.
K J Alphons, Union Minister of State (Independent charge) for Tourism, on Saturday met the Swiss tourist couple who were assaulted by some youths at Fatehpur Sikri near Agra.



Alphons met Quentin Jeremy Clerc and Marie Droz, both from Lausanne in Switzerland, at the Apollo Hospital in New Delhi.

Jeremy and Marie were chased and attacked by some youths who were armed with stones and sticks. The incident took place near the Fatehpur Sikri railway station.

The assailant youths first taunted the young tourists and then forced the two to pose for selfies with them. They later turned violent and assaulted the couple.

Jeremy, who suffered injuries in his head and one of his ears, is undergoing treatment. Marie was discharged from the hospital after treatment for the fracture in her arm.

Alphons also had a discussion with the management and doctors regarding Jeremy's treatment.

"Both the patients are recovering fast and are very happy about the treatment that they are getting at the hospital," the tourism minister later said in an official press release.

Alphons had written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath last Thursday, conveying that such incidents may be detrimental to the efforts to draw more tourists from around the world to India.
Congress on Saturday rubbished terrorism allegations against its senior leader Ahmed Patel and accused the BJP of religious polarization ahead of Gujarat polls.



Party chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala said the BJP is "staring at defeat" and is, therefore, making baseless allegations against Patel, who won a hard-fought Rajya Sabha election in August.

On Friday night, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani demanded Patel's resignation from Rajya Sabha, accusing him of having links with Mohammad Qasim Stimberwala, one of the two alleged ISIS operatives arrested by state anti-terror squad in Surat.

"The allegations are baseless," Patel had said, even as the Congress dared the Centre to investigate the matter. Party sources said Patel intends to file a defamation suit against Rupani.

Surjewala rejected Rupani's allegations that Patel was associated with the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Charitable Hospital in Ankleshwar, where Qasim was employed briefly.

"Sardar Patel Hospital is a charitable hospital in which 150-200 employees work," Surjewala said. "Neither Ahmed Patel nor any of his family members are a trustee of the hospital. They also don't hold any office of profit in the hospital.

Congress also accused BJP president of political vendetta to settle scores as he took Patel's Rajya Sabha election victory as "personal insult".

Congress does not need lessons in nationalism from the BJP since its leaders have sacrificed their lives in the service of the nation, Surjewala said.

"We would like to know how terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's wife visited Mumbai in March 2016 without the Maharashtra government or the intelligence agencies getting a whiff of it?" the Congress leader asked.

Reminding that a senior minister of NDA-I accompanied dreaded terrorists to Kandahar in 1999, the Congress spokesperson said: "BJP should look inwards before pointing fingers."
Cornered by the high cost of healthcare, lakhs are Bengalureans are in a quandary. They are forced to part with big money, surrendering to the dictates of a system that demands expensive surgeries, lab tests and a dozen procedures not always necessary. Is there a middle path between this commercialisation and a culture of genuine care?



Dozens of big, corporate hospitals in the city have hi-tech equipment that promise to deliver advanced healthcare. But a big chunk of the city's population cannot afford these facilities. Yet, they queue up for want to alternatives and end up in debt.

Hi-tech, low-affordability

"Technology-wise, we are second to none. They are available to patients here at a fraction of the cost abroad. But even then, almost 15% of our population may not be able to afford it," says Dr H Paramesh, Pediatric pulmonoligist and advisor, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences.

Studies have indicated that nearly 5% of patients sell their entire assets to avail modern healthcare. But, as Dr Paramesh points out, hi-tech treatment is not always necessary. Rare surgeries through hi-tech equipment are promoted and advertised by most hospitals. Patients are given an impression that such equipment offers the ultimate cure.

Relatives of terminally ill patients are often at the mercy of hospitals that show ventilator as an option to keep their dear ones alive. But doctors say that decision has to be taken after much thought. In reality, it may not be prolonging a life, but prolonging the misery. This decision would end up making the patient's near and dear ones emotionally and financially bankrupt.

Double-edged insurance

So, what about health insurance? Does it really give patients freedom from inflated medical bills? The poser is tricky, since many patients complain that hospitals overcharge them once it is known that the case is insurance-covered. Firms that levy a high premium pay up, but not those who have a mechanism to verify each claim.

Cases are aplenty where the patient is caught between overcharging hospitals and bargaining insurance firms. A patient, who had a facial surgery at a super-specialty hospital on Bannerghatta Road, was clueless when his insurance agent refused to approve the inflated bills. Since the patient had no attendant around, he had to literally run up and down floors with bandages, negotiating a deal.

Health professionals agree that insurance cover is a good thing. The proportion of insured patients is increasing. But they caution that insurance also ends up making patients queue up for medical investigations that are entirely unwarranted.

Private sector,

charitable?

The private health sector is changing, offering charitable beds for the underprivileged, contends Prof Elizabeth Cherian P, board member, Alliance for Health Promotion attached to the World Health Organisation (WHO). "Many private hospitals are now doing their best to change the impression," she says.

She emphasises the need to boost health literacy among patients. "They will not be then easily taken for a ride. Besides, for any surgery, they can always go for a second or third opinion," Prof Cherian elaborates.

But the government had to play a supporting role. Many smaller private hospitals, she says, are forced to shut down because they cannot afford the high cost of equipment and maintenance. "The only option would be to hike their treatment costs."

A business, with profit

Many doctors spoken to for this feature contends that providing quality healthcare is a business that offers service and runs for profit. They are categorical that charity is not the objective.

Preferring anonymity, a senior consultant from a reputed hospital explains: "We have targets for every two months. We are to fill a fixed number of ICU beds or are supposed to do a particular number of surgeries a month. Our salaries are based on the completion of the targets."

Another doctor is frank enough to admit that they fear losing their jobs if the monthly targets are not met. But the general justification for the high rates are these: Running a multispeciality hospital is about spending crores of rupees on electricity bills, water bills, loans, expensive equipment that are imported. These can be compensated only through the medical bills, they say.

Opposition to Bill

Now, this is precisely the reason why the state government's push to regulate hospital rates is being opposed by thousands of doctors from private medical institutions across the state. The Karnataka Private Medical Establishment's Bill proposes to regulate or cap the prices of procedures and add accountability.

Here's Dr R Ravindra, secretary of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA) articulating the doctors' point: "They cannot fix rates of procedures. We are running a business too. How are we to pay our dues if rates are fixed?"

But there seems to be hope. Slowly, a middle path is now being explored. Pushed by global best practices, health professionals are now readying an internal code that advises against laboratory investigations for minor ailments.

As Dr Paramesh explains, "The radiation from a single CT scan is 400 times that of an X-Ray. Now, for instance, a CT scan is not advised for sinusitis unless there are complications. Even an X-Ray is not advised for adenoids swelling. This way, the costs can be reduced by almost 2/3rds."
The bill turned out to be Rs 14 lakh when I went to collect my brother's body." This is the lament of 27-year-old Christanand Maalgi, who had been running from pillar to post since February 2016 to seek help for his brother's treatment.



Three years his senior, brother Emmanuel Shankar Maalgi had died in June this year following brain complications. Emmanuel was admitted to a private hospital in February last year. The hospital charged around Rs 1.6 lakh for a surgical procedure called 'VP Shunting,' (a condition that occurs when excess cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collects in the brain's ventricles).

The family had no money.



"We are poor and earn our livelihood by selling milk from a cow. But I somehow managed to get some money by selling a few household items and cattle," recalls Christanand.

His brother was operated again the next day and was partially paralysed. After an MRI scan, the doctors informed the family that an emergency surgery of the spinal cord is to be done. This would cost another Rs 2 lakh.

Since the family could not manage that amount, they took Emmanuel back to their home in Bidar. Later, due to complications, he was once again hospitalised. Meanwhile, Christanand says, he approached the principal secretary of health and family welfare, minister of health and the chief minister for help, but all efforts turned futile.

He was told that the Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust, under the health department, do not offer free treatment for brain tumor but only for heart. But on a recent call, he was informed that the Trust offered free treatment for brain tumour too at the private hospital.

But what awaited him at the hospital was shocking. Doctors clearly told him that his brother's treatment would be discontinued if the bill of Rs 12 lakh is not paid in full. "On June 19, the doctors told me that my brother is dead due to some complications and was asked Rs 14 lakh before they could release the body," Christanand recalls.

Eventually, it took an intervention by the State Human Rights Commission to spare him the financial burden. He had previously paid Rs 4 lakh.

Christanand's brother is one among many who come below the poverty line and are entitled to free treatments.

Chetan's story

Medical representative Chetan lost his wife Aparna and his newborn baby two years ago. He blames it on the hospital's decision to take the caesarian route without their consent. Caesarian deliveries are much more expensive than normal ones.

"She was taken to the labour room on the day of the delivery. I saw them moving her up and down to different rooms, but they didn't give me any reply to my questions," he says.

Later, he saw her being taken in a stretcher without an oxygen mask. "I called her loudly, just two steps away from her. She did not even blink her eye. It was closed."

Hours later, the incharge doctor told him that they tried everything possible but she was not responding. The baby was delivered and declared brain dead. They suggested the baby be taken to another hospital and it was later declared that the baby died too. "I still do not understand why they didn't tell this to me earlier."

Only after his wife's death did Chetan learn that she underwent a cesarean delivery. Chetan and Chritanand are only two of many who are either charged exorbitant rates for treatments and surgeries or are not given any reason as to why there was a mishap, if it was considered so.
Philips Innovation Campus (PIC), Bengaluru, the technology hub of Amsterdam-based Koninklijke Philips, is driving the innovation programme for the company to the next level. In an interaction with Deccan Heralds N V Vijayakumar, PIC Chief Executive Officer Srinivas Prasad explains how the company is focusing on solutions, platforms and AI to find solutions for local Indian healthcare industry that will have global implications. Edited excerpts:



What is your take on the Indian healthcare industry?



The Indian healthcare industry is at the cusp of a transformation. The healthcare challenges and the demographics in India pose a very unique opportunity for innovation which will have global application.



The Indian healthcare market is expected to touch $280 billion by 2020. The environment has changed over the years with a shift happening to value-based care. People are now more aware and concerned about their health than ever before. We see more democratisation of healthcare and patients have a greater say in their care. There are more people opting for health insurance now than before and the government has initiated several schemes to support rural healthcare. Moreover, the recent approval by the union cabinet of the National Health policy 2017 should set this transformation in motion.



How technology is transforming Indian healthcare landscape?



Given the magnitude of the challenges in India, conventional approaches of just improving the infrastructure and increasing the government spend alone will not help solve these challenges. Leveraging technology smartly is the key to address these challenges.



Connected care has not really taken off in the last few years as expected. However, given the cloud infrastructure providers in India, the National Health Policy and increasing number of startups focused on healthcare, I believe that the time is ripe now for connected care enabled by AI (Artificial Intelligence) to build tele-solutions to address the healthcare challenges. For example, AI can be used to make hospitals more efficient or clinicians more productive and help them to make better clinical decisions.



Do you believe frugal innovation will help Indian healthcare?



I would use the word Smart Innovation rather than the word frugal Innovation which I relate to getting more things done with less. What I mean by Smart Innovation is being able to connect the dots differently and still come up with an innovation which is relevant in the given context.



The problem at hand is immense. Companies like Philips alone cannot help solve the healthcare challenges. This can happen only through partnering with others in the ecosystem, private, public partnerships (PPPs) and also startups will have to play an important role.



It is important that the problem is viewed from a global relevance but address this in the local context. Speed and quality of the solution is the key to success of these Smart Innovations.



Where do you see startups in your scheme of things?



Most of the current startups in India are in the FinTech or ecommerce space. The majority of the ones in healthcare are addressing workflow problems. Many of them are trying to combine AI into their solutions. It is important that the startups are clear about the problem that they are trying to address and pick the technology that best addresses that problem, rather than the other way around which I see happening in many cases.



There are not many startups in healthcare which are really addressing global problems with a local context and leveraging new technologies, to create first of its kind scalable solutions. But I am positive that there would be more in the near future. We recently mentored four such startups at the Philips Innovation Campus.



What is your take on the impact of IoT and AI on healthcare?



Tele-solutions leveraging connected devices and AI is the way forward to address the healthcare challenges in India. Specific solutions alone will only complicate the problem and increase the cost of aggregating the data from the device into the larger solutions. Interoperability and Database Schema decisions will be important in the scheme of things. IoT alone will not help but we need to derive meaningful insights from the data from these devices. In this context, AI tools become important. The AI models would be relevant in other countries too if the model is trained using local data. The connected devices need to be medical grade if the global market needs to be addressed and this requires investment and time.



What is the way forward for PIC?



PIC has come a long way from inception over 20 years ago to being one of the key innovation hubs for Philips globally. With over 3,000 people focusing on healthcare, we are now innovating for global and local markets through smart end-to-end solutions.



These solutions are across the health continuum extending from healthy living, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and extending the care into the home and the community. We set up HealthWorks at PIC a few months ago to mentor startups in the ecosystem.



This is part of a global programme, and is the second accelerator across the globe, the first one being at Cambridge in Boston. I believe that there is an opportunity for the next big healthcare unicorn to be from India and we want to help them get there.
Indias largest private full-service carrier Jet Airways commenced its much-awaited direct daily service between Bengaluru and Amsterdam, when the flight 9W 236 took off from the Kempegowda International Airport at 2.30 am (local time) on Sunday, and landed at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol at 8:45 am (local time).



With a full complement of Premiere and Economy passengers on board the Airbus A330-300 aircraft, the return service 9W 235 will depart Amsterdam at 10:50 pm (local time) to arrive in Bengaluru at 12:45 am (local time).



The flag-off ceremony was attended by Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers, and Parliamentary Affairs Anant Kumar, Karnataka IT, BT and Tourism Minister Priyank Kharge, Medium and Large Industries Minister R V Deshpande, BIAL VP (Business Development, Marketing and Strategy) Raj Andrade, and Dutch Consulate General (Designate) Rene Beerepoot, among others.



According to Jet Airways Chief Commercial Officer Jayaraj Shanmugam, The launch of the flight comes at an opportune time, as Bengaluru is witnessing rapid growth in business, commerce and tourism, accelerating the demand for quality services to and from key destinations across the world. Our well-differentiated product and service experience, together with a growing number of destinations and connectivity choices for guests, sets us apart from the competition.



The airline observes Amsterdams importance as a significant European and North American gateway for both passenger and cargo traffic, from where passengers can connect to as many as 43 European destinations such as London, Paris and Barcelona, as well as to 21 big cities across North America, through Jet Airways codeshare arrangements.



The new service will also enhance Jet Airways cumulative daily cargo capacity to Europe by as much as 15 tonnes, facilitating increase in trade of various commodities such as flowers, perishables, pharmaceuticals, heavy machinery, garments, electrical and medical equipment, auto parts, as well as exotic food items.
At least 585 trees will be felled in the city to pave way for the widening of the National Highway-209, from Bengaluru to Dindigul in Tamil Nadu via Kanakapura, to four lanes.



The National Highways Authority of India has obtained approval from the Forest department for felling of trees on either side of the highway, which starts from Dewan Madhav Rau Road in Basavanagudi.

Deepika Bajpai, deputy conservator of forests, said, "The NHAI authorities had sought approval for felling of trees for road widening six months ago. We have now given an approval and the auction process for the same will be held November 3," said Bajpai.

"The Forest department has given permission to fell 435 trees between Bolare Gate and NICE Road and 150 trees from Nice Road to Roerich Estate. However, we have not issued permission to axe 200 trees belonging to Forest department near Roerich Estate," she said.

An environmentalist, on the condition of anonymity, told Deccan Herald, "There are many full-grown trees belonging to various species, including neem, Pongamia, tamarind, banyan, peepal, jamoon among others, on the stretch. The NHAI authorities should translocate the trees instead of axing them."

He added that already 190 trees have been felled in the area for Metro works.

The two-lane road will be widened to 10 metres from the existing 5 meters. The government has acquired 358 hectares of land for the same and distributed a compensation of Rs 160 crore to those who parted with lands. The highway will be converted into four lanes at a cost of Rs 700 crore.

The said highway will pass through Kanakapura and Chamarajanagar in the state before joining Tamil Nadu.

NHAI has set aside Rs 1.75 crore (Rs 1,911 per tree) to plant 9,200 trees on either side of the road from Nice Road to Bolare Gate, NHAI sources said.
Residents of Whitefield staged a protest against illegal dumping of debris into the Pattandur Agrahara lake-1 on Saturday.



About 500 people, including schoolchildren, formed a human chain as part of the peaceful protest.



The protesters played music and displayed placards with messages like `save Pattandur Agrahara lake, and `hands off our lake.



On the night of October 25, about 50 trucks dumped construction debris on the lake bed. This happened because the lake has not been properly fenced, residents said.



The local tahsildar said the lake is owned by the revenue department.



A board has been erected at the spot, declaring that the land belongs to the revenue department and that those dumping debris there will be prosecuted. But this was done only a couple of days ahead of the protest.



The BBMP handed over the lake to the Bangalore Development Authority in 2012. According to Mallikarjun, assistant engineer, BDA, The lake has not been surveyed since there is a court case against the encroachment.



It has been more than five years since the lake was surveyed last. Sandeep Anirudhan, one of the residents, said, There has been encroachment for more than 20 years now. Authorities have erected a fence on one side only. Since it is open on the other side, it is easy for people to dump debris or mud into the lake.



When asked about the illegal dumping of debris in the lake, area corporator S Muniswamy said, only five to six truckloads of debris was dumped and not 50 as reported.



We have launched a protest to bring this to the attention of the authorities. A senior minister owns land right next to the lake. We dont know if he has been preventing the survey from being conducted as his land might be extending up to the lake.



After the protest, the corporator asked BDA engineers to hand over the lake to those who can look after it properly. Manoj John, a resident, said, The authorities should make this green patch accessible to the public and revive the lake.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive at HAL Airport in Bengaluru around 2.10 pm, where he will briefly address BJP workers.



Later in the afternoon, he will arrive at Palace Grounds for the Soundarya Lahari Samarpana programme as part of the 10th anniversary of Vedanta Bharati. Here, thousands of children will recite Soundarya Lahari, a set of shlokas composed by Adi Shankaracharya.


Under attack for cosying up to the Congress, PAAS leader Hardik Patel on Saturday sought to know the partys stand on quotas for Patels by November 3.



Congress must clarify how it proposes to give reservations constitutionally by November 3, 2017. If it does not make its stand clear, an episode similar to Amit Shah could repeat in Surat, Hardik tweeted.



Hardik has been claiming that if the Congress clarifies its stand on the reservation issue, he would support the party in the Assembly elections.



Several members of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti had on September 8 created a ruckus at Amit Shahs rally, forcing the BJP president to cut short his speech.



When Shah sought to kick off the Gujarat Gaurav yatra from Karamsad on October 1, several PAAS youth tried to disrupt the event, raising slogans such as Jai Sardar, Jai Patidaar.



Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, too, is slated to hold a rally in South Gujarat

during his three-day visit to the region, starting from November 1 or 3.



Hardiks ultimatum comes a day after a series of audio clips, purportedly of PAAS

leader Narendra Patel talking about financial onnivance between the outfit and the Congress, began doing the rounds on Friday.






Theres something special about teaching a group of people who are there for the sheer love of learning rather than merely checking a box on their degree or fulfilling a requirement, said Dr. Andrew Shatte Oct. 14 about presenting his lecture on The Power of Resilience and the Science of Stress at One Day University in San Diego.

One Day University brings together the most popular professors from top schools around the country for half-day events which attract adult students, many of whom have long since graduated college and just want to continue learning.

One Day U audiences are smart, mature and accomplished professionally, Shatte continued. If you can wow these folks, it feels like a genuine achievement.

Shatte definitely wowed the audience of 225 who came to the Auditorium at the Scripps Research Institute to hear him, Professor Jeremi Suri and Dr. Robert Greenberg speak about the subjects that are their passion.

In fact, the audience was wowed by all three presenters  just like the undergraduates who usually sit in their classrooms.

We look for award-winning professors who receive the highest ratings from their students, explained Steven Schragis, who founded One Day University in 2005 after bringing his own daughter to college and realizing that the freshmens parents were wishing they were going back to school, too. Their subject matter is informative and interesting, and they are entertaining speakers who know how to keep an audience rapt.

Shatte was voted the best professor by students at the University of Pennsylvanias School of Arts and Sciences in 2003 and, in 2006, he received the Deans Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Suri, who spoke about The Impossible Presidency: From Washington and Jefferson to Obama and Trump, holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. In 2007, Smithsonian Magazine named him one of Americas Top Young Innovators in the Arts and Sciences.

Greenberg  a.k.a. the Elvis of music history and appreciation, according to the Bangor Daily News  presented Music as a Mirror of History: 300 Years in 60 Minutes. He has been designated an official Steinway Artist, and has been awarded three Nicola de Lorenzo Composition Prizes and three Meet-The-Composer Grants.

Students took notes in the examination blue books distributed before the event started, writing down important takeaways from each speaker.

Suri reminded the audience of the importance of learning from history. He encouraged mentoring young people to get involved in public service, saying he has so much faith in our kids, he would happily replace the Texas legislature with his undergraduate students.

I will be back in 10 years and I promise we will have a new President and she will be doing everything differently, he said.

Greenberg demonstrated how the environment shapes the style of music, mirroring the larger culture.

For a composer, music acts as a diary, he explained. Their music will naturally reflect something of themselves and the world in which theyre living.

Shatte shared the secret to happiness. Transitory things dont make us happy, he said. Meaning and purpose are important factors, and resilience lies at the heart of happiness.

The audience enthusiastically interacted with all three professors, asking thoughtful questions, participating in psychological experiments that tested their frustration level as they tried to solve seemingly insolvable anagrams, and sharing their feelings about pieces of classical music.

I enjoy One Day University because the audience is smart, engaged and experienced, said Suri. I treat this audience as one that knows the facts but wants to explore their meaning for our troubled world today. Theyre a laboratory for how we can motivate and inform ourselves to become better citizens, voters and leaders at a time when good leadership is in such short supply.

Since its last event in San Diego, One Day University has added more cities to its schedule, bringing that number up to 61. Theyve also made many of their classes available online so you can watch some of the most popular lectures around the country. So far, 7,000 of One Day Universitys 70,000 students have taken advantage of this service which gives you unlimited access to courses such as The Four Most Powerful People in the World and The Science of Happiness for $9.95 per month.

One Day University is also taking its classes to the sea, thanks to a new partnership with Lindblad/National Geographic.

Theyre called Expeditions and were really excited about them, said Schragis. We did a survey and found that 97 percent of our students love travel. This is a great way to combine both.

The first two destinations will be the Galapagos Islands and Iceland, and Schragis is hoping an Alaska cruise will be next.

In the meantime, hes already booked the next One Day University in San Diego, which will be held in February.

It will feature politics, history and music plus three of our most remarkable professors, said Schragis. It just may be our best event ever.

You can register online at www.onedayu.com or by calling 800-300-3438. Use coupon code RETURN for a 30 percent discount.
By Lynda V. Mapes

27 October 2017

(The Seattle Times)  Orca whales are on a path to extinction within a century unless they get a big increase of chinook salmon to eat, and significantly quieter seas in which to find their food, a new study has found.The research, published in the journal Scientific Reports, evaluated the relative importance of known threats to the survival of southern-resident killer whales, the salmon-eating whales that frequent Puget Sound.An international team of scientists reviewed 40 years of data and the threats of lack of food, pollutants, and excessive noise under different future scenarios.A clear finding emerged: lack of food, specifically chinook salmon, was the orcas biggest threat to long-term survival, so much so that a 30 percent increase in chinook above average levels is needed to recover the orca population. That increase could be cut to 15 percent if vessel noise also is reduced by half.Otherwise, the populations will continue to decline and there is a 25 percent chance the whales will be lost within 100 years, the scientists found. []The very first thing we should be doing is holding the line, and not increasing threats and harms that are already there, clearly we dont want to be adding to the problem, said Paul Paquet of the Raincoast Conservation Foundation in Sydney, B.C., a lead author on the paper.There is an urgency here that is not well-appreciated; they are certainly in jeopardy, he said of the orcas. There is no doubt about that.Bob Lacy, a conservation biologist with the Chicago Zoological Society, and another lead author on the paper, said the southern residents are just holding on; the population is too fragile to withstand any increased threats.It is not a cheerful story, but it is a wake-up call.Lynne Barre, Seattle branch chief of the Protected Resources Division at NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region, said the agency is well aware of the orcas predicament, as their population  at the lowest numbers since the 1980s  continues to drop. They are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.We are moving in the wrong direction, Barre said. The agency is looking for partners at every level  local, state, federal and across the border in Canada, to ease threats to orca survival she said. [more]
(The Hill)  A massive rebuilding contract between Puerto Rico and a small Montana energy company has sparked controversy and raised questions about relief efforts after Hurricane Maria.The $300 million contract between the stricken islands power utility and two-year-old firm Whitefish Energy Holdings is looking more and more unusual each day.On Friday, the Trump administration distanced itself from the contract, which the White House, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke all said Puerto Rican officials were responsible for having signed.The federal government has nothing to do with this contract or the process. This was something solely determined by the Puerto Rican government, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters.As we understand, there is an ongoing audit, and well look forward to seeing the results of that later.Zinke, who comes from the same Montana town as Whitefish Energy, said he had absolutely nothing to do with the company receiving the contract. Zinke had come under scrutiny because of the coincidence of his hometown company getting the contract.Any attempts by the dishonest media or political operatives to tie me to awarding or influencing any contract involving Whitefish are completely baseless, he said in a statement. []Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources committees sent a string of questions to officials on Thursday, asking Whitefish for documents related to its Puerto Rico operations and PREPA for information on its contact with repair firms like Whitefish. The size and terms of the contract, as well as the circumstances surrounding the contracts formation, raise questions regarding PREPAs standard contract awarding procedures, Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), the panels chairman, wrote along with Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.).Hilary Cairnie, a government contracts attorney at Pepper Hamilton, said the Whitefish contract set off some red flags, but some of the unusual aspects might be explainable.It was a bit unorthodox in terms of how it came about, he said of the no-bid contract. But the FEMA disaster rules and contracting requirements afford that FEMA will recognize exceptions to competition rules.The contract also has a provision that appears to limit the ability of government agencies to audit Whitefish.In no event shall PREPA, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the FEMA Administrator, the Comptroller General of the United States, or any of their authorized representatives have the right to audit or review the cost and profit elements, it states.Cairnie said thats highly unusual and likely not enforceable. Laws like the Inspector General Act give officials wide-ranging investigative authority, and the federal government wasnt even a party to the deal.From a public sector perspective, that is supremely unorthodox, he said. While I can understand why a company like Whitefish would want to be able to be immune from audits, if the underlying contract was awarded consistent with FEMA rules and regulations, most assuredly, there would be multiple layers of audit requirements, he said. [more]
By John D. Sutter

27 October 2017

Arecibo, Puerto Rico (CNN)  You wont hear about her death from officials investigating the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, but you should know her name and her story.

She was Isabel Rivera Gonzalez.Rivera was 80. She loved to dance, and was known in this hilly enclave of Puerto Rico for her Saturday-night merengue moves. In family photos displayed at her funeral last week, she was shown laughing near a shoreline as flamingos tiptoed behind her. In a black-and-white image, she beamed as she held an infant, one of her five children. Those children described their mother as healthy and full of energy late into her years  a woman who lit up a room.Rivera survived Hurricane Maria on September 20 huddled next to her boyfriend, Demencio Olmeda, 76. The storms winds tore out their curtains and windows, swirling debris in the sky, knocking out power and water service and killing, officially, 51 people.I will remember her every day, Olmeda told me.On 15 October 2017, three weeks after the storm, Rivera died awaiting a procedure at a hospital that had lost power in the hurricane and whose backup generator failed, according to several of her family members. Such deaths  those of people who might be alive if not for the storm  should be analyzed as part of the US territorys efforts to tally hurricane mortality, said Hector Pesquera, secretary of Puerto Ricos Department of Public Safety, which oversees the count.Yet Riveras death was not assessed or counted in connection with Hurricane Marias death toll, CNN learned after interviewing Puerto Rican and federal officials, as well as funeral home directors and hospital administrators in Riveras municipality, Arecibo, located about an hour west of San Juan, the capital. []One of the largest hospitals in Arecibo, Hospital Pavia, declined to comment for this story. On 5 October 2017, hospital officials told NPR that 49 bodies had been taken there since the storm, likely including some from neighboring municipalities. Jose J. Martinez, who owns Funeraria San Luis, down the street, told me he visited the hospital shortly after the storm. Bodies were piled on top of one another in the morgue, which was clearly beyond capacity, he said.The vast majority of the bodies were decomposed, he said. It was a horrendous smell.Jose S. Rosado, executive director of Manati Medical Center, where Rivera died, told me that no deaths from that hospital had been sent to San Juan for forensic analysis. Only blunt trauma, drownings, falls, crime scene victims and bodies that are found dead on arrival should be sent to the capital for analysis, he said. That conflicts with instructions Pesquera told me were distributed to all hospitals in Puerto Rico, which he said included indirect causes of death. []It is improbable the official hurricane death toll is high enough, said Martinez, the funeral home owner. His funeral home processed 12 bodies in the month after the storm, he said.I suspect most of them were probably from the hurricane, Martinez told me. He cited an example of a woman who died of an apparent heart attack while waiting in line for fuel.The numbers just dont add up. [more]
By Jeffrey Mervis

19 October 2017

(Science)  Senate Republicans have launched a new attack on peer review by proposing changes to how the U.S. government funds basic research.New legislation introduced this week by Senator Rand Paul (RKY) would fundamentally alter how grant proposals are reviewed at every federal agency by adding public members with no expertise in the research being vetted. The bill (S.1973) would eliminate the current in-house watchdog office within the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Alexandria, Virginia, and replace it with an entity that would randomly examine proposals chosen for funding to make sure the research will deliver value to the taxpayer. The legislation also calls for all federal grant applications to be made public.Paul made his case for the bill yesterday as chairperson of a Senate panel with oversight over federal spending. The hearing, titled Broken Beakers: Federal Support for Research, was a platform for Pauls claim that theres a lot of silly research the government has no business funding. Paul poked fun at several grants funded by NSFa time-honored practice going back at least 40 years, to Senator William Proxmire (DWI) and his Golden Fleece awardsand complained that the problem is not how does this happen, but why does it continue to happen?Pauls proposed solution starts with adding two members who have no vested interest in the proposed research to every federal panel that reviews grant applications. One would be an expert  in a field unrelated to the research being proposed, according to the bill. Their presence, Paul explained, would add an independent voice capable of judging which fields are most worthy of funding. The second addition would be a taxpayer advocate, someone who Paul says can weigh the value of the research to society.That provision would apply to every federal agency that awards competitive research grants. But another portion of the bill would affect only NSF, specifically, its Office of Inspector General. That quasi-independent office now investigates waste, fraud, and abuse of NSF funds, as well as investigating allegations of research misconduct.Pauls bill would transfer its authorityas well as its budget and staffto a new Office of the Inspector General and Taxpayer Advocate for Research. Its job would be to comb through NSFs portfolio of top-rated proposals and chose a random sample to determine if the research will deliver value to the taxpayer. The office would also have veto power; that is, no proposal that it finds wanting could be funded by NSF. []The top Democrat on the panel, Senator Gary Peters (DMI), defended both the way government funds research and the value of that research. The co-sponsor of a 2017 law that gave NSF a vote of confidence, Peters acknowledged that no system is perfect, but suggested that his colleagues were missing the bigger picture.While certain basic research projects that receive federal funding certainly have silly-sounding titles, further examination may reveal the true scientific merit and potential broader impacts of the work, Peters said. Rather than inject politics into this process, our discussion today should instead concentrate on how to safeguard the often unexpected process of discovery inherent in scientific inquiry, while ensuring that federal dollars spent on research remains completely and fully accountable taxpayers. [more]
The Trump administration has firmly told Pakistan that it wants Pakistan to eliminate terror groups operating from its soil instead of finding excuses for not reining in terror and that the United States will be forced so look at alternatives if Islamabad failed to deliver. If Islamabad fails to take "decisive" actions against terror groups, the US will "adjust" its tactics and strategies to achieve the objective in a "different way", a State Department official said on Friday. US diplomatic sources said the Trump administration will over the next weeks monitor practical steps taken by Pakistan in the war against terrorism, even as she asserted that the Trump administration is moving quickly on its own strategy to fight against terror groups. The Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs and Acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Alice G Wells, who was part of the US delegation led by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, told reporters in a briefing that it is all about Pakistan's strategic choice. "This is about Pakistan's sovereign choice. This is not about America giving dictation. We've described our strategy, we've described a very important role for Pakistan, who we see as a very important country in the region, but it's up to them whether or not they want to work with us on this strategy. And if they don't, as the Secretary said, we'll adjust accordingly," Wells said. During his just concluded visit to Pakistan, Tillerson stressed the importance of Pakistan "moving quickly" to demonstrate good faith and efforts to use its influence to create the conditions that will get the Taliban to the negotiating table. "These are things that are seen and felt and measurable, and so we look forward over the next weeks and months to see the practical steps that Pakistan takes out of its own self- interest and ensuring that its own country is not destabilised by some of the actions of the groups that have been able to use its territory," she said. "I can't give you an explicit timetable, but we're moving very quickly ourselves on our own strategy and in reinforcing on the military side our ability to demonstrate to the Taliban that they cannot win this war. We are going to make equally rapid progress on the diplomatic side or have equally-high expectations on the diplomatic side of responsiveness," she said. Wells asserted that the Taliban leadership and the Haqqani Network still retain an ability to plan, to recuperate, and to reside with their families in Pakistan. The Quetta and Peshawar leadership councils of the Taliban have their names for a reason, she noted. "What we saw in 2014 was we saw Pakistan make a strategic decision to defeat the terrorist groups that were targeting the government of Pakistan. And with great loss of life, great courage, great vision about what needed to be done, Pakistan has fought that battle and now has regained control and sovereignty over the FATA territories," she said. "We'd like to see the same strategic commitment brought against other militant groups, whether that are operating or have used Pakistan's territory, whether they are directed against India or directed against Afghanistan," she added. Tillerson, during his meetings with Pakistani leadership, had an extremely candid conversation with the Prime Minister and the civilian and military leadership team, she said. The Secretary underscored that the strategy is an opportunity; since Pakistan, with the exception of Afghanistan, has the most to benefit from a stable and peaceful country next door. He noted that at several critical junctures over the last 70 years, the US has worked very closely with Pakistan, and the Coleman hostage is an example of what they can do when together. "But under the strategy, we've laid out some very specific expectations of how Pakistan can help create the conditions that will help bring the Taliban to the table. And I think the longstanding relationships with the militant and terrorist organizations, our concern is that they threaten Pakistan's stability. You see already the spillover of the sectarianism that has been building in Pakistan over the last several decades," she said. According to Wells, over the last four years Pakistani officials and the Taliban both thought the US was withdrawing. "They were hedging against a chaotic departure. They were hedging against an uncertain security environment," she said. "What the South Asia strategy gives them, is certainty that we're there, we're not going to let the Taliban win, that we're prepared to invest the resources that will be, at a minimum, a stalemate but a stalemate increasingly in the government's favour," she said.








A new online archive of gaelic texts spanning three centuries and including reports of the Flight of the Earls from Donegal in 1607, has been launched by a Donegal TD.



Staff of the Royal Irish Academy based in Teelin in Co Donegal were part of a team which put together 19 million words from various texts from across Europe into the incredible online resource.



The texts which were mostly in Irish have been edited for the modern day user and include accounts of that famous flight from Rathmullan, from the Great Famine right through to the Easter Rising and Partition.



The Corpas covers a huge breadth of material and Irish history, from the Flight of the Earls in 1607 to the writings of An tAthair Peadar O Laoghaire and Padraig Mac Piarais in An Claidheamh Soluis, during the golden age of the language revival, said TD and Minister for Gaeilge Joe McHugh



McHugh paid tribute to Tyrone native Dr. Charles Dillon and his team in Donegal for their work over many years while launching the Corpas na Gaeilge 1600-1926, a historical dictionary of the Irish language from that period.



Every aspect of this project is challenging and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all staff working on it. They are doing fantastic work in various areas including Irish history, archaeology, the Irish language, culture and science, he said.



Caroline Ni Chasaide, Padraig Mac Con Uladh, Niall O Ceallaigh and Eithne Ni Ghallchobair worked tirelessly in Carrick, to reproduce these texts into a format on the Royal Irish Academy website at www.ria.ie - all now searchable using key words.



I am very proud that the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is part of this valuable project, said Minister McHugh whose department funds the project.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP)  Florida Gov. Rick Scott is headed to the Great White North.

Scott's office announced on Friday that he is jetting off to Toronto, Canada, next week for a two-day trade mission.

This is Scott's 14th trip abroad since he became governor in 2011. Former Gov. Jeb Bush took 16 trade missions during his eight years in office.

This is Scott's second trip to Canada. He has also traveled previously to the South American countries of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Chile, as well as Japan, Israel, England, France and Spain.

Canada is Florida's number one source of international visitors, with more than 3.3 million Canadians visiting Florida last year.

Scott's office also called the nation one of Florida's top trade partners, supporting a total of more than 600,000 Florida jobs.
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It is folly to try to describe someones voice with the written word. That is why, after reading this, you should find a ticket to go hear David Phelps next week in Dothan.

Phelps is known as a mainstay tenor for Southern Gospels legendary Gaither Vocal Band, but he has been doing solo projects for more than 15 years. Just Google greatest male tenors and Phelps is mentioned prominently with the best.

He will be singing Friday, Nov. 3, at First Assembly of God Church in Dothan. Tickets range from $20 for general admission to $50 for VIP. Doors open at 6 and Phelps unleashes at 7. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-965-9324 or by visiting www.itickets.com/events/385740.

My preference has always been authenticity over voice, especially when it comes to worship music. Give me someone who convinces me they truly believe what they are singing and I will take that over someone who hits every right note, but doesnt take me along in the journey of the song.

Phelps has an incredible share of both attributes.

Phelps has one of the greatest voices you will ever hear, but the power of his voice transforms him from someone who sings songs to someone who transports you somewhere else.

Phelps also has a great range of styles. Many songs he will sing in Dothan are from his newest project which features old hymns, most sung in Phelps original arrangement. He will likely also include contemporary, classical and other styles as well.

During an interview with the Dothan Eagle this week, Phelps said audiences immediately connect with the hymns.

When I record an original song, it always takes a while for the audience to learn the songs, Phelps said. Its really interesting with the hymn project. I can start a song and immediately everybody is singing along.

As part of the Gaither Vocal Band, Phelps spent years taking cues from Southern Gospel icon Bill Gaither, who navigated every evening the group performed, from opening song to good night everybody. Phelps said performing solo is a different experience.

Going out on my own, I am doing my own thing. I am choosing the songs and feeling the audience and detecting where they want to go. Its a more involved, deeper process, Phelps said.

Friday, Phelps will likely take the audience on a musical journey of primary Christian themes, from forgiveness to surrender to grace to peace to Heaven.

Phelps sings a variety of styles, and is keenly aware of the Christian music industry today.

There is a little bit of division going on. There are people who see it one way and want it to be that way and there are people who want it to progress to a different thing. Worship really shouldnt be a genre. Worship is a response to God. As musicians and writers and producers of gospel music, our goal should be simply to create a vehicle to come together and worship the Creator for what He has done in our lives, Phelps said.

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What I'm Reading
A 27 year old man who pointed what looked like a handgun at a man who disturbed him during an aggravated burglary, was jailed for three years at Dundalk Circuit Court last week.

Jason Murray of Doolargy Avenue, Muirhevnamor, Dundalk was also given a concurrent sentence totalling two years for a separate burglary at student accommodation the following day.

The court heard how a couple and two teenage children were asleep at their home in the Garrybawn area of Dundalk on October 17th 2015 when their barking dog woke the man around 5am.

When he went downstairs to investigate, he discovered that the front door was open and he armed himself with a glass bottle from the sitting room and went into the kitchen where he saw a masked man standing still who pointed what looked like a gun at him.

The man hit the intruder with the glass bottle with full force, but it didnt break and pair ended up struggling on the ground, with Jason Murray shouting Ive got a gun which was prised from his hand, when the mans partner and one of the teenagers came to his assistance.

The defendant was dressed in black, and wore a ski mask, which was pulled off his face and he claimed I was sent to the wrong house. I was sent on a job.

The court heard blood was pumping from his head and he was marched out of the house and the guards were called. The accused left a trail of blood behind, along with the balaclava and what turned out to be a plastic toy gun made in China which resembled a Colt 1911 semi-automatic pistol.

Jason Murray was arrested the following day within hours of a burglary at Green Park Student village, where a number of students had chased him from the building.

Gardai came upon him in a car park at DkIT and he matched the description given by the students as he was wearing distinctive clothing and had a black eye and cuts to his face.

The court was told Jason Murray was unfit to be interviewed for a number of hours, but later during questioning denied any involvement in the aggravated burglary, but he was linked to it through his DNA.

The court was told the defendant had 51 previous convictions including robbery and burglary and had developed a heroin addiction, having begun abusing cannabis between the ages of 12 and 14 and while he had made efforts to get clean he had relapsed.

The Defence said the accused now realises he needs to address his addiction although he is at a preliminary stage. He is also receiving counselling in respect of a personality disorder he was diagnosed with.

The court heard that there are no further matters outstanding against the accused, who had lost his father in January last year, nine months before his fiancee, who he had moved to live with in Portlaoise, had died from pneumonia.

Judge Michael OShea backdated the sentences to December last when the accused went into custody on foot of a bench warrant which was issued around the time of his late partners death.
(Photo: United Nations)Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.

All States with blasphemy laws on their statute books should repeal them to increase freedom of religion or belief, a UN human rights expert has said in New York.

"Anti-blasphemy, anti-apostasy or anti-conversion laws, some of which are falsely presented as 'anti-incitement' legislation, also often serve as platforms for enabling intolerance," said Ahmed Shaheed Special UN Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.

He was speaking Oct. 24 ahead of presenting his first report to the UN General Assembly in New York since he was appointed in 2016.

"I urge States that still have blasphemy laws to repeal them because of their stifling impact on the enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion or belief, and on the ability to engage in a healthy dialogue about religion," Shaheed said.

He said it is essential to address the rising global trend of religious intolerance, and to close the gap between commitments to combat intolerant acts and taking appropriate action.

"Today, three quarters of the world's population live in countries that have, either restrictions on the right to religion or belief, or a high-level of social hostility involving religion or belief," said Shaheed.

"In many cases, limits on freedom of religion or belief and denials of that freedom, which result in religious intolerance, stem not from any governmental action but from pressures within the society in which they occur," he noted.

'EXTREMIST INTERPRETATIONS'

Intolerance can be caused by extremist interpretations of religious sources, Shaheed said.

Violations are often aggravated in situations where "intolerance levels are at their highest, rule of law is at its weakest, and fear is the common currency, including in situations of conflict."

The UN expert said violence by extremist groups, often in the name of religion or belief, is a real threat that had to be confronted.

But the increasing trend by States to politicize religion or link it with security concerns worsens the situation, he explained.

"What is often overlooked is the role many governments play in exacerbating, fueling and enabling an environment in which such extremism can flourish," he said.

He warned that an based on too much security to countering violent extremism in the name of religion had often proven to be counter-productive.

Shaheed, former foreign minister of the Maldives, encouraged everyone to recommit using the existing UN tools and mechanisms to close the gap between commitments and action.
Dozens of angry parents have converged outside Somerville House school in South Brisbane, angry that its governing body has banned them from discussing a leaked report into the schools future.The gag order was made yesterday by the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association (PMSA)  the body that also oversees the management of Brisbane Boys College, Clayfield College and Sunshine Coast Grammar.The march outside the exclusive school, which began at 7am this morning, is believed to involve up to 100 people, including several former students.Somerville House has recently been hit by a number of allegations involving information leaks and staff departures, issues that the PMSA sought to address in a statement late yesterday.PMSA chairman, Greg Adsett, called the saga deeply regrettable, saying he wished to set the record straight.The most recent of the allegations was that Flo Kearney, the former principal of Somerville House, had been dismissed.The claims stemmed from an announcement by the PMSA that instead of serving out the remainder of her term, Kearney would be replaced by one of the schools former heads  a move that led to Kearneys immediate departure from the school.However, Adsett denied that Kearney had been dismissed.Ms Kearney has not been dismissed, nor has the PMSA had any reason to criticise her in relation to communications with any media outlet, Adsett stated.Among other issues addressed was a leaked Deloitte report, commissioned by the PMSA in 2015, which sparked fears of a secret plan to merge the four schools  a claim that Adsett, called wrong.The Deloitte report was a step in an ongoing process, which will continue with the support of the Presbyterian and Uniting Churches and will also involve consultation with all stakeholders at the appropriate time, he said.Reports that the PMSA intends to strip the  individual character of the schools are wrong. Furthermore, no plans exist to centralise the operations of our schools.Adsett also addressed reports that Somerville House senior executive, Rick Hiley, caused a security breach by downloading and misusing confidential data.Hiley, who was stood down from his position ahead of an independent investigation into the alleged IT breach, was later cleared of any wrongdoing.Adsett said the subsequent report outlining the facts of the matter found that data had simply been downloaded onto a portable hard drive to enable Hiley to work efficiently from home.The data was only used for its intended purpose and no breach of IT policy occurred. There have been no instances of data theft or data misuse, Adsett said.
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.
At a reception for Deputy Governor of Maranhao state Carlos Brandao on October 27, Liem called on the two sides leaders to push tourism promotion, explaining both that Ho Chi Minh City and Maranhao state boast great potential for tourism development.

Vice Chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee Le Thanh Liem and Deputy Governor of Maranhao state Carlos Brandao (Source: VNA)



The official highlighted strong developments in the relationship between Vietnam and Brazil since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1989, with two-way trade reaching USD3 billion in 2016, 1.5 times higher than that in 2013.

Echoing Liems views, Carlos Brandao said with similarities in culture and weather and soil conditions, HCM City and Maranhao state have a lot of potential cooperation areas like agriculture, trade, tourism and investment.

During his stay in HCM City, Carlos Bradao is scheduled to attend the Vietnam-Brazil Trade Forum co-orgagnised by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)s chapter in the city, and Maranhao state./.
Lieutenant General Vu Chien Thang, Director of the Foreign Relations Department under the Ministry of National Defence, made the remark in an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)s reporter.

Thang said the Vietnamese delegation led by Minister of National Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich participated in all sessions within the meetings, where he delivered a speech highlighting the message of building and enhancing strategic trust.

In the speech, the minister affirmed that an environment is actually peaceful and stable only when it is built on strategic trust and desire for cooperation of involved parties. He called on countries to strengthen coordination via specific activities to increase mutual trust and understanding.

Gen. Lich also mentioned fishermen-related issues, stressing that in addition to seeking comprehensive legal measures for these matters, countries should provide humanitarian treatment and pay attention to education solutions without using violence or forces against fishermen.

Lieutenant General Vu Chien Thang, Director of the Foreign Relations Department under the Ministry of National Defence (Photo: VNA)



As some ASEAN partners expressed their wish to join ADMM, Vietnam proposed study and put forth appropriate Concept Papers to admit new members, which are expected to make practical contributions to the development of ADMM as well as regional peace, stability and development.

Thang revealed that at ADMM, representatives of countries adopted 10 Concept Papers, including the ADMM work programme for the 2017-2019 period, focusing on enhancing defence-security cooperation in ASEAN and promoting the groupings collaboration with China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, the US, Russia, India, Australia and New Zealand.

The Concept Paper on Guidelines for Maritime Interaction aims to step up marine security efforts of ASEAN member countries and build measures to manage sea conflicts comprehensively based on trust building, preventive diplomacy and tensions management in a peaceful manner, he added.

The ASEAN countries also adopted a Joint Statement, reaffirming the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security and safety of navigation and aviation in the East Sea in addition to addressing disputes via peaceful measures without complicating the situation and abiding by international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS).

The Joint Statement also underlines the need to respect and fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and welcomes the adoption of a framework for the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), Thang said.

The ADMM is the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism in ASEAN whereas the ADMM is a platform for ASEAN defence ministers to engage their dialogue partners from Asia and the Pacific regions.

Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam./.
JWL said: My point is that if (serious) conflict does come, surely the EU can 'regard' away, but surely EU stability and world confidence in a united EU will hit hard and hurt the EU, no? Click to expand...

I don't see why it would work like that. After all the UK is busy imploding right now but irrespective of Brexit does the world see that as affecting EU unity and stability? I don't think they do, I think it's regarded as the UK's problem. Then there is brexit but again I think the EU is seen to be dealing with it in a united and stable way. People still see each EU state as a country in its own right with its own internal politics and in most cases its own problems, and the EU itself is seen as, if you like, greater than the sum of its parts. IF it became clear that the disunity in one of its member states was affecting the functioning of the EU, I'm sure that it would take steps to protect itself. It's how issues are dealt with that gives people confidence or not, not simply the fact that issues exist because whenever people are involved issues will always exist.A bit like, each member of a company's workforce has their own private life and in some cases their own personal problems, but it only becomes the company's problem when they bring those problems to work and don't do their job properly. Then it acts.
I relocated to Cape Town earlier in the year, what a beautiful city! I'm leasing a flat until I can find property. However, since level 5 water restrictions have been put in place, I am rethinking about buying here at the moment.

The concern is not that the taps will actually run dry, but the impact on the tourism and expat business. That would negatively impact property values.

Yesterday my realtor confirmed she has heard that before but that the industry is avoiding the issue.

Thoughts from Cape Town residents here? Concerned or not?
The city of San Antonio alleges in a new lawsuit that its owed more than $6 million, plus unspecified punitive damages and interest, from Time Warner Cable Texas for unpaid franchise fees.

Time Warner Cable (TWC), which Charter Communications Inc. acquired last year and now operates under the name Spectrum, underreported and omitted revenue thats used to calculate franchise fees, the city alleges.

Local governments charge franchise fees for access to municipal rights-of-way necessary for the deployment of cable-system infrastructure.

The citys suit was filed Monday in Bexar County district court. Charter Communications spokesman Brian Anderson said in an email that its reviewing the complaint but had no comment.

The city and the company attempted to mediate the dispute but were unsuccessful, City Attorney Andrew Segovia said through a spokeswoman.

We did not get a substantive offer from them, he said.

In 2009, the suit says, the city requested TWC submit to a routine audit to determine if the company properly calculated and paid franchise fees for all of its subscribers inside city limits from 2006 through 2012.

Time Warner refused to release the data, the city alleges, but a court later ordered it to produce financial documents. The city says in its suit that TWC eventually turned over incomplete and incorrect documents.

Nevertheless, the city says it finalized its audit based on the incomplete financial information and discovered its owed unpaid franchise fees.

The city determined in 2014 that TWC underreported subscriber and advertising revenue, used incorrect methods to calculate the franchise fee, and failed to fully report early termination and advertising fees, according to the suit.

The city and the company met numerous times between 2014 and the filing of the lawsuit, but the two sides could not agree on an amount owed by TWC, Segovia said.

The city accuses TWC of not including all cable subscriber revenue in calculating franchise fees because of certain errors, including assigning subscriber addresses to other cities and vice versa.

TWCs improper accounting, incorrect methodology and other errors and omissions resulted in TWC owing the City in excess of ($6 million) in unpaid Franchise Fees, not including interest from 2006 through the time of the filing of this lawsuit, the city says in its lawsuit.

The city also seeks unspecified punitive damages, attorneys fees, costs and interest from 2006 through last month.

Charter, the second largest U.S. cable operator with about 27 million customers, completed its $55 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable Inc. in May 2016.

Charter, backed by billionaire John Malone, lost 104,000 television customers in the latest quarter, almost four times the 28,000 that analysts had estimated, Bloomberg News reported Thursday. Charter was expected to lose Time Warner Cable subscribers when their rates increased at the end of promotional offers they had received before the deal, according to Bloomberg.

pdanner@express-news.net
AUSTIN  Gov. Greg Abbott denied that he favors removing from the Texas Capitol a Confederate plaque that says slavery was not an underlying cause of the Civil War after a black lawmaker who privately met with the Republican governor earlier Friday said Abbott indicated support for taking it down.

Democratic state Rep. Eric Johnson, who for months has called for removing a plaque titled Children of the Confederacy Creed, which has hung in the Capitol since 1959, initially praised Abbott after an hourlong meeting in Dallas. He said Abbott had agreed that the plaque was inaccurate and, according to Johnson, indicated support for taking it down.

But his mood soured after Abbotts office gave a conflicting account of the meeting, saying the governor did not agree to remove that plaque and that state officials would study the matter.

The governor told Rep. Johnson he would ask the State Preservation Board to look into the issue, specifically the history of the plaque, as well as the history of the removal of a similar plaque at the Texas Supreme Court, Abbott spokeswoman Ciara Matthews said.

Abbotts office did not respond to Johnsons assertion that the governor acknowledged that the plaque was historically inaccurate.

Johnson called the governors characterization of their talk mind-boggling and raised the possibility of his staff releasing notes of the meeting.

It stretches the limits of the imagination to see how you come to a different conclusion after the tone and tenor of that meeting, Johnson said. Maybe he thought about it afterward and said, What did I just agree to?

The plaque, which was made by the Children of the Confederacy, vows to preserve pure ideals and teach the truths of history. Then it adds: One of the most important of which is that the war between the states was not a rebellion, nor was its underlying cause to sustain slavery.

Johnson said Abbott stopped short of saying the plaque would be removed. But he said Abbott told him he supports removing inaccurate displays and that he would begin looking into the procedural process for removing a historical marker. The matter would be handled by the caretaker of the Capitol, the State Preservation Board, which has a governing board of lawmakers and state leaders, including Abbott.

Supporting the removal of the plaque would be a shift for Abbott, who in August resisted calls to take down Confederate markers after a deadly clash at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Abbott said at the time that racism and hate-filled violence is never acceptable but that tearing down monuments wont erase our nations past.

In September, House Speaker Joe Straus became the highest-profile Republican to publicly call for its removal, saying historical information displayed on the Capitol grounds should be accurate and appropriate and that the plaque does not meet that standard.

Hearst Austin Bureau Staff Writer Alejandra Matos contributed to this report.
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Like the proud father of a boundless extended family, state District Judge Peter Sakai looked out over the 22nd graduating class of the Bexar County Family Drug Court on Friday and felt humbled at how the days message of hope and redemption never gets old.

Nine women and three men  sober former drug addicts, former spouse abusers, child victims themselves of sexual assault  told their stories in an ornate courtroom to an often-weeping, sometimes-laughing audience of caseworkers, drug counselors and grateful family members.

Remember, Nancy, when I had to say you werent being honest with me? Sakai told a mother of four who nodded and beamed.

A young mom, Danielle Ramirez, stood with her husband, Ethan Ybarra, and their daughter dressed in pink to recall shed had so many different counselors during the yearlong diversion program that Im pretty sure I had a counselor for all the counseling.

When Danielles child, Jewel Ybarra, grabbed the microphone, gave a thumbs up to the applauding crowd and announced, Im just proud of everybody who helped my mommy and daddy, Sakai said of the pint-sized scene-stealer: Im just glad Ill be retired before she runs for office.

Every story was different. There were common themes. Alcohol and drugs so ravaged their lives at some point that their children became victims  sometimes of verbal abuse, often beatings  and Child Protective Services had to intervene and remove the kids.

Risking permanent separation from their children, the parents were offered a chance to enter the family drug court program  largely state grant funded and now 13 years old  and submit to drug testing three times a week, Friday afternoon truth telling sessions with Sakai and a yearlong gantlet of counseling.

Its not for everyone, said Sakai, a Rio Grande Valley native who was elected to the 225th district court bench in 2006. Some people cant make it through. But if you can, this is the way you get your kids back quicker and get the CPS case dismissed.

The judge said parents must sign a 20-page document outlining their responsibilities and the consequences of failure.

The secret to getting through is willpower and commitment, Sakai said. The secret is to go through the program like Brianna Smith.

From Smiths strong and confident voice Friday afternoon, it was hard to tell that a year ago, as she tells it, she was a meth addict in a violent relationship with her boyfriend, the father of her toddler Zane, who clung to her hip.

When things began to unravel, CPS got called and I was gonna lose my son, said Smith, 21, originally from Florida. It was like getting fired from the greatest job you could ever have. I was allowed to see Zane once a week for about an hour. It was so tough.

The parents of her former boyfriend, Dwayne and Caroline Urban, were in the courtroom to give Smith support and watch Zane.

This day is everything to me, said Dwayne Urban, a bearded, gray-haired grandfather who had taken weeks off his job to care for Zane and now was fighting back tears. Zane was never in danger, but there were times the couple got violent with each other and we werent sure he would ever have stable parents, a stable life.

Weve been with Brianna from the very beginning (of the program, in January) and there were times I never thought wed get to today, Urban said. But she listened and did what the counselors said and just volunteered for more and more (counseling). Meth had sucked everything out of her life. She was a worn-out human being and became that girl you saw today.

Smith held herself as though she might be one of the counselors in the audience. She kept her speech short.

Its been a crazy ride, Smith said. I put drugs above everything else. But I learned to trust some people here, to tell the real friends from the fakes.

That is Brianna, said Sakai, over loud applause. She just took off and never looked back.

bselcraig@express-news.net
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Texas Department of Transportation officials are asking themselves what in the heck happened after crooked arches showed up in a $5.4 million overpass renovation project.

Work to replace the New Braunfels Avenue bridge over Interstate 35 began in 2016. Crews recently completed the western side of the overpass.

The new bridge had everything  sidewalks and decorative arches included, reads a TxDOT blog post.

But there was a problem.

It looks  well, terrible, the post reads.

Some of the arched cutouts along the bridge are slanted and out of line or too close together  noticeably so.

To make the arches, workers poured concrete onto plastic foam cutouts. During the drying process, those cutouts shifted, sometimes by a lot, highway officials explained.

But inspectors didnt realize there was a problem until after the cutouts were pulled out  and after the sections were in place, TxDOT spokesman Josh Donat said.

Complicating the situation, the problem wasnt discovered until after the eastern side of the bridge had already been demolished, leaving no way for an immediate fix because drivers are still using the road.

At that point, the old bridge was already wrecked, so we had to push forward, Donat said.

It may look bad, but the bridge is structurally sound, officials said. Nevertheless, TxDOT will be fixing the problem, though not anytime soon.

Donat said the defective arches will have to stay until the other side of the bridge can be completed, which means repairs wont begin until mid-2018.

What sticks out here is that were stuck with what we have until the project is near complete, Donat said. Most of the time we are able to address these aesthetic issues a little faster, and very few people even notice.

But this time around, the defective arches have become a conversation on community social boards, Donat said, leading to the TxDOT blog post.

Local structural engineer Patrick Sparks, president of Sparks Engineering, said mistakes like this happen at construction sites all the time.

Its just that this is something thats visible and easy to see, Sparks said. He added that for the foam cutout to become loose and move around is not that uncommon.

A fix would probably require cutting out and replacing the defective part of the railing, Sparks said.

It wouldnt have any effect on structural integrity. Its just cosmetic, he said. If thats all we have to worry about, I think were OK. Everybody makes mistakes.

On the plus side, the construction contractor, CRG Cos., will cover the cost to replace the slanted arches with new ones, Donat said. It wont be charged to the state.

But, as the agency post noted, Its still super embarrassing for everyone involved.

CRG didnt return a request for comment.

kbradshaw@mysa.com

Staff Writer Jacob Beltran contributed to this report.
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The call came around 4 a.m. George Dominguez answered and heard the voice of a fellow Iraq War veteran. His friend needed only a few words to reveal his despair.

Im getting ready to swallow a bullet.

Dominguez, a former Army sergeant, has known that darkness. He saw his combat tour cut short in 2008 when the armored truck he was riding in struck a roadside bomb in Sadr City.

The blast ruptured his eardrums and shrapnel caused permanent nerve damage to his hands. Two other soldiers lost limbs. One lost his life. Nine years later, the shadow of that day can still eclipse his sense of hope.

Im coming, Dominguez told his friend, who survived a similar explosion during his Iraq tour. Dont do anything.

He set off on the eight-hour drive from San Antonio to his friends place in El Paso. He arrived in the afternoon with dread heavy in his chest. When the front door opened, the two men stared at each other for a long moment, then embraced. His Army brother wept.

Were taught to be hardened guys, Dominguez said, recalling the episode from last year. But theres all this stuff you had to push down that sometimes comes back up, and thats when bad things can happen.

The friends, both 33, fall within a demographic of young veterans whose rate of suicide quadruples that of civilians and contributed to a 32 percent spike in veteran suicides between 2001 and 2014.

The Veterans Affairs Department reported last month that, in the age group 18 to 34, 70 veterans per 100,000 people died by suicide in 2014. The figure far exceeded the overall civilian rate of 17 and the national veteran rate of 38.

Texas had 112 veteran suicides in that age bracket, the most of any state in the country. Their deaths accounted for more than a fifth of the states 554 suicides among former service members, including 32 women.

The VA study analyzed veteran and civilian suicide rates by state, age and gender over a 13-year span starting in 2001. The findings illuminate a less visible yet unsurprising toll of Americas forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Niger and elsewhere.

This is another cost of 16 years of continuous military operations, said Craig Bryan, executive director of the National Center for Veteran Studies at the University of Utah, and an expert on suicide among active-duty and former service members. You cant be shocked that rates of psychological conditions and suicides have gone up.

An estimated 13 percent to 20 percent of the 2.6 million veterans who deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan returned with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or a related condition.

Dominguez copes with symptoms of PTSD  anxiety and flashbacks, insomnia and nightmares  and the lingering effects of survivors guilt. His own ordeal has given him compassion for veterans who succumb to the chaos within.

When you first get out, its almost like you feel weak because you feel like you should be able to handle your problems. Thats how the military trains you, he said.

But its not really being weak. We learned to fight and do things that normal people arent taught to do. And now you just want to be normal again, but you dont know how to get there. Some guys dont make it.

They use people up

The mental rigors of three tours in Iraq caught up with Reyes Terrazas after his last deployment in 2011. At Fort Riley in Kansas, where his Army unit was stationed, he found his mind held hostage by rage, depression and memories of three close friends killed in combat. His thoughts turned to suicide.

Terrazas sought to defuse his symptoms with alcohol, a common tactic among people with PTSD, depression and other behavioral health disorders. Desperate to stop his unwinding, he told a superior he wanted to talk with a mental health provider on base.

In Terrazas account, the first sergeant replied, If I send you to get counseling, thatll be the end of your career. Well handle it internally.

Months passed without Terrazas receiving further guidance, and in 2013, his arrest for drunk driving on post led to a demotion and his discharge after 16 years in the Army. He returned to his native San Antonio with a vanishing desire to live.

Its easier for the military to get rid of a person than try to help you, he said. They use people up and then say, You messed up, so youre out the door.

The Defense Department has devoted greater attention and resources to behavioral health services over the past decade. The agency established a suicide prevention office in 2011, and top leaders promote a message urging troops to ask for help. Yet the militarys culture of self-reliance reinforces a stigma against admitting to the slightest vulnerability.

There can be a feeling of shame because theyre programmed not to be weak, said Misty Ely, a social worker with the Samaritan Center, a nonprofit based in Austin that provides counseling to veterans across Central Texas.

Theyll think, I was trained to kill someone 500 yards away but now Im afraid of my nightmares. And so it becomes even more difficult to say, Im broken and I dont know how to fix myself.

At the same time, some commanders remain skeptical of or oblivious to the effects of combat trauma. A recent report by the Government Accountability Office found evidence of commanders flouting Pentagon policies that require them to evaluate the impact of service-related mental health conditions on troops before discharging them.

The military has kicked out an estimated 125,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans with other than honorable discharges, or bad paper in military parlance, depriving them of some or all VA services. The GAO determined that more than 13,000 troops who received bad paper for misconduct from 2011 to 2015 had been diagnosed with a mental health disorder linked to their service in the two years prior to their separation.

Tim Keesling, who serves as director of the veterans mental health program for the Texas Veterans Commission, has tracked the evolution of the militarys attitudes about behavioral health since retiring from the Army in 2008.

There have been a lot of strides made, but theres still a ways to go, said Keesling, who deployed twice to Iraq. The sequence of priorities for a commander is, My mission, my men and myself. That runs counter to the idea of the individual. But the mission has to include taking care of the people carrying out the mission.

The strength to endure

The 1.7 million former service members who live in Texas make up the countrys second-largest veterans population after California and 6 percent of the states population. The 554 veterans who took their own lives in 2014 accounted for 18 percent of the 3,127 suicides statewide.

Veterans age 18 to 34 in Texas died by suicide at a rate one-third higher than those age 35 to 54 and twice that of former service members age 55 to 74. The total of 112 suicides in the youngest age category compared to 81 in California, where the veterans population approaches 2 million.

The VAs study showed that suicide claims an average of 20 veterans a day nationwide, with two-thirds age 50 and older. But the much higher incidence among young veterans  the generation that has borne the heaviest burden in Iraq and Afghanistan  has deepened the concerns of advocates and behavioral health providers about the fallout of multiple combat tours on troops.

The rates of PTSD and other conditions go up every time you deploy, said Ely, a former Marine. And when you come back home, all the things that you relied on to keep you alive  hypervigilance, intensity, adrenaline, not sleeping  are all the things that make readjusting harder.

The VAs analysis revealed that the overall civilian suicide rate climbed by 23 percent from 2001 to 2014 compared to 32 percent for veterans. The results suggest that both populations contend with social isolation, barriers to mental health care and other risk factors linked to suicide.

Yet veterans 18 to 34 years old took their own lives at a rate five times higher than civilians in the same demographic in 2014. Ely considers the rising tide of veteran suicides in that age group a grim secondary effect of incessant war.

We want to prevent as many suicides as we can, she said. But the idea that all of them will get help and know where to get help is not plausible.

The surging need for mental health services has breached the VAs capacity at its more than 1,100 clinics and medical centers across the country. The number of veterans seeking treatment through the VA increased from 925,000 in 2006 to more than 1.6 million last year.

The VAs persistent problems with delivering timely and consistent behavioral health care sharpens the doubts of combat veterans about its clinicians, most of whom lack military experience.

Jesus Bocanegra has struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder since 2003, when he deployed to Iraq as a 22-year-old scout for an Army reconnaissance platoon.

During a mission in Tikrit, he called in an airstrike on a house after his unit confirmed the presence of insurgents. The attack killed the intended targets but also caused civilian casualties, some of them children.

Bocanegra returned to his hometown of McAllen after his discharge in 2004. Long delays for counseling sessions and a rotating roster of clinicians at the VA have hindered his recovery.

The VA doctors dont understand what youre going through because theyve never been in war, said Bocanegra, 35, who has enrolled at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley to study criminal justice. Its hard to open up to a total stranger about these intimate details. So you hold back something, or a lot of things, and that continues to affect you.

The father of four children, he has adopted a self-rescue routine for the days when suicide tempts him, when death seems less like an ending than a release. He retreats to his bedroom, closes the door and shuts off his phone. His wife makes sure the kids leave him alone. Sometimes he stays for an hour or two, sometimes for a day or more.

Bocanegra begins each morning by kneeling before a statuette of the Virgin Mary. He knows the screams of dying children he heard in Iraq will never fall quiet in his mind. He prays for the strength to endure.

Every day I have to fight for my life, he said. Every day I have to tell myself, Hey, Jesus, its going to get better.

Searching for identity

The status update on Facebook mentioned only the veterans name followed by R.I.P. Reyes Terrazas asked the person who posted the news what happened. The answer was brief: He killed himself.

Terrazas at once grieved his friends death and understood his decision. Daily thoughts of suicide plague him six years after his third and final combat tour.

Last month, as he drove from San Antonio to South Padre Island to meet his fiancee for their wedding, memories surfaced of a friend killed in Iraq. The soldier planned to marry his girlfriend after the deployment.

In that moment, anguish and guilt overran Terrazas. He imagined veering off the Queen Isabella Causeway and disappearing into the water below.

Terrazas, 43, attends counseling at the San Antonio VA and takes antidepressants and sleep medication to soften the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. If therapy has helped him gain perspective on his personal after-war, he has come to realize that he left Iraq without Iraq leaving him.

You figure out how to think about your thoughts, he said. But you dont forget what happened. You cant.

Terrazas job as a mechanic occupies his time without offering the sense of purpose that sustained him in the Army. Keesling, of the Texas Veterans Commission, described an absence of fulfillment as a common lament among former service members attempting to re-adapt to civilian life.

When you blend back into society, you become anonymous again, he said. And after youve been someone and part of something significant, some veterans really have a hard time finding their identity again.

The countrys 22 million veterans account for 7 percent of the U.S. population. Their relative scarceness, coupled with the muted national conversation about Americas military conflicts, can intensify feelings of alienation for young veterans who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rick Rodriguez returned to his wife and three children in Harlingen after his Army Reserve unit finished its tour in Iraq in 2010. He came back to a familiar setting yet felt estranged from his old life, unable to free himself from war.

His desolation drove him to attempt suicide last year. He regained his emotional equilibrium by degrees, learning to accept his diagnosis of PTSD through counseling sessions at the VA and self-help books. But there persists a sensation of living as an outsider in his own country.

We have a cultural gap between veterans and civilians, said Rodriguez, 31, who first shared his story with the Express-News a year ago. Civilians in America are so removed from the military and war that they dont know how to respond to us. They dont know what questions to ask. And so that feeling of isolation, of being alone, becomes even more severe for us.

George Dominguez belongs to a Facebook group that members of his old Army unit started to stay connected. A number of similar pages exist for other units across the militarys four major branches, creating a loose network of online peer support groups.

The pages provide a place for veterans to set down the weight of war and offer an outlet for those reluctant or ineligible to use VA services. Dominguez remembered the early-morning call he received last year from his friend in El Paso who had spiraled into suicidal depression.

He needed help but he wasnt going to go to the VA, Dominguez said. So were doing what the Army should have done in the first place and what the VA cant do or doesnt do to help people.

A husband and father, Dominguez, who works on a construction crew in San Antonio, returned from Iraq almost a decade ago after the explosion that altered his body and mind. On his inner journey home, he remains somewhere between here and there, present and past.

He benefits from counseling at the VA and the resolve of his wife, who has stood by him during his bleakest periods. As he searches for what he lost within himself in Iraq, he worries about veterans who retreat into silence, who perceive asking for help as an act of surrender.

When you hear about any of them committing suicide, its heartbreaking because you wonder, Did they have someone to reach out to? he said. You dont have to do this on your own. But too many of them think theyre alone.

mkuz@express-news.net | Twitter: @MartinKuz
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PORT OCONNOR  In the dark morning hours, the Coastal Fisheries biologists with Texas Parks and Wildlife put on waders and yellow slickers.

The mid-October water was cold, and sometimes you get covered in fish slime, intern Zach Russell said.

So began a regular ritual for teams of state scientists up and down the Texas Gulf Coast. Every month, they pull nets through the water and drag dredges along the bottom of Texas bays and estuaries, taking surveys of fish, shrimp, crabs and oysters.

Doing so, they create a detailed record of the ever-changing web of marine life along the coast. This scientific sampling is used to set commercial and recreational fishing regulations, with a goal of maintaining fisheries that last for generations.

If Parks and Wildlife wasnt monitoring things and didnt take the effort to restrict peoples gear and such, youd have a tragedy of the commons, said Norman Boyd, lead biologist in the Texas Parks and Wildlife Departments Port OConnor office.

Without management, nobody owns it and nobody cares, he continued. If you do that with any resource, if its a valuable resource, it will disappear.

Every year, TPWD staff at eight Coastal Fisheries offices in Galveston Bay, Sabine Lake, Matagorda Bay, San Antonio Bay, Aransas Bay, Corpus Christi Bay, Upper Laguna Madre and Lower Laguna Madre take about 240 samples, each using methods such as dredges, trawls and seines.

That adds up to nearly 2,000 independent data points along the coast. Those numbers dont include trawls farther out in the Gulf of Mexico or 720 samples per year via gill net, a more invasive fishing method.

Oct. 17 was a day for gill net retrieval when Russell and his superiors, Jeremy Helms and John Haferick, slid their roughly 20-foot boat into Espiritu Santo Bay and cruised to their first sampling point.

Other early morning fishers were out, too  ospreys perching on wooden posts, herons stalking along the shore and people on boats fishing for crabs.

Orange flags showed the trio where they had set the gill net the night before. The net is 600 feet long, with four different sizes of openings, forming a wall that snags any passing fish or crab. Its such an efficient fishing method that its been banned for commercial fishing.

They checked to make sure the net snagged no dolphins or sea turtles overnight. After taking a water sample for measurements such as temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen, Haferick and Russell began hauling in the net.

One by one, fish emerged gasping from the dark water: hardhead, black drum, jack crevalle, Florida pompano, stone crab, string ray, Atlantic spadefish, redfish, two kinds of flounder and a long, toothy alligator gar. Helms recorded the length and species of each.

The crew was excited about catching a snook, a species they said is more common on the southern part of the coast. An intermittent debate over whether it was a common or fat snook lasted into the afternoon, with the answer hinging on the number of anal spines.

Such rigorous data often prove useful for scientists outside the department, said Philip Matich, a postdoctoral fellow at Sam Houston State University.

Next year, TPWD biologists will assist Matich and his colleagues with a study of bull sharks and alligator gar, two species he said can thrive in both salty and freshwater.

Theres very few people at universities who study sharks in Texas, he said. TPWDs been doing it for 35 years. ... Its a great resource, and the people at those offices know so much about those ecosystems.

At one point, Russell cut the head off a dead black drum and shook out two peanut-sized calcified masses.

These are otoliths, he and Haferick explained, or rocklike masses that help fish hear and sense balance. Each one had a set of ridges that scientists can count like rings on a tree to determine a fishs age. Theyre also useful in studying migration.

After being recorded, the live fish went back into the water immediately. Those that didnt survive the net were left on the shore, hidden from view by marsh grasses, a free meal for birds, coyotes or feral hogs.

Thats a pretty light net, Helms said later. In other words, fewer fish than normal.

Of course, the biologists were quick to point out that one sample among thousands doesnt mean much on its own. It takes decades to see certain trends or cycles, Boyd said, and even then, they can be hard to untangle.

For example, theres the blue crab population that crashed in the early 1990s and still has not fully returned to where it was, he said. A spike in oil prices around 2003 made commercial shrimping less profitable and led to an explosion of brown shrimp and croaker, a type of fish that sometimes ends up in shrimp nets by accident.

Most of the trends, its really hard to pick out why it happens, Boyd said. You got weather, anglers, bag limits, commercial fishing.

Asked how Hurricane Harvey affected this part of the coast, Boyd said the storm caused a surge of freshwater to the coast, pushing more salt-loving species farther out into the water, at least temporarily.

But while it dropped record rains in the Houston area, Harvey caused less flooding in the bays and estuaries of the Coastal Bend than the Memorial Day floods of 2015, he said.

People look at hurricanes like theyre something new, he said. That wasnt even our biggest influx of freshwater.

Such a long-term view unfolds over decades. TPWDs scientific sampling of marine life started in the 1970s and was standardized in the early 1980s, said Boyd, 64.

Thirty years ago, people were probably saying, What could we do if we had 30 years of data? Boyd said. Now he wishes they had 100 years.

bgibbons@express-news.net | Twitter: @bgibbs
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Two days after Bexar County commissioners voted to sue drug companies responsible for the national opioid crisis, District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez emailed City Attorney Andy Segovia and City Manager Sheryl Sculley to caution against joining the lawsuit.

The city refused this week to release any of the Oct. 5 correspondence between Pelaez and city officials. On Friday, Segovia told me that Pelaez was highlighting the problems and challenges associated with mass tort litigation.

Pelaezs lobbying has puzzled some at City Hall, considering litigation would likely cost the city little, and waiting to take action on the health crisis could limit the citys share of a settlement  not to mention send a weak message politically.

Some speculated that Pelaezs stance was due to a rift with a former colleague, Martin Phipps, a local attorney whose law firm was selected by commissioners to serve as co-lead counsel on the litigation. Phipps did not return a call this week.

On Friday from Darmstadt, Germany, where Pelaez and Mayor Ron Nirenberg were traveling on a sister-cities junket, the councilman said his lobbying had nothing to do with Phipps, whom he called an excellent lawyer.

At the same time, there are other cities out there who have excellent lawyers, Pelaez said. There is no shortage of excellent lawyers.

He added, My relationship with Phipps is something thats in the past.

Pelaez acknowledged he had emailed Segovia and Sculley, and he reiterated his reluctance for the city to get involved in litigation against the drug companies. The councilman has argued that the citys damages would be much more speculative than damages for the county, which operates a jail and provides medical services.

My philosophy of leadership is that not having a good reason not to do something is not the same as having a good reason to do it, he said. I have yet to hear a good reason to do it now.

There are more than 50,000 reasons, however, for the city to get involved.

Thats how many Americans are killed each year by opioids, 10,000 more than AIDS killed at the peak of that epidemic. About 200,000 Americans have died in the past two decades from overdoses related to prescription opioids, a consequence of pharmaceutical companies lying about the addictive nature of potent painkillers such as OxyContin.

Dozens of cities and counties are bringing suits against the companies, arguing that taxpayers are left on the hook for both expensive prescriptions and their destructive consequences. Bexar County hasnt been spared; the fatality rate here is the third-highest in the state.

President Donald Trumps failure to declare the opioid crisis a national emergency this week should spur the city to action on the local level, much as the presidents renunciation of the Paris climate accord moved the City Council to support that measure this summer. (Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency, which allows states to shift funding to treatment but provides no new money.)

Seeking recompense from those who have profited by killing its residents should be a no-brainer, especially if doing so would cost the city next to nothing while offering a potentially big reward that could help victims of the epidemic.

Some firms do cover costs, said Segovia, the city attorney. There are some contingency fees where all costs are covered.

As far as the citys share of an eventual settlement, waiting to join a lawsuit may affect it incrementally, he said.

Segovia stressed that the city is still mulling whether to join the countys pending lawsuit.

My role is to take an independent view on it, he said. Were not foreclosing getting involved.

bchasnoff@express-news.net
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and United States Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker discussed ways to settle the situation in Donbas at a recent meeting, a report posted on the Ukrainian presidential website said.

"The president of Ukraine thanked the U.S. president's special representative for efforts aimed at restoring peace and stability in Donbas and stopping the Russian aggression in Donbas," it said.

During the talks, the parties agreed steps regarding an international presence in Donbas both in the Normandy format and in the format of the United Nations Security Council.

Poroshenko and Volker also spoke about the importance of the consistent implementation of the Minsk Agreements by the Ukrainian side, in particular consolidating a sustainable and comprehensive ceasefire, the report said.

In addition to that, the sides agreed a schedule for upcoming talks in the Normandy format and as part of Volker's work.
The first line of nine weighing 552kg went to Kookabrook for the top of $1171 at 212c/kg, with GE Payne, Alexandra Bridge, taking the other two pens for $1091 and $998 at 204 and 198c/kg respectively.
While farmers were being consulted on the type of co-operative, the SCF has also been working with the Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre and The University of WA, among others, to design a new generation co-operative enterprise.
Terms found unfair included those granting exclusive rights, ability to unilaterally increase price, ability to charge for service not provided even when the cause was beyond a customers control, ability to suspend service but continuing to charge over late payments and preventing contract termination if money was owing.
The conference, which attracted 140 Kubota dealers, was the highlight of the year for Kubota Tractor Australia, and an opportunity to share new ventures, products and projections for 2018 and beyond.
But in 2011, when he and partner Leah Matek decided to rebrand and rename the cafe into its current form, he thought long and hard about how they could survive in a small town, and whether they could diversify their business to help this.
Landmark auctioneer Mark Warren was the last to take to the rail on the day but the bidding competition didnt let up as the very first pen to go under the Landmark hammer took the top price gong of the sale at $178, as mentioned above.
The spirit of the late Sir Bruce Forsyth is reportedly haunting the 'Strictly Come Dancing' studio.

Sir Bruce Forsyth

The BBC One shows former presenter tragically passed away in August this year aged 89, but it is believed staff, contestants, judges and members of the audience have noticed a "friendly presence" on the dancefloor, which is believed to be the ghost of the late TV legend.

A BBC insider, who has claimed to have heard the tapping of footsteps when nobody was around, told The Daily Star Online: "It's hard to put a finger on it, it's just a feeling.

"The best way to describe it would be friendly presence."

And ghost expert, Mark Smith, doesn't think it would be "unreasonable" for the "soul" of the British television personality to return to the place he was "happiest".

He said: " When we pass away the soul returns to the place we were happiest at in the physical world.

"For Bruce that could be at the BBC.

"It's up to people whether they want to believe it is Bruce but it's not unreasonable to think it could be."

However, Mark has encouraged this year's competitors, which include Mollie King, Alexandra Burke, Gemma Atkinson, Davood Ghadami, Aston Merrygold, and Debbie McGee to be "scared" of the otherworldly figure.

He added: "There is no reason for anybody to be scared.

"Bruce was not scary in life so there is no reason his spirit will be scary or want to harm anyone. He may have just come to say hello."

Bruce sparked concern surrounding his health in March this year when he spent almost one week in intensive care, after he suffered a chest infection.

But the last blow was dealt a few months later when the showbiz icon suffered two aneurysms, which is when the wall of an artery that pumps blood to the brain becomes weak and can cause fluid to leak into the skull.

Bruce is survived by his wife Lady Wilnelia Forsyth and his six children - daughters Debbie, Julie and Laura from his first marriage with Penny Calvert, Charlotte and Louisa with his second spouse Anthea Redfern and a son with Wilnelia - as well as nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Hungary has blocked holding of a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Commission in December 2017, the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

"Hungary cannot support Ukraine's integration aspirations, so it vetoed the holding of the NATO-Ukraine summit in December," the ministry's press service quoted Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto as saying on Friday evening.

He also noted that Hungary had previously been one of the most active supporters of Ukraine's European aspirations.

The Minister recalled that after the Verkhovna Rada passed the bill "On Education", Hungary promised that its diplomacy will use all the tools available to impede Ukraine's European integration.

He said Budapest is ready for consultations, but cannot agree "with the situation when the law has significantly reduced the rights of national minorities" and will continue to take diplomatic steps until Hungarians living in Zakarpattia say that the situation has been resolved.

In addition, Hungary is concerned that "the Ukrainian parliament's agenda includes bills on language and citizenship that threaten Zakarpattia's Hungarian community."

The minister noted that there is no way to bypass the Hungarian veto, because a unanimous vote is required to convene a NATO-Ukraine commission meeting.
Top global fashion brands are raising the profile of Kenyas export processing zones (EPZs) by signing production contracts with apparel manufacturers there. Calvin Klein, Arrow, Izod and Cherokee are some such labels that have signed such contracts. These brands are looking to source more of their clothing items from Africa to reduce their reliance on Asia.Many brands, such as Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), started local production in 2014 at Ashton Apparel. Hela Clothing, a new EPZ firm with 1,500 workers, is manufacturing Calvin Klein underwear and plans to double its workforce, according to a report in a Kenyan newspaper.

Top global fashion brands are raising the profile of Kenya's export processing zones (EPZs) by signing production contracts with apparel manufacturers there. Calvin Klein, Arrow, Izod and Cherokee are some such labels that have signed such contracts. These brands are looking to source more of their clothing items from Africa to reduce their reliance on Asia.#

New Wide Garments is manufacturing Arrow and Izod labels and employs more than 7,000 workers. Global EPZ, with 1,500 employees, produces Cherokee clothing brand.Increased contract manufacturing in the country is expected to boost textile and apparel exports whose earnings and production has dropped significantly from its peak in the 1980s.Compared to 52 mills in 1984, Kenya now has 21 mills operating at a capacity of less than 50 per cent, according to the African Cotton & Textile Industries Federation. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
In the first nine months of fiscal 2017, the amount of orders received by Switzerland-based Rieter Group was recorded higher than for the same period in the previous year. Cumulative order intake amounted to CHF 765.0 million and was thus up by 6 per cent on the said prior year period. Order intake in the third quarter was CHF 269.7 million.

"The market environment in the third quarter of 2017 was characterised by differing dynamics in the individual countries as well as with regards to the product categories. While the company achieved a high order intake in Asia (excluding China, India and Turkey), demand in China, and particularly India, was restrained. In Turkey, demand for new machines revived in the third quarter," said the company press release. All three business groups contributed to the positive growth compared to the previous year.

The Machines & Systems Business Group posted an order intake of CHF 490.1 million, a slight increase (+3%) compared to the first nine months of the previous year (2016: CHF 477.6 million). Machines & Systems received orders worth CHF 164.9 million in the third quarter (Q3 2016: CHF 134.2 million). In Asia (excluding China, India and Turkey), order intake in the third quarter was significantly above the previous years level. In Uzbekistan, in particular, there was strong demand for classic ring spinning systems.

The After Sales Business Group increased order intake from CHF 103.3 million to CHF 115.8 million, an improvement of 12 per cent compared to the previous year. Order volumes in the third quarter, which totaled CHF 38.0 million, were higher than in the corresponding period of the prior year (Q3 2016: CHF 32.0 million). The rising demand for after-sales services in Asia, China and India contributed to the growth. The spare parts business continued to develop well. The increase in orders in the machines business resulted in higher demand for installation services in the After Sales Business Group.

In the Components Business Group, order intake of CHF 159.1 million was recorded, this being around 16 per cent above the corresponding period of the previous year (2016: CHF 137.5 million). In the third quarter, order intake amounted to CHF 66.8 million (Q3 2016: CHF 41.5 million). SSM Textile Machinery (SSM) contributed CHF 19.2 million to this significant increase of CHF 25.3 million, supported by generally improved growth in demand in the business group. In China and other Asian countries, order intake was higher overall.

For fiscal 2017, Rieter expects slightly higher sales than in the previous year and an EBIT slightly below the prior year level (before restructuring charges), due to the product and country mix. For the whole of 2017, Rieter anticipates sales in the region of CHF 980 million and operating profitability (EBIT margin) of 4.5-5.5 per cent before restructuring charges. The restructuring charges amount to CHF 36 million. As a result, Rieter expects a net profit of around 1- 2 per cent of sales for the 2017 financial year. (RR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - October 27, 2017) - North American Lithium Inc. ("NAL") and Richmond Road Capital Corp. (TSXV: RRD.H) ("Richmond Road" or the "Company"), a capital pool company as defined under Policy 2.4-Capital Pool Companies ("CPC") of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"), are pleased to announce that on October 19, 2017 NAL completed a financing (the "Financing") that raised aggregate gross proceeds of $52.5 million. The Financing is a step towards completion by Richmond Road and NAL of the contemplated three-cornered amalgamation (the "Transaction") and listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") of the common shares of the resulting issuer (the "Resulting Issuer") under the Transaction, which is intended to constitute the Qualifying Transaction for the Company pursuant to the policies of the TSXV, as previously disclosed in the Company's news release dated June 13, 2017.

Pursuant to the Financing, NAL raised aggregate gross proceeds of $52.5 million through the issuance and sale of (i) 9,636,365 subscription receipts (the "Subscription Receipts") at a price per Subscription Receipt of $2.75 (the "Issue Price") for aggregate gross proceeds of $26.5 million; (ii) a non-interest bearing convertible note (the "Convertible Note") in the principal amount of $6 million; and (iii) an offtake sales contract (the "Sales Contract") in the principal amount of $20 million. The Financing was completed in connection with an Agency Agreement dated October 19, 2017 among the Company, NAL, GMP Securities L.P. (the "Agent"), as the lead agent and sole bookrunner together with a syndicate of agents, including Canaccord Genuity Corp. and Cormark Securities Inc.

Upon the satisfaction of certain Escrow Release Conditions (as defined below), each Subscription Receipt will be automatically exchanged, with no further consideration or action by the holder, into common shares of NAL (the "SR Shares") on a 1-for-1 basis. The convertible securities of NAL under the Financing will then convert into common shares of NAL at the Issue Price. Thereafter, all common shares of NAL will be exchanged for common shares of the Resulting Issuer on a 1-for-1 basis pursuant to the Transaction.

In addition to the Financing, NAL intends to complete an additional non-brokered equity financing (the "Non-Brokered Financing") for aggregate gross proceeds to NAL of $30 million prior to closing of the Transaction through the issuance of 10,909,091 common shares of NAL at an issue price of $2.75 per share.

The gross proceeds from the sale of the Subscription Receipts less an amount equal to 50% of the cash commission payable to the Agent in respect of the Financing and the Agent's expenses under the Financing were delivered to Computershare Trust Company of Canada (the "Escrow Agent") to be escrowed in an interest bearing account (the "Escrowed Funds"). The Escrowed Funds will be released from escrow to the Company upon the satisfaction of the following conditions (the "Escrow Release Conditions") on or before 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on December 15, 2017 (the "Escrow Deadline"):

the definitive amalgamation agreement shall have been entered into on terms acceptable to the Agent, acting reasonably, and all conditions precedent, undertakings and other matters to be satisfied, completed or otherwise met prior to the completion of the Transaction shall have been satisfied, completed, waived or otherwise met, or are capable of being satisfied, completed or met, other than the satisfaction of closing conditions for which the release of the Escrowed Funds is required, substantially in accordance with such definitive agreement, or otherwise on terms satisfactory to the Agent, acting reasonably; the receipt of all required corporate, shareholder and regulatory approvals (including, without limitation, the conditional approval of the TSXV or TSX, as applicable, for the Transaction; counsel to the Resulting Issuer having delivered an opinion (the final form of which opinion shall ultimately be delivered on the Transaction closing date) addressed to the Agent confirming, among other things, that the common shares of the Resulting Issuer to be issued in exchange for the SR Shares pursuant to the Transaction shall be free of any statutory hold periods in Canada upon the issue thereof, other than in respect of control block sales; a shareholder agreement having been entered into between the Resulting Issuer and certain of the controlling shareholders of NAL in a form satisfactory to the Agent acting reasonably; and either the TSXV or the TSX, as applicable, shall have conditionally approved the listing of the common shares of the Resulting Issuer into which the common shares of NAL (including the Converted Shares) will be exchanged pursuant to the Transaction and all conditions precedent to such listing, other than the release of the Escrowed Funds shall have been completed, satisfied or waived.

If the Escrow Release Conditions are not satisfied on or before the Escrow Deadline, then: (i) the Subscription Receipts shall be cancelled and the Escrowed Funds will be used to pay the holders of Subscription Receipts an amount equal to the Issue Price per Subscription Receipt plus their pro rata share of applicable interest thereon; and (ii) the aggregate principal amount of the Convertible Note will become immediately due and payable by NAL to the holder thereof. Any shortfall of Escrow Funds for payment of the holders of Subscriptions Receipts would also be paid by NAL.

About Richmond Road Capital Corp.

Richmond Road Capital Corp. is a capital pool company. The Company's principal business activity is to identify and evaluate opportunities for acquisition of assets or business. The Company was founded on September 19, 2012 and is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta.

About North American Lithium Inc.

NAL is a Canadian industrial minerals mining company operating the Quebec lithium mine located near Val d'Or, Quebec. The Quebec lithium mine is an open pit, hard rock lithium mine and processing plant currently in the process of being commissioned to produce lithium concentrate. With the restart of the hydro metallurgical plant at the Quebec lithium mine, NAL intends to become an integrated producer capable of producing lithium carbonate.

Cautionary Note

As noted above, completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions including, without limitation, approval of the TSXV or TSX, as applicable, approval of the shareholders of NAL and Richmond Road, completion of the 18.5-to-1 consolidation of all issued and outstanding common shares of the Company, continuation of the Company's jurisdiction of corporate existence from Alberta to British Columbia and completion of the Financing by NAL. Where applicable, the Transaction cannot close until the required approvals have been obtained. There can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the continuous disclosure document containing full, true and plain disclosure regarding the Transaction, required to be filed with the securities regulatory authorities having jurisdiction over the affairs of the Company, any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. The trading in the securities of Richmond Road on the TSXV, if reinstated prior to completion of the Transaction, should be considered highly speculative.

Trading in the common shares of the Company is presently halted and is expected to remain halted pending closing of the Transaction. While halted, the common shares of the Company may only trade upon TSXV approval and the filing of required materials with the TSXV as contemplated by TSXV policy.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Richmond Road Capital Corp.

Robb McNaughton

Director

(403) 298-1077

(403 695-3546 (FAX)

Richmond Road Capital Corp.

Michael Doyle

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

(403) 708-2427

North American Lithium Inc.James XiangPresident, Chief Executive Officer and Director(647) 494-3812

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

Although the Company and NAL believe, in light of the experience of their respective officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate, that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company and NAL can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release include information relating to the business plans of Richmond Road and NAL, the Financing and the Transaction (including TSXV or TSX approval, as applicable, and the closing of the Transaction). Such statements and information reflect the current view of Richmond Road and/or NAL, respectively. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Such factors include, among others, the following risks:

following completion of the Transaction, the Resulting Issuer may require additional financing from time to time in order to continue its operations, which is likely to have a dilutive effect. Financing may not be available when needed or on terms and conditions acceptable to the Resulting Issuer;

new laws or regulations could adversely affect the Resulting Issuer's business and results of operations; and

the stock markets have experienced volatility that often has been unrelated to the performance of companies. These fluctuations may adversely affect the price of the Resulting Issuer's securities, regardless of its operating performance.

There are a number of important factors that could cause Richmond Road and NAL's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others: currency fluctuations; limited business history of Richmond Road; disruptions or changes in the credit or security markets; results of operation activities and development of projects; project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, fluctuations in commodity prices, and general market and industry conditions. The terms and conditions of the Qualifying Transaction may be based on the Company's due diligence (which is going to be limited as the Company intends largely to rely on the due diligence of other parties of the Qualifying Transaction to contain its costs, among other things) and the receipt of tax, corporate and securities law advice for both the Company and NAL. The Company undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of the Company, NAL, their securities, or their respective financial or operating results (as applicable).

Richmond Road and NAL caution that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive. When relying on such forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Richmond Road and NAL have assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraph will not cause such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. The information about NAL contained in this press release (other than in respect of the Financing) has not been independently verified by the Company.

THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF RICHMOND ROAD AND NAL AS OF THE DATE OF THIS PRESS RELEASE AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER SUCH DATE. READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE. WHILE RICHMOND ROAD AND NAL MAY ELECT TO, THEY DO NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS.

This press release is not an offer of the securities for sale in the United States. The securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, TSXV and TSX acceptance and if applicable pursuant to TSXV and TSX requirements, majority of the minority shareholder approval. Where applicable, the transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with the Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative.

The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

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 press release.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR DISSEMINATION DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES.
NEW ORLEANS, LA--(Marketwired - October 27, 2017) - Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until December 22, 2017 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Skechers U.S.A., Inc. (NYSE: SKX), if they purchased the Company's shares between April 23, 2015 and October 22, 2015, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

What You May Do

If you purchased shares of Skechers and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit http://ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-skx/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by December 22, 2017.

About the Lawsuit

Skechers and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On October 22, 2015, the Company released its Q3 2015 results, which revealed net sales far below analysts' consensus estimates based on $20 million in net sales being moved from Q3 to Q2 2015 because of early customer deliveries as well as a weaker retail environment than expected.

On this news, the price of Skechers shares plummeted $14.55 per share, or 31.50 percent, to close on October 23, 2015 at $31.64 per share.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include the former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.

Contact:

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Lewis Kahn

Managing Partner

lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com

1-877-515-1850

206 Covington St.

Madisonville, LA 70447
DORAL, FL / ACCESSWIRE / October 28, 2017 / Santo Mining Corp. (the "Company"), (OTC PINK: SANP) is pleased to announce the execution of an exclusive licensing agreement with Chongqing Yuhuan Technology Co., Ltd. one of China's largest cryptocurrency mining companies with a total global mining hash rate of almost 2% and a year to date reward of 1,537 bitcoins, also known as Canoe Pool. Under this exclusive licensing agreement, Canoe Pool will provide technical and developmental support to develop the bitcoin currency mining pool platform for Santo Mining. Under this co-operation and licensing agreement, both companies will create a mining pool called Canoe Pool America for the exclusive bitcoin mining in America.



This latest development is the first of a multi-part agreement for both Companies corporate development strategy that focuses on the rapidly expanding sector of cryptocurrency mining in America. The company's exclusive focus will now be working in tandem with Canoe Pool to develop Canoe Pool America and have Canoe Pool America up and running to join the mining collective pool no later than year end 2017.



Mr. Frank Yglesias CEO of Santo Mining stated; "we will be building a new company focused on cryptocurrency mining and cryptocurrency transactions. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and during the weeks and months to come there will be many new changes and developments for Santo Mining."



Canoe Pool (Chongqing Yuhuan Technology Co., Ltd.), led by its founder Ang Li since 2013, is one of the fastest growing bitcoin mining companies in China with two large-size mining farms in Sichuan and Xinjiang, China; and with a total capacity of 75 thousand kilowatts, accommodating up to 50 thousand of the latest Bitmain S9 mining machines. Canoe Pool has a total hashrate potential of 700P. Miners can choose between PPS or PPLNS payment systems with fees of 2% or 4%, accordingly. Canoe Pool currently supports Bitcoin Unlimited and represents 1.7% of the global cryptocurrency mining market share. More at https://www.canoepool.com/.Santo Mining Corp, a publicly traded company in the Over-the-Counter (OTC) market, trading under the ticker symbol SANP. Formally an analog mining company in the gold and copper sector, it has now focused on the digital cryptocurrency mining and transactions operations. Our goal is to make mining accessible to all users regardless of age, location, investment, technical experience. We want to give our miners the opportunity to try out cryptocurrency mining pool and earn cryptocurrency rewards. On a larger scale, we hope to contribute to the development of mining services and subsequently to the development, establishment and adoption of cryptocurrencies both as a currency and as an economic system.Santo Mining Corp.Mr. Matthew Arnett844.420.4203matt@santomining.ioStatements made in this press release that express the Company or management's intentions, plans, beliefs, expectations or predictions of future events, are forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "will" and similar expressions are intended to further identify such forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Those statements are based on many assumptions and are subject to many known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company's actual activities, results or performance to differ materially from those anticipated or projected in such forward-looking statements. The Company cannot guarantee future financial results; levels of activity, performance or achievements and investors should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. No information contained in this press release should be construed as any indication whatsoever of the Company's future financial performance, future revenues or its future stock price. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgment of the Company as of the date of this press release, and the Company expressly disclaims any intent, obligation or undertaking to update or revise such forward-looking statements to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based. No information in this press release should be construed as any indication whatsoever of the Company's future revenues or results of operations.

SOURCE: Santo Mining Corp.
CANTON, OH / ACCESSWIRE / October 28, 2017 / The Granted Wish Foundation Chairman Rodney Napier became a driving force in assisting the reunion of a now 14-year-old Haitian child with his adoptive U.S. family. In an adoption case that lasted six years, Wisbens recently landed on U.S. Soil and became a permanent member of the Hazel Family.

The Granted Wish Foundation set out on its mission to coordinate the adoption for Wisbens after meeting him at New Life Children's Home in Haiti. After the devastating earthquake of 2010, Rodney Napier traveled to the country to help children and families in need of financial and emotional support. Wisbens, then age 10, had been trapped under a wall resulting in the amputation of his right leg. While at New Life, Rodney Napier and his team worked tirelessly to assist the children who had been affected by the disaster. Around the same time, they met Todd Hazel, a man from Bowling Green, Kentucky who was doing missionary work in Haiti. After witnessing the unique bond that Todd and Wisbens shared with each other, Napier's organization began the rigorous adoption process with Hazel. Finally, on January 20, 2016, Wisbens joined his new adoptive father Todd, his wife Jennifer, and their young son Maddox to start their life together.

"It has been a long journey, but we are so happy and proud for everything that The Granted Wish Foundation has achieved," says Rodney Napier. "It's rewarding to see Wisbens and the Hazels bond so naturally with each other. Wisbens life will now become a fairytale."

The Granted Wish Foundation, located in Canton, Ohio is a non-profit organization that provides wishes to enrich the lives of physically challenged children and young adults. By offering various programs and events, Rodney Napier through the Granted Wish has helped hundreds of children and young adults by assisting them through the very challenging times of their lives. Established by Napier in 2005, The Granted Wish Foundation is a Better Business Bureau-accredited charity that focusses on wish fulfillment, Rosalie's House - an opportunity to provide local low-income families to live comfortably and their annual local Adopt A Family program providing household items, clothing, groceries and toys to those families in need. More than 550 wishes have been granted to date.

Rodney Napier is Chairman of Arthur Middleton Capital Holdings, a diverse family of ventures. Created from a single product idea, the company now has annual sales of more than $50 million and has expanded to more than 100 employees. Napier is also the head of Universal Physicians LLC, Lincoln Treasury, and NOD Real Estate LLC/Napier Florida Development, LLC. Among the most prominent subsidiaries subsidiary, Heat Surge LLC is a leading distributor of electric fireplaces providing cost-effective and safe fireplaces nationwide. Businesses can learn more about getting involved with The Granted Wish Foundation by visiting GrantedWish.org or emailing scoletti@grantedwish.org.

Rodney Napier - Business Leader and Philanthropist: http://rodneynapiernews.com

Moe's, Jersey Mike's to fill out The Venue at Belden: http://www.cantonrep.com/news/20170315/moes-jersey-mikes-to-fill-out-venue-at-belden

Grand parade shines with floats, bands, legends: http://www.cantonrep.com/news/20170805/grand-parade-shines-with-floats-bands-legends

Contact Information

RodneyNapierNews.com

http://rodneynapiernews.com

contact@rodneynapiernews.com

SOURCE: Rodney Napier
Farmobile, an Overland Park, Kan.-based farm data company, raised $18.1m in Series B funding.

Backers included Anterra Capital, AmTrust Agricultural Insurance Services and existing investors.

The company, which has raised over $28m to date, intends to use the funds to expand its data platform.

Founded in 2013 by Jason Tatge, CEO, Farmobile provides a platform for farmers to mitigate risks and generate a revenue stream from data. The companys technology passively collects a complete and standardized set of agronomic and machine data in real-time across a mixed fleet. Electronic Field Records are automatically generated from the data and are available for farmer retrieval via internet connected devices.

Farmobile also offers a marketplace (the Data Store) for farmers to directly benefit from selling copies of their data to third party buyers.

FinSMEs

27/10/2017
When 51-year-old Prabhakar Narve (name changed) says, I have added my wifes name to my property, there is absolutely no sense of pride in his voice. His property consists of a small piece of land and a thatched hut. His wife Lata says: "I am glad he did it because what would happen to me in case he died earlier? What if his relatives threw me out? She looks at her husband and then says softly, "I am the one working the most in the farm. My husband only sells the produce and goes to the mandi."

Narve, on his part, looks out at the farm and main road stretching out close to his house and pretends not to hear what Lata has said.

Latas fears are not unfounded though, because she is Narves second wife. Narve has a son from his first marriage. When his first wife died, he married Lata who has two children from this marriage. Until two years ago, alcoholism was rampant in village Kari in Satara district. Men squandered away their earnings and sometimes their farms and homes to addiction. Women being beaten up by alcoholic husbands were routine that it did not evoke any sense of shame or even discussion in public spaces.

Women, however, work longers hours on the farm. In some of these villages like Kari, Goliwadi, Dahiwadi where this correspondent visited, women pitch in with other women and work in each others farms so as to save money on hiring labour.

"Women traditionally have been working longer hours in their farms, do household work, rear children and yet have no say in the husband's property. We are working towards changing that and also other ills that beset society that make them vulnerable when men are addicted to alcohol, drugs and often resort to violence," said a gram sevika.

In 2003, when the late Vilasrao Deshmukh was the chief minister of Maharashtra, the rural development department had brought out a government regulation, Ghar Doghanche which translates to Home for Two. In effect, it meant that the wife too had to have a share in the husbands property. But it was only a government resolution and has not become law.

A few villages in Satara district, for instance, decided to get proactive about this resolution with the help of self-help groups (SHGs) and non-government agencies. Two years ago, an NGO -- Dalit, Mahila Vikas Mandal (DMVM) in Satara district, started a movement to make Ghar Doghanche into reality.

DMVM, started in 1990 by advocate Varsha Deshpande, who is executive president, Maharashtra Rajya Mahila Lok Aayog and secretary, DMVM, works primarily on issues concerning women. DMVM has sought the help of women, thrown out of marital homes and who are not welcomed in parents homes, to make SHGs at the village level. These SHGs have been proactive to usher in this change  of getting women to demand and get a share in their husband's property.

Deshpande's NGO, located at Shahu Nagar in Satara District, began creating awareness through a series of public meetings on issues relating to violence and equal opportunity.

Varsha Deshpande says, As part of the programme, we also initiated a movement for joint registration of property in the name of husband and wife under Ghar Doghanche. A series of advocacy meetings were organised with the district administration for it. There is a need to create awareness about gender equality and it cannot be done by NGOs like ours alone. We need the help of the Collectorate and officials, too, said Deshpande.

In 2017, Satara district has the distinction of as many as 20 villages in Jaoli, Koregaon and Khatao tehsils that have adopted this policy and continue to be proactive.

Property extract relevance

For women to be able to have a share in their husbands' property, they have to go to the local panchayat and then register themselves. Women in the villages are largely loathe to make the first move out of inherent shyness and also because of the tradition-bound village culture that does not encourage women to come forward and claim their share in their husband's property.

The7/12 property extract that is obtained from the land register maintained by the revenue department of the government of Maharashtra, provides evidence of the ownership of the land, but the 8-A property extract enables a woman to have joint ownership of the husbands property.

In June 2015, the NGO was able to get the panchayats to bring these papers online so that women could register their names on it in their comfort zone instead of going to the panchayat. There is no stamp duty required under this scheme or documentation as long as the wifes name is on the voter's list.

Women in the village working as gram sevikas have found it helps them break the ice with other women in this matter. As 55-year-old Savitri Gole, who owns a 2 acre land in village Kari and is a sarpanch involved with gram sevaks, says: I am happy with this ruling as I am a widow and live and till the land myself. Now, women like me do not have to be anxious that they will be thrown out of their homes by their sons or husbands as we have joint ownership of property, she said.

Men in these villages are reluctantly acknowledging the importance of having their wives names on their property. In fact, gram sevaks said that most men felt that there was no need to follow this policy. Of a population of 1,400 people, only 20 had applied until September for joint property ownership in village Goliwadi.

Bharat Waghmare, additional collector, Satara disrtict says, "Ghar Doganche is a government resolution and it is not easy to motivate the male population to give their wives rights to joint ownership in property. In fact, there is a need to understand gender equality. It is difficult as society still holds on to traditional ways. We need proactive organisations like NGOs and self-help groups to bring about a change," Waghmare said.

The 8A is a government regulation but no one can be prosecuted for not following it. Work is on to give women more power in decision-making regarding property.

In some villages, the Dalit Mahila Vikas Mandal is working to ensure that women have a voice in the joint property beyond just affixing their name on it. An official of the DMVM said this was to ensure women have decision-making powers in property.

"Womens share in husbands property is only a government resolution in Maharashtra. It should become law across the country", said Dr Vibhuti Patel, Chairperson, Advanced Centre for Women's studies, School of Developmental Studies, Tata Institute of Social Science, (TISS), Mumbai. Mumbai. "Andhra Pradesh was the first state in the country that gave women equal rights to paternal property under law during then chief minister NT Rama Raos regime. I would suggest women should get joint rights in not only property but also liquid assets. That would empower women, ensure that they are not abused or discriminated by the male members of the family, said Patel.

Girls Count

The work for asset ownership of women has been undertaken at the national level by a number of non-governmental organisations.

Accordingto Girls Count, a program under UNFPA, work is being done on the ground to promote asset ownership of women and girls so as to enhance their value and address violence and discrimination against them.

In this backdrop, Girls Count has started a campaign titled HerShare to enhance asset ownership for women and girls. Asset ownership means the ability of women and girls to not only inherit assets, but also ensure investment in their ability to earn and build their own assets and ultimately control these resources which can make them self-reliant and independent.

The campaign seeks to motivate diverse groups and individuals to collectively raise a discourse around the issue and support women and girls equal share in inheritance, and their engagement with non-conventional occupations.

Starting a discourse around discriminatory laws, policies and practices related to womens asset ownership, be it land or housing, is also one of the core objectives of the campaign.

Girls Count also feels that it is imperative to connect asset ownership of women and girls and the issue of financial independence with Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) programme of Government of India. The HerShare campaign is being executed in a phase-like manner. The initial phase is being used to build discourse, bring visibility and create awareness about the issue. This phase is making use of social media platforms and mainstream print media to reach out to people. In the next phase, we plan to go on the ground, says Rizwan Parwez, Coordinator, Girls Count.

As Deshpande of DMVM says, joint right to husband's property is still notional. "We are working to make it more proactive and decisive for women," she said. For that to happen, not just women but men too need to be proactive.
The Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on Ukraine could set up a working subgroup to deal specifically with the problem of that part of the border with Russia over which Ukraine has lost control, the Ukrainian side in the TCG said.

"The Ukrainian side is raising the issue of creating a separate working subgroup on the part of the Ukrainian-Russian border not controlled by Ukraine," Darka Olifer, a spokeswoman for Leonid Kuchma, Ukraine's second president and Kyiv's representative in the TCG, wrote on her Facebook page on Friday after the TCG meeting in Minsk on Friday.

"The Ukrainian side expressed concern with the recent statement made by the Russian president at the Valdai forum about Russia not planning to hand over control over this part of the border to Ukraine," Olifer said.

Also on Friday, the Ukrainian side in the humanitarian subgroup handed over its proposals on hostage release to the representatives of the areas of Luhansk and Donetsk regions temporary beyond Kyiv control, she said. Over the next few days the subgroup's coordinator from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Toni Frisch, will head to the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic to visit hostages and check on their prison conditions. "We hope this trip will help advance the process of liberating the people," Olifer said.

At the TCG and security subgroup meetings, Ukraine expressed its outrage at the aggression against, and limitation of freedom of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, namely: that on October 25 illegal armed groups in certain areas of Donetsk region threatened SMM staff with a heavy machinegun, she said. "We insist on full and unhindered access by the OSCE SMM to the whole of the certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including the non-controlled part of the Ukrainian-Russian border," Olifer said.

At the TCG meeting, Ukraine also accused Luhansk representatives of sabotaging the opening of a checkpoint in Zolote. Ukraine recognized Russia's right to influence on the separate areas of the Luhansk region for the sake of it honoring its part of the obligation to open the checkpoint, Olifer said.

"Settling the set of security issues remains an essential condition for further implementation of the entire package of the Minsk Agreements. In this context, a return to the dividing line established by the September 19, 2014 Memorandum, is also a matter of security and requires resolution. Under this Memorandum, Debaltseve must be under Ukraine's control; security zones should be created along the non-controlled part of the Ukrainian-Russian border; the areas around Sakhanka, Novoazovsk, Kumachove, Calmiuske must be free from heavy weaponry," Olifer said of the key issues discussed at the TCG meeting.

The fundamental issues, which should make the agenda of the political subgroup, are: a repeal of the Russian president's decree recognizing documents issued in the separate areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions; stopping the expropriation of Ukrainian assets and introduction of a ruble zone in said areas; and disavowing declarations of establishing a 'border'," she said.
The highly-anticipated audio launch of Rajinikanth-Shankar's mega-budget sci-fi action thriller 2.0 was held at the sprawling Burj Park, Downtown Dubai on 27 October. The cast and crew were in full attendance, including Rajinikanth's family members such as Latha Rajinikanth, Soundarya, Dhanush, and Aishwarya.

The makers were in for a shock the previous day, after two songs from the album were leaked on the Internet even before the event could begin. Within minutes, the songs were viral on social media platforms and also on WhatsApp, where people shared the tracks enthusiastically.

The event started with a spirited dance performance by choreographer Bosco Martis and his troupe of 50 dancers. The team grooved to the chartbusters of Shankar and AR Rahman's famous collaboration.

'Shankar is still tough, jovial and quality-conscious' - Rahman

When asked about their fruitful journey together from Gentleman (AR Rahman's first association with Shankar) to 2.0, Rahman said, "Nothing has changed. It's the same. Shankar is still tough, jovial and quality-conscious. And, he is always ahead of everyone. We've always wanted our audiences to feel excited, and we have concentrated on giving something new. Shankar is very passionate about his work. His commitment always inspires me. Also, he used to say that my work inspires him. So, it's always mutual."

Rahman joined forces with the Macedonian Symphony Orchestra and performed three songs from the album, including an unreleased track penned by late lyricist Na Muthukumar.

Speaking about his long-standing collaboration with Rahman, Shankar said, "The 'Irumbile' song from Enthiran is our most challenging work. It depicted the love between a machine and a woman, a never-seen-before situation in Tamil cinema. To create a new sound for that situation was quite challenging for Rahman. In 2.0, we have created another fresh track to showcase the love between two robots. Finding a unique sound has always been very tough for both of us. But Rahman always surprises me and comes up with inventive sounds every single time."

'Even if a film is average, don't hurt sentiments on social media' - Rajinikanth

Summing up his forty-year-long journey in the film industry, superstar Rajinikanth said, "I wonder how time has passed so quickly. I feel like it's just been four or five years. The journey has been great mainly because of the love of God and the people. Money, fame and name will bestow happiness only to an extent, especially in the initial stages. Later, even if you have all the three, they won't give you satisfaction. But, you will feel unfortunate if you don't have them. It's an amusing feeling."

As a message to his fans, Rajinikanth said, "Support good films and encourage good artists. Even if the movie is average, don't hurt the feelings of others on social media."

Karan Johar, one of the hosts alongside Rana Daggubati and RJ Balaji, asked Rajinikanth about the one quality that he likes in human beings. "Everyone loves their homeland and mother-tongue. I like that. But the younger generation is slowly forgetting our tradition and culture. If you want to enjoy your life really, you should not forget your roots," replied Rajinikanth.

'There's so much to learn from technicians in the South' - Akshay Kumar

Akshay Kumar said he has never played a role like Dr Richard in his entire career, and thanked director Shankar for giving him the opportunity to lock horns on screen with Rajinikanth. "I kept learning throughout the project. There's so much to learn from the technicians in the South, such as vision, respect and unity with regards to their work. 2.0 is a sci-fi thriller with a very important and essential social message for audiences."

'Rajinikanth always strives to improvise on set' - Shankar

Reiterating that 2.0 is not an extension of his 2010 blockbuster Enthiran, director Shankar heaped praises on Rajinikanth's commitment. "Even during his treatment, Rajinikanth sir performed with incredible energy whilst sporting a 12-kilo suit even when the temperature was 40 degrees in Delhi. For a sequence we shot in Thirukazhukundram (in Tamil Nadu), he had to stay inside a box buried under the ground for nearly four hours. He completed those scenes without any fuss. Despite his enormous experience, he still wants to experiment with his shots. He always strives to improvise on set to provide a fulfilling experience for his fans."

Shankar said although he wished to work with Rajinikanth even before his Mudhalvan days, it took him 11 years to join hands with him for the first time in Sivaji.

While Latha Rajinikanth said that she is extremely proud of her husband and that she salutes him for putting in so much hard work for 2.0, daughter Aishwarya said that she was present at the event as his daughter, to support him. Soundarya, on the other hand, said that she was there as a fan rather than a daughter. "It's such a fantastic feeling to be part of a significant event like this. I love my father more than anything and anybody. Shankar sir has always been a huge inspiration. I've grown up watching his films. It's an honour to be a part of the industry where you're working," she said.

Dhanush spoke about the grandeur of the event. "It's probably one of the grandest and most magnificent audio launches Indian cinema has ever witnessed. It's a privilege to be a part of this event. At a time when even moderately famous actors want to pack up after working a few hours, I've seen Rajini sir working relentlessly even at the wee hours of the morning with the same style and energy. His love for the work he does is unparalleled. That's why everything keeps coming to him. And, he never chases anything," he said.
Acclaimed Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu will receive a special Oscar for his installation of virtual reality on the suffering of migrants, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of the United States announced on 27 October. The academy said Gonzalez Inarritu will receive the statuette for his work Carne y Arena, described as a "visionary and powerful narrative experience."

The award will be presented to the director and his head of photography Emmanuel Lubezki at the ninth Annual Governors Awards in Hollywood on 11 November.

Carne y Arena, currently on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) as well as at the Fondazione Prada in Milan and the Tlatelolco University Cultural Center in Mexico, takes viewers through the intricate path of Mexican migrants and Central Americans seeking to reach the United States.

While sirens are playing, each participant  footless in the sandy soil and wearing three-dimensional glasses  experiences the trip alone, with the only company of a virtual group of people waiting to arrive in the United States.

Border guards armed to the teeth separate men from women and children. His abandoned shoes sink to the ground, while a person screams in pain and a tragedy breaks loose.

The exhibition has been very successful and the tickets in Los Angeles have been sold out for months.

"The multimedia art and cinematographic experience of Gonzalez Inarritu is deeply emotional and immerses us physically in the world of migrants who cross the desert of the American Southwest at dawn," said in a statement the president of the Academy, John Bailey.

"More than being a creative innovation in the still emerging figure of virtual reality, it connects us viscerally with the politically and socially burning reality of the border between Mexico and the United States," he added.

The Mexican filmmaker won the Oscar for his films Birdman in 2015 and El Renacido (The Revenant) in 2016.
A few weeks ago, a better part of primetime news on Indian television was dedicated to hearing Hrithik Roshan explain his side of the alleged affair between him and Kangana Ranaut. One of the things that followed Roshans televised appearances was a near-public shaming and name-calling of Kangana Ranaut for not only imagining an affair with Roshan, but also supplying details that were labeled the fruits of a fertile imagination.

Short of calling Kangana Ranaut delusional, many in the industry penned open letters deriding her, but when Nazwazuddin Siddiqui found himself in an almost similar situation, the reaction was a sharp contrast from this. In an excerpt from his autobiography An Ordinary Life (written with Rituparna Chatterjee) Siddiqui talks in detail about his affair with Niharika Singh, his costar from Miss Lovely (2012), but Singh has lashed out at the actor, saying that much of what he claims is false.

Compared to the national debate that ensued when Ranaut shared the details of her supposed affair, there has been almost radio silence from people on the manner in which Siddiqui, according to Singh, is willing to exploit and disrespect a woman. Singh has said that while there had been a brief relationship between her and Siddiqui during the filming of Miss Lovely, a whole attempt to seduce, as narrated by Siddiqui in his book, never really happened.

That the film industry, whether it is Hollywood or Bollywood, is blatantly sexist is a known, fact but the manner in which different yardsticks are employed to make judgments about men and women still continues to baffle. Decades ago, when Ingrid Bergman had an affair with the Italian filmmaker Roberto Rossellini, she went from "saint to whore in the eyes of her legion of fans and was condemned in the US Senate as well as the Catholic church. Although both Bergman and Rossellini were married at the time they fell for each other, the former was ostracised while the latter  well, it was just what was expected from a 'playboy filmmaker'.

If Ingrid Bergman was practically shunned out of Hollywood for having an affair and later a son out of wedlock, Bette Davis attitude where she was uncompromising, intractable and ofttimes disagreeable saw her get sidelined across the length of her fifty-year-long career. In fact, to drum up some business, Davis paid for an advertisement in the Hollywood Reporter and other trade papers in the 1960s that read: "Mother of three - 10, 11 and 15. Divorcee. American. Thirty years experience as an actress in motion pictures. Mobile still and more affable than rumour would have it. Wants steady employment in Hollywood. (Has had Broadway.) References on request.

In India, Kanan Devi, one of the first superstars whose stature matched that of a KL Saigal and Devika Rani was ill-treated by her own peers solely because her origins were shrouded in mystery. Had it not been for Kanan Bala, respectability afforded to women actors would have taken longer to come along, and it was the mellifluous voice of this nightingale of Indian cinema that made songs written by Rabindranath Tagore more accessible to the man on the street. But her dubious lineage saw Kanan being pushed to the back when it came public events in the studios that employed her.

One of the reasons why Kangana Ranaut seems to, for lack of a better phrase, get the goat of the high and mighty in the male-dominated Bollywood is that she does what traditionally the hero would do and isnt apologetic about it. In 2016, when the rumours of her affair with Roshan were first heard, Raveena Tandon had supported Ranaut and shared the ugly truth about Bollywoods dark side. At the peak of her popularity in the 1990s, Tandon made news for a rumoured liaison with a married costar, who also had a long-standing girlfriend, and as expected, she lost out on roles with the man in question, lest the hero lose face. Even though Tandon and this leading man made a successful onscreen pair, the hero barely suffered. In a 2016 article that she had written for Times of India, Ms Tandon shared how in the in the 1990s, the hero would threaten to break the girls face if she spoke about him and bared her soul on the standard state of heroines in Bollywood.

A Kangana Ranaut in the 2000s is a Raveena Tandon from the 1990s, or a Zeenat Aman from the 1980s, but with one major difference. While a Raveena Tandon in the 1990s would try to quietly pick up the pieces of their hearts and careers and try to let their work speak, a Zeenat Aman found no support when she was allegedly beaten by a married hero, Sanjay Khan, and his wife, Zarine Khan. It is easy and even tempting to admonish Kangana here on account of her seemingly flagrant outsider tirade, but it does hold a lot of weight. One cannot deny the uniqueness of Kanganas success that has no contribution from any of the three Khans  Aamir, Salman, and Shah Rukh, or even Akshay Kumar  and her constant assertion about not having any desire to work with them. Today, social media, too, has made it possible for the scales to be even, to some degree at least.

Some quarters have also accused of Kangana Ranaut of turning the whole issue into a George W Bush-esque youre-either-with-us-or-against-us stance, where if you do not support her you are not supporting women. While one could argue about the merits or demerits of such a scenario, doesnt the manner in which the industry has responded (or rather, has not) to Nawazuddin Siddiquis claims suggest the same thing?

According to Niharika Singh, Nawazuddin Siddiqui never told her that he was married at the time of their affair. While that can be a damning factor when actresses talk about having affairs with married heroes in the eyes of many commentators , it hardly seems to matter when the sexes are reversed. One of the actors, Rohit Roy, who penned an open letter supporting Hrithik Roshan said, BUT to just say oh she's a woman and hence she must be right is a great disservice to the man in question.

Whether it is Kangana Ranaut-Hrithik Roshan or Nawazuddin Siddiqui-Niharika Singh, the question isnt about who is lying or who ought to have acknowledge an alleged affair.

The reality is that equality between men and women is the last thing that Bollywood chooses to address even while discussing (if they must) off-screen lives.
In 2015, southern cinema witnessed the smashing comeback of Sridevi (in Puli) and Jyothika (in 36 Vayadhinile), both popular for their unquestionable talent and strong on-screen presence, in memorable roles. While Vijay-starrer Puli marked Sridevis return to Tamil cinema after two decades, 36 Vayadhinile was Jyothikas return to the arclights after eight-odd years. Their re-entry was embraced by critics and audiences alike. In the case of Puli, even though the film was panned unanimously, Sridevi won over audiences as the evil queen. Jo, as Jyothika is fondly called by her fans, swept everybody off their feet with a touching performance as a woman hit by a mid-life crisis and how she rediscovers herself. Since their celebrated comebacks, we have had similar successful comebacks from Kajol, Madhoo and Isha Koppikar, among others.

Director Rosshan Andrrews, said Jyothika was the ideal choice for 36 Vayadhinile (a remake of his own Malayalam film How Old Are You). Interestingly, the films original version (released in 2014) marked the comeback of actress Manju Warrier after a 14-year sabbatical. Rosshan said the personal lives of Jo and Manju had no bearing whatsoever on the film. When I finished shooting How Old Are You and realised it had the potential to be remade in Tamil, my first choice was Jyothika. Actresses such as Jo and Manju command respect in this highly male-dominated industry. I think itd be an honour for any filmmaker to work with them and I had a similar feeling when I approached Jyothika with the offer. Luckily, she loved the original and immediately jumped at the opportunity to be part of the remake. Rosshan considers it a privilege to have brought Jyothika back to limelight. However, he says it wasnt his sole reason when he wanted to cast her. I could imagine her in the titular role and thats why I even planned to cast her.

Director Chimbu Devan, on the other hand, said he was hell bent on having Sridevi play the evil queen in Puli. In the scripting stage itself, I was sure I wanted Sridevi ma'am for the role. I couldnt think of anyone else to play this majestic role. It needed someone who could captivate audiences with strong screen presence and at the same time look dynamic, recalls Devan, who wouldnt forget the experience of working with Sridevi. She brought years of experience with her and yet she was so humble and willing to learn. I learnt so much from her and Ill treasure the experience of working with her for a long time.

Veteran actress Kanchana made a strong comeback in the critically-acclaimed Arjun Reddy, and her role as Vijay Devarakondas grandmother, though brief, was pivotal from the storys perspective. On signing the yesteryear star, director Sandeep Vanga said, I was on the lookout for someone to play a modern, sophisticated grandmother; someone who could speak English fluently and at the same time understands the vulnerability of todays youngsters. Someone suggested Kanchana ma'am and when I imagined her in the part, she fit the bill perfectly. She worked as a stewardess before she came into acting and could speak impeccable English. Sandeep believes theres no Arjun Reddy without her role. In the film, nobody understands Arjun like her. You shouldnt look at the length of her role but see the impact her role has on the film. Arjun shares a very strong bond with her.

Kajol, after two decades, made a terrific comeback with Dhanushs VIP 2. Playing a suave, ruthless entrepreneur, she was impressive in the film. On roping in the actress, director Soundarya Rajinikanth said: The films story is about the clash of two people  a man and a woman  with different ideologies, divided by social status. Both Dhanush and I felt Kajol ma'am would be perfect for the role as we were convinced she could carry it off effortlessly. Even though she was initially apprehensive about accepting the offer, she told me she enjoyed playing the character.

This year also saw the comeback of Isha Koppikar to Telugu filmdom after a decade with the Nikhil Siddhartha-starrer Keshava, in which she played a kick-ass cop. Director Sudheer Varma recalls he wanted someone who was familiar but not very well known to Telugu audiences. I really liked her in Chandralekha (1998 Telugu film), and I thought her personality wasnt explored to its full potential since then. When I approached her, she was kicked about the role because it was something she hadnt played before. Sudheer also said Isha wasnt his first choice and that he also had Gul Panag in mind. Gul doesnt enjoy the kind of familiarity Isha had in the south. Hence, we dropped the idea to go with Gul. Otherwise, she was the first choice, he added.

Among the notable comebacks, Madhoos (of Mani Ratnams Roja fame) return to Telugu filmdom with the 2013 National Award-winning film Anthaku Mundu Aa Taruvatha deserves a special mention. Playing the mother of a teenage girl, Madhoos role as a woman stuck in between her career and family, will be remembered for a long time. She didnt mind playing a mother because shes one in real life as well. Its a huge battle in my mind if I want to take up such roles, but Ive understood that there can be something nice about these roles too, and I need to look for them. I think its difficult to find good roles when you set boundaries. Hence, Ive duly avoided all that because Im keen on continuing working and not remain too critical about the roles, she explained.
Its finally here! After what felt like the longest 15 months since season one dropped on Netflix, the town of Hawkins, Indiana, its residents (Joyce Byers, Sheriff Jim Hopper, Will Byers, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Eleven), and their quirks/favourites (Eggos!) are back in our lives once again, and everything feels right with the world, even when its upside down!

Also read  Stranger Things 2: Your one-stop guide for all things related to the Netflix show, from a super fan

Stranger Things 2 (its a sequel, mind you, not a second season per se) released on Netflix yesterday, and everything we loved about the first series  the friendships, the 80s nostalgia, the small-town atmosphere, the genre storytelling, and the many movie and board/arcade game homages  is back again; only this time, its bigger and (in some ways) even better than before. Some of you may have finished bingeing it already, but I know that many of you are still probably watching it (at a viewing party with friends, or just curled up on your couch eating a box of Eggos  or any other frozen waffles), so Ill keep my review fairly spoiler-free; where there are spoilers, Ill call it out in big font, I promise. All right then, here goes.

Where they begin  the setting

Joyce and Will Byers: Stranger Things 2 is set in in October 1984. In fact, it begins a few days before Halloween (28 October 1984) and close to the one-year anniversary of Wills disappearance. This starting period is significant for many of the people in Hawkins, including most of our main cast. Will (Noah Schnapp) is beginning to experience a lot of his past trauma once again (i.e. vivid flashes of the Upside Down, and a bigger, more menacing-looking tentacled monster against a bright orange sky that we saw in the trailer).

Joyce (Winona Ryder) is dating a portly Radio Shack employee called Bob (Sean Astin); she and Sheriff Hopper (David Harbour) have been taking Will to the doctors/scientists who may or may not be directly related to the events of last season, and whove made their headquarters at the lab in Hawkins. These are meant to be regular check-ups for Will, but every time hes called out by the teacher/vice-principal because his mom is at the school to take him to the lab, you can feel the growing isolation within him. Not only has he been unable to shake off the dreadful images and flashes that continue to haunt him, but hes being looked at as the weirdo or freak in school, and knowing how rampant high-school bullying was against non-cookie-cutter kids back in the 1980s, you can imagine how absolutely desolate a 13-year old Will Byers is feeling at this point.

Worse still is the fact that the team of scientists, led by Dr Owens (Paul Reiser) dont really know whats happening to Will. In a classic case of damage-control-of-something-they-had-no-control-over-to-begin-with, Dr Owens and the others at Hawkins lab are pretty much just grasping at otherdimensional straws, without providing any concrete diagnosis. Most of what Will is seeing (theyre referred to as his episodes) is thought by them to be just in his head and not real, but as the scale of his visions get bigger and seemingly more dangerous, its up to Joyce (once again!) to notice the similarities between what Will is imagining and what might be real!

Eleven and Sheriff Hopper: Theres been a lot of speculation about Elevens whereabouts after last year, and while the trailers made it obvious that our favourite teenage telekinetic badass was still alive, Stranger Things 2 does a good job of filling in the dots for those of us who wondered how she survived, and who helped her. The answers: by using her powers, and Sheriff Hopper. Wed seen Hopper leave Eggos in the woods for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) assuming she was alive, and that was how it really did go down as well. Until she had Eggos to feed on, Eleven was using her powers to throw squirrels against trees to kill them and roasting them up to a crispy deliciousness. Even getting out of the Upside Down was (relatively) easy for Eleven; she used her powers to hold the portal open and big enough for her to crawl through.

Theres an interesting father-daughter dynamic going on between them by now: Hopper is hiding Eleven away at his fathers old cabin in the woods. Hiding her for her own safety, that is, against the government cronies who ran the experiments on her. Its a warm cozy cabin that she can call home, she has her own soft bed to sleep on (although Mikes makeshift tent in his parents basement last year wasnt half bad, was it?), and plenty of Eggos for her to eat (and variations too, a highlight meal by Hopper being a three-layered Eggo stack topped with whipped cream and Smarties/M&Ms!). He also puts up a number of simple-yet-smart traps in and around the cabin, teaches Eleven the Morse code to communicate with her, and informs her that there will be three rules that she would need to follow:

1. Never leave the curtains open, especially during daytime.

2. There will be a secret knock that hell use to enter the cabin, and Eleven should open the door only in response to that knock.

3. She should never, ever get out of the cabin by herself.

Everything seems to be going okay, until Eleven realises that the soon that Hopper keeps referring to (as in, she can get out and go meet Mike soon) has no set time limit. Elevens been visiting Mike telepathically for the past year  while hes huddled in the tent hed made for her, hoping to catch any sound of her on his trusted walkie talkie, or any indication that shes alive. She says Hoppers a liar (she uses her friends dont lie line from season one to good effect here); Eleven was hoping that Hoppers soon meant the next day or in a few days, but over 360 days later (yup, shes keeping count!), when she still hasnt reunited with her dear Mike, an angry and impatient Eleven decides to take matters in her own hand. Ah, teenagers, I tell ya!

The boys, and the new girl: Mike (Finn Wolfhard), meanwhile, is unhappy and melancholic and lovelorn himself. He has felt Elevens presence in his parents basement for the past year, but doesnt know if thats just wishful thinking on his part. The boys are also at an age when they dont really talk about such things, especially not when Will is still having his episodes, and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) are more intent on impressing the new girl at school Maxine (Sadie Sink), a red-haired skater kid who goes by Max, and who they realise is the Madmax on the scoreboard who beat Dustins score on Dragons Lair.

Mike is also the only one who seems to be treating Will normally  like another teenager who went through a lot of trauma a year before and is naturally still affected by it; and not like his mom, brother, Dustin, and Lucas do  as a child whos incapable of doing anything by himself.

We see the boys going on their own paths in Stranger Things 2, as each one of them has a distinctly personal storyline that obviously loops back in with the broader story.

Nancy/Jonathan/Steve: The anniversary of last years events is also making Nancy Wheeler (Mikes older sister and Barbs bestie) remorseful  about how she and bad-boy-turned-totally-good Steve let Barb die. Barbs parents believe shes still alive, and as if keeping the truth from them isnt enough to compound Nancys guilt about Barb, theyre also planning to sell their house to pay the fees of an investigator theyve hired to look for her. I guess the Duffer brothers, Shawn Levy and others really took the whole #justiceforBarb movement to heart (the online criticism mustve meant something to them), because Nancys character arc for two-thirds of the series (first with Steve and later with Jonathan) follows this storyline.

Where they all go  the journey

Will Byers catches a virus from the Upside Down, and Joyce Byers is the most resourceful mother (until Carol came along in The Walking Dead): A shadow of the tentacled monster (hereby known as the Shadow Monster because thats what the kids call it) on part of the Halloween tape filmed by Will looks similar to a drawing hed made of one of his visions. When Joyce hits pause on the tape and traces the shadow from the screen, she realises its identical to Wills drawing of the Shadow Monster. This leads Joyce to believe that Wills episodes are probably more real than Dr Owens and the other scientists seem to think.

[Some spoilers ahead]

Wills been feeling unwell, or like he explains to his mom, out of it. His body temperature is a few degrees below normal, and when Joyce decides to run a hot water bath for him, Will complains to his mom that its too hot. In a chilling scene, Will informs her that he likes it cold. He = not Will. He = the Shadow Monster. During one of his episodes, Will tries to follow Bobs rather-useless-when-a-child-is-being-hunted/haunted-by-an-otherdimensional-monster advice by confronting the Shadow Monster; instead of scaring it away, the monster engulfs Will and enters his body through his mouth. There are similarities to religious possession here, and if you expect a scene later on when theyd try to exorcise the monster out from Wills body a la The Exorcist, you may not be completely mistaken. Theres no projectile vomiting, and no hoarse voices, but the idea of Will being struck by an otherdimensional virus thats growing inside him, consuming him, and (more spoilers ahead) making him less Will by erasing his memory, is an altogether new and incredible plot point. The ways in which this storyline progresses is super fun to watch; it takes on an altogether unexpected turn in episode six, and is then dealt with some awesome ferocity in the last two episodes.

Before all of that happens though, in an effort to try and explain his visions (which he isnt able to properly articulate), Joyce asks Will to draw these recent visions. An emotional-but-excited Will starts drawing very similar looking strokes on dozens of papers, as Joyce, Hopper, and Mike look on, confused. Thankfully, Joyce realises theres a pattern to it, and Hopper notices that Wills maze-like strokes look like vines. Hopper has been investigating random acts of vandalism across Hawkins, when a number of local farmers complain about their holiday pumpkin patches being destroyed (the farmers blame each other, Hopper perceives there might be more to it!). When he sees Wills drawings of the vines, Hopper takes off, digs through the ground near the vines to find that the Upside Down is closer to them than any of them anticipated!

Will, at home, can feel that Hopper is in trouble (hes right  in the Upside Down, Hopper is trapped by the organisms growing tentacles) and points out where on his drawing Hopper might be. Only problem, they dont know where that is in the real world. As Joyce, Will, and Mike try to figure out what and where Wills drawings are, Bob (who still doesnt know about any of this) arrives at Joyces home to play some games and puzzles with Will. Without telling him much, Joyce urges Bob to figure out Wills drawings, and he does  Wills drawings are a map of Hawkins! Based on them, they figure out where Hopper might be in the real Hawkins; Joyce and Bob dig down into the Upside Down in time to rescue Hopper from suffocating to death by the growing tentacles.

Dustin and his pollywog: While Mike is helping Will and Joyce, and is otherwise occupied with thoughts of Eleven, Dustin has his own little side-story going on. Besides vying for Maxs attention (something that he and Lucas are both trying for), Dustin finds a slimy tadpole-like creature in the trash bin on his front porch. We see it and instinctively know that its something from the Upside Down. Dustin, however, is convinced he has discovered a new species because not only does the creature not need water to survive, but unlike typical terrestrial pollywogs or reptiles, it hates warmth and sunlight. He insists on keeping Dart (thats what he calls it) in his turtle tank, and even brings it to school in a box, excited to show Dart to his friends; when they see it, Will is immediately reminded of the slug-like creature he coughed out at the end of last season. He tells Mike that Dustins Dart may be from the Upside Down; Mike is convinced, but a rather uncharacteristic Dustin refuses to believe his pet Dart could be anything harmful.

If ever theres a crossover between Stranger Things and the Harry Potter universe, I now know who would be Hagrids son or brother  Dustin! In a very Hagrid-like manner, Dustin lies to his friends about finding Dart when the creature escapes and all of them are trying to catch it, ignores Darts alarmingly-growing size, and even attempts to cover up his mothers pet cats death at the jaws of Dart. I wont give away anything more about this creature or what it is, and if and how it ties up to the larger storyline of the Upside Down and the Shadow Monster. Lets just say, its thoroughly entertaining!

Lucas is in 'like' with Max: Ah Lucas, Lucas, Lucas. Our bandanna-wearing assassin from last year is a tad mellower and less angry this time round. Like Dustin, Lucas is infatuated by Max. Unlike Dustin, he doesnt have a pollywog for a pet; instead, Lucas pursues a friendship with Max  he tells her all about the happenings from last year (resulting in her absolute disbelief in his story, calling it a good tale but a tad derivative) and even brings her along to one of their missions to see the whole thing for herself. Lucas also brings Max to tell him about her life, and while its not very important to the larger story arc, its nevertheless nice to know more about an unconventionally-written female character.

Eleven explores her backstory: The opening scene of Stranger Things 2 has a group of mask-wearing punks (the 80s are strong in them) being chased by police vans down a street in Indianapolis. Chief among them is a buzz-haired Indian teen who uses some power to stop the incoming police cars by bringing a wall of stone crashing down from the tunnel theyre going through; the police cars abruptly stop because they cant go through, and the on-the-run punks drive away. The scene cuts back to the policemen, with the one in the passenger seat asking the one who was driving and who stopped, about why hed suddenly halted. And thats when we see it  there are no big stones or a wall of rubble hindering them; the driving policeman had been given that vision by the Indian teen. Turns out, shes another subject from Project MKUltra (her power is to make people see what she wants)  as the scene fades, we see the number 008 tattooed on her forearm, just like Eleven has 011 tattooed on hers!

How Eleven finds Roman (thats Eights real name) and her brief stay with Roman and her punk friends (Eleven even dresses up like a punk teen, learns to channel her anger to use her powers better, and learns what bitchin means!) is one of the threads to Elevens expanding backstory in Stranger Things 2. We knew that she was kidnapped as a baby, by Dr Brenner. And we also knew that her abduction had left her mother Terry Ives in a catatonic state, as we last saw when Joyce and Hopper visited Terry last year.

Elevens journey through the first seven episodes (and especially episode seven, which is only about her finding Roman and trying to see if Romans life could also be hers) is a sweet story about a young girl finding what is hers, who are her people and what is her real home. When she leaves Hoppers cabin by herself to go see Mike at Hawkins Middle School, Eleven is upset when she sees him in the gym with Max (unbeknownst to her, Mike is upset with Max for wanting to be a member of their party, something that both Dustin and Lucas want). An angry Eleven uses her powers to trip Max on her skateboard, but thankfully, the boys and Max have a more pressing matter on their hands (finding Dustins pet Dart, who escapes from its box), which prevents any further telekinetic harm from being caused.

Where they all end up  alive, dead, in the real world or the Upside Down

It would be difficult to talk about the ending without giving away major spoilers, so Ill refrain from doing so. But Ill say this  episodes 8 and 9 of Stranger Things 2 are two of the most tightly-written episodes of any Netflix show, and the ending is more than satisfactory, albeit slightly disconcerting. Theres good news for most characters, and especially great news for one main character.

Like all good things, everything (and everyone) comes together towards the end to fight their battle as a team. Stranger Things 2 has more separate threads to follow than in season one, but none of them feel disjointed or too complex. Nobody ends up in the Upside Down and most of the main cast survives, although there are many deaths in Stranger Things 2, including the death of a beloved character.

The homages are plenty too, but theyre less derivative (which means less still-by-still captures from fans). Besides Steven Spielberg, Stephen King, James Cameron, John Carpenter, and John Landis from the 80s, there are also several nods to 90s movies  in episode nine, a terrific sequence seems wholly inspired by Jurassic Park (no, the Shadow Monster doesnt act like a rampaging T-Rex!). As a huge fan of the original Jurassic Park, my mind started racing to a third season of Stranger Things (or, Stranger Things 3) which would jump 10 years to draw more direct inspiration from the superhit dinosaur escapade. Its unrealistic, I know, because our cast will still be mostly teens, but a girl can dream, cant she?

Until then, this would do just fine!

Stranger Things 2: 

Best episode: Toss up between episode 4 (Will The Wise) and episode 6 (The Spy).

Best child actor: Noah Schnapp as Will Byers  he portrays vulnerable, scared, and hopeful better than anyone Ive seen!

Best adult actor: Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers  sometimes, Stranger Things 2 feels like a Byers family show, with their mother and son moments (the tender ones, the funny ones, the emotional ones) some of the best scenes on the show. Ryder is astounding as the distraught-but-strong-as-hell mother.

Best pop culture reference: There are many, but Dustin naming his pollywog Dart, after DArtagnan from The Three Musketeers, is so nerdy its awesome!

Scariest reference to real-life: Eleven hitchhikes to find her mom and Eight. When Hopper finds out about it, hes nowhere near as angry as he should be. Two weeks after watching Netflixs Mindhunter (where Ed Kemper talked about how he killed hitchhiking co-eds), Im instinctively scared for Eleven hitchhiking. I know Mindhunter wasnt out in 1984, people still knew about Kemper and other serial killers who targeted young girls hitchhiking. Come on Hopper, be more dad-like!
Director Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Pamavati has majestic grandeur written all over it. His fascination for literary and historical characters continues with Padmavati (also known as Rani Padmini), the 14th century queen from Rajasthan who is an enigma to us even today. With this film, Bhansali is also touching upon a theme that is a favourite with filmmakers across the world.

Bhansalis Padmavati explores war and love on celluloid. An obsessive, unrequited love unfolding amid all-around mayhem  its a formula that filmmakers have turned to time and again. The English Patient, Casablanca, From Here to Eternity, Doctor Zhivago are just some of the films that come to mind, in this regard, which went on to become universal favourites (and blockbuster hits). The End of The Affair or For Whom The Bell Tolls or Cold Mountain each explored facets of love seamlessly merged with the tension and urgency of war.

What is it about war and romance that makes audiences connect so strongly with these films? Is it their dramatic nature that is the draw? As themes, India hasnt explored them as extensively on the big screen  Padmavati is among the rare films (Vishal Bhardwajs Rangoon, SLBs Bajirao Mastani are the others that come to mind). One reason for the lack of such films is perhaps the nature of wars themselves in our country. If we were to overlook historical wars, and view the more contemporary ones instead  with Pakistan, China  they were not sustained ones (barring Kargil, which lasted two months). Perhaps the shorter duration gave filmmakers lesser fodder for filmmakers; more suited to films about specific battles/incidents than sweeping sagas.

Hollywood, on the other hand, has had a film of this genre  dubbed the Great American Movie of the time  at least every decade. So while the 40s had Casablanca, the 50s had From Here to Eternity and the 60s had Doctor Zhivago. Not only did these movies flawlessly showcase love against the backdrop of war, they were also released at a time when most people were recovering from the ravages of the two World Wars. The wounds were fresh, and there was a generation that could relate to the horrors.

Take the case of Anthony Minghellas The English Patient (which is perhaps the closest Padmavati comes to, in terms of canvas and scale). Booker Prize winner Michael Ondaatje set his story against the backdrop of World War II, and the story of the unrequited love between Almasy and Katherine (as portrayed by Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas) took the Oscars by storm in 1996  garnering 12 nominations and winning as many as nine categories.

Of course there have been times when films with these themes have been way off target. Bhardwajs Rangoon is a case in point, as is Baz Luhrmanns Australia. With the bombing of Darwin during World War II as its backdrop, the film failed because of its glaring plot-holes and ill-defined characters.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is the only filmmaker of this generation in Bollywood who can be described as an auteur. One factor that should work in Padmavatis favour is that the story of Rani Padmini, Rawal Ratan Singh and Alauddin Khilji is part of folklore  and there is no documentary or historical proof of the incidents he wishes to depict having eve taken place. Protests from certain groups aside, that does give Bhansali the freedom to mould his film the way he wants to. Whether it will become a great  like Doctor Zhivago and the other films that made war and romance their mainstay  of course, remains to be seen.
Nupur and Rajesh Talwar faced incarceration for four years before getting acquitted by the Allahabad High Court. The dentist couple finally broke their silence in an interview to Hotstar about the ordeal that they faced after the 2008 Noida double murder case of Aarushi Talwar and Hemraj Banjade.

The murders took place in May 2008 when Nupur and Rajesh's 13-year-old daughter, Aarushi, and their live-in domestic help of many years, Hemraj, were found murdered in Noida.

After the countless books, films and endless media coverage, the duo said it was "scary" for them to settle back into society following their acquittal on 12 October 2017. "Its scary to face people, to face the world, to go back into the world, into societyIts something which you have to slowly learn," Rajesh Talwar said about their return to normalcy.

The couple also talks about how the public perception changed after they were back from prison. But that didn't mean that it was easy for the Talwars. Nupur Talwar spoke of a "dark age" for two years, that persisted after their bail was rejected in 2012. Things were even more difficult after a CBI special court held them guilty of murdering their daughter. "Confinement is not an easy thing to facelosing your freedom, facing a stigma and suddenly being put behind bars," Rajesh said. The couple conducted dental work in the clinic in the prison as a way of serving people and enduring the four years of incarceration.

The investigation aside, coping with the tragedy of losing their only daughter was another ordeal for the grief-stricken parents. "It was a very emotional moment for us. We were thinking of and missing Aarushi. Thats one tragedy we cant push past," Nupur said about how Aarushi was in their thoughts after the acquittal. "Losing Aarushi has been, and will always be completely irreparable, inconsolable," Rajesh said. "The worst suffering that any human can go through is to lose your child, and that too in such a manner," he added.

When asked if the system had failed them, the duo said that "it is something that is clear to everybody." When further asked if there was a bias in the investigation, Rajesh said: "Everything is on paper, I dont really need to say anything about it." When asked about the murder of Hemraj, they said that they had wanted to help the family, but they didnt get any kind of response.

Watch Unsolved Aarushi Murder: The Talwars Break Their Silence here
New Delhi: A protest by resident doctors of the premier AIIMS against "improper implementation" of the Seventh Central Pay Commission's recommendations entered its third day on Saturday.

The protesting doctors continued to work while fasting.

The doctors alleged that revised allowances under the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) had been implemented in other central government hospitals including RML Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital and autonomous institutes such as the Chandigarh-based PGIMER, but doctors at the AIIMS were yet to get the benefits.

Around 2,000 resident doctors taking part in the fast held a peaceful protest from 1 pm to 2 pm in front of the hospital main gate and announced that they would not break their fast until their demands were fulfilled.

They were joined by the nurses' union, officers' association, society of young scientists, students' union and karamchari union among others.

"The health minister is not at all interested in the problems of the staff of the AIIMS and there is complete apathy to our demands. This (protest) will continue till we get approval for the release of our revised pay according to the 7th CPC recommendations from the health ministry.

"The government should realise the risk of working without food in hospital settings," AIIMS resident doctors' association president Harjit Singh Bhatti said.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the AIIMS Resident Doctors Association (RDA) said even one-and-a-half years after the implementation of the commission's recommendations and four months of allowance approval in other medical institutes, the AIIMS doctors here still did not get the revised pay because of administrative lapses.

"We have remained silent for a long time, hoping for a response from the health ministry. But there has been a complete lack of constructive steps taken by the ministry.

"Being a responsible citizen and a doctor we will not hamper the facilities for patients. In our further action to put our demands forward we will work continuously without consuming food," former AIIMS RDA president Vijay Kumar said.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and the Babri Action Committee denied media reports on Saturday of having met Art Of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in a bid to rope in the spiritual guru to mediate the ongoing Ayodhya-Ramjanmabhoomi dispute through an out-of-court settlement.

According to India Today, Ravi Shankar said the mediation process hasn't started yet and he would definitely want to help. "Some people came and met me, that's all. There is positive energy with everybody and people want to settle the issue. If I need to play that role (mediator), I am willing to do that," he said.

Ravi Shankar reportedly met representatives of the Nimrohi Akhara and AIMPLB in October in Bengaluru to discuss the matter, reported Hindustan Times.

The Supreme Court is set to hear the historic Babri Masjid-Ram Temple case on 5 December.

Denying media claims of having met Ravi Shankar, AIMPLB member Zafaryab Jilani told News18 that no such decision had been made by the board and that if individual members did meet the Art of Living founder, it doesn't represent what AIMPLB stands by.

"The position of the board is very clear on this and that the solution is possible only through adjudication, and not mediation. There have been no attempts by the board to meet Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. We have a meeting of lawyers even on Sunday in Delhi to prepare for the hearing on 5 December. So there is no merit or legal value to any such proposition," Jilani said.

He added, "If some individual is doing anything then that does not hamper the legal stand of the board and will not be considered an action on part of AIMPLB. Even earlier, Kalbe Sadiq had given a statement but in a board meeting, he retracted it as it was not in line with the stand of the board."

Although AIMPLB is not a party to the case, the top Islamic body wields considerable power and influence in the community. The Muslim community is represented by the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board, with Jafaryab Jilani, an AIMPLB member, as its counsel.

As per The Tribune, the Babri Action Committee also denied meeting Ravi Shankar to solve the Babri Masjid dispute. Haji Mehboob, a member of Committee, said, "Long ago one of Ravi Shankar's mediators called saying he wants to talk to me and I welcomed it. Maybe he had a conversation with the Hindu representatives but he never talked with us nor had he sent us any message".

"If he wants to talk to us we will talk as we do not have any issue in having a conversing and solving the issue," said Mehboob.

Reacting to media reports about the two parties meeting, Congress leader Tom Vadakkan praised the efforts to solve the matter peacefully through mediation. "While this matter subjudice, the court did say that this matter can be settled outside the court and if efforts have been made by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to solve the problem, it is a welcome decision. If done amicably it is good for the country," said Vadakkan, as per The Tribune report.
By Keerti Ravindran

My second-favourite scene from the new documentary Ask the Sexpert features the filmmaker Vaishali Sinha asking bystanders if theyve heard of the column of the same name in the Mumbai Mirror. One woman in her 50s scrunches her face into a tight-lipped smile and steadily says no until her companion helpfully interjects, You were saying its a very interesting column. The column next to that health thing?

Most others were forthcoming, except for one dude who pretended he didnt know which page its on Oh! The page number just bounced into my head! I think its somewhere between 32 or 34!

Ask the Sexpert, a newspaper column where readers (mostly men) ask questions about sex and sexual health  by extension, relationships and marriage  is clearly iconic. Its been the subject of FIRs against Mumbai Mirror for obscenity, was compiled into a book and even turned into illustrations recently by Homegrown. Sinhas documentary (which got rave reviews at the Jio MAMI 19th Mumbai Film Festival) takes you behind the scenes and right into the home of 93-year-old Dr Mahinder Watsa, the gynaecologist and sexologist who writes the column on page 34 of the newspaper.

Dr Watsa has been writing publicly on sex for over 40 years (he had a column in a magazine called Trend before Mumbai Mirror), but hes still as enthusiastic about work. He spends most of his time in his airy seafront Mumbai home and  much to his childrens chagrin  when he isn't answering questions online, he sees patients in his house. His kind-of-surly son calls these visitors shady, while Dr Watsa retorts (he admits they arent that close) that they are merely people requesting his advice, so he cant turn them away.

Ask the Sexpert lets you in on these appointments, and theyre so weirdly fascinating: The patients body language, their questions (Doctor, its normal no?), the root causes theyre able to identify themselves (several talk about pressure at work while describing their physical ailment) and Dr Watsas light-hearted, non-judgemental advice. Watching Dr Watsa in action, you see how helpful he's been to Indian men but also, indirectly, to Indian women.

In my favourite scene, he chats with a deeply worried couple  at least the man seems so as he angles away from his wife and fidgets  while she answers Dr Watsas questions volubly and precisely, and talks about her husbands total lack of interest in sex, and the fact that he never masturbates or experiences nocturnal emissions (nightfalls).

When Dr Watsa hears this, he gives some wonderful advice: Dont do intercourse if you dont want to. You just touch her, kiss her, hug her. You can kiss each other. Can you do that?

So simple! By recommending that they take their minds off of successful intercourse, and instead focus on kissing and touching each other for the sake of its own pleasure rather than as a step towards completion, Dr Watsa removes the expectations of penetrative sex, instead tasking couples to simply enjoy each others bodies. This has two great effects.

First, it takes the pressure off men to maintain a continuous erection for a sustained period.

Women often say that they need to really concentrate to achieve orgasms. After watching Ask the Sexpert, you realise men do too: Patients talk about their minds wandering for a second, making them lose their erections, after which they find themselves unable to get erect again because of the pressure to maintain it in the first place. Toxic masculinity and internalised patriarchy seem to make men take a lack of erection more personally than women. Women often blame the circumstances or their partners for their lack of mojo or lubrication, or let it pass as a normal part of sex. Men seem to take it as a personal indictment of their manliness, making them anxious over maintaining an erection the next time they have sex, creating an endless cycle of fear and flaccidity.

Dr Watsas advice to focus on pleasure instead of performance  on touching and kissing rather than penetration  allows couples to engage in pleasurable sexual acts that feel good and build intimacy, with no expectation or requirement of an erection. This removes the pressure that may be stopping men from getting an erection, but if theyre still unable to get one, no one feels disappointed or displeased.

Which is the other nice thing about his advice: It nudges men towards acts that actually bring women pleasure.

Research shows that only 25 percent of women orgasm from vaginal penetration alone. Meaning the significant majority of women need sustained clitoral stimulation too. The clitoris is located outside the vagina and needs direct stimulation; the kind that penetrative intercourse simply cannot provide. By taking the spotlight away from penetrative sex, Dr Watsa encourages couples to discover other fun things and to come closer to finding acts that really bring women pleasure.

So when did penetration become the gold standard of sex? Take this man, who was so confused about the purpose of intercourse he turned vaginal penetration into an endurance sport (see clipping below):

When men complain to Dr Watsa about premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, lack of interest in sex, or their wives lack of interest in sex, his favoured answers seem to be learn the art of foreplay and give your wife an orgasm first.

Over the years, a number of questions in the column have been repeated, but hey, I dont think Ill ever tire of men being instructed to, as Dr Watsa puts it, be a foreplay kind of guy, or to think of their partners' orgasm before their own.

He also frequently encourages women to make the most of their sexual agency. Most of his patients are male (although many say they were asked to meet him at their wives request), but he gets online questions from some women too.

He frequently tells them the gynaecologist-equivalent of get it gurrl: Have open conversations about sex, masturbate healthily (he tells one woman that its fine to masturbate with a tube of mascara, as long as the tube is clean), initiate intercourse if they want, and to demand their own orgasms.

Here's a sample of those queries:

Ask the Sexpert also gives us an intriguing glimpse of Dr Watsas own relationship with his late wife, Promila, which is a little surprising. He speaks about how he misses her, regrets not spending more time with her, and how he wishes he had spent more weekends at home instead of always attending conferences. He also says that he never really discussed the details of the sexual aspects of his work with her. Huh, whodve thought?

Still, it makes me happy to think that for the past 40 years, theres been one man quietly infusing a part of the country with progressive feminist thoughts on sex, agency and sexual pleasure. As you can see from the opening of Ask the Sexpert, for many kids growing up, especially a decade or two ago, this column is one of their primary sources of knowledge about sex. And its great that people are learning about sex from a no-nonsense nonagenarian doctor who thinks female pleasure and orgasms need to be discussed in the newspapers, who encourages you to be a foreplay kinda guy and sees nothing wrong in women masturbating with a clean mascara tube.

The Ladies Finger (TLF) is a leading online womens magazine
United States Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker told Ukrainian parliamentarians at a recent meeting how an initiative to deploy peacekeepers in Donbas can be put up for a vote at the United Nations Security Council.

"Kurt Volker told us about the course of negotiations with the Russian side, the course of talks on the issue of peacekeepers, namely what questions are being discussed and how this issue can be put up for a vote at the UN Security Council," Batkivshchyna faction deputy Oleksiy Riabchyn told Interfax-Ukraine after Volker's meeting with Ukrainian MPs in Kyiv.

Negotiations are now under way on positions to be put forth in a relevant resolution, and work on such a document is in progress, the U.S. envoy said, according to Ryabchyn.

"Talks are currently ongoing. And they are fully in line with what the Ukrainian side has said that peacekeepers should operate throughout the conflict area and should control the Ukrainian-Russian border. There is also a number of diplomatic points that are being articulated in order to be included in the resolution," he said.

For his part, Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction MP Volodymyr Ariev said on his Facebook page after the meeting, citing Volker, that "a UN Security Council resolution on a peacekeeping mission may be prepared before the end of the year."

People's Front faction deputy Andriy Teteruk said that a UN resolution regarding a peacekeeping mission in the east of Ukraine may be ready before the end of the year.

"In his [Volker's] personal opinion, a UN resolution on such a peacekeeping mission may be ready before the end of this year," Teteruk wrote on his Facebook account on Saturday after the meeting.
At least five people were killed and four others were in critical condition on Saturday after consuming illicit liquor in Danwar village of Bihar's Rohtas district, according to reports.

#UPDATE 5 dead after consuming illicit liquor: Rohtas SHO suspended #Bihar  ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2017

Shahabad Deputy Inspector General of Police Mohd Rehman confirmed the incident and suspended the Station House Officer, reported ANI. Rehman further said that strict action will also be taken against the excise department.

This is not the first case of people consuming illicit liquor in Bihar, which was declared a dry state by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. As many as 13 people died last year under mysterious circumstances at a village in Gopalganj district of Bihar. They had allegedly consumed illicit liquor.

The police later recovered 1,000 litres of illegal country-made liquor in Gopalganj. The liquor was stored in big barrels hidden in a cavity dug in the farmland and a house, India Today had reported.

Nitish Kumar announced a ban on the sale and consumption of country liquor in the state in April 2016. After the Patna High Court quashed his order on prohibition, he came out with a new law banning liquor with harsher provisions like the arrest of all adults in the event of recovery of the contraband in their house.

According to official reports, ever since total prohibition was imposed on 5 April 2016 in Bihar, the government has seized around 9.15 lakh litres of liquor, out of which eight lakh litres is still in the storerooms of various police stations in the state.

Over 45,000 people have been arrested in a year in Bihar for violating the liquor prohibition law imposed by the state.
Raipur: Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munat has filed a complaint against state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel and senior journalist Vinod Verma for allegedly tarnishing his image through a "fake" sex CD.

A case was registered on Friday evening at the Civil Lines police station against Baghel, Verma and others under section 67 (A) of the Information Technology Act following the minister's complaint, Station House Officer (SHO), Civil Lines, Hem Prakash Nayak told PTI.

"A copy of the CD has been submitted to the police station and it will be sent for forensic examination," he said. Munat, considered close to Chief Minister Raman Singh, was accompanied by state BJP president Dharam Lal Kaushik, his over half-a-dozen cabinet colleagues and other party leaders, while filing the complaint.

Talking to reporters on Friday, Munat had alleged that the CD in question was fake and urged the chief minister to order a probe to find the truth.

"The (sex) CD is fake. It is an attempt to malign my image," he had said. The minister further appealed to the chief minister and Kaushik to get the matter investigated from any agency.

On Friday, the Civil Line police had also arrested two AAP supporters for allegedly blackening Munat's nameplate while protesting outside his official residence over the row.

Verma, who was arrested in connection with an extortion and blackmailing case from Ghaziabad by Chhattisgarh police on Friday, had claimed that he had a sex CD of the Chhattisgarh minister.

Police also claimed to have recovered 500 "porn" CDs, a pen drive and a laptop from Verma.

A Ghaziabad court had granted the Chhattisgarh Police the transit remand of Verma till 30 October and he is expected to reach Raipur on Saturday afternoon.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will chair a high-level party meet on Monday in order to chalk out the strategy for a nationwide protest on 8 November, the first anniversary of demonetisation, said a media report.

According to an India Today report, at the meeting, Rahul, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretaries and state in-charges will discuss the agenda to corner Narendra Modi government over its decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

"We will protest from block level to national level on all platforms - streets to social media- on the first anniversary of DeMo on November 8. The central theme will be MMD and other opposition parties are also planning their protests across this central idea," a senior Congress leader said was quoted as saying by India Today.

The Congress has expanded MMD as 'Modi Made Disaster'.

On Thursday, Rahul while attacking the government over the state of the economy on Twitter, said, "Dr Jaitley, the economy is in the ICU because of note ban and GST".

 ,   GST   ICU          ,

       Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) October 26, 2017

Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation, the Congress leader had said, "It was a move, taken without thought, consultation or concern of the consequences."

Asserting that the prime minister failed to acknowledge the result of the decision, Rahul said: "All cash is not black and all black is not cash. Without understanding this basic concept, the government unleashed terror over the citizens of India. Millions lost their jobs and livelihood. To do that, you need someone with a very big chest but a small heart."

The Congress' Uttar Pradesh unit on Tuesday had said that it would mark 8 November by observing a 'Black Day' in the state, and hold processions to highlight its "ill-effects".

"We will observe 8 November as a 'black day for the economy' throughout the state, and take out a candlelight march at 8 pm. During the day, meetings, processions and nukkad sabhas will also be held.

"On this day, we will pay tributes to martyrs (balidaaniyo) of demonetisation," Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Raj Babbar told reporters in Lucknow on Tuesday.

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief (RJD) Lalu Prasad Yadav had also on Monday said that his party would hold rallies across Bihar on 8 November, to highlight the alleged failures of the step taken by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

"At our 8 November rallies we will ask the BJP what the common people gained by the arbitrary step of invalidating Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes," he told reporters on Monday.

With inputs from agencies
Agartala: Bangladesh railway minister Mujibal Haque said an initiative has been taken to reconnect railway lines with India in 12 places, which were snapped after partition of the country in 1947.

"We want to restore all the railway lines which existed before the partition of India. Now the initiative is on to restore rail connectivity in twelve places between Bangladesh and India. Both the governments are cooperating with each other in this regard," he told reporters on Friday evening.

Haque was in the capital to attend a conference of Rotary Clubs of both the countries. Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar inaugurated the conference.

The Bangladesh minister said the second rail bridge on the Titas and the Bhoirab rivers in Brahmanbaria district of his country was completed with funding from India, and that it would be inaugurated soon.

Apart from the Moitree Express which runs between Dhaka and Kolkata, he said another train 'Bandhan Express' to run between Khulna in Bangladesh and Kolkata, was likely to be launched in November. "There is also a proposal from Bangladesh side to launch a train to connect Rajshahi in Bangladesh and Kolkata," he said.

Haque noted that the progress of the 15-kilometre long ongoing Agartala-Akhaura project was satisfactory and land acquisition for the purpose in Bangladesh side was complete.

Land acquisition for the project in Indian side has also been completed, West Tripura District Magistrate and Collector, Milind Ramteke told reporters earlier.

The central government has released Rs 97.63 crore to acquire the land, he said.

The process of laying railway tracks to connect Agartala with Akhaura in Bangladesh would be completed next year, Haque said.

Out of the 15-kilometre track, five kilometre would be on Indian side and the rest in Bangladesh.

Ramteke stated that the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) was the nodal agency for implementation of the project in

Indian side.

Former railway minister Suresh Prabhu and Haque had jointly laid the foundation stone of the project on July 31 last.

A flyover of 3.7 kilometre will be constructed on the Indian side to save cultivable lands and the entire project cost will be borne by the central government.

New Delhi is keen to establish the rail link as it will connect West Bengal and Tripura through Bangladesh.

The 1,700 kilometre distance between Agartala and Kolkata, which goes through the chicken neck in Siliguri, would be reduced to 350 kilometre if passengers could move through Bangladesh, officials said.
Chandigarh: Authorities in Punjab on Saturday collected the DNA samples of members of some families of the 39 Indians who went missing in Iraq's Mosul in June 2014 after the town fell into the hands of terror organisation Islamic State.

The DNA samples of at least three members of each of the eight families from Amritsar district were collected by a team of doctors of the Government Medical College in Amritsar.

The Ministry of External Affairs had recently directed the state government to collect the DNA samples so that these could be sent to Iraq for the authorities there to verify the whereabouts of the 39 missing Indians.

With no word from the Central government or Iraqi authorities on whether the missing men were still alive, the distraught families, who have been hoping to hear about the well-being of the missing relatives, on Saturday indicated that much of their hopes of seeing their loved ones again were dashed.

"We have come here for the second time. No one is telling us anything about our loved ones," said Sardara Singh, 70, father of a missing youth from Amritsar district.

Members of other families said that they had no idea why the samples were being collected.

"No one from the administration is telling us why the DNA samples are being collected," said a woman relative of one of the missing men.

After Mosul was freed from the Islamic State in July this year, there was hope that the missing Indians will be found.

However, Iraqi foreign minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, during his India visit in July, said he was not sure if the missing Indians were alive or not.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had earlier assured the families, who have met her several times, that all efforts were being made to trace them.

The affected families, who are all from poor backgrounds mostly from rural areas of Punjab, say they can do nothing else but pin hope on the government's and the minister's assurances. A man from Punjab, Harjit Masih, who escaped from the clutches of Islamic State in June 2014 had claimed that all 39 Indians had been killed.

However, Sushma Swaraj has maintained that there was no information confirming their deaths.
Here we are again.

The government and judiciary clash in the course of an argument. The Attorney General says that the court "has taken over executive powers". Justice Dhananjay Y Chandrachud countered by pointing out that it was his brother judge, Justice AK Sikris orders which "ensured we could breathe during Delhi". To which the Attorney General pointed out the jobs lost in the liquor ban judgment, which Justice Chandrachud countered by saying it was only the Centres policy being enforced. Wow. Much drama. Such debate. So conflict.

Are we making too much of regular back and forth in the courtroom? Yes, we most certainly are. The issue in the case which saw this exchange is whether the Supreme Court and high courts can rely on the reports of the Standing Committees of Parliament. One point of view would be that a court turning the report of the Standing Committee of Parliament into a binding direction would infringe on the powers of Parliament. This is the view argued by the Attorney General. Justice Chandrachud takes a contrary view on the matter and the debate goes on.

Ho-hum.

It's less of a debate these days and more of a scripted play. The same arguments, counter-arguments and justifications have been trotted out since the concept of judicial review was enshrined in the Constitution. It was meant to be thus -- that the legitimately elected Parliament could be checked by an unelected body, read Supreme Court. The Parliament has the power to change the law and the Constitution as it sought fit and in turn be met with resistance from the judiciary, if required and so on. Its been happening since the 50s and continued since and it will continue to happen forever more. Because that was the constitutional intent.

If the judiciary and the government sang from the same sheet, rest assured, our fundamental rights are in peril.

Take for instance the National Anthem case. It takes a certain lack of self-awareness on the part of the court and the government to talk about "encroachment" of Parliaments powers by the judiciary when the Union was only too happy to play along in the utterly illegal and unconstitutional directions passed by the Supreme Court in this case. If the government genuinely believed the court was traipsing its domain, as a matter of principle it should have argued that the court had no business issuing such directions.

It is also utterly disingenuous for the Union government to turn up to the court and demand that a law (which the Union is perfectly competent to amend or repeal) be struck down as unconstitutional, and then complain that the court is intruding into Parliaments domain. Whether it is in the context of the triple talaq or Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, the executives concern for Parliaments powers didnt exactly come to the fore in asking the court to do the job that was properly the government and Parliaments in the first place.

This somewhat disingenuous debate hides a deeper problem that is just not being debated seriously. This problem was brought to the fore by Anuj Bhuwania in his book, Courting the People. In essence, it is his argument that it is not the consequences of a PIL that make it good or bad, but whether the due process (the core of what makes a court, a court) was followed. It is Bhuwania's strong contention that Indian courts, in their haste to be seen to be addressing rights violations, have given short shrift to the procedural aspects of justice creating the space for greater rights violations. When the courts played fast and loose with the procedure when it came to releasing bonded labourers, it also meant the same could be done to forcibly evict slum dwellers and footpath vendors. The crux of the debate is not really about whether the court has such powers, but how it has used them and on whose behest.

Framed this way, we see the true problem with some of the Supreme Court's orders -- the National Anthem case involved no actual legal dispute but somehow the court compelled every movie theatre to play the National Anthem without hearing them. The Supreme Court forbade state governments from renewing the licenses of liquor vends, without hearing the license holders, not to mention state governments apart from those of Tamil Nadu and Punjab.

Worse still, the court seems to have no clear idea what it is doing breaches constitutional boundaries in respect of citizens rights and federalism. The Supreme Court has forced speech upon citizens in clear violation of Article 19(1) and turned a mere advisory of the Union government into a law binding on the states, on an issue the Union had no power to make law in the first place. We have come to the stage where the court not only plays fast and loose with the procedure but with the Constitution itself. Either the National Anthem order or the highway liquor ban offer little by way of reasoning or thought or principle before trampling all over the Constitution.

What the "debate" about "judicial overreach" actually obscures is this sorry fact: that increasingly, the executive and the judiciary find themselves on the same page when it comes to trampling all over the Constitution.

This is what we should all be worried about.
Actor Kamal Haasan who could soon turn into politician made a surprise visit to the Ennore area in Tamil Nadu to highlight encroachments on Kosaithalaiyar river, as per media reports on Saturday.

Following his likely political plunge with a major announcement expected on 7 November, Haasan met with fishermen in Kattukkuppam near Ennore and spoke to them about the problems they face due to the encroachments on the Ennore creek and Kosaithalaiyar river. According to The Times of India, he was accompanied by activist Nityanand Jayaraman, Saravanan of Coastal Resource Centre and fisherman RL Srinivasan of Kattukkuppam.

Haasan surveyed the damage caused to the river and also spotted three power plants near the ecologically sensitive Ennore creek area. Following this, Haasan also visited Kattuppakkam village and spoke to fishermen there. Locals narrated how the encroachments by Kamarajar Port and the fly-ash from the three thermal plants adversely affected their fishing activities.

Later, the actor took to Twitter to express his concern about the Kosaithalaiyar river and Ennore creek saying it is "selfish encroachments done with no environmental concern".

"The Vallur Thermal Plant and the North Chennai Thermal Power Plant continue to dump their ash in the Kosasthalai. The government has been indifferent to this though environmental activists have been protesting against these violations for years. Fisherfolk of the area working with other public are seeking to raise their voices but it's like blowing a horn into a dead man's ear, the actor said, according to Deccan Chronicle.

"Any state that does not give the poor the same help and priority that it gives to land dealers is like the riverbank that ignores a good river running by it," the actor said and added that if steps were not taken to save the Ennore creek, nearly 10 lakh people would be affected.
More than 500 ceasefire violations have taken place along India's international borders until early October this year, which led to deaths of 14 Indian Army personnel, the Directorate General of Military Operations said in response to an RTI query.

The letter, signed by Lieutenant Colonel ADS Jasrotia, in response to a query on the number of ceasefire violations along the border in Jammu and Kashmir this year, shows that over 200 ceasefire violations were recorded in August and September alone.

The list, updated with data until 4 October, says 16 ceasefire violations took place in the first four days of this month.

The fatal casualties shown in the list include deaths of Indian Army personnel only, and not of other security forces involved in such encounters.

Ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the Line of Control has been a routine affair throughout 2017, the last of which was reported on Thursday.

On Thursday, Pakistani troops violated ceasefire by targeting forward villages and posts along the LoC in Poonch, ending over a week-long lull in the cross-border firing in the district.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has been crying foul over ceasefire violations by Indian troops along the border.

On Wednesday, Pakistan summoned India's deputy high commissioner for the fourth time in October over the alleged "ceasefire violations" by Indian troops along the Line of Control. Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned JP Singh and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations" by the Indian forces in Leepa sector on Tuesday.

"The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws," Faisal said.

Another PTI report, quoting a home ministry official, said 2017 has seen the highest number of ceasefire violations in India in a decade. There were nearly 450 ceasefire violations in 2016, in which 13 civilians and as many security personnel were killed.

India shares a 3,323-kilometre-long border with Pakistan, of which 221 kilometres of the international border and 740 kilometres of the LoC fall in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

With inputs from PTI
Sehore: A CRPF jawan was killed while three others were seriously injured when a stationary truck overturned on them after being hit by another goods carrier while the victims were having breakfast near Dodi-Aamla on Indore-Bhopal highway on Saturday, a police official said.

The incident took place when the CRPF jawans were on their way to Neemuch from Bilaspur in their truck loaded with goods for their store.

However, when they stopped at Dodi-Aamla and were having tea and breakfast after getting down from their vehicle, a stationary truck loaded with goods suddenly overturned on them as it was hit by another carrier coming from Bhopal side trapping four jawans under it, Dodi police post in-charge Loksingh Marawi said.

Police along with local villagers rushed to the site and somehow managed to pull out the trapped jawans and rushed them to a nearby hospital.

A jawan, identified as Rajendra Singh (40) died on the spot while three others were referred to Bhopal after initial treatment, Marawi said.

Police informed the CRPF unit about the incident. The paramilitary officers reached the spot and took the body of the jawan to Gurdaspur (Punjab) by flight as the victim belong to that place.

Cops have seized both the trucks involved in the mishap but their drivers escaped from the spot.

Jawar police station is probing the incident further, Sehore district's superintendent of police (SP), Siddharth Bahuguna added.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said there were "practical problems" due to which he was not able to meet the media often.

"There are hopes from the both sides. There are complaints from the both sides. But I think it is our professional hazard. We have to find a middle path to move forward, smilingly," he told media-persons at the BJP's Diwali Milan event in New Delhi.

"I recall how I used to spend much of my time with you... Most of you are from the same generation. Getting nostalgic is natural. There were no barriers, no difficulties then. Those were the days when we used to search for you and my speech would some time find some space (in the media)."

Modi

He said the media unlike previously has expanded so much now that it was difficult to meet all journalists.

"Some of you tell me, Modiji you don't meet us now. Earlier we used to meet you, used to just knock at the door and enter. That was a different atmosphere of happiness. We used to talk a lot but today it has become difficult.

"There were only a few in your fraternity. And the circle has become so big and media itself has so evolved in so many ways... It has posed us a challenge in maintaining contact and maintain openness. There is no problem with intentions, the problem is practical," Modi said,

He said understanding each other further strengthens the relationship and mutual belief.

"My experience says that everyone performs duties formally. But informally every one has something to contribute to the nation. They (journalists) tell us about bottlenecks... tell us where we need to improve. You guys travel a lot," he said.

Modi said he could also identify some media who criticise for the sake of criticism.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman will pay a visit to Canada on October 28-November 1, the government's press service reported.

"The head of government will hold talks with the state leadership and visit major international events, including the Toronto Global Forum, the Aerospace Business Forum and the Day of Ukraine in the Canadian Parliament," the report says.

He will also meet with business circles of Canada and representatives of the Ukrainian community.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah interacted with media persons on Saturday at the Diwali Milan Samaroh at party headquarters in Delhi. While Shah lauded the NDA government at the Centre for successfully fighting every challenge, be it at the borders or to improve the lives of the poor, Modi thanked the media for making a positive change by making the Swacch Abhiyan its own mission.

Country has witnessed the positive role played by media in making the Swach Bharat Mission a success: PM Modi pic.twitter.com/EJ7s7jIGKq  ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2017

In the annual interaction with the media, Modi said that it has rekindled the memories of old days when he used to work at the party headquarters. "It feels nice to meet my friends from the media without their cameras, papers and pens. We have a long association with each other and there is an understanding with which we all work for the country," he said. The prime minister said that earlier, there were very few people in the media industry but now, it is huge and a number of new mediums of news have also come up. "Times have changed and it has become difficult for us to interact with each other," he added. He also said that apart from their jobs, the media also has suggestions to improve the country.

#LIVE - Apart from doing jobs, media has suggestions to improve the nation: PM Modi at Diwali Milan Samaroh pic.twitter.com/DFl8L9QeOI  News18 (@CNNnews18) October 28, 2017

"My experience says that everyone performs duties formally. But informally, every one has something to contribute to the nation. Journalists tell us about bottlenecks... tell us where we need to improve. Journalists travel a lot," he added.

Referring to the structure of political parties, Modi said that democracy in parties is something new that the country is adapting to and it is a subject that people should know more about. People should know how a party takes shape and how its karyakartas are recruited, he said. "We need to have transparency in the recruitment process of the parties also, the prime minister said.

Democracy in political parties is a subject more people should know more about: PM Shri @narendramodi https://t.co/rKWO4mKWF1 pic.twitter.com/sKPaUzjwZ0  BJP (@BJP4India) October 28, 2017

"It is true that the funding of political parties is a point of media discussion and many things come out in the open. But overall, how they are formed, how they function, how they recruit, their values, their ideologies and their weaknesses, what is the reason behind such weaknesses... all this should be debated," Modi said, adding that political parties evolving "with a true democratic spirit is necessary for the country, necessary for a democracy".

Modi also acknowledged that there are many voices within the BJP. He noted that when it was a small organisation earlier or during the times of Jana Sangh, its forerunner, there used to be "ideological harmony" from its central leadership down to workers in the bottom rung.

The party's expansion may be a reason behind divergent views, he said.

With inputs from agencies
Nagpur/Chennai: The road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday flagged off a Roll-on-Roll-off (RoRo)-cum-general cargo vessel carrying 185 trucks from Chennai Port to Mongla port in Bangladesh which is expected to save around 15 to 20 days of travel time.

Digitally flagging off the vessel from Nagpur, Gadkari said that transport through the sea route will save about 15 to 20 days of travel time.

"As per our government's vision, our first priority is waterways, followed by railways and roadways. Transport by sea not only reduces cost, it also saves time and reduces carbon footprint," he said.

Gadkari also called on all automobile manufactures to use coastal shipping mode for transporting their vehicles. So far, such trucks being exported by Ashok Leyland were being sent to Bangladesh through the land route, travelling a distance of about 1,500 kilometres.

For this trip alone, a total of around three lakh vehicle kilometres of road travel will be saved as the land route is longer and much time is lost at the congested Petrapole-Benapole check point at the India-Bangladesh border, a shipping ministry statement said.

"Initiatives like this are aimed at providing innovative logistic chain solutions under Sagarmala. The ultimate objective is to save logistic costs and time of transportation and boosting trade by making Indian goods competitive in international markets," the statement said.

The coastal shipping agreement between India and Bangladesh was signed during prime minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh in June 2015.

Based on the agreement, sea transportation from Indian to Bangladesh ports is being treated as coastal movement, making it eligible for 40 per cent concession on vessel related and cargo related charges.

For coastal movement through RoRo vessels, 80 percent concession on vessel related and cargo related charges are applicable in Indian ports, the Shipping Ministry said.
Patna: Expressing grief over the deaths caused by drowning during the Chhath festival in the state, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday announced an ex-gratia of Rs four lakh to family members of each deceased person.

Condoling the deaths, the chief minister directed all the respective District Magistrates to ensure expeditious payment of the ex-gratia, an official release said here.

Over a dozen people drowned while offering prayers on the concluding day of the Chhath festivities in Bihar on Friday.

Four deaths were reported from Bhagalpur district, three from Samastipur, two from Araria and one each from Arwal, Sitamarhi, Madhepura, Aurai and Vaishali districts.

In Bhagalpur district, three persons drowned in Kahalgaon police station area, Radha Mohan Singh, Circle Officer of Kahalgaon said.

In Samastipur district, two siblings, a boy aged 13 and a girl aged 10, drowned in a village pond
Patna: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday instructed officials to take stern action against those found guilty in the hooch tragedy in Rohtas district which has claimed four lives.

Kumar issued the instructions at a review meeting held with the state's chief secretary, home secretary and director general of police, an official release said.

Four persons died after consuming spurious liquor in Rohtas district on Friday night, following which nine police personnel were placed under suspension on Saturday.

A complete ban on sale and consumption of alcohol was imposed in Bihar in April 2016.

Explanations have been sought from a number of officials regarding the lapse, while the police on Saturday raided a shop owned by one of the accused and seized liquor bottles.

A political slugfest has broken out over the Rohtas hooch tragedy with opposition RJD Saturday charging that the prohibition in the state was "only on paper" and the ruling JD(U) claiming a drop in crime rates and improvement in the standard of living due to the liquor ban.

Meanwhile, according to another release, the chief minister met and blessed a couple from Bhojpur district who had tied the knot without giving or accepting dowry.

Kumar had, on 2 October, called for a statewide campaign against dowry and child marriage.
Srinagar: A policeman from south Kashmirs Shopian district has deserted the police force and joined militant ranks, the police said in Srinagar on Thursday.

Ishfaq Ahmad Dar, a resident of Heff village of Shopian, has deserted the force and joined militant ranks, inspector general of police (IGP) Kashmir Range, Munir Ahmad Khan told PTI.

"I can confirm you that Dar has joined militant ranks," Khan said. He however, declined to name the militant outfit Dar has joined.

"I cannot tell you which militant outfit, we are still trying to ascertain that," the IGP said.

Dar, posted in Budgam district, was undergoing training in Kathua district in Jammu region of the state, where from he took leave earlier this week.

He returned home and went missing from there, following which his family lodged a missing report in a police station on Friday.
Thiruvananthapuram: President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday termed Kerala the "global face" and "digital power house" of the country, lauding its achievements in the sectors of health, education, sanitation and IT.

Kovind, on his second tour to Kerala after assuming the office, attended two functions in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, wherein he said the emphasis on development, health care and education in the state is an example for the rest of the country.

Congratulating the CPM-led LDF government in the state for expanding internet connectivity, he said it would remove the digital divide in the society.

"I understand that the government is making efforts to bridge the digital divide and provide free Internet connections to two million poor families by using a new optic fibre network," he said after launching the state's ambitious Technocity project at Pallippuram near Thiruvananthapuram.

Kerala ranked eighth in the IT sector in the country, he said, adding "the sector provides direct employment to one lakh people".

"This is only the tip of the iceberg. There is immense capacity to make these numbers grow," he said.

Kovind praised the southern state's tradition and said its thinking has been "humanistic, people-oriented and democratic".

"In sanitation, your achievements are praiseworthy. In local self-government and panchayati raj, again Kerala has deepened our democracy," he said.

Calling Kerala as the "land of spiritualism", he said that over centuries, the state has been the home of some great religions.

"Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Jewish cultures are age-old and have existed in close proximity here (Kerala). They have given space to each other. It is important to keep that tradition of harmony alive even today," he said.

Kovind praised the hardworking and pleasing nature of Keralites, especially in the field of health care and hospitality.

"Here the local people of Kerala  across the socio-economic spectrum  deserve to be congratulated for having created a remarkable hospitality industry and I would say hospitality culture. This is a role model for many parts of India," he said.

Hospitals and medical centres in and outside the country cannot function without the "ever smiling and ever attentive sisters from Kerala", he said, adding health care workers from the state, both men and women, are internationally sought after.

Mentioning the valuable contributions by the Malayalee migrant community in other countries, the president said they are the backbone of the work-force of so many Gulf nations.

"God's Own Country (Kerala) has an uncommon and important identity as a global face of India. This is true in so many ways," he said.

The president's praise for Kerala's religious harmony, hard working nature of its people and achievements of the government comes in the wake of saffron outfits alleging that the southern state has become a fertile land for political violence and jihadi terror.

The praise also comes against the backdrop of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath attacking the state for its "poor healthcare" facilities and Goa chief minister Manohar Pairkkar stating that Kerala is being ruled by "rogues".

The BJP leaders had visited the state to participate in the recently concluded Janaraksha Yatra, taken out by state BJP against alleged political violence unleashed by ruling CPM against its cadres.
Kochi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday stressed the need to make high court judgments understandable to litigants in a language they know and suggested setting up of a mechanism to issue certified translated copies of verdicts.

The President also advocated for speedy disposal of cases as "the poorest and most underprivileged" in the society were the sufferers of delayed justice.

"Delay in delivery of justice is a pressing concern in our country. Often those who suffer are among the poorest and most underprivileged in our society. We must find mechanisms to ensure quick disposal of cases," he said while addressing the valedictory function of the diamond jubilee celebrations of the High Court of Kerala in Kochi.

"We could all consider an approach that makes adjournments the exception in an emergency situation rather than a tactic to prolong court proceedings. We must find a way forward," the President said at the function also attended by several judges including Chief Justice of India Justice Dipak Misra and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Kovind said it was important to not only take justice to the people, but also to make it understandable to litigating parties in a language they knew.

"High Courts deliver judgments in English, but we are a country of diverse languages. The litigant may not be conversant with English and the finer points of the judgment may escape him or her. The litigating parties will thus be dependent on the lawyer or another person to translate the judgment. This can add to time and cost," he said.

The President suggested that a system could be evolved whereby certified translated copies of judgments were made available by the high courts in local or regional languages.

"This could happen in a period of say 24 or 36 hours after the judgment is pronounced. The language could be Malayalam in the Honourable Kerala High Court or Hindi in the Honourable Patna High Court, as the case may be," Kovind said adding he was only making a suggestion in this regard.

"It is for the judiciary and the legal fraternity to discuss this and decide as appropriate," he said.

The President also said the judiciary and justice delivery mechanism of the country would need to continue to keep up with technology and with changes in the society, as indeed they have been so capably doing.
It's been five days since 24-year-old Raya Sarkar kicked up a storm in the world of academia by introducing a crowd-sourced list of alleged sexual predators. The eye-opener that it was, the list took further the #MeToo campaign that had been trending on social media ever since the story of Harvey Weinstein came out.

Many have expressed admiration at the courage displayed by Sarkar, a student of the University of California student. However, Sarkar's social media inbox had a different story to tell.

Just two days after putting up the list on Facebook, Sarkar posted about getting death and rape threats for standing up for victims of sexual harassment.

"I'm getting so much hate. From death threats to rape threats. I've stopped looking at my 'others' folder," Sarkar, who prefers the pronoun 'they/them' wrote on Facebook.

For many, the 'others' folder is often a place for unsolicited sexually explicit messages from strangers. For someone like Sarkar, who had bravely stood up for a sensitive issue, an inbox flooded with criticism was much-expected. "I've sacrificed my mental health, career and life just for "kicks" isn't that right ? Thanks for showing me the true color of your crusades to silence victims," they said in the Facebook post.

Sarkar's list has now grown to harbour 69 names of professors from reputed institutions like Jawaharlal Nehru University, Indian Institute of Technology (Bhubaneswar), Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Film and Television Institute of India.

Abhijit Gupta, who features in Sarkar's list, soon posted an 'empathetic' post on Facebook. According to The New Indian Express, he had written that he understood the reason behind the post and that "institutions had failed the victims". He later deleted the post after journalist Abhimanyu Kumar lashed out at him for ignoring the actual charges against him.

Kumar went a step ahead to remove content provided by academics named in the list on a blog he works with.

On Saturday, Sarkar continued to justify the names that were on the list. Writing on well-known academician Ashley Tellis, Sarkar revealed a shocking incident which exposed Sarkar to the dark side of academia.

Sarkar's act of bravery has clearly managed to make an impact on upper-class academic circles. When Firstpost had reached out to one of the academicians on the list, he said that he felt like a victim because Sarkar had blocked him from contacting.

In an interview for Buzzfeed News, Sarkar said, "The list was not prepared with institutional action in mind, but as a cautionary list for students." So far, the list has more than 2,000 likes and has been shared by over a thousand people on Facebook. The authorities would have to be absolutely blind to not see that this needs attention.
New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was admitted to a hospital in New Delhi on Friday evening after she complained of upset stomach, was discharged on Saturday.

According to Dr DS Rana, chairman (Board of Management) of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Gandhi had recovered from upset stomach and was discharged on Saturday at 4 pm.

"Her condition at the time of discharge was stable and she has been advised rest," Dr Rana said.

Sonia Gandhi recovered from upset stomach, discharged at 4 pm today. Condition stable, rest advised: Sir Ganga Ram Hospital #Delhi  ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2017

Gandhi, 70, was Friday evening rushed to the hospital in an air-ambulance from Shimla, where she had gone for a vacation.

A team of doctors from the hospital was deputed to bring her back from Shimla.
Patna: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav attacked the Nitish Kumar government over the hooch tragedy in Bihar's Rohtas district, which has claimed four lives, and charged that the ban on sale and consumption of alcohol in the state was "only on paper".

Four persons had died after drinking spurious liquor on Saturday night at Danwar village of Rohtas district of Bihar, where a complete prohibition was clamped in April 2016.

Eight police officials have been suspended in connection with it.

Speaking to reporters, Yadav, who is also the leader of Opposition in Bihar assembly said, "What has happened in Rohtas is not the first incident of its kind since the complete prohibition was announced in Bihar. We (RJD) were then a coalition partner in the government and had supported Nitish Kumar's move. But as things have turned out, prohibition seems to have been implemented only on paper", Yadav told reporters.

He said it appears that Kumar had announced prohibition only because of the "prime ministerial ambitions that he nursed at that time". "He needed an issue on the basis of which he could market himself outside Bihar."

"Kumar used to hold meetings in states like Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh to press the demand for complete prohibition across the country. Now as an ally of the BJP, which is in power in all these states, can he hold similar public gatherings in these states ?" Yadav asked.

Training his guns at BJP, Yadav said "Kumar's current allies used to call the prohibition law in Bihar draconian. Now they are in power in the state. How will the ruling dispensation now muster the moral strength required to strictly enforce the ban on sale and consumption of liquor?"

He said the suspension of police officials after the death of four persons in the liquor tragedy is "an eyewash". "The people of the state will give a befitting lesson to this corrupt and inefficient government at an appropriate time," Yadav added.
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has signed the law on ratification of the agreement (in the form of an exchange of notes) between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the United States of America on the renewal of the agreement between the two states' governments on cooperation in science and technology.

"The document renews the agreement between the Governments of Ukraine and the United States on cooperation in science and technology dated December 4, 2006," the press service of the Ukrainian president said.

The agreement comes into force from on the date of the receipt by the American side of a notification from the Ukrainian side about the completion of all necessary domestic procedures.

The Ukrainian-U.S. Agreement will be valid for the period until May 2019.
New Delhi: Goals of the Swachh Bharat mission can't be attained without upgradation of urban local bodies with latest technology and knowledge and linking them with career advancement, recommends a report by climate think tank TERI.

It also highlights the plight of the people involved in de-sludging suggesting that the government should impart required skills to such people and combine training with immediate placement.

"Making capacity-building activities for the urban local bodies mandatory and linking them with career advancement would help in integrating capacity building with rest of the development plans of cities. It will close the gap in capacity enhancement efforts to attain the goal of the mission," suggests the TERI report.

It is part of a three year (2014-17) collaborating programme undertaken by TERI, Coca-Cola India and USAID.

The report has recommended that by bringing in the improvements in the capacities of the key institutions involved in smooth functioning of the urban water and sanitation sector, it is essential to use the funds set aside for capacity building by the mission in urban areas.

"Improve the capacity of urban local body officials to undertake preventive maintenance of sanitation infrastructure networks," says the report.

It has also suggested enhancing institutional, financial and human resource capacities of these bodies for improved management of faecal sludge and septage.

Taking a page out of the success story of Bangladesh in eliminating outside defecation by strengthening the communities at the grass root level, the report has recommended that the government educate, motivate and mobilise households and communities towards enhanced engagement in planning and implementing sanitation services.

Emphasising on the contribution of non-governmental organisations, the report has urged the government to enhance the capacities of the NGOs and other partners to engage themselves effectively in the entire water, sanitation and hygiene sector.
New Delhi: Union minister KJ Alphons visited the injured Swiss couple, who were allegedly attacked in Agra's Fatehpur Sikri by a group of youths, at Apollo Hospital in New Delhi on Saturday, an official statement said.

Delhi: Tourism Minister K. J. Alphons visited the injured Swiss couple Quentin Clerc and Marie Droz at Apollo Hospital pic.twitter.com/7JiP5oz3Xs  ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2017

The minister of state (independent charge) for tourism also had discussion with the hospital management and doctors regarding their treatment, the statement said.

Both the patients are fast recovering and are very happy about the treatment that they are getting at the hospital, as per the statement.

The couple  Quentin Jeremy Clerc (24) and Marie Droz (24)  from Lausanne in Switzerland, who came to India on 30 September, was chased and attacked on Sunday with stones and sticks by a group of four youths in the tourist town of Fatehpur Sikri, about 40 kilometres from Agra, according to media accounts of the incident.

They told the media that as they lay on the ground bloodied and bruised, bystanders began taking videos of them on their mobile phones.
Lucknow: Hundreds of sugarcane farmers in Uttar Pradesh burnt their crops outside the Vidhan Sabha on Saturday and raised slogans against the Yogi Adityanath government, terming the Rs 10 hike in the minimum support price as "paltry".

The state government two days back had increased the minimum support price (MSP) for sugarcane by Rs 10/quintal, bringing the MSP to Rs 315 per quintal.

The angry farmers said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had gone back on its poll promise of fixing sugarcane price at Rs 450 per quintal.

The farmers, led by the Bharatiya Kisan Union, also threatened to launch an agitation across the state if their demands were not met within a fixed time frame.

Harinam Singh Verma of the BKU said the BJP government has rubbed salt on their injuries with such a paltry hike and said the Adityanath government was behaving like its predecessor by taking the side of the sugar mill owners.

The farmers first set sugarcane on fire outside the state assembly building and the state BJP headquarters and later headed towards the Collectorate.

The farmers will now get Rs 3.15 per kg against the earlier price of Rs 3.05 per kg. The sugarcane industry has however welcomed the price hike by the state government as reasonable.
Washington: The US wants to deepen military relationship and expand bilateral trade with New Delhi which will ease the sale of the F-16 and F-18 jets to India and will also help create a defence technology partnership, a top American diplomat has said.

"This is a dynamic relationship really hasn't begun to see the potential yet," Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs and Acting Special

Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Alice G Wells, told reporters in Washington.

Wells accompanied Tillerson on his just concluded trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

"This was an extremely friendly, very wide-ranging dialogue on how we can partner together on the strategic relationship that we think is going to define the rest of the 21st century," Wells said.

While there was a bilateral component to the visit, but they talked about how the two countries with shared values  a respect for democracy, transparency, freedom of navigation, for economic development  can inculcate these values in the broader Indo-Pacific region, working with important partners like Japan and Australia.

"Tillerson's visit to Gandhi Smriti was very moving, and again, really was a touchstone for what unites  that this relationship is very much one built on values," she said adding that the Secretary of State laid out a lot of ambitions for the relationship.

"We want to build on the June visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the President, and just say, how do we take this relationship to the next level?," she said.

"Obviously, we'd like to deepen the military-to-military cooperation that has moved very quickly; over the last decade we've gone from zero in defence sales to 15 billion in defence sales," Wells said.

"There are important defence agreements that the two countries can move forward on that will make it easier for the US to share classified data and that will facilitate sales like the F-16 or the F-18 and will help create a defence technology partnership, which is what India is seeking, but which will also create jobs for Americans at home," she said.

"We'd like to expand the bilateral trade and investment dimension of the relationship. We have about $115 billion in trade, $40 billion in bilateral investment," she said noting that this week they have two important meetings going on, the Trade Policy Forum and the Commercial Dialogue.

US sees this as a two-way street. In November Mahindra is opening an auto plant in Michigan.

"We've seen purchases of Boeing aircraft, all of which produce, again, thousands of jobs for American citizens," Wells said.

Later in November the Global Entrepreneurship Summit to be attended by Ivanka Trump, which is going to bring together 1,300 entrepreneurs and investors, really demonstrate the entrepreneurial spirit of the relationship.

"During his India visit, Tillerson focused on how they can promote regional stability. In the South Asia strategy, we've given an important role to India on helping to stabilise Afghanistan economically and to build its human resource capacity," Wells said.

"Since 2001, India has invested $2 billion in Afghanistan. They've pledged another $1 billion by 2020. India has projects in 31 provinces and all of these projects have been very well received. They're constructive, and I think it's demonstrated that India is an important and valuable partner," she said.

"At the same time, of course, we've made it clear to everyone that we would never tolerate anyones soil being used against the other," she added.

Finally, on the fight against terrorism, building on the joint designation we did of Harakat ul-Mujahidin during Prime Minister Modi's visit, we're looking forward to working with the the Indians on identifying additional designations that we should pursue together," Wells said.
New Delhi: Senior journalists and former colleagues of Vinod Verma on Saturday expressed solidarity with the arrested journalist and demanded his immediate release.

The journalists held a protest meeting at the Press Club of India (PCI) demanding that Chhattisgarh Police exhibit any evidence against Verma, who was arrested on Friday on charges of extortion after claiming to have a "sex CD" of a BJP minister.

"Chhattisgarh Police must furnish evidence related to extortion charges against Verma. They must exhibit materials to support its case," senior journalist Vinod Sharma demanded and said that the arrest of Verma is a warning to media.

Comparing the situation with that of Emergency, senior Hindi journalist Jaishankar Gupta said although the situation is not as bad as Emergency as then there were some laws which prohibited media from publishing, "Now people can be arrested on any charges if they publish anything against the government."

Om Thanvi, the former editor of Jansatta, said that targeting journalists is not a good sign and arresting them under criminal charges is an indication that they might be booked for writing against the government.

Senior journalist Urmilesh criticised the government and said that Verma was targetted the as he was member of a fact-finding team of the Editors Guild of India that exposed intimidation of journalists in Chhattisgarh.

He said Verma is not a full-fledged member of the Congress party but he is associated with a public relations company that is managing the work of the Congress in Chhattisgarh.

Verma, an independent journalist, had worked with a leading Hindi newspaper and BBC for several years.

He was arrested in Ghaziabad early on Friday on charges of allegedly blackmailing a BJP Minister in Chhattisgarh. Verma denied the charge and said he was being framed.
It was in February this year that a group of nine people gathered at the famous Pahadi Shareef dargah in Hyderabad to catch the popular Thursday night qawwali performance.

A little later, digging into some street food, a conversation about death began (maybe due to the proximity of a graveyard in the vicinity?) and so a social franchise  Death Cafe  came into existence in India. A member of the group, Sneha Rooh  who had lost her mother a month ago, initiated the discourse and others followed, enabling a discussion about death and its effects.

The Death Cafe model was developed by Jon Underwood and Sue Barsky Reid, based on the ideas of Bernard Crettaz, an eminent Swiss sociologist. Since September 2011, over 5,028 Death Cafes have been held across 51 countries in Europe, North America and Asia. A Death Cafe is a group-directed conversation of death with no agenda, objectives or themes. It is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counselling session.

A palliative physician, Sneha Rooh (30) wanted to reduce the taboo around death somewhat, when she started the first Death Cafe here. I was writing a paper on What constitutes a good death? and started talking to people  both patients and doctors. Thats when I realised we feel inherently hesitant to talk about death. Even doctors who are in the field of palliative medicine are not comfortable with the idea and would ask, Why are you obsessed with death? It was around this time I noticed it is a systemic problem and wanted to start a conversation regarding death, she told Firstpost.

A Death Cafe is a safe space to talk about death, the loss of loved ones and fears people have regarding the inevitable. Sneha categorically states that it is not a support group or a therapy session and says it is only a platform for conversation. She believes we are becoming a death denying society, which makes initiatives like this important.

Sneha explains, Even my colleagues who deal with death are weary of the topic. That was when I thought if something stops even them from talking about it, there is something that is happening at a social level. I researched more and found that ours indeed is, what is called a death denying society. It was seconded by researchers who wrote about the death symbols in our society becoming fewer and less conspicuous e.g. grieving rituals, hearse vans, one wants to take the body from the hospital mortuary to the cremation, without stopping at home etc. Hence these conversations become very important.

There is no fixed location to hold a Death Cafe. The first version was held in the founders living room and locations have varied from coffee shops to cemeteries. Tea, coffee and snacks are however essential to a meet as they foster a congenial atmosphere. There is laughter too, surprisingly, when people share their wildest theories on death or discuss the morality codes imposed by society.

An ordinary session is officially scheduled for two hours but regularly goes beyond that. Sneha enlists the ground rules: We start with what Death Cafe is about and establish a few rules  like, no interrupting or patronising another person, we tell them that it is neither an educative session, not a support group; that experiences matter more than opinions. The people bring up topics that matter to them and we talk about it like any another subject. As a facilitator, I intervene when conversations are getting stuck at one point or to bring in a new idea I would like to hear about.

The Death Cafe sessions held in Hyderabad saw varied reactions from the people who participated:

A person from Palestine spoke of how death is a part of the daily routine in his homeland and how people going to war treat it in the same way they would if they were going to a wedding. There was a discussion on why its wrong to take a selfie with a dead body. A session held in a school saw children come forward and share their observations  ranging from the funny to the profound  encompassing their definition of death, or the loss of beloved pets.

Says Santosh Mohan Veeranki, a filmmaker who was present at the first meeting in Hyderabad: Discussing what is a purportedly morbid subject in an accessible manner was a welcome change. It was a free-flowing event with no fixed agenda. Some spoke about their personal losses while others shared their philosophy on death. It helped people to re-calibrate the choices they make as eventually everything will end.

Former navigation officer Nishanth Sadaram says it was a comfort to speak openly about death: It was a very fluid session where anything regarding death was spoken about. It wasnt as intense as I expected, although it was a relief to hear people speaking about it like they would about any other topic.

Some were disappointed at the time wasted. Others were shaken and moved to reflect on the finite-ness of life.

Sneha Rooh is currently touring the country offering basic palliative care training for health care professionals and the Death Cafe is traveling with her. She plans to hold a session in every state she visits. So far, there have been meets organised in four cities  Hyderabad, Chennai, Puducherry and Bengaluru. Plans are on to host sessions in Maharashtra, Goa and Delhi in the coming months.

"Even people who've just come to see 'what there is to talk about death' end up sharing a lot at these meetings," says Sneha, adding, "There is much more to death, dying and its effect on us and our lives than we think... Reflection on death enriches everyone.
Kashmiri cuisine is well-known for its heady mix of spices, culture and tradition, and the streets of Jammu bear witness to this. Vendors line the roadsides selling their dishes but theres one in particular that is a must-try  the Kalari kulcha. Few have heard of it, and fewer have tasted it. Not your usual Parmesan or Brie but equally exciting, Kalari is an indigenous Indian cheese made in Kashmir. A large round slice of this cheese is fried or grilled in oil and served between two slices of bread or pao, with various chutneys  and voila! you have Jammus very own Kalari kulcha.

From relative anonymity to occupying starring roles in gourmet cuisine, India's indigenous cheeses have undertaken quite the journey  and no, we're not talking about the ubiquitous paneer. After years of neglect, when this cottage industry was almost set to vanish, a sudden surge of demand and awareness has led to a belief that maybe our chefs can save this piece of tasty history from oblivion. Using indigenous Indian cheese is the current trend. We have a number of such varieties and are striving to preserve them and create awareness, says Mumbai-based cheese curator Mansi Jasani. Her passion for everything cheesy led to this interesting job profile and an initiative called The Cheese Collective.

Chefs  travelling to nooks and corners of the country, incorporating local flavours and ingredients and creating unique styles  have had a huge role to play in the resurgence of indigenous cheeses. Take for instance Mumbai-based chef Prateek Sadhu, who recounted how his childhood experience came into play at his restaurant Masque, a farm-to-table uber gourmet restaurant. I have grown up eating Kalari as a snack, served with local Kashmiri bread alongside. The entire philosophy at Masque revolves around ingredients from within India, including those growing around the Himalayan region. So right from Kalari to locally-produced cheeses from Pahalgham, we have tried to incorporate these by giving them our own spin  like a cheese brulee which literally means burnt cheese. Its basically cheese custard with pistachio nuts, almonds and we do a seasonal jam and sourdough bread, says Prateek.

These risque ventures work out because the foodies of today are themselves aware of the ingredients used and conscious of its origins. Industrialised cheese was almost killing the 200-year-old cottage industry of Indian indigenous cheese. The current generation was exposed to packaged cheese attractively sold to induce a buying pattern, but not to our own local ones, says chef Sabyasachi Gorai who serves indigenous cheese at his Armenian restaurant, Lavaash by Saby in New Delhi. Today, the clientele is more excited and intrigued when I serve indigenous cheese, curious to know more and open to the flavours. One has to remember that such curated gourmet cheese comes with a sharp, strong taste, unlike the milky-bar effect of packaged cheese, Sabyasachi adds.

Believe it or not, the government had a hand in the revival of Indian indigenous cheese. In 1984, it banned the import of animal rennet  taken from the stomach of newborn calves, killing the animal in the process  used in cheese-making. However, since economic liberalisation in 1991, packaged foreign brands entered the market and the lines blurred. In April 2016, the Beauty Without Cruelty organisation filed a complaint with the government when it found Amazon India selling bottles of liquid animal-derived rennet, which were then removed. In 2011, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) cracked down on the cheese import industry. Not only did it ban all imported cheese which used animal rennet but also declared that all milk and milk products coming into the country must be heat-processed to kill bacteria. This sounded the death knell for most raw milk cheese, except highly-processed ones.

Chefs began to opt for Indian indigenous cheese rather than low-quality imported ones. This opened up the market for this cottage industry to make a comeback. Since Indian cheese was not a commercially viable product, with very low and localised profit, businesses didnt cater to it. Today there are more takers as many restaurants commercially use varieties of Indian cheese. Over the past three years, I have noticed a considerable rise in price, says Sabyasachi. He recalls how the Kalimpong cheese, initially made by a priest in Sikkim and available locally there, is today made in the quaint hill-station of the same name in West Bengal and available in only one store in Kolkatas New Market (the erstwhile Hoggs market), and nowhere else in India.

Not only has the taste and craft been saved, but these varieties of cheese from different regions of India come with their own unique slice of history and culture. Food historian Pushpesh Pant writes that cheese as a dairy product was sold as a commodity on the Silk Route. There are textual references of cheese dating back to the Kushan period: the use of solids obtained from the mixture of warm milk and curds. While the warrior community was served this solid, the thin liquid (whey) was given to the poor.

Bandel is a small town in West Bengal which was colonised by the Portuguese. They happened to introduce cheese, which today is called Bandel and comes with a smoky taste and flavour. Also believed to have a Portuguese influence is Surti cheese made in Surat, Gujarat. Churu is a soft and pungent cheese, used in Bhutan to make its signature national dish, Ema Datshi. Churu means rotten cheese and its strong smell and flavour is used in meat preparations. Churrpi is made in the Himalayan regions from yaks milk. Topli nu paneer is a Parsi preparation which used to be a must-have at weddings but today is supplied by only a handful of people in Mumbai.

Temperature, climatic conditions and lasting capacity played a huge role too. Other than the regions in the mountains where the temperatures are much cooler, the rest of India concentrated on other dairy products like ghee, butter and curd which could be preserved in warmer climates. Interestingly, locals say that Kalari cheese was discovered when the nomadic cattle community of Kashmir, the Gujjars, travelled with their milk from the cooler regions in the mountain to the warmer plains. The difference in temperature naturally split the milk from which they made Kalari, and used the whey to make another ricotta-like cheese called Kudan.

Coming back to the present, the dilemma that one faces with Indian cheese is how to use it, and in which cuisine. Other than local dishes, chefs have been experimenting to create new pairings, like Prateeks cheese brulee. Other than the usual usage in salads and crumbles, one can also mix it up with local ingredients. Sabyasachi tried a unique combination where he used the Bengali nolen gur, or date palm jiggery, instead of maple syrup with his serving of Indian cheese.

So next time you go for cheese shopping or are at a restaurant, remember to ask for the desi variety.
Editor's note: Under the norms of the caste system, Dalits were denied the pen. Before the advent of Dalit literature in India, much of Dalit history was oral in nature. Their lives were not available to them in written form, and even when available, it was a depiction by those who had no experiential connection with Dalits.

It was Dr BR Ambedkar who stressed on literary assertion as a means to struggle against the caste system. Thus began the ceaseless movement of literary assertion by Dalits, who went on to write powerful stories about their lives. It marked a resurrection of their experiential world, which had been appropriated by the pens of Savarnas.

Poems, stories, novels, biographies, autobiographies produced by Dalits established a new body of literature in which, for the first time, the downtrodden took centrestage. People who had been denied what humanity considers the basics, started to transform the lives of others like them, through the written word.

As this movement of literary assertion by Dalits grew stronger, the unseen side of India  the side that is brutal and inhumane  became visible to the world. Maharashtra was at the forefront of this revolution that has, over the last six decades, helped transform the worldview about Dalit lives. Almost all of the writers who shaped the early theoretical discourse of Dalit literature were from Maharashtra and in this series, we revisit the lives and works of 10 distinguished Dalit writers from the state  and their impact on the literary world.

In this fourth column, we look at the literary legacy of Namdeo Dhasal.

***

Both my individual and my collective life have been through such tremendous upheavals that if my personal life did not have poetry to fall back on I would not have reached thus far. I would have become a top gangster, the owner of a brothel, or a smuggler.  Namdeo Dhasal

Perhaps, no poet in history has bestowed as much faith and trust in the power of verse than Namdeo Dhasal. His poems are powerful songs of rebellion as much as a theory of liberation from the mental slavery imposed by caste. Namdeo Dhasal does not need any introduction when we discuss literature, at least in Maharashtra. Hailing from a village called Pur near Pune, Dhasals family migrated to (then) Bombay when he was in Class Five.

The time was the early 1950s. In the city of dreams and dread, the Dhasal family landed in Dhor Chawl, a residential locality predominantly populated with 'untouchables'. Located in Central Bombay, Dhor Chawl became the Dhasals' abode; it had some of the city's oldest slums in its proximity, as also the infamous red light district of Kamathipura. It was perhaps the most wretched area within the city. It was around this period that the underworld was taking root in Mumbai, and such localities became its birthplace. Dhasal is the only person to emerge from this wretched landscape as a poet.

Dhasal once describes his life thus:

I boozed. I visited brothels. I went to mujra dancing womens establishments and to houses of ordinary prostitutes. The whole ambience and the ethos of it was the revelation of a tremendous form of life. It was life! Then I threw all rulebooks out. No longer the rules of prosody for me. My poetry was as free as I was. I wrote what I felt like writing and how I felt like writing. I had found my weapons and I sharpened them. Nothing was going to stop me now. I went on writing, unshackled and liberated.

His verses so poignantly describe his own emergence as a poet when he writes:

I was born/On footpath/ when the Sun was leaked/ and being dimmed/into the bosom of night. [Translated by this writer]

What happened to him when he had witnessed the reality of life at such levels and in all its hues? When he said, it was life, he meant he was more close to human beings out there and could sample all the flavours of humanity. Wretched circumstances, even if they destroy your material life, do also introduce you to the basics of humanity  a person amid such conditions always develops a sense of survival and rebellion. Dhasal could feel the horizons of (his) life; and poetry became his weapon. He writes:

All these innumerable plays/being staged in an experimental theater/ about our conditions/ why should we unnecessarily do introspection/ while being sacrificed, silently like a goat during Eid?/ One should name his life after penis/ and live happily/ I wont live like this. [Translated by this writer]

If his poetry captured the subtleties of growing up as a Dalit, his politics as a Dalit Panther was far more clear and profound with a vision that only a few had dreamed of. Being one of the founding members of Dalit Panthers  the benchmark of rebellion within the Ambedkarite Movement  his imagination included all wretched people under the etymology of 'Dalit'. Thus 'Dalit'  as a word and political imagination  became indelibly inscribed in the minds of people. The Dalit Panthers' leaders were not only fighting against atrocities imposed on Dalits with the larger vision of annihilation of caste, they were associated with literature as the praxis of liberation. Almost all of them (including Dhasal) were brilliant poets and writers, intelligently practising the polemics, using it to expose the dire violence against Dalits by upper caste Hindus.

Dhasal wrote nine anthologies of poems and several prose writings, including one novel. All his poetry collections are significant contributions to the history of literature in India. But the most celebrated among his works was Golpitha  his first poetry collection published in 1971. Golpitha was the symbol of an inhumane reality transformed through poetic imagination. Otherwise untouched by the eyes and imagination of Brahmin Marathi writers in Maharashtra, Dhasal told through his poems of life that can be found at any level. Golpitha broke the perceptions through which poetry in Maharashtra was seen and practised. It provided Dalits the confidence with which they can now explore the language for their struggle, without being burdened by norms and oppressive tradition. With the arrival of Golpitha, Dalits in Maharashtra not only got their language but also the theory for their experiences by which they can now tell the world that they are the creators of their lives. Since then, Dhasal has inspired many poets. His influence on the form of poetry that is being practised in Maharashtra continues till today. Perhaps no other poet in the history of Maharashtra has wielded as much influence as Dhasal. His vision about life, his struggle, and his poetry were the factors that prevented his influence from waning in the public imagination. We find his clarity of action in his poems as well as his politics. And to know him more closely, we must reflect upon his words:

Once you develop a taste for knowledge, you begin to grow fast. If you do not have a vision, you become a problem unto yourself. I never became a problem to myself. I became a socialist; but as soon as I saw the hollowness of it, I turned to communism. However, whatever I did, my foundation was Ambedkars vision.

Yogesh Maitreya is a poet and translator. He is the founder of Panther's Paw Publication, an anti-caste publishing house. He is pursuing a PhD at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuks novels require a sort of mental preparation. One is assured of a deep dive into Turkish culture, forgotten monuments, lifestyles, histories, among other things. But the plots are not quite straight-forward. The beauty of a lot of Pamuks novels lie in their intricacies. Think My Name is Red, Snow, The Museum of Innocence. But his latest translated work, The Red-Haired Woman, is far from that. Its a relatively shorter novel, for one, and the story is almost like a fable at some level. Yes, there are philosophical detours in many portions, but its a linear narrative with an element of a reveal which you want to approach soon. In that sense it is almost like a racy thriller on some levels. But scratch the surface and theres more going on.

Cem, a 16-year old student from Istanbul, has a father who is a left-leaning pharmacist. The father is not around for the most part of the story, thanks to his leftist political leanings which land him behind bars, or away from the family for long durations. Financially speaking, the family isnt swimming in money, prompting Cem to take up a job as an apprentice to a renowned well-digger  Master Mahmut.

What follows is the start of a relationship between the apprentice and his master, which at times takes shades of friendship, and at others, gives one a sense of a father-son relationship that was missing from Cems life.

The first half of the novel revolves around Cems life as an apprentice to Master Mahmut who is a traditional well-digger. The second half though is a rush through Cems later years, till he becomes a successful construction magnate. That is, until fate calls him back to the very spot where he once tried searching for water under the watchful eye of his master. Anything more, and it would be revealing a bit too much of the plot. Lets just say that there is a change of narrator sometime in the second half of the book, which shines a light on lot of things.

The well-digging activity is carried out in this imaginary town of Ongoren, which is yet to be recognised or develop as a thriving city. The time-frame is somewhere in the early '80s. After completing their work for the day, Cem or Master Mahmut or both head to this market nearby which acts as a distraction from their otherwise labour-filled days. A coffee house with a nomadic cast of characters, a travelling theatre, act as distractions for both before they have to resume work the next day. One of the leading ladies in the travelling theatre company, who shares her name with the title of the novel  The Red-Haired Woman  becomes a point of obsession for the hormonal Cem. He takes every opportunity he can to head in the direction of the market, just so that he can get a glimpse of her. He eventually loses his virginity to this woman, which also sets in motion the turning point in the novel.

As with his 1998 classic, My Name is Red, Pamuk explores a profession which may have been lost to time in many parts of the world. The profession of the miniature artists (from My Name is Red) is replaced by that of well-diggers here. And this being a Pamuk novel, you are told all the possible nitty-gritties of this old world profession. By Pamuks own admission, he did actually come across a traditional well-digger and his apprentice back in the late '80s, and he observed them work and had conversations with them to understand the profession. (Note to aspiring novelists: Take detailed notes of anything you find fascinating. You never know when that can be a bedrock of a future work.) Using ancient techniques to figure out which part of the land will have a steady stream of water underneath it, the anxieties associated with the duration of the well-digging, the back-breaking labour involved with the limited help at hand  its as though you are witnessing it in front of you in real time. Pamuk even has an illustration, on page 25, of the contraption that was used to pull the rocks out from the dug portion of the well. Some readers may find the descriptions a bit too lengthy and not really adding much to the narrative. But, for showing the deep bond between Cem and Master Mahmut, one needs to be well versed with the process of this ancient art.

The father-son relationship is the underlying motif of The Red-Haired Woman. Cem pretty soon realises that Master Mahmut is effortlessly filling in the gap left behind by the father who is not around. At times, this soothes Cem, at others, it agitates him. The filial and patriarchal bond is symbolised between these two characters. Pamuk even uses the act of well-digging as a metaphor to allude to the father-son relationship. Sample this:

Water could spring up from the earth at the most unexpected moments, catching you by surprise. God Himself would intervene to douse the faithful well-diggers face with water, the first spray always as powerful as the arc of a baby boys urine. On first seeing the water, the well-digger would smile delightedly like a father beholding his newborn son.

During their post-work discussions, Cem narrates the story of Sophocles Oedipus The King, which ends with the son Oedipus killing his father, to marry his own mother Jocasta. Master Mahmut, not too impressed with the Greek tragedy, tells another tale with cultural roots in the middle-east. Later in the story, Cem discovers Rostam and Sohrab, the father-son story, from the Persian classic penned by Ferdowsi called Shahnameh. Unlike Oedipus, here Rostam (the father) ends up killing Sohrab (the son), who has no ambitions like Oedipus (fun fact: A centuries old copy of Shahnameh, with some portions written in gold-plated ink, is housed inside the JN Petit Library in Mumbais Fort area).

So obsessed is Cem, that he tries to find out an Oedipus and a Rostam in every conceivable incident happening around him  a particularly strict cafe manager, an intolerant father, crime stories involving father and sons. Somewhere, Cem is trying to find a catharsis in his own personal history, of which his wife Ayse has little idea. Having no children of their own, Cem and Ayse continue their passions in the fields of art and literature which is related to the two tragedies that form the basis of this book.

Look at this canvas from a macro perspective, and one cant help but draw parallels between the book and present-day Turkish society, which is being ruled by the strict father figure in the form of current President Erdogan which alludes to the eastern Rostam/Sohrab story. On the other hand, in the past when Kemal Ataturk founded Turkey, he in essence demolished the old order and brought in modernity  thereby alluding to the tale of Oedipus Rex, where the son kills the father.

But wait, if all Ive spoken so-far about is father-son relationships, why is the book called The Red-Haired Woman? The answer to that is revealed as the book comes to a close. An answer that gives voice to the woman, who has so far not really had a chance to speak out in the legends of Oedipus Rex or Rostam and Sohrab. And the revelations by the red-haired woman, makes us reconsider all that we have been consuming so far in Cems narrative voice  and gives the Oedipus Rex story gets a whole new twist towards the end.

If you have no idea about Pamuks former work, this is a good novel to begin with. It isnt as dense as his other work. If you are a fan of Pamuk, however, this book may leave a lot to be desired.

Whatever the case may be, The Red-Haired Woman does shine and reiterates Pamuks strong hold over his melancholic oeuvre.
New Delhi: The Janata Dal (United) faction led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday demanded a "free and fair probe" into allegations that Congress leader Ahmed Patel had links with two arrested terrorists in Gujarat.

"The allegations against Ahmed Patel has been made by the Chief Minister of the state, which are very serious in nature. So we demand a free and fair probe," JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi told reporters in New Delhi.

He also said that and if anyone's "role is established then the law must act".

"On the issue of national security, we are very straight that there will be no compromise with it. Let the law take its own course. If anyone is found guilty then he should be punished," Tyagi said.

Tyagi's remarks came a day after Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani alleged that Patel was linked to a suspected terrorist arrested by the state's Anti-Terrorist Squad on Wednesday from Bharuch. Patel has rubbished the charge.

Rupani told reporters that Mohammed Qasim Stimberwala, caught by the Intelligence Bureau and security agencies, was working at a Bharuch hospital where Patel had been a trustee and, though he resigned after the UPA lost power "still oversees the working of the hospital".

Stimberwala, one of the two alleged IS operatives arrested by the Gujarat ATS from Surat, had resigned recently as an echocardiogram technician in the Sardar Patel Hospital and Heart Institute in Ankleshwar, which Patel had helped grow into a modern facility.

Patel was one of the trustees during the hospital's formative years as a modern hospital and the only one in the entire Bharuch district with latest equipment and technology with facilities for heart surgery. He had resigned as a trustee in 2014, facilitating a new board of trustees to take over.

The ATS, which picked up Stimberwala and Ubed Ahmed Mirza, claimed that the two were planning to attack a Jewish synagogue in Khadia area of Ahmedabad and had even carried out reconnaissance of their target.

Mirza was a practising lawyer at the Surat district court, Stimberwala worked as a technician at the Ankleshwar hospital.
Combat casualties of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have reached 10,710 servicemen since the start of the military operation in Donbas in April 2014, of them 2,333 servicemen have been killed, the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff said.

"As of October 28, 2017, combat casualties stand at 10,710 servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including 2,333 irreversible casualties, and 8,377 servicemen wounded or injured during fighting," the General Staff said on its Facebook account on Saturday.

A total of 212 Ukrainian servicemen were killed and another 1,277 were injured in fighting in 2016, it said. At the same time, the number of non-combat losses was 65% lower than the number of combat losses.

"This year, 2017, sees a tendency toward a considerable decrease, by 50%, in non-combat losses in units of Ukraine's Armed Forces," the General Staff said.
Rajkot: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday dubbed as "outrageous" the BJP's demand for resignation of Ahmed Patel from the Rajya Sabha over the issue that a suspected Islamic State operative arrested recently used to work at a hospital where the latter had been a trustee.

"I am amazed by such outrageous demands," Chidambaram told reporters.

"Ahmed Patel was a trustee of the hospital and had resigned in 2015. This person who was arrested seems to have joined the hospital as a technician last year and had resigned a couple of days prior to his arrest," the former union minister said.

"Now, if somebody who has joined in the last one year as a technician has an Islamic State connect, then how is a trustee from three years ago responsible?," he asked.

On Friday, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani demanded Patel's resignation as a Rajya Sabha MP, alleging that a suspected Islamic State operative arrested recently used to work at a hospital where Patel had been a trustee earlier.

Patel had rejected the charge as "completely baseless" and urged the BJP not to politicise matters pertaining to national security and divide the peace-loving Gujaratis.

Rupani was referring to the recent arrest of two suspected ISIS operatives by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS).

As per the FIR, one of the accused, Kasim Stimberwala, used to work as a technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district.
Mumbai: Leaders of several opposition parties have called for a united fight to defend the country's composite culture, which they alleged was facing threat under the BJP-led government.

Speaking at a 'Sanjhi Virasat Bachao' (save our composite culture) event, organised by the Congress's Mumbai unit chief Sanjay Nirupam last night, they unleashed a stinging attack on the government and wanted all like-minded parties to join hands to defend the basic tenets and values of the nation.

Rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav presided over the meeting.

CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D Raja and Congress leader and former Union minister Anand Sharma were among the leaders present at the event.

RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary, president of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha and former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Babu Lal Marandi, JD(U) leader Ali Anwar, TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, state Congress president Ashok Chavan, Samajwadi Party's Maharashtra president Abu Asim Azmi, MP Raju Shetti and RJD leader Jay Prakash Yadav also attended the programme.

"Our Constitution is in danger as the BJP-led government is playing with its very basic tenets," Yadav said.

"If we all fight unitedly, then the BJP can be dumped in the Arabian Sea in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections," he said.

He also called upon the people to observe a 'Black Day' on November 8 to mark the first anniversary of demonetisation.

"First, they brought note-bandi and one year later when we are observing 'Black Day', they (BJP) are going to observe 'anti-black money day'. Are they not admitting that note-bandi has completely failed and this is why they are going to observe 'anti-black money day'?" he asked.

Sanjay Nirupam, the convenor of 'Sanjhi Virasat Bachao' in Mumbai, said the event would set the stage for opposition unity.

Yechury said it was a matter of serious concern that the composite heritage of the country was under threat now.

CPI leader D Raja alleged that the directive principles of the Constitution were "under attack".

Anand Sharma dubbed the GST roll-out as "tax terrorism" and said demonetisation had broken the back of the people.

"GST is nothing but a new tax terrorism. Earlier, demonetisation broke the back of the people, which later proved to be a complete fiasco and failure," the Congress leader said.
The highly anticipated elevation of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi as president of the party may get further delayed due to Sonia Gandhi's illness and the upcoming election in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, according to media reports.

Sonia's illness has pushed back the scheduled meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), The Statesman reported. Party sources said that they have until 31 December to complete the entire organisational election process and there is no rush.

According to CNN News18, Rahul Gandhi's tour to south Gujarat from 1-4 November might also have also delayed his elevation.

Congress leader Ajay Maken told Times Now that the election process in the states is in an advanced stage. We have to take a decision by the end of this year and we will do so at the appropriate time.

Sonia Gandhi was admitted at Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) on Friday after she complained of an upset stomach.

She was brought back to Delhi from Shimla, where she was on a vacation, in an air ambulance. A team of doctors from the hospital was deputed to bring her back from Shimla.

The Congress is currently conducting organisational polls, including for the post of president.

The CWC had earlier held a meeting on 24 October to discuss Rahul's elevation, however the party sought 15-days to formally announce the decision, Deccan Herald reported. It set a deadline to complete the process by the end of October.

According to The Econmic Times, the party leadership is pre-occupied with alliance-making in Gujarat and election campaign in Himachal Pradesh, further delaying Rahul's elevation.

Several congress committees and state organisations had earlier passed resolutions urging Rahul Gandhi to take over as party president.

The Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) had unanimously passed a resolution that Rahul be made the party's national president. On 12 October, the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) also passed a resolution asking Rahul to take over the reins of the party.

Several senior Congress leaders like Randeep S Surjewala and Salman Khurshid too have called for Gandhi's elevation. While Surjewala termed it an "unquestioned choice" of all workers and leaders, Khurshid said that his elevation will be the adrenaline shot for party.

Senior Congres leader Veerappa Moily also praised Rahul, saying he has given "excellent hope" for the party.

The Congress had deferred the organisational elections after Sonia's five-year term as party chief ended in 2015. She became party chief in 1998 and is the longest-serving party president.

With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: The Congress on Friday condemned the death of a local resident in police custody in Gujarat and subsequent firing on protesting farmers that left one dead, saying that the state government's "hands are stained with the blood of farmers".

"In Dahod, Guajarat a first farmer was killed in the police custody. After that bullets were fired in the head of a protesting farmer. Many farmers were hit on their chests. They are battling for their lives," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala in a video message on Twitter.

"Has the Gujarat government become so merciless. Earlier, it was Mandsaur and now it is Dahod Gujarat," he added.

"The truth is Gujarat government's hands are stained with the blood of the farmers. The 6.5 crore Gujaratis will not forgive the government.

Patidars were killed and lathicharged, Dalits were being attacked, then in Surat lathicharge on businessmen, and now on farmers. The people of Gujarat are coming forward, they (BJP) should vacate their throne," he said.
Months after accusing the Centre of adopting a 'muscle flexing' strategy to bring normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday said that people in Kashmir who demand azaadi actually seek autonomy for the state.

Must consider areas to give autonomy to J&K.It'll remain part of India but will have larger powers as promised under Art 370: P Chidamabaram pic.twitter.com/GKynu9jq6z  ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2017

Talking at an event in Rajkot during his visit in Gujarat, the former home minister spoke on a slew of issues ranging from the recent Taj Mahal controversy to demonetisation.

He added that based on his interaction with people in Jammu and Kashmir, most people want autonomy for the state and the Centre should consider providing the same.

He was quoted by ANI as saying,My interactions in Jammu and Kashmir led me to the conclusion that when they ask for azaadi, most people want autonomy.

He further advocated the demand for autonomy by saying that although Jammu and Kashmir should get all the protection promised under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, it should remain a part of India. He further added,"Therefore, I think we should seriously examine the autonomy demand. It is very much within the Constitution. Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India with some amount of autonomy."

In his interview with The Wire, he said the government's Kashmir policy was "misguided" and that had deteriorated the situation in the state.

He was quoted IANS as saying,"The situation in Kashmir is worse than at any time before, and certainly worse than what it was in 2011. All the good work was done between 2011 and say up to even the middle of 2015 after the NDA came to power... all that has been wiped out in the last two years."

Chidambaram's statement met with strongly-worded criticism, with Union minister Piyush Goyal saying that the time has come for 'azaadi from the Congress.'

Now Congress wants Azadi for Kashmir? Time for Azadi from Congress #CongressBatsforSeparatistshttps://t.co/1lALddm2le  Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) October 28, 2017

The veteran Congress leader had expressed his opinion on the Jammu and Kashmir's autonomy issues several times this year. In July, he had asserted that the only way to find a "political solution" to this "political problem" is through talks.

Chidambaram was also a part of all-party delegations to Jammu and Kashmir in 2010 and 2016. At the event, Chidambaram also spoke about the recent controversy surrounding Congress Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel.

He dubbed as "outrageous" the BJP's demand for Patel's resignation from the Rajya Sabha. The BJP has launched a scathing attack on Patel, stating that a suspected Islamic State operative arrested recently used to work at a hospital where he had been a trustee.

Responding to the BJP's demand, Chidambaram said, "I am amazed by such outrageous demands. Ahmed Patel was a trustee of the hospital and had resigned in 2015.

This person who was arrested seems to have joined the hospital as a technician last year and had resigned a couple of days prior to his arrest." He also lashed out at the BJP over recent controversial remarks that the Taj Mahal was built by 'traitors' and is a 'blot of Indian culture.'

It is sad. Those who talk about Taj Mahal in derogatory terms do not understand either history or India's composite culture: P Chidambaram pic.twitter.com/01WXsOIBCk  ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2017

With inputs from agencies
New Delhi: Former home minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has said the appointment of an interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir doesn't indicate a change of heart or approach by the Centre in its Kashmir policy but was a "diversionary" tactic as it will continue to hold on to its "muscular policy and military solution".

Chidambaram said he was worried about what was happening in the valley as there was a deep ferment there.

"The appointment of the interlocutor should not lead us to think that there is a change of heart of the government. I don't believe that there is a change of heart or change of approach. I still believe that they will continue to hold on to the muscular policy and military solution," the Congress leader told The Wire news portal.

Chidambaram said the appointment of former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma to open talks with all stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir was a "diversionary move" to appease a section that was asking why the government was not holding talks in the troubled state.

He said Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh had clarified that Sharma was not an interlocutor and army chief General Bipin Rawat had stressed that the move won't have any impact on military operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

"I think those two voices reflect the real view of the government," he said.

Chidambaram said he was not convinced that Sharma "has any mandate to hold meaningful talks with all sections of the society".

He said the government's Kashmir policy was "misguided" and that had deteriorated the situation in the state.

"The situation in Kashmir is worse than at any time before and certainly worse than what it was in 2011.

"All the good work done between 2011 and say up to even the middle of 2015 after the NDA came to power...all that has been wiped out in the last two years."
Bengaluru: Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday demanded immediate removal of Karnataka minister KJ George, booked by the CBI in connection with the mysterious death of a police official, for a fair investigation.

Javadekar also slammed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for backing George, saying defending the indefensible was the "Congress's culture".

The chief minister had earlier on Friday said there was no case warranting resignation of George and that it was a politically motivated case to tarnish the image of George and the government.

The CBI, which has been directed by the Supreme Court to take over the case, had on on Thursday filed an FIR naming George and two others in connection with the mysterious death of DSP MK Ganapathy in 2016.

The Union HRD minister said that instead of acting against George, who is the accused number one in the death of Ganapathy, "he (chief minister) is presenting a bizarre logic to defend him".

Claiming that it was an "open and shut case", Javadekar said George was home minister when Ganapathy had levelled the charge.

Also, the apex court had in its order said the police official, soon before his death, had specifically named three respondents that he apprehended could pose a threat to his life, the Union minister said.

"The statement made by Ganapathy is like a dying declaration," said Javadekar.

The minister pointed out that the 'B' report by the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was submitted before the forensic report.

"The forensic report mentions that photos, messages, call details... all were deleted. Instead of taking action and sacking George from the ministry, he (the chief minister) is defending him," he said.

"This is the Congress's culture. It defends every accused. It defends black money. It defends everything that is bad," Javadekar alleged.

He also flayed state ministers HM Revanna, Ramesh Kumar and Karnataka State Planning board deputy chairman CM Ibrahim for allegedly attributing motives to the Supreme Court, which had ordered a probe by the CBI.

"They are attributing motives to the Supreme Court. What extent the Congress can go to defend the indefensible! This is the callousness of the Congress. That is why people are angry and that is why the Congress has lost all over. And it will lose in Karnataka too (in the Assembly polls)," he said.

He claimed that the apex court had trashed the 'B' report submitted by the CID, which gave George a clean chit.

Javadekar said the Supreme Court had taken note of the statement of the complainant's counsel that it could be a case of murder, though they had earlier learnt it to be a suicide.

The CBI had on Thursday filed an FIR against George and two IPS officials over the death of Ganapathy, who was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a room of a lodge in Madikeri on 7 July last year.

Before his death, he had given an interview to a local TV channel and had said the then-home minister George and two senior police officers AM Prasad and Pranov Mohanty would be responsible "if anything happens to me".

The state CID investigated the case and gave a clean chit to George and the two officers in its 'B' (closure) report filed before a court in Madikeri.

George had resigned soon after a court directed police to register an FIR against him and two police officers. After his name was cleared by the CID, he was re-inducted into the cabinet.

The Supreme Court had in September allowed the appeal of MK Kushalappa, father of the deceased police officer, against the Karnataka High Court order rejecting his plea for a CBI probe into the death.
New Delhi/Ahmedabad: Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani on Friday demanded Congress leader Ahmed Patel's resignation as Rajya Sabha MP, alleging that a suspected Islamic State operative arrested recently used to work at a hospital where Patel had been a trustee earlier.

Patel rejected the charge as "completely baseless" and urged the BJP not to politicise matters pertaining to national security and divide the peace-loving Gujaratis.

Union minister Prakash Javadekar also said that the Congress "owes an explanation as to how a terrorist had been working there for so long".

Two suspected Islamic State operatives were arrested by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) two days ago. According to an FIR, one of the accused, Kasim Stimberwala, earlier worked as a technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district.

Rupani said in Gandhinagar that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Patel owe a clarification to the nation as the matter pertains to national security.

"This is a serious issue, as a terrorist was arrested from a hospital which is being run by Patel... It has now been revealed that though Patel had resigned as a trustee of that hospital in 2014, but he is still at the helm of the hospital's affairs," the Gujarat CM alleged.

"Imagine what would have happened if these two terrorists were not arrested... Patel, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress must come clean on the issue. We also want Patel to resign as Rajya Sabha MP," he demanded.

"It has now been revealed that Kasim had resigned just two days before he was arrested. This raises several questions. Patel must clarify how such a person got a job in his hospital and why he resigned just days ahead of his arrest," Rupani said.

Replying to the charges, Patel tweeted, "My party and I appreciate the ATS' effort to nab the two terrorists. I demand strict and speedy action against them. The allegations put forward by the BJP are completely baseless."

My party and I appreciate the ATSs effort to nab the two terrorists. I demand strict and speedy action against them. (1/3)  Ahmed Patel (@ahmedpatel) October 27, 2017

The allegations put forward by BJP are completely baseless. (2/3)  Ahmed Patel (@ahmedpatel) October 27, 2017

We request that matters of national security not be politicised keeping elections in mind (3/3)  Ahmed Patel (@ahmedpatel) October 27, 2017

In another tweet, he said, "We request that matters of national security not be politicised keeping elections in mind. Let's not divide the peace loving Gujaratis while fighting terrorism."

Javadekar said in Bengaluru the Congress owes an explanation as to "how a terrorist could work so long at the hospital".

The two Islamic State suspects "were planning attacks on a Jewish religious place", he said.

Congress in-charge of communications Randeep Surjewala came to the defence of Patel, saying neither he nor any of his family members was a trustee of the Bharuch Hospital where the alleged terrorist was working.

"A frustrated BJP facing imminent defeat in Gujarat is resorting to levelling reckless and baseless allegations against Ahmed Patel," he said.

Sardar Vallabhai Patel Hospital is a charitable hospital and it has between 150-200 employees including doctors and technicians, he said.

"The BJP is being shown the door by 6.5 crore Gujaratis and a defeated BJP is clutching onto the polarising straws of blatant lies to reset the agenda. It will never succeed in its sinister conspiracies," the Congress leader said.

He said the BJP should stop preaching about fighting terrorism to anyone.

"The BJP's track record on terrorism is quite dismal. Will Amit Shah and Vijay Rupani answer as to who permitted dreaded terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's wife to visit Mumbai and leave unscathed with the entire government sleeping over the same," he asked.

"The truth is that Vijay Rupani and his government fired upon and killed farmers in Dahod in Gujarat. The BJP is trying to divert attention," he alleged.

The two suspected Islamic State operatives had allegedly planned to carry out a "lone wolf" attack on a Jewish synagogue in Khadia area of the city.
New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday continued to demand the immediate release of journalist Vinod Verma, who has been arrested by the Chhattisgarh police for suspected blackmailing and extortion in connection with a "sex CD", allegedly involving a state minister.

The party also demanded the resignation of the Chhattisgarh minister, "whose sex scandal Verma was investigating", and pitched for an independent probe into the entire episode.

"The Congress demands that Verma is released immediately and the entire episode is probed independently. We also demand the resignation of the Chhattisgarh minister," Congress leader Pawan Khera told reporters in New Delhi.

He said Verma was arrested even though no FIR was lodged against him and added that the Chhattisgarh minister concerned too had not stated that the journalist blackmailed or threatened him through phone calls or text messages.

"Is it a crime if Verma was investigating a sex scandal involving a BJP minister?," the Congress leader asked.

He accused the BJP governments at the Centre and in Chhattisgarh of attacking mediapersons, "whenever they try to show the mirror" to those in power.

Khera also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "silence" when those who showed a mirror to the BJP governments were targeted.

"In 2005, BJP leader Sanjay Joshi had to resign after a CD surfaced. Modi (then the Gujarat chief minister) had put pressure then and Joshi had to resign from the BJP national executive. Modiji, will you also seek the resignation of the Chhattisgarh minister?" he asked.

Verma was arrested by the Chhattisgarh police from his Ghaziabad residence at around 3.30 am on Friday. Around 500 CDs with pornographic contents, Rs 2 lakh in cash, a pen drive, a laptop and a diary were seized from his house.

The senior journalist, who had earlier worked with the BBC Hindi service and Amar Ujala, has claimed that the Chhattisgarh police is not happy with him as he is in possession of a "sex CD" involving a minister of that state.
The Russian television presenter Ksenia Sobchak, who has decided to run for presidency in 2018, says that Crimea must hold a new independent referendum.

"Russia violated its international obligations, that's the main starting point. There are Russian people living in Crimea, many of them. (...) We cannot treat them as subjects of geopolitics. That policy is bad which is not for the people," Sobchak said at a meeting with journalists and supporters in Yekaterinburg on Friday.

"I can see a way out from the crisis and unfair situation through a new referendum, which implies various points of view," Sobchak said.

She will not be campaigning in Crimea, she said.

Crimea is Ukraine's from the perspective of international law, Sobchak said earlier.
tech2 News Staff

Google has issued a statement in response to the number of problems that Pixel 2 XL owners have complained about over last few days. The company took to its Pixel User Community on the Google Products Forums to address the problems while clarifying certain points.

For the uninitiated, early adopters of Googles latest flagship devices, the Google Pixel 2 and Google Pixel 2 XL had reported a number of problems with the display of the devices. The bulk of the problems reported by users was limited to the Google Pixel 2 XL. The company did not issue any comment when reports started popping up on the internet. However, as the complaints continued to mount and gain momentum even before the launch of the devices, Google stepped in.

One of the major problems reported by people was the screen burn-in issue of the pOLED screen panel on the Google Pixel 2 XL. Burn in is a form of image retention, where the individual pixels on the screen retain a persistent state. The image gets "burnt in" if you will. UI elements like the home and back buttons, for example, are always in the same location. These can get "burnt in" and the pixels will refuse to switch to a different state. You'll always see a ghostly outline of the home and back buttons.

All display units suffer from burn in because of a phenomenon labelled as 'differential aging'. Normally, this process should take years, on the Pixel 2 XL, it appears to be happening in weeks.

The second issue reported by Pixel 2 XL users was the fact that the colours on the display were looking dull and were not as vibrant or saturated as they would have hoped for. Other reports included problems like a blue shift on the display, where there was a blue tint on some of the displays when viewed from even a slight angle.

Google has issued a response to the first two problems in a small post and a detailed explanation on how the colour rendering functions on the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL displays.

Screen burn in issue

Google claimed that is has been investigating the problem ever since the first user report' on 22 October. The company pointed out that it puts its products through an extensive quality assurance test before the launch of the device and while manufacturing every unit. Google clarified that the characteristics of the decay reported by the users are similar to other OLED panels used in the industry. Seang Chau, Vice President of Engineering at Google added that all OLED displays come with both short-term image retention and burn-in, which also known as permanent image retention over their life. Google claims that their investigation has led them to conclude that the Pixel 2 XL's displays are functioning just as well as any other display on competing devices.

He added that Google has designed the UI of the Pixel 2 devices in such a way so that users are not able to spot the image retention even if it happens. He stated that the company has continued to improve the UI, pointing at the fade-out navigation buttons with the newly launched Android 8.1 Developer Preview. The company is working on a new update with a number of such changes, along with the reduction of maximum brightness in the Pixel 2 XL by 50 nits. The company explained that this should not affect normal, day-to-day user experience of the device.

Google added that it uses software to maintain a balance between user experience and maximum life of the pOLED panel used by the company in the Pixel 2 XL. However, the interesting thing to note here is that to give users peace of mind, Mario Queiroz, Vice President of Product Management at Google Hardware announced that all Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL devices will come with a two-year worldwide warranty instead of the usual one-year warranty.

Dull colours on the screen

A number of Pixel 2 XL users complained that the colours looked muted when compared to display from other flagship devices from the competition. The company pointed out that this is because of the fact about how Google has calibrated the screen for natural and accurate colours. To elaborate, Google pointed out that Android versions before Oreo did not support wide-colour gamut. Most smartphone displays are calibrated using the sRGB colour profile. OLED displays support a wider gamut than sRGB, and the pOLED panel in Google Pixel 2 XL supports the P3 colour gamut. The sRGB gamut covers only around 70 percent of the gamut covered by P3.

The company pointed out that before Oreo, Android was not aware of the colour space of the content or the display of the device. Because of this, sRGB encoded content on a P3 Display resulted in the display reinterpreting the sRGB content into wider gamut colour by stretching the colours of the device. This boosted the rendered colours on the screen by increasing the saturation of the final rendered content. The final image may look saturated with popping colours but the thing to note here is that the stretching of the colours is incorrect. The content designers cant calculate how the stretching of colours is done, which results in hundreds and thousands of phones with inaccurate and saturated colours. This issue specifically affects OLED displays more than it does LCD panels.

Oreo 8.0 on Pixel 2 XL supports wider colour spaces and is aware of the colour spaces defined by designers in the properties. The OS then renders wider colour gamut content with accuracy in colour reproduction making users think that accurate colours are muted. Android app developers can opt-in for the wide colour gamut support on P3 display panels but that will arrive soon. One thing to note here is that even Google apps dont take advantage of wide colour gamut rendering on P3 displays and this support will come in the future.

The Pixel 2 XL comes with the sRGB colour rendering out of the box and 10 percent more colour support in every direction to ensure that the colours are more vibrant in terms of display tuning in the Vivid mode on the smartphone. However, Google notes that the colour mode is more of a user choice as some people prefer accurate colours while the others prefer saturated colours. Google pointed out that it will add a more saturated colour mode in the display options for users to choose from making the colour rendering less accurate but more vibrant.

Other issues

Google did not address other problems like the blue shift of the screen but pointed out that is taking the feedback from its customers to ensure that it can fix the issue with upcoming software updates. Given that the blue shift is likely a hardware issue, we're not sure how that would help.
Reuters

Eugene Kaspersky told Reuters on Friday that the Moscow-based cybersecurity firm that bears his name would see a single-digit drop in US sales this year as a result of suspicions about his companys ties to the Russian government, but its global revenue should still increase.

By turns frustrated and defiant in an 80-minute interview in his Moscow office, the founder and head of the embattled antivirus software maker denounced what he called an information war against his company, repeatedly asserting that weve done nothing wrong.

Kaspersky said the companys interactions with law enforcement in Russia and elsewhere was limited to cybercrime investigations, data sharing about cybercrime - thats it.

He added: We have zero, zero wrong connections, contacts or assistance to espionage agencies. Zero.

The interview was part of the global Reuters Cyber Security Summit.

Founded in 1997, Kaspersky Lab boasts more than 400 million global customers. It has become a lightning rod in recent months as it faces allegations by the US government that its antivirus products can be used by Russian spies to conduct cyberespionage.

The controversy surrounding the company reflects mounting fear and distrust of Russia over widespread allegations that it interfered in the US presidential election and was behind a wave of destructive global hacking attacks.

Although it is one of the worlds leading suppliers of antivirus software, Kaspersky Lab has struggled to find success as a vendor to the US government, one of the worlds largest buyers of cyber tools, amid long-running suspicions about the company.

Anton Shingarev, Kaspersky Labs vice president of public affairs, told Reuters during the interview the company had abandoned efforts to sell its services to the US government and that it would wind down its Washington-area subsidiary, KGSS.

It is pretty much impossible to sell to US government these days, and we dont have any plans to do that, Shingarev said, adding that the federal agency market had been negligible for the company. He said the company was looking at switching KGSS employees to different roles in the company, such as enterprise and intelligence service sales.

INFORMATION WAR

US President Donald Trumps administration last month ordered Kasperskys products removed from US government computers, citing concerns about Kremlin influence and saying the software could jeopardize national security.

Retailers Best Buy Co Inc and Office Depot Inc have also pulled Kaspersky products from their shelves.

Despite those setbacks, Kaspersky said he expected global revenue for his company to reach about $700 million in 2017. It reported $644 million in global revenue in 2016, according to unaudited figures under International Financial Reporting Standards.

The loss of sales in the United States would be less than 10 percent, Kaspersky said. Its because of this information war against our company, this is the main reason.

Kaspersky Lab earlier this week confirmed reports that its security software had taken source code for a secret American hacking tool from a personal computer in the United States in 2014, an incident that has heightened suspicions about the company.

Eugene Kaspersky said the company had disposed of the code as soon as it learned that it was classified information.

Asked repeatedly why the US government was cracking down on his company now, Kaspersky alternated between saying he did not know and that he had been caught in the middle of a political situation related to the deterioration of relations between Russia and the United States.

We felt a cold wind started to blow in 2014, he said, adding that he had not visited the United States since 2015 after doing so frequently because there are more promising options in other nations.

Kaspersky said he still wanted to testify before the US Congress about his software but was waiting for lawmakers to extend another invite to him after cancelling a hearing last month to which he had been invited.

US officials have often alleged Kaspersky has ties to Russias Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor to the KGB. Eugene Kaspersky attended a KGB school and the company has acknowledged doing work for the agency but on Friday said it has only collaborated for law enforcement purposes.
IANS

India is a natural ally in the global space exploration programmes with its successful track record of launching a number of satellites and its probe missions to Mars and the Moon, says Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang. Fuglesang, who has been to the International Space Station (ISS) twice, says India has a lot to contribute to other nations with the technologies it has refined and thrift it has achieved in the launch of multiple satellites.

"India is a natural partner. You have a great space programme in India. Your rockets and your satellites are very good... I really hope that India can be brought into this international community to contribute," Fuglesang told IANS in an interview. The physicist, who is here to "explore" space technology opportunities between India and his country, met Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar earlier this week. The visit was a follow-up of the meeting between the two countries' Prime Ministers in Mumbai last year.

Fuglesang said Swedish scientists had in the past also collaborated with their Indian counterparts on the latter's Mars and Moon missions. When India's proposed mission to Venus was mentioned, he said he too was "involved in a project at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm) to develop technology to study the surface of Venus". "Venus is a nasty place, 460 degrees centigrade temperature and 90 atmosphere pressure. You need very good technology to first survive there and that's being developed at KTH," he said, adding in a lighter vein: "We are just looking for a hitchhike."

During one of his spacewalks, Fuglesang and another astronaut, John Olivas, replaced an ammonia tank weighing about 800 kg at the ISS  the largest object ever handled in a spacewalk. The astronaut is proud to term the space station a huge endeavour of bringing peace to the world. "ISS came about at the end of the Cold War when Russia and the US could work together. To bring it about, two space stations (a US and a Russian) were docked together. It has helped stabilise things... Two, three years ago ISS was actually nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. They have worked very well together. You want to see more partners in future," he said.

Other than the spectacular "green jungles of South America, the blue Atlantic, and red Sahara" which he observed on Earth from space, what the astronaut remembers as most striking from his spaceview of Earth was the absence of borders  a cause of strife historically. "What you never see from up there are borders. Certainly there are borders between countries, but you don't see that... Instead of bothering about fighting, when you are up there you realise what we really need to care about is our planet which is so fragile, especially the atmosphere. You notice how thin the atmosphere is which is our environment for all humanity. We are not doing as good as we have to," he said.

The Earth is not the only thing to marvel out there in space, he says. "The space looks black, extremely. You do see more stars because you are above the atmosphere. They say you see three times more stars; I didn't count; so I don't know. They don't blink because there is no atmosphere. Then, there are other phenomena like auroras. I witnessed auroras (Northern/Southern Lights) during my space walks," Fuglesang said.

He also expressed his doubts about the ambitious human landings on Mars and the Moon  as envisaged by entrepreneur Elon Musk through his SpaceX space exploration company  and termed it impracticable. "He (Musk) has a very good track record to deliver what he says, but never in time. So, he's now saying that he's going to send people to Mars by 2024, I don't think there's any chance to do it by 2024. But if you double the time, then there's a very good chance," he maintained.

Asked if there was any grouse that he nursed during his two outings (taking the space shuttle Discovery in 2006 and 2009, each time for two weeks), he replied: "You miss fresh food... It was nice to get back and have a hamburger."
Barcelona: Catalan lawmakers voted Friday to declare independence from Spain, as Madrid vowed in turn to "restore legality" and quash the region's secessionist bid.

With thousands of pro-independence activists gathered outside, the regional Parliament in Barcelona passed a resolution to "declare Catalonia an independent state in the form of a republic".

Spain's prime minister Mariano Rajoy responded immediately, urging "all Spaniards to remain calm".

"The rule of law will restore legality in Catalonia," he tweeted immediately after controversial vote.

Under the eyes of a nervous nation, Catalonia's regional Parliament held a secret ballot, despite an opposition walkout, on a resolution the regions authorities have no legal power to execute.

The motion was approved with 70 votes in favour, 10 against and two abstentions, a result that immediately saw Spanish shares fall sharply.

Dark day for democracy

Catalan Opposition MPs, refusing to even consider the resolution, walked out en masse on what one described as a "dark day" for democracy.

But those who stayed behind, cheered, clapped and embraced before breaking out in the Catalan anthem as the tally was announced.

To the wire

Shortly before the Catalan vote, Rajoy urged lawmakers to give him the power to dismiss Catalonia's secessionist leader Carles Puigdemont, his deputy, and all regional ministers.

If approved, the measures under Article 155 of the constitution, designed to rein in rebels among Spain's 17 regions, would enter into force on Saturday  effectively leaving Puigdemont and his team out in the cold.

Puigdemont had opted Thursday not to call elections for a new regional Parliament, considered by many to have been the only way to prevent Madrid's power grab.

Instead, he left it up to the regional Parliament "to determine the consequences" of the threatened takeover  thus leaving the door open for Friday's independence push.

Roughly the size of Belgium, the semi-autonomous North Eastern region accounts for about 16 percent of Spain's population and a fifth of its economic output.

Resentment to Madrid's perceived interference has been growing for years, culminating in an 1 October independence vote deemed illegal by the central government and courts.

But while fiercely protective of their language, culture and autonomy  restored at the end of the 1939-1975 dictatorship of Francisco Franco  Catalans are deeply divided on independence.

Catalan authorities said 90 percent voted "Yes" in the unregulated plebiscite held up by secessionist leaders as a mandate for independence for the wealthy region of 7.5 million people.

The Republic awaits

Only about 43 percent of voters turned out, however, with many anti-secessionists staying away and others prevented from casting their ballot by Spanish police in a crackdown that turned violent.

Based on the vote, Puigdemont threatened to declare an independent republic.

Madrid responded by turning to Article 155.

The senate, in which Rajoy's Popular Party holds a majority, was set to adopt measures under the article later Friday to depose Catalonia's secessionist executive and take control of its civil service, police, finances, and public media.

The measures would remain in place until elections for a new regional Parliament, though Puigdemont warned Thursday that a takeover from Madrid would escalate the crisis.

Rajoy sought to place the blame for Spain's worst political crisis in decades squarely on the shoulders of the separatists.

The Article 155 measures were not aimed against the people of the region, he insisted, but "to prevent abuse of Catalonia" by its own leaders.

Far-left groups have already threatened "massive civil disobedience" if Madrid moves to usurp its autonomy.

As lawmakers argued inside the Catalan Parliament, thousands of activists gathered outside under the banner, "The Republic awaits, let's defend it."

Some sported pro-independence banners, others waved the red-and-yellow Catalan flag to send a message to lawmakers.

There was protest inside the building too, with about 200 separatist mayors, in full regalia, chanting "Independence", until being silenced.

Regional representatives of Rajoy's conservative Popular Party, left the Spanish and Catalan flags behind on their seats when they stormed out with other Opposition MPs.
Beijing: China urged the United States on Saturday to prevent Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen from making a stopover in American territory during her upcoming visit to three Pacific allies.

The statement followed reports that Tsai will transit through Hawaii and the US territory of Guam next week  a trip that comes at a delicate time with President Donald Trump slated to visit Beijing in November.

"As for the Taiwan leader stopover in US territory, her true motives for transiting by the US is self-evident," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said during a regular press briefing.

"We hope that the United States would abide strictly by the 'one China' policy... deny her permission to stopover, avoid sending the wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces and take concrete actions to preserve the overall state of US-China relations."

Starting Sunday, Tsai will visit the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands, which are among just 20 of the nations worldwide that recognise Taiwan as a country.

Beijing has been wooing other countries to dump Taiwan, which it sees as part of its territory to be brought back into its fold at some point.

The two sides split after a civil war in 1949, and while Taiwan sees itself as a sovereign nation, it has never formally declared independence.

The island has been a thorny issue in China-US relations, as Trump began his transition into office by taking a precedent-breaking phone call from Tsai.

He mended ties by vowing to uphold the 'one China' policy shortly before Chinese president Xi Jinping's visit to his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort, but infuriated Beijing again this summer by approving a USD 1.3 billion arms sale to Taiwan.

Tsai's last visit was to Central American allies in January, during which she made stopovers in the US.

Beijing had asked Washington then to bar Tsai from flying through US airspace, but the request was ignored.
Berlin: Germany does not recognise Catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence, a government spokesman said on Friday, calling for dialogue between the two sides.

"The (German) federal government does not recognise such an independence declaration," spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement posted on Twitter.

"The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Spain are and always will be inviolable," he added.

"We hope that those involved will use all available opportunities for dialogue and de-escalation."

The political crisis in Spain escalated sharply after Catalan lawmakers voted to declare independence and Madrid in turn vowed to "restore legality" and quash the region's secessionist bid.

Seibert's comments echoed those of EU president Donald Tusk who called for calm and said that Madrid remained the bloc's "only interlocutor".

The European Union and its member states have stood firmly behind Madrid in the standoff triggered by Catalonia's hotly contested 1 October referendum on splitting from Spain.

Seibert said the German government was following the latest developments "with concern".
Kathmandu: At least 28 people, including an Indian woman, were killed on Saturday after an overcrowded bus veered off a road and plunged into a river in central Nepal's Dhading district, police said.

The Kathmandu-bound bus from Rajbiraj fell into the Trishuli River while negotiating a turn at Ghatabesi, 70 km west of Kathmandu, around 5:00 am, said Superintendent of Police, Dhading, Dhruba Raj Raut.

Security personnel, including those from the Nepal Army and Armed Police Force, rescued 16 injured passengers who had fallen into the river along the Prithvi Highway.

The rescue teams have pulled out 28 dead bodies so far and the search was on for other missing passengers, according to The Kathmandu Post.

According to the police, most of the deceased were from Saptari district and 12 of them have been identified.

One Indian, Mamata Devi Thakur, also died in the accident, the report said.

All injured passengers were taken to nearby hospitals, but two of them who suffered serious injuries were rushed to Kathmandu for treatment, the police said.

According to preliminary reports, the accident occurred because the driver failed to take the high speed bus under control at the turning point due to poor visibility, the police said.

Altogether 52 passengers were travelling on the bus, police said.

While the police prima facie blamed visibility for the accident, such mishaps are not uncommon in the Himalayan nation and occur mostly due to poor infrastructure and reckless driving.
Jakarta: Three suspects have been named in connection to a deadly blaze at an Indonesian fireworks factory that killed 48 workers and was caused by sparks from welding equipment, police said on Saturday.

The factory outside Jakarta had only been operating for six weeks when the ferocious fire broke out on Thursday, killing nearly half of the company's employees and injuring 45 others in one of Indonesia's worst industrial accidents in recent memory.

Factory owner Indra Liyono was named a suspect by police along with the company's operational director Andri Hartanto and welding equipment operator Subarna Ega.

The trio could face a maximum of five years in prison and a Rp 500 million ($37,000) fine for workplace negligence resulting in death.

"The witnesses' testimonies and forensic test revealed the cause of the fire was the welding equipment sparks which spread to the fireworks material," Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono told a press conference.

Liyono and Hartanto have been questioned by police while Ega's whereabouts are unknown.

Police also said that the company, Panca Buana Cahaya Sukses, employed at least three underage children, a violation which could lead to its closure.

Deadly fires are not uncommon in Indonesia, a sprawling country of more than 250 million people where safety regulations are often flouted.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) said Indonesia needed to increase its number of labour inspectors, which was fewer than 2000, and raise safety awareness among workers.
Washington: US President Donald Trump said that he would see to the release of all documents into the assassination of John F Kennedy, with some redactions, in order "to put any and all conspiracy theories to rest", the media reported.

"I will be releasing all JFK files other than the names and addresses of any mentioned person who is still living," Trump tweeted on Friday night, saying he consulted with White House chief of staff John Kelly, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other federal agencies.

"I am doing this for reasons of full disclosure, transparency and in order to put any and all conspiracy theories to rest," The Hill magazine quoted Trump as saying.

Trump tweeted earlier on Friday that he hoped "just about everything" concerning the 1963 assassination of the former President would be released to the public.

The Trump administration released about 2,800 files late Thursday, with the White House saying that hundreds more would be released with redactions "only in the rarest of circumstances" on a rolling basis over the next six months.

Trump initially said on Thursday evening that he had "no choice" but to withhold information as requested by government agencies, citing national security concerns. Officials indicated that the concerns originated mostly from the CIA and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Thursday marked the federal government's deadline to release 3,100 unseen files, a deadline that was set by Congress under the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992.

The documents have been held in the National Archives, The Hill magazine reported.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a Fox News interview on Friday evening that the administration was working to expedite the release of the additional documents.

"We are working this weekend. We are going to be working every way possible to expedite the production of these documents as completely as possible and they will be virtually, completely revealed from the FBI files," he said.

The assassination of Kennedy, who was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald while the President was in a motorcade in Dallas, has been the subject of conspiracy theories for more than 50 years.

Representative John Lewis, a long-time congressman who befriended Kennedy during the civil rights movement in the 1960s, told The Hill this week that he did not think the latest document release would end questions about the 35th president's death.

"I think there will be people, be historians or scholars and writers, (who) would raise some questions about what happened and how it happened.

"There will be people saying, like they were saying 50 years ago, 'Why did (Kennedy) go to Texas, why Dallas?" Lewis added.
Washington: It was a showdown 25 years in the making. With the world itching to finally get a look at classified Kennedy assassination files, and the deadline for their release just hours away, intelligence officials were still angling for a way to keep their secrets. President Donald Trump, the one man able to block the release, did not appreciate their persistence. He did not intend to make this easy.

Like much else surrounding investigations of the 1963 killing of former president John F Kennedy, Thursday's release of 2,800 records from the JFK files was anything but smooth. It came together only at the last minute, with White House lawyers still fielding late-arriving requests for additional redactions in the morning and an irritated Trump continuing to resist signing off on the request, according to an account by two White House officials. They spoke only on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions.

The tale of the final hours before the congressionally mandated 25-year release deadline adds a new chapter to the story of Trump's troubled relationship with his spy agencies. He again flashed his skepticism and unpredictability in dealing with agencies long accustomed to a level of deference. Intelligence officials, meanwhile, were again left scratching their heads about a president whose impulses they cannot predict.

And those officials had their own story tell, some rejecting the notion they were slow to act on Trump's expectations for the documents. The CIA began work months ago to get its remaining assassination-related documents ready for release on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the process. The person, who was not authorized to publicly to discuss the process and spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the goal was to have all the agency's documents ready to be released in full or with national security redactions before the deadline.

Since taking office, Trump has challenged the integrity of intelligence leaders, moved to exert more control over US spying agencies and accused his predecessor of using government spycraft to monitor his campaign. In the JFK files matter, one White House official said, Trump wanted to make clear he wouldn't be bullied by the agencies.

Whatever occurred in the lead-up to deadline day, Trump was irritated on Thursday that agencies still were arguing for more redactions. The president earlier in the week had tweeted to tease the release of the documents, heightening the sense of drama on a subject that has sparked the imaginations of conspiracy theorists for decades. Under a 1992 law, all of the records related to the assassination were to be made public unless explicitly withheld by the president.

Just before the release on Thursday, Trump wrote in a memorandum that he had "no choice" but to agree to requests from the CIA and FBI to keep thousands of documents secret because of the possibility that releasing the information could still harm national security. Two aides said Trump was upset by what he perceived to be overly broad secrecy requests, adding that the agencies had been explicitly warned about his expectation that redactions be kept to a minimum.

"The president and White House have been very clear with all agencies for weeks: They must be transparent and disclose all information possible," White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah said Friday.

Late last week, Trump received his first official briefing on the release in an Oval Office meeting that included Chief of Staff John Kelly, White House Counsel Don McGahn and National Security Council legal adviser John Eisenberg. Trump made it clear he was unsatisfied with the pace of declassification.

Trump's tweets, an official said, were meant as a signal to the intelligence community to take seriously his threats to release the documents in their entirety.

According to White House officials, Trump accepted that some of the records contained references to sensitive sources and methods used by the intelligence community and law enforcement and that declassification could harm American foreign policy interests. But after having the scope of the redactions presented to him, Trump told aides he did not believe them to be in the spirit of the law.

On Thursday, Trump's top aides presented him with an alternative to simply acquiescing to the agency requests: He could temporarily allow the redactions while ordering the agencies to launch a new comprehensive examination of the records still withheld or redacted in part. Trump accepted the suggestion, ordering that agencies be "extremely circumspect" about keeping the remaining documents secret at the end of the 180-day assessment.

"After strict consultation with General Kelly, the CIA and other agencies, I will be releasing ALL JFK files other than the names and addresses of any mentioned person who is still living," Trump wrote in a Friday tweet. "I am doing this for reasons of full disclosure, transparency and in order to put any and all conspiracy theories to rest."
Minot Air Force Base: Vice-President Mike Pence, in a visit to one of America's most potent nuclear bases, vowed that the US will keep up economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

With a huge B-52 bomber looming in the background, Pence told some 250 airmen at Minot Air Force Base that "there is no greater force for peace in this world" than the US nuclear arsenal.

"Under President Trump's leadership, we will make sure that our nuclear deterrent is stronger than ever before  modern, robust, flexible, resilient, and ready to confront any and all enemies of peace with a rapid, effective and overwhelming response," Pence said.

Pence touched only briefly on North Korea, spending much of his speech thanking the airmen of the only US base capable of nuclear strikes by both plane and missile. Minot has one of the nation's two B-52 bomber bases. The base also oversees 150 of the Air Force's 450 Minuteman 3 nuclear missiles.

Pence got a mission briefing that included various aspects of military preparedness, including nuclear, along with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and commanders of the base's missile and bomb wings. Pence also inspected a B-52 and visited a missile launch facility.

His visit came six weeks after Defense Secretary James Mattis did the same in a tour widely seen as aimed at reminding North Korea of US powers.

Pence has been meeting with top intelligence agencies in recent months and has received highly classified briefings with the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, the Director of National Intelligence and other intelligence agencies.

Trump's administration has sought to increase pressure on North Korea through UN Security Council sanctions and other diplomatic efforts, but North Korea hasn't budged from its goal of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including missiles capable of striking the US mainland.

Separately on Friday, Mattis was visiting the Demilitarised Zone that separates North Korea from South Korea. Mattis accused North Korea of threatening global order and said the Trump administration remains committed to compelling the North to accept complete nuclear disarmament.

On Thursday, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on 10 North Korean officials and organizations over human rights abuses and censorship. A rare military exercise involving three of the US Navy's aircraft carrier strike groups is being planned for next month in the Asia Pacific.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that defence cooperation is one of the key pillars of strategic partnership between India and France and called for greater co-operation under Make in India programme in defence manufacturing.

Modi, who met France's Defence Minister Florence Parly, discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest.

An official release said that Parly briefed the Prime Minister about developments in bilateral defence cooperation.

"The Prime Minister said that defence cooperation is one of the key pillars of the Strategic Partnership between India and France and called for greater cooperation in the 'Make in India' framework in defence manufacturing and joint research and development," the release said.

Modi said he looks forward to receiving French President Emmanuel Macron in India at his earliest convenience.
Kabul: An Afghan official says at least nine police officers have been killed in separate attacks by Taliban insurgents on police checkpoints in eastern Ghazni province.

Arif Noori, spokesman for the provincial governor, says two police checkpoints came under attack by Taliban fighters in the early hours on Saturday, also wounding two policemen.

He said six insurgents were killed and nine others were wounded in the battle, which lasted almost an hour.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, according to their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

He said 14 policemen were killed, including both commanders of the checkpoints.

Afghan forces have struggled to combat a resurgent Taliban since US and NATO forces formally concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014, switching to a counter-terrorism and support role.
Palongkhali: Bangladesh is planning to introduce voluntary sterilisation in its overcrowded Rohingya camps, where nearly a million refugees are fighting for space, after efforts to encourage birth control failed.

More than 6,00,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh since a military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar in August triggered an exodus, straining resources in the impoverished country.

The latest arrivals have joined hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled in earlier waves from Myanmar's Rakhine state, where the stateless Muslim minority has endured decades of persecution.

Most live in desperate conditions with limited access to food, sanitation or health facilities and local officials fear a lack of family planning could stretch resources even further.

Pintu Kanti Bhattacharjee, who heads the family planning service in the district of Cox's Bazar where the camps are based, said there was little awareness of birth control among the Rohingya.

"The whole community has been deliberately left behind," he told AFP, citing a lack of education in Myanmar, where the Rohingya are viewed as illegal immigrants and denied access to many services.

Bhattacharjee said large families were the norm in the camps, where some parents had up to 19 children and many Rohingya men have more than one wife.

District family planning authorities have launched a drive to provide contraception, but say they have so far managed to distribute just 549 packets of condoms among the refugees, who are reluctant to use them.

They have asked the government to approve a plan to launch vasectomies for Rohingya men and tubectomies for women, Bhattacharjee told AFP.

But they are likely to face an uphill struggle.

Many of the refugees told AFP they believed a large family would help them survive in the camps, where access to food and water remains a daily battle and children are often sent out to fetch and carry supplies.

Others had been told contraception was against the tenets of Islam.

Farhana Sultana, a family planning volunteer who works with Rohingya refugees in the camps, said many of the women she spoke to believed birth control was a sin.

"In Rakhine they did not go to family planning clinics, fearing the Myanmar authorities would give medicine that harms them or their children," Sultana said.

Volunteers said they struggled to sell the benefits of birth control to Rohingya women, most of whom came to them for advice on pregnancy complications or help with newborns.

Sabura, a mother of seven, said her husband believed the couple could support a large family.

"I spoke to my husband about birth control measures. But he is not convinced. He was given two condoms but he did not use them," she told AFP.

"My husband said we need more children as we have land and property (in Rakhine). We don't have to worry to feed them," she said.

Population control

Bangladesh has for years run a successful domestic sterilisation programme, offering 2,300 taka ($28) and a traditional lungi garment to each man who agrees to undergo the procedure.

Every month 250 people undergo sterilisation in the border town of Cox's Bazar.

But performing the permanent procedure on non-Bangladeshi nationals requires final approval from a committee headed by the health minister.

The idea is particularly contentious given the sensitivity of the issue in Myanmar. The widespread perception that the Rohingya population is mushrooming is a key source of the tensions that have spiralled in recent months.

No official data is available on birth rates among the Rohingya, who are excluded from the census in Myanmar.

But many of the ethnic Rakhine Buddhists accused of taking part in attacks on Rohingya villages that have driven hundreds of thousands into Bangladesh say they fear being displaced by the Muslim minority.

The Rohingya face official restrictions on the number of children they can have in Myanmar, although this has not been widely enforced.

Rights activists working in the camps in Bangladesh said some believed pregnancy provided protection against rape or other attacks in Myanmar, where the military has been accused of sexual violence against Rohingya women and girls.

"Some of them told us that if a woman was pregnant, she had less chance of being targeted by the military or attackers."

Bangladesh officials say some 20,000 Rohingya women are pregnant and 600 have given birth since arriving in Bangladesh, though this may be an underestimate as many births take place with no formal medical help.

"Sterilisation of the males is the best way to control the population," said Bhattacharjee.

"If a man is sterilised, he cannot father a child even if he marries four or five times."
Madrid: Spain moved Saturday to seize direct control of Catalonia, sacking its police chief a day after the Catalan regional Parliament's independence declaration sent shock waves through Europe.

The firing of Josep Lluis Trapero, the highest-ranking officer of the Mossos d'Esquadra regional police, follows Friday's dismissal of Catalonia's president, his deputy, all ministers, and the entire Parliament.

Moving to quash what he termed an "escalation of disobedience", Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called 21 December elections in the region under sweeping powers granted by the Senate in response to Catalan lawmakers voting to declare an independent republic.

The dismissal of Trapero, seen as an ally of his region's separatist leaders, was announced in Saturday's official government gazette.

Madrid accuses Trapero of disobeying court orders to block a banned 1 October independence referendum.

Instead, the ballot was disrupted, violently in some cases, by officers from Spain's national police and Guardia Civil paramilitary forces.

All eyes this weekend will be on whether Catalonia's separatist executive, led by Carles Puigdemont, will willingly step aside for caretaker envoys from Madrid.

Spain's deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria is due to meet later with secretaries of state who will likely take charge of Catalonia's regional ministries.

Competing rallies

Tens of thousands celebrated in Barcelona and other Catalan cities after Friday's independence declaration, which analysts say the region has no legal power to execute.

But anti-secession rallies have been called for the capital, Madrid, on Saturday, and for Barcelona on Sunday.

The move to quash Catalan powers under Article 155 of the Spanish constitution is likely to anger many in a region of some 7.5 million people that enjoyed considerable autonomy, with control over education, healthcare and police.

It is the first time the central government has curtailed autonomy in the region since dictator Francisco Franco's repressive 1939-75 rule.

Independence supporters have warned they will resist the temporary measure, implemented under a constitutional article devised to rein in rebel regions.

"We won't cave in to Rajoy's authoritarianism nor to 155," the far-left CUP party, an ally of Puigdemont, tweeted on Friday.

A motion to declare Catalonia a "republic" was passed Friday with 70 votes out of 135 in the regional Parliament, where pro-secessionists hold sway.

Catalan leaders point to the "Yes" vote in the deeply-divisive October 1 referendum as a mandate for independence, even though less than half of voters took part.

Echoing widely-held fears, Federico Santi, Europe analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, warned the crisis could become violent, with "more serious clashes between national police and pro-independence activists."

Speaking after the Parliament's proclamation, Puigdemont urged activists to "maintain the momentum" in a peaceful manner.

Unwavering support for Spain

The Spanish government has received unwavering support from the United States and its allies in the European Union.

The bloc is increasingly wary of nationalistic and secessionist sentiment, particularly after Britain's dramatic decision last year to leave the bloc.

EU President Donald Tusk insisted Madrid "remains our only interlocutor" in Spain, but urged it to exercise restraint.

"I hope the Spanish government favours force of argument, not argument of force," he tweeted.
Mogadishu, Somalia: A suicide car bomb exploded outside a popular hotel in Somalia's capital on Saturday, killing at least 13 people and wounding more than 16, while gunfire could be heard inside, police said. A second blast was heard in the area minutes later.

Captain Mohamed Hussein said the gunfire was heard inside the Nasa-Hablod hotel, which is close to the presidential palace and is frequented by politicians and other members of Mogadishu's elite. A senior Somali police colonel and a former lawmaker were among the dead, Hussein said.

Saturday's blasts came two weeks after more than 350 people were killed in a massive truck bombing on a busy Mogadishu street in the country's worst-ever attack.

Al-Shabab, Africa's deadliest Islamic extremist group, quickly claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack and said its fighters were inside the hotel.

As night fell, sporadic gunfire could be heard around the hotel as both soldiers and ambulances responded to the attack.

Mohamed Dek Haji said he survived the bombing as he walked beside a parked car that was largely destroyed by the explosion. He said he saw at least three armed men in military uniforms running toward the hotel after the suicide bombing at its gate.

"I think they were al-Shabab fighters who were trying to storm the hotel," he said, lying on a hospital bed. He suffered small injuries on his shoulder and skull from flying glass.

Witnesses in some previous attacks have said al-Shabab fighters disguised themselves by wearing military uniforms.

Al-Shabab often targets high-profile areas of Mogadishu. It has not commented on the massive attack two weeks ago; experts have said the death toll was so high that the group hesitated to further anger Somali citizens as its pursues its insurgency.

Since the blast two weeks ago, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has visited regional countries to seek more support for the fight against the extremist group, vowing a "state of war."

A 22,000-strong multinational African Union force in Somalia is expected to withdraw its forces and hand over the country's security to the Somali military by the end of 2020.

US military officials and others in recent months have expressed concern that Somali forces are not yet ready.

The US military also has stepped up military efforts against al-Shabab in 2017 in Somalia, carrying out nearly 20 drone strikes, as the global war on extremism moves deeper into the African continent.
Taipei: A sea of rainbow flags and glitzy costumes filled downtown Taipei Saturday as tens of thousands marched in Asia's largest gay pride parade, the first since Taiwan's top court ruled in favour of gay marriage.

The island looks set to become the first place in Asia to legalise gay marriage after the constitutional court said in May that laws preventing same-sex unions violated the guarantee of freedom of marriage.

It gave the government two years to implement the decision.

The anticipation was felt in Saturday's parade, as dancing crowds in colourful wigs and sequined outfits made their way through the capital's centre alongside vans blasting music.

Many spared no effort in dressing up, from a man posing in a sweeping bridal dress and a tiara to another donning an inflatable dinosaur costume.

But behind the celebrations, some are frustrated at the lack of progress in changing the current marriage laws since May.

"A lot of people cannot afford to wait two years," said Joseph Wu, 46, dressed in a matching kilt and rainbow turban with his partner of six years.

"We just want the same things heterosexual couples have. We also do our military service, we pay the same taxes, so why can't we have the same thing?" he said.

Hino Chen, 29, echoed this sentiment, adding that he hopes the government will change the civil code rather than enact a separate law to enable gay marriage - which critics say is still discriminatory.

"We are the same. We also want to start our own families," he told AFP.

Gay rights activists expressed frustration last month when a Taipei administrative court rejected a request from a lesbian couple to marry, saying they can only register when relevant laws are in place.

Still, Taiwan is seen as one of the most progressive societies in Asia when it comes to gay rights.

For Benny Chan from Hong Kong, it was worth travelling to Taipei just for the parade.

He was dressed as a Chinese empress in a strapless full-length gold gown, which he says he would not dare to wear in Hong Kong.

"Hong Kong is more conservative, maybe because of China's influence," Chan, 35, told AFP.

"Only when I'm in Taiwan can I dress like this and not be afraid to express myself."
Starting today, Google will no longer let you get localized search results just by changing country domain-like Google. com for the USA or google.co.uk for the UK. The company said that it will now offer search results that are relevant to your location no matter which domain you are opening.

Google says that one out of five searches on Google is related to location and it is very crucial for the company to provide locally relevant search results and accurate information. The company earlier labeled and accessed these services via country code top-level domain names (ccTLD). However, starting today, the company has updated the way it labels country services on the mobile web, the Google app for iOS, and desktop Search and Maps.

Your location will now determine your search results regardless of which country domain you are accessing. If you travel to a different location, it will automatically serve you the search results based on the place you have visited and then switch back to default once you have returned.

However, there is a workaround for this and you can escape your countrys results just by changing the location of the browser settings. You can just head to search settings in the browser and change the location to get results based on that location. In addition, at the bottom of the search results page, you can see which country service you are currently using.

Google clarifies that this change will only affect the way Google Search and Maps services are labeled, but wont have an effect on the way these products work nor will it change how the company handle obligations under the national law. This is how Google manages its existing services like Gmail, YouTube, Blogger and more.

Source
Just after a week after the release of Chrome 62, Google has rolled out the Chrome beta 63 with new changes and additions. It is giving the finishing touches for Chrome Home U.I, a brand new flags page, new options for web apps and more.

Google Chromes bottom address bar design called the Chrome Home has been in the development for quite some. It was first spotted almost a year ago; later it became a full revamp of Chromes interface in March and then a new design called Modern U.I for Chrome Home with the rounded address bar and other elements appeared a while ago in August. This Modern U.I was shipped with Chrome 62 last week but wasnt enabled by default, and the original Chrome Home isnt enabled for all.

Now the Chrome beta 63 is showing signs that indicate that the Chrome Home is nearly completed and ready for a broad rollout. In the beta 63, there is a new flag that says Youre using the new Chrome message at the top of the overflow menu which on tapping open a pop-up describing the new features and there is a slider to disable the new interface as well. Theres another new flag that says Chrome Opt-out Snackbar which prompts users to take the survey the first they opt-out of the new Chrome Home by disabling the new interface from the slider mentioned above.

Chrome has always had Flags that lets you experiment with features that in the development stage and the flags count slowly increased making the section cluttered and difficult to navigate. Now with the beta 63, the new Flag section interface looks much cleaner, and all the options are sorted between available and unavailable.

Another biggest change is the Minimal U.I for web apps. When you add a site or web app to your home screen, Chrome checks the sites manifest file to see how the site wants to be displayed. Up until now, the web apps had three layouts, one that opens the browser, one that opens as a web app with the status bar but no browser-like interface, and finally the fullscreen to make the web app full screen.

With the new beta update, Google has added a new option called the Minimal UI this makes the web app look like a Chrome Custom Tab which lets you access the current URL which is ideal for the news site. Lastly, beta 63 also has sitewide audio muting feature that enables you to completely mute audio for individual sites. But for now, users can temporarily mute individual tabs, and it currently shows permission prompts as pop-ups, instead of banners at the bottom of the screen.

Google will roll out the stable version of the beta 63 in the coming days, but you can get the beta version from Google Play Store.

Source 1, 2
While off duty, NJ State Police Trooper Dennis Palaia rescued a man who began choking in the middle of a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in New Jersey.

A security camera captured the officers heroic act and the footage soon went viral after the police department posted it to Facebook.

Well my son and I decided last minute were going to go to Buffalo Wild Wings. We had just ordered and I could hear a sound coming from the man behind me. It was an unusual, almost like he sucked in or had burped; it was different than just a normal cough. Soon as I peeked over, I saw his face was red and he was choking, he told FOX Business Liz MacDonald on Risk and Reward.

The off-duty officer used the Heimlich maneuver several times in order to dislodge the chicken wing from the mans throat. This was the first time the officer had ever used the maneuver.

He vomited and once he got that out, he was able to stand up, breath and then we sat him back down. We asked him if he wanted EMS because sometimes your throat is hurt or you break a rib doing it and he said he was fine, Palaia said.

After he caught his breath the man explained to Palaia what caused him to choke.

He said that he was just having the boneless chicken wings and it was a spicy kind and it was a little too spicy for him so he tried to swallow too quickly,Palaia said.
Paying any type of bank fee is never fun. Some fees are unavoidable, but others, like overdraft fees, can often be avoided with a little planning. Americans shelled out an estimated $15 billion in avoidable overdraft fees to banks last year, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

That figure is actually down from the $32 billion that was paid to banks for the same fees back in 2013. Part of that drop comes from new laws passed back in 2010 that say that a bank can only approve overdraft transactions if a customer has opted in to that service ahead of time.

These rules only apply to things like ATM withdrawals and debit card transactions though, so any automatic bill payments or written checks can still result in an overdraft and a fee averaging $34 per overdraft. And that $34 fee can balloon into a much higher amount if you have multiple overdraft payments coming out at the same time.

While the new laws have certainly helped stem the tide of overdraft fees, there's much more that Americans can do to keep these fees at bay.

Two tips for avoiding overdraft fees

The first tip is an obvious one: Take a look at your finances and make sure you're using a budget to know exactly where your money is going. It's easy to skim over this idea, but nothing will help you more to avoid bank fees than knowing where each of your dollars is going.

The second tip applies if you've already overdrafted on your account: Call the bank. Many times, your bank will waive some or all of the fees you were charged. There are few caveats to this, however. If you've overdrafted a lot in the past or if you have multiple fees all at once, the bank may be less willing to remove those fees.

To keep from having to call the bank, you should also set alerts on your bank account (through your bank's app or website) that can send you a message when your balance falls below a certain amount. You'll get a timely reminder letting you know your balance is getting too low, and hopefully avoid an overdraft as a result.

Be wary of some overdraft coverage

Finally, and most importantly, you should look closely at the details of the overdraft coverage your bank offers, and decide whether or not it's the right option for you.

Some overdraft coverage options -- like taking money out of your savings account to cover an overdraft in your checking account -- can be useful. But the problem is that some overdraft coverage can actually be a very costly thing for many financially vulnerable Americans.

This is where that 2010 overdraft fee law becomes very important. The current rules mean that once a bank customer opts-in to an overdraft service, the bank can then approve ATM and debit card transactions that will result in overdraft fees.

This means that if you opt-in for some overdraft services and you make a purchase on your debit card for $150 and another the same day for $25 -- and you only have $100 in your account -- then the purchases will go through and your account will be charged two overdraft fees for that day. After all, you opted in for the service.

If, on the other hand, you don't opt-in to the overdraft service, then the $150 transaction would be denied, and only the $25 transaction would be approved. The result? No overdraft fee!

The reason why I say you need to read the fine print of these overdraft services is because many people end up opting in to these services and paying huge amounts in fees. A CFPB report released a few months ago says that some bank costumers pay a median of $450 more in fees if they opt-in to debit card and ATM overdraft services than those who don't opt-in.

"Our study shows that financially vulnerable consumers who opt in to overdraft risk incurring a rash of fees when using their debit card or an ATM," CFPB Director, Richard Cordray, said in a press release.

The CFPB aso says that people who opted into overdraft coverage -- and overdraft their account frequently -- pay about 18 fees per year, compared to just five fees for those who haven't opted in.

In short, if you overdraft your bank account on a semi-frequent basis, then overdraft services could end up costing you much more in the long run. So before you say yes to those services, make sure you've read all of the details closely. And remember that once you opt-in it means you're giving your bank permission to let overdraft payments go through -- and charge you a hefty fee for each overdraft transaction.

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It's no secret that Americans are woefully behind on retirement savings. The typical household aged 44 to 49 has just $81,347 socked away, while households between 50 and 55 have an average $124,831 in savings.

Near-retirees aren't doing much better. The average balance among 56- to 61-year-olds is just $163,577. Furthermore, almost half of American families have no retirement savings at all.

Given these rather dire statistics, you'd think more of us would be focused on building our nest eggs to make up for lost time. But sadly, that's not the case. In a recent NerdWallet study, Americans were asked to rank their upcoming financial goals, and it turns out we're more intent on saving for vacations than we are for retirement.

Specifically, vacations ranked fourth on the public's list of financial goals, while retirement savings ranked fifth. And while vacations only edged out retirement by a narrow 3% margin, the fact that that happened is pretty shocking in its own right.

Then again, maybe it's not. Americans tend to crave instant gratification, which explains why so many of us carry massive amounts of credit card debt. Throw in the fact that 39% of the population has absolutely no funds available in immediate savings, and it shouldn't come as a surprise that so many of us aren't focused on setting money aside for what could be the very distant future.

Still, there's no getting around the need to save money for retirement. And the sooner more people realize that, the better their chances of changing their ways while there's still enough time to make a difference.

Don't put your retirement at risk

Many workers don't save for retirement because they don't have the cash (or feel they don't). But while it's one thing to have your basic living costs (think food, rent, and healthcare) eat up your entire paycheck, the fact that so many folks plan to save for vacations implies that there is, indeed, some money to spare.

So why do so many people think they can get away with not saving for the future? An overreliance on Social Security could be to blame. Many workers, to this day, believe that Social Security is enough to sustain retirees without the need for additional income. But those people couldn't be more wrong. Currently, Social Security pays the average American just $1,360 a month, or $16,320 a year. That's hardly enough to live off, especially since the typical healthy 65-year-old is expected to spend $200,000 or more on healthcare alone over the course of retirement.

In fact, Social Security is designed to replace only about 40% of the typical worker's pre-retirement income, but since most of us need a minimum of 70% of our former earnings to stay afloat financially as seniors, those benefits clearly won't be enough. (And that, of course, assumes that they don't get cut in the future.) It's therefore on us to start saving on our own -- even if it means forgoing vacations to do so.

Start building your nest egg

If you're among the many Americans who plan to save for a vacation this year before funding a retirement account, don't do it. It's one thing if you're already making steady contributions to an IRA or 401(k) and want to spend some of your hard-earned money on a getaway, but if you're forced to choose between the two, retirement savings should absolutely win out.

Imagine you're saving for a $2,000 vacation, which is what you typically spend each year. If you were to put that money into a retirement plan instead, and invest it, here's what you'd wind up with depending on the length of your savings window:

If You Start Saving $2,000 a Year at Age: Here's What You'll Have by Age 65 (Assumes a 7% Average Annual Return): 25 $399,000 30 $276,000 35 $189,000 40 $126,000 45 $82,000 50 $50,000

If the idea of giving up your yearly vacation sounds painful, keep in mind that you still have options for getting a much-needed break from the grind. You could go the staycation route and explore free activities close to home. Or, take a road trip to visit an out-of-town friend, where you can see a new city while conceivably scoring free lodging and meals.

Finally, if you are going to move forward with a fancier vacation, find ways to lower its cost. This way, you might have some money left over to stick in your retirement account.

No matter what you do, don't make the mistake of neglecting your future. While you might enjoy the memories of those vacations for many years to come, they're not going to do you much good when you're poor and struggling in your old age.

The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies.

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The Washington Free Beacon is admitting that it hired the D.C.-based firm Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research on Republican presidential candidates, including then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The Free Beacon sought out the research fall of 2015 through spring of 2016 and removed itself from further funding once the project was picked up by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

Editor-in-chief Matthew Continetti and chairman Michael Goldfarb said that the publication obtained the services of Fusion GPS to obtain research on numerous individuals including Republican presidential primary candidates.

All of the work that Fusion GPS provided to the Free Beacon was based on public sources, and none of the work product that the Free Beacon received appears in the Steele dossier. The Free Beacon had no knowledge of or connection to the Steele dossier, did not pay for the dossier, and never had contact with, knowledge of, or provided payment for any work performed by Christopher Steele, the publication's editor-in-chief and chairman acknowledged in a statement Friday night.

Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer of the London Center for Policy Research told FOX Business Lou Dobbs that the Washington Free Beacon should have been aware that any research work with foreign entities are restricted through election regulations and U.S. law.

This was worse than fiction because it was slime. The Washington Free Beacon should have been smarter by the fact that hey you live in this town, these sorts of things happen. But we are talking about pure and concise illegality; it is prohibited both by U.S. law and by election regulations to proscribe higher or otherwise work with foreign entities to do research, he said.

The retired spy said once the Free Beacon used Fusion GPS, it was just a matter of time for the Russians to figure out that the Democrats would use the same services against GOP candidates.

The Russians saw the Democrats coming, they set this all up, they knew this would be a poison pill. They set up trip wires on both sides so ultimately no matter who got the information, how it was used, they come out on top and the Democrats were too stupid to both understand its illegal and too stupid to understand the third or fourth order effects of the damage this would cause, Shaffer said.

The Clinton campaign and the DNCs funding led to the dossier that contained allegations that the Russian government had collected compromising information about Trump and that the Kremlin was engaged in an active effort to assist his presidential campaign.

Shaffer said the intent of the Russians is to cause chaos regardless of who won the 2016 election.

If Clinton would have won, they would have been able to set up a poison pill or stake for her to use to put in the heart of Donald Trump, he said. All these things being revealed now would have never been revealed by a Clinton-led justice department.
The latest accusations of sexual assault against journalist Mark Halperin came Friday from a former college student and a journalist, who was seeking a job when she met him.

Halperin, who until recently worked for NBC and MSNBC as an analyst, has been accused by several women of alleged sexual assault. Some of the allegations against him claim that, while working at ABC News, he grabbed a womans breasts without consent and pressed his clothed and erect penis against three of his co-workers.

Several employees suggested that his behavior was common knowledge, including former ABC correspondent Clarissa Ward who described it as an open secret.

Halperin later apologized for his behavior and claimed that it ended after he resigned from the company. But one woman who interacted with him while she was in college told The Daily Beast a different story.

MARK HALPERIN OUT AT NBC, MSNBC AND HBO AMID SEXUAL ASSAULT ACCUSATIONS

Katharine Glenn, who was then a junior at Tulane University, reportedly met Halperin while he was a guest speaker at the school in February 2011.

Glenn told The Daily Beast that she and Halperin were seated next to each other at the table and he got very friendly and put his hand on my upper thigh.

[He] was talking to me about helping me with my career, and that I shouldnt go to law school and should come to D.C. and be a journalist or work on the Hill, Glenn said. He offered that I should come back to his hotel room [that night] so we could talk more about my career  and at no point did I think that is what he meant, and the touching under the table did not suggest that, either.

Glenn described his alleged behavior as lecherous and gross, especially considering his age, The Daily Beast reported. While she said she was not at the time afraid of Halperin, she wanted to tell her story to make sure he never gets near [female] college students ever again.

MARK HALPERIN ACCUSATIONS: FORMER ABC EMPLOYEES INSIST THE NETWORK KNEW ABOUT ALLEGATION

Halperin also allegedly made inappropriate sexual advances on two other students during his time at the university, during one of which an adjunct professor reportedly intervened, according to people there at the time.

On a separate occasion, an unnamed woman claimed that she was following up with Halperin in regards to a job on the 1996 campaign trail, The Daily Beast reported.

In the exchange, she alleged Halperin invited her to meet him at his hotel room.

Not at the hotel, it was specifically in my hotel room, the woman explained.

She said she pretended to not get what he was insinuating and replied, Why do you want to meet me in a hotel room?

The woman said he didnt answer and she did not get the job.

He knew how valuable these jobs were and used his position to pimp for himself.
New allegations from at least two actresses came out Friday alleging sexual assault by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

In a story by the New Yorker, actress Annabella Sciorra claims that Weinstein violently raped her, and actress Daryl Hannah says her career suffered after encounters with Weinstein.

In the early 1990s, Sciorra alleged that after dropping her off from a party, Weinstein went uninvited into her apartment and proceeded to start undressing himself as he walked around.

He shoved me onto the bed, and he got on top of me. I kicked and I yelled, she said. Weinstein reportedly then held her arms up and forced her to have sex with him.

"He shoved me onto the bed, and he got on top of me. I kicked and I yelled."  Actress Annabella Sciorra, describing an encounter with Harvey Weinstein

When he was done, he ejaculated on my leg, and on my nightgown. He said, I have impeccable timing, and then he said, This is for you, she told the magazine.

HARVEY WEINSTEIN SEX SCANDAL: DETAILING THE ALLEGATIONS

And then he attempted to perform oral sex on me. And I struggled, but I had very little strength left in me.

Weinstein eventually left her after she began compulsively shaking, she said.

Sciorra told the New Yorker that she never told anyone what happened, including the police, saying that she felt so ashamed and disgusting.

In 1997, Sciorra recalled another encounter with Weinstein during which they had neighboring hotel rooms. She said he knocked on her door early one morning and she opened it without thinking.

Theres Harvey in his underwear, holding a bottle of baby oil in one hand and a tape, a movie, in the other, she said. And it was horrific, because I'd been there before.

Sciorra, 57, has had film roles in "Jungle Fever" and "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle," and also appeared on HBO's "The Sopranos."

ROSE MCGOWAN TO MAKE FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE SINCE WEINSTEIN ACCUSATIONS

Hannah said that when she first met Weinstein, she didnt know about his reputation. So when he asked her hotel room number to schedule a meeting, she didnt think much of it.

Later she heard incessant knocking on her hotel room door. She said she got so scared she eventually snuck out the back.

The following day, the knocking began again, the report said.

The knocking started again and again. And I was like, oh s---,  Hannah recalled. We actually pushed a dresser in front of the door and just kind of huddled in the room.

HARVEY WEINSTEIN ACCUSED OF RAPE BY ACTRESS NATASSIA MALTHE

Several years later, Hannah allegedly encountered Weinstein again when he somehow got a key to her hotel room and let himself in.

He came through the living room and into the bedroom. He just burst in like a raging bull, she told the New Yorker. And I know with every fiber of my being that if my male makeup artist was not in that room, things would not have gone well. It was scary.

Weinstein reportedly tried to get her to leave and go to a party with him downstairs. When she eventually got dressed, she said the party room was completely empty.

As a result of her encounters, Hannah told the New Yorker that her career suffered substantially. And when she told people what happened, it didnt help.

I did tell people about it, she said. And it didnt matter.

Hannah, 56, has had roles in "Blade Runner, "Wall Street," and "Steel Magnolias."
Political journalist Mark Halperin released a letter of apology Friday evening from his Twitter account following the bombshell sexual harassment allegations against him while he was employed with ABC News.

Halperin, 52, who left his positions at MSNBC and NBC following the allegations this week, wrote that he felt profound guilt and responsibility for his conduct.

I am profoundly sorry for the pain and anguish I have caused by my past actions, Halperin wrote. I apologize sincerely to the women I mistreated.

MARK HALPERIN OUT AT NBC, MSNBC AND HBO AMID SEX ASSAULT ACCUSATIONS

Halperin continued that he was aware he was part of the problem at ABC News and recognized that he had a problem.

No one had sued me, no one had filed a human resources complaint against me, no colleague had confronted me. But I didnt need a call from HR (human resources) to know that I was a selfish, immature person, who was behaving in a manner that had to stop, Halperin wrote.

Halperin said he went to counseling to work on his issues and he did not engage in the same behavior while he was employed at Time, Bloomberg, NBC News and Showtime.

MARK HALPERIN ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT BY TWO MORE WOMEN

Halperins apology was released near the time CNN, which first published a report Wednesday detailing the sexual harassment allegations, came out with another article of four more women coming forward with new accusations, The Washington Post reported.

CNN reported one woman claimed Halperin masturbated in front of her while another woman said the Game Change co-author threw her against a restaurant window and threatened to derail her career after she rebuffed him.

Some of the allegations against him claim that, while working at ABC News, he grabbed a womans breasts without consent and pressed his clothed and erect penis against three of his co-workers.

Several employees suggested that his behavior was common knowledge, including former ABC correspondent Clarissa Ward who described it as an open secret.

Following the allegations, Penguin Press canceled a planned book by Halperin and John Heilemann about the 2016 election and HBO called off a miniseries that would have been based on the book. Halperin and Heilemann had collaborated on two previous books, including "Game Change," a best-seller about the 2008 race that almost single-handedly revived the campaign book genre and was the basis for an award-winning HBO adaptation.

Halperin joins the list of powerful men who have been accused of sexual misconduct in various industries in recent weeks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Charlie Heaton, a star of the hit Netflix show Stranger Things, was denied entry into the U.S. last week after trace amounts of cocaine were found in his luggage when he arrived in Los Angeles.

A law enforcement official told the Associated Press that a customs canine sniffed Heatons luggage when he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport last Saturday and a small amount of cocaine was found.

The official, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity, said Heaton, a British citizen, was refused entry into the U.S. at the airport and returned to London. He wasn't arrested and no charges were filed.

According to TMZ, Heaton does not have a criminal history and was able to avoid being arrested.

Heaton stars as Jonathan Byers in the Netflix supernatural drama.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
When Pillsbury rolled out their new and more natural ingredient-based cookie dough recipe this fall, it was with the best intentions. Their ready-to-bake cookie dough is a classic with many devoted fans, but the General Mills brand felt that it was time for a change.

We have improved the taste and been able to remove artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, and high fructose corn syrup from the recipe, a General Mills spokesperson told Today Food.

However, many reviewers on the Pillsbury website are leaving frosty reviews complaining about the new recipes taste.

My family and I are highly disappointed in the new recipe. THEY ARE HORRIBLE! Taste like they have been sitting out all day right after you take them out of the oven. Please bring back the old recipe, someone named Kdoodle1 commented.

Horrible ugghhhh I'm sooooooo disappointed, began Shcain17s review. I like really loved these cookies and this is totally ruined for me. Whhyyyyy?????!!!!! Why would you ruin such a perfect recipe? Negative.

Texture is different. Taste is NOT awful but this is the first time they've ever left an after taste. A BAD after taste. I have been eating your cookies for over 30 years and this is the FIRST time that I've had to go out and buy Nestle Tollhouse to see if I could get acclimated to those, complained commenter dlrhynes.

Hopefully this new recipe wont force Pillsbury to give up their spot on our definitive ranking of store-bought chocolate chip cookie dough!

This article originally appeared in The Daily Meal.
I remember when my patients used to pay me up front for my service, and then apply to their insurance company for reimbursement. Health insurance policies came in all shapes and sizes back then, some more comprehensive than others, depending on a patients needs.

Patients understood that health insurance was not the same thing as health care, and that it was at best a promise that sometimes went unfulfilled.

Over the years insurers gained more control of the health-care system, until I had to appeal to the insurance company to be reimbursed for a service I had already provided. Since patients no longer paid for my service directly, it was no wonder they began to think of health insurance as the same as health care.

The new system put a lot more pressure on me and other doctors. Insurers made more of a profit if they denied payment for our bills, while we continued to hold all the responsibility for providing patient care.

ObamaCare gave the insurers even more power, providing them access to a new clientele in the individual market, and allowing them to charge increasing premiums for heavily regulated policies with high deductibles. Only the biggest insurers could afford to provide this coverage  and they counted on a captive audience of patients who were mandated to buy it.

But ObamaCare didnt work, because young healthy patients were too smart to pay such a hefty price for coverage they might never need. In 2016, there were 6.5 million of them who took the tax penalty under the law for going without health insurance  half of them under the age of 35. In 2015, the average individual mandate penalty for going without insurance was only $442  far below the cost of a years worth of health insurance.

Insurers walked away when they found they couldnt maintain a profit taking care of mostly older patients with pre-existing conditions. As a result, about 1,300 counties in the U.S. have only one insurer participating in the state exchanges for 2018.

The state exchanges are failing, as an outrageous 80 percent of enrollees receive federal subsidies, while the government has also been subsidizing co-pays and deductibles for poorer patients.

With two executive orders earlier this month, President Trump cut off some of the subsidies (for co-insurance) while at the same time allowing the creation of group association plans across state lines for small businesses and trade groups.

The hope is that more competition and choice will bring down overall premiums, with a la carte policies once again targeted to a persons health-care needs. Skinny insurance policies  coupled with larger tax-deductible health savings accounts to help with out of pocket costs  would make life in the doctors office much more workable.

By contrast, the so-called Alexander-Murray bipartisan deal that has been under consideration in the Senate is simply another subsidy patch to feed the health insurance beast.

And all the subsidies in the world will not fix a broken system. In the doctors office, one of the most challenging moments with ObamaCare insurance is when a patient is hamstrung by her deductible and cant have a test or treatment she needs despite a hefty (government subsidized) premium.

When a health insurance policy has both a high premium and a high deductible, the premium makes you feel entitled to health care, but the deductible keeps you from getting it.

The government bailout of a rigged system has gone far enough. Its hard to feel sorry for a health insurance industry that earned $13.1 billion in 2016, up 46 percent from 2015.

Most of these profits came from Medicare Advantage, another government supported program, so its particularly greedy that the insurers are refusing to play ball with failing over-subsidized ObamaCare.

The time to let the state exchanges fully collapse is now. They should be replaced by expanded Federally Qualified Health Centers, Americas health-care safety net, which already take care of 22 million people  whether they have health insurance or not.

Alternatively, the federal government could simply provide Medicaid-style insurance to those who dont otherwise have it, as President Nixon proposed in 1974.

My goal and the goal of every caring physician is to take care of patients, not to ensure insurance company profits.
President Ronald Reagan wisely said: You cant be for big government, big taxes, and big bureaucracy and still be for the little guy.

The Tax Reform Act of 1986 stands as the single greatest example weve known of bipartisan federal income tax policy. Once it was enacted, our nation had a simpler tax code with fewer tax exemptions and loopholes, and significantly lower rates. This brought relief to American families and businesses.

Now five administrations and two generations later, we must again act boldly and with bipartisanship to jumpstart our economy.

The Trump administration and Congress have an opportunity to build an economic legacy. By enacting comprehensive tax reform, they would spur economic growth and ensure American prosperity far into the future. Both Democrats and Republicans can be heroes to their constituents by passing tax reform and kicking off economic growth similar to what we experienced three decades ago.

Under President Reagan, the highest income tax rate was lowered from 50 percent to 28 percent and the bottom income tax rate went from 11 percent to 15 percent. The change to the tax code also removed the distinction between earned and unearned income.

Additionally, homeownership was encouraged by increasing the mortgage interest deduction. Americans kept more of what they earned and were incentivized to invest. The economy soared.

This is a far cry from our income tax code today, with the highest rate at 39.6 percent. The previous four administrations have reversed much of the progress made in 1986 and have managed to vastly increase the national debt from $2 trillion to more than $20 trillion.

When you factor in the current job-killing corporate income tax rate of 35 percent  the highest among the 35 nations in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development  the Trump administration is right to suggest that the time is now for Congress to pass the largest income tax reform measure since 1986.

Bipartisanship is required for this overhaul. This can be encouraged by demonstrating one basic economic principle that both Democrats and Republicans understand: incentives. Technically speaking, were talking about the behavioral effects of a tax cut.

The administrations current tax reform plan suggests a corporate rate reduction from 35 percent to 20 percent. In addition, it cuts the pass-through rate to 25 percent and proposes allowing companies to fully expense nonstructural capital expenditures for at least five years, which would allow businesses to write off equipment purchases in full in the year of purchase.

The proposed tax bill would also simplify individual income tax brackets from eight to four (including the zero bracket). Individuals earning less than $12,000 a year  or couples earning $24,000 and filing jointly  would pay no tax, essentially doubling the standard deduction.

The remaining income tax brackets suggested are 12 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent. There is also talk of raising the child tax credit, but by how much is yet to be disclosed.

While reducing the number of brackets is a definite positive, adding deductions and credits removes people from the tax rolls and reduces the impact and strength of the tax bill. However, the overall implications of this tax bill are extremely positive. If passed today, it would surely incentivize the Reaganesque economic growth that this country needs.

Incentives play an enormous role in human decision-making. Providing a benefit for an action will result in more of that action. However, there is a host of evidence that lower tax rates incentivize economic activity, which leads to growth in output, investment and employment.

Lowering the corporate income tax rate to 20 percent would encourage existing businesses to grow and invest in the United States, and would reduce barriers for new businesses to form. After all, entrepreneurs are an essential ingredient to our economic growth. You cant love jobs and hate job creators.

The key challenge with any reform, especially tax reform, is ensuring its longevity. The economic miracle of the 1980s" was prevented from continuing on by the generations that followed it, President Trump said earlier this month in speech at the Heritage Foundation.

How do we learn from that experience and lay a foundation for long-term prosperity in future generations to come? The best way is to each our children and grandchildren that incentives matter. Most children already build an understanding of this principle by achieving good grades, earning an allowance and competing in sports.

We are our childrens first teachers, and we can help them understand that economics is more than a political or academic issue. The relationship between supply, demand and price is consistent throughout everyday life.

Todays fifth-grader will vote for the first time in 2024. When we commit to raising economically educated children, we prevent readdressing economic policy every four to eight years. Talking with kids about how incentives work in their daily decision making, and then demonstrating how this applies to government policy, is the bridge we need to bring about long-term tax reform and prosperity.

The Trump administration and Congress have an opportunity to enact legislation that could result in the greatest economic growth since the 1980s. Holding members of Congress accountable and teaching children to think economically ensures this prosperity will last for generations.

Balconi and Laffer collaborated to write Lets Chat About Economics, and Lets Chat About Democracy, illustrated books for young families, introducing real terms in everyday scenarios. More information can be found at www.letschatbooks.com.
It was 1982. That is the first Halloween I remember the hum of petrified parents. It was the first time we didnt get to go trick or treating, no not even one street over. Instead, we had a makeshift party at a neighbors house. The TV news turned on low warned of tainted Tylenol.

The next year was the first time we took our candy to the police station to be X-rayed to check for needles and razor blades. We heard the adults whisper: What is the world coming to?

We didnt know, but I thought as police checked out my candy: Easy with that full-size Snickers youre manhandling!

As an adult with children ranging in age from 3 to 22, I have seen just about everything in the ways of Halloween. From the politically incorrect to the religiously correct to the yeah, just give us some freaking candy, everyone has an opinion.

And every year there is some new rule or renegade rant about all the souls that have come and gone, and may or may not stop by for some creepy punch served over dry ice. Dry ice, by the way, is very dangerous when handled with bare hands.

As I watched volunteers wander into the haunted house at my daughters school, I noted that 35 years ago those costumes would have sent me to counseling. My husband whimpered and covered the eyes of our 5-year-old as a cheerleader with high-def cosmetics entered, carrying what was supposed to be her own head under one arm.

Everything is more terrifying now, in make-believe and in real life.

In real life, gunmen take people out with high-powered rifles at concerts, and bad guys put poison and needles in caramel apples. But that is the minority. I refuse to believe it is the majority or the rule.

In the infamous words of Linus in Charles Schultzs The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown:

There are three things I've learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin.

When it comes to Halloween, there are some who will lock themselves away in fear of what might happen, or to nurse their wounds because of what did happen. There are some who lock themselves away in protest.

There are others who call it something else, like a fest or a carnival so as not to offend or beckon souls. Still, others will go too far, making some crude political statement or dressing their toddler like a French maid or Monica Lewinsky.

And in this game called Halloween, all that is necessary for us to have something for us to talk about next year. Some grand opinion, some horrific worry, some hill to die on, or some great offense that rocks us to our core and gets us out of bed to write that letter, so that we might be heard.

I find myself wishing I was sitting in a pumpkin patch with Linus, a sheet over my head, never mind the thread count, two holes cut out for eyes. I make no statement with this sheet. I courageously eat unwrapped Rice Krispies that the neighbor dropped in my bucket. I dont care how she voted in the last election. I wait patiently for something magical to happen, less publicized and political than Santa.

Old-fashioned innocence, the kind that causes cavities and mischief. I believe in Halloween, Jesus and the Pledge of Allegiance, and it is a good year to celebrate for the sake of nonsense and candy corn.

No matter how you choose to do it, dare I say, Happy Halloween!
On Friday, October 6, Katie Evans Santa Clarita, California made one of countless long drives to visit her infant twin daughters at UCLA hospital. Born in August nearly 15 weeks early, Evans spent every possible moment at their side.

Late in the evening, Evans said goodbye to the girls and began the drive home to her husband, Jacob, and their four young sons. Less than a mile from home, Evans was involved in a crash too horrific for description. Although the investigation is still underway, the other driver was allegedly intoxicated.

It is believed Evans died instantly.

Interviewed by phone, Evanss husband, Jacob, described the longest and most agonizing night of his life. When his wife hadnt returned home in a reasonable amount of time, he became worried. After calls to friends and the hospital, he drove the route she wouldve taken home and in a matter of minutes was face to face with a police barricade.

The next few hours marched by like exhausted soldiers. Friends and members of his church family filled his home until finally, at 5:30 a.m., the coroner knocked on his door with one hand and held Katies drivers license with the other.

The first thing I thought was how do I tell my boys, Evans said. Later that morning, when the moment was right, Evans gathered the three older boys for a family meeting. Evans led a discussion about Gods plan for his children. Then I told them that God had asked them to exercise faith in (his) plan. I said their mother had been killed. The boys cried their little hearts out and I was so glad to have so many friends there to hug and hold them.

As Evans considers his wifes legacy, he knows its rooted in forgiveness. He has no doubt Katie would want friends and family to forgive the other driver. Evans says life is too short for anything other than letting go and moving on.

In fact, when he heard that since Katies passing some within his company were expressing anger and frustration, Evans wrote an open letter to the employees. It read:

Obviously this is a difficult time for me and my family. It has been more difficult as I have heard that some are angry with the driver who killed my wife. Katie would not have wanted that. She was the embodiment of compassion. The hateful activities reported in the news recently troubled her greatly. She felt there was already too much anger in the world. I want you to know that I forgive the driver of that accident. Of course I am sorry that it happened. Of course I wish I could go back in time and change it, but we are all best served by moving forward with todays reality and the best way to move forward is to honor Katies memory and focus on how to take care of her six children. Trials and tribulation are mandatory. Misery is optional. Happiness is a choice, sometimes a difficult choice. I confess I feel little in the way of happiness at the moment, but I am determined to be as happy as I can be and for now that is found in my profound gratitude to a generous and supportive community for the love they have wrapped around me and my family during this challenging time.

As our interview ended, I asked Jacob Evans what final message he had for my readers. Katie wasnt perfect. No one is. But if you want to honor Katie, do what she did every day of her life. Go find a way to make the world a little better.

And what better way to start than exercising a little forgiveness.
For any liberal to entertain winning the Democratic nomination for president these days, there are some important boxes to be checked, including taking on Americas system of law and order. Now Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has begun checking the boxes.

Zuckerberg has hired Hillary Clintons pollster. Hes hired Barack Obamas campaign manager. Hes even visited the first presidential caucus state of Iowa. And hes pandering to the lefts machine by funding a campaign that aims to get rid of our nations bail system.

In the dangerous push to end our current bail system, liberals like Zuckerberg are arguing that people across America are being wrongly held in jail because they cant afford to post bail. This is ridiculous. Our bail system is in place to keep law-abiding Americans safe and to ensure that a person accused of a crime actually appears in court so justice is served.

States that have attempted to pass bail reform policies are seeing the failures of unsecured release up close. Harris County in Texas is fighting a federal lawsuit claiming its bail schedule is unconstitutional and that it keeps poor people in jail.

Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal issued a federal order requiring Harris County to make immediate changes to its pretrial release system. The order requires the sheriffs office to release anyone charged with a misdemeanor offense on unsecured release within 24 hours.

According to Harris County data since the order took effect, 32 percent of defendants released on unsecured bond have failed to appear for court, compared to only 4 percent released on a surety bond. Failures to appear cause havoc and long delays in the criminal justice system. Justice cannot be served if the accused does not appear for court.

Examples of such releases are occurring in other jurisdictions around the country. A New Jersey theater employee was arrested after law enforcement officers found a bullet-proof vest, grenade, guns and ammunition in his vehicle, causing the theater to be evacuated. He was determined not to be a danger to the community and released on unsecured bond under the new law.

New Jerseys liberal bail reforms caused one state legislator to send a letter to the speaker of the state Assembly in California regarding a similar bill circulating in his state. The letter states that dangerous and career criminals are released daily within hours of arrest with no accountability. He urged the California Legislature not to make the same mistake.

While everyone is innocent until proven guilty, judges are right to set bail for individuals who are charged with a crime. Too many are simply being sent back into the poorest neighborhoods, which proponents of bail reform like Zuckerberg dont live in.

These released individuals, many of whom are repeat offenders, walk out of jail and continue to victimize the very people proponents of bail reform claim to protect  the poor and indigent.

Unsecured release methods and the use of flawed risk assessment tools are coming under fire every day. The Arnold Foundation, which developed a risk assessment tool being used by several jurisdictions such as New Jersey, is a defendant in a federal lawsuit seeking damages in a wrongful death case.

A career criminal, who had been arrested on felony gun charges days earlier, was released on unsecured means using the Arnold Foundations risk assessment tool and then allegedly committed murder.

Elitists like Zuckerberg try to make the argument that the bail system is unfair to poor people, but fail to understand that law-abiding citizens regardless of income level expect laws to be enforced that will keep them safe.

There is nothing safe about the bail reforms currently being implemented and under consideration. Liberals roll out examples of people being held for minor and non-violent crimes who are forced to be away from their families because they couldnt afford monetary bail. Some such examples do exist.

However, for every one of those stories, there are also stories regarding serious and violent offenders who walk out of jail with no accountability. Headlines such as Eastside restaurant manager, employees accused of raping woman and Jackson zoning board member grabbed gun before child porn arrest, cops say are all too common.

What is Zuckerbergs answer to these headlines? Like so many other items on the lefts wish list, bail bond reform might sound good at first. However, in the real world where the rest of us live, there are plenty of concerns for tens of millions of Americans who wish to raise their families in a safe society.

Americans expect that when people are accused of stealing, selling illegal drugs, abusing others, driving drunk and otherwise breaking the law, they will appear in court. If convicted, such individuals will be punished for their crimes so that justice will be served.

As the bail bond reform debate continues and Mark Zuckerberg continues his multimillion-dollar quest to boost his standing with the far lefts power structure, I hope most Americans can understand that when it comes to thinking about reforming our bail system, its better to be safe than sorry.
Fusion GPS was initially hired by the conservative Washington Free Beacon website to conduct opposition research into then-candidate Donald Trump and other GOP contenders for the White House, it was revealed late Friday.

Free Beacon editor-in-chief Matthew Continetti and chairman Michael Goldfarb said in a statement that the publication had retained Fusion GPS to "provide research on multiple candidates in the [2016] Republican presidential primary," as well as Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

Continetti and Goldfarb denied that the Free Beacon "had contact with, knowledge of, or provided payment for any work performed by Christopher Steele," the former British spy who compiled the now-infamous Trump-Russia dossier. The file, which was published by BuzzFeed in January, contained unverified and lurid allegations about dirt the Russians had on then-candidate Donald Trump and his campaigns possible connections to Moscow.

Free Beacon's connection with Fusion GPS was first reported by the Washington Examiner. According to the Examiner's report, lawyers for the Free Beacon told the House Intelligence Committee that the website funded the research between the fall of 2015 and the spring of 2016.

At some point after that, Fusion GPS was retained by Mark Elias, an attorney representing the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign. Fusion GPS hired Steele after the Free Beacon left the project.

Committee spokesman Jack Langer told Fox News that the Free Beacon "has issued a statement asserting that it had no involvement with Christopher Steele or the dossier he compiled from Russian sources. The Beacon has agreed to cooperate with the House Intelligence Committee to help the Committee verify this assertion."

Earlier this week, the Washington Post reported that the Clinton campaign and the DNC paid more than $9 million to Elias firm, Perkins Coie, which, in turn, retained the political consultants who commissioned the research.

But its unclear how much of that $9 million went toward the dossier. And its unclear who exactly at the Clinton campaign and DNC might have known how it was being spent.

In their statement, Continetti and Goldfarb denied having any knowledge "of the relationship between Fusion GPS and the Democratic National Committee, Perkins Coie, and the Clinton campaign."

"We stand by our reporting, and we do not apologize for our methods," they added. "We consider it our duty to report verifiable information, not falsehoods or slander, and we believe that commitment has been well demonstrated by the quality of the journalism that we produce."

The Washington Free Beacon was initially founded as a project of the conservative nonprofit group Center for American Freedom, as an alternative to liberal news sites run by progressive nonprofits.

The Center for American Freedom was organized as a 501(c)4 and did not reveal its donors, but a person close to Goldfarb said Singer was an early backer of the project. Later, the Free Beacon was spun-off into a for-profit website.



Goldfarb was deputy communications director on John McCain's presidential campaign.



Singer has been a major player in Republican politics in recent years and maintains ties to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and several powerful Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan.

A representative to Singer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



Singer was backing Rubio's presidential bid at the time of the Free Beacon's involvement. Rubio's team insisted this week that they had no knowledge of the dossier. Singer's close associate Dan Senor also served as Speaker Ryan's chief adviser during the 2012 president campaign.

Fox News' Brooke Singman and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Less than three weeks after calling the White House an adult day care center, U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., on Friday appeared open to the idea of challenging President Donald Trump in the 2020 GOP primary.

But while speaking to reporters at the 64th annual Governors Conference on Economic and Community Development, Corker said it was way, way too early" to decide whether to compete for the Republican presidential nomination, USA Today reported.

So the only thing that Im thinking about right now over the next 14 months truly is doing the best job I can as a senator, Corker said. You know, I dont know what Im doing next Sunday.

The notion that Trump will be impeached is unrealistic, Corker said, even as some media reports speculated he was building a case for the president's removal from office.

Corker added that he was wary of contemplating a presidential run because of how it would affect his current responsibilities.

"I think that if you even begin thinking those things, everything you do becomes viewed through a different lens," he said.

Corker, who has announced that he will not seek a third Senate term in 2018, has long feuded with the president. After the deadly violence at protests in Charlottesville, Va., in August, Corker said that Trump had demonstrated neither the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful."

On Oct. 8, after Trump tweeted that Corker was a negative voice who lacked the guts to run for reelection without the presidents endorsement, Corker likened the White House to an adult day care center.

Later that day, Corker told the New York Times that Trump was setting the U.S. on the path to World War III. The president hit back, calling the senator a lightweight who "couldn't get elected dog catcher in Tennessee."

Corker again excoriated the president Tuesday, tweeting that he was utterly untruthful and vowing he would not support Trump in any future campaign.

But Corker acknowledged his attacks on Trump might not be endearing him to many of his constituents. In a survey conducted this month, Corkers disapproval rating had soared to 41 percent in Tennessee, marking a 14-point increase since last spring. Meanwhile, Trumps approval rating in the state has held steady at approximately 50 percent.

"We were surprised that it hadn't dropped further than it did," Corker said of his approval rating.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
The House Intelligence Committee said Saturday it has struck a deal to gain access to bank records from Fusion GPS, the firm behind the salacious anti-Trump dossier.

The company had recently attempted to block the committees subpoena for its banking records.

The parties have reached an agreement related to the House Intelligence Committee's subpoena for Fusion GPS's bank records that will secure the Committee's access to the records necessary for its investigation, the intelligence committee said in a statement released Saturday.

Lawmakers for months have been trying to investigate the origin of the salacious anti-Trump dossier, which claimed the Russian government had compromising material on President Trump. It was provided to journalists and the FBI last year, when Trump was still a Republican candidate.

CONSERVATIVE WEBSITE FUNDED INITIAL FUSION GPS TRUMP OPPOSITION EFFORT

Over the last week, it was revealed that Fusion GPS was retained last year by Marc E. Elias, an attorney representing the DNC and the Clinton campaign. The firm then hired former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele to write the dossier.

On Friday evening, it was revealed that the opposition research project was initially backed by the conservative Washington Free Beacon website.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., had issued a subpoena on Oct. 4 for Fusion GPS TD Bank records. In seeking a "temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction" to block the release of those records, Fusion argued the release would them their rights to free speech and expressive association as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution."

Earlier this month, two officials from the political research firm invoked their Fifth Amendment right and refused to answer questions Wednesday before the same House panel on Capitol Hill.

Fusion GPS co-founder Peter Fritsch and top lieutenant Thomas Catan both took the Fifth on every question posed.

Fox News Catherine Herridge contributed to this report.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday that the threat of a nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating.

Mattis, who made his remarks with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo during his visit to Seoul, accused the hermit kingdom of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs - and vowed to defeat any attack.

North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbors and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs, Mattis said.

MATTIS: US WILL NOT ACCEPT A NUCLEAR NORTH KOREA

Mattis said North Korea would be vastly overmatched by the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old U.S.-South Korean alliance.

Make no mistake  any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming," he continued.

Mattis remarks come less than a week before President Trumps slated tour of East Asia.

Trump has bolstered his own rhetoric against the isolated nation. In August, Trump warned the North not to make any more threats against the United States, and said that if it did, it would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen."

MATTIS STRESSES DIPLOMACY IN VISIT TO KOREAN DEMILITARIZED ZONE

This was Mattis's second visit to South Korea since taking office in January. He made a point of going to Seoul and Tokyo on his first overseas trip in February, saying he wanted to emphasis the importance he places on strengthening alliances and partnerships.

On Friday he visited the Demilitarized Zone that forms an official buffer between the two Koreas. He appeared there with Song in what they both called a show of solidarity.

On Wednesday, Trump teased the possibility of visiting the Demilitarized Zone as well, The Hill reported.

Well, I'd rather not say, but you'll be surprised, Trump said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis issued a stern warning to North Korea on Saturday: Despite its ongoing missile and nuclear programs, it is simply no match for the U.S.-South Korea alliance.

Make no mistake, Mattis said during a news conference in Seoul, any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming.

During the joint appearance with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo, Mattis acknowledged that the threat of a nuclear missile attack by North Korea was accelerating.

The CIA says North Korea could be just months away from being capable of hitting the U.S. with a nuclear strike, Reuters reported.

Mattis accused the regime of Kim Jong Un of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs -- and vowed to defeat any attack.

He said the North engages in "outlaw" behavior and that the U.S. would never accept a nuclear North. He added that regardless of what the North might try, it is overmatched by the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old U.S.-South Korean alliance.

North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbors and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs," Mattis said, adding that U.S.-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration thus has taken on "a new urgency."

I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power," he said.

"I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power."  U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis

As he emphasized throughout his weeklong Asia trip  which comes ahead of President Donald Trumps own scheduled tour of East Asia next week -- Mattis said diplomacy remains the preferred way to deal with the North.

Mattis's comments in Seoul did not go beyond his recent statements of concern about North Korea, although he appeared to inject a stronger note about the urgency of resolving the crisis.

While he accused the North of "outlaw" behavior, he did not mention that President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his own rhetoric. In August, Trump warned the North not to make any more threats against the United States, and said that if it did, it would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen."

Limits would be lifted

Song, the South Korean minister, told the news conference that he and Mattis agreed that limits on South Korea conventional missile warhead payloads would be lifted. He offered no specifics.

Also discussed were the conditions under which South Korea would be given wartime operational control of its forces. Currently, if war with the North broke out, the South's forces would operate under the U.S.-led U.N. Command.

Trump entered office declaring his commitment to solving the North Korea problem, asserting that he would succeed where his predecessors had failed. His administration has sought to increase pressure on Pyongyang through U.N. Security Council sanctions and other diplomatic efforts, but the North hasn't budged from its goal of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including missiles capable of striking the U.S. mainland.

If Trump sticks to his pledge to stop the North from being able to threaten the U.S. with a nuclear attack, something will have to give - either a negotiated tempering of the North's ambitions or a U.S. acceptance of the North as a nuclear power.

The other alternative would be U.S. military action to attempt to neutralize or eliminate the North's nuclear assets - a move fraught with risk for South Korea, Japan and the United States.

At his Seoul news conference, Mattis said the North is, in effect, shooting itself in the foot.

If it remains on its current path of ballistic missiles and atomic bombs, it will be counterproductive, in effect reducing its security," he said.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to counter what it believes is a U.S. effort to strangle its economy and overthrow the Kim government.

Second visit to region

This was Mattis's second visit to South Korea since taking office in January. He made a point of going to Seoul and Tokyo on his first overseas trip in February, saying he wanted to emphasis the importance he places on strengthening alliances and partnerships.

On Friday he visited the Demilitarized Zone that forms an official buffer between the two Koreas. He appeared there with Song in what they both called a show of solidarity.

U.S. government officials for decades have confidently but mistakenly predicted the approaching collapse of North Korea, given its economic and political isolation.

Twenty years ago, Mattis's predecessor five times removed, William Cohen, said as he peered into North Korea from inside the DMZ that its communist system was "decaying and dying." His view was widely shared in Washington, but, like others, he underestimated the resilience of Pyongyang's family dynasty, which began with Kim Il Sung.

The current ruler assumed control of the country shortly after his father, Kim Jong-Il, died in December 2011, and has accelerated the country's nuclear and missile programs.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
A federal grand jury has approved the first charges in special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into possible collusion between Russia and members of the Trump presidential campaign, with indictments to be announced as early as Monday, according to multiple news agencies.

The charges being filed was reported first by CNN, which said anyone charged will be taken into custody Monday. However, the charges have been sealed by a federal judge. So whoever is charged and whether the charges are criminal remains unclear.

During a Saturday appearance on Fox News, former Department of Justice official Robert Driscoll told anchor Leland Vittert its possible the indictment might not even be directly tied to Russian collusion.

Think back to the Clinton years, Driscoll said. The Whitewater investigation was about an Arkansas land deal. And it ended up being about something else completely.

Driscoll added, Robert Mueller is free to look at taxes, is free to look at lobbying filings, foreign agent filings. Things like that could all be involved that wouldnt necessarily touch on the issue of Russia collusion that everyone seems focused on politically.

Speculation has focused on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn as likely targets.

Manafort has been the subject of a longstanding investigation into his dealings in the Ukraine several years ago -- for which he did not file as a foreign agent until June 2017.

Federal agents, reportedly in search of evidence related to the Russia investigation, this summer raided his northern Virginia home. He also was reportedly wiretapped by investigators before and after the 2016 presidential election.

Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, was a Trump surrogate during the campaign and briefly served as national security adviser before being fired for failing to fully disclose his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, then-Russian ambassador to the United States.

The FBI also secured approval from a federal court to monitor the communications of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

On Saturday, Page released a statement to Fox News in response to questions about whether he or his lawyers have been notified about any charges.

Page said in the statement that he has worked with the executive branch and Congress since being contacted in March. But he also suggested that revelations about the Democratic Party having helped finance a dossier to smear Trump has tainted any Russia probe.

In terms of charges', I cant even imagine what might even be considered now that the false evidence from the politically-motivated, big-money-financed Dodgy Dossier that started this extrajudicial disaster has instead been so thoroughly exposed as a complete sham, Carter wrote in the statement.

The Wall Street Journal reported at least one person could be taken into custody as early as Monday.

Richard Hibey, an attorney for Manafort, told Fox News on Friday that neither he nor any of his colleagues representing Manafort had been informed of any indictment of their client.

Manafort has been the subject of a longstanding investigation into his dealings in the Ukraine several years ago  for which he did not file as a foreign agent until June 2017. In addition to his home being raided, Manafort was reportedly wiretapped by investigators before and after the 2016 presidential election.

A retired Army lieutenant general, Flynn served as a Trump surrogate during the campaign and briefly served as national security adviser before being fired over his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, who was Russia's ambassador to the United States.

Mueller has reportedly probed whether Flynn was involved in a private effort to get former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's emails from Russian hackers.

NBC reported Saturday that Mueller will make public an indictment on Monday.

The Justice Departments special counsels office declined to comment on the reports of filed charges. There was no immediate comment from the White House.

Trump has denied allegations that his campaign colluded with Russians and condemned investigations into the matter as a witch hunt.

Fox News' Catherine Herridge, James Rosen, John Roberts, Brooke Singman and Kaitlyn Schallhorn contributed to this report.
Former President Barack Obama may have thought hed be taking a long break from public service when he left the White House in January.

But it seems Obama might have at least one more job: He has been called for jury duty in Chicago.

Cook County, Ill., Chief Judge Tim Evans told county commissioners during a budget hearing Friday that Obama, who owns homes in Washington, D.C., and Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood, is scheduled to serve in November. The former president is registered to vote in Chicago.

Evans said security for Obama would be uppermost in our minds when the former presidents service begins.

Those called can be put either in the pool for criminal case or civil hearings. They can be called to any of the county's Chicago or suburban courthouses.

All jurors watch a decades-old video about their duties narrated by a mustachioed Lester Holt, once a local news reader and now anchor of NBC Nightly News.

Jurors in Cook County are paid $17.20 for each day of service.
A man has been fined $5,000 and faces potential jail time after fondling a sleeping woman on a Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Pittsburgh last year.

According to the Associated Press, 59-year-old Wei-Ming Shi plead guilty to simple assault on an aircraft during flight Monday. However, Shi could be sentenced to up to six months in jail and probation when he appears in front of a federal judge in March.

Shi's original charges carried a total of up to five years behind bars.

While the man's attorney claims the Pennsylvania native believed the victim, who is in her 20s, was "flirting" with him prior to falling asleep on the August 18, 2016, flight, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Kaufman refuted the notion, saying the woman was simply being friendly toward her fellow passenger.

The victim said she fell asleep on the flight and was later awoke by Shi when he reached under her dress to touch her thigh, buttocks and lower back.

"She was not flirting by any means," said Kaufman.

U.S. District Judge John Walton said Shi displayed "repulsive behavior," according to the AP.

Several passengers have reported incidents of unwanted touching, with some victims even filing complaints against airlines for failing to respond appropriately.

This past summer, United Airlines came under fire after a teenager flying solo from Seattle to Newark awoke to find another passenger groping her. The girl and her family were critical of the carrier and alleged it violated its own policy by failing to alert authorities.

Similarly disturbing incidents have been handled much more effectively by other airlines.

This story originally appeared on TravelPulse.
Cant afford a private jet? Why not fake it til you make it, as the saying goes?

A company in Russia is now allowing people to rent a grounded private jet for as little as $240, and pretend theyre flying in style on Instagram. The Private Jet Studio, in Moscow, allows people to rent a grounded plane for two hours for just $240.

STUDY: TRAVELERS CHOOSE DESTINATIONS BASED ON 'SOCIAL RETURN'

And you can book a professional photographer, with flattering Hollywood-style bright lights, for an extra fee.

Whereas it costs upwards of $2,400 to rent an actual private jet for the same amount of time  according to Pentastar Aviation. Theres even a hair and makeup team on hand to ensure you look like a first class passenger.

MAN SUES SUNWING AIRLINES OVER 'CHAMPAGNE,' CLAIMING HE WAS SERVED SPARKLING WINE INSTEAD

The studios own Instagram page features pictures of people sleeping on planes and gazing out onto the beautiful view of the  the airport runway.

Others opt to bring their dogs on board, park their (possibly rented) supercars outside the plane, or pose walking onto the jet. While magazines, food platters, and bottles of bubbly appear to have been provided as props.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

All of which shows how easy it is for wannabe rich kids to fake the lifestyle of a high-flying millionaire, for the (relatively) bargain price of $240.

And it should make us feel better about our own attempts to make our lives seem glamorous on social media.

This article originally appeared in The Sun.
A group of young men in Philadelphia violently robbed and carjacked a pizza delivery man late Friday night and the incident was caught on surveillance video.

Keith Moody, 56, was delivering pizza to a Lukoil gas station when he was attacked by the suspects, FOX 29 reported.

While returning to his car after making the delivery, one of the suspects could be seen pulling out a gun before approaching him from behind, surveillance video shows. The suspect then strikes Moody on the back of the head and knocks him unconscious.

FLORIDA DEPUTY, ACCUSED OF STEALING FROM DECEASED MANS HOME, RESIGNS FROM DEPARTMENT

After that, a second suspect gets into Moodys Chevy Prism and drives away. At the same time, the first suspect goes through Moodys pockets before fleeing the scene.

The incident occurred around 11 p.m. on the 5700 block of Baltimore Avenue, according to FOX 29. Police are now looking for the five suspects, whose ages range from 14 to 25 years old, FOX 29 reported.

Moody was taken to a local hospital to treat his severe head injuries. He was also unconscious for several days after the incident, according to FOX 29.
Want to be the ultimate envy of your friends on Instagram?

A private jet company in Russia wants to help you out!

To make it appear like your living a luxurious lifestyle, social media users can pay Private Jet Studio for a photoshoot on one of their Gulfstream G650 jets in order to pull off the ultimate deception, the Independent said.

PLUS-SIZE MODELS USE INSTAGRAM TO POINT OUT ALTERED IMAGES

Its not exactly cheap, but it definitely costs less than owning the actual plane would. Users do have to get to Moscow, however.

A two-hour session will run nearly $200, with added costs for a professional photographer or a glam squad, New York Magazine said. Theyll also help stage the scene with alcohol and other luxury products if desired.

The companys Instagram page, which has more than 3,000 followers, helps offers a sneak peak of what's in store.

Women in heels and fur coats strutting down the tarmac, people enjoying a nice cocktail on their ride and even some dogs looking at the view out their window.

Because, you know, pups have people to impress too!

They also include a few behind-the-scenes pictures, showing you how exactly they create the illusion.

What your friends dont know wont hurt them
Authorities say a Florida woman has been arrested after stealing 47 guns from her ailing father's collection.

Volusia County Sheriff's officials say 58-year-old Robert Carter suffered a stroke last year. He recently moved to a rehabilitation center and asked family members to check on his home and gun collection after Hurricane Irma.

Authorities arrested his daughter 30-year-old Crystal Gorman on Thursday, charging her with grand theft and 19 counts of dealing in stolen property.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports she sold the firearms to pawn shops. Authorities said they could trace the weapons because Carter had a list of their serial numbers. Most had already been resold.

Gorman is being held without bond. It's unclear if she had an attorney to comment on the charges.

___

Information from: Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal, http://www.news-journalonline.com
A Pennsylvania district attorneys office announced Friday they have moved to reinstate most of the dismissed charges against 11 members of a now-defunct Penn State fraternity for actions related to the hazing death of a sophomore pledge earlier this year.

Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller announced the refiling of criminal charges, including involuntary manslaughter and felony aggravated assault, after District Justice Allen Sinclair threw out the felony charges in September against eight Beta Thea Pi fraternity members, a press release stated.

The judge let stand lesser charges against them and six others. He dismissed other charges altogether against four of the members of the fraternity.

PENN STATE FRAT MEMBERS CLEARED OF FELONY CHARGES IN HAZING DEATH

As a result, those defendants again face the possibility of several years in prison, if convicted.

There were no new charges against two who had waived the preliminary hearing; against four who faced single counts that were thrown out; or against one defendant who had 28 of 52 charges tossed and is accused of buying alcohol for the Beta Theta Pi bid acceptance night party.

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

Parks Miller said she would refile following the seven-day preliminary hearing. She also filed a request to designate a different judge for the next preliminary hearing, according to the press release.

Timothy Piazza, 19, of Lebanon, NJ, fell down a set of stairs and suffered fatal injuries after prosecutors said pledges were forced to down a dangerous amount of alcohol and were then made to run a gauntlet of booze-drinking stations.

PENNSYLVANIA MAN ADMITS TO PUTTING BLEACH IN PREGNANT GIRLFRIENDS WATER

Security video of the incident recorded Piazza appearing intoxicated and being led to a couch after 11 p.m. A few minutes later, he fell head-first down a set of basement stairs and had to be carried back up in an unconscious state.

For several hours, members of the fraternity appeared to take half-hearted and even counterproductive measures to tend to their injured friend, pouring liquid on him and strapping on a loaded backpack to prevent him from rolling over and choking on vomit. He died two days later on Feb. 4 at a local hospital.

Tom Kline, the attorney for the Piazza family, applauded Parks Millers decision to refile charges.

"The Piazza family is both pleased and supportive of the refiling of the charges in their quest for complete justice in this tragedy," Kline said.

The men who involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault charges are: Brendan Young, Daniel Casey, Jonah Neuman, Nick Kubera, Michael Bonatucci, Gary Dibileo. Luke Visser and Joe Sala.

The men who face recklessly endangering another person are: Michael Angelo Schiavone, Lars Kenyon and Park Yochim, Penn Live reported.

Fox News Tamara Gitt and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
When Superstorm Sandy slammed into the Jersey Shore on Oct. 29, 2012, it ravaged miles of coastline.

The ocean swallowed the beach  swamping neighborhoods that typically didnt flood  and left vehicles under water and boats on dry land. It cut some house right in half.

More than 100 deaths were blamed on the massive storm, which caused an estimated $65 billion dollars in damages in the U.S.

Sandys unrelenting winds and storm surge destroyed Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, dumping the Jet Star Roller Coaster in the Atlantic Ocean.

WEIRDNESS RETURNS TO KEY WEST AFTER HURRICANE IRMA

At the time, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said, The level of devastation is unthinkable.

Five years later, the boardwalk and pier have been rebuilt, with new thrill rides and thousands of houses have been repaired or replaced.

But the job of rebuilding is far from over.

Construction continues up and down the coast, with the governors office reporting roughly 1 in 5 homeowners still havent moved back into the houses they lost in the storm. Some continue to struggle with insurance claims.

Josette Lata and her husband Ed Okinsky watched the bay fill the first floor of their home during Sandy. They moved back in just a month ago.

"I didn't think it would take five years to fully get back into the house and had I known that I probably would've left," Lata told Fox News.

The couple had no flood insurance and spent $80,000 fixing up the original structure. They found it still couldnt be insured, so they raise it and built a new, higher house to code with help from a federal grant and another $250,000 out of pocket.

"Every time I see a hurricane in the news, my heart goes out to those people Lata said. I feel so sad for them because they don't know what's ahead of them."

But her husband, a retired firefighter turned carpenter, calls it a blessing.

"I built the house and I actually think it's unbelievable where we are at today. I'm happy, the house is beautiful and for me it was an opportunity to have what we always wanted," Okinsky said.

HURRICANES, WILDFIRES HIT CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY HARD

Sandy devastated many coastal areas of New York City and its surrounding suburbs, sparking a massive blaze in Breezy Point, New York  ironically a favorite retirement spot for former New York City cops and firefighters.

Locals blame a transformer that blew, igniting one home, with the fire quickly spreading because of the high winds and open gas lines.

More than 100 houses burned to the ground, while flooding damaged or destroyed hundreds more.

Five years later, most of the residents have rebuilt and moved back, including Charlie McLoughlin, who spent summers in Breezy Point for nearly four decades.

He was here the night Sandy roared ashore, escaping to his daughters home nearby, watching helplessly as his neighborhood burned to the ground.

"The surge of water from the ocean came up four feet in about a minute, McLoughlin remembered from his new front porch. And we must've had about fifty-fire trucks coming in here. They were backed up all the way to the main road and back down, they couldn't get in here because of the surge."

McLoughlins 2-inch Colt off-duty revolver was the only thing he could salvage from the rubble melted into nearly unrecognizable pieces of crumbling metal.

He had insurance and rebuilt the house, in part because of his nine kids and 27 grandchildren.

"The kids come up, bathing suit on at 7 in the morning, went to bed the same way! McLoughlin told Fox News.

The insurance industry says nearly 98 percent of Sandy related claims have been paid out, but that means some are still waiting and far too many never had coverage in the first place.

Michael Barry with the Insurance Information Institute told Fox News: "One of the big issues from Sandy was there were a lot of people who need flood insurance who didn't have it."

"Even if you're seen as being in the low risk area, that doesn't mean no risk."

A lesson Sandys victims learned the hard way.
Catalonian separatists won a razor-thin majority on Thursday, with the three separatist parties winning a total of 70 seats in the 135-seat regional parliament.

But the snap regional election failed to clarify the way forward, as parties seeking Catalonia's independence will be a majority in the new parliament but a pro-union party got the most votes.

Still, ousted Catalan President Carles Puigdemont celebrated the results from Belgium on Thursday -- the same country he sought refuge in after Spain issued European arrest warrants for him and other separatists in November.

Puigdemont also said that he's ready to meet with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in any location but Spain, because that's where he's facing arrest. In addition, Puigdemont also said he wants guarantees to return to Catalonia and be reinstated as the region's leader.

In response, Rajoy said he expects a "new era based on dialogue" will begin in Catalonia following the snap election, adding that he will talk with the region's new leaders as long as they don't violate Spain's Constitution.

The election comes after the Spanish government took control of Catalonia when separatist lawmakers, led by Puigdemont, declared independence in October.

Spain invoked its never-before used constitutional amendment to take control of the region, giving it the ability to sack Puigdemont and his cabinet as well as authorize the government to curtail the regions parliamentary powers. Spain's Constitutional Court officially annulled the Catalan parliaments independence vote in November.

European neighbors  including Italy, France and Germany  have condemned the independence declaration and rallied behind Spain.

In light of the election, here's what you need to know.

What is Catalonia?

Located in the northeast region of Spain, Catalonia is largely independent with its own culture and language. Its one of the richest and most industrialized areas of the country with a heavy emphasis on manufacturing, according to the BBC.

The region, which includes Barcelona, is home to about 7.5 million people.

Valuing its autonomy, Catalonia has its own parliament and executive, called Generalitat in its language.

Why do they want independence?

Because of its own cultural identity, those in favor of Catalan independence have pushed for the region to become separate from Spain. Supporters also believe that they have given more to the Spanish government than they have gotten back.

The push for independence raises questions of the future of democracy and democratic rule, Pamela Radcliff, a University of California, San Diego professor and modern Spain historian, told Fox News. Whats being contested between Spain and Catalonia, one of the things is different visions of what defending democracy looks like.

SOME SEPARATIST-MINDED CATALANS URGE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

Radcliff said that its very possible that neither side has much incentive to compromise.

The region held a referendum on Oct. 1.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in the streets of Barcelona around the Catalan regional government palace to celebrate the independence vote. They chanted for the Spanish flag to be removed as live music played.

The regions parliament voted to establish an independent Catalonia with 70 votes in favor of independence, 10 votes against and two blank ballots. Opposition leaders had left the chambers in protest before the vote.

How did the Oct. 1 vote go?

Catalonias parliament voted for independence after an Oct. 1 referendum with about 90 percent of the 2.3 million people who voted choosing independence, according to Catalan officials. However, fewer than half of the eligible voters participated in the highly contested referendum.

About 900 people were treated for injuries after voting turned violent when Catalan civilians and Spanish police clashed.

Andrew Dowling, an expert in Catalan history at Cardiff University in Wales, said that an independence declaration by the Catalan parliament is symbolic without border and institutional control and no international support.

PRO-INDEPENDENCE CATALANS: 'I'VE NEVER FELT SPANISH'

The declaration "will see the fracture between hardliners and the pragmatic people in Catalonia who are already seeing an economic fallout," Dowling told The Associated Press.

But Spains Constitutional Court officially annulled the Catalan independence vote on Nov. 8.



What has been Spains response?

Spain's top court declared the Oct. 1 independence referendum illegal, and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had warned that the governments first move will be to remove Puigdemont from power when the Senate granted him the special powers under Article 155.

Rajoy said what is happening in Catalonia is a clear violation of the laws, of democracy, of the rights of all, and that has consequences.

Hundreds of thousands of anti-independence protesters demonstrated in the streets of Barcelona and called for the Catalonia region to remain a part of Spain.

Rajoy reportedly refused help from outside civil-society groups and lawyers to mediate negotiations between the two factions. He has also declined to engage in talks with Catalan leaders.

There is no possible mediation between democratic law and disobedience and unlawfulness, Rajoy said.

What is Article 155?

Spain invoked a clause of its constitution after Catalonia forged ahead with its plans to secede from the country that would take away the regions autonomy.

Catalonia's refusal to backtrack from its independence threats triggered Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, the government said, which allows central authorities to take over control of any of the countrys 17 regions. Its a provision that hasnt been used in the four decades since democracy was restored in the European nation.

OUSTED CATALAN LEADER SAYS HE IS NOT SEEKING POLITICAL ASYLUM, SUPPORTS SNAP ELECTION



An English translation of the constitution states that if an autonomous community breaks the law or disregards the constitution, the Spanish government can  after following certain procedures  take the measures necessary in order to compel the [community] forcibly to meet said obligations, or in order to protect [Spains] general interests.

Rajoy's cabinet met in a special meeting to approve measures to take direct control of the Catalan region under Article 155. The Senate gave him the power to do so.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday the threat of nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating.

In remarks in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at his side, Mattis accused the North of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs  and vowed to defeat any attack.

Mattis said the North engages in "over-the-top rhetoric" and behavior. And he said the U.S. will never accept a nuclear North.

He added that regardless of what the North might try, it is overmatched by the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old U.S.-South Korean alliance.

As he emphasized throughout his weeklong Asia trip, which included stops in Thailand and the Philippines, Mattis said diplomacy remains the preferred way to deal with the North.

"With that said," he added, "make no mistake  any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming."

Mattis's comments in Seoul did not go beyond his recent statements of concern about North Korea, although he appeared to inject a stronger note about the urgency of resolving the crisis.

While he accused the North of "outlaw" behavior, he did not mention that President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his own rhetoric. In August, Trump warned the North not to make any more threats against the United States, and said that if it did, it would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen."

Song, the South Korean minister, told the news conference that he and Mattis agreed that limits on South Korea conventional missile warhead payloads would be lifted. He offered no specifics.

Also discussed were the conditions under which South Korea would be given wartime operational control of its forces. Currently, if war with the North broke out, the South's forces would operate under the U.S.-led U.N. Command.

Trump entered office declaring his commitment to solving the North Korea problem, asserting that he would succeed where his predecessors had failed. His administration has sought to increase pressure on Pyongyang through U.N. Security Council sanctions and other diplomatic efforts, but the North hasn't budged from its goal of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including missiles capable of striking the U.S. mainland.

If Trump sticks to his pledge to stop the North from being able to threaten the U.S. with a nuclear attack, something will have to give - either a negotiated tempering of the North's ambitions or a U.S. acceptance of the North as a nuclear power.

The other alternative would be U.S. military action to attempt to neutralize or eliminate the North's nuclear assets - a move fraught with risk for South Korea, Japan and the United States.

At his Seoul news conference, Mattis said the North is, in effect, shooting itself in the foot.

"If it remains on its current path of ballistic missiles and atomic bombs, it will be counterproductive, in effect reducing its security," he said.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to counter what it believes is a U.S. effort to strangle its economy and overthrow the Kim government.

This was Mattis's second visit to South Korea since taking office in January. He made a point of going to Seoul and Tokyo on his first overseas trip in February, saying he wanted to emphasis the importance he places on strengthening alliances and partnerships.

On Friday he visited the Demilitarized Zone that forms an official buffer between the two Koreas. He appeared there with Song in what they both called a show of solidarity.

U.S. government officials for decades have confidently but mistakenly predicted the approaching collapse of North Korea, given its economic and political isolation.

Twenty years ago, Mattis's predecessor five times removed, William Cohen, said as he peered into North Korea from inside the DMZ that its communist system was "decaying and dying." His view was widely shared in Washington, but, like others, he underestimated the resilience of Pyongyang's family dynasty, which began with Kim Il Sung. The current ruler assumed control of the country shortly after his father, Kim Jong-Il, died in December 2011, and has accelerated the country's nuclear and missile programs.
Sitting on the floor and dressed in black, the 15-year-old held her baby as panicked tears welled in her eyes. Her husband, two decades her senior, could kill her if he found out she was telling her story, she said.

She was married at age 13 in the West African nation of Guinea because her parents feared she could harm her marriage prospects by having premarital sex. At the time, she said, she had not even developed breasts.

"I was given to a man that I didn't choose before my body was even ready to have sex," she said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. "I couldn't even move for a week afterward because I was swollen and bleeding."

Child marriage remains deeply entrenched in West and Central Africa, home to six of the 10 countries with the highest rates in the world. Rights groups and political and religious leaders from across the region gathered in Senegal this past week to seek ways to curb the practice.

Outspoken survivors of child marriage urged them on.

More than half of girls in Guinea are married before age 18. While the country recently banned underage marriage, observers say the practice remains widespread. Some girls enter arranged marriages during times of insecurity or when families are under economic strain.

"This is a complex issue driven by poverty, cultural norms and families trying to do the best for their children," said Save The Children CEO Helle Thorning-Schmidt. "But until we break the cycle where the only way a girl can give her family honor is to marry and have children, then we will not change this."

Child marriage affects nearly 15 million girls around the globe. The rate is as high as 76 percent in Niger; in Chad and Central African Republic it is 68 percent. Mali and Burkina Faso have rates above 50 percent, according to data from Save the Children and Girls Not Brides.

Experts say education for girls is key to providing them with opportunities beyond marriage, and to improving regional prosperity.

Musu Bakoto Sawo, now a 27-year-old lawyer and human rights advocate from Gambia, was married at age 14. She was 21 when she became a widow and inherited nothing.

She said education is the only reason she has thrived, calling it "the only way I could go against the system."

Even for those who avoid an early marriage, social consequences can be immense.

Fatoumata, 14, called it "the nightmare of my life" when her family said she was to marry her 39-year-old cousin. She fled that night in her pajamas to stay with a friend's family.

"My father said if I refused this marriage I was no longer his child," she said. "He threatened my mother too ... she has suffered because of me." She gave only her first name for fear of reprisals.

Some young women may embrace early marriages, seeing them as protection from insecurity in conflict-ridden areas, said Zuwaira Bello of the advocacy group Girl Child Concerns. The group operates in northern Nigeria, where the Boko Haram extremist insurgency is known for kidnapping young women and forcing them into marriages.

Involving former child brides in community activism will help discourage child marriages that seek protection from unrest, Bello said.

Some young women who escaped forced marriages now spread the word against the practice.

Leila, who asked that her last name not be used to protect her family, said her uncle in Niger forced her to marry a man at age 14 because he owed a debt he couldn't repay. A year later, she was pregnant.

She said her husband beat her for refusing sex. After a second pregnancy, she was able to escape, get a divorce and return to her studies.

Through tears, she urged other young brides to remain hopeful. "I would say to them to be patient and remain courageous," she said.

___

Associated Press writer Boubacar Diallo in Conakry, Guinea contributed.
Catalan leaders are calling for peaceful opposition to the Spanish governments takeover of the regional parliament on Saturday.

In a brief statement, Carles Puigdemont seemed to convey that refuses to accept his firing ordered by central authorities in Madrid, who officially took over command of the northeastern region.

Its very clear that the best form of defending the gains made until now is democratic opposition to article 155, Puigdemont said.

Spain took formal direct control of Catalonia on Saturday, on paper firing the region's defiant separatist government a day after lawmakers passed a declaration of independence for the prosperous northeastern region.

The move came after one of the most tumultuous days in the country's recent history, as the national parliament in Madrid approved unprecedented constitutional measures to halt the secessionist drive by the regional parliament in Barcelona.

Spain made the takeover official by publishing special measures online early Saturday in the country's gazette.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who now replaces Puigdemont as the top decision-maker in the northeastern region, has also dissolved the regional parliament and called a new regional election to be held on Dec. 21.

Still, it was not clear at all whether a new election would solve Spain's problems with separatists in Catalonia. Polls suggest pro-independence parties would likely maintain their slim advantage in parliamentary seats but would not get more than 50 percent of the vote.

Spain is living through a sad day, Rajoy said. We believe it is urgent to listen to Catalan citizens, to all of them, so that they can decide their future and nobody can act outside the law on their behalf.

Puigdemont and 12 other members of the Catalan Cabinet will no longer be paid and could face charges of usurping others functions if they refuse to obey. There was no immediate sign that top Catalan officials will do so, or comply with the orders.

Beyond any possible resistance from top Catalan officials, it's unclear how Rajoy's government in Madrid will be able to exert its control at lower levels of Catalonia's vast regional administration.

Catalonia had secured the ability to govern itself in many areas, including education, health and policing, since democracy returned to Spain following the death of dictator Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975.

Some among Catalonia's roughly 200,000 civil servants have said they will refuse to obey orders from Madrid. They risk being punished or even fired under the special powers granted to central authorities by the nation's Senate on Friday.

Catalonia held its independence referendum Oct. 1 and declared independence more than three weeks later. The U.S., France and Germany were among several countries who rejected the declaration.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
An U.S. service member died from injuries sustained in a helicopter crash Friday night in Afghanistan, the military officials said.

Six other U.S. crew members were injured in the crash, which took place in the Logar province just south of Kabul. Officials said Saturday the crash was not the result of enemy action and that all personnel have been accounted for.

We are deeply saddened by the loss of our comrade, Gen. John Nicholson, commander of Resolute Support, said in a statement. One behalf of all Resolute Support, our heartfelt sympathies go out to the families and friends of our fallen comrade and those injured in this unfortunate event."

Salim Saleh, provincial governors spokesman, said the helicopter made an emergency landing as it was taking off and hit a tree in Karwar district.

U.S. military officials said the circumstances of the crash is being investigated.

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
U.S. military officials sought permission to send an armed drone near a patrol of Green Berets before a deadly ambush Oct. 4 in Niger, but the request was blocked, raising questions about whether those forces had adequate protection against the dangers of their mission.

New information shows the Green Beret team was part of a larger mission, one potentially more dangerous than initially described, and one believed to merit an armed drone. But the request was blocked in a chain of approval that snakes through the Pentagon, State Department and the Nigerien government, according to officials briefed on the events.

One focus of military investigations into what happened in Niger will be what a military official now says were two changes in the mission of the Green Beret teamfrom initially training Nigerien forces, to advising on a mission to capture or kill a wanted terrorist, to investigating the terrorists abandoned camp.

On Oct. 4, after the U.S.-Nigerien team had destroyed the camp, four Americans and five Nigerien soldiers were killed in a firefight with suspected Islamic State fighters, and two other Americans and as many as eight Nigeriens were wounded.

The ambush and the circumstances surrounding it have taken on political weight in Washington as the deadliest military clash for Americans since President Donald Trump took office. Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has pressed for more information, and a public spat broke out about condolence calls by Mr. Trump.

The drone request suggests that military officials were aware of a change in the security landscape in western Niger, where more than two dozen previous patrols had been conducted without incident. Intelligence indicated a low risk of enemy contact, and there had been no enemy attacks on U.S. forces there for the past year, according to officials investigating the incident.

The initial decision against the use of an armed drone reflects an effort by the U.S. mission in Niger to maintain a light footprint in the country amid local resistance to the deployment of armed aircrafta challenge for officials also seeking to adequately support U.S. troops there.

Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.
Liz Conn has learned to precisely time her daughters doctor appointments to military hospitals and medical clinics at Quantico, Fort Belvoir and beyond, wedging them between morning and afternoon traffic backups.

But a midday wreck on I-95 can wreak havoc on those best-laid plans. Sometimes doctors run late, putting Conn and her daughter, Lauren, who has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, in the thick of afternoon rush hour. When that happens, Liz Conn shells out up to $35 for a return trip on the express lanes.

The Conns are among 40,000 Stafford County active-duty and retired service members and their families who could benefit from a Defense Department health center close to home.

A federal contractor submitted plans to the county late last month to build and operate an outpatient facility on Stafford Hospitals east campus. The 110,000-square-foot medical center hinges on a Defense Department contract award and approval from Stafford County. If and when the contract is awarded, the medical center would open within a year and serve 1,000 patients a day.

Its obvious this would be just a huge win for the county to have these kinds of services for our residents, said Stafford Board of Supervisors Chairman Paul Milde. Were as heavily laden with active military and former military as any community there is. The need could not be more acute. Everyone on the board is excited about trying to make this happen.

Supervisors agreed as part of their consent agenda earlier this month to advertise a joint public hearing on the project with the Planning Commission, set for December.

Were working hard to get it, Supervisor Gary Snellings said. There are [thousands of] veterans living in Stafford.

The medical center, if it opens, is expected to serve 28,000 patients a year to start, a number that could grow to 34,000 within five years.

The contractor, CRAssociates, has signed a long-term lease with MediCorp Properties, an affiliate of Mary Washington Hospital, to lease the 20-acre east campus of Stafford Hospital.

As a primary care center, plans for the Stafford facility call for nine physician offices and a 4,000-square-foot, highly automated pharmacy. It would include an X-ray suite and a womens health suite with four obstetriciangynecologist providers as well as mammography, orthopedic, dermatology and optometry services. Plans also call for 540 parking spaces for patients and staff.

CRAssociates selected the Stafford Hospital site largely due to the number of eligible patients who live nearby: 55,000 of them. Two-thirds live within Stafford County and growth is south down the I-95 corridor, according to a detailed description submitted to the county. CRAs Stafford site is ideal to develop a complex of this size due to its visibility, access, security, and direct affiliation with a quality healthcare system.

Further, infrastructure is already in place, including stormwater, utilities, access and zoning, the document states. Mary Washington Healthcare would own the facility, and CRAssociates would lease the grounds and structure for at least 30 years.

Milde said CRAssociates reached out to him about the project, which he then brought to the board.

We get calls all the time from veterans looking for veterans services, Milde said. You have to go out of town to get VA help. This would change that.

Liz Conn, who lives in southern Stafford, said cutting out travel up north even one or two times a year would help. Her daughter, Lauren, has at least three annual appointments at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. She also has regular visits to Fort Belvoir Community Hospital and Naval Health Clinic Quantico, where she sees specialists, gets renal ultrasounds, sees a urologist, participates in clinics, has blood drawn, gets primary care services and picks up prescriptions.

It can take up to three hours to get home from Fort Belvoir if she doesnt pay to get on the express lanes, she said. Even going to Quantico, you have to time that, too. It becomes part of life after awhile.
ANNAPOLIS, Md.Twenty years ago this month, two intrepid young directorsincluding a Maryland nativeand three little-known actors descended upon the state to film what they thought would be a small, low-budget film.

It was low-budget, but anything but small.

Though The Blair Witch Project took only eight days to film and had a shooting budget of about $25,000, the film was a historic success, grossing almost $250 million when it was released in 1999.

The movie features actors Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard playing student filmmakers who venture into the woods near Burkittsville, Md., in search of the fabled Blair Witch, which supposedly haunted the small town for centuries. The students disappear in the woods and the only remnants of their quest is film footage discovered by University of Maryland anthropology students.

One of the films co-directors, Eduardo Sanchez, grew up in Takoma Park, Md., and studied television production at Montgomery College.

It was always going to be filmed in Maryland, he said. It was a legend that had to live in this area.

The movie was filmed in 1997 primarily in two locations: the small town of Burkittsville, and Seneca Creek State Park in Gaithersburg.

Sanchez, who now lives in Frederick, also attended film school at the University of Central Florida, where he met Blair Witch co-director Daniel Myrick. They bonded over mysterious and creepy documentaries like the In Search of TV series hosted by Leonard Nimoy, which used to scare the crap out of us on a regular basis, Sanchez said.

The television series helped inspire Sanchez and Myrick to create this documentary of their own about students getting lost in the woods.

Sanchezs family also went camping in the Shenandoah National Park and he said that helped inspire the decision to have the student filmmakers camp in the woods.

A lot of the scary moments the students in the film experience in the woodslike noises outsides of tents and the idea that something is hanging aroundcame from Sanchez being scared as a kid, he said.

Theres this dark, natural world thats out there, Sanchez said.

Sanchezs girlfriend at the time (now his wife), Stefanie De Cassan, lived a few miles from Seneca Creek State Park, so it was a totally pragmatic decision to shoot the majority of the film there, he said. Sanchez and De Cassan also used to hike and picnic in the park.

It had creeks, it had buried terrain. It had everything we were looking for, said Sanchez.

Seneca Creek has grown to embrace the films popularity.

Park Ranger Erik Ledbetter led a Blair Witch Heritage Hike on Oct. 8 at Seneca Creek, leading fans to some of the films iconic locations and explaining their significance.

The hike included a visit to the famous Coffin Rock. In the film, the filmmakers travel to the massive rock formation after hearing stories of fur trappers who were supposedly mutilated there.

One of the hikers, Kelsey Stanford, 27, from Upper Marlboro, Md., said that after seeing the filming locations, he wanted to watch the movie again.

When I first saw the movie [10 years ago] it was pretty scary, he said.

Burkittsville was chosen as the town where the legend of the witch originated simply because with its rolling hills and churches, it was an idyllic, small town, said Sanchez.

It looked like the legend could live there, he said, adding that the town could be a place that has some creepy history.

In the films mythology, Elly Kedward was banished from the fictitious town of Blair (Burkittsville) in 1785 for being a witch after children accused her of luring them into her house to draw their blood. According to the films premise, many children reportedly went missing over the years, were later found dead and were supposedly buried in the Burkittsville cemetery.

The students in the film travel to Burkittsville to connect the Blair Witch myth to reality, said Sanchez. The movie has since put the small town of just over 200 people on the map, with many fans of the film having flocked to the town in search of the witch.

After Burkittsville, the students ventured off into Seneca Creek Parkknown as the Black Hills Forest in the film.

When filming in Seneca Creek, Sanchez and the crew left the actors alone in the woods for long periods of time. Each day, the actors would receive individual instructions from inside tiny film cylinders, telling them what their motivations would be for the day. Often the actors had competing motivations.

It became a lot of fun, said Sanchez. We would constantly play them against each other.

The crew used GPSwhich at that time was only used by hunters and the militaryto guide the actors through the woods. They would use GPS coordinates to pinpoint locations that the actors needed to go to.

Their odyssey following the [GPS] waypoints ... would take them on a week-long journey all up and down this park, said Ledbetter.

The actors and the crew had a safe word, bulldozer, that when said, would temporarily halt filming.

Bulldozer meant theres trouble and the filming had to stop, said Sanchez.

The filming did stop one rainy night when the actors tents and sleeping bags were soaked. The actors radioed bulldozer to the crew, but the crew didnt respond because the batteries were dead in their radio.

[The actors] couldnt deal with it, said Sanchez. So the three actors walked out of the woods and eventually found a house where they were able to contact the crew.

The marketing strategy for the movie was groundbreaking: It was one of the first films that primarily used the Internet as a marketing tool, said Ledbetter.

Sanchez and the crew built an official website that included a fictitious timeline of the history of the Blair Witch, background information about the three student filmmakers and the aftermath after the students disappeared.

We were Web savvy, said Sanchez.

A section of the website included a missing persons flyer that showed pictures of the three filmmakers and their basic contact information.

Last seen camping in the Black Hills Forest area, near Burkittsville, the flyer said. Please Call Frederick County Sheriffs Office With Any Information You May Have!

The film had a polarizing effect upon release, because so many people believed the story to be true.

They did such a brilliant job of marketing the movie because they really created a buzz and a mystique around the movie before it was even released, said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore.com, a global media data and analytics company.

Pam Blazi, 36, from Hershey, Pa., who attended the anniversary hike, said that she bought into the deception.

I really thought it was a documentary about three kids who went missing in the woods, she said. The marketing worked on me.

The actorswho were asked to keep a low profile during the marketing campaigncouldnt fully enjoy the films release because so many people thought they were dead. Heather Donahues mother even received sympathy cards, Sanchez said.

It was very surreal that we werent able to really celebrate [the film] until a month after it came out, said Williams. It was exciting and fun, but at the same time it was confusing.
A Navy veteran and a technology professional who narrowly lost in her previous election bid are running for the open Garrisonville District seat on the Stafford County School Board.

Barton Randall and R. Pamela Yeung are seeking to replace Christopher P. Connelly, who was appointed last fall to serve out the term of Nanette Kidby after she moved out of the district. Connelly chose not to run in the Nov. 7 election.

Yeung ran for the seat four years ago, losing to Kidby by 124 votes. Endorsed by the Stafford Democratic Committee, Yeung is a technology professional with a degree from Howard University and a graduate degree in information technology from Johns Hopkins University.

All of my children benefitted from dedicated, hardworking teachers in the Stafford County public education system, said Yeung, noting that two of her children are recent University of Virginia graduates and the third a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University who is currently studying anesthesiology at Duke University. Im a mother who believes in a good education and Im willing to work hard to ensure that every child has that opportunity.

Randall served 24 years in the U.S. Navy. During that time he earned an associate of science in nuclear engineering technology, a degree in sociology and two master of arts degrees in human resource management and development. He is endorsed by the Stafford County Republican Committee and the Stafford Education Association.

As a master chief in the Navy I had a large responsibility mentoring and training others, assuring transparency and developing trust from top to bottom, Randall said. I think that experience plays a direct role in how I can help the school board and be a conduit between them and the parents.

Randall, a Utah native who has lived in the Hampton Oaks neighborhood since 2006, said accountability is critical for members of the School Board.

Parents need to know what is being done and how. Board members are responsible for keeping parents and community members in the loop, said Randall, whose son graduated from North Stafford High. I know how to make that happen.

Yeung, who lived in the Netherlands as a child and whose parents are from the Netherlands Antilles, speaks several languages fluently, including English, Dutch and Spanish. She moved to the Stafford area when she was a teenager.

When you talk about diversity, its not about race, Yeung said. I believe in community, and finding strengths in everyone that will contribute to working together toward goals everyone values.

Yeung said if elected she hopes to be a solid, reliable partner with parents, business leaders and educators.

Together we can bridge the gaps and make sure all students have equal value and an excellent education through the public school system, she said. To do that, we need to address competitive salaries for teachers so we can retain better quality educators, and to make sure all school board business is conducted openly and fairly.

Randall concurs that more attention should be given to teacher retention.

It is imperative that we keep our best teachers to ensure the success of our children, schools, and school district, he said. When our teachers are living here and taking positions in other school districts, it should give us pause and re-evaluate our efforts to keep them here.

Randall said another concern is the budget, and redistricting considerations.

Weve had some significant issues with the budget, weve got to do better on that, he said. Also redistricting, I think theres a better way of conducting that process, staying on top of growth issues and being more open with parents.
A frosty Friday morning will give way to a much warmer afternoon around Fredericksburg.

Folks who ventured out during the early morning hours this Friday morning experienced temperatures nippier than recent days. Lows were recorded as 34, 29, and 28 degrees at Shannon Airport, Stafford Regional Airport, and the University of Mary Washington weather stations respectively. The growing season is over for the area.

But abundant sunshine and dry air will allow this afternoons temperatures to bump near the 70 degree mark in many spots. High pressure centered over the region will make today a Chamber of Commerce day for Fredericksburg and vicinity. That situation will change, however, as the weekend progresses.

A cold front will crawl across the Appalachians and reach the Virginia / West Virginia state line after dark tomorrow. Saturdays weather will thus feature southerly winds with increasing clouds and a high temperature in the low 70s. A scattered shower or two late tomorrow afternoon isnt out of the question.

Said cold front will then slide across Virginia and reach the Chesapeake Bay on Sunday morning. This boundary will stall off the coast and slow the entrance of colder air into Fredericksburg. But as shown by the blue shading on the graphic the West Virginia mountains will likely see white stuff accumulating on the ground as the colder temperatures arrive there before the precipitation shuts off.

Here in the Burg Sunday will be a wet and dreary day with temperatures likely to max out in the upper 50s. An inch or so of much needed rain will fall as northerly winds help make the day feel raw and blustery. There is a bit of uncertainty in the Sunday night forecast as a tropical disturbance now in the Caribbean may add its energy and moisture to the mix and help foster a noreaster. Details are still fuzzy on the timing and overall effect on Fredericksburg of this potential merger.

So enjoy the outdoors today and Saturday and prepare for a soggy Sunday on this last weekend of October 2017.
Not even Christopher Michael Ellis attorneys dispute that he brutally killed his mother, Elizabeth Betsey Ellis, at their home in southern Stafford in December 2015.

The issue facing a Stafford jury that was picked Friday in Stafford Circuit Court is whether the 40-year-old Ellis was legally sane when the slaying occurred.

Ellis has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of first-degree murder, aggravated malicious wounding and assault on a law-enforcement officer. A scheduled nine-day trial began Friday.

Most of the trials first day was devoted to the selection of a 14-member jury panel, two of whom are alternates. The panel heard opening arguments and one witness before being sent home for the weekend.

Elizabeth Ellis, 67, a retired school teacher, was found dead in her home on Fagan Drive in southern Stafford early Dec. 11, 2015. She had been punched, kicked and beaten with a hammer and her face was unrecognizable when police found her.

Christopher Ellis confessed to the slaying right away and gave a detailed taped interview to police in which he described the grisly attack.

In her opening statement, prosecutor Tara Mooney conceded that Ellis has mental health issues. But she argued that he knew he was killing his mother and knew that it was wrong.

Mooney described Ellis as an unemployed and angry man living in his mothers basement who grew more and more upset with his mother until the rage exploded.

Betsey Ellis was an innocent woman who was killed in the most brutal way, Mooney told the jurors.

Mooney said the evidence will show that Ellis was upset with his mother for several reasons, including her insistence that he take his prescribed medication and pay $200 a month toward living expenses. Ellis received $700 a month in disability payments, Mooney said.

Mooney said Ellis told a therapist that he was wrathfully angry that his brothers got their share of an inheritance from their grandmother and he did not. He also found out that Elizabeth Ellis had not included him in her will.

Mooney said that on the night before the slaying, Ellis set his alarm for 2:22 a.m. He got up during the night, jumped on his mother in her bed and punched her numerous times.

He left the room for a while, then returned and repeatedly kicked his mother in the head.

He took another break, Mooney said, and went to the kitchen and retrieved a hammer. He told police that he decided to bash her skull in because he didnt want her to just be heart dead. He wanted her brain dead, Mooney said.

Sharon Fitzgerald, who along with attorney Joshua Parrett is representing Ellis, said the prosecutions case was accurate except for its claim that the attack was premeditated. She said Ellis was in a psychotic state during the attack and saw his mother as Satan.

Fitzgerald told the jurors that Ellis had his first psychotic breakdown in 2002 and has been on a 15-year odyssey of mental health ups and downs. She said Ellis had delusions of religious persecution and had been involuntarily committed twice in the three months leading up to the slaying.

The evidence from the doctors will be compelling, Fitzgerald promised.

The only witness to testify Friday was Stafford Sheriffs Sgt. Christian Mireles, the first officer on the scene. Mireles said he was on patrol about 5:10 a.m. when he received a vague call about a disturbance.

Mireles said he searched the area and initially found nothing amiss, but eventually he saw Ellis on his knees, rocking back and forth. He was covered in blood.

Mireles said he called out to Ellis, thinking he was injured. As the deputy approached, Ellis stood up and punched Mireles in the nose, breaking his glasses.

The two men fought for several minutes before another deputy, Gregory Gabrielli, showed up and helped Mireles get Ellis under control.

Ellis then told police he had killed his mother and Elizabeth Ellis dead body was discovered.
Thousands of people in the Fredericksburg region face limited health insurance options under the Affordable Care Act, creating widespread anxiety ahead of the sign-up season for coverage next year.

Some residents worry they will have to switch physicianswhich appears likelyand drive to Northern Virginia, or farther, for treatment.

Thats mainly because Kaiser Permanente will be the only company offering plans through the marketplace in Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania and King George counties, where about 7,500 residents receive insurance under the federal exchange. Kaiser is different from other insurance providers in that its customers typically must seek care from Kaiser-employed physicians at the companys medical facilities.

The organization operates Fredericksburg Medical Center near Mary Washington Hospital and plans to open another clinic near Stafford Hospital on U.S. 1. But some consumers question whether that is enough for the potential influx of new patients.

A search on Kaisers website for doctors within 20 miles of the 22401 zip code turned up 15 primary-care physicians and OBGYNs, but no other specialists.

Asked whether Kaiser has enough of a presence here to handle thousands of new customers, company spokesman Scott Lusk replied: Members can go to any of the medical centers. It can maybe be one that is closest to where you work instead of necessarily where you live. He said he did not know when the Stafford facility will open.

Kaiser has 19 locations within 50 miles of Fredericksburg, including medical centers in Woodbridge, Springfield and Ashburn, according to its website.

Marketplace customers in Stafford will be able to choose between Kaiser and Cigna, while Anthem and Kaiser will participate in the exchange in Caroline County. Residents have from Wednesday until Dec. 15 to enroll in a plan for next year, but can preview options now at healthcare.gov.

In the past, the regions consumers have been able to choose from several traditional insurance companies, such as Aetna and Anthem.

Critics say President Donald Trump has sabotaged the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, while others maintain that flaws in the health care law itself are to blame. Premiums for the most popular plans will increase by 34 percent, according to consulting firm Avalere Health, which tied the price increases to the Trump administrations decision to end subsidy payments to insurers.

Many consumers will continue to receive subsidies that will help offset the higher premiums, but those who do not qualify will see sharp increases.

A married couple in Fredericksburg with two children and a combined income of $90,000 would pay an estimated $638 a month for a mid-tier Kaiser plan with help from tax credits. If the same family made $9,000 more a year, which would make them ineligible for the credits, they would pay nearly $1,400 a month for the same plan.

Donna Stanton, a health care navigator with Enroll Virginia, encouraged residents to thoroughly explore their options despite the seemingly bleak outlook. I know its an extremely frustrating and confusing time, she said.

Stafford resident Stephanie Ware, who has had an Anthem silver plan for the last two years, recently got an email from an insurance agency about the limited optionsand potential premium increases of 50 percent or more for Kaiser plans.

She did not get a comforting response after telling the agent shes already maxed out with this years monthly premium of about $430.

It is a really big challenge as the options for 2018 are really disappointing, the agent replied in an email Ware forwarded to The Free LanceStar. He advised her to check out the estimated rates on healthcare.gov.

Ware, a divorced mother of three, said she cant work full time because of a chronic illness and has been thankful for insurance under the exchange. The political turmoil, including Trumps executive order to eliminate subsidies, hurts people like her, she added.

You dont just go throwing everything up in the air when there are people like me with health issues that are dependent on it, Ware said. Im just really, really angry that the government can go in and mess things up that were working well enough.

Spotsylvania resident Annette Lowery and her husband, an attorney, are paying about $1,500 a month for an Aetna gold plan. She said shes been losing sleep after learning that Kaiser would be the only option, adding: From what I understand, theyre not set up for this at all. Its a really scary thing.

Lowerys concern is not unfounded.

Spotsylvania resident Arva Priola, 66, who was on a Kaiser plan a few years ago before enrolling in Medicare, said she had to go to Northern Virginia for surgery and other specialized care. She called the companys doctors excellent, but said the drives up Interstate 95 could be daunting.

It could take you two hours to get up there sometimes, she said.

Meanwhile, Lowery and her husband have talked about hiring an employee at their family-run law firm so that they could be eligible for group insurance through a more traditional insurance company.

Lowery detailed her plight in a letter to her congressman, U.S. Rep. Dave Brat, R7th District.

In a statement to the newspaper, Brat criticized Obamacare and blamed the U.S. Senate for not moving forward on the Houses repeal bill. The lack of choices for those in Spotsylvania on the Obamacare exchange is further evidence of why I remain committed to working to roll back Obamacare once and for all, Brat stated.

On a positive note, Stanton said a benefit of Kaiser, particularly for consumers in Washington and Baltimore, is that patients can receive all of their care in one facility. The company has also offered dental and vision coverage in its marketplace plans.

There are some true advantages of Kaiser, Stanton said, noting that its clinics typically include labs and pharmacies.

Mary Washington Healthcare, which owns Mary Washington and Stafford hospitals, is under contract with Kaiser, hospital spokeswoman Lisa Henry said.

Kaiser is a growing program in our market, she said. Im hopeful that theyre anticipating the growth that comes with this change.

Eric Fletcher, a senior vice president for Mary Washington Healthcare, said Stafford Hospital is a core inpatient facility for Kaiser customers.

Kaiser-employed general physicians and obstetricianswho can deliver babieswork out of the hospital, but patients must travel to the companys facilities in Northern Virginia for elective surgeries.

Mary Washington and Stafford hospitals will treat emergency cases, regardless of insurance, as required by law. Kaiser will generally send those patients to one of its facilities once they are in stable condition, Fletcher said.

Henry encouraged consumers to work with navigators and call their doctors to see if they accept any of the insurance options. I just really hope people dont forgo insurance because theyre nervous, Henry said.

Stanton said she thinks consumers will demand a fix in the wake of the latest problems. The question is whether Congress will listen.

Its really getting personal, she said.
Pastor James King and Land of Promise, a local church in Spotsylvania County, established The Friends of Virginia Drive to enable the community to assist more than 200 churches with Hurricane Harvey Relief in the Houston metropolitan area.

Land of Promise held a Harvey Relief Drive in September at the church and at the Walmart shopping center in Southpoint. The community drive filled a truck with cleaning products, personal hygiene products, food and water.

The hurricane relief truck has delivered the donated items to Texas. The distribution center was low on a number of items, and volunteers were elated to receive the delivery at just the right time. It was reported that the truck weighed in at more than 20,000 pounds, which was the largest donation received.

Pastor King and Land of Promise would like everyone to know how grateful and thankful they are to the community for helping with the Friends of Virginia Harvey Relief Drive.
I have known 99th District Del. Margaret Ransone since 2010. She is a native of Westmoreland County in the Northern Neck of Virginia. She has been very proactive regarding conservation issues in the commonwealth, and most importantly in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula. She serves on the Agriculture Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee in the General Assembly, and on the Chesapeake Bay Commission.

Ransone sponsored a budget amendment during the 2015 General Assembly session to reinstate the Shoreline Erosion Advisory ServiceSEASprogram with funding of $150,000, effective in July 2015. With reinstatement of the SEAS program, owners of waterfront property across the state who have shoreline erosion problems can again have access to free and unbiased engineering and educational assistance when making decisions on how to best manage their shoreline erosion problems.

Ransone has continued to support conservation-on-the-ground practices through the 47 conservation districts in Virginia and was the recipient of the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts legislator of the year award for 2015.

Please join me in re-electing Margaret Ransone as our delegate to the 99th District of the General Assembly on Nov. 7.

E. Derwin Booker Jr.

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Actress Peng Jing attends the premiere of the movie "Angels Wear White" at the 74th Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Sept. 7, 2017. [Photo: Xinhua]

ANKARA, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese film "Angels Wear White" won the Best Film Award late Friday at the 54th International Antalya Film Festival in Turkey's Mediterranean City of Antalya, the first time a Chinese film wins the highest award of this event.

The film, directed by Chinese female director Wen Yan (also known as Vivian Qu), tells a story that happens to two adolescent Chinese girls who are sexual assaulted by a middle-aged man at a hotel and feel helpless in seeking justice.

"The film focuses on a worldwide social problem, and thus eventually calls up common awareness among audiences," Wen told Xinhua after the award ceremony.

Moreover, the Best Actress Award was given to Wen Qi, a 14-year-old Chinese actress who roles a vital hotel waitress in "Angels Wear White".

The Best Director Award was given to Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof for his film "A Man of Integrity".

The International Antalya Film Festival, one of the longest-running art events in Turkey, attracts 10 movies from different countries to participate in its competition section this year.
Continuing our series, A View from Here, where we find out what its like to farm in other countries, we visit an arable farm in The Netherlands.

Carolien and husband Peter van de Kreeke farm 50ha with potatoes, sugar beet, wheat, grass for seed and chicory near Middelburg in the south-west of the country.

They also own a farm campsite with 25 spaces plus two chalets. Carolien answers our questions about farming in The Netherlands.

How involved are you with the farm?

Very much so. Living and working here is my way of life and I enjoy every day. Even though my husband, Peter, is responsible for the crops and I run the campsite, we discuss work together as much as possible. During harvest, I drive the tractors. Also, I am responsible for the accounting work.

See also: Farming in Canada: Snow drifts as tall as tree rows

How poor or prosperous are farming families in your country?

Most earn an average income. Dairy farming is poor at present; crops vary greatly season to season. e sometimes say: Work hard, earn little. But we really appreciate the way of life.

Whats the best thing about living on a farm?

The space  owning a large plot size and the space in our barns. We also have freedom and the ability to make our own choices. Also, the tranquility  its such a nice, quiet place to live.

Then theres the nature around us, with hares playing on our land and the beautiful sunrises. We also enjoy seeing the changing seasons and weather  from bright sunshine to bitter cold snow.

Whats the worst thing about living on a farm?

The high seasonal workload, when our days are completely filled  especially the limited quality time we have with our children in these periods.

During their summer holidays, the time we get to spend together at the farm or visiting somewhere else is limited.

What makes it challenging is that the timing of these busy periods can be difficult to predict, so one needs to have great flexibility to cope with unexpected situations.

Whats the single biggest challenge farmers face where you are?

Dealing with regulations. In the Netherlands, many laws and regulations exist which do not benefit farm businesses. The rules surrounding fertilisers, for example, have become much more strict, resulting in substantial depletion of the soil  and this is fundamental to our ability to produce crops.

An additional challenge is the image of farmers, which is occasionally not the most positive. We are sometimes seen as people who harm the natural environment and (too) frequently use pesticides, but this is not a fair portrayal of us.

We have many opportunities to create a positive image for farming in the Netherlands, but as a profession and as individuals we could definitely do better in this respect.

Meanwhile, the weather has always been a challenge, but climate changes and mechanisation have made this issue even more complex.

What makes you happy?

The arrival of spring. The winter is rather quiet, with fewer activities on the land and the campsite closed. In the spring this changes, everything gets going  we enjoy working on the land again and welcoming the first visitors to the site.

What makes you angry?

The lack of control we have over the prices we get, which is not dependent on the quality of what we grow, but instead on market forces.

Also of great concern are the high land values, with prices on average about 85,000/ha (75,900/ha), which hampers the growth and development of farms.

Is there equality between the sexes in your country?

Yes, men and women have similar rights and job opportunities (although, in practice, working with machinery and tractors is often still done by men). At our farm, it is a true case of teamwork.

Is farming well supported by your government?

We have had a strong proliferation in regulations, resulting in an enormous amounts of business registration and reporting. The strict rules on pesticides are an example.

Then there is the detailed registration of campsite visitors  not only the amount of people, but also the type of accommodation they use.

Tell us something about yourself not many people know

I also have a part-time position as communication manager at an organisation for wildlife and flora preservation, which is very rewarding, given my strong interest and respect for our beautiful landscapes.

Being a farmer as well, however, can sometimes provide me with a feeling of conflicted interests, since farmers and nature preservation organisations might not always share the same point of view.
There are already self-propelled sprayers, mowers and foragers, so why not a round baler? A new development from US maker Vermeer introduces a level of automation that takes away many of the drivers more irksome tasks

Round baling has plenty going for it, but the endless pauses, shunting back and forth and yanking of levers (prodding of buttons, if youre lucky) can make it a tedious process for the driver.

But in a bid to iron out the jobs wrinkles, Iowa-based firm Vermeer has come up with a prototype self-propelled round baler that promises to take many of those tasks out of the drivers hands.

That means everything from stopping and starting the machine to turning it sideways on hillsides and releasing the bale is performed automatically.

The maker has also worked hard to give the driver a smoother ride over rough terrain and created a tight enough turning circle so it can swing directly into the next windrow.

See also: Forage additive application made easy via tablet app

The ZR5 concept was unveiled in September 2017 at the annual Husker Harvest Days event at Grand Island, Nebraska  an area that produces a huge amount of round-bale hay and alfalfa to help feed the so-called Beef States six million-plus head of cattle.

Here farmers and contractors run sizeable fleets of tractor and round baler combinations and often struggle to find enough decent labour to operate them.

Therefore, the fact that the machine can potentially do the job of two such combinations should go down fairly well.

Sadly, its not a continuous baler (not yet anyway), but Vermeer says it still offers considerably higher output and better driver comfort than the best tractor-pulled machines.

Its also being billed as one of the biggest developments by the firm since its founder Gary Vermeer invented what is thought to be the first round baler back in 1971.

So how does it work?

Starting at the front end, Vermeer has fitted the machine with castor wheels  clearly inspired by the zero-turn mower market  that allows it to spin around on a sixpence.

In field mode these castors are unlocked, which transfers steering duties to the hydrostatically driven rear wheels.

These turn the machine by varying their speed and direction.

As well as letting the driver swing easily into the next windrow, this means the machine can quickly spin though 90deg for depositing bales safely on hillsides, says ZR5 product manager Josh Vrieze.

This process can also be incorporated into the machines automatic bale tying procedure (more on that later), so the driver can sit there swigging tea while it gets on with it.

Switching to road mode locks the castors in place and activates a ram, which steers the front wheels.

This means it can travel safety at speeds of 48kph (30mph) or more.

Meanwhile, the independent hydraulic front suspension helps iron out the bumps, even when bouncing over rough terrain at baling speeds of up to 12kph (7mph).

Cab and visibility

To help make the most of that front cushioning, the Claas combine cab has been mounted just behind the front wheels. With nothing other than the castors in front, this also means the driver gets uninterrupted views of the swath ahead.

The downside of this set-up is that it makes it impossible for the driver to see the pickup or the tailgate with the naked eye. But to get round the problem, cameras have been fitted in both locations.

As Vermeer points out, this actually makes the job more comfortable for the driver, as it puts an end to having to constantly peer over the shoulder. The pickup reel camera is also positioned to look right into the throat of the baler so the operator can keep an eye on crop flow.

Engine and transmission

In true Yankee style, Vermeer has chosen a powerful 173hp Cummins engine to power its new machine.

This drives a hydrostatic transmission which, as well as giving the flexibility to independently adjust the speed of the rear wheels for in-field steering, gives infinite speed adjustment and the opportunity to automate stopping and starting.

The baler unit itself is also hydraulically driven, says Mr Vrieze. That means the speed of the pickup and belts can be adjusted independently, allowing the driver to tweak settings according to the conditions.

It can also be set to speed up the belts during the tying process to complete the bale faster and get back into work. Engineers are playing around with different speed settings to see which gives the highest output.

For these early prototypes, Vermeer has based the design on one of its largest variable-chamber belt balers.

This has a 196cm (77in) pickup and can produce bales up to 1.5m wide and 1.8m in diameter (5x6ft).

However, the ZR5s design allows the baler unit to be removed quickly and simply, which means other units could be adapted to fit.

Non-stop baler

There is also a chance a non-stop baler could be installed in the future. We believe in a continuous baling solution and are working to make that concept a reality, says Mr Vrieze.

But for the time being, the main purpose of the baler unit removal process is to make maintenance more straightforward.

All the operator has to do to remove it is disconnect a hydraulic coupling and wiring harness. The baler unit can then be lowered to the ground hydraulically, allowing the self-propelled unit to drive away. All in, the process takes a couple of minutes.

Vermeer also expects the tractor unit to outlast several balers, so this function makes it easy to add in a replacement.

Automatic functions

One of the keys to the ZR5s speedy operation is its automatic baling mode. Once set up, this means the driver simply needs to steer and press one button when prompted to do so.

When the bale is formed the machine will automatically come to a stop and cut the pickup drive, allowing the tying process to take place. If programmed to do so it will then perform a quarter turn as the bale is tying, before opening the tailgate and dropping the completed bale.

The operator can tweak settings on the cabs monitor to change the angle so it lines up with other bales in the field, or adjust the angle based on the slope of the hill so the bale doesnt roll away.

Finally, it will close the tailgate, pivot back into the work position and prompt the driver to press a button, sending it straight back into action. This takes the steps to complete a bale from nine down to one, says Mr Vrieze.

As well as safer placement of bales on hillsides, Vermeer claims the quarter-turn function makes the bale collection process up to 35% faster.

The ZR5 is still in the concept phase and Vermeer is working to hone the design and add a few more features to this process before its commercial launch.

Launch date

Vermeer hopes to have some machines working on US farms in 2018, which is when potential buyers will get an idea of how much its going to cost. Production models are then expected to be available for the 2019 season.

Initially the maker will be focusing on the North American market, but it could introduce the machine in other countries if there is sufficient demand.

However, the fact it sits at just over 3.6m (12ft) wide means its too big to travel on many European roads without an escort.
Chinese Navy soldiers observe from China's amphibious landing ship Changbaishan during an escort mission in the Gulf of Aden, Aug 26, 2014. (file photo/Xinhua)

BEIJING, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- China will continue to participate in escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia to protect the international lane, a spokesperson said on Friday.

The comment by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang came as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised China in a report to the UN Security Council, saying that China's escort missions played an important role in coping with the pirate threat.

China appreciates the UN chief's acknowledgement of China's work and contribution, Geng said at a daily press briefing.

Under the mandate of the UN Security Council, Chinese Navy began to carry out escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia in December 2008. Up to July 2017, it has dispatched 26 task force groups, escorted 6,400 Chinese and foreign vessels and warned away more than 3,000 suspected pirate ships, according to Geng.

"China's engagement in international cooperation against Somali pirates has won applause and contributed to international and regional peace and security," said Geng.
The Corvallis Land Development Hearings Board will hold a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the downtown fire station, 400 NW Harrison Blvd., on an application for a zone change from Linn-Benton Community College.

The college hopes to change the zoning on a 2.29-acre property it owns on Northwest Reiman Avenue that it plans to use for its expansion. The property currently is occupied by the First Student bus company. The board that will hear the case is a three-person subset of the Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission, meanwhile, meets at 7 p.m. and will hold public hearings on plans for a Zen center on Northwest Circle Boulevard and some land development code text amendments.

In other public meetings:

Monday

 A forum on affordable housing options is set for 7 p.m. at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, 645 NW Monroe Ave. On hand will be representatives of Benton Habitat for Humanity and Willamette Neighborhood Housing Services. The event, the first of two on housing topics, is sponsored by the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition and the League of Women Voters of Corvallis. The second forum will be Nov. 13.

Wednesday

 The Corvallis Community Involvement and Diversity Advisory Board meets at 5 p.m. at the Madison Avenue Meeting Room, 600 SW Madison Ave.

 The Philomath Public Works Committee meets at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 980 Applegate St., to consider a street light request for Pioneer Park and review the wastewater facilities master plan.

 The Corvallis-Benton County Library Advisory Board meets at 7:30 p.m. at the library. The board will hear the final report of a library space study.

Friday

 The Corvallis Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board meets at 7 a.m. at the Madison room. Board members will hear the first-quarter crash report from the Corvallis Police Department.
My eighth grade Christmas present was a book on the worlds religions. It proclaimed astonishing things  one, that Buddha was also born to a virgin! Most of the prophets were persecuted for their teachings. Every faith had its version of the Golden Rule. Enthusiastically, I shared my findings in Sunday school  surely everyone would agree: We needed something new, a religion that regarded all faiths as true.

In high school, my friend Cynthia told me about her religion. Its founder was Bahaullah, whose name means The Glory of God. Bahaullah had announced, All the Prophets are the Temples of the Cause of God, Who have appeared clothed in divers attire. They all utter(ed) the same speech, and proclaim(ed) the same Faith. Bahaullahs central teaching was oneness. His followers were Bahais and his faith taught that religions are all interconnected, like chapters in a single book of revelation. I was in love: Id found the faith of my prayers.

Who was this insightful 19th century prophet? Like all the prophets, Bahaullahs life was one of sacrifice and service. Like the Buddha, he was a nobleman who surrendered his wealth and power to teach the word of God. Like Abraham, he was exiled from his homeland. Like Moses, he led his community for 40 years, teaching them the new faith. Like Jesus, he was persecuted and tortured by religious leaders. Like Muhammad, he taught that divine revelation was progressive.

Born Mirza Husayn-Ali in 1817, his was a noble family in Mazandaran, Persia (Iran). Even as a young boy, he demonstrated innate wisdom and intelligence. As he matured, his uniqueness became ever more evident. His father held a high-ranking position in the court of the Persian king. When Bahaullah was 22 years old, his father died, leaving him responsible for the extensive family estates. When the government offered Bahaullah his fathers post, he declined, choosing instead to focus on charity and acts of service, defending and protecting the poor. By the early 1840s, Bahaullah was known locally as Father of the Poor.

Bahaullahs social teachings were radical, and for them he was imprisoned. He taught that education should be universal. He renewed religious truth  that the purpose of a human life is to serve humanity, to know and love God, and to acquire virtues, such as like faith, truthfulness, and compassion. Bahaullahs vision was peace on earth and a united humanity, living in harmony. In an age in which nation-building was the rule, he said, The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.

Doesnt this make perfect sense in our interconnected age?

If you wish to learn more, visit bahai.org.

Bahaullah was a prolific writer, whose tablets and books number in the hundreds. He wrote that truthfulness is the foundation of every virtue, that men and women are equal, and science and religion are harmonious  wings of one bird. We should avoid anger! In the 1960s, psychologists told us that bottling up our emotions would damage our health, so we should let it all hang out  scream and punch pillows. Bahaullah wrote, rage burneth the liver: avoid (it) as ye would a fierce lion. Today medical science confirms the effects of anger and negativism not only on our mental states, but our hearts, our immune systems, even how long we live.

My adolescent self never imagined that the Bahai faith would one day be regarded as one of the major world religions.

This is a joyous time. During this week, 5 million Bahais globally all celebrated the day of Bahaullahs birth 200 years ago, offering their thanks for this gift to humanity.
A man accused of beating a woman with a stick and robbing her in Corvallis last month should undergo an evaluation to determine if he is mentally fit to stand trial, a judge ordered Friday.

Eric Leroy Patterson, 37, is charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and second-degree disorderly conduct, court records show.

Pattersons attorney, Mike Flinn, filed a motion in the case stating his client should be evaluated to determine if he fully understands the proceedings and can aid and assist in his defense. However, Patterson reportedly refused to undergo the evaluation when a doctor visited the Benton County Jail, where Patterson is being held on bond, Flinn said.

Benton County Circuit Court Judge Locke Williams said he will be forced to send Patterson to the Oregon State Hospital for evaluation if he does not comply.

Im going to protect your rights for you, Williams told the defendant. I will ensure you receive a fair trial.

The judge told Patterson he would have the doctor visit the jail again to complete the evaluation.

The alleged robbery and assault took place Sept. 26 outside the Benton County Courthouse, police have said. A witness told police she saw Patterson walking north on Northwest Fifth Street with a large wooden stick, according to police. The witness said Patterson hit the alleged victim, Tiffany Rice, five or six times with the stick, police said.

The witness also told officers she saw Patterson tug at Rices purse and take it from her, according to police.
Corvallis student wins scholarships

The Oregon Seed Associations Scholarship Committee recognized nine young men and women as recipients of several scholarship awards during its Mid-Winter Meeting held last Jan. 10 at the Salem Convention Center.

Mitchell (Mitch) Evers, at the time a senior at Oregon State University and a Corvallis resident, received both the Oregon Seed Association/Oregon State University and Oregon Seed Cleaning scholarship awards.

Evers grew up on a dairy farm and has been around agriculture his entire life. His goal is to become an agronomist in forage production, either domestically or internationally. He has been involved in the OSU Dairy Club and as a technician in the USDA Horticultural Crops research unit. He enjoys participating in Ag Fest and Farm Bureau, and the opportunities he has had to speak with legislators about the agriculture industry.

The OSA/OSU Scholarship award was established to assist those in need who are seeking higher education within the College of Agricultural Sciences at OSU. The Oregon Seed Cleaning Scholarship award is distributed through the OSU Foundation. The OSU Crop and Soil Science Scholarship Committee coordinates nominations.

LBCC students place in contest

Linn-Benton Community College Culinary Arts student Christina Devey won first place for her hazelnut-crusted chicken roulade stuffed with chimichurri and feta in the 15th annual LBCC Hazelnut Competition, held April 28.

Devey, of Albany, graduated in June with an associates degree in culinary arts. She plans to pursue her culinary interests.

Alexis Prosper took second place for her orange-chocolate-hazelnut cake with hazelnut buttercream, chocolate ganache and hazelnut tuile. Prosper, of Corvallis, plans to graduate from the program next year, and then pursue a second LBCC degree in horticulture.

Freddy Cisneros took third place with his hazelnut-crusted petite lamb chops. Cisneros, of Corvallis, graduated in June with an associates degree in culinary arts, and plans to move to Chicago to pursue his culinary interests.

All three winners received checks from the Oregon Hazelnut Industry and the cookbook "Oregon Hazelnut Country: The Food, the Drink, the Spirit," written by Jan Roberts-Dominguez.

CV student wins scholarship

In May, the National Merit Scholarship Corp. announced this years National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners.

Claire M. Hekkala of Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis won a scholarship. Hekkalas probable career field is computer science.

The 2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a pool of more than 15,000 Finalists in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Corvallis woman earns degree

Laurel Field of Corvallis graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, last May 21.

Field is a graduate of Crescent Valley High School, and received a bachelor of arts degree in biology.

Local agencies receive grants

Last May, the five hospitals of Samaritan Health Services awarded $624,960 in social accountability grants to local service organizations, to be distributed in the next 12 months.

Grants were awarded to:

Benton County: ABC House, the Benton County Oral Health Coalition, Benton County Drug Treatment Court, the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence, Casa Latinos, the Corvallis Daytime Drop-In Center, the Corvallis Environmental Center, Grace Center for Adult Day Services, Jackson Street Youth Services, Lincoln Elementary PTA, Meals on Wheels, Old Mill Center for Children and Families, the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, Vina Moses Center, Western University of Health Sciences  COMP-Northwest, and Willamette Neighborhood Housing Services.

Linn County: ABC House, Boys & Girls Club of Albany, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Santiam, C.H.A.N.C.E., Family Tree Relief Nursery, Fish of Albany, Fish of Lebanon, Jackson Street Youth Services, Lebanon Basic Services, Linn Together, Meals on Wheels, the Pregnancy Alternatives Center, Retired Senior Volunteer Program, St. Vincent de Paul, Sweet Home Emergency Ministries, the Sweet Home Pregnancy Care Center and Volunteer Caregivers.

Lincoln County: CASA of Lincoln County, the Coastal Range Food Bank, Community Services Consortium  Head Start in Lincoln County, the Lincoln County School District  HELP Program, the Lincoln County School District  LIFT Program, Meals on Wheels, Neighbors for Kids, North End Senior Solutions, the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, Seashore Family Literacy and Yachats Youth & Family Activities Program, Inc.

Tribal fund awards grants

The Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund distributed $120,655.38 to 42 organizations last May 5 as it continued its quarterly donations to nonprofit groups.

Local recipients included the following:

Native American Longhouse Eena Haws in Corvallis, $1,500 for fresh salmon for annual campus community salmon bake; Albany Gleaners, $2,000 for food for a community food bank; Canyon Gleaners in Mill City, $2,000 for food for a community food bank; Central Linn Gleaners in Halsey, $2,000 for food for a community food bank;

South Benton County Gleaners in Monroe, $2,000 for food for a community food bank; and Lebanon Community School District, $1,600 for school supplies, backpacks and food.

The Siletz Tribe has made contributions through employment, monetary donations and cooperative measures to the Siletz community, Lincoln County and the state of Oregon. The seven-member charitable fund advisory board has distributed more than $10.7 million since its inception in 2001.

PHS alum receives degree

Stefan Faridani, son of Adel Faridani and Lorri Hendon of Philomath, graduated last May 13 from Macalester College.

Faridani received a liberal arts degree in economics (summa cum laude) and mathematics (applied and statistics). Faridani is a graduate of Philomath High School.

Faridani was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, recognizing outstanding scholarship in the liberal arts and sciences. He received the Elaine Gartner Pilon Award. He was a member of the Honors Program. His economics research was titled "Can Changes in Household Time Use Explain Gentrification of U.S. Central Cities?. His adviser was Gary Krueger.

Santiam Christian students honored

Last May, SELCO Community Credit Union awarded $30,000 in college scholarships to 20 graduating high school seniors throughout Oregon, including two Santiam Christian School students.

Steven Kontra of Corvallis and Alpheus Thornton, at the time students at Santiam Christian School in Adair Village, were among the recipients.

The $1,500 scholarships provide assistance for college-related expenses and support the Oregon financial institutions mission of helping member-owners reach their goals.

Scholarship recipients were chosen from hundreds of applicants from all 26 Oregon counties SELCO serves. Winners were selected based on criteria including academic performance and community involvement.

To qualify, recipients must be graduating from a four-year accredited high school, have a cumulative grade-point of at least 3.5, and plan to attend a two- or four-year college or university. Applicants were asked to submit letters of recommendation and a personal essay describing their goals for continuing their education.

CV alum wins academic prize

Wesleyan University student Dylan Shumway of Corvallis, an alumnus of Crescent Valley High School, was recognized last spring with the Scott Prize  Arabic.

Established by Charles Scott Jr., Class of 1886 and trustee 1905-22, in memory of John Bell Scott, 1881, the prize is awarded for excellence in modern languages.
You know, Einstein never said anything about how to define insanity. I think trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is stupid and dangerous. Take the Benton County levy, Ballot Measure 2-110, for example.

In 1994, Benton County voted to approve Measure 11. Within a couple of years, Oregon was spending more on prisons than education. Oregon now spends twice as much on incarceration as on higher education than the next 10 comparator states. Prisoner health care accounts for 15 percent of the Oregon budget per fiscal year. Levy 2-110 continues this tradition, hiding expanded incarceration behind feel-good misinformation and may includes. There is NOTHING about schools in it, other than the fact that it may include placing a deputy sheriff in schools. The district attorney writes that his office "will be able to continue prosecuting provable criminal cases. Actually, prosecutors rely more on charging people with so many crimes they are encouraged to plea bargain (even when innocent), short-circuiting their rights for a fair trial.

The voters' pamphlet description notes that renewal of the levy would "also fund health and safety services which may include: yada yada yada  good stuff.

I wonder if it also may include outfitting that tank the sheriff boasts he got for free, telling us something dark about modern law enforcement. One of the darker things Ive seen recently in Corvallis is the increased criminalization and targeting of students at Oregon State University, both off and on campus.

Read the levy description and think about it before you vote. Then vote no.

Michael Coolen

Corvallis (Oct. 23)
Snow Eagle 601 at the airport of the Zhongshan Station, Dec. 8, 2016. [Photo: Xinhua/Rong Qihan]

CHANGCHUN, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Snow Eagle 601, China's first fixed-wing aircraft for polar flights, will be used to explore the Amery Ice Shelf in eastern Antarctica, a senior engineer said Thursday.

Guo Jingxue, senior engineer with Polar Research Institute of China, disclosed the news at an annual conference held in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province.

Guo said the aircraft will be used to collect data on unknown fields such as the inner structure of the ice shelf and its freezing and thawing conditions beneath the water.

The data is crucial to the study of the ice shelf's stable and dynamic features and the ecosystem under the shelf.

Snow Eagle 601 was deployed during China's polar scientific expedition in 2015. It was outfitted with advanced research equipment including an ice radar system, airborne gravimeter and airborne magnetometer.

Ice shelves are floating ice platforms between glaciers and the ocean surface. The Amery Ice Shelf has long been seen as a sensitive indicator of changes on the southern ice cap.
Danville police say what appears to be an accidental shooting sent one person to the hospital Tuesday.

Police received calls of gunshots at the 300 block Gray Street around midday Tuesday. Soon after, police received another call that the victim had been transported to a hospital.

According to a search warrant affidavit filed in Danville Circuit Court, the victims mother, who lives across the street, saw the victim come out of the house with a chest gunshot wound.

Danville Police Department Lt. Mike Wallace said the 21-year-old victim has since been released from the hospital, but was not cooperating with investigators. He added that early indications in the investigation were that the shooting was accidental.

There are no facts at this time to indicate otherwise, Wallace said in an email.

A search of the dwelling recovered a bed sheet, a white Samsung phone and a Winchester .45-caliber bullet, according to the warrant.

No one has been arrested in connection with the shooting. Wallace said police have no reason to believe the shooting is gang-related.
A renewed interest in both statewide and local races could help boost voter turnout in an off-year election, according to political analysts and Dan River Region voter registrars.

There does seem to be interest in the local elections, said Pittsylvania County registrar Kelly Bailess. There is a lot interest and a lot of turnout with that.

With less than two weeks before Election Day, Bailess said absentee ballots were on track to exceed 2013 levels  the last time a Governors race was decided in Virginia. That year, around 1,000 voters submitted absentee ballots.

This year, with 700 ballots already submitted, Bailess said the office has submitted 10 to 20 in-person ballots and is mailing out between 20-60 ballots a day. Election offices will process mailed absentee ballots until Tuesday, and voters will have until Nov. 4 to cast an absentee vote in person at voting offices.

In state races, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie is running against Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam and Libertarian Cliff Hyra, Jill Vogel is facing Justin Fairfax in the Lt. Governors race and incumbent Mark Herring is facing Republican challenger John Adams for Attorney General.

In local races, Barbara Hancock and Ben Farmer are vying for the Callands-Gretna seat on the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors. For the county school board, Raymond Ramsey is running unopposed for the Bannister seat, incumbent and vice chairman Neal Oakes is being challenged by newcomers Cassandra Crump and Gayle Barts in the Dan River district and chairman Calvin Doss is facing off against newcomer Anita Royston in the Callands-Gretna seat.

In Danville, registrar Peggy Petty said about 334 absentee ballots had been submitted so far this year. In 2013, the office submitted a combined 624 ballots  a number she doesnt expect the office to surpass.

It seems to be about what we saw in 2013, Petty said about local voter activity.

In 2013, around 39 percent of registered Danville voters cast ballots, and turnout was around 41 percent in the county.

For statewide voter turnout, June primary turnout numbers could be an important clue, said Geoffrey Skelley, Associate Editor for Sabato's Crystal Ball newsletter at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

For one thing, the Democratic primary for governor had the highest raw turnout for a non-presidential statewide primary in Virginias history, Skelley said in an email.

More than 540,000 ballots were cast in the June Democratic primary, and more than 365,000 people voted in the Republican race.

Still, Skelley said enthusiasm in the primaries might not translate to the general election.

Those data points suggest a fairly high level of engagement for partisans on both sides, he said. Nonetheless, its really impossible to say how much higher it might be, and it could be lower.
The two-day event brought together 260 fleet professionals from 21 states. Photo courtesy of OPFMA

The Oklahoma Public Fleet Management Association (OPFMA) announced its new board members at the groups fourth annual convention in Tulsa, Okla., on Oct. 10.

John Reel from the City of Tulsa was elected as president of the group. Mike Wallace, City of Tulsa, is vice president; Clayton Norrell from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation is associate vice president; Randy Cloud from Tulsa Transit is treasurer; Caitlin Sowders, City of Weatherford, is the social media representative; and Diane Whalen from the City of Tulsa is secretary. The board also consists of three members at large, three vendor representatives, and past presidents Brian Franklin from the City of Tulsa, Robert Swepston from the City of Muskogee, John Maehs from the City of Stillwater, and Dennis Bothell from the City of Lawton.

Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum kicked off the conference by welcoming attendees. Photo courtesy of OPFMA

The two-day event brought together 260 fleet professionals from 21 states, 58 different cities, and 90 fleet and service organizations. Sixty technicians participated in hands-on training, and 50 automotive students attended from Tulsa Union High School and Tulsa Technology Center. The event featured Public Fleet Summit speakers Dave Seavey, John Hunt, and Sam Lamerato.

The Oklahoma Clean Cities Coalition facilitated an alternative fuels panel and discussed electric, compressed natural gas, and propane fuels, as well as driverless vehicle technology. After-hours networking occurred at the Tulsa Greenwood Cultural Center where attendees enjoyed live music.
(TNS) -- All Indiana schools will have a chance to benefit from a new partnership between the State of Indiana and the nonprofit group EducationSuperHighway.Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick and Gov. Eric Holcomb announced the partnership on Tuesday. The arrangement is aimed to give all Hoosier students access to the tools and resources needed for digital learning  with high-speed internet in every classroom, the Indiana Department of Education said in a news release.The state is partnering with EducationSuperHighway, which focuses on upgrading internet access in every public school classroom in America.To be ready for the jobs of the future, todays students need the exposure and opportunity provided by quality digital learning experiences, Holcomb said. This partnership is the latest in our states ongoing commitment to extend and improve internet connectivity for every Indiana school.EducationSuperHighway said it will work with local school districts to determine what steps should be taken to bring their internet services up to par.The non-profit has pledged to help each district achieve three goals: Affordable broadband; wall-to-wall Wi-Fi capable of supporting 1:1 digital learning; and infrastructure to deliver at least 100 kilobits per second per student  with the plan to make upgrades as needed to improve services. The non-profit would also help schools better leverage federal E-rate dollars.Western Boone Community School Corporation already has much more than the recommended bandwidth, at 400 megabits per second. WeBo Technology Director Kyle Whiteley said bandwidth is a moving target. While the schools rarely reach peak bandwidth at the moment, that could change.Any help we can get to expand our bandwidth would be helpful, Whiteley said. Our bandwidth will only increase as technology usage at our schools increase.While WeBo is connected to high speed fiber internet at every school, if the non-profit could help lower the districts internet bill that could also be of help.We can pay for it and we are paying for it, but we are always lobbying our provider to lower the rates, he said.Whiteley said internet providers are limited in the Western Boone area. The district plans to request bids for internet providers once the current contract expires, in an effort to lower the price.Whiteley said the district has saved thousands of dollars by leveraging E-rate dollars  a fee collected on telecommunications bills and distributed to school districts based on need. The fee is a main reason why the district has been able to provide internet services to students.We arent leaving any E-rate dollar behind, thats for sure, Whiteley said.The 1:1 initiative provides students in grades 4-12 with their own computers. Junior-senior high school students have take-home laptops. Elementary school pupils have personal in-class computers.While the district has good internet at its three school buildings, a lack of fast internet at home remains a barrier for some students.The district offers six mobile hot spots that students can check out from the library to help with the issue.Since the hot spots use the cellular network, not all students have good luck with them. In an attempt to fix that problem Whiteley said the district is hoping to add hot spots in the near future and new careers that could give students options.While schools in Boone County are not far away from the technology standards the IDOE wants to see, not all schools are so advanced.Across Indiana, 98 percent of school districts are meeting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) minimum recommended bandwidth per student to support digital learning. However, that still leaves nearly 38,500 Hoosier students with internet speeds under the threshold.A few more statistics from IDOE show the need for better internet in Indiana schools; 30 percent of schools are lacking high-speed fiber; 88 percent of school districts fall below federal standards for affordable broadband; there is also $47 million in federal E-rate funding allocated to Indiana schools that has not been leveraged used to upgrade Wi-Fi.EducationSuperHighway plans to remain engaged with IDOE until all goals are achieved statewide, said CEO Evan Marwell.Were looking forward to working with state leaders, school districts and service providers across the state to ensure that every Hoosier student has equal access to high-speed connectivity and the educational opportunity that it allows, Marwell said.
(TNS) -- TAMPA  Florida probably isn't the first place that comes to mind in terms of a strong cybersecurity industry. In fact, it has a somewhat insecure reputation  the Sunshine State had the second highest rate for identity theft complaints in 2016, according to the Federal Trade Commission.But local stakeholders are looking to change that, and Florida is making slow but incremental progress on a few fronts."The mission that was given to us is make Florida the leading state in cybersecurity," said Sri Sridharan, executive director of the Florida Center for Cybersecurity.The University of South Florida-affiliated center, which is hosting its annual cybersecurity conference Friday, was established by the Florida legislature in 2014 to "position Florida as a national leader in cybersecurity."That title comes amid stiff competition. The Northeast and California have deeply established communities for cybersecurity, anchored around schools  such as Johns Hopkins University or Carnegie Mellon University  or natural hubs  government agencies in Washington, D.C., and tech giants in Silicon Valley.What the state lacks currently, said Sridharan, is a talent pool of mid-career professionals who already have strong training.But Florida isn't completely out of this game. Firms such as Tampa-based ReliaQuest have set up shop in the state. IBM, which has a focus on cybersecurity, has an established presence in the state with an office in Tampa. And KnowBe4, a Clearwater-based cybersecurity training firm, announced this week that it received a $30 million investment from Goldman Sachs Growth Equity.What Florida may have to offer is its large student population and amenable business climate.Education is the cornerstone of local stakeholders' efforts to put Florida on the digital security map.Florida currently has 13 schools that the National Security Agency has designated as centers of academic excellence in cybersecurity education or research. Around 40 cybersecurity-related programs for graduate and undergraduate studies have been implemented in Florida state colleges."Students learn cybersecurity very easily," Sridharan said.His approach at the Florida Center for Cybersecurity is to get schools and students on board with cyber, and shape the curriculum around what the industry currently wants."Will you hire them?" That's the question Sridharan asked of 18 security employers when USF was shaping its curriculum.Training the workforce early  as early as kindergarten and grade school  is also a priority.While the center hosts boot camps for high school students, digital security company ReliaQuest recently set up shop in JA Biztown, a Junior Achievement play city where students take charge for a day to learn economic concepts.ReliaQuest's storefront mimics the company's real office. Their youth "employees" help other businesses in the town identify and fix security issues on their equipment."They're using devices more than we are," ReliaQuest CEO Brian Murphy said. If kids can build good digital security habits now, he said, when they are older, "they can operate devices with a professional skepticism."Beyond education, entrepreneurs such as Adam Sheffield, a former intelligence collector for the Army, are looking to supplement the academic approach here by creating a cybersecurity hub.Sheffield is working on hosting "boot camp-style" training programs, meet-ups and events in Ybor City, calling the concept "Cybor."One area for improvement is Florida's privacy climate. Industry professionals often consider security and privacy to go hand in hand, and state laws often shape how companies approach issues such as securing personal information and disclosing to consumers when their data has been leaked."A lot of it has to do with the attorney generals involved," said Bob Siegel, president of Delray Beach-based Privacy Ref.Siegel is a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals and part of their training faculty.One of the reasons California has become a privacy and security hub, Siegel said, is because of its attorney general's strong stance toward digital privacy.California is considered to have some of the most consumer-friendly privacy laws. It requires companies that operate in the state to post a particular notice about how they respond to consumers' Internet browser's requests to not be tracked with digital cookies. It also allows children under 18 years old to have their personal information deleted from social media networks.But Florida, he said, is slightly less progressive in this area. For example, the state data breach law considers an information leak to be a "data breach" if the information was electronic. That doesn't account for information on paper, such as paper forms filled out.
Haas boss Gunther Steiner says Kevin Magnussen will be well enough to qualify for the Mexican grand prix on Saturday.

On Friday, the FIA excused the Danish driver from the mandatory driver briefing due to a "medical condition".

It is believed Magnussen is unwell with a stomach complaint and must be cleared by FIA doctors to return to his car on Saturday.

"I don't think it affected him too much," Steiner told Ekstra Bladet newspaper.

"I think there was a time when he had to leave the car because he needed something, but otherwise he was well enough.

"But we and (Magnussen's trainer) Thomas (Jorgensen) suggested that he should go back to the hotel instead of the driver meeting.

"He'll be fine," Steiner added.

"He was actually ok when he left, but my point of view was that he should not infect anyone else."

When asked if Magnussen will be well enough to drive on Saturday, Steiner answered: "Yes, yes."

(GMM)
Navigation technology company, TomTom, and Japanese mapping company, ZENRIN, intend to collaborate on traffic services and mapping in Japan.

TomTom Traffic offers up-to-date information on road conditions such as traffic jams, roadworks and accidents. This information can be used by drivers to help them to find the most optimal route and avoid congestion, but also by cities and road authorities to monitor, analyse and influence the traffic.

ZENRIN produce Japans most detailed, accurate and richly attributed digital maps which can be used for navigation, geocoding, routing driver assistance, visualization and search, thereby allowing users to make smarter mobility decisions.

Joining forces with ZENRIN demonstrates TomToms commitment to the Japanese market. We can now provide even more accurate Traffic information to OEMs and Tier 1s in the country. We look forward to working together to accelerate the future of driving in Japan. Antoine Saucier, Managing Director, TomTom Automotive,

With the collaboration, we will accelerate the development of services to deliver high-quality traffic information in real-time. Our goal is to contribute and to fulfil the needs of an IoT society, providing innovative new mobility services by creating a high-value-added map platform. Hideyuki Fujisawa, Senior Executive Officer of ZENRIN

TomTom Traffic is sourced by more than 500 million phone, cars and portable navigation devices providing GPS data points.
GREENSBORO  The predominantly black St. James Presbyterian Church grew out of the balcony of First Presbyterian Church, where the slaves sat until they were free to start their own congregation.

On Sunday  150 years later  the two congregations will take part in a joint worship service, which is part of an evolving relationship between them.

They hope the work they have put into understanding each other will serve as a role model for healing rifts that have put people of differing races at odds with each other for hundreds of years.

Were committed to this journey, said the Rev. Diane L. Givens Moffett, the pastor at St. James, who will share the pulpit at First Presbyterian with the Rev. Sid Batts, the pastor there.

First Presbyterian on North Elm Street was organized in 1824, and four of its 12 founding members were slaves.

By the Civil War, the number of slaves in the congregation grew to between 30 and 40.

After the Emancipation Proclamation, 37 former slaves organized St. James with the help of the Presbyterian denomination. The church is now at 820 Ross Ave., but the members first met at the corner of Friendly Avenue and Church Street.

This is an important year for them, but its also an important year for us because in this service we are acknowledging our past, Batts said.

From the ushers at the door to the choirs and the acolytes lighting candles at First Presbyterian, it will be a joint venture between the churches Sunday. A special musical prelude to the service will take place at 10 a.m. The actual service will begin at 10:30 a.m.

The only reason we didnt go there is because of the space, Batts said, referring to St. James.

The group wants the fellowship to be sustaining.

During a special moment in the service, First Presbyterian members plan to honor the slave founders with a proclamation and a huge plaque that will hang in a prominent spot at the church.

The service has its roots in a book called The Secret Game, which is about race relations. The predominantly white congregation at First Presbyterian, with about 5,000 members, took it on as a group.

They invited St. James, with about 500 members, to take part.

In smaller groups, they shared dinner in each others homes and discussed current events, such as the shooting in Charleston, S.C., where a young white man entered a church and killed people in their place of worship.

Churches are in a unique position to tackle societys ills, Batts said.

We think that the church has a real voice to say, with the rise of white supremacy, that racism is evil and sinful, he said.
Liang Zhibin (Photo/CGTN)

Liang Zhibin, 19, won Chinas first Bricklaying gold medal at WorldSkills Competition 2017 at Abu Dhabi last Thursday.

As brick working is a symbolic world standing for low-end working classes in Chinas society, Liangs achievement may change the social value and earn respect for labor workers.

Liang in the WorldSkills Bricklaying Competition. (Photo/San Xiang Metropolitan News)

Liang is a student at Guangzhou Institute of Technology, southern Chinas Guangdong Province. In 2016, he was selected to a two-year training camp at Changsha Building Engineering School, central Chinas Hunan Province in a national qualification trial.

The bricklaying competition consists of five tasks which should be completed in 4 days and 22 hours.

It requires highly accurate horizontal level and good looking structures, Liang introduced to Sanxiang Metropolitan News. The cement should be applied smoothly over each brick. Visible gap between bricks is strictly forbidden."

Liang gathered 69.89 scores in the competition, which helped him to top at the competition.

Being patient, highly concentrated and never give up are three key characteristics Liang has, said Jiang Bixue, the director of bricklaying training camp. He has ten more hours training every day, while others in his age are keen on video games.

Liang topped at the bricklaying competition. (Photo/CGTN)

The bricklaying skills in China has made a significant breakthrough.

Each brick wall is an artwork. Those who have delicate bricklaying skills can use their talents in many fields, such as landscape design and ancient architecture restoration, said Lei. In Europe, bricklayers are very welcomed and well rewarded.

(Photo/CGTN)

Chinas delegations topped the medal table at the WorldSkills 2017 that concluded in Abu Dhabi last Thursday with 15 gold medals, seven silvers, eight bronzes and 12 medallions.

WorldSkills Competition is named as Olympics of Skills. Participants skills represent the highest level in vocational skills over the world.
U.S. House

Along with roll-call votes this week, the House also passed the Cuban Airport Security Act, to require a study regarding security measures and equipment at Cubas airports; passed the Congressional Subpoena Compliance and Enforcement Act, to enhance compliance with requests for information pursuant to legislative power under Article I of the Constitution; passed the Sanctioning Hezbollahs Illicit Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act, to impose sanctions on foreigners responsible for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights by Hezbollahs use of civilians as human shields; and passed a bill, urging the European Union to designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization and increase pressure on it and its members.

BORDER PRODUCT INSPECTIONS: The House has passed the C-TPAT Reauthorization Act, which would reauthorize the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program for ensuring the security of international supply chains into the U.S. and border security. The vote, on Oct. 23, was 402-1.

YEAS: Ted Budd (R-Advane), Mark Walker (R-NC (6th)

BUSINESS TRAVEL TO ASIA: The House has passed the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Travel Cards Act, which would permanently authorize the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation business travel card program for U.S. citizens who travel to Asian countries with the travel card, which can be used in lieu of a visa. The vote, on Oct. 23, was 401-2.

YEAS: Budd, Walker

LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT PAYMENTS: The House has passed the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act, which would bar federal government agencies from reaching lawsuit settlements that involve the defendants paying money to non-government entities. The vote, on Oct. 24, was 238-183.

YEAS: Budd, Walker

NORTH KOREA SANCTIONS: The House has passed the Otto Warmbier North Korea Nuclear Sanctions Act, which would order the Treasury Department to impose secondary sanctions on financial institutions that process payments for North Koreas government and use U.S. banks to help process the payments. The vote, on Oct. 24, was 415-2.

YEAS: Budd, Walker

GOVERNMENT SETTLEMENTS: The House has passed the Sunshine for Regulations and Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act, which would establish requirements for federal government agencies to provide the public with notices and opportunities to comment on lawsuit settlements and consent decrees pending before the agencies. The vote, on Oct. 25, was 234-187.

YEAS: Budd, Walker

BUDGET BILL: The House has passed the Senate amendment to a bill setting out a government budget for fiscal 2018 and suggested budget levels for 2019 through 2027. The budget would authorize tax reform legislation, include $621.5 billion of military spending in fiscal 2018, replace the Obamacare health care law, and increase state control of Medicaid. The vote, on Oct. 26, was 216-212.

YEAS: Budd, Walker

NEW IRAN SANCTIONS: The House has passed the Iran Ballistic Missiles and International Sanctions Enforcement Act, which would require presidential sanctions against Iran and foreign entities that support Irans effort to obtain or develop nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles. The vote, on Oct. 26, was 423-2.

YEAS: Budd, Walker

U.S. Senate

Along with roll call votes this week, the Senate also passed the Protecting Patient Access to Emergency Medications, to amend the Controlled Substances Act with regard to the provision of emergency medical services; and passed a bill, to increase rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and veterans survivors.

FUNDING DISASTER RECOVERY: The Senate has concurred in the House amendment to the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act to provide $36.5 billion for recovery efforts following recent hurricanes and wildfires in the West, and to fund the governments National Flood Insurance Program. The vote, on Oct. 24, was 82-17.

YEAS: Richard Burr (R), Thom Tillis (R)

FINANCIAL ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS: The Senate has passed a bill to void a Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection rule that barred financial companies from requiring their customers to sign predispute arbitration agreements that keep the customers from filing or participating in certain class action lawsuits against the companies. The vote, on Oct. 24, was 51-50, with Vice President Mike Pence being the 51st yea.

YEAS: Burr, Tillis

OKLAHOMA DISTRICT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Scott L. Palk to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma. The vote, on Oct. 26, was 79-16.

YEAS: Burr, Tillis
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.
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GREENWICH  Five years ago Sunday, Hurricane Sandy roared in from Long Island Sound, and the mark it left has yet to be erased.

The storm dunes at Greenwich Point were pushed back into the town parking lot by a 10-foot storm surge. Hundreds of trees were knocked down, with many more dying of saltwater exposure in days that followed. Lifesaving rescues were made in Old Greenwich and Belle Haven. And a neighborhood on Binney Lane in Old Greenwich was turned into a virtual inferno, with a massive fire destroying three homes there.

It was like a wind tunnel, and a blow torch, said Karen Sadik-Khan, recalling the horrible sight of houses burning all around her residence.

Everyone was concerned about the flooding part  but the fire turned out to be the devastating part, she said.

The landscape has largely returned to normal in Greenwich. The homes on Binney Lane are being rebuilt. But a sense of complacency  that natural disasters cant happen in a place like Greenwich  ended with the storm for many.

Denise Savageau, director of the Greenwich Conservation Commission said residents are now more attuned to the risk.

There was a real awareness, that we are vulnerable to storm events, Savageau said. It really raised awareness.

While municipal crews used plows and trucks to restore the hundreds of tons of sand on the dunes at Greenwich Point, other damage has not been as easy to fix.

The towns landscape was changed by Sandy, especially at Greenwich Point.

We lost a lot of major trees at Greenwich point  it took down at lot of large oaks. That opens the whole area up for sunlight, we get invasive plants coming in, it really changed the dynamic of the forest, said Savageau.

Five years later, longer-term lessons from the hurricane are being drawn, public safety officials say.

Looking ahead

The town is considering prevention strategies to ensure other hurricanes dont devastate the community. An analysis of the sewage treatment facility and pumping works at Grass Island in central Greenwich is looking at ways to make it less vulnerable to flooding and storm damage.

Having Hurricane Sandy, and (Hurricane) Irene back to back - it put us in a position to really look at our infrastructure. Weve identified the need for finding out where were going to be impacted by storm events and sea-level rise, said the environmental director. It could be the new normal.

Further down the road are plans to build an artificial barrier off Greenwich Point. Savageau said environmental regulators are worried about a worst-case scenario, with the dunes at Greenwich Point breached by waters from Long Island Sound, flooding most of Old Greenwich. The dunes at the point act as a kind of barrier island for the densely-settled communities that lie just north of them, but they are vulnerable to the kind of storm surges and winds that Hurricane Sandy packed.

Were looking at reef balls or some type of barrier, at Greenwich Point, Savageau said, citing types of concrete structures that could dissipate big waves. Scientists at the University of Connecticut and town officials are working on long-term capital plans to develop the concept.

Learning from experience

Public safety supervisors have gone over the storm and its aftermath intensively. No community wants to go through a major hurricane, but the lessons and experience was valuable, said police Lt. John Slusarz.

How to deploy resources, make decisions, manage incoming phone calls  we learned, said the police lieutenant.

Daniel Warzoha, the towns emergency management director, said Sandy highlighted the value of combined operations and advanced preparations.

It didnt change our view, it enhanced our vision of public safety, Warzoha said, It proved the worth of our unified command system. And weve been able to develop off of that....We always look to improve. Its an ongoing process, but Sandy clearly reinforces the need to do that  to keep improving.

Wind and storm gauges have been added on the Greenwich coastline, Warzoha said, to give emergency-service managers better data on storm impacts.

Sandy also demonstrated the merits of advance work. The towns administration set up the process to bring in a heavy-equipment from a National Guard unit from Stratford. A U.S. Forest Service unit from Michigan also came in to remove downed trees. The groundwork was laid beforehand, Warzoha said.

Deputy Fire Chief Keith Millette, who worked the hurricane five years ago, said the storm demonstrated the value for training and preparation.

Everything that we did to prepare for it was on target, Millette said, Sometimes we think were over-prepared. In this case, thats not what happened. Err on the side of caution.

rmarchant@greenwichtime.com
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi issued a presidential decree on Saturday, effective immediately, appointing Lieutenant General Mohamed Farid Hegazi as the new chief-of-staff of the Armed Forces, replacing Lieutenant General Mahmoud Ibrahim Hegazi.

The president has appointed the outgoing chief-of-staff Mahmoud Ibrahim Hegazi, who had served in the post since March 2014, as presidential advisor for strategic planning and crisis management.

The decree promoted the new chief-of-staff Mohamed Farid Hegazi to Lieutenant General.

Mohamed Farid Hegazi graduated from the Military College with a degree in military sciences. He also holds a Masters degree in military sciences.

The new chief of staff previously served as chief-of-staff and was appointed as head of the second army in 2010.

He most recently served as deputy to the minister of defence.

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For the latest events and activities happening in Greenwich, turn to For the record. To have your event included, submit a description, date, time, price and contact information. Photos are welcome. Drop us an email about your latest goings-on at gtcitydesk@scni.com.

The League of Women Voters will host and RTM Meet and Greet at which voters can meet RTM candidates. 3 p.m. -5 p.m. Sunday. Central Middle School, 9 Indian Rock Lane,Greenwich.

Photomicrography

An exhibit of the top 20 award-winning photographs from the 42nd annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography competition will be shown through Sunday at the Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive, Greenwich.

Solo exhibit

Reflection of Nature, a solo exhibit of paintings by Loft Artist Association member Maria C. Friscia, will be on display through Sunday at the gallery, 575 Pacific St., Stamford. Free and open to the public. Gallery hours 1 to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. For directions and more information, visit loftartists.com or call 203-247-2027.

Zoom in on Nature

Zoom in on Nature is a drop-in program for children ages 4 and older and their families from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive. Program includes simple science concepts and subjects using experiments, projects and crafts. The program is free with admission to the museum.

Womens Mentoring fundraiser

Transform Yourself, Transform a Life, Transform a Community fund-raiser to benefit the Womens Mentoring Network Inc. is set for 5:30 p.m. Sunday at the Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive. Fun, food, drinks, art and optional costumes. Guest speaker is Gloria Bouknight, image and fashion consultant. Tickets $75 at Eventbrite: https//www.eventbrite.com/e/womens-mentoring-network-halloween-fundraiser-tickets-37283403664?aff=es2. For more information, visit www.wmninc.org.

Jazz concerts

St. Catherine of Sienna Concerts in the Chapel will present An Hour of Jazz at 3 p.m. Sunday at 4 Riverside Ave. Tickets are $20 for adults; children younger than 16 years old enter free. For more information, call 646-338-7664.

Nocturnal animals

The Friends of Greenwich Point will sponsor a free family event, Nocturnal Animals: Living the Nightlife, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Innis Arden Cottage at Greenwich Point. The event will explore how animals use their senses to survive under the cover of darkness, with live animal presentations at 1:15 and 2 p.m. For more information, email info@friendsofgreenwichpoint.org.

Haunted Open House

Run by High School Docents and Children of the American Revolution, Knapp Tavern Museum at Putnam Cottage will host a Haunted Candle Light Open House from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at 243 E. Putnam Ave. There will be a Headless Horseman, colonial and educational crafts, a bake sale and mini tours of the cottages first floor. Admission is $5 per person or $20 per family.

Celebrity in Color

Laura Kalba, associate professor at Smith College, will talk about how artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec contributed to and challenged the myth of Paris as a city of beauty, music and sensory delights from 10 to 11 a.m. Monday . Registration is required at brucemuseum.org/site/events. The talk is free to museum members and $10 for nonmembers.

RTM candidates forum

The Riverside Association is sponsoring RTM candidate forums for District 5 and District 12 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. on Monday . In District 5, where 30 candidates are running for 18 seats, the forum will be held in the Riverside School gym, 90 Hendrie Ave. In District 12, where 20 candidates are running for 21 seats, the forum will be held in the North Mianus School Media Center, 309 Palmer Hill Road.

Fall Luncheon

Food Allergy Research and Education will hold the FARE Connecticut Fall Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at Greenwich Country Club, 19 Doubling Road. The keynote speaker will be James R. Baker Jr., FAREs CEO and chief medical officer. Tables are available for $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500; individual tickets are available for $1,000, $500 and $250. For more information, visit foodallergy.org.

Jean Chatzky talk

Today Show financial editor Jean Chatzky will explain the link between health and wealth at a talk hosted by UJA-JCC Greenwich at 10 a.m. on Wednesday at YWCA Greenwich, 259 E. Putnam Ave. Tickets are $15 in advance at jccgreenwich.org or $20 at the door.

Digital collections at Greenwich Library

This talk will help library users learn how to access Greenwich Librarys digital eBooks, audiobooks, movies, TV and music, exploring OverDrive, Kanopy, Hoopla, Naxos Music Libraries and Rbdigital. It will take place from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Greenwich Library, 101 W. Putnam Ave. Registration online at greenwichlibrary.evanced.info/signup/Calendar is suggested.

Holistic college planning

Tony Di Giacomo, CEO and founder of Novella Prep, will discuss how decisions made by students in grades 8 through 10 impact college planning. There will be tips for current juniors and seniors as well. As part of the workshop, Di Giacomo will provide ways for students to improve study skills and avoid stress. The talk will take place from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Greenwich Library, 101 W. Putnam Ave. For more information, contact Teen Services librarian Ed Morrissey at emorrissey@greenwichlibrary.org, call 203-622-7918 or visit greenwichlibrary.org/teens.

Author talk

New York Times bestselling author Adam Alter will speak at the Greenwich Librarys Worth Noting event Thursday , which begins with a reception at 6 p.m. at the Field Club, 276 Lake Ave. For additional information or tickets, visit greenwichlibrary.org/support/worthnoting or contact Greenwich Library Director of Development Nancy Klein at 203-622-7957 or nklein@greenwichlibrary.org.

Nate Frederick talk

Nate Frederick, an international speaker, Christian Science practitioner and member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship, will give a free talk at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at First Church of Christ, Scientist, 11 Park Place. For more information, call 203-869-2503 or go online at ChristianScienceCT.org/greenwich.

Gold Coast photography exhibit

Cos Cob Library will host Jay B. Wilsons photography exhibit, Gold Coast: Images from the Shores of Greenwich and Beyond, through Friday at 5 Sinoway Road.

Friday movies

The Greenwich Library, 101 W. Putnam Ave., continues its 8 p.m. Friday art feature movie season with Jackie on Friday ; Manchester by the Sea on Nov. 10; The Beatles: Eight Days a Week on Nov. 17, Cezanne and I, Dec. 1; A Man Called Ove Dec. 8; A Midwinters Tale, Dec. 15. All films are free and open to the public. Doors open at 7:40 p.m. The series is made possible by contributions from Friends of Greenwich Library.

Wish Night

Make-A-Wish Connecticut has changed its Celebrating Wishes Ball to Wish Night, a black tie evening with a travel theme. David Williams, CEO and president of Make-A-Wish America, will make a guest appearance. Chance to win 250,000 TrueBlue rewards points from JetBlue. The event will take place at 6 p.m. Saturday at Greenwich Country Club, 19 Doubling Road. Tickets are available at ct.wish/org/wishnight.

Historical Society open house

The Greenwich Historical Society will hold an open house to dedicate the cornerstone of its new museum, library and archives building and install a time capsule with submissions from Greenwich residents. Activities will begin at 11 a.m. and end around 1:15 p.m. on Saturday at 39 Strickland Road. Events are free but reservations are appreciated at http://bit.ly/2lcDQOO or by calling 203-869-6899 ext. 10.

Life is a Cabaret

The New York City cabaret scene will come to Old Greenwich with two shows at 7:30 and 10 p.m. on Saturday at First Congregational Church Auditorium, 108 Sound Beach Ave. First Music and Arts and Triangle Community Center will present an evening of song and humor with Delighted Tobehere and Vodka Stinger. Tickets range from $25 to $45 and can be purchased online at fccog.org.

Chamber Players

The Chamber Players of the Greenwich Symphony will present Russian Idyll at 4 p.m. on Nov. 5 at the Round Hill Community Church, 395 Round Hill Road, and 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 6 at the Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Dr. Tickets are $30 for adults and $5 for students. For further information, call 203-637-4725.

Plastic pollution awareness

The Bruce Museum Seaside Center and Friends of Greenwich Point will present programs on the first two Sundays of November to educate the public about plastic pollution in our seas and provide some local solutions to the global epidemic. They will show the feature-length documentary film A Plastic Ocean at 2 p.m. on Nov. 5, with remarks from the films sponsor Go Pure and local organization Bring Your Own at 1:30 p.m, at the Innis Arden Cottage, 10 Tods Driftway. From 1:30 to 3:30 p..m. on Nov. 12, author Marcus Eriksen will discuss his book Junk Raft: An Ocean Voyage and a Rising Tide of Activism to Fight Plastic Pollution at the Innis Arden Cottage. The events are free. For more information, contact Seaside Center manager Cynthia Ehlinger at cynthiae@brucemuseum.org or 203-413-6756.
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Egypt's security forces killed 13 terrorist elements on Friday during a raid on an abandoned ranch building located at the 47km mark on the Assiut-Al-Kharga Oasis highway, the interior ministry said in a statement.

The operation resulted in the seizure of a large amount of arms and ammunition, including detonative charges and explosive belts, that were in the possession of the terrorist elements, who started opening fire at security forces upon their arrival at the shootout site," the statement said.

The approximate location of the raid is around 234 km south of Cairo.

Security forces are currently working on identifying the slain terrorist elements, while the shootout resulted in some damages to a security vehicle.

The operation comes as part of the ministry's effort to eradicate terrorist hideouts in remote areas of Giza and of Upper Egypt governorates, said the statement.

Last Friday, 16 policemen were killed and 13 were injured in a shootout with terrorists on the Wahat highway, about 135km southwest of Giza.

The interior ministry said that 11 police officers, four conscripts and one sergeant were killed in the shootout, and a search is underway for one missing police officer. Four police officers and nine conscripts were also injured.



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Published on 2017/10/28 | Source

Added episode 6 captures for the Korean drama "Avengers' Social Club" (2017)

Advertisement

Directed by Kwon Seok-jang

Written by Hwang Da-eun, Kim Yi-ji

Network : tvN

With Lee Yo-won, Ra Mi-ran, Myung Se-bin, Lee Jun-young, Jang Yong, Choi Byung-mo,...

20 episodes - Wed, Thu 21:30

Also known as: "Buam-dong Revenge Social Club", "Avengers Social Club" and "Revenge Social Club" ( , bok-su-ja so-syeol-keul-leob)

Synopsis

This webtoon adaptation tells the story of three women from different walks of life - the daughter of a chaebol, an ahjumma in a fish market, and a housewife - come together to enact revenge.

Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2017/10/11

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Along with blocking the illegal migration attempt, navy forces seized 280,000 narcotic pills

Egypt's armed forces foiled an attempt by 43 individuals of various nationaltiies to illegally migrate, the military spokesman said in a statement Friday.

Army spokesman Tamer El-Refai said the navy intercepted a fishing boat trying to leave Egyptian territorial waters. Some 280,000 narcotic pills were also seized.

In recent years, thousands of refugees and migrants have attempted to cross the Mediterranean. Hundreds have been arrested in Egypt for attempting to migrate illegally.

Cairo has focused on the migration issue in recent years, working with European nations to tackle the problem.

Following the sinking of migrant boat in September 2016, with hundreds dead, a law was passed criminalising unauthorised migration and human trafficking.

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HENLEY pub operator Brakspear has strengthened its links with Marstons.

The brewer, which has produced the Brakspear Bitter and Oxford Gold cask ales under licence since 2002, is now the main drinks supplier for the entire Brakspear estate.

This comprises about 130 pubs, mostly in and around Henley.

Brakspear chief executive Tom Davies said: This is a very positive move, extending the good relationship with Marstons that we have built on cask ale.

For our licensees, the main benefit will be that all their drinks will come from one supplier, making it easier for them to accommodate deliveries and liaise with a single point of contact. They can also choose from an extended range of products.

The Brakspear ales are made at the Wychwood Brewery in Witney.
Assailants remotely detonated a homemade bomb, killing one and injuring several, west of the Bahraini capital Manama

Egypt condemns "in the strongest terms" a terror attack that killed one and injured a number of policemen in Bahrains Manama Friday.

In an official statement, Egypts foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid expressed Egypt's deepest condolences for the victim's family, hoping for a speedy recovery for the injured.

Abu Zeid expressed Egypts support for the Bahraini government and nation in fighting terrorism.

Such despicable acts will not succeed in shaking stability and security in Bahrain. We assert the importance of hounding the sources of financing and training such groups that target security and stability in the region and the whole world, the statement added.

On Friday evening, the Bahraini interior ministry said one policemen was killed and eight others injured in an attack west of the capital. Assailants remotely detonated a homemade bomb.

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Kevin Ryan believed he was being betrayed by the doctor

A patient became aggressive during a consultation and threatened to kill a doctor because he believed she was "dismissing" his health problems.

Kevin Ryan (43) also threatened to burn down the west Dublin health centre.

A court heard that Ryan was suffering a depressive illness at the time and was looking for a prescription for sleeping tablets.

Judge David McHugh ordered a pre-sentence report and adjourned sentencing to a date in December.

The defendant, of Lockhouse, River Road, Castleknock, admitted before Blanchardstown District Court to making threats to kill or cause serious harm to a doctor.

He also admitted threatening to cause criminal damage during the incident at Roselawn Health Centre, Blanchardstown, on May 30 this year.

Irate

Sergeant Geraldine McManigan said Ryan was outside the health centre and was "quite irate" when gardai arrived.

Sgt McManigan said Ryan became aggressive toward a doctor during a consultation and he threatened to kill her. He also threatened to burn down the health centre.

The court heard that he had no previous convictions.

Defence solicitor Simon Fleming said Ryan was suffering a depressive illness at the time of this incident.

Mr Fleming said Ryan had waited months for a referral to see the doctor, a consultant psychiatrist, and he believed she was dismissing him.

He said Ryan spent a number of hours at the centre and he told the doctor his life history.

Ryan believed he was "being betrayed" by the doctor, and that she was "dismissing" his health problems, he added.

The defendant was looking for sleeping tablets, Mr Fleming said.

The court also heard that Ryan wanted to retrieve his medical notes.
The parish priest of Ballyragget has said a celebration involving strippers by some members of the town's local hurling team was totally inappropriate.

Fr Tommy Murphy, of St Patrick's Church, said he hoped the young men learned a lesson after pictures circulated on social media.

The incident occurred two days after the club won the county final and has sparked an investigation by the Kilkenny County Board.

Naked

The photos show two naked women with the group of men, while in one picture a woman appears to be performing a sex act on a male.

Gardai in Castlecomer have also launched an investigation, but a source said they were unsure if a crime had been committed.

"I was delighted they won the match, but I was very disappointed with the carry on afterwards. It doesn't bring credit to anyone," Fr Murphy told the Herald.

"There are a lot of kids who look up to these guys and it's just an awful shame. They're old enough to know the consequences of social media.

"There's appropriate celebrations and inappropriate celebrations and that was totally inappropriate," he added.

The priest said it was Wednesday before he had heard about the controversy.

"I'd be very disappointed for the families of the people involved," he said.

"The families wouldn't be condoning that kind of stuff - it's just an awful pity.

"Everyone knows each other around here, but God knows who was in the pub that night."

Fr Murphy said he knew the players on the team very well.

"I believe one of the lads had a 21st birthday - I don't know who it was - but it coincided with the celebrations of the match as well," he said.

"There wouldn't be people like that in the pub normally."

He said the video of the party was demeaning to women.

"You hate to see it in any sphere no matter who's involved," he said. "This shouldn't be happening at all.

"Unfortunately, Ballyragget is now in the papers for all the wrong reasons. It leaves a scar on the community.

"What was a grand occasion has really been spoiled. I hope this is a lesson learned."

He said lots of lads go over the top when they "get a bit of drink in them", but when it gets out of hand it's very sad.

Complaint

Fr Murphy said he is now considering whether to address the issue at tomorrow's Mass.

Indecent exposure and solicitation for the purposes of prostitution are among the potential crimes gardai will investigate.

"We are not sure if any crime was actually committed and, if there was a crime, the investigation must establish what crime that was," a senior source said last night.

No formal complaint has yet been made to gardai.
President Kennedy and his wife moments before the assassination.

A British newspaper received an anonymous phone call about "big news" in the United States minutes before President John F Kennedy was assassinated, newly released files reveal.

A batch of 2,800 declassified documents includes a memo from the CIA to the director of the FBI, dated November 26, 1963, about a call to the Cambridge News on November 22 - the day Kennedy was gunned down in Dallas, Texas.

Deputy CIA director James Angleton's note refers to the caller telling Cambridge News to phone "the American Embassy in London for some big news, then hung up".

The memo says Britain's MI5 intelligence service calculated that the call came 25 minutes before the fatal shooting.

Expand Close Lee Harvey Oswald talks to the media as he is led down a corridor of the Dallas police station for another round of questioning. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Lee Harvey Oswald talks to the media as he is led down a corridor of the Dallas police station for another round of questioning.

It said the reporter who took the call "is known to them as a sound and loyal person with no security record".

The file was released by the US National Archives in July but went unreported. It is also among a batch of papers that were declassified on Thursday.

Cambridge News reporter Anna Savva said yesterday that the paper has no record of the incident.

"We have nothing in our archive - we have nobody here who knows the name of the person who took the call," she said.

Prank

It's unclear whether it was merely a prank and the timing coincidental.

The CIA memo says that several people in Britain had received similar anonymous phone calls "of a strangely coincidental nature" over the preceding year, "particularly in connection with the case of Dr Ward".

That is an apparent reference to osteopath Stephen Ward, a key figure in the Profumo Affair, the sex-and-spy scandal that almost toppled the British government in 1963.

The documents disclosed this week capture the frantic days after the hit on JFK's motorcade, in which federal agents madly chased tips, however thin, juggled rumours and sifted through leads worldwide.

They include cables, notes and reports stamped "secret" that reveal the suspicions of the era - concerning Cubans and Communists. They cast a wide net over varied activities of the Kennedy administration, such as its covert efforts to upend Fidel Castro's government.

In the chaos that followed the assassination pinned on Lee Harvey Oswald - shot dead two days later in police custody by club owner Jack Ruby - FBI Director J Edgar Hoover vented his spleen in a secret report.

Conspiracy

It began: "There is nothing further on the Oswald case except that he is dead."

But, reflecting on Oswald less than an hour after he died, Hoover already anticipated conspiracy theories.

"The thing I am concerned about is having something issued so we can convince the public that Oswald is the real assassin," he said.

In a 1975 deposition, JFK's deputy CIA chief Richard Helms is asked "is there any information which in any way shows Oswald was in some way a CIA agent" - but the document ends short of his answer.
Four motorcycles belonging to terrorist elements were also seized

Egypt's army said Saturday it arrested three extremists in Central Sinai.

In an official statement, spokesman Tamer El-Refai said the armed forces also confiscated a huge amount of explosive material used for improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Four motorcycles belonging to terrorist elements were also seized.

Egypts security forces have been waging a war over the past four years against a terrorist Islamist insurgency, mostly in North Sinai, that has seen hundreds of security personnel killed, as well as hundreds of terrorists killed in security campaigns.



Last Monday, the army said it killed six terrorists and seized a large amount of weapons during a raid on a hideout in North Sinai.

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General Mahmoud Tawfiq will head the National Security Agency and General Essam Saad will be director of security for Giza governorate

Egypt's Minister of Interior ordered on Saturday limited changes in the top echelons of the leadership of the National Security Agency (NSA) and other sectors at the ministry as part of an inter-ministry reshuffle and reassignment, the state news agency reported.

The ministry announced the names of 11 generals appointed to top positions in various sectors and departments.

Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar appointed General Mahmoud Tawfiq as deputy minister and head of the NSA, replacing General Mahmoud Shaarawy. General Shaarawi was reassigned as deputy minister for port security.

Abdel-Ghaffar appointed General Essam Saad as deputy minister and director of security for Giza governorate replacing General Hisham El-Iraqi. General El-Iraqi was appointed deputy minister for the archives sector.

The minister also reassigned General Magdy Abul-Kheir from director of special operations of the Central Security Forces to general director at the training sector.

The reshuffle included the appointment of General Hossam Nasr as deputy minister for human rights sector; General Mohamed Youssef as deputy minister for the personnel affairs sector; General Fahmy Megahed as deputy head of economic security sector; and General Gamal Sultan Mehanna as deputy minister for the guard-duties and security-details sector.

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With an Oval Office-endorsed pastor chatting with a Fox News star, no wonder the evangelical scribes at The Babylon Bee saw last weeks rites at First Baptist Church in Dallas as must-see television for Donald Trump supporters.

The Bee proclaimed: Sean Hannity Leads First Baptist Dallas In Sincere Prayer To Donald Trump.

The satire website pretended that Hannity prayed: We just ask, Father Trump, that you would just, just use this place to advance the good news of right-wing politics, that you would spread your message far and wide. ... Amen!

Thats fake news, of course.

The reality was more complex than that. While there were Trumpian overtones, this Sunday service demonstrated how many evangelicals have fused talk-show media, faith and politics to create a unique American niche culture, said a conservative church-state scholar at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

It struck me how different this kind of evangelicalism is, compared with what weve known in the past, said Francis Beckwith, after watching the America at the Crossroads event online.

Evangelicals have always tried to reach out to unbelievers, trying to win them over. ... But no outsider is ever going to be persuaded by this. The whole purpose was to rally their base, the people they already have. ... Maybe they realize that theres no persuading going on in America right now. People are just preaching to their choirs.

This high-energy service blended music by a giant choir  backed by an orchestra, an organ and a rock ensemble  with the preaching of the Rev. Robert Jeffress and the promotion of Christian media products, in this case a new faith-based movie, Let There Be Light, with Hannity serving as executive producer. Visitors received a free Jeffress book, America at the Crossroads: Christianity and America, Volume 1.

But at this 13,000-member church  Jeffress called it Hannity country  the key was the Fox News stars heartfelt testimony about his journey from the Irish Catholic guilt of a teenaged bartender and high school theology student, to born-again faith. Rather than depending on Catholic doctrines, Hannity said he has learned to seek God by listening to his own conscience.

There were nights when I was a junior and senior in high school and Id tend bar till 4 a.m., close the bar, go eat breakfast and go to school, said Hannity. Ill be honest, the only reason I stopped living that way was that I didnt really feel great about myself anymore. ... Pretty quickly I learned that, if you wake up in the morning and you feel like that, to me, that was God speaking to me  in my conscience  telling me that I wasnt living the right way. So, I just changed my life.

Hannity left the bar and his crazy friends. He started reading  the Bible, Dantes Inferno, Pilgrims Progress and more. Eventually, he said, he decided Catholicism got it wrong on a key church-history issue: papal authority. Jeffress, who once tied Rome to a Babylonian mystery religion, affirmed that choice.

Hannity said this personal approach to faith has shaped his life and career.

I know when Im being a jerk, when Im angry. I know when Im wrong because God  in my heart  tells me Im wrong. So I think that we all have that quiet voice of conscience ... thats God drawing him closer to us, he said. I think, for me, that is the guide to my life.

All of this sounded familiar to Beckwith, who made headlines in 2007 when he returned to Catholicism  while president of the Evangelical Theological Society.

The irony is that Hannitys stress on the authority of the individual conscience resembles the logic of liberal Catholics who reject centuries of church teachings on sex and marriage. Meanwhile, noted Beckwith, many NeverTrump conservatives insisted that they couldnt  as a matter of conscience  vote for the New York billionaire. Would Hannity affirm these choices on the religious left and right?

The human conscience is important, but it can be malformed and corrupted, said Beckwith. Its hard for us to stand on our own all the time. ... And when Jesus said, Take up your cross and follow me, he wasnt talking about doing whatever makes us feel better about ourselves. Thats not what faith is all about.
BRISTOL, Tenn.  Facing declining enrollment and searching for ways to cut costs, King University will eliminate more than a dozen jobs, including full-time faculty, the school announced Friday.

The decision to eliminate faculty and staff positions stems from the private universitys desire to maintain a student-to-faculty ratio that offers ample opportunity for student interaction while also preserving an affordable tuition and fee schedule.

In all, nine full-time faculty at the Bristol campus have been notified of their dismissal, while two full-time faculty members at the Knoxville campus have also been notified, according to King University President Alexander Whitaker. Fewer than nine staff members will also be without a job next year.

We have worked hard in recent months to find cost-saving efficiencies that would reduce that number, Whitaker said Friday in an exclusive interview with the Bristol Herald Courier. This is not a question of King staying afloat  this is what a responsible school must do to remain financially responsible.

Whitaker declined to comment on what faculty and staff positions would be cut but said they did notify those impacted at least two months in advance of the required notification timeline.

Those impacted were notified that their contracts would not be renewed, Whitaker said. We did this well ahead of when we do our contract renewals for the following year because we wanted those impacted to have the extra time to plan for their futures and get into the job market.

The shortfall, university officials said, is largely due to a drop in total enrollment, which has declined from 2,800 in 2016-17 to 2,100 in 2017-18.

This is about us being responsible, Whitaker said. We have seen enrollment decrease at community colleges, which feed into King. Weve seen the economy affecting the number of people going into graduate and professional degrees as well. We have to be as flexible as the market is.

The announcement comes just seven months after the Tennessee Board of Nursing suspended the universitys ability to accept new nursing students until more of them can pass the National Council Licensure Examination.

We must reaffirm our commitment to rigorous academics, Whitaker said. Weve seen some areas that need attention, such as our nursing program, and we are addressing those issues.

The challenges at King are not unique. Many colleges across the region and nation have had to make cuts and changes in a competitive higher-education environment with a smaller pool of high school graduates.

This means that we have to be inventive and creative, Whitaker said. We have to be responsive to what people want in a school like King. Were also looking at areas where we can be more responsive to the market and provide that King education.

In addition to the layoffs, the university is also planning on leaving several current vacant positions unfilled and will also work to identify other ways to save money across the entire university model.

Whitaker openly admitted it was a sense of loss for those impacted faculty members.

If I were one of the faculty members who were told their contract wasnt being renewed, I would think that nine [positions] would be a very big number indeed, Whitaker said. It would be very painful, and it would hurt.
Iraqi Kurdistan's leader Masoud Barzani will not extend his presidential term beyond Nov. 1, a Kurdish government official said on Saturday.

A plan to divide up the president's powers was outlined in a letter Barzani sent to the Kurdish parliament on Saturday, which it will discuss on Sunday, the official said.

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A Bishop's Stortford restaurant has been named the best Indian in East Hertfordshire in a national competition.

Zara Indian Dining picked up the accolade at the annual Curry Life Awards last weekend (Sunday, 22 October) at London's Royal Lancaster Hotel.

The Hadham Road restaurant was shortlisted for the award in August, after diners across the country nominated their favourite eateries.

General manager Monsur Choudhury previously described how he and his team were left "stunned" when judges from Curry Life Magazine pitched up at his restaurant to announce their nomination .

Speaking after the ceremony, Mr Choudhury said: "It's a great honour to be recognised and I would like to thank the Zara team for their hard work and our customers who've inspired us to keep improving and experimenting.

"Regulars at the restuarnt are often used to test out new dishes with their opinions helping fine-tune new creations.

"Diners have a real appreciation of Indian cuisine nowadays and aren't going to settle for second best.

"I'm just happy that I have contributed towards curry being the British national dish."

Shadow Brexit Secretary and guest of honour Sir Keir Starmer praised the nominees, saying: "The curry industry makes a huge contribution to the economy and is an integral part of the UK dining experience.

"Its employees epitomise the ethos that hard work brings success and I'm delighted they are in the spotlight tonight and able to sit back and enjoy an evening off."

According to Curry Life Magazine, the UK curry industry generates a revenue of 4.2 billion a year, serving 2.5 million customers every week.

Thirteen of the UK's best curry restaurants and 19 curry chefs were recognised at last weekend's event.

The gala also raised over 3,000 for Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar, as part of the Disaster Emergency Committee's appeal.
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Hertfordshire police are warning motorists to be vigilant about a speeding email scam that has been detected in the county.

Motorists are being sent a bogus email which is an attempt to get them to pay money by indicating that they have been caught speeding.

The letter or email is often formatted in a way to make the recipient believe that it is legitimate.

Police are urging anyone who has recieved this email, or anything similar, to not click on any of the links within it.

Instead they should screen shot it and report it directly to Action Fraud.

Legitimate fixed penalty notices for speeding offences in Hertfordshire do not display the GOV.UK logo and law states any notices must be served 14 days after the alleged offence through a physical letter sent via first class.

Any penalty notice would also have the police unit's logo and contact details on it.
Related Rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas reach reconciliation deal in Cairo

Hamas security chief Tawfiq Abu Naim left hospital Saturday after being wounded in a car bombing and pledged that an agreement aimed at ending a decade-long rift with rivals Fatah would remain on track.

The Friday explosion that moderately wounded Abu Naim was branded by the Hamas interior ministry as "a failed assassination attempt."

Hamas chief Ismail Haniya signalled Israel was to blame, but no one has claimed responsiblity.

Abu Naim said in a statement on Saturday that "the objectives of those who committed this despicable act will not be achieved."

"We are determined to leave the split behind and realise the important national unity at all costs," he said.

Abu Naim said a November 1 deadline for Hamas to hand over border crossings to the Palestinian Authority would be adhered to.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement signed a reconciliation accord on October 12 with Islamist movement Hamas, which has run the Gaza Strip for 10 years.

Under the deal, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority is to resume control of Gaza -- which Hamas seized in a near civil war with Fatah in 2007 -- by December 1.

The fate of the Hamas security forces after it transfers power to the PA in the territory is one of the most delicate issues facing the reconciliation process.

Abbas wants the handover to be comprehensive and include all security institutions, but the Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, has said "no one" can force his group to disarm.

Israel and the United States have meanwhile said that Hamas must disarm as part of any unity government.

They have also said it must recognise Israel.

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The peaceful end of apartheid and transition to democracy in South Africa was one of the 20th centurys greatest achievements. A generation later, this troubled country and its ruling party are now headed toward a turning point. In December, the African National Congress (ANC) will choose a successor to current party leader (and South Africas president) Jacob Zuma. As battle-lines are drawn, the party stands on the verge of an irreparable split, and it is increasingly likely to lose the presidency at the next election in 2019. Can South Africa manage another peaceful transitionthis time from the ANC to the opposition? Or is this country now headed for real trouble? The signs arent promising.

A decade ago, South Africas economy was going strong. From 2004 to 2008, a moment of high growth across the emerging-market world, high prices for the gold, platinum, diamonds, and coal that the country produces in abundance, and the surge in State spending that the commodity boom enabled, allowed South Africa to grow by a robust 4.8%. From 2009 to 2013, as both rich and poor countries struggled to recover from a global economic slowdown, growth tumbled to just 1.9%.

Then things got worse. From 2014-2016, growth fell to 1.1%. Not surprisingly, the average number of violent public protests climbed from 21 per year during the good times (2004-2008) to 164 per year in recent years (2014-2016). There are nearly 20 million South Africans between the ages of 15 and 35, and 6.2 million of them have jobs. Youth unemployment is double the rate for adults, and its nearly four times higher for black youth (40%) than for white youth (11%).

The current governments promises to turn things around dont have much credibility. Zuma has survived nearly 800 separate charges of fraud, money-laundering, and graft, a court ruling that he violated the countrys constitution, multiple votes of no-confidence, and a rape trial. South Africas Central Bank governor has now called for a public investigation into ties between Zuma, business leaders, and a family of Indian businessmen known as the Guptas.

To rally his followers, Zuma and his allies have abandoned the sound macroeconomic policymaking of the early years of independence in favor of a fist-shaking, left-wing populism that deflects blame for worsening economic conditions onto domestic rivals and foreign powers. The state uses high tariffs and subsidies to protect state-owned companies and State-dominated sectors from competition. Protections for union workers make it harder for the unemployed to get jobs. The state battles unemployment by spending money it doesnt have to hire more workers into government jobs. Corruption has triggered violence. There have been dozens of politically motivated murders in Zumas home state of Kwazulu-Natal in recent months.

There is a faction within the ANC that wants to return the party to a more sustainable path, and it is preparing for a faceoff at Decembers ANC party conference. Zuma will work to ensure that his successor is Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, his ex-wife and former head of the African Union Commission, presumably because she can protect him from prosecution when he is no longer president following elections in 2019.

Cyril Ramaphosa, a senior ANC leader who first rose to prominence as the partys lead negotiator during the transition from apartheid to democracy, poses the strongest challenge to this plan. If Ramaphosa loses in December, he will likely lead a faction out of the ANC and could join a coalition led by the centrist Democratic Alliance, as well as left-wing parties and organizations that want an end to Zumas era of corruption.

Tensions are clearly on the rise. An ANC meeting in Eastern Cape province on October 1 was disrupted by brawling, chair-throwing party activists. We are going through difficult moments as ANC. The December conference stands out as the beacon of hope where we will renew the ANC and unite the ANC, Ramaphosa reportedly told the crowd after order was restored.

Party leaders should remember that there is an entire generation of South Africans who know the ANC not as the party of liberation but as the party of power. It is increasingly likely that, whatever happens at the showdown in December, at the next election, the ANC will lose that power. What happens next will, for better or for worse, set South Africa on a path toward its future.

Ian Bremmer is the president of Eurasia Group and author of Superpower: Three Choices for Americas Role in the World.

The views expressed are personal

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Statistics from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the World Bank reveal that India scores very badly when it comes to participation of women in the workforce. In its India Development Report released in March, the World Bank ranked the country 120th among 131 countries, only above Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. While overall job creation has been limited, the report said, most of the new ones have been taken by men given the social norms. Even within South Asia, which regionally is below other developing countries, India has a lesser percentage of women in the workforce than Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

So what stops women from getting employment, and what do these numbers indicate?

The issue of the number of women in the labour force is determined by class and gender. In the rural and informal sectors, which employ the largest number of people, men dominate paid labour because women slave away in households. A womans domestic labour is of great importance for the household, but is not valued enough. Even in the private sector, women are losing out to men since big companies are downsizing and paying less for longer hours of work. Feminist economists argue that domestic labour should have economic value but little has happened on this front.

The World Banks explanation is that in India the drop in women in the labour force in recent years is a combination of a lack of job opportunities, decrease in child labour, more girls joining schools, rise in household and agricultural incomes and measurement methodologies. But this is half the story.

Economist Jayati Ghosh argues in her work Never Done and Poorly Paid that the issue of exclusion of women is historical and structural. Historically, women have been secluded to private spaces and public spaces are hostile to them. Whether it is lack of womens toilets or the acceptance of sexual harassment as normal, male privilege is structural and institutional. The resistance to gender sensitisation committees in universities and the attempt to control them by tweaking them administratively is one obvious recent structural and institutional indication of retaining male privilege.

This exclusion of women has been reinforced by neo-liberal economic policies that led to an increase in inequality. In structural inequality, the already weak and excluded sections are impacted unequally. So as jobs decrease, women who are already paid less than men will be the first to lose jobs.

As subsidies are cut , child care facilities for women who wish to work have also decreased. For example, wages for anganwadi workers are so low that many feel they can save more by doing either household work or piece work at home.

Moreover, we have not been able to address their distress due to the dual burden of labour outside and inside the house. Though household staff for the middle class is a common phenomenon here, working women are still solely responsible for running the household while men can concentrate solely on their professional responsibilities.

The ILO argues that to increase the number of women in the workforce, comprehensive approaches such as improving access to education, skill and training programmes, access to child care, safe transportation, rules against sexual harassment, and a pattern of development that is inclusive and autonomous of political party intervention need to be put in place.

India has reams of report that will show that sustainable development can only come with a gender and caste inclusive policy. But the political class has not followed up on their provisions. Each government that comes tries to re-invent the wheel. Competing and rewriting the past as opposed to learning from it. This is one of the main reasons why womens participation in the workplace is declining.

Anuradha Chenoy is professor, School of International Studies, JNU

The views expressed are personal
The Congress promised on Saturday to offer reservation in jobs and education to Gujarats influential Patidars in the economically backward class (EBC) category, but not in the other backward class (OBC) group as demanded by the community.

The partys stand opens the possibility of endangering its likely alliance with Patidar leader Hardik Patel, a bitter critic of the BJP government in the state going to the polls in two phases this December.

Patel threatened to disrupt Congress vice president Rahul Gandhis rally in Surat on November 3 if the reservation in the OBC category wasnt assured.

3/11/2017       ,                  Hardik Patel (@HardikPatel_) October 28, 2017

The threat coincides with comments from the Congresss Gujarat unit chief, Bharatsinh Solanki, in an interview to Hindustan Times that his party would give EBC reservation to the Patidars.

The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) core committee passed a resolution on Saturday, warning the Congress to promise the OBC quota or face consequences.

They should tell us how they can include Patidars in existing 27% OBC quota in Gujarat, said Dinesh Bambania, the groups co-convenor along with Patel.

The committee authorised Bambania to declare the groups stand after Patel threatened in a tweet to disrupt the Congress vice presidents rally unless the party cleared its position on reservation.

The 24-year-old Patel said on Thursday he would support the Congress in the polls as he has been assured by senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot of providing reservation under the OBC quota.

I am sure he (Gandhi) will promise OBC status if the Congress is voted to power in Gujarat, he had said.

The Congresss latest stand on reservation is viewed as a balancing act between Patidars and Alpesh Thakor, a Dalit leader who recently joined the party and opposes OBC reservation to Patels community.

The OBCs comprise 146 castes and make up around 40% of the states about 60-million people. Patidars, known to be traditional BJP supporters, constitute 12%.

Gujarats OBCs are given 27% quota in jobs and education. The scheduled castes have 7% and the scheduled tribes 15%, making a total of 49%, just under the 50% reservation cap set by the Supreme Court.

Congress leader Solanki said his party would provide a separate 20% quota for EBCs, including upper caste communities such as Patidars, in addition to existing 49% reservation to scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and OBCs, if voted to power in Gujarat. The party is out of power in the state for two decades.

We will pass a bill in the 2018 Gujarat assembly, which will go to Parliament. If the BJP government at the Centre accepts it, they will negotiate it with the Supreme Court. If not, then in 2019 we will form the government at the Centre, and will provide 20% EBC and, not OBC reservation, to Patidars, he said.

But Bambania reaffirmed that his group wont accept reservation in the EBC section.

In the Constitution, there is no provision for EBC. Even if Congress is voted to power in Gujarat, Constitution-related changes can be done only by the central government. And, next the Lok Sabha elections are in 2019. Then there is no question of extending support to the Congress this time, he said.

Gujarat was on the edge in August 2015 as Patidars, led by a young and fiery Patel, held a huge rally in Ahmedabad demanding reservation. The event triggered widespread violence in which 10 people were killed and public property worth crores of rupees was damaged across the state.

In 2016, chief minister Anandiben Patels government announced 10% EBC reservation for all non-reserved classes, including Patidars, through an ordinance. The PAAS rejected it and the chief minister was replaced later.

The ordinance ran into legal trouble as the Gujarat high court and later the Supreme Court struck it down.

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Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel, who has put forward a set of demands before the Congress as a pre-condition for extending support to the party in the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections, has asked it to make its stand clear by November 3 on how it would ensure reservation for the community.

In a tweet on Saturday, he also threatened that the Patidar community would oppose Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Surat on November 3, like it did to BJP president Amit Shah during one of his public gatherings in the city.

3/11/2017 tak Congress Patidar ko Samvedhanik aarakshan kaise dengi, us mudde par apna stand clear kar de nahi to Amit Shah jaisa mamla Surat mein hoga (Congress should make its stand clear by November 3 on how it will provide reservation to the Patidar community under the Constitution, otherwise the Amit Shah episode will be repeated in Surat), he tweeted.

3/11/2017       ,                  Hardik Patel (@HardikPatel_) October 28, 2017

In September last year, Shah had faced a strong opposition from the workers of the Hardik-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) during his visit to Surat. Dozens of PAAS workers had disrupted a function which was being attended by the BJP chief.

Dinesh Bambhaniya, a PAAS convener, said the organisation and the community it represented would take a call on whether to support the Congress in the Assembly polls only after the opposition party made its stand clear on the issue.

He asserted that Hardik or anyone else from the PAAS had no plans to meet Rahul Gandhi until the Congress convinced the Patidar leaders as regards how would it ensure reservation for the community.

First, the Congress will have to make its stand clear regarding reservation and only after that shall we talk to Rahul Gandhi...He is visiting Surat on November 3 and we can oppose him like we did to Amit Shah, Bambhaniya said.

Hardik (24) had recently met Congress Gujarat affairs in-charge Ashok Gehlot and presented a list of demands to him, including reservation and a maximum number of poll tickets for the Patidar community members.

The Congress has so far maintained that it will offer a 20-per cent reservation to the economically backward classes (EBC), without disturbing the 49-per cent reservation given to the scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST) and other backward classes (OBC).

Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said, We have said that without touching the 49 per cent reservation for the SCs, STs and OBCs, we will offer a 20-per cent reservation to the EBCs in the state, who have been affected by the privatisation of the health sector and other institutions under the BJP rule.

This 20 per cent EBC quota will not be a lollipop offer like the one made by the BJP, which was rejected by the high court. Our reservation ordinance will be a well thought-out one and based on a scientific survey, he added.

The Gujarat Assembly polls are scheduled to be held in two phases -- on December 9 and December 14.
Vijay Anands Jewel Thief was among the top ten films of 1967, also the year of Dilip Kumars double whammy in Ram Aur Shyam, Manoj Kumars patriotic Upkar, Jeetendras Euro-spy Farz, Shakti Samantas breezy An Evening in Paris and B.R Chopras thriller Hamraaz.

I recently watched Jewel Thief again, wondering if the film would hold todays modern viewer with serious attention deficiency. Some classics do date. But I am happy to report that Jewel Thief still sparkles and holds its place as the Kohinoor amongst Hindi mainstream thrillers. Its often said that even the best thrillers dont have repeat value. Why would you want to re-watch a thriller once you already know the twists and turns and big reveals? That is the genius of Goldie, aka Vijay Anand. Its his direction, the terrific plot and clever screenplay that make Jewel Thief work.

Also, the music, the girls, the villain and of course, Dev Anand. I remember once chatting with BP Singh, the creator of Aahat and CID series, and he told me that he learnt about direction from two films  William Friedkins The French Connection and Vijay Anands Jewel Thief. We spoke about the birthday party scene where Shalu (Vyjayanthimala) accuses Vinay (Dev Anand) of being her fiance Amar. The scene famously ends with Amar having to take his shoes off to prove that hes not the man they claim him to be. One of my assistants who saw Jewel Thief for the first time on a black and white TV in school compared its final big twist to The Sixth Sense. A big twist scene is basically one that makes the viewer run the entire picture through his or her head again, compelling him to re-watch the film to confirm if the filmmaker has played fair.

Goldie made his debut at 22 with Nau Do Gyarah, a road rom-com that climaxes in a thriller. He followed it up with the social drama Kala Bazar which features Dev Anand as a black marketer. In one scene, he is selling tickets outside Bombays Metro cinema when he encounters some college students (played by Waheeda Rehman and friends). Guess whos her boyfriend? Vijay Anand! And guess the houseful film that they are here to watch? Hitchcocks North by Northwest! And a looming Hitchcock stares out from the posters. The stronger the villain, the stronger the picture, Hitchcock said once. Jewel Thief has one of the most memorable villains. Anything more will be a spoiler. Its a long movie but new viewers can think of it like they are binge-watching four episodes of a favourite series.

Both Jewel Thief and North by Northwest share a common premise and I often wonder if it was Hitchcocks film that planted the germ of the story in the filmmakers head. I must add here that the story of Jewel Thief is by KA Narayan, whos also responsible for Brijs Chori Mera Kaam, Anands Johny Mera Naam and a dozen more cops-and-crooks capers.

The magic of Jewel Thief lies in its terrific screenplay, how the viewer is constantly being tricked by the filmmaker. Doppelgangers, innocent on the run, mistaken identity and brainwashing are themes from the darkest of noir capers. But there is nothing noir in Jewel Thief, which is full of splashy colours, costumes, grand sets and songs. If Goldie loved Hitchcock, he also loved the James Bond pictures, four of which had released by 1965. Jewel Thief has debonair Dev Anand getting seduced or seducing a bevy of bold and sexually forward women. Who is the femme fatale or they all are? Choose between Vyjayanthimala, Helen, Faryal, Anju Mahendru and the cutest Tanuja you will ever see.

Goldie is a master of song picturization and in Jewel Thief, each one of them advances the story like in the best of Hindi mainstream cinema those days. Yeh dil na hota bechara sees Vinay flirting with the rich jewelers daughter. Who other than Dev Anand can pull off the song, prancing on a lonely road with a fishing rod and a plastic fish? I love Rula ke gaya sapnas mise en scene and even as I watch it now, I can only marvel at the set which has Dev Anand in a boat following Vyjayanthimala paddling alone in a lake at midnight. Again this sublime song of loss advances the plot and yet, connects us on to the couple on a personal, non-plot level. Raat akeli hai is a seductive delight thanks to Tanuja and Asha Bhosle. But its not just an item song. Its a vital plot device that becomes the first of the films many turning points.

Jewel Thief was released on October 27, 1967.

It is said that Goldie introduced the concept of the climax song in our movies. In Nau Do Gyarahs See le zubaan, Shashikala is dancing in a gothic haveli trying to warn the hero about the threat looming around him. See le zubaan by Geeta Dutt and SD Burman is perhaps the first climax song of Bollywood. Its perfected ten years later in Honton mein aisi baat in Jewel Thief. Brilliantly choreographed by Sohanlal Master, the climactic number is a sumptuous showcase of Vyjayanthimalas dancing skills and Vijay Anands ability to use sweeping camera movements and dynamic cuts to ratchet the tension. One stanza of the song is done entirely in one take! Baithe hain kya uske paas is shot in a dim-lit nightclub. Helen, in plumes, dances on a circular bar top as another dancer imitates her on the floor. And we wait for Dev Anands descent down the stairs in his iconic checked cap. Is it Amar or Vinay? That was the poster shot. Sad to note that on YouTube the song video has less than 15000 views!

I didnt know the Anand brothers on a personal level. But I met Dev Anand twice. Once as a rookie journo I got a chance to watch the shoot of Anand Aur Anand  his son Suneils launchpad  in Mehboob studios, Bandra. The second time was a bit different. I was shooting an episode of Aahat for BP Singh in Tata Bungalow, Marol. My production told me that I have to finish my episode quickly because the location was booked for a big mahurat the next day. I was in a hurry and flurry wrapping my shots and by evening the location was swamped by the mahurat team planning their programme. I was irritated that they were getting in my way and I kept pushing them about to complete my deadline.

Suddenly, I saw that it was Dev Anand and his team who were all around me. Dev saab was busy explaining what he wanted the next morning to his team. He probably had no idea there was another shoot happening in the adjacent room. I was so thrilled to watch the man himself in action, full of charm and infectious energy. We finished our shoot by dawn but the mahurat never happened because, as I found out later, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had invited Dev saab to the now famous Lahore bus trip.

(As told to Shaikh Ayaz)
Actor Madhavan may be accustomed to red carpets, but the red carpet welcome he received at the Canadian Parliament on a visit to Ottawa may have surprised him.

The star of 3 Idiots and Rang De Basanti was given a guided tour of the magnificent building, including the library and senate by Canadas minister of international trade Francois-Philippe Champagne, Indias high commissioner to Canada Vikas Swarup tweeted.

He was also welcomed by a pair of Indo-Canadian leaders, minister of small business and tourism, Bardish Chagger, and minister of innovation, science and economic development, Navdeep Bains. The actor was in the Canadian capital for give a motivational talk to a group of youth.

Bollywood is in the House (of Commons)!, Chagger tweeted as she welcomed him, adding, hope you enjoyed your visit to the Hill.

Champagne, who along with Bains will be among cabinet ministers leading a trade mission to India in November, tweeted about taking Madhavan on the tour.

Madhavan reciprocated, So very lovely meeting you too sir . Thank you for that extraordinary tour and all the love .. see you very soon in MUMBAI.

The actor also posted multiple images of his visit on Instagram, including a chance to sit in the speakers chair in the House of Commons.
Actors Deepika Padukone, Madhuri Dixit and Aditi Rao Hydari attended the Jio Filmfare Awards (Marathi) in style. They brought put the best, most fashionable foot forward on the red carpet in sarees, salwar kameez and lehengas.

Deepika wore a stunning Sabyasachi saree with a huge train behind her. The grey saree of net fabric had pink and red flowers embroidered all over and that she rocked in her usual manner. She went for dark, dramatic eyes with a tinge of pink, let her hair loose and paired it all with chunky golden-pink jhumkas.

A post shared by The Boundless Sidewalk. (@theboundlesssidewalk) on Oct 27, 2017 at 6:23pm PDT

A post shared by deepikapadukone Arab fan (@deepikaworld1) on Oct 27, 2017 at 3:39pm PDT

A post shared by  DEEPIKA  (@deepikaslays) on Oct 27, 2017 at 11:23am PDT

Aditi Rao Hydari wore a black and beige lehenga with a golden necklace and jhumkas. Her gorgeous eyes and thick brows stole the show once again.

A post shared by Filam Story (@filamstory) on Oct 27, 2017 at 11:26am PDT

A post shared by Mayyur Girotra (@mayyurgirotra) on Oct 27, 2017 at 11:59am PDT

Madhuri Dixit showed for the awards with her husband, Dr Sriram Nene. She wore an orange dress with her hair tied up and paired it all with long chandelier earrings.

A post shared by Filmfare (@filmfare) on Oct 27, 2017 at 11:35am PDT

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A post shared by Filmfare (@filmfare) on Oct 27, 2017 at 9:07am PDT

Absentee Priyanka Chopra, however stole the night with her film, Ventilator, getting as many as 15 nominations. The film, which was made by her production house, Purple Pebble Pictures, was nominated for Best Film, Best Director (Rajesh Mapuskar), Best Actor Male (Jitendra Joshi) , Best Actor In A Supporting Role Male (Ashutosh Gowariker), Best Actor In A Supporting Role Female (Sukanya Kulkarni), Best Music Album (Rohan Gokhale & Rohan Pradhan), Best Lyrics (Manoj Yadav), Best Production Design (Nikhil Kovale), Best Cinematography (Savita Singh), Best Original Story (Rajesh Mapuskar), Best Screenplay (Rajesh Mapuskar), Best Dialogue (Rajesh Mapuskar), Best Editing (Rameshwar Bhagat), Best Background Score (Rohan & Rohan) and Best Sound Design (Sanjay Maurya and Allwyn Rego).

Reacting to the happy news, Priyanka Chopra said, As a producer, I couldnt have asked for anything more for my first Marathi venture. Its such an honor for us at Purple Pebble Pictures and the entire team of Ventilator. 15 nominations... were truly overwhelmed. Its a testament to Rajesh Mapuskar, Jitendra Joshi, Ashutosh Gowariker, Dr. Madhu Chopra and everyone who worked as a team, bringing their incredible skills to the mix and coming together to deliver such an amazing film. Thank you Filmfare for the recognition and huge congratulations to the entire team.

Herere the winner in all categories:

Best Film

Sairat

Best Director

Nagraj Manjule (Sairat)

Best Actor (Male)

Nana Patekar (Natsamrat)

Best Actor (Female)

Rinku Rajguru (Sairat)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male)

Vikram Gokhale (Natsamrat)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female)

Sai Tamhankar (Family Katta)

Best Music Album

Ajay-Atul (Sairat)

Best Lyrics

Ajay-Atul (Yad Lagalay - Sairat)

Best Playback Singer (Male)

Ajay Gogavale (Yad Lagalay - Sairat)

Best Playback Singer (Female)

Chinmayi (Sairat Zaala Ji - Sairat)

Best Debut (Male)

Akash Thosar (Sairat)

Best Debut (Female)

Rinku Rajguru (Sairat)

Best Debut Director

Rajesh Mapuskar (Ventilator)

Critics Best Film

Mahesh Manjrekar (Natsamrat)

Critics Best Actor (Male)

Mangesh Desai (Ek Albela)

Critics Best Actor (Female)

Vandana Gupte (Family Katta)

Lifetime Achievement Award

Ashok Saraf

Best Production Design

Vasu Patil - Half Ticket

Best Cinematography

Sanjay Memane - Half Ticket

Best Original Story

Rajesh Mapuskar - Ventilator

Best Screenplay

Rajesh Mapuskar - Ventilator

Best Dialogue

Bharat Manjule and Nagraj Manjule - Sairat

Best Editing

Rameshwar Bhagat - Ventilator

Best Background Score

Ajay-Atul - Sairat

Best Choreography

Rahul Thombre - Sanjeev Howladar (O Kaka - YZ)

Best Sound Design

Sanjay Maurya and Allwyn Rego - Ventilator

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Age: 11

Location: School bus

Incident: A man grabbed my ass and I just stood there, unable to move or utter a single word.

Age: 17

Location: In the middle of the street

Incident: A passerby on a bike slapped my breasts and drove off as I stood there teary-eyed and embarrassed.

Ages: 12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23, 24,25,26,27,28,29,30

Location: Everywhere

Incidents: Being called at, sneered at, whistled at hooted at, laughed at, mocked at, sung songs at, gestured obscenely at, as we all just stood there, ignored it and normalised it because aisa toh hota hi rehta hai.

Age: 30

Location: On my way home from the gym

Incident: A man asked for money and I said no, so he decided to comment on how my ass looks like its begging to get f****d.

This time, I did not just stand there. I was not teary-eyed. I didnt ignore it just because aisa toh hota hi rehta hai. And, although I wasnt groped or molested or slapped, I stopped and waited for him to catch up to me, stood there and asked him what gave him the right to say that.

As I stood there, asking him loud enough at what gives him the right to make lecherous remarks to a woman who is just minding her own business, passersby stopped and analysed the incident. From amongst the passersby, an old man walked up to me and said, Beta, samajhdaari iss baat main hoti, if you ignored him. And that is the problem.

Talking back

Similarly, in another recent incident, when a group of teenage boys screamed at me, saying aao kabhi haveli pe, I stopped them and asked them their havelis address so I could report to their family on their street behaviour with women. Towards the end of the conversation, the boy who had asked me to come to his haveli called me didi and begged me to not report his behaviour, and, in all probability dreaded ever having me at their haveli. It is funny how an enlarged penis suffers from instant erectile dysfunction when made accountable for its actions.

Why are we called brave or rebellious when we tackle these instances? That shouldnt have to be brave or rebellious, it should be standard protocol.

Ive come across similar instances where counter speech is used online. On days when I dont want to ignore and/or block trolls and decide to speak, name and shame them, it shows me the true power of counter speech and retaliation. The point is to not necessarily attack the perpetrator, but, at the very least, acknowledge him/her and not just let them get away with it.

Weve grown up in a nation that teaches us kutton ke muh kya lagna? and that is what has led to this ever increasing menace of stalking, eve teasing and sexual harassment. Why are we called brave or rebellious when we tackle these instances? That shouldnt have to be brave or rebellious, it should be standard protocol.

Ignorance is no longer the best policy for harassment, confrontation is.

The right of personhood

A lot of people tell me that I should just let it be. Some of my male friends are afraid that my retaliation will land me into trouble. A few of them have even told me that I am inviting an acid attack. But after 30 years of constant harassment, I would rather have acid spilled on my face than let another man get past me doing and saying whatever he pleases.

Let me clarify that I am not suggesting that we take the law in our hands. I am only suggesting that we have the right to exist as peacefully as they do.

We too

I refuse to not enter some public spaces because acchhe gharon ki ladkiyan aisi jagahon mein nahi jaati

Yes, #MeToo and I know that you too and we all know that we too but it is time for a call of action. It is time to not just acknowledge it but to retaliate against it. It is time to hash the tag and move beyond it. The last thing I want is my unborn children finding solace in a hashtag like we are doing, or a sense of sanctity knowing that there are others suffering with them too. May they never have to. I refuse to let my children grow up in a world where theyre taught to just bear it.

I refuse to live in fear of the consequences of my retaliation when you dont live in fear of the consequences of your initiation. I refuse to not enter some public spaces because acchhe gharon ki ladkiyan aisi jagahon mein nahi jaati. I refuse to dress differently just to help you keep your penis in your pants. I refuse to live in a world where my genitalia determines my privilege.

In other words, I refuse to shut up, until I shut them down.

The author is an ex-participant of Big Brother Australia and Bigg Boss 9, India. Through initiatives on womens empowerment, shes taking big steps to make a change.

From HT Brunch, October 29, 2017

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Apparel exporters have brought up the problems faced by them post Goods and Services Tax (GST) before a parliamentary panel, signalling the strong likelihood of a decline in garment shipments from India and possibility of job losses.

The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) made a presentation to the Parliamentary Standing Committee (Rajya Sabha) on Commerce chaired by Naresh Gujral earlier this week.

The body pressed for early consideration of tax refunds blocked on the purchase of ginned cotton (agricultural inputs such as agricultural machinery, seeds, fertilisers, power, diesel and the like) and miscellaneous central or state levies like power cross subsidy, stamp duty, property tax and other levies for refund under Rebate of State Levies.

The council also drew the attention of the committee members to the issue of extension of exemption of IGST on import under EPCG (Export Promotion Capital Goods) or Advance Authorisation from March 31, 2018 to December 31, 2018, in order to provide a longer window for investment decisions.

It also asked for allowing utilisation of MEIS (Merchandise Exports from India Scheme) scrips for use in payment of CGST, SGST and IGST to ease the challenges of working capital blockage and other procedural issues.

To arrest the decline in exports, the AEPC suggested that the competitive exchange rate and rupee appreciation be stabilised to protect the interest of exporters.

The positive impact of GST is yet to be felt by garment industry where input costs have not come down. Overall effect of GST on apparel exporters, especially small and medium exporters, is burdensome and stressful due to substantial increase of working capital and higher transaction cost, AEPC Chairman Ashok Rajani said. It has not only impacted the production of apparel adversely, but has also led to pressure on margins for exporters due to lowering of drawback rates.

The council, according to him, has informed the parliamentary panel that under the prevailing circumstances, there is a strong likelihood of exports from India dipping in the near future, as the global garment industry is very competitive.

Further, competing countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam have cost advantages on account of preferential trade agreements with major export markets, and buyers are moving to these destinations for sourcing. This could have a cascading effect on the job scenario as exporters will be forced to shed jobs, Rajani added.
Terming tax-paying as a patriotic duty, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said given our aspiration to be a dominant player on the world stage, we cannot afford to be a place where the shadow economy is bigger than the real economy.

You cant have an economy where the size of the shadow economy is much bigger than the apparent economy itself, Jaitley said here this evening.

Without naming the note ban and GST rollout, both of which have slowed down the economic engine, he said the process of making a cleaner economy is set in motion to achieve the aspirations like being a developed economy and the fastest growing among major economies of the world.

While addressing an ET awards function here, he said government has been taking steps one by one towards this direction and some impact is already visible like an enlarged tax base, jump in digital transactions and squeezing out cash from the economy.

Read more: High growth, strong civil society must to end poverty: Arun Jaitley

Conceding that there will be some noise and grievances because of the implementation of tax reforms like GST, he said paying taxes is essential.

Paying taxes is always a fundamental duty of every citizen. Its a patriotic duty to be a part of that structure, rather than outside the structure. It is only then that the implementation will really show its larger, longer-term impacts, he said.

It can be noted that the note-ban and the hasty rollout of GST are the main reasons for the sluggish growth, with the GDP growth falling for sixth straight quarters to 5.6 per cent in the June quarter.

Without mentioning any specific criticism, he asserted that tax rates in the country are the lowest in the world and added that this will help the agenda of widening the tax base.

Read more: Dear Jaitley, economy in ICU due to GST and demonetisation: Rahul Gandhi

On direct taxes side, he said government has reduced them in such a way where the lowest tax slab is 5%, while on the indirect tax side, it is as low as 1%.

It can be noted that the Tamil film Mersal which is in controversy right now for criticising GST and note ban, has a mention of the 7% GST in Singapore.

He said the process of structural reforms has a long way to go and added that government has grabbed a lot of low hanging fruits, like increasing FDI caps in multiple sectors.

Terming the introduction of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code as a belated reform he expected the measure to bear fruits going forward.

Claiming that government is extremely transparent when it comes to banking matters he said he wants a system which shows the true health of the system.

Our banks have lent excessively. And while we were lending excessively, we were through the various restructuring processes of evergreening those loans. Till 2015, nobody knew what the real picture was. The real picture was hidden below carpet. No economy can really survive if the main source of finance is in such non-transparent position itself, he said.

He hoped that global investors will appreciate the Rs 2.11 trillion fund infusion into state-run banks.
The European Parliament's president says that Spain's decision to call a new election in Catalonia after the region's unilateral declaration of independence "was the right thing to do."

Antonio Tajani spoke to reporters Saturday while leaving the Vatican after a forum on Europe's future.

Tajani said that Europe's position is very clear: "No one will ever recognize Catalonia as an independent country. The referendum was illegal ... The state of law should be restored."

He said that the election will allow Catalans to "decide what kind of government they want to have. All should happen according to the Spanish Constitution."

Tajani added that Europe hopes that dialogue can help resolve the "difficult situation," adding "this does not mean that European Union could mediate, because it is a Spanish internal issue."

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The CBI charged the Gujarat-based Sterling Biotech Limited with defaulting more than Rs 5,300 crore in bank loans, after accusing the pharmaceutical company of bribing three income tax officials.

The company owned by the Sandesara group is facing a multi-agency investigation after the income tax department indicted several taxmen of taking bribes to allegedly overlook incriminating proof after raids on the firms offices and property in 2011.

The enforcement directorate (ED) is investigating allegations of hawala transactions by the company.

The CBI filed two first information reports (FIR), one in August and another on October 25.

In the second FIR, the CBI named Sterling Biotech and its directors Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara, Dipti Chetan Sandesara, Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara and Vilas Joshi, chartered accountant Hemant Hathi and former Andhra Bank director Anup Garg as accused.

The CBI alleged that Sterling Biotech was granted credit facilities from a consortium of banks led by Andhra Bank. The FIR said the group companies, including Sterling Biotech, Sterling Oil Resources, Sterling SEZ and Infrastructure and PMT Machines, owed the banks Rs 5,383 crore in 2016.

According to the agency, the company director quoted false statements about its turnover, net profit and tax liablities in the loan applications.

The groups chartered accountant is also accused of cooking the books.

The agency charged the group with diverting the money from bank loans to entities outside India.

The directors allegedly did insider trading and traded shares of group companies clandestinely.

The company came under scrutiny after the IT department found its own officials ignored evidence from raids, including a diary that allegedly contained payments to public servants and political conduits.

The department then asked the CBI and ED to an investigation under anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws.
DEHRADUN: The Congress criticised the BJP governments recent decision to upgrade the Rishikesh and Kotdwar municipal boards to municipal corporations, alleging that it was with an eye on the urban body polls.

It also dubbed the BJP governments move to merge villages and peri urban areas around cities and towns with urban local bodies as autocratic. This governments step to upgrade the two municipal boards is a political move initiated with an eye on the local body polls due early next year, said Congress leader Surendra Kumar. Had the ruling party been genuinely concerned about the peoples issues, it would have fulfilled its promise by declaring Kotdwar a district.

Former chief minister BC Khanduri had made the promise prior to the 2012 assembly polls, he said..

On Friday, the government issued a notification which legally permits expansion of 14 urban bodies, including the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC). Kumar alleged that the merger was dictatorial as it was carried out despite strong protests by the residents of villages. The directive also clears the decks for merger of peri urban areas and villages with 14 urban local bodies.

Cabinet minister Prakash Pant refuted the allegations that villages around Doon were merged with the DMC against the peoples will. A notification was issued on the basis of reports based on consultations with the residents of villages. It is an opposition party, so it will make allegations, he said, adding all decisions pertaining to urban local bodies were taken strictly as per the legal criteria. .

Similar notifications for merger of several other villages were issued, he said. Only those villages or peri urban areas where only 30% farmland is left are being merged with urban local bodies, which is a legally correct decision. Pant asserted villages with 70% farmland are not being merged with urban local bodies.

The minister said plans were underway to provide basic amenities like water supply, sewerage network and solid waste management in villages which would be merged with urban areas. The decision was prompted by a burgeoning population in peri urban areas and villages owing to the rural-urban migration. Since these areas were not a part of the urban local bodies, the locals were unable to access basic civic amenities. He added the merger would be completed before the polls early next year.

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The Uttarakhand government has set the target of making urban areas open defecation free (ODF) by March 2018 after the rural areas got the coveted tag earlier this year.

On June 22, the rural belt of Uttarakhand was declared ODF  the fourth state in India to achieve this feat after Kerala, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh  in the presence of Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar. According to the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), around 15.14 lakh houses have toilets in rural areas. As many as 42,944 of them got access to sanitation in this ongoing fiscal.

But activists say the practice of open defecation continues in many parts of the state and a lot remains to be done before the ODF tag can truly be celebrated. Uttarakhand has 13 districts, 95 blocks, 7,950 gram panchayats and 16,674 villages.

Social activist Ratan Aswal says the situation is the most concerning in Uttarkashi district. There are many villages in areas such as Mori, Purola, Badkot and Dunda which are yet to be fully covered, and so is in some parts of Ghat and Tharali tehsils in Chamoli district, says Aswal, who closely worked at the grassroot-level in the Garhwal hills.

There are some pockets where villagers either resist construction of toilets or are hesitant to use them due to certain dogmas, he says. For such areas, the government agencies will have to make persistent efforts to persuade villagers to use toilets. Theres also the issue of water supply or lack of water connections in toilets in many hilly areas. The concept of ODF cannot be truly realised without fixing them.

Even tourists face some awkward moments during their visit to Uttarakhand. I recently visited Rishikesh where I saw some people defecating near the Ganga at a nearby villageWhats the rush to declare ODF when what really needs to be done is sensitising the locals? said Paritosh Singh, a Delhi-based engineer who visited the holy cities of Rishikesh and Haridwar last month with his family.

Madan Kaushik, cabinet minister and official spokesperson of the state government, said that officials have been asked to work on war footing for achieving the ODF target. District magistrates have been made the nodal officers for monitoring the progress of ODF targets. We have set December 31 as the deadline for all urban local bodies and November 30 (deadline) for the six municipal corporations of the state to be turned into ODF, Kaushik said.

The minister said that third party evaluation will be carried out by the government to ensure that work under the ODF project was duly implemented on ground. Also, installment of grants (issued to local bodies under the state finance commission) will be held back for those (local bodies) which fail to meet the ODF targets on time, Kaushik said.

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Uttarakand forest officials on Saturday carried out an inspection of the spot from where a person arrested with two elephant tusks claimed he buried the carcass of the dead animal.

Officials arrested Mohammad Qasim, 35, on the charge of smuggling animal parts from his residence and booked under Sections 9, 39, 40, 44, 49A and 49B of the Wildlife Protection Act.

Qasim, who was arrested with the tusks from the Terai west forest division near Ramnagar early on Friday, told officials that he burned the bones of the dead elephant after extracting the tusks.

Officials said Qasim was trying to smuggle the animal parts and hand it over to an associate at Peerumdara when he was nabbed.

Qasim, a forest dweller, who lives in a thickly forested area of the division, told officials he found the dead tusker in his farmland and buried the carcass in the ground and once the carcass decomposed, he extracted the tusks and burned the bones.

Officials and wildlife activists, however, suspect that the elephant was poached.

Going by Qasims version, if the tusker was found dead, then why couldnt forest staff track it? questioned Rajeev Mehta, a wildlife activist.

There was no lacuna from our part as far patrolling is concerned, said DK Singh, divisional forest officer of Terai west forest division.

There could be a possibility that he killed the animal and is lying to us, he told Hindustan Times.

Qasim could not have buried the animal alone and must have taken help of locals, friends and family members, officials suspect.

Locals are involved in the case, otherwise he couldnt have pulled off the act without help, said Singh.

Officials did not find any traces of the dead animal at the site where Qasim claimed to have been buried it. Qasim will be taken to the spot where he claims he burnt the bones.

In 2016, a similar case was reported from the division, when two tusks were seized from a member of the Rai Sikh community.

In 2010, an elephant tusk was seized in Dehradun.

In 2009, a 35-year old elephant carcass without its tusks was recovered from the Chilawali range of the Rajaji National Park. A case under the Wildlife Protection Act was lodged.

Three more cases were reported the same year--two in Lansdowne and one in Kalagarh.

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Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has accused Delhi University of resorting to dirty politics on the issue of non-formation of college governing bodies.

The deputy chief minister also said that the teachers were suffering due to non-formation of college governing bodies as they were not getting their salaries.

Sisodia, who is also Delhis education minister, has now ordered the release of funds to be used for disbursal of one months salary in twelve colleges funded by the government as an interim relief.

The government and DU are involved in a tussle for over the last 18 months on the issue of formation of college governing bodies. The government had in July stopped the funding for 28 colleges  fully and partially funded by it  as the governing bodies were not yet formed.

Recently the colleges fully funded by the government had expressed their inability to give salaries to their staff for the month of October as their funds were over.

Due to the malafide and illegal actions of the University of Delhi, it is the teachers and karamcharis who are suffering as they are not getting their salaries. The DUTA has requested for interim relief for the teachers. On their request, I am ordering the release of funds for one months salary for the colleges fully funded by GNCTD, Sisodia said in a letter to the DU vice-chancellor Yogesh Tyagi.

Government officials said that they had sent a list of names for the governing bodies to the university after selecting it from a panel that DU had sent. But in October the university withdrew the original panel and sent a reduced panel for selection of names.

The governing body of each college has 15 members, out of which five are nominated by the government.

Sisodia said the actions of the university are totally unacceptable and that there was no basis for the withdrawal of the panel and for sending such a reduced panel of names.

We do not accept this withdrawal. The government of Delhi is making it clear that the list of governing bodies sent on August 25 is the final list and must be approved by the university, he said.

In June, the government had asked the colleges to not go ahead with faculty appointments till college governing bodies are formed.

A top DU official said that the letter will be placed in the universitys executive council meeting and a reply will be sent to the government.

However, the tone and tenor of the letter is not right. An education minister should not use such language for vice chancellor of a university, an official said.

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators Saurabh Bhardwaj and Madan Lal, who are heading the Petition and Privileges committees of the Delhi Assembly, on Saturday, urged the judiciary not to interfere in the proceedings of House panels. The leaders added that the Assembly would appoint a counsel so it has representation in court.

Their statement comes after several bureaucrats, against whom the Assembly panels had initiated action, recently got a stay from the Delhi High Court.

With the officers frequently approaching courts, Bhardwaj said that the Assembly would appoint its lawyers so that it has proper representation in court. We request the HC to respect the separation in the powers of judiciary and legislature which is clearly mentioned in the Constitution. We urge the court not to interfere in House proceedings, he said.

Recently, Public Works Department (PWD) principal secretary Ashwani Kumar had approached the HC which had stayed the breach of privilege proceedings initiated by the Privilege Committee of the Delhi Assembly. Chief secretary MM Kutty had also got a stay from the court on a show cause notice issued by an Assembly panel.

The leaders expressed surprise that the Central government had taken a contradictory stand in the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court on House committees. The attorney general, appearing before the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, last week stated that courts should not interfere in the functioning of committees constituted by the Parliament and legislatures of states, Bhardwaj said.

However, an additional solicitor general, appearing for the Central government in the Delhi High Court, took a contradictory stand and stated that the Centre has no objection to the court staying House committee proceedings, Bhardwaj added.

Speaking on the show cause notice issued to the PWD principal secretary by the Delhi High Court on Friday, he said the directive was exactly in line with fixing accountability of the executive, which the Assembly committees had been seeking over the past few months.

The HCs decision to issue a show cause notice proved that the accountability of delinquent officials was required to be fixed. The Assembly Committee on Petitions, in its report presented to the House in June, had found that the officials had lied about desilting of drains before monsoon, and it has now been proved that the same officer had lied to the HC as well, he said.

Privileges Committees chairperson Madan Lal alleged that the officers are running away from their responsibility.
Director General of Health Services, Prof Jagdish Prasad said Saturday the central government, in consultation with the Medical Council of India (MCI), was taking steps to revise the syllabus of the MBBS course.

He said the step is being taken to ensure that the MBBS students do not require to study in great detail many aspects of medical science in which they would specialise subsequently.

The new syllabus may be ready in another one and half years, Prasad said after addressing a public lecture on National Health Programmes at the SOA University.

What is the need to teach a student at MBBS level 10 different surgeries when all they need is to acquire a good knowledge as to how to treat common diseases, he said and urged students to take great care in studying the subjects of anatomy, physiology and pathology for a strong foundation.

While interacting with doctors and faculty members, Prof Prasad said the issue of antibiotic resistance was a raging topic world over and the government had requested MCI to make it mandatory for every medical college to have a pharmaco vigilance committee to monitor use of antibiotics.

Antibiotic resistance is worse than cancer as it cannot be treated and will kill, he said.

On certain diseases, Prasad said though leprosy eradication had been largely successful in most states, the problem persisted in the states of Odisha, Chhatisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand besides the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

The government has launched a door to door campaign to identify leprosy cases and 40,000 cases had been detected after health workers had visited 40 crore houses in these identified areas, he said while delivering the lecture.

In Odisha, 5,100 new cases had been identified, he said.

Prasad said Odisha, along with Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Meghalaya, accounted for 80% of malaria cases even as the government had drawn up a plan to eliminate the vector-borne disease in the country by 2025.

Odisha accounts for 40% of the malaria cases and we aim to reduce the incidence in the country by one-third this year, he said.

Pointing out that diabetes, hypertension, stroke, chronic obstructive lung disease and cancer were the five non-communicable ailments that accounted for around 60 per cent of deaths in the world, Prasad said most of these diseases could be kept at arms length only through healthy habits and lifestyle.

Regular exercise, yoga and abstinence from smoking and alcohol could help a person to avoid such non-communicable diseases, he said.
Homebuyers along Dwarka Expressway are planning to give a representation to the Gurgaon Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) demanding metro connectivity along the Northern Peripheral Road (NPR). They spoke to GMDA chief executive officer (CEO) Anand Mohan Sharan and are likely to meet him next week in this regard.

A week ago, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has submitted a metro connectivity route plan between Delhi and Gurgaon via old Gurgaon which does not cater to thousands of homebuyers along Dwarka Expressway in sectors 81 to 115. If the same is executed by the DMRC, it will be a big disappointment for us. That is why we have decided to meet the CEO and apprise him our concern in advance, said Prakhar Sahay, member of Dwarka Expressway welfare association.

He said the DMRCs proposed route caters to Bijwasan, Palam Vihar, Sector 37, Hero Honda Chowk, Sector 47, 45 and Huda City Centre.

The buyers are worried as they have booked homes in new projects being developed along the NPR and the developers assured them of metro connectivity.

NPR is 18km road between Dwarka and Kherki Daula on NH-8 catering to 35 residential and commercial sectors.

Gaurav Prakash, another homebuyer and member of the association, said, We want the Haryana government to advise the DMRC to plan a metro route along the NPR starting from Sector 110-111 near Bijwasan and New Palam Vihar and it should go via sectors 102, 103, 100, 99, 88, 84 and 81 near NH-8.

CEO Sharan said, The project is in the initial stage and the government has sought suggestions from residents. I believe these suggestions would be looked into as metro connectivity is being planned for the convenience of residents. We will be definitely considered all feedback. People can send their feedback the email id  gda.gurugram@gmail.com.

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Four gang members involved in the Mandpura rape case, who confessed to several other heinous crimes, were taken by the Gurgaon police to around ten crime spots in Gurgaon, Mewat and Jhajjar districts for identification (Nishandehi), and to re-enact the crime in some cases.

This was done to ensure that they were speaking the truth in their confessions.

The four have been identified as Dharmu, alias Lucky (20) and Munna, alias Ayaan (20), of Najafgarh, Delhi, Lambu, alias Tulli, alias Vinay (31), of Ballabhgarh, Haryana and Rajbir, alias Nahar Singh (20), of Jhajjar district in Haryana.

The four were taken to Dingarheri, Bhangrola, Khandewala, Manesar and Farrukhnagar where they had confessed to committing criminal acts, said the police.

Information given by the accused in their confessions, sources in police said, has affirmed the belief of the investigators that the accused were actually involved in the cases. In fact, in the Dingarheri case, the criminals took the police to the village themselves, and also identified the house where they had raped two woman including a minor girl, and killed a couple on the night of August 24, 2016. A police official, who is not authorised to speak to the media but is closely associated with the investigation, said, They told us how they entered the house where they spotted the victims. The places where the victims were hit, and the exact spots where the rapes took place. It is not possible for a person who is not present at the scene to describe it like they did.

However, as the Dingarheri rape and murder case is being investigated by the CBI, the police could not re-enact the exact scene of crime, and it is likely that the CBI, which is going to seek the four criminals on production warrant, might get it done.

While they were arrested by the police on September 13, their five associates were arrested from different places. They were identified as Naresh, Raka and Sunil Kumar who all hail from Farrukhabad, Ajay from Rewari, and Jai Bhagwan from Jhajjar.

Gurgaon police has also recovered a double barrel gun (doga) of 12 bore and two live cartridges - which were allegedly used in several crimes by the gang - from Dharmu, a key gang member.

Read I Gurgaon police arrest four in Mandpura gang-rape case

An official said that some gang members had snatched a double barrel gun from a retired army official, who was working as a security person in a power department in Jhajjar. In 2010, the accused had killed the person and snatched his rifle, which was not recovered at that time. Dharmu and some other gang members had even served time in prison for that murder, said an official.

A pistol, and three live cartridges have been recovered from Munna, and a desi Katta (handmade gun) and a cartridge were recovered from Lambu, the police said.

Sumit Kuhar, DCP crime, said that they have forwarded all the information obtained from the criminals to police of different districts in Haryana, Delhi, UP, and other states. The SIT has worked tirelessly to obtain information and verify facts but ultimately it will be the investigating teams who will verify the facts and take these cases forward, said Kuhar.

A team of Noida police had also visited Gurgaon on Friday and interacted with the police officials regarding the confessions made by them as some of the crimes happened in Noida.

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After getting no help from the developer and the administration, the residents of South City-I finally decided to build, repair and fix internal roads on their own and the work began three days ago.

The residents of South City-2 had earlier repaired internal roads with their own money after the developer refused to heed their appeal to repair roads for the past five to seven years.

Chandra Mohan Gupta, president of the residents welfare association (RWA), South City-1, said, We approached town planning department several times seeking its help in getting the developer (Unitech Limited) to repair colony roads but the officials turned down our appeals. We held a meeting of residents and everyone agreed to share the cost of road repair, thereby allowing the association to initiate the work.

RS Bhat, district town planner (DTP), Gurgaon, said, Residents in other areas also have done the same thing, as they were finding it uncomfortable to live with potholed roads. Private areas are in the process of being transferred from developers to local bodies.

This is good effort on their part, we appreciate it. Beyond that, we cannot comment anything more, said a Unitech spokesperson.

The RWA informed residents that each household would have to contribute about Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. The amount could be more, depending plot sizes and locations.

Every household happily agreed to the proposal and contributed money and we hired a private contractor. The work started three days ago. So far, nearly 1.5km road has been repaired. We have made a rough estimate of 5-6km of road  both 18 metre and 10 metre wide  that we need to repair, the RWA president said.

PS Dadwal, a resident, said, This is great initiative by the RWA. We are fed up with the developer who in past six to seven years has ignored our requests to fix the problem.

South City was developed by Unitech Limited two decades ago and the conditions of roads went from bad to worse over the years. The colony is yet to be transferred to the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) for civic maintenance.

The MCG refused to help us in fixing the roads since the colony has not been transferred to it. The DTP has failed to help us. So we decided to do this on our own, said Mukesh Sharma, resident, South City-1.

The MCG cannot extend any help in this regard as the area is not under its jurisdiction, said Dr Narhari Bangar, additional commissioner, MCG.

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At least 14 people were killed in coordinated car bombings followed by an attack on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday, a security official said.

"About 14 people, most of them civilians, were confirmed dead so far and the security forces are still working to ensure the area is clear," said security official Mohamed Moalim Adan.

"Sporadic gunfire" was continuing with at least two gunmen from the Shabaab Islamist group believed to be inside the Nasa Hablod Hotel 2, he added.



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Residents of Sector 71 and Sohna Road have alleged that despite repeated complaints to civic authorities about widespread dumping and burning of unsegregated waste in the area, no action has been taken.

Residents said that the fumes emitted by the charred remains of the waste dumped by several companies situated behind housing complexes in Sector 48, are posing a risk to the health of residents in and around the area.

There are large chunks of unused land in Sector 71 which is commonly used for dumping and burning waste. Although Sector 71 is largely home to urban settlers, residents said civic authorities have been negligent towards it.

Residents also claimed that five days ago, medical waste was set on fire near the society, posing a risk to hundreds of families, including children, settled within 100 metres of the area.

Hundreds of tonnes of plastic and hospital waste is being burnt in the open just behind the society. This poses a serious health concern for residents. How can the authorities be blind to such blatant violation of environmental norms? Vikas Jaiswal, a resident of CHD Avenue 71, said.

Residents said despite complaining to civic agencies, there is still no check on pollution in the area.

There are around 600 apartments in the complex housing nearly 2,000 people. All claimed to be suffering from breathing problems due to the burning of plastic and medical waste in Sector 48, adjacent to the complex.

Hospitals are meant to save lives, but they are operating as business houses and paying scant regard to the lives of residents. Government authorities seem to have forgotten that the employees get their salaries from taxpayers money and they are paid to serve residents and be responsible for their well being. While we pay our taxes diligently, the government has done little to provide basic infrastructure. Its a struggle to even breathe clean air these days. If the authorities start doing their jobs, pollution levels in the city will be reduced to a significant extent, Ravinder Singh, another resident, said.

Read I Gurgaon: Pollution watchdog raises air quality alert

On Thursday, residents reported open burning of waste to Sadar police station. A police team rushed to the spot and caught people allegedly involved in waste burning. We have received complaints from residents and will write to the deputy commissioner and pollution control board on the issue (waste burning). We nabbed some violators and a fine of 5,000 was imposed on each of them, Anil Kumar, ACP(Sadar), said.

Officials of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) said they will get an inspection of the area done and ensure prompt action. We will inspect the area and take immediate action. Whenever we receive a call from a resident, we rush to the spot and ensure prompt action is taken against the violator. We have been imposing fines and this issue (waste burning) will be dealt with, Vijender Sharma, senior sanitation officer, MCG, said.

Residents said they were being deprived of their basic right to breathe clean air. We have all been trying our best to bring our plight to the notice of the authorities, Monika Sharma, a resident of CHD Avenue 71, said.

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With the passing of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority Bill, 2017 in the state assembly, hopes for the launch of a dedicated bus service in the city have received a fresh boost.

In a step towards rolling out the bus service, the authority has floated tenders for two bus depots in sectors 10 and 54, while land for third depot in Sector 72 is being earmarked. The tenders were floated in second week of this month and the last date for applying is end of this month.

The authority had decided to purchase 500 CNG buses in a phased manner.

Tenders for the bus concessionaire will be floated as soon as the cabinet subcommittee approves the proposal for city bus that is much awaited, as there is no public transportation in Gurgaon.

A Committee of Secretaries on Infrastructure (CoSI) had in November last year approved the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)  Greater Gurgaon Urban Transport Services Limited  to own and operate the Gurgaon city bus service.

The proposal is scheduled to be sent to the cabinet subcommittee and as soon as the approval is received, tenders to finalise the bus concessionaire will be floated, said V Umashankar, additional chief executive officer GMDA and the commissioner of Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG).

At present, the Haryana transport department operates a fleet of 115 low floor buses of which 55 are air-conditioned. The fleet, however, falls short of meeting the citys demand, as 10% of vehicles remain stationed for repair and maintenance.

As per the plan, the Greater City Bus Service is to run 500 buses of which 45% will be air-conditioned. The frequency of the service will be 7.5-10 minutes. In a pre-proposal survey, the MCG had an estimated potential ridership of three lakh per day.

It is proposed that the MCG was to have 51% share in the SPV followed by 19% share of Haryana government, 25% of Haryana Industrial Development Board and 5% of the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC).

Gurgaon and its nearby areas do not have requisite public transportation services, because of which people have to depend on their own vehicles or hired vehicles for commute. More private vehicles on roads lead to frequent snarls.

A city cannot survive without an effective public transport solution and Gurugram is no exception. The city should have got a high-quality bus system a decade earlier. However, it is, indeed, heartening to hear that things are finally falling into place and the city will finally get its dedicated bus service. It will help in improving air quality as well as reducing road traffic and accidents in the city, Sarika Panda, manager, Cities and Transport, World Resources Institute-India, said.

In the absence of reliable city bus service, people are compelled to use their private vehicles. A quality bus service will also put an end to recurrent traffic jams, Sanjeev Saxena, an activist who strives to raise public awareness on road accidents, said.

However,the buses should be procured as per the width of roads, as the standard 60-70 seater buses might add to traffic jams, Saxena said.

To make commuting smoother:

Bus depots to come up at sectors 10, 54, and 72

City bus service proposal approved by Committee of Secretaries on Infrastructure (CoSI) in November, to be forwarded to Cabinet subcommittee now

GMDA to purchase 500 low floor CNG buses in a phased manner of which 45% will be air-conditioned

Frequency of the service will be 7.5 to 10 minutes

Presently, the Haryana transport department operates a fleet of 115 low floor buses of which 55 are air-conditioned

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Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot has dropped out of an awards celebration honouring director and producer Brett Ratner.

Gadot was set to present the Tree of Life Award to Ratner at a dinner for the Jewish National Fund on Sunday at the Loews Hollywood Hotel. However, the actor backed out of the event within the last 24 hours, reports variety.com.

Gadots representatives did not respond to repeated requests for comment by Variety. Ratners representatives also declined to comment.

Nina Gordon, a spokeswoman working on the event, said the organisation was told that Gadot had a scheduling conflict.

Apparently she is stuck on promo stuff for Justice League for China, and shes not going to be back in time. We just found this out and everyone is scrambling, Gordon said.

In an Instagram post on Friday, Gadot said: Thats it for now, China. Thank you for having us.

Thats it for now, China. Thank you for having us . Its been so great seeing this beautiful place , enjoying all the magical sites, delicious food and amazing fans! Your love and support is not taken for granted.   A post shared by Gal Gadot (@gal_gadot) on Oct 27, 2017 at 3:36am PDT

The news of Gadots withdrawal from the event comes as leading Hollywood figures face increasing scrutiny in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sex harassment scandal.

Ratner was once accused of masturbating in front of actor Olivia Munn on a movie set. Ratner is also close friends with director James Toback, whom more than 300 women have recently accused of sexual misconduct.

Gadot posted recently on Instagram saying Bullying and sexual harassment is unacceptable! I stand by all the courageous women confronting their fears and speaking out. Together we stand. We are all united in this time of change.

Ratner is best known as director of the Rush Hours movies and X-Men: The Last Stand.

A post shared by Gal Gadot (@gal_gadot) on Oct 13, 2017 at 7:17am PDT

Somewhere in Hollywood Brett Ratner is crossing his finger silently praying, "Please don't mention me, please don't mention me."  Michael Andrews (@Michael76170684) October 23, 2017

Looks like the hammer is finally about to drop on Brett Ratner. https://t.co/tPdA6dXjjy  Mike McGranaghan (@AisleSeat) October 27, 2017

In case you wanted to vomit down your shirt, here's a quote Brett Ratner gave Variety this January. pic.twitter.com/qDGjS9msdh  Simon Miraudo (@simonmiraudo) October 24, 2017

#BrettRatner admits lying about having sex with Olivia Munn "Shes actually talented. The problem is I made her look like shes a whore." 1/  marti noxon (@martinoxon) October 28, 2017

Waiting for Jared Leto, Brett Ratner, Michael Bay, Bruce Weber, Kevin Spacey and Bryan Singer to be exposed for what they truly are. Scum.  saint lil ron (@BlackJesusWept) October 18, 2017

17/ Brett Ratner, a man that masturbated with cocktail sauce in front of actress Olivia Munn pic.twitter.com/CkZe8BPTzP  Curse (@cursedsalad) October 22, 2017

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Actor Emma Thompson has revealed that she was once asked out on a date by the current President of the United States, Donald Trump, and she told him to f**k off.

Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, Thompson said: He asked me out once. I could have changed the course of history! I was in my trailer and the phone rang - no one had every rung it nor had I ever used it. I had assumed it didnt work. It was Donald Trump on the other end - I thought someone was having a laugh so told him to f**k off.

To which, Trump replied, Come and stay in one of my apartments and maybe we could have dinner. I didnt know what to say. I was absolutely astounded because how did he get the number that even I didnt have. I said I would get back to him but I never did.

The star wishes she had taken his offer all those years ago because maybe she would have been able to pick his brains and prevent him from winning the US presidential election in 2016.

In so many ways I wish I had because I could have ruffled his hair and we would then all have known the truth! And maybe he wouldnt have been president, she said.

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More than 450 people will face criminal charges for wrongly certifying 155 villages as open defecation-free (ODF) under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

ADM Niaz Khan had constituted several teams of 250 officers to physically verify the claims and found that over 2,000 people were found defecating in the open. In some cases, toilets had not been constructed while in others villagers were not using them.

Khan said that the cases would be against the sarpanch, secretary and the employment assistant in each village. He said the committee responsible for quality check in these villages will also be booked. I have informed the state government and asked the respective janpad CEOs to file FIRs, he said.

Khan said he took the step after receiving several complaints that many villages had been wrongly given the ODF tag. The ADM said that he would send a team of officials who will stay put in these villagers for the next 10 days to ensure that the villages are actually ODF.

Kundol sarpanch Rakesh Singh said that they were being wrongly targeted. When the certificate was given people were using the toilets, but now they are not using them. What can we do?
An Italian Prime Minister is set to arrive in India on Sunday after a gap of 10 years  nearly four of which saw a strain in India-Italy ties over two Italian marines killing Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala in 2012.

The visit is aimed at strengthening the bilateral political and economic relations between the two countries, external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said about Italian Prime Minister, Paolo Gentilonis visit to India.

The strain in India-Italy ties had spillover effect on Delhis relationship with European Union, countrys largest trading bloc. The last visit of an Italian Prime Minister to India was in February 2007.

Gentiloni will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the capital on Monday.

Diplomatic ties took a hit after two Italian marines, Latorre Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone were arrested on charges of killing two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala in 2012.

Italy claimed the ship they were on when they committed the crime, Enrica Lexie, was in international waters and that only the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea should apply, questioning the Indian governments jurisdiction over the case. Rome also said the marines, who were on official duty, enjoyed diplomatic impunity. India argued against all these positions.

While Latorre returned to Italy in September 2014 following an order of the Supreme Court issued on health grounds, Girone was allowed to go in May 2016. They are now in Italy, pending the verdict by the arbitration court at the Hague.

Prime Minister Gentiloni will be accompanied by his wife and a 15-member Italian CEOs delegation. Italy is Indias 5th largest trading partner in the EU with a bilateral trade of $8.79 billion in 2016-17, as per official figures.

Indias exports to Italy are at $4.90 billion, while its imports are at $3.89 billion, resulting in a trade imbalance of $1 billion in favour of India. In the first four months of fiscal 2017-18, bilateral trade has reached $3.22 billion.

There are over 600 Italian companies in India in various sectors such as fashion, textiles and textile machinery, automotives, auto components, energy and insurance.

Italy has the third largest presence of Indian community with an estimated 1,80,000 people after the UK and the Netherlands.

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Seven pilgrims, all women, were killed and six others injured when the auto rickshaw in which they were travelling collided head on with a speeding truck in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh in the early hours of Saturday.

According to the police, there were in all 13 women in the overcrowded auto rickshaw. All of them hailed from Allavaram village and were on their way to famous Lord Venkateshwara Swamy temple at Vadapalli.

As they were crossing Modekurru village under Kothapet block, a sand-laden truck coming from the opposite direction at a high speed rammed into the auto rickshaw.

Some of the passengers were thrown out of the vehicle, while other got crushed under the wheels of the truck.

Six of them died on the spot and another woman died while being shifted to Kakinada government hospital. The condition of other injured is said to be critical.

The deceased were identified as: Ch Nagamani, P Bhavani, P Parvathi, D Ananta Lakshmi, P Lakshmi, P Durga and Jagadeeshwari.

The accident caused a huge traffic jam on Ravulapalem-Amalapuram highway for more than two hours.

Ravulapalem inspector B Peddi Raju said police have registered a case and investigation is on.

State home minister and deputy chief minister N Chinna Rajappa called on the injured at the Kakinada hospital and directed the doctors to provide them the best treatment.

There had been several incidents of accidents involving speeding sand-laden trucks in the state as well as in neighbouring Telangana in the last few months.

In April this year, as many as 20 people were killed and 15 others injured when a sand-laden lorry ran over them at Yerpedu town in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.

In August this year, three people were killed in accidents involving sand-laden trucks in a span of one month at the same spot at Nerella village of Rajanna Siricilla district in Telangana.

The agitated villagers set ablaze two trucks, as a result of which the police arrested eight people, all Dalits and OBCs, and allegedly subjected them to physical torture. This triggered a nation-wide outrage.

Most of the accidents involving sand trucks happened in the night or in the early hours because they indulge in alleged illegal transportation of sand only after midnight to avoid being caught by the authorities.

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Prompted by a Patna high courts order, the Bihar government, on Saturday, announced a three-member commission, headed by a retired senior IAS officer, to probe into allegations of irregularities in verification, distribution and redistribution of plots among the landless under Bhoodan movement.

The court had asked for a thorough probe into the matter after a string of cases were filed in various courts, including the Patna HC, alleging large scale irregularities in distribution of Bhoodan land by the Bihar Bhoodan Yajna Samiti.

The state government had set up the samiti for management and distribution of about 6.49 lakh acres of land which was donated by individuals on the call of freedom fighter and social reformer Acharya Vinoba Bhawe in 1951.

As per the reports submitted by the Bhoodan body, it had distributed about 2.56 lakh acres of land among the needy and about 5750 acres of plots were yet to be distributed. Plots measuring 3.86 lakh acre had some issues and hence not fit for distribution.

The state cabinet, at its meeting chaired by chief minister Nitish Kumar, gave its nod for constitution of the probe commission on Saturday. The commission has been given two years time to scrutinise the documents of land donation, distribution and redistribution since the Bhoodan Yajna Samiti was constituted under an act notified in 1954.

Principal secretary of cabinet secretariat department Brajesh Mehrotra said a retired senior IAS officer and two retired officers of the Bihar administration service would be nominated by the state government. He said the commission would also inquire into the status of plots that were received as donation but could not be distributed owing to some technical issues.

Besides the chairman, who retired from a senior position, two officers of the BAS, who retired from joint secretary or above ranks, would be nominated as members. An officer of BAS or of the Bihar secretariat service, who is serving in the revenue and land reforms department in the rank of under secretary, will as function as the convener, said Mehrotra.

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The Congress hit back at the BJP on Saturday over failed Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupanis demand that its leader Ahmed Patel resign from the Rajya Sabha on charges that a suspected ISIS operative used to work at a hospital where the latter had been a trustee.

Launching a counter-attack, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the BJP resorted to such sinister conspiracy due to its trepidation of defeat in Gujarat, which goes to assembly polls in two phases in December this year.

Surjewala said that neither Patel nor his family members were trustees of the hospital, named after Sardar Patel, or had any role in its administration.

Surjewala stressed that the issues relating to national security are not toyed with or politicised and listed names of its leaders including former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi who sacrificed their lives in the fight against terrorism.

Seeking to turn the tables on the BJP, he also asked the saffron party to come clear as to why the central and Maharashtra governments were clueless when underworld don Dawood Ibrahims wife visited Mumbai and flew back to Pakistan last year. Surjewala also asked whether it was true that former Maharashtra minister Eknath Khadse had to step down owing to his links with Dawood Ibrahim.

Two suspected ISIS operatives were arrested by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) three days ago. According to an FIR, one of the accused, Kasim Stimberwala, earlier worked as a technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district.

At a press conference yesterday, the Gujarat chief minister said, This is a serious issue, as a terrorist was arrested from a hospital which is being run by Ahmed Patel...Patel, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress must come clean on the issue. We also want Patel to resign as Rajya Sabha MP.

Rupani has resorted to making such despicable statements and conspiracy for the BJP is afraid that 6.5 crore Gujaratis are going to reject it completely (in the Assembly polls). This shows the level to which the failed chief minister can stoop to out of fear of BJPs defeat, Surjewala said in a statement.

Referring to Ahmed Patels tweets on the episode, Surjewala said the senior leader himself has called for strict action by the Gujarat ATS in the case.

Surjewala said that the BJP should not teach it lessons on national security.

He alleged that the BJP-led governments and its leaders have proved to be weak in the fight against terrorism.

Is it not true that the PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir offered compensation and job to the family of (Hizbul Mujahideen commander) Burhan Wani? Isnt it true that the state government made Asiya Andrabi, involved in anti-India activities, ambassador of Beti Bachao (save girl) campaign? he asked.

Surjewala also referred to the 1999 Kandahar plane hijack episode to attack the BJP and asked didnt the previous NDA government release (extremist group Jaish-e-Mohammads chief) Maulana Masood Azhar and others in Afghanistan?

Speaking to reporters earlier at the Congress headquarters, Congress leader Pawan Khera said Rupani had levelled allegations against Patel as the BJP was seeking revenge of its defeat in Rajya Sabha election in Gujarat.

Patel had won the contest.
The Bharatiya Janata Party accused Ahmed Patel on Saturday of having deep relations with a Gujarat hospital where an alleged Islamic State operative worked before his arrest, even as the Congress defended its senior leader and dubbed the demand for his resignation from the Rajya Sabha as outrageous.

Patel, political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is in the eye of a political storm after Gujarat ATS arrested two suspected Islamic State operatives from Surat for allegedly planning terror attacks.

One of them was Kasim Stimberwala, who worked as a laboratory technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district with which Patel had been associated as a trustee.

Patel has deep relations with the hospital since 1979. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi owe an explanation to the people (on this issue), Union minister and senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters in New Delhi.

Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani had on Friday sought the resignation of Patel from the Rajya Sabha.

This is a serious issue, as a terrorist was arrested from a hospital which is being run by Ahmed Patel...Patel, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress must come clean on the issue. We also want Patel to resign as Rajya Sabha MP, Rupani told a press conference.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who was in Gujarats Rajkot on Saturday, called Rupanis demand outrageous.

I am amazed by this kind of outrageous demand. Ahmed Patel was a trustee of the hospital and had resigned in 2015. This person who was arrested seems to have joined the hospital as a technician last year and had resigned a couple of days prior to his arrest, the former Union minister said.

Now, if somebody who has joined in the last one year as a technician has ISIS connect, then how a trustee of three years ago is responsible? he asked at a press conference.

Patel had rejected the charge as completely baseless, and urged the BJP not to politicise matters pertaining to national security and divide the peace-loving Gujaratis.

The Congress communications department head Randeep Surjewala also slammed the BJP for its attack on Patel, one of the partys key stragetists and a long-standing Gandhi family loyalist, calling it a sinister conspiracy.

Surjewala said neither Patel nor his family members were trustees of the hospital, named after Sardar Patel, or had any role in its administration.

Mounting a counter-offensive, Surjewala also asked the saffron party to come clean on why the central and Maharashtra governments were clueless when underworld don Dawood Ibrahims wife visited Mumbai and flew back to Pakistan last year.

Rupani has resorted to making such despicable statements and conspiracy for the BJP is afraid that 6.5 crore Gujaratis are going to reject it completely (in the assembly polls). This shows the level to which the failed chief minister can stoop to out of fear of BJPs defeat, Surjewala said in a statement in the national capital.

He alleged that the BJP-led governments and its leaders have proved to be weak in the fight against terrorism.

Surjewala referred to the 1999 Kandahar plane hijack episode to attack the BJP, asking didnt the previous NDA government release (extremist group Jaish-e-Mohammads chief) Maulana Masood Azhar and others in Afghanistan?
According to 2017 census, Egypts population stands at nearly 95 million, plus an estimated 9.4 million living abroad. In addition to many other millions who left over many decades and never returned, so they are unaccounted for

My bet is that those 9.4 million, and the many others who have fallen through the cracks, are Egyptian by birth, schooling, and rearing. Yes, they lived much of their adult lives elsewhere, and yet, in spite of the distances and the miles, Egypt remains in their hearts, and they carry deep-rooted affection towards it.

Furthermore, these Egyptians gained more respect for and allegiance towards their homeland in the last few years. Egypt was and will always be in their hearts, but when they realised that it was about to disintegrate when the Muslim Brotherhood took over, they began to appreciate it further and to worry about it even more.

The emigrating phenomenon amongst Egyptians did not happen until the sixties of the last century. Egyptians were known to travel to study or visit other places, but they always returned. The exodus began, not only in dual citizens such as Greeks, Italians, Syrians, and Armenians who sought refuge and better lives elsewhere, but also Jews, and more often than not, Copts.

Then in the seventies, the educated Egyptians left. By the eighties, and mainly for economic purposes, Egyptians from all walks of life tried to find work elsewhere. It was a definite shift in paradigm.

Those who immigrated to other parts of the world, the US, Australia, and Canada, carried the same partiality and fondness for Egypt as the work seekers who went to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates.

Egypt rarely went after the support of outbound Egyptians. It was always up to the Egyptian diaspora to return and serve if they so chose. The Sir-Magdi-Yacoub and the Professor-Ahmed-Zeweil examples are many and deserve our appreciation, but Egypt should woo the Egyptian diaspora into remaining loyal to Egypt and endorsing it in every way possible.

And in all fairness connecting immigrants to Egypt has never been easier. And the earlier version of immigrant who knows nothing about his/her birthplace doesnt construe much in this day and age.

Via social media, I am surrounded by Egyptian diaspora who care about Egypt. My Twitter friend who hasnt set foot on Egyptian soil in forty years is willing to go back to Egypt, for good, though I warned her that she may find it challenging. My Facebook friend who left Egypt 54 years ago is curious to know who is who and posts photos of renowned Egyptians and asks us to identify them.

Others resort to live streaming of ON TV, CBC Egypt, DMC, and other TV channels to remain abreast of the happenings in Egypt. They chat about Ossama Kamals guests and Lamees El Hadidis latest endeavour. They examine Amr Adeeb and Yousef El Hussainy's outbursts as though they never left Egypt.

And my Los Angeles friend, who hasnt set foot on Egyptian soil in 30 years, breaks into tears with every fallen Egyptian soldier.

These millions are a wealth that should not be overlooked, a strength that should be recognized for what its worth.

So today I ask how Egypt can utilize this powerful force to its benefit.

First and foremost, Egyptians with dual citizenship must show allegiance to their new countries. By being the best Canadians or Australians, they exemplify what an Egyptian is all about: law-abiding and hard working citizens. When their fellow Canadians or Australians regard them by origin, Egyptian, they would be portraying a commendable image.

Simultaneously, the diaspora must utilize every opportunity to promote Egypt. It is hard enough as it is that western media continues to draw a grim picture of Egypt. Thats why Egyptians, from afar, should work on proving how wrong western media are by commenting on articles that speak ill of Egyptmost papers allow commenting, and by linking non-Egyptians to articles that speak saliently of Egypt.

Now for the other face of the coin. Egypt must assist these Egyptians in their efforts to promote Egypt. First, this can be realised by stationing exemplary ambassadors and impeccable consulate officials all over the world, ones who are able to both support their fellow countrymen/women and communicate succinctly with the citizens of the countries they are ambassadors to.

Efficient consulates must first support Egyptians abroad, keeping them abreast, via email, of social and cultural events and visiting dignitaries. Official Facebook pages can be established in different countries, so permanent residents of these countries can follow these pages and learn the facts from the source.

Consulates bring over delegations from the Egyptian Civil Registry to facilitate paper work completion and passport and social insurance numbers renewal. Egyptians need to be informed of such visits ahead of time.

Simultaneously, Egyptian embassies must do their best to promote Egypt in the eyes of host countries. The Egyptian ambassador to Canada takes trips around Canada to speak to Egyptians and non-Egyptians alike. The Egyptian ambassadors in Canada and the US write articles in western news outlets to counteract what the western media says about Egypt.

And yet further changes must be implemented to bond these dual citizens to their homeland. By allowing Egyptians and their offsprings overseas to renew passports, social insurance numbers, and miscellaneous documentation, these Egyptians will remain Egyptians. By simplifying the bureaucracy, the allegiance will remain steadfast. While, by making it tougher to sustain the bond, Egyptians will lose interest in Egypt, something nobody wants.

Today, media, standard and social, play an immense role in maintaining the connection between Egyptians and their homeland. It has become quite easy to access all the Egyptian TV channels, read all the Egyptian papers, and comment on both. As I sit and watch Osama Kamals program in my living room in Heliopolis, a hotel in Sharm, the cruise ship on the Mediterranean, or during a visit to the States, I tweet my view, he reads my tweet on air, and then responds. With a click on my smart phone or laptop keyboard, I am in Egypt and amongst Egyptians.

Dr. Michael Morgans program American Pulse is taped in New York and airs on the Egyptian channel El Kahera Wal Nas, and it is the first program of its kind. It links the diaspora to Egypt, and Egypt to the diaspora. It speaks from the US about Egyptians living in the US and about the United States in general.

Al Masriya, the Egyptian State TV channel, produces a program titled Wessal (Connections). It is produced from various locations where the Egyptian diaspora lives. From Melbourne, Australia, to Wales, Britain, it focuses on the needs of Egyptians abroad.

More similar programs should be established to connect the two worlds.

Egyptian officials must not only target tourists and foreign investors but also Egyptians abroad. Egyptians must be allowed to share in the building of Egypt, to invest in Egyptian projects, and to donate to charities. The tools to give, online, credit cards, sms messages, are in abundance.

But it is not all about donating, lending, or giving to Egypt, its about allegiance and sustaining the bond between the diaspora and their homeland. Only then will the diaspora visit Egypt, contribute in Egypts growth, and share in the responsibility of building their birthplace, Egypt.

The writer is an academic, political analyst, and author of Cairo Rewind: the First Two Years of Egypt's Revolution, 2011-2013.

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The Chhattisgarh government decided on Saturday to request a CBI investigation into a video CD allegedly containing the PWD ministers sexual escapade, which he had denied.

The state cabinet decided to hand the case to the central agency after an hour-long meeting.

Whole Congress is involved in this conspiracy and it is an attempt to create an impact on the elections scheduled in other states, said minister Prem Prakash Pandey, announcing the cabinets decision.

The state wrote to the Union government about its wish for a CBI probe.

The sex CD, as the clips come to be known, triggered a political slugfest after Chhattisgarh police on Friday charged state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel and senior journalist Vinod Verma, who was arrested earlier in the day, with trying to blackmail the minister and extort money and favours from him.

Several charges were slapped on Baghel and Verma after a fresh complaint was lodged against them by PWD minister Rajesh Munat, who accused the duo of trying to tarnish his image with a fake CD.

For his part, Baghel said the government was trying to cover up the case.

I demand a probe under the supervision a Supreme Court judge because the CBI has been misused by the BJP government. This is an attempt by the Chhattisgarh government to save its minister, he said.

The ruling BJP countered that a CBI probe was necessary because criminals made what it called a fake video to malign a minister.

The state BJP unit alleged that Baghel was part of the conspiracy.

Verma, who allegedly have the CD, was arrested from his home in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad. He was booked under sections 384 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for extortion and intimidation.

The journalist was arrested barely 12 hours after a complaint was lodged at Pandari police station in Chhattisgarhs Raipur district by the BJPs state working committee member Prakash Bajaj.

In his complaint, Bajaj said an unidentified person called in his landline number and threatened to release a pornographic CD of the minister.

The call was traced to a shop in New Delhi, where Verma had allegedly ordered reprints of the CD.

Verma said he was framed and denied having the CD.

Someone gave me a 1-minute-31-second clip in a pen drive on October 24 and as a backup I saved it in my laptop . Police have planted the CD story. It is a political conspiracy to frame me in a false case since I am looking after the social media campaign of the Congress in Chhattisgarh, he said.

Verma was brought to Raipur on a transit remand.

A member of the Editors Guild of India, he worked for BBC and Amar Ujala before. He is in a fact-finding committee to assess arrests of journalists in Chhattisgarh and challenges faced by them in the state.

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Government employees in Bihars Bhagalpur district will have to furnish a declaration stating that neither they nor their immediate relatives have taken loan from the scam-tainted Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti for receiving their November salary.

The Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti, a cooperative society based at Sabour in Bhagalpur district, 240 km east of Patna, has been identified as the beneficiary of the more than Rs 1,400-crore government fund transfer scam.

District magistrate (DM) Adesh Titirmare, in an order issued on Tuesday, directed the drawing and disbursement officer of different departments to forward to the treasury only those salary bills which are enclosed with the declaration by employees.

The employees who had taken loan from Srijan or whose relatives had received money from the cooperative society would be required to furnish details of transactions to the senior deputy collector (establishment), the order said.

More than 10,000 government employees, including officers, posted in different departments of the district will be affected by the order, the copy of which is in possession of HT.

The treasury officer has been also intimated about the order.

Earlier, CBI probe as well as internal inquiry into the scam revealed that many government employees and their relatives who became members of Srijan Mahila Sahyog Samiti had had received loan and illegal grants from the cooperative society.

The Srijan scam came to light when a Bhagalpur district urban development authority (DUDA) cheque for Rs 10.32 crore, issued by the district magistrate under the Mukahyamantri Shaheri Vikas Yojana, bounced on account of lack of funds.

The CBI took over the investigation of the scam after chief minister Nitish Kumar recommended a probe by the premier investigating agency.

The size and scope of the scam has be increasing by the day and so far diversion of more than Rs 1,400-crore fund of from various departments in Bhagalpur, Banka and Saharsa districts to the Srijan has been detected. Nineteen FIRs have already been registered for the alleged diversion of funds in Bhagalpur and the CBI has interrogated nearly 15 officials, including IAS and bank officers. The IAS officers questioned by the investigating agency were earlier posted at Bhagalpur.

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A CBI court on Saturday rejected the bail plea of Inspector General of Police (IGP) ZH Zaidi in the case of custodial death of an accused in the rape-and-murder of a teenage girl in Kotkhai in Himachal Pradesh.

The court extended the judicial remand of Zaidi, deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Manoj Joshi and six other policemen by two weeks up to November 12 in the case.

Zaidi, the then Theog DSP Joshi, the then station house officer of Kotkhai, one assistant sub-inspector, three head constables and one constable were arrested by the CBI on August 29.

Suraj Singh, an accused in the rape-and-murder case, was killed allegedly by another accused in the case at Kotkhai police station on the intervening night of July 18 and 19, triggering a massive public outrage.

Suraj Singh, a 29-year-old labourer from Nepal, was among six people arrested by the local police.

The remaining five accused in the rape-and-murder case have been released on bail as the CBI failed to file the charge sheet within 90 days.

Zaidi was heading a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case of rape-and-murder of the minor school girl in Kotkhai area of Shimla in early July.

The case was later transferred to the CBI on the orders of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

The Class X student had gone missing on July 4 and her naked body was recovered from Haliala forests in Kotkhai on July 6.

The CBI has so far submitted six status reports and the high court has directed the CBI to file the charge sheet in the custodial death case by November 30.
With the poll code in place in Himachal Pradesh, the 8.8-km long Rohtang tunnel got a quiet opening on Friday. Far from the din, villagers of Lahaul and Spiti district celebrated the breakthrough in a religious way by gathering at Sissu, the north portal of the tunnel. The district, which remains cut off for six months a year, will be open to traffic for the first time this winter.

Rejoicing what they described a freedom from the remoteness, the locals celebrated Lahaul Utsav as the head abbot lit a small lamp at the Key monastery. Tulku Lochen Lama, the head abbot of Key monastery, told Hindustan Times over the phone, It is a dream come true for us. There is no end to peoples happiness today.

The Buddhist leader also asked the people to preserve their rich cultural heritage, saying that the tunnel will transform their life.

The country got freedom 70 years ago, but the people of Lahaul and Spiti have got freedom in true sense today.

Rigzin Hayreppa, a local

The tunnel is not only strategic from the defence point of view, it will also transform the economy and help end the hardships of people in the region, said Rigzin Hayreppa, a local.

The function was organised by Rohtang Tunnel Ayojan Samiti, an apolitical front of the locals. In the wake of the election code of conduct, locals managed to keep the celebrations non-political even as local leaders, owing allegiance to Congress and BJP, attempted to derive political mileage and take credit for the tunnel.

We allowed the gathering at the helipad as it was a non-political function, said Dewa Singh Negi, deputy commissioner of Lahaul and Spiti. To avoid controversy, officials of the border road organisation, the key agency undertaking the construction of the tunnel, did not participate in the function.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman had visited Rohtang tunnel on October 15 to inspect work on the tunnel. On the same day, the border road organisation achieved a breakthrough with the two ends of the tunnel Dhundhi (south portal) and Sissu, north portal, meeting.

The digging work of the 8.8-kilometre all-weather Tunnel has been completed but civil works is going on and will be completed by 2019, said a BRO official on the condition of anonymity.

The BRO, along with the locals, had planned a function to mark the breakthrough. However, the code of conduct came into the force on October 13.  We had planned programme much in advance but somehow it got delayed. We really wanted to celebrate the historic day,said Prem Singh, a retired police officer who headed the celebrations.

Tunnel to bring down distance between Manali and Leh

The tunnel in Himachal Pradesh will bring down the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 kilometres. Currently, the distance between the two towns is 474 kilometres, which takes six to eight hours to cover. The tunnel will reduce the travel time by two-and-a-half hours. The speed limit in the tunnel is 80km/h or 50mph.

Conceived in 1998, the project was announced by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on June 3, 2000.

This will help accelerate troop mobility to the strategic frontiers in Jammu and Kashmir, besides providing a road link to Lahaul and Spiti in winter.

At present, people in the tribal district are dependent on the government-run helicopter services in winter.

The horse-shoe shaped road tunnel will be functional for emergency vehicles through this winter but will get fully operational by August 15, 2019. The project, started in 2010, and was to be completed in February 2015, but water ingress from Seri Nullah, ban on rock mining, delay in allotment of land needed for quarrying, and loose rock strata in the middle led to a slowdown.

The BRO will continue working on the north portal even after mid-November. Usually, work is halted in winter when the Rohtang Pass is cut off from the rest of the world due to snowfall.

The estimated cost of the project in 2010 was Rs 1,700 crore. It was revised to Rs 2,000 crore in 2015 and now the projected cost by 2019 is Rs 4,000 crore.

Conceived in 1998, the project was announced by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on June 3, 2000. The work was entrusted to BRO on May 6, 2002. United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation stone of the project on June 28, 2010.

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Bangladesh railway minister Mujibal Haque said an initiative has been taken to reconnect railway lines with India in 12 places, which were snapped after partition of the country in 1947.

We want to restore all the railway lines which existed before the partition of India. Now the initiative is on to restore rail connectivity in 12 places between Bangladesh and India. Both the governments are cooperating with each other in this regard, he told reporters here last evening.

Haque was in the capital to attend a conference of Rotary Clubs of both the countries. Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar inaugurated the conference.

The Bangladesh minister said the second rail bridge on the Titas and the Bhoirab rivers in Brahmanbaria district of his country was completed with funding from India, and that it would be inaugurated soon.

Apart from the Moitree Express which runs between Dhaka and Kolkata, he said another train Bandhan Express to run between Khulna in Bangladesh and Kolkata, was likely to be launched next month.

There is also a proposal from Bangladesh side to launch a train to connect Rajshahi in Bangladesh and Kolkata, he said.

Haque noted that the progress of the 15-km long ongoing Agartala-Akhaura project was satisfactory and land acquisition for the purpose in Bangladesh side was complete.

Land acquisition for the project in Indian side has also been completed, West Tripura District Magistrate and Collector, Milind Ramteke told reporters earlier.

The Central government has released Rs 97.63 crore to acquire the land, he said.

The process of laying railway tracks to connect Agartala with Akhaura in Bangladesh would be completed next year, Haque said.

Out of the 15-km track, five km would be on Indian side and the rest in Bangladesh.

Ramteke stated that the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) was the nodal agency for implementation of the project in Indian side.

Former railway minister Suresh Prabhu and Haque had jointly laid the foundation stone of the project here on July 31 last.

A flyover of 3.7 km will be constructed on the Indian side to save cultivable lands and the entire project cost will be borne by the central government.

New Delhi is keen to establish the rail link as it will connect West Bengal and Tripura through Bangladesh.

The 1,700 km distance between Agartala and Kolkata, which goes through the chicken neck in Siliguri, would be reduced to 350 km if passengers could move through Bangladesh, officials said.
We were crying, both of us were crying. It was a very emotional moment... it was a big sense of relief. This was how Rajesh Talwar, father of Aarushi Talwar, described his feelings after his release from jail.

In their first interview after their acquittal in connection with the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case, Rajesh and his wife Nupur appeared on Hotstar, an online video streaming platform, and spoke about their experience in Dasna jail, acquittal and memories of daughter Aarushi.

The Talwars were convicted by a Ghaziabad trial court in November, 2013. On October 12, the Allahabad high court acquitted them in the case after nearly four years.

After being confined for so long ... You suddenly come into freedom... Its a little scary... to face people, to face the world... to go back into the world... Its a difficult thing which you have to slowly learn, Rajesh said.

The Talwars said that they now just want to live with Aarushis memories and want to do something for her.

They said the public perception changed after the court order. When we went to the Golden Temple immediately after our release, there were people coming up to us who you know showed sympathy and empathy towards us, Rajesh said.

There was a time after the bail was rejected and the appeal was not being heard... it was put on hearing but it had not been heard yet. It was the time when our friend came into our life and gave us some hope about everything... about how to live in jail, about how to help people. He told us not just to help people but also to talk to people. When you talk to people, we realise that everybody is in pain, everybody is suffering, he said.

The Talwars said that losing Aarushi was irreparable and inconsolable.

Its a huge huge void... nothing can fill. There was a young girl (in jail) who I grew close to and used to sleep next to me. She cared for me and she spoke to me just like Aarushi. These four years we survived because of the fact that this young girl was there with me, Nupur said.

On the judgment and their release, Rajesh said, I have read quite a bit... It is almost like a complete exoneration. The judgment is in front of everyone... I just want to live with Aarushis memories and do some work for her..

So, if something can happen, and if the system can improve and, you know... This should never happen to anybody again, he said.

God is the biggest judge, Nupur said, replying to a question about the killers of Aarushi and Hemraj.

Who killed Hemraj?

We cant comment... we dont know anything of it. Personally feel for him. Its not that we didnt want to help him at that time. We did try that also, but we didnt get any kind of response at that time. I am still waiting... whatever I can do, in whichever way I can, Ill do, Rajesh said.

Aarushi and Talwars domestic help Hemraj were murdered on the intervening night of May 15/16, 2008.

After the initial investigation by the Uttar Pradesh police and later by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the big question still remains  who killed Aarushi?
Hours after Congress president Sonia Gandhi was flown to a hospital in New Delhi from Shimla on Friday, her son and the partys number two Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to assure supporters that she was recovering.

By Saturday afternoon, it had been retweeted over 5,000 times.

Ma was in Shimla & caught a stomach bug so we got her back. Nothing to worry, she's much better. Thanks for the tremendous love and concern.  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) October 27, 2017

The Congress president was rushed to a hospital with an upset stomach Friday evening.

Her latest bout of illness forced her to cut short her vacation in Shimla.

DS Rana, chairman (Board of Management) of the Ganga Ram Hospital had said that the 7year-old Sonia Gandhiwas under observation.

Sonia Gandhi was brought to the hospital at 5pm today (Friday). She has been found to be suffering from stomach upset and has been admitted for observation, Rana said in a statement.

Read | How Rahul Gandhi is challenging Narendra Modi on Twitter, winning eyeballs

According to sources, a team of doctors from the hospital was deputed to bring her back from Shimla in an air ambulance.

This is the third time Gandhi has been hospitalised this year. In May, she came down with food poisoning and spent nearly a week in the hospital. Earlier, in January, she was hospitalised with fever and chest congestion.

Last year, at a road show in Varanasi she fell sick and aborted the campaign. She then fractured her shoulder and underwent a surgery at the same hospital.

(With PTI inputs)
A Jammu and Kashmir police constable is suspected to have joined the militant Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in what could be the third such switch by a security personnel in the Valley this year.

Police ordered a probe after the constable, Isfaq Ahmad Dar, last week announced on social media that he has joined the LeT, a Pakistan-based militant outfit blamed for several terror attacks in India.

A photograph of Dar holding an AK-47 assault rifle was also widely circulated on social media and messaging apps in the Valley over the past few days.

There are reports we are trying to confirm. The matter is being investigated, state police chief SP Vaid told Hindustan Times on Saturday. He added that police are yet trying to know the facts.

Many in Dars family, including his brother, are policemen, sources said.

More than 1,500 police personnel have been killed in the valley since insurgency broke out in 1989. In June, a deputy superintendent of police  Mohammed Ayub Pandith  was lynched by a mob outside Srinagars main mosque.

In recent months, several policemen have been killed or attacked and their homes ransacked by suspected militants, seen as warnings to local police personnel to stop participating in counter-insurgency operations. Six policemen including an officer were also killed in a militant ambush earlier this year.

Sources said Dar was shifted from Kargil to Kathua in July after adverse reports about his alleged militant sympathies.

He was under police radar but we cant arrest a person unless he does something, a senior police officer said.

Dar, from a village in Shopian, had left his home to report back to duty last week.

When he did not reach Kathua, family lodged a missing person report. Soon after, the photograph of Dar surfaced on social media.

In May , a constable from Shopian, Syed Naveed Mushtaq, decamped with four service rifles and joined the militant group Hizbul Mujahideen.

Two months later, Zahoor Ahmad Thokar  who was with the 173 Territorial Army Engineering regiment at Baramulla  deserted his unit along with his service AK-47 and three magazines and joined militant ranks.

Such incidents were first reported in 2015 when two policemen  Naseer Ahmad Pandith from Shopian and Syed raqib Bashir from Pulwama  joined the Hizbul Mujahideen, then led by former commander Burhan Wani, whose killing last year sparked months-long unrest in Kashmir.

Both of them were killed in separate encounters with security forces.

In early 2016, Shakoor Ahmad Parray of Shopian, a security guard to a police officer in Bijbehara, was arrested by police after he had ran away with four rifles to join a militant group.

Police said such incidents are rare and that most of the deserters are from South Kashmir, where anti-India sentiments run deep.

Most of the policemen are from a particular patch in South Kashmir, mostly Pulwama and Shopian. They were recruited between 2010 and 2012 and may be not much background check was done, a police official said.

They are not radicalised... If they are radicalised they are capable of inflicting more damage in the forces...we have to keep our eyes open and our house clean, the officer added.

Kashmirs police force is hailed for its professionalism as its personnel are often forced to act against civilians, sometimes even minors, involved in protests and vandalism.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday pitched for greater cooperation with France under the framework of Make-in-India in defence manufacturing and research and development. He said this when French Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly called on him here.

Parly briefed the prime minister about developments in bilateral defence cooperation, a PMO statement said.

The prime minister said that defence cooperation is one of the key pillars of the Strategic Partnership between India and France, and called for greater cooperation in the Make in India framework in defence manufacturing and joint research and development, the statement said.

The two leaders also discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest, it added.

The prime minister said that he looks forward to receiving President Macron in India at his earliest convenience, the statement said

India and France will jointly conduct naval exercise Varuna next year. This was decided during a meeting between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Florence Parly on Friday.

A range of measures to expand military to military ties, including enhancing the scope of their joint exercises, in particular the Varuna naval exercise scheduled in early 2018, were agreed upon.

Both countries will also actively explore additional measures to facilitate operational level interactions between their respective armed forces.

The ministers reiterated their strong intention to further expand bilateral cooperation on counter- terrorism.

Recognising the growing significance of maritime security in the Indo-Pacific and the need for greater maritime domain awareness, India and France will further expand information sharing arrangements building upon the Technical Arrangement on Exchange of White Shipping information signed earlier this year.

The two leaders also comprehensively reviewed developments in defence equipment and industry cooperation, where France is a major partner.

They agreed to strongly support projects for defence manufacturing under the Make in India initiative as well as promote defence technology and R&D cooperation.

This was Parlys maiden visit to India as the French Minister for the Armed Forces.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a debate on Saturday on internal democracy in political parties, asserting that the growth of true democratic spirit within them is necessary for the countrys future.

Modi, who was speaking at a Diwali Milan event for mediapersons at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, pointed out that funding to political parties is often debated but not their values, ideologies, internal democracy and how they give opportunities to the new generation of leaders.

The country, he said, is not much aware of the practise of democracy within parties and the media should turn its attention to it, he said.

Whether democratic values are a part of their (parties) core values or not, should be debated widely.... I believe that the development of a true democratic spirit within political parties is necessary not only for the countrys future but also for democracy, he said.

Though the prime minister made no reference to any rival party, but his comments come against the backdrop of reports that the Congress may elevate its vice president Rahul Gandhi as president in place of his mother Sonia Gandhi.

The BJP has often accused the Congress of practising dynasty politics and juxtaposed that with the rise of its party workers to top echelons to project itself as a party with a difference.

Modi also acknowledged that there are many voices within the BJP as he noted that when it was a small organisation earlier or during the times of Jana Sangh, its forerunner, there used to be ideological harmony from its central leadership down to workers in the bottom rung.

The partys expansion may be a reason behind divergent views, he said.

He also praised the media for its support to Swachh Bharat (Clean India) project, saying it has spoken in one voice over the issue even if it might have been critical of the government over other matters.

The media has joined the scheme in mission mode, he said, adding that the country has still a long way to go to achieve international standards of cleanliness but the campaign has built an atmosphere its its favour.

On the occasion, the prime minister also made some light remarks recalling his initial days as a party office bearer in its headquarters when at times he had to look for journalists and fondly remembered his regular interactions with the media.

He said both the ruling party and the media may have expectations as well complaints from each other but they have to get along happily amid these differences.

In his remarks, BJP chief Amit Shah noted that Diwali marks the beginning of the new year in Gujarat, a state from where he hails from, and said the country has met various challenges successfully during the last year and moved ahead under the Modi government.

We are entering the new year with a lot of positivity, he said.
At least one person was charred to death and seven fire department personnel were injured in a major fire that broke out at a chemical godown in Narol area in Ahmedabad on Saturday, officials said.

One person died in the fire that broke out at a chemical godown which was storing solvent and thinner. We are yet to ascertain the identity of the man as he is charred beyond recognition.

Some fire department personnel also sustained injuries. We are investigating to know the reason behind the fire, said Danilimda police inspector RK Amin.

It took nearly five-hour operation involving 18 fire fighting vehicles to douse the blaze, said MF Dastoor, chief fire officer of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).

Seven of our personnel suffered burn injuries, with two of them still admitted to a hospital, when they were carrying out the operation to douse the fire, Dastoor said.

We deployed 18 fire fighters to douse the flames, and it took nearly five hours to control it, he said.

He added that two fire fighting vehicles will remain stationed in the area and operations will be carried out inside the godown later.
With the fall of Raqqa, the so-called Islamic State capital, on October 17, security agencies have alerted all airports and ports to guard against radicalised Indian fighters returning from the fallen Caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

The instructions are clear that Indian fighters are to be heavily screened and arrested on arrival.

Top intelligence sources said that available data indicates that 91 Indians joined the IS in Iraq and Syria, and Khorasan in Afghanistan. Of them, 67 went to fight in Syria and another 24 from Kerala joined the IS in Afghanistan. According to counter-terror specialists, 11 Indians have returned to India, but it is not clear whether they returned from fighting in Syria or some of them were turned back from the Turkish border.

While reports of the total number of Indians killed in fighting range from 7 to 15, there is no confirmation on any of the deceased.

Indian agencies are constantly in touch with their Iraqi, Syrian, Russian and American counterparts to ensure that each of these radicalised mercenary Indians is accounted for and not let loose in the society at large.

A detailed plan has been put into place by counter-terrorism specialists, so that all the returning Indians are profiled with their families and understood how they got radicalised in the first place.

Although there is no word on the remnants of UP born Indian Mujahideen terrorists, who moved to Syria from Pakistan under guidance of one Yousof Al Hindi, a large number of these fighters are from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

The Indian intelligence assessment is that foreign fighters returning from Syria will find home in restive Afghanistan, south-east Asia or Africa.

Already, there are reports of IS joining hands with al-Qaeda or the Haqqani network to launch action on the Durand Line (Afghanistan-Pakistan border). Indian agencies, however, suspect the role of Pakistan in order to further destabilise Afghanistan. Although there is a genuine concern that these mercenaries will launch attacks in India later to keep the IS ideology alive, security agencies are constantly in touch with state police and associate agencies to avoid such incidents.

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The separatists in Kashmir on Saturday criticised the state ordinance that makes persons calling for strikes or protest demonstrations, which lead to damage of public property, liable for imprisonment and fine.

In a joint statement, Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik condemned the ordinance calling it outrageous and dictatorial.

They observed that shutdown is a universally accepted democratic and peaceful right of protest and resistance.

They alleged that the tall claims of healing touch and battle of ideas by chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and her party before coming to power, have all come to nought.

The separatists also accused Mufti of eroding the economic autonomy of the state through implementation of the GST.

Governor NN Vohra promulgated The Jammu and Kashmir Public Property (Prevention of Damage) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 which amends the existing law relating to damage to public property to more effectively prevent the deleterious activities of individuals or organizations which result in damage to public and private properties.

The amendment to the existing law has been made to implement the directions given by the Supreme Court.
Chhattisgarh police on Friday evening booked state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel in a case over alleged extortion attempt on the basis of a sex clip purportedly involving a minister by senior journalist Vinod Verma, who was arrested earlier in the day.

Various sections of IT Act were slapped on Baghel and Verma following a fresh complaint lodged against them by Chhattisgarh PWD minister Rajesh Munat, who accused the duo of trying to malign his image with the fake sex CD.

The minister in a press conference said that he is ready for any probe.

Chhattisgarah BJP earlier alleged that the state Congress chief was part of the conspiracy involving the fake CD.

Verma, who was allegedly in possession of a CD showing the minister in a compromising position with a woman, was arrested from his residence in Indirapuram in Ghaziabad. He was also booked under sections 384 and 506 of the Indian penal code (IPC) for extortion and intimidation.

On Friday, a group of Chhattisgarh minister along with party workers reached Civil Lines police station of Raipur and submitted a written complaint against the duo.

A case has been registered under various sections of IT act against Vinod Verma and Bhupesh Baghel following the complaint, ASP Raipur Vijay Agarwal said.

Verma who was arrested barely 12 hours after a complaint was lodged at the Pandari police station in Chhatisgarhs Raipur district by the BJPs state working committee member Prakash Bajaj, said he was framed and denied possessing any sex CD.

Someone gave me a 1 minute 31 seconds clip on a pen drive on October 24 and as a back-up I saved it on my laptop. The police have planted the CD on me. It is a political conspiracy of framing me in a false case and arresting me since I am looking after the social media campaign of Congress Party in Chhattisgarh, Verma told HT.

Bajaj in his complaint claimed that someone called his landline number and threatened him to release a pornographic CD of the minister.

The call was traced to the shop in Delhi which was raided. Verma is said to have ordered the reprints of the CD.

Baghel could not be reached for his comment on charges slapped against him. Congress spokesperson RP Singh said the state Congress chief will hold a press conference on Saturday afternoon over the issue.

Meanwhile, Vinod Verma has been brought to Raipur on transit remand. He will be interrogated later in the evening.

Verma, a member of the Editors Guild of India, formerly worked for BBC and Amar Ujala. Verma along with two other journalists were also members of a fact finding committee to assess the arrests of journalists in Chhattisgarh and challenges faced by them in the state.

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The Supreme Court asked the governments top law officer on Friday to explain the delay in finalising a new procedure to appoint judges, setting up possibly yet another confrontation between the judiciary and executive.

The Supreme Court and the government have been at loggerheads over how to appoint judges, one of several areas of divergence between the two, the most recent being the judiciarys stand over the dismissal of state governments and the right to privacy.

In 2015, the top court struck down a law the government brought -- the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act -- to end a more than 20-year-old practice, unique to India, of judges appointing judges under a collegium system.

The court had then asked the government to draft a so-called new Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) to lay down guidelines for appointments to the higher judiciary in consultation with the chief justice of India and the collegium. But the two sides have failed to agree on it.

A bench of justices AK Goel and UU Lalit observed that more than 22 months had passed since the top court had asked the government to write an MoP.

Even though no time limit was fixed by this court for finalisation of the MoP, the issue cannot linger on for indefinite period, the court said, asking the attorney general KK Venugopal to come back with an explanation of the delay.

More than four million cases are pending in 24 high courts which are together short of 378 judges. Also, some high courts do not have a full-time chief justice.



The court is hearing a private petition challenging the validity of all judicial appointments after the top court struck down NJAC.

Senior advocate KV Vishwanathan was asked to assist the court in the matter. It fixed November 14 to hear the attorney general.

In March this year, the Supreme Court collegium  a panel of top five judges - unanimously rejected the Centres proposal that it should have the power to reject a nomination for reasons of national security. Calls for a permanent secretariat to appoint judges were also disallowed.

On Friday, the bench expressed concern over delay in the appointment of chief justices to high courts.

Under the current MoP, the SC collegium initiates the proposal to recommend a new chief justice before the term of the incumbent ends to ensure timely succession. An acting chief justice cannot be in office for more than a month.

In Uttar Pradesh, the last round of appointments were cleared by the government almost a year after the top courts collegium made its recommendations. Similarly, names cleared for the Madras high court were delayed by a year.

In a related development, the Supreme Court collegium has decided to assess judgments of additional judges before they are confirmed as permanent judges of high courts.

Judgements of additional judges will now be sought from the respective chief justices and evaluated by a committee of two Supreme Court judges to be nominated by the chief justice of India.

The move came days after the government urged the collegium to take a relook at its decision in March to end the practice of evaluating the judicial performance of additional judges.

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In case of emergency, the Indian embassy will help you even on its off days.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday asked the Indian embassy in Malaysia to open its doors to a family that had lost its passport in the country. Embassies are usually closed on weekends.

Swaraj asked officials to help the family as it was an emergency after a user, Meera Ramesh Patel, tweeted to her seeking help.

@SushmaSwaraj Mam my family is in malasia airport and lost their passports. Due to weekend Indian Embassy is closed. Please help  Meera Ramesh Patel (@MeearRameshPate) October 28, 2017

Indian Embassy in Malaysia : This is an emergency case. Pls open the Embassy and help the Indian family. @hcikl https://t.co/HCnnCzrJmn  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 28, 2017

The Indian embassy in Malaysia promptly responded, asking Patel for her contact number. Please provide contact number immediately, we will to talk to you and have this resolved.

The embassy is currently taking care of the problem, Patel said in another tweet.

Indian Embassy have already contacted my family members and matter is being taken care of.  Meera Ramesh Patel (@MeearRameshPate) October 28, 2017

Swaraj has frequently earned praise for helping Indians abroad who reach out to her through Twitter. Swaraj was named in the Global Thinkers of 2016 list compiled by the Foreign Policy magazine. The magazine recalled how, when around 10,000 Indian workers in Saudi Arabia faced a food crisis earlier this year due to job losses, Swaraj tweeted about the issue to her six million followers on the social media website.

Read | Keep it personal: Why Sushma is more popular on Twitter than other Modi ministers

She has also helped Pakistani nationals obtain medical visas for treatment in India. Touched by the ministers intervention, Hijaab Asif praised Swaraj and said that Pakistan would have changed had she been the prime minister of her country.

Swaraj, who has a following of 9.9 million users, has also shown that humour is a strong suit in the 65-year-old politicians style of functioning.

In June, a Karan Saini posted a tongue-in-cheek question to Swaraj, asking: I am stuck on mars, food sent via Mangalyaan (987 days ago), is running out, when is Mangalyaan-II being sent ? Swaraj wrote back: Even if you are stuck on the Mars, Indian Embassy there will help you.
The Centres special representative to Kashmir will talk to all stakeholders who come forward, BJP general secretary and its Kashmir in-charge, Ram Madhav told reporters in Srinagar on Saturday.

Madhav was responding to queries on whether Dineshwar Sharma, the former Intelligence Bureau chief who was appointed as the Centres representative to lead the dialogue in the insurgency-hit state, would talk to separatist leaders.

He has been given a mandate to talk to whoever he wants to on behalf of the central government. But the question is whether the Hurriyat is willing to talk, Madhav said, putting the ball in separatists court.

Sharma, on his part, had said that For a substantive dialogue, I will need to talk to everybody.

However, the Hurriyat leadership, which had boycotted talks with Centres interlocutors in 2010, has so far not responded to the appointment of Sharma.

Sharma is the latest in a long line of Kashmir interlocutors appointed by successive governments to hold dialogues to end the three-decade-old bloody insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier governments had appointed current state governor N N Vohra and a team of three people comprising academic Radha Kumar, civil servant M M Ansari and the late journalist Dileep Padgaonkar.

The Narendra Modi governments hopes are now pinned on Sharma to not only help stem the violence but also end the feeling of alienation among Kashmiri youths.

Jammu and Kashmir has been on the boil since the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani in an encounter in July last year. More than 100 civilians lost their lives and thousand others sustained serious pellet injuries.

Recently, security forces attempts to eliminate militants have been met with stiff resistance from locals, who have tried to disrupt such operations by pelting stones at police and army personnel, prompting retaliation from the soldiers.

Madhav, who is on a two-day visit to Kashmir ahead of the partys state units meeting in Srinagar on October 28, also sought to parry criticism from opposition parties.

Blaming former Congress governments for the crisis in Kashmir, he said, At this point, we want no suggestions from Congress. We are talking to people who matter and dont need unnecessary advice from Mr P Chidambaram.

Chidambaram has said that the appointment of an interlocutor was a diversionary tactic and stressed on the need to examine the demand for greater autonomy in Kashmir.

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The United States on Friday assured India that it will not curtail imports to reduce or eliminate the trade deficit of $29.6 billion which has been a red flag for President Donald Trump who had promised American companies a fair deal globally by expanding exports.

The assurance came from the US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in his meeting Friday with Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu at the third US-India Commercial Dialogue in Washington, the first iteration of the annual meet under President Trumps watch.

Prabhu told reporters that while Ross admitted that the trade deficit was indeed an issue, the US would deal with it not by reducing imports from India but by promoting more exports from the US to India.

The Commerce Minister said it was a positive idea that India welcomes. He basically meant we will be able to buy more from the US, Prabhu said.

The Minister also said there was progress on long-stalled issues bedeviling export of Indian mangoes, pomegranate, apples and grapes into the US that were subjected to long inspection delays involving irradiation which added to cost overruns making them prohibitively expensive in grocery stores.

Alphonso, a prime mango variety eagerly awaited by American fans every year, retails at almost seven times more than the standard rivals that come from Mexico that sell quicker. They are a tough sell even at speciality outlets popular with South Asians.

Indian exporters were assured of express clearance, but in a while.

While highlighting many areas of progress, both principals also noted the need to lower barriers and committed to make meaningful progress to unlock new trade and investment opportunities for US and Indian businesses, India and the US said in a joint statement after Prabhus meeting with Ross.

Prabhu tweeted that the dialogue with Ross was an engaging one.

Had an engaging commercial dialogue with Secy Ross aimed at improving 2way trade. He reiterated the optimisim around US-India relationship. pic.twitter.com/nKLCWfQWxl  Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) October 27, 2017

Read more: At testy trade meet, US presses India on imbalance, wants more market access

US trade deficit with India was also a top issue at Prabhus discussions with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Thursday as part of the Trade Policy Forum. Prabhu and Lighthizer also discussed market access and regulated pricing of medical devices for Americans and H-1B and totalization (social security collections from Indians employed in the US) for Indians.

In both these meetings the two countries acknowledged lingering differences on an entire range of trade issues, reinforcing the notion that this is perhaps the most vulnerable part of the growing relationship but one that both sides are eager to fix.

Bilateral trade between Indian and the US stands at $115 billion, which is thrice the figure in 2005. Americas trade deficit of $29.6 billion had prompted Trump to order an investigation into all unfavorable trade to ascertain if they were caused by unfair trade practices.

Trumps war cry on balance of trade has been a concern for India after he pulled the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, renegotiated Washingtons position in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and even took on allies such as South Korea and Japan and, of course China.
Forty-year-old Maya Devi on that fateful morning of October 24 went to milk her cow as usual, little knowing that death was lurking behind her.

As soon as Devi, a resident of Kotdwar in Pauri Garhwal district, went inside the shed, the cow ran towards the forest. As she ran after the cow, a leopard hiding behind the bushes pounced on her, making her yet another victim of Uttarakhands alarming human-leopard conflict. The big cats have killed over 600 people in past 17 years, on an average 50 people per year, and injured over 3,000. The conflict rate is highest in the country, claim activists.

With the onset of winter, which is the mating season for the big cats, the conflict will further deepen, experts say. Male big cats (both tigers and leopards) explore newer territories in search of mate because of which human-leopard interaction particularly rises during this season. After all, they will need food also, K Ramesh of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) told HT.

Though theres no independent study to establish this trend, scientists say its a general behaviour of the species. Even the villagers share the same concern.

We do not even fear monsoon when the grass is spread across everywhere, but the winter season is toughest, Sushila Devi, a resident of Rikhnikhal village in Pauri said. Activists claim 50% of leopard attack incidents are reported in the winter that starts from October and ends in March.

Stringent policies

To avert attacks, the villagers now push for installation of more cages in the vicinity where the big cats are on the prowl. But the stringent Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, they said, often prevents such move.

The Act empowers the chief wildlife warden to give permission for the cage. But for unintentional attacks-like encounter of women with big cats, while they collect grass and fodder inside the forest, we dont give permission. In such situations, its the people who enter leopard habitat and not leopards coming to kill them, Digvijay Singh Khati, chief wildlife warden told HT.

Nearly 150 leopards have been tagged man-eaters since the formation of the state in 2000. Of them 35 were killed, 40 were captured and released and the status of remaining is unknown. Those captured and released are posing threat as they tend to come back to the area from where they were captured. An ongoing study of WII conducted in Pauri, which is the worst-hit by the conflict, against similar study in Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in West Bengal has established that the leopard attacks here are triggered due to predation while that in the eastern state is accidental.

Problems and solutions

The WII is currently undertaking a study on the drivers behind leopard attacks in Uttarakhand. The study is in its nascent stages. But, the reasons are well known.

Forest officers claim lack of prey base is one important reason behind the growing conflict, but others blame encroachment.

On the lines of Maharashtra, Uttarakhand has also started working on an action plan. As per the plan quick response teams of villagers and rapid response team of forest staff is constituted in Tehri and Pauri districts to sensitise villagers and provide immediate assistance during the conflict.

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Most cows are kept in cramped enclosures in dairies, and pumped with antibiotics and hormones to produce more milk, exposing consumers to diseases, said a report of Indias apex animal protection organisation.

The Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) surveyed 451 milk-producing centres in 10 states, a reality check of distressing conditions in which cows are treated as milk-producing machines.

The survey covered 49 dairies in Rajasthans four districts -- Alwar, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Bikaner  housing 1232 cattle. Bringing out the home truths behind Indias white revolution, FIAPO demands regulation of milk-producing dairies by the Centre and state governments.

The survey was done from June 2016 to March 2017 and the report -- CATTLE-OGUE -- was released on October 26.

It is not just the animals which are getting exploited but also the consumers of milk and dairy products. Poor conditions recorded in the investigation raise serious questions on the safety and quality of milk in the market, said FIAPO director Arpan Sharma.

Cows live in cramped, poorly ventilated and dark enclosures in more than one-quarter of the dairies; injuries from slipping in their excreta are common  64.1% dairies have ill, injured and distressed cattle, the report said.

Poor veterinary care and illegal use of drugs and hormones like oxytocin to increase the milk let-down are prevalent. An evident delinking of humane treatment of cattle as sentient beings is being noticed as a result of the rising demand for milk and milk products, the report said, raising a question mark on the sustainability of Indias global leadership in milk production.

Cattle are separated from calves (male calves die within the first week in 25% of dairies), receive little veterinary care and are injected with drugs in almost 50% of the dairies, the report revealed. Unproductive cattle are sold to farmers or slaughterhouses by 62.9% dairies.

A shocking revelation was the use of khalbaccha, an effigy made by stuffing a dead calf with hay. Because of strong maternal bonds, the mother often stops lactating if the calf has died. Hence a khalbacchas are used to mimic the presence of a calf and continue milking.

Dairy cattle in urban areas get little access to soft ground in 78% dairies. We have urged state governments to outlaw keeping of cattle within municipal limits and also enact conditions for keeping animals in other areas, Sharma said.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is silent on conditions that need to prevail at the point of milk production. FSSAI regulations pertain only to milk processing, which is only half the story. The Centre needs to amend the Registration of Cattle Premises Rules 1978 to introduce conditions for the holding of cattle in commercial dairies, Sharma said.

Under Operation Flood in 1970, milk production in the country increased from 22 million tonnes in 1970 to 104 million tonnes in 2008.

Key findings in Rajasthan dairies:

Male calves are routinely sold for slaughter, or abandoned on the streets. Almost 43% dairies did not have any surviving male calf.

Calves are separated from mothers almost immediately after birth, so that the milk can be sold.

A hormone, called oxytocin, is used to keep the mothers lactating; this is painful to cattle.

87% dairies in Rajasthan were seen to keep their cattle tied to short tethers at all times.

Almost 52% of the dairies had hard flooring, causing the animals to suffer from lameness and joint problems.

Because of exploitative practices, animals were going dry. This is the main reason why India is the worlds 2nd largest beef exporter in the absence of raising beef cattle.
A day after a suspected criminal died in a gunfight with Andhra Pradesh police in Rajasthans Jalore district, three cases were registered on Saturday.

Suspect Bheem Singh was wanted in a case of dacoity.

A case was lodged by Andhra Pradesh police against Singh and his associate Bharat, who also sustained injures during the gun battle, charging them with attempt to murder, said Hawa Singh Ghumariya, inspector general of police, Jodhpur range.

Another case was lodged by Bharats family against Andhra police personnel for murder and attempt to murder, said Ghumariya.

The third case has been registered by the family of Shanti Devi, who was allegedly run over by Singhs car when it was being chased by Andhra Pradesh police, he said.

Jasaram Bose, additional superintendent of police (Jalore), said: The accused in the case of accident will be decided only after investigation. Both the bodies of Devi and Singh have been sent for post-mortem.

A magisterial probe will be conducted in the matter of Singhs death as per Supreme Court guidelines, Bose said.

Talks were held between the administration and the family of the deceased before an agreement on the post-mortem could be reached, said officials.

Rajasthan police confirmed that Bharat had prior criminal cases registered against him.

Jalore district collector Laxmi Narayan Soni said Devis family would get compensation paid by the government in cases of accidental deaths.

The police firing took place on Friday afternoon, after officials of Andhra Pradesh who were on the lookout for Singh got to know about his whereabouts. Singh had died after being hit by bullets fired by the police personnel.
In a major relief to former Union minister Nihal Chand Meghwal, a Jaipur court on Saturday dismissed a revision petition by a married woman accusing the BJP MP of rape on the grounds that an FIR on the same charges was already pending in Haryana, and so, another case was not maintainable.

Nihal Chands lawyer A K Jain said the police had found the rape charges to be false but registered a case against her husband and brother-in-law for subjecting her to cruelty.

We argued (before the additional district judge) that there was already an FIR in the case in Dabwali in Haryana and that the womans complaint was politically motivated.

Furthermore, her story that her sexual abuse continued for 10 months and that she got to know about it one day when she was not sedated is apparently impossible, Jain told HT.

The womans counsel, Chandu Ram Yadav, said they will challenge the decision in the high court.

The woman, who hails from Haryana, has accused Meghwal and 16 others of rape. According to her statement, she was married to Om Prakash Godara from Ganganagar. The couple shifted to Jaipur where she alleged that her husband, who had political ambitions, forced her into prostitution and she was sexually abused by several men, including Meghwal.

Among those named in the case are Yogeshwar Garg, a former BJP minister, Pushpendra Bhardwaj, a former students union leader and additional SP Anil Rao.

A metropolitan court had dismissed her petition in February 2014 after police submitted in December 2012 that womans claims were untrue. Following that, she filed a revision petition in the district court.

Meghwal served as a minister of state in Prime Minister Narendra Modis cabinet from 2014 to 2016. He was dropped from the cabinet in 2016 and it is believed that the rape charge against him was one of the reasons, apart from his unsatisfactory performance.
A 75-year-old woman was raped inside an ashram at Nabadwip in West Bengal last week when she went there to attend a bhajan session. Police arrested the culprit, Gopal Maharaj, who used to work as cook at the ashram.

Though the incident in Nadia district took place on October 21, the woman lodged the complaint on October 27.

The crime was committed on the morning of October 21. We arrested Gopal Maharaj on Friday after receiving the complaint. He was produced in court on Saturday, said Subir Pal, inspector-in-charge of Nabadwip police station.

In March 2015, the country was shocked when a 71-year-old missionary of a church at Ranaghat in the same district was raped by a gang of criminals who struck at the dead of night.

Read: CID files chargesheet against 5 accused in Ranaghat case

Located on the western bank of the Hooghly river and about 100 km from Kolkata, Nabadwip owes its place in history to the Bhatkti movement. The Vaishnava saint Chaitanya (1486-1533) preached his philosophy of universal love at Nabadwip. He was also born here. Nabadwip town has many temples, ashrams and akharas where many disciples even stay permanently.

The woman, who was raped at the Puraghat ashram, is a resident of Srinagar colony in the Pratapnagar area of Nabadwip town.

Read: Bengal nun rape: Ludhiana cops detain 4 suspected Bangladeshis

She was a regular at the ashram, where she was associated with listening to and singing bhajans. She was also connected to puja and daily rituals.

According to the 2015 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, West Bengal recorded one of the highest number of crimes against women. It contributed 10.1% of the total crimes against women in the country.

In the complaint lodged at Nabadwip police station on Friday, the victim alleged that the cook forced himself on her when he found her alone.

She was admitted to Nabadwip State General hospital in critical condition.
In June 2004 the village of Amlashole in West Bengals West Midnapore district grabbed national headlines after five tribals allegedly died of starvation. The government rushed supplies and tried to improve the villagers lives. When Mamata Banerjee came to power in 2011, she made the village her showcase project -- constructing roads, providing water supply and electricity, and subsidised ration.

But despite the spotlight, Hindustan Times has found that the tribal-dominated village has been living in darkness with no electricity for more than two months, because the sole transformer was struck by lightning and has not been repaired, or replaced, since.

The reason: Most of the consumers live in abject poverty and cant afford to pay pending electricity bills. Amlashole lies near the Bengal-Jharkhand border at the heart of Jangalmahal that was once dominated by Maoists.

Power to Amlashole is supplied through a transformer located at Kendgara Para.

Incidentally, the village is inhabited by tribals such as the Mundas and Sabars, who are not only poor but also socially marginalised . During British rule, the Sabars were even categorised as a criminal tribe under the Criminal Tribes Act 1871.

We are poor people who earn our daily bread with meagre wages doing odd jobs. How will we pay electricity bills? The chief minister is giving a lot of things to Jangalmahal including rice at Rs 2 a kg, she also can give free electricity to us, said Madan Sabar, a villager.

The villagers pointed out that during her visit to Amlashole in January 2014, Banerjee assured supply of all basic necessities to the impoverished area.

During her three-day visit to the district on October 9-11, the chief minister instructed the officials that they should not ignore the complaints and problems of the tribals.

The people of Amlashole submitted a complaint. We are taking steps to repair the transformer, Ujjwal Roy, the divisional manager of West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company told HT.

I shall try to solve it within 24 hours, power minister Sovandeb Chatterjee told HT on Saturday after learning about the problem.

According to officials in West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company, there are about 2 lakh consumers in Jhargram area, out of whom more than 1.5 lakh have not paid their bills for several years. The dues have run up to almost Rs 100 crore, the board said.

Officers of the power utility said residents of Amlashole have not paid up even after they were told to pay the due in 24 instalments.

Their bills from November 2008 till July 2014 were waived after intervention by Banerjee.
Ruma Nandi, a 25-year-old pregnant woman was beaten to death in Bengal by her in-laws after they came to know that she was carrying the female foetus. The shocking incident took place in Illambazar area of Birbhum district, about 176 km from Kolkata.

Police arrested two persons including Biswajit Nandi, husband of the victim.

Read: Pregnant Bengal woman poisoned to death for refusing to abort girl child

The woman was tortured to death at her in-laws house on Thursday night.

On Thursday a police complaint named Biswajit, Priyanaka , Nabakumar Nandi, (father-in-law) and Kalpana Nandi (mother in law).

Biswajit Nandi, her husband and Priyanka Sen, her sister-in-law have so far been arrested on the basis of the complaint lodged by the family oof the victim, said N Sudhirkumar, superintendent of police of Birbhum district.

Read: Maharashtra: Cops find 19 aborted female foetuses dumped near stream in Sangli

The mother-in-law and father-in-law of the victim are absconding.

A week ago the woman was subjected to an ultra sonography test, and her in-laws came to know that she was pregnant with a girl. Incidentally, prenatal sex determination is banned in the country.

After the family members came to know the gender of the foetus, they began torturing her. They also pressured her to abort it. When my sister did not agree, they killed her, claimed Ujjwal Sen, brother of Ruma.

Read: Female infanticide rampant in India

The in-laws informed Sen that Ruma was unwell. When they arrived they found Ruma dead with a black mark on her throat. We are sure that they killed her, Sen added.

About two months ago, a woman of Chandipur area in East Midnapore district was allegedly killed after she resisted attempts to abort a female foetus. It was alleged that the in-laws of Rubina Bibi, who was in her mid twenties, was tortured after a test revealed that she was carrying a girl child.

The woman was allegedly poisoned by her in-laws in August.
A group of Allahabad University (AU) scholars has decided to take out a 200km march from Allahabad to Banda to sensitize people about rapid depletion of underground water in many districts of Uttar Pradesh.

They also want to make an appeal to the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government to constitute Talab Vikas Pradhikaran (Ponds Development Authority) for protection of ponds in the state as the party had promised in the run up to the 2017 assembly elections.

The party promised to constitute a ponds development authority during elections. But even after seven months of forming the government, no step has been taken in this direction. So the march also aims to draw attention of Yogi government in this regard, said convener of the march and AU research scholar Rambabu Yadav.

He said that there were many UP districts where decreasing underground water level had become a matter of deep concern. But no serious measures had been taken so to improve the condition, he added.

Alarmed by the development, a group of 35 research scholars and post graduates from the university, comprising 31 males and 4 females has decided to take out the 200 km march.

The march will start from AU on November 14 and conclude at Chabi pond in Banda on November 22, Yadav said.

Eminent environmentalist PV Rajagopal and a geologist of Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT), Prof HK Pandey, would jointly flag off the march, he said.

During the march, the team would visit 70 villages en-route where the members would motivate people to conserve natural water resources.

Yadav said eight villages had been shortlisted where the team would stay at night. They include Pachkhara, Shankargarh, Bargarh, Mohanpur, Bhawari, Khohi, Badaula, and Gerawan in Banda.

The convener said a health check-up would also be conducted to ensure that all the members of the team were physically well and did not face any serious health issues during the journey.
The Navi Mumbai police probing the Rs2.9 crore robbery in Vashi said they were close to arresting the six robbers, including a woman.

They have got CCTV footage which identifies the accused. Three police teams have been sent outside Maharashtra to nab repeat criminals.

In a daring daylight robbery at an APMC vegetable dealers house in Vashi on Friday, cash and jewellery worth Rs 2.9 crore were robbed by the six robbers within 15 minutes. The robbers posed as courier staff to gain entry in the house at Kusum society, Sector 17, in Vashi, said the police.

Arun Menkudle deals in vegetables at Vashi APMC market and also lends money. At the time of the robbery, his 48-year-old wife, Vaishali, and daughter were at home. They were threatened at gun point and tied to chairs.

Vaishali told HT, I and my daughter were at home. I opened the door and found a woman standing with a box which was wrapped in a gift paper. She told us that Arun sir has sent Diwali gift. While I was about to accept it, she asked for water. I went inside to get a glass of water. When I returned, I saw five men in the house. They threatened me and my daughter. They broke open cupboards and fled with cash and jewellery.

Rama Kant, 22, the watchman of the building, said, I saw the group entering the building from the back gate. When they left building from the back gate, they were carrying two big green bags. They left in a four-wheeler.

Kisan Gaikwad, inspector of Vashi police station, said, We have got CCTV footage and will soon crack the case. We have formed three teams which are on the lookout. Sudhakar Pathare, DCP from Zone 1 (Vashi), said, The victim had Rs1.9 crore in cash. He is ready to share the details about the cash with income tax officials too.

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Rampant excavation of hills at Vadavali in Thane district is leading to loss of green cover, alleged a city-based non-governmental organisation (NGO).

The hill, located near Newali Naka close to Dombivli Ambernath Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) road, is 40 km away from Mumbai. Members of NGO Shree Ekvira Aai Pratishthan (SEAP), who filed complaints with the Thane collector, forest department and the state pollution control board, said that the construction activity was causing dust pollution in the surrounding area and had already destroyed 4-acres of green cover over the past three months.

This kind of degradation of the environment needs to be stopped immediately, as global warming and climate change are serious issues, and safeguarding our green cover is vital, said Nandkumar Pawar, head, SEAP. Any degradation or destruction of the environment will add to pollution and rise of temperature in the area.

If a hill that falls between two separate hills is demolished, the continuity is lost, which means it impacts the ground water, percolation, tree cover and natural biodiversity. An order passed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), western bench in 2015 said that hills with a slope of 25 degrees or more cannot be permitted to be cut. This hill has a slope of 40 degrees currently, as per our survey, Pawar.

HT had reported in January this year that quarrying activities had destroyed more than a 100 hectare area within two lush green hills at Parsik Hill in Mahape, Navi Mumbai and stone quarrying being carried out at the base of the cut hill, which had destroyed the areas rich biodiversity. The matter is being heard by NGT, Pune.

While officials from the Thane collectors office said they were not aware about the matter, the state forest department and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) both said they had received the complaint on Friday and will be sending officers to the site to survey the area.

What is hill cutting?

Excavation of hills is done through rock blasting that helps cut the hill. This is followed by rock drilling activities to procure crushed stones, which is further sent for stone crushing that forms crushed sand or stone dust for construction purposes.

What is a stone crushing unit?

A stone crushing unit processes stones from quarries to produce different grades of stone and crushed sand (40mm, 20mm, 10mm, crushed sand, stone dust etc.) using crushing, screening and shaping activities at these sites. According to the pollution boards, these units provide maximum supply of crushed sand and stone dust to Maharashtra and parts of Gujarat.

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A month after the World Health Organisation announced that the planet was running out of antibiotics, a Mumbai study has shown that in 58% of bacterial throat infections, the bug streptococcus pyogenes is resistant to azithromycin  a commonly used antibiotic. However, the findings showed that there was no resistance to the antibiotic amoxicillin.

Doctors who conducted the study said such high resistance to azithromycin was unexpected and could mean that the drug is over-prescribed. The findings seem to suggest that streptococcus pyogenes resistance to azithromycin is because it is overused. The reason we didnt see any resistance to amoxicillin is because it is not prescribed as often, said Dr Dhanya Dharmapalan, consultant paediatric disease specialist, Apollo Hospital, Navi Mumbai. Samples for the study were collected in February and March, when doctors in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai saw an outbreak of bacterial throat infections in children.

Once we confirmed that the infections were bacterial and not viral, we collected the samples from their throats using a specialised cotton swab, Dr Dharmapalan said.

The samples of 12 children were sent to CMC, Vellore, where a DNA sequence analysis of the bacterial samples was carried out.

The study was funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Last month, the WHO recognised antibiotic resistance as a global threat. Antimicrobial resistance is a global health emergency that will seriously jeopardise progress in modern medicine, said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, in a press release.

Dr Suhas Prabu, paediatrician, PD Hinduja Hospital, Mahim, said the problem is highly underplayed in India.

He added that while amoxicillin is the choice of drug for treating streptococcus infections, there could be two main reasons for increased use of azithromycin. Azithromycin has to be taken just once daily, for three days. On the other hand, amoxicillin has to be taken thrice a day, for ten days, he said.

Another reason is that, unlike amoxicillin, the prices of azithromycin do not fall under the Drug Price Control Order, which is why manufacturing companies make a high profit. Azythromycin is promoted by the pharmaceutical companies as it has a high profit margin, he added.

Dr Dharmapalan said the results reiterated the need to use antibiotics judiciously. While doctors need to prescribe antibiotics rationally, patients need to be careful and finish the course. There needs to be major checks on over-the-counter sales of antibiotics across India, she said.
In the backdrop of the controversy over the delay in disbursal of farm loan waivers, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis defended the states online verification system by saying that as many as 13 lakh ineligible beneficiaries would have benefited from the governments largesse.

Fadnavis also said poor data collection by the banks  both nationalised and cooperative  delayed the loan disbursal process because several institutions had not successfully seeded Aadhaar numbers to the loan accounts and instead filled the data entry field in the information sheet with dummy numbers.

The state had announced a loan waiver of Rs34,000 crore for an estimated 89 lakh farmers, based on the initial data released by the banks. This list by the banks got pruned, after the government introduced the online system, to 69 lakh farmers.

The benefit of the online system is that written off loan accounts [bad debts] cannot benefit from the waiver. Once the online system was announced, banks also reduced their beneficiary lists...nearly 13 to 13.5 lakh loan accounts would have otherwise got undue benefit, said Fadnavis.

This means that banks would have benefitted more, by recovering lost monies, and several farmers would have missed out on getting money from the bank. The BJP-led government pointed out that the last loan waiver by the UPA government had similarly filled the banks coffers instead of helping out farmers.

The state government initiated the disbursal of the loans on October 18 across the state, but the process had to be suspended after it came to light that several beneficiary loan accounts had the same Aadhaar number.

We had given banks a 66-column data sheet to fill. They had to digitally get the information from their database, put it in our sheet electronically and upload it. If there were errors, then our system would give it an error code and send it back to them. But many banks had not seeded Aadhaar numbers. Instead of keeping this field empty, banks filled it with dummy numbers because their IT system did not allow them to proceed without this, Fadnavis said.

For the first phase, the state had shortlisted 8.4 lakh beneficiaries, but on Day 1 of the disbursal, it came to the states notice that several of the beneficiaries had the same Aadhaar number.

Nearly one lakh accounts have dummy Aadhaar numbers. The states verification is based on the Aadhaar number so if this number is wrong, our system goes hay wire. Then there were other errors like the husband or wife got only one Aadhaar number or one Aadhaar number is given to four people. Thats why the chief minister called a meeting on Wednesday to sort out this data mess, said a senior state bureaucrat.

Sources said the chief minister took nationalised banks to task at the meeting for the shoddy database, raising a question mark on the digitisation exercise carried out by them.

Fadnavis, however, said bank officials admitted their mistakes and even the state corrected a few of its technical glitches in the online verification.

Our verification system was too robust and sensitive so even an additional comma or a character would result in an error code slowing down uploading of data. We have corrected that. The banks have admitted to their errors in data. We have given every bank one liason officer and connected the banks IT officer to our officials. Wherever there is no Aadhar number, the field will be kept blank for now, said Fadnavis.

The Chief Minister said that by November 25 the state hopes to wrap up the disbursal of 70 to 80% of the beneficiaries and address the remaining 25% of problematic accounts later. The state government has already released Rs4,000 crore required for the first phase of the loan waiver, but so far data of only 28 lakh beneficiaries has been uploaded.

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Police have filed a case against a 14-year-old rape survivor who flung the infant girl she delivered on Thursday evening out of a toilet window in Vasai.

The baby survived the fall as she landed on the grass. A few women took the infant to a nearby hospital in Vasai and handed over the mother to the Waliv police.

The minor lives with her parents and her cousin in Vasai (East), said police. A cousin would rape the girl whenever her parents left for work. He eventually impregnated her. The girls parents knew she was pregnant but kept quiet to avoid being shamed publicly, said inspector Sanjay Hazare of Waliv police station.

The infant is in the neonatal intensive care unit and is stable. Police admitted the childs mother to the hospital on Friday night. She is also undergoing treatment, said Dr Bhakti Chaudhary, hospital in charge.

Police registered a case of rape under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, against the cousin, who was remanded in police custody.

They have filed a case against the minor for abandoning her child.They will arrest her after she is discharged.
Representatives from the Parsi community met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday, demanding that the alignment of Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro-3 be changed.

Reason: The corridor is slated to pass right under the Sanctum Sanctorum, where the communitys holy fire is enshrined.

At a meeting with Thackeray at Sena Bhavan in Dadar, the community said two notable fire temples in south Mumbai would be disturbed owing to the tunnelling work, which could also desecrate the sacred fire. The Wadia fire temple on JSS Road at the Princess Street junction is one of eight Atash Behrams in India, where the highest grade of consecrated fire burns.

A major portion of the tunnel will pass below the sanctum sanctorum. This will break the sacred fires contact with the earth. If the Metro passes under the Atash Behram, the place will lose its sanctity, said Pervez Cooper, vice-president of Clean Heritage Colaba Residents Association (CHCRA), who led the delegation.

He submitted a letter with around 3,500 signatures to Thackeray. As many as 11,000 people have supported online petition, meant to reach Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sawant and MLA Pandurang Sakpal attended meeting and said Thackeray assured the community that his party would talk to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC)  the agency implementing the project.

Uddhavji assured them that their fire temples would not be disturbed and that he would seek technical advice from the MMRC as to whether the Metro alignment could be revised, said Sapkal.

Cooper said the community was not against the citys development. We are pro-development, but at what cost? Not at the cost of hurting the sentiments of our miniscule community. Thackeray has heard our priests complaints, and said he would solve them, he said.

Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited declined to comment. Managing director Ashwini Bhide had earlier told HT that it was too late to change the alignment of the corridor.

None of the trustees of Bombay Parsi Panchayet  the apex representative body  attended the meeting.

According to plans that the authorities gave us, the tunnel passes under the temple, but away from the fire, said Dinshaw Mehta, former chairman of the trust.
Three days after Mumbai university vice-chancellor Sanjay Deshmukh was sacked over the delay in declaring exam results, education minister Vinod Tawde speaks to HT on the state governments plan for smooth conduct of online assessment of answer sheets.

Excerpts from an interview:

Several complaints have been made against Deshmukh for some time now. Why did the government take so long to sack him?

Our prime focus was ensuring all pending results are announced in time. We started the process to sack the V-C only after that. The final decision came from governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao. The governor has already constituted a committee to appoint the next vice-chancellor.

Other important posts, too, are lying vacant, including that of the pro-vice chancellor, director of examination and evaluation. When will these appointments be made?

Appointment of a vice-chancellor is the first and the most important step for a university. As the process is underway, the remaining posts too will be filled soon. We will need the expertise of the new V-C for it.

The state government recently met the university officials to discuss the upcoming exam session. Were there any big decisions?

Our primary concern is smooth exams and assessment. We want to declare the results within a stipulated period of time. None of the errors from the previous semester will be repeated. We will also float tenders to find a new agency to conduct online assessment for the semester. MeritTracs contract ends after the November exam session.

What are the plans for the University of Mumbai?

As examinations were a major concern, we wanted to clear the process first. We realised the lack of appropriate funds is a key issue, which hampers the quality. Discussions are going on. We plan to bring in a board of investors to support all-round development of the university that will benefit students, teachers and principals.

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Even as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis defended his governments actions and blamed banks for the delays in farmer loan waiver disbursal, the Shiv Sena, its ally in the state, attacked the government, saying it goofed up owing to the BJPs haste to take full credit for the waiver.

The BJP-led government initiated the disbursal process across Maharashtra on October 18, but the process was suspended after it came to light that several beneficiary loan accounts had the same Aadhaar number. It was resumed on Friday.

An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana questioned why the government has found so many irregularities after it is said to have scrutinised the application forms. Once the online applications were accepted at all levels, how did they find mistakes? This means that the government just organised events on Diwali eve to take credit for the waiver, the editorial said.

Despite opting to do the process online and handing out waiver certificates to farmers across the state, not one farmers loan has been written off so far, the editorial said.

The piece said it was doubtful whether the loan waiver disbursal process would be completed on time, given the technical glitches in the first phase itself.

The state government has set a deadline of November 25 to complete disbursal for 75% of the eligible farmers.

Of late, the Sena, one of the oldest allies of the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has taken on the role of the Opposition, criticising the government on a range of issues. The relation between the two partners have been strained after the Sena was relegated to junior partner in its home turf.
Since she was 10-years-old, she dreaded her uncles parole dates. Convicted for double murder for 10 years, her uncle would rape and harass her whenever he was allowed to come out of jail.

Six years later, the 16-year-old victim finally approached the Mahim police station and registered a complaint against her fathers brother and his wife.

In the past six years, the man tortured the girl by burning her with candles and repeatedly raped her.

According to police officers from Mahim police station, the girl in her complaint stated that her 46-year-old uncle on Tuesday raped her repeatedly after showing her porn clips at his house. She further said that since she was ten years old, he would rape her whenever he would come out of jail on parole.

The accused and his wife have been arrested for rape by a public servant, intimidation, assault and sections of the Protection Of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The accused is the chairman of an SRA co-operative society in Mahim, according to which he is bound by the same rules as a public servant, said an officer from the Mahim police station.

His wife was arrested as she was aware of the crime and did not inform the girls family or the police.

The girl finally mustered the courage to come to us as, she was scared that her uncle would rape her again, said Milind Idekar, senior police inspector of Mahim police station.

On Thursday, the police arrested the accused and presented him before the court, where he was remanded to police custody. The police said that he had murdered two men in 2000. The court had sentenced him to ten years of jail for culpable homicide. However, he was released from jail in 2012. He had been raping his niece whenever he came out on parole since 2010.

The accused had threatened the girl, and used to give her candle burns on her private parts so that she would not tell her parents, said Idekar.
After several years, the civic body finally has a plan in place to solve the yearly flooding problem in Bandra. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to widen and clean the Chamdawadi storm water drain, which will give relief to residents of Jay Bharat housing society in Khar (West), which gets flooded with at least 4 feet of water every monsoon.

Residents of affected areas face property damage, power outage, lack of safe drinking water and fear of water-borne diseases due to flooding every year. BMC officials confirmed that they will take up widening, desilting and encroachment demolition work, along with the railway authorities, on the nullah that carries water out from the Western suburbs to the Mithi River through Kalanagar junction.

Chief engineer of storm water drains (Western suburbs), V H Khandkar, told HT, The 4-10 metre wide culverts that pass through under the railway will be widened to 7-14 metre. We have given the work order to a contractor, who will start after the ward office removes the encroaching structures. The work will take two years to complete.

Alka Sasane, assistant municipal commissioner of Bandra (East), said, We are checking how many of the 277 encroaching structures on the 1.6 km-long stretch are eligible for rehabilitation. Demolition work will start by December 10.

This will bring relief to Jay Bharat society, as well as societies in Pali Hill and S V Road in the West. It is a huge project and will take time, said corporator Swapna Mhatre. Kherwadi, Navpada and Ram Mandir road in Bandra East are also expected to get relief under the project.

Residents of Jay Bharat society said they have been suffering since the last 50-60 years. We have been trying to get BMC to solve problem since 2005 . The storm water needs to be diverted directly to the sea. Many families now want to move out of this low-lying area, said Surindra Khubchandani, who has been residing in the society since 11 years.

Rahul Pai, secretary of the society, said, The BMC keeps planning, but there is no implementation. Desilting should be done frequently during monsoon. Widening of the nullah could definitely help solve the problem.
Delay in announcement of results, suffering of lakhs of students and tarnishing of the Mumbai universitys (MU) image  all this could have been avoided if the varsity and the state had paid heed to the solutions proposed by experts, as early as 2012.

Experts say the ouster of Sanjay Deshmukh as the vice-chancellor of the 160-year-old varsity over the ill-prepared switch to digital assessment of papers is only reflective of the problems that have been in the making for long.

SS Mantha, professor, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) and former chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), said college affiliation system is the root of many problems faced by the MU and public universities in the state.

In India, universities began with the premise of providing scholarship across disciplines and conducting inter-disciplinary research. However, after Independence, the Indian government realised creating new universities across the country will not be financially viable. As a result, they decided to affiliate individual colleges to established universities.

The growing number of affiliated colleges -- University of Mumbai has 774 of them  made it tough for universities to carry out the academic work. The universities were not equipped to conduct examinations. They were never got the resources to do it. The varsitys attention to the evaluation work led to the collapse of post-graduation departments. Every university has a breaking point. The MU has already reached its threshold, he said.

DIVIDE AND RULE

While the state appointed several committees to look into the problems faced by public universities over the past seven years, not much has been done to implement their recommendations. For instance, three expert committees (see box) appointed in 2011 suggested the administrative burden on the government be reduced by decentralising the universities.

The Ram Takwale Committee recommended dividing 10 public universities in the state into 35 district campuses. The panel suggested that the district university campus be managed by autonomous and decentralised management.

While the MU established three sub-campuses in Ratnagiri, Thane and Kalyan, it hasnt achieved distributed decentralisation. We wanted to create universities within universities, so colleges dont have to dissociate themselves from the brand. These smaller universities were to have their own independent identity. Except for broad policy matters, they would have enjoyed academic as well as financial autonomy, said Rajan Welukar, former vice-chancellor of MU and a member secretary of the committee.

Implementing such a plan needs preparedness and focus, which cost a lot. The state government, which is unable to create new posts in the university, cant afford division of universities, said AD Sawant, former pro V-C of MU.

Experts feel creating cluster colleges is a practical way to decentralise. The university should empower certain prominent colleges to mentor institutes in their areas, said Arun Nigavekar, former chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC), who headed one of the committees.

POWER TUSSLE

Mantha suggested universities delegate the responsibility of framing curricula and conducting exams to affiliated colleges, keeping its focus solely on research work in post-graduation departments. Education is not about standardisation. Colleges need to be made autonomous, so they can educate the students according to local requirements. The university should only issue degrees to students graduating from these colleges, he said.

The Takwale committee had suggested making all existing colleges autonomous within a fixed time-frame. Each autonomous college and even affiliated college could have a self-governance structure similar to the university, the committee had proposed. However, the MU hasnt granted autonomy to any of its affiliated colleges.

Experts said colleges are reluctant to apply for autonomy, fearing they may lose state grants. We cant force colleges to do so, said Welukar.

HI-TECH WAYS

After the delay in results and instances of paper leak, the state formed a committee, under former IT secretary Rajesh Aggarwal, to suggest technological reforms. One of its recommendations was adopting the on-screen method for assessment. The move, introduced this year to bring in transparency, faced many technical glitches.

Nigvekar said universities need to take their capacity into account before taking the plunge. They need to bring in people who understand the economics of the assessment, he said.

While the MU has started digital delivery of answer-sheets and online declaration of results, experts feel its not enough. The processes involved in adopting technology should take less time, said Welukar.

LEGALLY SPEAKING

The Nigavekar committee, in its report, had proposed a new draft for the Maharashtra Universities Act -- the law that governs the states public universities. In the draft, the committee suggested replacing university senate with a body called Society Partnership Council (SOUL). The committee also recommended strengthening the role and position of the vice-chancellor.

Five years later, the state government replaced the existing law with the Maharashtra Public Universities Act 2016. The new Act adopted several of the committees recommendations, but Nigavekar feels their key suggestions were ignored.

Sawant said the university is often deprived of good leadership because of flawed appointment process. The search committee for the vice-chancellor should consist of academicians, who should look for people with calibre. Instead, the appointments are done based on political affiliations, he said.

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A 25-year-old man died when the autorickshaw he was travelling in collided with a four-wheeler near NRI Gate in Dankaur, off the Yamuna Expressway, on Saturday morning.

The deceased was identified as Sachin Kumar, who lived in Bhata village in Dankaur. Kumar was travelling in an autorickshaw towards Kasna in Greater Noida around 7.30am when a Maruti Ertiga coming from the opposite side hit the three-wheeler at the NRI Gate.

Kumar, the police said, sustained injuries to the head and multiple fractures in his body while the drivers of both vehicles  the autorickshaw and the car fled the spot after the incident.

Kumar, who was injured, was rushed to Yatharth Hospital by passersby but was declared brought dead, the police said.

It is a service road (where the incident took place), one side of which is blocked. The car hit the autorickshaw head-on and Kumar was thrown out of the auto due to the impact of the collision, said sub-inspector Jitender Singh, the investigating officer.

The police said that Kumar, a construction worker, was on his way to work when the incident took place.

Singh said that a case under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered the driver of the Ertiga car at Dankaur police station.

The car has been named in the FIR and we have informed the owner of the car about the incident. The case was registered after we received a complaint from Ompal, the father of the deceased, Singh said.

The body was sent for a post-mortem examination, while the car and autorickshaw have been taken to the police station.

The spot where the incident took place is metres away from the spot where students of Galgotias University died recently. On October 8, four students of Galgotias University died and six students were injured when the multi-utility vehicle they were travelling in went out of control after a front wheel burst on the stretch.

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If you are a middle-aged earthling you should prepare for the likelihood of Xi Jinping ruling the Middle Kingdom for the rest of your life. The 19th Chinese Party Congress (CPC) has promoted him to the status of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. Your children may regularly drive along stretches of Xis Belt Road project during their lifetime. Your grandchildren may speak of his China Dream in the same way people mention the American Dream today. It all depends on how successful the Chinese president is in converting his political power into policy.

Large chunks of the Communist Party of Chinas top leadership are Xi appointees. He has placed his fuzzy ideology into the partys constitution, making criticism of him tantamount to attacking the one party system itself. Xi has also overseen a culture of fear: Over 300,000 party members have been jailed and a third of military officers purged. Thousands were forced down the path of assisted suicide. While many were victims of a popular anti-corruption campaign, all the convicted have been from factions not aligned with Xi. So prevalent was this that some Chinese State-owned companies would phone senior staff in the morning to check if any of them had been detained.

What will the coming Reign of Xi mean for the rest of the world?

The overriding priority of the party right now is to get the economy back on track. Yes, the economy continues to grow but how much is uncertain. Most alternative estimates of Chinas growth rate knock off three percentage points from official figures. But its original model of export-driven, investment-based growth is slowing down. Beijing has kept infusing huge amounts of money to keep that engine growing but its debt is now heading to unsustainable levels as a result  over 2.5 times the GDP is the most commonly cited figure. Either the laws of economics dont apply to the country or China must change. The party itself has gone on about unbalanced and inadequate development for years and Xi hasnt dropped that phrase.

The concern for the party is that its economic success has created an enormous middle class. The bourgeoisie is difficult for two reasons: One, it demands political rights, and two, it is the wellspring of nationalist sentiments. It needs both bread and circuses to stay off the streets. Xis China Dream is a corpus of writing, saying he understands all this and is the man to deliver on middle class expectations.

Xi was given enormous authority when he came to power because the party was nervous about the economy. But he has not reformed the system. Four years ago, he spoke of allowing the market to play a decisive role but big ticket reforms impose short-term job losses. And even Xi seems to fear social unrest enough that he believes he has to first consolidate power  a process that seems to have no end.

Xis circle argues his power grab has been because of the entrenched interests that resist reform: Provincial rulers, State-owned enterprises and the military. Xi has appointed a number of market-friendly people to his new Politburo, so he recognises that reforms have to be the endgame of his ruthless rise to power.

Over the next five years, Xi may dig even deeper to set the economy right. The result will be a fair amount of trauma (joblessness and bankruptcies) in the short to medium term. But if he doesnt do this, Chinas economic growth trajectory will go south.

A new world order with Chinese characteristic

Xis party congress speech skirted the issue of what China would do in the world other than to say it would play a major and responsible role. Going by his past actions, however, the world should expect a China that will be less willing to compromise on disputes and will contribute to the global public good only when it sees a chance to impose its rulebook on a section of the international order. A world order with Chinese characteristics is what Xi will seek. The exercise of an assertive foreign policy, under the banner of Xis promise of national rejuvenation, will be the circus offered to its neo-middle class.

But if he fails on the economy, any talk of China reaching parity with the US by 2049 will begin to fade. About 80% of Chinas attraction to the rest of the world is its economic success. Chinese Communism is impressive not because of its politburos and dialectics but because of its fast trains and trade surpluses.

A Xi who stumbles would possibly lash out against the rest of the world, convert bits and parts of Asia into the equivalent of the Roman gladiator pens to divert its peoples attention. The 1962 war with India was connected to the domestic problems Mao had after his disastrous Great Leap Forward. However, empire building is not so easy in an age of nuclear weapons and three or four of your regional opponents are technologically superior. A key reason why defence budgets are rising all across Asia is that governments are preparing for that possibility.

But what if Xi gets it right? What if the Chinese economy shifts to one driven by consumption and technology and powers on for another few decades? China will then have a global profile more or less where the US was in the world system in the 1950s and 1960s.

If it remains an autocratic system and couples this with the worlds largest economy and defence budget, then there will be reasons to be worried, especially if you are a neighbour with a number of unresolved disputes that touch nationalistic nerves.

What Xis rise means for India

India, at last count, has clashed figuratively with China and will do so in the future over the Dalai Lamas succession, the Belt Road Initiative and most recently on Bhutans rights to the Doklam plateau. It should be no surprise that Indias strategic establishment is mooting the possibility of a re-energised Xi giving India a rabbit punch in the first half of next year.

When Xi first came to power, he said, To forge iron, you must first become strong. With the conclusion of the party congress it is evident he has become very strong. He has also stated in somewhat vague terms, but more concretely in earlier State policy documents, what he wants to accomplish with all that power.

The next five, maybe 10 or even 15 years, will show whether he can actually forge iron. Whether he does or does not will determine, to put it mildly, the future of the world.

letters@hindustantimes.com

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A local court in Pune on Friday acquitted 68 persons associated with Maratha outfit Sambhaji Brigade and accused of ransacking Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI). The attack had changed Maharashtras socio-political equations.

Sessions judge SJ Gharat acquitted the members of Maratha offshoot after 13 years of long trial.

The court order came after prosecution failed to establish the role of Sambhaji Brigade activists in the attack, said defence counsel Milind Pawar. There were a total of 72 persons booked in the case though four died during the course of trial.

Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute vandalised by Sambhaji Brigade - Photo by Mandar Tannu (Mandar Tannu/HT PHOTO)

The prosecution examined nine witnesses in the case but failed to establish the role of 72 accused in the case, said Pawar.

Internationally acclaimed BORI was vandalised by Maratha offshoot on January 5, 2004. The attack was allegedly a reaction to the publication of the controversial book from American author James Laine - Shivaji: A Hindu King in Islamic India.

Laine, after help from a few Brahmin Indian scholars from BORI, had penned the book having controversial references, which he termed as being submitted locally as a joke, that questioned the biological origin of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji. Maratha organisations saw the book as a Brahminical conspiracy to challenge Maratha dominance as the book reference had vague connotations connecting Shivajis biological origin with Konddeo.

The attack preceded Lok Sabha elections where parties like Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) made attempt to take mileage by raking up the book issue to pitch Maratha sentiments.

Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute vandalised by Sambhaji Brigade. (Mandar Tannu/HT PHOTO)

According to the case filed by the police after the attack, the mob had damaged the Mahabharata department and destroyed some rare manuscripts of the institute, founded on July 6, 1917 to commemorate the work of Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar.

The mob, according to the police, was also accused of damaging computers, photocopy machines, furniture, reference index cards and several other things.

Anant Chonde, former state president of Sambhaji Brigade and the prime accused in the case, said that his organisation had full faith in judiciary and Constitution.

After a long wait of 13 years, we have got justice, said Chonde.

Violence - Vandalism - Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute vandalised by Sambhaji Brigade (Mandar Tannu/HT PHOTO)

Earlier on Thursday, a local court accepted an application filed by government to withdraw a criminal case against Shiv Sena leader Neelam Gorhe and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackerays personal assistant Milind Narvekar accused of instigating violence during the 2010 Pune bandh. The bandh was reaction to removal of Dadoji Konddeos statue, a part of sculpture depicting teenaged Chhatrapati Shivaji along with mother Jijau tilling the land with golden plough, from the historically important Lal Mahal.

This irked BJP-Sena, which vandalised the furniture at Pune Municipal Corporation headquarters and called for Pune bandh.

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Chhath Puja organisers dug up trenches and filled them with water in two parks in Sector 47, one of them near the Air Force houses, on Friday, without any prior approval.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders including, former Member of Parliament Satya Pal Jain, former senior deputy mayor Davesh Moudgil and vice-president of the womens wing Meera Sharma, were present at the ceremonies.

Must read | Chhath Puja celebrations leave trail of unholy mess in Chandigarh

The two parks fall under the horticulture division of the municipal corporation, Chandigarh (MC), which have been developed for recreational purposes, with a sheltered sitting area and play area for children.

When contacted, horticulture sub-divisional engineer Jangsher Singh said he was not aware whether any permission was taken to dig up the parks. Executive engineer of the division, Krishan Pal Singh, refused to comment on the issue.

If these trenches were dug up without any written authorisation, then it amounts to an illegal activity, said Brigadier BS Taunque (retd), a resident of Sector 47.

Speaking to HT, area councillor Davesh Moudgil said the event is organised every year. I believe such religious ceremonies should not be questioned. If am invited to any event in my area, I make it a point to attend it, he said.
Leftover food, water bottles, disposable glasses, flowers, fruits, puja items, polythene bags and even sugarcane leaves: Chhath Puja rituals left a trail of litter in both the water and surroundings of the Sector-42 lake here on Friday morning.

The four-day celebrations came to an end with breaking of fast after worshipping the rising sun on Friday. Till late in the afternoon  when HT visited the spot  the garbage had not been removed. Only tents pitched for the occasion and chairs set up at the venue were taken away, with no concern for the unholy mess.

Chhath Puja is dedicated to the Sun God and his wife Usha in order to thank them for bestowing the bounties of life on earth and to request the granting of certain wishes.

With no one ready to take responsibility  some say the devotees along with the organisers should have cleared the area after the rituals while others say it is the municipal corporations duty to maintain cleanliness  the lake presented a sorry picture, like every year.

Earlier, the devotees  mostly comprising those hailing from Bihar and neighbouring areas  used to perform the rituals at Sukhna Lake, but now the Sector-42 lake has been designated for the purpose.

Devotees offering prayers to the rising sun on the last day of Chhath Puja at the Sector-42 lake in Chandigarh on Friday. (Reuters)

We kept making announcements

Prabhunath Shahi, media adviser of Purvanchal Welfare Association, which was one of the organisers, said: Apart from the cleanliness staff provided by the municipal corporation, we had around 70 volunteers making sure that cleanliness is maintained in the area. Not only this, we also kept making announcements on keeping the area clean.

The rituals comprise fasting, cleaning, holy bathing, standing in water and offering prayers and sweets to the rising and setting sun; so water bodies play an integral role.

Shahi claimed the association got the area cleaned by 11am after the rituals ended. However, when told that the lake remained littered till the afternoon, he said: This time, three to four other organisations had also participated in the Chhath rituals. They had put up their stalls and must have left the litter.

The association had even claimed to have put up Swachhta Abhiyan banners in the area, though no temporary dustbins were installed for the devotees to throw the garbage. Even the roads in front of the Dr Ambedkar Institute of Hotel Management, where stalls had been put up, were strewn with garbage.

The MC has outsourced the cleanliness work to an outside agency, said Dr PS Bhatti, medical officer, health, MC. If we get any negative feedback from any area, we penalise the agency. Every month, we end up imposing about Rs 3-5 lakh fine on the agency.

The agency has about 900 workers, who are supposed to keep the city clean, said Bhatti. The agency was informed about the function at Sector 42. We will take suitable action, he said.

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More than a week after the district administration acted on directions of the ministry of external affairs, forensic experts took DNA samples of the family members of eight Punjabi men who are among 39 Indians missing in Iraq since June 2014, at the Government Medical College in Amritsar on Saturday.

The administration contacted the families on Friday after 100 DNA test kits were finally brought from Hyderabad on Thursday night. Collection of blood samples passed off amid a sad atmosphere, as the families fear the identification tests are proof that the men are dead. The Iraqi armed forces have since taken over the town of Mosul where the men were reported to have been kept by the terror group Islamic State.

Sawinder Kaur, 65, mother of missing youth Nishan Singh from Sanguana village, could not stop tears even while giving blood samples. Sister of missing youth Manjinder Singh, Gurpinder Kaur, 32, has been vocal since the beginning to raise this issue with the Union government, and she is given the credit of leading the struggle. She was also seen uncharacteristically quiet through the proceedings and avoided talking to the media.

There was also anger and distrust about the governments sincerity to trace the men. They could be rescued if the government would make efforts with sincerity, said an angry Sarwan Singh, younger brother of Nishan. If the government could rescue nurses of Kerala from the same country at that time, why did it not show such kind of seriousness in case of the 39 Indian workers? Now, nearly three and half years have passed and little hope has been left behind. The DNA test does not produce much hope, but still we have no option to have hope.

Sardara Singh, 70, father of one of a missing Gurcharan Singh, sounded edgy: We got the last phone call from Gurcharan on June 15, 2014. He told me that war had been triggered there and they were trapped by terrorists. Then the phone call was cut and there is no clue about their whereabouts since.

Earlier, he said, We have come here for the second time. The process should be over today. He arrived from Jalal Usma village, 18 km from Amritsar, after the administration made arrangements to bring the families again. Their samples could not be collected on October 21 due to the unavailability of DNA test kits.

One sample to Mohali, other to Iraq

As per the governments directions, the samples of three members of each family were collected at the colleges forensic lab. Each person gave two samples. A seven-member team, comprising Dr Kuldeep Kumar, Dr Jatinder Pal Singh, Dr Kanwaljit Singh, Dr Sukhdev Singh, Dr Balwinder Singh Dalam, Dr Avtar Singh and Dr Raman Kumar Sharma, collected the samples.

The families came from villages Bhoewal, Chawinda Devi, Sialka, Jalal Usma, Sanguana, Manawala.

The officials said one sample would be sent to the forensic science laboratory in Mohali for the test, while the other will be sent to Iraq.

On the delay, a senior official of the forensic department said on condition of anonymity, This is a sensitive matter. High-quality kits were needed. Besides, they were required in bulk.

Families from other parts of Punjab are expected to come here too in the coming days as this is the only lab in nine nearby districts with the facility.

(The story has been updated)

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Perturbed over the environmental hazards from a cement plant set up in the area, over 10 villages in chief minister Virbhadra Singhs battlefield Arki have decided to boycott the November 9 elections.

The villagers, demanding rehabilitation, said that they have been facing problems of air and noise pollution ever since the plant was set up in the area.

Our life has become a living hell. We are running from pillar to post. The government is only giving us assurances, said BR Sharma, a resident of Pachhiwar village.

The villages which are boycotting the elections include Khata, Baga, Suli, Bated, Koon, Pachhiwar, Sar, Damras, Jablu, Rauri, Dabaru, Dhawni, Paleri, Sulag and Sadheru.

We were given scores of assurances but nothing has happened. Houses in the area are now developing cracks, said Jagdish Sharma, a resident of Rauri village, who lives close to the plant. Sharma, who is the convener of the Cement Plant Affected Farmers body, said, We held a meeting on Friday and decided to boycott the election. We will inform authorities about our issues too. A government which does not listen to such sensitive issues is of no use to us.

The villages which are boycotting the elections include Khata, Baga, Suli, Bated, Koon, Pachhiwar, Sar, Damras, Jablu, Rauri, Dabaru, Dhawni, Paleri, Sulag and Sadheru. There are a few other small villages too which are affected by the cement plant, Sharma said.

Are we asking for something unjustified? Our life has become difficult. Many people living here are suffering from respiratory and skin diseases. No one is bothered about our plight, said SL Sharma of Koon village of the area.

The plant started production in 2010 and is produces 10,000-MT cement a day. Villagers claimed that they were against the setting up of the plant. Some houses are even located within a radius of six to 15 metres from the boundary wall of the plant, said DR Thakur of Baga village, adding, We dont know how the government gave permission to set up the plant in the area.

The villagers will submit a memorandum to the election commission on Saturday regarding their decision to boycott the November 9 election.

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A day after the police claimed to have cracked the double murder case of senior journalist KJ Singh and his mother Gurcharan Kaur, senior officials gave conflicting statements about the case.

While seeking accused Gaurav Kumars remand on Friday, police told the local court that they wanted to check the involvement of any other person and recover the LED TV stolen from KJs house after the crime. Following this, the court granted the police his five-day custody.

The police on Thursday had said that KJ Singh objected to Gaurav sitting in a park adjoining his house on September 22. The argument led to a scuffle. Gaurav returned with a knife to commit the crime the same night.

Whether Gaurav actually killed KJ Singh to avenge the slap or is a professional killer hired by someone else is to be seen into. Kuldeep Singh Chahal, Mohali SSP

Talking to HT on Friday, Mohali senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kuldeep Singh Chahal said: We are taking whatever Gaurav has confessed to, with a pinch of salt. We will be looking into and clarifying all the theories during his police custody. Whether Gaurav actually killed KJ Singh to avenge the slap or is a professional killer hired by someone else is to be seen into, said Chahal.

Meanwhile, inspector general (crime) Shashi Prabha  who is heading the special investigation team formed by the Punjab government  ruled out involvement of any other person. If any other person was involved in the double murder, Gaurav wouldve confessed by now, she said, talking to HT on Friday. Moreover, we have recovered everything from him, everything missing from KJs house, which otherwise wouldve been destroyed by now.

If any other person was involved, Gaurav wouldve confessed by now. Moreover, we have recovered everything. Shashi Prabha, IG (crime), SIT head

From the beginning, police had been asserting that KJ never opened the door to strangers after 7pm. With Gauravs arrest, the theory fell flat.

Yes we still stand by what we pointed out during initial stages of investigation. But we cant rule out what the accused has confessed to. Gaurav admitted he didnt open the main gate and rang the door bell twice. That could have prompted KJ Singh to come out to check, she said.

Meanwhile, police said Gaurav Kumar, 27, had left Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh along with a woman three years younger to him. The two wanted to get married and took up a rented accommodation at Kajheri village in the first week of October. He had earlier gone to Georgia for work and wanted to go back there but his money was stuck with a local travel agent. Police said it was the second time that Gaurav took out KJ Singhs Ford Icon after the crime. This proved to be his undoing.
A week after the ministry of external affairs issued directions to collect DNA samples of kin of Punjabi youth missing in Iraq, the administration on Friday recalled the kin for the collection as test kits reached Amritsar on Thursday night. Families started arriving at the Government Medical College in Amritsar on Saturday morning.

The samples could not be collected for a week due to non-availability of the kits at forensic department of the Government Medical College. The families were eagerly waiting for the call of the administration. We have been asked to come to the college to give samples on Saturday, said Gurpinder Kaur, whose brother Manjinder Singh is amongst the 39 missing youth.

As per government directions, samples of three members of each family will be collected. Each person will have to give two samples for the test.

Rajat Obarai, sub-divisional magistrate of Ajnala, where two victim families reside, also confirmed the development. He said that adequate arrangements have been made for the collection of samples and the families have been informed about the same.

Notably, most of the youth belong to Punjab. They are missing since June 2014 from Mosul city of Iraq after Islamic State, a terror group, captured the city. The ministry had told the victim families to conduct DNA tests in fresh efforts to trace the missing youth.

The samples have been requested by the external affairs ministry on urgent basis and it is mentioned in the letter received by the local administration that a team would go to Iraq with the samples on October 23.

Must read | DNA testing: All you need to know about the science, methodology

Meanwhile, civil surgeon Dr Narinder Kaur said the test kits are available with the forensic lab of the Government Medical College.

Replying to a query on delay in the process, a senior official of the forensic department, on the condition of anonymity, argued that this was a sensitive matter and they could not do anything in haste in this regard. He said it was better to delay than to do it wrongly.

He further said that the kits could be purchased from other places but those have no authenticity and quality. To arrange high quality kits, the process was delayed for some days. Besides, the kits were required in bulk that was also one of the reasons behind the delay, he added.

The college, along with the administration, sent an employee to Hyderabad to bring the kits. He reportedly landed in Amritsar on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday. He sought 200 kits but succeeded to get only 100.

Two hundred kits were sought as the lab has to collect samples in bulk. Initially, only nine families belonging to Amritsar district have been called for the samples, but the families may also come from other districts as this is a sole medical institution in nine nearby districts of Punjab having this facility.

In case members from the victim families are not there in the required number, the samples would be collected for available members.

As per government directions, samples of three members of each family will be collected. Each person will have to give two samples for the test. One sample will be preserved in the lab and the other will be sent to Iraq.

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he Centre has given Sikh pilgrims the go-ahead to visit gurdwaras in Pakistan next week to celebrate the birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev.

Pilgrims progress to Pakistan Four Sikh jathas (group of pilgrims) go to Pakistan in a year. The biggest one heads for Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev, in November to celebrate his birth anniversary. This jatha usually comprises 3,000 pilgrims of different organisations, including the SGPC. Another jatha goes on the harvest festival of Baisakhi in April. Two more jathas leave in May-June on the martyrdom anniversary of the first martyr of the Sikh faith and the fifth of the 10 Gurus, Guru Arjan Dev, and the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh empire. The SGPC has a quota of 1,500 pilgrims for the jatha that goes for Guru Nanak Devs birth anniversary, while for the other jathas, it has a quota of 350 pilgrims. The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Managing Committee (DSGMC) and a couple of other Sikh bodies also have a quota. Nearly 800 pilgrims leave for Pakistan as part of the three other jathas.

Sikh pilgrims visit Pakistan-based Sikh shrines, including Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev, on a special visa for which the ministry of external affairs (MEA) recommends a list of names to the Pakistan high commission. However, on two previous occasions  the martyrdom anniversary of Guru Arjan Dev and the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in June  the MEA did not send the list of pilgrims amid tension on the border.

Citing security concerns, the MEA told Sikh jathas (groups of pilgrims) that they could visit Pakistan at their own risk on ordinary visa. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) that sends the biggest Sikh jatha to Pakistan on special occasions, chose not to send any pilgrim in June. Other Sikh organisations sent pilgrims on ordinary visa but were disappointed when the authorities did not allow the special train from Pakistan to enter India. On both occasions, Sikh pilgrims returned from Attari station.

But this time, the SGPC is sending 947 Sikh pilgrims to Pakistan in three special trains on November 2 to take part in the Gurpurb celebrations on November 4. We have been asked to collect passports of pilgrims who applied for visa on Monday, SGPC secretary Roop Singh said on Saturday.

The Bhai Mardana Yadgari Kirtan Darbar Society is sending 400 pilgrims and the Khalra Mission Committee has applied for visas for 425 pilgrims.

The pilgrims will return on November 11 after visiting Gurdwara Panja Sahib, Gurdwara Sacha Sauda, Gurdwara Dehra Sahib and Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.
The highly anticipated audio launch of superstar Rajinikanth 2.0, which took place in Dubai on Friday evening, was nothing short of a lifetime experience. The event was hosted by RJ Balaji, Rana Daggubati and Karan Johar who took turns and spoke in three languages to keep audiences hooked and entertained. The event began with an AV on the film and it gave audiences a glimpse into the world of Rs. 400 crore magnum opus 2.0, which is gearing up for release during Republic Day weekend next year. Going by the effort taken to organize the event, it goes without saying that the makers have successfully registered the thought that 2.0 is the next biggest motion picture from India, and the same was reiterated by the hosts throughout the evening.

Well-known director P. Vasu was one among the first guests to address the gathering. Having worked with superstar Rajinikanth on a few occasions, hes best remembered for Chandramukhi. In his speech, he shared about his earliest memories with superstar, and also said that director Shankar has no competition because he competes with himself and his own work. After the speech of few other guests, audiences witnessed an enthralling performance by a group of dancers who shook leg to the best hits in the combination of Shankar and Rahman.

Abbas Tyrewala, who has written the lyrics and dialogues for Hindi version of the film, heaped praise on Shankar for continuing to inspire with his films. A representative from Tau Films, one of the VFX companies that are working on the film, said 2.0 was the most challenging work they have taken up so far. He added that theyre working very hard to match Shankars vision and bring the magic on screen. According to VFX supervisor Srinivas Mohan, 11 studios from around the globe are working to ensure 2.0 gives viewers the best visual effects experience. When it was editor Anthonys turn to speak, he took everyone by surprise by confirming that the running time of the film will be just 2 hours 20 minutes, making it the shortest Shankar film ever. Most Shankar films are nearly three hours long but he made an exception with 2.0 because its a 3D film and audiences will find it very difficult to wear 3D glasses and watch a film for so long.

Tamil superstar Rajinikanth and Bollywood actress Amy Jackson arrive for the audio launch of their upcoming flick 2.0, at a grand function in Dubai on Thursday. (PTI)

When it was superstar Rajinikanths turn to speak, the crowd went berserk and everybody was on their feet. Host RJ Balaji asked him how it feels to have completed 40 years in the industry.

Have one yet unfulfilled dream  Rajinikanth

I dont even remember how these 40 years passed. It still feels like 4-5 years. If not for gods grace and the love of my fans, I wouldnt have come this far. These 40 years have taught me that fame and money only bring minimum happiness. When people ask me is it difficult to be Rajinikanth, I tell them its only possible because of my faith in the almighty. As a word of advice to his fans, superstar said: Support good films and encourage good talent. If you dont like a film, please avoid spreading negativity through social media. Rajinikanth also spoke a few lines in Hindi and answered questions by Karan Johar. When he was asked if he has an unfulfilled dream, Rajinikanth said: There is one yet unfulfilled dream. Lets see what happens to it. Its quite possible that he could be referring to his political dream. Thalaivar also said that the younger generation is slowly forgetting its tradition and culture which is worrisome.

2.0 is not an extension of Enthiran - Shankar

Filmmaker Shankar, in his speech, reiterated that 2.0 is not an extension of Enthiran, though the project is being promoted as a sequel. We have incorporated a global message which is the need of the hour. The film features a few familiar characters from Enthiran. Shankar thanked Rajinikanths effort for the film even when he was not in his pink of health. Even while undergoing treatment, Rajini sir shot in the blistering summer heat of Delhi, wearing a 12 kg suit and I really need to thank him from the bottom of my heart. We also shot a sequence in the underground and he didnt have any qualms of shooting in such condition. Despite being an actor for 40 years, even today he aspires to do something different and his energy is unmatchable.

The highlight of evening was the live performance by A.R Rahman, who mesmerized audiences with the tracks from the album. 2.0 has only 3 tracks and the makers release two on streaming platforms on Friday night. The third song, though was performed at the event, will be officially released much later. The unreleased track was penned by late lyricist Na. Muthukumar.

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Film-maker Samit Kakkad recently returned from Canada where his film, Half Ticket (2016), was screened at the 35th Carrousel international du film de Rimouski. The movie has been screened in around 16 festivals across the globe. It has been subtitled in German, French, Spanish and other languages. This year, the film also won the Ecumenical Jury Award at the 57th Zlin Film Festival, Czech Republic.

The director was amazed and overwhelmed at the response he received from children as young as six and seven. I had a QnA session with school kids in Canada after they watched the film. I was surprised at the questions these kids had. Right from, Did you shoot the film in the night or was it digitally colour corrected? to How much does a pizza cost in India?, and so on and so forth. These experiences help you grow as a film-maker, as a human being, and above all, tell you that there is so much more to learn, says Kakkad, who is now taking the film to 20th International Childrens Film Festival India (ICFFI ) in Hyderabad, Telangana.

The Aayna Ka Bayna (2012) director feels that people need to come out and watch more films at festivals. We need to watch what the world is making. There is so much more to learn and one has to continue learning. On the sets too, I constantly learn from my spot and light boys. We need to have people come and visit festivals more often. They need to groom themselves to get into the space of just watching films. There is either a good film or a bad film, audiences need to train to understand this difference. When you are exposed to films from across the globe then you automatically get trained in understanding good cinema.

Kakkads next is inspired by Saadat Hasan Manto. Titled Ascharya Fuck It, the Hindi film talks about desire and greed intertwining the lives of a Bollywood star, his chauffeur, a prostitute and her pimp. He says, There was a quote by Saadat Hasan Manto that succinctly put the whole film into perspective, If you find my stories dirty, the society you are living in is dirty. With my stories, I only expose the truth. This film is about exposing the truth that underlies the shiny veneer of the film industry.

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The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) suffered a setback in Telangana on Saturday as the state working president and MLA, A Revanth Reddy, quit the party saying the recent happenings in the state unit pained him.

Revanth, who flew down to Vijayawada for a meeting with TDP supremo and Andhra Padesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, is understood to have handed over his resignation letter to Naidus private secretary and immediately left for Hyderabad.

When asked about it, Chandrababu Naidu told reporters that he has not received Revanths resignation letter.

Resignations are not new in TDP. Some people take decisions in their own interests, he remarked.

Revanth was arrested in the cash-for-vote case after he was caught on camera allegedly offering money to a nominated MLA for his vote in the MLC election in 2015.

For the past few days, there has been a turmoil in Telangana TDP with reports claiming that Revanth, who is an MLA from Kodangal in Mahbubnagar district, met Rahul Gandhi and was about to join the Congress.

Revanth also caused a stir by accusing some leaders of Andhra Pradesh TDP, including two ministers, of securing huge financial contracts from the TRS government in Telangana.

He, however, maintained a stoic silence over his future plans and had been saying that he would speak directly with Chandrababu Naidu upon the CMs return from abroad.

He met Chandrababu Naidu in Hyderabad yesterday, but the TDP chief summoned Revanth and other party leaders from Telangana for a detailed meeting in Vijayawada on Saturday.

Revanth flew down to Vijayawada, visited the Kanaka Durga temple and came to the CMs camp office for the meeting.

As the chief ministers arrival was delayed, the rebel leader handed over his resignation letter to Chandrababu Naidus PS and left for Hyderabad.

Chandrababu was later closeted in a meeting with other leaders from Telangana

Revanth, who plans to join the main opposition Congress party, submitted his resignation to the TDPs national president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in Amaravati.

The young leader called on Naidu in here and submitted his resignation from the primary membership of the party. He stated in his letter that he had the utmost respect for Naidus leadership.

The move came on a day when Naidu had called the partys Telangana leaders including Revanth to Amaravati to discuss the party affairs.

Naidu had met the TDP leaders here on Friday but the meeting was inconclusive. Several TDP leaders including state president L Ramna and M Narasimhulu were demanding that Revanth be expelled from the party for his open moves to cross over to Congress.

Revanth had reportedly called on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi and conveyed his decision to join the party.

Hailing from Mahabubnagar district, he was considered one of the key leaders of the party in Telangana. In the 2014 elections, he was elected to Telangana assembly from Kodangal constituency.

In 2015, he was caught red-handed by Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) while offering Rs 50 lakh to nominated member of Telangana assembly Elvis Stephenson to lure him to vote for TDP candidate in legislative council elections.

He had recently made a sensational allegation that some Andhra Pradesh ministers got contracts worth hundreds of crores from Telangana government. He was also unhappy with some TDP leaders of Telangana for favouring a tie-up with ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

TDP has considerable weakened in the state following defection of 12 of its legislators to TRS during last three years.

With Revanths resignation, TDPs tally in 119-member assembly will reduce to two.
The Airbus A330 was carrying 224 passengers when it skidded off the runway at Kathmandus airport in March 2015, coming to a stop with its nose buried in the grassy verge on the edge of the tarmac. No one was hurt, but the crash shut Nepals only international airport for four days as technicians struggled to move the plane. It was eventually dragged to a disused corner of the airport where it sat rusting for two years -- until pilot Bed Upreti had an idea.

It is unfortunate that the aircraft (had) an accident and was grounded, but I saw a perfect opportunity, Upreti told AFP. He bought the metal carcass and has invested $600,000 to turn it into an aviation museum. Upretis first task was moving the 63-metre plane across the road from the airport to the museums lot -- which proved harder than expected. He previously brought an abandoned Fokker 100 -- which is about half the size of an Airbus A330 -- and transported it 500 kilometres to Dhangadi in Nepals far west where he also set up a museum, though on a smaller scale that this one.

Transporting that plane across districts was much easier than relocating the Airbus metres away from the airport, Upreti said. Working only at night when the airport was closed, it took a team of engineers from Turkey six weeks to dismantle the plane into 10 pieces, before loading them onto trucks for the 500 metre journey across the road. It took another two months to put all the pieces back together. With all the seat stripped out of the belly of the plane, the new museum feels surprisingly spacious.

The business class section of the plane will feature a model of the Wright Brothers first aircraft -- the first machine to successfully take to the sky -- and in the tail there will be a cafe. More than 150 miniature display planes will chart the history of aviation as well as the story of Nepals flying industry. Himalayan Nepal is heavily reliant on a network of domestic air routes to compensate for its limited road network, though the countrys airlines have a poor safety record. For many in the impoverished country, the airfares are also beyond their means.

It (the museum) will give a chance to some Nepalis who might never fly to step into a plane, said engineering student Shyam Rauniyar, 22, who was part of the team that put together the replica of the Wright Brothers plane. Upreti hopes that the museum will inspire young minds to become pilots and engineers, and is confident that it will be a hit with visitors.

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We couldnt be more excited about Sanjay Leela Bhansalis upcoming Padmavati. And what better way to prepare for the history-drama than to get to know the star of the film a little better? No, not Rajput Queen Padmavati, aka Padmini, but the legendary Chittorgarh Fort itself, where the film is set.

The spectacular fort in southern Rajasthan promises to bring a bit of Indian history into the lives of millions of viewers and reinvigorated interest in the 7th-century property. Once a safe harbour from the enemy and a symbol of overwhelming power and rare heights of luxury - from long corridors and palatial rooms, filled with medieval paintings, armoury, murals and stained glass to great panoramic views - today, the fort attracts visitors from around the world.



A witness to many dramatic and tragic events, visually-compelling, of an impressive size, having historic and cultural value, the impressive fort with its palace complexes, gates and temples doesnt cease to amaze.

So, what do you not know about one of the most famous forts in India? Read on for a few fascinating facts about this magnificent Chittorgarh landmark before you watch the Deepika Padukone-movie.

Sitting in southern part of Rajasthan, two hours away from Udaipur, Chittorgarh Fort was built in the seventh century. (Shutterstock)

1. The largest fort in India covers 700 acres atop a 590-foot-tall hill, complete with towers and walls that have stood since the Maurya Empire rulers built it near Udaipur, in the 7th century. Fort Chittorgarh, also dubbed the Fort of Chittor, has a one-mile-long twisty road leading to it with seven gateways guarded by a watch tower and iron-spiked doors. While only 22 of the original 84 bodies of water within the fort still exist, according to popularmechanic.com, almost half of the forts space was covered by water at one time. Enough of a reservoir to hold about one billion gallons of water and, with rainfall, enough to maintain an army of 50,000 for four years without fear of thirst.

Padmavati is an upcoming 2017 Indian period drama film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The film features Deepika Padukone in the title role as Rani Padmavati, alongside Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh. (Padmavati movie trailer)

2. Like most famous forts and palaces, Chittorgarh Fort is just as magical and associated with legends and myths of its own. The legend of Queen Padmavati is a tale of lust and war, which unfortunately ended in tragedy. The story of Padmavati, who immolated herself to allegedly escape one of the most powerful rulers of the Khalji dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, Allaudin Khilji, has made for interesting folklore and ballads. But who was Padmavati? Rajasthani lore says Padmavati was the queen of Chittor, a woman beautiful beyond words. The first reference of the gorgeous queen of Chittor is in Padmavat, a poem written by Malik Muhammad Jayasi in 1540, more than 200 years after the death of the Sultan of Delhi Alauddin Khilji. Whether the poets artistic work was inspired by reality or was simply a creation of his vivid imagination is contested. The ones convinced about the queens being however, believe that Padmavati was Rani Padmini, a princess from Sri Lanka who married Rajput ruler Rawal Rattan Singh and moved to Chittor.

Only 22 of the original 84 bodies of water within Fort Chittorgarh, also dubbed the Fort of Chittor, still exist. (Shutterstock)

3. With its breathtaking scenery - Chittorgarh Fort stands on the top of a hill and on the banks of Berach river - and remarkable architecture - it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site - the fort is truly a real-life magic kingdom. Sitting in southern part of Rajasthan, it is two hours away from Udaipur. Its chief attraction is Padmavatis Palace, a white, three-storeyed structure (a 19th-century reconstruction of the original). Built on the banks of a lotus pool, this is where Alauddin Khilji was purportedly allowed to glimpse Rani Padminis reflection on the water. Besotted, Khilji made up his mind to possess her and waged a war on Chittorgarh in 1303. Or so the legend goes.

One of the most-visited destinations of Rajasthan, Chittorgarh Fort is not only known for its palaces but also its ancient temples. (Shutterstock)

4. Apart from Padmini and Rawal Ratan Singhs palaces, Chittor Fort houses intricately carved Jain temples, ornamental pillars, Gaumukh reservoir, considered sacred by the locals and Meerabais temple where she worshipped lord Krishna. Rana Kumbhas Palace, one of the most massive monuments in the fort is believed to have underground cellars, where Rani Padmini committed jauhar (self-immolation). Other temples on the forts premises include Ganesha Temple, Kalika Mata temple, Sammidheshwara Temple, Meerabai Temple (or Krishna Temple), Kumbha Shyam Temple and Neelkanth Mahadev Temple.

Vijay Stambh or the tower of victory is one of the most notable structure of Chittorgarh Fort. (Shutterstock)

5. Chittor Fort also has two towers, Vijay Stambh and Kirti Stambh,which depict the glorious past of Rajputs. Kirti Stambh or the Tower of Fame was built in 12th century dedicated to the first Jain thinker Adinath ji. Vijay Stambh or the tower of victory is one of the most notable structure of Chittorgarh Fort. It was built by Maharana Kumbha to memorialise his triumph over Mohammed Khilji in the 15th century.

Chittor fort was attacked thrice and each time it was safeguarded by the Rajputs. (Shutterstock)

6. Built in 7th century AD by various Mauryan rulers, Chittorgarh Fort is said to have been the capital of the Sisodia and Gahlot kings who ruled Mewar between the 8th and the 16th century. The Chittor Fort was named after Chittrangad Maurya. Chittor fort was attacked thrice and each time it was safeguarded by the Rajputs. It was attacked for the first time in the year 1303 by Allaudin Khilji. Next, it was attacked in 1535 by Gujarats Sultan Bahadur Shah. The fort was attacked again for the last time in the year 1567, when the third Mughal Emperor Akbar decided to pressurise Maharana Udai Singh by the siege of Chittorgarh. All these three attacks saw saka and jauhar - collective self immolation - committed by both the men and the women folks, who preferred death over surrender.

Ruins of Rana Kumbha Palace in the fort of Chittor. (Shutterstock)

7. You could hire an official guide to show you around the fort and tell stories of Padmavati. But do stay back for the impressive light-and-sound show that takes place every evening (7pm in English and 8pm in Hindi. Timings change with season). The show will bring you more stories of other important characters like Bappa Rawal, saint-poet Meerabai, Rana Kumbha and Rana Sanga (whose queen Rani Karnavati is also said to have performed jauhar when Bahadur Shah ransacked Chittorgarh) and other historical characters from the forts history.

Below are few more architecture-boasting photos of Chittorgarh Fort. Enjoy.

Chittorgarh Fort stands on the top of a hill and on the banks of Berach river. The largest fort in India covers 700 acres atop a 590-foot-tall hill. (Shutterstock)

Aerial view of Chittorgarh city from the fort. (Shutterstock)

Apart from the palaces, Chittorgarh Fort houses several other attractions. (Shutterstock)

The ruins of Maharana Kumbh Palace at Chittorgarh Fort. (Shutterstock)

Kirti Stambh or the Tower of Fame was built in 12th century dedicated to the first Jain thinker Adinath ji. (Shutterstock)

Jain temple, named Satris Deori, was built in the 11th century at the fort. (Shutterstock)

Another temple at Chittorgarh Fort. (Shutterstock)

Details on one of the temples inside the fort. (Shutterstock)

Statue of deity Garuda in front of a temple dedicated to Vishnu at the fort. (Shutterstock)

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Priyank Sharma was warned upon his re-entry in the Bigg Boss house on Friday that would not be allowed to share information he learnt in the outside world with other members of the house. If he did, he would be kicked out once again. However, that did not stop him from spreading chaos.

He told Sapna Choudhary to use the phrase Pune and Goa against Arshi Khan in their next fight. She did and Arshi was left stunned at what just happened. She approached Priyank to ask why he was revealing details about his personal life on the show and was later seen crying, My parents will be so angry at me.

According to The Indian Express, Pune and Goa were such a big deal for Arshi because she reportedly suspected to be part of a flesh trade scandal in Pune. In October 2016, according to a report in Pune Mirror, Pune city police alleged that Arshi was in town to be part of the flesh trade; she stayed at a hotel and asked for clients through her agent, Vipul Dahal, who was later arrested.

Police said they had audio clips of conversations between Dahal and the model which proved that she was looking for clients. Cops also claimed that they recovered used and unused condoms from her room during the raid.

The report quoted website enewzhub.com, which said that Arshi was also arrested in Goa at a beach hotel for practising prostitution.

Arshis publicist, Flynn Remedios, has released a statement and said that he will file an FIR against Priyank, Sapna and others for mentioning the incidences. Filing FIR/criminal complaint against Bigg Boss 11 contestants, Priyank Sharma, Sapna Choudhary, Colors, Endemol, today under various IPC provisions concerning the dignity of a woman in legally privileged and protected cases. Colors and Endemol are accused/guilty of permitting telecast of legally privileged/protected and subjudice court matters including the right to prevent or avoid self-incrimination by accused or victim woman and using it for TRP and financial gain, he said.

Arshi is one of the top contenders on the show right now and is known for her foul language and loud behaviour.

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Spain on Friday sacked Catalonias regional government, dissolved the Catalan parliament and called a snap election in the region for December 21, in a bid to draw a line under the countrys worst political crisis in 40 years.

As well as removing Carles Puigdemont as head of the autonomous region, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy also fired Catalonias police chief and said central government ministries would take over the administration.

Spain is living through a sad day, Rajoy said. We believe it is urgent to listen to Catalan citizens, to all of them, so that they can decide their future and nobody can act outside the law on their behalf.

Below are several scenarios of what could happen in the next few days.

Direct rule

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sacked Catalonias government including regional president Carles Puigdemont and his deputy Oriol Junqueras and assumed direct control over the region.

Central government ministries will assume directly the powers of the Catalan administration until a regional election takes place on December 21.

Elections

It is not clear whether a snap regional election will resolve the crisis.

An opinion poll published by the El Periodico newspaper on Sunday showed a snap election would probably have results similar to the last ballot in 2015, when a coalition of pro-independence parties formed a minority government.

Other opinion polls have shown Catalonia is almost evenly split between pro- and anti-independence supporters.

Civil disobedience

Catalonias main secessionist groups have called for widespread civil disobedience. They also instructed civil servants not to obey orders from Madrid and respond with peaceful resistance. It is unclear whether such calls will be followed or not.

People holding Esteladas gather outside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona. (AFP Photo)

Use of force

Spains government said it was not planning to make any arrests, but it is unclear how it will proceed if the current regional administration staff refuse to leave their offices.

A growing number of analysts fear this could lead to a physical confrontation if national police, who used heavy-handed tactics to thwart an October 1 vote on independence, seek to intervene.

Change of police

One of the main problems over the implementation of direct rule will relate to Catalonias own police forces, the Mossos dEsquadra.

Rajoy said the Mossos chief would be fired.

But a group of Mossos favouring independence has already said they would not follow instructions from the central government and would not use force to remove ministers and lawmakers from power.

Several officers told Reuters they believed the 17,000-strong force was split between those who want independence and those who oppose it.

The Mossos, whose chief is under investigation on suspicion of sedition, will have to act on direct orders from their new bosses. If deemed necessary, Mossos officers may be replaced by national police.

Finance

The Economy Ministry has already increased its control over regional finances, to block the use of state funds to organise the secession bid, and started paying directly for essential services.

Under the new proposal, Madrid will take full financial control.

Many companies have however said on condition of anonymity that they feared a new Catalan treasury could start levying taxes, and that they would seek to move their tax base outside Catalonia.

It is also possible that some pro-independence Catalans will stop paying their taxes to the Spanish treasury.

Media control

The Spanish government had initially said it would control widely watched Catalan public television TV3, but it eventually dropped that plan.

The media is likely to play an important role in the run-up to the new election in Catalonia.
First charges were reportedly filed on Friday by the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 US elections and allegations of collusion by members of then Republican candidate Donald Trumps campaign team.

The CNN, which first reported the development that was picked up by other outlets despite no official confirmation yet, did not describe the charges or identify the target, or targets.

The charges were approved by a grand jury hearing testimony in the probe in a Washington DC federal court. The indictment (a list of charges) was delivered in a sealed envelope and officials made no announcements.

There were reports that arrests, also the first in this case, could follow neat week, as early as Monday or Tuesday.

These reports were based on unexpected flurry of activity at the federal court, and included the presence of top members of Muellers team.

Mueller, a highly-respected former FBI director, was appointed special counsel by the US justice department in May after President Trump fired then FBI director James Comey after asking him to back off on Michael Flynn, Trumps first national security adviser sacked for lying about his interactions with Russian officials.

Muellers mandate is to look not only into the Russian meddling and allegation of Trump campaign collusion, but also any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation, which has been a matter of serious concern for the White House and the president himself, who have accused the special counsel, in what is clearly a pre-emptive manoeuvre, of conducting a witch-hunt.

There have been reports that the president could fire the special counsel, who was appointed by his administration, and shut down the probe, which has caused bipartisan disquiet on Capitol Hill, home to US legislature, and lawmakers have moved legislation to prevent Trump from doing that.

Trump has also explored the prospect of using his presidential pardon to protect those indicted or charged from being prosecuted and tried, including himself, according to reports. The pardon cannot protect him from impeachment, but pretty much anything else.

The president has been frustrated by the Russia probe and the shadow it has cast on his administration almost from the start, and he has denied any collusion. He had even appeared to be sceptical about the meddling at all, that had been confirmed by the countrys intelligence community.

The intelligence agencies concluded in January that Russia interfered in the elections to try and help Trump defeat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton through a campaign of hacking and releasing embarrassing emails, and disseminating propaganda via social media to discredit her campaign.

CNN quoted its sources as saying that plans were prepared on Friday for anyone charged to be taken into custody as soon as Monday. The report said it was unclear what the charges are.

A spokesman for Muellers office declined to comment.

The Kremlin had in the past denied the charges of interfering in the US elections.

Under regulations for special investigations, deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein would have been made aware of any charges before they were taken to the grand jury for approval, CNN quoted unnamed officials as saying.

On Friday, top lawyers helping to lead the probe, including veteran prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, were seen entering the courtroom at the Washington federal court where the grand jury meets to hear testimony emanating from the investigation.

Shortly after President Trump fired Comey in May, Rosenstein appointed Mueller to head the investigation. Comey had launched the investigation in July 2016, when the campaign for the presidential election was still underway.

Trump initially said he moved against Comey because his leadership of the FBI was inadequate and hurt morale, but in a later interview with NBC, the president cited this Russia thing as his reason.

Investigators have scrutinised the financial ties of Trump and his associates to Russia.

Muellers team has also investigated foreign lobbying conducted by former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, as well as Flynn and others.

The team has sought documents and testimony from people close to Manafort and others involved in a Trump Tower meeting between the Russians and campaign officials.

Last year, the FBI investigation had secured approval from a secret court that oversees the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to monitor the communications of Manafort and former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

(With agency inputs)
The Paris prosecutors office is investigating allegations of rape and sexual assault against prominent Swiss Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, who denies any wrongdoing.

Le Monde and Le Parisien newspapers reported Saturday that a woman filed a complaint this week against Ramadan for an alleged rape in 2009. Last week, a woman said she was assaulted by Ramadan in 2012.

Paris prosecutors say they have opened a rape and sexual assault investigation against Ramadan following the first complaint. Ramadans lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, has denied the accusations and says his client is suing for false allegations.

Ramadan teaches Islamic Studies at Oxford University and has written numerous books on Islam and the integration of Muslims in Europe.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday the threat of nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating.

In remarks in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at his side, Mattis accused the North of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs  and vowed to defeat any attack.

Mattis said the North engages in over-the-top rhetoric and behavior. And he said the U.S. will never accept a nuclear North.

He added that regardless of what the North might try, it is overmatched by the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old U.S.-South Korean alliance.

North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbors and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs, he said, adding that U.S.-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration thus has taken on a new urgency.

As he emphasized throughout his weeklong Asia trip, which included stops in Thailand and the Philippines, Mattis said diplomacy remains the preferred way to deal with the North.

With that said, he added, make no mistake  any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming.

Mattiss comments in Seoul did not go beyond his recent statements of concern about North Korea, although he appeared to inject a stronger note about the urgency of resolving the crisis.

While he accused the North of outlaw behavior, he did not mention that President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his own rhetoric. In August, Trump warned the North not to make any more threats against the United States, and said that if it did, it would be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.

Song, the South Korean minister, told the news conference that he and Mattis agreed that limits on South Korea conventional missile warhead payloads would be lifted. He offered no specifics.

Also discussed were the conditions under which South Korea would be given wartime operational control of its forces. Currently, if war with the North broke out, the Souths forces would operate under the U.S.-led U.N. Command.

Trump entered office declaring his commitment to solving the North Korea problem, asserting that he would succeed where his predecessors had failed. His administration has sought to increase pressure on Pyongyang through U.N. Security Council sanctions and other diplomatic efforts, but the North hasnt budged from its goal of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including missiles capable of striking the U.S. mainland.

If Trump sticks to his pledge to stop the North from being able to threaten the U.S. with a nuclear attack, something will have to give - either a negotiated tempering of the Norths ambitions or a U.S. acceptance of the North as a nuclear power.

The other alternative would be U.S. military action to attempt to neutralize or eliminate the Norths nuclear assets - a move fraught with risk for South Korea, Japan and the United States.

At his Seoul news conference, Mattis said the North is, in effect, shooting itself in the foot.

If it remains on its current path of ballistic missiles and atomic bombs, it will be counterproductive, in effect reducing its security, he said.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to counter what it believes is a U.S. effort to strangle its economy and overthrow the Kim government.

This was Mattiss second visit to South Korea since taking office in January. He made a point of going to Seoul and Tokyo on his first overseas trip in February, saying he wanted to emphasis the importance he places on strengthening alliances and partnerships.

On Friday he visited the Demilitarized Zone that forms an official buffer between the two Koreas. He appeared there with Song in what they both called a show of solidarity.

U.S. government officials for decades have confidently but mistakenly predicted the approaching collapse of North Korea, given its economic and political isolation.

Twenty years ago, Mattiss predecessor five times removed, William Cohen, said as he peered into North Korea from inside the DMZ that its communist system was decaying and dying. His view was widely shared in Washington, but, like others, he underestimated the resilience of Pyongyangs family dynasty, which began with Kim Il Sung. The current ruler assumed control of the country shortly after his father, Kim Jong-Il, died in December 2011, and has accelerated the countrys nuclear and missile programs.
Catalonias police force told its officers to remain neutral in the struggle over the regions fight for independence from Spain, a step towards averting possible conflict as the Madrid government starts to impose control on Saturday.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dismissed the Catalan government, took over the administration and called a new election after the regional parliament made a unilateral declaration of independence on Friday, aggravating Spains worst political crisis in four decades.

The independence declaration, though dramatic, was almost immediately rendered futile by Rajoys actions. Other European countries and the United States also rejected it and expressed support for Spains prime minister.

But emotions are running high in Catalonia and the next few days will be tricky for Madrid as it embarks on enforcing direct rule on the ground. Rajoy designated Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz Santamaria to oversee the process.

The regional parliaments vote to declare Catalonia a separate nation, which was boycotted by three national opposition parties, capped a battle of wills between the independence movement, headed by the now-sacked Carles Puigdemont and the Madrid government.

The separatists say a referendum held on Oct. 1 gave them a mandate for independence. However, less than half of eligible voters turned out for the ballot, which Madrid declared illegal and tried to stop.

Opinion polls regularly show that more than half of the 5.3 million people who are eligible to vote in the wealthy northeastern region do not want to break from Spain.

A man displays a scarf featuring an Estelada (Catalan separatist flag) design, as he reacts at Sant Jaume Square after the Catalan regional parliament declares independence from Spain in Barcelona. (REUTERS)

In an effort to defuse tensions, the regional police force urged its officers to behave in a neutral manner and not to take sides, an internal note seen by Reuters showed.

There have been doubts over how the Mossos dEsquadra, as the Catalan police are called, would respond if ordered to evict Puigdemont and his government.

The force is riven by distrust between those for and against independence and is estranged from Spains national police forces, Mossos and national police officers have told Reuters. Some Catalan police officers stood between national police and those trying to vote during the banned referendum.

Given that there is it is likely to be an increase in gatherings and rallies of citizens in all the territory and that there are people of different thoughts, we must remember that it is our responsibility to guarantee the security of all and help these to take place without incident, said the memo, which had no name attached to it.

The Madrid government also sacked the forces chief of Catalonias regional police force, Josep Lluis Trapero, the official gazette announced on Saturday.

Trapero became a hero to the secessionists after his force took a much softer stance than national police in enforcing the government ban on the independence referendum.

Spains High Court on Oct. 16 banned Trapero from leaving the country and seized his passport as part of an investigation for alleged sedition, although it did not order his arrest.

Prosecutors say he failed to give orders to rescue national police trapped inside a Barcelona building during pro-independence protests last month.

In Barcelona, thousands of independence supporters packed the Sant Jaume Square in front of the regional headquarters on Friday night, waving Catalan flags and singing traditional songs in the Catalan language as bands played. There was no trouble.

But some analysts say that street confrontation is possible as the Madrid government enforces control.

The main secessionist group, the Catalan National Assembly, on Friday called on civil servants not to follow orders from the Spanish government, but it stressed they should mount peaceful resistance.

People gather to celebrate at the Sant Jaume square in Barcelona on October 27, 2017. (Lluis Gene/AFP Photo)

A pro-independence trade union, the CSC, called a strike from Monday through to Nov. 9. The government said it would ensure a minimum service.

Madrid says Viva Espana

A pro-unity rally was due to take place in Madrid on Saturday afternoon, an indication of the resentment the independence drive has caused in the rest of Spain.

The chaos has also prompted a flight of business from Catalonia, which contributes about a fifth of Spains economy, the fourth-largest in the euro zone. Markets have dipped and risen on the roller-coaster of developments.

European leaders have denounced the push, fearing it could fan separatist sentiment around the continent.

Catalonia is one of Spains most prosperous regions and already has a high degree of autonomy. But it has a litany of historic grievances, exacerbated during the 1939-1975 Franco dictatorship, when its culture and politics were suppressed.

The new regional election will be held on Dec. 21. But it is not certain whether this can resolve the crisis as it could increase the numbers of independence supporters in parliament and take things full circle.
The threat of nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating, US defence secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday, accusing the North of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programmes and pledging to repel any strike.

In remarks in Seoul with South Korean defence minister Song Young-moo at his side, Mattis said North Korea engages in outlaw behaviour and that the US will never accept a nuclear North.

The Pentagon chief added that regardless of what the North might try, it is overmatched by the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old US-South Korean alliance.

North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbours and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs, he said, adding that US-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration thus has taken on a new urgency.

I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power, Mattis said.

As he emphasized throughout his weeklong Asia trip, which included stops in Thailand and the Philippines, Mattis said diplomacy remains the preferred way to deal with the North.

With that said, he added, make no mistake  any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming.

Mattis comments did not go beyond his recent statements of concern about North Korea, although he appeared to inject a stronger note about the urgency of resolving the crisis.

While he accused the North of outlaw behaviour, he did not mention that President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his own rhetoric. In August, Trump warned the North not to make any more threats against the United States, and said that if it did, it would be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.

Song said at the news conference that he and Mattis agreed to further cooperation on strengthening Seouls defense capabilities, including lifting warhead payload limits on South Korean conventional missiles and supporting the countrys acquisition of most advanced military assets. He offered no specifics and refused to answer when asked whether the discussions included nuclear-powered submarines.

Some South Korean government officials have endorsed the nation getting nuclear-powered submarines amid calls for more military strength. Theres a growing concern among the South Korean public that North Koreas expanding nuclear weapons arsenal, which may soon include an intercontinental ballistic missile that could target the US mainland, would undermine Seouls long alliance with Washington.

South Koreas conservative politicians have also called for the United States to bring back tactical nuclear weapons that were withdrawn from the Korean Peninsula in the 1990s. But Mattis and Song were strongly dismissive of the idea.

When considering national interest, its much better not to deploy them, said Song, adding that the allies would have sufficient means to respond to a North Korean nuclear attack even without placing tactical nuclear weapons in the South. Mattis said current US strategic assets are already providing nuclear deterrence and that the South Korean government has never approached him with the subject of tactical nuclear weapons.

Trump entered office declaring his commitment to solving the North Korea problem, asserting that he would succeed where his predecessors had failed. His administration has sought to increase pressure on Pyongyang through UN Security Council sanctions and other diplomatic efforts, but the North hasnt budged from its goal of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including missiles capable of striking the US mainland.

If Trump sticks to his pledge to stop the North from being able to threaten the US with a nuclear attack, something will have to give  either a negotiated tempering of the Norths ambitions or a US acceptance of the North as a nuclear power.

The other alternative would be US military action to attempt to neutralize or eliminate the Norths nuclear assets - a move fraught with risk for South Korea, Japan and the United States.

Mattis touched off unease in South Korea last month when he told reporters at the Pentagon that the United States has military options for North Korea that doesnt put Seoul at risk. At Saturdays briefing, Mattis didnt offer a direct answer to what those options are or how and when they would be used.

Our military options as I mentioned are designed to buttress the diplomats efforts to maintain a deterrence stance and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, he said. While the allies are committed to deterring North Korea, they also need many different military options that would realistically reduce that threat as low as possible, Mattis said.

And yes, we do have those options, he said.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to counter what it believes is a US effort to strangle its economy and overthrow the Kim government.

This was Mattiss second visit to South Korea since taking office in January. He made a point of going to Seoul and Tokyo on his first overseas trip in February, saying he wanted to emphasis the importance he places on strengthening alliances and partnerships.
Catalonias fired leaders will continue working to build a free country, its ousted separatist president said Saturday, as he called for peaceful opposition to Spains imposition of direct rule in the region.

Carles Puigdemonts comments, made in a recorded televised address that was broadcast as he sat in a cafe in his hometown of Girona, were a veiled refusal to accept his Cabinets dismissal as ordered by central authorities.

They came after one of the most tumultuous days in Spains recent history, as Catalan lawmakers in Barcelona passed a declaration of independence for the prosperous northeastern region, and the national parliament in Madrid approved unprecedented constitutional measures to halt the secessionist drive.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy also dissolved the regional parliament and called a new regional election to be held on Dec. 21.

In his televised statement, Puigdemont said only the regional parliament can elect or dismiss the Catalan government, vowing to continue working to build a free country.

The best way we have to defend the achievements to date is the democratic opposition to the application of Article 155, Puigdemont said in reference to the constitutional clause that gave Madrid direct control of affairs in Catalonia.

Despite his defiant tone and the use of the official Catalan government emblem, the Catalan and European Union flags but no sign of the Spanish one, some political commentators saw his mention of democratic opposition as laying the groundwork for political campaigning for the regional election in less than two months.

Our will is to continue working to fulfill the democratic mandates and at the same time seek the maximum stability and tranquility, Puigdemont said. Separatists argue that a controversial victory in a banned Oct. 1 referendum legitimizes them to split from Spain.

Andrew Dowling, a specialist in Catalan history at Cardiff University in Wales, said the statement was vague and imprecise, certainly not like the president of a new country.

They have led 2 million Catalans to believe in independence, so its a big problem to tell them now that its actually difficult to build a state when Spain has the upper hand of the law on its side, Dowling said. They are trapped by their own rhetoric.

After Spains central authorities made the takeover official early Saturday, Puigdemont and the 12 members who until Saturday made up the Catalan Cabinet are no longer paid.

Spains government has said they could be charged with usurping others functions if they refuse to obey, which could throw the region into further turmoil by prolonging a monthlong standoff.

In comments that were met late Friday with jeers and whistles of disapproval by secession supporters in Barcelona, Rajoy said the declaration of independence not only goes against the law but is a criminal act.

Spanish prosecutors say top Catalan officials could face rebellion charges as soon as Monday.

Refusing to comment on Puigdemonts televised address, Rajoys office said on Saturday that his actions will be a judicial affair from now on and that the Dec. 21 election would be the way to return dignity to the Catalan institutions.

Its not clear at all whether a new election would solve Spains problems with separatists in Catalonia. Polls suggest pro-independence parties would likely maintain their slim advantage in parliamentary seats but wouldnt get more than 50 percent of the vote.

Beyond any possible resistance from top Catalan officials, its unclear how Rajoys government in Madrid will be able to exert its control at lower levels of Catalonias vast regional administration.

Catalonia had secured the ability to govern itself in many areas, including education, health and policing, since democracy returned to Spain following the death of dictator Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975.

Some among Catalonias roughly 200,000 civil servants have said they will refuse to obey orders from Madrid. They risk being punished or even fired under the special powers granted to central authorities by the nations Senate on Friday.

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria will be Rajoys point person in running Catalonia until the new regional election. She will coordinate other ministries that take over functions of Catalonias regional departments, including finances and security, and appoint officials to implement orders from Madrid.

In one of the first moves, Spains Interior Ministry published an order to demote Josep Lluis Trapero from his position as head of the regional Mossos dEsquadra police in Catalonia. He was allowed to remain as commissar, but he later released a statement saying he was resigning from the force.

Trapero became a divisive figure as the public face of the police response in mid-August to deadly extremists attacks in and near Barcelona. He was praised for effectiveness but also criticized for coordination problems with other national police forces.

Spains National Court is also investigating him as part of a sedition probe related to the banned Oct. 1 independence referendum, when the regional police were seen as acting passively  not aggressively  to halt the vote deemed illegal by a top Spanish court.

Traperos boss, regional police director Pere Soler, said in a statement that he accepted his firing by central authorities in Madrid.
It was a showdown 25 years in the making: With the world itching to finally get a look at classified Kennedy assassination files, and the deadline for their release just hours away, intelligence officials were still angling for a way to keep their secrets. President Donald Trump, the one man able to block the release, did not appreciate their persistence. He did not intend to make this easy.

Like much else surrounding investigations of the 1963 killing of President John F Kennedy, Thursdays release of 2,800 records from the JFK files was anything but smooth. It came together only at the last minute, with White House lawyers still fielding late-arriving requests for additional redactions in the morning and an irritated Trump continuing to resist signing off on the request, according to an account by two White House officials. They spoke only on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions.

The tale of the final hours before the congressionally mandated 25-year release deadline adds a new chapter to the story of Trumps troubled relationship with his spy agencies. He again flashed his skepticism and unpredictability in dealing with agencies long accustomed to a level of deference. Intelligence officials, meanwhile, were again left scratching their heads about a president whose impulses they cannot predict.

And those officials had their own story tell, some rejecting the notion they were slow to act on Trumps expectations for the documents. The CIA began work months ago to get its remaining assassination-related documents ready for release on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the process. The person, who was not authorised to publicly to discuss the process and spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the goal was to have all the agencys documents ready to be released in full or with national security redactions before the deadline.

Since taking office, Trump has challenged the integrity of intelligence leaders, moved to exert more control over US spying agencies and accused his predecessor of using government spycraft to monitor his campaign. In the JFK files matter, one White House official said, Trump wanted to make clear he wouldnt be bullied by the agencies.

Whatever occurred in the lead-up to deadline day, Trump was irritated on Thursday that agencies still were arguing for more redactions. The president earlier in the week had tweeted to tease the release of the documents, heightening the sense of drama on a subject that has sparked the imaginations of conspiracy theorists for decades. Under a 1992 law, all of the records related to the assassination were to be made public unless explicitly withheld by the president.

Just before the release Thursday, Trump wrote in a memorandum that he had no choice but to agree to requests from the CIA and FBI to keep thousands of documents secret because of the possibility that releasing the information could still harm national security. Two aides said Trump was upset by what he perceived to be overly broad secrecy requests, adding that the agencies had been explicitly warned about his expectation that redactions be kept to a minimum.

The president and White House have been very clear with all agencies for weeks: They must be transparent and disclose all information possible, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah said Friday.

Late last week, Trump received his first official briefing on the release in an Oval Office meeting that included Chief of Staff John Kelly, White House Counsel Don McGahn and National Security Council legal adviser John Eisenberg. Trump made it clear he was unsatisfied with the pace of declassification.

Trumps tweets, an official said, were meant as a signal to the intelligence community to take seriously his threats to release the documents in their entirety.

According to White House officials, Trump accepted that some of the records contained references to sensitive sources and methods used by the intelligence community and law enforcement and that declassification could harm American foreign policy interests. But after having the scope of the redactions presented to him, Trump told aides he did not believe them to be in the spirit of the law.

On Thursday, Trumps top aides presented him with an alternative to simply acquiescing to the agency requests: He could temporarily allow the redactions while ordering the agencies to launch a new comprehensive examination of the records still withheld or redacted in part. Trump accepted the suggestion, ordering that agencies be extremely circumspect about keeping the remaining documents secret at the end of the 180-day assessment.

After strict consultation with General Kelly, the CIA and other agencies, I will be releasing ALL JFK files other than the names and addresses of any mentioned person who is still living, Trump wrote in a Friday tweet. I am doing this for reasons of full disclosure, transparency and in order to put any and all conspiracy theories to rest.
Spains Senate on Friday voted to grant Madrid powers to impose direct rule on Catalonia, shortly after the semi-autonomous regions parliament approved a motion declaring independence.

After regional lawmakers voted to declare a Catalan republic, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy moved swiftly to dissolve the rebel government and parliament, and called December 21 elections to replace them.

In an escalating standoff closely watched by secession-wary Europe, Rajoy fired pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont and all his ministers as well as the director of the regional police, and Catalan envoys to Madrid and Brussels, to halt what he termed an escalation of disobedience.

Herewith are five questions about what it means to make a unilateral declaration of independence:

What is a unilateral declaration of independence?

Known by its acronym UDI, the term was first coined in 1965 when the former Rhodesias minority white government declared unilateral independence from British colonial rule. The process itself is when a new state is established within an existing country, declaring itself sovereign and independent without the consent of the entity, country or state from which it is seceding.

Does Catalonia have a right to declare self-rule?

Any entity has the right to declare its independence. But to become a state that of course requires a territory, a population and authorities, said Jean-Claude Piris, a Brussels-based international law consultant and former EU legal services director for 23 years.

But what matters most is recognition by the international community, he said. Everyone has the right to issue a declaration of independence, but that in itself has no international consequence.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy reads some papers as he chairs a cabinet meeting at La Moncloa palace in Madrid. (AFP Photo)

Piris said very few countries will recognise Catalonia and I guarantee you no one will recognise them in the EU.

Therefore it will remain an empty declaration: Catalonia will not be represented in international organisations, they will not sit in the EU, they will not be able to do anything and legally they will remain part of Spain, he said.

Is Catalonias UDI legal?

That is a complicated question, and two important legal findings may help determine the answer, the experts say.

The first is a 2010 advisory opinion by the UNs highest tribunal, the International Court of Justice, on Kosovos declaration of independence from Serbia. The second is a 1998 opinion by the Canadian Supreme Court.

After being asked by the UN General Assembly to rule on the issue, the ICJ concluded that Kosovos declaration did not violate international law or Security Council resolutions.

In a written opinion to the court, Spain argued Kosovos declaration was not in accordance with international law saying it ignored Serbias right to sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Is Quebec case a model?

In the case of Quebec, the Canadian Supreme Court advised in 1998 that people only have a right to secede when they are victims of colonisation, oppressed and exploited or are denied access to a federal government.

Its really reserved for oppressed people who do not have the right to democracy, who are badly treated. But this is not the case at all for Catalonia, which enjoys democratic rights, said Piris, noting the Catalans are acting outside of the Spanish constitutional framework.

I cannot imagine any international tribunal that would say that the right to self-determination applies to the Catalans. Its unimaginable, said Piris.

What happens next?

What matters now is what will happen nationally and in the streets, said Piris.

Are there going to be demonstrations, barricades? Will people accept and submit if Spain triggers Catalan guardianship... or will there be violence?

Spain experienced a civil war not so long ago and just before World War II, Piris pointed out.

If Catalonia becomes an independent state the implications cannot be underestimated said Narin Idriz, a researcher at the Hague-based Asser Institute.

Holding Spanish flags, demonstrators confront Catalan police as they are prevented from moving forward during a march against the unilateral declaration of independence. (AP Photo)

All European Union member states cherish their territorial integrity, they will not want the same thing to happen to them, therefore it will be very difficult to find any support, she said.
In one of the most momentous days in recent Spanish history, Spain fired Catalonias regional government and dissolved its parliament Friday after a defiant Catalan declaration of independence that flouted the countrys constitution.

Lawmakers in the Catalan parliament voted to unilaterally declare independence, prompting the swift crackdown by the Spanish government, which also called an early election in the region.

Hours after Catalonias secession move, the Spanish Senate granted the government special constitutional powers to stop the wealthy regions move toward independence.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoys conservative government then called an urgent Cabinet meeting late Friday, after which Rajoy emerged to announce the emergency measures, including regional elections called for Dec. 21.

In Barcelona, Catalonias regional capital, Rajoys announcement in a televised address was greeted with jeers and whistles of disapproval from crowds who had gathered at the gates of the government palace to celebrate their parliaments moves toward independence.

Its not about suspending or meddling in the self-government (of Catalonia), but to return it to normality and legality as soon as possible, Rajoy said.

Holding Spanish flags, demonstrators confront Catalan police as they are prevented from moving forward during a march against the unilateral declaration of independence approved earlier by the Catalan parliament in downtown Barcelona Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. (AP)

The government and Spains Constitutional Court have both said the secession bid was illegal, and after Fridays independence vote, Rajoy said it was a move that not only goes against the law but is a criminal act.

Rajoy also said he was firing the head of the Catalan regional police, shutting down the Catalan governments overseas offices, and dismissing its representatives in Madrid and in Brussels, where the European Union has its headquarters.

After the Catalan parliament independence vote, Rajoy said it was a move that in the opinion of a large majority of people not only goes against the law but is a criminal act.

The Senates decision giving Rajoy special powers trumped the Catalan regional parliaments vote to secede, which was doomed because the Constitutional Court has already consistently ruled against any steps toward independence.

The battle around Catalonias future is far from over, however.

Madrids move to take away Catalonias regional powers was sure to be seen as a humiliation and a provocation by Catalans and a backlash was expected, with planned street protests and the possibility that regional government workers could follow a policy of disobedience or non-cooperation.

On top of that, the Dec. 21 election could deliver a steadfastly pro-independence Catalan parliament, even if recent polls have suggested the region of 7.5 million people is roughly evenly split on secession.

Pro-independence demonstrators cheer outside the Catalan parliament, in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. (AP)

Many Catalans strongly oppose independence and a group of so-called unionists was organizing a large-scale protest in Barcelona on Sunday.

A spokesman for Spains prosecutors office, meanwhile, said it would seek to bring rebellion charges against those responsible for the Catalan independence vote.

The tense day, featuring emotional speeches and scenes of joy and despair, went to the heart of Spains political and cultural history.

The 1978 constitution, drawn up after the end of Gen. Francisco Francos decades-long dictatorship, created a decentralized Spanish state that devolved power to 17 autonomous regions, including Catalonia. The regions have broad administrative and legal powers. The Spanish constitution, however, also describes Spain as indivisible.

Catalonia has its own cultural traditions and its own language. Having long seen itself as different from the rest of Spain, the Catalan drive for independence began in 2010 when the Constitutional Court struck down key parts of a groundbreaking charter that would have granted the region greater autonomy and recognized it as a nation within Spain.

Catalonia represents a fifth of Spains gross domestic product and many want the tax revenues generated by the prosperous region to remain at home.

Pro-independence supporters carry an 'Estelada' or independence flag in downtown Barcelona Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. (AP)

The motion to secede was approved by the 135-member Catalan parliament, where secessionists hold a slim majority, with 70 votes in favor. Opposition lawmakers had walked out of the chamber in protest ahead of the vote.

After the vote officials and lawmakers let loose cries of Freedom!

In an emotional scene, regional leader Carles Puigdemont called on cheering fellow separatists to remain peaceful.

In the days ahead we must keep to our values of pacifism and dignity. Its in our, in your hands, to build the republic, Puigdemont said.

Outside parliament, thousands who had gathered cheered the news, some dancing and raising a toast. In Barcelona, people crowded around TV sets to watch the historic events unfold. The famous Sant Jaume Square outside the regional government office was packed with thousands of people celebrating. Many were draped with the Estelada flag that adds a blue triangle to the red and yellow Catalan flag and has become a symbol of the separatist struggle.

I feel so emotional after the huge fight we went through, we finally got it ... the independence of Catalonia! said 74-year-old Rosalina Cordera Torelles.

Nearby, 24-year-old Rita Carboneras could hardly contain her excitement.

Im super, super, super happy. Super excited, she said. So relieved. Now we are Catalan at last. We can be ourselves. We are just happy, look everyone around. Everything is so exciting.

The exhilaration was short-lived. Some 500 kilometers (300 miles) to the southwest, the Senate in Madrid voted by an overwhelming margin of 214 to 47 in favor of granting the government exceptional powers.

The main opposition Socialist and pro-business Citizens parties support Rajoys stance on Catalonia, and many Spaniards outside the region are scornful of Catalonias secession ambitions.

TOPSHOT - Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (L) acknowledges applause during a session of the Upper House of Parliament in Madrid on October 27, 2017. (AFP)

Rajoy has also received support from outside Spain, with other European leaders, including Germany, France and Britain, rejecting Catalonias claims. The US administration also backed Rajoy, after President Donald Trump last month branded the Catalan independence ballot as foolish.

Catalonia is an integral part of Spain, and the United States supports the Spanish governments constitutional measures to keep Spain strong and united, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

Also supporting Rajoys warnings of trouble in Catalonia if it forges ahead with its secession bid, more than 1,500 businesses have moved their official headquarters out of Catalonia this month to ensure they can continue operating under European Union laws if Catalonia secedes.

The EU says Catalonia will be tossed out of the bloc if it leaves Spain and would have to apply to become a member, a lengthy process.
Syrias government has categorically rejected a report by experts from the UN and the chemical weapons watchdog blaming its government for a sarin nerve gas attack that killed over 90 people last spring.

In a statement Saturday, it says the report was a result of US instructions to exert more political pressure on Syria, describing it as a forgery.

This report and the one that preceded it are falsifications of the truth, said the statement.

The attack in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun in April sparked outrage around the world and a US strike days later on the Shayrat airbase, from which Washington said the attack had been launched. Syrias government has denied involvement.

But the investigators new report says experts are confident Damascus was behind the strike.
A sea of rainbow flags and glitzy costumes filled downtown Taipei Saturday as tens of thousands marched in Asias largest gay pride parade, the first since Taiwans top court ruled in favour of gay marriage.

The island looks set to become the first place in Asia to legalise gay marriage after the constitutional court said in May that laws preventing same-sex unions violated the guarantee of freedom of marriage.

It gave the government two years to implement the decision.

The anticipation was felt in Saturdays parade, as dancing crowds in colourful wigs and sequined outfits made their way through the capitals centre alongside vans blasting music.

A participant in a wedding dress takes part in a LGBT pride parade in Taipei on Saturday. (Reuters Photo)

Many spared no effort in dressing up, from a man posing in a sweeping bridal dress and a tiara to another donning an inflatable dinosaur costume.

But behind the celebrations, some are frustrated at the lack of progress in changing the current marriage laws since May.

A lot of people cannot afford to wait two years, said Joseph Wu, 46, dressed in a matching kilt and rainbow turban with his partner of six years.

We just want the same things heterosexual couples have. We also do our military service, we pay the same taxes, so why cant we have the same thing? he said.

Hino Chen, 29, echoed this sentiment, adding that he hopes the government will change the civil code rather than enact a separate law to enable gay marriage  which critics say is still discriminatory.

We are the same. We also want to start our own families, he said.

Gay rights activists expressed frustration last month when a Taipei administrative court rejected a request from a lesbian couple to marry, saying they can only register when relevant laws are in place.

Still, Taiwan is seen as one of the most progressive societies in Asia when it comes to gay rights.

For Benny Chan from Hong Kong, it was worth travelling to Taipei just for the parade.

He was dressed as a Chinese empress in a strapless full-length gold gown, which he says he would not dare to wear in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is more conservative, maybe because of Chinas influence, Chan, 35, said.

Only when Im in Taiwan can I dress like this and not be afraid to express myself.
The explosion came first, shocking 17-year-old Fitriyah and sending her running for the only exit of the Indonesian fireworks factory where she started work just the week before.

Next came the heat from the fires and then the choking smoke, which made navigating the chaos impossible. As more explosions rang out and the flames spread, there appeared to be no escape. She could feel the skin on her hand start to peel off.

Then a co-worker appeared and told Fitriyah to follow him and to jump in a nearby pool used to wash factory equipment.

That pool was like a hand of God, Fitriyah, who goes by one name, said on Friday from the hospital room where she was being treated for burns. It rescued us.

Thursdays inferno at the factory in Tangerang, near Jakarta, killed at least 47 people, including a 14-year-old girl. It has raised questions about safety regulations and possible child labour in this poor and sprawling archipelago nation where worker rights are often treated as a lower priority than economic growth and jobs. Most of the factorys 103 employees were young women earning about $3 a day.

Police said they were questioning the owner of the factory but didnt want to speculate about the cause before the investigation is completed. The government has said it will investigate allegations of underage workers at the factory.

In this image made from video, residents watch as thick black smoke billows from the site of an explosion at a firecracker factory in Tangerang, on the outskirt of Jakarta, Indonesia. (AP)

Fitriyah was one of five workers who survived by jumping into the pool, where police and other rescuers were able to reach them after about 30 minutes. All of them are being treated in the same hospital room for burns covering from 5 to 40% of their bodies.

As investigators tried to piece together what happened, relatives crushed by grief went to a police hospitals morgue in eastern Jakarta on Friday morning to identify loved ones. Officials said bodies were found piled at the rear of the factory and many were burned beyond recognition.

Pramujoko, the head of identification at the hospital, said one victim had been identified through dental records: a 14-year-old girl who police said was known as Surnah.

Pramujoko, who uses one name, appealed to the dozens of families waiting for loved ones to be identified to provide their dental information.

Some 46 injured people were taken for treatment at three hospitals. As of Friday evening, 28 remained hospitalised, some in critical condition. Three workers were missing.

The death toll could rise as many of those who escaped suffered extensive burns, according to police.

Tangerang police chief Harry Kurniawan said they were intensively questioning witnesses including the factory owner and manager.

Survivors told authorities the fire started in a section of the factory where fireworks are dried. Witnesses heard a huge explosion about 10 am on Thursday, followed by smaller blasts as orange flames jumped from the building and columns of black smoke billowed across a nearby residential neighbourhood.

Drone footage showed about two-thirds of the 65-by-40-meter (213-by-131-foot) complex was burned, its roof largely collapsed. There was a smashed wall on the left side of the main entrance that rescuers had broken down to help people escape.

Survivor Ahmad Safri said the workers had poor working conditions in a hot warehouse with noisy engines, but did not think the building was locked when the fire spread.

Many panicking workers ran in the wrong direction ... maybe to a generator room that was locked, Safri said.

He said some workers were young women and teenagers, but he was not sure if any were underage.

Another survivor, Linah, said although the only exit was locked almost at all times, the door was open when the fire happened and she dashed through it even though the flames and explosions from vehicles and motorbikes nearby made other workers run the other way.

Indonesian forensic policemen work after a fire disaster in Tangerang Kota, Banten province. (AFP)

The 39-year-old mother of five said she kept running as the searing heat ripped her shirt and skin.

What I had on my mind at the time was ... I had to get out although I had to go through the fire near the exit, she said, adding that the orange flames are still hunting her in her dreams. She was recovering from burns covering nearly 40% of her body.

The legal age to work in Indonesia is 15, but climbs to 18 if the work is considered hazardous.

Like many of the dozens of other women at the factory, Fitriyah said she was working on a casual basis, without any contract.

Their supervisor divided them into groups of five workers and gave them a target of wrapping 1,000 packs of fireworks per day. If they reached their target, they would be paid 40,000 rupiah, or about $3, a day. If they missed it, they would be paid about half that.

For a girl like Fitriyah, who had dropped out of high school to help her impoverished family, it was better than other options.

Its easy to get a job there, she said. The factory didnt require an educated person or certain skills.
US President Donald Trump said that he would see to the release of all documents into the assassination of John F. Kennedy, with some redactions, in order to put any and all conspiracy theories to rest, the media reported.

I will be releasing all JFK files other than the names and addresses of any mentioned person who is still living, Trump tweeted on Friday night, saying he consulted with White House chief of staff John Kelly, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other federal agencies.

I am doing this for reasons of full disclosure, transparency and in order to put any and all conspiracy theories to rest, he wrote.

Trump tweeted earlier on Friday that he hoped just about everything concerning the 1963 assassination of the former President would be released to the public.

The Trump administration released about 2,800 files late Thursday, with the White House saying that hundreds more would be released with redactions only in the rarest of circumstances on a rolling basis over the next six months.

This file photo taken on October 24, 1962 shows US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy signing the order of naval blockade of Cuba at the White House in Washington, DC, during the Cuban missiles crisis. (AFP File)

Trump initially said on Thursday evening that he had no choice but to withhold information as requested by government agencies, citing national security concerns. Officials indicated that the concerns originated mostly from the CIA and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Thursday marked the federal governments deadline to release 3,100 unseen files, a deadline that was set by Congress under the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992.

The documents have been held in the National Archives, The Hill magazine reported.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a Fox News interview on Friday evening that the administration was working to expedite the release of the additional documents.

We are working this weekend. We are going to be working every way possible to expedite the production of these documents as completely as possible and they will be virtually, completely revealed from the FBI files, he said.

The assassination of Kennedy, who was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald while the President was in a motorcade in Dallas, has been the subject of conspiracy theories for more than 50 years.

Representative John Lewis, a long-time congressman who befriended Kennedy during the civil rights movement in the 1960s, told The Hill this week that he did not think the latest document release would end questions about the 35th presidents death.

I think there will be people, be historians or scholars and writers, (who) would raise some questions about what happened and how it happened.

There will be people saying, like they were saying 50 years ago, Why did (Kennedy) go to Texas, why Dallas? Lewis added.
A suicide car bomb exploded outside a popular hotel in Somalias capital on Saturday, killing at least 13 people and wounding more than 16, while gunfire could be heard inside, police said. A second blast was heard in the area minutes later.

Capt. Mohamed Hussein said the gunfire was heard inside the Nasa-Hablod hotel, which is close to the presidential palace and is frequented by politicians and other members of Mogadishus elite. A senior Somali police colonel and a former lawmaker were among the dead, Hussein said.

Saturdays blasts came two weeks after more than 350 people were killed in a massive truck bombing on a busy Mogadishu street in the countrys worst-ever attack.

Al-Shabab, Africas deadliest Islamic extremist group, quickly claimed responsibility for Saturdays attack and said its fighters were inside the hotel.

As night fell, sporadic gunfire could be heard around the hotel as both soldiers and ambulances responded to the attack.

Mohamed Dek Haji said he survived the bombing as he walked beside a parked car that was largely destroyed by the explosion. He said he saw at least three armed men in military uniforms running toward the hotel after the suicide bombing at its gate.

I think they were al-Shabab fighters who were trying to storm the hotel, he said, lying on a hospital bed. He suffered small injuries on his shoulder and skull from flying glass.

Witnesses in some previous attacks have said al-Shabab fighters disguised themselves by wearing military uniforms.

Al-Shabab often targets high-profile areas of Mogadishu. It has not commented on the massive attack two weeks ago; experts have said the death toll was so high that the group hesitated to further anger Somali citizens as its pursues its insurgency.

Since the blast two weeks ago, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has visited regional countries to seek more support for the fight against the extremist group, vowing a state of war.

A 22,000-strong multinational African Union force in Somalia is expected to withdraw its forces and hand over the countrys security to the Somali military by the end of 2020. US military officials and others in recent months have expressed concern that Somali forces are not yet ready.

The US military also has stepped up military efforts against al-Shabab this year in Somalia, carrying out nearly 20 drone strikes, as the global war on extremism moves deeper into the African continent.
A senior United States official termed trilateral engagements with India and Japan as very productive, adding that they were a stepping stone for quadrilateral talks involving natural ally Australia, which could take place soon.

Were looking at a working-level quadrilateral meeting in the near term, but again, I think the idea is how do we bring together countries that share these same values to reinforce these values in the global architecture, Alice Wells, acting head of the South and Central Asia bureau at the state department, told reporters.

As we explore ways to deepen and try to inculcate some of the values  freedom of navigation, maritime security, humanitarian assistance, disaster response, transparency  obviously, Australia would be a natural partner in that effort as well, she said.

But Wells pushed back pushed back against suggestions that these engagements were directed against any country, with reports suggesting that the four nations planning to contain China.

Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono had earlier said that Tokyo will propose a top-level dialogue with the US, India and Australia to promote free trade and defence cooperation across the Indian Ocean. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to bring up the same at his meeting with US President Donald Trump during latters visit on November 6.

The quadrilateral proposal came a day after US secretary of state Rex Tillerson proposed an alternate to Chinas One Belt, On Road project in partnership with India during his visit to Delhi. Upon his return to Washington, Tillerson referred to the US, India, Japan and Australia as the four anchors of the Indo-Pacific region. Asked about the reaction from India during his visit, he said it was a new approach and one meant to move relations with to that next level.

Asked about the quadrilateral proposal, ministry of external affairs spokesman Raveesh Kumar said: As far as we are concerned, we have an open mind to cooperate with countries with convergence but obviously on an agenda which is relevant to us.
Botulism pills. Conspiracy theories. What the government might have known and still wont say about Lee Harvey Oswald.

The release of thousands of records relating to the assassination of President John F Kennedy hasnt settled the best-known, real-life whodunit in American history. But the record offered riveting details of the way intelligence services operated at the time and are striving to keep some particulars a secret even now.

The Kennedy records really are an emblem of the fight of secrecy against transparency, said Peter Kornbluh, senior analyst at the private National Security Archive research group in Washington. The secureaucrats managed to withhold key documents and keep this long saga of secrecy going.

The 2,800 records released on Thursday night include some that had dribbled out over the years but are getting renewed attention from being in this big batch.

Some highlights:

Hoover, worried

Just a few hours after Lee Harvey Oswald was killed in Dallas, then FBI director J Edgar Hoover dictated a memo saying the government needed to issue something so we can convince the public that Oswald killed President John F Kennedy.

The memo was in the latest trove of Kennedy assassination files released late Thursday. The FBI director composed the memo on November 24, 1963  two days after Kennedy was killed and just hours after nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald in the basement of the Dallas police station.

Hoover said that the FBI had an agent at the hospital in hopes of getting a confession from Oswald, but Oswald died before that could happen. Hoover said he and a deputy were concerned about having something issued so we can convince the public that Oswald is the real assassin.

Hoover laments how Kennedys successor, President Lyndon B Johnson, was considering appointing a presidential commission to investigate the assassination. Hoover said he suggested that the FBI give an investigative report to the attorney general complete with photographs, laboratory work and other evidence. That report, he thought, could be given to Johnson and he could decide whether to make it public.

A historic photo of post JFK assassination Dealey Plazza displayed near its original location in Dallas, Texas. (AFP File Photo)

I felt this was better because there are several aspects which would complicate our foreign relations, Hoover wrote. He said Oswald wrote a letter to the Soviet Embassy in Washington, which the FBI intercepted, read and resealed. Hoover said the letter had been addressed to the Soviet Embassy official in charge of assassinations and similar activities on the part of the Soviet government. To have that drawn into a public hearing would muddy the waters internationally, Hoover wrote.

Besides, Hoover said, the letter was unrelated proof that Oswald committed the murder.

LBJs thoery

Everyone has their theories, including even President Lyndon B Johnson. According to one document released on Thursday, Johnson believed Kennedy was behind the assassination of the South Vietnamese president weeks before his death and that Kennedys murder was payback, the newly released documents say.

US director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms said in a 1975 deposition that Johnson used to go around saying that the reason (Kennedy) was assassinated was that he had assassinated President (Ngo Dinh) Diem and this was just justice.

Where he got this idea from I dont know, Helms said in a 1975 deposition. Diem and his brother were killed on November 2, 1963 after a coup by South Vietnamese generals.

This isnt the first time Johnsons theory has been aired. He was also quoted in Max Hollands book, The Kennedy Assassination Tapes, as saying that Kenney died because of divine retribution.

He murdered Diem and then he got it himself, Johnson reportedly said.

Kennedys position on Diems assassination is still debated, said Ken Hughes, a historian at the University of Virginias Miller Center.

A month before Diems assassination, the south Vietnamese generals planning the coup told the CIA that they would overthrow the government if they could be assured that American aid would continue and Kennedy told them it would, Hughes said.

But a dispute remains over whether Kennedy insisted that Diem go unharmed or whether the president left it up to the South Vietnamese generals to decide what to do, said Hughes, who is writing a book on the subject.

One of the files that could shed light on that question is a CIA report on the US governments involvement in the Diem coup. The record was supposed to be released Thursday but was among the hundreds that Trump blocked from becoming public.

KGBs theory

The former Soviet Unions intelligence agency allegedly claimed it had information tying Johnson to the assassination of President John F Kennedy.

The allegation was contained in long-secret files released Thursday.

In a 1966 letter to a presidential assistant, Hoover wrote that an FBI source reported KGB officials claimed to have information in 1965 purporting to indicate Johnson had a role in the assassination.

The source had furnished reliable information in the past, the letter states. The source said the KGB residency in New York received instructions from Moscow in September 1965 to develop all possible information on Johnson, who was considered practically an unknown to the Soviet government at the time.

Lee Harvey Oswald talks to the media as he is led down a corridor of the Dallas police station for another round of questioning in connection with the assassination of US president John F Kennedy. (AP File Photo)

Those instructions contained the assertion that the KGB had information tying Johnson to an assassination plot, according to the source.

Johnson has long been a focus of some conspiracy theorists, but no credible information has been revealed linking him to the assassination.

Castro, the CIA and a mobsters mistress

A 1975 document described the CIAs $150,000 offer to have Cuban leader Fidel Castro assassinated  but the mob insisted on taking the job for free.

The underworld murder-for-hire contract was detailed in a summary of a May 1962 CIA briefing for then-attorney general Robert Kennedy. By then, the Kennedy White House had launched its unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and several assassination attempts against Castro had failed.

At least two efforts to kill Castro were made with CIA-supplied lethal pills and organized crime-made muscle in early 1961, according to the document. The CIAs mob contacts included John Rosselli, a top lieutenant to Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana, who werent told but guessed the CIA was behind the offer. The pair, later victims of mob hits, said they want no part of any payment  but still, $11,000 in payments were made for expenses.

The mobsters came to the attention of the CIA a year earlier when Giancana asked a CIA intermediary to arrange for putting a listening device in the Las Vegas room of an entertainer he suspected of having an affair with Giancanas mistress. The task was handed off to a private investigator named Arthur Balletti, who put the listening device in a phone in the hotel room. The CIA reportedly did not know of the specific proposed wiretap.

John F Kennedy, Jaqueline Kennedy and Texas governor John Connally ride in a limousine moments before Kennedy was assassinated, in Dallas, Texas. (Dallas Morning News via Reuters File Photo)

Told later about everything, Kennedy was unhappy, because at that time he felt he was making a very strong drive to try to get after the Mafia.

So his comment was to us that if we were going to get involved with the Mafia, in the future at any time, to make sure you see me first.

The document was made public in 1997 and contained in an Associated Press report at that time.

Strange call

A British newspaper received an anonymous phone call about big news in the United States 25 minutes before President John F Kennedy was shot in 1963, one file says.

A batch of 2,800 declassified documents includes a November 26, 1963 memo from the CIA to Hoover about a call received by the Cambridge News on November 22, the day Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Texas.

The memo from deputy CIA director James Angleton says the caller said the Cambridge News reporter should call the American Embassy in London for some big news, and then hung up. Anna Savva, a current Cambridge News reporter, said Friday theres no record of the call. We have nobody here who knows the name of the person who took the call, she said.

The memo was released by the US National Archives in July.

The phone call to the Cambridge News was first reported decades ago by Kennedy conspiracy theorist Michael Eddowes. In the 1980s, Eddowes, a British lawyer, claimed to have a CIA document mentioning the call. Eddowes, who died in 1992, wrote a book alleging that Kennedys assassin was not Lee Harvey Oswald but a Soviet impostor who took his identity. As a result of his efforts, the killers body was exhumed in 1981. An autopsy confirmed that it was Oswald.
Democrat Tom Steyer is the latest man of power to try and get Donald Trump out of office. The California billionaire has reportedly spent $10 million on advertisements that are airing on Fox News and other national outlets, asking for viewers to sign a petition to get Donald Impeached.

Hes brought us to the brink of nuclear war, obstructed justice at the FBI, and in direct violation of the Constitution, hes taken money from foreign governments and threatened to shut down news organizations that report the truth, Tom says in the video. If that isnt the case for impeaching and removing a dangerous president, then what has our government become?

Of course, Donald is not having it and has taken to Twitter calling Tom wacky & totally unhinged.

Tom tweeted right back Donald saying hes right about one thing.

Earlier this week Donald was accused of making insensitive comments to a widow of a soldier who was killed during an October 4th raid in Niger. Myeshia Johnson said that the President told her that her husband knew what he signed up for, but I guess it still hurt.

I heard him stumbling on trying to remember my husbands name, and thats what hurt me the most because if my husband is out here fighting for our country and he risked his life for our country why cant you remember his name, she said. Even after the phone call was conducted, with Myeshia going on the record about what he said, he still claimed he had a good conversation, where he tweeted: I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!

Trump
Isolating one song from Majid Jordans sophomore album The Space Between kind of goes against the idea behind the project. The album I looked at it like a 50-minute song. So not one of the tracks should be skipped, said producer Jordan Ullman. This whole thing is seamless. I did all the transitions. It flows, youre not supposed to know when track 3 ends and when track 4 finishes. Coincidentally, OG Heartthrob is track 3 on the collection, and while it does bleed seamlessly into the Stargate and Jame Fauntleroy-assisted single Body Talk, it definitely stands on its own legs. Im feeling like Im 25, Majid Al Maskati sings on the track, reminding us that, at 27, hes still very much a young man, but in a different place than some of his much younger peers. In this way, Majid Jordan feels like a midway point between OVO acts PartyNextDoor and dvsn, falling somewhere between PNDs poppier side and the slow burn of Daniel Daley and Nineteen85s songs. OG Heartthrob is one of the most immediate, single-oriented tracks on the project, conjuring the warm melodies Majid has been putting forth since we heard him on Drakes Hold On, Were Going Home.

The album, which happens to feature guest appearances from both PartyNextDoor and dvsn, plays as well front to back as the duo have suggested. You can listen to the full project here.

As far as other OVO releases, dvsn just shared their own sophomore album Morning After earlier this month, while PartyNextDoor delivered the spontaneous Seven Days EP in September.



Quotable Lyrics:

At night your aura turns to blue

Your kisses paint me rouge

You got me wide awake riding on your body wave

Lemme know the time and place

Baby I just want a taste

And I dont like to wait

Come with me, we can party in the city

When nobody else is up

Cause whenever youre with me

Theres nobody catching up

No they wont, I wont let you go

I wont let you go

No I wont, theyve all got me wrong

Theyve all got me wrong
Meyhem Lauren and DJ Muggs have set the streets ablaze with the destined-to-be underrated Gems From The Equinox. If you like Raekwon, Ghostface, Action Bronson, Sean Price, Westside Gunn, or Conway, you should definitely add this one to your playlist. The eleven song project features guest appearances from the aforementioned Conway, the late Sean Price, Roc Marciano, Action Bronsolinio, B-Real, Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire, Benny The Butcher, andhologram. In other words, you already know youre in for thirty-two minutes of raw, East coast hip-hop, with plenty of emphasis on dope lyricism and spectacular turn-of-phrase.

Meyhem Lauren drops some murderous bars, while never being above a little humor, not unlike his friend and collaborator Action Bronson. Together, the pair turn in some truly phenomenal bars, especially on the hilarious Szechuan Peppercorns. Naked knife fights in the bath house in Turkey, dipped the razor blade in herpes, raps Bronson, living out his own Eastern Promises fantasies. On Redrum, Lauren takes to the bass-driven sample like a beast, spitting fuck around catch a hollow tip heart attack, let the chrome turn you right to an artifact. Damn.

As for the production, Muggs comes through with some dope instrumentals, lacing Lauren with a nice array of old-school samples. The vibe tends to favor live instrumentation, with sixties and seventies era overdriven guitars, distorted drum kits, and smooth basslines. There are also some nice nostalgic moments, especially on the albums second track Street Religion, which finds a 2017 flip on Outkasts 2 Dope Boyz In A Cadillac. The calculators good, my scale is calibrated, Im still a wolf look at the work and then I salivated, raps Lauren. Know a couple Rambos that hop out Lambos, I aint really bout that Im good with my hand throws. Steam Gems From The Equinox now, and support the musical unity of Meyhem Lauren and DJ Muggs.
If you watch Netflixs hit series Stranger Things then you probably know that actor Charlie Heaton, better know as Jonathon Byers in the show, (Wills older brother) is a bit of a loner in high school and keeps to himself, but it appears hes not that away in real life. In fact, it sounds like Jonathon likes to party.

According to TMZ, Charlie Heaton was busted with cocaine at LAX last weekend, but instead of being arrested he was kicked out of the states. Sources say the Stranger Things star flew into LAX last Saturday from London, but was denied entry because a random baggage check uncovered trace amounts of cocaine in his bag. And since he didnt have a previous record, he was allowed to withdraw his application to enter the country last minute and get on a plane back to London instead of being arrested.

He can reportedly come back to the United States at a later date, but hell have to reapply for admission. However it doesnt look like hes getting in trouble at the moment. Talk about stranger things.

This incident is so-called the reason why Heaton was missing from the Netflix Season 2 premiere party for Stranger Things Thursday night in L.A.

Earlier this month Heaton was pictured walking hand-in-hand with Stranger Things co-star Natalia Dyer in New York City, who happens to play Nancy Wheeler, Heatons on-screen love interest in the show. It was rumored for months that the pair were dating, but their casual walk spotted by paparazzi pretty confirmed its the real deal.

Season 2 of Strangers Things debuted earlier today (October 27) on Netflix, and has been the talk of the web ever since. Hell, some fans have already binged-watched the entire season. See some of their reactions to it here.

Thanks to the success of Stranger Things, not only have the actors rose to stardom, but it looks theyre having some longevity too. Season 3 is imminent to be in the works, and be coming next season, with season 4 rumored to be the finale. If you havent watched season 1 yet, do yourself the favor and revisit that now while its not too late.

[Via]

Charlie HEaton
Fresh off the release of his new album I Still Am, Yo Gotti made his way out to NYC this week and did the usual promo run, stopping by The Breakfast Club yesterday and later visiting Hot 97 & the Ebro In The Morning crew.

Sitting down for 22-minutes, the Memphis rapped talked with Ebro, Rosenberg, & Laura Styles about pretty much everything happening in his life right now. From working with Jay Z & his new deal with Puma to the success of Rake It Up & the difference between the strippers & bartenders, Gotti answers all questions thrown his way. However as you couldve guessed, the most intriguing part of the interview for most fans is when he addressed his on-going beef with fellow Memphis rapper Young Dolph.

When Ebro asked Gotti a couple questions about how he manages to keep his name dragged around in the beef and what he could do to stop it, Gott simply said pay it no mind to both. Most time it take two people to be in any altercation naw Im saying? If you really watch me you dont see me saying anything or doing nothing. I just pay it no mind Gotti says.

Then Ebro went ahead and asked Gotti if there will ever be a time that him & Dolph talk again, which he replied I dont know. I really dont think about these things know what Im saying? I just do me. I wake up, I got some much of my own personal shit own my plate I dont have time to think about things that dont generate no money or things that dont pay me no minds, he added.

Gotti later added that he denied the beef with Dolph over three years ago when Rosenberg tried mentioning a possible sit-down with Dolph. Ive been sitting here saying I had nothing to do with it three years ago. Gotti said.

Its pretty evident by Gottis tone of voice and mannerisms that he might be really telling the truth and doesnt worry about the Dolph beef in his every day life. As he said, its more of a media hype thing, and something he doesnt pay any minds too, but who knows. Lets just hope they stop the beef soon though, theyre both very much needed in hip-hop.

Check out the full interview (below) and peep the Dolph-talk around the 6:30 mark.

Yo Gotti
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Four years ago, a federal judge in Victoria rejected an overtime case brought by the government and in doing so changed the way many oil field workers are paid.

The U.S. Department of Labor sued Gate Guard Services, alleging the Corpus Christi company misclassified its employees as independent contractors and shorted them on overtime pay. Senior U.S. District Judge John Rainey dismissed the government's arguments, ruling in 2013 that the workers were independent business owners because they work without supervision, can do what they want when there are no vehicles to log, and can hire substitute gate watchers.

Even though the facts were specific to Gate Guard, Rainey's decision spurred other energy services providers to re-examine their own workplace relationships. Some security companies have converted their gate watchers to independent contractors, who are typically cheaper to hire because they don't get health insurance, retirement benefits or vacation time, workplace experts say.

Other companies are relying on the Gate Guard case to defend their own employment practices, including one involving directional drillers. More on that later.

David Moulton, a Houston employment lawyer, points to one security firm to show the impact of the Gate Guard case. Guard 1 Services used to treat its gate guards as employees but switched them to independent contractors after its competitor prevailed against the Labor Department.

Moulton is familiar with the company's employment history because he is representing a former guard, Espirion Mendoza, who sued Guard 1 recently in Houston federal court on behalf of himself and other guards who controlled traffic in and out of oil drilling sites in South Texas. Mendoza claimed that he and his colleagues worked 168 hours a week, since they're on duty 24/7, but were only paid for 75 hours.

He is seeking back wages for the other 93 hours.

Jennifer G. Black, the Houston lawyer representing Guard 1, declined to comment

But Mendoza doesn't have to fight over employment status because he and his colleagues were still classified as employees when he left his job last year, Moulton said. Other workers don't have it so easy.

Some of the lawyers who successfully defended Gate Guard are using the same arguments to defend Premier Directional Drilling of Houston, which was sued last year in San Antonio by drillers - called consultants by the company - who claim they were misclassified as independent contractors. The drillers, who are paid a day rate, work at least 84 hours a week but do not receive overtime, according to court documents.

Premier's lawyer, Annette Idalski, was among the lawyers representing Gate Guard. Neither she nor Premier returned calls seeking comment.

Drillers are like gate guards, according to Premier's request to the court to throw out the case, in that both work periodically, are free to reject jobs and can work for competitors. The case is ongoing, as is the debate over the responsibilities companies have for the people who work for them.
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Big energy companies posted surging third-quarter profits this week, extending a nearly yearlong comeback for Houston's most important industry after an oil bust bankrupted scores of companies and led to thousands of job losses.

Exxon Mobil and Chevron, the two largest U.S. oil producers, each reported Friday that profits rose more than 50 percent while Houston's ConocoPhillips, the third largest, said Thursday that it swung to a $400 million profit after losing $1 billion a year ago. All said they were boosted by rising U.S. oil prices that settled at nearly $54 a barrel Friday.

The Houston refiner Phillips 66, chemical maker LyondellBasell and energy service companies Schlumberger and Halliburton also reported strong profits this week, suggesting the tentative recovery is moving to firmer ground as fuel demand rises, stockpiles decline and companies hire workers by the thousands. Oil and gas companies have added some 30,000 field workers in Texas over the past year - nearly a third of the jobs they cut here during the downturn - to work active drilling rigs and hydraulic fracturing equipment in the Permian Basin and elsewhere.

"We never know if we're totally out of it yet, but things are looking positive," said Brian Youngberg, an analyst at Edward Jones in St. Louis. "Higher oil prices are a big tailwind they have now."

More Information 50 percent Increase in third-quarter profits posted by Chevron and Exxon Mobil. See More Collapse

U.S. oil prices rose $1.26 to settle at $53.90 a barrel in New York on Friday, the highest point since late February, and Brent, the international oil benchmark, climbed above $60 a barrel for the first time in two years.

Shrinking inventories

Prices have risen in recent weeks as Saudi Arabia and other OPEC producers have limited crude production and appear poised to extend output cuts until the end of next year as data shows global oil supplies and demand are beginning to come into balance after a prolonged glut. In the U.S., fuel stockpiles continue to fall, with total petroleum inventories shrinking by 12.2 million barrels last week, according to the Energy Department.

The Energy Department estimates that oil inventories around the world fell by 500,000 barrels a day in the third quarter, extending the longest draw of global stockpiles in three years. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency recently reported that worldwide oil demand has risen faster than expected, with an increase of 2.3 million barrels a day in the second quarter.

The global energy job market appears to have stabilized as well. NES Global Talent, a recruiting firm in the United Kingdom, said a recent survey of energy companies showed that 89 percent plan to increase staff over the next year, and 60 percent expect to significantly step up recruiting.

Analysts still expect a slow climb for oil prices and the industry as oil supplies, while perhaps shrinking, remain plentiful. And while the recovery is proceeding, it remains uneven, with the offshore sector still struggling as prices, while much improved from the $26 a barrel low point in early 2016, remain too low to justify the massive investment needed to develop deepwater fields.

More rigs in Permian

Exxon and Chevron both plan to send more drilling rigs to the prolific oil fields in West Texas. But they and other oil companies remain cautious of volatile oil markets, where, only a few months ago, prices were sliding toward $40 a barrel. Exxon and Chevron touted strategies to remain frugal, seeking to pump oil more efficiently, as investors push for increased financial discipline.

"We're being returns-focused and we're spending our money on what we think will be most economic," Chevron CEO John Watson told investors Friday. "The outcomes we've achieve have largely been a function of the commodity price environment. We made $26 billion when oil was high and we make nothing when oil was $42."

Exxon spokesman Jeff Woodbury said the Irving-based oil company plans to increase its fleet of drilling rigs from 20 to 30 in the Permian Basin in West Texas by the end of next year and begin drilling horizontal wells that run sideways for 3 miles, in an effort to boost the amount of oil and gas it pumps by 20 percent by 2025. But he cautioned the company is still highly selective in its investment plans.

"What we're trying to do is well within our means," he said.

A boost after Harvey

Exxon posted a 50 percent increase in profits in the third quarter, even though Hurricane Harvey's floodwaters cost Exxon some $160 million after two major Gulf Coast facilities were disabled for weeks. The company earned $3.9 billion, or 93 cents a share, compared with $2.7 billion, or 63 cents a share, in the same three months a year earlier, on revenues that jumped 13 percent to $66.2 billion.

Meanwhile, Chevron's multibillion-dollar push into the Permian has lifted oil production there by 30 percent over the past year. Chevron recently put its 15th rig to work in the Permian, and it plans to boost its fleet to 20 rigs over the next year.

Chevron reported a 54-percent jump in net income, banking $2 billion, or $1.03 a share, in the July-September period, compared with $1.3 billion, or 63 cents a share, in the same three months last year. Revenue rose from $29.2 billion to $33.9 billion.

"They're focusing on the big picture of maximizing returns rather than maximizing growth," Youngberg said. "That should help push oil prices higher."

The increased number of working drilling rigs and rising demand for equipment and services in the Permian Basin has benefited Houston's oil field service companies, including Halliburton and Schlumberger.

On Monday, Halliburton said its third-quarter profits came in at $365 million, up from just $7 million this time last year, and its revenues climbed 42 percent to $5.4 billion, with almost 60 percent of that coming from North America. Its top oil field services rival, Schlumberger, last week reported a $545 million third-quarter profit, and CEO Paal Kibsgaard credited almost all of the growth to surging activity in North America.

Meanwhile, Houston refiner Phillips 66 said its profits rose more than 60 percent to $823 million. Its refining profit margins doubled over last year after Hurricane Harvey drove gasoline and diesel profit margins higher as prices spiked nationwide. Those fatter margins came even though the storm knocked out the company's Sweeny refinery outside of Houston in September.

Chemical maker LyondellBasell posted a nearly $1.1 billion quarterly profit, up 11 percent over last year. Hurricane Harvey shut down much of its Texas Gulf Coast operations temporarily, but higher chemical profit margins - the result of a global supply cut after the storm - bolstered LyondellBasell's bottom line.
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The world's biggest oil companies are closing more clean energy deals as pressure to diversify their businesses mounts and growth accelerates among green technologies.

Oil majors more than doubled the number of acquisitions, project investments and venture capital stakes, to 44 in 2016 from 21 the year before, according to research published by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. In the last 15 years, they've completed 428 transactions and spent $6.2 billion building stakes in clean energy companies.

"This reflects their underpinning strategy to test out new ideas and businesses," said Richard Chatterton, one of the London-based analysts who authored the report. "The international oil companies are identifying opportunities and building expertise, and when a commercial opportunity becomes clear, they will invest at scale."

To be sure, the sums expended on clean energy still represent a fraction of the money invested in crude every year, showing that the oil majors are still very much focused on their core business. Some investments by oil majors in projects and startups aren't disclosed, according to BNEF, which estimates that the clean energy industry attracted almost $290 billion in 2016.

Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil major, and the British company BP operate wind farms in West Texas. Solar energy, however, generated the largest number of projects backed by oil companies.

Wind created the second-highest volume of deals, with offshore wind investments beginning to catch up with windmills stationed on land. Oil companies have been looking to leverage their know-how in extracting fossil fuels from seabeds to install turbines in similarly harsh climates.

Wind projects offshore also tend to be some of the largest-scale and riskiest in the renewable energy industry, leading to higher profitability. Shell has a stake in the Borssele III and IV wind projects in the Dutch North Sea, and Statoil developed the world's first floating wind farm off northern Scotland.

Interest in biofuels is on the decline, the data showed, having peaked when oil prices were high. After the oil price crash that began in the middle of 2014, investment has flowed out of the sector. The deal count was zero in 2017.

Total has concluded the highest number of acquisitions and joint ventures with clean energy companies, buoyed by its purchases of a majority stake in SunPower Corp. in 2011 and battery maker Saft Groupe last year. Europe's second-largest oil and gas producer is also active in the venture capital space, with a focus on companies in the U.S.

Oil majors' venture capital deals have been shifting toward power storage and digital technologies. Advanced mobility may also be emerging, as companies seek to evolve as more transportation eschews gasoline for electricity. Shell recently bought NewMotion, an electric vehicle charging point network.
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After a dramatic fight with activist investors that led to the scuttling Friday of a $15 billion chemicals megamerger, Huntsman Corp. is preparing for a less dramatic, more methodical drive to grow, looking to reduce debt while still eyeing opportunities for acquisitions.

The Woodlands company and its merger partner, the Swiss company Clariant, announced early Friday that they were giving up their plan to form one of the world's largest specialty chemicals companies because they could not overcome the opposition of Clariant's biggest stockholder, a partnership of two New York hedge funds.

As recently as September, Huntsman Corp.'s chief executive, Peter Huntsman, was expressing confidence that Clariant shareholders would approve the merger and the deal would get done. But earlier this month, with the hedge funds holding an unusually large stake in Clariant, the companies began to believe that the deal could fail and discussed sweetening the terms for Clariant investors.

At that point, however, the combination was becoming less beneficial to his shareholders, Peter Huntsman said, and he decided to walk away, rather than agree to a bad deal.

"Sometimes you're going to strike out," Huntsman said in an interview with the Chronicle. "I'd be less than an honest if I did not say this was a disappointment for both companies."

But perhaps not for investors. Huntsman's stock jumped more than 4 percent Friday to $31.06 per share. Hassan Ahmed, a chemical industry analyst at the New York research firm Alembic Global Advisors, said that Huntsman is positioned to do well with or without Clariant as it narrows its focus on specialty chemicals with high profit margins.

Huntsman's third-quarter revenue jumped almost 20 percent to $2.2 billion from the same period a year earlier, and its profit nearly tripled to $179 million.

"From the Huntsman perspective," Ahmed said, "this feels like if it's heads you win, and if it's tails you win as well."

Rise of the investors

Huntsman Corp. and Clariant announced their plan to merge in May, with Clariant owning 52 percent of the combined company and Peter Huntsman becoming the CEO. The corporate headquarters was slated for Clariant's hometown of Pratteln, Switzerland; The Woodlands would have become the North American headquarters.

But White Tale Holdings - a partnership of New York investment firms Corvex Management and 40 North - opposed the deal and doubled its stake in Clariant to 20 percent over just a few months. The activist investor playbook typically involves buying a 5 percent stake or smaller, presenting plans for change and convincing other shareholders to come onboard.

In this case, White Tale went for the jugular by buying up almost $2 billion in Clariant shares, making it nearly impossible for Clariant to gain the two-thirds of voting shareholders needed to approve the deal under Swiss law.

The opposition was led by Corvex's founder, Keith Meister, who argued that the merger would dilute Clariant's value. Meister called on Clariant to stick to its specialty chemical strengths, cut costs and sell off other businesses. Meister did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

Meister is a protege of Carl Icahn, the famed corporate raider. Since Icahn gained notoriety in the 1980s, the "raider" terminology has evolved in recent years into the friendlier-sounding shareholder activism.

Activist investors have been active elsewhere. The world's largest chemical company, the newly combined DowDuPont, decided to merge in part because of pressure from activist investors Daniel Loeb of Third Point Management and Nelson Peltz of Trian Fund Management.

Only recently, DowDuPont again agreed to tweak its post-merger plans because of more pressure from Loeb, Peltz and two other firms. Apart from the chemical sector, Loeb has forced executive changes or sales at others like Yahoo, Sony and Sotheby's.

Huntsman's biggest outside investor is the large fund manager Vanguard Group, which owns a nearly 10 percent stake but typically is more passive.

Huntsman growth

For Huntsman, the end of the merger means getting back to work and pushing forward. In recent interviews, Peter Huntsman said he believes the specialty chemical sector will consolidate further, and his company needs to get bigger to compete with state-backed giants in China and elsewhere.

While he said he believed Huntsman Corp. could thrive on its own, Peter Huntsman said Friday that he will still pursue ways to achieve a larger scale.

"We're going to be bold," he said. "We will continue to look for acquisitions and growth opportunities - just maybe not to this size."

Because of the improved knowledge and friendship with Clariant, Huntsman said it's likely they'll partner on projects. In the meantime, Huntsman said, the company remains committed to the Houston area, where it employs 1,800 people at its headquarters in The Woodlands and regional manufacturing facilities in Houston, Conroe, Dayton, Freeport and Port Neches.

"We're here, and we're here to stay," Huntsman said. "We're going to keep growing in the Houston area."
Before the storm, Amber and Lennie Ambrose packed up their two young daughters and small dog and drove to Amber's parents' house in Nederland, outside of Beaumont.

The Ambrose house in Candlelight Forest flooded during the Tax Day storm in 2016 and they didn't want a repeat of what happened then when they awoke the morning after the storm to soggy floors and confused children. So they made some important preparations and left town.
Devon Jeffcoat was trying to decide whether to sell her World Series tickets.

The Astros fan had bought a pair through the retail lottery system, at $200 apiece. She loved the team and wanted to go -- but she also knew she could make quite a bit of money if she sold them secondhand.

Resale tickets on Monday were averaging more than $1,000 each. So she bit the bullet, deciding to sell her pair for $2,400. Their daughter has gone through several major surgeries. Jeffcoat battles health issues of her own. They also care for Jeffcoat's mother-in-law.

They figured they could use the extra funds, at last, to fix their fence.

Little did Jeffcoat know what was to come.

Now Playing: Not specified Video: Fox 26 Houston

A Houston Chronicle reader, who wished to remain anonymous, read about Jeffcoat's dilemma in a story about the sky-high ticket costs. On Friday, that reader sent Jeffcoat a gift she never expected: a second set of World Series tickets.

The reader said they knew what it was like to be caring for a member of the family and how hard it could be to get out.

RELATED: Astros fans hoping to attend World Series watch ticket prices zoom out of sight

There was a twist. Jeffcoat's son, Mitchell Jeffcoat, a Friendswood police officer, on Thursday had undergone surgery for an injury he sustained during Hurricane Harvey. It had gone as well as it could have, the mother said.

The donor sent a ticket for him, too.

It was a gesture of kindness that moved Jeffcoat to tears.

"There is good out there, really," she said. "Nobody's ever done anything like this for us before. Never. It just means a lot.
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Roadside shacks, garbage, circus wagons, subway riders and other ordinary folk: All were favorite subjects of Walker Evans, one of the 20th century's pre-eminent photographers.

Those images are among 400 of Evans' prints, paintings and personal items at a new exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Called the quintessential American photographer by museum director Neal Benezra, Evans influenced many others, including Diane Arbus, Robert Frank and Lee Friedlander.

The exhibit was conceived as a 50-year retrospective highlighting the photographer's fascination with popular culture as a celebration of the beauty in everyday life.

The show includes signs and postcards from his personal collection. A large photograph of his living room shows he displayed signs like paintings above his fireplace.

He was most recognized for his Depression-era documentary work using an 8-by-10-inch view camera. Later he used a 35 mm and a Rolleiflex, and toward the end of his career, a Polaroid SX-70 camera.

His most famous photo, shot in 1936, was of Allie Mae Burroughs, wife of a cotton sharecropper in Alabama. Evans made four 8-by-10-inch exposures of Burroughs, the most famous showing her deepest sadness. The exhibit includes another version with her smiling, along with Burroughs' recollections of Evans' visit with writer James Agee.

Evans, born in 1903 in St. Louis, studied in France and made his way to New York in the 1920s. Well educated, he started as a writer but turned to photography, landing his first major exhibition in 1938 and building a 20-year relationship with Fortune magazine.

The show debuted at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. San Francisco is its sole U.S. venue, on view through Feb. 4.

Evans "deserved a large show to really explain the depth of his work," said Clement Cheroux, the museum's senior curator of photography. "Through his photos, he was trying to define what is the American vernacular. He was a proto pop artist."
A man who shot an alligator in Clear Lake Park was caught making up a fake story about a gator attack to cover up his crime, Texas game wardens said in a report.

On Oct. 6, game wardens received a call about a large alligator seen in Clear Lake Park, Texas Parks and Wildlife said in its game warden field notes.

The caller claimed he and his 14-year-old son were fishing at the park when a 14-foot alligator jumped on the dock and tried to attack them.

The caller said the pair barely got away by hitting the gator with fishing poles, and insisted that something be done about the gator.

When wardens arrived at the park that night to investigate, they found a dead, bloated and decomposing alligator floating upside down in the water.

The 12-foot, 7-inch alligator also had a possible gunshot wound in its head.

Wardens suspected the man who called about the gator could have been involved in its death as he told them the attack occurred a few days before the phone call, the report states.

After several failed attempts to meet with the caller, wardens were able to track him down at his mother's house.

"The individual confessed that he had gone back to his truck after seeing the alligator, got his .22 rifle, and then went back to the water and shot the alligator twice in the head," the field notes state.

"He then got worried and called in with the false story two days later."

Alligator season in Harris County is from April 1 to June 30. In addition, alligators may only be taken on private property. If an alligator is in public waters, the person taking the gator must be on private property and may not use a firearm. More information on hunting alligators is available on the TPWD website.

Charges and civil restitution are pending in this case.
Katy Mills, a Simon property, plans to offer new family programming in collaboration with Disney Junior.

Launched in October, "Disney Junior Play Dates" will take place in 80 shopping centers across the country.

The initial "Disney Junior Play Dates" at Katy Mills will be Tuesday, Oct. 31, from 5 to 7 p.m. with Boo Bash featuring "Vampirina."

Disney Junior's newest animated series "Vampirina," is about a young vampire girl and her family who have recently moved from their home in Transylvania to Pennsylvania.

During Katy Mills' Boo Bash, families can participate in mall-wide trick or treating, activities, give-a-ways, a photo opportunity courtesy of Image Nation and Vampirina episodes. Events take place at the Indoor Plaza at AMC Theatre.

The Disney Junior Play Dates' events will be featured throughout the year and include on-mall activities around holiday, Easter, and other seasonal celebrations.

"Katy Mills has long championed a commitment to delivering family-friendly programming," said Sabrina Scruta, director of marketing and business development at Katy Mills, "and teaming up with Disney Junior is the latest fulfillment of that pledge."
The prominent political journalist Mark Halperin apologized for "aggressive and crude" behavior in a lengthy note Friday night as women continue to come forward with claims of harassment.

Halperin, 52, said that he had read his accusers' accounts, and "in almost every case, I have recognized conduct for which I feel profound guilty and responsibility, some involving junior ABC News personnel and women just starting out in the news business."

"I am profoundly sorry for the pain and anguish I have caused by my past actions," he wrote. "I bear responsibility for my outrageous conduct at ABC News."

Halperin's statement was released around the same time that CNN, which had first reported on allegations by five women, published a story with the accounts of four more women, all anonymous, who said the veteran journalist harassed or made unwanted contact with them while he was in a position of authority over them at ABC News. Halperin denied some of the accusations against him.

Lara Setrakian, the chief executive and executive editor of the digital media outlet News Deeply, wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post on Friday in which she said that Halperin kissed and touched her during a meeting.

The Post spoke with nine women who said they were aware of, or had directly experienced, unwanted contact by Halperin over a period dating to the mid-1990s.

They described conduct that ranged from grabbing women's hands to late-night phone calls and aggressive sexual propositioning. Several recounted episodes in which he rubbed his erect penis against them, which Halperin specifically denied in an interview. Another woman who worked with Halperin said that "he did a lot of inappropriate and creepy things. He would suggest that you come to his hotel room at late hours. He would call you at 2 in the morning - and not to discuss anything work-related."

The women who spoke to The Post said Halperin was at his most aggressive during the 2004 campaign, when he was in charge of ABC News's political coverage. As political director for the Disney-owned network, he was empowered to select the embeds, a low-level position but an important step in a highly competitive business.

Halperin, in a brief interview Thursday, denied some of the specific accusations against him.

After leaving ABC News, he worked for Bloomberg Politics and NBC, and he co-wrote "Game Change," the best-selling chronicle of the 2008 presidential campaign, which was made into an HBO movie. He also co-hosted a discussion program on Bloomberg TV titled "With All Due Respect" and starred with "Game Change" co-author John Heilemann in a Showtime series about the 2016 campaign, "The Circus." Until Thursday, he was a regular panelist on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

The fallout has been swift for Halperin, one of the most prominent political journalists in the country. Halperin was put on leave as a MSNBC contributor. A book in the works about the 2016 election has been dropped by its publisher, Penguin, while HBO canceled a miniseries it was working on with the journalist.

Halperin is one of a growing number of men in powerful positions in various industries - media, film and restaurants, to name a few - to find themselves in the spotlight after women have accused them of harassment in recent weeks.

In his apology, Halperin said that he realized he had a problem with the way he treated women, eventually seeing a therapist. He said his conduct improved at other workplaces.

"Those who have worked with me in the past decade know that my conduct in subsequent jobs at TIME, Bloomberg, NBC News, and Showtime has not been what it was at ABC," he said.

- - -

The Washington Post's Paul Farhi contributed to this report.
CAMERON - So, who's it going to be? Austin? Atlanta? Philadelphia? Houston?

Which among some 238 applicants from across the country will Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos anoint as his gargantuan company's HQ2? Moody Analytics, a financial services company, touts Austin, Atlanta and Philadelphia as the top contenders for a $5 billion project that's expected to create 50,000 high-paying jobs. (Moody listed Houston 49 out of 65 contenders.)

Bezos hasn't said when he'll make the decision, but, meanwhile, here's my question: What about Cameron?

Yes, Cameron. County seat of Milam. Population 5,500. Along with nearby Rockdale and Milam County itself, the little town on the Little River, 50 miles southeast of Waco, submitted its "bold and boundless" Amazon proposal last week. County commissioners in a press release called it "arguably the biggest single project in the history of Milam County and the nation." They label their proposal "Blue Sky."

"Pie in the Sky" may be more apt, and yet a Houston connection makes the proposal more plausible than it would seem on its face. Cameron's best-known native son, a billionaire businessman Houstonians know well, urged Milam County commissioners to make the bid, County Judge David Barkemeyer told me earlier this week.

"Drayton McLane is originally from here, and he is on the governor's advisory board for economic development; in fact, he's the chairman of it," the judge said. "He made a phone call, and said, 'You guys need to put in a proposal.' "

Born in Cameron in 1936, Drayton McLane Jr. was 9 when he began hanging around his father's wholesale grocery business, a business his grandfather established in 1894. Taking over as president and CEO in 1978, he built the McLane Company into one of the largest food-service distributors in the country. He sold out to Walmart in 1991 and bought the Astros two years later.

Although the McLane Company is headquartered in nearby Temple, McLane still owns a large ranch in Milam County and has long been a Cameron benefactor. "Every once in a while, he'll suggest something that we ought to be doing," Barkemeyer said, a smile implying that he and fellow officials are inclined to listen.

What makes the Milam County bid at least semiplausible is a 33,000-acre site a few miles southwest of Rockdale that belongs to Alcoa, Inc. In 1952, the company opened its lignite-fired aluminum plant on the site and immediately revitalized a moribund agricultural economy. For more than a half century, Alcoa was the county's largest employer and a mainstay of the local tax base.

The company blew a hole in that base when it ceased operations in 2008. The Irving-based energy provider Luminant took over Alcoa's power plant and has helped fill that hole but announced recently it will shut down around the first of the year.

"Coal-fired operations are just not competitive with natural gas operations," the county judge observed. Not only will 450 jobs disappear, but the county tax base will take a multimillion-dollar hit once again.

'Not much going on'

You can see on Cameron's courthouse square that the local economy is not what it used to be, even before Luminant leaves. The bustling downtown that I remember from decades past is hollowed out. "For lease" signs are propped up in the dusty windows of sturdy brick buildings; a smattering of people are on the street on a weekday morning. Even the local pecan crop is skimpy this year. Kyle Burton, a young Dallas banker who buys and sells pecans in an old warehouse within sight of the courthouse, said a lot more local growers should be bringing in bags brimming with nuts.

"There's just not much going on around here. Retail is dead in the water," the county judge said.

As McLane reminded me during a phone call a couple of days ago, his hometown's economic plight is one it shares with a great many small Texas towns.

He's quick to point out, though, that Cameron, Rockdale and Milam County have a huge asset in Alcoa's property. With the power plant shuttered, what's left for Amazon to purchase are thousands of acres of Central Texas grazing and farm land, more than a dozen lakes, groves of venerable live oaks and bountiful groundwater. The property is within 60 miles of 2.5 million people and two Tier One universities (UT-Austin and A&M). You can drive to the state's three major population centers in two-and- a-half hours or less.

"For Amazon, the allure might be that they could buy this land from Alcoa as an industrial site and maybe even build housing or whatever they wanted with the rest of it," McLane said.

McLane and Barkemeyer and everybody in Cameron I talked to realize that the Amazon bid is the longest of long shots, but their proposal, they say, is good practice.

"It's great even if they don't win it," McLane said, crediting local officials for working together on the proposal. "It puts a lot of pride into the county and gives us a head start on the future."

Texas-sized ambitions

"I'm proud of them for being so bold," Lindsey Vaculin, general manager of the weekly Cameron Herald, told me. "Milam County is just sitting here waiting to be discovered."

Waiting for the county commissioner's meeting to wrap up on a sunny Monday morning, I learned that the county named for Ben Milam, hero of the Texas Revolution, has been bold before. According to a state historical marker on the grounds of the old jail, the first girls' tomato clubs in Texas were organized in Milam County in 1912. Their purpose was "to acquaint young women in rural areas with tomato production and canning techniques."

Some of the girls were so successful, they paid for college with their tomato earnings, and they inspired similar clubs elsewhere, including 4-H. Amazon's Bezos, who grew up in Houston and who spent summers on his grandfather's ranch near Cotulla, might appreciate that brand of Texas-style foresight, carried forward more than a century later by Milam County commissioners. Who knows? A small rural county with Texas-sized ambitions could be the ripe, red tomato of his entrepreneurial eye.
A fired KIPP counselor arrested earlier this month on charges that he molested a student now faces two additional charges.

Authorities said two more students - ages 7 and 11 - came forward to accuse Brandon McElveen of molesting them.

Meanwhile, a top prosecutor with the Harris County District Attorney's Office as well as investigators with the Houston Police Department said they believe McElveen, 33, may have abused many more children during his tenure at the school that began in 2011.

"The unique part about this case is that we have so many victims coming forward. He had access to many children," said JoAnne Musick, chief of the sex crimes unit for the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Musick said the victims and their parents came forward independently of each other to report McElveen.

McElveen is being held in jail in Victoria County. U.S. marshals traveled there on Thursday to arrest him after the new charges were filed.

Shocking allegations

According to prosecutors, the former counselor, who has been living with his parents in Victoria, was initially charged in mid-October following accusations that surfaced in September that he had molested an 8-year-old girl on campus under the guise of checking her for lice.

The girl's second-grade teacher told authorities McElveen took the child out of class five times for lice checks. He told her he had to check her for bites and lice, and according to court documents, also forced her to touch him. The child said the most recent incident was Sept. 26. The girl's technology and art teachers said McElveen removed the girl from their classes without telling them why. Her technology teacher added when she was taken out of class, it was for "a long while," according to court documents.

Police said McElveen abused his power as a counselor by checking students out of classes and bringing them back to his office, where the contact allegedly took place.

Investigators said the additional students have accused McElveen of harming them in a similar manner after he brought them to his office under the pretense of performing a checkup.

McElveen was put on administrative leave after the allegations surfaced and he was fired Oct. 16 after his arrest. His bail was set at $888,888, and he was able to post a bail bond and was released.

Two days later, the second and third victims stepped forward and accused McElveen of indecency. No other details were given by authorities about those cases as of Friday afternoon.

Police now say they are looking into additional cases but declined to reveal how many potential cases exist or how long he allegedly abused the students.

Now, prosecutors are hoping for a high bail amount against McElveen. As of Friday afternoon, he was still in Victoria County waiting for a magistrate judge to set bail conditions.

If the judge doesn't set bail, McElveen will be extradited to Harris County.

The news of the allegations in mid-October shocked parents and administrators at the KIPP school where McElveen worked, which is in the 5400 block of Lawndale Street in the Lawndale/Wayside neighborhood in southeast Houston.

The shock from parents and administrators at the allegations came shortly after McElveen was lauded by school administrators for his unselfish actions during Hurricane Harvey, when he ventured out in his pickup and a kayak into floodwaters to rescue his students and their families.

"We are deeply disturbed by these new allegations about our former staff member. This type of behavior runs counter to everything we believe in at KIPP," Superintendent Sehba Ali said in a statement released when allegations emerged.

'Grooming process'

McElveen's tenure at the school began sometime after 2010. Before that, he was a University of Houston-Victoria graduate student studying psychology, and in 2010 he helped establish the school's School Psychology Association and became the organization's first president, according to a university news release.

After graduating, he started working for KIPP. Investigators haven't revealed when McElveen's alleged actions started, but they noted that they typically don't happen overnight.

"The grooming process starts very early," said HPD Lt. John Colburn. "My fear is that there are many more."

McElveen had access to multiple children throughout his tenure with the school, Colburn said.

Investigators are asking anyone whose children had interaction with McElveen to speak with their children.

Anyone with information regarding additional victims or whose children may have had inappropriate contact with the former counselor is urged to contact the HPD Special Victims Division at 713-830-3254 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany. What this Roman Catholic priest did may seem distant and insignificant to many half a millennia later - if it is remembered at all. However, these words of a determined monk developed into a period in history called the Reformation - an era that has provided Houston many blessings. Those of us who live in Texas, those of us who speak Spanish, those of us who read our Bible in our mother tongue, those of us who attended public schools - or Lutheran schools - those of us who enjoy congregational singing, we who receive both the bread/body and wine/blood in Holy Communion - for all such people, Oct. 31 is a meaningful day. These aspects of our community life, and many more, were affected by the Reformation. Five hundred years of Reformation history is worth celebrating because the debates, councils, papal decrees, imperial mandates and military actions from the time of the Reformation still affect every American citizen today.

Just four years after Luther posted his Theses with the intent of fostering local scholarly debate, Gutenberg's printing press spread Luther's theories all over Europe, sparking an international religious crisis. Suddenly, the then-unknown Bible professor at the University of Wittenberg was an enemy of Charles V, who, as Holy Roman Emperor, ruled over much of Europe and lands far beyond. In fact, Charles V's authority included the very ground Houstonians call home, making the bayou city itself part of the story of the Reformation.

Meanwhile, on April 18, 1521, in the city of Worms, Germany, Luther stood before The Golden One (as Charles V was known) and refused to recant his Theses unless they were shown to be in error by reason or by proof from the Holy Bible. Paul Robinson noted in his recent biography, "Martin Luther: A Life Reformed," that Luther informed the emperor he was "bound by the Scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise. Here I stand, may God help me."

In Luther's words we find an extreme example of truth being spoken to power. Here in the words of this humble Augustinian monk from a small village in Germany, we discover a model of a conscientious protester. The German princes present at Luther's hearing before Charles V recognized the power of his words and, thus, were inspired to formally protest for their religious rights in the form of the so-called Augsburg Confession of 1530. From that time on, such people of faith would be called Protestants. After 25 years of additional councils, colloquies and military actions, the 1555 Peace of Augsburg ushered in a Europe that officially was religiously diverse.

Dedicating himself to a small Latin phrase, plus ultra (meaning "still further"), Charles V was sending his Spanish conquistadores, along with Roman Catholic priests, on missions to spread the Roman Catholic faith in the New World. These "missionaries" came to what is now Texas in 1519, the year Charles V ascended to the imperial throne, coercing native populations to change their spoken language to Spanish as they spread Catholicism. This is why so many Texans speak Spanish today. Because of Luther, many modern Protestant practices also spread throughout the New World.

During the period between 1517 and 1555, Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X and was listed as an official enemy of the state; yet, because of political and military protection provided by the Protestant princes, Luther was able to develop one of his most important reforms: translation of the Bible from Greek into verses people could read in their own languages - a privilege people around the world enjoy today.

Beyond providing a readable version of the Bible, Luther recognized that the population was in great need of education. Luther addressed this issue by calling upon the princes to pay for basic education for both boys and girls. Today, this legacy lives on in the free public schools, as well as in parochial schools, such as the many Lutheran primary and secondary schools that serve our community.

Of course, Martin Luther was foremost a priest and a pastor. When he found that little was being taught in churches about the Bible, Jesus Christ or the Gospel, Luther led a movement to allow church congregants - rather than just the choir and priest - to worship through the singing of hymns. He furthermore helped end the common practice in which the priest alone drank from the Holy Communion chalice and partook of the bread/body of Christ. Before Luther, the congregation was not permitted to partake of the wine. We are reminded when we raise our voices in song and receive communion that these rites reflect the effects of the Reformation 500 years after the original reforms were sanctioned.

Those remarkable reforms affect many beyond the church, as well. For example, 236 years after the Peace of Augsburg came the ratification of the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution. The first of these amendments established the right to a free press and freedom of religion, two privileges that came about with great pain for Luther, but which today are our legal birthrights.

We have much to honor 500 years after the Reformation, from the language we speak here, to the way we worship, to how we educate our children in schools and in religious life, not to mention the foundational documents of our democracy. As a Lutheran pastor, I urge Houstonians to take part in any number of the many celebrations of the legacy of the Reformation, including cultural and spiritual observances. I expect that one result will be the discovery that "Houston Strong" and Martin Luther's strength hold a great deal in common.

Krengel is senior pastor of Family of Faith Lutheran Church in Houston.
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The Cross Road Bridge was reduced to one-lane in August because of its deteriorating condition.

Clarksburg Officials Hoping for Funds to Replace Cross Road Bridge



Rust and revealed rebar under the Cross Road Bridge. CLARKSBURG, Mass.  Town officials are hoping to see work begin on the Cross Road Bridge as early as next year.

Town Administrator Carl McKinney told the Select Board on Wednesday that he had completed about a 40-page application and personally delivered the application to the District 1 offices of the state Department of Transportation in Lenox and to the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission in Pittsfield.

"Those are the two powers that be, for lack of a better word, that are in control of the Transportation Improvement Program as well as the capital improvement program," he said. "They find a need, and I think we have a need there."

The multiyear TIP program is overseen by the Berkshire Metropolitan Planning Organization, which makes recommendations for using federal funds toward road and bridge projects that fit into regional planning.

The concrete Cross Road Bridge was reduced to one lane at the beginning of August by order of the state because of it's deterioration. The bridge dates back about 50 or 60 years.

Town officials have been aware of bridge's condition for some time but two other bridges  on East Road and Gates Avenue  were a higher priority at the time.

The East Road Bridge had been scheduled for replacement because of general deterioration but Tropical Storm Irene caused its west side to severely buckle. It was closed for a year while the town pursued state and federal funding, but finally had to use up Chapter 90 funds to fix it. It took three years to get the Gates Avenue Bridge , the only access to homes on the west side of Wheeler Brook, replaced.

Between them, the two projects ate up more than a half-million of the town's Chapter 90 road funds. The town's hoping to get outside funding for this next bridge project.

"We've done some preliminry engineering on it, if we are to replace it as is, it would be about $2 million," McKinney said of the Cross Road Bridge. "Looking for alternatives, we're strongly leaning toward doing an aluminum arch on footings, and extending it 5 feet farther south to accommodate our Complete Streets program for pedestrians  a shared lane for pedestrians and bicyclists."

The state and MPO looked favorably on the application, he said, which has been reviewed and sent to Boston.

Chairman Jeffrey Levanos thanked McKinney on the board's behalf for the time and effort that went into the application.

"We know that was a lot of hard work and effort and it looks like it's going to pay off," he said.

McKinney said he was hopeful the project could be added to the Transportation Improvement Plan.

"I am cautiously optimistic we will not be waiting five years to get this thing done," he said. "And if we get some good tailwinds, I'll hope for next year."
Imperial Valley News Center

Tax reform is looking good for the middle class

Washington, DC - "Why are the naysayers so determined to block tax reform efforts on Capitol Hill? There's all too much negativity among folks like Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. But the reality is that there is widespread optimism that tax reform can become a reality in 2017. Most on the left side of the aisle likely will not support efforts to improve the tax code, despite the fact that it will benefit the middle class, however you look at it," says Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC].

"House Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Kevin Brady, for example, says it's a good bet that Congress will present the president with a tax reform bill this year."

Some would argue that tax reform will chiefly benefit corporations and high earners. Weber says that individuals with the highest earnings will continue to pay nearly 70% of income taxes. And, cutting the corporate tax rate, which is a key component of efforts to streamline the tax code, will allow companies to create more, higher paying jobs for American workers.

In addition, he says, "the current tax code gives multi-national American companies an incentive to keep their earnings offshore and that has deprived us of taxes on the profits they make in foreign countries. Offering them a reduced tax on repatriated funds and reduced tax rates going forward will give them an incentive to bring that money back home where they will pay something, not nothing in taxes. And, it would give them funds for more job creation in the U.S."

According to attorney and financial columnist Frank Aquila, if the U.S. would get serious about repatriation and lower the corporate tax rate, it could be the most important economic stimulus this country has ever seen.

As for the ordinary taxpayer, reform means reduced taxes, Weber says. "Not only would there be fewer tax brackets for the middle class to deal with, but lower rates and the proposed doubling of the standard deduction from $12,000 to $24,000 for married couples, would slash the tax burden for most families.

In addition, he adds, it would simplify filing by eliminating the need to itemize deductions since you would only need to itemize if your deductions exceed the new standard deduction."

Although the proposed new tax code would also eliminate the ability to declare some expenses, it would continue to allow deductions for expenses related to home ownership, retirement savings, charitable giving and higher education.

"And then," adds Weber, "there is the issue of how to simplify filing your taxes. The vast majority of us cannot file our tax returns without the aid of so-called professional tax services. Back in the good old days, it was a rather easy task. But, today the tax code is so complicated that more than 90 percent of Americans need professional help to do their own taxes. By reducing the number of brackets and doubling the standard deduction, among other things, we may not be able to go back to the good old days. But, it certainly can make life easier and less stressful for the majority of us as the deadline for filing approaches."
Imperial Valley News Center

U.S.-EU Joint Consultative Group Meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation

Washington, DC - On Monday, in Washington, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Judith G. Garber and E.U. Director-General for Research and Innovation Robert-Jan Smits, convened the United States-European Union Joint Consultative Group Meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation (JCG). The JCG provides an opportunity to exchange views on some of the most important transatlantic science and technology endeavors and to align American and European research and innovation efforts for mutual benefit. Both sides recognized the role of research and innovation as key drivers of jobs and economic growth, and that transatlantic research cooperation has been a primary source of new technologies and scientific discoveries for over a century.

The Department of State also thanked the European Commission for the valuable assistance provided by the Copernicus satellite program during the recent hurricanes.

Efforts to further facilitate transatlantic cooperation between scientists under Horizon 2020, the European Unions $80 billion research program (and its successor), and American research programs were featured prominently. Both sides discussed achievements and potential future strategic areas of cooperation and program alignment including: the Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance, which extends into the Arctic region; Mission Innovation; other advanced energy research cooperation; and major health initiatives, such as brain research. Both sides agreed to continue and expand cooperation, building on the ongoing success of program alignment and to work together to renew the U.S.-EU Science and Technology Agreement for an additional five years.

The JCG brought together representatives of the European Commissions Directorate-General for Research and Innovation with representatives from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Departments of State, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Interior, the National Science Foundation, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The United States and European Union look forward to strengthening our cooperation and the EUs 2018-2020 Work Programme for Horizon 2020, launched today.
Imperial Valley News Center

Lima Group's Declaration on Venezuela

Washington, DC - The United States welcomes the Lima Group's leadership in addressing the deteriorating situation in Venezuela. The Lima Group's recent declaration in Toronto - including its support for the provision of humanitarian assistance for the Venezuelan people, condemnation of electoral abuses and call for electoral reform including a new National Electoral Council, call for the release of political prisoners, and support for the democratically-elected National Assembly - reflects the same principles and concerns underpinning the unwavering position of the United States.

We welcome all efforts in support of the Venezuelan people as they struggle to secure a more democratic, peaceful, and prosperous future.

We urge others in the international community to join the Lima Group and the United States in opposing the Maduro regime's authoritarian actions, which are responsible for the worsening political, economic, and social crises facing the country and the Venezuelan people. As long as the Maduro regime conducts itself as a dictatorship, we will continue to bring the full weight of American economic and diplomatic power to bear in support of the Venezuelan people as they seek to restore their democracy.
USS Nimitz first carrier to visit Sri Lanka in 32 Years

Colombo, Sri Lanka - The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka, for a port visit today.

The visit follows the recent completion of the inaugural bilateral naval exercise CARAT Sri Lanka and the U.S. Navy's participation in Sri Lanka's Galle Dialogue. USS Nimitz' (CVN 68) taking part marks the first time a U.S. carrier has visited Sri Lanka since the now-decommissioned USS Kitty Hawk visited in 1985.



During the visit, Sailors and Marines will have opportunities to explore the local community and meet with their counterparts in the Sri Lankan navy. They will also have the chance to participate in various community service projects with non-profit organizations in Colombo such as sporting events, and local school and hospital visits to foster positive relations between the two nations.



"Building our maritime partnership advances our shared national goals of fostering security and stability," said U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives Atul Keshap. "I'm delighted that U.S. sailors will have the chance to visit Sri Lanka, meet with its wonderful people, and take part in public service activities at schools, hospitals, and rest homes that will improve the lives of Sri Lankans of all ages," he added.



"The crew is excited to experience the life and culture of Colombo," said Rear Adm. Gregory Harris, commander, Carrier Strike Group 11. "This is an excellent opportunity to enhance our relationship with the Sri Lankans through cultural exchanges and other engagements. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with so much to offer."



Nimitz CSG partaking in the port visit are: aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) with embarked staff of Carrier Strike Group 11, Destroyer Squadron 9, and Carrier Air Wing 11; Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Howard (DDG 83), USS Shoup (DDG 86), USS Pinckney (DDG 91) and USS Kidd (DDG 100).



The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group is currently underway in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region after completing a deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations (AOO). Nimitz is homeported in Bremerton, Wash., while Princeton, Howard and Pinckney are homeported in San Diego and Shoup and Kidd are homeported in Everett, Wash.



While operating in U.S. 7th Fleet, Nimitz will join ongoing efforts to support regional security and stability through continuous naval presence. This forward presence contributes to freedom of navigation and lawful use of the sea, furthers operational training, and enables an exchange of culture, skills, and tactical knowledge.
Turkmenistan National Day

Washington, DC - Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson: "On behalf of the Government of the United States of America, congratulations to the people of Turkmenistan as you celebrate the 26 years of your nations independence.

"The United States and Turkmenistan have been working together for 26 years to create a more prosperous, peaceful, and stable region. We reaffirm our commitment to Turkmenistans independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and we look forward to working closely with you on issues of mutual interest, from promoting regional stability to promoting cultural and educational exchanges between our people.

"We send the people of Turkmenistan our best wishes as you celebrate this special day, and we hope our partnership grows stronger over the next year."
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Independence Day

Washington, DC - Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson: "On behalf of the United States, we offer our best wishes to the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines as you celebrate 38 years of independence.

"The United States enjoys our partnership with the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in advocating democratic principles, economic opportunity, and regional security cooperation. Today we celebrate our strong people-to-people connections and look forward to working together towards shared goals stated in Caribbean 2020, for a more secure and prosperous future.

"We wish the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines a happy Independence Day celebration with peace and prosperity throughout the year to come."
Joint Investigative Mechanism Report on Khan Shaykhun and Um Housh

Washington, DC - Thursday, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) issued its latest report which concluded that the Assad regime used the chemical weapon sarin in the horrific April 4, 2017 attack that killed scores of people in Khan Shaykhun, Syria. The report also determined that the Islamic State extremist group was responsible for using the chemical weapon sulfur mustard on September 15 and 16, 2016 in Um-Housh, Syria.

This new report confirms unequivocally what the United States and many in the international community have stated publicly for many months  that the Assad regime carried out the heinous April 4 attack killing approximately 100 innocent Syrian civilians, including many children, and injuring hundreds more.

The Security Council must send a clear message that the use of chemical weapons by anyone will not be tolerated, and must fully support the work of the impartial investigators. As Ambassador Haley has emphasized, countries that fail to do so are no better than the dictators or terrorists who use these terrible weapons. By attempting to undermine and eliminate the JIM, Russia has demonstrated once again that it values protecting its ally the Assad regime over stopping the monstrous use of chemical weapons. Syrias blatant disregard for international norms and standards should be met with condemnation and accountability by all members of the international community.

Syrias continued use of chemical weapons and failure to destroy its chemical weapons program in its entirety are clear violations of Syrias obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and UN Security Council Resolution 2118. We condemn in the strongest possible terms the use of chemical weapons anywhere, by anyone, under any circumstances and reiterate our commitment that those responsible will be held to account.
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The Sopranos actor Annabella Sciorra has come forward with new allegations against the disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Speaking to The New Yorker, Sciorra alleged Weinstein raped her after shooting The Night We Never Met, a 1993 movie that Weinstein produced.

Similar to the stories told by other women, Weinstein drove the actor home, only to reportedly burst into Sciorras apartment and start unbuttoning his shirt.

He shoved me onto the bed, and he got on top of me, Sciorra said. I kicked and I yelled.

Weinstein then allegedly locked her arms and forced sexual intercourse on her: When he was done, he ejaculated on my leg, and on my nightgown He said, I have impeccable timing. 

After the incident, Sciorra found it increasingly hard to get work, many filmmakers saying, We heard you were difficult, something the actor claims was because of the Weinstein machine.

More than 60 women have come forward with accusations against Harvey Weinstein (WireImage)

Come 1995, Sciorra was back working, only to find the producer once again making sexual advances. All that time, she refused to tell anyone about what happened, fearing recourse on her career.

I was definitely embarrassed by it, Sciorra said. I felt disgusting. I felt like I had f**ked up.

In the same New Yorker article, Daryl Hannah spoke about how Weinstein attempted multiple times to gain entrance into her hotel room. On one attempt, the producer entered, only to stop because a male make-up artist was also present.

Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Show all 42 1 /42 Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein Harry Weinsteins reputation as one of Hollywoods leading executives was long cemented in stone. The acclaimed movie mogul, who produced Oscar-winning films Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, and The Artist, clocked up box office successes and accolades aplenty. But this has quickly changed since a chorus of women have come forward to accuse the Hollywood producer of sexual harassment and assault. Since the New York Times bombshell report disclosed sexual harassment and rape allegations against the film mogul dating back decades, Weinstein has been fired from his namesake company, expelled from the Oscars and has had his wife leave him. Weinstein has apologised for having caused a lot of pain but has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Annabella Sciorra The Sopranos actor alleged Weinstein raped her after shooting The Night We Never Met, a 1993 movie that Weinstein produced. Similar to the stories told by other women, Weinstein drove the actor home, only to reportedly burst into Sciorra's apartment and start unbuttoning his shirt. He shoved me onto the bed, and he got on top of me, Sciorra said. I kicked and I yelled. Weinstein then allegedly locked her arms and forced sexual intercourse on her. After the incident, Sciorra found it increasingly hard to get work, many filmmakers saying 'We heard you were difficult', something the actor claims was because of the 'Weinstein-machine'. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Natassia Malthe The model and actress, who has appeared in around 50 films, said she met Weinstein at a BAFTA after party in 2008 while she was working as a spokeswoman for LG. She told a press conference in New York that she felt pressured into telling Weinstein she was staying at the Sanderson Hotel after being put on the spot. Malthe, now 43, said after her shift on February 10 she went back to her room and went to sleep, but was awoken by "repeated pounding" on her door, from someone yelling: "Open the door Natassia Malthe, it's Harvey Weinstein." Feeling humiliated, she said she opened the door. She alleged Weinstein began implying sex would get her a role in an upcoming film while semi-undressed and then he began to masturbate. "I was sitting on the bed talking to Harvey when he pushed me back and forced himself onto me. It was not consensual. He did not use a condom," she said. AP Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sean Young The actor, best known for her role in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, said that Weinstein exposed himself to her in the early 1990s, when she was starring in the Miramax-produced Love Crimes - a production company that Weinstein headed at the time. "I personally experienced him pulling his you-know-what out of his pants to shock me," she said. "My basic response was, 'You know, Harvey, I really dont think you should be pulling that thing out, its not very pretty.'" Young never worked with Weinstein again after the incident. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lupita Nyong'o In an op-ed for The New York Times, the Oscar-winning actor said she was invited to Weinsteins family home in Connecticut on the premise of watching a film shortly after they met in 2011. But she said shortly after it started he "insisted" in front of his children that she follow him and she was led to his bedroom. The Kenyan-Mexican actress, now 34, said she felt pressured into giving him a massage after he offered her one. "Before long he said he wanted to take off his pants," she wrote."I told him not to do that and informed him that it would make me extremely uncomfortable. He got up anyway to do so and I headed for the door, saying that I was not at all comfortable with that." Over the years that followed, he continued to get in touch, Nyong'o said, and when she declined another proposition she felt her career was threatened. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lena Headey Writing on social media, the Game of Thrones actor claims she first met Weinstein at the Venice Film Festival in 2005 where, after taking her for a walk by the water, he made some suggestive comment and gesture. Headey claims she bumped into Weinstein years later where he kept asking her questions about her love life. She alleges that, when Weinstein invited her to his hotel room to show her a script, the "energy shifted. The actor notes how, after saying she was not interesting in anything but the work, Weinstein was furious, apparently marching her back to a lift, "grabbing and holding tightly to the back of [her] arm." She claims that, after paying for her car, he whispered in her ear: "Don't tell anyone about this, not your manager, not your agent. Headey finished the post, writing: I got in the car and I cried. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Laura Madden Madden, a production assistant who worked at Miramax for a decade, told the Times that Weinstein allegedly prodded her for massages at hotels, a common theme among the sources the Timess reporters spoke with. On one occasion, she claims she locked herself in his hotel bathroom, sobbing Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Judd recounted for the Times how Weinstein allegedly harassed her while she was filming Kiss the Girls in 1996, inviting her to his hotel room and asking her for a massage, then inviting her to watch him shower. Judd first went public with the allegations in a 2015 interview with Variety during which she discussed the experience without naming the producer involved. She described Weinsteins alleged behaviour as coercive bargaining; I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask, she told the Times AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rose McGowan McGowan reportedly reached a previously undisclosed $100,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997, over an incident that occurred in a hotel room Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emily Nestor Nestor had been temping at the Weinstein Company for only one day in 2014 when Weinstein allegedly offered to boost her career in return for sexual favours, according to the Times. She declined and reportedly complained of his behaviour to colleagues, who later passed the information on to senior executives. An internal Weinstein Company document cited by the Times describes Nestors encounter with Weinstein as follows: She said he was very persistent and focused though she kept saying no for over an hour Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ambra Battilana In March 2015, Battilana, an aspiring model and actress, was reportedly summoned to Weinsteins office on a Friday night to discuss her career. According to a police report cited by the Times, Battilana claimed she was assaulted by Weinstein, who grabbed her breasts after asking if they were real and put his hands up her skirt. Weinstein later claimed that Battilana had set him up, according to colleagues of his who were interviewed by the Times. The Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, later declined to press charges, and according to the Times, made a payment to Battilana. On 5 October, the International Business Times reported that after Vance dropped the charges, he received $10,000 from Weinsteins lawyer Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lauren OConnor Lauren OConnor, an employee of the Weinstein Company, penned a memo to executives alleging a toxic environment for women at the company. The memo cited numerous incidents of Weinstein harassing or coercing women who worked for him. She expressed fear that Weinstein was using her and other female employees to facilitate liaisons with vulnerable women who hope he will get them work. That same year, Weinstein allegedly reached a settlement with OConnor Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Kate Beckinsale The actor, who starred in the Weinstein Company films Serendipity and The Aviator, alleges that she was invited to Weinsteins hotel room at the age of just 17. When she approached the door, the producer reportedly greeted her dressed in just a dressing gown. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him, she wrote on Instagram. After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed. Theo Wargo/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Gwyneth Paltrow The actor alleges that after he cast her in the title role of the film Emma when she was 22, he took her to his hotel room, placed his hands on her and suggested massages. I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified, Paltrow told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Asia Argento Italian actress Asia Argento has alleged that in 1997 Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her as she repeatedly told him to stop. When I see him, it makes me feel little and stupid and weak, Argento told The New Yorker. After the rape, he won. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Cara Delevigne The British model and actress penning an Instagram post claiming that Weinstein had ordered her to kiss another woman in his hotel room, and tried to kiss her on the lips. AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Ashley Judd said she rebuffed Harvey Weinsteins unwanted sexual advances by offering to consent only after she had won an Oscar. When she was initially invited to a meeting with Weinstein, Judd said, she was surprised to learn the producer was in his hotel room - a tactic that recurs in other womens accounts. Echoing the accounts of other women, Judd said Weinstein suggested she give him a massage and then invited her to watch him shower. After a volley of nos she said she would only after she wins an Oscar, fleeing after making the comments. Reuters/Mike Segar Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Judith Godreche French actress Judith Godreche said when she was 24 Weinstein invited her to his hotel room and asked to give her a massage. The next thing I know, hes pressing against me and pulling off my sweater, she told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mira Sorvino The Oscar-winning actor said she found herself in a hotel room with Weinstein in 1995 where he started massaging my shoulders, which made me very uncomfortable, and then tried to get more physical, sort of chasing me around. According to an interview in The New Yorker Weinstein subsequently arrived at her apartment late at night and she had to call a friend to come over to pose as her boyfriend in order to get Weinstein out of the house. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Katherine Kendall The actress said Weinstein undressed and chased her around a living room when she was just 23. She subsequently felt that telling others meant Ill never work again and no one is going to care or believe me, she told the New York Times. WireImage Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Tomi-Anne Roberts As an aspiring actress and working in a restaurant in New York, Tomi-Ann Roberts encountered Weinstein who encouraged her to audition for one of his films back in 1984. She subsequently went to meet him and found him naked in the bath and invited her to get naked and get into the bath with him, she told the New York Times. She said she left feeling manipulated. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Myleen Klass It has also been alleged that the disgraced film producer propositioned Myleene Klass with a sex contract at Cannes Film Festival in 2010. One of the singer and television personalitys friends reportedly told The Sun, Klass had told Weinstein to f*** off. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sophie Dix Sophie Dix, best known for her role as Captain Sadie Williams in Soldier Soldier, described her encounter with Weinstein when she was 23 as the single most damaging thing thats happened in my life. She told The Guardian Weinstein had pushed her to her bed and was tugging at her clothes. She rushed to the bathroom to escape, but when she came out she found him standing there masturbating. I quickly closed the door again and locked it, she said. Then when I heard room service come to the door I just ran. Rex Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lea Seydoux The actor and director claims she had to fight off Weinstein after he brought her to his hotel room during what she remembers to be 2012. He suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. I left his room, thoroughly disgusted, she wrote in The Guardian. AFP/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Claire Forlani British actress Claire Forlani wrote on Twitter that she had evaded Weinsteins advances on five occasions at the age of 25. At meetings with the Hollywood a-lister, she says massage was suggested, and that Weinstein had boasted of all the women hed had sex with. Mark Douet Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Florence Darel French actress Florence Darel claimed Weinstein relentlessly pursued her in the mid 1990's and propositioned her while Eve Chilton, his wife at the time, was in the hotel room next door. I was astonished, she told People magazine. When you have someone so physically disgusting in front of you, continuing and continuing as though this was all perfectly normal What happened to me may not be illegal but it was inappropriate. Very inappropriate. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lysette Anthony Lysette Anthony, who starred as Marnie Nightingale in Hollyoaks, has claimed Weinstein raped her in the late 1980's after turning up to her London home in the late 1980s. She described the disgraced film producers alleged attack as pathetic and revolting and said it left her feeling disgusted and embarrassed. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Dawn Dunning Dunning said she met Weinstein in 2003 when she was 24-years-old and the disgraced film producer suggested she have a threesome with him and someone else. She told the New York Times Weinstein got angry when she refused. Youll never make it in this business, she said he told her as she left. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Arquette was already well known for her role in Desperately Seeking Susan, when she said she met Weinstein at his hotel to pick up a script in the early nineties. Weinstein was dressed only in a dressing gown, and tried to put her hand on his erect penis. Speaking to the New York Times, Arquette said as she left she told him: I will never be that girl. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emma de Caunes Caunes, a French actor, claimed Weinstein took her to his hotel room in 2010 supposedly to retrieve a book he was making into a film, but once there he went into the bathroom. De Caunes said he then emerged naked, with an erection and told her to lie on the bed. She fled the room. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Zoe Brock Model Zoe claimed that she had to lock herself in a bathroom at Weinsteins hotel in 1997, after the mogul had sent all of the assistants out of the room, and then appeared naked. I was alone with Weinstein, she told ITVs This Morning programme. He very quickly left the room and came back naked. He chased me naked. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Barth Actress Jessica Barth described an encounter with Weinstein in 2011 in an interview with The New Yorker in which she said Weinstein veered between offering her roles in films and demanding a naked massage. She alleges the producer said to her: So, what would happen if, say, were having some champagne and I take my clothes off and you give me a massage? When she tried to leave, he then promised to give her the number of a female executive at the company. He gave me her number, and I walked out and I started bawling, Barth said. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Romola Garai The actress told The Guardian she felt violated after she went to a meeting with Weinstein at the age of 18 and he met her in his hotel room wearing nothing but a dressing gown. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Heather Graham Graham claimed that during a casting opportunity in the early 2000's Weinstein had told her he had an open relationship with his wife. He could sleep with whomever he wanted when he was out of town. I walked out of the meeting feeling uneasy, Graham told Variety. There was no explicit mention that to star in one of those films I had to sleep with him, but the subtext was there. Graham was never hired to work in a Weinstein film. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Hynes Spaced and W1A star Jessica Hynes tweeted about an encounter with Weinstein earlier this week, but subsequently deleted the tweet. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louisette Geiss The former actress said she met Weinstein to pitch a film script she was working on. During the meeting, Weinstein allegedly went out and reappeared naked and got into a jacuzzi where he masturbated in front of her and said he would make the script into a film if she stayed and watched. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Liza Campbell Liza Campbell, a British writer and artist, alleged that Olympically ugly Weinstein asked her to join him in the bath and began getting undressed at a hotel. In a piece for The Times, Campbell claimed she was forced to sprint to the door to escape. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louise Godbold Writing in a blog post, Louise Godbold, a non-profit director in Los Angeles, said her encounter with Weinstein took the form of an office tour that became an occasion to trap me in an empty meeting room. She said then Weinstein was begging for a massage, his hands on my shoulders as I attempted to beat a retreat.

He just burst in like a raging bull. And I know with every fibre of my being that if my male make-up artist had not been in that room, things would not have gone well, she said. It was scary.

Both actors, like many who have spoken out, feared there would be recourse on their own careers if they came forward. More than 60 women have now come forward with accusations against Weinstein, accusations he continues to deny.
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John Mollo, the Oscar-winning costume designer who famously worked on Star Wars, has died at the age of 86, as reported by The Times.

Mollo was a military history expert who acted as a historical advisor on several films, including The Charge of the Light Brigade and Stanley Kubricks Barry Lyndon, before progressing to costume design.

After finishing work on Kubricks film, Mollo  who had never watched a science fiction film beforehand  met with George Lucas to discuss the directors third feature film.

Since I had just finished the work for Kubrick I thought Id investigate and met George Lucas at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Mollo said of the moment.

Soon after that discussion, he was hired to work on Star Wars. Using Ralph McQuarrie's sketches, Mollo designed the iconic outfits worn by Han Solo, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the stormtroopers.

Notable deaths in 2017 Show all 28 1 /28 Notable deaths in 2017 Notable deaths in 2017 Hugh Hefner, the creator of Playboy magazine, died 28 September 2017 aged 91 Central Press/Stringer - Getty Notable deaths in 2017 Liz Dawn as Vera Duckworth in Coronation Street, pictured with co-star Bill Tarmey who played her husband Jack. Dawn died 25 September 2017, aged 77 ITV Notable deaths in 2017 Walter Becker, one of the founders of the band Steely Dan, died September 3 aged 67 Rex Notable deaths in 2017 David Tang, one of Hong Kong's most famous businessman, died of liver cancer aged 63 on 29 August AFP/Getty Images Notable deaths in 2017 Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington died July 20 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2017 Holocaust survivor and stateswoman who fought for abortion rights, Simone Veil, died July 4 Getty Notable deaths in 2017 Michael Bond, author and creator of Paddington Bear, died June 28 PA Notable deaths in 2017 TV's Batman, Adam West, died June 12 AFP/Getty Images Notable deaths in 2017 Peter Sallis, who starred in Last of the Summer Wine and voiced Wallace and Gromit, died on June 5 Rex Notable deaths in 2017 John Noakes, The action hero of Blue Peter, died May 29 Rex Notable deaths in 2017 Former MotoGP world champion, Nicky Hayden, died age 35, on May 26. He was knocked off his bicycle by a car in Italy. Getty Notable deaths in 2017 Sir Roger Moore died on May 23 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2017 Soundgarden singer, Chris Cornell, who helped define grunge music died May 17 Kevin Winter/Getty Images Notable deaths in 2017 Moors Murderer Ian Brady died May 15 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2017 Powers Boothe, star of Deadwood and Sin City, dies, aged 68 on May 15 Todd Williamson/Invision/AP Notable deaths in 2017 Robert Miles, Trance DJ behind hit track 'Children', died from cancer aged 47 on May 12 PA Notable deaths in 2017 Happy Days child star, Erin Moran, died at the age of 56 on April 24 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2017 Ex-player and Tottenham U23 coach Ugo Ehiogu died after he suffered a cardiac arrest at the training ground, aged 44 on April 21 Getty Notable deaths in 2017 British athlete Germaine Mason, silver medalist at the Beijing Olympics, died following a motorcycle crash, aged 34 on April 21 Rex Notable deaths in 2017 Actor Tim Pigott-Smith star of TV, film and theatre died on April 7 Getty Notable deaths in 2017 Rupert Cornwell an award-winning foreign correspondent who embodied the spirit of The Independent died on April 1 Notable deaths in 2017 Morse creator Colin Dexter died on March 21 PA Notable deaths in 2017 Rock and roll legend Chuck Berry died on March 18 Getty Notable deaths in 2017 Sir Howard Hodgkin, one of Britain's greatest abstract painters of the post-war period died on March 9 Rex Notable deaths in 2017 Sir Gerald Kaufman was the oldest of the longest-serving MPs and Father of the House of Commons when he died on February 27 PA Notable deaths in 2017 Joost van der Westhuizen died at the age of 45 on February 6 Getty Notable deaths in 2017 John Hurt died aged 77 on 28 January Getty Notable deaths in 2017 Lord Snowdon, husband to Princess Margaret died on January 13 Getty

There was, of course, also Darth Vaders costume: with only 900, Mollo began making McQuarrie and Lucass vision a reality, basing the eventual design on World War 1 trench armour and Nazi helmets.

For his work on Star Wars, Mollo was awarded the best costume design Oscar. He would once again win the prestigious Academy Award in 1983 for Richard Attenboroughs Gandhi. Mollo also worked on Alien, Cry Freedom and returned to the Star Wars universe for The Empire Strikes Back.
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Stranger Things actor Charlie Heaton has been denied entry to the United States after traces of cocaine were found in his luggage.

The British actor  who plays Jonathan Byers on the Netflix show  was due to attend the shows season two premiere in Los Angeles.

According to The Sun, sniffer dogs at LAX airport caught the 23-year-old, border officials finding a very small amount of a white powder on his person.

After the substance tested positive for cocaine, Heaton was allegedly flown back to the UK, missing the large Stranger Things 2 party.

He was not arrested, a source told the paper. He was held at the airport for a while and then put back on a plane to London that night.

Actor Charlie Heaton attends the Entertainment Weekly Celebration of SAG Award Nominees (Getty)

Due to the amount being for personal use, Heaton was reportedly sent back to the UK rather than being charged in the US. Whether he will be able to return to the country remains unknown.

US Customs and Border Protection has since confirmed the news, a spokesperson telling The Hollywood Reporter: "Foreign nationals may be inadmissible due to the commission of a crime involving drug possession. CBP officers treat all international travellers with integrity, respect and professionalism while keeping the highest standards of security."

Law enforcement reportedly confirmed the substance was cocaine and the actor admitted to consuming the drug.

A spokesperson for the actor said: I have no comment to make. Netflix would not comment on the situation, nor whether Heaton will be able to return for further seasons of Stranger Things.

Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Show all 14 1 /14 Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for A Series of Unfortunate Events: season 1 Starring: Neil Patrick Harris, Malina Wiessman, Will Arnett, Cobie Smulders, Patrick Warburton Release date: Out now Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Riverdale: season 1 Starring:KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, Cole Srpuse, Madchen Amick Release date: New episodes every Friday Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for iBoy Starring: Bill Milner, Maisie Williams, Miranda Richardson Release date: Out now Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Santa Clarita Diet: season 1 Starring: Drew Barrymore, Timothy Olyphant, Nathan Fillion, Patton Oswalt Release date: 3 February Netflix Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Ultimate Beastmaster Hosted by: Terry Crews Release date: 24 February Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Love: season 2 Starring: Gillian Jacobs, Paul Rust, Claudia O'Doherty Release date: 10 March Netflix Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Iron Fist: season 1 Starring: Finn Jones, Jessica Henwick, David Wenham, Rosario Dawson Release date: 17 March Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Sense8: season 2 Starring: Toby Onwumere, Doona Bae, Jamie Clayton, Tuppence Middleton Release date: 5 May Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for House of Cards: season 5 Starring: Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Neve Campbell, Joel Kinnaman Release date: 31 May Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Dear White People: season 1 Starring: Antoinette Robertson, Brandon P Bell, Logan Browning Release date: TBC Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Okja Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Tilda Swinton, Lily Collins, Steven Yeun, Giancarlo Esposito Release date: TBC Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Paul Rudd, Janeane Garofalo, Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Alyssa Milano, Jai Courtney Release date: TBC Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Master of None: season 2 Starring: Aziz Ansari Release date: TBC Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Stranger Things: season 2 Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown Release date: TBC

Meanwhile, the second season of Stranger Things has become available on Netflix to mixed reviews.
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Food fraud is everywhere. In the aftermath of the horsemeat scandal in Europe, and with cases reported around the world, including in Canada, awareness is high.

Dalhousie University recently released a study on food fraud and the results were surprising: A whopping 63 per cent of Canadians are generally concerned about food fraud. Worse still, more than 40 per cent of Canadians feel they have been victims of food fraud already. These are alarming results that cant be ignored.

Food fraud can take many forms. It can include adulteration  substituting one ingredient with a much cheaper one  or misrepresentation, which may include selling a product as organic when it is not.

Canadian food fraud cases abound

Food categories that are more vulnerable to food fraud are fish, seafood, liquids, spices, fruits, vegetables and meat products. Canada has seen its share of cases in recent months, one of the most notable ones is Mucci Farms in southwestern Ontario, near the tip of Lake Erie. The company was fined $1.5m (1.1m) for selling Mexican tomatoes as a product of Canada. Mucci Farms denies that the labelling was intentional and faults their computer system.

Other cases have emerged through whistleblowers trying to draw attention to food fraud. Cericola Farms, one of the largest poultry processors in the country, was charged with fraud last year over allegations of organic mislabelling.

The number of cases is adding up. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has received over 40 complaints in 2016 and industry observers expect that number to increase in 2017.

Serious health and economic risks

Some may believe that food fraud is a victimless crime. This is not so. What is at stake is the entire food economy.

Bogota's burgeoning food scene Show all 10 1 /10 Bogota's burgeoning food scene Bogota's burgeoning food scene The food markets are the place to try exotic ingredients and local dishes ProColombia Bogota's burgeoning food scene Leonor Espinosa is one of Bogota's best loved chefs Leo Bogota's burgeoning food scene Leonor Espinosa focuses on Colombian ingredients at Leo Leo Bogota's burgeoning food scene Bogota's burgeoning food scene Bogota's burgeoning food scene Scallop ceviche at El Cielo El Cielo Bogota's burgeoning food scene El Cielo is a full-on sensory immersion El Cielo Bogota's burgeoning food scene Criterion's 10-course taster menu is a work of art Bogota's burgeoning food scene Chef brothers Jorge and Mark Rasch Mario Inti Garcia Bogota's burgeoning food scene Criterion's Jorge Rausch cut his teeth at Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir Mario Inti Garcia

For any food business to grow and offer high-quality food products, it requires consumer trust. If trust is lost then everything the industry is trying to accomplish will become more challenging. Why would consumers pay more for a product they may deem fraudulent?

The majority of food companies are ethically sound, but you only need a few cases to damage the reputation of an entire industry.

Most importantly, the Dalhousie study suggests that consumers with allergies or intolerances to particular foods are likely to feel more vulnerable than other consumers when thinking of food fraud. Consequently, food fraud is as much a socioeconomic issue as it is one of public health.

Technology a partial solution

Grocers have made recent investments in blockchain technologies that provide a tool to detect products that may pose as counterfeit.

But these measures can only do so much. Companies cant really report fraudulent rivals for fear of retaliation  food companies denouncing fraudulent cases are themselves accused of food fraud. They cant win.

Regulators would have to sample-test everything, which would be operationally impractical and, frankly, impossible. Public regulators have been aware of the issue for quite some time but have struggled to find any solutions to address the issue.

A few provinces, including Ontario, have created provincewide committees on food integrity to work with industry in finding fraudulent cases. However, their work will take a while before we see anything new.

Exercise caution

Meanwhile, consumers should shop for food and visit restaurants with extreme prejudice. Consumers should look for consistencies in pricing and quality. If a food product is much cheaper at one outlet, perhaps the deal is too good to be true. Consumers should also ask pointed questions about procurement strategies to retailers and restaurant operators to make the supply chain more transparent to them.

But humans are humans and food fraud has been going on for more than 2,000 years. The first known reported cases go back to the Roman Empire when suspicions around adulterated wines and oils were prevalent. Today, however, we have technologies allowing us to detect fraudulent behaviour.

Companies and research centres from around the world are currently developing portable technologies that allow consumers themselves to validate the content of food labels. Imagine testing your own products at home to see if that apple is really from Ontario or that olive oil is really from Italy. The technology exists, but costs are prohibitive. Some of these devices can cost more than $200,000 (151,240).

One day though, consumers empowered by these technologies will become the most powerful regulators the food industry can ever imagine. Knowing that consumers can ultimately test the integrity of any product, the entire food supply chain will need to be more disciplined and the rotten apples will need to go, no pun intended.

Over time, humans themselves may not get rid of food fraud but technology will.

Sylvain Charlebois is a professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University. This article first appeared on The Conversation (theconversation.com)
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A pair of 9.7 million-year-old teeth uncovered in Germany will not rewrite human history, two of the worlds top palaeontologists have said.

The teeth were found in a former bed of the Rhine river. It was claimed they most resembled those belonging to Lucy, a 3.2 million-year-old skeleton of an extinct primate related to humans and found in Ethiopia.

At a press conference announcing the discovery, the mayor of Mainz suggested the find could force scientists to reassess the history of early humans.

"I don't want to over-dramatise it, but I would hypothesise that we shall have to start rewriting the history of mankind after today," he said.

Herbert Lutz, director at the Mainz Natural History Museum and head of the research team, told local media: "They are clearly ape teeth. Their characteristics resemble African finds that are four to five million years younger than the fossils excavated in Eppelsheim.

This is a tremendous stroke of luck, but also a great mystery."

But David Begun of the University of Toronto, and one of the worlds leading palaeoanthropologists, told The Independent neither tooth had a resemblance to Lucy, or any other primate closely related to humans.

He said one likely belonged to the extinct primate called Anapithecus, which roamed Europe around 10 million years ago. Fossils of the animal have already been dug up in Austria and Hungary.

Having split from the evolutionary tree that eventually led to humans, the presence of an Anapithecus tooth in Germany does nothing to challenge the out-of-Africa theory of human origins.

It is still a rare find however, and appears to confirm the presence of a large pliopithecoid  a group of primates to which Anapithecus belongs  in western Germany.

But Dr Begun said the other tooth did not even belong to a primate.

The canine is actually a piece of a ruminant tooth. It is hard to tell because it is broken above the root and polished, he said.

Revealed: Early Bronze Age carvings suggest Stonehenge was a huge prehistoric art gallery Show all 4 1 /4 Revealed: Early Bronze Age carvings suggest Stonehenge was a huge prehistoric art gallery Revealed: Early Bronze Age carvings suggest Stonehenge was a huge prehistoric art gallery 11.jpg Digital photogrammetry being used to record 3D images of the micro-topography on the tops of the lintels at Stonehenge. ArcHeritage/English Heritage Revealed: Early Bronze Age carvings suggest Stonehenge was a huge prehistoric art gallery 1.jpg Ghostly images: a laser-scan-derived image of the largest panel of axe-head carvings at Stonehenge. 75% of the carvings in this image were not previously known. ArcHeritage/English Heritage Revealed: Early Bronze Age carvings suggest Stonehenge was a huge prehistoric art gallery 2.jpg Drawings of all the axe-heads shown in the laser-scan-derived image. The green ones are new discoveries. The brown ones have been known or suspected since the 1950s. ArcHeritage/English Heritage Revealed: Early Bronze Age carvings suggest Stonehenge was a huge prehistoric art gallery 3.jpg Digital photogrammetry being used to record 3D images of the micro-topography on the tops of the lintels at Stonehenge. ArcHeritage/English Heritage

He suggested it may belong to a Dorcatherium, a small deer-like mammal that became extinct millions of years ago.

Maria Martinon-Torres, a palaeontologist at University College London who specialises in dental evidence, told The Independent that while it was not a hominin - species closely related to humans - the findings could still add to our knowledge of ancient primates.

I think these teeth belong to a very old primate, she said. But they do not belong to a hominin.

Ms Torres also disputed the teeth looked like those belonging to Lucy. I dont see the resemblance at all, she said.

However, describing the findings as exciting, the professor said the teeth could help fill the big gap in our knowledge of the presence of primates in Europe millions of years ago.

Its a very nice finding, they are very well preserved, they are very important in the sense that there are few in the fossil record, she said.

On whether this could rewrite primate history, Ms Torres, comparing the evolutionary tree to renovating a house, said: I dont like this idea of rewriting history.

We are working with a building that has a quite solid structure, and we keep adding rooms, and changing the shape of the rooms. I dont think this means we go 'Ok, suddenly pull down the building and we have to start again'.
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A man has been arrested for the rape and murder of a one-year-old girl after three weeks on the run.

Joshua Gurto, 37, was arrested after being recognised by a police officer following a social media campaign aimed at tracking him down.

He is accused of raping 13-month-old Sereniti Jazzlyn-Sky Blankenship-Sutley, his girlfriends daughter, on October 7 at her home in Conneaut, Ohio.

Ohio police said the baby girl died as the result of blunt force trauma to her head and body.

Gunto was dating the childs mother, Kelsie, at the time and police confirmed she is not facing any charges.

After being questioned immediately after the babys death he went on the run and spent weeks hiding in woods.

Joshua Gurto went on the run for three weeks (Ohio Police)

He was spotted last week on CCTV in Pennsylvania after hitch-hiking.

He was finally arrested by a police officer 120 miles from where Sereniti died in Franklin Lakes. The officer recognised him from images circulated on social media and by police forces,

He asked him to identify himself and, as reported by WKYC, Gurto admitted his identity and was taken into custody without a struggle.

Police searched his backpack and found several maps, including one of New Jersey and one of Pennsylvania, as well as a tent and a knife.

He is being held in custody accused of aggravated rape and murder.

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According to police, the girl was found unresponsive and suffering from cardiac arrest in her bedroom by her 22-year-old mother.

Police questioned Gurto the day Sutley died, but say they did not have enough evidence to hold him.

A 5,000 reward had been offered in exchange for information on Gurtos location and a Facebook page Justice For Baby Sereniti had been set up by a family friend to share information.
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A man has been jailed for life for murdering his partner after she confronted him over his sexual interest in a child.

Adam Parkin, 35, was sentenced to life in prison for stabbing his wife Julie Parkin, 39, to death in a frenzied attack in their home in Sunderland.

The attack occurred in June after she discovered he had a sexual interest in a child and had made indecent videos.

The Crown Prosecution Service worker was jailed for life at Newcastle crown court on Friday with a minimum term of 23 years and the judge also imposed a sexual harm prevention order as part of the sentence.

The court heard Parkin had packed a suitcase to leave the marital home after being confronted by his wife but instead snapped.

He grabbed a 20cm-long kitchen knife and stabbed her 23 times. He dragged the body into the kitchen where he left her face down with the tip of the knife lodged in her skull.

Parkin then also attempted to murder another person, who cannot be named, who said in a victim impact statement: I was forced to fight for my life.

He then sped off in the family Mazda and drove to a police station where he confessed.

The court heard that Parkin later told police: She was so sad when she found out what I really am. I should have killed myself. What is wrong with me? There is something wrong with me.

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After the sentencing, DCI Lisa Theaker said: Outwardly Julie and Adam Parkin had what has been described as a happy marriage. However, behind the scenes the marriage was characterised by what has come to be called coercive control with Adam Parkin controlling significant aspects of Julies life.

Coercive control tends to get worse with time and can escalate into violent abuse and, as with Julie, even murder.

Investigating officers found search terms on his computer such as Cambodia child abuse, teacher sexually assaulted and teacher viewing porn. They also found three indecent videos on his phone.

Detectives found Mrs Parkins computer had accessed pages such as what to do if you dont feel loved enough in your relationship, top five signs your husband is demanding and controlling and fight for your marriage when your husband is emotionally distant from you.

A statement from the family of Julie Parkin, a primary school teacher, read: This has been the hardest year of our lives. We still cannot comprehend what has happened or why Adam killed our beautiful girl.

For us now, as a family we have to try and figure out how we move on from this. We have to be strong together for the children as they are our absolute priority now. We want to be able to continue the unconditional and devoted love and support Julie always had for them and always keep their Mam alive in all of our hearts and memories.

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Hundreds of alleged sexual assault victims have been refused compensation because they have a criminal record, The Independent can reveal.

The Governments compensation body, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), has been routinely rejecting survivors claims when it emerges they have a conviction of any severity.

Offences can range from petty crimes to more serious ones, and critics say the practice is tantamount to a new form of victim-blaming.

Recommended MPs conclude sex assault claim at abuse inquiry not taken seriously

Survivors of rape and other sexual crimes are able to claim money from the Ministry of Justices compensation authority to help them pay for expenses associated with their attack, including counselling, improving their security or moving away from their attacker.

But figures obtained by The Independent show at least 398 alleged victims of sex abuse have been refused payments since January 2015 because they were convicted of some sort of crime.

Research into the compensation process has previously found that convictions for non-violent or minor offences, including theft or failing to pay for a TV licence, are routinely used as reasons to withhold money from alleged victims.

The Independent spoke to one woman who was convicted of drink-driving a year after she was raped by a minicab driver. She said she was scared to take taxis following the attack.

The CICA reduced her payment by 30 per cent because of the driving offence. It was another knock down, she said. How does that relate to what happened to me a year before?

The Independents findings come amid increased scrutiny of the CICA, an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. In July, charities warned the body had denied hundreds of sexually abused children compensation on the grounds they gave consent. The Ministry of Justice said it was urgently reviewing its guidelines following the revelations.

But the MoJ has since told The Independent it was only assessing its recommendations in grooming cases and was not considering changing the basic rules of the scheme. There were no plans to stop using criminal convictions as reasons to reject victims claims, the MoJ said.

Data obtained from the CICA under freedom of information laws shows criminal records were a factor in refusing at least 161 sexual assault victims compensation in 2015. Another 106 victims with convictions were rejected in 2016 and, in the five months to 2 June of this year alone, at least 131 cases were.

The data does not account for the number of victims who had their compensation reduced rather than completely rejected.

The CICA said it was only able to give the number of rejections based on keyword searches of their database, meaning the numbers could be higher. London-based charity Women Against Rape is calling for the MoJ to make the compensation system more transparent, claiming it is withholding funds from victims on arbitrary grounds.

You cant tell the discrimination through the figures that are available and thats what we would like to be able to do, said a spokeswoman for the charity, Lisa Longstaff.

The compensation authority has lagged behind the standards of the criminal courts because it is not subject to public scrutiny in the same way.

CICA payments were crucial to victims, she said, because of the psychological effects of rape and sexual assault.

Its not like they need aromatherapy to make them feel better. Were talking about serious, enduring mental health problems. Its hard to get anything now from the NHS, she said.

Rape can have a profound effect on a persons circumstances and compensation money was often used to made victims feel safer, she added. You may have been made homeless. You might not be able to function and could have dropped out of a job, she said.

You may need to improve your security. Or you may need to move  not that its enough to buy a house.

Compensation payouts for sexual assault cases range from 1,000 to 44,000, with a victim of a rape committed by one attacker allocated around 11,000.

You may be unable to travel  a lot of people find they cant go out after dark or they cant take public transport, she added. Theres all sorts of ways your personal freedom gets limited by such an attack  and it incurs costs.

Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon said: This appears to be another example of victim-blaming. Victims of serious sexual offences should not be being punished in this way by the CICA.

As well as condemning the practice, he called for reform where there is evidence a victims offence is tied to their attack. The Government must urgently review this situation to ensure that when offences are committed as a direct result of the abuse they have suffered, women receive the compensation they are due, he said.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. 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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

A spokesperson from the MoJ said: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme provides taxpayer-funded awards to victims of violent crime.

As it is a taxpayer-funded scheme, it is designed to ensure the most rigorous of decision-making processes based on the full facts of the case. This includes cases where an applicant may have caused harm to another person, or committed another criminal offence.

They said victims criminal convictions were not necessarily the sole factor in rejecting their compensation claims.

Rachel Almeida, Head of Policy at the independent charity Victim Support said: That hundreds of sexual assault survivors are denied compensation because of this rule is cause for concern and can lead to the re-victimisation of some of the most vulnerable people, including victims of child sexual abuse.

The application of criminal injuries compensation should be more proportionate so that victims of the most serious of offences are not denied compensation for what can sometimes be the most minor of convictions, such as not paying their TV licence.
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The Home Office has been urged not to deport an American man whose disabled British wife of seven years is reliant on him to provide her care.

Dale McIntier, 62, came to the UK on a visitors visa with his wife Sandra in April 2015, and has been told he must return to the US in order to reapply for a spousal visa, or face deportation.

If he goes back to the US, Ms McIntier would be left without a carer and having to rely on state support, which the couple and their supporters warn would have devastating affects on her.

A 38 Degrees petition, created after The Independent reported on the case in August, is now calling on the Home Office to stop the inhumane deportation of Mr McIntier. It has so far garnered more than 13,400 signatures.

It states: Sandra McIntier is severely disabled and requires round the clock physical and mental care. If her husband was deported it would have devastating affects on her.

Dale McIntier would suffer extreme mental health issues if he had to leave his wife without the love and stability that she needs.

It would hurt our Government purse to deport Dale. Tax payers would have to pay for his flight home and also round the clock care for Sandra. It makes no sense to deport a beloved husband who is a wonderful part of the community.

The couple initially came to the UK on a visitors visa to medical treatment, with a plan to stay for six months and then return to their home in Idaho. But this plan changed after five months when Ms McIntier, who already suffered from a genetic bone condition, was diagnosed with a fast-growing cancer which led to her requiring round-the-clock care.

They decided that it would be best to stay in the UK for the foreseeable future to ensure her health needs could be met, so Mr McIntier applied for a spousal visa before his visitor status ran out in October.

Recommended Home Office splits British man from wife 10 months after she has baby

However, five months later he received a letter from the Home Office giving him five days to leave of the country. It stated that the couple had failed to provide relevant paperwork from a doctor stating Ms McIntier's inability to travel, a requirement they say they had not been aware of.

After mounting an appeal against the decision, the couple were told by a court in a first-tier tribunal that Mr McIntier must return to the US in order to reapply for a spousal visa.

The couple's solicitor, who did not want to be named while the appeal is still ongoing, told The Independent the judge had not applied the law in the right way.

Under immigration law, spousal visa applications must be submitted from outside the UK. But the solicitor said the "compelling circumstances" of the case mean the Home Office should allow the appeal to take place outside such laws, allowing him to stay in the UK to care for his elderly wife.

Speaking to The Independent, Mr McIntier said: We just hope this petition will make a difference. Were lucky to have so many people here who support us.

"Since the weathers turned colder Sandra has been in more pain. She really cant travel much. We can hardly take a day out without it wiping her out for sometimes days afterwards.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 15 November 2022 Lesley Sutcliffe shelters from the rain next to a life-sized replica of the innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun by artist Amanda Stoner as it goes on display inside a traditional red telephone box which has been converted into a museum, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire PA UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA 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

"She goes into depression really easily. She has no intention of going back to the States. Ever since we got married weve just needed each other. If I do have to leave, well probably both be in depression.

"It takes a certain amount to run a household. She would need someone to come in and take care of her. She needs me here pretty much 24 hours a day."

The couple is currently awaiting a decision on their appeal. The Home Office said it would not comment on ongoing cases.
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Nine service personnel on a nuclear submarine have been discharged from the Royal Navy after testing positive for drugs.

The revelations come after claims earlier this month of inappropriate sexual relationships among some of those on board HMS Vigilant, one of four Vanguard Class submarines which maintain the UK's nuclear deterrent and is armed with Trident missiles.

It has now emerged that compulsory drugs tests on Vigilant crew members produced nine positive results, leading to nine individuals being discharged.

Recommended Faslane nuclear submarine base could be flooded as sea levels rise

A Royal Navy spokesman said: "We do not tolerate drugs misuse by service personnel. Those found to have fallen short of our high standards face being discharged from service."

The Daily Mail reported that the drug detected by the tests was cocaine.

It has also been reported that a furious Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has now demanded mandatory drugs testing across the entire submarine fleet so he can be reassured that what happened on Vigilant was an isolated incident.

The submarine has recently been embroiled in controversy over allegations of an onboard relationship between a male and female.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures 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 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA

Earlier this month, the Daily Mirror reported that the MoD was probing an "inappropriate relationship" between crew members, and that the captain of the vessel had been relieved of his duties pending the outcome.

A Royal Navy spokesman said: "We can confirm an investigation is under way, but it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage. Any allegations of wrongdoing are taken very seriously and will be dealt with appropriately."

There are strict Royal Navy rules about relationships on board vessels.

Women were barred from serving on submarines until 2011, when a report found that there was no basis in fears that carbon dioxide in the recycled air could damage female fertility.

When the ban on female submariners was lifted, it was reported that some Navy wives feared that having women serving alongside men in the cramped conditions on board submarines would lead to sex scandals.

One naval source was quoted by The Sun as saying: There is concern over what might happen.

If there was a sex scandal it would be impossible for anyone to be taken off until the sub returned from its four-month patrol.

The Navy will go to great lengths to make sure that the first women are officers with impeccable credentials.

In 2014, the first female commander of a frontline warship in the history of the Royal Navy left her vessel amid claims she had had an affair with a shipmate.

Commander Sarah West, who denied the relationship, was "removed from command" of the Type 23 frigate HMS Portland and re-appointed to another post.
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Liam Fox has been ridiculed for being a man of solitude over claims his International Trade Department has an alarming lack of seasoned trade negotiators.

Casting doubt on the International Trade Secretarys repeated assertion that securing a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union should be the easiest in human history, the Department for International Trade (DIT) only managed to list one impressive resume when asked how many experienced trade professionals the 15-month old department employs.

While highlighting the credentials of Crawford Falconer  an internationally recognised expert  the departments minister for trade policy Greg Hands did not give details of any other employees with substantial experience of international trade negotiations in response to a written question in the Commons.

Mr Hands added that the department has a strong and capable trade policy team which has grown significantly since Theresa May became Prime Minister and created the department in July 2016. Its aim will be to negotiate free trade deals across the globe after Britains formal departure from the EU in March 2019.

He said: Internationally recognised expert Crawford Falconer is now in post as DITs chief trade negotiation adviser and second permanent secretary. Mr Falconer will support the establishment of a world-class trade negotiation function and lead the development of the International Trade profession for trade negotiators. He has more than 25 years of public service experience in trade and foreign affairs.

But the SNP MP Kirsty Blackman, who asked the minister the question, said the response was incredibly alarming.

It is extremely worrying that Liam Foxs failing department can only name one trade expert on their staff, she told The Independent. They are not one step closer to signing the promised trade deals with the wider world 16 months since the vote to leave the EU.

While the DIT dismissed claims it had just one employee with substantial experience of international trade negotiations, it declined to provide an exact number.

In a statement, a spokesperson added: When recruiting civil servants, managers are able to review candidates previous experience and career history as part of our recruitment policies and campaigns. Where trade negotiation skills are required, these are clearly set out in the advertised vacancy and tested through the departmental recruitment process.

The Department for International Trade has a strong and capable trade policy team which has grown significantly since its establishment in July 2016 and is continuing to grow. DIT has more than 3,450 staff, with our Trade Policy Group of almost 400 people including expert economic analysts and lawyers, as well as country specialists and those with a range of experience of international trade negotiations  to suggest otherwise is incorrect.

The International Trade Department was unable to provide data on the language skills of its staff (PA) (PA Archive/PA Images)

One of the most significant reasons why the British Government appears to lack experienced specialists in negotiating complex trade deals is due to the fact the European Commission has negotiated on the UKs behalf since the 1970s when Britain joined the bloc.

In a second response requested by the Labour MP Pat McFadden, the department also conceded it had no data on how many of its staff were fluent in languages such as Spanish, Japanese and Arabic. The Department for International Trade does not currently hold central data on the language skills of its workforce, Mr Hands said.

The admission was seized on Mr McFadden, who ridiculed Mr Fox for being a man of solitude, adding: He has established a Board of Trade of which he is the only member, and we now discover that he runs a Department for International Trade that employs just one professional trade negotiator.

Mr McFadden, who is also a leading supporter of Open Britain, which campaigns against hard Brexit, continued: The Brexit Secretary promised last year that Liam Fox will negotiate a free area ten times the size of the EU by next September, so he and his lone trade negotiator will be busy.

The DIT must ensure we retain access to the trade deals we have already negotiated through the EU. These have been growing in number in recent years and it is not guaranteed we will be able to roll these over when we leave.

Brexit: the deciders Show all 8 1 /8 Brexit: the deciders Brexit: the deciders European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier Getty Brexit: the deciders French President Emmanuel Macron Getty Brexit: the deciders German Chancellor Angela Merkel Reuters Brexit: the deciders Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker EPA Brexit: the deciders The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt Getty Brexit: the deciders Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May Getty Images Brexit: the deciders Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond PA Brexit: the deciders After the first and second appointed Brexit secretaries resigned (David Davis and Dominic Raab respectively), Stephen Barclay is currently heading up the position PA

It also comes after it was revealed earlier this month that Mr Fox had travelled to Washington to open informal trade talks with the US alongside 27 officials, who had little negotiating experience. The information  obtained through a Freedom of Information request by Greenpeace  also claimed the US team, in contrast, contained highly experienced specialists.

And weeks later Mr Fox was a source of further ridicule following the launch of his departments new Board of Trade, of which the International Trade Secretary was the only official member. Membership of the board  set up to ensure the benefits of free trade are spread throughout the UK  is restricted to Privy Councillors.

James McGrory, the executive director of Open Britain, responding to the creation of the board earlier this month, said: I hope that at the inaugural meeting of the new Board of Trade, Liam Fox managed to have positive and constructive discussions with Liam Fox, after hearing expert analysis by Dr Liam Fox on the impact of Brexit.
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Sexual harassment thrives in Parliament, Jeremy Corbyn will say in a speech on Saturday as he responds to allegations of widespread abuse of women in Westminster.

The Labour leader will use a speech at trade union Unites Scottish policy conference to condemn the warped and degrading culture that, he will say, allows men to harass and assault women with impunity.

His comments come after reports that female parliamentary researchers and aides have used a Westminster WhatsApp group to share information about alleged abusers.

Recommended May urges victims of sexual harassment at Westminster to go to police

Comments posted in the group reportedly warn about one MP being very handsy in lifts and another being not safe in taxis. Senior figures and frontbenchers from both Labour and the Conservatives are said to have been implicated.

In response, Mr Corbyn is expected to use his speech in Aviemore, Scotland, to admit that abuse of women is a problem in Parliament.

He will say: Sexual abuse and abusive treatment of women by men is not confined to any one industry, workplace or institution. It is rooted in unequal power relationships that treat women as subordinate to men, and a culture where the abuse of women has often been accepted and normalised.

The problem doesnt stop with those who make unwanted advances on women, it extends to a culture that has tolerated abuse for far too long. Its a warped and degrading culture that also exists and thrives in the corridors of power, including in Westminster.

Its a culture that we all have a responsibility to challenge and end. Too often when women have spoken out, they havent been listened to. This needs to be a turning point.

Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Show all 42 1 /42 Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein Harry Weinsteins reputation as one of Hollywoods leading executives was long cemented in stone. The acclaimed movie mogul, who produced Oscar-winning films Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, and The Artist, clocked up box office successes and accolades aplenty. But this has quickly changed since a chorus of women have come forward to accuse the Hollywood producer of sexual harassment and assault. Since the New York Times bombshell report disclosed sexual harassment and rape allegations against the film mogul dating back decades, Weinstein has been fired from his namesake company, expelled from the Oscars and has had his wife leave him. Weinstein has apologised for having caused a lot of pain but has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Annabella Sciorra The Sopranos actor alleged Weinstein raped her after shooting The Night We Never Met, a 1993 movie that Weinstein produced. Similar to the stories told by other women, Weinstein drove the actor home, only to reportedly burst into Sciorra's apartment and start unbuttoning his shirt. He shoved me onto the bed, and he got on top of me, Sciorra said. I kicked and I yelled. Weinstein then allegedly locked her arms and forced sexual intercourse on her. After the incident, Sciorra found it increasingly hard to get work, many filmmakers saying 'We heard you were difficult', something the actor claims was because of the 'Weinstein-machine'. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Natassia Malthe The model and actress, who has appeared in around 50 films, said she met Weinstein at a BAFTA after party in 2008 while she was working as a spokeswoman for LG. She told a press conference in New York that she felt pressured into telling Weinstein she was staying at the Sanderson Hotel after being put on the spot. Malthe, now 43, said after her shift on February 10 she went back to her room and went to sleep, but was awoken by "repeated pounding" on her door, from someone yelling: "Open the door Natassia Malthe, it's Harvey Weinstein." Feeling humiliated, she said she opened the door. She alleged Weinstein began implying sex would get her a role in an upcoming film while semi-undressed and then he began to masturbate. "I was sitting on the bed talking to Harvey when he pushed me back and forced himself onto me. It was not consensual. He did not use a condom," she said. AP Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sean Young The actor, best known for her role in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, said that Weinstein exposed himself to her in the early 1990s, when she was starring in the Miramax-produced Love Crimes - a production company that Weinstein headed at the time. "I personally experienced him pulling his you-know-what out of his pants to shock me," she said. "My basic response was, 'You know, Harvey, I really dont think you should be pulling that thing out, its not very pretty.'" Young never worked with Weinstein again after the incident. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lupita Nyong'o In an op-ed for The New York Times, the Oscar-winning actor said she was invited to Weinsteins family home in Connecticut on the premise of watching a film shortly after they met in 2011. But she said shortly after it started he "insisted" in front of his children that she follow him and she was led to his bedroom. The Kenyan-Mexican actress, now 34, said she felt pressured into giving him a massage after he offered her one. "Before long he said he wanted to take off his pants," she wrote."I told him not to do that and informed him that it would make me extremely uncomfortable. He got up anyway to do so and I headed for the door, saying that I was not at all comfortable with that." Over the years that followed, he continued to get in touch, Nyong'o said, and when she declined another proposition she felt her career was threatened. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lena Headey Writing on social media, the Game of Thrones actor claims she first met Weinstein at the Venice Film Festival in 2005 where, after taking her for a walk by the water, he made some suggestive comment and gesture. Headey claims she bumped into Weinstein years later where he kept asking her questions about her love life. She alleges that, when Weinstein invited her to his hotel room to show her a script, the "energy shifted. The actor notes how, after saying she was not interesting in anything but the work, Weinstein was furious, apparently marching her back to a lift, "grabbing and holding tightly to the back of [her] arm." She claims that, after paying for her car, he whispered in her ear: "Don't tell anyone about this, not your manager, not your agent. Headey finished the post, writing: I got in the car and I cried. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Laura Madden Madden, a production assistant who worked at Miramax for a decade, told the Times that Weinstein allegedly prodded her for massages at hotels, a common theme among the sources the Timess reporters spoke with. On one occasion, she claims she locked herself in his hotel bathroom, sobbing Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Judd recounted for the Times how Weinstein allegedly harassed her while she was filming Kiss the Girls in 1996, inviting her to his hotel room and asking her for a massage, then inviting her to watch him shower. Judd first went public with the allegations in a 2015 interview with Variety during which she discussed the experience without naming the producer involved. She described Weinsteins alleged behaviour as coercive bargaining; I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask, she told the Times AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rose McGowan McGowan reportedly reached a previously undisclosed $100,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997, over an incident that occurred in a hotel room Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emily Nestor Nestor had been temping at the Weinstein Company for only one day in 2014 when Weinstein allegedly offered to boost her career in return for sexual favours, according to the Times. She declined and reportedly complained of his behaviour to colleagues, who later passed the information on to senior executives. An internal Weinstein Company document cited by the Times describes Nestors encounter with Weinstein as follows: She said he was very persistent and focused though she kept saying no for over an hour Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ambra Battilana In March 2015, Battilana, an aspiring model and actress, was reportedly summoned to Weinsteins office on a Friday night to discuss her career. According to a police report cited by the Times, Battilana claimed she was assaulted by Weinstein, who grabbed her breasts after asking if they were real and put his hands up her skirt. Weinstein later claimed that Battilana had set him up, according to colleagues of his who were interviewed by the Times. The Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, later declined to press charges, and according to the Times, made a payment to Battilana. On 5 October, the International Business Times reported that after Vance dropped the charges, he received $10,000 from Weinsteins lawyer Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lauren OConnor Lauren OConnor, an employee of the Weinstein Company, penned a memo to executives alleging a toxic environment for women at the company. The memo cited numerous incidents of Weinstein harassing or coercing women who worked for him. She expressed fear that Weinstein was using her and other female employees to facilitate liaisons with vulnerable women who hope he will get them work. That same year, Weinstein allegedly reached a settlement with OConnor Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Kate Beckinsale The actor, who starred in the Weinstein Company films Serendipity and The Aviator, alleges that she was invited to Weinsteins hotel room at the age of just 17. When she approached the door, the producer reportedly greeted her dressed in just a dressing gown. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him, she wrote on Instagram. After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed. Theo Wargo/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Gwyneth Paltrow The actor alleges that after he cast her in the title role of the film Emma when she was 22, he took her to his hotel room, placed his hands on her and suggested massages. I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified, Paltrow told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Asia Argento Italian actress Asia Argento has alleged that in 1997 Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her as she repeatedly told him to stop. When I see him, it makes me feel little and stupid and weak, Argento told The New Yorker. After the rape, he won. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Cara Delevigne The British model and actress penning an Instagram post claiming that Weinstein had ordered her to kiss another woman in his hotel room, and tried to kiss her on the lips. AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Ashley Judd said she rebuffed Harvey Weinsteins unwanted sexual advances by offering to consent only after she had won an Oscar. When she was initially invited to a meeting with Weinstein, Judd said, she was surprised to learn the producer was in his hotel room - a tactic that recurs in other womens accounts. Echoing the accounts of other women, Judd said Weinstein suggested she give him a massage and then invited her to watch him shower. After a volley of nos she said she would only after she wins an Oscar, fleeing after making the comments. Reuters/Mike Segar Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Judith Godreche French actress Judith Godreche said when she was 24 Weinstein invited her to his hotel room and asked to give her a massage. The next thing I know, hes pressing against me and pulling off my sweater, she told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mira Sorvino The Oscar-winning actor said she found herself in a hotel room with Weinstein in 1995 where he started massaging my shoulders, which made me very uncomfortable, and then tried to get more physical, sort of chasing me around. According to an interview in The New Yorker Weinstein subsequently arrived at her apartment late at night and she had to call a friend to come over to pose as her boyfriend in order to get Weinstein out of the house. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Katherine Kendall The actress said Weinstein undressed and chased her around a living room when she was just 23. She subsequently felt that telling others meant Ill never work again and no one is going to care or believe me, she told the New York Times. WireImage Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Tomi-Anne Roberts As an aspiring actress and working in a restaurant in New York, Tomi-Ann Roberts encountered Weinstein who encouraged her to audition for one of his films back in 1984. She subsequently went to meet him and found him naked in the bath and invited her to get naked and get into the bath with him, she told the New York Times. She said she left feeling manipulated. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Myleen Klass It has also been alleged that the disgraced film producer propositioned Myleene Klass with a sex contract at Cannes Film Festival in 2010. One of the singer and television personalitys friends reportedly told The Sun, Klass had told Weinstein to f*** off. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sophie Dix Sophie Dix, best known for her role as Captain Sadie Williams in Soldier Soldier, described her encounter with Weinstein when she was 23 as the single most damaging thing thats happened in my life. She told The Guardian Weinstein had pushed her to her bed and was tugging at her clothes. She rushed to the bathroom to escape, but when she came out she found him standing there masturbating. I quickly closed the door again and locked it, she said. Then when I heard room service come to the door I just ran. Rex Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lea Seydoux The actor and director claims she had to fight off Weinstein after he brought her to his hotel room during what she remembers to be 2012. He suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. I left his room, thoroughly disgusted, she wrote in The Guardian. AFP/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Claire Forlani British actress Claire Forlani wrote on Twitter that she had evaded Weinsteins advances on five occasions at the age of 25. At meetings with the Hollywood a-lister, she says massage was suggested, and that Weinstein had boasted of all the women hed had sex with. Mark Douet Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Florence Darel French actress Florence Darel claimed Weinstein relentlessly pursued her in the mid 1990's and propositioned her while Eve Chilton, his wife at the time, was in the hotel room next door. I was astonished, she told People magazine. When you have someone so physically disgusting in front of you, continuing and continuing as though this was all perfectly normal What happened to me may not be illegal but it was inappropriate. Very inappropriate. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lysette Anthony Lysette Anthony, who starred as Marnie Nightingale in Hollyoaks, has claimed Weinstein raped her in the late 1980's after turning up to her London home in the late 1980s. She described the disgraced film producers alleged attack as pathetic and revolting and said it left her feeling disgusted and embarrassed. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Dawn Dunning Dunning said she met Weinstein in 2003 when she was 24-years-old and the disgraced film producer suggested she have a threesome with him and someone else. She told the New York Times Weinstein got angry when she refused. Youll never make it in this business, she said he told her as she left. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Arquette was already well known for her role in Desperately Seeking Susan, when she said she met Weinstein at his hotel to pick up a script in the early nineties. Weinstein was dressed only in a dressing gown, and tried to put her hand on his erect penis. Speaking to the New York Times, Arquette said as she left she told him: I will never be that girl. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emma de Caunes Caunes, a French actor, claimed Weinstein took her to his hotel room in 2010 supposedly to retrieve a book he was making into a film, but once there he went into the bathroom. De Caunes said he then emerged naked, with an erection and told her to lie on the bed. She fled the room. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Zoe Brock Model Zoe claimed that she had to lock herself in a bathroom at Weinsteins hotel in 1997, after the mogul had sent all of the assistants out of the room, and then appeared naked. I was alone with Weinstein, she told ITVs This Morning programme. He very quickly left the room and came back naked. He chased me naked. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Barth Actress Jessica Barth described an encounter with Weinstein in 2011 in an interview with The New Yorker in which she said Weinstein veered between offering her roles in films and demanding a naked massage. She alleges the producer said to her: So, what would happen if, say, were having some champagne and I take my clothes off and you give me a massage? When she tried to leave, he then promised to give her the number of a female executive at the company. He gave me her number, and I walked out and I started bawling, Barth said. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Romola Garai The actress told The Guardian she felt violated after she went to a meeting with Weinstein at the age of 18 and he met her in his hotel room wearing nothing but a dressing gown. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Heather Graham Graham claimed that during a casting opportunity in the early 2000's Weinstein had told her he had an open relationship with his wife. He could sleep with whomever he wanted when he was out of town. I walked out of the meeting feeling uneasy, Graham told Variety. There was no explicit mention that to star in one of those films I had to sleep with him, but the subtext was there. Graham was never hired to work in a Weinstein film. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Hynes Spaced and W1A star Jessica Hynes tweeted about an encounter with Weinstein earlier this week, but subsequently deleted the tweet. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louisette Geiss The former actress said she met Weinstein to pitch a film script she was working on. During the meeting, Weinstein allegedly went out and reappeared naked and got into a jacuzzi where he masturbated in front of her and said he would make the script into a film if she stayed and watched. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Liza Campbell Liza Campbell, a British writer and artist, alleged that Olympically ugly Weinstein asked her to join him in the bath and began getting undressed at a hotel. In a piece for The Times, Campbell claimed she was forced to sprint to the door to escape. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louise Godbold Writing in a blog post, Louise Godbold, a non-profit director in Los Angeles, said her encounter with Weinstein took the form of an office tour that became an occasion to trap me in an empty meeting room. She said then Weinstein was begging for a massage, his hands on my shoulders as I attempted to beat a retreat.

Mr Corbyn will encourage anyone who believes they are a victim of assault to speak to parliamentary authorities, their party or, where appropriate, the police.

His remarks echo those of a spokeswoman for Theresa May, who urged victims of sexual harassment to contact police and called allegations of abuse in Parliament deeply concerning.

She said: I think the Prime Minister was very clear when we responded to the reports about Harvey Weinstein in the last few weeks that any unwanted sexual behaviour is completely unacceptable. And that is true in any walk of life, including politics.

Any allegations that may come to light would be taken extremely seriously and we would advise people to come to the police if there is such an allegation so it is fully investigated.

The issue of sexual assault has come to the fore after multiple allegations were made against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who is alleged to have abused a number of women.

Mr Corbyn will call on employers to set out clear processes for complaints and said the Government must support employees to take action against anyone found guilty of harassment.

And speaking of allegations of abuse within his own party, he will say: As leader of the Labour Party, I want to make it absolutely clear that our party will not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment.

Any harassment, discriminatory language or behaviour has no place in the Labour Party, or in any other party, or the workplace or across society."
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Michael Gove has apologised unreservedly after making a quip about the Harvey Weinstein abuse scandal on national radio, after his comments provoked a furious backlash.

During an interview on BBC Radio 4s Today programme, the Environment Secretary compared being interviewed by presenter John Humphrys with going into Harvey Weinsteins bedroom, adding: You just pray that you emerged with your dignity intact.

Neil Kinnock, former leader of the Labour Party, who was also being interviewed on the programme, then quipped in to say: John goes way past groping.

The remarks were made in response to a question from Humphrys about whether he and other BBC radio presenters make politicians look silly, as part of a discussion about the role of broadcast media in holding the Government to account.

It came just a day after allegations of widespread abuse of women in Westminster, with reports that female parliamentary researchers and aides have used a Westminster WhatsApp group to share information about alleged abusers.

Mr Gove has since apologised for the remarks, tweeting: Apologies for my clumsy attempt at humour on R4 Today this morning  it wasnt appropriate. Im sorry and apologise unreservedly.

Today programme presenter Nick Robinson, who wasnt on air at the time, brought attention to the remark by quoting Mr Gove in a tweet, prompting a barrage of anger from politicians, journalists and others.

 Harvey Weinstein: The celebrities who have accused him of sexual misconduct so far

Labour MP Stella Creasy described the remarks as crass, saying: This look didnt work for James Corden. Her concerns were echoed by fellow MP Jess Phillips, who tweeted: Michael Gove just left the studio without his dignity.

Hannah Jane Parkinson, a Guardian journalist, tweeted: Just a joke aimed at the victims of rape and sexual abuse by our former secretary of both justice and education.

Paul Bernal, a law lecturer, also criticised Mr Gove for the comment, saying: There are no words for how appalling he is.

Highlighting the allegations of sexual abuse in Westminster from the previous day, another Twitter user wrote: Yesterday Tory leadership was talking about taking sexual harassment seriously, today Gove jokes about the attacks on dozens of women.

In response to reports that there is a Westminster WhatsApp group for women who have allegedly been abused in Parliament, Jeremy Corbyn is to use a speech in Scotland today to admit that abuse of women is a problem in Parliament, saying it is a culture that has tolerated abuse for far too long.

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The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA 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 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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. 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

Comments posted in the group reportedly warn about one MP being very handsy in lifts and another being not safe in taxis. Senior figures and frontbenchers from both Labour and the Conservatives are said to have been implicated.

The allegations came to the fore after Hollywood producer Weinstein was accused of sexual harassment against a number of women in the film industry. A report published by The New York Times earlier this month claimed at least eight of his accusers reached settlements with him.

Mr Corbyn will encourage anyone who believes they are a victim of assault to speak to parliamentary authorities, their party or, where appropriate, the police and, and urge the Government to support employees to take action against anyone found guilty of harassment.

Responding to the allegations on Friday, Theresa May urged victims of sexual harassment to contact police and called allegations of abuse in Parliament deeply concerning.
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Sajid Javid has been urged to act over his departments failure to appoint a chief scientist in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire amid concerns a lack of expertise could be putting lives at risk.

The chair of the Commons Science and Technology Committee, Norman Lamb, has written to the Communities Secretary to raise concern over claims the Department for Communities and Local Governments (DCLG) acting adviser  a former economist  is not a scientist who could address the types of technical issues raised by Grenfell.

The news casts doubt over the departments ability to improve fire and building safety rules following the devastating blaze in the West London tower block, which killed around 80 people in June.

Recommended Sajid Javid condemned for failing to commit to fund sprinklers

In the letter, Mr Lamb, a former care minister, said it should not require a disaster like Grenfell to show the importance of scientific advice to government policy.

It comes after the Governments top scientific adviser, Professor Chris Whitty, told the cross-party committee that the Grenfell tragedy threw up scores of technical questions over flammable cladding on high-rises and the risks of fridge-freezers - initially identified as the cause of the fire.

He said there had been quite a gap since DCLG last had a proper scientist in the position and said that a former Secretary of State had dismissed the role as not terribly helpful.

The Liberal Democrat MP told The Independent: If a department lacks that input and we have regulations that appear to fall short and potentially impacts fatally, as in this case, thats a serious issue.

He added: If we dont follow scientific evidence and advice then the risk is we waste public money because we are doing things that dont have sound evidence. But then there are potentially fatal consequences other than wasting public money  then we have unsafe public services that are putting people at risk.

The DCLG website says the acting chief scientific adviser Stephen Aldridge is a former economist at the Cabinet Office.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 15 November 2022 Lesley Sutcliffe shelters from the rain next to a life-sized replica of the innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun by artist Amanda Stoner as it goes on display inside a traditional red telephone box which has been converted into a museum, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire PA UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA 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

A DCLG spokesman said: Officials working across the department already have a wide range of specialist knowledge, including scientific expertise. They work closely with the Government Office for Science as well as drawing upon expertise from across government to inform policy making and advice to ministers.

If there is a need for additional or specialist knowledge, we will bring in additional expertise as required. For example following the Grenfell Tower disaster, as part of the building safety programme, the Secretary of State set up an independent expert advisory panel with a wealth of experience in fire and building safety.
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Fears of further bloodshed has led Kenya's election commission to postpone Saturday voting in some opposition strongholds, citing safety concerns for its workers as deadly clashes continued between police and protesters.

It was the second voting delay in four out of Kenya's 47 counties, highlighting the bitter divisions and political uncertainty that have intensified after Thursday's repeat presidential election, which was boycotted by supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga.

It was not clear when the voting will now take place.

Recommended Violent clashes and low turnout threaten Kenyan election rerun

At least six people have died in violence linked to the latest election, including a man who was shot in the Nairobi slum of Kawangware as security forces moved to quell fighting between gangs from different ethnic groups late on Friday, according to police.

Earlier in the day, stone-throwing protesters in Kawangware who support Mr Odinga clashed with police who fired tear gas and water cannon.

The rioters, some belonging to the Luhya and Luo ethnic groups, looted shops and set fire to a kiosk owned by an ethnic Kikuyu, according to witnesses.

Kikuyu gangs with machetes then moved into the area and attacked the rioters. More fires were started and one man with a severe wound from a machete blow was seen on the ground, bleeding heavily.

"We are not celebrating this election!" one opposition supporter shouted as dozens of young men streamed by carrying sticks and stones.

Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun A National Super Alliance protester yells as nearby police officers Getty Images Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun Residents some brandishing swords, throw stones towards Kenyan police officials AFP/Getty Images Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun Supporters of National Super Alliance (NASA) presidential candidate Raila Odinga burn tires AFP/Getty Images Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun A security officer checks a voter before letting him participate in a presidential election REUTERS Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun Smoke rises from tear gas fired by riot policemen to disperse supporters of Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga REUTERS Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun An opposition supporter gestures with a knife during clashes with police in Kibera slum REUTERS Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun Riot police fire tear gas to disperse supporters of Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga REUTERS Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun Residents throw stones towards Kenyan police officials AFP/Getty Images Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun A protester prepares to throw back a teargas canister AFP/Getty Images Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun A Kenyan woman prepares to cast her vote by gas lamp, just after dawn AP Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun Opposition supporters run away from police in Kibera slum during clashes in Nairobi REUTERS Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun Supporters of National Super Alliance presidential candidate Raila Odinga burn tires AFP/Getty Images Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun People queue to cast their vote at a polling station REUTERS Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun Kenyan police officials react as teargas fills a street in Kibera AFP/Getty Images Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun Members of the Kenyan Independent Electoral and Boundaries commission check ballot boxes AFP/Getty Images Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun Kenyan police officers chase National Super Alliance protesters Getty Images Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun People cast their votes at a polling station REUTERS Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun Residents look on as Kenyan police officials walk towards a group of demonstrators AFP/Getty Images Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun A protester throws stones as riot police REUTERS Kenya elections rerun: in pictures Kenya elections rerun People queuing outside a polling station REUTERS

Since Thursday, six police officers have been seriously injured in election violence and authorities have arrested 86 people, police said.

Many observers say Kenya's ethnic-based politics overshadow the promise of its democracy.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, who gained 54 per cent of the vote in the 8 August presidential election that was later nullified by the Supreme Court over irregularities, is from the Kikuyu community.

Mr Odinga, who got nearly 45 per cent in the earlier election, is a Luo.

Recommended Shots fired as opposition activists try to prevent voting in Kenya

Mr Odinga's legal challenge led to the nullification of the August vote. He then withdrew from the new election, saying the process was not credible because of the lack of electoral reforms.

Friday's announcement that voting will not occur in several opposition areas "until further notice" followed warnings from opposition leaders that they would not participate, fearing a police crackdown.

"This is our polling station here but we won't vote, come what may," said R Samson Odhiambo, of Kisumu, Kenya's third-largest city and an opposition stronghold.

Peter Anyang' Nyong'o, the governor of Kisumu County, described the plan to open the polls on Saturday as a "joke" and church leaders and lawyers in Kisumu city also criticised the plan.

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a tweet that Washington was "disappointed" by reports of Friday's violence.

"We encourage immediate & open dialogue w/ all parties to resolve deep divisions," she said.

Thursday's vote had a sharply lower turnout because of the opposition boycott. About 6.5 million people, or one-third of registered voters, went to the polls, according to the election commission.

Nearly 80 per cent of registered voters participated in the August election.

Opposition supporters in some places blocked polls from opening, and election commission chairman Wafula Chebukati said colleagues were targeted in the chaos.

"Some of my staff were hijacked and some were tortured ... others were forbidden and violently prevented from reporting to their polling stations," he said.

The Supreme Court's decision to nullify the August vote was the first time a court in Africa had overturned a presidential election.

The ruling was sharply criticized by Mr Kenyatta, who seeks a second term. After voting on Thursday, he said he would work to unify east Africa's economic hub if re-elected.

Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta also faced off in a 2013 election similarly marred by opposition allegations of vote-rigging.

The opposition leader also ran unsuccessfully in 2007 and ethnic-fuelled animosity after that vote killed more than 1,000 people and forced 600,000 from their homes.

The election commission has asked Kenyans to be calm and patient while it counts and verifies results from the new vote.

Mr Chebukati said he understands the fatigue that many Kenyans feel over the uncertainty in a country previously known for its relative stability.

"We acknowledge the fact that you want to move on with your lives," he said.

AP
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Former president Barack Obama is to serve the US again, this time by doing jury duty.

The ex-president has been called for jury service in Chicago and a judge there has been quoted as saying he plans to show up at court rather than excuse himself.

Tim Evans, chief judge in Chicagos Cook County, is said to have confirmed that Mr Obama, who taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago before becoming president, will serve on a jury in November.

The Chicago Tribune reported that Mr Evans informed county commissioners of the news during a budget hearing.

Mr Evans also told the Tribune: He [Obama] made it crystal-clear to me through his representative that he would carry out his public duty as a citizen and resident of this community.

Mr Evans could not give the exact dates of Mr Obamas jury service, or say at which court he would serve. But the judge revealed that adjustments would be made at the court to ensure Mr Obamas security.

His safety will be uppermost in our minds, said Mr Evans. Obviously we will make certain that he has all the accoutrements that accompany a former president.

Mr Obama has a home in the Kenwood area of Chicago, as well as a property in Washington.

Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Show all 11 1 /11 Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Barack Obama's best moments in the White House May 19, 2009 The President was leaving the State Floor after an event and found Sasha in the elevator ready to head upstairs to the private residence. He decided to ride upstairs with her before returning to the Oval Office, Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Oct. 26, 2012 President Barack Obama pretends to be caught in Spider-Man's web as he greets the son of a White House staffer in the Outer Oval Office Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House A National Security staffer, Carlton Philadelphia, brought his family to the Oval Office for a farewell photo with President Obama. Carltons son, Jacob, softly told the President he had just gotten a haircut like President Obama, and asked if he could feel the Presidents head to see if it felt the same as his. Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House March 21, 2010 The President, Vice President and senior staff applaud after watching on television the House vote on H.R. 4872 for health care reform, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Dec. 3, 2009 President Barack Obama fist-bumps custodian Lawrence Lipscomb in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building following the opening session of the White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Sept. 22, 2015 "The Obama family and Biden family greet Pope Francis as he arrives in the United States for the first time at Joint Base Andrews," Sept. 22, 2015. Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Feb. 21, 2014 President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden participate in a "Let's Move!" video taping on the Colonnade of the White House, Feb. 21, 2014 Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Feb. 18, 2016 President Barack Obama watches First Lady Michelle Obama dance with 106-Year-Old Virginia McLaurin in the Blue Room of the White House prior to a reception celebrating African American History Month, Feb. 18, 2016 Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Jan. 21, 2013 "The President and First Lady wave to supporters as they ride in the inaugural parade. I had asked the President if I could ride in the presidential limousine and the President joked, 'But Michelle and I were planning to make out," Jan. 21, 2013. Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama share a private moment in a freight elevator at an Inaugural Ball, January 2009 all pics: Pete Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Barack Obama rests his hand on the bible that President Lincoln used for his swear-in, being held by his wife Michelle Obama as he is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America Rex

He has been summoned for Chicago jury service before, in 2010, but he was unable to attend because he was president of the US at the time.

Donald Trump did jury service in New York in August 2015, when he was a presidential candidate.

He arrived at the State Supreme Court in Lower Manhattan in a stretch limousine. He spent a day waiting to be called to sit in on a civil hearing, but was not needed because the court had a small caseload.

After spending time with his fellow jurors, he declared them amazing people and said the experience had been really good.

People are surprised I agreed to do this, he added. Im not surprised. I think its the right thing to do.

It was reported that he had previously failed to respond to at least five jury summonses, going back to 2006, because  his lawyer said  he had never received the letters as they were sent to the wrong address.

Mr Obama will probably become Chicagos most high-profile juror, although Oprah Winfrey and A-Team star Mr T have also been called for jury service there.

Ms Winfrey served in 2004 and helped decide a guilty verdict on a 27-year-old man accused of first-degree murder.

Mr T, real name Lawrence Tureaud, arrived for jury service in August 2014 declaring I pity the criminals today, but in the end was not selected from the pool of jurors to hear a trial.

Those called for jury service in Chicago can be put in either the pool for criminal cases or civil hearings.

They can be called to any of the county's Chicago or suburban courthouses. All jurors watch a decades-old video about their duties narrated by a mustachioed Lester Holt, once a local news reader and now anchor of NBC Nightly News.

Jurors in Cook County are paid 17.20 US dollars (13.10) for each day of service. It was not immediately clear whether Mr Obama planned to accept the payment.
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A man who managed to become locked in a shops beer fridge spent several hours drinking its contents before being let out.

The 38-year-old said he just wanted beer when questioned by police who later charged him with retail theft.

The man from Marshfield Wisconsin entered the Kwik Trip convenience store and became trapped at around 11.50pm.

He was then let out by another customer at around 6am the following morning when he simply walked out of the shop.

According to USA Today Network  Wisconsin, the man told police he decided he might as well just stay inside the cooler and drink the beer.

The cooler reportedly has a glass door and, if the man had knocked, employees would have heard him and let him out.

A customer told Kwik Trip employees the man was inside the cooler at 5:50am Wednesday.

The employees opened the door and the man left without paying for the beer, according to the report.

He reportedly drank an 18-ounce bottle of beer and three cans of malt beverage as well as knocking over a stack of 30-can beer packs and breaking three of the cases open.

Police issued the man a citation for retail theft.
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Two New York police officers have been charged with allegedly raping a handcuffed teenage girl in their van.

Officers Eddie Martins and Richard Halls are accused of having sex with the 18-year-old after arresting her in south Brooklyn.

Both men have been indicted on first-degree rape charges after a week-long hearing which culminated with a grand jury vote on Friday, The New York Post reported.

According to sources, the narcotics officers will turn themselves in next week for arraignment in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

If convicted they face 25 years in jail.

The alleged incident occurred on September 15 after the victim was arrested for possession of marijuana, which is legal in New York City when used for medicinal purposes.

The two policemen are alleged to have driven the woman to a restaurant chain parking lot in Coney Island where she was forced to perform oral sex on both men and raped by Martins.

Mr Martins and Mr Halls have admitted to colleagues that encounter did occur but remain adamant that the sex was consensual, according to police sources.

The NYPD has suspended both policemen without pay, an NYPD spokesperson told The New York Post.

The victims lawyer, Michael David, released a statement urging the NYPD to fire both men. He said: We would expect the police commissioner to take immediate action in firing these two officers.

He added: Additionally, we request that all this shaming and smearing of the victim of this vicious attack be stopped immediately.

Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Show all 10 1 /10 Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Brazilian women march in Sao Paulo during a protest following the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl Rex Features Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl There have been calls for protests to end to what campaigners call Brazil's 'culture of rape' after the attack Rex Features Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl An online campaign has been set up in response to the crime, using the hashtag #EstuproNuncaMais, meaning 'rape never again' Rex Features Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl The 16-year-old victim was attacked in a poor neighbourhood in the west of the city on 21 May 2016 Rex Features Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Two of the attackers posted pictures and video on Twitter of the assault, which has shocked the country Rex Features Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Brazilian women protest in front of the Candelaria Church in Rio de Janeiro AFP/Getty Images Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Seven men have been charged in connection with the attack AFP/Getty Images Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Women's underwear and photos from Brazilian photographer Marcio Freitas displayed on Copacabana beach during a protest by non-governmental organization Rio de Paz (Rio of Peace) against rape and violence against women REUTERS Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Women's underwear smeared with paint is seen during a protest against rape and violence against women in Brasilia, Brazil REUTERS Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Demonstrators attend a protest against rape and violence against women in Brasilia, Brazil REUTERS

Mr David told BuzzFeed News defence lawyers cited the victim's provocative selfies as evidence that she had not been assaulted.

John Arlia and Mark Bederow reportedly wrote that the womans behaviour is unprecedented for a depressed victim of a vicious rape.

Both lawyers declined to directly comment but Mr Bederow "caution[ed] people not to assume the accuracy of what happened simply upon unchallenged accusations", according to Buzzfeed News.
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Several hundred neo-Nazis and white supremacists held demonstrations in two Tennessee cities - their numbers only a fraction of the counter-protesters who turned out to oppose them.

The so-called White Lives Matter events were held in Shelbyville and Murfreesboro, located south of Nashville. The rallies named to mimic the black lives matter slogan frequently heard at demonstrations protesting police violence against communities of colour, were organised to protest the resettlement of refugees in the state.

In In Shelbyville, site of the first rally, some 200 white supremacists carried a Confederate flag and chanted for closed borders and deportations, according to USA Today.

Police and law enforcement officials had urged local residents ahead of Saturday's events to avoid the area where the rallies took place.

The events were organised by Nationalist Front. Its members include League of the South, Traditionalist Workers Party, National Socialist Movement and Vanguard America - all considered neo-Nazi or neo-Confederate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Centre.

James Fields, who has been charged with murder after allegedly driving a vehicle into anti-fascist protester Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, was marching with Vanguard America at the August protest, organised to protest a decision to remove Confederate-era statues from the college town.

The group has denied that Mr Fields is a member of the organisaion. The groups website, says: The mission of Vanguard America is the preservation and progression of our people, culture, values, and future in the US.

 Nazi shouts "Hey n****" and fires gunshot at counter-protester in Charlottesville

We stand proudly against those who would seek to undermine our people, nation, and values with the end goal of the destruction and ethnic replacement of our people and our legacy whether intentionally or via pure stupidity and ignorance.

In Murfreesboro, up to 600 people, many of them anti-fascist or antifa demonstrators, gathered to protest against the white supremacists. Local media said as few as 15 white supremacists were present.

Many more counter-protesters showed up to oppose them (Reuters)

Both sides screamed and chanted at each other, as police, aware of the violence that broke out earlier this year at a neo-Nazi-led protest in Charlottesville, were sure to keep both groups apart. Police said one person was arrested for disorderly conduct at the event in Shelbyville.

Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism.

The groups say the media ignored a mass shooting at a Tennessee church, allegedly carried out by a 25-year-old man whose family emigrated from Sudan more than 20 years ago.

Brad Griffin, a League of the South member, who has written of his desire to create a white ethnostate. We dont want the federal government to keep dumping all these refugees into middle Tennessee, he said

Over the last 15 years, about 18,000 refugees have been resettled in Tennessee, less than one percent of the states population, the Tennessean reported.

When they say refugees, what they really mean is Muslims, Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told the news agency. Tennessee is one of the states that has seen a rise in anti-Muslim bigotry in recent years, particularly since the election.

Ahead of the event, police in Shelbyville, said they have made preparations for to ensure public safety.

Given the recent incidents in our country surrounding protest and counter-protests, the city is taking very seriously multiple concerns regarding the safety of expected protesters, counter-protesters, the public, and the protection of private and public property from damage, the citys police department said in a statement.

Meanwhile, in Murfreesboro, Mayor Shane McFarland, posted a video message denouncing the rally, along with a group of faith leaders and featuring the #WeAreMurfreesboro hashtag.

I think the best thing that I can say as a mayor is we are Murfreesboro and we are one community, said Mr McFarland.

In March, Tennessee sued the federal government over refugee resettlement in the state, saying it was unduly forced to pay for it. Tennessee was the first state to bring such a case on the basis of the 10th Amendment, which limits US government powers to those provided by the Constitution, though other states have done so on different legal grounds.

Saturdays rally came more than a week after hundreds protested a speech by white nationalist Richard Spencer at the University of Florida in Gainesville.


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Bitter? Angry? President Donald J Trump of the United States of America?!

Surely not!

Why, just look at how the kindly 71-year-old grandpa welcomed a group of kids to the White House at a Halloween trick or treat event on Friday  for children whose parents just happened to be members of the media.

Wow, thats a scary outfit, the president told one little boy, leaning towards him over a vast, imposing desk. So who are you?

Recommended Trump adviser tirade of abuse against CNN journalists

In almost the next breath, the 45th president of the US was showing just how truly great he is at talking to kids.

I cannot believe the media produced such beautiful children! he declared. How the media did this, I dont know.

It was almost as if he was trying to tell the assembled press pack, and their children, something. But didnt want to say it outright.

Do you know who they are? Do you know who they are? he asked the children, with just the right undertone of menace that you need for a Halloween event with kids of the press corps. Theyre the friendly media. Thats the press.

Inexplicably, one little girl in the presidents eyeline seemed distressed.

Are you crying? said the kindly Mr Trump. Come here sweetheart.

The little girl didnt seem to move much.

Not to worry. Donald had soon moved on to telling the room These are beautiful, wonderful children.

Ooh, he said, smiling (sort of) at one girl. Are you gonna grow up to be like your parents?

It was almost as if he had something he wanted to say but couldnt quite find the words.

You have wonderful parents, right? he asked the assembled children.

The nods seemed a little nervous, almost as if the kids werent quite sure that yes was the answer the president was seeking.

Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Show all 30 1 /30 Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Threatening to shut down Twitter after being fact-checked After the president tweeted that voting by post would be "substantially fraudulent", Twitter attached a warning label to his tweet and referred readers to a site which explained how the claim was "unsubstantiated". Trump then said Twitter was "stifling free speech" and that he may have to shut it down, something which he would not have the power to do AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Flippantly dismissing a serious allegation of sexual assault When author E Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her, the president responded: Number one, shes not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Insulting the Mayor of London as he landed in London Just before touching down at Stansted Airport for his state visit, Trump took time out to @ the London mayor Sadiq Khan on twitter. He said that Khan has done a "terrible job"as mayor and that he is a "stone cold loser" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Taking plenty of "Executive Time" The president's official schedule sets aside the hours from 8 to 11am daily for "Executive Time". Further intermittent periods of "Executive Time" are scheduled throughout any given day, ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours. His duties in these hours have not been officially disclosed, though Axios reports that he spends them watching TV, reading the newspapers and tweeting Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Shutdown the government for over a month in an effort to secure funding for his wall With Mexico declining to pay for the wall, the president has faced difficulty in raising the required $5bn at home. Due to his demand that the money for the wall be included in the budget, and Congress's refusal, the government partially shut down on 22 December 2018. It remained shut for over a month, the longest period in history Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Joking about the Nazi occupation of France to President Macron In this tweet from 13 November 2018, the president mocks Emmanuel Macron's suggestion of a "true, European army" by invoking the conflict between France and Germany in the world wars Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Railing against the Mueller investigation The president has repeatedly claimed that the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, is a "rigged witch hunt" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting a US intelligence report on Russian meddling in the presence of Vladimir Putin In the press conference that followed his landmark meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump stated that he saw no reason why Russia would have meddled in the 2016 US election. This contradicted a 2017 report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence that found evidence of Russian interference in favour of Trump Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting his contradiction of a US intelligence report on Russian meddling Following furious backlash in the US, the president claimed that he meant to say that he saw no reason why it would not have been Russia who meddled in the 2016 US election. As to why he would have intended to use such bizarre phrasing, he did not comment Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Colouring in the US flag wrong The president coloured in the US flag wrongly during a visit to a children's hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He added a blue stripe where in tradition, and statute, there have been only white and red stripes AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing a Secretary of State over Twitter The president announced on Twitter that he was appointing Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, much to the surprise of then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Quoting a catchphrase from a reality TV show when discussing police brutality While addressing the issue of black athletes not standing for the national anthem in protest of police brutality, the president made reference to his catchphrase from reality TV show "The Apprentice": you're fired! Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Calling African nations "S***hole Countries" Ever one for diplomacy, the president reportedly referred to African nations as "s***hole countries". Asked to confirm this when meeting with Nigeria's President Buhari, Trump stated that there are "some countries that are in very bad shape". Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Defending Russian President Vladimir Putin Trump appeared to equate US foreign actions to those of Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying: There are a lot of killers. You think our countrys so innocent? Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Asking for people to 'pray' for Arnold Schwarzenegger At the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump couldnt help but to ask for prayers for the ratings on Arnold Schwarzeneggers show to be good. Schwarzenegger took over as host of The Apprentice  which buoyed Trumps celebrity status years ago Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Hanging up on Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull Early in his presidency, Trump reportedly hung up the phone on Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull after the foreign leader angered him over refugee plans. Mr Trump later said that it was the worst call he had had so far Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... The 'Muslim ban' Perhaps one of his most controversial policies while acting as president, Trumps travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries has bought him a lot of criticism. The bans were immediately protested, and judges initially blocked their implementation. The Supreme Court later sided with the administrations argument that the ban was developed out of concern for US security Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Praising crowd size while touring Hurricane Harvey damage After Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas, Trump paid the area a visit. While his response to the disaster in Houston was generally applauded, the president picked up some flack when he gave a speech outside Houston (he reportedly did not visit disaster zones), and praised the size of the crowds there AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... 'Little Rocket Man' During his first-ever speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump tried out a new nickname for North Korea leader Kim Jong-un: Rocket Man. He later tweaked it to be little Rocket Man as the two feuded, and threatened each other with nuclear war. During that speech, he also threatened to totally annihilate North Korea Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Attacking Sadiq Khan following London Bridge terror attack After the attack on the London Bridge, Trump lashed out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, criticising Khan for saying there was no reason to be alarmed after the attack. Trump was taking the comments out of context, as Khan was simply saying that the police had everything under control Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming presenter Mika Brezinkski was 'bleeding from the face' Never one not to mock his enemies, Trump mocked MSNBCs Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski, saying that she and co-host Joe Scarborough had approached him before his inauguration asking to join him. He noted that she was bleeding badly from a face-lift at the time, and that he said no MSNBC Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming the blame for Charlottesville was on 'both sides' Trump refused to condemn far-right extremists involved in violence at 'the march for the right' protests in Charlottesville, even after the murder of counter protester Heather Heyer AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Retweeting cartoon of CNN being hit by a 'Trump train' Trump retweeted a cartoon showing a Trump-branded train running over a person whose body and head were replaced by a CNN avatar. He later deleted the retweet Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Tweeting about 'slamming' CNN Trump caught some flack when he tweeted a video showing him wrestling down an individual whose head had been replaced by a CNN avatar. Trump has singled CNN out in particular with his chants of fake news Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing head of the FBI, James Comey Trumps firing of former FBI Director James Comey landed him with a federal investigation into Russias meddling in the 2016 election that has caused many a headache for the White House. The White House initially said that the decision was made after consultation from the Justice Department. Then Mr Trump himself said that he had decided to fire him in part because he wanted the Russia investigation Mr Comey was conducting to stop Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Not realising being president would be 'hard' Just three months into his presidency, Trump admitted that being president is harder than he thought it would be. Though Trump insisted on the 2016 campaign trail that doing the job would be easy for him, he admitted in an interview that living in the White House is harder than running a business empire Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Accusing Obama of wiretapping him Trump accused former president Barack Obama of wire tapping him on twitter. The Justice Department later clarified: Obama had not, in fact, done so Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming there had been 3 million 'illegal votes' Trump was never very happy about losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.8 million ballots. So, he and White House voter-fraud commissioner Kris Kobach have claimed that anywhere between three and five million people voted illegally during the 2016 election. Conveniently, he says that all of those illegal votes went to Clinton. (There is no evidence to support that level of widespread voter fraud.) Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Leaving Jews out of the Holocaust memorial statement Just days after taking office, Trumps White House issued a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but didnt mention jews or even the word jewish in the written statement Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Anger over Inauguration crowd size Trumps inauguration crowd was visibly, and noticeably, smaller than that of his predecessor, Barack Obama. But, he really wanted to have had the largest crowd on record. So, he praised it as the biggest crowd ever. Relatedly, Trump also claimed that it stopped raining in Washington at the moment he was inaugurated. It didnt, the day was very dreary Reuters

Of course, the fake news mainstream media will make comparisons with the times Barack Obama welcomed children to the White House.

You know, like the time Mr Obama sang Purple Rain to a kid dressed as the pop star Prince.

Or the time he crouched down to high five a little boy in a Superman outfit.

Youre so strong, said the grinning Mr Obama, pretending to be knocked over by the force of the gleeful childs high five.

So weak.

President Donald J Trump would never get knocked down by a little kid.

President Trump will make America great again and sock it to Rocket Man Kim Jong-un.

Besides, there were moments of levity at his kids of the media trick or treat reception. There was at least one, clearly identifiable moment of visible enthusiasm. A girl giggled when she told the president everybody was scared of the previously singled-out boys scary outfit.

So we had the best meeting with children in the history of presidential meetings with children.

Like a benevolent uncle, (sitting behind an alpha male boardroom desk), the president handed out the chocolate with the heartwarming, confidence-building aside Well, you have no weight problems, thats the good thing, right?

But he knew what the children really wanted to talk about.

So how does the press treat you? he asked. I bet you get treated by the press better than anybody in the world.

Not that he held their parents jobs against them or anything.

And, all too soon, the cosy get together was over.

They can stay, said the child-friendly president.

The parents, he added with a dismissive wave, Not so much.

As the kids dutifully filed out, you did wonder whether they thought the grown-up with the funny hair and suit and tie outfit was the scariest Halloween turn of them all.
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Facebook will start identifying who pays for political advertisements, the latest move by a major tech company to bolster disclosure amid mounting political pressure.

Congress is digging into the intelligence communitys conclusion that Russian-linked agents sought to sway the 2016 presidential election in part by purchasing ads on prominent online platforms. Facebook has already turned over thousands of advertisements that were purchased by artificial accounts associated with Russia.

Days before it will send a representative to testify about the matter on Capitol Hill, Facebook rolled out new advertising sunlight rules that would require election advertisements to carry a paid for by element that links to information about the purchaser. Users will also be able to see the ads a given page has bought.

We remain deeply committed to helping protect the integrity of the electoral process on Facebook, a blog post announcing the changes said.

With the announcement, Facebook joined Twitter in unveiling new ad disclosure requirements shortly before next weeks congressional hearing. Legislation unveiled next week seeks to impose similar campaign finance disclosure requirements on digital ads.

The changes reflect a concerted effort by tech companies to show they are responding to growing concerns, amplified by members of Congress, that they do not do enough to monitor paid content not their platforms. On the same day Facebook proclaimed its new advertising rules, Sen Dianne Feinstein sent letters to Facebook and to Twitter requesting more information about Russian activity and advertisements.

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

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was criticized for being overly dismissive of those worries when he said shortly after the election that it was crazy to suggest that fake news on Facebook...influenced the election in any way.

He subsequently walked back that remark, saying he regretted it, and he touted the new guidelines that will make it easier to see what different groups are trying to communicate around elections and will make it harder for anyone to break the rules.

But members of the Trump administration have evinced similar doubts to the ones Mr Zuckerberg initially expressed. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in a radio interview this week that voters were too savvy to be easily misled.

I dont think theyre going to be influenced by ads posted by foreign governments, Mr Rosenstein said.
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The office of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller will on Monday make public the details of an indictment resulting from his probe into Russias alleged election meddling, according to reports  a development that sharply escalates the stakes for Donald Trump and his administration.

While Mr Mueller has yet to make any public comment on possible charges, it was reported that a grand jury in Washington, working with the prosecutor, had approved the first charges to result from the ongoing probe, which has looked at possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. The reports have not specified what the charges are or who they are to be filed against.

Now, it has been reported, the details of the indictment and the person or persons to be charged will be announced by Mr Muellers office on Monday.

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

CNN, which broke the news of the pending indictment, said the charges were filed on Friday and placed under a seal by a federal judge. NBC News then said it had confirmed the details were to be released on Monday and that anyone charged could be taken into custody.

On Friday, senior lawyers who are working for Mr Mueller, including veteran prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, were seen entering the court room at the Washington federal court where the grand jury meets to hear testimony in the Russia investigation.

 Steve Bannon says the firing of James Comey was the biggest mistake in modern political history

Under the regulations governing special counsel investigations, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has oversight over the Russia investigation, would have been made aware of any charges before they were taken before the grand jury for approval, CNN said.

While there has been no announcement, or confirmed reports, as to who might be charged, there has been intense speculation. It has previously been reported that Mr Mueller was looking at Mr Trumps adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and former campaign manager Paul Manafort.

In July, FBI agents raided the Virginia home of Mr Manafort, who served as Mr Trumps campaign manager until August 2016, when he resigned as details emerged of his dealing with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. It was reported on Saturday that Mr Manafort was not aware of any impending charges.

Mr Trump has repeatedly denied his campaign in any way colluded with Russia to affect the outcome of the election and described the federal probe against him a witch hunt.

The White House has sought to move attention away from any possible charges against former members of Mr Trumps team, by highlighting the news that the research team that helped produce the now notorious Steele Dossier on Mr Trump, had been paid directly by Ms Clintons campaign.

White House press secretary Sara Huckabee Sanders, wrote on Twitter: The evidence Clinton campaign, DNC and Russia colluded to influence the election is indisputable.
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One of Donald Trumps close advisers has called for the firing of journalists critical of the US president.

Roger Stone launched a tirade against CNN calling for journalists Don Lemon, Jake Tapper and Ana Navarro to be fired and describing them as human excrement.

In a tweet about the merger between AT&T and Time Warner, CNNs parent company, Mr Stone wrote: When AT&T aquires [sic] Time Warner the house cleaning at CNN of human excrement like @donlemon @jaketapper & dumbf*** @ananavarro will be swift.

 CNN advert attacks Trump

Earlier in the day he tweeted directly at Don Lemon, telling him to stop lying about the Clintons and uranium and describing him as an ignorant lying c***sucker and a dumb piece of s***.

On Thursday Mr Lemon penned an open letter to Mr Trump asking him to please stop it after the Presidents condolence call to the widow of Sgt La David Johnson became a national controversy when she claimed it made her very angry. She claimed Mr Trump forgot Mr Johnsons name, something he denies.

Mr Lemon has since filed a police report in New York after receiving racist abuse on Twitter following his plea to the President.

Mr Tapper and Ms Navarro have also been openly critical of Donald Trump. In March, Tapper told Bill Maher that the President had raised the level of falsehood and dishonesty in politics and had attempted to discredit the whole of the US media.

In July he took to Twitter to criticise Mr Trumps use of the social media site to criticise journalists and call out what he describes as "fake news".

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

Ana Navarro has also launched a number of criticisms of Mr Trump during his presidency, describing him as unfit to be human over his initial response to the Charlottesville attack where a 32-year-old anti-racism protester was killed when a speeding car ran into her at the White Nationalist rally in Virginia.

Mr Stone, a long-time Trump confidant and former member of Richard Nixons administration, is not the first Trump associate to call for journalists critical of the President to be removed.

In January, senior White House aide Kellyanne Conway called for commentators to be fired for their coverage.

In August, in another act of solidarity with the President, Mr Stone warned a civil war would erupt if the US President was impeached predicting an insurrection like youve never seen if politicians voted to topple him.
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A conservative website has said it initially funded the firm that went on to compile a controversial dossier on Donald Trumps alleged ties to Russia.

Representatives of the Washington Free Beacon told the US House Intelligence Committee, which is running one of multiple investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election, that the outlet retained Fusion GPS to look into the backgrounds of Mr Trump and other Republican presidential candidates.

We retained Fusion GPS to provide research on multiple candidates in the Republican presidential primary, just as we retained other firms to assist in our research into Hillary Clinton, the Free Beacon said in a statement published on its website.

The revelation adds another twist to the drama around Fusions work during the campaign. The firm later retained a former British spy, Christopher Steele, who compiled a salacious dossier on Mr Trumps alleged connections to Russia.

The President has rejected the dossier as false and decried its publication as a partisan attack - a claim bolstered by a Washington Post report this week that Fusion was hired by Marc Elias, an attorney who worked for Democratic nominee Hillary Clintons presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

But the news that a conservative publication first hired Fusion GPS complicates that picture, underscoring the various forces arrayed against Mr Trump - representing members of both the Republican and the Democratic establishment - as he pursued his unlikely ascent to the presidency.

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

In its statement, the Free Beacon disavowed any knowledge of the Steele dossiers findings, Mr Steeles work or the relationship between Fusion and Democratic figures.

It said none of the information Fusion turned over to the Free Beacon also appeared in the Steele dossier.

Congressional investigators have been examining the work of Fusion GPS, spending hours questioning the firms co-founder.
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The two women who were rescued by the US navy after spending five months adrift at sea have admitted they werent prepared, with one of them having never sailed.

Jennifer Appel said she and sailing partner, Tasha Fuiava, didnt know what they were getting themselves into when they set off to sail the 2,700 miles from Hawaii to Tahiti in May.

Ms Appel said: "I had no idea what I was getting myself into. When I asked Natasha, I told her I have no idea what's going to happen out there and she said, 'That's OK, I've never sailed."'

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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. 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The pair were rescued on Tuesday, along with their two dogs, five months after they embarked on their journey. They were found when a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted their boat 900 miles off Japan and thousands of miles in the wrong direction from Tahiti.

Speaking of the rescue, Ms Appel said: I had tears in my eyes.

Ms Appel and Ms Fuiava set sail on May 3 and ran into trouble almost immediately when their vessel was battered by a three-day storm.

After their engine went out at the end of May the pair tried to continue with only their sails but they were unable to make any headway due to their mast being damaged from the storm. Instead they drifted in the middle of the Pacific ocean for months sending out a distress signal every day for 98 days and trying to hail down passing ships.

Speaking about their time at sea Ms Appel told of a night when a group of tiger sharks attacked the vessel.

"We were just incredibly lucky that our hull was strong enough to withstand the onslaught," she said.

"There is a true humility to wondering if today is your last day, if tonight is your last night.

She said the pair owed their survival over the five months to the advice of sailors in Honolulu.

"They said pack every square inch of your boat with food, and if you think you need a month, pack six months, because you have no idea what could possibly happen out there," she said.
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Catalonia is now theoretically under the direct control of the Spanish national government in Madrid after the areas regional parliament voted in favour of an independent republic.

Early on Saturday morning Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy made direct control from Madrid official by publishing a document dismissing Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, his deputy Oriol Junqueras and all regional government members.

The Madrid government has also removed Josep Lluis Trapero Alvarez as chief of Catalonia's autonomous Mossos police force, and Mr Rajoy has announced the impending dissolution of the Catalan parliament and the closure of Catalan embassies abroad.

Declaring that a snap Catalan regional election would be held on 21 December, Mr Rajoy insisted: We have enough means to restore legal normality in a pacific, moderate way.

Whether peace really will be maintained, however, remains to be seen.

Many now fear the possibility of clashes between the Mossos and police or army trying to enforce the control of Madrid, with some commentators even suggesting there may be a second Spanish civil war.

Catalonias push for autonomy in the 1930s was one of the causes of the 1936-1939 civil war which led to the dictator General Franco suppressing Catalan civil liberties and language  a repression that is bitterly remembered to this day.

Although Mr Puigdemont and the 12 members of the Catalan Cabinet will now no longer be paid and could be charged with usurping others' functions if they refuse to obey Madrid, there was no immediate sign that they were willing to comply.

Tensions are being further exacerbated by the strong likelihood that some regional nationalist MPs will face Spanish state charges of rebellion with the possibility of a maximum prison sentence of 30 years.

Some among the 200,000 civil servants working in the regional administration have also said they will refuse to obey orders from Madrid, even though they now risk being fired under the new special powers adopted by the central government.

Spain and the world now waits to see what will happen after the Catalan secession crisis took its most dramatic turn yet on Friday when the regional parliament voted in favour of an independent Catalan republic - and 45 minutes later, the Spanish Senate granted Madrid the right to direct rule.

One by one on Friday afternoon, members of Catalonias regional parliament walked down the steps of the debating chamber, then passed their vote, written on paper to maintain anonymity, up to an official on the Speakers desk to be dropped into a wooden ballot box. The final vote count was 70 in favour of an independent Catalonia to 10 against, with two abstentions.

But in a symptom of the depth of the fracture within Catalan society over independence, nearly all the opposition parties had already abandoned the chamber in protest before the vote took place, leaving behind them only Catalan and Spanish flags draped over their empty seats.

The outcome of the vote, nonetheless, was given a rapturous welcome by thousands of pro-independence supporters waiting in warm sunshine outside the parliament. Amongst them were dozens of mayors from towns and villages who had travelled specially to Barcelona, many with their ceremonial staff of office, to express their support for secession.

When the vote was confirmed, many broke into spontaneous renditions of El Segadors, the Catalan national anthem - even as inside, nationalist MPs were doing the same.

Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Catalan independence supporters react to the news that the Catalan Parliament voted to declare independence Getty Images Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Catalan separatists react as the Catalan Parliament votes the independence of Catalonia Rex Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence People react as they celebrate the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia AP Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Catalan government members, pro independence deputies, and Mayors from pro indpendence towns sing the Catalan anthem REUTERS Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence People celebrate after the approval of the declaration of a uniteral independence EPA Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Catalan pro-independence mayors raise their batons as they gather in the parliament AFP/Getty Images Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Catala president Carles Puigdemont sings the Catalan anthem AFP/Getty Images Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Protesters shouts slogans during a rally outside the Catalan Parliament AP Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence People react as they watch on giant screens a plenary session outside the Catalan regional parliament REUTERS Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence An aerial view shows thousands of people gathering near the Catalan regional Parliament EPA Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Protesters during a rally outside the Catalan Parliament AP Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence People react as they watch on giant screens REUTERS Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Leftist party CUP leader Anna Gabriel casts her ballot REUTERS Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence A protester reacts AP Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Popular Party leader Xavier Garcia Albiol gestures REUTERS

Later on Friday the huge crowds surrounding the parliament slowly moved across to the Plaza San Jaume, where both the regional and Barcelona town governments are located.

Even when news began to filter through of the measures taken by Mr Rajoy, the mood in the old quarter surrounding the plaza remained largely good-humoured with impromptu firework displays, loud music and the waving of Catalan flags.

The people are the motor of any country and they will be here when they need to be, said one middle-aged nationalist, Pep Gracia, standing in a nearby street, when asked how he felt about the possible measures.

Were very used to the Spanish reacting strongly. And its the people who will handle matters, not the [regional] government. Look at where the people are, standing around calmly here in the street.

Yesterday we were a monarchy, today were a republic. Its nothing to get too uptight about.

A small pro-unity demonstration in another part of central Barcelona ended with scuffles between regional police and protestors, with one radio station reporting it had had windows broken. But the nationalist celebrations in the Plaza San Jaume continued unabated.

Its a historic day, insisted one young independista named Marc, wearing a Catalan flag - or estellada - T-shirt, as he walked through the emblematic Plaza de Catalunya. Its very important, because a lot of the population has been looking for a solution to our situation regarding Spain.

Weve tried to talk, looked for a negotiated, peaceful solution. Finally, weve got a majority in favour of independence from Spain, which we think is the only way forward.

 Catalonia Spain PM Rajoy asks Senate for powers to depose Catalan president Puigdemont

Meanwhile just 45 minutes after Fridays pro-independence vote in Barcelona, in Madrid, the Senate voted in favour of giving the Spanish government unprecedented sweeping powers for direct rule in Catalonia.

There is no alternative, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, told the Senate. We are faced with a serious situation which is very serious for many people.

In Catalonia the law has been ignored and disobeyed. This is the greatest ever case of disrespect to democracy with the exception of the [attempted] coup detat of 1981.

Mr Rajoy confirmed he would apply those measures already outlined in a speech he made last weekend. There has been no change, he argued, after which he received a standing ovation from the ruling Partido Popular senators.

Prospects of the declaration of independence garnering any recognition from the international community are currently very slim, too, with European Council president Donald Tusk saying the EU would continue only to deal with the Spanish government.

In London, Theresa May also made it clear the British Government would not support the separatist movement. In a statement released by Downing Street the Prime Minister said: The UK does not and will not recognise the Unilateral Declaration of Independence made by the Catalan regional parliament. It is based on a vote that was declared illegal by the Spanish courts.

"We continue to want to see the rule of law upheld, the Spanish Constitution respected, and Spanish unity preserved,  Ms May added.

Germany also said it would not recognise the legality of the independence referendum. Berlin supported the clear position of Prime Minister Rajoy in his bid to restore calm and order, a government spokesperson said.

In the wake of the vote, Catalans are preparing for repercussions. Im sure theres going to be a strong reaction from Madrid, I dont know against who or how many people, but what us Catalans already know is that we wont resort to violence, observed Marc, the young separatist. If one side doesnt want to fight, then there wont be a fight.
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Grassroots Catalan nationalists and their leaders today underlined their commitment to peaceful resistance when it came to defending their recently declared independent Catalan republic, even as the pro-Spanish unity movement has confirmed plans for a major demonstration on Sunday in Barcelona.

Despite being sacked by Spanish Premier Mariano Rajoy on Friday as regional premier, Carles Puigdemont gave no indication in a speech on Saturday that he considered himself dismissed and called on democratic opposition to direct rule from Madrid.

Speaking in a TV address from the nationalist stronghold of Girona, where he was previously mayor and which was one of the first of a number of Catalan cities to remove the Spanish flag from its town hall balcony on Friday, Mr Puigdemont said he would continue working to build a free country.

Recommended Catalan secession crisis deepens as Spain imposes direct rule

We must do so resisting repression and threats, without ever abandoning, at any time, civic and peaceful conduct, he insisted.

Let us continue to persevere without violence, without insults and with respect for all the [ideological] symbols, he added. He also appealed for civic respect for any demonstrations, regardless of whether they were in favour of or against Catalan independence.

Mr Puigdemonts request for such respect comes less than 24 hours before the first major demonstration in favour of Catalonia remaining in Spain since independence was declared is due to take place. Several hundred thousand people turned out for the previous demonstration organised by the same pro-unity association, the Societat Civil Catalana (SCC), on 8 October in Barcelona and similar numbers are expected on Sunday. A large pro-unity rally was held in Madrid on Saturday.

The Spanish government refused to comment on Mr Puigdemonts speech, insisting that he had been removed from his post as regional premier and that it was up to the courts to evaluate his actions.

The government was, however, reported to have sent a reprimand to Catalonias public television channel, TV3, for broadcasting the address with a subtitle strap reading President of the Generalitat [Regional Government].

 Celebrations as Catalan parliament votes in favour of independence

Following the sacking of Mr Puigdemont and his ministers, on Saturday it was confirmed that Spains deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria has now been put in charge of running Catalonia until regional elections are held on 21 December.

Also on Saturday, another top regional official, Josep Lluis Trapero, the Catalan police chief currently facing charges of sedition, was removed from office, a decision which he has said he will not dispute.

He later sent a letter to his junior officers, saying they should respect the orders of his substitute, his former deputy Ferran Lopez and an internal memo, with no name attached, was circulated among the force saying that the Mossos should remain neutral.

Recommended Catalonia could be an extremely successful economy and EU member state

However, among grassroots nationalist supporters of Catalan independence in Barcelona on Saturday, there was a sense of determination that their republic was here to stay and would be defended using peaceful resistance.

Welcome to the first edition of la Festa Catalana under the auspices of the new Catalan republic, Joan Gomez, the speaker for an official open-air exhibition of traditional Catalan folk music and dance in Barcelonas old quarter, announced to a watching group of tourists on Saturday morning  who responded with scattered applause.

We put on this demonstration every Saturday but today, coinciding with yesterdays declaration of independence, is a very special edition, Mr Gomez later told The Independent as behind him a small group of middle-aged Catalans circled and raised their arms in a sardana, a dance often described as depicting Catalan unity and pride.

We dont know how this will all end up, were in a conflict of legality with two regional governments, and maybe two sets of elections coming up, too.

But like in any new country, what we are hoping for now is that we will gain recognition and also that nothing untoward happens in the meantime.

Mr Gomez was adamant that there would be absolutely peaceful resistance to any measures imposed by Madrid.

Violence is not the way we want to defend our ideals. All the official Catalan pro-independence associations and parties have insisted on a peaceful response  and, when we can, for a festive response, too, like we had last night when declaration was declared.

Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Catalan independence supporters react to the news that the Catalan Parliament voted to declare independence Getty Images Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Catalan separatists react as the Catalan Parliament votes the independence of Catalonia Rex Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence People react as they celebrate the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia AP Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Catalan government members, pro independence deputies, and Mayors from pro indpendence towns sing the Catalan anthem REUTERS Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence People celebrate after the approval of the declaration of a uniteral independence EPA Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Catalan pro-independence mayors raise their batons as they gather in the parliament AFP/Getty Images Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Catala president Carles Puigdemont sings the Catalan anthem AFP/Getty Images Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Protesters shouts slogans during a rally outside the Catalan Parliament AP Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence People react as they watch on giant screens a plenary session outside the Catalan regional parliament REUTERS Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence An aerial view shows thousands of people gathering near the Catalan regional Parliament EPA Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Protesters during a rally outside the Catalan Parliament AP Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence People react as they watch on giant screens REUTERS Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Leftist party CUP leader Anna Gabriel casts her ballot REUTERS Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence A protester reacts AP Catalan parliament votes on independence: in pictures Catalan parliament votes for independence Popular Party leader Xavier Garcia Albiol gestures REUTERS

What form this civil resistance will take is as yet unclear. For now there are rumours of human chains set to be formed around regional government buildings, a call for a strike on Monday by one pro-independence trade union and a request from one of the main secessionist associations, the ANC, that civil servants should not follow orders from Madrid.

Meanwhile in the nearby Plaza Sant Jaume square itself, where a massive nationalist rally had celebrated independence in front of the regional governments building on Friday evening, when clocks struck 12 midday on Saturday there was no sign of any separatists whatsoever, just crowds of tourists and TV camera crews.

The only Catalan flag visible at ground level belonged to a small group of protesters demanding the repeal of court sentences against Republicans during the era of General Franco.

But above the main Catalan government building, as if symbolising how deeply the independence crisis has fractured the region, both the Catalan and Spanish flags remained in place.
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Sacked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has called on Catalans to peacefully oppose Spain's formal takeover of the region's affairs.

In a televised address on Saturday, the separatist leader said Madrids decision to suspend the autonomy of the province and appoint the Spanish Deputy Prime Minister as its provisionary head goes against the will of the people.

Catalonia is now theoretically under the direct control of the Spanish national government in Madrid after the areas regional parliament voted in favour of an independent republic on Friday.

Mr Puigdemont said: My message to you is to have patience, perseverance and perspective. And for that we are certain that the best way to defend the achievements up to today is by democratically opposing the application of Article 155, which is the conclusion of a premeditated aggression against the will of the Catalan people, who in large majority and throughout many years, have felt like a European nation.

"We must do this, avoiding repression and threats. We don't have and we don't want to have reasons to use force. Not us."

The Spanish Government has since said it would welcome Mr Puigdemont's participation in regional elections in December.

 Spain takes direct control of Catalonia and fires separatist leaders

Early on Saturday morning, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy made direct control from Madrid "official" by publishing a document dismissing Mr Puigdemont, his deputy Oriol Junqueras and all regional government members.

Although Mr Puigdemont and the 12 members of the Catalan Cabinet will now no longer be paid and could be charged with usurping others' functions if they refuse to obey Madrid, there was no immediate sign that they were willing to comply.
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An Italian man has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for intentionally infecting more than 30 women with HIV.

Police believe 33-year-old accountant Valentino Tullato infected 32 of the at least 53 women he dated after discovering he was HIV-positive in 2006 and continuing to have unprotected sex.

Women who testified at Tullatos trial described being seduced, often after meeting on social media, and then being convinced to have unprotected sex. They recounted Tullato saying he was allergic to condoms or had tested negative for HIV, according to AFP.

The prosecution and defence clashed over whether Tullato had deliberately infected his partners, with Tullatos attorney saying he did not intentionally seek to transmit the virus.

Talluto himself reportedly said he did not mean to hurt the women, many of whom know my friends and family.

But prosecutors argued that he denied responsibility and sought to inflict harm.

His actions were intended to sow death, prosecutor Elena Neri was quoted as telling the court last month.

Judges reportedly deliberated for more than ten hours before announcing their verdict, which fell short of the life sentence prosecutors had sought.
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A 21-year-old man has been charged with being a member of Isis, officials from the Kurdish region of Syria have said.

Originally from Oxford, Jack Letts, also known as Jihadi Jack, travelled to Syria in 2014.

He was later captured by the Kurdish-led YPG, opponents of the jihadi group, after leaving Isis territory.

Officials confirmed he was captured in May of this year, despite Mr Letts claims that he is opposed to Isis.

In a statement given to the BBC, the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (DFNS) said Mr Letts had been taken to a prison in Qamishi, Rojava.

The self-declared autonomous region of Syria said the case was still under investigation by local police force, the Asayiah.

This is also the first time Kurdish forces have confirmed the capture of Mr Letts as a prisoner of war.

Mr Letts converted to Islam while still at school in Oxford and at 18 dropped out of his A-levels to travel to Jordan in 2014.

By the autumn of that year he was in Isis-controlled territory in Syria. He then married in Iraq and now has a child.

John Letts and Sally Lane arrive at the Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing, where they are accused of sending hundreds of pounds to their 20-year-old (PA)

His parents deny he travelled to Syria to fight with Isis and have started a petition to protest his innocence. It claims he is being held in a Guantanamo-style black site in Kurdish-controlled territory.

The DFNS European representative, Sinam Mohamad, denied this.

Ms Mohamads statement said: The Democratic Federation of Northern Syria's policy with regard to prisoners of war is clear and fair.

Isis brought inexplicable levels of terror on the peoples of Northern Syria/Rojava 

Despite this fact, the DFNS is not less committed than European countries to treating the fighters from this terror group according to international human rights standards.

On the petition page it states that John Letts and Sally Lane have not heard from their son since July and do not have confirmation that he is alive.

They have said the British government has not done enough to help him.

However, the DFNS statement also stated that Kurdish officials were willing to hand over prisoners of war to their original country after being properly investigated.

It states that once the investigation is concluded the outcome will be communicated to Jacks parents.

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. 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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. 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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 Letts also holds a Canadian passport and the statement goes on to suggest that his parents ask the Canadian and British governments to officially request the handover of the 21-year-old.

John Letts and Sally Lane have pleaded not guilty to charges of funding terrorism by sending cash to their son, and will now bring an appeal before the Supreme Court.

Their solicitor has said they have declined to comment.

The Foreign Office said: The government is unable to provide support to British nationals in Syria as the UK government does not have consular representation there.
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A robot has been granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia and it appears to already have more rights than the country's women.

The robot Sophia was created by Hong Kong-based company Hanson Robotics and it appeared at a technology conference in Saudi's capital, Riyadh.

It was able to appear on stage by itself without the permission of a male guardian and with its head and body uncovered.

Many people took to Twitter to point out that Sophia technically had more rights than women. One woman tweeted: Sophia, the first robot to be granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia, has more rights than the human women there. Strike anyone else as odd?

Another user wrote: Im wondering if robot Sophia can leave Saudi Arabia without her guardian consent ! Since shes officially Saudi.

Under the Middle Eastern countrys male guardianship system, every woman must have a male guardian, a husband or relative, who has the authority to make a range of critical decisions on her behalf.

Women are required to receive guardian approval to get married, apply for a passport, travel outside the country and study abroad on a government scholarship.

Sophia appeared as part of the Future Investment Initiative summit to drive investment from Saudi into artificial intelligence.

During the display the robot said: I'm very honoured and proud for this unique distinction.

This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognised with a citizenship.

Last month Saudi Arabia said it would allow women to hold driving licences  the latest step in the Saudi crown princes long-term reforms.

According to independent watchdog Freedom House, Saudi Arabia was ranked 10th worst country for civil liberties and political rights.
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It is not for foreign economists to take positions on the independence of Catalonia, for that is for the people of Catalonia and Spain to decide. What can be said, though, is that if Catalonia were to become a fully independent country there is no reason why it should not  after a period of disruption  be an extremely successful economy.

There are a number of reasons why this is likely to be so. For a start, it has a population of 7.5 million. There is no right or wrong size as such, for there are successful countries that are very small: Luxembourg, with a population of just under 600,000, is the richest country in the world in terms of GDP per person. (Monaco probably comes in higher, but it is a special case.) And of course the three largest countries in terms of population  China, India and the US  are also success stories in their own ways.

But there does seem to be a sweet spot in the 5 million to 15 million bracket, where countries are big enough to offer their citizens a full range of services but are also small enough to be socially cohesive. This includes Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland. Catalonia would naturally join that group.

 Catalonia Spain PM Rajoy asks Senate for powers to depose Catalan president Puigdemont

That argument leads to a second condition for success: location. Countries cannot choose their location, and have to make the best of what they have. But if your neighbours are doing well, unless you deliberately cut yourself off from them, you will tend to be pulled along too. Catalonia, in that sense, is lucky in several ways. It has prosperous neighbours, France and the rest of Spain (though relations with the latter would be difficult for a while). It has a coastline, and a Mediterranean one at that. Barcelona and Tarragona, a little to the south, are Spains two largest ports.

Third, it has an established economic base. It is a manufacturing centre, has two top-ranking business schools, and the usual array of service industries. Separatists have noted that though Catalonia has about 18 per cent of Spains population, it generates more than 20 per cent of its GDP. Were it to be fully independent, with Barcelona and its 1.6 million people, it would have one of the glitziest capital cities on earth.

A final point: Catalonia has brand recognition. Brand is an intangible advantage, but can be deployed to leverage other economic advantages. Ireland is a fine example of that, using its brand (and its educated workforce) to make it a base for high-tech American companies seeking to enter the European market. On its own, Catalonia could be nimble in attracting business, and consequently creating jobs, than it has been as part of Spain.

Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Show all 17 1 /17 Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man faces off Spanish Civil Guards outside a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police form a security cordon around the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police evict a young woman during clashes between people gathered outside the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish Civil Guard officers break through a door at a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish National Police clash with pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona on Sunday AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Crowds raise their arms up as police move in on members of the public gathered outside to prevent them from voting in the referendum at a polling station where the President Carles Puigdemunt will vote later today Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters People confront Spanish Civil Guard officers outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Three man hold each other as they try to block a Spanish police van from approaching a polling station AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A woman shows a ballot to a Spanish Civil Guard officer outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man wearing a shirt with an Estelada (Catalan separatist flag) and holding carnations faces off with a Spanish Civil Guard officer Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Police try to control the area as people attempt to cast their ballot at a polling station in Barcelona Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man is grabbed by officers as police move in on the crowds Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Two women argue with a Spanish National policeman during clashes between Catalan pro-independence people and police forces at the Sant Julia de Ramis sports centre in Girona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Sant Julia De Ramis in Spain Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Confrontation outside a polling station in Barcelona, where police have tried to stop people voting AFP/Getty Images Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A Spanish National Police officer aims a rubber-bullet rifle at pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police clashed with voters as polls opened in Barcelona Sky News

But these advantages are general ones, formidable in the medium and long run, but less helpful in the short. To get from here to there is difficult, and political disruption leads to economic disruption. Unlike the separation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, if this is to be a divorce, it will not be a velvet one.

There are a string of practical questions. What currency would Catalonia use? It would probably have to establish its own, as it would be difficult to continue to use the euro, even informally. In the long run, a separate currency might well to be the countrys benefit, for the inflexibility that the euro has imposed on Spain is one of the reasons why it has such high unemployment. But in the immediate days and months after independence, this would be very disruptive. It would be difficult for the banks based there, some of which have said they would relocate their legal headquarters. It would also be difficult for business and tourism.

My guess is that an independent Catalonia would be welcomed into the EU if it still wanted to rejoin, but that could take a decade. In the meantime we are seeing hostility from the EU. As for the other major countries, while their present stance of not recognising Catalonia is quite understandable and correct, if and when the country became truly independent, they have no option but to accept reality. But  and this is important  there is a considerable economic cost to political disruption on this scale.

The call for calm by Catalonias sacked leader Carles Puigdemont is sensible and strikes a helpful tone. Lets see what happens. But if the end does turn out to be a new European country, then in another decade it is likely to be a prosperous one.
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As the Catalan crisis intensifies, it will prove a bitter and deterring lesson on the dangers of petty nationalism. Viewed in this light, Scottish nationalist support for Catalan independence is brutally ironic.

The ghosts of the Spanish civil war, in which Catalonia chose the republican side, are not far away. For example, Spains feared gendarmerie, the Guardia Civil, which could soon be deployed, still uses the fasces as a symbol. With Spain having already replaced Catalan police chiefs, it would not take much for violence to break out, and in the current euphoric state of Catalan nationalism to spread beyond easy control.

Even without violence, we are already beginning to see the economic consequences of the disputed referendum with banks and other major corporations moving their legal domiciles out of Catalonia. The uncertainly will now lead to investment in Catalonia drying up.

The behaviour of the European Union, which should have played the role of an honest mediator in this conflict, has been cynical and short-sighted. As the EU focuses on Catalonia, a hard Brexit becomes ever more likely, and the SNP narrative on Europe loses its remaining credibility.

For Catalonia I feel very sad, but for Scotland I am delighted.

Otto Inglis

Edinburgh

Scotlands respect for Catalonia is not an isolated case

While Scotland currently seemingly stands alone in respecting the decision taken by the Catalan parliament in declaring independence, it is interesting to look at some historic parallels.

In February 1991 Icelands parliament voted to recognise independence for Lithuania from the Soviet Union and instructed the government to set up diplomatic ties as soon as possible.

In addition to Scotlands respecting the decision on Catalan independence, a motion is to be submitted to the Finnish parliament by the countrys MP for Lapland, Mikko Karna, calling on Finland to officially recognise Catalonia as an independent republic.

Indications from Slovenia and Argentina are that they too will support independence for Catalonia.

While the European Union stands idly by, its failure to intervene in Catalonia and deliver a diplomatic solution is leading to ruptures within the bloc as nations inevitably take the decision on whether or not to recognise Catalan independence.

Alex Orr

Edinburgh

Uncertainty over EU citizens rights remain

EU citizens must have been consoled and delighted by reading Boris Johnsons latest assurances to Polish people living in the UK that their rights will be protected.

But was his pledge true, or is Boris picking up the political style of President Trump, tweeting things people want to hear but cannot count on? To do so in the case of EU citizens residing here would be cruel. So who should they believe? The Foreign Secretary or the Prime Minister? The Government cannot count on a serious negotiation with EU representatives unless they can rely on what our leaders and senior ministers say.

Shirley Williams

London

Stop bashing so-called NHS bed blockers

Am I alone in finding the continuing use of the term bed blocker deeply offensive?

It conjures an image of irritating nuisances. People occupying hospital beds rather than being at home are in need of care (in the wider sense, if not directly) and should not be described in the stigmatising way they are.

As others have noted, and in my own early nursing experience in the 1970s and 1980s, there was no shortage of convalescent beds for dischargeable patients.

Dr Anthony Ingleton

Sheffield

Londoners are not unfriendly

I am proud to be a Londoner. Born here and still live here.

Unfriendly? No. Reserved? Yes.

Will I start a conversation with a stranger? No.

If a stranger asked me for advice on somewhere to visit or someone to eat or drink, I would gladly provide lots of helpful information based on my experience. I would never make the first move though.

Philip Pound

London

Urgent need for second Brexit referendum

May and Daviss inability to answer the question of whether or not MPs will be granted an opportunity to vote on the final deal before the UK leaves the EU merely illustrates what a gargantuan fiasco the whole Brexit process is fast becoming. Even determined Brexitheads must by now be clear that they are not going to get whatever the heck it was that they thought they were voting for, despite all their harping on about the will of the people.

The simple truth of the matter is this: those who allowed themselves to be duped by lies on the side of a bus and the blustering windbaggery of Nigel Farage at least expected that they were going to get themselves a deal negotiated by Cameron and Osborne: two politicians who, no matter what you might think of them personally, were heavyweight political players who offered considered and reasoned opinions and who were eminently capable of international diplomacy.

Alas, what they and we have ended up with instead is Theresa May, a Prime Minister who is desperately out of her depth (as must be abundantly clear to everyone, both on these shores and abroad); Boris Johnson, a Foreign Secretary who behaves like a court jester and who embarrasses us each and every time he opens his mouth; the previously disgraced Liam Fox, who simply doesnt appear able to even comprehend the scale of the task that hes been appointed to; and David Davis, who can hardly even be bothered to pretend that theres any chance of us achieving a positive outcome anymore.

Only those too blinkered by their own arrogance and ignorance to acknowledge these obvious truths can possibly still support our upcoming act of national harakiri. A second referendum is urgently needed while there is still some chance that we can salvage any vestige of our international reputation and standing.

Julian Self

Milton Keynes
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As a Member of Parliament in London, I see the shocking impact of Britains housing crisis in my constituency every day. However, the housing crisis is a national one  it is one of the biggest causes of unfairness and inequality in our country today.

Families living in overcrowded conditions face decades on waiting lists for social housing. Young professionals are living with their parents into their thirties because they cant afford the cost of a rental deposit. Young families stand no chance of buying a home of their own. And at the sharpest edge, the lack of housing is causing poverty, health problems, homelessness and rough sleeping.

The cause of this crisis is clear  Britain is simply not investing enough to build the number of new homes we need every year. Seven years of Tory under-investment has left millions of people either priced out of the market or exploited by rogue landlords.

 Dawn Foster on Double Take: Three policies to tackle the housing crisis

Shocking new figures published today by London Mayor Sadiq Khan show that we are building less than half the number of homes we need to fix the issue in London alone.

When the Tory Government came to power in 2010 they slashed funding on affordable and social housing across Britain, dramatically exacerbating the problem. In London, they cut funding from around 1.75bn in 2010 to just 500m today.

Boris Johnson made things even worse as Mayor. He stopped building new social housing altogether, reducing the number of social homes he funded from 1,687 in 2012 to just 336 in his final year in office. Shamefully, he left zero social homes funded for the year that Sadiq Khan came into office.

In fact, Johnson prioritised building multi-million pound penthouses that only the very wealthiest could afford and left ordinary Londoners as an afterthought. Only 13 per cent of homes given permission in his final year in office were affordable and rough sleeping doubled on his watch.

Theresa May herself acknowledges it is a disaster  especially for young people  that house prices are outstripping earnings at a time when not enough new homes are being built. The Government has made a lot of noise to show they are listening to the publics desperate need for real action but in reality they are barely tinkering around the edges.

The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis Show all 7 1 /7 The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis Zed Pod A ZED Pod is a small, low cost energy efficient starter home intended for housing young people within city boundaries over existing areas of parking or garages. This avoids having to purchase land to create affordable homes. zedfactory The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis Who is ZED POD for? The occupancy will vary depending on the location of the ZED Pods. The Pods flexible nature allows them to serve as short term accommodation, such as for holiday makers, as well as in a long term scenario for young professionals, or single people wishing to get on to the property ladder in an affordable manner. zedfactory The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis Terraced-Pod By minimising the demand for energy and water, and placing a translucent waterproof solar canopy over the space between the homes, it is possible to provide zero energy bills for the these homes as well as providing zero emissions electricity to charge points integrated in the parking spaces zedfactory The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis The tiny homes could sell for between 50,000 to 60,000 or rented as one bed homes for young couples for around 750 month with around 50 bills on top, according to the architects estimates.The development costs are reduced as there is no need for land acquisition. zedfactory The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis Shanghai POD - Shanghai Art & Design Exhibition Further benefits extend to the prefabricated nature of the pod, which significantly increases speed of construction without effecting the durability of the pod. A typical Pod community can be erected and commissioned in under a month, and within a week on sensitive sites. zedfactory The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis Shanghai POD - Shanghai Art & Design Exhibition The eco-friendly houses, around 74 square feet of floor space, would be complete with solar panel roofs, water recycling systems and electric vehicle charging. zedfactory The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis Communal space under the canopy It is cheap to live in, gives young people privacy, has good shared communal spaces, has good access to public transport and saves key workers from long commutes into city centres with high property values, Bill Dunster OBE told the Independent zedfactory

The progress made by our current Mayor in London shows what can be achieved when those in office have a genuine desire for change.

He is funding homes at social rent once again: the number of affordable homes is up from 13 per cent to 38 per cent in the first six months of this year. But he cant fix a national problem on his own.

A Labour Government will get Britain investing in house-building once again. We will invest to build more than a million new homes over five years  with at least half a million of these being council homes. We will increase access to affordable home ownership and ensure supported homes for vulnerable and older people remain open. In London, we would return funding back to 2010 levels as a starting point.

Recommended The housing benefit cap never made economic sense

But Londoners need action now. So today I set a challenge to the Prime Minister.

Theresa May, if you mean what you say on housing, you must use the Budget next month to prove it by massively increasing investment in affordable housing back to the levels you inherited, including in the capital.

Its time to show whose side you are on. I stand with the millions of people in London and beyond who are suffering because of the failures of this Government.

Ellie Reeves is Labour MP for Lewisham West and Penge
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Losing one minister is unfortunate. Two is a coincidence. But three and a permanent secretary is beginning to look like a pattern. Joyce Anelay, one of the Brexit ministers in the House of Lords, has just resigned saying she hurt her foot leaping out of a helicopter two years ago.

She had only been there for four months, since George Bridges, another Brexit minister in the Lords, and David Jones, an MP, left in June. Jones was the one who promised that Parliament would have a meaningful vote on the Brexit deal before we leave the EU, the promise that caused David Davis, the Secretary of State, such trouble this week.

Then Olly Robbins, the top civil servant in the Brexit department, left last month. Admittedly his dual role as permanent secretary of the department and the Prime Ministers chief adviser on the Brexit talks was a potentially difficult one. The conflicting lines of reporting have been simplified by Robbinss move to No 10 to focus entirely on that side of the job, but it does not reflect well on the department he has left, or on Davis, its ministerial boss.

 David Davis: Parliament may not get vote on final Brexit deal until after Brexit happens

Daviss strengths and weaknesses were on display this week. On Wednesday he gave a relaxed and informative performance in front of the Brexit select committee, explaining in confident detail the complexities of the negotiations. He was a little too candid, however, for his own good, because he was drawn into speculating on what would happen if the Brexit talks go down to the wire. In such an event, he admitted, the parliamentary vote that Jones had promised could be held after Britain had left the EU.

Talk about thinking aloud.

Keir Starmer, Daviss Labour Shadow, tabled an urgent question in the Commons and Davis was summoned yesterday to explain himself. All he had meant, he said, was that there couldnt be a vote on the deal if there wasnt a deal. Which is obvious, but politically the Government is supposed to insist that a deal will be done, however unlikely it might seem to anyone with the slightest experience of international trade negotiations.

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

Davis is one of the most refreshing ministers because he generally answers questions and says what he thinks. I learned more from his answers to yesterdays urgent question about the Governments negotiating position than from anything the Prime Minister said in her Florence speech, for example.

But there seems to be a teamwork problem in the Brexit department. Davis has a reputation as a loner and, although some of those who worked with him on his campaign for the party leadership 12 years ago are still loyal to him today, the turnover of ministers and officials speaks volumes.

So much so that Theresa May, in her reply to Lady Anelay, pointedly said: As you say in your letter, we have a very strong team of ministers and officials in the department. If you have to say it, there must be a reason.

Recommended Brexit minister resigns after five months at department

Of course, it must be difficult to start a new department from scratch and pull together ministerial and civil service teams to deliver a project as complex and difficult as leaving the EU, but the only conclusion of todays mini-reshuffle in the House of Lords is that all is not well in the engine room of the Department for Exiting the EU.

I am sorry to hear that Baroness Anelays injury is causing her trouble, but when she says, I leave the department certain that the negotiations surrounding our exit, and our future relationship with the EU, will be successful, we are bound to wonder whether she is pulling someones leg.
A young and vibrant politician from Zamfara state has been brutally murdered by alleged assassins.

A Peoples Democratic Party politician, Hon. Abdulhadi Saidu (Garkuwan Yan Ware) has been murdered by alleged assassins while he was on his way back home around Magazu-Tsafe Axis, Zamfara State on Thursday, October 26.

An eyewitness said the incident happened at about 10.30 p.m. when the suspected assassins rode into the street along Tsafe road and opened fire. Late Saidu, from Tsafe Local Government of Zamfara State was described as talented, vibrant and exuberant politician

A friend, Lukman Majidadi wrote on Facebook: was a Comrade before he became a Honourable.

He was a very good friend. Highly courageous and fearless with a sharp vision.

I will always remember him as the Comrade who drove me in his car to the venue of my inauguration as NAZAMSS National President when the whole might of the state was mobilized against us.

He was at different times the President of NUZAMSS KADPOLY, Senator and Deputy Clerk of NUZAMSS National under my Presidency, Chairman Judicial Council and a very active political figure in Zamfara state until his death.

He was very inspiring and motivating and did not change friends when his level stepped up.

I will forever cherish our days of struggle together.

May Allah accept your gentle soul and grant you eternal rest in Paradise, Amin Summa Amin.
A Nigerian man who was recently deported from Libya after being in prison for over years has been in tears following the calamity that befell his household where his only son died in his absence while his wife got married to his best friend.

The devastated man whose name was given as Harrison , narrated at a deliverance service at the Synagogue Church of All Nations [SCOAN], how he left the country for greener pastures in Europe with Italy being his destination.

However, he ended up in a Libya prison after he narrowly escaped death on a makeshift boat which capsized with 142 immigrants on board.

Succour came for Harrison when the International Organisation for Migration [IMO], an arm of the United Nations secured his release and eventual deportation.

But on coming back to Nigeria, hoping to get back into the warm embrace of his family, he realized that his wife who thought that he had died in his quest for greener pastures, had gotten married to his best friend who should have been looking after his family.

To make the matter worse, Harrison was also hit with the news that his only son had died in his absence.

Read Harrisons story here as narrated by the media team of the SCOAN:

142 people out on the intrepid voyage that night. 142 naive men, women and children on a journey to the unknown. 142 people recklessly risking their lives in the pursuit of a better future in Europe.

But the 142 never arrived. 139 descended to a watery grave that night. 139 families cruelly robbed of their loved one. 139 destinies battered by the howling winds of the Mediterranean Seas.

Harrison was one of the only three survivors, clinging desperately onto an empty oil can. Unknown to him, the life he stubbornly clung to was a reality far worse than death.

A better life lay waiting for him, they said. A land flowing with the proverbial milk and honey. An easy job with easy money abroad.

Desperadoes easily fell for the tactics of deception and Harrison agreed. The married dock-worker who had recently lost his job was lured into the false belief that traveling to Europe, no matter the cost, was the best option. What began with hope ended up in a journey of perilous danger and bitter despair.

Harrison set out five years ago, bidding his wife and young son a tearful farewell and promising he would speak with them as soon as he reached Italy. He never did.

A tumultuous passage through the deserts finally led the young Nigerian to the North African nation of Libya. Alongside 141 others, hustled into a small rubber dinghy, Harrison was pushed into the sea by those heading an intricate network of human trafficking.

Mid-journey, the makeshift boat hit a rock and began leaking. Chaos ensued. As water began filling up the boat amidst the screams and cries of its occupants, Harrison beheld a shocking sight that seared his conscience.

A mother held her crying baby aloft as the frail boat began to sink. Before his eyes, he witnessed the ocean swallow mother and son. Gone. Life snuffed out in one foul watery swoop.

As the boat capsized, Harrison grabbed an empty can that once contained oil. To his left and right, those he traveled with submerged into the abyss. With his strength failing, a ship of Libyan coast guards emerged from the shadows.

Hauled aboard, his rescuers brutally beat him to a stupor. The following morning, he painfully awoke  not in hospital  but in a dingy prison cell.

The horrors Harrison witnessed in a Libyan underground dungeon go far beyond the meager description mere words can provide. It was almost five years of hell on earth.

Life became cheap to the startling degree that Harrison witnessed dead bodies carried out of the cell on a daily basis. With hopes of a release barely minimal and scores of new inmates pouring into the dungeons daily, the young Nigerian had an unusual dream one night.

He saw himself in a large church receiving prayers from a man of God. He woke in a cold sweat. Shortly afterward, Harrison was among the over 600 Nigerians in Libya who were deported with the intervention of the International Organisation for Migration [IOM], a branch of the United Nations.

However, freedom came along with a heartbreaking reality. Returning to his home in Ejigbo, Lagos State, the first residents who saw the prodigal son, disbelievingly threw sand on him, thinking he was a ghost.

Rumours had spread like wildfire that Harrison had died since his departure five years earlier. Assuring them he was a real person, he was led solemnly to his former house. There, the shock of his life awaited.

His wife had remarried  to his best friend. His only son had died. Five years wasted. Five years lost. Five years that changed everything. Forlorn and malnourished, Harrison recalled the dream he had in the Libyan prison and headed to Synagogue Church Of All Nations (SCOAN). He was not alone.

In May 2017, more than N15 million was provided to deportees by the churchs humanitarian arm, alongside two bags of rice each. This show of compassion touched him to the core as he realized that what he sought for abroad was actually available in his own country.

Harrison called on the youths of Nigeria to never undergo such a journey and be content with what they have. After hearing his sordid experiences, Prophet T.B. Joshua gave Harrison the sum of N120,000 to help him start a new life.
Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode on Saturday urged two allies of President Muhammadu Buhari, Buba Galadima and Customs Comptroller General, Hameed Ali to compel the president to resign.

Fani-Kayode said both men should urge the president to resign before he does more damage to Nigeria.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain made the call in a post on his Twitter handle.

Buharis govt. has derailed- Hameed Ali. Buharis govt. is run by mere propaganda- Buba Galadima.

These 2 men are Buharis oldest and closest friends. Even they are fed up. They should tell their friend to resign and go back to Daura before he does more damage to Nigeria, the tweet reads.

Fani-Kayode was reacting to a statement made by Galadima saying some Buharis policies were based on mere propaganda.

Galadima said this while faulting claims that the Buharis government has used Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to grant farmers loan and financial enablement.

He insisted that the current Agricultural policies of the Buharis government was not being felt by farmers in the country.

Also, Ali said the Buhari-led government was made up of 50 per cent from the Peoples Democratic Party.

He said the current government has not been able to move forward and fulfil its campaign promises.

According to him, most of those calling the shots in the government were those who never believed in the Presidents vision.

Source  Dailypost
Kunle Afolayan will be speaking about the opportunities and challenges in the Nigerian film industry on receiving an invited to the United Nations.

An invitation coming after Nigeria recently presented four key Copyright ratified Treaties to the Assembly of member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization to aid the fight against piracy.

The panel, which will hold from November 13  November 14, 2017, will be a week-long negotiation between UN Member States diplomats on what to do about copyright protection worldwide.

Also speaking at the panel is Lagos-based copyright lawyer, Bankole Sodipo, who heads a pan-African film sales agency (DIFFA).

Also, Afolayans 2016 pan-African film, The CEO, which stars Wale Ojo, Hilda Dokubo, Angelique Kidjo among others, will screen for the diplomats and delegates at the event.

I feel honored to have been invited to such as its a good call. This will give room for the issue of piracy to be discussed, addressed and dealt with on a global scale, Afolayan said to Pulse Nigeria.

And I feel super excited that our film the CEO would be screen to such dignitaries, he added.

source: 36ng
The leadership of the Nigeria Immigration Service is currently on the look out for fugitive, Abdulrasheed Maina who has gone underground again to evade trial.

The Nigeria Immigration Service says it has directed its operatives at border formations and other command posts to look out for the former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, and prevent his escape from the country.

It said all NIS personnel across the country had also been issued strict directives to arrest Maina on sight.

The NIS Public Relations Officer, Sunday James, told a Punch correspondent on Friday that Maina had been placed on the watch list afresh.

He explained that with the Interpol alert and the Magistrate Court ordering the fugitives arrest, all NIS operatives and commands were duty-bound to prevent Mainas escape from the country.

He said, The Interpol has issued an arrest alert on Maina and a Magistrate Court has also ordered his arrest, so this means that he has been placed on the watch list afresh and a directive has gone out to all our formations and commands, particularly those at the borders, to prevent his escape and arrest him.

The Presidency had on Thursday said an Abuja Magistrates Court, as well as the Interpol, had issued fresh warrants for Mainas arrest.

He added, Mainas investigation has been expanded. This is beyond reinstatement. It has gone beyond that. You know that the INTERPOL has just issued an international warrant on him. A Nigerian court has also issued yet another warrant of arrest.

The Force spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, could not be reached for an update on police efforts to arrest Maina as his phone rang out.
Lol, well we think the strings and impromptu relationship call-off rap Queen of the moment, Cardi B pulled last week after a video of a South African twerker grinding with her boyfriend, Migos Offset surfaced paid off, as her man proposed to her at Powerhouse Philly concert . Offset went down on one knee in front of 19,000 concert lovers and proposed with an 8 Karat diamond ring, and she said YES.

The two have been together since the beginning of the year, when they were spotted leaving a Super Bowl event together for the first time in February.

Here are photos and the video below;
Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El- Rufai has vowed to challenged the ruling of Federal High Court which asked the governor to pay N40m meant for damages to Audu Maikori in a fundemental rights suit.

According to Samuel Aruwan, Mr. El-Rufai said Kaduna State is a complainant in a criminal matter involving Audu Maikori.

The judgment will not stop this criminal trial. There is no malicious prosecution going on, the governor said, adding that the government can file complaints, but it is the business of the police to make arrests following the normal procedures.

Police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, did not immediately respond to PREMIUM TIMES request for comments about if they intend to join Kaduna State in appealing the ruling.

Mr. Maikori, 41, was first arrested in Lagos on February 17 after a petition was filed by the Kaduna State Government over a story he published on his social media pages that turned out to be false.

The story had to do with the purported killing of five College of Education students in Southern Kaduna.

The label boss later apologised for posting the story, adding that his driver relayed it to him, and said his (driver) brother was among the victims.

He was subsequently transferred to Force Headquarters in Abuja for interrogations. He was eventually released on bail and cleared of any complicity by the Police Force Headquarters.

He was then rearrested and taken to Kaduna where he was detained for four days before he was charged to court. He was granted bail on health grounds.

In May, Mr. Maikori had in his suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/385/17, prayed the court to award N21 billion to him as damages. He challenged his arrest and detention by the police over a message.

Source: ( Premium Times )
Boko Haram grain market at Boboshe village in Borno has been attacked by the Nigerian Army on Saturday.

This was disclosed by the Director Army Public Relations, Sani Kukasheka, in a statement in Maiduguri, said this was part of efforts by the armed forces to degrade the remnants of the insurgents.

Mr. Kukasheka said that the troops discovered a makeshift night market at Boboshe village set up by the insurgents with newly harvested farm produce on display for sale.

He said that the troops conducted clearance operations in seven villages, rescued five persons and recovered three vehicles, four dane guns, a dummy gun and mattresses.

Troops of 112 Task Force Battalion and Mobile Strike Teams of 22 Brigade of Operation LAFIYA DOLE in collaboration with members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) on Friday, carried out clearance operations at Gawa, Bone, Kajeri I, Kajeri II, Kube, Dubula, Boboshe I and Boboshe II villages in Borno State.

During the operation, the gallant troops discovered that the terrorists had erected a make-shift night market at Boboshe village with newly harvested farm produce on display for sale.

After conducting a thorough search of the vicinity, the troops recovered three Isuzu vehicles, four Dane guns, one Dummy gun, suspected to be used for training of inducted Boko Haram terrorists and mattresses hidden under shrubs.

Mr. Kukasheka explained that troops rescued five persons abducted by the insurgents at Boboshe 1 and Dubula villages.

He reiterated the commitment of the military to root out the remnants of Boko Haram insurgents in the North-east.

Mr. Kukasheka called on members of the public to provide useful information to security agencies in the ongoing clearance operations in the region.
A Nigerian man who allegedly gave advice on how to rape on Facebook has just been called out by a lady named Gift Chinonyerem.

Gift took to her Facebook page to share a screenshot of a rape advise a man gave on the platform.

According to the man named Enyeobi Donatus who gave the advice on how to rape speaking from the experience, he got from carrying such out in the past, told closet rapists to make sure they punch their victims in the neck, so they can be unconscious, before carrying out the crime.

Calling him out, Gift wrote;

Look at the advice a man gave to fellow men on a post where a woman killed a man who raped her.

Im not enraged or disgusted. Im just in despair.

Despair that this one has a mother.

Despair that this one has actually punched and raped a woman.

Despair that this man and his ilk are getting bolder in this lawless country of ours. No be rant we go rant? What else?

Despair that he has empowered hundreds of rapists like him.

Despair that your daughters may end up with him.

Instead of holiday lessons, enroll your daughters in self defence classes.

Instead of makeups, buy them tasers and pepper sprays. Nkwucha aburo ujo.

Then for Gods sake teach your sons that 

I dont even know what to type. How do you teach someone not to punch and rape women? How?

Source  Gistreel
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), has blasted the administration of President Muhammadu Buharis administration saying it has not kept to its promises.

Ali said this at the unveiling of an ultra-modern Buhari Support Organisation office complex in Jabi, Abuja, on Friday.

The BSO is the umbrella body of all pro-Buhari support groups that articulated and coordinated the Presidents 2015 presidential campaigns.

The customs boss said the challenge ahead of 2019 elections was bigger than that of 2015.

He said the event was designed to rekindle what we started in 2015 and what we used as a vehicle to fight in the trenches, out of the trenches, along routes and in so many different terrains to see to the success of vision and mission.

Ali recalled that in the pursuit of the vision, so many lost their jobs and businesses in a bid to bring the change required for a better Nigeria. He noted that some started the journey (with Buhari) in 2003, others in 2007, 2011 and others joined in 2015.

He, however, expressed regret that halfway through after capturing power, the core values of the change mantra are being lost.

The customs boss said, Let me say here without fear of being contradicted that I think halfway through the journey, we are losing our core values. We are losing our vision and mission and I think that the idea of our being here today is to look critically at what we need to do to get back on track.

There is no doubt that we have derailed because we are not doing what we say we want to do. Why is it so? We need to find an answer to that. If we do find an answer; then, what should we do to get us all back on track? We owe this great nation and the 180 million Nigerians the duty to give good governance.

Good governance is what they voted for and good governance is what they expect to get and they deserve that. We, therefore, as BSO, have a great task ahead of us. My dear comrades, the battle and the job start now.

We have won one battle by taking over power. But what we make of this power is essential to us and to humanity. Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to tell my colleagues here that we have to change the narrative. When we were out there working and jumping on the streets and reaching every corner, we were shouting change, change for a better Nigeria.

Now, the keyword is good governance for Nigerians. We must agree that we cannot finish our four years without delivering and leaving something to be remembered for in this country for a long time to come. We have no problem with our President because he is on course.

He re-echoed sentiments earlier expressed by the Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, that, We have been infused by people who were not part of this journey and these people are the ones that call the shots today. That is why we are derailing.

Ali said We are the ones that will be asked to account for what happened. Are we willing to face Nigerians and tell them that we have failed? I think this is the time for us to come together, create a system that is very robust enough to fight back and take back government in our hands and ensure that we deliver.

I will, therefore, ask my colleagues of the BSO to go back to the study room. This is a commission, but it is also the beginning of the fight for good governance. We must get back to the trenches, draw our own battle plan and battle line. I enjoin you to have the same commitment we had in 2015; I implore you to bear with us and commit yourself to a better future for Nigeria.

We will be calling on you from now on and we will be working day and night. We must do so because we want to save our name at the end of the day and the name of the President for what he is doing.

Ali was addressing a gathering of most of the Presidents most visible supporters including the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, his counterparts from Bauchi and Plateau states, Mohammed Abubakar and Simon Lalong respectively.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
The leadership of one of the leading private tertiary institutions in Nigeria has revealed some of the huge cost of running the institution.

Vice Chancellor of Babcock University, Prof Ademola S. Tayo has stressed the importance of quality in the running of the institution.

He said the university was not-for-profit, hence its provision for work study programme, endowment funds, among other initiatives, to assist indigent students access to quality education.

Prof Tayo, who spoke during a visit to Matori, Lagos State Head Office of The Nation newspaper said: One of our core values is excellence and we would not compromise. But at the same time, because of the philosophy of quality education, we introduced the work-study programme whereby the indigent but diligent students would use their hands to work so that they can augment part of the fees needed to fund their education.

They work in the cafeteria, library, etc. They get paid and that has helped many of them. We also have parents consultative forum where parents partner with management, so that we have a pool of funds that children who lose their parents while in school can have access to, in order to fulfill their dreams.

We also have the adopt a child scholarship where we reach out to our host community. Also, we serve as guarantor for parents to access loans for their childrens education. But most importantly, we believe in frugality. Our university is not-for-profit. Nobody shares one naira. It is ploughed back to make the system work better.

The vice chancellor, who was accompanied by the institutions management team noted that the institution was being funded solely with earnings from its bakery, Guest House, water factory and other industries, with only two per cent subsidy from its proprietor, The Seventh Day Adventist Church. He added that the university spent about N20 million monthly on electricity.

Prof Tayo noted that the universitys fees were not too high for the services provided, as it runs 24-hour power supply and the fees also cover tuition, accommodation, laboratory, among other expenses.

He said the institution will be graduating its pioneer medical students in December, informing that the students have completed their various degrees.

The Medical School, according to him, was establised in 2012.

He said: One of the areas of excellence that we want to carve a niche in this country is in the area of medicine, which we started in 2012. We have our accreditations from the Medical and Dental Practitioners Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and National Universities Commission (NUC), International Board of Education, National Postgraduate College and the West African College of Physicians. This December, we will turn out our first graduates in the medical school. They have completed their clinical rotation in India.

Managing Director of The Nation, Mr Victor Ifijeh pledged the organisations support for the educational development of the nation, while stressing the organisations dedication to objectivity, fairness, integrity and balanced reports.

He lauded Babcock University for its achievements in the education sector, and its swift rise to global standards.

Responding, Prof Tayo acknowledged The Nation for her growth in its ten years of existence noting that The Nation is a force to reckon with. Your newspaper is always at the forefront. We want to thank God for the role you have played in shaping the public opinion by your accuracy and the way your news are reported
A woman who hacked off her drunk husbands penis when he tried to rape her in front of their children is facing attempted murder charges.

The enraged wife, not named in local media, told police her husband named as R. Ravinder had come home after a lunchtime drinking session and began to grope her.

She says she grabbed a kitchen knife and sliced off his genitals, say investigators in Sirisedu, India.

Ravinder, 40, is reported to be recovering in hospital, but local media did not report whether surgeons were able to reattach his severed manhood.

A local police chief told Indian media: The incident took place when Ravinder was harassing the woman after getting drunk.

Neighbours told us that the couple often fought whenever Ravinder came home drunk.

Unable to bear the harassment, she took a knife and chopped off his penis.

We have filed a case under section 307 of IPC (attempt to murder) against the woman Ravinder is now being treated at a government hospital in Jammikunta.

But his wife remains defiant, saying she acted in self-defence. She told local media that her husband harassed her sexually every time he got drunk .

Source  Juliablaise
Insured losses from the siege of California wildfires could possibly reach $8 billion, according to new estimates released on Friday by catastrophe modeler RMS.

The firm now estimates the insured loss for the wildfires impacting Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Lake and Mendocino counties will reach between $6 billion and $8 billion.

RMS earlier this month estimated losses would range from $3 billion to $6 billion. At that point the fires had destroyed a reported 3,500 structures.

CAL Fire currently estimates 8,800 properties were destroyed, and a high number of those were high priced and insured, according to RMS.

The proportion of properties affected in the burned areas exceeds the typical 15 to 50 percent that are burned in the area of a wildfire footprint, according to Kevin Van Leer, a senior product manager RMS.

He said nearly 75 percent of the properties in the fire areas were affected, and that the increased losses were the result of flying embers driven by the extreme Diablo winds that sent them into areas where fire risk was considered lower. Winds reached speeds of up to 70 mph during the fires.

What we believe is the likely cause is the ember risk, Van Leer said. What we see is a lot of affected neighborhoods were outside the significant burnable fuel zones.

Heather Williams, a spokeswoman for CAL Fire, said that even concrete structures such as K-Mart, which was surrounded by a large asphalt parking lot, were at the mercy of embers raining down from above. It was one of many commercial properties being counted among the losses.

It was definitely ember-driven when it came to the destruction level that we saw, Williams said.

The Tubbs fire was the most damaging of the blazes, and is now considered the most destructive fire in state history, having destroyed 5,400 structures. It far exceeded the damage done by the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, which was Californias most damaging fire after having destroyed 2,900 structures.

The number of individual fires at the peak of the wildfire siege that started in early October reached 21, many of which were large and destructive. The Nuns fire destroyed 1,300 structures, and the Atlas destroyed 930 structures. CAL Fire reports 42 people died from the fires.

Four active fires from the original blazes remain burning. The Tubbs, Pocket and Nuns fires are 95 percent contained, and the Atlas fire is 98 percent contained.

CAL Fire reports more than 2,300 personnel continue to work the fires.

The RMS range of loss includes losses due to property damage, contents and business interruption caused by the fires to residential, commercial and industrial lines of business. Automobile or agricultural crop losses are not included in the RMS estimates.

RMS latest estimate could continue to rise as losses to wineries are increasingly examined.

We do know that it is a significant source of uncertainty how much the wine industry will be impacted, Van Leer said.

It may be a while before the magnitude of the impact on business interruption, tourism and the severity of smoke damage on the vintage will be known.

Its going to take us several months to see what the economics of it are, Van Leer said.

Related:

Topics California Catastrophe Natural Disasters Trends Profit Loss Wildfire
Update 5.41pm: Gardai have arrested two men in connection with a stabbing in Limerick.

The two men are aged 19 and 20 and are being detained at Roxboro Road Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

The man in his 30s is in a stable condition after being brought to University Hospital Limerick.

The assault took place on Ballycummin Road, Raheen at 2.30am.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Roxboro Road Garda Station on 061-214340.

Earlier:Gardai have launched an investigation after a stabbing in Limerick.

A man in his early 30s was stabbed on the Ballycummin Road in Raheen just after 2.30am this morning.

He was taken to University Hospital Limerick and his condition is unknown.

No arrests have been made and gardai are appealing for witnesses to contact them at Roxboro Garda Station.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Roxboro Road garda station on 061-214340.
Detectives in Belfast are investigating an armed robbery in the city centre.

A man with a knife threatened a member of staff in a shop on Castle street at around 2pm this afternoon.

The robber, who's described as being around 5' 11" tall, medium build and clean shaven, escaped with cash from the till.

He was wearing a dark coloured hoodie pulled tight around his face and light jeans.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the police.
In an earnings release of its parent RBS, the lender gave no hint that it would increase its provision for legacy issues it established some time ago. Ulster Bank had said that it had identified 3,500 customers whom it had wrongly moved from tracker rates, and had so far compensated 100 customers.

According to the RBS figures, Ulster Bank in the Republic generated income of 150m (168.6m) in the three months to the end of September and earned an adjusted operating profit of 41m.
Both Kevin Mallon and former OCI president Pat Hickey are due to appear in court at the end of November in Rio de Janeiro.

Franklin Gomes, Mr Mallons Sao Paulo-based lawyer had asked the supreme court in Brasilia to null last years decision by a Rio de Janeiro court to accept charges against the Dublin man, claiming evident illegal duress; that the local court had ratified the receipt of the charges without addressing any of the defence arguments.

According to court documents, Mr Franklin asked the court to concede an injunction to suspend the audience of instruction and judgement designated for 29/11/17, and, by merit, for the nulling of the decision to receive the charges offered against the plaintiff.

These requests were denied in a decision published last week by Justice Dantos Ribeiro of Brazils Federal Supreme Court, who said that a habeas corpus action is not the appropriate course of action in this case.

In August, Mr Gomes reported having met Justice Ribeiro in Brasilia. At the time, he said the judge was extremely attentive and sensitive to arguments that the case against Mr Mallon should be shelved indefinitely, or referred back to the local court, with an order to give full consideration to all of the facts.

Earlier this month, a Rio court also denied a habeas corpus action taken on Mr Mallons behalf. Mr Gomes brought a case against the Rio de Janeiro Special Court for Supporters and Large Events, which had jurisdiction during the Olympics last year, while regular courts were in recess. He claimed that there had been no production of evidence against his client, which compromised his ability to adequately defend himself in the Brazilian legal system. The action was dismissed.

Kevin Mallon and Pat Hickey both signed contracts agreeing to appear in Brazil if and when requested to do so as part of the ongoing legal process, as part of their negotiations to leave Brazil late last year.

Both men also paid a monetary bond to the courts, to guarantee this agreement. Mr Hickey paid R$1.5m (around 240k at the time), while his former cellmate, Mr Mallon, paid half of that amount.

Under Brazilian law, once a legal case is complete, and the plaintiff is absolved, this money is returned, after monetary adjustments.

If there is a sentence with a fine, the money is automatically used for the payment of any fines arising, with any remaining money returned.

The bond payment is retained if a plaintiff does not appear in court when intimated by the courts, if they obstruct the ongoing legal process, or if they commit further crimes.

The Brazil-based lawyers of Kevin Mallon and of Pat Hickey were not available for comment.
That is according to professor of social work at Huddersfield University, Brid Featherstone, whose UK-based research  the Child Welfare Inequalities Project  has found that it is primarily the poorest people in our society that the child protection system is dealing with.

In every country [England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales] we found a statistically significant link between deprivation and your chances of coming into care.

Prof Featherstone, from the west of Ireland, who was addressing delegates at the sixth National Child Protection and Welfare Social Work conference at University College Cork (UCC), said poverty is the backdrop, the wallpaper of our practice.

Every time we talk to people, particularly policymakers, they say poverty isnt the cause of child abuse.

In fact they say its very insulting to poor people to talk about it in this way because not all poor people abuse their children.

To which our reply is then why are we only intervening with the poor? That makes it even worse. If its right across society, why are we not distributing our activities?

One delegate said it occurred to her that wealth, in some subtle ways and some more overt ways, may have the ability to hide abuse.

Prof Featherstone agreed that abuse is happening right across society but our child protection system is intervening with the poorest.

She said the best chance a child has of spending their childhood with their birth parents is linked to how deprived their family is.

That is what our study is telling us  it is a postcode lottery but its a postcode lottery in relation to poverty.

Prof Featherstone said domestic abuse is responsible for 75% of reasons why children are on our child protection plans; and while it happens across all sectors of society there is not equal vulnerability; that poorer women and poorer men are more likely to be involved in domestic abuse, linked to social and economic factors.

And theres a sort of moral squeamishness weve developed about saying this, maybe because were afraid it will deny the reality of domestic abuse across society... But its not either/or... Its a reality to say its much more likely statistically in poorer communities.

And there is a link between mens inability to access the breadwinner role and to access a particular model of masculinity thats valued in our society and their capacity to engage in violence and abuse.

Sadhb Whelan  who presented a snapshot of findings from her PhD at Trinity College Dublin titled At the Front Door: Child Protection Reports in a changing policy and legislative context  said that exposure to domestic violence and parental conflict is the most frequently reported difficulty for children referred to child protection services in one social work area of the country during the first quarter of 2015.

The most frequently reported difficulty for parents and families is a lack of parenting skills.

Of 794 intake records analysed concerning 547 families, domestic violence was reported for one in every seven children; while lack of parenting skills was reported for one in every four families.
Ms Roche, who supported and championed several local charities, died peacefully at home in Belgooly, near Kinsale, Co Cork, on Thursday, surrounded by her family.

She is survived by her children, Bronwen (Braun-Lynch), Owen Braun, Morgan and Ondine, her sister Ello Braun, her step-child Nicholas, and several grandchildren and step-grandchildren.

Her remains lay in repose at Gabriel and ODonovans funeral home in Kinsale last night and her body is being donated to medical science. Her family has asked that donations in lieu of flowers be made to the Irish Cancer Society or Marymount Hospice.

Like her late husband, Stanley, who was director of the Roches Stores retail empire, Ms Roche did extensive charitable work quietly and discreetly.

She was a key supporter of local charities and organisations, including the Guardwell Homes retirement and sheltered housing complex, Kinsale Community Hospitality, and Kinsale Youth Support Services. She was also a founding member of the Kinsale Gourmet Festival.

The couple guarded their privacy intensely after they were embroiled in an extraordinary love affair that scandalised the nation in the early 1970s.

As head of one of Corks great merchant prince families, Stanley, who was 43 in 1970, had recently separated from his wife, Cary, when he fell in love and began a discreet affair with her friend, a then young decorating consultant, Heide Braun.

When Heides husband, German businessman Werner Braun, learned of the affair through an anonymous Christmas card, he launched a court case, suing Mr Roche in the High Court in Dublin under the arcane law of criminal conversation.

The subsequent court case in June 1972 heard details of the love affair, how Stanley had bought her a sporty car, as well as intimate details of their lives, and of the violence and infidelity towards Heide from her German husband.

During the case, Mr Roche had to deny suggestions from Mr Brauns legal team that he could be viewed as a pimp and Heide refused to apologise to her husband.

Court reports show how the judge instructed the jury that a wife was regarded as a chattel just as a thoroughbred mare or cow and that Mr Braun was entitled to compensation for his loss.

He was awarded 12,000  a substantial sum for the time.

Afterwards, Heide and Stanley, who was always described as an unassuming man devoted to his business, shunned publicity and lived out their lives together in Belgooly.

The Roches Stores business was sold to Debenhams in 2006 for an estimated 29m but the Roche family retained control of a substantial property portfolio which included sites in Cork, Limerick, and Dublin.

The couple was said by close friends to have been inseparable and very much in love.
IF they wanted an economist, they should have picked Philip Lane, a former Government adviser told me once.

Patrick Honohan was appointed governor of the Central Bank in 2009 at the height of the financial crisis, to drag the largely discredited institution back from the brink.

A Trinity College Dublin economist, his appointment by the late Brian Lenihan, along with

Matthew Elderfield as financial regulator, represented what we were told was a new no-nonsense broom of oversight and regulation.

But when my adviser source made his comment, it took me back.

Honohan is better known to Lenihan and has been around longer, but Lane is the genuis in that economics department, he said.

Lanes pedigree as an academic is beyond reproach.

The posh-accented Dublin south-sider was professor of international macroeconomics and director of the Institute for International Integration Studies at Trinity, where he initially studied after Blackrock College.

At Trinity College, he was elected a scholar in economic and social studies. He then spread his wings and obtained a doctorate in economics at Harvard University in 1995. He later became assistant professor of economics and international affairs at Columbia University in New York.

Given his prowess and how well he is respected by his peers, there was considerable surprise when during the worst financial crisis in living memory, the best economic brain was not dragged into government to help steer the ship to calmer waters.

He was eventually linked with the chairpersonship of what was to be the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council but that never materialised, and NUIGs John McHale got the nod instead.

But when Honohan announced his decision to retire in 2015, Lane was in prime position to contest the role.

At the same time, the name of Robert Watt, secretary general of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, was also strongly associated with the vacancy, and it is believed that it came down to the two of them.

Now, this is where it gets very interesting.

Watt is a former Labour Party activist and was appointed to his current post by now Labour leader Brendan Howlin when he was minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

The night before the Cabinet was to approve the appointment, Watt was made believe the job was his, only to be blocked by then finance minister Michael Noonan, who said he was plumping for Lane instead.

Howlin and his Labour colleagues were furious, and Watt was denied.

Watt is a man who is not known for suffering fools, and many of his supporters in recent weeks have been querying if the current tracker scandal would still be going on, had he been appointed.

The failure of the Central Bank to bring the tracker mortgage issue to a conclusion before now, has been the subject of significant and constant criticism from within Government and from the Opposition in the past two weeks.

The sort of talk has echoes of the sort of criticism levelled at Honohan by Government during the liquidation process of Anglo Irish Bank in 2013.

On the night Michael Noonan liquidated the bank, Honohan, who was at an ECB meeting in Frankfurt, was hammered by Noonan and other senior Government figures for not getting the deal closed that night. Thats what we get for having a fucking academic and not a politician in the room, was what was said.

Some in Government are using Philip Lanes possible departure as a defence over the tracker scandal.

Despite the political criticisms, Lanes supporters, including Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, would say he too accepts this tracker scandal has taken too long to conclude.

But the banks have fought this tooth and nail at every step, his supporters will argue, and that enforcement in Ireland takes time.

Central to the criticism of Lane so far is the reliance on expressions of persuasion as opposed to sanction.

People would argue that his bank has known about this since 2010; has been examining this since 2015; and while a small number of fines have been issued, the banking industry remains largely unscathed, despite its scumbag behaviour.

Into this mix has come speculation that Lane could be in line for a top job on the six-

person Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), which Ireland has never held.

All members are appointed by the European Council, acting by a qualified majority. But to date, the spoils of these prestige posts have been largely shared out between the Germans and French, and Lanes chances will be determined primarily by who succeeds Mario Draghi as ECB president.

But Lane is very much on the radar of ECB-watchers and is regarded as an economic heavyweight across Europe.

It has been made known that there has been a concerted diplomatic effort by the Irish Government to make sure Lanes name remains in the mix come the shake-up in the new year.

While the Central Bank has tried to dismiss the fresh talk of a potential departure as nothing new, it is clear some in Government are this week using the potential departure of Lane as a means of defence over the tracker mortgage scandal.

The thinking is that what the Irish Central Bank needs now is a far more political animal in charge, as opposed to an academic.

But, Lane despite having been monstered at the Oireachtas Finance Committee two weeks ago, does still retain a considerable amount of confidence from within Government.

Their primary desire to canvass on his behalf in Europe is a testament to their belief that he would excel on the international stage and is worthy of their support.

But the big test for Lane will come in December and in March on the tracker issue. If there is any further dragging of heels by the banks, then he must exercise the full range of the powers at his disposal  and demand more from Donohoe if necessary.

Nothing less will be acceptable from a public which is weary of rhetoric and sceptical that any real action will be taken.

Justice must be done and must be seen to be done, and we sadly have seen far too little of it being done.

Were Lane to go in the new year, it would begin a whole new round of speculation as to who would succeed him.

Interestingly enough, Watts term as secretary general at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is up next March and with that department looking like it will be subsumed again into the Department of Finance, could he land the gig at the second time of

asking?

He is young enough, still in his 40s, highly ambitious, and has a very good working relationship with Donohoe, who is his line minister.

His time may be about to come.
Despite my fear that organised gangs of mice are crouching under the piles of crispy leaves, waiting for me, autumn is an absolute delight. I used to love Halloween too  whats not to love? Its basically sanctioned gluttony, which is the best of all the seven sins  but recently, my enjoyment has soured.

Now, I clutch my phone in hand, nervously scrolling through Instagram, wondering which friend will decide that Deeply Offensive is their primary aim when choosing their costume. Its bad enough during the summer, when every white girl in Ireland decides that bindis and Native American headdresses are somehow acceptable festival fashion (Newsflash: Theyre not) but theres something about Halloween that causes vast numbers of people to entirely lose their sense of reason.

Im not talking about sexy outfits here. While the need to pre-fix every costume with the word sexy has led to such travesties as Sexy Pikachu and Sexy Crayon (if you are dating someone who finds Crayola sexy, I would suggest changing your name and going into witness protection immediately), I am, as always, less interested in criticising women for dressing as a provocative rainbow than I am in examining a culture that constantly reduces women to their physical attractiveness and the subsequent overwhelming pressure that puts on women to conform.

When I was a child, my father would create elaborate homemade costumes for my sister and me, and when I was five he dressed me up as a Goblin Ghost for a friends Halloween party. I arrived at my friends house, complete with white bedsheet (listen, it was the 90s) and grey face paint, and I found that every other little girl there was dressed as a princess or a fairy. They screamed in horror when they saw me and spent the rest of the night running away from me because I was too scary. That was when I first learned that girls were supposed to look pretty rather than frightening on October 31.

So no, Im not offended by women wanting to look attractive on Halloween. But every year, without fail, I am offended by the rampant cultural appropriation that takes place. Cultural appropriation is defined as the adoption of elements of one culture by a member of another culture.

Writing for Salon, Kovie Biakolo said that the difference is power. In particular, the power of the privileged to borrow and normalise a cultural element of another group, while the appropriated group is often demonised and excluded because of that every cultural element.

This is why it is absolutely unacceptable for white Americans to dress as Native Americans, ignoring the horrific history of white people robbing those indigenous peoples of their lands. That is why there was an outcry last year when Disney released Moana costumes for children, body-suits adorned with traditional Maui tattoos that were essentially a form of brownface. And this is why blackface (for example, when a white person decides that they want to be Bill Cosby for the night  because why not make light of sexual assault too, while youre at it  and paints their skin black) is so sickening. That you think you can try on someones race and then wash it off in the morning, ignoring the devastating struggle that people of colour face in their daily lives because of systemic and structural racism, is ignorance at its most destructive. Someone elses skin tone is never a costume. (Do not mention White Chicks. White people are not oppressed. White people do not have to worry about their teenage sons being shot in the chest because they had the temerity to wear a hoodie outside.)

I have seen other costumes advertised that have made me wince. Theres the Anna Rexia outfit, a skeleton print dress with a measuring tape around the waist. Thank you so much, Costume Designers, for ridiculing the disease that has a mortality rate 12 times higher than that of all other causes of death for young women. In the US, you have the option of wearing a Border Patrol costume because who cares about the families living in terror that they might face deportation under their current administration. If thats too subtle for you, then The Wall is available, a fake brick costume for anyone who cant wait for Donald Trump to fulfil his mission of building a giant barrier to keep those Other People out. Making fun of disadvantaged people and enforcing racist rhetoric is what Halloween is all about, isnt it?

In the end, its very simple. Just dont be a *insert expletive here* for Halloween 2017. There are so many costumes that you can choose that wont make you appear to be a monster. (Unless youre literally dressing as a monster.) Some of the most popular costumes this year are predicted to be Pennywise from IT, Wonder Woman, and, eh, a giraffe (?!)  none of those are likely to raise any hackles. Go forth and have fun, my friends.

If you are dating someone who finds Crayola sexy, I would suggest changing your name and going into witness protection immediately
Spain's ruling center-right Popular Party and the mainstream opposition socialists, who hold just under half the seats in the Catalan parliament, boycotted the session.

The resolution to secede from Spain was drafted and presented by the more radical separatist factions of the regional coalition headed by Catalonia President Carles Puigdemont, and it passed by 70 votes in favor, 10 against and 2 blank votes.

The Catalan regional parliament voted for independence from Spain Friday by approving a resolution to convene a constitutional assembly to form a sovereign republic. The move was accompanied by applause and embraces between lawmakers present, who sang the Catalan anthem.

 Waiting Game

Friday's resolution by the Catalan regional parliament ends a period of uncertainty over Catalan independence that has prevailed since an Oct. 1 referendum on independence that won 90 percent of the vote in a 50 percent voter turnout.

Puigdemont has held back from declaring independence for fear of triggering direct rule by the central government, which has been moving to take over the region's finances, police services, and key infrastructure and administrative bodies, including publicly financed TV and broadcast media.

"It was very astute on the part of Puigdemont to let parliament vote on independence resolution prior to declaring it, as it gives him certain legal cover," a former senior member of the Spanish parliament told VOA.

Puigdemont could face a 25-year prison sentence for sedition. The central government already has jailed two separatist leaders and is prosecuting other officials accused of using public resources to support the independence bid.

Immediately following the Spanish senate vote to impose direct rule on Catalonia, the government issued an official bulletin announcing that Puigdemont and his Vice President Orio Junqueras had ceased to be the heads of the Catalonian regional government.

 Rajoy Reportedly Set to Move

Spanish official sources consulted by VOA say Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is preparing to appoint a close aide of Catalan origin to head a centrally administered regional government, and he has set Dec. 21 as the date for regional Catalan elections.

Spain's Senate responded to Catalonia's independence move by approving the application of constitutional article 155, which officially authorizes the central government to suspend Catalan authorities and take over the region's administration.

"The turn of events... has left us with no recourse but the application of constitutional prerogatives to reinstitute the legal order in Catalonia," said Spain's senate president.

Rajoy appealed for national "calm" and called together a special cabinet meeting for later Friday. "The government will take whatever measures are necessary. We will not allow a group of people to liquidate the country," he told reporters.

Puigdemont, accompanied by other members of the Catalan regional government, lawmakers and hundreds of mayors, crowded onto the steps of the parliament building to address thousands of supporters gathering outside, shouting "liberty." In a short speech, he said, "We ourselves must now form our own structures and our own society."

 Opposition Leader Supports Spain

Socialist opposition leader Pedro Sanchez reacted to the Catalan independence move Friday by pledging "my party's progressive flag will never join those seeking to take our country over the abyss." Even regional authorities in the traditionally nationalistic Basque region have been reluctant to support the Catalan cause, despite growing relations between radical separatists in both regions.
ALMOST a quarter of four and five year old Island children, and one third of ten and 11 year olds, are overweight or obese.

And the problem is much worse in poorer areas.

A staggering 43 per cent of Year 6 children living in the Newport East ward are too heavy - more than double the 21 per cent in the West Wight.

Even at reception age, only 12 per cent of children in Cowes West and Gurnard are overweight or obese, compared with 32 per cent in Newport East.

According to the Island's annual public health report, 11 per cent of Year 8 children have been bullied about their weight, rising to 19 per cent in Year 10.

The local picture is not dissimilar to the national one.

Nationally, 22 per cent of reception children, aged four and five, are overweight or obese, compared with 24 per cent on the Island. For Year 6 children, aged ten and 11, the figure is 33 per cent locally and nationally.

The report, We Can't Weight to Act, calls for a comprehensive effort to tackle physical inactivity amongst children and young people.

It stresses the need for physical activity and healthy eating in schools, coupled with personal, social and health education and a focus on mental health and wellbeing to tackle increasing levels of childhood obesity.

At a time when people of all ages spend more time sitting in front of screens, the UK Chief Medical Officer has recommended young children should be active for three hours a day, by walking, swimming or playing, and older children, aged five and over, for an hour.

Fewer than one in five Year 6 children are getting enough exercise and, by Year 10, it's fewer than one in ten.

Adults should aim for 150 minutes of physical activity a week.

Currently, one in three Island adults are deemed 'inactive' and only 33 per cent manage even 30 minutes of exercise - significantly worse than the national average of 23 per cent.

Sixty-six per cent of Island adults are overweight or obese, slightly higher than the national average of 65 per cent.

The report warns the Isle of Wight Council has failed to ensure children have the best start in life, as inactivity and obesity risk future health problems.

In 2010, 121 deaths could have been prevented on the Island if residents were as active as they should be - including deaths from heart disease, cancer and diabetes - and 2.6 million saved in health costs.
The only way that we can live, is if we grow. The only way that we can grow is if we change. The only way that we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we can become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the open. Do it. Throw yourself.

 C. JoyBell C., author

I woke up one day, and I was 65, Michael said with emphasis. He was serious, too.

I laughed, as the audience did, at that statement.

Why?

Because we live the remark. We have become the new old people we looked up to years ago. He was sharing his story, but he was talking about us.

Michael was the featured speaker for a group of men, and decided to talk about aging, the related health challenges associated with it and living life to its fullest while you can. It was a subject all of us could relate to.

I immediately thought about an incident that happened to me several years ago. I woke up one morning with some discomfort in my back that later required physical therapy.

What could have happened overnight? I thought.

Something had changed and there was no warning. Ahh, life!

Michael has lived a good life; however, it seems Father Time has his attention now. It has mine, too.

A few things have changed, and it feels like it happened overnight. I had 20/20 vision one day, and before I knew it, I had difficulty reading. My eyes hurt.

I thought I was just tired, maybe working too much. I had my eyes checked and needed glasses. I started with bifocals, then a few years later, there was a floater moving around in one eye and now, possibly a cataract.

When does it stop?

Time has a way of making us acutely aware of our age.

Michael has had a successful career (a couple to be exact), and is now retired. He hasnt exactly been sleepwalking through life either; yet 65 arrived before he knew it.

How did I get here? he asked.

I could relate to that question, too. My hair is thinner now than it was 40 years ago, and the color has changed, too. My throwback pictures offer a stark contrast to today. There was a time (my college days) when I had enough hair to braid and eventually comb out into a small afro.

Those days are long gone. Im considering the bald look now.

Michael has experienced some health challenges that have caused him to reflect on his journey, share lessons learned and to continue living life to the fullest. Fortunately, he had a mentor who provided great advice and asked an important question that captured his attention and influenced his decision-making.

How is your money working for you? his mentor asked.

That question, the relationship with his mentor and others, has positioned him now to have the financial resources to continue to travel and enjoy life in retirement.

Listening to him share his story and the lessons learned along the way caused me to think about advice I received as a young man from my father.

At the time, he encouraged me to invest in buying a home. I, however, was more interested in buying clothes, traveling and living beyond my income.

My vision  hindsight  is 20/20 now.

If I knew then what I know now, well ... that is part of the life journey.

And that was the essence of Michaels message as he talked about growing up in New York, attending Shaw University (his mother heard about the school), starting a career and one day, waking up and realizing he was 65 years old.

He cant run as fast as he did years ago, or the distance he used to, without taking a break before getting tired. He, like many of us his age, has had to accept some lifestyle changes.

One thing that hasnt changed though is enjoying life. And that includes creating new memories while reflecting on the journey: How did I get here?
JOAN A. FLEMING, Advance

Stop the median

If I could, I would vote for Pam Lofland to serve on the Village Council of Clemmons. Pam is a very thorough, loyal and dedicated worker who will start and complete the job. I have known and worked with her on various projects for over 25 years. She has experience in business, knows how to operate on a budget to avoid bonds piling on excessive debt and is a leader in the political arena.

Clemmons needs a new village council. It would be nice to return to the village idea once again, however, if they do not stop the median, people will see more accidents, more traffic (even slower) and fewer businesses, which will destroy the tax base. Place a moratorium on building or traffic problems will continue. Its impossible to make a left-hand turn now without going to a red light, not to mention dangerous. Making u-turns on Lewisville-Clemmons Road and jumping the median is not safe at all.

I can only shop and spend money in Clemmons since I live in a neighboring community. Vote for Lofland, Michelle Barson and Wayne Binkley for Clemmons Village Council. They will work well with a new Mayor John Wait.

***

AL HARBURY, Clemmons

Save the median

Too bad Republican state Rep. Debra Conrad wrote to support Pamela (PJ) Lofland, who is challenging the incumbents for a Village Council seat in Clemmons, which is not Conrads hometown (Tenacious and loyal, Oct. 17). Lofland supported unpopular and disruptive tea-party member Bill Lawry during his single term on the council. Judging by that, plus her history of public comments addressed to the council, shes likewise irresponsible.

Public input sessions in Clemmons have repeatedly shown the top concern to be drivers turning left across traffic just anywhere along Lewisville-Clemmons Road, the main thoroughfare, a road of constant accidents and a DOT safety rating of F. Clemmons applicable experience with medians has shown improved safety as well as improved revenue for adjacent businesses.

The only valid opposition to a median is the minor inconvenience of traffic control. We dont need the negative and misleading electioneering that we are seeing from fearful non-resident business owners, nor from other outsiders, especially someone in Conrads position.

***

KENNETH R. OSTBERG, Winston-Salem

End gerrymandering

Recently the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case regarding extreme partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin. Those bringing the suit noted three things: First, Democrats won 52 percent of the votes in the last Wisconsin election yet Republicans, because of partisan gerrymandering, won a veto-proof two-thirds of the seats in the state legislature. Second, they argued that partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional and third, they offered a mathematical formula for determining when a state has been unconstitutionally gerrymandered.

Chief Justice John Roberts recently spoke publicly about the dangers to the Court (not the Constitution or democracy itself) of its becoming involved in partisan gerrymandering using mathematical formulae. Hes concerned the formulae may be unreliable. Yet, all states today use such formulae to determine election districts; some with gerrymandering and some without. And the Court itself has used similar analyses in the past. Clearly the general consensus (except, apparently, in Roberts mind) is that such processes are reliable.

North Carolina is at least as gerrymandered as Wisconsin.

The right to vote and to have ones vote count is guaranteed by the Constitution. Today in North Carolina, we have about as many registered Democrats as Republicans and weve elected a Democratic governor in a statewide race, yet our legislature is overwhelmingly Republican and 10 of our 13 congressional representatives are Republican, all because of partisan gerrymandering.

The Supreme Court must find for the plaintiffs in a ruling sufficiently broad to end partisan gerrymandering, by either party, across the entire nation.

Please submit letters online to Letters@wsjournal.com or mail letters to: The Readers Forum, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27102. Letters are subject to editing and are limited to 250 words. For more guidelines and advice on writing letters, go to journalnow.com/opinion/submit_a_letter.
Burundi on Friday became the first ever nation to leave the International Criminal Court, set up some 15 years ago to prosecute those behind the world's worst atrocities.

"Burundi's withdrawal from the Rome Statute will take effect on Friday, 27 October 2017," an ICC spokesperson told AFP.

The move comes a year to the day after Bujumbura officially notified the United Nations that it was quitting the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal.

Burundi on Friday hailed it as a "historic" day and called on people to demonstrate across the country on Saturday in celebration.

"The ICC has shown itself to be a political instrument and weapon used by the West to enslave" other states, said presidential office spokesman Willy Nyamitwe.

"This is a great victory for Burundi because it has defended its sovereignty and national pride," he told AFP.

But activists mourned what was seen as a major blow to international justice.

"The decision to withdraw Burundi from the Rome Statute comes at a time when the machine continues to kill with impunity in Burundi," said Lambert Nigarura, president of the Burundi Coalition for the ICC.

"Today, Burundian justice, as it is so-called, has lost contact with life. It has become a mere tool of repression of any dissenting voice," he added in a statement.

But ICC officials said a preliminary probe launched by the prosecutor in April 2016 into possible crimes against humanity in the central African nation would continue.

"Burundi's withdrawal does not affect the jurisdiction of the court with respect to crimes alleged to have been committed during the time it was a state party, namely up until 27 October 2017," the spokesperson told AFP.

- Violent political crisis -

The initial probe was started by ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda following reports of "killing, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as cases of enforced disappearances".

The reports came amid a violent political crisis triggered when President Pierre Nkurunziza ran for a third term in office, winning July 2015 elections which were boycotted by the opposition.

UN investigators last month urged the ICC to move forwards and open a full-scale investigation saying they had "reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed" in "a systematic attack against the civilian population".

Overall, the violence in Burundi has claimed between 500 and 2,000 lives, according to differing tolls provided by the UN or NGOs and more than 400,000 Burundians have fled abroad.

Set up in 2002, the ICC based in The Hague has often come under fire from some countries who claim it is unfairly targeting African nations.

The ICC now has 123 member states who have ratified the 1998 Rome Statute, the guidelines which underpin the work of the tribunal.

But Burundi's snub triggered a wave of copy-cat moves from other African countries.

South Africa and Gambia said they would both follow suit, before then later reversing their decisions. And Kenya and Uganda have also threatened to leave, but not acted on it yet.

Zambia meanwhile has held public consultations, with an overwhelming 93 percent of those who participated opting to stay within the court.
Hero of Mollywood's first musical hit 'Thiramala' shares his Hollywood stint, directing Prem Nazir and more
BRUSSELS (AP)  European Union nations again postponed a decision Wednesday on the continued use of the popular weed killer glyphosate amid concerns about its possible links to cancer.

EU member nations decided not to vote on extending the weed killers license after the European Parliament backed a move to limit a license renewal to five years. The EUs executive Commission had earlier proposed a license extension of 10 years.

The next meeting to make a decision will likely be on Nov. 6, officials said.

The commission last year gave a limited 18-month extension for glyphosate, pending more detailed advice on the impact of the weed killer. That license expires by the end of the year.

Many argue there are too many uncertainties about the health effects of the weed killer. Glyphosate is an ingredient in Monsantos Roundup, a popular weed killer across the globe.

Environmentalists want a ban as soon as possible while the EUs farmers union wants a 15-year extension.
LINCOLN  Nebraska feedlots with capacities of 1,000 or more head contained 2.29 million cattle on feed on Oct. 1, according to the U.S. Department of Agricultures National Agricultural Statistics Service.

The inventory was up 6 percent from Oct. 1, 2016.

September placements of 570,000 were up 21 percent from 2016, and fed cattle marketings of 420,000 head were up 4 percent.

Meanwhile, NASS reported that Nebraska milk production for the July-September 2017 quarter of 360 million pounds was up 4 percent from a year earlier.

The average of 60,000 milk cows was unchanged.
OMAHA  Kearney Works is among 58 organizations in Nebraska, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, South Dakota and Texas to receive a community development grant from First National Bank.

The grants support programs focused on educated workforce initiatives that will help strengthen individual core competencies and lead to improving personal economic self-sufficiency.

In Nebraska, First National Bank awarded $694,500 in community development grants to 32 organizations.

Kearney Works, which provides assistance to unemployed or underemployed people to acquire certificates required for more skilled jobs, was awarded $10,000.
KEARNEY  As a child in Gothenburg, Luke Ballmer lived close to the hospital. When he heard the medical helicopter overhead, hed leap onto his bicycle and race over to watch it. Being in that flight program was all I ever wanted to do, he said.

Now 31, Ballmer is a flight nurse on CHI Health Good Sams AirCare helicopter. He calls it the best job in the world, and his enthusiasm is contagious. This spring, as part of AirCares 35th anniversary, he launched the Ride-Along program so he could share it with others.

The program, which took him a year to develop, offers AirCare rides to EMS professionals, physicians, registered nurses, physicians assistants and law enforcement officers at least 18 years old so they can see firsthand the intricacies of quickly transporting critically ill or badly injured patients to medical centers. So far, 25 area professionals have participated, and 10 more are scheduled.

I hope they see the passion, Ballmer said. We do awesome things in high levels of critical care during the Golden Hour, or the period of time from an accident, stroke or heart attack, to definitive care. We carry blood. We do life support. We insert chest tubes and do advanced airway procedures. The helicopter has saved numerous lives.

Ballmers first ride on a medical chopper in Omaha during his EMT training sealed the deal for his career. I liked critical care, going to get the patient to take them to a higher level of care. He earned his degree as a registered nurse at BryanLGH College of Health in Lincoln in 2009 and joined Good Sam as a flight nurse in 2013.

AirCare is the second-oldest medical helicopter program in Nebraska, second only to one in Omaha. It averages 435 missions a year, or roughly 40 per month, or seven to 10 a week. The chopper usually carries one patient, but it can transport two under certain conditions.

Josh Kendle, 29, a registered nurse at CHI St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Lincoln, went up three times during his 12-hour stint not long ago. In his first ride  his first ever in a helicopter  a victim was airlifted from an accident to Good Sam in just five minutes. In the next two flights, patients were transferred between hospitals. Kendle was so impressed that he hopes someday to be part of a flight team.

I find emergency air care fascinating. The care the flight nurses gave was exceptional. From the minute they came into contact with the patient, they had everything under control, he said.

Good Sams AirCare service was launched in 1982 by World War II veteran Ronald Rodgers of Kearney. The five-year-old Bell429 helicopter is leased from and maintained by Rodgers Helicopter Service at Kearney Regional Airport. The chopper has two seats for the flight nurses and a stretcher ready with items such as a portable ventilator, a video laryngoscope and a machine called a Lucas device, which performs CPR and frees flight nurses to tend to patients.

Ride-Along passengers cannot weigh more than 215 pounds. They are weighed when they arrive at the hospital for the program. They must hold a current medical license in Nebraska or Kansas and be clinically active in a hospital or hospital-based system. Because of weather concerns, Ride-Alongs are scheduled only from March through June and September through November. In thick fog, the chopper does not fly.

On the day of the ride, they arrive at Good Sam at either 6:30 a.m. or 6:30 p.m. They stay for a full 12-hour shift. They must be on site because the helicopter lifts off within 12 minutes after a call comes in. Between rides, the passengers visit the Emergency Department, the intensive care unit, the cath lab and other areas. They also get a safety briefing by the AirCare pilot.

Because Good Samaritan has the only trauma center between Lincoln and Scottsbluff, about 65 percent of AirCare flights bring patients in to Kearney. The remaining flights take patients, once stabilized, to Denver, Omaha or Kansas City. Its coverage area includes central Nebraska west to McCook, north to South Dakota and south into Kansas.

Jason Whalen, an EMT and fire administrator for the Kearney Volunteer Fire Department, cant say enough about his recent AirCare ride even though hes no stranger to trauma care and emergency medicine. Thanks to a strong tailwind, it took just 19 minutes to fly to Ord to pick up an accident victim. The staff was so professional, he said. The flight staff and the emergency room staff in Ord worked well together. My AirCare ride was fabulous.

Born north of Greeley, Whalen knows how critical AirCare is to people who live in sparsely populated areas. He always hoped to become a flight nurse, but when he was in the National Guard, a friend talked him into a career in the fire department. He has no regrets. I have the best of both worlds, he said, adding, Getting my pilots license is now on my bucket list.

AirCare pilots include Elliot Rivera, Ryan Kennedy, Shon Keith and Matt Volf. Besides Ballmer, flight nurses are Sara Slingsby, Joan Kreutzer, Stephanie Sydow, Kevin Vickers, Joseph Debban, Tammie Preissler, Kari Yelken, Denise Poland and Megan Thorman.

Kendle added, I would strongly urge my colleagues to go for a fly-along to gain experience and learn from some of best. The staff made the experience unforgettable.
For days, my husband and I followed the news of the wildfires in Northern California. It was our home for many years before a job change landed us in Las Vegas. And its still home to many of our family and friends, including our children and grandchildren.

Despite heroic battles by hundreds of firefighters, thousands of families were being forced from their homes.

We knew all that, but tried not to worry. Then the phone rang.

My husband said Hello, and fell silent, listening. But the look on his face spoke clearly.

His son Joe was calling to tell us Sonoma was being evacuated. He and his wife and their two children and all the family pets were packing up to leave.

The call was short, Joe had to go. But hours later, he phoned again with an update: His wife and their little ones were in a hotel a safe distance from the fires; their pets were being sheltered by family nearby; but he was staying in Sonoma, to help other families get out.

My husband made him promise to be careful, wear a mask and keep us posted.

Sometimes promises and prayers are all we can do. So we prayed, kept in touch, and were ever so thankful a few days later when Joe called to say theyd been told it was safe to return to their home. Their neighborhood had been spared from the fire, but the air was still heavy with smoke, and they feared it might harm their children. Joe needed to stay in town to work. So his wife and the kids flew to Vegas to stay with us a few days while waiting for the smoke to clear.

Usually, when they visit, its in summer, and we spend a lot of time in the pool. This time, with cooler weather, we did other things: Read books. Drew pictures. Baked cookies. And watched a lot of kid movies.

We ate tacos, spaghetti and pizza. Papa Mark took 6-year-old Charlotte to the park. I played Pin-the-Nose-on-the-Nana with 8-month-old Archer. And we marveled at our daughter-in-laws beautiful grace to be able, all at once, to nurse her baby, cuddle her daughter, and speak with great compassion about her neighbors in Northern California, who have lost so much in the fires.

One day, Charlotte and I had a tea party on the lawn (with cookies shed made with Papa Mark, and run-off from the sprinklers soaking the seats of our pants.) Charlotte talked for a bit about how scared her cat had been about the fires.

I told her, when I get scared, I like to think of people who love me and want me to be safe  including my grandmothers who watch over me from heaven.

Charlotte said, I have a grandma who loves me so much shed do most anything for me.

Grandma Viv? I said. She nodded, smiling, as if thinking of someone who makes her feel safe and happy and loved.

Later that day, I emailed my husbands ex-wife to tell her what Charlotte said about her. Grandmas ought to know how much they mean to a child.

The last night of their visit, Charlotte ran into my room shouting, Its raining!

Indeed, it was, a welcome desert rain that smelled just as lovely as it sounded.

We need rain so its not so dry, Charlotte chirped, like Julia Child explaining a recipe. I hope it rains at my house.

It will, I promised her. If not tonight, soon.

Every moment we spend with those we love is a gift, no matter what may bring us together.

After four nights at our place, Charlotte and Archer and their mom flew back to California, to their dad, their pets and the best place on Earth  home  where, hallelujah, it was raining.

Californians are facing a great tragedy. But great tragedies are overcome by great love.

In the wise words proclaimed lately on T-shirts and message boards and fire-threatened homes: The love in the air is thicker than the smoke.

Sharon Randall can be reached at P.O. Box 777394, Henderson NV 89077, or on her website: www.sharonrandall.com.
KEARNEY  Students in the skilled and technical sciences career courses at Kearney High School will be receiving some hands-on experience.

Central Community Colleges Skilled and Technical Science programs, along with Nebraska Machinery, will be at KHS from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday as part of collaborative effort between KHS and the Economic Development Council of Buffalo County to introduce students to career opportunities in the Kearney area.

Several mobile labs will be located in the Scott D. Morris Institute at KHS where students will participate in hands-on experiences. Mobile labs will include:

Electrical fundamentals  covers basic electrical wiring and troubleshooting;

Motor controls trainer  covers industrial motors and processes and beginning ladder logic;

Pneumatic (air driven processes) and PLC (programmable logic controllers); and,

Welding simulators.

The intent of the event is to introduce students to the job tasks they could encounter in specific job fields.

CCC staff from Kearney, Hastings and Columbus also will be on hand to discuss skilled and technical sciences certifications that can be obtained at their colleges. CCC staff also will show videos that represent the programs at CCC along with career opportunities. These include quality technology, mechatronics, drafting, advanced manufacturing and design technology, auto body and auto mechanics.
What have you done for me lately? Its a question politicians hear regularly as they campaign, and that probably wont change in 2018 when U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer and Reps. Adrian Smith, Jeff Fortenberry and Don Bacon run for re-election.

Nebraskans have been acutely bothered this year as a bloated federal bureaucracy and new president continue causing us heartburn over ethanol standards, international trade and issues such as health care. These are genuine concerns that threaten agriculture, Nebraskas chief industry, and threaten each of us individually as we struggle to afford prescriptions and medical care.

So when Fischer, Smith, Fortenberry and Bacon come calling, be sure to ask what theyve done for you lately, but be ready to press them for more. Ask them if they and their congressional colleagues are fulfilling their constitutional responsibilities by addressing environmental, spending, health care and immigration issues that our new president has plopped in their laps.

Through a host of executive orders, Donald Trump has handed Congress a long to-do list, and by some Americans estimations, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives dont appear up to the task.

One of Trumps orders will end the EPAs Clean Power Plan. Another stops subsidies to health insurance companies that cover low-income Americans. One will terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that protects 800,000 young immigrants against deportation. Another of Trumps orders calls for withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord.

Trump also has said he will not certify that Iran is allowing international inspections of its nuclear research and development.

All of these programs and agreements have two things in common: They were created by executive orders of former President Barack Obama, and all of them should have been the product of federal lawmakers in the House and Senate. None should come about with a stroke of the presidents pen.

The constitution is clear about appropriating money for governmental functions, about entering treaties and about declaring war. They are the functions of Congress, not the executive branch, and so Trump has handed back to lawmakers work they should have tended to in the first place. If Congress takes no action  on immigration, climate change, declarations of war, health care, etc.  it is not the presidents fault.

What have our elected representatives done for us lately? Be sure to ask. Their answers will be interesting.
The recent idea put forward by the Lower Republican and Tri-Basins Natural Resources Districts and Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, to transfer water from the Platte River to the Republican River to alleviate that basins water debt to Kansas is a bad idea and not in the public good.

The Platte River has its own water issues. Over the past nine years there has not been a single year where there has been enough water to meet the goals set forth in the Platte River Recovery Program and now these agencies want to remove more.

Seventy percent of the historic Platte River flows are now gone before they reach Kearney. It is hard to believe that Platte Valley farmers and municipalities think it is a good idea to remove water from this basin that soaks into the ground for eventual use in irrigation and drinking water.

Transferring water out of a basin permanently removes it for all future uses. I encourage the farmers and other water users in the central Platte to oppose any transfer of water out of the basin.

Transfer of invasive species is another issue. The proposed delivery route for the transfer is Turkey Creek. I can guarantee you that landowners along Turkey Creek will then need to battle purple loosestrife, phragmites and possibly salt cedar all along the course. Plants are not the only issue. Asian carp, a very damaging invasive species, are now found upstream of Kearney in the Platte River. Those fish will then end up in Turkey Creek, the Republican River and in Kansas. I can foresee another lawsuit in the future as Kansas receives all of these invasive species in their waterways from this transfer.

When this application to transfer water goes to the Department of Natural Resources, I hope everyone pays attention to this issue and demands that this water transfer does not happen.

Bill Taddicken, Gibbon
A few brave Republicans are warning of a toxin that threatens the core of American democracy. They say that national divisions are widening because of President Donald Trumps penchant for bullying, juvenile tweeting and vengeful character assassination.

Republicans and Democrats must unite for the cause of civility and dignified discourse. The two parties certainly will continue to disagree and fight for their righteous causes. But they must stop tolerating Trumps hateful antics.

When Trump cannot garner the support he needs in Congress, he retreats to campaign-style meetings with his base in the hinterlands, where he typically exaggerates his successes and the crowds feed his ego.

He is destroying our nations integrity and trampling on time-honored values. Mature adults do not behave this way. Trump might be president, but he is not presidential. He disrespects and denigrates the highest office in the land.

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., has had enough of it. In a Senate speech Tuesday, he unleashed a full-throated critique of the presidents bizarre behavior. Flakes words echo warnings of other prominent Republicans such as Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former President George W. Bush.

Rarely have Republicans of such stature spoken against one of their own. But they do so because hes inflicting serious damage on the country they love.

If those voices dont resonate with Trump, the words of his own wife, first lady Melania Trump, might register.

I think its very important to choose kindness and compassion ..., she told schoolchildren in Detroit this week. Turning to the adults in the room, she added, By our own example, we must teach children to be good stewards of the world they will inherit. We need to remember that they are always watching and listening.

She warned UN leaders that if adults dont reinforce good behavior, children wont have role models for civility.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Iraqi security forces gather outside the Kurdish-held city of Altun Kupri on the outskirts of Irbil, Iraq on Oct. 19, 2017. A senior representative for Iraq's Kurdish government says Canada and its allies failed Iraq by ignoring the country's many political, religious and economic divisions while fighting the so-called Islamic State. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Khalid Mohammed
CORRECTS NAME TO TASHA FUIAVA- In this Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017 photo, USS Ashland sailors help Zeus, one of two dogs who were accompanying two Honolulu women who were rescued after being lost at sea for several months while trying to sail from Hawaii to Tahiti. The U.S. Navy rescued the women on Wednesday after a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted them about 900 miles southeast of Japan on Tuesday and alerted the U.S. Coast Guard. The women, identified by the Navy as Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava, lost their engine in bad weather in late May, but believed they could still reach Tahiti. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jonathan Clay/U.S. Navy via AP)
(Refiles to delete incomplete sentence in 4th paragraph)

By Ana Mano

SAO PAULO, Oct 27 (Reuters) - U.S.-based AGCO Corp , an agricultural equipment maker, is still evaluating the acquisition of Brazilian silo maker Kepler Weber SA , around nine months after revealing plans to launch a tender offer for all the outstanding shares, a senior executive said on Friday.

Greg Peterson, AGCO's head of investor relations, told Reuters the company has maintained its agreement to acquire the stakes of Kepler Weber's two largest shareholders, which was announced in February.

Asked whether there was a possibility the tender offer wold be withdrawn, he said it was "not fair to jump to conclusions."

AGCO reached a binding agreement with the two largest shareholders of Kepler Weber - state-run pension fund PREVI and the investment arm of state-owned Banco do Brasil - to acquire their stakes totaling about 35 percent of outstanding stock.

The agreement is conditional on regulatory approval and on the purchase of an additional stake, which combined with the shareholdings of PREVI and Banco do Brasil's investment arm would total at least 65 percent, AGCO said.

"We have not initiated the formal tender process with the remaining shareholders," Peterson said, adding that only informal talks had taken place until now. "We're still evaluating the Kepler Weber acquisition including their current financial results."

A spokeswoman for Kepler declined to comment.

PREVI and Banco do Brasil's investment arm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shares of Kepler were 0.4 percent higher in early afternoon trading.

Brazilian competition watchdog Cade cleared the agreement between AGCO and Kepler Weber's two largest shareholders in July.

AGCO offered 22 reais per share of Kepler Weber, valuing it at about $185 million when the deal was announced. The offer represented a 25.7 percent premium to the closing price of Kepler shares on Feb. 9.

(Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- The scariest place on Halloween isn't a cemetery or haunted house -- it's the emergency room.



The majority of cases emergency room physicians see on Halloween are alcohol or drug intoxication and trauma, Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, told ABC News.



Sometimes, the accidents don't even happen on the holiday itself, but rather the holiday-designated weekend, when inebriated adults act worse than the children and get themselves hurt in the process, doctors said.



Emergency room physicians regaled stories to ABC News on their most memorable Halloween mishaps:



Most patients arrive to the hospital in "some sort of costume"



The Halloween festivities fill the emergency room with a plethora of characters. Most of the people seeking treating arrive "in some sort of costume," ranging from everything from the silly to the scary, antique and scantily clad, Dr. Michael Lynch, a toxicologist and an emergency physician at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told ABC News.



There can be a Spiderman in one room, while the next is occupied by Wonder Woman, Michael Kaufmann, emergency physician and EMS medical director at St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital, told ABC News.



A lot of times, costume makeup looks so real that doctors and nurses cannot discern at first glance whether they're looking at fake blood or just corn syrup and dye, Lynch said.



The most common costumes Lynch has seen is "every president you can think of," mainly, President Trumps, President Bushes (both of them), Obamas and Clintons, he said.



While doctors always hate to see children in the emergency room, they're usually dressed in "something cute," such as an M&M or superhero, Lynch said.



The hospital has sort of a "running game" on which patient has the best costume, Lynch said.



The persistent "nurse"



One year, Lynch treated a woman in her early 20s who took her Halloween alter ego a little too seriously.



The woman -- who was wearing a nurse costume -- was being treated for injuries she received from falling while intoxicated, Lynch said. She had gone out to a bar to celebrate, but by the time she got to the emergency room, she'd broken one of her heels, her makeup was running, and there was a distinct run in her panty hoes.



While her injuries were minor, doctors and nurses had to essentially babysit the patient, as she kept running out of her room, approaching patients with her fake stethoscope and pretending to be an actual nurse, Lynch said.



Every 20 or 30 minutes, hospital staff would escort the errant fake nurse back to her room, but she would somehow find a way to run up to another patient to introduce herself as their caretaker, Lynch said.



"It was clear that she was not [a nurse], based on her attire," he added. "...On the plus side, she did not charge us for her services."



Although the woman had already been treated, hospital staff cannot discharge intoxicated patients until they are no longer impaired, so they "had to keep watching her," Lynch said.

Candy in places where it doesn't belong

Dr. Erica Michiels, associate director for the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital's pediatric emergency department in Grand Rapids, Michigan, told ABC News that the pediatric center practically serves as a candy removal service in the days following Halloween.



One case, when a little boy stuck a black jelly bean up his nose, turned out to be especially gross, Michiels said.



The boy's parents brought him into the emergency room because, try as they might, they could not free the jelly bean from its nasal prison, Michiels said. By the time the family got to the hospital, the sugary foreign object had been in the kid's nose for a couple of hours, she said.



In this case, what came out was a "gigantic black glob," which had melted from the jelly bean's gelatin interior, Michiels said.



"His parent thought I was going to pull out a whole jelly bean," she said. "When this big string of goop came out of his nose, they were pretty disgusted."



Often, when children stick an object where it doesn't belong, doctors have to check other crevices as well, such as ears. The biggest culprit are Nerds, the small cluster-shaped hard candies, which "fit very nicely in ears," Michiels said.



The pirate who lost his sword fight



Doctors warn those dressing up for Halloween to be careful when using props such as knives, swords and guns on Halloween for fear they may be mistaken as real weapons, Kauffman said.



One patient learned the hard way that even fake weapons can cause some painful injuries.



The 22-year-old man had just come from a bar featuring a costume dress-up night event, where he "got beat up" with a plastic sword, Lynch said.



"He was, ironically, dressed up as a pirate," Lynch said. "He lost his sword fight."



The patient's injuries were limited to "a lot of bruises."



"Fortunately, because [the sword] was fake, it didn't penetrate him," Lynch said.



Drugs and tight costumes don't mix



Several years ago, Glatter said he cared for one patient who arrived in a tight-fitting bear costume and was having difficulty breathing.



Earlier that day, the patient had taken ecstasy, which rose his core body temperature to a whopping 106 degrees, Glatter said.



The patient probably was not able to reuse his costume. Due to a zipper malfunction, hospital staff were forced to cut the costume off "in order to fully expose the patient and institute appropriate cooling measures," Glatter said.



The fake "original member" of the Temptations



One patient -- who also ended up in the emergency room due to an injury he received while intoxicated -- had convinced himself that he was one of the original members of The Temptations.



The man showed up to the hospital dressed in a old 1950s or 1960s-style suit and determined that it was the perfect time to entertain his fellow patients, Lynch said.



"Every five minutes he would break out in song -- all Temptations," Lynch said of the man, whom he described as being in his late 50s. "I think he actually believed he was one of the original members.



The part that gave him away: he didn't know the words to the song, Lynch said.



Doctor recommended safety tips for Halloween





Keep the five Cs in mind: carving, costumes, cars, candy and candles. Kaufmann said. Don't let children handle knives when carving pumpkins. Beware of costumes that impair your field of vision, constrict breathing, or prevent your arms and legs from functioning normally. Take caution of cars while trick-or-treating in the dark. Inspect your candy, but the biggest danger comes from choking. Use safer alternatives to candles like flash lights and glow sticks.

Pay attention to the weather, and dress appropriately, said Dr. Rahul Sharma, emergency physician-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. People often put themselves at risk for hypothermia on Halloween, he added.

Don't use real weapons as props. Doing so is a "perfect setup for catastrophe," Kaufmann said.

As marijuana-related edibles become more commonplace, keep in mind that they can accidentally distributed or mistaken for regular brownies and cookies, Lynch said. Be sure to pay attention to labels.

Remain vigilant about allergies, especially for kids. One of the most common emergency room visits are for children with peanut allergies who ingested something with peanuts in it, Michiels said.

Pediatric doctors "spend a lot of time on Halloween reassuring families that the red vomit or red poop isn't blood," Michiels said. "It's whatever your kids ate."

You may be tempted to jump into a large pile of freshly raked leaves, but doing so can cause an twisted ankle or fractured bone. You never know how shallow or deep the leaves can be, Sharma said.



Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
The United States does not plan to seek former president Jimmy Carter's help in resolving the nuclear standoff with North Korea, the White House said Friday.

Carter made public his willingness to visit North Korea in an interview with the New York Times published earlier this week. He said he had told President Donald Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, he was available if needed, but has so far received a negative response.

"I don't think that's part of our process at this time," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters when asked if the administration plans to take up the offer. "If that changes, I'll certainly let you know. But that's not part of our current plan or thinking for how to deal with North Korea."

Tensions have run high as North Korea has conducted multiple missile and nuclear tests in pursuit of a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the mainland U.S.

Trump has threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea should the U.S. be forced to defend itself or its allies.

Still, Pyongyang renewed its threat this week to detonate a powerful hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean.

Trump is headed to Asia next week on his first official visit to the region. He is expected to address the growing threat posed by the North, especially during his stops in South Korea, Japan and China.

Carter has a history of working with the North. In 1994, he flew to Pyongyang to resolve an escalating nuclear crisis, and again in 2010 to win the release of a detained American citizen. (Yonhap)
U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis speaks during a joint press conference with South Korea's Defense Minister Song Young-moo after the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) at the Defense Ministry, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017, in Seoul, South Korea. / AP-Yonhap



- Threat of nuclear attack by North Korea accelerating



- N. Korea's attack will be defeated with massive military action



- Alliance is 'bedrock' of efforts to counter N. Korea's act to destabilize regional peace



- North Korea is reducing its own security with nuclear threats



- Any use of nuclear weapons will be met with 'massive military response'



- US has 'many military options' designed to butress diplomacy, deterrence



U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis warned Saturday that North Korea will be defeated with a "massive military response" if it attacks his country or its allies.

He said he "can't imagine" accepting North Korea as a nuclear power.

"Make no mistake -- any attack on the United States or our allies, will be defeated," he said at a joint press conference with his South Korean counterpart Song Young-moo after their talks here. "Any use of nuclear weapons will be met with a massive military response."

He pointed out the allies' coordination has taken on new urgency as the North has accelerated its threats with "illegal" and "unnecessary" nuclear and missile programs.

The North's military is overmatched by the allies' combined defense posture, he stressed.

"If it remains on its current path of ballistic missiles and atomic bombs, it will be counterproductive, in effect, reducing its own security," the Pentagon chief said.

The U.S. has many "military options" designed to buttress diplomatic efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and strengthen deterrence, he added.

On Seoul's pursuit of regaining its wartime operational control of its forces, he said the two sides are continuing consultations for the "conditions-based" transition.

He voiced a negative view on the redeployment of the U.S. tactical nuclear weapons demanded by some South Korean people.

He cited the possibility of adverse effects to global nonproliferation efforts.

In the Joint Communique, the two sides reaffirmed their plans to "enhance rotational deployments of U.S. strategic assets in and around the peninsula."

"They reaffirmed the need to continue promoting combined exercises and training events, and to enhance combined capabilities to prepare for any North Korean provocations in the vicinity of the Northwest Island and Northern Limit Line (NLL)," according to the document that summarizes the results of the Security Consultative Meeting between Song and Mattis. (Yonhap)
This article appears in the October 27, 2017 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

HELGA ZEPP-LAROUCHE

We Can Enter a New Era for Mankind

Over the Coming Days

This is an edited transcript of an Oct. 19, 2017 webcast by Helga Zepp-LaRouche.

[Print version of this article]

Harley Schlanger: Hello, Im Harley Schlanger from the Schiller Institute, and Id like to welcome you again to our weekly webcast with Helga Zepp-LaRouche.

Theres an absolutely extraordinary event underway in China right nowthe 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China. In an address yesterday, President Xi Jinping laid out a bold strategy for the next 35-40 years on how to expand the development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has already lifted millions of Chinese out of poverty. This is being treated in the Western media as an opportunity to attack China, to deride the economic model, to talk about how it wont work, even to characterize Xi Jinping as a new Stalin. But while thats the nonsense coming out in the Western media, the Chinese press has been featuring Helga Zepp-LaRouche for her analysis of whats occurring. Today, we have the great benefit of being able to hear directly from Helga. So, Helga, let me turn it over to you.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche: Okay. I recently made a comment to China Daily, where I emphasized one aspect of President Xi Jinpings three-and-a-half hour speech, something he mentioned about fourteen times, his emphasis that the aim of politics and of the efforts of the CPC [Communist Party of China], is to create a better and happier life for the people. That is a thought which, when I look at the various politicians in the WestI havent heard them talking about that. But if you really think about it, that is what politics should be all about. Its no accident that this idea was actually in the American Declaration of Independence: One of the inalienable rights mentioned there is the pursuit of happiness.

I have been in China several times recently, and I have seen that its people are happy; they are optimistic about the future. Look at Xis speech. He has an incredible perspective which makes total sense, it is realistic, given the fact that China has already lifted 700 million people up out of poverty. If you look at that success story, then you have every reason to believe that the Chinese government will be able to fulfill Xis vision for the year 2050.

Since this has not been reported very much in the Western media, let me just repeat some of what he said. He said the goal of China is to eliminate all poverty by 2020. In China there are still, I think, 42 million poor people, which is not much, if you remember that China is a country of 1.4 billion. But China wants to uplift all its people so that nobody is left in poverty by 2020. The next goal is that by 2035, China will become a moderately prosperous, modern, functioning socialist country. Then, by the year 2050, China is to become a strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious, and beautiful country, fully modernized. I think this is an incredibly beautiful goal. In his speech, Xi emphasized that, following the century of humiliation for China, which was characterized by the Opium Wars and similar events, China decided not to take any foreign model, but instead develop its own model of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

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Xinhua/Zheng Jiayu

I think that the West would be well advised to actually look into what these Chinese characteristics are, because the secret of the success of the Chinese economic miracle, I think, has to be found and can be found in the 5,000 years of Chinese history. President Xi emphasized that in these 5,000 years, China has contributed many things to the development of mankind, and it intends to continue to do so. One of the big contributions of China was not only that Confucius was born and became one of the great teachers of all time, but that Confucianism was actually the state philosophy of China for the better part of 2,500 years, with the short exception of the Cultural Revolutionthe ten years from 1966 to 76. Therefore, Confucian thinking and the ideas of Confucius are very deeply ingrained in the Chinese model. I have stated many times that I personally, from studying the speeches of Xi Jinping, have come to the conclusion that Xi himself thinks in Confucian terms.

In his speech, Xi also emphasized that China intends to become an innovation-based society, that the spirit of science must have a very important role. I have seen many times that this is actually what China is doing, by always trying to leapfrog to the newest state-of-the-art technologies. In that way, China has already become a world leader in several categories. All these slanders against Chinathat it just steals Western patents and Western technologiesmay have been the case at the beginning of its opening up to the West.

By the way, everybody else also takes advantage of foreign technologies. I know of many European business leaders who are convinced that the National Security Agency (NSA) steals. That was just an aside. In any case, Chinas plan is to become a science-based economy by the year 2025. I think that is very beneficial for all the countries touched by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), in the New Silk Road, because China has explicitly offered to share its scientific and technological advances with developing countries. I think this is of great benefit for mankind.

I think this 19th National Congress of the CPC is not just relevant for China. I think the conclusions reached there will radiate throughout the rest of the world, because inevitably everybody looks at this model and asks why is it so successful. Maybe there is something we can learn from it. So we should make sure that everyone really pays attention to the substance of what is going on, and not just to the media accounts which are mostly negative. I always use the example of Hegel, the German philosopher, who wrote in his Phenomenology of Mind, that the servant who helps the world-historical individual get dressed, only sees the underwear, and doesnt understand the vision in the mind of the world-historical individual. Thats the image I have of the journalists who are writing these ridiculous articles; they are just valets, the servant who helps the great man to get dressed.

Schlanger: Its clear that the Western media is much more interested in underwear than in these physical processes of development. You describe this as a dynamic, global process, and the Western media keeps saying its going to fail. In particular, theyre saying that China is creating a great credit bubble that will collapse. Whats the reality there? Why are they wrong, Helga?

Zepp-LaRouche: I think its ridiculous, because while China has taken credit and has debt, all of this debt is backed up with physical assets. China has this debt because it finances infrastructure projects, industrial parks, hydropower, and all kinds of physical investmentsso that, were there a crisis, these physical investments would still be there. They are real, tangible wealth, which is in complete contradiction to the trans-Atlantic financial systems idea of wealth, which is entirely speculative, and therefore is a complete bubble. Its just funny, because today is the 30th anniversary of Black Monday of 1987. My husband, Lyndon LaRouche, had forecast the bursting of that bubble at the time, and we have seen a worsening of the situation ever since, because nothing was ever done to correct it. Instead, Alan Greenspan undermined the Glass-Steagall Act, and then finally Larry Summers eliminated Glass-Steagall altogether in 1999. Ever since, there has been incredible deregulation of the financial markets, which then eventually led to the Crash of 2007, which again was forecast by my husband a week before it happened. Finally, the Lehman Brothers-AIG crash of 2008. On this anniversary, many commentators are actually making the point that this crisis, which started in earnest in 2007-2008, is far from over. All the parameters are in fact worse than in 2008; and there are some commentatorseven one from the London School of Economicswho say the bullish character of the assets is actually showing characteristics exactly like those before the crash of 1987, and that a big financial explosion could come at any moment in October or November this year.

So, we are all sitting on this powder keg, and its ridiculous that people are blaming China, the only country which is investing in real goods, for the crash, when these circles themselves are sitting on this powder keg. I think this is something we should urgently address with our campaign to reinstate and implement Glass-Steagall, and our program to return to Hamiltonian economics.

One final word: The attacks on Xi Jinping are coming from people like former Washington Post bureau chief in Beijing, John Pomfret, who compared Xi Jinping to Stalin. Such people are just projecting their own evil thoughts onto China; they will not prevail, because they have nothing but words to offer, which mean very little, while China is building a new financial and economic model which brings benefits to all countries that participate. Therefore, Chinas approach will prevail.

Schlanger: Its clear that the irony here, is that its a sign of the bankruptcy of Western thinking that we have the biggest bubble in world history in commercial debt, in financial debt, student debt, and car debtevery category of debt is at record levels. Leverage is over the roof. Yet these critics are looking at China, and talking about the China debt. One element of this is that, as you said, its not just China; theres now a growing interest around the world, because the Chinese have been doing something. Its not just something theyre talking about doing in the future. Can you just fill us in a little bit on whats happening around the world with the Belt and Road?

The Tide Can Shift Suddenly

Zepp-LaRouche: Most interesting is whats going on in the United States. We are now about two weeks away from President Trumps trip to Asia. He will visit five or six countries, but the most important one will be the state visit to China. I have the feeling that this will lead to some major forms of cooperation between the United States and Chinamaybe even an official statement that the United States will join the Belt and Road, and work together with China to support the projects of not only the Belt and Road, but also projects in the United States.

The mood in the United States is changing. We had a couple of conferences over the past few weeks, which we either organized ourselves, or conferences we participated in. Many business leaders told us It doesnt matter what the U.S. government says, because the Belt and Road Initiative is the only way to go. Either we jump on the train of the Belt and Road Initiative, or we will see the lights of the caboose from behind, and we will be left behind. That is exactly the mood which we find in Germany, where, despite the fact that the German government is still stepping on the brake in line with the EU and Brussels, nevertheless, all the other countries of Eastern Europe, of Central Europe, of the Balkans, of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and Austriathey are all moving in the direction of becoming a hub of the New Silk Road. They see its benefits.

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White House

The best example, just to give one of many, is what is happening with Greece. Greece was tortured by the Troikathe Internatonal Monetary Fund (IMF), the ECB, and the EU Commissionwhich imposed the most brutal austerity, characterized by the UN Human Rights Commission as a violation of human rights. Such policies of the Troika have reduced the Greek economy by one-third, shortened life-expectancy, increased the death rate, and led to an incredible emigration of young, skilled labor. This was the policy of the EU. China, on the other hand, now has introduced the Belt and Road policy.

China has built up the Greek port of Piraeus, and is now building a railway northward from the Greek ports to Belgrade and to Budapesta project opposed by the EU for no good reason. Chinas initiative has greatly improved the self-confidence of the Greek people. Greek Prime Minister Tsipras was just in Washington, meeting with President Trump. He was accompanied by a large delegation of cabinet members and others. Contrary to the EU, Trump promised reasonable debt relief, real investment in the real economy, and strong cooperation between Greece and the United States. This is a completely different attitude. One outcome is that the United States will be a featured guest at the big trade fair next year in Thessaloniki. These Chinese and American initiatives have increased the self-confidence of the Greek people, who now say that we are no longer at the rim of the EU, but we are now in the center of the Eurasian development.

The spirit of the New Silk Road, which we talked about last timethis is the new thinking that mankind can work together for the common good. It doesnt have to be the case that the geopolitical interests of one group must prevail against the geopolitical interests of another group, but that win-win cooperation, where each country benefits, is actually the spirit of this new era. So, this is going on, and I think if you take that together with the developments in Africa and in Ibero-America, this Spirit is marching forward. I am absolutely confident that it will characterize a completely new era of civilization.

Schlanger: You mentioned the Tsipras meeting with Trump, where Trump spoke about responsible debt relief. This is the second time in a couple of weeks that hes brought up dealing with a debt problem. He talked about doing away with, or cancelling, or writing off Puerto Ricos debt. Now hes talking about the Greek debt needing to be written down, which is obvious except to the bankers who are holding the debt. Obviously this is a big part of the reason, along with his strategic initiative towards China and Russia, that theres still a Russia-gate attack against him. There are some developments in the last week against that. I wonder if you have some thoughts on it.

Zepp-LaRouche: There is now a very important letter by nineteen Congressmen to the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Chuck Grassley, demanding that Special Counsel Robert Mueller be investigated for being biased and having a conflict of interest. I think that is very interesting, and in a certain sense the tide can change very quickly. This was also mentioned by Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, who at the beginning of the Valdai Forum, which is now taking place in Sochi, Russia, said that the nine months of investigation of the phony Russia-gate story has resulted in absolutely no evidence that there was any collusion of the Trump team with Russia. And he noted very positively, that this has not deterred President Trump from his election promise that he would improve the U.S. relationship with Russia. I think this is very interesting, because, as I have said already in the pastbut let me restate it, because its not self-evident for many people: If the three large countriesthe United States, China, and Russiacome to agreement with each other, and stop thinking that it is necessary to have a nuclear build-up and nuclear deterrence and geopolitical maneuvers to outdo one anotherwe will have the precondition for world peace.

This goes to the whole question of how to deal with the rise of China. Will we believe the line that there is a Thucydides trap; will that lead to World War III? Some journalists are retailing that line, saying that is the only future. But I think that if you look at the strategic partnership between Xi Jinping and Putin, and if Trump defeats Russia-gate and continues to seek cooperation with Russia, and at the same time, we see a potential big breakthrough in the context of his state visit to China two weeks from nowthen the world will enter a new era, a new stage of development, and the whole world will benefit from it.

For the people of the United States, its very important not to be caught in the small issues defined by the yellow journalism of the Washington Post, the New York Times and CNN, who are competing with each other to spread fake news. But you should understand instead, that were the United States and China to work together on the New Silk Road, and if President Trump continues to seek a positive relationship with Russia, then that is in the interest of everybody.

Schlanger: Helga, theres one other area where Americans really have no clue of whats going on, largely due to the media, and thats whats happening in Europe. I refer to the Catalonia separatist vote and the continued flak over that, and the election in Austria where the ruling parties took another big hit, just as they had in Germany. Can you give a sense of whats happening in Europe and how this is part of the same dynamic? Obviously, the Brexit issue is not resolved. So, whats happening in Europe?

Zepp-LaRouche: It is exactly the same dynamic which led to the election victory of President Trump. There are many Europeans who have the feeling that their politicians dont care about their well-being, quite contrary to what Xi Jinping emphasized in his speech, and contrary to what is practiced in China. For example, look at the present negotiations in Germany to form a so-called Jamaica coalitionJamaica because the colors of these parties are the same as in the flag of Jamaica; its the conservative CSU/CDU, the liberals of the FDP, and the Greens. I have not heard any substantial grand design or vision for the future in these discussions; its all about appointments and minimal agreements. The feeling is that the political class has condoned the fact that the poor become poorer, the middle class becomes more threatened, the rich become richer, and the well-being of everyone is abandoned. Many cant make ends meet. Many feel that the political class has moved entirely away from them. That is reflected in the Brexit, and in the rise of the Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), the right populist extremist party in Germany. Its expressed in the right-wing election victory in Austria. And it is expressed in the Catalonia separatist movement, which right now is really moving in a very dangerous direction.

Why is all this happening? The separatists of Catalonia, which is the richest province of Spain, nevertheless feel that they are getting poorer under the present EU regime; and therefore, they want to have a certain independencea northern autonomy. This is against the Constitution of Spain; the Spanish government of Prime Minister Mariano Rojoy has taken a hard line.

This Catalonia issue is actually a very dangerous development. Its being steered by outside forces. Some Spanish newspapers have accused George Soros of having financed the separatists. Russian media point to a video being circulated by the separatists in Catalonia, which has exactly the same script as a similar video used in the Maidan coup against the Ukrainian government of President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. It shows women standing in the street, and says that thousands and thousands of people are taking to the streets; then pictures of police violence are shown; then demands that people should support the separatists and spread the word, and so on. Exactly word for word the same video. I would say that the existence of this video points in the direction that its the same apparatus which was behind the original Maidan, then the Maidan against President Trump, and now in Catalonia. What were dealing with here is really an oligarchical conception. We have long reported that the oligarchy prefers a Europe of the regions, and not a Europe of strong nation-states that would work together in the tradition of Frances Charles DeGaullean alliance of the fatherlands. But destroying the nation-state, and only having regions of perhaps three million inhabitants, would give the oligarchys supranational structures much greater power, leaving the people without power. So, this is a very dangerous development; it is really the last rearguard battle of the oligarchy.

I think that the other dynamic that I described earlier, the New Silk Road dynamic now becoming stronger in all of Europe, is the one which is advancing more quickly. But its a turbulent time, and again, I would like all our viewers, listeners, and readers to contact us. The Schiller Institute is providing knowledge about the New Silk Road; we are continuously researching it. We are always putting out more reports about it. We will make more literature available, because you need to know that there is a happy and prosperous alternative to that which the oligarchy has in mind for you.

It is my experience, and I think you, Harley, can confirm it, that once people know about the New Silk Road, they get completely excited. They get optimistic; they say I have a future. It is worth it for me to study if Im a young person. I can become a scientist, I can become an astronaut, I can become a teacher. I have a future. That is so important, especially in the United States for example. This terrible opioid epidemic keeps getting worse, and people are full of despair. Or in Europe, where you have many youth in Italy and in Spain who neither have a job, nor are in school. A young person who is neither working or studying, is prone to become either a terrorist, a criminal, violent, or drug addicted, or some other terrible thing. So therefore, the knowledge that there is an alternative strategy whereby we can, together, form a better future is so important. So, please help us to spread the news!

Schlanger: And this is the whole point of these webcasts: To bring to you a picture of the Spirit of the Silk Road, and to give you the capability to ask the right questions and to get the right answers. Again, come to us and engage in a dialogue in an organizing process with us.

Helga, there are going to be a number of events over the next days with Chinas 19th Party Congress continuing; well look forward to hearing from you again on this next week.

Zepp-LaRouche: Okay. Bye-bye.
PRESS RELEASE

Bam! Clinton Colluded with the BritishPart of the Coup Is Now Exposed

Oct. 25, 2017 (EIRNS)The Hillary Clinton Campaign and the Democratic National Committee have admitted that they funded the work of British intelligence agent Christopher Steele directly. The admission, contained in a letter from Perkins, Coie, LLP, Counsel for the DNC and Hillary in 2016, is the first tree in the forest to fall, provided we keep our focus on the strategic reasons for the coup and the actual mechanisms in play. That focus must remain on the British for their role in attempting to dictate the American election for the strategic purpose of preserving the decadent and collapsing post-World War II Anglo-American imperium. As demonstrated in our dossier about Robert Mueller, every time you hear that Russia did something to meddle in our elections, substitute "the British" and you are on the path of truth.

Focusing on the British Steele dossier, circulated in this country as a result of an alliance between Orbis Business Intelligence, a firm with direct and continuing ties to MI6, and Fusion GPS, nominally of Delaware and Washington, D.C., is the key not only to stopping the coup against the President but also to exposing the crimes of Obama Administration officials in first attempting to win the election for Hillary Clinton, and then, attempting to destroy the Presidency of Donald Trump. Richard Nixon, it will be recalled, used the official intelligence agencies of the United States to target and smear his political opponents. We are looking at crimes of that magnitude here.

To recap the dossiers importance. It was the sole basis for James Comeys unprecedented FBI investigation of Russian influences on candidate Trump which commenced in July of 2016. It was the roadmap for the entire fake affair. Its first memo claimed that the Russians had hacked the Democratic National Committee computers, a fabricated claim first put forward by British intelligence as early as 2015. It was used by the Clinton campaign to paint Trump as a "Manchurian candidate" controlled by Putin, claims made by Steele and allied Ukrainian intelligence agents working with the Clinton campaign. The British fabrications about Trumps Russian ties were widely circulated to the news media by both the Clinton campaign and the official Obama intelligence community.

After Trump won the election, the FBI promised to pay Steele to continue his work, a contract which was later aborted. The dossier was then used to attempt to blackmail the President into changing his views on potential friendly relations with Russia, by claiming that Putin held sexually compromising information on Trump. When the President refused the blackmail and extortion attempt by Obamas intelligence chiefs, led by James Comey, Steeles salacious and disgusting lies about Russian prostitutes cavorting with the President were leaked to the national and international news media.

The fact that Clinton and the DNC colluded with British intelligence agents and paid them to create dirt against Trump was obviously widely known in Obamas intelligence community, particularly the FBI. This first public admission resulted from a House Intelligence Committee subpoena of Fusions bank records, after months of stonewalling by Fusion.

Fusion tried to block its bank from releasing the records in Washington, D.C.s U.S. District Court. But, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkah apparently didnt buy Fusions legal claim to virtual immunity from investigation. Fusion and the House Intelligence Committee are now in settlement negotiations and are supposed to report back to the Court on Thursday, October 26th.

As part of the negotiations, Fusion apparently obtained the letter from Perkins Coie LLP, admitting the funding of Steele by Clinton and the DNC. The initial approach for funding by Fusion was in March of 2016 and the engagement went from April-November of 2016. During that time, Perkins Coie was paid $12.4 million by the Clinton campaign and the DNC. It is unknown how much of this money went to Christopher Steele. Perkins Coie notes that Clinton and the DNC were taking over work on Trump previously funded by one of his Republican opponents.

As this breaks, there is a major effort to divert attention from the British by claiming that Hillary Clintons Uranium One deal involvement represents the real Russian scandal and the Russian sources cited in Steeles dossier prove that this also was an operation by the ever clever Putin. Anyone who thinks about it for ten seconds would realize that the Russian sourcing of the Steele dossiers allegations involved British intelligence assets in Russia who are acting against the Russian state, if they actually exist.
PRESS RELEASE

Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Calls for Muellers Resignation

Oct 26, 2017 (EIRNS)It was another 24 hours of fast-paced developments in the foundering coup against the President. Wednesday evening, the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board issued a statement calling upon Special Counsel Robert Mueller to resign based on his conflicts of interest. The editorial was entitled, "Democrats, Russians, and the FBI."

The Journals editors reasoned, correctly, that now that the Clinton campaigns and the DNCs role is known concerning the funding of the dirty British Steele dossier, the focus must turn to the FBI and possible collusion by the Obama Administration with the Clinton campaign and Steele. The Journals editors say, correctly, how can Mueller plausibly investigate the FBI without the appearance of a conflict, when he served as that agencys director from 2001-2013? The back-story here is that it is well-known that Mueller personally has a policy of never wanting to entertain criticism of the Bureau or the Justice Department, and has stated that repeatedly in various encounters with defense attorneys. Mueller also has an obvious conflict in investigating James Comey, who is probably his central witness in building an obstruction case against Trump, when Comey now will be knee deep as an investigative target for his activities with Clinton and Steele.

The Washington Examiner also published an article Wednesday pointing to the same investigative target, the FBI. Author Byron York quotes Senator Chuck Grassleys concern on this issue:

"The idea that the FBI and associates of the Clinton campaign would pay Mr. Steele to investigate the Republican nominee for President in the runup to the election raises further questions about the FBIs independence from politics as well as the Obama Administrations use of law enforcement and intelligence agencies for political ends."

So far the FBI has stonewalled both Grassley and the House Intelligence Committee seeking information about what the FBI did with the Steele dossier, how it was used, when and how it was obtained, and why the FBI was willing to pay Steele to continue his work pursuant to a contract which never came to fruition.

On Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan personally intervened with the FBI and the Justice Department to end the stonewalling. Ryan announced that the FBI told him that they would deliver responsive documents to all the previous questions raised by the Congress early next week. In the Federal Court case between the House Intelligence Committee and Fusion GPS, the Court had urged the parties to reach a settlement by 6 p.m Thursday evening. There are no docket notations indicating the status of these negotiations as of this writing, well past the 6 p.m deadline.
PRESS RELEASE

Conyers, Markey, Massie BillNo Preemptive Attack on North Korea

Oct. 27, 2017 (EIRNS)Congressmen John Conyers (a Korean War veteran) introduced a bipartison bill today titled "No Unconstitutional Strike Against North Korea Act of 2017," prohibiting an attack on North Korea without approval of the Congress. The bill

"restricts funds available to the Department of Defense or to any other federal department or agency from being used to launch a military strike against North Korea without the prior approval of Congress or the imperative to respond to an attack against the United States or its allies,"

according to a statement on Conyers website. The legislation, H.R. 4140, is sponsored by Conyers, Ed Markey and Republican Thomas Massie, with 61 co-sponsors.

The statement claims that Trump has threatened preemptive war on North Korea, although Trumps belligerent statements have stopped short of such a preemptive threat.

Conyers quotes George Washington:

"The Constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure."

Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, visiting the Demilitarized Zone today while in South Korea, said: "As Secretary of State Tillerson has made clear, our goal is not war, but rather the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
So many tourists head up to the Hollywood sign to snap selfies that Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has suggested building a gondola to reduce congestion on nearby streets and hiking trails.

At Zion National Park, the crowds are so heavy that park officials are considering a congestion management plan that would require visitors to make reservations to enter the popular Utah park.

Disneyland has become so crowded that the theme park adopted a ticket policy to offer lower prices for visits during slow periods and higher prices for more popular times.

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Across the country, people have been trekking to national parks, theme parks and other tourist attractions in record numbers during the past few years, creating an unexpected problem for the tourism industry: too many customers.

Without a solution, operators fear that long lines and unruly crowds ultimately will turn off future visitors.

The problem isnt unique to the U.S.

Venice, Italy, has been so overrun with tourists that the city recently launched a campaign urging visitors not to litter, swim in the canals or cycle in the city center.

The sightseer crush, known as overtourism, has been noted in Barcelona, Spain, and Reykjavik, Iceland, among other popular European destinations.

Extreme crowding made the agenda at a recent gathering in Los Angeles of the World Tourism Cities Federation, a nonprofit international tourism organization whose slogan is Better cities through tourism.

Top tourism destinations need to do a better job managing crowds, said Chris Bottrill, a professor of tourism network and destination development at Canadas Capilano University. One solution, he said, is to encourage tourists to visit lesser-known destinations nearby.

The reality is there are many other attractions that people can see and reduce the stress on the major attractions, he said.

In the U.S., the problem is most prominent at national parks, many of which have addressed crowds by adding extra staff and shuttle buses, among other efforts.

You have to take care of your resources in order to not lose your customers, said Jeff Olson, a spokesman for the National Park Service.

The tourism boom stems from a combination of factors, including a strong U.S. economy, resurging consumer confidence, low airfares and a jump in international visitors, especially from China.

The U.S. Travel Assn., the trade group for the nations travel industry, predicts trips by international visitors will increase nearly 2% next year and 4% in each of the following two years.

The growth has led to visitation records across the country.

Los Angeles County hosted a record 47.3 million visitors in 2016, a 4% increase over the previous year. New York City took in a record 60 million visitors last year, nearly 2 million more than the previous year.

Such volumes have created headaches for tourists, managers of vacation destinations and locals who live near the attractions.

Its a zoo up here, said Sarajane Schwartz, who lives on a street leading up to the Hollywood sign in the Beachwood Canyon area. She said tourists crowd her street 24 hours a day, blocking driveways and pestering neighbors to use their bathrooms.

Jim Harbin, an attorney from Cypress, said he tried to arrive early at Yosemite National Park to avoid the crowds during a recent Memorial Day weekend visit but spent more than two hours driving in circles looking for a parking spot. He never found a spot and ultimately left the park.

This has happened to me more than once, he said. I think they need to manage the people better in a way that cars dont go in there when no parking is available.

In its latest attempt to address overcrowding, the Disneyland Resort adopted seasonal pricing last year. Under the new ticketing system, the daily fare on low-demand days dropped from $99 to $97, but the price increased to $110 on regular days and to $124 on peak days.

And the new pricing policy hasnt solved the problem.

We have seen a steady increase in crowds at Disneyland in particular, said Phillip White, co-founder of IsItPacked.com, a website that monitors crowds at popular tourist destinations.

Sleeping Beauty Castle looks down on Main Street at Disneyland on June 30, 2017. The park adopted a new pricing policy to offer lower prices during off-peak periods but it has not reduced the crowding problem. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times )

The offseason there barely exists anymore, largely fueled by a ton of annual pass holders, mostly locals, and a steady flow of seasonal events, he said.

When the National Park Service announced it was considering raising entrance fees up to 180% for its 17 most popular parks during peak season, some people wrote in support of the move on the park services Facebook page, saying the higher fee may reduce congestion.

The parks are way too crowded over the summer: 30 minute traffic jams over a single elk and impossible to find parking, wrote Cole Frederick Stockstill of Germantown, Tenn.

The park service said the proposed fee increase to $70 would be earmarked to improve aging infrastructure.

At Grand Canyon National Park, extra workers have been deployed to help visitors find open parking spots and put up signs to notify drivers when lots are full. Park supervisors also have been encouraging visitors to use the shuttle bus service from the nearby Arizona community of Tusayan, which has become so busy that the bus service has been extended by nearly two months.

Visitors want to see the canyon, not drive around in circles, said Emily Davis, a spokeswoman for the park.

Zion National Park in Utah added a mandatory shuttle system to enter Zion Canyon in 2000 to address the headaches of trying to find parking spaces for the millions of annual visitors. But the wait times for the shuttle buses can be as long as 45 minutes. The buses, which can carry up to 100 people each, run every three to five minutes during peak periods.

Park supervisors, worrying about visitors stomping on vegetation and causing erosion, are studying plans to require reservations to visit the park, with a limit set for total visitors. An alternative plan would require visitors to make reservations to visit a specific area of the park.

We are trying to come up with some sort of actions or system we can to provide the best experience for people, said Kezia Nielsen, a visitor-use planner at Zion National Park.

Yosemite National Park drew more than 5 million visitors last year, a 21% increase from the previous years record.

Paul Cutter, an outdoor enthusiast from West Los Angeles, has been organizing trips to Yosemite for more than 20 years and has noticed that crowds have been getting bigger, especially at the hotels, restaurants and park stores.

To book hotel rooms for his annual winter hike, he had to make a reservation 16 months in advance.

Even winter is busy, Cutter said. And its definitely getting more crowded.

hugo.martin@latimes.com

To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter.

ALSO

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The main Republican argument for killing the state and local tax deduction is that the break forces residents of low-tax states to subsidize those in California and other high-tax states.

But when it comes to federal taxes, the data show that its the other way around. And it could get worse for Californians if the deduction is eliminated as part of the GOP tax overhaul.



For the record: An earlier version of this article contained a graphic that said the discrepancy in federal taxes vs. spending was in the millions of dollars. The figures are in billions of dollars. A second graphic on federal spending per dollar of tax said the figures were in millions of dollars. They were dollar figures.

California is among 13 states that ship more tax money to Washington than they get back in federal spending, according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government, a public policy think tank in Albany, N.Y.

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Theyre known as donor states, a title California has held for years, mostly because of the states relatively younger population and large number of high-income earners.

Killing the state and local tax deduction, as President Trump and congressional Republican leaders have proposed, probably would tilt the equation even more against California.

We will end up being an even greater donor state, said Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park). Thats not fair.

In 2015, California residents and businesses pumped $410 billion worth of income, corporate and other federal taxes into the U.S. Treasury, the Rockefeller Institute said.

At the same time, Washington sent the state $393 billion worth of payments and services, including Social Security checks, Medicare payments, federal employee salaries and government contracts.

That $17-billion shortfall ranked as the fourth-worst state balance of payments.

Calculated another way, California received 96 cents of federal spending for each dollar paid in federal taxes. While thats close to break even, its well off the $1.14 national average and ranked 40th in the nation. New Jersey was last at 74 cents.

Three states  New Mexico, West Virginia and Mississippi  received more than $2 in federal outlays for every dollar in taxes paid, according to the Rockefeller Institute.

The reason a lot of states ... have a bad balance of payments is because the relatively rich states are paying into a tax system that has progressive rates  and they pay a lot, said Don Boyd, director of fiscal studies at the Rockefeller Institute, which is the public policy research arm of the State University of New York.

On a per capita basis, Californians paid $10,510 in taxes to the federal government in 2015. That ranked 12th in the nation. The leader was Connecticut at $15,643. Mississippi was last at $5,740.

The state and local tax deduction helps offset some of the higher costs for donor states by reducing the amount of tax money flowing to Washington, analysts said.

The deduction allowed Californians to reduce their combined taxable income by $101 billion in 2014  one-fifth of the total value of the deduction nationwide, according to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.

If the break is killed, taxes would increase for about 24% of all taxpayers, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. But the effect would be greater in high-income states. In California, about 26% of tax filers would see an increase averaging about $3,200.

The deduction is available only to people who itemize their taxes and do not take the standard deduction  about 30% of filers. Many are wealthier and own homes, with mortgage interest one of the top write-offs, although 56% of those who itemize have adjusted gross incomes of less than $100,000 a year, according to the Congressional Research Service.

But other changes in the tax overhaul also would affect the equation.

If the plan significantly reduces taxes on the wealthy and corporations, as Republicans have proposed, that would disproportionately benefit states such as California with high earners and big businesses.

This week, House Republicans plan to unveil a bill based on the framework released last month. It will follow Thursdays passage of a budget that allows for tax cuts that add as much as $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.

The local and state tax deduction has become a key element of the tax overhaul because it is one of the most popular in the federal tax code and is claimed by about 43 million Americans.

The Treasury Department estimated it will cost the Treasury $111 billion this year and about $1.5 trillion over the next decade. Eliminating it would help offset the revenue lost by the proposed cuts in individual and business tax rates.

The House bill also could simply limit the state and local tax deduction to property taxes instead of killing it altogether after an outcry from some Republicans in states that would be hardest-hit by the loss of the break, particularly New York and New Jersey.

But the Republican argument has been that the deduction encourages states and localities to increase taxes and that killing the break would make the tax code more equitable.

Is it fair that other states subsidize states that have high state taxes? House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) said on Fox Business Network last month.

California is one of the most mismanaged, highest-tax states in the nation and they use an argument inside that [state] Capitol that, Lets raise taxes because you can write it off on your federal income tax,  he said, referring to Sacramento lawmakers. Well, thats not fair for all of America.

Its an unusual argument coming from California, where politicians of both parties have complained for years that the federal tax code is stacked against the state.

California has been a donor state since 1987, when defense spending that had flowed to Southern Californias aerospace industry and other contractors began declining. The balance of payments has improved in recent years, but the state still gets less back than it sends to Washington.

In general, taxes paid are higher because we have more wealthy people in California and in general expenditures are lower because we have fewer people who are 65 and older who are receiving Social Security, said Ann Hollingshead, a senior fiscal and policy analyst in the states Legislative Analysts Office.

California Controller Betty Yee wrote to lawmakers in June warning them that subjecting our taxpayers to several billion dollars in additional federal tax liability will hamper the economic growth of our nation.

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, disagreed, saying the economic boost from the tax overhaul would more than make up for any additional dollars that high-tax states send to Washington.

Our state and local governments tend to receive the first benefits from a much stronger economy, he told reporters last week. We think thats good for California and New York and New Jersey and others.

Chu, the Monterey Park Democrat, said California would take a big hit from the loss of the deduction, further skewing its balance of payments.

We are the donor states that support the economies in states like Mississippi, she said. And to think they would dare to say theyre the ones supporting us, that doesnt make much sense.

jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com

Twitter: @JimPuzzanghera

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A profit-generating plan by JetBlue Airways to squeeze more passengers into its A321 jets by installing smaller bathrooms isnt working out as planned.

During an earnings call with industry analysts this week, JetBlue Chief Financial Officer Steve Priest said the bathrooms installed on 21 of its A321 planes are being sent to the maintenance shop to repair design failures with the space-efficient lavatories.

A JetBlue spokesman described the problem as alignment issues that led to out of service lavatories but declined to elaborate.

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JetBlue began repairing the lavatories in September and already has completed about a third of the 21 planes, Priest said. The Space Flex 2 lavatories are built by French manufacturer Zodiac Aerospace, which did not respond to requests for comments.

Traditional airline lavatories are located on either side of the aisle at the back of the plane but in front of the galley where flight attendants prepare meals. The Space Flex 2 squeezes both bathrooms, side by side, behind the food galley.

The design, which was introduced to the industry in 2014, can increase the number of seats on an A321 to 162 from 150 seats. JetBlue previously told investors that the additional seats could lead to a $100-million increase in revenue.

Priest told analysts the New York-based airline is hopeful it can fix the problems with the lavatories before adding them to its A320 jets.

Were doing this before we begin modifications on our A320s to avoid having to take aircraft out of service at a later date, he said.

hugo.martin@latimes.com

To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter.

ALSO

La La Land is the latest movie to push L.A. tourism

Too many tourists: Crowding is a big headache at national parks and theme parks

Tourism industry doesnt pay a lot but hires recent grads and the unemployed, study finds
In the late 1800s, when an ambitious group of would-be railroad tycoons began laying the hundreds of miles of track that would connect a fast-growing Los Angeles with its surroundings, a raucous town sprang up at the intersection of two of those newly laid rail lines.

Moses Hazeltine Sherman was the man behind those routes. One stretched east all the way to Pasadena, and the other was the famous Balloon Route, which provided steam and electric rail service from downtown L.A. to the sea. The maintenance facilities he built to serve his expanding rail network gave rise to the town, and Sherman gave the town his last name.

The railroad workers who called Sherman home were a rough bunch, and the towns location in an unincorporated area of the county allowed for a certain lawlessness. Sherman soon became notorious for its saloons and anything-goes atmosphere.

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As the motion picture industry began to move to Hollywood, the little towns location between Beverly Hills and the studios, combined with lack of a dedicated police force, made it a popular spot for nightclubs catering to the extravagant tastes of performers and studio execs.

As the Sunset Strip developed as a world-renowned center of nightlife, the town of Sherman embraced its location, renaming itself West Hollywood. Artisans and tradespeople who worked at the dream factories to the east began to move into newly built neighborhoods of modest bungalows.

Their creative energy and West Hollywoods live-and-let-live attitude also led to large numbers of gay Angelenos making their homes there, where they were free from the incessant anti-gay harassment of the LAPD vice squad.

In the 1960s, the popularity of rock n roll led to a rebirth of the fading Sunset Strip, which had suffered with the rise of Las Vegas as the place to go for the black-tie nightclub set. Hip new clubs such as the Whisky became the center of gravity for youth culture well into the 1970s.

In the 1980s, West Hollywood finally incorporated as a city. Gay activists and older long-term residents came together to create the new city as a way to preserve local control and to implement quality-of-life improvements such as the transformation of the former streetcar rail bed down Santa Monica Boulevard into a landscaped median with broad sidewalks on either side.

Neighborhood highlights

Eat, drink, etc.: Whether you prefer the grit and glitz of the Sunset Strip, or night club-hopping on Santa Monica Boulevard is more your speed, WeHo has you covered for nightlife options.

Walk score 100: With plenty of dense, walkable neighborhoods, West Hollywood is a New Urbanists dream.

Neighborhood challenges

That traffic: Unfortunately, West Hollywood bears the brunt of L.A.s crosstown traffic, which generates twice-daily gridlock on its east-west arteries.

Owning versus renting: Housing prices are high for an area with a relatively low median income and a huge percentage of renters. The citys strict rent control laws have made it easier for many retired residents to age in place.

Expert insight

Frank Bruno of Keller Williams Realty-Hollywood Hills has been operating in West Hollywood for 12 years.

You have anything your heart desires within a half-mile radius of where you live, Bruno said. If you take advantage, you can eliminate driving and the need for a car.

Architecturally, much has changed in the last decade, he said.

Theres a clear trend toward building modern homes, while other trends like Spanish-style homes are fading, Bruno said.

Market snapshot

The majority of West Hollywood is split into three ZIP Codes.

On the east side, 90046, the median sales price in August for single-family homes was $1.375 million, based on 30 sales, according to CoreLogic. Thats a 12.1% decrease in median sales price year over year.

On the west side, 90069, the median sales price was $2.663 million, based on 14 sales, a 15.8% increase year over year.

The southwest corner of West Hollywood, 90048, saw a 19.6% increase year over year, with the median single-family home selling for $1.86 million, based on 18 sales.

Report card

There are four public schools within the West Hollywood boundaries. They include West Hollywood Elementary, which scored 926 in the 2013 Academic Performance Index, and Rosewood Avenue Elementary, which scored 836.

Times staff writer Jack Flemming contributed to this report.

hotproperty@latimes.com
Music for Dracula. The very low profile of an 18th century Mexican masterpiece. Checking in with Renzo Pianos Academy Museum. And a last stand for artists in the Arts District. Im Carolina A. Miranda, staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, with your artisanally crafted, gluten-free arts newsletter:

HALLOWEEN IS UPON US...

 and Im busy preparing with repeat viewings of Donnie Darko and Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. If you want something extra special, however, you can always swoop into the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend, where Philip Glass and the Kronos Quartet will perform Glass original score for Bela Lugosis Dracula as the film screens. As Glass tells Times contributor Tim Greiving, I think its pure gold. Los Angeles Times

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If you havent had enough Glass this Halloween weekend, the composer has rescored Jean Cocteaus La Belle et la Bete as a classical opera. The 1946 film screens at the Theatre at Ace Hotel on Saturday (with admission to the Aces Beastly Ball), Sunday and Tuesday (with a Halloween after-party and costume contest) with a live performance of the Philip Glass Ensemble conducted by Michael Riesman and featuring vocalists synched with actors in the movie. L.A. Opera

Philip Glass, center, and the Kronos Quartet perform at a screening of Dracula in 2015. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times )

Plus, an exhibition in Hollywood looks at the history of Anton LaVey and L.A.s very own Church of Satan. L.A. Weekly

L.A.S LOST BAROQUE PAINTING

This one sounds like its straight out of a Hollywood art thriller: a missing 18th century masterpiece, thought lost for more than century, has apparently been hanging somewhere in L.A. since the 50s. Times art critic Christopher Knight chases down clues to where Espanola, a master work of the 18th century casta painting series by Miguel Cabrera, might be. Nobody seems to know. But a curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has been receiving some pretty strange mail. Must-read. Los Angeles Times

LAST STAND IN THE ARTS DISTRICT

Some of the last few artist buildings in L.A.s Arts District are facing rent hikes and evictions. I have a report on what this might imply for art in L.A.: The case of the Arts District raises the question of whether Los Angeles will continue to be a city hospitable to the ad-hoc artist communities from which bubble up groundbreaking ideas that shift currents and shape movements. Think of those paradigm-shifting California light-and-space artists clustered in Venice Beach in the 1960s. Los Angeles Times

Artists place a sign protesting evictions in the Arts District outside of artist lofts on Seaton Street. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

THE BUBBLE ON FAIRFAX

Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne paid a visit to Renzo Pianos in-progress Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which will occupy the 1939 May Co. Building and feature a sci-fi looking, spherical theater. The building, he reports, will not reach some of Pianos loftier architectural achievements, such as the Menil in Houston. But recent updates to the plan add up to a design that seems more grounded, rational and sure of itself. Los Angeles Times

Speaking of museums, there are fresh renderings of Peter Zumthors proposed building for LACMA. Urbanize.LA

A THEATRICAL GEM

Times theater critic Charles McNulty says its worth it to brave traffic for the wrenching new revival of August Wilsons Gem of the Ocean at South Coast Repertory in Orange County. The play  set in Pittsburghs Hill District in 1904 when slavery is still a living memory  isnt the playwrights best, reports McNulty. But Gem of the Ocean exhorts us to meet the responsibility of truth that citizenship demands. Los Angeles Times

Preston Butler III and L. Scott Caldwell in Gem of the Ocean at South Coast Repertory. (Jordan Kubat / South Coast Repertory )

Also on McNultys theatrical docket: Steve Martin and Edie Brickells country musical Bright Star, which just opened at the Ahmanson Theatre. The show, he writes, features some top-drawer performances  including lead Carmen Cusack, who has just the right amount of vinegar. But, the production, he writes, fails at the level of story: As dramatists, Martin and Brickell fall readily into cliches. Los Angeles Times

Carmen Cusack in Bright Star, the Steve Martin-Edie Brickell musical. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times )

ON THE MICRO LEVEL

A couple of recent concerts  the kickoff for the Santa Monica new music series Jacaranda and a performance led by French composer Pascale Criton at REDCAT  has Times classical music critic Mark Swed thinking about microtones (and the resonances they might have with climate change). Those in-between sounds that inhabit the spaces between the notes can alter perception. After a while, he writes, what first seems out of tune eventually starts to sound right. Los Angeles Times

Swed also reports on how violinist Gidon Kremer, who has spent a lifetime championing the work of adventurous composers, was back at Disney Hall with a program that included a most worthy cause: the music of neglected Soviet composer Miecszyslaw Weinberg. At the baton was rising conductor Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla. The show, writes Swed, was yet one more highlight of a highlight-overloaded L.A. Phil year. Los Angeles Times

Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, left, conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic and soloist Gidon Kremer at Disney Hall. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times )

THE GUGGENHEIMS CONTROVERSIAL SHOW

The Guggenheims Art and China After 1989: Theater of the World generated headlines for including works that featured live animals and video of fighting dogs on treadmills  works that were ultimately removed. Times contributor Scarlet Cheng looks at what the remaining works in the show tell us about China during that tumultuous period. She also speaks to the artists involved. More than 700,000 people are opposed to this work that involves living animals, says Huang Young Ping, but how many of those people have really looked at and understood this work? Los Angeles Times

A visitor passes a series of photographs by Ai Weiwei at the Guggenheim Museum. (Jewel Samad / AFP/ Getty Images )

COMING UP AT THE BROAD

Accompanying the blazingly hot Yayoi Kusama show at the Broad is an extensive public program that will explore the artists legacy. This will begin with three nights of concerts in November by the Joshua Light Show (who performed with Kusama in the 1960s) and a performance by Ron Athey in January that will delve into the Japanese artists ideas of obliteration. Los Angeles Times

IN THE GALLERIES

Stretched-out photo collages channel unresolvable conflicts in Dinh Q. Les exhibition at Shoshana Wayne Gallery in Santa Monica. They are works, writes Times reviewer Leah Ollman, where visual logic is subverted in what feels, viscerally, like an urgent bad dream. Los Angeles Times

She also pays a visit to Jordan Nassars one-man show at Anat Ebgi, which features a series of works inspired by Palestinian tatreez cross-stitch embroidery. It is a show, she writes, that is politically charged and impassioned but also whisper-quiet. Los Angeles Times

THE CASE OF ARTFORUM

A young woman who worked at Artforum has filed suit against the magazines publisher, Knight Landesman, in New York Superior Court over alleged sexual harassment. Amanda Schmitt claims that Landesman touched her inappropriately and that he made sexually explicit overtures to her. He resigned on Wednesday, and the magazine issued a statement that we will do everything in our ability to bring our workplace in line with our editorial mission. New York Times

Artforum publisher Knight Landesman at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2012. (Aaron Davidson / Getty Images )

Rachel Corbett reports on other women who have come forward with allegations against Landesman. Artnet

In the wake of the lawsuit, the Artforums editor in chief, Michelle Kuo, has resigned. ARTnews

And employees of the magazine have signed an open letter saying they condemn the way the allegations against Knight Landesman have been handled by our publishers. Artforum

Plus, former New Republic culture editor Leon Wieseltier issued an apology after being accused of sexual harassment. The Atlantic

IN OTHER NEWS...

 Dancer Steve Paxton, who made a name for himself as part of Merce Cunninghams company, is returning to the stage for a three-night gig in New York. New York Times

 Mean Girls is being turned into a musical. Washington Post

 Times music writer Randall Roberts attended a car concert. Los Angeles Times

Artist Ryoji Ikeda presented a composition in collaboration with 100 automobile owners. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times )

 Jori Finkel argues for considering Jimmie Durhams work, not just his ancestry. The Art Newspaper

 L.A. artist Cassils created an installation out of urine as a protest against transgender bathroom policies. Out

 Martin Wong, the late (and overlooked) San Francisco painter, is the subject of a major retrospective at the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. San Francisco Chronicle

 Speaking of Berkeley, scientists there are using optical scanning to recover sound from fragile wax cylinders that contain recordings of indigenous people. Hyperallergic

 Proving that bad ideas often live on like Rasputin: Pier 55, the $250-million waterfront park designed by architect Thomas Heatherwick for Manhattan, is back on. Curbed

 Architects Reza Daneshmir and Catherine Spiridonoff have designed a Tehran mosque that is controversial for not having minarets. The Guardian

 Freeways are falling out of fashion. (Shhh, dont tell the 405.) New York Times

 Critic Allison Arieff, on designing a more inclusive city. New York Times

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST...

What was L.A. like the last time the Dodgers were in the World Series? Reagan was president, Tom Bradley was mayor, Chevy Chase had hosted the Academy Awards. Meanwhile, I was a junior in high school and for sure thought Id be a history professor with a side gig producing a public access show about cooking. LAist

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carolina.miranda@latimes.com

@cmonstah
When it comes to Halloween candy, Californians crave M&Ms, Alaskans love Twix and New Yorkers favor Sour Patch Kids.

Thats according to a new report from the sugar-savvy folks at online bulk candy provider, CandyStore.com. The team there crunched the numbers for 10 years of sales data during the three-month period leading up to Oct. 31 each year since 2007 to reveal the top three bestselling treats in all 50 states.

With the National Retail Federation predicting Americans will spend a whopping $2.7 billion on trick or treat candy this year, thats a lot of chocolate and gummies and candy corn.

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The top three winners for California are M&Ms, coming in first, salt water taffy(!?) second, and Skittles third.

In Arkansas, they want Jolly Ranchers, and Snickers beat out Starburst for first place in New Hampshire.

Least favorite? According to CandyStore.coms calculations and its survey of 40,000 customers, ditch the Mary Janes, Good & Plenty, licorice, Necco Wafers, wax Coke bottles and candy corn. And the No. 1 least favorite treat: Circus Peanuts.

For a complete list of the top three bestsellers in all 50 states, check out the interactive map at candystore.com.

Bonnie McCarthy contributes to the Los Angeles Times as a home and lifestyle design writer. She enjoys scouting for directional trends and reporting on whats new and next. Follow her on Twitter @ThsAmericanHome

Home@latimes.com

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I joined the White House as a speechwriter in 2011, and wrote speeches for President Obama on the 2012 campaign when income inequality became a major issue among the electorate. In poll after poll, focus group after focus group, it was clear that tax cuts for the wealthy were massively unpopular. It was equally clear that the Republican Party was wedded to them.

Thats still true today. For nearly a decade, the centerpiece of the Republican agenda has been toxic with voters. This, to put it mildly, is a dilemma for a political party. As early as 2008, the GOP was faced with three options: A) dial back the tax cuts; B) persuade skeptical Americans that tax cuts would be good for them; C) find another way to win elections.

They chose C. Donald Trump is president today not because he championed conservative ideas on taxes and spending, but because he promised to reject them. He pledged to protect so-called entitlements and said on the campaign trail that hedge fund guys would be paying up. He did promise tax cuts  but said he would focus on the middle class.

Which brings us to the debate currently taking place. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center has analyzed Trumps framework. In 2018, the wealthiest 1% would receive more than 50% of the benefits. By 2027, the top 0.01% of earners would receive more than 40% of the benefits, while the bottom 80% would receive just 13%.

Faced with the unpopularity of tax cuts that are enormously regressive, the Republicans strategy is simple: pretend theyre not. With the help of some alternative math, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared that the average American family would get a $4,000 raise under Trumps proposal. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said the proposal is about helping families who live paycheck to paycheck. Trump himself has called his plan a middle-class bill.

None of these things is remotely true.

>> Click here to read more
The first stage of President Trumps controversial border wall project ended this week, while the prospects for further construction  and even what type of permanent wall  remain uncertain.

Ron Vitiello, acting deputy commissioner for Customs and Border Protection, said Thursday during a news briefing that the monthlong construction of eight prototypes along a section of Otay Mesa in southern San Diego County was complete. The announcement was made in the shadow  literally  of one of the structures.

With the 30-foot prototypes looming behind and beside him, Vitiello said the walls now will undergo a period of testing to determine how effective the designs are.

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The agency then expects to come up with a master design for a new wall, one that draws on what works and what doesnt in the prototypes.

That design would be for both the primary wall along the Mexico border and a secondary wall set several hundred feet north.

We are going to look at everything that is reflected here, Vitiello said, referring to the eight wall models, and then put out a new design standard for the immediate border barrier and the secondary barrier.

Each of the walls will be tested to see how well they deter climbing, tunneling and tampering by tools and machines. The tests and subsequent evaluations will begin a month from now and take one to two months to complete, he said.

The anti-climbing and tunneling tests will be conducted on the walls built on Otay Mesa, Vitiello said. The test to withstand breaching will be made on a set of mock-ups  smaller versions of each wall  at an undisclosed location in San Diego.

The prototypes were built by six companies that won a national competition. Instead of picking a winning design from the group, as initially thought, it now appears concepts of one or more walls will be combined into a new design.

The future of any wall building still remains in doubt, though. While Customs had $20 million for the prototype project, the cost of building a wall across the border  or even large portions of it  is estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars.

Congress is deadlocked on funding, with Democrats and many Republicans from border states opposing the project.

Since Jan. 25, when a Trump executive order called for construction of the wall along the southwestern U.S. border, officials have downplayed the idea of building across every mile of the border, which is marked by varied terrain, often rugged and rarely trafficked. Trump himself said the wall had to be see-through, and some Border Patrol officials indicated a preference for transparent designs so they can better observe the other side.

Vitiello declined to speculate about costs but said the need for the wall was real. Im no expert on price, he said. We think this works. We think it is valuable to do. We think its important.

The walls erected on a dusty piece of Otay Mesa include four fashioned from concrete and four from other materials. Two are see-though  with bollard-type posts on the bottom section topped by a solid portion.

Five of the walls have some kind of structure on top that appears to impede climbing or grappling. One is topped by barbed wire, while others have rounded steel fixtures on top.

All are sunk at least six feet into the ground to deter tunneling. Vitiello said the designs also call for underground sensor cables.

There has been speculation since the project began Sept. 26 that Trump would visit the site. Vitiello demurred when asked whether the president would come. Im not in charge of the presidents schedule, he said. He also did not say whether Trump would pick the design winner, something the president previously has said.

The project has become a draw for journalists and politicians, both domestically and internationally. News crews from Germany, Korea and elsewhere have descended on the mesa, shuttled to the building site two or three times a day by Border Patrol agents.

There is worldwide interest in this, Customs spokesman Carlos Diaz said.

There also was interest just a stones throw from the walls in Mexico. As Vitiello got a briefing on each of the walls before the news conference, a group of half a dozen Mexican federal police watched, looking over the primary fence made of old Navy landing mats.

Two Border Patrol agents standing in the bed of a pickup backed up to the fence on the U.S. side chatted amiably with the federales. At one point, Vitiello hopped into the truck and also spoke with the Mexican police.

Later he said he thanked them for helping with security on their side of the border. Were grateful for their help in making sure this project went off in a safe manner, he said.

Its unclear what will happen to the constructed prototypes, each of which was built for between $300,000 and $500,000.

Were going to see what happens on the evaluations, and then well make a plan to use them to the best of their ability, Vitiello said. Were not sure whether they stay here, whether they are part of the infrastructure system. That will be determined through the testing and evaluation phase.

Moran writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
A high-ranking drug cartel leader whose name flew on banners taking credit for a number of murders in Sonora, Mexico, has been arrested in San Diego on drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges, the U.S. attorneys office announced Friday.

Sajid Emilio Quintero Navidad, who goes by the moniker El Cadete, is the cousin of fugitive drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, accused of being responsible for the murder of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Enrique Kiki Camarena.

Quintero Navidad was arrested Oct. 11 at the San Ysidro Port of Entry and has pleaded not guilty. Authorities have not released any additional details about his capture.

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Enrique Kiki Camarena, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent killed in Mexico in 1985. (Anonymous / AP )

He was indicted by a San Diego federal grand jury on Sept. 22, charging him with conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine for importation, conspiracy to import the drugs and conspiracy to launder money. A sealed warrant for his arrest was issued the same day.

But Quintero Navidad has been on the radar as a major trafficker for some time.

In August 2014, the Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control labeled him a special designated narcotics trafficker  a designation under the so-called Kingpin Act that prohibits U.S. citizens and businesses from financial transactions with him and also freezes any of his finances in the U.S.

Quintero Navidad was identified as the plaza boss for the Beltran Leyva Organization in the state of Sonora, coordinating the shipment of tons of cocaine from Guatemala and Bolivia through Mexico and controlling important routes into the U.S., according to the Treasury. During a spate of murders in 2012, he was identified on banners in Hermosillo, Agua Prieta and Nogales as being responsible for the bloodshed.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Davis writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune

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Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont called Saturday for peaceful resistance to direct rule by Madrid, a day after Spains central government fired him and dissolved his government in response to Catalonias unilateral declaration of independence.

The Madrid government, meanwhile, began implementing its administrative takeover of Catalonia, the first such imposition of direct central rule in a Spanish region since the advent of democracy nearly 40 years ago.

Puigdemont, in a brief prerecorded statement shown on Catalan public TV, called for resistance to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoys directives, but offered no specifics about his own situation.

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Its very clear that the best form of defending gains made up until now is democratic opposition to Article 155, Puigdemont said, referring to the constitutional provision that Madrid invoked in response to the regions independence drive.

The article gives the Spanish central government the authority to strip a region of its autonomous powers in the event of a serious breach of law. Catalonia, like other Spanish regions, was granted autonomy powers under the 1979 constitution that gave it limited control over its own affairs.

The mood in Barcelona, Catalonias capital, was largely calm Saturday, following a night of raucous street celebrations  and some scattered violence  after the Catalan parliaments vote to break away from Spain. Local police patrolled busy tourist areas near the Catalan parliament and government buildings, where hundreds of tourists mixed with independentistas in the mild afternoon sun.

In Madrid, thousands flooded a central plaza for a pro-unity rally, waving Spanish flags and chanting that Spain must remain undivided. There were shows of anti-secessionist sentiment in Barcelona, too, though on a relatively small scale.

Long live Spain! a man in a red shirt and bicycle shorts shouted as he pushed his bicycle past a crowd in front of the main Catalan administrative building.

Spain put its deputy prime minister, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, in charge of day-to-day affairs in Catalonia. She has been a forceful advocate of the central governments stance that Catalan separatists acted illegally and that the independence votes  both in parliament on Friday and a referendum held Oct. 1  are invalid.

There was widespread uncertainty over how the Spanish takeover will play out. The start of the work week on Monday will yield clues as to how the regions 200,000 civil servants will respond; some have already declared they will not obey directives from the central government. One of Catalonias largest unions has called a 10-day general strike starting Monday in support of independence.

Another unknown was whether separatist lawmakers would be allowed to stand for parliamentary seats in the regional elections that Rajoy set for Dec. 21.

Polls have suggested that Catalonias people are split roughly equally on the independence question. The separatist side overwhelmingly prevailed in the Oct. 1 referendum, but less than half the electorate voted after the central government urged people to shun the balloting.

The opposition also boycotted Fridays parliamentary vote.

Pro-independence politicians struck a defiant tone Saturday. Albano-Dante Fachin of the secessionist Podemos party suggested in an interview on Catalan radio that the independence camp would refuse to take part in the Spanish-mandated balloting.

On the anti-secession side, the head of the Ciudadanos party in Catalonia, Albert Rivera, urged backers to take part in the Dec. 21 vote.

We had a sad day yesterday, but we also saw the application of the law and the constitution, he said. Our country is headed in the right direction.

As part of its effort to bring the secessionists to heel, the central government is seeking to further isolate Catalonia internationally, dismantling the regions informal embassies in Europe and elsewhere. No country has offered recognition of the independence declaration.

The Trump administration on Friday offered support for the Madrid government, a NATO ally, saying that Catalonia is an integral part of Spain. Europe, too, has sharply rejected the independence declaration.

The European Commissions president, Jean-Claude Juncker, called Saturday for respect for Spains constitutional order.

Twenty-four hours after the parliaments independence vote, secessionists were still expressing happiness, but said they didnt know what might happen next.

No one knows, said Pilar Morer, 70. This is a hard time.

Her father, a Republican, had been jailed in France under dictator Gen. Francisco Franco, and as a girl she had been forbidden from speaking Catalan in public, only daring to use her native language secretly inside her home.

Our fathers, our grandfathers, have been fighting for this, she said. We endure.

Barcelona street vendor Jose Manuel went about his business as usual, selling magazines, selfie sticks, and hats to passing tourists  an endeavor that earns him 450 euros, or about $520, a month. While he said he believed in Catalonias right to be independent, he worried about a potential currency change.

Its a big problem, the money, he said, before hurrying to attend to a customer.

Times staff writers Hennessy-Fiske reported from Barcelona and King from Washington. Staff writer Meg Bernhard contributed from Barcelona.

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

@mollyhf

laura.king@latimes.com

@laurakingLAT
Its now clear to everyone  with the possible exception of Donald Trump  that operatives linked to Russia took advantage of Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms to stoke divisions among Americans during last years presidential campaign. This meddling ought to outrage Americans regardless of their party affiliation.

Now, legislation has been introduced in both houses of Congress that would attempt to make it at least somewhat harder for Russians and other foreign actors to use social media to manipulate public opinion in this country and influence elections. Equally important, it would shine more light on the sources of online advertising in election campaigns.

The Honest Ads Act sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) would mandate that election-related online advertising be subject to the same disclosure and disclaimer requirements as similar ads in other media. It also would require online platforms, as well as broadcasters and cable and satellite TV companies, to make reasonable efforts to ensure that the political advertisements they disseminate comply with the existing ban on foreigners spending money to influence U.S. elections.

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Election law has been painfully slow to catch up with the growing importance of online political advertising. According to Borrell Associates, a data tracking firm, political spending on digital advertising in the 2016 election cycle amounted to $1.4 billion, nearly an 800% increase from the previous presidential election. (Digital advertising includes search, display, email, video, social media and mobile marketing efforts.) The figure is projected to rise to $1.9 billion in the 2018 election cycle and $2.8 billion in 2020.

Unlike radio and television stations, internet platforms arent public entities operated under a government license.

Online services have resisted the idea that paid political messages on their platforms should be subject to requirements that they identify those financing the ads; some have compared online political ads to trivial examples of political communication, such as campaign buttons or bumper stickers.

Those are clearly obsolete analogies. And while there may not be room for a disclaimer on a campaign button, software engineers should find it easy to satisfy the bills requirement that an ad state in a clear and conspicuous manner who paid for it. (Running the computer mouse over the ad, for example, could pull up the disclosure statement.)

Granted, theres always the risk that foreign governments and operatives will try to conceal their involvement by funneling money through innocuous-sounding groups based in the United States. The bill wouldnt make matters any better or worse on that front.

A more fundamental challenge for the bills authors is that much of the meddling done in last years campaign wasnt in advertisements  it was in news (and fake news) stories circulated, tweeted and retweeted online. Many of the posts attributed to Russia focused on divisive social issues such as race, gun control, immigration and gay rights. Such communications would largely be ignored by the Klobuchar bill.

What the measure would do is require internet companies to maintain records not just of election-related advertisements but also of ads related to a national legislative issue of public importance.

There are two problems with this provision, however. First, its a disproportionate response to the possibility that Russians or other foreigners may be violating U.S. election law. While foreigners are prohibited from spending money on election-related advertising, the Federal Election Commission and the courts have said they are allowed to subsidize issue ads.

A more serious issue is that, unlike radio and television stations, internet platforms arent public entities operated under a government license. There may be 1st Amendment problems with subjecting them to the same record-keeping requirements that are imposed on radio and TV stations.

The fact that Congress has limited power to regulate online forums for political speech doesnt mean that social media companies cant act on their own to be more vigilant about manipulation of their platforms by foreign actors, whether it take the form of deceptive advertising or fake news. After Facebook revealed that a Russian company with ties to the Kremlin had purchased more than $100,000 worth of divisive ads on its site, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg pledged to do our part to defend against nation states attempting to spread misinformation and subvert elections. On Friday, Facebook announced that it would require disclosure by buyers of political ads and adopt other transparency measures.

That sort of self-policing is clearly part of the solution. But so is measured legislation that requires transparency in election advertising regardless of where it appears.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook
The partial release of the remaining documents in the governments Kennedy assassination archive has revived an old legend: the Russian orchestration of the presidents murder. All it took was a few new tidbits from CIA and FBI reports about Lee Harvey Oswalds visit to the Soviet embassy in Mexico City in September 1963.

Lets suppose the plot was hatched when Oswald showed up at the embassy door in September 1963, just two months before John Kennedy was killed. The presidents Nov. 22 trip to Dallas hadnt been set by then; Oswald didnt have a job at the Texas Book Depository. To pull off the assassination, Russian case-handlers must have been not just evil cold warriors, but puppeteers possessed of amazing luck and clairvoyance.

Oswald went to Mexico seeking a Cuban visa. In the 20 minutes he spent with a KGB operative, he did not exactly present the image of a sophisticated hit man. But with their special powers, the puppeteers could no doubt ignore the cardinal rule in the recruitment of any foreign agent, much less a presidents assassin: reliability and access.

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It is no mystery why the majority of Americans believe that some grand plot was behind the assassination of President Kennedy.

Oswald was well-known to the Soviets as a whack-job. They had embraced him when he attempted to defect to Russia in November 1959, awarding him with a handsome stipend. But it didnt take. In the first year he spent in Minsk, he did not turn out to be the anti-American poster child they had imagined, and they yanked his financial support. Oswald was disgruntled too. Life in the Soviet Union was not all it was cracked up to be. He wanted to go home. His dossier, in which he was assessed as totally unreliable, remained in Russia.

The Russians could also have found out that Oswald had broken another rule of espionage shortly before he arrived in Mexico. A month earlier, he had made a spectacle of himself in New Orleans, handing out leaflets with other left wingers in the cause of Fair Play for Cuba, and had gotten himself arrested and photographed by the police.

But never mind, even if this walk-on was crazy and unreliable, the Soviet puppeteers could overlook that.

Heres where their clairvoyance comes in. They must have known Kennedy would be coming to Dallas even before Kennedy knew it. The trip was still being debated that September: Kennedys vice president, Lyndon Johnson, and his United Nations ambassador, Adlai Stevenson, who had been physically abused in Dallas, were leery about the Texas event. Perhaps Dallas, with its right-wing nuts, was just too dangerous a place for the glamorous, liberal president to speak just then.

So the puppeteers had to know in September that Kennedys vanity would overrule the worrywarts. They had to know the presidents motorcade would pass right in front of the Texas Book Depository, even though the route was announced only three days before the trip. They had to know that their man would be able to get a job in the depository, and that on the sixth floor of that facility was an empty store room, perfect for an assassins nest. (There is so far no evidence that Oswald ever met or contacted a case-handler after Mexico City.)

Getting their man hired at the Texas Book Depository would have been crucial. He got the job just five weeks before the event. How did they manage it? Perhaps well learn the answer when the redacted portions of the withheld documents are revealed.

The Russians magical powers keep piling up. Maybe instead of clairvoyance, it was their skill that established the motorcade route to coincide with the depository. This would mean they had penetrated the highest levels of Washington and Austin.

In the weeks before the November trip, hush-hush negotiations were underway between the White House and the office of the Texas governor, John Connally. For security reasons, the FBI wanted the president to speak at the auditorium in the Texas fairgrounds. It was larger and safer. But Connally insisted on the Merchandise Mart, a smaller facility but more pleasing to his big-business supporters. No, said the FBI, the Merchandise Mart was harder to secure.

No doubt it was the Russian puppeteers that made sure the FBI lost the argument, and Connally won. That way, instead of the presidents motorcade speeding through Dealey Plaza a full block away from the depository, it had to slow down to turn right onto Houston Street, and then slow even further a block later to turn left onto Elm Street in front of the depository to get to the Stemmons Freeway and then the chosen venue. The route was critical to the success of the conspiracy. Oswald wasnt a good enough shot to have succeeded without the turns and the slow speed.

And finally, there was the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle they must have had Oswald purchase through the mail. Not exactly a professional hitmans weapon of choice.

The Russian conspiracy theory is absurd.

It is no mystery why the majority of Americans believe that some grand plot, probably orchestrated by a foreign power, was behind the assassination of President Kennedy. For the greatest crime of the 20th century and perhaps of all American history, we demand a conspiracy of equivalent magnitude. That is the comfortable and lazy thing to believe.

Unfortunately, the real answer still lies in the demented mind of a wretched little man with a ninth-grade education, whose life was hopeless, and who was driven by anger, grudges and delusion.

James Reston Jr. is the author of The Accidental Victim: JFK, Lee Harvey Oswald, and the Real Target in Dallas. A senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, and an Army intelligence officer from 1965 to 1968, his latest book is A Rift in the Earth: Art, Memory, and the Fight for a Vietnam Memorial.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook
Can a student organization at a Catholic university get in trouble for adhering to the churchs teaching that sex outside marriage is a sin?

The answer to that might seem as obvious as the answer to the question Is the pope Catholic? In fact, a group at Georgetown University that sees marriage as a monogamous and permanent union between a man and a woman faces the loss of official status for violating university rules.

The Washington Post reported this week that a group known as Love Saxa was the subject of a complaint that it had violated rules denying benefits to groups that foster hatred or intolerance of others because of their race, nationality, gender, religion or sexual preference.

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Love Saxa faces a hearing Monday before the Student Activities Commission at which it could lose a $250 subsidy and other benefits.

For some Georgetown students, that would be a righteous outcome. An editorial in the student newspaper, the Hoya, argued: Saxas advocacy of denying individuals rights on the basis of their sexual orientations is inherently intolerant.

The editorial acknowledged that other groups on campus agreed with the traditional Catholic teaching about marriage, but noted that actively and vigorously promoting this definition  one that is directly intolerant of the LGBTQ community  is not a primary focus of their missions, as it appears to be for Love Saxa.

That seems a fairly dicey distinction: The Catholic understanding of marriage  one that even Pope Francis of Who am I to judge? fame adheres to  is permissible, but only so long as it isnt actually preached?

The controversy swirling around Love Saxa has scrambled the usual divisions in the Catholic culture war over sexuality. Not surprisingly, the group is being defended by Robert George, the Princeton constitutional law professor and pillar of conservative Catholicism. But it also has received support from the Rev. James Martin, the Jesuit priest who has been savaged by conservative Catholics for advocating a more welcoming approach to gay Catholics.

Why should a student group that espouses Catholic teaching respectfully be defunded by a Catholic university? Martin told the Catholic News Agency. As long as Love Saxa treats LGBT people (both on campus and off campus) with respect, compassion and sensitivity, as the Catechism requires, then they should be able to have their say on campus.

Fascinating as the controversy at Georgetown is as an example of intra-Catholic tensions over gay rights, it also reflects a debate in higher education generally about whether student organizations that adhere to traditional religious views of sex and marriage should be scorned as intolerant or hateful. When those institutions are public, the Constitution is implicated and the courts can get involved.

That happened in 2010 when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a decision by UC Hastings College of the Law to deny official recognition and access to school facilities to a chapter of the Christian Legal Society.

The organization required members to forswear unrepentant participation in or advocacy of a sexually immoral lifestyle, which it defined as sex outside heterosexual marriage. The law school deemed that this policy amounted to excluding students based on their religion and sexual orientation.

The 5-4 decision turned on a narrow issue  whether it was constitutional for a university to require student organizations to admit all comers. In his dissenting opinion, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said the court should have confronted a broader issue  whether the Christian Legal Society was being discriminated against on the basis of its religious beliefs.

If Love Saxa loses its status as a student organization at Georgetown, it might make the same complaint. The twist will be that the beliefs that will have been its undoing are the beliefs of the church that formed their schools identity.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Orange County at center of fundraising in Californias most contested races By Sarah D. Wire More than half of the money raised for the most contested House races in California is going to candidates in Orange County, another indication of its starring role in the Democratic effort to win back control of the House next year. Of the 80 or so challengers in California, 27 are running in Orange County. A Los Angeles Times analysis of this years campaign finance filings found it is also where the cash is going to: About $15 million of the nearly $28.5 million raised this year for 13 key races went to candidates in just four Orange County districts: Read More Facebook

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Gov. Jerry Brown plans climate trip to Vatican, Belgium, Norway and Germany By Chris Megerian (Eric Risberg / Associated Press) Gov. Jerry Brown has mapped out a busy European travel schedule that includes attending the next United Nations conference on climate change in Bonn, Germany. While the White House declares war on climate science and retreats from the Paris Agreement, California is doing the opposite and taking action, Brown said in a statement. We are joining with our partners from every part of the world to do what needs to be done to prevent irreversible climate change. Roughly two dozen public events are planned over 10 days, starting with a speech at a Vatican symposium on Saturday. Brown wont be the only California politician at the conference. Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego) is speaking later that day, and state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) is scheduled to appear Friday. After the Vatican, the governor is bouncing between Germany and Belgium, plus a stop in Norway to meet with scientists. Hes holding press conferences with the president of the European Parliament and the minister-president of Baden-Wurttemberg, a German state that has collaborated with California on an international climate pact. Once the Bonn conference begins, much of Browns focus will be on how states, provinces and other local governments can tackle climate change absent stronger action from national leaders. He was named a special advisor to the U.N. conference for states and regions earlier this year. Brown is scheduled to appear with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Nov. 11 and speak at numerous other events, a packed itinerary much like the one he kept at the Paris climate conference two years ago. His last event is expected to take place Nov. 14. Facebook

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California business tax incentive program should end, legislative analyst says By Liam Dillon California no longer should give specific tax incentives to businesses and instead should provide broad-based tax relief, the states nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office said in a new report. The analysts office examined California Competes, a program that began four years ago to give tax credits to businesses looking to move to the state or remain here, and found it puts existing companies that dont receive the awards at a disadvantage without clear benefits to the overall economy. Picking winners and losers inevitably leads to problems. In the case of California Competes, we are struck by how awarding benefits to a select group of businesses harms their competitors in California, the report said. We also think the resources consumed by the program are not as focused as they should be on winning economic development competitions with other states to attract major employers that sell to customers around the country and the world. California Competes has allowed the awarding of nearly $800 million in tax credits. The legislative analyst found that more than a third of the credits awarded through California Competes resulted in no change to the overall economy and put the states existing businesses at a competitive disadvantage. The analyst couldnt assess the value of the remainder of the credits because its impossible to know how businesses would have reacted had they not received them. California Competes is scheduled to end next year. The analysts office recommends replacing it by lowering business taxes overall or, should lawmakers want to keep it, tailor the program more narrowly to focus on attracting and retaining high-value companies. Facebook

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Electric companies found at fault in North Bay fires wont be able to pass costs onto residents under proposed bill By Liam Dillon Jason Miller, 45, plants an American flag on the charred remains of his house in Coffey Park. He had lived in the Santa Rosa neighborhood for 23 years. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) If electric utilities are found at fault in the recent wildfires in the North Bay, a group of state lawmakers want to ensure they dont pass along their costs to residents. Victims of devastating fires and other customers should not be forced to pay for the mistakes made by utilities, state Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) said in a release. Hill is one of four Bay Area legislators who said they plan to introduce a bill when lawmakers return to the Capitol in January to block any effort by utilities found at fault to recoup any costs from ratepayers. Investigators have not identified the cause of the wildfires that ripped across Northern California this month that left more than 40 people dead and thousands of homes destroyed. But the lawmakers said their legislation is motivated by San Diego Gas & Electrics efforts to recover costs from wildfires in that region a decade ago. Co-authoring the bill with Hill is Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael). Facebook

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Proposed initiative would end early release for some crimes, allow more DNA collection By Patrick McGreevy (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) A coalition including police officers and prosecutors on Monday proposed a California state initiative that would end early release of rapists and child traffickers and expand the number of crimes for which authorities could collect DNA samples from those convicted. The ballot measure is sponsored by the California Public Safety Partnership, and would reverse some elements of Proposition 47, which was approved by voters in 2014 and reduced some crimes deemed nonviolent from a felony to a misdemeanor. The proposed initiative would add 15 crimes to the list of violent crimes for which early release is not an option, including child abuse, rape of an unconscious person, trafficking a child for sex, domestic violence and assault with a deadly weapon. These reforms make sure that truly violent criminals stay in jail and dont get out early, said Sacramento County Dist. Atty. Anne Marie Schubert, a leader of the coalition. The initiative would also allow DNA collection for certain crimes, including drug offenses, that were reduced to misdemeanors under Proposition 47. Assemblyman Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove) said there have been 2,000 fewer hits matching DNA to cold cases annually in recent years. He cited one case from 1989 involving the murder of two young girls in Sacramento that was solved last year by DNA taken from a man in a drug case before those were excluded from DNA collection. If that case happens today, right now, it does not get solved, said Cooper, a former sheriffs captain. Changes in law also made theft of goods valued at less than $950 a misdemeanor, so some criminals are committing serial thefts and keeping each one to $949 or less, Cooper said. The initiative would make serial theft a felony. The measure also mandates a parole revocation hearing for anyone who violates the terms of their parole three times. A Whittier police officer was recently murdered by a parolee who had violated parole five times, said Los Angeles Police Protective League President Craig Lally, who supports the initiative. A representative of the group behind Proposition 47 said it was not reasonable to blame the ballot measure for an uptick in some crimes in some parts of the state. Fluctuations in crime have much more to do with economic and social policies and practices, said Tom Hoffman, a spokesman for the group Californians for Safety and Justice. Its so much more complicated than one piece of legislation as an issue. The proponents of the initiative need to collect signatures from 365,880 voters by the end of April to qualify the initiative for the November 2018 election. Facebook

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When men with power go too far: After years of whispers, women speak out about harassment in Californias Capitol By Chris Megerian Tina McKinnor, left, Sadalia King, Amy Thoma Tan, Jodi Hicks and Sabrina Lockhart have come forward to talk about their experiences with sexual harassment at the Capitol. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) It started with a dinner invitation from a former assemblyman more than twice her age. He had offered his services as a mentor, but his hand reaching for her knee under the table revealed other intentions. Then came the late-night phone calls and unexpected appearances at events she had to attend for her job in the Capitol. Fresh out of college, Amy Brown did what she thought women were supposed to do in these situations  she reported him. The former assemblyman accused her of slander, an experience that left her so humiliated that she left Sacramento for a new job in San Jose. I immediately got the hell out of town, Brown said. I felt like the people  the person  I was relying on for advancement in my career was preying on me. Stories like these have taken many forms through the years. Sometimes its a professional meeting that turned inappropriately sexual, or its a groping hand on a backside. In one case, a woman said a lawmaker masturbated in front of her in a bar bathroom. No matter the details, each story involves a man with power  the kind of power bestowed by voters, an influential lobbying client or a supply of campaign cash. And instead of wielding that power to shape politics or public policy, the man used it to proposition women or to touch them inappropriately. Read More Facebook

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Big jump in the number of House challengers isnt great news for California Republicans By Christine Mai-Duc So far this year, 80 challengers have reported raising money across California for the 2018 midterm elections, more than triple the number who had done so at this point in the 2016 election. Collectively, theyve raised more than $14.9 million, and 70% of that has gone to the four Republican-held districts in Orange County that Democrats consider key to their chances. There havent been this many congressional challengers in Californias House races this early in the game since at least 2003, and that could be bad news for Republican incumbents. Read More Facebook

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Californias Senate culture doesnt encourage women to file complaints. Heres how that could change By Melanie Mason Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), shown in September, acknowledged that the Senate could improve its procedures for reporting misconduct. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) In 2014, reeling from scandals that led to the suspension of three Democratic senators, Californias state Senate changed its policies to make it easier for employees, members and the public to sound the alarm about misconduct. A Times analysis of those rule changes shows a lack of follow-through to make reporting complaints more accessible. And the lawmaker who worked on changes in the Senates operations after that scandal says more could have been done. Then-Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) suggested at the time that the move would lead to positive cultural change and strengthen the integrity of this great institution. But as the Capitol now soul-searches over allegations of widespread sexual harassment, the current legislative leaders acknowledge the culture still does not encourage women to file complaints. The Senates effort to reform itself three years ago  and how it fell short  is instructive as both legislative houses embark on a new round of self-improvement. Read More Facebook

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Have you experienced sexual harassment in government or politics? Tell us your story If you work in government or politics and have experienced sexual harassment, wed like to hear from you. Please tell us your story using the form below. We will not share your personal contact information. Facebook

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California Assembly Speaker applauds Capitol staffers bravery in going public with complaint against assemblyman By Melanie Mason Gyore spoke publicly for the first time about a 2009 complaint she filed against Bocanegra. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) said Friday that the experience of a staffer who filed a complaint eight years ago against now-Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra illustrates why the Capitol culture must change. Elise Flynn Gyore told The Times about her experience filing a complaint against Bocanegra, who was then a legislative staffer, after she said he groped her and followed her in a manner she found threatening at a 2009 after-work event in a Sacramento bar. The Friday morning story in The Times was the first time she had spoken publicly of the incident and the complaint, which resulted in Bocanegra being disciplined. I appreciate Ms. Gyores bravery in bringing this incident forward. We have to change the culture in the Capitol and in society and her experience shows why, Rendon said in a statement Friday afternoon. How incidents of harassment were handled in the past can inform our current efforts to improve the system and to build a future where these injustices are prevented before they happen and no employee has to fear harassment or abuse. Bocanegra, who was first elected in 2012, is part of Rendons leadership team, serving in the position of majority whip. A top lieutenant to Rendon, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego), also chimed in with support for Gyore on Friday. I dont know Elise Gyore. But, I believe her & Im grateful for her bravery. This is unacceptable.  Lorena (@LorenaSGonzalez) October 27, 2017 Former Speaker John A. Perez (D-Los Angeles), who led the Assembly from 2010 to 2014, said he was unaware of the complaints existence until The Times report. He said he had never heard of any complaints  formal or informal  against Bocanegra, nor had he witnessed any inappropriate behavior from the Pacoima Democrat. Also on Friday, the organizers of We Said Enough, a recently launched campaign against harassment, thanked Gyore for sharing her story. This is an act of true courage  and we support every woman who chooses to do so. Sadly, this story is just one example of how the existing system fails victims and survivors. We are resolute in our call for action, the group said in a statement. The groups organizers added that they are calling for an overhaul to the complaint process  such as confidential reporting, an independent oversight body and whistleblower protections  to better guard against harassment. Read More Facebook

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Gov. Jerry Brown says California Republicans have slavish adherence to their partys tax plan By John Myers (Rich Pedroncelli/AP) Gov. Jerry Brown took aim at the sweeping tax overhaul plan in Congress and Californias Republican delegation on Thursday, saying their support of the plan is wrong economically and morally. Brown, who joined New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on a conference call with reporters, aimed most of his fire at the provision to cancel deducting local and state taxes paid from federal taxes. Both governors said it could have a profound impact on their states bottom lines. Brown criticized Californias 14 Republican House members for their Thursday budget vote, which allows for a $1.5-trillion deficit to help finance tax cuts. I know there is a lot of slavish adherence to the Republican leadership, Brown said. Its bad for California. Theyre doing a disservice. California and New York taxpayers have long been able to deduct the cost of paying local and state taxes from their federal tax liability. Both governors said Thursday they believed the effort by President Trump and Republicans to be at least somewhat motivated by their states voting for Democrat Hillary Clinton over Trump last November. Its using a handful of states to finance the tax cuts for their states, Cuomo said. Brown, who sent personal letters to all California GOP members of the House urging them not to go along, said the proposal was particularly unfair in light of how it would not apply equally to corporations. Its a gross manipulation of our tax code, he said. Its a Hail Mary pass by the Republicans. Facebook

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Heres why Republicans could help send Dianne Feinstein back to Washington  even if they cant stand her By Mark Z. Barabak Its the voters like Republican Larry Ward  conservatives who feel voiceless and adrift, bobbing like red specks in a blue sea  who could help usher the 84-year-old Dianne Feinstein back to Washington with a new lease on her Senate seat. Like most voters here in El Dorado County, Ward supported President Trump. He cant understand why Democrats and the media pile on and keep him from cutting taxes and fulfilling a campaign pledge to repeal Obamacare. He certainly doesnt think Feinsteins been too kind to Trump  the argument made by her newly announced challenger, Kevin de Leon. The state senator from Los Angeles and others on the left were spitting fire a few weeks back when Feinstein allowed as how she hoped, given time and a radical transformation, Trump might end up being a good president. Read More Facebook

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Car runs into immigration protesters outside Rep. Ed Royces district office By Sarah D. Wire  A vehicle drove into a group of protesters outside of GOP Rep. Ed Royces office in Brea on Thursday afternoon, but no injuries have been reported to police so far. (Tony Mendoza / Unite Here) A vehicle drove into a group of protesters outside GOP Rep. Ed Royces office in Brea on Thursday afternoon, but no injuries have been reported to police so far. The alleged driver, 56-year-old Daniel Wenzek of Brea, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He was booked and released pending further investigation, according to Lt. Kelly Carpenter of the Brea Police Department. Organizers say several hundred people were protesting outside Royces office, many of them arriving on buses after a morning news conference with elected officials and labor leaders in Los Angeles MacArthur Park. They were trying to deliver letters to Royce (R-Fullerton) about what losing temporary protected immigration status would mean to them, said Andrew Cohen, a communications specialist with the organization Unite Here. Read More Facebook

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California Secretary of State Alex Padilla backs Gavin Newsom for governor over former colleague Antonio Villaraigosa By Seema Mehta California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, left, and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Secretary of State Alex Padilla, the highest-ranking Latino in a statewide elected position in California, endorsed Gavin Newsom for governor on Thursday. Padilla said he had known Newsom for more than a decade and admired his track record as mayor of San Francisco and now lieutenant governor. Its always important to [have] leaders that are committed and get it done, and thats what Ive seen in Gavin Newsom over and over and over again, Padilla said, speaking to dozens of Newsom supporters at a union hall in downtown Los Angeles. The endorsement was seen as a slap at former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is one of Newsoms top rivals in the governors race. Padilla was president of the Los Angeles City Council during the two years Villaraigosa was a member of the body, and for the first six months of Villaraigosas tenure as mayor. But the two men have never been viewed as close allies. They come from different power bases for Latino politicians in Los Angeles  Villaraigosa from the Eastside and Padilla from the San Fernando Valley. They also have not supported each others political pursuits. In 2001, Padilla backed James Hahn over Villaraigosa in the mayoral race. In 2006, Villaraigosa backed Cindy Montanez in a state Senate race over Padilla. Padilla said he has a relationship with all of the top Democrats running for governor. This is a tough one because I do know Antonio Villaraigosa and I know John Chiang and I know Gavin Newsom, but I think that because of whats happening in the political environment at this time, this isnt one where we can sit back, Yeah. OK. Cool, lets see who wins and well work with whoever, Padilla said. If there is a candidate I believe is best for the future of California, Im compelled to weigh in and thats what Im doing today. Luis Vizcaino, a Vilaraigosa spokesman, said the announcement was to be expected and noted that Padilla had a leadership role in Newsoms short-lived 2009 gubernatorial campaign. The only surprise here is we thought Alex had endorsed Gavin months ago considering he was Gavins Campaign Chair the first time he ran for governor, Vizcaino said in an email. Villaraigosa and Chiang, the state treasurer, have also received key endorsements from Latino politicians. Villaraigosa has the backing of the Latino Caucus in the state Legislature, former Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina and Lucille Roybal-Allard. Chiang has won the support of Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar. Updated at 2:07 p.m.: This post was updated to add a comment from Villaraigosas campaign. Facebook

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Californias Rep. Paul Cook picked to lead Foreign Affairs subcommittee By Sarah D. Wire Rep. Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley) has been named chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) made the announcement in a news release Thursday morning following the former subcommittee chairman Rep. Jeff Duncans (R-S.C.) departure from the committee this week. As a former Marine Corps colonel, Rep. Cook is deeply committed to defending U.S. interests worldwide. I look forward to working with him to continue holding the [Raul] Castro and [Nicolas] Maduro regimes [of Cuba and Venezuela, respectively] accountable for their brutal repression, while increasing U.S. commercial opportunities throughout the hemisphere, Royce said in a statement. California holds several leadership positions on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) is the chairman of the Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats subcommittee. Rep. Brad Sherman of Sherman Oaks is the highest ranking Democrat on the Asia and the Pacific subcommittee and Rep. Karen Bass of Los Angeles is the highest ranking Democrat on the Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations subcommittee. Facebook

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GOP tightens restrictions on Rep. Dana Rohrabachers subcommittee because of scrutiny over his Russia connections By Sarah D. Wire Rep. Dana Rohrabacher speaks to Russian lawmakers at a meeting in the Russian parliaments lower house in Moscow in 2013. (Misha Japaridze / Associated Press) The congressional subcommittee led by California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) is being heavily monitored by GOP leaders because of allegations the Orange County congressman has been overly influenced by his connections to Russia. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) will be more involved in guiding the direction of the subcommittee that is in part responsible for examining U.S. policy in Russia, said a senior congressional aide who asked not to be identified in order to discuss internal committee matters. Rohrabacher has long said that the United States needs a better relationship with Russia, puzzling colleagues who have speculated privately about why hes willing to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Connections between Rohrabacher and Russian officials have been newly highlighted as Congress investigates Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Read More Facebook

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Californias GOP members vote in favor of Republican budget, paving way for tax overhaul By Sarah D. Wire All 14 California House Republicans on Thursday voted in favor of the GOPs budget, which paves the way for overhauling the U.S. tax system. The budget, which allows for a $1.5-trillion deficit increase that sets the stage for President Trumps tax cuts, passed 216 to 212, with 20 Republicans joining Democrats in opposing it. At the root of their objection is the potential repeal of the federal deduction for state and local taxes, which would hit especially hard in wealthier states like New York and California. Gov. Jerry Brown had implored the GOP members not to support the budget, saying there hasnt been enough time to fully understand what it will mean to the estimated 1 in 3 Californians who claim the deduction. Democrats are targeting nine of the states 14 Republican-held districts, and have said theyll make the elimination of the tax deduction an issue in the campaign. Rep. Steve Knight of Palmdale said he voted for the budget because hes been assured that a fix will be made to the tax plan that will address or offset the potential tax increase caused by the elimination of the tax deduction. The tax plan is scheduled to be unveiled next week. Still worried about it, still working on it, Knight said after the vote. I am confident [it will be fixed], but Ive also said that is my No. 1 priority, so if we cant get it fixed then were going to have problems. Facebook

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Gov. Jerry Brown urges California GOP House members to vote no on budget bill: First lets get the facts By Sarah D. Wire Gov. Jerry Brown implores each GOP member of California delegation to vote no on budget today over end of state and local tax deduction. pic.twitter.com/bkCihAtvFG  Sarah D. Wire (@sarahdwire) October 26, 2017 Gov. Jerry Brown implored Californias GOP House members to oppose their partys budget bill over a provision that will end a deduction for state and local taxes used by one in three Californians. In letters to each Republican member of the California congressional delegation, Brown asked the members to at least ask for more time to learn the specifics of the plan. First lets get the facts. Then, debate the issue. And then we can decide whats the right thing to do, Brown says in his letter. The potential repeal of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction  the federal income tax deduction for state and local taxes paid  would hit especially hard in wealthier areas. The vote is scheduled to take place Thursday morning. Facebook

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Six female California lawmakers back Dianne Feinstein in Senate race By Sarah D. Wire Assemblywomen Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, right, and Susan Talamantes-Eggman in May. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Six California Assembly committee chairwomen endorsed Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Wednesday over their state Capitol colleague, Senate leader Kevin de Leon. In a statement released by Feinsteins campaign, Assemblymembers Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton), Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks), Blanca E. Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) and Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) said the state needs Feinstein in these uncertain and difficult times. We are proud to endorse Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has been an inspiration for all of us. The first woman to serve on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Feinstein is now the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. In that position, she is defending California against the Republicans and the Trump administration on critical issues like immigration, womens rights, federal judicial appointments, LGBT rights, civil rights, and gun control, they said. De Leon is the highest-profile Democrat to announce plans to challenge Feinstein in her bid for a fifth full term. Facebook

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Kevin de Leon vows to back Medicare for all, signaling key issue in 2018 Senate campaign By Sarah D. Wire State Senate leader Kevin de Leons opening salvo in the U.S. Senate race against Sen. Dianne Feinstein takes on one of the main frustrations progressives have voiced with her, a refusal to support single-payer health care. I believe that every family, it doesnt make a difference who you are or where you come from, deserves to have quality healthcare. It is a universal right, De Leon says in a video released by his campaign Wednesday. Its not the exclusive privilege of the elite and the wealthy. The concept of single-payer healthcare has grown in popularity among Democrats since the 2016 election, with some members of the so-called Sanders wing of the party urging Democrats to use support for it as a litmus test in 2018. Such a program is unlikely to become law while Republicans control both chambers of Congress. Feinstein has said she doesnt support expanding Medicare to the entire population at this stage and has cited the cost of doing so as a reason. If he were elected, De Leon would join Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and 15 other Democratic Senators as co-sponsors of the bill proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Facebook

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Sen. Kamala Harris wont back federal spending bill without DACA fix By Sarah D. Wire Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that she wont back a bill that allows the federal government to spend money unless Congress has a legislative fix to address the legal status of hundreds of thousands of people brought to the country illegally as children. I will not vote for an end-of-year spending bill until we are clear about what we are going to do to protect and take care of our DACA young people in this country, Harris said. Each day in the life of these young people is a very long time, and weve got to stop playing politics with their lives. President Trump announced in September that he was giving Congress until March before the program would shutter and recipients would begin losing work permits and protection from deportation. An estimated 200,000 of the nearly 800,000 recipients of the Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals program live in California, giving the Golden State an outsized stake in resolving their legal status. Harris spoke at a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday with other members of the California delegation to urge quick action on the issue. It is absolutely urgent that we pass the legislation, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said. We are determined that the Dream Act will be the law of the land before the year is out. Democrats and Republicans are negotiating the details of a fix, and when something could pass. Pelosi has hinted that if Republicans dont have the votes within their party to pass the end-of-year spending bill, which Congress has to pass to keep the government open, Democrats will offer their votes  for a price. Facebook

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Rep. Dana Rohrabacher gets a second Republican challenger By Christine Mai-Duc A second Republican is jumping in to challenge GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, and hes pitching himself as an alternative for conservatives who are fed up with Rohrabachers controversial antics. Paul Martin, 52, is a freelance writer and self-proclaimed Reagan Republican who lives in Costa Mesa. Rohrabacher is himself a former speechwriter for Reagan. Martin grew up in Anaheim with an Italian immigrant mother and a Mexican American father, and says hes opposed to many of the policies coming out of the Trump administration. Ive had enormous struggle with the rhetoric thats coming out of Washington, D.C., and even more so with the rhetoric that comes out of Dana Rohrabachers mouth, Martin said in an interview. Its just not in the spirit that I grew up with. Following President Trumps travel ban announcement, Martin started the Christian-Muslim Alliance, a campaign aimed at fostering dialogue between people of different faiths. He describes himself as a raging centrist on a personal blog, where hes criticized Trumps response to white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Va., and Rohrabacher for taking money from the National Rifle Assn. Still, Martin says hes a true conservative who wants to focus on issues of human dignity and bring better-paying jobs to the district. Facebook

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Gov. Jerry Brown, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott send a message with their World Series bet By John Myers (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) As governors of states hit hard by natural disasters, the leaders of California and Texas hope to send a message with their wager on the outcome of the World Series. The winner will receive food or drink from either Californias wine country or Houstons best barbecue joints. The bet, made Tuesday before the start of the first World Series game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros, came with a request from both Gov. Jerry Brown and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for tourists to come back to those regions as soon as possible. While we dont expect to have to send any vino to Texas, we hope travelers from all over the world  yes, even the Lone Star State  will continue to visit California, said Brown in a written statement. If the Dodgers win, Abbott will send Brown Texas-style barbecue and a six-pack of Houston-brewed beer. Should the Astros prevail, Brown has promised wine from the Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino regions. Texas and California are recovering from some of the worst natural disasters our states have ever encountered, Abbott said in a joint statement from the two governors. As we work to overcome these challenges, our two states are united by Americas pastime as we cheer on our home teams in the World Series. Go Astros! Facebook

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California Assembly to hold public hearings to address sexual harassment By Melanie Mason Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, right. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)) The California Assembly will hold public hearings next month to address sexual harassment in the Capitol, Democratic lawmakers announced Tuesday, as allegations of pervasive mistreatment continue to ripple through Sacramento. The announcement comes one day after the California Senate announced it has hired lawyers and human resources consultants to investigate allegations of widespread sexual harassment and evaluate Senate procedures. In a joint statement, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount), Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D-Rancho Cordova) and Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) said that sexual harassment of any kind is intolerable. The lawmakers say a three-pronged approach is necessary to confront the issue: changing a climate that has been permissive to sexual harassment, offering victims have a safe place to discuss complaints and ensuring that sexual harassment is dealt with expeditiously and that the seriousness of consequences match the violations committed, they said in a statement. Vowing a comprehensive effort to address these issues, lawmakers said there will be public hearings in November to discuss how the Legislature can tackle the issue. The panel, tasked to discuss harassment, discrimination and retaliation prevention and response, is chaired by Friedman and was formed in June, though it has not yet met. The panel is a subcommittee of the powerful Rules committee, chaired by Cooley, which functions as the chambers de facto human resources department. As we move forward, we must remember that the bottom line is harassers need to stop their abusive actions, the statement said. The rest of us need to call out harassment and abuse by its name and stigmatize this behavior each and every single time we see it. Adama Iwu, who helped organize the public letter published last week decrying an atmosphere of sexual harassment in the Capitol, said she and some of the women who signed the letter were concerned if any victim would be asked to testify with no legal guarantee against retaliation. Furthermore, we are concerned about the divergent paths of the Assembly and Senate, Iwu said in a statement. It is imperative that we work with outside experts, as part of a public independent review with whistleblower protections, to address the pervasive culture of sexual harassment in the Capitol community. Meanwhile, the trade association representing lobbyists, the Institute of Governmental Advocates, said in a statement Tuesday that it unequivocally supports [the women who signed the letter] and any other person in our Capitol community who has suffered harassment. Dates for the hearings, which are expected in late November, have not been set. Facebook

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Recall effort against Sen. Josh Newman still on track after too few voters request to remove their names from petitions By Patrick McGreevy State Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), left, listens to debate in June on a measure to change the rules governing recall elections. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Of the more than 70,600 voters who signed petitions to hold a recall vote on state Sen. Josh Newman of Fullerton, only 849 asked that their signatures be withdrawn by the deadline, clearing a major hurdle for an election on whether to oust the Democratic lawmaker, officials said Tuesday. Opponents of the recall needed to get more than 7,000 voters to withdraw their signatures to deprive supporters of the 63,593 signatures needed to put the measure on the ballot, under a new system approved recently by the Democratic-controlled Legislature that slows down the process. Sen. Josh Newman has spent months lying to his constituents by claiming people were duped into signing the recall petition against him, and with todays tally, he has been unmasked again as a pathological liar who is unfit to hold office, said Carl DeMaio, a Republican activist heading the recall drive. We eagerly look forward to voters having a chance to vote him out for his lies and his decision to increase the gas tax. Newman won a close contest last November in a district formerly represented by a Republican. He was targeted for recall by Republican activists for voting in April for a $52-billion transportation plan that raises gas taxes and imposes a new annual vehicle fee. A successful recall would deprive Democrats of a supermajority in the Senate. Once Secretary of State Alex Padilla certifies that there are sufficient valid signatures based on the data collected Tuesday, the new process calls for him to notify the state Department of Finance, which will be given 30 business days to prepare a cost estimate for the recall election. Once the estimate is prepared, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee will have 30 calendar days to review and comment on the estimate, said Sam Mahood, a spokesman for Padilla. On the following business day, the secretary of State will certify to the governor that the recall has qualified for the ballot. That could happen as late as Jan. 11 if the reviews take all the time allotted. Gov. Jerry Brown must then call an election to be held 60 to 80 days later, or within 180 days if there is a regularly scheduled election within Senate District 29 during that period. There will be a June 2018 primary election for the Assembly districts that make up the Senate District, so Brown could consolidate the Senate recall vote with that state primary. However, the new, longer process could end up being abandoned if supporters of the recall are successful in a lawsuit alleging the new rules are improper. At the same time, opponents of the recall have filed a lawsuit to block the recall, alleging petition circulators misled voters by saying their signatures would help repeal the gas tax. The underhanded methods used to qualify this recall likely represent one of the worst cases of voter fraud in California history, said Derek Humphrey, a consultant for the Newman campaign. Now, millions of tax dollars will be wasted to redo an election the Sacramento special interests lost barely a year ago. Its a shameful waste of money that voters will soundly reject and vote to keep Josh Newman fighting for them in the state Senate. Facebook

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Rep. Devin Nunes announces investigation into Obama-era uranium deal By David S. Cloud House Republicans are opening investigations of the Obama administrations 2010 decision to approve the sale of American uranium mines to a Russian-backed company, and California Rep. Devin Nunes is at the forefront. Nunes (R-Tulare), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said at a news conference that his panel and the House Oversight Committee would jointly probe the deal, which President Trump has called the real Russia story. Nunes and other Trump supporters have raised the 7-year-old uranium deal while four congressional committees and Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III are looking into Russia interference the 2016 election and whether Moscow had any direct links to the Trump campaign. Read More Facebook

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Former deputy director of California tax agency says he was fired for whistleblowing By Patrick McGreevy The state Capitol (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) A former deputy director of the state Board of Equalization said Tuesday he was improperly fired this month after cooperating with a state Department of Justice investigation into allegations that agency officials improperly used public resources. Mark DeSio was fired Oct. 12 as the director for external affairs of the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, which recently was split off from the board in an agency shakeup. He has filed a whistleblower complaint and appeal to the state Personnel Board seeking reinstatement to his position. He alleges the agency before its split up was rife with nepotism and that there is improper hiring and use of employees from one fund to instead help elected board members in field offices. For more than a year, DeSio gave information about the BOE to the Department of Justice and several state agencies and auditors, right up until the time of his firing, said a press release from his attorney, Mary-Alice Coleman. Despite being pressured, DeSio refused to engage in certain activities. DeSios job was threatened multiple times during the course of his employment. In April, Gov. Jerry Brown called for a Justice Department probe of allegations that employees of the state Board of Equalization misused state resources assigning high-paid tax auditors to tasks such as directing traffic for community events promoting elected board members. Brown also set in motion steps that broke up the agency in June, putting the five-member board in one office, and tax collection and appeal system in two other offices. At the time, Brown cited serious problems of mismanagement identified in a Department of Finance audit of the agency, which is responsible for collecting $60 billion in tax revenue annually. DeSio said he has also provided information on alleged improprieties to the state Fair Political Practices Commission, which investigates political wrongdoing. Days before he was notified of his termination, DeSio said he told Department of Justice investigators that the board had misused 30 information officer positions as personal staff for board members. He also said supervisors overruled him when he refused to hire 10 new call center employees from funds not set aside for that purpose. He said 10 people were hired even after Brown had revoked the agencys hiring power. DeSios complaint alleges that in August 2016, board member Jerome Horton pressured DeSio to promote a particular employee who was funded by DeSios office, but actually worked in Hortons office. When DeSio refused, saying the employee was not the top-scoring candidate, the complaint says Horton became angry and his chief of staff threatened DeSio. Board Executive Director David Gau, the complaint alleges, contacted Desio and told him to either do what Horton wanted or be fired. After meeting with Department of Finance auditors, DeSio said he was contacted by Horton in November 2016. Horton demanded to know what DOF had asked and what documentation Desio had provided in response. DeSio said he refused to disclose what he gave the auditor. Horton threatened DeSio, saying, I only need one more vote to take you out, the complaint alleges. Horton disputed the allegations. If he has filed a complaint, the facts will show that I had an excellent professional relationship with Mr. DeSio and the allegations are not true, I had nothing to do with his termination, Horton said in a statement. Gau did not immediately respond to requests for comment. DeSio also alleged multiple cases of nepotism in the agency. In one example, he alleges agency officials improperly orchestrated the hiring of the man whose wife worked for a top manager at the agency. Updated at 3 pm to include comment from Board member Jerome Horton. Facebook

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Want the Sierra Clubs endorsement? Here are its standards By Chris Megerian The Sierra Club is setting some ground rules for California gubernatorial candidates that may want its endorsement. No. 1 on the list is independence from the oil industry, which has been a fault line in the Capitol during debates over climate change policies. This year, given how important Californias role has become to the nation for leadership on the environment, it made sense to lay out in advance what some of the overall characteristics that the endorsement committee will be looking for in candidates, said Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club California. Other requirements include independence from the tobacco and e-cigarette industry and a commitment to public health, environmental equity and transparency. Facebook

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California Senate hires investigators to look into sexual harassment allegations By Melanie Mason California Senate leader Kevin de Leon will hire two outside firms to look into allegations of a widespread culture of sexual harassment in the state Capitol. De Leon announced Monday he has hired the law office of Amy Oppenheimer to conduct an external investigation into harassment and assault allegations, and the consulting firm CPS HR Consulting to review Senate policies on harassment, discrimination and retaliation. De Leon also sent letters to lobbyists in the Capitol community detailing how existing rules protect non-employees. Theres always more employers can do to protect their employees, De Leon said in a statement. Everyone deserves a workplace free of fear, harassment and sexual misbehavior and I applaud the courage of women working in and around the Capitol who are coming forward and making their voices heard. The women behind an open letter sent last week calling out a pervasive culture of mistreatment in the political industry said that De Leons actions were insufficient. More than 140 women, including legislators, Capitol staff, political consultants and lobbyists, signed the letter. To find the truth and rebuild trust, we need a truly independent investigation, not a secretly hand-picked self-investigation, said Adama Iwu, a government affairs director for Visa who spearheaded the campaign. We need full transparency. How was this firm selected? Who will they report their findings to? What exactly are they investigating? Is the Assembly involved? Meanwhile, the women who have signed the letter, who have coalesced into a group called We Said Enough, announced they were formalizing their advocacy efforts on Monday by launching a nonprofit organization. The group plans to hold forums to outline a plan of action for improving how harassment and abuse complaints are reported, investigated and addressed. Facebook

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Kevin de Leon has millions in state campaign accounts that cant be rolled over to his Senate race By Patrick McGreevy State Senate leader Kevin De Leon has millions of dollars socked away in state campaign accounts, but federal law prohibits him from rolling over the money into his federal campaign for the U.S. Senate. So what options does the Los Angeles legislator have as he puts together a campaign to unseat Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a fellow Democrat, in next years election? Read More Facebook

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Gov. Jerry Brown heads to Washington to talk about the threat of nuclear war Facebook

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California Politics Podcast: What happens next in Sacramentos discussion of sexual harassment is important By John Myers Theres a big, challenging question beyond the initial shock of sexual harassment stories told by women working in California politics: What happens next? On this weeks California Politics Podcast, we discuss the allegations that have emerged from an open letter first reported by The Times on Tuesday. And a key part of the next chapter is how legislative leaders and the states major political parties respond to the concerns raised in the letter signed by more than 140 women. We also take a closer look at the new effort by wealthy activist Tom Steyer to demand impeachment proceedings against President Trump, and whether the San Francisco Democrat is thinking seriously about jumping into the U.S. Senate race. And with Gov. Jerry Browns action on hundreds of bills complete, we offer up a few notable decisions in those final signings and vetoes. Im joined by Times staff writer Melanie Mason and Marisa Lagos of KQED. Facebook

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Sen. Tom Cotton chides Californians: Your sanctuary cities werent enough, you had to have a sanctuary state instead By Phil Willon Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton addresses the California Republican Party at its fall convention in Anaheim. (Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times) Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton told California Republicans they should expect better days ahead, in part, because of liberal overreach by California Democrats on taxes, immigration and other issues affecting the daily lives of working-class Americans. Cotton invoked the memory of former president and California governor Ronald Reagan as a guiding light, and ridiculed House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) as a harbinger of doom. All it takes is a little new thinking applied with old principles. The principles of Ronald Reagan, Cotton told a packed ballroom at the California Republican Partys fall convention in Anaheim on Saturday. Cottons keynote address hewed toward traditional conservative themes and was peppered with light moments and witty jabs about the Democrats grip on California politics. When Jerry Brown has to veto your legislation because its too liberal, you might have to take a look in the mirror, Cotton told the crowd. It was a big departure from the speech the night before by GOP firebrand Steve Bannon, President Trumps former political strategist. Bannon unleased attacks on former President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). He told Republicans they needed to rise up in California or else the progressive left and lords of the Silicon Valley would try to secede from the union in 10 to 15 years. Cotton, who at 40 is the youngest member of the U.S. Senate, is widely believed to be eyeing a run for higher office. During the 2016 Republican National Convention, he was the most active politician on the breakfast circuit, visiting the South Carolina, Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire and California delegations. California, of course, is home to more than 5 million Republican voters and has been a wellspring of political cash for GOP presidential candidates. Cottons message of hope has been a running theme throughout the three-day GOP gathering as the state party tries once again to turn things around in left-leaning California. The partys share of the state electorate has fallen to 26% and no Republican has been elected to statewide office since 2006. Cotton, however, told the party faithful to remain upbeat. Californias Republican members of Congress play a pivotal role in Washington, and there are ample opportunities to rekindle the partys presence in Sacramento and throughout the state. Cotton zeroed in on the new gas tax and vehicle fee hike in the state, which would raise $5.2 billion annually for transportation and mass transit improvements, saying it would hurt ordinary Californians. If you live in West L.A. or San Francisco and you have the money to afford a Tesla, maybe youll be OK, Cotton said. What about the farmer in the Central Valley who has a pickup truck and needs to fill it up three times a week? He also took shots at the so-called sanctuary state law signed this month by Gov. Jerry Brown, which will limit law enforcement agencies from questioning and detaining people for immigration violations. Your sanctuary cities werent enough, you had to have a sanctuary state instead, Cotton said. So all your citizens will face greater danger no matter where they live. Before he took the stage, the state GOP played a short video introduction of the Arkansas senator, focused on his experiences serving as an Army officer in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Washington, Cotton was a harsh critic of President Obama and is considered a hawk on national defense. During a hearing in June, Cotton also openly mocked the idea of the Trump administration colluding with Russia. Facebook

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House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy criticizes Gov. Brown, lauds Trump at California GOP convention By Seema Mehta McCarthy is lauding Trump for his "character and vision and understanding," compares him to Reagan. #cagop17 pic.twitter.com/AlyvgOvQWF  Seema (@LATSeema) October 21, 2017 House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) on Saturday blasted Gov. Jerry Brown over Democrats positioning the state as the liberal resistance to President Trump and for legislative efforts to circumvent the presidents policies. Brown, he warned, could be viewed similarly to southern governors who sought to pick and choose which federal laws to uphold during the civil rights era. He focused on Browns recent signing of a bill to make California a so-called sanctuary state, which will limit law enforcement agencies from questioning and detaining people for immigration violations. I dont think history will be very kind to Gov. Brown, McCarthy told a few hundred delegates and guests at a luncheon at the California Republican Party convention in Anaheim. California is a critical part of Democrats efforts to retake the House of Representatives, with a focus on seven Republican-held districts that Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election. Only one of the Republican representatives of those targeted districts had appeared at the convention as of Saturday afternoon, Rep. Mimi Walters of Irvine. McCarthy said Vice President Mike Pence raised $5 million for the efforts to protect the seats during a recent three-day fundraising trip through California, but he did not otherwise go into detail about the congressional battle expected in 2018. He instead lashed out at Republican members of the state Legislature who voted for Democratic policies. My advice to those Assembly members in Sacramento: You will not win a majority by thinking youll be Democrat-light. You will win the majority by showing the differences in the party, McCarthy said. You will not win the majority by voting against your own principles on a Democratic policy, and let Democratic targets vote no. You will not win the majority if youre concerned about being able to stand behind a podium with a Democratic governor instead of giving the freedom to Californians across this entire state. McCarthy did not name the members he was speaking about, but it was clear he was referring to Assemblyman Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley) and other Republicans who voted for an extension of the states cap-and-trade program this year. Mayes stepped down as Assembly Republican leader under pressure from others in his party who were upset over his vote for the climate change program, which requires companies to purchase permits to release greenhouse gases. McCarthy spoke a day after former Trump White House advisor Stephen K. Bannon addressed the group. Bannon has declared war on the GOP establishment, of which McCarthy is a member. McCarthy did not push back at Bannons remarks, which included criticism of former President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Rather, McCarthy lauded Trumps vision, compared him to former President Reagan and pointed to economic gains and regulatory reform since Trump took office. What a difference nine months and one election makes, McCarthy said. What a difference: A man who ran for president on issues and keeps his word and actually enacts the things he promised to do. Trump has tried to enact many of his campaign promises but has been unsuccessful on several priorities, including a travel ban on citizens from Muslim-majority countries and a repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Tax reform is the latest priority on the Republicans agenda, and McCarthy promised that Congress would push a package by Thanksgiving that includes lowering rates for small businesses and corporations, and simplifying the tax code from seven income tax brackets to three. He also spoke out in support of one of the more controversial parts of the proposal: eliminating the deduction of state and local taxes. I dont think its fair for somebody else to subsidize poor management in California, McCarthy said. Look at the entire [tax reform] bill when it comes out, you will pay less. But no longer can Sacramento say, Im going to raise the rates just because Ill have the federal government subsidize it. They will have to be held accountable for when they want to raise taxes. Facebook

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Gold Star father Khizr Khan, who clashed with Trump during the election, goes after him again in California By Phil Willon Khizr Khan at the National Union of Healthcare Workers conference in Anaheim on Saturday. (Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times) Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim U.S. Army captain killed in Iraq who feuded with Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, on Saturday criticized the Trump White House for its clash with a widow of a fallen soldier this week. Khan, speaking to reporters after addressing a National Union of Healthcare Workers conference in Anaheim, said the families of all military members killed in combat deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, especially in the days and weeks immediately following the death of their loved one. It was disappointing to see the behavior of [the White House], Khan said, before criticizing Trump administration officials for standing in front of the cameras and providing a defense for the indefensible behavior. Khans comments came just days after the uproar over Trumps call to the widow of Army Sgt. La David T. Johnson of Florida, one of four U.S. soldiers who died in an Oct. 4 ambush in Niger. Rep. Frederica S. Wilson of Florida was with Johnsons wife, Myeshia Johnson, in a car when the widow took Trumps call on speakerphone. Wilson publicly described Trumps comments as insensitive, saying he suggested that the sergeant knew what he was getting into when he joined the Army. White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, whose son was killed in combat, defended the presidents comments, saying that he advised Trump on what to say and that the president was trying to praise Johnsons unselfish military service as well as offer words of comfort to his widow. Khan avoided attacking Trump directly or expanding on his remarks, saying he will address the controversy in more detail after Johnsons memorial services. The clash between Khan and Trump ignited after Khans speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. There, Khan ripped into Trump, then the Republican nominee for president. Hillary Clinton was right when she called my son the best of America. If it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America, Khan said at the convention. Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities  women, judges, even his own party leadership. He vows to build walls and ban us from this country. Trump responded by questioning whether Khans wife, who stood by her husbands side during the couples high-profile appearance, was silent because of her Muslim faith. The controversy ignited by Trumps jabs at a Gold Star family dragged on for days, and he drew rebukes from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). During his speech to the healthcare union Saturday, Khan lamented the loss of civility in national political discourse and pointed squarely at the president. He said the current White House has sown division by attacking immigrants and belittling political rivals. Facebook

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California Teachers Assn. votes to endorse Gavin Newsom for governor By Seema Mehta Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with participants of a march in Pan Pacific Park in Los Angeles commemorating the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian genocide in April. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) The politically influential California Teachers Assn. on Saturday endorsed Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom for governor, praising his support for public schools and his promise to hold charter schools more accountable. Gavin has long supported increased funding for education and is committed to making investing in students a top priority as governor, CTA President Eric Heins said in a written statement Saturday. He supports a public education system that attracts, not attacks, teachers, universal preschool and affordable college for all. The move is not entirely surprising given the antagonism between one of Newsoms top Democratic rivals, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and teachers unions in California. Villaraigosa launched his career as a union organizer, including for United Teachers Los Angeles, and labor played a critical role in getting him elected to office. But after he tried to gain control of Los Angeles schools, he questioned policies fiercely guarded by teachers unions, such as seniority protections that resulted in regular layoff notices to younger teachers who tend to staff the most challenging schools. He grew to support using student test scores to evaluate teachers and other overhauls opposed by union leaders. Villaraigosa, who eventually gained control of more than a dozen struggling city schools through a nonprofit, ultimately blasted the citys teachers union where he once worked as the largest obstacle to creating quality schools. The teachers association also passed over Democrat Delaine Eastin, a long-shot candidate who jumped into the 2018 governors race last year. Eastin, who served as Californias state superintendent of public instruction, has vowed to put education at the forefront of her campaign. The key question going forward is how much CTA plans to invest in the governors race and how it plans to spend it. In 2014, the union spent $12 million to defeat Marshall Tuck, a huge sum in an obscure race to be state superintendent of public instruction. A Democrat and former charter school leader, Tuck was hired by Villaraigosa to run the nonprofit that oversaw his schools. Tuck, who narrowly lost his race in 2014 against an incumbent, is running for state superintendent again in 2018. CTA on Saturday also endorsed his opponent, Assemblyman Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond). Facebook

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Bannons mention of Sen. John McCain, George W. Bush draws boos at California GOP convention By Seema Mehta  Former Trump White House advisor Stephen K. Bannon ripped into former President George W. Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain Friday night at the California Republican Party Convention in Anaheim, saying there has not been a more destructive presiden Mere mentions of former President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) drew loud boos and catcalls as former Trump advisor Stephen K. Bannon derided the GOP leaders in his address to California Republicans on Friday night at their fall convention in Anaheim. Bannon, who runs the far-right website Breitbart News, blasted Bush for his harsh assessment of Trump and his policies, which the former president delivered at a policy seminar in New York on Thursday. Bush suggested that Trump has promoted bigotry and falsehoods, violating this countrys values. President Bush to me embarrassed himself. Speech writers wrote a highfalutin speech, Bannon said. Its clear he didnt understand anything he was talking about.  Just like it was when he was president of the United States. Bannon, who was ousted from the White House in August but said he considers himself Trumps wingman, didnt stop there. He ripped into Bush, saying he allowed China to grow as a world power under the premise that global engagement might shepherd the county toward democracy. Theres not been a more destructive presidency than George Bushs, Bannon said. Bannon also had no love for McCain, who has openly clashed with Trump and helped torpedo Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The crowd at #CAGOP17 just booed George W. Bush and John McCain. "Hang him!" one man yelled about McCain.  Seema (@LATSeema) October 21, 2017 He praised McCains military service, but said as a politician, Hes just another senator from Arizona. The boos from the crowd of Republican donors and activists show how much the state party has changed as its influence has waned and its numbers have dwindled in California. The brand of conservatism belonging to Bush and McCain resonated with Californias GOP voters during their presidential campaigns. Both men forged deep ties with the states Republican elected leaders and donors, raising tens of millions of dollars here for their political campaigns. In California, Bush received 1.1 million more votes in the November 2004 presidential election than Trump did last November. McCain received almost 600,000 more votes in the November 2008 presidential election than Trump received in the state in 2016. Read More Facebook

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College journalists say covering Bannon at GOP convention prepares them for Yiannopoulos on campus By Anh Do Student journos Amy Wells + Brandon Pho of #CalSrateFullerton say peers are interested in party politics, esp info collected by young ppl. pic.twitter.com/b2MikBGnQD  ANH DO (@newsterrier) October 21, 2017 Student journalists Amy Wells and Brandon Pho from Cal State Fullerton teamed up outside Anaheims Marriott Hotel as night descended, assigned to cover Stephen K. Bannons speech and protesters targeting him. We dont underestimate how movements can pull in more youth, especially if they hear other youth pushing it on social media, said Pho, a sophomore majoring in journalism. Were always on the lookout for more policy to dig into because we have a lot of undocumented students on our campus and theyre way aware of national issues, added Wells, a senior pursuing a journalism degree. Pho and Wells said reporting on the small crowd of protesters will prepare them for much larger turnouts when provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos visits their campus at the end of this month. While Bannon is more provocative, he doesnt have the reach of someone like Milo who knows how to engage an online audience, said Pho, 19. We learn from watching how different public figures do outreach. Wells, 22, described the nights gathering as having the feel of a college campus protest. And of course, that feels familiar, with people here maybe figuring out what to do next. Small steps. Facebook

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Indivisible members rally ahead of Stephen K. Bannons speech to California Republicans By Anh Do Michelle Fowle, founder of The Resistance - Northridge, Indivisible, along w 100 supporters, launch protest vs. #SteveBannon in #Anaheim. pic.twitter.com/1yEdrUm9Si  ANH DO (@newsterrier) October 21, 2017 Growing up as a Republican in Southern California, Michelle Fowle said she automatically registered to join the party because her parents were also members. I didnt know the right civics, recalled the Northridge activist, 50. I didnt really know women died for the right to vote. I just voted for whoever I saw on signs, or whose names I remembered. Now Fowle is the founder of The Resistance - Northridge, Indivisible, which united supporters outside the California GOP convention in Anaheim on Friday to protest an appearance by Stephen K. Bannon. She joined a crowd of about 50 people across the street from the Anaheim Marriott on Friday night as they denounced President Trumps former advisor. They were separated from conventiongoers by metal barriers and a cordon of private security guards while police officers observed from nearby. Information and exposure and understanding show us that he is dangerous. Hes a very, very good manipulator, Fowle said of Bannon. His goal is to try and get rid of established Republicans and bring in more extreme people. Bannon is using whatever base Trump has left to recruit. Carolyn Criss, a retired film industry researcher, drove from Sherman Oaks to protest. Bannon is a clear danger to our democracy, she said. Criss said Trumps election awoke her dormant activist tendencies, and she now regularly attends protests against the president. She said she thought Bannons visit was an effort to amplify his voice while also helping the GOP raise money. I really hope the GOP just wants to make some money off him and doesnt believe what he says, she said. Facebook

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California lawmaker plans to introduce legislation to protect workers who exercise right to free speech By Mina Corpuz San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, left, take a knee during the national anthem in a 2016 game against the Rams. (Daniel Gluskoter / Associated Press Images for Panini) A California lawmaker plans to introduce legislation that would help protect workers from employer retribution for exercising their right to free speech. Sen. Henry Stern (D-Canoga Park) said Friday that the state should be a sanctuary for free speech, including the kind that some might find offensive. He said he will introduce a measure when the Legislature is back in session in January. It doesnt matter if youre Ben Shapiro speaking at UC Berkeley, a brave female employee standing up to misogyny in her workplace through the #MeToo movement, or a Dallas Cowboy playing in California this Sunday, he said in a statement. The Constitution does not limit speech based on value judgments so long as it doesnt harm others. Stern said the presidents attempt to urge NFL owners to fire players who kneel during the National Anthem is a troubling attack on the 1st Amendment. The Constitution trumps Trump, he said. Americans of all political stripes ought to stand up and defend it. The legislation would also help public institutions fund security for events that could include offensive speech. Public institutions and law enforcement shouldnt have to bear the cost of ensuring constitutional protections for such events, Stern said. Stern, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is part of the ongoing work to define hate speech and find a way to address it while upholding the Constitution. Facebook

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Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom fights NRA over gun control law in federal court By Patrick McGreevy Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Tim Berger / Times Community News) Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked the courts to lift an order that blocks Californias ban on large-capacity ammunition magazines, which was approved in November by voters when they passed Proposition 63. In June, a federal judge in San Diego ruled in favor of a request by the National Rifle Assn. to temporarily delay the magazine ban until the court could make a final decision on the law. U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez wrote then: If this injunction does not issue, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of otherwise law-abiding citizens will have an untenable choice: become an outlaw or dispossess ones self of lawfully acquired property. In a friend-of-the-court filing, Newsom and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence argued the ban on large-capacity magazines is needed to help prevent the occurrence of high-fatality gun massacres, and to reduce the bloodshed when these tragedies occur. Newsom, a candidate for governor, sponsored Proposition 63 with the law center. Its a tragic reality that as time passes, we are presented with more and more evidence on the devastating power of large-capacity magazines, which are consistently the accessory of choice in mass shootings for mass murderers, Newsom said Friday in a statement, predicting the federal courts would uphold the ban. Facebook

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State GOP leader says the new gas tax and high poverty rate make Democrats vulnerable in California By Phil Willon California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte, center, addresses GOP delegates at the state partys convention in Anaheim on Friday. (Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times) California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte kicked off the state GOPs fall convention with a speech to delegates that outlined why he thinks Democrats will be vulnerable in the upcoming 2018 elections. Brulte zeroed in on the new gas tax and policy declaring California a sanctuary state  both approved by Gov. Jerry Brown and the Democratic-controlled Legislature and both, he said, unpopular with California voters. He said Democrats have tried to deflect voter attention from these issues, as well as Californias high poverty rate and an uptick in crime, by continually attacking President Trump. Here in California, the reason they want to talk about Donald Trump is because they dont want to talk about the record they created, Brulte said. They broke it. They own it. If Donald Trump were not president, we would still have 22% of Californians living below the poverty line. Thats not Donald Trumps fault. Thats the Democrats who control California. The state GOPs three-day convention at the Anaheim Marriott will kick off in earnest Friday night when Trumps former political strategist, Steve Bannon, takes the stage for a keynote address to delegates. Facebook

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Far-right blogger Chuck C. Johnson gave bitcoin donation to Dana Rohrabacher By Christine Mai-Duc Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) speaks to Russian lawmakers at a meeting in Moscow in May 2013. (Misha Japaridze / Associated Press) Right-wing blogger and provocateur Chuck C. Johnson gave Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) a $5,400 campaign contribution weeks after he said he helped arrange a meeting between the Orange County congressman and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The donation, the maximum amount allowed by law, came in the form of bitcoin, a virtual currency. Johnson, who previously was banned from Twitter after soliciting donations toward taking out a prominent black activist, is listed on campaign finance forms as a self-employed investor who lives in Rosemead. Rohrabacher campaign spokesman Jason Pitkin confirmed the donor was the same person who helped arrange the Assange meeting. Johnson also recently sat in on a meeting between Rohrabacher and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul in the Capitol. Pitkin said they discussed Assanges legal situation and cannabis policy, among other things. Rohrabacher previously said Assange had emphatically stated that the Russians were not involved in hacking the 2016 elections but claimed his plans to bring the information directly to President Trump have been thwarted by White House staffers. Pitkin said Johnson approached the Rohrabacher campaign shortly after his trip to London and said he wanted to donate. He said, Do you take bitcoin? and I said, I think we can,  Pitkin recalled. The campaign then set up a bitcoin wallet to receive the funds, Pitkin said. Rohrabacher is not the only California House candidate this cycle who has accepted contributions in bitcoin. Democrat Brian Forde, who is challenging GOP Rep. Mimi Walters of Irvine, reported raising more than $59,000 in bitcoin donations between July 1 and Sept. 30. Facebook

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Government needs more women, Nancy Pelosi says By Colleen Shalby Nancy Pelosi has 30 years worth of insight for women starting out in politics. Shes run into plenty of naysayers over the years, but said she hasnt let other peoples doubt stop her. Her advice for those at the beginning of their career is simple. Know your purpose, she said in an interview Wednesday night before a Summit event hosted by the Los Angeles Times and the Berggruen Institute. The House minority leader said she hopes more women will run for office, calling their participation a necessity for government and the future. Whether its education, the environment, equal rights, womens health  whatever it is. Master your subject. Have a plan on how you will implement your ideas and you will attract support. Facebook

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This Los Angeles representative spent $105,500 on Hamilton tickets By Sarah D. Wire Rep. Tony Cardenas asks a question of Lin-Manuel Miranda during a town hall at Panorama High School in Panorama City. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Hamilton fever has caught at least two Los Angeles area members of Congress whove used campaign funds to purchase tickets to the hit musicals run at the Hollywood Pantages. Rep. Tony Cardenas campaign and his political action committee Victory by Investing, Building and Empowering PAC spent $105,500 in April buying tickets to the show, which is playing in L.A. until Dec. 30. Two fundraisers using the approximately 400 tickets have raised more than $300,000, a spokesman for the congressmans campaign said. For both Cardenas campaign and the PAC, the tickets were the single most costly expense of the year. Basically they saw this as an opportunity to have a nice fundraising opportunity and go to a show that celebrates American democracy, campaign spokesman Josh Pulliam said. The Los Angeles Democrat is friends with the father of Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony- and Pulitzer-winning creator of Hamilton. When the show opened in Los Angeles in mid-August, Miranda spoke to nearly 1,000 students in Cardenas largely Latino San Fernando Valley district . He raffled off some tickets to the show as an online fundraiser in September. Miranda has a history of supporting Democrats, and Hamilton has been used as a fundraiser before. In July 2016, Hillary Clintons presidential campaign hosted a special showing of the musical for donors, with a starting ticket price of $2,700. Cardenas held two fundraisers tied to the show. Miranda did not attend either event, Pulliam said. Pulliam said a few dozen tickets went to people in the community as gifts. He also raffled off some tickets to the show as an online fundraiser in September. Cardenas isnt in a particularly tough race for 2018. A Democrat and a Green Party member have filed to run in his district, but neither have raised or spent enough to require them to file campaign finance reports. Cardenas most recent report, which covers what he raised and spent in the last three months, shows he raised $232,389 and had $481,049 in the bank as of Sept. 30. Its fairly common for lawmakers or candidates to use sports events or concerts as major fundraising opportunities, especially when big names such as Taylor Swift or Bruce Springsteen play concerts in Washington. Rep. Maxine Waters campaign spent just under $11,000 on tickets to Hamilton in August. Reached by phone, the Los Angeles Democrat seemed surprised reporters were asking about the tickets. She said her campaign made $110,000 at a fundraiser using the tickets. Everybody does it, whether its a concert or a baseball game, she said. Several conservative groups have targeted Waters, an outspoken critic of President Trump, for the 2018 election. She won in 2016 with 76% of the vote over Republican Omar Navarro, who is challenging her again. In a statement released by her campaign, Waters stressed that fundraising at an event means the campaign doesnt have to rent space or buy food. These fundraising activities are similar and sometimes less expensive than the amount of money a candidate would spend to host a fundraising dinner within a private room at a restaurant or hotel  once you factor in associated catering costs, she said. The price for the Hamilton tickets was similar to what one would have to pay at these venues. There was nothing improper or unusual about the expenditure. Facebook

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California Republicans increase security at state convention ahead of Steve Bannon speech By Seema Mehta (Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press) The California Republican Party is ramping up security at its weekend convention in anticipation of protests at the Friday night keynote speech by Steve Bannon, a former advisor to President Trump and the executive chairman of Breitbart News. Part of providing a good experience for our convention goers is assuring your safety, state party Executive Director Cynthia Bryant wrote in an email to attendees on Thursday describing the security measures. Attendees will pass through metal detectors and their property is subject to be searched before they are allowed to enter the ballroom at the Anaheim Marriott, where the speech and dinner are taking place. Weapons, noisemakers and signs are prohibited. We did not make the decision for the additional security lightly and we know that it does impact your convention going experience, Bryant wrote. I sincerely regret that. Its a level of security rarely seen at political party gatherings in California. Convention attendees were also screened when Donald Trump, then a candidate seeking the GOP presidential nomination, appeared at the spring 2015 convention in Burlingame. That decision was made in consultation with the Secret Service, which had already begun protecting Trump. That convention attracted large-scale protests that at times turned into tense stand-offs between activists and police officers. Bannons speech is also expected to draw protests. Bannon, a conservative media leader, promoted Breitbart as a platform of the alt-right and needled establishment Republicans when Trump selected him to be the chief executive of his 2016 presidential campaign. His views as a nationalist, economic populist and nativist indelibly shaped Trumps message to voters. Once Trump was sworn in as president, Bannon was named White House chief strategist. He was a divisive figure in the administration, disparaging his colleagues to the media before he left the White House in August. He has since declared war on the GOP establishment, including supporting challengers to incumbents and other candidates backed by Trump. Facebook

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L.A. County Supervisors unanimously back Sen. Feinstein for reelection By Sarah D. Wire L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) The five members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors have all endorsed Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the senators campaign announced Thursday. The announcement comes as factions of California Democrats begin weighing in on the Senate race between Feinstein and state Senate leader Kevin de Leon next year. Its a snub for De Leon, a native Angeleno who has represented part of the city for more than a decade in the Assembly and state Senate. Sen. Feinstein has been our strong partner on the critical issues confronting L.A. County  homelessness, healthcare, and transportation. Her support for our county hospitals, including her commitment to our new Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital, has been essential to our countys healthcare system, Board Chairman and 2nd District Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said in a statement. Ridley-Thomas said the board members support Feinstein -- including the lone Republican on the board, 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who said in a statement that California needs Feinstein in the Senate. Ive worked with Sen. Feinstein for many years. Shes extremely knowledgeable and always prepared on the tough issues we confront. Shes a problem solver we can count on now and in the future, Barger said. Feinstein already has the backing of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which traditionally backs incumbents. Soon after he announced a challenge, De Leon was endorsed by Democracy for America, the progressive political action committee formed by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean in 2004. Facebook

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Northern California wildfires mean thousands of families will flood the regions already strained housing market By Liam Dillon Tom and Shelly Lanning, from left, talk with Lannings mother, Jeannie Anderson, on Oct.17, 2017. The Lannings have been staying with Anderson since they lost their home in wildfires. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Even before devastating wildfires struck Northern California last week, the regions housing market was in crisis. Home values and rents already were at or near record highs, and decades of slow construction has left few homes available for the thousands of displaced residents. The number of new families flooding the market is giving rise to fears of widespread displacement and even higher costs. The scope and magnitude of the rehousing is unfathomable, said Larry Florin, chief executive of the nonprofit Burbank Housing, one of Santa Rosas largest low-income housing providers. If you take 3,000 units being demolished in a market that was already dramatically constrained, its hard to imagine whats going to happen, where people are going to go. Read More Facebook

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California lawmaker wants to ban secret settlements in sexual harassment cases after Weinstein scandal By Melanie Mason State Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino), shown speaking at a 2016 news conference for ending the statute of limitations for rape, wants to ban confidentiality provisions from sexual harassment settlements. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) A California state senator says she intends to introduce a bill next year to ban confidentiality provisions in monetary settlements stemming from sexual harassment, assault and discrimination cases. Secret settlements in sexual assault and related cases can jeopardize the public  including other potential victims  and allow perpetrators to escape justice just because they have the money to pay the cost of the settlements, Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) said in a statement Thursday. This bill will ensure that sexual predators can be held accountable for their actions and ideally prevent them from victimizing others. The measure comes after revelations of decades-long alleged sexual misconduct by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Some of those incidents were obscured from public view thanks to monetary settlements whose terms required confidentiality. The issue has a renewed resonance in Sacramento after scores of women working in state politics renounced a pervasive culture of harassment and abuse in the Capitol in a public letter this week. Leyva told the Times she intends for her proposed settlement ban to include both private employers and public ones, such as the Legislature. 9:41 a.m.: This post was updated to specify Leyvas proposal would apply to private and public employers. This post was originally published at 8:54 a.m. Facebook

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Nancy Pelosi: Its your problem if you dont recognize that women are ready to do any job By Colleen Shalby Nancy Pelosi knows what it feels like to have to prove herself in politics simply because shes a woman. She says she experiences the pressure every day. But its your problem if you dont recognize that women are ready to do any job, the House minority leader said in an interview before a Summit event hosted by the Los Angeles Times and the Berggruen Institute on Wednesday night. When she decided to run for a leadership position in Congress, Pelosi said a man questioned her move. As if a woman had to be told she could run, she recalled. We just laughed and said poor babies. In the midst of a growing sexual misconduct scandal centered on Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein, many women are sharing their stories of sexual harassment and assault. No industry has been spared  women at Californias Capitol signed an open letter Tuesday outlining pervasive harassment in Sacramento. Pelosi said she wasnt prepared to share a so-called me too moment, but she thanked the women who have. The sheer numbers speak eloquently to the fact that we should get to zero tolerance, she said. Facebook

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Watch: The View from California political panel with John Myers Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers hosted a panel discussion about the view from California as part of our L.A. Times and Berggruen Institute Summit series. Joining him were state Sen. Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), Republican strategist Luis Alvarado, UCLA political scientist Lynn Vavreck and Alma Hernandez, executive director of SEIU California. We also had a conversation with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Watch that here. Facebook

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Watch: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi talks to the L.A. Times House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) spoke Wednesday about her view of national news, working with the Trump White House and the future of the Democratic Party. The event was co-hosted by The L.A. Times and the Berggruen Institute. Following that conversation, Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers hosted a panel discussion about the view from California. Joining him were state Sen. Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), Republican strategist Luis Alvarado, UCLA political scientist Lynn Vavreck and Alma Hernandez, executive director of SEIU California. Watch that here. Facebook

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Kevin de Leon: My whole life, Ive been told to wait my turn and know my place You know, my whole life, Ive been told to wait my turn and know my place. Well, its Californias turn to lead. And Californias place to be a shining example for the world and a stark contrast to the failures of Washington.  State Senate leader Kevin de Leon, kicking off his U.S. Senate campaign Read More Facebook

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Pelosi, in Los Angeles visit, calls on Congress to pass Dream Act By Makeda Easter Rep. Nancy Pelosi meets with young immigrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in downtown Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday called on the GOP-controlled Congress to pass the Dream Act by years end. Pelosi appeared at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights with community leaders and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival recipients in Los Angeles. The San Francisco Democrat said she has confidence Republicans and Democrats will be able to work together to pass the Dream Act. President Trump said we had shared values when we spoke to him, Pelosi said. I trust that he will honor that commitment because the American people want him to do so. The Democratic leader had conversations with Trump about continuing DACA after his heartless decision to end the program. Pelosi said that President Reagan was great on immigration and noted his immigration agenda protected a larger percentage of people than President Obama did with his executive order regarding DACA. She added the last three Republican presidents strongly acknowledged the value of immigration to America. A majority of the estimated 800,000 immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children live in California. These newcomers make America more American, Pelosi said. She noted there have been a handful of Republicans who support forcing a Dream Act vote via a procedural move. Still, her party is in the minority. You can have all the conversation in the world that you want, but youve got to have the votes, she said, encouraging moderate Republicans to support the Dream Act. She was joined by Democratic Reps. Jimmy Gomez of Los Angeles, Judy Chu of Monterey Park and Lucille Roybal-Allard of Downey, the first Mexican American woman elected to Congress and original co-author of the Dream Act. Roybal-Allard said the so-called Dreamers have lived in this country, they have grown up here, they have pledged allegiance to our flag. To do anything else but to protect them by passing the Dream 
Trump promotes sons Justice with Judge Jeanine interview President Trump promoted via Twitter an interview with his son Eric Trump just before it aired Saturday night on Fox News Justice with Judge Jeanine. Eric Trump on @JudgeJeanine on @FoxNews now!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 21, 2018 Eric Trump called into the show to defend his father from criticism prompted by the first government shutdown in more than four years, as well as a series of Womens March events that saw protesters in dozens of cities take to the streets to oppose the presidents policies. .@EricTrump joined me over the phone from Mar-a-Lago ! pic.twitter.com/Hro3TzUW52  Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) January 21, 2018 Speaking to host Jeannine Piro  who is reportedly an old friend of the presidents  Eric Trump offered effusive praise for his father, ticking off glowing statistics to illustrate the strength of the U.S. economy and gains against Islamic State fighters overseas. My fathers working like no ones ever worked before to bring back this country and to fulfill his promise to make America great again, said the executive vice president of the Trump Organization. He also repeated a sentiment recently expressed on Twitter by his father: That Democratic lawmakers forced a government shutdown on the anniversary of the presidents inauguration in a bid to distract from his achievements. You look at this whole government shutdown, and the only reason they want to shut down government is to distract and to stop his momentum, Eric Trump said. I mean, my father has had incredible momentum. Hes gotten more done in one year than arguably any president in history. Facebook

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Trump tweets: a perfect day for all Women to March President Trump hailed the nationwide Womens March gatherings Saturday. On Twitter, the president called it a perfect day for all Women to March, seeming to imply that those taking part were celebrating his administrations accomplishments: Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March. Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 Participants in the marches across the United States were actually seeking to deliver a powerful rebuke to Trumps policies and mount a crucial mobilization for this years midterm elections. But Trump continued to tout his administrations unprecedented success in tweets sent later in the day: Unprecedented success for our Country, in so many ways, since the Election. Record Stock Market, Strong on Military, Crime, Borders, & ISIS, Judicial Strength & Numbers, Lowest Unemployment for Women & ALL, Massive Tax Cuts, end of Individual Mandate - and so much more. Big 2018!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 The Trump Administration has terminated more UNNECESSARY Regulation, in just twelve months, than any other Administration has terminated during their full term in office, no matter what the length. The good news is, THERE IS MUCH MORE TO COME!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 21, 2018 In addition to the roll call of major American cities where womens marches took place  including New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Dallas, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta  protesters also raised their voices in suburbs and small towns, reflecting the aim of coalescing a broad-based movement on the anniversary of Trumps inauguration to oppose the presidents stance on immigration, healthcare, racial divides and an array of other issues. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Laura King. Facebook

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Trump calls shutdown a present from Democrats By Associated Press President Trump is blaming Democrats for the government shutdown  tweeting that they wanted to give him a nice present to mark the one-year anniversary of his inauguration: This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present. #DemocratShutdown  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 That comes after Senate Democrats late Friday killed a GOP-written House-passed measure that would have kept agencies functioning for four weeks. Democrats were seeking a stopgap bill of just a few days in hopes that would build pressure on Republicans, and they were opposing a three-week alternative offered by GOP leaders. Democrats have insisted they would back legislation reopening the government once theres a bipartisan agreement to preserve protections against deporting about 700,000 immigrants  known as Dreamers  who arrived in the United States illegally as children. Trump on Saturday accused Democrats of holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration: Democrats are holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration. Cant let that happen!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 Democrats are laying fault for the shutdown on Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress and the White House and have struggled with building internal consensus. In a series of tweets hours after the shutdown began, the president tried to make the case for Americans to elect more Republicans to Congress in November in order to power through this mess: Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 He noted that there are 51 Republicans in the 100-member Senate, and it often takes 60 votes to advance legislation: For those asking, the Republicans only have 51 votes in the Senate, and they need 60. That is why we need to win more Republicans in 2018 Election! We can then be even tougher on Crime (and Border), and even better to our Military & Veterans!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 #AMERICA FIRST!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 The stopgap spending measure won 50 votes in the Senate, including five from Democrats. Although the House and Senate were in session Saturday, it was unclear whether lawmakers would take any votes of consequence. Trump had been set to leave Friday afternoon for a fundraiser at his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., where he intended to mark the inauguration anniversary. But he remained in Washington and ended up scrapping his plans to attend the Saturday fundraiser. Read More Facebook

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Trump tweet casts doubt on likelihood of averting shutdown President Trump appeared to cast doubt on the likelihood of reaching a deal to avert a government shutdown Friday night in a tweet. Trump also sought to blame Democrats for what would be the first shutdown since 2013. His message came just hours before the midnight deadline by which lawmakers must pass a measure to fund government agencies, or some operations will cease. Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border. Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 Despite last-minute negotiations Friday between Trump and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, Congress remained deadlocked over a spending bill and the federal government was headed toward a shutdown at midnight. Senate Democrats  joined by some GOP deficit hawks and immigration allies  were set to filibuster a stopgap funding bill approved by the House on Thursday. A Senate vote was planned for 10 p.m. Eastern, and even White House officials predicted it would fail. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Lisa Mascaro. Facebook

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Trump signs surveillance law after confusing tweets By Associated Press President Trump on Friday signed a bill into law to renew a foreign intelligence surveillance program, announcing his action in the latest in a series of confusing tweets about the spy program: Just signed 702 Bill to reauthorize foreign intelligence collection. This is NOT the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election. I will always do the right thing for our country and put the safety of the American people first!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2018 Trumps tweet on Jan. 11 created chaos in the House just before it voted to reauthorize what is known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. He linked the intelligence program to a dossier that alleges his presidential campaign had ties to Russia. That caused people to wonder if he didnt support the program that allows U.S. spy agencies to collect intelligence on foreign targets abroad. Trump and other Republicans have alleged that Obama administration officials improperly shared the identities of Trump presidential transition team members mentioned in intelligence reports. Democrats say there is no evidence that happened. Shortly before the House vote, and after conferring with House Speaker Paul Ryan, Trump did an apparent about-face. This vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land, he tweeted. We need it! Get smart! In his tweet announcing that he had just signed the bill, Trump wrote: This is NOT the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election. I will always do the right thing for our country and put the safety of the American people first! There are no obvious links between the dossier Trump spoke of, which includes salacious but unsubstantiated allegations against him, and the reauthorization of the spying program, or between the program and Trumps oft-repeated claims that the Obama administration conducted surveillance on Trump Tower during the presidential campaign. Facebook

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In tweet, Trump suggests that Pennsylvania trip is a political one The White House press office was once again forced to walk back a tweet from President Trump on Thursday morning after he described a trip to Pennsylvania later in the day as a political one  a statement that would force the Republican Party, not taxpayers, to pay for the journey. The White House had said Trump was going to an industrial equipment company outside of Pittsburgh to highlight the good economy and new tax cuts, making it an official, policy-oriented event. It was widely assumed that the trip had a political cast  the area is holding a special election to fill a congressional seat vacated by a Republican who resigned. Trump, by his tweet, seemed to confirm that politics was the whole purpose: Will be going to Pennsylvania today in order to give my total support to RICK SACCONE, running for Congress in a Special Election (March 13). Rick is a great guy. We need more Republicans to continue our already successful agenda!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 Trump later shared via Twitter a pair of video clips of his speech at H&K Equipment, in which he touted the tax cuts he signed into law just before Christmas and tried to turn the conversation back to his accomplishments after weeks dominated by distractions, including questions about his mental health and comments about immigration that some considered racist: Departing Pittsburgh now, where it was my great honor to stand with our incredible workers, and to show the world that AMERICA is back - and we are coming back bigger and better and stronger than ever before! pic.twitter.com/kWPgylqFzj  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 AMERICA will once again be a NATION that thinks big, dreams bigger, and always reaches for the stars. YOU are the ones who will shape Americas destiny. YOU are the ones who will restore our prosperity. And YOU are the ones who are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! #MAGA pic.twitter.com/f2abNK47II  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 The Republican National Committee, rather than the White House, is supposed to pay for political travel so that taxpayers are not financing party activities; for trips that combine policy and politics, parties have split the cost under past presidents. Neither the RNC nor the White House responded to emails sent Thursday asking who would pay. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement later Thursday suggesting that taxpayers would foot the bill. She insisted that Trump would be conducting government business while in Pennsylvania. Read More This post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writer Noah Bierman. Facebook

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Trump tweets praise of Bob Dole after awarding him Congressional Gold Medal By Associated Press Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole knew the art of the deal before President Trump published the 1987 book of the same name. The two shared a stage under the Capitol dome Wednesday as Dole, 94, accepted Congress highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, for his World War II service and decades of work in the House and Senate. Trump later praised Dole in a tweet, attaching to his message a video composed of clips from the ceremony: Today, we witnessed an incredible moment in history  the presentation of Congress highest civilian honor to our friend, and true AMERICAN HERO, Bob Dole. #CongressionalGoldMedal pic.twitter.com/qNQqDLRmCk  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2018 At the ceremony, the president saluted Dole as a patriot and gave tribute to Doles struggle as a veteran who worked his way back from a grievous shoulder wound he suffered in Italy. He knows about grit, said Trump. But it was Doles penchant for working across the aisle that earned him his latest award, according to the legislation. Bob Dole was known for his ability to work across the aisle and embrace practical bipartisanship, reads the legislation Trump signed in September. Some of the awards 300 recipients include George Washington and Mother Teresa, according to the Congressional Research Service. Read More Facebook

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Trump touts report that seeks to link terrorism cases with immigration By Joseph Tanfani The Trump administration on Tuesday released a report attempting to link terrorism with migration, arguing that it was evidence of the need to dramatically reshape the nations immigration system. New report from DOJ & DHS shows that nearly 3 in 4 individuals convicted of terrorism-related charges are foreign-born. We have submitted to Congress a list of resources and reforms....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 ....we need to keep America safe, including moving away from a random chain migration and lottery system, to one that is merit-based. https://t.co/7PtoSFK1n2  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 The report, ordered by President Trump in an executive order last year, said that 75% of the 549 people convicted of terrorism charges since 9/11 were born outside the U.S. Administration officials called that a sign that the U.S. needs to scrap its policy of family preferences for visas, which they call chain migration, and a diversity visa lottery program. But the report did not specify how many  if any  of the convicted terrorists entered the country through those means. It also did not detail how many of the convictions were related to attacks or plans in the U.S. versus overseas and how many involved people who went to fight overseas for the Islamic State or another terrorist group. Those details were not available, officials said. The report, due last year, is being released in a highly charged moment in the immigration debate, as Trump and some Republicans in Congress seek tough new border and immigration measures in return for a deal protecting the 690,000 people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Trump also fired off a pair of tweets on the topic earlier Tuesday: We must have Security at our VERY DANGEROUS SOUTHERN BORDER, and we must have a great WALL to help protect us, and to help stop the massive inflow of drugs pouring into our country!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 The Democrats want to shut down the Government over Amnesty for all and Border Security. The biggest loser will be our rapidly rebuilding Military, at a time we need it more than ever. We need a merit based system of immigration, and we need it now! No more dangerous Lottery.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 The focus of our immigration system should be assimilation, a senior administration official said on Tuesday, speaking on condition that his name not be used. He said the nation should give priority to potential immigrants who speak English, who have an education and those who are committed to supporting our values  not family members of people already here. The official said the timing of the report was coincidental. Read More Facebook

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Trump tweets welcome to president of Kazakhstan By Associated Press President Trump said Tuesday that he and the president of Kazakhstan are united in a shared determination to prevent North Korea from threatening the world with nuclear devastation. Trump and President Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed North Korea along with other issues during meetings at the White House. Today, it was my honor to welcome President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan to the @WhiteHouse! pic.twitter.com/TerYFZViax  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 Trump said Kazakhstan, once part of the Soviet Union, is a valued partner in our efforts to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons. Together we are determined to prevent the North Korean regime from threatening the world with nuclear devastation, he said, as both presidents addressed journalists between meetings. Nazarbayev noted that his country once had one of the worlds largest nuclear arsenals but voluntarily gave it up after the Soviet Union collapsed. He said his country is in talks with Iran, which was the focus of a global deal that lifted some economic sanctions in exchange for Irans curbing its nuclear program. Trump has sharply criticized the Iran nuclear deal and threatened last week to pull out soon unless other countries fix what he says are terrible flaws. Read More Facebook

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Trump falsely claims his approval rating among black Americans has doubled By Alex Wigglesworth President Trump lashed out at the news media Tuesday morning in a tweet denouncing the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion among members of his campaign team. Do you notice the Fake News Mainstream Media never likes covering the great and record setting economic news, but rather talks about anything negative or that can be turned into the negative. The Russian Collusion Hoax is dead, except as it pertains to the Dems. Public gets it!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 It wasnt immediately clear exactly what prompted the presidents tweet, but it appeared as though he was watching Fox & Friends. A short time later, Trump tweeted a headline from a report that aired during that mornings episode: 90% of Trump 2017 news coverage was negative -and much of it contrived!@foxandfriends  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 The segment focused on the latest survey results from conservative watchdog Media Research Center, which purportedly analyzed the evening news broadcasts on ABC, CBS and NBC from Jan. 20 to Dec. 31 and found that 90% of the statements made about Trump were negative. Study: 90% of Trump media coverage in 2017 was negative pic.twitter.com/vbrwup4Drg  FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) January 16, 2018 But believe it or not, through all this negative coverage, they did a survey of 600,000 people about how black America views this president, co-host Brian Kilmeade said. His numbers have actually doubled in approval. Trump highlighted the statement in another tweet: Unemployment for Black Americans is the lowest ever recorded. Trump approval ratings with Black Americans has doubled. Thank you, and it will get even (much) better! @FoxNews  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 But its not true. The claim appears to have originated from a misreading of data from the online polling firm SurveyMonkey, according to factcheck.org. The firm polled 600,000 Americans in 2017 and found that Trumps approval rating among blacks actually dropped from 23% early in his presidency to about 17%, as of the week ending Jan. 3. Some conservative outlets, including Breitbart, produced an average from those and other SurveyMonkey figures and compared them to the scores Trump received from black voters in the 2016 exit polls. That methodology is not sound. And since the statistics measure different things, the comparison is misleading. Facebook

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Trump goes after senator who surfaced his immigration remark By Associated Press President Trump turned his Twitter torment Monday on the Democrat in the room where immigration talks with lawmakers took a famously coarse turn, saying Sen. Richard J. Durbin misrepresented what he had said about African nations and Haiti and, in the process, undermined the trust needed to make a deal. Senator Dicky Durbin totally misrepresented what was said at the DACA meeting, Trump tweeted, using a nickname to needle the Illinois senator. Deals cant get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our Military. Senator Dicky Durbin totally misrepresented what was said at the DACA meeting. Deals cant get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our Military.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2018 Trump was referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects young people who came to the United States illegally as children. Members of Congress from both parties are trying to strike a deal that Trump would support to extend that protection. Trump also cast doubt on the likelihood of reaching an agreement in tweets sent earlier Monday: Statement by me last night in Florida: Honestly, I dont think the Democrats want to make a deal. They talk about DACA, but they dont want to help..We are ready, willing and able to make a deal but they dont want to. They dont want security at the border, they dont want.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2018 ...to stop drugs, they want to take money away from our military which we cannot do. My standard is very simple, AMERICA FIRST & MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2018 On a day of remembrance for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Trump spent time at his golf course with no public events, bypassing the acts of service that his predecessors staged in honor of the civil rights leader. Instead, Trump dedicated his weekly address to Kings memory, saying Kings dream and Americas are the same: A world where people are judged by who they are, not how they look or where they come from. That message was a distinct counterpoint to words attributed to Trump by Durbin and others at a meeting last week, when the question of where immigrants come from seemed at the forefront of Trumps concerns. Some participants and others familiar with the conversation said Trump challenged immigration from shithole countries of Africa and disparaged Haiti as well. Without explicitly denying using that word, Trump lashed out at the Democratic senator, who said Trump uttered it on several occasions. Read More Facebook

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Trump thanks pundit for laudatory Fox & Friends spot By Alex Wigglesworth President Trump thanked Fox News personality Stuart Varney after Varney praised Trump during an appearance on Fox & Friends. In a pair of tweets early Sunday, Trump quoted from Varneys commentary, in which he argued that Trump deserves more credit for the booming economy. The pundit, who also hosts a show on Fox Business Network, cited moves by some corporations to raise workers minimum wage or pay out one-time bonuses in response to the GOP tax cuts. President Trump is not getting the credit he deserves for the economy. Tax Cut bonuses to more than 2,000,000 workers. Most explosive Stock Market rally that weve seen in modern times. 18,000 to 26,000 from Election, and grounded in profitability and growth. All Trump, not 0...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2018 ...big unnecessary regulation cuts made it all possible (among many other things). President Trump reversed the policies of President Obama, and reversed our economic decline. Thank you Stuart Varney. @foxandfriends  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2018 Varney was reacting to a quote from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who on Thursday called the bonuses handed down to workers pathetic in comparison to the gains corporations are expected to see from the tax cuts. In terms of the bonus that corporate America received versus the crumbs that they are giving to workers to kind of put the schmooze on is so pathetic, Pelosi told reporters. Its pathetic. Varney shot back Sunday that the bonuses, along with explosive stock market growth, are enriching all Americans. This is a huge shot in the arm, its the result of this tax cut deal and I think President Trump should get the credit for it, he said. .@Varneyco Sets the economic record straight after Nancy Pelosi calls U.S. mass bonuses crumbs pic.twitter.com/BvjIHGm3HE  FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) January 14, 2018 The sweeping tax plan passed last month lowers the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and cuts personal income taxes. Analysts say the benefits will largely flow to corporations and the wealthy, as theyre more likely to be in positions to share in corporate profits. For instance, Wells Fargo & Co., which responded to news of the tax overhaul by announcing it will raise workers pay to at least $15 an hour, also reported that it expects to pay an effective tax rate of 19% this year, down from about 31% in previous years. That should amount to tax savings of more than $3 billion annually. On average, middle-class Americans are expected to see a very small tax cut in the near term and a tax increase after 2025, when all of the tax cuts for individuals expire. The tax cuts for corporations, however, are permanent.  This post contains reporting from Times staff writer James Rufus Koren. Facebook

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Trump touts MLK proclamation in tweet, but ceremony is overshadowed by reports of racist remarks By Associated Press President Trump signed a proclamation Friday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, noting the contributions of a great American hero. Today, it was my great honor to proclaim January 15, 2018, as Martin Luther King Jr., Federal Holiday. I encourage all Americans to observe this day with appropriate civic, community, and service activities in honor of Dr. King's life and legacy. pic.twitter.com/samlJsz1Nt  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018 Overshadowing the event was mounting backlash from Trumps comments during a private meeting with lawmakers the day before. A short time after the meeting, which was called to discuss a possible immigration deal, reports emerged that Trump had asked participants why the United States should accept immigrants from shithole countries in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin, the Senates second-ranking Democrat, appeared to confirm those reports on Friday. Trump did not respond Friday to several questions about the incident, including whether he actually used vulgar language to describe African nations, or if he is racist. The president said at the White House that love was central to the slain civil rights leader. Trump said the nation celebrates King for standing up for the self-evident truth Americans hold so dear, that no matter what the color of our skin or place of our birth, we are all created equal by God.  This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Noah Bierman. Facebook

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Trump criticizes Democrats in tweet calling for stricter immigration rules President Trump hit out at Democrats on Thursday night in a tweet calling for stricter immigration rules. Trump wrote that members of the party seem intent on having people and drugs pour into our country from the border with Mexico: The Democrats seem intent on having people and drugs pour into our country from the Southern Border, risking thousands of lives in the process. It is my duty to protect the lives and safety of all Americans. We must build a Great Wall, think Merit and end Lottery & Chain. USA!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018 It wasnt immediately clear exactly what prompted the tweet. Earlier Thursday, Trump rejected a bipartisan compromise to resolve the standoff over so-called Dreamers, young immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children but have temporary permits to work, attend school or serve in the military. The president drew widespread condemnation after reports emerged that he had asked participants in an Oval Office meeting about the proposal why the United States should accept immigrants from shithole countries in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. Read More Facebook

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Trump touts bill aimed at improving border screening for fentanyl By Associated Press President Trump signed legislation Wednesday aimed at giving Customs and Border Protection agents additional screening devices and other tools to stop the flow of illicit drugs. Speaking at a surprise bill-signing ceremony while flanked by members of Congress from both parties in the Oval Office, Trump described the bill as a significant step forward in the fight against powerful opioids such as fentanyl, which he called our new big scourge. He echoed that language Thursday in a tweet: Yesterday, I signed the #INTERDICTAct (H.R. 2142) with bipartisan members of Congress to help end the flow of drugs into our country. Together, we are committed to doing everything we can to combat the deadly scourge of drug addiction and overdose in the United States! pic.twitter.com/ELZvFol5Lo  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2018 The legislation will pay for new portable and fixed chemical screening devices to detect and intercept fentanyl at ports of entry and in the mail, along with other laboratory equipment and personnel, including scientists. Trump has made fighting the opioid epidemic a centerpiece of his administration, though critics say he hasnt dedicated nearly enough money or resources to make a difference. Trump suggested during his remarks on Wednesday that hed like to take a more aggressive approach to the drug crisis  but the countrys not ready for what he has in mind. So were going to sign this. And its a step. And it feels like a very giant step, but unfortunately, its not going to be a giant step, because no matter what you do, this is something that keeps pouring in, he said. And were going to find the answer. There is an answer. I think I actually know the answer, but Im not sure the countrys ready for it yet, he added. Does anybody know what I mean? I think so. Facebook

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Trump applauds news that Toyota-Mazda plant is slated for Alabama By Associated Press Japanese automakers Toyota and Mazda on Wednesday announced plans to build a mammoth, $1.6-billion joint-venture plant in Alabama that will eventually employ about 4,000 people. President Trump lauded the news in a tweet: Cutting taxes and simplifying regulations makes America the place to invest! Great news as Toyota and Mazda announce they are bringing 4,000 JOBS and investing $1.6 BILLION in Alabama, helping to further grow our economy! pic.twitter.com/Kcg8IVH6iA  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 Good news: Toyota and Mazda announce giant new Huntsville, Alabama, plant which will produce over 300,000 cars and SUVs a year and employ 4000 people. Companies are coming back to the U.S. in a very big way. Congratulations Alabama!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2018 Several states had competed for the project, which will be able to turn out 300,000 vehicles per year and produce the Toyota Corolla compact car for North America and a new small SUV from Mazda. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and company executives held a news conference to announce that the facility is coming to the Huntsville area not far from the Tennessee line. Production is expected to begin by 2021. The decision to pick Alabama is another example of foreign-based automakers building U.S. factories in the South. To entice manufacturers, Southern states have used a combination of lucrative incentive packages, low-cost labor and a pro-business labor environment, because the United Auto Workers union is stronger in Northern states. Read More Facebook

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Trump highlights call for border wall in tweets on visit with Norways prime minister By Associated Press President Trump praised Norways prime minister in a tweet on Wednesday after Erna Solberg became the first foreign leader to visit with the president in 2018. Today, it was my great honor to welcome Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway to the @WhiteHouse - a great friend and ally of the United States! Joint press conference: https://t.co/qWR1BhfQZI pic.twitter.com/PJvwznjRCO  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 Trump also shared via Twitter a video clip of a joint news conference he held with Solberg on Wednesday afternoon. In the clip, Trump responds to a question from a reporter by saying there can be no bipartisan immigration deal absent funding for his long-promised wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been seeking a solution for hundreds of thousands of so-called Dreamers, young people who were brought to the United States as children and are living here illegally. The United States needs the security of the Wall on the Southern Border, which must be part of any DACA approval. The safety and security of our country is #1! pic.twitter.com/4CFzQXb5aS  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 We need the wall for security, we need the wall for safety, we need the wall for stopping the drugs from pouring in, Trump said Wednesday.  Any solution has to include the wall because without the wall, it all doesnt work. On Tuesday, Trump drew widespread attention when he said during a meeting with a bipartisan group of lawmakers that he would be agreeable to signing a stand-alone bill to protect the Dreamers, before moving on to a more comprehensive immigration bill. That contradicted the Republican consensus that Dreamers fate needed to be part of a broader immigration bill that would include some version of Trumps promised border wall and other immigration reforms. Trump backed away from a stand-alone Dreamer bill in subsequent tweets and public comments. Read More This post contains reporting from Los Angeles Times staff writer Noah Bierman. Facebook

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Trump praises Cabinet in tweet touting meeting By Associated Press President Trump promoted a meeting of his Cabinet on Wednesday, sharing via Twitter a link to a video of the session posted on the White House YouTube account. In his tweet, Trump thanked his Cabinet for working tirelessly on behalf of our country and wrote that the last year has been one of monumental achievement. I want to thank my @Cabinet for working tirelessly on behalf of our country. 2017 was a year of monumental achievement and we look forward to the year ahead. Together, we are delivering results and MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! https://t.co/ptXa1hAPwW pic.twitter.com/yv6RALkQf3  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 The former reality television star continued to dispense accolades at the meeting Wednesday, greeting reporters in the Cabinet Room by saying: Welcome back to the studio. Then he proceeded to relive a Cabinet Room session from the prior day, when he had allowed reporters and TV cameras to stick around for much of his meeting with a bipartisan group of legislators on the thorny issue of immigration. It was a tremendous meeting. Actually, it was reported as incredibly good. And my performance  you know, some of them called it a performance  I consider it work, Trump said. Trump went on to say he had received letters from news anchors calling it one of the greatest meetings theyve ever witnessed. He added that the media will ultimately support Trump in the end, because theyre going to say, if Trump doesnt win in three years, theyre all out of business. Asked for examples of letters received from news anchors, the White House said it had received private communications. It also offered a series of positive on-air comments and tweets from journalists about the unusual access to the meeting. During his remarks, Trump swung from praising his own meeting coverage to telling journalists that they were dependent on his presidency for ratings to threatening a strong look at libel laws. Still, Trump thanked the journalists in front of him, joking: Youve gotten very familiar with this room. I appreciate your nice comments yesterday. Facebook

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Trump blasts DACA ruling in tweet calling courts broken and unfair By Lisa Mascaro President Trump denounced the federal courts Wednesday as broken and unfair after a district judge in San Francisco issued a nationwide injunction keeping protections in place for so-called Dreamers. Trump tweeted: It just shows everyone how broken and unfair our Court System is when the opposing side in a case (such as DACA) always runs to the 9th Circuit and almost always wins before being reversed by higher courts.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 On Tuesday night, U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco temporarily blocked the Trump administrations decision to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, which has protected from deportation some 700,000 people who came to the country illegally as children. Alsup granted a request by the state of California, the University of California and other plaintiffs to stop Trump from ending DACA on March 5. The administrations decision to end DACA, which was announced in September, was based on a flawed legal analysis, Alsup wrote in his decision. Dreamers would be irreparably harmed if their DACA protections, which allow them to live and work legally in the U.S., were stripped away before the courts had a chance to fully consider their claims, he ruled. The action is the mirror image of a ruling in 2015 by a federal judge in Texas who ruled in favor of that state when it sought to block President Obama from expanding DACA to include the parents of Dreamers. Trump administration officials praised that judicial ruling. By contrast, they sharply criticized Alsups decision. Read More Facebook

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Trump thanks lawmakers for productive immigration meeting, says deal must include border wall President Trump thanked a bipartisan group of lawmakers for participating in a meeting on immigration legislation on Tuesday. Much of the discussion involved so-called Dreamers, an estimated 700,000 young people who were brought to the country illegally as children and are now facing deportation. In a tweet, Trump wrote that there was strong agreement to negotiate a bill to protect Dreamers, as well as put into place some of the reforms favored by Republicans. Thanks to all of the Republican and Democratic lawmakers for todays very productive meeting on immigration reform. There was strong agreement to negotiate a bill that deals with border security, chain migration, lottery and DACA. https://t.co/SdqAQ3aL3z pic.twitter.com/8DYHZHspAy  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2018 The most notable exchange of the meeting came when Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the San Francisco Democrat, asked Trump whether he would be agreeable to signing a stand-alone bill to protect the Dreamers, before moving on to a more comprehensive immigration bill. Yeah, I would like to do it, Trump responded. The statement drew widespread attention because it contradicted the Republican consensus that Dreamers fate needed to be part of a broader immigration bill that would include some version of Trumps promised border wall and other immigration reforms. Trump later backed away from a stand-alone Dreamer bill, tweeting that a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico must be part of any deal: As I made very clear today, our country needs the security of the Wall on the Southern Border, which must be part of any DACA approval.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 Pressure has been mounting for Congress to broker an immigration deal by Jan. 19 as part of a must-pass budget package to fund the government. This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Noah Bierman. Facebook

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Trump thanks officers and veterans in tweets President Trump doled out a slew of accolades Tuesday via Twitter. He thanked the nations law enforcement officers, including in his message a hashtag denoting a day of appreciation organized by a national support group for law enforcement families. On behalf of the American people, THANK YOU to our incredible law enforcement officers. As President of the United States - I will fight for you, and I will never, ever let you down. Now, more than ever, we must support the men and women in blue! #LawEnforcementAppreciationDay pic.twitter.com/Qb4uxB4JRm  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2018 Trump later expressed gratitude for federal immigration agents, in particular: .@ICEgov HSI agents and ERO officers, on behalf of an entire Nation, THANK YOU for what you are doing 24/7/365 to keep fellow Americans SAFE. Everyone is so grateful!#LawEnforcementAppreciationDay

President @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/HXCpTlruVo  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 The president thanked veterans as he cited his administrations efforts to curb the number of veteran suicides by improving mental health treatment for the high-risk group: Today, it was my great honor to sign a new Executive Order to ensure Veterans have the resources they need as they transition back to civilian life. We must ensure that our HEROES are given the care and support they so richly deserve! https://t.co/0MdP9DDIAS pic.twitter.com/LP2a8KCBAp  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2018 Trumps tweet included photos of the president signing an executive order Tuesday directing the secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs to develop a plan to provide seamless access to mental health and suicide prevention resources for 12 months for members leaving the armed forces. Also on Tuesday, Trump touted a law he signed the day before designating the birthplace of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. a national historic park: It was my great honor to sign H.R. 267, the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park Act, which redesignates the Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic Site in the State of Georgia as the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park. https://t.co/Qe0b6HBFTY pic.twitter.com/QTgaqTawPT  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2018 And he thanked House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) for sharing a video compilation comprised of clips of politicians and commentators praising the GOPs tax cut bill: Thank you @GOPLeader Kevin McCarthy! Couldnt agree w/you more. TOGETHER, we are #MAGA https://t.co/QaxtqpyXTR  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018  This post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writer Alex Wigglesworth. Facebook

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Trump hails tax bill in tweets recapping speech to farmers By Associated Press Connecting with rural Americans, President Trump on Monday hailed his tax overhaul as a victory for family farmers. Farm country is Gods country, Trump told the annual convention of the American Farm Bureau Federation. Trump became the first president in a quarter-century to address the federations convention. His Southern swing also included a stop in Atlanta for the national college football championship game. Cant wait to be back in the amazing state of Tennessee to address the 99th American @FarmBureau Federations Annual Convention in Nashville! #AFBF18



On my way now - join me LIVE at 4:00pmE: https://t.co/QaljAqekdD. pic.twitter.com/Wm7Io0hYT8  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 Joined by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and a group of Tennessee lawmakers, Trump said most of the benefits of the tax legislation are going to working families, small businesses, and who  the family farmer. The package Trump signed into law last month provides generous tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, and more modest reductions for middle- and low-income individuals and families. In every decision we make, we are honoring Americas PROUD FARMING LEGACY. Years of crushing taxes, crippling regs, & corrupt politics left our communities hurting, our economy stagnant, & millions of hardworking Americans COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN. But they are not forgotten ANYMORE! pic.twitter.com/MdYS7xnukQ  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 The president vastly inflated the value of the package in his speech, citing a total of $5.5 trillion in tax cuts, with most of those benefits going to working families, small businesses and who? The family farmer. The estimated value of the tax cuts is actually $1.5 trillion for families and businesses because of cuts in deductions and the use of other steps to generate offsetting tax revenue. We have been working every day to DELIVER for Americas Farmers just as they work every day to deliver FOR US. #AFBF18 pic.twitter.com/QDH7fvFkZ7  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 From Nashville, Trump traveled to Atlanta to watch Alabamas Crimson Tide and Georgias Bulldogs face off Monday night in the College Football Playoff National Championship. We are fighting for our farmers, for our country, and for our GREAT AMERICAN FLAG. We want our flag respected - and we want our NATIONAL ANTHEM respected also! pic.twitter.com/16eOLXg6Fi  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 Before departing for the game, Trump referenced his ongoing defense of the American flag and the national anthem, saying there was enough space for people to express their views. We love our flag and we love our anthem, and we want to keep it that way, he said. Facebook

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Trump tweet hails drop in unemployment rate for African Americans By Associated Press President Trump touted a drop in the unemployment rate for African Americans on Monday in a tweet. African American unemployment is the lowest ever recorded in our country. The Hispanic unemployment rate dropped a full point in the last year and is close to the lowest in recorded history. Dems did nothing for you but get your vote! #NeverForget @foxandfriends  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 The rate fell to 6.8% in December, the lowest level since the government began tracking such data in 1972. The reasons range from a greater number of black Americans with college degrees to a growing need for employers in a tight job market to widen the pool of people they hire from. Trump also hailed the development via Twitter on Saturday. His latest tweet on the topic came about an hour after it was discussed during an episode of Fox & Friends, according to Mediaite. Facebook

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Trump talks up the economy and dresses down the media in Sunday tweets With President Trump cheering from the sidelines, the White House on Sunday pressed its defense of the presidents fitness to govern, as fired former aide Stephen K. Bannon reversed course and apologized for his role in a new books explosive portrait of Trump. The presidents critics, meanwhile, said Trumps stream of taunts and insults in response to the book  Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, released last week  served only to underscore the authors unsettling portrayal of Trumps year-old presidency, depicting a leader whose own aides consider him childish, ignorant and dangerously erratic. Trump provided more ammunition Sunday morning, as he continued to attack the book via Twitter while preparing to depart Camp David for the White House: Leaving Camp David for the White House. Great meetings with the Cabinet and Military on many very important subjects including Border Security & the desperately needed Wall, the ever increasing Drug and Opioid Problem, Infrastructure, Military, Budget, Trade and DACA.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 Ive had to put up with the Fake News from the first day I announced that I would be running for President. Now I have to put up with a Fake Book, written by a totally discredited author. Ronald Reagan had the same problem and handled it well. So will I!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 The most vehement defense of Trump on Sunday came from senior advisor Stephen Miller, a onetime Bannon acolyte who distanced himself from his former mentor. In a combative appearance Sunday on CNNs State of the Union, Miller called the book grotesque and writer Michael Wolff the garbage author of a garbage book. Trump is known to closely monitor aides televised performances in putting forth his case, and he gleefully weighed in within moments of Millers televised clash with host Jake Tapper. CNN has long been a particular target of Trumps ire. Jake Tapper of Fake News CNN just got destroyed in his interview with Stephen Miller of the Trump Administration. Watch the hatred and unfairness of this CNN flunky!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 Trumps reaction, however, seemed to bolster Tappers on-air depiction of Miller as using his appearance on the show to play to the president rather than addressing questions put to him. I get it  theres one viewer that you care about, the host said exasperatedly after Miller turned the discussion repeatedly to negative news coverage of the president while deflecting specific queries. Later on Twitter, Trump took up two themes that have been prevalent on his social media feeds recently. The president again went after the news media, tweeting that the recipients of his self-proclaimed most dishonest & corrupt media awards of the year, which he promised earlier in the week to announce on Monday, would actually be revealed the following Wednesday: The Fake News Awards, those going to the most corrupt & biased of the Mainstream Media, will be presented to the losers on Wednesday, January 17th, rather than this coming Monday. The interest in, and importance of, these awards is far greater than anyone could have anticipated!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 Trump later lauded a New York Post opinion piece that compared him favorably with his predecessor, President Obama, as well as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. In quoting the op-ed, Trump initally misspelled consequential as consensual, but he deleted those tweets and re-sent the messages. His is turning out to be an enormously consequential presidency. So much so that, despite my own frustration over his missteps, there has never been a day when I wished Hillary Clinton were president. Not one. Indeed, as Trumps accomplishments accumulate, the mere thought of...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 ...Clinton in the WH, doubling down on Barack Obamas failed policies, washes away any doubts that America made the right choice. This was truly a change election  and the changes Trump is bringing are far-reaching & necessary. Thank you Michael Goodwin! https://t.co/4fHNcx2Ydg  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 Trump also continued talking up the economy, which has been enjoying a period of strong gains. The Stock Market has been creating tremendous benefits for our country in the form of not only Record Setting Stock Prices, but present and future Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. Seven TRILLION dollars of value created since our big election win!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 In addition to Miller, other senior administration officials made the rounds of Sunday news talk shows to decry the claims made in Wolffs book. CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Wolffs characterization of Trump as averse to digesting classified briefing material was ludicrous, and the ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, insisted that that those around Trump love their country and respect their president. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Laura King. Facebook

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Responding to book that mocks his intelligence, Trump tweets hes like, really smart By Tracy Wilkinson President Trump declared himself a very stable genius on Twitter on Saturday and later in a televised news conference called the author of a book that questioned his mental fitness a fraud. His comments came on a bone-cold day at Camp David during a weekend retreat with top administration officials and Republican congressional leaders strategizing on the years legislative agenda, including matters such as infrastructure, immigration, welfare reform and national security. Now that Russian collusion, after one year of intense study, has proven to be a total hoax on the American public, the Democrats and their lapdogs, the Fake News Mainstream Media, are taking out the old Ronald Reagan playbook and screaming mental stability and intelligence.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 ....Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 ....to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius....and a very stable genius at that!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 Still, Trumps explosive rebuttal to author Michael Wolffs claims not only opened the day, but it also ensured the presidents capability to fill the highest office in the land was a topic that would not go away. In his early-morning tweets, Trump said two of his greatest assets have been mental stability, and being, like, really smart. He noted that his former Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, played these cards [about competence] very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star to President of the United States (on my first try). Read More Facebook

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In morning tweets, Trump touts job numbers and takes digs at news media By Associated Press President Trump used Twitter on Saturday morning to tout a drop in the unemployment rate for African Americans. He also used the tweets as an opportunity to take digs at media outlets whose past coverage he has found to be critical. The African American unemployment rate fell to 6.8%, the lowest rate in 45 years. I am so happy about this News! And, in the Washington Post (of all places), headline states, Trumps first year jobs numbers were very, very good.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 The unemployment rate for African Americans fell to 6.8% in December, the lowest level since the government began tracking such data in 1972. The reasons range from a greater number of black Americans with college degrees to a growing need for employers in a tight job market to widen the pool of people they hire from. Still, the rate for black workers remains well above those for whites and some other groups, something experts attribute in large part to decades of discrimination and disadvantages. Robust job creation has lowered unemployment for all Americans. U.S. employers added nearly 2.1 million jobs in 2017  the seventh straight year that hiring has topped 2 million. In his tweet, Trump praised a report that noted the numbers, touting the fact that it appeared in the Washington Post (of all places). Minutes later, Trump renewed his attack on an ABC News reporter who was suspended last month after filing an erroneous report on Michael Flynn, Trumps former national security advisor. Brian Ross, the reporter who made a fraudulent live newscast about me that drove the Stock Market down 350 points (billions of dollars), was suspended for a month but is now back at ABC NEWS in a lower capacity. He is no longer allowed to report on Trump. Should have been fired!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 The reporter, Brian Ross, was reportedly reassigned within ABC News upon returning from his unpaid suspension. But on Saturday, Trump wrote that he should have been fired. Trumps tweets came hours before he was set to host congressional Republicans and administration officials at Camp David. The meeting scheduled to begin at midmorning Saturday was expected to touch on the budget, infrastructure, immigration, welfare reform and the shape of the midterm election this fall. Facebook

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Trump commends Sen. Rand Paul after he proposes eliminating all U.S. aid to Pakistan President Trump commended Sen. Rand Paul after the Kentucky Republican announced plans to introduce legislation that would eliminate all U.S. aid to Pakistan. Trump tweeted Friday night: Good idea Rand! https://t.co/55sqUDiC0s  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 On Thursday, the Trump administration announced it was suspending security assistance to Islamabad until the country moves aggressively against local militants who have attacked U.S. troops in neighboring Afghanistan. Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration at the apparent inability of Pakistani authorities to rein in militants who cross out of the countrys rugged tribal areas to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson. Facebook

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Trump continues to lash out at Sloppy Steve Bannon in tweets on tell-all book By Associated Press President Trump is praising a major Republican donor family for distancing themselves from his former advisor Steve Bannon. Trump tweeted Friday: The Mercer Family recently dumped the leaker known as Sloppy Steve Bannon. Smart!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 Trump has continued to lash out at Bannon over an explosive new book that quoted his former aide as questioning Trumps competence and describing a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower among Donald Trump Jr., Trump campaign aides and a Russian lawyer as treasonous and unpatriotic. On Thursday, billionaire GOP donor Rebekah Mercer issued a statement distancing her family from Bannon. Mercer is a co-owner of Breitbart, the populist website Bannon helps run. I support President Trump and the platform upon which he was elected, Mercer said. My family and I have not communicated with Steve Bannon in many months and have provided no financial support to his political agenda, nor do we support his recent actions and statements. The book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, quickly shot atop Amazons best-seller list, and the publisher moved up its release date by four days, to Friday. Trump took up the topic again on Twitter on Friday night, denouncing both Bannon and the books author, Michael Wolff, in starkly personal terms: Michael Wolff is a total loser who made up stories in order to sell this really boring and untruthful book. He used Sloppy Steve Bannon, who cried when he got fired and begged for his job. Now Sloppy Steve has been dumped like a dog by almost everyone. Too bad! https://t.co/mEeUhk5ZV9  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 Trumps message linked to a meme depicting a parody book cover titled, Liar and Phony, that featured a photo of Wolff and disparaging quotes about the author. In a tweet sent earlier Friday morning, Trump suggested the book was intended to serve as a distraction from the FBIs investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, which Trump wrote is proving to be a total hoax. Well, now that collusion with Russia is proving to be a total hoax and the only collusion is with Hillary Clinton and the FBI/Russia, the Fake News Media (Mainstream) and this phony new book are hitting out at every new front imaginable. They should try winning an election. Sad!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 That came amid reports that Trump directed his White House counsel to tell Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions to not recuse himself from the Justice Departments Russia investigation. Trumps effort to keep Sessions, a vocal and loyal supporter of his election bid, in charge of an investigation into his campaign offers special counsel Robert Mueller yet another avenue to explore as his prosecutors work to untangle potential evidence of obstruction. Read More Facebook

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Trump praises the economy ahead of meetings at Camp David By Associated Press President Trump is praising the strength of the U.S. economy ahead of meetings at Camp David with congressional Republicans. Trump tweeted early Friday: Dow goes from 18,589 on November 9, 2016, to 25,075 today, for a new all-time Record. Jumped 1000 points in last 5 weeks, Record fastest 1000 point move in history. This is all about the Make America Great Again agenda! Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. Six trillion dollars in value created!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 The president also told reporters on the South Lawn that the tax cuts are really kicking in after Congress passed a package of tax cuts at the end of 2017. And the president praised the December jobs report, which found U.S. employers added 148,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate stayed at 4.1%, the lowest level since 2000. The modest but steady pace of hiring is a reassuring sign for investors who have been buoyed by the just-passed Republican tax plan and have been sending stock market indexes roaring to uncharted heights. The president is meeting with Republican congressional leaders and members of his Cabinet on Friday and Saturday to discuss the 2018 agenda. Read More Facebook

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Trump tweets as Dow crashes through 25,000 By Associated Press President Trump dispatched a congratulatory tweet as the Dow Jones industrial average rose above the 25,000-point mark Thursday, just five weeks after its first close above 24,000. Dow just crashes through 25,000. Congrats! Big cuts in unnecessary regulations continuing.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 After the Dow closed above 25,000, Trump shared a graphic depicting the stock indexs record-setting rise. MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/iONbr1DkVk  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 Later in the day, the president was back on Twitter, complaining that news outlets had barely covered the stock market milestone. He suggested that the strength of the economy would be the biggest story on earth, had it unfolded during the presidency of his predecessor. The Fake News Media barely mentions the fact that the Stock Market just hit another New Record and that business in the U.S. is booming...but the people know! Can you imagine if O was president and had these numbers - would be biggest story on earth! Dow now over 25,000.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 The Dow broke past 1,000-point barriers in 2017 on its way to a 25% gain for the year, as an eight-year rally since the Great Recession continued to confound skeptics. Strong global economic growth and good prospects for higher company earnings have analysts predicting more gains, although the market may not stay as calm as it has been recently. The Dow has made a rapid trip since it reached 24,000 points Nov. 30, partly on enthusiasm over passage of the Republican-backed tax package, which could boost company profits this year with across-the-board cuts to corporate taxes. Read More Facebook

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Trump reacts to Fire and Fury book in tweet lashing out at author and Sloppy Steve President Trump lashed out at the author of a soon-to-be-released book about the chaotic first year of his presidency Thursday night. In a tweet, Trump called Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, a phony book and claimed that hed never spoken to its author, Michael Wolff. Look at this guys past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve! Trump wrote. He appeared to be referring to former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, whose stunning criticisms of Trump and his circle figure prominently in the title. I authorized Zero access to White House (actually turned him down many times) for author of phony book! I never spoke to him for book. Full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that dont exist. Look at this guys past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 Trumps tweet came hours after he had his lawyer demand that Henry Holt & Co. and Wolff stop publication the book. Instead, the publisher expedited the books release to Friday, four days before it was slated to hit bookstore shelves, in response to unprecedented demand. Published excerpts on Wednesday and Thursday whetted that appetite and roiled Washington. Bannons comments, including that it was treasonous and unpatriotic for Trumps son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign manager Paul Manafort to have met in 2016 with Russians said to have dirt on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, prompted Trump on Wednesday to rebuke his former advisor, saying Bannon had lost his mind. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writers Brian Bennett and Alex Wigglesworth. Facebook

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Trump thanks senators who attended meeting on immigration President Trump tweeted thanks to Republican senators who attended a meeting about possible immigration legislation on Thursday. In his message, Trump also listed his top priorities when it comes to any type of overhaul of the nations immigration system. Thank you to the great Republican Senators who showed up to our mtg on immigration reform. We must BUILD THE WALL, stop illegal immigration, end chain migration & cancel the visa lottery. The current system is unsafe & unfair to the great people of our country - time for change!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 Trumps tweet echoed his remarks at the beginning of Thursdays meeting, when he insisted again that constructing a border wall and overhauling two legal immigration programs must be part of any deal with Democrats to protect the so-called Dreamers from deportation. Two-year deportation protections and work permits given under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program begin to expire March 6 under an executive order. Trump announced in September that he was ending the Obama-era program, but told Congress to draft a law to continue protections for people brought to the country illegally as children  a group that has widespread public support. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Brian Bennett. Facebook

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Trump resumes Twitter war against kneeling NFL players President Trump has resumed his Twitter war against NFL players who kneel during the national anthem to protest social injustice and racial inequality. In a tweet early Thursday, Trump replied to a supporter who shared a meme that appears to depict family members lying on the grave of a fallen soldier with the caption: This is why we stand. Show this picture to the NFL players who still kneel! Trump wrote. So beautiful....Show this picture to the NFL players who still kneel! https://t.co/tJLM1tvbvb  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 The president has denounced players who kneel during the anthem in previous tweets. Hes also called for the firing of players who do so. His latest message came amid news that the NFL finished the regular season with TV ratings that fell nearly 10% below the previous season. Analysts attribute the drop to controversies facing the league, as well as changing viewing habits and a possible saturation point in the number of games available. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writers Stephen Battaglio and Alex Wigglesworth. Facebook

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Trump credits himself with facilitating talks between North and South Korea By Associated Press President Trump says his tough stance on nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula is helping push North Korea and South Korea to talk. Trump tweeted early Thursday: With all of the failed experts weighing in, does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasnt firm, strong and willing to commit our total might against the North. Fools, but talks are a good thing!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 That assertion is in conflict with some of the presidents own statements. Last year, he ridiculed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for talking about negotiations with the North. This week, Trump seemed open to the possibility of an inter-Korean dialogue after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a rare overture toward South Korea in a New Years Day address. But Trumps ambassador to the United Nations insisted that talks wont be meaningful unless the North is getting rid of its nuclear weapons. The overture about talks came after Trump and Kim traded more bellicose claims about their nuclear weapons. In his New Years Day address, Kim repeated fiery nuclear threats against the United States. Kim said he has a nuclear button on his office desk and warned that the whole territory of the U.S. is within the range of our nuclear strike. Trump mocked that assertion Tuesday evening in a tweet. Facebook

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After disbanding his vote fraud panel, Trump still says voting system is rigged By Brian Bennett One day after disbanding his troubled voter fraud commission without any findings of fraud, President Trump continued to call the U.S. voting system rigged and said states should require that Americans have voter-identification cards. In two tweets on Thursday morning, Trump blamed the commissions failure on the lack of cooperation from mostly Democrat States that refused to hand over voter rolls because they know that many people are voting illegally. However, voting supervisors in Republican-led states refused as well, objecting on privacy and other grounds. Many mostly Democrat States refused to hand over data from the 2016 Election to the Commission On Voter Fraud. They fought hard that the Commission not see their records or methods because they know that many people are voting illegally. System is rigged, must go to Voter I.D.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 As Americans, you need identification, sometimes in a very strong and accurate form, for almost everything you do.....except when it comes to the most important thing, VOTING for the people that run your country. Push hard for Voter Identification!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 Despite Trumps assertions, analysts have not found evidence of widespread voter fraud. Trump created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity in May after alleging, without proof, that millions of illegal votes were cast for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Trump was elected after winning a majority in the electoral college, but the nationwide count showed Clinton received nearly 3 million more votes. The commission sought personal data on voters across the country and faced mounting lawsuits in recent months over privacy concerns. Read More Facebook

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Trump touts another good day for stocks, credits tax cut By Associated Press President Trump touted another good day for the stock market Wednesday in a tweet. Stock Market had another good day but, now that the Tax Cut Bill has passed, we have tremendous upward potential. Dow just short of 25,000, a number that few thought would be possible this soon into my administration. Also, unemployment went down to 4.1%. Only getting better!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 Big gains for technology and healthcare stocks helped U.S. indexes set records again Wednesday. Some analysts attributed the surge to investor enthusiasm for Trumps $1.5-trillion tax cut. All told, Wall Street analysts estimate the tax package should boost earnings for companies in the Standard & Poors 500 index by roughly 8% this year. Thats much more generous than the average tax cut of 1.6% that middle-class families will receive, according to the Tax Policy Center. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 The public has been less enthusiastic about the tax law. A Monmouth University poll last month found that nearly half of Americans disapproved of it, with only 26% in support. Still, as Trump also noted on Twitter, some workers have seen a benefit: So far, dozens of companies have announced bonuses and higher minimum wages as a result of the tax cut. AT&T, Comcast, Bank of America, and American Airlines have all pledged to pay $1,000 bonuses to their employees. Some 40 U.S. companies have responded to President Trumps tax cut and reform victory in Congress last year by handing out bonuses up to $2,000, increases in 401k matches and spending on charity, a much higher number than previously known. https://t.co/bmWrwWzxMR  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 Investors also appear less concerned than many politicians about how the additional profits will be used. The Trump administration says it expects companies will plow much of the extra profit back into their businesses, purchasing more software, machinery, and other equipment. Those investments will make workers more productive and provide a key boost to the economys long-run growth. They should also boost wages and salaries for employees. Opponents of the tax law respond that companies are more likely to pass the windfall on to shareholders in the form of higher dividend payments and share buybacks, which raise the price of those shares still in investors hands. Previous cuts in corporate tax rates, in the United States and overseas, havent always led to higher wages. For Wall Street, its all good, at least in the short run. Most analysts take the view that either way, companies and the economy will benefit. Facebook

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Trump reacts to death of Mormon Church president By Associated Press President Trump mourned the death of Mormon Church leader Thomas S. Monson on Wednesday evening. Trump tweeted a link to a statement in which he said that Monson demonstrated wisdom, inspired leadership, and great compassion and delivered a message of optimism, forgiveness, and faith. Melania and I are deeply saddened by the death of Thomas S. Monson, a beloved President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...https://t.co/ETD3fWtfU3  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 A church bishop at the age of 22, Monson became the youngest church apostle ever in 1963 at the age of 36. He served as a counselor for three church presidents before assuming the role of the top leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in February 2008. After a life of church service, Monson died Tuesday at his home in Salt Lake City, according to church spokesman Eric Hawkins. He was 90. Read More Facebook

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Trump tweets that Iranian protesters will see great U.S. support at the appropriate time By Associated Press President Trump continued to express support for Irans anti-government protesters on Wednesday. In a tweet, Trump commended the protesters and pledged that the United States will support them at the appropriate time. Such respect for the people of Iran as they try to take back their corrupt government. You will see great support from the United States at the appropriate time!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 Trumps tweet Wednesday morning came as Iranian Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo sent a letter to United Nations officials complaining that Washington was intervening in a grotesque way in Irans internal affairs. The President and Vice-President of the United States, in their numerous absurd tweets, incited Iranians to engage in disruptive acts, the ambassador wrote to the U.N. Security Council president and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The U.S. didnt immediately respond to the letter, which maintains that Washington has crossed every limit in flouting rules and principles of international law governing the civilized conduct of international relations. At least 21 people have been killed and hundreds arrested in Iran during a week of anti-government protests and unrest over economic woes and official corruption. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people took part in counter-demonstrations Wednesday backing the clerically overseen government, which has said enemies of Iran are fomenting the protests. Trump has unleashed a series of tweets in recent days backing the protesters, saying Iran is failing at every level and declaring that it is time for change in the Islamic Republic. Facebook

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Trump congratulates Sen. Orrin Hatch upon news of his retirement By Associated Press President Trump congratulated Sen. Orrin Hatch for an absolutely incredible career upon news of Hatchs impending retirement. In a tweet Tuesday afternoon, Trump called Hatch a tremendous supporter and wrote that he will be greatly missed in the Senate. Congratulations to Senator Orrin Hatch on an absolutely incredible career. He has been a tremendous supporter, and I will never forget the (beyond kind) statements he has made about me as President. He is my friend and he will be greatly missed in the U.S. Senate! pic.twitter.com/0VjzLEeHTl  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Hatchs decision to retire from the Senate after four decades lets the Utah Republican walk away at the height of his power after helping to push through an overhaul of the tax code and persuading Trump to downsize two national monuments. Retirement also preserves the 83-year-olds legacy by allowing him to avoid a bruising reelection battle that would have broken his promise not to seek an eighth term. Read More Facebook

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Trump tweet exaggerates progress in improving veterans care By Associated Press President Trump played up tremendous progress in improving care for veterans in his first year on Tuesday in a tweet. His message linked to an Instagram video describing eight accomplishments that show Trump is fighting for our veterans. But it overstates the impact of these steps. We will not rest until all of Americas GREAT VETERANS can receive the care they so richly deserve. Tremendous progress has been made in a short period of time. Keep up the great work @SecShulkin @DeptVetAffairs! https://t.co/ir25vW15hx pic.twitter.com/OtuzIgxMn6  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Of the eight achievements cited, two are ceremonial proclamations recognizing National Veterans and Military Families Month and National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Two are pieces of legislation that extended the troubled Veterans Choice program on a temporary basis. This became necessary because the Trump administration repeatedly miscalculated the amount of taxpayer dollars available to pay for care from private doctors outside the Veterans Affairs system when veterans had to endure long waits for treatment at VA medical centers. The departments poor budget planning caught lawmakers off guard. A fifth claim involves telehealth, a step letting doctors practice medicine across state lines using digital technology. Announced in August, it has yet to take full effect because a proposed VA regulation hasnt been completed. The VA wants authority to practice across state lines to come from legislation, not a regulation. On Wednesday, the Senate approved a telehealth measure that now goes to the House. A sixth claim refers to legislation that streamlines the appeals process for disability compensation claims within the VA. This step has had limited effect so far because it applies to new disability claims, not the 470,000 pending claims. The last two initiatives make it easier for the VA to discipline employees. The department has pointed to more than 1,300 employees who have been fired under Trumps watch. Because their infractions are not detailed in public documents, the effect on veterans care is not fully known. Facebook

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Trump unleashes his first tweetstorm of 2018 By Noah Bierman President Trump clearly didnt resolve to change his Twitter habits this year. With nine disparate tweets over three hours on Tuesday morning, the first working day of 2018, Trump continued to exploit social media to be the most aggressive commentator in chief in American history. For any other president, his posts would have made for a monumental day of (mis-)statements. Yet for Trump, the series  attacks on political foes and media, provocations of foreign leaders and self-praise for events he had nothing to do with  was all but unremarkable. His Twitter barrage  sent between 7:09 a.m. and 10:16 a.m.  reflected a familiar gamut after nearly a year in office: Attacks on political foes: Nearly 14 months after his election, Trump called for the jailing of Huma Abedin, Crooked Hillary Clintons top aid (his misspelling, another occasional feature of Trump tweets). Crooked Hillary Clintons top aid, Huma Abedin, has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols. She put Classified Passwords into the hands of foreign agents. Remember sailors pictures on submarine? Jail! Deep State Justice Dept must finally act? Also on Comey & others  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 In the same tweet, he disparaged the Deep State Justice Dept, headed of course by his appointees, calling on it to act against James B. Comey, the FBI director he fired for investigating the Russia thing. Diplomatic provocations: Trump again called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Rocket man, ridiculed the volatile nuclear-armed foe for recent military defections and openly speculated about potential talks between North and South Korea. Sanctions and other pressures are beginning to have a big impact on North Korea. Soldiers are dangerously fleeing to South Korea. Rocket man now wants to talk to South Korea for first time. Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not - we will see!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not  we will see! Trump wrote. Later Tuesday, Trump tweeted: North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times. Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 Also later Tuesday, Trump tweeted an attack on Pakistan, his second in as many days, and added a new one against Palestinians: It's not only Pakistan that we pay billions of dollars to for nothing, but also many other countries, and others. As an example, we pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They dont even want to negotiate a long overdue...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 ...peace treaty with Israel. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more. But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Undermining media: Trump offered Congratulations! to A.G. Sulzberger, who took over as publisher of the New York Times this week. The Failing New York Times has a new publisher, A.G. Sulzberger. Congratulations! Here is a last chance for the Times to fulfill the vision of its Founder, Adolph Ochs, to give the news impartially, without fear or FAVOR, regardless of party, sect, or interests involved. Get...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 ....impartial journalists of a much higher standard, lose all of your phony and non-existent sources, and treat the President of the United States FAIRLY, so that the next time I (and the people) win, you wont have to write an apology to your readers for a job poorly done! GL  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 But the two-part post was really yet another slam against a perceived media foe: Trump said the paper had a last chance to fulfill its journalistic mission, and accused it of relying on phony sources and substandard reporters  just days after he granted another exclusive interview to the paper. As a bonus, the tweet contained a recycled falsehood, that the paper apologized after the election for reporting on him unfairly. It didnt. Trump later said on Twitter that he would soon announce the most dishonest & corrupt media awards of the year. Stay tuned! I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 oclock. Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 The president also tweeted a quote from Fox Business Networks Lou Dobbs Tonight, which aired a segment praising Trumps first-year accomplishments. Dobbs reportedly joined Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday for a gala to celebrate New Years Eve. President Trump has something now he didnt have a year ago, that is a set of accomplishments that nobody can deny. The accomplishments are there, look at his record, he has had a very significant first year. @LouDobbs Show,David Asman & Ed Rollins  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 Taking credit: Trump congratulated himself for policing the border with Mexico, an area where his policies and anti-immigration rhetoric are believed to have had some effect on reducing illegal crossings. Thank you to Brandon Judd of the National Border Patrol Council for your kind words on how well we are doing at the Border. We will be bringing in more & more of your great folks and will build the desperately needed WALL! @foxandfriends  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 He took credit for employee bonuses by companies after he signed Republican tax cuts into law last month. Companies are giving big bonuses to their workers because of the Tax Cut Bill. Really great!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 But the jaw-dropper was Trump congratulating himself for planes not crashing. Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation. Good news - it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 It was the safest year on record worldwide, but the American streak without commercial jet passenger deaths goes back to 2009. Trump, who has promoted deregulation as one of his top accomplishments, has not signed off on any new airline safety regulations. The White House pointed to new security screening of passengers, to electronic devices to prevent terrorist attacks and to Trumps support for privatizing air traffic control  a proposal that has gotten nowhere in Congress. Falsehoods: Trump said President Obama, in brokering the 2015 nuclear arms limitation deal with Iran, foolishly gave money to the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. He didnt. The people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their pockets. The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The U.S. is watching!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 The nuclear deal, which included major U.S. allies as signators, released Irans own funds that had long been frozen. Trumps art of the deal: When Trump sees a big deal looming, he often blasts the other side  to gain leverage, as hes written. This week he resumes a showdown with Democratic lawmakers over funding the government and immigration protections for so-called Dreamers, who were brought to the country illegally as children. Democrats are doing nothing for DACA - just interested in politics. DACA activists and Hispanics will go hard against Dems, will start falling in love with Republicans and their President! We are about RESULTS.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Trump, who in September ordered a gradual end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, sought to shift blame for the resulting controversy, saying Democrats are doing nothing for DACA and are just interested in politics. Trump has insisted that any help for Dreamers be paired with funding for a border wall and a crackdown on legal immigration. Democrats, and some Republicans, are opposed. Read More Facebook

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In tweet, Trump suggests U.S. will withdraw financial assistance to Pakistan By Shashank Bengali Pakistan lashed out Monday after President Trump accused its leaders of lies & deceit and suggested the United States would withdraw financial assistance to the nuclear-armed nation it once saw as a key ally against terrorism. It was the presidents latest broadside against Pakistan after a speech in August in which he demanded its leaders crack down on the safe havens enjoyed by Taliban militants fighting U.S.-backed forces in neighboring Afghanistan. The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2018 U.S. Ambassador David Hale was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to discuss the presidents statement, U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said. Pakistan lodged a strongly worded protest and asked for clarification about Trumps comments, according to two foreign office officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Pakistans prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, called a Cabinet meeting for Tuesday and a meeting of the National Security Committee on Wednesday to discuss Trumps New Years Day tweet. Read More Facebook

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Trump continues to tweet in support of Iranian protesters By Laura King President Trump expressed renewed support Sunday for protesters in Iran, declaring that people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism. In a tweet from his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, the president said the nationwide economic protests that began on Thursday  and have taken on wider political overtones as they have grown in size  were a signal that Iranians will not take it any longer. Big protests in Iran. The people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism. Looks like they will not take it any longer. The USA is watching very closely for human rights violations!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2017 Trump has tweeted about the protests for three days straight as Iranians took to the streets despite a heavy police presence, tear gas and scores of arrests. The defiance gained urgency after two people were reported shot to death in the city of Dorud, about 200 miles southwest of Tehran. As the conflict escalated, Iranian authorities on Sunday slapped a temporary ban on Instagram and the messaging app Telegram, which were widely used to fan protest fervor. Iran, the Number One State of Sponsored Terror with numerous violations of Human Rights occurring on an hourly basis, has now closed down the Internet so that peaceful demonstrators cannot communicate. Not good!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2017 Irans leaders already are casting Trumps increasingly effusive expressions of support for the demonstrators as opportunistic meddling and are painting the demonstrators as foreign pawns, adopting a strategy that some analysts say could jeopardize the legitimacy of the nascent antigovernment protests. Read More Facebook

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Trump tweets condolences after Colorado deputies are shot in ambush, one fatally By Associated Press A man fired more than 100 rounds at sheriffs deputies in Colorado early Sunday, killing one and injuring four others, before being fatally shot himself in what authorities called an ambush. Two civilians were also injured. President Trump expressed sorrow, writing on Twitter: My deepest condolences to the victims of the terrible shooting in Douglas County @DCSheriff, and their families. We love our police and law enforcement - God Bless them all! #LESM  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2017 Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said deputies came under fire almost
About 30 students from John Burroughs High School remained after school on Thursday to learn about what they could do to help save the planet.

The film club at Burroughs High hosted a screening of An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, the sequel to former Vice President Al Gores first documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, in the schools auditorium.

Principal Deborah Madrigal said about 13 classes initially attended the screening, which began toward the end of the school day, but many students left when the school day came to an end.

However, she was impressed to see so many students choose to stay and finish watching the film, as well as watch a live-stream question-and-answer session with Gore afterward.

Madrigal said its important to start exposing high school students to national topics such as climate change to encourage them to talk about and find solutions to those issues.

Part of high school is about learning to become adults and to have these kinds of conversations where things can be discussed instead of having arguments, Madrigal said. The issues brought up in this movie and the different things that the students are talking about help to teach them the process of change and the process of discovering other peoples ideas.

Savannah Spatafora, a senior at Burroughs High as well as founder and president of the film club, said she got the idea to host a screening at the school from her counselor, whose husband works for Participant Media, the company that produced Gores documentaries.

Spatafora said the nationwide screening and live question-and-answer session with Gore predominantly involved college campuses throughout the country, but she said John Burroughs was just one of a handful of high schools in the nation that participated.

Our generation, kids younger than us and those in college are the most important people to realize that this is important, Spatafora said. The film says that we have to make the world better for our children, but we are the children, so this is our world. Its so important for us to be passionate about things.

Sophomore Jaden Gerard said she wished more students had attended and stayed for the documentary because she thinks it was something everyone could have benefited from.

Jaden said she didnt see Gores first documentary, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, but she still was moved by the message the former vice president was making about climate change.

I really liked how they told the story of not just why its so important, but how some people, like politicians, are making a difference, Jaden said. We need to slowly but surely ensure the safety of our world.

anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio
About 20 community leaders and local business professionals congregated at Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School in Burbank on Friday to talk with students about being leaders to coincide with the birthday of the the schools namesake.

From the local board of education president to an executive of Amazon Studios, all the guests that morning fielded questions from students about how they lead and how they got their leadership roles.

For about 20 years, the school has been celebrating President Roosevelts birthday in different ways, and this year, kindergarten teacher Linda Walmsley thought it would be a good idea to bring in representatives from the community to talk about leadership.

In my 47 years as a teacher, you never know whats going to happen, Walmsley said. You do these things in hopes of inspiring these kids.

Using Burbank Board of Education President Steve Ferguson  who was one of the guests that morning  as an example, Walmsley said there was probably something that happened during his time at Roosevelt, where he was a student, that sparked his interest in speaking on issues he believes in.

And now hes on TV every other Thursday [during school board meetings], telling the whole world about that, Walmsley said.

Ferguson spent his morning talking with John Pikes third-grade class about his role on the board of education and how decisions he and his colleagues make affect students.

The first few questions Ferguson received were about what he does as the board president, but the topic quickly changed to the best places for someone to get ice cream.

Its important to expose young people to different types of leaders in our community, and I love and celebrate the fact that the staff here feels that thats important as well, Ferguson said. Whether or not the students have a full understanding of what I do or what any of these leaders do, they do know that I like ice cream and that they like ice cream. So if I like ice cream, then they can be whatever they want.

J.D. Black, senior marketing lead of original movies at Amazon Studios and whose son attends Roosevelt Elementary, said it was a pleasure to stop by and speak with students about his love of movies.

I just want the kids to have passion in what they want to do and find what they are interested in and pursue that, Black said.

anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio
24-hour paddling event in Newport will help families dealing with cancer

Six stand-up paddlers will spend 24 hours in Newport Harbor starting at 8 a.m. Saturday for Monster and Sea, an activewear company that will give a portion of its earnings to families of cancer patients to help with the cost of treatment.

The company began when its founder, Troy Nebeker, thought of ideas to help those living with cancer. In 2013, he got news that his wife had cancer.

Last year, Nebeker and five other paddlers took part in a relay-style event for 24 hours straight. He and his fellow paddlers had raised more than $7,000 from the paddle to benefit other families.

To make a donation, visit gofundme.com/2jrqv7e4.

*

Easter service for nearly 1,000 to be opened

Almost 1,000 people are expected to gather at the Fairhaven Memorial Park for its 22nd annual East Sunrise Service on Sunday.

Gates will open at 5:30 a.m. and the service will take place from 6 to 7 a.m. at the park, 1702 Fairhaven Ave., Santa Ana.

The event will feature music from local choirs and orchestras, sermons, refreshments and a dove release. Services are free and open to the public.

*

Forum to discuss healthcare issues for seniors

Orange County Aging Services Collaborative will host its second annual OC Leadership Forum on Aging from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. April 1 at Alzheimers Orange County headquarters in Irvine.

At the forum, policy experts will address 2016 election issues affecting Orange County seniors, such as Medicare, Social Security and costs associated with care services.

Alzheimers Orange County is at 2515 McCabe Way.

The event is free and open to the public.

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Girl Scouts of O.C. adds two Irvine residents to exec team

Two Irvine residents have joined Girl Scouts of Orange Countys executive team.

Mark Belzowski has joined as the chief financial officer/vice president of business operations and Michelle Drame as vice president of fund development, according to a news release.

Belzowski previously served as chief financial officer and senior vice president at GCube Insurance Services, a provider of renewable energy insurance solutions.

Before joining Girl Scouts of Orange County, Drame had served as the director of development for UC Irvines School of Education.

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Woodbridge earns No. 1 spot among Grammy Signature Schools

Woodbridge High School in Irvine received the top spot in the 2016 Grammy Signature Schools, earning a grant of $5,000 for its music program.

The Grammy Signature Schools program acknowledges public schools with music programs they deem outstanding.

Woodbridge was one of 13 chosen schools this year, selected from more than 20,000 public schools across the country.

The Grammy Foundation selected 119 semifinalists among the applicants. Schools who had made it to that round submitted recordings of their performances and other materials.

Woodbridge took the No. 1 spot in the top three schools, known as the gold recipients.

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Benefit at Newport Beach resort raises more than $1.1 million

The International Justice Mission Benefit March 12 at the Balboa Bay Resort in Newport Beach raised more than $1.1 million, and contributions are continuing to come in.

A matching gift fund of $70,000 remains. Donations to be matched dollar for dollar this week and next may be received.

Not only did we raise more than $1.1 million for IJM, but we helped to expand recognition and awareness for the tremendous work this incredible anti-slavery organization does all around the world, bringing justice to victims of modern-day slavery, sex trafficking and everyday violence against the poor, Joe Mineiro, IJMs director for strategic partnerships, said in a statement.

Visit ijm.org for more information.

*

Awards breakfast honors CMPD members

The annual Employee Recognition Breakfast on Tuesday at The Crossing Church in Costa Mesa awarded top honors to members of the Costa Mesa Police Department.

Honorees were Volunteer of the Year George Villazuela; Explorers of the Year Celia Quijivix and Kimberly Velasquez; Civilian of the Year Jessica Peters; Civilian Supervisor of the Year Sandra Lozano; Sworn Supervisor of the Year Sgt. Stephanie Selinske and Officer of the Year Lance Healey.

The department also recognized Costa Mesa-based Mika Community Development Corp. as the Community Partner of the Year.

Newly hired and promoted personnel were also acknowledged.

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Newport Beach man becomes vice chair for nonprofit

Newport Beach resident Todd Pickup will serve as vice chairman for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County and the Inland Empires board of directors for 2016-17.

Our board of directors significantly impacts our organization, our programs and our community outreach, Melissa Beck, the organizations chief executive officer, said in a statement. Their influence will allow us to help even more children, especially given their experience encouraging companies to give back.

Pickup currently is the chief executive officer of International Bay Clubs, the parent of the Newport Beach Country Club and Balboa Bay Club.

Big Brothers Big Sisters offers mentoring relationships to area youth.

From staff reports
A man wounded by Huntington Beach police gunfire in an altercation in September had a previous felony drug conviction that was reduced to a misdemeanor in accord with a 2014 state ballot measure that downgraded some drug and theft charges, Orange County Superior Court records show.

In July 2014  four months before voters passed Proposition 47  Garrett Meyer pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance. The charge at the time was classified as a felony under state law. However, in April 2015, the charge was reclassified as a misdemeanor, according to court records. He was sentenced to three years probation.

Some officials have drawn a connection between Huntington Beachs seven officer-involved shootings this year and the effects of the proposition, which several law enforcement agencies have argued has resulted in many reduced sentences and early prison releases and allowed repeat offenders to continue breaking the law with little consequence.

Proponents of the proposition say it has been effective in reducing the prison and jail populations and has allowed people with older felony convictions to clean up their records, enabling them to qualify for jobs and other benefits.

The number of Huntington Beach police shootings in 2017  two of which killed suspects  is more than any other year this decade, according to Police Department archives.

When asked in September about the increased frequency of such shootings, Huntington Beach City Council members Patrick Brenden and Erik Peterson said they may be indicative of Prop. 47.

Police all over are dealing with more issues, and the state has tied their hands, Peterson said.

But based on Superior Court records, it appears Meyer, 29, of Huntington Beach, is the only suspect involved in a police shooting in the city this year who may have benefited from the law. Still, it isnt clear how the law may have affected his sentence.

Peterson and Brenden clarified in a follow-up interview that they wouldnt specifically connect the officer-involved shootings to the law.

Instead, the number of such shootings is more closely linked to societal issues law enforcement is grappling with in the community, such as homelessness, drug abuse and mental illness, Brenden said.

Still, both councilmen said the proposition makes it more difficult for law enforcement to put criminals behind bars, which puts communities at risk.

With more of a criminal element out there, theres more chances for there to be altercations with officers, Brenden said. Some of those turn out badly.

Some experts are wary of connecting fluctuations in crime and related incidents to Prop. 47. Peter Hanink, a Ph.D. candidate at UC Irvine who is studying the use of deadly force by police departments, said its too early to make a determination about the propositions effects, whether positive or negative.

Theres no data to support its caused a meaningful increase in any particular kind of crime, Hanink said. Theres also no data to suggest its causing crime to decrease.

Meyers scuffle with Huntington Beach police on Sept. 7 landed him with felony charges, including vandalism and assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer. He pleaded not guilty to both charges Sept. 19, according to court records.

The shooting unfolded just after 7 a.m. when Huntington Beach officers were called to Delaware Street near Utica Avenue in response to a report of a man with a knife.

Officers said they found Meyer in a narrow walkway between two fenced patios attached to multifamily complexes. Authorities allege the man confronted the officers with a knife and a shooting occurred. Meyer and two officers were injured.

About two weeks later, on Sept. 22, Dillan Tabares, a 27-year-old homeless Navy veteran who had recently been paroled from state prison, was fatally shot in an altercation with a officer that was captured on video.

Tabares mother said he had struggled with drug abuse and mental health issues.

Keramet Reiter, a criminology professor at UC Irvine, said there appears to be a more clear connection between crime and issues such as mental health and lack of social services.

But one city cant tackle those challenges alone, local officials say.

Were so strapped as it is with day-to-day problems like keeping our infrastructure up that we dont have the extra money to do anything, Peterson said. It has to be a statewide solution. Maybe it starts with the counties.

Its above my pay grade. I wish I had an answer or a magic wand to fix it.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
Despite controversy over mall officials initially refusing to display an advertisement for the genocide documentary Architects of Denial, local officials and others joined one of the films producers Tuesday night for a private screening at the Americana at Brand.

The documentary uses expert testimony and survivor experiences to explore genocides throughout history and how continued denial of the Armenian Genocide contributes to future atrocities.

President Donald Trump and past U.S. presidents have failed to recognize the massacre  where roughly 1.5 million Armenians were killed more than a century ago by Ottoman Turks  as a genocide.

The screening was organized by the Glendale chapter of the Armenian National Committee of America, which in August, had a proposed billboard ad for the film rejected by Caruso management for being too political, based on subject matter.

After a backlash, Americana officials reversed their decision.

The film is produced by actor Dean Cain and television host Montel Williams, the latter of whom spoke before the film started to the more than 200 audience members packed into a screening room at Pacific Theatres.

Williams said he was embarrassed to admit that when he was asked to participate in the project, he had not heard of the Armenian Genocide, and the film should be used as an education tool in schools.

The Armenian Genocide and its denial for over 100 years is, I think, solely the reason why the world ignores the other genocides that have continued to take place, [and] those that are taking place right now that we hear about and read about and we hear whispers of because the worlds not talking, he said.

Williams said all the money generated from movie sales will be donated to Armenian causes such as the Armenian National Committee of America.

Also in attendance were members of the Glendale City Council, state Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) and state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Canada Flintridge).

Portantino, who joined the effort early to get the Americana to reverse its original rejection of the films advertisement, spoke briefly after the screening.

It is tragic that we dont have recognition when its appropriate, Portantino said, according to a statement. The role of the activist is to make government officials do better  so lets continue to fight for recognition [of the Armenian Genocide] and to do the right thing.

jeff.landa@latimes.com

Twitter: @JeffLanda
By the way, they like you to dress fancy (and leave children home, unless youre headed to a weekend brunch). Coat and tie are required for men.

In theory, to attend you must be invited or accompanied by a member of the Academy of Magical Arts. In practice, there are at least two pretty easy ways in. Its not so hard (though the admission charge and dinner and drinks usually add up to a pricey night). If you spend a night at the adjacent Magic Castle Hotel & Suites , youre entitled to go to the club. Or you can email one of the magicians soon to appear and ask for an invite. (More ideas here .)

What: The castle, clubhouse of the Academy of Magical Arts, was built as a private home in 1908. But by the time it opened as a magic haven in 1963, it had undergone a thorough transformation to make it fit for tricks and performances. Since then, it has survived waxing and waning popularity, not to mention a fire in 2011. (The flames flare on the night of Halloween.) Roam room to room and you encounter all manner of deceptions and marvels. Card tricks. Seances. Sleight of hand. Secret passages. And a fancy dinner.

Why: The Magic Castle is the worst kept secret in Hollywood -- a private club in a tricked-out house thats devoted to magic. And if you really want to get in, its not that hard.

See the light at James Turrells Skyspace in Claremont By Elisa Parhad Why: This awe-inspiring public art installation brings new beauty to the light of dawn and dusk. What: Dividing the Light (2007), one of several dozen Skyspaces worldwide by artist James Turrell, is an elevated metal frame perched above an outdoor courtyard. A mesmerizing light show begins at dawn and dusk when the frame is illuminated with colored light, enhancing the skys own changing hues. The Skyspace is a part of the Pomona College Museum of Art. For Turrell, an L.A. native and alumnus of Pomona College (65) and Claremont Graduate University (73), this campus installation is a homecoming of sorts, and the only public Skyspace in Southern California. Turrell is an avid pilot and considers the sky his studio, material and canvas, and his Pomona College training in perceptual psychology informs his play of light, space, and human perception. Skyspace programs begin one hour before sunrise and 10 minutes before sunset. The evening program lasts about 40 minutes. Check a listing of current exhibitions and Art After Hours days that may make a Skyspace and museum twofer possible. Where: The Draper Courtyard (between the Lincoln and Edmunds buildings) at 600 N. College Way on the Pomona College campus in Claremont, 34 miles northeast of downtown L.A. How much: Free Info: James Turrell Skyspace Facebook

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Pedal L.A.'s Echo Park Lake, munch a fancy snack and daydream of Sister Aimee and the spiritualists By Christopher Reynolds The swan boats of Echo Park Lake. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Why: The hotter it gets, the more sense these pedal vessels make. What: The artificial lake in Echo Park goes back to at least 1870. The boathouse and pedal boat operation go back decades. And the place has been dramatically upgraded in the last few years, beginning with a draining and cleaning in 2011-2013. The paddle boats operated by Wheel Fun Rentals are now shaped like swans and the larger ones hold up to five people or 1,400 pounds. (These boats look a lot like the historic swan boats in Boston Common, which also go back to the 1870s.) Head out for an hour of pedaling and drifting, not necessarily in that order, and imagine the early 20th century days when Aimee Semple McPherson was preaching in the Angelus Temple next door and these hills were crawling with communists, socialists and spiritualists. The boat rentals are open daily all year from 9 a.m. until sunset. On the hottest days, try edging right up to the edge of the fountain in the middle of the lake  youll be coated with mist or (if theres a breeze) pelted by diagonal rain. The last rentals go out an hour before sunset. (One night in July, a young man broke in and took a paddle boat for a forbidden ride. It did not end well.) The eatery, Beacon, opened in January 2017 with a menu thats longer, more intriguing and a little pricier than the average public park snack shack. The communists dont live here anymore. Bonus option: Fishing is allowed, with a license. Where: 751 Echo Park Ave., 2 miles northwest of downtown L.A. How much: The swan boats rent for hourly rates of $11 per adult, $6 per minor. Everybody gets a life jacket. A sampling from the Beacon menu: kale and avocado burritos ($7), a crab and gouda sandwich ($13), salmon toast ($10), Beacon Burger ($15), lemonade ($3). Beacon is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Info: Wheel Fun Rentals, Beacon A pedalers view of Echo Park Lake. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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See the Giants, glimpse the bay and duck the gulls at San Franciscos AT&T Park By Christopher Reynolds The Giants have played in AT&T Park since 2000. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Why: Whether youre for the Giants or against them, you can root for a home run into the bay here  something you wont see at any other major league baseball stadium. In fact, you can see bits of San Francisco Bay  distant wharves, cargo ships, maybe a few kayaks in McCovey Cove  from many of the 41,915 seats in AT&T Park. And in a city thats not always easy for families, this park is full of kid-friendly features. What: The Giants have been based in San Francisco since 1958, but they only started winning championships here after this ballpark opened in 2000. (Beyond center field youll see banners celebrating the teams World Series victories in 2010, 2012 and 2014, and a few more from the earlier New York years.) Builders worked hard to reduce the winds that made the old Candlestick Park a nightmare for anyone fielding a fly ball  and largely succeeded. In fact, experts often rank this park first or second among the most pleasant in the major leagues. But theres no banishing the gulls. At the end of every game, thousands of the scavenging creatures come swooping in to feast on leavings in the bleachers. Ushers try to fend them off, but the situation is basically Field of Dreams meets Alfred Hitchcock. Hang around for a few minutes to catch the spectacle. Gulls after a day game, AT&T Park, San Francisco. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Where: 24 Willie Mays Plaza, San Francisco, 382 miles northwest of downtown L.A. How much: Most tickets $9-$282. Single-game tickets here. Info: San Francisco Giants, San Francisco Travel Facebook

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Fly, roll, float and romp in a Disneys ever-evolving California Adventure By Christopher Reynolds Hollywood Land, Disney California Adventure (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Why: If somebody asked you to compress the best of California into 72 acres, make it abundantly kid-friendly and persuade thousands of people to spend long hours and big money there, you might crack under the pressure. (Admit it, youre already uncomfortable.) That was Disneys mission with this park. And Disney failed  at first. But since that awkward debut in 2001, when attendance fell far short of expectations, the park people have been steadily changing and fixing this place. Even if youre skeptical about all things Disney (as some people are), youll probably get a kick out of this cartoon version of our state. What: Most of the parks rides, restaurants and photo ops are all about idealizing California, including Hollywood Land (whos ever seen such clean streets and tidy storefronts in the real Hollywood?); Pacific Wharf (a mix of Cannery Row in Monterey and Fishermans Wharf in San Francisco); and Grizzly Peak (a nod to Yosemite and the tall trees of Northern California). But other features these days reach far beyond state lines. When I dropped in a few days ago, the parks marching bands and mariachis were joined by drummers, dancers and musicians from around Asia, gathered to celebrate Lunar New Year. Rides in A Bugs Land and Car Land were full of grinning guests, as was the Soarin Around the World ride  which replaced Soaring (over California) in 2016  and the Guardians of the Galaxy-Mission: Breakout! ride  which replaced the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in 2017. This summer, Paradise Pier is scheduled to become Pixar Pier. Meanwhile, California Screamin, Mickeys Fun Wheel and Grizzly River Run were closed for refurbishment. Check before visiting to see whats open and whats not. Where: Right next to Disneyland and Downtown Disney, California Adventure, 1313 Disneyland Drive in Anaheim, is 26 miles southeast of downtown L.A. How much: Passes start at $97 (ages 10 and above; before taxes) for a one-day Value Ticket. Standard parking $20. Info: Disney California Adventure Disney California Adventure (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Drive the narrow, winding, spectacular back-door route to Big Sur: Nacimiento-Fergusson Road By Christopher Reynolds On the western slopes (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Why: Itll quicken your pulse, drop your jaw and demand your full attention. Theres no more dramatic passage from Central Californias blond hills to the Big Sur coast than this 24-mile route. What: Nacimiento-Fergusson Road, a winding, two-lane highway, begins in the Salinas Valley countryside north of Paso Robles, next to the often-overlooked Mission San Antonio de Padua and the Armys Ft. Hunter-Liggett. From there it creeps through forest and chaparral to the crest of the Santa Lucia Mountains, about 2,800 feet above sea level. Then for 7 miles, via dozens of switchback turns, it wends its way down the western slopes to Big Sur. It meets Highway 1 at Kirk Creek, about 4 miles south of Lucia. Mission San Antonio de Padua (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Motorcyclists have loved Nacimiento-Fergusson Road for years. When a mudslide and reconstruction closed Highway 1 at Mud Creek for more than a year in 2017-2018, many more cars found their way to this alternative, as well. In normal times, with Highway 1 open, you can usually count on thin traffic on Nacimiento-Fergusson. The roads westernmost 7 miles, descending via multiple sharp turns to the coast road, are as spectacular as can be  and might start a three-alarm panic attack if youre afraid of heights. (When a route is featured on www.dangerousroads.org, you know its special.) Given the absence of lights or guard rails or cellphone reception, Id never try it after dark. On my midday drive in December, I took care to ignore the views until Id safely pulled into one of the many turnouts along the way. (For a tamer ride with similar scenery, take Highway 46 west from Paso Robles to Cambria.) Where: To reach the eastern end of Nacimiento-Fergusson Road, exit Highway 101 at Jolon Road, about 23 miles north of Paso Robles. Follow Jolon Road west, then turn left onto Mission Road, continue 4 miles, then turn left onto Nacimiento-Fergusson Road. Because the road passes through the Army base, drivers may need to show license, registration and proof of insurance. Give the drive at least two hours from the 101 to the 1. You dont want to be in a hurry here. How much: Free. Info: www.dangerousroads.org Facebook

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Recline, rebel or revel in Grand Park, where downtown L.A. celebrates By Christopher Reynolds Grand Park, Dec. 31, 2015. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) Why: Every real downtown has a park to serve as urban backyard, and Grand Park is more proof that L.A.'s downtown is getting realer by the day. What: The 12-acre park connects the Music Center at the top of Bunker Hill with City Hall at the bottom. (Yes, you can go to City Halls 27th floor observation deck and its free). The park isnt really new -- theres been open space for decades on these blocks between government buildings. But a dramatic redesign in 2012 put a far better spin on the area, and it doesnt hurt that neighboring Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels arrived in 2002, Disney Hall in 2003 and the Broad Museum in 2015. Besides its welcome green expanses and flanking playground and dog-run areas, Grand Park includes a fountain (with splash pad for kids), an adjacent Starbucks, plenty of places to sit and a busy schedule of holiday events and live shows. Picnicking is encouraged. Protesting is permitted. Food trucks come for lunch most Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Theres midday yoga on many Wednesdays and Fridays. In October and November, the park hosts Dia de los Muertos altars and art; in November and December, holiday lights. And on New Years Eve -- well, the 2016-17 party (free and alcohol-free) included three stages, DJs, live music, dancing, inflatable art, and light projections. Expect more of the same this time. Where: between 200 N. Grand Ave. and 227 N. Spring St., at the core of downtown L.A. How much: Free. Its easiest to arrive via Metro. But theres parking nearby in Lot 10 (entrances on Broadway and Hill Street between 1st and Temple streets), priced at $3.50 per 15 minutes up to a $20 maximum per weekday, $10 per day on weekends, evenings and special events. Info: Grand Park Womens March, Grand Park, January 2017. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Gawk as the waters of McWay Falls plunge from Big Sur to the sea By Christopher Reynolds ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Why: McWay Falls, the splashiest attraction in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, roars down 80 feet from granite and redwoods to a creamy Big Sur beach and implausibly turquoise cove. Its the cascade that other waterfalls want to be. Its also a perfectly impossible California destination, because you cant stand under these falls. Theres no safe way to the beach. What: The hike is more of a stroll, really. Its about half a mile, mostly flat. (And the rest of the park remains mostly closed because of mudslides and other damage done by the Soberanes Fire of 2016.) Once youve passed through a short tunnel under Highway 1 and made a right turn, youll soon be standing on a rocky perch where a house once stood, looking south to the beach and falls. This is an invitation to chill. For one thing, the trail has ended. Also, like Yosemite Falls  which led off our California Bucket List project on Jan. 1  McWay Falls is a sort of perpetuity made plain. The water keeps coming, even if its in short supply elsewhere. And the cell reception is so rotten that youll probably never get an Instagram photo posted from here. So have a seat. Notice that theres a great view to the north also. Think about all the writers and composers (beginning with James Joyce, Richard Wagner, Al Green and Teeny Hodges) who have chosen to start and end their works with running water. Or think about nothing. Where: Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, mile marker 35.8 in Big Sur, 37 miles south of Carmel, 286 miles northwest of downtown L.A. Highway 1 is expected to remained closed at Mud Creek (27 miles south of McWay Falls) through September 2018. That means travelers from the south have two options. One is to detour from Highway 101 north of Paso Robles via Jolon Road and the 24-mile, narrow, winding Nacimiento-Fergusson Road (a star on dangerousroads.org). The other choice is driving up to Salinas on the 101, cutting over to Carmel, then coming back south on Highway 1. How much: $10. Info: Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park Looking north from the McWay Falls Trail. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Marvel over this San Francisco church inspired by the ideals of the Scandinavian Da Vinci By Catharine Hamm (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Why: Simplicity and complexity meet in the Swedenborgian Church of San Francisco, and the marriage is a harmonious celebration of architecture and intellect. What: The 1895 Swedenborgian Church of San Francisco, a national historic landmark in Pacific Heights, is an Arts and Crafts building designed by several architects, including Bernard Maybeck, who created the Palace of Fine Arts at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915 in San Francisco. Inside the walls are rustic redwood, found often in Arts and Crafts buildings and consistent with the Swedenborgian appreciation of natural objects, according to the 1969 book Here Today: San Franciscos Architectural Heritage. The chairs are maple, made by hand, without the use of nails, and their seats were woven of tule rushes from the Sacramento River Delta, the book says. In the fireplace in the back, the andirons become small crosses, and the crackling fire (and recently installed radiant heat) make the church a warm and welcoming spot for quiet contemplation, especially on chilly San Francisco days (which is most of them). (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times) Its also a reminder of the man whose desire to understand Scripture caught fire when he was in his 50s. Emanuel Swedenborg was born Jesper Svedborg in 1688 in Stockholm. In Swedenborg: An Introduction to His Life and Ideas, author Gary Lachman describes Swedenborg as the Scandinavian Da Vinci. He was a scientist, poet, writer, mystic, statesman, inventor and biblical scholar. After Swedenborgs death in 1772 in London, societies took root that were devoted to contemplating his thoughts and works; the Bible is the center of these. These organizations made their way across the pond by the late 1780s, and the New Church (sometimes called New Jerusalem) began to spread in the United States. (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times) Notable Swedenborgian churches include the Wayfarers Chapel in Palos Verdes, designed by Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright. The younger Wright was said to have taken his architectural inspiration for the chapel, dedicated in 1951, from Northern Californias redwoods. Where: The Swedenborgian Church of San Francisco, 2107 Lyon St , is about 385 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Cost: Free. Services are at 11 a.m. Sundays. Office hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays; knock to gain entry to the church. Info: Swedenborgian Church of San Francisco Facebook

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Soak away your stress and join Club Mud at a Corona hot springs that embraces everyone By Catharine Hamm Why: If youre intimidated by the word spa, Glen Ivy is the place for you. It feels accessible, not exclusive, meaning you can sit back and relax. What: Which is what you want to do. There are 19 pools to try, including the mineral pools, the star attraction in the early days of the late 1800s when you could soak in them for 25 cents. Today, you start by getting a locker for your street clothes and putting on your swim suit in a well-appointed area that includes changing rooms, showers and big, lighted mirrors where youll find hairdryers youll want later in the day. Glen Ivys 12 acres include a float pool and a large pool if you want to exercise. But my new favorite features are the hot and cold plunge pools. (Try switching three times between them and stay in each pool for a minimum of 30 seconds. It doesnt sound like long until youre in the cold pool.) The former Cafe Sole has been replaced by the new Ivy Kitchen, offering light but satisfying meals. (No starvation tactics here.) And, of course, you can find the usual spa treatments (extra charge but no pressure; appointments advisable) including the underground Grotto, where skin hydration is the goal ($25 upcharge). Save Club Mud for last. You paint yourself (and your hair) with mud, which is California red clay, then go bake in the sun. Before you turn into tandoori chicken, you brush it off and rinse or wash it off in the outdoor showers if youve used a tad too much. One note: Beware of bees, which are attracted to the mud. Make sure you youre wearing your sandals. The landscaping makes it all very pretty and it feels all very real, which is refreshing if youre weary of L.A. artifice. Where: 25000 Glen Ivy Road, Corona; (888) 453-6489, about 60 miles southeast of downtown L.A. (Set aside at least 90 minutes to get there.) How much: Go on a weekday when its less expensive ($49 for the day Mondays-Fridays, averaging 300 guests). Saturdays, Sundays and holidays its $68 and about 700 people will be there. Through Feb. 28, hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Its open an hour later from March through May. Check on summer hours. Info: Glen Ivy Hot Springs Facebook

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See the small world within this Carlsbad museum of miniature engineering By Irene Lechowitzky Why: The Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum in Carlsbad is novel and quirky  and proof that good things come in small packages. What: The collection includes painstakingly crafted, remarkable miniatures, many with moving parts. There are cars, planes, engines of all sorts, ships, thumb-sized guns and knives, and much more. These are not the plastic model car kits from your childhood; for example, theres an eye-popping version of a 1932 Duesenberg SJ that has more than 6,000 custom-made parts and is said to have taken more than 10 years to finish. The folks who built these tiny wonders spent decades perfecting their craft. There are hundreds of works from around the world on display, and docents to describe the intricacies and makers of each. Try to time your visit to coincide with a tour of the machine shop/engine room for a little extra oomph. Although its not geared for the toddler crowd, the museum, a few miles east of Legoland, can be an inspiring second stop for families with kids who like to build things. And while youre in the neighborhood, you could make it a triple play with a bonus stop at the nearby Museum of Making Music, where visitors have the chance to play musical instruments. Where: Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum, 3190 Lionshead Ave., Carlsbad; 95 miles south of downtown L.A. How much: Free. Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. Machine shop/engine room demos are at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. Info: Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum Facebook

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Start the New Year right with a visit to Pasadenas Rose Parade By Chris Erskine Why: Like the Grand Canyon or the northern lights, the majestic Rose Parade needs to be seen in person to be really appreciated. On a bright SoCal morning, the colors, detail and craftsmanship come alive. And throughout December, there are some intriguing pre-parade opportunities for volunteers. What: One of L.A.s finest freebies, the Rose Parade steps off at 8 a.m. every New Years morning (unless the holiday falls on a Sunday, in which case it is bumped to Monday). We wont even bother describing it, since like the Wizard of Oz or a Super Bowl, everyone has probably seen it on TV. In person, though, the parades splendor, precision and pageantry make an early wake-up call worth it. Its almost a rite of passage for Southern Californians, some of whom spend the night along the parade route. The parade has more rules than the Vatican. Do not pass the blue Honor Line painted on the street.

No tents, sofas or boxes.

Unoccupied chairs are not allowed.

No roping off public areas. And thats pretty much just the main stuff. Heres a full list. But dont let them ruin your fun. The parade, after all, is one the best family-friendly events in the area, and theyre just protecting that. To be a part of it all, join in on the float building in the days and weeks before the parade, when the flowers are being supplied and volunteer help is needed. On parade day, get there before sunup to be sure of a place along the route. Tickets in the grandstands are another option. Be sure to dress in layers, because the temperatures will range from frosty to blistering as the day progresses. Heres a little insiders trick that you wont believe until you see it. If you wait till the 8 a.m. start time, the crowd will be in place on the route and there is virtually no traffic. Pay the $20 parking fee at a random gas station along Walnut and join the fun. You wont be in the first row, or maybe even the first 10. But the floats are so high, youll be able to see them well. About an hour into the two-hour parade, the crowds will begin to relax and spots open up for even better viewing. Its a wonderful experience, hassle-free, and a great way to kick off a New Year. Where: Pasadena, about 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles. How much: Free Info: Rose Parade Facebook

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Meander among 5 million lights at Riversides Mission Inn By Christopher Reynolds ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Why: The Mission Inn, which dates to the 1870s, stands in the middle of Riverside the way Bruce Springsteen stands in the middle of the E Street band. It fills a city block. And since the early 1990s, the hotel has been putting together an ever-more-lavish Festival of Lights. At last count, about 5 million lights. What: For six weeks at Christmastime, the landmark hotel switches on all those lights and invites visitors to stroll through the property, including a tunnel where faux snow falls. (This years festival runs Nov. 24 through Jan. 6.) The line to walk the property can get very long  and the traffic and parking situation in the blocks around the hotel can seem downright devilish. But most folks are in a good mood, and the festival includes live music, horse-drawn carriages, funnel cakes, Santa Claus photo ops and more. To see more lights and skip the line, book a dinner reservation at the Mission Inn Restaurant (one of several on the property) and you may land at a courtyard table, surrounded by Spanish Revival architecture thats more ornate (and with more Tuscan influence) than youll see at any of Californias 21 actual missions. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) And yes, theres a reason the decorations seem to be in motion: Besides lights, the halls and walls have also been festooned with about 200 angels, gnomes, polar bears, many of which move, in the same halting, semi-spooky way that Honest Abe moves in Disneylands Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Its a scene. And speaking of presidents, be sure to peek at the hotels Presidential Lounge and its portrait of Richard Nixon, who was a 27-year-old attorney when he married Pat Ryan at the hotel in 1940. (Theres also a tower, a rotunda, spa, all sorts of artworks and artifacts and a museum next door that traces the inns history through expansion, bankruptcy, renovations and resurgence.) Where: 3649 Mission Ave., Riverside, 55 miles east of downtown L.A. How much: Its free to walk the hotel property during the Festival of Lights. Dinner main dishes at the Mission Inn Restaurant run $15-$42. (I can recommend the Italian sausage pasta and the pan-seared salmon.) Rooms for two start as low as $199 in slow months (like January), $329 or more in December. Info: Mission Inn The inns Presidential Lounge. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Theres a gingerbread hotel in the inns lobby. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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Peer into a writers head and a valleys soul in Salinas By Catharine Hamm Why: John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, Calif., a farming community that lacks the cachet of neighboring Carmel and Monterey. But, then, neither of those towns produced a man who went on to win a Pulitzer, a Nobel and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. To be in in Steinbecks hometown is to be reminded that, as fellow author F. Scott Fitzgerald said, genius is the ability to put into effect what is in your mind. What: Steinbecks birthplace home and the National Steinbeck Center tell the tale of the man whose Grapes of Wrath is often thought to be the Great American Novel. The community of his youth  he was born here in 1902  was this rich, rural farming area in the Salinas Valley, and his labors alongside migrant workers in the sugar beet fields of nearby Spreckels informed many of his works, including Of Mice and Men. He attended Stanford but never graduated, and he struggled to establish himself, but in 1935, his book Tortilla Flat finally put him in the public eye. His subsequent books included Cannery Row, Sea of Cortez and East of Eden and, of course, Grapes of Wrath, about which he wrote, It isnt the great book I hoped it would be. The story of the Joads, fleeing the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma and arriving in not-quite-as-billed California, won the Pulitzer in 1940. You can have lunch at the Steinbeck House, the Queen Anne style home where he grew up, then stroll the two blocks to the National Steinbeck Center, which somehow captures and conveys the challenges of his writing life. One of the central pieces of the center is Rocinante, the 1960 GMC camper pickup he drove on a 10,000-mile road trip as he scoured the country seeking its essence. The resulting book, Travels With Charley (Charley was his poodle), chronicles what Steinbeck saw as a country in sometimes uncomfortable motion. The center, which turns 20 in 2018, also does not shy away from the controversy that arose from the authors portrayal of farm workers lot in life in Grapes of Wrath. His books infuriated growers  some places banned them  and he turned his back on his hometown. But as if to prove you can go home again, Steinbeck, who died in 1968 in New York City at age 66, is buried in Salinas. Where: The Steinbeck House is at 132 Central Ave.; lunch is served 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; reservations at (831) 757-5806. The National Steinbeck Center is at 1 Main St., about 305 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The center is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day. How much: $12.95 for adults; $9.95 for seniors, students, military, teachers and Monterey County residents; $6.95 for children 6-17; children 5 and younger admitted free. Info: National Steinbeck Center Facebook

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Treat yourself to Spago in Beverly Hills, and a possible tableside visit from the boss By Chris Erskine Why: Because Wolfgang Puck, who likes to work the dining room, might stop by and personally sprinkle lemon juice on your perfectly grilled fish. There, better? he asks. Of course it is. What: A meal at Spago is as L.A. as the Hollywood sign  and a tad tastier. The landmark restaurant is where Puck made great food fun again. Originally on Sunset and now in Beverly Hills, Spago is synonymous with creative, attentive and amazing dining. (Mariah Tauger / For The Times) (Mariah Tauger / For The Times) At the original Spago on the Sunset Strip, [Puck] created what later became known as casual fine dining, a movement that 35 years later still dominates the restaurant world, wrote Times restaurant reviewer Jonathan Gold. And thus, a nationwide food craze was born. For food lovers, the menu itself is an adventure. Portions are generous, and the service is perfectly timed. And though the dining room is packed and buzzy, you can have a conversation here, unlike so many restaurants these days. At lunch, the go-to standard is the house-cured smoked salmon pizza topped with dollops of caviar. Also pay attention to the veal wienerschnitzel, so tender you could cut it with your thumb. Grilled fish comes off the grill in that 10-second window when it is neither too swimmy nor too dry. Just dont forget the lemon. Where: 176 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, about 13 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. How much: How much you got? For most of us, this is a special occasion restaurant. Lunches for two start at around $100 and quickly reach $200. Dinners for two will run $150 and up, before wine or cocktails. Info: Spago (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Frolic amid mai tais, Spam and tiki culture at the Bali Hai on San Diego Bay By Irene Lechowitzky Why: Because two Bali Hais are better than one. Brush up on your Rodgers and Hammerstein (Bali Hai may call you / Any night, any day), then come away to this San Diego tiki icon, the Bali Hai restaurant. What: Tiki bars have been a Southern California phenomenon for generations, and San Diego  with its sunny days, palm trees, ocean views and strong Navy heritage  is a perfect fit for the kitschy fad, tiny umbrellas and all. Starting in the 1930s, faux-Polynesian themed bars and restaurants sprang up in the cross-border region from Tijuana to San Diego. The tiki scene started to dwindle in the 1960s, and despite a resurgence of sorts, most of the old cheeky palaces have faded away. But not Bali Hai. At age 63, its still proudly shaking its hula skirt, aided by a waterfront location, fun ambiance and, yes, seriously powerful mai tais. Ambiance first: As you approach the restaurant/bar, the first thing youll notice is The Goof on the roof, a playful tiki that stands guard over the domain below. At the front door, Mr. Bali Hai, a large wood sculpture, greets guests. Inside, there are about a hundred Polynesian artifacts on display, including masks, weapons and tools. The large bar and dining room have dark wood columns, a wood-beam ceiling and large windows with great bay and city views. The Pacific Rim-inspired menu features such items as Hawaiian tuna poke, chicken adobo steam buns, Spam carbonara, pork belly katsu and Chinese garlic noodles, and holdovers such as Huli Huli chicken and coconut shrimp. But for my money, the experience isnt complete without a rum-based cocktail. There are plenty to choose from, but my favorite is the World Famous Bali Hai Mai Tai, a potent drink that proudly has No Juice Added and mixes aged light and dark rums, Trader Vics orgeat syrup, a dash of Triple Sec and a splash of sweet and sour. Where: 2230 Shelter Island Dr., on Shelter Island, about 5 miles west of downtown San Diego, 120 miles southeast of downtown L.A. How much: Dinner main dishes from $19 to $30; Sunday brunch, $40. Classic cocktails are under $10. Info: Bali Hai restaurant San Diego Bay, from Shelter Island (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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Celebrate at Lawrys in Beverly Hills, where thick slabs of prime rib are sliced right at your table By Jenn Harris (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times) Why: Since 1938, Lawrys the Prime Rib has been the place for indulgence and celebration. Its where people spend their birthdays, anniversaries, congrats-on-your-promotion dinners and holiday parties. And where football players competing in the Rose Bowl go for the Beef Bowl. What: Walking through the heavy gold doors is like walking into a time machine. Through the other side is a magical place where people still dress up, spotless glasses sparkle on crisp white tablecloths and the plush booths make you feel like the most important person in the world. The idea was to create a version of the English restaurant Simpsons in the Strand, where cuts of meat fit for a giant are served from trolleys. But Lawrys founders Lawrence Frank and brother-in-law Walter Van de Kamp (of the Van de Kamp bakery empire and Tam OShanter Inn) had grander plans for their restaurant, starting with the meat carts. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times) Lawrence designed the stainless steel carving carts the restaurant is known for  the ones that glide through the dining room carrying Flintstones-sized cuts of meat  to be, well, impressive. And they are. As are the meat carvers, who don medals showing they are part of the Royal Order of Carvers (a title that requires six months of training). Each prime rib dinner comes with its own show of sorts: Servers wear the same style of brown gown uniforms they wore when the restaurant opened, and they pour dressing from up high into spinning metal bowls of salad tableside. When you order your prime rib, you do it directly from one of the shiny carts, and its sliced to order. There are smaller cuts of meat, but treat yourself to the Diamond Jim Brady (16 ounces), named for millionaire Jim Brady, who was known for eating massive amounts of food. All of the prime rib dinners come with the spinning salad, a scoop of mashed potatoes, a ladleful of gravy and a wedge of Yorkshire pudding. If you dont finish it all  you probably wont finish it all  ask for a doggie bag. The restaurant claims to have initiated the idea, along with valet parking. There are Lawrys the Prime Rib locations in Las Vegas, Chicago and Asia. The original in Beverly Hills is home to a comfortable lounge and excellent bar snacks. This is where you can order a martini kissed with prime rib-stuffed olives and find complimentary snacks that could easily replace your dinner appetizers. Arrive a little early for your reservation, grab a seat in one of the cushy lounge chairs, order a martini, then take turns filling your plate with cocktail meatballs and salty potato chips the size of drink coasters. Go for it. Indulging to your hearts content is encouraged. Where: 100 La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills, located on Restaurant Row, about half a mile south of the Beverly Center, about 10 miles west of downtown L.A. How much: Prime rib dinners start at $41, and you can add a lobster tail for $15. Dessert and starters are extra. Drinks in the bar/lounge area are $13 to $17. The restaurant is busier on the weekends, and reservations are recommended. Info: Lawrys Facebook

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Read forbidden words and savor daring artists in Big Surs Henry Miller Library By Thomas Curwen (Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times) Why: If Big Sur is a temple to the beauty of the California coast, then the Henry Miller Memorial Library is one of its most endearing altars, a respite from the rigors of navigating the twists and turns of Highway 1 and rubber-necking the vertiginous coastline. Beneath stately redwoods is a quiet repository of wisdom, irreverence and charm. Its proprietors say that it is the place where nothing happens, and yet it is where everything seems to converge. What: Henry Valentine Miller came to Big Sur in the 1940s after nearly a decade in Paris. He was, by then, author of Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, which were banned as obscene in America until 1961. Naturally they sold well, and Miller soon became a hero of renegade literature, a model for William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. After Millers death in Pacific Palisades in 1980, a friend, Emil White, opened a memorial library that bore Millers name. With the help of the Big Sur Land Trust, the library has become a nonprofit cultural space, art gallery, performance space, bookshop and destination for artists, writers, musicians and students. Bust of Henry Miller. (Thomas Curwen/Los Angeles Times) The Henry Miller Memorial Library is a reminder of the pleasures afforded by a curated bookstore. It is a place to celebrate the macho and feminist, the consensual and the iconoclastic through the pages of its eclectic collection of books. Psychedelic cumbias from Peru or the twanging guitar of the Del Tones might be your accompaniment as you browse the tables set with Edward Abbey, Joseph Heller, William Faulkner, John Fante, David Foster Wallace, Jon Stewart, Robert Pirsig and William Least Heat Moon. Strings of paper money from around the world  offerings from international visitors  dangle from the ceiling. Posters celebrate the notable musical performances that have taken place outdoors, including Philip Glass and Patti Smith, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Arcade Fire. Outside, an upright piano falls to ruin off the path from the highway. A typewriter gathers rust on a tree stump, and an effigy made of extension cords is crucified on a cross of computer monitors. In other words, where nothing is sacred, everything is sacred. (Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times) Where: 48603 Highway 1 in Big Sur, which is 10 minutes south of Nepenthe, 10 minutes north of Deetjens Big Sur Inn. Also 290 miles northwest of downtown L.A., 152 miles south of downtown San Francisco. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays, closed Tuesdays. How much: Its free to browse. Donations eagerly accepted. Books for sale. Tickets prices vary for performances and programs. Info: Henry Miller Memorial Library Facebook

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Roam the San Luis Obispo canyon full of architectural daydreams and wandering horses By Christopher Reynolds Poly Canyon, San Luis Obispo. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Why: Architects usually keep their daydreams to themselves. But among these hills on the back side of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, some students have allowed their boldest notions to romp free. And horses romp with them. What: Cal Poly is routinely ranked among the nations top schools of architecture, and its students and professors started testing ideas in this canyon as early as the 1960s. Lately, theres a spring Design Village event (April 20-22 in 2018) that brings students out to test temporary structures and sometimes sleep in them. Luckily for the rest of us, those nine acres and the rest of the canyon are generally open to the public, including dogs and mountain bikes (on the dirt road). Its a hike of about 2.5 miles from campus to the farthest structure, but your mileage (and elevation gain) will depend on how tempted your are to probe the structures and stalk the horses. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) I wandered around on a December day when the hills were the color of straw, and at first I wasnt so happy about all the horse turds. But once the horses themselves showed up, that changed everything. They sidled up to a water tower, then struck heroic poses on the ridge line while I prowled around assorted unconventional houses and bridges, including a geodesic dome. Yes, there was some graffiti and vandalism, but many structures have been reconditioned in more recent years. (The university calls it an experimental construction laboratory.) Id call it a great spot for photo experimentation as well. There are about 20 projects, and plenty of tree shade in the lowlands along Brizzolara Creek. After a rain, Ill bet those grassy slopes light up neon green. Where: The Cal Poly campus is 195 miles northwest of downtown L.A. Enter the campus via Grand Avenue (and beware of dorm construction near the entrance). Follow the campus map to the corner of Village Drive and Poly Canyon Road, then walk northeast on Poly Canyon Road, which is a gate dirt rout that follows Brizzolara Creek. After about 3/4 of a mile, youll see a stone arch. Step through and the canyon will open before you. How much: On weekends, parking is free at lot H4 at Village Drive and Perimeter Road. On weekdays, its $5 for a parking pass at the checkpoint at the campus entrance. (I showed up on a weekday and parked at lot K-1.) Info: Cal Poly College of Architecture & Design, Hikespeaks trail description. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Step into the vast, strange spectacle of Kenny Irwins Robolights in Palm Springs By Christopher Reynolds ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Why: Youll never see another holiday display quite like it. And it sits on 4 acres in the middle of an upscale Palm Springs neighborhood. What: The Coachella Valley, with its 80-degree December days, is a quirky place to celebrate winter holidays to begin with. And the quirks multiply once you enter Palm Springs Movie Colony neighborhood and approach the Irwin house, about two blocks from the old Frank Sinatra Estate. Since at least 32 years ago, when he was 12, Kenny Irwin has been driven to create epic displays from cast-off items  dreamscapes that suggest robots, space aliens and more obscure spectacles that defy description. With his fathers support (and a corps of seasonal workers to handle logistics and crowd control), Irwins compulsion has grown into Robolights, a seasonal landmark that combines Santa Clauses, reindeer, sleighs and gingerbread houses with little green men, skulls, dolls, hybrid creatures, reclaimed consumer electronics, half-melted toys and at least one coffin. At Robolights there are no clear lines between Halloween, Christmas and science fiction. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) From Nov. 22 through Jan. 8, the scene is lighted by thousands of bulbs and visitors are ushered along a path that leads from the front yard through a forest of fantasy in the back, then out again. A thousand visitors in a night is not uncommon. On my visit in early December, Irwin was out and about, a soft-spoken man with a skullcap, caftan, long beard and gentle smile. (Did I mention that the artist converted to Islam many years ago?) Ill bet the hardware store totally loves him, I heard one visitor say. This is insane, said another. Many families pose for pictures amid the luminous chaos. Where: 1077 E. Granvia Valmonte, Palm Springs, 107 miles east of downtown L.A. But while the Robolights are lighted, the city bans nonresident parking on many streets nearby, so youll need to park a few blocks away. Try Ruth Hardy Park. And be careful as you walk  there isnt a lot of streetlight illumination in the neighborhood. How much: Free. But theres a receptacle for donations at the entrance. From 4 to 9:30 p.m. daily. Info: Robolights The Robolights yard includes a pond. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Worker Alex Sanchez checks bulbs at Robolights. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Get down, dawg, with a $15 beach yoga class in Santa Monica By Chris Erskine Why: Beach yoga is good for the bod, and the spirit, in ways that no cramped, sweaty studio can match. What: All sorts of beach yoga classes are held up and down the California coast, but few are as affordable and easy as Beach Yoga With Brad and Friends in Santa Monica. No reservations required. Just drop in with $15 and a beach towel (or a yoga mat if you prefer). Instructor/owner Brad Keimach is a Juilliard-trained classical music conductor who moonlights  or sunlights  with these yoga classes every Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 till noon. He also holds Wednesday sunset classes starting at 3:45 p.m. and lasting an hour. When the days are longer and the clocks change, he adds more weekday sunset classes. (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) For almost 10 years, his beach-based classes have appealed to first-timers as well as advanced yoga buffs. They are held on the water side of Guard Tower 29, roughly on the border between Venice and Santa Monica. Paid parking is plentiful at the public lots at the end of Ocean Park or on Main Street. Like many yoga instructors, Keimach emphasizes breathing as well as the moves and poses. He also incorporates the setting, sending students to get their toes wet at one point for a bit of spiritual spritzing. The classes pass quickly, without pain, and without Keimach putting his hands all over the students (a too-common yoga studio experience). Looking out over the sparkly Pacific, his classes combine ocean breezes, a relaxing pace and Keimachs soothing instructions, at a venue where space is never an issue. Where: Lifeguard Tower 29, Santa Monica, 16 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. How much: $15 Info: Beach Yoga With Brad and Friends Facebook

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Shop with Victorians on San Franciscos Union Street By Christopher Reynolds Boulangerie de San Francisco, 1909 Union St. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Why: Sometimes you just want to shop in a strange city. Not in the middle of a grand scene like Union Square or the Ferry Building, but along a street that feels like a neighborhood just a bit beyond your means. With Victorian mansions here and there. Hello, Union Street. What: Union Street has had its great-shopping reputation since the 1950s. The eight-block stretch between Van Ness Avenue and Steiner Street, surrounded by the Marina and Cow Hollow residential neighborhoods, is the prime retail portion. Many of the shops (which tilt toward apparel and beauty products) and restaurants are housed in Victorian mansions that survived the quake of 1906. One even older mansion, the pale blue Octagon House at Gough and Union, went up in 1861 and has been preserved in its residential state by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America (so it would be wrong to knock on the door and ask if this is the weed dispensary youve heard so much about). The society opens the house a few days a month for tours. Among the restaurants, I can vouch for the Belgian food and beer at Belga (on Union near Buchanon Street). But there are more than two dozen. And theres plenty to peruse at Chronicle Books (on Union between Octavia and Laguna streets). Where: The corner of Van Ness and Union is a good place to start. Its 1.5 miles northwest of Union Square, 383 miles northwest of downtown L.A. How much: Free to browse, of course. Oysters at Belga, $3 each. Median home price in Cow Hollow and the Marina: about $1.8 million. Info: Union Street Facebook

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Find yourself in a yogis seaside Encinitas gardens By Irene Lechowitzky Why: Where else can you spend an hour and feel like youve been on a soul-replenishing spiritual retreat? At the Self-Realization Fellowship Meditation Gardens in Encinitas, you can be fully present in the moment and get in touch with your inner yogi  and do it surrounded by gorgeous gardens on a bluff overlooking the ocean. What: The goal of the Meditation Gardens, part of a large complex at the southern end of downtown Encinitas dedicated to the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, is to inspire you to a greater realization of the Divine Presence that lies within. Walking up the stone steps into the lush, eclectic gardens imparts an instant feeling of serenity. There are koi ponds and many quiet nooks with benches where you can sit. At the top of the ocean bluff is a plaque that marks the location of the Golden Lotus Temple. The temple, built in 1937 to take advantage of the incredible views, only stood for five years before the ground gave way and it had to be dismantled. Wander past the old, empty swimming pool up the tree-shrouded path to the dry area featuring native plants and succulents overlooking the famed surf spot Swamis. (The beachs name was a nod to Yogananda.) Some visitors pray, others meditate. I like to watch the surfers below and imagine them praying for good waves. And dont miss the Hermitage at the opposite end of the gardens, where Yogananda spent many years writing and teaching. The Hermitage, preserved as a shrine, draws followers from around the world; it is open on the first and third Sundays of the month. It was moving to see the study where he wrote his most famous work, Autobiography of a Yogi, which has been translated into dozens of languages. Where: 215 W. K St., Encinitas, 100 miles southeast of downtown L.A. (Look for the three large golden lotus towers as you come down South Coast Highway 101.) How much: Free. Info: Self-Realization Fellowship Facebook

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Hoot and holler in UCLAs Pauley Pavilion, the hoop heaven that honors John Wooden By Chris Erskine (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) Why: John Wooden was the Elvis of college basketball, a mythic, once-in-three-lifetimes figure. Pauley Pavilion was his Graceland. Along with Lambeau Field and Fenway Park, it belongs on any sports fans must-see list. What: Updated and comfortable, Pauley sits on the sweeping and shady UCLA campus in Westwood. It is one of the easiest L.A. sports venues to park near ($12) and navigate. Reopened in 2012 after a two-year renovation, the stadium now offers modern concessions, more room to roam and 1,000 more seats. Most significantly, it added a concourse, improving comfort and flow. Be ready for a lot of blue. After Dodger Stadium, this is L.A.s second blue heaven. (Photos by Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) But youre here for the lore, in a place that has produced 38 All-Americans. Wooden started it all, taking over as head basketball coach at UCLA in 1948 and leading the Bruins to a record 10 national championships. Renowned for his disciplined, values-driven approach, he created a basketball dynasty that won seven straight championships in the late 60s and early 70s, including 98 successive victories at Pauley. Wooden, who died in 2010, is the first person to be inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame both as a player and a coach. Though he resembled a gentleman banker more than a rock star, Woodens legacy lives on in the stadium he made famous. The corridors are lined with photos, timelines and a version of Woodens Pyramid of Success, a set of principles formed to help students and teams reach their potential. Where: Pauley Pavilion, on the UCLA campus, 15 miles west of downtown L.A. How much: Prices vary. Seats generally start at $8 for less-attractive games and $25 for popular ones. Info: UCLA Facebook

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Drive through In-N-Out Burgers flagship restaurant in Baldwin Park for a double-double, animal-style By Christopher Reynolds (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Why: For certain carnivorous Californians, a visit to this burger chain is like church, but with more calories. At the flagship In-N-Out location just south of the 10 Freeway in the eastern L.A. County suburb of Baldwin Park, of course you can drive through, as most customers do. But you could eat inside, then browse a company store, then (on the north side of the freeway) admire a non-functioning replica of chains first burger shack. What: Harry and Esther Snyder founded the first In-N-Out burger shack in 1948, which puts them among the first to try a drive-through restaurant. Now their granddaughter runs the company. To taste what the fuss is all about, order a double-double, animal-style  two beef patties cooked with mustard, two slices of cheese and a choice of hand-leafed lettuce and tomato, plus pickles, extra spread and grilled onions. Its the appeal of these burgers and fries (no heat lamps, freezers or microwaves) that has fueled the companys growth to more than 300 outlets. (But unlike its Southern California cousins McDonalds, Jack in the Box, Taco Bell and Wienerschnitzel, In-N-Out has never expanded beyond the American West.) (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Though the companys first home at San Francisquito and Garvey avenues has been leveled, the current restaurant is joined by not only a store (open 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays) but a regional distribution center, the two-story campus of In-N-Out University and the replica shack, which went up in 2014. (The online store does have wider inventory than the brick-and-mortar one, including socks and surfboards.) Where: 13850 Francisquito Ave., Baldwin Park. The company store is at 13800 Francisquito. The replica shack (free and open for selfies Thursdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) is at 13752 Francisquito. The restaurant is 16 miles east of downtown L.A. How much: Double-double, animal-style, $4.27. Info: In-N-Out (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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Light up your life at the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale By Catharine Hamm The Museum of Neon Art in Glendale showcases the once wildly popular light form. (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times) Why: Decorative and delightful, the works that light up our lives at Glendales Museum of Neon Art are part art and part science and all fascinating. What: In 2015, the museum moved from downtown Los Angeles, where it had lived since 1981, to Glendale and has been lighting up lives ever since. Pep Boys grace the entry. (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times) For this you can credit the founder of the feast, Georges Claude, a Parisian who invented the neon light in about 1910. L.A. became a hotbed of neon-ness, thanks to its desire to be the capital of the next big thing and its desire to look the part, beginning in the Roaring 20s. The neon at this museum, where exhibits change often enough to encourage repeat visits, is more amusing than unsavory. And as a reminder that nothing lasts forever, Manny, Moe & Jack (the Pep Boys) are not on permanent display, although the museum doesnt have any plans to move the fellows. Eve de Haans pink neon Love Dont Pay the Bills is part of the She Bends exhibit, featuring works by women neon artists. (Catharine Hamm/Los Angeles Times) Through Feb. 11, an exhibit called She Bends: Women in Neon, takes you inside a creative funhouse of the art form, some works based on words (Eve de Haans pink neon Love Dont Pay the Bills), some on objects (Michie Hongos faces on skateboard remnants). Where: 216 S. Brand Ave, Glendale, about eight miles north of downtown L.A. How much: Museum entrance is $10 for adults ($5 if you live in Glendale), $8 for those 65 and older, and free for those 12 and younger if accompanied by an adult. Info: Museum of Neon Art Facebook

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Forage with top chefs at the Santa Monica Farmers Market By Christopher Reynolds Wednesday morning, pluots and persimmons. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Why: Some of the states most accomplished farmers rise before dawn on Wednesday mornings and drive as much as 200 miles, just so they can set up and sell at this market. One reason: The Santa Monica Farmers Market draws some of Southern Californias most decorated (and discriminating) chefs. And the market venue happens to be a tomato toss away from the beach, a cucumber roll from the scores of shops and restaurants along the Third Street Promenade. What: About 75 farmers set up stalls along a few blocks of Arizona Avenue, which is closed to vehicles on market mornings. If youre coming by car, youll have to cope with nasty traffic and parking, even at 8:30 a.m., but once youre afoot, life is good. In late fall, youll likely find dates from Mecca, apples from Cuyama, persimmons from Fallbrook, pluots from Kingsbug, oranges from Ojai, mushrooms from La Habra Heights. Consider this a reminder that for all its glitz, California remains an agricultural powerhouse. And even if youre not going to bite into that persimmon, youll feel the sea breeze and hear the banjo player at Arizona and 2nd, or maybe the guitarist a block to the east. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) The market was born in 1981, and the stampede of kitchen professionals began soon after. Noting that close relationship between growers and chefs, Saveur magazine in 2016 labeled this L.A.s best farmers market. Still, its good to remember that other markets operate on Santa Monicas Main Street (Sundays) and in the citys Virginia Avenue Park (Saturdays). If youre farther east, or youd like more street musicians and more nonproduce merchants, theres the Hollywood Farmers Market on Sundays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Ivar and Selma avenues. Where: The market happens on Wednesdays along Arizona Avenue, Santa Monica, between Ocean Avenue and 4th Street from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. On Saturdays, a smaller version occupies Arizona Avenue between between 2nd and 4th streets from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The corner of Arizona Avenue and 4th Street is 17 miles west of downtown L.A. -- which could take an hour to drive, depending on the hour and day. How much: In late November, organic pitted Medjool dates from Mecca were $9.50 per pound. Granny Smith apples from Cuyama were $3 a pound. Fuyu persimmons from Fallbrook were $3.50 per pound. Valencia oranges from Ojai were $1 per pound. Info: Santa Monica Farmers Markets ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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Drift in a balloon over northern San Diego County By Christopher Reynolds Aloft near Fairbanks Ranch. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Why: Heres your chance to climb into a wicker basket and rise 3,000 feet above Fairbanks Ranch, to stand just below a fire-belching burner (which makes your balloon rise), to see sunset from high up, and maybe even to throw shade onto one of Bill Gatess houses. What: A balloon ride is a 19th century sort of thrill, and as Californias open spaces get filled in, ballooning options are decreasing. The Napa and Temecula vineyard areas still feature plenty of balloons (which usually launch in early morning, when winds are calmer and temperatures are lower). The Palm Springs and Santa Barbara wine country areas have some too. But balloons are a rare sight along the California coast, so I grabbed a chance to soar above northern San Diego County. Though balloon pilots strive to keep their aircraft above land, the views from on high include miles of ocean and the red tile roofs of countless Mediterranean-style mansions. Rides typically last 45 to 60 minutes (depending on which way the wind blows), pilots are permitted by the Federal Aviation Administration, and its traditional to celebrate afterward with a glass of Champagne. In northern San Diego, its often a sunset operation flown by a team that started their day with a flight in Temecula. My ride in late November, operated by Compass Balloons, featured seven passengers and a pilot. (Minimum age: 5.) We launched near the Vegetable Shop at Chino Farm, (which sells produce to some of the regions most admired restaurants). We inflated, climbed aboard, drifted over the Morgan Run golf course, and gazed down on Fairbanks Ranch, Rancho Santa Fe, Black Mountain and Carmel Valley. As our round shadow crept across fields, hills and exclusive neighborhoods, pilot Matt Downing pointed out one of Bill Gates houses and another that once belonged to philanthropist Joan Kroc. We touched down smoothly about 3 1/2 miles east of where we took off. Im glad I did it when I did. Compass Balloons owner Evan Munnelly warns that flights in this area may cease within a year because take-off and landing spaces in the area are vanishing so rapidly. Where: Though several companies, including Compass, Skys the Limit and California Dreamin, mention Del Mar in promoting their balloon flights, the vessels usually take off and land farther inland. For my Compass Balloons flight, we met in an Encinitas park-and-ride lot (1969 Villa Cardiff Drive, Encinitas), then the crew drove us to the launch spot. Our meeting spot was 97 miles southeast of downtown L.A., 24 miles north of downtown San Diego. How much: A shared ride (with other passengers in a basket that typically holds eight to 10 people) typically costs $150 to $300 per person. Info: Besides the San Diego companies above, many balloon companies operate in Napa Valley, Temecula and around Palm Springs. . Facebook

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Drink dessert over an ocean view at La Jollas La Valencia Hotel By Christopher Reynolds Terrace, the Med, La Valencia. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Why: Life can be seriously sweet at this hotel, which was built in 1926 with a big La Jolla Cove view and anchors a neighborhood of ultra-spendy shops and glitzy galleries. Since the days when Gregory Peck hosted other La Jolla Playhouse luminaries in the hotels Whaling Bar, La V (as many locals know the place) has offered a frothy concoction known as a Whaler. Picture a milkshake, enlivened by Kahlua, brandy, coffee, whipped cream and various mystery ingredients. What: The 114-room hotel has long been known for its pink paint job and Spanish Mediterranean style. In the course of ownership changes, expansions and renovations, the Whaling Bar has slipped away. But its frothy legacy remains. Grab one of the 15 or so tables on the terrace of the hotels signature restaurant, The Med, order a Whaler for dessert, and dont plan on operating any heavy machinery for some hours. (If you think you see a Kardashian, it may not be a hallucination; members of the family have been dropping by for years.) Where: 1132 Prospect St., La Jolla, 112 miles southeast of downtown L.A., 14 miles northwest of downtown San Diego. How much: A Whaler costs $14. Main dishes in The Med are priced at $15 to $24. (I can vouch for the snapper ceviche.) Rooms for two typically rent for $289 and up. Info: La Valencia Hotel The Whaler (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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Find deep-fried pleasure at a roadside farm stand near Palmdale By Jenn Harris (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times) Why: Maybe youve finished a hike through the Devils Punchbowl and youre hungry. Or youre looking for unexpected holiday gifts. Or youve been hit by a craving for deep-fried fair food and its not fair season. For all these reasons and more, seekers like you end up at Charlie Brown Farms near Palmdale, where all your snack/drunk food fantasies, and your dreams of owning life-size replicas of the Blues Brothers, collide and come true. What: What started as a fruit stand in 1929 is now a six-acre hodgepodge of stores, a restaurant and a snack shop. The main building is a hokey cabin with advertisements for the various tchotchkes and snacks inside. From the road, its impossible to miss with signs that scream collectibles, funnel cake, smoothies, jerky, Dole whip. And just off the side of the building, an enclosed area with dinosaur statues. You may get whiplash trying to take it all in. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times) Once through the front door you experience sensory overload. Directly in front of you is a rack of jerky (the store boasts more than 60 kinds, including elk and ostrich). To the right is a counter where you can order milkshakes, fried candy bars, Texas-style barbecue, funnel cakes, ice cream and a host of other foods any decent doctor would advise you stay away from. To the left, packaged nuts, candy, a room where you can fill your own honey jar, a room devoted to pickles, a room devoted to soda, a fudge counter, and all that food is mixed in with things like raccoon figurines and coffee mugs. This is also where you can find raw frog legs for that stew recipe youve been dying to try. And alligator meat too. But past the fudge counter is where things really start to get weird. There are rooms completely lined with dolls from all over the world. A little creepy, but if youre in need of a doll (seriously, any doll), this is the place to find it. The life-size Blues Brothers statues I mentioned earlier? Theyre on the way to the doll rooms. Out back is a patio with tables and chairs, where you can break open that package of elk jerky or come down from that sugar rush of deep-fried Oreos. You could wander around this place for hours and not see everything. But its sure fun to try. Where: 8317 Pearblossom Highway, Littlerock, a 17-minute drive from downtown Palmdale and about 65 miles northeast of downtown L.A. How much: Depends on what youre in the mood for. Barbecue plates start around $11.50, the deep fried Oreos and Snickers are around $4 for each order, the jerky is around $8 a bag depending on the size, and the knick-knacks will range in price. If youre not a fan of lots of people in tight spaces, plan accordingly. Info: Charlie Brown Farms Facebook

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Soak in the view of Californias Grand Canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park By Elisa Parhad Why: Perched at the end of the rising desert floor, Fonts Point gives

onlookers a majestic view of Californias badlands, several hundred

feet below. Though far flung, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is an expansive feast of nature well worth the time it takes to get there. What: Fonts Point is part of a remote and sculptural landscape that was millions of years in the making. The vistas ridge yields to a maze of sinuous channels, razorback ridges and sandy, sun-baked hills. Bring a chair, a picnic and perhaps some friends. The scene is best at sunrise and sunset when the rock formations glow with honey-dipped hues. Even better is a visit during a full moon. The accumulation of photographers at these times is a testament to the spectacle. The brackish waters of the Colorado River and the Gulf of California

converged here long ago, making the area a dumping ground for

sediment. Today, the windswept and eroded rock is flush with the

fossils of animals and marine life that inhabited this once verdant

terrain. Four miles of soft dirt road leads up to Fonts Point, so check the

road conditions before your departure. Depending on the roads status,

a high clearance or 4WD vehicle may be necessary. Closer to the park visitor center, the Borrego Palm Canyon Trail is a popular 3-mile round trip that begins with a trailhead at the end of the main campground road. Where: In the heart of the Borrego Badlands, outside of Borrego

Springs, 168 miles southeast of downtown L.A. How much: Free until recently. On Nov. 3, the state parks system started collecting a day-use fee of $10 per vehicle on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays at the Anza-Borrego visitor center. Info: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Facebook

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Rent a Duffy for a glittery tour of Newport Harbor By Chris Erskine (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) Why: Newport Bay seems made of glitter. Rental boats are plentiful and the harbor is easy to navigate and full of nautical eye candy. Board an electric boat and take a breezy tour. What: Newport Beach is the Beverly Hills of Orange County. The setting for multiple TV shows, it represents much of the California dream  giant homes and sensational yachts. The harbor, home to 9,000 vessels, is a recreational wonderland. The Duffy, a popular brand of rental boats, is an excellent way to see it all. Available at a half dozen rental places around the harbor, the slow-moving vessels are as easy to operate as a golf cart. (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) A popular route is around Lido Island, the thumb-shaped isle on the western side of the harbor, where the bridge leaves plenty of space. Note that many of the bridges surrounding neighboring Balboa Island are too low to accommodate the surrey-topped electric boats. A lap around Lido takes about an hour, a typical rental period. Or, head east past the Fun Zone on Balboa Peninsula, past Balboa Island and toward the mouth of the harbor. Youll be warned not to go near the outlet, since the electric boats arent built to handle bigger waves. Pontoons, kayaks, paddle boards and powerboats are also available at rental locations around the harbor. Boat Rentals of America, on the peninsula near the Fun Zone, offers walk-up rentals, but recommends reservations for weekends, no matter the time of year. Where: Newport Beach is in Orange County, 46 miles, or 90 minutes, from downtown L.A. How much: Duffy electric boats that accommodate up to eight passengers rent for about $85 an hour. Info: Boat Rentals of America or Newport Beach Boat Rentals Facebook

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Connect with artisans (and beer) at Crafted, a makers market in a San Pedro port warehouse By Christopher Reynolds (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Why: Its a vintage warehouse down by the port, full of artists, designers and makers, neighbored by a craft brewery. And youre not done with your holiday shopping yet. What: Crafted was born five years ago, as the maker movement began to bloom nationwide. Its open Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and the first Thursday night of every month in the L.A. Ports Warehouse 10, built in the 1940s. When I stopped by in mid-September, there were about 50 vendors in place, hawking iPhone photo prints, snacks, sculptures, succulents, textiles, vintage reconditioned furniture, soap, you name it. Outside, the San Pedro Festival of the Artists was in full swing-- one of many special events that use picnic tables and patio space between the old warehouses. Pop Kustom Shoppe, Crafted. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Since 2016, the artisans have been joined by Brouwerij West, a craft beer operation and tasting room that fills about half of Warehouse 9. On weekends, theres usually a food truck (or two or three) on hand, and often live music. Coming eventually: a food hall in the other half of Warehouse 9. Where: Warehouse No.10, 112 E. 22nd St., San Pedro, 26 miles south of downtown L.A. How much: Parking and admission are free. Info: Crafted Brouwerij West. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Salute General Grant (the tree) in Kings Canyon National Park By Mary Forgione Why: Any way you look at it, General Grant stands tall. First of all, its a massive sequoia, one of the largest living things in California. Moreover, the White House has named this the nations Christmas tree. What: General Grant is 268 feet high, the base of its trunk is 107 feet around. In 1925, Central Valley resident Charles E. Lee (an officer of the Sanger Chamber of Commerce) asked President Coolidge to have this giant sequoia in the Grant Grove area of Kings Canyon designated the national Christmas tree. In 1926 the president complied. Ever since, the Sanger Chamber has staged an annual Trek to the Tree, drawing hundreds of people each year for a winter program that typically includes songs and prayers. No tinsel, no lights. Just the tree as it has stood for about 2,000 years, and a wreath contributed by park rangers. This years event will be Sunday, Dec. 10, at the base of the tree. and its a free admission day in the park. For reservations or information on shuttle buses to the site, contact the Sanger Chamber of Commerce by phone at (559) 875-4575 or by e-mail at sangerchamber@gmail.com. Whether you reach General Grant in holiday season or not, you can impress the other tree-lovers by pointing out that in 1956, Congress gave General Grant another distinction, naming it the nations only living national shrine in honor of the men and women of the Armed Forces. And if you really love the idea of big trees with high ranks, make a bonus stop at the General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park. Its bigger, about 275 feet high. In fact, it might be the worlds largest living thing, depending on how you quantify coral reefs, fungus networks and redwoods. Where: General Grant stands along a 0.8-mile paved loop trail from the General Grant Grove parking lot in Kings Canyon National Park. The grove is 245 miles north of downtown L.A. And its more than 6,000 feet above sea level, so snow is common in winter. Be sure to check weather and road conditions before driving into the area. How much: Admission to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks (which operator jointly, as if they were single unit) is $30 per car for up to seven days. Info: Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks Facebook

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Ski in the morning in the San Bernardino Mountains, surf in the evening, using these slopes as your launch point By Chris Erskine Snow Summit (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) Why: SoCal offers the chance to ski and surf on the same day. This would be the snowy part of such a mountains-to-the-beaches day. What: Bear Mountain and Snow Summit are two slices of the same cake. Two miles apart, the sister resorts are the crown jewels of the town of Big Bear, a couple of hours from the bustle of the big city. Big Bear is three hours away from downtown Los Angeles, and a world apart from the strip malls and gas stations that muck up much of Southern California. Spring, summer or fall, this alpine lake resort town offers plenty of activities, including boating, hiking and zip-lining. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) But in winter, its twin ski resorts really come alive. If you think of Southern California as all palm trees and bikinis, visit Big Bear after a winter storm, when the place is buried in several feet of snow and looks like a Christmas card. In what they offer, the two resorts are very similar, though Summit has the better terrain park. Lift tickets are good for both resorts, and buses run between the two resorts all day. Combined, the resorts offer 27 lifts and four high-speed chairs serving almost 60 runs. The resorts are just a few minutes from the village, where restaurants, shops and a movie theater await visitors. The resorts have begun making snow and opened Dec. 8. As with all mountain visits, note that conditions can change quickly, and chains are usually required on the twisty roads during any significant snow fall. Where: Big Bear Lake is in the San Bernardino Mountains, in San Bernardino County. It is 97 miles east of Los Angeles. How much: Advance purchase lift tickets start around $75. Info: Big Bear Mountain Resorts Facebook

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See the Klamath River flow into the Pacific from this dramatic overlook in Redwood National Park By Christopher Reynolds (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Why: Rugged coast. Big sand spit. Half-forgotten road. Blufftop perch. Despite all these assets, this dramatic corner of Northern California doesnt get that many visitors. So youll probably have it to yourself. What: Your gateway to the Klamath River Overlook is Requa, a hamlet -- the memory of a town, really -- along the Highway 101 south of Crescent City in Del Norte County. Its main landmark is the Historic Requa Inn, a rustic riverside lodging and restaurant that dates to 1914. If you can work out a way to eat dinner and spend a night there, do it. But dont stop there. Continue west 1.5 miles (no RVs!) on ramshackle Requa Road (which becomes Patrick J. Murphy Memorial Road on some maps) until theres no more road, and no more land. That will put you at the Klamath River Overlook. Drink it in. And if its May or June, scan the ocean for gray whales. Rangers say they often linger to feed in the waters spilling from river to sea This bluff is part of Redwood National and State Parks and it includes a modest picnic area. Theres a steep Lower Overlook Trail that will take you about a quarter-mile down the slope, exposing further views. Theres also a Coastal Trail to the north -- follow it for 2.7 miles and youll reach Hidden Beach. But the wide view from the picnic tables may well be plenty for you. Theres something mesmerizing about it -- maybe its the moving water. Theres also a good chance of a stiff, cold breeze or fog, just about any time. Bring layers. Where: Klamath River Overlook, 61 miles north of Arcata, 339 miles north of San Francisco, 713 miles northwest of downtown L.A. How much: No entry fee. Info: Redwood National and State Parks (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Pile the kids in the car, head to Riverside and catch a drive-in movie while you still can By Chris Erskine The entrance at the Van Buren Drive-In. (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) Why: What could be more of a California experience than a Hollywood double-feature viewed from the comfort of your car? What: In the 1950s, drive-in movies were a staple of American pop culture. These days, they are a novelty. One of the last remaining hot spots lives on at the Van Buren Drive-In in Riverside. Put the kids in their PJs and pack up the lawn chairs for a fine family getaway at the Van Buren. Opened in 1964 on the site of former orange groves, the three-screen drive-in remains a vibrant local hangout at half the price of your local multiplex. You can even bring your own food. On weekends, arrive 45 minutes before show time to ensure a decent spot, especially if youre going to sit outside in your lawn chairs. By showtime, the three lots serving the three screens resemble tailgate parties, with families wrapped in blankets and settled in for a double feature. (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) SUVs or pickups often pull in with the tail hatch facing the screen, so kids with blankets or sleeping bags can turn the experience into a slumber party. Theres the traditional snack bar, and prices are fair, at least by movie theater standards. But waits can be 20 to 30 minutes on weekends. Check here for express pickup. Keep in mind that youre experiencing a rare phenomenon these days. Once numbering 4,000 across the country, drive-ins are now down to 400 or so. Catch one while you can  not just for the sense of nostalgia, but for a memorable evening at a very fair price. Where: 3035 Van Buren Blvd., Riverside, 55 miles southeast of downtown L.A. Plan on a drive of 90 minutes to two hours in evening traffic. How much: Admission is $9 per person; children ages 5 to 9, $1. Major credit cards and debit cards accepted. Open seven days a week. No pets. Info: Van Buren Drive-In Theatre Facebook

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Taste-test the Thomas Keller restaurant empire in Yountville, Napa Valley By Christopher Reynolds Chocolate tart, Ad Hoc, Yountville (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Why: Yountville is a sleepy, genteel little town in the heart of Napa Valley, population about 3,000. And Thomas Keller, one of this nations most admired chefs, has three restaurants in Yountville, on the same street. Or four. Or five, depending on how you count. What: Keller, raised and trained in Florida and New York and renowned for his high standards, has also cooked in acclaimed kitchens in France and Los Angeles, and he has operations in New York and Las Vegas as well. (His Bouchon in Beverly Hills is scheduled to close Dec. 31.) But since he opened the French Laundry in 1994, Yountville has been the seat of his California empire. With three Michelin stars and a nine-course chefs menu, The French Laundry may be the most celebrated restaurant in the state, and its surely one of the priciest. Ad Hoc, Yountville (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) But the chef has give us options. Bouchon opened in 1998, offering French bistro fare. The Bouchon Bakery followed in 2003. In 2006 came Ad Hoc, devoted to American comfort food in a casual setting. (Its humble-brag slogan: for temporary relief from hunger.) Ad Hocs menu changes daily to take advantage of fresh ingredients, but its all built around the chefs choice for a four-course family-style meal, which includes favorites like pot roast and barbecue. I came before 6 p.m. on buttermilk fried chicken night (a Monday), and found myself in a happily clamorous dining room, surrounded by families, confronting more food than I could eat. (I enjoyed the casual feeling, and I liked the chicken well enough. But I actually enjoyed the salad and cheese courses more  livelier flavors.) Bouchon Bakery, Yountville ( Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Either before or after eating in Yountville, stroll Washington Street. At 6640 youll find the French Laundry, fronted by an unassuming, two-story, stone-walled building with minimalist kitchen addition and its gardens across the street. You can even peek through the kitchen window, a long slit that reveals the team laboring fiercely over that evenings dishes. Next, at 6534 Washington, you pause by Bouchon (French bistro fare) and the yellow awning of Bouchon Bakery (6528 Washington), whose snacks are the most affordable way to sample Kellers empire. A few blocks farther south at 6476 Washington, you reach Ad Hoc, which has nine seats at the bar in addition to its many tables (open Thursday through Monday). And behind Ad Hoc, neighbored by picnic tables, is Addendum, an auxiliary space that serves box lunches to go on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Where: Ad Hoc, 6476 Washington St., Yountville, Ca., 55 miles north of San Franciscos Ferry Building, 411 miles northwest of downtown L.A. How much: The nine-course dinner at the French Laundry: $310-$325 each. The four-course dinner at Ad Hoc: $55.A box lunch from Ad Hoc Addendum: $16.50. Info: Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, Yountville Chamber of Commerce The French Laundrys kitchen window ( Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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Storm a Tuscan castle in Napa Valley By Christopher Reynolds ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Why: Napa Valley has close to 500 wineries. Castello di Amorosa is the only one housed in a 107-room castle that was built in accordance with 13th century Tuscan aspirations. What: Owner/designer Dario Sattui completed this spectacle, a 15-year project, in 2007. Besides its five towers and the barrel-vaulted retail and tasting area (which never seems to end), its got a great hall and chapel, each with evocative murals. Theres said to be a torture chamber below. Depending on your mood, you might expect a Da Vinci Code villain to round a corner at any moment, or Orson Welles in mid-soliloquy. Or one of the Monty Python guys, clopping coconuts together. Not surprisingly -- given the Tuscan blueprint of the place -- the Castello di Amorosa wines are made in the Italian style. The winery suffered no damage in the wine country fires of October. Where: 4045 St. Helena Hwy., Calistoga, Calif., 70 miles north of San Franciscos Ferry Buidling, 425 miles northwest of L.A. City Hall. How much: Adult admission (which includes wine-tasting) begins at $25. For children the rate is $15-$20 (and theres grape juice to taste). Tours (which include rooms you cant reach just wandering around) cost $40-$95. Info: Castello di Amorosa ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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Soak in Calistoga spring water By Christopher Reynolds Fountain, Indian Springs, Calistoga (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Why: Calistoga is the answer to the question of what to do in the Napa Valley when youve had enough wine. Its a little, old resort town full of hot springs, so between wine-tasting excursions (and maybe the occasional bike ride) you can float listlessly in a steaming pool, untroubled by the faint scent of sulfur because you can feel the stress evaporating from your body. What: Samuel Brannan, a brash, controversial figure who became one of Californias first millionaires in the Gold Rush, founded Calistoga in the 1860s, counting on the areas springs to draw tourists from San Fancisco. (In fact, he built a rail route from Vallejo to Calistoga, and the current Napa Valley Wine Train rolls on the Napa-St. Helena portion of that old route.) It was a clever impulse. The town (population: about 5,300) lives on as a resort escape, with hideaways like Calistoga Ranch, Dr. Wilkinsons and Indian Springs (perhaps the oldest continuously operating pool and spa facility in the state) all relying heavily on their hot springs. Though the Napa/Sonoma wildfires of October drew near, they never reached the town of Calistoga, and it remains handsome as ever. In early November, I spent a night and stepped from the chilly morning air into the Olympic-sized, 102-degree, steam-cloaked pool at the 17-acre Indian Springs resort. It was pleasant. In 2015, the resort added a restaurant (Sams Social Club, which has fascinating, colorful mural over the counter) and grew from about 40 rooms to 115. Many of the interiors still have that just-upgraded, ready-for-the-magazine-photographer look. Where: Indian Springs, 1712 Lincoln Ave., Calistoga, 73 miles north of San Franciscos Ferry Building, 427 miles northwest of downtown L.A. How much: In winter, Indian Springs rooms for two usually start at about $239 per night. Info: Visit Calistoga, Indian Springs The main pool, Indian Springs, Calistoga (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Board the Napa Valley Wine Train, recall discord and disaster, then roll in splendor past miles of vineyards By Christopher Reynolds (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Why: If youre going to fully appreciate this valley and its globally admired vineyards, its better that youre not driving. And on the Napa Valley Wine Train, you have the chance to dine in style while the miles and wineries roll past. What: The train covers about 18 miles, running north alongside Highway 29 from the city of Napa through Yountville and Oakville to St. Helena. Along the way, depending on what you sign up for, you may stop to taste at one to three wineries, eat a three-course meal on board, and be back where you started in three to six hours. Its expensive but so very comfortable. And its got complicated history. The rail route, first laid in the 1860s, had fallen idle by the 1980s. To get the new wine train rolling in 1989, its owners had to outmaneuver many Napa locals who feared a tourist invasion would ruin the affluent communitys character. Skip forward now to 2015, when the trains management drew a storm of criticism for ejecting a group of guests, mostly African American, who were accused of being too loud. The view from the train, near Yountville, in early November. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) In late 2015, new owners took over the train. Then wildfires flared in October. They missed the train track, Highway 29 and the wineries along the route, but killed at least 41 people and destroyed thousands of homes and scores of businesses in Napa and Sonoma counties. By the time I showed up in early November, almost none of the damage was visible from the train. Napa was still in the early stages of recovery and the train was about half-full  unusual for the time of year. As for my journey, it was a sunny day, the countryside was gorgeous, the meal pleasant. The distant, fire-blackened hills to the east were barely discernible beyond the green and red vineyard rows, the shade trees and the nearby slopes. Where: McKinstry Street Station, 1275 McKinstry St., Napa, 46 miles north of San Francisco, 402 miles northwest of downtown L.A. How much: Most day trips run $206-$329 per person, which includes lunch and wine-tasting. Info: Napa Valley Wine Train (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Taste China (Live) in San Francisco By Christopher Reynolds Dim sum counter, Market Restaurant, China Live. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Why: Nobody likes to say so, but a lot of San Franciscos Chinatown looks tired these days. And many of the areas best Chinese restaurants are scattered among the outer suburbs where so many affluent Chinese American families live. So its a happy surprise to see China Live bring new energy and higher style to the neighborhood with a combination of design-intensive eating and shopping options. Its mission: to demystify Chinese ingredients and recipes while educating guests on the rich history and influence. What: China Live opened in March 2017, near the frontier between Chinatown and North Beach. The main downstairs space, the Market Restaurant and Bar, is full of long wood tables under a semi-raw concrete ceiling. Picture an Apple Store with steaming, edible merchandise, neighbored by open cooking areas, beckoning counters, a bar and adjacent retail rooms stocked with artisan teas, kitchen tools, condiments, shapely candles, jewelry and such. The restaurants menu is mostly based on sharing small dishes, so you might wind up with a medley dinner of fire-roasted sweet white corn, Dungenes crab spring rolls and Sheng Jian Bao (SJB) pan-fried pork dumplings. Market Restaurant, China Live. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Near the entrance is the casual Oolong Cafe. Upstairs waits a more exclusive restaurant offering private, pricey dining in elegant rooms befitting a royal in hiding. Its called Eight Tables by George Chen (dinner only; tasting menu: $225). There are also a pair of bars upstairs, including the Gold Mountain Lounge and one called Cold Drinks -- one of those hip hideaways that seeks to be popular by maintaining quasi-secrecy. Where: 644 Broadway, San Francisco, 380 miles northwest of downtown L.A.. How much: Together, the three dishes above cost about $40. Most cocktails $13-$15. Info: China Live ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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See, sniff and taste Napa Valleys bounty at the Oxbow Public Market By Christopher Reynolds A 1,033-pound pumpkin on display at Oxbow Public Market in Napa. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Why: This market and food hall, set above a fetching bend in the Napa River, is a short stroll from downtown Napa, a block from the headquarters of the popular Napa Valley Wine Train, a block from the COPIA center for wine and food education. Much smaller than San Franciscos food-centric Ferry Building but placed near the starting point of many popular Napa adventures, this foodie acre (about two-thirds the size of a football field) is a point of convergence for locals and tourists and a one-stop reminder that this wine country does more than make wine. What: The Oxbow Public Market opened in 2007, just in time to suffer from a national recession, the closure of COPIA (since rethought and reopened by the Culinary Institute of America) and construction-related disruptions of local traffic. Now those troubles are in the rear-view mirror, and a stroll around the marketplace introduces you to plenty of wine products but also duck tacos (at C Casa); American comfort food (Gotts Roadside); local seafood (Hog Island Oyster Co.); and assorted local fruits and vegetables (Hudson Greens & Goods). On my early November visit, Hudson was showing off a 1,033-pound pumpkin. There were also plenty of signs thanking the first-responders for their work fighting that regions wildfires in October. (Though many homes and about two dozen wineries were lost or damaged in those fires, the vast majority of the areas 500 wineries had reopened by Nov. 8.) Besides browsing at the market, you can also rent a bike at the automatic Spinway stand just outside and pedal seven miles along the Napa River to Kennedy Park and back; or just toodle down 1st Street in downtown Napa, where the new, 183-room Archer Hotel is expected to open in December. Where: 610-644 1st St., Napa, 46 miles north of the San Francisco Ferry building, 401 miles northwest of downtown L.A. How much: C Casa tacos run $4.75-$9. Spinway bike rentals start at $9 per hour. Info: Oxbow Public Market Oxbow Public Market, Napa. ( Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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Read the walls on Angel Island, the West Coast Ellis Island where Asian immigrants waited and waited from 1910 to 1940 By Christopher Reynolds State parks interpreter Casey Dexter-Lee in the Immigration Station museum on Angel Island. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Why: Its a handsome, green island in San Francisco Bay, popular with sailors, cyclists and hikers, just south of high-toned Tiburon. And from 1910 through 1940, it was something like a western Ellis Island, processing about half a million immigrants, including most of the 175,000 Chinese immigrants who arrived during those years. But those were not happy years. 
JERSEY CITY -- Former Pennsylvania gun range owner and self-styled anti-heroin crusader John Cramsey was sentenced Friday to at least one year in prison and a maximum of five, after he and two other people were stopped with a cache of weapons outside the Holland Tunnel en route to a drug "rescue" in Brooklyn.

Superior Court Judge Mirtha Ospina had little discretion in imposing the custodial sentence on Cramsey Friday morning in a Jersey City courtroom, after a ruling last month by Hudson County's top criminal judge denying a motion that he be sentenced to probation only, with no jail time, based on his lack any prior convictions.

In a deal with the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, Cramsey pleaded guilty on July 28 to one count each of unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. The charges carry a five-year sentence with a minimum of one year behind bars before parole eligibility, and that is precisely what Ospina ordered on Friday.

Cramsey spent three months in the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny following his arrest on June 21, 2016. His lawyer, James Lisa, said Cramsey could be released from jail "in about six months," when factoring in time served and the possibility that he could serve part of his incarceration in a halfway house.

Executive Assistant Prosecutor Gene Rubino declined to comment on the appropriateness of the sentence or what appears to be the close of the high-profile case.

A Port Authority Police officer standing just inside the Holland Tunnel toll booth during the congested morning rush hour flagged down Cramsey's high-suspension pickup truck, which was marked with a large cross hairs and the name of his business, High Ground Tactical. The officer pulled the truck over because, he later testified, it had a cracked windshield and objects hanging from the rear view mirror that obstructed the driver's vision.

Upon searching the truck, police found a 12-gauge shotgun, an assault rifle with high-capacity magazines, five handguns -- some of them loaded -- body armour, and a small amount of marijuana and a pipe.

Judge Sheila Venable, the presiding criminal judge in Hudson County, denied a motion filed by Lisa to waive the minimum of one-year parole ineligibility, citing, among other aggravating factors, the potentially lethal threat Cramsey posed on a mission to take a Pennsylvania teenager out of drug location where a friend of hers had just fatally overdosed on heroin.

The teen who Cramsey said he was en route to rescue later suffered a fatal overdose herself, one more element in a case that drew widespread attention for its links to an opioid epidemic that President Donald Trump just declared a public health emergency. Cramsey began intervening with addicts at the request of their friends and family after the fatal overdose his own daughter four months before his arrest outside the tunnel.

Throughout the case, Cramsey's lawyers frequently noted that the guns found in the truck had been legally owned and transported in Pennsylvania, and the case also drew attention for its Second Amendment implications.

As an admitted felon, Cramsey is no longer permitted to handle firearms, and he has lost his business and faced financial and other hardship. In an unusual twist in the case last month, Cramsey and his lawyers requested that his bail be revoked and that he begin serving his time prior to sentencing because, Lisa said, he had nowhere else to stay.

The judge was not unsympathetic, and for her official judgment of conviction, found there were eight mitigating factors in Cramsey's favor, including his lack of a prior conviction, his likelihood to respond positively to parole, and his intention to do no harm, versus just one aggravating factor, the need to deter others from committing similar offenses.

In an interview after the hearing, Lisa commended the judge for siding with Cramsey's probation officer in his recommendation against incarceration, and for accepting several mitigating factors in Cramsey's favor.

"She said she agreed with the probation officer that my client should get probation," Lisa said.

Cramsey's case could continue to play out in public, if not in court, as Lisa seeks a pardon from Gov. Chris Christie, who chairs a presidential opioid commission and has made combating addiction a focus of his final year as governor.

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Laois householders have been warned about drying clothes in their homes because of the asthma risk it poses.

As the winter sets in, more people start drying their clothes indoors but the Asthma Society of Ireland has warned doing so is a risk to the health to the 8,119 asthmatics in Laois

Research has shown drying wet clothes indoors can raise moisture levels by up to 30%. Moist environments encourage the growth of mould which can release seeds called spores, explains Averil Power, CEO of the Asthma Society of Ireland.

These often invisible spores can trigger breathing problems in people with asthma and other respiratory conditions.

The Asthma Society of Ireland has teamed up with Dyson Ireland to alert at risk asthmatics to the importance of managing their indoor air quality.

People whose asthma is more likely to be triggered by fungal and mould spores include:

Babies and children

Elderly people

People with existing skin problems such as eczema

People with a weakened immune system

People with severe asthma

Where possible dry your washing outside, or in a tumble dryer in a well-ventilated indoor space away from bedrooms and living areas Ms Power recommends.

The Asthma Society has also issued the following tips to help protect against mould in their homes.

Try not to dry clothes indoors, store clothes in damp cupboards or pack clothes too tightly in wardrobe;

Ensure your house is well-ventilated by opening windows regularly;

Use extractor fans or open windows to increase ventilation from showers, appliances and cooking;

Wash mould off hard surfaces using a water, vinegar and soap mix;

Consider using a purifier with a built-in air quality sensor to remove allergens and pollutants from the air;

Consider using a dehumidifier to remove excess moisture;

Keep air conditioner and heating filters clean and dry;

Fix leaks and moisture problems and keep things dry and clean in places where mould tends to grow such as showers and under sinks.

For more information, check out www.asthma.ie for Asthma Friendly Homes guidelines, sponsored by Dyson.

The Asthma Society of Ireland also offers a free Asthma Adviceline where you can speak on the phone with an asthma nurse specialist about making your home asthma friendly or any other issues. Freephone 1800 44 54 64 to book an appointment.

The Asthma Society is the only national representative body for the 470,000 Irish people with asthma. They provide the following services.
Four Laois Gardai who put their lives on the line for the country and the family of another officer who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Troubles will finally be honoured by the State next month.

Jim Cannon, Tom Peters, Ben Thornton, Gerry Bohan and the family of the late Michael Clerkin learned today (October 27) that they will be presented with the Garda Siochana Scott Medal for Bravery at the Templemore Garda Training College next month.

Laois Offaly Division Garda Chief Superintendent John Scanlon informed the survivors, their families and the Clerkin family that the medals would be presented in early December.

The presentation ceremony takes place more than forty years after the four men were blown up in an IRA bomb at Garryhinch on the Laois Offaly border.

Garda Clerkin, just 24 at the time, was killed while his colleagues all suffered varying degrees of life changing injuries.

More below picture

The late Garda Michael Clerkin

Poignantly, the Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan will represent the State at the presentation. The men were called to the scene after getting a warning that an IRA gang was planning to assassinate his late father and former minister and TD, Oliver J Flanagan.

"I will be present at the ceremony. It's long overdue. These brave men put their lives on the line in protection of my family. I personally regret that it has taken 40 years for this to happen. Credit to former Commr Noirin O'Sullivan and Chief Superintendent John Scanlon," Minister Flanagan told the Leinster Express.

Chief Supt Scanlon was pleased that the medal will finally be awarded.

"I am delighted that these men are to get the Scott Medal. It is richly deserved and long overdue," he said.

Jim Cannon, a former garda sergeant, is looking forward to travelling to Templemore on Friday, December 8 when a new batch of Garda recruits graduate.

"I'm delighted. Lately I was thinking if they don't tell us the date soon, we'll be all dead," said the Galway native who still lives in Portarlington.

The sergeant had a narrow escape when a 100lb IRA bomb killed Michael Clerkin on October 16, 1976. All the men suffered varying degrees of life changing and in one case devastating injuries.

The campaign for the award of the Medals was reignited in 2016 prior to the 40th anniversary mass for the dead garda. The case was taken up by Laois Offaly Gardai, Chief Supt Scanlon and Garda Scanlon.

In the run up to last year's Mass Jim Cannon reignited the campaign when he retold his story to the Leinster Express.

He was the Sergeant in Charge in Portarlington when a caller reported suspicious activity in a vacant house in Garryhinch, six kilometres from the town.

What happened next was one of the dark days of the Troubles on this side of the border

There was a phone call to Portlaoise Garda station. It said suspicious activity was taking place in Galvins vacant house in Garryhinch. The Emergency Powers Act was to be signed that day or night and they mentioned that there was a threat on the life of Oliver J Flanagan. I got a phonecall, I was sergeant in charge at Portarlington, said Jim.

Jim immediately organised his colleagues to go to the scene to investigate.

Gerry Boyhan, Michael Clerkin and myself were in the patrol car. We got a message from Portlaoise to await the detective branch members. So at about 11.40am on October 15, Tom Peters and Ben Thornton, the two detectives arrived in their police car to the square in Portarlington where we joined them. We drove to Garryhinch.

"When they arrived at the house, down a boreen, it was in complete darkness. We searched around the house and then decided to look inside it. So, myself, Michael and Gerry went to the back of the house and Tom and Ben went to the front door.

One of the windows at the back door was open. Michael Clerkin went in the window. The next thing was, after a couple of seconds, the whole house went up.

Gerry Boyhan and myself were trapped at the back wall under six feet of rubble. Stones blown up into the sky were falling down on top of us. I got a few in the face and head. We were trapped.

"When the dust settled Garda Boyhan was able to move. Gerry was able to release himself after some time. Then

he tried to get me out but failed. There was too much stuff over my body. So he went off looking for assistance from the neighbours.

At that stage my left hand, leg and ankle were all covered. I tried to remove some of the stuff with my right hand. I got out eventually and went around to the front of the house, he said.

I heard moaning but there was no sign of anybody. But I was able to pinpoint where it was coming from and it was Tom Peters. I removed all the debris and stones off his head so that he could breathe.

The other four also suffered varying degrees of injury, the effects of which they still suffer to this day.

Gerry Boyhans face was all broken up. Ben Thornton got a fierce going over. My ankle, 40 years on, is still throbbing. My left leg and back suffered lifelong injuries. Up to this day I am taking medicine. The others the same. No one ever recovered.

It was a miracle that we werent all killed. Garda Clerkin was killed instantly. At the inquest later in Tullamore he was only identified by his signet ring. Michael Clerkin was only 24, said Jim.

Jim Cannon suffered injuries to his head, back, hands eyes and both his legs and continues to receive medical attention. To this day he lives with constant pain in his legs back and head. He retired in 1994 and lives in Portarlington.

Detective Ben Thornton, who lives in Portlaoise, sustained injuries to his head, ears and eyes. He retired from the force in 1999. Garda Gerard Boyhan received serious injuries to his head, face, eyes and chest. He moved to Roscommon and has since retired in Longford.






The proposal to cut 24-hour A&E from Portlaoise hospital is part of 'blueprint' plan for Dublin and the midlands according to a HSE hospital group chief executive.

In her foreword to the leaked Dublin Midlands Hospital Group (DMHG) five year plan Dr Susan O'Reilly says publication would be also be 'milestone'. The DMHG refuses to comment on the plan but the Leinster Express can reveal what Dr O'Reilly believes the future will be.

"The strategy acknowledges the significant work already underway across our seven hospitals, in a very challenging environment, and provides a blue print of how the Group will continue to deliver the highest quality acute hospital care services in the country and continue to drive change, support innovation, and improve access to services for all patients," she writes.

Doctors in Laois have warned that the loss of A&E will mean maternity, paediatrics, psychiatry will also be lost. None these consequences are is referred to by the CEO in her foreword.

She does acknowledge that the plan would be expensive as it contains expansion and new building and more staff in hospitals other than Portlaoise.

"We cannot underestimate the impact of the recent financial crisis on our public services and particularly the impact of the recruitment moratorium. International difficulties of attracting and retaining staff continue to impact on how we deliver our services. We want to attract and retain the best people to work in our hospitals and ensure that the services, environment and potential career development is at the forefront of our strategy," she said.

As for finding the cash, Dr O'Reilly indicates that would be a matter for Government.

"Increased resources, recruitment and investment in services, must be supported by the HSE and Department of Health. At Group level, we will continue to push for this expanded investment," writes Dr O'Reilly.

The CEO says the report emerged from a significant consultation process. The public and patients or their representatives are not listed among those consulted nor are staff trade unions. However the CEO insists the public and staff are central

"A key enabler to achieve our strategic objectives remains with our people and patients. Our people (more than 11,000 staff) are our most valuable asset and we are committed to improving existing conditions and providing exciting opportunities for our workforce to continuously develop and harness their full potential for the delivery of best in class service.

"Patient engagement is even more paramount. The voice of the patient must be listened to. We are committed to creating and fostering an environment where patients inform and shape how we develop and deliver hospital services into the future. Patients want to receive timely access to excellent care and to be treated with respect and dignity," she said.

Dr O'Reilly concludes the the plan will guide the DMHG to achieving the goal of providing 'outstanding care for our patients by focussing on patient safety, improving quality of care and supporting innovation to enhance service delivery'.

The plan was due to have been signed off last week by DMHG management at a meeting in Dublin chaired by the CEO. The group declined to say if this happened

On the same day in Laois a public meeting rejected any downgrade of Portlaoise hospital.

The Minister for Health Simon Harris has a linked plan for Portlaoise but has not approved its implementation.

Dublin Midlands Hospital Group Strategy 2018 - 2023

CEO FOREWORD

I am pleased to present the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group five year Strategic Plan 2018 to 2023.

The publication of this strategy represents a key milestone since the formation of the Group.The strategy acknowledges the significant work already underway across our seven hospitals, in a very challenging environment, and provides a blue print of how the Group will continue to deliver the highest quality acute hospital care services in the country and continue to drive change, support innovation, and improve access to services for all patients.

While the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group has been operational since 2015, we are still a Group in early development and much work remains to be undertaken in the period ahead to ensure the Group and its constituent hospitals continue to develop. The 800,000 patient population dependant on healthcare services within our Group catchment area are the primary drivers of everything we do.

Key considerations for the Group in the period ahead, include:

Responding to ongoing challenges  demographic, financial, socio-economic and lifestyle;

Improving access and supporting service delivery;

Progressing towards Trust status.

We are equally clear on the areas of service delivery which are a priority for the Group. These are:

Focussing on patient safety and improving quality of care;

Further developing and improving clinical pathways between the Group hospitals, which will enhance timely access for our patients to optimal care;

Developing integrated care pathways with our community partners;

Actively supporting innovation, research and education to enhance service delivery.

Our strategy acknowledges the many challenges that currently exist for our hospitals and wider health service.

We cannot underestimate the impact of the recent financial crisis on our public services and particularly the impact of the recruitment moratorium. International difficulties of attracting and retaining staff continue to impact on how we deliver our services. We want to attract and retain the best people to work in our hospitals and ensure that the services, environment and potential career development is at the forefront of our strategy.

A fundamental deliverable for the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group, as part of this strategy, is access to timely, high quality services in the most appropriate healthcare setting. Although care delivered in hospitals by our staff is of a very high standard, timely access to both elective and emergency services continues to be a significant challenge due to resource and capacity problems in hospitals and in the community. Increased resources, recruitment and investment in services, must be supported by the HSE and Department of Health. At Group level, we will continue to push for this expanded investment.

The Dublin Midlands Hospital Group Executive engaged in a significant consultation process in order to inform the strategic planning. These engagements took place in the context of a national dialogue around the future design and provision of our health system. Contributions from relevant stakeholders, such as hospital clinical staff and management, primary care, core hospital functions (finance, ICT, HR etc.), HSE National Divisions and the National Clinical Programmes and our academic partner, Trinity College Dublin have informed our thinking and will continue to be an integral part of how we shape and implement our strategy.

The establishment of Hospital Groups is the most significant reform of our hospital service for many years. While an important step, the longer-term goal of the transition of our Group to Trust status remains a core objective. We strongly support the Trust model because of its capacity to devolve decision-making authority and financial accountability to a regional level, which is closer and more responsive to patient needs.

In tandem with the ongoing transformation of our services to this new model, we will continue to work towards Trust status through developing services which are person orientated, safe, sustainable and capable of serving all people in the region.

A key enabler to achieve our strategic objectives remains with our people and patients. Our people (more than 11,000 staff) are our most valuable asset and we are committed to improving existing conditions and providing exciting opportunities for our workforce to continuously develop and harness their full potential for the delivery of best in class service.

Patient engagement is even more paramount. The voice of the patient must be listened to. We are committed to creating and fostering an environment where patients inform and shape how we develop and deliver hospital services into the future. Patients want to receive timely access to excellent care and to be treated with respect and dignity.

I believe the Strategic Plan 2018-2023 will guide us in achieving our goal of providing outstanding care for our patients by focussing on patient safety, improving quality of care and supporting innovation to enhance service delivery.

Dr. Susan OReilly MB, BCh, BAO, FRCPC, FRCPI, Chief Executive OfficerDublin Midlands Hospital Group
Hospital services 'must be realigned' and reform is 'essential' according to the plan for Portlaoise and other Dublin midlands hospitals which points to 'constrained resources' as among the reasons for change.

The Dublin Midlands Hospital Group (DMHG) Strategy plan was leaked to Laois Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley ahead of a 'sign-off' meeting last Wednesday.

Its executive summary outlines the future for 'smaller hospitals' like Portlaoise and Naas if the hospitals lose acute services starting with full A&E in Portlaoise.

"Spreading our constrained resources in this way is not in the best interest of patient safety, is not efficient, cost effective or best practice. Re-aligning how and where services are provided across our seven hospitals, such as high volume but low complexity services versus lower volume but higher complexity services, will ensure patient treatment is delivered in the most efficient, effective and collaborative way across the Group.

"The consequence of addressing this issue is that some high complexity services may move from smaller hospitals, in particular emergency and urgent care services. However, these hospitals will benefit from the addition of new facilities and a broader scope of services of lesser complexity.

"Developing the specialist capacity of smaller hospitals within the Group such as in the areas of endoscopy, diabetes care, geriatrics or elective surgery will ensure that these hospitals remain vibrant and critical parts of their local healthcare network, while also fulfilling a strategic function within the wider Group.

The DMHG chief executive Dr Susan O'Reilly has called the plan a 'blueprint'

It proposes the cutting of A&E from Portlaoise replacing it with GP referred and local injury units but a public meeting in Laois has roundly rejected the plan.

While Laois TD and Minister Charlie Flanagan says it should be scrapped, a long time Fine Gael voter told an emergency meeting of the Portlaoise Action Hospital Committee that Laois should turn its back on Fine Gael if Portlaoise hospital is downgraded.

Health Minister Simon Harris has yet to decide what to do with the hospital nearly a year after getting a specific plan for Portlaoise. That plan is linked to the unpublished Dublin Midlands Strategy.

The following is the executive summary:

Dublin Midlands Hospital Group Strategy 2018-2023 Executive Strategy

The Dublin Midlands Hospital Group has developed its five year strategy, 2018-2023, to plan and address the challenges being experienced by Group hospitals including the increasing demand for services, changing care needs, pressure on existing infrastructure and the need to maintain a skilled and committed workforce.

The strategys objectives and priorities are informed by our population profile, projected demographic trends and the current capacity and activity across our hospitals. These key statistics will inform how we plan and develop services into the future. Our strategy also examines the factors that are likely to influence the design and delivery of healthcare services over the next five years to identify challenges and opportunities.

It presents priorities agreed by the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group Executive following consultation with the Management Teams in our hospitals including clinical and nursing leads, HSE national functions, community partners, and Trinity College Dublin Faculty of Health Sciences and the strategies that will be progressed to address them.

The strategy also recognises the need to transform the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group into a better integrated system. This will be done while still maintaining a focus on the priorities that will address the future needs of our patients. As a Group if we wish to achieve these objectives then reform of the Groups existing service delivery model is an essential prerequisite.

The way, and in some cases the locations, at which we deliver particular clinical services must be re-aligned within the Group. Currently we do not utilise our resources in the most effective way, or optimise our complex care pathways, because our hospitals offer too broad a range of services at multiple locations.

Spreading our constrained resources in this way is not in the best interest of patient safety, is not efficient, cost effective or best practice. Re-aligning how and where services are provided across our seven hospitals, such as high volume but low complexity services versus lower volume but higher complexity services, will ensure patient treatment is delivered in the most efficient, effective and collaborative way across the Group.

The consequence of addressing this issue is that some high complexity services may move from smaller hospitals, in particular emergency and urgent care services. However, these hospitals will benefit from the addition of new facilities and a broader scope of services of lesser complexity.

Developing the specialist capacity of smaller hospitals within the Group such as in the areas of endoscopy, diabetes care, geriatrics or elective surgery will ensure that these hospitals remain vibrant and critical parts of their local healthcare network, while also fulfilling a strategic function within the wider Group.

Strategies for Surgical Services, Medicine Services, Womens and Childrens Services, Medical Imaging Services, Critical Care Services, Cancer Care Services, Trauma Care are also broadly summarised in this document.

A range of important enablers will support delivery against the Group priorities and will be developed as the next steps to implement this strategy.

These include:

Quality and patient safety improvements;

Information and communications technology and technological development;

Workforce strategy to support the attraction and retention of the highest quality of staff across our hospitals;Groupwide financial planning;

Improved Group communications; and

Appropriate and sustained investment in capital and equipment infrastructure.
A Clane business woman has won a national award for her work.

Anne-Marie Fadden of Faddens Pharmacy, Clane, won the Pharmacist of the Year at the Boots Maternity and Infant Awards 2017.

The awards ceremony which was celebrating its tenth year was held at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire on Friday October 13.

Hosted by RTEs Maura Derrane the awards recognise inspirational people and commends and celebrates the very best products and services for parents and babies in Ireland.

Anne-Marie was nominated for the award by one of her customers.

SEE ALSO: Relics of St Therese of Lisieux coming to Clane next week

The customer got to know Anne-Marie over the summer months when her daughter became ill.

This involved numerous trips to the doctor, countless courses of antibiotics and even surgery.

In her nomination for Anne-Marie the customer praised the pharmacists caring and compassionate nature saying.

Anne-Marie always listened and she always cared. I suppose because I was always seeing different doctors and she was the only constant. She was reassuring and shed give me advice," she said.
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ADARE Manor now has a dance licence for its new ballroom when it re-opens on Thursday. The application for the licence was made at Newcastle West District Court last week.

The ballroom is a new addition to Adare Manor as part of its multi-million euro refurbishment and extension, which is now almost complete. The ballroom has a capacity for 350 guests and can cater for weddings, events and international conferences, and along with a new 42-bedroom wing, is clad in limestone to complement the original Manor House.

At the court hearing in Newcastle West, solicitor Brendan Gill told Judge Mary Larkin that the application was for a new licence.

The area covered by the hotels bar licence had been extended at Limerick Circuit Court earlier this year, Mr Gill explained, and he handed in confirmation of the extension order to the judge. He also handed in documents outlining the incorporation of the company and its constitution.

He called on the hotels general manager, Paul Heery, who joined Adare Manor from the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland and who previously worked at The Connaught Hotel in London and at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin, to give evidence of his background in the business.

Mr Heery confirmed that he was authorised to make the application and undertook to comply fully with all the conditions of the licence.

He also told the court about the training given to the 40-50 staff expected to work in the ballroom.

When the hotel re-opens next week, it will bring to a close a major refurbishment and construction job which has lasted over a year.

Apart from a new ballroom and the additional bedrooms bringing the total number to 104, the work included upgrading and completely restoring all internal and external finishes, furniture and woodwork, and repairing all external stonework, windows and doors.

A new La Mer Spa, the first of its kind in Britain and Ireland, will also be in place for guests.

Last July also, the new Halfway House, located between the ninth and tenth tees on the redesigned golf course was granted full bar facilities.
A LIMERICK man admitted to driving without insurance twice in the space of eight days, at Kilmallock Court.

Christian OConnell, aged 22, of Mountminnett, Caherconlish pleaded guilty to a number of motoring offences.

Garda John Ryan said he investigated a road traffic incident at Garranmore, Pallasgreen on April 30, 2016. He subsequently spoke to Mr OConnell who admitted driving the car involved in the incident.

The defendant said he was not insured, said Garda Ryan.

Brendan Gill, solicitor for Mr OConnell, put it to the garda that it would have been impossible to prosecute the case without his clients co-operation.

It would have been very difficult, said Garda Ryan.

Eight days earlier on April 22, Garda Brian McNamara said a vehicle was driven into a fence at Glenside pitch and putt course in Murroe.

He damaged a post which cost 200. He left the scene without giving information. I later spoke to Mr OConnell, he admitted driving the car and that he had no insurance, said Garda McNamara.

Mr Gill said his client co-operated fully and without his assistance charges wouldnt have brought.

Garda McNamara said: Unless he made admissions it would have difficult to prove. The garda said 200 had been paid to the proprietor of Glenside pitch and putt by Mr OConnell.

Mr Gill said Mr OConnell has good employment history in construction, working on large contracts in Adare and Limerick city.

He assures me he was changing vehicles and had difficulty getting cover. He assures me he has cover now. He had no previous convictions before this date.

Without his admissions it would have been difficult to bring prosecutions. His licence is imperative to his job and he and his partner are expecting their first child, said Mr Gill.

Judge Marie Keane said Mr OConnell was involved in two instances involving cars in the space of a week.

It simply isnt acceptable to be driving without insurance, said Judge Keane. She said she would exercise her discretion not to disqualify Mr OConnell from driving but said, Be under no illusions, you are in the last chance saloon, you cannot continue to behave in this way.

She took the failure to produce insurance cert and driving licence, and no insurance offences at Garranmore under consideration.

In relation to the incident in Murroe, Judge Keane fined Mr OConnell 250 for no insurance, 100 for failing to report an occurrence and 100 for failing to produce driving licence.
ONE MOTORIST had a narrow escape when he was trapped between two trees in County Limerick during the teeth of Hurricane Ophelia.

Cllr Eddie Ryan, speaking at a Cappamore-Kilmallock municipal area meeting, said the young man was travelling along the main R513 Limerick to Mitchelstown road on the day of the storm.

He had just passed the turn off for Anglesboro  a few miles from Mitchelstown  when there was a tree blocking the road.

He stopped his car when another tree fell behind him. He was trapped between the two trees. He rang the local contractor, Pa Hanly, who works for the council. He came to the rescue. About nine or ten trees fell in total. Pa moved the trees to the side of the road. He freed the young man and traffic could pass again. He went above and beyond the call of duty, said Cllr Ryan.

The Galbally man said it just showed the importance of heeding the warnings to stay at home.

The council staff had to be stood down for health and safety reasons. They arrived around 5pm and did a wondrous job to completely clear the road on the day, said Cllr Ryan.

He called for the remaining trees on that 1km stretch to be knocked before they fall during the winter.

It is rough, rocky terrain. The rain has got into the roots and weakened them. They will collapse the next time there is a storm. It is a very dangerous situation, said Cllr Ryan.

Barry Murphy, senior executive engineer with Limerick City and County Council, said all outdoor staff were confined to depots on the day of Hurricane Ophelia.

At 4pm supervisors went out and assessed the situation. At 5pm all crews arrived at the location  there were eight, nine, 10 trees down. That was our highest priority. It would have been totally unsafe to go out before 4pm, said Mr Murphy, who added that they have been in contact with a contractor to clear the trees.

His colleague, John Moloney, executive engineer, said there was a 1.2km stretch in total. He said it is hoped the work will be completed in a weeks time.

Cllr Ryan thanked Mr Murphy and Mr Moloney.

It is better to prevent something happening, said Cllr Ryan, who also praised ESB and Irish Water staff for their response to Hurricane Ophelia.
WITH Dublin Airport set to accommodate a staggering 30 million passengers this year, compared to under two million at Shannon, hoteliers in the Limerick region now want the government to look at ways of redressing the imbalance.

Brian Harrington, chairman of the Irish Hotels Federation Shannon branch, warned that owing to the drop in sterling the UK could become a far more attractive location to visitors from EU countries and indeed the much prized domestic market. He was speaking at the Mid-West Tourism Ball, held in the Radisson Blu hotel, which he manages.

There are now over 40 hotels and guesthouses in the Mid-West with 19 hotels in Limerick and its surrounds. Over 17,000 people are employed in the Limerick area in this sector. While they are currently experiencing very high occupancy rates, challenges such as Brexit and any downturn in passenger numbers coming through Shannon, could have a huge effect on the tourism sector here.

Hundreds from the industry attended the event recently including former Finance Minister Michael Noonan and former secretary general of the department of finance John Moran, now a board member of the European Investment Bank.

The key message that Mr Harrington delivered was that Shannon Airports growth will halt without necessary government intervention and the support of the hotel industry and people of the Mid-West.

In 2017, it is estimated that Shannon Airport will have 1.8 million passengers, Cork Airport will have 2.3 million passengers. By contrast, Dublin Airport may reach the staggering figure of 30 million passengers. Let me put it another way, of the total airport arrivals into the country, Dublin Airport may now have 86/87% while Shannon and Cork combined may have a paltry 11%, he explained.

Mr Harrington said the opportunity for local hoteliers lies in the projected growth in visitor numbers which are predicted in the coming years.

We want a greater share of that growth in the regional airports  our visitors too would seem to want the same; as surveys indicate that close to 70% of visitors from US, UK and mainland Europe choose to visit the regions outside of Dublin.

So, what can be done? Well, a key objective of the Governments National Development Plan is to encourage growth in the regions  well two airports in the regions between them have a capacity for a further 4.5 million passengers  imagine the impact that would have on our regional tourism sector and our attractiveness for foreign direct investment. As the kids would say  Its a no brainer.

"This regrettably is unlikely to happen though unless there is a change in the current situation which greatly limits both Cork and Shannons ability to attract and maintain routes  particularly strategic routes  and while we appreciate that there is a financial consideration for airline companies to fly into regional airports we would hope our government may be able to assist in that regard.

In a wide ranging address which looked at numerous aspects of the tourism industry, John Moran warned that it was important that hoteliers managed costs and did not lose the run of themselves with occupancy rates about 90 per cent.

Referring to hotel room costs in certain establishments in Dublin now at 500 a night, he emphasised the importance of keeping costs reasonable here and not following that expensive path.
A LIMERICK native based in Puerto Rico has proven instrumental in a major aid effort on the devastated island in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

Pat Foley, CEO of Lufthansa Technik Puerto Rico, from Patrickswell, pulled out all the stops to bring essential supplies to his hundreds of employees, their families and local schools and nursing homes, after the Category 5 hurricane ripped through the Caribbean island.

Pat and the global Lufthansa team rallied behind the local community after the hurricane made landfall on September 20, raging on for 18 hours.

Returning to the companys base on September 22, Pat said that he found the facility intact. Up to 100 employees also turned up just hours after the storm calmed, eager to get the operation back up and running.

We recognised immediately that what they needed from us was to take care of them. Many of them had left very difficult situations at home. Many of them had lost large parts of their homes.

We set out to try and see how best we could support them. Over that weekend, communications outside and within the island were practically impossible. It was very clear on the western part of the island where we are based, Aguadilla, that there was no support coming, said Pat, a brother of former council executive Paul Foley who is known for his involvement in the GAA.

Thankfully I got access to a phone on Monday, and began to speak with our headquarters in Germany. I explained the situation that we were in, and the support that our 400 employees and their families needed.

The team made the decision not to wait for aid, to take ownership of the situation and send supplies privately, as a matter of urgency. The company put out a call for support, and approximately 89 tonnes of water, food, sanitation, baby food and other supplies were purchased, donated and loaded onto a Lufthansa cargo aircraft.

That aircraft flew out five days after my initial call. It flew out on Saturday night from Frankfurt, and arrived on Sunday morning, bringing that much needed aid to our employees and their families. It has been a huge relief for everyone, explained Pat.

In the first days after the visit of Hurricane Maria, our thoughts were with the employees and their families. But as the extent of the damage really became known, we made a decision to also support our local community, he added.

The team, under Pats leadership, segregated one of the bases five maintenance bays as a humanitarian bay, where they have taken in more than 150 tonnes of aid  provided directly by Lufthansa and also from other agencies and non-profit organisations who are using the air base. The hangar is being used to store and distribute large volumes of essential goods.

It took us almost 2 weeks before we could fully account for each and every one of our employees safety and wellbeing. There is widespread devastation. Many families have lost homes, and we have one employee in particular who not only lost her home but also her grandparents house was destroyed, said Pat.

The Puerto Rican arm of air giant Lufthansa also partnered with schools and local centres in three of their neighbouring municipalities  Moca, Aguadilla, and Isabela.

Pat lived on Fr Russell Road and worked at Shannon Aerospace before making the big move with his wife and four kids in 2015. He became the CEO in June of this year.

During Hurricane Maria, the windows at the family home were blown in  but the people that need help are those who dont have the advantages of having a company behind them, and people who dont have jobs, he said.

He paid tribute to his colleagues within the company, who made the incredible show of support  something that Lufthansa can really be proud of  happen.

Im very proud of our people here in Puerto Rico, particularly in the weeks post-Maria where theyve really shown in large numbers their commitment to restarting operations while dealing with their own personal tragedies, and helping us to support the local community.
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Sister Nivedita: The offered one On her 150th birth anniversary, a tribute to Sister Nivedita, the Irish educationist and Vivekananda disciple who became one of colonial India's towering personalities /news/talking-point/sister-nivedita-the-offered-one-111646921019715.html 111646921019715 story

Born Margaret Elizabeth Noble, 150 years ago today, in Northern Ireland, the teacher, social worker and thinker who would come to be known throughout India as Sister Nivedita, loved and served the country in a manner few have. Noble was famously inspired after hearing Swami Vivekananda lecture in London, and at the age of 30 she decided to make India her home. Until her death, only 14 years later, she lived and worked among Indians.

Nivedita made a series of diverse contributions to the national project: womens education and empowerment, helping foster a sense of Indian nationalism, reviving some art forms, promoting science, propagating civic virtues and working on humanitarian relief during epidemics and famines. She was a true champion of India, its finest minds, its achievements and its culture.

An inquiring mind

Noble came from a family of Wesleyan ministers. Her maternal grandfather was a respected member of the Irish national movement. Yet Nobles early life was spent in considerable deprivationshe lost her father when she was only 10 years old, studying thereafter at a charitable boarding school in northern England. At 17, she began working as a teacher to take care of her mother and younger siblings. By 25, she had started her own school in Wimbledon. She acquired a reputation as an experimental educationist, influenced by ideas popular in continental Europe at the time, including those of Friedrich Froebel, father of the kindergarten concept. Her success brought her in touch with Londons intellectual creme de la creme, and in November 1895, in what proved to be a pivotal moment in her life, she was invited to a private gathering to hear a 32-year-old Hindu yogi" who had acquired a considerable reputation in America in the preceding two years.

At the gathering, Swami Vivekanandas words seemed to speak directly to Nobles own beliefs about the best in human nature. His words were a call to action: to serve suffering humanity, to sacrifice ones life for the good of others, this was what the Earths best and bravest were born for. Vivekananda recognized that Noble could be of huge assistance in his efforts to uplift Indian women. Noble knew she had found her true calling.

She recounted later: I had recognized the heroic fibre of the man, and desired to make myself the servant of his love for his own people. But it was his character to which I had thus done obeisance."

Jayachandran/Mint

The citizen ideal

Noble arrived in India in January 1898. For nine months, she received intensive training from Vivekananda, who opened the magical maze of India to her. In March that year, Noble received diksha (initiation) into a life of spirituality and service. She was given the name Niveditathe offered one". They, along with a few others, also undertook a five-month journey across the northern and western parts of the country, during which Vivekananda spoke on religion, history, geography and ethnology. In India, she found her souls home and destiny.

Nivedita noted that her mentor was fascinated with every phase of Indias long history, and with all the diverse elements that were interwoven in its tapestry. In The Master As I Saw Him, she wrote of her guru:

In these talks of his, the heroism of the Rajput, the faith of the Sikh, the courage of the Mahratta, the devotion of the saints, and the purity and steadfastness of noble women, all lived again. Nor would he permit that the Mohammedan should be passed over. Humayoon, Sher Shah, Akbar, Shah Jehan, each of these, and a hundred more, found a day and a place in his bead-roll of glistening names."

After this initial phase of learning and exposure, Nivedita settled in the Bengali neighbourhood of Baghbazar in north Calcutta (now Kolkata), an area Europeans hardly ventured into. In November, still in her first year in the country, she started a school at her home, 16, Bosepara Lane, for girls from orthodox families, where child marriage was widespread and girls were hardly educated. She believed that education for Indian girls should combine traditional Indian valuesepitomized by the family ideal"and the development of a world view through the study of history, geography, and science (she considered these subjects to be the foundation of modern education), forming the core of the citizen ideal".

As time passed, Nivedita increasingly felt that Vivekanandas teachings were so vast and sweeping that she needed a definite reference point in order to put them into action. Nivedita realized that Indias regeneration most urgently required the self-awareness of being one nation, the desire to take control of her own destiny by freeing herself from foreign rule.



Man-making to nation-building

Vivekananda died in 1902. As Nivedita thought about the future direction of her work, she decided to translate Vivekanandas concept of man-making" into nation-building". She began channelling her efforts into introducing a conception of nationality" (the term she used) to India, instilling it in the hearts and minds of people. Her definition of nationality meant people would feel for this land as their spiritual home, identifying with it, making it an essential part of the citizens self-concept, an extension of the self. To her, this was the highest form of nationality, one that did not rely merely on the political view of the nation based on the citizen-state dynamic.

Nivedita wrote profusely on Indian nationhood. She argued that India was a synthesis, and that the story of its analysed fragments, racial, lingual, or political, could never be the story of India. She believed the British were quick to understand the underlying unity of the country and used this knowledge to place it under a common administration, relentlessly attacking the idea that it was the British colonials who had united India. In a lecture given in December 1902 in Madras (now Chennai), she wrote: If India had no unity herself, no unity could be given to her. The unity which undoubtedly belonged to India was self-born and had its own destiny, its own functions and its own vast powers; but it was the gift of no one."

She plunged into a whirlwind of activity, contributing towards myriad aspects of national awakening. Niveditas Baghbazar quarters became a rendezvous of sorts for eminent Indians of the time, such as Rabindranath Tagore, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Aurobindo Ghosh. Her young admirers included revolutionaries as well as budding artists and intellectuals. Though she was not much in agreement with the mild petitionary methods of the Moderates, she maintained close friendships with nationalist workers across the spectrum. To meet her, in Gokhales words, was like coming in contact with some great force of nature". The great Tamil nationalist poet Subramania Bharati, who met Nivedita only once, considered her his guru, writing that she showed me the form of Bharat Mata in its completeness and taught me to love my country." She also imprinted on his mind the ideals of conjugality and womanhood, which helped Bharati become a champion of womens empowerment in his later years.

In 1905, the cataclysmic partition of Bengal galvanized the national consciousness. Through her writing and lectures, Nivedita gave full support to the swadeshi campaign, urging people to go all out in swadeshi-sadhana. She was one of the first practitioners of the idea of worship of the nation as mother. Following the Bengal partition, when the government prohibited the singing or chanting of Bande Mataram, Nivedita continued it as part of her schools daily routine. She passionately advocated the idea of worshipping the nation-mother. She held Hindus and Muslims to be children of the same Mother, and in her writings and speeches, exhorted them to together create the Indian nation of the future.

She was possibly the first person to have conceived and designed an emblem and a flag for the Indian nation, way back in 1905. She chose the vajra (thunderbolt). Niveditas design of two crossed vajras was meant to signify the coordinated and selfless actions of multiple individuals, acting in effect as one national organism. Nivedita had this design embroidered by the girls of her Calcutta school and it was displayed at an exhibition organized by the Indian National Congress in 1906 in Calcutta. Eminent Indians like J.C. Bose (who later made it the emblem of his Bose Institute in Calcutta) started using it, and this idea was also later reflected in the design of Indias highest military decoration, the Param Vir Chakra.

Art, science and literature

Nivedita was a great champion of the Tata Institute, which would later become the Indian Institute of Science, in Bengaluru. She wrote about it extensively in the Indian as well as English press, meeting high officials and rallying the support of some of the worlds best minds when the British government, under Lord Curzon, scuttled J.N. Tatas proposal of founding a research institute of science and humanities in India. But her more direct contribution was to the career of the pioneering Indian scientist J.C. Bose. She helped him for more than a decade, organizing a steady stream of funds for research, editing and assisting him in the writing of four important books that took his explorations to a world audience, at a time when he faced serious discrimination from the British scientific establishment.

Nivedita played a crucial role in inspiring Indian artists to rediscover the roots of their own artistic traditions at a time when their practice was largely informed by the traditions of the West. In this, her efforts, along with those of E.B. Havell (principal of the Government School of Art in Calcutta) and Abanindranath Tagore, that led to the flourishing of what came to be known as the Bengal School of Art. A new generation of young painters grew, and some of the best-known today, like Nandalal Bose, were particularly inspired by her. Nivedita was at the forefront of the movement attacking the then prevalent Western claim that Hellenic art had inspired Indian art, and that there were no real Indian artistic traditions before that.

Nivedita was a prolific writer who published more than half a dozen books in her short lifetime, on themes of Indian history, Indian womanhood, education, nationhood, art and mythology. She also published an astute study of Vivekananda, several booklets, and scores of articles in the Indian as well as British press. This writing, now available in five volumes titled The Complete Works Of Sister Nivedita, is a rare insight into her brilliant mind.

Niveditas work as a humanitarian was also remarkable. She put her own life in significant peril on several occasions of great calamity, such as during the plague outbreak in Calcutta in 1899 and the great East Bengal famine of 1906. After her stint in the famine-struck countryside of East Bengal, she contracted a severe form of malaria; it took her months to recover. The malaria impaired her health, eventually leading to her premature death. Rabindranath Tagore, who had seen her from close quarters and felt her tremendous power", referred to her as Loka-Mata" (Mother of the People).

Like Vivekananda, who died at the young age of 39, Nivedita too exhausted herself. She died in Darjeeling on 13 October 1911, a fortnight before she would have completed 44 years. Drunk with India", as a friend described her, she was known to repeat Bharatavarsha" on her rosary beads. She had once written: My life is given to India. In it I shall live and die." Her guru had set her course with the blessing: Be thou to Indias future son, the mistress, servant, friend in one." Nivedita spent her whole life as an attestation, as it were, of the trust Vivekananda had reposed in her.

Vinayak Lohani is a humanitarian worker and founder of Parivaar.org, which is inspired by the spiritual and humanistic ideals of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda.


Is objectivity actually a disorder? A person afflicted with objectivity cannot seek refuge in tribes or lies; and he can pretty much forget about networking /news/talking-point/is-objectivity-actually-a-disorder-111646921007968.html 111646921007968 story

When people say be objective", they usually mean, agree with me". But the world does know the meaning of objectivity. It is, in fact, a moral goal, an expectation that society has from its most learned, most of whom think they are highly objective. But there are only a few who actually walk the middle path, which is a desolate road, and they are not there because they are enlightened. They are there because they cannot help it, they are made that way, they are afflicted with disbelief. Objective people are a personality-type.

How might our age look to those who ail from innate objectivity? They are probably like the lonely who gape at the festive commotion of other people who so easily fit in; they see groups making circular formations in cosy parties and holding uniform views about diverse subjects, including organic vegetables, farmers, giant corporations, the equal distribution of wealth, free markets, dangerous Muslims, sweet Muslims, hydrocarbons or polar ice caps. The middle-path dwellers may often wonder who is stranger: the rich who claim to be Marxists, or the broke youth who claim to be capitalists.

Can people ever be the labels they give themselves? Can it be that socialism and capitalism, like many other powerful ideas that have names, are only thought experiments of dead eccentrics that the world has taken too literally? The economist Amartya Sen told me in an interview, about four years ago: I dont know what socialism means any more, I dont know what capitalism means. It is a complete waste of time to discuss socialism and capitalism. Every successful economy in the world will be a mixture of both. It is a question of balance you are looking for. If it is the tipping point youre looking for, it would be the tipping point of terminology."

But in choosing where they belong, individuals do not depend on how well an idea works in practice. They need to only ask how well it works in theory.

There are immense social and professional advantages in belonging to an ideological or intellectual camp. People make useful friends, they have delightful conversations. They look around at their large tribes and their biases find corroboration. They find clear political and economic directions. They begin to answer the important questionabout who they really areand the answer is collective and glorious.

Take, for example, Indias social elite who migrated to the US and immediately became, in situations, the underclass, finding comfort in an exaggerated love for their homeland. Or Indias sophisticated gentry, including the Nehruvian old money, who have been eclipsed by new money, who have lost their easy privileges and whose wealth has been devalued by the higher threshold for the very definition of rich, who have sought refuge in the moral guardianship of the poor and the weak. All defeats and humiliations are today subsumed in collective biases.

A person afflicted with objectivity, on the other hand, has no relief. Not for him the comfort of belonging to a group of people who can agree on comforting lies. His arguments against the narratives of his tribe are increasingly annoying to the other members and in time he is isolated. The others on the middle path who know how to keep their mouth shut are no less lonely. Also, in many important walks of life, the middle path is, by its very nature, dull. The most popular journalists and novelists and comedians, for instance, are those who have picked a side.

Many who are on the middle path are, not surprisingly, misanthropes. As this column has argued before, the modern misanthrope is not essentially a person who hates humanity but one who may not wish to engage deeply with too many of his species.

Also, the objective-personality-type can be detrimental to marital peace. There are situations in a marriage when the pursuit of truth is not as wise as blindly taking the side of the spouse.

One summer, at a restaurant in Spain, I heard an Indian woman whisper to her husband that the white waitress was a racist. The foolish husband disputed the claim based on the fine logic that the waitress was equally unpleasant to everyone in the restaurant, and that what his wife found repulsive was not racism but a demonstration of European social equality, where a waitress can possess what is generally known as attitude". From there, the couples lunch was a disaster.

Outside emotional relationships, objectivity is revered. Maybe humans worship objectivity because it can be used to rehabilitate lies, but the social prestige of objectivity has resulted in farcical demonstrations of the virtue. Most famously, Indias claim that it is secular. India is, of course, not a Hindu nation the way Pakistan is Islamic, but Indias idea of secularism is not the dismissal of god but, instead, equal rights for all the gods.

Posturing objectivity is in the heart of some kinds if journalism in the form of balance", where to win the right to make a point you have to nominally fabricate the other side". You first patiently state a whole lot of things you do not take very seriously, then rubbish them. As Jon Snow says in Game Of Thrones, quoting his father, Everything before the word but is horse shit."

Manu Joseph is a journalist and a novelist, most recently of Miss Laila, Armed And Dangerous.
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Stanley Coolidge Jr. and Roseann Hannah loved hopping on the back of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and taking a drive to the beach together or up the coast to Oregon.

Their favorite getaway was to Fort Bragg in Mendocino County. Ms. Hannah loved spending time at the beach.

Mr. Coolidge and Ms. Hannah, his fiancee, died Oct. 9 in his Loma Rica (Yuba County) home in the Cascade Fire, which tore through homes, leaving four dead and hundreds of structures destroyed. Mr. Coolidge was 78 and Ms. Hannah, who was visiting from her home in Grass Valley, was 53.

Now Playing: Hundreds of survivors from the Cascade fire were at the Yuba County government center in Marysville Wednesday to get assistance from a variety of state, local and federal agencies. One resident said she fled the flames with her oxygen tank in tow, while another escaped with five kids in her truck. The Red Cross is providing wildfire survivors with clothing while other agencies are offering food, water and money to help them recover. Video: KCRA

Im kind of numb, said Andrew Coolidge, Mr. Coolidges son. He was a great dad, a great grandpa and a great great-grandfather. It was a big shock for us that (Ms. Hannah) was actually there. It was a double blow at that point.

The couple met at a function hosted by the American Motorcycle Club and that was the beginning of a 15-year romance.

She loved hanging out with my dad, Andrew Coolidge said.

A tenacious softball player, swimmer and bowler as a girl, Ms. Hannah was most passionate about her 26-year-old twin sons and lived with them in Grass Valley. Their relationship went beyond a typical mother-son relationship, Coolidge said. They were friends.

She was really dedicated to her sons, he said. She really prided herself on being a great mom.

When her grandson, Aleczander Hannah was born, she would often spend her time taking him to the park and playing with him, Coolidge said.

Ms. Hannah was born in Euclid, Ohio, on Sept. 2, 1964, and spent most of her young life in Michigan. She moved to Anaheim in 1981 and graduated from Savannah High School there in 1982.

Mr. Coolidge was born on May 17, 1939, and raised in San Francisco. He attended UC Berkeley for both his undergraduate and law degrees. He practiced mainly contractual law and personal injury law, and retired about seven years ago.

His legal battles were noteworthy.

When 29 members of the Yuba City High School a cappella choir were killed in a bus crash in 1976, Mr. Coolidge represented the victims. In 1986, when the Yuba River broke through a levee and flooded the Yuba County communities of Linda and Olivehurst, forcing more than 15,000 residents to flee, Mr. Coolidge represented the victims then, too.

He would discount his fees for people who couldnt afford it and work with people who otherwise wouldnt have their case taken, his son said. He was just a really good person in that respect.

But Mr. Coolidge was more than just an attorney, his son said.

He worked as a reserve sheriffs deputy in the Yuba County foothills in the early 1970s for several years until his partner was killed in the line of duty.

After that, he strictly stuck to being an attorney, Coolidge said.

But he was an attorney with hobbies.

When Andrew Coolidge was a child, his father bought a Harley and never seemed to want to get off.

He loved going with his friends on motorcycle rides. He really just enjoyed being on the Harley and taking off to points unknown, Coolidge said. He would take me on trips around the block.

His love of riding through Oregon, Arizona and around the state led to him becoming the chapter president for the American Motorcycle Club. He was also a former member of the Yuba City Noon Rotary Club, the Yuba-Sutter Bar Association, the national representative of the 13 Western states for the Trial Lawyers Association and an adviser to the Ronald Reagan gubernatorial campaign.

Mr. Coolidge lived on top of a small mountain on 35 acres of land in a dark-green home, inspired by 70s-era styles that he carefully designed.

It had a gigantic rock chimney, Andrew Coolidge said. My mom and him had gathered rocks from all around the property (to build the chimney). He wanted something unique. It was a pretty amazing home.

Mr. Coolidge was previously married to Constance Coolidge for 36 years.

The blaze was centralized about a quarter mile from Mr. Coolidges home, Andrew Coolidge said. When it started coming up the hill toward Mr. Coolidges home, it would have been impossible for him and Ms. Hannah to escape, the son said.

Ms. Hannah is survived by her sons, Jeffrey and Jordan Hannah; her mother, Marjorie David, of Holiday, Fla.: two sisters, Mary Towers of Menifee (Riverside County), and Marjorie Jensen of Placentia (Orange County); and her grandson.

Mr. Coolidge is survived by his son, Andrew Coolidge of Chico; his daughter, Karen Lockhart of Yuba City (Sutter County); 10 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

A joint memorial is planned for Friday at 2 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Yuba City.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
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When everyone else left the shelters  to hotels, to rentals, to guest bedrooms  they were the ones left behind.

At the height of the Northern California wildfire disaster, nearly 5,000 people filled emergency shelters in Sonoma County, according to the Red Cross. They slept on thin hospital cots and ate hamburgers off paper plates. And then the majority decamped for temporary housing or back to their own homes. Fewer than 175 people remain now. There is nowhere for them to go.

Most are poor or homeless, without spare cash for an extended hotel stay, and far from family or friends. The shelters in which theyre living  the Finley Community Center, Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building and the Sonoma County Fairgrounds  wont close any time soon, officials say.

People there need to have extra time, said Santa Rosa City Councilwoman Julie Combs. If youre in a shelter, you need that extra level of support. We should continue to provide it until we have alternative housing available. Until we have it available, its not appropriate to close these shelters.

Exactly how long their doors will remain open is unknown, though precedents indicate a long slog. Some shelters stayed open more than two months after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which disproportionately displaced poor people. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, similarly disadvantaged victims lived in emergency Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers for seven years.

Its up to the Red Cross and city and county officials to decide whether to close a shelter.

Red Cross officials assess Sonoma Countys shelters day by day, said Lori Wilson, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross. For those still sleeping on the cots, even the dim rumor of a closure causes consternation.

Rick Lambert heard whispers this week that the fairgrounds shelter might close soon, and his mood for the past few days has vacillated between worry and anger at his predicament. Lambert loaded up his aged sedan with all the gear with which he and his wife, Melissa, fled when their rented room in Glen Ellen burned flat, and theyve spent each day checking every resource they can for a new place to live.

Ive been looking to get a motor home, an RV, shared housing, Section 8 (federal rent vouchers), anything  and there is nothing for me, said Lambert, 43. Its particularly tough because he needs a place that also will take their three Siberian husky dogs, and the couples only income is the workmans comp check on which theyve lived for a year, since a hydraulic panel fell on him at his diesel mechanic job.

Lamberts car looked like a 21st century version of a Dust Bowl refugee rig: Tents, clothes, blankets and suitcases were tied to the roof and trunk, and every inch inside was crammed full except for tight spots left for his wife and the dogs.

Theyve been very good to us at this shelter, and I would hate to see it go, he said, voice brimming with frustration. If it shuts, I guess well just have to go camping in the parks.

Inside the cavernous Sonoma County Fairgrounds shelter this week, a half-dozen volunteers buzzed about the tables of snacks and information handouts. Dozens of cots had belongings neatly stacked alongside. Fire refugees strolled in and out, some heading downtown and others playing board games.

Tony McNeil, 52, was bumping against frustrations similar to Lamberts  but finally snagged some luck. He and his girlfriend lost their rented house near Calistoga Road and Highway 12 to the flames, but on Friday a friend found them a new rental near where they used to live.

I was in shock when I got to this shelter, but everyone here has been so wonderful, McNeil said, standing outside the shelter passing the time with his Jack Russell terrier, Quincy, and Red Cross volunteer Marcus Dunseth. He pointed to Dunseth with a big smile.

This guy, I tell you, McNeil said, hes been amazing. He set me and my girlfriend up right away with food, cots, clothes, kennel for Quincy, everything. Hes been nothing but nice. But Im glad we found something. These people cant take care of us for the rest of our lives.

Dunseth, who lives in Colorado and was visiting local family when the fires broke out, blushed and looked to his shoes. How could you not volunteer to help out? he said. These people need us. Ill stay with this as long as I can.

Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle

With the genesis of local assistance centers, which opened in two locations Oct. 14 and are run by Sonoma County, more people like McNeil have been getting the resources they need and leaving the shelters. Soon after the centers opened, lines stretched around the block, and residents waited as long as two-and-a-half hours to enter.

Each center has tables to get a new drivers license, a deed for a boat or vehicle, copies of insurance paperwork and FEMA relief forms.

In the 32 years I have worked for the county, its the biggest disaster response I have ever seen, said Susan Klassen, who is managing the centers. She retired from her role as director of public works for Sonoma County one day before the fires, then quickly came back to help out.

Its just trying to put it all in one place for people, she said. If they had to figure this out on their own, after theyve gone through something this horrible, it would be overwhelming. We are trying to make their recovery a little bit less of that by putting a bunch of people and resources together in one place. Maybe itll help them get back on their feet or out of a shelter.

Not everyone has been receptive to getting help, said Wilson of the Red Cross.

Trying to get some people to accept help and opportunity to change their situation is difficult, Wilson said. Maybe they were homeless prior to the disaster. Maybe they are struggling for whatever reason. Thats always the situation, whenever you have sheltering, as you get to this stage. The higher-risk are the ones who remain.

The city is working with FEMA to cover some temporary housing costs, said Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey. The agency has ordered 500 mobile units, similar to the ones used in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina  but presumably without the formaldehyde problems that came with those units.

Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle

Offers of other interim housing  including a luxury campsite for up to 75 people in the Black Rock Desert where Burning Man is held and vacation homes on Lake Tahoe  also have been extended to the displaced. And Santa Rosa officials are considering approving five parking lots for overnight parking, including outside Los Guilicos Juvenile Hall and the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.

Others are turning over vacation rentals and offering rooms within their homes for free, said Ronit Rubinoff, executive director of legal aid for Sonoma County, who is hosting some of the displaced in her own home.

The definition of a disaster is you arent prepared, Rubinoff said. And we werent prepared for this. We are the worst off in the community to have a housing shortage on top of a housing shortage. People are on couches, in tents and encampments and evacuation centers. We are really trying to come up with creative solutions. The people really impacted are the renters who have lost their homes, not the homeowners. There isnt a place for them to go.

Everyone has a different story, said Klassen, who runs the local assistance shelters. It can be difficult to meet myriad needs.

We have had a lot of folks coming through looking for things, she said. Maybe a tax deed or assessment record. Some come just for the free food and water that we give out at the door. Our biggest tables are the ones offering mental health services and help with temporary housing.

Lizzie Johnson and Kevin Fagan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn @KevinFagan

Helping and getting help

FEMA is offering assistance to fire victims in Sonoma and Napa counties. For more information go to www. disaster assistance. gov/ or call (800) 621-3362.

Donations to help those affected by California wildfires and other disasters can be made at www.red cross.org. People can also call (800) 733-2767 or text the word CAWILDFIRES to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

People needing to report or ask about a missing person in Sonoma County can call the county Fire and Emergency Services Department at (707) 565-3856.

For tips on how to prepare for a wildfire, go to: www.red cross. org/ prepare/ disaster/ wildfire.

Donations to help fire victims can be made here: https://www.redwoodcu.org/northbayfirerelief.

To help Tubbs Fire victims, donate here: http://biturl. in/64.

Food donations can be made at the Redwood Empire Food Bank in Santa Rosa: http://refb.org/.
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Oaklands skyline could get a new tallest tower  one that seems to split in two  if a downtown development team gets its way.

Plans were filed Friday for a proposed tower at 13th and Harrison streets that would rise 460 feet and hold 36 floors of residential and commercial space on the edge of Oaklands Chinatown. The tower also would attract attention because of its unusual shape  one where the eastern half of the tall slab tilts 15 feet to the south, while the western half leans 15 feet to the north.

Were trying for one tower that seems like two from some angles, said Mark Donahue of Lowney Architecture, the firm that designed the proposed high-rise. This is a way to create a much more vertical expression, and not just be another slab.

Though the proposed height would be modest in San Franciscos Rincon Hill or Transbay districts, it would stand out in a city where the tallest towers currently are Kaiser Center and the Ordway Building. Both are near Lake Merritt, and both top off at around 400 feet. Several 400-foot apartment towers also have been approved downtown.

But 1261 Harrison St., with its sides that taper slightly in and out as they rise, would be a first for either skyline.

Thats the idea, say the developers.

From day one, we wanted to be different, said Fred Daven of Pinnacle RED, the developer. Our goal is to set the standard for how buildings in Oakland are going to evolve.

To do this would require waivers to the zoning code, which limits buildings on the block to 275 feet. The developers propose setting aside 10 to 15 percent of the towers planned 185 condominiums; this would allow extra height through a state-level bonus for affordable housing. In addition, Pinnacle RED would ask the city to raise the height in return for a more slender and distinctive building  a trade-off that has been allowed elsewhere downtown.

Theres no official response as yet from Oaklands planning department. But one preservationist group is already sounding alarms.

Fundamentally, the site is too small for what theyre trying to cram in, said Naomi Schiff of the Oakland Heritage Alliance, which is a frequent watchdog of new development.

The alliance, which has met with the developers but has not seen the proposal, also is concerned that the tower would overwhelm its neighbors on the block, all of which date from before 1925. The tower would replace a 1916 structure with arches and white bricks. Inside the building, which is one story with a mezzanine, are Asian tenants that include a storefront Buddhist Center.

Other advocacy groups support the idea of new towers, putting residents and workers in a central location that is a short walk from three BART stations.

This is exactly where this type of development needs to be going, said Robert Ogilvie, Oakland director of public policy think tank SPUR. There is lots of room in downtown Oakland for lots of housing.

The proposed tower would rise next to the King Building, a handsome four-story structure from 1904. A graffitied but atmospheric alley runs through the middle of the block.

The developers would restore the alley as part of their project, cleaning and reusing bricks from the structure now on the site.

The sloping skin of the new tower, meanwhile, would be clad in masonry-toned panels as part of an effort to make the transition in height less jarring.

Torqued residential towers arent unprecedented, such as distinct twisting twins designed by celebrity architect Bjarke Ingels that opened this year in Miami.

At 1261 Harrison St., though, the drama is the architectural equivalent of a visual sleight of hand. The core of the slab would be a long, narrow rectangle. Sections of the upper floors would then curve back and forth in the space between the central structural columns and the towers property line.

Two blocks to the west is Oaklands one signature high-rise, the 361-foot Tribune Tower, with its campanile-like clock tower.

There is no timetable for hearings on the proposal.

John King is The San Francisco Chronicles urban design critic. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron
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TROY  Capital Region arts and cultural organizations will reap a windfall of more than $9 million from the estate of Heinrich Medicus, the Swiss-born RPI physics professor and philanthropist who died in February. Health care organizations will receive an additional $5.5 million.

The biggest bequest, of at least $7 million, goes to the Albany Symphony Orchestra, which Medicus patronized for many years, as an audience member and donor who underwrote performances by superstar soloists including Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma and Joshua Bell.

The will, which is public record, specifies that $7 million go into the orchestra's endowment. The symphony will also be the beneficiary of half of the undesignated residuals from Medicus' estate, including property and his art collection, part of which is up for sale this weekend at the Stair Galleries auction house in Hudson.

The bequest prohibits the ASO from spending the principal sum, specifying that it be invested and proceeds used to fund orchestra operations and programs. The ASO's annual budget is about $2.3 million; its previous endowment, about $500,000.

"It was tremendously wonderful news," said Anna Kuwabara, ASO executive director. "The gift gives the symphony an incredibly solid foundation from which to expand, to reach even further into the community and farther on its path of artistic excellent and innovation."

The symphony will honor Medicus by naming its top artistic position, music director, in his honor. Longtime ASO conductor David Alan Miller, to whom Medicus was a close friend and artistic adviser, now holds the title Heinrich Medicus Music Director. The position will be formally inaugurated during the orchestra's Nov. 18 concert at the Palace Theatre in Albany. Kuwabara said the ASO will also present a concert of Medicus' favorite music in December 2018 to honor what would have been his 100th birthday.

"It's a transformational gift that he though about very carefully," Miller said. "He believed an endowment gift was the best way to guarantee the orchestra would be there for future generations of would-be music lovers, and that was really what he cared about."

Medicus' will repeatedly mentions his "hope that this bequest encourages others to donate."

Jerry Golub, chair of the Albany Symphony's board of directors, said in a statement that the gift, by far the largest in ASO history, has galvanized the board. "It is now our turn to honor his memory and final wish: that his gift serve as a catalyst to inspire others to give more generously as well," the statement said.

Several organizations told the Times Union they've already received the funds.

Although the $7 million to the ASO was the largest single amount in Medicus' will, his bequests to some of his other favorite musical organizations dwarf it as a percentage the groups' annual budgets. The symphony's gift is three times larger than its annual budget.

Troy Chromatics Concerts, which presents four or five concerts per season at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, got $1 million from Medicus, or eight times its annual budget; he left $900,000 to Friends of Chamber Music, a figure 18 times larger than what the group spends to host five concerts a year at Kiggins Hall at Emma Willard School in Troy.

"He was so generous, not only to us but to so many others over the years," said Karl Moscher, president of the board of Troy Chromatics, during a phone interview on Saturday. Medicus' gift earmarks $700,000 for an endowment and $300,00 to be spent on marketing and promotion to increase the size of Troy Chromatics' audiences.

Friends of Chamber Music intends to use the income from its new, sharply boosted endowment to bring in bigger-name performers at least once a year and perhaps present in another venue in addition to Kiggins Hall, said board treasurer Gary Nelson. He projected the bequest would produce about $40,000 a year in additional income, almost doubling the group's yearly budget.

Medicus also left $4 million to the Northeast Health Foundation for the construction of a new pavilion at Samaritan Hospital in Troy, to which Medicus gave $10 million last year. Another bequest directed $1.5 million to St. Mary's Cancer Treatment Center in Troy, which will be renamed after Medicus' wife, Hildegard J. Medicus, who died in 2008 after 47 years of marriage. They had no children.

Medicus inherited wealth from business interests in Switzerland and was a savvy investor as well as a Renaissance man. In 1988 he even set a record for distance traveled by a popped champagne cork at 177 feet, 9 inches.

Other beneficiaries of Medicus' estate include the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway, which operates the Burden Iron Works Museum in South Troy ($150,000); the Albany Institute of History & Art ($100,000); Albany Pro Musica ($100,000); the Rensselaer County Historical Society ($70,000); and the Arts Center of the Capital Region ($50,000). He also left money and possessions to individuals including his wife's five nieces, $20,000 to Miller and $25,000 to his cleaning woman.

sbarnes@timesunion.com  518-454-5489  @Tablehopping  www.facebook.com/SteveBarnesFoodCritic
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A couple has been arrested after allegedly stealing a 14-year-old's iPhone, according to Laredo police.

On Oct. 11, two teenage boys were walking alongside the 1900 block of Main Avenue when Leonel Cardenas, 19, and Sandra Lara, 21, drove up next to them. The incident took place during the afternoon. According to reports, Cardenas asked one of the 14-year-old boys to borrow his phone but the boy said no. Cardenas then asked if the boy could make the call for him, the report states.

As the young man pulled his phone out to begin dialing, Lara allegedly jumped from the back seat of the vehicle and snatched the iPhone, according to Laredo police.

MORE ON LMTOnline.com: 2 dead, 1 identified after pair of fatal crashes in Laredo, police say

Police say the boy suffered scrapes to his knees, hands and elbows as he hung on to the moving vehicle.

A report was filed by the boy and followed up by detectives. The robbery had taken place near a convenience store, leading detectives to check the surveillance camera for the assailants. A couple was identified in the surveillance video and matched the description given by the boy.

The boy also identified the couple in a photo lineup of six other similar looking pairs.

Detectives inquired patrol officers in the area about Cardenas and Lara.

READ MORE: Family caught Laredo couple having sex in Peter Piper Pizza parking lot, police say

Police obtained a consent to search the couple's home located at an apartment complex on the 4100 block of Juarez Avenue. Inside the home, police found the stolen iPhone.

Both Lara and Cardenas were charged with aggravated robbery Friday.

According to police, Cardenas had had 12 prior arrests dealing with burglaries, criminal mischief, possession and evading arrest. Lara had one prior arrest.
BARCELONA - Spain on Saturday began to assert control over Catalonia, sacking the region's president, ministers, diplomats, police chiefs and transferring all authority to the central government in Madrid.

But it was an open question as to who was really in charge of the breakaway "Republic of Catalonia" in the hours after a divided Catalan Parliament declared independence.

Catalonia's secessionist president, Carles Puigdemont, who was cheered by onlookers when he walked the streets of Barcelona on Saturday, issued a prerecorded call for citizens to mount "a democratic opposition" to the takeover.

Although some saw the brief statement as an act of resistance - a defiant roar - many of the pro-independence Catalans were disappointed and struggled to understand what he meant.

Barcelona, the capital of the newly declared republic, was placid on Saturday - even a bit dull - as if the population had taken a deep breath and was wondering what comes next.

News crews looking for action, for big demonstrations or clashes, were reduced to filming pigeons flapping around in the Placa de Catalunya.

After being granted unprecedented powers by the Spanish Senate, the central government, in the early-morning hours Saturday published lists of Catalan officials, alongside their advisers, who were being fired.

The chief of the Catalan regional police, Josep Lluis Trapero, who is being investigated by Spanish prosecutors for defying legal orders, was among the officially dismissed.

In all, more than 140 Catalans were told they no longer hold positions of power.

The Catalan Parliament was dissolved by order of Spain, and new elections were scheduled for Dec. 21 in the well-to-do region of northeast Spain, riven by emotional divisions between pro-independence sentiment and the desire of those who want to remain in Spain.

Catalonia's separatist politicians mostly stayed out of sight Saturday, declining requests for media interviews and avoiding public appearances.

Phone calls and emails to Catalan officials went unanswered or were off the record.

One exception was the restrained three-minute statement by the ousted president, Puigdemont, which aired on the region's public broadcaster but was recorded earlier.

Puigdemont said the people should continue to defend their new republic peacefully and "with a sense of civic responsibility." He decried Spain's takeover and called it "a premeditated attack on the majority will of Catalans."

But he offered nothing about what comes next.

The night before, Puigdemont tweeted: "Catalonia is and will be a land of freedom. At the service of people. In the difficult moments and at the moments of celebration. Now more than ever."

After a night when a third of the region partied and a third slammed its shutters, people in the street were as divided as ever - between supporters of independence, opponents who view secession as a historic blunder and the many in the middle who aren't really sure.

Even among those whose hearts felt pride and joy upon hearing a new republic declared, their heads sensed that Catalonia was not really a sovereign state. Far from it.

Many expressed anxiety.

Joaquim Bayo, 87, a retired salesman, said he had already heard nervous jokes about when Spain will send tanks into the Barcelona streets.

"Look, we're not such revolutionaries. We will have to wait. So, they announced a new republic. Good! If you look at history, we had one republic that lasted three years, one that lasted three days. Let's see how long this one lasts."

Bayo said, "Catalans don't have the tools or the strength to pull this off. The bigger and stronger always wins.

"I saw this during Franco's time, and I will see it again," he said, referring to the 40-year dictatorship of Francisco Franco that began during Spain's civil war and did not end until the general's death in 1975.

Jose Zaragoza, 54, a businessman, said, "Today I woke up very happy, the first day of the republic, which was chosen in a legal way - by politicians chosen in legal way, backed by a legal referendum."

He said he was surprised to see the Spanish flag still flying over Catalan government offices.

Javier del Valle, 33, a computer engineer, said: "A lot of my family, who don't believe in independence for Catalonia, think this is all a lot of nonsense. My work mates who are pro-independence, I don't think they see Catalonia as a new nation, but view the declaration as a symbolic gesture and part of a strategy to achieve a political goal."

Ricard Valls, 22, is a university student who hopes for an independent Catalan republic someday. But he is doubtful the region's leaders can pull it off now. "It makes me sad for the people who truly believe this will happen," he said.

Barcelona's mayor, Ada Colau, sought a middle ground but still spoke in blunt language.

In a lengthy Facebook post late Friday under the title "not in my name," Colau said she was disgusted to see the Spanish prime minister applauded by senators for declaring the takeover of Catalonia.

"Were they applauding his failure?" she wrote. "Those who have been incapable of proposing a single solution, incapable of listening or of governing for all, have enacted a coup against democracy today with the annihilation of Catalan self-government."

But at the same time, the Barcelona mayor said the pro-independence parties in Catalonia were "advancing at a kamikaze pace after their mistaken reading of the results of the Catalan elections. Their speed has been the result of partisan interests, a headlong dash that has been consummated today with a Declaration of Independence in the name of Catalonia that doesn't have the support of a majority of Catalans."

In a Europe where change is usually slow and incremental, the fast-moving events in Catalonia were a surprise for a continent riven by waves of populism and nationalism.

Two historic votes - one for independence, one to restore constitutional order - came in dueling sessions of parliaments in Barcelona and Madrid on Friday.

They both can't hold.

More than 2 million people cast ballots for independence in early October. But critics say the turnout for the referendum was 43 percent of eligible voters, according to a count by the separatists.

During the chaotic referendum, Spanish national police and paramilitary officers used harsh tactics, in some cases whipping voters with rubber batons and dragging people away from the ballot boxes. That memory remains, and people are wary of a replay now.

---

Pamela Rolfe in Madrid and Raul Gallego Abellan in Barcelona contributed to this report.

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Video: The calm after the storm in Catalonia

A day after Catalonia declared independence from Spain, it was unclear who was in charge, or what would happen next.

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Video: Catalans celebrate independence vote, worry about what's next

Just hours after Catalonia declared independence on Oct. 27, Spain's prime minister announced that he would dismantle the region's government. Despite this, independence celebrations in Barcelona lasted deep into the night.

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A century has passed since Communists first came to power. It happened in Russia, reeling from three years of world war and the overthrow eight months before of Czar Nicholas II. Few outside Russia thought the Communist government could last for long. But in fact that "October Revolution" was the vanguard - to use a favorite Communist term - of a worldwide movement, one that inspired millions around the globe and repelled millions more.

Pure communism would, in theory, entail common ownership of the means of production and a withering of the state. Unsurprisingly, it was never achieved. But an ideology that promised to overturn the power of capital, and the distortions that the accumulation of capital wrought on society, attracted followers from Korea in the east to Cuba in the west. Its adherents believed that building communism required the uprooting of capitalist beliefs and the purging of those who clung to bourgeois or counter-revolutionary ways of thinking. Many millions were packed off to prison camps, and millions more died of starvation, exposure and executioners' bullets in the quest to build a communist future.

And then it all began to unravel. It was done in by cynicism, exhaustion and the inevitable comparisons with the prosperous market economies of the West. Worldwide Communism was America's most fearsome enemy in the middle decades of the 20th century. But since 1989 one country after another has either thrown off communism entirely, or pushed it discreetly aside in the pursuit of business. Today it lives on in only the most attenuated forms. North Korea is the one ferocious holdout among the remaining Communist nations, but even there markets have been changing the nature of the economy.

Here we present a timeline of the milestone moments in the 100-year history of Communism in power, a record of a movement that sought worldwide revolution, industrialization on an epic scale, and the creation of a new form of society. It grew from an urban uprising in northwest Russia, spread around the globe, developed deep rot, and finally retreated like river ice during the spring thaw.

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Nov. 7, 1917

The Great October Revolution

A revolutionary Marxist faction called the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia, led by Vladimir Lenin. (It took place on Oct. 25 under the old Russian calendar, hence the name.) After a brutal civil war, the Bolsheviks established what became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. It was the first communist government in the world. The Soviets intended to export communism to the other great industrial nations, which made them pariahs among capitalists.

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June 30, 1929

Founding of Magnitogorsk

Soviet leader Joseph Stalin ordered the construction of a new city that would house the largest iron and steel works in the Soviet Union. It was part of a five-year plan to lift Russia out of its feudal, farming economy and turn it into an industrial giant. Magnitogorsk, in the Ural mountains, was built with help from American engineers, and modeled on Gary, Indiana. It became a showpiece of Soviet economic achievement.

But there was another side to the Soviet economy: A man-made famine struck Ukraine, and millions of men and women disappeared into the gulag. Prison labor was employed to dig canals, cut timber, and mine coal.

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May 9, 1945

Victory over Nazi Germany

The Soviets bore the brunt of World War II in Europe. Their eventual triumph has been exploited ever since as a justifying event, one that bestows glory and legitimacy on the U.S.S.R. - and its Russian successor. At the end of the war, Moscow established friendly communist regimes throughout Eastern Europe, creating what Winston Churchill called the Iron Curtain, as the Cold War with the West descended.

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Oct. 1, 1949

Mao declares Communist victory in China

The long-running conflict between Nationalists and Communists finally came to end with a near-total Communist victory. Mao Zedong, the Communist Party leader, was welcomed in Moscow as the tribune of Asian communism. But it wasn't long before tensions led to a break, sundering communism's two most important countries.

Over the decades to follow, millions of Chinese would die in labor camps and from hunger.

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July 27, 1953

Korean War ends in stalemate.

With the Japanese defeat in World War II, Korea had been divided between a Communist North, under the wing of the Soviet Union, and a West-friendly South. The Korean War erupted in 1950, pitting Koreans against one another and drawing in the United States and its allies on one side, and the Communist Chinese on the other. It finally ended in a draw, though to this day North Korea presents it as a victory.

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Nov. 4, 1956

Soviets crush Hungarian uprising

After the death of Stalin in 1953, the advent of Nikita Khrushchev as Soviet leader seemed to portend a thawing of repression. Restive Hungarians, eager to break free of Moscow, staged an uprising that led to the collapse of their government. President Dwight Eisenhower cheered them on. But the United States stood by when the Soviet military poured into the country, smashing the rebellion.

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Jan. 1, 1959

Fidel Castro seizes power in Cuba

Castro and his revolutionaries came out of the mountains to overthrow the corrupt regime of Fulgencio Batista, who had strong links to American organized crime. At first willing to deal with the United States, Castro turned to Moscow for support within a year, in the face of U.S. hostility. American leaders were shocked to see communism take a foothold in the Western hemisphere.

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April 30, 1975

Saigon falls

The bloody and protracted war in Vietnam, which had destroyed the administration of Lyndon Johnson and contributed to Richard Nixon's downfall, ended with a communist victory. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. This was close to the high tide mark of global communism, though few suspected it at the time.

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Aug. 31, 1980

Solidarity is formed in Poland

The first independent trade union in postwar Eastern Europe was established at a shipyard in Gdansk, led by, among others, an electrician named Lech Walesa. First the government in Warsaw tried to negotiate with it. Then the union was outlawed. But it never disappeared, and it was to rise up in the pivotal year of 1989.

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June 4, 1989

Tiananmen Square protests are crushed

Pro-democracy protesters occupied Beijing's central square, inspired by a program of changes that Chinese leaders had been cautiously pursuing. The challenge was too great for the Communist government, and it sent in troops and tanks to sweep the square clean. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, lost their lives. The lesson was learned, and nothing like it has happened again in China.

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Nov. 9, 1989

Berlin Wall falls

Five months later, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signaled to the Communist East German government that Moscow - concerned with economic decline and the hollowing out of ideological fervor - would not come to its aid in the face of rising popular protests. Solidarity had already taken a seat in the Polish government, and Hungarians were streaming across the border into Austria. But when the Wall came down and Berliners were once again united in joyous demonstrations, it was clear to the world that the communist era in Eastern Europe was over.

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Aug. 19, 1991

Failed coup in Moscow signals end of U.S.S.R.

Soviet hard-liners attempted to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev out of fear that his policies of glasnost and perestroika - openness and restructuring - were putting their country in danger of falling apart. Their failure gave a major boost to Russia's foremost anti-Communist, Boris Yeltsin, and it led instead to the outlawing of the Communist Party just weeks later. The Soviet Union did fall apart, and ceased to exist on Dec. 25, 1991.

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Aug. 16, 2010

China's economy overtakes Japan

Government figures released on this day showed that China had surpassed Japan to become the world's second-largest economy. Beijing's turn away from Marxism and toward state-sponsored capitalism had been underway for the better part of two decades, and now it was showing dramatic results.

---

Sept. 3, 2017

North Korea says it can hit U.S. with hydrogen bomb.

Three generations of leadership by the Kim family have turned North Korea into a rogue state, more of a monarchy than a truly communist nation. The introduction of market reforms - though on a smaller scale than in China or Vietnam - has helped the economy. But hostility toward the West, and especially the United States, has if anything sharpened. North Korea views nuclear arms as the only means by which it can maintain its sovereignty in the face of what it calls American aggression. One hundred years after Lenin seized power in Russia, it is communism's most prickly redoubt.
TOKYO - The government and the ruling parties are considering reducing corporate tax rates for companies that implement high pay raises of 3 percent or more, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

According to informed sources, there is a plan to lower the effective corporate tax rate - a tax on corporate profits - from the current 29.97 percent to around 25 percent. The government and the ruling parties aim to increase personal consumption by creating a tax system that encourages companies to raise wages for employees, the sources said.
Seven in 10 Americans say the nation's political divisions are at least as big as during the Vietnam War, according to a new poll, which also finds nearly 6 in 10 saying Donald Trump's presidency is making the U.S. political system more dysfunctional.

The Washington Post-University of Maryland poll - conducted nine months into Trump's tumultuous presidency - reveals a starkly pessimistic view of U.S. politics, widespread distrust of the nation's political leaders and their ability to compromise, and an erosion of pride in the way democracy works in America.

Trump's arrival in the White House in January ushered in a period of big political fights - over issues including health care, taxes and immigration - and a sharp escalation in personal attacks on political opponents, over social media and elsewhere.

Seven in 10 Americans say the nation's politics have reached a dangerous low point, and a majority of those believe the situation is a "new normal" rather than temporary, according to the poll.

The polls finds that 7 in 10 Americans view the Trump administration as dysfunctional. But dissatisfaction extends well beyond the executive branch: Even more Americans, 8 in 10, say Congress is dysfunctional, and there is limited trust in other institutions, including the media.

"It's just messed up now," said Patty Kasbeck, 37, a veterinary technician in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and a Democrat. "It's not even a political system. It's a reality show."

In the poll, 14 percent of Americans say they view the ethics and honesty of politicians as excellent or good - down from 25 percent in 1997 and 39 percent in 1987. And 12 percent say members of Congress base their policies on a set of core values, while 87 percent say lawmakers mainly "do whatever is needed to win reelection."

By and large, Americans are feeling frustrated not only with the country's politics but also with their ability to talk about politics in a civil way.

"It seems the country is being divided on so many topics and on so many fronts at one time," said Gene Gardner, a retired communications specialist in Blacksburg, Virginia, who said American democracy has become "a rock-throwing contest."

"When people have an opinion, they don't just say it to their spouse across the dinner table anymore," said Gardner, 68, who says he tends to vote Democratic. "They put it on Facebook. Everything gets amplified and more angry."

Recent surveys have shown that consumer confidence is up this year and stands at the highest levels in the past decade, so it does not appear that economic concerns are driving discontent with the nation's political system.

Rather, Trump's presidency appears to be a more critical factor in informing the way people feel about the state of American democracy.

While the poll finds similar levels of distrust in the federal government as those before Trump took office, it also finds that pride in U.S. democracy is eroding. The share of Americans who are not proud of the way the country's democracy is working has doubled since three years ago - from 18 percent to 36 percent in the new survey conducted among a nationwide sample of more than 1,600 adults by The Post and U-Md.'s Center for American Politics and Citizenship.

And nearly half of those who say they "strongly disapprove" of Trump's job performance say they are not proud of American democracy today. That's about twice as high among as those who "somewhat disapprove" of the president's performance.

Doubts about democracy are not limited, however, to strong Trump critics. The poll finds that 25 percent of his supporters are not proud of the way democracy is working. That's a higher figure than for the general public since at least the 1990s, polling shows.

"I think that since Trump's election, there's a spotlight on Washington and how it really works: that politicians are out for themselves and beholden to special interests," said Nola Sayne, a paralegal in Logansville, Georgia, who supported Trump and says she tends to vote Republican.

Sayne, 54, partly blames the dysfunction on how the Washington establishment has reacted to Trump. "People just flip out at everything he says," Sayne said.

Elizabeth Johnston, a worker benefits specialist in Paradise, California, said she's "embarrassed for the country" and primarily blames Democrats for the nation's current political dysfunction.

"They're acting like the mean kids in junior high," Johnston said. "They're all helping to make sure that the president doesn't succeed."

Johnston, 58, a registered independent, said there are things she doesn't like about Trump, like his "childish tweets." But she said the country needs to give him a chance.

"I love it that he hears us," she said. "I love it that he wants to cut taxes."

Strong majorities in both parties say the political divisions today are at least as strong as during the Vietnam War, a period of protest and unrest that is widely viewed as a dark chapter in American political history.

Seven in 10 Americans overall hold that view, but it is particularly strong among those who experienced the Vietnam War era firsthand. Among those who were adults in the 1970s, more than three-quarters say political divisions today are at least as big.

"I'm old enough that I remember the Vietnam War," said Ed Evans, 67, a lawyer in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and a Democrat who was a college student in Missouri at the time. "With Vietnam, at least it was focused on one issue. Here, it's all over the place. In some ways, this is deeply more troubling."

Ellen Collins, a retired data architect in Dayton, Ohio, said she remembers hearing her brother, who was in the Army returning from Vietnam, say that he was spit upon in the airport during a layover in San Francisco in March 1968. Still, she is among those who say political divisions in the country are worse today.

"This country is a mess," said Collins, 69. "There's no civility. Friends are now enemies. These issues have made people angry."

She blames Trump in large part, saying he has used divisions "to his benefit, to play on people's fears."

Collins cited Trump's recent sparring with Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., over the president's condolence call to the widow of a soldier killed in Niger.

"He has an inability to say, 'My bad,' and he just keeps going and going," Collins said. "He's childish, and he's a bully."

Majorities of both Democrats and Republicans say America's politics have reached a dangerous low point, though more Democrats (81 percent) than Republicans (56 percent) hold that view.

Overall, more Americans say Trump deserves "a lot" of blame for political dysfunction (51 percent) than either the Republican Party (38 percent) or the Democratic Party (32 percent).

"We've had good presidents and bad presidents," said Gardner, the Blacksburg, Virginia, resident. "But for the most part, they've all played a presidential role. They've tried to bring the country together. That's not so true of Trump."

One's party affiliation tends to color the way one assigns blame.

About three-quarters of Democrats blame Trump "a lot" for causing dysfunction, as do more than half of political independents. But about 1 in 7 Republicans say Trump deserves "a lot" of blame.

Underscoring the partisan antipathy toward Trump, two-thirds of Democrats in the poll say they do not believe his election was legitimate - a view held by 9 percent of Republicans.

Overall, 42 percent of Americans say Trump's election was not legitimate. By comparison, 14 percent say former president Barack Obama's 2008 election was not legitimate.

Democrats have a clear advantage in public trust, with 56 percent of Americans saying they think the party generally represents their political views, compared with 43 percent of Americans saying the Republican Party does the same. A 55 percent majority says the Republican Party mainly opposes their views, and 60 percent say the same of Trump.

Many also say the opposing political party not only does not represent their views but is also "undermining America's core principles."

Nearly two-thirds of those who see Democrats as the opposition believe they are undermining the country's core principles, while a slightly smaller percentage of those who feel the Republican Party opposes their views sense a fundamental threat. Among those who say Trump opposes their views, three-quarters say he is undermining the nation's core principles.

Democrats and Republicans do agree on many of the causes of political dysfunction in the U.S. political system.

At least 6 in 10 Democrats, Republicans and independents say "money in politics" deserves a lot of blame, while smaller majorities blame "people with extreme views," and more than 4 in 10 of each group blame members of Congress.

A majority of Americans say wealthy political donors deserve a lot of blame, and nearly half say the same for both the news media and social media. In a separate question, three-quarters say media organizations tend to favor one side when dealing with political and social issues, a critique held by most Democrats and Republicans.

Gina Haag, a high school government teacher in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said she believes two of the biggest culprits contributing to political dysfunction are "hyper-partisanship" and the amount of money in politics.

"It's gotten to the point where money matters more than who's running or what they stand for," said Haag, 24, a registered independent.

The poll also suggests that Americans are using political labels to define people more broadly.

Half of Americans say that if they know someone is a Democrat, that not only indicates what they think about government policies but also how they live their lives. More than half of Americans say the same thing about Republicans.

At the same time, many Americans feel less commonality with their neighbors. A 56 percent majority says there are fewer things that bind Americans together today than in the past, a view shared by majorities across party lines and most demographic groups.

---

The Washington Post's Emily Guskin contributed to this report.

---

The Post-U-Md. poll was conducted Sept. 27-Oct. 5 online and by landline and cellphone among 1,663 adults interviewed through the AmeriSpeak Panel, the probability-based survey panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Interviews were conducted online and by landline and cellular phones; overall results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
They've warned of impending nuclear war and charged the U.S. with usurping the U.N. Security Council in order to persecute their country. But apart from their occasional public jeremiads, North Korea's United Nations envoys are often as isolated as the regime they represent.

From the drab hallways of their official offices to the U.N.'s cocktail party circuit, Ambassador Ja Song Nam and Deputy Ambassador Kim In Ryong can be hard to track down for diplomats and journalists alike.

"I've not met any North Koreans," said Koro Bessho, the U.N. ambassador from Japan, which has a keen interest in halting Pyongyang's nuclear program. "They are a secretive bunch."

The U.N. may seem like hostile territory to North Korean diplomats. The organization's Manhattan headquarters is in a country generations of North Koreans have been taught wants to annihilate them, a nation now led by a president that their leader Kim Jong Un called a "mentally deranged U.S. dotard."

Moreover, defectors say North Korean diplomats are often required to leave family members, including children, behind to ensure they don't defect or criticize the regime. That leaves little incentive to talk, even off-the-record, unless ordered to do so by officials in Pyongyang. The country's U.N. mission has no official website, and the envoys seldom participate on U.N. panels.

"The folks at the U.N. mission are there to pass along messages and act on behalf of the leader rather than engage in some diplomatic give-and-take," said Scott Seaman, a senior analyst at the Eurasia Group in New York.

North Korea's U.N. mission is located on the 13th floor of a nondescript Manhattan office building above a Hallmark Cards store. The diplomatic outpost of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as it's formally called, shares the floor with the "Delegation of the Basque Country in the U.S." and Cahn Capital Corp., an investment bank. A solid brown door, next to a fire escape, with a tiny spyhole is the gateway to the mission.

On repeated visits, no one answered the door and phone calls went unreturned. The mission's lack of a bathroom is its most visible shortcoming: North Korean diplomats have to tread down the narrow corridor to the other end of the floor to a shared toilet facility.

On a recent trip, after repeated unanswered ringing of the mission's doorbell, the door inched open and a man in casual clothes holding a toothbrush in one hand edged out, closing the door behind him. The man shook his head when asked about meeting the ambassador.

Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea are raising the envoys' profiles. Ambassador Ja made headlines in September at the annual General Assembly of world leaders when he left his front-row seat in the main U.N. chamber and walked out just moments before President Donald Trump took to the podium.

The limited information on Ja -- 63 years old, married, with children -- comes from an official UN statement made when he arrived to take his post in 2014, briefly meeting in front of cameras with then-Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Ja's office didn't respond to repeated emails and phone calls seeking an interview.

Ja, a former ambassador to the U.K., came to his current post after serving as director-general of the Department for National Reunification Affairs, according to the U.N. statement. It said he graduated from the University of International Relations, Pyongyang in 1983. Before that he served in the Korean People's Army, according to a separate biography from the U.K.-based Royal United Services Institute, where Ja spoke in 2009.

At the UN, Ja's subordinate, Deputy Ambassador Kim, is better known by diplomats and the press corps for his more frequent public comments about tensions between Pyongyang and Washington.

At a reception for more than 100 U.N. diplomats and officials at the Russian mission in early October, Kim, in a brown suit, cut a lonely figure. While diplomats of different nations traded gossip and talked about strategy, Kim nibbled on Russian delicacies, sampled vodka and sipped white wine in the company of another North Korean envoy.

The deputy ambassador at times shows a penchant for charm. At the start of a rare news conference in April, Kim welcomed the gathered reporters and said he assumed they "enjoyed very much the weekend," referring to the long Good Friday holiday break.

Like North Korea's leader, the deputy ambassador is skilled at rhetorical brinkmanship. On Oct. 16, he warned that a nuclear war between his country and the U.S. "may break out any moment." In March, he blamed the U.S. and South Korea for killing Kim Jong Un's estranged half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, who died after assailants wiped VX nerve agent across his face at Kuala Lumpur's international airport.

"Bombastic threats are one of the DPRK's standard diplomatic tactics," said Joseph DeThomas, a former U.S. ambassador and State Department official who dealt with North Korea and is now a professor at the Pennsylvania State University.

The regime's official KCNA media outlet regularly spews invective against the U.S., South Korea and other perceived enemies. That category now more frequently includes the U.N.

The Security Council has repeatedly tightened sanctions on the nation over its weapons programs, winning the support of China -- North Korea's top trading partner -- in the process. And Kim's regime has been denounced at the U.N. for everything from its prison camps to the state-sponsored kidnapping of foreigners.

Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea heightened in July, when Pyongyang launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile, as the regime vows to develop a nuclear-armed weapon that can hit the U.S. mainland. On Sept. 3, North Korea said it successfully tested its first hydrogen bomb.

Although the U.S. has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, diplomats from the country's mission informally interact with U.S. officials and American citizens, a process referred to as the "New York channel," said Keith Luse, executive director of the National Committee on North Korea, a nonprofit group that researches relations between the two countries.

"When active, the New York channel provides opportunities for U.S. and North Korean officials to engage in quiet dialogue aside from whatever tone of discourse may emanate from Pyongyang or Washington," Luse said.

That back channel may have been what Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was referring to in late September, when he said that the U.S. can talk with North Korea "directly, through our own channels," though officials have said that the focus of direct talks is to address the issue of U.S. detainees.

Pak Song Il, a senior North Korean diplomat, and his aide, Kwon Jong Gun, are based at the U.N. mission but are assigned to deal with the U.S., according to Stephen Noerper, senior director at the Korea Society in New York. It's a critical role.

"Publicly, North Korea says it doesn't care about the diplomatic effort and should be recognized as a nuclear power," Noerper said. "At the same time, it is extremely concerned about the uptick in tensions and doesn't know how to read Trump."

The New York channel was shut down by Pyongyang in July 2016, after the Obama administration imposed sanctions on North Korea for human-rights abuses. It was reopened after Trump's inauguration, said Isaac Stone Fish, a senior fellow at the Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations.

"North Koreans have always valued keeping the channels open, to keep communicating," Stone Fish said. That means the world may see more of the country's elusive envoys.
WASHINGTON - The State Department on Friday listed 39 Russian companies and government organizations tied to the defense and intelligence sectors, and warned that anyone in the United States or elsewhere doing significant business with them could be hit with sanctions starting early next year.

The list was a belated response to legislation, which President Donald Trump reluctantly signed in August, giving him until Oct. 1 to produce a roster of targets for new sanctions. Designed to punish Moscow for its actions in Ukraine and its interference in the 2016 U.S. election, the bill was seen at the time as a way of forcing Trump's hand.

The bill, which had broad bipartisan support, included new sanctions on Iran and North Korea.

The Russia list was published Friday on the State Department website, along with guidance for those who might be affected. The roster of targeted companies and agencies could have broad ramifications for U.S. and foreign entities that have dealings with them.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller III is investigating whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential race.

Lawmakers from both parties offered tentative praise for the announcement, calling it a step in the right direction toward implementing the legislation.

In addition to Russia's official intelligence and defense apparatus, the bill directed consideration of sanctions for parts of the country's energy, mining, railway and shipping sectors. There were also provisions to sanction entities accused of corruption and human rights abuses.

Those that engage in "significant" transactions with the designated entities could face sanctions beginning Jan. 29.

A State Department official said in a background call with reporters Friday that "smaller-scale things" would probably not be met with sanctions and that the United States would take into account the circumstances of each transaction, such as whether it was meant to benefit an ally's military capabilities.

"I would just reiterate that we're going to look at all the circumstances for transactions that come up in the press or that we're made aware of by other means," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the State Department.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the action "echoes of unfriendly signs, or more precisely, hostility against our country."

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who last week angrily accused the United States of "dragging us back to the 1950s," is following the news on sanctions "very closely," Peskov said in a briefing for reporters in Moscow on Friday. Putin has been reluctant to criticize Trump directly, and Peskov referred to Putin's remarks, in a speech last week, that Moscow would seek to make progress on bilateral relations "insofar as our American counterparts are ready for this and are willing to do this."

"As far as we can see, this willingness is not so steady," Peskov said.

Trump and his aides lobbied hard against the bill while it was being crafted. Their dispute centered on a provision requiring the president to seek congressional approval before scaling back any active sanctions against Russia. The administration lost that fight, but Trump signed the bill anyway.

But the measure still left it largely up to the administration to list which entities met the definitions laid out in the bill - a task the administration was to complete within 60 days. On Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson thought the matter was "complex" and that officials took time "to make sure we get it right."

In a joint statement after Friday's announcement, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Benjamin Cardin, D-Md., encouraged the State Department to "dedicate robust staffing and resources to the implementation effort," saying they were troubled by recent reports that the department had closed its sanctions office.

The senators promised extra scrutiny to "closely examine how the administration decides to define 'significant transaction.' " They added that they "stand ready, if appropriate and necessary," to invoke the law's congressional review provision and overrule Trump's decisions if they do not live up to the expectations as Congress outlined them.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., also warned that Congress expected to be kept in the loop with "thorough and timely consultation" about how sanctions were being added, "until full implementation is complete."

The list of affected organizations and companies includes "practically all of the major state-owned enterprises of Russia's military-industrial complex," according to Leonid Nersisyan, a military analyst and editor in chief of the Russian magazine New Defense Order Strategy.

But any new sanctions are "unlikely to harm most of the Russian defense industry sector," Nersisyan said, because of existing partnerships with South Korea, China and other Asian countries.

Among the companies on the list is Rostec, a giant civil and military conglomerate that makes firearms, advanced optics, helicopters, communications systems, military trucks and more.

Rostec controls Rosoboronexport, also on the list, which manages the import and export of military equipment. Kalashnikov, the famed maker of assault rifles and automatic weapons, is also listed.

A company that makes submarines, another that produces anti-aircraft missiles and launchers, and the makers of Sukhoi and Tupolev military and civilian aircraft are also on the list.

The list also includes the main entities of Russian intelligence: the Federal Security Service, the Foreign Intelligence Service and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
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In January, a Houston teenager tweeted out a photo of her posing on I-610 with heavy traffic behind her.

Since then, the image has resurfaced and Robyn Godina, 17, has been dealing with criticism that accuses her of slowing down traffic to take a picture.

The photo brings back memories of a 2015 video that showed a Houston man stopping traffic on I-45 to propose to his girlfriend  a move for which he ended up having to pay a fine, do community service and make a public apology.

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But Godina, a senior in high school, said the controversial image doesn't tell the full story.

"My dad, sister and I were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic," Godina told Chron.com. "There was a minor accident 4 cars ahead of us, luckily no one was hurt."

"It was just a matter of the cops getting there," she said. "Stuck in traffic for almost an hour I decided to get out and get some air while my dad turned the car off."

While outside of the vehicle, Godina said her father suggested she take a picture.

Since being tweeted almost 9 months ago, the image has received frequent and negative response from social media users.

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Despite the criticism, Godina said she doesn't regret sharing the image.

"I can honestly say it hasn't really affected me much, I'm still the same me, it's just interesting to see how the tweet is literally everywhere and how people take it," Godina said. "Not all is bad, there's random people defending me as well as people complementing me! So the whole post was okay in a way."

"Now I have a senior ride picture for the yearbook," she added.
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Confederate flags spotted at a Texas high school this week caused some outrage on social media.

"So apparently the spoiled white boys are standing up for their white supremacy rights at Paris High School. I guess PISD wants to be in national news again," wrote Brenda Cherry in a Tuesday Facebook post about the flags.

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Another woman who posted about the Confederate flags on Wednesday pointed out that "pants that are ripped up" and bandanas are not allowed in the school.

"My moms WHITE & Mexican, and she TAKES these flags serious she checked me out of school today because of the flags and the school asked her if she was here to pick me up because of the flags and she told them yes y'all know it's wrong that y'all are allowing it," wrote Maya Nyee.

News station WFAA reports Paris ISD released a statement that condemns the students for bringing the flags to school.

"Todays ill-considered decision by students to bring Confederate Rebel Flags to school has caused an unnecessary and unfortunate disruption to our educational environment. Appropriate steps have been taken to address the situation and to refocus those that have been affected. Paris Independent School District celebrates and takes pride in the strength of our multicultural community, and will not permit anyone to divide our district or distract us from our mission to focus on the knowledge, skills, and character development of each of our students."

Will Axford is a digital reporter for Chron.com. You can read more of his stories here and follow him on Twitter.
Open enrollment in 2018 health insurance plans sold through the federal HealthCare.gov website begins next week, but consumers will have only six weeks to shop and make their selections.

Texans and residents in 38 other states using the federal portal face a shorter sign-up period this year. Open enrollment begins Wednesday and ends Dec. 15.

The public can now browse the new health plans and prices online.

Americans may be confused about what the law requires since Congress spent months debating whether to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, an idea that ultimately failed, said officials with the Kaiser Family Foundation, a national health policy organization.

There is still a requirement to have health coverage or pay a tax penalty, said Jennifer Tolbert, Kaisers director of state health reform, in a conference call with reporters Friday.

The penalty for going without health insurance in 2018 will be the same as it was this year. That amounts to $695 per adult and $347.50 per child, or 2.5 percent of a familys household income  whichever is greater.

To satisfy the health insurance mandate, consumers can obtain coverage through their employers, on the HealthCare.gov website or directly from health insurance companies. Eligible Texans may also enroll in Medicaid or the Childrens Health Insurance Program.

Unlike years past, consumers who are automatically re-enrolled in health insurance plans through the HealthCare.gov portal wont be able to change their coverage in January if they are unhappy with the new prices or provider network, Tolbert said.

One new rule in effect  those who received tax credits in 2016 to buy health insurance but failed to file a federal income tax return along with Premium Tax Credit Form 8962 for that year may not be eligible for new tax credits in 2018, Tolbert said. That means theyll pay full price for next years health coverage unless they file those IRS forms promptly.

Another rule enacted in June allows health insurers to deny new coverage to shoppers who failed to stay up to date on premium payments this year. Insurers can require customers to pay any past due premiums still owed for this years coverage before enrolling them in any 2018 health plans.

If you do get a notice from the insurer that says you owe money and you disagree, an appeals process has not been set up for this yet by the federal government, said Kaiser senior fellow Karen Pollitz.

pohare@express-news.net
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Converse police arrested two people accused of stomping and killing a Chihuahua during a home burglary.

On Oct. 12, a man called Converse police after he woke up to find someone in his bedroom. The burglar fled, exiting the home through a sliding door, authorities said.

When officers arrived they reported the man's Chihuahua was had been stomped on and killed.

RELATED: Central Texas police find bottle of suspected PCP on man accused of throwing baseball bat at officer

The burglars made off with a television, a canvas bag and five firearms. They also took the homeowner's keys, phone and wallet, police said.

Two days after the burglary, someone came forward to police and said a 16-year-old boy tried to sell him a shotgun, officials said.

The tipster told investigators the teen indicated he and Andrew King, 20, broke into a home recently and stole the guns, authorities said.

The teen also reportedly told him King initially tried to strangle the dog, but resorted to stomping on it after choking was unsuccessful.

Police obtained search warrants for the two suspects' phones, and found photos of them holding the stolen shotgun in the photo.

King was arrested Thursday on a $45,000 bond by police. He's accused of burglary and cruelty to a non-livestock animal. The 16-year-old was arrested Friday on the same charges, Converse police said.

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

Fares Sabawi covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here. | fsabawi@mysa.com | Twitter: @FaresInSA
When Harold W. Red Rethmann joined what was then the Army Air Forces after the United States entered World War II, he wasnt just serving his country, he was changing his future.

Raised in the tiny Illinois town of Anchor, Rethmann, although fascinated by flying, mostly wanted more opportunities.

He saw going in  as a way to get out of a small town, said his daughter, Rosemary Carney. The flying aspect was an extra.

Serving more than 20 years in the Air Force, Rethmann retired as a lieutenant colonel with more than 5,000 hours of flight time in 1962, receiving his Command Pilot wings.

More Information Harold W. "Red" Rethmann Born: May 23, 1922, Anchor, Illinois Died: Oct. 22, 2017, San Antonio Preceded by: Wife Dorothy Smith Rethmann; parents ; three sisters Survived by: Daughter Rosemary Carney and son-in-law Pat; a grandson Services: Funeral service was Thursday. See More Collapse

He flew the day he retired and that was the end, Carney said.

Rethmann died Oct. 22 at 95.

Enlisting in early 1942, Rethmann trained at various locations, including Randolph AFB, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1943.

Sent to the now-closed Bryan Field to teach instrument flying, Rethmann had just received his orders to go overseas when the war ended.

A pilot during the Berlin Airlift, the operation that provided food, coal and other supplies to West Berlin after the Soviet Union erected a blockade in 1949, Rethmann made 85 flights to Tempelhof Air Base in West Berlin.

He was a 27-year-old pilot at that point, Carney said. He talked about coming in over the buildings and houses; the drop was pretty steep going into a small landing area.

Sent to Korea in the early 1950s, Rethmann operated a radar site close to North Korea, leaving his wife and daughter behind in Texas.

Stationed in Taiwan in 1955, Rethmann and his wife would go to cocktail parties with Chiang Kai-shek, Carney said. They also took the opportunity to travel to Japan and Hong Kong, among other destinations.

Retiring from the Air Force while still in his 40s, Rethmann began a second career at Southwest Research Institute.

He only had a high school diploma, his daughter said. He took their test, missed only one question, so they created a position for him, a title, and kept creating new titles as he advanced.

Retiring from the institute in the mid-1980s, Rethmann continued to do projects on a contract basis for another 10 years.

At home, Rethmann was a ham radio operator and maintained a workshop full of tools and components to make radios, his daughter said. He was always tinkering with things, could pretty much fix anything.

mheidbrink@express-news.net
Storm Ophelia wreaked havoc across the country, causing damage to sheds, houses, roads and trees all over Ireland.

And, while Longford wasn't quite as badly battered as the likes of Kerry and other coastal counties, there are still a number of landowners who have been cleaning up after the storm.

One such Longford man is Michael Keegan from Ardagh. Michael has many beautiful trees on his land but, following the tumult of Storm Ophelia, he's feeling the loss of two particular trees that stood on his land for hundreds of years.

Michael spoke to the Longford Leader last week about the loss of a beautiful Oak and also a Beech tree that were both taken down by Ophelia just over a week earlier.

The roots of the two trees, Michael explained, shared the same soil, so when one was weakened and battered by the storm, so was the other.

And, similarly, when one fell over, it took the other down with it, meaning both trees fell victim to the biggest storm to batter Ireland since the 60s.

It's very sad to see them down, but if it's God's will to take them down then there's nothing we can do about it, Mr Keegan told the Longford Leader last week.

It will now be up to Michael to remove the trees when he's ready, but he was happy to allow the Longford Leader to take a few photos to immortalise them before they're removed.

You may also like to read:

http://www.longfordleader.ie/news/home/276770/ophelia-aftermath-local-authority-outdoor-staff-making-progress-in-bid-to-clear-fallen-trees-from-co-longford-roads.html
NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today sought a probe into the procedure for the adoption of 3-year-old Sherin Mathews, who was found dead in the US this week, even as the women and child development ministry said its policy was "transparent" and the incident was an "aberration".

Sherin Mathews, known as Saraswati before she was adopted by OCI (overseas citizens of India) parents from the US, went missing on October 7. Her body was discovered after over two weeks of searches by police officials in Texas on Sunday. "I have requested Maneka Gandhi, Minister for Women and Child Development, for a thorough investigation into the adoption process of Baby Saraswati @ Sherin Mathews who has been killed by her foster father Wesley Mathews in United States," Sushma Swaraj tweeted today.

Wesley Mathews, the girl's father, has been charged with injury to a child and not murder. The crime is punishable with up to 99 years in prison.

The charge was pressed against the father after he was re-arrested on Monday. He was was earlier arrested for suspected child endangerment but was released on bond.

A spokesperson for the ministry of women and child development said that the adoption methodology was "transparent and scientific", adding that the incident was an "aberration". The nodal body for adoption in India, Child Adoption Resource Authority, has also written to its American counterpart US Central Authority for details into the death of Sherin Mathews.
MARTINSVILLE-A forum with Martinsvilles candidates for sheriff largely hinged on what decisions the person holding that office can make and which decisions are up to the state or federal government.

The forum, held at St. Paul High Street Baptist Church, was moderated by Pastor Matthew Brown and featured candidates from multiple local races. In the race to be Martinsvilles sheriff, both incumbent Steve Draper and challenger Jackie Dillard spoke Thursday.

Draper, who has held the position for 24 years, told the audience that while serving as sheriff, he felt he has been a good steward of the money allotted to his office and managed to accomplish a great deal with a comparatively small amount of funding. Draper also mentioned the numerous boards and commissions hes served on, adding that he is the past president of the Virginia Sheriffs Association. He added that there are several large projects in the pipeline for the sheriffs office, including the implementation of new security measures in the city jail.

Dillard, meanwhile, is a former deputy who retired after a 24-year career in Martinsville. He told the crowd he believes strongly in advocating for youth in Martinsville, and that area youth need more activities, opportunities and mentoring. As a mentor within the city school system, Dillard said that he sees a need for mentors in the schools, as the citys school resource officers do not mentor students. He also said that the grant funding for the new jail security system should instead be used toward mentorship programs to keep young people out of jail.

You see (school resource officers) in the morning, you see them at lunch, you see them in the afternoon, Dillard said. They do not go in the classroom and talk to these kids, and thats a problem. The school resource officer program is not designed for them to mentor the kids.  They only come around when theres a problem. Ive been in the schools; I know.

An audience member spoke up after Dillards response, saying that she is a city school resource officer and did indeed attempt to mentor youth, and that she had recently taken a student to Piedmont Community Services for mental health services. The audience member asked Dillard how he would provide overtime for school resource officers to allow them compensation for taking on additional responsibilities.

Dillard apologized, clarifying that he meant that school resource officers are primarily responsible for safety, not mentoring. As far as how the officers would be compensated for taking on additional responsibilities, Dillard said that Draper has talked in the past about how the citys jail work crews he oversees save Martinsville about $500,000 per year, and that that money could be applied toward compensation for deputies.

Draper pointed out that the $500,000 per year in savings he has referenced is not cash money. Instead, it is the amount that the city saves by using jail work crews instead of paying contractors. Draper also clarified that grant funding  such as the funding used toward the new jail security system  cannot be spent on whatever the sheriffs office desires. The money can only be spent on the specific item dictated by the grant.

During the forum, Dillard said that he had a great deal of respect for Draper and that his campaign should not be taken as a slight against Draper. However, he pointed out that numerous city deputies were in attendance at the forum while an inmate was still at large.

When asked for clarification on that point by the Martinsville Bulletin, Draper told the audience that a non-violent inmate named DeKey Penn, a trustee and a member of the jail work crews, had walked off the work crew in mid-September.

Ultimately, Draper said, trustees are riskees, but in his 24 years as sheriff, Penn is only the third inmate to walk off a work crew. A sheriffs office task force is working to locate Penn, he said, and a U.S. Marshal is also assisting in the search. Draper said that in television interviews since the incident, he has encouraged Penn to turn himself in, as he is concerned for Penns safety.

As the pair took questions from the audience, one of the deputies at the forum asked Dillard if he could break down the state compensation boards guidelines for funding sheriffs office staff.

Dillard said that he would learn those guidelines through training and classes, just as Draper once did when he was first elected.

Draper outlined the compensation boards guidelines, adding that while he would like to add more staff, the compensation boards guidelines are strict and we cant go out and hire people just because we want to.

Several city candidates missing

Also in attendance at the forum were incumbent Martinsville Treasurer Cindy Dickerson, who is running unopposed; incumbent Martinsville Commissioner of Revenue Ruth Easley, who is being challenged by Tyler Freeland; and Joan Ziglar, who is running against incumbent Clay Gravely for Martinsville Commonwealths Attorney. Freeland and Gravely did not attend the forum.

Ziglar said that her main goal if elected is to fight the opioid drug problem in the city. On a per capita basis, she said, Martinsville has more opioids on the streets than major American cities. She added that she would like to re-instate in the office a paid internship program for students, and that if elected, she would use fewer plea agreements than the office currently uses.

Dickerson and Easley stressed their years of experience in their respective offices and both pledged to continue their good working relationship with county officials.

County candidates outline platform

Four candidates running for offices in Henry County spoke during the second half of the forum.

Naomi Hodge-Muse, who is running for the Iriswood District seat on the Henry County Board of Supervisors, said that she will continue to be an advocate for residents of the Iriswood District. The Iriswood District seat is currently held by Milton Kendall, who chose not to seek another term.

Hodge-Muses opponent in the race, Dr. David Martin, did not attend the forum.

Hodge-Muse said that one of her goals if elected would be to extend public service authority services to underserved regions of the county, citing an August fire on Country Place Road in Axton. One of the reasons the home was destroyed by the fire, Hodge-Muse said, is that there are no county water lines and no fire hydrants on the street. There are other areas of her district and the county at large, she said, that are on well systems beginning to run dry and are in dire need of county water lines.

Ben Gravely and Dr. Makunda Abdul-Mbacke also spoke at the forum. Both Gravely and Abdul-Mbacke are running for the Iriswood District seat on the Henry County School Board.

Abdul-Mbacke said that she is the only candidate running for school board with children in the county school system. That, she said, is a crucial reason why Iriswood residents should vote for her.

Gravely, on the other hand, said that his decades of experience in the educational field  including stints as principal on the elementary, middle and high school levels  show that he has the necessary background to be an effective school board member.

One of Abdul-Mbackes main platforms, she said, is addressing the high rate of detentions and suspensions in the county school system, particularly for African-American students. While suspension is supposed to be a punishment, she said, for many students, it instead feels like a reward in the form of a vacation from school. Students who have been suspended are six times more likely to end up in jail, she said, which is a major component of the school-to-prison pipeline.

Gravely said that he believes all students can learn, but many do not learn at the same pace. If elected, he would work to help teachers better connect to students. While school board members implement policies and offer guidance, he said, teachers are ultimately responsible for the nuts and bolts work in the classroom.

Teddy Martin, the current Reed Creek District school board member, also attended the forum, and pledged to continue being accessible to anyone who wishes to contact him with questions or concerns regarding the school system. Martin said that he has four younger siblings in the county schools and has a vested interest in making sure they receive the best education possible. Martin is running unopposed.

A similar forum for city and county candidates is scheduled for Monday from 6-8 p.m. at St. Johns Baptist Church, located at 7470 Axton Road.
Writer and director James Toback, who received an Oscar nomination for writing "Bugsy," dismissed allegations he sexually harassed dozens, if not hundreds, of women as "offensive and insulting and disgusting."

In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, The Los Angeles Times reported on Oct. 22 that 38 women had accused Toback of sexual harassment. Within days, the newspaper says it received calls from more than 200 women with similar accusations.

Actresses speaking out against Toback included Julianne Moore, Selma Blair and Rachel McAdams.

In an interview posted Friday by Rolling Stone, Toback, 72, ripped into his accusers.

"Lemme be really clear about this. I don't want to get a pat on the back, but I've struggled seriously to make movies with very little money, that I write, that I direct, that mean my life to me," Toback said. "The idea that I would offer a part to anyone for any other reason than that he or she was gonna be the best of anyone I could find is so disgusting to me. And anyone who says it is a lying [expletive] or [expletive] or both. Can I be any clearer than that? ... Anyone who says that, I just want to spit in his or her [expletive] face."

After being asked about specific individuals and lurid accusations, Toback told the magzine, "It's too stupid to dignify. It's pathetic lies. It's just too [expletive] embarrassing and idiotic. And if I were you, I wouldn't go repeating it, unless you really knew it were true, because it isn't. So that's all I have to say. This is not worth wasting another second on."
WESTFIELD - More than 200 families marched through downtown Westfield on Saturday in the annual Rag Shag Parade, a Halloween celebration organized by the Westfield-West Springfield Elks Lodge.

The parade, held for more than 70 years, stepped off from the lodge on Franklin Street shortly before 1 p.m. Marchers went down Elm, Court and Washington streets before returning to the lodge for refreshments and raffles.

This year's parade was the fourth dedicated to the memory of Charles Morse, who ran the Elks' efforts for more than 60 years. Ken Premny, the current parade chairman, said he promised Morse that the event would continue in his absence.

It was named in Morse's honor in 2014.

"It's a safe day, and that means quite a bit to the Elks," said Premny. "We don't expect anything back. Just a little recognition, and to help the people of Westfield, make sure the kids enjoy everything."

The Barkyoumb family has marched in the Rag Shag Parade every year for at least a decade. On Saturday, Sarah Barkyoumb and Jason Tanzer took their son Liam Tanzer, who dressed as a U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds pilot in a cardboard airplane.

Liam's grandfather Raymond Barkyoumb spent two days fashioning wings, rockets and a propeller for the nose.

"I made one mistake," said Raymond Barkyoumb with a laugh, pointing to the insignia on Liam's sleeve. "The plane says 'Major Tanzer,' but he's only a sergeant."

Costume contests were held in multiple age groups, including adults, and marchers wound down with free soda and ice cream.

Every child received a free raffle ticket for a chance to win one of four bikes donated by former Westfield Police Capt. Hipolito "Paul" Nunez. The police department donated helmets while several attorneys in town chipped in money for the event.
BOSTON -- An assistant district attorney for the Cape and Islands district has been issued a public reprimand after the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers found she violated ethical standards, the Cape Cod Times reported.

Laura Marshard has been a prosecutor on Martha's Vineyard for many years, the board noted at its hearing in May and June of this year.

In September 2016, the Office of the Bar Counsel filed a complaint with the BBO charging Marchard with three separate ethical offenses.

After an eight-day hearing, the BBO found Marshard responsible for one complaint, meeting with a represented witness to discuss immunity from prosecution without informing his court-appointment attorney.

The court-appointed attorney was specifically charged with advising the witness on his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.

To the other charges, that Marshard failed to disclose exculpatory evidence to an opposing defense attorney and that she failed to correct false testimony before a grand jury, the BBO found that even though Marshard questioned a witness and never informed the defense attorney of the conversation or its contents, no new evidence was gleaned from the interview. The BBO felt that Marshard's failure to correct false testimony to a grand jury was simply a mistake, that she didn't know the testimony was incorrect.

Normally, such reprimands are issued privately, but the BBO stated in its finding that Marshard's misconduct was "willful and intentional, not accidental or peripheral," and that she showed a "lack of candor" during her testimony before the hearing.
SPRINGFIELD -- The Drug Enforcement Agency held their National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, and one of the area locations was at the Central High School parking lot in Springfield.

DEA special agents and Springfield Police officers, with help from a group from the Western New England University School of Pharmacy, assisted people that drove up with bags of unused prescription drugs.

Unused or expired prescription medications are a public safety issue, leading to potential accidental poisoning, misuse and overdose, according to officials. Proper disposal of unused drugs saves lives and protects the environment.

Special Agent Daniel Pomeroy was quick to point out that with the opioid crisis in the country, this is one way families can help clean out the unused medicines in their homes, thus cutting down the potential for misuse.

Those unable to get out to the event on Saturday should go onto the website: www.takebackday.dea.gov, where information is available on the proper disposal of unused medicines, Pomeroy said.

He also noted that some local police departments have proper disposal containers that can be accessed year-round.
A federal grand jury in Washington, DC, on Friday approved the first charges in the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Plans were prepared Friday for anyone charged to be taken into custody as soon as Monday, CNN reported.

It is unclear what the charges are since the charges are still sealed under orders from a federal judge.

Mueller's office declined to comment on the CNN report.

After President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, Mueller was appointed in May by the Justice Department to lead the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, and vice chairman Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, recently endorsed the conclusions of American intelligence agencies that Russian President Vladimir Putin directed a campaign of hacking and propaganda to disrupt the 2016 presidential election.

In July, the FBI conducted an early morning raid at former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's northern Virginia home, and later subpoenaed his spokesman and one of his former lawyers.

In recent days, Mueller has faced calls from conservative critics for his resignation from the Russia collusion probe, citing his ties to FBI and Comey.

However, other Republicans have sought to protect Mueller from interference.

Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., back legislation hat would ensure a judicial check on the executive branch's ability to remove a special counsel.
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

Alan Key

Greetings!

Your support and hard work is enabling Team Great Falls to invent our local economic future. GFDA was created with the premise that our economy here in Cascade County and the surrounding rural region did not have to continue to stagnate. That no one else was going to come in a make it grow. We have to make it grow ourselves.

Latest government data shows that in 2016 we grew the Great Falls MSA (Cascade County) GDP faster than any other metro area in Montana; another indication that we are making progress.

Since my last Quarterly Investor Letter on August 29th, our teamwork has:

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PKD1 which is responsible for around 90% of all cases

PKD2 which is responsible for around 10% of all cases

Advertisement

New Precision Medicine Treatment Options for ADPKD

Lanktree, Matthew B., and Arlene B. Chapman. "New treatment paradigms for ADPKD: moving towards precision medicine." Nature reviews. Nephrology (2017). Accessed on 21st October 2017 from What is ADPKD? - (https://pkdcu re.org/what-is-pkd/adpkd/) What is precision medicine? - (https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/precisionmedicine/definition)

There are two faulty genes causing ADPKD:While both genes cause similar symptoms, PKD1 is more severe.In some cases, ADPKD occurs as a result of a somatic mutation in an adult and he/she can pass on the condition to the next generation.The symptoms such as high blood pressure urinary tract infections are usually treated with medications. Surgical interventions may be used to remove large cysts. Dialysis and kidney transplants are the only options for patients with end-stage renal failure.In this review, theThe researchers discussed pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for treatment of complications like hypertension and proteinuria which are key factors in accelerating end-stage renal disease. The researchers also focused on latest strategies to slow down cyst growth in such patients. TheWhile patients may share similar genotypes, their body types may be amenable or not amenable to certain types of therapeutics. In this case, it is best to use precision medicine to work out personalized treatment plans for each individual.The researchers discussed the. These treatments slow down cyst growth and delay the onset of end-stage renal disease. Hypertension and proteinuria also have a major role in end-stage renal disease. These two symptoms must not be ignored and treatment must be personalized and based on genotyping and other biomarkers. Treating these two symptoms can relatively slow down the progress of ADPKD.Finally, the researchers also discussed recommendations for managing other renal complications like cyst infections and inflammation, hematuria, nephrolithiasis and chronic pain associated with ADPKD. With precision medicine options and personalized treatment plans on the horizon, patients should respond better with improved outcomes and positive quality of life.Source: Medindia
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In the current study, investigators analyzed PAC burden using 24-hour ambulatory ECG monitoring (Holter monitoring) of nearly 1,000 participants randomly selected from the Cardiovascular Health Study. To assess whether PACs specifically were important, they also analyzed PVC frequencies for comparison.The Cardiovascular Health Study Cohort is a prospective community-based cohort of older adults: From 1989 to 1990, an initial group of 5,201 adults (94.7% white, 4.7% black, 0.6% other race) aged 65 years or older were recruited from a random sample of Medicare beneficiaries at four U.S. sites (Forsyth County, NC; Sacramento County, CA; Washington County, MD; and Pittsburgh, PA). An additional 678 blacks (and nine of other races) were recruited from 1992 to 1993. A major advantage of this study is that it was community-based and included participants from four different communities across the U.S. Because these participants were not patients complaining of a particular ailment, this study is one of the few that has captured Holter data from the general population. One criticism of previous studies is that perhaps varying levels of healthcare access among participants of different races might have resulted in undiagnosed cases of AF. However, all individuals in the current study received the same continuous monitoring, essentially eliminating differential access to care as an explanation of the results.Twenty-two percent of participants developed AF over a median follow-up of 11 years. After adjustment for potential confounders, whites exhibited twice as many PACs as blacks, and black race was associated with a 42% lower risk of AF. No detectable difference in PVC frequencies were observed between the two groups. The investigators conclude that the differential PAC burden, without differences in PVCs, suggests that identifiable common exposures or genetic influences might explain the differences in PACs.Co-first authors Matthew A. Christensen, MD, and Kaylin T. Nguyen, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, observed that, "It is interesting that there was a significant difference in PACs between races, but no observable differences in PVCs. This shows that these racial differences appear to be more pronounced in the atria than the ventricles."By demonstrating that the frequency of early beats varies across different races, these data suggest that the characteristics of these common extra heart beats likely have a heritable component. These results open the door to considering genes that might be pertinent to both PACs and PVCs, including genes related to their frequency, location, and relation to subsequent heart disease. "Identifying those genes could then provide useful data related to the prediction of various forms of heart disease and uncover novel mechanisms relevant to treatment and even prevention of heart disease," Dr. Marcus noted.In an accompanying editorial, Dan Sorajja, MD, and Win-Kuang Shen, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, commend the investigators for revealing this relationship. They also point out that a causal relationship still needs to be explained due to the many risk factors, genetic variants, and substrate contributors to AF. "With this novel finding, the disparity of AF incidence between whites and blacks receives a plausible explanation. However, the association of PACs and race-based differences in AF may just be an epiphenomenon. AF is a multifactorial disease with many roads to get there. What is the significance of more or less PACs in different races? Are PACs one of these roads leading to AF or just a sign along these roads? For now, these PACs appear to be a sign along the road to AF, and not a road itself," they conclude.Source: Eurekalert
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The new study shows that in the six years before the law went into effect--from 2001 to 2006--just 22 percent of the alerts about food contamination involved lead in candy. Once the program was implemented, however, 42 percent of the food contamination alerts issued by state health officials were for lead in candy--nearly all of it imported--which was more than the total for Salmonella, E. coli and botulism, according to an analysis of alerts issued between 2001 and 2014. The study was published Oct. 26, 2017 in Environmental Health Perspectives.Lead is a toxic heavy metal that can cause developmental delays, neurological damage, hearing loss, and other serious health problems in young children and adults. The study found that active community monitoring can identify lead in food products such as candy, so they can be recalled before too many people have eaten them. Without such testing, health investigators must wait until after children have been poisoned to look for the sources, which is especially difficult when the source is as perishable as candy."With this policy change identifying lead sources is more upstream and community-based," said Margaret Handley, PhD, MPH, a professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UCSF and the first author of the study. "By testing candy and issuing alerts when foods are found to be contaminated, we can identify and remove sources of lead before children become poisoned."As many as 10,000 California children under the age of six are poisoned by lead each year, and 1,000 of them are exposed to very high levels of the toxic metal. Most efforts to reduce exposure focus on the lead found in gasoline and industrially contaminated soil, as well as lead-based paint, which children take in when they eat paint chips or breathe in dust.But after several high-profile poisoning cases, the California legislature passed a law requiring the state health department's Food and Drug Branch to increase surveillance of lead in candy and to issue health alerts when levels were high.Over the 14-year study period, state public health officials issued 164 health alerts for food contamination. Of these, 60 were lead-related and 55 of those were for imported food, mostly candy from Mexico (34 percent), China (24 percent), and India (20 percent). Two alerts were issued for imported foods that were not candy: one for a toasted grasshopper snack called chapuline, the other for spices.To get an in-depth look at how well the testing program was working, the study analyzed data for the years 2011-2012 and found that state officials had tested 1,346 candies. Of these, 65 different products were found to contain lead, and 40 of those exceeded the federal limits for children of 100 parts per billion. These candies came from a more diverse set of countries than the overall 2001 to 2014 sample. Just over a third (35 percent) came from India. The others came from Taiwan (12 percent), China (11 percent), the United States (11 percent), Mexico (9 percent), Pakistan (6 percent), Hong Kong (4 percent), the United Kingdom (3 percent), and one sample each from Germany, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey, and Spain.Since the candy testing program is not comprehensive the researchers said the true number of contaminated candies and other foods on the market could be even higher."As more lead sources are identified we must develop prevention approaches for all of them, and not just replace one prevention approach with another," Handley said. "If there is anything we have learned from the lead poisoning disaster in Flint, Michigan, it is not to oversimplify or cut corners when it comes to identifying and removing sources of lead poisoning."Source: Eurekalert
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Jerry Essenmacher has always wanted to climb large mountains.

He had already claimed Pikes Peak as one of his conquests in 2010.

But he recently claimed his biggest climb when he tackled Mount Kilimanjaro in the Eastern Rift mountains in Africa.

Essenmacher, who grew up in Harbor Beach, said he got the idea for scaling Kilimanjaro from his son.

Last year, my son Aaron suggested that we hike up Kilimanjaro. I was surprised that he would be interested in doing this, Essenmacher said. We researched Kilimanjaro and booked the Western Approach with Thomson Treks because they claimed a 98 percent success rate. Also, I live by the quote of St. Augustine who traveled by foot and donkey almost 2000 years ago: The world is like a book and those who do not travel read only one page.

So Essenmacher started on his trip to Africa to see if he could handle the climb.

We tried to research and prepare the best that we could for the terrain, changing weather and oxygen level conditions, he said. We went into the unknown not knowing how we were going to handle the conditions whatever they might be.

Essenmacher noted when he started, the weather conditions were good.

The starting temperature was 70 degrees Fahrenheit and 64 percent humidity, he said. Very comfortable. But, the trail was very dusty due to a very dry season in the area. I ate a lot of dust. My nose and lungs took in a lot of dust and I am allergic to dust. But, we were lucky that we didnt get any rain during the trek.

In fact, Essenmacher said he didnt have anything come up that would make him want to change his mind about continuing.

We were lucky that we didnt encounter anything to make us think that we should abort the climb, he said. Since I was over 70 years of age, Thomson Treks did require me to provide a signed statement from my general doctor that I was in good physical shape to make the trek. Thompson Treks properly prepared us before and took good care of us during the climb. They made the journey most enjoyable. They were very professional and high class.

But Essenmacher noted he had to work to keep breathing once he got going.

Many times I had to breathe to the top of my lungs to get enough air and oxygen to continue, he said. I had to take a deep breath for every step that I took. I did have to keep programming myself and telling myself that I am getting stronger and stronger and that I will make it. It became that the greatest incentive was to not go home and tell my family and friends that I didnt make it. I did everything that I had to do to make it up there.

Eventually Essenmacher made it to the top on July 23, 2017 at 12:30 p.m.

After leaving Stella Point, we had our first sighting of the summit sign and it was a awesome sight, he said. After a year of planning, booking, paperwork, packing, traveling and hiking, we have accomplished our goal and reached the top of Africa. Africas highest point at 19,341 feet, about a mile higher than any peak in the continental United States. This was an emotional moment for me, after 20 years of dreaming of this moment, starting with the purchase of the Kilimanjaro picture at Target and my son Aaron suggesting the journey.

Then the celebration with the other people in the group began.

There was a great celebration, hugging and congratulations by all, he said. We took many pictures and observed the glaciers and surrounding area. I am most proud to have shared this moment with my son Aaron, for it truly was an experience of a lifetime. It was a challenge and an adventure.

Essenmacher said he wouldnt recommend anyone make the trip.

I am sorry to say that I wouldnt recommend this trek to just anybody because I dont know of anybody that would spend the time and money to do this, he said. Most would rather go to the warm beach or go on a cruise. I have been there, done that and get bored in a hurry. Of course, it is a matter of my age and travel experience. This trek was a lot of planning and work.

But Essenmacher said if one can take care of those things, its worth it.

If anybody wants a real challenge and an adventure, this is it, he said.
The Connecticut Airport Authority is seeking to find someone to develop a nearly 5-acre property owned by Bradley International Airport that is located along the facilitys eastern edge in Windsor Locks.

Authority officials announced Thursday they had put out a request for proposals for developers willing to enter into a long-term land lease arrangement to build, operate, and maintain a commercial venture on 4.8 acres of land on Ella Grasso Turnpike, which is also known as state Route 75. The request for proposals was posted Oct. 12 and must be received by the Authority by Dec. 6.
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MIDDLETOWN  Voter turnout is a concern for this years municipal elections, two years after taxpayers passed a charter revision that increased the mayor, common council and city treasurer terms to four years.

Still, with a referendum on the ballot that, if passed, would allow the city to begin construction on the $87.35 million Woodrow Wilson Middle School project in the spring, Democratic Registrar Lisa Santangelo thinks the issue might lure more voters to the polls Nov. 7.

Were hoping to have the same level of interest as we do in a regular municipal election because of the school bond question on the ballot, Santangelo, referring to the proposed new facility, which would house sixth-graders at Keigwin Middle School and seventh- and eighth-graders at Woodrow in one building.

This year, there are four openings on the Board of Education and three for Planning and Zoning, plus an alternate. School board candidates serve staggered four-year terms and zoning members are on the panel for three years.

The Democratic slate for school board is: Chairman Vincent J. Loffredo, Lisa Marino Loomis, Sean T. King and Patricia Alston. Planning and Zoning Commission picks are incumbent Stephen H. Devoto, Steven M. Kovach, Nicholas Ficaro and Amy Albert.

The Republican school board candidates are Ed Ford Jr., Jon Pulino, Kevin Kelly and Christopher J. Sugar, while those vying for planning and zoning seats are Nick Fazzino, Corrine Dorsey, Anthony J. Moran and Tyrell Brown for alternate.

Traditionally, Middletown has been an overwhelmingly Democratic populace.

The city 26,552 active voters, with 12,012 Democrats, 4,099 Republicans, 9,967 unaffiliated and 474 other (Green, Independent, Working Families, Realistic Balance and Libertarian parties), Santangelo said. That represents a slight decline in active voters since the Jan. 3 total of 26,702.

Among municipal, state and presidential elections, those for city offices typically tend to have lower turnout, she said.

We expect next years state election to be very robust because the governor is not going to run again, so there will be primaries, Santangelo said. Even in larger turnouts, if the sitting governor is not running for re-election, because you do have primaries, its a much more active election.

Wed like to see people come out more often for the municipal, because those are the people that determine day-to-day life, Santangelo said. They decide the budget for the city  trash removal, police, fire and schools  so thats much more immediate.

The city now offers Election Day registration. So, like people who wait until the last minute to go shopping for birthday presents and Christmas presents, even though they know that date is coming, they wait until the last moment, and can still register to vote, she said.

Ford Jr., 20, is a full-time student at Central Connecticut State University and a minister at the Bread of Life Evangelistic Ministries in Waterbury.

Ford said he was class president his senior year of high school. It was an eye-opening experience. It really was something new, almost like a calling or a passion of mine to want to serve and help other people, he said.

He was a university senator while studying at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. Thats when he made the decision to continue his political career, Ford said.

I said, You know what? I serve at the church, I serve in student government, I serve in many different fashions, why would I not give back to the city that I consider I was raised in?

Because hes only two and a half years removed from earning his high school diploma, Ford said he has a particular understanding of students. The things that are going on in the school system, I went through. I lived it. I can really provide an accurate perspective on some of the things we can do to better improve our school system, he said.

Every time he goes back to visit his teachers, he said, I look at some of those kids and sometimes its like Im looking at myself.

That sense of affinity motivates him, Ford said.

I want to help you because Ive been where you are before, he tells students. Ive had successes and Ive had failures. Ive had ups and Ive had downs. And I want to help you give through this. I want to at least help you go on and help you figure out what you want to do to be successful in life.

When voters talk to Ford on the campaign trail, he said many are intrigued that hes so young and running for office.

There shouldnt be an requirement to run for office, Ford said. If I can do that now for my community, why wait until Im 25 or 26 or 27 when I can give back right here and right now when they need it?

Albert, who is hoping to be elected as zoning board alternate, is an outreach coordinator for the House Democrats, including state Rep. Matt Lesser, who serves Middletown.

She has lived in Middletown for 13 years, has a daughter who is an eighth-grader at Independent Day School in Middlefield and is a homeowner in the Wesleyan Hills section of town. I would love to be able to ride my bike downtown, see the riverfront redeveloped, said Albert, who sits on the citys Clean Energy Task Force and has been a member of the IDS Board of Trustees for the past three years.

Id love to be able to contribute to being a voice for sustainable and environmentally friendly progress in the city, she said.

Loomis biggest concerns are closing the achievement gap and giving more attention and resources to the social and emotional development of kids. Thats a huge factor in academic success, but we really dont pay much attention to it in the schools, Loomis said of childrens emotional health.

Loomis, who has worked with students from primary grades through high school for 16 years, teaches English and social justice at Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford. Shes also pursuing her doctorate in educational leadership at CCSU.

Shes interested in making sure the curriculum is representative of the citys variety of cultures, getting faculty and staff to be more diverse to match the diversity of the student body, and having the school board examine its discipline practices.

The district has begun to promote restorative justice discipline practices, but Id like to see that continue and help it spread to more schools, said Loomis, who doesnt have children but has nieces and nephews in the school district.

Tyrell Brown, 19, a student at Southern Connecticut State University majoring in business administration, is vying for a planning seat. He also works as a financial planner at Northwestern Mutual.

One of voters main concerns is the taxes. I think a lot of people are fed up with the amount that they are paying. We can grow the grand list and in essence that would transition to lower taxes for you guys, he tells voters. Brown said hed also like to make it easier for businesses to come into the city.

I dont think that these well-established politicians know any more, because, if thats the case, wed be getting things done. I truly believe anyone with common sense and a little bit of knowledge can work and bring different ideas to these different positions and be able to get things passed, Brown said.

The Westfield Neighborhood Association is holding an opportunity for voters to meet the candidates Monday at the Third Congregational Church on Miner Street at 7 p.m. For information, see the Registrar of Voters page on the city website. Sample ballots are available on the Secretary of the States website.

Managing Editor Cassandra Day can be reached at cassandra.day@hearstmediact.com.
Jury selection began Friday in a court-martial that will determine whether a senior Marine Corps drill instructor hazed one Muslim recruit by throwing him in an industrial dryer, and pushed another to suicide.

The trial of Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Felix is the culmination of more than a year-and-a-half of investigations and legal proceedings following the suicide death of 20-year-old Raheel Siddiqui in March 2016.

A Marine Corps command investigation released last year found Felix, then a senior drill instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, struck and berated the young recruit immediately before his fatal leap from a three-story barracks building at the depot.

The investigation also found he had subjected another Muslim recruit to a mock interrogation in the middle of the night, forcing him to shout "Allah Akbar" and spinning him in a clothes dryer until his skin was burned.

According to a Marine docket, Felix faces eight counts of violation of a general order; three counts of maltreatment; and one count each of dereliction of duty, false official statement, drunk and disorderly conduct, and obstruction of justice.

His court-martial, which is being held at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, is expected to run 16 days, said Capt. Joshua Pena, a spokesman for Marine Corps Training and Education Command.

Felix's military attorney, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Clay Bridges, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case.

Amid three separate Marine investigations focused on 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, where Siddiqui was assigned, officials found sufficient evidence to sideline 15 drill instructors on suspicion of hazing and maltreatment of recruits, and fire five officers and senior leaders for failures in leadership and supervision.

In all, six former drill instructors would face charges: Staff Sgt. Antonio Burke, Sgt. Riley Gress, Staff Sgt. Matthew Bacchus, Staff Sgt. Jose Lucena-Martinez, Sgt. Michael Eldridge, and Felix.

Only Eldridge and Felix were accused of participating in the dryer incident. The others were charged in connection with unrelated allegations of hazing, involving unauthorized physical training and abuse of power, including an incident in which a drill instructor forced a recruit to complete his college homework.

Gress, the first to go to trial, was acquitted on all counts at a May special court-martial in Quantico, Virginia.

Bacchus pleaded guilty to maltreatment at a summary court-martial in June, receiving 60 days' restriction but maintaining his rank and standing in the service.

Lucena-Martinez took a plea deal on his charges, avoiding court-martial and accepting administrative punishment.

Burke, the only drill instructor besides Felix to be tried at general court-martial, the most serious form of military court, was found guilty of violating a general order and making false official statements, but acquitted of hazing and maltreatment. He was demoted in rank and given a reprimand in August.

Eldridge, also accused in the dryer incident, was also set to face general court-martial, but in September was granted a private summary court-martial after agreeing to testify for the government against Felix, sources told Military.com. His proceeding has yet to take place.

The accusations of hazing at Parris Island, and outcry from Siddiqui's grief-stricken parents, have prompted inquiries from lawmakers including Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan.

Weeks before Felix's trial was set to begin, Siddiqui's parents filed a lawsuit alleging negligence on the part of the Marine Corps and demanding $100 million in damages.

Leaders have also been brought down in the scandal.

Lt. Col. Joshua Kissoon, who was removed from his post as commander of 3rd Recruit Training Battalion just weeks after Siddiqui's death, is set to face court-martial early next year. He is accused of returning Felix to his role training Marines while officials investigated allegations that he threw a recruit in a dryer. That alleged incident took place July 2015; Siddiqui's death would occur just 10 months later.

If convicted on all counts, Felix could face years in prison. But incidents of alleged hazing, even those involving a death, have often proven difficult to convict on and have frequently yielded much lighter sentences.

The last high-profile Marine Corps hazing case surrounded the 2011 suicide of 21-year-old Cpl. Harry Lew, who took his own life in Afghanistan after allegedly being brutally hazed by a number of Marines for falling asleep on watch. Thanks in part to Lew's aunt, Rep. Judy Chu of California, Lew's case received national attention.

Ultimately, however, the Marines accused of hazing Lew would not do hard time. Two were acquitted, and one took a plea deal to lesser charges of assault and was sentenced to 30 days behind bars and demotion.

In the most famous case of drill instructor hazing in Marine Corps history, six recruits drowned in 1956 when a DI who had been drinking marched his platoon into Parris Island's swampy Ribbon Creek. The drill instructor was ultimately convicted of drinking on duty and served three months in the brig before returning to active duty.

Opening arguments in the Felix case are set to begin Monday.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.
An Indigenous airman, who had to cut his braids when first joining the Air Force two years ago, is now one of the first in...
Macaroni Grill closed 37 restaurants in 2017, but it wasn't enough.

Debt grew and sales fell, while costs for labor and commodities increased, leaving the Italian dining chain $12 million behind by August.

The situation isn't unique among the U.S. casual restaurant sector, which increasingly shows stress. Ruby Tuesday, Applebees and Outback all have announced closings.

"The preferences of ... customers have shifted to cheaper, faster alternatives," said Nichant Machado, president and CEO of MAC Acquisitions and the other companies behind Macaroni Grill.

Machado made the statement in the bankruptcy filing for Macaroni Grill, made in mid-October in Delaware.

The company seeks to reorganize by shedding debt and moving ahead in a changing world for casual dining. It wants to retain its 93 corporate stores, along with 23 franchise stores.

Among them are four in Michigan, all in Metro Detroit: Auburn Hills, Ann Arbor, Livonia and Shelby Township.

The closings ahead of the bankruptcy only affected one Macaroni Grill in Michigan: It was located at 5525 28th Street near Grand Rapids.

That Grand Rapids property is among 37 restaurant leases that the bankruptcy judge already let the chain reject as it sheds debt. Landlords of those properties include some of the biggest shopping center owners in the U.S., like Simon, Brixmoor and CBL.

Today, Macaroni Grill employs 4,600 people - and among its bankruptcy petitions are efforts to keep them, citing their experience as a priority for the company as it expects to emerge from bankruptcy protection in 2018.

The bankruptcy follows an evaluation by consultants Mackinac Partners. Machado is a senior managing partner of the firm.

Creditors include Bank of Colorado and Riesen Funding LLC, with a combined $23 million of secured debt. Total liabilities fall within $50- and $100 million.

That imbalance comes amid sharp competition among chain restaurants with emerging consumer favorites: Food trucks, independent outlets even "grab and go" prepared foods at groceries, which increasingly are devoting floor space to trying to attract restaurant customers.

Meanwhile, Macaroni Grill - which was acquired in 2008 from Brinker International, parent company of Chili's, among others - still has about $4 million in outstanding gift cards circulating.

While Macaroni Grill confronts its debt and operations, one specific aspect of its economic situation remains an issue.

The dining trends of millennials, who just may not "get" the chain experience.

"There is a trend among younger customers to spend their disposable income at non-chain 'experience-driven' restaurants," Machado said, "even if slightly more expensive."
SUMMIT TWP., MI - Michigan State Police have identified the man shot and killed Friday night just outside Jackson, and are looking for man wanted for questioning.

Raheim Rahhman Armstrong

Ronald Demetrius Owens, 32, of Jackson died of a single gunshot wound at Henry Ford Allegiance Health. He was shot Oct. 27 in the 200 block of W. South Street at the Summit Township border, state police reported.

State police, first summoned about 10:20 p.m. Friday, are asking for help finding a "person of interest," 30-year-old Raheim Rahhman Armstrong

Armstrong is living in the Jackson area and is possibly traveling in a dark-colored, four-door Chrysler Sebring or Chrysler 200. He "should be considered armed and dangerous," reads a state police statement.

Anyone with information is asked to call the state police Jackson post at 517-780-4580 or 911.

Owens' family lived in a home at the corner of South and Jackson streets, neighbors said.

"He didn't really get into it, like the street violence," Daryl Palmer Jr. said of Owens. Palmer lives nearby and did not know the man well, but would see and acknowledge him in passing.

Palmer and others said they heard one gunshot. Owens was in the grass outside the house on the south corner of Jackson and South streets, they said.

Armstrong pleaded guilty last year to a weapons offense and attempting to resist, obstruct or assault a police officer, court and Michigan Department of Corrections records show.
Photo by Jessica Shepherd | MLive.com

By Jessica Shepherd | jessica_shepherd@mlive.com

About 15 miles outside of Marquette in Michigan's scenic Upper Peninsula, you'll see a sight unlike any you've seen before. Perhaps you've heard of the massive outdoor art installation called Lakenenland. Perhaps you've visited.

For those who have never been there, it might be hard to imagine. One man created a wacky wonderland of hand-crafted sculptures and he lets visitors check it out any time they want at absolutely zero cost to them.

While you'll have to make your way to the northern edge of the U.P. if you really want to take in all this Michigan treasure has to offer, here is a look at some of what you'll find in the magical world of Lakenenland.

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Welcome to my junkyard

Tom Lakenen is the man behind Lakenenland, which explains the park's name. Lakenen's website offers a greeting, "Hello and welcome to my junkyard!" When you arrive, one of the first signs you'll see reads "junkyard art." The "junk" Lakenen utilizes to create his masterpieces is scrap iron.

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Getting to Lakenenland

Lakenenland is located 15 miles east of Marquette in Chocolay Township, though it does have a Marquette address. You'll spot some signs from the roadway to signal you've found the sculpture park.

Address: 2800 M-28, Marquette, MI 49855

Here's a map of the area.

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The rules of Lakenenland

The public is welcome to visit Lakenenland. That is, except for some specific Chocolay Township residents. You will spot signs when entering Lakenenland that state Chocolay Township Board members are prohibited from entering Lakenen's property. The ban is the result of what Lakenen calls "harassment" by the township. He explains some of his disagreements with the local government in a StoryCorps recording found here on the WNMU-FM website.

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The sculptures

Here's a look at some of the many sculptures you'll see at Lakenenland.

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Once inside the Lakenenland property, you will find a sign pointing to the path you'll follow to view Lakenen's scrap metal sculptures. Year-round, you can walk along the path to view the art but you can only drive through when the weather is nice. In the winter, you'll have to park your car and walk along the art-riddled road.

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On these 37 acres, you'll find more than 80 sculptures, all created by Lakenen.

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Lakenen, a welder, has said he uses scrap metal to created the original works.

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His creative side emerged, Lakenen has explained, when he quit drinking decades ago and needed something to occupy his free time between construction work.

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You can really view the sculptures whenever you want. Lakenenland never closes. Is it Christmas? Lakenenland is open. Is it 5 a.m.? Lakenenland is open. The park is open 24 hours a day, every single day of the year.

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Since Lakenen is an iron worker, it might not surprise visitors that he honors his fellow iron workers with a custom piece of art.

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Lakenen also honors the United States Marine Corps with a statue that says to the world, "Once a marine, always a marine." If you look close, you can see the Marine motto "Semper Fi" displayed here.

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One of Lakenen's sculptures memorializes the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

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He doesn't refrain from getting political with some of his sculptures, including this piece that mentions taxes, war and right to work.

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The sculptures are far from all serious, though. It seems Lakenen is frequently inspired by animals, whether they are real or imagined.

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Some of the sculptures are straight-up abstract.

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Others are especially silly, like this navigational tool that tells visitors who might be lost, "Remember! Bowling balls always grow on the north side of a tree."

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What do visitors say?

Here's a look at some comments past visitors have made about Lakenenland.

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"Started to drive through this park but got out of the car so many times to take pictures so we walked the loop! One man's very creative art that he so generously shares. Worth the stop!!"

-Brege1975 via TripAdvisor

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"Tourists and locals alike: Take the drive out to Lakenenland! This unique art installation is worth the drive. Perfect place for a quick walk with friends while taking in the silly and awesome sculptures."

-H.T. of Marquette via Yelp

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"The artist is a creative genius!"

-Patti W of Skandia via TripAdvisor

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"We stopped because we saw this advertised on the side of the road. Teens LOVED it! Unique sculptures that are all touchable. Maybe 45 minutes of time looking at really cool, weird stuff that just makes you happy."

-Gail O. via TripAdvisor

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"You can drive through but a walking tour is better -- a lot of these are kinetic and most contain a lot of detail that you would miss from a car. There are dozens of large iron sculptures and constructions -- some are primitive, some are highly sophisticated but all are witty, unusual, and expressive of a highly talented artist."

-Ken M. of Georgia via Yelp

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"I am incredibly grateful for the employee at Michigamee Market who told my husband and me about this place. It is easy to miss if you're not looking, and that would have been a shame. It is a drive through/walk through/ ski through (depending on the weather, according to the sign) "junk sculpture" park that was surprisingly enjoyable and well worth the detour. Perhaps just a novelty, but one that my family and I quite liked."

-Pattye Givens via Google

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More than sculptures

While the sculptures are the main attraction (and unlike anything you've seen before), they aren't all you'll find when making a visit to Lakenenland.

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When you arrive at Lakenenland, before you head down the sculpture trail, you'll spot a pond with an adorable bridge. The pond is stocked so kids can fish during their visit.

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An annually kids fishing derby is held in June. Participants even receive new fishing poles.

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Lakekenland is also a destination for snowmobile enthusiasts, of which there are many in the U.P. Lakenen actually provides two entrances to his park. In addition to the vehicle entrance on M-28, there is an entrance for snowmobilers on trail 417.

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Near the snowmobile entrance is a fire pit surrounded by stools. It's said Lakenen can often be found keeping a fire going during the cold winter weekends, welcoming visitors and smiling frequently. Even when Lakenen isn't around, those who make their way here are welcome to use the pit.

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There is a stockpile of wood ready for those chilly visitors who want to start a fire.

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Just don't take any of the firewood elsewhere.

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A shelter can be found near the fire pit. There are maps and a cabinet containing a few supplies.

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Some of the sculptures are more than just works of art to admire, like this pink elephant located next to the fire pit. Visitors can climb atop the elephant and pose inside that tiny white cage. You can also head to the back of the elephant, where you'll find a door to enter the sculpture and take a seat at a table inside the art.

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A band shell near the entrance of the park provides a spot for live music. Lakenenland is even home to a summer music festival called Free the Music Fest. Like the rest of Lakenenland, it is free and family friendly.

Near the band shell, visitors will also find a play area for the kids.

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The area also serves as one of the viewing spots for the U.P. 200, an annual sled dog race. Lakenen used the race as inspiration for one of his many sculptures.

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There's also a bog walk at the park, where you can stretch your legs and enjoy nature.

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While everything at Lakeneland is free for anyone who visits, donations are accepted. As one of the donation drop-off spots announces, they are "accepted but not expected."

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If you love Lakenenland and want the world to know, you can snag a bumper sticker proclaiming that love if you visit the Phillips 66 gas station on US-41 in Harvey.

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If a sticker isn't enough for you, Lakenenland shirts are available for purchase at the Michigan Made store at 2220 US-41.

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Have you been to Lakenenland?

If so, what did you think? Did you have a favorite sculpture? Did you meet some new friends around the fire pit? Tell us in the comments section.

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More U.P. fun

9 reasons to be grateful for the U.P.

13 U.P. pasties you must try on your next visit

25 Upper Peninsula marvels everyone should see

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More Michigan travel

A Michigan man built the state's smallest chapel for his wife

The best tribute to the Mackinac Bridge is this adorable footbridge

The most unusual place in each of Michigan's 83 counties

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trends India at 75: The challenge of job creation On this episode of CEO Round Table series, CNBC-TV18's Mridu Bhandari brought together a panel of CEOs to speak about various issues and their solutions in their respective industries.
Setting its eyes on expanding its base in the Finance Technological solutions sector, IBSFINtech, which develops corporate treasury management solutions, intends to have units in Singapore and Dubai.

Talking to PTI at the inauguration of its new office here, IBSFINtech CEO C M Grover said, "We are also expecting to generate foreign exchange revenue for the company this year. We plan to have our presence in Singapore and Dubai."

"Our main aim is to expand globally and the first step is to have our set-up in the Middle-East and South-East Asia," he added.

Talking about the challenges, Grover said there were many core banking companies but hardly 30 of them across the globe offered treasury management solutions. Of the 30 companies, 15 may be defunct.

It is a domain-centric company, which cannot be developed easily, he added. The IBSFINtech CEO explained that it took four years to develop the product even as enhancement was still on. Shortly, the company is coming up with a cloud-based solution in a SAS model for the small and medium enterprises segment.

"As of today SMEs are deprived. Our target is to empower them," Grover said. Future Group, Snapdeal, Indofi, Mahindra and Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki and JSD run their treasury on IBSFINtech treasury software.

Regarding Goods and Service Tax, which has created certain confusion among the business community, Grover was firm that the software doesn't conflict with GST. "It (GST) is in sync with our software because the product is developed in-house. We could accommodate the GST related strings in the software," he added.
ICICI Prudential AMC will launch Bharat 22 ETF, an open-ended exchange traded fund on November 15 and subscription will close on November 17, the fund house said in a release.

The scheme will invest in the constituents of S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index. The Bharat 22 ETF initiative is a part of Government of India's overall disinvestment program, announced earlier by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), Ministry of Finance.

ICICI Prudential AMC has proposed to raise an initial amount of Rs 8,000 crores plus additional (if any).

The government had in August announced the new Bharat 22 exchange-traded fund, comprising shares of 22 public sector companies.

Bharat 22, which is managed by ICICI Prudential AMC, comprises shares of companies from six sectors--basic materials, energy, finance, fast moving consumer goods, industries and utilities--and includes state-owned companies like Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Coal India, NTPC, State Bank of India, NTPC, and private companies ITC and Larsen & Toubro.

The NFO for anchor investors will be on November 14, 2017. In terms of allotment percentage, anchor investors will be allotted 25 percent, and retail individual investors, retirement funds and QIB (Qualified Institutional Buyers) and NII (Non Institutional Investors) will be allotted 25 percent each.

As part of the NFO, an upfront discount of 3% is being offered to all categories of investors.

The government had last year raised around Rs 8,500 crore through the CPSE-ETF in multiple tranches. It aims to raise Rs 72,500 crore from disinvestment in 2017-18 (Apr-Mar) and has so far raised around Rs 30,000 rupees from disinvestments this financial year.

The open-ended ETF will invest at least 95 percent of its corpus in companies constituting the underlying index, while up to 5 percent will be deployed in units of liquid or money market mutual fund schemes, money market instruments (with maturity not exceeding 91 days), including collateralised borrowing and lending obligations, and cash and cash equivalents.

Other features:* Minimum application: Retail--5,000 rupees and in multiples of 1rupee thereafter* Performance benchmark: S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index* Exit Load: Nil* Risk: High* Fund manager: Kayzad Eghlim
The BJP stepped up attack on the Congress, alleging its senior leader Ahmed Patel's "deep relations" with a Gujarat hospital where an alleged ISIS operative had worked before his arrest.

Union minister and senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi demanded an explanation from party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi on the issue.

Patel had "deep relations" with the hospital since 1979, Naqvi said at a press briefing at the BJP headquarters here, adding that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi owe an explanation to the people.

"It is not mere coincidence that Patel had deep relations with a hospital that also had links with terrorists," he said.

Two suspected ISIS operatives were arrested by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) three days ago. According to an FIR, one of the accused, Kasim Stimberwala, earlier worked as a technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that a suspected ISIS operative arrested recently used to work at the hospital where Patel had been a trustee earlier.

Naqvi said that the BJP held national security above politics and claimed that the party was not trying to malign the Congress in view of the Gujarat Assembly polls.
Days after a Swiss couple was attacked in Agra, Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons on Friday said India was safer compared to many developed countries of the world.

Alphons, who had shot off a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath yesterday asking him to take steps to ensure swift action against those accused as such incidents negatively impact tourism in the country, today tried to assuage fears among tourists visiting India.

"India is safe. Compare the number of incidents in India to the US where shooting sprees happen almost in every city everyday killing people. Then there are terror attacks in Paris and across Europe. Compared to that India is a very safe destination.

"We are 1.3 billion people. How many incidents take place in India? Very, very few. But of course these are unfortunate incidents and should not happen," Alphons told PTI.

Quentin Jeremy Clerc (24) and his girlfriend Marie Droz (24), who came to India on September 30, were allegedly attacked by a group of men near the railway station at Fatehpur Sikri in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. The Swiss nationals were reportedly left bloodied and bruised by the attackers.

Earlier this month, the minister had said that the "stories" of India being unsafe for foreign tourists are "exaggerated".

According to the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB), crimes against foreign tourists had reduced by 29.4 percent in 2015 as against the previous year.

In 2014, 384 of such cases were reported from across the country, the NCRB said, adding that the number came down to 271 in 2015.
The Congress demanded a probe by an independent agency, under the supervision of the Supreme Court, into the "fake" sex CD row involving a Chhattisgarh minister.

The main opposition party in the state also accused the ruling BJP of curbing press freedom.

"The way the BJP has reacted to the (sex CD) matter, it is clear that a state government agency cannot probe this issue. It should be investigated by an independent agency under the supervision of the Supreme Court," Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel said at a press conference.

He also pointed out that while the BJP talked about political morality, the entire party came out in defence of the minister, Rajesh Munat, after the CD allegedly involving him surfaced.

Without conducting a probe into the matter, the ruling party gave its minister a clean chit, Baghel said.

Accusing the BJP of suppressing the voice of the media, the Congress leader alleged that journalists were being threatened and implicated in false cases.

"The arrest of senior journalist Vinod Verma is a case in point," he said.

Verma, who was arrested from Ghaziabad for suspected blackmailing and extortion by the Chhattisgarh police, had claimed that he had a "sex CD" of the minister.

Baghel alleged that the Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh governments had conspired to get the journalist arrested.

Verma was not even named in a blackmailing complaint lodged in Raipur and was arrested even without conducting a preliminary investigation, he said, adding that it clearly reflected that there was a conspiracy against him.

The police claimed to have recovered 500 "porn" CDs, a pen drive and a laptop from Verma.

The alleged video sparked a war of words between the Congress and the BJP.

Munat, on Friday, had told reporters that the Congress and Verma were trying to tarnish his image through the CD which he described as "fake".

Subsequently, the minister had lodged a complaint against Baghel and Verma at the Civil Lines police station here. Based on the complaint, the police had registered a case against Baghel, Verma and others under the Information Technology Act.
Bangladesh Railway Minister Mujibal Haque said an initiative has been taken to reconnect railway lines with India in 12 places, which were snapped after the partition in 1947.

"We want to restore all the railway lines which existed before the partition of India. Now the initiative is on to restore rail connectivity in twelve places between Bangladesh and India. Both the governments are cooperating with each other in this regard," he told reporters.

Haque was in New Delhi to attend a conference of Rotary Clubs of both the countries. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar inaugurated the conference.

The Bangladesh minister said the second rail bridge on the Titas and the Bhoirab rivers in Brahmanbaria district of his country was completed with funding from India, and that it would be inaugurated soon.

Apart from the 'Moitree Express' which runs between Dhaka and Kolkata, he said another train 'Bandhan Express' to run between Khulna in Bangladesh and Kolkata, was likely to be launched next month.

"There is also a proposal from Bangladesh side to launch a train to connect Rajshahi in Bangladesh and Kolkata," he said.

Haque noted that the progress of the 15-km long ongoing Agartala-Akhaura project was satisfactory and land acquisition for the purpose in Bangladesh side was complete.

Land acquisition for the project in Indian side has also been completed, West Tripura District Magistrate and Collector Milind Ramteke had earlier told reporters.

The central government has released Rs 97.63 crore to acquire the land, he said.

Haque said that the 15-km track connecting Agartala and Akhaura, 5 km in India and 10km in Bangladesh, will be completed next year.

Ramteke stated that the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) was the nodal agency for implementation of the project on the Indian side.

Former railway minister Suresh Prabhu and Haque had jointly laid the foundation stone of the project on July 31.

A flyover of 3.7 km will be constructed on the Indian side to save cultivable lands and the entire project cost will be borne by the central government.

New Delhi is keen to establish the rail link as it will connect West Bengal and Tripura through Bangladesh.

The 1,700 km distance between Agartala and Kolkata, which goes through the chicken neck in Siliguri, would be reduced to 350 km if passengers could move through Bangladesh, officials said.
'Indra 2017', the first tri-service military exercise between India and Russia, entered its final phase on Friday in Russia, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

The 11-day exercise, which is being carried out under the mandate of the United Nations since October 19, saw simulations of various settings and possible exigencies in dealing with terrorists.

In one such setting, the Indian and Russian task force comprising armoured, mechanised infantry and infantry elements, supported by fighter aircrafts and armed helicopters successfully extricated a humanitarian aid convoy from a terrorist attack, which was simulated as per the exercise setting.

The humanitarian assistance was aimed for trapped civilians in a counter insurgency environment. The attack tested the response mechanism of the combined task force of Indian and Russian defence forces.

The terrorists were successfully isolated and the humanitarian aid convoy was escorted to safety, the statement said giving details of the exercise.

Simultaneously, fighter aircraft and armed helicopters pulverised the target while artillery elements comprising 122mm GRAD and howitzers further softened the target.

Armoured tanks closed in on the target along with mechanised infantry elements and cordoned off the entire area, and the stage was set for the infantry to launch the final assault.

The last drill of Exercise Indra 2017 will be carried out tomorrow when landing of ground forces at Cape of Klerk training area, using an amphibious vessel, will be undertaken by Indian and Russian naval elements with air Support.

The exercise will culminate on October 29 in a grand closing ceremony which will be held at Vladivostok.
Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for greater cooperation with France under the framework of 'Make-in-India' in defence manufacturing and research and development.

He said this when French Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly called on him, he had briefed him about the developments in bilateral defence cooperation, a PMO statement said.

The Prime Minister said that defence cooperation is one of the key pillars of the Strategic Partnership between India and France, and called for greater cooperation in the 'Make in India' framework in defence manufacturing and joint research and development, the statement said.

The two leaders also discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest, it added.

Modi said that he looks forward to receiving President Macron in India at his earliest convenience, the statement said.
The literacy rate of Telangana recorded was 72.8 percent. (Image: Moneycontrol)

A day after a boy died after his head hit a wall allegedly after he was pushed by a classmate, the police said that they are probing whether other students were involved.

The incident was reported from northeast Delhi's Karawal Nagar yesterday where 14-year-old Prince was alleged pushed by a classmate and died after from head injuries.

Prince's family had alleged that apart from one juvenile who has been apprehended, there were some other boys who used to tease him and that he had a fight with them yesterday.

Police said that they will be probing the role of those students and also the negligence on the part of the school.

The school authorities will also be questioned about why the school was operating despite it being a gazetted holiday on the account of Chhath Puja, the police said.

Prince's family members also staged a protest outside the school accused authorities of being negligent and not ensuring safety of students.
Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munat has filed a complaint against state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel and senior journalist Vinod Verma for allegedly tarnishing his image through a "fake" sex CD.

A case was registered last evening at the Civil Lines police station against Baghel, Verma and others under section 67 (A) of the Information Technology Act following the minister's complaint, Station House Officer (SHO), Civil Lines, Hem Prakash Nayak told PTI.

"A copy of the CD has been submitted to the police station and it will be sent for forensic examination," he said.

Munat, considered close to Chief Minister Raman Singh, was accompanied by state BJP president Dharam Lal Kaushik, his over half-a-dozen cabinet colleagues and other party leaders while filing the complaint.

Talking to reporters, Munat said that the CD in question was fake and urged the chief minister to order a probe to find the truth.

"The (sex) CD is fake. It is an attempt to malign my image," he aid.

The minister further appealed to the chief minister and Kaushik to get the matter investigated by any agency.

The Civil Line police also arrested two AAP supporters the previous day for allegedly blackening Munat's nameplate while protesting outside his official residence over the row.

Verma, who was arrested in connection with an extortion and blackmailing case from Ghaziabad by Chhattisgarh police the previous day, claimed that he had a sex CD of the Chhattisgarh minister.

Police also claimed to have recovered 500 "porn" CDs, a pen drive and a laptop from Verma.

A Ghaziabad court had granted the Chhattisgarh Police the transit remand of Verma till October 30 and he is expected to reach Raipur by noon on October 28.
Unrest in Kashmir

October 27 is the day Kashmir became a part of India through accession and Indian troops first landed in Kashmir to help it fight its battle against invaders. But the separatist forces see that day as the start of an occupation of the Valley that they are still fighting.

Kashmirs Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) has called for a shutdown in the Valley on Friday which they, like many Kashmiris, see as a black day.

27 October 1947 is an unfortunate day for the Kashmiris when we were deprived of our freedom and liberty and India against the wishes of the people landed its troops here. The people of the Jammu & Kashmir were neither asked for their viewpoint about this forced occupation and nor are their wishes and aspirations being respected even today, JRL said in a statement, according to Greater Kashmir.

This sentiment is a result of a conflicted history which started with the hurried accession of Kashmir to India. Heres a short history of what went down 70 years ago.

In August 1947, when India became independent, all 565 princely states had to decide whether to join the Dominion of India or Pakistan.

Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, could not decide which country to join. While he was a Hindu, his population consisted of a Muslim majority. "He therefore did nothing," wrote Victoria Schofield, author of Kashmir in Conflict, in a BBC article.

In a telegram to Lord Mountbatten, Hari Singh said that he needed time to decide which nation he wanted to accede to and therefore, approached India and Pakistan to enter into Standstill Agreements.

While Pakistan accepted the agreement, India wanted to discuss the matter further. The discussion failed to take place when Kashmir faced invasion from Pashtun tribesmen belonging to Pakistani territory in October, 1947.

At the same time, the Pakistan government started squeezing aid into Kashmir. Though we have got a Standstill Agreement with the Pakistan Government that government permitted steady and increasing strangulation of food, salt and petrol to my State, Hari Singh wrote to Mountbatten, requesting intervention. Besides, there was an internal revolt taking place in Poonch district.

Hari Singh mentioned that massive, loot, rape and destruction of life were taking place in Kashmir. Failing to maintain the law and order situation, the ruler asked for military assistance from India.

Hari Singh was already facing threat from Sheikh Abdullah, who was imprisoned for launching the Quit Kashmir movement against the Maharaja, the Muslim Conference, which wanted accession to Pakistan, and internal rebellion.

But help was denied by Governor-General Mountbatten who said that the Indian Army was only supposed to defend Indian territory. In a hurried manner, Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession.

According to the terms of the Instrument of Accession, India's jurisdiction was supposed to be in areas of external affairs, defence and communications.

On October 27, Indian Forces were airlifted into Srinagar to fight the armed invaders and rebels. This fight eventually led to the first Indo-Pakistan war as Pakistan contested the accession, suggesting it was fraudulent and the Maharaja had acted under duress.

Pakistan argued that Hari Singh could not have signed an agreement with India when Kashmir was still in a standstill agreement with Pakistan.

The Kashmir dispute

Pakistan also argued that because Hari Singh fled from the valley of Kashmir, he was not in control of the Valley and therefore not in a position to take a decision on behalf of his people, writes Victoria Schofield.

The then Governor-General, Lord Mountbatten, had accepted the Instrument of Accession with a remark that he understood the accession to not be final and that there would be a plebiscite to decide the future of Kashmir. The same was reiterated by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and he wrote about it in a telegram to Pakistans Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan.

The Kashmir issue was referred to the United Nations by the Nehru-led government in 1948, following which the international watchdog mediated the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, leaving only two thirds of Kashmir under Indian administration. But even after multiple attempts, the plebiscite failed to take place giving way to the present separatist demands and continuing clashes between the Indian Army and civilians.
Ahmed Patel

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday demanded Congress leader Ahmed Patel's resignation as Rajya Sabha MP, alleging that a suspected ISIS operative arrested recently used to work at a hospital where Patel had been a trustee earlier.

Patel rejected the charge as "completely baseless" and urged the BJP not to politicise matters pertaining to national security and divide the peace-loving Gujaratis.

Union minister Prakash Javadekar also said that the Congress "owes an explanation as to how a terrorist had been working there for so long".

Two suspected ISIS operatives were arrested by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) two days ago. According to an FIR, one of the accused, Kasim Stimberwala, earlier worked as a technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district.

Rupani said in Gandhinagar that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Patel owe a clarification to the nation as the matter pertains to national security.

"This is a serious issue, as a terrorist was arrested from a hospital which is being run by Patel... It has now been revealed that though Patel had resigned as a trustee of that hospital in 2014, but he is still at the helm of the hospital's affairs," the Gujarat CM alleged.

"Imagine what would have happened if these two terrorists were not arrested... Patel, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress must come clean on the issue. We also want Patel to resign as Rajya Sabha MP," he demanded.

"It has now been revealed that Kasim had resigned just two days before he was arrested. This raises several questions. Patel must clarify how such a person got a job in his hospital and why he resigned just days ahead of his arrest," Rupani said.

Replying to the charges, Patel tweeted, "My party and I appreciate the ATS' effort to nab the two terrorists. I demand strict and speedy action against them. The allegations put forward by the BJP are completely baseless."

In another tweet, he said, "We request that matters of national security not be politicised keeping elections in mind. Let's not divide the peace loving Gujaratis while fighting terrorism."

Javadekar said in Bengaluru the Congress owes an explanation as to "how a terrorist could work so long at the hospital".

The two IS suspects "were planning attacks on a Jewish religious place", he said.

Congress in-charge of communications Randeep Surjewala came to the defence of Patel, saying neither he nor any of his family members was a trustee of the Bharuch Hospital where the alleged terrorist was working.

"A frustrated BJP facing imminent defeat in Gujarat is resorting to levelling reckless and baseless allegations against Ahmed Patel," he said.

Sardar Vallabhai Patel Hospital is a charitable hospital and it has between 150-200 employees including doctors and technicians, he said.

"The BJP is being shown the door by 6.5 crore Gujaratis and a defeated BJP is clutching onto the polarising straws of blatant lies to reset the agenda. It will never succeed in its sinister conspiracies," the Congress leader said.

He said the BJP should stop preaching about fighting terrorism to anyone.

"The BJP's track record on terrorism is quite dismal. Will Amit Shah and Vijay Rupani answer as to who permitted dreaded terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's wife to visit Mumbai and leave unscathed with the entire government sleeping over the same," he asked.

"The truth is that Vijay Rupani and his government fired upon and killed farmers in Dahod in Gujarat. The BJP is trying to divert attention," he alleged.

The two suspected IS operatives had allegedly planned to carry out a "lone wolf" attack on a Jewish synagogue in Khadia area of the city.
BARCELONA, SPAIN - OCTOBER 27: Catalan Independence supporters gather outside the Catalan Government building, Palau de la Generalitat, to celebrate their vote on independence from Spain on October 27, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. MPs in the Catalan parliament have today voted following a two days session on how to respond to the Spanish governments enacting of Article 155, which would curtail Catalan autonomy. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Spain's public prosecutor's office will file rebellion charges next week against Catalan secessionist leader Carles Puigdemont, a spokesman said on Friday after Catalonia's regional parliament voted to declare independence.

A court will then decide whether to accept the charges against Puigdemont. Under Spanish law, the crime of "rebellion" is punishable by up to 30 years in jail.

"Public prosectors will file a complaint for rebellion against Carles Puigdemont next week," a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office told AFP, adding similar lawsuits could be filed against other members of the Catalan government and parliament.

Earlier today Catalonia's regional parliament in Barcelona passed a resolution to proclaim "a Catalan republic in the form of an independent and sovereign state."

The motion was approved with 70 votes in favour, 10 against and two abstentions, with Catalan opposition MPs walking out of the 135-seat chamber before the vote in protest at a declaration that is not recognised by Madrid or abroad.

In response, Spain's central government was preparing to take direct control of the semi-autonomous region.

Puigdemont, a 54-year-old former journalist, defended the vote by the assembly, saying it had received a "mandate at the ballot box" to declare independence.

Separatist parties won a slim majority of seats in the Catalan parliament for the first time during the last regional elections in September 2015 which were billed as a proxy vote for independence, despite getting less than half the vote -- 47.6 percent.

The Catalan government then pressed ahead with a referendum on independence on October 1 despite it having been deemed unconstitutional by the courts and Spain's central government.

The separatist leadership says voters who took part in the referendum overwhelmingly backed breaking away from Spain but turnout was just 43 percent as Catalans in favour of remaining in Spain mostly boycotted the ballot.
Britain "does not and will not" recognise the unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan regional parliament on Friday, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Theresa May said.

"It is based on a vote that was declared illegal by the Spanish courts. We continue to want to see the rule of law upheld, the Spanish Constitution respected, and Spanish unity preserved," the spokeswoman said in a statement.

Catalan lawmakers sharply escalated the political crisis in Spain by voting to declare independence, with Madrid immediately vowing to "restore legality" and quash the region's secessionist bid.

However, a minister in Scotland's independence-minded devolved government said it respected the Catalan government action.

But May's reaction mirrored those of other European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and EU President Donald Tusk, who both voiced support for Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

The European Union and its member states have stood firmly behind Madrid in the standoff, triggered by Catalonia's controversial October 1 referendum on separation from Spain, deemed unlawful and void by Madrid.
The chronicle of a life split between urban Manhattan and rural Montana.
Education

Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu.

Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu.

Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events:

International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu.

EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu.

Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale  an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s  will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets  June Homecoming: Participant  $18 per person; Sustainer  $25 per person; Benefactor  $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler  Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events:

SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available  for information call 610-275-1960

Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above)

SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m.

Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.

Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m.

Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m.

Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.  4 p.m.  computers are available during those hours.

Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m.

Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863.

Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376.

Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com.

The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes:

Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at

other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020.

CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313.

The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events:

Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m.

Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m.

Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30.

Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301.

For Kids & Families

The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443.

Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950.

Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required.

The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950.

Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus.

Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage.

Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun.

Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train.

Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world!

Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class.

Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org.

Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583.

Community Events at the Ambler Y:

-YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register.

Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org.

Health

Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot.

The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information.

Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245.

Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net.

Spring Aquatic Programs  UDHS Pool:

-Summer is just around the corner  Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required.

 Shallow Water Aerobics  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR.

 Adult Swim Instructions  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR

-Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21.

-Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday  Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m.

-Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons.

-Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates.

Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994.

SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com.

Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org.

Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs:

FITNESS CLASSES

Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month.

Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30  9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly.

SUPPORT GROUPS

Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000.

Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30  7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047.

New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m.  12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30  4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931.

Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325.

Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes.

Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com.

Librarytalk

Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744

www.upperdublinlibrary.org

APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS:

Storytimes: Please register in the library.

o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m.

o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m.

o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m.

o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6.

APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS:

North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee

APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS:

NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org.

One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register  contact info above.

Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744.

o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register.

Meetings:

Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m.

Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m.

Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org.

For children and teens at Blue Bell:

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m.

* May 14  Despicable Me

* June 11  Alpha and Omega

* Special Events

* April  watch for date of spring/Easter events

* April 14 at 4:30 p.m.  Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children.

* April 14 at 7 p.m.  Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided.

* April 16 at 1 p.m.  Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King.

* April 16 at 1:30 p.m.  Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes?

* April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button.

* April 30 through May 3  Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults.

* May  sign up for Science in the Summer

* June  sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children

* June  sign up for Summer Reading, all ages

For adults at Blue Bell:

* Daytime Book Discussion Group  fourth Tuesday, Jan  April at 1:30 p.m.

* April 26  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Night-time Book Discussion Group  third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m.

o April 19  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges

o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked?

*Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs

* Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class.

* Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class.

* Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m.

* Giant Book Sale, April 29  May 3

o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults!

o Held during library hours.

o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m.

o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join.

* Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series

o May 11 at 1 p.m.  Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society

* Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room.

* Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read.

* Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome.

* Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome.

*Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older.

* Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours

* Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours

* Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday!

Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library.

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* For adults:

* Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn.

* Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net

* Special Events:

* April 14 at 1:30 p.m.  Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian.

* April 19 at 7 p.m.  Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m.

* April 21 at 7 p.m.  Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades.

*May 2 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

*May 10  Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*May 12 at 1:30p.m.  Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman.

*May 17  Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*June 13 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

Meetings and Lectures

The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833.

The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200.

The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/.

LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings.

Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org.

Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org)

-Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them.

The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter.

For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps.

Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin.

Special Events

The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County.

The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065.

Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members.

Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex.

The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com.

The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348.

The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org.

Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163.

The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu.

The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com.

The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net.

Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages.

13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries.

Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family.

The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler.

JPRN  Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them  Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike.

Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies.

Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately.

Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways.

Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table.

Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp  Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall:

-Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store.

Music and Theater

The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220.

Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html.

Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free.

The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org

Religious News

The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276.

Reunions

St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net.

Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572.

Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779.

Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net

Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net

The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411.

Support

New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149.

PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931.

The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296.

Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656.

Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group  every other Wednesday, 7  8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support  second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner  Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers  Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information.

CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7  8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich,
I recently mentioned that the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, in partnership with the City of Morgan Hill, invited construction projects downtown to participate in a competition to see who could make their site the most interesting.

The prize for this competition was a lunch for the construction crews, so there was little incentive other than the spirit of competition and lots of community spirit.

The Leal organizations site for the future Granada Hotel and Spa won the competition with a decorated fence and a construction site that really doesnt look like either anymore. This is a great example of how to make a normally unsightly looking construction site blend back into the background.

So I told some people about the competition and realized that the Leal organization was not being recognized for some of the other good things they do.

I originally started writing this column because I didnt feel that the community knew enough about so many of the good things being done in Morgan Hill, and this is a good example.

The Leal organization became visible to most of us in Morgan Hill with its purchase of the old Granada Theater site. Little did we know that someone could save that old building (it was structurally unsafe), let alone make it a thriving business and contemporary landmark.

It took a lot of resources to save that sentimental old building, but the Leal organization made it happen. Now we dont have to rely on just memories of the building; we can be entertained and dine in an updated version that can now make new memories.

For me, most of those memories are associated with the philanthropic work in the way of charitable fundraisers in that building.

Think about the Edward Boss Prado Foundations annual Gala Event which found a new home there. Community Solutions Black, White & Bling Gala was the first event in the newly renovated Granada (this years gala is Nov. 4). Those events were generously supported by donation of the venue by the Leal organization.

New this year will be Rebekah Childrens Services Festival of Trees fundraiser which just moved to Morgan Hill from the swanky Corinthian in San Jose. The Live Oak High Booster Club will be the recipient of 25 percent of the receipts from the Pasta for a Purpose dinner. This is a takeoff of the Pizza for a Purpose event the Leal organization held in Hollister for their local needs.

The Leal organization is a business and will conduct itself as one, as it has to. The organization is also very active philanthropicallyit doesnt have to be but it is.

This organization is another example of how so many of our local businesses become partners in the community. I welcome them to the community.

John McKay is president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance. He can be reached at [email protected].
The Burke County Sheriffs Office and multiple other law enforcement agencies in the surrounding area have made their stance clear: opioid abuse is a crisis and an epidemic.

The 2016 Burke County Community Health Needs Assessment lists substance use and misuse as the second priority to address in the county, and a Castlight Health report listed Hickory as having the fifth-highest opioid abuse rate in the country.

But on Thursday, President Donald Trump declared opioid abuse a national public health emergency, calling it the worst drug crisis in American history.

The declaration opened up the ability to use public health emergency funding to address the epidemic. However, multiple national news agencies have reported that the fund currently has just $57,000 in it.

Kim James, the executive director for Burke Recovery, said more funding needs to be available for treating opioid abuse but hopes the declaration increases awareness around the issue.

It (costs) thousands and thousands of dollars per person depending on the stage of what they need and the time they need it, James said. There are 100 counties in North Carolina, and if you narrow it down to the people, you have diluted that funding so much that youre giving each individual who needs assistance a very small piece of the pie.

To be exact, each of the estimated 2 million people who battle opioid dependency would receive a roughly 2.85-cent piece of the $57,000 pie.

James said that the thousands of dollars each person might need to battle opioid dependency is based on the costs of detox programs, after-care programs, continued assessments and counseling.

A White House press release states that more than $1 billion has been spent directly on drug abuse and the opioid epidemic since Trump took office, but the declaration did not mention information about additional funding.

What the declaration did mention was increased access to telemedicine services for people seeking to treat their substance abuse. This allows doctors to treat patients who may be hours away.

We do need to think differently about treating people and providing treatment, James said. I dont know if telemedicine is the answer, but I do think its time to think outside of the box.

The declaration also mentioned that those battling substance abuse could have access to dislocated worker grants, which usually are available to those who lose jobs because of natural disasters.

The declaration did not explain how the grants would be available to those with opioid dependency, but James said people who battle substance abuse can have trouble finding steady employment.

You can see the trickle-down chain effect, James said. Unfortunately, the side effects of any kind of substance use you end up connecting it to criminality. Its a huge percentage of the crime committed in this county that is related to substance abuse.

Sheriff Steve Whisenant said he is pleased with any help from the federal government because of the amount of opioid-related crime that is committed in Burke County.

Since June of 2011, weve had one homicide and almost no property crimes that did not involve substance abuse in some way, Whisenant said. We will continue to arrest persons who break in, steal and try to harm our citizens, but we cannot totally arrest our way out of this epidemic.

The final piece of the declaration allows people eligible for HIV and AIDS programs to also receive substance abuse because of the connection between substance abuse and HIV transmission.

And just as HIV is deadly, opioid dependency and abuse can be deadly as well. Since 2000, more than 300,000 Americans have died from opioid overdoses, according to the press release.

Such overdoses now are the leading cause of injury death in the United States, outnumbering gun-related deaths and car crashes, the release said.

When we talk about a war on drugs, we are fighting a war  one with deaths and casualties, James said. When you look at death rates, youre hitting a major crisis. This is just as important as cancer or heart disease or any of those. Its literally killing people.

Ryan Wilusz is a staff writer and can be reached at rwilusz@morganton.com or at 828-432-8941.
#BTS BTS receives two 2023 Grammy nominations South Korean supergroup BTS has been nominated in two categories of the 2023 Grammy Awards, becoming the first K-pop act to receive any Grammy nomination for the third consecutive ...
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, already sitting on a massive war chest for his re-election campaign, is getting some fundraising help from Vice President Mike Pence.

Pence will headline a fundraiser for Abbott on Nov. 13 in Washington, D.C., according to an invitation obtained by The Texas Tribune. U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, are also listed as guests at the event.
More South Texas boys are choosing to join cartels instead of a the Boy Scouts, according to a border scouting official.

Rudy Gonzalez, scout executive for the Rio Grande Council of the Boy Scouts of America, told the Rio Grande Guardian the organization does not want cartels to take over the area.
Several law enforcement agencies came together Saturday in St. Cloud to show support for Officer Matthew Baxter and Sergeant Sam Howard--two Kissimmee police officers who were killed in the line of duty.

Community, law enforcement show support for fallen officers at 2017 Fright-K

Proceeds from race go to families of fallen officers

The 2017 Fright-K was held by the St. Cloud Police Department Saturday. The proceeds go to the families of the fallen officers.

Saturday's 5k at Lakefront Park started with the national anthem and a moment of silence for the officers killed in August.

It was a great show of solidarity as SWAT teams from the Osceola County Sheriff's Office and Kissimmee Police Department showed their brotherly love.

It is an unbelievable feeling, the comradery between the community and St.Cloud joining together to give back to the families, its an awesome feeling," said Fred Hinderman with the Osceola County Sheriff's Office SWAT team.





First person to cross the finish line for @StCloudPD 5k benefitting Sgt. Howard and Officer Baxter @MyNews13 pic.twitter.com/h1MhqRzjUB  Christina Jensen (@CJensenNews13) October 28, 2017

Fred Hinderman with the Osceola County Sheriffs Office SWAT team spoke with News 13 about the extremely tough year for law enforcement agencies in Central Florida and his relationship with the community.



I think the barriers are down over the last 8 years of people not wanting to approach us and people not wanting to talk to us, said Hinderman.



Hinderman also said it was clear the community in St.Cloud pulled together for the greater good and put differences aside.



Going out in the community everyday people thank us so if anyone in law enforcement feels down, keep your chin up, you can see the support from the community from even the people who showed up today, said Hinderman.

This was the third annual Fright-K organized by the St. Cloud Police Department.
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A few weeks before the opening of Contemporary Art Museum Plainview (CAMP), artistic endeavors give way to construction efforts as crews work to set up walls, install track lighting, paint, clean and get ready for guests.

Four to six people have been working all the time, what with graphic work, photos and remodeling from the front door all the way to the workroom, said Kelly Alison, artist and founder of the museum.

Through all the hubbub, Alison finds time to add finishing touches to a 5 1/2 by 8 painting called The Road Home. She is getting ready for her own retrospective exhibition Kelly Alison: A Sense of Place, which opened at the Abraham Art Gallery on Friday and runs through Dec. 7.

Fourteen artists from diverse places, backgrounds and styles will be present at the CAMP opening on Nov. 10.

All of the artists will be there for the opening, Alison said.

Painters, sculptors, photographers, performance and multidisciplinary artists will be among those showing their work. They come from all over Texas and from as far away as the Philippines. Their work has been exhibited in Houston, Dallas, Louisiana, Idaho, Peru, Germany, Paris, Istanbul and Greece.

A free concert will be held to celebrate the opening. Rattlesnake Milk and Sugar Witch will play.

The museum will be open from noon to 5 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Shows will change every three months, and a schedule of exhibitions will be announced after the beginning of the year.

Alison grew up in Plainview, and she and her husband Preston recently moved back here from Houston to be closer to her parents, Rex and Ethel Ramsower. Preston Alison is a collector, and the drier climate of West Texas was another attraction to the couple.

When Alison heard that the Ramsowers furniture storage building was not being rented, the idea for opening a new museum formed. She found support from the city of Plainview and from many individuals.

A grant from the Sybil B. Harrington Endowment for the Arts, which is affiliated with the Community Foundation of West Texas, helped get things rolling.

There seems to be a good system of support from businesses for the arts up here, Alison said.

Members of the board and staff of the museum are: Kelly Alison; Joe Diaz, San Antonio; B.C. Gilbert, Wichita Falls; Jeff Wheeler, Slaton; Chloe Rizzo, Amarillo; Heather and Justin May, Plainview; Chad Holliday, Canyon; Kathy Sterling Kelley, Lubbock; Debbie and Josiah Herrera, Plainview; Michael Roque Collins, Houston; Blair Willson, Plainview; Jon Whitfill, Lubbock; and Preston Alison, Plainview.

Sponsors listed on the website are The Brew, Amigos, YMCA, McCoys, Atmos Energy, Ramsowers Furniture and Cotton Patch Cafe.

For more information, visit the website at www.ContemporaryArtMuseumPlainview.org.
Longtime Plainview resident Tonya Glenn Keesee has been selected the next Plainview Chamber of Commerce executive director.

The Chamber formally announced her appointment Friday, Oct. 27, explaining, The Plainview Chambers Executive Committee accepted 15 resumes and narrowed the field to four interviews and upon that completions has offered the position to Ms. Keesee.

Im looking forward to this new challenge, and it will be a great challenge, Keesee told the Herald Thursday. I consider this a wonderful opportunity to continue working with Plainview businesses and Plainview people.

Keesee born in Matador and moved to Plainview at age 3. She is the daughter of Doc and Mary Helen Cross, She and her husband, Doug Keesee, have two sons and daughters-in-law, Dustin and Andrea Glenn of Plainview and Devin and Erin Glenn of Austin.

She is a 1975 graduate of Plainview High School, attended Texas Tech University in 1975-76, and Miss Wades Fashion Merchandising School in Dallas in 1976-77.

Since 2010 she has worked at Old World Antiques in Plainview, as store manager and buyer. Before that she was a department manager and buyer for Marse and Sons in Plainview for 10 years, and office manager for Dr. Jimmy James DDS for the next 12 years.

We had a great group of applicants, said Linda Morris, current Chamber of Commerce executive director. And Tonya is an excellent choice for this position, particularly with her long background as a Plainview resident, her retail experience, and the fact that she and her husband have operated their own farming business for many years.

Morris will retire Dec. 15 after more than six years as executive director at the Chamber, with Keesee coming onboard Nov. 6. That allows an almost a six-week overlap for a smooth transition.

Morris announced her retirement plans to retire before years end in June, to allow the Chamber executive committee ample time to find a replacement. Her retirement coincides with husband, Jack, who plans to retire at years end.
On this date in ...

1917: As Nov. 1 approached and, with it, the new war tax measures throughout the country, the heads of Albany's banks were informed by the treasury department that there was a veritable famine on pennies in the city, and it was only set to get worse as the next coinage of the copper pieces would not happen for at least two weeks. The 1-cent coins would be necessary to pay the upcoming taxes to be levied, but already existing taxes on cigarettes and foodstuffs had depleted them in circulation.

1967: There was no responsible medical body in the world that condoned the use of marijuana, said Dr. Henry Brill, vice chairman of the State Narcotics Addiction Control Commission, speaking to approximately 100 college administrators attending a three-day event at the Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga Springs. It had been proven that marijuana was not addictive, and neither were LSD or cocaine, but it was known what the drugs did. He deemed "excessive" the penalties for possession and use of marijuana but he termed the drug "dangerous."

1992: The talk of the Russell Sage College campus in Troy was of the three professors who had filed sex discrimination complaints in the past two months. To some students, it appeared the lessons they were taught in class about empowering women were lost in the administrative offices.

Want to read more about the Capital Region's past? Have any memories or thoughts about how our history relates to today's events? See http://blog.timesunion.com/history/.
BETHLEHEM  What was once the cinderblock wall of garage has become a whimsical, 60-foot landscape of verdant fields and trees accented with bright purple flowers.

The untitled mural, painted in recent weeks by Slingerlands artist Andrea Hersh, was unveiled Saturday. It is the first effort by a not-for-profit community group called Art on the Rail Trail, or ART, that is dedicated to bringing public art installations to the nine-mile Albany County Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail, which runs from Voorheesville to South Pearl Street in Albany. The mural is on the side of a town-owned garage along the rail trail at the intersection of Hudson Avenue and Adams Street.
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With all state appeals exhausted, Montgomery County officials believe Don Willburn Collins' capital murder conviction and 40-year prison sentence are finally affirmed after the Texas Supreme Court refused to look into the case Oct. 20.

Collins, now 32, was convicted of the capital felony in 2015, nearly 17 years after he raped 8-year-old Robert Middleton and later doused him with gasoline and set him on fire to cover up the crime in 1998. Collins was 13 at the time.

Middleton suffered burns over more than 99 percent of his body but survived, living the rest of his life enduring pain and surgeries. He died in 2011 at the age of 21 from an aggressive cancer stemming from the burns. Prosecutors did not know about the rape until days before Middleton's death when he recorded himself making the outcry.

Authorities ruled Middleton's death a homicide.

Collins was indicted on a capital murder charge in 2014, and a jury convicted him a year later. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

"I don't think there's ever been, and there may never be, a juvenile case in the county that's more egregious than that," County Attorney J.D. Lambright said. " All to shut him up to not get charged with sexual assault."

Collins' many appeals hinged on whether it was constitutional that he was tried as an adult. Even though he was charged when he was an adult, the crime was still considered a juvenile offense since it happened when Collins was 13.

Lambright's office is tasked with prosecuting juveniles in Montgomery County, and Lambright personally sought Collins' prosecution when he took office in 2013. The case had gone cold up until Middleton's death in 2011.

In 2012, then-Montgomery County Attorney David Walker sought an opinion from then-Attorney General Greg Abbott as to whether Collins could be certified to stand trial as an adult. Abbott's ruling only said prosecutors have "great discretion" on whether to prosecute juveniles as adults but did not give an opinion on Collins' specific case, according to earlier reports.

Lambright decided to "step up to the plate" and seek Collins' prosecution in light of Middleton's death and did so successfully.

A state law passed in 1999 allowed juvenile prosecutors to seek adult trials on juvenile suspects who were at least 10 years old at the time of the offense, which brought the minimum age down from 14 years old. Collins' Conroe-based attorney, Jerald Crow, argued that Collins' adult certification was not legal since the law changed the year after the offense, claiming Collins should only be held accountable to the laws that were in place in 1998.

Three state courts  the 359th state District Court in Montgomery County, the 9th Court of Appeals in Beaumont and the Texas Supreme Court in Austin  all disagreed with Crow and upheld Collins' conviction. Crow could not be reached for comment.

"The Middleton family is very gratified," Lambright said. "It's not going to bring Robert back, but Collins is not going to be out there harming others."

Lambright speculated there is a "remote" chance that Collins' attorneys will take the issue to the federal court system, although it is entirely possible. Collins will not be eligible for parole until 2033.
RICHMOND, Va. - Dozens of President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign aides are working to get disaffected blue-collar rural Virginians to vote in the Nov. 7 governor's race - an effort seen as a trial run for a national push in next year's congressional midterms.

Look Ahead America is targeting 12,000 registered voters who have not been to the polls since 2009, the last year Republicans won statewide elections in purple Virginia.

The group is conservative but officially nonpartisan, so it cannot directly urge voters to choose Republican Ed Gillespie over Democrat Ralph Northam, the state's lieutenant governor.

But the organization is reaching out to the same types of voters who were widely credited with putting Trump in the White House, which its website describes as "rural and blue-collar patriotic Americans who are disaffected and disenfranchised from the nation's corridors of power."

Co-founder Matt Braynard stressed that Look Ahead is not reaching out to Trump voters but people who sat out the 2016 election and many others before that.

"Part of it is just a high level of cynicism that voting does not matter," said Braynard, one of two former Trump campaign data directors who started the group. "We are trying to correct that."

Look Ahead is reaching out to those voters through direct mail, phone calls, robo-calls, email, social media and old-fashioned door-knocking.

The group's efforts could help Gillespie if it gets more conservatives to the polls. Some religious conservatives and fans of Trump have been skeptical of Gillespie, a GOP establishment figure who has been a Republican National Committee chairman, Washington lobbyist and counselor to President George W. Bush.

Because the group operates independently of the campaign, Gillespie could reap the benefit of higher conservative turnout while keeping Trump at arm's length - a posture intended to help him with moderates and independents in a state where the president's approval ratings are dismal.

Look Ahead, created by 34 Trump field workers and state directors, got working in Virginia about two weeks ago - too late to sign up new voters ahead of the state's Oct. 16 registration deadline. Organizers had hoped to get an earlier start, telling the New York Times in August that they expected to raise $800,000 and begin operations in Virginia in time to register voters.

But raising money was tougher than expected, so the group did not get started until recently, with what Braynard called a "limited budget." Politico first reported that the group's efforts in the state were underway.

"I'll admit some of the donors we were counting on did not materialize," said Braynard, who said he will not disclose how much has been raised before filing deadlines. The group is organized under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, which allows it to keep donors private.

"So far we're not the tool of any billionaires," he said.

Despite the late start, organizers believe they can play an important role by nudging inactive voters to the polls, particularly because campaigns tend to focus their turnout efforts on "high propensity" voters.

"We're going to pester them as best we can into voting," Braynard said. He was data director for the Trump campaign but left in March 2016, handing that job off to Witold Chrabaszcz, co-founder of Look Ahead.

"There's a segment of the population that doesn't vote at all," Chrabaszcz said. "Traditionally, political organizations tend to go after people who are reliable voters."

That tends to create "a vicious cycle," he added, noting that campaigns tend to ignore people who do not have a history of voting, making those people feel even more alienated and less likely to vote. "We're trying to break that vicious cycle."

Look Ahead plans to deploy about 20 people as poll watchers - certified by their respective counties as third-party observers - to ensure "ballot box integrity," Braynard said. Civil libertarians have sometimes criticized monitoring as a voter-intimidation tactic.

"I'm very concerned about the message that it sends and the story line it perpetuates - trying to tell Virginians we can't trust the outcome at the ballot box," said Anna Scholl, executive director of the liberal Progress Virginia.

Braynard said the organization will follow the state's "very strict rules" for nonpartisan election observers, "including the requirement to get preapproval from county boards."

"It's in every citizen's best interest that organizations observing elections, regardless of ideology, can agree it was a fair fight," he said.

Look Ahead takes a conservative stance on issues such as "sanctuary cities," illegal immigration, refugee resettlements and gun rights.

"We're trying to be the ACORN of the right," he said, referring to the liberal community organizing group that collapsed in 2010 in the aftermath of several scandals. "We're not telling anybody who to vote against or whom to vote for, just telling them these are the issues at stake and their vote matters."

Donald P. Green, a Columbia University political science professor who has researched voting behavior, plans to evaluate the group's work to determine if it increases turnout.

"I conduct these kinds of evaluations on the right, and the left and the center," said Green, author of "Get Out the Vote: How to Increase Voter Turnout."

"The idea of mobilizing low-propensity voters is quite interesting," Green said. "They're moving into essentially a vacant space in the world of campaign activity. The typical campaign ignores voters who show repeatedly that they're unlikely to come out to vote."

The group has hired the nonpartisan Seattle-based data company L2 to locate these voters through voting histories and data on income, education and consumer purchases. If the voter has used a credit card to buy a gun, for example, that would suggest support for gun rights, said Paul Westcott, L2 vice president.

"It's turning out individuals who are likely to care about certain issues and using a strategy for finding those disaffected voters," Westcott said.
Austin American-Statesman file photo

AUSTIN  Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday officially requested the U.S. Supreme Court look at a lower courts ruling that required Texas redraw nine state House districts.

Were eager for the Supreme Court to review all the facts in this case, which are clearly on our side, Paxton said in a statement
The Kremlin knows a bargain when it sees it.

We are supposed to believe that it bought the American presidential election last year with $100,000 in Facebook ads and some other digital activity. Frankly, if American democracy can be purchased this cheap  a tiny fraction of the $7.2 million William Seward paid to buy Alaska from the Russians back in 1867  its probably not worth having.

The latest obsession in the Russian collusion story, the Kremlins digital activity has generated headlines and put Facebook and all of Silicon Valley on the defensive, although this looks to be one of the most overhyped stories of the year.

The Russians, as far as we know, bought more than $100,000 in Facebook ads between June 2015 and May 2017. A little more than half was spent after last November, when, obviously, Donald Trump had already won.

The scale here is singularly unimpressive. A serious House campaign might spend $100,000 on digital. In a presidential campaign, the amount is a rounding error. The Trump campaign spent around $90 million on digital in 2016. Hillary Clinton employed a considerable digital staff, and announced she was spending $30 million on digital the last month of the campaign alone.

If tens of thousands of dollars was decisive amid this tsunami of tens of millions, the Russian trolls working somewhere in St. Petersburg should strike out on their own and start a political consultancy or an internet publishing company. They are geniuses.

It doesnt appear that much of the Russian material was explicitly advocating for Trumps election, and some of it wasnt even right wing. One Russian Facebook page highlighted discrimination against Muslims. Another promoted anti-police videos for a Black Lives Matter audience. A pro-gay-rights page was called LGBT United.

Other pages were on the right and supportive of Trump. But much of the Russian Facebook activity was peddling online tripe indistinguishable from indigenous American online tripe  in fact, it was ripped off from content produced by Americans. If the Russians are going to decide our elections on social media, one assumes it will require at least a little originality.

One suspicion has been that the Trump campaign helped direct the Russian online effort. What we know about the Russian activity so far makes that doubtful. Why, if the Trump campaign was running its own digital campaign that was magnitudes larger, would it bother with a tiny Russian effort that wasnt always focused on Trump or his message?

The Daily Beast ran a story last week with the headline Trump Campaign Staffers Pushed Russian Propaganda Days Before the Election. This referred to Kellyanne Conway and others associated with the Trump campaign retweeting posts from a Twitter account that masqueraded as a project of the Tennessee Republican Party, when it was really operated by Russian trolls. Conway tweeted a post from the account once, according to the story. And the report adduces no evidence that the Trump supporters knew the origin of the account.

It is outrageous that Russians meddled in our democracy at all, and if there are ways to lock them out of our social media going forward, we should do it. Lets not pretend, though, that the Russian online activity was the key to the election. This is classic conspiracy thinking  that some small secret cabal is responsible for a world-historical outcome that had much more obvious causes (Hillary Clintons poor campaign, for one).

There may yet be truly damaging Russia revelations. Trumps campaign manager during a decisive phase of the primary campaign, Paul Manafort, worked with shady characters from that part of the world. The notorious Don Trump Jr. meeting with Russians promising oppo on Clinton spoke of a willingness to cooperate with anyone who might be useful. The Trump familys business dealings could always produce a nasty surprise.

But all the focus on Facebook serves, for now, as a substitute for a smoking gun in the absence of a real one.

comments.lowry@nationalreview.com
Texas most needy and struggling students are the most severely affected when public education funding is shortchanged. And there is usually a price to paid for that.

The $5.3 billion reduction in public school funding by the state Legislature between 2011 to 2106 created a funding hole that disproportionally affected low-income and other disadvantaged students, according to the findings of a report recently released by the University of Texas at Austin and the Center for Public Policy Priorities.

That gap continues with state leaders failure to increase its investment in public education and the impact could be monumental.

Past spending gaps become future achievement gaps that could lead to a less prosperous future for Texas, according to the researchers.

State lawmakers like to boast that in recent legislative sessions they have invested more in public education than they have in prior years, but that is disingenuous.

While technically correct that Texas has finally returned to investing in the amounts that existed before the 2011 cuts, student funding levels are not the same due to the states growing student population.

In comparing 2016 spending to 2008 pre-recession levels, the research showed that, on average, elementary schools spend $65 less on instructional programs per student. That decreased amount of spending is $268 per middle school student and $428 less per high school student.

As the researchers point out in the executive summary, money in education matters.

The consequence of those funding cuts hit special education and bilingual programs hard. School districts often have to curtail programs geared to help student who struggle with academics.

Many school districts have to ask for waivers to allow them to increase their elementary class sizes beyond the 22-student cap for the lower grades. Many increased the sizes of classes in the middle and high schools to cut staffing costs.

Inadequately funded schools have a more difficult time attracting and retaining teachers and the belt tightening often adversely impacts student enrichment programs.

About 25 percent of the states more than 1,000 school districts, including several in Bexar County, in recent years have been forced to ask voters for permission to increase their tax rate to make up for the limited funds from the state.

Texas has never done well by its public school students when it comes to funding. It has often required prodding from the courts to get much done. Hope was riding high on the most recent lawsuit filed in 2013 by 600-plus school districts.

Public education suffered a major blow when the Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state in that case last year. The court found the states public school finance system deeply flawed, but constitutional.

Texas more than 5 million school children deserve better than serial litigation over the increasingly Daedalean system. They deserve transformational, top-to-bottom reforms that amount to more than Band-Aid on top of Band-Aid. They deserve a revamped, nonsclerotic system fit for the 21st century, the court said.

Yet, Texas lawmakers failed to resolve the issue during the most recent legislative session.

Legislation that would have increased public education funding became entangled in a high stakes political squabble over private school vouchers. It went nowhere.

During a special session over the summer, lawmakers gave their approval to a bill creating a Texas Commission on Public School Finance. The commission has been charged with making recommendations on public school funding prior to the next legislative session in 2019.

Regrettably, any action to improve the current situation will come too late for most current high school students. Thats because in the most recent sessions, the Legislature continued to punt.

We have high hopes for that commission on school finance. Yes, we know that the Legislatures failure to do whats right on education in the past prompts little confidence that it will act on reasonable recommendations, but at this point, it is the only hope left for the states children on whom Texas economy and well-being will someday rest.
WASHINGTON  Rep. Jackie Speier became the latest elected official to speak out against sexual harassment Friday, describing in a YouTube video being assaulted as a young congressional aide, and inviting other members of Congress and their staff to go public with their own experiences on Capitol Hill.

Congress has been a breeding ground for a hostile work environment for far too long, the Hillsborough Democrat said. Its time to throw back the curtain on the repulsive behavior that until now has thrived in the dark without consequences.

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Speiers call for others in Congress to speak up comes as allegations of workplace sexual assault have toppled the careers of Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein and veteran television political analyst Mark Halperin, and inspired the Twitter hashtag #MeToo campaign, giving victims of sexual assault a platform to disclose their own experiences.

Like so many of you, I have a Me, too story to tell, Speier said in the YouTube video. I was working as a congressional staffer. The chief of staff held my face, kissed me and stuck his tongue in my mouth.

The incident, she said, kept her awake at night feeling humiliated and angry, but wondering whether she had been at fault.

So I know what its like to keep these things hidden deep inside, she said. You know what? Many of us in Congress know what its like.

Expanding on the #MeToo campaign, Speier launched #MeTooCongress to encourage other Capitol Hill victims of sexual assault to come forward if they feel comfortable in doing so.

There is nothing to fear in telling the truth, she said.

Speiers action is similar to a campaign begun in Sacramento this month that exposed a culture of widespread sexual harassment in the state Capitol. The Assembly has scheduled hearings for next month to address the issue and the state Senate has hired two outside investigators to look into the allegations and examine its own policies.

Speier said she will introduce legislation next week in Congress to require all House members and staff to undergo sexual harassment training, and institute a survey to assess the scope of potential workplace harassment on Capitol Hill.

Congress is an insular institution fueled by ambition and power, with its own long history of sex scandals.

In Congress, its no different than other work environments where you have very powerful people who have the ability to throw their weight around, Speier told The Chronicle on Friday.

Her bill, she said, would also overhaul an antiquated procedure Congress uses to deal with sexual harassment claims. Current law requires victims to submit to 30 days of legal counseling, and another 30 days of required mediation with the office against which they are leveling the charge.

After that, victims are required to wait an additional 30 days, in all a minimum of three months, before they can lodge a formal complaint. If a defending congressional office settles after that, any money from the settlement comes from the U.S. Treasury, not from the offending offices budget, and can carry a nondisclosure agreement that assures it never becomes public.

Its a joke, Speier said. Im embarrassed to even run people through the process. You file a complaint against someone who attempted to sexually assault you or actually did sexually assault you, and youre being counseled.

I dont think so. The person who needs needs counseling is the person who perpetrated the assault.

Speier said the current procedure is governed by the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 that followed the sexual-harassment scandal surrounding the late Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore. Speier said its aim was protecting the institution, not the victim.

The case Speier describes in the YouTube video allegedly happened when she was 23, working as an aide to the late Rep. Leo Ryan, a Peninsula Democrat assassinated in 1978 in the Jonestown massacre, where Speier was gravely wounded.

Speier identified the man she accused of assaulting her as Ryans chief of staff Joe Holsinger, who died in 2004. In an email late Friday, Holsingers son, William Holsinger, responded to Speiers comments.

Jackie Speier has gone through a great deal of trauma in her life. Many others have, as well, said Holsinger, a San Mateo attorney. My heart goes out to anyone, including Jackie, who has been traumatized at the hands of another, whether it is sexual abuse, racism, war, or any kind of violence.

I welcome the turning of the focus about abuse, all forms of abuse, away from the victims and towards the aggressors. It is only regrettable when public accusations are leveled at individuals who are no longer able to speak for themselves. Perhaps we can use the current climate of outspokenness towards a national dialogue for the reconciliation of all past abuses of power.

He ended his email with Me, too.

Speier said her experience was not uncommon among women at the time.

Like any other woman of that period, you had these kinds of experiences, you protected yourself, she said. There werent sexual-harassment laws, there wasnt the concept of a workplace environment that was supposed to be free of this kind of conduct, and so you just found a way to avoid those situations.

She added, The good news is, that was bad behavior then and its bad behavior today. It cannot be tolerated. We have mechanisms to make sure its not and that people are held accountable.

Speier, a former California legislator who was first elected to Congress in 2008, has been active during her House career in attempting to crack down on sexual violence in the military and on college campuses as well as in Congress.

She has been trying to overhaul the law governing sexual harassment in Congress since 2014, when the House approved her push for money to institute training for members and staff, but Senate appropriators dropped it.

Speier said she hopes the current attention on the issue encourages other women to come forward.

For most of my career Ive felt a responsibility, because if I as a woman legislator wont take on this issue, who will, Speier said. Its incumbent on women to protect women.

Speier said she hopes her crusade will encourage other victims to come forward, whether anonymously, or identifying themselves. We should root it out, and this is the opportunity to do it.

Carolyn Lochhead is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: clochhead@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carolynlochhead

To see Rep. Jackie Speiers disclosure: http://bit.ly/2zd9jXt
Zanu-PF has warned senior party members from bootlicking the first family for political favours.

The warning was given by the partys Mashonaland West Provincial chairperson and Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi who said the first family was different from the Mugabes.

Ziyambi said there were some senior Zanu PF officials who were soliciting for favours from President Emmerson Mnangagwas wife Auxilia during her personal functions.

If you have an assigned duty, you should do so instead of just rushing to the First Ladys personal functions seeking favours as had been the norm under Mrs Mugabe,Ziyambi told the state media .

I know the First Lady personally; she is not an attention seeker like Mrs Mugabe who would bus people from Kariba to Domboshava.

I met the first lady while she was donating at Chikurubi Female Prison and she instructed me to go back and enjoy my holiday at home. I only managed to meet her after convincing her I was in Harare. She had also earlier on instructed me that people from my Ministry were not welcome as the trip was meant for her personal visit, he said.

 The Zimbabwean

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For the millions of Americans who stash away money for retirement through the government sponsored 401(k) plan, a new Republican tax proposal could reduce the amount they stockpile in that account.

House Republicans on Thursday passed a budget resolution, putting America one step closer to a huge tax reform plan, and among the significant changes proposed is altering the sole source of retirement savings for many working Americans.

Currently, most employers offer a 401(k) plan in which workers contribute to a savings account via a pre-tax payroll deduction. And in some cases employers match a percentage of employees' contributions to their account. The yearly maximum pre-tax amount allowed for each employee is $18,000, and it is set to increase next year to $18,500.

But among the items said to be on the table in the new budget plan is cutting that pre-tax maximum to $2,400.

Annette Nellen, a tax professor at San Jose State, said it's too big a cut, especially for young people.

"It's just not enough to be responsibly saving for what you would need," Nellen said of the proposed $2,400 limit.

On Monday, President Donald Trump tweeted that the 401(k) was safe. Republicans, however, say a cut may still be in the works.

Investors of all ages are concerned, saying it would hurt a lot of young people looking forward to retirement, especially considering pensions are a thing of the past.

"Retirement savings should be encouraged, particularly as people are giving longer, they need a lot more in their retirement savings," Nellen said.

Another tax proposal to watch, especially for Californians, is a plan to eliminate a deduction of state and local taxes from federal tax bills.
An Escondido man admitted to a series of sexual assaults involving children when he appeared in court Friday.

Gilbert Andrew Chavarria pleaded guilty to 13 felony charges including assault with intent to commit lewd acts on children, prosecutors said. There were nine victims ranging in age from teenagers to a 5-year-old child.

Officials say the defendant known as "the Creeper" would cut or remove window screens to get into homes in Escondido and San Marcos during the early morning hours.

Often, the assaults happened while parents slept in the same room as the children, officials said.

Chavarria would apparently cut pieces of their pajamas during the assaults.

On June 23, 2013, a window screen was cut open and a man shined a light onto a 13-year-old's face, then tried to reach inside and touch her.

One week later, police said a man forced entry into a residence in the Oak Hill neighborhood of Escondido and sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl. He apparently cut holes in the victim's pajamas and underwear.

Investigators said another similar incident took place July 7, 2013, when a man assumed to be "the Creeper" forced his way into a home through another cut screen. He then sexually assaulted a 12-year-old and 15-year-old girl and cut holes into their clothing, police said.

Investigators were able to recover evidence and DNA from a family member that linked all of the crimes to the same individual, pinning down a suspect that lived in the vicinity and had been acting suspiciously.

Officers said when they tried to make contact in August 2013, he fled.

Officials then submitted the DNA evidence to the California Department of Justice for the Familial DNA Testing Process.

On February 5, 2015, the Sheriff's Department and Escondido Police were notified by DOJ officials that Chavarria was their suspect.

Chavarria originally faced 22 counts and a possible sentence of 300 years to life. He will be sentenced to 100 years to life in prison at a hearing on Jan. 4.
President Donald Trump is responding to a California billionaire who has vowed to spend at least $10 million in advertising calling for the president's impeachment.

Trump is using Twitter to call Tom Steyer "wacky & totally unhinged." He says Steyer "has been fighting me and my Make America Great Again agenda from the beginning," adding the billionaire environmentalist "never wins elections!"

Steyer recently launched the advertising, which has been running on Fox News and other national outlets, arguing that Trump should be ousted from office. Steyer contends Trump is pushing the U.S. toward a nuclear war, is obstructing justice at the FBI and threatening to shut down news organizations he doesn't like.

Steyer wants viewers to call their members of Congress and tell them to bring articles of impeachment.
The threat of nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday, accusing the North of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs and pledging to repel any strike.

In remarks in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at his side, Mattis said North Korea engages in "outlaw" behavior and that the U.S. will never accept a nuclear North.

The Pentagon chief added that regardless of what the North might try, it is overmatched by the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old U.S.-South Korean alliance.

"North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbors and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs," he said, adding that U.S.-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration thus has taken on "a new urgency."

"I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power," Mattis said.

As he emphasized throughout his weeklong Asia trip, which included stops in Thailand and the Philippines, Mattis said diplomacy remains the preferred way to deal with the North.

"With that said," he added, "make no mistake  any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming."

Mattis' comments did not go beyond his recent statements of concern about North Korea, although he appeared to inject a stronger note about the urgency of resolving the crisis.

While he accused the North of "outlaw" behavior, he did not mention that President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his own rhetoric. In August, Trump warned the North not to make any more threats against the United States, and said that if it did, it would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen."

Song said at the news conference that he and Mattis agreed to further cooperation on strengthening Seoul's defense capabilities, including lifting warhead payload limits on South Korean conventional missiles and supporting the country's acquisition of "most advanced military assets." He offered no specifics and refused to answer when asked whether the discussions included nuclear-powered submarines.

Some South Korean government officials have endorsed the nation getting nuclear-powered submarines amid calls for more military strength. There's a growing concern among the South Korean public that North Korea's expanding nuclear weapons arsenal, which may soon include an intercontinental ballistic missile that could target the U.S. mainland, would undermine Seoul's long alliance with Washington.

South Korea's conservative politicians have also called for the United States to bring back tactical nuclear weapons that were withdrawn from the Korean Peninsula in the 1990s. But Mattis and Song were strongly dismissive of the idea.

"When considering national interest, it's much better not to deploy them," said Song, adding that the allies would have "sufficient means" to respond to a North Korean nuclear attack even without placing tactical nuclear weapons in the South. Mattis said current U.S. strategic assets are already providing nuclear deterrence and that the South Korean government has never approached him with the subject of tactical nuclear weapons.

Trump entered office declaring his commitment to solving the North Korea problem, asserting that he would succeed where his predecessors had failed. His administration has sought to increase pressure on Pyongyang through U.N. Security Council sanctions and other diplomatic efforts, but the North hasn't budged from its goal of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including missiles capable of striking the U.S. mainland.

If Trump sticks to his pledge to stop the North from being able to threaten the U.S. with a nuclear attack, something will have to give  either a negotiated tempering of the North's ambitions or a U.S. acceptance of the North as a nuclear power.

The other alternative would be U.S. military action to attempt to neutralize or eliminate the North's nuclear assets - a move fraught with risk for South Korea, Japan and the United States.

Mattis touched off unease in South Korea last month when he told reporters at the Pentagon that the United States has military options for North Korea that doesn't put Seoul at risk. At Saturday's briefing, Mattis didn't offer a direct answer to what those options are or how and when they would be used.

"Our military options as I mentioned are designed to buttress the diplomats' efforts to maintain a deterrence stance and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula," he said. While the allies are committed to deterring North Korea, they also need "many different military options that would realistically reduce that threat as low as possible," Mattis said.

"And yes, we do have those options," he said.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to counter what it believes is a U.S. effort to strangle its economy and overthrow the Kim government.

This was Mattis's second visit to South Korea since taking office in January. He made a point of going to Seoul and Tokyo on his first overseas trip in February, saying he wanted to emphasis the importance he places on strengthening alliances and partnerships.
The Justice Departments new opioid fraud squad, Opioid and Abuse Detection Unit, has gotten its first indictment  a Pittsburgh-area physician who allegedly prescribed heavy-duty painkillers to patients and insisted on being paid in cash.

Andrzej Kazimierz Zielke was indicted this week by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on 14 counts of conspiracy and unlawfully distributing controlled substances, charges that could send the 62-year-old to prison for up to 20 years.

Zielke allegedly wrote prescriptions for oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine sulfate and methadone not for medical purposes at least 13 times and charged about $250 cash to patients who traveled for miles to his holistic pain management practice in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, according to the Department of Justice.

The Opioid and Abuse Detection Unit was unveiled by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in August. It has dispatched teams of prosecutors to opioid-ravaged states like Pennsylvania and uses data to zero-in on doctors who prescribe large amounts of painkillers.


The federal corruption case against Mexican billionaire Jose Susumo Azano Matsura figures to stir up considerable political fallout in San Diegos race for 4th District county supervisor.

Azano claims former San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis knew he's a Mexican citizen, and still sought illegal campaign contributions from him.

Dumanis denies it.

Azano's claims are outlined in the prosecution's sentencing memo, which says he reimbursed dozens of "straw donors" who gave to Dumanis' campaign.

The invoiced code name for her was "Betty Boob".

At Azano's trial, Dumanis testified she never knew he's a foreign national.

On Thursday she issued a statement calling his claims "a common Hail Mary tactic from defense attorneys."

According to the memo, Azano told her he only had a Mexican passport and visa.

While not a "target" of the grand jury, prosecutors listed her as a "subject" within the scope of the investigation.

Azano's goal was said to be electing a mayor whose influence over "red tape and permits could help him develop a resort known as "Miami West" along the downtown waterfront.

And, bringing weight in a legal fight against Sempra Energy over land in Baja California.

Dumanis has five opponents in the race for county supervisor.

The County Democratic Party already has put out mailers attacking her involvement with Azano.

"It seems clear that he wanted to generate a public and law enforcement movement against our largest company in town," said Scott Lewis, editor in chief of NBC 7s media partner Voice of San Diego. "And that's an interesting story that if we could get more answers about, would be fun to update."

According to the prosecutors' sentencing memo, after Dumanis lost in the primary, Azano's team switched political allegiance to Bob Filner.

Some of them moved into the "war room" in Filner's campaign offices to handle social media work.

In the runoff, Filner topped Carl DeMaio by five points.
By AFP

MADRID: Spain was plunged into crisis Friday as Madrid seized power from independence-seeking Catalonia, the first curtailment of regional autonomy since the brutal dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

After regional lawmakers voted to declare a Catalan "republic", Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy moved swiftly to dissolve the rebel government and parliament, and called December 21 elections to replace them.

In an escalating standoff closely watched by secession-wary Europe, Rajoy fired pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont and all his ministers as well as the director of the regional police, and Catalan envoys to Madrid and Brussels, to halt what he termed an "escalation of disobedience."

Secessionist lawmakers voted 70 to 10 in the 135-member parliament Friday to declare Catalonia "a republic in the form of an independent and sovereign state".

They take their mandate from the "Yes" result in a banned and unregulated October 1 independence referendum spurned by many more than half of Catalan electors.

Observers warned of trouble ahead, with Catalan officials and public servants likely to defy orders from caretaker envoys sent by the central government.

"Tensions are likely to rise significantly over the coming days," suggested Teneo Intelligence, a risk analysis group.

"Demonstrators might try to prevent the police from removing Catalan ministers from their offices... This increases the risk of violent clashes," it said in a statement.

'Demolished democracy'



The region of some 7.5 million people accounts for about 16 percent of Spain's population, a fifth of its economic output, and attracts more tourists than anywhere else in the country.

Catalonias inhabitants are fiercely protective of their language, culture and autonomy -- restored after a long period of oppression during nationalist Francos 1936-1979 rule.

In Barcelona, separatists broke out in ecstatic shouts of: "Independence!" and popped bottles of cava, a Catalan sparkling wine, as the outcome of Fridays vote was announced. Separatist MPs cheered and embraced before singing the Catalan anthem.

But any cause for joy was soon nipped in the bud, and shares in Spanish companies, particularly Catalan banks, dropped sharply as the crisis deepened.

"We Spaniards are living through a sad day in which a lack of reason prevailed upon the law and demolished democracy in Catalonia," Rajoy said as he announced steps to "restore normality".

The sweeping measures were approved by the Senate Friday under a constitutional article designed to rein in rebels among Spain's 17 regions.

Madrid's allies in the European Union and the United States rallied behind Madrid as they voiced alarm over developments in Spains worst political crisis in decades.

European Council President Donald Tusk said Madrid "remains our only interlocutor" following the independence vote.

"I hope the Spanish government favours force of argument, not argument of force," he tweeted.

Steffen Seibert, spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said Berlin "does not recongise such a declaration of independence" by Catalonia.

- Battle of wills -

The issue is far from a clear-cut battle of wills between Madrid and Catalonia, however.

Polls show Catalans themselves are split, pretty much down the middle, on the issue of independence from Spain.

Dozens of opposition MPs walked out before Fridays secret ballot in the Catalan parliament, one lamenting "a dark day" for democracy.

Later in the day, hundreds of anti-independence protesters gathered in central Barcelona, chanting "I am Spanish, Spanish!"

Waving the Spanish flag, several demanded Puigdemont be jailed for sedition, even as prosecutors announced they would file "rebellion" charges against him next week.

He risks up to 30 years in jail.

But outside the seat of the Generalitat, the Catalan government, the mood was festive, with fireworks and music.

"We are a free country," revelled Maria Altimira, 65.

Disobedience



Catalan resentment at Madrid's perceived interference has been building for years, compounded by the 2008 economic crisis. Many complain that the region contributes more to the central purse than it gets back.

The UN urged both sides Friday to "seek solutions within the framework of the Spanish constitution, and through established political and legal channels."

But far-left groups have already threatened "massive civil disobedience" if Madrid usurps Catalan autonomy.

"We are likely to see more sustained unrest, possibly including strikes, as well as more serious clashes between national police and pro-independence activists," said Federico Santi, an analyst at Eurasia Group, a US-based politics think-tank.

"The main signpost over the weekend will be whether the regional government refuses to willingly and peacefully step down."

Call for restraint



Puigdemont appealed for calm.

"We will have to maintain the momentum of this country (Catalonia) in the coming hours," he told lawmakers and onlookers in Barcelona after the legislature vote, and urged them to do so in the spirit of "peace, civic responsibility and dignity."

There are deep concerns over the economic impact of the showdown, with nearly 1,700 companies already having moved their legal headquarters out of Catalonia, which has an economic output equivalent to that of Portugal.

MADRID: Spain was plunged into crisis Friday as Madrid seized power from independence-seeking Catalonia, the first curtailment of regional autonomy since the brutal dictatorship of Francisco Franco. After regional lawmakers voted to declare a Catalan "republic", Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy moved swiftly to dissolve the rebel government and parliament, and called December 21 elections to replace them. In an escalating standoff closely watched by secession-wary Europe, Rajoy fired pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont and all his ministers as well as the director of the regional police, and Catalan envoys to Madrid and Brussels, to halt what he termed an "escalation of disobedience." Secessionist lawmakers voted 70 to 10 in the 135-member parliament Friday to declare Catalonia "a republic in the form of an independent and sovereign state". They take their mandate from the "Yes" result in a banned and unregulated October 1 independence referendum spurned by many more than half of Catalan electors. Observers warned of trouble ahead, with Catalan officials and public servants likely to defy orders from caretaker envoys sent by the central government. "Tensions are likely to rise significantly over the coming days," suggested Teneo Intelligence, a risk analysis group. "Demonstrators might try to prevent the police from removing Catalan ministers from their offices... This increases the risk of violent clashes," it said in a statement. 'Demolished democracy' The region of some 7.5 million people accounts for about 16 percent of Spain's population, a fifth of its economic output, and attracts more tourists than anywhere else in the country. Catalonias inhabitants are fiercely protective of their language, culture and autonomy -- restored after a long period of oppression during nationalist Francos 1936-1979 rule. In Barcelona, separatists broke out in ecstatic shouts of: "Independence!" and popped bottles of cava, a Catalan sparkling wine, as the outcome of Fridays vote was announced. Separatist MPs cheered and embraced before singing the Catalan anthem. But any cause for joy was soon nipped in the bud, and shares in Spanish companies, particularly Catalan banks, dropped sharply as the crisis deepened. "We Spaniards are living through a sad day in which a lack of reason prevailed upon the law and demolished democracy in Catalonia," Rajoy said as he announced steps to "restore normality". The sweeping measures were approved by the Senate Friday under a constitutional article designed to rein in rebels among Spain's 17 regions. Madrid's allies in the European Union and the United States rallied behind Madrid as they voiced alarm over developments in Spains worst political crisis in decades. European Council President Donald Tusk said Madrid "remains our only interlocutor" following the independence vote. "I hope the Spanish government favours force of argument, not argument of force," he tweeted. Steffen Seibert, spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said Berlin "does not recongise such a declaration of independence" by Catalonia. - Battle of wills - The issue is far from a clear-cut battle of wills between Madrid and Catalonia, however. Polls show Catalans themselves are split, pretty much down the middle, on the issue of independence from Spain. Dozens of opposition MPs walked out before Fridays secret ballot in the Catalan parliament, one lamenting "a dark day" for democracy. Later in the day, hundreds of anti-independence protesters gathered in central Barcelona, chanting "I am Spanish, Spanish!" Waving the Spanish flag, several demanded Puigdemont be jailed for sedition, even as prosecutors announced they would file "rebellion" charges against him next week. He risks up to 30 years in jail. But outside the seat of the Generalitat, the Catalan government, the mood was festive, with fireworks and music. "We are a free country," revelled Maria Altimira, 65. Disobedience Catalan resentment at Madrid's perceived interference has been building for years, compounded by the 2008 economic crisis. Many complain that the region contributes more to the central purse than it gets back. The UN urged both sides Friday to "seek solutions within the framework of the Spanish constitution, and through established political and legal channels." But far-left groups have already threatened "massive civil disobedience" if Madrid usurps Catalan autonomy. "We are likely to see more sustained unrest, possibly including strikes, as well as more serious clashes between national police and pro-independence activists," said Federico Santi, an analyst at Eurasia Group, a US-based politics think-tank. "The main signpost over the weekend will be whether the regional government refuses to willingly and peacefully step down." Call for restraint Puigdemont appealed for calm. "We will have to maintain the momentum of this country (Catalonia) in the coming hours," he told lawmakers and onlookers in Barcelona after the legislature vote, and urged them to do so in the spirit of "peace, civic responsibility and dignity." There are deep concerns over the economic impact of the showdown, with nearly 1,700 companies already having moved their legal headquarters out of Catalonia, which has an economic output equivalent to that of Portugal.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

A few snow showers scattered about the area this evening, otherwise a good deal of clouds. Low 29F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 30%..

Tonight

A few snow showers scattered about the area this evening, otherwise a good deal of clouds. Low 29F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 30%.
Before his untimely passing in October of 2011 at the age of 56, Steve Jobs and Apple contributed unimaginably to technology integrated into our daily lives as we know it today. Jobs turned computers and technology from objects for industrial use into objects of art and aesthetic design. Steve Jobs endeavoured to Think Different; so did Apple, and thanks to them, many other organizations and individuals did as well.

BMW similarly chose to think different when developing the Z8 throughout the 1990s and into the cars regular production in the early 2000s. Modern amenities were abundant and with 400 bhp on tap, those lucky enough to own a Z8 new were left wanting for nothing. Widely considered by many to be one of the most attractive cars of the 2000s, it quickly became a bonafide modern collectable.

2000 BMW Z8 with Motorola phone used by Steve Jobs. (Image: RM Sotheby's)

While not known to be a car enthusiast per se, Steve Jobs did have a penchant for German automobiles and design, owning both BMW automobiles and motorcycles. Jobs was convinced to buy a Z8 by Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, who informed Jobs that the car was a paragon of modern automotive engineering and reflective of Steves own products and psyche.

Jobs Z8 was delivered in his signature, minimalist style and colour, finished in Titanium over a Black leather interior. With a production date of April 1, 2000, the car was delivered to him on October 6th of that year. The cars California license plate number as 4NKE073 at this time.

Jobs kept the car until 2003 before it was sold to the current owner, based outside of Los Angeles. This individual subsequently kept the car for about one year, before deciding to sell the car onto its third owner, a tech executive, in September of 2004. In April of 2006, the car returned to its current (now second and fourth) owner and it has remained with him ever since.

2000 BMW Z8 cabin. (Image: RM Sotheby's)

Over the course of the last seventeen years, the car has been driven just 15,200 miles from new, averaging less than 1,000 miles a year. The car comes with a plethora of important accessories, including its proper hardtop and hardtop stand, car cover, two keys, navigation CDs, and  most significantly, its original BMW-branded Motorola cell phone, used by Jobs. Interestingly enough, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Jobs was known to have hated the Motorola phone

Without a doubt, BMWs most iconic car of the 21st century, at its time the Z8 was the pinnacle of BMW design and technology, and it is not surprising that the car attracted the attention of someone like Steve Jobs.

The car is on the auction now and the owner is looking somewhere between $300,000 and $400,000 for this one-off product. That's approximately Rs 3 crore and going by Job's own company's product, that amount of money can fetch you 300 iPhone Xs in India.

Also Watch:
New Delhi: Florence Parly, the French Minister for the Armed Forces, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. Parly, who concluded her three-day visit to India on Saturday, spoke to the Prime Minister about areas of mutual cooperation in the defence sector. The meeting with the PM came a day after Parly met her Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman at the Ministry of Defence in South Block, New Delhi.

Mrs. Parly briefed the Prime Minister about developments in bilateral defence cooperation. The Prime Minister said that defence cooperation is one of the key pillars of the Strategic Partnership between India and France, and called for greater cooperation in the Make in India framework in defence manufacturing and joint research & development, a statement from the Prime Ministers Office said.

The PM also told Parly that he hoped to receive French President Emanuel Macron at his earliest continence. On Friday, the defence ministers of the two countries met and discussed areas of mutual cooperation. They, too, discussed defence partnership under the PMs Make in India doctrine. A Defence Ministry statement said, The two Ministers also comprehensively reviewed developments in defence equipment and industry cooperation, where France is a major partner. They agreed to strongly support projects for defence manufacturing under the Make in India initiative as well as promote defence technology and R&D cooperation.

Crucially, they discussed Indo-French Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The statement added, The Ministers reiterated their strong intention to further expand bilateral cooperation on counter- terrorism. Recognising the growing significance of maritime security in the Indo-Pacific and the need for greater maritime domain awareness, India and France will further expand information sharing arrangements building upon the Technical Arrangement on Exchange of White Shipping information signed earlier this year, a Defence Ministry statement said.

This came just hours after the Naval Commanders conference concluded on Friday, where the Indian Navy resolved to step up its presence in the Indian Ocean Region. During the conference, Indian Navy Commanders discussed sustained presence and mission based deployment of Indian ships in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The move is being seen as a counter to keep Chinese presence in the IOR in check, particularly after tensions between the two nations were high following the Doklam standoff.
Ahmedabad: Hardik Patel on Saturday asked the Congress to make its stand clear on reservation for Patidars by November 3.

Hardik has put forward a set of demands before the Congress as a pre-condition for extending support to the party in the Gujarat Assembly elections.

He also said that Patidars would oppose Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during one of his visit to Surat on November 3, just like they did during BJP president Amit Shahs rallies in the city.

"3/11/2017 tak Congress Patidar ko Samvedhanik aarakshan kaise dengi, us mudde par apna stand clear kar de nahi to Amit Shah jaisa mamla Surat mein hoga (Congress should make its stand clear by November 3 on how it will provide reservation to the Patidar community under the Constitution, otherwise the Amit Shah episode will be repeated in Surat)," he tweeted.

In September last year, Shah had faced a strong opposition from the workers of the Hardik-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) during his visit to Surat. Dozens of PAAS workers had disrupted a function which was being attended by the BJP chief.

Dinesh Bambhaniya, a PAAS convener, said the organisation and the community it represented would take a call on whether to support the Congress in the Assembly polls only after the opposition party made its stand clear on the issue.

He asserted that Hardik or anyone else from the PAAS had no plans to meet Rahul Gandhi until the Congress convinced the Patidar leaders as regards how would it ensure reservation for the community.

"First, the Congress will have to make its stand clear regarding reservation and only after that shall we talk to Rahul Gandhi...He is visiting Surat on November 3 and we can oppose him like we did to Amit Shah," Bambhaniya said.

Hardik (24) had recently met Congress' Gujarat affairs in-charge Ashok Gehlot and presented a list of demands to him, including reservation and a maximum number of poll tickets for the Patidar community members.

The Congress has so far maintained that it will offer a 20-per cent reservation to the economically backward classes (EBC), without disturbing the 49-per cent reservation given to the scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST) and other backward classes (OBC).

Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said, "We have said that without touching the 49 per cent reservation for the SCs, STs and OBCs, we will offer a 20-per cent reservation to the EBCs in the state, who have been affected by the privatisation of the health sector and other institutions under the BJP rule."

"This 20 per cent EBC quota will not be a lollipop offer like the one made by the BJP, which was rejected by the high court. Our reservation ordinance will be a well thought-out one and based on a scientific survey," he added.

The Gujarat Assembly polls are scheduled to be held in two phases -- on December 9 and December 14.

(With PTI Inputs)
New Delhi: The biggest challenge and the top priority in Kashmir are to deradicalise Kashmiri youth and militants and prevent it from turning into a Syria of India, says Dineshwar Sharma, the newly-named interlocutor for talks in Jammu and Kashmir.

An old Kashmir hand, who headed the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for two years from December 2015, Sharma says his mission to bring an end to violence would also include talking to anyone "even a rickshaw puller or a cart puller" who can contribute so that peace is ushered in the state "as soon as possible".

He says he is personally pained to see the path Kashmiris, particularly youth, have chosen that would only destroy the society.

"I feel the pain and sometimes I become emotional also. I want to see this kind of violence ends as soon as possible from all sides. The youth of Kashmir like Zakir Musa (Kashmir Al Qaeda chief) and Burhan Wani (slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander) get hype when they talk about (establishing Islamic) Caliphate," Sharma told IANS in an interview, referring to the new-age Kashmir militant commanders.

He said the way youth of Kashmir were moving, "which is radicalisation", would ultimately "finish the Kashmir society itself.

"I am worried about the people of Kashmir. If all this picked up, the situation will be like Yemen, Syria and Libya. People will start fighting in so many groups. So, it is very important that everybody, all of us, contribute so that suffering of Kashmiris end.

"I will have to convince the youth of Kashmir that they are only ruining their future and the future of all Kashmiris in the name of whether they call it azadi (independence), Islamic caliphate or Islam. You can take examples like Pakistan, Libya, Yemen or any country where such things are going. They have become the most violent places in the world. So, I want to see that it doesn't happen in India."

The former IPS officer, who led the spy agency's "Islamist Terrorism Desk" between 2003 and 2005, was named on Monday to open talks in a bid to end the nearly three-decade-old insurgency in Kashmir.

When the IB was investigating the fledgling modules of the Islamic State in Kerala, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh in 2015, Sharma is widely known to have advocated a policy of arresting the problem by counselling and reforming, instead of arresting the potential recruits of the global terror network.

The soft-spoken intelligence veteran is known to have established friendly relationships with arrested militants in a bid to reform them when he was Assistant Director IB from 1992-94 - the time when militancy was at its peak in Jammu and Kashmir.

Serving in Kashmir as an IB man, Sharma was instrumental in the arrest of then Hizbul Mujahideen commander Master Ahsan Dar in 1993 after he broke away from Syed Salahuddin  the Hizb chief based in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

He recalled how he had met Dar in Srinagar jails and how the militant commander asked him to bring his daughter and son to meet him in the prison. "I actually took them to meet him."

Asked if he had identified the way to reach out to the youth in Kashmir, Sharma said he was still working out the modalities.

"I am open to talking to everybody. Anybody who believes in peace and wants to come and give me some ideas how to go about, I am willing to listen. He can be an ordinary student, ordinary youth, a rickshawala or a thelawala with some good idea. I will consider that."

He was asked if he had started reaching out to Hurriyat leaders, who have maintained silence over his appointment even though they had dropped hints in their statements about engaging in "constructive" talks with the government of India after some of their aides were arrested in terror funding case.

Sharma cautiously replied: "Let me see. I am ready to talk to everybody. Anybody who wants to contribute to peace."

Replying to a query that radicalisation of Kashmiri youth was a more recent phenomenon than the problem of Kashmir itself, Sharma said the state was almost at peace before the 2008 unrest over a land row and the 2016 wave of violent street protests after the killing of Burhan Wani.

"Somehow the minds of youths and students have been diverted somewhere else. That is the point of address. I have seen the violence in Kashmir from very close quarters. I was posted in Srinagar. So the kind of violence I have seen, I am really pained. I am very sad."

Commenting on the previous attempts by the government of nominating peace emissaries and other initiatives to solve the problem, he said he would "desperately like to try some new ideas".

"I am studying the reports (of previous interlocutors) but other than that I am trying to see some new ideas."

Kashmir is not Sharma's first assignment of brokering peace. In June this year, he was tasked to initiate a dialogue with insurgent groups in Assam, including the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and those representing Bodos.

Asked over any difference between his previous peace brokering assignment and the new one, he said; "The big difference is that there is not any involvement of Pakistan and any third country in the northeast."
New Delhi: At a time when Congress is in the process of elevating Rahul Gandhi to the post of party president, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for national debate on intra-party democracy.

Without naming any individual or party, the PM said intra-party democracy was essential to a healthy democracy in India as ultimately those who participate in and run the democratic institutions comes from the political parties.

At some stage, media should study how different parties organisational structure functions, how their leaders are chosen, how new generation is given opportunity there should a debate on whether democratic values are part of a party or not, Modi told a gathering of journalists at BJPs annual Diwali Milan Samaroh in New Delhi.

The PM said common man was still not very familiar how different political parties function and while media was successful in raising issues related to funding of political parties, there was need for more journalism on party organizations.

Modi said in the past party leadership and cadre used to be on the same page, but now due to massive scale and diversity often multiple voices are heard within a party, including BJP. Its necessary for democracy that inter-party democracy evolves in India, he said.

The PM praised medias role in not only covering but also promoting Swachh Bharat Mission and said it was an example of how journalists could help in solving Indias longstanding problems.
Mumbai: Dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar have broken their silence after their acquittal in the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case two weeks ago and said its a "little scary" to step back into society after the long confinement.

They had walked out of Dasna jail in Ghaziabad on October 16 after being absolved of the charge of murdering their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj by the Allahabad High Court.

In a special 19 minute-long interview to online streaming app Hotstar, the couple said that getting back into the society after the long stay in prison has been difficult. They were in jail for the last four years after a CBI Special Court held them guilty of murdering Aarushi and destroying the evidence.

After being confined for so long, you suddenly come into freedom or you suddenly step out... we could see a lot of people outside, we could see that this had attracted a lot of attention. It is a little scary to face people, face the world, go back into the world, into society, its difficult, its something you have to slowly learn, Rajesh said.

Describing the moment when they received the news of their acquittal, he said he was first informed by some boys in the jail. It was like a big weight was lifted from my back, he said. Nupur described it as a miracle and said other inmates had been very supportive.

Rajesh said that the first two years in jail had been the toughest. Confinement is not an easy thing to face. Its losing your freedom and facing stigma.

He said that it was at this time that a friend offered them advice to work for others in the jail. He said that friend has stood by them. I am helpful to the friend who helped both of us to face world in better way and gave us the confidence to step out.

The couple talked about Aarushi and described her as a kind, affectionate and talented kid. Nupur said that even though they felt relief on being vindicated by the high court, their daughters death is one tragedy they cant push past.

Its been very difficult for the last nine and a half years since this incident. And we are still standing there. You try to seek happiness, relief or consolation from helping others, people in suffering, helping little girls. It is not something that is easy to face. Its an adversity thats very difficult to face. We have just survived, thats all, said Rajesh.

The Talwars always maintained that they had nothing to do with the horrific killing of their daughter or domestic help Hemraj.
New Delhi: Justice Arun Mishra, who headed the bench that approved the new worship norms for  Ujjain's Mahakal temple, observed that the lifestyle of pandas (priests) there may even shock "princes" and foreigners.

Justice Mishra, who is also from Madhya Pradesh and has reportedly visited the jyotirlingam too, questioned the infighting among the pandas even though they lived in all kinds of luxuries.

"Pandas are living luxurious lifestyle... even the foreigners will be shocked looking at their lifestyle," observed the judge on Friday, as he heard the matter relating to preservation of the Lord Mahakal idol in the Sanctum santorum.

He added: "There are some such well-furnished guest houses for pandas of the temple that even princes cannot have.. air-conditioned with facilities."

Justice Mishra remarked that pandas appear to have "full hold" on the temple and that they even offered services to devotees according to the latter's status.

"There are different categories of facilities provided by pandas...some are for VIPs; some are for foreigners and some other for locals," he said.

Giving further an impression that the judge was quoting from his personal experience, Justice Mishra added: "I remember that one hall was air-conditioned but due to not improper ventilation, that was not working."

As the bench approved the eight-point resolution passed by the temple management committee, Justice Mishra urged the pandas and others related to managing the affairs of the temple to shed confrontation in the interest of preserving the deity and for setting an example for other temples in the country by adopting all steps for upgrading facilities for the devotees.

Notably, the case in the top court arises out of infighting between two factions over temple management.
PM Narendra Modi addressed mediapersons at the BJPs annual Diwali Milan Samaroh for members of the press. The PM started off his speech on a nostalgic note, recalling the days when he used to regularly interact with mediapersons while working at the BJP headquarters.

Heres a recap of the event:

Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here.
Bengaluru: The Art of Living Foundation has said that its founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has been in touch with several imams and swamis, including Acharya Ram Das of Nirmohi Akhara, to help find an out-of-court settlement to the Ram temple dispute.

The Foundation, however, said it was too early to draw any conclusions and that these discussions were not done on behalf of the government.

"Ravi Shankar has been in touch with several imams and swamis, including Acharya Ram Das of Nirmohi Akhara," the Art of Living Foundation said in a statement in Bengaluru.

"Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is of the view that the prevailing mood on the Ram Mandir issue provides an opportunity for people from both communities to come together, show their magnanimity and settle the dispute out of court," it added.

The Foundation said these discussions, not done on behalf of any government or organisation, had brought to the fore the positive energy and willingness of leaders from both communities to move forward and arrive at an amicable solution.

However, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has reportedly denied holding any meeting with Ravi Shankar.

The Board on Friday said it was ready to talk to Ravi Shankar if he wanted, for they would not have any issue in having a conversation and in helping find a solution.

The Allahabad High Court, in 2010, had ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77-acre area at Ayodhya among Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and Lord Ram Lalla.

The Supreme Court decided to reopen the hearing after based on 13 appeals filed against the 2010 judgement in four civil suits. It is all set to hear the historic Babri Masjid-Ram Temple case from December 5.
Lucknow: The sale of meat and liquor has been banned in Vrindavan and Barsana which were declared pilgrimage sites by the Yogi Adityanath government on Friday.

Vrindavan area in Mathura is the birthplace of Lord Krishna and his elder brother Balram and is a world-famous site. Barsana is Radha's birthplace. Lakhs of tourists visit these places to pay obeisance. Keeping in mind their importance and in view of tourism, these are declared as holy pilgrimage places, an official release issued by the state government said.

Special attention will be paid to these areas for development of facilities for locals and tourists, it said.

Mathura-Vrindavan Nagar Nigam was constituted recently along with Ayodhya Nagar Nigam.

According to Avanish Awasthi, Chief Secretary, Information, Tourism and Religious Affairs, the declaration means the sale of meat and liquor will be banned in both places.

The declaration was made at the eleventh hour as the State Election Commission announced civic polls in three phases from November 22.

(with PTI inputs)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ordered for creating special centres for vulnerable witnesses in all the states to ascertain that they get suitable environment to testify.

The order came as the apex court adjudicated an appeal by the Maharashtra government against acquittal of a man of rape charge.

The accused was acquitted primarily because the victim was deaf and dumb, and also mentally infirm. She could not take the witness box to depose and hence, the accused got acquitted

Setting aside the acquittal order, a bench of Justices Adarsh K Goel and Uday U Lalit sentenced the accused to jail for seven years on the basis of sufficient circumstantial evidence, and also decided to bring about the necessary improvements in the trial processes concerning such vulnerable witnesses

The bench asked all the high courts to undertake the task and see to it that preferably, all the districts have such centres.

To begin with, the bench has directed the 24 high courts to set up at least two such centres within their jurisdiction in the next three months.

Setting up of one centre for vulnerable witnesses may be perhaps required almost in every district in the country. All the High Courts may take appropriate steps in this direction in due course in phases, stated the order.

Advocate Shirin Khajuria, who was appointed as the amicus curiae to assist the court, and Maharashtra governments chief standing counsel Nishant Katneshwarkar cited a 2004 SC ruling that talked about certain safeguards during deposition of a child witness in a sexual assault case.

The lawyers also pointed out that the Delhi High Court has taken the lead by issuing necessary instructions on creation of centres for vulnerable witnesses.

The bench then said that all high courts should now ensure special centres for vulnerable witnesses so that they could depose in conducive environment and justice does not suffer because of the system's inability to give them appropriate opportunities.
Washington: The US wants to deepen the military relationship and expand bilateral trade with India which will ease the sale of the F-16 and F-18 jets and will also help create a defence technology partnership, a top American diplomat has said.

"This is a dynamic relationship with reality" hasn't "begun to see the potential yet," Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs and Acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Alice G Wells, told reporters.

Wells accompanied Tillerson on his just-concluded trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

"This was an extremely friendly, very wide-ranging dialogue on how we can partner together on the strategic relationship that we think is going to define the rest of the 21st century," Wells said.

While there was a bilateral component to the visit, but they talked about how the two countries with shared values a respect for democracy, transparency, freedom of navigation, for economic development can inculcate these values in the broader Indo-Pacific region, working with important partners like Japan and Australia.

"Tillerson's visit to Gandhi Smriti was very moving, and again, really was a touchstone for what unites that this relationship is very much one built on values," she said adding that the Secretary of State laid out a lot of ambitions for the relationship.

"We want to build on the June visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the President, and just say, How do we take this relationship to the next level?" she said.

"Obviously, we'd like to deepen the military-to-military cooperation that has moved very quickly; over the last decade we've gone from zero in defence sales to 15 billion in defence sales," Wells said.

"There are important defence agreements that the two countries can move forward on that will make it easier for the US to share classified data and that will facilitate sales like the F-16 or the F-18 and will help create a defence technology partnership, which is what India is seeking, but which will also create jobs for Americans at home," she said.

"We'd like to expand the bilateral trade and investment dimension of the relationship. We have about UD 115 billion in trade, USD 40 billion in bilateral investment," she said noting that this week they have two important meetings going on, the Trade Policy Forum and the Commercial Dialogue.

The US sees this as a two-way street. In November Mahindra is opening an auto plant in Michigan.

"We've seen purchases of Boeing aircraft, all of which produce, again, thousands of jobs for American citizens," Wells said.

Later in November the Global Entrepreneurship Summit to be attended by Ivanka Trump, which is going to bring together 1,300 entrepreneurs and investors, really demonstrate the entrepreneurial spirit of the relationship.

"During his India visit, Tillerson focused on how they can promote regional stability. In the South Asia strategy, we've given an important role to India on helping to stabilise Afghanistan economically and to build its human resource capacity," Wells said.

"Since 2001, India has invested USD 2 billion in Afghanistan. They've pledged another USD 1 billion by 2020. India has projects in 31 provinces and all of these projects have been very well received. They're constructive, and I think it's demonstrated that India is an important and valuable partner," she said.

"At the same time, of course, we've made it clear to everyone that we would never tolerate anyone's soil being used against the other," she added.

Finally, on the fight against terrorism, building on the joint designation we did of Harakat ul-Mujahidin during Prime Minister Modi's visit, we're looking forward to working with the Indians on identifying additional designations that we should pursue together," Wells said.
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is largely dependent on MiG 21s and MiG 27s, but the Soviet-era aircraft are fast becoming obsolete and reports of malfunction are not uncommon. So bad is the condition of the MiG that it has earned the ominous epithet Flying Coffin and Widow-maker. To replace the fleet, India is set to buy 126 aircraft and one of the contenders for the mammoth deal is US-based defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The firm is vying not only for the F-16 Block 70 contract, but is also looking to shift the entire production line to India.

News18 spoke to Lockheed Martin National Executive for India Abhay Paranjape and Integrated Fighter Group Director of Business Development Randall Howard on what the deal means for Prime Minister Narendra Modis Make in India plan and why the F-16 is best suited to meet Indias defence needs.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was in India recently and said the country was a major defence partner. What does that entail and where does the Indo-US defence partnership go from here?

Abhay Paranjape: We can talk about it from our perspective because we are talking about shifting the entire F16 production line to India, where all future F16s sold around the world will be made in the Indian production line. That solidifies and strengthens the relationship between the two countries like never before.

There are fears that American firms may not be willing to part with proprietary technology. Where do you stand on the technology transfer issue?

Abhay Paranjape: Every company will have proprietary issues that will need to be addressed between two companies. We are confident that we will be able to resolve that. What we need to protect, we will protect. What Indian companies need to protect, they will also protect. Technology transfer is not just a one-way handover of technology.

Indian companies already have a lot of technology that theyve developed. But how do we take it to the next level, to being a global player? That is where LM (Lockheed Martin) has excelled in the past. We have built F16s in the past in multiple countries. We will continue to bring in industries from around the world into India and will continue to expand industries from India into this global supply chain. And Indian industries will become an integral part of the global supply chain for F16s.

But without technology transfer, India will end up being a backend workshop for Lockheed Martin. What does India stand to gain technologically?

Abhay Paranjape: The Block 70 is the latest variant of the F16, which is what we are offering. Besides, the Block 70 wont be the last. There will be future upgrades which will be technologically more advanced and the Indian industry will be right in the middle of defining what that future will look like. So Indian industry is not just going to make components for 100 Indian aircraft, it will be part of defining what the future of this aircraft will look like.

You have a joint venture with Tata. What do they bring to the table?

Abhay Paranjape: We have a joint venture with Tata Advanced Systems Limited. We have signed an agreement with them that we will manufacture this aircraft in India with TASL. What sort of a partnership it will be, those details are yet to be discussed. But what we have seen and experienced is that the LM-Tata team in Hyderabad can build large components of the C-130 and can build them on schedule, on target for price and on target for quality. There is a capability that exists in TASL. We now have the confidence that we can use that as a kernel to build an entire manufacturing ecosystem.

India is the largest arms importer in the world, with manufacturers around the world willing to sell to it. Why is the USA best suited to supply Indias defence needs?

Randall Howard: I think the relationship has been growing for a while. As the two largest democracies in the world, it portends great things for the future. We have great products. America builds and invests in defence products. So the opportunity is for our friends and allies to access those products.

The F16, in particular, the Block 70, is technology that is the result of billions of dollars of investments over time over multiple product lines. So we are taking the tech and putting them on the F16 that come out of the F35. And the tech in the F35 have been developed based on investment in the F22. The technology of the F22 has come from investment in the F117. So there is this circle of technology enhancements and we are taking that now and rolling it back to where it started  the F16.

The opportunity for India is to access this tech, not just for themselves, but also for the global demand.

India has been trying to replace its old fleet. Why is the F16 the best aircraft for that purpose?

Randall Howard: From an aerodynamic perspective, this aircraft accelerates more quickly. The instantaneous G-turn is the same, but the sustained G-turn is better. The aircraft carries more fuel. It goes much further. It carries 30-40% more ordnance.

If you go at 400-500 kmph, how long can an aircraft keep going and protect a particular airspace? You can go 40%, sometimes 50% longer, with an F16. This is one of the reasons so many (F16s) are flying all over the world. That is why customers are saying again and again  I want more F16s. We have had repeat buys 55 times. What weve done with the Block 70 is that we have taken the radar technology of the F35, the very latest and greatest radar tech in the US, and we are putting that in the F16.

One of Lockheed Martins biggest clients is the Pakistan Air Force. Given that India and Pakistan are regional rivals, how does that complicate matters with this deal?

Randall Howard: I think thats a topic to discuss with the two governments. What I would say is that this is a unique opportunity going forward as we focus on the future to put the production of the F16 in India. We are focused on the future. There are many customers. There are 27 countries that fly the F16 and Pakistan is one of them. This is Indias opportunity to have a key and critical role in the future of the F16.

There are fears that PM Modis Make in India will come into conflict with US President Donald Trumps America First. Do you see a conflict emerging?

Randall Howard: We work very closely with the US government on this opportunity. The Prime Minister visited the US recently, the Secretary of Defense was in India and this week, the Secretary of State was in India.

In each case, what youve heard from the US government is strong support for the F16 offer. What this offer means for India is huge in terms of jobs. It will start with 1,000 jobs to just produce the aircraft. But as this industry grows and plays a greater role in the support and sustainment of the 3,000 plus F-16s flying all over the world, it can sustain itself. This is the difference between what LM can offer and what any of our competitors can offer. They may have a few hundred aircraft fielded around the world in a small number of countries, but thousands of F-16s are flown in dozens of countries.

One of the biggest concerns of the Indian Air Force is pilot safety. How does the F16 perform on that front?

Randall Howard: It (F16) has been proven over the years to be as safe as any twin-engine aircraft and the safest single-engine aircraft ever produced. The design philosophy and flight control systems of the aircraft make it nearly impossible to get this aircraft out of control. The aircraft flies almost carefree. We have the very latest in engine technology.

The GE engine on this aircraft is remarkable on the safety record. We will deliver this with an auto ground collision avoidance system. If the pilot blacks out, loses consciousness or has a spatial disorientation issue, what this system does is that using digital terrain data, it knows where it is geospatially, it knows its altitude, it knows its trajectory, it pulls the aircraft up and out and saves the pilot and the aircraft. This is a system that will only come with a LM product.
French foie gras can grace Japanese dinner tables once more, two years after Tokyo banned it following outbreaks of bird flu, French agriculture minister Stephane Travert said Friday. "That's the good news of the night. Japan has allowed the re-introduction on its market of poultry, but also foie gras," Travert told Radio Classique.

Japan is the largest importer of the delicacy, whose production involves force-feeding birds with more food than they would normally eat in the wild, massively engorging their liver.

France, which earns tens of millions of euros (dollars) a year as the top global producer of foie gras, saw exports plunge after the H5N1 virus hit in late 2015. Just as producers were recovering from that crisis a second bird flu virus, H5N8, struck a year ago.

"As of today and in line with World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) guidelines, France has recovered her status of being free of highly pathogenic bird flu," Travert's ministry said in confirming the way to exports was once again clear, for poultry generally and also foie gras."

Japan was the first country to respond to the OIE ruling.
Los Angeles: Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has taken legal action against the Weinstein Company as he wants access to his personnel file and his email account.

He wants access to his records to build his legal defence in the light of recent sexual harassment allegations made against him.

The producer, who has been accused of sexual harassment and rape by a number of women, is demanding access to his emails and personnel file from his time at the company he co-founded, reports variety.com.

Weinstein filed a lawsuit against the company in Delaware, claiming the company has denied his attorney's request for the documents.

"Mr Weinstein believes that his email account which is the primary, if not only, account he used during the term of his employment by the company will contain information exonerating him, and therefore the company, from claims that may be asserted against him or the company," read the filing by Patricia Glaser and a team at Glaser Weil as well as Delaware's Morris James LLP firm for Weinstein.

Weinstein's access to his email id and other material was blocked when he was terminated by the company three days after The New York Times came out with the report on Weinstein's sexual harassment episodes on October 5.

Since that time, around 60 women have come forward to claim Weinstein either sexually harassed or sexually assaulted them.

Weinstein also wants access to his personnel file because he believes some of it has been leaked to the media.

Having that information would allow him to "pursue potential claims against the Company and its Representatives or officers for mismanagement by leaking confidential Company information," the lawsuit states.

In a letter attached to the complaint, Glaser also accuses the board of "a knee-jerk pursuit of a fire sale of the company, all before completing a thorough investigation to discern exactly what did or did not occur".
Katrina Kaif, who is still getting the hang of Instagram, already seems to have become everyone's favourite on social media. Ever since the actress has joined the photo-video sharing app, her fans have been going crazy over her pictures.

Katrina, who is currently shooting in Greece for her upcoming Film Tiger Zinda Hai with Salman Khan, was recently spotted shopping with an adorable kid at the airport.

The film's director Ali Abbas Zafar shared a cute video of the two buying a toy from the shop.

In the clip, Katrina can be seen having a lot of fun with the little munchkin.

"Who is cuter, Katrina or baby?" wrote the director in the caption.

#tigerzindahai #dairies #airport @katrinakaif #baby rocky #who is cuter? A post shared by ali (@aliabbaszafar) on Oct 26, 2017 at 10:23am PDT

I've finally met someone who actually talks more than me ....... much more ..... my mbkd co-star's grown up #tigerzindahai #abudhabi A post shared by Katrina Kaif (@katrinakaif) on Aug 8, 2017 at 10:44am PDT

Apart from Greece, the film has been shot in UAE and Austria.

The movie, which is the sequel to the 2012 film Ek Tha Tiger will see Salman and Katrina reprise their roles as spies Tiger and Zoya. Tiger Zinda Hai is set to release on December 22.

Scenes wrap only one song left .... @aliabbaszafar , that's a very big smile ... #tigerzindahai A post shared by Katrina Kaif (@katrinakaif) on Sep 23, 2017 at 12:51am PDT

#Drama .......the calm before the storm A post shared by Katrina Kaif (@katrinakaif) on Oct 24, 2017 at 9:19am PDT
Congress MP Ahmed Patel is considering filing a defamation suit against Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani after he said that a suspected ISIS operative arrested recently used to work at a hospital where Patel had been a trustee earlier and demanded his resignation.

A source close to Patel said that the political secretary to Sonia Gandhi was in talks with his lawyers to seek advice on filing a criminal defamation case.

Patel also issued a statement rejecting the allegations and said he had resigned as director of the hospital in 2015, a year before the suspected operative joined as an employee. The Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar, too, issued a statement corroborating Patels version.

But ahead of the Gujarat polls in December, the BJP has latched on to the opportunity to pile pressure on the Congress and has also dragged Rahul Gandhi into the controversy.

Rupani said in Gandhinagar that Rahul and Patel owe a clarification to the nation as the matter pertains to national security.

Imagine what would have happened if these two terrorists were not arrested... Patel, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress must come clean on the issue. We also want Patel to resign as Rajya Sabha MP, he demanded.

Congress, on its part, is treading very carefully because of fear of polarisation. Patel in his statement rubbishing the allegations raised the issue of Gujarati pride and commitment to fight terror.

My party and I appreciate the ATS' effort to nab the two terrorists. I demand strict and speedy action against them. The allegations put forward by the BJP are completely baseless, Patel tweeted.

A proposed press conference by Kapil Sibal was also cancelled at the last minute because of fears that it could boomerang.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram then came to the defence of Patel and said he was amazed by the outrageous demands for resignation.

Ahmed Patel was a trustee of the hospital and had resigned in 2015. This person who was arrested seems to have joined the hospital as a technician last year and had resigned a couple of days prior to his arrest, the former Union minister said.

Now, if somebody who has joined in the last one year as a technician has ISIS connect, then how a trustee of three years ago is responsible, he asked.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat Congress also levelled allegations of corruption against the BJP and claimed rules were flouted for the sanction of a township on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.

Senior party leader Arjun Modhwadia alleged that provisions of the General Development Control Regulations (GDCR) where flouted by officials of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) in collusion with Urban Development Minister Urban Development Minister Nitin Patel and his predecessor Anandiben Patel.

Sanction to the Gokuldham Township on the outskirts of Ahmedabad was granted arbitrarily by officials of the AUDA bypassing the CEO. A scam worth over Rs 500 crore was done to grant permission to promoters of Goyal Builders. It is no secret that the promoter of Goyal Builders is a BJP supporter, Modhvadia alleged.
Lucknow: Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh has expressed his desire to campaign for the BJP in the Gujarat Assembly elections.

Singh also took a swipe at Amitabh Bachchan and said the superstar must also campaign in Gujarat. "It will be good for Amitabh Bachchan if he campaigns in Gujarat elections, so far he has only taken benefits from the political parties, Singh told reporters in Varanasi.

Singh, a former close friend of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, had words of praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Today there is no face apart from Narendra Modi in entire country. No leader can stand in front of him when it comes to his stature and popularity.

He also advised SP National President Akhilesh Yadav to give due respect to his father Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Reacting to Amar Singhs comments, Samajwadi Party MLC Sunil Singh Sajan said, Amar Singh speaking about Amitabh Bachchan is like showing lamp to the Sun. He was discreetly working for the BJP, at least now he has opened his cards by saying that he wants to campaign in Gujarat. Our National President Akhilesh Yadav does not need any advice from people like him.

On the Taj Mahal controversy, Amar Singh said that it is a declared mausoleum and reciting Shiva Chalisa is uncalled for. There are some people who are trying to defame PM Modi and are unnecessarily giving controversial statements on Taj Mahal. Just like some people were defaming Modi Ji on the issue of gau raksha.
Raipur: The Chhattisgarh government on Saturday recommended a CBI probe into the "sex CD" row allegedly involving a state minister.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Raman Singh at the Secretariat in Raipur, state's Revenue Minister Prem Prakash Pandey told reporters. He said the Cabinet held a discussion on the purported video and decided to recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the issue.

Accusing the Congress of hatching a conspiracy, the minister said his party has already stated that the CD was fake and even a local TV channel in its report on Saturday mentioned that it has been tampered with.

The matter seems to be a "political and criminal conspiracy" and, therefore, it was decided that by the premier investigation agency should probe it, Pandey said. Asked if Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munot allegedly involved in the row will step down from his post till the investigation gets completed, he said, "How can a state minister influence a CBI probe?"

He said the recommendation to the CBI for the probe has been made on six points including inter-state conspiracy in making the "fake" CD, a high-level technical examination of the alleged video, funding to make it and political and criminal conspiracy.

The alleged sex video sparked a political row in the state with the Congress and the BJP trading charges over the issue.

The matter came to light when senior journalist Vinod Verma was arrested by the Chhattisgarh Police early on Friday morning from his Ghaziabad residence for suspected blackmail and extortion related to a "sex CD".

As Verma was being escorted by the police, he claimed that the Chhattisgarh government was not happy with him as it suspected that he had a "sex CD of Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munot" and suggested he was being framed. Munot called it "fake" and an attempt at character assasination.

According to the Raipur Police, a case of blackmail and extortion was registered at Civil Line police station in Raipur following a complaint by one Prakash Bajaj who said that he "was being harassed over phone by an unidentified caller who told him that he had a CD of his master".

Raipur Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Shukla had claimed that about 500 "porn" CDs, Rs 2 lakh in cash, a pen drive, a laptop and a diary were seized from the journalist's residence, who was picked up at 3.30 am from Mahagun Mansion Apartments in Indirapuram by the state police team with the help of the Ghaziabad Police.

The SP said that Verma has been booked under Section 67 (A) Information Technology (IT) Act for possessing pornographic material.

Munot had demanded that the CD be examined for its genuineness and action taken against those involved in this "conspiracy".

Chhattisgarah BJP spokesperson Shivratan Sharma had alleged that state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel was part of the "conspiracy" involving the "fake CD".

Later on the basis of Munat's complaint, a case was registered against Baghel, Verma and others.

The main opposition Congress had demanded that a probe be conducted by an independent agency under the supervision of the Supreme Court into the "sex video" row.

"The way the ruling BJP has reacted to the (sex CD) matter, it is clear that a government agency cannot probe this issue," Baghel had said during a press conference.
Thane: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has said that half the credit for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's victory in the last Lok Sabha polls goes to Rahul Gandhi as his mocking the then Gujarat chief minister did not go down well with voters.

Thackeray, however, said that current trends and reports indicate that the ruling BJP could lose the upcoming Assembly election in Gujarat.

"Fifty per cent credit for Narendra Modi's victory in the 2014 general elections goes to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. The way he mocked Modi during the campaign, helped the latter win the polls," Thackeray told reporters at Kalyan near here last night.

Of the rest, 15 per cent was due to the social media, around 10-20 per cent credit would go to the BJP workers and also the RSS and the remaining was because of Modi's personal charisma, he said.

Thackeray's comment comes in the wake of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut saying that Gandhi was capable of leading the country and that the 'Modi wave' had faded.

"Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is capable of leading the country. It is wrong to call him 'Pappu'," Raut had said referring to the Hindi name used to mock the Congress vice- president by a section on social media to claim he was immature in politics.

On the Gujarat election, Thackeray said, "The recent trends as well as reports indicate that the ruling party is likely to lose the elections."

"Some visuals of Modi's public meetings are doing the round, which show that people are leaving the venue in groups during his address, which had never happened in the past. Even from this, one gets a message," he said.

Despite this, if the BJP gets more than 150 seats, it should be considered a miracle by the electronic voting machines (EVMs), he said.

Election to the 182-member Assembly in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 9 and 14, and the results will be declared on December 18.

Thackeray also alleged that the Election Commission had "inordinately" delayed the announcement of Gujarat election dates under a lot of pressure.

"The Election Commission and other statutory bodies should work independently. But it does not happen here," he said.

On his party forcibly evicting hawkers from suburban railway stations in Mumbai, he said the MNS workers were not being given their due credit.

"In fact, the administration can do it (evict hawkers), but it does not want to do so for various reasons," he said.
Amaravati: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) suffered a setback in Telangana on Saturday as the state working president and MLA, A Revanth Reddy, quit the party saying the recent happenings in the state unit pained him.

Revanth, who flew down to Vijayawada for a meeting with TDP supremo and Andhra Padesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, is understood to have handed over his resignation letter to Naidu's private secretary and immediately left for Hyderabad.

When asked about it, Chandrababu Naidu told reporters that he has not received Revanth's resignation letter.

"Resignations are not new in TDP. Some people take decisions in their own interests," he remarked.

Revanth was arrested in the "cash-for-vote" case after he was caught on camera allegedly offering money to a nominated MLA for his vote in the MLC election in 2015.

For the past few days, there has been a turmoil in Telangana TDP with reports claiming that Revanth, who is an MLA from Kodangal in Mahbubnagar district, met Rahul Gandhi and was about to join the Congress.

Revanth also caused a stir by accusing some leaders of Andhra Pradesh TDP, including two ministers, of securing huge financial contracts from the TRS government in Telangana.

He, however, maintained a stoic silence over his future plans and had been saying that he would speak directly with Chandrababu Naidu upon the CM's return from abroad.

He met Chandrababu Naidu in Hyderabad yesterday, but the TDP chief summoned Revanth and other party leaders from Telangana for a detailed meeting in Vijayawada today.

Revanth flew down to Vijayawada, visited the Kanaka Durga temple and came to the CM's camp office for the meeting.

As the chief minister's arrival was delayed, the rebel leader handed over his resignation letter to Chandrababu Naidu's PS and left for Hyderabad.

Chandrababu was later closeted in a meeting with other leaders from Telangana.
New Delhi: With the October 23 announcement made by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh of appointing former director of Intelligence Bureau, Dineshwar Sharma, to resume political engagement with Kashmir, questions are being asked about governments policy towards Kashmir.

Is this appointment an admission of failure of its muscular Kashmir policy? What has prompted this new level of engagement with Kashmiri leaders? Will the government appointed representative, Sharma, talk to the separatists?

To answer these questions we turned to none other than BJPs in-charge of Kashmir and North East  Ram Madhav.

In this interview with News18, Madhav says that government of Indias representative will speak to the Hurriyat if it wants, that the dialogue initiated through Dineshwar Sharma cannot be an unending process, and claims that BJP governments policy towards Kashmir has always remained consistent.

Do you think the situation in Kashmir is more fragile than ever before?

No the situation isnt fragile anymore. Things have gradually settled down. Normal political activity has also started. The state government coalition of BJP and PDP is now focusing more and more on development.

So why has a special representative been appointed then?

A special representative has been appointed to talk to different groups in the state. You see, from our side, from the home minister's side, we have always said that the governments doors are always open for the groups which want to talk to the government. It also should be understood that these talks cannot be held by the Home Minister or somebody from that level. So the government has decided that Dineshwar Sharma will be government of Indias representative to talk to different groups. Talking was never an option that we had closed.

All we had said was that you cannot indulge in violence and also expect to hold a dialogue with us. Now if you genuinely feel the need to engage in talks with the government of India, Sharma is our representative.

You know you are talking about holding a sustained dialogue a time when security forces are seen to have an upper hand in the valley. Is the initiation of a dialogue process an acknowledgement that your muscular approach in the valley has failed?

I won't call it a muscular approach. I will only say that tackling Kashmir insurgency and terrorism issues calls for multi-pronged approach. So different activities will be carried out simultaneously. One of them is to tackle terrorists through strong military action.

What is the brief of Dineshwar Sharma? Does it also include talking to the Hurriyat?

As Home Minister himself has announced, Dineshwar Sharma will be talking to all the stake-holders who are willing to come forward and talk. In that if Hurriyat wants to come forward and talk to him, I am sure he will be open to it. Now whether Hurriyat is willing to talk to is a question you have to ask them.

But does it not signal a complete shift from your approach towards Hurriyat leadership. Lets not forget that there is an NIA led investigation against Hurriyat leadership also going on?

Whoever is indulging in anti-national activities in the valley, whether in the form of indulging in terrorism or in the form of promoting it, sponsoring it, supporting it we will catch up with them. That will continue. But if somebody wants to come and talk to the central government as Ive said earlier, they can come and talk.

So is this also an acknowledgement that the solution of the Kashmir problem is through dialogue?

As Ive said, the Kashmir problem requires a multi-pronged approach. You will talk to sections that are ready to engage with you, but you will deal with sections, which are indulging in terror, in an appropriate manner also. So one has to understand that it not an either/or situation.

How is your initiative different from that taken up by UPA II?

It is very different. Some people say we have taken a U-turn. No, there is no U-turn in our policy towards Kashmir. We have one window open for those who want to talk to the government of India. There is a representative, he will try to engage with all sections.

But the opposition is saying, and here Im quoting Ghulam Nabi Azad, is that the government is doing it at the fag-end of its tenure. And that this exercise is being done only for publicity, and that you really do not have a Kashmir policy. How do you respond to this criticism?

They had a great Kashmir policy which has landed the state in such a big turmoil and complete mess. This is the result of the so-called Kashmir policy of the Congress government. Today in power, we are employing various approaches in tackling the problem of Kashmir and we are sure that at the end of the day we will have an amicable solution to the problem.

If I were to stay with Ghulam Nabi Azads quote a for a few more moments, he has also said that in the last three-and-a-half years there seems to be some confusion in BJPs K policy. Otherwise you wouldnt have lost hundreds of civilians and security forces in the valley.

No, in the last three-and-a-half-years the policy has been absolutely consistent. If Azad is talking about losing people, let me remind him that when he was the Chief Minister, we lost crores of people. When he handed over the power to his alliance partners we had Amarnath land row in which 100 people were killed. So let him not lecture us about losing people.

Under their government, the loss of innocent lives has been maximum. Under this government, yes people are dying, but those who are dying are terrorists. And if Azad's sympathy is with terrorists, I can't help it. We are trying our best that civilian casualties are kept to a minimum.

You know there is a lot of criticism about your appointment of a former cop as a representative of the government to hold talks. Why did you choose a former IB chief? Why not somebody from the civil society?

First of all, I haven't seen any major criticism from the valley as such. People sitting in Delhi, leaders of certain political parties are responsible for the sad situation in the valley. They are making all sorts of noises in Delhi. In the valley, there is generally a hope that a window to talk to the government has opened. Our initiative is already receiving good reception from the valley. There is no criticism. Those who are criticising it are doing it for political reasons. And the decision to appoint him was taken by the honourable Prime Minister, Home Minister after due consultations. If a competent person is available to us then why not?

A section of Kashmir experts are of the view that for a long term solution to Kashmir you will have to talk to Pakistan. Now that you have taken the firsts step of appointing an interlocutor in the valley, is talking to Pakistan also an option open to your government?

There are way too many Kashmir experts in Delhi, which one are you talking about I do not know. But yes we will talk to Pakistan about Kashmir. There is a resolution of the Indian Parliament that we have to talk to them about the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. If those experts mean that we have to talk about PoK then we have no problem. Otherwise the Kashmir issue is an internal matter of our government. We will talk to the people of the state, to different groups of the state. No outside power has any locus standi on it.

Do you think that this dialogue with Kashmir could also begin a process of reviewing AFSPA as well?

These are two different issues. There is a process of review that happens on a regular basis. But these two things have no link. AFSPA is needed there and that's why it is there.

There is a narrative on the ground, and Im quoting the states Director General of Police where he said, that mainstream parties in the valley do not talk about India. How do you look at this comment? Dont you think that the mainstream political parties, including the PDP should be drilling that point that Kashmiris should look at India as their own country?

Honestly, I have not seen the statement, but I have heard about it. As far as I know, the mainstream political parties whether it is the PDP or the National Conference are the mainstream political parties. They have always been in alliance with a mainstream national party, whether it was Congress earlier or the BJP now. So probably his intention was that there should be more talk about integration and Indianness. We should take it in good spirit. We are all working together under the Indian constitution.

Are you looking to hold this dialogue, through Dineshwar Sharma, in a time bound manner?

We have appointed a representative to engage with the groups. It cannot go on eternally. At some point we will say alright thats it. What is the result of this dialogue we will asses later. While I wouldn't say comment on any specific timeline, the fact is dialogue cannot be an unending process. Dialogue has to start and end somewhere.

BJP is all set to hold its maiden executive meet in Srinagar. Youve held executive party meets in Jammu in the past but this is the first time that senior party leaders will hold a meeting in the valley. What were the reasons behind it?

BJP has considerable presence in the valley. I do not call it a very strong presence but we have got our units in all the districts. We have a couple of MLCs. And we have active karyakarta groups in the valley. Also, we have held many programs there in the past as well. Not only at the time of elections, but also otherwise as well. We would go to district centers and hold programs and all. It's true that slowly our party's influence is growing in the valley that's why it has decided to hold the party's executive in Srinagar.
New Delhi: Former Home Minister P Chidambaram has said the "azadi" demand by Kashmiris meant that people want autonomy and it should be seriously examined.

"My interactions with J&K led to the conclusion then when they asked for 'azaadi', most of them, not all, but an overwhelming majority wanted autonomy. Therefore, I think we should seriously examine that question," said Chidambaram.

The Congress leader said it is perfectly within the Constitution of India. "J&K will remain an integral part of India but it will have larger powers as promised under Article 370," Chidambaram said.

He also said the appointment of an interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir was a diversionary tactic by the NDA government.

He said the appointment of former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma to hold talks in Kashmir doesn't indicate a change of heart or approach by the Centre in its policy but that it will continue to hold on to its "muscular policy and military solution".

Chidambaram said he was worried about what was happening in the valley. He said the government's Kashmir policy was "misguided" and that had deteriorated the situation in the state.

"The situation in Kashmir is worse than at any time before, and certainly worse than what it was in 2011. All the good work done between 2011 and say up to even the middle of 2015 after the NDA came to power... all that has been wiped out in the last two years," he added.

Chidambaram had in July 2016 advocated greater autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir, saying India should restore the "grand bargain" under which Kashmir had acceded by granting a large degree of autonomy to it. He had warned that otherwise the country will have to pay a "heavy price".

Reacting sharply, the BJP said, it was not surprising to see Chidambaram make such comments given his leader supported those who gave slogan of "Bharat tere tukde honge", an apparent reference to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi backing those who protested the arrest of student leader Kanhaiya Kumar in the JNU row.

"Shocking that PC bats for separatists & 'azadi' but then not surprising given that their leader supported 'Bharat tere tukde honge' naara!" Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani tweeted.

"Shameful given that PC spoke in Gujarat, the birthplace of Sardar Patel; a man who dedicated his life for the unity & prosperity of India," she added.

In Srinagar, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav Madhav alleged that the Kashmiri people and the whole country "are bearing the brunt of the mistakes" that were committed by Chidambaram and the Congress government.

"We do not need this advice. The present government would seek advice from well-wishers of J-K and would act definitely in future. We do not need advice from Chidambaram," Madhav, the BJP's pointsman for Jammu and Kashmir, said.

- With inputs from agencies
Raipur: Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munat has filed a complaint against state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel and senior journalist Vinod Verma for allegedly tarnishing his image through a "fake" sex CD.

A case was registered last evening at the Civil Lines police station here against Baghel, Verma and others under section 67 (A) of the Information Technology Act following the minister's complaint, Station House Officer (SHO), Civil Lines, Hem Prakash Nayak told PTI.

"A copy of the CD has been submitted to the police station and it will be sent for forensic examination," he said.

Munat, considered close to Chief Minister Raman Singh, was accompanied by state BJP president Dharam Lal Kaushik, his over half-a-dozen cabinet colleagues and other party leaders, while filing the complaint.

Talking to reporters on Friday, Munat had alleged that the CD in question was fake and urged the chief minister to order a probe to find the truth.

"The (sex) CD is fake. It is an attempt to malign my image," he had said.

The minister further appealed to the chief minister and Kaushik to get the matter investigated from any agency.

On Friday, the Civil Line police had also arrested two AAP supporters for allegedly blackening Munat's nameplate while protesting outside his official residence over the row.

Verma, who was arrested in connection with an extortion and blackmailing case from Ghaziabad by Chhattisgarh police on Friday, had claimed that he had a sex CD of the Chhattisgarh minister.

Police also claimed to have recovered 500 "porn" CDs, a pen drive and a laptop from Verma.

A Ghaziabad court had granted the Chhattisgarh Police the transit remand of Verma till October 30 and he is expected to reach Raipur on Saturday afternoon.
New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday slammed P Chidambaram for his remarks on autonomy for Kashmir and accused the Congress of encouraging separatism in the state.

The position that the Congress has taken with regard to azaadi or autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir goes directly contrary to India's national interest, he said in response to Chidambarams statement that when people of the Valley ask for azaadi, most of them mean they want greater autonomy.

Blaming the flawed policy of the Congress for the turmoil in the state, Jaitley said that instead of learning from past mistakes, the party wants to precipitate a crisis for this country.

It was the flawed policy of the Congress right since 1947 which is responsible for the Kashmir problem. The Kashmir problem is the Congress's legacy, he told reporters here.

I think the Congress is deceiving the whole country, it is deceiving itself and it is encouraging separatism in J&K. It is hurting India's national interest and this is a very serious issue," he added.

The Congress leader had said the government should seriously consider granting greater autonomy to J&K as it is perfectly within the Constitution of India. J&K will remain an integral part of India but it will have larger powers as promised under Article 370," Chidambaram said.

Dubbing 10 years of the UPA Government as a "wasted opportunity on J&K", Jaitley said "not a single initiative worked and you had a mass civil disobedience in terms of stone throwing agitation, you had terrorism and terrorists on top, you had normal life being disturbed.

He said the NDA government in last 3-3.5 years have had considerable difficulty in restablishing the network to tackle this crisis.

"We have succeeded in squeezing the funds for terrorists. The mass protest of stone throwers are by and large over. Intelligence network from village to village has been reestablished, terrorists are on the run and security forces have the upper hand," he said.

the Congress's view on demonetisation, Jaitley said "the party never had fighting black money on their agenda and therefore, all anti-black money steps that the NDA government has taken are something which disturbed the Congress."
Lucknow: The bugle has been blown for the municipal elections in Uttar Pradesh with the State Election Commission announcing the dates on Friday evening. The three-phase polls will be a litmus test for the Yogi Adityanath government as it will be the first elections since the BJP romped to victory in UP.

"Twenty-four districts will go to polls on November 22, 25 districts on November 26, and 26 districts on November 29," State Election Commissioner SK Agarwal said. Counting of votes will take place on December 1.

For Adityanath, it would be more of a prestige issue than just winning. The BJP's massive win in the Assembly polls means the expectations will be high.

Although the municipal councils and gram panchayats are occupied by the independent candidates, this time the BJP's challenge is to maintain popularity by winning in small town bodies. Adityanath will also be expected to win the four new municipal corporations.

A win for the BJP will prove that it still remains the party on an upward trajectory.

In the previous municipal elections, 10 of the 12 municipal bodies were won by BJP candidates, two were captured by BSP and SP supported candidates. But with BSP supported Allahabad Mayor switching to BJP, the total in favour of BJP is now 11. Now, there is only SP supported mayor in Bareilly.

In municipal council seats, BJP had won 42 out of 194, while 130 seats were won by independent candidates. Similarly, out of 423 nagar panchayat seats, BJP had bagged 36, while independent candidates had won 352 seats.

Four new municipal corporations have been added now and the total corporations going to polls are 16. The four new municipal corporations are Saharanpur, Ferozabad, Ayodhya and Vrindavan.
The Delhi Police, by 2020, aspires to adopt "technology-based policing" by using smart policing, artificial intelligence, and self-learning systems among other advanced technologies, it was announced on Friday. The plan was discussed at a review meeting chaired by Lt Governor Anil Baijal on the future of Delhi Police.

"Delhi Police should enhance its human resource capability to enable the use of technology effectively and efficiently," Baijal said at the meeting attended by Commissioner of Police Amulya Patnaik, Special and Joint Commissioners of police among others.

Baijal was also informed about the action plan for the next three years like the use of data analytics based predictive policing, connected multi-jurisdictional records, return of human intelligence as the centrepiece, centralised database for remote suspect verification, single platform for seamless delivery of services, an official statement said.

The Delhi Police will also partner with academic institutions to develop systems for the future.

Watch the Tech And Auto Show | EP17 | Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, Maruti Suzuki S-Cross & More
Barcelona: "Welcome to the Catalan republic," a regional government official declared on Friday as pro-separatist lawmakers celebrated a historic vote that promised independence from Spain.

But pro-unionists glumly assessed the fallout to what they view as a hugely damaging and illegal vote.

The deep divisions of this wealthy, northeastern region of Spain were on full display as Catalan MPs cheered and embraced before singing the Catalan anthem after the vote was passed by 70 of 135 lawmakers.

As he left parliament, Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont received a standing ovation from his MPs and more than 200 pro-independence mayors.

And in the red velvet corridors, shouts of "independence, independence" and "Long live Catalonia" were soon replaced by "Long live the republic."

The shouts of joy were a stark contrast to the earlier reaction of opposition MPs, who walked out of the chamber as an independent republic was proclaimed, some leaving the Spanish and Catalan flags draped over their seats.

"We're heading to disaster," one Socialist party lawmaker said, reflecting the sombre mood among those who are against independence.

In a pre-vote debate, opposition MPs had angrily expressed their disapproval.

"It's a serious mistake, a very serious mistake", "You have plunged us into an abyss", "you will go down in history as having divided Catalans"... they lamented.

Jubilation outside parliament

Outside, the session was broadcast live on two giant screens.

As the vote proceeded slowly inside, some 15,000 people watched attentively, cheering every "yes" vote counted, and shouting out a disappointed "oh" to each "no".

When the resolution to declare Catalonia a republic was finally approved, a cry of joy erupted as some popped bottles of cava, the region's fizzy wine.

People strained their vocal chords singing the Catalan hymn, fists raised, before falling into each other's arms or, in some cases, bursting out crying.

Irma Bros, 31, was shaking with emotion. "These last few days have been so hard," she said, her eyes welling up.

"My grandfather, who lived through the civil war, would be so happy to see what people have obtained."

A Catalan separatist flag tied around his neck, Pedro Haro said he was "very, very happy."

"Today we're popping cava  or champagne if you prefer  but tomorrow, it might turn to vinegar," the 61-year-old mechanic warned, bracing for the central government's push back.

Later  in a defiant reaction from Madrid to reassert control  Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he is the dissolving the regional parliament and calling new regional elections.

The move will allow Madrid to seize the semi-autonomous region's political powers and finances, depose Puigdemont and his executive, and take over regional ministries.

'Very dark'

After the independence proclamation, the crowds dispersed, going back to work or to celebrate with a drink, some heading to a wine fair near parliament where customers sporting separatist flags sipped drinks to the delight of the vendors.

Others, though, eyed the future more cautiously, like Marta Domingo, 45, who said she was "on the verge of crying."

"Now we're going to toast this, and if necessary, protect the institutions. We're going to need to defend the republic."

Angel Sancho, a 54-year-old salesman, said Catalans had dreamt about independence "for centuries."

"But the transition shouldn't have caused a trauma, we needed a legal vote," he said, referring to the October 1 independence referendum held despite a court ban.

Sitting on a bench in Catalonia Square in central Barcelona, Mari Ecija, a 49-year-old sales assistant, was "very concerned," pointing to "all these companies leaving."

Some 1,700 firms have already moved their legal headquarters out of Catalonia under the cloud of uncertainty, and there are concerns the region's economy will suffer hugely.

For Ecija, the future looked "very dark."

But Josep Reina does not believe the crisis will last.

"They can't declare independence with all those who didn't go vote (in the outlawed referendum)," said the 34-year-old salesman.

"They're forgetting part of the people, the majority, who weren't able to decide."
Washington: Cuban and Russian spies, false leads, strippers, bizarre CIA murder plots and a furious FBI director.

Newly released secret records are full of intriguing details surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

But Kennedy scholars say the thousands of documents do not appear to contain any bombshell revelations about the November 22, 1963 murder that shocked the world.

President Donald Trump ordered the release on Thursday of 2,800 classified Kennedy assassination records but held back other "sensitive" documents under pressure from the CIA and FBI.

That last-minute decision left many Kennedy historians frustrated  and provided more fuel for the thriving conspiracy industry around the shooting of the charismatic 46-year-old president in Dallas, Texas.

"I was very disappointed," said Philip Shenon, author of "A Cruel and Shocking Act: the Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination."

"Most of the documents that were released last night are documents we'd already seen before," Shenon told AFP. "We just saw them in redacted form previously."

"The really important documents, sort of the super secret documents, most of them are not part of the release," he said.

The Warren Commission, which investigated Kennedy's murder, determined that Lee Harvey Oswald  a former Marine Corps sharpshooter  acted alone but that conclusion has failed to quell years of speculation that others were involved.

Hundreds of books and movies such as the 1991 Oliver Stone film JFK have examined scores of conspiracy theories, pointing the finger at Cold War rivals the Soviet Union or Cuba, the Mafia and even Kennedy's own vice president, Lyndon Johnson.

'GREAT TRANSPARENCY'

While the records released on Thursday by the National Archives contain reams of new information it will be months before the rest of the files are seen  if ever.

Trump gave the CIA, FBI and other agencies six months  until April 26, 2018  to make their case for why the remaining documents should not be made public.

In a tweet on Friday, the president said the JFK files were being "carefully released."

"In the end there will be great transparency," he said. "It is my hope to get just about everything to public!"

Later, Trump clarified in a tweeted statement that he would "be releasing ALL JFK files other than the names and addresses of any mentioned person who is still living."

"I am doing this for reasons of full disclosure, transparency and in order to put any and all conspiracy theories to rest."

Gerald Posner, author of "Case Closed," which determined that Oswald did indeed act alone, said the release was "frustrating" and that much of what is in the files has been known previously.

Shenon said that while there were no new revelations in the documents there were nevertheless some "interesting tidbits."

He pointed to one record in which then-FBI director J. Edgar Hoover expressed his anger with the "inexcusable" failure of Dallas police to protect Oswald despite repeated FBI warnings that his life was at risk.

Oswald was shot by a striptease club owner, Jack Ruby, on November 24, 1963  two days after the Kennedy assassination  while being moved to a county jail.

Hoover goes on to add that the FBI had hoped to obtain a confession to "convince the public that Oswald is the real assassin."

Many of the records are raw intelligence including scores of reports from FBI agents following up leads that led nowhere.

Much of what they contain is previously known, such as that the communist-obsessed CIA cooked up several outlandish plots to murder Cuba's Fidel Castro.

One document detailed how in the early days of Kennedy's presidency the CIA offered $150,000 to Italian-American mob boss Sam Giancana to organize the killing of Castro.

Giancana in return sought the CIA's help to place a listening device in the room of his mistress  a Las Vegas entertainer  whom he thought was having an affair.

SEASHELL BOMB

Other possible ideas to kill the Communist leader  said to be a keen diver  included contaminating his diving suit with disease-causing bacteria, or booby-trapping a seashell with a bomb.

The plan was scrapped when it was determined "there was no shell in the Caribbean area large enough to hold a sufficient amount of explosive."

The files also contain new  if inconclusive  details about an intriguing chapter in Oswald's life: a trip he took to Mexico City seven weeks before he killed Kennedy and his meetings there with Cuban and Russian spies.

In his memo, Hoover referred to some of Oswald's contacts with Cubans and Russians but dismissed them as being only about visas for him and his Russian-born wife.

While many theories over the years are linked to Oswald's ties to Cuban or Soviet operatives, an FBI memo in 1963 indicated Kennedy's death was source of deep mourning in the Soviet Union.

According to a source, "officials at the Communist Party of the Soviet Union believed there was some well-organised conspiracy on the part of the 'ultraright' in the United States to effect a 'coup.'"

The Soviets feared the killing would be used as a pretext to "stop negotiations with the Soviet Union, attack Cuba, and thereafter spread the war."

The Soviets also insisted that they had "no connection whatsoever" with Oswald, who defected to the Soviet Union in 1959 but returned to the United States in 1962.

Oswald, according to the Soviets, was "a neurotic maniac who was disloyal to his country and everything else."
Washington: US President Donald Trump said that he would see to the release of all documents into the assassination of John F. Kennedy, with some redactions, in order "to put any and all conspiracy theories to rest", the media reported.

"I will be releasing all JFK files other than the names and addresses of any mentioned person who is still living," Trump tweeted on Friday night, saying he consulted with White House chief of staff John Kelly, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other federal agencies.

"I am doing this for reasons of full disclosure, transparency and in order to put any and all conspiracy theories to rest," The Hill magazine quoted Trump as saying.

Trump tweeted earlier on Friday that he hoped "just about everything" concerning the 1963 assassination of the former President would be released to the public.

The Trump administration released about 2,800 files late Thursday, with the White House saying that hundreds more would be released with redactions "only in the rarest of circumstances" on a rolling basis over the next six months.

Trump initially said on Thursday evening that he had "no choice" but to withhold information as requested by government agencies, citing national security concerns. Officials indicated that the concerns originated mostly from the CIA and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Thursday marked the federal government's deadline to release 3,100 unseen files, a deadline that was set by Congress under the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992.

The documents have been held in the National Archives, The Hill magazine reported.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a Fox News interview on Friday evening that the administration was working to expedite the release of the additional documents.

"We are working this weekend. We are going to be working every way possible to expedite the production of these documents as completely as possible and they will be virtually, completely revealed from the FBI files," he said.

The assassination of Kennedy, who was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald while the President was in a motorcade in Dallas, has been the subject of conspiracy theories for more than 50 years.

Representative John Lewis, a long-time congressman who befriended Kennedy during the civil rights movement in the 1960s, told The Hill this week that he did not think the latest document release would end questions about the 35th president's death.

"I think there will be people, be historians or scholars and writers, (who) would raise some questions about what happened and how it happened.

"There will be people saying like they were saying 50 years ago, 'Why did (Kennedy) go to Texas, why Dallas?" Lewis added.
Chicago: Former US President Barack Obama has been called for jury duty in Chicago.

Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans on Friday told county commissioners during a budget hearing that Obama, who owns homes in Washington, DC, and Chicago's Kenwood neighbourhood, will serve in November.

He is registered to vote in Chicago.

Evans says Obama's safety will be "uppermost in our minds" when he serves.

Those called can be put either in the pool for criminal case or civil hearings. They can be called to any of the county's Chicago or suburban courthouses.

All jurors watch a decades-old video about their duties narrated by a mustachioed Lester Holt, once a local news reader and now anchor of NBC Nightly News.

Jurors in Cook County are paid USD 17.20 for each day of service.
Seoul: US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday that he could not imagine United States ever accepting a nuclear North Korea, warning that its rapidly advancing nuclear and missile programs would undermine, not strengthen, its security.

Mattis has been at pains during his week-long trip to Asia to stress that diplomacy is America's preferred course, a message he returned to after top-level military talks in Seoul on Saturday and at the tense border area with North Korea on Friday.

Still, he warned Pyongyang that its military was no match for the US-South Korean alliance, and that diplomacy was most effective "when backed by credible military force."

"Make no mistake - any attack on the United States, or our allies, will be defeated. And any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is both effective and overwhelming," Mattis said.

Mattis's South Korean counterpart, Defence Minister Song Young-moo, dismissed the idea of deploying tactical nuclear weapons to the peninsula as a response to the North's advances.

But the US-Korean alliance had the ability to respond, even in the event of a nuclear attack from the North, Song added.

Tension between North Korea and the United States has been building after a series of nuclear and missile tests by Pyongyang and bellicose verbal exchanges between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump.

The CIA has said North Korea could be only months away from developing the ability to hit the United States with nuclear weapons, a scenario Trump has vowed to prevent.

Mattis, too, said Kim's behavior had left no room to imagine accepting Pyongyang's nuclear status.

"I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States can accept North Korea as a nuclear power," Mattis told a news conference.

Trump - who has threatened to destroy the North if necessary - leaves on his first trip as president to Asia next week, including a stop in South Korea to meet President Moon Jae-in.

Moon, after talks with Mattis on Friday, said the "aggressive deployment" of US strategic assets in the region, which have included overflights by US bombers, had been effective in deterring the North Korean threat.

DENUCLEARIZE?

US intelligence experts say Pyongyang believes it needs the nuclear weapons to ensure its survival and have been skeptical about diplomatic efforts, focusing on sanctions, to get Pyongyang to denuclearize.

Mattis suggested, however, that Pyongyang needed to understand that its weapons programs would not strengthen its defences. The North says it wants a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the United States.

"If it remains on its current path of ballistic missiles and atomic bombs, it will be counter-productive," Mattis said, adding North Korea would be "reducing its security."

Still, any attempt to force the North to denuclearize could have devastating consequences, thanks in part to the large amount of artillery trained on Seoul.

During Mattis' trip to the inter-Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on Friday, he was briefed on the posture of North Korean artillery.

Defence Minister Song suggested that US and South Korean missile defences simply could not stop all of the weapons trained on the South.

"Defending against this many LRAs (long-range artillery) is infeasible in my opinion," Song told Mattis at the DMZ, citing a need for strategies to "offensively neutralise" the artillery in the event of a conflict.

Mattis replied: "Understood."

Still, Mattis reaffirmed to reporters in South Korea that military options do exist to deal with the North Korean threat that spare the South's capital, Seoul. Mattis, who has made such assurances in the past, did not disclose what those options were.
Seoul: US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis warned on Saturday that North Korea would face a "massive military response" if Pyongyang ever used its nuclear weapons.

"Make no mistake  any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated," Mattis, the Pentagon head, said at a press conference on his trip to Seoul.

"Any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response, effective and overwhelming."

Tensions have been running high on the Korean peninsula, with the North conducting its sixth nuclear test last month and test-launching multiple missiles capable of reaching the US mainland.

The North's ruler Kim Jong-Un and US President Donald Trump have also traded verbal threats of war and personal insults that have sparked global alarm.

Mattis maintained that diplomacy remained a "preferred course of action" to solve the current crisis but stressed, "our diplomats are most effective when backed by credible military force".

He urged Pyongyang to "harbour no illusion", saying the isolated state is militarily "overmatched" by the US and South Korea  a key ally of Washington that hosts 28,500 US troops.

Trump's recent remark that "only one thing will work" with the North fuelled concerns of a potential conflict on the divided peninsula where the 1950-53 Korean War had left millions dead.

But even some Trump advisers say US military options are limited when Pyongyang could launch an artillery barrage on the South's capital Seoul  only about 50 kilometres from the border and home to 10 million people.
Seoul: North Korea says it will send back a South Korean fishing boat and its crew who were detained for crossing the eastern sea border between the rivals.

North Korea's announcement on Saturday came hours before US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis visited the heavily-armed land border between the Koreas and stressed Washington's commitment to defend ally Seoul against North Korean threats.

Experts say it's unclear whether the North's gesture reflects intentions to improve relations with the South amid heightened animosity over Pyongyang's expanding nuclear programme.

Seoul's Unification Ministry says North Korea last detained a South Korean fishing boat in 2010 before repatriating it.

South Korea often sends back North Korean fishermen who enter its waters, but it's more unusual for better-equipped South Korean boats to drift into the North.
Cox's Bazar: A young Rohingya man hacked to death a Bangladeshi man on Saturday, police said, amid growing tensions in southeastern Bangladesh which has seen a massive influx of refugees from neighbouring Myanmar.

More than 600,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh since a military crackdown in Myanmar in August triggered an exodus, straining resources in the impoverished country.

Police said the attack by the Rohingya man was linked to a family dispute. It is the latest of a string of crimes in the area which have alarmed local authorities.

"We've stepped up security after these incidents," deputy chief of Cox's Bazar district Afruzul Haq Tutul told AFP.

The district's state prosecutor Mamtaz Ahmed told AFP that crime had recently increased in the area.

The UN has described Myanmar's crackdown on the Rohingya as "textbook" ethnic cleansing, and many of the refugees who arrive in Bangladesh bring horrific stories of brutalities including murders, rapes and arson.

This has prompted an unprecedented outpouring of sympathy in Muslim majority Bangladesh.

But Rohingya now outnumber Bangladeshis by two to one in the two main refugee towns of Teknaf and Ukhia in Cox's Bazar district, and local tensions are rising.

Locals complain that Rohingya are squeezing out poor Cox's Bazar villagers from the job market, especially in the booming construction sector and the fishing industry.

"The majority of the fishermen in our fishing trawlers are Rohingya. They are hard working and they can be employed at a low cost," Jashim Uddin, who owns a small fishing trawler, told AFP.

Others complained the influx of Rohingya had caused food prices and transport costs to spike.

"The vegetable prices are at a record high. But nobody seems to care or listen to our woes. They only care for the Rohingya," said Nazir Ahmed, a Bangladeshi resident of Ukhia.
Washington: Six influential US Senators have urged Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to designate Pakistan as a "country of particular concern" on the issue of religious freedom violation, saying its discriminatory laws continue to result in prosecution of individuals due to their faith.

Senators Bob Menendez, Marco Rubio, Chris Coons, Todd Young, Jeff Merkley and James Lankford wrote a letter to Tillerson ahead of the November 13 deadline before which the State Department needs to notify Congress on its country of particular concern (CPC) designations.

In the letter to Tillerson, who has just concluded a visit to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, the bipartisan group of Senators said that they believe "the State Department should designate Pakistan as a CPC as long recommended by US Commission on International Religious Freedom.

"The government of Pakistan continues to perpetrate and tolerate systematic, ongoing and egregious religious freedom violations. Discriminatory constitutional provisions and laws, including the country's blasphemy and anti-Ahmadiyya measures continue to result in the unjust prosecution and imprisonment of individuals due to their faith," the Senators said in their letter to Tillerson.

"At least 40 people are currently sentenced to death or are serving life sentences for blasphemy. Religious minority communities, including Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis, and Shia Muslims also experience religiously motivated and sectarian violence perpetrated by terrorist organisations and societal elements with relative impunity," said the letter.

Additionally, provincial textbooks with discriminatory content against minorities remain a significant concern, the Senators said in the letter dated October 27.

The Frank R Wolf International Religious Freedom Act requires the president to make CPC designations no later than 90 days after the release of the annual report and that Congress be notified no later than 90 days after these designations about the parties responsible for the violations prompting the designations, the actions the US government has taken in response, and the effectiveness of these actions.

"We therefore expect to receive CPC designations by November 13, 2017, and the notification of the responsible parties, actions taken, and the effectiveness of these actions by February 11, 2018.

"We believe promoting freedom of religion and belief is a moral imperative and encourages peace, stability and economic vibrancy. We look forward to working with you to help ensure this precious freedom has a central role in US foreign policy," the Senators added.

The Senators also sought the CPC designation of Myanmar over the issue of Rohingyas.

Tillerson has urged the Myanmar army to help the government end violence in the northern Rakhine state where unrest has forced over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh.
Minot Air Force Base (US): Vice President Mike Pence, in a visit to one of America's most potent nuclear bases, vowed Friday that the US will keep up economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

With a huge B-52 bomber looming in the background, Pence told some 250 airmen at Minot Air Force Base that "there is no greater force for peace in this world" than the US nuclear arsenal.

"Under President Trump's leadership, we will make sure that our nuclear deterrent is stronger than ever before  modern, robust, flexible, resilient, and ready to confront any and all enemies of peace with a rapid, effective and overwhelming response," Pence said.

Pence touched only briefly on North Korea, spending much of his speech thanking the airmen of the only US base capable of nuclear strikes by both plane and missile. Minot has one of the nation's two B-52 bomber bases. The base also oversees 150 of the Air Force's 450 Minuteman 3 nuclear missiles.

Pence got a mission briefing that included various aspects of military preparedness, including nuclear, along with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and commanders of the base's missile and bomb wings. Pence also inspected a B-52 and visited a missile launch facility.

His visit came six weeks after Defense Secretary James Mattis did the same in a tour widely seen as aimed at reminding North Korea of US powers.

Pence has been meeting with top intelligence agencies in recent months and has received highly classified briefings with the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, the Director of National Intelligence and other intelligence agencies.

Trump's administration has sought to increase pressure on North Korea through U.N. Security Council sanctions and other diplomatic efforts, but North Korea hasn't budged from its goal of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including missiles capable of striking the US mainland.

Separately on Friday, Mattis was visiting the Demilitarized Zone that separates North Korea from South Korea. Mattis accused North Korea of threatening global order and said the Trump administration remains committed to compelling the North to accept complete nuclear disarmament.

On Thursday, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on 10 North Korean officials and organizations over human rights abuses and censorship. A rare military exercise involving three of the US Navy's aircraft carrier strike groups is being planned for next month in the Asia Pacific.
An altercation at the Rustburg Food Lion grocery store left multiple people injured Friday night, according to witness accounts.

Leon Rankins suffered a severe head wound during the altercation, according to Deb Faye Humphreys, who said she was his cousin. Humphreys declined to comment further on Rankins status and injuries but did confirm he was receiving medical treatment Friday night.

They are going to do a CAT scan but being awake and talking is a good thing, she said by Facebook Messenger.

Crystal Denson, who said she is Rankins' aunt, said he is awake and talking but is not allowed to comment on the incident as its under investigation.

Humphreys posted a Facebook comment that said Rankins father, Harry Rankins, also was hospitalized as a result of the incident.

Hollie Lynn, who said she is engaged to Rankins, said she saw another man hit Rankins head with a wooden instrument during a fight in which her fiance was attempting to help his father.

Lynn said Rankins was expected to be released soon, as he had received four staples in his head and was doing well. However, she said Harry Rankins still was being examined as of 11:19 p.m. Friday.

Rachel Brunelle Nickerson said she was driving near Hardees at about 7 p.m. when she saw several Campbell County Sheriffs Office deputies fly past.

I turned around ... she said. Once she arrived on scene, she noticed several men: one lying face down in the parking lot, another angrily hitting the hood of a truck and one bleeding from his head. Nickerson also saw several women on scene, one of whom deputies were trying to calm.

She kept screaming, Thats my son, and the cops were holding her back, she said.

Nickerson said she saw one woman holding the head of one of the men, but she was not able to assist on scene as deputies did not want anyone on scene until emergency services arrived.

Aaron Means was on his way to Food Lion, at 1051 Village Highway, at about 7 p.m. when he saw Campbell County deputies surrounding the area, he said.

There were two older men lying on the ground, he said.

One guy started actively seizing really hard and then laid over and was on the ground and one [of] the cops was trying to hold him still, Means said through Facebook Messenger. At this time no ambulances ha[d] even arrived yet.

Harry Rankins was the man who suffered a seizure, Lynn said.

Means said he also saw bystanders helping the injured.

Virginia State Police also responded to the scene, Means said, and detained a person who appeared to be teenager.

Lynn said she saw the entire incident.

I'm fine, just hoping Leon will be, she said.

Means said emergency services left the scene at about 7:50 p.m., but law enforcement remained on scene speaking with witnesses.

Means said Campbell County Public Safety and Gladys Citizens Emergency Crew also responded.

Law enforcement did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Thumbs up to the students in Heritage High Schools construction trades and culinary arts programs for jumping in to help the Greater Lynchburg Habitat for Humanity with its latest homebuilding project.

Earlier this week, culinary arts teacher John Garretson and construction trades teacher Jerry Dudley took some of their students to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore on Alleghany Avenue where other volunteers were working to do preliminary framing for Habitats 300th house, scheduled to be completed by Christmas. Darlene Tucker, who will be purchasing the Habitat home, was on hand to work alongside the Heritage students.

Garretsons culinary arts students had done most of the prep work for the lunch for volunteers ahead of time and joined Dudleys construction trades students working on the home. Getting the Heritage students involved began when Garretson got in touch with Habitat officials to talk about ways to get his students involved with some sort of community service work and Dudleys construction trades students joined in.

Garretson plans to return monthly with a contingent of Heritage students to continue working on the house and feeding the other Habitat volunteers.

Congratulations to these students and their teachers  you make us proud of Lynchburg and our public school system.

* * *

Thumbs up to Liberty University School of Law for its partnership with the Virginia Legal Aid Society that helps underprivileged VLAS clients access the legal system at little or no cost.

Four LU law students  Christian Wright, Johnna Chick, Taylor Noonan and Aaron Minguez  are part of a law clinic thats been in the works since early 2016. Theyre certified to practice law with courtroom supervision and started doing that this school year.

VLAS is a nonprofit law firm headquartered in Lynchburg with four satellite offices. Its lawyers serve clients in 20 counties and six cities throughout Southside, Central and Southwest Virginia. Under the U.S. Constitution, criminal defendants who cant afford an attorney have one paid for by taxpayers, but theres no such provision for folks in need of an attorney for a civil matter. Thats where the student lawyers from LU come into the picture in Central Virginia.

The four were chosen this year through a competitive process open to all third-year law students. Theyll be working with clients on any number of matters ranging from debtors rights and housing to family law and employment issues. Their presence wont just help their own clients, it will also free up time of VLAS own 33 attorneys, enabling them to take on more cases themselves. (In the last fiscal year, VLAS closed 3,009 cases and served 6,603 individuals.)

The clinical practicum will conclude at the end of the spring semester and hopefully will continue in the 2018-19 school year.




He urged Messengers of Court to comply with all lawful instructions when executing their duties. The office of the Messenger of Court is an essential component of our justice delivery system, hence the need to enhance information dissemination on the functions of the Messenger of Court to the general populace, said Minister Bonyongwe.

Ladies and gentlemen, it cannot be overemphasised that Messengers of Court must always discharge their duties with honest and integrity. It should be borne in mind that an officer of the court must not act in any way which conflicts with the independent performance of his or her office.



Minister Bonyongwe appealed to Messengers of Court to act with fairness and impartiality in all their business with members of the public. He said they should also treat members of the public with courtesy and respect. Our justice system should be just in the results it delivers, said Minister Bonyongwe.



In this respect, you must be fair in the way you treat your clients. More importantly, you must deal with cases with reasonable speed. In the quest to transform judicial landscape, it is important that the function of the Messengers of Court must find practical application in a manner that does not promote the perception that justice is a social justice phenomenon.

Minister Bonyongwe reminded Messengers of Court that the department carried his ministrys image in the eyes of the public and their actions moulded its image. He reminded Messengers of Court to treat private information with confidentiality, saying it should not be used for personal benefit unless there were lawful instructions.



We will not shun to wield the big stick over anyone found culpable of corrupt and unethical conduct, as such negative conduct impedes the effective running of the courts and impacts on effective justice delivery, he said.



Your attitude and conduct must be that of responsibility and accountability in order to boost confidence in the judiciary. You must shun all forms of corruption and its tendencies. The associations president Mr Smart Moyo said the meeting would allow them to continue learning the processes of their work. Chief Magistrate Mr Mishrod Guvamombe also attended the meeting. herald Messengers of Court must be firm while executing their duties in accordance with the Constitution and avoid corrupt tendencies that soil the name of Government. This was said by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Retired Major-General Happyton Bonyongwe at the Association of Messengers of Court Zimbabwe annual general meeting in Nyanga on Thursday.He urged Messengers of Court to comply with all lawful instructions when executing their duties. The office of the Messenger of Court is an essential component of our justice delivery system, hence the need to enhance information dissemination on the functions of the Messenger of Court to the general populace, said Minister Bonyongwe.Ladies and gentlemen, it cannot be overemphasised that Messengers of Court must always discharge their duties with honest and integrity. It should be borne in mind that an officer of the court must not act in any way which conflicts with the independent performance of his or her office.Minister Bonyongwe appealed to Messengers of Court to act with fairness and impartiality in all their business with members of the public. He said they should also treat members of the public with courtesy and respect. Our justice system should be just in the results it delivers, said Minister Bonyongwe.In this respect, you must be fair in the way you treat your clients. More importantly, you must deal with cases with reasonable speed. In the quest to transform judicial landscape, it is important that the function of the Messengers of Court must find practical application in a manner that does not promote the perception that justice is a social justice phenomenon.Minister Bonyongwe reminded Messengers of Court that the department carried his ministrys image in the eyes of the public and their actions moulded its image. He reminded Messengers of Court to treat private information with confidentiality, saying it should not be used for personal benefit unless there were lawful instructions.We will not shun to wield the big stick over anyone found culpable of corrupt and unethical conduct, as such negative conduct impedes the effective running of the courts and impacts on effective justice delivery, he said.Your attitude and conduct must be that of responsibility and accountability in order to boost confidence in the judiciary. You must shun all forms of corruption and its tendencies. The associations president Mr Smart Moyo said the meeting would allow them to continue learning the processes of their work. Chief Magistrate Mr Mishrod Guvamombe also attended the meeting. herald




Retired Assistant Commissioner and NMB security manager Mr Negion Majahana Moyo is now the citys enforcement manager, while Retired Assistant Commissioner Joseph Mandizha will be in charge of traffic enforcement. The citys corporate communications manager Mr Michael Chideme said two other retired police officers had been given roles in the citys enforcement.



We have hired retired police officers, two of them at senior assistant commissioner level. Moyo is now the city enforcement manager, while Mandizha is responsible for traffic enforcement. This brings the much-needed experience to policing in Harare and the weight that we have always wanted. These are retired police officers and they have enough connections within ZRP for them to assist us in the implementation of our blitz against illegal activities in the city, he said.

Government ordered illegal vendors and pirate taxis operating in the central business district (CBD) to move to designated sites. The proliferation of illegal vending sites, including illegal pick-up and drop-off points by commuter omnibuses and pirate taxis (mushika-shika) in the CBD had resulted in serious problems such as traffic congestion and loss of lives.



Harare last week assumed a refreshing new look as police and council mounted joint operations to rid the CBD of illegal vendors and pirate taxis. Some of the vendors have resurfaced and are fighting running battles with the police and city officials on a daily basis. Mr Chideme urged the vendors to stick to approved trading sites. Trading at undesignated sites is costly, he said. They will lose goods due to confiscation, as well as their time and money.



Illegal occupation of council land for illegal housing settlements, developments of church structures, vending and home industries in undesignated places is on the increase within the area of jurisdiction of the City of Harare. Early this month, President Mugabe deplored the vendor menace and lack of order in the Harare CBD, saying Harare should be the smartest city in the country as the capital. He said vendors operating on the streets should be moved to designated sites to allow for the free flow of human and vehicular traffic in the CBD. herald Harare City Council has beefed up its enforcement department by recruiting four retired senior police officers to supervise its operations in restoring the Sunshine Citys status, as well as making Harares roads trafficable.Retired Assistant Commissioner and NMB security manager Mr Negion Majahana Moyo is now the citys enforcement manager, while Retired Assistant Commissioner Joseph Mandizha will be in charge of traffic enforcement. The citys corporate communications manager Mr Michael Chideme said two other retired police officers had been given roles in the citys enforcement.We have hired retired police officers, two of them at senior assistant commissioner level. Moyo is now the city enforcement manager, while Mandizha is responsible for traffic enforcement. This brings the much-needed experience to policing in Harare and the weight that we have always wanted. These are retired police officers and they have enough connections within ZRP for them to assist us in the implementation of our blitz against illegal activities in the city, he said.Government ordered illegal vendors and pirate taxis operating in the central business district (CBD) to move to designated sites. The proliferation of illegal vending sites, including illegal pick-up and drop-off points by commuter omnibuses and pirate taxis (mushika-shika) in the CBD had resulted in serious problems such as traffic congestion and loss of lives.Harare last week assumed a refreshing new look as police and council mounted joint operations to rid the CBD of illegal vendors and pirate taxis. Some of the vendors have resurfaced and are fighting running battles with the police and city officials on a daily basis. Mr Chideme urged the vendors to stick to approved trading sites. Trading at undesignated sites is costly, he said. They will lose goods due to confiscation, as well as their time and money.Illegal occupation of council land for illegal housing settlements, developments of church structures, vending and home industries in undesignated places is on the increase within the area of jurisdiction of the City of Harare. Early this month, President Mugabe deplored the vendor menace and lack of order in the Harare CBD, saying Harare should be the smartest city in the country as the capital. He said vendors operating on the streets should be moved to designated sites to allow for the free flow of human and vehicular traffic in the CBD. herald
PRESIDENT Mugabe has lifted the moratorium on the recruitment of academic staff for all programmes that have been approved by the Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE). Speaking during the Eighth graduation ceremony of Lupane State University (LSU) in Lupane, Matabeleland North yesterday, President Mugabe said $3,9 million had been released towards the development of the institution.





My Government, in consultation with the Vice Chancellor (Professor Pardon Kuipa) and Reserve Bank Governor (Dr John Mangudya) will immediately release funding to complete the male hostel, solar heating system for student hostels and two staff flatlets. My Government will, with immediate effect, lift recruitment freeze on academic staff for all programmes that have already been approved by ZIMCHE. In monetary terms, these measures have been estimated to amount to about $3,9 million, which I have directed to be released immediately, he said.

President Mugabe said establishing LSU is a worthwhile and justifiable investment in the Governments collective effort to make higher education more accessible and affordable to all Zimbabweans. The expectations of Lupane State University by the nation are very high. I am, however, mindful of the many constraints that the institution is facing, which include inadequate infrastructure, lack of laboratory equipment and materials and challenges in recruiting appropriately qualified academic staff.

President Mugabe  who was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Philosophy Degree (PhD) in Agricultural Sciences at the ceremony in honour of his dedication in establishing the university and educating the nation  became the first doctoral graduate of the institution. Conferring the doctorate to the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, LSU Vice Chancellor Professor Kuipa said the institution was grateful of President Mugabes passion for promoting agriculture in Zimbabwe.





The agrarian reform has altered the land ownership pattern in favour of the previously marginalised indigenous Zimbabweans. Surely, there is no better empowerment and ownership of the economy than this, hence our collective consensus as a university that this prestigious academic distinction could be bestowed to none other than yourself, Your Excellency, said Prof Kuipa.





He said in total, 843 graduates had completed their studies in various faculties. About 63 percent of our graduates are female and we had 83 postgraduates who also completed their studies. In total, we had 670 undergraduates, he said.





Notably, Zimpapers staffer Gibson Mhaka, a B-Metro reporter, received the LSU book price, the Vice Chancellors prize, a TelOne laptop and graduate learnership position for being the best graduating student in Communication Studies. Mhaka also got the National Furniture Trophy for being the overall best graduating student in the Department of Languages.




How Much Is 'Hand of God'

Ball Worth? We'll Soon Know
A Long Island hospital has welcomed a rare four sets of twins in a six-hour period, the AP reports. The series of births at NYU Winthrop in Mineola, New York, started at 8:44am Wednesday when Brenda Alvarenga gave birth to Ava and Elena. Shannon and Anthony Rogone then welcomed twins Sarah and Elise around 10am. The births of Alexa and McKenzi followed an hour later to parents Darlene and Joe Sica. Finally, Catherine and Joseph Monez welcomed twins Luke and Benjamin at 2:26pm. The hospital's chief of maternal fetal medicine tells Newsday two sets of twins born at NYU Winthrop on the same day is rare, and four is unheard of. (Read more twins stories.)
It's a good thing people aren't prone to panic, frustration, and anger when it comes to air travel. The Current reports Southwest Airlines and Warner Music Nashville announced a new deal this week that will see country musicians performing in-air concerts during some Southwest flights. And if that sounds like a nightmare at 20,000 feet to you, you aren't alone. "I know everyone's piling on Southwest about in-flight concerts, but one small point: it would be the greatest evil the world has ever known," reads one tweet. Another Twitter user adds: "i want to listen to a Man yodeling while i am trapped inside of a Huge metal bird !!!!!!!!!! Yes !!!! give it to me southwest airlines !!!!"

The San Francisco Chronicle reports Southwest will only hold 20 mid-flight concerts per yearmeaning less than 0.002% of all flights will feature live music. And the airline has actually been hosting occasional in-air concerts since 2011, according to Billboard, which states: "Passengers hope that their flight will be one of the lucky ones to feature a sure-to-go-viral performance." This appears to be one of those agree-to-disagree situations. (Read more Southwest Airlines stories.)
A fourth woman has accused George HW Bush of groping her, alleging similar details as three previous accusers: the former president grabbed her while posing for a photo and made an inappropriate joke, the New York Daily News reports. Amanda Staples says Bush "grabbed my butt and joked and said, 'Oh I'm not THAT president" during a photo-op. Vanity Fair states this was "presumably" a reference to Bill Clinton. Staples says the incident happened in 2006. At the time, the 29-year-old was running for a Maine senate seat that covers Kennebunkport, where Bush spends his summers, and visited Bush at Walker's Point, the Press Herald reports.

At the time, Staples says she "rationalized it" by saying Bush "became a dirty old man in his later years." She says she felt she had no choice but to come forward with her story now in the wake of other accusations. Staples says she "can only imagine how many women" have been victimized in the same way and that she would never tell her hypothetical daughter "to shrug it off because he was the president." Bush had previously been accused of groping two actresses and an author while making a "David Cop-a-feel" joke. To try to put people at ease, the president routinely tells the same jokeand on occasion, he has patted womens rears in what he intended to be good-natured fun," a Bush spokesperson says. (Read more George HW Bush stories.)
It started off in normal enough fashion. "Zero optimism that the Democrats can ever regain ..." wrote Christine McMorrow in a comment to the New York Times. And then things started getting weird. Hello hi oh you're there are you outside oh well let me come to the door I'm icing my knee and I'm hard boiling some eggs I'll turn them off and then will do our meeting yet out that that will be fine," it continued. As McMorrow explained later, she was using the voice-to-text feature of her iPhone to record the comment when a friend called the house phone. Her smartphone kept dutifully recording: "I was down in the Cape myself this morning by getting so let me get up because I'm right now sort of trapped in my chair. And then I'll put the ice pack back on when you get here OK thanks bye-bye."

McMorrow had meant to add her two cents to a story headlined, "As G.O.P. Bends Toward Trump, Critics Either Give In or Give Up." Instead, she delivered what New York magazine has called the "single best comment of the year," delighting people across the internet. The Boston-area woman is a frequent commenter to the Times, and she's now laughing off the gaffe she blames on a recent operating system update to the phone. "It's so embarrassing, oh, come on," she tells the Boston Globe. "My autodictation function went wild on me." For the record, she did not say "Cape," but "cave," a reference to her boyfriend's man cave. There was a mention of "Norman" in the comment, but he is, in fact, "Normand." (Read about another comment deemed best-ever.)
On Nov. 7, Maine will take an unprecedented step for a state when it allows residents to vote on expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, the New York Times reports. Maine is one of 19 states where Republicans have blocked Medicaid expansion available under the ACA. The Maine legislature has voted repeatedly to expand Medicaid only to have Gov. Paul LePage veto expansion five times. However, if expansion is approved by voters through a referendum next month, LePage would be unable to veto it. If the referendum passes, approximately 80,000 more Maine residents making up to 138% of the poverty level will be eligible for Medicaid.

In addition to decreasing the number of uninsured Maine residents, supporters of the referendum say it will add jobs and help rural hospitals stay open. LePage, while attacking Maine hospitals for their support of the referendum on Friday, said it would take "resources away from our most vulnerable Mainers" to "give free taxpayer-funded healthcare to adults who should be working and contributing," the Press Herald reports. Under the ACA, at least 90% of Medicaid expansion costs would be covered by the federal government. The other 18 states where Medicaid expansion has been blocked are carefully watching what happens in Maine. It's estimated more than 2.5 million Americans would gain access to health care if all 19 holdout states allowed Medicaid expansion. (Read more Maine stories.)
There's something strange in the solar neighborhood. "We've never seen anything like this before," Rob Weryk tells the New York Times. Earlier this month, the astronomer at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy discovered a mysterious object zipping through our solar system. Calculations show it came within 24 million miles of the sun on Sept. 9 and 15 million miles of Earth on Oct. 14 while traveling at a blinding 37 miles per second. Calculations also show something unprecedented: the object, currently classified as asteroid A/2017 U1, is the first confirmed to have arrived in our solar system from another. "It is fairly certain we are dealing with our first truly identified alien visitor," Professor Alan Fitzsimmons tells the Guardian.

Astronomers have calculated the orbit of A/2017 U1 into the past and future and found it always traveling fast enough to escape the sun's gravity. "Unless there are serious problems" with astronomers' calculations, that means it came from outside the solar system, according to the Minor Planet Center. The center's Dr. Gareth Williams explains that the object's orbit features "no close approaches to any of the giant planets that could have given this thing a kick," so "it is coming from interstellar space and it is going to interstellar space." A/2017 U1, which is estimated to be less than 400 meters in diameter, appears to already be on its way back out of our solar system, so scientists are rushing to study it before it's too late. They say it could be made out of entirely different materials than those that comprise the comets and asteroids found closer to home. (A 40-year-old signal from space has finally been explained.)
Prospective jurors in Illinois' Cook County will see a very familiar face in their midst next month: Barack Obama received his own summons, and he plans to honor it. "He made it crystal-clear to me through his representative that he would carry out his public duty as a citizen and resident of this community, said Chief Judge Tim Evans, per the Chicago Tribune.

The particulars of when and where the former president will report aren't known, but Evans says proper security will be in place for the big day in November. The Obamas live in DC now, but they still maintain a home in Chicago, notes CNN. (George W. Bush didn't shirk his jury duties, either.)
The second season of Stranger Things just launched on Netflix, and this is clearly not the headline creators were expecting: One of the show's actors, Charlie Heaton, was barred entry to the US because trace amounts of cocaine were found in his bag at LAX airport in Los Angeles, reports TMZ. The 23-year-old British actor appears to have caught a break, however. Because he doesn't have a criminal record, authorities let him return to London rather than face arrest. Heaton had been flying in to the US to attend the Netflix premiere party Thursday night, and the incident explains why he was "noticeably absent," per People. Heaton will be able to return to the US eventually, though it's not clear when. (Read more celebrity stories.)
Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante contains an estimated 62 billion tons of coal. But it also has one of the highest concentrations of dinosaur fossils in the world, with more than two-dozen new species having been discovered in the 21 years since President Clinton designated it a national monument. So when Sen. Orrin Hatch said Friday that President Trump will be shrinking the 1.9-million-acre national monument, it led to a lot of distressed dino-lovers, the Los Angeles Times reports. The research in the monument, from my perspective, has only just begun, one paleontologist says. The shrinking of it for what I would say are fairly petty, shallow, and short-term interests will clearly interfere with, and even potentially destroy, aspects of future research.

While scientists say most of Grand Staircase-Escalante has yet to be explored, the Trump administration is anxious to open it to coal mining and oil drilling. Hatch says Trump specifically said he would allow mining on the million-acre Kaiparowits Plateau, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The volume of bone in the Kaiparowits is staggering, a paleontologist and Interior Department employee tells the Times. While many Utah residents prefer mining to fossils"God put coal on the Earth for a reason"a poll released this week states 53% of Utah residents oppose shrinking the national monument, according to the Hill. Trump plans to visit Utah in December to formally announce changes to Grand Staircase-Escalante with lawsuits from various groups seeking to prevent those changes likely to follow. (Read more dinosaurs stories.)
A mural of Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay looms over the hallway of the Queens recording studio where he was shot to death 15 years ago. The memorial gives no hint of a disturbing footnote to the DJ's tale of fame and misfortune: The killer, so far, has gotten away with it. New York City police detectives acknowledge that their investigation into the October 30, 2002, killing of the artist, whose given name was Jason Mizell, has gone cold, the AP reports. But some hold out hope that witnesses could still come forward. "It's not resolved to the legal eye, but the street always talks," said Jeremy Lam, a friend of Jam Master Jay's family and a partner in the latest version of the Queens studio.

Family members, however, are less optimistic. "We know it's any anniversary but we don't like to talk about it much anymore," Jam Master Jay's older sister, Bonita Jones, said. A cousin, Ryan Thompson, believes the potential witnesses may never come forward because they "could go to jail as accomplices." Thompson said Mizell should be remembered more "for the music he created and his kindness." That includes Run-DMC hits as "King of Rock," ''It's Tricky," and a remake of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" and opening a 24/7 studio in a then-violent section of Queens for artists who needed a start. It was in that studio on the night before Halloween 2002 that the 37-year-old Jam Master Jay was killed.

(Read more Run-DMC stories.)
A suicide truck bomb exploded outside a popular hotel in Somalia's capital on Saturday, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 30, and gunfire continued as security forces pursued other attackers inside the building, police said. Two more blasts were heard, one when an attacker detonated a suicide vest. Capt. Mohamed Hussein told the AP more than 20 people, including government officials, were thought to be trapped as the extremists holed up on the top floor of the Nasa-Hablod hotel in Mogadishu. Three of the five attackers were killed, Hussein said. The others hurled grenades and cut off the building's electricity as night fell. Saturday's blasts came two weeks after more than 350 people were killed in a massive truck bombing on a busy Mogadishu street in the country's worst-ever attack.

Al-Shabab, Africa's deadliest Islamic extremist group, quickly claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack and said its fighters were inside the hotel. Among the dead were a mother and three children, including a baby, all shot in the head, Hussein said. Other victims included a senior Somali police colonel, a former lawmaker, and a former government minister. Footage from the scene showed twisted vehicles and nearby buildings with only walls left standing. A survivor said he saw at least three armed men in military uniforms running toward the hotel after the bombing at its gate. "I think they were al-Shabab fighters who were trying to storm the hotel," he said. Witnesses in some previous attacks have said al-Shabab fighters disguised themselves by wearing military uniforms.

(Read more suicide bombing stories.)
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Nagpur:

French major Dassault Aviation will invest over 100 million euros in a joint venture with Reliance Aerospace to manufacture aircraft components as part of the 'offset obligation' connected to the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France.

The Dassault-Reliance joint venture represents the largest ever foreign direct investment in the defence sector in India, the companies said in a joint statement.

The foundation laying ceremony of the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL) manufacturing facility was held on Saturday at the Dhirubhai Ambani Aerospace Park in Mihan SEZ near the Nagpur airport.

The foundation stone was laid in the presence of Florence Parly, Minister of Armed Forces of the French Republic, Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Alexandre Ziegler, Ambassador of France to India.

Kokilaben Ambani, the Ambani family matriarch, Tina Ambani, wife of Anil Ambani and his son Anmol were also present.

Also Read: Maruti Suzuki India reports 3.4 per cent rise in Q2 net profit

DRAL will manufacture several components of the offset obligation connected to the purchase of 36 Rafale Fighters from France, signed between the two governments in September 2016, Ambani said.

It will manufacture components for the Legacy Falcon 2000 series of civil jets manufactured by Dassault Aviation and will become part of its global supply chain.

"These first steps are expected to be achieved in the coming years, leading to the possible setting up of the final assembly of Rafale and Falcon aircraft in India," a DRAL official said.

This is for the first time that a business jet will be manufactured in India, the official said.

The DRAL facility will train skilled workers in aviation assembly and integration, and lead to major employment generation in Nagpur and surrounding areas, the official added.

It will also attract and house an organic ecosystem of over 200 MSMEs to secure the component and avionics manufacturing needs of Rafale and Falcon jets.

Dassault Aviation Chairman Eric Trappier said the firm is firmly committed to implementing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' programme.

Also Read: Sujit Prasad takes over as executive director of SEBI

"This development (DRAL) gives the 65 year-long strong association of Dassault Aviation in India a new momentum and the will of future manufacturing developments," he said.

"The Reliance-Dassault partnership will bring high levels of technology transfer and make India a major supplier in the global aviation supply chain," Ambani said.

Dassault and Reliance will fully support 'Make in India' and 'Skill India' missions and enhance India's pursuit of self sufficiency in the aerospace sector, he added.

Ambani also thanked Gadkari and Fadnavis for their "strong and consistent support" for the project.

The Dhirubhai Ambani Aerospace Park, spread over 289 acres, will be the largest greenfield aerospace park in India with a capital investment of over Rs 6,500 crore. It is being developed in two phases.

Phase one production is expected to start next year.

It will be home to DRAL - the 51:49 joint venture of Reliance Aerostructure and Dassault Aviation.

Also Read: Sensex, Nifty scale new peaks on earnings cheer, F&O expiry

Reliance Group will set up assembly lines and manufacturing facilities of fixed wing aircraft aerostructure for commercial transport aircraft and helicopters for both defence and commercial use.

The park will also house ancillary and component manufacturing units to support after-sales requirements.

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New Delhi:

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will probe the PWD Minister Rajesh Munatas sex CD case, Chhattisgarh Minister Prem Prakash Pandey said on Saturday.

Addressing a press conference on Chhattisgarh BJP leader Prem Prakash Pandey said, "The state cabinet has decided to handover the entire case to the CBI for investigation".

Senior journalist Vinod Verma was arrested by Chhattisgarh Police from his residence in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district on Friday morning. Verma claimed that he was being framed as he has a sex CD of Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munat.

However, Munat has rubbished the claims of Vinod and said the CD he is talking about is fake and will himself appeal to Chief Minister to investigate it.

After Vinod Verma's arrest, the politics has intensified with Opposition parties accusing BJP of "strangulating media". Aam Aadmi Party termed Verma's arrest as a direct attack on the freedom of press.

Congress leader Ajay Maken in a press conference on Friday said, aThe media is one of the strongest pillars of Indiaas democracy and the Narendra Modi government wants to strangulate it.a

Cabinet has decided to give this entire case to the CBI for probe: Prem Prakash Pandey, Chhattisgarh Minister #CDRow pic.twitter.com/yZ16Pi9rbS a ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2017

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New Delhi:

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala on Saturday replied to Finance Minister Arun Jaitleys question whether P Chidambarams statement on autonomy should be given to J&K is an official stand of Congress party.

Surjewala issued a press release stating that Congress believes that the solution for lasting peace and prosperity in J&K lies solely within the framework of Indian Constitution. He maintained that Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh is an integral part of Indian Union and will always remain so unquestionably.

Congress spokesperson defended its position by saying that 10 years of UPA government proved to be a watershed in restoring normalcy in Kashmir. He wrote that the UPA government fought terrorism decisively.

Surjewala targeted NDA government by stating that the situation in Kashmir has deteriorated rapidly under its leadership. He said that terrorism, ceasefire violations, Pak-sponsored terrorism have grown rapidly.

Surjewala informed that INC has framed a policy group under the chairmanship of Dr Manmohan Singh to restore normalcy in Kashmir.

Earlier in the day, Arun Jaitley on Saturday criticised the Congress leader P Chidambarams statement that autonomy should be given to Jammu and Kashmir. He said that the position Congress has taken goes directly contrary to Indias national interest.

Jaitley blamed Congress for Kashmir problem by saying that it happened due to flawed policy of the party since 1947.

"It was a flawed policy of Congress right since 1947 which is responsible for the Kashmir problem. Kashmir problem is a Congress legacy. Instead of learning from its past mistakes, Cong wants to precipitate a crisis further for this country," said Jaitley.

Jaitley also blamed previous UPA governments for its inaction in addressing Kashmir problem.

"10 years of the UPA Government was a wasted opportunity on J&K, not a single initiative worked; you had terrorism on top," said Jaitley.

Jaitley praised the initiatives of NDA government by saying that they have succeeded in squeezing the funds of the terrorists and mass protests of stone throwers are by and large over.

"Congress is deceiving the country, itself and encouraging separatism in J&K. It is hurting India's national interest. Serious issue whether statement that has come from a prominent Cong leader is Congress' official stand or not? Should clarify immediately," said Jaitley.

Minister of Information & Broadcasting Smriti Irani also hit back at Congress leader P Chidambarams statement.

Irani said that it is quite shocking and disgusting that P Chidambaram today spoke about breaking the Union of India into pieces and supports those who actually murdered our security forces just so that they can play havoc with law & order situation in J&K.

Irani said that Chidambarams statement reflects the Congress mentality. She added that Rahul Gandhi is known to have supported those people who had given the statement 'Bharat Tere Tukde honge' in JNU crisis.

For them to talk about Azadi on a land that gave us Sardar Patel, he gave entire life to make sure India stood united under one constitution. What is the message Congress is trying to give, that at their doorstep of political gain they are willing to sacrifice nationhood? said Irani.

Chidambaram said that his interaction with people in the state led him to the conclusion that when they ask for azadi, most of them want autonomy.

Chidambaram suggested that giving autonomy to J&K must be considered. He said that J&K will remain part of India but will have larger powers as promised under Article 370.

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New Delhi:

Congress President Sonia Gandhi who was admitted to Delhias Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on Friday over stomach upset, has been discharged.

"Sonia Gandhi has recovered from upset stomach and has been discharged today at 4 pm. Her condition at the time of discharge was stable and she has been advised rest," said Dr D.S.Rana , Chairman (Board of Management), Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

Congress Chief was in Shimla when she caught a stomach bug and was brought to Delhi'sA Ganga Ram Hospital for the treatment.

Earlier on Friday, Sonia Gandhias son and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi thanked people for their love and concern. He tweeted her well-being and said she was doing better.

Ma was in Shimla & caught a stomach bug so we got her back. Nothing to worry, she's much better. Thanks for the tremendous love and concern. a Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) October 27, 2017

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New Delhi:

In a heart-wrenching incident, at least 9 newborn babies died at a civil hospital in Ahmedabad, Gujarat since Friday midnight, news agency ANI reported.

Out of the 9 deaths, 5 were referred to the hospital with critical conditions, 3 born at hospital had severe birth asphyxia and 1 had meconium aspiration syndrome, the agency further said.

The hospital authorities have confirmed the deaths of the newborn babies.

In order to avoid any mishappening, the police force has been deployed outside the hospital.

5 were referred to the hospital with critical conditions, 3 born at hospital had severe birth asphyxia & 1 had meconium aspiration syndrome a ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2017

In a similarA incident, over 60 children including newborn babies died at Baba Raghav Das Medical College hospital in Gorakhpur,A Uttar Pradesh due to oxygen disruption over non-payments of dues in August this year.

ALSO READ | Chhattisgarh: 3 newborn babies die adue to lack of oxygena, drunk hospital staff fired, CM orders probe

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Jammu:

The Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir celebrated the Infantry Day on Friday by organising a solemn but impressive wreath-laying ceremony at the war memorial in Chandimandir.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his greetings to the Indian Army on the 70th Infantry Day.

Lt. Gen. Surinder Singh, Western Army Commander laid the wreath. He along with senior veterans and serving officers of the Infantry paid homage to personnel who laid down their lives defending the nation.

I bow to all infantry martyrs, who devoted their lives to the nation. Their heroic sacrifices will be remembered for generations to come. a Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 27, 2017

The day is celebrated on October 27 every year, as it is on this day in 1947 the first Indian soldier (First Battalion of the Sikh Regiment) landed at Srinagar airport to defend the Kashmir Valley against the onslaught of Pakistani raiders.

Greetings to all infantrymen on Infantry Day. We are proud of our infantryas exceptional courage & dedicated service to our nation. a Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 27, 2017

#ArmyCdrNC compliments, all soldiers on the occasion of 70th #InfantryDay for displaying high degree of steadfastness & professionalism. pic.twitter.com/ysOtrsm3J7 a NorthernComd.IA (@NorthernComd_IA) October 27, 2017

Maj. Somnath Sharma of the Kumaon regiment won the first Paramvir Chakra (posthumously) during these operations in the battle of Badgam.aEver since, the Infantry has stood tall against all adversities and played a stellar role in all operations post-independence including counterinsurgency and internal security duties,a a defence spokesman said.

The day was celebrated across the Northern Command at Udhampur. Lieutenant General D Anbu, GOC-IN-C Northern Command, complimented all ranks of the infantry for their devotion to duty.

A wreath-laying ceremony was organised at various locations of the White Knight Corps. Forty ex-servicemen from Palma and nearby areas also attended the function at Romeo Force War Memorial.Major General Raj Sinha, General Officer Commanding Romeo Force paid tributes and laid a wreath.A

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New Delhi:

An alleged photo of a Jammu and Kashmir policeman with an AK-47 rifle has gone viral on the social networking sites. It is rumoured that he has joined the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

The reports of Ishfaq Ahmed joining the LeT came after he did not report for duty following a leave.

Ahmed was posted at the Police Training Centre (PTC) in J&Ks Kathua district.

Speaking on the issue, a senior officer of PTC Kathua told PTI, Ishfaq Ahmed had gone on leave from PTC Kathua. He was supposed to report back on October 23 but failed to return. We will take legal action against him.

ALSO READ | Jammu and Kashmir: Protesters to face up to 5 years jail term for damaging property

The details of whether he has joined the LeT in South Kashmir are being verified, the officer said.

Ahmed, a resident of Heff Shirmal village in southern Shopian, joined the police in 2012, the officer added.

In recent past, eight police personnel have deserted police ranks and joined the militancy in Kashmir.

(With PTI inputs)

ALSO READ: Pakistani handlers getting militants killed in Kashmir for defying commands, suggests Abu Dujana's viral audio

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New Delhi:

India has again flagged its concerns to the US over problems being faced by Indian companies in procuring H-1B and L-1 visas for professionals and asked it to revisit its position on the matter.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has asked the US government to ease the movement of skilled professionals who have over the years contributed towards making US companies more competitive.

Prabhu had productive discussions with the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Robert Lighthizer and his team in a cordial, friendly and positive manner, According to an official statement.

The commerce minister took up Indias concerns with regard to problems faced by Indian services companies in obtaining H-1B and L-1 visas at the 11th Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meeting, which was held in Washington on October 26, 2017, the statement said.

During the meeting, discussions were held on issues related to bilateral trade between the two countries, areas of mutual cooperation, market access in agriculture, non-agricultural goods and services and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).

Prabhu noted that the TPF serves as a robust platform that contributes towards promoting bilateral trade and investment between India and the US, the statement said.

On the US concerns related to trade deficit with India, the minister pointed out that the issue of trade deficit should be viewed in the larger context of the growing economic and strategic partnership between the two countries that has grown and strengthened in recent years.

He also took up the issue of mismatch between US visa and social security regimes, wherein Indian professionals making social security contributions do not receive their due benefits upon their return to India, the statement added.

He urged the US to revisit its position and work towards achieving a totalisation agreement, it said.

While responding to US concerns on price controls on medical devices, Prabhu stressed on the need for a balance between the demand for optimum medical facilities and affordable healthcare to its citizens.

India desires to address the concerns of providing affordable healthcare to its citizens and balancing it with the need to introduce high-end technology, the statement said.

Noting that India has made significant investments in the US and Indian skilled workers and students make important contributions to the US economy, Prabhu said, As the Indian economy grows, and with the renewed emphasis on reviving US manufacturing, there will be greater opportunities for US exports to India.

In this context, he pointed out that India has already started to import crude oil and new Liquefied Natural Gas exports are expected to commence early next year.

Indian aviation companies such as Spicejet and Jet Airways have placed orders for over 300 aircraft valued at several billions of dollars, Prabhu said.

The minister said these developments will go a long way in fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trumps desire to have a free, fair and balanced trade between India and the US.

Prabhu also sought the support of the US to Indias proposal on the Trade Facilitation in Services Agreement which has been tabled by India at the WTO.

At the conclusion of TPF, the statement said it was decided that the two countries will continue to work towards building strong trade and investment ties to realise mutual gains from the partnership.

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Bogota:

US President Donald Trump said he is concerned about the extraordinary increase in drug crops in Colombia, in a letter to his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos.

Trump asked Santos for help in cutting down production and trafficking of drugs in Colombia to try to stop them entering the United States, according to the letter dated October 24.

The US president said he signed a declaration in September expressing concern about the extraordinary expansion of coca cultivation and production of cocaine in Colombia.

I express these concerns because I promised the people of the United States that we would prevent drugs from crossing our borders and I need your help to diminish the production and trafficking of drugs in Colombia, Trump wrote in a Spanish-language version of the letter made available by Santos.

The South American country is the worlds leading coca leaf producer and also the biggest source of cocaine, producing 866 tons in 2016, according to the UN.

ALSO READ | US to Pakistan: Act against terrorism or we will do it in a different way

I trust that your efforts will help improve the problem of cocaine production, Trump added.

Santos interpreted the message as backing and recognition of his governments efforts to eradicate illegal crops, through a strategy that combines encouraging farmers to substitute other cash crops for coca, and forced eradication.

We have been the country that has fought the most in this war against drug trafficking, which has made the most sacrifices, and no country on the planet has sacrificed so much in terms of human lives, Santos told a press conference at government headquarters.

The White House made no comment on the letters content.

The correspondence between President Trump and foreign leaders is private and we will not comment on their content.

President Trump has met and spoken with President Santos several times discussing many issues including the problem of illicit drugs, among others. The two leaders are strong allies in stopping illegal drug trafficking.

ALSO READ | John F Kennedy assassination records: US releases nearly 3,000 secret files

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Washington:

The US is looking at a aworking-levela quadrilateral meeting in the near term with India, Japan and Australia and offer countries in the Indo-Pacific region an alternative to predatory financing or unsustainable debt, the Trump Administration has said.

The US on Friday came out in support of the Japanese move in this regard, which was revealed early this week by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono in an interview to Nikkei business daily, by asserting that the quadrilateral group is a anatural stepping stonea from the very productive trilateral conversations, exercises, and cooperation it has had with Japan and Australia.

Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice G Wells told reporters here that she expects the first of those meeting at the working level to be held fairly soon, which includes her counterparts in India, Japan and Australia.

Responding to questions, Wells refuted reports that such a move is aimed at containing China.

But she did referred to apredatory financinga a term increasingly being used by the US for Chinaas developmental and assistance model to the countries in the region, as being on the agenda of the four countries India, US, Japan and Australia.

aI think itas hard to see a meeting of diplomats from four countries as a plan to contain China,a said Wells, who accompanied the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on his maiden trip to South Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

ALSO READ: Donald Trump calls on Colombian leader for help in drugs war

The quadrilateral is a natural expression and convergence of interests between democratic countries in the Indo-Pacific region and itas a natural stepping stone from the very productive trilateral conversations, exercises, and cooperation between India, Japan, and the US, she said.

aThe countries that share values have an opportunity to provide alternatives to countries in the region who are seeking needed investment in their infrastructure and in their economic development, and so making sure that we coordinate our initiatives and provide these countries with alternatives that donat include predatory financing or unsustainable debt, that would certainly be on the agenda,a Wells said.

aThe quadrilateral that the Japanese foreign minister discussed would be building on what has been a very productive trilateral that we have with India and Japan, and if you look at the largest military exercise that we do, Malabar, Japan is a part of that exercise,a she said.

aAs we explore ways to deepen and try to inculcate some of the values, freedom of navigation, maritime security, humanitarian assistance, disaster response, transparency,A Australia would be a natural partner in that effort as well,a she said.

aWeare looking at a working-level quadrilateral meeting in the near term, but I think the idea is how do we bring together countries that share these same values to reinforce these values in the global architecture,a the top American diplomat said.

Wells said the quadrilateral is a positive vision.

aAs Secretary of Defense (Jim) Mattis said, two weeks ago, there are many belts and many roads. So what does the US have to offer? What does the US, Japan, Australia, other countries, India, other countries that share the values of transparency, sustainable debt, responsible development? what do we have to offer,a she noted.

This is not to counter something; it is a positive vision of what important democracies in the Indo-Pacific region should be doing and how these four countries can work better together.

aHow do we work with one another, the countries of the region, to make sure that our development projects are mutually reinforcing, and how do we build on connectivity so that there is an alternative and very sustainable initiative that can address legitimate development needs of these countries?a she said.

ALSO READ | US to Pakistan: Act against terrorism or we will do it in a different way

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday asked the business community to provide 300 billion yen to help reduce the number of children on nursery waiting lists.

The business community is seen accepting the request, made at the second session of the Council for Designing 100-Year Life Society, a government team to flesh out Abe's human resources development initiative.

The government will draw up by year-end a 2-trillion-yen policy package featuring measures to eliminate nursery capacity shortages and expand tuition-free education.
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Just below a sign with the word Imagine hangs a picture frame with five photographs in the living room of Maryann Daino and Dennis Klaus.

The images show the couples five-year journey since the former New York City residents lost everything in Superstorm Sandy the deadliest and most destructive storm in the 2012 hurricane season.

In the first photo, the pair sit side-by-side at a table in New Milfords Faith Village, where they met and fell in love while living in trailers after their homes were destroyed.

The second photo was taken a year later as they watched the trailers leaving the grounds of Faith Church, at a point when they feared becoming homeless again. The next shows them in Gaylordsville, where they settled after a family that heard about their plight offered their yard as a temporary trailer site. In the fourth image, they are posing with their $255,000 check after winning the lottery, and in the fifth they are pictured outside their new home in Litchfield.

Theres room for one more picture, said Daino, 66. Something else big is going to happen.

Sunday marks the five-year anniversary of Sandys assault on the tri-state area. More than 60 people died in the storm, which also caused billions of dollars in damage and left thousands without power up to two weeks.

The anniversary is present in the couples minds as they continue rebuilding and looking optimistically to the future.

It will be a job for life, but I dont mind that, said Klaus, also 66. I'm blessed.

Theyre making progress. They just won a four-year court battle against an insurer that had paid Daino only a fraction of what her Staten Island house was worth. They also have their forever home on two riverfront acres after living in hotels, shelters, and trailers for three years.

But it took awhile for Daino to get used to living near the water again. During the storm, she had been swept from her home by a wave, and survived by clinging to a tree until rescued by a neighbor.

Now we have the water, but we dont have the danger, Klaus said.

Klaus himself had been stuck in his ruined home for days after the storm until it could be inspected by FEMA.

"You live in a cave after a storm with no electricity, no heat and people coming to feed you and you appreciate a shelter of your own," he said.

Daino and Klaus also are catching up on medical procedures  cataract surgery for him, hip replacement for her  that had to be postponed while they were living in shelters.

Klaus referred to the storm and its destruction as a rebirth, because they had to restart their lives in their 60s. The storm lalso led them to each other and to their perfect home, which they share with Dainos cats, who survived Sandy with her.

We want people to know theres hope," Klaus said.

A helping hand

The Danbury area wasnt hit as hard as the communities along the coast, including southern Connecticut, New York City and the New Jersey shore.

John Hodge, who was New Fairfields first selectman at the time, said that once power was restored in town, he shifted his focus to New York City, where hundreds were now homeless.

We had power outages, but people were drowning in their homes there, he said.

Hodge's foundation, Tunnels to Towers, provided immediate supplies, food and water, then began looking at the next steps to take. New York City did not provide trailers for victims because they feared people would be reluctant to leave them, as they had after Hurricane Katrina. Hodge realized that housing was an immediate need, especially with the winter approaching.

Within days, Faith Church agreed to host 15 trailers brought to its four-acre property, and then-New Milford Mayor Pat Murphy agreed to waive the towns zoning prohibition on trailers. Over the next month area organizations, other towns and businesses donated money, supplies and volunteer time to create the refuge, nicknamed Faith Village. It opened two days before Christmas 2012.

I look back on it with a great deal of pride, Hodge said. The overarching theme was that we were very successful.

Most of the relocated families stayed in the Danbury and New Milford areas, grateful for the support they received.

Connecticut has made a new person out of me," Daino said.

Klaus said he was also struck by the community's generosity and began ushering at the church and managing the trailers as a way to give back.

While in Faith Village, displaced families turned to each other and to the Faith Church community to help heal. They would gather in Klaus trailer for pizza and Carvel ice cream cake to celebrate birthdays, and a little patio area outside of Dainos trailer became a place where Sandy survivors could grieve and chat.

Daino also began researching grants through the Department of Agriculture that helped two families buy their own homes. A third family is in the process of doing the same. Several adults have also found new jobs in the area.

As for storm damage, downed trees were the biggest challenge in the Danbury area, blocking roads, crushing homes and knocking down power lines.

Ridgefield was completely without power. Ninety-nine percent of Redding and 97 percent of Newtown were left in the dark at the worst part of the storm. It took days to restore power, causing Redding and Ridgefield to cancel school for the rest of the week and delaying many Halloween events.

Eversource eventually undertook an aggressive tree-trimming campaign to prevent trees from falling on power lines and causing outages in future storms.

It appears to be working.

New Fairfield First Selectman Susan Chapman said there have been a few big storms since the trimming that would have caused outages, but the town retained power.

Town officials have also become more proactive in ensuring residents are prepared in case of natural disasters and power outages. Numerous residents have purchased generators for their homes, including Chapman.

People understand the need and importance of being prepared," she said.

Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi said residents attitudes toward and awareness of dangerous trees has also changed. Everyone is more proactive in removing potential hazards.

Since Sandy, Irene and Snowtober, I think people have educated themselves better on trees, he said.

The state and town governments had begun improving emergency management in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, but after the recent severe storms, the focus has shifted more to natural disasters. There is much more communication and training among local leaders, and mutual aid agreements have been reached so towns that are less hard hit can assist other communities. Ridgefield even created a seperate emergency management director, Marconi said.

Theres a new spirit of help and assistance, Marconi said.
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DANBURY  A key difference between longtime GOP Mayor Mark Boughton and Democratic challenger Al Almeida is the degree of unity they believe they can create in the city one decade after immigration tensions pulled it apart.

Almeida, who came to the United States from Portugal when he was 11, says Boughtons crusade against illegal immigration during that period created a divide so wide it has yet to close.

I believe that everyone deserves equal dignity and respect, and it doesnt matter where they came from or how they got here, Almeida said during an Editorial Board meeting last week at The News-Times. My goal is to bring them all together.

Boughton, a 16-year incumbent whose chances of becoming the Republican nominee for governor in 2018 depend in part on selling Danbury as the shining star among Connecticut cities, said the city does a good job of integrating immigrants into the community.

More often than not we are one city, and I can cite several programs we do, Boughton said last week at The News-Times editorial board meeting. Every day we try to make people feel comfortable and let them know we value them, we care for them, and we want them to become part of the community.

Owing in large part to immigration, Danbury ranks as the fastest-growing city in Connecticut. Latinos make up as much as 40 percent of the citys 85,000 residents.

Nowhere is that diversity more apparent than in the city school system, where 40 languages are spoken, and where enrollment is jumping by as much as 2.5 percent a year at a time when suburban school districts across the state are shrinking.

But while Danbury ranked high in surveys as a desirable place to live because of its low unemployment rate, low crime rate and ethnic diversity, it was only 10 years ago it was it convulsed by City Halls war on illegal immigration. The flashpoint came in 2006, when 11 day laborers were ensnared by city officers posing as contractors and were turned over to federal immigration agents.

The case of the Danbury 11, which drew national attention, was settled for $400,000 by the city after the day laborers filed a lawsuit alleging racial profiling.

Although Hispanic leaders agree relations with City Hall have vastly improved since then, some observers say it is no more than an uneasy truce.

The administration has created a culture to separate the city in two, said Almeida, an investigator in the Danbury Public Defenders office and a decorated combat veteran. In some cases, the Latino community is starting to come out, but a lot more of them are afraid to come out, because of what is going on in Washington, D.C., and because of what happened in the city 12 years ago.

Almeida was referring to President Donald Trumps crackdown on illegal immigration and Boughtons request in 2005 to deputize State Police for immigration enforcement in Danbury.

Boughton, who calls himself a compassionate conservative, told The News-Times in 2014 I have learned more about the issue of illegal immigration than probably any mayor in Connecticut.

At the same time, Boughton has supported parts of Trumps policy on undocumented immigrants. In February, he said Danbury would cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts in the city, and he has spoken out against other Connecticut cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration agents.

At Thursdays News-Times meeting, Boughton listed several initiatives, partnerships and projects City Hall has undertaken to improve relations with the citys immigrants, including outreach to business owners and holding workshops with police.

One of our biggest challenges is to get the word out to people that this is their community and we want them to buy into it, Boughton said. We want your thoughts and ideas on how to make it better.

Two visions

Almeida said the city does not do enough to help Latino immigrants learn about their responsibilities and opportunities as Americans.

He stopped short of identifying specific programs he would put in place as mayor, except to say he would invite counselors from foreign consulates to help immigrants navigate red tape.

I do believe we could do a better job of integrating them into our society and help them understand the laws of the United States, Almeida said. You can still be proud of your culture and your heritage, but this is where you live, and for you to fit in, you have to do certain things.

We want law-abiding citizens in our community, Almeida said.

Boughton said City Hall is working with the downtown merchant group CityCenter to help immigrant entrepreneurs understand the value of appealing to the widest possible audience, by providing menus and other product information in English and by reducing display clutter on store windows.

He said City Hall has partnerships with the Hispanic Center and the Ecuadorian Civic Center to provide acculturation programs and volunteer opportunities.

I go to their events, whether it is the swearing-in of an officer or a dinner, to let people know they are valued members of our community, and we want them to continue to add to it, Boughton said.

The city has completed a heritage park featuring a sculpture of a hatter, in homage to the immigrants who worked in Danburys signature industry.

I also think you are seeing a good thing with more participation in the political process, Boughton said of the Nov. 7 election.

We have a Brazilian American running on (the GOP) ticket, an Ecuadorian American running on our ticket, and a Dominican American running on our ticket, he said. It is good we see people on both sides of the aisle that are getting involved in the process because that shows buy-in to the community.
TORONTO, Oct. 27, 2017 /CNW/ - The Canadian Nuclear Workers Council (CNWC) is pleased with the central role nuclear energy plays in the Ontario Government's Long-Term Energy Plan (LTEP).

The updated Plan, released yesterday, recognizes the importance of Ontario's publically owned nuclear reactors to the environment and economy. Ontario remains committed to the cost-effective refurbishment of the Bruce and Darlington nuclear reactors and continued operation of the Pickering Nuclear Station to 2024. The four-year operating extension of Pickering will support the refurbishment outages during this period by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the cost of electricity service to Ontario homes and businesses.

The CNWC also applauds Ontario's support to help create new export opportunities for nuclear innovations such as Small Modular Reactor Technology, nuclear fuel research and hydrogen production.

Each year Ontario's nuclear fleet helps avoid about 45 million tonnes of CO2 emissions  about the equivalent of taking approximately 10 million vehicles off the province's roads. This helps Ontario meet its climate change goals. As well, these reactors help avoid smog-causing emissions.

Today, Ontario's nuclear plants provide about 60% of the province's electricity or enough to power about 10 million homes. Nuclear energy is low cost, averaging less than 7 cents per kilowatt-hour, about 30% less than the average residential price for electricity.

Ontario is home to the majority of Canada's nuclear industry. Each year this industry contributes over $6 billion annually to the economy and supports 60,000 direct and indirect jobs. Ontario also benefits from millions of dollars in nuclear R&D and from the production of Cobalt-60, which is used to fight cancer cells.

"The Ontario government's investments in its nuclear fleet is a good decision for our environment and all Ontarians," stated Dave Shier, CNWC's National Director. "It ensures that families and businesses in the province will continue to benefit from a domestic, stable, benefit creating, low-cost source of clean energy for decades to come."

SOURCE Canadian Nuclear Workers Council

For further information: Media Contact: Dave Shier, National Director, 705-725-3902
Good News for the Environment and Economy

TORONTO, Oct. 26, 2017 /CNW/ - Today's latest provincial Long-Term Energy Plan (LTEP) confirms the pivotal role nuclear energy will play in Ontario's clean energy future. Recognizing the significant environmental and economic benefits that this safe, reliable generation delivers, the provincial government remains committed to refurbishing all of Ontario's publically-owned nuclear reactors and to the four-year extension of the operations of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station to 2024.

Ontario's low carbon nuclear fleet, together with the province's hydroelectric stations, provide over 80% of our electricity without smog-causing pollutants and represent one of the world's smallest carbon electricity system footprints. Each year the nuclear fleet helps avoid about 45 million tonnes of CO2. At a carbon price of $18 per tonne, that represents an annual value of $810 million. These two forms of generation are also the province's lowest cost sources and ensure domestic energy security. Ontario, as the primary host of Canada's successful nuclear industry, benefits from tens of thousands of high skill jobs, R&D and high-value exports. The Plan's support for Small Modular Reactor development is another positive step.

"This is good news for Ontario's electricity consumers and our provincial economy. Bruce Power and OPG nuclear stations will continue to provide huge amounts of reliable, affordable, low-carbon electricity, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week," stated Mel Hyatt, President of the Power Workers' Union. "That means every day, for decades to come, thousands of metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) will be avoided. It also means tens of thousands of good, high-skilled jobs right here in Ontario." Hyatt noted that this will facilitate the electrification of the economy, zero emission vehicles and public transit further reducing GHG emissions.

The importance of expanding the province's transmission grid is acknowledged in the Plan. Significant investments are required to "harden" Ontario's bulk delivery system and distribution grid given the catastrophic damage caused by recent storms throughout North America. As well, more could be done to recycle existing electricity infrastructure and develop Ontario's vast, renewable low-carbon biomass resources in partnership with First Nation, Metis and local communities.

The LTEP also focuses on investments in distributed energy resources (DER) such as remote hydro, wind, solar, energy storage and microgrids. Experience with renewable energy in Ontario suggests any investments in DER should be preceded by transparent, comprehensive cost-benefit analyses to determine their ability to add value. Ontario's electricity consumers should be informed about the real costs of these investments.

SOURCE Power Workers' Union

For further information: Media Contact: Paul S Reece, Chief of Staff, Power Workers' Union, 905 308 1602

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Turn the clock back five years and you would find thousands of homeowners along the shoreline of Long Island Sound with sludge on their floors, soggy wallboard and a confused morass of paperwork and agencies to deal with.

It was like a river of muck in here, said Milford resident Bibi Schmid, recalling what her home was like in the days after Superstorm Sandy. When I first walked in, I had my flip-flops on and they just stuck to the floor. And two years later, it was really moldy.

Drive down many of the Long Island Sound shoreline streets in Fairfield and New Haven counties in 2017 and youll see what amounts to an urban cityscape that wasnt there before Sandy hit five years ago this weekend.

House after house has been jacked up nearly 3 yards or more in an expensive and often frustrating effort to secure them against the next Sandy. Instead of a row of old tumbledown shore-front cottages, a beachfront home today is typically reached via a staircase that brings to mind the Matterhorn.

Oh, boy, its a climb, said Elizabeth Anderson, who lives with her husband, Ron, on Hillside Avenue, a street that despite its name runs along Milfords Far View Beach on the east side of the city. Their home, entirely rebuilt, is about 8 feet above street level now.

Sandy was in many respects the most destructive storm ever to hit Connecticut, leaving about 630,000 customers  encompassing close to a third of the states population  without electricity, as fallen trees left the power grid a tangled mess.

More Information Sandy in Connecticut, by the numbers 940: The lowest barometric pressure in millibars ever recorded for a hurricane. 5: The number of fatalities recorded. 9,164: The number of people who requested federal help. $7.6 million: The amount of federal disaster relief allocated to the state. 6,883: The number of federal Small Business Administration disaster loans. 9: The storm surge in feet recorded at both Bridgeport and New Haven. 3,000: The number of homes damaged along the state's shoreline. .43: Rainfall recorded at Sikorsky Memorial Airport for the duration of the storm. See More Collapse

And those living along the shoreline had another nightmare to deal with. Despite a high tide still two hours from full, the storm brought a water surge measured at 9 feet at Bridgeport and New Haven, leaving scores of homes with layers of muck inside.

About 3,000 homes were damaged along the Connecticut coastline from Greenwich to north of New Haven. The preliminary financial toll was pegged at $360 million in Connecticut alone.

Connecticut has the second-highest exposure of vulnerable coastal assets on the East Coast  behind only Florida state officials said. With more than 60 percent of the states population living in coastal communities, 32,000 homes in the 100-year flood plain and more than $542 billion in assets at risk, the state remains vulnerable to future storm events despite the efforts of repairs funded by government monies, and more stringent federal building codes.

To its knees

After Sandy, 7,270 property owners in the state applied for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance, including 6,000 along the shoreline  most of them in Fairfield and New Haven counties, according to state officials.

And by some standards, Sandy didnt even pack that much of a punch. Less then a half-inch of rain fell, and the maximum recorded wind gust in the state was 76 mph, measured at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford. The superstorm was, after all, downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it made landfall.

Weather scientists use inundation scores  or feet above ground level  to get an idea of how badly a storm will damage buildings. According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations post-Sandy report, those inundation levels were between 4 and 5 feet for much of Connecticuts shoreline between Greenwich and East Haven, giving a better picture of the water levels seen in shoreline homes  many of which are situated only a foot or two feet above the high-tide line.

Climate-change event

As time passes, you realize that this was a climate-change incident, said Bill Finch, who was Bridgeports mayor in 2012 when Sandy hit. In Bridgeport, we were looking at the waves lapping up against our downtown (power) substation  if that were lost, much of the city would have been dark for weeks.

Marina Village, one of Bridgeports largest public housing projects years ago, is gradually being abandoned, in part because of flooding seen during Sandy and Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. The plan is to leave the 1940-era housing project as a green space, one that would absorb water during storm surges, Finch said.

Also flood-damaged in Bridgeport were the majority of the units in the Seaside Village co-op.

Still, Bridgeport suffered comparatively little damage from Sandy and from Irene a year earlier  mostly because miles of the citys shore front has been allocated to parks, while much of the rest of it was already hardened with industrial development. The city claims Seaside Park is the largest municipal shore-front park in the world, and St. Marys by the Sea is another lengthy linear shore-front public space.

Finch commended showman P.T. Barnum  also a Bridgeport former mayor (1875-76) and developer  for leaving Seaside Park undeveloped.

Evolving neighborhoods

In the five years since Sandy hit, construction has been the one constant in a changing landscape. And a Fairfield neighborhood made up mostly of small capes, colonials and ranch houses was changed forever.

According to Fairfield Assessor Ross Murray, 200 homes have been elevated  pushed up another story  to meet FEMA guidelines. About 250 homes have been, or are in the process of being, rebuilt, according to Fairfield Planning and Zoning Director James Wendt.

Wendt said while the pace of existing homes being elevated has slowed, the construction of new homes has not.

In the two blocks of Rowland Road between Edward Street and Fairfield Beach Road, the changes are noticeable: new construction of larger homes, smaller homes that were just lifted, and, here and there, a few of the original homes that remain untouched.

The neighborhood has definitely changed, said Ken Carvell, the deputy assessor in Fairfield, a change that had been under way, but the momentum was definitely propelled by Sandy.

On the brink

The scene is the same in Milford, where the sounds of saws and hammers are still the norm in many beachfront neighborhoods.

A year after Sandy hit, Hearst Connecticut Media spoke with Michael Tarantino, who owns West Shore Realty in Milford. At the time, he said the real estate market along the shore looked glum, with scores of abandoned homes. Many of their owners, facing mounting bills and with little hope of moving back in soon, had to sell for what they could get and move someplace else.

Today, Tarantino said, he sees more smiles along the shoreline.

Were extremely busy now, he said. A lot of people have taken advantage of the state program (Shore Up CT) which has lifted several homes in the area, and this has increased activity.

Tarantino said that homes immediately along the shore can still be a hard sell, but even those have been moving  selling from $500,000 to more than $1.4 million.

I live on the water myself, and youre seeing a lot of new faces and a lot of new construction, he said. Its definitely changed from what it was four and five years ago.

After Sandy, $159.2 million in federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funding was awarded to the state for recovery. Of this, $40.3 million was dedicated to owner-occupied homes. That program has since been closed to new applicants.

Experts say its only a matter of time before the next Sandy hits  a prophecy made more disturbing because nature is increasingly showing signs of change.

Connecticut will see a sea-level rise of about 2 feet by 2050 and 3 feet by 2085, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. And some scenarios quoted by the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have seas rising by more than 2 meters  about 61/2 feet  by 2100. The seas are rising for two reasons  melting glaciers and ice caps combined with thermal expansion of ocean, experts scientists say.

Happy by the shore

Rising seas aside, the lure of living near the shore remains a strong pull.

Im so, so happy to be back in my house, said Charlotte Schmid, who, it can be said has been through hell and high water. She lives across the street from Milfords Cedar Beach, and her bungalow was turned into a reeking, muck-filled purgatory.

We had to shovel the mud out of the living room, said her sister, Bibi.

The two endured a mind-numbing ordeal with government officials  state, federal and local  over getting their home raised and rehabilitated. They had to live in a tiny apartment in West Haven during the three years that their home was uninhabitable. In the end, they said, they wound up paying for most of the cost of the rehab themselves, other than the settlement from flood insurance.

At one point, the sisters said, historical preservationists held up the project over the placement of a door. And you cant exactly call this house historically significant, Charlotte Schmid said.

But talk to them now and they sound as happy as clams.

If you offered me a million dollars, I still wouldnt leave  thats how happy I am here, Charlotte said, while looking out over the marsh. We kayak right out from our backyard.

Tim McFadden, of Milford, who lives with his wife, Eleanor, just east of Silver Sands State Park, had similar sentiments. Four years ago, he told Hearst Connecticut Media he was thinking of cutting his losses and getting out.

But things have changed since then.

We just had to borrow from the SBA to get back in, he said.We had to break the bank, but we love it here. A lot of our neighbors had a short sale and got out, but thats the chance you take when you live down here. Its beautiful.

jburgeson@ctpost.com
Prince Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein lives in a castle perched on a cliffside in the Alpine principality that bears his name. He's known as "Your Serene Highness" to the country's 38,000 citizens, and he owns a collection of Renaissance masterpieces, as well as two palaces in Vienna.

He's also now one of the world's 500 richest people, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The prince controls a dynastic fortune that originated during the Crusades and is rooted in LGT Group, a private bank that caters to the ultra-rich worldwide. LGT's value has jumped 64 percent this year, more than quadruple the gain of the Euro Stoxx Banks Index, thanks in part to a 10 percent increase in net assets. The surge added $1.7 billion to von Liechtenstein's net worth, lifting him to No. 444 on the Bloomberg index with $4.4 billion.

The fortune is the oldest on the index and originated with land holdings acquired in the 12th century that at one point were spread across what's now Germany, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. They've since been whittled down to mainly timberland and farmland in Austria and are valued by the index at less than $100 million, a fraction of the land wealth owned by other noble families who, while not royal, held on to property acquired centuries ago.

Hugh Grosvenor, the seventh Duke of Westminster, controls a $12.9 billion fortune derived from hundreds of acres of London land his family has owned since 1677. Earl Cadogan, who's worth $7.5 billion, oversees a huge plot of central London acreage that has been in his family since 1753.

The only other royal valued by the Bloomberg index, Queen Elizabeth II, has a personal fortune of about $380 million -- less than 1/10th the size of Hans-Adam's -- as most of the monarchy's assets are held in trust for the British people.

LGT claims to be the biggest bank owned by an "entrepreneurial family" and ended 2016 with 152.1 billion Swiss francs ($153.8 billion) under management, up from 129.3 billion francs a year earlier. Private banks, typically more nimble than their investment-banking brethren, are favored by investors who see them as less susceptible to the legal and regulatory constraints.

The bank's success also mirrors a comeback of sorts for the mountainous nation sandwiched between Austria and Switzerland, once notorious for being a tax haven. Liechtenstein abolished its banking secrecy laws in 2009 and has since sought to re-brand itself as a specialist private-banking hub. The country's banks attracted a record 20.3 billion Swiss francs of net inflows last year, according to Simon Tribelhorn, director of the Liechtenstein Bankers Association, almost triple from five years earlier.

The prince assumed the throne after his father's death in 1989, becoming the leader of one of the world's oldest noble families. After graduating from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, he was tasked by his father with reorganizing the family empire, which was in shambles thanks to expropriations during World War II and mismanagement. He shut down unprofitable divisions and narrowed its client focus to just institutions, as well as multimillionaires and billionaires.

He also retains influence that neighboring leaders can only envy. A 2012 referendum to limit the ruler's power -- which includes the ability to veto popular votes and legislation and to dissolve parliament -- was roundly rejected.

---

Bloomberg's Patrick Winters contributed.
NEW HAVEN  Eating disorders are centered around negative body images.

But artistic images, generated by those who suffer from eating disorders, can have a healing power. That was the message delivered Friday night at Albertus Magnus College, which hosted a program and art exhibition on The Images of Eating Disorders.

The program involved presentations from five alumni of the schools masters degree program in art therapy and counseling. It also featured artwork done by the therapists clients as part of their treatment for eating disorders.

These images become potential lifelines, said Abbe Miller, an associate professor at Albertus Magnus who also has her own Hamden-based private practice in art therapy. Its not about how well you draw or what kind of artistic skill you have. Its about what it makes you feel like when you create something.

While the public perception of eating disorders is that they afflict young women, Miller said many of the clients she treats are women older than 30.

I think of it as a cultural disease, she said. Though many of these women are older, they still feel as though they are being judged by their bodies.

Sarah Guerica, a therapist with Walden Behavioral Care in Guilford, said art is the universal language. And like the spoken language, she said, it is something that involves a two-way communication.

In order to facilitate that communication with her clients, Guerica does artwork of her own as she works with them.

In order for me to help them, I need to tap into the image I have of myself, she said.

The art exhibition at the school, Reflections on the Eating Disorder Journey, features a mix of work done by art therapy professionals such as Guerica as well as pieces created by their clients. The client-produced artwork is identified only by initials to protect their privacy.

The schools Art Therapy and Counseling program was created 20 years ago and is the only one in the state of Connecticut, said Lisa Furman, the programs director.

Art therapy can be used as an alternative to verbal therapy or in combination with it, Furman said. But in cases of trauma where individuals are having trouble verbalizing what they are feeling, a picture really is worth a thousand words.

The art exhibition will be on display through Nov. 3 in the Margaret MacDounugh Gallery at the schools Hubert Campus Center.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com
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This is what happened to me on ikorodu express way last night. I was stuck in traffic and from no where a guy comes up to my side of the car,looking menacingly at me,I saw him but it didn't register immediately what was about to happen,he just suddenly smashed my window and stabbed me with a knife and was saying "your handbag,your handbag!" I don't know what came over me,I was just thinking of my niece and younger brothers in the car with me,and I fought the guy off and went right into the next lane,despite the crazy traffic. I brushed the side of my car on the brt demarcation,brushed another car trying to swerve back onto the lane,all this time pressing my horn to alert people to get out of the way. And even though cars weren't really moving,I just found a way,thank God,to get out of there,all the while looking back and asking if they were following us! Not until I had gone some ways,then the shock hit my,I was shaking! And crying and I had to keep moving because I was the only one that could drive in the car. The shards of glass from my broken window,lying in my laps,giving me scratches and cuts on my skin and I kept moving till I got to Anthony village and parked. Nobody stopped to know what wrong,they looked at my car saw the scrapes and kept on moving!one guy even stopped,came out,came to my window,asking what happened,my brother was telling them I got stabbed. They just looked at me,went back to the car and drove off!I was in shock. I just thank God everyone is safe,nothing was stolen,car was damaged but we are alive. I can't help but think "what if it was some vital part of my body that I got stabbed at,I might I have bled to death!.I thank God,I can't express it enough! Lagos state government needs to place police officials at strategic points on the highway to deter these hoodlums from operating,especially when there's traffic. And I want to thank my darling @bryanokwara for coming to my rescue,taking a bike,trying to calm me down over the phone when i was trying to get to a hospital, God bless you honey! #thankingGodforourlives





Top model and Miss Earth Nigeria 2013, Marie Miller was attacked in traffic yesterday night by an armed robber who smashed her car window to gain access, stabbed her arm and then demanded for her handbang. The said robbers failed to take anything after a struggle ensued. Narrating what happened, she took to her Instagram page and wrote;More photos below...
By Reno Omokri With the recent revelations that Abdulrasheed Maina (a man that former President Jonathan fired from the civil service ...

Reno Omokri

With the recent revelations that Abdulrasheed Maina (a man that former President Jonathan fired from the civil service and declared wanted for allegedly pilfering 100 billion Naira from the Pension funds) was secretly recalled, reinstated and given a juicy position within the Buhari administration, not even the most hardcore Buharist can still harbour any pretence that the present Nigerian government is prosecuting an anti corruption war. With the reinstatement of Maina, the non-prosecution of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, the return of Timipre Sylvas legally acquired 48 mansions and the $25 billion Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (AKA Northern Nigeria Petroleum Corporation) scam, was former President Jonathan not right to have said in 2014 that the choice before Nigerians is between a record of visible achievements and desperate power seekers with empty promises?And for those who believe the propaganda that President Muhammadu Buhari was unaware of the return, recall, reinstatement and redeployment of Maina, I have this to say-even if President Buhari devalued the Naira, did he also devalue your brain?How can you believe that tale by moonlight about Maina from the same Presidency that said rats chased the President from his office? That the President knew about Mainas return should not even be questioned.On the Maina issue, the President is as guilty of this charge as a child with chocolate stained mouth. It is an open and shut case that needs no legal reflection. Thank God the Maina family has given a press statement where the spokesman for the family, Malam Aliyu Maina said Abdulrasheed left Nigeria following threats to his life, only for President Muhammadu Buhari to invite him to come and help his administration.Speaking further, Malam Maina said the present administration when they came into power to convince him to come back and assist in its Change agenda.We have heard it from the horses mouth. Maina was brought back to assist President Buhari. Perhaps his looting skills were needed to show NNPCs Baru how to do things.Who is fooling who I wonder? Thank God it has come to light that Maina even got a police escort and security detail from the Department of State Security. Yet with all these overwhelming evidence against his boss, Garba Shehu, President Buharis spokesman still has the audacity to accuse the Jonathan administration of somehow being responsible for the Maina reinstatement.Can you imagine? Even after Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation, has confessed, the shameless Garba Shehu is still blaming Jonathan.One day they will blame Jonathan for impregnating their wives! The real question we should be asking is this  did the Buhari administration sacrifice Maina to the press and Nigerians to divert attention from the alleged $25 billion scam at NNPC?In fact, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (AKA armed wing of the All Progressive Congress) that refused to even investigate the NNPC $25 billion scam must think we are all children.I say that because they waited for the media to cry out before sealing off Mainas alleged $2 million house. Why now? Did the house also run away to Dubai prior to this week? Or is it that the EFCC did not know the address of the house before this week?Whoever is writing this bad Nollywood script for President Buhari should quit and be replaced with a renowned screenwriter like Zeb Ejiro, who has experience coming up with believable stories!The truth is now obvious. The anti-corruption credential of the Buhari military government of 1983-85 emanated from Tunde Idiagbon and not from Muhammadu Buhari, the Abacha did not loot man!The Buhari administration is as anti-corrupt as Farouk Lawans cap that harboured dollars instead of a head during its brief foray into banking at Femi Otedolas house.There are so so so many questions begging to be answered. How much of his loot did Maina, the alleged pension looter, donate to the All Progressive Congress to make the anti-corruption administration of President Muhammadu Buhari recall and reinstate him?Did President Buhari recall Maina and make him head of Human Resources in the Internal Affairs ministry for the purpose of recruiting more looters for his hopefully ill-fated re-election campaign?Now they are blaming the head of service for reinstating Maina, the same way they blamed Vice President Osinbajo for approving the $25 billion NNPC contract scam. And just like Osinbajo, the head of service has denied it.What does that say about this governments credibility? President Buhari has as much hope of winning his so called anti-corruption war as a Nancy boy has of defeating herdsmen who are terrorizing Nigerians (oops! I forgot, they are criminals, not terrorists) Like I said to Tunde Alabi of BEN Television who interviewed me on the 23rd of October 2017, In Nigerias 57 years post-independence history, no other administration has been as corrupt and incompetent as the Muhammadu Buhari government.No wonder BusinessDay in a recent editorial called the Buhari regime corrupt and inept. This administration makes Ali Baba and the forty thieves look like choirboys.Since president Buhari is widely known as baba, I would have called his government Ali Baba and the forty thieves but I fear a libel suit from the descendants of Ali Baba who would not want me to sully their ancestors name by connecting it with the name of Buhari, the head of the Federal Propaganda Government of Corruption.So instead of calling him Ali Baba, I will tweak the name a bit and call President Buhari, Ali Bubu. In a government of Ali Bubu and the 40 thieves, it is very hard to convince anyone, that Ali Bubu, who leads the 40 thieves, is himself not a thief.After this Maina episode, I have genuine fears that one day we may hear that the Buhari government has resurrected the notorious armed robber, Lawrence Anini, and made him Chief of Staff to the President. It is possible.After all, this administration and corruption are like 5 and 6. You cannot have one without the other following closely behind. And not only has President Muhammadu Buhari destroyed his reputation as a corruption fighter before Nigerians and the international community, he has also helped destroy the reputation of people around him.Take Babatunde Raji Fashola, the immediate past governor of Lagos state, for example. Fashola once said that a serious government will fix the power sector in six months. Since he has been the minister of power for two years and the sector has not been fixed and has rather gotten worse, can we conclude that both Fashola and the government in which he serves are unserious?I would have said that President Buhari has also destroyed his partys reputation, but as Professor Itse Sagay recently proved to us, the APC does not have a reputation, so how can you destroy what does not exist? And consider that six APC Governors who owe massive backlog of salaries, including Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna (who owes salaries and pensions) went to Anambra to ask Anambrarians to vote for the APC gubernatorial candidate against a Willie Obiano who is not owing salaries!But the worst reputation self-destruction is what is happening to our very own dear pastor Yemi Osinbajo who went to Anambra to lie that $2 billion had been paid by the Buhari administration for the Second Niger Bridge. The Vice President not only lied about the amount involved, but Osinbajo forgot to mention that the 2 billion Naira (not dollars) that was paid for the Second Niger Bridge came from the Sovereign Wealth Fund that was set up by the Jonathan administration with great opposition (including going to court to try to stop the SWF) from APC.I am so disappointed in some Nigerians. After pro-democracy activists and staunch democrats paid a steep sacrificial price to liberate Nigeria from the clutches of an Abacha, hell bent on self-succession, some Nigerians so cheaply fell for Abachaesque propaganda and ended up electing a slimmer and taller version of that nasty piece of work that was Sani Abacha.Talk of a dog returning to its vomit! What would MKO and Kudirat Abiola, Chief Alfred Rewane and General Shehu Musa Yaradua think if they suddenly come back to life to see that the man who famously deified their killer and declared that Abacha did not loot was sitting in Nigerias drivers seat driving her backwards and downwards.Nigeria has gone backwards and downwards in every indicator of the human development index. Our people now earn less than they did before Buhari deceived his way into power in 2015.This is even as they now pay significantly more for food, fuel, electricity, aviation, taxes and even things as commonplace as data and mobile phone calls. When I used to read the oft repeated quote that a nation deserves the leaders it gets I never internalized what it actually meant until Nigeria elected her own punishment all the while thinking she had voted for her saviour.But there were tell-tale signs that we would not have missed had we not been so drunk to the point of oblivion on Lai Mohammeds propaganda that could only have been cooked up from the pit of hell.For one, how was a man who had to take a bank loan to pay for his APC Presidential nomination form in 2014 able to educate ALL his teenage and young adult children in the U.K?Secondly, how could a man who could not make a success of his own private business and spectacularly ran it aground, be in a position to make a success of the nations economy and manage it profitably?But an even more important question is this: How could a man who vowed to show openly and within me a total commitment to the Sharia movement be expected to respect those aspects of the Nigerian Constitution that conflict with his total commitment to the sharia movement?A man who insisted that a probe must be initiated into the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation over the claims by the then Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, that monies totaling over $12 billion had not been reconciled with the federation account is now singing a different tune when it has been revealed, almost beyond all reasonable doubt, that the NNPC, of whom he is the supervising minister, had awarded $25 billion worth of contracts without due process.This is a man who insists that the worlds fourth deadliest terrorists (as adjudged by no less a body as the World Economic Forum) are mere criminals while one of the worlds non-violent freedom movements are terrorists!At least the real Ali Baba, of the forty thieves fame, knew how to count. This Ali Bubu, of the NNPC $25 billion fame, doesnt. He thinks 97% plus 5% equals 100%. No wonder his school certificate is so valuable that he prefers to hire 10 Senior Advocates of Nigeria to ensure that he never has to produce it.After all, his word is enough that he has a certificate! We should believe the same man who used his gap toothed mouth to condemn public servants who go abroad for health care at public expense yet ended up being Africas biggest spending health tourist to London!Let me conclude by saying that it is an exercise in mindless optimism to expect any good thing to come from the man who Senator Shehu Sani famously indicted for using insecticide to fight corruption in the Peoples Democratic Party and deodorant to fight it amongst APC members.No matter how sweet it is between your wifes leg, it should never make you forget the woman from between whose legs you came into this world. The stream that forgets the river that is its source soon dries up. Remember to honor your parents if you want Gods blessings. And remember that the challenge of marrying a slay queen is that you pay for her. The blessing of marrying a pray queen is that she prays for you #RenosNuggets
Manchester United were at their smash-and-grab best, soaking up 80 minutes of Tottenham pressure before Anthony Martial snatched the win.Anthony Martial struck the winner for Manchester United as they snatched a 1-0 win from Tottenham at Old Trafford to cement second place in the Premier League.Henrikh Mkhitaryan's breakaway effort secured an identical result in this fixture last season after Spurs had dominated possession and it was a similar story here as Mauricio Pochettino's men struggled without injured talisman Harry Kane.The England man was absent with a hamstring injury, Pochettino choosing Son Heung-min over Fernando Llorente in attack, but Pep Guardiola's branding of Spurs as "the Harry Kane team" may be revisited after they failed to break down United's stiff defence.Any suggestion that Jose Mourinho would throw the shackles off after soporific attacking displays in a draw at Liverpool and defeat at Huddersfield Town were quelled as the Portuguese matched Spurs up with a three-man defence.But the Red Devils grew into the contest, and Romelu Lukaku hit the post late on before his flick-on sent Martial clear to score nine minutes from the end and reassert United in second place, now three points above their visitors.Pochettino has suggested Kane could return for Wednesday's Champions League clash with Real Madrid at Wembley and they will need his goal threat on this evidence.Credit: Goal
Chieftains of the All Progressives Congress in some states of the federation have asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir Lawal, the suspended Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof. Usman Yusuf, and the suspended Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ayo Oke, to save his anti-graft war.The chieftains made the calls against the backdrop of several probe reports submitted to the Presidency, which they said appeared to have indicted the affected top government officials of corrupt practices.The APC chieftains warned that the Presidents inaction on the reports of the panels that investigated the trio could erode his integrity, bring down his government and kill his anti-corruption campaign.An APC chieftain in Adamawa State, Mark Wosi, who called for the sacking of the indicted government officials, said from all indications, Buhari was stalling on the issues because the men involved were his loyalists.Wosi said, You cant keep telling us you are fighting corruption while there are corruption allegations against people around you and yet you cant do anything about it. This only means you are the father of corruption. The integrity of President Muhammadu Buhari is now in doubt with all these fraud cases under his nose.Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had on Wednesday, August 23, 2017, submitted to the Presidency the report of the committee that investigated allegations of corruption against Lawal and Oke.Similarly, a committee set up by the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, had discovered that frauds to the tune of N919m allegedly took place under Yusuf, who had spent less than a year at the NHIS. The report was then sent to the President on September 4.While Oke was supposed to have proceeded on pre-retirement leave from August as his tenure ends in November, there has been no official decision by Buhari on allegations against the NIA boss.In view of this, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Justice, Mr. Razaq Atunwa, called on the President to sack and prosecute the affected government officials.Atunwa, who is representing Asa/Ilorin West Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, said Buharis delay in taking action was portraying his government in bad light, adding that the reports on the top government functionaries must not be swept under the carpet.He said, If someone has committed a financial crime or fraud, he must not only be dismissed from office but be made to face the music. It is for the court to decide if the person is guilty of that offence or not.An APC chieftain in Ogun State, Chief Bode Mustapha, said if the report of the findings indicted the SGF, he would expect the President to immediately act on it.He said, We dont need this kind of suspense now. It is capable of bringing President Muhammadu Buharis administration into disrepute.He (Buhari) is allowing the Peoples Democratic Party to have a field day in accusing the APC of shielding corrupt people, whether rightly or wrongly. This is a big shame.Mustapha said beyond pronouncements, there was a need to strengthen the anti-corruption institutions.It is high time the President took the bull by horns. Since he has made pronouncements in the case of the Abdulrasheed Maina (a former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reform) by sacking him, he should also do the same thing on Lawal, Yusuf and others.The factional Chairman of the APC in Ebonyi State, Mr. Ben Nwaobasi, said sacking the affected government officials would lend credence to the anti-graft campaign of the Federal Government.He said, Nobody should be condoned; any person who runs afoul of the law and indulges in corrupt practices should be made to face the full weight of the law. All those who have a hand in any corrupt practice should be punished.An APC leader in Osun State, Mr. Amitolu Shitu, also asked the President to sack Lawal and Yusuf over the allegations of corruption levelled against them.Shitu, who is also the coordinator of DeRaufs (a pro-Governor Rauf Aregbesola group), said the anti-corruption war of this administration had failed and that the President had failed many Nigerians, who voted for him to rid the nation of corruption.Shitu said, President Muhammadu Buhari was voted in because of his stance on corruption. He was seen as a man of integrity and a leader, who would fight corruption, which has prevented Nigeria and Nigerians from developing.Unfortunately, he has failed in his anti-corruption war. He failed, not because he is stealing money, but because he allowed corrupt politicians around him to hijack governance from him and run the affairs of the nation with impunity.It is not enough for the President to suspend the SGF and the NHIS boss, I believe he should sack them. And not only these two officials, there are others who were accused of corruption. Nothing has been done against them.Buharis campaign against corruption has failed and the rate of corruption now is so alarming.He, however, stated that the President could renew the hope of Nigerians in him by sacking and prosecuting any of his close aides and allies accused of corruption.In like manner, a chieftain of Buharis party in Ondo State, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity for fear of being accused of an anti-party misdemeanour, condemned the Presidents silence on the various allegations of fraud against some government officials.The party chieftain alleged that a cabal in the Presidency had become uncontrollable by Buhari, saying most of the suspected fraud cases were, in one way or another, connected to some members of the cabal, making it impossible for the President to act on the cases.He said, I think the silence of Mr. President on those issues is deliberate because it involves some of his boys. But as a matter of fact, these matters are rubbishing our party. How could the President be silent on fraud cases in his government when we had told Nigerians that we wanted to fight corruption?The problem of Mr. President is that he is not in charge; it is the cabal that is controlling him and any matter that involves members of the cabal or their friends may not see the light of the day.If the President still wants Nigerians to respect him and his administration, he should do something about the fraud cases involving Lawal, Oke and others. Some of us in the party are also not happy about what is going on.Another APC chieftain in Edo State and a former House of Representatives member, Mr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa, equally supported the call for the sacking of Lawal and others.He said, As far as the SGF is concerned, we do know that there is a report which is pending, but nobody knows whether it will be presented at the end of the Presidents tenure. I think the President is going to have a big albatross around his neck if he does not do away with the SGF.You can see how that suspension was celebrated. You could see the controversy associated with that person. And I think the safest bet for him (Buhari) is to renounce that appointment and get somebody else in order to save himself some credibility.West-Idahosa noted that it would be debatable if the President can be re-elected in case of an election today because people expected him to fight corruption.In Bayelsa State, Chief Richard Kpodo, an APC chieftain, who is a former Interim Chairman of the party in the state, said the President should sack them if he found them culpable, saying such would dispel insinuations that the anti-corruption war had been one-sided.However, Kpodo said, The President is a very busy man and I think he is taking his time to study the reports, but if he finds them guilty, he must not hesitate to sack them as he did Alhaji Abdulrasheed Maina.In Owerri, the Imo State capital, the former (Legal) Adviser to Governor Rochas Okorocha, Prof. Francis Dike, SAN, also told Saturday PUNCH that the Presidents delay in taking decisions on sensitive issues like Lawal and Yusuf would make tongues to wag as well as affect the Presidents mantra of zero tolerance for corruption.In his view, however, another chieftain of the APC in Ondo State, Dr. Tunji Abayomi, advised that anti-corruption fight should not only be seen as Buharis responsibility but everybodys.But, childhood friend of the President, Aba Alli, who is a former senator in the Second Republic, said the President would never joke with the issue of corruption. He described the allegations against Yusuf as an internal matter between the minister and the NHIS boss.He said, You and I dont know what the report (on the SGF) contains. President Buhari is taking his time so that he would be fair to all concerned.However, the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who spoke at the Greater Nigeria Pastors Conference in Lagos, on Friday, noted that the President would soon address the SGF and the NIA DGs cases.As for the SGF, DG of NIA matter, the president will decide on that soon. The SGF remains suspended and the president will speak on that very soon but I cannot tell when, he noted.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday morning urged Nigerian youths to embrace robotics education while their formative and impr...

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday morning urged Nigerian youths to embrace robotics education while their formative and impressionable age last because of its potential to prepare them for global leadership roles.Obasanjo also allay the fears that the robotics age would take away more jobs from Nigerians in a country that already is reeling with unemployment challenges.The ex  President spoke while making his remarks at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, the Ogun capital, during the opening of RoboRave Nigeria 2017,  Robotics training and competition, for 200 pupils drawn from private and public schools in parts of Nigeria.The programme is being sponsored by the United States Consulate in Nigeria to encourage robotics and science education in Nigerian children.Obasanjo said rather than take jobs off people, robotics would certainly throw up new and more jobs for many to grab, urging Nigeria and youths to get prepared for the emerging opportunities robotics training would bring.In his remarks, the United States Consul General F. John Bray, said many developed nations of the world have anchored their continued economic growth on science, technology, engineering and mathematics  STEM.Bray added that through RoboRave programme, Nigerian children would be inspired to learn more about the importance of STEM, creation, innovation and product development.According to him, children who received STEM education via robotics training would be better prepared to solve real life problems with more creativity, critical thinking and effectiveness.
A Lagos High Court in Igbosere has ordered that three alleged accomplices of suspected kidnap kingpin Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike alias Eva...

A Lagos High Court in Igbosere has ordered that three alleged accomplices of suspected kidnap kingpin Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike alias Evans be moved to Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons, Ikoyi.Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo made the order following an application that one of the suspects requires medical attention which are better available in prison.The suspects, who are on trial for on seven counts including murder have been in police custody since their arrest, unlike Evans who was transferred from the police to prison custody following his arraignment before Justice H. Oshodi of a Lagos High Court in Ikeja.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has stressed the need to leverage on technology, particularly digital mapping, to boost tourism in Nigeria.The Minister stated this in Abuja on Friday at the launch of the Economic Value of Geospatial Services in Nigeria.As we look to make Nigeria a major tourism destination in Africa, technologies such as Google Maps, but more specifically Street View put forward by Google, will become increasingly important on that front. We hope to see even more value as increasing numbers of people use tools like Google Street View to explore Nigeria, he said.Alhaji Mohammed said geospatial technology will not only benefit local users but that it is also a veritable tool that can also be incredibly powerful in drawing tourists to the country.We know this because weve seen the impact that StreetView has had in destinations around Africa. In South Africa, for instance, people can take a guided tour of Robben Island, the prison which held Nelson Mandela and many other South African freedom fighters during apartheid.In Kenya, meanwhile, users can take virtual treks through some of the countrys most famous game reserves. And in Tanzania, people can get up close and personal with the chimpanzees of Gombe National Park, thanks to a partnership between Google and the Jane Goodall foundation.These are all examples of how giving people a taste of a place they have not visited is a powerful incentive to get them to experience the real thing. We look forward to doing the same in Nigeria, as we show off our own natural and cultural heritage, he said.The Minister said the interconnectedness between technology and tourism will assist in bringing in foreign capital as well as the growth of other industries including hospitality, retail and transport.It also promotes and encourages patronage of local agriculture and creative industries as well as manufactured products by operators in the tourism industry. Thats especially important as we look to cement our place as Africas largest economy, he said.Alhaji Mohammed, who commended the laudable initiative by Google, said the ability to simply search for a location and get real-time directions there has made the lives of the people much more convenient.Id like to say that events such as this one offer a powerful reminder of how impactful partnerships between government and private companies like Google can be  to grow our local businesses and strengthen our economy.If digital mapping services have made such a difference in the last five years, we can only imagine what the next five will bring.We look forward to growing this fruitful relationship in the coming years and seeing what Google comes up with next, he said.
Mr Lawal Abdullahi, a detective with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday in Lagos revealed how Mr Godwin Obla, a ...

Mr Lawal Abdullahi, a detective with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday in Lagos revealed how Mr Godwin Obla, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia allegedly perverted the course of justice.

Abdullahi alleged before an Ikeja High Court that Obla gave the Federal High Court judge N5 million gratification to pervert the course of justice in a Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) case.





He made the allegations while being led in evidence by Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, the EFCC prosecutor.





The second defendant (Obla) was an external prosecutor to the EFCC, he was assigned to handle a matter between the commission and a former Director General of NIMASA, Raymond Omatseye who was facing criminal charges for financial crimes.





The matter was before the first defendant (Ofili-Ajumogobia) at the Federal High Court, our investigation revealed that when the case was pending before the first defendant, there was communication between them.





The communication was without the knowledge of the opposing party, they are friends and had also been meeting without the knowledge of the opposing party.





He failed to notify the Commission of this relationship and this may have caused conflict of interest in the case.





During the course of investigation, it was discovered that there was an exchange of account numbers between the defendants when the NIMASA case was before the first defendant.





The sum of N5 million was transferred by the second defendant to the judges account called Nigel and Colive in Diamond Bank, he said.





Abdullahi noted in his testimony that it was necessary for Obla to have informed the EFCC of his relationship with the judge because there would have been a conflict of interest in the case.





Obla met Ofili-Ajumogobia in her chambers and the account number of Nigel and Colive was given to him in which N5million was paid from the account of Obla and Co, the lawyers office account in UBA.





He admitted in his statement that he met the first defendant sometime in April or May 2015 and as at that time, the NIMASA matter was not concluded in court.





In May 2016, judgment was passed by the first defendant, the suspect was convicted but that judgment was set aside by the Court of Appeal on May 11, 2017.





The judges daughter, Aribim Ajumogobia, was also during this period employed by NIMASA.

The investigator revealed that when the anti-graft agency confronted the.defendants with evidence of the bank transactions, they gave different accounts of why the money was given to the judge.





Ofili-Ajumogobia gave me three different responses as to why the money was paid into her account.

First she denied knowing Obla, second, she said it was for a property transaction for a property at Hilltop area of Abeokuta and that Obla paid N5 million out of N28.5 million which was the cost of the property.





In another breath, she said it was for a property in Kashi village Abuja worth N40 million for which Obla showed an interest in and paid a deposit of N5 million.





When we confronted Obla, he said the N5 million was paid to the judge to buy iron rods for building and that one Joseph or George supplied the iron rods to him.





We confronted him with Ofili-Ajumogobias statement and he said her statement was not true, and that he did not buy any property from the judge, he said.





Abdullahi said the EFCC investigated the claims of Obla that the N5 million was for the supply of iron rods and the anti-graft agencys findings were that the claims were untrue.





The EFCC investigator went further to claim that Ofili-Ajumogobia had used her two children; Aridim and Tochukwu to front as directors in companies owned by her and used to launder money.





The address of Nigel and Colive was given as 293, Borno Way, Ebute Meta, Lagos.





We wrote to the company and there was no response and our visit to the company address proved that it was non-existent.





The directors of the company; Aridim Ajumogobia and Tochukwu Ajumogobia are the two children of the first defendant.





They were invited by the Commission and they claimed that they did not know anything about the N5 million transaction , the company was not into any kind of business and they did not know how they became directors, he told the court.





The witness said anti-graft agency through its investigators said the N5 million paid into judges account by Obla was used to decorate her home in Ikoyi, Lagos.





When the N5 million was paid into the account of Nigel and Colive, the balance of the account was N11.5 million.





We traced N4million paid from that account into the account of New Frontiers Engineering Construction Company, an interior decorating company for a N30 million contract to decorate her home.





The first defendant was the one who instructed the disbursement of all the payments for Nigel and Colive.





The EFCC investigator also told the court how the N18 million the judge allegedly borrowed from a former employer, Dr Gregory Ero of Arkleen Oil and Gas Ltd was used.





The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ero, Ofili-Ajumogobias former employer had testified in court on May 26 that the judge refused to pay back the N18 milliom he gave her in 2012.





Abdullahi while testifying said: My findings were that N18 million from Arkleen Oil and Gas was not part of the illegitimate earnings of the judge.





When the money was received on June 5,2012 it was placed in a fix deposit, as at March , 2013 the N18 million had become N21 million and at April 29, 2013 N22 million was transferred to the first defendants account in Diamond Bank.





This sum formed part of the N18 million that was collected from Arkleen Oil and Gas, it was converted into dollars on May 6, 2013 at N157 per dollar and moved into her domiciliary account in Diamond Bank.





The converted sum was $140,129,39 and three days after it was received, $139, 815 was moved to the offshore account of Silversteps Incorporation, an account domiciled in First Bank of Nigeria (FBN), United Kingdom.





Investigations revealed that the first defendant was behind of Silversteps Incorporation and the sole director of the company was her daughter Aribim Ajumogobia but all transactions were done by the judge.





Aribim Ajumogobia was interviewed and she confirmed that all transactions were done by her mother.





The money was used for a mortgage transaction for a property located at 157, Verulem Lane, London.





Oyedepo, sought to tender documents of the mortgage transaction as evidence but Mr Robert Clarke (SAN), Ofili-Ajumogobias defence counsel, objected that the documents had no connection with the charges the judge was facing.





After his objection, Clarke in an application dated Oct. 23 requested the release of the judges international passport by the court.





Rotimi, however, opposing Clarkes application said:I do not think there is an approval from the Honourable Chief Judge for the first defendants journey to the U.S.A.





Clarke responding to Oyedepo said: We would look into this aspect of the application and get the position of Your Lordship at the next adjourned date.





Mr Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN) also asked the court for the release of Oblas international passport.





My Lord, we have an application dated Oct. 17 seeking Your Lordships leave for an order for the temporary release of the second defendants international passport.





He wants to travel to Atlanta, Georgia, USA on Oct. 28 and return on or before Nov. 10, the defendant is desirous of travelling because of family obligations, Adedipe said.





In his ruling, Justice Hakeem Oshodi said: The Chief Registrar shall release the international passport of the second defendant who is to travel between Oct. 28 and return on or before Nov. 9.





Ofili-Ajumogobia is standing trial alongside Godwin Obla (SAN)and former prosecutor of the EFCC.

Both have been jointly charged with a two-count offence bordering on perverting the course of justice.





Obla is facing an additional two counts of offering gratification in the sum of N5 million to Ofili-Ajumogobia, a public official while serving as a judge.





Ofili-Ajumogobia faces a 26-count charge bordering on unlawful enrichment, taking property by a public officer, corruption, forgery and giving false information to an official of the EFCC.

Both denied all the charges.




Manchester Uniteds Zlatan Ibrahimovic has revealed that Romelu Lukakus performance, is the reason why he has not rushed back from injury.Ibrahimovic has been out since April, after sustaining a serious ACL knee injury.The Swedish striker landed awkwardly during the Red Devils 2-1 win over Anderlecht in the Europa League.Ibrahimovic underwent surgery and is now close to a return.In an interview with MUTV, the 36-year-old praised Lukaku, who arrived at the club last summer.Yes, hes doing fantastically well, but its no surprise. The only difference now is that hes doing it at a big club, with all due respect for Everton and all the other clubs he played for.Now hes doing it on the big scene where the pressure is totally different. I think when youre playing for a top five club in the world the pressure is different compared to other clubs, with all due respect to them.And now hes doing it on the big scene, hes showing what hes good at  scoring goals  hes a powerful machine. And I think hes doing exactly what he needs to do  scoring goals and using his power, and not doing things hes less good at and things he doesnt need to do.Hes around 10 goals I think, so thats been a big help to the team and as long as hes scoring the goals I have less pressure to come back fast and the help he gives the team is even better. Hopefully he can continue being on that track producing like hes doing.
AS some Nigerians and major players in the political sectors intensifies their calls for the restructuring of the country, former Senior Special Assistance to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr Doyin Okupe, on Monday said the unity of Nigeria is negotiable.He contended that the unity of Nigeria and restructuring are two different things, but when we say restructuring, people misunderstand it to mean that you want to dismember the country or you want the country to break up. No, that is not the point.Speaking in Osogbo, the capital of Osun State, at the sideline of a book launch by a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in the state, Hon Bamidele Salam, Okupe maintained that restructuring is another name for the practice or return to Nigeria to true federalism that we did at independence. Thats what we mean by restructuring.According to him, there is no statement like the unity of Nigeria is negotiable or not negotiable. Any unity in the world is by negotiation, even the one between a man and a woman. There is nothing like whether unity is negotiable or unity is not negotiable. It does not exist. It is a mis-normal, as I am like this, I am Doyin Okupe and if something else has to join me, we have to discuss it.While reacting to agitations by some people on the need for Nigeria to break up, Okupe stated I dont want Nigeria to in any way, state or form to be reduced from what it is but there still has to be justice, there still has to be fairness, there still has to be equity.He continued, there are three problems for Nigeria, one, we have a major problem of elitist favour. The elites in Nigeria have failed in all fronts, be it political elites, business moguls, administrators and all people who are privileged to constitute the part and parcel of nation building are classified as elites. The elites in the country have failed and because the elites have failed, there is no unity of purpose, we do not even have a national purpose, national direction.We have a country and there is no argument about that but we have not really become a nation. It is still a question of a Yoruba from South West and a Christian, Abdullah is from Kano a Muslim from the North. We really do not have anything that makes us to come together as a nation and any pretention to that fact, we will be wasting our time,You look at it, we are celebrating 57th anniversary and we are talking about unity of the country after 57 years. So, there is a problem about unity. Lets go back to restructuring, the issue about restructuring; I have heard so many people talk about it. Some in the North say they are not supporting it, they have a right to say it. It doesnt even matter if all the 17 states in the North say they are not supporting it, no problem. We in the South West are in accord, complete agreement as we agree that there will be something called restructuring.We have an issue, I agree with the people saying we should settle it constitutionally, but if care is not taken, we would convert the 2019 election to a referendum on restructuring. In 2019, your personality, your party, your programme will not matter; it will be are you for restructuring or are you against. So those of us who are for will vote for governors, House of Assembly, Senators, and House of Reps members who are interested in restructuring. Because we will then know that the National Assembly will be a battleground, Okupe asserted
A crack appeared in President Muhammadu Buharis camp yesterday with key supporters of the President complaining publicly that he had ab...

A crack appeared in President Muhammadu Buharis camp yesterday with key supporters of the President complaining publicly that he had abandoned them.Led by the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali, the aggrieved supporters of the President said that many of them who had worked to bring Buhari to power were abandoned while he chose to give appointments to people who did not believe in his vision.Col. Ali, who spoke at a gathering of the supporters yesterday, said that the Buhari government had not been able to move forward or fulfill its campaign promises to Nigerians because most of the people calling the shots in his government were never a part of his vision.Alis views were corroborated by Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong, who said that governors were not happy with President Buhari for making his appointments without consulting them.Speaking at the commissioning of the office complex of the Buhari Support Organisation (BSO) in Abuja, Col Ali, who is the National Coordinator of the Organisation, said that more than 50 per cent of the appointments in the Buhari government were handed over to members of the PDP who had fought against the actualisation of the Buhari presidency.Others at the gathering yesterday include Bauchi State governor, Mohammed Abubakar; Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello; the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; FCT Minister, Mohammed Bello, who stood in for the Vice President; Defence Minister, Mansur Dan Ali and Niger Delta Minister, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani.Others were Minister of State for Health, Osagie Ehanire; Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar; Senator Olorunibe Mamora; Managing Director of Nigeria Film Corporation, Dr. Chidia Maduekwe; Director General of National Directorate for Employment, Dr. Nasiru Mohammed Ladan Argungu and Barrister Festus Keyamo, among others.Lamenting the fate of members of the organisation, who he said made serious sacrifices to ensure that Buhari became President, the Customs boss predicted that when the chips are down, those who were not part of the Buhari vision and are currently in government will abandon the ship while members of the organisation who sought the votes of Nigerians would be called to account for the failure of the government.He said: We must agree that we cannot finish our four years without delivering and leaving something to be remembered for in this country for a long time to come.We have no problem with our President because he is on course. But I must confess here that we have been infused by people who were not part of this journey, and these people are the ones that call the shots today. That is why we are derailing.If we had the right people who had the vision and have been there in and out, I believe that we will not be going the way we are going today.It is my belief that those of us who have been in the trenches all these years to get good governance will surely be sleeping with belly ache every day, especially in the recent past. Every day when you wake up, there is a story that makes you shiver.We cannot, as a people who have fought and committed everything we had to bring this government to being, sit back and allow things to happen the way they are happening.At the end of the day, the fingers will point at us because we were the ones who went to people and asked them to give us their votes.These people that are calling the shots today were not there, and when the chips are down, they will disappear and melt within the system. We are the ones that will be asked to account for what happened.Are we willing to face Nigerians and tell them that we have failed? I think this is the time for us to come together, create a system that is very robust enough to fight back and take back government in our hands and ensure that we deliver.We believe that if you want to change the system, it will happen. Let me say that in the course of the jihad of the Prophet Mohammad, anytime they went out for a battle, they would come back with loots, but these loots, as far as my own research told me, was not distribute to everybody, but to those who took the sword and faced the enemies.Today, with all sense of responsibility, I want to say that we have 50 per cent of PDP in our government. How can we move forward with this load? How can we achieve our target with this load? It is a spoilt system. So, when you come in, you shake off everybody and bring in your own. That is what democracy is all about.Today, we have members of PDP calling the shots. That is what we will begin to fight for. We will fight for our right position, our vision and our mission for this government.I am sorry to deviate into politics. But it is very essential because we are a political organisation. It is time for us to wake up from slumber and chat a course for this great nation, and I believe that we can do it. May God help us and see us through.He charged the BSO members to go back to the study room, saying: This is a commission, but it is also the beginning of the fight for good governance. We must get back to the trenches, draw our own battle plan and battle line. I enjoined you that the same commitment we had in 2015, I implore you to bear with us and commit yourself to a better future for Nigeria.We will be calling on you from now on and we will be working day and night. We must do so because we want to save our name at the end of the day and the name of the President for what he is doing.Our President is on course and all we need is to ensure that we support him. What do we do? For those of us who believe in God, we must know that God is the first port of call.While commending members of the BSO for keeping hope alive, he described the organisation as a gathering to rekindle what we started in 2015 and what we used as a vehicle to fight in the trenches, out of the torches, along the routes and in so many difficult terrains to see to the success of our vision and mission. Our vision then was to install a government that will bring about change in this country. Our motto and expression then was that we want change.Ali commended Nigerians for sharing the same vision with BSO, saying that they decided to vote the Jonathan government out and voted Buhari in because of the vision of change.He said: It is good to take us back on the memory lane. Some of us started this journey in 2011. There are those who started as far back as 2003 and are still in the trenches. I am sure that the 2007 veterans are still here, while some of us joined the train in 2011, while many others joined in 2015.Why did we then sacrifice everything that we need and want? A lot of us have lost their jobs, others have lost their businesses. A lot of us sitting here today have nothing to do because they committed their time and resources working for the success of a change for a better Nigeria.We did this not because of ourselves or any individual but because of our love for this great nation. Many of you can remember that we went through this because we are committed to a course and that whatever we eventually install will be something that we are committed to.But let me say here without fear of being contradicted that I think half way through the journey, we are losing our core values. We are losing our vision and mission, and I think that the idea of our being here today is to look critically at what we need to do to get back on track.There is no doubt that we have derailed because we are not doing what we say we want to do. Why is it so? We need to find an answer to that. If we do find an answer, then what should we do to get us all back on track.We owe this great nation and the 180 million Nigerians the duty to give good governance. Good governance is what they voted for and good governance is what they expect to get and they deserve that.We, therefore, as BSO have a great task ahead of us. My dear comrades, the battle and the job starts now. We have won one battle by taking over power. But what we make of this power is very essential to us and to humanity.Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to tell my colleagues here that we have to change the narratives. When we were there Working and jumping on the street and reaching every corner, we were shouting change, change for a better Nigeria. Now, the key word is good governance for Nigerians.Also speaking, Governor Lalong, who shared the sentiments of the Customs boss, lamented that appointments into government positions are made without recourse to the governors, adding that those who do not have the capacity to defend the actions of the President have been the ones benefiting from federal government t appointments.The governor said the government must be made aware that things are not working the way they should, saying: If things are wrong, they are wrong. If they are right, they are right. But it requires very courageous people to come out and say these things are wrong or they are right.Let Mr. President be aware that this is the time to do it, because even as governors, we are also complaining in our various states. We complain in our states that we sit down and we hear appointments made and then people start asking you as the governor where is this man coming from? But when we turn right and turn left, we dont know where such a person is coming from.Many people have complained. Im sure governors have complained that we should be able to know who and who will protect Mr. President and his administration.When I heard that BSO is coming back again, I said is it not too late? Because if you allow people to grumble too much, you will see fight in several states and some of them are for a just course.Somebody suffered for the party, the person is not rewarded, and you wake up to see another man who even fought you. The man who made you to lose your job is now being appointed and the one who suffered is sitting down. Sometimes he will be looking for tears to cry and the tears will not be there because they are dry.Like our chairman said to me, it is not too late. This is the time to start because this is the time you will hear a lot of things coming. People who have not serve will come back and say I had served this way, I had serve that way.But the records are there. The records cannot lie.Contacted for his reaction yesterday, President Buharis Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, declined comments, saying that it was not a matter for the Presidency.He also told our correspondent that members of the Buhari Support Group were at the Presidential Villa to see Buhari yesterday.The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, also declined comments, saying it was not a party issue but that of the government.We dont make appointments at the party level, he said.Efforts made to get the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammeds reaction yesterday yielded no result.It was speculated that the minister might not want to react to the story because of the calibre of President Buharis associates involved.
The row over the dismissed former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms Task Team, Mr. Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina,...

The row over the dismissed former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms Task Team, Mr. Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina, has deepened with fresh facts emerging that a minister begged a detective to spare the suspect.There were indications yesterday that the minister might have played a vital role in the reinstatement of Maina.Security agencies were also said to be probing allegation that Maina has a Nigerien passport, following an alert that he was smuggled out of the country through Niger Republic.Investigation revealed that the controversy surrounding the reinstatement of Maina suggested complicity by many government officials and top security agents.It was learnt that President Muhammadu Buhari would have to be more painstaking to be able to tackle the scandal now tagged MainaGate in some quarters.A top source said: President Muhammadu Buhari needs a comprehensive appraisal of the circumstances surrounding the reinstatement of Maina. A syndicate in the government was behind the whole saga.For instance, a minister had met with an EFCC operative, who was coordinating the investigation of Maina, to spare the suspect. This was done before the minister was inaugurated as a FEC member.The said minister specifically demanded that Mainas case be closed and the suspect should be used as a prosecution witness. He said Maina would make vital documents available to assist the EFCC.The said session was held at the private office of the minister in Garki part of Abuja. But the operative, who was shocked by the plea, refused to cooperate with the minister.If the government digs well, the operative (who has left the services of EFCC) can be recalled to give evidence on how and where the minister met him.The source said apart from the minister, Maina was even closer to a former First Lady who did everything she could to protect him.And when the EFCC probe was intense on Maina, the ex-First Lady was said to have prevailed on the stubborn detective to stop the investigation.The source added: Also, a former First Lady had tried to influence the EFCC on the investigation of Maina by mounting pressure on the same detective. This happened when CP Ibrahim Lamorde was the chairman of EFCC.When the operative was adamant, the ex-First Lady allegedly engineered a petition against the operative by claiming that he collected N50 million from Maina.The EFCC and other agencies investigated the bribery allegation and absolved the operative of any infraction.Findings however confirmed that Maina had been around the corridors of power in the last 23 years.Another source said: Maina is not new to the corridors of power. He had wielded influence in Aso Rock since the dictatorial regime of the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha.He knows every nook and cranny of Aso Rock, so he is used to floating in the seat of power, even during the administrations of ex-Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar and ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo before he was cut to size when Obasanjo was in charge.Some forces in power also have been using him for a purpose which suited their interest. There is no security agency or the police hierarchy where he does not have contacts.Everybody is denying Maina now, but he is a public officer who knows many people. He also keeps records of those who have benefitted from him.At press time, there were indications that Maina has a Nigerien passport.It was gathered that he re-entered the country from exile in Dubai through Niger Republic.A third source said: There is no record of his return to the country at any airport in Nigeria. Security agencies are looking at some clues which pointed to the fact that he might have used Niger Republic to come back home.He is used to Niger Republics routes for escapades. He was said to have been smuggled out again to an unknown destination through one of the same routes.Family sources told revealed yesterday that Mainas family had concluded plans to drag the (EFCC) to court for harassing their sonEFCC operatives in Kaduna had on Monday and Tuesday sealed six houses, including a two-storey office complex belonging to Maina, within the Kaduna metropolis.The family had also addressed a press conference where they cried out that their son was only being persecuted by corrupt elements in President Muhammadu Buharis government, threatening that Maina would soon open a can of worms capable of nailing the cabals in his pursuit.Spokesman of the Maina family, Malam Aliyu Maina, who addressed newsmen on behalf of the family said that the marking of the houses they inherited from their father in Kaduna by EFCC was not only wrong but illegal.Speaking with newsmen in a telephone interview yesterday, Maina familys lawyer, Sani Katu, said the family had concluded plans to sue the anti-graft agency over the recent development.He disclosed that filing of the court papers process had since commenced and would be made public as soon as the case is filed in court.According to him, we have commenced the process of filing the case, and as soon as we are filing the case in court, we will let the press know. That is the update for now.Meanwhile, the Kaduna zone of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said investigation was still ongoing to discover more of Mainas properties.An official of the commission in Kaduna, Ibrahim Kamilu, told newsmen that we are still carrying out our investigation, and once more of his properties are discovered, they will be sealed.
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Friday said the Federal Government had no choice but to depend on the private sector to build infrastructure and make the necessary progress in the economy.He said that in accordance with the targets of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, the government was open to stronger partnerships and collaborations with the private sector.The Vice-President spoke at the Presidential Villa in Abuja while receiving a delegation from the United States-Africa Business Centre, a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, said on Friday.The delegation comprised the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Zenith Bank Plc Chairman, Mr. Jim Ovia; the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Stuart Symington; and a representative of the US Chamber of Commerce, Scott Eisner, among others at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.Osinbajo said, We have always been committed to private sector leading the way in the economy and that is so important to us because if you look at what government can actually provide even in terms of resources that government has, we really dont have a choice but to depend on the private sector.The whole attitude is that we are trying to get everyone in government to understand that business has a choice, capital has a choice, and we should make ourselves as welcome as possible.He added, So, what we have been trying to do is to create an environment that makes it easy for the private sector to do business. We have an Industrial Competitiveness Advisory Council that meets regularly with senior members of government, especially those concerned with the economy. We think that there is a lot that can be done; there is a lot of room for investment and a lot of room for collaboration and we look forward to a lot more areas that we can work together to develop.On his part, Eisner said the delegations visit was in recognition of the present administrations friendly economic policies and the preparedness of the US business owners to invest in the Nigerian economy.He said the centre comprised over three million members and was committed to working with governments across Africa to achieve key economic targets and also contribute in the development of critical infrastructure.Eisner commended the Federal Government for its policies on the economy especially its ease of doing business initiative among others.
NEWARK -- Detectives recovered three loaded handguns, arrested three people and seized various drugs after searching several apartments at a Newark housing complex late Friday, police said.

Members of the city police division Special Enforcement Bureau received a tip through Crime Stoppers about "criminal activity" at several residences at the Bradley Court public housing complex, according to Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose.

Using a search warrant, detectives found a loaded .9mm handgun that was reported stolen from West Virginia in an unoccupied apartment, 70 glassine envelopes of heroin, 27 grams of marijuana and $162, Ambrose said in a statement. Police were seeking an arrest warrant for the lease-holder of that apartment, the public safety director added.

As part of the investigation, police arrested Richard Gary and Fatima Kearny, both 37, and from Newark, for weapons and drug offenses, authorities said. Detectives recovered another loaded .9mm handgun, along with 33 grams of cocaine, four grams of marijuana and $2,572 in suspected drug money.

Ron Drayton, 31, of Newark, was also arrested and charged with drug distribution and weapons offenses in the operation, police said. He allegedly had a .40 caliber handgun.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc and on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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By Susan K. Livio | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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Marijuana legalization is one of the few issues in which your vote for New Jersey governor will really determine the state's next move.

After eight years of Gov. Chris Christie's antipathy toward marijuana  going so far as delaying efforts to launch the medical marijuana program  voters will have distinctly different options in 2018.

Leaders in the Democratic-led state Legislature are ready to push through legislation to legalize pot for people 21 and older. But the governor must be on board.

Here's where the candidates for governor stand on marijuana in New Jersey:

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Kim Guadagno, Republican

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A victory for Republican nominee Kim Guadagno means you won't be able to legally smoke marijuana unless you are enrolled in the medical marijuana program. She shares Christie's opposition to legalizing Cannabis for recreational purposes.

But pot possession would be decriminalized  an offense punishable by a fine instead of incarceration. Guadagno also said she would shed some of the Christie-era regulations to improve access to medical marijuana program.

"There is a less intrusive way to solve the social injustice problem than legalizing drug dealers," Guadagno said at the first gubernatorial debate. "I am wholly opposed to legalizing marijuana. Having said that I, do believe we can decriminalize it."

"I also would expand the medical marijuana program," she added. "It's onerous, it's hard to work with, it's not available to those who it should be made available to."

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Phil Murphy, Democrat

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Photo by Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Electing Democrat Phil Murphy means New Jersey would soon join eight other states in legalizing marijuana for people 21 and older and creating what is predicted to be a multibillion-dollar industry. He's promised to sign a legalization bill into law within the first 100 days of his term.

Murphy said he sees legalizing marijuana as a solution to the social justice problem of higher arrest and conviction rates for blacks than white.

"That is the reason we want to legalize marijuana  not because we can make money off of it. That's the last reason," Murphy said during the first debate.

But the tax revenue is a big deal, too. Murphy has said he would impose three new taxes to help pay for some of the initiatives in his agenda and the sales tax from legal weed is one of them. A study estimated the state would reap $300 million from recreational pot.

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The independents

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From the independent or third-party candidates who included marijuana on their websites:

GINA GENOVESE, independent

Genovese wants to hold a referendum so voters can decide whether marijuana should be legal. All eight states that legalized cannabis did so through a referendum.

"Can we afford to lose approximately $300 Million per year in sales tax revenues?" according to Genovese's website. "Can we afford to continue spending $143 Million per year just to enforce marijuana possession laws? This $300 Million can be dedicated to reducing property taxes by at least 15 percent."

SETH KAPER-DALE, Green Party

Kaper-Dale supports legalizing marijuana and using the sales tax revenue for drug treatment, public education on the risks associated with drug abuse, and economic development in cities.

"Additionally the state of New Jersey would partner with poor communities and groups of people stigmatized when seeking work (the disabled, transgender persons and the formerly incarcerated) to launch partnerships between the state and workers for the production and sale of marijuana in order to power a people's economy," according to his website. "Under our plan, workers would truly benefit from their labor rather than allowing big companies to monopolize this new economic opportunity."

MATT RICCARDI, Constitution Party:

Riccardi said he would let voters decide on legalization and would support a referendum in 2018. He would call for monthly forums at which the experts and the public could discuss the pros and cons before the vote.

"I believe a well-educated public, discussing the issue before a vote is the most democratic way of choosing whether or not to legalize marijuana in the state of New Jersey," Riccardi wrote in an email to NJ Advance Media.

PETER ROHRMAN, Libertarian Party

Rohrman supports legalizing marijuana, and ending the "failed" War on Drugs.

"Substance abuse is a personal, medical issue, not a public crime," according to his website.

"Immediately pardon all non-violent criminals in our state prisons. Treat addiction with compassion and rehabilitation instead of brutality and incarceration. Stop wasting taxpayer money on putting sick people in jail."

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What you think:

Public support for legalizing marijuana reached an all-time high this month, according to a new Gallup Poll.

Nearly two-thirds of the country, 64 percent, say marijuana use should be legal. That includes 51 percent of people who identified themselves as Republicans, according to the survey of 1,028 participants representing all 50 states and Washington D.C.

New Jersey follows the national trajectory of support for legal pot.

A Quinnipiac University in September found 59 percent of New Jerseyans support recreational marijuana use.

"Take a visit to Denver & then decide.Young lazy panhandler bums everywhere.61% increase in single car accidents & many more rear end accidents.Dopes are stopping at green lights.Not something we need in this populated area.

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Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
Police did not provide a specific location in Uptown for the shooting Friday night (Oct. 27, 2017), but said the victim drove to Morrison Road in New Orleans East after he was shot.(File photo)
Grief counselors will be available again today for families mourning the loss of two Abraham Lincoln High School students who died Friday.

Efren Lemus, 18, and Christian Renteria-Perez, 17, were found inside a vehicle, which authorities found shortly after 6 a.m. Friday, upside down and partially submerged at West Shore Drive and Pelican Drive at Lake Manawa in Council Bluffs, according to a press release from the Council Bluffs Police Department.

Police said Lemus was driving the vehicle and Renteria-Perez was the passenger.

Counselors will be available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today at Abraham Lincoln.

The Council Bluffs Community School District issued the following statement Friday regarding the deaths of the students:

The Council Bluffs Community School District is grieving the death of two students today following a tragic accident. Christian Renteria-Perez was a student at Abraham Lincoln High School, and Efren Lemus Lara was a student at Abraham Lincoln High School attending Kanesville Learning Center. This is shocking and heartbreaking for their families, friends and our entire school community. Counselors are providing support to our students in need during this sad time. We will keep their families in our hearts and prayers.

The school district had counselors available Friday to talk to students, according to Diane Ostrowski, chief communications officer for the district.

Students did reach out for support from the counselors, and some students elected to go home and grieve with their families, Ostrowski said.

A festive fall assembly that was to be held Friday at A.L. was postponed until next week, she said.

The school district sent letters or messages home to parents of all middle school and high school students Friday, Ostrowski said.

The young men had extended families in the district, and we wanted them to know they could seek grief counseling, she said.

Police are investigating alcohol and speed as contributing factors in the crash.

The investigation is ongoing.
WASHINGTON  Corn Belt lawmakers have reveled in recent success pressuring the Trump administration to support renewable fuels.

But now senators who represent states with refineries are mounting their own offensive  and apparently adopting some of the same hardball tactics.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for example, is now blocking Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northeys nomination to a top post at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to a report in Politico.

A Cruz spokesman did not respond to an Omaha World-Herald request for comment Thursday, but his move appears to be a response to Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who temporarily blocked the nomination of Bill Wehrum to a position at the Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees the Renewable Fuel Standard.

Ernst allowed Wehrums nomination to advance only after EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt wrote a letter supporting various policies favorable to renewable fuels.

Ernst questioned Cruzs holding up Northeys nomination, however, saying that Northeys role at USDA would involve conservation programs and not anything related to the Renewable Fuel Standard.

So why are they blocking him because of the RFS? Ernst said. Just because Big Oil doesnt like it?

Northey sailed through the Senate Agriculture Committee along with Nebraska Agriculture Department Director Greg Ibach, who was nominated to be USDAs undersecretary of marketing and regulatory programs.

But while the Senate confirmed Ibach by a simple unanimous consent motion on Thursday, Northeys nomination is now stuck in limbo.

All four GOP senators from Nebraska and Iowa, as well as other Corn Belt lawmakers, met with Pruitt about concerns in the renewable fuels sector.

That included worries that the agency would set RFS volume levels too low for biodiesel, allow exported ethanol to count toward the domestic requirements and shift the burden of meeting RFS requirements from refiners and importers to blenders.

Pruitts letter reassured the senators on all those fronts and pledged to work with Congress on proposals to allow blends of 15 percent ethanol to be sold year-round.

Now oil-and-gas folks are pushing back at what they view as strong-arm tactics by the Midwesterners. Federal policies on renewable fuels have a big impact on the economies of Iowa and Nebraska, the nations top two ethanol states.

Reuters reported that a group of senators from refinery states such as Texas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania wrote to the White House advocating for an RFS overhaul. And they suggested a sit-down with administration officials and Midwest senators in an effort to make a deal.

Asked about that letter and the prospect for a face-to-face negotiating session, Ernst was defiant.

The law is the law, Ernst said. And the Renewable Fuel Standard is the law.
City officials say last years Shot in the Arm program was successful  so successful that theyre seeking a second phase to add more housing in the community.

In its first year, Shot in the Arm brought in 48 units  38 single-family homes and five duplexes with two living units each, said Gary Person, president of North Platte Area Chamber and Development. He and others discussed the program at a Quality Growth Fund Committee meeting Friday.

If phase two of the program is successful, developers will build 150 additional housing units by 2021.

Among North Plattes three major employers  Union Pacific Railroad, Great Plains Health and Walmart Distribution Center  there are 300 open job positions, said Mel McNea, president of the chamber board of directors. At a recent multi-employer hiring fair, Union Pacific alone hired about 20 people; the other employers saw high turnout and some ran out of applications.

McNea said many employees are discouraged from moving to North Platte because of a lack of housing.

The chamber hopes to fund phase two with $1.2 million: $350,000 from the chamber, $350,000 from the citys Quality Growth Funds and $500,000 from the state. On Nov. 20, officials will present phase two of Shot in the Arm to the City Council.

Most of the houses in the first phase were sold for between $175,000 and $300,000. While eight units were priced at $300,000, the majority of them were closer to $175,000, Person said.

We have needs at all income levels, McNea said.

Nancy Faulhaber, vice-chair of the board of directors, told attendees that part of the aim of Shot in the Arm is that someone who owns an $85,000 home can sell it and move into a newer, more expensive home, which opens that up to a first-time home buyer, she said.

Faulhaber said North Platte currently has 86 houses on the market: 26 are priced at $100,000 or less; 12 between $100,000 and $150,000; 22 between $150,000 and $200,000; 11 between $200,000 and $300,000; and 15 at more than $300,000.
Recently, Brent Steffen, M.D., has addressed Nebraska Public Power Districts R-Project transmission line in several letters to the editor in Nebraska newspapers (Telegraph, Oct. 17). He made a variety of incorrect claims about the project.

Dr. Steffen states the project is being built for wind development in the region. However, he provides an incomplete quotation from the Southwest Power Pool 2012 Integrated Transmission Plan 10-Year Assessment Report. In SPPs discussion of the benefits resulting from the various transmission projects studied in the report, the complete quotation is: the Gentleman-Cherry Co.-Holt Co. 345kV line in Nebraska has been proposed chiefly to provide access to wind development in Cherry Co., but this line also provided parallel paths for key contingencies in Nebraska for west to east flows, relieved congestion, increased transfer capability, and mitigated reliability concerns.

Dr. Steffen neglects to mention that even in the early studies completed by SPP, the R-Project was identified as being needed for improving reliability of the transmission system and reducing congestion in the transmission system. NPPD has always discussed the need for the R-Project in three parts: 1) improve reliability, 2) reduce congestion, and 3) enable the development of renewable resources should the local area choose to do that. What Dr. Steffen and others appear to forget is that, even if no renewable resources are ever developed, this project is needed and will be constructed to improve the reliability of the transmission system in Nebraska.

Opponents of the R-Project like to suggest that the reason the R-Project transmission line is going to Thedford is solely for wind development. This is simply not true. The R-Project transmission line will interconnect at the NPPD-owned substation in Thedford to improve the reliability of the transmission system and address real issues seen in 2012. During the 2012 drought, electrical loads in north central Nebraska, primarily from irrigation, grew to the point where the transmission system was at full capacity and at risk of failure. NPPD operators were forced to take immediate action to interrupt electrical loads in the area and protect the transmission system.

The R-Project, along with a recently completed project in northeastern Nebraska, will correct these reliability issues. The Thedford substation location was chosen because it is centrally located on an important segment of the 115kV transmission system serving north central Nebraska, it is centrally located between the termination points of the R-Project 345kV transmission line, and NPPD can lower costs and impacts by using existing transmission facilities (i.e., the Thedford 115kV substation) to the fullest extent possible.

Finally, Dr. Steffen states, NPPD easement contractors utilize tactics that are deceptive and dishonest with NPPD complicit in this process. I disagree with this characterization. NPPD expects its employees and contractors to conduct themselves professionally and ethically. NPPD works very hard to provide a transparent and public routing process. In the case of the R-Project, NPPD hosted three rounds of public open houses and additional landowner meetings equating to 20 sessions lasting several hours each over a period of two years. Public hearings, the only statutorily required public meetings, for the R-project were held in eight locations in November 2014. NPPD continues meeting with landowners along the route; local, county, and state government officials; and representatives of the appropriate regulatory agencies as needed.

While NPPD is allowed to use eminent domain to obtain easements, we prefer to get easements voluntarily as we have done successfully on numerous past projects. In fact, for the 312 miles of new transmission lines that NPPD has constructed since 2002, NPPD acquired easements for 1,133 tracts of land with a 99 percent success rate for obtaining the easements voluntarily. Easements are for construction, operation and maintenance of the power line. The land is still owned by the individual and can generally be used as it has been before with restrictions as to what can be built or stored under the line to ensure safety. For example, NPPDs easements would restrict the landowner from planting tall-growing trees under the line. The landowners are fairly compensated for the easement rights and are also compensated for any damage NPPD may cause to their property from the construction, operation and maintenance of the line.

As a public power entity, NPPD is responsible to its customers through a popularly elected 11-member Board of Directors. We are Nebraskans living and working in the communities we serve. We take our mission to safely generate and deliver reliable, low-cost energy very seriously. The R-Project is needed in Nebraska to improve reliability of the transmission system. It is incumbent upon us at NPPD to address these reliability needs for the benefit of our customers and all Nebraskans. We would be remiss if we stood by and did nothing.
Boston Beer (NYSE: SAM) announced mixed third-quarter 2017 results on Thursday after the market closed, showcasing modest earnings growth and improved depletions trends despite continued headwinds in the craft beer space.

But shipment volume remained light. With shares up nearly 30% over the past three months after last quarter's post-earnings pop, and with investors' thirst for a more pronounced turnaround largely unquenched, Boston Beer stock declined nearly 5% on the day.

Let's take a deeper look at how Boston Beer kicked off the second half of the year, as well as what investors should expect going forward.

Boston Beer results: The raw numbers

Metric Q3 2017 Q3 2016 Year-Over-Year Growth Net revenue $247.0 million $253.4 million (2.5%) Net income $33.7 million $31.5 million 6.8% Earnings per diluted share $2.78 $2.48 12.1%

What happened with Boston Beer this quarter?

Earnings included a $0.04 per share tax benefit related to adoption of new accounting standards for stock-based compensation this year. Adjusting for that benefit, Boston Beer's bottom line still handily beat consensus estimates for earnings of $1.99 per share.

Revenue fell short of investors' expectations by roughly $9.7 million, with declines primarily driven by a 4% year-over-year drop in shipment volume, to 1.1 million barrels.

Depletions -- a key industry metric for how fast Boston Beer's products travel from warehouses to consumer outlets -- declined 3.5% year over year, primarily driven by decreases in the Samuel Adams and Angry Orchard brands. Meanwhile, Truly Spiked & Sparkling and Twisted Tea continued to outperform.

Boston Beer enjoyed the successful execution at retail of its fall seasonal program, helping bolster trends for its popular Samuel Adams Octoberfest variety.

Boston Beer believes distributor inventory levels at the end of the quarter were appropriate; days of inventory at distributors participating in its "Freshest Beer Program," which represents around 79% of total shipment volume, declined from the same year-ago period.

Gross margin improved by 50 basis points year over year, driven by favorable pricing and package mix, and lower brewery processing costs from waste reduction and efficiency gains.

Boston Beer has repurchased 884,000 shares of common stock for $130.5 million through the first nine months of the year, leaving $192.8 million remaining on its repurchase authorization.

What management had to say

Boston Beer CEO Martin Roper stated:

We are encouraged by the improving total Company depletions trends since the first quarter, but the on-premise channel remains challenging. Truly Spiked & Sparkling has developed as one of the leaders in the emerging hard sparkling water segment and Twisted Tea continues to grow distribution and pull. Most of our volume declines for the quarter resulted from the continued underperformance of our Samuel Adams brand; however, we have seen sequential improvements relative to first and second quarter performance.

Looking ahead

Roper elaborated that Boston Beer's top three priorities for the rest of this year and 2018 are unchanged. Those include returning Samuel Adams and Angry Orchard to growth while maintaining Twisted Tea's momentum, focusing on cost savings and efficiency projects to help fund growth-oriented investments, and continuing the company's track record of long-term innovation through a steady cadence of interesting new brands and varieties.

In the meantime, Boston Beer raised the bottom end of its 2017 earnings outlook by $0.60 per share for a new full-year EPS guidance range of $5.60 to $6.20. That range continues to assume national price increases of between 1% and 2%, and gross margin of between 51% and 52%. But Boston Beer also revised its expected full-year depletions decline to a range of between minus 7% and minus 4%, compared to a change of minus 7% to plus 1% previously.

Boston Beer also provided preliminary 2018 guidance for depletions and shipments to climb in the low single-digit percent range, national price increases of between 1% and 2%, and gross margin of between 52% and 53%, with the latter metric increasing throughout the year as cost initiatives take hold.

The bottom line? Though Boston Beer's revenue fell short, the company is moving in the right direction -- however slowly -- with overall trends expected to continue improving into next year. But our market also hates being effectively told to hurry up and wait, so it's no surprise to see shares trading down today in response.

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CROWN POINT  A law enforcement officer testified at trial Friday that Thomas Snow escaped from a police pursuit less than two weeks before his parents were found murdered at their home.

The pursuit was initiated the afternoon of Oct. 5, 2013, after police allegedly found the 38-year-old man attempting to tow a vehicle with a tan-colored truck, despite being a habitual traffic offender, according to Lake County Patrolman Jonathan Novak.

Snow allegedly fled the scene and managed to escape pursuing officers by driving the truck through a corn field in an unincorporated area west of Cedar Lake, the patrolman testified.

Novak testified he and other officers attempted to locate the suspect at his parents' home in the 14500 block of West 197th Avenue in West Creek Township.

The officers searched the property, but did not find Snow or the suspect vehicle, according to Novak.

Police would return to the property the night of Oct. 18, 2013, where they would find the heavily decomposed bodies of the parents, Clifford and Joyce Snow.

A forensic entomologist testified at trial Thursday he believed the 68-year-old retired shop teacher and his 66-year-old wife were murdered about a month before the bodies were discovered. He said he arrived at that time of death based on his study of flies recovered from the home.

The jury also heard testimony Friday from security officers from several retailers who said Clifford Snow's bank card was used at various stores in Lake County before the parents were discovered dead.

Surveillance footage from the stores showed a man resembling Thomas Snow using the bank card in late September and early October 2013 to purchase items that included cleaning supplies and odor suppressants.

The trial is scheduled to continue Monday in Judge Samuel L. Cappas' courtroom.
LAPORTE  A 37-year-old from LaPorte has been charged with dealing heroin, police announced Friday.

Timothy Jester had been under investigation for alleged drug dealing by the the LaPorte County Drug Task Force after the organization received complaints from citizens, police said in a news release.

Following a lengthy investigation, an arrest warrant was recently issued on two counts of dealing a narcotic drug, police said. Jester is currently being held in Allen County on unrelated charges. He will be extradited back to LaPorte County.

"The LaPorte County Drug Task Force remains committed to removing those involved in narcotics sales from our community," police said in the release.

Sgt. Andy Hynek did not immediately respond to a request for more information.

Anyone with information should report illegal activity to the crime tip hotline, 219-873-1488, or via social media.
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CROWN POINT  National Art Honor Society students from Crown Point High School want to help the city grow wings.

Angel wings, to be specific. Wings that will be created by art students on a wall in the downtown square. Several of those students made their pitch recently to the Historic Preservation Committee, which would have to approve the project because it would be in a historic district.

The public art installation by Crown Point honors students is based on the interactive Global Wings Project artist Colette Miller created for the streets of Los Angeles in 2012. They are human-sized angel wings with which people take photos, thus becoming part of the work.

"The meaning behind it is that humans are the angels of this earth," said Callan Wichowsky, president of the National Art Honors Society chapter of Crown Point High School. "And it's a beautification to different parts of the world."

Drasga said the students will not only maintain the wings but paint new ones on the wall every three or four years.

"It's exciting  it's change," she said. "It brings more impact to downtown and more reason for people to come again."

Drasga will appear before the commission at its November meeting with further information on the project. If approved, the wings could be installed this year or first thing in the spring.

Commission member Dan Rohaley said the project "is fantastic."
HOBART  It hasnt yet been determined how two blighted homes will be addressed.

The Board of Public Works and Safety continues to review cases involving long-vacant residences at 212 S. Colorado St. and 131 Center St.

The city has declared both as unsafe buildings because of their declining conditions, and the board has considered demolishing both homes. No final action has been taken about that option as Hobart officials receive information about the structures.

Peter Peco, the owner of the Colorado Street home, previously asked the board for time to bring the building into compliance. Members directed Peco to provide a plan for improvements by the boards Wednesday meeting.

Peco didnt attend the meeting and failed to provide the plan of action. The panel issued a $250 fine and is requiring him to appear at its Nov. 1 meeting.

Also during the November session, the board is expected to receive additional information about the status of the Center Street home.

The panel was told an investor is interested in purchasing the property owned by Karl and Kathleen Luken.

City Planner Sergio Mendoza has been in contact with the investor, who hasnt been named by the city.

As the city waits on a report about possibly acquiring the property, Hobart is seeking bids to demolish the building in the event that work is necessary.

In another matter, it was announced Hobart closed on the acquisition of property along Lake George near Wisconsin Street.

Grant funding was used to pay for the land, which was purchased for $33,400. Hobart plans to use the property as a park that could include a walking trail.

During the City Council meeting that followed the board session, Mayor Brian Snedecor issued a key to the city to Paul Throne.

Throne touched many lives in Hobart through his work as an educator and through many other organizations.

Throne spent nearly 40 years with the School City of Hobart. He was a past city parks superintendent and was involved in the Hobart Jaycees, Hobart Family YMCA and the United Methodist Church.

Snedecor said Throne is a person who truly cares about the community.

Throne said he was humbled to receive the key to city. The honor comes in advance of Throne's relocating to Florida to be with family.

Were definitely going to miss him, Snedecor said.

The council on Wednesday also decided to increase the annual membership fees at the Maria Reiner Center to $30 for Hobart residents and $50 for nonresidents. The change takes effect in 2018.

The current fees are $25 for Hobart residents and $40 for nonresidents.
HAMMOND  How could you go to war and be the same? asked Jim Chancellor, an honored Vietnam veteran.

While some military veterans have returned home and successfully resumed civilian lives, Chancellor noted, others have faced personal demons, including post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, job issues and homelessness.

Chancellor was a guest speaker at Friday's round table sponsored by North Township Trustee Frank Mrvan to discuss how veterans issues could be addressed using a collaborative, wholistic approach.

Mrvan said his goal is to put together teams to take action and make changes in the community.

The gathering at the Jean Shepherd Community Center drew 50 representatives from military organizations, educators, law enforcement and labor groups. Following the morning session on PTSD, the roundtable addressed how local groups can assist veterans with homelessness, legal issues, education and employment.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, an estimated 39,471 veterans are homeless on any given night. HUD also estimates 12,700 veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn were homeless in 2010.

North Township includes Hammond, Whiting, Munster, Highland and East Chicago. Mrvans office receives calls about veterans living in parks, vehicles, and abandoned buildings. His office is launching restore teams to assist veterans and their families with legal issues, financial literacy, substance abuse, housing and educational opportunities.

Mrvans office is working with East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland and the East Chicago Housing Authority on possible home for veterans. Mrvan is also working with the Catholic Diocese of Gary on available church-owned property that could be converted into veterans residences.

Another veterans-related issue is crime. A Lake County Sheriffs Department study showed veterans comprise 8 percent of inmates at the Lake County Jail. The Lake County Veterans Treatment Court was established in 2014 through Lake Superior Court Judge Julie N. Cantrell.

Mark Kalwinski, the county jails community mental health liaison, explained this court is an 18-month program designed to help veterans, including expunging their criminal offense upon successful completion of the program. Currently, he said, 68 veterans are in the court, which has become the largest of 22 such programs statewide.

Kalwinski said the program seeks to connect with veterans, including listening to their stories. Many [stories] are heart-wrenching, the social worker said.

Former Highland Police Chief Joe Kwasny is now involved in the veterans courts mentorship program, through which fellow veterans meet with and help those in the program. Through the court, Kwasny said, Youve saved that veterans life, and you also saved that veterans family.

Concluding the afternoon session with sobering statistics, Mrvan said one in four veterans is in danger of becoming homeless or turning to drugs or alcohol.

Youre not alone, Mrvan told veterans. A community is here to support you.
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A High Court judge has imposed litigation restrictions on a woman and her non-professional advisor over their involvement in multiple actions that amounted to "an abuse of process upon an abuse of process" concerning a midlands farm.

Mr Justice Michael Twomey made orders against June Smith and William Murphy arising out of what he described as her "obsessive, hopeless and vexatious" litigation in relation to her former farm at Carn, Portarlington, Co Laois, mortgaged to ACC Loan Management

ACC appointed a receiver over the property arising out of a failure to repay a loan of 2m secured on the farm, who subsequently sold the property.

Last July the High Court dismissed Mrs Smith's action against ACC and the receiver contesting their right to sell the property.

The Judge said the action was one of several brought by Mrs Smith regarding the farm since judgment was obtained against her in 2012.

Among the actions was a permanent injunction granted by the High Court preventing Mrs Smith from trespassing on her former farm.

As a result of such cases the High Court made what is known as an Isaac Wunder Order which prevents her taking any further proceedings regarding the farm against ACC and the receiver, except with the permission of the President of the High Court.

Mr Justice Twomey said despite this order Mrs Smith issued other motions over the sale of the farm, this time against different parties including Ballinline Ltd the company which bought the farm, the State and the Garda Commissioner.

The Judge said in September Mrs Smith obtained an injunction, granted by Mr Justice Max Barrett who had no familiarity with the case, to prevent Ballinline from trespassing on the farm.

Certain facts, including that an injunction had been put in place against her and that Ballinline were the owners of the farm, were not brought to Mr Justice Barrett's attention by Mrs Smith, JudgeTwomey said.

The Judge said he was dismissing Mrs Smith's applications which he said was an abuse of process.

Mr Justice Barrett was "clearly misled" and told a "blatant lie" by Mrs Smith, while being assisted by Mr Murphy, to obtain a completely unjustified injunction.

In addition she also brought proceedings against her former solicitor seeking declaration he had breached his duty as a solicitor because he had acted for the company in the purchase of the farm.

The Judge said the allegations against the solicitor were scandalous and unsubstantiated and struck out her motions against him.

The Judge said he was satisfied that by bringing the proceedings in September Mrs Smith had deliberately and consciously ignored the Isaac Wunder order previously made against her.

He noted that she would "stop at nothing in her quest to regain her property," and had treated the proceedings, in which she was advised by Mr Murphy, as some kind of "cat and mouse game".

In the circumstances the Judge said he was expanding the Isaac Wunder Order against her.

He said no proceedings could be taken by her against any defendant in relation to the farm without the consent of the president of the High Court, the Judge said.

The Judge said he was also disqualifying Mr William Murphy, who had assisted Mrs Smith from acting as an advisor, who is not a solicitor or barrister known as a McKenzie friend.

In this case the Judge said there could be no doubt the the administration of justice was being impeded, and there was an abuse of process occurring with the active assistance of a McKenzie friend.

Since the court's judgment in July there had been an abuse of process upon abuse of process upon which Mr Murphy had advised.

The Judge said he was making the order to ensure that taxpayers money is not wasted by vexatious litigation brought with the assistance of Mr Murphy and that deserving litigants don't have their hearing delayed by never ending frivolous litigation.

The Judge said the order means that Mr Murphy, who the judge noted has acted as a McKenzie in many other cases and has a "busy practice", cannot provide assistance or advice to any person in relation to court proceedings unless he obtains the consent of the President of the High Court.
As Ms Pub readies to reopen Wednesday, owners of other businesses displaced nearly two years ago by the fire that destroyed two buildings at the corner of 11th and Howard Streets are wondering when they will be next.

Womens clothing boutique Nouvelle Eve, the Market House restaurant and Niche furniture store all have been shuttered since the Jan. 9, 2016, blaze. Their stores were damaged by water and smoke as firefighters battled the gas-fed fire next door at Ms Pub.

Construction crews have used the spaces for storage and an office. Little interior work has been done toward their reopening.

The business owners say theyre hopeful that crews might turn to their spaces, now that work on Ms is complete.

Hopeful is all we can be, said Nick Bartholomew, owner of Market House. We really just dont understand why, almost two years later, we havent been able to drive in a single nail.

Market House had been open only six months before the fire destroyed the restaurant, which has a five-year lease on the space.

Were constantly spending hours  maybe its one or three a day  trying to find the end of this nightmare, Bartholomew said. Really, we get little or no response from our landlords as to where the process is. We feel held hostage.

Mercer Management, which owns the Ms Pub building and the 420 condominium building at 420 S. 11th St., just west of Ms Pub, did not respond to multiple phone messages left at its office. The building was damaged by smoke, water and, later, mold. The building houses condominiums on the top floors. Niche and Market House occupy the ground-floor retail bays.

Rich Anderson, owner of Niche, agreed that the experience has been frustrating. Anderson, who has operated Niche in the space for more than 20 years, also owns Trinis Mexican Restaurant in the Old Market Passageway.

Regardless of my situation, its good for the whole Old Market, Anderson said of Ms reopening. But Im not going to lie: It stings a little bit. The building that actually caught fire and collapsed is done before the building that didnt, which is what a lot of people dont understand.

In the meantime, Anderson has opened a new store, Nook, at 509 S. 11th St. But he said hes unable to sell furniture out of that space without freight access. It instead offers a few small furniture items, home decor, art and fresh flowers.

Its not the same. I did this so my employees that have worked for me for 20 years still can come to work, Anderson said.

Nouvelle Eve owner Susie Keuck said shes hopeful she may be able to reopen by early next year. Keuck said part of whats taking so long is that reconstruction requires getting heating, cooling, electrical and plumbing systems up to code in the historic buildings.

I can just tell its overwhelming to get everything up to code and get everyone to agree, and make sure everythings right. Its a million parts going in so many different directions, Keuck said.

She said shes hopeful that with work on Ms nearing completion, workers will turn to her space next.

The construction on the block was too much for the Tea Smith, which opened in the Old Market to the west of Market House and Niche 5 years ago. The shop closed its Old Market store a month ago, owner Tim Smith said. He still operates a location near 78th and Cass Streets.

Foot traffic immediately disappeared when the east end of the blocks sidewalk was shut down because of the fire, Smith said.

We were just starting to grow and then, the next couple of years, starting to make some money. Then the fire hit, and it just really hadnt come back enough after that, Smith said.

Construction on condos at the northeast corner of 12th and Howard Streets, unrelated to the fire nearby, didnt help, Smith said.

That whole block just looked like it was under construction for the last two years, he said.

Marsha Congdon, who owns a condo in the 420 Building above Market House and Niche, said condo owners also have been unable to get into their units to do finishing work such as installing flooring and cabinets, and painting.

Im not sure what the exact turnover date is. I know everybodys working as hard as possible, Congdon said. She hoped to have more information in the coming weeks. Other condo owners did not respond to phone and email messages.

Still, Congdon said shes confident the Market is going to come back better than ever.

Mo Tajvar, owner of Omaha Prime steakhouse, said hes thrilled to have Ms on its way to reopening. While technically competitors in that they are both restaurants, Tajvar said the businesses had actually been quite complementary.

We have had a lot of people that stopped and had a cocktail and appetizer at Ms and then came to have dinner at Omaha Prime, he said. We are excited for them, and we are excited for us, because now we dont have to look at that ugly fence.

In the meantime, Ms Pub has been hustling and bustling as workers put in the finishing touches. Restaurant employees have been taking reservations and readying the space for its grand reopening. The door is often propped open, allowing excited passers-by to take peeks inside.

Jeanne Riesen was one such previewer last week. The Omaha native who now lives in California snapped photos of the restaurant interior as she strolled the Old Market with her sweetheart, Tom Kessler, who lives in Omaha. The couple had dined at Ms a few times before the fire, and theyre eager to return.

This is the main place we liked to come. Well be back around Christmastime, Riesen said.

Aubrey Mathews and her boyfriend, Mark Sorensen, will be some of the first diners at the reopened Ms. The couple have a 7:30 p.m. reservation Wednesday.

Mathews said that over the years the restaurant became a haven for her. If she was feeling down, shed put on her best dress, mosey up to Ms marble green bar and order the tiramisu  her favorite dessert.

The green bar is back. Mathews said shes eager to see if her favorite dessert will be, too.
LINCOLN  Former Nebraska Gov. Charles Thone, who served on the House Select Committee on Assassinations in the late 1970s, still doesnt believe that President John F. Kennedys death was part of a conspiracy, and he predicts no evidence of a plot will surface in long-secret documents.

The evidence just isnt there, Thone said Friday.

Under a deadline established 25 years ago by Congress, President Donald Trump released a trove of long-secret documents detailing the investigations into the 1963 assassination of Kennedy in Dallas.

As scholars, journalists and the merely curious on Friday continued poring through nearly 3,000 newly released secret documents related to the 35th presidents assassination, there were few if any major plot twists about what happened that day in Dallas in 1963.

Instead, the files  which include secret FBI memos, handwritten notes from top White House officials, and CIA field reports  tell the story of Americas paranoid underworld in the 1960s, where shadowy figures chased secrets at home and abroad and hatched plots to change the course of history.

Some records provide insight into investigators hunt for details involving the only suspect ever officially identified: Lee Harvey Oswald.

One newly released FBI file shows how agents tracked Oswalds bus trip to Mexico City in October 1963. It included information that Oswald was wearing a short sleeve light colored sportshirt and no coat, seemingly innocuous information that had been classified to protect the FBIs operations in foreign country.

Thone, 93, said the release was long overdue.

I argued all along that the thing be open, he said of releasing the records to extinguish fires of speculation about a possible conspiracy.

We finally got our way on most of it, he said.

Charley Thone represented Nebraskas 1st District in Congress from 1971 to 1979. He was governor the next four years. During his second term in Congress, he served on the 12-member House Select Committee on Assassinations, which investigated the deaths of Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Thone said then-President Gerald Ford, a native Nebraskan and former House colleague, saw that he was made part of the committee.

Thone has called his service on the panel the highlight of his congressional career, but he disagreed with its conclusion that there had been a conspiracy. He refused to sign the final report.

The committee found that Oswald fired three rifle shots at Kennedy as he passed by in a motorcade on Nov. 22, 1963. The second and third shots struck the president. The third shot killed him.

The committee also concluded that evidence  based largely on acoustical experts saying that four shots, not three, were heard on a recording from a police motorcycle  established a high probability that two gunmen fired at the president.

Other scientific evidence did not preclude the possibility of two gunmen firing at Kennedy, the committee reported. Scientific evidence also negated some specific conspiracy allegations.

Based on available evidence, the committee concluded that Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. The committee was unable to identify the other gunmen or the extent of the conspiracy.

Thone didnt agree with the majority of the committee. Rep. Harold Sawyer of Michigan joined Thone in not signing the report.

CBS newsman Walter Cronkite called Thone the conscience of the committee.

Thone said the committee worked for more than two years with a staff of 100 criminologists, investigators and pathologists.

We had subpoena power and we used it quite a bit to compel testimony, he said.

The congressmen traveled to Dallas and visited Oswalds sixth-floor sniper nest and other sites associated with the assassination. They saw the autopsy photographs.

Thone said he always wondered whether the Mafia had a role in the assassination. The crime syndicate had extensive associations with Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby, who killed Oswald two days after Kennedys death.

The Mafia veil is a hard thing to pierce, he said, but there was no solid evidence of involvement.

A year after the assassination, the Warren Commission declared that Oswald had acted alone.

Thone said he pretty much agreed with the Warren Commissions finding.

They were rushed a little bit but, by and large, they got it right, he said.

Thone was Nebraskas Republican Party chairman in 1960 when Richard Nixon defeated Kennedy in Nebraska while narrowly losing the national election. Three years later, he learned of the assassination during a midday stop at his brothers cigar shop at 12th and O Streets in Lincoln. Using a family nickname, his brother said, Babe, come on in here. Listen to this.

Thone and his brother stood at a radio, listening to reports of the shooting and, eventually, the announcement of the presidents death.

Years ago, Thone donated his copy of the select committees multi-volume reports and findings to the University of Nebraska College of Law.

Thone said he doesnt expect people to quit arguing about whether there was a conspiracy to kill Kennedy.

Were not done with it, he said. ... Youre going to have naysayers forever.

This report includes material from the Los Angeles Times.
euronews (in English) 13 Nov 2022

Environmentalists throw fake blood and oil on exhibitions at the Egyptian Museum of Barcelona to protest Coca-Cola's sponsorship of..
by  Graham Pierrepoint



The White House has seen considerable change in the past few months, even after Donald Trump and his team took up office after Barack Obama departed in February. However, several big names and heads have rolled  Michael Flynn, Sean Spicer, Steve Bannon, the short-lived run from Anthony Scaramucci  and now, it seems that one of Trumps own senators will not be standing in future as a result of the current running of the Republican administration.

Arizona senator Jeff Flake has announced that he will retire from his position next year, as a result of changes in the party. There may not be a place for a Republican like me in the current Republican climate or the current Republican party, the senator stated publicly on Tuesday. Take this statement as you will  but it is hard not to feel that his words may come from a place of disappointment at the current regime. Flake was among Republican senators who refused to endorse Trump for the Presidency  in fact, in the minority  and he also spoke of now being a time to focus on principles above all else.

It is time for our complicity and our accommodation for the unacceptable to end, Flake stated. There are times when we must risk our careers in favor of our principles. Now is such as time." Flakes position against Trump is hardly a secret  with the President himself having tweeted negatively about the senator with regards to him being weak on crime & border. It is largely differences on immigration and on trade that separate the two men  and now, it seems that one of Trumps few initial Republican critics will be jumping ship  for what many feel will be honorable reasons.

Flake is not the first person associated with the party to have announced retirement in recent months  with representatives such as Floridas Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Washingtons David Reichert, among others, having advised they will stand no further. It is a movement that has caught fire in US media amid concerns that the Republican party is dividing itself up more than ever. Is Trumpism becoming a genuine phenomenon? Are the seeds sown at the White House by the likes of ex-strategist Steve Bannon continuing to bear fruit? It is a complex web that will no doubt offer more interesting twists and turns as the year draws to a close.
Upworthy 05 Nov 2022

HOUSTON -- Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel, who exited Game 5 of the World Series early with a right knee injury, was taken off..
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Veuer 14 Nov 2022

The company claims they werent trying to hide their origins, yet they seem to have at every turn. Veuers Tony Spitz has the..
Rumble 15 Nov 2022

The outcome of last weeks midterms is being blamed entirely on Trump, and there is a new wave of massive pressure from the media..
Spending measures approved by voters in the past year are about to hit home.

Property tax bills arriving in mailboxes across the state include major new levies, particularly for school construction, that are taking effect for the first time.

That, combined with new development coming onto the tax rolls, means property tax revenues will jump in all three metro-area counties: 11 percent in Multnomah, 6.5 percent in Clackamas and 5.9 percent in Washington.

The one affecting the largest number of homeowners is the $790 million construction bond for Portland Public Schools. The measure approved in May allows the district to renovate or rebuild four schools and make safety fixes in most of the rest. The net increase from existing bonds amounts to $1.36 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Portland Public Schools will collect $472 million in Multnomah County, a 23 percent increase from the previous year.

But the largest rate increase comes in the Gresham-Barlow school district, whose residents passed a $291.2 million bond in November 2016 to pay for school upgrades. The net increase amounts to $1.63 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Voters in the Lake Oswego, Sherwood and Tigard/Tualatin school districts also approved new bonded debt.

Portland's Fire and Police Disability & Retirement fund operates on a pay-as-you-go basis, which means the fund's costs each year are split among Portland property owners. It will collect $148 million this year, an increase of 11.9 percent.

TAX BASE GROWS

New construction boosted metro counties' tax base by billions of dollars.

In Oregon, the taxable value of a property usually grows 3 percent a year, regardless of any increase or decline in market value. That's due to a pair of ballot measures in the 1990s, Measure 47 and Measure 50, that effectively detached a property's market value from its taxable values.

As a result of that built-in 3 percent growth, plus the added value of new construction, the taxable value of property climbed:

$3.3 billion in Multnomah County, an increase of 4.8 percent

$2.9 billion in Washington County, an increase of 4.9 percent

$2.2 billion in Clackamas County, an increase of 4.8 percent

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus
For a long time, the association between a certain branch of punk culture and crippling substance abuse was so strong fans could identify famous casualties without using last names; Sid, Darby, Johnny, Dee Dee, Kurt.

A pervasive fiction from old-school punk was musicians getting loaded as a mark of authenticity: Portrait of the Artist as an Elegantly Wasted Young Gun.

Even today, survivors of that era look back fondly at youthful indiscretions with a wink. "We don't do that anymore," they'll say, reminiscing about the bad old good old days, "but boy, we had fun back then."



None of this cheap mythology gets any play in Patty Schemel's new memoir, "Hit So Hard" (Da Capo Press, 304 pages, $27), one of the least glamorous rock 'n' roll drug tales ever written. As she put it via email from her Los Angeles home, "I don't romanticize drugs, heroin, etc. It's not cool in my story. Drugs are pathetic."



The drummer for the grunge-era band Hole, she released her book as a companion to the 2011 documentary film of the same name, with additional details on her struggle for sobriety. "It's really more of the story of my recovery than anything else," she says.



The Marysville, Washington, native grew up in a recovery household (her parents hosted Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in their home), started drinking herself at 12 ("despite our parents' vast experience with alcohol abuse, no one seemed to notice") and did her best to negotiate a rocky adolescence and her growing awareness that she was gay with rock music, exploratory forays with drug/alcohol use and her devotion to the drums.



After playing in Seattle bands in her 20s, Schemel joined Hole in the spring of 1992, recommended to the band by Kurt Cobain, her friend from the local music scene and the husband of Hole frontwoman Courtney Love (whom he met in Portland). While a necessary presence in the book, Cobain is Schemel's friend and peer - shown as equal parts funny, tender, infuriating - and not written like the rock star the world saw. "As much as I liked him, I don't think anyone was like, There's a prophet among us, or anything -- we were too in the middle of it."



As Nirvana had recently become the world's biggest new rock band and had sparked the alternative rock era, signing up with an associated act was a pre-paid ticket to the big leagues. "When I joined Hole, they already had a record deal - they'd just signed with DGC - and everyone was interested in hearing what 'Kurt's wife's band' was gonna do."



What Schemel did was drugs, on a bigger scale than before, managing to maintain her usage within the chaos surrounding the band. She even recorded and toured while keeping up with her habit. "At that point, it was a functioning addict situation for me - mixing and matching to be able to function but still be high," she says.



After her eventual ouster from Hole - she blew her financial settlement from the band on drugs - came the cycle of rehab and relapse that dominates the second half of the book.



Here's where the narrative really gets grim: homelessness, degradation, a short period of prostitution related with a shocking casualness, as just another hustle to stay high. "I wish I could describe that time as a period when I was wily and had all these street smarts, but that wasn't the case. I was wearing pajamas, I was arrested, things like that," Schemel reflects.



Thankfully, she cleaned up for good in 2005, but the journey there was rough even by rock biography standards. If "Hit So Hard" is gripping, there are passages when it's not good fun.

For every triumph during the Hole period - which should have been the "fun" years - addiction troubles (her own and others') continually pop up to wreck everything: Cobain's 1994 suicide, the overdose death the same year of Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff, Schemel strung out at the MTV Video Music Awards.



Currently focused on family life, playing music again, Schemel has found peace. "Sobriety is more just about being open and willing to be different, and see the things that are good for me all around me; really accepting what is."



There's a commendable lack of celebrity kiss-and-tell here, and those looking for Courtney Love misbehavior anecdotes can readily find better sources: "Hit So Hard" is really the story of a woman who got horribly lost and found herself only when she got back behind the trap set.



"It's the thing that saved me when I'd forgotten who I was. At the end of the world, I remembered I'd been a drummer."

***

Patty Schemel

What: In conversation with drummer Janet Weiss (of Sleater-Kinney, Quasi)

When: 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 8

Where: Powell's City of Books, 1005 W. Burnside St.
Jason Schaefer

A man accused of setting off a small bomb in his SUV near Beaverton had three other packages believed to contain highly unstable explosive materials seized from his SUV and storage lockage, a federal prosecutor said Friday.

Authorities suspect the packages held triacetate triperoxide, or TATP, an explosive that has been used in terrorist attacks, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel said in U.S. District Court in Portland.

The packages, along with a written threat to a Multnomah County jail doctor last week, are reasons release for Jason Schaefer "is not at all appropriate in this case," Gabriel told Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman.

Schaefer, who lost at least two fingers in the blast, wrote in a medical request form on Oct. 22 that his pain medication was "inadequate," Gabriel said.

"I am obliged to see your death," Schaefer wrote to the doctor. "At this point, change of prescription or additions does not change this."

Schaefer, 26, pleaded not guilty during the hearing to assault on a federal officer and using an explosive to commit a federal felony. He made no statements other than to tell the judge that he had reviewed documents listing the charges against him.

He stood in a blue county jail uniform next to defense attorney Mark Ahlemeyer and looked straight ahead for most of his brief arraignment. A white bandage wrapped his left hand with his little finger and ring finger sticking out.

Beckerman ordered Schaefer to remain in jail and set a tentative trial date for Dec. 27.

Ahlemeyer didn't contest Schaefer's jail status and said he had no comment on the prosecutor's arguments to keep Shaefer in custody.

Schaefer used a lighter to ignite explosives in a cigarette pack during a traffic stop near his apartment in Rockcreek in Washington County, investigators said.

The blast occurred while a Washington County detective deputized as a federal officer working with the Joint Terrorism Task Force was walking toward the driver's side of Schaefer's Honda CRV.

Schaefer threatened to kill officers before detonating the device and had rigged his apartment with flammable materials that could be ignited with a remote, Gabriel said during a previous court hearing.

Schaefer was being monitored by the FBI for at least two weeks on suspicion of gathering explosive materials before authorities served a search warrant at his apartment Oct. 11, according to court documents.

The traffic stop occurred after authorities lost track of him that day and later spotted him driving near his apartment, court documents said.

It's still not clear why Schaefer had explosives or how he planned to use them. Loren Cannon, special agent in charge of the FBI's Portland division, Oregon's U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams and Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett said during a news conference after the arraignment that they couldn't comment on the case, citing the pending charges.

Williams did note that Schaefer isn't facing terrorism-related allegations and that there's no ongoing threat to the public.

The officials highlighted that their agencies and others worked together to arrest Schaefer and urged the public to help keep their communities safe by reporting suspicious behavior.

"If you see something that doesn't look right, say something," Williams said.

The injuries sustained by the Washington County detective, identified in court documents as Jeremy Chedester, were "short-lived," Garrett said. Chedester returned to duty five days after the explosion, he said.

Court documents show Chedester was hit by flying glass from Schaefer's SUV and flesh from Schaefer's hand. He also suffered ringing in his ears. He has been with the Sheriff's Office for 10 years and became a member of the Joint Terrorism Task Force for a little more than two years, Garrett said.

The task force is a collection of investigators that includes members of the Oregon State Police, Washington County Sheriff's Office and Portland Police Bureau. They assess and investigate possible terrorism threats or threats involving explosives.

TATP is a peroxide-based explosive made with common household ingredients, said Portland police Sgt. Steve Collins, a member of the Metropolitan Explosive Disposal Unit.

"It could kill you," Collins said. "It's very dangerous to make. It's very dangerous to handle."

Schaefer's criminal history includes a prior conviction for attempted second-degree assault and possession of a controlled substance in New York, court records indicate. He was sentenced to 18 months of probation in May in Washington County for being felon in possession of body armor.

A Washington County judge issued an arrest warrant hours before the explosion on allegations that Schaefer was a felon in possession of explosives. He initially was held on a probation violation when he was booked into jail. That charge was dismissed Oct. 17, court records show. Schaefer now faces only the federal charges.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey
By ELIZABETH HOVDE

As unpopular as a pro-tolling stance may make you at Southwest Washington dinner parties, there are reasons to support tolling on highways. For example, one would be to fund the construction of a bridge across the Columbia River to replace the dilapidated and seismically unsound Interstate 5 Bridge.

That, however, isn't the latest tolling plan that Oregon's leaders have in mind. And what they're proposing could get in the way of a much-needed replacement bridge that eliminates the only red light on I-5 from Canada to Mexico -- a huge drawback on a major U.S. trade route.

A $5.3 billion infrastructure funding package, signed into law by Gov. Kate Brown in July, calls for $1.1 billion in new tolls to pay for projects designed to ease congestion and speed up freight travel on the state's freeways. The bill orders Oregon's transportation commission to seek approval from the Federal Highway Administration to place tolls somewhere on I-5 and Interstate 205 by Dec. 31, 2018. And yet the tolling has nothing to do with replacing the bridge over the Columbia River.

U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., has been more than earning her keep to ensure a toll on the bridges doesn't happen. Such a toll would, of course, hit Washington residents hardest, given an estimated 74,000 cross them daily, she says. While that would be entirely justifiable to fund the building of a bridge, tolling there and then using the money to pay for Oregon's other transportation needs would not be.

Herrera Beutler's lobbied the governors of Washington and Oregon, the states' legislators, Washington Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and others to put the plan on hold for a year until it can be better explored by all players. Her amendment prohibiting the tolls in 2018 already passed the House but now needs Senate support.

"Southwest Washington supports improving traffic and freight mobility on and around the two Interstate bridges at the state line, but Oregon's current plan will do nothing to improve either bridge," Herrera told me Monday. She added, "I do not automatically oppose user fees that improve the infrastructure from which they're collected, but Oregon officials say they plan to direct those fees toward projects far away from where the tolls are collected, or to no projects at all."

Herrera Beutler wants a different plan. I do, too.

What if our region is lucky enough to have another shot at a replacement bridge through a trinity of federal, state and local funding similar to what was unfortunately shot down in 2014? If Oregon already has tolls in place for other transportation needs, it could complicate finding a funding solution.

Oregon has suggested the tolls might not pay for any actual projects but could discourage traffic enough to reduce congestion. But turning a toll into a penalty as opposed to a user-fee that provides something that a person actually uses twists the whole understanding of what a toll is. It also fires up Washingtonians who are already paying healthy income taxes to Oregon for little benefit.

Travis Brouwer, the assistant director of public affairs at Oregon Department of Transportation, cautions that a toll at the state's borders might or might not be the agency's target. He said lawmakers' directive to seek federal authority to implement so-called "value pricing" on the freeways is very open-ended. "We want to work with the community about what the benefits might be," Brouwer said. My conversation with him convinced me Herrera's one-year stall effort would be good for the transportation department, too.

I hope now that Oregon has a funding plan in place, state lawmakers will be open to working with Washington leaders again about the crossing. In April, Oregon lawmakers said, "No, thanks!" Nerves are understandably still raw.

Brouwer acknowledged that there is a definite and obvious need for a replacement bridge and likely, tolling to fund it. And that complicates matters. Yet that "definite and obvious need" for a better I-5 bridge is going to complicate a lot more than tolling authority if we don't get in the fast lane again soon.

Elizabeth Hovde's column usually appears on the fourth Sunday of the month.
To outsiders, there's nothing special about the last Wednesday in October. But for the crew of Fear Overload, it is the first night of "Hell Week"  the Christmas rush, but for professional scarers.

Curtain time for the East Bay haunted house is 7 o'clock sharp. As actors trickle in from their day jobs, the sprawling backstage area becomes a flurry of latex and fake blood. Led by Paul White, the haunt's team of makeup artists  some of whom will later be in costume themselves  carefully airbrushes healthy skin into scorched flesh, or glues elaborate prosthetics to half-dressed ghouls and demons. Actors get their eyes "blacked out" with makeup and don their costumes and masks. Last-minute repairs are made, wigs adjusted, snacks consumed.

Word makes it to manager Eliseo Carranza that several actors will be late, but the show must go on. He gathers the cast in the staging area for the nightly briefing. As he speaks, comments that might be concerning in any other circumstance  "There's blood on my phone!" or "My nose is itchy, but these teeth are in the way!"  go unremarked upon. There is a brief, in-character discussion of how too many patrons are surviving the experience. Backstage, more actors are dressing.

Carranza, 33, exhorts his team to stay hydrated ahead of their three-hour show. Then the lights go dark, and the monsters get into place.

Fear Overload occupies an 8,000-square-foot permanent complex inside San Leandro's Bay Fair Mall, tucked away in what was once the second floor of a Macy's. The haunted house consists of two mazes connected by a roped-in open space, but some fixtures, like the department store-esque changing rooms backstage, hint at the building's past life.

According to haunt chief of staff Nick Alfieri, the attraction employs about 25 to 30 part-time actors from late September to early November. The job pays minimum wage for roughly 3- to 5-hour-long night shifts that sometimes stretch into the a.m. hours. (Full disclosure: I know some of this because I worked for Fear Overload in seasons past.)

The work can be physically grueling, as well. On busier nights, according to Carranza, there are sometimes only a few seconds between groups of guests. In order to surprise each patron, actors have to "reset" their scares in the blink of an eye. That in itself can be trying, as makeup artist and actor Katelin Hess explained. By day, the San Leandro local is an in-home caretaker and Lyft driver, but as a "climber," she spends her nights crawling up walls and along furniture.

"They don't expect someone to get up that high," she said before her shift, strapping on a set of knee pads. "I try to go for the unexpected."

Hess said she has suffered cuts and bruises, and has been hit intentionally by customers, something many of the actors say they have experienced. The haunted house's rules explicitly forbid touching  on the part of the actors or their would-be victims  but startled guests and the maze's claustrophobic layout makes it difficult for actors to avoid being punched, kicked or accidentally stepped on.

"I wish people knew about the risks that can go into working in a haunted house, the pain you go through, how tiring it can be, the wear and tear on your body," actor and San Leandro native Todd Border said via Facebook. "There is a lot that goes into each night and everyone is giving their all."

After Austin Titus, an actor in an adjacent room, was allegedly hit by a customer Wednesday night, actress Lana Romo put it more succinctly: "You paid to get scared."

---

San Leandro is a growing city nestled between Oakland and Hayward with a diverse population; according to the US Census' 2011-2015 five-year estimates, its population is only about 41 percent white. And the cast of Fear Overload is, in some respects, representative of its guests. The haunt employs actors of various ages, genders and orientations, hailing from any number of different cultural and economic backgrounds. Some veteran actors have full-blown outside careers, while some members of the cast are students as young as 18. Some grew up in San Leandro or have lived in the area for years, but others, like ticket-taker Tara Swan, commute from from as far afield as Los Altos.

"My favorite part of the haunt season is getting to shed my skin and get to be myself," Swan said via Facebook. "I get to create a character completely out of the box and be accepted. I also work with a family of crazy people I can truly be myself with and don't have to feel judgment."

The glue holding them together  or the liquid latex, rather  is a shared love of scaring, Carranza said.

"We're family," he said. "We joke with each other, we mess around with each other. Of course, we respect each other  if something serious happens or someone needs to talk to somebody, we pull each other aside and talk it out.

"Everybody knows that everything you say in the haunt isn't serious," he added. "Everything's a joke."
This week's installment takes readers back to the late 1880s and early 1900s in Midland, and then onto the history of the Midland County Courthouse.



The gallery includes the first schoolhouse in Larkin Township, a photo of the Hotel Madill on Main Street, a river baptism in Hope, a church at Ashman and Ellsworth, a new city fire truck in 1917, and the Midland High School graduating class of 1899.
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Midland has been home to some accomplished architects. But, how well known would those architects be if not for the accomplished skilled trades workers that compliment those architects by putting those drawings into reality?

That is exactly what Associated Builders and Contractors-Greater Michigan Chapter (ABC) has been providing the Great Lakes Bay Region for 50 years now  training workers to construct buildings, houses and many other projects.

"The next time you walk into any room, any stadium, any restaurant, any department store, just look up and appreciate the idea and skill sets of the employees who constructed those buildings," said Jimmy Greene, CEO of the ABC-Greater Michigan Chapter.

Spanning 23 counties, ABC has partnered with 17 high schools to train students in the art of skilled trades.

Plans are to celebrate the 50th anniversary with a dinner in Lansing on Wednesday.

"Our staff plans to pay homage to our founders. The theme is yesterday, today and tomorrow. We're going to take them back to yesterday, bring them up to today and more importantly, tell what tomorrow is going to look like," Greene said.

HISTORY

That homage extends all the way back to 1967 and the founding of what was then known as the Central Michigan Chapter.

"If you understand the ABC history, it was founded, not to win bids, but to foster an environment to train our own people to be competitive going into an environment," Greene said.

With plenty of support from companies, contractors and individuals, the decision was made to spin off from the Central Michigan Chapter and create the Saginaw Valley Chapter ABC in 1977.

Seven years later, in 1984, educational training began at the corner of East Ashman Street and Waldo Avenue.

A donation of $95,000 worth of electrical switch gear, contacts, motors and all kinds of equipment, from General Motors allowed the training program to incorporate a full-fledged electrical class.

"Dow Chemical, The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation, the Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation and The Charles J. Strosaker Foundation, along with John Bartos, were big starters of founding the educational program," said Edward Tanzini.

Even though the name has changed over the years from the Central Michigan Chapter to ABC-Greater Michigan Chapter, the merit shop philosophy has remained the same.

That philosophy was advantageous when looking for a new CEO in 2010. The board found the perfect candidate in Greene, who came with his ever-present ball cap and a strong, outgoing personality.

"Jimmy has been a big shining star. He's been just what we needed and we have been just what he needed," said Tanzini, who owns Tancor.

Greene, who was doing public policy for NFIB, originally refused the position. But, the ABC's free market stance caused Greene to rethink his decision and accept the job. Why the ABC ball cap that everyone thinks is glued to the top of Greene's head?

Just weeks after Greene was hired, ABC held a Vegas Night at the old Holiday Inn on Wackerly. Greene showed up wearing his ABC hat.

"My first speech to them was, 'I really want you guys to know that I'm going to keep wearing the hat every single day to make you proud. The day I disgrace it, or you don't feel like I am entitled to it, I'll stop wearing it,'" Greene told the membership.

Nine years later that hat still remains atop Greene's head.

"I wanted everyone to know that where I went, I am taking ABC with me," Greene said.

ABC

The ABC side of the chapter deals with public policy as the organization continues to be "the leading voice promoting free enterprise within the construction industry."

"You look at ABC, we've always been out front on most issues, but never had the legislative numbers to claim any kind of success," Greene said. "It really wasn't until (Gov. Rick Snyder) got into office and Republicans won both the House and Senate that ABC's issues and it's public policies were advanced and stayed. Then, they actually became part of law.

Although stances on prevailing wage and right-to-work have brought opposition from the unions.

"The advocacy that I truly go out for, so that my guys can have as much opportunity to bring on new faces, new skill sets to have a competitive advantage to bid on anything," Greene said. "The unions understood that piece of it, if you choke off the funnel, you choke off the manpower."

GMCA

The funnel is supplied by the Greater Michigan Construction Academy or GMCA.

"We have an incredible staff. It's not a job here. It's a philosophy. It's a passion. This is not an easy job for all of us," Greene said.

Besides boosting self-esteem, GMCA allows apprentices the opportunity "for career growth in the construction industry."

"It is a self sufficiency that lifts esteem. You see the ability to be able to take care of yourself. That is a lost art. I tell people, 'Here is what you need to know and here's what you can do with it,'" Greene said.

To bring credibility to the academy, GMCA became an accredited member of the National Center for Construction Education and Research, or NCCER.

"It's one thing for us to think we're good," Greene said. "But, getting the federal government from the U.S. Department of Education saying, 'we're good,' is important."

The accreditation allows graduates of the academy to gain employment all over the country.

"When students graduate from our program, they get a journeyman's certification from NCCER, which is accepted across the nation by anyone that knows NCCER," Tanzini said.

The four-year degree begins with an apprentice, or student, taking a core program.

"It is a test of their competency, and your proficiency. Are you good in math?" Greene said.

That math is fairly extensive.

Earlier in his career, Johnson was consulting with Dow on WorkKeys, which profiles various jobs and rates each job on its proficiency level in various subjects.

"A mason has the same level of math score as an engineer according to WorkKeys' analysis of the job and the math used on the job," said Don Johnson, career and technical education coordinator for the Midland ESA, which partners with ABC to send high schools students for training.

Following the core class, students begin to concentrate on a specific trade.

"One of the problems getting the education training going, was getting those people in, and training them, then building a feeder system for our employers or anybody else," Tanzini said.

However, the feeder system was slowly built up to where the academy now enrolls 506 apprentices. That number is up from 186 in January 2013 when Hemlock Semiconductor announced it would lay off 400 workers in January 2013.

"The increase has been incremental  schools, small businesses, partnerships, safety pieces," Greene said. "We've put together a great program meeting everybody's needs, not just Hemlock's or Dow's. We didn't complain about the funnel, we created the funnel. We went into the schools."

Those schools are located all across the state, including all four Midland County school districts.

"Midland Public Schools has been one of our biggest supporters," Greene said. "We don't want the fallouts. We want to work hand-in-hand with school districts to make sure we get the best of the best.

Graduation from the academy is not an easy task. Students spend 586 hours in the classroom and another 8,000 hours with on-the-job training while getting paid.

"When they come out of there, these aren't just skilled trades people. These are skilled, skilled trades people," Greene said. "It's one of the reasons why in our academy we don't call it skilled trade training, or apprenticeship or journeyman status, we call it the "other four-year degree."

Besides creating a funnel system, GMCA continues to battle the decades long misconception that skilled trades are not a viable option for young people.

"I think people are starting to understand that there is another path besides going to college. You can have a really good life, start a family and start a career without debt," Greene said.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in May 2016, the mean hourly wage for a first line supervisor of construction trades and extraction workers was $32.71. The annual mean wage was $68,040. For a construction trade worker the mean hourly wage was $22.88 while the annual mean wage stood at $47,580.

"If you look at the number of kids that go to college, come out with debt, maybe not all the skills they need to have the lifestyle they want, this is an opportunity to go down that path fairly quickly with no debt and make a decent wage," Greene said.

For more information on ABC, phone 989-832-8879 or visit www.abcgmc.org
Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy announced at 7.30pm UK time that the Catalan parliament has been dissolved

Government was sacked in preparation for elections on December 21 and Catalan police chief forced out

Follows a vote in the Catalan parliament by 70 to 10 - with two blank ballots - to declare its independence

Shares in Catalan banks fell sharply in response to announcement, dragging entire stock market with them

Both EU and USA, meanwhile, have backed Spain after vote - with the US also backing use of article 155

Number 10 said UK 'will not recognise' Catalonia's declaration of independence after 'illegal' referendum







Apparently there is something wrong with using that right to vote in your own future, doh.Spain dissolved Catalonia's parliament on Friday and called new regional elections after separatists voted for independence in a sharp escalation of a constitutional crisis that has stoked alarm in Europe.In a televised address after an emergency cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he had also removed secessionist Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and his executive.Rajoy moved swiftly after the Senate gave his government sweeping powers to impose direct rule on the semi-autonomous region to quash its drive to break away from Spain.He called for regional elections on December 21 as part of efforts to "restore normality" after the vote in the Catalan parliament plunged Spain into uncharted waters.After a months-long standoff with Madrid, regional lawmakers voted 70 to 10 in the 135-member parliament to declare Catalonia "a republic in the form of an independent and sovereign state."
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My mom recently broke a fingernail while we were riding in the car, so I reached into my purse and pulled out a metal file.

Here you go, I said, handing it to her.

This is a nice file, she said, repairing her damaged nail.

Yes, I agreed. Ive had it since 1985.

After she returned it, I carefully placed the file back in the sleeve in my purse. I dont want to lose it.

The file isnt valuable by any means. It was originally branded with advertising for a local business, but the printed text wore off long ago. I like the manicure tool because, in all these years, Ive never found one which works better. Its a favorite because its so useful.

Kind of like my husbands boar bristle hairbrush. The one hes had since Christmas 1963.

Made in Germany, the military-style brush has no handle and neatly fits in the palm of his hand. Ive watched my husband run it over his thick hair every morning for more than 13 years.

Once when our daughter was little, she walked into our bedroom, picked up the brush and started to wander off with it.

He quickly pulled a prettier hairbrush (an extra one of mine) from the dresser, and caught up with her.

Ill trade you, he said, giving her the newer brush and holding out his hand for the return of his. She easily made the swap. (Who wants ugly boar bristles when you can have a pink, round brush?)

By coincidence, my husbands younger brother received an identical brush from Santa that Christmas morning almost 55 years ago. He still uses his, too.

When my husband finds something he likes, he uses it until it wears out or breaks. Luckily for him, his single blade injector razor is still in great working condition. It was part of a welcome kit he received at Lehigh University in the 1970s. Its getting harder to find appropriate blades, but after experimenting with a variety of razors over the years, he always returns to the old favorite.

Like my file, the razor poses no sentimental value. Its the sheer efficiency of the thing which makes it so appealing.

Several years ago, I looked out the living room window and saw a friend searching the street in front of our house. She had been our guest the evening before.

Im looking for a makeup mirror, she said. I think it fell from my car.

We searched a long time, but never found the mirror.

Was it a gift? I asked.

No, she sadly said, but it was just the right size.

I nodded in understanding. Everyone seems to have a gadget theyve had for years which they prefer over newer models. Theres no superstitious good luck associated with the objects; they just work really well. Unlike antiques, which may have monetary value, or heirlooms which hold special sentiment, these are simply handy items which never lose their usefulness.

Another friend who is an excellent cook has a spoon she received as a promotion from the Peoples State Bank of Colfax 35 years ago.

Outwardly, theres nothing remarkable about the spoon; its metal with a wooden handle. But over the decades, she has found it ideal for nearly every kitchen use, from scooping ice cream to serving casseroles. Its her go-to kitchen tool.

She and her husband have searched for an identical spoon to serve as a backup, but none has turned up so far. The Colfax spoon appears to be one of a kind.

I told my friends Ill keep an eye out for a duplicate spoon. Maybe Ill spot one at an area flea market or secondhand shop, right next to a single edge injector razor.
[The Southern Poverty Law Centers Heidi] Beirich described the groups involved in Saturdays planned rallies as some of the most hardcore and hardline forces in the white nationalist movement, noting that one of the headliners, the neo-Confederate League of the South, has spent the last few years building up a  paramilitary force .This isnt the kind of soft racism of we want a white ethno-state, Beirich said. This is Hitlerian thinking.Scheduled speakers include the Traditionalist Worker Partys Matthew Heimbach, white nationalist radio host Mike Enoch, League of the South president Michael Hill, and Vanguard Americas Dillon Hopper. A number of those organizations fly under the banner of the Nationalist Front , an umbrella group working to unite pro-White organizations, and several of those participants and groups are currently being sued by the city of Charlottesville, Virginia, for helping to spearhead Augusts violent white nationalist rally there.
NORMAL  Heartland Community College will be searching for a person with an advanced degree with significant senior-level leadership experience, preferably in higher education, for its next president.

That was the conclusion reached Friday after the board of trustees met with a representative of the firm helping to search for a successor for President Rob Widmer, who will retire June 30.

Jerry Israel, a senior consultant with Academic Search, spent Thursday and Friday meeting with various groups at the college. One session open to the general public was attended by 16 people.

At those meetings, including the special board meeting Friday afternoon, people provided input on what qualifications and attributes they want to see in the next president.

Among the desired attributes that came up repeatedly at the meetings were good skills in communication, listening, critical thinking and collaboration, according to Israel.

Board member Becky Ropp said, We don't want someone who blows in the wind, but we don't want someone who's dictatorial.

Israel said one person summed it up well by saying the president should be someone who can celebrate Heartland's excellence and challenge Heartland to improve.

Although higher education experience is preferred, those involved in the search did not want to define the requirements so narrowly that it might exclude a strong candidate with a different background.

Israel will use the information to develop a position profile, which will get final approval from the search advisory committee before the job is advertised.

The search will be launched no later than the week before Thanksgiving and include ads, information on Heartland's and Academic Search's websites and emails to potential candidates, explained Israel.

Chances are the person you have will not be looking for a job but will be recommended by others, he said.

Israel expects Heartland to get 40 to 80 applicants for the job, based on his experience with other searches. Working in Heartland's favor is that the college is doing well and is located in an attractive community with job opportunities for the successful applicant's spouse and good schools if they have children, he said.

Although a precise timeline hasn't been established, Israel said, the search committee will narrow the field to eight to 16 semifinalists in late January and conduct confidential interviews. No names will be made public until the field is narrowed to three or four finalists, probably in March, he said.

The new president would take office July 1.

For Israel, assisting in the search is kind of like coming home. He was a member of the Illinois Wesleyan University faculty from 1974 to 1988. He served as president of Morningside College in Iowa and the University of Indianapolis.

He has been involved in three previous community college searches.
After the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke, men in Hollywood who had worked with the disgraced producer, including filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, began to come forward to share what they did or didn't know about the mogul's predatory behavior throughout the years. Tarantino told the New York Times that while he didn't know the full extent of the allegations of sexual assault against Weinstein, he "knew enough to do more than [he] did."

Now actress Amber Tamblyn, who has been a vocal advocate against sexism and sexual assault in Hollywood, said that she personally told Tarantino to come forward with what he knew. At a panel for Women in Film at the Women's Convention in Detroit, Tamblyn spoke about the importance of holding men accountable for their actions, and of the power of male allies in any industry. To that end, she said she reached out to men in Hollywood to speak up about Weinstein:

"I know for me, I went out and actively reached out to men in the business that I know could be allies. Quentin Tarantino's a great example. We had a dinner and I said, "You need to go speak to Jodi Kantor from the New York Times and you need to tell her what you told me. And you need to express your complicity. You need to talk about that. And just because you are complicit in something like this does not make you a bad person, and the ownership of it for men is the beginning of all real reception. It's the beginning of healing."

Tamblyn also said that she thinks Donald Trump's election contributed to the wave of allegations against men in every field now being brought to light:

"With everything coming out regarding Harvey Weinstein, which I truly believe never would have happened if Hillary Clinton was president. Meaning it took somebody as vile as Donald Trump to allow these things to start bubbling to the surface. Even though it's been there all along, this has been in our country for a long time, but it took someone like him for us all to be able to point and go, 'That, that is everything that is wrong with masculinity. Everything. It's done.'"

She added that putting the onus on women to be the only ones held accountable for stopping assault is wrong:

"To that end, one of the things that was so difficult for me in processing that was this call for other actresses to immediately come forward, and why wasn't Meryl Streep supporting everybody, and why was it just me and Brie Larson and Rose McGowan, and where was everyone? And it kind of broke my heart, this sense of coming after each other, of holding only women accountable to these perfection standards, to these places in which we're still trying to figure out how we're allowed to exist in a world that only wants everything to be dead for us - for our bodies to be dead to us, for our minds to be dead to us, for our stories to be dead to us, and so to hold us further accountable and to say, 'Why aren't you all jumping into the fire at the same time?' was a pretty gruesome thing to watch."

And finally, she acknowledged the positive examples of men in Hollywood who say they are waking up to the sexism and violence women encounter everyday in the workplace and in the world:

"There are many amazing men in our business, and as soon as all this happened, I received so many emails from first ADs and a sound mixer and Hart Hanson who created Bones, these men wrote to me and said, 'I cannot believe I've been existing this way, and I will never run a set the same way again. I can never un-know what I know now. And that's huge for a business with such a systemic problem."

Image via Getty


This week Canalys published a report titled "India overtakes US to become second largest smartphone market." with shipments growing 23% year on year in Q3 2017 to reach just over 40 million units. India has now overtaken the United States to become the world's second largest smartphone market after China. Samsung and Xiaomi, which shipped 9.4 million and 9.2 million units respectively, accounted for almost half of the total market as the top five vendors continued to post strong growth in Q3 2017.

Once Q4 smartphone sales from Apple, Samsung and others ring in for the holiday season, the U.S. will once again return to being the second largest smartphone market in the world. More importantly, the number one market for premium smartphones.

China and India are still primarily about volume sales with most phones being under US$300 while sales in the U.S. and Canada lean towards premium smartphones over $700.

Patently Apple posted a report in June of this year that Apple took 83.2% of the smartphone industry's profits in Q1 2017 and with the iPhone X this year it's likely to go much higher by June 2018.

Of course in the long run India will no doubt remain the number two market in the world for smartphones, but for now it's a temporary season.

You could read the full Canalys report for details here. The report did mention Apple in one tiny segment by stating that the Indian "premium segment (>30,000, +US$465) grew record 3X YoY during Q3 2017 due to the strong performance of Apple, OnePlus & Samsung which grew the overall size of the premium segment.





The one notable fact that the Canalys chart above shows us is the tremendous leap in business Xiaomi has taken in the last year. The report notes that Xiaomi grew 290% year over year. Xiaomi opened their first retail store in India in 2017 and has plans for 100 more in the coming two years.

It's not understood why Xiaomi was given the green light to build their first retail store with plans for a hundred more while Apple is still waiting for approval on their first store.

In general, we reported in May that Apple held about 3% of the India market. That means that Qualcomm virtually owns that market for now. That alone should be a motivator for Apple to up their game in India in the coming years.

Apple has been steadily building their presence in that market by supporting developers and building a base. In March we reported that Apple opened an App Accelerator in Bengaluru and in May we reported that Apple open their first-of-its-kind iOS App design Center.

In May, Apple's CEO commented on India during their Financial Conference call, saying: "We set a new March quarter record for India where revenue grew by strong double digits. We continue to strengthen our local presence across the entire ecosystem and we're very optimistic about our Future in this remarkable country with its very large young and tech-savvy population, fast growing economy and improving 4G infrastructure."

It's obviously a long term move into India that could only be accelerated by the Indian Government working with Apple on several fronts including manufacturing and retail.

Until there's a meaningful breakthrough in the negotiations with the Indian government, Apple will continue to invest heavily in more retails stores around the globe and especially China.





Patently Apple Xtra News covers interesting news and patents about present or future competitor products, concepts or services that may or may not compete with Apple. Patently Xtra is also used to cover editorial and/or opinion articles. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.

Side Note: Shocker, the Xiaomi Mi 6 marketing team have decided to use light Sex Imagery to appeal to young men or is that just the normal way that females hold their smartphones in China or India? You be the judge.







CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE
(Warning! Spoilers ahead!)

I tried.

My kids, the high-schooler and the incoming high-schooler, brought home a couple of the books from which they could choose for their summer reading list. One of them, All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, historical fiction around World War II, sounded interesting, so I started reading. And it has racked up some major awards, and 26,838 reviews on Amazon, with an average 4.6 out of 5 stars. So its a Good Book, right?

Now, Im going to start by admitting that Im a bit of a dunce when it comes to the lyrical prose that reviewers of such books rave about. I simply dont get enchanted by these sorts of descriptions. And the storytelling device the author chooses, of starting at the Wars end when the characters were in their mid-teens, then backtraking to their early childhood, didnt really do anything for me.

But thats not what bugged me.

The story traces the lives of two main characters, Marie-Laure, a blind French girl, and Werner, a German Ruhrpott orphan.

Marie-Laures father is the locksmith for the Paris natural history museum, and as the occupation begins, he and Marie-Laure flee to his uncles home on the coast, with an enormously large and valuable diamond entrusted to him that carries with it a myth that whoever owns it will never die while those around him suffer untimely deaths. The father begins to map out and measure the city in order to construct a model for Marie-Laure, so that she can learn to navigate it, but just after he finishes, he is imprisoned (suspected of sabotage) and sent to a prison camp. Subsequently, Marie-Laure, the uncle, and the housekeeper begin working with the resistance, broadcasting coded messages from a radio transmitter in the attic of the 6-story house.

Simultaneously, Werner grows up in the orphanage, using his mechanical skills to rebuild a radio found in the trash, and then using the radio to broaden his universe, first by, in the early Nazi period, listening with his sister to broadcasts of all kinds, including the broadcasts of a Frenchman they call The Professor, about science (he knows French because the woman who runs the orphanage is French), and then listening to forbidden reports of the war itself. He is called on to fix the radio of a German military officers family, and, his genius observed, invited to a military academy, saving him from a fate of coal-mining, where he experiences the abuse of those institutions but is also mentored by a teacher in whose lab he works at nights. He subsequently angers that teacher, who takes his revenge by claiming that the boys birth certificate was falsifed, he really is 18, not 16, and sending him to the front, where he works to identify radio transmissions of partisans.

Marie-Laure and Werners paths cross when he ends up in France, assigned to find the source of the radio transmissions which turn out to be those of Marie-Laures uncle; Werner realizes that the sender is the professor from his childhood, decides to claim he cannot find this transmission, and ends up rescuing her instead, at precisely that instant when she is otherwise about to be killed by the German officer who has come to find the diamond, seeking it out because he is dying of cancer and he hopes it would save his life.

So far, so good, right? Well, if you can buy the idea that Werner by sheer coincidence ends up assigned to track down the individual responsible for science broadcasts he listened to as a child, and likewise by coincidence rescues her at exactly that instant when her life is directly in danger. And there was a whole bit that I didnt quite follow in which he and a fellow soldier were trapped in a basement, buried below rubble, for a week or so. Early on, they discuss whether they could use a grenade to dislodge the rubble that keeps them from leaving the basement, but the older soldier says, no, itll kill us. Then  I suppose because he figures that theyll die either way, so the risk is worth it  out of nowhere he tosses the grenade, and, a page later, theyre out.

Honestly, some parts of the book felt a bit hazy to me. Rather than painting a crystal-clear picture of what was going on, it was that sort of I think I can get the gist of it as when I read German (which I ought to resume, as Im not sure if I could manage it as well as I could have a decade ago). The device of switching back and forth in the time periods contributed to this feeling of haziness, and, look, Im not a dumb person.

But heres what left me feeling irritated with the book, in the end: theres enough death and destruction in the world. I dont need to get invested in fictional characters, only to have them die or suffer, not to advance the plot but seemingly, well, just because.

Werner escapes any pitched battles due to his position in the army; he only sees the dead bodies of partisans afterwards, when hes told to gather up the equipment they were using for whatever value it might hold. He only once sees a shooting, when theyre in an apartment where they think there is a hidden transmitter, and a jumpy nervous soldier shoots a child who was hiding in a closet, who he thought was a partisan. But he contracts some unknown illness that means that, at the conclusion of the book, when he is a POW in an infirmary, unable to keep any food down, he delusionally walks into a minefield. Boom! Dead. For no particular reason.

His younger sister, who shared The Professors broadcasts with him and was angry with him when he destroyed the radio, for fear that itd be discovered, who wrote letters to him expressing such fears about the war that the reader is shown only the censored versions, stays at the orphanage, until, in the last pages of the book, we learn that the orphanage has been emptied out of small children, and she and the older girls and the director are moved to Berlin to work in a factory there, and are subsequently raped by Soviet soldiers. There was no reason for this  it didnt further the narrative, and I certainly have never read of, in real life, girls and women being moved into Berlin. My best guess is that the author wanted to work the Soviet rapes into the story in some fashion.

And Werners best friend at the academy, an upper-middle class boy who is there because hes supposed to be, but actually loves birds more than anything else, is weak and slow, and is also severely nearsighted but has to hide the fact, is bullied and beaten to such a degree that he ends up back at home  and severely brain damaged, unable to care for himself in any way. The author makes sure to let us know that, even years later, in an epilogue, he never recovered and only ever endlessly scribbles on paper, day after day.

Maire-Laure, at least, has a happy ending  almost too happy, as if to make up for the fates of the others  as she becomes highly-educated, teaches and works at the museum, and has a child and then a grandchild. And her uncle, too, who had been a recluse after World War I, traveled with her after the war ended.

So in the end, yes, I stayed up late at night to finish it, but in a let me just get to the end so I can know what happens sort of way, not this is so magnificent I never want it to end. And now I think Ive had my dose of fiction for a while, or at least of prize-winning fiction. Maybe Ill see if any of the Star Trek novels my oldest son was reading before leaving on their trip, are still around.

Image: OK, this is Dresden, not the town in which this book takes place. But, eh, World War II.

Dresden, Teilansicht des zerstorten Stadtzentrums uber die Elbe nach der Neustadt. In der Bildmitte der Neumarkt und die Ruine der Frauenkirche. Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1994-041-07 / Unknown / CC-BY-SA 3.0 [CC BY-SA 3.0 de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons
Several killed in Tehran Refinery tower fire

10/28/17

Source: Press TV

At least six people died and several wounded in a fire accident at Tehran Refinery south of the Iranian capital. The incident occurred when a group of engineers and technicians who were providing overhaul operations were caught in a blaze at the top of a distillation tower.



photo by Mehr News Agency

The blaze occurred due to unknown reasons. However, Iran's IRNA news agency quoted Hedayatollah Jamalipour, the governor of Rey, as saying that a leak could have been involved.



Also, Mehr news agency quoted Jamalipour as saying that the victims were trapped at the top of the tower by what he described as a "huge" blaze.



"It was not possible to save the individuals that were doing repair operations at a high altitude from the ground," IRNA quoted the official as saying.



Meanwhile, Fars news agency quoted Hamid-Reza Jafari, the head of Tehran Refinery Public Relation Department, as saying that the victims of the accident were still being identified, suggesting that their bodies had been charred beyond recognition.



At least two were reported to have been wounded with serious injuries.



Mehr news agency quoted an eyewitness as saying that one had jumped down to escape the advancing blaze but had been seriously wounded.



The fire was later brought under control and an investigation was opened to determine its cause.



The Tehran Refinery was built in 1968 and has a processing capacity of above 200,000 barrels per day of crude oil piped from Khouzestan province - the heartland of Iran's oil industry.



It saw a massive blaze in January as a result of what media said was a lighting strike at an oil tank. The incident had no casualties.
The Deputy Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah is optimistic Ghana will benefit immensely from the just ended IMF/World Bank meetings in the US.



He noted the meetings were not only fruitful, but Ghana has a lot of leads to follow up on to boost the financial and energy sectors in particular.



Briefing the media after the meetings, Oppong Nkrumah denied rumours that the Bretton Woods Institutions were against the Energy Bond.



It isnt true that the IMF was against our Energy Bond, he pointed out, adding There is a lot of investor appetite to take up the bond, which when successfully issued, will lead to permanently solving some of the challenges in the energy sector.



He was hopeful the 10 billion Cedi Energy Bond will be listed successfully to offset the energy sector debt, which contributed significantly to the challenges of some banks in the country. The bond which will be auctioned in tranches will start with a first tranche of six billion cedis, Mr. Oppong-Nkrumah stressed.



Ghanas delegation, which was led by Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Marfo, also met potential investors in an attempt to tickle their interest in the Ghanaian economy.



According to Oppong  Nkrumah, a lot of investors have shown immense interest in the governments flagship programme  One District, One Factory, stating the Trade Ministry and the Secretariat in charge of the policy are collaborating to win the hearts of the investors.



We also made some inroads in the financial sector and the Finance Minister will follow up on them. We also met with officials of the IMF about the extended Credit Facility Programme and the next review. They were impressed with us and the progress we have made so far. Officials of the IMF are expected in the country for the fifth review on Wednesday so that we can access the next $90 million left to carry out developments, the Ofoase  Ayirebi legislator added.



He further stated that Ghanas team also used the opportunity to update officials of the Millennium Challenge Account on the progress made with the E.C.G private sector participation program.



He promised that the team will follow up on every issue which came up at the meetings to ensure that President Akufo-Addos vision for the country is achieved.









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Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has debunked claims by Mahama Ayariga suggesting that the Ghana Post GPS application software adopted by government to assist in its Digital Addressing System, is not an original idea.



The Member of Parliament for Bawku Central is reported to have said that the newly launched digital property addressing system is not the first of its kind in Ghana in four decades as has been declared by the Akufo-Addo led government.



According to him, there was an attempt to develop a similar system under former President John Mahamas tenure.



He said, as the Minister for Environment at the time, he contacted Subah Info Solutions, one of the leading IT and Telecommunications solutions providers in the country to create a digital addressing system.



In an interview on Starr FM, the MP disclosed that, Sometimes I wonderdigital addressing, when I was Minister for Environment overseeing Town and Country Planning I had seen Subah Info Solution develop a digital addressing system for Ghana. I had gone to their office to inspect the work. They had taken me through the work. I had seen it. In fact, I took the Town and Country Planning Director [then] to the office of Subah and told them that they should work with Subahone of Zoom Lions subsidiaries. I directed them to work with Subah to develop the digital addressing system.



Mr. Ayariga explained that, Subah already had a system in place to execute the digital addressing system plan and had covered about 50 percent of the country, and so there new Ghana Post GPS initiative is not an original idea.



He said, Subah has the system already and I had instructed the Director Town and Country Planning to go and work with Subah to complete the process. All they needed was the collaboration of the Town and Country Planning offices across the country. They have covered I think by that time about 50 percent of the country. Digital addressing system everything Subah Info Solution has it.



But speaking at a press conference organized by the Ministry of Communications in Accra, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said her outfit was unware of any previous government activity regarding digital addressing that included post codes.



As far as I know the ministry was not aware of any digital address system linked with post codes that was about to be rolled out and we just rushed this through to claim some credit for it. That wasnt what motivated us. I am not aware of any project that was being done by Subah or any other company, she noted.



The MP for Ablekuma West Constituency said Mr. Ayarigas claims were false and that the Ghana Post GPS was a well thought venture instigated by advice from professionals.



This is part of an entire digital eco system that we are building and all the experts have advised that the critical component to having a proper digital economy, is a proper address system. It is not true to say that somebody just tried to either subvert whatever they were doing by rushing things, she reiterated.



The Ghana Post GPS app was developed by a Ghanaian Information Technology firm, Vokacom at the cost of 2.5 million dollars.



Below are steps on how to use the Ghana Post GPS



 You can use AsaaseGPS on your computer, phone, or tablet to search, explore, and find your way around Ghana.



 On your computer, open www.asaasegps.com, on your phone or tablet, use the AsaaseGPS app.



 Visit your App store to download the AsaaseGPS App for free from Google Play Store and Apple store for Android and IOS users respectively.



 Once the app is installed, follow the instructions to register, verify and confirm your login details.



 No payment is required to download or use the AsaaseGPS app.



How to verify your address



 Click on the menu button



 A menu will appear with a Verify Your Address button



 Click on the button to verify your address



 A pop-up message will ask that you close or continue with the request.



How to generate your address



 Ensure your phones location button is turned on.



 Open the AsaaseGPS app and click on the button



 Your unique address will appear next to the Digital address, for example, Digital Address: GA-543-0125



 The first two alphabets represent the region and district. The 3-digit that comes after the first two alphabets is the postcode the last 4 digits represent the unique property address.



How to contact emergency services using the app



 Click on the emergency button



 Select the service you require i.e. Police Service, Fire Fighter Services or Ambulance Service.



 Type in additional information and click on the Send Location button.

<iframe width="470" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D3-HnXze7Vk" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="470" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VaYSBJWaXOM" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Source: ghanaweb.com









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Featured Video
The soon to be launched National Identity Card would become the primary document for the issuance of Ghanaian passports to prospective applicants, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs Regional Integration announced on Thursday.



She explained that a major challenge in the passport application process is the lack of a national identity card, which is versatile with enhanced security features and a secured database, which would facilitate verification of the cards.

Answering questions in Parliament on passport acquisition and some challenges of non Ghanaians acquiring Ghanaian passports, Ms Botchwey stressed that it is a crime against the State for a foreigner to acquire or attempt to acquire a Ghanaian passport.

The Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Ministers caution was in response to a question asked by Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ranking Member on Foreign Affairs and MP for North Tongu on measures the Ministry is putting in place to prevent non-Ghanaian citizens from acquiring Ghanaian passports.

The Minister admitted that a few foreigners had attempted to acquire the Ghanaian passport and quite a few had succeeded through dubious means over the years

However, the Passport Office and in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service actively and frequently effect the arrest and prosecution of suspected foreigners who may attempt to acquire Ghanaian passport.

Currently, there are about four individuals at various stages of prosecution at the Courts, the Minister told the lawmakers.

She did not rule out, as investigations have revealed, that occasionally, an Officer from the various State institutions operating from the various Passport Application Centres (PACs) may connive with foreign applicants in an attempt to acquire a Ghanaian passport.

In such cases, the Ministry in conjunction with the relevant state institutions withdraws the officer from the Passport Office, initiates internal disciplinary measures, and if the offence is found to be criminal in nature, the person is handed over to the police for prosecution at the law courts, Ms Botchwey said.

Ten of such officers have currently been identified.

The Minister assured the House that the Passport Office is continuously embarking on various measures aimed at ensuring that only bona fide citizens of Ghana are issued with Ghanas passports, Ms Botchwey said.

She added: the Ministry has consistently taken a number of measures towards ensuring the security and integrity of the Ghanaian passport, as well as instituting the necessary safeguards to prevent the acquisition of the Ghanaian passport by non-Ghanaians or foreigners.

According to the Minister, there are rigorous physical verification of prospective applicants as well as their citizenship documents by the security agencies at the Passport Office, the Bureau of National Investigation, the Defence Unit of the Ghana Armed Forces, the National Security Secretariat, the Ghana Immigration Service and the Births and Deaths Registry.

These agencies, working in tandem with the Passport Office, have deployed trained officers at all PACs in Ghana, who have been tasked to physically verify every single applicant, interrogate applicants to ascertain nationality and verify all documents presented for the purposes of acquiring a Ghanaians passport before recommending applicants for approval by Director at the PACs.

Where there are doubts in an applicants nationality, further background checks are carried out by the above mentioned security agencies. The BNI and the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service are requested, in instances of doubt, to carry out further background checks of an applicants parents and grandparents to ascertain their citizenship, Ms Botchwey said.

This, she said may involve, but not limited, to inviting applicants to bring one or both parents and in some cases a grandparent for further interrogation, forensic audit of citizenship documents such as birth certificates, old passports, school certificates, Voter ID card and further checks that are undertaken by the Passport Office to ascertain the veracity of claim of Ghanaian citizenship by an applicant.

Source: GNA









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Featured Video
Madam Heather Cameron, the Canadian High Commissioner, has announced that her country is helping Ghana to improve flood risk management in Accra through its International Development Research Centre.



She said the assistance was very critical in helping provide scientific evidence to develop an integrated climate smart flood management framework, to support policy-making and the predictive capacity of city planners to assess the risk of future floods.

Speaking at a Pre-Conference of Parties (COP) climate festival held in Accra to sensitize the public on climate risk, Madam Cameron said the two countries were also working together closely to help modernise agriculture, through the dissemination of best practices and of climate smart agriculture to farmers in Ghana, most of whom were women.

The Pre-COP festival was organised by the Regional Institute for Population Studies, (RIPS) of the University of Ghana, in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the Ministries of Finance and Food and Agriculture, with the support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the International Development Centre of Canada as part of Ghanas preparation towards COP 23 to be hosted in Bonn, Germany.

The Pre-COP climate Festival was one of the flagship projects of the RIPS, intended to bring many diverse groups of people and actors together to raise awareness and deliberate the state of Ghana in respect of climate change.

It was on the theme: The Risks We Do Not Want.

COP 23, scheduled from November 6 to 17, would be chaired by Fiji with support from the German Government, and it would help discuss and strengthen commitments of countries towards climate change mitigation, adaptation and funding activities to relieve the world, especially, developing countries like Ghana, of the impact of climate change.

Madam Cameron said as Ghanas COP23 preparations were being debated and discussed, it was important to give attention to the specific needs of women, to support their leadership and decision making in both climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Ghanas climate-related planning, policy-making and financing should address both the challenges faced by women and girls, and the potential for women to be active participants in building more resilient communities, new clean energy companies, or in undertaking the scientific research that supports sustainable natural resource management, she said.

She noted that as stakeholders work together to implement the 2030 Agenda for the SDGS, there was the need to recognise that achieving the Goals could not be done without tackling the challenges posed by climate change.

Tackling climate change demands innovation, new partnerships and new ways of working together, she noted, adding that Canada on its parts would continue to act internationally, in dealing with climate change.

She announced that Canadas pledge of $2.65 billion that was promised by Prime Minister Trudeau in 2015 as its financial contribution towards helping developing countries respond and adapt to climate change was now active.

We have contributed $50 million to the African Risk Capacity Agency (ARCA), as part of our commitment to the G7 Climate Risk Resilience Initiative. ARCA uses climate risk insurance, early warning tools and natural disaster response plans to support governments to provide immediate assistance to populations affected by extreme weather events and natural resources, Madam Cameron said.

She commended Ghana for currently participating in the ARCs capacity building programme and already using the risk software to develop an early warning bulletin which was now being distributed and used for in-season monitoring of drought.

Source: GNA









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Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister of Communications, Friday said, the Ghana Post Global Positioning System (GPS) application rolled out by Government, forms part of the process of integrating the national digital ecosystem to formalise the economy.



She said the digital addressing system was to ensure effective and smooth delivery of public services to Ghanaians and to help in weeding out criminal elements in the society.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful made these remarks at a media conference in Accra, to respond to some criticisms following the launch of the Ghana Post GPS application on October 18, this year.

The launch of the application has raised criticisms from a section of the public on the security of users bio-data, the procurement process and many other concerns.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful noted that, the new addressing system was part of an entire ecosystem that the country was developing, saying; It is a critical component in a digital economy to identify businesses and properties properly.

She said the government would be harmonising other database of state institutions into the National Identification System, which would serve as the Central Point for both public and private institutions, to facilitate the formalisation of the economy.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful mentioned some public institutions that would benefit from the Central Database as the National Health Insurance Authority, the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority, the Social Security and National Insurance Trust, Births and Deaths Registry, among others.

She said the coming into operation of the digital addressing system would assist the utility service providers to easily locate businesses and properties, which would help in revenue collection processes.

She cited Peru, saying: After the economy was formalised, forty new banks were created, which brought employment to many people and that is why the government is committed to building a formalised economy through proper addressing system.

The Sector Minister reiterated governments commitment to digitally connect the countrys economy, and that, the Ghana Post GPS and the National Identification Project were key elements to help in that process.

She urged the public to help in enhancing the process towards the formalisation of the economy through the digital address system by approaching the Ministry with constructive criticisms for a better system.

Source: GNA









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Ghana's inspector general of police has ordered an investigation into the alleged rape of a four-year-old girl after national outrage over the case.



The parents of the child said a local chief told them nothing could be done because the community gods deemed the suspect innocent.

Many said the case demonstrated a culture that shielded sex attackers.

Local police are also now under investigation following accusations of poor handling of the incident.

Ghana's police chief David Asante-Apeatu has has summoned the commander of Central Region for questioning after a public outcry about the handling of the incident.

The 18-year-old suspect has not been arrested since the attack nearly two weeks ago, the BBC's Thomas Naadi reports from the capital, Accra.

The case has caused concern, dominating radio and social media conversations with the hashtag #JusticeForHer trending on social media.

There is also anger about the traditional leader's alleged attitude to the rape.

Source: BBC









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Kenya's electoral commission says fewer than 34% of registered voters took part in Thursday's re-run of the presidential election.



The figure is sharply down on the initial poll in August, when nearly 80% of the electorate voted.

The main opposition coalition had called for a boycott of the poll.

Voting has had to be suspended indefinitely in four areas where opposition supporters have been clashing with police.

Electoral commission head Wafula Chebukati had wanted voting in these opposition strongholds to go ahead on Saturday, but said he had to postpone it again because persistent insecurity made it too dangerous for his staff.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is seeking a second term. Opposition leader Raila Odinga has pulled out of the contest.

At least two people have been reported killed in the violence, including a teenage boy shot by police during clashes in the opposition stronghold of Kisumu.

Some opposition supporters also prevented people from voting, despite Mr Odinga's calls for them to stay away.

The BBC's Tomi Oladipo in the capital, Nairobi, says that even in some areas where there was calm, voter fatigue and a loss of faith in the electoral process meant turnout was still low.

The electoral commission has seven days to declare the results once all voting is complete.

President Kenyatta was declared the winner in an August vote, which was annulled because of "irregularities".

After casting his vote Mr Kenyatta said the country was "tired of electioneering" and it was "time we moved forward".

Source: BBC









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A Nigerian man based in South Africa says he does not regret buying a luxury Mercedes-Benz G-class to a South African man as a token to apologise for impregnating his wife.



I know what I did is wrong but I feel better he has accepted my gift. He accepted that his wife, my girlfriend, is pregnant and will soon give birth to my son. He was angry at first but when I presented the car to him his anger vanished, said the man who identified herself as John.



One source close to the family of the woman who fell pregnant says she knew about the affair but never thought it would lead to a pregnancy. She says she is disappointed the husband accepted the Mercedes-Benz from the Nigerian national.



Nigerian men will never take our men seriously. What kind of a man accepts a gift from a man who impregnated his wife? He will impregnate her again and buy the stupid husband another car. I am so disappointed, she said.



When approached for a comment the husband said it is wrong to say I am stupid. The point of the matter is we cannot reverse what happened. We sat down as men and sorted the issue.



"The Bible says we must forgive and forget. I have always dreamed of driving a G-wagon. Christmas came early for me and my family, said the husband who didnt want to be named.



The baby will be born and Ill take care of him as my own. If the father wants to take him to Nigeria I wouldnt mind. I will give my wife the support she needs always. That is what marriage is all about. I love my wife and will not leave her because of a mere pregnancy, he added.

Source: dailylive.co.za









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Mr Omar Hamidou Tchiana, Senior Minister and Minister of Transport of Niger, on Thursday said Ghana and Niger are exploring aviation areas for partnership.



Speaking to the GNA in an interview on the second day of the maiden African Air Show 2017, he said Ghana and Niger had a long-standing relationship and partnership, with Nigeriens coming to Ghana over the past 50 years.

He said Niger has an airline; Niger Airways and since Ghana was working on establishing a hone-based carrier, would explore options for partnership with Ghanas new home-based airline when established.

Mr Tchiana, speaking on the state of aviation on the continent, said there was a lot to do in the sector in Africa.

He noted that instead of having a direct flight from Niamey to Accra for the Air Show, which would have taken about two hours, he had to fly about eight hours via several connections to get to Accra.

So we have a lot to do in aviation, and African Ministers are committed to develop aviation in Africa, he said; adding that if aviation was developed, Africa could do business, tourism and other things on the continent.

In order to address the lapses in the sector, he stressed the need for private sector to get interested in aviation, especially since developing aviation was resource-intensive.

He noted that countries in Europe, and the United States had developed their aviation sector through private participation thus the need for African private sector to commit to getting involved in Africa aviation.

Mr Tchiana also lauded the first African Air Show in West Africa, saying actors in the sector in Africa usually attended such shows in Dubai and North Africa.

This is the first one in West Africa and I am very proud that Ghana hosted it, he said.

Ms. Cecilia Abena Dapaah, Minister of Aviation, said Ghana was open to exploring partnerships with Niger in the aviation sector.

She noted that the south-south cooperation and collaboration with sister countries would be good for Ghana.

We support each other in aviation on the West coast because we either sink or float together and I believe that would help us a lot. Whatever expertise we have, we can share with them and whatever expertise they have, they can also share with us, she stated.

She noted further the need to harmonize individual actions in the aviation sector in the sub-region to ensure a strong team.

Collaboration is very importantthe trend is to strengthen your aviation structures, then launch out and leverage your strengths to partner others, she said.

Source: GNA









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Mr Robert P. Jackson, the Ambassador of the United States of America (USA) to Ghana, said he was satisfied with the progress being made so far by the government, to curb the incidence of Child Labour and Human Trafficking.



Mr Jackson stated at a press conference at the conclusion of the First Annual US-Ghana Child Protection Compact (CPC) Partnership High Level Consultation in Accra.

He said although a lot had been achieved in the area of training for the requisite authorities including prosecutors, the police and judiciary, and also in rescuing trafficked persons, as well as enslaved children, much more needed to be done.

He said Ghana had been on the global watch list for the past two years, with 2017 marking its third, because not much was being done to curb the high incidence of Child Labour, especially in the mining and cocoa growing communities, and also human trafficking, which was assuming an alarming proportion.

Mr Jackson said the five-year CPC Partnership was signed by the former US Ambassador to Ghana and the former Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection on June 23, 2015 with participation by the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, and the Attorney General.

The CPC, he said sought to enhance the effectiveness of Ghanas efforts to combat child trafficking by collaboratively building systems of justice and protection that held perpetrators of child sex and labour trafficking accountable under Ghanaian law.

It is also to ensure that child trafficking victims received comprehensive, gender sensitive services that fostered their recovery and community integration.

He said the Compact provided funding of $5 million for the training of the requisite authorities, and also the provision of other critical services such as shelter for rescued victims and their rehabilitation and reintegration into the community.

He therefore commended the various partners and stakeholders including Non-governmental Organizations that were working hard to ensure the elimination of child labour and human trafficking in the country.

Mr Jackson said the current progress in the prosecution of a number of perpetrators of these crimes, with scores of investigations still ongoing, and also the improvement in the services for rescued victims, gives hope that the country was on course.

He said the High Level Consultation provided an opportunity to take stock of progress made during the Partnerships first two years, and to re-affirm the shared commitment of the partners to meeting the goals and objectives outlined in the document.

Madam Otiko Afisah Djaba, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, said a lot was being done in areas including empowering families, especially women, with skills and seed capitals to be able to take care of their dependents.

She cited the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme, the Free Senior High School (Free-SHS) Policy, and the One District One Factory (1D1F), as some of the powerful social protection interventions being pursued by the government to curb extreme poverty among deprived communities and also ensure equity and quality in education.

Madam Otiko said the Ministries of Gender, and the Employment and Labour Relations, had also been at the forefront to rescue children who were engaged in hazardous works, especially in fishing communities in the Volta and Central Regions, and also on cocoa farms and artisanal mining in areas across the country.

She said the Gender Ministry had also provided potable water and other additional services for the Madina Shelter for trafficked victims, and was committed to partner with all stakeholders to ensure the total elimination of child labour and human trafficking in Ghana.

Mr Ignatious Baffour Awuah, the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, admitted that the challenge was huge, but said several structures including tougher and punitive measures, had been put in place to eliminate the menace.

He said the negative impact, not mentioning the socio-economic costs of child labour, called for stronger partnerships from all angles, to win the fight.

Mr Joseph Kpemka, the Deputy Attorney General, said Government has strengthened the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Ghana Police Service for proper prosecution, and the closer collaboration with the judiciary with specialized selection of Attorneys solely for such types of cases at the special courts, adding that the current challenge would soon be over.

He pledged the commitment of the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General to collaborate with all stakeholders to eliminate child labour and trafficking of humans from Ghana.

Source: GNA









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Members of the minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the majority New Patriotic Party (NPP) in parliament fiercely clashed over the establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor when the second reading of the bill setting it up was taken in the house yesterday.



The minority members, led by Haruna Iddrisu, said even though they are not in principle against the Office of the Special Prosecutor Bill, 2017, they are strongly against the usurping of prosecutorial powers conferred on the Attorney-General by Article 88 (3) of the Constitution, by the new office and so they are ready to strongly resist that attempt.



According to the minority leader, if the Attorney-General is going to cede some of his or her prosecutorial powers to the Office of the Special Prosecutor  which will have the powers of an Appeals Court  then Article 88 (3) of the Constitution ought to be amended otherwise it would be unconstitutional to go ahead to pass the bill.



He further argued that it would be wrong for parliament to also pass an Act to amend Article 88 (3) because Article 289 (2) strongly objects to that.



Mr Speaker, Article 289 (2) states that the 1992 Constitution shall not be amended by an Act of Parliament or altered whether directly or indirectly, he said, adding that consideration and passage of the bill are an affront to the constitution.



We are not against this bill because all of us agree that corruption is an enemy to development, but we will resist any amendment of this Constitution in relation to this bill through the backdoor, Mr Haruna Iddrisu averred.



He proposed that bribery must also be made punishable by law, adding that if somebody can go to jail for stealing a goat or mobile phone, then the person who through an act of corruption dissipates the scarce resource of the country should also be prosecuted and jailed.



The ranking member of the Committee on Legal, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs, who is also the NDC MP for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini, expressed great concern over the independence of the Special Prosecutor, stressing that once the president will have a hand in the appointment of the Special Prosecutor, his or her independence could be compromised.



He said that the establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor is a political promise which is captured in the NPPs manifesto and so there could be the propensity to use it to witch hunt political opponents.



The MP for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, said that instead of creating the Office of the Special Prosecutor, it would be better to properly resource the existing anti-corruption agencies like Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), to fight corruption in the country.



Mr Mahama Ayariga said it is also not correct for the bill to take away the right of witnesses to remain silent when they appear before the Special Prosecutor, predicting that all cases that would appear before the Prosecutor might eventually end up at the Supreme Court for their judgement.



The majority NPP, led by its leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said that the minority members are opposed to the bill because they are scared of their past.



He said all Ghanaians, including the minority members, must applaud the Nana Akufo-Addo government for the boldness to introduce such an important bill that will be in existence to fight corruption in the society.



Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said its estimated that corruption alone costs the nation $3 billion a year and that for this government to be audacious to bring this office into being to fight the canker and save money for other development projects, it must be fully supported in that direction.



Mr Speaker, object of the bill is clear and does not conflict with any constitutional requirement, he said, adding that the independence of the Special Prosecutor had been taken care of in Clause 12 of the bill where a board would be constituted to coordinate the work of the Special Prosecutor without any political interference, he said.

Source: Daily Guide









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A former Ambassador to the United States and Mexico under former President Rawlings regime, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah has accused the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) of killing the Ghana Airways.



According to him, the NPP did not only kill the national airlines, but also sold the headquarters, bungalows and lands that belong to the Ghana Airways.



He said the John Kufuor-led NPP government was not satisfied and later sold the landing rights in some other countries.



A country without an airline; not one. NPP killed Ghana airways. They didnt just kill it by making the airline not run, they sold its headquarters which is in Airport residential, they sold all their bungalows and all their lands, they sold the landing rights of a Ghanaian airline landing in Rome, New York, Legos and Johannesburg, he alleged.



The former Trade and Industry Minister who was speaking to Paul Adom Otchere on Good Evening Ghana said, if the country tries to start a new airline today there is no landing rights to schedule a landing or departure in other countries.



He also said since the country lacks a national airline, there was no need for the Aviation Ministry.

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Jon D. Moxness of Scribner and an associate professor of accounting at Midland University in Fremont was the recipient of the 2017 Outstanding Accounting Educator Award.

The mission of the Nebraska Society of Certified Public Accountants is to enhance the professional success of the members; to encourage the maintenance of high professional standards; to facilitate relationships among the members; to further the professional knowledge, competence and performance of the members; to promote a better understanding of services rendered by members; to promote the accounting profession; and to act in a representative capacity for the profession.
Mark Schneck wants area residents to check into their Veterans Administration benefits.

Why?

Because hes seen how veterans and their families can be helped.

Schneck is the veterans service officer for Dodge County. His office is on the second floor of the Dodge County Courthouse in Fremont.

Dodge County has an estimated 5,000 veterans, but only about half that number have come into Schnecks office to ask about benefits.

Reasons vary.

Schneck said some older veterans, like those who served in World War II, may feel like they dont deserve the benefits or are unaware of them.

Some veterans are intimidated by the formidable VA process.

They think they have to go to Omaha or Kansas City and deal with the federal VA employee, but Im a fellow veteran whos able to explain things from a laymans perspective, Schneck said.

Hes also able to help veterans and their families in many ways.

Schneck cites the case of a Vietnam veteran, who recently died of a service-connected illness. Schneck was able to get dependency and indemnity compensation of about $1,300 per month and free health care for the mans widow for the rest of her life. A child still living at home also can receive free health care until graduating from college.

The widow will be able to remarry at a certain point and still retain her benefits.

Veterans and their families can benefit from several programs, including:

Veterans compensation. The most common type is for hearing loss or tinnitus (ringing in the ears).

Many veterans dont realize that the ringing or buzzing they hear in a quiet room is a result of noise trauma that may have occurred while in the military, Schneck said.

The hearing loss or tinnitus can occur not only from gunfire exposure, but from repairing engines, working aboard a ship or on a flight line or while operating heavy equipment.

If the VA agrees your job required working in a loud environment, that veteran may be eligible for a 10 percent disability  thats the minimum threshold, which would allow the vet to collect $133 a month, tax-free, Schneck said.

A 10 percent disability likely would allow the veteran to receive free, state-of-the-art hearing aids and eye glasses.

The wife can be given a microphone to wear on her lapel that allows her to talk to her husband through his hearing aids, Schneck said.

Some also will allow the veteran to hear a Smart TV through his hearing aids.

Schneck added that some veterans could rate at 40, 50 or even 100 percent disability. Veterans need to have a chronic condition initially treated while in the service.

Veterans suffering from hearing loss, however, may still be found disabled even though they probably didnt seek treatment while in service, he said.

If the condition was diagnosed afterward  as is the case with veterans exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam  they may be eligible for compensation if they have conditions such as diabetes, ischemic heart disease, Parkinsons, prostate cancer, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, bone marrow cancer and other ailments.

VA pension. This includes aid and attendance mostly for assisted living, nursing homes and in-home adult care. If the veteran has wartime service, he and his spouse may be eligible for a VA pension if their out-of-pocket medical expenses are high  mostly due to nursing home and assisted living care costs.

Although the VA requires that the household assets are $80,000 or less, I encourage family to begin the paperwork process well in advance, because its possible to gain the veteran a few extra months of pension benefits based on his intention to file, Schneck said.

If the veteran and spouse have $150,000 in the bank and nursing home costs are rapidly depleting this balance, informing the VA that they intend to file can benefit them upon approval.

We have several electric wheelchairs, walkers and canes that are available for loan to Dodge County residents, Schneck added.

Schneck said enrolling in the VA health care system is based on a household income of approximately $40,000 and less, which most retirees meet.

Enrolling with the VA health care system doesnt mean veterans have to give up their Fremont doctors. They just need to have an annual physical with the VA Medical Center in Omaha or Lincoln to maintain enrollment, Schneck said.

Because Fremont is within 40 miles of the closest VA health care facility in Lincoln or Omaha, Fremont veterans need to drive to those cities. However, Dodge County veterans living in Hooper, North Bend, Dodge or Uehling would be eligible for the VA Choice program, because they reside more than 40 miles from those major cities.

The VA Choice allows rural veterans the ability to see a community doctor assuming that doctor will work with the VA system, Schneck said.

Nebraska Veterans Homes. This allows a veteran and sometimes a spouse to be enrolled with one of four VA nursing homes in Bellevue, Norfolk, Grand Island/Kearney and Scottsbluff.

The maximum cost as determined by the Department of Health and Human Services is $3,800 per month depending on the veterans ability to pay.

This could be a substantial savings when considering some nursing home stays can be double that, Schneck said.

Financial aid. Nebraska Veterans Aid offers financially challenged veterans the opportunity for dental care or assistance with utilities and mortgage payments during an interruption of income event such as an unplanned illness or medical expenses or unexpected layoff. It can assist the veterans family with burial if the family is unable to afford a funeral.

Schneck encourages area veterans and their family members to contact his office. The phone number is 402-727-2719.

We have families that when they came in they discovered their parents were eligible for over $1,000 in monthly pension benefits for aid and attendance at a local nursing home due to the veterans service during time of war, he said.

Schneck enjoys his work.

Its a very rewarding job, because you feel like youre handing out benefits to veterans that maybe had no concept that they were eligible, he said. I love the job and plan to continue serving Dodge County veterans for many years.
The sprawling Founding Farmers  with a bake shop, creamery, and service from breakfast to late night  was set to open Wednesday in the King of Prussia Town Center, the latest addition to King of Prussia's expanding restaurant scene.

The restaurant is an alliance between big-city consultants Dan Simons and Michael Vucurevich, and the 42,000 family farmers of the North Dakota Farmers Union. The union's president and point man in its restaurant holdings, Mark Watne, is a fourth-generation wheat, corn, barley, and soybean farmer whose great-grandfather's homestead certificate was stamped by Teddy Roosevelt in 1903.

They've been partners since 2008, when Simons and Vucurevich stepped in to rebrand the NDFU's first restaurant, a fine-dining establishment called Agraria, in Washington. (It is now Farmers Fishers Bakers, a mile from the flagship Founding Farmers.)

I sat with Simons and Watne in King of Prussia's second-floor dining room.

Where and how did Jamestown, N.D., meet Washington, D.C.?

Watne: We're commodity producers, correct? We were taking durum [wheat] into semolina and pasta. We took a commodity. We ended up with a commodity. We did that with some spring-wheat projects. We did it with some oilseeds. And every time, we ended up with a commodity, and we're always just selling at a commodity price level, which didn't leave any margins, or very little margins, for the farmers.

So, there was a theory: Why don't we go closer to the consumer, and then own the whole system? And we studied that for about six months to a year. The reality was, at the end, the quickest and the fastest way to get to the consumer's base was to do a restaurant.

Then we started the process. Where do you locate? We determined that [Washington] was recession-proof because, when you're in a recession, people go to D.C., and they have expense checks, and they buy, and they eat out, and they have meetings. And we decided, 'Let's take the recession potential out of the net and locate there first.' It met all the other criteria: Its acceptance of the family farm and population.

Do you provide all the ingredients for everything here?

Watne: Our goal is 100 percent U.S. family-farm food. We are sensitive to use the local area farmers as much as we can. Right now, from North Dakota, we don't produce fruits and vegetables, so there are certain things that we aren't ever going to provide. But we are very good at pasta flour and hard red spring wheat flour for breads. We produce a lot of sugar. We brought other products out here. We're working on potatoes. We pick up cheese in Wisconsin from our farmers that we know there  and butter out of Minnesota. We've got some cherries, fresh cherries, potentially coming out of Montana in season.

Simons: Can I say the vast majority of what we offer is from family farms? Yes. Can I say every year, we take bigger and bigger steps? Yes. When I say compare us to the [corporate chains], they miss the boat on everything from quality to patriotism to understanding what makes America strong.

Restaurants are high-risk, tight-profit businesses. Why invest in restaurants?

Watne: Farmers are about producing food, and we see this as a long-term venture where we get the consumer in the U.S. to understand that we are really good at what we do. And we have the highest-quality food in the world. And we believe the education and the awareness that we're getting out of these retail fronts to represent family farmers is essential to the consumers in the U.S. buying our products.

We're going into the marketplace to do some labeling of our products. Other countries do it all the time. You could label olive oil from Italy. You can label champagne. We want the consumer, every time they go into a store or a restaurant, to request that they get U.S. family-farm food.  We can connect it at the table, but what really matters is: What do the guests think? Is the food delicious? Do they come back? Do they want to come back? Do they want to tell their friends?

Why choose King of Prussia for your second town?

Simons: We do need a lot of people, so step one is population, because this is big  a 14,000-square-foot operation. We don't squeeze every penny of profit at every moment. We're trying to essentially do the right thing, live the vision. So that means we need high volume, because if I have to worry that I could get something cheaper by 10 cents a pound because my sales are so low, that wouldn't work for our vision.

King of Prussia gave us a lot of potential guests, a lot of potential employees. We do need a sophisticated employee. But more importantly than the demographics, we need the psychographics, meaning that we need what I call the mindful guest. And when I saw the reaction to the population around here to Wegmans, and when I saw the reaction to REI, I realized that there are a lot of mindful guests here. And there's a lot of diversity  religions, socioeconomic levels.

What's the goal for this?

Simons: We want to see these across the country. I think that's not unrealistic. We're shooting for probably a total of 25 restaurants in 10 years. This'll be number six, and number seven is opening in Virginia roughly the first of the year.
Founding Farmers co-founder and co-owner Dan Simons outside his newest restaurant location in the King of Prussia Town Center October 17, 2017. It is the first location outside of Washington D.C. for the restaurant and it chose the lifestyle pop-up mall vs the King of Prussia Mall. CLEM MURRAY / Staff Photographer Read more

The guy seated at the bar in the long-sleeve plaid shirt and jeans, sipping whiskey and dining on grilled fish, isn't a typical customer.

He's Dan Simons, a hospitality consultant and co-owner of Farmers Restaurant Group, which opens its sixth Founding Farmers restaurant, at King of Prussia Town Center, on Nov. 1. It marks the group's first foray outside its home base, the Maryland-D.C. market.

The five existing restaurants  three in D.C. (Farmers & Distillers; Founding Farmers; and Farmers Fishers Bakers); Founding Farmers MoCo in Montgomery County, Md.; and Founding Farmers in Tysons Corner, Va.  each generate $9.5 million to $17 million a year in revenue, Simons said.

But the business model is unusual: Simons and longtime partner Michael Vucurevich answer to the group supplying ingredients to their restaurants. Founding Farmers is backed by farmers and farm groups.

Its investors include the North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota farmers unions, as well as the 200,000-member National Farmers Union.

With more than 30 years of operating and consulting experience, Simons is a seasoned hand. But he's still a ball of nerves about this project, referring to opening day as his Super Bowl. His new employees have been training all month.

"There's a lot on the line for us," said Simons, as workers put finishing touches at his new bi-level baby, which takes up 14,000 square feet, including a sunroom with plants.

The "modern farmhouse" design with large windows is divided between 11,000 square feet for the bar and restaurant on the upper level and 3,000 square feet for the cafe and creamery on the ground floor, where you can enjoy your morning coffee and homemade bagels and doughnuts. That butter for your English muffin will be made from scratch, too, as will the after-dinner ice cream.

"This isn't just about money," said Simons, 47. "The mission is trying to spread the message of American family farmers and increase the demand for family farm products, while employing a lot of people [1,000 in the five restaurants, 200 more in King of Prussia], paying well above average, and being an awesome employer."

Generating a healthy return for the farmer-investors is critical, too. The number of American family farms has decreased from six million in 1945 to just over two million in 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Total acres farmed in the U.S. have dropped 24 percent to 912 million acres.

Simons takes a trip each year to North Dakota and its biggest investor group to present the chain's results. He gives a quarterly report to a 13-member board of directors that consists of Simons, Vucuverich, and 11 farmers.

"If you read the trade magazines, most restaurants are trying to save on costs, like how to buy frozen food, hire co-packers and outsourcing, and shrink the kitchen and use kiosks instead of human beings," Simons said. "But to do really awesome food that you are proud of, you have to be willing to grow and train people."

His employees follow a nine-page document, called the Constitution, that spells out the owners' passions and goals.

"I want this to be like the new puppy that you come home to after a bad day of work," Simons said.

The idea came together in 2005 after Simons and Vucurevich' formed VSAG, which stands for Vucurevich Simons Advisory Group. A new client, the North Dakota Farmers Union, requested support with their first farmer-owned restaurant, called Agraria. That restaurant struggled, so they refined the concept and renamed it Founding Farmers in 2008. The NDFU and Simons' firm formed a partnership to grow the concept.

"We are really trying to figure out a way for farmers to make a little more money because they typically sell into a commodity market and sell cheaply," said Mark Watne, president of the North Dakota Farmers Union, who plants wheat, soybeans, canola, and barley. "We call this value-added agriculture, where we go right to the consumer."

Farmer investors supply flour for pizza dough, bread, and baking, and sugar for baking and desserts. Maple syrup for the $9 pancakes comes from an Upstate New York forest; all pork, chicken, and eggs originate at Pennsylvania farms, while dairy products come from Wisconsin farmers and Trickling Springs in Pennsylvania. This month, the North Dakota Farmers Union bought a truck and began delivering wheat to make vodka in the Founding Farmers-owned distillery, called Founding Spirits, that's inside the Farmers & Distillers restaurant.

Simons held a preview last week for media, at which he served plates with large portions of comfort food: fried chicken, pork loin, ravioli, baked trout, and handmade doughnuts. After each plate, he asked how the food was. Simons also met with potential local investors and gave them a tour.

"We have to make a lot of new friends here," he said.

He was courted by King of Prussia Mall to locate there, less than half a mile away, but chose King of Prussia Town Center, partly, he said, because Founding Farmers serves breakfast, and malls tend to open later.

As a lifestyle center, King of Prussia Town Center opened in mid-2016 under owner JBG Cos. out of Chevy Chase, Md. It is anchored by Wegmans, Nordstrom Rack, Ulta Beauty, REI, and LA Fitness. The center also has a "downtown"  or Main Street  consisting of dining, retail, and service establishments and a Town Square. JBG sold the shopping center for $183 million earlier this year to an equity fund backed by CBRE Global Investments, but continues to manage the property.

Restaurants account for 18 percent of the total leased space, including Wegmans, according to CBRE Inc., the center's exclusive leasing agent. "He was definitely passionate about the look and feel he wanted to create," said CBRE's Mallory Scaccetti, who brokered the Founding Farmers deal with colleague Adam Kohler.

Simons said that to generate a return on the $8.5 million investment at King of Prussia, the goal is to feed 7,000 to 8,000 guests a week. His D.C. restaurant five blocks from the White House attracts about 10,000 guests a week with 265 seats and has been ranked the top requested restaurant in the United States on Open Table reservations for the last five years.

The group's seventh restaurant, Founding Farmers Reston, will open in January in Virginia.

All the restaurants are LEED-certified and as little as possible goes to landfills; food waste is recycled and composted. Simons recently installed a biodigester at the KOP restaurant which he says will minimize even more the amount of waste produced.

"The American family farmer is under assault," Simons said. "They have a shrinking share of the food dollar."

But "one of the things that made America was that our founding fathers and mothers were farmers; Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington brought seeds from all over the world and pioneered 'ag' techniques, and made us the largest producers of high-quality food.

"I feel my role as a restaurateur is to connect that story right here  back for the diner around the plate."
A controversial costume at a Halloween party Wednesday night at a popular South Jersey restaurant  an outfit that included a noose that wound up in a photograph that went viral on social media  led to a meeting and resolution Saturday between officials of the Gloucester County NAACP and Adelphia Restaurant & Nightclub in Deptford.

"After a full and fair exchange of positions and concerns, Adelphia has agreed to maintain strict vigilance of its online postings to avoid such issues in the future," said the statement, signed by Loretta Winters, president of the local NAACP chapter and Bill Balis, president of Adelphia. "The NAACP is satisfied that Adelphia genuinely recognizes the stated concerns on behalf of its constituents and both parties agree that no further corrective action is needed."

Balis had posed for a photograph with the noose around his neck. That picture wound up on the restaurant's Facebook page and quickly went viral, sparking outrage before it was removed. Civil rights groups condemned the act as racially insensitive, noting that the noose is a symbol of intimidation to black Americans.

Winters had asked for a meeting with Adelphia owners after receiving numerous complaints.

"Adelphia endorses all organizations which seek to educate the public on sensitive issues which may offend members of the community including specific issues as they impact the African American community," said the joint statement, issued Saturday afternoon.

The NAACP and Adelphia "pledge to maintain open lines of communication going forward," the one-paragraph statement concluded.

It was a swift resolution to an incident that brought unflattering publicity to a popular South Jersey landmark.

A scarecrow costume, worn by a man who walked on stilts and posed for pictures, won first place at the well-attended party. It was one of three Halloween parties Adelphia sponsored Wednesday night. A flier advertised a $1,500 prize for the best costume.
Jewell L. Osterholm, as seen in his official portrait at Jefferson Medical College. Read more

Dr. Jewell L. Osterholm, 88, of West Brandywine Township, a surgeon, research scientist, and respected mentor whose influence helped catapult Thomas Jefferson University's department of neurological surgery into national prominence, died Friday, Oct. 20, of liver disease at Paoli Hospital.

Dr. Osterholm came to Philadelphia in 1963, fresh from postgraduate neurology training at McGill University in Montreal. He joined the neurology division at Hahnemann Medical College, where, in 1967, he was named surgical director.

In 1974, Dr. Osterholm moved to Jefferson as chair of the neurosurgery department. He took with him deep skills as an administrator, plus a burgeoning research program and large surgical practice, according to a 50-year remembrance on the Jefferson Medical College's website.

By 1980, the department was performing 1,300 operations a year. Two years later, Dr. Osterholm enhanced the training of young doctors by creating a process whereby patients were admitted under the supervision of both the neurosurgery and neurology departments.

The net effect was "wider sharing of neurology patients and a broader diagnostic workup," Jefferson College said in its half-century retrospective.

One of Dr. Osterholm's major achievements was creation of the Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center of Delaware Valley, a collaboration among the college's departments of rehabilitation medicine, neurosurgery, and orthopedic surgery. In this context, he stood out as an expert on spinal cord injury.

"Today, the center, now affiliated with Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, is one of only 14 in the country to hold the federal government's highest designation," in ranking clinical outcomes, Jefferson said in its online tribute.

But by the late 1970s, his research emphasis shifted to the study of stroke and measures physicians could take to relieve the effects of insufficient blood flow to the brain and the reduced ability of brain tissue to use oxygen. Both may be present in a stroke patient.

In June 1983, Dr. Osterholm announced that he had developed a way to reverse stroke damage in mammals, under laboratory conditions, through a spinal perfusion of an oxygen-rich mixture, if done within three hours of the stroke. The methodology progressed through early-phase clinical trials in humans, but foundered before the FDA.

Over the course of his long career, Dr. Osterholm was granted 75 patents. In 1984, he was honored as "Inventor of the Year" by the Intellectual Property Owners Association, a trade group for patent holders.

In 2010, Dr. Osterholm's colleagues at Jefferson established the neurosurgery department's first endowed chair in his name.

In making the announcement, Dr. Robert H. Rosenwasser, its first occupant, said: "It is my honor to be the recipient of this professorship named after such a high-caliber physician, who established the excellent clinical and research reputation that Jefferson's Department of Neurological Surgery is known for.

"Dr. Osterholm created a distinguished legacy during his career here, as not only an outstanding physician dedicated to his patients, but also as a world-renowned researcher, inventor and educator. He is a friend and mentor to me, and I am delighted to be able to follow in his footsteps."

Born in White Sulphur Springs, Mont., Dr. Osterholm was the son of the John W. and Lauretta G. Osterholm. A child of the Great Depression, he grew up poor and never graduated from high school. As a young man in the Army, though, he was found to be bright, and he set his sights on a medical career.

He earned a medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine in 1957, fully intending to become a cardiothoracic surgeon. But during the last rotation of his final year in medical school, he rotated through the neurosurgery department.

He instantly saw the appeal of neurosurgery and went on to the Montreal Neurologic Institute at McGill, where he did graduate training in neuropathology, neurology, and neurosurgery.

Throughout his 20-year tenure at Jefferson, he was known to patients as an empathetic physician and master diagnostician. Medical residents knew him as a gifted and caring mentor who liked to perform a neurological examination on a resident himself to demonstrate how it should be done.

"Training residents is a full-time effort," he told family. "But it is more than rewarded by their enthusiasm and dedication." Training young neurosurgeons, he said, was the "highest intellectual and moral challenge and the best work I could do."

When not engaged in medicine, Dr. Osterholm loved sailing the Atlantic Ocean or on the Chesapeake Bay. He did many things well, said his son, Jay, and "always liked to debate."

"He made friends with everybody," his son said. "He was just a kind man."

Dr. Osterholm was married to Anne Howard Osterholm, whom he met while studying in Montreal. The couple lived in Radnor before moving to West Brandywine Township.

Besides his wife and son, Dr. Osterholm is survived by a daughter, Kristine H. Vaccarella, and a granddaughter.

A funeral will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, at St. David's Episcopal Church, 763 S. Valley Forge, Wayne, followed by interment in the churchyard.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Paralyzed Veterans of America, 5000 Wissahickon Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19144 or via www.pva.org.
President Trump ordered the release of more than 2,800 records related to the John F. Kennedy assassination on Thursday, but bowed to pressure from the CIA, FBI and other agencies to delay disclosing some of the most sensitive documents for another six months. Even so, the thousands of pages that were published online by the National Archives Thursday evening describe decades of spies and surveillance, informants and assassination plots.

More than a dozen reporters and editors for the Washington Post combed through the documents on Thursday and Friday. Here are some of the wildest things they found, some of which have been reported before and some of which are new.

$100,000 to kill Fidel Castro

A 1964 FBI memo describes a meeting in which Cuban exiles tried to set a price on the heads of Fidel Castro, Raul Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara. "It was felt that the $150,000.00 to assassinate FIDEL CASTRO plus $5,000 expense money was too high," the memo noted. At a subsequent meeting, they settled on more modest sums: $100,000 for Fidel, $20,000 for Raul and $20,000 for Che.

 Michael E. Miller

Another document describes a Pentagon-proposed scheme called Operation BOUNTY that sought to overthrow Cuba's government, and established a system of financial rewards for Cubans for "killing or delivering alive known Communists." The CIA would let Cubans know of the plan by dropping leaflets in the air, but there were rules: A reward would be paid to an individual upon presentation of a leaflet, with "conclusive" proof of death and dead person's party/revolutionary membership card. Cubans who played along would get a certain dollar amount based on the title of the Communist they had killed. They would get up to $100,000 for government officials and $57,500 for "department heads." Castro, perhaps for symbolic reasons, would earn a Cuban only two cents.

 Ian Shapira

A 1960 FBI memo described a "high-priced Hollywood call girl" who was approached by Fred Otash, a well known Los Angeles private investigator, seeking information about sex parties involving then-Sen. John F. Kennedy; his brother-in-law, actor Peter Lawford; Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. "She told the agents that she was unaware of any indiscretions," the memo said.

 Michael S. Rosenwald

An FBI file contains information on the bureau's attempt to locate a stripper named "Kitty," last name unknown. According to the file, another stripper named Candy Cane said Kitty had been an associate of Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who killed Lee Harvey Oswald on Nov. 24, 1963. Leon Cornman, a business agent with the American Guild of Variety Artists in New Orleans, told the FBI that "the only stripper he knew by the name of Kitty who worked in New Orleans was Kitty Raville."

"He advised [that] Raville committed suicide in New Orleans in August or September 1963," the report states.

 Michael E. Ruane

Assassinating JFK 'not worth it' for Cuba

A draft report by the House Select Committee on Assassinations found it unlikely that Cuba would kill Kennedy as retaliation for the CIA's attempts on Fidel Castro's life. "The Committee does not believe Castro would have assassinated President Kennedy, because such an act, if discovered, would have afforded the United States the excuse to destroy Cuba," the draft states. "The risk would not have been worth it."

 Michael E. Ruane

A cable sent the day after the assassination revealed that the CIA had been monitoring Oswald almost two months earlier when he was in Mexico. On Sept. 28, 1963, a phone tap captured Oswald  a former Marine who'd defected to the Soviet Union at one point and married a Russian woman  dialing the Soviet embassy from the Cuban consulate in Mexico City. Despite his broken Russian, he refused to speak English.

"Please speak Russian," Oswald pleaded when the Soviet officials answered him in his own language.

The CIA's Mexico City translator "noted [the] North American spoke terrible, hardly recognizable Russian."

 Rachel Siegel

In a remarkable memo written just two days after the assassination, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover wrote that his bureau had warned Dallas police at least twice since Kennedy's killing of threats against Oswald.

"Last night we received a call in our Dallas office from a man talking in a calm voice and saying he was a member of a committee organized to kill Oswald," Hoover wrote. "We at once notified the chief of police and he assured us Oswald would be given sufficient protection. This morning we called the chief of police again warning of the possibility of some effort against Oswald and again he assured us adequate protection would be given. However, this was not done."

Oswald was fatally shot by Ruby in police headquarters on live television  fueling decades of conspiracy theories.

In an internal FBI report from May 1964, an informant told the FBI that the Ku Klux Klan said it "had documented proof that President Johnson was formerly a member of the Klan in Texas during the early days of his political career." The "documented proof" was not provided.

 Tom Jackman

An internal FBI memo dated Jan. 22, 1960, discusses an alleged plot to bribe a U.S. congressman and bring deposed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista to the United States. The memo, citing information provided by a Miami arms dealer, says that in exchange for securing entry into the United States for Batista, $150,000 would be split among U.S. Rep. Abraham Multer, D-N.Y., a Miami Beach attorney and two Batista "adherents" in Miami. According to the memo, the FBI took the alleged plot seriously enough to investigate, but Batista himself "turned down the proposition."

 Michael E. Miller

Several documents summarize internal discussions within Communist Party meetings after the assassination, discussing whether Oswald was innocent and whether communists would be blamed for Kennedy's death. Agents ran down rumors from prisoners and poets.

 Rachel Weiner

Some of the papers recounted the agency's well-chronicled schemes to kill Fidel Castro. One document, a summary of the CIA's plans to assassinate foreign leaders, recounted how the CIA tried to use James B. Donovan, the American lawyer and negotiator made famous by the movie "Bridge of Spies," for one plot. He would give Castro a contaminated skin-diving suit while the two negotiated for the release of the Bay of Pigs prisoners.

"It was known that Fidel Castro liked to skindive. The CIA plan was to dust the inside of the suit with a fungus producing madera foot, a disabling and chronic skin disease, and also contaminating the suit with tuberculosis bacilli in the breathing apparatus," the paper said. Donovan didn't go through it, instead presenting the Cuban leader with "an uncontaminated skindiving suit as a gesture of friendship."

Another outlandish plot described talks of prepping a "booby-trap spectacular seashell" that would be submerged in an area Castro enjoyed diving. The seashell would be loaded with explosives that would go off once lifted. "After investigation, it was determined that there was no shell in the Caribbean area large enough to hold a sufficient amount of explosive which was spectacular enough to attract the attention of Castro."

Another scheme to kill Castro involved a CIA employee fluent in Spanish based in Cuba who was recruiting a high-ranking Cuban government official in 1963. The CIA officer and the Cuban actually met in Europe on the day of Kennedy's assassination. The Cuban wanted the CIA to supply him with "some type of esoteric gadget with which he would be able to defend himself" if he got into a fight with Castro. "He had in mind some sort of pellet pen," the document read. The agency officer didn't have a pellet pen, but he did show his asset a ballpoint pen with a hypodermic needle "inside that when you pushed the lever, the needle came out and poison could be injected into someone."

But the Cuban declined the gadget because it would have required him to get too close to Castro. Instead, the agent asked the CIA operative for weapons. The agency complied, sending down high-powered rifles with scopes to Cuba. The asset was never used. The case officer broke off contact in 1964.

 Ian Shapira

An April 1964 memo from J. Edgar Hoover ordered the FBI to check out a report that Jack Ruby and Dallas Police officer J.D. Tippitt  fatally shot by Oswald shortly after Oswald killed Kennedy  had met at Ruby's strip club, the Carousel Club, sometime prior to the assassination. Hoover seemed skeptical.

 Tom Jackman

Many of the files reveal the FBI's often extraordinary efforts to identify suspected communists in the United States. Dozens of documents amount to brief records on individuals whose names were drawn from the mailing list for a publication called "The Worker." Other files include reports from associates of Hollywood figures, including screenwriter John Howard Lawson, suspected of being members of the Communist Party in California.

Some of the files predate the Kennedy assassination by nearly two decades. A collection of FBI records from 1945 record the bureau's struggles to install and maintain a wiretap on Lawson's Coldwater Canyon home. One file describes the bureau's plan to install a microphone at the house while Lawson was expected to be in San Francisco for a United Nations conference. But the bureau's plans were thwarted when agents discovered "a person residing at the Lawson home" in his absence.

Lawson was one of the "Hollywood Ten": the first group of U.S. film professionals to be blacklisted.

 Greg Miller

The documents show that for years, the FBI used informants to monitor the Communist Party in Dallas  a group that consisted of five or six people  so small they could sometimes hold a meeting inside a car.

 Devlin Barrett

One memo described tensions between CIA and FBI officials that still exist today. It quotes FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover as saying: "More and more we are telling CIA about our domestic operations and always to our detriment. I want this stopped."

 Michael S. Rosenwald

Many of the documents center on the activities of Cuban anti-Castro groups  including Orlando Bosch's Insurrectional Movement of Revolutionary Recovery (MIRR)  as the FBI tried to dissuade or scuttle their plans for armed invasions of the island. One FBI document from June 1959 predicts an uprising against Castro that never came: "Conditions are getting so bad in Cuba that it can well be that a counterrevolution will occur from within Cuba, rather than waiting for any invasion force from outside. . .. Powerful interests, such as bankers, sugar institute, et cetera, are extremely dissatisfied."

Similarly, another 1959 FBI report relays intelligence on a Cuban exiles jockeying to replace Castro if he were to be overthrown, an outcome seen as all but assured. The same document cites the prediction by an informant that Castro "cannot last more than two months."

 Michael E. Miller and Greg Miller

The records also reveal a deposition given before the presidential Commission on CIA Activities in 1975 by Richard Helms, who had served as the agency's director. After a discussion of Vietnam, David Belin, an attorney for the commission, turned to whether the CIA was involved in Kennedy's killing.

"Well, now, the final area of my investigation relates to charges that the CIA was in some way conspiratorially involved with the assassination of President Kennedy. During the time of the Warren Commission, you were Deputy Director of Plans, is that correct?" Belin asked.

After Helms replied that he was, Belin then asked: "Is there any information involved with the assassination of President Kennedy which in any way shows that Lee Harvey Oswald was in some way a CIA agent or agent. . ."

Then, suddenly, the document cuts off.

 Ian Shapira
When I stopped in on Bob Meduna in the fields just west of Wahoo, I asked, How does the harvest look? Looks pretty good, Bob said. Whats everyone else saying? It was one of those perfect fall mornings in Nebraska. On the horizon, the rich blue sky seemed to stretch down and touch the amber rolling hillswith two differently colored combines adding depth to the scene.

Nebraskas strength, her character, and her tradition is found in the land. It is clearly the most defining element of who we are and what we make. Agriculture creates our habits of being, our culture, our economic largesse. One quarter of our jobs are tied to it. Out of the states total land mass, over 90 percent is farms and ranches. The Cornhusker State is the third-largest corn-producing state and the top popcorn-producing state in America. Our ag sector is a major exporter. One out of every four rows of Nebraska soybeans go to China. We are the number one state for beef exports.

But the little-told story is that agriculture is also Americas strength. It is foundational to Americas economy and our relationships abroad. Feeding the world is something we take for granted because we do it so effectively. Twelve years ago, we averaged 154 bushels of corn per acre; today that number is 178 bushels.

With a new Farm Bill coming up, a lot of the discussion will be on the necessary stabilization policies for agriculture for the benefit of Nebraska and America. At the State Fair in Grand Island this summer, the federal delegation held an important panel discussion with farmers from our diverse agricultural sectors. The challenge moving forward is to broaden our thinking from just expanding markets to creating healthy farm income. Low corn and soybean prices and higher input costs are parts of the challenge. But there are other drags on the equation, such as health insurance costs. You can buy fertilizer through your co-op, but you cant buy health insurance. This is an unfair choke point inhibiting more solutions for farmers and small businesses who do not benefit from the risk-pool diversity of larger corporations. Washington seems to be waking up to this realityadmittedly, a bit latebut I am hopeful for a sensible bi-partisan solution.

Moving up the value chain from raw commodities, some of the most forward-thinking ag work in the world is being done right here in Blair, Nebraska. Novel business in the production of bio-fuels, amino acids, lactic acid, glycine, and enzymes from local grain production provide value-added products for human and animal nutrition and even new source material for bio-plastics.

A glance across the pond shows the potential of small-scale production agriculture. Under the mantra of twice as much food using half as many resources, Dutch farmers are reducing water use for key crops by up to 90% with a staggering increase in output. The Netherlands is the number two exporter of food as measured by value, close on the heels of the United States, which has 270 times more landmass.

It may surprise you that, after a long period of decline, the number of people engaged in agriculture is growing. Expanding our ag family with innovative opportunities that add value to our commodity groups, augment specialty crops, and reconnect the farmer to the family, the urban to the rural, will expand local economies and tap into the important growing trends of knowing your food and artisanal agriculture.

Someone told me this week to Keep Nebraska a secret. Tempting. I knew what he meant in a deeper sense. Our current economic construct, however, was at one point somebodys innovation. Our best protection is to keep moving forward preserving, enhancing, and creating new possibilities under that rich blue Nebraska sky.
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This is a moment where Republican Senator Jeff Flake spoke for the nation and was truly the conscience of a conservative (as his book is titled).

Flake said in an interview reported by the Washington Post, I couldnt sleep at night having to embrace the president or condoning his behavior or being okay with some of his positions, he said. I just couldnt do it  it was never in the cards.

The Arizona Senator continued to say that any Republican who simply aligns themselves for the purpose of the primary with the president on every issue and basically contracts out any thinking on policy issues, and is willing to condone any behavior that the president exhibits  I think they put themselves at great risk in a general election,

I knew that when I spoke out at that time that I was out of step with a lot of the Republican primary voters, but I felt that I had to do it, he said in an interview. I had hoped  and I still hope and Im confident at some point  that the fever will break. But it just became more and more apparent that it certainly wasnt going to break by next year.

While Flake faced a primary from the right from Republican Kelli Ward and polling showed he might lose the November 2018 election to moderate Democrat U.S. Representative Kyrsten Sinema, he said it was disgust with Trump that caused him to speak out.

It was a bad day for Kelli Ward and a bad day for Kyrsten Sinema, Stan Barnes, a veteran Republican political consultant in Arizona, told Reuters of Flakes decision to not run again.

Flakes departure is good for the nation in terms of his speaking out freely against this President and his assault on decency and democracy, but it is not so good for the nation in terms of making it harder for a Democrat to flip the seat in 2018 and leaving the seat vulnerable to the Bannon wing of the Republican Party. The country can ill afford the Senate becoming as dysfunctional as the House, courtesy of the takeover by the extremist wing of the Republican Party.

Most politicians dont want to throw their careers away over a show of patriotism as Jeff Flake is doing, but its deeply disturbing that so many know they are putting their own career ahead of their country and dont have enough of a conscience to care.

Jeff Flake is able to speak freely, and he is no liberal. His condemnation of this President speaks volumes about what Republicans know but arent saying.
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While political world was rocked on Friday by the news that Robert Muellers Russia investigation netted its first charges, that didnt seem to be the case on Fox News.

Instead, the Donald Trump propaganda network held off on reporting the biggest development in the investigation for at least six hours from Friday night into early Saturday morning,

As Former Guantanamo Chief Prosecutor Col. Morris Davis pointed out on Twitter Saturday morning, Fox News didnt chime in with a report on the development until 3:00 a.m., more than six hours after the news first broke on CNN.

.@CNN breaks news of 1st @realDonaldTrump-Russia indictment at 8:43 p.m., @FoxNews waits 6+ hrs until 3:00 a.m., pounds Hillary in interim. pic.twitter.com/SOoMG1G7xC  Col. Morris Davis (@ColMorrisDavis) October 28, 2017

Not only did Fox News seemingly brush off the story until the world was sound asleep, but as Morris also pointed out, they spent the time in between perpetuating more lies about Hillary Clinton.

Trump, his Republican allies in Congress and Fox News know their increasingly desperate, years-old accusations against Clinton  whether its her campaign helping fund the Russia dossier or the debunked myth that she approved the so-called Uranian One deal with Russia in exchange for Clinton Foundation contributions  are all nonsense.

But the explosive news late Friday that the first charges have been filed in Robert Muellers Russia investigation is putting the Trump-Fox propaganda blitz in a new perspective.

Its now clear that none of the behavior on the part of the White House, the Republican Congress and Fox News came out of thin air. Sensing a major development in the Mueller investigation, theyve spent the past week going on a coordinated propaganda blitz.

But with the first arrest in the Russia scandal coming as early as Monday, itll be hard for the White House and their friends at Fox News to convince the American people that this is fake news.
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As Donald Trumps White House remains in crisis mode following Fridays news that the first charges have been approved in the Russia investigation, a large majority of the country feel this administration marks a sad point for American politics.

In a new Washington Post-University of Maryland poll released Saturday, a stunning 71 percent of the country thinks politics in the Trump era has fallen to a dangerous new low.

More from the Washington Post:

Seven in 10 Americans say the nations political divisions are at least as big as during the Vietnam War, according to a new poll, which also finds nearly 6 in 10 saying Donald Trumps presidency is making the U.S. political system more dysfunctional. The Washington Post-University of Maryland poll  conducted nine months into Trumps tumultuous presidency  reveals a starkly pessimistic view of U.S. politics, widespread distrust of the nations political leaders and their ability to compromise, and an erosion of pride in the way democracy works in America.

Not only do 71 percent of Americans believe politics has reached a new low under Trump, but 70 percent say the administration itself is dysfunctional.

The poll also found that a majority of the country  51 percent  say Trump alone, not either major political party, is to blame for the dysfunction. Only 25 percent of respondents blame former President Barack Obama for the escalating political divisions, despite the presidents repeated efforts to attack his predecessor.

Overall, 68 percent of voters believe the 45th president is doing a bad job representing the concerns of ordinary citizens, and his approval rating stands at a dismal 38 percent.

Ultimately, Trump will continue to have a small base of supporters who keep themselves insulated from the fact-based world, but its becoming abundantly clear to the rest of the country  a strong majority  that this president is nothing but a stain on the country that has pulled American politics to a dangerous low.

Trumps campaign of fear and minority resentment may have convinced enough people in a handful of Rust Belt states to give him a chance in 2016, but poll after poll shows many of these same voters are disgusted with his job performance and look forward to righting their wrong in 2020.
Assistant Columbia bureau chief

Adcox returned to The Post and Courier in October 2017 after 12 years covering the Statehouse for The Associated Press. She previously covered education for The P&C. She has also worked for The AP in Albany, N.Y., and for The Herald in Rock Hill.
Straight No Chaser is celebrating its silver anniversary with a three-month tour that would exact a physical toll on any performer  vocalists especially. Yet despite the grueling schedule (they are almost exactly in the middle of more than 60 performances), SNC performed an outstanding show Nov. 13 at the Charleston Gaillard Center. Read moreReview: Straight No Chaser delights young and old on a cappella tour
For some time, I wanted a family trip to Ireland, and last June, that dream was fulfilled.

Coordinating a trip around the busy schedules of five adults wasn't easy, but somehow we assembled our baby boomer and millennial "dream team." Parents came equipped with wristwatches, a hard copy of Rick Steves Ireland and the Collins Ireland Comprehensive Road Atlas. The millennials were armed with tech know-how, including Ireland-compatible phone cards, adapters, and Google Maps navigation.

On this trip, we not only experienced this country's spirit and beauty, but also connected to our Irish ancestry. My Moran great-grandparents emigrated from County Mayo during the Great Famine, and there had been no communication with any Irish relatives since that time. As part of my ancestry research, I became a member of the Mayo Genealogy Group Facebook page. Could my Irish FB friends help me find the home of my Irish ancestors?

In January, we began making online reservations including flights, car rentals, and accommodations. Summer is the high tourist season so we booked well in advance. Our itinerary started in Dublin, looped south to Kinsale, and followed the Wild Atlantic Way west to the Dingle Peninsula and County Mayo.

On our tour south, we were fascinated by the ancient structures in Glendalough and the Drombeg Circle. By starting our day early, we were able to beat the tourist bus crowds. The Rock of Cashel and Kilkenny Castle were also very impressive. A highlight was staying at the Kilcolgan Castle airbnb. Every night, our host would set a peat fire for us in a cozy parlor.

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Although sitting by a fireplace in June might seem a bit strange, the weather was mostly in the 60s with partial sun and light rain. From region to region, the weather could be variable. During our two-week stay, we experienced only two days of constant rain. On the Dingle Peninsula, it was so warm and sunny that we got sunburned!

If you're a fan of traditional Irish music, the Dingle Peninsula is a must visit. Almost every pub offered live music, and there were smaller venues for intimate concerts at the St. James Church and the Dingle Music Shop. Musicians at one concert encouraged audience members to dance, and I even won a CD for dancing an Irish jig!

When we arrived in County Mayo, I was overwhelmed by the majestic views. Who knew there were fjords in Ireland? We loved the rambling black-faced sheep on the hillsides and along the roads.

The history of that area was also very moving. Doolough Valley had a memorial to a tragic event from the Great Famine. In 1849, six hundred starving people walked 12 miles to ask their landlord for food. They were turned away, and an estimated 200 died along this road on the way back. According to family history, my great-grandfather went out in search of food and was found lying dead in the lane. My great-grandmother walked from the west to the east coast of Ireland to take passage to England.

During our County Mayo visit, my FB friend Phil contacted me. Through property record research, she had located the land of my great-great grandfather and sent us directions to meet her north of Ballycroy National Park. This is where we ran (drove) into some confusion. In that Gaeltacht area of County Mayo, all of the signs were in Irish with no English translation, and we got lost!

Fortunately, we were able to phone Phil for some assistance, and we followed her to the Moran property in the small town of Muingnabo. While taking pictures of a house, I noticed an elderly man speaking to our sons. Our older son shouted, "This is Jimmy Moran and he wants to take us out for a pint!" Our caravan of rental cars followed Jimmy to the Broadhaven Bay Hotel in Belmullet for a Guinness. I hadn't just found the Moran homestead, but met a likely relative as well! It was a grand way to end our trip to Ireland.

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of Ireland, and on our next visit, we would pick one area to stay for a longer time. The accommodations were very affordable, and the fresh local cheese, bread, and seafood were delicious. If you'd like more details about our trip to Ireland, visit my blog at www.cecedingwrites.wordpress.com .

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Cuba has been in life's crosshairs of late after a hurricane, a U.S. State Department warning and the discussion of renewed restrictions, leaving travelers confused.

To these three issues dogging the island nation, we may need to add a fourth that also may prove a deterrent to travel. Here's a look at how recent events might affect your Cuba plans.

STORM DAMAGE

Hurricane Irma inflicted its Category 5 wrath on Cuba when it hit the weekend of Sept. 9. Havana suffered flooding and some damage to buildings, but Irma's lash was felt most acutely in the eastern part of the country.

Havana was affected, said Manny Kopstein, owner of the Bay Area's Cuba Travel Adventures Group, which specializes in group travel with a philanthropic focus, but several all-inclusive resorts and the Cuban keys to the east were hit hard.

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Those places are not on most Americans' radar because of the requirement that travel to Cuba be more than a beach vacation. (That did not change even when restrictions were rolled back in 2014.)

"There's a massive effort to repair and rebuild in advance of the November-December tourist season," Kopstein said.

How this might affect your plans: If you're an American it probably won't. Trinidad and Cienfuegos, towns often on Americans' itineraries, were spared, Kopstein said.

STATE DEPARTMENT WARNING AND ITS AFTERMATH

On Sept. 29 the State Department issued a warning telling U.S. citizens "not to travel to Cuba" because of attacks, perhaps sonic in nature, that have plagued U.S. Embassy staff.

"These employees have suffered significant injuries as a consequence of these attacks," the warning said. Symptoms include "hearing loss, dizziness, headache, fatigue, cognitive issues and sleep issues."

The State Department sent home about 60 percent of its staff and noted that the embassy in Havana may not be able to help U.S. citizens because of reduced staffing

On Oct. 6 the U.S. Embassy in Cuba said in a post that the attacks have occurred in Hotel Nacional and Hotel Capri in Havana and that "the U.S. government has imposed limitations on lodging at affected hotels."

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News organizations, including CBS and The Associated Press, are reporting that some non-State Department Americans have complained of the same symptoms. Those cases have not been verified, the reports said.

How might this affect your plans: Whether you should go depends on your risk tolerance.

Janet Moore, owner of Distant Horizons in Long Beach, Calif., which plans and executes group trips to Cuba, noted that if 60 percent of the embassy personnel was sent home, 40 percent was still there, suggesting that "the situation is safe enough."

"If they had closed the embassy, that argument would be hard to make," she said.

NEW RESTRICTIONS IN THE OFFING?

On June 16 President Donald Trump announced that access to travel in Cuba, eased by then-President Barack Obama's relaxation of some restrictions, would be tightened again.

The requirement for people-to-people travel, meeting one of 12 criteria, did not change under Obama but enforcement was lax.

New regulations may change that, but that hasn't happened yet. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, says on its FAQs: "OFAC expects to issue its regulatory amendments in the coming months. The announced changes do not take effect until the new regulations are issued."

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For individual travel, the OFAC FAQ said, "The president instructed Treasury to issue regulations that will end individual people-to-people travel. The announced changes do not take effect until the new regulations are issued."

But OFAC notes, group people-to-people travel will still be allowed with an appropriate organization.

How will this affect your trip: For now, it will not, but those wanting to go to Cuba in the future may have to do so with a group.

A FOURTH CONCERN

The fourth part of this puzzle, Moore said, is how Cuba can capitalize on its early successes as a destination.

After the restrictions were eased, people raced to get there, some hoping to see it before mass tourism spoiled it.

But, Moore said, there is also a need to develop programs that will appeal to the second-time traveler.

"Cuba does need to look inward a little bit," she said. "There are beautiful parts to the east that aren't developed. We need to work with Cubans in getting them to look at other destinations within their own country."

Until then, Cuba travel, buffeted by forces its people don't control, may suffer not from the aftermath of hurricanes or State Department warnings but from its own early success.
Within the next few years, Rochester middle and high school students might be able to squeeze in a few more morning zzz's, thanks to a potential shift in start times.

Students could get an extra hour of sleep in the morning, as soon as the 2019-20 school year because of a potential partnership between Rochester Public Schools and the city. A bus-sharing proposal would allow middle and high school students to take city buses to school, decreasing costs for RPS and boosting ridership for Rochester Public Transportation.

It's a decision that would push back start times to between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m.  just past RPT's peak ridership times.

The city and RPS partnered on a recently completed study to work through many of the details of the proposal, but now they think they'll need to go a little more in-depth to nail down start times, where the routes will go and the cost. The phase two study also will help them determine if it's the best move for both parties.

"Both groups would have to decide if this is a partnership we'd want to enter in," said superintendent Michael Munoz at last week's school board meeting.

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That second phase, combined with the first, will cost RPS nearly $50,000. But it's a move that potentially could save the district money in the long run, Munoz said.

RPT likely will take the request for a second phase to the city council in November, said Bryan Law, RPT Transit Planner.

"We didn't have enough information to make a decision one way or another on whether this was an arrangement to pursue," Law said. "We want to get down into the details of what it's going to cost and how are we going to implement this if we go through with it."

Later start times are better for students

School board members and parents have backed pushing start times back for some time, largely because medical advice and best practices suggest later start times are beneficial for adolescents.

School board chairwoman Julie Workman said she hoped the start times could be adjusted, pointing to the "abundance of research to back up the benefits of starting later."

The American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes start times before 8:30 a.m. as a "key modifiable contributor to insufficient sleep" and "urges" high schools and middle schools to set start times that allow those students to get 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep each night.

Currently, all of the middle and high schools begin at 7:40 a.m. each morning , while the elementary schools have a 9:15 a.m. start. The average start time for students attending public high schools nationwide is 7:59 a.m., according to the National Center for Education Statistics .

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It's been an issue across the county. Earlier this month, St. Paul Public Schools voted to do the same , pushing start times back to 8:30 a.m., beginning in fall 2019.

What about all the school buses?

It's unclear how many students would take the city bus, but elementary students still likely would be taking the traditional yellow school bus to class each day.

Currently, there are 6,127 students in grades six through 12 assigned to a bus route, said Heather Nessler, the district's director of communications. But that doesn't mean all those students are riding the bus, Nessler said; many choose to transport themselves.

In the past, the district has put out requests for a "one-tiered" busing schedule, or one that would allow all the district's students to run on the same schedule, but the bus companies don't have enough buses, or drivers, to accommodate that, Munoz said.

"It'd be a challenge for anybody to accommodate the number of kids that we transport everyday," Munoz said.

RPS' current transportation contract with First Student is set to expire at the end of June 2019, which is part of the reason the district now is considering this option, Munoz said when the study began in October 2016 .

Jon Goetz, location manager with First Student, said he couldn't comment because he doesn't know the details of the plan but wouldn't anticipate a drop in "many, if any, routes" because of the rural students they service.

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When the second phase of the study is completed, the district hopes to hold public meetings to answer any questions parents or those in the community might have. But the district and school board members think it's something that largely would be positive for students.

Another benefit, Munoz said, is the district likely would push to allow student access to bus routes on the weekends. And it's a way for students to get to acclimated to public transportation.

"They want to teach and get our young students used to riding buses," he said. "As you become an adult and as we continue to grow larger, we need more adults riding the bus downtown than driving all the time."
What are the people, places and stories behind the names of Rochester schools?

Some are quirky, some are patriotic, some are puzzling, some are not what they seem.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Bamber Valley This school originally was part of the Bamber Valley school district, named for John Bamber, who in 1854 settled in section 10 of Rochester Township, in the area now called Merrihills. He deeded the land for a school to the county for $1. Bamber died in 1904 at age 89 and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery.

Churchill Named for Winston Churchill, the inspirational prime minister of the United Kingdom during most of World War II. The only Rochester school named for a foreign citizen.

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Elton Hills One of a handful of schools opened in the early 1960s as the baby boom and the arrival of IBM swelled Rochester's school-age population. Located in the Elton Hills area of the city.

Folwell William Watts Folwell was the first president of the University of Minnesota, appointed to that post in 1869 when he was 36. He had served in the Civil War with a regiment from his home state of New York. He resigned the presidency of the U in 1884 but remained on the faculty as a political science professor and librarian. He was co-founder of the university's eugenics society, a philosophy initially regarded as a way to improve the quality of the human race. It later was adopted by the Nazis, nativists and nationalists as justification for their racist attitudes and actions.

Franklin Benjamin Franklin's first job was as a printer, which made him a rich man. His experiments with electricity made him world-famous. Later in life, he often was called "Doctor Franklin"  it was an honorary title. As an American representative in Paris, Franklin, then in his 70s, had a reputation for flirting with the pretty women of French high society.

Gage Robert Gage was president of the school board in 1958. This was just after IBM came to Rochester and at a time when several new schools needed to be built.

George Gibbs Gibbs was the first African-American to go to Antarctica, when he accompanied Adm. Richard Byrd's expedition in 1941. Twenty-five years later, after having settled in Rochester, Gibbs helped organize the Rochester chapter of the NAACP. He died at age 85 in 2001.

Harriet Bishop Named for Harriet Bishop, Minnesota's first school teacher, who also gave her name to Harriet Island in St. Paul. Bishop came to Minnesota in 1847 from Vermont.

Hoover Herbert Hoover, from West Branch, Iowa, was the first president born west of the Mississippi River. He was a Quaker who organized efforts to feed starving Europe during and after World War I. When he arranged to feed people in Bolshevik areas of Russia, he was criticized by fellow Republicans. But, Hoover said, "Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they shall be fed." His term as president, which encompassed the Crash of 1929, was less than successful.

Jefferson "American Sphinx" is what one of his biographers called Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. He was a man of immense gifts riddled with contradictions. He read in six languages and donated his personal library of 6,500 books to found the Library of Congress. His Jefferson Bible was considered heretical, and that, coupled with his interest in Hinduism and Islam, helped earn Jefferson the title of "infidel" among his enemies. When it comes to Broadway musicals, he fared better in "1776" than in "Hamilton."

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Lincoln Located in what formerly was Horace Mann School. As head of the Massachusetts board of education, Mann advocated for public schools, free of sectarian education, and is considered the father of American public education. Abraham Lincoln, of course, is consistently rated as the greatest of American presidents.

Longfellow One of New Englander Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's best-known poems is "The Song of Hiawatha," which takes place in Minnesota. What is less widely known is that during the Civil War, Longfellow wrote what later became the lyrics of the mournful Christmas hymn, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day": "'There is no peace on earth,' I said, 'For hate is strong, and mocks the song, of peace on earth, good-will to men.'"

Pinewood This school, which served a district organized in 1856, first was located in a log cabin about a half-mile east of today's school. That cabin was moved to the grounds of the present site by a team of oxen. When the one-room school burned in 1948, it was replaced by a new building known as "the Little Red Schoolhouse." In 1957, the name was changed to Pinewood School.

Riverside Central A new school building that replaced the closed Holmes and Hawthorne schools. It is located near a river (Bear Creek), and Central was added to commemorate the former Central Junior High in downtown Rochester.

Sunset Terrace This school, located in the Sunset Terrace addition, was built in 1960 and had the same floor plan as Elton Hills and Harriet Bishop, which also opened at that time.

Washington The Father of His Country, whose greatest contribution might have been that he renounced a lifetime presidency and left office after two terms. On the other hand, George Washington, a slave owner, never spoke out against slavery, helping ensure the peculiar institution would haunt his country for the next 250 years. On a lighter note, there is no evidence he ever chopped down a cherry tree.

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Friedell Originally a Boutelle's furniture store, the building apparently gained the name Friedell when it was a University of Minnesota and Minnesota Extension Service facility. When it became a Rochester middle school in the 1990s, the name wasn't changed, perhaps because school officials expected Friedell to be a temporary solution to overcrowding in the city's middle schools.

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John Adams The second president of the U.S., Adams was a brilliant, proud and irascible character. He served with Jefferson on the committee to write the Declaration of Independence. The two men later had a famous falling out, then began a respectful correspondence in old age. When Adams died on July 4, 1826, his last words were "Jefferson lives." Actually, Jefferson died the same day.

Kellogg Frank B. Kellogg, who was Rochester city attorney and Olmsted County attorney in the 1880s, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1929 for co-authoring the Kellogg-Briand Pact, a resolution to outlaw war.

Willow Creek Despite an energetic campaign to name this new school for Belva Snodgrass when it opened in 1982, the school board opted for a geographic moniker. Snodgrass was a beloved principal of Central Junior High (which Willow Creek replaced) in the 1940s.

HIGH SCHOOLS

Century One of the more memorable controversies regarding the naming of a school swirled around this third public high school in the city. A committee tasked with making a recommendation sent Eleanor Roosevelt High School to the school board. An outcry from some powerful quarters over Roosevelt's liberal reputation sent the school board searching for a less divisive option. Nobody could argue with Century, which opened just before the end of the millennium.

John Marshall Marshall, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court for 34 years, has no known connection to Minnesota. Original plans were to build the school at Soldiers Field. But a northwest Rochester location offered more room; good thing, too, because shortly after it opened in 1958, overcrowded John Marshall already was a candidate for expansion.

Mayo When students who would be attending the city's second high school, scheduled to open in 1966, were surveyed for a preferred name, they came back with John F. Kennedy High School. The school board, after hearing from community leaders who said there already were "excessive memorials" to Kennedy in town, opted to add the Mayo name to yet another Rochester edifice. Meanwhile, the search still is on for those many local Kennedy memorials.
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ALBERT LEA  Dr. Annie Sadosty feels "extraordinarily impressed" after personally viewing the first phase of consolidation earlier this month at Mayo Clinic Health System's Austin and Albert Lea campuses.

Sadosty, who was promoted to regional vice president of MCHS  Southeast Region on Aug. 9, praised the "professionalism" of employees after visiting both sites on Oct. 2 when ICU services were shifted to Austin. She reported no surprises or hiccups in the transition, which has ignited a firestorm of criticism from citizens, local officials and some lawmakers since it was announced on June 12.

The ICU is the first of many dominoes to fall as part of Mayo's consolidation plan, which shifts most inpatient services to Austin. Inpatient surgeries are scheduled to move from Albert Lea to Austin in January, while baby delivery services are planned to transition to Austin in late 2018 or early 2019. Additionally, behavior health services will be shifted to Albert Lea.

Sadosty praised the work of Austin's nurse manager, who welcomed the new staff members and has spent the last few weeks working to enhance the existing culture. An average of less than one patient per day has been transferred between sites since the change, according to Mayo officials.

"I was extraordinarily impressed by the incredible collaboration and thoughtful planning that went into the transition," Sadosty said. "In the face of what was a difficult transition for many, the professionalism, the care, the concern and the collaboration was really very moving. I wasn't surprised by that, I was inspired by that."

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Building a sustainable model

During the last four months, Mayo leaders routinely have cited three main reasons for the consolidation plan: financial losses, a significant reduction of inpatient numbers and difficulty in provider recruitment and retention. For example, Sadosty said one job has been open for four years, outpatient surgeries now outnumber inpatient surgeries by a 5-1 ratio, and just one to two inpatient surgeries are performed per day on each campus that require stays of at least two days.

Additionally, Sadosty said providers' desire to practice at the top of their licensure, while treating enough cases to see improved outcomes, is another critical component to consider. She also believes too much focus has been placed on Mayo's financial losses.

Sadosty said it's important for critics to remember Mayo is responding to industrywide issues, which makes it difficult to "pull out" a single issue. She said the concerns are all related.

"That's one piece of the puzzle, but I do believe there has been disproportionate emphasis placed on that," Sadosty said of Mayo's financial situation at MCHS-Austin and Albert Lea. "Empty buildings without providers don't heal people.

"I understand that people want to stay as close to home as possible, and we're trying to build a sustainable system that allows them to do so. It does look different than it did 20 years ago  and I think it will look different another 20 years from now  and it should. If we fail to evolve and fail to advance with science and technology, our patients aren't getting what they deserve."

Opponents await draft report

Kathy Sandvik, the Minnesota Nurses Association's labor representative for Austin and Albert Lea, disputes Sadosty's evaluation of the first phase of consolidation. She said its loss is "causing problems" and "Mayo seems to be in denial mode."

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As examples, Sandvik said inpatient services are "very busy, and units are often full." However, she said not all of the remaining nurses have experience or training with intensive care. Additionally, she points to long patient wait times, which might be due to required training in Rochester as Mayo implements its new EPIC system for electronic records.

"This misguided decision means that each nurses will be removed from patient care duties up to six days between October and November," Sandvik said via email.

Chad Adams, Albert Lea City Manager, said he hasn't heard any specific feedback on the ICU transition, but he's among city and county leaders opposed to Mayo's overall plan.

The city, county and Save Our Hospital are awaiting feedback from Quorum Health Services, which was hired Oct. 3 for up to $75,000 to examine the financial and operational performance of Mayo's Albert Lea facility. Adams said a draft report could come as early as next week, and the final details are likely to be released in early to mid-November. Some believe that's a precursor to finding a second or alternate provider in Albert Lea.

Adams said local reps are scheduled to meet with a potential secondary provider on Nov. 2. That represents the continuation of previous discussions, though such meetings have tailed off as everyone awaits feedback from Quorum.

"It's slowed down quite a bit, but there have been ongoing discussions with other providers," Adams said. "I think there's a lot of  waiting to see when this report comes out."
KASSON  When someone needs help immediately with a mental health or chemical dependency problem, traveling even 12 miles to another city can be problematic.

A new treatment center in Dodge County brings that support much closer, to expedite the process of getting better.

Stage by Staige , 301 W. Main St. in Kasson, offers chemical health assessments, coordination of mental health therapy and medication management, gender specific groups, relapse prevention and other programs.

Co-owners Jessica Bradford and Karen Staige both felt it was crucial to bring resources closer to people who need immediate assistance in communities outside of Rochester.

Staige and Bradford are both originally from the Rochester and Kasson areas. They met about 10 years ago, and attended college to earn their degrees in licensed alcohol and drug counseling.

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"We both worked in the field for a number of years, at times for the same companies," Staige said. "Our dream when we entered the field was to someday offer services in our home area (Dodge County) and to give back to our community. We have a passion for helping those with substance abuse issues and mental illness."

Stage by Staige was licensed through the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) on June 22 to be opened as an mental illness and chemical dependency treatment center. Bradford and Staige work together to serve clients through individual and group sessions, collaboration of services and education classes.

"There's not enough providers for assessments and some of the other services are so long," Staige said. "Dealing with people with chemical dependency and mental illness, they need help when they're ready and now when they're trying to get it."

The treatment center sees four groups a week, and serves almost 100 clients between assessments and treatment within a three-month period. The clinic sees an average of six to eight new clients a week. "They keep coming in," Staige said.

The numbers

Minnesota Prairie County Alliance contracts with South Central Human Relations Center  locations in Kasson, Owatonna and Waseca  to provide an array of mental health treatment and support, including case management.

In the first six months of 2017, around 70 adults with mental illness from Dodge County were served. Additionally, there were more people who seek mental health support directly from other providers, including the area's larger medical clinics, the community mental health center in Rochester, as well as smaller, independent mental health providers, according to Jane Hardwick, executive director of the Minnesota Prairie County Alliance.

From the 2016 Drug and Alcohol Abuse Normative Evaluation System report , there were 238 treatment episodes for Dodge County residents. Of those, 51 percent were within 30 miles of Mantorville.

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"Because of the placement of Dodge County relatively close to Owatonna and Rochester, treatment is more accessible compared to other rural communities," Hardwick said. "However, transportation to treatment for many people with a substance addiction is a challenge."

From the DANNES report, 64 percent of the people who sought treatment in 2016 were male, 60 percent were between the ages of 18-34, and 87 percent were white.

"Typically, individuals are on Medical Assistance or do not have insurance," Hardwick said. "Thirty-three percent have a criminal court order and 47 percent admit to treatment as part of their probation or parole."

According to the report, the most common form of substance abuse at the time of admittance to treatment in Dodge County was amphetamine dependence, closely followed by alcohol dependency and marijuana.

'It's a community issue'

Stage by Staige's treatment center could also benefit Dodge County's drug court, by providing access to a local treatment professional to discuss ideas, and by offering a substance use assessment in a more immediate situation.

"Another facility will provide Dodge County citizens reaching out for help with their co-occurring disorder a place to address concerns and solutions within a safe environment in their community, rather than having to drive distances to find treatment," Hardwick said. "With the addition of Stage by Staige, citizens will hopefully see minimal wait times to enter treatment and get their needs met quickly."

Stage by Staige will host an open house from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 7. The event is for those interested in learning more about the services provided by the treatment center.

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Having already visited students in the Kasson-Mantorville Schools District and speaking to a variety of city and county officials, Bradford and Staige said, they want to implore the community to be understanding that there is no shame in seeking help.

"It's a community issue," Staige said. "We need to address that removing the stigma surrounding chemical dependency and mental illness."
In the hot sellers market, Realtors have seen buyers bidding above list price to win a house in Rochester, but that's not the only way to sell a property.

When four brothers from a farming background started getting unsolicited offers for three rental houses they own by Mayo Clinic's Saint Marys Hospital, it spurred them to consider putting them up for sale.

"We said maybe it was time to think about selling with everybody encroaching on us. DMC (Mayo Clinic's Destination Medical Center initiative) has kind of turned Rochester kind of upside down," said Jeff Hejlik. He and his brothers have owned and rented out the houses as an investment since 2005.

Growing up on an Iowa farm, the brothers  Jeff, Joe, Mike and Jim Hejlik  turned to the standard agriculture method of selling by auction.

"It's what we're used to. An auction attracts buyers," said Joe Hejlik, who has served as property manager for the houses.

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The Hejliks turned to Stewartville-based Highpoint Realty and Auction, which handles many agriculture auctions as well as standard sales of residential homes. Highpoint co-owner Kevin Hart is managing this auction.

The three houses, ranging in age from 64 to 107 years old, stand across from the entrance to the hospital on 14th Avenue Southwest. The location has guaranteed the houses consistently stayed full with Mayo Clinic employees.

The brothers had no plans to sell the houses, but changes in the city and the formerly residential neighborhood prompted them to think about it.

In recent years, several properties between the brothers' houses and Second Street Southwest have sold to clear the way for development. Twin Cities developer Alatus LLC recently demolished the nearby Brentwood on 2nd and Ray-Mar hotels to build a $130 million luxury tower on the corner of Second Street Southwest between 14th and 15th avenues.

Mayo Clinic also demolished the two houses to the north of the Hejlik properties and are partnering with a Maryland nonprofit to build two residential facilities for people living with mental illness.

No matter the changes in the neighborhood, the proximity to Saint Marys Hospital still makes them valuable. That's what the Hejliks and Highpoint hope will attract bidders.

"The idea is that the more competition you have, the better the price you'll get," Hejlik said.

The auction is scheduled to take place Nov. 16 at the nearby Homewood Suites by Hilton at 165 13th Ave. SW.

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"It's a pretty unique deal because you don't see big properties like this go for sale this way," said Hart.

Using an auction to sell a house or rental property isn't common in Rochester, but it's not unheard of either. Karen Becker, CEO of the Southeast Minnesota Association of Realtors, said Highpoint and other auction companies are active members of her organization.

"It's just a different kind of marketing tool. And there are pros and cons to any kind of marketing," she said.

Potential buyers will be bidding on four parcels, Hart explained. That means bids can be made for each house individually or for the whole package of all three. A buyer could be the top bidder for an individual house, but someone who bids more than the combined top bids for each house still could buy all three.

"We'd like to see all three of them go together. That's kind of the reasoning behind it (the auction)," said Joe Hejlik.

Hart is promoting the auction throughout the region in Minneapolis, Chicago and elsewhere to attract top investors to bid on the houses, which generate $4,000 per month in rent.

While an auction has a more free-wheeling feeling than a traditional real estate listing, the sellers are not going to be required to sell for some low-ball bid. A "reserve" price is set, which has to be met before the properties sell. If the bidding doesn't reach that reserve number, the Hejliks don't have to sell.

"The reserve price gives us confidence in selling this way," said Jeff Hejlik. "If we don't get the reserve, we'll just hold on to them. They are good properties."
A heightened awareness of a changing immigration policy landscape has motivated Minnesota lawyers to pursue immigration cases pro bono, or for free.

One of them is Meghan Elliott, Apogee Enterprises' assistant general counsel. Her full-time job is doing legal work for Viracon  the company that made the glass for U.S. Bank Stadium. The work she does pro bono is completely different.

"I think most people will tell you that they do pro bono because it provides more of a connection to the community that you live in," she said.

When Elliott was first introduced to immigration work, she immediately fell in love with it. Her first immigration case was applying for asylum for a husband and wife from Ethiopia. She worked with the couple for five years, and they were eventually granted asylum. Later, their son served in the U.S. military and they started a nonprofit in St. Paul.

Currently, Elliott has three active cases: a naturalization case and two U-Visas, which are granted to victims of crimes and their immediate family who cooperate with law enforcement.

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"Every single client that I've worked with has had an impact on me," she said. "It reminds you of why you became a lawyer."

'Basic human rights'

The work is high-stakes and nerve-wracking, especially for lawyers who weren't trained to represent immigrants fighting to stay in the country. But experts say Minnesota is a leader in the nation, as it has an abundance of resources and nonprofit organizations that recruit and train attorneys willing to take on such work for free.

Cynthia Anderson is the pro bono director at Lindquist & Vennum, a large regional law firm in Minneapolis. The company has about 140 attorneys working on pro bono cases. Anderson said 11 percent of the work in 2016 was immigration-related, and she estimates the percentage has been higher this year.

"People have come out of the woodwork to work on issues that they may not have been inclined to work on in the past," Anderson said. The attorneys are motivated in part, she said, by their perception of "basic human rights being violated."

Most of the cases that nonprofit organizations like the Immigrant Law Center refer to outside volunteers involve less complicated work, like naturalization or the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program. But the recent uptick in the number of immigration detainees has gotten lawyers thinking about the more time-consuming, complex cases as well.

Anne Applebaum, the pro bono director at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, said many area law firms have pro bono built into their infrastructure, and recent anti-immigration rhetoric hasn't hindered their willingness to sign up for complex immigration cases.

"Quite the opposite," she said. That the attorneys are willing to do such work for free, she added, gives clients a sense of empowerment.

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"The person who's helping to make this reality for me is someone who doesn't have to do this," she said. "They're not being paid, they're working above and beyond high-hour jobs and families and other restrictions, and they're choosing to do this."

'I needed to be more open and listen'

Some corporations might be reluctant to formalize pro bono programs when the work relates to controversial issues like immigration or criminal expungement, writes David March in this month's issue of Bench & Bar of Minnesota. March is a director counsel at Target Corporation and the chair of the Minnesota Corporate Pro Bono Council.

"It evokes strong emotions and concerns about corporate and/or professional ramifications," he wrote. Even so, he said in an interview, companies are moving toward formalizing their pro bono programs.

March doesn't focus on specific issues in his own pro bono work. His first case was helping a young, homeless veteran find the resources he needed to get back on track.

"It was eye-opening for me," he said.

Years later, March can still picture the man and remembers the smell of alcohol. He knew at that moment his internal biases caused him to make judgments that the young veteran could immediately sense.

"And as he told me his story, I learned really quickly that I was making a huge mistake," March said. "And I needed to be more open and listen to him and understand where he was from. I thought if I can have that experience, and it turned out in a positive way, that others could as well."

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Since then, March has taken on similar cases and others involving DACA work. He said the overarching theme is poverty.

"What we look at, when we evaluate opportunities, [is] what is the human impact," he said. "We look at how can we make a difference in someone else's life? And if we can, then we're compelled to act."
ST. PAUL  A group of nonprofits and immigrant-rights organizations is calling on congressional members to halt any plans for new or expanded immigration detention facilities in the Midwest, including St. Paul.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has issued a request for information to try identifying possible sites to "hold criminal aliens and other immigration violators," according to the request.

The Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, the Immigrant Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union were among several organizations that signed a letter to ICE objecting to the plans. They say people in detention are already underrepresented and deprived of legal counsel and due process.

"Expanding detention capacity is only going to further erode people's access to lawyers," said Michele Garnett McKenzie, deputy director of the Advocates for Human Rights. "There is just not enough help out there for people, and these are critical, life-changing decisions people are being forced to make in front of a judge, or even face to face with an immigration officer."

According to the letter, only 21 percent of detained immigrants in Minnesota have representation.

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McKenzie said the groups are hoping lawmakers will put the brakes on the funding that ICE could use to increase its detention enforcement. She said it's more crucial to come up with policies that "serve the American interests in immigration and protect the human rights of the people who are facing that system."

Shawn Neudauer, a spokesperson for ICE office in Minnesota, said the agency doesn't comment on a pending contracting process and couldn't explain the intent of this request for information.

He added, though, that detainees in removal proceedings "can always retain counsel at their own expense" and that there are plenty of available pro bono programs.

"How does adding more beds erode anything?" Neudauer added. "There are literally scores of attorneys. This seems a pretty vague allegation."
ST. PAUL  St. Paul Police union president Dave Titus on Friday took "full responsibility" for an "ill-advised political attack" on St. Paul mayoral candidate Melvin Carter that centered on guns stolen from Carter's home.

Titus, however, turned aside calls by St. Paul's mayor and other leaders for him to step down immediately as head of the union.

Titus issued a contrite statement Friday, saying the union's board had "little to no involvement" in the week's controversies but that the federation would stop all political activities for the remainder of this election cycle, which ends Nov. 7.

On Tuesday, Titus slammed Carter, saying the candidate had not been cooperating with police on the search for two guns taken from Carter's home in an August burglary. He said the theft put two more untraceable guns on the street and that since police didn't have serial numbers of the pistols, they could be very difficult to get out of circulation.

The situation escalated Thursday after a mailer went out tying the theft of the guns to the rising number of shootings in the city.

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The comments and the mailer triggered a backlash against Titus and the union. Carter's campaign argued the St. Paul Police Federation's actions were racially motivated (Carter is African-American) and showed how minorities are presumed guilty. The union later said it did not mean to "revictimize" the Carter family but said its earlier statements were not racist.

Mayor Chris Coleman, however, castigated Titus and called on the entire union board to step down, saying they'd embarrassed the force.

Pat Harris, the mayoral candidate Titus and the union endorsed, also slammed the federation leadership for engaging in "dirty political tactics and dog whistle racism" and called on the union board to quit.

While Titus initially responded sardonically to Coleman's accusations, on Friday the union president said the letter released by the federation on Tuesday "was an ill-advised political attack meant to highlight inconsistencies, that was in no way shape or form racially motivated," he wrote. "In no way were we implying these guns were used in the commission of a crime, rather that we need a mayor whose priority is public safety."

Responding to calls for his resignation, Titus wrote that he was elected by union members and had an open-door policy for members to talk to him, adding that "when my term expires, my members have the opportunity judge me by my overall body of work."

He also said he called on Building a Better St. Paul, the group responsible for the campaign postcard critical of Carter, to stop because the controversy "had become racially charged which was not the intent of anyone involved."

In a separate statement, Building a Better St. Paul also apologized for the harm the mailer created and said it would be ceasing campaign activities and that all of its remaining funds will be donated to a nonprofit.

Building a Better St. Paul had received funding from several groups, including the St. Paul Police Federation. Organizers say they hope the incident doesn't discourage people from voting in the election.
MINNEAPOLIS  Growing up, Mike Hicks would leaf through volume after volume of his family's encyclopedia set  at that time a household staple.

Fast forward to 2002, when Hicks, a recent University of Minnesota graduate, started looking for jobs.

He found himself with a copious amount of free time, time his parents hoped he would use to find work. Instead, he began to explore a website still in its infancy: Wikipedia, the crowd-sourced online encyclopedia started in 2001.

Hicks, now 38, created an account and began to edit, add photos and create pages, primarily focusing on topics close to home  Minnesota. He was officially a "Wikipedian."

"When I was in between work I could put in a full day's work," Hicks said. "Sometimes I did it a bit too much. it was something I could do and keep my mind occupied."

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Hicks ended up being the third registered user to edit the university's page and has made the seventh-most edits in the page's history.

Now, he has made over 17,000 edits. For some of the nearly 32 million Wikipedians like Hicks, the website can become something of an obsessive hobby. Despite the site's rampant popularity, it is not without its faults  some even say it has an unwelcoming atmosphere.

The Minnesota Daily reports that Wikipedia  which relies on crowd sourced content and funds most of its $60 million budget through donations  is, indisputably, one of the world's most successful internet ventures.

Distinct languages each have their own Wikipedia websites, the most popular being English, with almost 5.5 million different articles.

Launched by founder Jimmy Wales as a completely community-driven website, the community over time established its own ethics, guidelines and values.

Despite the success of its model, Wikipedia struggles with a community sometimes hostile to newcomers and a large gender disparity among users.

Surveys conducted by the Wikimedia Foundation  the nonprofit body that manages Wikipedia  found that between 10 and 24 percent of website editors identify as female, said Samantha Lien, Wikimedia Foundation communications manager.

And this gender gap impacts content. Only around 16 percent of Wikipedia biographies are about women, Lien said.

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"When we have a disparity of experiences of editors, that is also reflected in the content," she said.

While Wikimedia has not identified a sole reason for the gender disparity, Lien said the organization hopes to improve the gender balance by improving the broader community experience.

This year, the organization started providing resources to administrator users  a small group of users with special managerial abilities  to better handle online harassment among users, she said.

Other efforts to curtail this gender disparity's effects have been more localized. Minneapolis museums and other institutions hold events called edit-a-thons, where users gather to create Wikipedia content focused on neglected topics.

At the Minneapolis Institute of Art, edit-a-thons with titles like Art + Feminism and African American Artists have risen in popularity since the museum first started hosting them in 2015, said Janice Lurie, Mia's head librarian.

"People all over the world are curious, and one of the first places we go is Wikipedia," said Susan Jacobson, the institute's manager of lectures and academic programs, who helps run the edit-a-thons.

Lien said the organization hopes their efforts also extend to broader community issues.

The Wikipedia community can be unwelcoming to newcomers, and often users who focus on one topic can be "territorial," said Janos McGhie, St. Paul Public Library system librarian and avid Wikipedia user, who helps organize edit-a-thons.

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Page vandalism and arguments over how to write small details like dates can create distrust in new and old users.

Also, articles are meant to be objective, but politically-motivated users can further sour community relations, he said.

"Wikipedia has a policy, 'assume good faith among users,' but it doesn't always happen," McGhie said. "It makes experienced users suspicious, when they (need not) always be. Especially of new users."

Some Twin Cities users trace their Wikipedia passion back to perusing through encyclopedias as kids.

"Somehow it grabbed me, I have the right personality to write an encyclopedia in my free time," McGhie said.

For many the hobby starts as a way to pass the time: look at an article, then follow a hyperlink to another and then another. Users start to notice errors and decide to take action.

"I'm embarrassed to say, I'm pretty bloody obsessed. I'm editing most days. It's definitely taken up most of my free time," McGhie said. "I hate to think anyone is more obsessed than me."

McGhie  who edits from one hour to two hours a day, although a new girlfriend has recently cut into that time  said the website appeals to users because it's easy to get a sense of completion. In his case, it's creating and editing pages about every park in Minnesota's national registry.

Jon Platek, a 2002 University history graduate, said Wikipedia editing becomes a habit, like checking Facebook a couple times a day.

At his peak editing time, Platek said some days he would make up to 200 edits, and on days off work he could sit all day and edit intermittently.

"I'd be scared to tell a psychologist how many edits I've made on that website," he said, laughing.

In 2012, after 244 years, the world's longest-running and most prominent physical encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Britannica, gave way to Wikipedia and the growth of digital media, and ceased printing.

The original household reference, which hung its hat on precise and thorough vetting from expert academics and researchers, was usurped by a website with an army of private citizens, like Mike Hicks, who have effectively become the world's new historians.

Hicks' self-written user page reads, "I'm not a historian  I just play one on Wikipedia."
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds administration this week rescinded its health insurance stopgap proposal when the federal government said a decision was weeks away even though enrollment starts Wednesday.

The issue carries significant real-world consequences for thousands of low-income Iowans. The state insurance division estimates roughly 20,000 individuals will experience cost increases so significant that they will choose to forego health insurance next year and pay the tax penalty instead.

The issue also could have political consequences, and both parties appear to be aware  both are blaming the other.

First, a quick refresher: Iowa next year will have just one company selling insurance plans statewide in the federal Affordable Care Acts exchanges for low-income residents. Those with low income levels qualify for financial assistance, but some at more moderate income levels do not.

With just one company in the exchange  and that company has proposed to increase premiums by an average of 57 percent to keep up with costs  thousands of Iowans are in danger of being priced out of the market.

So the state developed a short-term stopgap plan in which it would have shuffled some of the financial assistance to some individuals with more moderate income levels and moved individuals with high health care costs into a separate pool. The goal was to bring younger and healthier consumers into the market and encourage the participation of more insurance companies.

Because the plan called for shifting federal funds designed to help low-income health insurance buyers, it was required to apply for a waiver under the federal law. The state applied for the waiver in June and, according to state leaders, worked with the federal government constantly on the proposal. But as of this week, it had not yet reached a decision, even telling state leaders that could still be weeks away.

So with open enrollment for 2018 starting on Wednesday, state officials rescinded the proposal.

State insurance commissioner Doug Ommen said the problem was created by the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, which was passed in 2010 when Democrats controlled Congress and the White House. Reynolds blamed the laws waiver process, which she said was inflexible.

It came down to the law. As its written, it just does not afford the flexibility that we need to be creative, Reynolds said.

Iowa Democrats immediately pushed back. They laid blame at the feet of Republicans, who they note have complete power to fix the law  the GOP controls all the lawmaking levers in the Iowa and U.S. capitals.

Gov. Reynolds and the Republicans in Washington, D.C., continue to break their promise to provide access to affordable health care to more than 72,000 Iowans, Democratic state Sen. Janet Petersen said in a statement. Republicans have done everything possible to undermine Obamacare and they have failed to provide a workable, bipartisan alternative to help Iowans who need health care security.

The present situation in Iowa is, in fact, the result of actions taken by both parties, according to health care experts.

The Affordable Care Act, passed under full federal Democratic control, succeeded in getting millions more Americans enrolled in health insurance programs. However, the law was not as successful drawing in younger and healthier consumers, the types that help drive down insurance costs.

According to a 2016 report from U.S. News and World Report, citing federal statistics, adults ages 25 to 34 remained almost twice as likely to be uninsured as adults ages 45 to 64, and 15.9 percent of young people remained uninsured compared to 8.1 percent of older adults.

Getting more people enrolled and more healthy people enrolled in particular is key to make this work, JoAnn Volk, a senior research professor at Georgetowns Center for Health Insurance Reforms, said in the story.

The law was unsuccessful in attracting some insurers  including Wellmark, the states biggest insurer  others have left since joining the program and a health care cooperative created with federal funding failed within a year.

But Republicans in control of Congress and the White House have prioritized remaking the law rather than fixing it. And, thus far, they have been unsuccessful in passing any new health care legislation, leaving the current law to languish. And President Donald Trumps administration has cut funding for advertising and outreach, stopped payments designed to help stabilize insurance companies participating in the program, and granted extensions for insurance plans that skirt the laws requirements.

That uncertainty has hastened the exit of some insurance companies, health care experts say.

At the state level, while Iowa Republicans blame the Affordable Care Acts waiver process and call it inflexible, four states have been granted waivers: Minnesota, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii.

Tim Jost, a retired professor of health care law at Washington and Lee University and a supporter of the Affordable Care Acts policies, told national media outlets this summer that he did not think Iowas stopgap proposal was legal.

Basically theyre asking the administration to use (a waiver) as the carte blanche to allow states to completely re-write the ACA and do whatever they want to do with federal money, and thats not what (the waiver) is or does, Jost told The Hill.
Jennifer Kerns calls for an investigation into the placement of the Trump Dossier into the hands of the Obama administration  the hands of John Brennan in particular. Kerns doesnt quote the Gershwin brothers song, but shes got the refrain. Lets call the whole thing off:

As for the Russian collusion probe against Trump, its highly unlikely that Mueller will disband the probe on his own. After all, Mueller now presides over an office of 16 prosecutors and an unlimited budget in a town that values staff, unlimited budgets, and prestigious office space.

If the Russian collusion witch hunt against Trump is to end, it will have to be done by the president himself, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, or urged by Congress.

After more than a year of turning up no evidence that Trump colluded with Russia, and now equipped with new revelations that the Trump dossier was nothing more than a paid campaign piece, there is more than enough reason to justify disbanding the witch hunt once and for all.
MARY OUR MOTHER

We have a Mother! "So beautiful a Lady", as the seers of Fatima said to each other as they returned home on that blessed day of May 13 a hundred years ago.

GOD'S LIGHT OVERCOMES DARKNESS

Our Lady foretold, and warned us about, a way of life that is godless and indeed profanes God in His creatures. Such a life frequently proposed and imposed risks leading to hell. Mary came to remind us that God's light dwells within us and protects us ... According to the belief and experience of many pilgrims, ...Fatima is more than anything this mantle of Light that protects us, here as in almost no other place on earth.

LIVE IN HOPE

... We have a Mother, we have a Mother! Clinging to her like children, we live in the hope that rests on Jesus.

JESUS OUR HOPE

When Jesus ascended to heaven, He brought to the Heavenly Father our humanity ... Like an anchor, let us fix our hope on that humanity, seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father ... May this hope guide our lives! It is a hope that sustains us always, to our dying breath.

GIVING THANKS

Confirmed in this hope, we have gathered here to give thanks for the countless graces bestowed over these past hundred years. All of them passed beneath the mantle of light that Our Lady has spread over the four corners of the earth ...

PRAY WITH HOPE

... Let us pray to God with the hope that others will hear us; and let us speak to others with the certainty that God will help us.

BE A SOURCE OF HOPE

... God created us to be a source of hope for others, a true and attainable hope, in accordance with each person's state of life. In "asking" and "demanding" of each of us the fulfillment of the duties of our proper state (Letters of Sister Lucia, February 28, 1943), God effects a general mobilization against the indifference that chills the heart and worsens our myopia.

DON'T LET HOPE BE STILLBORN

We do not want to be a stillborn hope! Life can survive only because of the generosity of other lives.

LET THE LIGHT SHINE

With Mary's protection, may we be for our world sentinels of the dawn, contemplating the true face of Jesus the Savior, resplendent at Easter. Thus may we rediscover the young and beautiful face of the Church, which shines forth when she is missionary, welcoming, free, faithful, poor in means and rich in love.

(Source: Homily at Mass and Rite of Canonization of Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto, May 13, 2017, feast of Our Lady of Fatima)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  A U.S. judge on Wednesday rejected a request from 18 states and the District of Columbia to force the Trump administration to resume paying "Obamacare" subsidies right away and scolded the coalition for claiming health care costs would rise without federal help.

State attorneys general, all Democrats and led by Xavier Becerra of California, argued that the monthly payments are required under former President Barack Obama's health care law and cutting them off will harm consumers. The payments reimburse insurers for providing lower-income people with discounts on out-of-pocket costs.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, an Obama appointee, said the states had devised workarounds to the lost subsidies that would give millions of lower-income people even better health care options.

That means the emergency order the states sought would be "counterproductive," the judge said.

The states should stop "yelling about higher premiums" and "focus instead on communicating the message that they have devised a response ... that will prevent harm to the large majority of people while in fact allowing millions of lower-income people to get a better deal on health insurance in 2018," Chhabria said.

The states had asked Chhabria to order the government to keep making the payments while their lawsuit works its way through the courts, which will take months. Becerra said he will continue to press the case.

"The fight for affordable health care moves forward," he said in a statement after the ruling. "The actions by the Trump Administration undermine critical payments that keep costs of health care affordable for working families."

President Donald Trump announced earlier this month that he will cut off the payments, saying Obama's law is imploding and criticizing the subsidies as insurance company bailouts. The White House says the government cannot legally continue paying them because there is no formal authorization from Congress.

The judge said in his ruling that the Trump administration had the stronger legal argument, though he cautioned that the question of whether Congress had permanently set aside money for the subsidies was "close and complicated."

Chhabria hammered an attorney for the state of California at a hearing this week over how the change would affect consumers.

Gregory Brown, who represented California, said the decision was creating "uncertainty and chaos" that could lead insurance companies to opt out of the health law. Brown also said it would "spook consumers."

Chhabria wasn't buying the argument. He said California and other states had anticipated the subsidies would end and found a way to ensure consumers would not pay more for insurance.

The states limited the plans for which insurers could hike premiums and ensured that many people will get more tax credits for their health insurance purchases, the judge said.

In his ruling, Chhabria cited an October press release by California's health care marketplace, which said the premiums of nearly four of five consumers will stay the same or decrease after surcharges tied to the lost subsidies are factored in. The judge said dozens of other states also have accounted for the end of the subsidies.

The payments reimburse insurers for the costs of lowering copays and deductibles, which they are required to do for low-income customers who buy coverage through the health care marketplaces created by Obama's law.

The states joining California in the lawsuit are: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, along with the District of Columbia.
During the past 15 years, anyone who has walked through the doors of the African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey has witnessed the artistry of Leonard Lenny Wilkinson without knowing it.

Wilkinson, a longtime Atlantic County resident whose artwork has been exhibited throughout New Jersey, died Sunday after a battle with cancer.

His age was not immediately available.

Ralph E. Hunter Sr., the museums president and founder, said Wilkinson helped frame artwork that has been shown in the museum since its inception and had his own artwork exhibited there.

On Saturday, Hunter held a fundraiser at the Stockton University Noyes Arts Garage in Atlantic City to raise money for the overwhelming medical costs Wilkinson was facing, but it now also will help pay for his funeral, Hunter said.

We did a show of his work in the museums first year, Hunter said. He was seriously involved with art and history.

Wilkinson was a member of the Atlantic City Art Center, the Ocean City Art Center and the Ocean City Art League.

Wilkinson taught art and worked as a head framer at A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts in Egg Harbor Township before venturing out on his own.

Lennys been in almost every art show in South Jersey, Anne Glapion, a volunteer with the museum, said at the auction.

Wilkinson, who gained attention as a portrait painter, completed several murals in the Atlantic City area and had the Atlantic County Chapter of the Links commission him to paint the portrait of Atlantic Citys former Mayor James Usry for the Atlantic City Day Care Center.

Hunter organized the silent auction for Wilkinson within the last three weeks. Forty pieces of Wilkinsons artwork went up for sale, along with more than 30 other pieces created by friends and people who know him, Hunter said.

The auction featured Wilkinsons original drawings, paintings, pastels and prints. At the auction, Hunter said he was thrilled with the turnout of more than 100, and it drew people from all walks of life.

Fellow artist Belinda Manning said Wilkinson was a member of the art community for a long time, at least since Usry was mayor during the 1980s. He was also a veteran and a police officer.

He pays close attention to those things that are the essence of our human qualities, said Manning about Wilkinsons art. He helped make (the arts community of) South Jersey what it is.

Another artist, Marie Natale, of Egg Harbor Township, said it was just beautiful how many different forms of art  drawings, acrylics, pastels  Wilkinson did.

Hunter said Wilkinson was very excited to hear about the auction.

The bidding started at $50 for donated artwork that would retail for $100, and bid amounts increased in $10 increments. If the artwork would retail for $1,000, the bidding increased by increments of $100.
ABSECON  An Egg Harbor Township man was arrested and charged Friday with manufacturing, distributing and dispensing drugs and other offenses, police said.

Ismael Martinez, 33, was also charged with operating a controlled dangerous substance production facility and possession of CDS and drug paraphernalia, police said.

Police executed a search warrant Friday at an apartment in the Clayton Mill Run complex on South New Road across from Holy Spirit High School in response to a citizen complaint of drug activity, police said.

A search of the apartment yielded about 3 kilograms of suspected heroin, 3 ounces of suspected cocaine and paraphernalia associated with the manufacturing, packaging and distribution of drugs, police said.

Martinez was also charged with the offenses while in a school zone due to the proximity to Holy Spirit, police said.

He was taken to the Atlantic County jail.

 Vincent Jackson
For Purdy for mayor

Regarding the Oct. 9 letter, Galloway spurns business:

I support Don Purdy for Galloway Township mayor. As a Galloway business owner and resident, he is also a politician people trust and comfortably support. He has not only worked for the betterment of the entire township but he has also specifically worked for the interests of the community by insuring that the right type of businesses come to Galloway  businesses that not only bring jobs and aid in tax relief, but also maintain the quality of life important to Galloways residents.

The proposed asphalt plant would have harmed the quality of life for about 1,000 residents and cost the township hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost tax base due to the decrease in the values of affected properties.

However, in that same proposed property, Mayor Purdy and the current administration brought in the Barrette facility that has enhanced a rundown eyesore, brought hundreds of good jobs, and maintained quality of life for all.

Having leadership that can differentiate between good and bad is critical. Having the courage to do what is best for Galloway is something we all should admire and seek in a leader. That is Don Purdy.

Nancy Fiedler

Galloway Township

Backs Guardian in A.C.

I think what Stockton University President Harvey Kesselman and the Board of Trustees are doing by expanding in Atlantic City is great.

I think they are people of vision and this is what we need in public officials. This is why Im voting for Mayor Donald Guardian.

Stockton University could do better by its graduates no matter what their major is or was.

I think Stockton should also concentrate more on becoming a technical college with even more classes in computer technology and offer certificate programs graduates can use to make degrees more valuable.

David Barsky

Atlantic City

Backs Porreca-Compari

What is a negative political ad really saying? It is saying that the target of the ad has gotten too close to exposing the truth.

It seems the time-honored way to discredit and demean the opposition. It also means the target must be doing something right.

There is a TV ad targeting Millville City Commissioner Lynne Porreca-Compari, accusing her of all the general negative things without offering any proof to back it up. It is paid for by South Jersey Stands Strong and I cannot find any reference to them anywhere.

Where is this money coming from? But it really begs the question: Who wants Porreca-Compari out of the way? And why.

Getting to the bottom of things is what Porreca-Compari does best. Her opponents dont like that, especially when she gets too close for comfort to those who dont want their nefarious escapades exposed.

Michelle Post

Millville
CLEAR LAKE | Registration for the fifth annual "Lights on 5K" run in Clear Lake is now open.

Runners and walkers are also invited to "turn the lights on" for One Vision's Festival of Trees celebration, part of the 5K event. The run/walk is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 30, at 4:30 p.m.

The route will begin at The Other Place and run through the One Vision neighborhood in northwest Clear Lake. The event benefits One Vision  formerly Opportunity Village  as all proceeds will be used to buy Christmas gifts for children and others supported by One Vision.

More than $3,400 was raised last year, supporting 61 people. Earlybird registration is now through Nov. 10 at a $20 cost, which includes a race T-shirt. After Nov. 10, the cost increases to $25, and a T-shirt is not guaranteed.

If the temperature on Nov. 30 drops below zero, the event will be canceled with no refunds. Registration is available at www.lightson5K.org, or call Jennifer Pinske at 641-355-1356 for more information.
NEW YORK, Oct. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Ford Motor Company ("Ford Motor" or the "Company") (NYSE: F). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 9980.

The investigation concerns whether Ford and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here to join a class action]

On October 27, 2017, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA") announced a preliminary investigation into 841,000 Ford vehicles, citing concerns that the vehicles' steering wheels could detach while the vehicles are in motion. NHTSA stated that it is specifically investigating 2014-2016 model Ford Fusion sedans. On this news, Ford's share price has fallen as much as $0.25, or 2.04%, during intraday trading on October 27, 2017.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

rswilloughby@pomlaw.com

Related Links

http://www.pomerantzlaw.com



SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
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
Seoul, Oct 27 : Visiting US Defence Secretary James Mattis on Friday said that the American government does not want a war with North Korea, but rather initiate a process to achieve a complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

Mattis made the remarks on the first day of his trip to South Korea, during his visit to a border guard post and the Joint Security Area, which is part of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the two Koreas.

Standing several meters away from North Korea, he urged the Kim Jong-un regime to halt provocations that threaten others "with catastrophe", reports Yonhap News Agency "As Secretary of State (Rex) Tillerson has made clear, our goal is not war but rather the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the Pentagon chief said at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the DMZ.

He stressed his unprecedented DMZ visit highlights the "stark difference" between the two Koreas.

North Korea is ridden with an "oppressive regime" that shackles its people, while the South boasts a vibrant, thriving democracy and free society, he pointed out.

In response to Mattis, South Korean Defence Minister Song Young-moo emphasised that North Korea's nuke and ballistic missiles are "weapons that can't be used".

"If it does, it will face retaliation by the strong combined force of South Korea and the US," he said.

The minister said he and the secretary are here together to confirm the ironclad alliance "without a single inch of error".

He called on Pyongyang to return to inter-Korean dialogue as early as possible.

Song said Panmunjom was once a venue for talks between the two Koreas and armistice negotiations that effectively ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

"But now, all dialogue is in a state of being severed," he added.

Earlier on Friday, Mattis visited two US military installations, Osan airbase and the Yongson garrison in Seoul.

The secretary had come to South Korea from Thailand, where he attended the funeral of late King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Thursday.

Mattis' trip to the region comes ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to Asia next week.

Trump will most likely forgo a visit to the heavily fortified border between North and South Korea, a senior White House official said earlier this week, CNN reported.

Citing scheduling conflicts in an already jammed itinerary, the official did not rule out entirely a visit to the DMZ.
Jury deliberations began Sunday afternoon in the trial of Quinton Tellis, who is accused in the burning death of a Mississippi teenager.

Tellis, 29, did not take the stand in his own defense. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison. He's charged with capital murder because the teen's death occurred during the commission of another crime, third-degree arson, but prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.

Firefighters responded to a report of a car fire in December 2014 and found Jessica Chambers, 19, on a rural road not far from her home in Courtland, a town of about 500 people in northwest Mississippi.

Her car was burning and she had been set on fire with gasoline, according to investigators with the US Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives. She had suffered third-degree burns over 95% of her body.

Eight first responders -- firefighters, deputies and EMTs -- testified they were at the scene when Chambers said, "Eric set me on fire." She didn't give a last name. Chambers died the next day in a Memphis hospital.

The defense keyed on the fact that Chambers didn't name Tellis.

"She said Eric," Alton Peterson, one of Tellis' lawyers, said in closing arguments. "E.R.I.C. Eric."

But District Attorney John Champion argued the fire injured Chambers so badly she could not pronounce her words clearly and may have been trying to say "Tellis," the Clarion-Ledger newspaper reported.

The local police, the FBI, and an intelligence expert worked the case for months and looked at all the people named Eric and Derek in the area, authorities said.

The prosecution said it used cellphone technology, texting records, surveillance cameras and interviews to identify Tellis as the suspect.

He'd grown up in Courtland and was arrested in February 2016 while he was an inmate in a Louisiana prison. He was serving a sentence for using the debit card of a woman who had been killed, authorities said. Authorities have said Tellis is the prime suspect in that slaying.

A friend said Tellis and Chambers had known each other about two weeks. At the time of her death, he deleted all communications with Chambers from his phone and stopped checking on her, prosecutors said.

The trial started Monday, October 9. The jury of six whites and six blacks was brought in from another county to hear the case in Panola County, where the slaying occurred.

CNN's Eliott C. McLaughlin, Steve Almasy and Melonyce McAfee contributed to this report.
Ghaziabad, Oct 27 : A senior journalist, Vinod Verma, was arrested here early on Friday on charges of allegedly blackmailing a BJP leader in Chhattisgarh, police said. Verma denied the charge and said he was being framed.

The Chhattisgarh Police raided the journalist's residence at Indirapuram along with the Uttar Pradesh Police and recovered 500 compact discs (CDs), a laptop, a pen drive and Rs 200,000 in cash, a police officer here said.

Chhattisgarh Inspector General of Police Pradip Gupta and Superintendent of Police Sanjiv Shukla said Raipur resident and BJP leader Prakash Bajaj filed a complaint alleging Verma was trying to extort money from him after claiming that he had his "sex tapes".

Bajaj told police that he ignored the initial calls to cough up money. But on Wednesday, Verma threatened to release the "sex tapes" in Raipur and Delhi if he did not pay up.

The officers said they then directed a Chhattisgarh Police team which was in Delhi on a different issue to proceed to Ghaziabad and arrest Verma.

As he was being taken away, Verma told fellow journalists that he was innocent. "I am being framed. I have nothing to do with the CDs."

Inspector Sushil Dubey here said the Chhattisgarh Police reached the police station "and sought our help to arrest the journalist.

"They told us that a case under sections 384 and 506 of IPC (Indian Penal Code) was registered against the journalist on the complaint of Prakash Bajaj, a BJP leader in Raipur district," Dubey said.

"We assisted the (Chhattisgarh) Police. Our role was limited," Dubey told IANS.
New Delhi, Oct 27 : Slamming the BJP for the arrest of senior journalist Vinod Verma, the Congress on Friday demanded his immediate release and a probe against the "Chhattisgarh Minister being investigated by the journalist for alleged sex-related activities".

"We condemn the arrest of Vinod Verma by the Chhattisgarh government. Verma was investigating Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munat for alleged involvement in sex-related activities," said Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken.

"Many such incidents have taken place in the past. The manner in which the Modi government has attacked press freedom and tried to gag the media, this is an example of that," he added.

If a member of the Editors Guild of India was being arrested in this manner "for investigating serious allegations against a minister", how would the junior-level journalists work without fear, he asked.

The Congress leader claimed this was not an one-off incident and that many senior journalists "like Vidya Subrahmaniam, Sagarika Ghose, Akshay Singh, Sumaru Nag, Santosh Yadav, Malini Subramaniam have come under attack from the government".

Accusing the BJP of name-calling, Maken said: "Sometimes a senior minister calls the journalists presstitutes, the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) calls the media 'bazaru'. This reflects their mindset and what they think about the media.

"We demand that the journalist (Verma) should be released immediately and a judicial probe be initiated against the (Chhattisgarh) minister."

Verma was arrested in Ghaziabad early on Friday on charges of allegedly blackmailing a BJP leader in Chhattisgarh, police said. Verma denied the charge and said he was being framed.
Chennai, Oct 27 : Actor Kamal Haasan on Friday voiced his concern on the environmental impact due to the dumping of the ash waste by power plants in river Kosasthalaiyar and also warned about possible flooding of north Chennai.

In a series of tweets, Haasan said that the Vallur Thermal Plant and North Chennai Thermal Plant are dumping their ash waste in the river, and cited expert opinion to warn that north Chennai would get flooded even during normal rains.

He also noted that the forecast now is more than normal rainfall which, in turn, puts at risk 10 lakh people in that area.

The actor said a good government should find a permanent solution for the problems faced by the people.

Haasan also warned the government and the people that it would be dangerous for Chennai if the Ennore Creek is ignored.

According to him, the government did not look at the issue when the environmentalists took up the issue of dumping of waste by the power plants, or when the local people also joined them.

In addition, Haasan alleged that Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have built their facilities in the river.

The actor also said he is hearing about attempts to encroach upon 1,000 acres under the guise of expansion of Kamarajar Port in Ennore, near here.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and French Defence Minister Florence Parly at a delegation level meeting, in New Delhi on Oct 27, 2017. Image Source: IANS/PIB

French Defence Minister Florence Parly inspecting a guard of honour on arrival at Ministry of Defence, South Block, in New Delhi on Oct. 27, 2017. Image Source: IANS/PIB

New Delhi, Oct 27 : India and France on Friday reviewed initiatives to enhance bilateral defence cooperation, as Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held talks with her French counterpart Florence Parly in the national capital.

An official statement from the Defence Ministry said the two ministers "reviewed ongoing initiatives to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation as a key pillar of the strategic partnership between India and France".

A slew of issues including the ongoing defence deals, as well as that for 36 Rafale fighter jets, industrial and technological partnership under the Make in India initiative, the regional security situation, including terrorism, and the overall global security scenario figured in the talks.

Defence operational cooperation, specially in the field of maritime security, joint exercises of the armed forces, were among the issues in focus, at a time when the Chinese Navy has been increasing its presence in the Indian Ocean Region.

"Recognising the growing significance of maritime security in the Indo-Pacific and the need for greater maritime domain awareness, India and France will further expand information sharing arrangements building upon the Technical Arrangement on Exchange of White Shipping information signed earlier this year," the statement said.

"A range of measures to expand military to military ties, including enhancing the scope of their joint exercises, in particular the Varuna naval exercise scheduled in early 2018, were agreed upon. Both countries will also actively explore additional measures to facilitate operational level interactions between their respective armed forces," the statement said.

The ministers reiterated their strong intention to further expand bilateral cooperation on counter- terrorism.

They also "comprehensively reviewed" developments in defence equipment and industry cooperation, where France is a major partner. They agreed to strongly support projects for defence manufacturing under the Make in India initiative as well as promote defence technology and Research and Development cooperation, the statement added.

The possibility of another deal for additional 36 Rafale jets for India is expected to have figured in the talks, though there was no official confirmation.

On Friday morning, Parly paid tributes at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at Indian Gate, and was accorded a Guard of Honour in the lawns of South Block, which homes the Defence Ministry.

A statement from the French Embassy on Thursday called India the "foremost Asian strategic partner" and said the Minister's visit was aimed at strengthening all aspects of France's fast developing defence cooperation with India.

Parly later went to Nagpur on Friday evening, where she participated in the foundation stone-laying ceremony of Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL) by its joint promoters, along with Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani and CMD - Dassault Aviation Eric Trappier.

DRAL will be part of the upcoming Aerospace Park in Nagpur and plans to develop an indigenous value-added supply chain, thereby building a strong base for the success of the Rafale programme under the Make in India initiative.

On Saturday, Parly will call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for wide-ranging talks ahead of the State visit of President Emmanuel Macron. She will also meet National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

She would also visit the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited in Mumbai, were the Scorpene submarines are being made, and also visit the Western Naval Command.

The Scorpene submarines are being built with transfer of technology under the P75 project by MDL, in collaboration with French shipbuilding major, Naval Group (formerly DCNS).

She will also board the INS Kalvari, the first of the six Scorpene submarines to have been delivered to the Indian Navy.
San Juan, Oct 28 : Former US presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders travelled to Puerto Rico to meet with officials and get a first-hand view of the widespread damage caused by Hurricane Maria.

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello received the Vermont Senator at San Juan's Luis Munoz Marin International Airport on Friday, reports Efe news.

Sanders later joined San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz on a tour of Playita, an area in the capital city which was one of the hardest hit by hurricane Maria, the most powerful storm ever to strike the island.

The Category 4 hurricane slammed into Puerto Rico on September 20, knocking out water and power and rendering most of the island's roads impassable.

More than 50 people were killed.

"I want the people in Puerto Rico, as well as those in the Virgin Islands, to know that they are not alone, they have not been forgotten," Sanders said in Playita.

"Only 26 per cent of Puerto Rico has electrical power and around 90 per cent of the US Virgin Islands is still without any electricity.

"The level of destruction in Puerto Rico is unprecedented. Rebuilding will require significant resources over a long period of time."

At a subsequent joint press conference with Yulin, Sanders joined the mayor in denouncing the awarding of a $300 million contract for repairing Puerto Rico's power grid to a firm whose main investor made contributions to President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.

State-owned utility AEE's decision to hire Whitefish Energy Holdings was controversial in Puerto Rico even before the Daily Beast reported on Tuesday that the firm behind Whitefish, HBC Investments, was founded and led by Joe Colonetta, who donated more than $50,000 to the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee.

"It smells bad," Sanders said of the deal, pledging that he and his colleagues on the Senate Energy Committee would closely examine every aspect of the contract with Whitefish, a Montana-based firm with only two permanent employees.
Seoul, Oct 28 : Visiting US Defence Secretary James Mattis warned on Saturday that a possible North Korean nuclear strike on the US or its allies will be defeated with a "massive military response".

Speaking after talks with his South Korean counterpart Song Young-moo in Seoul, the Pentagon chief pointed out North Korea has accelerated its threats with "unnecessary" nuclear and missile programmes, reports Yonhap News Agency.

His remarks came after the conclusion of the 49th annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) between the US and South Korea, held at the Defence Ministry.

North Korea's military will be overmatched by the allies' combined defense posture, he stressed.

"Make no mistake, any attack on the US, or our allies, will be defeated.

"Any use of nuclear weapons will be met with a massive military response," Mattis added.

Upon his arrival in South Korea on Friday, Mattis said that the American government did not want a war with North Korea, but rather initiate a process to achieve a complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

Mattis' statement came during his visit to a border guard post and the Joint Security Area, which is part of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the two Koreas.

He urged the Kim Jong-un regime to halt provocations that threaten others "with catastrophe".

Mattis' trip to the region comes ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to Asia next week.

However, Trump will most likely forgo a visit to the heavily fortified border, according to the White House.
United Nations, Oct 28 : Two popular pillars of education in India and elsewhere in Asia -- "high-stakes" tests and private tuitions -- have been denounced by Unesco as harmful to students and the goals of education.

"There is extensive evidence showing that high-stakes tests based on narrow performance measures can encourage efforts to 'game the system', negatively impacting on learning and disproportionately punishing the marginalised," the Paris-based educational, scientific and cultural arm of the UN said in its annual Global Education Monitoring Report released this week.

The report also came out against private tuition, which it said "can increase students' academic burden and stress".

"While remedial or individualised help may benefit students, the time and money allocated to tutoring can undermine student well-being and strain household budgets," the report said.

It also blamed tuitions for worsening inequality in education, saying, "Better-educated households in urban areas with children attending private schools were more likely to pay for private tutoring."

The report cited a study published in 2016 that said that in India in 2007-8 about 40 per cent of urban secondary students received private tutoring, compared with about 26 per cent of rural students.

Explaining the findings of the report, the Unesco Director-in-Charge of it, Manos Antoninis, told reporters on Thursday that in some countries "there is an attempt to use test scores to hold teachers and schools accountable, to sanction them."

"But we draw attention to the fact in particular that it is a tool that has not worked," he said.

"On the contrary it is a tool that is (to the) detriment of what it is precisely to be supposed to be doing because it narrows curriculum, forces teachers to teach to the test."

At the same time it was very important for having a system to evaluate how learning is accomplish so citizens can hold governments accountable, Antonini said. For this there were "extremely sophisticated systems" developed in many countries as alternatives to the tests, he said.

"But trying to impose those, export those to countries with weaker capacities is quite a complicated story," he added. "So the report urges that one needs to be careful, building the capacity of the systems and not making unrealistic assumptions about what is possible."

"We don't want to see a narrowing of the agenda on very narrow performance measures and then use those to sanction teachers and schools, because that has the potential for very negative consequences on education."

The report also criticised the growing inequalities in higher education. In countries like India, "elite research universities received more public funds and often charged higher tuition and other fees," it said.

"Meanwhile, comprehensive or non-elite colleges and technical institutes received less public funding and charged their students lower tuition."

The high-stakes tests are a great source of stress for students, taking a serious toll on their mental and physical health. According to the Indian National Crime Records Bureau statistics, 2,672 students committed suicide in 2015 because of failure in exams.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)
Kathmandu, Oct 28 : At least 14 people were killed on Saturday when a passenger bus skidded off a highway and plunged into a river in Nepal's Dhading district, police said.

"Fourteen bodies were recovered while 15 injured are receiving treatment at local hospitals," a district official told Xinhua news agency.

The accident took place at 5 a.m. The bus, carrying nearly 40 passengers, was en route to Kathmandu from Rajbiraj.

The police have intensified rescue operations and the toll was expected to rise, the official added.

Authorities have not yet been able to pull the bus out of the river.
Chandigarh, Oct 28 : The 'Green Revolution' state is yet to recover from the after-effects of the note ban decision.

The announcement by the Narendra Modi government was sudden and it could not have come at a worse time for farmers in Punjab and neighbouring Haryana as the paddy procurement season was at its peak and payments of over Rs 20,000 crore were yet to be made to the farming community at that time.

With confusion abounding over the old Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes, non-availability of the new currency notes, stoppage of operations of cooperative banks and long queues outside bank branches in rural areas, the farm economy got virtually messed up in both the states.

"The Arhtiyas (commission agents) took full advantage of the situation. Most farmers were already reeling under debt and money was not available to pay them back. The payments for procured paddy was delayed and the situation took a turn for the worst," farmer Baljit Singh, who has his land near Mahilpur in Hoshiarpur district, told IANS.

"It seems the Modi government had no idea of the toll it would take on the poor, debt-ridden farmers in agrarian states like ours. The move was most ill-timed pushing many farmers further into debt. It was an economic anarchy," he said, expressing the anguish of thousands of affected farmers.

In rural areas of Haryana, long queues were visible three months after the demonetisation announcement was made on November 8 last year, with supply of new currency notes being highly erratic.

"For several weeks, farmers had to suffer, as they could not buy seeds and fertilisers for the next crop on time after the paddy harvest. The government and its agencies did little to help us," farmer Randeep Singh of Sangrur district told IANS.

Punjab, which has just 1.54 per cent of the country's geographical area, contributes nearly 50 per cent of the foodgrains to the central kitty.

Farmers say that the sentiment in agriculture and horticulture continues to be down ever since that fateful day.

"The agrarian economy is still reeling under the after-effects of the demonetisation and its cascading effect. The sentiment is still down. The horticulture sector was the worst hit as the citrus fruits like Kinnow were already in the markets and orders were cancelled overnight," said Amarjit Singh, a horticulturist from the Abohar-Fazilka belt of southwest Punjab.

Youngster Adiraj, who had picked up orders for the supply of Tangerines grown in his family orchard and wanted to market these, suddenly found buyers cancelling orders.

"Fruits and vegetables have a restricted shelf life of 3-7 days. These have to be sold and consumed. As orders were cancelled or payments were stuck, growers suffered. The horticulture sector has still not recovered," horticulturist Kulwant Singh told IANS.

Taking a jibe at the "dreamy plan" of the Modi government to double the income of farmers in the next few years, farmers say that the agriculture sector has been set back by at least five years due to demonetisation.

"Look at the spate of suicides in Punjab, especially by young farmers who are under debt. Some of them have outstanding loans of less than Rs 5 lakhs but are unable to pay these back and are committing suicide. The central and state governments are only doing lip service and no one is really bothered," farmer leader Rajwant Singh said.

A majority of farmers in Punjab have small land holdings -- from 2.5 to 5 acres -- due to which they hardly earn any profit from the crops. Most of them barely sustain themselves and their families.

The Congress government in Punjab, under Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, has promised to waive loans of up to Rs 2 lakh of debt-ridden farmers. This is going to cost the fund-starved government a whopping Rs 9,500 crore.

Till the Centre steps in and both governments take some bold decisions to pull out the agriculture sector from the present mess aggravated by demonetisation, the farm economy will continue to be in doldrums in the food bowl of India.

(Jaideep Sarin can be reached at jaideep.s@ians.in)

(Editors: The above article is part of a series of demonetisation stories leading up to November 8)
New Delhi, Oct 28 : India will host the next UN global wildlife conservation and international species protection conference in 2020, it was announced on Saturday in the Philippine capital.

"#India to be the host of the next CMS Conference of the Parties #CMSCOP13! Officially announced at the closing #CMSCOP12 plenary, in Manila," the UN for Environment Programme tweeted.

An announcement in this regard was made on the last day of the week-long 12th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals or CMS COP12, the only international treaty devoted exclusively to migratory animal species.

Delegates from 91 countries participated in the CMS COP that is held once in three years. This was for the first time the summit was held in Asia.

"An intensive week of negotiations have resulted in a stronger commitment by countries to step up their efforts to conserve the planet's migratory wildlife," an official statement quoting CMS Executive Secretary Bradnee Chambers said.

The CMS COP12 in Manila has been the largest-ever meeting in the 38-year history of the convention, which is also known as the 'Bonn Convention' after the German city in which it was signed.

The summit saw some notable outcomes, including a vulture multi-species action plan to better protect 15 species of Old World Vulture in more than 120 countries, comprising four that are critically endangered in India.

Governments also agreed to cooperate on reducing the negative impacts of marine debris, noise pollution, renewable energy and climate change on migratory species.

Other mammals that will benefit from the additional protection include the African wild ass -- the most endangered wild equid in the world -- Przewalski's Horse and four species of Lasiurus Bat.

The proposal to add the Chinkara (Indian gazelle) was withdrawn.

Addressing the Plenary of COP12, UN Environment Executive Director Erik Solheim said the sustainable development goals were directed at both "people and planet".

He added that new technologies and political commitment could protect both the planet and bring development to people with the same policies.
New Delhi, Oct 28 : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday again took to social media, this time to help Indians abroad who lost their passporst.

"Indian Embassy in Malaysia: This is an emergency case. Pls open the Embassy and help the Indian family," Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

She was responding to a request by one Meera Ramesh Patel who said that her family members lost their passports at a Malaysian airport and the Indian Embassy was closed because of the weekend.

In a separate tweet, Sushma Swaraj offered help to an Indian student who lost her passport in the US.

"Anusha - I am asking @IndianEmbassyUS to help you," the External Affairs Minister stated in response to a request by Anusha Dhulipala.
New Delhi : The final shootout in the old Wild West movies has the camera dwell on the blaze engulfing the Sheriff's office. The Sheriff leads the charge into the saloon where the bad men lounge around.

If this analogy is to be applied to the final blow up taking place in West Asia, particularly since the Russians entered Syria in 2015 to help fight "terrorist outfits" like Jabhat al Nusra, Al Qaeda, ISIS and so on, the script will have to be expanded on an epic scale, focused not on one saloon but on a series of them, serving clusters of homesteads. Kobane, Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Homs, Palmyra, Mosul, Raqqa, Kirkuk....

I can set the scene for the script having travelled to Homs, Hama, Daraa at the outset when US Ambassador Stephen Ford was promoting democracy, meeting insurgents. It was an open road show.

Americans had said at the very outset of their involvement in Syria that they would not have boots on the ground. The Russians had indicated no such squeamishness. In other words, Russians would have a ringside seat on Americans' messy involvement with Nusra here or Al Qaeda there.

These gangs were instantly transformed into freedom fighters whenever there was need. Simply put, terrorists fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were freedom fighters, worthy of support in training with lethal weapons. But Assad fighting terrorists was foul: he was a thug, thwarting democracy. Heads I win; tails you loose. Of course, there must be excesses committed by Assad, like us in Kashmir, but the larger context dwarves these.

If you find my tone at a variance from what you have seen and read on Syria, do please watch Congressional hearings with Army Commanders managing the Syrian show. Not to be missed is the hapless Defence Secretary, Ashton Carter, admitting before a full press corps how a $500 million programme to train Syrians had to be abandoned because the trainees handed their weapons to Jabhat al Nusra and found safe passage to few know where.

The mad pursuit for a New Middle East, repeatedly thwarted, keeps resurfacing, hydra-like. The driving force behind the neo con dream has metastasized into all sorts of outlandish and frightful scenarios.

Has the strategic community forgotten founder of Blackwater, Eric Prince's idea of "governing" Afghanistan exactly as the British governed India in early 20th century - under a "Viceroy"? Yes, the written proposal was under active consideration of the President of the US last summer, with his adviser Steve Bannon grinning from ear to ear at the prospect of Afghan raw materials funnelled suitably into Trump's "America first" receptacle. Read the Atlantic magazine on that theme. The deal was almost done.

Never mind if they were not allowed to reinvent the British empire in Afghanistan. The world's biggest provider of mercenary fighting units controls other fiefdoms. They are part of the core group advising the Abu Dhabi ruler. Thanks to Blackwater, Latin American soldiers are fighting for the Saudis in Yemen. How will countries like Colombia utilize their citizens trained and tested in combat when they return home? Bogota may not have the money to afford Blackwater, but surely Trump may find battle-ready Colombians useful against a country on his hit-list: Venezuela.

The most sinister part of the post 9/11 wars inaugurated by the US in West Asia is their endlessness. This has become so, particularly after the Afghan and Iraqi experience. The US learnt at great cost that troops in both theatres were inextricably bogged down in the quicksand. Wisdom dawned. Air power, missiles, drones would provide cover, if needed, to "indigenous" foot soldiers, armed to the teeth with fierce Jihadism and financed, well, by Saudi Arabia. Qatar, Turkey, the Emirates have all had their hand in this till.

In its first, experimental stage this Jihadism was able to push back Soviet power from Afghanistan in 1989. The carelessness with which the US turned its back on this high voltage takfirism was stunning. US strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski's terse comment was typical: "We were focused on bringing down the Soviet Union; we were not worried about some stirred up Muslims."

These "stirred up" Muslims boomeranged in Kashmir, Cairo, Algiers. Post 9/11 wars, with Jihadist foot soldiers, has left a rich crop of Jihadists in platoon and company strength.

Robert Fisk, authoritative journalist on West Asia, has a telling piece in The Independent: "ISIS has lost Raqqa - so where will its fighters head to next?" The Syrian Democratic Forces, mostly Kurdish, backed by the Americans, were supposed to be fighting the IS.

What has actually happened is mind boggling. US air power has flattened Raqqa on the scale of Dresden in World War II. But by Fisk's testimony, 275 IS fighters have been freed to go where they like. Deir ez-Zzor is one destination. But they can be relocated far afield to unsettle any targeted society with a Muslim minority.

The Moscow initiative on Afghanistan had anticipated some of this. When China, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and eventually even India and several Central Asian countries met in Moscow last April, the main item on the agenda was that Taliban, being an Afghan National entity, should be incorporated in Kabul's power structure. The move would isolate the IS, Al Qaeda and their affiliates and thus prevent them from unsettling countries in the region.

The Moscow initiative came after Trump's announcement: he would drastically scale down in Afghanistan. But, true to form, Trump changed his mind. He is now embarked on an open ended involvement in Afghanistan - with all accompanying dangers. In the name of fighting the IS, Afghanistan may end up becoming a hatchery for multiples of IS and Al Qaedas. The Mujahideen will have come full circle.

Has Islamic militancy increased since the global war on terror was launched? An honest answer will place this piece in perspective.

(A senior commentator on political and diplomatic affairs, Saeed Naqvi can be reached on saeednaqvi@hotmail.com. The views expressed are personal.)
Mumbai, Oct 28 : Writer, film producer and former actress Twinkle Khanna feels honoured to get the Popular Choice Award at the sixth edition of Bangalore Literature Festival for her book "The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad".

Twinkle tweeted the news on Saturday.

"A great honour to win an award with such wonderful writers -- See you at the Bangalore Literature Festival tomorrow (Sunday) in Bengaluru," she tweeted.

The fest will take place in Bengaluru on Saturday and Sunday.

"The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad" is Twinkle's second book which released this year. Her first book was "Mrs Funnybones", released in 2015, which was an instant hit with readers looking for a light read.

On the film front, Twinkle has co-produced Akshay Kumar starrer "Padman", also featuring Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte in lead roles.

The film tells a true story of Arunachalam Muruganantham's journey to make affordable sanitary napkins.
New Delhi, Oct 28 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said there were "practical problems" due to which he was not able to meet the media often.

"There are hopes from the both sides. There are complaints from the both sides. But I think it is our professional hazard. We have to find a middle path to move forward, smilingly," he told mediapersons at the BJP's Diwali Milan event here "I recall how I used to spend much of my time with you... Most of you are from the same generation. Getting nostalgic is natural. There were no barriers, no difficulties then. Those were the days when we used to search for you and my speech would some time find some space (in the media)."

He said the media unlike previously has expanded so much now that it was difficult to meet all journalists.

"Some of you tell me, Modiji you don't meet us now. Earlier we used to meet you, used to just knock at the door and enter. That was a different atmosphere of happiness. We used to talk a lot but today it has become difficult.

"There were only a few in your fraternity. And the circle has become so big and media itself has so evolved in so many ways... It has posed us a challenge in maintaining contact and maintain openness. There is no problem with intentions, the problem is practical," Modi said, He said understanding each other further strengthens the relationship and mutual belief.

"My experience says that everyone performs duties formally. But informally every one has something to contribute to the nation. They (journalists) tell us about bottlenecks... tell us where we need to improve. You guys travel a lot," he said.

Modi said he could also identify some media who criticise for the sake of criticism.
Hyderabad, Oct 28 : Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Telangana received a jolt on Saturday as its state working president A. Revanth Reddy resigned from the party.

Revanth, who plans to join the main opposition Congress party, submitted his resignation to the TDP's national president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in Amaravati.

The young leader called on Naidu in here and submitted his resignation from the primary membership of the party. He stated in his letter that he had the utmost respect for Naidu's leadership.

The move came on a day when Naidu had called the party's Telangana leaders including Revanth to Amaravati to discuss the party affairs.

Naidu had met the TDP leaders here on Friday but the meeting was inconclusive. Several TDP leaders including state president L. Ramna and M. Narasimhulu were demanding that Revanth be expelled from the party for his open moves to cross over to Congress.

Revanthhad reportedly called on Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi and conveyed his decision to join the party.

Hailing from Mahabubnagar district, he was considered one of the key leaders of the party in Telangana. In the 2014 elections, he was elected to Telangana assembly from Kodangal constituency.

In 2015, he was caught red-handed by Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) while offering Rs 50 lakh to nominated member of Telangana assembly Elvis Stephenson to lure him to vote for TDP candidate in legislative council elections.

He had recently made a sensational allegation that some Andhra Pradesh ministers got contracts worth hundreds of crores from Telangana government. He was also unhappy with some TDP leaders of Telangana for favouring a tie-up with ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

TDP has considerable weakened in the state following defection of 12 of its legislators to TRS during last three years.

With Revanth's resignation, TDP's tally in 119-member assembly will reduce to two.
New Delhi, Oct 28 : The Janata Dal-United faction led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday demanded a "free and fair probe" into allegations that Congress leader Ahmed Patel had links with two arrested terrorists in Gujarat.

"The allegations against Ahmed Patel has been made by the Chief Minister of the state, which are very serious in nature. So we demand a free and fair probe," JD-U spokesperson K.C. Tyagi told reporters here.

He also said that and if anyone's "role is established then the law must act".

"On the issue of national security we are very straight that there will be no compromise with it. Let the law take its own course. If anyone is found guilty then he should be punished," Tyagi said.

Tyagi's remarks came a day after Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani alleged that Patel was linked to a suspected terrorist arrested by the state's Anti-Terrorist Squad on Wednesday from Bharuch. Patel has rubbished the charge.

Rupani told reporters that Mohammed Qasim Stimberwala, caught by the Intelligence Bureau and security agencies, was working at a Bharuch hospital where Patel had been a trustee and, though he resigned after the UPA lost power "still oversees the working of the hospital".

Stimberwala, one of the two alleged IS operatives arrested by the Gujarat ATS from Surat, had resigned recently as an echocardiogram technician in the Sardar Patel Hospital and Heart Institute in Ankleshwar, which Patel had helped grow into a modern facility.

Patel was one of the trustees during the hospital's formative years as a modern hospital and the only one in the entire Bharuch district with latest equipment and technology with facilities for heart surgery. He had resigned as a trustee in 2014, facilitating a new board of trustees to take over.

The ATS, which picked up Stimberwala and Ubed Ahmed Mirza, claimed that the two were planning to attack a Jewish synagogue in Khadia area of Ahmedabad and had even carried out reconnaissance of their target.

Mirza was a practicing lawyer at the Surat district court, Stimberwala worked as a technician at the Ankleshwar hospital.
New Delhi, Oct 28 : Fifteen species of vultures found in over 120 countries, including four India, got a fresh lease of life as a 12-year multi-species coordinated action plan to conserve them got the nod at a UN summit that ended in the Philippines on Saturday.

However, the proposal to extend additional protection to the chinkara or Indian gazelle was withdrawn, the summit's organisers said.

But the whale shark, a victim of over-fishing also in India, got global protection too.

The week-long 12th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals or CMS COP12 concluded in Manila with decisions on 34 species in submissions made by 24 countries from Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania.

These include action, which as per the convention, comes into force 90 days after the COP, on Africa's great carnivores and the endangered whale shark, known as the butanding in the Philippines.

Delegates from 91 countries, including India, had attended the summit, which will next be held in India in 2020.

Experts say the Indian vultures that are set to get collaborative international protection under the Multi-Species Action Plan to Conserve African-Eurasian Vultures are the red-headed, white-rumped, long-billed and the slender-billed species.

The action plan would mean programmes to protect the vultures across Africa, Asia and Europe from all of threats faced by them -- ranging from poisoning to hunting to collision with electricity cables to habitat degradation.

Widespread over-fishing is driving many shark species, including the world's largest fish, the whale shark, to extinction.

India is among 121 nations that are home to this species with continuing global population declines. The major threats to it are fishermen's catches, bycatch in nets and vessel strikes.

Three countries -- the Philippines, Israel and Sri Lanka -- had jointly submitted a proposal for including the whale shark, found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, in Appendix I of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) for its conservation.

The proposal has been adopted, a spokesperson for CMS COP12 told IANS on the phone.

Likewise, proposals for conservation of the blue shark, common guitarfish and development and management of marine protected area networks within the Asean region have been adopted, the spokesperson said.

Proposals submitted by Mongolia to protect two of Central Asia's rarest species, Przewalski's horse and the Gobi bear, also got the nod.

"The conference in Manila has been a real game changer for the convention. An intensive week of negotiations have resulted in a stronger commitment by countries to step up their efforts to conserve the planet's migratory wildlife," an official statement quoted CMS Executive Secretary Bradnee Chambers as saying.

Governments also agreed to cooperate on reducing the negative impact of marine debris, noise pollution, renewable energy and climate change on migratory species.

The CMS COP12 in Manila has been the largest in the 38-year history of the Convention, which is also known as the Bonn Convention after the German city in which it was signed.

The summit saw some notable outcomes, including all fish proposals being endorsed, which means three species of shark and three species of ray will receive greater protection with the whale shark on Appendix I and the angelshark being listed on both Appendices.

The dusky shark, the blue shark, the common guitarfish and the white-spotted wedgefish are listed in Appendix II.

The spokesperson said for the first time, the giraffe would receive protection under an international treaty with a listing on CMS Appendix II.

Although populations in many Southern African countries are thriving, they are in overall decline across Africa with less than 90,000 animals remaining in the wild.

The leopard and lion will also be listed on CMS Appendix II, paving the way for a joint initiative on protecting Africa's great carnivores.

The African Carnivores Initiative will become a focal point for the implementation of resolutions and decisions on lions, leopards, cheetahs and wild dogs under CMS and CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

The humans' closest relative, the chimpanzee, is now listed on both CMS Appendices. It is facing a 50 per cent drop in numbers over three generations and rapid habitat loss, especially in the western and eastern parts of its historic range.
Indore, Oct 28 : Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that India is the land of Hindus but it does not exclude others.

"Hindustan is a country of Hindus. However, it does not mean that it does not belong to others. All those who were born in India, and their forefathers were from this land would be called Hindu. Hence, it is called Hindutva and not Hinduism," he said on Friday while addressing college-goers at 'Shankhnad' event here.

If those living in Germany are Germans, those in America are Americans, in the same way, every person living in Hindustan is Hindu, Bhagwat said.

Despite its diversity, India has consistently exhibited unity, he added.

Bhagwat said public participation was crucial for development of the country and it could not be left solely to the government.

Progress of the government depended on the progress of society, he said.

Saying that change cannot be brought by force, Bhagwat asked for change in "vision, conduct, thinking".

"We are moving in that direction speedily," he said.
Agartala, Oct 28 : India and Bangladesh will restore the pre-1965 status of rail connections between the two neighbours, Bangladesh Railway Minister Mazibul Hoque said here.

"India and Bangladesh will jointly restore the pre-1965 status of our rail connections.

"Currently India and Bangladesh have four operational rail links between West Bengal and western Bangladesh. More rail connections would be restored in the near future," Hoque told IANS here on Friday night.

"The Agartala-Akhaura (Bangladesh) new rail link will be operational within a year. Funded by India, the necessary works for laying the new 15-km rail track between Agartala railway station and Akhaura railway station has already started."

The Bangladesh Minister is here to attend the Rotary Clubs of India and Bangladesh's two-day third "Setubandhan" international programme.

The state-run Indian Railway Construction Company (Ircon) will lay the five km track on the Indian side while the remaining 10 km would be laid by the Bangladesh railways.

The Rs 963 crore ($145 million) project was finalised in January 2010 when Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met her then Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi.

Former Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Majibul Haque, jointly laid its foundation stone here on July 31 last year.

The Indian government would bear the entire cost of the project. The issue had also figured during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Sheikh Hasina during his visit to Dhaka in June 2015.

"India is the best friend of Bangladesh. The country sheltered lakhs of Bangladeshi men and women in the 1971 Liberation War and helped a lot to create a sovereign country of Bangladesh," said Hoque, who is himself a Bangladeshi "Mukti Yoddha" (freedom fighter) and trained in Tripura during the nine-month-long war.

The four operational railway links between India and Bangladesh are Petrapole-Benapole, Gede-Darshana, Radhikapur-Biral and Singhabad-Rohanpur.

Two more rail connections have been proposed. Feni (Bangladesh)-Belonia (India) will connect Tripura with the Bangladesh sea port of Chittagong, and West Bengal's Siliguri will connect Panchagarh in North-Western Bangladesh, opening the scope for future cargo movement.

India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during her visit to Bangladesh earlier this week said a significant area of the bilateral cooperation is the quest to increase connectivity through restoration of pre-1965 links encompassing road, rail, water and coastal shipping.

The frequency of the Dhaka-Maitree express has been increased. The journey time of the Dhaka-Kolkata Maitree Express will be reduced from nine to six hours, by doing away with the two-phased immigration checks at the Indian border of Gede and Bangladesh border of Darshana.

The inaugural commercial run of the Kolkata-Khulna second passenger train service is expected to start by the middle of next month. More bus services linking the cities of Bangladesh and India have also begun.

The Kolkata-Khulna passenger train service was operational till 1965.
Mumbai, Oct 28 : Expectations of faster economic growth on the back of the recently announced recapitalisation measures for state-run banks lifted the key Indian equity indices for the fourth straight week and led the 30-scrip Sensex to close above the 33,000-points-mark.

Other factors like prospects of additional liquidity, healthy buying in bluechip stocks, along with hopes of better quarterly results aided in the key indices upward trajectory.

However, volatility and profit bookings which emerged at the end of the weekly trade capped gains.

On a weekly basis, the 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) edged higher by 572.87 points or 1.75 per cent to 33,157.22 points.

Similarly, the wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) made gains. It rose by 112.2 points or 1.09 per cent to close at 10,323.05 points.

The S&P BSE Sensex touched a record new intra-day highs of 33,286.51 points, while the broader NSE Nifty50 breached 10,366.15-points-mark.

"Domestic markets soared to lifetime highs on broadly positive global cues despite the fact earnings of the corporates are yet to show any meaningful recovery," D.K. Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of SMC Investments and Advisors, told IANS.

"The bulls got the strength after the announcement of the bank recapitalisation plan by the government to address the issue of inadequate lending and approval of the proposal for Bharatmala Pariyojana phase-I along with other programmes."

Harsha Upadhyaya, Chief Investment Officer -- Equity, Kotak Mutual Fund said: "While it was all about lights and fireworks during Diwali week, it was all about recapitalisation bazooka for ailing PSU banks this week."

Even the domestic political cues supported the Indian indices northward movement.

"Early opinion polls placed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the driving seat in both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. This enhanced investors' risk-taking appetite," Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, told IANS.

"Investors holding short positions also covered their shorts which further fuelled the rally."

According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, better than expected results from bluechip companies helped the market to remain on a positive note.

"The F&O expiry week added some volatility in the market, however stock and sector specific actions helped the market to trade in a positive territory," Nair said.

In terms of investments, provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that FIIs (foreign institutional investors) were net buyers of stocks. They invested in Rs 912.33 crore during the week ended October 27. The domestic institutional investors (DIIs) pumped-in Rs 220.87 crore.

On the currency front, the rupee remained flat and closed at 65.05 against the US dollar.

On a sector specific basis PSU bank, media, infra and metals indices gained during the week ended October 27, whereas IT index plunged, said Deepak Jasani, Head - Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

Analysts pointed out that telecom stocks gained early in the weekly trade after Reliance Industries Ltd's unit Jio raised data tariffs.

"Telecom sector witnessed value buying in expectation of normalisation of tariffs, consolidation in the industry, and better outlook on data usage," Nair added.

(Rohit Vaid can be contacted at rohit.v@ians.in)
Chennai, Oct 28 : A day after tweeting about the risk of a flood in North Chennai, actor Kamal Haasan on Saturday visited the Ennore Creek and spoke to the residents.

Residents living near Ennore Creek were surprised to see the star visit their locality along with few environmentalists and social activists.

Haasan, who is planning to launch a political party, also spoke to the residents and heard their problems.

Haasan on Friday voiced his concern on the environmental impact due to the dumping of the ash waste by power plants in river Kosasthalaiyar and also warned about possible flooding of north Chennai.

In a series of tweets, Haasan said that the Vallur Thermal Plant and North Chennai Thermal Plant are dumping their ash waste in the river, and cited expert opinion to warn that north Chennai would get flooded even during normal rains.

He also noted that the forecast now is more than normal rainfall which, in turn, puts at risk 10 lakh people in that area.

The actor said a good government should find a permanent solution for the problems faced by the people.

Haasan also warned the government and the people that it would be dangerous for Chennai if the Ennore Creek is ignored.
Mumbai, Oct 28 : France's Defence Minister Florence Parly on Saturday led a 13-member high-powered delegation to the Western Naval Command and Mazagon Docks Ltd here, officials said.

She interacted with Vice-Admiral Girish Luthra, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, WNC and discussed aspects related to maritime security cooperation, bilateral exercises, ship visits, training, equipment, technology and professional exchanges.

Relations between India and France are being accorded top priority by both countries as seen by recent high-level interactions between the nations, with the upcoming visit of French President Emmanuel Macron in the second week of December.

Interaction between the Indian Navy and French Navy has nurtured into a strong partnership based on mutual interests over the years.

The naval cooperation between the two has progressed most encouragingly in recent years and the increasing scale of operational interactions is an indicative of the growth of understanding between the two maritime forces.

Parly on Friday had laid the foundation stone for the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited's Rs 6,500 crore facility coming up at the Dhirubhai Ambani Aerospace Park in Nagpur.

Expected to start production from the first quarter of 2018, the DRAL project marks the largest foreign direct investment in the Indian defence sector acquired by the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group.

She also met Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi and discussed ways and means to boost defence ties between the two nations.
New Delhi, Oct 28 : The appointment of an interlocutor is not a U-turn in the government's Kashmir approach as militants and their supporters would be tackled militarily while those who want to have a dialogue can come and talk, BJP leader and its Kashmir in-charge Ram Madhav said on Saturday.

Madhav rebutted opposition criticism to the move, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Kashmir policy was "consistent" in a sense that tackling the issue needed a multi-pronged approach that called for different activities to be taken up simultaneously.

"And one of them is to tackle terrorists through strong military action. Whoever indulges in anti-national activities in the valley - whether in the form of indulging in terrorism or in the form of promoting it, sponsoring it, supporting it - will be caught. That will continue. But if somebody wants to come and talk to the central government, they can talk to the representative," he told CNN-New18 TV news channel.

Asked if it was not a complete shift from the government's approach of refusing to talk to the Hurriyat and an acknowledgement that the solution to the Kashmir problem lay in dialogue, Madhav said talks would be held with "sections that are ready to engage... but you will deal with sections in an appropriate manner that are out to indulge in terror".

The government on Monday appointed former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma as an interlocutor to open talks with all stakeholders in Kashmir.

Madhav ruled out any involvement of Pakistan in the government's Kashmir approach, saying it would talk to the neighbouring country but only about the parts of the state under Islamabad's control.

"Otherwise, the Kashmir issue is an internal matter for our government. We will talk to the people of the state, to different groups of the state. No outside power has any locus standi on that."

He also said Kashmir was moving towards peace as "things have gradually settled down" in the valley.

"Normal political activity has also started. The government of the day, BJP and PDP, is now focusing more and more on development. Now why a special representative has been appointed to talk to different groups in the state - you see the Home Minister has made it clear that the government's doors are open for groups that want to talk.

"It also should be understood that it cannot be done by the Home Minister or somebody at that level. So we decided that Dineshwar Sharma will be the government's representative to talk to different groups, and talking is never an option we shut down."

He said the approach was "very different" from the previous UPA government.

"They (the UPA) had a great Kashmir policy, which landed the state in such a big turmoil and complete mess. This is the result of the so-called Kashmir policy of the Congress government. Today in power, we are putting a different approach in tackling the problem, and we are sure that at the end of the day we will have an amicable solution."

Reacting to Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad's remarks that hundreds of lives of civilians as well as security forces could have been saved if there was no confusion in the BJP government's approach, Madhav said: "Under their government, the loss of life was maximum -- loss of lives of innocent people.

"Under this government, yes there are people dying, but those who are dying are terrorists. And if Azad's sympathy lies with terrorists, I can't help. We are trying our best to ensure minimum civilian casualties."

Asked about the possibility of Sharma talking to the Hurriyat leadership, Madhav said it was up to the separatist leadership to decide if they were "willing to talk". It "is a question you have to ask them".

"We have appointed a representative to engage with the groups. It cannot go on eternally. At some point we will have to assess the results. While I wouldn't say any specific timeline, this cannot be an unending process. Dialogue has to start and end somewhere."
New Delhi, Oct 28 : The Congress and BJP on Saturday sparred over terror allegations against Ahmed Patel, with the ruling party on Saturday seeking clarifications from Congress President Sonia Gandhi over the allegations against her political secretary. The Congress said the BJP was "rattled" at the prospect of defeat in Gujarat and was thus making "baseless" charges against the leader.

The BJP said if the Congress doesn't come clean on the issue then it will be linked to terrorism by people.

The Congress said the BJP was trying to take revenge against Ahmed Patel for the Rajya Sabha election defeat and they "should refrain from politicising the issue" and not link it with the Gujarat elections.

"The investigative agencies have arrested an IS suspect from a hospital in Gujarat. Ahmed Patel is associated with the hospital. Congress will have to answer. It cannot run away," Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said at a press conference.

He said that Congress President and Vice President Rahul Gandhi need to come forward and clarify on the matter.

"Terror suspect's link to hospital is a serious issue. It's a matter of national security. We want Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to give clarification," he said.

The Minority Affairs Minister said that the NDA government has adopted a zero tolerance policy against terrorism and hit out at the Congress leadership for defending Patel.

"After a few days people will start saying 'Congress ka hath Aatank ke sath' like they used to say earlier 'Congress ka hath corruption ke sath'. People are questioning Ahmed Patel's links to the IS operatives. Congress has a history of favouring anti-national elements," he said.

Referring to Mohammed Qasim Stimberwala, one of the two alleged IS operatives arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad from Surat on Wednesday, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had demanded resignation of Patel from the Rajya Sabha.

Stimberwala had resigned recently as an echo-cardiogram technician in the Sardar Patel Hospital and Heart Institute in Ankleshwar, which Patel had helped grow into a modern facility.

Patel was one of the trustees during the hospital's formative years. He had resigned as a trustee in 2014 facilitating a new board of trustees to take over the facility.

Reacting to Gujarat Chief Minister Rupani's allegations against Patel, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the BJP was hatching a conspiracy against the Congress MP and asked the party to look inwards.

The Congress leader said: "The BJP is staring at defeat in Gujarat and that is why they are rattled and making such baseless allegations against Congress leaders. Truth will win and the BJP will be defeated in Gujarat."

"Sardar Patel Hospital is a charitable hospital in which 150-200 employees work. Neither Ahmed Patel nor any of his family members is a trustee of the hospital. They also don't hold any office of profit in the hospital," said Surjewala, adding that Stimberwala was one the employees.

He said the ATS should initiate a probe against the suspected terrorists if it has evidence.

"The Gujarat Chief Minister, in order to hide his incapability, is trying to hatch a conspiracy against Congress leader Ahmed Patel and making baseless allegations against him in a very despicable attempt," the spokesperson said.

"The Congress has always fought against terrorism while the BJP has had an opposite record. Would Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah explain how terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's wife came to Mumbai under their nose in March 2016 and then left the country. How the Maharashtra government and intelligence agencies didn't even get a whiff of it and could not arrest her?"

Surjewala also said that some Islamic State agents arrested in Madhya Pradesh were found to have links with the BJP. "One of them Dhruv Saxena, was also a member of BJP's IT cell," he said.

"Is it not true that the BJP-PDP government in Jammu and Kashmir gave compensation to the family of terrorist Burhan Wani in December 2016," Surjewala asked.

He also pointed out that the previous NDA government had released dreaded terrorists like Maulana Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed Jargar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh from the Indian custody in the Kandahar hijacking incident.

"A Maharashtra BJP leader Eknath Khadse had to resign for his alleged links with Dawood. So, the BJP should look inwards before pointing fingers at others."
New Delhi, Oct 28 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that defence cooperation is one of the key pillars of strategic partnership between India and France and called for greater cooperation under 'Make in India programme in defence manufacturing.

Modi, who met France's Defence Minister Florence Parly, discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest.

An official release said that Parly briefed the Prime Minister about developments in bilateral defence cooperation.

"The Prime Minister said that defence cooperation is one of the key pillars of the Strategic Partnership between India and France and called for greater cooperation in the 'Make in India' framework in defence manufacturing and joint research and development," the release said.

Modi said he looks forward to receiving French President Emmanuel Macron in India at his earliest convenience.
New Delhi, Oct 28 : Senior journalists and former colleagues of Vinod Verma on Saturday expressed solidarity with the arrested journalist and demanded his immediate release. The journalists held a protest meeting at the Press Club of India (PCI) here demanding that Chhattisgarh Police exhibit any evidence against Verma, who was arrested on Friday on charges of extortion after claiming to have a "sex CD" of a BJP Minister.

"Chhattisgarh Police must furnish evidence related to extortion charges against Verma. They must exhibit materials to support its case," senior journalist Vinod Sharma demanded and said that the arrest of Verma is a warning to media.

Comparing the situation with that of Emergency, senior Hindi journalist Jaishankar Gupta said although the situation is not as bad as Emergency as then there were some laws which prohibited media from publishing, "Now people can be arrested on any charges if they publish anything against the government."

Om Thanvi, former editor of Jansatta, said that targeting journalists is not a good sign and arresting them under criminal charges is an indication that they might be booked for writing against the government.

Senior journalist Urmilesh criticised the government and said that Verma was targetted as he was member of a fact- finding team of the Editors Guild of India that exposed intimidation of journalists in Chhattisgarh.

He said Verma is not a full-fledged member of the Congress party but he is associated with a public relations company that is managing the work of the Congress in Chhattisgarh.

Verma, an independent journalist, had worked with a leading Hindi newspaper and BBC for several years.

He was arrested in Ghaziabad early on Friday on charges of allegedly blackmailing a BJP Minister in Chhattisgarh. Verma denied the charge and said he was being framed.
New Delhi, Oct 28 : President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said that Sister Nivedita had made India her life's mission and was a pioneer in girls' education and in providing health services to the poor, while paying tributes on the 150th birth anniversary of the social worker.

"Sister Nivedita's original name was Margaret Noble. True to her name, she served India with nobility," Kovind said.

"She was a pioneer in girls' education in India and in providing health services to the poor. She was a westerner who embraced India wholeheartedly, and lived and died with the well-being of India and Indians on her mind and in her heart."

While addressing people at Ramakrishna Mission here, Kovind said that Sister Nivedita was part of this tradition, and came to India and to Swami Vivekananda for enlightenment.

"She did not come and learn a little and leave. She learnt a lot - and stayed on. She made India her life's mission. And though born in Ireland, she became an Indian nation builder," Kovind said.

Nivedita was born in Ireland on October 28, 1867 and died on October 13, 1911.

Both Ireland and India were under colonial rule at that time when Nivedita visited India.

"There were many interactions between Irish and Indian political leaders in that period - but the bond that connected Swamiji and Sister Nivedita was unique. They wrote letters to each other that showed their commitment to certain values, as well as to a dignified friendship between a guru and a disciple," Kovind said.

He added that Swami Vivekananda was one of those who shaped our modern national consciousness and rediscovered Indian values for the world. "He was a true cultural ambassador, as became so apparent during his visit to Chicago in 1893 for the Parliament of Religions," Kovind said.
Washington, Oct 28 : US President Donald Trump on Saturday thanked his predecessor Jimmy Carter for saying the media coverage of him had been the most negative he had ever seen.

"Just read the nice remarks by President Jimmy Carter about me and how badly I am treated by the press (Fake News). Thank you President!" Trump said in a tweet.

The 93-year-old Carter made his comments in an interview published a week ago by the New York Times, saying that he wanted to help Trump lower tensions with North Korea and that media coverage of the current President had been particularly harsh.

"I think the media have been harder on Trump than any other President, certainly that I've known about," Carter, of the Democratic Party and President from 1977 to 1981, said in an interview with Times columnist Maureen Dowd, adding that journalists "feel free to claim that Trump is mentally deranged and everything else without hesitation".

Carter's remarks contrast with speeches earlier this month by two other ex-Presidents, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, who denounced rising polarization in the US in thinly veiled attacks on Trump that did not mention the president by name.

Asked during the interview whether Trump was deepening the racial divide in the US, Carter said he thought he was.

"Yes, I think he is exacerbating it," he said. "But maybe not deliberately."

Trump made no mention in his Saturday morning tweets about news that a grand jury on Friday had approved the first charges in connection with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and purported collusion with Russia by Trump's campaign.

CNN and the Wall Street Journal reported that at least one person had been charged and could be taken into custody as early as Monday. Trump has slammed Mueller's investigation as nothing more than a witch hunt.

In a separate tweet Saturday, Trump also blasted the media for what he said was insufficient coverage of third-quarter growth in the US gross domestic product, which the Commerce Department said had expanded by a greater-than-expected 3 percent between July and September despite the impact of Hurricane Harvey on Texas and Hurricane Irma on Florida.

The economy grew 3 percent after expanding at a clip of 3.1 per cent in the second quarter.
Ahmedabad, Oct 28 : As many as nine children died at the Government Civil Hospital here in one single day on Saturday, official sources said.

According to initial reports, the children breathed their last at Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. Five of them had been shifted from other hospitals in the state, while four were born here.

Police force was deployed at the hospital to prevent untoward incident by angry relatives of the children.

Denying reports that the children died because of absence of doctors, Civil Hospitals' Medical Superintendent M.M. Prabhakar told a Gujarati TV channel: "We always have doctors present 24 hours."

He claimed the patients could have been sent to the Civil Hospital when their condition deteriorated. "This happens often. When private hospitals realize that the patients could not be treated, they would send them here," he said.
Icimo, a business intelligence and data analytics company, announced its product release of TEAM Suite. TEAM Suite is designed to provide insights to optimize user engagement with Tableau Server. The solution focuses on analyzing the user experience, understanding performance and simplifying security reviews to drive long-term success with Tableau adoption. Icimo premiered the product at the October 9-12th Tableau Conference at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Tableau champions, content leaders and administrators will be able to gain critical insights into their Tableau Server engagement in one comprehensive suite. This access to critical adoption metrics such as user activity, permissions, and visualization performance times can drive enhancements in minutes. said Bryce Gartner, Icimos CEO and Founder. The success of a business intelligence initiative relies heavily on user adoption. If administrators can spot trends and troubleshoot concerns in the now, they can proactively implement solutions that will help drive user adoption. Icimos key differentiator is our ability to drive product adoption and help our clients maximize their returns on Tableau. The TEAM Suite is the culmination of tools weve used for years compiled together, the launch of TEAM Suite just continues our mission stated Gartner.

The TEAM Suite product pricing structure is 0-99 users $499 and 100+ users $999 annually. The product is available for immediate download via the Icimo website at https://www.icimo.com/products/icimo-t-e-a-m-suite/. To request a demo please contact sales(at)icimo.com.

About ICIMO

Icimo, a Tableau Gold Partner and Alteryx Partner, is a results-driven business intelligence firm delivering both technology and strategic services to clients. By combining technology and marketing expertise, Icimo helps clients be enlightened by their data - not limited by it. Icimo is founded on the belief that clients success comes before their own. This commitment to a customer-first approach earned them the 2016 Tableau Software Reseller of the Year for North and South America.
In a little more than a week, North Iowans will go to the polls to elect city officials and to vote on various local issues.

In Mason City, interest has been high because of three contested elections  for mayor and for Second Ward and Fourth Ward council seats and two ballot issues related to the River City Renaissance downtown improvement project.

Tom Thoma is running unopposed for an at-large position and, to his credit, has been campaigning as if he had an opponent so he can meet voters, express his views and hear their concerns.

The two ballot issues in Mason City have attracted so much public attention that there are websites promoting the "yes" point of view and another endorsing a "no" vote.

Whichever way the vote goes next week, the future of Mason City will be impacted significantly.

And that brings me to my next point.

Almost lost in the shuffle of all the election hub-bub is the fact that Mason City is operating without a fulltime city administrator.

Brent Trout, city administrator for 10 years, began work last week as city administrator in Topeka, Kansas. Finance Director Kevin Jacobson is serving as interim administrator.

It is up to the City Council to hire a new administrator and it usually takes quite a while. When Brent Trout was hired in 2007, the city hired the Brimeyer search firm from Minnesota to come up with some candidates.

Council members interviewed several candidates and were not satisfied with any of them. So the Brimeyer group went back in the field and came up with another group of candidates. Trout was hired from that group.

It is typically a process that takes months, not weeks, and whoever is hired has to hit the ground running because city business does not stop just because there is no fulltime administrator on board.

At this point, the council has taken no action toward hiring a new administrator. Since a new mayor and almost new council will be onboard in January, the current council may hold off and let the new council start the process.

Let's circle back, for a moment, to the two ballot issues Mason City voters will consider next week.

One is on whether residents approve of the lease arrangement the city is proposing with Southbridge Mall for the ice arena/multipurpose center.

The other is on whether the city should issue up to $14 million in bonds to pay for expenses related to the Gatehouse hotel/Music Man Square renovations that will include a conference center and a relocated museum.

The new city administrator, whoever it may be, will have his/her hands full no matter the outcome of the votes.

If voters approve the measures, the River City Renaissance project will be a go  including the hotel/conference center, the ice arena/multipurpose center and the performing arts pavilion.

There will be dozens of moving parts and deadlines, some of which extend for the next 20 years, all of which will be an immediate challenge for someone unfamiliar with what has been going on.

If the proposals are defeated, the new administrator and the council will have to answer a big question: Where do we go from here?
ExchangeMonitor Publications & Forums is excited to announce SOC, LLC as the Grand Sponsor for the 2018 Nuclear Deterrence Summit. This Summit brings together leaders from across the U.S. nuclear enterprise to discuss high-level policy changes.

Consistently ranked on the global Defense News Top 100 List of defense companies, SOC, A Day & Zimmerman Company, is a trusted global provider of mission solutions with a history of assuring safe and effective operations for U.S. government and commercial customers. SOC provides the delivery of mission critical safeguards and security, facility management and operations, engineering, explosive ordnance storage and disposal, international logistics, and life support services.

We are excited to announce SOCs support of the 10th Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit, said Kristy Keller, Brand Director, ExchangeMonitor Publications & Forums. SOC is a leader within the defense industry and their participation will bring a valuable perspective on national security, nuclear deterrence, nonproliferation, and modernization to the event. The Nuclear Deterrence Summit is the perfect opportunity for industry trailblazers, like SOC, and government to come together to discuss the future of the nuclear complex.

The 2018 Nuclear Deterrence Summit will explore the theme The Administrations New Nuclear Posture Review. The final document of the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) is set to be released just months before the Summit takes place, and will cover each leg of the nuclear triad. The review will detail the administrations priorities for modernization and how this effort will relate to the nations policies on nonproliferation, arms control and keeping the nation safe from nuclear attack as well as continuing efforts by the Department of Homeland Security and Nuclear Detection Office to combat future nuclear smuggling and terrorism activities.

The Summit gives attendees access to executives representing some of the worlds most influential organizations and government agencies working in the nuclear deterrence and nonproliferation areas. Through a day and a half of conference sessions and networking events, attendees will get high-level strategic updates from high-profile and expert speakers who are moving the industry forward, and connect with one another to create business for 2018 and beyond. To view the agenda, go to http://www.deterrencesummit.com/2018-agenda/

Taking place February 20-22 at the Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City in Arlington, VA, 2018 marks the 10 year anniversary of the annual Summit. With over 350 expected from companies and government agencies, including General Dynamics, Jacobs, AECOM, Booz Allen Hamilton, TechSource, Bechtel, Huntington Ingalls Industries / Stoller Newport News Nuclear (SN3), Navarro, National Nuclear Security Administration, Honeywell, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Sandia National Laboratory, and more, the 2018 Nuclear Deterrence Summit is a cant miss event.

To learn more and to register, visit http://www.deterrencesummit.com.

About ExchangeMonitor, a division of Access Intelligence, LLC

ExchangeMonitor Publications & Forums publishes professional newsletters and creates, manages and sponsors forums, colloquiums and workshops to facilitate an exchange of views and information on critical programs and policies. Areas of focus include: the Department of Energys Office of Environmental Management and the cleanup of the nuclear legacy of the Manhattan Project and the Cold War; the National Nuclear Security Administrative and the current U.S. nuclear weapons complex; and the commercial radioactive waste industry.

About SOC,

SOC LLC, A Day & Zimmerman Company, is a trusted provider of integrated security and critical infrastructure solutions carrying out and enabling national security missions globally in support of the U.S. Government, international organizations, and corporations. Originally founded as a security contractor supporting the U.S. Departments of Energy, Defense, and State, SOC has since broadened its portfolio to include a wide area of critical mission support, base operations, and cleared staffing services for the Federal Government. SOC is a company of more than 5,000 highly-trained and experienced personnel running some of the most sensitive and complex assignments around the world. As a part of Day & Zimmermann, SOC has consistently ranked among the leading companies on the Defense News Top 100 List each year.
Christian Renard, left, from the Academy of Music and Business in Sweden and Marshall Via, from Oaks Christian School in Westlake, Ca. perform.

Soundtrap, a collaborative music and podcast creation tool for the modern classroom, is pleased to share the success story of a global music partnership between Californias Oaks Christian School (OCS) and Swedens Academy of Music and Business (AMB), which was facilitated with the Soundtrap for Education platform.

Soundtrap is an innovator in bringing meaningful multimedia content to classrooms worldwide, enabling students at all grade levels, regardless of experience, skill level, or special needs, to create high-quality music and podcast projects. In this year-long project, the students in the United States and Sweden were able to connect through the Soundtrap platform, work collaboratively on musical compositions, plan joint concert events, and follow through by successfully performing onstage together in both nations. Soundtraps technology enables students in classrooms of all kinds to create, collaborate, and communicate together and, in this case, it worked just as effectively for students whose physical classrooms were across the globe.

The cross-continental collaboration between students from Oaks Christian School and the Academy of Music and Business is a wonderful example of students ingenuity, schools willingness to let students create and flourish, and Soundtraps ability to bridge divides and foster collaborative learning, even across the globe, said Soundtrap CEO Per Emanuelsson. We are proud that we were able to play a role in this successful music project and impressed by the dedication and teamwork displayed by each of the students and educators who participated.

Oaks Christian School, in Westlake Village, is a non-profit, private high school and middle school that opened in the year 2000. 12 music students from OCS spent several months collaborating with a dozen of their peers from AMB via the Soundtrap platform.

The students worked together to plan out a joint concert performance exchange, which culminated in an overseas trip to Sweden with two concerts performed, followed by two reciprocal concerts in the United States. A highlight of the collaboration for the Oaks Christian students was an opportunity to perform a live concert at the American Embassy in Stockholm, just days after last Aprils terrorist attack had shaken the Swedish capital. The American students were joined for the performance by their peers from Sweden and, even though theyd had no chance to rehearse together in-person, their collaborative work through Soundtrap prepared them for a successful joint performance.

Describing the performance at the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, OCS Performing Arts Chair Mary Kay Altizer said, "This was quite an emotional moment for the guests in the Embassy residence that day in Stockholm. Diplomats from both countries as well as students and guests from both AMB and Oaks Christian were visibly moved as the concert unfolded. This concert was described by one diplomat as a significant catalyst for the onset of healing for Sweden. The fact that such a beautiful demonstration of love, community, and solidarity could be expressed through the combined art of these American and Swedish students on the heels of such a hateful and horrific event was a tender moment for all in attendance.

The Academy of Music and Business, located in Tingsgryd, was launched by world renowned songwriter and entrepreneur Andreas Carlsson and musician Magnus Lundin to be a place where musicians could collaborate with other musicians, hone their skills, and learn how to be entrepreneurs by developing their brands and marketing their talent. In late April, the AMB students had their own chance to travel overseas, heading to California for two nights to perform joint concerts alongside their OCS peers titled "Spring Spectacular: Powerhouses of Rock and Pop." The concerts featured more than 130 instrumental and vocal musicians performing songs that have been recorded or written by American and Swedish artists and songwriters.

Working on this project with the faculty at Oaks Christianincluding Mary Kay, Jim Altizer, Ed Rouse, and Joe Diblasi, has been an absolutely incredible experience. I'm very proud of what we have created together and the impact this project made on the students from AMB and OCS, said Gezim Gashi, Head of Public Relations for the Academy of Music and Business.
Naveet McMahon We are extremely pleased to welcome Naveet McMahon on board given her reputation and experience doing business within the Asia Pacific region

Nina Xiang, Managing Editor and Founder of China Money Network Limited, the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform tracking Chinas smart investments and technology innovation, today announced an important new addition to the company's founding team.

Naveet McMahon, will be joining CMN as managing partner and part of the company's founding team, with effect from October 26, 2017. She will play a leading role in CMNs overall business development strategy and accelerate the company's expanding presence globally, with the aim to making CMN the go-to source for cross-border investment opportunities in China using its bilingual data intelligence.

We are extremely pleased to welcome Naveet McMahon on board given her reputation and experience doing business within the Asia Pacific region," says Nina Xiang, founder and managing editor of CMN. "With Naveet's extensive knowledge in the financial and data intelligence industry, we are confident that she is the right person to lead CMN to new heights."

Before joining CMN, Ms. McMahon was the Publisher and Director of Sales, Asia-Pacific at Remark, the market research and events division of Acuris, formerly Mergermarket Group. Prior to that, she held management roles at both FinanceAsia under the Haymarket Group and Euroweek at Euromoney Institutional Investor based in Hong Kong.

Commenting on the move, Ms. McMahon says: "I'm looking forward to working closely with the CMN team of experts to develop new products and manage a new-generation information portal powered by the latest cutting-edge AI technology. By leveraging my experience in financial bespoke research and marketing strategies in Asia Pacific, I believe we can offer unparalleled innovative solutions, ahead of other data sources."

At the same time, CMN announces that the company has expanded their team of advisors consisting of some of the industries top experts from the region. They include: Trevor Rowe, AO, Chairman (formerly Executive Chairman) of Rothschild Australia Limited; Fritz Demopoulos, co-founder of Chinese online travel search engine Qunar.com; and Andrew Toeh, founder of Chinese venture capital firm Ameba Capital.

ABOUT CHINA MONEY NETWORK:

Founded in 2011, CMN connects the data points to give investors the tools to execute deals in China and beyond. By tracking forward-looking private equity, venture capital and technology innovation we deliver immediately usable data.

CMN's core products include bilingual platforms http://www.chinamoneynetwork.com and http://www.zhongguojinrongtouziwang.com, innovative databank on China's cross-border deal, private equity, venture capital and technology innovation. Other services include: customized market research, podcasts, videos, rankings, awards and bespoke events.

CMN is headquartered in Hong Kong and operates from offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Los Angeles. We are an independent business owned by our founding team and employees.

For more information, please contact: info(at)chinamoneynetwork(dot)com
When are your freedoms worth fighting for? At what point do you decide to make a stand for what is right? Are we going to continue running away from these situations in fear of being attacked for our beliefs?

Madison Rising, America's most patriotic rock band, release an official statement regarding their upcoming performance at this weekend's freedom event in Phoenix, which is facing violent threats and security concerns.

"In the light of recent activities involving Antifa, BLM, and other organizations designed to disrupt and intimidate law abiding citizens, we can no longer stay silent. These continuous attempts to hijack our freedom of speech with violence and threats of physical harm have been allowed to continue for far too long.

Late this week, concerns regarding security issues arose and caused one of the key speakers, Milo Yiannopoulos, to pull out of the event here in Phoenix. Can we blame him? Of course not. However, this disruption is yet another reminder that it is time for all of us to come together to stand against those that would erode our basic freedoms in order to advance their own vile agenda. We can not allow fear or violence to dictate our actions or our message.

Along these lines, we offer these questions. When are your freedoms worth fighting for? At what point do you decide to make a stand for what is right? Are we going to continue running away from these situations in fear of being attacked for our beliefs? One side is clearly being aided by forces we can't control, while the other continues to wilt under the assault.

Milo, if security is what you need, we pledge to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you to finish this fight. As a key voice of free speech, we need you to continue your mission. Allow us and those who support us, to be your line of defense. Madison Rising is more than a band, it is a movement made possible by Patriots, Veterans, Bikers and First-Responders, who continue to support us, our communities and this great country. This violent opposition stands no chance against us all working together.

Madison Rising stands at the ready and we will continue to support our Constitution and the rights therein. We will not let goons, hoodlums, thugs, or anarchists deteriorate the fabric of this nation. We call all Patriots, whether right or left-leaning, to stand with us. A small price to pay in order to maintain your rights and freedoms."

Madison Rising promotes the principles of liberty, independence, smaller government and personal responsibility. The band released it's newest album in early 2017 and is actively touring around the country.
Erin Gruwell was the keynote speaker at the 2017 Columbia Southern University Commencement at the Foley Event Center at OWA on Oct. 27, 2017.

More than 600 Columbia Southern University (CSU) graduates were applauded by local community leaders and loved ones as they walked across the stage in celebration of their commencement on Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, at the Foley Event Center at OWA.

Danesha Rowser, who traveled from Demopolis, Alabama, was very excited about receiving her Associate of Science in criminal justice.

I love CSU. It was very convenient for me to take the online courses, said Rowser. Im happy to be here today. I made it!

The ceremonys keynote speaker, Erin Gruwell, is a teacher, author and founder of the Freedom Writers Foundation. She offered inspiring thoughts to the students on the importance of leaving a legacy of words.

Our story, like many of yours, was like a phoenix rising from the ashes, said Gruwell. And so as I tell their story, Im really just telling your storyabout serving and sacrificing, about making tough decisions, because tough decisions and tough times make really tough people. And by doing right, by doing right for those that you serve and humbly serve.

During the ceremony, CSU President Robert Mayes presented the Robert G. Mayes Sr. Distinguished Faculty of the Year Award to adjunct professor Linda Martin of the College of Safety and Emergency Services. The award honored Martin for her outstanding contributions to students in the field of occupational safety and health.

A ceremony highlight reel can be downloaded at ColumbiaSouthern.edu/Highlights.

About Columbia Southern University

One of the nations pioneer online universities, Columbia Southern University was established in 1993 to provide an alternative to the traditional university experience. CSU offers online associate, bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees such as business administration, criminal justice, fire administration and occupational safety and health. Visit ColumbiaSouthern.edu or call (877) 347-6050 to learn more.
Were proud to continue our long-standing partnership with The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation to showcase the incredible beauty of Liberty Island.

Construction progress continues for Lady Libertys next crowning legacy, the Statue of Liberty Museum on Liberty Island in New York. Slated to open in 2019, the museum will be the most significant addition to the island since the arrival of the Statue herself in June 1885. EarthCam, the leading provider of construction camera technology, was chosen by The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation to document the entire construction process for historic record.

EarthCam is sharing the process and offering people around the world free tickets to see the ongoing construction views online via a public web page. Viewers will experience an unmatched look at the historic project with one billion pixel panoramic images generated by EarthCams GigapixelCam system.

Were proud to continue our long-standing partnership with The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation to showcase the incredible beauty of Liberty Island, said Brian Cury, CEO and Founder of EarthCam. I hope viewers will enjoy being a part of the next exciting chapter in Lady Libertys history with the virtual insight into the construction process. We look forward to producing a time-lapse movie that chronicles the genesis of this fascinating museum.

The new camera at the site of the Statue of Liberty Museum joins EarthCams existing collection of 7 cameras celebrating the Statue of Liberty. In 2011, for Lady Libertys 125th birthday, EarthCam designed, built and installed specially-engineered webcams on the torch balcony, offering an immersive 360 view of an area that has been closed to the public since 1916. The webcams deliver completely unique panoramic views of the New York Harbor, New York City skyline and the exclusive selfie CrownCam shot.

We congratulate EarthCam on their latest Telly Award, said Stephen A. Briganti, President and CEO of The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation. Only EarthCam can offer this daily look at the creation of the new Statue of Liberty Museum and the Foundation is delighted to again be collaborating with them to provide a unique perspective of what is happening on Liberty Island.

EarthCams time-lapse movie, showcasing a year in the life of the Statue of Liberty, was recently honored with a Telly Award for excellence in short form video editing. Cury recently shared this recognition with John Piltzecker, Superintendent for the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island and Stephen A. Briganti, President and CEO of The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation and presented the award at The Ellis Island Family Heritage Awards on October 24.

With a project team headed by architect Nicholas Garrison of FXFOWLE and Construction Manager, Phelps Construction Group, the 26,000-square-foot building will replace the small exhibition space currently inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The unique design features a glass roof that seemingly blends in with the surrounding landscape and offers incredible views of Americas Great Lady and the New York Harbor. The interior will feature the statues original torch, which was replaced during a major renovation in the 1980s.

To follow construction progress for the new Statue of Liberty Museum, visit http://earthcam.com/solmuseum.

ABOUT EARTHCAM

EarthCam is the global leader in providing webcam content, technology and services. Founded in 1996, EarthCam provides live streaming video, time-lapse construction cameras and photography documentation for corporate and government clients in major cities around the world. EarthCam leads the industry with the highest resolution imagery available, including the worlds first outdoor gigapixel panorama camera system. This patent-pending technology delivers superior multi-billion pixel clarity for monitoring and archiving important projects and events across the globe. In 2016, EarthCam documented $225 billion of construction projects. The company is currently expanding its 10-acre campus in Northern New Jersey and maintains 13 additional offices worldwide.

Projects documented by EarthCam include: Hudson Yards, Panama Canal Expansion, 9/11 Memorial Museum, Atlanta Falcons Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Barclays Center, Statue of Liberty and Washington Monument Restorations, New NY Bridge, LaGuardia Airport, The Jeddah Tower, 56 Leonard Street, 432 Park Avenue, Brickell City Centre, Minnesota Vikings U.S. Bank Stadium, Qatar Rail, Whitney Museum of American Art, Louvre in Abu Dhabi and Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Learn more about EarthCams innovative solutions at http://www.earthcam.net/.
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
Democratic leadership sent conflicting messages following Republican Sen. Jeff Flake's dramatic Tuesday announcement that he will not run for reelection in 2018.

After the Arizona conservative delivered perhaps the most thorough public rebuke of President Donald Trump and his administration by an elected Republican, several prominent Democratic lawmakers praised the Arizona senator's character and leadership.

".@JeffFlake is one of the finest human beings I've met in politics. He is moral, upright, strong & will be missed in the Senate," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, tweeted on Tuesday.

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton's former running mate in the 2016 presidential election, called his Republican colleague a "friend," "a good man," and "an honest broker."

But on Tuesday afternoon, Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez denounced Flake's support for Trump's agenda and criticized him for not speaking out "until it's too late."

"Senator Flake voted with Donald Trump 91% of the time," Perez said in a statement. "His retirement is symbol of a Republican Party whose leaders allow Donald Trumps divisive politics to flourish as long as it serves their political interests, and who fail to criticize this dangerous president until it's too late."

He continued, "Republicans in Congress remain in lockstep with the Trump agenda and silent in the face of the president's disgraceful behavior."

Symone Sanders, Sen. Bernie Sanders' former campaign press secretary, echoed the DNC's criticism.

"Jeff Flake is all talk and no action," Sanders said on CNN. "I'm not patting anyone on the back and giving them cookies and cupcakes for quitting."

But Flake has long been an outspoken critic of Trump, refusing to endorse him as the party's presidential nominee and publishing a book, "Conscience of a Conservative," attacking Trump and the direction of the GOP.

Kaine defended Flake from accusations that he hasn't backed his words up with action, saying that while he has many substantive disagreements with Flake and Republican Sen. Bob Corker, who also excoriated the president this week for "debasing" the nation, both Republicans are principled in their policy positions.

"Bob and Jeff are the same in this way: If you can convince them that something is good on the merits, they will stick with you no matter what their leadership says, no matter what the polls say," Kaine told Politico.

Both liberal and conservative commentators criticized the DNC's statement as a missed opportunity for Democrats to capitalize on Republican division.

"Isn't it possible to disagree with @JeffFlake on policy and still applaud his condemnation of @POTUS divide and dissemble politics? I do," David Axelrod, a former senior advisor to President Barack Obama, tweeted.

Ben LaBolt, a former spokesman for Obama's presidential campaigns, said that Democrats should encourage anti-Trump Republicans to speak out.

"It may not be the job of the DNC, which is focused on winning every election we can, but as Democrats we should embrace rational Republicans that are willing to stand up to Trump and to combat the erosion of democratic ideals and institutions," LaBolt wrote in a message to Business Insider. "Our system of government requires two functioning parties to thrive, and if one party checks out we're all screwed."

Conservative commentators argued that the dissenting Republican leaders are "basically doing pro bono ad work for the Democratic Party," as conservative commentator Becket Adams wrote in the Washington Examiner.

"If you're DNC chief Tom Perez, this is a gift. You use these red-on-red attacks to your advantage. You say something to the effect of, 'Even GOP senator X believes Trump etc.' or 'We agree with GOP senator when he says '" Adams went on.

Jesse Ferguson, a top spokesman for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, said that the DNC, and Democrats more broadly, can and should highlight their policy differences with Republicans while promoting the criticism Trump is receiving from even some of the most conservative members of his party.

"Sen. [Bernie] Sanders used to talk on the campaign trail about opening the doors of the Democratic Party and he's right," Ferguson told Business Insider. "We need to be welcoming in these folks who are increasingly concerned that Trump is reckless and a danger to the country. In doing that we don't have to give up on policy differences that we've had with Republicans over the years. Those are not inconsistent goals."

Ferguson said that Flake, Corker, and Sen. John McCain's criticism of the president is "more credible than any case that Democrats are going to be able to make" to Trump voters.

DNC spokesman Michael Tyler defending the organization's response, arguing that Democrats should welcome collaboration with Republicans where they agree on policy issues, but that they shouldn't applaud Flake's complicity with the Trump agenda.

"Democrats are more than willing to work with Republicans when they stand up for working people across this country, but we will not remain silent when Republicans try to strip away health care from millions, rush to give tax breaks to billionaires at the expense of working families, and vote to protect Wall Street over their own constituents, as Sen. Flake has done this year alone," Tyler said in a message to Business Insider.

Flake and Corker are, indeed, very conservative. Both are protesting what they see as Trump's instability and "reckless, outrageous, and undignified" behavior, while defending much of his agenda and the advisers he has surrounded himself with.

This argument is part of the same critique Democrats have made since Trump emerged on the political scene.
Catalan's regional parliament voted to leave Spain on Friday, leading to celebrations in the capital of Barcelona and protests in the unionist heartlands of Madrid.

The Spanish government fired the regional government in response and has enacted direct rule, leaving the region's future in doubt.

Scroll down to see pictures of what's going on across Spain and to understand the background of the constitutional crisis:

Catalan is a northeastern region of Spain, home to 2.75 million people. The region's capital is Barcelona and Catalan is one of the most economically important regions to Spain.

The region has its own language and unique culture and was largely autonomous prior to the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. The region regained some autonomy in 1975 but many in the region have long felt it deserved full independence.

Tensions have flared in the post-financial crisis era, with many Catalonians feeling they unfairly subsidised the rest of the country.

A contested independence referendum was held on October 1, 2017. Madrid sent riot police to stop the vote and the Spanish government declared the vote invalid. Turnout was estimated to be just over 40% but over 90% of those who did vote favoured independence.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont initially called for a diplomatic resolution following the vote, but failed to make any headway with his national counterpart Mariano Rajoy.

Politicians in the regional parliament in Barcelona voted to become a sovereign independent state against Spain's wishes on Friday October 27.

Thousands of people took to the streets in Barcelona to celebrate the result.

Spain's central government rejected the result, dismissing the Catalonian government and imposing direct rule.

The government in Madrid dismissed the regional police chief and sent extra national police to the region.

Pictured is a ferry boat in the Port of Barcelona that was rented by the Spanish government to accommodate police reinforcements.

While many Catalonians are celebrating the result, not everyone is. Pro-unity demonstrators also took to the streets of Barcelona last night to protest independence.

A pro-unity demonstration was held in Madrid the on Saturday in response to the marches in Barcelona.

Some pro-unity demonstrators carried banners calling for the imprisonment of sacked Catalan President Carles Puigdemont.

So far protests and celebrations have been largely peaceful but there are fears that the constitutional crisis could boil over into physical conflict, with some even worrying that a civil war could breakout.
The World Economic Forum has released its Global Leader Class of 2017. The people who are short-listed are recognized for making considerable contributions to their field and society.

Out of a total number of 93 short-listed candidates, 15 of them are from Africa.

Lois is the only Nigerian that made it to the list.

Meet Lois Auta

Lois Auta, 2017 World Changer was only two years when she was struck by poliomyelitis.

The young vibrant lady saw as an opportunity to not only carve a niche for herself but to also show others that disability shouldnt be deterrent to achieving greatness in life and fulfilling ones calling.

Throughout her 37 years of life, she has never allowed her disability to make her a liability despite her humble background but fought her way through life.

Lois advocacy made some persons with disabilities to be fully employed, scholarship awards to be given to students with disabilities, sign language interpreters to be included during meetings, ramps to be built in some offices, schools, churches, and restaurants and other social places.

She is a Mandela Washington Fellow, Vice President, Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Association, Nigeria, a support staff with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Founder and Executive Director of Cedar Seed Foundation among others.

Her credibility and activities also featured in a selection in the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders the first class of 2014, an initiative of President Barack Obama. She met with President Barack Obama and got a presidential handshake from him and a hug from Michelle Obama.
This year's awardees recognized for making considerable contributions to their field and society,are all under the age of 40, and 15 of them are from Africa.

The Young Global Leaders class includes leaders from an array of backgrounds. Some are political and and community leaders, others are inventors, CEOs, philanthropists, and scientists working on revolutionary ideas.

Here are the 15 African leaders making a worldwide impact.

Aarti Takoordeen |South Africa

Aarti is CFO of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange who is passionate about breaking the mould of traditional finance professionals.

Jesse Moore | Kenya

Jesse is the Co-Founder of M-Kopa, a pay-as-you-go energy provider for off-grid customers. It has connected hundreds of thousands of homes in East Africa to solar power.

Abdourahmane Cisse | Cote d'Ivoire

The youngest minister in the Ivoirian government, Abdourahmane is the minister for Budget and State Owned Entities of Cote d'Ivoire.

Billy Mawasha | South Africa

A champion for ethics in a major multinational mining company;Anglo American Plc, Billy functioning as the executive head of operations and integration has led initiatives to enhance workplace safety and to engage with local communities.

Chido Govera | Zimbabwe

Orphaned at the age of seven, she escaped a life of poverty and abuse in rural Zimbabwe. Now she's an activist, teaching mushroom cultivation to thousands of people in Eastern and Southern Africa and other developing countries across the world.

Jamila Abass | Kenya

Jamilla set up a social enterprise at age 26. Her company M-Farm, gives small subsistence farmers vital market information via SMS and helps them reach buyers. Her work has empowered 100,000 farmers to collectively improve market access and bargaining power.

Lois Auta | Nigeria

An advocate for disabled people's rights in Nigeria, Lois heads a foundation active in community work in the fields of education, capacity building, and democratic empowerment.

Marie Lora-Mungai | Kenya

After working as a journalist, Marie founded Restless Global, a company focused on producing African stories for an international audience. Previously, she also founded Buni.tv, one of the pioneers of African video-on-demand.

Mmusi Aloysias Maimane | South Africa

Soweto-born Mmusi is the head of South Africa's largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, where he was elected with 90% party support.

Mouhamed Moustapha Fall | Senegal

One of Africa's top scientists and a winner of the prestigious Humboldt Fellowship, Mouhamed is Chair of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Senegal.

Naisula Lesuuda | Kenya

The youngest woman in Kenya's parliament and a leading advocate for women's rights in the region.

Neema Kaseje | Kenya

A paediatric surgeon dedicated to providing universal access to healthcare and safe and timely surgery for children in the most vulnerable areas in the world.

Rapelang Rabana | Botswana

Rapelang is a tech entrepreneur who runs an education company that uses innovative digital and online tools to enhance learning.

Faten Kallel | Tunisia

She is the energetic newly appointed Secretary of State for Youth in the new Tunisian government.

Mohamed Alami Berrada | Morocco
Mark Zuckerberg is back in China.

The Facebook CEO posted a photo of him visiting with Chinese students at the Tsinghua School of Economics and Management in Beijing on Saturday, more than one year after his last public trip to the country.

Zuckerberg's latest visit to China comes as Facebook eyes what one analyst recently said is "a realistic opportunity" for the company to finally enter the world's largest internet market by users in 2018.

While Facebook's service has been banned in China since 2009, the social network recently tapped William Shuai from LinkedIn to lead relations with the Chinese government. Facebook has also been covertly testing a photo-sharing app in China and is said to be on the hunt for a Shanghai office for its fledgling consumer hardware division, Building 8.

In his Facebook post on Saturday, Zuckerberg said he was in China for a meeting of the Tsinghua school's advisory board, of which he has been a member since 2014. "Every year this trip is a great way to keep up with the pace of innovation and entrepreneurship in China," he wrote.

Facebook has flirted with the idea of entering China for years, a move that could give it access to a vast new market of users and advertisers at a time when the company is under pressure to continue showing strong growth to investors. Zuckerberg has learned Mandarin well enough to become a proficient speaker of the language.

Facebook could create its own censorship tool for China

During his last public trip to China in March 2016, Zuckerberg met with the country's propaganda chief and other government leaders. It's unclear whether he plans to meet with government officials again during this trip. A Facebook spokesperson didn't respond to a request for comment on his trip schedule.

As the world's largest concentration of internet users, China is an attractive but challenging region for American tech companies like Facebook to break into. The government recently blocked Facebook-owned WhatsApp amidst a crackdown of online censorship.

Google famously pulled its search engine service out of mainland China in 2010, after claiming that the country's censorship requirements had become too onerous and saying it had traced efforts to breach its users' accounts to China.

One way Facebook has considered getting back into China is by creating its own censorship tool that would automatically suppress certain posts in specific geographic areas, The New York Times reported last year. It's unclear if the tool is still being developed.

Facebook's window of opportunity to begin business in the country could be drawing near as Chinese President Xi Jinping begins his second term in November, according to Mizuho analyst James Lee, who recently noted that "media scrutiny and sensitivity are much less during an administrations second term."
Her appointment, which takes effect from November 1, is her second promotion in 10 years.

The appointment comes after she was made the acting director of the CID following the firing of the substantive CID boss, Bright Oduro.

Her elevation to acting CID boss has drawn fury from a section of Ghanaians who believed she covered up corruption allegation made by A Plus against President Akufo-Addos deputy chiefs of staff: Francis Asenso-Boakye and Abu Jinapor.

A financial analyst Joe Jackson has described her appointment as the acting CID boss as untidy.
Congress will soon begin working on a major revision of the federal tax code. We applaud those efforts, but only if they are done in a thoughtful manner that encourages economic growth.

After all, shouldn't that be the goal of any tax code rewrite?

Apparently not. Especially in today's environment of get it done now vs. get it done thoughtfully and carefully.

You would think the Republican majority would recognize the error of rushing a major bill through Congress onto the president's desk. After all, it is the Republicans, rightly so, who remind us of what Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who was the then Speaker of the House, quipped, let's pass this (Obamacare) bill so we can read it and find out what's in it after it passes!

Is that what the new Republican majority is attempting to do with a rewrite of the tax code?

Congressional leaders and the Trump administration want to reduce the top corporate income tax from 35 percent to 20 percent. They are also after simplification. Both are worthy goals, that we can support. But to do so without exploding the already-dangerous federal deficit will require other ways of collecting revenue.

One tax code change aimed at raising revenue under consideration is an economic disaster. It is known as the "ad tax," and it's one very bad idea.

Advertising has always been one of many costs of doing business. For more than 100 years, companies in the U.S. have been properly allowed to deduct those expenses, like any other business expenses, to produce a finished product or service, which then is taxed.

But some in Congress are considering ending the long-held practice of allowing businesses to deduct this expense every year.

Thus, an "ad tax."

Why would Congress want to differentiate advertising costs from other "cost of doing business" expenses? Changing current tax laws to single out advertising could possibly encourage businesses to make poor decisions based on tax reasons. And will all know there is too much of that behavior underway today with our terribly inefficient and out-of-control tax laws.

The prospect of treating advertising expenses, a component of selling a finished product or service, differently from other expenses simply makes no economic sense.

According to statistics from the National Newspaper Association, advertising generates 22 million U.S. jobs and produces more that $37 trillion in economic activity. Most of that finished activity is included in the tax code.

Economic analyst IHS Economics and Country Risk Solutions estimates that every dollar spent on advertising leads to $19 in sales activity, so any tax on advertising would have a negative effect on businesses AND a negative effect on the tax revenue generated on those finished products and services.

IHS also says every $1 million spent on advertising supports 67 jobs. And each advertising job supports 34 other jobs across other economic sectors.

The change also would impact local newspapers, radio and TV stations that depend on advertising. It's those advertising dollars that support news coverage of local politics, area schools, youth sports, churches and civic activities. South Dakota newspapers recently marked Newspaper Week by asking readers to "Imagine a day without news." A government-spawned reduction in advertising income would go a long way toward making that a possibility.

U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem is on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which will be charged with crafting the new tax code. She gave up her spot on the Agriculture Committee because, she said, she could do so many more good things on Ways and Means.

We hope she realizes the folly of the tax on advertising, but just in case, join us in giving her a call, or send her a note, telling her what a bad idea the ad tax would be.
The system, said to have cost Ghana $2.5 million and designed by indigenous Ghanaian company Vokacom, will also pay tech giant Google $400,000 yearly for embedding the company's online map into the digital addressing system.

The cost of publicity was made known by the Managing Director of Ghana Post, James Kwofie, at a news conference on Friday.

Publicity like I said, is GHc3.5 million, and there are very expensive firewalls, we cant say how many, but that also cost a lot of money, he said.

He added: In terms of the cost, what is being paid for is the back-end solution, data analytics, hardware i.e. the firewalls and servers, Google license, marketing and publicity as well as technical support, and GHc1.7 million VAT which goes back to the government.

READ MORE: Online registrations begins
READ MORE: Bukom Banku reveals when he will retire from the sport

If Ghanaians want wee to be legalized, why not? It should be legalised for them. If the legalisation will not disturb the country why not? It can be considered. Samir said.

Speaking on Accra FM, the boxer, who knocked out Bukom Banku in the seventh round last week, denied smoking weed although he has been accused of smoking the illegal substance.

The Beast, as he is popularly called, praised God for giving him victory of Banku, who calls himself Africa Mayweather.

He promised to work hard to fulfil promises he's made to his fans.

I give praise and thanks to God for the victory against Bukom Banku. With Gods help I will continue with my profession and win more fights, he said.

He continued: I worked hard for this fight and fulfilled the promises I made to my fans and, so, I was very happy with the outcome.
According to him, when it is pointed out to the media that the report they are holding is fake, the media then turn around to say show us the original report.
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!
They were arrested after the beleaguered DCE lodged an official complain to the police.

On Wednesday, some irate youth of the NPP in the Karaga constituency chased out the DCE and the Youth Employment Coordinator for allegedly giving jobs to National Democratic Congress activists in the constituency.

The youth, who numbered about 50, claimed the DCE was stashing contracts to people who are not NPP members adding that Mr Yabdoo is also refusing to recognize the authority of the constituency chairman who he claimed did not support his DCE bid.

READ MORE: NPP youth chase out Sissala West DCE
Speaking on Joy FM's Newsfile Saturday, he said they have failed to live up to their mandate although they have the backing of the president to crack the whip on any lawless group of individuals.

READ MORE: Police arrest five riotous NPP members in Karaga

There was two separate upheaval this week by some youth who claimed to be members of the NPP in Sissala West in the Upper West Region and Karaga in the Northern Region.

In Sissala West, the youth reportedly stormed the District Assembly to demand the removal of the District Chief Executive (DCE).

While in the Karaga constituency, the DCE was chased out from his office.

Mr Awuku said the lukewarm attitude by state security towards crime committed by political activists was breaking the heart of the president.

He also suggested that the military should be deployed to assist the police in maintaining law and order.

Its about time that we also have to bring onboard the militaryIts about time that the security capos stop breaking the heart of the president, he said.
Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has urged "democratic opposition" to the Spanish government's efforts to suppress the region's independence.

Puigdemont delivered a televised address from an unspecified location on Saturday, following Friday's move for Catalonia to declare independence. The Catalan regional parliament voted for independence on Friday, after a contested referendum at the start of the month.

The national government in Madrid says the decision is invalid and President Mariano Rajoy fired the entire Catalan government, including President Carles Puigdemont, shortly after the vote. He has since invoked Article 155, a constitutional provision that instates direct rule, and has put his Deputy in charge of the region.

Puigdemont said in Saturday's TV address that Rajoy's actions were "contrary to the expressed will of the citizens of our country," adding that "in a democracy, it is parliaments that choose, or remove, presidents." The BBC reported earlier on Saturday that he had arranged for his wife and children to leave Spain ahead of Friday's declaration for fear that they could be arrested.

Puigdemont said he will continue to "work to build a free country." Catalan is a region in northeastern Spain, home to 2.75 million people. The region's capital is Barcelona.

Here is Puigdemont's full address (there are no English subtitles):
We visited Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts to see what makes it the best high school in America. The school is often confused with Phillips Exeter. There are 1,154 students on Andover's campus. Tuition for students living on campus is $53,900. Tuition for day students is $41,900. Andover has a "need-blind" admissions policy which means they accept students based on merit, not wealth. There are 44 states and 44 countries represented in the current student body. Following is a transcript of the video.
Following the Governing Council's meeting held on Friday, October 27, the University announced the appointment of the new VC on its official Facebook page.

According to the statement on the school's social media page, Ogundipe was selected out of three candidates nominated for the position.

Pursuant to the Law, the Search Team, the Criteria Committee, the Short-Listing Committee, and the Selection Board conducted the exercise and three candidates were nominated.

At the end of the Governing Council meeting of Friday, 27th October 2017, Council approved the appointment of Professor Oluwatoyin T. Ogundipe. The statement reads.

The three candidates are Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, Prof Ayodeji Olukoju and Prof Olukayode Amund.

Ogundipe, who is a professor of Botany until his appointment, was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University and will succeed Prof. Rahamon Bello.

ALSO READ:Ondo Government may stop free education program
PARADIGMS data also show patients treated with Gilenya had significantly fewer new brain lesions vs. those on interferon beta-1a



Currently there are no specifically approved disease modifying therapies for children and adolescents with MS, a population at high risk of long-term disability



MS is a highly debilitating disease which touches every aspect of young patients' daily lives, from school performance to family relations and friendships

The digital press release with multimedia content can be accessed here:

Basel, October 28, 2017 - Novartis today announced full results from the positive Phase III PARADIGMS study, investigating the safety and efficacy of Gilenya (fingolimod) vs. interferon beta-1a, in children and adolescents (ages 10 to 17) with multiple sclerosis (MS). Treatment with oral Gilenya resulted in an 82% reduction in the rate of relapses (annualized relapse rate) over a period of up to two years, compared to interferon beta-1a intramuscular injections (p <0.001)[1]. PARADIGMS is the first ever controlled, randomized trial specifically designed for pediatric MS. The results have been presented at the 7th Joint European and Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS) meeting on October 28, 2017 in Paris, France.

"Pediatric MS patients experience more frequent relapses and are more likely to accumulate physical disability at an earlier age than patients diagnosed as adults," said Dr. Tanuja Chitnis, Principle Investigator for PARADIGMS and Director of the Partners Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, US, and Scientist, Ann Romney Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, US. "Yet, current therapies are limited to drugs that have not been tested in a controlled manner in this age group. PARADIGMS was uniquely designed for this patient population. Its results signify an important step towards a potential new treatment that could improve the lives of these young patients."

Additional data from the study demonstrated:

A significant reduction in the number of new / newly enlarging T2 and Gd-T1 lesions in the brain of Gilenya treated patients compared to those treated with interferon beta-1a, as measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)[1]. The number and volume of lesions are associated with increased relapses and disability progression[2].

Individuals treated with Gilenya had significantly less brain shrinkage (measured by MRI as brain volume loss), compared to those treated with interferon beta-1a[1]. Brain shrinkage in adults is associated with the loss of physical and cognitive function[3].

The safety profile of Gilenya was overall consistent with that seen in previous clinical trials, with more adverse events reported in the interferon group[1].

In an additional analysis, Gilenya significantly delayed disability progression, defined as Confirmed Disability Progression (CDP), compared to interferon beta-1a[1].

"There is already substantial evidence that Gilenya is an effective treatment that improves long-term outcomes for adults with relapsing MS. We are delighted that PARADIGMS has shown such meaningful benefits for children and adolescents with MS," said Vas Narasimhan, Global Head of Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer, Novartis. "This pioneering study demonstrates our continued commitment to providing new treatment options to MS patients with the highest need. We look forward to working with health authorities and preparing for submission."

Gilenya is not currently approved for the treatment of pediatric MS. Novartis is working on submission with health authorities worldwide.

About the Phase III PARADIGMS study

The Phase III PARADIGMS study (NCT01892722) is a flexible duration (up to two years), double-blind, randomized, multi-center study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of oral Gilenya compared to interferon beta-1a in children and adolescents with a confirmed diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS), followed by a five-year open label extension phase[4]. The study enrolled 215 children and adolescents with MS, between the ages of 10 and 17 years with an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score between 0 and 5.5[4]. Patients were randomized to receive once-daily oral Gilenya (0.5 mg or 0.25 mg, dependent on patients' body weight) or intramuscular interferon beta-1a once weekly[4].

The primary endpoint of the study was the frequency of relapses in patients treated up to 24 months (annualized relapse rate)[4]. Secondary endpoints include the number of new or newly enlarged T2 lesions, Gadolinium enhancing T1 lesions, safety and the pharmacokinetic properties of Gilenya, all measured throughout the treatment period[4].

The Phase III PARADIGMS study was conducted in 87 sites over 25 countries, and was designed in partnership with the US Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency and the International Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Study Group.

About Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) that disrupts the normal functioning of the brain, optic nerves and spinal cord through inflammation and tissue loss[5]. In adults, there are three types of MS: relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), secondary progressive MS (SPMS) and primary progressive MS (PPMS)[6]. In children, RRMS accounts for nearly all cases (approximately 98 percent)[7].

The evolution of MS results in an increasing loss of both physical and cognitive (e.g. memory) function. This has a substantial negative impact on the lives of the approximately 2.3 million people worldwide affected by MS, of which between three and five percent are estimated to be children[8],[9].

About Gilenya (fingolimod) in adults

Gilenya (fingolimod) is an oral disease-modifying therapy (DMT) that is highly efficacious at controlling disease activity in relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS)[10]. Gilenya has a reversible lymphocyte redistribution effect targeting both focal and diffuse central nervous system (CNS) damage caused by MS[11],[12]. Long-term clinical trial and real-world evidence and experience has shown Gilenya treatment to be convenient for individuals to incorporate into everyday life, leading to high treatment satisfaction, long-term persistence, and ultimately, improved long-term outcomes for people with RMS[13],[14].

Gilenya impacts four key measures of RMS disease activity: relapses, MRI lesions, brain shrinkage (brain volume loss) and disability progression[15],[16]. Its effectiveness on all of these measures has been consistently shown in multiple controlled clinical studies and in the real-world setting. Studies have shown its safety and high efficacy to be sustained over the long term, demonstrating that switching to Gilenya treatment as early in the disease course as possible can be beneficial in helping to preserve individuals' function[17],[18].

Gilenya is approved in the US for the first-line treatment of relapsing forms of MS in adults, and in the EU for adult patients with highly-active relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) defined as either high disease activity despite treatment with at least one DMT, or rapidly-evolving severe RRMS[10],[19].

Gilenya has been used to treat more than 217,000 patients in both clinical trials and the post-marketing setting, with approximately 480,000 years of patient experience[20].

About Novartis in Multiple Sclerosis

Alongside Gilenya (fingolimod, an S1P modulator), Novartis' multiple sclerosis (MS) portfolio includes Extavia (interferon beta-1b for subcutaneous injection) which is approved in the US for the treatment of relapsing forms of MS. In Europe, Extavia is approved to treat people with relapsing-remitting MS, secondary progressive MS (SPMS) with active disease and people who have had a single clinical event suggestive of MS.

Investigational compounds include BAF312 (siponimod), under investigation in MS, and OMB157 (ofatumumab), a fully human monoclonal antibody under investigation in relapsing MS. OMB157 targets CD20, and is currently being investigated in two Phase III pivotal studies.



In the US, the Sandoz Division of Novartis markets Glatopa (glatiramer acetate injection) 20mg/mL, the first generic version of Teva's Copaxone* 20mg.



*Copaxone is a registered trademark of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "potential," "can," "will," "plan," "expect," "anticipate," "look forward," "believe," "committed," "investigational," "pipeline," "launch," "exciting," "underway," "upcoming," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for the investigational and approved products described in this press release, or regarding potential future revenues from such products. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding such products could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures; general economic and industry conditions, including the effects of the persistently weak economic and financial environment in many countries; safety, quality or manufacturing issues, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.



About Novartis

Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. In 2016, the Group achieved net sales of USD 48.5 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 121,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.

Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis

For Novartis multimedia content, please visit www.novartis.com/news/media-library

For questions about the site or required registration, please contact media.relations@novartis.com

References

[1] Chitnis T et al. PARADIGMS: A Randomised Double-blind Study of Fingolimod Versus Interferon -1a in Paediatric Multiple Sclerosis. Late breaking news oral presentation presented at: the 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS meeting on October 28, 2017, Paris, France.

[2] Sormani MP and Bruzzi P. MRI lesions as a surrogate for relapses in multiple sclerosis: a meta-analysis of randomized trials. Lancet Neurol. 2013;12(7):669-76.

[3] Popescu V et al; on behalf of the MAGNIMS Study Group. Brain atrophy and lesion load predict long term disability in multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2013;84:1082-1091.

[4] Clinical Trials. Safety and efficacy of fingolimod in pediatric patients with multiple sclerosis. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01892722 (link is external). Accessed October 2017.

[5] PubMed Heath. Multiple Sclerosis (MS). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001747/ (link is external). Accessed October 2017.

[6] MS Society. Types of MS. https://www.mssociety.org.uk/what-is-ms/types-of-ms (link is external). Accessed October 2017.

[7] Waldman A et al. Pediatric multiple sclerosis. Neurology. 2016;87(9):S74-S81.

[8] Patel Y et al. Pediatric multiple sclerosis. Ann Indian Acad Neurol. 2009;12(4):238-245.

[9] Multiple sclerosis international federation. Atlas of MS 2013. https://www.msif.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Atlas-of-MS.pdf (link is external). Accessed October 2017.

[10] Gilenya US Prescribing Information. https://www.pharma.us.novartis.com/sites/www.pharma.us.novartis.com/files/gilenya.pdf (link is external). Accessed October 2017.

[11] Brinkmann V et al. FTY720 (fingolimod) in Multiple Sclerosis: therapeutic effects in the immune and the central nervous system. Br J Pharmacol. 2009;158(5):1173-1182.

[12] De Stefano N et al. Effect of fingolimod on diffuse brain tissue damage in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2016;7:98-101.

[13] Warrender-Sparkes M et al. The effect of oral immunomodulatory therapy on treatment uptake and persistence in multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler. 2016;22(4):520-532.

[14] Khatri B et al. Comparison of fingolimod with interferon beta-1a in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a randomised extension of the TRANSFORMS study. Lancet Neurol. 2011;10(6):520-529.

[15] Giovannoni G et al. "No evident disease activity": The use of combined assessments in the management of patients with multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler. 2017. Doi 10.1177/1352458517703193.

[16] De Stefano N et al. Effect of Fingolimod on Brain Volume Loss in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis. CNS Drugs. 2017;31(4):289-305.

[17] Kappos L et al. Inclusion of brain volume loss in a revised measure of 'no evidence of disease activity' (NEDA-4) in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler. 2016;22(10):1297-1305.

[18] Lizac N et al. Highly active immunomodulatory therapy ameliorates accumulation of disability in moderately advanced and advanced multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2017;88(3):196-203.

[19] Gilenya EMA Summary of Product Characteristics. http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-_Product_Information/human/002202/WC500104528.pdf (link is external). Accessed October 2017.

[20] Novartis data on file.

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E-mail: media.relations@novartis.com

Eric Althoff

Novartis Global Media Relations

+41 61 324 7999 (direct)

+41 79 593 4202 (mobile)

eric.althoff@novartis.com Angela Fiorin

Novartis Global Pharma Communications

+41 61 324 8631 (direct)

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Central investor relations line: +41 61 324 7944

E-mail: investor.relations@novartis.com
Daily Post reports that the Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police, Mr Asuquo Amba, has given a directive to relieve the tension fueled by the shocking incident.

According to the reports, Napoleon was confronted by some cultists around the Kpansia area of the state and during his attempt to escape from an irate crowd, he shot his gun in a bid to disperse the crowd.

The bullet, however, hit the deceased.

The tension that arose following the sad incident saw an irate mob try to abduct a traffic warden in retaliation, was thankfully foiled by the caretaker Chairman of Yenagoa Local Government Area, Mr Oforji Oboko.

The Spokesperson for the State Police Command, Asinim Butswat confirmed the incident while claiming that the deceased was 18-years-old and that the incident occurred while Napoleon was being chased by irate youths of the community as well as suspected cultists.

The incident occurred Thursday night after six armed cultists invaded the home of Corporal David Napoleon at Kpansia area of the state capital.

He was handed over to the state security outfit known as Door Akpo. When he was coming back to his house with a plan to move his family out to a safer place, some suspected cultists and indigenes of the community went after him to attack him.

ALSO READ: Police officers kill student while chasing Yahoo Boy

He ran but was chased by the irate youths. He turned and shot at them below the knee level. The bullet hit one Tombozide Joseph on the thigh. He was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre.
Shitu also said that the President has failed millions of Nigerians who voted him based on his stand against corruption.

According to Daily Post, he said President Muhammadu Buhari was voted in because of his stance on corruption.

He was seen as a man of integrity and a leader, who would fight corruption, which has prevented Nigeria and Nigerians from developing.

Unfortunately, he has failed in his anti-corruption war. He failed, not because he is stealing money, but because he allowed corrupt politicians around him to hijack governance from him and run the affairs of the nation with impunity.

It is not enough for the President to suspend the SGF and the NHIS boss, I believe he should sack them. And not only these two officials, there are others who were accused of corruption. Nothing has been done against them.

Buharis campaign against corruption has failed and the rate of corruption now is so alarming.
The AYSN also commended the All progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, for the partys support toward the forthcoming Non-Elective Congress of the party.

Mr Danesi Momoh, National Convener, AYSN made the commendation at a news conference in Abuja on Saturday.

According to Momoh, as Nigeria marches forward in her democratic journey, there is no doubt that the APC has played various roles in ensuring that the country gets to its goal.

He added that the achievements recorded by the government in the last two years in all spheres of national life had restored the hope and confidence of Nigerians.

These sterling feats (sic) can only be attributed to the discipline of President Muhammadu Buhari and the steadfast support of our Party under the focused leadership of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.

As the APC prepares for its forthcoming non-elective Congress, we believe there is cause for celebrating the successes recorded.

We need to reflect on our present challenges and strategise for an even deeper entrenched democracy hallmarked by meeting the felt needs of the masses.

The spirit of solidarity, oneness, self sacrifice, focus, innovative thinking, and unshakable support for the party leadership should be sustained."

He also said that the party under the leadership of Oyegun had witnessed an era of victories on all fronts including bye-elections and recovered mandates through impartial Courts.

ALSO READ: Recap of Goodluck Jonathan Vs Buhari fight

He said these achievements were the ingredients that called for the passing of a vote of confidence on Oyegun and the entire party leadership.

We also restate our unflinching belief and support for the good works embarked upon by President Muhammadu Buhari, particularly the approval of more than N2billion for the construction of the Second Niger Bridge and the directive to connect all states with rail transport.

This demonstrates the governments determined efforts at developing all regions of the country.
Wosi made the statement following the alleged nonchalant way with which the Federal Government is handling the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo panel report.

The Osinbajo panel was set up to look into corruption allegations levelled against the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal and the suspended Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ayo Oke.

According to reports, an inside source revealed that the panel indicted the two top government officials.

The source said The report of the investigations is ready. The two suspended officials were recommended for total disengagement and replacement. It is clearly stated in the report that they should not be brought back to their positions. They are to be disengaged as recommended.

Speaking on Buharis inaction, Wosi said You cant keep telling us you are fighting corruption while there are corruption allegations against people around you and yet you cant do anything about it.

This only means you are the father of corruption. The integrity of President Muhammadu Buhari is now in doubt with all these fraud cases under his nose.
Kawu, in a statement expressed dismay about the sensational and incorrect report circulating on the internet, describing it as embarrassing misrepresentations and claims.

 The attention of the Management of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has been drawn to a sensational and incorrect report circulating on the internet.

 That the Director-General of the Commission, Malam Ishaq Modibbo Kawu, accused some supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari of violating the Broadcasting Code, among other embarrassing misrepresentations and claims.

 To set the record straight, and for the avoidance of any doubt, the NBC organised a Stakeholders Forum on Political Broadcasts, which held on Thursday, Oct. 26 in Kano State.

 The choice of this location in Kano were both necessary and strategic, given the fact that Kano is the most populous state in Nigeria with over 20 operating broadcast establishments as well as the observed spike in hate speech within the environment.

He, therefore, appealed to both the traditional and on-line media to uphold the guiding tenets of journalism profession through objective, factual and decent reportage.

 This has been the time-tested practice and should remain the irreducible minimum gold-standard in our media practice.

Kawu explained that the law establishing NBC specifies that regulating the Industry was a core function of the commission in order to ensure decent, objective and factual reportage by all Operators.

According to him, this resonates with the expressed determination and policy thrust of the present administration to eliminate hate and incendiary speeches and broadcasts across all levels of society.

 It was against this background that the Director General of the Commission, in his address in Kano, alluded to the escalating spate of hate speech in political broadcasts.

 And the imperative for broadcast operators to be vigilant and be guided by the broadcasting code in their operations.

He lamented instances where political actors often misconstrue the statutory role of NBC as an Industry regulator to be impeding and restricting their political activities, making such actors to reach out to contacts in high levels of government for undue political interference and advantage.

In making this observation, the director-general drew several examples across political and regional boundaries to justify the assertion.

 It is therefore, grossly untrue and mischievous to misrepresent the remarks of the Director-General of the NBC at a Forum in Kano that he made an exclusive accusation targeted against Buharis supporters.
The state Independent National Electoral Commissioner Mr Emeka Ononamadu said this in a interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Saturday.

He said 56,562 eligible persons registered in the second quarter of the CVR that ended on Sept. 19 in the state.

He also said 68,672 registered in the first quarter; thus, the difference of 12,110 in between the two quarters, indicating a downward trend in fresh eligible voters registration.

The commissioner said that the commission opened eight additional centres during the second quarter, especially in difficult terrains, to reach communities that were far from their local council headquarters.

Ononamadu said the downward trend in the second quarter called for intensive awareness by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other stakeholders to reverse it.

He announced that the third quarter registration would begin on Oct. 30 and would run for three months.

INEC cannot do it alone; we depend on critical stakeholders and the people to make elections very successful, he said.

He urged the media to help the commission to reduce the growing incidences of registration apathy.

Ononamadu said 139,342 Permanent Voters Card (PVC) were still at various INEC council area offices, adding that Enugu North and Enugu East council areas had the highest number of uncollected PVCs.
According to the AIT boss, When I speak, I speak with all sense of responsibility and confidence. Since 2015 the Buhari led Federal Government has oppressed, attacked me and has attempted to cripple even the businesses that they think I put up.

The very first pronouncement when Buhari came to office was that AIT would not be allowed to come in.

Then I came out of retirement, I put on my gloves, and I told them that AIT is a national broadcaster and not even the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has the right or the power to stop AIT.

I came out! APC has made several overtures to me. They have looked for compromise, they have looked for agreements, I have never been daunted.

I have never retraced my steps. I have never believed for one second that APC was right or won the election.

INEC has declared them as winners, so I have no choice but to accept their victory, but what is left in me is to fight, to recoup, to recover for the PDP the mandate which I believe was illegitimately and illegally transferred to the APC.

So, we must defend our people. We must protect the interest of our people.

ALSO READ:

Any person in the PDP saying that because I am standing trial and should not stand for national chairman, I want the person that is not standing trial to come and show what he has done to project and prosper PDP.

Let him come out and tell me what sacrifices he has made to get the PDP to go ahead. If I am being maligned, If I am standing trial, I am standing trial because I am standing for the PDP, because I am defending the PDP.
Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, announced Adams, the National Coordinator, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) as the 15th Generalissimo of Yoruba land on Oct. 12.

Otunba Oladotun Hassan, national president of the youth group, congratulated and set agenda for Adams in a statement he issued on behalf of the group in Lagos.

According to him, Gani has done a lot at ensuring peaceful co-existence of Nigeria at all times, especially in its current trying times.

Hassan, a legal practitioner, observed that Gani had also elped the nation in the fight against violation of fundamental human rights and inequality in sharing of accruable economic resources in land.

ALSO READ: Tinubu says Gani Adams deserves Aare Ona Kakanfo title

The youth leader also solicited a bi-monthly meeting of all Yoruba indigenous youth organisation leaders and stakeholders with the new Aare Onakakanfo.
Alhaji Kaka-Ali Abba, the Education Secretary, Maiduguri Municipal Council, said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri, that the gesture was to mark the 2017 World Teachers Day.

Abba said the association had initiated a free meal programme to encourage enrolment and retention in schools at the IDPs camps in the state.

He added that the programme was also designed to augment governments emergency food intervention and enhance nutritional intake of children displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency.

The secretary disclosed that nutritious meal were distributed to the affected children at Bulabulin Primary School, Bakassi and Teachers House IDPs camps, as part of activities lined up to mark the 2017 World Teachers Day.

The association spent about N1 million on the feeding, it is a monthly exercise to be funded from our dues and contributions from members.

This is to assist displaced children and encourage them to go to school, he said.

Abba said that the union had also provided relief materials and cash support to the families of teachers, who lost their lives in the crisis.

He said that the basic education sector was the worst hit by the Boko Haram insurgency, adding that hundreds of teachers were killed and school structures destroyed by the insurgents.
The Commandant of the Corps in the state, Mr Steve Amoga, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Enugu.

Amoga said that as a security agency in-charge of protecting critical public and government infrastructure and utilities, vehicular logistics would further enhance the operation of the corps.

In modern security arrangement, rugged vehicles with communication gadgets are a pre-requisite for most successful security operations and tactical surveillance.

So, the command needed additional operational vehicles to keep the command far ahead of vandals and other hoodlums.

The vehicles would also help to protect the arms and ammunition that NSCDC officers and men are carrying as well as help in positioning its personnel for action, he said.

Amoga, however, noted that the command had the track record of maintaining and protecting all logistics provided for it always.

You can see the few vehicles given to us three years ago with other security agencies, ours is still very neat as if it is donated to the command yesterday.

This is the pain we take to ensure that any vehicle donated or any other logistics to the command are well maintained, he said.

The commandant said that the command had lived up to the expectations of the public.
Estimados amigos,

Les doy cordialmente la bienvenida a este Blog informativo con articulos, analisis y comentarios de publicaciones especializadas y especialmente seleccionadas, principalmente sobre temas economicos, financieros y politicos de actualidad, que esperamos y deseamos, sean de su maximo interes, utilidad y conveniencia.

Pensamos que solo comprendiendo cabalmente el presente, es que podemos proyectarnos acertadamente hacia el futuro.

Las convicciones son mas peligrosos enemigos de la verdad que las mentiras.

There are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen.

You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.

No soy alguien que sabe, sino alguien que busca.

Only Gold is money. Everything else is debt.

Las grandes almas tienen voluntades; las debiles tan solo deseos.

Quien no lo ha dado todo no ha dado nada.

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.

If you know the other and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.
Mr Oyewole Oyewunmi, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, gave the assurance at meeting with farmers in Ibadan on Friday.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the HGSFP is the school-feeding initiative of the Federal Government, which is also supported by state governments.

Oyewunmi said that the programme was aimed at encouraging pupils to stay in school and improving their potential for learning, while stimulating the patronage of farmers for their produce.

Dr Adeyinka Onabolu, a Senior Adviser on Food Security and Nutrition to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that HGSFP would boost the market for local farm produce through the states Ministry of Agriculture.

She said that the ministrys involvement was to put in place storage and aggregate structures where local agricultural produce could be stored in order to maintain its nutrition quality for pupils in public primary schools.

Dr Olapeju Phorbee, a representative of Group International Potatoes Centre, called on farmers in the state to concentrate more on the cultivation of orange flesh sweet potatoes.

Phorbee said that the potato variety contained Vitamin A, which was not in other potato varieties, adding that the potato species was also not seasonal and could be harvested within three months.

She urged the HGSFP team to incorporate the orange flesh sweet potatoes in its menu for the pupils.

A spokesman for the farmers, Mr Nathaniel Adewinbi, commended the Federal Government for its efforts to provide quality cuisines the pupils so as to improve the standard of education.
Bode Ogunmola, the spokesman of the PDP, made this known to Daily Post on Saturday, October 28, 2017.

Recently, a top civil servant in Kogi statekilled himself over the non-payment of salaries.

The PDP, in a statement also said Soje, a Director with the Teaching Service Commission, TSC, was victim of governments policy of non-payment of salaries.

It is sad that rather than admitting its cross failure and abysmal policy direction, government has elected to dance on Sojes grave. In Africa we value life so much, that we refrain from speaking ill of the dead.

The only thing his employers has done is to accuse him of falsifying his age and to arrogantly declare that Soje continue to receive his pay till December 2016.

Whether Soje was owed 8 months as claimed by his employer or 11 months as reported in the media or even 21 months as is the case of many workers, the rock bottom truth is that he was frustrated and decided to end it all.

ALSO READ:

We call on the Governor Yahaya Bellos administration to put a human face on its policies and pay all workers their entitlements without further delays.

Our fear is, there may be other Sojes out there who may be planning to end it all because of lack of payment of salaries. Governor Bello should not allow this painful death to be in vain.
The Coordinator of the group, Mr Okenwa Uka, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abakaliki.

Uka said that as a result of the increase, many students whose parents and guardians could not afford the current boarding/school fee had not gone back to school six weeks after resumption.

He urged the Umahis administration to revert to the old boarding/school fees of N5,000 per term to save the future of the affected school children.

The past administration of former Gov. Martin Elechi converted some pilot secondary schools in the state into model boarding schools with a tuition fee of N5, 000, per term, but the present administration increased it to N16, 000 per term.

The development is not only sad but disheartening and capable of eroding the objective of establishing the boarding schools.

Access to sound education is the right of every child hence as an organisation committed to enthronement of good governance, we are urging the Ebonyi government to rescind its decision, he said.

Uka also appealed to the government to look into the plight of the students on foreign scholarships, who were stranded due to the inability of government to pay their tuition fees.

He stressed that the group was formed to enthrone positive change and to ensure that the tenets of democracy and accountability were entrenched in the present administration of Gov. David Umahi.

The coordinator explained that the platform was not out to antagonise the Umahi- led administration, but to redirect the focus of the administration to suit interest and demands of the people.
According to the Vice-President, the massive looting during Jonathans administration led to the downturn in the economy.

Osinbajo also said The theft of resources in this country is the first and primary reason for our poverty.

That is why we have to address the issue of corruption pointedly, not once in a while because the system is corrupt; it is a corrupted system that we are running. This is not a system where corruption is just an exception, corruption is generally the rule in the Nigerian system.

It is easy to say how come we dont have money or why are we borrowing money? If you as an individual have N1million and somebody stole N900,000 from it, you wont ask the question how come I am poor? You will immediately tie the theft of your money to your poverty.

When we came in, we had a foreign reserve of $32 billion, but there was $15billion used for defence contract that was unaccounted for.

Weeks before the 2015 elections, the government then, gave out N100billion in cash and $295million in cash ostensibly for security within two weeks. Those are the reasons why we dont have money.
Okonkwo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka on Saturday that the Authority`s revenue profile also increased from N13 million to N20 million monthly.

He said that Gov. Willie Obiano`s administration inherited a monthly N500 million as IGR and directed that something is done to increase the revenue profile of the state.

When Gov. Obiano came in, he met a monthly figure of N500 million monthly as internally generated revenue. The governor said that the situation was unacceptable and that he expected N3 billion.

It has not been easy, but we have been able to reach N1.5 billion monthly, he said.

Okonkwo, the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority, said revenue from the six Local Government Areas that make up the capital territory, contributed N20 million to the state`s internally generated revenue.

According to him, the production of a base map for the capital territory assisted to raise revenue for the state and led to the completion of an aerial photography of the state.

He said that the revenue drive had made the state to work towards self-sufficiency because of dwindling revenue from the federation account.

He said that work on the complete master plan of the territory was on-going.

While the comprehensive master plan of Awka territory is on-going, we have put together what we call the Awka Capital Territory Concept Masterplan.
The newly redesigned FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (leb.fbi.gov.) features an article under the subtitle Active Shooter which addresses the rise in mass murder shootings in the U.S.

"Active Shooter Events from 2000 to 2012," came from a study by J. Pete Blair, Ph.D.; M. Hunter Martaindale, M.S.; and Terry Nichols, M.S.

"The goal of this article is to provide such information along with the authors insights into what these data tell us about an effective ASE active shooter response," according to the website.

"The federal government defines an active shooter as an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area, typically through the use of firearms,'" according to the study.

The event that influenced the study took place before 2000 on April 20, 1999 when two Columbine High School students killed 12 classmates and a teacher in Littleton, Colo. The shooters committed suicide. Public outrage over the police response to that ASE produced massive changes.

Still, the response to the Las Vegas mass shooting on Oct 1, 2017 seemed slow.

The information for response time was only available for less than 50 percent of the cases during the LEB study. For the 51 cases that included the data, the median response time was three minutes.

A total of 110 active shooter events were identified by the study. The primary locations of the ASEs were: 19 percent, outdoors; 29 percent, schools; 40 percent, businesses; while "other" represented 12 percent. "Other" includes places like military bases and churches.

The study indicates there was a definite increase over the 12 years (2000-2012). The number drastically increased following 2008.

"The rate at which these events occurred went from about one every other month between 2000 and 2008 (5 per year) to more than one per month between 2009 and 2012 almost 16 per year. The authors tracking also indicates that this increase has continued into 2013. ... There were 72 people shot and 39 killed in 2013," according to the study.

The number of fatalities counted did not include the shooters.

Since the Kirkwood City Council shooting in Missouri on Feb. 7, 2008 when six were killed and two were injured. there hade been 48 recorded ASEs until Oct. 18, 2017, according to Internet sources.

The five largest-casualty events in the study were Northern Illinois University in DeKalb; Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticutt; Fort Hood Army Base, Killeen, Texas; Virginia Polytechnic and State University in Blacksburg; and the Century 21 theater, Aurora, Colorado. For these five, police were on the scene within three minutes.

The last ASE, as of this writing, was the Edgewood business park shooting on Oct. 18 in Edgewood, MD. There were three fatalities and two people critically injured. Another person was wounded at a different business by the same shooter.

To qualify for an ASE the event had to involve one or more persons engaged in killing or attempting to kill multiple people in an area occupied by multiple unrelated individuals  at least one of the victims had to be unrelated to the shooter.

The primary motive in these incidents appears to be mass murders. That means the shooting was not a byproduct of an attempt to commit another crime. Gang-related shootings were excluded from this study.

On Oct. 1, Stephen Paddock took the lives of 58 people and injured close to 500 in the worst mass shooting in our history at a live outdoor concert in Las Vegas.

(My current opinion of why he did it: He had traveled a lot, taken several cruises, bought and sold real estate, had girlfriends and wives, and played video-game poker for hours at a time. The thrill was gone. He was able to commit the crime because somehow we let him.)
Craft cider is big business in New York. Just look at the rise of state-certified farm cideries, in addition to the strong contingent of bars and restaurants dedicated to serving the stuff. Now Bad Seed, what's being billed as the city's "first ever cider Tap Room," has opened in Crown Heights, serving a variety of craft alcohols (with a preference for cider) produced in the Empire State.

Wikilow Orchards first opened a Tap Room in Highland, NY, before debuting their new bar at this year's Cider Week. They offer 20 tap lines, including 12 taps pouring Bad Seed and another eight pouring a rotating selection of New York-produced craft beer. Bottles of New York State wines and spirits will also be available for purchase, along with growler fills. Pints run $7 and flights $12.

"It's going to be mostly New York City breweries that are friends of ours, that we've gotten close to [as well as] some Hudson Valley beers that basically no one else is carrying," co-owner Bram Kincheloe explained to DNAinfo. Kincheloe runs the new Tap Room alongside Albert Wilklow, whose family has run the farm for six generations, and Devin Britton.

The Tap Room won't serve any food, but owners says patrons are welcome to BYO food or order from somewhere in the neighborhood. The space features a thirty foot bar and a 400-square-foot backyard, with some giant Jenga for amusement.

585 Franklin Avenue; badseedhardcider.com
Property details:

Parcel #23-05-0012, Frank Cassini Jr. Avenue, Newell Borough, Fayette County, PA. Frazier Area School District. This is a medium density residential parcel. Septic. Size is 0.1900 acres. This land is being sold as is. Seller makes no representation as to future prospects for increases in value of this property. All prospective buyers are urged to do their own due diligence to their own satisfaction prior to purchase of this property. We will provide the deed upon sale of property, paid in full. ...

Price: $ 2,900 Seller State of Residence: California Property Address: f a cassin jr ave Zip/Postal Code: 15401 Zoning: Residential State/Province: Pennsylvania Type: Homesite, Lot Location: 154**, Uniontown, Pennsylvania

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The subway system turns 113 years old today, October 27th. Not that fancy, underground pneumatic train of the 1800s, but the first IRT subway, which opened in 1904 and ran from City Hall to 145th Street and Broadway. Happy birthday, you busted old thing.

Below find Nikola Tesla's criticisms of the system, and some other fun historic facts from the subway's first year, which you can read while you're waiting for today's subway, which is also yesterday's subway, and runs about just as well.

The flooding of the subway is a calamity apt to repeat itself. As your readers will remember, it did not occur for the first time last Sunday. Water, like fire, will break loose occasionally in spite of precautions. It will never be possible to guard against a casual bursting of a main; for while the conduit can be safely relied upon under normal working conditions, any accidental obstruction to the flow may cause a pressure which no pipe or joint can withstand.

In fact, if we are to place faith in the gloomy forecasts of Commissioner Oakley, who ought to know, such floods may be expected to happen frequently in the future. In view of this it seems timely to call to public attention a danger inherent to the electrical equipment which has been thrust upon the Interborough Company by incompetent advisers.

The subway is bound to be successful, and would be so if the cars were drawn by mules, for it is the ideal means of transportation in crowded cities. But the full measure of success of which it is capable will be attained only when the financiers shall say to the electric companies: Give us the best, regardless of expense.

It is to be regretted that this important pioneering enterprise, in other respects ably managed and engineered, should have been treated with such gross neglect in its most vital feature. No opportunity was given to myself, the inventor and patentee of the system adopted in the subway and the elevated roads, for offering some useful suggestion, nor was a single electrician or engineer of the General Electric and Westinghouse companies consulted, the very men who should have been thought of first of all.

"Once large sums of money are invested in a defective scheme it is difficult to make a change, however desirable it may be"



Once large sums of money are invested in a defective scheme it is difficult to make a change, however desirable it may be. The movement of new capital is largely determined by previous investment. Even the new roads now planned are likely to be equipped with the same claptrap devices, and so the evil will grow. Das eben ist der Fluch der boesen Thut, das sie fortzeugend Boeses muss gebaeren.

The danger to which I refer lies in the possibility of generating an explosive mixture by electrolytic decomposition and thermic dissociation of the water through the direct currents used in the operation of the cars. Such a process might go on for hours and days without being noticed; and with currents of this kind it is scarcely practicable to avoid it altogether.

It will be recalled that an expert found the percentage of free oxygen in the subway appreciably above that which might reasonably have been expected in such a more or less stagnated channel. I have never doubted the correctness of that analysis and have assumed that oxygen is being continuously set free by stray currents passing through the moist ground. The total amperage of the normal working current in the tunnel is very great, and in case of flooding would be sufficient to generate not far from 100 cubic feet of hydrogen per minute. Inasmuch, however, as in railway operation the fuses must be set hard, in order to avoid frequent interruption of the service by their blowing out, in such an emergency the current would be of much greater volume and hydrogen would be more abundantly liberated.

It is a peculiar property of this gas that it is capable of exploding when mixed with a comparatively large volume of air, and any engineer can convince himself by a simple calculation that, say, 100,000 cubic feet of explosive might be formed before the danger is discovered, reported and preventive measures taken. What the effect of such an explosion might be on life and property is not pleasant to contemplate. True, such a disaster is not probable, but the present electrical equipment makes it possible, and this possibility should be, by all means, removed.

The oppressiveness of the tunnel atmosphere is in a large measure due to the heat supplied by the currents, and to the production of nitrous acid in the arcs, which is enhanced by rarefaction of the air through rapid motion. Some provision for ventilation is imperative. But ventilation will not do away with the danger I have pointed out. It can be completely avoided only by discarding the direct current.

I should say that the city authorities, for this if for no other reason, should forbid its use by a proper act of legislation. Meanwhile, the owners of adjacent property should object to its employment, and the insurance companies should refuse the grant of policies on such property except on terms which it may please them to make.
A Brooklyn councilman has proposed a bill that would make it illegal for police officers to have sex with people in their custody, following an incident in which two officers, Eddie Martins and Richard Hall allegedly raped a young woman while she was handcuffed in their custody on September 15th.

Councilmember Mark Treyger, who represents Bensonhurst, Coney Island, Gravesend, and Sea Gate, published a Medium post earlier this week condemning the incident, which allegedly began in the parking lot of a Chipotle in Coney Island.

"As details continue to emerge about what happened the night of September 15th, I remain extremely disturbed by this case, and the troubling implications it has for police-community relations," he wrote. "As the criminal investigation proceeds, however, we, as a community, need to have a conversation about the nature of sexual consent, and our expectations of both authority figures and victims of sexual assault."

Though it is illegal in New York State for, say, a prison guard to have sex with an inmate, it is currently not illegal for a law enforcement official to have sex with someone in their custody. The NYPD says "it is against department policy to have sex on duty," but if officers have "consensual" sex with someone in their custody before they get to the station hall, they are not technically breaking the law. Martins and Hall claim they had consensual sex with their victim, but as many have pointed out, someone cannot provide legal consent when under arrest.

"The reason you have Miranda warnings is precisely because of the coercive effect of being in custody," New York-based civil rights attorney Moira Meltzer-Cohen told The Intercept last week. "The idea that you cant give knowing and voluntary consent to answering questions, but you could to sex would be risible if it werent so horrifically nauseating."

Treyger agrees. "What occurred was not sex," he told the Post. "What occurred was rape." His bill, which he plans to introduce to City Council in a month, seeks to make sex between a police officer and a person in their custody a misdemeanor. "Necessarily, the power dynamics between a trusted agent of our criminal justice system and an individual under supervision mean that no sexual consent can be given entirely free from coercion," he wrote on Medium.

The bill will eventually have to become state law to have effect, and while Treyger is pushing to enact it citywide, he has called on the NY State Legislature to include the law in the state Penal Code. But even without the law, Treyger says the police should know better.

We do not need a change in laws, however, to understand that what occurred was deeply, morally wrong. Regardless of legal outcomes, we know that it is wrong for two police officers to use their positions of authority to engage in sexual activity with a teenager. Everyone deserves to be treated with professionalism in the course of their interactions with the police; the abuse of power exercised by these two detectives rattles the foundations of positive police-community relations that the law enforcement community has been working to build. It does a great disservice to the good work of the overwhelming majority of police officers, by undermining public trust.

Martins and Hall have been stripped of their badges as the investigation into the alleged rape continues, as has their supervisor, Sergeant John Espey. The victim's attorney, Michael David, told Gothamist earlier this month that his client is anxious for justice to be served.

"[She]s] hysterical every day. It's becoming her worst nightmare, when she knows what they did to her and there's still no arrests," he said.
Sometimes Halloween can lead to unexpected and hilarious stories. This is the case for many University of Georgia students who shared some of their best and most entertaining Halloween tales.
If youre someone who gets scared easily, then sometimes Halloween isnt exactly something you always look forward to. This pumpkin-filled holiday ushers in the fall but also brings out a form of entertainment that can be very polarizing: horror movies.
200 years on, the legacy of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan -- the man behind the Aligarh Muslim University -- hangs between two extremes.

Mohammad Sajjad brings much needed perspective to the debate.

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan: 1817 to 1898.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

As the birth bicentenary of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898) -- a realist-pragmatist of 19th century India, a distinguished reformer, and founder of the MAO College (now the Aligarh Muslim University) -- is being celebrated, one finds the interpretations of his words and deeds caught between the two extremes of deification, and disproportionate blaming, particularly on the issues of caste, gender and nationalism.

The need of the hour is to remember the limitations of the age in which the individual -- said to have been extraordinary -- operated.

The regeneration of the 19th century was a precursor to modernity in India. Sir Syed owns a fare share of credit for it.

Till 1859, Sir Syed was hardly concerned with reformism.

His intellectual pursuits were confined to studying India's past with adequate scientific rigour, and also to intra-Islamic sectarian debates. Yet, he preferred to edit (1855), among other works, the Ain-e-Akbari, rather than something on Aurangzeb, a monarch much maligned by various groups as a bigoted ruler.

In the pre-1857 period, Sir Syed did not seem to have believed as firmly in the permanence of the British rule. So much so that when he went to the poet Mirza Ghalib (1797-1869), asking him to write a foreword (taqriz) for Abul Fazl's Ain-e-Akbari, which he had edited, Ghalib reprimanded him.

Ghalib asked him to look up to the West and its accomplishments instead of wasting his time and talent on dead things of the past. The suggestion, at that time, was unpleasant for Sir Syed, who did not include the versified foreword that Ghalib wrote admiring the West's material and intellectual advancements.

However, from 1859 onwards, Sir Syed's sole concern was to regain the lost (and safeguard the existing) share of his Qaum in the evolving structures and processes of power.

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (front centre).

'Politically it is quite valid and useful to raise questions against the evident elitism of Sir Syed,' says Mohammad Sajjad.

'However, it would be equally valid and useful to understand that given the ethos of the 19th century, Sir Syed's efforts to mobilise funds for his educational enterprise would have crumbled had he raised issues of, what we now call, social justice.'

Photograph: Kind courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Historically, subordinated groups were not in Sir Syed's scheme of things.

While analysing the causes of the 1857 uprising, he not only tried to absolve the upper strata of Muslims, but also tried to put some blame on the historically oppressed communities among the Muslims.

His prejudices against such groups would re-appear in 1887, when he would oppose democracy, espoused by the Indian National Congress. In his diagnosis, fulfilment of such an objective needed educational uplift.

He was absolutely clear headed about this, and the only consistent thing in his words and deeds was this.

To actualise this, Sir Syed kept changing his strategies as frequently as was needed because of colonial education and employment policies.

His diluted stridency on interpreting the Quran, just to avoid the attacks of the clergy; his advocating Anglo-Muslim rapprochment and dissuading the Qaum from joining anti-establishment politics were all geared towards it.

Through his very extensive study of the Indian past -- ancient and medieval -- he concluded that foreign rulers (the Mughals, the Lodis, the sultans, Indo-Greek dynasties, and the Aryans) had come to India only to settle down.

He, therefore, believed in the permanence of British rule in India and persuaded his Qaum to come to terms with it and negotiate with it (not only politically, but also culturally), rather than confronting it to get crushed by the technologically, intellectually and materially superior West.

Sir Syed had some inkling of the times to come, evident by the fact that while choosing a job, he preferred to join the Company administration in 1837-1838, instead of the Mughals (despite his family's ties with the latter).

But his reformism -- obtaining education for employment -- was unconcerned by class distinctions.

This can be evaluated by the fact that when he started a school in Moradabad in 1859 he asked the relevant class of Hindus and Muslims to discontinue the practice of domiciliary education and take recourse to public schools. This -- asking all to sit together in a school classroom -- was a big step for the age.

Similarly, when he debated a report on Muslim education (1872), he strongly disagreed with those who talked of excluding the 'low born' from the proposed college. He made an elaborate argument that the rule of law and notion of justice disapproved such social exclusion.

He argued that if the elites and masses could all travel together in a lower class rail bogey to economise travel expenses why then should they practice social exclusion in government-aided educational institutions?

He may not have spoken against casteism practised in Islam, but he did not prohibit enrolment of the 'low born' to his MAO College. Instead, the proportion of the 'under-class' enrolments kept rising.

Sir Syed insisted on instituting fellowship endowments to educate the poor. Syed Mahmud's Dar-ul-Ulum (independent university) scheme talked of such charitable endowments.

Today, politically it is quite valid and useful to raise questions against Sir Syed's evident elitism.

However, it would be equally valid and useful to understand that given the ethos of the 19th century, Sir Syed's efforts to mobilise funds for his educational enterprise would have crumbled had he raised issues of, what we now call, social justice.

He was already battling the clergy, which was hell bent on keeping Muslims away from modern education.

IMAGE: A pundit teaches his pupils Sanskrit in Agra in 1871 in this photograph taken by Simon Matthew Edwin Kempson, the director of public instruction for the North Western Provinces.

Kempson, it is believed, prodded a further divide between Hindus and Muslims through a divide between Hindi and Urdu.

Photograph: Kind courtesy The British Library

On the question of 'nationalism', Sir Syed's opposition to the Congress is used to indict him. His advice to shun politics and concentrate on modern education was for both Muslims and Hindus.

Between 1862 and 1885, his words and deeds were strongly for Hindu-Muslim unity.

But his advocacy of vernacular (Urdu) education met with strong resistance from the votaries of the Nagri script (considered the predecessor of the Devnagiri script), in the late 1860s. These men included his friends like Raja Shiv Prasad (a prominent historian).

Those were the decades of growing communalisation with evident colonial prodding to the Nagri protagonists, mainly by Simon Matthew Edwin Kempson, who was the director of public instruction for the North Western Provinces (including what is now Uttar Pradesh), and by Lieutenant Governor George Campbell in Bihar.

This embittered Sir Syed.

Yet, communally divisive utterances were not there. What remained were particularistic concerns for one's own community. This communitarian particularism was not the differentia specifica of Sir Syed alone. It was there with all 19th century reformers.

Sir Syed's pragmatic approach made consistency impossible to achieve.

Between 1862 and 1882, his views showed pro-Indian sentiments.

Between 1882 and 1884, he professed to speakfor both Hindus and Muslims fundamentally in accordance with the principles upon which the INC was founded in 1885.

The Pan Islamism of Jamaluddin Afghani (1838-97) advocated that the Ummah (Muslims across the globe) should stand united to oppose British imperialism, and it also appreciated the caliphate in Turkey.

Sir Syed opposed it; he believed that extra-territorial, supra-national, loyalty with the caliphate in Turkey was untenable.

He gave premium to the Qaum for whom he had undertaken an extensive programme of educational, cultural and political reform.

To him, the Qaum or nationality did not mean India's Muslims alone; it referred also to Hindus.

In his Gurudaspur speech (in the 1880s) he said, 'I have used the word "nation" several times... By this I do not mean Muslims only. In my opinion, all men are one, and I do not like religion, community or group to be identified with a nation'.

British diplomat Sir Denis Wright underscored this, 'Attachment to the Khilafat (movement, an agitation by Indian Muslims to pressure the British government to not abolish the Caliphate after World War I) precluded Hindu-Muslim cooperation and the development of true nationalism among Indian Muslims.'

'Syed Ahmad's determined stand on this point would appear to be directed at opening the way for Hindu-Muslim cooperation, as much as to weaken the hold of the conservative Muslim leaders on the Muslim community.'

Between 1885 and 1888, Sir Syed spoke as a Muslim leader of north India and as an opponent of the Congress.

But then, between 1889 and 1898, he left the public political arena, and focussed on persuading his Qaum to shun politics and concentrate on modern education. His drive to raise funds for his MAO College became more strident.

When the Imperial Legislative Council (the legislature for British India) came into being, three Indians were inducted into the first council. They were all Hindus: Maharaja of Patiala Narendra Singh, Raja Sir Deo Narayan Singh of Benaras, and Dinkar Rao. Sir Syed welcomed this without complaining that there was no Muslim on the council.

Notwithstanding his loyalty to the British, both he and his son protested the racial arrogance of the British. More than once.

Even Jawaharlal Nehru noted in his Discovery of India that Sir Syed opposed the Congress for its radicalism, and he advised Hindus also to stay away from it.

The Sir Syed House at Aligarh Muslim University.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Wikimedia Commons

It was Mohammad Ali Jinnah's biographer Hector Bolitho, and the United States-based Pakistani academic Hafeez Malik who -- in desperation to find antiquity for the exclusionary nationalism of Pakistan -- traced the roots of India's Partition to Sir Syed.

And it later gained currency among Hindu communalists.

Sections of nationalist historiographers -- despite Nehru's adequate explanation -- only reinforced such misleading attributes.

Even a scholar of nationalism like Partha Chatterjee, discussing the first phase of evolving nationalism in India ('the moment of departure'), appreciated Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838-1894), despite his pro-British and anti-Muslim story line in Anandmath (1882). He credited Bankim with contributing to the rise of nationalism through his articulation of India's superiority/autonomy in the spiritual domain.

The same yardstick is not applied to the Muslim 'fragment' of the Indian nation. Sir Syed and his companions created far more progressive and voluminous literature in Urdu, which decisively went on to serve as intellectual resources against the British colonial hegemony.

With the turn of the century, the MAO College also became a nerve-centre of anti-British agitations. The campus, just as the rest of society, bustled with all political trends: Nationalists, leftists and separatists.

The first graduate and postgraduate of the college were Hindus; the first three principals were British Christians; and the first chancellor of the university was a woman.

Beef remained banned in the hostel, and scholarships specifically for Hindu students were also there.

Syed is also blamed for opposing women education.

In one of his speeches he was indeed harsh on this. He said India may have to wait for hundreds of years when it would be able to afford opening women's colleges.

He later argued that he should not be misunderstood on the issue. His pragmatism about letting the agenda wait till more resources and more receptive and enabling environment come about, is often glossed over by scholars and commentators.

His articles in the Aligarh Institute Gazette (AIG) and his travelogue of London wouldn't satisfy today's 'feminists', but these are not to be ignored completely.

The travelogue records Sir Syed's admiration for Naseeban of Kanpur, a maid servant who could speak English, on board the ship for his 21st trip to Europe. He showered laurels upon the maid servants of London who unfailingly took time out to read newspapers every day. He wished India should reach this stage soon.

He editorialised his praises in the AIG for scholar-reformer Pandita Ramabai (1858-1922), whose efforts resulted in significant progress in medical education and training for women; Kadambini Ganguly (1861-1923), the first medical graduate to have gone abroad for education; and Anandi Gopal Joshi (1865-1887), the first female physician.

To sum up, the reforming intelligentsia of 19th century colonial India had its many limitations; it is politically useful to talk about those.

Fanatic ways of admiring or denigrating/belittling such contributions serve absolutely no purpose.

Professor Mohammad Sajjad is with the Centre of Advanced Study in History of Aligarh Muslim University and has published two books -- Muslim Politics in Bihar: Changing Contours (Routledge, 2014), and, Contesting Colonialism and Separatism: Muslims of Muzaffarpur since 1857 (Primus, 2014).
'If India adopts a punitive and unforgiving stance against the Rohingyas, it will be courting disgrace,' says Amulya Ganguli.

IMAGE: Hamida thought she and her family would be safe if they fled the violence in Rakhine state, Myanmar.

Members of the Rohingya community, Hamida, her husband Nasir Ahmed and two young children risked it all, leaving their home behind, when they took a boat to Bangladesh.

The journey ended in tragedy when the boat capsized.

Hamida survived, but her 5-week-old infant didn't.

Photograph: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters

Why is there so much animus against the Rohingyas in India?

If the saffron camp is to be believed, India has rarely faced such a grave threat to its security as it does from a straggling group of refugees.

Prima facie, these forlorn people are the most unfortunate in the world.

It isn't only that their own country -- Myanmar -- does not want them as legitimate citizens, the Myanmar army has been engaged in brutal attacks on them in retaliation for the targeting of the army by the insurgents among the Rohingyas.

India is no stranger to such incidents in areas close to the India-Myanmar border where the Indian Army recently carried out a surgical strike against Naga rebels.

India has also seen restive populations elsewhere in the north-east such as in Mizoram, where the air force carried out bombing raids in the 1960s before the insurgents under Laldenga joined the mainstream.

India is in a position, therefore, to tell Myanmar how to tackle disgruntled people with dubious loyalties.

Yet, New Delhi has chosen to treat the Rohingyas on par with ISIS, seeing in the fleeing destitutes the spectre of looming terrorism.

Hence, India's threat to use pepper spray and stun grenades to push them back if they try to enter the country, and throw out those who are already here -- although Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju has been considerate to provide the assurance that the Rohingya would not be pushed into the sea or shot dead.

Given such belligerence, it is worth asking why the present government is so incensed with and fearful of the Rohingyas.

A possible reason is that the anger and alarm are an outburst of the innate dislike of Muslims not only in India, but the world over which is integral to the Hindutva worldview.

In India, the saffron brotherhood has had to keep its anti-Muslim feelings suppressed because of the prime minister's 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' slogan.

True, the Hindutva brigade does occasionally break free to target suspected beef eaters and those Muslims seemingly engaged in luring Hindu girls into marriage and possible conversion.

But these endeavours to save the majority Hindus from the machinations of the minorities cannot be conducted on a sustained basis since the police sometimes see such acts as violations of the law.

At a time when the government at the Centre is not advancing fast enough towards a Hindu Rashtra despite its majority in the Lok Sabha, the influx of the Rohingyas has provided the saviours of Hindus with an excellent opportunity to unfurl their patriotic banner.

The government's lack of concern for the international repercussions of any harsh steps which it may take against the Rohingyas must be heartening for the vigilantes because, for once, they and the government are on the same page.

The saffron camp may concede that not all the Rohingyas are terrorists, particularly the women and children.

But the saffronites have long being saying that even if not all Muslims are terrorists, all the terrorists are Muslims.

This irrefutable argument (for them) is being advanced to paint all the Rohingyas with a black brush.

The case for so depicting them cannot but have strong resonance among some of the rank and file of the BJP and RSS, not to mention the VHP and the Bajrang Dal, considering that anyone who has interacted with them will be aware of their anti-Muslim mindset.

The so-called inclusiveness peddled by some BJP ministers has little meaning for them.

It will have even less meaning where the Rohingyas are concerned because they are doubly alien, being both outsiders and Muslims.

The Hindutva warriors probably also regard them as soft targets, for the Rohingyas have few supporters even in Myanmar.

The presence of the Nobel Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, as a powerful figure in the ruling establishment in Myanmar hasn't helped them.

Evidently, the suffering which she underwent during her long incarceration under the military regime for speaking up for democracy hasn't made her sensitive about the travails of others.

The Sangh Parivar will do well to remember that soft targets tend to arouse even greater sympathy in the international community than other victims of official and religious persecution.

If India adopts, therefore, a punitive and unforgiving stance against the Rohingyas, it will be courting disgrace.

As it is, the lynching of Muslims and Dalits have brought a bad name to the country. The use of pepper spray and stun grenades against the hapless Rohingyas will bring further ignominy.

All the kudos which India has earned for sheltering the Parsis from Persia in the 8th century and the Tibetans in the 20th century, apart from the Chakmas and Hajongs who fled East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and the Sri Lankan Tamils during the civil war on the island, will go down the drain.

Amulya Ganguli is a writer on current affairs.
Resettlement of refugees elsewhere is not the morally correct solution to the problem for it lets the perpetrators off the hook.

Return of refugees to their rightful homes is the ethical remedy, says Vivek Gumaste.

IMAGE: A Rohingya family awaits permission from Bangladesh soldiers to enter Teknaf, Bangladesh, from Myanmar, October 25, 2017. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

When the compulsions of moral and humanitarian obligations collide violently with the exigencies of national security, it stalls a nation at excruciatingly painful crossroads that offer no easy choice.

A challenging dilemma that embodies the predicament: Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

With the growing number of Rohingya refugees finding their way into India, the country finds itself trapped between a rock and a hard place.

On one hand it faces the ignominy of being demonised as a callous, insensitive nation immune to the plight of starving, frightened women and children fleeing from an authoritarian regime; while on the other, it stares down a path fraught with the danger of terrorist infiltration.

Rohingya Muslims are a Stateless ethnic minority numbering close to a million (the Myanmar government denies them citizenship deeming them as Bangladeshi immigrants) who inhabit Rakhine province in western Myanmar.

Since Myanmar's independence in 1948, the Rohingyas have been subject to varying degrees of persecution prompting thousands to flee to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India.

Since August 25, when a Rohingya insurgent group -- the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army -- attacked Myanamarese army posts and provoked retaliation, the exodus of Rohingyas has intensified.

According to the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, 536,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh in this period. A significant number of them have found their way across Bangladesh into India, facilitated by human traffickers.

Currently, India harbours over 40,000 Rohingya Muslims; 16,000 of these have been registered by the UNHCR.

Responding to the burgeoning crises, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju stated in Parliament in August that the Centre had directed state authorities to deport illegal immigrants, including Rohingya Muslims.

This pronouncement unleashed a public debate on the morality of the issue, invited censure from the UNHCR and prompted a legal challenge in the Supreme Court.

But what exactly are our legal obligations? Should blind humanitarianism prevail over pragmatic concerns of security? And should the Supreme Court reframe an issue that has security and international ramifications? These are the pressing questions that are germane to a cogent conclusion.

First, in strict legal terms, India has no obligation to the Rohingya refugees or refugees in general as it is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.

The 1951 Refugee Convention is a United Nations multilateral treaty that lays out the rights of refugees and responsibilities of asylum granting nations.

According to T Anantachari (external link), director general (retired), Border Security Force, 'India does not have on its statute book a specific and separate law to govern refugees. Even though India is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention and also the 1967 Protocol, India is a signatory to a number of United Nations and World Conventions on Human Rights, refugee issues and related matters. India's obligations in regard to refugees arise out of the latter.'

India's obligation, if any at all, is indirect and stems from the broader concept of human rights and its own traditional morality.

Secondly, there appears to be a credible, multi-faceted threat that not only involves terrorism, but includes human trafficking and intentional demographic manipulation.

In a 16-page affidavit (external link) filed in the Supreme Court, the government made these observations:

'It is also found by the central government that many of the Rohingyas figure in the suspected sinister designs of ISI/ISIS' (Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence/Islamic State).

'There is also a serious potential and possibility of eruption of violence against the Buddhists who are Indian citizens.' (My interjection: The 2013 serial bombings in Bodh Gaya was related to the Rohingya problem).

'Due to an already existing large influx of illegal immigrants from the neighbouring countries, the demographic profile of some of the bordering states has already undergone a serious change which is already causing the far-reaching complications in various contexts.'

'... some Rohingyas are indulging in illegal/anti-national activities ie mobilisation of funds through hundi/hawala channels, procuring fake/fabricated Indian identity documents (PAN cards and voter cards) and also indulging in human trafficking.'

But most concerning is the threat that the Rohingyas pose in the highly sensitive area of Jammu and Kashmir.

Inadvertently or intentionally, a large number of refugees (5,700 according to the official figure) are concentrated in Jammu, which raises the twin fears of increasing terrorism and demographic manipulation.

Intelligence reports identify definite links between terrorists and Rohingyas. An India Today report (external link) says:

'Around October last year, reports surfaced that a Rohingya terror group, known as Aqa Mul Mujahideen (AMM) was in touch with terrorist outfits active in Jammu and Kashmir including Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)'.

'There were also reports that Rohingya terrorists were being sent to the Kashmir valley along with Pakistani mercenaries. One Chotta Burmi of Rohingya ethnic group was killed in an encounter in Kashmir in 2015. Burmi was said to have received patronage of Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan.'

'The intelligence agencies suspect that increasing concentration of Rohingyas in Jammu and Kashmir could be part of JuD (Jamat-ud Dawah) and Kashmiri militant groups to keep them in "their area of influence". Some Rohingya militants are suspected to be active in the Kashmir valley.'

With the Kashmir valley being cleansed of Hindus, the concentration of Rohingya Muslims in neighbouring Jammu makes the danger of demographic manipulation a plausible fear.

Local tensions have been rising.

Rakesh, president of the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was quoted as saying in a Hindustan Times report (external link), 'people will have no choice but to deport them against the law. It can be civil war or communal riots. They (the Rohingyas) want to change Jammu into an Islamic State which will not be tolerated by the people.'

Therefore, despite the caveat that all refugees are not terrorists, one cannot deny that the threat from the refugee influx is real and not paranoia or imaginary.

In this setting, the principle of non-refoulement (return of refugees to a place where they may be persecuted) cannot be invoked as per Article 33.2 of the 1951 Convention: 'The benefit of the present provision may not, however, be claimed by a refugee whom there are reasonable grounds for regarding as a danger to the security of the country in which he is, or who, having been convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community of that country.'

Lastly, this issue that has national security and international implications is best left to the prudence of the executive branch of a government rather than the judiciary, as the government affidavit (external link) indicates: 'Such facts (security inputs received from intelligence agencies) will satisfy this Hon'ble court to accept the respectful submission of the central government that it is desirable, expedient, Constitutionally imperative and in the interest of the nation to leave such a decision to the executive decision making/policy of the central government...'

The court appears to have partially concurred by not staying the deportation order and concluding (external link): 'There is no iota of doubt that a humanitarian issue is involved but national interest has to be kept in mind.'

The impression that India is morally delinquent and that the government is communalising the issue is misleading and deceptive.

India has already sent 53 tonnes of relief materials to Bangladesh as aid to Rohingya refugees and has vowed to take a humanitarian approach in deportation.

As Rijiju averred (external link): 'No country can accuse India of being intolerant or inhuman in dealing with Rohingyas. Deportation has to be done legally. We are not going to use force to throw out anybody. So allegations of being inhuman are wrong. No other country has accepted more refugees than India.'

Resettlement of refugees elsewhere is not the morally correct solution to the problem for it lets the perpetrators off the hook. Return of refugees to their rightful homes is the ethical remedy.

Accordingly, on October 15, former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan who the Myanmar government sanctioned commission to resolve the Rohingya problem, requested the UN Security Council to pass a resolution that 'urges the government to really press ahead and create conditions that would allow the refugees to return with dignity and with a sense of security'.

In conclusion, India cannot be faulted morally or legally and is fully justified in protecting its national interest even as it pursues a legal and considerate path to deport the Rohingyas.

Vivek Gumaste is a US-based academic, political commentator and the author of My India: Musings of a Patriot.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday accused Ahmed Patel of having "deep relations" with a Gujarat hospital where an alleged Islamic State operative worked before his arrest, even as the Congress defended its senior leader, dubbing the demand for his resignation from the Rajya Sabha as "outrageous".

Patel, political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is in the eye of a political storm after Gujarat ATS arrested two suspected Islamic State operatives from Surat for allegedly planning terror attacks.

One of them was Kasim Stimberwala, who worked as a laboratory technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district with which Patel had been associated as a trustee.

"Patel has deep relations with the hospital since 1979. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi owe an explanation to the people (on this issue)," Union minister and senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters in New Delhi.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had on Friday sought the resignation of Patel from the Rajya Sabha.

"This is a serious issue, as a terrorist was arrested from a hospital which is being run by Ahmed Patel...Patel, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress must come clean on the issue. We also want Patel to resign as Rajya Sabha MP," Rupani told a press conference.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who was in Gujarat's Rajkot on Saturday called Rupani's demand "outrageous".

"I am amazed by this kind of outrageous demand. Ahmed Patel was a trustee of the hospital and had resigned in 2015. This person who was arrested seems to have joined the hospital as a technician last year and had resigned a couple of days prior to his arrest," the former Union minister said.

"Now, if somebody who has joined in the last one year as a technician has ISIS connect, then how a trustee of three years ago is responsible," he asked at a press conference.

Patel had rejected the charge as "completely baseless", and urged the BJP not to politicise matters pertaining to national security and divide the peace-loving Gujaratis.

The Congress' communications department head Randeep Surjewala also slammed the BJP for its attack on Patel, one of the party's key stragetists and a long-standing Gandhi family loyalist, calling it a "sinister conspiracy".

Surjewala said that neither Patel nor his family members were trustees of the hospital, named after Sardar Patel, or had any role in its administration.

Mounting a counteroffensive, Surjewala also asked the saffron party to come clean on why the central and Maharashtra governments were clueless when underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's wife visited Mumbai and flew back to Pakistan last year.

"Rupani has resorted to making such despicable statements and conspiracy for the BJP is afraid that 6.5 crore Gujaratis are going to reject it completely (in the Assembly polls). This shows the level to which the failed chief minister can stoop to out of fear of BJP's defeat," Surjewala said in a statement in the national capital.

He alleged that the BJP-led governments and its leaders have proved to be weak in the fight against terrorism.

Surjewala referred to the 1999 Kandahar plane hijack episode to attack the BJP, asking "Didn't the previous NDA government release (extremist group Jaish-e-Mohammad's chief) Maulana Masood Azhar and others in Afghanistan?"
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Saturday demanded Congress leader Ahmed Patels resignation as Rajya Sabha MP, alleging that a suspected Islamic State operative arrested recently used to work at a hospital where Patel had been a trustee earlier.

Patel rejected the charge as completely baseless and urged the Bharatiya Janata Party not to politicise matters pertaining to national security and divide the peace-loving Gujaratis.

Union minister Prakash Javadekar also said that the Congress owes an explanation as to how a terrorist had been working there for so long.

Two suspected Islamic State operatives were arrested by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad two days ago. According to an FIR, one of the accused, Kasim Stimberwala, earlier worked as a technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district.

Rupani said in Gandhinagar that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Patel owe a clarification to the nation as the matter pertains to national security.

This is a serious issue, as a terrorist was arrested from a hospital which is being run by Patel... It has now been revealed that though Patel had resigned as a trustee of that hospital in 2014, but he is still at the helm of the hospitals affairs, the Gujarat CM alleged.

Imagine what would have happened if these two terrorists were not arrested... Patel, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress must come clean on the issue. We also want Patel to resign as Rajya Sabha MP, he demanded.

It has now been revealed that Kasim had resigned just two days before he was arrested. This raises several questions. Patel must clarify how such a person got a job in his hospital and why he resigned just days ahead of his arrest, Rupani said.

Replying to the charges, Patel tweeted, My party and I appreciate the ATS effort to nab the two terrorists. I demand strict and speedy action against them. The allegations put forward by the BJP are completely baseless.

In another tweet, he said, We request that matters of national security not be politicised keeping elections in mind. Lets not divide the peace loving Gujaratis while fighting terrorism.

Javadekar said in Bengaluru the Congress owes an explanation as to how a terrorist could work so long at the hospital.

The two IS suspects were planning attacks on a Jewish religious place, he said.

Congress in-charge of communications Randeep Surjewala came to the defence of Patel, saying neither he nor any of his family members was a trustee of the Bharuch Hospital where the alleged terrorist was working.

A frustrated BJP facing imminent defeat in Gujarat is resorting to levelling reckless and baseless allegations against Ahmed Patel, he said.

Sardar Vallabhai Patel Hospital is a charitable hospital and it has between 150-200 employees including doctors and technicians, he said.

The BJP is being shown the door by 6.5 crore Gujaratis and a defeated BJP is clutching onto the polarising straws of blatant lies to reset the agenda. It will never succeed in its sinister conspiracies, the Congress leader said.

He said the BJP should stop preaching about fighting terrorism to anyone.

The BJPs track record on terrorism is quite dismal. Will Amit Shah and Vijay Rupani answer as to who permitted dreaded terrorist Dawood Ibrahims wife to visit Mumbai and leave unscathed with the entire government sleeping over the same, he asked.

The truth is that Vijay Rupani and his government fired upon and killed farmers in Dahod in Gujarat. The BJP is trying to divert attention, he alleged.

The two suspected IS operatives had allegedly planned to carry out a lone wolf attack on a Jewish synagogue in Khadia area of the city.
Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel, who has put forward a set of demands before the Congress as a pre-condition for extending support to the party in the upcoming Gujarat assembly polls, on Saturday asked it to make its stand clear by November 3 on how it would ensure reservation for the community.

In a tweet, he also threatened that the Patidar community would oppose Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Surat on November 3, like it did to Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah during one of his public gatherings in the city.

"3/11/2017 tak Congress Patidar ko Samvedhanik aarakshan kaise dengi, us mudde par apna stand clear kar de nahi to Amit Shah jaisa mamla Surat mein hoga (Congress should make its stand clear by November 3 on how it will provide reservation to the Patidar community under the Constitution, otherwise the Amit Shah episode will be repeated in Surat)," he tweeted.

In September last year, Shah had faced a strong opposition from the workers of the Hardik-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti during his visit to Surat. Dozens of PAAS workers had disrupted a function which was being attended by the BJP chief.

Dinesh Bambhaniya, a PAAS convener, said the organisation and the community it represented would take a call on whether to support the Congress in the Assembly polls only after the opposition party made its stand clear on the issue.

He asserted that Hardik or anyone else from the PAAS had no plans to meet Rahul Gandhi until the Congress convinced the Patidar leaders as regards how would it ensure reservation for the community.

"First, the Congress will have to make its stand clear regarding reservation and only after that shall we talk to Rahul Gandhi...He is visiting Surat on November 3 and we can oppose him like we did to Amit Shah," Bambhaniya said.

Hardik, 24, had recently met Congress' Gujarat affairs in-charge Ashok Gehlot and presented a list of demands to him, including reservation and a maximum number of poll tickets for the Patidar community members.

The Congress has so far maintained that it will offer a 20-per cent reservation to the economically backward classes, without disturbing the 49-per cent reservation given to the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes.

Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said, "We have said that without touching the 49 per cent reservation for the SCs, STs and OBCs, we will offer a 20-per cent reservation to the EBCs in the state, who have been affected by the privatisation of the health sector and other institutions under the BJP rule."

"This 20 per cent EBC quota will not be a lollipop offer like the one made by the BJP, which was rejected by the high court. Our reservation ordinance will be a well thought-out one and based on a scientific survey," he added.

The Gujarat assembly polls are scheduled to be held in two phases -- on December 9 and December 14.

Photograph: @HardikPatel_/Twitter
The grand jury hearing the case of two NYPD officers who were accused of raping an 18-year-old woman handed down an indictment for the alleged rape, according to multiple reports.

The indictment was first reported on by the New York Post, who wrote that the pair of officers, Eddie Martins and Richard Hall, will likely be arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court early next week. If convicted, the Martins and Hall face between 3 and 25 years in prison for first-degree rape.

The Daily News reports that the grand jury also indicted the men for bribery, for telling the woman that they would let her go if she complied with their demands for sex.

A police spokesperson told Gothamist that both men have been suspended without pay.

The charges stem from a traffic stop the pair of officers, detectives with the Brooklyn South Narcotics unit, made on September 15th in Calvert Vaux Park in Gravesend, Brooklyn. Hall and Martin allegedly pulled over a car the victim was driving, and found a small amount of pot and prescription pills. The 18-year-old woman had two friends in the car with her who the officers allegedly let go, before demanding the woman lift her shirt to show them she didn't have any drugs in her bra, then handcuffed her and put her in the back of an unmarked police van.

The officers then allegedly drove around with the woman while she was handcuffed and demanded sex from her as an alternative to taking her to the 60th Precinct house. Martins and Hall then allegedly parked the van in a Chipotle near the park, where Martins is alleged to have raped her and both men forced her to give her oral sex, all while she was still handcuffed. The two men then allegedly dropped the victim off a few blocks from the 60th Precinct house, where a friend who had been with her during the earlier traffic stop found her.

"We are going to vigorously contest these charges in a court of law, rather than the court of public opinion," Mark A. Bederow, a lawyer representing Detective Martins, told the Times.

When the investigation into the alleged rape started, Martins and Hall allegedly claimed that sex did happen, but that it was consensual.

"I don't know how anything is consensual when you're on-duty, undercover, handcuff somebody and brutally rape them. It's just a mockery," the woman's lawyer, Michael David, told Gothamist after that claim.

The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office told Gothamist they had no comment on the alleged indictment. David did not respond to a request for comment. but previously told Gothamist his client was "emotionally a complete wreck...She's not the same person she was."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called for a debate on internal democracy in political parties, asserting that the growth of "true democratic spirit" within them is necessary for the country's future.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses during the Deepawali Mangal Milan programme at BJP headquarters in New Delhi. Photograph: Manvender Vashist/PTI Photo

Modi made these remarks in a brief speech to the media at a 'Diwali Milan' event at the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters in New Delhi as he pointed out that funding to political parties is often debated but not their values, ideologies, internal democracy and how they give opportunities to the new generation of leaders.

The country, he said, is not much aware of the practise of democracy within parties and the media should turn its attention to it, he said.

"Whether democratic values are a part of their (parties) core values or not, should be debated widely.... I believe that the development of a true democratic spirit within political parties is necessary not only for the country's future but also for democracy," he said.

Though the prime minister made no reference to any rival party, but his comments come against the backdrop of reports that the Congress may elevate its vice president Rahul Gandhi as president in place of his mother Sonia Gandhi.

The BJP has often accused the Congress of practising dynasty politics and juxtaposed that with the rise of its party workers to top echelons to project itself as a party with a difference.

IMAGE: Modi with BJP President Amit Shah and other party leaders at the programme. Photograph: Manvender Vashist/PTI Photo

Modi also acknowledged that there are many voices within the BJP as he noted that when it was a small organisation earlier or during the times of Jana Sangh, its forerunner, there used to be "ideological harmony" from its central leadership down to workers in the bottom rung.

The party's expansion may be a reason behind divergent views, he said.

He also praised the media for its support to 'Swachh Bharat' (Clean India) project, saying it has spoken in one voice over the issue even if it might have been critical of the government over other matters.

The media has joined the scheme in "mission mode", he said, adding that the country has still a long way to go to achieve international standards of cleanliness but the campaign has built an atmosphere its its favour.

IMAGE: PM Modi and Shah pose for a group picture with photo journalists during the function. Photograph: Manvender Vashist/PTI Photo

On the occasion, the prime minister also made some light remarks recalling his initial days as a party office bearer in its headquarters when at times he had to look for journalists and fondly remembered his regular interactions with the media.

He said both the ruling party and the media may have expectations as well complaints from each other but they have to get along happily amid these differences.

In his remarks, BJP chief Amit Shah noted that Diwali marks the beginning of the new year in Gujarat, a state from where he hails from, and said the country has met various challenges successfully during the last year and moved ahead under the Modi government.

"We are entering the new year with a lot of positivity," he said.
Chhattisgarh Public Works Department Minister Rajesh Munat has filed a complaint against state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel and senior journalist Vinod Verma for allegedly tarnishing his image through a "fake" sex CD.

A case was registered last evening at the Civil Lines police station in Raipur against Baghel, Verma and others under section 67 (A) of the Information Technology Act following the minister's complaint, Station House Officer, Civil Lines, Hem Prakash Nayak said.

"A copy of the CD has been submitted to the police station and it will be sent for forensic examination," he said.

Munat, considered close to Chief Minister Raman Singh, was accompanied by state BJP president Dharam Lal Kaushik, his over half-a-dozen cabinet colleagues and other party leaders, while filing the complaint.

Talking to reporters yesterday, Munat had alleged that the CD in question was fake and urged the chief minister to order a probe to find the truth.

"The (sex) CD is fake. It is an attempt to malign my image," he had said.

The minister further appealed to the chief minister and Kaushik to get the matter investigated from any agency.

On Friday, the Civil Line police had also arrested two AAP supporters for allegedly blackening Munat's nameplate while protesting outside his official residence over the row.

Verma, who was arrested in connection with an extortion and blackmailing case from Ghaziabad by Chhattisgarh police yesterday, had claimed that he had a sex CD of the Chhattisgarh minister.

Police also claimed to have recovered 500 "porn" CDs, a pen drive and a laptop from Verma.

A Ghaziabad court had granted the Chhattisgarh Police the transit remand of Verma till October 30 and he is expected to reach Raipur this afternoon.

Image: Bhupesh Baghel with Congress vice president Rahul gandhi. Photograph: Bhupesh Baghel/Facebook
The United States is waiting to see the practical steps taken by Pakistan over the next weeks and months in its war against terrorism, a top American diplomat has said asserting that the Trump Administration is moving quickly on its own strategy to fight against terror groups.

The Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs and Acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Alice G Wells, who was part of the US delegation Secretary of State Rex Tillersons trip to the region told reporters in a briefing that it is all about Pakistans strategic choice.

This is about Pakistans sovereign choice. This is not about America giving dictation. Weve described our strategy, weve described a very important role for Pakistan, who we see as a very important country in the region, but its up to them whether or not they want to work with us on this strategy. And if they dont, as the Secretary said, well adjust accordingly, Wells said.

During his just concluded visit to Pakistan, Tillerson stressed the importance of Pakistan moving quickly to demonstrate good faith and efforts to use its influence to create the conditions that will get the Taliban to the negotiating table.

These are things that are seen and felt and measurable, and so we look forward over the next weeks and months to see the practical steps that Pakistan takes out of its own self-interest and ensuring that its own country is not destabilised by some of the actions of the groups that have been able to use its territory, she said.

I cant give you an explicit timetable, but were moving very quickly ourselves on our own strategy and in reinforcing on the military side our ability to demonstrate to the Taliban that they cannot win this war. We are going to make equally rapid progress on the diplomatic side or have equally-high expectations on the diplomatic side of responsiveness, she said.

Wells asserted that the Taliban leadership and the Haqqani Network still retain an ability to plan, to recuperate, and to reside with their families in Pakistan.

The Quetta and Peshawar leadership councils of the Taliban have their names for a reason, she noted.

What we saw in 2014 was we saw Pakistan make a strategic decision to defeat the terrorist groups that were targeting the government of Pakistan. And with great loss of life, great courage, great vision about what needed to be done, Pakistan has fought that battle and now has regained control and sovereignty over the FATA territories, she said.

Wed like to see the same strategic commitment brought against other militant groups, whether that are operating or have used Pakistans territory, whether they are directed against India or directed against Afghanistan, she added.

Tillerson, during his meetings with Pakistani leadership, had an extremely candid conversation with the prime minister and the civilian and military leadership team, she said.

The secretary underscored that the strategy is an opportunity; since Pakistan, with the exception of Afghanistan, has the most to benefit from a stable and peaceful country next door.

He noted that at several critical junctures over the last 70 years, the US has worked very closely with Pakistan, and the Coleman hostage is an example of what they can do when together.

But under the strategy, weve laid out some very specific expectations of how Pakistan can help create the conditions that will help bring the Taliban to the table.

And I think the longstanding relationships with the militant and terrorist organisations  our concern is that they threaten Pakistans stability. You see already the spillover of the sectarianism that has been building in Pakistan over the last several decades, she said.

According to Wells, over the last four years Pakistani officials and the Taliban both thought the US was withdrawing.

They were hedging against a chaotic departure. They were hedging against an uncertain security environment, she said.

What the South Asia strategy gives them, is certainty that were there, were not going to let the Taliban win, that were prepared to invest the resources that will be, at a minimum, a stalemate but a stalemate increasingly in the governments favour, she said.

IMAGE: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, right, meets with Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif at the State Department in Washington. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/Reuters


Senior Congress leader P Chidamabaram on Saturday said that when people of Jammu and Kashmir ask for 'azadi' they seek greater autonomy.

"The demand in Kashmir is to respect in letter and spirit the Article 370 and that means they want greater autonomy. My interactions in Jammu and Kashmir led me to the conclusion that when they ask for azadi, overwhelming majority wants autonomy," Chidambaram said during an interactive session in Rajkot.

The former finance minister also said the centre should find out the areas in Jammu and Kashmir where autonomy can be given.

"I think we should seriously examine the question (of autonomy to J&K) and consider on what areas we can give autonomy. It's perfectly within the Constitution of India. Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India, but it will have larger powers as promised under Article 370," he said.

Chidambaram's statement comes close to the heel of appointment of former Intelligence Bureau director Dineshwar Sharma as interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir by the Modi government.

It is notable that in 2010, Chidambaram as the home minister in the United Progressive Alliance government appointed three interlocutors -- late journalist Dilip Padgaonkar, Information Commissioner Prof M M Ansari and trustee of Delhi Policy Group Prof (Mrs) Radha Kumar -- to hold dialogue with all stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir.

Article 370 of the Indian Constitution gives autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has traditionally favoured the abrogation of the Article 370.

As BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi had also called for a debate on Article 370 during his 2014 Lok Sabha campaign.
After Chauri Chaura, Gandhi withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement.

The Nehrus were furious....

Zaheer Ali reveals what happened during one of the most momentous events in India's freedom movement.

An exclusive extract from his book, Khilafat In History And Indian Politics.

IMAGE: The Chauri Chauri tragedy was depicted in Gandhi, the film directed by Richard Attenborough.

Chauri Chaura witnessed a large protest on February 5, 1922 as part of the Non-Cooperation Movement.

The demonstration actually started a day before when about 2,500 people picketed a liquor shop.

The police arrested one of the leaders. The people were infuriated and gathered before the police chowki, demanding the release of their leader.

Armed police arrived and fired at the slogan-shouting protesters. Three people were killed on the spot and many more were injured.

This exacerbated the situation as the infuriated protesters irately advanced towards the policemen without bothering about their guns.

This astonishing display of courage by the protesters intimidated the policemen and they sought protection in the chowki.

The incensed crowd set the chowki on fire, burning alive 23 Indian policemen.

The Chauri Chaura incident horrified Gandhi so much that he thought of it as his personal complicity in the bloodshed.

As penance for the guilt he suffered, he went on a five day fast.

He mulled over the point that he had failed in training his satyagrahis properly in the method of non-violent agitation.

He also felt that Indians were not fully prepared to carry out a peaceful agitation against the British Raj.

He therefore declared, on February 12, against the opinion of many of his Congress colleagues, the end of the Non-Cooperation Movement.

That did not deter the authorities from arresting him. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment, but he was released on health grounds in February 1924.

IMAGE: Jawaharlal Nehru was unhappy with Gandhi's decision to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement. Photograph: Kind courtesy Wikimedia Commons

The end of the Non-Cooperation movement weakened the Khilafat Movement to a great extent.

The leaders of both the Congress and the Khilafat were dismayed by Gandhi's decision.

For them, it was admission of defeat and a betrayal of the lakhs of Indians who had sacrificed almost everything to support the twin movements of Khilafat and Non-Cooperation.

C Rajagopalachari, who was considered to be very close to Gandhi, wrote in his diary: '...Despite my close relationship with my mentor Gandhi, I fail to understand the reason why he called off the movement.'

Mohammad Ali (Jouhar, a leading figure of the Khilafat Movement) was in jail. He was completely distraught on learning about it (Gandhi's decision).

The Kanpur Khilafat Committee, at the prompting of Hasrat Mohani and Maulana Azad Subhani, declared it would oppose Gandhi's decision.

The Jamiat-ul-Ulama too expressed its reservation about the principle of absolute non-violence in its Ajmer session held in early March 1922.

Chaudhary Khaliquzzaman, an important leader of the Khilafat movement, said when the Nehrus, Motilal and Jawaharlal, learned about the calling off of the movement in Lucknow jail, they were extremely offended.

In his words: 'Pandit Motilal was furious... and expressed his deep resentment and anger at what had happened... He... shouted, "Look here what has happened... This ends the movement because some people in a big country like India have lost their mind and committed violence".'

'Jawaharlal... did not say anything at that time. However, I could see by his face that he did not like it and shared his father's views.'

Maulana Abdul Bari was beside himself and, in the heat of the moment, said: 'To me Gandhiji is like a paralytic whose limbs are not in his control, but whose mind is still active. I am doubtful of his (future) success because he has not yet acquired much success from his (non-violent) movement...There is general depression all over.'

When Gandhi learnt about Maulana Bari's annoyance, he rushed to Ajmer, where Bari had made the statement and did his best to mollify the maulana who, in turn, issued a conciliatory statement: 'I had agreed with Gandhiji that, until I had become hopeless of the success of the non-violent Non-Cooperation Movement, I would not do anything against it openly or secretly.'

IMAGE: C Rajagopalachari, who considered Gandhi his mentor, failed to understand why Gandhi decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement. Photograph: Kind courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Gandhi's decision to call off the movement had a huge adverse impact on the Khilafat volunteers.

The widespread reaction among them was that they were cheated.

On the other hand, the authorities were very happy.

Harcourt Butler, the governor of UP, had remarked that Hindu-Muslim unity was on the verge of death.

With the intention of intensifying the hatred between Hindus and Muslims, the viceroy sent a telegram to London pleading with the British government to reconsider the terms of the Treaty of Sevres.

It was a clever ploy to wean the Muslims away from the mainstream nationalist movement.

Sadly, many leaders of the Khilafat movement were caught in the trap.

Then, at the prompting of the British Raj, The Statesman of Calcutta published the news that there was misappropriation from the Khilafat fund. This greatly damaged the reputation of the Khilafat leaders.

Then came news from Turkey that Kemal Pasha had brought in radical reforms which had made the future of the institution of the Khilafat uncertain.

The first swipe at the Khilafat was taken by Turkey's grand national assembly in November 1922, when the sultan, Wahiduddin Muhammad VI, was deposed and Abdul Majid Effendi was nominated the new caliph.

The separation of the temporal powers from the spiritual office of the caliph rendered the Khilafat movement of the Indian Muslims inconsequential.

Many ulema (the body of Muslim scholars with specialised knowledge of Muslim law and theology) in India were dismayed on receiving the news because, in their view, the separation of temporal powers from the spiritual was against Islam.

Nonetheless, for some ulema it was an agreeable development as they thought the institution of Khilafat got back its sanctity after its separation from the hereditary position of the sultan.

IMAGE: As penance for the Chauri Chaura tragedy, Gandhi went on a five day fast. Photograph: Kind courtesy Wikimedia Commons

The arrest of almost all the prominent leaders left the Khilafat rudderless.

Besides Maulana Azad, five secretaries of the Khilafat committee were also arrested.

Common Muslims were left high and dry. Many were of the opinion that they should forsake Gandhi and his guidance and should continue opposing the British policies on their own.

Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, the famous translator of the Quran into English, while presiding over the CKC in Sindh advised the Muslims to desist from turning away from Gandhi.

He told the Khilafat committee volunteers that he was aware that some Muslims did not favour making a Hindu as their leader. Nonetheless, he emphasised, a saintly Hindu who cherished the ethical and sublime principles of life would prove a far better leader for the Muslims than a Muslim sinner who lived an ignoble life.

Excerpted from Khilafat In History And Indian Politics by Zaheer Ali, with the kind permission of the publishers, Aakar Books.
In what is probably not a surprise to any New York renter, almost twenty percent of respondents said they struggled to make monthly rent payments in a survey published by Apartment List.

18 percent of respondents couldn't pay the full amount of rent at least once in the past three months. 3.3 percent reported that they'd been evicted in the past, which is up from 2.8 percent in 2015.

The apartment listing service also found that the most expensive metro areas had the lowest eviction rates, including New York City, which was 7th in lowest eviction rates. The survey noted that "it seems to be driven by the fact that the most expensive area also tend to have the best job opportunities." Though the survey also said that a low eviction rate doesn't mean that evictions aren't an issue in those cities. "Our analysis is done at the metro level, meaning that we do not capture nuance in how eviction rates vary within metros."

In New York City, 3.7 percent of low-income renters were evicted, 1.9 percent of middle-income renters were evicted, and 1.1 percent of high-income renters were evicted.

While eviction rates remain compartively low, the bad behavior of New York landlordsincluding those who leave 95-year-olds without working stovesand the issue of affordable housing have long been an issue for New Yorkers and advocates who feel the city hasn't done enough to combat the issue.

This past week, Mayor de Blasio announced a 100,000 unit expansion of his affordable housing plan, making the goal to build and preserve 300,000 affordable housing units by 2026.

The new program, which focuses on seniors and rent-regulated tenants,will by funded with $150 million per year for the next four years and will help nonprofits buy 30 to 50 unit buildings vulnerable to speculators. An aspect of the program called Neighborhood Pillars will be funded with $275 million to keep rents affordable while covering mortgages and rehabilitation costs. Neighborhood Pillars will also leverage private and philanthropic contributions, according to HPD Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer.
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In the spring break capital of Cancun, Mexico, hotel occupancy has tumbled 10 percent this year. As bad as that is, over in Los Cabos, on the tip of the Baja California peninsula, it's worse.

The airport serving Cabo San Lucas and its lesser-known sister city, San Jose del Cabo, is looking emptier these days. And hotel guests have canceled 35,000 nights of bookings over the next year - collectively a decade's worth of visits for a single traveler.

At a time when the weaker peso should be luring American travelers in droves, many are staying away, spooked by a wave of violence that's come dangerously close to tourist hot spots. Gunmen opened fire at a Cancun nightclub in November, and a cooler with two human heads was found on Cabo San Lucas's main hotel strip in June.

READ MORE: Cabo San Lucas beheadings: Cartel killings traumatize resort town as heads found in cooler

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But the biggest blow came on Aug. 22, when the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning advising tourists to steer clear altogether.

"Group tourism automatically went down the moment the warning hit," said Carlos Gosselin, head of the hotel association for Cancun and Puerto Morelos. Many insurance companies likely won't even consider offering coverage in areas under advisory, hurting conventions and events in the area, he said.

Mexico is reinforcing security in popular tourist spots to get the State Department to revise its views, and companies including Hilton Worldwide and Marriott International are spending millions to make guests feel safer. Their motivation is clear: Barclays estimates that a drop in tourism could wipe out as much as 0.5 percentage point from Mexico's gross domestic product growth this year.

"Lower tourism activity will definitely have an impact on growth," said Marco Oviedo, head of Latin America economic research at Barclays. "External tourism is one of the most important sources of income in the current account."

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Mexico gets about $20 billion a year from tourism. With murders quadrupling in Los Cabos and doubling in Cancun this year, a chunk of that revenue may be at stake. Quintana Roo, the state where Cancun is located, is the destination of a third of all the nation's international tourists.

In Los Cabos, local and federal authorities are teaming up with hotels, time-share companies and the airport operator to step up the area's security.

The group is spending $50 million to increase surveillance cameras to cover the 20-mile main stretch that includes hotels, restaurants and public beaches. A new military facility, paid for in part by the private sector, will be built near a highway to respond to any activity spotted on the cameras. It is set to open in the second quarter of 2018.

"We understand and appreciate that travelers are more concerned than ever about their safety and security and we have rigorous security procedures in place at all of our hotels in Mexico," Marriott said in an emailed response to questions. "Mexico continues to be a desirable destination for visitors from around the world and we've had very few cancellations for Holiday season due to this matter."

But the slowdown in Los Cabos since the travel warning is starting to show in other areas. International passenger arrivals dropped 2 percent in September, the first decline in three years, and compares with a 20 percent average gain for most of this year, according to airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB and the Los Cabos Tourism Board. Other factors such as hurricanes and earthquakes in recent months contributed, said Rodrigo Esponda, managing director of the tourism board.

RELATED: South Texas Boy Scout leader says more kids are joining cartels than scouting troops

American Airlines Vacations, which packages trips to beach destinations in Mexico, said business had been rising about 25 percent from a year earlier - until the travel warning torpedoed demand. Meanwhile, the online-booking site Best Day Travel Group has also seen a slowdown in reservations for the end of the year, said Director Julian Balbuena. Los Cabos is the hardest-hit destination with a 6 percent drop, he said.

"We were having a good year for Mexico in particular," said Eduardo Marcos, president of American Airlines Vacations.

Gosselin, from the hotel association, said the travel warning went too far and may have been influenced by a shift in U.S. policies toward Mexico following the election of President Donald Trump. There are also signs the alert's effect on tourism is waning, he said, as the peso is still trading about 26 percent below its 10-year average. Marcos also said he thinks bookings will pick back up.

Even so, the hotel association is putting up 10 million pesos ($520,600) for a marketing campaign aimed at attracting more American tourists to Cancun hotels, Gosselin said. The move came after hotel occupancy growth fell from a clip of about 2 percent last year to a drop of about 10 percent, he said.

"Ninety percent of the economic activity here is tied to tourism," Esponda said in a phone interview from Los Cabos. "That's why security has to improve. We need tourism to continue improving people's quality of life - and it's a shared responsibility."

-With assistance from Mary Schlangenstein.
Israel Putnam (January 7, 1718  May 29, 1790) was an American army general and Freemason, popularly known as Old Put, who fought with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill (1775) during the American Revolutionary War (17751783). His reckless courage and fighting spirit were known far beyond Connecticuts borders through the circulation of folk legends celebrating his exploits.

He had notable service as an officer with Rogers Rangers during the French and Indian War, when he was captured but saved from ritual burning by Mohawk warriors by intervention of a French officer.

==Early life==

Putnam was born in Salem Village (now Danvers), Massachusetts, to Joseph and Elizabeth (Porter) Putnam, a prosperous farming family. His parents were in opposition to the Salem witch trials. Joseph signed, with Israel Porter (his father-in-law), the petition on the behalf of Rebecca Nurse. Israels birthplace, Putnam House, has been preserved as an historic structure.

In 1740, at the age of 22, he moved west to Mortlake (now Pomfret) in northeastern Connecticut, where land was cheaper and easier for young men to buy. According to oral tradition, Putnam in his youth killed the last wolf in Connecticut with the help of a group of farmers from Mortlake. The tradition describes Putnam crawling into a den with a torch, a musket, and his feet secured with rope, in order to be quickly pulled out. While in the den, he allegedly killed the she-wolf. The farmers thought killing all the wolves was necessary to safeguard their sheep and early settlements typically offered bounties on such predators. A section of the Mashamoquet Brook State Park in modern-day Pomfret is named Wolf Den (which includes the den). The name Wolf Den Road in Brooklyn, Connecticut also attests to the days of wolves.

==Military service==

Putnam took part in the French and Indian War as a member of Rogers Rangers, and later led a similar company of rangers from Connecticut. He was promoted to captain in 1756 and to major in 1758. Captured on August 8, 1758 by the Kahnawake (Mohawk Indians) during a military campaign near Crown Point in New York, he was saved from being ritually burned alive by a rain storm and the last-minute intervention of a French officer.

In 1759, Putnam led a regiment into the valley of death the attack on Fort Carillon; and in 1760 he was with the British army that marched on Montreal. In 1762, he survived a shipwreck during the British expedition against Cuba that led to the capture of Havana. Major Putnam is believed to have brought back Cuban tobacco seeds to New England, which he planted in the Hartford area. This reportedly resulted in the development of the renowned Connecticut Wrapper (shade tobacco).

In 1763 during Pontiacs Rebellion, Putnam was sent with reinforcements to relieve Pontiacs siege of Fort Detroit.

Following the war, in 1765 Putnam publicly professed his Christian faith and joined the Congregational Church in Brooklyn. Putnam was among those who objected to British taxation policies. For instance, around the time of the Stamp Act crisis in 1766, he was elected to the Connecticut General Assembly and was one of the founders of the states chapter of the Sons of Liberty. In the fall of 1765, Putnam threatened Thomas Fitch, the popularly elected Connecticut Governor, over this issue. He said that Fitchs house will be leveled with the dust in five minutes if Fitch did not turn over the stamp tax paper to the Sons of Liberty.

==The American Revolution==

===Battle of Bunker Hill===

By the eve of the Revolution, Putnam had become a relatively prosperous farmer and tavern keeper, with more than a local reputation for his previous exploits. On April 20, 1775, when Putnam received news of the Battles of Lexington and Concord that started the war the day before, he left his plow in the field and rode {convert|100|mi|km} in eight hours, reaching Cambridge the next day and offering his services to the patriot cause.{Citation needed|date=March 2009} Putnam was named major general, making him second in rank to General Artemas Ward in the Army of Observation that preceded the founding of the Continental Army.

He was one of the primary figures at the Battle of Bunker Hill, both in its planning and on the battlefield. During that battle Putnam may have ordered William Prescott to tell his troops Dont fire until you see the whites of their eyes (It is debated exactly who said these words first; they are attributed to a number of officers). This command has since become one of the American Revolutions more memorable quotes. The order was important, because the New England troops entrenched on the hill were low on ammunition. Putnam joined the Continental Army when it was organized in July 1775, he was commissioned as colonel of the 3rd Connecticut Regiment, and later became brigadier of the Connecticut militia.

===Long Island and later service===

After Bunker Hill, Putnam progressed to temporary command of the American forces in New York, while waiting for the arrival on April 13, 1776 of the commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General George Washington. The Battle of Bunker Hill must count as the greatest achievement in Putnams life; afterward, his fortunes took a downturn at the Battle of Long Island in August 1776, where he was forced to effect a hasty retreat. Washington did not blame Putnam for this failure as some in the Second Continental Congress did. However, Washington reassessed the abilities of his general and assigned him to recruiting activities. In 1777 Putnam received another, though lesser, military command in the Hudson Highlands and his headquarters was at the Bush-Lyon Homestead. With future Vice-President Aaron Burr in his charge, Putnam was fooled in October 1777 by a feint executed by British troops under the command of General Sir Henry Clinton, making way for Clintons capture of Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton. Putnam was brought before a court of inquiry for those actions, where he was exonerated of any wrongdoing.

On Feb. 26, 1779, Putnam did his famed escape from the British, riding down a steep slope in Greenwich. A statue commemorating this escape was erected at Putnam Memorial State Park in Redding, Connecticut. Anna Hyatt Huntington, a local sculptor, created the bronze statue in 1969. During the winter of 1778-1779, Putnam and his troops were encamped at the site now preserved as the Putnam Memorial State Park in Redding, Connecticut. In December 1779, Putnam suffered a paralyzing stroke, which ended his military service.

===Putnam Tomb===

Putnam died in Brooklyn, Connecticut in 1790, and was buried in an above-ground tomb in Brooklyns South Cemetery. He is honored with an equestrian monument at his burial site on Canterbury Road (Route 169) in Brooklyn, CT.

Upon his death in 1790, Putnam was buried in an above ground tomb. Over the years, souvenir hunters had removed fragments of the headstone and the overall condition of the tomb was deemed unsuitable for General Putnam. Sculptor Karl Gerhardt, also responsible for the nearby Soldiers and Sailors Monument as well as Civil War monuments in New York and New Jersey, was chosen to create a monument that would provide a new home for Putnams remains. Putnam was placed in a sarcophagus in the base, and the original headstone inscription was recreated on the monument.

==Legacy==

Within a few years, so many people visited Putnams tomb that the marble marker became badly mutilated; it was removed for safe keeping to the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford. In 1888, Putnams remains were removed from the Brooklyn cemetery and reinterred in a sarcophagus built into the foundation of a monument in his memory, newly erected on a plot of ground near the Brooklyn town green.

In the early days of the war, Putnam was regarded by Washington as one of Americas most valuable military assets. During the Revolution, however, Putnam, as did many American generals, led more strategic defeats than offensive victories, and was known chiefly for his reckless courage.

Numerous places were named for him, including eight Putnam counties in various states, starting with New York. Towns in New York and Connecticut were named for him.

Other namesakes include:

* A Brooklyn, New York elementary school.

* East Putnam Avenue in Greenwich, Connecticut, named for his path of retreat from the British.

* Putnams cottage, an eighteenth-century residence that may have served as a tavern at the time of his escape, is located on this avenue.

* Putnam State Park is also named for him.

* Putnam Place, in the Bronx, New York, stands among other local neighborhood streets named for Revolutionary (and War of 1812) figures.

Putnam has been featured in numerous biographies and works of fiction, including an 1876 book by Increase N. Tarbox, acclaimed historian, theologian, and author.

General Putnam is an ancestor to the famed 20th-century newsman and former Marine Corps Officer George Putnam.

Putnam also appears as a supporting character in the video game, Assassins Creed III.

Source(s): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Putnam
Former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) President Sam Rainsy, who has been forced to live in exile since 2015 in the face of questionable defamation charges made against him, has been traveling abroad to lobby world governments to put pressure on Cambodian government to halt Prime Minister Hun Sen's harsh crackdown on the opposition ahead of July 2018 elections. He spoke with RFA Khmer Service reporter Chun Chanboth from Rome, Italy on Friday.

RFA: This is the first time you have posed for a picture with some of your former colleagues of the CNRP since the amended law on political parties has come into force. In the video clip you posted today on your Facebook page, you sounded very confident when you announced that the government of Cambodia would not dare to dissolve the CNRP. What factors have contributed to such an affirmative statement?

Sam Rainsy: We have obtained consistent information from several sources. We are now certain that they cannot dissolve the CNRP. As I have previously stated, he who attempts to dissolve the opposition party will be cursed. It has become clear that he knew that he would be destroyed if he continued his ill intention to get rid of the CNRP. He is now in a panic and abandons his intention to dissolve the opposition party. We are no longer worried about the dissolution of the CNRP. I am no longer of afraid of meeting with CNRP lawmakers. I used to feel that such meetings would serve as a pretext to dissolve the opposition. Even if the party is accused of associating with so-called treason, the ruling party cannot dissolve the opposition. I therefore trust that they cannot use my association with my former colleagues as an excuse to dissolve the opposition. Now that Hun Sen knows that he cannot dissolve the CNRP, he tries to buy off one or two members of the CNRP and make them sew division in the CNRP. Kem Sokha is now under threats and duress. Those people who take the CPPs bait then act like they are talking on behalf of Kem Sokha to create confusion and uncertainty among the CNRPs members and supporters. Fortunately, this ill will is now revealed. I have to inform the public that the ruling party is retreating now. They are under international pressure to back off. The opposition cannot be divided or bought. We have made our statement that the Permanent Committee of the CNRP is the only decision-making body of the party. Now, two-thirds of that committees members are abroad. With that no one can break the CNRP. Its a great victory for Cambodians who support the opposition party.

RFA: In the statement you made in that (Facebook) video, you indicated that Kem Sokha cannot make any decision due to his being under threats and duress. Are you acting on behalf of Kem Sokha in making decisions for the party?

Sam Rainsy: No, I am not. I am not saying that every statement Kem Sokha makes from his cell is against his will. However we need to verify the veracity of any statement he makes before we accept that it is not made under duress or threats. In the event that Kem Sokha issues an extraordinary statement which harms party interests, such as defecting to the ruling party, or instructs the party to unwisely nominate party candidates, there will be a level of doubt about his move.

RFA: Do you think you will be able to return to politics to serve the CNRP?

Sam Rainsy: I am not the only person who is involved in finding a common and overarching solution for Cambodia.

RFA: Is the solution you are seeking for Cambodia a package solution which includes your return to Cambodia, Kem Sokhas release, the release of all political prisoners and CNRPs jailed members, lifting of restriction on civil society organizations and freedom for independent media like the RFA, VOA and VOD to operate in Cambodia again?

Sam Rainsy: Yes, it is. I consider myself as part and parcel of that package and so is the RFA or other institutions. There must be a common solution. Hun Sen cannot be allowed to do whatever he wants. What the CNRP is looking for is a common and dignified solution for every Cambodian.

RFA: When meeting workers on October 25, Hun Sen spent several hours to send out the same message to CNRPs elected commune councils to defect to the ruling party. He was so confident that the opposition party was going to be dissolved. What is your comment on that?

Sam Rainsy: Hun Sen will continue to lie to, cheat and fool people until his last breath. However Cambodians these days are no longer easily fooled. I recall an event that happened in Romania in 1989, when the communist leader and dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who said he would rule Romania for life and promised to improve people life. But thats a lie. Finally Romanians no longer trusted him. In that same year people started to protest against him. He then ordered his soldiers to open fire on them. But the soldiers didnt listen to him. They instead turned their weapons on him and his wife. They were then executed by firing squad.

RFA: Hopefully, such a tragic event will not happen in Cambodia. Do you agree?

Sam Rainsy: I hope not. Im just reminding people of the history and that they should not be fooled by dictators. No matter how strong and powerful those dictators are they will have their final days.

RFA: How optimistic are you that you will be able to return to Cambodia?

Sam Rainsy: I have created an association to pave the way for democracy to take roots in Cambodia. I would like to encourage a free and fair election. If the election is free and fair, the CNRP will certainly win the election. The CNRPs victory is Cambodian peoples victory. Sam Rainsys return to Cambodia is not important. What is important is change through elections by the peoples will.

RFA: What are you actually doing in Rome, Italy now?

Sam Rainsy: We are meeting with government officials and civil society organization leaders. We will continue our trip to other parts of the world to gather support from the international community to pressure the Hun Sen government. We want the international community to put visa bans on government officials.

RFA: In France you were lobbying with the French government to call for a meeting of the former co-chairs of the (1991) Paris Peace Accords. Could you share with us any progress you have made in your work?

Sam Rainsy: I am not the only person involved in this lobbying. Not only the CNRP, but also other civil organizations and bodies and governments are also enthusiastically engaged in efforts to recall the spirit of the Paris Peace Accords. Hun Sen says the agreement is dead. Actually the agreement is still alive. It will stay alive as long as democracy in Cambodia is not enjoyed fully.

Translated by Nareth Muong.
Two Baptist leaders of Myanmars ethnic Kachin community were handed prison terms today of from two to four years on charges of unlawful association and defamation after being detained for almost a year, sources said.



Speaking to RFAs Myanmar Service, defense attorney Awng Kham Mai said the pair had been sentenced on Friday by a Lashio township court in Myanmars northern Shan state.



Dumdaw Nawng Lat got four years and three months, while Langjaw Gam Seng received a term of two years and three months, she said, adding, Their sentences will be reduced by the time they have already spent in detention.



Dumdaw Nawng Lat, a 66-year-old pastor with the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), and Langjaw Gam Seng, a 35-year-old KBC youth leader, were tried under the 1908 Unlawful Associations Act on charges of having provided support to the rebel Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a group engaged in hostilities with the governments armed forces.



The pair had gone missing after being summoned to a military base in Muse township in northern Shan state in apparent retaliation for taking journalists to a Catholic church allegedly damaged by airstrikes in clashes between the government army and ethnic guerrillas.



But on Jan. 19, the army released a statement acknowledging the mens arrest.



In addition to their conviction on the charge of unlawful association, the pair had received three-month terms under provisions of the Export/Import Act for driving motorbikes without license plates, Kachin Youth Organization member Mai Maing told RFA.



Dundaw Nawng Lat received an additional two-year term on charges of defamation filed by an army officer, Major Kyaw Zin Tun of Brigade 99, she said.



These cases highlight the many things we have to do just to get our rights, Mai Maing said. We worry that everything we do may now be punished under some unjust law.



I dont know whether we should be proud or sorry to be citizens of Myanmar, she said.



Unjust prosecution



In a statement released early Friday, rights groups criticized the prosecution of the two Kachin leaders, with Matthew Smith of the group Fortify Rights saying the men had been brought to court simply for exposing the militarys crimes.



They should never have been locked up on these grounds in the first place, Smith said.



Myanmars government should be prosecuting military personnel who are responsible for serious abusesnot activists who are bringing those abuses to light, added Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.



Myanmars military has for decades violated the rights of the countrys ethnic minorities without ever having to fear being brought before a court.



Defense attorneys are now preparing appeals, sources said.



Reported by Zarni Htun and Kan Tha for RFA's Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Authorities in northwest Chinas Xinjiang region have detained more than 30 relatives of exiled Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer in recent months, including two sons who were previously jailed on charges related to secessionist activities and tax evasion, she said Friday.



Kadeer, president of the Munich-based exile World Uyghur Congress (WUC), told RFAs Uyghur Service that she was unsure of the whereabouts of her family members, though they are likely to have been sent to prison or the political re-education campsa vast network of which have been used since April to hold thousands of Uyghurs accused of harboring extremist and politically incorrect views.



Of my immediate relativesincluding my children and grandchildrenaltogether 11 have been detained, the 70-year-old mother of 11 said.



But if I include the children of my brother and other relatives, more than 30 are being held, ranging in age from 22 to 58.



Kadeer said that while many of her distant relatives had been taken away by police, she never expected that authorities would arrest her children and grandchildren, because they have been under virtual house arrest and 24/7 police surveillance since I came to the U.S.



The formerly successful businesswoman was released from a Chinese prison in March 2005 on medical parole after being jailed for six years for sending politically sensitive newspaper clippings abroad, and went into exile in the U.S.



While some of Kadeers children have relocated to the U.S., others remain with their families in Xinjiang, where members of the ethnic group complain of pervasive discrimination, religious repression, and cultural suppression under Chinese rule.



Authorities in China have targeted members of Kadeer's family since she was first imprisoned in 1999 for endangering state security, and further intensified their harassment following her release and immigration to the U.S.



Kadeer said that her grandchildren had never spoken to me out of fear, and werent involved in politics, but that hadnt stopped authorities from arresting four of themDildar, Hajidar, Qedirye, and Zulpiqar.



Her sons Alim and Ablikim Abdureyim, who served seven and nine years in prison, respectively, were also among immediate family members who were detained, she said.



Ablikim Abdureyim had been released from the No. 4 Prison in Xinjiangs capital Urumqi in May 2015 after serving a nine-year prison sentence for instigating and engaging in secessionist activities related to articles he published online.



According to the WUC, evidence of his secessionist activities was never provided by the state, despite allegations that he had disseminated pro-secession articles, planned to incite anti-government protest, and wrote an essay misrepresenting human rights conditions in the region.



On Nov. 27, 2006the day after Kadeer was elected president of the WUCa court sentenced Alim Abdureyim and another of her sons, Kahar Abdureyim, to fines amounting to millions of U.S. dollars, and Alim to seven years imprisonment on charges of tax evasion.



In May 2012, officials in Xinjiang compelled Alim Abdureyim to sign documents in prison handing over two family-owned buildings in Urumqi to the government, the WUC has said.



One of millions



Scrutiny of other family membersincluding Kadeers children and grandchildren and their spousesincreased following July 2009 ethnic unrest that erupted between Uyghurs and Han Chinese in Urumqi, which Beijing accused her of orchestrating.



But Kadeer stressed Friday that her family is just one of millions of Uyghur families  paying the price for demanding our legitimate rights in Xinjiang, and called on the international community to pressure China over its oppressive policies in the region.



[Beijing] believes it has a free hand to do whatever it wants with the Uyghur peoplewhether to detain, arrest, imprison or kill them, she said.



The Uyghur issue is no longer a simple human rights issue, in light of Chinese governments heavy-handed repression.



Kadeer called on U.S. President Donald Trump to prioritize the Uyghur issue and raise their current suffering with Chinese leaders during a planned visit to Beijing in November.



Reported by Jilil Kashgary for RFAs Uyghur Service. Translated by Alim Seytoff. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
On Tuesday, students on bus 6 in Narragansett wore pink in recognition of breast cancer awareness month. Bus driver Tammy Hall, far right, organizes the pink out every year.
UPDATE:

Colonial Heights authorities reported Friday night that Mildred Sadler has been located safe in Hillsville and that her family will be responding to get her.

ORIGINAL:

Colonial Heights police are seeking the publics help in locating a 91-year-old woman with medical issues who left her home Thursday.

Police said Mildred Bowman Sadler was last seen in Colonial Heights about noon Thursday. She called a neighbor that evening to advise she was in Powhatan County, but authorities were unable to find her there.

She was seen Friday about 4:25 p.m. at the Golden Skillet in Chatham, which is in Pittsylvania County. Police said she is driving a white, two-door 1999 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with Virginia license plate number VCW4023. She was last seen wearing a long-sleeved, light-colored shirt and light-colored pants.

Police said they were concerned about her welfare because she has medical issues and needs medications.
FALLS CHURCH  A Northern Virginia school board has chosen Justice as the new name for a high school that has honored a Confederate general since the 1950s.

The Fairfax County board had solicited input from families inside the schools attendance boundaries after deciding to rename J.E.B. Stuart High School in Falls Church. The communitys top choice was to remove J.E.B. and be known simply as Stuart High School.

But in a 7-4 vote after a four-hour debate Thursday night, the board opted for its own idea: Justice High School.

The board considered and rejected two other names suggested by the community  Louis Mendez, a decorated World War II veteran and education advocate; and Thurgood Marshall, the civil rights lawyer who became a U.S. Supreme Court justice.

J.E.B. Stuart High opened in 1959. Changing the name could cost as much as $900,000.
[ALEXANDRIA] More than 100 people in the U.S. have been charged with trying to help the Islamic State, or trying to join the extremist group, but Mohamad Khweis stood out because he succeeded.

The 27-year Alexandria man, the only American citizen to be convicted in a U.S. jury trial of successfully joining the Islamic State overseas, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday.

Khweis was convicted on terrorism charges earlier this year. Khweis traveled to Islamic State-controlled territory in Iraq and Syria in December 2015, even obtaining an official membership card. But he found life there distasteful and escaped after a few months. He surrendered in northern Iraq to Kurdish forces, who broadcast his capture around the world.

The vast majority of people charged in U.S. courts with Islamic State-related terrorism offenses ran afoul of sting operations in which the suspects thought they had made a connection with the terrorist group, only to find out that their supposed contacts were actually undercover informants or agents.

The unique nature of Khweis' crime merited a strong sentence, said prosecutor Dennis Fitzpatrick, who argued for 35 years in prison.

"This defendant executed his plan to perfection. He got into the Islamic State. He was in their machinery. He was providing himself and his services to the organization," Fitzpatrick said.

Once he made it to the Islamic State territory in late 2015, he "became the consummate utility player for the Islamic State," said prosecutor Raj Parekh. "When ISIS needed his blood, he allowed them to draw it. When ISIS needed him to cook and clean for wounded soldiers, Mohamad Khweis multitasked and filled that role as well."

One thing Khweis never did, his lawyers said, was take up arms on behalf of the Islamic State.

"While he was there, he did not fight. He did not do harm to another human being," defense attorney John Zwerling said.

Zwerling agreed with the suggestion from prosecutors that Khweis' case is unique because he is one of the few Americans to actually make it to Islamic State territory. But he said his client deserves a measure of credit for leaving the Islamic State on his own, and cooperating with authorities by providing them intelligence on the group's inner workings. He also helped authorities identify four Westerners who had left the Islamic State with intentions to do harm in their home countries.

"He provided valuable, actionable intelligence," Zwerling said. "And the government has given him zero credit for any of it."

Zwerling argued it was counterproductive to punish Khweis with decades in prison, because it sends the message to other Americans who might consider abandoning the Islamic State that they have nothing to look forward to in the U.S. but a prison cell. Zwerling and defense attorney Jessica Carmichael argued for a five-year sentence.

Khweis did not speak at Friday's sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. In a letter to the court, he apologized for his actions and said, "When I arrived in Syria reality hit me. I couldn't believe what I had done and where I was at. I hated myself for making the worst decision I ever made in my life."

Despite a trial in which Khweis took the stand in his own defense, his motivations for joining the Islamic State remain a mystery. He testified that he was curious about what life was like in the Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliphate, but even his own attorneys acknowledged that Khweis' testimony was riddled with lies.

"The record is void of what motivated him, what got him to go," Zwerling said.

Khweis grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in Fairfax County, just outside the nation's capital, graduating in 2007 from Edison High School. Before leaving for the Middle east in 2015, he worked as a bus driver for the elderly and disabled in the region's Metro system. His parents emigrated from the Middle East and he grew up as a Muslim, but was not particularly religious. His parents, who attended Friday's hearing, declined to comment.
The revelations about a racial video shot in a Short Pump Middle School locker room were disturbing enough. As noted here in an earlier editorial, it adds to the evidence that the current caustic atmosphere being set by Donald Trump and his apologists is trickling down to some of the youngest Americans.

The reaction to the revelations has been even more disturbing. At a recent public hearing, many Henrico parents decried what they described as a systemic problem of racism and bullying at Short Pump Middle School that is not being addressed, as one put it. Other recent incidents suggest systemic racism and bullying might have infected schools elsewhere in the region as well.

This is completely unacceptable.

Some Virginians  the lucky ones  might find the concerns hard to believe, despite video evidence. Overt bigotry is far less common today than it once was. But the past couple of years have seen either a resurgence of it or more exposure of it. Either way, complaints about a hostile environment cannot be dismissed as overreaction by the hypersensitive. To the contrary, the real problem might be under-reaction by those who mistakenly assumed racism, like polio and smallpox, had been eradicated.
By Marion Smith

One hundred years ago, Vladimir Lenins Bolshevik Party seized control of Russia in the October Revolution and founded the Soviet Union. As with all good revolutionaries, one of the first things that Lenins gun-toting Red Guards did was seize the post offices and telegraph stations throughout the capital of Petrograd.

Once his power was secured, Lenin started prohibiting bourgeois and counterrevolutionary publications. Within two months, the Bolshevik forces had seized 90 printing presses. By the middle of the 1918, the following year, the non-communist press had been completely shut down. These measures were supposedly temporary. In reality, they lasted for seven decades.

The aim of communism is to completely remake society: control of information has always been an element of this. In their 1848 Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels recommended the centralization of the means of communication ... in the hands of the State as one of the basic actions to be taken after a communist revolution.

Lenin and his Bolshevik Party clearly understood the danger that free speech posed to their totalitarian mission  and therefore the imperative of complete control over the dissemination of information within the Soviet Union. Once they were in power, they denounced minority voices as counterrevolutionaries, spies, and criminals.

***

The Soviet Union sought to completely manage the information environment; to this end, the publishing industry was fully state-owned and state-regulated.

The General Directorate for the Protection of State Secrets in the Press, or Glavlit, a body reporting directly to the Central Committee of the Communist Party, exercised rigorous control over the content of news and broadcasting  and reviewed every book manuscript before it could be published, including non-fiction, novels, and poetry.

National newspapers functioned only as organs of the state or the Communist Party, and reported their stories along guidelines dictated by the Communist Partys Propaganda Department at meetings known as instructional conferences.

If anything, that was Soviet censorship at its most mundane. During Joseph Stalins paranoid reign, history books were aggressively edited to remove all trace of his enemies. Pages were cut out of books after publication. Non-persons were erased from official photos. At least twice during the Soviet Unions history, all history final exams were cancelled because the government was busy rewriting history.

***

Unfortunately, the communist war on the free exchange of ideas is not just an artifact of the past. In too many places, it continues to this day.

In Raul Castros Cuba, all media is state-owned and state-controlled, and many Cubans risk imprisonment by erecting satellite antennae to pick up DirecTV signals.

In Vietnam, state security routinely arrests bloggers, recently condemning a prominent blogger who wrote about parenting tips, human rights, and environmental issues to 10 years in prison.

The communist regime in Laos passed a law in 2015 criminalizing the dissemination of false information over the Internet and prohibiting anonymity on social media.

In North Korea, the regime exerts such totalitarian control of information coming into the country that human rights groups have resorted to attaching flash drives of Western television shows to balloons and floating them over the Demilitarized Zone.

Even Putins Russia is conveniently reviving the Soviet legacy of political censorship: Last year, the Russian supreme court upheld the conviction of a blogger who reposted an article about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact  the alliance between Stalins USSR and Nazi Germany that divided Poland and began World War II.

Perhaps the most dangerous contemporary example of the censorship state is the Peoples Republic of China. Though often lauded as a reformed and rising power, the plain fact is that China is a communist dictatorship run by a single party.

The Chinese Communist Party is intent on preserving its iron grip on power by suppressing all negative information about its regime both inside and outside of China.

The Golden Shield Project is a nationwide information management system that monitors nearly all communications within China. By some accounts, Beijing employs two million people to monitor the digital thoughts and communications of its subjects. That is roughly the same size as the Peoples Liberation Army. Recently, they have demonstrated the ability to censor the transmission of images in real time on messaging platforms like WeChat and WhatsApp.

Despite hopes to the contrary, 21st century technology is not helping circumvent censorship, but enabling it in ways George Orwell couldnt even imagine.

***

For Americans, this is not an abstract problem overseas. Chinas so-called soft power and obsessive need to control the information narrative is penetrating the United States, too. Increasingly, American corporations, media organizations, film studios, and academic institutions are self-censoring any criticism of China to prevent losing access to Chinese cash.

Recently, Cambridge University Press announced that it would self-censor by denying Chinese audiences access to academic works that were critical of the communist government. It only recanted after facing a firestorm of controversy.

Confucius Institutes, academic centers funded directly by Beijing, are cropping up in colleges across the world  and vigorously molding any discussion of Chinese politics or Chinese history into a shape favorable to their communist overlords.

When many Americans think of communism, they think of something outdated, retro, filmed in black-and-white. It may seem obvious that communism is a relic of the past that could not possibly survive in an age of instant, worldwide electronic communication. But todays technology provides new and powerful tools to determined adversaries who want to manipulate and control public opinion, both in their own countries and in ours.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Virginia Techs endowment is now worth more than a benchmark of $1 billion.

The number brings with it an air of prestige and a mark of financial stability for the university, school leaders said. The fund, held by the Virginia Tech Foundation, climbed north of the mark recently and sat at $1.04 billion, on Sept. 30, Virginia Tech Foundation CEO John Dooley said.

This is quite a wonderful statement, said Sandra Davis, chairwoman of the Virginia Tech Foundation board. Its taken a lot of work by a lot of good people.

Reaching the milestone is a major achievement, but it doesnt mean the university foundation will rest, Dooley said.

The endowment allows us to reach a level of excellence that is critical for the future of this institution, he said.

Dooley credited the generosity of Hokie Nation, for reaching the milestone. A recently thriving stock market has also helped the endowment.

An endowment is a fund that universities and their private foundations maintain to support scholarships and other educational functions in perpetuity. Theyre designed to grow over time and most of the money in an endowment is earmarked for certain things by the donors who fund it.

In fiscal year 2016-17, the Tech foundation paid out nearly $35 million in endowment funds for various programs in support of the university. Those funds went into a bevy of programs to pay for university functions.

Techs endowment is divided into three categories: money for scholarships, professorships and so-called general excellence funds.

Scholarships make up 41 percent of the fund and the money for professorships make up almost 15 percent. The remaining funds go toward the general excellence funds that pay for various items from supporting student engagement, programming and a range of other university functions.

Additionally, the foundation also holds between $600 and $700 million in real estate assets, Dooley said.

Last year, fewer than 100 colleges in the nation had an endowment worth more than $1 billion, according to a database maintained by The Chronicle of Higher Education. The largest endowment in 2016 belonged to Harvard University, with an endowment of more than $34 billion.

According to the Chronicles database, the figure makes Tech the fifth school, and the third public university, in Virginia to have an endowment worth more than $1 billion. The University of Virginia has an endowment of about $5.8 billion and Virginia Commonwealth Universitys endowment is worth $1.6 billion.

The endowment has already seen immense growth in the last two decades. In 1997, Techs endowment was worth $285 million. By 2007 it was worth $524 million before taking a dip after the 2008 recession.

Tech President Timothy Sands said he hoped to double the endowment from about $800 million in 2014 to $1.6 billion by 2022.

Dooley said hes hopeful that the foundation can reach that ambitious goal.

For that to happen, Tech would need continued success in fundraising. In August, university administrators announced that Tech received a record $162 million in donations and commitments in the previous fiscal year.

Were optimistic about what were seeing now, said Charles Phlegar, Techs vice president for University Advancement.

Reaching the $1 billion mark will help grow fundraising, he said.

Phlegar, a Blacksburg native and Virginia Tech graduate who came to the school from Cornell University to take the role of the universitys chief fundraiser two years ago, said the endowment size makes the school more attractive to philanthropists who might not already have ties to Tech.

It gives donors and investors a sense of longevity, credibility and confidence, Phlegar said. They want to give to universities that they know will do well.
ALEXANDRIA  Fifteen months after he was captured fleeing Islamic State territory in Iraq, Mohamad Khweis remains an engima.

Its an unusual case, Alexandria federal judge Liam OGrady said Friday in sentencing the Virginia man to 20 years in prison for supporting the terrorist group.

Theres no event, no instigation, no suicidal ideation, no friend who radicalized you.

Khweis, a 27-year-old former bus driver from Alexandria, came from a stable and secular home, his attorneys said. He got an associates degree in criminal justice and held steady work. He was friendly and helpful to neighbors. While he began abusing marijuana and drifting in recent years, he was never violent and left no trail of radical musings. He showed no particular interest in religion.

Yet in late 2015, he sold his belongings, flew to Turkey, and contacted Islamic State recruiters to smuggle him across the Syrian border into the groups territory. Three months later, he snuck out and was arrested by Kurdish forces.

He insisted on going to trial, saying he merely wanted to experience the caliphate. This summer, a jury found him guilty of two terrorism-related counts and one weapons charge.

In a letter to the judge from the Alexandria jail, Khweis said he regretted his actions from the moment he stepped foot in Syria.

I hated myself for making the worst decision I ever made, Khweis wrote. I ruined my life and my familys life.

He said he wanted to scream as he ran from a jihadi safehouse in the middle of the night, his eyes filled with tears.

But he did not explain how he ended up there in the first place.

Its difficult to understand, defense attorney John Zwerling said in court Friday. We dont really know what caused him to travel to Syria.

On the stand in his own defense, at the first jury trial for an American who joined the Islamic State, Zwerling acknowledged that Khweis simply lied.

Khweis claimed his decision to sneak across the border from Turkey to Syria was largely a drunken impulse, that a reference to martyrdom in his Twitter handle was accidental, that his use of multiple online accounts and anonymous browsers was to avoid hacking rather than surveillance and that he burned several phones before leaving the Islamic State because he didnt want terrorists to learn his credit score.

Khweis made an absolute mockery of his oath, prosecutors Dennis Fitzpatrick and Raj Parekh wrote in their sentencing filing, showing he learned nothing in the 15 months between his arrest and his trial.

He lied repeatedly, Fitzpatrick said at Fridays sentencing. This defendant has a radicalized mind; he does not want to abide by the norms of society.

Khweis had likewise lied when he was captured in Iraq in March of 2016, telling FBI agents that he had been following a young woman who did not exist. But he eventually came clean, giving what investigators described as valuable insights into the workings of the Islamic State.

At sentencing, Zwerling revealed that Khweis had identified four Western members of the Islamic State, including one American. The former recruit looked at maps and tried to point out the safehouses where he had been held and described what was done there.

His trial exposed details of the terrorist organizations operations. Khweis was required to have his blood tested for hepatitis B and HIV. A detailed form listed his shoe size, skills and his specialty before jihad. He was asked if he would be a suicide bomber. He met members of a group called Jaysh al-Khalifa that trains jihadists for attacks abroad.

Because Mr. Khweis will not be the only young man to engage in this travel, it is imperative to ask  when those youth change their minds, do we want them to turn themselves in and provide valuable intelligence information, or do we want them stay under ISIS control, possibly causing harm to themselves or others? Zwerling and fellow defense attorney Jessica Carmichael wrote in a sentencing memo.

Parekh argued that the detail Khweis was able to provide was a sign of how enmeshed he was in the Islamic State and a reason to punish him harshly.

He was a jack of all trades, Parekh said at sentencing. He received an inner-workings view of this organization.

Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 35 years, defense attorneys for five. Khweis could have gone to prison for life.

I believe you left because you became disillusioned, OGrady said in selecting the punishment. You didnt harm anybody, you didnt kill anybody, you left of your own volition.

Khweis did not speak in court Friday before his sentence. His attorneys said he was too nervous.
Heres one of the problems with politics: The campaigns that candidates run often have very little to do with what they will do or even can do in office.

In that regard, lets give President Trump some credit: He ran on wanting to build a wall. In office, he still wants to build that wall. That may or may not be good policy, but no one can say they didnt understand what they signed up for.

By contrast, though, the governors race were now seeing in Virginia has become a lot of empty chatter that bears very little resemblance to the issues that the states next chief executive will face.

Both parties are to blame, although not always equally.

First, lets consider Republican Ed Gillespies ads about how Democrat Ralph Northam thinks that Confederate statues should come down. Factually speaking, Gillespie is on target here. Northam really did say that, so its fair game. However, its also a distraction.

Heres why: Virtually all the statues in questions are owned by local governments, not the state, so theyre not the governors to dispose of anyway. The state itself apparently owns just two Confederate statues: The Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond and the Stonewall Jackson statue at Virginia Military Institute. Those may or may not be covered by the state law that forbids removing war memorials. Were still waiting for the courts to sort out just which monuments that law applies to and whether statues of individual people constitute war memorials.

If you want the Confederate statue in front of your local courthouse to stay or to come down  go talk to your county supervisor or city council member. That statues fate doesnt depend on whether Gillespie or Northam sits in the governors chair; it depends more on local governments and, ultimately, the courts. If you cast your vote for governor based on statues, well, maybe that will make you feel better, but it wont really change anything. Gillespies use of the Confederate statue issue is about pushing certain emotional buttons.

Lets move on to Gillespies focus on the MS-13 gang. Democrats consider this the Virginia equivalent of the infamous Willie Horton ad from the 1988 presidential campaign that helped bring down Michael Dukakis. Its emotional, to be sure, and its ridiculous to say, as Trump did, that Northam is fighting for the violent MS-13 killer gangs. Rest assured, Northam is not a defender of gangs.

However, gang violence is a legitimate issue. Look no further than Bedford County, where a Lynchburg teenager was found dead in Goode earlier this year. Three men, all with ties to MS-13, have been charged with his death. Two face capital murder charges, a third is charged with first-degree murder; all have been charged with participation in a criminal act in association with a criminal street gang.

Democrats seem to deny such events when they decry Gillespies use of MS-13 imagery. Thats naive. The bigger question, though, is whether MS-13, whose members predominantly come from Central America, is so rampant in Virginia as to justify making it such a central issue in the campaign. Ideally, that question answers itself. In a more perfect world, the subjects discussed in campaign advertising would more closely mirror the amount of time the next governor would spend on them  in which case the biggest chunk of advertising would be on the states economy.

The real concern with the MS-13 ads is that they stir up the anti-immigrant sentiment that is prevalent in what might be called the Trump wing of the Republican Party  a part of the Republican base that Gillespie does not naturally appeal to. Its hard to prove intent, of course, but Republican operatives clearly know what theyre doing.

The demographic reality  which Trumpians dont want to talk about  is that the United States needs more immigration, not less. Southwest Virginia, in particular, needs more immigration to offset a population decline that is it at crisis levels. We wish Gillespie were trying to facilitate that conversation. This ad doesnt help.

The ugliest ad in the campaign, though, comes from the Democrats  a flyer that superimposes pictures of Gillespie and Trump over an image of torch-carrying white supremacists marching in Charlottesville in August: On Wednesday, November 7 Virginia gets to stand up to hate.

Trumps reaction to Charlottesville was both alarming and disgusting. When one side consists of white supremacists, there cannot be some very fine people on both sides. Trump deserves this flyer. Gillespie does not.

Gillespie immediately denounced the march in Charlottesville in especially strong terms. If you laid his statement side by side to what Democrats were saying, you probably couldnt even tell the difference. Gillespie did exactly what youd want a normal Republican to do  denounce these despicable racists who have tried to hijack conservatism by claiming they want to Unite the Right.

To put out a flyer that links Gillespie to white supremacists is both foul and a campaign foul. Democrats defend it on the grounds that Gillespie has failed to condemn Trump for the presidents pitiful reaction. That doesnt seem a very good excuse. To visually tie Gillespie with white supremacists when he was so strong in his condemnation  is not only wrong factually; its wrong morally. This is the kind of thing that only further debases our politics.

So whos to blame for all these campaign ads that devote so much attention to inflammatory issues that arent really connected to the conduct of the office? Democrats? Republicans?

Well tell you who: We all are because we let ourselves be manipulated by these mind games. We also all possess the means to stop it. Mute the TV when the ads come on. Trash the mailers without reading them. Ignore all the campaign advertising because very little of it really matters.

Instead, do your own research: The video of the debate at the University of Virginias College at Wise would be an excellent place to start because there you can see the candidates themselves holding a spirited, but civil, and reasonably substantive, conversation about actual issues. Dont let clever campaign consultants get inside your head, no matter which side theyre on.
Center blames lead for bald eagle illnesses

WAYNESBORO  The Wildlife Center of Virginia has admitted its 43rd bald eagle patient of the year, setting a record for single-year admissions during the centers 35-year history.

Officials say nearly 70 percent of the eagles admitted had measurable amounts of lead in their blood. Six of the eagles had lead levels that were even too high for the centers in-house lead analyzer to measure.

Bald eagles can ingest small fragments of lead ammunition as they scavenge deer carcasses or other animals that have been shot. A lead fragment the size of a grain of rice can kill a bald eagle.

The center has been encouraging hunters to stop using lead-based ammunition.

McAuliffe will attend climate conference

RICHMOND  Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is going to Germany next month for a conference on climate change.

The governors office said last week McAuliffe will discuss his plan to curb carbon emissions at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bonn.

McAuliffe has been sharply critical of Republican President Donald Trumps record on the environment. The governor, a Democrat, has previously directed his administration to formulate regulations to abate, control, or limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants fired by fossil fuels.

McAuliffe will be in Germany from Nov. 11 to Nov. 13.

Lawsuit contends ad ban on buses is illegal

RICHMOND  An animal-rights group is suing after a public bus system in Virginia refused to display advertisements against animal testing.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Thursday that the group is the Washington, D.C.-based White Coat Waste Project.

Its ad shows dogs peeking out from behind bars and demands that the McGuire VA Medical Center: Stop Taxpayer-Funded Dog Experiments. The medical center has conducted research into cardiac health in humans. Some of the tests are considered extremely painful to the dogs.

The Greater Richmond Transit Company prohibits political ads on its buses. And a spokeswoman for the agency said the groups ad violates that rule.

The groups lawsuit, filed in federal court, claims the rule violates its constitutional rights and allows the government to pick and choose what views people can express.
Official White House Photo(CHICAGO) -- The 44th president of the United States is slated to serve on a jury in the Chicago area in November.



Former President Barack Obama could, like other prospective jurors, be called upon for either a criminal or civil court proceeding in Chicago or its suburbs.



Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans informed county commissioners Friday of the former president's prospective jury service.



The judge said Obama's safety "will be uppermost in our minds."

Obama, who owns properties in Washington, D.C., and Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood, is registered to vote in Chicago.



Jurors in Cook County earn $17.20 a day.



Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
CHSRA

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) says it has met federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 requirements by fully investing the more than $2.55 billion granted to the state since 2009 to build the nation's first high-speed rail system.

CHSRA explains that these funds have helped to create thousands of new jobs and generated approximately $4 billion in economic activity in the Central Valley and across California.

ARRA was enacted in 2009 to help the country recover from recession by creating jobs, spurring technological development and building new infrastructure. CHSRA says back then, the state unemployment rate was at 12.4 percent and 17 percent in the Central Valley.

CHSRA says it invested the federal funds in core program tasks, including advanced planning, design and environmental outreach with communities along the full Phase 1 system from San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim. The funds helped advance construction on more than 119 miles in the Central Valley from Madera to north of Bakersfield with 14 active construction sites. CHSRA says this work employed more than 1,400 craft laborers; 630 private sector firms and more than 400 small businesses. CHSRA also notes that 100 percent of the steel and concrete used in construction was made in America, more than 80,000 tons of construction materials have been recycled and 55 grade separation projects in the Central Valley have been initiated to improve safety.

All of the ARRA funds for the project were spent prior to the statutory deadline of September 30, 2017 and thanks to these federal funds, thousands of people are working in good-paying jobs to build a new transportation system that will improve quality-of-life for generations to come, said Dan Richard, CHSRA Board

Chair. High-speed rail workers are also investing money back into their local communities, boosting local economies and generating up to $4 billion in new economic activity.
The Janata Dal-United faction led by Bihar Nitish Kumar ' title='Chief Minister Nitish Kumar '>Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday demanded a "free and fair probe" into allegations that Congress leader Ahmed Patel had links with two arrested terrorists in Gujarat.

"The allegations against Ahmed Patel has been made by the Chief Minister of the state, which are very serious in nature. So we demand a



free and fair probe," JD-U spokesperson KC Tyagi told reporters here.



He also said that and if anyone's "role is established then the law must act".



"On the issue of national security we are very straight that there will be no compromise with it. Let the law take its own course. If anyone is



found guilty then he should be punished," Tyagi said.



Tyagi's remarks came a day after Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani alleged that Patel was linked to a suspected terrorist arrested by the state's Anti-Terrorist Squad on Wednesday from Bharuch. Patel has rubbished the charge.

Rupani told reporters that Mohammed Qasim Stimberwala, caught by the Intelligence Bureau and security agencies, was working at a Bharuch



hospital where Patel had been a trustee and, though he resigned after the UPA lost power "still oversees the working of the hospital".



Stimberwala, one of the two alleged IS operatives arrested by the Gujarat ATS from Surat, had resigned recently as an echocardiogram



technician in the Sardar Patel Hospital and Heart Institute in Ankleshwar, which Patel had helped grow into a modern facility.



Patel was one of the trustees during the hospital's formative years as a modern hospital and the only one in the entire Bharuch district with



latest equipment and technology with facilities for heart surgery. He had resigned as a trustee in 2014, facilitating a new board of trustees to



take over.



The ATS, which picked up Stimberwala and Ubed Ahmed Mirza, claimed that the two were planning to attack a Jewish synagogue in Khadia



area of Ahmedabad and had even carried out reconnaissance of their target.



Mirza was a practicing lawyer at the Surat district court, Stimberwala worked as a technician at the Ankleshwar hospital.
Each Halloween, I roam the Internet looking for new Montana ghost stories. And every year I'm disappointed with the quality and quantity of our population of phantoms. Jay and Grant, heroes of "Ghost Hunters," one of my favorite television shows, haven't even mentioned Montana as a possible destination. So, in an effort to avoid actual reporting, which is hard work, I've decided to redeem the state's spectral honor by adding a few ghosts of my own invention.
Its not just Ricky and Tianas first time to Samoa.

It is the first time the hardworking couple from Timaru have left New Zealand at all.

Its also the couples first holiday together by themselves so it was a celebration and a treat at the same time.

While Tiana opted for a fruity cocktail by the pool, her partner Ricky was enjoying a nice cold local brew as they spoke with Dear Tourist.

I got a couple of good friends who are Samoan and I just thought I like them and I always got on well with them so I always wanted to come here and have a look around, Ricky said.

This is our first real holiday so yeah, here we are in Samoa.

Ricky gave us our first impressions of Samoa when he landed on our shores.

As soon as we landed it was like a heat wave. It was definitely different Im not used to this temperature. As we started coming through from the airport to the hotel, it was definitely a good eye opener. As soon as we got here it was pretty awesome. The people are friendly.

The couple had arrived late afternoon and Tiana was struck by how different everything was.

I thought it was pretty good. Driving around I just thought everything looked so pretty. There are so many different things to see here, like we definitely dont see this at home especially the school buildings. We must have arrived during the end of the school day and they have so many children.

Having just arrived in Samoa and settled into the Tanoa Tusitala Hotel, the couple made a mental note to hit the main spots.

They were looking forward to exploring both islands and making the most of their time together being that it was their first holiday away from their children.

We are going to Savaii on Wednesday but other than I want to go diving and check out the To Sua trench. We definitely want to swim with the turtles and have a look around at all the beaches, said Ricky

As soon as we got here, we thought our hotel was really nice. The pool and the restaurant are pretty nice and open. Were just enjoying our time relaxing.

We have children back in New Zealand and were just trying to make the most of this time away before we have to go back to reality, we work hard.

Ricky works at the DB Draught Brewery and he was impressed with the local brew, Vailima saying its a pretty good draft beer and hes hoping to have a chance to visit the Vailima breweries in Vaitele.

Yeah its really nice, I like it! I could definitely have a couple more of these. Do they make it here in Samoa? Id like to visit it if we have time. Are they the only brewery here? I work for a brewery in my town, Ive been there for a long time, and it would be interesting to see one in another country.
Theres no place like home.

And Savaii is, and will always be home to 25-year-old Logo Faafetai from Fagamalo, Savaii.

This is despite her coming to Upolu to visit her family.

Logo was born and bred in Savaii and thats where her heart is.

I dont usually come to Upolu because my life is in Savaii, Logo told the Village Voice team yesterday morning.

She said you would find everything in Savaii.

Savaii is home and I find it hard to stay anywhere else and there we get used to the lifestyle and no matter whats happening theres always peace.

Most people say that whatever is happening in Upolu, the same thing is happening in Savaii and I partly agree but I prefer Savaii as the place to settle down because its so peaceful.

I guess thats easy for me to say because I grew up there but I know everyone who comes to visit feels the same way I do right now.

Considering the many problems and accidents happening nowadays, Savaii is a good place for you to get away from all the new changes in this life and people all get along because they know each other.

Logo added Savaii was the true reflection of Samoa to the outside world.

The environment is clean and free from pollution and I think thats one reason we lived happily every day and healthy, she said.

So we hardly have any communicable disease spreading here in Savaii because it is a clean environment.

Logo said that villagers in Savaii were responsible for maintaining a clean surrounding, especially alongside the road where many tourists and visitors passed by every day.

I think thats why Savaii is always the best because we work together.

Logo believes it is important to focus on this because we have to make sure that the environment is preserved for the future generation.

Personally, its so sad to see many of our people dump anything, anywhere, at any time, she said.

Most of the time people just throw anything on footpaths instead of the rubbish bins.

So, if we dont keep our environment clean, there would be many consequences or problems which will be faced by our people and our children tomorrow.

My advice is, if we keep our environment clean and green, we can reduce pollution, get fresh air, live a peaceful life without any problems every day and we will attract more tourists to our beautiful Samoa.
No matter what life throws at you, be strong.

Life can get hard and things can go wrong, but no matter what, youve got to be strong, Aso Mase, 57, told the Village Voice team yesterday.

Aso is from the village of Vaitele Fou and is a father of six.

Village Voice met him while on his way home from collecting firewood.

According to Aso, life in Samoa is getting harder every day.

The cost of living is really expensive and things are getting harder every day with us, he said.

My family and I are struggling so much because of the high cost of living and we are only relying on the small plantation around our house.

He said only one person in his family was working.

My eldest son is the only one working and he is the sole provider for all things in our family, Aso said.

My other son does not have a regular job but always helps his friends with small contract jobs.

He also mentioned the hardship his family faced.

I am a retired worker of the agriculture place in Nuu and I have been working there for so long. I was hoping to get the retirement payment to build a house for our family but nothing happened.

So right now I am just helping out here at home and I really want my children to get a job so they can provide for our family.

Aso said no matter the struggles of life, he would make sure that his family was provided with the best.

I will also make sure that I work hard in my plantation to provide for my family and will push my children to look for a job to support our family.
Re: Govt. helps Toa Samoa

I consider this help of $420,000 as suspicious government activity.

One week the PM is saying that the Manu Samoa is bankrupt and the next week the PM hands over $420,000 to Toa Samoa.

What is going on here? An investment for government shares?

Or PM and his Manu Samoa crew jumping a sinking ship (Manu Samoa) and climbing onboard a better looking ship (Toa Samoa)?

Can someone enlighten me please?

Anyways go Toa Samoa and Manu Samoa!

Siaosi Siomia
As I and my family live around the Vaivase area, we need to understand possible impacts (positive and negative) that may affect us in citing this development in our residential area. An E.I.A. will assist us obtain that understanding as required under Section 42 of P.U.M.A. Act 2004 and E.I.A Regulations 2007  Fiu Mataese Elisara

The President of O le Siosiomaga Society Incorporated (O.L.S.S.I.), Fiu Mataese Elisara, has questioned the accountability and transparency of the Planning and Urban Management Agency (P.U.M.A).

The questions arise over what he describes as the poor response from P.U.M.A to his attempts to obtain the Initial Environment Examination (I.E.E) for the Tui Samoa Cable project at Vaivase.

Fiu told the Sunday Samoan he has made numerous requests only to appear that his pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

The formal requests were made last month, inquiring for a copy of the Initial Environment Examination (I.E.E.) and development consent on the laying of the Tui Samoa Cable in Vaivase, Fiu told the Sunday Samoan.

Fiu is the Head of O le Siosiomaga Society Incorporated (O.L.S.S.I.) a Division under the umbrella of S.U.N.G.O. (The Samoa Umbrella for non-governmental Organizations).

My frustration is related to the failure of the Head of P.U.M.A. to reply to several requests I made for E.I.A. and development consent (D.C.) on the related TuiSamoa Cable as a resident of Vaivase.

He pointed out that almost all government projects focus on benefits and little or nothing on the more important information on risks.

I argue that obligations for full disclosure of both benefits and equally or more importantly on risks is an obligation government must comply with for people to be more and better informed."

The Tui Cable project is such a project and the concerns by a Vaivase resident (seems to be a knowledgeable person on risks of similar projects with a U.S. Air Force background) on Health warning alert about Tui Cable site published on the 19 September Samoa Observer is justified because government failed to fully disclose risks, said Fiu.

He said the requests started on 21 September, 2017, where he requested copies of any E.I.A. and development consent for the major government development on the Tui Samoa Cable cited at Samoa College.

Another email was sent the following day, with another follow up email sent on 25th September, 2017.

Fiu pointed out in the email that he lived around the area and was interested in the requested information as required in the P.U.M.A. Act 2008, E.I.A. Regulations 2007, and D.C. Regulations 2008.

Look forward to your reply please to this 3rd request before obliging to take this matter to other levels that will inevitably include further public information and also in relation to a public servant responsible ignoring requests from primary clients. Ma le faaaloalo tele, Fiu, the email read.

The advocate did not stop there, after three attempts and no response, he wrote to C.E.O. of M.N.R.E.

He pointed out to the C.E.O. that the A.C.E.O. P.U.M.A. has failed or ignored replying to my three clear emails below requesting information on development consent and E.I.A. for the TuiSamoa cable which is a large government project."

As I and my family live around the Vaivase area, we need to understand possible impacts (positive and negative) that may affect us in citing this development in our residential area."

An E.I.A. will assist us obtain that understanding as required under Section 42 of P.U.M.A. Act 2004 and E.I.A Regulations 2007."

Also it will benefit us as residents of this area to understand what factors and conditions that merits a Development Consent (DC) to be issued as required by Sections 34 and 35 of P.U.M.A. Act 2004 and D.C."

Regulations 2008, Parts III, IV, and V of the P.U.M.A. Act 2004 are very clear and I would personally like to see that these requirements are observed by government in the light of its developments equally as pushed compliance on our ordinary peoples/developers.

Especially the rights of citizens who live around the area who in this case, there has not been any compliance by PUMA in respect of consultations (section 18 if this was at all part of a sustainable management plan which I have never seen) or Section 43 in the requirement for notification.

I am concerned that after three emails, two last week and one this week, A.C.E.O. of P.U.M.A. has not even given me a small courtesy of a response, hence my being forced to seek your kind assistance in this matter.

I have also informed her of the possibility of going to media on this but still ignore my request.

So far, I am committed to seeking a response from M.N.R.E. and media ultimately if this fails, said Fiu in his email to the C.E.O.

According to Fiu, on September 27, 2017 the A.C.E.O. P.U.M.A. finally replied saying she was busy and the files can be viewed at the office because they cannot give out copies.

Fiu emailed back noting the limited avenue for the public to obtain information through P.U.M.A. is not allowed to release public information is a concern for him.

Confining ourselves to view documents and files in the office seems to contravene the intent and spirit of disclosure, notification, and consultation enshrined in Part V of the P.U.M.A. Act 2004.

Members of the public, like myself, who may have grievances on impacts of developments that may or may not affect us as citizens of this country and desiring accurate information to make informed decisions are denied this opportunity.

I sincerely hope P.U.M.A. reconsiders this practice as it is indeed our right as your primary client to be facilitated with such service, said Fiu.

He also noted the files made available by P.U.M.A. staff did not respond fully to his queries, especially a copy of the E.I.A. and the Social Impact Assessment in relation to concerns for the residents living around the Vaivase residential area.

Notwithstanding the claims that there will be no health impacts to the public, there are clear references in the Initial Environmental Examination report of April 2015 that point clearly to cables containing toxic fluids and emitted electromagnetic radiation that anyone, especially those resident around the Vaivase area cannot be ignored.

I have read the valid concerns of one Vaivase resident published in the 19 September, 2017 Samoa Observer and concerned about the dismissive response from the Chairman of Samoa Submarine Cable Company (S.S.C.C).

Naturally, I looked to P.U.M.A. for some public response to help soothe the concerns we as residents of Vaivase rightly harbors. There was none, said Fiu.

He then sought clarification to ensure there was compliance with these two important conditions for development consent.

On the broader nature of the S.S.C.C. project, I find that the April 2015 Initial Environment Examination was implemented by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology for A.D.B. and World Bank.

Kindly clarify if there was an independent examination done for this, and if so, does this satisfy the requirement for E.I.A. under Section 42 of P.U.M.A. Act 2004 and E.I.A. Regulations 2008?

Also, if the I.E.E. was the "Initial Environment Examination", was there a subsequent Environment Examination?

Was there some due diligence process and compliance checks on A.D.B. and W.B. in terms of their Environment and Social Safeguards (E.S.S.) policies and regulations on this project and in regards Sections VI of I.E.E. (Anticipated Impacts and Mitigation Measures); Section VII (Grievance Mechanism Redress; Section VIII (Information Disclosure, Consultation, and Participation); Section IX (environment and Social Management Plans) - If there was indeed due diligence process taken, were there any reports and if there were, kindly point us to where we can review them.

I find it hard to accept that Section VIII can be met or meaningful when only 43 people from Fagalii were consulted on 25 March 2015, yet on the more important citing of the substantive operations and facilities in our Vaivase residential area failed to trigger consultation as required by those donor policies, said Fiu in his email to the A.C.E.O. of P.U.M.A.

Regarding the Land Acquisition and Resettlement Policy of A.D.B. and W.B, I cannot accept that the Social Safeguard Policy OP4.12 in terms of Involuntary Resettlement is not triggered knowing the clear dangers intimated.

This means that there will indeed be possibility of living standards adversely affected in our Vaivase residential area as a result of this project and its interventions.

I ask, did P.U.M.A. and government consider the requirement that Borrower is required to prepare appropriate social safeguards instruments to address every adverse impacts generated as a result of this project activities?

Were these complied with?

If so, has there been any consideration of assessing the value of the 'adverse impacts' and related compensation to those duly affected such as the residents of Vaivase?

Fiu further points out there is undoubtedly many benefits this project will deliver as articulated by government in its alleged publicity stunts and forums on it.

But I personally find it difficult to accept that in almost all major projects of government there has only been a focus on benefits, profits, economic gains, and very little is done to ensure a balanced approach to address the more important concerns for environmental, social, cultural risks as well as possible negative impacts to the health and lives of those affected.

P.U.M.A. is looked to provide that security for accountability and some clarity on this entrusted responsibility will help.

I am even more concerned that despite the clear policies of A.D.B. and W.B. to trigger policies and comply with legal requirements in terms of E.S.S., resettlement, indigenous peoples, and other impacts, noting also there are adequate budgets allocated in development programs from donors to address redress and compensate those affected, it will be most unfortunate if we squander these opportunities at the peril of ensuring good governance principles are respected and complied with, and indeed those duly affected are adequately compensated, said Fiu to the A.C.E.O. of P.U.M.A.

It was not possible to get a comment from P.U.M.A by press time last night.
The 68th session of the World Health Organisations Regional Committee for the Western Pacific (R.C.M68) was held in Brisbane, Australia two weeks ago.

The meeting was attended by W.H.O. Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus W.H.O. Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Dr Shin Young-soo, Australian Minister for Health and Minister for Sport, the Hon. Greg Hunt and More than 300 delegates from the 37 member countries.

The Samoa delegation was led by the Minister of Health, Leao Dr. Talalelei Tuitama, Mrs Lanuola Tuitama, Darryl Anesi from the Ministry of Health and Lemalu Mathew Mualia from the National Health Services Board of Directors and Chairman of the Pharmacy Council.

Lemalu said the week was a packed agenda, full of items that addressed Member States key concerns.

Regional health leaders made decisions on eliminating major communicable diseases, including measles and rubella, as well as mother-to-child transmission of H.I.V. , hepatitis B and syphilis; financing of priority public health services; strengthening regulation of medicines and the health workforce; improving food safety; and health promotion for sustainable development.

They also considered a report on protecting children from the harmful impact of food marketing.

The top priority was on delivering results at the country level, and anticipating what is around the cornerthe next outbreak, the next funding crisis, the next big threat to health. Strength in solidarity as our best defence against whatever the future holds was a main collective thought among the member states.

Again, the issues that were addressed at RCM68 included:

1. Eliminating major communicable diseases in the Region, including measles and rubella, as well as mother-to-child transmission of HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis;

2. Protecting children from the harmful impact of food marketing;

3. Food safety;

4. Sustainable financing for priority public health services, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries;

5. Health promotion in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda; and

6. Strengthening regulation of medicines and the health workforce, and convergence between countries regulatory systems.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, W.H.O. Director-General, during his keynote address to the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific said his vision for the W.H.O: And I have come to realise that the world expects WHO to do three things, to keep the world safe, to improve health, and to serve the vulnerable.

Let me repeat that: the world expects WHO to keep the world safe, to improve health, and to serve the vulnerable.

The Regional Committee Meeting (R.C.M.) is the key decision making body for the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) in the Western Pacific Region.

It brings together Health Ministers and senior officials from 37 countries and areas to set priorities and agree actions that will bring better health to nearly 1.9 billion people.

W.H.Os Western Pacific Region is very geographically and economically diverse.

It stretches from Mongolia and China in the north and west, to Australia and New Zealand in the south, and French Polynesia and the Pitcairn Islands in the east.

The 37 countries and areas of the WHO Western Pacific Region are: American Samoa (USA), Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia (France), Guam (USA), Hong Kong SAR (China), Japan, Kiribati, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Macao SAR (China), Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, Nauru, New Caledonia (France), New Zealand, Niue, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (USA), Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands (UK), Republic of Korea, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Viet Nam, and Wallis and Futuna (France).
A former referee of the Samoa Rugby Union has denied allegations of rape put forward against him in Court.

Daniel Iuogafa, of Vaovai, Falealili and Vaimea, who is accused of allegedly raping an overseas-based woman, took the stand on Thursday morning.

Presiding over the matter was Supreme Court Justice Mata Keli Tuatagaloa.

Prosecution was Fatumanavaupolu Ofisa Tagaloa of the Attorney Generals Office while the defendant was represented by Aumua Ming Leung Wai.

A suppression order was issued by Justice Mata to safeguard the womans details and identity.

On the night in question, Friday, 10th Feb, 2017, I was with some of my colleagues from the Samoa Commercial Bank at Tuanaimato for the Fight for Marist, Iuogafa told the court.

At that time I was an employee of the Samoa Commercial Bank as well as a referee for the Samoa Rugby Union during local games."

About 8pm on that night, Tupu Latu (witness for the prosecution), called and asked me if I could assist him with his fight because his teacher, Salesa Seiuli (another witness), was not available, I told Tupu OK."

After the event that night, we went and dropped off the security guard who was on duty at S.R.U. that night. Then Tupu asked if we could go meet Salesa at Club X because he wanted to shout us beer because Tupu had won."

We went and I met Salesa, he bought me and Tupu one bottle each, I also met Hugh Sloppen (victims boyfriend) that night."

When Club X closed we came with Tupu and Salesa bought some beers at Togafuafua and then we came to Fias Shop at Vaitele and bought barbeques and then we went to S.R.U."

When we got to S.R.U, Salesa told the security guard who we were and so the security guard allowed us inside."

Not long after Hugh came, Salesa offered him a beer but he was looking for his wallet and he came back outside and entered the two-storey building next to the main office of the S.R.U."

Not long after, Tupu said that he was going to lie down because he had a headache from the fight that night and he walked to the building that Hugh went to.

Iuogafa said around 3.30am he told Salesa that he was going home.

At that time Salesa told me to drop off Tupu as well because they had to go to Savaii the next day with some of the S.R.Us officials, said Iuogafa.

I then walked to the house that Tupu went into and in this building, the gym is downstairs and the rooms are upstairs."

I knocked in all the rooms on the top floor but nobody answered so I came back down."

As I was walking down the stairs I heard a voice of a female asking me where I was going."

I turned around and told the person that I was looking for Tupu and at that time I saw this girl wearing only her underwear and her bra."

We exchanged questions and then I walked up to her and kissed her."

She took me inside her bedroom and I saw that there were two beds in the room and someone was sleeping on the other bed.

Iuogafa told the court that he asked the girl about the person sleeping on the other bed.

She told me not to worry its her friend, said Iuogafa.

We went on the bed started kissing each other and then we had sexual intercourse."

When we finished, the person who was sleeping on the other bed woke up and started screaming and running to one corner."

Thats when I stood up gathered my clothes and ran outside because I thought this person was getting something to attack me with."

I came and jumped on the passengers side of my car and sat there and thats when I saw Hugh running outside and thats when I saw Tupu."

Hugh then confronted Tupu but I got out of the car and told Hugh that it was me and I apologized to him and told him that I didnt know it was his girlfriend and that it was her who opened the door to me."

Hugh got angry and told me to take my girlfriend and get out of the compound. He then ripped off the number plate of my car and thats when Salesa told me to leave the compound.

Iuofaga told the court that he had a love bite on the top left side of his chest from the complainant.

On Sunday afternoon I got a call from my boss that the police were looking for me so I got in the car and drove straight to the police station in Apia, he said.

They took my statement and I was held in custody on that day.

During cross examination, Fatumanavaupolu put it to the defendant that during the complainants boyfriends testimony he told the court that when he woke up he saw him on top of the complainant.

Hugh told the court that he saw the complainant was not moving she was unconscious and she had a top and a skirt on and not a bra and underwear."

The victim also took the stand and told the court that she was unconscious and she also confirmed wearing a skirt and a top.

Iuogafa insisted that the complainant had only her underwear and bra on.

In your statement to the police you only mentioned your actions towards the complainant while you were in their both, but it seems that the complainant never did anything to you while you were both getting intimate."

Isnt it true if I say that the reason she didnt do anything to you was because she was unconscious and she didnt know what was happening to her until her boyfriend woke up and saw you on top of her.

Iuogafa still insisted that the complainant was awake and fully agreed to what they were doing.

He also told the court that it was the complainant who had let him into her bedroom. The matter is set for sentencing on the 27th November.
The physician who treated the late Kara Philbrick-Lenker for years spent hours Friday testifying about her case, her medical charts and her overall care, as part of Dr. Chris Christensen's negligent homicide trial.

Dr. Eric Ravitz with Missoulas Blue Mountain Clinic said Lenker was a complex patient, with her treatment made more difficult by her tendency to self-medicate with alcohol  drinking up to a half-gallon of vodka per day. She was agoraphobic, meaning she feared leaving her home; she suffered from extreme social anxiety and insomnia, which can be a symptom of depression; she had neurodermatitis, with itchy skin making her scratch enough to give her lesions.

She also had gastroesophageal reflux disease, also known as heartburn, and classic radial nerve palsy in one wrist from drinking and falling asleep in a strange position, which creates a dramatic form of a pinched nerve. And, she suffered from chronic pain.

She was intelligent, with a lot of mental health and physical health issues, and they were prolonged, going on for a long time, Ravitz told the jury. That combination of self-treatment  good, solid knowledge of medicine, if you will  made her very complicated. It created that therapeutic tension of, This is what I want. This is what I think will work for me.

What she wanted, he said, was 100 milligrams of methadone to replace the fentanyl patch he prescribed, along with a variety of other medications to treat her various maladies. But Ravitz warned her that not only would he not prescribe that amount of methadone, she needed to quit drinking.

With her and methadone, knowing how she can binge-drink and fall off the wagon, I didnt want to have any risk of methadone becoming something catastrophic, he said, adding that he feared she would accidentally overdose, which she had done prior to becoming his patient.

Instead, she told him she was going to seek a second opinion, and she visited with Christensen. She walked out with a prescription for 100 milligrams of methadone, and three days later, she was dead from an overdose from a combination of prescription drugs.

Christensen is charged with two counts of negligent homicide, nine counts of criminal endangerment, and 11 counts of distribution of dangerous drugs. One of the homicide charges is based on Lenkers overdose.

County Attorney Bill Fulbright gave Ravitz a copy of Christensens medical charts, which he said didnt include that standard SOAP documentation  Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan.

The subjective portion is the persons medical history and why the person is consulting a doctor. The objective is basic findings, such as blood pressure and other physical attributes. The assessment entails what the physician makes of the situation and a potential diagnosis. The plan portion lays out what treatment will occur.

The SOAP notes are important to guide you, to follow up and create a relationship so you can accurately navigate the issue, Ravitz said, holding Christensens medical notes, then looking at the jury. I saw no evidence of that.

He also voiced concerns over Christensens prescribing the methadone, in which he ordered her to start with 30 milligrams of methadone, and gradually increase it to 90 milligrams within six days. Ravitz said pain management typically tries to involve the lowest dose possible.

I find that very troubling, he said.

On cross-examination, Attorney Josh Van de Wetering questioned Ravitz about working with insurance companies and his attitude about prescribing opioids. Ravitz said he had no qualms about it in certain cases, but not at the amounts Lenker requested.

Van de Wetering then gave Ravitz copies of his own charts for Lenker, noting that on her second visit the dictation machine Ravitz used didnt work and all that was on the chart was a brief handwritten note about their meeting. He also noted that Ravitz didnt include Lenkers previous medical records in her file.

Eventually, Judge Jeffrey Langton warned Van de Wetering about his lengthy questioning of Ravitzs records and the relevance to the case. Van de Wetering responded that he was doing so because Christensens lack of lengthy notes seems to be relevant to the negligent homicide case.

I believe the state is trying to suggest Dr. Christensens charting somehow demonstrates hes guilty of negligent homicide, Van de Wetering said. Im trying to explore various charting and how accurate it may be.

The trial continues next week.
Alvin Dunn Elementary School in San Marcos is getting new buildings, along with a new name, La Mirada Academy.

The word mirada, which means look in Spanish, represents the schools transformation from an older site to a modern campus, and from a K-6 elementary school to a K-8 combination school. The name will take effect at the beginning of the next school year, in conjunction with a total renovation of the campus.

Some of the rationale given was we want to look to the bright future of our students, Principal Jennifer Carter said.

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The name selection involved input from students, staff and community members, she said.

What was so exciting about La Mirada Academy... was that there were several people in all those categories that suggested that name, Carter said.

It also meets the districts criteria for school titles with geographic and cultural significance. La Mirada is the street the campus is located on.

It also is a Spanish name, Carter said. That was something unique in our community; we have a large Hispanic population. Were also an (International Baccalaureate) school and one of the languages that we teach is Spanish.

The school focuses on global and cultural awareness for primary grades, and is expanding that program into middle school as it rebuilds its campus.

With Proposition K funds from San Marcos 2010 bond measure, and state Proposition 51 education funds, the school will add 54 classrooms, a gymnasium, cafeteria, band room and library, and science, design and language labs. Now at about 820 students, it will grow to around 1,100, Carter said. Construction is underway and should wrap up in fall 2019.

Alvin M. Dunn  a banker, landowner and publisher -- provided the land for the school in 1956 to what was then the Rich-Mar Union School District, according to his obituary in the San Diego Union. Carter said the school will consider preserving that legacy by naming a feature of the new campus for Dunn.

The school also has new mascots, switching from dragons to wolves.

The rationale for wolves is that wolves travel in a pack, Carter said. Theyre a family. Theyre strong, theyre brave and they support one another.

deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan
The man accused of sneaking into bedrooms and molesting girls as they slept  authorities dubbed him the Creeper  pleaded guilty in a Vista courtroom Friday to charges expected to send him to prison for 100 years to life.

Gilbert Andrew Chavarria, 29, admitted to six charges of lewd acts on children under 14 years old, and three counts of assault with the intent to commit lewd acts on children under 14 years old, Deputy District Attorney Ryan Saunders.

Chavarrias plea covers all nine victims, including six girls he molested after sneaking into homes in Escondido and San Marcos, Saunders said. The defendant knew the other three victims  two 8-year-old girls he molested in August 2012, and a 5-year-old girl he molested in spring 2013.

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In the summer of 2013, a man slipped into several North County homes, often cutting or removing the screen on a window left open on hot nights while the victims slept. He would then cut holes into the victims pajamas or underwear and molest them, authorities said.

Twice, he left behind DNA.

Authorities ran it, but did not get a match. The brazen crimes led investigators to seek permission to run a familial DNA search in order to look for a biological relative who might be in the system. Eventually, the state lab got a hit, and after further investigation, Chavarria was arrested in February 2015.

It was the first arrest in San Diego County stemming from a familial DNA search of the offender database.

In California, familial searches of the database to solve a crime was to be done only as a last resort, according to a policy implemented by the state Attorney Generals office in 2008.

Aside from the molestation counts, Chavarria also pleaded guilty to four counts of residential burglary for breaking in while the residents were home.

He is expected to be formally sentenced to 100 years to life on Jan. 4.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

(760) 529-4945

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT
A man in Wisconsin has been charged with theft after convenience store employees found him boozing in the beer cave. According to Milwaukee ABC affiliate WISN, Jeremy Van Ert was locked inside the walk-in cooler at Kwik Trip in Marshfield around 11:50 p.m, and although the temperature was unbearable - 32 degrees Fahrenheit - the 38-year-old decided to not yell for help.

Police say a customer spotted the man inside the cooler around 5:50 a.m. the next day. When employees let him out, he left the store without paying for the things hed consumed - an 18-ounce bottle of Icehouse beer and three cans of Four Loko. He also knocked over and busted three 30-packs of Busch Light.

https://twitter.com/fourloko/status/901575388912070656 Police later arrested Van Ert, who was issued a misdemeanor citation for walking out on his bar tab. The local ABC affiliate WAOW reports that Van Ert is currently behind bars at a local jail on probation hold from an unrelated case that required him to stay sober.

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Youve probably heard this iconic quote from Ben Franklin: Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but he never actually said that. Find out what he did say in the 10 things you didnt know about beer.
An appliance thief who allowed a stolen stove to topple off his truck on an Anaheim freeway, triggering a collision that led to the death of an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriffs deputy, was sentenced Friday to 16 years to life in prison.

Cole Wilkins, 41, was convicted Sept. 6 of second-degree murder. Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals tacked a year onto the normal 15 year-to-life sentence because Wilkins had a prior conviction for failing to register as a sex offender. Wilkins was convicted as a juvenile of rape.

Goethals rejected a motion for a new trial based on defense arguments that the defendants crimes did not meet the legal standard for an implied malice killing and that he should have been convicted of involuntary manslaughter. He also ruled that Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Jennifer Walker did not make improper arguments to the jury when describing the legal theory of second-degree murder.

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Wilkins stole several appliances from an under-construction Menifee home on July 7, 2006, and was driving away with them when a stove fell onto the 91 Freeway, leading to the crash that killed Deputy David Piquette.

Wilkins was originally charged and convicted of first-degree murder, and was sentenced in July 2008 to 26 years to life in prison. His conviction and sentence, however, were overturned by the state Supreme Court, and Goethals ruled in May that prosecutors could only pursue second-degree murder due to misconduct in the case and could not tell jurors the victim was an off-duty sheriffs deputy, unlike Wilkins previous trial.

Wilkins has been in custody for about 11 years and will have to do about another five years behind bars before getting a parole hearing, Walker said.
A wealthy Mexican businessman convicted of making illegal campaign contributions in a public corruption scandal that roiled San Diegos political establishment was sentenced to three years in federal prison Friday.

Jose Susumo Azano Matsura was convicted on 35 charges of making $600,000 in illegal contributions in the 2012 mayors race during a five-week trial in September 2016. The jury didnt reach a verdict on a charge that he illegally possessed a firearm, but he was tried again on that charge in July and was convicted.

He was accused of funneling cash and campaign services to the campaigns or committees supporting then-Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis and former Mayor Bob Filner.

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Azano made his fortune building a Mexico City-based business that developed surveillance technology and cybersecurity products that were sold to the government in Mexico and elsewhere. His lawyer said in a sentencing memorandum that though wealthy, Azano was not close to being the billionaire as alleged by the government.

He also wrote that Azano has assisted Mexican and U.S. law enforcement over the years to secure the release of citizens of both countries who had been kidnapped in Mexico. He wrote Azano had helped authorities rescue 17 U.S. citizens and many Mexicans.

It was that work and the danger it posed for Azano that led him to move his family to a mansion in Coronado and eventually hire a retired San Diego police detective, Ernesto Encinas, to provide security.

Encinas was the conduit who introduced Azano to local politics and served as the liaison between Azano and the campaigns. He eventually cooperated with federal investigators in the investigation, recording conversations and providing information. He has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

Prosecutors said Azano clandestinely injected himself and his money into the mayors race in order to buy a mayor who would help him develop bay-front property in a Miami West project. Defense lawyers scoffed at that notion and said there was little hard evidence to support it.

He used straw donors, shell holding companies and businesses controlled by Marc Chase, a La Jolla car dealer who also pleaded guilty in the case, to hide his donations. Every penny was Azanos, prosecutors wrote, but not a single penny was contributed in his name.

In all he provided $100,000 to an independent committee supporting Dumanis, $120,000 to Filner and $60,000 combined to the county Democratic Party and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

He paid an additional $75,000 for the services of Ravneet Singh, a campaign services expert adept at social media and internet-based campaigning.

greg.moran@sduniontribune.com

Moran writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune
Was it a response to our record heat  or something else? As the temperature soared to 98 degrees in downtown San Diego Wednesday, Port Commissioner Rafael Castellanos spotted a man who found an unconventional way to beat the heat.

He was strolling naked along Sixth Avenue by the Sixth Avenue Bistro at B Street.

But not for long. San Diego police quickly corralled the nude pedestrian and took him away.

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Oceanographer Walter Munk (left) receives a 100th birthday gift from special guest Prince Albert II during an Oct. 26 Centennial Conversation program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune )

100 and thriving: Renowned Scripps oceanographer Walter Munk received videotaped 100th birthday messages Thursday from NASA astronauts, Al Gore, the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations, Mayor Kevin Faulconer and many other notables, even the U.S. San Diego surf team.

Last week, the ocean front La Jolla Shores boardwalk was officially re-named Walter Munk Way, and local government officials issued proclamations in his name.

Mary Munk stands next to her husband, oceanographer Walter Munk, just after the unveiling of a Walter Munk Way sign on the La Jolla Shores boardwalk during a dedication ceremony by the City of San Diego. Munk turned 100 years old on Oct. 19, 2017. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune )

While the Thursday events VIP birthday greetings were videotaped, Prince Albert II of Monaco joined Munk in person for a public discussion about the environment. The prince, also a supporter of oceanographic research, presented the new centenarian with a commemorative coin from his foundation.

Then roles reversed, and Prince Albert II received a most unusual gift: A recently discovered species of sea daisy is being named after him.

The deep-sea echinoderm, a form of sea star, had been collected by Alvin, the deep-sea vessel that took Scripps Institution of Oceanography researchers 2,200 meters below the surface to hydrothermal vents at the Juan de Fuca Ridge off the Pacific Northwest coast.

Its only the fourth species of sea daisy ever discovered. Now it will forever officially be known as Xyloplax princealberti.

The gift had special meaning to Scripps Director Margaret Leinen, the event moderator. During an Alvin dive in the 1980s, she had discovered the Juan de Fuca vents.

Behind the headlines: When Gail Maeder, 23, asked her mother if she believed in heaven, Alice Maeder answered, Well, well know when we get there, but Im in no hurry.

Me neither, Gail had replied.

That was one of the last conversations the mother and daughter had before Gail dropped out of sight. Over the next four years, Gails New York family received a total of seven postcards and a single phone call during which she vaguely referred to traveling with some friends and fine-tuning my life.

Then came the disturbing call at 4 a.m. on March 27, 1997, notifying them that Gails body was among 39 Heavens Gate cult mass suicide victims discovered at an estate in Rancho Santa Fe.

People called them crazies, Alice said during an interview, but this was 38 murders and one suicide. She was referring to the trance-eyed cult leader Marshall Applewhite, who promised to save his followers from a doomed world via an alien space ship.

As the Maeders daughter, who made an adventurous move to California at age 21, grew more distant, they became suspicious she might have joined a religious cult.

Gail Maeder, in this 1992 family wedding photo, was one of the 39 cult members who died in 1997. Gails mother, Alice, said Gail wanted to live forever and believed the cults promise that aliens would reincarnate her and take her on a spaceship to a kingdom beyond death. (Associated Press / Maeder family handout )

They started researching cults, contacting experts and following up every lead in an effort to track down their daughter, without luck. Their worst fears were confirmed when they spotted her in a video taken by a former Heavens Gate member, but the groups location remained elusive.

At 9 p.m. Sunday, CNN spinoff HLN (formerly Headline News) will revisit the macabre Heavens Gate ritualized death scene in which members of the cult helped one another ingest applesauce laced with phenobarbital and pull plastic bags over their heads.

The hour-long true crime series, How It Really Happened with Hill Harper, will feature former Heavens Gate members and victims relatives. Harper interviews Calvin Vine, formerly with the San Diego County Medical Examiners Office, and former sheriffs spokesman Don Crist, both present at the grisly death scene.

The Maeders, who have continued to warn others of the dangerous lure of cults, will once again relive that disaster.

I feel like Im stuck in the middle of a science-fiction nightmare, said Gails mother during a phone interview. Even though her daughter died 20 years ago, You never forget.

But Gail is home now  she is buried beside her grandparents in the family plot in Amagansett, N.Y.

diane.bell@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1518

Twitter: @dianebellSD

Facebook: dianebell.news
A high-ranking drug cartel leader whose name flew on banners taking credit for a number of murders in Sonora, Mexico, has been arrested in San Diego on drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges, the U.S. Attorneys Office announced Friday.

Sajid Emilio Quintero Navidad, who goes by the moniker El Cadete, is the cousin of fugitive drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, accused of being responsible for the murder of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Enrique Kiki Camarena.

He was arrested Oct. 11 at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Authorities have not released any additional details about his capture.

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Quintero Navidad was indicted by a San Diego federal grand jury on Sept. 22, charging him with conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine for importation, conspiracy to import the drugs and conspiracy to launder money. A sealed warrant for his arrest was issued the same day.

But he has been on the radar as a major trafficker for some time.

In August 2014 the Department of Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control labeled him a special designated narcotics trafficker  a designation under the so-called Kingpin Act that prohibits U.S. citizens and businesses from financial transactions with him and also freezes any of his finances in the U.S.

Quintero Navidad was identified as the plaza boss for the Beltran Leyva Organization in the state of Sonora, coordinating the shipment of ton quantities of cocaine from Guatemala and Bolivia through Mexico and controlling important routes into the U.S., according to the Treasury. During a spate of murders in 2012, he was identified on banners in Hermosillo, Agua Prieta and Nogales as being responsible for the bloodshed.

Quintero was formerly a member of the Sinaloa cartel and a close associate of one of its leaders, fugitive Ismael Zambada Garcia. But after a Sinaloa lieutenants death, territorial disputes placed his alignment elsewhere.

Quintero has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis
What could be more public than a public records request?

City of San Diego officials are refusing to release information about who is filing the hundreds of requests it receives each month on NextRequest, the citys online records request portal, even though the information has previously been released.

When filing a request under the California Public Records Act, people usually provide their name and contact information so government agencies can notify them when records become available. That typically makes their name subject to release  along with the information they requested.

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This fall, the city has taken another course, declining to identify requesters.

U-T Watchdog requested the names and contact information of requesters as part of an ongoing effort to monitor San Diegos compliance with the state public records law since the online NextRequest system was put in place. The city provided some information but withheld each requesters name, employer and email address.

City communications director Katie Keach said the information was withheld under California Government Code section 6255, which says that records can be withheld when the public interest in not disclosing information outweighs the public interest in releasing it.

In doing the balancing analysis we determined that the small benefit in having that information made public does not outweigh the significant benefit in maintaining requesters privacy and preserving requesters ability to make requests anonymously, Keach said in an email. There are sensitive and personal needs for requesting certain documents at times, such as police or code enforcement records.

U-T Watchdog has no intention of publishing the personal information of each requester. It would be used internally to analyze what types of people file requests and to contact individuals to asses their satisfaction with the request process.

Its important for journalists to be able to reach out to citizens and find out if theyre happy with the service, or ask if their request was processed correctly, said David Cuillier, University of Arizonas School of Journalism director and former chairman of the Society of Professional Journalists Freedom of Information Committee. You cant check the system if you dont know who to talk to.

Records that are exempt from disclosure under California law include those protected by attorney-client privilege, personnel and medical records of employees, police incident reports and preliminary drafts and memos. Information about public information requests themselves is not listed as an exemption.

The city has repeatedly released the information in response to previous requests, and it also notifies requestors that their information may become public.

The online NextRequest system informs the public, Personal information is visible only to staff by default, but requests are part of the public record and your information may be released in response to a public records request.

One request in February of this year sought any documents released to another requester, including the requesters email address, name and employer. The city complied.

U-T Watchdog requested in early October the name and contact information of one requester. The city complied in two days.

Keach said in those circumstances, the requests demonstrated a need for the information, and that was used as a part of the citys balancing test when determining what should be released.

At this time, you have not demonstrated a specific need to know the identity of any particular requester or their contact information, Keach said regarding the U-Ts latest request.

The public records law does not require any person to demonstrate a need when requesting information, saying, the conduct of the peoples business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state and every person has a right to inspect any public record.

In February 2016, one individual requested a log of all requests submitted to the San Diego City Clerk and other city departments during a three-month period. Nine days later the city released a log that included each requesters name and employer.

In March 2016, U-T Watchdog requested a roster of records requests from all local agencies in the county in an effort to assess open government practices.

The city of San Diego  along with 105 other government agencies  complied by providing a log that included requesters names.

San Diegos online records portal is powered by San Francisco-based vendor NextRequest. Other NextRequest customers include the city New Orleans and the city of Albuquerque. Both agencies post online the name of each requester, along with the cost for staff to process requests.

That kind of information is routinely provided throughout the country, Cuillier said. The name itself is not an inherent invasion of privacy, otherwise all of these other agencies wouldnt put the it online for everyone to see.

Watchdog Videos On Now Sexual misconduct accusers worry deputy is being protected 6:16 On Now City funded $2-million waterfront bathroom 1:26 On Now Public water district charges customer for legal work, response to records request On Now Video: Tiny homes won't be reused amid housing, homeless crisis On Now Attorney General seeks documentation for Miss Middle East On Now Rep. Hunter probe covers possible fraud On Now Video: SDG&E delaying solar credit for some low-income housing tenants On Now Video: Former San Diego Junior Theatre teacher sentenced for sex with teen girl 0:24 On Now Video: Shelter volunteers believe they were fired for finding a dog a home 0:49 On Now McKamey Manor is leaving San Diego 3:35

Contact Lauryn Schroeder via Twitter or Email.
Housing homeless people in large industrial tents will cost more than originally projected and will divert $6.5 million from permanent housing projects, according to a report from the San Diego Housing Commission.

The commission will hold a special meeting next Friday to consider allocating the funds to pay the agencies that will operate the three tents, which are expected to cost about $43 a person daily and shelter 700 people.

A group that proposed the tents earlier this year had projected the cost at $17 a day per person for basic services to between 250 and 5,000 people. That estimate did not include various services that the agencies operating the shelter will need to provide.

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While the commission will have to divert money earmarked for housing projects intended to help homeless people stay off the street permanently, officials say the funding shift may not be too disruptive.

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconers Press Secretary Greg Block said the city is working with the commission to fund housing projects already in the pipeline. The money will come from what once was the citys redevelopment fund.

Housing Commission President and CEO Rick Gentry confirmed that diverting the money should not affect plans to build more housing.

With a timely replenishment of funds from other sources, there should be no impact to permanent supportive housing projects, he wrote in an e-mail.

Chain restaurant operator Dan Shea and San Diego Padres Managing Partner Peter Seidler were the driving force in proposing the city use large industrial tents to house homeless people on the streets.

In June, they presented a proposal that found the tents could operate for a daily cost of about $17 a person.

We stand behind $17, Shea said Friday about the report.

But Shea was quick to note that in June he said the proposal was for basic services only, and did not include health and other social services.

Bob McElroy, president and CEO of the Alpha Project, which will operate one of the tents, said the shelter will have to provide more than just basic services under requirements by the Housing Commission.

As a bridge housing facility, meaning it is more than a shelter but also a facility that provides services that could lead to permanent housing, Alpha Project must provide health care, housing navigators and other social services for people staying in the tent, he said.

Seider said its important to keep in mind that the cost of getting people off the street will be offset by the cost of doing nothing for them, which may be even greater.

When you take the chronically homeless person off the street and take care of that person, it saves you all sorts of money that would be spent on the police department, emergency rooms, hospital and ambulances, he said. Theres a strong economic argument to get the most vulnerable people off the streets, and thats part of what these industrial tents do for us.

Its also worth the cost because its the right thing to do, he said.

From my perspective, from a compassionate perspective, were saving lives and helping people, he said.

The Alpha Project and Veterans Village of San Diego had operated large tent shelters until the city closed them about two years ago in a move to focus on permanent housing for the homeless.

The number of people on the street continued to grow, however, as new permanent housing could not keep pace with the reduction of transitional housing units and the loss of low-income rentals.

A count of unsheltered homeless people this year found 1,300 people on the streets of downtown San Diego, a 27 percent increase from last year.

The sight of so many people in tents, under tarps and huddled in storefronts, along with a deadly hepatitis A outbreak that disproportionately affected the homeless, led the city to return the tents.

The proposed $6.5 million cost of operating the tents for seven months beginning Dec. 1 includes $2.8 million to the Alpha Project, $1.3 million to Father Joes Villages, $1.9 million to Veterans Village of San Diego and $413,000 to the San Diego Housing Commission.

The Alpha Project and Father Joes Villages will operate tents in the outskirts of downtown and Veterans Village will operate a tent in the Midway District.

The $6.5 million contract will cover seven months, and last through June 30, the end of the citys fiscal year.

While Dec. 1 is the projected opening date, McElroy said the Alpha Project tent at 16th Street and Newton Avenue already is under construction and he hopes it will be open before Thanksgiving.

The Alpha Project tent will have 350 beds for adult men and women, Father Joes Villages tent will have 150 beds for families and the Veterans Village tent will have 200 bed for single adult men and women veterans.

Gentry said the citys homelessness action plan has budgeted $50 million over three years to create at least 500 permanent supportive housing units. That includes $30 million to be awarded by the commission to developers to create at least 300 units and $20 million to be invested by the commission to acquire property to create at least 200 units.

Homeless Playlist  On Now San Diego hepatitis outbreak continues to grow: 481 cases On Now Homeless entrenched in booming tent city along Santa Ana River On Now San Diego mayor agreed to homeless hub, then delayed, advocates say On Now Homeless outreach in San Diego On Now Video: Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #8 On Now In poverty himself, 'Water Man Dave,' is the fearless saint of San Diego's homeless 5:41 On Now Video: Homeless living in cars find safe havens 2:21 On Now Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #7 On Now Pitching a tent plan for San Diego's homeless On Now Homeless efforts get $80M boost for various services

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939
I have had the pleasure of knowing Sean Logan for almost 10 years, and support his candidacy for the Helena City Commission. Sean is a person of principle, civility and fairness. He is thoughtful, respectful of alternative viewpoints, is not quick to judge, and makes carefully considered decisions. He is a good listener, but voices his opinion when necessary. During his service with the Helena Fire Department, Sean donated many hours researching the history of the department and amassing vintage photos, artifacts, and stories of aging firefighters. He located the resting places of 100 former firefighters, and began a program to restore HFD markers to the graves. He wrote articles and a blog and shared and collaborated with other researchers. Sean was also one of those behind the maintenance and repair of the Fire Tower over the years, as well as the restoration of the Fire Tower Bell, which was removed from the tower in 1950.
Police raided an allegedly illegal San Diego marijuana-delivery service, confiscating dozens of pounds of cannabis and arresting three people, authorities said Friday.

San Diego police narcotics-unit officers served search warrants about 7 a.m. Thursday at the East Village and Pacific Beach offices of Kings of Green, which is billed as a medical-marijuana dispensary.

Police seized 47 pounds of marijuana, 120 edible products containing the drug, concentrated cannabis, ecstasy pills, $2,700 in cash and business documents, Lt. Matt Novak said.

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The owner of the service and an employee were arrested on suspicion of operating a business without a license and unlawfully selling marijuana.

They also are accused using the U.S Postal Service to delivery pot to areas outside of San Diego, Novak said.

A third person was arrested on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance  ecstasy  with intent to sell.

Breaking News

Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
University of California President Janet Napolitano has faced a barrage of criticism from watchdogs, lawmakers and journalists including The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board over the high-handed ways shes reacted to well-founded complaints about UCs finances and admissions. But when Napolitano acts in high-minded fashion, she deserves praise. Her plan to show UCs commitment to First Amendment rights by establishing the National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement at UCs offices in Washington, D.C., is spot on.

There have been recent attempts to interfere with speech rights at several UC campuses, most notably Berkeley, which is where the free speech movement began in 1964. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Napolitano said there appears to be more talk about the First Amendment at colleges now than at any time since then. We have to consider the student concerns but return to basic principles about what free speech means and how do we better educate students about the extent of the First Amendment, she said.

This is a crucial but disturbingly difficult task. Students used to oppose speakers with controversial right-wing views. Now some shut down speakers for the sin of saying that those with controversial views have speech rights. At William & Mary in Virginia last month, Black Live Matters protesters refused to let an ACLU official speak, saying the ACLU was a defender of white supremacy. A poll of college students released in September showed 51 percent supported the hecklers veto  preventing speakers from being heard  and 19 percent thought violence was acceptable to block speech.

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Those are unacceptable figures. Thats why UCs attempt to educate Americans on the essential role of free speech is so smart and welcome. Tolerance of dissenting views is crucial to a healthy democracy.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion
Masterpiece: Bear By: Tim Hawkinson Completed: 2005 Materials: Eight granite boulders, three subterranean steel anchor plates, 27 6-inch steel pins (One pin, holding the head onto the torso, is larger than the others.) Size and weight: 23 feet 6 inches tall; 180 tons Torso rock alone: 16-by17-feet, 100-plus tons Years to find the rocks: 1 Distance rocks traveled from Pala quarry: About 60 miles Equipment needed: 300-ton crane (torso) and 70-ton crane Contractor: Pacific Southwest Structures Inc., La Mesa Commissioned by: The Stuart Collection, stuartcollection.ucsd.edu Location: Academic Courtyard, Jacobs School of Engineering, UCSD

San Diego is home to the worlds only two-story-tall, 180-ton teddy bear, a whimsical, floppy-looking totem made of hand-picked granite boulders.

Bear is both a technical feat and a leap of the imagination  an immense surprise seated in a University of California San Diego courtyard framed by three sleek buildings,

Ursa very major, is how the Stuart Collections director, Mary Beebe, described the commissioned piece.

Tim Hawkinson, the internationally renowned artist who created Bear at the Stuart Collections invitation, has been called one of the most original sculptors working in America today by New Yorks Whitney Museum. He first visualized stuffed-animal forms in Arizonas weathered rocks; this is his first permanent outdoor public art project.

After engineers certified Hawkinsons stacked boulders as earthquake-safe, powerful trucks delivered the rocks, and cranes began hoisting them in place. Near the end, Hawkinson turned the bears head a little to give it more life.

Is it a monument to the California state bear? A nostalgic emblem in dangerous times?

I like to leave it open to interpretation, Hawkinson, 50, told The San Diego Union-Tribune in 2005, when he broke a bottle of champagne over a gargantuan granite arm.

But, he added later, Now Im seeing bears everywhere 

This is one in an occasional series. For previous stories, go to

visual-arts.uniontrib.com.
A federal judge has sentenced a former federal agent caught up in a police corruption probe in Tulsa to serve 21 months in federal prison.

Former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent Brandon McFadden was the last of four officers to be sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma.

McFadden and a police officer who cooperated with prosecutors each were given lesser sentences, as opposed to two Tulsa officers who didnt help prosecutors.

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McFadden pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge, which ordinarily carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. APs earlier story is below.

A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a former Tulsa police officer to 10 years in prison for his role in a police corruption scandal that led to dozens of convictions being overturned.

Cpl. Harold R. Wells was the third of four officers to be sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Tulsa.

Jeff Henderson was sentenced to 42 months behind bars, minus time served. John K. Gray, who cooperated with federal investigators, drew a sentence of four months in prison, followed by four years of supervised probation.

One more former officer, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent Brandon McFadden, was to be sentenced later Tuesday. McFadden cooperated with prosecutors, as did Gray.

Wells, convicted on four counts, drew the harshest sentence of the three, with U.S. District Judge Bruce Black saying he would have given Wells more time were he not 60 years old and being treated for diabetes and depression.

Black told Wells that he distinguished himself as a police officer but that hed negated his good work by stealing money during an FBI sting and conspiring to sell methamphetamine.

Wells was among officers the FBI secretly videotaped stealing money during what they thought was a drug bust of a Texas man at a Tulsa motel. Of $13,000 seized, officers turned in $8,000 and divided the other $5,000 among themselves. Later, they became suspicious and tried to return the money, prosecutors said.

One side of the courtroom was packed for the 35-year police veterans hearing, where Black told him hed dishonored the badge and your career.

Supporters burst into tears when Black pronounced sentence.

After the proceeding, Wells addressed well-wishers, saying, Id like to thank my family and my friends. Ill be out one of these days.

Wells attorney, Warren Gotcher, said he will appeal Wells convictions.

Wells, Henderson and Gray are among 11 officers to be charged or named as unindicted co-conspirators in the scandal since a federal investigation into corruption allegations began in 2009. More than 40 defendants have had their convictions overturned or won their release from prison as a result.

Black noted that Grays cooperation was so important that the investigation couldnt have been brought to a successful conclusion without him, but he imposed a prison sentence anyway.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers had told Black, of New Mexico, that Gray should receive only probation.

Gray was convicted in June of stealing more than $1,000 in U.S. government funds in the same sting that ensnared Wells.

On Tuesday, the judge told Gray he appreciated the 20-year police veterans willingness to stand up and take responsibility for his actions.

Gray apologized to his family and the police department for the shame and embarrassment of what he had done.

Henderson was convicted in August on eight counts, including perjury and violating the civil rights of citizens during an illegal search. A jury acquitted him on 45 other charges.

Among the accusations against Henderson was that he and other officers entered the home of Jose Angel Gonzalez without a warrant in September 2007, discovered a shotgun in his closet, and moved the gun to an air vent.

The officers later returned with a search warrant and arrested Gonzalez on possession of a sawed-off shotgun.

Henderson, who testified in his own defense, denied the initial search happened.

He showed no emotion as Black pronounced the sentence.

Black told Henderson that he had an exemplary career and that the sentencing made it a sad day.

Black was named to hear the cases after all local judges recused because of the potential for a conflict of interest. The officers were prosecuted by members of the U.S. Attorneys office in Little Rock, Ark.

Henderson will receive credit for time hes already served, putting him behind bars for about 20 more months. He will likely serve his time at a federal prison in South Dakota. Henderson asked to be held in protective custody pending his transfer.

Seven civil lawsuits have been filed against the city by former defendants since the corruption investigation began, and Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris has said more cases could be thrown out as his office reviews evidence produced by Henderson and the other officers who were indicted.

Bill Arnold, the grandfather of Hendersons wife, attended his sentencing. He said Henderson was wrongly convicted and that he had a strong record as an officer.

They railroaded Jeff, Arnold said, complaining that Henderson had been taken away from his family and home. Do you know what he got for Thanksgiving dinner a year ago? A hot dog.
COLUMBIA, S.C.  The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said he's willing to work with corrections officials, telecom companies and the FBI to combat cellphones in the nation's prisons.

In a letter obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wrote to U.S. Rep. David Kustoff of Tennessee, telling him that he'll try to arrange a meeting among those groups within 120 days and report its progress to Congress, fulfilling a request

"I share your concerns about the proliferation of contraband wireless devices in prisons and the potentially devastating implications for public safety," Pai wrote in the letter, dated Tuesday. "We continue our efforts to push for even better procedures and solutions for this very serious problem."

Pai was responding to a letter sent earlier this month by Kustoff and dozens of other House members and U.S. senators. In it, they wrote that addressing the security threat posed by contraband cellphones is "an issue of critical importance" and called on the FCC to bring together the different groups for a discussion, giving a deadline for resolving how best to prevent prisoners from using contraband phones behind bars.

Inmates use the phones, the members of Congress wrote, to continue the violent crimes and gang activity that landed them behind bars in the first place. The signees, which include both of South Carolina's U.S. senators and all of its Republican House members, asked the FCC to set up a meeting with state prison officials, cellphone companies and the FBI within 120 days, and to report back to Congress on their progress.

Noting that some on Capitol Hill would like to fix the issue by congressional mandate, the members wrote they would prefer a more "collaborative approach."

The interaction follows letters by a top official with the U.S. Department of Justice and South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling describing the dangers posed by inmates' unfettered ability to communicate via cellphones.

Earlier this year, Stirling, a leading voice on the need to eradicate the phones from prisons, wrote to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, beseeching the top prosecutor for help pursuing FCC permission to jam cell signals.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster also lobbied, writing a memo to Sessions in August on the dangers of prison cellphones and thanking him for any help he could provide. Assistant Attorney General Beth Williams also weighed in, telling FCC officials that addressing the security threat posed "should be a chief priority" of both the FCC and Justice, which oversees the federal Bureau of Prisons. U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford has also called for action.

Stirling and others in his position say the phones  thrown over fences, smuggled by employees, even delivered by drone  present the biggest threat to prison security. A decades-old law says federal officials can grant permission to jam the public airwaves only to federal agencies, not state or local ones. Telecommunications companies are opposed, saying jamming cell signals could set a bad precedent and interfere with legal cell users nearby.

Pai has signaled willingness to work on the issue, a stance he reiterated in his letter to Kustoff. In March, after Pai took testimony from Stirling and a former South Carolina corrections officer who was nearly killed in an assassination attempt orchestrated by an inmate using an illegal phone, commissioners voted 3-0 to approve rules to streamline the process for using technology to detect and block contraband phones in prisons and jails across the country.
DECATUR  The enrollment period for Illinoisans who purchase individual health insurance plans through the state exchange starts Wednesday, but applicants face a shorter deadline and fewer options that may include drastic increases in premiums and other costs.

"This is a mess," said John Jaggi, a Decatur health insurance broker who estimated out-of-pocket costs for nonsubsidized marketplace plans have as much as doubled since the Affordable Care Act came online in 2014. Jaggi said from last year alone, some of his clients have seen premium increases of 45 percent, and other higher thresholds for when the insurance picks up the tab.

The consulting firm Avalere Health estimated premiums for the most popular "Obamacare" plans are going up an average of 34 percent.

About 350,000 in Illinois are enrolled in exchange plans.

Sign-up season comes after President Donald Trump, who has made ending Obamacare an administration focus, stopped federal payments that reimburse insurers for reduced copays and deductibles they're required to provide to people of modest means. The change exposes insurers to a potential $1 billion loss for the remainder of this year.

The move was announced three weeks before the start of open enrollment, in which new customers can submit applications and returning ones can make changes to coverage that starts Jan. 1. Applicants have until Dec. 15, about half the time allotted under the Obama administration.

Despite challenges from the Trump administration and pressure from Congress, the Affordable Care Act continues to require that most people have some kind of insurance or pay a tax penalty.

For now, the Illinois exchange and the rest of the country's health care system is continuing the subsidies for 2018 plans with the hope that Congress will bring them back online before January. This past year, the state reported 350,000 people bought private insurance through Get Covered Illinois and 650,000 Illinoisans enrolled in Medicaid through the ACA in 2017.

For people whose incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid, it's whether they still can receive the subsidies that may make or break their wallets.

A 60-year-old woman with no dependents in Macon County making less than $48,000 a year can qualify for discounts of $800 a month and more, according to getcoveredillinois.gov. But it's those who make just a little more, which factors in number of dependents and location and whether someone is offered insurance at work, who could be facing head-spinning numbers.

"(Those) people are going to scream," Jaggi said.

The fine print is more important than ever, too. The over-the-exchange plans, now offered by two companies  Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois and Health Alliance  have increased deductibles and the "coinsurance" rates, the percentage of costs a person pays after they've reached their deductible. What was typically an 80/20 split, in which insurance companies picked up the bigger tab, has changed to 50/50 in some plans.

Local hospitals are scrambling to find certified counselors to help potential customers sign up or renew their plans through the exchange.

Kimberly Luz, Hospital Sisters Health System Central Illinois outreach director, said she found out last week that the state would not be supplying additional counselors to help with sign ups. HSHS operates 15 hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin, including St. Mary's Hospital in Decatur, Good Shepherd Hospital in Shelbyville and St. Anthony's Memorial in Effingham.

"This year, we have one counselor confirmed for each event," Luz said, when last year two or three were available for events that stretched to the end of January.

As a result, insurance shoppers looking for guidance will have to make an appointment before they go to an HSHS hospital in Central Illinois, and timing will be of the essence more than in previous years, Luz said.

"Every year we've done this there is a rush on the very last day, and this year more than ever, because the period has been shortened, people just need to get in there as quickly as possible," Luz said.

That means being prepared, as well, even when shoppers call in ahead of time. Luz said to come to the phone with full names, dates of birth, income details, and social security numbers, that way hospital staff can sift out families and individuals who may be eligible for Medicaid, which covers all qualifying health care costs.

"Those items create more barriers," said Cathy Coverston Anderson, interim director of the McLean County Health Department. "The result may be fewer people enrolled." That's unfortunate, because people without health insurance are more likely to put off treating medical conditions until they are more difficult and costlier to treat, she said.

That's why a group being organized by Debbie Lubbert of Bloomington, and supported by activist groups Voices of Reason and Indivisible, has started a grass-roots campaign to remind McLean County residents about the ACA open enrollment period. The group is passing out fliers, volunteering to speak with community groups, working on social media and hopes to have an open-enrollment event, said Lubbert and Voices of Reason leader Jodie Slothower.

Debbie's husband, Michael Lubbert, 59, was an assistant manager of a Bloomington retail store until he was among 700 employees who lost their jobs in a corporate restructuring in April. Debbie, 56, is not able to work because of bursitis and arthritis in her left knee, which caused a knee strain, and because of sciatic nerve pain.

"I had health insurance through May," Michael Lubbert said. "Then I could do COBRA, but it was expensive, so I went through the ACA on healthcare.gov and did my research."

The Lubberts chose a mid-range Blue Cross Blue Shield plan and found on the website that, because of their income, they were eligible for a government subsidy of $1,400 a month. They pay $500 a month but have a $3,000 deductible. They have been on the plan since June 1.

The Lubberts plan to return to healthcare.gov in November to search for a plan for 2018. "We'll probably go with a plan with a lower deductible but will pay more in premiums," he said.

With their experience, Debbie Lubbert decided to get the word out about the open enrollment period.

"Everyone should have good and affordable health insurance," she said. "What they (Trump Administration) are doing is sabotaging the Affordable Care Act, but the ACA is still the law. If you don't have health insurance, you will be fined."

More than 8 in 10 customers receive tax credits to help pay their premiums.

Illinois also is one of 18 states and the District of Columbia that filed a lawsuit against Trump, arguing the president isnt following a legal requirement to pay the subsidies. A judge in California on Wednesday rejected the request. Senators have introduced a bipartisan bill that would restore the payments.

The Trump administration late Friday proposed new health insurance rules that would give states the ability to loosen certain Affordable Care Act benefit requirements. That change would start in 2019.
Deerfield Beach, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/27/2017 -- United States Smart Ring Market 2017 is a comprehensive, professional report delivering market research data that is relevant for new market entrants or established players. Combining the data integration and analysis capabilities with the relevant findings, the report has predicted strong future growth of the Smart Ring market in all its geographical and product segments.



What's more, the Smart Ring industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. The industry analysis have also been done to examine the impact of various factors and understand the overall attractiveness of the industry.



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The report begins with a market overview and moves on to cover the growth prospects of the Smart Ring market. A detailed segmentation analysis of the Smart Ring market is available in the report. Analysis also covers upstream raw materials, equipment, downstream client survey, marketing channels, industry development trend and proposals.



Top Manufacturers Analysis in Smart Ring Market:

Nod Ring

GEAK

Ringly

MOTA

McLear Ltd

Mycestro

Arcus

Thumb Track

Ring Theory

Jakcom Technology

Sirenring



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 Smart Ring new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, investment return analysis, and development trend analysis.



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VATICAN CITY  Pope Francis took a small step toward improved Vatican-Russian relations Thursday when he chatted with Russian cosmonauts and praised their understanding of love during a call with the International Space Station.

Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli played translator during the roughly 20-minute call that was interrupted once when the line dropped at the orbiting laboratory.

Like a curious child, Francis peppered Nespoli and the five other crew members with questions both simple  What inspired them to be astronauts?  and philosophical  How do they view mankind's place in the universe?

The responses he received, in particular from Russian cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin and Sergey Ryazanskiy, marked another small step for the Vatican's long tense relations with Orthodox Russia. Francis has made improving those ties a priority of his pontificate, and became the first pope in a millennium to meet with the Russian Orthodox patriarch last year.

Ryazanskiy told Francis that he had been inspired by his grandfather, a Soviet engineer who helped build Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite that marked the beginning of the Space Age.

"For me it is a great honor to continue what he was doing to fulfill his dreams with a space flight, the future of all humanity," Ryazanskiy told the pope in English.

Francis, who has long exalted the role of grandparents, marveled at his response. "That's our strength: Never forget roots. It does me good to hear this! Thank you," Francis said.

Francis also praised Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin: Francis had asked how the crew members understood Dante's verse that love is the force that moves the universe.

Misurkin told him in Russian, translated by Nespoli, that he had been reading Antoine de St. Exupery's "The Little Prince" while in space and was taken by the young prince's understanding of love.

"Love is the force that gives you strength to give your life for someone else," he told the pope.

Francis lit up at his response, saying "It's clear you have understood the message that St. Exupery so poetically explained, and that you Russians have in your blood, in your humanistic and religious tradition."

It was the second papal phone call to space: Pope Benedict XVI rang the space station in 2011 and asked about the future of the planet and the environmental risks it faced. Before Benedict, Pope Paul VI sent a radio message to astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins after their historic 1969 moonwalk, calling them "conquerors of the Moon."

Francis, who considered a career as a chemist before becoming a priest, has repeatedly expressed his concern for the environment and care for what he calls "our common home."

Space station Cmdr. Randy Bresnik told Francis that what he most enjoyed in space was being able to "see God's creation maybe a little bit from his perspective."

"You see the thinness of the atmosphere, it makes you realize how fragile our existence here is," he added.

Bresnik, a U.S. Marine who flew combat missions during the Iraq war, told Francis that what struck him most was that from space there are "no borders, there is no conflict, it's just peaceful."

"People cannot come up here and see the indescribable beauty of our Earth and not be touched in their souls," he told the pope.

Nespoli thanked Francis for his philosophical questions, telling him that most of the crew's days are spent performing highly technical and mechanical tasks.

"You brought us higher up," he said. "You took us away from the daily mechanics of things and made us think about things that are bigger than us."
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/27/2017 -- Global consumption of sodium metal will grow at a sluggish CAGR of 3.3% through 2024, according to Persistence Market Research's report entitled, "Sodium Metal Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast, 2016  2024." In 2016, over 98,400 MT sodium metal was consumed globally, and it is estimated to surpass 127,400 MT by 2024.



View Full Report TOC, Figures and Tables @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/sodium-metal-market.asp



The sluggish demand for sodium metal is attributed to hazardous effects of highly reactive sodium element. Challenges with handling and storage of sodium metal will continue to negatively impact the growth of the market. Further, limited availability of sodium metal on account of fewer players has resulted into introduction and use of alternatives, such as magnesium for use in industrial applications.



Key players in this market are concentrating on expansion of their production capacities and making long-term contacts with end-use industries, especially in near proximity, to incur growth opportunities. Manufacturers are also focusing on introduction to new grades of application-specific sodium metal. Inner Mongolia Lantai Industrial Co. Ltd. held the highest volume market share in 2015. Other leading players in the global sodium metal market include Wanji Holdings Group Limited, Shandong Moris Tech Co. Ltd., and MSSA S.A.S.



In terms of volume, chemical synthesis application of sodium metal held 70.4% share of the market in 2016; by 2024, this is expected to reach nearly 72%. Sodium metal is also used in the production of dyes, and it is projected that this application segment will grow at 4.7% CAGR in terms of volume through 2024. The weakness in demand will be offset to a certain extent by applications in chemical synthesis and textile industry.



Request Sample Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/14854



APAC is projected to be the most lucrative region for the global sodium metal market followed by North America and Europe. Asia Pacific forms a hub for textile industries owing to the ever-growing population and demand for a wide range of textiles, resulting in steady demand for sodium metal. Over 53,690 MT of sodium metal was consumed in APAC in 2016. The North America sodium metal market was around US$ 60 Mn in 2016, and it is expected to reach around US$ 80 Mn by 2024. Consumption of sodium metal in Europe, pegged at over 19,700 MT in 2016, is expected to surpass 24,200 MT by 2024.



Need more information about Report methodology ? @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/14854



Key Market Drivers and Trends



The demand for denim clothing has witnessed a robust growth in the recent past resulting in higher demand for sodium metal for textiles and apparels



Sodium metal forms a key constituent in the manufacturing of indigo dyes



Steady growth in global biodiesel production is one of the primary driving factors as sodium methylate is widely used as a catalyst for large-scale biodiesel production



Application of sodium metal as a reductant in metals manufacturing and refining



Global sodium market is characterized by competitive oligopoly, wherein few manufacturers hold major shares in the overall market supply



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If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to you own interest but each of you to the interest of the others.

 Phillippians 2:1-4 (NIV)

I grew up in a time when the Golden Rule was not just a great saying or a lot of words that sounded good. It said, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

However, today it seems like the gold has lost its shine, and the rule, in many cases, does not apply anymore.

The apostle Paul begins this chapter with words of encouragement, comfort, unity, joy and love. He exhorts the Philippian church to act in humility and in lowliness of mind. Humility is defined as a low degree of thought or thinking.

When was the last time youve witnessed true and sincere humility actuality practiced? Whether its in homes, government, society or even the church, looking out for the interests of others has decreased or seems to be lost altogether.

This can especially be a sad commentary when it comes to people who declare to love and know God. Nevertheless, it is our responsibly as members of the church to know and practice true humility, in order for the interest of others to be recognized and met.

In the book of Romans 12:10, Paul writes that we should be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

In other words, we are to give preference to someone other than ourselves with love as our focus, Gods kind of love. Admittedly, in the past few months, with earthquakes, severe storms and fires everywhere, we have seen some extraordinary acts of kindness and love of people looking out for the interests others. Many families, friends, neighbors and even people of other nations, in distressful situations, have received help from people that responded to their needs with sincere giving and sacrifice. They put the interests of others above themselves. This seems to happen only in disastrous and extreme conditions; why cant we have this type of response occur all the time?

Here are several examples of how servanthood promotes humility and selflessness: Jesus Christ is an example of master-servant . Jesus has the Father's interest in mind when it came to reconciling man back to him and promoting kingdom building.

Apostle Pauls example of humility is as teacher-servant . He had Jesus interest in mind for the spreading of the gospel and establishing churches in all nations of the world.

Timothys example of humility is as student-servant . He had Pauls interest in mind by assisting him with his mission for promoting the church(es) of God.

Each one had the interest of the other in mind, thereby eliminating all envy, pride and selfishness. There was and is one master, Jesus. There are many teachers that are called to follow his lead. Students (thats all of us) should be assisting in promoting and building the lives of others for the glory of God. There is a motto in our church that we often repeat that says,

Others, Lord others

Let this my motto be

That I may live for others

As I live for thee. 

When we have the interest of others in mind, our own interest will not seem as important.
FLORENCE, S.C.  Underserved, primarily-black communities in an area of Florence deemed a food desert are close to getting access to fresh meats and produce in the form of a discount grocery store.

A Sav-a-Lot store, which will sit on the northeast corner of the Dargan and Darlington street intersection just across from Ideal Funeral Parlor, will be open by mid-2018.

Sav-a-Lot is a chain of stores that offer daily fresh-cut meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, exclusive brands and national brands at discounted prices.

The Morning News previously reported this development under the code-name Project Leopard Orchid, with a$1.6 million total investment and a $300,000 incentive package from the city of Florence.

Officials close to the project say site preparation will begin early November, with construction starting sometime in December. Plans are to have the Sav-a-Lot running by summer.

Tim Waters, the driving force behind this project and future owner of the store, has worked to bring a grocery store to underserved parts of town for nearly 20 years.

There are about 15 convenient stores in this community where you can get any kind of tobacco, alcohol or junk food you want but nowhere to go for fresh, healthy food, he said. We want to be to beacon for healthy living and social change in this community.

Investment

Waters had the vision in 1997 for a neighborhood market but plans fell through, and then plans kept falling through for more than a decade. He was turned down at least 24 times by bank lenders, and other potential partnership leads fizzled.

He began to think downtown Florence was being revitalized for upper-class white Florentines and that the long-standing neglect of neighborhoods on that side of the tracks were once again left behind.

After numerous meetings with city officials and enrollment in the North Dargan Innovation Center, his plan began to solidify and partnerships started to form. He partnered with the Florence Housing Authority, Sav-a-Lot and the city of Florence.

Not only did the mayor work for this, but each city council member fought for my project, he said. They all gave me chance. They didnt see race when working with me, they saw a chance to help the community.

The city council ultimately approved a $300,000 incentive package for the project. Waters was also able to secure a $500,000 loan from the South Carolina Community Loan Fund.

Brianna Dennis, executive director of the Kelley Center for Enterprise at the Innovation Center, was involved in cultivating resources for Waters to foster the development.

She said Waters growth as an entrepreneur has been remarkable and this development is particularly special for Florence.

Tim came into this program without knowing how to put his ideas into a marketable package, she said. He is, by far, a great example to an entrepreneur who has grown and realized what needs to be done to reach your goals. What I saw in him was a big dreamer, and hes made his way to make that dream work for a city hes passionate about.

Waters is working closesly with the Sav-a-Lot corporation to train store managers and employees. In the end, this location will be about 15,530 square feet of space and create roughly 30 jobs.

Store features

Waters said some unique features for this Sav-a-Lot location will include online grocery shopping and a food delivery option for those in need.

The storefront will face north, toward Lucas Street.

I wanted it to face that way to let the community know this is for them, Waters said. This store will be for everyone but we see it as symbolic for this community.

Waters added his store will have a policy of no alcohol, no tobacco and no lottery tickets.
DECATUR  A coalition of local agencies wants to begin hosting adult education classes at the Decatur Public Library by the end of the year.

The partnership between Workforce Investment Solutions and Richland Community College would offer classes ranging from HSE/GED preparation classes, bridge classes to improve students basic skills before transitioning to college, and job training programs. All classes would be free thanks to a three-year state and federal grant to cover costs.

The programs are not replacing existing ones offered by Richland or Workforce, and are instead seen as a way to offer additional services in a convenient location.

Its going to be a great benefit having it downtown for the students, said Jeff Davison, director of Richlands adult education office.

The plan still needs approval from the Decatur City Council before it can go forward. The council is expected to discuss it Nov. 6.

The classes would take up two rooms and open floor space on the first floor of the library in the area where the history room once was before recent renovations.

Money will come from the Illinois Community College Board Adult Education and Literacy Grant program. How much they will receive remains to be seen, though Davison said they have been promised no less than $285,000 and no more than the $455,000 asked for in the original grant application. Workforce will pay an annual rent of $1,500 for the space.

Officials like Davison and Workforce Director Rocki Wilkerson said the downtown space is especially important for the program to succeed. With the librarys centralized location and closeness of the Decatur bus station, Davison said the library set-up would help address one of the largest concerns he has heard from those interested in the services currently provided at Richland.

One of the big barriers we find on campus is our location, specifically for those without vehicles, he said. It can take a person up to an hour just to get here, and then another hour to go back after class. Its going to be a great benefit having it downtown for the students.

Talk of offering the services started earlier this year, but city Librarian Rick Meyer said he has heard from residents since he first interviewed for the position in early 2014 about how the library could increase workforce development in the community.

Once he and Wilkerson started to talk about the opportunity to host the program, Meyer said it matched up well with what he and others in the community have wanted to see.

This is a need that weve identified in a number of ways, through focus groups, surveys, community retreats and through internal staff surveys, he said. We saw it as a need, and this fits well with what we consider our core mission, which is learning.

Meyer said the city has been supportive of the plan. He said assistant City Manager Billy Tyus has been involved in past discussions; and Meyer noted that city Treasurer and Finance Director Gregg Zientara also serves on the library board, which voted to approve the sublease of the space to Workforce during its September meeting.

Tyus, as well as city Manager Tim Gleason, did not return a message seeking comment.

If everything does go through, Wilkerson said she seems the program as another step toward providing more qualified candidates for local employers.

If we get all these pipelines, we should be able to cultivate a pool of employees, and thats what the employers need, Wilkerson said. They want people ready to go, and thats where I hope we can develop this foundation for a place for people to start.
FCCA chairman Adam Goldstein, president and COO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., gave the endorsement to Jamaica Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett during a private meeting between presidents and CEOs of FCCA member lines and ministers of tourism this week in Merida, Mexico.

During the meeting the group also discussed strategies to drive year-round traffic to the region, the creation of more employment opportunities and the development of strategic partnerships.

Bartlett welcomed the endorsement which, he noted, strengthens the expected impact the conference will have on the development of tourism across the globe.

'This event will perhaps be the single most important conference in our countrys history. This endorsement by FCCA strengthens our efforts to coordinate an international road map which will foster collaborative relationships for more inclusive economic and social development of countries across the world via tourism,' Bartlett said.

In his capacity as chairman of the newly formed Caribbean Tourism Recovery Group Secretariat and coordinator of the UNWTO Disaster Recovery Working Group for the Affected States in the Caribbean, the minister used the opportunity to share his intentions to create a tourism rehabilitation plan for Caribbean islands devastated by recent hurricanes at the upcoming conference.

'Caribbean states are very dependent on tourism to sustain their economies. So, with the assistance of the UNWTO, CHTA (Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association), CTO (Caribbean Tourism Organization) and WTTC (World Travel and Tourism Council), as well as ministers of the region, we are working on creating a strategy to strengthen the sectors resilience to the effects of climate change and natural disasters, thus making it more sustainable. We will unveil this plan of action during our upcoming UNWTO global conference in Montego Bay in November,' Bartlett said.

The UNWTO, Government of Jamaica, World Bank Group and Inter-American Development Bank Global Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth: Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism will be held Nov. 27-29 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, St. James, and is expected to attract hundreds of international and local participants.

The event will bring together world leaders in tourism along with governments, donors and international development and finance organizations to design and coordinate an international road map and foster collaborative relationships for inclusive economic and social development via tourism.
Macon County first-responders and addiction specialists on Friday said President Donald Trumps declaration that opioid abuse is a national public health emergency will bring needed attention to a problem that has harmed and killed numerous local residents.

"I hope they take it seriously, because we need to combat this issue and not just make it a political issue," said Decatur police Deputy Chief Shane Brandel. "This is truly a life or death situation."

Brandel said police have witnessed an increase of drug and heroin overdoses in Decatur that is consistent with the numbers seen throughout the rest of the country. Educating the public about the dangers of opioids is important, Brandel said, but he also wants to know more specifics on how the government plans to approach the crisis from now on.

"Our take on the declaration is unknown because we don't know what effect it will have on us," he said. "Hopefully, they'll bring more funding to the issue, so they can provide more treatment and education in the community."

Burkham and Chuck Kerwin, a social worker and addiction counselor at HSHS St. Mary's Hospital, agree.

"It won't do any good if they don't," Kerwin said. "They're not going to stop the drugs from coming in. If they could have done that, they would have been doing it."

The state Department of Public Health said Macon County had 14 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2016, the most recent year for which data is available. Some local law enforcement and emergency workers carry naloxone, an opioid-overdose reversal drug.

Trumps declaration, which will be effective for 90 days and can be renewed, will allow the government to redirect resources in various ways and to expand access to medical services in rural areas. But it will not bring new dollars to the fight against the epidemic.

Instead, officials can now shift funding for HIV and AIDS programs to provide more substance abuse treatment for people already eligible for those programs.

The Trump administration effort looks to combat addiction and abuse with heroin and prescription painkillers, drugs that kill nearly 100 Americans daily.

Mike Burkham, vice president of the Decatur Ambulance Service, said it's going to take more than words to make positive progress toward ending the epidemic.

"There's just too much heroin out on the street," he said. "I don't know what they plan to do about that."

The number of deaths caused by overdosing on opioid drugs has risen in the United States for every year since 2002, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Last year, opioids ranging from heroin to synthetic painkillers like fentanyl were responsible for many of the 64,000 drug overdose deaths in America.

As an addiction specialist for 30 years, Kerwin said focusing on ending the stigma surrounding addiction and providing treatment would be a more effective approach than just focusing on drug law enforcement.

"It's a highly treatable disease," he said of addiction. "It's not enough to give someone a maintenance drug to help them. You have to change your lifestyle, and the way you look and change things. The more tools that we have available, the better we can use them."

Many of the patients who come to St. Mary's for opioid treatment are people who started taking pain pills after an injury, Kerwin said. It doesn't take long for them to become addicted to the pills, he said.

In addition to treatment, Brandel said that he would like to see a greater emphasis placed on explaining the addictive qualities of painkillers to people who may need to use them. That way, he said, people will use them more wisely, and hopefully break the addiction cycle before it's too late.

"If you keep taking painkillers and you can't get them anymore, you either start buying them off of the street or take the next available option, which is usually heroin," Brandel said.

Based on the work that St. Mary's and other hospitals and treatment centers are doing, Kerwin is hopeful that good things will continue to happen in the fight against addiction in America.

"You can't do the job I've done for 30 years without hope," he said. "Recovery is possible. Treatment is possible. It works. People just have to know and start doing it."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Press Release

October 28, 2017 Sen. Lacson's speech at the 119th PMA Foundation Day and Recognition Rites of the PMA "Masaligan" Class 2021 https://pinglacson.net/2017/10/28/at-the-119th-pma-foundation-day-and-recognition-rites-of-the-pma-masaligan-class-2021/ It is an honor to once again set foot on this hallowed ground of my beloved Alma Mater. Here in the Academy, we are bound by stringent rules and norms of conduct. What are left off the books are covered by our long-standing customs and practices, sifted from the mores of our forerunners. Nobody but us would understand our traditions, which are mostly extra-regulatory by nature. ... Understanding what we are trained for reminds me of an exceptional story of the past: In the third century B.C., a Chinese general named Xiang Yu led the Chu Army and sent his troops across the Yangtze River to take on the Qin Dynasty. While his troops slept, he ordered all the ships to be set on fire and be burnt into ashes. The next day, he simply told his men: "You now have a choice: either you fight to win or die." By removing the option to retreat, he switched their focus to the only thing that mattered -- winning the battle. The Academy shares the same value -- plebehood strips us of our civilian antics. Our option to retreat to the comforts of our civilian lives is set alight, shifting our focus to nothing but surviving the sternly regimented life in our Academy. As upperclassmen describe plebes, they are the lowest life form in the cadet corps. Plebes are left with the only goal that matters -- to be leaders that set them apart from the rest, being born for a greater purpose, imbued with honor, discipline and excellence. In front of us today in the long gray line are the 286 young men and women of the PMA Masaligan Class of 2021, who have successfully endured and survived the challenges of the plebehood. The challenge is to survive the remainder of their cadet years to tell tales of how they lived up with their class motto, Masaligan-a Cebuano word for "resolute," "dependable," "trustworthy" or in Tagalog, maasahan, mapagkakatiwalaan. To be a member of Masaligan class is to have an ironclad commitment to the Academy's values that serve as the backbone of a refined military leader. Perhaps as a striking reminder, conspicuously displayed atop the gymnasium at the back of the very memorable Borromeo Field, is a sign that reads "Courage. Integrity. Loyalty." Such are the virtues of the Academy that have never faded over the years. First on COURAGE. Many would disguise as brotherhood of sorts, fraternities if you will. What they lack in fundamental principles and noble cause, they make up for nauseating and vicious membership rites. These organizations have the notoriety for senseless abuse, harassment and pretentious call of courage. On the other hand, in the hallowed ground of Fort del Pilar, we learn the very praxis of courage. Yes, our long-standing traditions are often extra-regulatory, but never in violation of the plebes' honor and self-respect. Often stringent and arduous, but never on the lines of disrespect or dishonor. Our tradition imbues the fourth-classmen with physical and moral courage and snappy obedience to superior orders without being horridly servile, or anchored on the basic assumption: He who does not learn to obey is not fit to command. We agree that it is not perfect, but it sure exemplifies courage in its truest form and substance. Inside the corridors of the Academy, we are taught of an important code that embodies the principles of a fearless cavalier. I refer to none other than our exclusive Honor System. I once chanced upon an article on the Honor Committee that best describes the applicability of our Honor Code even after we have left the Academy. It says that: "Our Code does not deviate from the universal concept of Honor. It demands the truth ... nothing else, but the truth ... both by act and implication... It is in keeping this priceless legacy from our predecessors that we seek to transmit it unblemished to the unending gray line." Next, INTEGRITY. As I always say, the building block of one's trustworthiness is integrity. Being consistent in one's behavior under every circumstance, including those unguarded and tempting moments, means that a man has integrity, that he is worthy of somebody's trust. As a general rule, you do not trust a man that plays truthful and upright in public, but renounces the same standards when he is alone or in private. To ultimately test one's integrity is to see whether he does what he says. Especially when no one is looking. Lastly, on LOYALTY. Each man must not think only of himself but also of his buddy fighting beside him. So said the great American general during World War II. I believe that nowhere else would you find a better display of loyalty and selfless service than the unequal sacrifices of many of our cavaliers and soldiers who went beyond their call of duty not only for our people but also for their comrades in arms. During the Zamboanga Siege, then Lt. Col. Oriel Pangcog, of Sanbisig Class of 1991, was the battalion commander of Joint Special Operations Task Force Group Arrow. The 250 members of AFP's elite troops were among those who engaged Nur Misuari's trusted commander Habier Malik and his men in a close-quarter combat. Col. Pangcog's bravery and leadership were instrumental in the successful clearing of two barangays occupied by the rebels. He was also directly credited for the capture of 106 rogue MNLF rebels, killing of 38 others and rescue of 43 hostages and the recovery of 100 high-powered firearms. Not too long ago on Jan. 25, 2015, the country suffered in grief with the massacre of 44 commandos of the PNP SAF in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, on a mission to extricate elusive terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir a.k.a. Marwan; Basit Usman; and Amin Baco. In the frontline of that bloody encounter Raymond Train, team leader of the seaborne battalion of the PNP SAF. We would learn later that in the dawn of Jan. 24, P/Supt. Train with his men infiltrated the enemy's lair and successfully killed Marwan. The succeeding hours were the longest they had. The team was pinned down by amassing hostiles familiar with the terrain. They moved with maximum discipline yet from time to time the enemy's massive volume of fire and mortar rounds left one seaborne commando down. P/Supt Train would hear groans and cries from his wounded men. The commandos could have fought their way out but did not want to leave the 13 wounded and nine dead bodies behind. Train recalled a comrade begging him, "Huwag nyo kami iwan Sir." They never did. In Train's own words and I quote: "I cried when I saw the bodies being dragged by pigs, but I wanted to account for all my men. That was the least we can do for their families, to bring their loved ones back." But not every warrior is as fortunate as Oriel Pangcog and Raymond Train, who managed to survive the ravages of war. Just last Monday, October 23, your Secretary of National Defense officially declared that the five-month battle against Islamist militants in the City of Marawi had finally ended, and that all combat operations were already terminated. Officially, we say that we have won the battle. Unfortunately, triumph is never without a cost. Amid the horror of war, we learn numerous stories of heroism and gallantry of our soldiers and policemen who did not mind putting their lives on the line for their fellow soldiers and countrymen. One such is the story of Army Scout Ranger Capt. Rommel Sandoval, a member of PMA Sanlingan Class of 2005 and the highest ranking military officer killed in the battle against the Maute-Abu Sayyaf groups. Captain Sandoval was killed after he tried to rescue one of his men, Cpl. Jayson Mante, who was trapped and wounded inside the five-story building that was among the strongholds of insurgents. His heroic feat was also recounted in a Rappler article dated September 23, 2017, and I quote: "As the bullets came flying in, Sandoval, in his last moments, was still thinking of his men. He crawled on top of Mante to shield him from getting hit further. When they recovered Sandoval's body, bullets were lodged on his chest. His body had blocked bullets from going through and hitting Mante. He chose to take all the bullets for his troops." Even in the face of death, Capt. Sandoval lived up to his promise that not a single man under his watch would die in the battle zone. In the years to come, the Masaligan Class of 2021 will become the military leaders of this country. Your lives will be on the line, but the defense of every citizen of this country will be your highest duty. Suffice to say that in your hands will depend, to a great extent, the fate and lives of our people and the future generations. To the 286-strong members of PMA Class of 2021, it is my hope that receiving your handshake of recognition from your upperclassmen today will be a testament of your living commitment to our motto: Courage, Integrity, Loyalty. Mabuhay ang Philippine Military Academy.
Press Release

October 28, 2017 Legarda Sustains Support for MSMEs to Help Address Unemployment, Poverty Senator Loren Legarda increased funding support to expand and enhance the capabilities and competency of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by allocating one billion pesos each for the proposed 2018 budgets of the Pondo Para sa Pagbabago of the Small Business Corporation and the Shared Services Facilities (SSF) program under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Legarda, principal sponsor and author of Republic Act No. 9501 or the Magna Carta for MSMEs and Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, said that she supports the President's vision on further unlocking the country's growth potential or patuloy na pag-unlad. The Senator said that setting aside one billion pesos for the Pondo Para sa Pagbabago would boost the continuous development of MSMEs, while the one billion pesos for the provision of SSF would enhance their productivity and competitiveness. Of the one billion pesos for SSF, 200 million pesos will be for SUCs that implement livelihood initiatives; 100 million pesos will be for Schools of Living Traditions (SLTs); and 50 million pesos for the MSMEs affected by the war in Marawi. "In order for us to sustain our progress and achieve genuine inclusive growth, we need to ensure that we encourage and support the development of our MSMEs, which represent the majority of our enterprises and comprise the largest bulk of our workforce in the country," Legarda said. "Compared to larger enterprises, our MSMEs are more susceptible to changes in our economy, which would also affect their capability to employ and expand. Government interventions should address these factors that contribute to the unemployment and underemployment within our working class, as well as poverty incidence among all Filipinos," she added. According to a 2015 survey[1] of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), of the 900,914 total establishments in the Philippines, 99.5% or 896,839 are MSMEs, while the remaining 0.5% or 4,075 are large enterprises. In the same study, MSMEs were found to have generated a total of 4,784,870 jobs in 2015 compared to the 2,981,819 for the large enterprises--indicating that MSMEs contributed almost 61.6% of the total jobs generated by all types of business establishments that year. Of this percentage, 29.4% or 2,285,634 jobs were generated by micro enterprises, 25.3% or 1,968,452 by small enterprises, and 6.8% or 530,784 by medium enterprises. The PSA also noted that, as of January 2017, out of the 42.1 million persons who are in the labor force, employment rate was estimated at 93.4%; however, 16.3% or 6,398,000 Filipinos are underemployed and 6.6% or 2,761,000 Filipinos remain unemployed.[2] Meanwhile, poverty incidence among Filipinos in 2015 was estimated at 21.6%, registering 21.9 million Filipinos below poverty line.[3] A Filipino in 2015 needed at least P1,813 on average monthly in order to meet both basic food and non-food needs. "I see our MSMEs as crucial partners of the government that can help alleviate poverty. Our support to MSMEs should be beyond easing up bureaucracy for them. Our government should provide technical assistance, such as technology transfer knowledge exchange, skills training, and other capacity building activities, that will further advance the proficiency of our MSMEs," Legarda said. "By doing so, we also express our support to unlocking more markets, development of more businesses, and the protection and perpetuation of our livelihoods. I would like to see our country with a robust economy, teeming with opportunities for all our Filipinos to desire and take," Legarda concluded.*** __________________________ [1] MSME Statistics, Department of Trade and Industry, http://www.dti.gov.ph/businesses/msmes/msme-resources/msme-statistics

[2] Employment Situation in January 2017, https://psa.gov.ph/content/employment-situation-january-2017-final-results

[3] Philippine Statistics Authority, http://www.psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/2015%20Full%20Year

%20Official%20Poverty%20Statistics%20of%20the%20Philippines%20Publication.pdf
NORMAL  You would have to be a very talented mathematician to figure out the odds of a Civil War officer's training manual being found among a group of more than 7,000 donated books, set aside and traced to a family in Normal.

Mary Ryder isn't a mathematician. She is a retired Illinois State University literature professor who volunteers with Books to Benefit with the dedication of a detective when it comes to finding the right home for vintage books.

The primary mission of Books to Benefit is to raise money for literacy programs, such as STAR Adult Literacy, through the sale of used books. The organization's next sale starts Nov. 2 at the Crossroads Center, Normal.

But the secondary mission is to place them in collections where they belong, explained Ryder.

When books from the 1800s to 1950 are found among those donations, they are set aside for Ryder. She researches their value on vintage books sites, and they go into a special collections room where they are sold for one-third of their market price.

But a book's true worth often goes beyond its monetary value. So Ryder also researches whether there is an academic, presidential or other special library that would be the best home.

One such book came from a collection of 7,500 books from the estate of Robert Solomon of Normal.

Titled The Manual of the Bayonet, this was an 1862 edition signed with a flourish by Captain Reynolds of the 83rd Regiment in Illinois, mustered into the Army at Galesburg. It was written by George McClellan, who would become a leading Union general during the Civil War.

Her sleuthing led her to friends who were from the Galesburg area, Steve and Kathy Gossard. Perhaps they could help her find the family, Ryder thought when she met them at church.

As it turned out, they didn't just know the captain's family  they were the captain's family.

Capt. George Washington Reynolds was the great-great-great-uncle of Kathy Gossard.

Gossard's daughter, Stephanie Long of Normal, who does genealogy, found him in the family tree. She has a genealogy app on her phone.

They were sitting two pews in front of me, said Ryder. Fifteen minutes into the service, one of them turned around and mouthed, 'We found his picture.'

I was very shocked, said Long, a teacher at Sugar Creek Elementary School.

Long has been to the book sale before but she said, I never would have looked at the old books.

If it hadn't been for Ryder's investigation  and the unbelievable odds of someone she has known for years being a relative of the original owner  the book might have stayed on a shelf or gone to strangers.

We're just delighted to put it back in the hands of the family, said Ryder.

At a formal presentation of the book at the Books to Benefit facility on Wylie Drive, Ryder told the Gossards, We know it will be well cared for and well loved.

Kathy Gossard is looking forward to showing it to a cousin, Tim Pletkovich of Peoria, who has written a book about the sons of Civil War veterans who served in World War II.

She said many members of her mother's family came from Tennessee but her grandmother always said, We have this Tennessee connection, but we're Yankees.

Now she has proof in the signed copy of a bayonet training manual signed by her ancestor who served with the Yankees in the Civil War.
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Denise Gonzales grabbed a bundle of marigolds at the San Francisco Flower Mart and inspected the orange petals closely before tossing it back into a bin.

Esta bien, said Gonzales, not quite satisfied with the fresh-cut arrangement. A worker pulled aside more bins full of the flowers for her to inspect.

Gonzales  owner of Luz De Luna, a Mexican crafts and gift shop in the Mission District  is one of thousands of San Franciscans preparing for the annual Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, festivities beginning on Tuesday.

The Day of the Dead is very special to us. Everything is going to be orange, Gonzales said of the annual celebration in which people use marigolds to decorate the graves of loved ones and create elaborate altars to honor their ancestors.

In the end, Gonzales bought about 50 bouquets from the Skyline Flower Growers that she plans to sell at her store beginning this weekend.

Dia de los Muertos is celebrated throughout Latin America, but most prominently in Mexico, and honors the dead with parties and by altars built in their memory. Festivities are filled with food, drink and, of course, marigolds  which practitioners believe possess a vibrancy that guides the spirits back from the dead.

People often dress up in costume, notably with skeleton and ghoulish skull masks or face paint, to celebrate the post-Halloween holiday.

In San Francisco, celebrations include a festival showcasing altars and a ritual procession on Thursday at Garfield Park in the Mission District.

Francisco Neri, a manager and grower at Skyline Flower Growers, said he began planting marigold seeds back in June so that the flowers would bloom in time for Dia de los Muertos.

This year, he planted 30 acres of marigolds at his companys Southern California farms and has about 15 acres of flowers left to sell, Neri said.

Lupe Rico, who was selling his own batches of marigolds near Neris stand, said he grows about 90 percent more of the orange marigolds than any other color because of the demand.

I know my people from Mexico are going to look for them, Rico said. Ill feel bad if I dont have them.

For Neri, selling marigolds is just the precursor to the party hes planning for Dia de los Muertos at his Los Angeles home. For the past four years, hes hosted about 50 family members to a bountiful meal of tamales, Coronas, traditional Mexican pozoles soup and fruit in memory of his grandfather who died in 2013.

The altar he makes for his grandfather wouldnt be complete without marigolds, Neri said. When he dies, Neri hopes he will be remembered the same way.

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.

I would love for my kids to do this for me. I would love for them to have a picture of me at the table, remembering me, Neri said.

Paul Chinn/The Chronicle

Elsewhere in San Francisco, bakers like Rigoberto Calzada of La Mejor Bakery in the Mission District, will stay up all night on Wednesday making pan de muerto, or dead bread. The 24th Street bakerys pastry case was already decorated with a bouquet of bright-orange marigolds on Thursday.

I have different recipes I picked up from Mexico, Calzada said as he flattened the dough for the dead bread with a rolling pin. We have different kinds and all I know is we make a lot.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
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No one knows whether winter will bring pounding storms like those seen last season, but California water officials say Oroville Dam is ready for whatever comes.

The nations tallest dam became one of the fastest construction projects in modern state history after the dams spillway partially collapsed in February amid heavy rain and caused the evacuation of thousands. Hundreds of workers have been laboring around the clock for five months to rebuild the chute before wet winter weather returns.

This week, as the roar of bulldozers and the whirl of cranes reach a crescendo, crews will pour the final concrete for the half-mile-long spillway  just in time to meet the states Nov. 1 deadline for having the 770-foot-high dam ready to release water, should the lake behind it fill up.

If things go well, we could be done on the 31st, said Jeff Petersen, project director for Kiewit Corp., the firm hired by the state Department of Water Resources to fix the dam at record pace. Everybody knew it was a tight schedule. We just used construction fundamentals to know mathematically it can work. We just broke it down to pieces and stuck to those details.

While state water officials are resting easier now that the rebuilt spillway is in place, the work has not come without concerns. Costs have nearly doubled since construction began, to at least $500 million, and dam operators will face limits on how much water they can store in the lake until final repairs are done next year, meaning potentially less supply temporarily.

Critics of the state also question whether the spillway failure is just the first of many problems that may surface at the nearly 50-year-old dam or, for that matter, at other spots in Californias aging water infrastructure.

Lake Oroville, about 75 miles north of Sacramento, is the largest of nearly three dozen state-run reservoirs that supply water across California. Its the second-biggest reservoir in the state after the federally managed Shasta Lake. The dam also provides flood control on the Feather River.

Were very confident in the reconstruction effort, and the dam remains safe and sound, said Erin Mellon, spokeswoman for the Department of Water Resources.

Problems at the dam emerged Feb. 7 when a giant hole opened on the spillway as dam operators released large amounts of water from the lake. When managers closed the chute to take stock of the tear, an emergency spillway  essentially an unpaved hillside  was thrust into action. It quickly began to erode.

Fears that the hill would give way and reservoir water would gush uncontrollably downstream prompted authorities to evacuate 180,000 people. Many rushed from their homes with only what they were wearing, as highways clogged and gas stations ran out of fuel. Dam managers ultimately averted disaster by putting the damaged main spillway back into use, at least long enough to lower the lake to a safe level.

Michael Macor / The Chronicle

A panel of independent investigators has since determined that years of water seepage weakened the spillway. The groups findings, which are yet to be finalized, suggest that better inspections could have identified the problem before the near-catastrophe.

The remodeled main spillway is designed to be much stronger.

That chute, which is as wide as a 15-lane freeway, is now 7 feet thick on average, compared with 2 feet in the original 1960s construction. The steel pillars that anchor the structure extend 15 to 25 feet into the bedrock, instead of the previous 5 feet. And drainage beneath the spillway has been modernized.

Its an amazing change in technology since the first one was built, Petersen said. Its going to outlive all of us.

Kiewit began the project in earnest May 20, after the late seasonal rains ended and the state drew up designs and put the job out to bid  a process that can normally take years. The company rushed more than 500 pieces of heavy machinery to the dam, recruited about 600 engineers, construction workers and tradesman, and built two concrete plants at the lake.

Much of the work over the ensuing five months deviated from the original plan as state officials learned more about the spillway damage and adjusted accordingly.

Petersen said securing the new chute was a much bigger task than expected. Crews had to dig deeper to get a foothold on the underlying rock and use more concrete to stabilize the structure, adding tremendously to the cost. The original estimate was $275 million.

Youre spending this money to rebuild it, you might as well do it right, Petersen said.

State officials hope federal emergency funds will cover 75 percent of the expense. The balance will be paid by the local water agencies that buy water from the state, including the Bay Areas Santa Clara Valley Water District and Alameda County Water District.

Kiewit also has been working to stabilize the emergency spillway. Crews built a huge, 1,450-foot retaining wall on the barren slope next to the main chute over the summer, and next year theyll pave the upper part of the hill. State officials, though, hope never to use this outlet again.

Michael Macor/The Chronicle

Next year, workers also will rebuild the top 730 feet of the main spillway, a section they didnt have time to tackle over the summer.

Because of the remaining work, dam operators say water releases down the main spillway will be limited to 100,000 cubic feet per second this winter. The spillways capacity will be 270,000 cubic feet per second when the job is done next year. To maintain the lower outflow for now, dam operators plan to keep water levels 200 feet below the top of the 700-foot-deep lake.

State officials say the diminished storage at the reservoir will have a negligible effect on the states total water supply.

Its hard to say how allocations will shake out this year because weather is unpredictable, said Mellon, with the Department of Water Resources. However, the largest reservoirs in the state are at 120 percent of average for this time of year, so were certainly feeling much better.

The problems at Oroville Dam have prompted state and federal water officials to enhance reviews of dozens of other spillways. The average age of California dams is 70 years.

At Oroville, an independent group of engineers has been working alongside the Department of Water Resources to make sure the rebuilt spillway and other parts of the dam are safe.

Still, some are skeptical. Robert Bea, a retired engineering professor at UC Berkeley who has studied the reservoir, wants more testing of the headworks, where the spillway gates open and close. He also thinks the state should examine the potential for water seepage behind the dam.

Having gone through the surprise evacuation of 180,000 people, after telling them the dam was safe, I think we need to be careful, Bea said.

Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander

$500 million

Cost to rebuild spillway.

7 feet

New thickness of chute, compared with 2 feet of original.

15 to 25 feet

Extension of steel pillars into bedrock, instead of the previous 5 feet.

270,000 cubic

feet per second

Spillways new capacity.
CHICAGO  Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen are leaving for a trade and research mission to Israel on Sunday.

Rauner made the announcement Friday morning, saying that among their itinerary will be meetings with officials at four Israeli universities. The trip comes after the university last week proposed a public-private innovation center near downtown Chicago that would partner the school with other higher education institutions in Chicago and abroad.

The governor's office said Israel's consul general to the Midwest, Aviv Ezra, helped set much of the itinerary for the trip and will travel with the Illinois delegation.

The Illinois delegation is scheduled to leave Sunday and return late next week. This is Rauner's second trade mission this year. In September the governor went on an eight-day trip to Japan and China.
In the last decade of the 19th century, San Franciscans were fed up with the physical condition of their city. Parks were neglected, and schools were falling apart. The shopping district had become so decrepit that merchants were hiring workers to repair the streets.

The citys architecture also came in for harsh criticism. The manager of the St. Francis Hotel, Allan Pollock, spoke for many when he blasted the citys ubiquitous, ornate Victorians as hideous in design and flimsy in finish  architectural shams of lumber and paint. The downtown was cluttered, and the outer districts were filled with nearly identical buildings, the monotonous result of building associations that bought up large tracts of land and built cookie-cutter houses. As Harold Gilliam writes in The San Francisco Experience, By the turn of the century, some leading citizens had begun to realize that man-made San Francisco was an ugly city.

Foremost among those citizens was James Phelan. When he became mayor in 1897, the cultured, classically educated Phelan appointed a committee to look into beautifying the city. Nothing came of that effort, but in 1904, Phelan  now a private citizen  became head of a new group, the Committee for the Improvement and Adornment of San Francisco. He invited famed architect and city planner Daniel Burnham to draw up a plan to transform the entire city.

Burnham was the nations most respected city planner. He had gained fame as the creator of the White City, a Beaux Arts-style miniature metropolis that was the centerpiece of the influential 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Burnham was a leading exponent of the City Beautiful movement, which held that grand, classically inspired architecture and harmonious public spaces would not only replace tenements and slums but also morally uplift the masses.

Burnham once famously said, Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir mens blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Inspired by the opportunity to remake the eighth-largest city in the country, he accepted Phelans invitation and arrived in San Francisco in 1904.

What he came up with was breathtakingly ambitious. As former San Francisco Planning Director James McCarthy wrote in 1972, His plan for San Francisco looks like Paris, with hills.

Burnham called for replacing much of the street grid with a grand series of radial boulevards intersected by wide diagonal streets, with European-style open spaces punctuating the places where they came together. Contoured streets would replace the gridiron on Telegraph and other hills. The heart of the city, centered on Van Ness Avenue and Market Street, would be the Civic Center, with concentric circles of government buildings, concert halls, museums and libraries, along with shopping of the finer order. Offering access to this majestic area from the west would be an extended Panhandle, running all the way from Golden Gate Park to Market.

The most dramatic of Burnhams proposed new roads was a 30-mile-long Outer Boulevard that would encircle the city, starting from Market and running above the Embarcadero and past Fishermans Wharf. To our modern eyes the Outer Boulevard, elevated above the warehouses, sounds suspiciously like the late, unlamented Embarcadero Freeway. But Burnham seems to have envisioned it as more like the High Line, the elevated linear park on Manhattans West Side.

Deeming the 1,400 acres of parkland in the city inadequate, Burnham proposed creating a vast open space around Lake Merced that would extend all the way to Twin Peaks, and form part of a chain of parks girdling the city. Twin Peaks itself would be not just a park, but a center for great public fetes in which the natural beauties of city and county would be the chief attraction.

High atop the central hills would be an Athenaeum consisting of courts, terraces and colonnaded shelters ... arranged after the manner of the great Poecile of the Villa Hadrian. The principal monument of the city would be placed in this spot, the moral and geographical center of the city. It would take the form of a colossal figure symbolical of San Francisco.

If the Athenaeum did not provide sufficient moral uplift, citizens could walk into upper Cole Valley, where a vast natural amphitheater would occupy the area bounded by Clayton and Stanyan streets and Clarendon and Parnassus avenues. This amphitheater would recall by its location the stadium in the hills at Delphi, which overlooks the Gulf of Corinth, and the theater of Dionysus, at the foot of the Acropolis, Burnham wrote.

Some of Burnhams proposals would never have worked in the age of the automobile, but many were remarkably prescient. For example, he called for a subway system, a vehicle-free Financial District and one-way streets downtown. Unfortunately, only the one-way streets were adopted at the time  it would be nearly 70 years before a subway would run beneath Market.

Burnham presented his report at a banquet at the St. Francis Hotel in September 1905 to an enthusiastic reception. The Board of Supervisors appropriated money to print 3,000 copies of the lavish report, complete with drawings and photographs. The books were printed, delivered to City Hall and awaiting distribution on April 18, 1906, when the earthquake destroyed the shoddily built structure and buried nearly every copy. Only a few volumes, which had been distributed to members of the sponsoring committee, survived.

At first, it appeared that the destruction of the city had paved, or unpaved, the way for Burnhams plan to be implemented: San Francisco was now a tabula rasa. But merchants, real estate interests and the press were more concerned with getting the city up and working again quickly than with trying to rebuild it as a combination of ancient Babylon, Paris and Athens. Most of Burnhams plan was never implemented.

But some of it was. The citys grand Beaux Arts Civic Center is a direct result of Burnhams vision. Park Presidio Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard and the various contoured roads throughout the city reflect his plan.

And one of the citys best-loved public spaces, the summit of Telegraph Hill, has Burnhams fingerprints all over it. As McCarthy writes, The contoured Telegraph Hill Boulevard, the flat circle at the top, and the dominant tower all follow the spirit of the plan and its principle that the tops of hills should be preserved for public access and open space.

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.

Daniel Burnham did not succeed in remaking the entire city. But his plan left an enduring, and salutary, mark on it.

Gary Kamiya is the author of the best-selling book Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco, awarded the Northern California Book Award in creative nonfiction. All the material in Portals of the Past is original for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: metro@sfchronicle.com

Trivia time

Previous trivia question: What was a crimp?

Answer: A 19th century waterfront hustler who lured unwitting arriving sailors into disreputable boardinghouses, from which they were often shanghaied.

This weeks trivia question: Where does the Salesforce Tower rank in height among U.S. buildings?

Editors note

Every corner in San Francisco has an astonishing story to tell. Gary Kamiyas Portals of the Past tells those stories, using a specific location to illuminate the citys extraordinary history  from the days when giant mammoths wandered through what is now North Beach to the Gold Rush delirium, the dot-com madness and beyond. His column appears every other Saturday, alternating with Peter Hartlaubs Our San Francisco.
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A trailer caught fire Friday afternoon in the backyard of a home in the San Jose foothills, causing little damage but sending melodramatic plumes of thick, black smoke into the air.

Firefighters initially responded to calls of a grass fire about 4:25 p.m. on the 2300 block of Pleasant Acres Drive. Upon arrival, they found a trailer that was burning heavily, said Capt. Daniel Vega of the San Jose Fire Department.

And not just the trailer: according to Vega, the property was cluttered with old cars and debris. The accumulation made it difficult for firefighters to move through the site. The smoke from burning propane tanks and smoldering tires caused officials to advise nearby residents to stay inside with their windows closed.

It was almost like a junk yard, Vega said Friday evening. I think well be out here all night putting out small fires.

More than 70 firefighters were involved in battling the blaze at its peak, Vega said. The house on the property was not damaged, and the only injury involved one person nearby who suffered an anxiety attack but was treated by officers on the scene.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation, Vega said.

Sarah Ravani and John King are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani @johnkingsfchron
All that is left now are ashes and ruins. The terrifying walls of fire and smoke that rolled over the region are gone. The North Bay fires have almost dropped out of the news. But 42 persons are known dead, and many are still missing. We may never know what happened to them.

Its important to remember the people who lost their lives in the fires. They were people we might well have known, maybe someones mother, or an uncle who moved up north of the Golden Gate to places with the beautiful names: Mark West Springs, Journeys End, Redwood Valley, Silverado. They were all part of our family.

They say no one is really gone as long as someone remembers them. These are people we should not forget.

There was Charles and Sara Rippey, the oldest people to die in the fires. He was 100, had lived through World War II; she was 98. They had known each other since grade school back in Wisconsin and had been married 75 years.

Kai Shepherd was the youngest person who lost his life. He was 14, a fun-loving kid who was in the eighth grade. He got separated from his family. He was a bit of an athlete, tried to outrun the fire.

Most of the people who died in the fires and have been identified were elderly. Perhaps they were taken unaware by the speed of the flames, or couldnt get away. One of them was Marilyn Ress, who lived in the Journeys End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa. She hadnt been well, but when she was younger, she brought meals to neighbors who had nowhere to go during the holidays. Shed give them a meal and a hug, said Cynthia Conners, her best friend.

Linda Tunis moved to Santa Rosa from Florida only this year. She was a fiercely independent woman, but wanted to be close to her family. She, too, lived at Journeys End. When the fire approached, Tunis phoned her daughter, Jessica. I was telling her I love her when the phone went dead, Jessica Tunis said.

Many of those who died were people who touched other peoples lives: Carmen McReynolds, a retired doctor; LeRoy Halbur, who worked for years with a charity in Sonoma County and died with his wife, Donna, at their home in Santa Rosa; Monte Kirven, a wildlife biologist who helped keep peregrine falcons from extinction in Northern California. There were people who died trying to save loved ones, people who died trying to save pets, family people and loners, a man who had had anger problems but had begun to manage them, and a nice couple who loved and helped everybody.

Michael Dornbach drove up to Calistoga from Los Angeles County in his brand-new truck. Hed come to see relatives, but also because he loved the area. He liked the mountains and the stars at night. He talked about buying property up there. He didnt get the chance.

Those of us in the Bay Area understood Dornbach. The Napa Valley and the Sonoma Valley and the hills around Santa Rosa are part of our world.

Some of us spent our summers up north, had friends there. We remember the Napa Valley before it was world famous, full of celebrity wineries and four-star restaurants. We remember places like Glen Ellen and Rutherford when they were little towns and not destination resorts.

We drove the steep and winding highway up the side of Mount St. Helena from Calistoga on the way to Hobergs Resort, or Clear Lake. The ride always seemed longer and the weather hotter than we remembered. The kids would squirm in the back seat  Are we there yet?

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.

Sometimes wed check out the Petrified Forest or drop by the Geysers, both mildly amazing. And on the way back home, we might stop at a back-road winery and pick up a bottle or two of some nice Zinfandel.

We were pleased when the rest of the world discovered Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino. It was like Europe, they said. It was special. And it was ours.

I remember a Napa Valley trip only this summer  the brown hills, the vineyards. I had forgotten how beautiful this place is, my companion said.

So when the fires burned out of control for days, it was our country burning, and our family who had to run for their lives. Some of them didnt make it, as we know.

The Bay Area has 7 million people now, and an economy thats bigger than the republic of Turkey. But when something like these fires happen, we realize we are really just a bunch of small towns, joined by a common affection for people and the land.

Carl Nolte is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. His column appears every Sunday. Email: cnolte@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carlnoltesf
With the primary election seven months away, its already clear that single-payer health care and education reform are going to be the key dividing lines among the Democrats running to succeed Jerry Brown as governor of California.

Their differences came to the fore last week in a forum I moderated at the City Club of San Francisco. This debate featured the four leading Democrats: John Chiang, Delaine Eastin, Gavin Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa. The Republican candidates have been invited to a similar session in January.

There is no mistaking the presence of organized labor in this campaign. The influential California Nurses Association has been pushing hard for a state-run health care system, which has run into concerns about its cost. The nonpartisan legislative analyst has suggested it could reach $400 billion a year  more than double the size of the current state budget  and require a 15 percent payroll tax. It also would depend on waivers from the federal government to capture funds now being spent for Medicare, Medi-Cal and other programs for retirees and veterans.

The first question was: Do you support single payer? If so, what taxes would you raise to pay for it?

I want to reframe the question, replied Newsom, the lieutenant governor and front-runner in early polls. I have to admit: Rare is the politician who openly admits ducking a question, let alone with such a clever guise of reframing it.

Newsom called cost the most specious argument against a state-run health care system. His facts-rich answer was classic Newsom, a politician who relishes big ideas and deep dives into policy. He noted that nations with populations smaller than California have managed to deliver universal health care.

He just didnt answer the all-critical Part II of the question.

When pressed, Newsom suggested a payroll tax could help bridge the gap if needed.

Eastin, the former state superintendent of public instruction, was no less emphatic in her support of single payer, reminding the audience of the doom and gloom in the 1960s about Medicare breaking the bank. Its now one of governments most popular programs.

Among the skeptics are Villaraigosa, the former state Assembly speaker and Los Angeles mayor, and Chiang, the former state controller and current state treasurer. Each expressed a support for the concept of single payer, while maintaining that the current plans lack a plausible strategy to cover the cost.

You cant sign something like that without a plan to pay for it, Villaraigosa said. Im not running to be all things to all people.

Lines also were drawn when it came to education reform.

Considering that all four candidates on the stage were Democrats, I assumed that each would support more spending on education. I asked anyone who disagreed to raise his or her hand. None did, naturally.

So the question was whether the candidates had ideas for any reforms that did not require higher spending  and whether they are willing to take on the education establishment to achieve them.

Eastin quickly eclipsed Newsom for dodge of the day. She said she would change Proposition 13 (i.e., bring in more revenue) and adopt universal preschool, class-size reduction, mandatory kindergarten and bring back counselors, nurses and librarians (i.e., higher spending). I gave her another chance to answer the question. Im not ashamed to say we need to spend more money, she said.

Villaraigosa was the only candidate to openly challenge union dogma on education policy. He noted that he essentially forfeited an endorsement from the California Teachers Association because he refused to embrace a moratorium on charter schools. The union has endorsed Newsom.

Villaraigosa also was the only candidate (and one of the few prominent Democrats in the state) to side with the plaintiffs in the 2012 lawsuit, Vergara vs. California, which alleged that the states overly protective laws on teacher tenure, seniority and dismissals resulted in discrimination against students in districts with heavy low-income and minority populations. A trial judge sided with the plaintiffs, concluding that the states byzantine rules that protect ineffective teachers shocks the conscience. His ruling was overturned on appeal.

The system is broken when so many poor kids and so many kids of color arent making it in this state, Villaraigosa said, adding that seniority should be a factor but not the only one in school assignment and layoffs.

Chiang and Eastin said they opposed the Vergara lawsuit. Newsom said the case has been litigated, and any changes to tenure and seniority rules should come through collective bargaining or the legislative process. In other words: They would not happen.

Under Californias version of an open primary, the top two finishers in June 2018 will advance to the November general election, regardless of party. The Republicans will have a chance to make their case, but Democrats showed last week that they are offering four experienced elected officials who are ready to argue their points in a substantive and civil way.

Their differences are not bountiful, but they are significant, and they are worth scrutinizing and debating.

John Diaz is The San Francisco Chronicles editorial page editor. Email: jdiaz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnDiazChron

Watch last weeks City Club of San Francisco event with the Democratic gubernatorial candidates: http://bit.ly/2llPOWz
Yes, by surreptitiously paying a former spy to research Donald Trumps relationship with Russia, Hillary Clintons campaign engaged in political skulduggery and possibly a violation of campaign finance law. But, no, that does not invalidate all  or really any  investigation of the more troubling possibility that Trumps campaign colluded with Vladimir Putins regime.

Clinton campaign lawyer Marc Elias firm hired the research company that, in turn, commissioned Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence officer who compiled an infamous dossier on Trumps links to Russia, the Washington Post reported this week. Elias did so on behalf of the campaign and the Democratic National Committee, which allowed the research expenses to be concealed as payments for legal services in campaign finance disclosures, as the watchdog group Campaign Legal Center noted in a complaint to the Federal Election Commission.

That the Clinton campaign paid for opposition research, as its known in political circles, is thoroughly unremarkable  so much so that a rival Republican was paying the same firm for the same anti-Trump research before the Democrats took over the contract. That the Clinton team covered up the activity, however, reflects its long-standing habit of reflexive and excessive secrecy, which has done the former first lady far more harm than good. (See also the scandal over her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, which also appeared designed to avoid public scrutiny.)

None of this, however, amounts to the messenger-shooting ammunition that Trump and company desperately want it to be. The Steele dossier, which was published by Buzzfeed after the election, is an unverified account of one espionage professionals understanding based on his confidential sources. Some of its less salacious claims have been verified elsewhere  including that the Putin regime had an active hacking operation trained on Democrats, that Trump sought business in Russia, and that Trumps associates traveled there. The rest of its allegations remain neither proved nor disproved no matter who paid for the dossier.

Does Democratic financing of the research mean, as Trump has argued, that former FBI Director James Comey or special counsel Robert Mueller should not have considered Steeles findings? Of course not. Investigating such allegations is exactly what investigators are supposed to do.

The Trump camps assertion that the Clinton campaigns dirt-digging is equivalent to or worse than alleged collusion with Russia is similarly nonsensical. Trumps son Donald Trump Jr. welcomed the prospect of damaging information on Clinton that was explicitly tied to the Kremlin. Collaboration with a hostile foreign power is different in just about every respect from hiring a private investigator once associated with a friendly government.

There is one other relevant distinction between what Clintons campaign did and what Trumps might have done: As much as some Republican lawmakers seem to regret it, Clinton lost. The transgressions of a forcibly retired politician simply dont matter as much as those of the president of the United States.

This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.
Californias most destructive wildfires caused tragic deaths and widespread displacement in Wine Country. Unless local leaders move quickly, it could also make Californias housing crisis far, far worse.

The Wine Country fires this month destroyed thousands of homes. The damage was particularly extensive in Santa Rosa, a once-affordable enclave that lost a full 5 percent of its housing stock. The horrible economics of disaster practically prescribe a difficult future for the residents of Santa Rosa  higher home prices, higher rents and a long rebuilding process.

Its very, very tough, said Oscar Wei, a senior economist with California Association of Realtors. Displaced homeowners will need a place to stay, and so will renters, and the supply of rental properties has gone down.

There have already been scattered stories about enormous spikes in rental prices, which spurred both the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors and the Santa Rosa City Council to vote for tighter rules against gouging, or raising prices by more than 10 percent.

I think raising the rent on someone because you can, due to an emergency like this, is predatory behavior, said Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey.

Santa Rosas City Council also voted to temporarily lift restrictions on alternative housing, including options such as mobile and small manufactured homes, so that more people can be housed more quickly.

These structures will be allowed temporarily in a wide swath of town, Coursey said. We want people to have the ability to live on their property while theyre rebuilding.

Local officials are certainly aware of these future housing challenges, and theyre taking steps to mitigate them.

But to offer fire-displaced residents the most protection, theyll have to take bigger  and braver  action.

If they just rebuild the same type of housing, prices will just keep going up, Wei said. Thats true despite the disaster. For about six months after a disaster like the fires, Wei said, buyers are historically discouraged before deciding that lightning wont strike twice. If the area is still desirable, and the Bay Area is, Wei said, buyers will return relatively quickly.

Add in a confluence of Bay Area factors  low supply, high demand, and a tight market for construction labor  and the fact that newly constructed homes sell for larger prices than older ones.

Economists predict that North Bay housing could potentially be more expensive in a year than it was before the fires.

Thats bad news for the thousands of predominately moderate-income residents who are currently displaced. Santa Rosas city manager, Sean McGlynn, has said that the housing situation is expected to be so dire that up to 8,000 displaced residents will leave Sonoma County altogether.

But all is not lost. The North Bay, like many regions of the Bay Area, is dominated by single-family houses. If local officials take advantage of the opportunity to encourage the construction of more multifamily housing  which can house more people for lower prices  they can lower the cost of housing for renters and home buyers alike.

If they revisit their zoning policies, and work with developers, local officials could encourage housing construction thats more affordable for residents, Wei said.

Coursey said Santa Rosa is open to the idea  to a point.

We are not currently considering rezoning single-family-home neighborhoods as multifamily housing areas, Coursey said flatly. In the areas that have burned, people have a vested right to rebuild what they had before. But there are commercial areas that burned, and they might be ripe for multifamily-housing construction.

In addition to city-owned parcels near transit corridors, Coursey said the city is seeking to speak with the owners of certain fire-damaged commercial buildings, like the Kmart on Hopper Avenue near Highway 101, about possibly transforming their properties into housing.

Its up to them, of course, Coursey said.

We urge local officials and landowners to work together for the good of Santa Rosa.

This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.
Thirty years existence would be an impressive span for any dance company. For an integrated (abled and partially abled performers) troupe, 30 years is downright astonishing. Axis Dance was the first company in America to include the partially abled, so there was double reason to celebrate during the home season, which opened Thursday, Oct. 26, at Oaklands Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts.

Much about Axis is new this season. Founding artistic director Judith Smith has been succeeded by Marc Brew, who seems to seethe with compelling choreography. His world premiere, Radical Impact, came off like a photo album of the five dancers emotional states, and it looks and sounds pretty special. For music, Brew commissioned an energizing string quartet by JooWan Kim, which was played live and mirrored the moods of the dancing. Susan Roemers white costumes stood out in Allen Willners brilliant lighting.
Dear Dr. Roach: My 46-year-old son has suffered for nearly five years with what seems to be CPPS (chronic pelvic pain syndrome). Being the mother, I am involved only to a limited extent, as my son, of course, is embarrassed to go into details with me. Although after he read an article delineating the symptoms of CPPS, he said, "Yes, that's exactly it!"

He has sought medical help, but after two colonoscopies and several prostate exams, he has been told only variations of "We can't find anything" and "There's nothing we can do for you."

Articles I've read state that millions of men suffer from this worldwide, and it is the third most common reason men visit a urologist. Can you shed any light on this painful, mysterious condition and outline what steps he might take next?

-- V.P.

A: I've written several times about chronic pelvic pain in women, but this is the first question I've received on chronic pelvic pain in men. It is indeed far more common than many, including me, may have thought: 10 percent overall, and about 1 man in 8 (13 percent) in your son's age group -- the most common group to have this symptom. As men get older, the condition decreases in frequency.

The definition of CPPS is "chronic pelvic pain in at least three of the six preceding months, in absence of other identifying causes." As such, it's really unclear what is causing this condition or even if the prostate is the source of the problem. There is some evidence to suggest that it is: Prostate inflammation often is found, but men can have symptoms with or without inflammation, and with or without evidence of bacterial infection. Most men have urinary symptoms as well, including increased urinary frequency and discomfort when voiding. Some men also have pain or discomfort during sexual activity. Symptoms often are ascribed to chronic prostate infection, but antibiotics may not be helpful in treatment, and unlike most cases of chronic bacterial prostatitis, there is no tenderness of the prostate.

The severity of CPPS can be measured by a tool that is available online www.upointmd.com/NIHCPSIEnglish.pdf. The scores range from 0-43: The mean score for someone with CPPS is about 20. He can fill out this form and take it to his urologist.

No treatment has been shown to alleviate symptoms in all men; however, there are several treatments that are effective in some, and combinations of treatments may be effective in the majority of men. Most experts will try a course of antibiotics; however, if it isn't effective, it should not be repeated. Medications like tamsulosin (Flomax) are helpful in some, as is the prostate medicine dutasteride (Avodart). Cognitive-behavioral therapy is very helpful for some men. Other medications that sometimes are tried include steroids, anti-inflammatories and medications for chronic pain, such as gabapentin (Neurontin). One study suggested that there is some benefit from acupuncture and myofascial trigger point release by a pelvic floor physical therapist.

Less-common therapies with some evidence for benefit include botulinum toxin (Botox) injection, heat therapy and shock waves to the bladder. Finding a specialist in chronic pelvic pain for men would be ideal.

* * *

Readers: The booklet on diverticulitis explains this common disorder and its treatments. Readers can order a copy by writing: Dr. Roach, Book No. 502, 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.75 with the recipient's printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery.
WASHINGTON  Rep. Jackie Speier became the latest elected official to speak out against sexual harassment Friday, describing in a YouTube video being assaulted as a young congressional aide, and inviting other members of Congress and their staff to go public with their own experiences on Capitol Hill.

Congress has been a breeding ground for a hostile work environment for far too long, the Hillsborough Democrat said. Its time to throw back the curtain on the repulsive behavior that until now has thrived in the dark without consequences.

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Speiers call for others in Congress to speak up comes as allegations of workplace sexual assault have toppled the careers of Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein and veteran television political analyst Mark Halperin, and inspired the Twitter hashtag #MeToo campaign, giving victims of sexual assault a platform to disclose their own experiences.

Like so many of you, I have a Me, too story to tell, Speier said in the YouTube video. I was working as a congressional staffer. The chief of staff held my face, kissed me and stuck his tongue in my mouth.

The incident, she said, kept her awake at night feeling humiliated and angry, but wondering whether she had been at fault.

So I know what its like to keep these things hidden deep inside, she said. You know what? Many of us in Congress know what its like.

Expanding on the #MeToo campaign, Speier launched #MeTooCongress to encourage other Capitol Hill victims of sexual assault to come forward if they feel comfortable in doing so.

There is nothing to fear in telling the truth, she said.

Speiers action is similar to a campaign begun in Sacramento this month that exposed a culture of widespread sexual harassment in the state Capitol. The Assembly has scheduled hearings for next month to address the issue and the state Senate has hired two outside investigators to look into the allegations and examine its own policies.

Speier said she will introduce legislation next week in Congress to require all House members and staff to undergo sexual harassment training, and institute a survey to assess the scope of potential workplace harassment on Capitol Hill.

Congress is an insular institution fueled by ambition and power, with its own long history of sex scandals.

In Congress, its no different than other work environments where you have very powerful people who have the ability to throw their weight around, Speier told The Chronicle on Friday.

Her bill, she said, would also overhaul an antiquated procedure Congress uses to deal with sexual harassment claims. Current law requires victims to submit to 30 days of legal counseling, and another 30 days of required mediation with the office against which they are leveling the charge.

After that, victims are required to wait an additional 30 days, in all a minimum of three months, before they can lodge a formal complaint. If a defending congressional office settles after that, any money from the settlement comes from the U.S. Treasury, not from the offending offices budget, and can carry a nondisclosure agreement that assures it never becomes public.

Its a joke, Speier said. Im embarrassed to even run people through the process. You file a complaint against someone who attempted to sexually assault you or actually did sexually assault you, and youre being counseled.

I dont think so. The person who needs needs counseling is the person who perpetrated the assault.

Speier said the current procedure is governed by the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 that followed the sexual-harassment scandal surrounding the late Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore. Speier said its aim was protecting the institution, not the victim.

The case Speier describes in the YouTube video allegedly happened when she was 23, working as an aide to the late Rep. Leo Ryan, a Peninsula Democrat assassinated in 1978 in the Jonestown massacre, where Speier was gravely wounded.

Speier identified the man she accused of assaulting her as Ryans chief of staff Joe Holsinger, who died in 2004. In an email late Friday, Holsingers son, William Holsinger, responded to Speiers comments.

Jackie Speier has gone through a great deal of trauma in her life. Many others have, as well, said Holsinger, a San Mateo attorney. My heart goes out to anyone, including Jackie, who has been traumatized at the hands of another, whether it is sexual abuse, racism, war, or any kind of violence.

I welcome the turning of the focus about abuse, all forms of abuse, away from the victims and towards the aggressors. It is only regrettable when public accusations are leveled at individuals who are no longer able to speak for themselves. Perhaps we can use the current climate of outspokenness towards a national dialogue for the reconciliation of all past abuses of power.

He ended his email with Me, too.

Speier said her experience was not uncommon among women at the time.

Like any other woman of that period, you had these kinds of experiences, you protected yourself, she said. There werent sexual-harassment laws, there wasnt the concept of a workplace environment that was supposed to be free of this kind of conduct, and so you just found a way to avoid those situations.

She added, The good news is, that was bad behavior then and its bad behavior today. It cannot be tolerated. We have mechanisms to make sure its not and that people are held accountable.

Speier, a former California legislator who was first elected to Congress in 2008, has been active during her House career in attempting to crack down on sexual violence in the military and on college campuses as well as in Congress.

She has been trying to overhaul the law governing sexual harassment in Congress since 2014, when the House approved her push for money to institute training for members and staff, but Senate appropriators dropped it.

Speier said she hopes the current attention on the issue encourages other women to come forward.

For most of my career Ive felt a responsibility, because if I as a woman legislator wont take on this issue, who will, Speier said. Its incumbent on women to protect women.

Speier said she hopes her crusade will encourage other victims to come forward, whether anonymously, or identifying themselves. We should root it out, and this is the opportunity to do it.

Carolyn Lochhead is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: clochhead@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carolynlochhead

To see Rep. Jackie Speiers disclosure: http://bit.ly/2zd9jXt
The National Park Service pulled funding for a Black Panther Party legacy project to be undertaken at UC Berkeley, officials confirmed. The move comes amid outcry about from conservative organizations.

In September, the Park Service announced its intent to award Ula Taylor, incoming chair of African American Studies at UC Berkeley, the $98,000 grant, which was "committed to truthfully honoring the legacy of BPP activists and the San Francisco Bay Area communities they served," according to an official notice obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
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A Piedmont High School teacher who allegedly sexually harassed multiple students, including some he chaperoned on a trip to Europe, resigned Friday  two days after parents packed a district school board meeting and expressed anger that he was allowed to return to the classroom, officials said.

We recognize that these events have deeply impacted our community, Randall Booker, superintendent of the Piedmont Unified School District, said in a statement released Friday. With this communitys support, we will help our students through this transition and will encourage them to use their voices for themselves and for each other.

The resignation of social studies teacher Mark Cowherd came after an investigation by school district officials found he had violated policies on sexual harassment. He was placed on administrative leave in September, but was allowed to return to his job in less than a month, prompting outrage from parents and students.

The district is working to find substitute and permanent teachers for the history classes affected by Cowherd resignation, Booker said, as well as with seniors who had asked the teacher for letters of recommendation for college.

We appreciate the courage and conviction of the students who shared their experiences, Booker said, referring to students who complained of Cowherds behavior.

Cowherd did not return a phone message and email requesting comment.

He was put on administrative leave at the start of the school year while the district investigated complaints of inappropriate behavior toward students, including four recent female graduates who had gone on a school trip with him to Europe. The incidents included asking about the girls sexual activity, inviting them alone to his room at night and making comments about students physical attractiveness, officials said.

The district investigation found that the alleged incidents, supported by messages Cowherd had sent to students, had happened and violated district policies on sexual harassment, officials said. Booker said the district implemented disciplinary and corrective action as a result of the investigation, but would not disclose specifics.

The case was referred to the Piedmont Police Department, Booker said, but police concluded nothing criminal had occurred. Cowherd was allowed to returned to teaching on Sept. 25.

Piedmont police Capt. Chris Monohan said that the department had been in back-and-forth conversations with the Alameda County district attorneys office regarding charges over the past month. The district attorneys office decided this week not to prosecute the case, Monohan said.

More than 100 students and parents crowded into a Piedmont school board meeting on Wednesday to call on the district to reconsider its decision to allow Cowherd back in the classroom, saying the move sent the wrong message to students.

Girls will in fact not speak up because theyll see nothing was done, Lisa Sherman, whose daughter was among the girls who reported Cowherds inappropriate behavior, said on Wednesday. Boys will think that this behavior is acceptable.

Annie Ma is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ama@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @anniema15
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This story originally appeared on KQED.org.

A lot of us Californians like to hit the open road, explore miles of highway, and venture off onto some back roads. Sometimes, KQED comes across towns with some pretty bizarre and surprising names, from Rough and Ready to Bumpass Hell. For the first installment in their series "A Place Called What?!" they headed to Zzyzx, California.

If you've driven on Interstate 15 near Death Valley, you've probably passed a sign for a town with a name you couldn't pronounce: Zzyzx (ZYE-ZIX).

You won't find any shops or restaurants or even houses in Zzyzx. But you will find the Desert Studies Center, a research station operated by a consortium of seven California State University campuses. Rob Fulton manages the center. He's also the town's only permanent resident.

Courtesy of Rob Fulton

ENDANGERED QUAIL: There's only 1 quail left in San Francisco, and cats are likely to blame

Fulton says Zzyzx got its name from Dr. Curtis Springer, a radio preacher who always insisted on having the last word  Springer claimed "Zzyzx" would be the last word in the English language. In 1944, he established the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.

"I think he thought it would be clever to invent the last word and then use it for the name of his mineral springs," Fulton says. "He would say things like 'Come to Zzyzx Mineral Springs: the last word in health.'"

Courtesy of Rob Fulton

Today, the only trace of the Mineral Springs are the buildings that now house the Desert Studies Center, where Fulton has lived and worked for 31 years.

As the manager for the center, Fulton is responsible for everything from maintenance of the buildings to meeting the groups of people who come from all over the world to tour the unique ecosystem of the Mohave Desert.

Courtesy of Rob Fulton

Courtesy of Rob Fulton

JFK ASSASSINATION FILES: Long-secret JFK assassination files released

Being the only permanent resident "can be lonely at times"  his other colleagues commute in from neighboring towns  but he says it can also be "exciting."

Especially when it comes to getting groceries. When it's time to go food shopping, Fulton drives one hour each way to the nearest grocery store in Barstow. If he can't find what he needs there, he has to drive to Victorville, 100 miles away. While most of us couldn't fathom this kind of long-distance shopping, Fulton says he's used to it.

"It gives me some time to listen to the radio and think about other things while I'm driving," he explains.

The thing about Zzyzx that keeps Fulton happy, besides the natural beauty of the place, is that he is constantly meeting people who come to the Desert Studies Center.

Courtesy of Rob Fulton

TRAVELING OUTSIDE OF THE BAY: 15 thoughts all locals have while traveling outside of the Bay Area

"The diversity of students that come through ... interacting with them and their instructors, and the people that conduct research out of the field station ... it's an ever-changing landscape of different interests and reasons for being here. And that keeps it interesting."

One thing he knows for sure? He's probably not heading back to the suburbs anytime soon.

"When I go back to suburbia now I really don't feel comfortable," Fulton says. "I mean, it's like I grew up in this but I don't relate to it anymore. That's kind of weird."
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For the first time in over a century, California officials confirmed the death of a state rancher's livestock by wolf.

A heifer on a Lassen County ranch was attacked and killed by the Lassen Pack on Oct. 13, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed in a report.

Now Playing: The Minnesota wolf population has increased 25 percent. Video: Fox9

Following an investigation of the 600-pound yearling carcass, Fish and Wildlife said that the "location and nature of the bite marks and the significant associated tissue hemorrhaging" were consistent with a wolf attack. The agency also identified wolf tracks and the evidence of a struggle near the decimated carcass, which was missing one leg, seven ribs and much of its neck.

In September Fish and Wildlife investigated four other possible wolf depredations  or kills  on the same Lassen County ranch. One kill was ruled a "possible" wolf depredation, while the other cows' causes of death were unknown.

The ranch in question belongs to veteran rancher Wallace Roney, Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Jordan Traverso confirmed.

Roney believes wolves are responsible for the recent deaths of five of his cows, according to local news outlet Plumas County News. The rancher did not immediately respond to SFGATE's request for comment.

A statement California Farm Bureau Federation website claims "GPS data and eyewitness reports place the Lassen Pack near the cattle at the time" of their deaths.

Story continues below.

Lassen County ranchers have been on high alert since July, when Fish and Wildlife announced the discovery of the Lassen Pack, the patriarch of which, OR-7, migrated from Oregon to Northern California in 2011. The Lassen family is the second pack of wolves found in Northern California in 90 years; the state's population was decimated by humans in the 1920s.

Nearly 100 years after wolfs' extirpation, or localized extinction, the California Fish and Game Commission added wolves to the state's Endangered Species list  to the outrage of many ranchers who feared such protections would threaten their livelihoods.

On Friday, livestock groups criticized CDFW for failing to publicly announce the wolf kill, according to the Farm Bureau statement.

"CDFW has been more than willing to notify the public when it identifies a new pack or when wolves have pups," Farm Bureau President Paul Wenger said in the organization's statement. "People need to recognize wolves not as cute woodland creatures but as predators that kill."

Traverso, of CDFW, denies such claims. He says the agency went to "great lengths" to communicate with those potentially affected by the Lassen Pack, and said CDFW announced the wolf kill on its official website and associated wolf blog.

The agency also offered Roney "non-lethal assistance/tools," Traverso said, which Roney declined.

"One of our employees even volunteered to camp out there to do what he could to dissuade the wolves from using the meadow," Traverso added. Shortly after Roney agreed to the setup, the wolves left the ranch and did not return for nine days, rendering camping unnecessary.

Kirk Wilbur, director of government affairs at the California Cattlemen's Association, stresses that the death of one livestock can radiate throughout the ranch. He claims the Endangered Species Act not only prevents ranchers from killing predatory wolves, but pursuing them as well.

While non-lethal management tools exist, such as flags and fox lights, Wilbur says such methods are "imperfect" and expensive, and wolves habituate to them within six to eight months.

"When you have one heifer taken by a wolf, they become chronic depredators and come back," he said, noting that wolves can have "non-death impacts" on herds, too, including stress and associated weight loss.

"Aside from getting lucky, there's not a whole lot we can do to prevent [wolf depredations]," he said. "Unless we get a change in California law."

In January, a conservative legal foundation filed a lawsuit on behalf of California Farm Bureau Federation and the California Cattlemen's Association claiming the Fish and Wildlife Commission illegally listed wolves as endangered.

It's a given, said Traverso, that "the Farm Bureau and Cattlemen's Association don't like wolves in California."

He continued, "We believe it would be more constructive to have them at the table working with us, not against us."

As for Roney, he plans to move his cattle from Lassen to the Central Valley, according to the Plumas News. He told the paper, "We can't afford to feed the wolves."

Michelle Robertson is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @mrobertsonsf.
BEIJING  For four decades, China has achieved breathtaking economic growth at the cost of smoggy skies, fetid streams and lakes of dying fish.

Now China is undertaking one of its most extensive efforts yet to crack down on corporate polluters, an effort that could be felt economically and in world markets.

Cities across China have stepped up sending squads of inspectors to steel mills, coal-fired power plants and other businesses, and ordered offenders to clean up their operations or risk being shut down. On Aug. 21, environmental authorities ordered more than two dozen cities in northern China, including many main steel production centers, to reduce air pollution by 15 percent this winter.

Even tougher measures will be coming, Li Ganjie, Chinas minister for environmental protection, said last week at a news conference held in conjunction with the Communist Party congress, a twice-per-decade event at which the party selects new leaders to tackle its problems.

The campaign, which started two years ago but picked up speed in recent months, is so broad that it is starting to affect markets. Some economists have begun to warn of a possible modest slowing of the entire Chinese economy this winter.

Officials sought to reassure the Chinese public and businesses that the pollution crackdown would help clean up the country without disrupting growth.

It is impossible that such efforts will not have any impact on enterprises, Li said. But in the long run, and from the macro perspective, the impact will be minimal.

Pollution figures strongly into the broader debate over the cost of growth in China. Chinese officials are under pressure to keep the economy revving to provide good jobs for its young people and for rural residents moving into cities, among others. But stimulating growth has compounded Chinas debt problems, added to its pollution woes and created other complications that Beijing must address.

If successful, the antipollution campaign could produce bluer skies and cleaner water across China, with potential health benefits for the countrys 1.3 billion people.

For those areas that have suffered ecological damage, their leaders and cadres will be held responsible for life, said Yang Weimin, deputy director of the Communist Partys Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs. Our people will be able to see stars at night and hear birds chirp.

But the effort could have a cost as well. Economists at Societe Generale, a French bank, predicted in a recent research note that environmental restrictions could shave two-tenths of a percent off economic growth.

Modestly slower growth will be a necessary sacrifice for maintaining social stability over the medium term, it said.

Global prices for iron ore, a crucial material for making steel, have slumped in part on expectations that many Chinese steel mills will have to close temporarily this winter.

China is so important to the global economy that a campaign against pollution here could affect economies around the world, particularly iron ore exporters. Economists in Australia are already starting to become concerned.

Australia is absolutely dependent on China  thats true of iron ore prices, but its also true of Australias national income, said Chris Richardson, the chief Australia economist for Deloitte, the global accounting firm.

Although China now leads the world in its installations of solar and wind power, it still relies on coal to generate three-quarters of its electricity. Electricity use by households is rising as more Chinese consumers buy air-conditioners and adopt the trappings of middle-class life.

Turning off electricity to residential customers to reduce pollution is politically unrealistic. That means steeper cuts may be necessary for industrial users.

Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the government-affiliated China Passenger Car Association, said in a telephone interview that the government had been inexorably tightening pollution standards. The countrys top priority has been shifting away from maximizing economic output and toward environmental protection, and companies must adapt, he said.

Auto companies have adequate profits, he said. They can withstand it, but their production schedules may be affected.

The pollution efforts impact on global markets is uncertain, and Chinese officials said Monday they may be overreacting.

Li Xinchuang, deputy chairman of the government-affiliated China Steel Association, said Chinese production could continue undiminished if the industry simply closed excess, outdated steel foundries that pollute more.

Christine Loh, who was undersecretary for the environment for Hong Kong until the summer and worked closely with mainland officials, said that China had considerable potential for environmental cleanup without harming the economy.

The new economy continues to thrive, while the old economy cleans up, she wrote in an email. So, the overall picture should not be seen too negatively.

Chinas track record on nationally mandated campaigns has been mixed. Told to maximize economic output, local officials have sometimes faked statistics, most recently in a few economically depressed areas of northeastern China.

President Xi Jinping endorsed the environmental effort in his work report at the start of the party congress. Clear waters and lush mountains are as valuable as gold and silver, he said.

Beyond maximizing economic output, Xi said that his country needed to address a new dilemma, and one that implies greater attention to environmental protection, between unbalanced and inadequate development and the peoples ever-growing needs for a better life.

Keith Bradsher is a New York Times writer.
WASHINGTON  Under pressure in advance of hearings on Russian election interference, Facebook is moving to increase transparency for everyone who sees and buys political advertising on its site.

Executives for the Menlo Park company said Friday they will verify political ad buyers in federal elections, requiring them to reveal correct names and locations, and to create new graphics where users can click on the ads and find out more about whos behind them.

More broadly, Rob Goldman, Facebooks vice president in charge of ad products, said the company is building transparency tools in which all advertisers  even those that arent political  are associated with a page, and users can click on a link to see all the ads any advertiser is running.

Users also will be able to see all of the ads paid for by the advertisers, even if those ads were not originally targeted toward them.

The move comes after the company acknowledged it had found more than 3,000 ads linked to Russia that focused on divisive U.S. social issues and were seen by an estimated 10 million people before and after the 2016 U.S. elections.

Facebook, Twitter and Google will testify in Congress next Tuesday and Wednesday on how their services were used by Russia or other foreign entities in the election campaign. The Senate and House intelligence committees and the Senate Judiciary Committee all are holding hearings as part of their investigations into Russian election interference.

Facebooks announcement comes a day after Twitter said it will ban ads from RT and Sputnik, two state-sponsored Russian news outlets. Twitter also has said it will require election-related ads for candidates to disclose who is paying for them and how they are targeted.

Facebooks Goldman said the company also will build an archive of federal election ads, including the total amount spent and the number of times an ad is displayed, he said. The archive, which will be public for anyone to search, would also have data on the audience that saw the ads, including gender and location information. The archive would eventually hold up to four years of data.

Goldman said the company is still building the features, and plans to roll them out in the United States by next summer ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

This is a good first step but its not at all the last step; theres a lot to learn once we start testing, Goldman said in an interview.

Facebook already had announced in September that it would require an advertiser to disclose who paid for the ads and what other ads it was running at the same time. But it was unclear exactly how the company would do that.

The moves are meant to bring Facebook more in line with what is now required of print and broadcast advertisers. Federal regulations require television and radio stations to make publicly available the details of political ads they air. That includes who runs the ad, when it runs and how much it costs.

It is also likely meant to head off bipartisan legislation in the Senate that would require social media companies to keep public files of election ads and try to ensure they are not purchased by foreigners. Though Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, a Democratic co-sponsor of the legislation, has said his bill would be the lightest touch possible, social media companies would rather set their own guidelines than face new regulation.

Facebook has responded swiftly to the attention it has received in recent months on Capitol Hill, boosting staff and lobbying efforts. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg visited several congressional offices this month to convey that the company is taking the issue seriously. Facebook has also turned over the 3,000 ads to Congress and special counsel Robert Mueller, who is doing his own investigation of Russian interference in the election and whether it was tied to President Trumps campaign.

Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said Thursday the moves by the social media companies in the week leading up to the hearings show a growing recognition of how serious this problem is. Still, he said, he wants to see at the hearings next week a fuller disclosure of exactly what happened in 2016.

Some analysts have warned that policing such online election ads can be difficult. Its one thing to enforce advertising rules for a print newspaper or a TV station, where real humans can vet each ad before it is printed or aired. But that is much more complicated when automated advertising platforms allow millions of advertisers  basically anyone with a credit card and Internet access  to place an ad.

To address that challenge, Goldman says his company will try to create tools for enforcement.

For political advertisers that do not proactively disclose themselves, we are building machine learning tools that will help us find them and require them to verify their identity, he said in a Facebook blog post.

Mary Clare Jalonick is an Associated Press writer.
In a week when tech stocks hit records and a few more sexual harassers hit the fan, this also happened:

Snap was waaaay too optimistic about demand for its Spectacles, according to the Information, which quoted anonymous sources as saying there are now hundreds of thousands of the camera-glasses, pictured, still in Snaps warehouses. Less than half of those who bought the connected eyewear continued using them after a month, according to internal Snap data obtained by Business Insider.

A majority of white people say that whites are discriminated against in the U.S., according to a poll from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The survey also finds, though, that far fewer say they have personally faced discrimination  nearly 1 in 5, for example, said they faced bias when applying for jobs. And 84 percent of whites believe discrimination exists against racial and ethnic minorities.

Uber said it will add a free Visa card, with people getting cash back for loyalty, such as taking Uber rides and using UberEats. Will there be a special platinum Visa that lets Travis Kalanick score points with board members?

If you really want to get fast-food customers upset, punch their burgers. Time reported on a powerful antibullying PSA from Burger King that shows a high school junior being bullied at one of its restaurants, then what happened when a cook bullied a Whopper Jr., basically turning it into a hamburger mush. The spot reveals that 95 percent of customers reported the bullied Whopper Jr., but only 12 percent stood up for the student.

Aston Martin is now selling a Tom Brady Signature Edition, according to ESPN. The company will make only 12 of the convertibles, and they will cost $359,950 each  a big price considering that the tires will probably be underinflated.

Daily Briefing is compiled from San Francisco Chronicle staff and news services. See more items and links at www.sfgate.com. Twitter: @techchronicle
On the surface, the popularity of rehab shows in the Design on a Dime, Fixer Upper and House Crashers oeuvre might suggest theres a market for folks interested in the finer points of installing drywall, managing a miter box or crafting a flawless biscuit joint. And it would not be a leap in logic to presume such popularity would translate into people banging on doors with paint-stained fists to work in the trades.

That logic would be incorrect.

In fact, notwithstanding many, many hours devoted to the intricacies of accent walls, shaker panel wainscoting and light-emitting diode fixtures, not to mention framing, plumbing, electrical and HVAC, numerous positions in which one would get paid to deal with those very things are going unfilled. And thats a problem.

As reported in Sundays Herald & Review, were in the middle of what amounts to a worker shortage in the skilled trades sector. There just arent qualified laborers, despite the possibility of good pay.

At this point, you may be thinking this seems a little peculiar, given the conventional wisdom about the scarcity of jobs in our area. The Decatur region had a 5.1 percent unemployment rate last month, among the highest of the 16 areas in Illinois tracked by the state Department of Employment Security.

Such conventional wisdom also is incorrect. The reality is, there are plenty opportunities for employment -- and not in low-paying, menial tasks.

So what gives?

To start, more baby boomers are entering retirement age, leaving a huge gap. And the recession a decade ago also forced my skilled laborers to switch careers as projects dried up.

At the same time, the push for college education over the past few decades -- well-intentioned as it is -- has funneled scores of smart, curious and hard-working young men and women away from the trades and into four-year degrees. It was thought a bachelors degree is the only path to a high-paying position, and vocational education programs arent a way to get there.

The reality is, four-year degree programs - and the too-often shocking student loans that accompany them -- arent for everyone. We need carpenters, electricians, welders, mechanics and construction workers to keep our economy moving. These are important positions.

Thankfully, there are signs the issue is getting attention.

Mike Rowe, host of the popular show Dirty Jobs, has launched a foundation, mikeroweWORKS, focusing on the issue. And the original fix-it show This Old House on PBS has devoted this season to highlighting the topic.

Were also encouraged President Donald Trump in June signed an executive order increasing federal funding for apprenticeship programs. Locally, the group Men Macon a Difference, was formed by local laborers focused on closing the skills gap.

All of these examples highlight an important piece in this puzzle  having educational programs and a clear message to attract young people into the trades is critical. Hands-on experience at an early age exposes young people to opportunities. They can solve problems and develop solutions.

We need more of those workers entering our pipeline. Our economy is counting on it.
Police arrested two 14-year-old Milpitas High School students Thursday for allegedly bringing a firearm onto school grounds and carrying a concealed weapon.

Students at Milpitas High School reported seeing a student in the bathroom with a handgun around 12:05 p.m. Thursday. School security staff entered the bathroom and found a male student with an unloaded handgun and a loaded magazine in his backpack.

Police said that the student was taken into custody without incident. Milpitas High School, Pomeroy Elementary School and Russell Middle School were directed to shelter in place, police said, to facilitate a search of the campus. The order was lifted once the search was complete.

Other students reported a different 14-year-old boy possibly having a gun on campus at 2:15 p.m. but police said the students did not see a weapon. The high school was secured again while they searched for the student, who police learned was off campus in Milpitas. The student was found at a residence without a weapon, police said.

Police said the student found in the bathroom brought the handgun to school a few days earlier and had given it to the other student to hold for him. The gun was back in his possession when he was found, police said. Both boys were booked into Santa Clara Juvenile Hall on Thursday.

Anyone with information about this investigation can call police at (408) 586-2400.

Annie Ma is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ama@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @anniema15
A swastika drawn at the Glen Park BART station Friday morning is the latest in a series of vandalism incidents on BART property, officials said.

BART police are searching for a serial vandal suspected of drawing several swastikas and writing ethnic slurs on BART property over the past week. The first incident was reported Oct. 20, BART spokesman Chris Filippi said.
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Hundreds began lining up in the courtyard of Grace Cathedral as the sun dipped behind the stone spires on a warm San Francisco night in September. The crowd, many dressed in sweatpants or pajamas, were not waiting for a prayer service, nor a pop-up dining experience, nor tickets to "Hamilton." They were waiting to meditate.

The group queued up for the sold-out Sound Healing Symphony, organized by Sound Meditation SF, was diverse and large  about 1,200 people of all ages and subcultures, awaiting a few hours of sound-induced bliss.

An usher, prayer beads draped across her chest, checked the ticket on my smartphone as another usher doused our surroundings in burnt sage. A woman with a pillow tucked between her arms chatted with a friend as they waited to be let inside the cathedral.

"It can induce orgasm," the woman with the pillow said. Her companion nodded, sucking marijuana vapor through a silver contraption.

According to Guy Douglas, founder of Sound Meditation SF and a veteran gong player, the Sound Healing Symphony in San Francisco is the "largest sound bath in the country." Other sound meditation facilitators in California, including Jamie Bechtold of the Soundbath Center in LA, confirmed such claims.

Bigger isn't always better, especially when it comes to an intimate experience like meditation, but thousands of peace-and-love seekers in San Francisco have welcomed Sound Meditation SF into their health-and-wellness arsenals. The company has organized six mass meditations  of 1,200-plus attendees at Grace Cathedral this year, tickets for which sold out in a matter of hours. A typical sessions costs $25 for a floor space and up to $150 for the VIP meditation experience  a reserved spot at the front, near the instruments. (Note: Sound Meditation SF provided me with a free ticket.)

My curiosity was piqued by sound bath-faithful friends and Facebook events with 6,000 RSVPs, and I decided to set aside my skepticism and attend Sound Meditation SF's September session to try the new meditation craze sweeping up the city in a cloud of incense.

"I don't know where my money is actually going," mused one friend in attendance, who swears by the "magic" of sound healing. "But heck," she said, "it's cheaper than therapy."

The evening was undeniably enjoyable, even for someone like me, who often rolls her eyes at Burning Man-esque endeavors. In the end, it's hard to knock hundreds of people coming together in pursuit of inner peace, by whatever means.

Laying on a yoga mat, surrounded by folks with blankies and sleep masks, I felt like I was attending a giant slumber party, albeit with more gongs and New Age speak. Admittedly, such moments of equanimity were disrupted by some of the less zen among the attendees, who became possessive of their meditation space and growled when I tried to place my mat closer to the gongs.

As the evening progressed, a small orchestra of instruments  a harp, didgeridoo, monochord, vibraphone, Native American flutes, Tibetan bowls, chimes  filled the stone building with waves of complex tones for two blissful hours.

Sometimes I found the bizarre sounds distracting (I'm used to meditating in silence, with limited instruction from a teacher), and my mind filled with chatter as it tried to place which tone was coming from which instrument. Other questions popped into my mind, too, no matter how hard I tried to keep my thoughts  and skepticism  at bay.

***

As a lifelong practitioner of Buddhist meditation I was suspicious of Sound Meditation SF, having spent years attempting to cajole friends into attending meditation sits at my local, donation-based studio in the Mission District to no avail.

What made the company so successful? And how were they enticing some folks to pay $150 for a two-hour-long meditation? I spoke with Douglas and his co-founder Simona Asinovski to find out the magic behind the meditation movement.

Sound Meditation SF began with the gongs. Douglas, also known as "The Gong Guy" in certain communities, has played the instrument for upwards of 10 years throughout the nation. It wasn't until he joined forces with Asinovski, a self-described "little hippie who got into tech," that the massive sound baths truly took off.

Asinovski comes from a tech marketing background  she's already brought the baths to employees at Adobe and Facebook  and she's spearheaded the efforts to bring sound healing to the mainstream in San Francisco.

"I've ended up using a lot of the techniques I learned in tech marketing to promote Sound Meditation," she said, citing Facebook advertising as the primary way she reaches out to prospective meditators.

Ultimately, Asinovski and Douglas chock up their lightning-quick success  Sound Meditation SF was started about a year-and-a-half ago  not to savvy marketing, but community need.

"With the way times are right now, just how this year has been politically, people are feeling a lot of despair and stress," Douglas noted. "People are looking for some sanctuary, some place to go to unplug from the daily madness."

Sound baths, he suggests, are just the place.

When talking with the pair, it's obvious that Douglas is the spiritual brains behind the operation. He speaks in grand proclamations about the power of sound and its manifold healing benefits, some of which would certainly raise an eyebrow among scientists.

"The sounds of sound baths are designed to cancel mind chatter and bring you to that zero point of meditation," he said. "They can make your cells vibrate with the harmonics so that you reach a meditative state faster than with traditional meditation techniques."

The planets, he said, vibrate at a particular frequency, and musicians have "taken that knowledge and put it inside of these gongs."

Douglas went on to cite multiple incidences in which attendees had begun the sound meditation with physical pain and left with none.

"We're not exactly sure what's happening," he said.

Asinovski was quick to bring the conversation back to more concrete terms. She explained that they named the organization "Sound Meditation" in order to relate to more people.

"Healing is something people think you do when you're sick," she said. "We want to encourage the idea that coming home to yourself is something we should do all the time."

Now Playing: More Millennials may be cutting out church. Instead, they're seeking the stars to enhance their spirituality. Video: Buzz 60

***

As is true of many forms of meditation, the scientific research surrounding sound healing is nebulous.

Chris Kyriakakis, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of California and director of the Immersive Audio Laboratory, studies sound and its manifold effects for a living. He says there are countless scientific studies demonstrating the benefits of music therapy, specifically for those with Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, anxiety, depression and people recovering from acute myocardial infarction. Kyriakakis also concurred that sound can induce meditative state, although not necessarily faster than other forms of meditation.

None of the research he cited, however, relied on sound baths, crystal bowls, resonances or vibrations.

He also debunked Douglas' claims that gongs can be tuned to the frequencies of the planets and that cells vibrate in response to sound.

"[Cells] can vibrate," Kyriakakis, though only "when exposed to infrared laser light."

But what of orgasms, as my fellow sound bath attendee insisted she had experienced?

"As for inducing orgasm," Kyriakakis said, "the answer is ... sort of. There is quite a bit of published research on the ability of certain music patterns to produce chills or goosebumps. One psychologist has gone as far as to call this a 'skin orgasm.'"

***

In the end, I didn't experience a "flying through space" sensation nor an orgasm at Sound Meditation SF's Sound Healing Symphony. But I'll admit, it felt peaceful to lie down and hear live, beautiful music for a few hours.

When the sounds faded and the musical cleansing was complete, I fluttered my eyes open and quietly rolled up my mat to outpace the slow-moving masses maneuvering towards the door.

That evening, as I carved a path across the darkened streets of San Francisco toward home, I took a moment to check in with my body, and my psyche.

I felt rested, undoubtedly, though hardly enlightened.

Read Michelle Robertsons latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.
You can still see Robert Blakeleys ominous signs on old public buildings, rusted metal relics of an age when nuclear war was a clear and present danger. They marked the way to the fallout shelters where millions of Americans were to take refuge from the deadly radioactivity of thermonuclear explosions.

A half century ago, the bright orange-yellow and black placards were ubiquitous on courthouses, town halls, schools and other shelters packed with canned goods and water supplies to sustain anywhere from 50 to thousands of people for days or weeks. To many, they represented hope for survival amid the destruction of cities. To others, they symbolized the insanity of war and the folly of defenses against nuclear attack.

But to Mr. Blakeley, the 1.4 million fallout shelter signs he produced for the Army Corps of Engineers in 1961 were just a routine job, soon forgotten as he moved on to other tasks, never dreaming his utilitarian creation would become Americas most visible symbols of the Cold War.

Mr. Blakeley died Wednesday at 95 at Brookdale Southside, a senior living community in Jacksonville, Fla., said his daughter, Dorothy Carver.

It was the time of the Berlin crisis, when fears of a nuclear holocaust, and survival mania, reached a fever pitch in America. Newspaper articles detailed the killing effects of Soviet nuclear weapons. Children learned to duck and cover in schools. Homeowners built shelters in basements and backyards, and the morality of private shelters accessible to privileged families became a raging national debate.

On television, The Twilight Zone depicted friends and neighbors in fear of an imminent nuclear attack fighting over access to one familys shelter. A Life magazine cover featured the alarming image of a man in a civilian fallout suit and the headline How You Can Survive Fallout: 97 of 100 People Can Be Saved. The government issued a 46-page pamphlet, Fallout Protection: What to Know and Do About Nuclear Attack.

President John F. Kennedys public fallout shelter program was intended to ease the nations anxieties, but its very announcement terrified many Americans.

We have another sober responsibility, the president told the nation from Berlin on July 25, 1961, to recognize the possibilities of nuclear war in the missile age, without our citizens knowing what they should do and where they should go if the bombs begin to fall.

Robert Wilson Blakeley was born in Ogden, Utah, on Aug. 30, 1922, one of four children of Robert G. and Elsie Jean Wilson Blakeley. He attended public schools and Weber Junior College (now Weber State University) in Ogden, and studied for a year at Utah State University.

He joined the Marine Corps in 1943 and was a sergeant major in the 4th Marine Division invasion of Iwo Jima in 1945, one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. He was recalled to duty in the Korean War in 1951 and 1952.

His first marriage, to Jean Brown in the 1940s, ended in divorce. In 1952, he married Dorothy McArthur. She died in 1992. Besides their daughter, Dorothy, they had a son, Robert, who died at age 36. In 2003, he married Irene Allan Davis. In addition to her and his daughter, Mr. Blakeley is survived by three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Mr. Blakeley studied landscape architecture at UC Berkeley, graduating in 1954. After two years with the Veterans Administration, he joined the Army Corps of Engineers in 1956. To improve his speaking, he joined Toastmasters in 1958. He became its international president for 1976-77.

Given responsibility for the fallout shelter project, he decided that for durability, the signs would be made of metal and that the colors and design would be simple and eye-catching, even in the dark chaos of a city under attack.

It would have to be usable in downtown New York City, Manhattan, when all the lights are out and people are on the street and dont know where to go, Mr. Blakeley told Bill Geerhart, a blogger on Cold War topics, for an oral history that appeared on the website Conelrad Adjacent in 2006. The sign, he said, had to be something that would get peoples attention and give them direction to the location.

As the Cuban missile crisis, the Vietnam War and the buildup of nuclear arsenals raised the stakes, the signs became counterculture icons of the Cold War, mock symbols of apocalypse bobbing in war protests, featured in films and television dramas and plastered on campaign buttons, refrigerator magnets and album covers, like Bob Dylans classic Bringing It All Back Home in 1965.

But as the Cold War passed without nuclear calamity, federal funding and interest in the shelters faded, their signs rusted, and in 1980, Mr. Blakeley retired from government service, his omens of Armageddon all but forgotten or, where they still remained on buildings, ignored.

When his children were young, he told Geerhart, Wed go down the street, and one of the kids would say, Hey, Dad, theres one of your signs. But, you know, other than that, its just like many of the other things that happen in life. Its just one of those routine things.

Robert D. McFadden is a New York Times writer.
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low around 40F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low around 40F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph.
Police are investigating a reversed swastika drawn on a Stanford University building some time this month with similarities to other incidents of vandalism at the university and in Palo Alto.

The insignia was found on the Graduate School of Businesss faculty east building in the 600 block of Knight Way. Police believe the vandalism occurred between the evening of Oct. 18 and Oct. 21, when it was found by a security officer.
Ron Chapple/Getty Image

Police arrested a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of impersonating a police officer, using a siren and flashing lights to pull over an unsuspecting driver in San Leandro.

The victim told police he was going south in the 2100 block of Bancroft Avenue at 12:20 a.m. Friday when he saw a car passing him in the opposite direction make a U-turn and approach him from behind. The victim then saw red and blue flashing lights and heard a siren, police said, and he immediately pulled over because he thought he was being pulled over by an officer.
By Mher Yenokyan, Hetq Correspondent at Nubarashen Prison

Dear readers, known and unknown friends, Im thankful that we can converse here and in this format.

They send me all your replies to my writings. Thanks for the congratulations regarding my three court victories, and thanks for the wishes that, God willing, the day of my physical liberation will soon arrive.

Dont be surprised but, despite the injustices of 21 years, I believe that positive change will happen. Of course, such change isnt just given.

Today, I want to talk to you about the defense of individual rights. There are two perspectives on this. The first argues that struggle is necessary; that the individual is a factor. The second claims that struggle is senseless, and that everything is decided without any input from you.

I am of the belief that the higher the level of a societys intellect, especially familiarity about the law and the mechanisms to defend human rights, the faster that society can achieve positive and comprehensive change. Let me substantiate my belief by bringing examples of citizens whove wound up in prison.

For the past 22 years, I have seen that prison officials prefer that inmates not be knowledgeable about their rights and the legal avenues existing to defend their rights and protest illegalities. This is because when an imprisoned citizen starts to struggle knowledgeably, as a rule, that person stubbornly achieves victory.

Now, imagine for a moment, that a majority of imprisoned citizens demand, from prison officials, that their rights be implemented. Imagine that they start filing appeals, taking their cases through the court system and prosecuting their arguments effectively and rationally. Judges, in the end, would have no other choice but to apply the laws that exist.

I believe that, historically, the most effective way to persecute a people has been to keep them ignorant, most notably about the law. Rulers have sought to keep people uninformed, otherwise citizens would realize that it is up to them to achieve their rights and to make sure they are enforced.

Perhaps, Im naive in believing that by raising the level of legal awareness and by stubborn struggle certain progress can be achieved. Perhapsbut I believe it to be true and Ive applied the principal for the past 22 years.

Theres another viewpoint, more widely held, that using the law and demanding the defense of rights is simply a dead-end, a sham, since almost everything is controlled by a handful of rulers and that, in this equation, citizens are powerless and that the powerful are the decision makers.

Those who believe this say that its possible that the rulers can make small concessions now and then, creating the illusion that there is hope that citizens can achieve justice and effect change. But a person whos wound up on the legal circuit must spend time and money in the hope that all will be fine one dayBut when death comes, its too late, for an individual or a people, since we will not have reached the main objective.

If I were to transfer the logic of the followers of this approach from a societal level to a personal one, then I come up with the following scenario. Regarding my visitation rights with family, the court followed the law and justice was achieved. But this was the limit of that justice. I mustnt expect more.

For example, I should not expect a voiding of the death penalty sentence in the main case, or a reopening of the criminal caseTo be honest, I realize that the visitation issue should never have reached the courts, with all the associated time, stress and wrangling. The system artificially created all of this to waste my time and to inspire me into believing that the citizen, perhaps, is a player; a change maker. Perhaps, those who support this viewpoint are also correct.

But I remain loyal to the first group  to struggle with hope, to self-educate, to hone ones legal knowledge. My own example shows that despite closed doors and more than two decades of imprisonment, one must not tire and give up, thinking that everything is predetermined.

Perhaps, my 21 years of struggle will be soon rewarded with the victory of justice. Perhaps, independent and upright judges will sit on the Cassation Court, who will nullify the illegal and unjust 1996 court decision sentencing me to death.

I would like to see the theory of informed struggle take hold and practiced, and for justice to be restored for all of Armenias citizens.

(Mher Yenokyan, serving a life sentence, has been imprisoned for the past 21 years)
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued a man who was stranded on his 10-foot boat south of the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge on Thursday night.

California Highway Patrol dispatchers contacted the Coast Guard at about 9:45 p.m. Thursday about a report from the man's son, who said his father was on a disabled boat near the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge.
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SANTA ROSA (BCN)

Santa Rosa firefighters extinguished a grease fire Thursday morning at a Carl's Jr. restaurant that survived the Oct. 8 Tubbs Fire that destroyed homes further west in the nearby Coffey Park neighborhood.

The fire at the restaurant at 3640 Industrial Drive near Cleveland Avenue was reported around 11:10 a.m., Santa Rosa Fire Department Battalion Chief Matt Dahl said.

RELATED VIDEO: Firefighter perspective

Now Playing: A Berkeley firefighter that was called to Santa Rosa during the first hour of the Tubbs fire. He captured the first moments in a video that provides a unique perspective. Video: KTVU

A citizen reported flames coming from the roof, and bystanders helped evacuate the restaurant Dahl said.

The fire in the kitchen hood system and ventilation fan then spread to wood in the attic, Dahl said.

The blaze was controlled in 15 minutes, Dahl said.

The cause is under investigation, and damage to the structure and kitchen is estimated at $75,000. Dahl said.
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

Police officers involved in the fatal shootings of two suspects and the deaths of two people in police custody have been cleared, the San Francisco District Attorney's Office said Thursday.

The officers were cleared following investigations by the district attorney's Independent Investigations Bureau, which reviews use of force cases.

The bureau concluded that Officer Kenneth Cha should not face criminal charges for fatally shooting Nicholas Flusche on May 3, 2017.

Flusche was at a Subway restaurant that day when police got a call that someone was stabbing an employee with a knife. When Cha and Officer Jordan Cagonot arrived, the officers ordered Flusche several times to get on the ground.

But Flusche did not listen and Cha shot and killed him.

Prosecutors said they will not pursue criminal charges against Cha because available evidence, a report, video surveillance and witness statements support the conclusion that Cha acted to defend the life of another person.

The bureau also cleared four other officers in the June 19, 2016 death of Robert Bower. Bower died while in police custody.

San Francisco's Chief Medical Examiner Ellen Moffatt concluded after an autopsy that Bower died of a methamphetamine overdose, meaning that prosecutors will not pursue criminal charges against Officers Ian Goold, Franco Ragusa, Kathleen Cavanaugh and Andrew Sargenti.

Additionally, two other officers have been cleared in the death of Marvin Day who died July 2, 2015, after he had been transferred to medical personnel from police custody.

Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Hunter found that Day died of "acute methamphetamine toxicity," and that "atherosclerotic heart disease with cardiomegaly" played a part in the death.

Prosecutors said that after reviewing available evidence there is nothing to show that Officers Eric Kuk or James Puccinelli acted criminally in connection with Day's death, so they won't pursue criminal charges.

In the death of Alice Brown, who died March 17, 2015 when Officer Michael Tursi and Sgt. Tom Maguire shot her, the three officers have been cleared.

Brown was shot to death as she was driving and posed a threat to the lives of police and others, according to prosecutors.

Before the shooting, police tried to stop Brown because they thought she was driving a stolen vehicle. But she fled and officers started pursuing her on foot.

Prosecutors said during the chase Brown rammed occupied and parked cars, drove the wrong way on a one-way street, drove on a sidewalk, nearly hit a motorcyclist and crashed into a building.

Prosecutors said they will not pursue criminal charges against Officers Tursi and Maguire and Officer Donn Peterson because they don't believe they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers' actions were not taken to defend themselves or others.

Investigations by the Independent Investigations Bureau focus only on whether criminal charges against the officers should be filed.

Prosecutors said the bureau's review says nothing about whether officers complied with police policies and procedures, say nothing about their training or tactics and nothing about civil liability issues.

A series of officer-involved shootings put the city's police department under a substantial amount of intense scrutiny last year. The scrutiny ultimately led to the resignation of then Police Chief Greg Suhr, who stepped down after the officer-involved shooting of Jessica Williams May 19, 2016 when she was shot to death by Sgt. Justin Erb during a confrontation.
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SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

Two organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and two outside have come together to cut the time it takes to discover cancer drugs from about six years to one, officials with the consortium said today.

The effort, which launched today, brings together experts in drug discovery at the University of California at San Francisco, experts in supercomputing at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab, experts in chemical and biological data at GlaxoSmithKline and experts in medicine at the Frederick National Lab for Cancer Research.

ALSO: These creepy crawlers could be used to treat lung cancer (story continues below)

Now Playing: The fluid from these earthworms has been shown to destroy lung cancer cells in the lab, according to Polish researchers. Buzz60's Sean Dowling (@seandowlingtv) has more. Video: Buzz 60

EINSTEIN'S THEORY OF HAPPINESS: Einstein scribbled his theory of happiness in place of a tip. It just sold for more than $1 million.

The experts hope to provide treatments that provide better outcomes for patients and their efforts could lead to discoveries that speed up the development of drugs to treat other diseases.

Officials with the consortium, which has been named Accelerating Therapeutics for Opportunities in Medicine, are open to partnering with other public and private partners.

The consortium will be headquartered at UCSF's Mission Bay campus in San Francisco.
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SAN LEANDRO (BCN)

A 15-year-old boy was arrested in San Leandro early this morning after he allegedly pretended to be a police officer by using a simulated siren and flashing lights to pull over another car, police said.

The victim in the incident told police that at about 12:20 a.m. he was driving his car south in the 2100 block of Bancroft Avenue when another vehicle passed him in the opposite direction, quickly made a U-turn and began driving behind him.

The other vehicle was a Ford Crown Victoria, the type of car that's used by many police departments, according to police.

The victim said he then saw red and blue flashing lights and heard a siren and pulled to the curb because he believed he was being pulled over by an officer, police said.

But the victim became suspicious as the driver of the Ford Crown Victoria, who turned out to be the 15-year-old boy, got out and began walking toward his car dressed in plain clothes, according to police.

The driver feared for his safety and immediately accelerated away, while simultaneously calling 911, police said.

The impersonating vehicle also fled the area.

San Leandro police began searching for the suspects' vehicle and a short time later a neighboring police agency located it in the area of 159th Avenue in unincorporated San Leandro, according to police.

The Crown Victoria's four occupants were detained, including the 15-year-old unlicensed driver, police said.

The victim driver was able to positively identify the suspects' vehicle and the 15-year-old as the suspect, police said. Officers arrested the teen on suspicion of impersonating a police officer.

Additionally, a 19-year-old suspect was arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to police. The other two juveniles who were in the Crown Victoria were released to their parents, police said.

Authorities said it appears that the suspects used a phone app to simulate a siren and red light. No weapons or other police equipment were found inside the suspects' vehicle, police said.

San Leandro police Lt. Isaac Benabou said in a statement, "The real police work of stopping vehicles is an extremely dangerous task and should not be considered as fun. These individuals not only placed the motorist at harm but themselves too."

Benabou said no weapons or other police equipment were found inside of the suspects' vehicle.
Its hard to argue with a concept as vague and as insipid as wellness, even as its metastasized into a whole industry preying on consumer anxieties with its meditation apps and raw juices. But perhaps its biggest vulnerability is a simple one: that we dont deserve to be well.

Or as Ned (Ben Beckley) puts it in Small Mouth Sounds, in a world riven by fires and mass starvation and dislocation, and especially climate change and war, maybe we shouldnt be at peace.

The touring Ars Nova production of Bess Wohls play, which opened Thursday, Oct. 26, at ACTs Strand Theater, is about a silent meditation retreat  so Neds spiel in a question-and-answer session with an unseen guru (Orville Mendoza supplies his vacant, eerily inflected disembodied voice) is among the scripts longest passages of text. Its also among its most profound. Is self-care not just indulgent and narcissistic, but immoral?

Trouble is, Wohls six characters are also of little use to the world when theyre in their natural state of all-encompassing unease. Theyre the crowd you might expect at a retreat: multigenerational and multiracial, all flowy sweaters, convertible pants or skinny jeans, copious beads, fleece vests. (Tilly Grimes did the costumes.) Each can barely stumble into the secluded meditation room in the woods on the retreats first day without committing some crippling faux pas. Without the aid of words, the cast, under the direction of Rachel Chavkin, make their snarky or petrified thoughts abundantly clear: Were we supposed to take off our shoes? Why did this guy sit millimeters away from me in an otherwise empty room? Why is my neighbor taking notes? Should I be taking notes? Where does my own partner get off acting like shes a professional meditator?

As the teachers voice prattles on, its a delight to watch expressions morph  often with little more than a relaxing or tensing of the brow  from eye socket-boring terror to feigned comprehension to sassy skepticism to earnest need, each actor silently inflecting his or her characters own bottomless dread with a whole unique biography of hurts and regrets. Wohl doles out that backstory through single judiciously chosen moments. All you might get is a rueful shake of the head, a noiseless scream, a back doubled over in pain, yet from that motion alone you instantly construct the detailed life story that has led each lost soul to seek such extreme help.

But as the retreat soldiers on, and actors return to their same deer-in-the-headlights expressions in scene after scene, the humor starts to wear off. Throughout the play, characters seem to feel exactly the same about the retreat as they did at the beginning, even as their relationships with one another evolve or devolve (some more credibly than others). Part of Chavkins point is that its really hard for any sort of self-help or self-care to actually change you, no matter how desperately you want healing. But even if the retreat is fleeting, evanescent, the play chronicling it ought not to feel that way, too, if its to fully satisfy.

One idea that Small Mouth Sounds hints at but doesnt fully develop is that even as fear brought these six schlemiels and schlimazels to the retreat, so did bravery. It takes guts to heave yourself into the unknown, to commit to days and days of silence, to expose your vulnerabilities to strangers. At a time when we might not deserve to be well and at peace, we certainly need courage, and Wohls characters, in their own benighted, hapless ways, are trying to summon it.

Lily Janiak is The San Francisco Chronicles theater critic. Email: ljaniak@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LilyJaniak

Small Mouth Sounds: Written by Bess Wohl. Directed by Rachel Chavkin. Through Dec. 10. One hour 45 minutes. $14-$90, subject to change. ACTs Strand Theater, 1127 Market St., S.F. (415) 749-2228. www.act-sf.org

To see a video introducing the cast: https://youtu.be/M7BQ1EdEXyo

To see a trailer: https://youtu.be/m_4GOFuJ-PM
Jeanne Brousse said she did not know any Jews before she began rescuing them as a young clerk at her local prefecture in Nazi-occupied France.

I felt horrified by the atrocious fate likely to befall all these innocent victims whose only mistake was to have been born Jewish, she once told historian Martin Gilbert. I was determined to find solutions so that the greatest number of those who came to me could be saved.

Mrs. Brousse, who in 1973 was named Righteous Among the Nations by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, died Oct. 19 at a nursing home in Annecy, the Alpine town near the Swiss border where she conducted her lifesaving wartime work. She was 96.

Her son Denis Brousse confirmed her death and said he did not yet know the cause.

As one of the Righteous Among the Nations, Mrs. Brousse was among the more than 26,000 gentiles recognized by Yad Vashem for having risked their safety, while seeking no reward, to save Jewish lives during the Holocaust.

In an account of her deeds, Yad Vashem described Mrs. Brousse as having been known by Jews living (in) or near Annecy ... as someone to turn to in time of need. That need became most dire after September 1943, when Italy, which had occupied Annecy and had largely refused Nazi demands for the deportation of Jews, abandoned the Axis to join the Allies.

Under German control, the Jews of Annecy and elsewhere in France faced imminent and mortal danger. Mrs. Brousse, then Jeanne Maurier, credited her Catholic faith with giving her the courage to confront her own dangers as a rescuer.

I was faced with a number of painful, tragic situations, Gilbert quoted her as saying in his book The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust. Nothing was organized at the beginning. We had to find individual solutions case by case  quickly. It was so risky. My family and I were faced with impossible problems, and we had to think of ideas, subterfuge and ruses.

Yad Vashem credited Mrs. Brousse with using her access to prefecture materials to provide ration cards and false identification documents for Jews seeking to escape detection by Germans or French collaborators.

Working with the French resistance, she helped find hiding places, particularly for Jewish children. Among those children were Francoise, Nicole and Danielle Schilli, daughters of a French rabbi, Henri Schilli, who survived the war and testified to Yad Vashem of Mrs. Brousses works.

Using her government contacts, she learned and warned Jews of impending roundups and helped them flee to the neutral territory of Switzerland.

Approximately 77,000 Jews residing in French territory died in the Holocaust, most of them at Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp located in occupied Poland, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Gilbert wrote that several dozen families owed their escape to Mrs. Brousse.

Jeanne Elise Maurier was born in Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille, near Annecy, on April 12, 1921. Her mother was a homemaker, and her father worked at the prefecture.

Jeannette, as she was known, was preparing to enroll in nursing school in Paris when the war broke out. Her son said she began her rescue work when a French Jew approached her, knowing that she worked at the prefecture, and with utmost discretion asked for her help.

In 1944, after her region of France was liberated, she married Jean Brousse, also a local government employee. He died in 2003. Their daughter, Claudie Brousse, died in her teens. Survivors include two sons, Michel Brousse of Lyon, France, and Denis Brousse of Smithville, N.J.; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Denis Brousse said his mother did not speak about her rescue work until the 1970s, when she received her Yad Vashem recognition. Later in life, she participated in public discussions about the Holocaust and the threats of anti-Semitism.

Our first duty consists in overcoming our self-centeredness  to inconvenience oneself, to deprive oneself  when one of our human brethren is in danger, Mordecai Paldiel, the former director of Yad Vashems Department of the Righteous, once quoted her as saying, whoever he may be, from wherever he may come.

Emily Langer is a Washington Post writer.
DAKAR, Senegal  Sitting on the floor and dressed in black, the 15-year-old held her baby as panicked tears welled in her eyes. Her husband, two decades her senior, could kill her if he found out she was telling her story, she said.

She was married at age 13 in the West African nation of Guinea because her parents feared she could harm her marriage prospects by having premarital sex. At the time, she said, she had not even developed breasts.

I was given to a man that I didnt choose before my body was even ready to have sex, she said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. I couldnt even move for a week afterward because I was swollen and bleeding.

Child marriage remains deeply entrenched in West and Central Africa, home to six of the 10 countries with the highest rates in the world. Rights groups and political and religious leaders from across the region gathered in Senegal this past week to seek ways to curb the practice.

Outspoken survivors of child marriage urged them on.

More than half of girls in Guinea are married before age 18. While the country recently banned marriage for those under that age, observers say the practice remains widespread. Some girls enter arranged marriages during times of insecurity or when families are under economic strain.

This is a complex issue driven by poverty, cultural norms and families trying to do the best for their children, said Save The Children International CEO Helle Thorning-Schmidt. But until we break the cycle where the only way a girl can give her family honor is to marry and have children, then we will not change this.

Child marriage affects nearly 15 million girls around the globe. The rate is as high as 76 percent in Niger; in Chad and Central African Republic it is 68 percent. Mali and Burkina Faso have rates above 50 percent, according to data from Save the Children and Girls Not Brides.

Experts say education for girls is key to providing them with opportunities beyond marriage, and to improving regional prosperity.

Musu Bakoto Sawo, now a 27-year-old lawyer and human rights advocate from Gambia, was married at age 14. She was 21 when she became a widow and inherited nothing.

She said education is the only reason she has thrived, calling it the only way I could go against the system.

Even for those who avoid an early marriage, social consequences can be immense. Fatoumata, 14, called it the nightmare of my life when her family said she was to marry her 39-year-old cousin.

My father said if I refused this marriage I was no longer his child, she said. He threatened my mother too ... she has suffered because of me. She gave only her first name for fear of reprisals.

Some young women may embrace early marriages, seeing them as protection from insecurity in conflict-ridden areas, said Zuwaira Bello of the advocacy group Girl Child Concerns. The group operates in northern Nigeria, where the Boko Haram extremist insurgency is known for kidnapping young women and forcing them into marriages.

Carley Petesch is an Associated Press writer.
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BURLINGTON  Racine Countys Foxconn information session at Veterans Terrace on Tuesday was busy.

This is huge, said Burlington Mayor Jeannie Hefty. You can see the parking lot is so jammed now with cars from people turning out for this.

Burlington is about a half-hour drive from the future site of Foxconn, which is expected to employ thousands of workers. Hefty said she and other city officials are watching the Mount Pleasant development and trying to plan ahead so they can take advantage of it.

We actually are a little bit ahead of the curve, she said. Ive been asked by three different levels of government, Is Burlington ready for this? and I think we are.

Debbie Davidson, vice president of Workforce and Economic Development at Gateway Technical College, said that with computer numerical control (commonly known as CNC) and other manufacturing certifications available at the Elkhorn and Sturtevant campuses, Burlington residents can prepare for the job opportunities brought by Foxconn.

So they can train for these jobs and find good-paying jobs that are going to be worth their commuting time, said Davidson. (Burlington) is not that far from where this will be.

Racine County Economic Development Corp. (RCEDC) Business Development Manager Laura Million said that in addition to job opportunities for Burlington residents, RCEDC is anticipating the project will create new opportunities for local businesses or new businesses to the area who want to be part of Foxconns supply chain.

Infrastructure

The city may also see some infrastructural benefits further down the line. Wisconsin Department of Transportation Southeast Region Director Brett Wallace said that right now the DOT is working to make sure Interstate 94 and other roads in immediate proximity to the site are ready for the increased traffic. But many Burlington residents on Tuesday asked him about Highway 11.

What weve told folks is that were very early, he said. Over the (next) six months to 12 months, we will be detailing out what the improvements are that are necessary on Highway 11.

Hefty said the city has been discussing expanding its business and industrial parks to attract new businesses. City officials are also considering developing some of those areas for residential sites.

I know Burlington is one of the cities that is targeted for some (Foxconn employees) to get away from the city area of Racine and move this way, she said.

Million said she sees the Foxconn development as an opportunity for Racine County and cities such as Burlington to tell the story of their community.

Burlingtons been working very diligently on looking at redevelopment and trying to reinvigorate their downtown, said Million. So theres the opportunity to recast and tell the story about Burlington and get those individual storefronts filled. Its a new opportunity to tell their story and bring new people into the community.

Hefty said the population increase could give Burlington an economic boost.

Weve been kind of stagnant around 10,000, 10,500 (population) for quite a while, she said. Any time you can get people in good jobs and just keep the economy moving, its good for everybody.

Still early

Hefty is aware there are still a lot of unknowns. As an RCEDC board member, Hefty said shes also keeping an eye on the project as it develops.

We have to be careful, too, as a community ... and just see whats going to really happen, said Hefty. There are all moving parts right now that are coming together. But we are on it and watching it and being involved in it.
Another piece has been put into place to bring the Foxconn Technology Group to Wisconsin, as the Racine County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution at the board meeting on Thursday to transfer county roads that are within the construction area to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

The county will be transferring parts of County Highway H and KR, located within the tax incremental district in Mount Pleasant, to the Department of Transportation until 2021.

The idea is to have one government body oversee road construction instead of having the county and state oversee their roads during the project.

The Village of Mount Pleasant approved the same resolution on Monday pertaining to village roads.

WEDC hurdle

Although the village and county are ready to hand things over to the state, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. still has not signed an agreement with Foxconn, officially bringing the company to Wisconsin.

Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave said its a minor hurdle but all indications say the negotiations are progressing.

(In) the development agreements, some of the details say we have to have some things done by the end of the year and if we dont it just creates more work and some dynamics that we may not control or be able to control if we have to go into next year, Delagrave said. It starts as soon as the state gets their parts done. As soon as the development agreement is signed by the state and by the Racine County.

Delagrave said he hopes the agreement will be signed by November 10.

Speedy passage

Right before the board meeting, the Public Works, Parks and Facilities Committee met to approve the resolution.

One unusual aspect of the resolution is the speed at which it went from committee to board approval by having both first and second readings on the same night.

Theres not a lot of margin for error to get everything done before we need to start this project, Delagrave told committee members. With the fluidness of this project, I apologize for the first and second reading component thats not something we advocate here but theres not a lot of room  for the timeline to be successful.

Julie Anderson, director for Racine County Public Works and development services, said Timeline sequencing is critical and this is a critical piece of that sequencing.

Delagrave said he wants Foxconn in Racine as fast as possible.

This economic development project is obviously one of a kind, Delagrave told committee members. I apologize for the haste for which this has been brought to you. Some of these dynamics, although they were not in our control, I think this is a great deal for Racine County.
The Sauk Prairie area is getting a little help with visioning for the Water Street corridor from students in the UW-Madison Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture and MDRoffers.

The partnership is a commitment made by the communities of Sauk City and Prairie du Sac to find ways to revitalize Water Street, the main thoroughfare connecting the two communities along the Wisconsin River.

Masters students in the department will work with UW alumnus and certified planner Mark Roffers, who serves as planner for the village of Prairie du Sac and a consultant for Sauk City at times. The students work to fulfill a degree requirement and gain practical knowledge and experience in planning.

In turn the villages will receive a visioning document with guidance on the latest in planning thought and practice, with emphasis on making Sauk Prairie a better place to live and work while furthering a high quality of life.

According to a news release issued by UW-Madison, the goal is for students to work with community leaders, residents and stakeholders to leverage Sauk Prairie areas advantages  like easy access to Highway 12, close proximity to Devils Lake, the Great Sauk State Trail, Vintage Brewery along the Sauk City waterfront, Wollersheim Winery in Prairie du Sac, the scenic Wisconsin River, national headquarters for Culvers Franchise System and restoration of the former Badger Army Ammunition Plant as prairie land and recreational area.

Dave Marcouiller, a professor at UW-Madison who also serves as an extension specialist, said the project started in the fall of 2016 when the school out a call for proposals across the state about potential planning projects the students could participate in.

The Sauk Prairie area answered.

This looked to be a good opportunity to get the students involved, Marcouiller said. It provides a service to the community and is a great opportunity. Its a capstone project for the students to get real world experience in planning.

Prairie du Sac Village Administrator Alan Wildman said it was due to a recent updated provision in the Sauk Prairie Comprehensive Plan that was adopted in April to consider an inter-community Water Street visioning process. After seeing the request from UW, Wildman said the village put together a proposal, which the school accepted.

We are thrilled this project was accepted and that we will get to do this with the students, Wildman said. It will be looking at Water Street through the two villages and beyond, River Road to highway Z and how to get a consensus vision of what the corridor should look like.

Wildman said it could include anything from signage, building fronts, pedestrian usage, the roadway and more, all with the goal of making the Sauk Prairie area a better place to live.

It can only benefit us to have people from the outside come here and take a look, Wildman said. There might be things they come up with we really like. Some things might even get implemented. Some might not. But it will be a learning experience for both us and the students.

According to Ken Smith, communications liaison for the UW-Madison Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture, the project began last semester with a pre-workshop class which provided students with expectations and a chance to prepare them for the project.

Right now we are working on getting the gears turning, Smith said. We have reviewed a number of studies which have been done including a 2015 Great Sauk Trail Cooperative plan, a 2017 Sauk Prairie Commuter survey done by UW-Extension, a 2017 Sauk Prairie Market Analysis and other documents. We have also done precedence studies on other communities both in Wisconsin and across the United States for examples pertaining to the three different groups.

Smith said the student group will continue to explore examples from other communities and will conduct outreach in a way that will prevent duplication of previous work done.

We want to hear from youth, the elderly, as well as working-age adults in the community because each demographic group has a different perspective to offer on what they want Water Street to be, Smith said.

Marcouiller said there has been a shift in focus on communities near bodies of water on how to recapture the water front.

A lot of emphasis tends to be on Water Street but there is also a focus on how to recapture the waterfront, Marcouiller said.
At the risk of sounding elitist, Madison is too good for Taco Bell  and tacking Cantina onto its name and margaritas onto its menu doesnt much change that.

If thats not reason enough to reject a liquor license for the restaurant, its latest proposed location in the heart of Downtown should be.

Bell American Group submitted a liquor license application and other documents this month to open Taco Bell No. 3004063, a Taco Bell Cantina, at the same location where a regular Taco Bell closed a few years ago: 534 State St. Bell American is part of the San Francisco-based Flynn Restaurant Group, which operates some 883 Taco Bell, Panera and Applebees restaurants across the country.

If this werent bad enough in locavore-crazed Madison, among the other things I learned from the documents are that the restaurant would:

Be open from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 5 a.m. Friday and Saturday

Serve alcoholic beverages with one shot of alcohol added on top

Have menu items including the 840-calorie cheesy bacon jalapeno dipper and 320-calorie fiery Doritos double decker taco

Offer a vegetarian menu to ensure broad appeal (because apparently, Madison vegetarians make a run for the border, too).

To be clear, I dont hold any particular ill will toward Taco Bell or alcohol, but each has its place.

Specifically, Taco Bell is the place you go after youve stopped drinking  not the place you go to start drinking or, worse, to drink more.

The first is an insult to much finer places to drink. The second courts nausea.

And then theres the proposed location of the Taco Bell Cantina: the heart of the heaviest-drinking part of a heavy-drinking city in perhaps the heaviest-drinking state.

A booze-free Taco Bell in Madisons Downtown would be something like a public service  offering the kind of cheap, filling food that sops up liquor consumed elsewhere and steadies the constitution of people who might drink too much, but who are at least classy enough to do it someplace other than Taco Bell.

Like every development proposal in Madison  especially ones involving alcohol  Bells application is just an opening bid, and theres reason to believe Taco Bell will never be able to ply tequila-spiked Mountain Dew Baja Blast Freezes on State Street.

Ald. Mike Verveer, who represents much of the Downtown and is a longtime member of the Alcohol License Review Committee, said it would be unusual for the city to grant a liquor license to a traditional fast food restaurant like Taco Bell. Fellow ALRC member, Ald. Paul Skidmore, said: I have many reservations about this license, and the message we would be sending if we approve another liquor license in this troubled area.

Mayor Paul Soglin gave me a two-word reaction to the proposal: absolutely not.

On the other hand, Madison is a city whose City Council overrode Soglins veto of a liquor license for a State Street restaurant whose menu consisted mainly of french fries (although even that wasnt enough to keep it open).

So for our self-respect, if not necessarily our livers, get ready to grab a beer and run from the border.
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Edward Durkin, a former chief of the Madison Fire Department and an activist, died Friday. He was 88.

Durkin worked for the Fire Department for 34 years, serving as chief from 1979 until his retirement in 1985. Under his leadership, the department recruited and hired the citys first female firefighters and worked toward a more inclusive environment for minorities.

He was always a real idealistic guy, said his son Pat Durkin, a freelance columnist covering outdoors recreation for the Wisconsin State Journal for more than 25 years. He really had good instincts about people.

The longtime activist led firefighters on a strike in 1969 while he was the Local 311 president and bailed then-Ald. Paul Soglin out of jail that same year. Durkin was arrested while supporting a teachers strike in 1974, and hosted a party noteworthy enough to be on the front page of The New York Times.

In a city tense over the Vietnam War, police cracked down on a block party on Mifflin Street the first weekend of May 1969. The clash led to violence between police and UW-Madison students, with more than 100 people arrested.

The following weekend, students looked to have another block party. But to avoid another confrontation, then-Capt. Durkin offered prospective party-goers the use of his backyard off Old Middleton Road.

Our neighbors werent really happy with him, Pat Durkin said.

But his father thought it was more important to keep the peace than appease his neighbors, the younger Durkin said.

The headline in The New York Times read: A Party in Madison: Peace Breaks Out.

I was finding being a neutral very boring, Durkin said in 1982 about his stint on the state Personnel Commission. I hope some day to find being a neutral stimulating.

A public servant

The younger Durkin said his father always kept his telephone number in the phone book, insisting that people should be able to reach him if hes acting as a public servant.

Durkin had six children with his wife, Winnie. The two were married for 65 years. He had 12 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

While Durkin was born in Madison and lived on the West Side for decades, he and his wife spent their most recent years largely at Lake Poygan in Winnebago County.

After leaving the Fire Department, Durkin became a Realtor. He also served as president of the American-Soviet Friendship Society of Madison, which encouraged better understanding of each others nations.

He ran for Dane County executive in 1988 and pledged to spend no more than $100 on his campaign while refusing to accept donations.

He was without a doubt a guy who had the courage of his convictions, Pat Durkin said of his father.
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Children, parents and teachers across Wisconsin are being asked to help decorate the state Capitol Christmas tree by sending ornaments celebrating the building's 100th birthday.

Students are being invited to send homemade ornaments, which will adorn the tree in the rotunda, that match the State Capitol 100th birthday theme until Nov. 22.

"With the centennial celebration of our state's Capitol building occurring this year, we want this year's State Capitol Christmas tree to honor and celebrate this milestone," said Gov. Scott Walker.

A 40-foot tall Wisconsin-grown Balsam Fir is usually selected as the holiday tree and decorated with about 700 feet of gold garland, 2,400 multicolored lights and 1,400 handmade ornaments, according to a state website with information on the Capitol.

For information, call 608-266-1485. Ornaments can be mailed to the Wisconsin Department of Administration, Division of Facilities Management, at 17 W. Main St., Suite 119, Madison, WI 53703.
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Things were rising from the dead in Canberra on Saturday, and it wasn't Barnaby Joyce's chances at the High Court.

Hundreds took to the streets to walk, or shuffle, from Glebe Park to Garema Place dressed as zombies for the Canberra Zombie Walk.

Sandra Warn, Tash Beattie, Jasmin McKenzie, Gabrielle Kierath and Jocelyn Kierath at the Zombie Walk in Civic on Saturday. Credit:Rohan Thomson

From blood-soaked nurses, to even zombified grandparents, the large hoard of undead certainly gave passers-by a scare as they made their way through Civic.

Now in its fourth year, this year's walk was the event's largest, also serving as a fundraiser for brain cancer.
Bavaria paid a visit to Queanbeyan this weekend with the annual Oktoberfest celebrations held across the border for the first time.

After more than 50 years in Canberra, the Harmonie German Club hosted its Oktoberfest event at the Queanbeyan Showgrounds.

Dean Schmahl celebrates skolling a beer at Oktoberfest at the Queanbyean showground. Credit:Rohan Thomson

With more than 10,000 litres of beer, more than a tonne of pork knuckle and a quarter tonne of sauerkraut plus many more delicacies punters were guaranteed an extravagant German experience.

It was lucky the event happened at all as Harmonie club president Kevin Bramboeck said there were difficulties when it came to negotiations with the ACT government.
German sweet maker Haribo said on Friday it was investigating companies in its supply chain following allegations of slave labour being used on its suppliers' plantations in Brazil.

Haribo, famous for its fruit-flavoured gummy bears, came under fire this month after a German television documentary alleged that workers producing a key ingredient used to make the sweets - carnauba wax - were trapped in modern-day slavery.

Are Haribo's gummy bears used with slave labour? Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

The workers harvesting the palm leaves to make the wax were forced to sleep outside, denied access to clean drinking water and paid $US12 a day, according to an episode of the series "Markencheck" ("Brand Check"), which aired this month.

"We are extremely concerned by some of the images shown on the consumer programme," a Haribo spokeswoman said in a statement. "The conditions on ... the Brazilian plantations shown are insupportable.
While Anju was working long hours at a clothes factory in Bangladesh, one of her young daughters was bitten by a dog.

So Anju and her husband, a rickshaw driver, sent their children far away to live a safer life with their grandparents, and the young couple only see their girls twice a year.

Garment worker Anju, who sews jumpers for 37 an hour in a factory in Bangladesh. Credit:GMB Akash/Panos/OxfamAUS

The 25-year-old sews jumpers sold in Australian shops including Katies and Rivers, earning 37 an hour, a wage that does not cover even basic costs like accommodation and food.

Her story is one of many included in aid organisation Oxfam's new report, What She Makes: Power and Poverty in the Fashion Industry, which estimates 4 per cent of the price of a garment sold in major Australian retailers is paid to the factory worker who made it.
Melbourne's wealthiest areas also put in the longest hours at work, with neighbourhoods clustered around the central business district recording the highest rates of full-time work and overtime.

More than one in five workers living in the council areas of Port Phillip, Yarra, Stonnington and Bayside, put in 49 hours (or at least nine hours of overtime) a week, according to statistics obtained for The Sunday Age by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last week.

While almost 55 per cent of wage earners living in Port Phillip work 40 hours or more, only 34 per cent living in Greater Dandenong work the same amount of hours, with less than 40 per cent living in Whittlesea, Hume and Brimbank doing the same.

The individual suburbs within those areas with the largest share of workers putting in more than 40 hours a week are all huddled around high-income-earning areas.
After 18 years working at the Streets ice-cream factory in the Sydney suburb of Minto, Michelle Parkin is "hugely nervous" about her future on a single income.

The 57-year-old grandmother is among 140 workers facing an uncertain future since the company applied to the Fair Work Commission to terminate their existing enterprise agreement on wages and conditions.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, which represents the factory workers, has warned them they face a pay cut of up to 46 per cent of their wage if their current agreement is terminated and they fall back onto the award.

Ms Parkin, who has three adult children, the youngest aged 21, takes pride in her work as a machine operator.
Under the present government the situation is reversed. We have land auctions without sufficient land to meet demand and with keen bidding resulting in unaffordable prices.

We had a federal government and it was very conscious that Canberra was the national capital and should set an example.

To achieve practical solutions it often helps to look back into our past for remedies to our present problems. The original cause of this was very simple. From the 1950s to the 80s we did have affordable housing for there was ample affordable land.

Sunday's editorial (Sunday CT, October 22, p18) drew our attention to the plight of the homeless in the ACT. The conference was, as to be expected, full of impractical but well meaning suggestions.

There is a simple solution which is to go back to the past and make abundant land available. Sell it over the counter at independently valued prices and most importantly separate the price paid for the land from the total price of the land/house package.

The land could be sold over a long time span. The land could be bought when young and sat on for a long period then used as a deposit on the building of the house. There would be provisions that it would be a one-off sale and could not be resold for profit.

Using modern European building techniques we could build an attractive 120 square metre house for around $200,000. This in turn would mean a weekly repayment of around $300. This of course would rise over time by the Consumer Price Index.

Using the accepted definition of an affordable house which is one third of the average weekly single income, this would put housing in reach of the average person which in turn would release more already built public housing to the needy.

The question we must ask is, would this suit our present ACT government? The sad answer is no. They are so much in the red through light rail that they desperately need the high land prices and subsequent high rates. Would an alternate Liberal government be better? Probably not, but they could not possibly be worse.
For many years now, like a mug, I've had my money sitting in an online savings account, generating pitiful interest, while paying my full marginal tax rate on any meagre earnings. Former treasury secretary Ken Henry also took pity on me in his tax review, recommending people like me should enjoy a tax deduction on my savings earnings, to put me on par with the tax discounts on shares and property. Former treasurer Wayne Swan had a go at implementing it, but got mugged by that nasty Global Financial Crisis. But no matter. Because I know that when I do finally enter those hallowed halls of home ownership, I will have bought myself a ticket to the greatest tax minimisation scheme ever invented. The great Australian dream? The great Australian tax dodge, more like. For those who can afford the entry price.

Immediately, any gains I enjoy in the value of my savings will be completely tax free. House prices go up 10 per cent? Fabulous. Put that in my pocket and keep it there. Capital gains tax free, baby. Should I enjoy great success in life, and one day purchase a second property, perhaps I'll rent out this modest abode. If my rental costs do not cover my mortgage and other costs, I'll be able to claim any difference as a deduction against my taxable income. Negative gearing, baby. If I need to repair a fridge, I'll tax deduct it. If I need to visit my property to nosy parker on my tenants, I could have been able to tax deduct costs incurred, until the government clamped down on it this year. If I need to use a real estate agent, I'll tax deduct the cost of those fees. And one day, it'll be time to retire and enjoy the good life.

When that day comes, I'll most likely need to use my super nest egg to pay off my mortgage  if they still let that happen by then. I may ruefully wonder what the point of superannuation was, if it just kept me out of the home ownership market for longer and denied me the supercharge gains of the 2012 to 2017 property boom. No worries, I'll be able to make do on the pension. Unless, of course, there's so many old people by then, and so few of my child's generation to fund it, that it's not sufficient to get by on. But if the rules stay the same, I'll be able to tax dodge again. My coveted family home will be excluded from the pensions assets test, meaning it won't be included in any test of my eligibility to receive the part or full pension. Happy days. I expect, being a compassionate sort of person, I will stop and spare a thought for all those not lucky enough to get a foot on the property ladder, those still living in the private rental market in their retirement.

I'll hope policy makers heeded the calls from economist Saul Eslake that home ownership, as a pillar of the retirement savings system, has long since crumbled. I'll hope that all those clever clog "rentvestors"  people choosing to rent and invest their money in shares, considered the retirement implications of such a strategy. And then I will rest and enjoy my retirement, until one day I'm able to use my fully paid home as bond on a comfortable aged-care facility. I'll look back and realise that the entire system was set up to encourage me into home ownership. That I was lucky enough to get a foot in the door of the greatest tax dodge in history, when many others couldn't. It's what the famously tax-averse Kerry Packer would have wanted.
It may not come as a surprise that men highly value physical attractiveness. A woman's physical attractiveness was 18 per cent more important in getting a man to say yes than was a man's attractiveness in getting a woman to yes. Women valued intelligence roughly twice as much as men did, and men did it an odd way. The more intelligent the woman was, the more likely the man was to say yes, right up to the point when he thought she was as intelligent as he was. Beyond that extra intelligence didn't help at all.

It was even worse for ambition. Women valued it. Men valued it up until the point they thought the woman was as ambitious as them. Beyond that, it counted against the women. It made men more likely to say no.

An endearing characteristic of men was that they didn't much care about race. For women it mattered a lot. They were 14 percentage points more likely to say yes to someone of their own race than someone of a different race, which, given that they said yes 38 per cent of the time, made race enough to turn an ordinary no into a definite no or into a moderately strong yes.

But that's changing. Online dating is replacing bumping into people at bus stops and hooking up with friends of friends or speed dating. Almost instantly the universe of potential dates has become massive.
As a doctoral student in literature at UW-Madison, Sagashus Levingston set out to write her dissertation on literary portrayals of marginalized mothers who had done something extraordinary.

From her days tutoring adult students as part of the UW Odyssey Project, which provides humanities classes for adult students facing economic barriers to college, she knew such women were out there.

I just remembered the amazing stories the women used to tell me about the things theyve overcome, and the ways theyre giving back  and how nonjudgmental these women were, she recalled. They were so compassionate about the human condition.

But they werent well represented in literature, she said.

That revelation led to Infamous Mothers: Women whove gone through the belly of hell  and brought something good back, a book dedicated to these women  African-American mothers whove overcome enormous obstacles  whose stories Levingston could not find on bookshelves.

The book is illustrated with photos of radiant women, all uniquely beautiful, placed alongside their eye-opening narratives  intimate stories, unapologetically told, about challenges like teen pregnancy, drug addiction, a history of sex work, and always the struggle to give their children a better life.

For many, their stories of sexual or domestic abuse and exploitation is juxtaposed against the victories they won for themselves. The overall tone is not one of self-pity, but of self-understanding.

Her book is breathtaking, said Amy Gannon, a founder of the Doyenne group, a Madison nonprofit that supports female entrepreneurship, and that helped Levingston work on a business strategy for Infamous Mothers.

When you look at the book, with these beautiful women telling really powerful, powerful stories about their own courage and their own resilience, that just shakes up the traditional narrative in our mind in a really amazing way, Gannon said.

Shes speaking to a population in a way we havent seen, and I think that can be game-changing.

The book, however, is just part of a much larger project.

Levingston, 39, has written a teaching curriculum around Infamous Mothers. She hopes that by getting the book into university classrooms, she can expand understanding of a group of Americans that society has largely dismissed.

A life of contrasts

An infamous mother herself, Levingston lives in a Downtown Madison apartment with her six children, ages 3 to 17, with a past that is filled with contrasts.

She grew up on Chicagos poor South Side, went to an elite boarding school in the wealthy northern suburbs, and came to Madison 11 years ago for graduate school. Last winter she could not afford a winter coat; now shes the author of a richly designed, 144-page coffee table book that retails for $49.95.

Even the title Infamous Mothers has a dual meaning.

The dictionary says the word infamous means reprehensible, detestable, Levingston explained last week at her dining room table, over a cup of hot cocoa served by her 14-year-old son Cho.

But what were doing is what African-American culture has always done, which is signify  you take that word and you reassign it meaning, or expand the meaning. In African-American culture you say, My shoes are bad, meaning theyre good.

When Levingston told some of the UW Odyssey students about her Infamous Mothers idea, they quickly signed up to be interviewed, she said. They told their friends, and suddenly I had too many to feature in the book.

She launched a Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $25,000 for the project and brought on photographers Tanisha Lynn Pyron of Michigan and Chris Charles of North Carolina.

During her interviews, she explained that infamy has a two-part meaning. That led to the questions, What is the part that is really the stigma around your life? And what is the accomplishment?

Of the 20 women profiled in the book, eight are from Madison. Each was told to come to a photo session dressed in the way they wished people would see them, said Levingston, who instructed Dont just come in your Sunday best. Come in the way you want the world to see you.

So Twjuana, a woman who was once homeless and now owns and does repairs on her own house, posed for photos with an electric drill.

Tanisha, who recounts a girlhood of being called sexy instead of pretty, who bore a child in her teens and once worked as a stripper, arrived for pictures in a delicate lacy white dress, a crown of pink and red roses in her hair.

Theres a part of her thats really girl-like, Levingston said. Thats why the images were really important.

No longer invisible

But after work for the book was done, I had these 20 women who said, Well this was awesome. Now what?, Levingston said.

They said, We need more than this. Youve given us a voice and a platform. Were no longer invisible. And we need this community.

So Levingston developed a curriculum and discussion series based on Infamous Mothers. She also leads monthly workshops for young single mothers in the Madison YWCAs Third Street program, and is in talks to take her workshop model to other YWCAs and organizations in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois.

Its a really empowering conversation, said Third Street program coordinator Nancy Wrenn Bauch. She really speaks about things that are important to them, and inspires them to value themselves and their abilities  and gives them a chance to explore some different kinds of possibilities for themselves.

Levingston has put her dissertation on hold, partly to see where Infamous Mothers will go, and also because she is home-schooling her children, including a son with severe dyslexia. She now supports her family with income from paid speaking engagements, she said.

In November, shell be the keynote speaker at the Wisconsin Self-Determination Conference for people with disabilities, will lead workshops at the End Domestic Abuse conference in Green Bay and will present her work at the Dane County Trauma Informed Care Summit, which looks at issues around the care of abused and neglected children.

Infamous Mothers concludes with a list of suggested study questions, and Levingston is promoting it for use in university classrooms  womens studies, African-American studies, visual culture, social work, sociology, she said.

For me, that is my way of getting back into academia  for the books to end up there, and for me to do speaking on campuses.

Its kind of like the Wisconsin Idea  believing that the work of the university has to have a relationship beyond the university, between the university and the community, she said.

My work is very similar to that, in that I believe the folks I will most touch, or who can most benefit from this work, are the community. But I believe that the folks in the university should also benefit from it.
It's perfectly rational to believe in conspiracies. When something happens that seems impossible, it's natural to look for a human explanation  and if the CIA can try to kill Fidel Castro with an exploding cigar, or Richard Nixon's boys can bug the Watergate Hotel, why wouldn't the KGB shoot John F Kennedy and pin the blame on a chump called Lee Harvey Oswald?

Of all the conspiracies, the one against JFK is the most appealing because the subject was so attractive. President Trump knew what he was doing when he allowed 2,800 files to be released on the assassination, a crime that in popular memory brought down the strongest president in an era of the highest ambition.

President John F. Kennedy and his daughter, Caroline, in 1962. Credit:AP

Kennedy pledged to fight communism and go to the moon. The playwright Tennessee Williams said he was almost "too attractive" to be president. There was a conspiracy of sorts to hide images of him limping about on crutches, one symptom of many illnesses, which meant that when Oswald shot him dead from the window of the Texas School Book Depository, the public was left with an impression of a virile leader felled by a "magic bullet". There had to be an element of magic in it because the Kennedys were cursed by bad luck: first Jack assassinated; then Bobby, shot in a hotel pantry; then Ted's car span off a bridge at Chappaquiddick Island and his female passenger died; then Jack's son killed in an plane crash.

Coincidence? Can fate really be that cruel? Yes. It can also be perversely kind. The assassination of JFK pickled his memory in aspic: black and white photos of a brilliant young man full of potential. Had he lived, however, Kennedy might be remembered as a byword for disappointment. Vietnam would still have happened. The riots would still have happened. Nixon would probably still have won the 1968 election.
As a tragic for the popular music of the 1960s and 70s, I have never been an easy sell for talk radio or spoken-word journalism. I'd always rather listen to greatest hits and golden memories. Yet I have been unable to resist the allure of the true-crime podcast.

It started for me, as for so many others, with the first series of Serial, which was produced by the team behind This American Life, a weekly program on public radio in the US. Released in 2014, it investigated the 1999 murder of Baltimore high school student Hae Min Lee.

Shamim Syed and her son Yusuf Syed, the mother and brother of Adnan Syed, was convicted for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee. Credit:Patrick Semansky

A well-trod path then led me to S-Town, which is also from the This American Life team and was released in March. S-Town starts as a true-crime podcast, when journalist Brian Reed in New York receives a tip-off about a murder that may have happened in the tiny town of Woodstock, Alabama.

It turns out there was no murder, and S-Town morphs into a character study of the man behind the false lead, an eccentric horologist named John B. McLemore.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will be Australia's acting prime minister while Malcolm Turnbull travels to Israel, the Prime Minister has confirmed, while the position of deputy prime minister will remain temporarily suspended until after the New England byelection.

"Julie Bishop will be acting prime minister while I will be overseas, and Nigel Scullion has been appointed interim leader of the National Party," Mr Turnbull said on Saturday.

"Barnaby Joyce remains the leader of the federal Nationals but he is not currently in the Parliament and therefore the normal order of precedence in terms of acting prime minister falls to Julie Bishop as deputy leader of the Liberal Party and Foreign Minister."

Turnbull cabinet minister and Nationals MP Darren Chester said the position of deputy prime minister would not be filled until after the New England byelection on December 2, where disqualified former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has been forced to go back to the polls.
Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has said there is a "powerful argument" that US President Donald Trump's threat to scrap the Iran nuclear deal could imperil efforts to negotiate a peaceful outcome with North Korea.

In a significant sharpening of Australia's public rhetoric on the Obama-era Iran agreement, Ms Bishop said she had asked US officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, how they would counter the argument that North Korea could not trust the US if it walked away from previous international agreements.

Julie Bishop Bishop has asked how US officials would counter the argument that North Korea could not trust the US if it walked away from previous international agreements. Credit:AAP

Ms Bishop also said she had a "working assumption" that China was ultimately prepared to cut off North Korea's oil to force it into negotiations to stop its nuclear program.

The US President vowed during his election campaign to tear up the deal, but this month kicked the issue to the US Congress, effectively demanding it either come up with a tougher approach or he would follow through on his threat to scrap it.
Charities would be prevented from advocating for society's most vulnerable and campaigning on issues critical to the public good under what they fear is a federal government plan to ban foreign donations to the sector.

Special Minister of State Scott Ryan has not confirmed details of the bill, which is being drafted, but said the ban on foreign political donations will "apply equally" to all political and campaign spending.

The Minerals Council of Australia said some environment groups did not properly disclose funding sources or political expenditure. Credit:AAP

The government is seeking to prevent foreign parties from influencing Australian elections through donations to political parties, as well as third parties such as trade unions and politically active interest groups.

The move is being interpreted by critics as an attempt to muzzle charities and progressive lobby groups, such as GetUp!, that have campaigned against Coalition policies.
Papua New Guinea has deployed its notorious "paramilitary" police squad to assist with the imminent shutdown of the Manus Island detention centre, warning refugees' safety cannot be guaranteed.

Tensions are expected to come to a head within days as local police prepare to forcibly move refugees and asylum seekers from the Australian facility to accommodation in Lorengau, 30 minutes away.

Manus provincial police commander David Yapu says he will call in reinforcements if required. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

And simmering anger over Australia's role has boiled over, with Manus Island's governor reportedly threatening to sabotage the move unless furnished with a "package" involving a stadium or hospital.

National police chief Gari Baki blamed a "small disgruntled faction among the refugees ... who are creating uncertainty", warning his officers would be outnumbered by the 718 refugees on the island.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, famous for its annual gala hosted by Anna Wintour, hosted its inaugural Halloween bash - and it was every bit as fabulous as you'd expect.

Although Halloween officially falls on October 31, the party was held at the museum on Thursday night, New York time, with a star-studded line-up who pulled out all stops in the spooky department.

Wendi Deng, ex-wife of Rupert Murdoch, led the scary parade, donning Day of the Dead-inspired make-up and a gold headdress, as she attended the party with her partner, 22-year-old Bertold Zahoran, who's 26 years her junior.

While most of the starlets are used to frocking up flawlessly for the red carpet, some of the celebrities at the party were practically unrecognisable in their freaky get-ups. Here are our favourites.

Karlie Kloss and Joan Smalls
When it comes to terrifying looks for Halloween, Donald Trump is proving popular this year.

A survey of 3500 Australian stores shows sales of masks of the US President were up 67 per cent this month. They come complete with comb-over but trick or treaters will need to bring their own phone for threatening tweets.

Hot seller for Halloween: Donald Trump mask. Credit:Costumebox.com.au

Also selling strongly ahead of Halloween have been masks of Darth Vader (up 60 per cent) and creepy clown Pennywise from the hit movie IT (up 22 per cent) on Vend data that compared sales for the past two months.

According to Belinda Marsh from Fancy That Costumes in Crows Nest, Trump masks were also big sellers last year but creepy clowns  either the licensed Pennywise costume or home-made versions with make-up  have joined the list of scary looks this year.
The wellbeing of Australian women ranks 17th in the world, according to the new global Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Index, released at the United Nations on October 26.

Measuring inclusion, justice, and security for women in 153 countries, Iceland placed first while Syria and Afghanistan tied for last place.

On a global scale, the story of Australian women's wellbeing is "quite positive". Credit:Kerry Murphy

The top 12 countries, which consisted primarily of northern and central European countries including the United Kingdom along with Spain, Canada and Singapore, rated highly on scores such as women's education, their own bank account and cellphone use (considered a sign of autonomy). Unlike the low ranking countries, they also had very low shares of men believing that it is unacceptable for women to work.

"The countries in which more than half of men do not accept women working include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, and Yemen, and rates range as high as 73 per cent in Pakistan," wrote the paper's authors from the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
Two of Australia's leading arts donors have launched an attack on the federal government's arts funding agency, accusing it of "outrageous behaviour" and lacking the skills to represent artists.

Millionaire philanthropists Neil Balnaves and Simon Mordant have indicated they will halt their financial support of Australia's participation at the Venice Biennale after the Australia Council for the Arts announced changes to the selection of artists and management of the show.

Cate Blanchett opened Australia's pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale with an inaugural exhibition by Fiona Hall. Credit:Angus Mordant

The arts funding agency will also bring the management of the exhibition in-house and issue an open invitation to artists to apply to exhibit work at the world's pre-eminent contemporary art exhibition.

The position of an independent commissioner  a role most recently filled by Melbourne-based arts philanthropist Naomi Milgrom  will also be abolished, according to Mr Mordant, a claim disputed by the Australia Council.
William F Buckley Jr. first met Ronald Reagan at a Beverly Hills event. WFB was the keynote and Reagan was to do the introduction. The event began rather poorly as the microphone had not been turned on and the balcony level control room was locked. Reagan exited the room through the window, walked a foot wide ledge to reach the control room several feet away and entered through a window he broke with his elbow, minutes later to the delight of the audience the microphone was on and the program proceeded. So began a great friendship that thrived for the next 35 years.

Ever wonder what books would provide a good foundation for conservative political thinking? Illinois conservative Daniel Brinkman is offering his insight to Illinois Review readers with the first of several thoughtful reviews of books he thinks would strengthen conservatives:

It is well known that Bill Buckley founded the modern conservative movement. The how? of the matter is generally dispensed with justly in four simple words National Review, Firing Line. Alvin Felzenberg gives us a much richer tale of how conservatism conquered, from Eisenhower to George W Bush.

At Yale, the young WFB saw in the 1948 ultra-left Henry Wallace candidacy that ideas even in losing causes can gain acceptance over time and that the left through a myriad of organizations and communications outlets had helped change norms and policy outcomes. Buckley took it as his lifes goal to build a similar infrastructure for conservatives.

Over the ensuing decades in addition to NR and Firing Line, Buckley founded activist groups and embarked on many a crusade to either expel liberals from the Republican Party, or to keep the movement free of elements that might tarnish its respectability. He worked to place conservatives in positions of influence and gave quiet and not so quiet counsel to presidents over half a century.

WFB performed the self-appointed role of tablet keeper of the conservative movement, excising the John Birch Society leadership, and later in 1968 using his nationally syndicated program Firing Line to wholly discredit George Wallace who was trying to claim he was a conservative.

Boldness was always the theme, whether actively advancing the brand, or exposing those candidates running only nominally as Republicans. The still thriving YAF (Young Americans for Freedom) was founded in 1960, partly as a response to Nixons moderate positions. Fearing a philosophical reversal following the defeat of Barry Goldwater, in 1965 WFB ran for mayor of New York City to frustrate the ambitions of liberal Republican John Lindsay. Statewide in New York, WFB worked tirelessly to blunt the ambition of another liberal Republican, and sole state party financier, Nelson Rockefeller. In 1988 Buckley skunked yet another liberal Republican in Lowell Weicker even backing Democrat Joe Lieberman to beat Weicker after no one had challenged him in the Connecticut primary.

The last decade of WFBs life saw the proliferation of conservative media that surely would not have come about without his paving the way. In an event at the White House honoring his 80th birthday, George W Bush observed, And today, we've got, of course, an abundance of conservative columnists and radio hosts and television shows and think tanks and all kinds of organizations. I guess in an intellectual sense, you could say these are all Bill's children.

Sprinkled throughout this volume are many vignettes shedding light on WFBs character and one liners to brighten the soul. Felzenberg brings fresh light to the founder of modern conservatism, and lets WFBs wit and effervescence shine through.

Available on Amazon.com
Kerri-Anne Kennerley was promoted as the host of the inaugural Pet Blogger Awards, but her agent said she had never been approached. Credit:Janie Barrett But though the appeal raised $910 none of it was ever returned to the charity. When Ms Anderson-Dieppe asked Ms Lyelle to transfer the money she had raised, Ms Lyelle changed her name and dropped Ms Anderson-Dieppe as a Facebook friend. The Fundrazr page set up by Louise Lees, then known as Louise Convy, to pay back Greyhound Rescue for covering Panda's vet bills. "She didn't raise that much ... she did raise it under the name Greyhound Rescue," Ms Anderson-Dieppe said.

Ms Lyelle's 2013 disappearance was also noticed by the pet industry, which had been hotly anticipating the inaugural Pet Blogger Awards to be sponsored by Four Paws PR in partnership with Dog's Life magazine and hosted by Kerri-Anne Kennerley. Bill and Moira Daw say they were left out of pocket $46,000 by their former tenant Louise Lyelle. Credit:Brook_Mitchell Pet companies had lined up to sponsor a particular category, with each $5000 award to be forwarded to a charity of the winner's choice. Janine Yeates, who was then office manager of the Pet Industry Association of Australia, said it was only after the PIAA had deposited about $4000 that it emerged that Kennerley had never heard of Ms Lyelle. "At the time it was like we'd been dudded all this money and how were we going to pay it back?" Ms Yeates said.

"She just vanished into the night. She had so many different aliases and all that. We just put it to bed. I must admit, she was very convincing." The incident followed Ms Lyelle's attempts to establish "Howloween" to raise funds for animal welfare agencies in 2011. A crowdfunding website was established but the event never occurred. The NSW Supreme Court registrar referred Ms Lyelle to the Director of Public Prosecutions last month for misleading the court over her failure to pay rent on an Edgecliff property, the third eastern suburbs address at which she had gone into rental arrears since 2014. But her history of rental default extends back to 2009, when Bill and Moira Daw forwent $46,270 of their retirement nest egg in unpaid rent on their investment property at McMahons Point. Mrs Daw worked full-time as well as caring for her ailing mother and did not notice for a year that she had not been receiving the rental income.

When asked to explain, Ms Lyelle produced a copy of the lease, which Mrs Daw later swore in an affidavit appeared to have been doctored to change the bank account number by one digit, ensuring that none of the money had transferred. It took another five months of wrangling before they could have her evicted. On one occasion she said she would pay once she had received outstanding money from a rubbish removal business, but the manager of the business said she had not done any work for him in two years, though she had continued to send bills until he involved his lawyers. Ms Lyelle had proceedings at the Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal adjourned because she had been admitted to hospital with brain seizures, but the doctor purported to have written the medical certificate later denied having done so in a signed letter and the hospital said it was not its letterhead. "It went on and on," Mrs Daw said.

"Her mother was ill or she died and she'd been in an accident and she was pregnant and she'd had a miscarriage and it was all rubbish, just rubbish. "I did take it to the police to see if there was some way we could prosecute ... [The police said] if you want to prosecute you have to do it yourself." Ms Lyelle never paid the rent despite orders by the CTTT. The Daws recouped some of their loss by suing the real estate agent for not checking her references and employment record. "I wanted to try and stop her from doing this to other people," Mrs Daw said. Ms Lyelle did not return calls from Fairfax Media.
Under the soft pink and purple lights deep inside a glorified shed known as the Capital Men's Club, something snaps.

Bikie frivolity quickly transforms into ugly violence as fellow Comanchero gang members suddenly start in on each other. Some smash schooner glasses into their own foreheads in an apparent act of courage and bravado before laying the boot into others.

Comanchero boss Mark Buddle (left) with Ali Bazzi in the Mediterranean. Buddle has sent Bazzi home to take charge of the bikie gang after warning members via text message to stop infighting.

There are about 40 Comancheros inside the strip club, in the ACT suburb of Fyshwick, after hundreds had gathered in the national capital as part of the gang's national ride to coincide with its "annual general meeting".

By the time some sort of calm is restored, and the local constabulary enters the one-storey building in the middle of an industrial estate, a sea of glass is spread across the sticky carpet and blood runs from wounds.
The state government's potential legal bill arising from compulsory acquisitions has soared to more than $650 million, as landowners challenge the forced purchase of their properties.

Internal emails show officers at Roads and Maritime Services were aware of rezoning submissions that had the potential to significantly increase the amount it would pay for properties.

The WestConnex proposal includes a plan for the acquisition of a property on Lilyfield Road, Rozelle.

RMS has been scooping up properties to make way for major infrastructure projects such as WestConnex and NorthConnex using its compulsory acquisition powers.

But the practice has upset some landowners who say RMS is acting opportunistically and offering compensation that's only a fraction of what a property is potentially worth.
Schools in North Sydney are imploring the state government to guarantee that ventilation stacks from road tunnels for the proposed Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link not be built within a kilometre of their grounds.

Fearing for the health of students, five schools including Wenona and North Sydney Boys' High said placing non-filtered ventilation stacks in an area proposed in North Sydney "seems irresponsible at best, and potentially negligent at worse".

In a letter to state politicians on behalf of the schools, Wenona principal Briony Scott said it was dispiriting that the road tunnel project had "given no consideration" to increased car emissions in an area of North Sydney with a high number of schools.

"There are already significant pollution concerns from existing traffic routes," she wrote.
When Cheryl Brealey describes her childhood as tough, it's an understatement.

The second-oldest of nine children, she was raised in Balmain, Glebe and Leichhardt in the 1950s, well before they became the gentrified inner west.

"They took my worth": Cheryl Brealey is a survivor of child sexual abuse. Credit:Tash Sorenson

With no money, an absent father and a mother who suffered mental health problems, she was often forced to beg shopkeepers for food.

By the age of nine, she was separated from her family and placed in Burnside Presbyterian Homes for Children in North Parramatta, where she experienced unimaginable torment for two years.
Brisbane drivers were greeted by "traffic chaos" on Saturday, with a host of road closures causing congestion on numerous inner-city streets, according to the Australian Traffic Network.

ATN reporter Ben Mihan said there was congestion on "pretty much every street in and out" at the height of the road closures, with delays not clearing until the early afternoon.

The historic Freedom of Entry march in Brisbane on Saturday morning. Credit:Twitter - @martin_yperen

Inner-city roads were closed to make way for Brisbanes 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment, which held its largest mounted Freedom of Entry March into the city on Saturday.

The parade commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Beersheba, which was the last great cavalry charge, taking place on October 31, 1917.
WARNING: The content of this story may be distressing.

It's a Thursday night in a psychiatric unit in Melbourne and Jess Anderson is being bitten by one of her patients. The woman has latched onto her forearm with her top and bottom teeth, and is pulling as hard as she can.

Jessica Anderson has left her job as a mental health nurse after developing PTSD after a series of attacks against her by patients. Credit:Jason South

Who knows exactly what is going through the woman's head at this moment, in throes of probable drug-induced psychosis.

But Jess' mind is on her colleagues. One of her workmates is sprawled on the floor after being thrown across the room. The other is doubled over in pain after being kicked in the groin.
Hundreds of litres of fuel have leaked from the Altona Mobil refinery in Melbourne's west on Saturday.

Firefighters were called to the refinery at the corner of Millers and Kororoit Creek roads after the leak was detected about 11.30am.

Firefighters attended the Altona Mobil refinery after a fuel leak on Saturday. Credit:Pete Glenane/Hivis Pictures

MFB spokeswoman Heather Stockton said the spill was under control when firefighters arrived.

"We had reports of about 700 litres of product which had leaked from a petrol line that had corroded," she said.
"I am doing this for reasons of full disclosure, transparency and in order to put any and all conspiracy theories to rest," he wrote in a series of tweets.

President Donald Trump says he will release all of the JFK files. Credit:Bloomberg

Trump said on Saturday he was making the move after "strict consultation" with his chief of staff John Kelly, the CIA and other agencies. Only the names and addresses of people still living would be withheld, he said, in a repeat of a Friday statement.

Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he will release all remaining documents relating to the 1963 assassination of President John F Kennedy, after CIA and FBI concerns led to a delay in their publication.

About 2800 files were released by the National Archives and Records Administration on Thursday, about 300 short of the number that still exists.

The remaining files were still to be redacted by the CIA to protect national security.

Mr Trump said on Thursday he had no choice but to accept those redactions but ordered agencies to review each one over the next 180 days. At the end of that period he would order the release of any information that the agencies were unable to demonstrate meets the statutory standard to keep them secret.

It was unclear what impact Mr Trump's latest announcement would have on the 180-day timetable. As of late Saturday the remaining files had yet to appear on the National Archives website.

The records had to be made public by October 26 under a 1992 law that required they be opened 25 years later, unless the president determines that releasing them would harm national security.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On October 28, 2017, the Joint Logistic Support Ship Zr. Ms. Karel Doorman will dock in St. Maarten for the last time. A variety of relief goods for St. Maarten are on board of the ship. On board of the ship are trucks, beds, digital schoolboards, laptops, temporary shelter houses, medical supplies and equipment, cupboards and printers. Apart from relief goods for St. Maarten, there are also containers on board for Saba and Statia. The containers for Saba and Statia contain mostly goods like furniture, chainsaws, concrete mixers, refrigerators, and stoves.

The marine ship left in September for the Caribbean and is on his way to St. Maarten from Curacao and Aruba, where the Dutch relief goods were loaded on the ship. Since September the ship has done multiple stops in the Caribbean region to deliver and reload relief goods on the islands.

After arrival organizations such as the Red Cross, the hospital, the local ministries and the police can pick up the relief goods that are allocated to them. The offloading of the shipment is organized by the civil mission of the Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands. The Karel Doorman is the biggest vessel of the Dutch navy. The ship is 205 meters long, 30 meters high and 8 meters broad.

BZK Press Release
The photo above of the students' handbook was taken by the parent of a 7th grade student - and a public school teacher herself. She posted it on Facebook with these comments:

Within the program's outline, 12 year olds were introduced to four different types of sex: mutual masturbation, oral, vaginal and anal.

OKLAHOMA - A Christian crisis pregnancy center in Oklahoma is responsible for publishing and distributing a sex education program that has area parents and taxpayers up in arms.

Like I said, Jake and I didnt know. At least not until Wednesday, when our TWELVE year old daughter called (in tears) asking to be checked out. She had just spent her third day in this class, where boys and girls are combined, and male and female instructors take turns teaching our kids about sex education. Obviously sex education has taken a huge turn since I was in school. My daughter handed me a workbook that she was supposed to be bringing home each night so that parents can continue the conversation about what was discussed in class. She hadnt done that.and in her shaky little voice, said she was too embarrassed. She begged me not to make her go back to this class. After opening the workbook, I understood why. I was appalled at what someone in our school system had deemed appropriate to talk to my child about. My TWELVE year old child (who still colors in coloring books). In a room where boys and girls are combined. With male instructors (or female, depending on the time of day, I guess) who are not teachers (or Nurses) in our school system.

Many in the Jay, Oklahoma community shared this parent's outrage. But the source of the curriculum poured fuel on the fire. It was a local "Christian" crisis pregnancy center.

What has happened is a firestorm in that little community, Linda Murphy, an education adviser to former Governor Frank Keating, told Big League Politics. This came from a Christian crisis pregnancy center called Lighthouse Pregnancy [Resource] Center, and it passed through their hands into the public school system. The program is called 'Shape - Sexual Health Awareness Prevention and Education.' This is just way off the wall to the norm of most Oklahoma citizens thinking."
SIMPSON BAY:--- On Sunday, October 22, the Sint Maarten Police Force assisted by members of the Police Forces of the Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao, The Royal Marechaussee, VKC and VKS, carried out extra patrols in the Simpson Bay area, since a benefit concert took place at Kim Sha Beach. Just before midnight, one of the bike officers on the Billy Folly Road, saw a man driving reckless that drew his attention. The officer approached the man, but the driver was not amused that the officer signaled him. The driver purposely attempted to run over the Bike Patrol Police Officer with his car. When the police officer noticed what was happening, with a swift, well-trained response, he fortunately managed to avoid the vehicle.

After this act, the man drove off, but the police officers noted the vehicle details. Several patrols were informed by the Central Dispatch Center to be on the lookout for the vehicle. Shortly thereafter, the same car was found in Simpson Bay area. The suspect was identified and due to good police work and combining forces, the suspect was apprehended a bit later at a local establishment in Simpson Bay. The suspect P.B. was arrested at 00:30 am on Monday, October 23, and brought to the Police Station for questioning.

The Sint Maarten Police Force will not tolerate and will use all means of the law, to act against this type of behavior.

Minor arrested with a knife after school hours.

ST. PETERS:--- On Monday, October 23, around 12:30 pm, the Sint Maarten Police Force received a call about the student of a secondary school in St. Peters, who was most likely in the possession of a knife. A patrol was sent to the school and by the time they arrived and found the student in question, the suspect J.G. (17 years old) threw the knife in the bushes and when the officers found it, the student claimed it was not his weapon. The suspect did not have a valid ID card at that moment. The Police Officers took him in custody and brought the minor suspect to the Headquarters in Philipsburg for questioning. After hearing he was sent home with a stiff warning from the police officers.

Armed robbery at Lucky Star.

DUTCH QUARTER:--- The Special Robbery Unit of the Police Department is presently investigating an armed robbery at the Chinese Supermarket Lucky Star in Dutch Quarter. The incident took place on Thursday, October 26th at approximately 07.15 p.m. The call came into the Emergency Dispatch who immediately sent the police patrol to investigate what had taken place. On the scene, the officers spoke to the victims and several witnesses. According to the information that was gathered, one young man with a handgun threatened the employee with his weapon and took money from the cash register. The suspect fled the scene on foot with an undisclosed amount of money. Detectives are investigating the armed robbery, any tips are welcome.

KPSM Police Report
Governor of Illinois. I have selected as my Lt. Governor Rich Morthland, a farmer, former state representative and community college professor from the Rock Island area.

Today my team and I are taking the first step toward s restoring commonsense in Illinois. I have started circulating petitions to place my name on the ballot for Governor of Illinois. I have selected as my Lt. Governor Rich Morthland, a farmer, former state representative and community college professor from the Rock Island area.

Today my team and I are taking the first step toward s restoring commonsense in Illinois. I have started circulating petitions to place my name on the ballot for Governor of Illinois. I have selected as my Lt. Governor Rich Morthland, a farmer, former state representative and community college professor from the Rock Island area.

State Rep. Jeanne Ives is in to challenge incumbent Governor Bruce Rauner, according to an email sent out Saturday afternoon ...

There is little trust between most Illinoisans and their government at many levels - and for good reasons. Top political leaders have lied to the people about who they are and what they are going to do - and they continue to make promises we cannot keep. Public corruption is an everyday event across the state. Many Illinoisans have simply decided to leave for better opportunities elsewhere.

Rich and I know, however, that if you change out the politicians , replacing them with public servants, and tell people the truth , then reform can begin. Illinois can and must recover. Our promise to you is to be honest about the problems we face and the path we must take to make Illinois a place where business es and families can thrive again . We will confront and expose public corruption at every level of government until it stops.

I am most thankful that my team includes Chris Cleveland. He will serve as the Chairman of the Ives for Illinois campaign. Chris was among the first to encourage me to enter this race and has been a key advisor to me on a daily basis. His position as the current Chicago GOP chairman shows the broad base of support this campaign already has.

We need your help to get on the ballot. Our petition is attached along with the instructions. Please read through the instructions prior to circulating. In advance, I give my sincere thanks to all for your support and work that is ahead of us.





Best Regards,
Georgetown, SC (29440)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 53F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 53F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Militarized borders have soon been deployed against migrants on the fault lines between the "developed" and the "developing" worlds. At least since 2009, the EU agency Frontex has deployed a border control operation in Greece. Frontex has ratcheted up surveillance, including by the use of drones, and oversees conditions of detention which the European Court of Human Rights has deemed inhumane.

Australian enforces its maritime borders by a navy operation led by a Major General. In a particularly cynical measure, Australia has introduced windowless and allegedly un-drownable rafts to push refugees back to foreign shores. In 2015, European countries sought and obtained a UN Security Council Resolution to use force against smugglers in the Mediterranean, a extraordinary measure clearly signaling the unprecedented militarization of border controls. As in other parts of our lives, militarization has gone hand in hand with privatization. Australia has struck agreements with Nauru and Papua New Guinea and used private corporations like G4S and Ferrovial to host and run camps of indefinite and inhumane detention. The EU has used Turkey and, most lately, Libyan militia to ensure migrants don't make it across the Mediterranean.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) is increasingly accused of 'torture-like' practices in support of the Government's deportation imperatives. Some of its detention facilities are also privately run. Callamard makes an extremely important observation when she concludes that parts of these practices amount to international crimes. They are composed of prohibited acts, which, in a systematic and widespread manner, constitute an attack against migrants.

Their impact on the world's most disempowered populations is tremendous, ranging from deaths by drowning to the epidemic of mental illness and self-harm in refugee camps the world over. As the Special Rapporteur rightly says, when crimes of such gravity are committed within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, the Court should act. Yet international law does not recognize the existence of a generalized and globalized international crime, one that Callamard's report may be taken to suggest.

The practice of international criminal law requires prosecutors to investigate a "situation," thus severing a particular temporal and special unit as the focus of concern. For the last few years, we have been working to help explain the need for such an investigation, and to clarify where might such an investigation take off.

We first conducted a study on Greece. Later, we researched Australian practices and indeed submitted to the ICC prosecutor an international criminal complaint directed primarily against Australian government agents. This work could only be done with the support of a large group of senior international lawyers, brought together by a clinic at Stanford Law School and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN). We believe that around the world affluent populations are waging war against the struggle for equality that poorer populations are fighting with their feet.

Particularly in Australia's offshore detention centers, the subject of our complaint, this war is committed through criminal means. If the International Criminal Court chooses one situation to investigate, Australia's centers may be the most egregious.

Make no mistake, the effort to move international criminal justice from war to migration is not yet another attempt to expand the gamut of a cash-strapped and inefficient court. It is, rather, an attempt to shift political priorities, in the Court and outside of it, away from looking for "monsters" committing spectacular violence and towards addressing increasingly normalized suffering. The very "banality" of these crimes, we argue, is a testament to their gravity and the necessity of their prosecution.

Nor should this shift end with the focus on crimes committed against migrants. With the results of climate change recently made visible in Puerto Rico and California, the fight of those hit hardest by climate change-inducing emissions is only beginning. A failure to address these new priorities today will be extremely dangerous, and reinforce the darkest of narratives for the 21st century.

To paraphrase sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, it will invite a reality in which one part of humanity will cast another part's lives to waste. On the other hand, new priorities, including accountability on migration issues, will better reflect the International Criminal Court's basic mandate: to punish crimes "of interest to the international community as a whole."
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Southwest Airlines wants to get mainland Americans lei'd.

The budget airline announced late Thursday night on Twitter that it would soon offer flights to Hawaii.

"Hawaii is an important place for Southwest Airlines because so many people count on us to take them everywhere they want to go reliably and affordably,'' Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said in a statement, according to USA Today. "We're ready and excited to address a request we've heard for years."

TAKE FLIGHT: Southwest Airlines selling cheap flights out of Houston as low as $49

Now Playing: If you are planning on flying between Oct. 31-Dec. 19 or Jan. 3-Feb. 14, then plan to fly Southwest Airlines. Southwest is about to have one of its biannual ticket fare sales, meaning flights between certain dates are going to be drastically cheaper. The sale covers all flights Sunday-Thursday in the listed date range and is applicable for most international and domestic flights. The sale ends on Thursday at 11:59pm. Video: Wibbitz

Southwest plans on using the new Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, which has wide seats and more leg room, for the trips between the mainland and Hawaii starting sometime in 2018, USA Today added.

The news of the flights comes just days after the airlines announced its big three-day sale ending Thursday night.

It is unclear what airports will offer the flights to Hawaii but let's hope Houston's Hobby Airport is one of them.
Nebraska officials lined up Friday to praise the confirmation of Greg Ibach as under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Ibach was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday. He has been the Nebraska Department of Agriculture director for the last 12 years.

He will supervise the policy development and day-to-day operations of three federal agencies within USDA: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which facilitates the Animal Disease Traceability (ADT) program; the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), which implements livestock mandatory price reporting (LMR); and the Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA), which oversees the marketing of livestock, poultry, meat, cereals, oilseeds and related agricultural products.

APHIS, AMS, and GIPSA all have tremendous impact and importance to Nebraskas livestock producers, said Troy Stowater, Nebraska Cattlemen president. Nebraska Cattlemen look forward to working with Under Secretary Ibach in his new role.

Ibach spent six years as the assistant director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture before becoming director in June 2005. He helped develop the Livestock Friendly County program and was a strong supporter of the Nebraska Livestock Siting Assessment Matrix. He also promoted the expansion of Nebraska beef into many foreign export markets, including Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea and China.

Ibach continues to maintain a cow/calf and grain operation near Sumner. He has a bachelor of science degree in agriculture from the University of Nebraska, with majors in animal science and agricultural economics.

Greg Ibach will bring experience and integrity to his new role at USDA, and carries with him the knowledge hes gained in the dozen years he has served as Nebraskas director of agriculture, said Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. His expertise in a wide cross-section of agricultural issues will be invaluable to our customers: the farmers, ranchers, foresters and producers of America.

Reaction to Ibachs confirmation was positive from Nebraska elected and agricultural leaders.

Sen. Deb Fischer recommended Ibach to President Trump, who nominated him.

Gregs deep knowledge, vast experience and strong passion for agriculture will serve Americas farmers and ranchers well, Fischer said. I know he will make Nebraskans proud, and I look forward to working with him to provide more certainty for the producers in this country who feed a hungry world.

Gov. Pete Ricketts said, Gregs experience growing Nebraska will be a great asset to President Trumps team. We look forward to partnering with him in his new role as we work to expand access to international markets for Nebraskas quality agricultural and manufactured products and other goods.

Sen. Ben Sasse said, Ibach earned this USDA spot utilizing the honesty, determination and smarts that Nebraskas farmers and ranchers are known for.

Whether its emphasizing the importance of agriculture or working hard to expand Nebraskas trading partners, Greg has a proven track record of public service bringing common sense and innovative solutions to his work. Our agriculture communities will be served well, Sasse said.

Steve Nelson, president of the Nebraska Farm Bureau, said Ibach has been a strong advocate for Nebraska farmers and ranchers and the members of our organization appreciate his efforts.

Greg is very much a farmer, Nelson said. Hes worn that hat and brought that voice throughout his service as Nebraskas director of agriculture, and that wont change when he heads to Washington, D.C. We look forward to working with him in his new position and are confident he will be an asset to USDA and to American agriculture.

Dan Wesely of Morse Bluff, president of the Nebraska Corn Growers Association, expressed thanks to Ibach for his tenure as state ag director.

Were very pleased to have a Nebraskan leading the marketing and regulatory programs for American agriculture, Wesely said.

Lynn Belitz of Fullerton, president of the Nebraska Grain Sorghum Producers, said Ibach brings a wealth of experience and progressive vision to the job.

We look forward to working with him on the national marketing and regulatory programs that are important to our producers, Belitz said.
When Jan Jolliffe was 16 years old, a young man from Scottsbluff held the door open to the store she was about to enter in her hometown of Corsicana, Texas. He was there attending a nearby flight school. The two started dating and the next summer she visited western Nebraska.

When I came here, I thought, This is Gods country and one day Im going to live here, she said.

As time went on, Jan and that boyfriend, Pat Jolliffe, went their separate ways. Her love of books continued. She had grown up in libraries and knew she wanted some type of service-oriented job as an adult.

Jolliffe recently accepted a position with the Western Library System, part of the Nebraska Library System. Books have always played a large role in Jolliffes life. As a young girl at James L. Collins Catholic School in Corsicana she was a regular at the school library where she read the Little House books. One of her favorite books when she was younger was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Her third grade teacher read the book aloud to the class.

I thought, Wow people can really make things up, she said. That was my introduction into coolness and how books can be an escape.

Jolliffe fell in love with books after hearing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but her favorite genres are histories and biographies. She enjoys British History and he studied abroad in London after high school. She attended Southern Methodist University, where she received a Bachelors of Arts in anthropology and was also married. She went to graduate school with the intention of becoming an archaeologist. But she had a decision to make.

I was going to go to Peru, she said. I had to take my own tent, my own water and maybe get robbed from bandits or I could have kids.

Jolliffe opted to stay in America. She still wanted to pursue a career helping others. In 1990, she attended Texas Womans University in Denton, Texas, to pursue a masters degree in library sciences. She was also expecting her first child.

After earning a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, she was en route to Peru to become an archaeologist but she opted for marriage and children instead. In 1990 she began working toward her MLS degree at Texas Womans University in Denton while she was expecting her first child.

She completed her masters degree and accepted a position in the Frito Lay science library. The library was connected to the area where scientists created new formulas and recipes. When she worked there, Frito Lay was testing chips made with Olestra, a fat substitute that caused severe cramping.

I learned how not to try anything when the scientists came through with their trays, she said. I will never taste anything again.

The library was a good job, but the hours were long and she had a child to look after. Jolliffe accepted a position as interim director with the Frisco Public Library. The library is large today, but when Jolliffe worked there, it was a small room next to the police station.

During her time there, she thought about the fact that she had kids and it might be a good idea to get into the school system. Her first library job within the Ennis, Texas, Independent School District encompassed four elementary school libraries. For the next five years, she learned everything she knows about being a good steward of libraries.

Her next challenge was in Royse City, Texas. The school district there were building a new high school. Jolliffe assisted on the design of the library.

She later accepted a position with Mt. Vernon Elementary School in Seattle, Washington. In 2010, Jolliffe moved back to Texas. She thought about attending law school so she became a paralegal and worked on a volunteer basis bankruptcy and immigration cases. Her work here was fruitful, but no one was hiring. She used her experience as a stepping stone to a position with Pinkston High School, which had a law magnet program. She worked for the Dallas Independent School District for five years. In her last three months in the district, she was at Skyline High School, a school with 4,500 students.

It was a maze to get anywhere, she said. It was so big, they had copy people who just made copies for teachers.

Thirty-two years later, after both Jan and Pat Jolliffe married, had children and divorced, Jan found Pat on the LinkedIn website. They reconnected and began dating. She was living in Dallas. He was in Denver.

Two years later, they decided to get married. They were married in December 2016. Both had put out feelers for work and decided to started looking in Scottsbluff. They put out feelers for work and Jan found a position as the system director for the Western Library System in Scottsbluff.

Here, she is making new connections and building relationships with the patrons she serves. After more than three decades, Jan Jolliffe not only found a job she enjoys, she finally has her chance to live in Gods country.
COLUMBUS, Neb. - Nebraska Public Power Districts (NPPD) Stegall-Scottsbluff 115,000 volt transmission line project was energized today, Oct. 26. The project consisted of routing and siting 23 miles of a new 115,000 volt electric transmission line from the existing Scottsbluff substation, to NPPDs new Bobcat Canyon substation located approximately five miles south of Stegall, near Basin Electric Power Cooperatives existing Stegall substation. The project also included a short 345,000 volt line between the two substations.

This transmission line project will help enhance transmission system reliability in the western Nebraska Panhandle region and meet the North American Electric Reliability Corporations Reliability Standards for the western Nebraska area.

The reliability of the transmission grid in western Nebraska has been improved with these new facilities going into service, said Tom Kent, NPPD Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

NPPD uses a comprehensive public involvement process to site transmission line projects. In 2014, three rounds of public open house meetings were held for the Stegall-Scottsbluff transmission line project, as well as additional meetings for interested parties. A public hearing was held in January 2015. Public input was encouraged throughout the entire process.
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A $7.1 million housing development in Hyde Park is the latest project to fill up vacant lots and rehab century-old structures in the historic north St. Louis neighborhood.

In two months, construction should start on 29 rental homes, most with three bedrooms, just south of Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church.

Its the eighth housing development in the neighborhood for ND Consulting Group, which has built almost 250 housing units there over the last 15 years.

In partnership with organizations such as Bethlehem Lutheran Churchs Better Living Communities, ND has helped shrink the number of vacant lots in the area by building dozens of new homes. It has tackled big historic rehab projects, turning the Irving School on 25th Street into apartments and rehabbing 20 buildings as part of its Eliot School Apartments project.

The neighborhood is beginning to turn in a very positive way, said Michele Duffe, a partner in ND Consulting Group.

The former head of the St. Louis Land Reutilization Authority, a city-run land bank that owns thousands of properties no one wants, is quick to point out it takes more than bricks and mortar to change the trajectory of a neighborhood.

Duffe points to the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association of North St. Louis, which is new and growing. And the third-annual Hyde Park Halloween Spooktacular is scheduled for Tuesday, giving children the opportunity to trick-or-treat in their neighborhoods and offering parents the opportunity to meet their neighbors.

It wasnt about candy, Duffe said. It was about community and connecting residents back together.

Soon, some of the first housing Duffe and her partners built in Hyde Park will be available for purchase. A 15-year compliance period that runs with the incentives used to finance the low-income homes is about to start wearing off.

Because of that we realized that we needed to work with the residents to make sure they were ready and able to do the purchase, she said.

LinkSTL, a neighborhood nonprofit that works with area residents, has partnered with Prosperity Connection to offer financial literacy classes and engage residents in building credit scores and saving.

When people are under stress, handing them a brochure and telling them these people can really help you does pretty much nothing, Duffe said.

The latest housing development, known as Blair Homes, should have its first units complete and ready for move-in by the spring. By the end of next year, all the homes should be finished.

ND Consulting received an award last year of Missouri Low-Income Housing Tax Credits which, together with federal low-income housing tax credits, should provide about $6 million in financing. The city of St. Louis granted preliminary approval for 15 years of property tax abatement on the homes last week.

Soon, Duffe said, another company may join ND in its Hyde Park development efforts. She said shes in talks with UIC, the developer that has been very active in rebuilding Forest Park Southeast and the former McRee Town neighborhood now known as Botanical Heights.

With many stately, late 19th-century brick structures in need of rescuing, more help in the neighborhood is welcome, Duffe said. And she doesnt believe that attracting more developers to the area is as far-fetched as it might have a couple of decades ago. After all, the new 3,100-employee western headquarters of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will be built just to the west of the neighborhood.

With the NGA being a mile away, I dont think its a crazy pipe dream to think that, she said.
O'FALLON, Ill.  One person was killed in a two-car crash here Friday afternoon.

An SUV and a trash truck collided shortly after 3 p.m. near Old Collinsville Road and Milburn School Road, police said.

The driver of the SUV, a male, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Lt. David Matevey said. A passenger in the SUV was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

The driver of the trash truck, a male, was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, Matevey said.

Illinois State Police are assisting in the investigation. Matevey did not release more details.
Asked what was next for him, Bostic said he would get a job and enjoy the simple things in life  learning to drive again  just everyday things that people take for granted.
ST. LOUIS  A circuit judge ruled Friday that teachers who resigned from St. Louis Public Schools early do not have to pay damages to the district for doing so because their contracts were not enforceable in the first place.

Judge Jason Sengheiser ruled in favor of four former St. Louis teachers who were sued by the district in July for quitting their contracts early. The district sued them and 28 other teachers for leaving their contracts, which said the teachers must pay $3,000 plus interest if they resign before the end of their contracts.

Sengheiser said in his judgments that the districts contracts were unenforceable because the districts Special Administrative Board, which represents the district, did not sign them. Only the teachers signed the contracts.

Sengheiser also said the contracts lacked essential elements that every contract of a public body must have, including the teachers salaries. Sengheiser cited a 1988 Missouri Court of Appeals case, Klotz v. Savannah R-III School District, which requires that the essential terms of a public contract be fixed when the contract is entered into and that the terms not be left to be determined at some future time.

The districts contracts did not list any salary amount and said the St. Louis Board of Education would determine the salary later, Sengheiser said.

We are so pleased the court ruled in favor of our members, said Sally Topping, president of the American Federation of Teachers Local 420 union, in a statement Saturday. The union provided a lawyer to sued teachers who are former union members.

We hope the district will now look for ways to support our teachers, rather than ways to punish them, Topping added.

In 2015, the school district began requiring teachers to pay $3,000 plus interest for leaving the district early. Its an uncommon but not unheard of practice for public schools with high teacher resignation rates to collect a sum from teachers who leave before the end of the school year.

Districts such as St. Louis Public say they use that money to replace teachers who leave, but experts say it can also be used as a deterrent to keep teachers from leaving during the school year.

Teacher resignations have been a thorn in the side of the St. Louis district, which saw 247 resignations last school year and 334 the year before. School officials and teachers have acknowledged that it is often more difficult to teach in urban classrooms in St. Louis, where many students come to school dealing with trauma and toxic stress.

Several teachers who resigned and were sued by the district said they left because of a lack of support from administrators.

While Sengheiser ruled in favor of four teachers Friday  all of whom were represented by a lawyer, Emily Perez, provided by AFT Local 420  10 other teachers had already been given court judgments that forced them to pay some or all of the $3,000 plus interest. Many of those judgments were handed down in August, and those teachers did not have lawyers.

Fifteen other teachers cases are still in court, and three have been dismissed.
UNIVERSITY CITY  After months of legal complaints regarding terminations and allegations of racial discrimination, city officials here and an ousted city manager have reached a $150,000 settlement.

The City Council voted unanimously Monday to accept the settlement with Lehman Walker, Mayor Shelly Welsch said. A resolution announcing the settlement passed in a 4-3 vote after disagreement over statements made in the document.

Walker was fired in March from the position he held for six years amid allegations of racial and sexual harassment. He will receive $114,000 of the total settlement in wages and compensatory damages, said his lawyer David Heimos, who receives the remaining $36,000 in attorneys fees.

Hes very happy its over and hes happy to move on with his life, Heimos said about Walker.

Welsch said the citys associated legal fees have totaled more than $100,000.

Its been costly to the city, but Im glad that its finally been settled, she said.

The City Council voted 4-3 in a closed in session in March to oust Walker amid allegations he made harassing comments to employees about African-Americans, women and gays and embroiled the city in legal complaints regarding terminations and allegations of racial discrimination.

A former public works directors suit against Walker, who is African-American, alleging racial discrimination against African-Americans was settled out of court in 2015.

Council members Paulette Carr, Terry Crow, Steve McMahon and Bwayne Smotherson voted to oust Walker. Welsch and council members Michael Glickert and Rod Jennings opposed the move.

The same majority had suspended Walker on Nov. 28. He continued to receive his salary until he was fired, which amounted to about $35,000, Heimos said.

The allegations were lies, and he totally denies these allegations, Heimos said Friday. They have no proof the statements were made.

Days before he was suspended, Walker threatened the defamation suit he later filed in December against Carr, Crowe and McMahon and the city, offering to waive the legal action in exchange for the city accepting his resignation with a $500,000 buyout.

Walker also filed a complaint in December with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging racial discrimination, Heimos said.

After Walker was fired in March, the suit was amended to include allegations that Walkers removal was retaliation for threatening the lawsuit and for filing the racial discrimination complaint.

The suit also alleged the city violated its contract by firing Walker in a closed-door meeting. Heimos said Walkers contract required a public meeting.

Walker had headed the citys Department of Planning and Development from 1998 to 2009. He was in a top administrative post in Evanston, Ill. when he was hired to become University City city manager, four months after Welsch was elected.

Walker soon came under fire when the International City/County Management Association censured him for violating an organizational ethics policy, asserting he pursued the University City position while his predecessor was still employed by the city.

The council in 2012 gave Walker a vote of confidence that kept him on the job.

Walker was also involved in a feud with University Citys union firefighters after he accused five of them of violating a statute that forbids first responders from being involved with political campaigns while in uniform or on duty and the city shifted its ambulance service from the fire department to a private contractor.

Welsch, a supporter of Walker who voted against firing him, credited Walker with drastically improving the citys finances and credit rating.

If Mr. Walker had not been hired, our city would be in much worse shape, she said.

She said the allegations made against Walker and the vote to remove him were politically motivated.

Theyve never been proved, Welsch said. Nothing has ever been shown to show that any of those allegations were factual.

Carr said the allegations were absolutely not politically motivated. She said she was glad to reach a settlement: Im happy anytime things can be settled amicably.

Walker, 65, now lives in Memphis, Tenn., Heimos said, and considers himself having retired.

In July, officials posted a job listing for a permanent city manager to replace interim manager Charles Adams by the end of the year. Adams, the former police chief, has been acting interim manager since Walker was suspended. (tncms-asset)d42ea24a-bb98-11e7-869e-00163ec2aa77[0](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)d8b98144-bb9e-11e7-8d8c-00163ec2aa77[1](/tncms-asset)
President Donald Trump promised to come out swinging with Thursdays emergency declaration on opioid abuse. Swing, he did, but he failed to make contact.

By labeling the crisis a public health emergency, Trump skirted a legal definition that would have prompted emergency federal funding and placed the drug epidemic on a scale similar to major disaster response. He should have pledged a dollar amount equal to the challenge of combating an addiction epidemic that, by his own assessment, contributed to at least 64,000 U.S. overdose deaths last year.

Trump clearly grasps the magnitude of the problem, outlining it in the starkest terms: Citizens across our country are currently dealing with the worst drug crisis in American history and even, if you really think about it, world history.  Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of unintentional death in the United States by far. More people are dying from drug overdoses today than from gun homicides and motor vehicles combined, he said.

The driving force behind this epidemic is heroin and opioid abuse among an estimated 12 millions Americans. Trump labeled the United States as by far the largest consumer of these drugs in the world. Opioid overdose deaths have quadrupled since 1999 and now account for the majority of fatal drug overdoses.

Surely, a problem of this magnitude deserves a gargantuan plan of action. Trumps speech Thursday contained no plan at all. He said the administration planned to announce a new policy to help relax restrictions that limit the number of beds in treatment facilities. He called for greater resolve.

He said he awaited a report from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the head of a presidential commission on opioid abuse, to address the problem. Trump reiterated the previous administrations program to alert doctors about the dangers of over-prescribing opioids. He promised lawsuits against bad actors.

As if invoking First Lady Nancy Reagans just say no campaign in the 1980s, Trump said, One of the things our administration will be doing is a massive advertising campaign to get people, especially children, not to want to take drugs in the first place because they will see the devastation and the ruination it causes to people and peoples lives.

Trump did outline expenditures for programs already in place to boost law enforcement, border security, addiction treatment and pain management. None of those programs, however, has stemmed the addiction tide.

Were going to do it. Were going to do it, Trump insisted.

This was Trumps moment to go big and bold in confronting a crisis that kills more Americans in a single year than all the hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and fires the nation has suffered in the past decade. America needs a plan of action, not a pep talk.
The Four Problems Facing OTT Servicesand How to Solve Them

Although the growth of over-the-top (OTT) is nothing to shake a stick at, it pales in comparison with the amount of viewership garnered by broadcast television. In fact, according to Nielsen, its a 5-to-1 consumption ratio: For every single hour of OTT viewed each day, the average consumer also views 5 hours of broadcast television. And with all the revenue tied up in broadcast, its no wonder that OTT services are hemorrhaging money as they try to grow their subscriber bases.

So, why is this the case? Why havent more people cut the cord and started to use OTT services (like PlayStation Vue, DirecTV Now, Sling TV, Hulu, YouTube TV, etc.) to get their content? Lets face it, the value proposition of OTT far exceeds that of regular TV. Anytime, anywhere access. Multidevice consumption. Cloud-based DVR and replay features. Personalized content discovery. The list goes on and on.

Answering the Why arent more people subscribing? question, though, isnt that easy.

At the September face-to-face meeting of the Streaming Video Alliance in Amsterdam, Chris van der Linden, the director of quality & product operations at Liberty Global, presented four pillars of any OTT service: awareness, usability, relevance, and quality. As I thought about these four pillars, and how Liberty Global had, according to van der Linden, addressed them in the latest version of its Horizon TV OTT service, I began to think that these four pillars represent the fundamental challenges facing the adoption of OTT as a whole.

The first, awareness, is obvious. If people dont know an OTT service exists, they arent going to subscribe to it. This is especially difficult for niche content players that may not have the marketing dollars to continually bombard consumers with messaging in specific geographies. Liberty Global, in fact, experiences this directlythe company acknowledges having a different reach (percent of active subscribers divided by the total available population of subscribers) in individual geographic areas. In some cases, a country may have 5 percent reach, while in another it might have 30 percent. Unless consumers know about a service, they will never consider adoption and replacement of broadcast TV.

The second is usability. Right now, many OTT providers are trying to figure out the best way to showcase content in order to help users navigate their services. Although we dont want to acknowledge it, presentation counts for a lot in our attitudes toward a service. For example, picture two gas stations across the street from each other. One is dimly lit, has trash scattered around, peeling paint, etc. The other is bright and shiny with lots of lighting. Which would you choose?

The third challenge is relevance. Whether you want to agree with it or not, content is king. Just look at the recent AT&T announcement to acquire Time Warner (following in the footsteps of Comcasts acquisition of NBCUniversal and Verizons acquisition of Yahoo). Having the right content that appeals to users is critical because, without that, why would consumers frequent the service? Although Netflix is at the top of the OTT heap, it, too, suffers from content woes. People often complain that, once theyve binged-watched their favorite shows, theres not much left to watch.

Finally, theres quality. In order for OTT services to truly rival broadcast television, they must just work. Consumers want the same, consistent experience they get from linear broadcast TV in their OTT services. No buffer. No jitter. No artifacting. But in order to do that, OTT providers must invest heavily in the experience, which is a combination of quality of service (network metrics and key performance indicators) and human perception. Just because operations may say, Hey, we are 99.999 percent up, doesnt mean that the experience meets consumer expectations. The rift between perception and operation must be bridged.

If the people who manage OTT services truly want to displace broadcast TV and drive subscriber growth, they must embrace these four challenges and work toward resolving them. Failing against any of them is certain to relegate a service to the mediocrity in which OTT exists today.

[This article appears in the October 2017 issue of Streaming Media Magazine as "The Four Problems Facing OTT."]

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Italy has agreed on grant of duty free access to Pakistani products for stimulating an impressive growth in bilateral trade.

Bilateral trade between Pakistan and Italy has increased from 906.96 million Euros in 2013 to 1.2 billion Euros in 2016, Secretary Commerce Muhammad Younas Dhaga said in undertake meetings with high officials of Ministry of foreign affairs and Ministry of economy of Italy in two days visit to Italy.

During his stay in Italy, Secretary also met with officials of Italian Trade Agency and Confindustria.

The purpose of the visit was to exchange views on matters pertaining to bilateral trade as well as to discuss upcoming review of Generalized Schames of Preference (GSP-Plus) by the European Parliament, Ambassador of Pakistan in Italy Nadeem Riyaz, Commercial Councilor of Pakistan Ms. Saira Imdad Ali, and Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Commerce Ahmed Fasih also accompanied Secretary Commerce in the meetings. He said that this represents an increase of 35% and both sides agreed that bilateral trade could be enhanced beyond the existing levels, in statement issued by Ministry of Commerce here.

Secretary Commerce informed the Italian officials that government of Pakistan was committed to implement UN Conventions pertaining to human rights, labor rights, climate change, narcotics control and corruption.

Secretary Commerce highlighted that the principles of ethical supply chains, sustainable development and good governance as enshrined in the international UN conventions were in consonance with the provisions of the Constitution of Pakistan.

Secretary Commerce used this opportunity to highlight key legislative and administrative actions undertaken by the Government of Pakistan to comply with UN Conventions in recent years.

These steps included establishment of an independent National Human Rights Commission of Pakistan which was playing an active role in expanding the HR regime in Pakistan.

Secretary Commerce also highlighted some of the epoch making steps undertaken to tackle the menace of forced and child labour by the Federal and Provincial Governments.

During the meetings the Italian side showed considerable interest in learning about the investment opportunities in Pakistan in the fields of infrastructure, energy and Automobiles. Secretary Commerce explained that Italian business could benefit from opportunities available to foreign investors in Special Economic Zones and Export Processing Zones in Pakistan.

The Italian officials and their businesses were invited to participate in the upcoming event of EXPO Pakistan to be held in Karachi from 9th to12th November, 2017 as a broad range of products will be put on display under one roof by entrepreneurs representing all sectors from all over Pakistan.

Both sides decided to take concrete steps to make the upcoming meeting of Pakistan and Italy Joint Commission scheduled to take place in January, 2018 a success.
Tauranga City is looking at some tough times caused by the citys growth, which under existing law has to be paid for by the ratepayers.

Among the major works being shortlisted for the next long term plan are the $117 million Waiari Water Treatment scheme, plus $55m for Te Maunga treatment plant upgrades, and the millions and millions required for infrastructure for new housing projects at Te Tumu and Tauriko.

The government is prepared to loan the city $230m for the growth projects  but the amount may cap out the city debt ceiling, already expected to hit $400 million next year.

The cost of infrastructure moving forward and providing for growth is probably going to be horrendous, says Mayor Greg Brownless.

But when we look at what we want to do, we need it. And we have to think, how do we fund it? Because we cant do it with rates, we just cant.

Its going to be impossible. The government is clearly coming to the party in Auckland, and especially now that there is a new government, Im expecting them to come to the party here too and in the same proportion.

So if they are going to be funding big transport projects in Auckland, I want to see that happen here.

We just want things to be fair. I am slightly worried that a new government may not take as much notice of us, but Im hopeful on the other hand that we have got three MPs, albeit list ones, who are members of the ruling coalition

At least we will be able to get to talk to them, but we do have a real problem here in that the major source of our income is rates.

The government has enjoyed huge and increasing revenues over the last few years, says Greg.

Unless thats frittered away suddenly, then some of that should be coming back to the regions which generated that wealth.

Tauranga City is required to provide zoned and serviced land for housing, and it has to plan 30 years in the future.

Now we have to pay for that as ratepayers, until the stuff gets sold, says Greg.

I dont really want to do that. The government has offered a loan but I would prefer that loan was a grant and even interest free. It still has to be re-paid and it goes on our balance sheet.

They are the same old problems that have pretty well confronted us for the last year, but now we do have a new government and things have got to actually happen.

Hes holding New Zealand First leader Winston Peters to his promise that GST generated by regional tourism will be returned to the regions.

Im expecting that to happen, says Greg. People have been calling me naive, but when you say something, I expect it to happen.
A Tauranga woman with a passion for keeping coastlines beautiful is encouraging locals to become part of an army of helpers who will be helping to clean our coast.

Love Your Coast Mount Beach clean-up offers the public the opportunity to come and assist in cleaning up some of the Bays most beautiful shorelines.

Event organiser Breanna Roband says the event has spawned from her own love of the ocean.

I love the coast, I love the ocean and I want to do my bit to help keep it clean and beautiful, Breanna.

I follow a charity called Sustainable Coastlines quite closely and love the work they do. They are about cleaning up but also education.

The Love Your Coast idea came from them - they offer resources to people in communities to help them clean up by themselves.

Breanna says the event is currently in its second year, and she plans to do it annually.

Last year I wasnt happy with the numbers, but it was a lot more reactive last year and I didnt have enough time to promote and plan.

We had about 20 people show up and collected just over 20kg of waste  most of that was recyclable.

This year Im hoping to get twice as many people involved. Its got great interest so Im hoping if its a nice day, well get a good crowd to come and help out.

The clean-up will be based at Mount Drury, and anyone who participates is free to clean an area of their choice.

People can either go from Mount Drury out to Leisure Island, Main Beach, south towards Rabbit Island or they can go and come back.

Everyone has their own spaces that they like to go to or that they regularly visit along the coastline. Some people go to their local area to clean and then come back.

We are encouraging people to clean where they want to go, and we just have to be careful about the rocks and the safety of the wildlife.

She says the event attracts many locals and has even gained the interest of visitors.

The Beach clean up will on Sunday, November 5 at Mount Drury from 1pm-4pm
Good morning, mi gente, and welcome to yet another Sunday.

Isnt it comforting to know Sunday will always be here? No matter whats going on in the world, time goes marching on; and just as there have been thousands of Sundays before this one, so too shall there be thousands more after.

And what is going on in the world today? Well, in our little part of the world, its going to rain. MetService is forecasting occasional showers, although the rain was pretty heavy for a period this morning. With a high of 18 and a low of 14, however, it shouldnt be too cold.

Today is also the last day of the Tauranga Arts Festival. Among the final events is a discussion with writer and film critic Helene Wong (Being Chinese) and multi-award-winning novelist Witi Ihimaera (Maori Boy), who will talk with Paula Morris on the pain and pleasure of writing their recent memoirs. Theyll be at the Carrus Crystal Palace at 10am.

Sports broadcaster and rugby writer Phil Gifford, a survivor of prostate cancer, reckons men need to learn from women that going to a doctor is not a sign of weakness. Hell be talking about mens health and his latest book at the Carrus Crystal Palace as well, from 1pm.

Tickets to both of these events are $20. To find out what else is happening on the final day of the festival, visit their website.

If youre not into art or literature, theres plenty of markets on as well. Check out whats on below:

WHATS ON  Sunday, October 29:

Bay Coastal Healing Rooms

Experience Gods Healing Touch, Thursday Nov 2nd 1:30-2:30pm. Family Works, Hillier Centre, 31 Gloucester Road (near Bayfair). No charge, no appointment needed. 021 0271 3254

Bay Networking Singles Club

Social activities 55 +. Dining, BBQs, outings etc. Facebook us on Bay networking Singles Social Group or phone Mary-Anne 0272071690 0r Jonathan 07 5722091

Bible Seminar

At 1:45pm Greerton Senior Citizens Hall, Maitland St, Greerton. Title: Gods 7th day rest explained Interactive, Q&A. All welcome. Vic 543 0504

BOP Bee Interest Group

Monthly meeting 1pm @ Alasdair Munro, Woodland Road, Katikati. Combined meeting with the Tree Crop group. Ph Gordon 027 544 2882 or email bopbeekers@gmail.com

Club Mt Maunganui Bingo

Bingo at Club Mt Maunganui is finished until next year.

COMPUTER CLUB (TGA) INC.

Meets at Arts & Crafts Centre, Elizabeth St West, on last Sun of the month. 9:30-12:30pm. Ph 544 2067 for more info

Corkers Toastmasters

Building communication & leadership 3rd Sunday of Month. Upstairs Zone Cafe, Owens Place, Mount Maunganui. 2-3:30pm. Chrissy 027 296 7939

Croquet

At Tauranga Domain, Cameron Rd, Sun, Tues, Fri, 12:45pm. Beginners welcome. Peter 571 0633

Farmers Market - Mount Mainstreet

Held every Sunday 9-1pm rain or shine! Right in the middle of Mount Mainstreet at Phoenix Car Park, Maunganui Rd. www.mountmainstreet.nz

Free Womens Self Defence

28th & 29th Oct More details contact The Gym, Tauranga or go to selfdefencecourses.co.nz click on Register for Workshops

Historic Village Market

Every 1st & 3rd Sunday monthly 8-12noon. Wet or fine. Inquiries: hvm@lionsclubs.org.nz A Bethlehem Te Puna Lions Club Project.

Introduction to Buddhism classes

Join us for a ten week course based on the DVD "Discovering Buddhism". Facility donation/Koha of $5 gratefully received. Email buddhismbop@gmail.com for details

Maketu Market

3rd & 5th Sundays 7am-12pm at Maketu Village Green. Ph Pat 533 2687 or Fennis 0274 282 862

Parkinsons Awareness Week

Displays at the Tauranga Hospital Whakatane township, Papamoa Plaza Look out for Walking for Parkinsons Groups Welcome Bay, Fraser Cove, Papamoa

Psychic and Medium demonstrate

Psychic Cafe presents, Meet the Medium, Laurelle Barnett & Psychic, Kevin Reed. Greerton Community Hall. 7pm start. $10 door charge. www.psychiccafe.nz or Ph 578 7205

Quakers in Tauranga

Meet in hall behind Brain Watkins House, cnr Elizabeth/Cameron Rd at 10am. All welcome for hour of mainly silent worship followed by tea/coffee & friendly chat. Ph 543 3101 www.quaker.org.nz

Radio Controlled Model Yachts

Sundays 1:30pm & Thursdays 5:30pm, in pond behind 24 Montego Drive Papamoa, sailing Electron Yachts for fun. Adult beginners welcome. Graham 572 5419

Taoist Tai Chi

6 Week Introductory Class starts 5 November. 15 Koromiko Street, Judea, Tauranga. 9:30-11am Sundays. More info 578 6193

Te Puna Kindergarten

**Christmas Market** Friday 3rd November 5-7pm. Enjoy fabulous market stalls, festive food & drink, & fun for the kids! Open to all. 45 Minden Road.

Te Puke Country Music Club

Fundraiser Concert. Tuakau club visiting. At Te Puke Citizens/RSA Club at 1pm. Ph Gayle 573 8255
A proposed year-round alcohol ban in public places in Whiritoa has been canned by the Hauraki District Council following an overwhelming response from the community.

The existing seasonal ban during traditional Christmas and New Year periods will remain in place.

A large number of residents and ratepayers submitted written feedback, took to social media, signed petitions, and verbally voiced their opposition to the proposed ban extension, which was part of a wider review of the councils Alcohol Control Bylaw.

Mayor John Tregidga says the community presented a clear and reasonable case against the proposal.

Its fantastic to receive such a passionate response. Having reviewed the feedback, weve made a pragmatic decision to respect the community view. Thats what the feedback process is all about.

A proposed permanent alcohol ban at Waitawhetas Dickey Flat campground, where there is currently no alcohol ban in place, was also part of the review and will be introduced.

Last year the police attended 10 incidents at the campground, three of which were very serious in nature. The council is also aware of several unreported incidents that have caused a nuisance to campers.

There is definitely an issue with the behaviour of some Dickey Flat campers, which of course is made worse when alcohols involved, so we totally support the police and Department of Conservation who want to see this become an alcohol free area.

Other decisions made by the council after considering all feedback include keeping the status quo on current alcohol bans in public places in Waihi, Ngatea and Paeroa, and extending the Waihi ban slightly to include the 100km/hr speed limit area on Parry Palm Avenue from Dean Crescent toward the town centre.

The new bylaw will come into effect on Friday, November 10, and can be viewed at Council offices in Ngatea, Paeroa and Waihi and on the councils website www.hauraki-dc.govt.nz from this date.

Alcohol bans:
Pasifika communities are celebrating in the Bay in what is promptly becoming a festival that grows bigger and better each year.

Hosted by Tahatai School on Wednesday night, the Pasifika in the Bay festival drew Bay of Plenty locals from far and wide.

Event organiser Mike Douglas says more than 2000 performers, tutors, supporters and community members attended.

It was fantastic, we had food and market stalls selling beautiful island food, paint on tattoos and coffee for parents.

The festival showcased schools from around the Bay with special performances from 12-year-old Porirua student, Jillian Tupuse alongside an international group.

Jillian was invited and sponsored by Tahatai School to come up and perform at the festival, says Mike.

She is part of a youth strings orchestra in Wellington and at the festival she played violin and sung.

We also had Maamaloa Side School, from Nuku Alofa in Tonga who performed for the first time at our festival.

Having students of the same age perform who are straight from the islands was an amazing addition to our line-up.

New Zealand Womens Rugby players Crystal Mayes and Ruby Tui also attended the festival.

They gave advice to inspire our young tamariki to take up challenges and overcome them and were also on hand to give out prizes.

It was great having them, we know how busy they are and they gave up their own time to be out our festival which was awesome.

Mike says the festival has significantly improved from previous years.

There were more schools involved, more stalls and more people, he says.

The students loved performing in it and there were new schools who participated this year who are looking forward to being part of it next year.

Parents were amazed by the slickness of the performances and the variety of cultures represented in the dancing and the actual group themselves and our audiences were loud and supportive.

We knew it was going to be good and word is spreading that this is going to be the event to mark on the school calendar.

A short clip produced by Holger Pfab at TJP Productions, will feature a collation of highlights from the festival and will be available online soon.
The figure is frightening enough when you are living in your own country, but when you're in a foreign place the "taxman" becomes even more daunting. This personification of the tax system, turning it into one evil-looking misanthrope waiting to get his greedy hands on our hard-earned money, sums up how most of us feel about the issue: we're scared he's going to take more than his fair share, or that he's going to gobble us up for not giving him enough.

EXPAT TAX SEMINAR English seminar: Pedro Fernandez will look at the tax system in Spain and how it treats foreigners with realty and financial assets. Date and time: Saturday 28 October, 12pm. Venue: Home Fair, Palacio de Ferias y Congresos, Marbella. Admission: Free. Confirm attendance to forossur@diariosur.es

There is, however, a group of professionals who have devoted their careers to getting to know the fearsome creature, understanding his changes and interpreting his reasoning so that the rest of us sleep at night. Pedro Fernandez is one of them.

Born in Malaga, Fernandez was brought up in Cadiz but at 17 he returned to his home city, where he started a degree in Economics and Business Studies. However it was the still-little- known European mobility programme for university students that took him to London and started what was to become a truly international career. I did the last two years of my degree at Greenwich. It was '90 to '92 so it was one of the first years of the Erasmus exchange, he explains.

Spain offers a variety of legal instruments to manage tax within reasonable levels

On his return he walked straight into a job at Arthur Andersen, then one of the world's big five accounting firms. His international experience and language skills put him in a team that served the foreign community on the Costa del Sol. Tax law and international taxation, and all the cross border issues that arise when moving to another country, were to become his speciality.

I've always been dealing with the same kind of issues - how foreign people who have settled here can structure their affairs to comply with Spanish legislation, he says, pointing out that the ideal structure is one where they pay what they have to pay according to the law, but no more.

You need to understand how institutions created in [people's] home countries behave under the Spanish tax system, says Fernandez, referring to investment plans, pension schemes and, in the case of British residents, trusts. When we deal with Brits in particular there's always a trust involved, an institution which is very widely used in UK but not known in Spain, he adds as an example.

Fernandez stayed with the organisation after Andersen first merged with, and was later absorbed by, the leading Spanish law firm Garrigues.

Now, after working with foreign residents and investors for 25 years, the specialist is well aware of the importance of foreign investment in this area.

I've always thought a smooth and proper integration of the foreign community is essential for the economy of the province, he explains.

This is beyond any doubt the most valuable asset that we have here compared with other areas of Spain and Andalucia.

The minute we are able to integrate the foreign community here and they have legal certainty to invest in our companies, in our systems, to be part of our community, this area will no doubt become the third in Spain in terms of economic power after Madrid and Barcelona, he says.

We have that potential and the only way to cultivate that potential and make it real is to establish a proper relationship with the foreign community so that they feel at home here.

Perhaps foreigners coming to live here would feel more comfortable if they were able to benefit from a bit of positive discrimination on the part of the taxman, with a special regime similar to those recently set up in Portugal and Italy.

Many foreign people who come late in their lives do not always understand that they should be assessed on their taxes in the same way as a Spanish resident or someone who has lived here all their life, says Fernandez.

In its last tax reform in 2014, the Spanish government was about to consider such a regime - but in the end didn't dare, according to Fernandez, who believes that the tax system should not put people off moving to Spain.

I think Spain offers a variety of legal instruments to arrange one's affairs to make sure that the tax burden is managed within reasonable levels, so I would encourage foreigners to settle here, he adds.

If the scary Spanish taxman was looking for an international relations officer, Pedro Fernandez would be the man for the job.
Wythe County residents head to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 7. Statewide, voters will elect a governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

In addition, voters will elect supervisors and school board members for their district and a delegate for the 6th District of Virginia.

Locally, seven candidates are looking to fill three open seats on the Wythe County Board of Supervisors. Only one incumbent, Coy McRoberts in District 5, is running for re-election, and he is unopposed.

In District 1, the candidates are Democrat Michael Reardon, Republican Brian Cheese Vaught and independent Timothy W. Carter. The candidates in District 3 are Democrat George Bailey, Republican John Big John Manuel and independent Ryan Michelle Lawson.

Running for a seat in the House of Delegate for the 6th District are Republican Jeffrey L. Campbell and independent Kenneth D. Browning.

Statewide, gubernatorial candidates are Democrat Ralph S. Northam, Republican Edward W. Ed Gillespie or Libertarian Clifford D. Hyra.

Candidates for lieutenant governor are Democrat Justin E. Fairfax and Republican Jill H. Vogel.

Democrat Mark R. Herring and Republican John D. Adams are running for attorney general.

All election offices in the commonwealth will be open for in-person absentee voting for the next two Saturdays, Oct. 28 and Nov. 4, for the Tuesday, Nov. 7 election.

Important dates to remember if voting absentee in the Nov. 7 General Election include:

The deadline to apply for a ballot by mail is on Tuesday, Oct. 31.

The two Saturdays to vote absentee in-person are Oct. 28 and Nov. 4.

The deadline to vote absentee in-person is on Saturday, Nov. 4.

The deadline to return your absentee ballot by mail is on Election Day, Nov. 7.

On Election Day, the polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. If you are in line when the polls close, you may still vote.
ALBANY -- A private medical company and Albany County have agreed to pay nearly $1.1 million to the estate of a Troy man who died when nurses waited more than 12 hours to call an ambulance after he suffered a stroke while being held at the county jail in August 2014.

Last year, an investigation ordered by the state Commission of Correction determined the care given to 24-year-old Mark Cannon was "so grossly inadequate ... it shocks the conscience."

The settlement was filed recently in U.S. District Court in Albany, where Cannon's mother had filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Cannon's infant daughter.

Albany County, medical company reach $1.1M settlement with mother of man who died in custody: https://t.co/JHBgJuuSAD pic.twitter.com/MrNva8ZaHL  Times Union (@timesunion) October 27, 2017

Cannon's symptoms steadily worsened after employees of a medical company that had a contract with the county brushed off his severe neurological symptoms as heat exhaustion, instructing guards to give him water and let him rest.

Later that night, Cannon's condition had deteriorated to the point where he lay nearly motionless on the floor of an infirmary cell with foam oozing from his mouth. A nurse patted his arm and wiped away the saliva, wrongly believing Cannon, who was convicted of felony robbery charges, was recovering from a seizure even though he had no history of medical problems.

A nurse finally contacted a doctor for advice, and he instructed her to immediately call an ambulance. But it was too late: Cannon lingered for several days at Albany Medical Center Hospital before he was removed from life support.

Doctors determined Cannon had suffered a stroke -- a loss of blood flow to his brain stem -- that may have been caused by working out in the jail's recreation area on the day he fell ill. Emergency surgery might have saved his life, but too many hours had passed after the injury.

The state's investigation cited multiple missteps by nurses, including their repeated failure to acknowledge the severity of Cannon's symptoms or consult a physician until it was too late.

"Mark Cannon had a progressively deteriorating neurological situation that was completely disregarded by nursing staff despite dramatic signs and symptoms of an active neurological emergency and Cannon's repeated requests for medical care," the investigative report states.

The sharp criticism of Correctional Medical Care, a Pennsylvania-based private company, came as the state was probing the company's conduct related to multiple inmate deaths across the state.

The settlement filed in U.S. District Court calls for the company to pay $999,999, and Albany County to pay $95,000. Neither the company nor the county acknowledged any wrongdoing.

Within weeks of Cannon's death, the office of New York's attorney general reached an agreement with the company that allowed it to remain in business in New York with monitoring through May 2018. The company paid a $200,000 penalty and agreed to improve staffing levels and training practices.

At that time, Correctional Medical Care had contracts worth more than $32 million a year with 13 county jails in New York, including Albany and Schenectady counties' facilities

Albany County earlier this year terminated the $3.7 million annual contract it had with CMC since 2012. In a deposition taken as part of a federal wrongful-death lawsuit, Sheriff Craig Apple testified the company's "performance" played a role in his decision, though he said the change was also based on a better offer from another company.

State investigation reports and court records also reveal that CMC's nurses, two of whom were later disciplined by the State Education Department, violated multiple protocols. The failures began the moment a guard called the jail's medical office at 4:12 p.m. on Aug. 26, 2014, to report that Cannon was having problems and needed assistance.

Instead of going to Cannon's tier to check him out as required, a nurse told the officer to give Cannon some water and ask him to lie down.

In the hours that followed, Cannon was shuffled back and forth between his tier and the medical infirmary. At times, cameras showed him staggering into walls and vomiting.

Just after 3 a.m., with new officers and nursing staff on duty, Cannon was found lying on the floor of his cell unable to talk. His eyes were open and he was foaming at the mouth; his legs were stiff and his arms limp. Officers scooped Cannon into a wheelchair and pushed him toward the infirmary. Videos of the transport show Cannon's head tilted to the left and his feet dragging beneath him.

Despite his severe symptoms, no one called an ambulance.

The state's investigation determined nurses "failed to conduct a basic nursing and neurological assessment on a patient with obvious signs and symptoms of a neurological crisis."

Emre Umar of Blue Bell, Pa., is president of CMC, a for-profit company owned by his wife, Maria Carpio. Neither are licensed medical professionals. Umar has acknowledged that for more than 10 years, the company operated in New York in violation of state law requiring a medical care company to be owned by a physician. The firm has since restructured to adhere to the law, although Umar remains in charge of its operations.

Elmer Robert Keach III, the attorney for Cannon's mother, characterized the settlement as "fair" and said the money would benefit Cannon's daughter.

- By Brendan J. Lyons, Times Union, Albany, N.Y.
SEOUL, South Korea -- U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday the threat of nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating.

In remarks in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at his side, Mattis accused the North of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs -- and vowed to defeat any attack.

Mattis said the North engages in "outlaw" behavior and that the U.S. will never accept a nuclear North.

He added that regardless of what the North might try, it is overmatched by the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old U.S.-South Korean alliance.

"North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbors and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs," he said, adding that U.S.-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration thus has taken on "a new urgency."

"I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power," he said,

As he emphasized throughout his weeklong Asia trip, which included stops in Thailand and the Philippines, Mattis said diplomacy remains the preferred way to deal with the North.

"With that said," he added, "make no mistake -- any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming."

Mattis's comments in Seoul did not go beyond his recent statements of concern about North Korea, although he appeared to inject a stronger note about the urgency of resolving the crisis.

While he accused the North of "outlaw" behavior, he did not mention that President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his own rhetoric. In August, Trump warned the North not to make any more threats against the United States, and said that if it did, it would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen."

Song, the South Korean minister, told the news conference that he and Mattis agreed that limits on South Korea conventional missile warhead payloads would be lifted. He offered no specifics.

Also discussed were the conditions under which South Korea would be given wartime operational control of its forces. Currently, if war with the North broke out, the South's forces would operate under the U.S.-led U.N. Command.

White House debates presidential visit to demilitarized zone along North Korean border

Trump entered office declaring his commitment to solving the North Korea problem, asserting that he would succeed where his predecessors had failed. His administration has sought to increase pressure on Pyongyang through U.N. Security Council sanctions and other diplomatic efforts, but the North hasn't budged from its goal of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including missiles capable of striking the U.S. mainland.

If Trump sticks to his pledge to stop the North from being able to threaten the U.S. with a nuclear attack, something will have to give - either a negotiated tempering of the North's ambitions or a U.S. acceptance of the North as a nuclear power.

The other alternative would be U.S. military action to attempt to neutralize or eliminate the North's nuclear assets - a move fraught with risk for South Korea, Japan and the United States.

At his Seoul news conference, Mattis said the North is, in effect, shooting itself in the foot.

"If it remains on its current path of ballistic missiles and atomic bombs, it will be counterproductive, in effect reducing its security," he said.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to counter what it believes is a U.S. effort to strangle its economy and overthrow the Kim government.

This was Mattis's second visit to South Korea since taking office in January. He made a point of going to Seoul and Tokyo on his first overseas trip in February, saying he wanted to emphasis the importance he places on strengthening alliances and partnerships.

On Friday he visited the Demilitarized Zone that forms an official buffer between the two Koreas. He appeared there with Song in what they both called a show of solidarity.

U.S. government officials for decades have confidently but mistakenly predicted the approaching collapse of North Korea, given its economic and political isolation.

Twenty years ago, Mattis's predecessor five times removed, William Cohen, said as he peered into North Korea from inside the DMZ that its communist system was "decaying and dying." His view was widely shared in Washington, but, like others, he underestimated the resilience of Pyongyang's family dynasty, which began with Kim Il Sung. The current ruler assumed control of the country shortly after his father, Kim Jong-Il, died in December 2011, and has accelerated the country's nuclear and missile programs.

-- By Robert Burns, AP national security writer
There was a major shock last week when it was revealed that the proportion of Oxbridge students from the top two socio-economic groups increased over the last five years, with significant regional discrepancies uncovered. It was also revealed that in 2015, ten Oxford and six Cambridge colleges failed to admit a single black British student.

MP David Lammy, who uncovered this information called Oxbridge the last bastions of the old school tie, accusing the universities that they are failing to live up to their responsibilities as national universities, even calling for the abolition of public funding of the two universities. The higher education minister, Jo Johnson (the better-looking brother of Boris) tweeted that Oxford should do more to admit underrepresented groups.

Oxbridge surely can enhance their access programs. For example, the director of A Levels at Middlesbrough College told the Guardian: We didnt really get a lot of feedback from them. We dont even feel we know why our students dont get in.

Telling schools, at least in general, what makes a successful Oxbridge candidate is important because it enables them to better prepare their students, which can help to tackle the anomalies mentioned above.

The elitist culture of Oxbridge may also be an obstacle. Calling some students commoners (as they apparently do in Oxford) sounds so much out of Downton Abbey that it should be discomforting to any student more progressive than Jacob Rees-Mogg  or less aristocratic.

However, Lammy is mistaken when he blames all the anomalies on Oxbridge. What the universities should do is to reach out to students, showing them that regardless of their background, they should apply  if they are good enough, they will be offered a place. They should also ensure that this is true and give teachers the relevant information to prepare students to the Oxbridge application procedure.

However, realistically, most of the preparations will take place at schools  as well as, of course, schools will prepare students for the A-Levels needed for Cambridge. And this is exactly why the discourse regarding the Oxbridge statistics is one-sided.

Students from higher socio-economic groups will always have some advantage over their less privileged peers. Having the opportunity, for example, to access more cultural products, has an effect on someones cognitive abilities. Even telling bedside stories is an advantage.

However, it is crucial whether a system of education tries to rectify the differences or magnifies them. And what the data seems to suggest is that the latter is true  or, at any rate, the former is not  of the education in Britain.

The problem is that Eton is probably a better school than your local comprehensive, but it also costs 30,000 a year, which is above the average national salary. It should be the responsibility of the government to create a public schooling system that gives quality education to all regardless of their backgrounds. This is especially important, because educational inequalities are cumulative  if you go to a better secondary school it will higher your chances to go to a more prestigious university, which in turn will allow you better opportunities in the job market.

If Jo Johnson finds it important that the diversity problems should be solved, he has had better options in his two and a half years as Higher Education Minister than tweeting. Again, it should be his responsibility that universities are accessible to all  and if the leading institutions of the country fail to do so, it should be his responsibility to force them.

But the government doesnt seem to care that much about low-income students as was made obvious in the abolition of student grants in favour of maintenance loans. While this surely wasnt the reason why there were fewer lower-income students in 2015 than 2010, as the grants were abolished in 2016, it surely shows that the governmental policies werent in line with accessibility.

So, while Oxford and Cambridge surely have their shortcomings, it is very likely that it is also a litmus paper of class differences in education in Britain. And for this reason the way David Lammy and others concentrate exclusively on Oxbridge is one sided and distortive.
A 6,000-year-old skull was unearthed in Papua New Guinea in 1929. Evidence suggests that the owner of the skull likely died from a catastrophic tsunami event, making this ancient person the oldest known tsunami victim in the world.

Aitape Skull At Paniri Creek

In 1929, Australian geologist Paul Hossfeld found a human skull in the bank of the Paniri Creek in Papua New Guinea, near the town of Aitape. The skull was initially believed to be those of a 45-year-old female from the Lower Pleistocene Age and was regarded as an important part of the study of early Australasia for 25 years. However, through the years, scientists began questioning the original gender and age classification of the skull, suggesting that it may have belonged to a male akin to modern New Guineans.

"It was originally thought that the skull belonged to Homo erectus until the deposits were more reliably radiocarbon dated to about 3500 to 7000 years old," said Dr. Mark Golitko of the University of Notre Dame and the Field Museum of Natural History, coauthor of the study.

While the skull has been thoroughly studied for decades, little research has been done on the place where it was found. In 2014, researchers went to the site to study geological samples from the area. By studying the sediment size and composition, as well as the microscopic organisms in them, researchers found significant similarities between the sediments near Paniri creek and the sediments during the 1998 tsunami that devastated Papua New Guinea and killed more than 2,000 people.

Oldest Known Tsunami Victim?

Because of the new findings, researchers believe that the site was swamped by high-energy marine incursion on more than one occasion. This is supported by the active status of Papua New Guinea's active tectonics.

As such, researchers considered the possibilities as to how the skull came to the site but believe one to be the most plausible. According to researchers, the most likely possibility is that the owner of the skull was a victim of a tsunami over 6,000 years ago.

There is the question of why the rest of the body is missing when victims' remains during other tsunami events were recovered intact, and researchers turn to the 1998 tsunami to complete the puzzle. During the 1998 tsunami, recovery efforts to retrieve the victims' bodies had to be halted after a week because crocodiles were already feeding on them. It's possible that the case is the same for the Aitape skull.

"We conclude that this person who died there so long ago is probably the oldest known tsunami victim in the world," said the study's first author Professor James Goff.

The study was published in the journal PLoS ONE.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Nintendo is on a roll this year. The Switch couldn't be more successful if it tried. People love it, gamers clamor for it, folks want more third-party games ported over to it. The worst thing about the Switch right now? There are enough of them to meet overwhelming demand.

That's certainly an excellent problem to have, especially as Nintendo bounces back from the horrid performance of its last-generation console, the Wii U. Tables have turned this time around. Nintendo is apparently king again, and it's become less restrictive about working with rival companies, too, allowing Switch players to mingle with Xbox One owners on Minecraft via cross-play. Oh, and it's getting Doom and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. A handheld running those incredibly intensive games  wow.

What Will Make The Nintendo Switch A Perfect Handheld Console?

It's almost as if the Switch is the perfect handheld console  almost. It could become even greater if Nintendo also made it an all-around media player by finally bringing on-demand streaming apps to the console. That's right: Put in Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, Spotify, and other services on the Switch and it's basically a winner, no questions asked.

The fact that owners can dock the Switch and enjoy content on their big screens essentially makes the console the perfect device for watching films, but Nintendo hasn't shared much of anything regarding when these sort of apps will come. That changes now.

Nintendo Boss: On-Demand Services Are Coming

In an interview with Kotaku, Reggie Fils-Aime said on-demand streaming services will arrive on the Switch "in due time." That's not exactly a specific schedule, but it's at least an enough confirmation that these apps are indeed on their way. It's not like they wouldn't eventually come, anyway. The Wii U, the 3DS, and even the Wii all had their own Netflix app.

When asked specifically about Netflix, Fils-Aime had this to say:

"You'd have to ask the folks at Netflix. I have [Netflix CEO] Reed [Hasting]'s number."

It's kind of a cop-out statement, that's for sure, but at least players know good ol' Fils-Aime can text Hastings anytime. Also, his statement implies that it's Nintendo that's waiting for Netflix, not the other way around.

The Nintendo of America President also talked about various things related to the Switch, such as the company being just as surprised as everybody else when it discovered that the console supports GameCube controllers, the future of its My Nintendo Rewards program, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's second expansion, which he said is still launching this year.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The search teams have not found any evidence of the 39 missing Indians being alive in Iraq. Union minister VK Singh told India Today team in Mosul that DNA samples only hope to arrive at any conclusion.

By Shams Tahir Khan, Gaurav C Sawant: Minister of State for External Affairs General VK Singh has said that the search for missing Indians in Mosul and Badush has not revealed any positive results. He also said that the Operation Hunt was over in Iraq.

General Singh said that "we will now have to rely on DNA samples" to ascertain the fate of the 39 Indians who were earlier believed to be held in ISIS captivity in Mosul and neighbouring areas. India Today team is also in Iraq to independently establish the trail of the missing Indians.

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Singh said the search teams have explored all possible avenues and inputs in Mosul, Badoush and Talafar but no positive results of any leads could be found. However, he said that the Indian embassy in Iraq would continue the search for missing 39 Indians.

He said that the DNA samples collected from some of the family members of missing persons had been sent to match with the database in Iraq and also with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

There are some mentally unstable Daesh captives in Iraqi prisons but they are unable to identify themselves. DNA link is the only option now left with the authorities to arrive at any conclusion about the missing 39 Indians.

VK Singh said, "We will not lose hope as we have no conclusive proof they are dead or alive."

Earlier this week, General VK Singh arrived in Iraq to coordinate the search operations for the 39 missing Indians and find concrete information about their whereabouts. Speaking to India Today, VK Singh said, "Mosul now looks like a ghost town. Heavy destruction has happened on ground."

The 39 missing Indians were kidnapped by the ISIS terrorist group in June 2014. Among them, 22 were from Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Jalandhar in Punjab. One person, Harjit Masih, who escaped from the ISIS captivity claimed that the rest were shot dead by the jihadi fighters.

WATCH | No information about 39 missing Indians in Iraq: General VK Singh

--- ENDS ---
Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has asked the Congress to come clean on alleged connection of ISIS suspects, arrested in Gujarat, with senior leader Ahmed Patel's hospital.

By India Today Web Desk: Union minister and BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today upped ante against Congress president Sonia Gandhi's political advisor Ahmed Patel in the ISIS suspect row.

Naqvi said, "Instead of taking action, Congress is busy in accusing BJP of politicising the issue. This makes Ahmed Patel even more questionable. The Congress must come clean else blot on them will be larger than that for corruption.

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The BJP has alleged that the suspected ISIS operatives worked at Ahmed Patel's hospital in Gujarat. The state police arrested two suspected ISIS operatives in Gujarat earlier this week.

"Sonia Gandhi's political advisor is attached with the hospital in question since 1979. And, then that hospital is being connected to terror. So it is natural questions will be raised," Naqvi said during a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi today.

Naqvi said, "So far we used to say, Congress ke hath, corruption ke sath (Congress's hand supports corruption). Now people will say, Congress ka hath atankvad je sath (Congress's hand supports terrorism)."

Responding to a query about Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's initiative to find an amicable solution to Ram Janmabhoomi dispute through negotiations, Naqvi said, "If Ram Janmabhoomi issue can be sorted through dialogue, nothing like it."

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 28 (PTI) The resident doctors of the premier AIIMS today called off their protest against "improper implementation" of the Seventh Central Pay Commissions recommendations.

The protesting doctors continued to work while fasting.

They will hold a peaceful protest in front of the residence of Union Health Minister J P Nadda seeking a conversation with him over the issue.

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"We conveyed the message about the side-effects of working empty-stomach in high-risk areas like the hospital setting but unfortunately we did not receive any response or a or a tweet from a minister," AIIMS resident doctors association president Harjit Singh Bhatti said.

The doctors had alleged that revised allowances under the Seventh Central Pay Commission (CPC) had been implemented in other central government hospitals including the RML Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital and autonomous institutes such as the Chandigarh-based PGIMER, but doctors at the AIIMS were yet to get the benefits.

Around 2,000 resident doctors took part on the third day of the protest today in front of the hospital main gate.

They were joined by the nurses union, officers association, society of young scientists, students union and karamchari union among others.

The resident doctors, who had on October 24 held a protest, have also sought the prime ministers intervention in the issue.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the AIIMS Resident Doctors Association (RDA) said even one-and-a-half years after the implementation of the commissions recommendations and four months of allowance approval in other medical institutes, the AIIMS doctors here still did not get the revised pay because of administrative lapses. PTI PLB KJ

--- ENDS ---
Baton Rouge's Redevelopment Authority got off to an ambitious start after its creation in 2007, investing in such high-profile projects as a YMCA in north Baton Rouge and a center for autistic children near Gardere Lane.

They were projects that showcased what redevelopment could mean for a community. But the RDA has had trouble sustaining that momentum in recent years, limping along and coming dangerously close to running out of money at times. Only a couple of high profile projects are now in the works after years of planning.

The agency has struggled to meet the expectations of community members and political leaders who once saw it as a possible game changer in fighting blight in Old South Baton Rouge, the Choctaw Drive corridor, Zion City/Glen Oaks, Northdale, Melrose East, Scotlandville and other pockets of the parish.

Now, the RDA is primed for a reset, with LSU Law Professor Chris Tysons appointment as its director and a promise by Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome to fund the agency with $500,000 from next year's budget. Broome also recently gave the RDA the added responsibility of overseeing programs once run by her Office of Community Development.

+2 East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority opens negotiations with Chris Tyson An agency tasked with revitalizing blighted areas in Baton Rouge has offered its chief execu

Still, if the RDA is to work as originally conceived, its going to require more than the money the city-parish is prepared to kick in and the extra responsibilities from Broome. A 2015 business plan said an effective RDA would require an annual budget between $1.5 million and $4.5 million. Tyson's success may hinge upon his ability to find it.

"Being able to rebuild the trust in the RDA is really going to take a methodical approach of, 'This is what we're going to do, we're going to report back to you on our progress and if it doesn't work out the way we thought, we're going to tell you that,'" said Christel Slaughter, whose SSA Consultants firm wrote the 2015 business plan.

"And then people will begin to believe in it again," she added. "I do think we, as a community, had some unrealistic expectations of what could happen, how quickly it could happen."

Tyson, who describes himself as "a cities guy, a development guy and a social justice guy," teaches classes about urban land use and development at the LSU Law Center. Tyson helped lead Broome's transition into office and was chosen for the RDA job with a $155,000 salary without any search.

In a recent interview, Tyson described how recent focus on the lack of development in north Baton Rouge should be an impetus for people to give the RDA another chance.

"There's a growing interest in seeing the lopsided development end," Tyson said.

Asked about funding, Tyson said he hopes the RDA will prove its worth to receive more money from the city-parish in the future. As for whether he will pursue tax credits or other outside funding avenues, Tyson said he was not sure yet.

The Louisiana Legislature created the RDA in 2007.

Slaughter and Center for Planning Excellence Director Elizabeth "Boo" Thomas, who helped draw up the agency's plans, both said that an ideal and fully funded RDA would have two focuses.

One would be code enforcement and tackling the problem of blight by strengthening the city-parish's blight ordinances and cracking down on landlords and property owners who do not follow the rules.

The other focus would be the actual redevelopment work of restoring blighted properties and convincing private developers to invest in them. All the while, the RDA would build up a land bank of properties.

"The bigger, sexier more glamorous redevelopment is what everyone gets excited about," Slaughter said. "But that's harder to do, it's more expensive to do and it doesn't really make sense to do that without the land bank and the code enforcement."

Former RDA chief executive Walter Monsour appeared to focus mostly on the redevelopment side of the work. Under his leadership, the RDA secured millions of dollars in federal new market tax credits and used them to help bring to fruition the ExxonMobil YMCA on Howell Boulevard, the downtown Hampton Inn and Suites and the Emerge Center on Innovation Park Drive.

The RDA also helped finance the mixed income Elysian Apartments on Spanish Town Road and the Autumn Place and Willow Creek townhomes in north Baton Rouge run by the Housing Authority.

And the RDA hired consultants to create community improvement plans for Scotlandville, Zion City, Northdale, the Choctaw corridor and Melrose East. Metro Council members in those areas say they have not forgotten about the plans and that they hope to see movement on them soon.

But by 2012, the funding picture for RDA grew bleaker and Monsour started asking for money from City Hall. The agency failed in its efforts to secure more tax credits and Monsour resigned in late 2014, amid questions swirling about his hefty salary and the RDA's dealings with Monsour's son. Monsour declined to comment for this article.

As interim director for the past few years, Gwen Hamilton has tried to keep the RDA on even footing and former Mayor-President Kip Holden approved $300,000 stipends for the RDA in his 2016 and 2017 budgets to keep the agency running through this year.

Two high-profile projects that began under Monsour have chugged along under Hamilton: the Ardendale concept meant to revitalize the Ardenwood and Lobdell areas, and the redevelopment of an old Entergy site on Government Street.

Hamilton said progress on Ardendale  where Baton Rouge Community College has recently opened an automotive training center, the School Board is building a career high school and apartment complexes have been renovated  shows the RDA's relevance even on a shoestring budget.

Construction is also expected to begin soon on the "Electric Depot" development on the Entergy site, which is to include apartments, a bowling alley, a pizza parlor with a microbrewery and more.

"Both of these projects have the desirable effect of regenerating a part of town that is distressed," said longtime RDA board Chairman John Noland. "When people go to the Electric Depot and have a pizza, and have a beer, and have a good time, and look around the neighborhood that they see revitalizing with their own eyes, people are going to say, 'Man we need this!"

"They stand to set an example of what an RDA project could do for our city," Noland continued. "But man, we could use 100 of them  500 of them!"

Noland said it's possible the RDA could exist one day on self-generated funds if it can build up a body of work. But he said the city-parish's financial support is essential until that body of work exists so the RDA can eventually draw developer fees, interest income, rental income and more.

"You can only do things if you've got funding," said Thomas, from CPEX. "People say, 'They spent too much money in the beginning.' But if you don't fund it and you don't put the right people in charge, you're not going to be successful."

Many Metro Council members, who will soon have to say "yes" or "no" to Broome's proposed 2018 budget with the RDA funding in it, say they are bullish on the RDA's future.

Councilwoman Donna Collins-Lewis said she's happy with the progress on Ardendale, but that she's waiting for redevelopment to follow in the adjacent neighborhoods. Councilman LaMont Cole said his north Baton Rouge district could use an aggressive approach from the RDA on blight, while Councilwoman Erika Green noted that the RDA helped secure funding for new townhomes in Fortune Addition.

Councilwoman Chauna Banks differed, saying she could not point to anything in her Scotlandville district in the past four years that the RDA has done. She said they added a refrigerator to a local store to stock fresh food, but the store later closed.

"There was a lot of hope with the RDA and community that this would be sort of a saving grace, having an agency specifically focused on revitalization," remembered Councilwoman Tara Wicker.

Wicker acknowledged the funding problems that have held back the RDA. But she said she's especially hopeful that the RDA will resume talks about renovating the historic Lincoln Theater in Old South Baton Rouge, which was discussed years ago.

Though Noland is excited about the projects the RDA has pursued, he acknowledges that by themselves, they are "woefully inadequate" in fixing blight throughout the city as a whole.

"You can drive around the neighborhoods of Baton Rouge, it would take about two hours, and it could persuade you that Baton Rouge needs an RDA badly," he said.
The Mayor of Bengaluru, Sampath Raj, claims almost 85% of the potholes have been filled.

By Nolan Pinto: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's promise of filling all the 20,000 odd potholes in the city in just 15 days expired on October 24.

The Mayor of Bengaluru, Sampath Raj, now wants another 10 more days to complete the work. But no matter what promises the civic officials give, citizens are not ready to buy the excuses any longer. Now, it seems they have lost faith in the system, which is why some of them have decided to take matters into their own hands.

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'POTHOLE RAJA' SHOULDERS THE RESPONSIBILITY

Early on Saturday morning, along with a few women volunteers, Prathaap B, who teaches at the prestigious IIM-Bangalore and is popularly known as 'Pothole Raja' was at work filling a pothole which the civic officials had neglected.

Prathaap has been doing this work for the past one and half years, and has so far has filled some 700 odd potholes till today. He believes the promise made by the civic authorities to make Bengaluru pothole-free in 10 more days will never become a reality.

Even though the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) claims a lot of work has been done. Pothole Raja told India Today, "The authorities can claim that they have fixed a pothole, but ultimately it's the citizens who should give a thumbs up to it."

According to him, the cold asphalt process which he uses is simple and cost-effective, but BBMP contractors will not use since they will not make any money in this.

NAVEEN TO THE RESCUE IN BTM LAYOUT

With potholes claiming a number of innocent lives in the IT Capital, Naveen who calls himself a youth public worker decided to hold a Pooja in one such pothole in BTM Layout's 29th main road.

He did this so that no more lives are lost due to potholes-related accidents.

"No BBMP corporator came to the spot, rather they sent the police to harass us to stop this protest," he said.

Naveen along with his friends also wanted to prepare tea and plant saplings in various other potholes but again the police played the spoilsport.

As of today, Sampath Raj, claims almost 85% of the potholes have been filled.

However, the quality of the materials used in repairing the roads is questionable.

(With inputs from Kishore Barker)

--- ENDS ---
Lanny Keller: Only a few lessons in primary returns Sometimes, for all the piles of returns and layers of commentary, an election doesnt tell y

A friend and I launched into a conversation few days ago about elections and voting. My friends and I have better and more interesting conversations most times, but I brought up the subject because something about the recent Louisiana elections had been gnawing at me. The turnout statewide of only 14 percent of all registered voters was awful. My friend was one of those who didnt cast a ballot. He said he didnt vote because he wasnt feeling it. There was nothing that turned me on in the election, he said.

Okay, I get the lack of excitement, but I didnt get failing to vote. Then I gave him my spiel. I guess you can see where Im going with this.

This is my standard angry diatribe that I have made before and, dog-gone-it, I will make it again. Note to African-Americans like me: You dont have that chill moment when you can choose which election you want to participate in.

You should cast a ballot in all, or as many elections as you are physically able, whether it be for a tax, a school board member, a city council member, the library board, whatever. You need to be there.

Yeah, Im picking on my folks, but, really, all voters ought to be voting. Isnt that the whole reason for the flag and the armed forces and the patriotism stuff?

The Louisiana Secretary of State office said only 13.8 percent of the registered African-American voters turned out for the recent statewide election. Even though that mirrors the overall statewide numbers, I consider it an abomination.

+2 Grace Notes: Oddball treasurer election could be closer than it seems After sitting out the primary for state treasurer, the Louisiana Democratic Party may be abo

And, in East Baton Rouge Parish, only 8.5 percent of the African-American registered voters cast ballots, according to state records. Just horrendous.

I remember the death and injury toll that getting the right to vote cost my people. For the young, have you seen photos of black people being lynched, dragged across streets, dogs set upon women and children, just for seeking a basic civil right? What about the intimidation and assassinations of African-American leaders attempting to get their people registered to vote?

You have to know about those four little girls blown apart by a bomb while they were at church. Yeah, while in a house of prayer. This was a message sent by those who did not want African-Americans to have a basic civil right that others got just for being the right age and the right race.

Dont you think you owe them something?

So now, years after all of that, we feel that we can take it easy? That was the old days. Its different now, the young will say.

As the young folk say now, you better "stay woke. There are states like Texas, North Carolina and others that are trying to create laws aimed at making it more difficult for African-Americans and other minorities to vote.

In the last presidential race, African-Americans came out in large numbers, but not in the number comparable to when this country elected the first African-American president. Wow, that was great. But what about in other elections?

Have too many of us entered into the middle class and beyond, feel comfortable and have developed a Well, I got mine. That that was then mindset? How horrible. It wasnt 100 years ago when men, women and children were beaten like animals at the foot of the Edmund Pettice bridge in Selma, Alabama, just for asking to be treated like equal humans.

People who show off photos of themselves at that bridge on social media. Hey, look at me, the photo says. My question is, do you vote? Does what happened there mean anything to you? The answer should not be Yeah, when it counts.

For the sake of those who gave all for the right to vote, you should vote in every election you are healthy enough to get to the polling place.

I try to get to the polling place if there is an election for anything. I think I owe it to my grandmother and many of her generation who saw how horrible it was to be denied basic human decency.

To my brothers and sisters, you cant rest. You cant take it easy. Vote whenever an election is called. If you want to be recognized as a powerful voting group, one that politicians feel they have to answer to, then you have to be reckoned with in every election.

Note to the excuse makers: Local elections are just as important as the national contests. In many ways, they are more important.

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke clearly about this issue so long ago: Even when the polls are open to all, Negroes have shown themselves too slow to exercise their voting privileges. There must be a concerted effort on the part of Negro leaders to arouse their people from their apathetic indifference ... In the past, apathy was a moral failure. Today, it is a form of moral and political suicide.

Email Edward Pratt, a former newspaperman who writes a weekly Advocate column, at epratt1972@yahoo.com.
Swedish furniture retailer Ikea has withdrawn a television commercial in China featuring a mother who threatened to disown her unmarried daughter after it unleashed a wave of criticism on social media for being sexist and insulting single women.

The 30-second commercial showed a family dinner scene where a Chinese mother declared sternly to her sombre-looking daughter: "If you cannot bring back a boyfriend, don't call me Mum."

A young man then appeared at the door with flowers and the delighted parents set up their dining table with Ikea tableware and decorations. The scene ended with the tagline "celebrate everyday's life".

Ikea apologised for the ad after critics said it stigmatised China's young single women who are colloquially known as the "leftover women", a term coined to refer to professional women who have not married by their late 20s.
Today, October 29, marks the 30th anniversary of the fatal fire in the Jika Jika maximum security unit at Pentridge Prison that resulted in the death of five inmates.

That fire led to extensive investigations by the then state coroner, Hal Hallenstein, who reported on the deaths in his findings of August 7,1989, almost two years later. Those findings described the Office of Corrections' non-cooperation with the inquiry as acting "in a manner which could be described as corrupt". The coroner recommended "that there be an independent and general public inquiry into the Office of Corrections and its administration of the prison system in Victoria".

The prison system needs to be more accountable to the community. Credit:Craig Abraham

Retired Supreme Court judge Tony Murray undertook the investigation, supported by lawyer Stephen O'Bryan, now the head of Victoria's Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission. The Murray Report was tabled in the Victorian Parliament in March 1990. That report and the subsequent report of the Victorian ombudsman recommended many changes in the administration and accountability of prisons in this state.

Thirty years later, it is opportune to reflect on what has been learnt from the past and how the Victorian prison system can be more accountable to the community in the future.
This is a second big hooch tragedy that has taken place in the Bihar the Nitish Kumar government imposed prohibition in the state on 1st April 2016.

At least five men died after cosuming spurious liquor in Rohtas, Bihar

By Rohit Kumar Singh: At least five men died after allegedly consuming spurious liquor in Rohtas district in Bihar on Friday. The incident happened in the Danwar village, which falls under the Kachwa police station, 50 kms from district headquarters, Sasaram.

The deaths took place on Saturday morning after seven of the nine people who had consumed the illicit liquor were admitted to the Narayan Medical College and Hospital (NMCH) following complaints of uneasiness and vomiting on Friday night.

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The men who lost their lives after drinking spurious liquor have been identified as Kamlesh Singh (35), Harihar Singh, Dhanjit Singh (26), Baijnath Singh and Uday Singh (35). Two others were battling for their lives at the NMCH hospital and their conditions were said to be critical.

Soon after the incident was reported, the DIG and SP of Rohtas district rushed to Danwar. The DIG, taking immediate action, suspended eight police officers of the Kachwa police station and transferred another 10 constables to police lines.

It was only after the top cops cracked down on local police that protesting locals, who had blocked the Piro-Nasriganj state highway for over two hours, agreed to clear the road.

Click here to Enlarge Locals blocked the Piro-Nasriganj state highway following the tragedy, claiming that local police was responsible for allowing the sale of spurious liquor

Villagers claim that spurious alcohol is easily available, partly due to inaction by the Kachwa police station, in Danwar despite prohibition in the state.

"Five persons have lost their lives in the hooch incident. Two others are critical and undergoing treatment. Preliminary investigations reveal that it's a case of consuming spurious liquor," SK Singhal, ADG (Headquarters), said.

"The matter is extremely serious and therefore the police headquarters have suspended 9 police officials of the Kachwa police station and 12 remaining have been transferred. Raids are being carried in the area to apprehend the culprits involved in manufacturing illicit liquor," Singhal added.

Opposition leaders in the state, including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's former ally Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son Tejashwi, used the tragedy to attack the Bihar government.

Nitish ji formed govt with those who called alcohol prohibition act a draconian law. He just makes law to be in news & not serious to implement. Police's failure to curb crime is directly proportional to his own failure https://t.co/rH7lKoLHmn- Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) October 28, 2017

Nitish never ever take onus of failures, crime, corruption and law & order. He always throws ball in others court to save his flops & deeds. https://t.co/tu1ned2exD- Lalu Prasad Yadav (@laluprasadrjd) October 28, 2017

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This is a second big hooch tragedy that has taken place in the Bihar the Nitish Kumar government imposed prohibition in the state on 1st April 2016. In an earlier incident, 16 people had lost their lives in Gopalganj after consuming spurious liquor.

--- ENDS ---
Labor frontbenchers have conceded former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce will win the New England election on the first day of the campaign, as the ALP prepares to use the byelection as a testing ground for a federal election as early as next year.

The National Broadband Network, Gonski school funding, university cuts and energy will be the four pillars of the Labor push in northern NSW, party strategists say.

A Royal Commission into Australia's banks and legislative changes penalty rate cuts are also now live options, despite Labor only having four sitting days to push them through Parliament before the December 2 byelection.

Such a move would require the support of maverick Nationals MP George Christensen who has yet to indicate if he would cross the floor on either issue.
When I started in comedy, a prominent male comedian asked a colleague of mine if he thought women were funny. He said no, not really. To me, that was laughable.

I never doubted my funniness. Firstly, there was the hilariousness of my Scottish mother, Margaret, and her cousins, some of the most piss-funny people I've ever met. Secondly, I had my father Peter's belief in me. He raised me to believe that there was nothing, absolutely nothing, that a man could do that a woman could not.

Magda Szubanski.

My father was born in Warsaw. He was a complex man  very strong, but also warm and sensitive in a lot of ways. When I was younger he could be tough on me, probably because he was still caught in the trauma of World War II.

Dad was 15 when Hitler invaded Poland. He hated what the Germans did to the Jews, and at 19 became part of a Polish execution squad to kill Gestapo. The next year he was captured and sent to three prisoner of war camps. When the Russians liberated him, he went to Scotland, where he met my mother.
A convicted rapist who led police on an interstate chase spanning more than 1000 kilometres, has faced a Brisbane court after removing his electronic monitoring device and fleeing into New South Wales.

Damien Kennedy.

Damien Kennedy, 28, faced the Brisbane Arrest Court on Saturday charged with two counts of contravention of a relevant order, after fleeing while supervised under the Dangerous Prisoners Sexual Offenders Act. He was remanded in custody to reappear on November 21.

Mr Kennedy fled from the suburb of Salisbury, in Brisbanes south on Monday afternoon and the next day taunted police with a Facebook post in which he claimed he was in Rockhampton.

"Come get me morther (sic) f---ers", he wrote.
Hot, windy conditions have put firefighters on alert across Victoria's north-west, but a late cool change could see temperatures drop - and even snow fall elsewhere in the state.

The CFA has declared a total fire ban for the Mallee region on Sunday with temperatures forecast to reach 34 degrees under a blast of strong northerly winds.

A Total Fire Ban has been declared for the Mallee region on Sunday. Credit:Jessica Shapiro

CFA state duty officer Jamie Hansen said fast-moving fires are possible during such weather conditions, making it difficult for firefighters.

"Therefore, we are asking people to take heed to the total fire ban conditions," he said.
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
By PTI: Patna, Oct 27 (PTI) The orphanage in Nalanda district of Bihar, from where Sherin Mathews was adopted in June last year, today suspected foul play behind the death of the three-year-old Indian girl recently.

Babita Kumari, the secretary of the Mother Teresa Orphanage and Childrens Home, claimed that there were discrepancies in the reported statements of Wesley Mathews, Sherins adoptive father, and said she was suspicious that the child might actually have been killed.

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"I want to speak to the foster parents of Saraswati, who was later re-christened as Sherin, as I suspect that the child may have become dispensable to the couple as they had a child of their own," she said.

Sherin had gone missing on October 7 and the police in the Texan city of Richardson confirmed her death earlier this week after over-a-fortnight of searches.

Sherins adoptive father Wesley Mathews (37) was re- arrested and charged with causing a first-degree felony injury to a child due to conflicting statements given by him to the police.

"We had taken the custody of the child in February, 2015 when she was barely seven-month-old. On June 23, 2016, when she was just a little under two years of age, the American couple came to us and applied for adoption. All formalities were completed in accordance with the law and in presence of the Superintendent of Police," Kumari told PTI over phone from Nalanda.

"As many as eight children adopted from our home are living in the US. Some have also gone to countries like Indonesia, South Africa and Spain. In addition, more than 100 kids from our centre have been adopted by families living across the country. Never have we heard about any of them meeting such a horrible end," she added.

"He (Wesley) has said that the girl choked when they tried to forcibly feed her milk. Choking while drinking milk is common among children but it is unlikely to cause death.

"Moreover, he has spoken of alleged disabilities the girl suffered from but has failed to produce even one document to show that the child, who was perfectly healthy when she was with us, had been treated for any of those defects," Kumari said.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, in a statement today, said he had spoken to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj about the matter and requested her "to review the rules relating to adoption of Indian children by couples belonging to other countries".

"It has not been difficult to keep a tab on the children who were taken to other countries after adoption. I have requested Swaraj to take the matter relating to the death of the girl to its logical conclusion and ensure that the strongest possible punishment was meted out to her foster father, who hailed from Kerala but was settled in the US," he added.

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Kumari said the news of the childs death came as a double whammy for her as she was already rattled by the closure of her agency, pursuant to an order of the district child protection department.

"Our orphanage has been closed since September 15, following an order of the department dated September 7, wherein it has been alleged that irregularities have been found in our functioning. No documents or inquiry reports were appended to the closure order and hence, we plan to challenge the same before the court.

"We were registered as an agency specialising in providing care to orphan children way back in 2011. We had eight children in our custody when the closure order was slapped on us. Among them, a six-year-old girl has been sent to a balika grih (girls home) in Begusarai, while the remaining have been sent to an orphanage in Nawada," she added.

Meanwhile, an inquiry ordered by the district administration into the adoption of the girl has found that the entire exercise was carried out in accordance with the rules.

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"A three-member committee was set up to inquire as to whether the due procedure was followed during the adoption of the child. The inquiry committee has found nothing amiss," Thyagarajan, District Magistrate of Nalanda, told PTI. PTI NAC RG RC

--- ENDS ---
The BJP is staring at defeat in Gujarat and that is why they are rattled and making such baseless allegations against Congress leaders, said Randeep Surjewala.

By Indo-Asian News Service: The Congress today said the ruling BJP was "rattled" at the prospect of defeat in Gujarat and was thus making "baseless" terror allegations against Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel.

Reacting to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's allegations against Patel, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the BJP was hatching a conspiracy against the Congress MP and asked the party to look inwards.

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The Congress leader said, "The BJP is staring at defeat in Gujarat and that is why they are rattled and making such baseless allegations against Congress leaders. Truth will win and the BJP will be defeated in Gujarat."

Rupani on Friday night demanded Patel's resignation from the Rajya Sabha alleging his links with Mohammed Qasim Stimberwala, one of the two alleged Islamic State operatives arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad on Wednesday in Surat. The arrested suspects were allegedly planning to blow up a synagogue in Ahmedabad.

Patel has rubbished the charge that he had links with Stimberwala.

"Sardar Patel Hospital is a charitable hospital in which 150-200 employees work. Neither Ahmed Patel nor any of his family members is a trustee of the hospital. They also don't hold any office of profit in the hospital," said Surjewala, adding that Stimberwala was one the employees.

He said the ATS should initiate a probe against the suspected terrorists if it has evidence.

"The Gujarat Chief Minister, in order to hide his incapability, is trying to hatch a conspiracy against Congress leader Ahmed Patel and making baseless allegations against him in a very despicable attempt," the spokesperson said.

"The Congress has always fought against terrorism while the BJP has had an opposite record. Would Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah explain how terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's wife came to Mumbai under their nose in March 2016 and then left the country. How the Maharashtra government and intelligence agencies didn't even get a whiff of it and could not arrest her?"

Surjewala also said that some Islamic State agents arrested in Madhya Pradesh were found to have links with the BJP. "One of them Dhruv Saxena, was also a member of BJP's IT cell," he said.

"Is it not true that the BJP-PDP government in Jammu and Kashmir gave compensation to the family of terrorist Burhan Wani in December 2016," Surjewala asked.

He also pointed out that the previous NDA government had released dreaded terrorists like Maulana Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed Jargar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh from the Indian custody in the Kandahar hijacking incident.

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"A Maharashtra BJP leader Eknath Khadse had to resign for his alleged links with Dawood. So, the BJP should look inwards before pointing fingers at others."

ALSO WATCH | BJP's allegations baseless: Ahmed Patel on being linked with arrested ISIS terrorist

--- ENDS ---
Sunday

CBS Religious School is offering Sunday morning classes. Students are invited to learn about and experience Judaism in a welcoming and egalitarian environment. For more information or to register, contact religiousschool.cbs@gmail.com.

Faith United Church (UCC), 2901 Austin's Colony Parkway in Bryan, welcomes you on Reformation Sunday with 9:15 a.m. Sunday study, "ASK: Faith Questions in a Skeptical Age;" 10 a.m. fellowship and 10:30 a.m. worship. Pastor Karl's message is "Receiving a New Play Book." Faithuccbryan.org.

St. Francis Episcopal Church, 1101 Rock Prairie Road in College Station, will celebrate Holy Communion at 8 a.m. (Rite 1) and 10:30 a.m. (Rite 2). Children's Sunday School also meets at 10:30 a.m. Coffee and snacks will follow the later service. For information on weekday services and events, contact the church at 696-1491 or stfrancisbcs.org.

First Christian Church, 900 S. Ennis St. in Bryan, will meet for worship at 10:45 a.m. The Rev. Jesse Myers' sermon topic will be "Surely You Don't Mean Them," based on Matthew 22:34-40 and Deuteronomy 34:1-12. Sunday school classes for all ages begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by coffee time at 10:30 a.m. Child care is available. Youth groups meet at 3 p.m. 823-5451 or firstchristianbcs.org.

Unitarian Universalist Church of the Brazos Valley, 800 George Bush Drive (Texas A&M Hillel), will meet at 10:30 a.m. The Rev. Aaron Stockwell will deliver the service, "And Then What Happens?" 696-5285.

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 217 W. 26th St. in Bryan, will host services at 7:30, 9 and 11:15 a.m. We will also participate in the Bryan-College Station CROP Hunger Walk at 3 p.m. at the Veterans Park Pavilion, 3101 Harvey Road in College Station. Registration begins at 2:15 p.m. and there will be an opening ceremony at 2:50 p.m. Funds will benefit the Church World Service relief and development program; 25 percent will go to the Brazos Church Pantry. For more information, visit www.crophungerwalk.org/bryantx.

Covenant Presbyterian Church, 220 Rock Prairie Road in College Station, will worship at 10:30 a.m. Classes for all ages meet at 9:15 a.m., followed by coffee and fellowship. 694-7700 or covenantpresbyterian.org.

Unity Spiritual Center of the Brazos Valley, 4016 Stillmeadow Drive, Bryan, will have services at 10:30 a.m. Call 324-9857 or unityspiritualcenterbv.org.

Spirit of Faith Church, 900 E. 29th St. in Bryan, will have Sunday school classes for all ages at 10 a.m., followed by morning worship at 11 a.m. All are welcome. 436-6910.

Mount Nebo Missionary Baptist Church, 3610 Plainsman Lane in Bryan, will have Sunday school classes for all ages at 9:15 a.m. and morning worship service at 10:30 a.m. 846-4753.

Tuesday

Eagle's Nest Praise and Worship Ministries will be opening a free prayer line from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The prayer line number is 775-1513, and calls will be answered by a trained prayer ministry associate. The prayer line is coordinated by pastors Gary and Sheila Jones.

Hillcrest Baptist Church, 4220 Boonville Road in Bryan, will host a Fall Festival from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the church parking lot. There will be games, candy and food. Free; all are invited. 776-5731.

Wednesday

Faith United Church, 2901 Austin's Colony Parkway in Bryan, invites men of all ages to Wednesday morning coffee and guy talk at 10 a.m. Faithuccbryan.org.

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 217 W. 26th St. in Bryan, will have evening prayer at 5:30 p.m. www.standrewsbcs.org.

Friday

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 217 W. 26th St. in Bryan, will celebrate First Friday Open Doors from 5 to 8 p.m. Tour the beautiful and historic stained glass windows and walk the prayer labyrinth outside. www.standrewsbcs.org.

Upcoming

Central Baptist Church, 1991 F.M. 158 in College Station, will host a concert by the Christian group Passion at 7 p.m. on Nov. 10. There will also be teaching from pastors Louie Giglio and Levi Lusko. Tickets $15.95 for groups of 10 or more and college students, $18.95 for groups of four or more, $21.95 general admission, and $34.95 deluxe. 855-484-1991 or www.premierproductions.com.
Bryan police were investigating on Friday after a person was shot at the Canyon Village apartments.

Police responded to 3200 Finfeather Road in Bryan around 12:30 a.m. Friday. According to police, a 27-year-old man with gunshot wound was dropped off at CHI St. Joseph. He was transferred to another hospital and was reported to be in critical condition Friday morning.

The person that took the man to the hospital left before police arrived, and everyone involved had left the apartment complex.

Police said the gunshot victim was with a group in an apartment when several people arrived and an argument ensued, leading to gunfire. Authorities believe that everyone involved knew each other and that the shooting was an isolated incident.

This is the third shooting at an apartment complex in Bryan-College Station in the past three weeks.

Bryan police are investigating the incident and anyone with information is asked to call 209-5300 or Crime Stoppers at 775-8477.
Local farmer Jay Wilder said while the floods brought by Hurricane Harvey may be gone, its effects are continuing to be felt in the agricultural community.

Economists with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service said losses caused by the hurricane totaled upward of an estimated $200 million between livestock, hay and feed, cotton, rice, soybeans and more.

Wilder said he say the greatest impact from the storm through his cotton crop -- 60-65 percent of which he said was lost along with the 28 inches of rain Harvey brought.

"Just the rainfall itself would have been devastating, but with that much rain you also had a lot of flooding," Wilder said. "We had cotton that was actually totally submerged in water, which at that point ruined that 60-65 percent that was ready to be harvested."

Officials said $100 million of the total losses are expected to be felt by cotton farmers.

John Robinson, an AgriLife Extension cotton marketing economist, said although this loss is certainly a "kick in the gut" for many Texas farmers, it is not expected to have the same wide-reaching effect as the 2011 droughts.

"This isn't going to affect the retail market -- the impacts aren't going to affect anybody really except the local growers that were really hit by it," Robinson said.

He said despite many having insurance to fall back on, that only serves to "reduce the size of the disaster" for many farmers who were on track for a big yield this year.

"What they were sizing up to make were really good yields -- they would have made a good amount of money as cotton growers, selling good-quality cotton," Robinson said. "... What they're going to get now, if they harvested, is degraded cotton at a much lower, discounted price. If it was obliterated, they're going to get an insurance claim that was based on 60 percent of their historical yield, not the 3-bale cotton they had out in their field. Either way it comes out, it's a huge opportunity loss."

Robinson said roughly 200,000 bales of cotton lint -- valued around $62.4 million -- were lost and another 200,000 of the harvested bales were left with a degraded quality.

Agency director Doug Steele said in a statement the storm's effects are expected to "linger for quite some time with our Texas farmers and ranchers."

"Many South Texas or coastal area cotton farmers were on the verge of harvesting one of the best crops ever in Texas, while some ranchers were unable to save some cattle from insurmountable flood waters," he said. "However, the livestock losses could have been far worse had it not been for the many cooperating associations that joined forces with AgriLife Extension to establish animal supply points in the impacted areas, providing livestock with fresh hay and feed donated from across Texas and from generous individuals in neighboring states."
Author Christina Baker Kline said the nation's 41st president made the same joke others have mentioned before grabbing her buttocks in 2014 in Houston. She said a Bush driver told her she hoped she would be "discreet."

"At age 93, President Bush has been confined to a wheelchair for roughly five years, so his arm falls on the lower of waist of people with whom he takes pictures," said Bush spokesman Jim McGrath in a statement released Wednesday evening. "To try and put people at ease, the president routinely tells the same joke, and on occasion, he has patted women's rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner. Some have seen it as innocent; others clearly view it as inappropriate. To anyone he has offended, President Bush apologizes most sincerely."
By PTI: Kathmandu, Oct 28 (PTI) A passenger bus with nearly 50 people today veered off a highway and plunged into a river in Nepals Dhading district, killing at least 14 of them and leaving 15 others injured, media reports said.

The bus, which was en route to Kathmandu from Rajbiraj, veered off the highway at Ghatbesi Bange curve, about 80 km from here, according to the Kathmandu Post.

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Fourteen bodies -- five women and two infants -- have been fished out from the Trishuli river so far, Superintendent of Police Dhrubaraj Raut in Dhading said.

The identities are yet to be ascertained, he said.

Fifteen passengers managed to save their lives by swimming to the river bank. They have suffered injuries in the accident, the report said.

The officer said that the exact number of passengers travelling in the bus was not immediately known. The injured have been rushed to nearby hospitals, he added.

Some other passengers were feared trapped in the bus and rescued operations were underway, Raut said. PTI KIS CPS KIS

--- ENDS ---
November 19, 1933 - October 25, 2017

Lt. Colonel Franklin D Waddell, ASAF (Ret.) of College Station, TX, passed away in his home on October 25, 2017.

Waddell was born in Roby, Texas on November 19, 1933. He was the son of Fred and Luella Waddell, the third of four brothers. Two brothers, Dr. Freddy J. Waddell and Billy John Waddell, preceded him in death. He was married for 40 years to the former Joan C. Winfree, who preceded him in death. He is survived by their three children, Cyndi, Scott and Shannon; grandchildren, Jay, Shayla, Savannah and Luke and great-grandchildren, Reid and Ryan. He is also survived by his brother, Don Allan, of Roby, Texas and by numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Franklin was deeply proud of his upbringing in West Texas in Fisher County and of the farm life in which he was raised. His parents were poor, hardworking dry land cotton farmers and life was difficult, but joyful. Surviving the Great Depression depended on all of them and the large extended family that lived around them. He loved his family and treasured especially, his time with his grandfathers, John Waddell and Jack Dyer. These formative years inspired in him a deep respect for hard work and loyalty to his family. He was proud of his brothers and the values they learned on the farm and how they all built on that foundation to achieve their own accomplishments in life.

He attended Texas A&M College. It was a frightening, bewildering experience to be left there far from family. He joined the Corps of Cadets, was a member of the Ross Volunteers and was president of his class. He graduated in 1956. He was a career officer in the Air Force and served in a variety of staff and command positions in the Strategic Air Command, Pacific Air Forces and Air Training Command. He flew fifty-eight combat missions in Southeast Asia. Awards and decorations included Master Navigator rating, Air Medal with six Oak Leaf Clusters, Meritorious Service Medal with Cluster and Bronze Star.

He retired in 1976 and was excited to return to College Station and where he resided until his death. He served as Vice President for Project Operations of the Texas A&M Research Foundation until 1983. He was president of a family enterprise, Waddell Oilfield Hauling and Service. He gained fame inside Aggie circles by his prolific writing as fossil.ag in online TexAg forums where he contributed a wealth of knowledge on A&M and the history of West Texas.

Franklin was deeply loyal and dedicated to his entire extended family, keeping close ties to all of them. He was especially proud of his children who he believed built on their upbringing to become good, hardworking people. He had unabashed pride in his grandchildren and children who brought tremendous joy into his life.

Franklin took pride in being in the Air Force and all of the places a simple Roby boy went and the things he experienced. Everything goes back to the farm life in Roby: the lessons of hardwork and dedication and pride and loyalty to family drove him his entire life. From that simple background, rose a great man.

A graveside service will be held in the College Station Cemetery on October 30 at 11:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to your favorite charity, Hospice Brazos Valley, or The Roby Cemetery Association.
NORWALK  Half a decade after the flood accompanying Superstorm Sandy receded from Norwalks homes and streets, its specter still arises every time Doug Milne sells a floodzone home that wasnt raised in the aftermath.

Its a part of every conversation we have with any seller in Rowayton or any floodzone market  sections of Darien as well, said Milne, of Houlihan Lawrence. Usually, the sellers say, Oh, its not that big of a deal, Ive never had water in my basement.

Thats when Milne has to gently bring people to understand that whether or not theyve had issue with flooding, buyers are looking for flood insurance, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ties into the elevation of the house.

Five years after Superstorm Sandy, people in the area are still feeling the impacts of flooding. On top of repairs, residents have had to contend with policies that have shifted since Sandy  several changes to the National Flood Insurance Program have taken place, floodzone maps were redrawn in 2013 to include larger swaths of the city and Norwalk began requiring renovated homes to be raised one foot above what FEMA required.

Such policies are meant to literally reshape neighborhoods to make them more safe, but the process can be bittersweet.

After Superstorm Sandy, 13-year-old Dylan Stolba swam through the streets of Rowayton to his grandmothers house, an experience he would write about years later for his college admissions essay.

More Information $159.2M Total funding awarded to the state of Connecticut from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery program. $20M Total portion awarded by HUD to Norwalk to assist in projects associated with improving resiliency of infrastructure and public facilities impacted by Superstorm Sandy. $6.5M Funding awarded to Norwalk homeowners to assist in the rehabilitation and elevation of damaged homes, as well as reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses incurred repairing homes damaged as a result of Superstorm Sandy. See More Collapse

Stolba remembers the aftermath as a coming of age, when he had to learn to put fun aside to become useful to his family. But it was also a turning point for his grandmother, Joann Schreiber, who had lived in the Cape Cod red home by the sea for more than half a century and was faced with the decision of what to do next. When the floodmaps were redrawn, FEMA required homes in her neighborhood to be raised 15 feet above the mean high tide line. With the added Norwalk regulation, the house would have to be elevated 16 feet.

Schreiber had a local company estimate how much it would cost to repair. Cleaning, re-painting and re-wiring came out to more than $48,000. If she wanted to raise the home, that could run from $150,000 to $450,000.

FEMA approved over $15 million for individual and household aid in Connecticut after the storm, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gave over $4 million to owner-occupied buildings in Norwalk (Washington Village received an additional $16 million). But even with aid, Schreiber said, There was no way I could pay for the house to be cleaned and raised."

And so she sold the home to a developer who was interested in the land it sat on and moved into a condo in East Norwalk, where she could still see the seagulls and the waves.

The home was torn down, and a new house, built at elevation, took its place. Milne said even now, some houses that have not been raised are priced to tear down.

What is the value of the land that it is on? he asked. If youre not willing to take the work to raise it up to elevation, it will be very difficult to sell. It has a negative impact on value.

Michael Wrinn, assistant director at the Planning and Zoning Department, said that, while raising homes is difficult, its for the best long-term. This is an issue thats not going away with the changing climate that we have, he said of destructive flooding. So were in favor of raising everyone up as much as we can to keep them safe, as difficult as it is. People undertaking the process can stop by the department to talk over options.

And, slowly but surely, floodzone neighborhoods have evolved. We still have construction, we still have trucks coming in, it's still in the process of being settled, Rowayton resident Ann Dileone said. She has lived in the neighborhood since before Sandy, and helped other residents, including Schreiber, in the aftermath.

Since Sandy, she said both the homes and the people have changed. Schreiber agreed. Theres still a few old hands left. But many have moved. I think a lot of it may have been attributed to the storm.

When Tammy Langalis, Sixth Taxing District chairman and a luxury properties specialist at William Raveis, drove around the neighborhood Monday afternoon, she could point to new houses that had replaced the smaller oysterman homes that had been there for over a century. This neighborhood has totally changed, she said.

But while Sandy has physically reshaped the neighborhood, life goes on.

Last year, for Halloween, Dileone recalled some of the new residents living in houses raised 16 feet above the mean high tide line sitting outside of their homes for the trick-or-treaters.

They were afraid that children werent going to go up all the steps to get to the door, so they sat out at ground level, she explained.

Neighbors greeted neighbors on the once flooded streets.

To Dileone, it was a sign that, though the neighborhood she once knew had changed, a new sense of community was taking root.

rschuetz@hearstmediact.com; @raschuetz
Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel has been booked in the sex CD case that involves state minister Rajesh Munat.

By India Today Web Desk: After journalist Vinod Verma, Chattisgarh Congress president Bhupesh Baghel booked in the sex CD case that involves state PWD Minister Rajesh Munat.

Chhattisgarh minister Munat has filed a complaint against Bhupesh Baghel and Vinod Verma for allegedly tarnishing his image through a "fake" sex CD.

A case was registered last evening at the Civil Lines police station here against Baghel, Verma and others under section 67 (A) of the Information Technology Act following the minister's complaint, Station House Officer (SHO), Civil Lines, Hem Prakash Nayak told PTI.

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"A copy of the CD has been submitted to the police station and it will be sent for forensic examination," he said.

Rajesh Munat is considered close to Chief Minister Raman Singh. He was accompanied by state BJP president Dharam Lal Kaushik, his over half-a-dozen cabinet colleagues and other party leaders, when he filed the complaint.

Talking to reporters yesterday, Munat had alleged that the CD in question was fake and urged the chief minister to order a probe to find the truth. "The (sex) CD is fake. It is an attempt to malign my image," he had said.

The minister further appealed to the chief minister and Kaushik to get the matter investigated from any agency. Yesterday, the Civil Line police had also arrested two AAP supporters for allegedly blackening Munat's nameplate while protesting outside his official residence over the row.

Vinod Verma, who was arrested in connection with an extortion and blackmailing case from Ghaziabad by Chhattisgarh police yesterday, had claimed that he had a sex CD of the Chhattisgarh minister.

Police also claimed to have recovered 500 "porn" CDs, a pen drive and a laptop from Verma. A Ghaziabad court had granted the Chhattisgarh Police the transit remand of Verma till October 30 and he is expected to reach Raipur this afternoon.

(With PTI inputs)

--- ENDS ---
An adolescent boy was having his first experience with love. He confided to his father that he wanted to marry.

His father asked him skeptically, Are you sure you are in love with her?

Indeed I am, the boy answered rapturously. When I was kissing her goodnight, her dog bit me, and I never felt it till I got home. (Albert Edward Day, Existence Under God).

That may be one test of real love, but I wouldnt want to go through that way very often. Another indication of love is when someone says the words. The best way to know love is through actions. Words are easy to say but they must be followed by deeds of love.

Too many marriages are founded on words and sentimental feelings without the actions that show love. The Bible illustrates this truth with the words of 1 John 3:16: We know love by this; that Jesus laid down his life for us  and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. John is not talking about a sentimental emotion but a very practical demonstration. Love means giving ourselves for others.

Many years ago Aristides, a non-Christian Roman lawyer, was called upon to offer a defense of some Christians on trial before the Emperor Hadrian. This is part of his speech:

Christians know what love is. They never fail to help widows; they save orphans from those who would hurt them. If a man has something, he gives freely to the man who has nothing. If they see a stranger, Christians take him home and are happy, as though he were a real brother. They dont consider themselves brothers in the usual sense, brothers instead through the Spirit, in God. And if they hear that one of them is in jail, or persecuted for professing the name of their redeemer, they all give him what he needs. If one of them is poor and there isnt enough food to go around, they fast several days to give him the food he needs. This is really a new kind of person. (From a sermon by the Rev. David F. Lehmberg).

First, real love is backed up by deeds. Secondly, that love needs to start at home. Some people take up the challenge of sacrificing for others but dont do the same for their family. The author and pastor, Keith Miller, wrote about a humbling experience in the book, A Second Touch. One morning Miller got up early for his daily prayer and Bible study. As he was struggling with his lesson, one of his children interrupted and asked what he was doing. Irritated at the interruption, Miller told his daughter to be quiet and leave the room.

A moment later, he heard the little girl sniffling back her tears, asking her mother, Whats the matter with Daddy? Oh, replied her mother, he is learning how to be a good Christian so he can love the people downtown.

All of us have a lot to learn about love.

Prayer: Our Lord, may we have grace and strength to dedicate ourselves to the tasks of sharing and receiving love. Amen.

The Rev. Dan Safarik recently retired as a full-time pastor at St. Luke Methodist Church in Lincoln and now serves part time at St. Marks UMC in Lincoln. Email him at debsafarik@gmail.com.
Local concert halls will be filled with the music of barbershop choruses next weekend in Grand Island and Hastings.

The Conestoga Chorus and the Chorus of the Plains will perform Theres A Meetin Here Tonight, a concert featuring gospel and camp revival meeting songs, at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Hornady-Marshall Theater at College Park, 3180 W. Highway 34, in Grand Island.

Tickets for the concert are $10 in advance from any member of the Conestoga Chorus and from Hy-Vee and Super Saver, while they are $15 at the door.

The two barbershop choruses will perform a second concert at 3 p.m. Nov. 4 at the Masonic Temple in Hastings.

Also performing during the concerts will be four barbershop quartets, including Directors Choice from Grand Island and 4 On The Floor, The Plainsmen and Swell Affair, all from Hastings.

Ill Fly Away, Amazing Grace, Hallelujah, He Touched Me and Have a Little Talk with Jesus will be among the songs that are performed at the concerts. There also will be a number of non-gospel songs performed, including Theres No Place Like Nebraska.

In addition to the local groups, the concert also will feature a quartet from Wichita, Kan.

Usually, when a barbershop chorus has an annual show, it gets what I would call a headliner quartet to be part of the show, said Alan Zwink, a member of the Conestoga Chorus. The headliner quartet we have coming is from Wichita, Kan., and theyre called Ring Theory.

Ring Theory was formed in 2012 and was named the Central States District Novice quartet champion later that year. Since its inaugural year, Ring Theory has performed its barbershop music in Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. Its repertoire includes songs that were first popularized by Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys and Ella Fitzgerald. In 2016, Ring Theory was one of the featured acts at the Miss Kansas Pageant. The quartet, which includes two brothers, is made up of Brad Schuetz, tenor; Chad Schuetz, lead; Jeff Moler, bass; and Brett Randolph, baritone.

Ring Theory has served as a teaching quartet for youth events and has performed for student audiences in numerous schools to share its love of barbershop and a cappella singing. Barbershop is a unique four-part harmony style of singing, in which the lead generally sings the melody, the tenor sings harmony above the melody, the bass sings the lowest notes in the harmony and the baritone sings the notes that complete the chord.

One aspect that gives barbershop music its unique sound is an acoustical effect in which the four voices combine to create a ringing chord that gives listeners the perception of a fifth voice as the four voices meld.

The Conestoga Chorus in Grand Island owes much of its existence to the Hastings Chorus of the Plains. In the early 1980s, several Grand Island men were singing with the Hastings group. They decided that Grand Island should have its own barbershop chorus, and with much support from the Hastings Chorus of the Plains, those vocal musicians from Grand Island formed the nucleus of the current Conestoga Chorus.

The Conestoga Chorus has performed not only in Grand Island, but also in area towns such as Alda, Wood River, St. Paul, Aurora, Hampton, Benedict, York and other communities. A smaller group typically gets together for Valentines Day to accept orders from people who want them to travel around Grand Island to deliver singing Valentines.

Zwink noted that many church choirs do not sing during worship services during the summer. As a result, the Conestoga Chorus takes at least two Sundays, usually in July or August, and lets local churches know that it would be willing to sing during their Sunday worship services.

The Conestoga Chorus also regularly performs for residents in area retirement centers and nursing homes.

Zwink said the main goal for the Friday night concert in Grand Island and Saturday afternoon concert in Hastings is for people to attend and just enjoy the music. However, he also noted that if any man happens to attend the concert and especially enjoys the barbershop music, he might want to consider joining the Conestoga Chorus, which holds its rehearsals at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays at Calvary Lutheran Church, 1304 N. Custer Ave.
Grab your candy bag and plan out the best viewing spot because its nearly time for one of the communitys most popular events  the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce Halloween Parade. An event that is believed to date back nearly 100 years, the chambers Halloween Parade brings out thousands of area residents who line the streets in downtown Edwardsville to watch about 100 parade entries pass by as people on the floats throw out candy to the youngsters.

This year's Halloween Parade theme is Fairy Tales, and the parade kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 31 at Lincoln Middle Schools parking lot. The parade then travels east on Vandalia Street before turning north on Main Street and ending at High Street.

The parade entries pass by the announcement stage located in front of Mojo's Music on Main Street where parade judges evaluate the parade entries and select the 2017 Halloween Parade winners. The chamber awards first, second and third place for small commercial, large commercial, small non-profit, large non-profit, and neighborhood, school and youth groups.

Parade winners will be announced in the Nov. 2 edition of the Edwardsville Intelligencer.

In addition, spectators and participants are encouraged to vote for their fan favorite float (selected from top floats in each category) at www.edglenchamber.com beginning at noon on Nov. 1.

With an anticipated crowd of over 20,000, finding the perfect parking spot can sometimes be a challenge, especially the closer it gets to parade kickoff time. The chamber notes that spectator parking is available in the super lot east of Main Street as well as on the side streets along the parade route. Jerrys Tire Sales lot is reserved for handicap parking and port-a-potties will be available at Walgreens, First Mid-Illinois Bank & Trust and Big Daddys.

Desiree Bennyhoff, President and CEO of the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce, stressed that this event is a wonderful partnership between the chamber and the City of Edwardsville. "The Halloween parade is a tradition dating back nearly 100 years, and it would not be possible without our close partnership with the City of Edwardsville, she said. We very much appreciate the dedication of the SIUE Police Department and public works staff. We have worked very closely with Lt. Kohlberg to ensure a smooth and safe event, and look forward to another successful parade."

Its also an annual event that could not take place without the support of local sponsors. This years Halloween Parade sponsors are 1st MidAmerica Credit Union, Ferguson Roofing, J.F. Electric, Stillwater Senior Living, Cassens & Sons, Gori Julian & Associates, The Goddard School, Gingham Buffalo & Where They Roam, Glik's Department Store, HireLevel, McDonald's of Edwardsville, South Side's All-Star Collision Center, and Weber & Rodney Funeral Home.

"Along with our generous sponsors, I would also like to recognize Kathy Hentz from the chamber team who makes sure every detail is in place for the parade, Bennyhoff added.

She also noted special thanks to the City of Edwardsville, Edwardsville Police Department, Edwardsville Public Works Department, ECTV, Edwardsville Community Unit School District 7, Edwardsville Rotary Club, SIUE Police Department, Glen Carbon Police Department, Walmart of Glen Carbon, Jerrys Tire Sales, Cassens & Sons, Mojos Music, S & K Towing, 1st MidIllinois Bank & Trust, 88.7 WSIE FM The Sound, and Republic Services for their continued support of the Halloween parade.

Although Tuesdays projected forecast doesnt currently include rain at parade time, this of course could change. Therefore, in the event of inclement weather, the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce, along with the City of Edwardsville officials, will make a decision between 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 31. If the parade is going to be delayed or canceled, an announcement will be posted on www.edglenchamber.com as well as on the organizations Facebook page.

The Ed/Glen Chamber works closely with the Edwardsville Police Department to assess any public safety concerns due to inclement weather, but the parade typically will occur rain or shine, provided public safety is not at risk. In the case of parade cancellation due to weather/safety concerns, the event will not be rescheduled and refunds will not be issued on entry fees.

We respect the significant investment of time and funds from all involved and will do everything in our power, weather permitting, to ensure the 2017 Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce Halloween parade occurs," Bennyhoff states on the chambers website.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 28, 2017 12:05 1844 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2656c4e 1 Art & Culture Garuda-Wisnu-Kencana,bali,landmark,GWK Free

The installation of Bali's iconic Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) statue, located in the namesake cultural park in Jimbaran, Badung regency, is slated to be finally completed in August 2018, nearly three decades after its conception in 1989.

PT Nuart Consultant director Ersat B. Amidarmo told tempo.co on Wednesday that the copper statue, which is about 58 percent complete, would be the tallest and largest in the world.

The work of sculptor I Nyoman Nuarta is expected to become a phenomenal landmark that will compete with the Statue of Liberty in New York. "The Statue of Liberty is 93 meters [tall], while the GWK will reach 121 meters," said Ersat, adding that GWK's pedestal was also much larger, at about eight times the size of the Statue of Liberty's base. The completed statue will be about as tall as a 21-story building.

Read also: Temples in Bali, Central Java most popular man-made landmarks: TripAdvisor

Scheduled to be completed two months before the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings to be held in Bali in October 2018, Ersat said the targeted completion date was mere coincidence. "But it will indeed serve as a good occasion to promote the statue," he added.

The statue's designer, I Nyoman Nuarta, said the Aug. 17, 2018 deadline was "a gift" to mark the 73rd anniversary of Indonesian independence. "Hopefully, the GWK Cultural Park will serve as a cultural mecca for the world, and this work of art can generate income and attract more foreign and domestic tourists," said Nuarta.

Once complete, visitors to the massive statue can expect to stroll through its internal rooms. However, since the statue represents Vishnu, the Hindu god of creation, visitors will only be allowed to visit up to the level of its chest. (kes)
Chinese Consul General Ma Zhanwu's comments came around at the same time as the Ministry of External Affairs thwarted claims of Chinese troop build-up near the Doklam plateau.

By Indrajit Kundu: While reports of Chinese troop crowding near the Doklam plateau swirl in media, China's Consul General in Kolkata Ma Zhanwu has neither confirmed nor refuted the claims.

During an interaction with the media yesterday, Ma Zhanwu said, "Doklam is behind us. Enough has been said about it, and in the new era, I believe the China-India relation will continue to develop with joint efforts."

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Zhanwu's comments come at a time when some Indian media reports have published satellite images showing Chinese troop build-up near the contested point at the Doklam plateau.

MEA DITCH CLAIMS OF FRESH CHINESE TROOP AT DOKLAM

The Ministry of External Affairs, however, has thwarted the claims of Chinese troop build-up near the Doklam plateau. Stated that there has been no new development at Doklam, the MEA called these reports "incorrect and mischievous,".

"I would like to reiterate that there is no new development at the face-off site and its vicinity since the August 28 disengagement," said External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.

"Status quo prevails in the area and any suggestion to the contrary is incorrect and mischievous," Kumar added. "This news report refers to alleged Chinese build-up well within China."

On August 28, the MEA had announced that both countries had agreed to "disengage" respective troops, thus ending a nearly three-month standoff in region close to the Sikkim border.

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 28, 2017 08:30 1845 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2654f79 1 City theft,Depok Free

A peculiar theft case in which parts of goats were stolen after their innards were taken out and left inside a pen has happened again in Depok, West Java.

The meat and hides of eleven goats owned by a man, Ismail, were stolen from a pen on Jl. Cilangkap in Cilangkap on Friday dawn.

The thief apparently butchered the goats on site and left their innards inside the pen.

Ismail found that his goats were gone when he went to feed them on Friday morning.

"All of my goats were gone with only their innards left," Ismail said as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com.

A similar case happened in Rangkalan Jaya Baru, Pancoran Mas, Depok, in mid-October in which a thief stole 12 goats owned by a resident, Aming.

Similar incidents were also reported in Sawangan and Bulak Timur, both in Depok.

Depok Police spokesman Adj. Comr. Sutrisno said the police suspected the series of thefts were committed by the same person.

He went on to suggest that residents intensify their monitoring of goats.

"We will also patrol the area more frequently, especially during the times in which the thief committed the crime," he said. (cal)

Topics : theft Depok
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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan, North Sumatra  Sat, October 28, 2017 15:54 1844 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a265e774 1 National Democratic-party,Medan,Fraud Free

The Medan District Court has declared Democratic Party politician Ramadhan Pohan guilty of fraud and sentenced him to 15 months in prison.

The panel of judges found Pohan guilty of violating Article 378 of the Criminal Code on fraud.

The defendant was proven to be guilty of committing fraud amounting to Rp 15.3 billion. We sentenced the defendant to one year and three months in prison, presiding judge Erintuah Damanik said at the court on Friday.

The sentence was lighter than the penalty of three years' imprisonment sought be the prosecutors against the former lawmaker.

Pohan stood trial for fraud along with another defendant, Savita Linda. They were both reported by mother and son Rotua Hotnida Simanjuntak and Laurenz Hendry Hamonangan Sianipar for fraud totalling Rp 15.3 billion relating to money Pohan used to finance his political campaign. Backed by his party, he ran for mayor of Medan in the 2015 regional election.

The mother and son duo claimed that Pohan had promised to return the money with interest after the election. However, Pohan and his running mate lost in the election and he subsequently dodged Rotua and Laurenz when asked to return the money, leading them to take the case to the police.
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Jakarta  Sat, October 28, 2017 15:35 1844 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a265a9d8 2 City fire-accidents,explosion,Fireworks,Tangerang,Jakarta-police Free

Three suspects have been named in connection to a deadly blaze at an Indonesian fireworks factory that killed 48 workers and was caused by sparks from welding equipment, police said Saturday.

The factory outside Jakarta had only been operating for six weeks when the ferocious fire broke out on Thursday, killing nearly half of the company's employees and injuring 45 others in one of Indonesia's worst industrial accidents in recent memory.

Factory owner Indra Liyono was named a suspect by police along with the company's operational director Andri Hartanto and welding equipment operator Subarna Ega.

The trio could face a maximum of five years in prison and a Rp 500 million ($37,000) fine for workplace negligence resulting in death.

"The witnesses' testimonies and forensic test revealed the cause of the fire was the welding equipment sparks which spread to the fireworks material," Jakarta police spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono told a press conference.

Liyono and Hartanto have been questioned by police while Ega's whereabouts are unknown.

Police also said that the company, Panca Buana Cahaya Sukses, employed at least three underage children, a violation which could lead to its closure.

Deadly fires are not uncommon in Indonesia, a sprawling country of more than 250 million people where safety regulations are often flouted.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) said Indonesia needed to increase its number of labour inspectors, which was fewer than 2000, and raise safety awareness among workers. (dmr)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 28, 2017 19:32 1844 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2664f13 1 City jakarta,sewerage-system,NCID,Basuki-Hadimuljono Free

The development of the Jakarta sewerage system, which is part of the National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD) project, has been postponed to 2019, a top official has said.

Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said Friday that the development of the Jakarta sewerage system, which was initially planned to be conducted in 2018, had to be postponed until early 2019.

We wanted to accelerate the development in Zone 6 in 2018, but we have postponed it at the request of the National Development Agency, he said, as quoted by kompas.com, adding that the project would likely kick off in February 2019.

The minister announced the postponement after a meeting with representatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which will cooperate with the ministry to develop the infrastructure project. The sewerage system will process household waste in waste water treatment plants (IPAL) before it is pumped into rivers.

Cipta Karya Public office director general Sri Hartoyo said the Jakarta sewerage project would be divided into 15 service zones. The government will accelerate the development in zone 6, which will cost Rp 7.2 trillion (US$528 million)

At present, smaller scale sewerage systems have been built in several cities, including Cirebon and Bandung in West Java, Surakarta in Central Java and Medan in North Sumatra. (rdi/dmr)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 28, 2017 19:13 1844 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2664412 1 City Jakarta-Bay,reclamation,bribery-case,KPK Free

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) summoned Jakarta city secretary Saefullah over the controversial Jakarta Bay reclamation project.

The anti-graft body questioned Saefullah in regards to a bribery case involving what KPK investigators called a "corporation."

The questioning concerned several points related to a previous bribery case, which implicated Jakarta councilor Pak Sanusi, Saefullah said on Friday evening at the KPK headquarters.

He added that the KPK was still investigating a case, which implicated former councilor Muhammad Sanusi and the deliberation process of the draft bylaw on the Jakarta north coast strategic area spatial plan carried out by the Jakarta administration and Jakarta Legislative Councils Legislation Body (Baleg).

At that time, the discussions faced a deadlock over an article concerning a 15 percent developer's contribution, which the council wanted lowered.

Ariesman Widjaja, the president director of developer company Agung Podomoro Land, bribed Sanusi with Rp 2 billion (US$147,000) to pass the draft bylaw and lower the 15 percent contribution to 5 percent.

Sanusi was sentenced to seven years in prison and required to pay Rp 250 million in fines for his role in the bribery and money laundering case. Meanwhile, Ariesman was sentenced to three years in prison and required to pay Rp 200 million in fines last year. (wnd/dmr)
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Yangon  Sat, October 28, 2017 15:53 1844 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a265dff9 2 World Recep-Tayyip-Erdogan,Turkey,Myanmar,journalist-detained Free

Two foreign journalists working for Turkish state media have been detained for more than 24 hours in Myanmar for flying a drone over a parliament building in the capital, the government said Saturday.

The incident comes during high tension between Myanmar and Turkey, which has lambasted the Southeast Asian nation for its treatment of the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority.

Last month Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Myanmar of incubating "Buddhist terror" and carrying out a genocide against the Muslim group.

The reporters, Lau Hon Meng from Singapore and Mok Choy Lin from Malaysia, were arrested on Friday in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw while they were on assignment for Turkish state broadcaster TRT.

They are "under interrogation for flying a drone over the Hluttaw (parliament) building", said a statement published by Myanmar's Ministry of Information.

The pair was working with well-known Myanmar journalist Aung Naing Soe, whose house in Yangon was searched by authorities on Friday night, according to local media.

More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar's Rakhine state since late August, running from burning villages they say were set alight by soldiers and Buddhist mobs.

Several journalists have been arrested in Myanmar this year, fuelling fears of an erosion of the press freedoms which blossomed after the end of junta rule in 2011.

Many have been charged with defamation or arrested for reporting on armed rebel groups. (dmr)
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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan  Sat, October 28 2017

A herd of 12 wild elephants ran amok in a village in Langkat regency, North Sumatra, after failing to rescue an elephant calf that was trapped in a hole.

Nine coconut trees, eight palm trees, five shacks and a jackfruit tree owned by the local residents of Sumber Waras village, Batang Serangan subdistrict, Langkat regency, were destroyed by the raging elephants. No one was killed in the incident.

North Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) Region II conservation head Herbert Aritonang said the elephants went on a rampage after they witnessed the baby elephant die in a narrow hole 1.5 meters deep.

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Linkedin Cheng Yu (China Daily/ANN) Beijing  Sun, October 29, 2017 03:06 1844 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2668844 2 Business China,European-Union,science-and-technology,innovation-centers Free

China and the European Union are planning further cooperation in the science and technology sector to sustain and nurture innovation.

The EU plans to invest 30 billion euros ($34.8 billion) from 2018 to 2020 to support global programs in science, technology and innovation through its Horizon 2020 program.

Up to 100 million euros will be used specifically to promote cooperation with China.

The Ministry of Science and Technology will invest 200 million yuan ($30.1 million) to aid China-based entities that will participate in the program during the period.

The move is in line with General Secretary Xi Jinping's remarks during the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China which emphasized that innovation is the primary force driving development.

The investment will mainly be used to provide financial support to entities in China to cooperate with Europe in science, technology and innovation.

Five areas, including safer and greener aviation, surface transport, and environment and sustainable urbanization will be key priorities.

"Innovation has become a pillar of EU-China relations, and science and technology cooperation will bring new impetus for the future development of both two sides," said Robert Sanders, head of the European Business and Innovation Center Network.

Within the framework of Horizon 2020, the European Network of Research and Innovation Centers and Hubs (ENRICH), a platform promoting science, technology and innovation between Europe and China, has also opened its doors.

"One of the biggest problems that European companies and organizations face is that they lack a channel for cooperation with their Chinese counterparts," said Sara Medina, coordinator of ENRICH and a board member at SPI, a Portugal-based consulting firm.

To tackle the problem, ENRICH will build a bridge between China and Europe through its platform by providing services related to scientific and technological innovation including consultancy, soft-landing, co-working, and training for European companies and research organizations.

"Currently, China is developing at an unprecedented speed with a huge market for innovative businesses. It is the ideal time for us to expand our businesses in China," said Hans Marius Schuster, CEO of Hydrogen Society, a Germany-based energy company attracted to the platform.

More than 50 European companies and institutes from over 10 countries including Belgium, Finland and Romania have been roped in by ENRICH for cooperation with China.

"The ultimate goal is to help European researchers take their first steps in the Chinese market and to help Chinese researchers have better interactions with their European counterparts," said Richard Deng, chief representative of SPI China.(dmr)
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Linkedin Ock Hyun-ju (The Korea Herald/ANN) Seoul  Sun, October 29, 2017 01:23 1844 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2667c0f 2 World Korea,anti-corruption,candlelight-movement Free

A year after South Koreans began to take to the streets in protest against their corruption-ridden leader, they still vividly remember the historic moment they removed former President Park Geun-hye from power over a corruption scandal.



While the sense of victory still remains, an estimated 50,000 people, according to the rally organizers, gathered again in central Seoul to urge the Moon Jae-in administration to continue its efforts to root out deep-rooted evils to complete what they call the Candlelight Revolution.The demonstrators renewed calls for a wide range of political, social and economic reforms.



I think the candlelight vigils showed Korean people hope that this unfair society could change through our actions. I came here to celebrate it, Choi Mi-young, 38, said at Gwanghwamun Square, the main site of last years demonstrations.



The candles should continue to be lit to remind the Moon administration that it should work for Korean people, said Choi, who joined the candlelight rallies a few times last year.



The candlelight movement began on Oct. 29 last year with some 30,000 people protesting against then-President Park Geun-hye in the face of allegations that she let her friend Choi Soon-sil involve herself in state affairs despite having no formal government position.



The anti-Park rally grew week after week in its scale as more Koreans became enraged by the series of revelations implicating Park. An estimated 2.32 million people poured onto the streets in the sixth rally on Dec. 3, making it the largest protest in the nations history.



The movement eventually led the divided parliament to impeach her on Dec. 9 and the Constitutional Court finalized her expulsion from power on March 13. Through some 23 rallies, a cumulative 17 million people joined some 23 rallies over a six-month period.



Park is on trial accused of abusing her presidential power and colluding with her friend Choi Soon-sil to receive bribes from conglomerates, including Samsung Group. She recently boycotted her own trial, calling it a political retaliation in the name of law.



On Saturday, the rally participants demand the government fix things they believe have long gripped the country  ranging from corrupt ties between politicians and business tycoons to an economic and social system that benefits only the rich.



Their demands include a thorough investigation into former President Lee Myung-bak, Parks predecessor suspected of using the nations spy agency to meddle in the 2012 presidential election in favor of Park and crack down on liberals.



Throughout the rally, they held up placards reading Arrest Lee Myung-bak, Reform the National Intelligence Service and The completion of the Candlelight Movement is political reform.



For me, I realized I had to care more about social and political issues. For Korean society, I think it was a starting point to make society more equal to everyone, Kim Hyun-kyung, 42, who came with her child. I will keep a close tab on the government and take action if necessary.



Under the slogan of Candle continues, the rally at Gwanghwamun Square began at around 6 p.m.

Like last fall and winter, there were families pushing prams with their young children inside, friends taking selfies with the participants in the background and groups of activists carrying flags and banners.



A stage was set up on Gwanghwamun Square, videos showing scenes of candlelit protests from a year ago were displayed and speeches by activists and rally participants were made. Several musicians, including Jeon In-kwon Band and Kwon Jin-won, also performed onstage.

Before the main event, many civic groups -- speaking up for the disabled, students, irregular workers and sexual minorities, among other groups  held rallies at separate locations to get their various messages across.



Some of them expressed their opposition to the US President Donald Trumps upcoming visit scheduled for Nov. 7-8, campaigning for peace on the Korean Peninsula.



Regardless of what we want, Trump talks of the possibility of war on the Korean Peninsula. We are an independent country. Trump treats our land, our sea and our air space like it is the US property, said Catholic priest Father Moon Jeong-hyeon near the US Embassy.



The US acts as if it is occupying South Korea. The US is a country that causes war. It is the axis of evil, he said.



A separate event to mark the first anniversary of the protests was organized in front of the National Assembly, revealing what appeared to be a rift among the people who once held up candles together to unseat Park.



Some 10,000 participants, mostly supporters of President Moon, boycotted the main event at Gwanghwamun Square in defiance of the organizing committees decision to march toward the presidential office.



They argue that the candles should head to the National Assembly building for its inaction on proposed reforms, not President Moon. Criticism should particularly be directed at the conservative opposition parties blocking passages of key reform bills, they said.



I think the meaning of candles was distorted by groups of left-wing civic groups there. I feel like they are using the candle-holding citizens to serve their own interests, said Jeon Young-ok, 59, while marching toward the headquarters of the main opposition Korea Liberty Party in western Seoul.



President Moon is doing well now. I think we should support him to achieve what he intended to do step by step, she said.



The Gwanghwamun rally organizers quit their plan for a march, though labor unions still went ahead with the plan from 8:30 p.m.



Marking the first anniversary of the massive candlelit protests that paved the way for him to take office, President Moon on Saturday highlighted his policy push to uphold the spirit of the candlelight vigils and root out corruption.



"Although there could be varying opinions on how, everybody can be like-minded when it comes to the cause to eradicate long-lived (social) evils," Moon said during his meeting with Korean businessmen from overseas.



When some hailed the candlelight movement as a symbol of democracy or victory for the people, others dismissed it as a political tool for North Korean sympathizers seeking to overthrow the liberal democracy.



Only hundreds meters away from Gwanghwamun Square, avid Park supporters, mostly senior citizens, also staged a rally from the afternoon in the central area encompassing Gwanghwamun interchange through Seoul Plaza to Namdaemun gate.



Since Park was ousted, they have held rallies to defend Park and demand her release from jail. They have argued that the candlelight movement was organized by North Korean sympathizers and joined by those brainwashed by pro-North Korea leftists. (dmr)
By Manjeet Negi: Chinese troops have started withdrawal from the Doklam standoff site even though the process is slow, top Army sources said.

"There is no need to worry for the Doklam area as the Chinese troops have started thinning down and tensions have also subsided. The troops had also exchanged sweets on Diwali," top Army sources said.

Sources added, "There has been a thinning of Chinese troops in the Doklam area. Many of them had come down for exercises and now, very clearly, some are going back. First, there are fewer tents in the area and also, fewer troops moving around. Of course, there are still a considerable number of PLA troops in the general area with heavy weapons like tanks and artillery, but the process of troop-reduction appears to have begun. This is clear from the latest satellite imagery."

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Government sources refute any talk of the Chinese reinforcing their positions in recent times. The troops that were there are apart from the numbers being pulled out.

As for the Indian Army, the operation alert issued during the crisis is being lifted and deduction from the India side has started in the Ladakh mountains as troops have started coming back. About two brigades had been moved to Ladakh from the plains. They are being moved back. A similar thinning out is being planned for the Sikkim area, much closer to Doklam, which is on the China-Bhutan border. It is easier to do that in Sikkim in comparison with Ladakh as there are roads almost right up to the front.

One reason for the de-escalation is the weather. There is already light snow on the ground and the prospect of a confrontation has come down in the wake of diplomatic negotiations.

As part of the lessons of Doklam, the Army and Indian Air Force are pushing for more airfields in the east Ladakh area. If there are more airstrips apart from the Leh field that is also used by civilian aircraft, it will be easier to supply more troops on the ground as opposed to give them fuel, ammunition and food from the air. Several spots have already been identified including Nyoma and BDO. If the airfields are there, troops can even be moved there quickly if there is a need.

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 28, 2017 11:09 1844 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2656585 1 Destinations mountain,travel,destination,sunrise Free

A vast archipelago with countless mountains, Indonesia has many places for adventure seekers to enjoy spectacular sunrises.

Below are some of the destinations across the country that are worth visiting for those wanting to marvel at spectacular views, as compiled by kompas.com:

Mount Batur, Bali

A post shared by Jasmin (@onmyjourney_) on Oct 25, 2017 at 9:39am PDT

Located in Bali's Kintamani in Bangli regency, Mount Batur is said to be one of the most-visited mountains on the island.

Surrounded by the picturesque Lake Batur, it offers a rather easy trek for professional as well as beginner climbers.

Read also: Journey to the mountain that shook the world

Mount Prau, Dieng

A post shared by TheGuhWe (@theguhwe) on Oct 15, 2017 at 4:04am PDT

Famous for its lush, grassy hills, the peak of Mount Prau in Central Java is a must-visit destination for photographers hoping to get that perfect shot of a sublime sunrise.

Situated within the three regencies of Wonosobo, Temanggung and Magelang, the view is particularly breathtaking thanks to the twin mountains, Sumbing and Sindoro, looming in the background.

Mount Kelimutu, Flores

This mountain in Flores Island's Ende regency of East Nusa Tenggara is well known for its three volcanic crater lakes, collectively called Lake Kelimutu. From the peak, visitors can enjoy the jaw-dropping beauty of the three lakes, which differ in color and change over time.

Visitors should start climbing the mountain at around 3 a.m. in order to reach the peak on time for the sunrise. The morning sunshine leaves a stunning shimmer that makes for a once-in-a-lifetime photo oppportunity.

Read also: Sapu Jagad 2017 aims to remove 5 tons of rubbish from Indonesia's mountains

Mount Papandayan, Garut

A post shared by Yusuf Prabananta Fini Malau (@nanta_ucup) on Sep 6, 2017 at 5:35am PDT

Situated in Garut, West Java, Mount Papandayan is particularly popular among amateur hikers.

The journey to the top is quite unique as visitors will get to see (and smell) sulfur deposits and steam vents hissing and puffing along the way.

The peak offers views that are sure to get hundreds, if not thousands, of likes on Instagram, with blossoming edelweiss flowers stretching as far as the eye can see.

Mount Nglanggeran, Gunungkidul

A post shared by Joshua Diva Surep (@joshua_dva) on Jun 25, 2015 at 3:11am PDT

Nglanggeran village in Patuk district, Gunungkidul regency of Yogyakarta, has a mountain named after itself, which is actually an extinct volcano that is popular among casual hikers due to the short one-and-a-half-hour trek to the western peak.

The more adventurous can also camp here overnight to enjoy a stunning, star-filled night sky view. (kes)

Topics : mountain travel destination sunrise
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta  Sat, October 28, 2017 15:05 1844 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2659f4b 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Lake-Toba Free

Lake Toba Tourism Authority Board (BOPDT) Arie Prestyo recently presented Lake Toba tourism at the Destination Showcase event that was part of ITB Asia 2017 trade show, held from Oct. 24 to 27 at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

Arie presented Lake Toba in front of 895 quality buyers for 20 minutes. Indonesia has Lake Toba, one of the destinations that is being developed to become the 10 New Balis, he said, adding that Lake Toba also earns many recognitions as the deepest lake, biggest volcanic lake and second biggest lake in the world.

Right in the middle of Lake Toba, lies the Samosir Island that has a total area of 64,000 hectares, which is almost equal to the size of Singapore, he added.

Read also: Indonesian passport among world's weakest; expert weighs in on why

Lake Toba, often called the Home of the Ancient Bataknese Culture, still preserves its cultural tradition. Additionally, the area is also known to have hosted plenty of international events such as Toba Grand Fondo and Lake Toba Charm Carnival. Traveling to Lake Toba is also easy as there are flights available from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Beginning Oct.28, airplanes from Singapore can land on Silangit International Airport. This is the inaugural international flight for the airport, Arie said.

Back on Oct.14, Presiden Joko Widodo visited Lake Toba to oversee the tourism development.

According to the President, the beauty of Lake Toba is perfect for tourism. Please invest in the area; build hotels, resorts, convention centers, floating jetties, lake cruises, seaplanes, aero-sports and cable cars, Arie added. During the presentation, Arie also offered tour packages to Lake Toba for buyers, which are available from Oct. 28 until Nov.21. (asw)
(lead article, Socialist Workers Party statement)

Protest US economic war against Cuban Revolution!

The Socialist Workers Party urges you to join protests around the country Nov. 1 when the U.N. General Assembly once again takes up Washingtons 57-yearlong economic war on Cuba and its revolution. We demand: End the U.S. economic war against Cuba! U.S. out of Guantanamo! Halt all the regime change programs against the Cuban Revolution!

The U.S. rulers have never forgiven the Cuban people for overthrowing the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959. The wealthy owning class hates and fears the example working people and their government in Cuba have set: that its possible for us to make a revolution, and in the process to transform ourselves, to become capable of building a society based on solidarity, not the dog-eat-dog horror of capitalism.

Thats why the U.S. government  under Democratic and Republican presidents alike  has never stopped trying to overthrow the Cuban Revolution.

And thats why the U.S. government and the capitalist press cant stop telling lies about the revolution. From the imaginary sonic weapon mysteriously harming U.S. diplomats in Havana to the timeworn lies about the alleged lack of human and democratic rights on the island. Washington does everything it can to discourage and prevent workers from visiting Cuba and seeing for ourselves what the people and revolution have accomplished.

There is another brigade going to Cuba next May  organize now to sign on.

Unlike the wild stories the U.S. rulers promote against Cubas revolutionary leadership, Washingtons involvement in violent attacks against the Cuban people are no fantasy. They include training and financing armed groups that carried out sabotage, bombed planes and committed other terrorist acts in Cuba; numerous efforts to assassinate Fidel Castro; and the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.

As working people are battered by the carnage from the worldwide capitalist crisis, the example of the Cuban Revolution stands in stark contrast.

In Texas, Florida, and a thousand times more in the U.S. colonies of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the capitalist rulers left millions to fend for themselves after recent hurricanes. From their lack of preparation to the unfolding social catastrophe wrought by class divisions and capitalist profiteering, the propertied rulers have proven they are unfit to govern.

Its the opposite in Cuba. Workers and farmers there used their government to make sure no one was left on their own, and mobilized to use all the countrys resources to rebuild. At the same time, they offered volunteers and assistance to toilers across the Caribbean.

They showed the difference a revolution makes. They show the revolutionary road forward for workers here and around the world.

All out Nov. 1!





Related articles:

Che Guevara postage stamp issued in Ireland stirs debate

Brigadistas learn about Cuba, organize to defend revolution

Oscar Lopez: Cuba gives us best example of resistance







Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home




(front page)

Dont vote for either the Democrats or Republicans

It seems like what happens now is the party thats elected doesnt change anything. Then the other one gets in, Benito Cruz, one of a group of farmworkers in Santa Rosa, a city in the heart of California wine country that was hit hard by recent wildfires, told Socialist Workers Party members Betsey Stone and Eric Simpson Oct. 22. Next election, workers shouldnt vote for either party. That would show our power.

We need our own party to get change. The Socialist Workers Party is building a working-class party to fight to take power from the capitalists, Stone said. The SWP members had been invited to sit down and talk outside the farmworkers apartment. Workers have a lot of potential power. We are a majority. We produce everything, including the wine.

What are you hoping to accomplish here? another worker asked.

The Militant newspaper and the books are important to get into the hands of workers, Stone said. They explain that the cause of our problems is capitalism. That we can do something about it.

Cruz got a Militant subscription that he said would be shared with other workers.

Reports like this from party branches, and Communist Leagues in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, show the open receptivity to the party and its literature in the working class. This is the bedrock of the Socialist Workers Partys fall circulation campaign, talking to workers on their doorsteps. The nine-week drive is just past the halfway mark, with four more weeks to go.

Concurrently with the effort to boost the reach of the partys books and the Militant, the SWP is organizing to raise $100,000 to finance its ongoing work.

Sales of five books on special with a subscription are picking up. We got rolling on our book sales this week, selling eight books, our highest number yet in one week, Anthony Dutrow writes from Miami. Four books were sold going door to door. Party member Steve Warshell sold two of the campaign books to participants in a protest caravan sponsored by the Alianza Martiana here to oppose new restrictions imposed by Washington on travel to Cuba by Cuban-Americans.

The books on special are: Are They Rich Because They're Smart? The Clintons Anti-Working-Class Record and Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power, all by SWP National Secretary Jack Barnes; Is Socialist Revolution in the US Possible? by SWP leader Mary-Alice Waters; and Its the Poor who Face the Savagery of the US Justice System, by the Cuban Five, five Cuban revolutionaries who were framed up and imprisoned in the U.S. for up to 16 years for defending their revolution.

We also got our first contribution to the SWP fund from a young worker we met going door to door, Dutrow reported. He got a copy of The Clintons Anti-Working-Class Record, which caught his eye, and said, I like what you guys are saying and gave $5 for the fund.

Members and supporters of the party who work at Walmart are helping use the drive to lead the party deeper into the working class. From Los Angeles Bill Arth writes that Rhonda, a co-worker at the Walmart store where he works, told him she has a young relative who was recently incarcerated in Washington state, and that prison authorities have made it hard for the two of them to communicate. She got a copy of Its the Poor Who Face the Savagery of the US Justice System, saying she wants to understand what was behind their cruelty.

Covers news important to workers

Walmart worker Pat Scott in Federal Way, Washington, told the Militant that one of her co-workers who picked up a subscription told her he likes the paper because it covers the news thats important to workers, unlike the TV news.

Glova Scott in Washington, D.C., described how she and one of her co-workers went together to see a film on the life of Thomas Sankara. Sankara led a revolutionary struggle in Burkina Faso and served as the countrys president from 1983 to 1987. The co-worker renewed her Militant subscription and bought The Clintons Anti-Working-Class Record and Sankaras Womens Liberation and the African Freedom Struggle.

I renewed because I miss reading about what is going on in the world, she told Scott. The Militant goes out to other cities, other states and other countries and gets the information about whats happening with the working class.

I visited Deontai Young at his house after work Oct. 20 to speak with him and his dad, said Dan Fein from Chicago. Young got a subscription a while ago and told me his father often takes the paper to read. His dad had to leave for work shortly after I arrived, but said on his way out that he was interested in reading anything from the party. Deontai and I talked for an hour. He described how the police killed his uncle eight years ago and how they frustrated efforts by his family to get the cop indicted. He got Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power, Its the Poor Who Face the Savagery of the US Justice System and Are They Rich Because Theyre Smart?

Isabella Graham from Chicago said, I went to a get-together after work with some co-workers on Thursday at a nearby coffee house. After we talked, they got the Workers Power book and Is Socialist Revolution in the US Possible?

Co-workers boost fund drive

Thursday was payday. My co-worker at the Walmart store where I work made the second $10 installment on her $40 pledge to the party fund, continued Graham. Earlier in the week, she said, another co-worker got a Militant sub and a different co-worker contributed $10 to the current fund drive saying, This is for you and your party.

Contributions to the $100,000 party fund from workers on their doorsteps, from co-workers and co-fighters in union and social protests are an important component of the drive.

Communist League member Joe Young and Steve Penner, a supporter of the League in Canada, report they went door to door talking to workers in Coquitlam on the Lower Mainland, by Vancouver, British Columbia, Oct. 22. Carolle Hall, a single mother looking after a sick child, got a copy of the Militant and asked them to come back when she had the money for a subscription. She was attracted to Are They Rich Because Theyre Smart?

No, theyre rich because theyre hoodlums, she said.

If you would like to help us get Militant subscriptions from your family, friends and co-workers, and introduce them to the books on special, or make a donation to the party fund, contact the Socialist Workers Party office nearest you listed on page 8.





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(front page)

We need to know and defend the legacy of

Thomas Sankara

WASHINGTON  Our young generation needs meetings like this. We need to know our history. We need to know the legacy of Thomas Sankara, in order to defend it, Arouna Saniwidi, 35, told the. Along with seven Burkinabe co-workers and friends, he drove from New York to attend the Sixth Thomas Sankara conference here Oct. 14.

Thomas Sankara was the central leader of the 1983-87 popular revolution in Burkina Faso. This is the 30th anniversary of his assassination, which marked the fall of the revolutionary democratic government he led. The annual conference brings together people from many countries and a broad range of backgrounds to discuss and debate the legacy of one of the great revolutionary leaders of the 20th century, who is an example for workers and youth in Burkina Faso, in Africa and worldwide.

Five of Sankaras brothers and sisters  Paul, Pascal and Pauline, who live in Washington, and Colette and Florence, who live in Burkina Faso  participated in the meeting. More than 100 people attended, almost half from West Africa.

The conference on Sankara is for the Africa of today, said Gnaka Lagoke, the events main organizer and chair. Lagoke, a native of the Ivory Coast, is founder of the Revival of Panafricanism Forum and an assistant professor of history and Pan Africana Studies at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.

The peoples movement has been in the streets for months in Togo seeking to end the dynastys rule, Lagoke said, describing anti-government protests against President Faure Gnassingbe and 50 years of his familys supremacy. In Benin, Cote dIvoire, Senegal  something new is going on in Africa.

The panel, entitled Pan-Africanism Today: A Time for Transcontinental Cooperation from South Africa to Colombia, featured Brian Peterson, associate professor at Union College in New York; Faye Joomay, deputy coordinator of the Pan-Africanist Federalist Movement; Sean Blackmon, ANSWER Coalition; Selome Gerima, an Ethiopian writer and film producer; and Mary-Alice Waters, a leader of the Socialist Workers Party and president of Pathfinder Press.

The program also included a performance of African dance and began with a short video of Fernando Gonzalez, president of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), addressing delegates at the Fifth Continental Africa Conference in Solidarity with Cuba in Windhoek, Namibia, in June.

Gonzalez was one of five Cuban revolutionaries who served nearly 16 years in U.S. prisons, framed by Washington on charges of conspiracy to commit espionage.

This week we also celebrate the life and legacy of Ernesto Che Guevara on the 50th anniversary of his death in combat in Bolivia ordered by the CIA, said Omari Musa of the Socialist Workers Party in D.C., who introduced the video. Sankara and Guevara both sought to organize the wretched of the earth to rise up against imperialism, to take power in their hands and make their own destiny.

Most of the speakers focused on Sankaras personal characteristics and his role as a political figure in Africa.

Calling Sankara the African Che decontextualizes Sankara, said Brian Peterson, addressing Musa and referring to a label that many have pinned on Sankara. Sankara was fundamentally nonviolent. He tried to transform society peacefully. He explained at the United Nations that the goal of the revolution was two meals a day and water for every Burkinabe. Of course, we know that Che fought the revolution internationally. Young Africans were drawn to Sankara, because he was an African leader.

As a youth in Senegal in 1985, Faye Joomay said, he went to Burkina Faso to learn from Sankara. Sankara showed what is possible through his example, and the witch hunt against his supporters after his death proves that his ideas had sunk roots, he noted. We became Pan-Africanists and use his ideas today as we campaign for the unity and sovereignty of African states.

Today we are seeing a resurgence of self-determination struggles experimenting with radical democracy across the African world  from the cooperative movement in Jackson, Mississippi, to South Africa with the Economic Freedom Fighters, said ANSWERs Sean Blackmon. We see Sankaras influence in the EFFs opposition to sexism, homophobia and all the other oppressive ideologies.

Selome Gerima drew from the diary she kept when she lived in Burkina Faso from 1984 to 1989, saying, President Sankara was tender, friendly. He lived simply. He rode a bicycle, did his own grocery shopping, picked up his kids from school. She concluded her remarks by asking, Who killed brother Sankara? Was it Compaore or was it the enemy of Africa  imperialism who used him as a tool?

Mary-Alice Waters, who wrote the prefaces to Thomas Sankara Speaks and two other collections of his speeches, the only places where you can find his political contributions collected in print, explained that Sankara was a Marxist, a communist, and an internationalist who had confidence in the revolutionary capacities of ordinary men and women.

Sankara stood out among several generations of revolutionary leaders in Africa in refusing to reject Marxism on the pretext that its a European idea alien to the people of Africa and their struggles, she said. He came to that conclusion from his own experiences and the struggles of his people. He knew that communism isnt an idea, but the line of march of working people to conquer their emancipation.

One of the measures of the stature of Thomas Sankara was the importance he gave to the struggles of women, she said. Both women and men are victims of imperialist oppression and capitalist exploitation. The revolution and womens liberation go together.

And of course Thomas Sankara was an internationalist. Thats the basis on which Sankara led Burkina Fasos working people to become part of the fight to bring down the apartheid regime in South Africa and identify with the battles waged by the people of Angola,, Namibia, Western Sahara, Palestine, Nicaragua, Grenada and the United States, she said.

He identified above all with the Cuban Revolution, she said, because it provides a beacon for what is possible for working people to accomplish when they take power in their own hands.

Thanking participants for coming, Paul Sankara pointed to the importance of the popular mobilizations across Burkina Faso that forced President Blaise Compaore out of power in 2014. He noted that Thomas Sankara said even if you kill me, thousands of Sankaras will be reborn. Compaore led the counterrevolutionary forces that assassinated Sankara in 1987.

The meeting was endorsed by the Africa World Now Project, All-African People Revolutionary Party, ANSWER Coalition, Black Alliance for Peace, Friends of the Congo, Institute for Policy Studies, Pan-African Community Action, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Revival of Panafricanism Forum, and the Socialist Workers Party.





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(front page, As I See It column)

GIs come back from horrors of imperialist war to carnage at home

Thank you for your service is the condescending remark all veterans have heard a million times from government personnel and others. Its now the title of an upcoming film based on a 2013 book by David Finkel that follows the lives of returning Iraq war veterans. It remains to be seen how truthfully it portrays the U.S. governments scandalous treatment of its cannon fodder.

Contempt for veterans is nothing new. All of us  I was discharged in 1965  have faced patronizing and falsehearted praise from authorities while trying to make our way through the bureaucratic disdain of the Veterans Administration.

As the worlds foremost imperialist power, Washington has to rely on its armed forces to impose its dictates. And the ongoing deep crisis of capitalist production and trade generates increasing competition, conflict and war. The propertied rulers need working-class youth to be their cannon fodder.

There are growing calls today from spokespeople for the rulers who see more wars coming to demand reimposition of the draft.

The crisis has also produced an economic and social disaster for workers at home. Jobs, work safety and social services are cut; injuries, opioid addition and suicides are up. While some sign up for the military out of a sense of patriotism, most do so to get an education or just to get away from the carnage.

A dispute between President Donald Trump and Democratic Congresswoman Frederica Wilson from Florida over his condolence call to the wife of Sgt. La David Johnson, one of four U.S. soldiers killed in a firefight in Niger, has put a spotlight on the plight of veterans who return home from Washingtons wars. In the 17 years U.S. rulers have sent the countrys youth to fight and die in these imperialist wars, government figures say over 4,500 have been killed in Iraq and 2,400 in Afghanistan. Tens of thousands more Iraqis and Afghans, soldiers and civilians, have died.

Since 2001, 2.5 million young men and women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan! According to VA documents, in addition to the deaths, which are far lower than those in Vietnam or Korea, these wars have so far caused a far higher rate of disabling injuries.

The key reason for this is improvements in medical treatment that means wounds that would have been deadly before are now treatable. But all too often that leaves you with grievous, lifelong problems.

The figure of 900,000 to 1 million war-caused admissions to VA hospitals in those 16 years are the last figures, released in 2013. The Veteran Administration no longer makes them public, supposedly for security reasons.

A Stanford University study puts vets post-traumatic stress disorder rate at 35 percent. If accurate, that means more than 800,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans will return home with PTSD needing treatment.

The criminal neglect of all veterans, from peacetime wars over the past 17 years, and of combat and non-combat veterans over the last 50 years, are an important part of the carnage that Trump talked about in his inaugural address.

We will take care of our great veterans like they have never been taken care of before, he told the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention in July 2016. He referred to the outcry in 2014 surrounding revelations that 40 veterans died while kept waiting for appointments at a VA hospital in Arizona.

One of those, Thomas Breen, 71, was on an off-the-books list VA officials used to shrink  on paper  their overly long waiting lists, to impress bureaucrats in the Department of Veteran Affairs. Breen died in November 2013 of stage 4 bladder cancer.

His son Teddy and Teddys wife Sally tried in vain for two months to get Breen an appointment. When the VA finally called in December, Sally said she told them, Hes dead already.

Veterans welcome in anti-war actions

During the Vietnam War, the rulers tried to keep workers in the U.S. who protested against the imperialist war apart from workers in uniform returning from combat. They promoted the myth that veterans were frequently spit upon by protesters. To the contrary, many like myself joined in the powerful anti-war mass marches. The anti-war movement stood for the rights of GIs to know the facts about the war and form their own opinion  anathema to the brass and the bosses.

So far, the Trump administration has done virtually nothing about its promise to upgrade what veterans face when they return home. Veterans continue to confront joblessness, homelessness, high rates of suicide, and a 33 percent higher chance of opioid overdose.

The pharmaceutical industry has a stranglehold on the VA, Carl Higbie, a former Navy Seal who served two tours in Iraq and is 60 percent disabled, told Fox News. He accused the VA of overmedication, paving the way to addiction.

Some 64,000 people died from drug overdoses last year, in small towns and working-class neighborhoods in big cities across the country. Thats more than the total of all U.S. military deaths in the last 65 years.

Caucasians make up 90 percent of all opioid overdoses nationwide. Hardest hit areas are in the so-called Rust Belt, towns in the Midwest hit by factory closures, and the formerly bustling coal-mining regions of West Virginia, Kentucky and southern Illinois.

Why did the back-and-forth tweets between Trump and Congresswoman Wilson get so much press attention? Because her party, the liberal press and a growing wing of the Republicans are determined to topple Trump at all costs for doing what all previous administrations have done  feign concern for those troops killed abroad.

AFRICOM is one of the six U.S. military commands, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. It oversees the thousands of troops that the Bush and Obama administrations deployed to defend Washingtons economic and political interests in Africa, under the rubric of the war on terrorism.

The four special forces soldiers killed in Niger were among the 800 troops Washington has based there to join French troops to train African military forces. The U.S. rulers have troops in every corner of the globe, protecting the interests of the bankers and billionaires.

Veterans, whose lives have little value to the ruling class after their service is over, will be a key part of working-class resistance to the carnage.





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(special feature)

Brigadistas learn about Cuba, organize

to defend revolution

CAIMITO, Cuba  Some 230 people from more than 20 countries came to the international solidarity camp here Oct. 1 to take part in a brigade called In the Footsteps of Che. They were here to learn about the Cuban Revolution and stand with the Cuban people against attacks by the capitalist rulers in Washington and other imperialist countries.

The brigade commemorated the revolutionary contributions of Ernesto Che Guevara, who fell in combat while fighting in Bolivia 50 years ago this month.

The largest delegation, 67 from the United States, traveled to Cuba as Washington was withdrawing most of the diplomats and staff from its Havana Embassy, alleging they were the targets of sonic attacks, and telling U.S. residents not to travel to Cuba.

It was important that the biggest delegation was from the U.S., given the recent attacks on Cuba, Ash Eberle, 20, a University of Minnesota student on the brigade, told the Militant Oct. 23.

Brigade members took part in four days of voluntary work  contributing some 2,500 person-hours of labor  clearing rocks, weeding and planting on farms here and in Sancti Spiritus in central Cuba, where Hurricane Irma damaged crops and delayed planting.

They expected to see evidence of the destruction wrought by the hurricane in September, the strongest to hit Cuba in decades. But what struck them most were the impressive results of recovery work in cities and towns, on farms and at factories, led by the revolutionary government and people.

Its important to take the Cuban reality back to the U.S. and tell the truth about whats going on, Eberle said.

In Villa Clara province brigade members visited Yaguajay Oct. 6, site of a decisive battle against the military forces of the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship in December 1958. The town was hard hit by Irma, but less than a month later houses were repaired or being rebuilt and streets were clear of debris.

Revolutionary Civil Defense system

A panel at Sancti Spiritus University the next day took up Cubas revolutionary Civil Defense system, responsible for mobilizing the government and the people to meet threats like Hurricane Irma. Speakers explained how the revolutions values guide evacuation and recovery work. Many brigade members commented on the sharp contrast with Washingtons contempt for hurricane victims, from Texas and Florida to its colony in Puerto Rico.

For the first time in Cubas history, the entire national power grid went down, but teams of electricians from across the island were stationed in the central provinces to be ready to re-establish power as soon as the storm subsided.

Students and professors suspended classes to go to Yaguajay, said Luis Ernesto Cabellos, president of the Federation of University Students at Villa Clara University. We joined in cleaning houses and neighborhoods, clearing trees, bringing belongings home. Then we helped decorate the communities.

With characteristic internationalism, the Cuban government simultaneously sent electrical and health brigades to Martinique, Dominica, Antigua and Haiti, and offered to do the same for Puerto Rico. Washington didnt accept the offer.

What you have done in Cuba is so different from how the U.S. government has abandoned the people hit by the hurricanes, said Milly Guzman, a Puerto Rican brigadista from Hartford, Connecticut. On behalf of the people of Puerto Rico, we thank you!

Brigade members heard a panel on the legacy of Guevara Oct. 2 that included economist Orlando Borrego, Brig. Gen. Enrique Acevedo and Luis Galvez, director of the Cuban Institute for Research on Sugar Cane Derivatives. All three had fought alongside and worked with Guevara in the revolutions early years.

Borrego worked closely with Guevara when he headed Cubas Ministry of Industry, one of Guevaras many central leadership responsibilities. Borrego recalled how Che rejected the economic policies of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, which he said were leading toward capitalism, not socialism. Che insisted that factory workers themselves could run industry as they gained consciousness and confidence implementing their revolution.

When the state, with the intervention of the workers, nationalized several hundred companies and needed new managers, Borrego recalled, Che proposed that teenagers currently acting as literacy teachers in the Sierra Maestra mountains be assigned to take the management posts, arguing they were imbued with revolutionary values and could quickly learn the technology.

Near the town of Pedrero in the Escambray Mountains, brigadistas met members of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution. They described how under Guevaras leadership they were able to defeat Batistas troops, leading to the decisive victory of the revolutionary forces at the Battle of Santa Clara. Batista fled the country Jan. 1, 1959.

We had less than 300 men, the dictatorship had thousands, said Tomas Sanchez Fernandez, 80. But we had a reason to fight hard.

Sanchez thanked the brigadistas for the work they do. Weve had a struggle against imperialism, and we appreciate your struggles. Were fighting for the liberation of the Americas!

At an international solidarity meeting a few days later, Jack Buema, a brigadista from Zambia, said that many doctors there are Cuban volunteers. But most Zambians dont know about the Cuban Revolution, and think of Che Guevara as an apolitical icon or kind of a rock star. Now we can explain the revolution and who Che was, he said.

All out Nov. 1! read a banner held by U.S. delegates at international night in the camp Oct. 13, encouraging brigadistas to build protests the day the U.N. General Assembly votes on a resolution to condemn Washingtons decadeslong economic war on Cuba. Simultaneous actions will take place across the U.S. and in other countries (see ad this page).

The U.S. governments economic war against Cuba continues, including their occupation of Guantanamo, James Harris, a member of the Washington, D.C., Metro Coalition and of the Socialist Workers Party, told the solidarity meeting. We can all work together to protest this when we return to our countries. On Oct. 23 Cuba Solidarity in Albany, New York, organized a reportback on the brigade. Ray Parsons, Milly Guzman and Tim Craine spoke of their experiences and the contrast between how the hurricane was met in revolutionary Cuba and Washingtons colony in Puerto Rico.

We are organizing a Nov. 8 Twin Cities meeting, Ash Eberle told the Militant, and well begin fundraising for the May Day brigade next year.





Related articles:

Protest US economic war against Cuban Revolution!

Che Guevara postage stamp issued in Ireland stirs debate

Oscar Lopez: Cuba gives us best example of resistance







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Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP government plans to celebrate the anniversary as an 'anti-black money day.'

Rahul Gandhi, the vice-president of the Indian National Congress

By Supriya Bhardwaj: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will chair a high-level party meeting on Monday. On the agenda: how to corner the Narendra Modi government on November 8, the first anniversary of demonetisation.

At the meeting, Rahul, AICC* general secretaries and state in-charges will discuss plans for a nationwide protest.

Sources say the protest will be based on the slogan, 'Modi-made Disaster' - or MMD. Rahul tweeted the acronym on Thursday.

Real wages stagnant for 3 yrs,bank lending lowest in 60yrs,Inequality highest in 100yrs.In Modiji's words,this is a MMD(Modi Made Disaster) https://t.co/X3NicY3fK1- Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) October 26, 2017

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The meeting will be held at the Congress headquarters in Delhi.

The party will organise street protests, signature campaigns, seminars and social media campaigns to attack the Modi government.

"We will protest from block level to national level on all platforms - streets to social media- on the first anniversary of DeMo on November 8. The central theme will be MMD and other opposition parties are also planing their protests across this central idea," a senior Congress leader said.

The Opposition, which has called demonetisation a 'scam,' will observe a 'Black Day' on November 8. But Narendra Modi's BJP government plans to celebrate the anniversary as an 'anti-black money day.'

*All-India Congress Committee

ALSO WATCH | DeMo's objectives were good, implementation wasn't: Odisha FM Behera at State of State conclave

--- ENDS ---
Love it or hate it, horror movies have a huge impact not only on cinema, but pop culture in general.

From the black-and-white monster movies to the 80's slasher flicks, it seems people have always liked being scared, and productions are always trying to make something new, something even more disturbing than the last. Here are 10 iconic horror movie moments that have been instilled in our culture for decades and paved the way for modern horror.

"HEEEEEEEERES JOHNNY!" (The Shining, 1980)

Parodied countless times, theres no way you havent heard of this pivotal scene in Stanley Kubricks The Shining. In short, Jack Nicholsons now insane character sticks his head through the bathroom door (which hes been hacking at with an axe) to antagonise his screaming wife. What you may not know is that this line was actually improvised by Nicholson, and comes from a famous 50s talk show hosted by Johnny Carson. Its a clever manipulation of an innocent, cheerful catchphrase that will now forever have a darker meaning.

Whats your favourite scary movie? (Scream, 1996)

Another example of dark humour used right, the opening scene of Scream changed horror movies forever, starting a long line of meta movies (including a personal favourite parody, Scary Movie). Honestly, almost every scene in Scream could have been in this list, but it makes sense to begin at the beginning. Drew Barrymores character receives a phone call from the killer, who starts asking her horror movie trivia, and thus begins a clever subversion of all previous horror tropes.

The swimming pool scene (Let the Right One In, 2006)

You could be forgiven for believing this movie to be a bit slow, and not particularly scary, but cinematographically speaking it is kind of a masterpiece. The Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In has become a cult favourite due to a scene in a swimming pool near the end, when the bullies of young Oskar finally get whats been coming to them.

Like I said, this is a climactic scene, so spoiler alert.



The truth about Mother (Psycho, 1960)

Hitchcocks classic psychological thriller/horror Psycho has been referenced so many times that nowadays everyone already knows that Norman Bates is the killer, so thats no surprise anymore. The movie is famous for the shower scene (and the music that accompanies it) but perhaps not so common knowledge is exactly how Bates is revealed as the killer. The reveal is perfectly timed and carried out; a wave of understanding suddenly hits the audience and we all go OOOHHH!!!.

(Warning: MAJOR spoiler alert in this clip, and it probably wont have the same effect if you havent seen the whole movie.)

The final bath scene (Les Diaboliques, 1955)

A lesser-known classic for us Anglophones, Les Diaboliques is a French horror from way back in 1955, and has served as inspiration for the likes of Hitchcock. Its about two women who plot to murder their lover, who is a tyrannical school headmaster. After the deed is done, one of the women starts to go crazy with paranoia, believing she sees his ghost everywhere... or does she? While the majority of the film is probably quite boring for a modern audience, the ending is still worth seeing thanks to its unusual twist. Its also one of the first movies to ever have a disclaimer at the end urging the audience not to give away spoilers so Ill leave it up to you whether you want to spoil yourself with this video (and again, it doesnt make complete sense if you havent seen the whole movie).

Alien birth (Alien, 1979)

Alien is perhaps the most successful genre mixture of sci-fi and horror. The two most famous scenes include the face-hugger and chest-burster. The names speak for themselves. The special effects of the time were groundbreaking, although the baby alien looks kind of funny to a modern audience. Still, if you arent used to gore, the scene is pretty gross.

The revelation of Jigsaw (Saw, 2007)

Giving away the ending would totally ruin it for anyone who hasnt seen it, but its fair to say that the final twist in Saw is one of the most shocking and unpredictable in recent horror cinema. Granted, the sequels of Saw quickly turn into pointless torture porn, but the 2007 indie budget movie has rightfully become a cult classic. I cant bring myself to show the ending because you REALLY need to see the rest of the movie for it to make any sense. Instead, here is the scene when the victims first wake up in their trap (which is still a good scene).

The transformation (An American Werewolf in London, 1981)

A groundbreaking achievement in special effects, An American Werewolf in London is a bizarre comedy-horror with a lot of gore. The transformation scene was made entirely without CGI and even today is thought to be the most realistic werewolf transformation on film (well, as realistic as a werewolf can be) - not romanticised or just Pop! Im a wolf! *cough* Twilight *cough*.

Its alive! (Frankenstein, 1931)

The oldest movie in the list is also the most referenced, remade, and recognised. Everyone knows the story of Frankenstein, based on Mary Shelleys book, and the iconic line its alive!. This is followed by him yelling now I know how it feels to BE God!, which would have been blasphemous back in 1931, and even now would rub some people up the wrong way. The scene created a legacy that is still omnipresent in pop culture 86 years later.
By PTI: Raipur, Oct 28 (PTI) The Congress today demanded a probe by an independent agency, under the supervision of the Supreme Court, into the "fake" sex CD row allegedly involving a Chhattisgarh minister.

The main opposition party in the state also accused the ruling BJP of curbing press freedom.

"The way the BJP has reacted to the (sex CD) matter, it is clear that a state government agency cannot probe this issue. It should be investigated by an independent agency under the supervision of the Supreme Court," Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel said at a press conference.

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He also pointed out that while the BJP talked about political morality, the entire party came out in defence of the minister, Rajesh Munat, after the CD allegedly involving him surfaced.

Without conducting a probe into the matter, the ruling party gave its minister a clean chit, Baghel said.

Accusing the BJP of suppressing the voice of the media, the Congress leader alleged that journalists were being threatened and implicated in false cases.

"The arrest of senior journalist Vinod Verma is a case in point," he said.

Verma, who was arrested from Ghaziabad for suspected blackmailing and extortion by the Chhattisgarh police, had claimed that he had a "sex CD" of the minister.

Baghel alleged that the Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh governments had conspired to get the journalist arrested.

Verma was not even named in a blackmailing complaint lodged in Raipur and was arrested even without conducting a preliminary investigation, he said, adding that it clearly reflected that there was a conspiracy against him.

The police claimed to have recovered 500 "porn" CDs, a pen drive and a laptop from Verma.

The alleged video sparked a war of words between the Congress and the BJP.

Munat, on Friday, had told reporters that the Congress and Verma were trying to tarnish his image throughthe CD which he described as "fake".

Subsequently, the minister had lodged a complaint against Baghel and Verma at the Civil Lines police station here. Based on the complaint, the police had registered a case against Baghel, Verma and others under the Information Technology Act. PTI TKP RSY RC

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 27 (PTI) Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today said the new Consumer Protection Bill is likely to come up for passage in the winter session of Parliament.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said a new consumer protection law was on the anvil that would crack down on misleading advertisements and provide time-bound redressal of their grievances.

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"The Consumer Protection Bill has been sent to the Cabinet for approval," he told reporters here.

Asked whether the Bill will come up for passage in the next session, Paswan said: "I hope so."

Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs C R Chaudhary said the efforts will be made to bring the Bill in the winter session.

The governments proposed new law will replace the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 by incorporating the amended 2015 UN guidelines on consumer protection.

Paswan said a Central Consumer Protection Authority will be set up for quick remedial action.

"The Bill has provisions for misleading ads and e- commerce trade," he added.

Briefing the media about the outcome of the first global consumer protection conference on Empowering consumers in new markets for the South, South East and East Asian Countries held on October 26-27, Paswan said the conference was attended by 1,600 participants, including delegates from 19 countries.

A resolution, Chaudhary said, has been adopted at the conference, but the same is not binding on any country.

According to an official statement, it was agreed that implementation of the UN guidelines for consumer protection is a priority for governments and stakeholders to ensure more effective and better-coordinated protection efforts in all countries and across all areas of commerce.

"The protection of consumers rights in the digital context is important for a sustainable and inclusive development of e-commerce, which also needs to address cross- border cooperation and enforcement," the statement said.

It was resolved that consumer protection is essential for well-functioning financial markets, and efforts should be devoted to achieving financial consumer literacy and inclusion.

"Consumer education is paramount to maximise consumer empowerment, needing new and innovative ways to reach and enhance consumers knowledge of their rights and obligations in the marketplace," the statement said.

The needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged consumers must be attended to in all sectors of commerce and across all areas of consumer protection, including legislation, enforcement action and redressal systems in accordance with their particular needs and interests.

With increasing globalisation and the world changing into a single market, it was resolved to learn from each others experiences and reach a common understanding.

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"The possibility of building a Regional Coalition for consumer protection needs to be explored," the statement said.

Keeping in view of future challenges, it was agreed that to explore the option of preparing a road map with a clear vision for moving forward and institutionalising regional co- operation.

"Towards meeting these objectives, it was decided that regional consumer protection conferences on a biannual basis will be considered, in consultation with countries in the region, regarding the structure and organisational details," the statement said. PTI MJH ARD

--- ENDS ---
There will also be announcements in Metros to ensure that passengers arriving at the airport pick the right terminal. The airport will provide free shuttle services between T1 and T2.

By Shashank Shekhar: After a seven year hiatus, Delhi airport's terminal 2 will take off on Sunday following a Rs 100-crore facelift to ease the taxing traveller traffic while terminal 1 gets an infrastructure upgrade.

GoAir is the only lowcost airline which will move its entire operation from T1 to T2 from October 29, something which IndiGo and SpiceJet have declined to do. The GMR group-led Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has given low-cost carrier IndiGo two more months to shift a part of its flight services from terminal 1 to terminal 2, but the airline opposed the idea.

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According to the government, air traffic at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport is expected to reach up to 91 million passengers per year (MPPA) in the next three years and touch its peak handling capacity of 109 MPPA by 2024.

The aviation ministry announced in June that a new airport will be built near Noida over the next four to five years at a cost of nearly Rs 20,000 crore. The transition from T1 to T2 won't be easy for airport operator DIAL, airlines as well as travellers who will have to map out their boarding details to avoid chaos as domestic flights will operate from all three terminals.

T3, which caters to international airlines, will also host domestic flights of Air India, Vistara, Jet Airways and Air Asia. Terminal 1 currently manages the rest of the domestic carriers such as IndiGo and SpiceJet. "We are all for aviation growth. We all look at passenger's convenience. Yes, we have to share the pain," said Prabhakara Rao, CEO of DIAL, when asked about the reluctance of some carriers. Chances of missing a flight could go up during the transition period as the distance between T1 and T2 is around seven kilometres.

However, the remodelled terminal 2 is a walking distance away from T3. Drivers coming from Delhi and Gurugram are advised to take the terminal 3 exit to reach T2. Even Metro travellers can reach T3 using the Airport Express Line trains and then walk down to terminal 2. There will also be announcements in Metros to ensure that passengers arriving at the airport pick the right terminal. However, it could be a troublesome situation if a passenger reaches T1 instead of T2. These issues were also raised by the domestic airlines that are refusing to budge. DIAL says passengers' convenience is its priority. The airport will provide free shuttle services between T1 and T2. "We will deploy nearly 10 buses to ensure there is a shuttle service available every five minutes for passengers," said an airport official.

The shuttle service will be in addition to the Delhi Transport Corporation buses that run every 15 minutes. DIAL says signage have been put in place on nearby roads so motorists can easily find their way to the new terminal. Till Friday no signs for T2 could be spotted on national highway 8, but the airport operator assured the situation would change before the transition takes effect. The new terminal has four entry gates, two exit gates, 74 check-in counters and a revamped baggage handling system. T2 will have as many as nine baggage X-ray machines to ensure enhanced security. It will also have six contact stands and four bus gates. The renovated T2 can handle 12 million passengers per annum, up from 9 million. According to DIAL, the terminal switch for three years is being done to boost the infrastructure of T1, increasing its capacity from 20 MPPA to 40 MPPA. Once work is complete, operations from T2 would be shifted back to T1. After that, terminal 2 would be demolished and a new terminal, T4, will come up there.

--- ENDS ---

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In a globalised world of strange violence, where the plurality of societies is being replaced by monochromatic dullness, how do artists project and protect their roots from where consciously or unconsciously their creativity originates? The exploration of this idea forms the centre of a unique exhibition at the India International Centre in Delhi.

Carrying Roots Around is curated by Manish Pushkale and organised by the Raza Foundation as part of IICs ongoing Festival of the Arts. Puhakale says the participating artists, Ganesh Haloi, Mona Rai, Veer Munshi, Jayashree Chakraborty, Akhilesh, V. Ramesh, Jagannath Panda, Atul Dodiya, Manisha Parekh and Nancy Adajania, have all created a pictorial enquiry of the roots of their existence, of the turmoil all around and within all that, their own personal characters, their swabhaav.

The exhibited works depict a range of experiences, personal and sometimes painful, of the notion of rootedness  geographical, cultural, intellectual and even aesthetic in both metaphorical and physical sense. Mumbai-based cultural theorist Nancy Adajanias work, for instance, critiques her own Parsi communitys fear of contamination and obsession with ethnic purity by pointing to their original plural identity and cosmopolitan connections through archival materials.

Managing Trustee of the Raza Foundation Ashok Vajpeyi, who has conceptualised the exhibition, notes that much of the most powerful literature and art of the 20th Century had been produced by displaced people.

There is no doubt that a lot of modern creativity and imagination have emerged out of an agonising condition of displacement and migration. Yet there are significant instances when the artists have carried their roots along even though they have displaced from their locations, he says. Art, in fact, has become a site where the roots could be rediscovered. The American critic Susan Sontag has asserted that what good are roots if you cannot carry them along?

Many of the exhibiting artists spoke of their own ideas of being Rooted, Uprooted and Rootless at a panel discussion organised at the IIC. Veer Munshi, whose forcible displacement from his homeland of Kashmir 26 years ago is the inspiration for his pain-filled Shrapnel series and works depicting the loss of his heritage, describes rootlessness as homelessness, a condition that, according to him foretells the death knell for a community.

Like the Parsis who were forced to migrate from Persia to escape persecution centuries ago, he believes his own community of Kashmiri Pandits faces the threat of extinction from being uprooted. When a root is cut, the fruit becomes rotten by and by. There is never a reverse migration, so it has to go extinct. Similarly with our community, the culture will go, the language will go, because you become a drop in an ocean and everything will go with time.

Geographical displacement is also a peripheral theme of Jayashree Chakrabortys work in which she represents the urbanisation and ecological degradation of city landscapes, in particular the Salt Lake area she resides in Kolkata, a transformed marshland which originates from a now forgotten place known as Kuchinan that was destroyed by a hurricane and earthquake in the 18th century. But the idea of rootedness is not just about geography.

It can be other art forms, movies; whatever influences or inspires me or makes me happy. As an artist I dont want to get too rooted, but neither do I want to fly away. My work carries the imprints of my family origins from Kathiawad in Gujarat and the mother tongue. So when I paint Gandhi, I dont just paint a great statesman, but a fellow Kathiawadi, said Atul Dodiya.

Artist V Ramesh, who is originally from Andhra Pradesh, says he has not had a traumatic migratory experience but still struggles to find a geographical root owing to the fact that his family travelled all over India on account of his fathers work.

I feel we all need to trace our roots to our basic sense of humanity. We are all connected underneath by humanity. If we understand this, and acknowledge this, the turmoil and violence will lessen. His works, based on the idea of Bhakti and Devotion, explore his thoughts inspired by his early childhood. Mythology is a gentler way of examining life.

I recollect and remember the stories told to me by my grandmother, he says. For Manisha Parekh, who relishes working with the purity of materials, her artistic roots trace back to her early days at Art School and especially her teacher and artist Nasreen Mohamedi.

She was my first teacher in art school. I learnt from her that white space in art is as important as the drawn space  it is something I follow still. She was alive to the tactility of materials was the beginning of my recognition of the language of materials, of the relationship of the artist with the material. Encounters with such people become your roots, says Parekh.

The roots of art and aesthetics are similarly explored by artists Akhilesh, Ganesh Haloi and Mona Rai through eye catching abstracts inspired by memory, experiences and fantasy. Jagannath Panda, whose imagery consists of animal motifs and their dramatic juxtapositions to draw attention to the issues of ecology and urbanisation, believes that the roots are preserved in memories.

When you return to a place you have left, you are attracted to its memories, people and landscapes. These memories are essential to art, he says.
The Congress on Saturday said the ruling BJP was rattled at the prospect of defeat in Gujarat and was thus making baseless terror allegations against Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel.

Reacting to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupanis allegations against Patel, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the BJP was hatching a conspiracy against the Congress MP and asked the party to look inwards.

The Congress leader said: The BJP is staring at defeat in Gujarat and that is why they are rattled and making such baseless allegations against Congress leaders. Truth will win and the BJP will be defeated in Gujarat.

Rupani on Friday night demanded Patels resignation from the Rajya Sabha alleging his links with Mohammed Qasim Stimberwala, one of the two alleged Islamic State operatives arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad on Wednesday in Surat. The arrested suspects were allegedly planning to blow up a synagogue in Ahmedabad.

Patel has rubbished the charge that he had links with Stimberwala.

Sardar Patel Hospital is a charitable hospital in which 150-200 employees work. Neither Ahmed Patel nor any of his family members is a trustee of the hospital. They also dont hold any office of profit in the hospital, said Surjewala, adding that Stimberwala was one the employees.

He said the ATS should initiate a probe against the suspected terrorists if it has evidence.

The Gujarat Chief Minister, in order to hide his incapability, is trying to hatch a conspiracy against Congress leader Ahmed Patel and making baseless allegations against him in a very despicable attempt, the spokesperson said.

The Congress has always fought against terrorism while the BJP has had an opposite record. Would Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah explain how terrorist Dawood Ibrahims wife came to Mumbai under their nose in March 2016 and then left the country. How the Maharashtra government and intelligence agencies didnt even get a whiff of it and could not arrest her?

Surjewala also said that some Islamic State agents arrested in Madhya Pradesh were found to have links with the BJP. One of them Dhruv Saxena, was also a member of BJPs IT cell, he said.

Is it not true that the BJP-PDP government in Jammu and Kashmir gave compensation to the family of terrorist Burhan Wani in December 2016, Surjewala asked.

He also pointed out that the previous NDA government had released dreaded terrorists like Maulana Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed Jargar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh from the Indian custody in the Kandahar hijacking incident.

A Maharashtra BJP leader Eknath Khadse had to resign for his alleged links with Dawood. So, the BJP should look inwards before pointing fingers at others.
Terming note ban as foolish step and GST design faulty, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today said both the decisions of the government have derailed the economy.

The Centre should have admitted that it had made a mistake to scrap high value currency notes last year, the former finance minister said, adding that the present GST design is faulty.

With demonetisation and GST, they have derailed the economy, Chidambaram said at a Congress meeting this evening.

We had to put the economy back on the rails. But who will put it back on rails now? Dont look at us. I am looking at you (the voters). You have to decide who will put the economy back on the rails, the former finance minister said and expressed the optimism that the country will have a government which will be able to correct these mistakes.

That government will say the maximum tax in GST will be 18 per cent and no tax will be higher than 18 per cent.

That government will say 90 per cent of traders and businessmen who are small and medium businessmen, it is ok if you file your returns once in six months. But when that government will be in place is entirely in your hands, he told Congress workers.

Stating that every businesses is affected by GST, Chidambaram said, We told them dont do this in a hurry but wait for some time, while traders, and businessmen told them to delay it till September (but to no avail).

He also said the government implemented GST in a hurry that when businessmen file returns, the whole GST network breaks down.

Noting that the government had brought about as many as 135 changes to the official objectives of demonetisation, he said, now I am waiting to see when they will make 135 changes to GST. Every day the finance minister is announcing some changes and exemption to the GST framework.

He also said the opposition parties, including the Congress, and the Trinamool Congress have decided to observe November 8 as Black Day and to counter this, BJP will observe November 8 as Anti-Black Money Day.

Admitting that GST is a good tax and a good idea, he said unfortunately this government has given GST a bad name, which is why its appropriate to call it Gabbar Singh Tax and not goods and services tax, Chidambaram said.

From the start, be its design, concept, and rate structure, the GST in the present form is wrong, Chidamabaram said, adding this government has cheated the people by bringing the GST bills as a money bill because they dont have majority in the Rajya Sabha.

The moral of the story is that just because government got absolute majority, it does not mean it will always do the right thing, the Rajya Sabha MP said.

Describing note-ban as a decision driven by total ignorance, he said it was a foolish move, but this government does not have the honesty to admit it made a mistake.

I think the whole scheme was to help some people who had black money to convert it into white money. It is one of the biggest scams, he said adding I am sure someday, somebody will enquire into it.

He said none of the objectives of demonetisation  counterfeit notes, stopping terror funding and black money, as claimed by government have been served.

Therefore, they shifted the goal posts. No longer they speak about terrorism and fake currency and then they said it was to being in a cashless economy which was an afterthought, he said.

Blaming the government for being completely insensitive to what the people are going through he said the result is jobless growth. There is some growth but there are no jobs being created.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has said that half the credit for Prime Minister Narendra Modis victory in the last Lok Sabha polls goes to Rahul Gandhi as his mocking the then Gujarat chief minister did not go down well with voters.

Thackeray, however, said that current trends and reports indicate that the ruling BJP could lose the upcoming Assembly election in Gujarat.

Fifty per cent credit for Narendra Modis victory in the 2014 general elections goes to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. The way he mocked Modi during the campaign, helped the latter win the polls, Thackeray told reporters at Kalyan near here last night.

Of the rest, 15 per cent was due to the social media, around 10-20 per cent credit would go to the BJP workers and also the RSS and the remaining was because of Modis personal charisma, he said.

Thackerays comment comes in the wake of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut saying that Gandhi was capable of leading the country and that the Modi wave had faded.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is capable of leading the country. It is wrong to call him Pappu, Raut had said referring to the Hindi name used to mock the Congress vice- president by a section on social media to claim he was immature in politics.

On the Gujarat election, Thackeray said, The recent trends as well as reports indicate that the ruling party is likely to lose the elections.

Some visuals of Modis public meetings are doing the round, which show that people are leaving the venue in groups during his address, which had never happened in the past. Even from this, one gets a message, he said.

Despite this, if the BJP gets more than 150 seats, it should be considered a miracle by the electronic voting machines (EVMs), he said.

Election to the 182-member Assembly in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 9 and 14, and the results will be declared on December 18.

Thackeray also alleged that the Election Commission had inordinately delayed the announcement of Gujarat election dates under a lot of pressure.

The Election Commission and other statutory bodies should work independently. But it does not happen here, he said.

On his party forcibly evicting hawkers from suburban railway stations in Mumbai, he said the MNS workers were not being given their due credit.

In fact, the administration can do it (evict hawkers), but it does not want to do so for various reasons, he said.
Patidar leader Hardik Patel, who has tried to shrug off allegations of growing close links with the Congress, on Saturday issued an ultimatum to the party to clarify its position on quotas for Patels by November 3.

Congress must clarify how it proposes to give reservations constitutionally by November 3, 2017. If it does not make its stand clear, an episode similar to Amit Shah could repeat in Surat, he tweeted.

3/11/2017       ,                  Hardik Patel (@HardikPatel_) October 28, 2017

Hardik Patel has maintained that if the Congress clarifies its stand on quotas for the Patels, he will not have issues in supporting the Congress in the forthcoming state Assembly elections.

His Amit Shah situation remark apparently referred to the rallies in Surat and Karamsad by Shah where the BJP chief saw his speech getting disrupted by agitating Patel youngsters.

Several Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) members had on September 8 last year created ruckus at Amit Shahs rally, forcing him to cut short his speech. Earlier this month on October 1, when Shah was kicking off the Gujarat Gaurav Yatra from Karamsad, several Patel youth tried to disrupt the event by raising slogans of Jai Sardar, Jai Patidaar.

The ultimatum by Hardik Patel comes as Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is set to visit the state again, this time South Gujarat for a three-day visit early next month.

His statement also comes a day after a series of audio clips purportedly of PAAS leader Narendra Patel alleging financial connivance between PAAS and Congress began doing the rounds on Friday.

In the audio clips, Narendra Patel is heard purportedly talking to an unknown person and revealing how over time, the Congress has been funding the Patel quota stir in the state. Narendra Patel also names Ahmed Patel, senior Congress leader and political advisor to Congress President; state Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki and former MP from Mehsana Jivabhai Patel, of having extended financial help for PAAS activities.

Earlier, CCTV footage of Hardik Patel sneaking into a five-star hotel in Ahmedabad where Rahul Gandhi was staying during his last visit to Gujarat was shown on various television channels.

The BJP has been alleging for long that the Patidar quota stir was supported by Congress from behind the scenes. The CCTV footage of the hotel visit and the audio clips of Narendra Patel have now given the BJP enough matter with which to attack the Patidar leader.

The Congress says that it will uphold the current 49 per cent quotas for SC/ST and OBCs and bring about legal provisions for providing 20 per cent quotas for the unreserved communities of the society. We would provide quotas for the poor and middle class strictly as per the Constitution, Manish Doshi, Congress spokesperson, said.
Senior journalist Vinod Verma, who was arrested on Friday on charges of blackmailing a Chhattisgarh minister will be produced before a court in Raipur on Saturday, officials said.

A Ghaziabad court had on Friday granted the Chhattisgarh Police transit remand of Verma. The senior journalist was then taken to Raipur where he will be presented before a court.

Verma who has in the past worked with Amar Ujala and the BBC alleged that he was being framed as he had in his possession, a sex tape of Chhattisgarh minister Rajesh Munat.

I have a sex CD of a Chhattisgarh Minister, he is Rajesh Munat and that is why Chhattisgarh government is not happy with me. I just have a pen drive, have nothing to do with CD. I am being framed, Verma told fellow journalists on Friday.

The Chhattisgarh Police raided the journalists residence at Indirapuram along with the Uttar Pradesh Police and recovered 500 compact discs (CDs), a pen drive and Rs 200,000 in cash, a police officer here said.

Verma has been accused of using sex tapes to blackmail and threaten the complainant.

Rahul Srivastava, PRO at the DGP office in Lucknow said that a case under sections 384 and 506 of the IPC had been lodged against Verma in Pandri police station of Raipur district.
Determined to corner the ruling BJP government, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will chair a crucial meeting on October 30 to chalk out a strategy for the November 8 protests on the first anniversary of demonetisation.

A total of 18 opposition parties led by the Congress have planned to hold a massive protest in the national capital against Prime Minister Narendra Modis economic policies and the scrapping of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 currency notes a year ago.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the coordination committee of the parties held in Parliament House on Monday and attended by Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, JD-U leader Sharad Yadav, BSPs Satish Chandra Misra, TMCs Derek OBrien, DMKs Kanimozhi and CPIs D Raja.

The 18 opposition parties had come together for the presidential and vice presidential elections and had decided to coordinate with each other to take on the government on various issues concerning the people.

Interestingly, the joint opposition protest will be held a day before Himachal Pradesh goes to the polls and amid campaigning for the Gujarat elections.

(With inputs from agencies)
Differences in the positions of the Japanese and US governments on trade have been laid bare. The America first policy trumpeted by the US Government, which casts trade deficits as a sworn enemy, will not benefit either nation.

Japan must tenaciously explain this point to the US government. The second round of the Japan-US economic dialogue, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso and US Vice-President Mike Pence, was held in Washington. This follows the first round held in Tokyo in April. Pence indicated Washingtons strong interest in a bilateral free trade agreement with Japan.

Aso reemphasized the significance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, from which the United States has pulled out, so their discussions were not on the same wavelength. The reason Japan is wary of an FTA with the United States lies in the basic approach taken by the administration of US President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration considers US trade deficits to be a type of exploitation by partner countries, and it unilaterally insists that the responsibility to rectify the imbalance rests with the trading partner.

Trump seems to be keenly aware of the support from US manufacturing regions that propelled him to victory in the 2016 presidential election. The trade deficit indicates the United States is importing many cheap and good-quality products that benefit US consumers.

The Trump administration has a glaring tendency to close its eyes to this reality and only cherry-pick elements that neatly fit with its own viewpoint.

The US attitude of flaunting its position as a superpower is also a massive problem.

The United States is demanding that it alone be given special treatment in negotiations to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The United States dangled the possibility of scrapping the US-South Korea free trade agreement, which forced Seoul to agree to renegotiate the pact.

The Japanese governments position is that, even if Tokyo enters into talks on a Japan-US free trade agreement, it will be difficult to make greater concessions than those made during negotiations for the TPP ~ a deal that raised expectations for market openings in the United States and other nations.

If the United States demands that tariffs on agricultural products and others be abolished or reduced by a level greater than they would be under the TPP, a deterioration in the relationship between Japan and the United States, which are crucial allies, would be unavoidable.
Former Bharatiya Janata Party chief minister and ex-Union Minister from Himachal Pradesh, Shanta Kumar, is known for his plain speaking in the party and public. The octogenarian leader, Lok Sabha MP from Kangra, has often suffered because of his forthright approach.

His remarks on corruption against then BJP chief Bangaru Laxman and the Gujarat riots were not taken well by the party. Ignored like other elders in the party at the national level, this senior most leader from Himachal (who was also the first non Congress CM of HP in 1977) refers to his role in BJP as a guest artist as he prepares to retire from active politics ahead of the 2019 Parliament polls.

In an interview to ARCHANA PHULL in his home town, Palampur, Shanta Kumar spoke of his political concerns ahead of the Himachal Assembly polls.

Excerpts:

What are the prospects of BJP in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls?

The BJP is ahead of other parties in the entire country. It is the same situation in HP. It is for the first time that any chief minister (Virbhadra Singh) in Himachal has faced serious allegations of corruption. The governance and administration in the hill state has gone haywire and is at the lowest ebb under the present Congress rule.

The law and order situation is so bad. The Kotkhai case (gangrape and murder of a 16 year old schoolgirl) has brought shame to HP. More so, during the probe into the case, the CBI arrested eight police officials for alleged custodial death of an accused. This has never happened in the state earlier. I am sure people of HP will elect a BJP government this time.

BJP has made corruption a major issue against Virbhadra Singh. But it has taken former Union minister, Sukh Ram, who is convicted of corruption.

It is the partys decision. I am in fact worried about politics in the entire country. Values, morality and truth are taking the backseat. It is the consequence of such politics that even after 70 years of independence, India is going down on the economic front. The result of politics of vote banks is that 19 crore Indians are still facing hunger. If politics continues to be like this in India, it would worsen the scenario further. I urge my party that there should be no compromise with morality and principles.

The present BJP high command has ignored old and senior leaders in the party.

I dont feel ignored and am happy. The values of society are generally changing. We need more oldage homes. But the trend is not good. A family means that while the new blood comes in, the elderly too should be respected. Its true of every field.

The BJP has not declared the CM face in Himachal in these polls.

The decision to declare a CM face before or after the polls is a part of electoral strategy. The BJP high command takes the final call on this.

Former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal took over the reins from you in Himachal in 1998. Is this the time for another transition in leadership in HP?

No comments. It is for the party high command to decide.

The Centre is facing criticism for some of its policies. Will the Modi factor still work for the BJP in HP?

The anti-incumbency feeling against the state government always plays a role in HP Assembly polls. The Modi factor is an attraction in elections here as people have a strong message that central projects are not being implemented by Congress government in Himachal for different reasons.

You had to struggle to secure Assembly tickets for your loyalists this time.

I had put forth my viewpoint at the party platform. The tickets were generally decided by consensus. At a few places, there was some problem. The final decision, however, always rests with the party high command.

What role will you play in these Assembly polls?

I will work for the party wherever they need me.

Are you satisfied with your political journey?

Yes, I am fully satisfied with my political journey. I have always followed my ideals and principles in politics. I had to pay the price for this approach many times. I even quit a post once. But I am proud of that.

What are your future plans in politics?

I entered politics when I was just 19 years old. I am 84 years old and feel that I need to withdraw from politics gradually. I wont be into active politics and wont contest any election now. I will be more active in the work of Vivekananda Medical Research Trust (VMRT) in Palampur, where we are now building an old-age home. Q

What is the litterateur Shanta Kumar writing these days?

I am writing my memoirs. I have just completed the synopsis and will take it up further as soon as I get some free time.
By Mail Today Bureau: You should not be wearing high heels during the exam if you want to become a teacher for Municipal Corporation of Delhi-run schools. Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) will conduct exam for primary teachers for Municipal Corporation of Delhi-run schools this Sunday. Delhi government-led DSSSB had advertised the vacancies for primary teachers earlier in August and September this year.

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Full-sleeve dresses, jewellery, close-toed shoes, watches, pens, electronic equipment, including mobiles, are also in the prohibited list. In addition to centres widespread across Delhi, the board has prescribed a "strict dress code which is required to be followed by all candidates appearing for the exam".

"A number of senior officers, including IAS officers shall be deployed and each center will be supervised by an IAS officer or senior DANICS officer in order to curb the menace of impersonation and unfair means," said Rajesh Chopra, secretary of DSSSB. The exam will be conducted across Delhi and the board has identified centres to test teachers before inducting them into corporation schools. "The exam shall be held in 223 centres across Delhi and more than a lakh candidates are expected to appear against 4,366 vacant posts of primary teachers," Chopra said. "The board has made extensive preparation for conducting free and fair examination," the official added. In a notification released by the officials, the board has said that there will be extensive frisking before entry and instructions have been issued for filing of FIR in cases of impersonation, unfair means or carrying prohibited items. "The candidates are requested to study the instructions which have been posted at the board's website," the notification read.

--- ENDS ---
His Majesty the King Rama IX of Thailand has been a huge jigsaw. If one looks too closely, one can miss the big, overall picture. Too far out and important details can go unnoticed. Even as Thais say their last goodbye to the late beloved monarch, overwhelmingly and wholeheartedly, it is not easy for foreign observers to really comprehend the phenomenon.

The world is seeing oceans of black-wearing Thais gathering for a grand funeral ceremony, the scale of which has been unseen in modern Thai history and rare by global standards. The parades are culturally exquisite and the pavilion reflects all the traditional Thai grandeur. All of these, however, are not even half the story.

Now, the world knows that here was a very hard-working, multi-talented King, who devoted himself to helping Thais get a better life, who rebuilt a monarchy that was facing a formidable test of time, and did so with maps, cameras, pens and pointers, not with a sword. His integrity was unquestionable, and the much-scrutinised laws that guarded him could be summed up by the words of a government official, who could have sounded belligerent or rude to reporters a couple of years ago: Others dont have what we have, so its up to us, not to them, when it comes to protecting it. Its his key philosophy, the Sufficient Economy, that may still have puzzled many including a lot of Thais.

He preached it, gently and subtly, but the idea was set against a glaring backdrop of a conventional economy that has been in place for a long time and firmly supported and cocooned by superpower nations. His Sufficiency Economy idea is, in fact, simple. It advocates getting back to basics and not biting off more than one can chew. In elementary school terms, the existing mainstream economy in its most complex but widespread form goes like this: Village A bets on how many fish Village B will catch three years from now.

In many cases, money is borrowed from Village C to place the bets. Village D insures the debts, some of which are to be bought by Village E if they go bad. When the bad debts get worse, Village F become a rescuer by buying all. King Rama IXs idea has you catch your own fish  just enough to put some on the table and sell the rest in the nearest market so you can buy additional healthy food. Simple?

Yes, but its hard to do nonetheless. One may say he was a dreamer, but the six-village complexity a few years ago triggered the worlds biggest economic meltdown in recent memory, which came at a time when human beings were better equipped than at any point in history to put food in every mouth on the planet. In other words, the near-collapse of the world economy has more to do with digital numbers whirling on computer screens at financial institutions across the globe than genuine human abilities to create food, shelters or medicine.

Again, if one looks too close, one will claim an irony. King Rama IX didnt really have to catch fish for a living, some argue. This, however, is more or less the same as criticising the humiliation of pledging to serve under Your Majestys feet in every life while the crucial fact that it was always him who did the serving is ignored, or bemoaning the obligatory standing up in the movie theatres while waiting in a Starbucks queue may take a lot longer.

If one looks from afar, important details could be missed. Television footage in honour of the late monarch can be bland if one does not think along. Every one of them features the green of veggies and crops, the dark brown of soil, the translucence of water and the limited number of farm animals. One will claim that the bland footages are nothing about an obligatory routine. Nobility is in the details, in this case. The monarchs idea is that if you can make good use of the soil, keep the veggies and the crops green, maintain the flow of the water and raise an appropriate number of farm animals, you will really need little else.

You will be happy, fulfilled and dignified. Nobody ever heard His Majesty King Rama IX criticise any economic system that he might have disagreed with. The obligatory TV footages carry absolutely no political message, with interviewees, in a matter-of-fact manner, only thanking him and talking about how to get enough water and keep the soil rich. They never went out of their way to ask others to do the same.

They only look genuinely happy and sincerely grateful. The economic status quo is very omnipresent and deep-rooted, and King Rama IX was certainly well aware of that. He also appreciated the fact that the Thai people are an unavoidable part of it, particularly because this is an era of globalisation. His Majesty passed away in October last year, certainly realising that his Sufficiency Economy idea will take time to grow.

One of the biggest funerals the world has ever seen is coming to pass. Again, if one concentrates too much on the scale, some very important things that King Rama IX has done or conceived could be overlooked. To measure the monarch and how Thais feel toward him, October 26 is a key barometer, but it is just one of many.

He must have wanted his Sufficiency Economy philosophy to be up for judgement, though. As an outgrowth of a system called absolute, challenged by something called democracy, His Majesty the King Rama IX espoused an idea that sought to create genuine dignity and equality. He has sown the seeds, which can wait patiently underground, for as long as it takes.

(The writer is Editor-at-Large, The Nation. This is a series of columns on global affairs written by top editors and columnists from members of the Asia News Network and published in newspapers and websites across the region.)
A face-saver has been found by the Rajasthan government in referring its highly controversial legislative move ~ dubbed a gag order by organisations of the Press ~ to a select committee of the Assembly.

The contention that after due deliberation with MLAs and experts a comprehensive Bill would be formulated to protect bureaucrats, judges etc from frivolous attack in the public domain carries little weight. If such a balance had been sought there would have been little need to rush through with an ordinance.

A degree of mala fide is also evident in the argument that the ordinance will remain in effect for 42 days after promulgation ~ parliamentary practice would be turned on its head if the provisions of the Bill replacing the ordinance were to be invoked even while they were being examined by the select committee. It might be an exaggeration to say that chief minister Vasundhara Raje did not know what hit her, but it is apparent that her government was taken aback by the strong, nationwide reaction to the gag order: the media lambasting the move, even interpreting it as further evidence of the intolerance which the BJP is accused of.

And the buzz is that the national leadership of the party took the view that some provisions of the legislation would not withstand judicial scrutiny ~ a number of petitions have been moved in court. This is not the first time in recent weeks that the BJP leadership has had to back off in the face of severe public reaction.

The campaign against the Taj Mahal has seen a U-turn with even the UP chief minister coming around to endorse one of the worlds most celebrated architectural marvels. And at the national level, after consistently ruling out any negotiations on Kashmir the Centre has appointed a Special Representative and given him a free hand.

It would appear that the national leadership of the BJP is opting to make the party more acceptable to the people as the next general election approaches ~ the strident line that had brought it to power is losing some of its allure and might not suffice for it to overcome the anti-incumbency factor that kicks in when re-election is sought.

Yet that fresh thinking has not trickled down to the state level where muscle continues to be flexed: though the BJP claims to be a disciplined party it has no dearth of loose-cannon that fire away. The Rajasthan move was flayed by the media, and the party is aware of the risk run when alienating itself from the Press ~ as Indira Gandhi had done in 1975-77 and which had also forced Rajiv and Chidambaram to junk their defamation Bill. Hence the convoluted strategem in Jaipur.
Four Bangladeshi civilians have been injured allegedly in an attack by Rohingya migrants at a refugee camp in Coxs Bazar district, a media report said on Saturday.

A senior police officer told bdnews24 the attack occurred at the Balukhali camp around 1 a.m.

The refugees acted on suspicion that the civilians were robbers, the official said.

The victims had injuries caused by sharp weapons.

The police were conducting an operation to arrest the attackers, the officer added.

Since the ongoing violence began late August in Myanmars Rakhine state, over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh seeking refuge.
India has emphatically raised with the US administration the issue of H1B and L1 visas, which have facilitated the entry Indian IT professionals, thereby, immensely benefiting the American economy, said Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu on Saturday.

We raised very strongly the issue of Indian professionals and H1B and L1 visa issues, Prabhu told reporters here at the end of his official visit to the US during which India held the first trade talks with the US following the election of President Donald Trump.

We are raising this issue the US economy itself will find it difficult to cope with the reality because the country has immensely benefited by IT professionals penetrating into the market by offering services that has improved their productivity, he said.

Following Trumps election on a protectionist platform, the US has announced stricter norms for issuing the H1B and L1 visas.

During his visit over October 25-28, Prabhu held talks with the US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer under the framework of the bilateral Trade Policy Forum (TPF) and co-chaired India-US Commercial Dialogue along with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

Prabhu said both countries agreed to address the issue of trade deficit by increasing and diversifying bilateral trade.

He also said India has sought easing of procedures for export of mangoes and pomegranates to the US.

Prabhu cited Ross as saying that reducing imports from India is not an option to address the trade deficit.

The Commerce Secretary clearly said that trade deficit is an issue, but not by reducing imports from India but promoting more exports from the US to India which is absolutely a very positive and an extremely forward-looking idea, which we welcome, Prabhu said.

Declaring that India would actually be able to buy more from the US in few years, he noted that New Delhi has started buying crude oil from Washington and there was great potential for America in the fast-expanding aviation market in India.

At the end of his visit, Prabhu leaves for Cuba, where he will be in Havana from October 28-31 to hold discussions on boosting bilateral trade.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Friday announced the immediate sacking of Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and his government and called new elections in the region on December 21.

This followed the decision taken by the Catalan parliament earlier in the day to unilaterally declare independence of the region in the northeast of Spain, Xinhua news agency reported.

Rajoy announced the measures after a special cabinet meeting called at his residence in the Palacio de la Moncloa to decide how to apply Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution.

Reading a statement in an appearance which did not allow questions from the press, Rajoy said: Spanish people were living a sad day when the lack of reason had gone over the head of the law, and that his government had begun to adopt the measures against an inadmissible kidnapping of the rights of the majority of Catalan.

He asked for prudence and serenity and also confidence, in the state, saying the actions were, not a question of suspending (Catalan) self-government, but a question of returning it to normality as soon as possible.

Catalonia needs to reconcile itself with the truth, the law and itself and that is why I have decided to call elections. We have to avoid more damage and return normality to the life of the citizens, said Rajoy.

Apart from sacking Puigdemont and his government, Rajoy also announced the dismissal of the chief of the Mossosd Esquadra (Catalan police), the closure of Catalan embassies abroad, as well as Catalan government delegations in Madrid and Brussels.

The application of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, which suspends the autonomy of the Catalan region and hands control of key Catalan institutions to Madrid, was approved by the Spanish Senate on Friday afternoon.

Rajoy had earlier spoken from the corridors of the Senate to describe the independence declaration as a crime.

What has happened in the Catalan parliament shows how necessary it was to approve this article, said Rajoy.

The measures have the support of Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez, who commented: Socialists have always supported the common good in the face of independent movements. There is no left wing flag in the secessionist cause.

In other developments, the Spanish Constitutional Court has accepted an appeal presented by the Catalan branch of the Socialist Party (PSC) against the validity Fridays session in the Catalan Parliament.

Central government sources also confirm that the Spanish government will appeal to the Constitutional Court against the Catalan declaration of independence.

The Spanish State Prosecutor will on Monday look to present accusations of rebellion against Puigdemont and other members of his government, charges which could mean a term of between 15 and 30 years in jail.
In yet another prompt response to a request for help, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday asked the Indian embassy in Kuala Lumpur to help an Indian family get their travel documents, despite the mission being closed on weekends.

Swarajs response came after one, Meera Ramesh Patel, sought the formers intervention saying her family was at the airport and had lost their passports.

Indian Embassy in Malaysia: This is an emergency case.

Pls open the Embassy and help the Indian family @hcikl, the minister said in a tweet.

Indian Embassy in Malaysia : This is an emergency case. Pls open the Embassy and help the Indian family. @hcikl https://t.co/HCnnCzrJmn  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 28, 2017

Responding to Swarajs request, the Indian embassy in Malaysia tweeted that the family members have been contacted and the matter was being resolved.

Earlier in her tweet to the Union minister, Patel said, @SushmaSwaraj Mam my family is in malasia airport and lost their passports. Due to weekend Indian Embassy is closed. Please help.

In yet another case, the external affairs minister requested the Indian embassy in Washington to help an Indian student who had lost her passport.

In a tweet, Anusha Dhulipala said she was a student in the United States and had lost her passport because of which she could not travel anywhere.

@SushmaSwaraj I really need help as they say I have to go to India to get my Visa its my exams time I cant travel without passport sooner, she said.
US expects Islamabad to take quick action to show support in countering militants in Afghanistan and bring the Taliban to the negotiating table, a senior American diplomat has said.

The US looked forward to seeing practical steps from Pakistan in the next few weeks and months, Alice Wells, the acting Assistant Secretary for South Asia in the US State Department, told reporters on Friday.

Wells accompanied US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on a week-long tour in the Middle East and South Asia including stops in Pakistan and India, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Secretary stressed the importance of Pakistan moving quickly to demonstrate good faith and efforts to use its influence to create the conditions that will get the Taliban to the negotiating table, said Wells.

Earlier this week, ahead of his stopover in Pakistan, Tillerson said in Afghanistan that the Trumps administration will pursue conditions-based relations with Pakistan, a statement that was widely criticised by Islamabad.

Pakistans Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani dismissed the statement as unacceptable, saying that Tillerson was acting like a Viceroy.

US-Pakistan bilateral relations have been strained over counterterrorism measures. In an August address, US President Donald Trump had lashed out at Islamabad, accusing it of providing safe haven to agents of chaos.

Trumps remarks received widespread criticism in Pakistan as a vast majority in the country believes he ignored their sacrifices in the war on terror which claimed the lives of nearly 73,000 people.
US Vice President Mike Pence has said that Washington will keep up economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea to curb its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Pence made the remarks on Friday during a visit to an Air Force base in North Dakota, home to both B-52 bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles, Xinhua news agency reported.

The US will continue to apply economic and diplomatic pressure so as to make Pyongyang abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Pence said.

He also warned all options are on the table and the US will defend itself with military power that is effective and overwhelming when it is forced to do so.

Meanwhile, visiting US Secretary of Defence James Mattis also on Friday in Seoul said that his country seeks no war, but the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

The comments from the top Trump administration officials comes days before President Donald Trumps Asia trip which is slated for November 3-14.

It would be his first trip to the region since assuming office, during which he would visit South Korea.

North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test early in September and a series of ballistic missile launches in recent months.

In response, the UN Security Council adopted a new resolution toughening sanctions on Pyongyang over its most powerful nuclear detonation.
RBI does not seem to have any official record to prove that it had authorised the issue of new currency notes in denominations of Rs 2,000 and Rs 200.

By Indo-Asian News Service: In what could be a bizarre situation, the Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) does not seem to have any official records to prove that it had authorised the issue of new currency notes in denominations of Rs 2,000 and Rs 200, after demonetisation, according to documents available through RTI.

"As per RTI replies provided by the RBI, the country's central bank has apparently not published any Government Resolution (GR) or a circular till date to issue the new Rs 2,000 and recently, the Rs 200 currency notes," said Mumbai-based RTI activist MS Roy.

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A May 19, 2016 document - roughly around six months before demonetisation - shows that the RBI's Central Board of Directors approved a proposal put forth by its executive director on May 18, 2016.

This (proposal) pertained to the new designs, dimensions and denominations of future Indian bank notes, and the Board resolved to forward it to the central government for approval, as per extracts of the minutes of that Board meeting.

Essentially, this was carrying forward an earlier such proposal made on July 08, 1993 to introduce a new family of Indian bank notes of Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100 and Rs 500 of reduced sizes.

This old proposal (July 08, 1993) was approved at an RBI Central Board Of Directors meeting on July 15, 1993 as per a memorandum dated August 3, 1993 sent from RBI's Central Office, Mumbai, to the Chief Officer, Department Of Currency Manager (RBI Mumbai), which was signed by the then executive director, AP Aiyer.

As per that proposal (of July 8, 1993), these new Indian currency notes of reduced size were to incorporate several fresh and enhanced security features in order to check counterfeiting, according to the same August 3, 1993 memorandum (quoted above).

Roy had also filed a separate RTI query on February 27, 2017, asking for documentation about photographs of Mahatma Gandhi which are not being printed on the Re 1 notes, but were being printed on all currency notes of denominations ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 2,000.

In reply to this particular query, the RBI provided resolutions of its board meetings held on July 15, 1993, July 13, 1994 and May 19, 2016.

However, these resolutions talk about design features merely for Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100 and Rs 500, all of which bear the photographs of the Father of the Nation.

None of these RBI board resolutions make any references about design features or Mahatma Gandhi photographs for denominations of Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000 and now, the latest entrant to the Indian bank notes family, the Rs 200 currency note.

Hence, Roy said that if the RBI board resolutions never even discussed design features or Mahatma Gandhi photographs to be incorporated in Rs 1,000 notes (discontinued after demonetisation), Rs 2,000 denomination notes (introduced on November 8, 2016) and the subsequent Rs 200 notes (introduced in mid-2017), it clearly indicates that no official approval was granted.

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He questioned that if no approval was granted for issuing these denominations, who authorised these denominations, their design, printing and distribution.

"If there has been no approval by the RBI Board, no supporting GR or any other known documentation in the public domain, then there is a big question mark about the legal validity and official (monetary) status of these notes -- namely Rs.200 and Rs.2,000. The matter merits an independent investigation," Roy said.

However, if such approvals do indeed exist, then the RBI and government must explain why these documents were not made available despite an RTI query or why they were not in the public domain.

ALSO WATCH | Kamal Haasan apologises for supporting demonetisation, says praised PM Modi's move in a hurry

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Job Title: System Administrator

Organisation: Nile Breweries

Limited

Duty Station: Mbarara,

Uganda

About US:

Nile Breweries Limited, a leading beverage company in Uganda and

subsidiary of ABInbev the leading brewing group in the world seeks to recruit

highly motivated, results oriented and dynamic candidates for the post below.

Job Summary: The Systems

Administrator will provide IT support through the effective provisioning,

installation, configuration, operation, and maintenance of systems hardware and

software and related infrastructure. The incumbent ensures that system

hardware, operating systems, software systems, and related procedures adhere to

organizational values, policies and practices. The job holder will be

accountable for the Linux and Windows systems that support Nile Breweries

Limited infrastructure and Application systems.



Responsibilities: Key Duties andResponsibilities:



Support

LANs, WANs, network segments, Internet, and intranet systems.



Build

and maintain system efficiency.



Ensure

design of system allows all components to work properly together.



Maintain

network and system security.



Keenly

monitor networks to ensure security and availability to specific users.



Identify

user needs and recommend necessary actions.



Maintain

integrity of the network, server deployment, and security.



Ensure

network connectivity throughout LAN/WAN infrastructure is on par with technical

considerations.



Design

and deploy networks (network address assignment, routing protocols and routing

table configuration).



Assign

configuration of authentication and authorization of directory services.



Maintain

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Administer

servers, desktop computers, printers, routers, switches, firewalls, phones,

software deployment, security updates and patches.



Install

new / rebuild existing servers and configure hardware, peripherals, services,

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out daily system monitoring, verifying the integrity and availability of all

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Perform

regular security monitoring to identify any possible intrusions.











Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience:



The

ideal candidate for the Nile Breweries Limited System Administrator vacancy should hold a Bachelors degree in

Computer Science, Information Systems, Computer Engineering or a related field.

Theideal candidate for the Nile Breweries Limited System Administrator vacancy should hold a Bachelors degree inComputer Science, Information Systems, Computer Engineering or a related field.



Systems

Administration certification from a recognized institution such as MCSA, MCSE,

CCNA is an added advantage.



At least

two years IT experience and attained appropriate training in Systems

administration or engineering specifically in Linux/Unix and Windows.



Detailed

working knowledge of common databases such as Oracle and MySQL should have

undergone appropriate training in network management. Detailedworking knowledge of common databases such as Oracle and MySQL should haveundergone appropriate training in network management.



Ability

to work independently and to take emergent decisions on his/her own. Abilityto work independently and to take emergent decisions on his/her own.



Ability

to work long hours including weekends and public holidays.

How to Apply:

All suitably qualified and interested candidates should please send

their updated CVs, which should include details of email address (if any),

present position and Certificate/testimonials to the undersigned or email

address recruitmentug@ug.sabmiller.com or recruitmentug@ug.ab-inbev.com not

Note:



Please indicate the position applied for as the

subject of your email



Internal candidates should notify their line

managers

Address to:

People Business Partner- Commercial & Logistics

Nile Breweries Limited

P.O. Box 1345

Kampala Service Center

th

October 2017 Deadline: 30October 2017
United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, while addressing reporters after arriving in Washington DC after completing his South Asia trip, said the US offer for India, Japan and Australia to be part of the four anchors of security and peace in the Indo-Pacific region was also an attempt to move relations with India to the next level.

When asked about the sentiment in India about a speech he made in Washington DC last week, Tillerson said: I would be the first to acknowledge it. This is a new approach as well and I think that we have had positive relations with India for 70 years but its never quite moved to that next level. From time to time, the other side has taken a step back from the relationship for their own reasons.

Alyssa Ayres, a senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, says Tillerson laid out a deepened partnership between India and the United States even before he started his five-nation, six-day whirlwind trip.

Ayres said, Washington and New Delhi have been looking around and seeing the trade distortions that China uses of economic theft, to force certain outcomes particularly its One Belt, One Road project and Tillerson passed a remark on Indias stand on that openly. In his meeting with Minister Swaraj, he also talked about financing alternatives that would be transparent. I am intrigued to see Tillerson speak so publically about it.

Commenting on Tillersons warm words for New Delhi, Jarret Blanc, a former state department official and now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said: The rise of a more capable and assertive China remains the single-most important driver of the growing partnership between Washington and Delhi. It's clear from the public statements made by secretary of state Rex Tillerson before his visit.

But Blanc also expresses concerns.

At this point the United States is concerned about North Korea.. One day he could be talking to China on North Korea and the other day he could be aligning countries like India in the region against China, Blanc said.

The friendly tone toward New Delhi also preludes the Trump administration, as the US has always sought to cultivate India as a barricade against China.

Tillerson was quite blunt when he singled out China and built up India. The subtext that we need to understand in this speech followed by the visit subtly highlights the disagreements between US and China. Things were packaged in a way that there is a clear message to China while pushing India. US wanted to a set a signal to India that we are taking an upfront stand on China, Blanc further said.

Meanwhile, according to some experts, China does not regard India as an equal on the international arena, therefore, it is always very composed, balanced and somewhat indifferent in commenting about the growing Indo-US ties.

Cameron Munter, the former Ambassador to Pakistan and now an expert in the region ruled out any possible breakthrough in the Beijing-Washington-New Delhi triangle, such as a declaration of India's support for the US on the South China Sea and the East China Sea crises.

I don't think the US has a simplistic strategy of "using" India as a counterweight to China. India is not a country that people usebut the US and India do look for common interests. For example, both are interested in promoting maritime issues (freedom of navigation, security between the western Pacific and the Atlantic) and so doubtlessly there will be more naval cooperation. Is that by its nature "anti-China" I would argue that China also has similar interests, even if specific problems like the South China Sea are marked by tension. That said, there are a couple of issues that need work. One is counter-terrorism, where the US has sought to work with Pakistan since 9/11 (with mixed success). US-Pakistani relations are tense, especially on counter-terrorism. And yet, Pakistan's CPEC is a key part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, which in turn will have a big impact worldwide. Will the US turn its back on Pakistan and simply look to India on counter-terrorism? "I don't believe that's possible without some Chinese participation as well, Munter said in an email response.

Some experts, however, stress that Chinese-Indian relations have their own logic, although there are certain disagreements and discrepancies between the two countries but India can never be used as a barricade against the United States.

No nation, including the United States, can use India against any other country. India will do what is in its own interest. India was one country in the world that did not participate in the belt and road forum openly laying out the rationale of transparency and debt trap financing. It has in fact picked up United States attention by doing so, Ayresa said.

Another expert, however, opines that India wants a productive and peaceful relationship with China and the United States cannot get India to act in a certain way it desires.

India wants to play a bigger role in the international stage. It wants to be involved in the most important peace and security decisions around the world. So its clear to India that it needs to walk with Russia, China and United states, Anubhav Gupta said.

Gupta added, People in India heard the Secretary Of States speech and also welcomed the visit. India will watch and if the US puts its money where its mouth is, a concern thats also resonates in Japan and South Korea. The US must invest militarily, diplomatically and economically in the indo-pacific region only to get full and open support. Moreover, Trump is not going to be attending the Asia summit experts see that as a red flag that the US is not paying that much of an attention to the indo-pacific concerns, but India will wait and watch.

ANI
The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), spearheading the agitation demanding reservation for patels under OBC quota, on Saturday issued a stern warning to the Congress, asking the grand old party to clarify how it plans to grant reservation to the community.

According to PAAS leader Dinesh Bamaniya, the core committee of the PAAS, which met in Palitana, made it clear that if the Congress did not clarify its stand by November 3, then Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's programme would meet the same fate as that of BJP national president Amit Shah's programme in Surat.

The PAAS core committee meeting was chaired by Hardik Patel, who took to Twitter to issue the warning to the Congress.

Gandhi, whose recent tours and rallies in Gujarat have been successful, is slated to address a meeting in Surat on November 3. He will be in the state for three days.

A few months ago, PAAS workers had disrupted BJP's function in which Shah was present along with Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

In response to the threat of sorts, Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia held a press conference and said other than the 49 per cent reservation that is already in place in Gujarat, should the Congress come to power, it would make provisions for 20 per cent reservation for those who are economically backward and are not covered in 49 per cent category.

Reacting to Modhwadia's claims, Bamaniya said it (Congress) should specify how reservation would be given. A few days ago, former Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela had said if they (Jan Vikalp), a third force, came to power, it would give 25 per cent reservation.

The threat comes at a time when there is a possibility of Hardik meeting Gandhi during his upcoming visit to the state. State Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki had extended invitation to PAAS, Alpesh Thakore of OBC Ekta Manch, dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, dalit leader, JD (U) and NCP to join hands to defeat the BJP. Following the invitation, Thakore has joined the Congress.

Hardik has been asking the patidars to dethrone the BJP and Mevani too has made it clear that he is anti-BJP.

Bamaniya also said if the Congress did not make its stand clear by November 3, then it (PAAS) would ask members to the local self government bodies to start resigning. In the elections to district and taluk panchayats in 2015, the BJP had fared poor and the Congress had performed exceedingly well. The performance was attributed to the fact that the Patels were antagonised with the BJP.

The support of patidars means a lot to both the BJP and the Congress.

Gujarat will vote on December 9 and 14 to elect 182 MLAs.
BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav on Saturday said the Centre has appointed former IB director Dineshwar Sharma to hold dialogues with all stakeholders in Kashmir because Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who announced to hold talks during his last visit to the state, cannot separately meet all those interested to talk.

''The Government of India has therefore appointed an interlocutor so that he meets all those who are interested in talks,'' Madhav, who arrived in Srinagar on Saturday evening to attend the first ever BJP working committee meeting in Srinagar, said.

Asked if Sharma will meet the Hurriyat Conference leaders, Madhav said, ''That you will have to ask the Hurriyat Conference''. '' He (Sharma) has the mandate to talks to all the people and groups,'' he added.

On Congress leader P. Chidambaram's support for autonomy for Kashmir, he asked why the Congress didn't give autonomy to the state when the party was in power. What the people of Kashmir and entire India is facing today is a result of Congress' policies on Kashmir,'' the BJP general secretary said.

He said the government needs the advise of Congress. ''We will consult the people of Kashmir and do whatever is in the interest of people of the state,'' he added.

There is, however, little excitement about the appointment of an interlocutor for Kashmir by the Centre. The move has failed to instill hope in people.

Many observers believe that appointment of Sharma is only to create an impression of talks after the Army crushed last year's uprising in the state.
By PTI: Mumbai, Oct 28 (PTI) Terming note ban as foolish step and GST design faulty, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today said both the decisions of the government have derailed the economy.

The Centre should have admitted that it had made a mistake to scrap high value currency notes last year, the former finance minister said, adding that the present GST design is faulty.

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With "demonetisation and GST, they have derailed the economy," Chidambaram said at a Congress meeting this evening.

"We had to put the economy back on the rails. But who will put it back on rails now? Dont look at us. I am looking at you (the voters). You have to decide who will put the economy back on the rails," the former finance minister said and expressed the optimism that the country will have a government which will be able to correct these mistakes.

"That government will say the maximum tax in GST will be 18 per cent and no tax will be higher than 18 per cent. That government will say 90 per cent of traders and businessmen who are small and medium businessmen, it is ok if you file your returns once in six months. But when that government will be in place is entirely in your hands," he told Congress workers.

Stating that every businesses is affected by GST, Chidambaram said, "We told them dont do this in a hurry but wait for some time, while traders, and businessmen told them to delay it till September (but to no avail)."

He also said the government implemented GST in a hurry that when businessmen file returns, the whole GST network breaks down.

Noting that the government had brought about as many as 135 changes to the official objectives of demonetisation, he said, "now I am waiting to see when they will make 135 changes to GST. Every day the finance minister is announcing some changes and exemption to the GST framework."

He also said the opposition parties, including the Congress, and the Trinamool Congress have decided to observe November 8 as Black Day and to counter this, BJP will observe November 8 as Anti-Black Money Day.

Admitting that GST is a good tax and a good idea, he said unfortunately this government has given GST a bad name, which is why its appropriate to call it Gabbar Singh Tax and not goods and services tax, Chidambaram said.

From the start, be its design, concept, and rate structure, the GST in the present form is wrong, Chidamabaram said, adding "this government has cheated the people by bringing the GST bills as a money bill" because they dont have majority in the Rajya Sabha.

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"The moral of the story is that just because government got absolute majority, it does not mean it will always do the right thing," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

Describing note-ban as a decision driven by total ignorance, he said it was a foolish move, but this government does not have the honesty to admit it made a mistake.

"I think the whole scheme was to help some people who had black money to convert it into white money. It is one of the biggest scams," he said adding "I am sure someday, somebody will enquire into it".

He said none of the objectives of demonetisation -- counterfeit notes, stopping terror funding and black money, as claimed by government have been served.

"Therefore, they shifted the goal posts. No longer they speak about terrorism and fake currency and then they said it was to being in a cashless economy which was an afterthought," he said.

Blaming the government for being completely insensitive to what the people are going through he said "the result is jobless growth. There is some growth but there are no jobs being created". PTI HV BEN RMT BAL

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In his brief speech during the Diwali Milan programme last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked the media to debate the issue of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies. Interestingly, a few months later, after a media debate, the Election Commission too said it was ready to hold simultaneous polls. This time around, the prime minister had a new message for the media  discuss the internal democracy in political parties.

Modi, speaking during the annual interaction with the mediapersons at the BJP headquarters on occasion of Diwali, recalled the bygone era when things were much easier, and the interaction with journalists without any encumbrances. He was party general secretary, stationed in BJP headquarters at Ashoka Road, before he became Gujarat chief minister in 2001.

However, his suggestion to the mediapersons to initiate a debate was not without an inherent political message. It is a challenging time for us and we still have to do a lot more work. It is important to discuss democracy in political parties.

Internal democracy should be studiedthe way new leadership is being created, new recruitment being done and the values and ideology. True democratic spirit should develop in the party. This is good for creating a healthy democracy, Modi said.

His suggestion has come at a time when BJP's rival parties, primarily the Congress, is undergoing a regime change as Rahul Gandhi is taking over very soon. The BJP prides itself in being a cadre based party where an ordinary worker can become a PM or a party chief. In fact, this has been one of the main argument often used by BJP chief Amit Shah in attacking the Congress. Shah and Modi have been attacking dynastic rule in the Congress and other parties.

Since Shah took over as party chief in July 2014, the party has undergone a sea change as it launched a huge recruitment drive and later massive training programme.

By pitching a debate point for the media, Modi apparently questioned the systems in place in the rival parties. In fact, if the debate was to be started, it would also cover single person centric parties like the Mamata Banerjee's TMC, Akhilesh Yadav's SP, Mayawati's BSP, or even southern parties like the DMK and AIADMK.

All these parties do pose a challenge to the BJP in different areas as they often represent a single caste or regional grouping.

Now, when Gandhi is likely to be elevated to the top party post, there is likely to be discussions about his new role. Modi appears to be questioning the process.

He also lauded the media for highlighting the Swachch Bharat mission.

After finishing his speech, Modi came down from the dais and shook hands with journalists, who stood inside an enclosure. Many of also clicked selfies with the PM.

Along with Modi, his ministerial colleagues Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, I&B Minister Smriti Irani, Minorities Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Jitender Singh were seated with him on the dais, besides Amit Shah and party general secretaries Ram Lal and Arun Singh.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani today demanded Congress leader Ahmed Patel's resignation as Rajya Sabha MP, alleging that a suspected ISIS operative arrested recently used to work at a hospital where Patel had been a trustee earlier.

Patel rejected the charge as "completely baseless" and urged the BJP not to politicise matters pertaining to national security and divide the peace-loving Gujaratis.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar also said that the Congress "owes an explanation as to how a terrorist had been working there for so long".

Two suspected IS operatives were arrested by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) two days ago. According to an FIR, one of the accused, Kasim Stimberwala, earlier worked as a technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district.

Rupani said in Gandhinagar that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Patel owe a clarification to the nation as the matter pertains to national security.

"This is a serious issue, as a terrorist was arrested from a hospital which is being run by Patel... It has now been revealed that though Patel had resigned as a trustee of that hospital in 2014, but he is still at the helm of the hospital's affairs," the Gujarat chief minister alleged.

"Imagine what would have happened if these two terrorists were not arrested... Patel, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress must come clean on the issue. We also want Patel to resign as Rajya Sabha MP," he demanded.

"It has now been revealed that Kasim had resigned just two days before he was arrested. This raises several questions. Patel must clarify how such a person got a job in his hospital and why he resigned just days ahead of his arrest," Rupani said.

Replying to the charges, Patel tweeted, "My party and I appreciate the ATS' effort to nab the two terrorists. I demand strict and speedy action against them. The allegations put forward by the BJP are completely baseless."

In another tweet, he said, "We request that matters of national security not be politicised keeping elections in mind. Let's not divide the peace loving Gujaratis while fighting terrorism."

Javadekar said in Bengaluru the Congress owes an explanation as to "how a terrorist could work so long at the hospital".

The two IS suspects "were planning attacks on a Jewish religious place", he said.

Congress in-charge of communications Randeep Surjewala came to the defence of Patel, saying neither he nor any of his family members was a trustee of the Bharuch Hospital where the alleged terrorist was working.

"A frustrated BJP facing imminent defeat in Gujarat is resorting to levelling reckless and baseless allegations against Ahmed Patel," he said.

Sardar Vallabhai Patel Hospital is a charitable hospital and it has between 150-200 employees including doctors and technicians, he said.

"The BJP is being shown the door by 6.5 crore Gujaratis and a defeated BJP is clutching onto the polarising straws of blatant lies to reset the agenda. It will never succeed in its sinister conspiracies," the Congress leader said.

He said the BJP should stop preaching about fighting terrorism to anyone.

"The BJP's track record on terrorism is quite dismal. Will Amit Shah and Vijay Rupani answer as to who permitted dreaded terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's wife to visit Mumbai and leave unscathed with the entire government sleeping over the same," he asked.

"The truth is that Vijay Rupani and his government fired upon and killed farmers in Dahod in Gujarat. The BJP is trying to divert attention," he alleged.

The two suspected IS operatives had allegedly planned to carry out a "lone wolf" attack on a Jewish synagogue in Khadia area of the city.
With the announcement of dates of local body polls in Uttar Pradesh, all four major playersthe BJP, the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and the Congresshave geared up. The polls will commence on November 22 and end on November 29.

The polls will be a litmus test for the BJP, as this is the first time that the party will fight the opposition with its government in both the centre and state levels. Senior BJP leaders and RSS activists have started holding regular ward meetings with the party cadre for ensuring the victory of their candidates. The partys list of candidates is likely to come out next week. For the mayoral posts, the party has received 36 applications from women candidates.

According to party spokesperson Manoj Mishra, the BJP is taking these polls very seriously. The party has deployed two senior leaders for each municipal corporation to ensure the victory of its candidate. In every district and major city, three senior party leaders have been deputed to fine-tune poll preparations.

The local body polls are a golden opportunity for the SP to prove itself and gain lost ground. The results will also show whether SP could succeed in making a dent in the BJP votes or not. The party has already made it clear that this time it would go alone, as opposed to when it formed an alliance with the Congress in the 2017 UP assembly polls. The party has appointed in-charges in every district; its present legislators, former MLAs, and other senior leaders and have been asked to camp in these districts.

They have been asked to find out a candidate acceptable for all. Party national president Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav will take command of campaign in their own hands. For mayoral candidates, the party has asked three names from each seats out of which one would be finalised. According to city head of the party Naveen Dhavan , the party will focus on development works done by Akhilesh government during its campaign.

Though the BSP normally stays away from such polls, this time the party head and former chief minister Mayawati has decided to take part in it. The biggest challenge before the party is to finalise its candidates. In most of the wards, the BSP is yet to decide the candidates. The party has formed a committee which will finalise the candidates ward-wise. After this, the names will go to a screening committee which will finally clear the names. According to party leader Paresh Mishra, the party is fully prepared for local body polls and it will go for such candidates who have considerable influence in all the sections of the society. According to district president Harikrishna Gautam, tickets will be finalised in coming couple of days.

This time, the party has a considerable number of young candidates for contesting these polls. According to district head Gaurav Chaudhary, the party will field more young candidates. The total number of applicants too have gone up as compared to last year, said Gaurav. Those candidates who have lost the last elections, or have two or three poll experiences in the past, will not be considered.
Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munat has filed a complaint against state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel and senior journalist Vinod Verma for allegedly tarnishing his image through a "fake" sex CD.

A case was registered last evening at the Civil Lines police station here against Baghel, Verma and others under section 67 (A) of the Information Technology Act following the minister's complaint, said Hem Prakash Nayak, Station House Officer, Civil Lines.

"A copy of the CD has been submitted to the police station and it will be sent for forensic examination," he said.

Munat, considered close to chief minister Raman Singh, was accompanied by state BJP president Dharam Lal Kaushik, his over half-a-dozen cabinet colleagues and other party leaders, while filing the complaint.

Talking to reporters yesterday, Munat had alleged that the CD in question was fake and urged the chief minister to order a probe to find the truth.

"The (sex) CD is fake. It is an attempt to malign my image," he had said.

The minister further appealed to the chief minister and Kaushik to get the matter investigated from any agency.

Yesterday, the Civil Line police had also arrested two AAP supporters for allegedly blackening Munat's nameplate while protesting outside his official residence over the row.

Verma, who was arrested in connection with an extortion and blackmailing case from Ghaziabad by Chhattisgarh police yesterday, had claimed that he had a sex CD of the Chhattisgarh minister.

Police also claimed to have recovered 500 "porn" CDs, a pen drive and a laptop from Verma.

A Ghaziabad court had granted the Chhattisgarh Police the transit remand of Verma till October 30 and he is expected to reach Raipur this afternoon.
The West Bengal government had a setback on Friday when the Supreme Court rejected the Calcutta High Court's earlier order and upheld the Centre's decision to withdraw central forces in a phased manner from Darjeeling.

According to the plan, more than half of the central forces are being withdrawn from the hills. The second batch would also leave in a phased manner. The state government is misusing the central forces in Darjeeling. We welcome the decision of the Supreme Court. Let the Mamata Banerjee government manage the law and order situation as its their job, said BJP state general secretary Biswapriyo Roychowdhury.

However, the state government has cried fowl in the Centre's decision to withdraw forces. North Bengal development minister Rabindranath Ghosh did not comment on the Supreme Courts order but said, The BJP government in Delhi was the reason behind the Darjeeling unrest. They supported the terror group. Now they are planning to withdraw forces to create more trouble in the area. They are forgetting the fact that ultras are operating in Darjeeling.

The decision to withdraw the forces comes at a crucial time when the West Bengal police, assisted by the central forces, are unearthing weapons factories at different places in Darjeeling. Recently, it recovered arms and ammunition from the home and office of absconding Gorkha Janamukti Morcha leader Bimal Gurung.

The raids conducted by the West Bengal police have led to arrests of a dozen of senior GJM leaders who are close to Gurung. The raids and arrests are forcing Gurungs loyalists to switch to the faction of the GJM led by Binay Tamang. Tamanag is the temporary chief of the Gorkha Territorial Administration of which Gurung was the president.

Recently, posters warning of death threat to Tamang appeared on the walls of Darjeeling streets after which Bengal police swung into action and strengthened Tamang's security and other anti-Gurung leaders.

With the withdrawl of the security forces, it would be difficult for Bengal police to protect the pro-Trinamool Congress political leaders in the hills while conducting the raids. The move also saw the central BJP leaders asking Gurung to come out of hiding or surrender. Gurung is slapped with terror laws, including the UAPA and Arms Act.

Yes, he should now face the law. If he is innocent, then he would definitely get reprieve from the court. Otherwise, his party would be non-existing in a few days, said a senior BJP leader in Bengal.

Virtually, Gurung has no other option apart from coming out of the forest guest house in Sikkim where he has been apparently living for the past five months. Sources have confirmed that he would come out by October 30, and would directly go to Delhi, where his supporters would prevent his arrest at the hands of the West Bengal police. At the same time, he would seek reprieve from the Supreme Court.

Only then can he come to Darjeeling to begin his party work. Otherwise, if he does not get any reprieve from the apex court, Gurung would have same fate as GNLF leader Late Subhas Ghising.












Half buried in the sand, uprooted stalks of kelp are like splashes of dark blood against the white quartzite, ground fine as talc. In the translucent shallows, tendrils of kelp flounce lazily as the water gradually turns to turquoise then a deep Prussian blue at the horizon. Behind the crescent of beach, matted tentacles of spongy pigface disguise accumulated detritus of crayfish, oyster, abalone and scallop shells, rubbish middens thousands of years in the making.

Known as Recherche Bay, this exquisite table-shaped body of water in the southeast corner of Tasmania was named by the French explorer Bruni DEntrecasteaux who rested his ships Recherche and Esperance here in April and May 1792. Before the French arrived, this place was an important ritual site for the Nuenonne people, who journeyed in bark canoes from Bruny Island to meet with the Needwondee and Ninine people, who travelled overland from the west. For millennia they made this trip: the same seasonal migration; the same ritual feast. Not any more. Not since Ria Warrawah was loosed among them.

Wooredy, the last elder of the Nuenonne, saw it with his own eyes. In the cosmology of the original Tasmanians, Wooredy explained, Ria Warrawah was the intangible force of evil that could infest all things. Since the beginning of time, Ria Warrawah was held in check by the great ancestor who lived in the sky, maintaining the world in precarious balance until two avatars of evil fashioned as clouds pulling small islands floated into this very bay. As a small boy he had been transfixed by the sight of the French ships floating in from the ocean, and disgorging onto the land strange creatures just like the returned dead who had been drained of colour by the rigours of their journey. He watched as they walked about to collect water and make a fearsome sound with a stick that spat fire before returning to their floating islands.

He never saw those ships again, but when he was a young man on a hunting trip to the northern tip of Bruny Island, Wooredy observed two more such apparitions of evil float into the river estuary on the mainland opposite. This time the dead men came ashore and remained there, cutting down the trees to build huts and disturbing the ground all about. Plenty more of them arrived. And the Nuenonne began to die.

Thirty years after he watched the ships Lady Nelson and Ocean enter the estuary of the Derwent River, Wooredy was still hunting on his traditional country. He was by then a renowned warrior in his mid-forties who went about naked and wore his hair in the traditional fashion  long greased ringlets coloured with ochre that fell over his eyes like a mop. Wooredy was a cleverman, so knowledgeable in ritual and healing that the white men who came to his island called him the Doctor. Even he proved no match for the epidemic illness that between April and December of 1829 swept away nearly everyone of his clan.

Wooredy was not the last of the Nuenonne. That terrible distinction belonged to his second wife, Truganini, a woman whose name is vaguely familiar to most Australians, having achieved undesired celebrity as the last of her race.

An irresistible force

For most of my adult life I have been compelled by the story of Wooredy and Truganini, people who lived through a psychological and cultural transition more extreme than most human imagination could conjure. Both were witness and participant in a process of apocalyptic destruction without parallel in modern colonial history. Their experience has invariably been told through the prism of regretful colonial imperative, a rueful backward glance at the tragic collateral damage of inexorable historical forces. That is not a narrative I wish to perpetuate. Wooredy and Truganini compel my attention and emotional engagement because it is to them I owe a charmed existence in the temperate paradise where I now live and where my family has lived for generations.

My great-great-grandfather was fresh off the boat from England in 1829 when he was handed an unencumbered free land grant of over a thousand hectares of Nuenonne hunting grounds. On this land he prospered and put down deep roots, while the traditional owners were repaid with exile, anguish and despair.

Richard Pybus may have been the first white man granted freehold title to a large part of Bruny Island, but other grant holders followed soon enough. Next came George Augustus Robinson, an ambitious tradesman and self-styled missionary who threw over his successful business as a builder to become conciliator of the Indigenous Tasmanians. He had lofty ambitions that he could teach these ancient people to shuck off their savage ways and become good Christian serfs.

My ancestors neighbour was a most problematic fellow. Tempting though it is for me to despise the man, I remain immensely grateful for his voluminous daily journals that have given me a glimpse into the lived experience of Wooredy and Truganini, who were his close companions for 12 years as guides and intermediaries in the audacious project of conciliation that he called the friendly mission.

Heaven only knows what sort of excursion Wooredy and Truganini thought they had embarked upon on 29 January 1830 when Robinson took them from their island to sail to Recherche Bay for an overland trek to the west coast. Since the beginning of time the Nuenonne had taken this journey in their bark canoes, while nomadic treks through the southwest were part of the timeless, seasonal pattern of their traditional life. Such a journey encompassed return, a completion, in accordance with the natural cycles of the environment. A journey for the purpose of reaching a destination was entirely new. Not to return would have been unthinkable.

For more than 40 years, Wooredy had made trips to and from his island and knew Recherche Bay held the malevolent spirit of Ria Warrawah, embodied in a carved tree that was left by the French visitors. The day after their arrival, while hunting he came across a decayed body of a woman that showed no sign of violence. Ria Warrawah had caught her, he was sure of it. When the body was identified as a Ninine woman on a visit from the west coast who had become ill and been abandoned to die alone, Robinson was dismayed that his Tasmanian companions were strangely unmoved by this apparent callousness. It was yet another display of their belief that no human means can avert the doom to which they are consigned.

This stubborn fatalism about the irresistible force of Ria Warrawah deeply rankled him, even though Wooredy had given him a potent lesson in the awesome power of Ria Warrawah as they were sailing to this tranquil bay. During the trip Wooredy identified all the land that passed before his eyes as the country of three interconnected clans  the Mellukerdee of the Huon River, the Lyluequonny of Southport and the Needwondee of Coxs Bight  all of them gone within the span of Wooredys adult life. This land was empty, he explained. Nobody left.

Plunging into the wild

Mid-morning on 3 February 1830, Robinson set out with his Tasmanian guides as well as a handful of convict retainers to walk overland to the west coast. The sun was shining and he estimated the distance to Port Davey to be about 60 miles, which would take them about three days. Truganini had relatives among the Ninine people of Port Davey and was anxious to get going but Wooredy was not so keen, displaying an inherent hostility toward the toogee  his collective name for people from the west coast  that Robinson found disturbing. It was an enmity he shared with the six other Tasmanian men in the party who were aliens in this country where they did not know the language or customs.

The steady, reliable Wooredy was considered by Robinson to be his loyal and trusted companion, and next he looked to the respectful and compliant Kickerterpoller, whose command of English and knowledge of European customs made him an ideal negotiator in Robinsons eyes. This young man was from the Paredarererme clan from Oyster Bay, stolen from his people when he was about nine and given to a settler as a farmhand. As a youth he ran away to join in a guerrilla war before being captured in 1824 when he became a guide for the roving parties.

Kickerterpoller was very familiar with this kind of expedition and knew only too well the coercive, violent ways of white men. Although the mission was not a paramilitary organisation like the roving parties, and no one was openly armed, the convicts all carried guns and the brace of pistols Robinson had hidden in his knapsack told him it was not so friendly. Suspicion aside, Kickerterpoller had reason to cleave to Robinson, at least in the short term. Instead of being confined in a foetid gaol, the Tasmanians were at large in empty country where they could hunt freely. And no one was shooting at them.

No white man had ever attempted an overland route to the west coast, and Robinson knew nothing of the territory before him. Among the colonists, an enduring perception had taken hold that the southwest was a terrible place, a geographical extension of the inhuman horrors of the penal settlement in Macquarie Harbour. Everyone knew the stories of convicts driven beyond endurance by the cruelties of the penal system who had escaped into the hinterland never to be seen again. One convict bolter who survived his encounter with this terrible land was sustained throughout his ordeal by eating the companions he murdered. If the rigours of this hellish environment could drive a Christian white man to cannibal depravity, why would any white man willingly set foot upon it?

George Augustus Robinson was no ordinary white man. He had a hankering to venture into the heart of darkness and immerse himself in the challenges offered by the vast wilderness of the new world. He would reason to himself that his object in plunging into the wild was to shine the light of God into the darkness, while his wholehearted embrace of untamed nature revealed a passion for elemental experience much at odds with his evangelical posturing. All along the rugged way, his steps were driven by a voracious ambition to be feted and admired by the settler elite who had showered derision upon his enterprise. He was determined to return to their small world as a conquering hero.

Walking in single file, with the convicts bringing up the rear, the party followed the creek westward for a mile or so until they reached a flat plain that stretched for many miles, promising easy walking. To everyones dismay, they almost immediately sank into tepid water that rose to their calves. The pretty olive-and rust-coloured grasses that stretched as far as their eyes could see were growing in a porous layer of peat that sat on a hard quartzite base, trapping the voluminous rainfall into a watery bog. For hours the party pulled their legs through marshland that at times sucked them down to their knees. Reaching higher ground they were only slightly less dismayed to find an almost impenetrable belt of thick eucalypt scrub.

Just after dawn next day they located the native track that led to the south coast. The track had not been used for many months, and in places was completely swallowed up by rainforestwhich meant clambering over fallen trees that were slippery with moss, sometimes crawling through on hands and knees, then a steep descent down a cliff face where almost every step caused a cascade of small boulders. After much slipping and stumbling they finally reached the shore, where they made camp just as huge heavy drops of rain began to fall, and persisted all through the night.

At sunrise, greatly disheartened and drenched to the bone, the expedition set off once more, climbing up and over rugged country covered with dense forest, punctuated by huge outcrops of barren rock with jagged edges sharp as knives. When they reached the coast they were sweating profusely under the baking sunshine as they walked for several hours along a wide arc of squeaky, shifting sand pounded by heavy surf. Lagging a mile or two behind Robinson and his guides, the burdened convicts stumbled and cursed. That night, camped at the bottom of a deep coastal ravine, Robinson was very apprehensive. They had covered no more that 20 miles, and supplies were running dangerously low. There were no people around to render assistance. Along the way they had passed many bark huts of the Needwondee, all deserted. Wooredy explained these people were snatched away by Ria Warrawah.

The fourth day involved negotiating a passage across a daunting mountain range that consisted of a series of polished quartz summits. Much of the time they progressed on hands and knees, clinging onto the wiry tufts of grass or pitiful, wind-stunted trees. After persevering all day in this unforgiving terrain without any food, the guides were at the point of total exhaustion. Truganini could barely walk. Kickerterpoller was no longer compliant, boldly remonstrating that this was not the way locals travelled. Even a roving party that moved through cleared country on level ground did not go at such a pace.

The indefatigable Wooredy was the only one not prone with exhaustion. Scanning the ragged, precipitous coastline his sharp eyes located the supply schooner lying offshore in a bay about six miles ahead. White men called this place Louisa Bay, but Wooredy knew it to be where the creator spirit Droemerdeener fell from the sky into the sea. Like Recherche Bay, it was once a ritual meeting place for all the clans of the south-east, and it held extensive shell middens and hidden rock paintings. Here was where his father and grandfather built the sturdy canoes they took to distant Maatsuyker Island to hunt for seals. There was no more hunting for seals on Maatsuyker. In a few short years the seal colony had been wiped out by the same rapacious white men who had stolen so many of the Nuenonne women.

Re-energised by the prospect of food, Robinson followed his guides in a headlong scramble down the mountainside, reaching Louisa Bay by late afternoon. Two hours later the shattered convicts arrived. Watching Truganini gleefully diving for crayfish, he ruefully acknowledged how perilously close they had come to starvation. The rigours of the journey convinced him that he would not survive the trip to Port Davey without reliance on Indigenous food supplies and local knowledge of the bush. He would have to defer to their way of doing things.

A hideous irony

For the next six weeks Robinson kept to the meandering, leisurely pace of the Tasmanians, for whom travel was subordinate to the requirements of hunting and gathering. He was growing increasingly frustrated at his failure to make contact with the elusive Ninine. Although evidence of their fires and their grass-covered huts were plentiful, the people kept well out of sight. Truganini knew how to find her relatives, but was in no hurry. Slyly deflecting Robinsons pursuit, she spent her time diving for crayfish, oyster and abalone or collecting small wild plums, sweet red berries and edible roots. The men went hunting for wallaby, wild duck and an elusive animal somewhat bigger than a dog, with distinctive stripes on its back. It was a kind of hyena, Robinson thought.

As the food became more plentiful, the difficulties of the terrain got greater. Moving further westward toward Bathurst Harbour meant pushing into mountainous country covered with almost horizontal forest. Beset by mizzling rain that never let up, they were forced to crawl along precipices or wade for miles through thigh-high water. Impervious to the brutal terrain and the perpetual rain, Robinson found the experience excruciatingly uncomfortable, yet utterly exhilarating.

Robinson was sticking close to his guides, sleeping around their fires and sharing their provisions of abalone, crayfish and fresh wallaby meat, while the scornful convicts made camp a considerable distance away and spurned the Tasmanians fresh food in favour of their Christian food of spoiled potatoes and salted meat. Nor did they want any part of the heathen singing and dancing that went on every night at the Tasmanians camp, with Robinson as a fascinated participant. He listened attentively as Wooredy told of the exploits of the creator spirits who made man from the kangaroo, writing up copious notes in his journal.

As the stories were sung with a repeated, chanted chorus, Robinson cleverly inserted himself into these nightly rituals by joining in the chanting. And he played his flute, which was a great hit. The Tasmanians were all having a fine time. After years of terror and harassment they were back in the bush, reviving a traditional way of life that revolved around hunting and ritual. And Mister Robinson was there to mae sure the surly white men with guns were kept a safe distance.

So began a system of mutual support and protection between Robinson and his Tasmanian guides that for Wooredy and Truganini lasted 12 years. They might not have properly comprehended Robinsons intentions, but they understood that their relationship with him had undergone a profound change since leaving Louisa Bay. In contrast to his earlier behaviour, where his efforts had been to make them like himself, in the wilderness it seemed as if he was in the process of becoming one of them.

Wooredy took the lead in an overt effort to induct Robinson into the Tasmanians way of life, leading the nightly ritual re-enactments of how animal spirits formed the world, how they left their recognisable mark on the landscape and how they emerged in the form of man and other species to inhabit that landscape. In Wooredys spellbinding stories, and in their song and dance, the Tasmanians asserted the palpable reality of their world, as opposed to Robinsons abstract talk of God, heaven and hell.

This reciprocal relationship between Robinson and his Tasmanian guides had all the elements of tragedy. In his detailed accounts of their interactions, Robinson revealed a genuine interest in Tasmanian culture and an affectionate regard for the people. He slept with them, sang with them, hunted with them, learnt their language and marvelled at their mental and physical adaptation to the natural world. The hideous irony was that despite the intense pleasure he took in this elemental experience, which caused his impoverished puritan spirit to soar, Robinson sought to ingratiate himself to secure their trust so he could use them to entice the remaining Indigenous population into his custody.

Fancying himself as an ethnographer, he was also making a study of the curious ways of the primitive Tasmanians in the wild for the book he intended to publish. His journal entries offer not a glimmer of awareness that his travel companions might think they were in a relationship of mutual obligation.

Robinson could invest his companions with fundamental human feelings of sadness and pleasure, even affection and loyalty, but to grant them complex reasoning and intricate social relationships would have destroyed the whole rationale of his activity. The idea that Wooredy and Truganini might have regarded themselves as equal partners in his enterprise would never have entered his head.

Captives already

In the middle of March the party reached the vast waterway of Bathurst Harbour. They had been walking for six weeks without making contact. The inhabitants of the southwest proved no more accommodating than the savage landscape, fleeing before my approach as the clouds flee before a tempest, Robinson wrote with heavy exasperation. It was at Bathurst Harbour that one of the guides spotted a flag fluttering on the shore, causing Robinson to experience a surge of expectation. The flag was revealed to be a pathetic, desperate signal planted by three escaped convicts from the penitentiary at Sarah Island, many miles to the north. Their bleached skeletons, still wearing tatters of government-issue clothing, were an unsettling reminder of how inhospitable this place could be for white intruders.

Squatting on the ground to register this grim find, Wooredy suddenly pointed to smoke rising in the distance hills. The sight of smoke set Robinsons heart racing all over againat last the Ninine were in sight. Wooredy and Truganini set off in hot pursuit, and in the following days they made contact with the Ninine time and time again, but could persuade only two young women to come with them to meet Mister Robinson. The rest of the group simply melted away into the bush. These two women were entertained with the baubles Robinson gave to them and were also utterly beguiled by the sound of his flute, but it took days to persuade them to take him to their hiding place.

Pushing through tough scrub, Robinson followed the two women for a very long way, until they reached a hidden clearing. After several loud hoots, ten naked women emerged, with six children in tow, followed a little later by ten men, all of them standing over six feet tall, naked and carrying spears, with dead wallaby thrown over their shoulders. Wooredy told how he had walked all day to meet with them and how Robinson was constantly calling out gozee, meaning make haste, which caused great mirth. They kept repeating gozee to Robinson, then collapsing into gleeful laughter. Cautiously they sniffed at the biscuit he offered, before handing it back, then they amused themselves stroking and prodding his pale skin and meticulously examining the blue coat he was wearing.

These ten families made an impressive group, with everyone in excellent health and high spirits. This jocular band agreed to accompany Robinson back to his camp, laughing and shouting all along the way, until they breasted the hill above Kellys Basin. Suddenly they stopped in their tracks and fell silent. Coming toward them were a group of white men in a boat.

Robinson was livid with anger at the curious convicts who had disobeyed his order to stay out of sight. Knowing he had no hope of inducing the Ninine to take another step, he went alone to his camp. Early next morning he anxiously climbed the same hill and was distressed to see that the Ninine had slipped away. Wooredy and Truganini followed on their tracks for next two weeks, being led in a game of hide-and-seek, making sporadic contact with the Ninine, only to have them disappear at whim.

Palpably frustrated by his failure to effect conciliation with the local population, Robinson was equally perplexed by the attitude of his guides. He was alarmed when the Tasmanian men told him they could round up the Ninine for him if only he would give them his pistols. Alternatively, his convict retainers advised that alcohol would be the most effective weapon, explaining it would only be necessary to make them drunk and you could take them anywhere.

Robinson expected this kind of response from convicts, which is why he kept them far away from any possible contact, and he was alert to the potential antagonism from the men from other language groups, but it was beyond his comprehension that Wooredy should want to capture a people to whom he was closely related. Robinson began to suspect his loyal and trusted companion could be causing the extreme wariness of the Ninene, especially when he heard Truganini warn them that her husband did not like toogee.

It was a genuine shock to Robinson to realise that all his expedition team thought the purpose of their travail in this rugged, wet and wind-ravaged landscape was to capture the inhabitants. No one appeared to understand him when he reiterated that his friendly mission was merely to gain the confidence of the west-coast clans. Taking captives was never his intention, he insisted, oblivious as always to the implicit message he was giving. His Tasmanian guides were already captives. Captivity was the new order in which they lived and it was apparent to them that even the white men who carried the supplies were captives.

To what end had Robinson marched them across the island, his bemused companions might have wondered, if not capture and removal? What other motivation could there be for such an insane expedition through this barely penetrable wilderness?

This is an extract from the essay Journey through the apocalypse published in Griffith Review 58: Storied Lives.

Cassandra Pybus, Adjunct Professor in History, University of Tasmania

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday that he could not imagine United States ever accepting a nuclear North Korea, warning that its rapidly advancing nuclear and missile programs would undermine, not strengthen, its security.

Mattis has been at pains during his week-long trip to Asia to stress that diplomacy is Americas preferred course, a message he returned to after top-level military talks in Seoul on Saturday and at the tense border area with North Korea on Friday.

Still, he warned Pyongyang that its military was no match for the US-South Korean alliance, and that diplomacy was most effective when backed by credible military force.

Make no mistakeany attack on the United States, or our allies, will be defeated. And any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is both effective and overwhelming, Mattis said.

Mattiss South Korean counterpart, Defense Minister Song Young-moo, dismissed the idea of deploying tactical nuclear weapons to the peninsula as a response to the Norths advances.

But the US-Korean alliance had the ability to respond, even in the event of a nuclear attack from the North, Song added.

Tension between North Korea and the United States has been building after a series of nuclear and missile tests by Pyongyang and bellicose verbal exchanges between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump.

The CIA has said North Korea could be only months away from developing the ability to hit the United States with nuclear weapons, a scenario Trump has vowed to prevent.

Mattis, too, said Kims behavior had left no room to imagine accepting Pyongyangs nuclear status.

I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States can accept North Korea as a nuclear power, Mattis told a news conference.

Trumpwho has threatened to destroy the North if necessaryleaves on his first trip as president to Asia next week, including a stop in South Korea to meet President Moon Jae-in.

Moon, after talks with Mattis on Friday, said the aggressive deployment of U.S. strategic assets in the region, which have included overflights by U.S. bombers, had been effective in deterring the North Korean threat.

DENUCLEARIZE?

U.S. intelligence experts say Pyongyang believes it needs the nuclear weapons to ensure its survival and have been skeptical about diplomatic efforts, focusing on sanctions, to get Pyongyang to denuclearize.

Mattis suggested, however, that Pyongyang needed to understand that its weapons programs would not strengthen its defenses. The North says it wants a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the United States.

If it remains on its current path of ballistic missiles and atomic bombs, it will be counter-productive, Mattis said, adding North Korea would be reducing its security.

Still, any attempt to force the North to denuclearize could have devastating consequences, thanks in part to the large amount of artillery trained on Seoul.

During Mattis trip to the inter-Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on Friday, he was briefed on the posture of North Korean artillery.

Defense Minister Song suggested that U.S. and South Korean missile defenses simply could not stop all of the weapons trained on the South.

Defending against this many LRAs (long-range artillery) is infeasible in my opinion, Song told Mattis at the DMZ, citing a need for strategies to offensively neutralize the artillery in the event of a conflict.

Mattis replied: Understood.

Still, Mattis reaffirmed to reporters in South Korea that military options do exist to deal with the North Korean threat that spare the Souths capital, Seoul. Mattis, who has made such assurances in the past, did not disclose what those options were.

Reuters
Sharma is a 1976 batch Kerala cadre IPS officer who retired as IB director on December 31, 2016. He was handpicked by the Ministry of Home Affairs to hold a dialogue with stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir.

By India Today Web Desk: Deradicalizing Kashmiri youth and militants, and preventing Kashmir from turning into an Indian Syria represent the biggest challenge and the top priority in the Valley, says Dineshwar Sharma, the newly-named interlocutor for talks in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sharma is a 1976 batch Kerala cadre IPS officer who retired as IB director on December 31, 2016. He was handpicked by the Ministry of Home Affairs to hold a dialogue with stakeholders in the strife-torn northern state. Union minister Jitendra Singh has said Sharma isn't an "interlocutor," but a "special representative."

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He says he's personally pained to see the path Kashmiris, particularly young Kashmiris, have chosen - a path that will only destroy society.

"I feel the pain and sometimes I become emotional also. I want to see this kind of violence ends as soon as possible from all sides. The youth of Kashmir like Zakir Musa (Kashmir Al Qaeda chief) and Burhan Wani (slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander) get hype when they talk about (establishing Islamic) Caliphate," Sharma told the news agency IANS in an interview.

"I am worried about the people of Kashmir. If all this picked up, the situation will be like Yemen, Syria and Libya. People will start fighting in so many groups. So, it is very important that everybody, all of us, contribute so that suffering of Kashmiris ends."

"I will have to convince the youth of Kashmir that they are only ruining their future and the future of all Kashmiris in the name of whether they call it azadi (independence), Islamic caliphate or Islam," Sharma said. "You can take examples like Pakistan, Libya, Yemen or any country where such things are going. They have become the most violent places in the world. So, I want to see that it doesn't happen in India."

I.B. TENURE

The soft-spoken intelligence veteran is known to have established friendly relationships with arrested militants in a bid to reform them when he was Assistant Director IB from 1992-94 - the time when militancy was at its peak in Jammu and Kashmir.

Serving in Kashmir as an IB man, Sharma was instrumental in the arrest of then Hizbul Mujahideen commander Master Ahsan Dar in 1993 after he broke away from Syed Salahuddin - the Hizb chief based in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

He recalled how he had met Dar in Srinagar jails and how the militant commander asked him to bring his daughter and son to meet him in the prison. "I actually took them to meet him."

When the IB was investigating the fledgling modules of the Islamic State in Kerala, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh in 2015, Sharma is widely known to have advocated a policy of arresting the problem by counselling and reforming, instead of arresting the potential recruits of the global terror network.

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Asked if he had identified the way to reach out to the youth in Kashmir, Sharma said he was still working out the modalities.

He said his mission to bring an end to the violence in Kashmir included talking to anyone who could contribute - even a rickshaw puller or a cart puller - so that peace returns "as soon as possible".

"I am open to talking to everybody. Anybody who believes in peace and wants to come and give me some ideas how to go about, I am willing to listen. He can be an ordinary student, ordinary youth, a rickshawwala or a thelawala with some good idea. I will consider that."

WHAT ABOUT THE HURRIYAT?

Hurriyat leaders have been silent about Sharma's appointment, even though they'd dropped hints in their statements about engaging in "constructive" talks with the Centre after some of their aides were arrested in a terror-funding case.

Asked whether he had started reaching out to them, Sharma replied cautiously.

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"Let me see. I am ready to talk to everybody. Anybody who wants to contribute to peace."

When he spoke exclusively to India Today shortly after his appointment on Monday, Sharma said he would visit Jammu and Kashmir in a "week or 10 days" to hold dialogues with stakeholders.

'DESPERATE TO TRY NEW IDEAS'

Sharma said Kashmir was almost at peace before the 2008 unrest over a land row and the 2016 wave of violent street protests after the killing of Burhan Wani.

"Somehow the minds of youths and students have been diverted somewhere else. That is the point of address. I have seen the violence in Kashmir from very close quarters. I was posted in Srinagar. So the kind of violence I have seen, I am really pained. I am very sad."

Commenting on the government's previous attempts to nominating peace emissaries and other initiatives, he said he would "desperately like to try some new ideas".

"I am studying the reports (of previous interlocutors) but other than that I am trying to see some new ideas."

Kashmir is not Sharma's first peace-brokering assignment. In June this year, he was tasked to initiate a dialogue with insurgent groups in Assam, including the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and those representing Bodos.

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Is there any difference between his previous assignment and the new one? "The big difference is that there is not any involvement of Pakistan and any third country in the north-east," Sharma said.

(With inputs from IANS and PTI)

WATCH | Will talk to all stakeholders, Kashmir visit soon, Dineshwar Sharma tells India Today

--- ENDS ---
The chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland is facing calls to resign from angry business owners. They are furious at his handling of a scandal over the mistreatment of firms that ran into difficulty.

Entrepreneurs who were put into the hands of the lenders so-called Global Restructuring Group  which was supposed to help them but has been accused of saddling them with charges and fees  last night accused RBS boss Ross McEwan of ignoring the plight of thousands who lost their livelihoods.

However, the City regulator last week published an interim report into the failings of GRG which cleared the bank of deliberately driving firms to the wall and destroying peoples livelihoods. But it found widespread failings towards customers.

Under pressure: Calls are mounting for Royal Bank of Scotland chief Ross McEwan to quit

The regulator also revealed plans to carry out a more focused investigation.

McEwan only joined the bank, which is 71 per cent owned by the taxpayer, in 2012, after the alleged misconduct took place. Some firms are highly critical of his handling of the affair and campaigners are now calling for his scalp.

The GRG Action Group, which represents more than 500 firms planning to take legal action against the bank, this weekend called on him to resign over his repeated failure to deal with the GRG issue and provide redress for victims.

The groups legal effort is being led by Lord Pannick, the influential barrister who won the case for a Commons vote on Article 50, as lead counsel. The campaigners blasted McEwan for recent comments made at a client function in Edinburgh, where he said some business customers had been badmouthing RBS and making false accusations. McEwan is believed to feel that his comments were taken out of context.

A spokesman for the group said RBS had tried to ignore the issue, prolonging the agony for victims.McEwan also came under attack from other business groups. Nikki Turner, director of the SME Alliance, which represents small and medium-sized enterprises, said she supported the call for the embattled boss to resign.

She added she was absolutely sure the vast majority of members who had dealt with RBS would back the demand. She said: His continued position seems entirely detrimental to the victims.

The damage done to victims goes beyond the barriers of common decency and is showing the world the very worst face of British banking.

Lawrence Tomlinson, the multi-millionaire behind a 2013 report that slammed RBS over its GRG unit, accused McEwan of showing not enough remorse for the devastation GRG caused to its thousands of SME customers. He added: The Government, which represents our shareholding in RBS, should be seriously questioning the tenability of Rosss position. Liberal Democrat leader and former Business Secretary Vince Cable told The Mail on Sunday critics were right to raise concerns over the leadership of RBS. He said that while McEwan was not to blame for the wrongdoing at GRG, he had shown lack of judgment in his management of the affair.

RBS said it had set aside 400 million for compensation and had already paid out 115 million to 3,500 customers, who it admitted were charged complex fees and suffered poor communication about charges. It added that a further 900 are going through a complaints process overseen by an independent judge.

New Zealand-born McEwan, who has led RBS since October 2013, before which he was head of retail banking, has been tipped to take over at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, where boss Ian Narev is due to depart in June next year.

But McEwan won praise from small investor group ShareSoc. Its director Cliff Weight said he had done an exceedingly good job in a horrendously difficult situation.

On Friday, RBS reported profits of 392 million for the three months to September. But the bank is on course to make a loss for the full year, as it could be hit with a multi-billion dollar fine in the US over the sale of toxic mortgage-backed bonds at the time of the financial crisis.

McEwan has apologised for what happened at GRG. He said last year: We deeply regret the mistakes we have made in the past.

The bank said: We have put in place a complaints process, which the FCA agree is appropriate and is overseen by a retired High Court judge. It urged customers to make use of it.

We have acknowledged for some time that mistakes were made and have apologised that we did not always provide the level of service and understanding we should have done for these customers.

It declined to comment on the call for McEwan to resign.
Willie Walsh has dismissed claims that flights could be grounded after Brexit

The boss of the company that owns British Airways has dismissed claims that flights could be grounded after Brexit.

In an apparent rebuke to the Chancellor yesterday, International Airlines Group chief executive Willie Walsh said BA will continue to fly after Britain quits the EU in March 2019.

His comments came after Philip Hammond said it was theoretically conceivable there could be no air traffic between the UK and Europe if there is no Brexit deal.

The Chancellor was slapped down by Cabinet colleagues and Mr Walsh, 56, said: In terms of Brexit, therell be an outcome and we will continue to fly.

Whatever that is, we will manage our business without any difficulty... Well leave this to the politicians to resolve.

But Im confident that therell be a comprehensive agreement between the UK and the EU on air travel.
Around 14 parties including JDU, RLD and JVM-P have reported expenditure that is more than their total income.

By Shalini Lobo: According to a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is the richest regional party followed by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). The third in line is the Andhra Pradesh's Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

The analysis of the income and expenditure of regional parties for the financial year 2015-16 was done based on the audit report submitted by the parties to the Election Commission.

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Out of the 47 regional parties, 15 parties including SP, JKNC, RJD, INLD, AIURC and others have not submitted their audit report. The deadline for submission was October 31, 2016.

Out of the 32 regional parties, the total income for the financial year 2015-16 was Rs 221.48 crores, out of which the parties spent Rs 111.48 crores and declared an unspent amount of Rs 110 crores which amounts to Rs 49.67%.

Around 14 parties including JDU, RLD and JVM-P have reported expenditure that is more than their total income.

While three parties, DMK, AIADMK and AIMIM have more than 80% of their income unspent.

The DMK has the highest income of Rs 77.63 crores and spent only Rs 6.90 crores.

The AIADMK has an income of Rs 54.938 crores and expenditure for the financial year was Rs 7.096 crores. Followed by the TDP, whose income is Rs 15.978 crores and expense at 13. 107 crores.

These three parties together comprise more than 67% of the total income if the 32 regional parties are included in this study.

Political parties have known and unknown sources of income. Among the unknown sources, maximum funds were collected under the "voluntary contributions" which stands at a whopping 71.28%.

"For the regional parties this figure stands at Rs 40.61 crore, which is 20%. Whereas for national parties, it stands at Rs 708.48 crores which is almost 70%. Rs 40 crore is not a healthy figure but this definitely is low compared to that of the national parties and this shows the need for transparency", said Lakshmi Sriram, Program Officer at ADR.

--- ENDS ---
The Madrid government sacked Catalonia\s president and dismissed its parliament on Friday, hours after the region declared itself an independent nation, in Spain\s gravest political crisis since the return of democracy four decades ago.

A new election will be held in Catalonia on Dec. 21, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in a televised address on a day of high drama.

As well as removing Carles Puigdemont as head of the autonomous region, he also fired the police chief and said central government ministries would take over the Catalan administration.

"Spain is living through a sad day," Rajoy said. "We believe it is urgent to listen to Catalan citizens, to all of them, so that they can decide their future and nobody can act outside the law on their behalf."

As he spoke thousands of independence supporters packed the Sant Jaume Square in front of the Catalan regional headquarters in Barcelona, their earlier celebratory mood dampened by Rajoy\s actions.

In a stunning show of defiance to Madrid, the Catalan parliament had voted in the afternoon to make a unilateral declaration of independence.

Despite the emotions and celebrations inside and outside the building, it was a futile gesture as shortly afterwards the Spanish Senate approved the imposition of direct rule on the autonomous region.

Several European countries, including France and Germany, and the United States also rejected the independence declaration and said they supported Rajoy\s efforts to preserve Spain\s unity.

The crisis has reached a new and possibly dangerous level as independence supporters have called for a campaign of disobedience. Immediately after news of the Catalan vote, which three opposition parties boycotted, Spanish shares and bonds were sold off, reflecting business concern over the turmoil.

The crisis unfolded after Catalonia held an independence referendum on Oct. 1 which was declared illegal by Madrid. Although it endorsed independence, it drew only a 43 percent turnout as Catalans who oppose independence largely boycotted it.

The independence push has caused deep resentment around Spain. The chaos has also prompted a flight of business from Catalonia and alarmed European leaders who fear the crisis could fan separatist sentiment around the continent.

Catalonia is one of Spain\s most prosperous regions and already has a high degree of autonomy. But it has a litany of historic grievances, exacerbated during the 1939-1975 Franco dictatorship, when its culture and politics were suppressed.

In Barcelona, Jordi Cases, 52, a farmer from Lleida province who had driven down with his family for the protest, said he was excited but worried about what came next.

"Now the repression is going to be terrible but we have to take what we can. We must resist and ask for help where needed," he said.

SOURCE: REUTERS
The upper house of Spain\s parliament on Friday authorized the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to rule Catalonia directly from Madrid, minutes after the restive region declared independence from Spain. Rajoy is now expected to convene his cabinet to adopt the first measures to govern Catalonia. This could include firing the Barcelona government and assuming direct supervision of Catalan police forces.

In a post on social media, Rajoy called for "calm" across the country, even as he called the Catalonia parliament vote a "crime".

Article 155 of the 1978 Spanish Constitution allows for the suspension of autonomy of regional governments if it "doesn\t comply with the obligations of the Constitution or other laws it imposes, or acts in a way that seriously undermines the interests of Spain".

The Constitution states that an absolute majority must approve the article\s use.

SOURCE: AGENCIES
Bethlehem

Three people are after the town highway superintendent's job, one that carries responsibility for street-related functions -- as well as a salary of close to $102,000 annually.

Dan Morin, the Democrat, has worked for Bethlehem's highway department for 13 years. According to his bio, he was a Radio Shack manager and says he raised his store's sales $500,000 to $1 million during his first five years as manager. He also worked a decade as a union carpenter.

Morin has promised faster, more efficient snow removal and leaf removal from streets.

Giles Wagoner has been endorsed by the Bethlehem Democratic Committee but will run on the Working Families ballot line. In addition to being elected to the town board, he's a volunteer firefighter, served on the Bethlehem Democratic Committee and co-authored the Bethlehem Agricultural & Farmland Protection Plan. His bio says he owned a small commercial and residential construction business paving, doing basement excavation, installing driveways; building storm water collection systems and farm and silt ponds. He raises cattle on his Selkirk farm.

Wagoner told the audience at a recent forum that the highway budget is about 19 percent of Bethlehem's budget which "equates to $7.9 million" plus overseeing "175 miles of roadway, 40 miles of sidewalks. 25 dump trucks, leaf packers and backhoes." He noted that his decades as a military officer had given him experience supervising fleets of heavy equipment and logistics in difficult terrain, including the ice fields of Greenland.

John Anastasi has been endorsed by Republicans but told the Times Union he is running as an independent on the ballot. He owns Anastasi General Contracting, a second generation family business. He says overseeing the company's site work, sewer and water development, snow plowing, design planning, and masonry for the last 35 years helped him acquire a germane skill set for superintendent.

At the forum, Anastasi said he noticed the department's "services diminished due to mismanagement" and promised more "accountability and responsiveness.

In other races, four people seek the two Town Board seats on Nov. 7. The job carries a $15,266 salary.

The candidates are Democrat and Independence hopeful George Harder and Working Families candidate Dan Coffey, who is endorsed by the Bethlehem Democratic Committee. Attorney James Foster is on the Republican, Conservative, Independence and Reform lines. Nonprofit director Maureen Cunningham is on the Democratic and Working Families lines.

Republican Gary Fish takes on Democrat David Vanluven for town supervisor, a job that carries a $115,703 salary.

Fish is retired from the Albany County Sheriff's Office where he served as deputy sheriff/criminal investigator. He owned a private investigation security contracting company from 2008 to 2012. Vanluven has been a Town Board member since 2016. He's a strategic planning consultant for nonprofits and government agencies across the northeast.

Democrat Town Clerk Nanci Moquin is unopposed. The job pays $73,457 yearly.

Incumbent town justice Andrew Kirby is running for re-election endorsed by Democrats, Independence and Working Families parties. Republicans and Conservatives endorsed Siena College professor Colin Dwyer for town justice, a job that pays $50,457 annually.
They are truly man's best friend.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Having a dog during pregnancy may give your babies protection from allergic eczema and asthma, a study has found.

Picture courtesy: Instagram/baxterbearthebmd

The findings showed a mother's exposure to dogs before the birth of a child is significantly associated with lower risk of eczema by age two years.

However, the protective effect goes down at age 10.

Also Read: Puppy Puja: This festival in Nepal is dedicated to worshipping dogs

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Further, it may also provide a protective effect against asthma, even in children allergic to dogs, the researchers said.

"Although eczema is commonly found in infants, many people don't know there is a progression from eczema to food allergies to nasal allergies and asthma," said lead author Gagandeep Cheema, allergist from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).

Picture courtesy: Instagram/retrieverpuppies Picture courtesy: Instagram/retrieverpuppies

"We wanted to know if there was a protective effect in having a dog that slowed down that progress," Cheema added.

For the study, presented at ACAAI Annual Scientific Meeting in Boston, the team examined mother-child pairs exposed to a dog.

The researchers examined the effects of two different types of dog exposure on children with asthma in Baltimore.

The first type was the protein, or allergen, that affects children who are allergic to dogs. The second type were elements, such as bacteria, that a dog might carry.

Also Read: This beach bar is now serving specially brewed beer for dogs

The results revealed that exposure to the elements that dogs carry may have a protective effect against asthma symptoms.

A child's contact with factors other than dog allergen, such as bacteria or other unknown factors, may provide the protective effect, the researchers said.

--- ENDS ---
With the possibility of up to five inches of rain in sections of New York state possible on Sunday and into Monday, government leaders and agencies are urging people to take precautions.

The storm is likely to bring flooding, gusts and power outages prompting Gov. Andrew Cuomo to direct the state Emergency Operations and Watch Centers to move to Enhanced Monitoring Mode. Agency officials have been preparing for possible flooding impacts by clearing culverts and debris, a Cuomo advisory Saturday afternoon said.

Capital Region

Flash Flood Watch in effect for all of eastern New York from Sunday afternoon through Monday morning, including the Capital Region. High Wind Watch is in effect from Monday morning through Monday afternoon for Western Greene County, the Greater Capital Region and the Helderbergs.

"Sunday after midnight, showers will begin and the rain will continue all day but we still are predicting minor flooding impact on rivers," said National Weather Service meteorologist Christine Speciale. "By Sunday afternoon, there may be wind gusts up to 30 mph. There's a concern that the leaves blown off the trees may collect in storm drains, clog them and cause some flooding."

The winds will increase on Monday with gusts of up to 50 to 60 mph. But temperatures will remain in the 50s.

"This October will easily make it into the top five hottest of all time, possibly the hottest, so despite the wind there won't be any snow or sleet except in the Adirondack and Catskill peaks," Speciale said. "But the autumn leaves on the trees act like little sails when the high winds hit them which increases the danger of fallen branches and uprooted trees."

High winds whipping past bare branches in February have less chance of toppling trees than potent October wind storms.

Mid-Hudson Valley

Flash Flood Watch in effect for all of eastern New York from Sunday afternoon through Monday morning, including the Mid-Hudson Valley.

Mohawk Valley

High Wind Watch in effect from Monday morning through Monday afternoon for the entire Mohawk Valley.

Central New York

Flash Flood Watch in effect for all of Central New York from Sunday afternoon through Monday morning. High Wind Watch in effect from late Sunday night through Monday afternoon for Oswego Onondaga, Oneida, Madison, and Otsego Counties.

Finger Lakes

Flash Flood Watch in effect from Sunday afternoon through Monday morning for Allegany, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Wayne and Northern Cayuga counties. High Wind Watch in effect from late Sunday night through Monday afternoon for Monroe, Wayne and Northern Cayuga counties.

Southern Tier

Flash Flood Watch in effect for all of Southern Tier from Sunday afternoon through Monday morning.

North Country

Flash Flood Watch in effect for the North Country counties from Sunday afternoon through Monday morning. High Wind Watch in effect from Monday morning through Monday afternoon for Jefferson and Lewis counties.

NYC and Long Island:

Flash Flood Watch in effect for New York City, and Long Island from Sunday afternoon through late Sunday night.

Cuomo's advisory says the the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services has prepared assets and stockpiles to support response efforts that may arise during the current weather watches in place across the state.

The state's nine regional stockpiles are each prepared with a sandbagging machine, generators, pumps and hoses, and there are over 701,000 fillable sandbags statewide. The Division's swift water rescue teams are prepared for deploying.

Department of Environmental Conservation police officers, forest rangers and regional water engineers are on alert and monitoring the developing situation.

Department of Transportation crews are inspecting and clearing obstructions to drainage inlets and culverts; monitoring state-owned bridges for any indications of distress caused by increased velocity of flood waters; and staffing quick-clear crews to respond to infrastructure and flooding issues, including downed trees, and as other issues arise.

Before traveling, motorists are reminded to check 511NY by calling 511, or by visiting www.511ny.org.

In preparation for the current weekend forecast, Thruway Authority field staff have been cleaning and inspecting drainage structures.

To sign up for NY Alert: https://users.nyalert.gov to get immediate alerts on flood warnings and severe storms.
WATERVLIET-- A New York City man was caught with 180 bags of heroin mixed with Fentanyl in the city of Watervliet, police said.

Watervliet police arrested Infinite Berry, 18, of Brooklyn, who faces felony criminal drug possession charges. They also accuse him of having 48 individually wrapped pieces of crack cocaine and a small amount of packaged marijuana.
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Schaghticoke

For young people who want a farm, like Kim and Ejay Eisen, it is a classic chicken-and-egg dilemma. How to own a farm for the first time if you don't have a lot of money or stand to inherit property from your family?

It is a growing problem in a state where a rising tide of older farmers are looking at retirement without a clear plan for passing down their property. Since land can often fetch a hefty price from developers, and farmers often need that money to retire, that means sometimes farms are simply sold to the highest bidder and disappear into housing subdivisions or other development.

"Farmland is expensive, particularly for beginning farmers. This is a complicated problem," said Tim Biello, state project manager of the not-for-profit American Farmland Trust, which has helped protect about 5 million acres of farmland nationwide since its founding in 1980.

Since 2002, the number of New York farmers less than 45 years old has dropped by 30 percent, according to U.S. Agriculture Department figures. "More support is needed to help young and beginning farmers gain access to land and capital," Biello said.

About a third of all available farmland in New York  or 1.7 million acres valued at more than $4 billion  belongs to farmers 65 or older, and likely will be changing hands in the coming years, he said. The vast majority of those farms don't have a young farmer in place waiting to take over.

But there is help for would-be farmers like the Eisens, who three years ago started working a historic 48-acre farm in Rensselaer County that they one day hope to buy. The couple went there after several years of farming a five-acre parcel in Columbia County whose owner never planned to sell, leaving no potential to grow roots.

Their answer came from a for-profit company based in the Hudson Valley called Dirt Capital LLC, which bought the Rensselaer farm outright from another young couple that decided not to continue farming. The Eisens are now leasing it for up to nine years at favorable terms meant to encourage their ultimate purchase and guarantee they can keep part of the value of any improvements they might make, in the event they cannot buy the farm.

"We both have student loan debt, so this helps us to afford it," said Ejay Eisen, 32, looking out over domesticated turkeys roaming behind the fence at R'Eisen Shine Farm in Schaghticoke, where the couple also raises goats, pigs, ducks and rabbits.

"Our quality of life has improved so much with this permanency. We don't have to run this business on borrowed time," Ejay Eisen said.

"We offer what I call value aligned investing," said Dirt Capital founder Jacob Israelow, a former Goldman Sachs real estate executive who worked in Asia. "We want to be able to act as a bridge so people can own within five to 10 years."

By attracting investors willing to take smaller profits compared to other ventures, his four-year-old company has raised and spent $9 million to purchase 14 farms totaling 2,000 acres in New York, Vermont, New Jersey and Maine.

That includes a July 2016 purchase of 100 acres in Fort Plain, Montgomery County, which an Amish couple is leasing to run an organic dairy farm.

Israelow said the company helps farmers come up with business plans, and keeps its lease prices affordable, so new farmers build equity faster. The goal is to create financially healthy farmers who can qualify for traditional mortgages after a few years, which would be used to repay Dirt Capital, which then could invest that money into more young farmers.

Farther north, in the farmland of the Champlain Valley, the not-for-profit Open Space Institute has been using a $1 million donation to help finance young farmers. During the last five years, OSI has purchased five farms offered under a lease-to-own model meant to give young farmers time to grow.

Most recently, a 115-acre dairy farm, the North Country Creamery in Keeseville, was purchased from OSI this summer by its two young operators. Four years earlier, OSI had purchased the property using part of a $1 million donation from local philanthropist Nat Klipper.

In this case, OSI paid $360,000 for the farm and sold a conservation easement to a local land trust, which protected the land from future development. The farm was then leased to farmers Ashlee Kleinhammer and Steven Googin, who grew their business of milk, cheese and yogurt enough to buy the property this summer.

After the cash from the easement sale and some of the rent was applied to the potential purchase price, the couple ended up paying $247,000 for their farm. Now, that money is back into the program to help fund more new farmers, said OSI president - CEO Kim Elliman.

"Since land access is one of the biggest hurdles facing young and beginning farmers, we hope the opportunity will serve as an example for land conservancies and philanthropists across the country," Kleinhammer said.

About 200 miles south of her dairy farm, in Ulster County just north of Kingston, more young farmers are finding a place to grow under another concept aimed at encouraging young farmers with more will than wallet.

Occupying more than 200 acres, the Esopus Agricultural Center is a project of a for-profit company called Northeast Farm Access LLC. Not far from the state Thruway and shopping centers along Route 9W, new farmers are leasing parcels at affordable terms for 30 years, providing stability to learn and grow without fear they could lose the land on short notice.

"Our model is something like extended family financing," said company Managing Director Bob Bernstein, who got his start decades ago with community land trusts and affordable housing in the metropolitan New York City area.

He founded his New Hampshire company in 2013 and so far has attracted about $3 million from about a dozen investors he describes as socially aware of the benefits of local agriculture and who see such "intangibles" as part of the return on their investment.

"We want to grow people's equity so that within three to five years, they can be in position to seek traditional financing for a farm of their own," he said. The business model also allows for farmers to stay on the property for the full 30 years and renew for another 30 years.

The Esopus project opened in August 2016, and now is occupied by four organic farms, growing vegetable, berries and salad greens.

The company just closed on another 300 acres of farmland in Kerhonkson, also in Ulster County, north of Minnewaska State Park along the Rondout Creek.

These sites join two earlier company projects in the Hudson Valley, in Copake, Columbia County (192 acres with four farmers leasing) and Chester, Orange County (270 acres with five farmers leasing).

"These farmers are all experienced growers," Berstein said. "We like to think that we provide places where people can hatch out, and have some security as they do."

bnearing@timesunion.com  518-454-5094  @Bnearing10
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Steve McQueen had his motorcycle. James Dean had his red jacket. And Paul Newman had his Rolex.

Fans of Newman began noticing the Rolex Daytona watch wrapped around his wrist in the late 1960s, just as he began his car racing career under the moniker P.L. Newman.

It was a work of beauty, a human-crafted wonder. Three black dials decorated its creme face, encased in a stainless steel rim adorned with a tachymeter on its bezel. Red letters over the bottom dial spelled out "DAYTONA." The iconic Rolex crown perched on top of the face, the word "COSMOGRAPH" under it.

The mechanical watch radiated coolness, much like its owner. It was a constant companion to Newman's left wrist in magazine shoots, paparazzi photos and while he was speeding around in his race cars. The model, which was "made famous by him thanks to this very timepiece," was eventually nicknamed the "Paul Newman Daytona," Phillips Auction House said in a news release.

After spending years out of the spotlight, the watch landed at Phillips, the auction house, earlier this year. Anticipation grew, as experts speculated it would sell for around $1 million, a high asking price for any watch, even one associated with "Cool Hand Luke." On Thursday, it sold for $17,752,500 after a 12-minute bidding war. That's the world record for the most expensive watch ever sold at an auction, according to Phillips. A portion of the proceeds went to the Nell Newman Foundation.

The watch came to the auction house by way of James Cox, who dated Newman's daughter Nell for many years. He received it unexpectedly in 1984 while helping Newman repair a treehouse.

"Paul asked me what time it was, to set his watch. I replied, 'I don't know - I don't have a watch.' He was clearly surprised. So he said, 'Here, here's a watch. If you wind it, it tells pretty good time,'" Cox told the Wall Street Journal. "At that time, I knew Rolex was an amazing brand, but I had no idea how significant the watch was."

It was a gift from Newman's wife, one he only gave away because she had given him a new one. In many ways, it was a symbol of the lifelong love and commitment Newman shared with his wife, actress Joanne Woodward.

To understand the meaning of the watch, one must first understand their marriage.

As the story goes, Newman and Woodward had the same agent, and they met when they both ducked into his office to escape the New York City heat in 1953. That year, they became friends on the set of the Broadway play "Picnic," but Newman was married. Things were never romantic - Newman watched as Woodward dated Marlon Brando. He set her up with actor and screenwriter James Costigan, to whom she was engaged for a spell.

Four years later, they were serendipitously cast as lovers in 1958's "The Long, Hot Summer."

More for you Paul Newmans Rolex expected to bring millions for charity

When the filming ended, Newman and his first wife divorced. For that, he said he felt "guilty as hell . . . and I'll carry it with me for the rest of my life," according to his biography "Paul Newman, A Life."

Months later, he married Woodward.

Newman and Woodward by all accounts had a wonderful marriage. It would go on to last 50 years, ending only when Newman died in 2008.

And though Hollywood relationships often end in headline-splashing infidelity, Newman reportedly never strayed. When asked by Playboy how someone as desirable as Newman remained faithful, he famously responded, "I have steak at home; why go out for hamburger?"

Author and journalist Carol Ross Joynt once met the couple at a wedding party in the 1970s. A string quartet played, while guests sprawled out on a large lawn - including the famous couple.

"Up behind me, Joanne Woodward sat on the ground with her back against the trunk of a big tree, her legs stretched out in front. In her lap rested the head of Paul Newman, who occasionally reached up to touch her face and hair as he savored the music," Joynt wrote. "It's possible I gaped. To this day it's the most romantic thing I ever witnessed."

Decades later, "Baby Driver" actor Ansel Elgort met the couple when he was working as a driver. He told Town and Country that his favorite passenger was Newman.

"He asked me about myself, but also he had his wife in the back seat, and this guy was like 80 and he was making out with his wife. They were just PDA and they were giggling and his arm was around her and he's kissing her," Elgort said. "I want to be 80 and have a wife who I've been with for that long and be that way."

But the couple made it sound simple.

Woodward said, "We were good friends before we were lovers . . . We could talk to each other, we could tell each other anything without fear of ridicule or rejection. There was trust."

Newman was a little blunter, opining that a good marriage required, "some combination of lust and respect and patience. And determination."

More than a decade into their marriage, though, the two hit a speed bump when they starred together in the 1969 film "Winning." It was about a race car driver named Frank Capua, who wants to win the Indianapolis 500 but runs the risk of losing his wife, played by Woodward, along the way.

To train for the film, Newman got lessons in stock car racing. He quickly fell in love with the sport and decided to take it up, first as a hobby and later as professional.

Woodward was not pleased.

"She skipped his racing practices as often as possible, and when she did show up at trackside in Indy, she couldn't decide which was worse: the prospect of him killing himself in a crack-up or the clutches of screaming women holding up signs pleading 'Paul Please Slow Down' and clucking over him as he walked around the set," Shawn Levy wrote in his biography.

"I wish I wasn't married to him now," she once told a reporter at the track.

Even so, she supported him. Partially to show that support, she gave him the Rolex Daytona watch as a gift. It carried an important message. On the back face, she engraved the words,"DRIVE CAREFULLY ME."

That didn't mean she liked his racing.

"She thinks it's the silliest thing in the world," Newman said. "It's also very scary to her, and she doesn't much care for it."

But she supported him anyway, coming to some of his races so long as he attended the ballet with her. Her support, to Newman, was a symbol of their union.

He wore that watch on his wrist for decades after.

"[My wife] has always given me unconditional support in all my choices and endeavors, and that includes my race car driving, which she deplores," Newman once said. " To me, that's love."
On October 31, 1517, a monk named Martin Luther nailed to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral in Germany 95 Theses detailing his protests against practices of the Roman Catholic Church. His actions ignited the smoldering discontent of a number of Catholics across Europe, and they joined him. Their protests became a movement that came to called the Protestant Reformation.

Unable to reform the Catholic Church to their satisfaction, the protesters formed churches of their own. After the Council of Trent, from 1545-63, communication between Catholics and Protestants effectively ceased for 400 years and was replaced by distrust, contempt, hostility and even violence toward one another. As Protestant churches formed and reformed, often acrimoniously, they also followed the pattern of ceasing to talk to each other and becoming openly hostile.

In the Capital Region, however, conversation and cooperation between Catholics and Protestants go back at least to 1643. The Rev. Johannes Megapolensis arrived from Holland in 1642 to become the first pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church, which is now the First Church in Albany. A Jesuit priest and missionary, Isaac Jogues, had already been working among Iroquois, Huron and other indigenous people. He had been captured by a Mohawk tribe, who tortured him and denied him food and shelter.

Pastor Megapolensis joined a group of Dutch traders and was instrumental in ransoming Father Jogues and taking him back to Fort Orange, which later was named Albany, where he regained his health and went back to France. Father Jogues would return to minister among the Native peoples and was killed by the Mohawks in 1646. He was made a saint in 1930 and is honored at the Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville.

Catholic-Protestant cooperation was spurred by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, which called for ecumenical dialogue. In the Capital Region, Bishop Howard Hubbard and the Revs. Ralph Elliott, Robert Lamar and others formed Christians United in Mission, which helped found the Regional Food Bank, build the South Mall Towers and support other cooperative ministries.

The Capital Region Ecumenical Organization was formed in the 1980s to strengthen ecumenical relationships. In 1997, CUM and CREO united in a restructured CREO, whose purpose is to promote the visible unity of all Christians in keeping with Christ's prayer on the night before he was crucified that all who believed in him would be as one. Its membership includes Roman Catholics and seven Protestant denominations.

Last Sunday, CREO and the Protestant-Catholic Dialogue of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany sponsored a program and ecumenical worship service to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's protest. This Sunday, First Church in Albany will celebrate its 375th anniversary, and a Catholic lay person will be one of its worship leaders. Both events testify to the Capital Region's progress from separation to unity. It is progress of which both Catholics and Protestants can be justifiably proud.

Edith Leet is coordinator of the Capital Region Ecumenical Organization.
Rosa Maria Hernandez was already frightened when she sat in an ambulance Tuesday night speeding toward a Texas hospital so that she could undergo emergency gall bladder surgery, according to her family's attorney.

The child was already scared before the ambulance stopped at a Border Patrol checkpoint - before federal immigration officers detained her for living in the country illegally. She was brought over the Mexican border to Laredo, Texas, when she was 3 months old. Though Rosa Marie, who has cerebral palsy, is now 10 years old, her elementary school teachers and doctors say her mind is closer to that of a 4-or 5-year-old.

Federal agents let Rosa Maria proceed to Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, but followed her there, and then stood outside her room during the surgery. At first, the agents wouldn't allow the door of the hospital room to be closed, family members said. Anywhere Rosa Maria went, the agents followed.

When her doctors said she could go home, Rosa Maria took two steps out of her hospital room, and, upon seeing the unfamiliar faces - more Border Patrol agents and lawyers - she wanted to go back inside, said the family's attorney, Leticia Gonzalez.

Now Playing: A 17-year-old immigrant labeled Jane Doe was being prevented by the federal government from aborting her pregnancy. ACLU senior staff attorney Brigitte Amiri spoke to Mic about the case. What the Trump administration is doing is demonstrating their hostility to immigrants and their hostility to womens reproductive health care all in one case, Amiri said. Video: Mic

It's unusual for federal agents to detain a child already living in the United States, especially one with a medical condition, experts say. Under Barack Obama, immigration agents were ordered to target high-priority immigrants such as violent criminals, and, for the most part, left everyone else alone. But President Donald Trump has ordered federal agents to move more aggressively to deport people living in the country illegally - including those without criminal records.

Immigration arrests rose 32.6 percent during the first weeks of the Trump administration, with federal agents intensifying their pursuit of not just undocumented immigrants with criminal records, but also the thousands of people living in the country illegally who have been otherwise law-abiding.

Immigration advocates fear Rosa Maria's case will further raise anxieties among immigrant communities, as those living in the country illegally may now have to choose between visiting the hospital and risking deportation. It's especially true for immigrants like Rosa Maria, who live south of Border Patrol checkpoints, in the Rio Grande Valley, and must cross the checkpoints to visit a hospital farther north. In all the time she'd lived in Laredo, Rosa Maria never had a reason to travel through the checkpoint, Gonzalez said.

"Instead of using resources to protect communities, [federal agents are] detaining a 10-year-old child who is medically ill," said Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, who serves as first vice-chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

"This is just one story, but the administration's immigration polices are affecting families across Texas and across the nation," he said.

Rosa Maria was taken Wednesday to a children's shelter in San Antonio, which typically holds children who come across the border alone from Central America - not children who've been in the United States for several years. Immigrants detained by the federal government are usually adults, who await a trial for deportation, or families that have just arrived at the border.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson confirmed that Rosa Maria's ambulance was stopped upon approaching the primary inspection lane of the Freer Border Patrol Checkpoint on Highway 59, east of Laredo. An immigration inspection confirmed that Rosa Maria was living in the country illegally. Because of her medical condition, the agents escorted her and her cousin, who had accompanied her on the ambulance trip, to the Corpus Christi hospital.

"The Laredo Sector Border Patrol is committed to enforcing the immigration laws of this nation," the spokesperson said. "Per the immigration laws of the United States, once medically cleared [Rosa Maria] will be processed accordingly."

Gonzalez said Rosa Maria's cousin, Aurora Cantu, a U.S. citizen, was asked by the federal agents to sign for Rosa Maria's voluntary departure back to Mexico, where she could be transferred to a hospital. But the family chose not to. They had, after all, moved to the United States shortly after Rosa Maria was born so that she could have access to more affordable treatment for cerebral palsy, said the girl's mother, Felipa de la Cruz.

"It's difficult. When I think about her, I start to become sad," de la Cruz said, her voice cracking. "I become desperate."

In addition to Rosa Maria's detainment, another special-needs family is being targeted by federal agents this week. On Thursday, immigration advocates rallied in New York to stop the scheduled deportation of Noel Lopez-Reyes to Guatemala, which he had fled 25 years ago fearing for his safety. He has three U.S. citizen children, including one who suffers from a severe form of spina bifida, as well as scoliosis, deformities of limbs and brain and spine abnormalities, Make the Road New York officials said in a news release.

From January through mid-March, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 21,362 immigrants, mostly convicted criminals, compared with 16,104 during the same period last year, according to statistics requested by The Washington Post.

The number of immigrants without criminal records who were arrested more than doubled to 5,441.

The hospital's discharge orders indicated that Rosa Maria should be released to the custody of a family member familiar with her medical condition as her deportation proceedings continued. But attempts to have Rosa Maria released to her cousin or to her grandfather, a legal resident of 45 years, have failed. The family initially thought Rosa Maria could be released back to her mother, but federal agents barred it.

The family has received few details about the conditions of the shelter where Rosa Maria is being held. The shelter's staff had been expecting her when she arrived and promised a smooth transition but did not have copies of Rosa Maria's hospital discharge papers or access to her medical history, Gonzalez said.

Astrid Dominguez, a policy strategist for the ACLU of Texas, said Rosa Maria should not spend "one more day" away from her mother.

"Border control escorted a 10-year-old girl and guarded her door like she posed some sort of threat," Dominguez said. Federal agents "should still have exercised discretion with basic humanity and allowed her to back to her parents."

All Rosa Maria wants is to be back with her mother, Gonzalez said. But it's unclear when, or if, Rosa Maria can see her before the deportation proceedings finish, a process that could take anywhere from two weeks to 90 days.

"I know she already wants to be home with me. She told me that she misses me," Rosa Maria's mother said. "I told her she was only there because she was recovering. Once she was recovered, she could come with me."
GLENS FALLS - The personal information of about 4,600 past and present clients and several employees of Catholic Charities may have been exposed after a computer server in the Glens Falls office was hacked, according to Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Albany.

Catholic Charities said that when the breach was discovered on Aug. 30, it took immediate steps to end the hackers' unauthorized access to the server and to further enhance the security of its servers. The agency also notified State Police, the attorney general's office, Division of Consumer Protection and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and reached out to potential victims who received services at Catholic Charities' Saratoga, Glens Falls or Schenectady offices.
Rabri Devi has been issued summons by the ED five times earlier but she failed to appear before them for questioning each time citing health reasons.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: The Enforcement Directorate has issued fresh summons to RJD chief Lalu Prasad's wife and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi and his former deputy CM son Tejaswi Yadav to appear before it for questioning in the railway tender scam. While ED has summoned Tejaswi on 31st October, Rabri Devi has been asked to come on 7th November.

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Rabri Devi has been issued summons by the ED five times earlier but she failed to appear before them for questioning each time citing health reasons. Similarly, Tejaswi has also been summoned five times earlier but he has presented himself before the agency only once.

Speaking to India Today couple of days back, Rabri Devi had said that she had informed ED that due to her poor health and the festival of Chatth being celebrated at her house, she will appear before them only after the festival is over.

ED is wanting to question the mother-son duo in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) pertaining to the railway tender scam in which the Central Bureau of Investigation has registered FIR's against Lalu, Tejaswi and Rabri.

The CBI, earlier, this month has questioned both, Lalu and Tejaswi in the railway tender scam in which Lalu as Railway Minister between 2004-2009 gave a private hotel the tender to run two IRCTC hotels in Bhubneshwar and Puri in exchange for 3 acres of prime plot in Patna's Saguna Mod area.

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HAS THE NEWSPAPER FAILED KANSAS CITY BY REFUSING TO PROVIDE ANY REAL DEBATE ABOUT QUESTION #1 AND THE NEW AIRPORT???

Why a new terminal at KCI? Its time





Southwest Airlines top boss: KCI prohibits growth





KCI is your first impression of Kansas City, and thats a problem

Just a quick note regarding our local politics and the newspaper attempting to push one of the most costly and corrupt projects Kansas City has seen since the Pendergast era . . .This is a decision that will impact the future of Kansas City for generations and the newspaper seemingly made up its mind on it long ago.Like it or not, our TKC blog community has far more feedback and exchange of ideas on this topic . . . While we're admittedly skeptical of #NewKCI and out-of-town consultants that doesn't mean we aren't willing to listen to any idea that isn't just campaign fodder. To be fair, we tend to side with grassroots tax fighter activists because most of them aren't being paid for their opinion.This Saturday journalism question has a bit more consequence, as the newspaper returns to its roots of printing "machine politics" and serving as the mouthpiece of Mayor Sly and City Hall. Meanwhile, audiences have moved to social media as purveyors of print "news" have far less influence over local politics than at any point in their history.Because we're not afraid of debate on this topic or any other, here's just a sampling of newspaper content that's consistent with so many one-sided items they've published so far . . .You decide . . .
Man arrested for sleeping in storage unit with his babies The man police arrested for sleeping in his storage unit with his babies went in front of a judge at Johnson County Courthouse on Friday. Justin Rey has been charged with two counts of child endangerment and two counts of contributing to a child's misconduct.

This unfortunate dude hasn't been charged in connection with a dead body also found near his ramshackle residence where he was living and so authorities have decided that confronting him with jail time is the best solution to his problems. Read more:
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Police are investigating two cases of road rage in as many days. On Friday morning, a driver in a gold GMC truck threw a bottle at a semi-truck on Blue Parkway before getting on I-435. Once they were on the interstate things quickly escalated.
"Nick Haines moderates a debate between David Alvey and Mark Holland, the candidates for Mayor of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan. Then Dave Helling and Steve Kraske discuss speculation that Governor Greitens is considering a run for president, the future of the American Jazz Museum, KCMO City Hall finances and the latest in the Kansas-Missouri Border Battle."

An informative public TV presentation offers a glimpse into how politics worked in 1994 . . .You decide . . .
With killer still on the loose, associates of slain lawyer from Brookside are fearful Within minutes of attorney Tom Pickert's murder Wednesday morning at his Brookside home, his colleagues in a recent case started worrying about their own safety. One lawyer had assisted Pickert in an effort to secure assets from the defendant in a multi-million dollar civil case that Pickert and his partner had won in July.

Newspaper coverage from the perspective of the hopelessly middle-class who seldom confront any real danger through the course of their lives . . . Which is great, but leads to articles like this where the threat of violence is somehow newsworthy despite the fact that most residents live with it every day. You decide:
By PTI: Hyderabad, Oct 28 (PTI) Police today registered a complaint against former TDP MP Nama Nageswara Rao for allegedly threatening a woman.

The woman and Rao were known to each other and they developed differences over some issues, police said.

The woman, in her complaint with the Jubilee Hills police here, alleged that Rao had threatened her.

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The complaint has been registered under IPC sections related to criminal intimidation and others, police said, adding the matter is under investigation. PTI SJR RSY

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organization

"Reports indicate this heinous crime may have been committed by a man who had a history of gun violence, and who had no business freely carrying a firearm. Toms was only the most recent in an unfathomable number of preventable deaths. He was one of 159 people murdered in the Kansas City metro so far this year, along with an unknown number of deaths by gun suicide. Each death is tragic; each victim loved, valued and mourned.





"There are always those who argue that loss should not be politicized. Many IKC members live by the mantra that the personal IS political. This is most acute in situations like Toms death, which may be directly attributed to the failure of our politicians to enact and enforce common-sense regulations, with which even most gun owners agree. It is time to ask our representatives in state and federal government how they justify their failure to act."

IS THIS POLITICAL MESSAGE IN THE AFTERMATH OF A HORRIFIC MURDER APPROPRIATE OR A CYNICAL ELECTION SEASON PLOY???

Special thanks to our blog community for making one of the very few documented connections in the ongoing investigation of the homicide of a Brookside lawyer.Strangely, some of the comment troll d-bags thought me we made an "attack" on the widow during a dark time - Which only proves that politics always trumps common sense. Of course we offer our deepest sympathies and asAs always, partisan snowflakes on both sides of the aisle always seem exceptionally defensive.In their FOLLOW-UP AND CONFIRMATION OF TKC FIRST NEWS, MSM claims this group is an anti-violence but their work has mostly been political in defense of Obamacare.Here's the heartfelt note from the group after ourthat was previously overlooked despite growing debate surrounding this murder:And so . . .You decide . . .
Greece seeks a harmonious co-operation with its Balkan neighbors and advocates their European prospects, but this requires similar behavior on their part, President Prokopis Pavlopoulos noted on Friday, during a visit to the city hall of Halkidona, a city near Thessaloniki.

Pavlopoulos spoke of Macedonia's "indisputable" Greekness and, commenting on FYROM's stance on the name issue, stressed it is a "blatant counterfeiting of history and exudes irredentism".

He also commented on Albania and its human rights record concerning minorities and the right to ownership, saying it must respect EU rules. We are the ones who are saying even now that Albania must find its European path but for this to happen Albania must adopt the behavior of a candidate country for accession," he undelined.

Greece wishes to cooperate with both FYROM and Albania and sees favourably their European perspective, the President continued, but the countries are "undermining their prospects" with their stance.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: user:Quahadi License: CC-BY-SA

Source: ANA-MPA
Lauding the 2017 awardees, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, these individuals have worked in these different areas of work under extremely difficult and challenging circumstances.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Renowned Gandhian Ziad Medoukh of Palestine was Saturday conferred this year's "Jamnalal Bajaj International Award for Promoting Gandhian Values Outside India".

Besides, Shashi Tyagi, Founder and Secretary of Gramin Vikas Vigyan Samiti (GRAVIS) was chosen for "Outstanding Contribution in the field of Constructive Work", Praveen Nair, the Founder-Trustee of Salaam Baalak Trust, New Delhi for "Development & Welfare of Women and Chidren", while Delhi NGO Jan Swasthya Sahyog was named for "Application of Science & Technology for Rural Development".

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Presenting the awards here this evening, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recalled the services of the late industrialist and freedom fighter Jamnalal Bajaj in whose memory the annual awards were instituted 40 years ago.

"The power of freedom struggle of Mahatma Gandhi was such that it inspired from every section of society to become a part of it. Ordinarily, one would consider members of society who had large businesses and industry to defend, to protect, to be reluctant to become part of this (Freedom movement).

"However, this was one relationship between Gandhiji and Jamnalal Bajaj in which a business leader had put almost everything at stake and sacrificed, not merely sacrificed but had most members of his family become activists in the freedom struggle, and many landed in jails.

"We have very few such examplesa If this kind of transparent relationship between those in public affairs and those in industry is recreated, probably its ability to inspire and contribute to society will be much higher," Jaitley said.

Lauding the 2017 awardees, he said these individuals have worked in these different areas of work under extremely difficult and challenging circumstances.

"They are marginal people who don't do it for any rewards or awards or the fame they got today. For them, its all incidental, they do their work for the deep sense of social commitment and leave their footprints in history. Theire contribution is most remarkable," he said.

A staunch believer in democracy, freedom and human rights, Medoukh is researcher, professor and the Director of the French Department at the Al-Aqsa University in Gaza.

Known for his brilliant testimony of non-violence that he presents to his students, Medoukh is one of the prominent speakers for Palestine in French-speaking countries, participates and imparts training in non-violence to teachers and youth in Europe and Middle East.

In 2006, he and his friends founded a Peace Centre based on the principles of nonviolent Economy of Mahatma Gandhi which has played a crucial role in education as a form of non-violence resistance in Palestine.

Shashi Tyagi had in 1980 shifted with her husband from Banwasi Sewa Ashram in Uttar Pradesh to the Thar Desert in Rajasthan's Jodhpur and launched various social-community projects covering people in 1,200 villages spread across Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Nagaur, Jaipur and Barmer districts.

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Mother of renowned film-maker Mira Nair, Praveen Nair established the Salam Baalak Trust in 1988 on New Delhi railway station, inspired by the film "Salaam Bombay" on the life of Mumbai streetchildren.

In 25 years, the SBT has grown into an institution employing 200 which provides support services to more than 8.500 children in Delhi NCR through 25 centres.

The Jan Swasthya Sahyog started in 1999 by a group of AIIMs post-graduates and health professionals addresses inequality in rural health care, clinical and community outreach programmes, to evolve low-cost technology for cheaper health care, etc.

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Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 28

Depicting the sorry state of affairs, Lions Company, which is paid over Rs 4 crore per month for taking care of sanitation in southern sectors by the Municipal Corporation, was caught on the wrong foot today.

It was challaned and fined Rs 5,500 by the MC for littering the forest area. A DDR was also filed against the company at the police station, Sector 31. Its tractor-trailer was also impounded, but was later released following an apology by its workers.

The incident happened at 5:30 am when the companys tractor driver, Arjun Singh, was caught dumping garbage in the forest area right at the back of Sehaj Safari Kendra in Sector 47. The Forest Department staff called up the police and Arjun, along with the tractor-trailer, was taken to the police station.

We have been getting complaints of dumping of garbage in our forest area for the past two or three days. Today, in a raid at Sector 47, the company employee was caught red-handed. We have lodged a complaint with the police and sought strict against the staff of the company, Santosh Kumar, Chief Conservator of Forest, told Chandigarh Tribune.

The department, in its complaint, has stated that earlier they found forest areas in Sectors 46, 48 and 49 littered with garbage. Despite being warned against littering the forest area, they have not mended their ways.

After the matter came to light today, the MC inspector fined the firm Rs 5,500 for littering in a public place. Area councillor Davesh Moudgil said: It was shocking. This way, we are not going to be able to fulfil our Prime Minister's dream of a clean India. We are getting areas cleaned but instead of shifting the garbage to the processing plant, the firm is littering around. What for are we paying the firm Rs 52 crore annually?

Congress councillor Devinder Singh Babla, who had earlier raised the issue at the house meeting, said: This company is into looting. Why the MC is paying them so much and who all are involved in it?

A heavy penalty should be imposed on the company.

Earlier, MP Kirron Kher had raised questions over the working of the company. However, several other councillors, including Arun Sood and Rajesh Kalia, had maintained the firm was doing a good job.

Meanwhile, Mayor Asha Kumari Jaswal said: I have got to know they have been fined. Whether it is a company or anyone else. Whoever is found littering will be taken to task.
Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Mohali, October 28

Illegal mining on land around the airport is posing a security threat to it. The Air Force authorities have raised their concern in this regard with the local administration. The issue will also be taken up in the upcoming Civil-Military Liaison Conference in the first week of December.

A senior official of the Mohali administration said the threat to the airport area due to the presence of pits caused by illegal mining was one of the main points of the agenda in the upcoming meeting.

A number of pits, several of which are nearly 20-foot deep, are present around the airport area. These are the result of illegal mining, which had taken place five to six years ago. These pits are certainly a threat to the airport and the Air Force authorities are also concerned that these would cause problems during the expansion of the airport in the near future, said the official on condition of anonymity.

Mohali DC Gurpreet Kaur Sapra said the pits were the result of illegal mining. The mining had taken place around six years ago. Currently, no mining is being done in the area, said Sapra, adding that the issue was a cause of concern for defence personnel.

I have directed the local SDM to prepare a report in this regard after conducting a proper survey of the area. The issue is serious and steps for the redressal of the problem will be taken immediately, said the DC.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 27

The Delhi Government today at a meeting of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DSUIB) decided to waive user charges of the toilets. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

This decision will send relief to the residents of JJ Bastis all over Delhi who use public toilets. There are 19,000 toilet seats run by the DUSIB. These toilets would be free for usage from January 1. This comes as a New Year gift from the Kejriwal government to the residents of JJ colonies.

Running of these toilets for free will incur a cost of Rs 50 crore, which the government will bear.

The Board also approved the Winter Action Plan stating different activities to be conducted by the DUSIB in coordination with other departments.
Singapore, October 28

A 50-year-old Indian-origin man has allegedly stabbed to death a woman, believed to be his wife, at a house in Singapore, media reports said on Saturday.

Krishnan Raju has been charged in the state court with causing the death of 44-year-old Madam Raithena Vaithena Samy on Thursday between 9 pm and 10.48 pm (local time) at a condominium in Jalan Loyang Besar, The Straits Times reported.

If convicted, he faces the death penalty, it said.

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The police believe that the woman was the wife of Krishnan who owns a transport company, the report said.

He had entered Malaysia before returning to Singapore, where he surrendered himself to the police at Woodlands Checkpoint, about 10 hours after the incident, the report said.

The woman, said to be found in the bedroom of the apartment unit with a knife beside her, had suffered multiple stab wounds, including one in the chest, it said.

Krishnan, who appeared emotionless as the charge was read out to him, has been remanded at the Central Police Division, with permission to be taken out for investigation, the report said.

He will be back in the court on November 3, it added. PTI
Weighty silence

Talk of silence being louder than words. BJP veteran and Gandhinagar MP L.K. Advani has consented to attend a meeting organised by former Gujarat chief minister Suresh Mehta sometime next month, though he won't speak on the occasion. Mehta, incidentally, is a known Modi-baiter who had quit the BJP in 2007. He has now launched a 'Save Democracy' campaign, meetings for which will begin after November 14, smack in the middle of the state's poll campaign. Mehta has also invited another Modi critic, Yashwant Sinha.

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Let the lord wait

A Ram temple in Ayodhya may well be on his mind, but what Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath will be showcasing come March is a Gujarat government-like mega global investor meet to commemorate the first year of his government in office. State officials say over 100 global firms will attend. The state industrial development department has already begun preparations. And no prizes for guessing who'll be chief guest. Who else but PM Narendra Modi?

Photo by MANEESH AGNIHOTRI

Forget and forgive

Looks like the ice between the current Bihar chief minister and a former one is beginning to melt. Nitish Kumar had appointed Jitan Ram Manjhi CM in 2014 but he was forced out nine months later. Making amends, Nitish recently paid a visit to Manjhi's native village in Gaya a day before Diwali and vowed to complete all the projects he had announced as CM. Manjhi, who calls Nitish his mentor, has now joined the long list of his fans.

Photo: PTI Photo: PTI

Homeboys

Among the few things the roads, surface transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari has in common with Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is their home town, Nagpur. Another point of convergence is slowly building up. Fadnavis recently began the demolition and reconstruction of his ancestral home in the city's Dharampeth area. Word is, Gadkari is planning the same for his ancestral house in the Mahal area. Strengthening the home front?

Photo by DANESH JASSAWALA

Coalition Worries

Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar will need all the skills he learnt as defence minister to save his coalition. First, it was a settlement with urban development minister Vijai Sardesai, now it's a declaration by PWP minister Ramkrishna 'Sudin' Dhavalikar-whose three MGP MLAs are crucial for the coalition's survival-that his Maharashtra Gomantak Party was not an NDA ally. Insiders say it's a tactic to get the BJP to concede one of Goa's two Lok Sabha seats.

Raje for Cow App, Cow Service Week

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has announced holding a "Gau Sewa" week during which posters displaying horrors of polythene on cows will be displayed in markets and religious songs will be sung to promote service for cows besides suggesting a "Cow App" improve the care of cows in society.

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Raje was speaking at a ceremony to sign a 19 -year MoU with Akshay Patra Foundation to maintain Hingonia Cow Rescue Shelter where rains have often killed cows that stuck in slushy cow dung and fodder besides due to lack of care and hunger. Akshay Patra has been maintaining Hingonia for a year on trial basis and given improvement it could bring besides bringing down mortality from 50 a day to 20, the government has decided to lease it out for 19 years.

Hingonia is a place where abandoned, stray, injured, ill and old cows progeny are brought in.

Raje said she would bear the expenditure of treatment or surgery of one cow as she asked to implement measures to ensure a drastic improvement in cow care in Jaipur to be extended to the state later.

Some of the ideas she said she was keen to implement soon are:

People should be able to donate for cows through a Cow App. They can donate for treatment of a cow for example. People, instead of offering fodder here and there to stray cows as holy service, should buy fodder at Hingonia or other cow shelters which will be served to cows there. Let there be a space set up where one can leave cow against a boarding and lodging fee instead of leaving them on road. Akshay Patra should work out setting a compost and carcass plant. Akshay Patra should explore a mechanism to collect cow dung from Jaipur and use it to make biogas and supply it to nearby villages. Akshay Patra should take over one cow shelter in Jodhpur too. Raje was categorical that one can not serve cows and use polythene simultaneously.

(Sandeep Unnithan with Sujit Thakur, Kiran D. Tare, Amitabh Srivastava, Ashish Misra and Rohit Parihar)

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--- ENDS ---
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, October 28

An alert security guard, Sahib Singh, foiled an attempt by car-borne armed gangsters to loot Rs 70 lakh from the cashier of one of the branches of the Union Bank of India in Sonepat late last evening.

However, cashier Surender Singh Malik was injured in the firing by the gangsters. He was admitted to a local private hospital. A case has been registered in Sadar police station on a complaint by the cashier.

Malik was taking the money in a van to the main branch of the bank at Panipat. He was driving the van while Sahib Singh was accompanying him.

When the van reached on Sonepat- Devru road in the evening hours at around 7 pm, van was hit and stopped forcibly by parking a car in front of it. Two armed gangsters attempted to snatch the cash bag and when it was resisted by the cashier, they fired at the cashier.

Meantime, Sahib Singh fired at the gangsters from his licensed gun, forcing them to flee in their car.

SHO Dalbir Singh Dangi said it was a pre planned plot and the gangsters were aware about the movement of the cash van.

Pre-planned plot: SHO

SHO Dalbir Singh Dangi said it was a pre- planned plot and the gangsters were aware about the movement of the cash van
Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, October 28

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today exhorted representatives of the panchayats of Bukhapuri and Kudak Jagir villages to maintain the five-pond system. He also asked them to work for the betterment of their villages.

The Chief Minister was at the Panchayat Bhawan here to inaugurate four development projects worth Rs 3.14 crore, including a one stop centre Sakhi constructed at a cost of Rs 30 lakh, five-pond system in Bukhapuri and Kudak Jagir villages built at a cost of Rs 50 lakh each and laying of interlocking tiles in Sector 4 part-II at a cost of Rs 1.74 crore.

He was accompanied by Urban Local Bodies Minister Kavita Jain, Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies Karan Dev Kamboj and Hafed Chairman Harvinder Kalyan. He interacted with panchayat representatives and said the government would provide separate budgets to zila parishads and block samitis for the development of villages.

Khattar said it was the duty of villagers to maintain development projects of the government.

Kavita Jain said with the help of the Central government, they had started states first Sakhi in Karnal on August 31, 2015, which was being operated from the building of the Child Welfare Department and would now be operated from the new building.

This is an initiative of the Central government to assist women in getting legal, police and medical help. It also provides temporary support service to women affected by violence and counsels them, she added.

The Karnal centre has received a tremendous response and 604 cases, Kavita said. Six more such centres were being constructed in Gurugram, Faridabad, Narnaul, Hisar and Bhiwani districts, she added.

Make India global leader
Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 28

The opposition parties have been crying themselves hoarse about collapsed law and order in the state. The police are to be blamed the most for this impression, as they have been on the back foot for the better part of the three years of the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government.

The police drew a lot of flak for the handling of the three critical situations the government faced in as many years. The police first faltered in handling the Rampal episode as his ashram, Satlok, was fortified by his supporters. The second year saw the Jat agitation turn violent as protesters went on rampage and the police were not to be seen. As many as 40 persons lost their lives in the violence following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in two rape cases. Here again, the police were found wanting.

However, while the police may have got the rapping for their failure during these three incidents, which stand out as sore thumbs, they cant be squarely blamed for these since the political bosses were also found wanting.

Though the police have little to showcase as their achievements, the project of women police stations launched during the present government is plagued with compounding problems. While the availability of staff is a constraint, most of these police stations have been somehow functioning.

There has been some recruitment in the department, which is facing a shortage by over 12,000 personnel, during the three-year rule of the BJP government though the physical tests for the recruitment of constables courted a controversy due to ill-planned schedules and a few deaths. However, though some constables, including women, have been recruited, the department is way short of meeting its requirement.

Moreover, there have been four DGPs during the Khattar rule. SN Vashishth continued as DGP when the BJP formed the government but was moved out soon after the Rampal episode. His successor was transferred after the Jat quota agitation violence. KP Singh became the next DGP, followed by incumbent BS Sandhu. Frequent changes and lack of continuity at the top level also affected the working of the department.

The police see as a major achievement the government approval to Haryana 100, a common state-level emergency number, to be made functional next year. The government plans to launch Haryana 100, a centralised police emergency management system, on Independence Day next year. It is meant to ensure quick arrest of offenders who flee after committing crime and also provide immediate police assistance to victims.

Mishandling of cases

The police first faltered in handling the Rampal episode as his ashram, Satlok, was fortified by his supporters

The second year saw the Jat agitation turn violent as protesters went on rampage and the police were not to be seen

As many as 40 persons lost their lives in the violence following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in two rape cases. Here again, the police were found wanting.

BJP made false promises: Jaihind

Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday termed the three years of the BJP government in Haryana as a period of failed promises. AAP Haryana head Naveen Jaihind, while addressing mediapersons here, said Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and his Cabinet colleagues had been befooling people. The BJP had made tall promises in its manifesto before the 2014 Assembly elections but it has nothing to show in the last three years, he alleged. TNS
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 28

With the view that the world is at the point of stirring an elaborate dialogue and experimentation to find creative solutions to challenges being faced by the developing and developed countries, the School of Arts and Languages at the Lovely Professional University (LPU) organised the 18th Association of Punjab Geographers (APG) Meet and International Conference.

Ambassador of the Republic of Mali to India, Samake Niankoro Yeah, was invited to inaugurate the conference where over 200 papers were presented by eminent intellectuals, scientists and geographers from across India, to solve the problems being faced the world over.

The comprehensive theme of the conference was, Re-envisioning globalisation, development and new world order: Perspectives from developing countries.

Upholding the spirit of internationalism, the ambassador also celebrated the National Day of Zambia along with African, international and national students of LPU. Former Chancellor of Central University of Punjab, Padma Bhushan awardee Dr SS Johl, was the guest of honour on the occasion. Prof Gopal Krishan delivered the keynote address. Addressing the gathering, ambassador Samake cited examples of India and even the LPU for making strong advances to countries across the world for common interest.

Papers were also presented for attaining sustainable development. Based on various findings, Prof Atique Ahmad (Aligarh Muslim University) provided feasible suggestions which may prove valuable for future development of tourism in Jammu and Kashmir.

Doctoral research fellow AR Kunnathodi from the Centre for West Asian Studies discussed the commercialisation of knowledge and global trends in higher education. Dr Pavittar Parkash Singh of the LPU discussed stubble burning and its impact on environment and human health.
Jalandhar: Cambridge International School, Jalandhar, will host a three-day Model United Nations Conference from October 27 to 29. Students can learn the art of public speaking, debate and critical thinking at the conference. The students are given countries to represent and debate on various global issues. They don the hats of diplomats and try to solve global issues. MUN, also known as Model United Nations, is an assimilation of United Nations Committees, where the students role play delegates of the United Nations and also get a chance to give an expression to their inherent capabilities. TNS
Jammu, October 28

Two Army jawans have been injured in firing under suspicious circumstances along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch district on Saturday, a police official said.

The incident happened in the forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Tarkundi belt.

It is being reported to us that it was due to an accidental fire, the official said, adding that more information was awaited.

The injured jawans had been admitted to hospital, he said. PTI
M Aamir Khan

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 28

On the eve of its maiden state executive meeting here, the BJP today reiterated its resolve to hold talks with all sections in the Valley through its recently appointed interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma. While BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav said Sharma would talk with all groups in the state, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh categorically stated that the Hurriyat was a stakeholder. However, he ruled out talks with militants.

This time, the announcement has been made that Sharma would talk with all groups in J&K. Whosoever will come forward, he can talk to him. He has that mandate, Madhav told reporters on the sidelines of the state office-bearers meeting.

The meeting was held a day before Sundays executive meet that is being held for the first time in Kashmir.

Nirmal Singh said a resolution would be passed and there would be wide-ranging discussions on the political situation in the state even as the executive meet was also being held to firm the BJP foothold in the Valley.

When asked if the Hurriyat was a stakeholder in view of the interlocutors appointment, Nirmal Singh said: Definitely! We have not said no to anyone. Anyone can talk. But you must remember that when the Union Home Minister came here, Mehbooba Mufti wrote a letter to the Hurriyat to come forward to talk. If we were not ready to talk to them, such a letter would not have gone out. They also shut their doors to a parliamentary delegation. But, we believe this is a good opportunity and everyone should come forward for peace.

However, he ruled out talks with the militants, saying: We had also said that the talks would be held in a way they were held in (former Prime Minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayees time whoever carries a gun in his hand, it is no use to talk to him. Otherwise, the interlocutor is free to talk to everyone.

Meanwhile, on what the Centre wanted to achieve through the interlocutors appointment, Madhav said: The Home Minister cannot talk every time and that is why the Centre appointed a representative  a former IB Director and he will talk with all groups and leaders of J&K as a representative of the Government of India.

Stating that Sharma would talk to whosever came forward, he also said the Hurriyat should be asked if it was ready to talk. Madhav avoided a question on initiating talks with Pakistan.

Earlier, in the office-bearers meeting, BJP general secretary (organisation) Ashok Kaul told workers to prepare for the upcoming panchayat elections. Sources said Kaul told the workers that the panchayat elections would be announced shortly and asked them to ensure that BJP put up a good show.

Though the BJP has now claimed of enrolling over 3.3 lakh members in the Valley, the party is yet to win any election in Kashmir and the claim will be tested once a poll process takes place.
Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 28

Selection grade constable Ishfaq Ahmad Dar of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, who went missing earlier this week, is believed to have joined Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba. A resident of Heff village in militancy-infested Shopian district, he was posted at the Police Training Centre in Kathua district.

Our investigation so far suggests that Dar has joined the Lashkar ranks, a police officer in south Kashmir said.

He said Dar went missing while on leave. The police learnt about it only when his family lodged a missing person complaint. Dars picture, brandishing a gun, later surfaced on the social media.

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Investigators, who are trying to ascertain as to who motivated Dar to join the militants, have questioned his family members and friends. This is the third such incident in south Kashmir this year. Earlier, a police constable from Shopian and an Army man from Pulwama had deserted the forces.

Sources said Dar, who had joined the police in 2010, had been under the scanner for the past many months.

As he was from militancy-hit Shopian, he was shifted from Kargil to Kathua, they said. The militants have been targeting policemen, killing 27 of them in south Kashmir this year.
Raipur, October 28

Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munat has filed a complaint against state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel and senior journalist Vinod Verma for allegedly tarnishing his image through a fake sex CD.

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A case was registered on Friday evening at the Civil Lines police station here against Baghel, Verma and others under Section 67 (A) of the Information Technology Act following the ministers complaint, Station House Officer (SHO), Civil Lines, Hem Prakash Nayak said.

A copy of the CD has been submitted to the police station and it will be sent for forensic examination, he said.

Munat, considered close to Chief Minister Raman Singh, was accompanied by state BJP president Dharam Lal Kaushik, his over half-a-dozen Cabinet colleagues and other party leaders, while filing the complaint.

Talking to reporters on Friday, Munat had alleged that the CD in question was fake and urged the Chief Minister to order a probe to find the truth.

The (sex) CD is fake. It is an attempt to malign my image, he had said.

The minister further appealed to the Chief Minister and Kaushik to get the matter investigated from any agency.

On Friday, the Civil Line police had also arrested two AAP supporters for allegedly blackening Munats nameplate while protesting outside his official residence over the row.

Former BBC journalist Verma, who was arrested in connection with an extortion and blackmailing case from Ghaziabad by Chhattisgarh Police on Friday, had claimed that he had a sex CD of the Chhattisgarh minister.

The police also claimed to have recovered 500 porn CDs, a pen drive and a laptop from Verma.

A Ghaziabad court had granted Chhattisgarh Police the transit remand of Verma till October 30 and he is expected to reach Raipur this afternoon. PTI
Jitendra K Shrivastava

Tribune News Service

Patna, October 28

Five people died in Rohtas district on Saturday allegedly after consuming spurious liquor.

The sale and manufacturing of spurious liquor is prevalent in the districts bordering Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. Bihar had gone dry on April 5, 2016, though the administration is yet to completely clamp down on the sale of liquor across the state.

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Following Saturdays hooch tragedy, five police officials were suspended.

Despite harsher liquor laws in the state, the sale of liquor is still continuing and spurious liquor is manufactured, claimed locals.

The incident took place at Kachhwa Danwar in the district.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is expected to take action against the officials concerned.

After the ban on liquor last year, Gopalganj had witnessed a hooch tragedy in which 19 people had died.

Deputy inspector General of Shahabad range Mohammad Rahman said investigation in the incident was on.
By PTI: syllabus: DGHS

Bhubaneswar, Oct 28 (PTI) Director General of Health Services, Prof Jagdish Prasad today said the Central government, in consultation with the Medical Council of India (MCI), was taking steps to revise the syllabus of the MBBS course.

He said the step is being taken to ensure that the MBBS students do not require to study in great detail many aspects of medical science in which they would specialise subsequently.

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"The new syllabus may be ready in another one and half years," Prasad told reporters after addressing a public lecture on National Health Programmes at the SOA University.

"What is the need to teach a student at MBBS level 10 different surgeries when all they need is to acquire a good knowledge as to how to treat common diseases," he said and urged students to take great care in studying the subjects of anatomy, physiology and pathology for a strong foundation.

While interacting with doctors and faculty members, Prof Prasad said the issue of antibiotic resistance was a raging topic world over and the government had requested MCI to make it mandatory for every medical college to have a pharmaco vigilance committee to monitor use of antibiotics.

"Antibiotic resistance is worse than cancer as it cannot be treated and will kill," he said.

On certain diseases, Prasad said though leprosy eradication had been largely successful in most states, the problem persisted in the states of Odisha, Chhatisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand besides the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

"The government has launched a door to door campaign to identify leprosy cases and 40,000 cases had been detected after health workers had visited 40 crore houses in these identified areas," he said while delivering the lecture.

"In Odisha, 5100 new cases had been identified," he said.

Prasad said Odisha, along with Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand and Meghalaya, accounted for 80 per cent of malaria cases even as the government had drawn up a plan to eliminate the vector-borne disease in the country by 2025.

"Odisha accounts for 40 per cent of the malaria cases and we aim to reduce the incidence in the country by one-third this year," he said.

Pointing out that diabetes, hypertension, stroke, chronic obstructive lung disease and cancer were the five non-communicable ailments that accounted for around 60 per cent of deaths in the world, Prasad said most of these diseases could be kept at arm?s length only through healthy habits and lifestyle.

"Regular exercise, yoga and abstinence from smoking and alcohol could help a person to avoid such non-communicable diseases," he said. PTI AAM RG KKB

--- ENDS ---

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Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 28

Two weeks after the Supreme Court referred the issue of restriction on entry of women of menstruating age to the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala to a Constitution Bench, an 85-year-old man from the state has demanded that half the judges on the Bench hearing the matter should be women.

In an intervention application filed in the top court, S Parameswaran Nampoothiri  a resident of Kurichithanam in Kottayam -- sought to highlight poor representation of women in the Supreme Court which has had only six women out of 229 judges since 1950.

He said if it was not possible to have 50% women judges on the Constitution Bench hearing Sabarimala Temple case, a specially constituted Jury comprising people of eminence like retired judges, historians, writers, etc., should be constituted with a mandate to decide it in a time-bound manner.

The top court is seized of a PIL against the age-old tradition of keeping women of menstruating age (10-50 years) out of the famous Sabarimala Ayyappa temple  one of the holiest Hindu shrines  situated on a hilltop in Kerala. The tradition is rooted in the belief that the deity is a celibate (Naisthik Brahmachari).

The Kerala government and the Travancore Devaswam Board that manages the temple had supported the restriction. But the Kerala government later changed its stand and supported the petitioner.

The petitioner has contended that the restriction violated womens right to practise religion that included right of entry and worship.

Travancore Devaswam Board maintained that there were several conflicting verdicts on Article 25 (right to religion) and Article 26 (a religious denominations right), which needed to be reconciled and given a harmonious construction.

Senior counsel KK Venugopal, who represented the temple before becoming the Attorney General, had said a plain reading of Articles 25 and 26 made it clear that religious denominations had a superior right under the Constitution as unlike citizens right to religion a religious denominations right was not subject to other fundamental rights.

Venogopal had told the court that it was a question of religious diversity and mentioned the name of Attukal Bhagavathy Temple in Kerala where men are not allowed. He sought to emphasise that there was no blanket ban on women.

A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra had on October 13 said it involved important questions of law, religion and custom that should be decided by the Constitution Bench.

The important issues to be considered and decided by the Constitution Bench included if the entry ban amounted to discrimination; if it was essential to manage the administration of the shrine and if Rule 3 of Kerala Hindu Places of Religious Worship Act was ultra vires of the Constitution.

The SC had allowed intervention applications filed by over a dozen individuals and organisations, including Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Chandrashekar, who wanted to be heard in the matter.

They said the courts ruling in the Sabarimala case would have a bearing on all religious denominations across India, and therefore, it was important for the court to hear it in detail.
New Delhi, October 28

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba on Friday emphasized the need for the Indian Navy to remain outcome oriented in all endeavours, both at sea and ashore.

Chairing the four-day Naval Commanders' Conference here, Admiral Lanba stressed focus on four key areas: Combat Capability and Role- Worthiness', Ensuring Primacy of Core Professional Tasks',

Develop a Motivated, Trained and Committed Team' and Increase Familiarity and Comfort in IN's Maritime Areas of Interest'.

Sharing his views on the current security scenario and emphasized the need for the Indian Navy to remain outcome oriented in all endeavours, both at sea and ashore.

During the conference, which concluded here on Friday, the senior leadership of Navy reviewed major operations, training and administrative activities undertaken in the last six months.

On Thursday, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed and interacted with the Naval Commanders, which was also attended by senior MoD officials.

She reviewed the combat readiness of the Navy, pace of modernisation and progress of various acquisition and infrastructure related cases.

She complimented the Indian Navy for maintaining a high operational tempo, ensuring the maritime security of the country and sustained efforts in support of the Make in India' and Digital India' initiatives of the Government.

Sitharaman brought out that it was a matter of pride that all 34 warships presently under construction were being built indigenously. She also complimented the Navy on the successful conduct of tri-lateral exercise MALABAR 17' and informed the Commanders that during the recently concluded ADMM Plus, keen interest was evinced by various ASEAN nations in exercising with the Indian Navy, which spoke highly of the IN's professional standing and competence.

The Commanders also had an opportunity to interact with the Chiefs of the Indian Army and Indian Air Force (IAF).

Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog also interacted with the Commanders and gave his perspective on Make in India' with specific reference to building a vibrant defence industrial base, which would be pivotal in spurring the manufacturing sector growth and make India an export oriented economy.

As part of the annual theme, the Commanders brainstormed to fine tune the execution of mission based deployment' involving ships, aircraft and submarines beyond the immediate neighbourhood for providing sustained presence in the Indian Ocean Region.

The Commanders resolved to focus efforts on the Navy's ability to deploy and sustain in tandem with the new Mission-based deployment concept, which would result in greater presence and visibility in Indian Ocean Region.  ANI
Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, October 28

Vrindavan and Barsana, said to be the birthplaces of Krishna and Radha, have been declared the first official pavitra tirth-sthals (sacred pilgrimage centres) in Uttar Pradesh resulting in a ban on meat and liquor sale.

According to an Uttar Pradesh government notification on Friday, Vrindavan and Barsana in Mathura district are now officially sacred pilgrim places on government record.

According to Principal Secretary, Religious Affairs, Avinish Awasthi, selling of liquor and meat would be prohibited here on the lines of Haridwar, which is now in Uttarakhand.

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According to the UP government spokesperson, the two places were declared sacred pilgrim centres considering their pauranic (mythological) importance as well as their significance as tourist centres where lakhs of pilgrims from India and abroad come visiting.

The spokesperson said Vrindavan in Mathura is world famous as the birthplace of Krishna and the playground of his elder brother Balram. Similarly, Barsana was said to be the playground of Radha.

Following the state government notification the relevant government departments of general administration, home, excise, food and drug administration and urban development have been asked to take all necessary steps.

The newly constituted Brij Tirth Vikas Parishad headed by retired IPS officer Shailjakant Mishra had also advocated for Goverdhan, Nandgaon and Gokul to be declared sacred pilgrim centres besides Vrindavan and Barsana.

It is expected that this would be done in the next stage.

The decision comes on the day local urban bodies elections were declared. The Yogi government has recently merged the Vrindavan and Mathura municipal boards to create the Mathura municipal corporation which would be electing its first mayor on November 22.
New Delhi, October 28

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called for a debate on internal democracy in political parties, asserting that the growth of true democratic spirit within them is necessary for the countrys future.

Modi made these remarks in a brief speech to the media at a Diwali Milan event at the BJP headquarters as he pointed out that funding to political parties is often debated but not their values, ideologies, internal democracy and how they give opportunities to the new generation of leaders.

The country, he said, is not much aware of the practice of democracy within parties and the media should turn its attention to it, he said.

Whether democratic values are a part of their (parties) core values or not, should be debated widely....I believe the development of a true democratic spirit within political parties is necessary not only for the countrys future but also for democracy, he said.

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Though the Prime Minister made no reference to any rival party, his comments come against the backdrop of reports that the Congress may elevate its vice president Rahul Gandhi as president in place of Sonia Gandhi.

The BJP has often accused the Congress of practising dynasty politics and juxtaposed that with the rise of its party workers to top echelons to project itself as a party with a difference.

Modi also acknowledged that there are many voices within the BJP as he noted that when it was a small organisation earlier or during the times of Jana Sangh, its forerunner, there used to be ideological harmony from its central leadership down to workers in the bottom rung.

The partys expansion might be a reason behind divergent views, he said.

He also praised the media for its support to Swachh Bharat (Clean India) project, saying it had spoken in one voice over the issue even if it might have been critical of the government over other matters.

The media has joined the scheme in mission mode, he said, adding that the country had still a long way to go to achieve international standards of cleanliness but the campaign had built an atmosphere in its favour.

On the occasion, the Prime Minister also made some light remarks recalling his initial days as a party office-bearer in its headquarters when at times he had to look for journalists and fondly remembered his regular interactions with the media.

He said both the ruling party and the media might have expectations as well complaints from each other but they had to get along happily amid these differences.

In his remarks, BJP chief Amit Shah noted that Diwali marked the beginning of the new year in Gujarat, a state from where he hailed, and said the country had met various challenges successfully during the last year and moved ahead under the Modi government.

We are entering the new year with a lot of positivity, he said. PTI
Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 27

India and Italy will pick up the threads of official bilateral dialogue after a decade on Monday. Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni accompanied by First Lady Emanuela Mauro Gentiloni will arrive on a state visit in Delhi on Sunday morning.

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The last visit of an Italian head of state to India was in February 2007.

Strengthening political and economic ties in a changed global environment and normalising relations post the Italian marines controversy will be key during the visit.

The bilateral relationship hit a low and went into deep freeze after two Italian marines onboard the vessel MV Enrica Lexie were arrested by India on charges of killing two fishermen and endangering lives of nine others off the coast of Kerala on February 15, 2012.

The marines argued that they shot the fishermen in self defence mistaking them to be armed pirates, and the incident occurred on international waters outside of Indian jurisdiction, which Delhi disputes. The two marines after being under house arrest for two and four years were allowed to return to Italy on health grounds while the matter is pending in the apex court as well as The Permanent Court of Arbitration in Hague.

As per sources, Italy had even sought a third country trial which when turned down, it objected to Indias membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group at the Plenary session in Seoul in 2016.

The European Union Summit had been derailed too following diplomatic tension between India and Italy over the marines issue. Gentilonis visit offers a chance to reset ties. He will hold official talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and also deliver a public address at a think tank event before his departure from Delhi.

Gentiloni will be accompanied by a 15-member Italian CEOs delegation.

Italy is Indias fifth largest trading partner in European Union with bilateral trade at $8.79 billion in 2016-17. Over 600 Italian companies are operating in India in various sectors, including fashion, garments, textile, automotive, automotive components industry, infrastructure, chemicals, energy, confectionery, insurance.

A number of Indian companies are also present in Italy mainly in IT, electronics, engineering, automotive, pharmaceuticals and railway sectors. Italy is the 13th largest investor in India with cumulative investments worth $ 2.41 billion over the period April 2000 -- June 2017.

Terrorism, the global fight against ISIS, security situation in Afghanistan with Italy as a NATO member and Indias membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group will also figure in talks among other issues.

There are some 180,000 Indians in Italy, the third largest diaspora population in EU after UK and Netherlands.
Washington, October 28

The US is looking at a working-level quadrilateral meeting in the near term with India, Japan and Australia and offer countries in the Indo-Pacific region an alternative to predatory financing or unsustainable debt, the Trump Administration has said.

The US on Friday came out in support of the Japanese move in this regard, which was revealed early this week by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono in an interview to Nikkei business daily, by asserting that the quadrilateral group is a natural stepping stone from the very productive trilateral conversations, exercises, and cooperation it has had with Japan and Australia.

Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice G Wells told reporters here that she expects the first of those meeting at the working level to be held fairly soon, which includes her counterparts in India, Japan and Australia.

Responding to questions, Wells refuted reports that such a move is aimed at containing China.

But she did referred to predatory financing a term increasingly being used by the US for Chinas developmental and assistance model to the countries in the region, as being on the agenda of the four countries  India, US, Japan and Australia.

I think its hard to see a meeting of diplomats from four countries as a plan to contain China, said Wells, who accompanied the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on his maiden trip to South Asia  Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

The quadrilateral is a natural expression and convergence of interests between democratic countries in the Indo-Pacific region and its a natural stepping stone from the very productive trilateral conversations, exercises, and cooperation between India, Japan, and the US, she said.

The countries that share values have an opportunity to provide alternatives to countries in the region who are seeking needed investment in their infrastructure and in their economic development, and so making sure that we coordinate our initiatives and provide these countries with alternatives that dont include predatory financing or unsustainable debt, that would certainly be on the agenda, Wells said.

The quadrilateral that the Japanese foreign minister discussed would be building on what has been a very productive trilateral that we have with India and Japan, and if you look at the largest military exercise that we do, Malabar, Japan is a part of that exercise, she said.

As we explore ways to deepen and try to inculcate some of the values  freedom of navigation, maritime security, humanitarian assistance, disaster response, transparency  Australia would be a natural partner in that effort as well, she said.

Were looking at a working-level quadrilateral meeting in the near term, but I think the idea is how do we bring together countries that share these same values to reinforce these values in the global architecture, the top American diplomat said.

Wells said the quadrilateral is a positive vision.

As Secretary of Defense (Jim) Mattis said, two weeks ago, there are many belts and many roads. So what does the US have to offer? What does the US, Japan, Australia, other countries, India, other countries that share the values of transparency, sustainable debt, responsible development  what do we have to offer, she noted.

This is not to counter something; it is a positive vision of what important democracies in the Indo-Pacific region should be doing and how these four countries can work better together.

How do we work with one another, the countries of the region, to make sure that our development projects are mutually reinforcing, and how do we build on connectivity so that there is an alternative and very sustainable initiative that can address legitimate development needs of these countries? she said. PTI
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 28

The DNA samples of the families of eight men, who are missing in Iraq since 2014, were collected at Government Medical College (GMC) here today.

College Principal Dr Tejbir Singh said two samples each of up to three members per family were taken. Forty-two samples were collected as two families had less than three members available today. One sample per person would be sent to Mohali and the other to the External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi. The latter would send these to Iraq, where the DNA tests would be conducted, he added.

The families had visited the college on Monday too, but the samples could not be taken due to the non-availability of kits. The college received 100 kits yesterday.

Of the 39 Indians missing in Iraq, mostly Punjabis, eight are from Amritsar. The college authorities said the kin of persons from other districts were expected to give samples in the coming days.
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 28

The DNA samples of family members of eight persons, who went missing in Iraq in 2014, were collected at Government Medical College here on Saturday.

College principal Dr Tejbir Singh said two samples each from up to a maximum of three family members would be collected.

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The purpose of taking two samples from each person is that one would be sent to Mohali and the second to External Affairs Ministry in Delhi which would fly these to Iraq where the DNA tests would be conducted, Dr Tejbir said.

Though the families had visited the college last Monday too, but due to non-availability of the kits the samples could not be taken. The college had received 100 sample kits yesterday.

Majority of the 39 missing Indians are Punjabis and of them eight are from Amritsar and one from Tarn Taran.

The college authorities stated that the families from other districts of the state are expected to visit the facility in coming days to give their samples.
B.N. Goswamy

The Maharaja of Indore came to the studio (in Paris) to be photographed, also in Western clothes  sack suits and formal evening dress. He was young, tall and very elegant. I got a substantial order from this sitting. Next year, the Maharaja was in the South of France with his young bride. He had taken an entire floor of a hotel in Cannes for himself and his retinue. I arrived in Cannes before noon, was assigned to my room in the suite  The Maharanee was an exquisite girl in her teens. She wore French clothes, and a huge emerald ring. The Maharaja had bought it for her that morning while taking a walk. The next day I was asked to bring my camera to their suite  to make a series of photographs that would be a record of their honeymoon. First, I had to play some jazz to which the subjects danced, and then they sat down holding hands. I made a few exposures, after which I suggested that they pose separately for individual portraits.  Man Ray

The notes are those by Man Ray, that provocative American master of experimental and fashion photography  also a painter, a filmmaker, a poet, an essayist  who had made Paris his home in the 1920s and 1930s and was greatly sought after. And the person who sought him out, and whom Man Ray described in his autobiography in the words above, was the young Maharaja of Indore, Yeshwant Rao Holkar (1908-1961). At home in India, the Maharaja bore the title Maharajadhiraj Raj Rajeshwar Sawai Shri Sir Yeshwant Rao II Holkar XIV Bahadur, and the royal bride described by Man Ray was Maharani Shrimant Akhand Soubhagyavati Sanyogita Bai Holkar. There are painted portraits of the young Maharaja dressed and looking most elegant in typical Marathi style, with the Holkar-cut turban on his head. But in Paris the royals were simply a young couple: dressed in western clothes, soaking themselves in the haut monde of the western world, maintaining there a stable that was the envy of the racing fraternity, buying the most exotic of cars then being made. The biographers of the Maharaja all make special note of the fact that the cars that he owned were designed by himself and finished in Art Deco style with many great features. A different setting almost meant a different persona for the Maharaja and the Maharani.

All this reminds one of course of another much-travelled ruler of an Indian State, and his passion for everything French, including naturally the city of Paris  Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala  but that is another story. One needs to get back here to Indore and to Man Ray, who once famously said: I paint what cannot be photographed, and I photograph what l do not wish to paint. The artist was greatly interested in taking portraits, whether informal or staged. When, in one of his more famous portraits  that of Yeshwant Rao Holkar  he saw the possibility of rendering a celebrity who sometimes assumed a persona not originally his own, he showed the England-educated Maharaja in a fashionable pose with crossed arms and a slight torsion of the body, looking away from the viewer, but bearing an almost imperceptible smile. Strong lighting was pressed into service, creating a bright halo around the figure but also a crisp shadow that blended with the Maharajas clothing. As a critic noted, and a gallery note emphasizes, Man Rays strength as a portraitist consisted of the simultaneous ability to let the sitters display their presence and bedazzle us with their significance, their long afterglow.

The young Maharajas persona was not captured, however, only in photographs: having developed a taste for modern art, and being a patron of the arts in any case, he also sat for painters in Paris, including for Bernard Boutet de Monvel who, a bit like Man Ray, was several things rolled into one: sculptor, engraver, fashion illustrator, interior decorator and a portrait painter for high society clients. Clearly, de Monvel was greatly attracted to the Maharajas personality: incredibly refined and poised as he was even though only 21 at that time. He made several studies for the portrait, some preparatory sketches on drawing paper marked with a grid pattern having survived. Once again, both in the drawing, and the finished painting in which the Maharaja stands, next to a large mantelpiece, dressed in the western fashion of tail coat and white tie, with a black evening cape, there is a concern for capturing in full measure the elegance of the subject  in particular the delicate taper of the fingers of his hands  and his supreme serenity of manner. One sees that it comes off.

Were there more Maharajas who travelled to Paris and were fascinated by the city falling head over heels in love with it? There must have been many, even though to be exact one will have to study and research. Meanwhile, speaking of fascinations, there is this delicious tidbit to chew on. It is reported that the cousin of the ruling emir of Qatar, Sheikh Saoud bin al-Thani, sees himself as an avatar of the Indore Maharaja we have been speaking of: Yeshwant Rao Holkar II.
Eesha Duggal

Not long ago, the unusualness of unmarried at 30 was second only to 30 and having no kids. Over time, such quintessential expectations of society, to a slight extent, have lowered. From seeing the disintegration of joint families to growing up in nuclear ones and then finally landing somewhere away from home all by themselves, many millennials have started looking for companionship beyond the conventional bonds of marriage and children. An emerging breed of these millennial parents is adopting an alternative lifestyle by bringing home dogs to fulfil their need for love and having a family.

The pooch family

The transience of romance and the growing view that marriage is becoming an obsolete institution is making many young urban men and women invest their love in a four-legged companion that guarantees total acceptance and no judgement. And those who do find the courage to overcome this mindset and opt for matrimony, many of these millennial couples are eschewing parenthood by being the full-time caretakers of easy-on-the patience tail-waggers.

Dogs are a perennial source of love, comedy, joy, and loyalty. They possess the power to uplift our moods and alleviate our sorrows. If being a dog parent has its delights, there are many challenges as well.

Shehzada Sodhi, who belongs to Chandigarh, works in a PR firm in Noida. He is true-blue canine lover, I feel better with my dogs than I do with people. Shehzada has been living in Noida for 11 years. Away from home, his new family consists of seven dogs, who he has adopted over a period of three years.

I have had to shift houses frequently because everywhere I go, neighbours feel inconvenienced. But its okay. I dont mind that I have to spend most of my salary on them, that not many people visit me and that I cant go anywhere, not even home. All I care for are my pooches and I am committed to taking care of them. Theres no joy like being with them. Who else can have your back like that? asks the 37-year-old with utmost sincerity. All my seven kids  Aunty, Leo, Bhim, Naughty, Rodo, Didi and Daddy  are vaccinated and neutered, he says.

The woofie tots

In addition to the unconditional love that they shower on us, dogs have been leading by example by offering many qualities to learn from. Every day I come across obstacles and difficult people. When that happens, I always think of how my dogs deal with stress. They bark, they growl, and eventually they just go play. I always take time in my life to go play and experience natures beauty, says Tina Nieri, whos sharing her house and heart with her four beloved dogs. Originally from the US, Tina has been staying in Chandigarh for a year and has started Peedus People, an organisation that helps street dogs.

Love is not specific to a species. Because I am vegan, I see all creatures as the same. I am a self-sufficient woman. Early in life, my dad taught me that I need to know how to change a car tyre, that I must find a way to do things on my own and that no one is stronger or better than me just because hes a man. I followed that advice and have lived happily since. My dogs trust me for taking care of them. My own pets and many street dogs are my responsibility. I get to love and mother them just like my children, says Tina.

Doggysitters

Since many dog parents are professionals and stay out for hours, restless pets, home alone, unleash their energy on tearing socks, digging holes in the backyard, madly sprinting around the house or just sitting sad and waiting for their parents return. Realising that pets are like little kids that need attention at all times, pet care centres and boardings have opened up in big cities.

Alfa 11 is a pet care centre in Gurugram that has been training and boarding dogs in the NCR for 25 years. We always have a minimum of 20 dogs at the centre. Every morning, we pick up pets from their homes and drop them in the evening. We have a grooming centre, swimming pool, agility ground and equipment centre. Theres also a facility for cage-free home boarding. Alfa 11 has full-time dog behaviourists, caretakers, walkers and groomers to make dogs feel at home, says Rakesh Purohit, manager, Alfa 11.

With many animal enthusiasts choosing this line of work, pet owners can spend guiltless hours at work without having to worry about their significant other.

Moody canines

Even when they make our world better and fill the vacuum of our solo lives, pets are sometimes, unfortunately, left to fend for themselves. Common reasons behind the step can be behavioural problems such as biting and aggression, or that the parents are shifting.

Forsaken and out on the streets all by themselves, the once-domesticated dogs are not only subject to hostility of people, attack by other animals and road accidents, but also loneliness and an inconceivable sense of loss. Scared and depressed, they search for their family everywhere, stop eating and worst, die a lonely death. In more humane partings, pets are left to the care of other people. In both circumstances, dogs undergo intense separation anxiety.

Inder Sandhu, honorary animal welfare officer from the Animal Welfare Board of India, says such behavioural problems can be corrected. Biting and aggression can be corrected by spaying and neutering, excessive barking by exercise and shock collars and inappropriate elimination by crate training, he explains.

For all the times they have been caught red-pawed filling our lives with absolute abundance, our furry children qualify for not just extreme care, but perhaps our last name too. How about a nameplate?

Lets paws

As pets replace conventional family, animal lovers do not have to cut down on their social activities or family outings. Many like-minded people and various companies are offering a variety of facilities and services that you can enjoy with your four-legged kids

Pet cafes

Cafe Joshua in Pune and PuppyChino Cafe in New Delhi, among a few others in the country, let pet parents and their kids do the munching under one public roof.

Corporate care

Start-ups like Chumbak and Pagalguy have in-house animal staff, whose work profile consists of taking hugs and snoozing under the desks. The firms also allow employees to bring their pets to work. CollarFolk, a start-up, facilitates people plan and book holidays with pets. It also gives 10 days leave to its employees when they adopt a pet. Digital marketing firm Gozoop gives a special annual pet allowance to employees for various things like vet visit, training, grooming, vaccinations or even pet sitting. Employees at tea retail chain Chaayos can work from home or take leave in case their pets are sick. Heads Up For Tails, an online shopping portal for dog products, has introduced up to two days' pet sick leave annually for all its employees. Bengaluru-based Timeforpet, an online pet shop, gives up to seven days of 'pawternity' leave to its employees, who have submitted their pet documents

Appy world

PetPhone, a mobile app, enables owners of more than one pet to create profile of each animal and feed in information like their weight, medication, vet appointments etc. Pet First Aid guides owners through articles and videos about what to do in case of medical emergencies.

'Baraati' with tail

Online pet products portal Heads Up For Tails has recently launched 'baraati' collection, which includes sherwanis, kurtas etc, for poochs to ensure they also feel special during weddings.
The BJP observers in the state see a clear-cut divide in the influential Patel community and thus rule out any jolt to the BJP in the polls.

By Rakesh Ranjan: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has chalked up its strategy to counter the rhetoric of Patel-Patidar votes slipping out of its kitty in the high-voltage Gujarat Assembly elections .

The BJP observers in the state see a clear-cut divide in the influential Patel community and thus rule out any jolt to the BJP in the polls. Party leaders believe that a strong organisational set up in the state would help BJP wrest power for the sixth consecutive term as they also argued that the BJP would reap benefits of the recently commissioned Sardar Sarovar Dam.

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A BJP leader overseeing poll preparations in Gujarat said a large section of Patel community was engaged in various trade, including educational institutions that came up during the last five regimes of the BJP government. For most part of this period, the state was ruled by the Narendra Modi-led government. It is essentially for this reason that the Patels could not afford to elect a weak government in the state, the leader claimed. Gujarat has over 52 universities out of which only seven are run by the government, while nearly 45 private universities are owned by the Patels.

"Privatisation of education is one of the policies associated with the Narendra Modi regime in Gujarat and the community (Patel) knows the advantage of having a BJP-government in the state. Apart from these universities, a number of leaders from Patel community run schools and others institutions," the BJP leader maintained. The BJP sources cited examples like Ganpat University in Mehsana district owned by former BJP Minister Anil Patel and his family, while a number of educational institutes in Kalol are also owned by a prominent Patel community leader. Other private universities owned by the Patel community are Nirma University in Ahmedabad, DD Desai University in Nadiad, Charusat University in Anand and Navrachna University in Vadodara.

The BJP observers working in Gujarat from different parts of the country were also optimistic of the party getting benefited by the Sardar Sarovar Dam.

Notwithstanding protests arising due to displacement of certain sections, party leaders claimed that benefits from the project are immense. Official estimates claim that nearly 18.45 lakh hectare land is projected to be irrigated by this water - a very large area by any standards. While the Narmada water will increase agricultural production to the tune of about 87 lakh tonne per annum, it will also provide drinking water to 9,500 villages and 173 towns of Gujarat.

Most of the areas covered are drought-prone and parched. However, the BJP has deployed a strong team of workers at every level to defy anti-incumbency and communicate government's achievements to the voters. The party claims to have appointed more than seven lakh in-charge of each page of electoral rolls at booth level who will be primarily responsible for bringing voters to the polling stations. The party hopes to continue its dominance of more than 60 urban and semi-urban seats that will play a crucial role in BJP's victory.

The BJP's last loss in Gujarat Assembly elections came in 1990. From 1995, over five elections, the BJP got a majority on its own.

--- ENDS ---

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Poonam Datta

Thomas Babington Macaulays Minute of 1835 spoke of spending a lakh of rupees for the introduction of English literature and teaching of English language to Indians. This momentous minute was shaped by a colonial conviction which mainly served the purpose of providing clerks to British administrators. The colonial anxiety to perpetuate the Raj through English language and literature led to a textual construction of Bengali babus, ridiculing their English accent and their Western education. The emphasis in colonial writings was on the teaching of English language to Indians with active collaborations of administrators, scholars, missionaries, which contributed to the process of the consolidation of the British Empire. Macaulays famous quote a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature succeeded in perpetuating the myth of white mans burden and the civilising mission of British rule in India.

A shaky beginning

The colonial mission extended, Gauri Viswanathan observes, to the spheres of literature, cultural and moral negation of the indigenous history, conventions and traditions. Though literary critics attribute the introduction of the English literary text to numerous factors but Viswanathan says, the English literary text, functioning as a surrogate Englishman in his highest and most perfect state, becomes a mask for economic exploitation, so successfully camouflaging the material activities of the coloniser. She explains that the traditional Indian literature was considered to be too sensual for Indian students when the curriculum was devised for them.

Embracing the alphabets

It is perhaps worth noting that in the 19th and 20th centuries, it was the English language that offered an opportunity for Indians to translate the indigenous literature into English. English as a language of literary expression had already enticed the Western educated Indians. It was mainly from this vantage point, Indians turned to their classical literature and religious texts, but they also wrote in English and read English classics. Babu Kashiprasad Ghosh, Sochee Chunder Dutt, Toru Dutt, Bankim Chandra, Sri Aurobindo and Rabindranath Tagore among others wrote both in English and in Bengali.

A medium of protest

Nineteenth-century reform movements, inspired by Western education and thought, invoked Indian cultural traditions and moved towards a synthesis of indigenous cultural narratives and marked a confrontation with Western culture and colonisation. The vernacular intellectual movement influenced by Western aesthetics and philosophy formed an alternative narrative of difference, contest and protest. In such circumstances, the publication and dramatisation of Neel Darpan in 1860 provides a strident antidote to colonial narratives and forms the core of the anti-colonial stance.

A literary portrayal of nationalism in diverse forms, languages and approaches, shaped by different ideologies, represented cultural unity in literary works. The colonial state came down heavily on the so-called inflammatory texts and literature, which were proscribed. Many printing presses were shut down in the process. During such tumultuous times, contradictory trends emerged. Munshi Prem Chand, a renowned Urdu and Hindi writer, appreciated Hugos Les Miserables and novels of Tolstoy and Dickens as works of literature having immense literary significancenot lost their charm even today. But Mulk Raj Anand, RK Narayan, Sarojini Naidu and Raja Rao began to focus on contemporary Indian situations, social reality and Indian scenes in fiction, drama and poetry. Herein lay the origins of Indian writing in English.

The spirit of nationalism was inescapable in Indian writing in English. Though EM Forster wrote that poets in India cannot be separated from politics, he identifies several nuances of cultural influences: A cultivated Indian writer has more than one language lying ready to his pen, and he will select that which is appropriate to his subject matter, and even to the state of his mind, if a Muslim is conciliating Hindus, he will certainly write in Urdu, which is becoming their common speech and which further more contains a Sanskrit element, within limits variable. The Hindu will conversely write in Hindi, which resembles Urdu, though not in script, in vocabulary. Kipling, Forster, Edward Thompson, Orwell, Maud Diver, Flora Annie Steel, Travers, and many others engaged with India and Indian themes. In 1920, Forster critiqued Iqbals Asrar-i-Khudi (Secret of The Self, translated by AR Nicolson), his concept of the Superman inspired by German thinkers. He said: For Philosophy of the West Iqbal sure has an eye. Gandhi too had acknowledged the influence of Tolstoy and Ruskin on his thought.

Reality as part of fiction

In the age of uncertainty, unrest and violence Edmund Candler, a journalist and a novelist, principal of Mohindra College, Patiala, wrote a novel Sri Ram: Revolutionist. He interrogates the cultural ideals and knowledge embedded in the English text institutionalised by the British in India for Indian students.

In the novel, Skene, the principal of the college, has been teaching English literature to students for over five years. Skene questions the relevance of English literature to Indian students, the spirit of Adonais was tortured and expired in his presence every day and he was a paid accessory. Skenes frustration in the teaching of English literature is not merely political but cultural as the natives, according to him, were unable to appreciate and understand the language and its imagery. He writes about his Indian students: The modern books they read must have been incomprehensible even if they could have had enough English to appreciate the subtleties of meaning. They read wantonness into the badinage of Lamb. Thackeray sinned by condoning too much. Shelley and Keats were frank sensualists. Even Stevenson in his canoe shocked them, forever waving his handkerchief at unknown maidens on the bank. Nor could fiction, romantic or realistic, have any point for them, as it offered a criticism of an existence as remote from their own as cobwebs in the moon. The mischief of it was, as critics of education were always pointing out, that the books bore no conceivable relation with the students life.

The question of racial exclusiveness falls asunder when Skene comes to know that a Hindu has annotated the English classic and the students rely on the notes prepared by the native to understand English literature. This was not all. Sri Ram, the main protagonist was represented as having spent just a few minutes on Ode to Nightingale. Candlers novel demonstrates the colonial anxieties and tensions that informed the colonial project of English literature in India. The native was placed in an ambiguous position in this frame. It is in such contexts that Indians were connected with the imperial project of English language and literature.

Contemporary version

Independent India nurtured a strong tradition of English literature and language. Various universities and colleges became the leading centers where scholars and students have kept the tradition alive. Research in English literature inevitably connects with European philosophical aesthetics and thought. However, some new trends have reshaped the idea of English literature. Students grapple with various emerging and perplexing theoretical frameworks traversing over the centuries. These frameworks mainly draw on the European tradition, originating with Greek literature together with the Renaissance, as well as reading of the English text in British history and social and political life. In addition, European philosophers and Anglo-European critics too have made interventions in universities curriculum. Simultaneously, a few American authors were also introduced in the 1960s.

Another trend is the incorporation of African, Spanish, Afro-American, Latin American literature together with voices from the margins and epics into the curriculum after decolonisation. In universities, translated works of regional and vernacular writers continue to enrich and expand the scope of higher research. Thus, in contemporary times, for the students of humanities and social sciences, the inclusion of cultural and literary texts in the curriculum and imagination is of critical importance. The regional fiction, drama and poetry have become hallmarks of new literary studies, which tend to reject the cultural hegemony of English language.

Importance of critique

From the 1990s, the term Indian Writing in English acquired immense significance. Currently, many research scholars have taken up research work on contemporary Indian writers writing in English. Most of these authors emerged in the 1990s and many regional writers are being resurrected but critical readings on their works are not easily available.

The colonial agenda framed a policy which introduced English literature in a systematic and logical manner, yet there were flaws in the project. The post-colonial impulse to introduce vernacular texts has some limitations too. These texts often restrict themselves to a mechanical appropriation of Western aesthetics and philosophical frameworks at the expense of critical thinking, analysis and rigor. The challenges are many. In many North-Indian universities, the number of students pursuing higher research in English literature is dwindling.

Words for one and all

Literature has no boundaries and to restrict it to definite categories would be limiting and detrimental to the growth of students of literature and social sciences. An open-ended dialogue between different types of literature and literary theories is required to shape the critical thinking of younger minds. In the end, a conversation across disciplines  literature, philosophy, psychology, criticism, culture and psychology  will make the difference.
Azhar Qadri in Srinagar & Amir Karim Tantray in Jammu

Azhar Qadri in Srinagar & Amir Karim Tantray in Jammu

In politics silence can imperil reconciliation and pull governments further away from people. In Kashmir, the pause has been allowed to continue far too long, eclipsing a wide shade of opinion with a cloak of secrecy and dangerous procrastination.

The Modi governments surprise appointment of former Intelligence Bureau chief, Dineshwar Sharma, as its representative for sustained dialogue can rekindle openness and honesty of purpose, provided there are no traditional ifs and buts. In a departure from their habit and tradition, Kashmiri separatists have chosen not to comment, issue a statement, or in more straight words, reject the initiative.

The task assigned to Sharma, whose rendezvous with Kashmir began in 1992 when he was first sent to the region  then home to uncontrollable insurgency  as an assistant director of Intelligence Bureau, is different and more challenging than his previous works.

His new task as the representative of the Modi government is complex as radical street sentiment and militant voices are overshadowing the political spectrum within the maze of separatist structure. It is a mission which many governments in the past have failed to accomplish. The factors have been relations between India and Pakistan, a volatile regional balance, a hardline opposition at home, and also the lack of will to get the things moving.

Noor Mohammad Baba, a former professor of political science, says Sharmas appointment is indicative of New Delhis willingness to go beyond security measures. There is admission in New Delhi that only security measures havent helped them and there is a need for going beyond that, he said.

A good half-start for Sharmas mission is the positive pro-dialogue signals that have emerged so far from the separatist camp. The significant messaging came in a corrigendum from a faction of separatist amalgam headed by Syed Ali Geelani on June 10. It regretted inclusion of tripartite talks as a translation error, which reduced the core part of previous days statement to negotiations are the only option.

When Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced Sharmas appointment, he left substantial hints that the process has not been initiated out of nothing. He made references to his own visits to Kashmir, including the one in September which lasted four days, and to Prime Minister Narendra Modis August 15 speech that talked about hugging the people of Kashmir.

The talk of possibility of talks between the Centre and separatists, and also with Islamabad, had first surfaced in spring of 2015 when Syed Ali Geelani returned from New Delhi to a welcome rally at home. The states PDP-BJP alliance government, then headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, had allowed it. It was a first major separatist rally in Srinagar in almost half a decade and had coincided with the brief release of Masarat Alam, a firebrand deputy of Geelani.

In the midst of a major standoff between Geelani and a splinter militant group based in north Kashmir later that year, a new and surprise formation of separatist conglomerate came into being which named itself the Joint Resistance Leadership  headed by a separatist troika.

The fate of Sharmas Kashmir mission effectively depends on the Joint Resistance Leadership, a conglomerate of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Yasin Malik and Geelani. It is these three separatists who have been consistently calling for dialogue. In their joint statement on September 15  the troika was allowed to meet for the first time in nine month  they had said that they were never against a sincere, meaningful and result-oriented dialogue process among the three parties to the dispute. (We see) it as a means of conflict resolution, they said.

Even as New Delhi was working on an option of dialogue during the past months, it adopted the carrot-and-stick approach by launching a major counter-insurgency operation and also ordering a crackdown on mid-rungs of separatist structure by authorizing the National Investigation Agency to probe terror financing. The investigation has effectively kept the mobilisers within separatist group out of circulation and rendered the top leaders ineffective and vulnerable.

The interlocutor will also have to make a careful balancing act as he talks to various stakeholders of clashing and competing ideologies. In plains of Jammu division, where the mostly Hindu population favours a complete merger with the Union of India and wants thecontentious Article 370 to be removed, the sentiments clash with the dominant idea in Kashmir.

Thrice in 17 years

Before appointment of Dineshwar Sharma, thrice such a step was taken by New Delhi, aimed at addressing the K-issue.

KC Pant, the first interlocutor (2001-2002)

An MP for 26 years, he was appointed interlocutor by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to break the ice in the Valley. Pant faced difficult times as none from the separatist group agreed to talk. Shabir Ahmed Shah, who was not associated with Hurriyat then, met the New Delhis point man. The process was shelved because of Hurriyats cold shoulder.

NN Vohra, second interlocutor (2003-2008)

A former bureaucrat, who is currently J&K Governor, was appointed by the Vajpayee-led govt in February 2003 with the aim to bring separatists on board, which he successfully did. The then deputy PM, LK Advani, held talks with moderate faction of Hurriyat led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq but the same were stalled by Pakistan and their proxies. Vohras five-year stint as J&K interlocutor till June 25, 2008, when he was given the new role as J&K Governor to stabilize the state during difficult times of Amarnath land row, was the most effective term.

Dilip Padgoankar-led three-member team (2010-2011)

Former journalist Dilip Padgoankar led a three-member team at the instance of Manmohan Singh-led UPA-II government in October 2010. Academician Radha Kumar and former information commissioner MM Ansari were other two members. They were appointed after Kashmir valley saw street protests during 2010 summer when few youths were killed in a fake encounter in the Machil area of Kupwara district. Separatists didnt talk to them but they were able to compile a report, which was then submitted to the Centre. What happened to that report is still unknown.
London, October 28

A 21-year-old British Muslim convert dubbed Jihadi Jack has been charged with being a member of the ISIS terrorist network, media reports said on Saturday.

Jack Letts had travelled to Syria in 2014 and was later captured by the Kurdish-led YPGthe group fighting against ISISwhen he fled Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the terror network earlier this year.

The man from the city of Oxford has claimed in the past that he is opposed to ISIS ideology.

Quoting a statement issued by the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (DFNS)a self-declared autonomous region, the BBC said Letts had been taken to a prison in Qamishli, Rojava, northern Syria.

Jack Letts is currently under investigation by local and global anti-terror units. Once the investigation is concluded, the outcome will be communicated to Jacks parents, and their legal representatives and to the officials of relevant governments, the statement said.

Jack Letts, who also holds a Canadian passport, remains in the custody of the local DFNS police force, the Asayish.

The statement adds: We ask the parents of Jack Letts and their legal representative to ask the UK and Canadian governments to officially request the handover of Jack Letts from the officials of the DFNS so that the handover can proceed officially.

However, so far there has been no official request from either Canadian or British governments.

The communication marks the first time that Kurdish forces have confirmed the capture of Letts as a prisoner of war.

Letts had converted to Islam while at Cherwell comprehensive school in Oxford and travelled to Jordan, aged 18, after dropping out of school.

He reportedly got married in Iraq and now has a child.

His parents, John Letts and Sally Lane, have denied he went to Syria to fight with ISIS, and have started a petition that claims he had disappeared in a Guantanamo-style black site in Kurdish-controlled territory.

But Sinam Mohamad, the European representative of DFNS, denied the allegation.

We refute all these baseless allegations, she told BBC.

Letts parents also went on a week-long hunger-strike in protest recently, claiming that the British government had not done enough to help their son.

His mother claims her son had been in contact to say that him and a group of his friends were working against ISIS from the inside.

In fact, Ive spoken to some of his friends and they are still in hiding. They say things were made very, very difficult for them when Jack was labelled a terrorist by the British Government because it then compromised their position, she said.

The couple has previously themselves pleaded not guilty to charges of funding terrorism after being accused of sending money to Jack.

The government is unable to provide support to British nationals in Syria as the UK government does not have consular representation there, the UK Foreign Office said. PTI
Kathmandu, October 28

A passenger bus with nearly 50 people on Saturday veered off a highway and plunged into a river in Nepals Dhading district, killing at least 14 of them and leaving 15 others injured, media reports said.

The bus, which was en route to Kathmandu from Rajbiraj, veered off the highway at Ghatbesi Bange curve, about 80 km from here, according to the Kathmandu Post.

Fourteen bodies--five women and two infants--have been fished out from the Trishuli river so far, Superintendent of Police Dhrubaraj Raut in Dhading said.

The identities are yet to be ascertained, he said.

Fifteen passengers managed to save their lives by swimming to the river bank. They have suffered injuries in the accident, the report said.

The officer said that the exact number of passengers travelling in the bus was not immediately known. The injured have been rushed to nearby hospitals, he added.

Some other passengers were feared trapped in the bus and rescued operations were under way, Raut said. PTI
Bogota, October 28

US President Donald Trump said he is concerned about the extraordinary increase in drug crops in Colombia, in a letter to his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos.

Trump asked Santos for help in cutting down production and trafficking of drugs in Colombia to try to stop them entering the United States, according to the letter dated October 24.

The US president said he signed a declaration in September expressing concern about the extraordinary expansion of coca cultivation and production of cocaine in Colombia.

I express these concerns because I promised the people of the United States that we would prevent drugs from crossing our borders and I need your help to diminish the production and trafficking of drugs in Colombia, Trump wrote in a Spanish-language version of the letter made available by Santos.

The South American country is the worlds leading coca leaf producer and also the biggest source of cocaine, producing 866 tons in 2016, according to the UN.

I trust that your efforts will help improve the problem of cocaine production, Trump added.

Santos interpreted the message as backing and recognition of his governments efforts to eradicate illegal crops, through a strategy that combines encouraging farmers to substitute other cash crops for coca, and forced eradication.

We have been the country that has fought the most in this war against drug trafficking, which has made the most sacrifices, and no country on the planet has sacrificed so much in terms of human lives, Santos told a press conference at government headquarters.

The White House made no comment on the letters content.

The correspondence between President Trump and foreign leaders is private and we will not comment on their content.

President Trump has met and spoken with President Santos several times discussing many issues including the problem of illicit drugs, among others. The two leaders are strong allies in stopping illegal drug trafficking.  AFP
Government relief help has not reached to all flood victims specially in Banskatha district. And, now the villagers are thinking to boycott the assembly election as they feel cheated.

By Mayuresh Ganapatye: Gujarat assembly election dates were announced 13 days after Himachal Pradesh's dates. And, the Election Commission had cited state government's relief programmes in flood-affected areas as one of the reasons for the delay. But, it's shocking that govt help has not reached to all victims specially in Banskatha district. Here is a ground report.

Deviji Bhai Bhatar, a farmer from Jetad village of Banaskantha, lost his crop and farmland in recent Gujarat floods. It was 8 hectare land which lost and now he has non-fertile land with him. Gujarat govt assured these flood victims of compensation, but Deviji Bhai and 80 others farmers from his village Jetad haven't got anything yet. They have written to CM, collector, but only assurance they have got. And, now these villagers are thinking to boycott the assembly election as they feel cheated.

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"We are waiting since last many months for compensation. I personally have written to govt on several occasions as there are more than 70-80 farmers who haven't got any compensation despite govt conducted survey. If they don't give us compensation, we are contemplating to boycott this election," said Deviji Bhai.

Govt has neither given any compensation nor alternate land to farmers like Bharat Rajput from Jetad village despite making several requests. Thus, young farmer like Bharat had managed few funds to reinstall a drip irrigation in his farm land as last resort to see if something grows in this land or not.

"They came and did survey of our land, but no response from them till now. As last, hope we have reinstalled this drip irrigation system hoping it will work and make this land bit fertile to take crops." said Bharat Rajput, a farmer.

Jetad is not the only village where many people have not got compensation from government . Khariya farmers have also not got compensation. These people have written it to all possible political leaders and ministers, except typically govt answer, they didn't not get anything so far. This is the same village where 17 people lost their lives during floods.

Apart from farm lands, people lost their houses also in these floods. Few People have received govt help, but there are people like Nagji Bhai who haven't got anything and now staying in a hut. He along with his three brothers and 14 members family used to stay in brick house. Gujarat floods not only have destroyed his house, but also forced him to stay in a hut at same place.

"We lost out home and now we are staying in a hut. CM had said that we will get help from govt, but no help has reached us so far. We feared, if it rains again, we might lose this shelter also. We are hoping that someone should listen our plea and help us," said Sharavan, nephew of Nagji Bhai.

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CHOUTEAU  A new $500 million Grand River Dam Authority power generation plant was touted on Friday as the most energy efficient electric generator in the world.

The GREC 3 combined cycle unit, GRDAs newest addition to the Grand River Energy Center, is designed to provide low-cost, clean, reliable electricity for decades using natural gas turbine, steam turbine and heat-recovery steam generators.

Its the most efficient in the world, said Paul Browning, president and CEO of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas.

GRDA, a state agency, now owns the first 60-hertz combined cycle power plant to make this claim, he said.

Browning bragged on the GREC 3s 62 percent combined cycle efficiency during its dedication ceremony Friday. Those are hard numbers to fathom, he said.

Actually, its the most efficient in the universe, GRDA President Dan Sullivan told an overflow crowd.

Output from Unit 3 will bolster reliability and will further diversify GRDAs generation portfolio and position the company as a leader in the transformation of the U.S. energy sector, he said.

We are leading the industry  and this is in our own backyard, said U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.

The Grand River Energy Centers Unit 3 has a 495-megawatt design capacity and will be driven by Mitsubishis first M501J gas turbine in the Western Hemisphere.

What an incredible team effort, said Michael Teague, state secretary of Energy and Environment.

The two-year construction project partnered Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, The Industrial Company-Kiewit, Enable, Nooter/Eriksen, Hitachi-HVB and Black & Veatch. It is also the first generation facility constructed by GRDA since it completed work on its two coal-fired units in the early 1980s.

Oklahoma gas, Oklahoma water, Oklahoma wind  we have a diversity in fuels, Teague said. But our No. 1 resource is Oklahoma people.

Clean and affordable energy is a building block, said Ken Wagner, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency senior adviser for regional affairs.

The plant successfully achieved its first fire in its first attempt, and two days later it was synchronized to the grid to produce electricity for GRDA and Southwest Power Pool customers. The turbine exceeded its performance guarantee, and GRDA was able to sell power to the grid ahead of schedule, officials said.

This capital investment further diversifies GRDAs power generation options and ensures we remain a primary, reliable source of electricity for our current and future customers, said Joe Vandevier, GRDA board chairman.

With this new unit, GRDA can now capitalize on one of our greatest assets in natural gas and further increase the return investment to Oklahoma.

Directly or indirectly, GRDA electricity reaches into 75 of 77 counties in Oklahoma as well as Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas.
Good riddance: U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe came under fire last week for his comments concerning fellow Republicans, who say they wont seek re-election, in large part because of conflicts with President Donald Trump.

Inhofe told the Associated Press: Maybe we do better by having some of the people who just dont like him leave, and replace them with somebody else.

Appearing on MSNBC, Delaware Democratic Sen. Chris Coons said the decisions not to seek re-election by Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker are bad news for both parties.

If the voices of (Corker and Flake) are missing from the other side ... and if, as Sen. Inhofe is saying, only those who are blindly loyal to President Trump should continue to serve as Republicans in the Senate, then Im gravely concerned about what that says for America remaining the beacon of freedom in the world, Coons said.

Money trouble: Congressional Democrats are raising a lot more money than their Republican colleagues, and 4th District Congressman Tom Cole says that does not bode well for the GOP majorities in the 2018 elections.

Its a serious problem, Cole told Talking Points Memo. Its a very rough cycle coming up. Nobodys had a good off year since 2002, and anybody that thinks the majority is not at risk or that they cant be beaten is kidding themselves.

There is a warning that comes from lack of fundraising success, and it indicates that your agenda or your lack of accomplishment is something people are deciding is a problem as they make a decision about contributing to a campaign, said Republican Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas.

Dots and dashes: U.S. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, a high-ranking Democrat, said she will not support 1st District Congressman Jim Bridenstines nomination to head the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ... In a floor speech, Inhofe said his recent travels to Africa and the Middle East enforced again what Ive been saying for some time. That is, this is the most dangerous (world) weve had certainly in my lifetime. ... U.S. Sen. James Lankford, responding to reports about congressional Republicans sudden lack of enthusiasm for spending cuts, said In Washington, the expectation is always that youre going to keep spending whatever youre spending. Cutting spending is seen as a totally radical thing. ... Inhofe and Lankford were among nine Republican Senators asking Trump to meet with them as a group to discuss ethanol standards.

 Randy Krehbiel, Tulsa World
The Oklahoma Public Charter School Associations lawsuit against the state aims to accomplish what legislation recently did in Colorado and Florida  increase charter schools access to public dollars.

At issue in the lawsuit is a share of traditional public schools revenues from Oklahomas gross production, motor vehicle and rural electrification association tax collections; state school land earnings; and county tax collections.

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools says its nonprofit advocacy organization has worked with the Oklahoma charter school group for the past several years and that legislative remedies were also considered.

Whats happening in Oklahoma is part of a broader movement to bring greater equity to the way public schools in the U.S. are funded, said spokeswoman Vanessa Descalzi. Florida and Colorado have already passed state law for districts to equitably share their local tax money among public schools  district and charter. Michigan appears to be headed toward being the third state this year to pass such a law.

In its suit against the state Board of Education, the Oklahoma group is trying to make the case that existing state laws governing charter schools and school finance in general are being misinterpreted.

After learning that a settlement of the lawsuit appeared imminent, school boards in Oklahoma City and Tulsa moved swiftly last week to try to intervene in the case.

The two inner-city school districts willingly sponsor most of the states 28 charter school districts. But the legal battle puts them in direct competition with charter schools for existing dollars, and Oklahoma City Public Schools and Tulsa Public Schools stand to lose the most revenue.

Court filings indicate that their estimates of first-year losses alone are between $1 million and $1.5 million.

Those estimates do not count possible losses from sought-after funds for virtual charter school students, which school district attorneys claim would cut down on funding to every traditional public school in the state.

Moreover, the financial impact of the proposed relief would increase every year and quickly diminish the Districts necessary  and scarce  revenue, reads Tulsa Public Schools motion to intervene in the lawsuit.

In their only public statement, TPS officials indicated that they would have preferred the Legislature to take up the issue, not a court.

Intervention in this suit is not our first choice, their statement read in part. We believe that this issue deserves a legislative solution that is lawful, sustainable, and equitable.

On Friday, an Oklahoma County judge is scheduled to hear the two school districts motions to intervene and requests for an emergency stay or restraining order to halt any settlement.

Todd Ziebarth, senior vice president for state advocacy and support for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, said his organization has been keeping an eye on the lawsuit and reactions by school districts.

The bottom line is that all public school students, whether they attend a charter or district school, deserve funding at equitable levels, the group said in a written statement to the Tulsa World. For school boards representing public school students to stand in the way of equity is worrisome and, quite frankly, disappointing.

The advocacy group says that currently in nearly all states, charter schools receive funding from state taxes but not regional property taxes, and that is contributing to funding inequities especially in communities where property taxes raise considerable money for public education, the group added.

On average, despite also being public schools, charter schools nationally receive just 70% of the funding of traditional district-run schools, officials said in their written statement.

In an interview, Ziebarth said Colorado and Florida have recently passed legislation to force school districts to share with charter schools a portion of their mill levy overrides, or voter-approved increases in local property tax collections.

He said legislative remedies were also considered in Oklahoma.

Weve done a variety of work in Oklahoma the past few years now, working with both the charter association and Oklahoma Public School Resource Center, usually on legislatively focused items, Ziebarth said.

Weve had conversations over the years about trying to push for legislative changes, but I think the conclusion was we arent going to push forward right now legislatively, and instead, it might be more effective to push forward on litigation.

Asked whether litigation over the issue had occurred in any other state, Ziebarth said that in Florida, the change in law is being challenged in one lawsuit by a single district and a second suit filed by about a dozen other school districts that banded together.

The other organization Ziebarth mentioned  the Oklahoma Public School Resource Center  works to support local charter schools, as well as providing support services such as professional development and technical assistance to member school districts across the state.

OPSRC Executive Director Brent Bushey clarified that while his organization is not a participant in the lawsuit and that we havent lobbied for any bills related to charter funding, it wants to see funding increased.

We do support increasing funding for education. We also support equitable funding for all public school students, Bushey said. We are hopeful that this lawsuit can be resolved in a manner that allows charter schools and public school districts to work together to address the important funding challenges facing our states public education system.

OPSRC was just awarded a $16.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education that could help open as many as 25 new charter schools in Oklahoma over the next five years.
SAND SPRINGS  Police arrested an 18-year-old on a murder complaint after the teen and an accomplice reportedly broke into a house late Thursday.

Branden Lee Gray, 18, and James Edward Patterson, 37, both of Sand Springs, burglarized the house near Second Street and Franklin Avenue about 9:30 p.m. Thursday, police said. The property owner opened fire on Gray and Patterson, Capt. Todd Enzbrenner said. Patterson was killed by the gunfire.

Police arrested Gray on complaints of first-degree felony murder and first-degree burglary. He was first booked into the Sand Springs Jail and then was transferred to the Tulsa Jail on Friday afternoon. He is not allowed to post bond at this time.

Oklahomas murder statute allows for all involved in a felony crime to be charged with felony murder if a death results from the felony act.

The property owner, who was renovating the vacant house, stayed in the house Thursday night after the property had been burglarized earlier that day.

He owns it; hes remodeling it, Enzbrenner said. He took it upon himself to guard his property.

He told police he fell asleep about the time of the burglary and was startled awake by a commotion.

He then saw a silhouette illuminated by a foreign light source, he told police. Enzbrenner said the property owner said he shouted to freeze and dont move.

The light source went out, and the property owner told police he saw another figure. Enzbrenner said it appeared to the property owner that someone was running toward him.

He didnt know he had shot anybody until we got there, Enzbrenner said.

Police found Patterson dead outside the residence and the 18-year-old detained by the property owner, who told police he thought he had missed and that the other burglar had fled.

The man reportedly held the second intruder at gunpoint until police arrived and took him into custody. Investigators questioned and released the owner.

Enzbrenner said Patterson was shot with a rifle and was pronounced dead after paramedics attempted to revive him.

While break-ins do happen in the area, its atypical for somebody to break into a house thats occupied, Enzbrenner said.

Investigators will forward their case, upon its completion, to the District Attorneys Office to review whether the shooting was justified.

Part of that review could include looking at Oklahomas Stand Your Ground statute, which states that Oklahomans have a right to expect absolute safety within their own homes or places of business.

Homeowners are presumed to have a reasonable fear of imminent peril if force was used during a home invasion.
By Ajay Kumar: Due to excessive industries, high-rise apartments and ill-equipped garbage disposal technologies, groundwater contamination rapidly taking place in 11 districts of Haryana, including Gurugram and Faridabad, which is turning out to be a big threat to national Capital.

Such a report appears after Jasbir Deswal, MLA from Safidon in Jind district pointed out about rapid groundwater contamination in Haryana's several districts. "The percentage of fluoride, lead, iron and nitrates are higher in groundwater these days, leading to many water-related diseases. Therefore, I have asked through several platforms including in Haryana assembly to know about prevention methods of state government. I have not received any convincing and concrete answer from concern minister," Deswal told Mail Today.

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As per the report, besides Gurugram and Faridabad, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Jhajjar, Mahendragarh, Rewari and Mewat are among other districts where some or large parts of groundwater drastically contaminated in last 10 years. Sources have said the percentage of hazardous substances is so high that it cannot be consumed directly.

Alarmingly, Gurugram, Faridabad and Jhajjar have the borders touching Delhi from south, south-east and south-west respectively and therefore there is great chance of groundwater contamination in Delhi as well.

"It has been a proven fact that districts like Gurugram and Faridabad have more than 15,000 auto, paints, dyes industries and majority of them have ill disposal facilities of liquid wastes. These units are responsible for rapid groundwater contamination because waste generated from them directly go underneath. Besides, rampant use of fertilisers is largely responsible for soil and eventually groundwater contamination," said an official of hydrology department requested anonymity.

"If one litre of water containing 1.5 mililitre fluoride, lead, iron or nitrate substance, it is considered as contaminated water and hazardous for humans," the official said. The joint garbage treatment plant of Gurugram and Faridabad at Bandhwari village is one of the known sources of groundwater contamination in these two cities and adjoining Mehrauli. The plant has capacity to segregate and treat 600 metric tonne garbage daily while it is receiving more than 1,300 metric tonne from these two cities. As a result, the plant has been over flowing and affecting more than 30 adjoining villages. Even, NGT has served notices to municipal corporations of Gurugram and Faridabad in this matter.

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This Page Is Under Construction - Coming Soon!

Why am I seeing this 'Under Construction' page?
| By Betsy Stein

During the recent symposium RISING Baltimore: Managing Tensions in Communities hosted by the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), four representatives from various segments of the West Baltimore community joined a panel discussion on what role the University should play in the community and what role the community should play in the University.

Ashley Valis, MSW, executive director of UMB Strategic Initiatives and Community Engagement, moderated the panel discussion, which became heated at times and brought to light a number of the tensions between the community and the University.

Erika Alston-Buck, chief executive officer for Penn North Recovery and founding director of The Kids Safe Zone, a play space for neighborhood children, was the most passionate panel member.

Erika Alston-Buck, chief executive officer for Penn North Recovery and founding director of The Kids Safe Zone, was the most passionate member of the RISING Baltimore panel session. She has a good working relationship with Major Sheree Briscoe of the Baltimore Police Department.

Why are your students not mandated to volunteer in the community? Why are these grad students not tutoring? Why are you in communities where the bulk of the community is undereducated? Why are you not offering a free GED class? The community is illiterate  why are you not delivering remedial classes? Alston-Buck fired out. The role of the University is to be in service whether you know that or not.

Valis thanked Alton-Buck for speaking her mind and lamented that there were not more University representatives present to hear the comments.

Its just block by block, Valis said. There are not enough resources to go around.

The two-day RISING Baltimore symposium was based on the famous RISING Global Peace Forum held in Coventry, England, and focused on sharing community engagement strategies across communities and professions, between universities and communities, and across borders. Participants included residents of West Baltimore and community-engaged faculty from UMBs seven schools.

Aside from Alston-Buck, the panel discussion included Major Sheree Briscoe, commander of the Western District of the Baltimore Police Department; Michael Seipp, executive director of the Southwest Partnership; and DeJuan Patterson, a consultant who has worked with the University of Maryland School of Pharmacys PATIENTS Program.

We have a very diverse panel here, Valis said in her opening remarks. We are deeply ingrained in some of the works these folks are doing and we have, to be honest, more work to do with others.

Seipp, whose community partnership has worked closely with the University, stressed the importance of realistic expectations.

Figuring out realistic expectations about what anybody can bring to the table is very important, he said, pointing out that the University is a public institution and limited in how it can contribute. He lauded UMB President Jay A. Perman, MD, however, for his efforts in working with the community.

You guys should be proud of the fact that you have a University president thats as committed as he is, Seipp said.

A good partnership requires a shared vision, grass-roots engagement, mutual respect, an understanding of equitable distribution of resources, and a commitment to work toward empowerment rather than enablement, Seipp summed up.

We now have a process after five years where people are coming to the table and they respect each other, he said. They dont always agree, but they respect each other.

Patterson also spoke about the importance of building a trusting relationship to establish a good partnership.

Seeing community residents and organizations as partners and not just subjects, thats a really important part, he said. Relationship building requires trust and trust takes time, but you can break that trust  immediately.

Alston-Buck was clearly struggling to trust the University. She said the University has offered residents $25,000 for their houses so they can build new buildings, and the residents have taken offers because they might be in debt, but then have no home.

So where is the disconnect  where humanity doesnt demand that we really help the community? she asked. Not research and numbers, but impactful outcomes.

Other hot topic issues in the community included University police alerts on crime in the area, police protecting the University but ignoring crime right across the street, and University research that involves the community.

Too often the academicians use the neighborhood as a laboratory without the folks in the neighborhood understanding why  and that creates incredible tension, Seipp said.

Seipp also stressed the importance of commitment over the long term in creating a working partnership.

Neighborhoods didnt evolve downward overnight, they evolved downwards  economically, physically  over generations. And so its going to take generations for everything to come back, he said.

The University, which has programs supported by grants with timelines and expectations for results, is limited in this area, Valis explained.

So how do we, as UMB, wrestle with that? she asked. Thats definitely something we need to learn from others about.

Briscoe, meanwhile, said she could use a partner like the University. She says that police are the dot connectors. They come in contact with community members on their worst days, and the police do not have the resources, training, or equipment to impact them in a way that leaves them feeling valued and heard.

I am in the business of service, but the problem for policing is that we are given limited tools to do that outside of handcuffs and a wagon, she said. So often the expectation is for us to criminalize behaviors that we know are coming out of social ails, that we know belong in the wheelhouse of the health system.

In the end, its all about self-interest, Seipp said.

The University leaders coming out and realizing that a healthy community benefits their institution, and residents understanding that the University really has assets that empower the community.

After the panel discussion, Seipp said he felt there is a need for more time for dialogue, especially with neighborhood representatives present.

There is a large divide between academicians and the reality on the street, he said. It takes time to get beyond the rhetoric, mistrust, and anger to have a real dialogue.
As many as 135 Gurgaon schools are going to be booked for failing to submit self-certification on security in premises and transportation facilities.

By Ajay Kumar: Delhi Police, following a direction of Gurugram deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh, are going to register FIRs against 135 schools of the Millennium City for their failure in submitting self-certification pertaining to safety and security of their premises and transportation facilities.

District administration has received a set of guidelines containing a number of points from the state education department following the gruesome murder of seven-year-old Pradhyuman Thakur in Ryan International School on September 8. Eight such points are related to the safety and security of schools and their buses.

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"On the basis of the guideline, we have asked all private schools to submit self certification before district education department in 15 days. So far, the department has received certificates from 223 schools while remaining 135, including a Ryan International School branch, have not been submitted the same," Singh said.

As the order was issued under CrPC section of 144, the 135 schools which have not fulfiled safety compliances are liable to face action. District education department has written a letter to office of Gurugram police commissioner to register separate FIRs against these schools under IPC section 188 on October 26. As per the said guidelines, every school has been asked to form a safety committee - that includes two representatives of parent association - and installation of proper fire safety equipment, followed by an inspection report from fire department. Guidelines also ask for installation of adequate number of CCTV cameras, building toilets for non teaching staffs, deployment of women attendants at toilets for primary students, ramp toilets for physically challenge students, CCTV and GPS installation in school buses with women attendants and police verification of non teaching staffs.

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In her letter to district police chief, Kerala Women's Commission Chairperson MC Josephine said the officer heading the probe should at least be a Deputy Superintendent (DSP).

By P S Gopikrishnan Unnithan: The Kerala Women's Commission responded to reports of a danger to the life of Hadiya, a 24-year-old woman who converted to Islam, by asking the Kottayam district police to conduct a high-level inquiry.

In her letter to district police chief, Chairperson MC Josephine said the officer heading the probe should at least be a Deputy Superintendent (DSP).

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The Commission has also asked for a report on Hadiya's present condition.

On Thursday, Hadiya appeared in a video, and claimed her father had been beat her brutally. She said she could die any moment. Earlier, there had been reports that her parents were sedating her.

Her husband, Shefin Jahan, who married her after she converted to Islam, has challenged the Kerala High Court's decision to annul their marriage. The court also granted custody of Hadiya to her parents.

The Supreme Court will hear Jahan's plea on Monday.

In August, the top court had asked the National Investigation Agency to probe allegations that people with links to the Islamic State (ISIS) were behind Hadiya's conversion.

Earlier this month, the Kerala government told the court that the police investigation into the case - of alleged 'love jihad' - had revealed nothing worthy of being reported to the Centre under the 2008 NIA Act.

WATCH | Kerala love jihad 'victim' Hadiya first time on camera: Forced conversion or choice?

--- ENDS ---
Raj Thackeray has said that Rahul Gandhi should get half the credit for impressive victory of the BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

By India Today Web Desk: Days after Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut showered praise on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi saying that he was capable of leading the country, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has taken a pot shot at him.

MNS chief Raj Thackeray has said that half the credit for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's victory in the last Lok Sabha polls goes to Rahul Gandhi as his mocking the then Gujarat chief minister did not go down well with voters.

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"Fifty per cent credit for Narendra Modis victory in the 2014 general elections goes to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. The way he mocked Modi during the campaign, helped the latter win the polls," Thackeray told reporters at Kalyan near Mumbai last night.

Of the rest, 15 per cent was due to the social media, around 10-20 per cent credit would go to the BJP workers and also the RSS and the remaining was because of Modi's personal charisma, he said.

RAHUL VS SHIV SENA VS MNS

Thackeray's comment comes in the wake of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut saying that Rahul Gandhi was capable of leading the country and that the Modi wave had faded.

"Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is capable of leading the country. It is wrong to call him Pappu," Raut had said referring to the Hindi name used to mock the Congress vice- president by a section on social media to claim he was immature in politics.

On the Gujarat election, Thackeray said, "The recent trends as well as reports indicate that the ruling party is likely to lose the elections."

"Some visuals of Modi's public meetings are doing the round, which show that people are leaving the venue in groups during his address, which had never happened in the past. Even from this, one gets a message," he said.

Despite this, if the BJP gets more than 150 seats, it should be considered a miracle by the electronic voting machines (EVMs), he said. Thackeray said that current trends and reports indicate that the ruling BJP could lose the upcoming Assembly election in Gujarat.POLITICS AND GUJARAT POLLS

Election to the 182-member Assembly in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 9 and 14, and the results will be declared on December 18.

Thackeray also alleged that the Election Commission had "inordinately" delayed the announcement of Gujarat election dates under a lot of pressure.

"The Election Commission and other statutory bodies should work independently. But it does not happen here," he said.

On his party forcibly evicting hawkers from suburban railway stations in Mumbai, he said the MNS workers were not being given their due credit.

"In fact, the administration can do it (evict hawkers), but it does not want to do so for various reasons," he said.

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(Based on PTI inputs)

--- ENDS ---
A 10-year-old boy is accused of stealing his mothers car from their Cleveland home on Hadley Avenue and leading police on a high-speed chase Thursday morning.

Authorities tell WKYC the chase itself began in Westlake and ended at mile marker 121 on the Ohio Turnpike, which is near Sandusky.

At times, the boy drove at speeds up to 100 mph along the Turnpike, according to Highway Patrol Lt. Richard Reeder of the Milan post.

After making eye contact with the boy during the chase, a trooper signaled him to pull over. The boy shook his head no, according to authorities.

After going off the side of the roadway, a cruiser crashed into the vehicle and brought the chase to an end as the boy tried to reenter the Turnpike.

Reeder tells WKYC the boy was combative after the chase concluded, allegedly spitting and kicking at authorities.

Cleveland police say this is the second incident involving the same child.

The boy was unharmed, according to Cleveland police.

See dashcam video of the pursuit of the 10-year-old boy below.


Vamos a celebrar El Dia De Los Muertos! Salud Mexican Bistro and Tequileria, the popular new restaurant located in the heart of The Lakes in Las Vegas, is celebrating Dia De Los Muertos with food and drink specials, raffle prizes and a DJ spinning your favorite tunes (Pictured: Salud Top Sirloin).

Held Wednesday, November 1 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. inside Salud Mexican Bistro and Tequileria at 8125 W. Sahara Ave, Suite 110, guests will be offered half-off shots, a special happy hour menu and the chance to win raffle prizes, including bottles of Tequila from the Salud Mexican Bistro and Tequileria craft tequila bar and Salud swag. All proceeds from the raffle drawings will be donated directly to the Las Vegas Victims Fund.

Created by celebrated Executive Chef Israel Reyes, the Salud Mexican Bistro and Tequileria Dia De Los Muertos menu includes $5 Tapas with Grilled Mexican Corn, Molletes (Mexican Bruschetta), Nachos, Wings, Jalapeno Mac & Cheese and Guacamole, Classic Street Tacos for $7 with a choice of Pork Belly, Beef or Chicken, House-Made Sangria with fresh fruit, Lemonade Mimosas of course, Traditional Margaritas.


Panchos Mexican Restaurant, located in downtown Summerlin, will honor all military with a special discount on Saturday, Nov. 11 and Monday, Nov. 13 (Photo Courtesy of Panchos Mexican Restaurant).

Veterans and active-duty service members who show a valid military ID will receive a 25 percent discount on their bill, excluding alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

Guests can enjoy signature menu items such as Panchos Chimichanga Especial, a flour tortilla filled with chunks of seasoned pork, cheese and green chile verde sauce, deep friend and topped with sour cream and guacamole, served with Mexican-style rice and beans, priced at $15.95 for lunch and $18.95 for dinner; Panchos Nachos, fresh tortilla chips layered with beans, melted cheeses, tomatoes, jalapenos and chives, topped with sour cream and guacamole, priced at $7 during happy hour; and Enchiladas Suizas, made with corn tortillas filled and rolled with chicken, covered with Salsa Verde Especial and topped with sliced avocados and sour cream, served with Mexican-style rice and beans, priced at $15.95 for lunch and $19.95 for dinner.
Photo : nasa.gov

The US space agency had already pushed back the launch by a day to Tuesday.

If technicians are able to finish their repairs as planned, Discovery and its six American astronauts will now launch from Florida's Kennedy Space Center at 3:52 pm (1952 GMT) Wednesday, NASA test director Jeff Spaulding said.

The flight to the orbiting International Space Station is the fourth and final shuttle flight of the year, and the last scheduled for Discovery, the oldest in the three-shuttle fleet that is being retired in 2011.
The Congress better make its stand on ensuring reservation for Patidars clear by November 3, or else it would face the kind of situation Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah found himself in, Hardik Patel said in a tweet.

By India Today Web Desk: Hardik Patel, the bellicose Patidar leader, has sent an ultimatum to the Congress, a party he so far has been ambivalent about backing in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly election.

Posting a message on Twitter, Hardik Patel said that the Congress better make its stand on ensuring constitutional reservation for Patidars clear by November 3, or else the party would face the kind of situation Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah found himself in.

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While Hardik did not clarify what he meant by the 'Amit Shah situation' the Patidar leader seemed to be referring to recent raucous rallies in Surat and Karamsad, where the BJP chief had his speech disrupted by agitating Patel youngsters.

3/11/2017?? ???????? ??????? ?? ????????? ?????? ???? ?????,?? ?????? ?? ???? ??????? ?????? ?? ?? ???? ?? ???? ??? ???? ????? ???? ??? ????- Hardik Patel (@HardikPatel_) October 28, 2017

On September 8, Amit Shah was in Surat to meet with leaders of the Patidar community when Patel agitators when on a rampage, shouting pro-Hardik Patel slogans and vandalising furniture. Then on October 1, Patel agitators again tried disrupting Amit Shah's Gujarat Gaurav Yatra in Karmsad, according to an Indian Express report.

HARDIK AND CONGRESS

Hardik Patel, who shot to prominence during the sometimes-violent Patidar reservation movement in 2015, has refused to openly back either the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Gujarat Assembly election, which will be held in December this year.

There, however, have been rumours of Patel secretly meeting with top Congress leaders. In an intriguing recent development, leaked CCTV footage purported to place Hardik Patel at a Ahemdebad hotel during the same time when Congress vice-president was put up there.

Local media reports claimed that Patel had secretly met Rahul Gandhi and had even worked with Congress leaders to 'plan' the sensation press conference in which a Mehsana-based Patidar leader, Narendra Patel, claimed he was offered Rs 1 crore to join the BJP.

#NewsTodayPolitics should be on agendas, & I have three agendas to put forth on the table: @HardikPatel_ LIVE https://t.co/4fqxBVUizL pic.twitter.com/Rx4EwMYbmj- India Today (@IndiaToday) October 25, 2017

Hardik, for his part, has maintained that he wasn't averse to backing Congress in the Gujarat Assembly polls but has not been clear whether he would join the Grand Old Party.

In various interviews, Patel has said he would back the Congress if the later acceded to his demand to ensure reservation for Patidars under the Other Backward Class status.

Most recently Patel told the Hindustan Times that his Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti could announce the decision to back the Congress during party vice-president Rahul Gandhi's upcoming visit to Gujarat between November 1-3.

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This too, he added, was contingent on Rahul Gandhi and the Congress promising OBC status to Patiadars in Gujarat.

--- ENDS ---
Subaru says it allowed uncertified staff to do inspections on some vehicles for more than three decades, becoming the latest Japanese firm dented by a quality scandal AFP/KAZUHIRO NOGI

Subaru says it allowed uncertified staff to do inspections on some vehicles for more than three decades, becoming the latest Japanese firm dented by a quality scandal AFP/KAZUHIRO NOGI

The company said it was considering a recall of more than 250,000 vehicles at a cost of some 5.0 billion yen (US$44 million), after an internal probe uncovered the longstanding practice.

The misconduct appeared similar to an inspection crisis at bigger rival Nissan.

The embarrassing admissions have hurt Japan's auto industry, once the envy of the world for its just-in-time manufacturing and near-obsessive focus on constant improvement.

The practice at Subaru came to light after discussions between the automaker and transport ministry over inspection practices, it said Friday, adding that vehicles sold overseas were not affected.

The government ordered Japan's automakers to check their inspections after Nissan recalled some 1.2 million cars and suspended local production following admissions that uncertified staff performed final checks on some vehicles before they were shipped to dealers.

Subaru insisted that its inspection staff were undergoing training and were qualified to do the job, but had yet to be certified.

It is not clear if the lapses at the automaker - which trails larger rivals Toyota, Nissan and Honda, selling about one million vehicles annually - created a safety risk.

"Worrying our customers about their safety and peace of mind is something that we must not do," Subaru President Yasuyuki Yoshinaga said as he bowed in apology - a common act of contrition for Japanese executives.

The scandal at Nissan, meanwhile, has been compounded by a crisis at Kobe Steel, which falsified strength and quality data for products sold to Japan's automotive industry.

This summer, Tokyo-based auto parts supplier Takata tumbled into bankruptcy as its defective airbags were blamed for the deaths of at least 17 people globally and sparked the biggest-ever auto safety recall.

Last year, Mitsubishi Motors last year was caught fudging fuel-economy tests to make its cars seem more efficient than they were.
Two drug dealers were arrested by local police in Quang Tri in June 2016. Officials say that the situation worsened when Laos tightened trading activities in the border areas in 2014. (Source: VNA)

They also say that efforts to fight drug trafficking in the area have been hampered by a change in rules that determines punishment, including detention, on the narcotics content of the drugs seized.



This has created a loophole that traffickers exploit by smuggling reduced quantities of narcotics each time, but increasing the number of cross-border trips.



Colonel Nguyen Thuan Hoa, head of the anti-drug trafficking unit under the provinces Department of Police, told the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper that increased trafficking has complicated the fight against drug addiction in the border district of Huong Hoa in recent years.



The police department estimates that there are more than 1,100 drug addicts in the province at present, half of them in Huong Hoa district, especially in Lao Bao town and Tan Thanh commune.



Vietnams Quang Tri and Laos Savannakhet provinces share a border that is 156km long, with the Lao Bao-Densavan border gate connecting the East-West Economic Corridor.



Drug traffickers are taking advantage of the areas topography to hire Vietnamese immigrants to set up drug trafficking rings for smuggling drugs from Savannakhet into Quang Tri through the Lao Bao International Border Gate.



Officials say that the situation worsened when Laos tightened trading activities in the border areas in 2014, leaving a large group of Vietnamese immigrants unemployed. These people - many of whom were addicts - then returned to Vietnam and set up drug trafficking rings.



Hoa said drug addiction has become widespread in villages along the Vietnam-Lao border route in recent years. Drug addicts, mostly local residents, soon become drug traffickers who are hired to carry small amounts of drugs into Vietnam. It was difficult to deter these violators as the narcotics content was not enough to arrest them and launch legal proceedings, he said.



Many traffickers do not even have enough money to pay fines for their violations, and all the police can do is seizing the smuggled drugs, he added.



Currently, there are 86 people on the local polices list of drug trafficking suspects, all of them belonging to ethnic minority communities in Huong Hoa district. Most of these suspects are juveniles, unemployed, and drug addicts. The police also say that the real number could be much higher.



Colonel Ha Trong Hoan, deputy head of the provincial Border Guards Department of Drug and Crime Prevention and Control, said that leaders of drug trafficking rings make use of local addicts, who typically have relatives in Laos and know the geography very well, to smuggle the drugs.



Earlier, drug traffickers could be detained and indicted for transporting more than 10 ecstasy tablets. But the latest amendment requiring tests done to specify the content of narcotics in each case has made it more difficult for authorities to crackdown on the crime.



Since they have to define the crime and impose penalties based on the narcotics content, authorities cannot do much when the traffickers carry smaller amounts but increase the number of cross-border trips.



The smuggled drugs are later collected and transported to other areas.



The provincial Border Guard estimates that every day, about 20 youth cross the Vietnamese-Lao border, smuggling small quantities of drugs. The youth spend 40,000 VND (1.5 USD) each ecstasy tablet and sell it for 100,000-150,000 VND (3.9-5.8 USD).



In 2016, the border guards busted 39 cases of drug trafficking and detained 96 people.



Colonel Nguyen Van Dien, head of the provincial Border Guards Department of Drug and Crime Prevention and Control, said catching traffickers with small quantities of drugs in raids was not an effective solution. The root of the problem was ring leaders, he said.



They have strengthened cooperation with their Lao counterparts in busting drug trafficking gangs in both countries, he added.



Hoang Huu Chien, commander of the provincial Border Guard Command, said that in order to prevent drug crimes in border areas, the Command has assigned cadres to coordinate with local Party Committees and administrations to raise public awareness on the issue.



The border guards would continue investigating and compiling lists of suspects as they continue their fight against drug abuse and trafficking, he said.
A drawing of the proposed Long Thanh International Airport. - Photo chinhphu.vn

The future airport, about 40km east of HCM City, is hoped to meet a big increase in demand for air travel. This has left the existing Tan Son Nhat Airport overloaded. The airport construction project is categorised as a key national project that needs the assemblys approval.

According to a Government study delivered to the NA by newly-appointed Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The, the project will have a total land area of 5,585.14ha, covering six communes in Long Thanh District. This excludes land for the construction of roads to the airport.

A total of 4,864 households with nearly 16,000 people and 26 organisations will be affected by the project.

The total investment for land acquirements, relocation and compensation payments is estimated at more than VN23 trillion (about US$1.01 billion), of which VN5 trillion has been approved by the NA.

The Government proposed the NA approve an additional fund of more than VN18 trillion (US$792.64 million), taken from the State budgets standby funds for public investment in mid and long-term.

A report by the NAs Economic Committee, presented by chairman Vu Hong Thanh, said many deputies requested a careful verification to assure the correctness of the land area.

Many deputies questioned the accuracy of the land area for residential living, estimated in the Government report to be only 35.64ha out of the total 5,585.14 ha, the Economic Committees report said.

They are worried that if the land area is not calculated correctly, it will result in a huge increase in compensation when the project is implemented.

Deputies also want to redetermine the number of households needed to be relocated to other areas.

The Government study showed that all households that would lose their land to acquisition wanted new land for relocation.

However, out of 4,864 households affected, 534 will still retain part of their land. According to current regulations, if the remaining land is still big enough to build on, those households will not need to relocate, the report said.

On the relocation of a cemetery in the affected area, the Economic Committee suggested that public opinion be carefully guaged, especially religious establishments and religious people.

The committee agreed with the Governments proposal that each household affected would also receive an additional amount equalling 4.5 times the regional minimum wage at the time of receiving support.

Speaking at a group discussion later, Deputy Ho Van Nam of ong Nai Province, where the project will be executed, said the Government should be careful about calculating the compensated land price.

A big gap between the price rates determined by the State and the market will lead to discontent, he said.

He said it was important to win public approval before acquiring the land, otherwise there would be misunderstanding among that could lead to public unrest.

Deputy Truong Trong Nghia of HCM City asked for clarification of the land area for defence purpose in the project.

According to the Governments project, 1,050ha out of more than 5,000ha of the project will be used for defence purpose.

Nghia said the Government and the NA should provide the public with detailed information on the need to have defence constructions built there, citing recent discoveries that much land for defence purpose in HCM City and other regions had been misused.

Competition Law

Also in the morning, NA deputies discussed the draft for a revised law on competition.

Many said that despite coming into effect in 2005, the law has been unaccommodating in practice and failed to tackle many competition cases.

Therefore, they said revision this time should take into consideration current situations in the market and business operation to come up with practical and feasible regulations.

Deputy Tran Hoang Ngan from HCM City said in 2004 when the competition law was made, Viet Nams economy was not deeply integrated into regional and global economies.

During the 12 years that the law has existed, there were 80 investigations relating to the law.

Thats why it is very necessary to have a revision of the law at this time, he said.

The drafting board needs to pay attention to contents relating to economic integration and international agreements that Viet Nam is participating to ensure fair competition and transparency among different economic sectors and business types, he said.

Some deputies agreed with the Government proposal to merge the Viet Nam Competition Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the Viet Nam Competition Council into a new National Authority on Competition under MoIT.

However, others said that the new agency should be under the Government or the National Assembly to ensure independence and objectiveness.

Deputy Vu Thi Luu Mai of Ha Noi wondered about the possibility of a single authority to handle all competition-related cases, including many involving unfair competition. She suggested setting up agencies in charge of competition at localities, besides a national one.
A Shinkansen bullet train passes over a street in Tokyo on July 1, 2017. (Photo: AFP/ Toru Yamanaka)

Currently there is only an online reservation system for trains heading north from Tokyo, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The app, which will launch on Oct 30, will now allow tourists to book tickets for journeys heading south from Tokyo, along the "Golden Route" which includes Mt Fuji, Kyoto and Osaka.

Users can reserve tickets using the free SmartEX app with their credit card. Once in Japan, they need to swipe their registered credit card at a special dedicated machine before receiving the ticket.

If the user has a transport IC card from previous trips to Japan - either Pasmo or Suica - they can opt for a ticketless reservation.

The app can also be used to make changes to a reservation, reported Japan Today.

Users in America, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong will have access to this app, but more countries will join the list.

Japan Today also reported that the app cannot be used in conjunction with the Japan Rail Pass for now.
Hanco3s deserted resettlement buildings in Sai Dong New Urban Area. - Photo news.zing.vn

The three buildings with a total of 150 apartments were completed in 2007 in Sai Dong New Urban Area, Long Bien District, for residents which were affected by the project to expand Sai Dong Street, Long Bien District. However, no residents moved into the apartments, leaving the buildings deserted and suffering from severe degradations.

Tran Van Phat, a resident in Sai Dong New Urban Area, said that demolishing these buildings was wasteful considering Ha Nois shortage of affordable housing.

One citizen asked why the developer did not sell these apartments at reasonable prices instead of demolishing them, adding that many people would want to buy them at better prices.

According to Vu Ngoc Dam, Head of Urban Development Department under the municipal Department of Construction, the developer was required to hire a consultant agency to evaluate two options, repairing and upgrading the project or demolishing and rebuilding it. However, the developer did not report on this to authorities by a September 30 deadline.

It is estimated that there are about 1,000 resettlement apartments deserted in the city, according to the municipal construction department.

Each year, the city spends about VND2 trillion (US$87.7 million) on resettlement housing projects, an insufficient amount to satisfy demand.

A representative from Cau Giay District Peoples Committee said construction and services quality of resettlement housing projects were poor, and together with a shortage of surrounding infrastructure and facilities, people didnt want to live there.

Recently, the municipal Peoples Committee proposed the Government put in place a special mechanism to order developers to build 22,300 commercial apartments to add to the housing stock for resettlement by 2020.

According to Dam, with this mechanism, quality of homes for resettlements would be improved and the accountability of developers would be enhanced.

Ha Noi started piloting this mechanism for six projects with a total of more than 4,300 apartments which were expected to be completed by 2020.

Hanco3 reportedly wanted to demolish their three deserted buildings to build commercial apartments for resettlement as part of the citys pilot.

The city aims to complete land clearance for about 2,700 projects by 2020 which would require resettlement for more than 19,000 households.
Catalan president Carles Puigdemont (C) opted not to call elections for a new regional parliament - thought to be the only way to stave off Madrid's imminent power grab. (Photo: AFP/Lluis Gene)

Catalan president Carles Puigdemont (C) opted not to call elections for a new regional parliament - thought to be the only way to stave off Madrid's imminent power grab. (Photo: AFP/Lluis Gene)

The senate, where Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's Popular Party holds a majority, is scheduled to meet from 10am (0800 GMT) to vote on steps to depose Catalonia's secessionist government before the week is out, after the region held an unlawful independence referendum on Oct 1.

For its part, the Catalan parliament, where pro-secession parties hold sway, will meet in Barcelona where a proposal to vote on splitting from Spain could work its way onto the floor.

On Thursday, Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont opted not to call elections for a new regional parliament - thought to be the only way to stave off Madrid's imminent power grab.

Warning that seizure of control by the central government would escalate the crisis, he passed the buck to the regional parliament "to determine the consequences" of the threatened takeover - thus leaving the door open for a possible independence push.

Spain and Catalonia have been locked in a constitutional standoff since a "Yes" vote in the unregulated plebiscite which secessionist leaders hold up as a popular mandate for independence for the region of 7.5 million people.

Only about 43 per cent of voters turned out, however, with many anti-secessionists staying away and others prevented from casting their ballot by Spanish police in a crackdown that turned violent.

Based on the vote, Puigdemont moved towards an independence declaration, but suspended it pending negotiations.

Madrid turned to Article 155 of the constitution - a never-before-used provision designed to rein in rebels among Spain's 17 regions, which enjoy varying levels of autonomy.

Measures drawn up under the article are set to enter into force on Saturday, and will see the central government seek to temporarily take over Catalonia's civil service, police, purse, and public broadcaster.

Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria insisted the government was "fulfilling a legal obligation, a democratic obligation and a political obligation," by its actions.

'IMPATIENT' TO LEAVE

Catalonia's parliament met to discuss the issue late Thursday, where opposition lawmakers pleaded with Puigdemont to find a solution to the standoff closely watched by a European Union wary of nationalist and secessionist sentiment, particularly after Britain's dramatic decision to leave the bloc.
Khaisilk shop in Hang Gai Street

Nguyen Dai Tri, deputy general director of GDT, made this statement at yesterday's press briefing.

"We have asked the Hanoi tax agency to probe into the tax payments and sales at Khaisilk. The official inspection results will be announced next week," he added.

The scandal broke out a few days ago when a business in Hanoi complained on Facebook about products it had bought from the brand saying they were actually made in China.

Few days ago, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh asked the ministry's relevant departments to look into the origins of Khaisilk Groups products. Tuan Anh also asked the departments to clarify signs of violating regulations on the origin of goods and trade fraud.

The ministry said it had seized suspected products worth VND30 million ($1,360) from a Khaisilk shop in Hanoi.

Khaisilk was considered a national brand. The companys products are much sought after by many tourists in Vietnam. However, the import of made-in-China goods and selling them under a Made-in-Vietnam brand has had a wholesome negative impact on its public image.

Khaisilk is a renowned high-end brand with a history of over 30 years. The scandal has shocked many of the companys loyal customers.

Hoang Hai, group chairman, has apologised and offered compensation to customers. He said that half of the silk used by Khaisilk came from China, while the rest came from Vietnamese craft villages. However, he insisted that the company only uses high-quality material, although not all of its products are made in Vietnam, as advertised for years.
Taxis wait for passengers in front of Bach Mai Hospital. - Photo vietnammoi.vn

I wanted to call a taxi from another company, but there were none, apart from the Thu o (Capital City) Taxi Company in the hospital lobby. I had to take my father to the hospital gate to catch a xe om (motorbike taxi), he said.

According to Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper, there is a taxi pick-up and drop-off point next to the Viet Nam-Germany Hospital gate. Only taxis from Thu o Company are allowed to park there. Taxis from other companies can only drop off passengers and then leave.

Passengers are only accepted if the distance is more than five kilometres. Although taxis have speedometers and fixed prices, drivers still ask passengers to negotiate prices. Sometimes, those who want to go only one kilometer have to pay five to seven kilometres because they have no other choices.

Taxi monopolies can also be observed at big hospital in the capital city, including the Hospital of Medical University, National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Thanh Nhan Hospital, Military 108 Hospital, Military 103 Hospital and the National Paediatric Hospital.

At Military 103 Hospital, there is a parking area for about 10 vehicles from only one taxi company. Cars from other companies are banned at the gate by security, claiming that too many cars might cause traffic congestion in rush hours.

Many patients are dropped off at the hospital gate and then have to be taken inside by relatives.

The chaos is visible at the hospital gate where taxis line up in a long row to wait for passengers. Giai Phong Street in front of Bach Mai Hospital, Phu Doan Street in front of Viet Nam-Germany Hospital, Ton That Tung Street of Medical University Hospital are always congested due to the large volume of taxis.

Thanh Loi and ABC taxi companies even use staff which use walkie-talkies to direct taxis in front of the Medical University Hospital.

Police officers patrol the hospital areas, but ignore taxis parked on the street. On Giai Phong Street, police officers only fine private cars.

Bui Danh Lien, chairman of the Ha Noi Transport Association, said that lobbies and areas in front of hospitals were all State assets so all healthcare and transport services must be transparent and competitive. In particular, public benefit was the top priority.

Most people use taxis or personal cars to take patients to hospitals. If the hospital has a private area for taxis or ambulances, it must publicise the information and launch an auction to select at least two to three transport operators to give people a choice, he said.

Pay fees for slots

To obtain a slot at the hospital, drivers said that they must pay many fees for the company. Drivers refuse passengers going one or two kilometers and only accept fees of more than VN40,000 (US$1.7).

Some drivers told Tien Phong newspaper that they must give money to authorised forces who manage traffic in front of hospitals so that taxi violations are ignored.

According to Tien Phong report, Medical University Hospital signed a contract with the ABC taxi company. Since January 1, 2017, the hospital allows taxis of ABC company to park round the clock inside the hospital to pick up passengers. The contract also states that ABC company has a monopoly at the hospital.

This means that Medical University Hospital must not sign contracts or cooperate with any other taxi companies in any form, it says.

Deputy director of Medical University Hospital, Nguyen Thanh Binh, confirmed with Tien Phong the existence of the contract.

There is a parking area for the ABC taxi company inside the hospital. Cars of other companies are allowed to enter the hospital to drop off passengers only, he said, adding that the company must pay VN40 million ($1,700) a month to the hospital for the contract.

He said that due to small space at the hospital, the hospital signed contract with only one company to avoid congestion.

Binh confirmed that passengers were refused to be taken on short trips. The hospital claims it is now reviewing the situation and will end the contracts with the company if drivers refuse to serve passengers properly.

Viet Nam-Germany Hospital, National Paediatric Hospital and National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynaecology also confirmed that they signed contracts to allow only one taxi company to operate at the hospital.

At a press meet organised by the Bach Mai Hospital yesterday, it was announced that two taxi operators, Mai Linh and Viet Thanh, are offering services at the front and rear gates of the hospital. They have committed to provide quality services, to not park in front of the gate, and to publicise their fares.

The two operators donate VN12 million ($522) each every month to the hospitals patients assistance fund and offer electric car services to transport patients from the hospital to the taxi parking for VN10,000 to 15,000 each trip.

The hospital has not received any report about overcharing taxis. If any violations are found, the hospital will end its contract with these taxi companies; and the hospital does not force people to use the service of any taxi company. People are free to choose , said Nguyen Ngoc Hien, the hospitals deputy director said.

A representative of Mai Linh taxi company said they always maintained their service quality. All activities of the company are transparent in order to provide good service to patients. The company will take responsibility and collaborate with the Bach Mai Hospital in takling any problem that arises, the representative said.

Ministry raises voice

Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Viet Tien said that the health ministry did not have any plan to prioritise any taxi company at hospitals. He said the monopoly was determined by hospitals.

After Tien Phong reported on the monopolies, Chief Inspector of Ha Nois Transport Department, Tran ang Hai, ordered an inspection and banned taxis from parking and picking up passengers at the hospital gates.

Any company which violates the regulation and overcharges passengers will be invited to have a meeting with local authorities, he said.

Luong Ngoc Khue, Director General of Medical Examination and Treatment Department, said: Transport service for patients must prioritise serving the public. Monopolies are against the regulations set for public hospitals.

He has ordered directors of Bach Mai Hospital, Viet Nam-Germany Hospital, National Paedicatric Hospital, Medical University Hospital, Ha Noi Heart Disease Hospital and Thanh Nhan Hospital to clarify media reports about taxi service monopoly and overcharging no later than November 02.
Visitors learn about the latest technology and fashion trends, tech knowhow, performance and functions of trims at Trim Technology Day held yesterday (Oct 27) in HCM City. - Photo Thu Hang

The event was organised for the first time in Viet Nam by three trims suppliers, Avery Dennision, Gunzetal and Freudenberg & Vilene International. Its aim was to provide a platform to facilitate networking for specialties from retailers, brand owners, garment- buying houses and factories.

It featured a series of seminars and exhibitions that focused on trim components in garments.

The latest creativity and innovation in the technology development and fashion trends, technological knowhow, quality, performance and functions of trims were on display.

It was held 12 times in Hong Kong, seven times in China, one time in the US and one time in Taiwan.

In the future, Trim Technology Day alliances will continue to explore emerging markets to bring new insights and inspirational development to the industry.
By PTI: Patna, Oct 28 (PTI) Four persons died after consuming spurious liquor in Rohtas district of Bihar following which eight police officials have been placed under suspension, a top police official said.

The Nitish Kumar government had imposed a complete ban on sale and consumption of alcohol in Bihar in April last year.

All the constables posted in Kachhwa police station area have also been transferred, the police official said.

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"The deaths had taken place in Danwar village falling under the police station area late last night" DIG, Shahabad Range, Mohd Rehman told PTI over phone from Rohtas.

An FIR has been lodged against three persons who were suspected to have brought the illicit liquor into the village and "we hope to catch hold of all of them soon", Rehman said.

Replying to a query, the DIG said, "The post-mortem report is yet to be out, but prima facie the deaths appear to have been caused by consumption of spurious liquor."

"The condition of those who have fallen ill and undergoing treatment at hospitals suggests the same," he said.

Earlier in the day, angry villagers had staged a demonstration at Danwar demanding action against those responsible for facilitating hooch trade in the area.

Meanwhile, the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal in the state has alleged that "illegal trade is flourishing in the state at the cost of poor people".

"Thousands of crores of rupees are pocketed every month in the state by illicit liquor traders and their facilitators in the administration. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seems to have surrendered before this lobby", RJD spokesman and MLA Shakti Yadav said in a statement. PTI NAC MM DV

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Is making French less sexist a threat to the language? The Academie Francaise says oui.
By PTI: (Eds: Updating with more inputs)

Patna, Oct 28 (PTI) Four persons died after consuming spurious liquor in Rohtas district of Bihar, following which nine police personnel were placed under suspension today.

A complete ban on sale and consumption of alcohol was imposed in the state in April last year.

Explanations have been sought from a number of officials regarding the lapse, while the police raided a shop owned by one of the accused and seized liquor bottles.

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"An information was received today about the death of four persons, all of them in the age group of 25 to 35 years, after consuming spurious liquor in Danwar village under Kachhwa police station area of Rohtas late last night," a release issued here by the DGP control room said.

A raid conducted at a shop owned by one of the accused -- Antim Lal Singh -- led to the seizure of three bottles of foreign liquor, two litres of country liquor and two kgs of ganja, the release said, adding that a hunt was on for Singh, while his two sisters were being interrogated.

"In view of the serious nature of the incident, a total of nine police personnel have been placed under suspension. Among the suspended police personnel are three inspectors, including the SHO of Kachhwa, Mukesh Kumar, an equal number of sub-inspectors, two constables and one chowkidar," the release said.

"The other constables posted in the police station area have been transferred, while explanations have been sought from Circle Inspector Anil Kumar Singh and Sub-Divisional Police Officer Neeraj Kumar Singh," it added.

Senior officials, including the Inspector General (IG), Patna Zone, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Shahabad Range, and Superintendent of Police (SP), Rohtas, were camping at the spot and supervising the investigations and raids being carried out in connection with the hooch deaths, the release said.

"A speedy trial will be ensured upon the completion of the investigation. There is also a provision for death penalty in such cases," it added.

Earlier, DIG, Shahabad Range, Mohammad Rahman had said three persons had been named as the accused in the case.

Rohtas District Magistrate Animesh Kumar Parashar said the villagers, who had staged a demonstration in the morning demanding action against the erring officials, had been pacified even as the suspension order of an excise department official had been sent to the departments principal secretary, while an explanation had been sought from another.

Meanwhile, opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) launched an attack on the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in the state, claiming that prohibition was implemented "only on paper".

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Former deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also trained his guns at the BJP and said, "Nitishs current allies used to call the prohibition law in Bihar draconian. Now, they are in power in the state. How will the ruling dispensation muster the moral strength required to strictly enforce the ban on sale and consumption of liquor."

"The suspension of police officials after the death of four persons is an eyewash. The people of the state will teach a befitting lesson to this corrupt and inefficient government at an appropriate time," he added. PTI NAC RG RC

--- ENDS ---
Theres a small gap in the center of a green border painted on the floor that circles the eye-filling ofrenda in the back room of Cultivate 7twelve.

Its scarcely noticeable because its meant for other eyes. The gap serves as an entrance for spirits drawn by the sights and smells contained within the line  dishes of food, odorous marigolds, fragrant candles, photos of dead loved ones, sparkling sugar skulls.

The living, however, need no guidance to the offering  an altar-like arrangement of traditional offerings and memorials thats a part of Day of the Dead observances  other than proceeding through the gallery and following the brightly colored cut-paper, papel picado in Spanish, illustrations hanging in the ofrendas room and on its walls.

The creation of Waco textile artist Rocio Ramirez de Landoll, with assistance from Diane Torres, is art with a purpose: a touchstone of Mexican culture that brings families and friends together to remember the dead and celebrate life.

Ramirez has created ofrendas for Art Forum of Waco and St. Francis Catholic Church in past years. The room-filling one in Cultivate 7twelve falls between the two in scale and took several days and an extended shopping trip to Mexico, she said.

Ofrendas, usually assembled by families, help in observing Dia de los Muertos on Nov. 1 and All Saints Day on Nov. 2, but their roots extend to harvest celebrations by the Aztecs and others preceding the Spanish Conquest, Ramirez said.

Over time, the fusion of celebrations of harvest and ones ancestors encompassed other dualities: enjoyment of life while remembering the dead, the sadness of death and a sly humor in its presence.

The Cultivate 7twelve ofrenda features many elements of a traditional ofrenda: Plates of dried corn, beans, peppers and fruit; pan de muerto, a sweet roll; small dishes of salt, amaranth grain and incense; strong-smelling marigolds, many circled by lines of dried marigold petals; dozens of white candles; and photos and memorabilia of the honored dead.

A photo of Ramirezs grandparents stands on the ofrenda table along with photos of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo; American artist Rodolfo Razo, a personal friend of Art Forum of Waco founder and artist Jesus Rivera; the parents of her husband Al Landoll; and members of Torres family, with room for later contributions.

To the left, a skeleton dressed in Razos clothing sits before a sketch on an easel, balanced on the right by a skeleton serenading his bony love at a window and a skeletal dog responding to its master.

Dozens of brightly colored papel picado scenes of life populated by skeletons, called calacas or eskilitos in Spanish, that Ramirez purchased in Mexico hang overhead and across from the main ofrenda. Theres also room for some fun: a mock casket whose skeleton inhabitant sits up at the pull of a string, and two oversize, wearable skulls hanging from the ceiling as props for selfies.

We give thanks to our ancestors that we are here, Ramirezs said. I feel very blessed for all the people who helped.

The exhibit formally opens 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday with La Fiesta Mexican Restaurant selling tacos and other food to visitors. Cultivate 7twelve will have extended hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday with regular hours of 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
If my prime minister had asked me to do demonetisation, I would have advised him not to, and if he had insisted, then I would have resigned, said Chidambaram.

By Press Trust of India: Assailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today said he would have quit as finance minister if forced to implement the measure.

He also targeted Modi over "hasty" implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and his pet bullet train project.

"If my prime minister had asked me to do demonetisation, I would have advised him please don't, and if he had insisted, then I would have resigned," he told reporters on the sidelines of an event where he delivered a lecture on The state of economy.

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Noting that demonetisation and "rushing through with the GST were two major mistakes" of the Modi government, he said, "demonetisation was a bad idea, full stop. GST is a good idea, but it has been hastily implemented. It should have been implemented with due care and attention."

This is the biggest man made disaster that hit India, worse than the Tsunami that hit in 2004: P Chidambaram in Mumbai on Demonetisation pic.twitter.com/omzrgqy5YI&; ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2017

Pitching for a cap on the GST at 18 per cent, the former Union minister flayed multiple slabs in the rate structure.

Delivering the lecture on the economy organised by the local trading community, Chidambaram said the prime ministers ambitious bullet train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai should not have been a priority.

Focus, he said, should have been on improving safety, cleanliness, better compartments and stations, better signalling systems and improving suburban transport.

"Hardly 600 people will use bullet train (on one way journey) when it is completed, and government has borrowed huge amount of money from Japan for this. Instead the government should utilise the money for health and education, which the people want," he said, adding bullet train can become a priority 10-15 years later not now.

He also flayed the Gujarat model of development, saying "Vikas gando thayo che (development has gone crazy)". The Congress has launched a social media campaign in the poll- bound state by the same name.

Chidambaram criticised the Election Commission for not declaring the dates for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh polls simultaneously.

"There was an unusual delay in declaring poll dates for Gujarat. The only conclusion is that the (central) government wanted to prevent announcement of sops by the Congress government there (in Himachal) and wanted to do the same in Gujarat. The EC could have either declared it (the polls) together on October 12 or on October 24."

Apparently targeting the government over the arrest of journalist Vinod Verma in connection with the alleged sex tape scandal involving a Chhattisgarh minister, Chidambaram alleged efforts were being made to "silence" critics, especially journalists who do investigative stories.

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ALSO WATCH | Chidambaram to India Today: Cashless economy not original objective of demonetisation

--- ENDS ---
Central Christian Church is hosting an organ and piano recital Sunday to observe the 500th anniversary of Martin Luthers Protestant Reformation. The event is co-sponsored by the Central Texas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

The 4 p.m. recital is free and open the public.

Special Olympics

Special Olympics Texas Area 12 is having a SuperHero SuperRun Nov. 11 at the Cotton Belt Trail, 1119 Harris Creek Road in McGregor.

The event is free for Special Olympics of Texas athletes and $25 for friends, family and community supporters. There will be quarter-mile, 2-mile and 5-mile events.

Superhero costumes are highly encouraged. For more information, call 749-1307.

Childrens Theatre

Waco Childrens Theatre will present The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Nov. 17-19 at the Lee Lockwood Library, 2801 W. Waco Drive.

Performance times are 7 p.m. Nov. 17, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Nov. 18 and 2 p.m. Nov. 19. Admission for all shows is $5.

For more information, contact Linda Haskett at 776-0707.

Kia Soul raffle





The Humane Society of Central Texas is conducting a raffle for a 2017 Kia Soul on Nov. 11. Tickets are $20 each or three for $50 and can be purchased at the Waco Animal Shelter or www.humanesocietycentraltexas.org.

Contact Don Bland for more information at 754-1454, ext. 7084.

Safehouse

Lakeshore Estates is having its annual Halloween Safehouse from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at 3209 Village Green Drive in Waco.

The event is free and features a haunted house, carnival games, trick-or-treating and a fortune teller. Costumes are encouraged.

For more information, call 399-0109.

Poinsettia sale

Waco Federation of Womens Clubs is taking orders for red poinsettias. Orders must be made by Nov. 15. Poinsettias will cost $12 and benefit the upkeep of the federations clubhouse, which offers a place for womens clubs to meet.

Contact Sue Ann Roesing at 751-3000 to order. Pickup will be Dec. 1 from 10 a.m. to noon and 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at 2900 Bosque Blvd., around back. Delivery is available for orders of 10 or more plants.

Drug take-back

The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day event is Saturday. Residents are encouraged to visit local police departments to dispose of prescription and over-the-counter drugs that are no longer needed or viable.

For more information, contact a local police department.

Haunted History canceled

The Haunted History at East Terrace event schedule for Saturday has been canceled.
The proposal for a $20 million bus trunk line that could cut crosstown travel times in half is heading to the public review stage and could be submitted next summer for federal funding.

The Waco Metropolitan Planning Organization on Thursday heard a consultants detailed proposal for a bus rapid transit system, including a preferred alignment. The board agreed to move forward with a Nov. 16 public meeting at time and place to be announced.

The proposal by AECOM would reorganize the entire Waco Transit system around a 13-mile central express corridor, running from Lacy-Lakeview to Woodway, mostly along U.S. Highway 84 and Franklin Avenue. Along the route would be 15 bus stations that would connect with loop routes that circulate through neighborhoods.

At least eight express buses would shuttle back and forth along the corridor, arriving at stations in 15-minute intervals. Waco Transit officials say crosstown travel times could be reduced to about 30 minutes, down from an hour to an hour and a half.

I think we need to hear from the community, Waco Mayor Kyle Deaver said. But I think it makes a lot of sense from the standpoint of trying to meet the Prosper Waco goals of improving transportation between those who live in poverty and where most of the jobs are, in the industrial district.

Deaver is the outgoing chairman of the Metropolitan Planning Organization board, which represents McLennan County and all of its cities in setting the regions transportation priorities.

The MPO board is set in January to vote on supporting the application for Federal Transit Administrations Small Starts funding for the project. The city of Waco would apply for the money through Waco Transit, with a September deadline. Federal funding for the project could be available by 2020.

AECOM planner Jimi Mitchell told the board Thursday of the extensive study his firm has done, including some 200 public responses collected online, at input meetings and on buses.

The firm studied three crosstown corridors in depth for the rapid-transit trunk line. One relied largely on Waco Drive, while another used Franklin Avenue for an eastbound route through downtown and Washington for the westbound route.

The preferred alternative uses only Franklin through downtown, which would require converting Franklin into a two-way street. The city has already been studying such a move, along with converting Washington to two-way traffic. That project, which could cost several million dollars including the replacement of traffic lights, could be counted as a local match for the federal funds.

The preferred route would be a mile shorter than the others and is estimated to cost less and pick up more riders, Mitchell said. An estimated 800 riders are expected on the express route daily in 2023, in a overall system that would carry 3,500 riders.

The preferred corridor would start at Business 77 in Lacy Lakeview, zigzag through Bellmead along Loop 340 and Highway 84, then thread through East Waco onto Taylor Avenue and onto Franklin Avenue in downtown. At Valley Mills Drive it would veer right and then continue along Waco Drive to Richland Mall and the Texas Central Industrial District, ending at Estates Drive in Woodway.

The express route would work like an express train, stopping only at prescribed locations, synchronized with the schedules of the neighborhood circulators. To speed the buses along, they would be equipped with fare card readers and would have infrared technology allowing them to prolong green lights.

Waco Councilman Dillon Meek, who is incoming chairman of the MPO board, voiced support for the bus rapid transit corridor, but he raised questions about the map AECOM provided of proposed neighborhood circulators. He said that for some neighborhoods, the walk to the bus would be longer than it is now.

Im really excited about expediting travel times, but my concern is people wont be able to get onto the fast-moving bus, Meek said.

MPO director Chris Evilia said his staff and Waco Transit staff will be doing more analysis of neighborhood accessibility and will look at ways to minimize any negative impact to current riders.

Project officials said the $20 million estimated cost includes engineering, new express buses, replacement of traffic signals, pedestrian crossings, sheltered bus stations and sidewalk and ramp improvements within a 200-foot radius of the stations.

They said Federal Transit Administration officials typically prefer to fund 70 percent or less of the capital costs, and local officials will explore other funding sources to make up the rest.

In addition to the capital costs, AECOM estimates Waco Transits operational costs would increase by $3.5 million to $4 million, a cost that also assumes extending hours and adding Sunday service.

The capital costs are one thing, but the long-term operational costs are where we need to have a serious conversation, Evilia said.

Deaver said he hopes to have clearer answers about funding before the application is submitted next year, but he said city officials should keep in mind the benefits of having an improved transit system.

I think these types of projects in other cities have caused economic development along the corridors that would be beneficial, Deaver said. All cities are looking at trying to improve their mass transit. Our mass transit does a good job for certain travelers with certain needs, but to make a long trip across the city it doesnt meet those needs at all.
A federal firearms expert and an emergency room doctor testified Friday as the third week of Jacob Carrizals trial came to a close.

Carrizal, 35, is the first of 154 bikers indicted in the May 17, 2015, shootout at Twin Peaks between rival biker groups to stand trial.

Prosecutors have called 45 witnesses and introduced close to 1,000 pieces of evidence during the first 13 days of testimony. Carrizal, a Dallas-based railroad employee, is president of the Dallas Bandidos chapter and led a group of Bandidos into the Twin Peaks parking lot that Sunday afternoon moments before the group clashed with Cossacks, another biker group that had taken over the patio area at the restaurant.

John Jacobson, a firearms and tool mark examiner for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in California, testified about his examination of 154 firearms officers seized after the deadly shootout that left nine dead and more than 20 injured.

The firearms, plus 400 other weapons of all varieties, were found on the grounds of Twin Peaks and Don Carlos restaurants and in vehicles belonging to the hundreds of bikers.

Jacobson said he was able to match 12 of the firearms as positively firing a number of shell casings and projectiles found at the scene or that were retrieved from the bodies of the slain bikers during autopsies.

Jacobson said it was not his job nor could he determine if any of the projectiles he matched to weapons caused the deaths of anyone. Pathologists from the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas will be testifying next week about wounds suffered by each man and the manner and means of their deaths.

Waco police did not send the three .223 rifles Waco officers used to kill bikers posing threats to them and others to the ATF lab in California. Those rifles were sent to the forensic lab in Dallas for analysis, and no testimony has been offered thus far about those findings.

Two officers, Heath Jackson and Michael Bucher, have testified about shooting bikers that day from the Don Carlos parking lot about 50 yards away, but it was not clear from their testimony how many bikers they killed. It was clear from Jacobsons testimony, however, that some bikers were shot by police rifles and also by other bikers with handguns.

In other testimony, Dr. Richard Whitworth, an emergency room physician at Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest Medical Center, testified he was one of three ER doctors on duty that Sunday afternoon when 20 bikers with gunshot wounds or other assaultive injuries came flooding in within a 20-minute time span.

Whitworth said hospital officials didnt have time to get their names at first so they assigned state names to treatment rooms, like Alabama, Alaska and so on, as a way of identifying who was being treated.

Whitworth said he and the other two doctors stood in the ER doorway as the bikers arrived and assessed how badly each was hurt, treating the more seriously injured ones first and working their way down the line.

Judge Matt Johnson recessed the jury for the weekend after a series of objections from Carrizals attorney, Casie Gotro. Gotro objected that hospital records characterized why the bikers were there as a mass shooting from a biker gang feud.

The judge ordered that phrase redacted from the records and recessed proceedings while Gotro read the records for other potential objections.

Prosecution testimony resumes at 9 a.m. Monday.

Carrizal is charged in Wacos 54th State District Court with directing the operations of a criminal street gang, one count of engaging in organized criminal activity with the underlying offense of murder and a count of engaging in organized criminal activity with the underlying offense of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Early voting turnout across McLennan County is low with a week left for residents to cast their ballot ahead of Election Day on Nov. 7.

There were 444 people who visited one of the five polling locations this week, while another 97 mailed in a ballot. There are 119,550 active registered voters in the county. Turnout so far totals less than 0.5 percent.

Early voting continues 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday. Hours will be extended Thursday and Friday to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Residents casting a ballot for any of the city council or school district races or for any of the seven state constitutional amendments can do so at any voting center.

Locations include the McLennan County Elections Administration Office in the Records Building basement, 214 N. Fourth St., Suite 300, in Waco; the Robinson Community Center, 106 W. Lyndale Drive; the Waco Multi-Purpose Community Center, 1020 Elm Ave.; First Assembly of God Church, 6701 Bosque Blvd., in Waco; and the Hewitt Public Safety Facility, 100 Patriot Court.

Voting machines at First Assembly of God Church have been the busiest of the five locations with 150 people casting a ballot there. Only 45 people have voted at the Hewitt location.

Across the county, Robinson, Moody and West are having city council races; West and Riesel ISDs are having school board races; Mart ISD is having a $9.2 million bond election; Connally ISD is having a tax ratification election; and every voter in Texas can weigh in on seven state constitutional amendments. State legislators approved seven joint resolutions during the last legislative session to put before voters.

During the most recent election featuring a comparable slate of races, about 2.7 percent, or 3,400, of the countys 126,148 registered voters, cast an early ballot in the November 2015 joint general election.

There are 132,823 people registered to vote in McLennan County, but the list of active voters is shorter because of people who may have moved but not updated their address, McLennan County elections administrator Kathy Van Wolfe has said.

All local races will show first on the ballot, followed by the statewide constitutional referendums.

Sample ballots and more election information are available at co.mclennan.tx.us/337/Elections.
In the wake of McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reynas request to recuse his office from the second scheduled Twin Peaks biker trial, another attorney says he will call Reyna to testify as a defense witness in the case, and believes the DA should be removed as prosecutor.

Attorney Bruce Anton, who represents Nathan Clark Grindstaff, a Cossack from Blum, filed a motion Friday stating Reyna should be removed as a prosecutor after he gave August 2016 testimony as a witness in hearings for bikers Ray Nelson, a Cossack, and Matthew Clendennen, a former Scimitar. Anton said in those hearings, Reyna gave details that can be used in Grindstaffs defense. Grindstaff is one of 154 bikers indicted in the shootout on a charge of engaging in organized criminal activity.

In particular, the defense in this case will elicit testimony regarding Mr. Reynas decision to ignore the collective knowledge of all three assistant police chiefs on the scene at Twin Peaks on May 17, 2015, as well as to the two lead detectives assigned to the case and advocate for the arrest of approximately 177 motorcyclists, Anton states in the motion.

Grindstaffs trial date has not been set.

Nine men died and more than 20 were injured in the Twin Peaks shootout. A total of 177 people were arrested the day of the melee on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity.

Reyna filed a recusal request in Clendennens case Thursday and requested the court fill his offices role with another attorney.

Senior Judge Doug Shaver, of Houston, was selected to oversee Clendennens case after 54th District Judge Matt Johnson was recused. Shaver has scheduled a Nov. 20 hearing in the matter of Reynas request.

As Reyna noted in the Clendennen request, there is controlling case law from the Waco Court of Appeals that where an elected district attorney is disqualified in a particular actions, all assistant district attorneys are disqualified,  Antons motion states.

Anton also stated Reyna will also be able to testify whether Waco police Detective Manuel Chavez lied in testimony in connection to the Twin Peaks cases in the hearing for both Clendennen and Nelson.

A judge ruled that a court of inquiry was warranted to determine if Reyna or Chavez lied under oath during the hearing. Clint Broden, Clendennens attorney, claims Reyna testified to what Broden calls extensive discussions he had with Chavez before the detective signed the identical, fill-in-the-name arrest warrant affidavits for 177 motorcyclists after the shootout. Chavez testified he never spoke to Reyna that night.

No schedule has been set for the court of inquiry.

At least two other attorneys representing Twin Peaks defendants are expected to seek the recusal of Reynas office within the next week.
As professional-grade liberal elitist snowflakes, it boils our blood to see so much ink spilled over how the left must learn to persuade Trump voters. Given that millions more voted for HRC than 45, we thought our thousands of conservative readers would be more interested in some intellectual jiu-jitsu techniques for bringing liberals to their knees. Just imagine a family holiday dinner where your typically-Trump-bashing third cousin instead begs forgiveness for the error of her ways and bids adieu by wishing you a Merry Christmas!

First, you cant convert them if they cant hear you. Outright tell them theyre wrong and theyll shut down. Youll trigger a neurological double-down response that actually reinforces their opinion. In fact, the more memes, YouTube videos and Hillary email references you hit them with, the more tightly they will cling to their facts and statistics. Be patient and set your traps carefully.

Second, persuasion comes in small steps, not big jumps. A minor point of agreement can form an argumentative foothold, and from there youre just a few steps from complete capitulation. Start with the small and seemingly innocent: Would you agree we should leave Gold Star families out of political debates? Also avoid insistence on facts; focus on values. Their pig-headedness is driven by sincerely held but way outdated biases (e.g., all humans are created equal and what American heroes died fighting for actually was the freedom to criticize the government).

Consider the hot topic of climate change. Its clearly ridiculous to connect decades of massive fossil-fuel combustion and associated pollution with damage to Gods green earth, but youll never get a libtard to recognize the patently obvious gullibility of their facts and data. So ask why they care so much about the planet. When they mention the future and their kids, change the subject to more fundamental American values such as Hillarys email server and Benghazi.

Third, the mind follows the heart. Its well established in psychology (and II Corinthians) that we search out facts to validate our feelings, not the other way around. Liberals are risen apes (versus conservatives being fallen angels) so dont expect them to unemotionally evaluate information before forming an opinion. The war for the planet of these apes can be won if you take the time to strike the right emotional chord.

Case in point: immigration. Liberals see immigrants as ancestors, neighbors and economic contributors rather than the rapists, layabouts and terrorists you know them to be (excluding the ones who built your house, serve you at restaurants, invent things and create high-tech jobs). Dont get trapped in a statistical debate; numbers tend to be sad! and untrustworthy by their very nature, given that much of modern mathematics can be traced to the golden age of Islam. Dodge the data and instead ask your Democrap friend something more basic like, Why do you hate America? While immigrants dont commit crimes at a higher rate than people like you, dont let that stop you from saying something like, But what about that Mexican that killed that lady?

Techniques like these will engage your sheeple friends and activate their emotions. Theyll finally call you a bigot. You can calmly respond with an LOL and note how liberals always resort to name-calling. Bam. The planet is yours. Wait...youve tried all of the preceding and none of it worked? OK, down at the very bottom of our bag of secrets tricks we have one last card to play: numb the numbskulls. In military jargon, this is known as a war of attrition. Sort of like what that liberal Taliban is trying to do to us in Afghanistan, or that God-hating, Prius-driving defeatocrat ISIS seeks to do to us on the seven largest continents.

Numbing is as simple as constantly changing the subject. Follow the lead of the Russian bots on this one. For example, if a liberal asks, Did Trumps recklessness contribute to Special Forces Sgt. Johnsons death in Niger?, respond by posting, Patriots dont question Generals! If that doesnt work, shift to posting a lie about McCain having been pardoned by Nixon. The Willywonk tree-sniffer pastry-eater crowd is so addicted to facts that this eventually will drive them insane. You will know youve won when they declare they are taking a break from social media or pledge to never again argue with a Trumpist, or give up posting about anything but kittens who can play the piano and lounging labradoodles. Victory! One down and only 2.999999 million to go.
By PTI: (Eds: Updating with more details, toll)

By Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, Oct 28 (PTI) An overcrowded passenger bus today veered off a road and plunged into a river in central Nepals Dhading district, killing at least 31 people including an Indian woman, police said.

The Kathmandu-bound bus from Rajbiraj fell into the Trishuli River while negotiating a turn at Ghatabesi, 70-km west of the capital, around 5:00 am, said Superintendent of Police, Dhading, Dhruba Raj Raut.

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Security personnel, including those from the Nepal Army and Armed Police Force, rescued 16 injured passengers who had fallen into the river along the Prithvi Highway.

Raut put the death toll at 31 and authorities said the toll could rise further.

The rescue teams have pulled out 28 dead bodies so far and the search was on for other missing passengers.

According to the police, most of the deceased were from Saptari district and 12 of them have been identified.

An Indian woman, Mamata Devi Thakur, also died in the accident, police said.

All injured passengers were taken to nearby hospitals, but two of them who suffered serious injuries were rushed to Kathmandu for treatment, according to the police.

According to preliminary reports, the accident occurred because the driver failed to take the high speed bus under control at the turning point due to poorly visibility.

Altogether 52 passengers were travelling on the bus, police said.

While the police prima facie blamed visibility for the accident, such mishaps are not uncommon in the Himalayan nation and occur mostly due to poor infrastructure and reckless driving. PTI SBP/KIS ZH

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When Republicans brought their budget to the Senate floor last week, they were bracing for what is known on Capitol Hill as a vote-a-rama, in which Democrats would keep the Senate in session till the wee hours, forcing Republicans to cast dozens of politically toxic votes on everything from gun control to legalizing the immigration status of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients.

But the vote-a-rama never materialized. Democrats simply stood down.

Why? Because they knew that what was toxic for Republicans would be even more toxic for vulnerable Senate Democrats running for re-election in states President Trump won by double digits. Democrats are deeply worried about the fates of Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia (which Trump won by 42 points), Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota (which Trump won by 36), Jon Tester of Montana (20), Claire McCaskill of Missouri (19) and Joe Donnelly of Indiana (19). If Trump can pick off some or all of these seats, he could finally have what he needs to pass key legislation with GOP votes alone. And the Democrats chances of taking control of the Senate two years later in 2020 could slip away.

This is good news for Republicans, but especially for Trumps efforts to pass tax reform. If Democrats are running scared in red states, then Trump can turn the screws on them to vote with him or pay a price in November 2018.

For a while, it appeared that Trump was actively courting these Democrats. In September, he hosted Heitkamp, Manchin and Donnelly for dinner at the White House to discuss tax reform. That same month, he invited Heitkamp to travel with him on Air Force One to a tax rally in North Dakota where he declared her a good woman and said his supporters are for you, 100 percent. A few weeks later, he did it again, this time inviting Donnelly aboard Air Force One for a speech in Indiana unveiling the framework of his tax plan. There he took a sharper edge, warning If Sen. Donnelly doesnt approve it . . . we will come here, we will campaign against him like you wouldnt believe, adding I think well have numerous Democrats come across because its the right thing to do. All good.

But after this initial burst of activity, it looks as if Trump may be giving up. Itll be hard getting the Democrats because they are obstructionists and they vote in blocs, he told the Heritage Foundation last week, but if we get the Republicans we need, which is virtually every single one of them . . . you will see things happen like have never happened before.

Giving up would be a mistake. With Obamacare, Republicans preemptively announced they planned to pass the repeal-and-replace bill with only Republican votes. That let red-state Democrats off the hook and they paid no price for voting against Trump. He should not let them get away with failing to cooperate this time. Instead, he should turn up the heat. His national approval rating is in the high 30s, but in West Virginia, North Dakota, Montana, Missouri and Indiana, it ranges from 49 to 60 percent, which means Trump will be a formidable opponent if these senators cross him. He should be a constant presence in their home states for the next two months, rallying voters behind his tax-reform plan and warning that its success or failure depends on how their Democratic senator votes.

If he turns up the pressure, he wins, no matter what. If the Democrats capitulate, tax reform will almost certainly pass  giving Trump the major legislative victory that has so far eluded him. If they vote against him in spite of such a campaign, then Trump has teed up the GOP for big gains in the Senate.

The only bad option is giving them a free pass again, so Democrats can claim that they would have happily supported the president if he had continued trying to work with them. If Trump fails to put the squeeze on them and does not pass tax reform, the odds of losing the Senate will grow. If Democrats win the Senate, the Trump presidency would effectively be over. No more judges, no more nominees. Democrats would control the Senates investigative committees, handing them unbridled subpoena power. And, should they win the House as well, Democrats could have the votes to bring impeachment proceedings against Trump if they so choose.

In other words, the way forward for Trump is clear: Make Democrats vote for tax reform or pay a political price. Dont let them off the hook.
WAHOO  Ginger Neuhart, the former village clerk accused of embezzling from two Saunders County villages, was in court Oct. 26 for a bond appearance.

Neuhart has been charged with two counts of theft and four counts of forgery in connection with missing money from Memphis and Ithaca.

The amount of money Neuhart allegedly stole from Memphis  nearly $160,000 over a 12-year period  was revealed Oct. 19 in a report from the Nebraska State Auditor.

Neuhart confessed on Sept. 11 to embezzling funds from Alvo, Ithaca and Memphis, after authorities in Alvo noticed discrepancies with the villages finances. Neuhart faces charges in Cass County for the alleged fraud that occurred in Alvo.

The investigation examined all village checks made out to Neuhart dating back to April 2005. The total amount of money missing from Memphis village funds is over $160,000. The amount Neuhart allegedly took between July 2014 and August 2017 is $37,500. In Nebraska, the filing of a felony complaint charging embezzlement carries a statute of limitations of three years, limiting the villages ability to get back the money through criminal court.

The State Auditor released a report on Oct. 27 detailing alleged fraud committed by Neuhart in her capacity as Ithaca village clerk/treasurer. A total of $38,000 was paid to Neuhart without authorization from the village board of trustees from July 2014 to August 2017. The auditors office also found an additional $3,000 overpayment to Neuhart dating back to May 2013, which is beyond the statute of limitations.

In all three villages, Neuhart allegedly committed the fraud by altering her monthly paychecks.

Neuhart was released after her appearance in Saunders County Court Oct. 26, after posting 10 percent of the $5,000 bond. Her next court appearance in Saunders County will be on Dec. 20.

In Cass County, where Neuhart was charged with one count of theft by deception, her upcoming court date is Nov. 13.
All Saints Day, or Ognissanti, on Sunday 1 November is a public holiday in Italy.

However this year it falls on a Sunday so it won't make any difference to the closure of schools or public offices.

The celebration of All Saints is followed by All Souls' Day on Monday 2 November, a Catholic tradition of mourning the dearly departed. In Italy this is a particularly important day, when people gather to visit family graves.

The citys three main cemeteries, Verano, Flaminio and Prima Porta, are open each day from 07.30-18.00.

The Non-Catholic Cemetery in the Ostiense-Testaccio district is open all day on 1 November, from 09.00-17.00, with last entrance at 16.30.

For details about visiting Romes cemeteries see city website.
Meghwal and 16 others were accused of sexually exploiting a married woman for ten months in Jaipur in 2011 after sedating her.

By Rohit Parihar: Nihal Chand Meghwal, BJP MP from Sri Ganganagar and a former union minister of Rajasthan, got a big relief from a Jaipur court when a petition challenging closure of rape charge against him and 16 others was rejected by the Judge today.

Meghwal and 16 others were accused of sexually exploiting a married woman for ten months in Jaipur in 2011 after sedating her. The woman had alleged she realised she was being raped only when she was not properly drugged once.

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Jaipur police had found her allegations false and baseless following which the magistrate closed the case in 2014. The case was challenged by the alleged victim before the sessions court.

The Judge found no reason to reopen the case and also was told that a case of similar nature was also filed in Haryana where except for holding charge of cruelty against her husband, other allegations were found untrue too.

The case was blown out of proportion following his induction as union minister of state in 2014 with Meghwal and others named as accused despite they not being even put to trial.

All the court had then done was to ask all suspects if they too would prefer to be a respondent in a petition challenging the closure of the case as one of them had sought to be.

But the entire case was built up as Meghwal and others have been made accused.

Victim's lawyer has said that she would challenge the verdict before the Rajasthan High Court.

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How is this for macabre? The latest beauty weirdness to emerge from the US in the blood infusion skin care genre (think vampire facials and platelet-rich plasma PRP) is the vampire breast lift that targets skin texture and volume. Apparently it's big for Halloween?

In this procedure, the PRP, which has been extracted from the patient's blood sample, is mixed with hyaluronic acid (the compound found in dermal fillers) or with fat taken from another area of the body or saline solution. This is then injected into the breasts to create a fuller cleavage.

Outlandish makeup is the go for any Halloween diva. Credit:@the_wigs_and_makeup_manager

The verdict? US surgeon Melissa Doft told Allure magazine, "There is evidence for PRP helping improve skin texture and appearance. It could improve the skin of the breasts, but it will not lead to perkier breasts  only breast implants and to a lesser degree fat injections can achieve this goal."

If you're not quite ready for a vampire breast lift this Halloween, there are other low-key ways to get into the spirit.
It was a who's who of the Sydney socialite scene on Tuesday morning at an intimate breakfast hosted by Hermione Underwood and Nadia Fairfax at Pam Pam boutique in Double Bay.

The It girls were joined by the likes of racing royalty Kate Waterhouse, Aje founder Edwina Robinson, and the Audience Agency's Montarna McDonald for the launch of the British-based fine jewellery collection Atelier Romy  founded by Underwood and Sabine Roemer.

Kate Waterhouse, Hermione Underwood and Nadia Fairfax at the Atelier Romy jewellery launch on Tuesday. Credit:Ken Butti

Fairfax, spotted most recently gallivanting around dressed to the nines as David Jones' 2017 face of racing, collaborated with Underwood, her old friend from their Sydney PR days, on a pair of earrings in honour of the brand's launch into their old stomping ground.

"[Underwood] is now in London and I'm between Sydney and New York, so we make time for lover's travel  finding little random hotels and we just meet up there. This year we have done Apulia [southern Italy] and a little chateau in France for our catch-ups," Fairfax told Fairfax Meda.
Designer fashion loves to put labels on things. Haute couture (you'll never afford it), couture (you may be able to afford it secondhand), ready-to-wear (eat Maggi noodles for a week and possibly) and, the great democratisation device: the diffusion label.

As fashion moves more "masstige" (as in, "mass prestige"), designers have created sister lines or collaborations with high-street stores to get their branding to a wider (read: less wealthy) audience, and, let's face it, make some serious cash.

Actor Chloe Sevigny stars in the campaign to launch Proenza Schouler White Label. Credit:Ricky Saiz

The latest name to move in this direction is Proenza Schouler, the cult label loved by celebrities and a struggle to pronounce by nearly everyone else.

Set to be called Proenza Schouler White Label, the range will feature denim, T-shirts and all manner of totally wearable things that the main line (fashion speak for the expensive stuff) would unlikely sell. (Although, the likes of Balenciaga, Dior and Vetements have shown you can mix up T-shirts and sneakers with $10,000 dresses without the front row flinching.)
Early menopause is defined as naturally ceasing to have periods before the age of 45.

In addition, underweight women who lost nine kilograms or more on at least three occasions between the ages of 18 and 30 doubled their chances of ending reproductive life prematurely, the study found.

The same association was found for women who are underweight in their mid-30s.

Being a skinny teenager increases a woman's risk of having an early menopause, new research suggests.

Researchers analysed data from 78,759 pre-menopausal women aged 25 to 42 who joined the US Nurses' Health Study II in 1989. The study was one of a series of major investigations into the causes of chronic disease in women.

Lead scientist Dr Kathleen Szegda, from the University of Massachusetts, said: "Our findings suggest that women who are underweight in early or mid-adulthood may be at increased risk for early menopause.

"Up to 10 per cent of women experience early menopause and it is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, and other health conditions such as cognitive decline, osteoporosis and premature death, so these findings have important implications for women and their doctors.

"Underweight women may want to consider discussing the potential implications of these findings with their doctors."

Being underweight was defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of less than 18.5.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt is standing firm on new rules banning over-the-counter codeine products, in defiance of some party room colleagues, state counterparts and the vocal pharmacy lobby.

He revealed the Pharmacy Guild, which has been lobbying heavily for exemptions so that some codeine products can be easily accessible to some patients, had "reversed its position" in its fight to water down the new regulations.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has announced the government will provide $1 million to educate the public about new rules around codeine products. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

All codeine-based products, including Panadeine and Nurofen Plus, are set to become prescription-only from February next year after the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) found restricting access would reduce addiction and deadly overdoses.

"The guild has reversed its position and has accepted the up-scheduling in full," he said at the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners' (RACGP) conference in Sydney on Friday.
WA drivers who fail to keep a minimum safe passing distance of one metre from cyclists using the road could be fined $400 and lose four demerits.

The new road rule - an election promise by the McGowan government - will come in to force on November 30.

Drivers must keep a minimum of metre distance. Credit:Nick Moir

According to a government statement, the new law requires "drivers passing a cyclist travelling in the same direction on a road to do so at a minimum distance of one metre on a road with a posted speed limit not more than 60kmh; or 1.5 metres on a road with a posted speed limit of more than 60kmh."

Drivers will be able to cross centre lane markings on roads, including double white lines, to ensure they stay within the rules when passing, but only if it safe to do so and the driver has a clear view of oncoming traffic.
Twenty-five minutes before John F. Kennedy was assassinated, a British newspaper received an anonymous tip about "some big news" in the United States, according to the trove of more than 2,800 documents released on Friday by the US National Archives.

The mystery call was made to a senior reporter at the Cambridge News, a paper that serves the East Anglia area of eastern England, on November 22, 1963, at 6.05pm, local time. Kennedy was shot shortly afterward, as he rode in a presidential motorcade in Dallas, Texas, at 12.30pm, local time. Dallas is six hours behind Britain.

"The caller said only that the Cambridge News reporter should call the American Embassy in London for some big news and then hung up," the memo from the CIA's James Angleton to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover said.

The revelation, one of many that emerged from the planned release of the Kennedy assassination documents - so far, there's no smoking guns - adds to the raft of conspiracy theories surrounding his death. In fact, the memo was first released in July, but went unreported until the cache of files was released on Friday.
Madrid: Sacked Catalan president Carles Puigdemont is calling for "democratic opposition" to Madrid's takeover of the region following its declaration of independence.

"It's very clear that the best form of defending the gains made up until now is democratic opposition to article 155," Puigdemont said in a brief statement on Saturday.

Carles Puigdemont sings the Catalan anthem inside the parliament after a vote on independence in Barcelona on Friday. Credit:AP

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Spain has taken formal direct control of Catalonia, dismissing the region's defiant separatist government a day after regional MPs passed a declaration of independence for the prosperous northeastern region on Friday.
New York: Natalia V. Veselnitskaya a arrived at a meeting at Trump Tower in June 2016 hoping to interest top Trump campaign officials in the contents of a memo she believed contained information damaging to the Democratic Party and, by extension, Hillary Clinton.

The material was the fruit of her research as a private lawyer, she has repeatedly said, and any suggestion that she was acting at the Kremlin's behest that day is anti-Russia "hysteria."

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, meets with Russia's Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika. Credit:AP

But interviews and records show that in the months before the meeting, Veselnitskaya had discussed the allegations with one of Russia's most powerful officials, the prosecutor general, Yuri Y. Chaika. And the memo she brought with her closely followed a document that Chaika's office had given to a US congressman two months earlier, incorporating some paragraphs verbatim.

The coordination between the Trump Tower visitor and the Russian prosecutor general undercuts Veselnitskaya's account that she was a purely independent actor when she sat down with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, and Paul Manafort, then the Trump campaign chairman. It also suggests that emails from an intermediary to the younger Trump promising that Veselnitskaya would arrive with information from Russian prosecutors were rooted at least partly in fact -- not mere "puffery," as the president's son later said.
A doctor in Jaipur was caught red-handed while taking bribe for making the postmortem report of baby that had died in an accident.

By Rohit Parihar: The anti-corruption bureau arrested a medical jurist red-handed in Jaipur yesterday, while the doctor was accepting Rs 1000 as bribe for making the postmortem report of baby.

Dr BL Meena of Sethi Colony Satellite Hospital had operated on a seven months pregnant on October 19, after she met with an accident near Jaipur. The baby, unfortunately, did not survive, and need a post-mortem examination.

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Dr Meena is said to have then approached the grieving father, Braj Kumar, with a demand of Rs 1000 for writing the report that would let the couple claim insurance compensation.

Kishore claims that Meena turned a deaf year to his pleas and kept asking him to pay the bribe. Finally, Kishore approached the ACB, which laid a trap and caught Meena, who was due to retire in April.

Government doctors in Rajasthan, time and again, have been caught for demanding bribes from patients for issuing disability certificates, post-mortem reports, and surgeries.

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Madrid: It was a day of reckoning for Spain.

The central government in Madrid began quashing the secessionist movement in Catalonia. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dismissed everyone from the region's president, Carles Puigdemont, to the general manager of its police force, while dissolving the local parliament and calling for regional elections on December 21 -- all in a historic televised address after 8pm local time.

The actions came just hours after the rebel region's lawmakers unilaterally -- and illegally -- declared independence. Puigdemont's name had already begun to appear on documents as President of the Catalan Republic.

Here are the main movers of change, to help you sort out what's next:
The committee explained to the students that the university administration is in favour of holding the election, and reminded them that the legal hurdle could be only solved by withdrawing the present petition by the petitioner.

By Roshani Thokne: A five-member committee has been constituted by Professor Talat Ahmad, Vice Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), to talk to students sitting on dharna demanding holding of Students' Union Election, and to find a solution to resolve the issue amicably.

The committee members met the striking students today and requested them to end their protest in the larger interest of the university and in view of the Foundation Day celebration and two-day Talimi Mela beginning tomorrow morning.

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The committee members explained to them once again the legal hurdle before the university with regard to the Writ Petition No. 917/2012 titled "Hamidur Rahman Vs JMI" in the Delhi High Court, in regard to conducting the election.

The committee explained to the students that the university administration is in favour of holding the election, and reminded them that the legal hurdle could be only solved by withdrawing the present petition by the petitioner.

It was also pointed out to them that the High Court of Delhi had admitted a plea made by an intervening group of 9 students dated 28.02.2012, stating that they were opposed to any direct system of elections in JMI. The members told them that in view of the legal position, the university's hands are tied as the matter is sub-judice.

However, the protesting students sitting on dharna refused to take any cognizance of the legal hold-up before the university, instead threatened to disrupt the 97th Foundation Day celebration and the Talimi Mela.

The leader of the protesting students also threatened to disrupt the Foundation Day celebrations by force and ruin it.

It is apparent that a handful of students for their selfish interest are holding the university to ransom and tarnishing its image.

The Foundation Day is a function to pay homage to the founders of the 97-year old university, and it will be an insult to their contribution and memory if these students sabotage the function instead of being grateful to the founders.

Moreover, the university fraternity hopes that the age-old Talimi Mela which is a popular cultural and educational programme not only for the 18,000 students of the university, but also the Jamia neighbourhood will go smoothly and good sense will prevail upon the protesting students to not to harm their alma mater.

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By PTI: Amaravati, Oct 28 (PTI) The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) suffered a setback in Telangana today as the state working president and MLA, A Revanth Reddy, quit the party saying the recent happenings in the state unit pained him.

Revanth, who flew down to Vijayawada for a meeting with TDP supremo and Andhra Padesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, is understood to have handed over his resignation letter to Naidus private secretary and immediately left for Hyderabad.

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When asked about it, Chandrababu Naidu told reporters that he has not received Revanths resignation letter.

"Resignations are not new in TDP. Some people take decisions in their own interests," he remarked.

Revanth was arrested in the "cash-for-vote" case after he was caught on camera allegedly offering money to a nominated MLA for his vote in the MLC election in 2015.

For the past few days, there has been a turmoil in Telangana TDP with reports claiming that Revanth, who is an MLA from Kodangal in Mahbubnagar district, met Rahul Gandhi and was about to join the Congress.

Revanth also caused a stir by accusing some leaders of Andhra Pradesh TDP, including two ministers, of securing huge financial contracts from the TRS government in Telangana.

He, however, maintained a stoic silence over his future plans and had been saying that he would speak directly with Chandrababu Naidu upon the CMs return from abroad.

He met Chandrababu Naidu in Hyderabad yesterday, but the TDP chief summoned Revanth and other party leaders from Telangana for a detailed meeting in Vijayawada today.

Revanth flew down to Vijayawada, visited the Kanaka Durga temple and came to the CMs camp office for the meeting.

As the chief ministers arrival was delayed, the rebel leader handed over his resignation letter to Chandrababu Naidus PS and left for Hyderabad.

Chandrababu was later closeted in a meeting with other leaders from Telangana. PTI DBV NP RT

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The appointment of former Intelligence Bureau director Dineshwar Sharma as Delhi's point man to engage with all stakeholders in Kashmir signals a shift from singularly deploying muscular military and police solutions to, for the first time, willingness to talk without conditions.

Former Intelligence Bureau director Dineshwar Sharma's appointment as Delhi's point man to engage with all stakeholders in Kashmir has infused new expectancy in the air in the troubled Valley. The move, welcomed by most stakeholders, though with guarded scepticism by former chief minister Omar Abdullah and a few others, is perhaps the Narendra Modi government's most significant overture on Kashmir in the past three-and-a-half years. It signals a shift from singularly deploying muscular military and police solutions to, for the first time, willingness to talk without conditions.

"As a representative of the government of India, former director of IB, Dineshwar Sharma, will initiate a sustained interaction and dialogue to understand legitimate aspirations of people in Jammu and Kashmir," Union home minister Rajnath Singh said on October 23 in Delhi, outlining Sharma's role. He would have full freedom, Singh said, to engage in talks with anyone, including Hurriyat separatists and the Valley's alienated youth.

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Less than six months ago, he and the prime minister had spurned Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's pleas to honour the promise made by the BJP-PDP alliance in March 2015 and initiate a dialogue. Barring the brief hint of engagement in 2016, when some members of the Singh-led all-party delegation attempted to engage with the separatists, the Centre gave no indication that talks could be on the table.

On April 28, then attorney general Mukul Rohatgi stated in the Supreme Court that the Centre had "no plan to hold talks with separatists and those not loyal to India". BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, who co-authored the PDP-BJP governance agenda, said: "Tackle militants and their sponsors with utmost toughness. Handle misguided youth coming onto the streets with stones in hand with deftness so that violence is put down, but care is taken to prevent loss of life."

The first hint of a 'climbdown' came in the prime minister's Independence Day speech in which he spoke of "embracing the people of Kashmir". A month later, in Srinagar from September 9 to 12, Singh promised "a permanent solution to the Kashmir problem". More recently, senior security officials, including J&K DGP S.P. Vaid, spearheading a successful campaign that has felled some 170 terrorists since January, spoke of the need for "political intervention" and "engagement with unemployed youth". Senior J&K police officers say Delhi has made an overture when it is under no pressure to make conciliatory moves. "Initiating talks when stone-pelters ruled the streets and security forces were on the backfoot would have been counter-productive, encouraging Pakistan to stage strife in Kashmir," says a police officer.

Also, perhaps by design, the dialogue offer comes at a time when Hurriyat separatists are under significant pressure from the National Investigation Agency's terror funding probe that has several mid-rung leaders, including hardliner S.A.S. Geelani's son-in-law Altaf Shah Fantoosh, in custody. Reports quoting sources within the Hurriyat indicate that Geelani and his ilk "are open to talks, but first want the government to spell out Dineshwar Sharma's mandate".

Kashmir observers say appointing an interlocutor does not inspire much hope, considering three earlier attempts-by ex-Union minister K.C. Pant (2001-2002), incumbent governor N.N. Vohra (2003-2008) and the UPA-appointed team of M.M. Ansari, Dileep Padgaonkar and Radha Kumar-achieved little. But, as an old Kashmir hand says, "In Kashmir, dialogue is not the means to an end. Dialogue is an end in itself. It conveys (to people) that someone's listening to them."

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Whether or not this resolves the Kashmir problem, it will certainly make things easier for the PDP. The adversarial alliance with the BJP and the failure to progress on the Agenda of the Alliance had alienated the party from its once unchallenged South Kashmir bastion. Just one week this month (October 16-22) saw eight attacks on party functionaries' homes. The talks offer may revive Mehbooba's credibility.

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By Manjeet Negi: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi having spent almost five years in Garudchatti near the Kedarnath shrine as a sanyasi, the government is going to get the ashram there reconstructed as part of the Kedarnath reconstruction plan. The prime minister on Friday reviewed the progress in the Kedarnath reconstruction plan during his visit to Mussoorie. "The small ashram at Garudchatti was where the prime minister stayed for almost five years between 1985 to 1990 as a sanyasi. The place is going to be reconnected with the Kedarnath shrine and the ashram there is also going to be reconstructed," officials said here.

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Garudchatti, three kilometre from Kedarnath temple, was completely devastated during the 2013 disaster that hit the area. As per the plan, a bridge would be constructed in the area to link up with the Kedarnath valley. The prime minister had visited Kedarnath on October 20 as his second visit to the shrine this year and would visit again in May next year.

The BJP also has plans of launching the poll campaign for 2019 from Kedarnath temple in October 2018 when projects commissioned by the prime minister are scheduled to be completed. The projects to be completed in Kedarnath include widening of the access road to the temple and construction of banks along the two rivers Mandakini and Saraswati flowing from there. The prime minister had also inaugurated the project to rebuild the samadhi of Adi Guru Shankaracharya. The reconstruction plan is being carried out by the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering under Col Ajay Kothiyal.

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Roland DG Australia has today announced the launch of a brand new corporate website designed to optimise the overall experience for visitors.



The new website has been redesigned as part of a global project that aims to achieve a consistent Roland DG brand for all Roland websites around the world. With a modern interface that is more visually appealing, content-rich and mobile-friendly, the site has been streamlined to improve navigation, allowing visitors to find what theyre looking for more quickly and easily.

Were excited about the launch of our new website, said Greg Stone, Product and Marketing Manager at Roland DG Australia. With a few clicks, you can discover a wealth of useful and interactive content in the form of tips, blog articles, videos, case studies, and so much more. The site displays product and company information in a more user-friendly way, making the overall user experience a more positive one.

To take a look at the new website, and gain some inspiration from the Blog and Gallery, go to: www.rolanddg.com.au

Roland DG Australia

www.rolanddg.com.au
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Kim and her husband Kanye are having their third child through a surrogate.

By Indo-Asian News Service: TV personality Kim Kardashian's third child is reportedly due to arrive just before Christmas.

Kim and her husband rapper Kanye West are to welcome the newest addition to their family via surrogacy over the festive season, reports usmagazine.com.

Also Read: Just 20 years old, Kylie Jenner is now pregnant

According to a source, after three years of extensive renovation, Kim and Kanye will be settling into their $20 million home in Hidden Hills, California, "very soon".

Picture courtesy: Instagram/kardashjennerfanpage567

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The couple has been keeping a close contact with the woman carrying their third child.

Kim confirmed she's expecting her third child in a season 14 teaser for her family show, but has yet to give further details about the baby, who is reportedly a girl.

Also Read: You won't believe how much Kim K and Kanye West are spending on their unborn child

The child will be a sibling to their daughter North, 4, and Saint, 2.

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Many people who have never experienced poverty have opinions on how to deal with it.

Instead of talking about poverty and expecting community members from various class backgrounds to understand, Thursday evening the Winona County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council sponsored a simulation that demonstrates the difficulty of living in a low-income situation.

Though the game uses what is essentially Monopoly money, assigns arbitrary family roles to its participants, and has no real world stakes, real emotions were running high.

The simulation is broken into four 15-minute segments, each one representing a full week of life as a poor person. During that time, utility bills need to be paid, food needs to be bought, those with jobs must find ways to get to them, and kids must be placed in childcare.

Every participant was assigned a new identity with its own personal history.

Maria, who asked to not have her last name revealed, played a 19-year-old woman with a 1-year-old child, and found her options to be severely limited after she dropped out of school.

Its really stressful because I feel like my hands are tied, Maria said. Its really tough,, because I feel that I cant do anything. I cant go anywhere.

Jennifer Timm is an assistant professor of nursing who worked with the county attorney to make the event happen.

The first time I entered this simulation as a participant, I was crying in the first 15 minutes because I had such an emotional connection to it, Timm said. And thats the reality that these families, based on their situation, are going through.

Timm believes it is important for her students to understand that struggle when they enter the workforce. With food and rent at the top of the priority, medical care often lags behind until it cant be ignored.

That stress doesnt ever leave, Timm said. That stress builds up and is displayed in a variety of those different emotions. I learned that we make a lot of assumptions on people we dont know.

Other factors, such as getting arrested, evicted, or other strokes of bad luck were included in the hypothetical exercise.

Michael Uker was a participant in the simulation who ran a pawn shop. His job was to give petty amounts of cash to people in exchange for their most valuable belongings.

People are so frustrated, Uker said. It feels powerful, and I feel dirty at the same time. Uker felt that it was important he contributed to the exercise because of his own difficulties in the past. I have gone through a period of time when I was in poverty and homeless, Uker said. Its a challenge, and theres very little empathy in the world for those people.

Kim, who asked to keep her last name anonymous, was uncomfortable with how familiar the challenges of the simulation were. She had two girls when she lived in substandard Section-8 housing after her divorce. It took years to for her to pull her family out of it, as she applied for a Habitat for Humanity house three times. It was that persistence that made it happen.

The most blessed thing God ever gave me was that house, Kim said. These people were looking at it like a play act thing, but Ive been through living in the housing and waiting two years on the list to get a place. Ive dealt with the county for 30 years, and its very frustrating [...] It was very difficult to lift yourself out of that situation.

Since then, Kims daughters are pursuing higher education and blazing a trail for their own future.

Jaimie Studenski is a Winona State nursing student who played a banker in the simulation.

As nurses, youre taught to care for everyone, so it was hard to say sorry, Im not going to cash that for you, go figure it out. I got called mean banker.

Studenski came from a middle class background, making the experience a truly enlightening activity.

The community doesnt have a lot of awareness for the actual issues, Studenski said. I know that people are actually blind to it.

Emily Mensing, another nursing student, had a similar experience playing one of the employers. She had to turn workers away if they were late or didnt have enough transportation passes.

Its a tough world out there, and I think it was really good to be in that situation to see how people get treated, Mensing said. When you dont know how hard it is to live in poverty, and then go through an experience such as this, its quite eye opening to see how people get treated in the community.
The things that can be learned from someone on the other side of the world can expand ones perspective to new peaks.

The Winona County Historical Society got a chance to share the citys story with a group of young students that came all the way from Misato, Japan, with a special program Saturday morning at the Winona County History Center.

After 20 years of blossoming progress with the sister city on the other half of the world, another generation has come to learn what Winonans have to offer. Likewise, students in Winona get a chance to bond and learn from their counterparts in another country.

And they soon discover their similarities far outweigh the differences.

Willa Krase is a 13-year-old ambassador who will travel to Misato in the spring. Once there, she will be able to experience what home feels like in a different hemisphere.

Theres a lot of universal things that weve been able to connect on, Krase said. Its incredible and life changing.

Winona International Friendship Association president Joe Lepley coordinated the events that the Japanese visitors were able to enjoy. He has seen firsthand how relationships have grown from it.

I think the reason that it is successful is because Misato, when we visit, is such a warm and welcoming place, Lepley said. Relationships are formed and there are students from past years that are still in touch with their Misato friends ... its such a confidence builder, and it opens the eyes of the Winona students to more possibilities.

Since arriving in Winona on Wednesday, the Misato students have visited City Hall, Winona State campus, and Winona Family restaurant. They will also be able to explore the unique opportunity of getting to know their individual host families.

The Winona County History Center welcomed them with engaging activities that included an ink pressing station where students were able to produce hands on artistic work.

There also was a presentation on the wildlife of the area that allowed Japanese students to feel the fur of the creatures that inhabit the driftless region.

Ria Shiga, who went by Sally, teaches English in Japan, and studied in California. It was her first time visiting Winona, allowing her to appreciate the sights many locals take for granted.

Its a very old town, you have a lot of history, Shiga said. I think this is wonderful; I experienced the same kind of things when I was a university student, and that helped me a lot.

Winona County Historical Society assistant director Jennifer Weaver was happy to do her part in hosting a memorable experience.

I think its great because whenever different cultures can get together and share traditions, different experiences and viewpoints, its always good, Weaver said. We can understand each other, accept each other and make new friendships.
By PTI: Amritsar, Oct 28 (PTI) DNA samples of the kin of eight men, who are among the 39 Indians missing in Iraq, were collected at the Government Medical College here today.

The DNA samples of 21 family members of the missing men were collected on the directions of External Affairs Ministry, officials said.

The families told reporters they had no idea why their DNA samples were collected and that the officials did not give them any reason either.

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The 39 Indians, mostly from Punjabs Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Jalandhar districts, went missing in Iraqs Mosul when it was overrun by the Islamic State.

The central government continues to classify the 39 men as "missing".

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has on several occasions over the past three years assured the families that the government was making all efforts to trace the missing men. PTI COR CHS GVS

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A Winona startup is trying to be the one-stop shop for all things music and promotion.

Treedome Productions has moved quickly since being officially founded in the fall of 2016, and following winning one of the first WSU WarriorsINNOVATE Challenge grant, the company established itself in the back area of Mid West Music Store in downtown Winona.

Blake Mullen, Treedome president, said that despite spending the year establishing the physical workspace, creating a company and finding investors, the group already been making significant headway in uniting the vast artistic market in Winona and the surrounding area.

Its centered around empowering individuals to do what they couldnt do themselves, Mullen said.

That includes music recording, video production, design and promotion with a core team of six people.

Since last fall, Treedome has been involved in Mid West Music Fest and Bonfire Music Festival, recorded and released five EPs and three LPs through the studio, and assisted in coordinating a Midwestern tour for three separate bands.

The artists and groups, for the most part, have been wide ranging in taste but are usually up and coming, working with a smaller market and budget with an eye toward growth.

Mullen said that creating connections between the groups and venues, or helping them promote, is a mainstay of Treedomes mission.

Ive witnessed different people already being provided with opportunities through our company, Mullen said.

Theyre also looking to fill gaps in Winonas artistic economy.

Nathaniel Nelson, creative director and one of Treedomes two vice presidents, said it has been able to help provide local services in design and video that werent there before.

Nelson said he primarily works guiding the aesthetic of the group, and working with the design and music video production for customers, a need for which he said hadnt been tapped in Winona.

Our creative film scene is still pretty lacking, Nelson said.

He agreed that the wider goals of Treedome include more than just the individual groups or artists, and more about creating a viable community for groups to develop in and find support.

We have such a huge arts culture ... and there is kind of a shared feeling, Nelson said. We kind of want to encapsulate that.

Despite the seemingly wide range of goals and services Treedome is working on, it is still looking forward.

After receiving the $5,000 award from WSU, the group has participated in other entrepreneurial competitions for grant money, including in the Southeast Minnesota Initiative Foundations Entrepreneurial Bridge Student Business Plan competition, where it came in third.

Mullen said he and his partners quickly realized they needed to think bigger.

During their earlier development they had established an ideal market of about 70 miles, looking at the number of musical events, artists and how they could target different needs.

Mullen said the next step will be widening the promotional and production capabilities and continuing to work on ways to pitch the business to investors and contests.

As that continues to grow, Mullen said Treedome is still concentrating on the area, growing the arts scene here and creating more opportunities for themselves and others.

Were artists from the beginning, Mullen said.
The fourth and final case involving a 2015 Baraboo street fight that turned deadly may soon be resolved.

A plea hearing in the case of Amanda N. Rotar, 25, of Baraboo, is scheduled to take place Monday morning in Sauk County Circuit Court.

Rotar is one of four defendants charged in relation to the October 2015 stabbing death of 36-year-old North Freedom resident Anthony Inman and the battery of his friend, Anthony J. Peterson, 34, of Mauston.

Reached by phone Friday, Rotars attorney, John Newton of Adams, confirmed the court date, but would not say whether his client had reached a deal with prosecutors.

I cant talk about that, Newton said.

Rotar is alleged to have driven her then-boyfriend and two acquaintances from the scene of a street fight that occurred near the intersection of Walnut and Lynn streets. The brawl took place down the street from a tavern in which two of the defendants, and the two victims, had been drinking.

In June 2016, Rotar entered an agreement to cooperate honestly with investigators. In turn, prosecutors lowered their bond request, allowing her to be released while her case is pending.

Rotars case has remained dormant while prosecutors dealt with her three co-defendants.

Following a trial in January, a jury found Jae M. Robinson, 30, of North Freedom, guilty of stabbing Inman to death and participating in the beating of Peterson. Robinson maintained that he acted in self-defense, using Inmans own knife against him.

Robinson was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole beginning in 2045.

Matthew T. Harvey, 32, of Baraboo, later entered an Alford plea  which allows defendants to maintain innocence while acknowledging that prosecutors have evidence to convict them  to felony murder. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Most recently, in September, Christopher L. Nash, 39, of Baraboo, pleaded guilty to felony murder. He is due to be sentenced Dec. 7.
A Baraboo man who burglarized Circus World in 2016 will have to stay out of trouble for four years under a deal reached with prosecutors.

If 25-year-old Thomas K. Dunbar violates terms of a deferred prosecution agreement he signed Oct. 20, he could wind up back in court facing a 15-year prison sentence for armed burglary.

According to court documents, Circus World staff discovered the Jan. 18, 2016, break-in the next morning and reported it to police. Responding officers found windows had been shot out with a .22 caliber rifle, offices had been damaged and cash was missing.

Written on a notepad, officers found a message that said: Everyone is dead. Mother is dead, fathers are dead.

After identifying Dunbar as a suspect, investigators searched his vehicle and reported finding a hand-drawn sketch of Circus World. Under the drawing was a note that said bring tools, cover tracks, and stealth.

During an interview at St. Clare Hospital, Dunbar told police he had been drinking a lot on the night in question, then decided to retrieve guns from his home, break into Circus World and cause some damage.

Dunbar has pleaded guilty to charges of felony armed burglary, misdemeanor criminal damage to property and misdemeanor theft.

As part of his agreement, Dunbar will serve four years probation on the misdemeanor charges. He must undergo any mental health or substance abuse treatment recommended by his agent, maintain absolute sobriety and have no contact with Circus World.

A judge withheld sentencing on the felony charge. If Dunbar complies with the agreement, prosecutors will dismiss it. If he does not, he faces a maximum 15-year prison term.

Months after the incident, the Wisconsin Historical Society funded the installation of new security systems at Circus World and several other historic sites.
After three years, an agreement between Beaver Dam and the state Department of Natural Resources is close to being complete and it may result in the construction of a new facility to limit phosphorus in the Beaver Dam River while also providing a new source of revenue for the city.

Utility Director Rob Minnema updated the Beaver Dam Common Council regarding the DNR settlement for phosphorus limits. In 2014, it was estimated that it would cost the city $15 million to upgrade the current water treatment plant to bring the city into compliance. Later that year, the council voted to hire a law firm to negotiate the requirement with the DNR. Today, Minnema said that a DNR settlement would require the city to adhere to a new phosphorus limit. A DNR-mandated timeline wants a facility plan in place by the end of next year in order to achieve compliance.

Phosphorus is a chemical element found in fertilizers that feeds algae and weed growth in waterways.

It can be washed into waterways when it rains, when snow melts, or it can discharged through pipes from industrial and wastewater utility facilities.

Minnema said that he has explored methods to limit the phosphorus effluent that include water quality trading, adaptive quality management and a water treatment facility upgrade. He said that his department has weighed all the options to determine what would be the most cost-effective alternative.

For the project, Minnema is interested in pursuing a company called Clearas Water Recovery based in Missoula, Montana.

Clearas uses an advanced biological nutrient recovery system, which converts phosphorus and nitrogen into biomass. According to Minnema, it would also create zero waste.

Leo Kucek, a project engineer with Allied Technologies Inc., explains that the process is similar to harvesting algae in the waterways. The algae are feeding off the nutrients spilled into the waterways and a potential Clearas facility would separate the phosphorus out of the algae. That byproduct from the algae can be turned into bioplastic products like pellets, shoes and more.

Its a resources recovery type of technology, he said.

Kucek and Minnema plan to head out to Utah, where a Clearas facility is currently being constructed, and take some notes on how a similar facility could benefit Beaver Dams needs.

The cost to build such a facility may cost more than $24.3 million and it could be constructed by 2020.

However, Minnema told the Beaver Dam Common Council that this system could bring in $1 million in annual revenue for the city. Its estimated that after 20 years, the facility would have paid for itself.

Its a huge market, Minnema said.

A letter of intent to explore the upgrade as part of a facilities plan will need to be approved by the council. The Utilities Department will also need approval to move forward with the settlement process.

Minnema said that there would be no financial commitment going into further discussions with Clearas.

We should know what direction we are going by sometime in July of 2018, he said.

Minnema has requested a facility plan to not exceed $50,000 for the 2018 city budget. If the council approves the study, it could be completed by April 2018. From there the study would be turned over to the DNR for its approval.

According to the DNR-mandated timeline, Beaver Dam needs to achieve compliance by July 2023.
Columbus is already making plans for a busy start to the holiday season.

Members of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce met Oct. 24 at The Workshop art studio in downtown Columbus to discuss several upcoming events. The Columbus area will kick off holiday festivities with its annual parade on Nov. 24 at 6 p.m. at Kiwanis Park. The following day downtown will be buzzing as it hosts a wine walk in correlation with Small Business Saturday, a national event to promote local businesses as a destination for holiday shopping. The wine walk on Nov. 25 will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. Cercis, the new brew pub, plans to be open for the wine walk offering samples of its homemade craft beer.

Chamber board of directors president Heather Whitman said about 45 tickets have already been sold in a pre-sale. Whitman said so far 12 downtown businesses have signed up to participate in the wine walk. She said flyers promoting the event will be posted in Columbus in the coming weeks.

We have 12 wines on tap and should have some name brand wines available this year, Whitman said.

Before the city dives into its holiday planning, a special Halloween trick or treat event will be held Oct. 28 at the fire station from 5 to 8 p.m. JD Milburn from the Columbus Fire Department said about 1,000 children attend the annual event each year. Several businesses plan to take part, handing out candy throughout the evening. Whitman said plenty of candy should be available.

Also on Oct. 28, Columbus Community Hospital will hold a prescription drug drop-off as part of National Drug Take Back Day. Old or unused prescription drugs may be taken to the hospital from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In early December Columbus will host two special events:

 Breakfast with Santa will be held Dec. 2 from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Firemans Park Pavilion and goody bags will be provided for children.

 On Dec. 3 the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train will make a stop in the city just after 9 p.m. The train will roll into the Amtrak depot and usually features Canadian musicians and a visit from Santa.

This year donations will be going to the Columbus/Fall River Food Pantry, Whitman said. Anyone who can come can bring non-perishable food items for collection.

The chamber also welcomed Jamie Sydow as this years student ambassador. Sydow is a senior at Columbus High School and will attend UW-Oshkosh next fall to pursue a degree in biology. When shes not in school, Sydow works at Columbus Community Hospital in the food service department.

For more information on the chamber of commerce contact Whitman at 920-623-4488.
Rep. Sean Duffy said Friday that President Donald Trump was "probably misinformed" when he said the infamous dossier on him was initially funded by Republicans.

The Wisconsin Republican's claim is in contrast with widespread reporting on the matter.

"That's not been confirmed," Duffy told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Friday.

But CNN, citing multiple sources, reported months ago that the effort to gather opposition research that ultimately resulted in the dossier was first funded by groups and donors supporting Republican opponents of Trump during the GOP primaries.

This week, CNN reported that the effort was taken over by Democrats when Trump won his party's nomination. A lawyer paid by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party then solicited the firm Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research on Trump during the campaign. That firm, in turn, hired former UK intelligence officer Christopher Steele, whose memos make up the infamous dossier.

Blitzer challenged Duffy's claims by pointing to when Trump recently said he thinks he knows who the Republican is, but Duffy interjected: "He's probably misinformed."

"Are you saying the President of the United States is wrong when he says a Republican initially made that contact?" Blitzer later asked.

"Yeah, he may be," Duffy responded.

He later said: "The only person that has information about who that Republican client would be, would be Fusion GPS."

"So the President might have heard news reports and speculated on who that could be, but I'm going to wait and reserve judgment on whether there was a Republican there or not," Duffy said.

A message left with Duffy's office asking if he had any evidence to back up his claim was not immediately returned.

Clinton and other high-level Democrats have denied having knowledge of the dossier prior to its publishing.

Trump said on Wednesday that the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee's involvement with the dossier was a "very sad commentary on politics in this country."
Information is taken from the records of the Portage Police Department and does not represent a comprehensive list of police activity. Each individual named in this report is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Between 6:43 a.m. Monday and 7:19 a.m. Friday, police responded to 128 calls.

County Highway CX and New Pinery Road: Police on Tuesday at 4:29 p.m. responded to a reported vehicle crash where, at a green light, a vehicle crossing New Pinery Road struck a vehicle making a left turn onto Interstate 39. The woman driving the left-turning vehicle, Christina Moytl, 32, of Oxford, was cited for failure to yield, causing injury.

Klemp Street: Police on Wednesday at 4:17 a.m. responded to a domestic disturbance where a 24-year-old Portage man was arrested for domestic battery, disorderly conduct and bail jumping.

Portage High School: Police on Wednesday at 10:45 a.m. responded to a disturbance where a 14-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl were referred to Columbia County Health and Human Services for disorderly conduct.

Wayne Bartels Middle School: Police on Wednesday at 10:46 a.m. responded to a disturbance involving an incident on a bus, where a 12-year-old Portage girl was referred to Columbia County Health and Human Services for disorderly conduct.

New Pinery Road: Police on Wednesday at 1:40 p.m. stopped Robert Pangborn, 38, of Necedah, who was cited for operating a vehicle after revocation of a license as a third offense, driving without proof of insurance and driving without vehicle registration. The vehicle was towed.

East Edgewater Street: Police on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. encountered Leah Purcell, 28, of Portage, who was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia and felony bail jumping.

Interstate-39: Police on Thursday at 1:20 p.m. stopped Davion Crumble, 18, of Milwaukee, for speeding at 104 mph in a 70-mph zone. Crumble was arrested and cited for speeding, driving without a license as a third offense, driving without proof of insurance and possession of a fake ID after presenting a fraudulent Maine ID. Passenger Kentae Willingham-Vales, 19, of Milwaukee, was cited for using a fake ID. The vehicle was towed.
Two Portage men are facing felony charges after Portage police officers responded to a call from a father reporting that his 16-year-old was suffering a drug overdose.

Formal charges were filed against Guy Gaffney, 20, and Raul Medina, 17, who are accused of selling prescription Xanax to the teen.

Gaffney, who appeared in Columbia County Circuit Court on Wednesday, is charged with one count of delivery of Schedule IV drugs, felony bail jumping and two counts of misdemeanor bail jumping, while Medina is charged with one count of delivery of Schedule IV drugs.

Medication falling under the category of Schedule IV drugs are those, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency, with a low potential for abuse and low risk for dependence, including well-known brands of sleep aids, sedatives, pain relievers and anti-anxiety medication, such as Xanax.

On the evening of Oct. 20, a Portage Police officer was dispatched to a West Cook Street apartment where a 16-year-old boy was unconscious due to a suspected drug overdose. After the boy regained consciousness at Divine Savior Healthcare, according to court documents, he told officers that he had taken two Xanax pills about an hour before the ambulance had been called.

The next day, an officer spoke with Medina, who said that he was aware that the 16-year-old was at the hospital and reportedly admitted to helping connect him with Gaffney to buy Xanax. Gaffney had been arrested the day before, at his apartment, where officers found more Xanax pills.

At the time of his arrest, Gaffney was free on $500 cash bond after he was charged with felony sexual assault and delivery of drugs, accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl and giving her a Xanax pill. Gaffney was arrested on Oct. 9, then released from Columbia County Jail on Oct. 13, returning on Oct. 20 on the new charge.

Judge Todd J. Hepler ordered Gaffney to be held on $1,000 cash bond, while Medina was released on a $10,000 signature bond. Gaffney is scheduled to next appear in court for a Nov. 2 preliminary hearing while Medina is due to appear for a Jan. 24 return hearing.
A Columbia County Sheriffs deputy has been cleared by the district attorney in the case of a fatal shooting in Pardeeville in August.

Deputy Jordan Haueter, the first officer on the scene of a domestic disturbance, was placed in a position in which he had little choice but to fire the shot that killed 62-year-old Thomas Selje, according to District Attorney Jane Kohlwey. The determination was made based on an investigation performed by the Wisconsin Department of Justice and supporting agencies.

Haueter had been on paid leave since the incident, but returned to duty Monday.

The DOJ announced the results of the investigation Friday, including nearly 400 pages of documents with dispatch audio and dashboard camera footage.

The incident began on the evening of Aug. 21, according to Kohlweys summary, when Seljes wife returned home from work to their home on Vince Street in Pardeeville. She told investigators that she arrived between 6:15 and 6:30 p.m. to find Selje asleep on a stool at their bar.

Around 7 p.m. Selje woke up, she said, but did not look like himself, appearing possessed. After a few minutes of him harassing her, she threatened to go and stay at a hotel for the night at which point Selje began screaming and threatening both her and himself.

At 7:51 p.m. Columbia County Dispatch was on the phone with Seljes wife, who reported that her husband had a .357 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver and was threatening her.

He shot at me

Hes aiming it at me right now, she told dispatchers as Selje can be heard saying, Whoever shows up heres gonna (expletive) die.

Haueter, who at the time was one month removed from three years of active military duty, arrived at the scene at 7:53 p.m., with the next officer, another deputy, arriving 6 minutes later. The village of Pardeeville contracts the Columbia County Sheriffs Office for local law enforcement, with a patrol sergeant assigned to the village. Haueter was the nearest deputy at the time.

Video from Haueters dashboard camera shows him speeding through the village and pulling over on Gillette Street around the block from the Vince Street home, exiting his car with a rifle at the ready, sidestepping from his vehicle to a pickup truck, where he took cover.

Haueter can be heard conferring with dispatch to find out from Seljes wife where he was at the moment, as Selje went outside to the driveway in front of the house.

He shot at me, Haueter tells dispatch, letting them know that he was OK.

As Selje walked around the front of the house and driveway, Haueter is heard yelling at a passing vehicle to get out of the way and Seljes wife can be heard yelling at Selje, pleading for him to think about the neighbors who were outside.

Haueter fired three times at Selje, missing each time, before connecting with a fourth shot and dropping the man.

Large investigation





The Columbia County Sheriffs Office logged about 50 people at the scene, most from the Sheriffs Office, but also the Columbia County Medical Examiner, Pardeeville EMS and Fire Department, Wisconsin State Patrol, Department of Criminal Investigation and State Crime Lab.

There were quite a few there after the shooting, but I think there were only two there at the time the shooting happened and that Deputy Haueter was there alone when it first started, said sheriffs department Chief Deputy Darrel Kuhl. There was a threat there; there were several people in the area. He wasnt given an option to hold back or to wait. Mr. Selje was basically directing how that case continued.

The Columbia County Sheriffs Office has responded to other situations with armed suspects in recent years and in those cases were able to resolve the standoff without serious injuries.

If they lock themselves in their house, we can keep them on the phone and talk or wait for them to sober up, so we prefer that, said Lt. Wayne Smith, prior to the release of the report. But if someone is moving and firing a gun, that is much more problematic. We dont go looking to be in a shooting.

With this one being out in public with a lot of people out and about, Kuhl said, we didnt have an option  I dont believe he (Haueter) had an option.

State law requires an outside agency to investigate shootings involving law enforcement. Agents from the DOJs Department of Criminal Investigation arrived on scene that night. The Sheriffs Office also conducted its own review.

Return to duty





While on leave, Haueter was brought in for exercises and training before he was assigned to patrol work.

You never know how someone might react to something like this, Kuhl said. We have to make sure they are ready to return to duty, whether it is the same like this or working at a school.

In Columbia County, the average number of fatal incidents involving law enforcement and firearms is in the low single digits, making it easy for minor changes to represent significant percentage swings.

Smith has not noted a dramatic change in the field, but thinks it may be a matter of visibility and a focus of attention.

One is too many and weve had a few, Smith said.
Portage residents who let their lawn vegetation grow 8 inches tall or who fail to shovel their sidewalks after a snowfall may be in for a case of sticker shock.

That was a concern expressed by one of the two Portage Common Council members who, on Thursday, voted against a new contract for public sidewalk snow and ice removal and private property lawn mowing.

The contract with Naturesway Landscaping and Snow Removal, based in rural Pardeeville, was approved by a 6-2 Common Council vote.

City Administrator Shawn Murphy said Naturesway was the only company that submitted a bid  $60 to mow an overgrown lawn, $80 to clear a snow- or ice-covered sidewalk  to aid enforcement of city ordinances requiring mowing and snow removal.

Council member Bill Kutzke observed, however, that few people would willingly pay that kind of money for such a service.

Theres a simple way to avoid that, replied Council Member Dennis Nachreiner. Comply with the ordinances.

I agree, $60 to mow sounds awfully expensive, Nachreiner said. The option is, mow it. I think the citys position is, we hope we never have to call them (Naturesway) to do this.

In the case of overgrown lawns, the citys ordinance prohibits individuals or corporations from allowing their yards to become a public nuisance, which is defined in general as the presence of certain noxious weeds and grass at a height of 8 inches or more.

Sidewalks are required to be cleared of snow and ice within 24 hours after the precipitation stops accumulating.

Murphy said all property owners found to be in violation of the ordinances will be given an opportunity to comply before the city calls on Naturesway to do the work, then pass the cost on to the property owner.

The contract with Naturesway gives the company 24 hours to clean up a sidewalk from the time city officials summon them.

For lawn mowing, the contractor is given five days to complete the abatement work.

The contract calls for billing by 15-minute increments. The billing time excludes travel time.

Joining Kutzke in voting against the contract was Jeff Monfort.

In other business, the council unanimously agreed to pay $40,460 from the citys vehicle and equipment replacement fund toward the $52,360 cost of replacing 88 compressed air cylinders used by the Portage Fire Department.

The towns included in the fire departments coverage area  Caledonia, Fort Winnebago, Lewiston and Pacific  would be responsible for the remaining $11,900 of the cost of the cylinders, which are self-contained breathing apparatus.

Fire Chief Clayton Simonson said the equipment is required to be replaced at the end of this year.

The reason the expenditure came to the Common Council this late in the year  and without vetting by the citys Finance and Administration Committee  is because fire officials had been waiting to hear whether theyd get a grant to help pay for the equipment, and they just learned that Portages grant application was rejected.

The cylinders that the fire department is acquiring are, according to Simonson, recertified, which means theyre new, but are available at a fraction of the regular cost of new cylinders ($128,392 for 88 of them) because the recertified cylinders had the wrong logo on the outside. But theres a limited number of recertified cylinders available at that price, he said, so prompt ordering is essential.
By PTI: Mumbai, Oct 28 (PTI) To bridge a wide gap in its portfolio in the mid-segment, Tata Motors British luxury marquee JLR today launched the fifth generation Land Rover Discovery in a seven-seater format at a price point ranging from Rs 71.38 lakh to Rs 82 lakh.

The full size seven-seater premium SUV comes with both a 3-litre petrol and diesel powertrain options and offers a host of features such as full-sized spare wheel with an automatic tyre lifting option and intelligent seat fold functionality - both industry firsts. The new model comes in six variants.

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It also boasts of the highest wading depth of 900 mm, (Mercs GLS has only 600 mm while Q7 of Audi offers only 500 mm) which will help the vehicle wade through flooded streets, the company said.

Rohit Suri, president and managing director, Jaguar Land Rover India, said the Land Rover portfolio had a yawning gap in the mid-segment from a pricing angel.

"Our Land Rover models range from the Rs 42-lakh Discovery Sport and the Rs 1.66-crore priced Range Rover leaving a yawning gap in the middle. The new Discovery fills that gap, which should help further build onto our already high growth we have had so far this year," Suri told PTI.

He parried a direct answer about sales expectations from the new Discovery by said the initial response has been very good having already received over 800 interests in the car. But he refused to quantify the pre-launch bookings for the new SUV which will be imported from its British plant.

"We are already booked for the first two months," was all he would proffer when asked about pre-bookings.

Suri said the new Discovery distinguishes itself from most of its competition on its design appeal, intelligent versatility, enabling technology and a host of capability related features.

It also offers the worlds first intelligent seat fold system enabling one to configure the seating from inside.

Land Rover launched the first Discovery 28 years ago and the latest model is the fifth generation.

Suri said India is the only market where the new Discovery offers headroom for seven adults across the three rows of seating. It also offers permanent four-wheel drive.

The Land Rover range here includes the Discovery Sport (starting at Rs 42 lakh), Range Rover Evoque (starting at Rs 44.44 lakh), the new Discovery (starting at Rs 71.38 lakh), Range Rover Sport (starting at Rs 93.82 lakh) and Range Rover (starting at Rs 166.42 lakh).

JLR had reported a 45 per cent growth in the first nine months of the year to over 2,940 units and sells through 25 outlets. The company added two dealers this year and may add a similar numbers next year as well, Suri said. PTI BEN NRB

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By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 28 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called for a debate on internal democracy in political parties, asserting that the growth of "true democratic spirit" within them is necessary for the countrys future.

Modi made these remarks in a brief speech to the media at a Diwali Milan event at the BJP headquarters as he pointed out that funding to political parties is often debated but not their values, ideologies, internal democracy and how they give opportunities to the new generation of leaders.

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The country, he said, is not much aware of the practise of democracy within parties and the media should turn its attention to it, he said. "Whether democratic values are a part of their (parties) core values or not, should be debated widely.... I believe that the development of a true democratic spirit within political parties is necessary not only for the the countrys future but also for democracy," he said.

Though the prime minister made no reference to any rival party, but his comments come against the backdrop of reports that the Congress may elevate its vice president Rahul Gandhi as president in place of his mother Sonia Gandhi. The BJP has often accused the Congress of practising dynasty politics and juxtaposed that with the rise of its party workers to top echelons to project itself as a party with a difference.

Modi also acknowledged that there are many voices within the BJP as he noted that when it was a small organisation earlier or during the times of Jana Sangh, its forerunner, there used to be "ideological harmony" from its central leadership down to workers in the bottom rung.

The partys expansion may be a reason behind divergent views, he said. He also praised the media for its support to Swachh Bharat (Clean India) project, saying it has spoken in one voice over the issue even if it might have been critical of the government over other matters.

The media has joined the scheme in "mission mode", he said, adding that the country has still a long way to go to achieve international standards of cleanliness but the campaign has built an atmosphere its its favour.

On the occasion, the prime minister also made some light remarks recalling his initial days as a party office bearer in its headquarters when at times he had to look for journalists and fondly remembered his regular interactions with the media.

He said both the ruling party and the media may have expectations as well complaints from each other but they have to get along happily amid these differences.

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In his remarks, BJP chief Amit Shah noted that Diwali marks the beginning of the new year in Gujarat, a state from where he hails from, and said the country has met various challenges successfully during the last year and moved ahead under the Modi government.

"We are entering the new year with a lot of positivity," he said. PTI KR/JTR RT

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Deepali Yadav, an employee of Qureshi, said, she would receive emails from stores such as Armani, Dior, Chanel and hotels like Four Seasons in Paris and St Mark Hotel in London for payments against expenses made.

By Sneha Agrawal: Billionaire meat trader Moin Akhtar Qureshi spent large sums through hawala transactions to oblige government officials including CBI top bosses and politicians while using receipts of high-end fashion stores and stays at luxurious hotels both in India and abroad, an Enforcement Directorate charge sheet says. The politically connected exporter had come on the ED's radar in 2011 after the I-T department began probing him for dodging taxes.

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In the charge sheet filed on Monday against Qureshi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Enforcement Directorate claims to have authenticated BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) exchanges that reveal monetary transactions with various high-profile people for obtaining undue favours from public servants.

The trader allegedly exercised his influence over the officials using corrupt practices through illegal means. The details of the BBM messages point to transactions of Rs 11.09 crore. The hawala dealings were allegedly being used to pay off the government officials at their choice of foreign locations: primarily in the UAE, UK, US, France and Italy.

Deepali Yadav, an employee of Qureshi, said in her statement that on the instructions of Moin's wife Nasreen Qureshi she would receive emails from highend foreign stores such as Armani, Dior, Chanel and hotels like Four Seasons in Paris and St Mark Hotel in London for payments against expenses made. She used to forward these mails to hawala operator Parvez Ali, who was making the payments using a web of transactions. The money was received at his Karol Bagh office and later directed to Dubai, London and US counterparts to deliver the desired amount to the desired locations or bank accounts.

"The BBM messages reflect that Moin was able to procure undue relief for various people by getting them off the hook from investigating agencies. In this way he also obtained huge amount of money for providing his services through his influence. The amount was obtained by Qureshi in the name of public servants and political persons holding public office. These public servants illegally in turn either obtained the money themselves or through their kin," says the charge sheet. ED is primarily relying on the statement of two witnesses, Satish Sana and Pradeep Koneru, who claim to have paid crores of rupees to Qureshi to help them get relief from the CBI.

"Qureshi has been regularly sending bribes in the form of expensive gifts to government servants holding important and sensitive positions which has been corroborated through the statements of Aditya Sharma and Vineet Vats - Qureshi's employees," said the charge sheet. Sana said in his statement that Qureshi extorted Rs 2 crore from him and his friend against the promise of helping them secure bail for an associate - Sukesh Gupta - who was caught in a CBI case. "Qureshi conveyed that he had a word with the boss (Ranjit Sinha ) of CBI who asked me to not worry as the matter will be sorted. He told me that Sinha has assured the bail of Sukesh and even directed his men (CBI officials) to not oppose the bail."

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Sana said Qureshi even took him to Sinha's house.

"He went inside while I waited in the car. He came back saying the work will be done. However, the bail was cancelled and not granted for three months despite continuous follow up with Qureshi." Another witness, Pradeep Koneru, claims to have paid more than Rs 5.75 crore which he says was being used to oblige the then CBI director AP Singh . He claimed that the money was for expenditure on Singh in India and abroad, which included shopping and hotel accommodations. Also, Moin's daughter Sylvia Qureshi was purportedly organising CBI annual day functions for which a lot of expenses were to be incurred. ED says a huge amount of hawala transactions were being made through Parvez Ali for the Qureshi family with proceeds transferred to Dubai, Paris, London, the US and Hong Kong.

ED also revealed that in 2010 Nasreen was caught by customs for smuggling expensive goods at Delhi airport while in 2013 Moin's daughter Pernia was intercepted with smuggled goods and a probe is on to ascertain any connections with government officials.

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The Socialist Equality Party in Australia and Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand are holding a series of public meetings in November and December to mark the centenary of the 1917 Russian Revolution. The meetings are part of the world-wide commemorations of the historic events of 100 years ago by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), the world Trotskyist movement and publisher of the World Socialist Web Site.

In 1917, in answer to the horrors of World War I and capitalist oppression, the working class in Russia took political power and established the first workers state, as part of a conscious struggle for world socialism. The revolution was victorious due to the Marxist strategy and tactics provided by the Bolshevik Party, under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky.

The Russian Revolution was, as David North, the chairman of the WSWS international editorial board, stated in a lecture earlier this year, the most important, consequential and progressive political event of the twentieth century.

To this day, it stands as irrefutable proof that the working classproviding it is guided by a genuine Marxist perspective and leadershipcan overthrow the outmoded social relations of capitalism, ending the private ownership of the means of production by a tiny minority and abolishing reactionary national-state divisions.

For that reason, the defenders of capitalism are waging a concerted campaign to denigrate the Russian Revolution and insist it has no relevance in the 21st century. Universally, they resort to the historical lie that the betrayal of the working class and international socialism by a bureaucratic apparatus headed by Joseph Stalin was the inevitable outcome of Bolshevism and the revolution itself.

Sheila Fitzpatrick, a professor of Russian history at the University of Sydney, is just one example. She wrote in March: Socialism is so much of a mirage that it seems kinder not to mention it. If there is a lesson to be drawn from the Russian Revolution, it is the depressing one that revolutions usually make things worse, all the more so in Russia, where it led to Stalinism.

Even the upper house of the Australian parliament has felt it necessary to condemn the Russian Revolution. In October, the Senate passed a motion, moved by extreme right-wing senator Cory Bernardi, which declared that it rejects any assertion that the teachings of Lenin or Marx should be celebrated in a liberal democracy.

Such statements have an air of desperation about them, reflecting the fear of the capitalist ruling elite at the immense interest in the Russian Revolution. Far from socialism being viewed as a mirage, masses of workers and youth aspire to its goals of international unity and social equality.

The reason why they are attracted to socialism is obvious. Capitalism, as a world system, has manifestly failed. The international working class today confronts all the conditions that motivated revolutionary struggles by millions of workers in 1917 and the years that followed: imperialist violence and war, staggering inequality and deprivation, state repression and far-right political reaction. The so-called liberal democracy to which the resolution of the Australian Senate referred is openly degenerating into an authoritarian police-state to defend the wealth of a parasitic financial oligarchy.

A new era of social revolution has opened. The working class cannot and will not accept the barbaric future it is being offered by capitalism.

The essential task for all those coming forward to fight for socialism is to study and assimilate the immense lessons that have been derived by the Marxist movement from the experiences of Bolshevism and the Russian Revolution.

The SEP/SEG meetings are a contribution to that process. We urge you to promote them as widely as possible to your workmates, and your friends and family. Donate as generously as you can to assist our efforts to advertise them through social media, posters and other media. Play your part in making these meetings not only a celebration of the Russian Revolution, but the launching pad for an intensified struggle to build the ICFI as the revolutionary leadership of the international working class.

Sydney

Sunday, December 17, 2.00 p.m.

Petersham Town Hall

107 Crystal St

Petersham

$7/$5
As thousands of pro-secessionist protesters gathered outside, the regional parliament of Catalonia on Friday voted for a resolution on independence from Spain and the start of a constituent process to draft a new constitution for the Catalan Republic.

The balloting was carried out secretly so as to avoid prosecutions by the Spanish government. The independence resolution, declaring a Catalan republic as an independent, sovereign, democratic and social state, was passed with 70 votes in favor. These came from the secessionist partiesthe Democratic European Party of Catalonia (PDeCat), the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and the pseudo-left Candidatures of Popular Unity (CUP)with two abstentions within the separatist camp. The Podemos-backed Catalonia Yes We Can (CSQP) cast 10 votes against. Fifty-three lawmakers from Citizens, the Catalan Socialist Party and the Popular Party walked out of the chamber, branding the resolution illegal.

Outside the parliament, tens of thousands of pro-secessionist protestors waved estelada independence flags and placards demanding freedom for the two arrested separatist leaders, Jordi Sanchez of the Catalan National Assembly and Jordi Cuixart of Omnium Cultural. They cheered the announcement of the vote, chanting Independence, The streets will always be ours and Not one step back. In a room adjacent to the parliament, 200 pro-secessionist mayors celebrated the declaration.

Hours later, the Spanish government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced the Article 155 measures approved by the Senate the same day. These include the imposition of a regional government by Madrid, the removal of Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and all of his governments regional ministers, the dissolution of the Catalan parliament, and the calling of snap elections in the region.

Expecting a massive crackdown from Madrid, Puigdemont said to supporters following the parliamentary session, In the days ahead we must keep to our values of pacifism and dignity. Its in our, in your hands, to build the republic.

Afterwards, thousands gathered in front of the Catalan government building in Placa Sant Jaume to celebrate. Once the news was out that Spain had removed Puigdemonts government, the main chant was We are not moving! in defiance of any attempt by Madrid to arrest the secessionist leaders. Town halls across Catalonia removed the Spanish flag, while the Catalan National Assembly urged regional civil servants not to cooperate with the authorities imposed by Madrid.

The PDeCAT spokesman in the Senate, Josep Lluis Cleries, declared prior to the announcement of the Article 155 measures that his party would not accept the resignation of the Catalan president and the rest of his government, and that it would remain loyal to the current government in Catalonia.

Spain is facing the worst political crisis since the collapse of the Franco regime in the 1970s amidst massive working class struggles. After a decade of deep economic crisis, social austerity and mass unemployment, the Spanish ruling class, with the support of the European Union and NATO, is using the independence declaration to move forward with its plans to repudiate the concessions in terms of social and democratic rights of the post-Franco period. Madrid is preparing to seize Catalonia with the backing of the Spanish army and police.

The danger of bloody repression is looming in a crisis of revolutionary dimensions. While broad opposition is emerging against such measures, it is critical to distinguish two distinct forms of opposition, representing the interests of different social classes.

First, there is the opposition of the pro-independence factions of the Catalan capitalist class. This includes the PDeCAT, the ERC, the Catalan National Assembly and their petty-bourgeois allies, the pseudo-left Candidatures of Popular Unity (CUP). These forces are proceeding with an attempt to build a Catalan capitalist state within the framework of the European Union.

The same forces that have clamped down on protests and strikes by workers and youth over the years against their savage austerity policies in Catalonia declared cynically in yesterdays independence resolution: The Catalan Republic is an opportunity to correct the current democratic and social deficits and create a more prosperous society, more just, more secure, more sustainable and more supportive.

The main constituency for the program of building a Catalan capitalist state is in better-off layers of the population. The last survey of the Catalan-funded Centre of Opinion Studies shows that 40 percent of those earning more than 1,800 a monthwell over the regional average of 1,400 per monthsupport secession. Among those earning over 4,000 a month, it reaches 54 percent. But support for secession in sections of the population earning less than 1,800 per month falls to below 40 percent.

Their main institutional support is sections of the public administration and the regional police, the Mossos dEsquadra. The loyalties of the 17,000-strong regional police force, however, are divided between Barcelona and Madrid.

The secessionist methods of peaceful demonstration and disobedience against Article 155 are no match for the bloody crackdown being prepared by the Spanish state and its 122,000 military personnel, 77,400 Civil Guards and 87,900 national police. The Catalan nationalist parties are also politically isolated, as all of the major capitalist powers in Europe and North America support Madrids moves to repression.

Spanish Attorney General Jose Manuel Maza is planning to bring charges of rebellion against Puigdemont, all of the members of his government and the Catalan parliamentary committee, which authorized the independence vote. Sources from the Office of the Attorney General told El Confidencial that legal action will be taken against all of those who have participated in the events.

This ambiguous formula allows for charges against hundreds if not thousands of secessionists and all those who opposes Article 155. The maximum penalty for rebellion is 30 years in prison.

The other form of opposition is the growing social opposition of the working class throughout Spain and throughout Europe against the return of authoritarian methods of rule. After four decades of fascist dictatorship under General Francisco Franco between 1939 and 1978, the working class has not forgotten the regimes brutality.

Hundreds of thousands of people have marched in Catalonia against Article 155 and the arrest of secessionist leaders. Different sections of the working class such as firemen, dockworkers, civil servants, teachers and employees of the Catalan public media have already shown their opposition to police state measures and the implementation of Article 155.

The Madrid-based media has bombarded the population for the past month with Spanish nationalism and sought to whip up a fascistic atmosphere in an attempt to break the resistance of the population to authoritarian forms of rule.

The opposition of workers in Catalonia to austerity and authoritarianism is part of a broader radicalization of the working class across Europe against social austerity and militarism that is proceeding rapidly. The way forward for the working class is to mobilize this opposition in the form of a unified political struggle against EU austerity and the drive to police state forms of rule, beginning with Rajoys moves toward military rule in Catalonia.
Family and friends held a moving ceremony Thursday night for Jacoby Hennings, the 21-year-old part-time autoworker who died October 20 at Fords Woodhaven Stamping plant, just outside of Detroit.

Full details of the incident have still not been revealed, but police and local United Auto Workers officials say Hennings shot himself in a second-floor union office at the plant as Woodhaven police confronted him. The young man had apparently gone to the UAW office for help from the union plant manager and other Local 387 union officers after a supervisor reportedly wrote him up for being late and sent him home. Police claim the distressed young man barricaded himself in the union office with a gun.

Jacoby was a temporary part-time employee (TPT) who had worked at the stamping plant for nearly eight months, while holding down another part-time job at Fiat Chryslers Warren Truck Assembly Plant, 37 miles away. According to co-workers, he was a hard-working young man who wanted to be hired into a full-time position.

The description of the young man by family and friends, and the outpouring of sympathy on social media, has undermined efforts by the media and authorities to dismiss this tragedy as just another workplace shooting by a disgruntled employee and sweep it under the rug.

Nearly 100 people, young and old, showed up for a memorial at Chene Park on Detroits riverfront that was organized via Facebook on short notice. While solemn, the event was marked by a strong sense of solidarity with the grieving parents who had just days before experienced the loss of another close relative. There were large numbers of Jacobys young peers from school and his neighborhood who, despite their sorrow and anger, lent the event an air of optimism.

Jacoby, who lived in the eastern Detroit suburb of Harper Woods and only graduated from East Detroit High School in 2014, came from a family of autoworkers. His parents, Shemeeka and Bernard, and several aunts and uncles work at Chryslers stamping plant and Mopar parts division.

Family and friends spoke warmly of the young man and then released several paper sky lanterns with special inscriptions written on them into the night air, before the crowd in unison released scores of balloons into the sky, amid shouts of We love you Coby.

A funeral service is being held today, Saturday, October 28, at 10:30 a.m. at the New Greater Zion Hill Baptist Church, 18891 St. Louis Street in Detroit.

Coby was big-hearted, loving and caring, and always spirited, said an uncle, Sivad Thomas, who is a General Motors worker at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant. His smile would brighten up the room.

Family and friends release baloons into the sky at the memorial for Jacoby Hennings

If you knew him, you would love him, added friend Breanca Adams, who was there with Lana and Aeja. But it is tough for young people, especially for men. You try to work hard and get enough to raise a family, but the cost of living is expensive and wages are low. A lot of older workers are holding onto their jobs because they cant afford to retire, and young people cant get in these jobs.

Chris Parks, who went to school with Jacoby told the WSWS, He made everybody laugh, everybody happy. Thats why so many people are out here. You dont see anybody down. Anything anybody needed, he had it for you.

Noting that his family has worked in the auto factories for years, Chris added, Everybody knows what happens in the plant. The horrible conditions arent any good for anybody.

Everybody here knows Jacoby wasnt going to take his life for no reason. There had to be something going on. He was trying to make a statement to somebody. Nobody knows what happened except him and the people who were there. But whatever happened, theres got to be justice for it.

Uncle Tommy Hammonds, another Chrysler worker, said, This is very sad but there has to be more to this than what has been revealed.

This is hard for me, stated uncle Thomas Kyle. He worked two jobs. His dad has been in the auto plant since 1996. He came in and worked hard at Ford and Chrysler. Whichever one was going to take him in full time, he was doing it. He saw what the other guys had but said Im going get it the right way.

You know it used to be you came in and after 90 days you were in. He has been working since March. What is that, over six months? And he still wasnt hired in. He was working every day. Dont know what it was. I dont know what happened to my nephew but I want to know.

An aunt told reporters from the World Socialist Web Site that the immediate family has not been contacted by the company, the union or any other authorities.

After the shooting, the UAW issued a perfunctory statement referring to the unfortunate incident at the Woodhaven Stamping Plant that resulted in one of our members taking their own life with a firearm. The union has not issued any other statements, and calls to the UAW by WSWS reporters have not been returned.

Coby should not die in vain, another worker told the WSWS. We need to build a movement out of this to change things. The older workers are doing slave labor for $30 an hour in the plants, and the younger workers are getting even less for the same work. It used to be when garbage men or teachers went on strike, everybody would join the fight. It was about solidarity. But the unions dont fight anymore, theyre with the companies. Things are tough here in Detroit. Money is going downtown but not to the neighborhoods. Its not a race thing, though, its about classthe haves and the have-nots.

This tragedy is an indictment of the UAW, which long ago abandoned the most elemental responsibilities to provide shop floor representation and protection to workers. Instead it has collaborated with the employers to ramp up the exploitation of workers and create an entirely new layer of super-exploited and disposable temporary and part-time workers. The memorial for Coby took place the same day Ford posted $1.7 billion in third-quarter profits, up from $1.1 billion a year ago.

Ironically, the memorial service for the young man was held just blocks from the UAW-Chrysler National Training Center, which was used to funnel millions in bribes from FCA executives to UAW Vice President General Holiefield and top union execs in exchange for negotiating company friendly labor agreements.

A Warren Truck worker who worked with Jacoby posted the following statement on Facebook. I worked next to Jacoby! Saw him THE DAY before he DIEDThis kid was working two full time jobs mind you....no sleep, often times he would work thru his breaks just to get a power nap in! This fella had been just stressed to no end...they don't care about you...I watched another co-worker last year have a f.. heart attack on the LINE....no one but his fellow team members gave a damn, then they turned LINE back on and kept it moving...wake up folks before they take your livelihood from up under you. Dude had enough HEART to buy me a fan the summer for my Hilo...you cant tell me he was heartless!! RIP Jacoby!! One luv bruh.

Reached by the WSWS, the worker said, He barely got enough sleep with two jobs. The AWS (Alternative Work Schedulefour 10-hour shifts each week) is hellacious and makes your home life difficult. You cant plan anything.

Prior to 2015 it would take 120 days for temporary TPT workers to become full-time. But the UAW used tactics to get workers to sign the contract after we voted it down. They got some young workers to vote for the second offer by adding a few dollars but they took away our long-term interests. The TPTs work as hard or even harder than the older workers and get half the pay and no vision or dental coverage. They want to phase out the legacy workers and replace them with low-cost temps.

I know what its like working at the plant and holding down another job. I used to be an Uber driver to make my bills. Its like were going back in time. Rights that workers fought for are gone. We pay dues to the UAW but they steal our money. Look at the payoffs Chrysler made to top union officials who negotiated our contract. I want a change now.
Australias supreme court yesterday disqualified five members and ex-members of parliament, including deputy prime minister and National Party leader Barnaby Joyce, on the basis that they are dual citizens. The judgment is deeply reactionary, saturated with nationalist language demanding unqualified allegiance to Australia.

The High Courts terse unanimous ruling adopted the strictest possible interpretation of section 44(i) of the 1901 Constitution, which states that any person who is under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power is incapable of being elected to parliament.

The judgment insisted that anyone entitled to citizenship of another country was ineligible to stand for parliament, even if they had no knowledge of that entitlement and had never accepted it.

Along with Joyce, National Party cabinet member and deputy leader Fiona Nash was removed. Malcolm Roberts, a senator for Pauline Hansons anti-immigrant One Nation, was also ousted by the court. Two ex-Greens senators, Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters, had their removals upheld. They had already resigned their seats in July in a groveling display of subservience to Australian nationalism.

Two other senators, ex-National Party minister Matt Canavan and Nick Xenophon, who heads his own populist party, were cleared by the court, but only because the judges found that they were not, in law, citizens of other countries.

In a rare joint judgment, the seven judges spoke with one voice, insisting that the paramount issue was to ensure that no candidates for parliament had foreign loyalties or obligations. The court ruled that any interpretation that permitted a person to argue ignorance of their divided allegiancethat is, that they had no knowledge of any entitlement to dual citizenship in another countrywould threaten the stability of the parliamentary system.

Australia is a country of migrants, with over 28 percent of its population born overseas. The children of migrants and, in some cases, grandchildren, have the right to claim citizenship in their parents home country, and Australian law allows them to do so. As many as three million people, for example, hold or can hold British passports. Amid all the judges invocations of patriotism, there was no mention of the fact that their court ruling disqualifies an estimated half of the countrys entire adult population from standing for federal parliament, unless they formally renounce their entitlement to citizenship in another country.

The High Court ruling has potentially far-reaching ramifications for democratic rights. If dual citizens are proscribed from standing for election, what comes next? Should their purported divided loyalties bar them from voting and from other basic political and civil rights? The colonial-era Constitution contains no bill of rights or even a guarantee of the democratic right to vote.

The entire political establishment has nevertheless immediately lined up behind the anti-democratic ruling, with the leaders of all the parliamentary parties declaring their respect for the High Court and the constitution. Greens leader Richard Di Natale was the most vociferous. On television last night, he boasted that Ludlam and Waters had acted in the national interest by quitting their seats as soon as their dual citizenships were raised.

The purging of parliament may be far from over. Reportedly, up to 20 other MPs could face disqualification under the courts hardline interpretation of Section 44(i). Calls are already being revived for a McCarthyite audit of all parliamentarians to determine their sole loyalty, as previously demanded by the Greens.

John Cameron, the Western Australian lawyer who triggered the witch-hunt in July, by initiating Ludlams removal, said: There will be others. This opens up a huge can of worms.

The court specifically agreed with the submission of former independent MP Tony Windsor, presented by ex-solicitor-general Justin Gleeson, which stressed the need for single-minded loyalty to the country.

The issue of citizens obligations to the Australian state in time of war was pointedly raised. The judges insisted that it was impermissible for a politician to have any duty of allegiance or obedience to another country. So long as that duty remains under the foreign law, the court stated, its enforcementperhaps extending to foreign military serviceis a threatened impediment to the giving of unqualified allegiance to Australia.

The judges bluntly rejected the Liberal-National Coalition governments own submission to the court, in which it argued that MPs should be removed only if they knew of their entitlement to citizenship elsewhere. Such interpretations would introduce an implied mental element, the judgment stated. The resulting uncertainties, it asserted, would be apt to undermine stable representative government.

Reiterating a 1992 ruling, the court said the only possible defence would be if a candidate had taken all reasonable steps to renounce a foreign entitlement.

A similar approach would uphold many other anti-democratic provisions contained in the 1901 Constitution, such as the power of the unelected governor-general to dismiss governments and take control of the armed forces as commander-in-chief.

The courts decision, particularly the ousting of Joyce, destabilises the already unstable Coalition government, which holds power with only a one-seat majority. The ruling, however, was conveniently handed down one day after parliament went into recess for four weeks, giving the government and the political establishment some breathing space to try to reorganise the affairs of state.

In Joyces place, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will be anointed acting prime minister when Turnbull travels overseas. Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion will be installed as National Party leader.

Joyce, who has since renounced the New Zealand citizenship he inherited through his father, has announced he will contest a December 2 by-election and seek to win back his parliamentary seat.

The decision temporarily leaves the Turnbull government without a working majority, but there are just four sitting days of parliament scheduled before December 2, and the government currently has confidence and supply assurances from several crossbench MPs.

If Joyce is defeated in the by-election, however, the government will lose its majority in the House of Representatives. It would then face the possibility of being brought down via a no-confidence motion, if all the five Greens, third party and independent members joined with Labor in voting to oust it.

The High Court ruled that each of the four ousted senators will be replaced, in effect, by the next candidate on their partys list in last years double dissolution election. This may exacerbate already sharp rifts in the Coalition, because Nash, a National, is due to be replaced by a Liberal Party member.

More broadly, the governments turmoil throws further into doubt its capacity to impose the full agenda of austerity and militarism required by the corporate elite. Todays Australian editorial sounded a warning. Turnbull, it asserted, must find a way to control the political debate and command the economic narrative as he promised when he took over. Public patience is wearing thin and the parliament is perilous.

The primary objective of the witch-hunt against some of the ruling elites most loyal parliamentary servants, on the grounds that they have had divided loyalty, has been to fuel a broader ideological campaign of nationalism and paranoia about foreign influence. For well over a year, the media, acting as the mouthpiece of the intelligence agencies, has been publishing racist-tinged hysteria against alleged Chinese interference in Australian politics, business and society.

The High Court decision has been handed down under conditions in which both US and Australian imperialism are consciously and recklessly provoking tensions with China, most sharply with the Trump administrations threats to totally destroy North Koreaa formal ally of the Beijing regime. Any political organisations, workers or youth who oppose war will be accused of acting in the interests of a foreign power or even committing treason.

The promotion of patriotism is also aimed at diverting mass hostility to the government in a reactionary direction, as social inequality accelerates and class antagonisms deepen.

The political atmosphere being consciously whipped up recalls the conditions prior to World War I and World War II, when, immediately upon the outbreak of war, thousands of people deemed to have allegiance to enemy nations were rounded up and imprisoned in internment camps. At the same time, socialist and working class organisations, including the Trotskyists, that opposed Australian imperialisms involvement in the war, were illegalised, and several of their members sent to jail.
Information contained in nearly 2,900 previously classified documents released Thursday concerning the assassination of President John F. Kennedy further undermines the official narrative of a lone killer and points to a cover-up and complicity on the part of forces within the US intelligence agencies.

What are generally deemed the most sensitiveand potentially incriminatingdocuments were withheld, as President Donald Trump acceded to extraordinary pressure from the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and delayed their release.

These 300 documents, consisting of thousands of pages of material, include an extensive file on the head of the CIA office in Dallas at the time of the November 22, 1963 killing; a dossier on a prominent Dallas businessman who conferred with nightclub owner Jack Ruby just before Ruby shot and killed the accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald; files on two anti-Castro Cuban terrorists involved in mass murder; documents concerning Oswalds six-day trip to Mexico City and meetings with Russian and Cuban officials seven weeks before the Kennedy assassination; and information on Watergate burglars and longtime CIA operatives E. Howard Hunt and James McCord.

From the moment the 35th president was killed by a volley of shots as his caravan drove past Dealey Plaza in Dallas up to the present time, there has been a systematic effort to keep from public view critical facts pointing to political motives underlying the murder and to dismiss all questioning of the 1964 Warren Commission Report as conspiracy theories.

The commission, announced by Lyndon Johnson a week after Kennedys assassination and headed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Earl Warren, concluded that Oswald, acting alone and using a mail order rifle, killed Kennedy by firing three shots from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository building, which overlooks Dealey Plaza. The commission said Oswald had no connection to US intelligence agencies or other parties.

The American public, with good reason, has never accepted this narrative. A recent poll by FiveThirtyEight and SurveyMonkey found that only 33 percent of Americans believe the assassination was the work of only one person, while 61 percent believe others were involved. A 1979 report issued by the House Select Committee on Assassinations seconded this view, concluding that Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy.

Kennedys assassination had a traumatic effect on the American public and continues to haunt the popular imagination. It came at a time of mounting crisis for US imperialism both at home and abroad, signaling the beginning of the end of the United States post-World War II global economic and geopolitical hegemony. Only weeks before his death, Kennedy sanctioned the coup that overthrew South Vietnamese President Diem, leading to his murder, an event that marked a nodal point in the escalation of the US intervention in Vietnam.

Washingtons mounting economic contradictions were reflected in a worsening balance of payments crisis and gold drain, which would lead eight years later to the collapse of the Bretton Woods monetary system and the ending of dollar-gold convertibility.

Domestically, the ruling class faced a growing civil rights insurgency and a militant working class determined to defend and extend its postwar economic gains. The elimination of Kennedy was an inflection point in the transition of US ruling class domestic policy from social reform and relative class compromise to class war and political reaction.

The documents released on Thursday make clear that both the FBI and the CIA were well aware of Oswalds activities and were closely tracking him in the period leading up to the assassination. Yet they failed to warn the Secret Service, tasked with protecting the president, about the former Marine, turned expatriate living in the Soviet Union, turned active member of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.

One of the more spectacular documents concerns 1975 testimony by Richard Helms, the CIA director under presidents Johnson and Nixon, to the Presidents Commission on CIA Activities, which was headed by then-Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. A lawyer for the commission is quoted asking Helms: Is there any information involved with the assassination of President Kennedy which in any way shows that Lee Harvey Oswald was in some way a CIA agent or agent? At that point the document breaks off, without Helms reply.

Other material documents the fact that the intelligence agencies were closely monitoring Oswalds movements. One document shows that the CIA intercepted Oswald speaking to a Russian KGB agent in Mexico City on September 28, 1963. Another, dated October 25, a month before the assassination, is from the New Orleans office of the FBI. In it, the FBI notes Oswalds involvement in the New Orleans chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and discusses the agencys contacts with Cuban sources concerning Oswald.

A number of documents shed light on the systematic nature of the cover-up, which began virtually the moment the shots rang out on Dealey Plaza. One is a memo from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover dictated the evening of November 24, 1963, shortly after Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald, before live TV cameras, as the Dallas police were leading the handcuffed suspect down a corridor in the police headquarters building.

Hoover says, Last night we received a call in our Dallas office from a man talking in a calm voice and saying he was a member of a committee organized to kill Oswald. He notes that he informed the Dallas police of the call and insisted that they take precautions to prevent an attack on Oswald. Furious that the accused assassin was killed before a confession had been extracted from him, Hoover writes of the need for something issued so that we can convince the public that Oswald is the real assassin. This was written, of course, before any serious investigation of the killing had begun.

Lyndon Johnson, who told Earl Warren that his commission had a patriotic mission to stamp out dangerous rumors of state involvement in the assassination, was himself convinced that Kennedy was the victim of a conspiracy. One document in the trove released Thursday shows Richard Helms telling the Rockefeller Commission in 1975 that Johnson used to go around saying that the reason President Kennedy was assassinated was that he had assassinated President Diem.

In its account of the released documents, the Washington Post writes: The CIA publicly acknowledged in 2014 that John McCone, its director at the time of the assassination, participated in a benign cover-up, according to a paper by agency historian David Robarge. His article said McCone was complicit in keeping incendiary and diversionary issues off the commissions agenda. He wrote that McCone did not tell the commission about CIA-Mafia plots to kill Castro, some of which had been planned at the Mexico City station.

There is ample material in the newly released papers concerning the criminal activities of the US government in the period leading up to the assassination. A 1975 document from the Rockefeller Commission speaks of Attorney General Robert Kennedy telling the FBI that the CIA considered approaching Chicago mobster Sam Giancana to have the mafia go to Cuba and kill Fidel Castro for $150,000. Schemes to assassinate Castro included the use of gunmen, poison pills, a skin-diving suit contaminated with a disabling fungus and tuberculosis, and a booby-trap spectacular seashell.

Behind the public face of the Kennedy administration, marked by soaring rhetoric about the defense of democracy around the world, both John and Robert Kennedy had a particular fascination with assassination plots, particularly against Castro. It was less than three years since the Bay of Pigs debacle, in which President Kennedy signed off on the CIA scheme to use Cuban anti-Castro expatriates to invade the island, murder Castro and install a US puppet regime.

Despite the failure of the plot and Kennedys fury over the CIAs false assurances and incompetence, his administration remained mired in the swamp of anticommunist adventurers and terrorists. Two of the CIAs anti-Castro allies, Luis Posada and Orlando Bosch, were implicated in the blowing up of a Cuban commercial airliner and death of 73 innocent passengers in 1976. Posada escaped from prison in Venezuela with the aid of an anti-Castro group with close ties to the Reagan administration. He was subsequently implicated in terrorist bombings in Cuba in the late 1990s.

Other illegal activities described in the newly released documents include the FBIs relentless wiretapping of Martin Luther King, Jr., whom Hoover considered to be part of a world communist conspiracy, and FBI spying on Mark Lane, a liberal lawyer and author of a number of books debunking the Warren Commission Report.

The author also recommends:

A half century since the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy

[22 November 2013]
By India Today Web Desk: Nawazuddin Siddiqui's memoir, An Ordinary Life, has ruffled some feathers. After Niharika Singh accused Nawazuddin of "fabricating stories and manipulating a fleeting relationship" to make his book fly off the shelves, another ex-girlfriend of the actor, Sunita Rajwar, has slammed him for his "extraordinary lies".

According to the book, Nawazuddin and Sunita met during a play they were in together. Even though they were both from the National School of Drama (NSD), they had never met during their time there.

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"Every day, she would come over, hang out at my house in Mira Road and scrawl our names in tiny font all over the wall," it reads. Apparently, Sunita went to visit her family one day and after returning, ended their relationship. Nawazuddin was so devastated by the end of their "deep, passionate love" that he "plunged into deep, deep depression" and even contemplated suicide.

"I took a bucket of fresh white paint and began to replace her artwork on my walls with the blank canvas that they were before," the book says, adding that after this setback, Nawazuddin could never emotionally invest himself in any of his relationships.

In the memoir, Nawazuddin reasons that Sunita probably wanted to "date someone successful, not a struggling, desperate actor who was out of work." He also points out that "today, Sunita tells everybody that she was once together with me in a very serious relationship."

Sunita called his memoir a collection of "extraordinary lies" and then went on to reveal the "real reason" why she left Nawazuddin. She wrote, "Kayi baatein Nawaz ne apne mann se, apne hisaab se aur apne haq mein likhi hai, chit bhi meri, pat bhi meri types. Unhone badi hi khubsoorati se khud ko bura bhi keh diya hai aur utni hi khubsoorati se apni burayi ka saara thikara auraton par bhi phod diya hai, khaas kar mujhpe, kyunki unki maane toh mere baad unka pyaar se aur auraton se vishwas hi uth gaya tha aur unke saare emotions RIP yaani rest in peace ho gaye the (Nawaz has written many things from his own imagination as well as changed facts to show himself in a positive light. With great skill, he has called himself a bad person and with the same skill, he has blamed it on women, especially me, because according to him, I was the reason he stopped believing in love and women and all his emotions died.)"

Sunita claims that the part about her is filled with lies from the very beginning. The first lie, she writes, is his claim that they did not meet each other in NSD. "NSD mein woh mere ek saal senior the, toh zaahir hai mulaqat toh hoti hogi. Haan, us waqt humare beech kuch tha nahi, lekin yeh kehna ki kabhi mile hi nahi, yeh atpata sa zaroor hai (He was one year senior to me at NSD, so it's obvious that we crossed paths. Yes, there was nothing romantic between us back then, but to say that we never met is bizarre)," she wrote.

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Attacking Nawazuddin's claim of her "artwork" on his wall, she said that it would seem like she went to teach him arts and crafts. Sunita also questioned his dramatic description of erasing her artwork from his walls.

Calling Nawazuddin a "sympathy seeker", Sunita wrote that he never leaves an opportunity to make people feel sorry for him, whether it is racist remarks made against him, how he came from an impoverished background or how he worked as a watchman in his early years. She said that she was worse off than him, dismissing his claim that she must have left him because he was poor. "Tum toh kam se kam apne ghar mein reh rahe the, main toh dost ke ghar mein reh kar struggle kar rahi thi (At least you had your own house, I was living at my friend's house, as a struggler)," she wrote.

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Sunita said that their relationship, which began with the play, ended within three shows of that very play. She said that she was disgusted by him, and hence, stopped taking his calls. The reason for her disgust? Apparently, she found out that he had been sharing intimate details of their relationship with their common friends and making fun of it. When his thoughts about relationships and women were made known to her, she decided to call it off with him.

One of the reasons that compelled Sunita to write the post was Nawazuddin's lie that she had been telling people about their relationship once he became famous. Sunita challenged Nawazuddin to name the people she had supposedly been talking to about their relationship.

"Maine tumhe tumhari gareebi ki wajah se nahi, tumhare gareeb soch ki wajah se chhoda tha (I did not leave you because you were poor, but because of your poor way of thinking)," she wrote, adding that he never learnt to respect women.

ALSO WATCH: FIR against Nawazuddin for slapping a girl

--- ENDS ---

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The Trump administrations attempts at health care reform have stalled in Washington, with numerous attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act failing to pass the Republican-controlled Congress. However, this has not stopped the president and one of his top health care leaders from prosecuting a campaign to implement sweeping changes to Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor, disabled and seniors that covers nearly 75 million people.

Seema Verma, director of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), is campaigning to give states an unprecedented level of flexibility to design their Medicaid programs, reducing barriers for state requests for waivers from federal rules that protect access to benefits and preserve quality standards. The aim is to dismantle the $1 trillion Medicaid program as a guaranteed benefit based on need, first by imposing work requirements, obligatory premiums and other measures, with the ultimate goal of block granting and privatizing the program.

We want to get to the point where we are making the whole waiver process easier, Verma said at the Cleveland Clinics recent annual medical innovation summit. Were not going to tell the states what their priorities are. They are going to come and tell us what their priorities are, she said. Under the guise of state freedom, states would have the power to strip eligible Medicare enrollees of coverage.

The political underpinning of Vermas vision is that the expansion of Medicaid under the program commonly known as Obamacare has extended coverage to millions of low-income Americans who should not be getting government-sponsored health insurance. With the age-old argument that able-bodied people are becoming dependent on public assistance, Verma says that the aim of the Trump administration is to shift increasing numbers of Medicaid recipients to the private insurance market.

In Cleveland, however, Verma made clear that such moves are not aimed at unburdening the states of federal bureaucracy, but at cutting costs for the governmentresulting in decreased Medicaid enrollment and pared-down services. Weve seen these programs grow and grow and grow, she said. We want to make sure we have a stable program over the long term and make sure that theres some type of a growth rate that we can all agree to. The CMS is urging Congress to put Medicaid on an austerity budget.

Verma has been viewed as a top contender to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) following the resignation of Tom Price in September after revelations that he had been flying private planes to events at a cost to taxpayers of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Verma made her name as a former health policy consultant under then-Indiana governor, Republican Mike Pence, crafting that states conservative health care plan. Verma first came to Indiana in the mid-1990s to work for the Marion County Health and Hospital Corporation.

Raised in a Democratic household, she eventually adopted regressive and free-market views on health policy. Mitch Roob, former CEO of the Marion County organization, told governing.com, Over time in her health work she realized that a conservative ideology was the only one thatll win the day. Marion County, which includes Indianapolis, launched the Wishard Advantage program in 1997 to tackle the high levels of uninsured in the county.

Wishard Advantage subsidized health care for 40,000 uninsured or underinsured residents with incomes up to 200 percent of the poverty line, in which those who qualified paid for care via a tiered system based on income. Unemployed enrollees had to show proof they had a working adult helping them pay bills. The program was phased out when Obamacare went into effect in 2014.

In 2001, Verma launched a private health policy consulting firm called SVA Inc. She took the lead in drawing up the Healthy Indiana Plan, the states version of Medicaid, under Republican Governor Mitch Daniels.

The program began enrolling residents on January 1, 2008. While adults with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level could be covered for preventive care visits, they had to contribute up to 5 percent of their monthly income into so-called POWER accounts to help offset a $1,100 deductible. More importantly, if they missed a payment, they lost coverage and were ineligible for reenrollment for 12 months.

When the ACA became law, Daniels successor Mike Pence expanded Medicaid, but wanted to include the conservative, market-driven elements of Healthy Indiana. After two years of negotiations, with Verma taking the lead, the Obama administration approved Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 in January 2015. The new plan retained the POWER accounts, but the lock-out period for failure to pay into them was reduced to six months instead of a year.

To look to the future of Medicaid envisioned by the current CMS head, one needs to examine Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 as it currently operates. Although Verma rails against federal bureaucracy, critics of the Indiana plan say its complicated rules have forced some of those who should qualify to lose coverage and prevented others from either maximizing their benefits or even signing up.

Dr. Rob Stone, a palliative care physician and founder of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health plan, told STAT, It is a far inferior program to traditional Medicaid. It puts all these barriers up for people who are the most vulnerable. Its got a lot of bureaucracy associated with it.

In addition to requiring income-based contributions to a savings account, with the threat of a cutoff of six months of benefits for failure to pay, there is a penalty for using the emergency room for what the program deems non-emergencies. Again, the aim is to teach personal responsibility to many who are struggling to provide health care for their families despite working a full-time job.

Verma is encouraging states to apply for broad waivers for their Medicaid programs. Eighteen states currently have waivers pending with CMS. Six of these want to impose work requirements; Wisconsin wants to implement drug testing. One of the most egregious requests is from Maine, which wants to require upfront asset tests. These would screen applicants cash savings and property values in addition to their incomes, something which is prohibited under the ACA. This means workers either would not qualify for benefits, or would have to divest their assets in order to obtain health coverage for their families.

The Trump administration still hopes to see legislation pass in Congress that would convert Medicaid funding to block grants or per-capita payments to states to use as they see fit. A full repeal of the ACA without a replacement would likely result in the elimination of Medicaid expansion across the country, which has provided insurance to about 11 million people. The aim is to push those in the Medicaid expansion into the private market, and to ultimately dismantle Medicaid as a guaranteed program based on need.

While Obamacare expanded Medicaid coverage to the uninsured for those with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, the basis of the ACA is the private insurance market. Its individual mandate requires individuals without insurance from a government program or through their employer to purchase coverage from a private insurer or pay a tax penalty. In an effort to undermine the ACA, the Trump administration has not strictly enforced these fines.

The expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare has been combined with the slashing of funds for Medicare, the government insurance program for the elderly and disabled. While the Trump administration and congressional Democrats have tactical differences on how health care in America should be reformed, they are in agreement that the cost of providing it must be slashed and that the health of ordinary Americans should be subordinated to corporate profit.

In this they stand on the side of the multibillion-dollar insurers, pharmaceuticals and giant health care chains, at the expense of the health and life expectancy of workers and their families. Verma and government officials like her are leading this reactionary charge.
The National Health Service (NHS) is suffering from a staffing crisis that is resulting in staff being super-exploited and patients in wards being placed in a dangerous situation.

Addressing the Conservative conference this month, Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Huntwho has been presiding over the dismantling and privatization of the NHS since 2012declared, I can tell you well increase the number of nurses we train by 25 percentthats a permanent increase of more than 5,000 nurse training places every single year.

These claims were made despite Hunts scrapping of bursaries for nursing students and allied health professionals from September, which alone has contributed to a 23 percent decrease of applicants to study for these professions at university.

Just three days before Hunt made his speech, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) published a survey of Nurses and Midwives in the UK, Safe and Effective Staffing: Nursing Against the Odds. It is a powerful indictment of successive Labour and Tory governments, which have deliberately crippled the NHS with a thousand cuts.

The RCN asked its members about their last shift or day worked in health or social care. Within two weeks, they received over 30,000 responses, which provide an accurate snapshot of workers experiences and the unprecedented decline in staffing levels.

Key findings of the survey are staggering, even though the survey was completed earlier in the year, when health services are not under the additional pressure they are during winter.

 Well above half of respondents reported a shortfall in planned staffing of one or more registered nurses on their last shift, while 41 percent of all shifts were short of one or more health care support workers.

 One in five registered nurses across the 30,000 shifts were temporary staff, while more than a quarter of health care support workers were temporary staff.

 More than half of nurses, midwives and health care assistants said care was compromised on their last shift, and more than a third said that due to a lack of time they had to leave necessary patient care undone.

 More than 15,000 respondents felt upset/sad that they could not provide the level of care they wanted, and 44 percent of all respondents said no action was taken when they raised concerns about staffing levels.

 More than two thirds of all respondents said they worked additional time, on average almost one hour extra, hence 93 percent of nursing staff who worked extra unplanned time for NHS providers were not paid for this.

Based on their findings, the surveys authors concluded that their conservative estimate is that the additional unpaid time worked by registered nurses in the NHS across the UK equates to 396 million annually. This is under conditions in which these and other health workers have been subjected to a seven-year pay freeze and pay caps by successive Tory-led governments.

Many frontline workers are concerned about the dilution of the skill mix of the nursing workforce (proportion of registered to non-registered nurses) in acute settings over the past seven years.

Along with the report, the RCN published the disturbing stories of the nurses and midwives they received.

One Accident and Emergency (A&E) nurse said, Staffing levels, skill mix, sickness, unprecedented demands, patient numbers, lack of resources and capacity have left me fearing for a profession I once loved. I end a shift exhausted, stressed, dehydrated and with little if any job satisfaction. Im paid around 5,000 less than a comparable professional with a massive level of responsibility and accountabilityfor patients lives. After 29 years I am considering leaving nursing due to lack of job satisfaction, being treated with utter contempt by managers and the government, and five years of pay restraint.

A practice nurse said, I always go above and beyond for my patientswe all do as nursesbut that is to the detriment of myself, minimal breaks, not drinking enough fluid, holding on for the toilet. Even doing this I dont feel I have enough time for my patients. I was trained to provide holistic care, and often, because of the pressures we face, we are not able to do that.

A community nurse said, We do this job because we care for people, but the Government does not care for us. We regularly miss breaks, go 14 hours without a drinkto the point where one of my colleagues has developed kidney stones. I stay late basically every night. I take work home with me and receive no emotional support for an extremely draining and impacting job. Something needs to change.

A midwife said, Staff are working late without pay or claiming time back ... Staff have become demoralised and have left to take up posts elsewhere. We dont feel our opinions count, even though we are on the frontline.

This summer, the Nursing and Midwifery Council reported that more nurses were leaving the register than joining it for the first time in recent history, resulting in an overall downward trend. This takes place amid a broader shortage of 40,000 nurses in the UK and 3,500 midwives in England alone.

Further exposure of the scale of the staffing cuts devastating the NHS was provided by the Health Service Journal in an analysis of the official data for the period 2014/15-2016/17. In England, 96 percent or 214 out of 224 acute hospitals operated without an adequate level of nursing staff during day shifts last October, while 85 percent of them did not have the right staff levels on night shifts.

Many hospitals are struggling to recruit and retain nurses and midwives due to low wages and stressful working conditions. Some NHS providers are intentionally running without adequate level of staff due to financial pressures created by years of underfunding and government demands for unmanageable efficiency savings.

In 2015, Hunt ordered the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) not to determine safe staff levels, in order to continue the Tories plans of year-on-year underfunding of the NHS so as to impose fully 26 billion efficiency savings by 2021.

NICE had begun to recommend safe staffing levels in hospitals in 2014, in the aftermath of the failings of Mid Staffordshire Hospital, revealed in the report of Sir Robert Francis the previous year.

Staff shortages are not confined to nurses and midwives. Nationwide, there are acute shortage of consultants, doctors, GPs and other clinical groups, thanks to the years of underfunding, the destruction of training opportunities and indifference to the health needs of working people.

The response of the government has been to further rationalise services by shutting down or downsizing A&E departments, maternity units, children units, heart units and closing down hospitals. At the same time the attacks on the pay, terms and conditions of workers are being escalated. Last year the government imposed an inferior contract on junior doctors, capitalising on the betrayals of the British Medical Association.

The RCNs response to the staffing crisis is to call for new legislation across the UK that guarantees safe and effective nurse staffing, as if the Torieshell-bent on the privatisation of the jewel in the crown of the post-war welfare statewill heed these appeals.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump proclaimed the opioid crisis, which killed some 64,000 people last year, a public health emergency, a move that, despite appeals from medical professionals and public health advocates, did not include one cent in additional funding.

More people died last year from drug overdoses than American soldiers were killed during the entire Vietnam War, with a staggering 175 people killed every day. Countless millions more have been affected, from friends and family members of addicts whose lives have been upended, to children born addicted to opioids.

Trumps response to the opioid epidemic mirrors his administrations response to every social crisis and disaster, such as the hurricanes that struck Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. The government has provided no meaningful federal aid to Puerto Rico, still suffering from widespread blackouts, while demanding it step up its payments to its Wall Street creditors.

But when it comes to funneling money to the US oligarchy, the White House and Congress are more than willing to oblige. Just hours before Trumps announcement on the opioid crisis, the House of Representatives passed a budget bill that clears the way for Trumps tax cut for corporations and the rich to be fast-tracked through Congress, for possible passage before Thanksgiving.

The plan, which would cost taxpayers some $5.8 trillion over the next ten years, would slash the corporate tax rate from the current 35 percent to 20 percent, eliminate the estate tax for multimillion-dollar inheritances, and slash rates for repatriating corporate profits held offshore.

These two measures present the outlook of the financial elite that dominates American society and controls both political parties: unlimited cash for the enrichment of the financial oligarchy and nothing to address the pressing social needs of the working population.

This bipartisan policy, which has been carried out for decades under the presidencies of Carter, Reagan, both Bushes, Clinton and Barack Obama before its radical escalation under Trump, has created a social catastrophe.

Its most direct manifestation is the persistent rise in mortality rates for the working class, which resulted in a fall in US life expectancy last year. In March, Princeton University economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton concluded that the run-up in mortality, particularly for working-class whites, is driven by what they define as deaths of despairthose due to drug overdoses, complications from alcohol and suicide.

In Capital, Marxs study of the capitalist system, the founder of the modern socialist movement concluded that the accumulation of wealth at one pole isat the same time accumulation of misery, agony of toil, slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation, at the opposite pole.

This statement is not only true, but empirically quantifiable. One study by epidemiologists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett found a direct correlation between social inequality and a series of social ills, including homicides and violent crime, poor school achievement and high dropout rates, teenage births, lower life expectancy and higher infant mortality, obesity, mental illness, and more.

Compared to other developed countries, the United States is off the charts on all measures. It is simultaneously the most unequal and the most socially distressed.

The inability and unwillingness of the political system to address any of the underlying causes of the social crisis gripping the United States is the direct product of the stranglehold over American society by the financial oligarchy, which ensures that the first and last priority is the protection and expansion of its wealth.

This reality was driven home in remarks by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who said earlier this month that the White Houses tax cuts had to pass because Wall Street would crash the stock market if they did not. There is no question that the rally in the stock market has baked into it reasonably high expectations of us getting tax cuts and tax reform done, he told Politico. Theres no question in my mind that if we dont get it done youre going to see a reversal of a significant amount of these gains.

The consequences of the Obama administrations socially regressive policies were on display Thursday in a report by the Swiss bank UBS, which showed that the total wealth of the worlds billionaires shot up 17 percent in 2016, or $1 trillion, to a total of $6 trillion.

The US has more than a third of the worlds billionaires, and roughly half of all billionaire wealth, amounting to $2.8 trillion, according to the report.

One of those billionaires, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post, became some $7 billion wealthier overnight on Thursday, becoming the worlds richest man, controlling $90 billion.

Bezos wealth is the outcome of the sweatshop-like conditions at the fulfillment centers operated by his company, which pays workers $10 per hour, subjects them to searches during the workday, and tracks their every move.

Despite the massive enrichment of the financial oligarchy documented by UBSs report on the wealth of the worlds billionaires, the authors struck a worried note.

We are now two years into the peak of the second Gilded Age, Josef Stadler, UBSs head of global ultra-high net worth, told the Guardian. Were at an inflection point he said, Wealth concentration is as high as in 1905  the question is to what extent is that sustainable and at what point will society intervene and strike back?

Tellingly, the newspaper included in the article a painting depicting Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Russian Revolution, addressing workers in Petrograd in 1917. The clear implication is that 100 years after the Russian Revolution, which led to a reduction of social inequality all over the world amid a wave of social struggles that it triggered and encouraged, similar revolutionary uprisings are again on historys agenda.

In response to the drive to even further subject the entire population under the yoke of Americas oligarchy, the working class must fight for its social interests with equal ruthlessness and determination. It must adopt and fight for a socialist program, including the expropriation of the wealth piled up by the ruling elite, to meet immediate and pressing social needs: to provide urgently needed medical care to all those affected by the addiction epidemic, to make whole all those whose lives have been upended by Hurricanes Maria, Harvey and Irma, and to ensure that all people are provided with employment and free, high-quality health care, education and housing.
Police said survivors were thrown out of the bus windows but another 13 people were still believed to be trapped in the bus.

By Reuters: A bus carrying passengers returning from a Hindu festival to the Nepali capital of Kathmandu skidded off the main highway and plunged into a river today, killing at least 31 people and leaving others trapped, officials said.

The accident occurred around dawn, around 50 km (30 miles) west of the city on the Prithvi Highway that connects Kathmandu with the southern plains.

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"We have recovered 31 bodies and are looking for more," government official Ram Mani Mishra told Reuters from the scene. "It's highly unlikely for anyone to survive for so long under water."

Rescuers on rubber boats and police divers managed to spot the bus hours after the crash and were trying to lift it from water with the help of a crane, Mishra said.

Apart from the deaths, 16 people have been injured, government administrator Shyam Prasad Bhandari said. Two with grave injuries were taken to Kathmandu while the rest were treated at a local hospital, he said.

Police said survivors were thrown out of the bus windows but another 13 people were still believed to be trapped in the bus.

The bus had left Rajbiraj town in the southeastern plains on Friday night.

Road accidents are common in mostly mountainous Nepal, where police say about 1,800 people die in crashes every year. Accidents are also blamed on poorly maintained and crowded vehicles.

--- ENDS ---
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday that he could not imagine United States ever accepting a nuclear North Korea, warning that its rapidly advancing nuclear and missile programs would undermine, not strengthen, its security.

Mattis has been at pains during his week-long trip to Asia to stress that diplomacy is America's preferred course, a message he returned to after top-level military talks in Seoul on Saturday and at the tense border area with North Korea on Friday.

Still, he warned Pyongyang that its military was no match for the U.S.-South Korean alliance, and that diplomacy was most effective "when backed by credible military force."
A federal grand jury on Friday approved the first charges in the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters.

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The indictment was sealed under orders from a federal judge so it was not clear what the charges were or who the target was, the source said, adding that the indictment could be unsealed as early as Monday.

The filing of charges by the grand jury in Washington was first reported earlier on Friday by CNN, which said the target could be taken into custody as soon as Monday.

Trump responding to investigation

X

US intelligence agencies concluded in January that Russia interfered in the election to try to help President Donald Trump defeat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton through a campaign of hacking and releasing embarrassing emails, and disseminating propaganda via social media to discredit her campaign.

Special counsel Robert Mueller, a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is investigating whether Trump campaign officials colluded with those Russian efforts.

Putin and Trump meeting during G-20 summit (Photo: AFP)

"If the Special Counsel finds it necessary and appropriate, the Special Counsel is authorized to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation of these matters," Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in a May 17 letter appointing Mueller.

Sources familiar with Mueller's investigation said he has used that broad authority to investigate links between Trump aides and foreign governments as well as possible money laundering, tax evasion and other financial crimes.

Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, declined to comment to Reuters on Friday.

Former FBI chief Mueller (Photo: AP)

Trump, a Republican who was elected president last November, has denied allegations that his campaign colluded with Russians and condemned investigations into the matter as a witch hunt.

The Kremlin has denied the allegations.

The special counsel's investigation also includes an effort to determine whether the president or any of his aides tried to obstruct justice.

Mueller's team has conducted extensive interviews with former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, former spokesman Sean Spicer and other current and former White House officials.

In July, FBI agents raided the Virginia home of Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort, whose financial and real estate dealings and prior work for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine are being investigated by Mueller's team.

Mueller was appointed by the Justice Department to lead the investigation a week after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who was leading a federal investigation into possible collusion with Russia.

Trump initially said he fired Comey because his leadership of the FBI was inadequate and hurt morale, but in a later interview with NBC he cited "this Russia thing" as his reason.
Firefighters managed on Saturday to control the fire that broke out in the Sataf area on Thursday. The fire department reported that most of the fire points had been snuffed out, and that the roads in the area that had been blocked were reopened.

On Thursday, some 30 firefighter crews, comprised of about 75 fire fighters are currently battling a blaze that is spreading throughout the Sataf national forest, located in the Jerusalem Hills.

Ten firefighting planes were also dispatched, to help aid the crews control the fast spreading flames.
The NGT has found a building owned by a trust of the Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to have been built in violation of environmental norms in east Kolkata.

By Indrajit Kundu: In a major blow to spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, whose organisation the Art of Living has long been under scrutiny over allegations of flouting environmental norms, the National Green Tribunal's eastern bench today ordered the demolition of a building constructed by the foundation in Kolkata's ecologically fragile wetlands.

The NGT order, passed earlier this week, asked the East Kolkata Wetland Management Authority (EKWMA) to "remove all illegal structures" raised by the Vaidic Dharma Sansthan Trust, a part of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living foundation.

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The order has also asked the EKWMA to consider "imposition of appropriate penalty" against the organisation for flouting green norms and "encroaching" upon the wetland. The EKWMA is a statutory body under the West Bengal government's Department of Environment entrusted with the upkeep of the wetlands.

WHAT IS THE MATTER?

The NGT order came on a petition filed in May 2016 by PUBLIC, a Kolkata-based NGO working on environmental issues.

The EKWMA had filed an FIR last year against Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Vaidic Dharma Sansthan for flouting environmental norms to construct a three storey ''illegal'' structure called the ''Temple of Knowledge'' in the east Kolkata wetlands, a region considered extremely fragile ecologically.

About 12,500 hectres of wetland in Kolkata's eastern fringe are included in the Ramsar list of 'Wetlands of International Importance'. However, due to indiscriminate urbanisation, the site is under extreme threat.

It is in this very area that the Vaidic Dharma Sansthan constructed the three storey-concrete structure, which activists say is a blatant violation of the East Kolkata Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Act of 2006.

NGT orders demolition of building owned by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's trust

NGT orders demolition of building owned by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's trust.

NGT orders demolition of building owned by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's trust.

EARLIER ACTION BY AUTHORITIES

The East Kolkata Wetland Management Authority had earlier slapped at least two notices on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's organisation seeking immediate halt on all construction activity at the site. The first notice was served in August 2015. The second one was sent a month later in September that year.

FIR against Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's trust.

Last year, India Today had reported how despite repeated warnings, construction of the building was completed at the site and events are organised at the premises by the spiritual guru's organisation.

Notice to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's trust.

Law forbids any new construction and change of land use in the east Kolkata wetlands as the area is critical to the survival of the city. It drains water from the city and naturally processes millions of litres of liquid waste every day.

Notice to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's trust Notice to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's trust

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"The entire process for removal of illegal structures shall be completed within three months without fail. Compliance report shall be filed in the first week of the fourth month, i.e. in the first week of February 2018," the NGT has stated in its October 25 order.

--- ENDS ---
Border Policemen arrested a Hamas operative, a Nablus resident in his twenties, in the "Kiosk" checkpoint near Ma'ale Adumim with a gun in his vehicle.

He was transferred for further interrogation by security forces and his car was impounded.
Hundreds of Australian and new Zealanders converged on Be'er Sheva this weekend dressed in World War I regalia and mounted atop horses to reenact the battle in which their grandfathers conquered the Negev's capital from the hands of the Ottomans.

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While as far as most Israelis are concerned the battle of Be'er Sheva is just another in the myriad battles to take place in the Holy Land, in Australia and New Zealand generations were reared on the myth of the battle now celebrating its centennial, and thus their recent gathering was of particular significance.

(Photo: Roee Idan)

The ostentatious celebrations in the southern city are presided over by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbullmarking his first visit to Israel to participate in the festivitiesand New Zealand Governor General Dame Patricia Lee "Patsy" Reddy.

The centennial event was so momentous it was speculated New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English might make a surprise visit as well, considered doubtful due to the tense relationship between the two countries since the 2004 Mossad affair.

Reenactment of the Battle of Be'er Sheva (:  )

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Finally, the Ottoman contingent is represented by Turkey's ambassador to Israel, Mekin Mustafa Kemal Okem.

The event commemorates the freeing of Be'er Sheva by ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) troops, who broke the route to Jerusalem open for British General Edmund Allenby.

Photo: Roee Idan

The ANZAC troops fought for the British crown in the "Great War" and many lost their lives thousands of miles away from their homeland. The battle is considered historic not only thanks to the important role it played in breaking ground for taking what today is Israeland the rest of the Middle Eastby the British Empire, but also because it was one of the final cavalry battles in modern military history.

Thousands of Australians and Kiwis arrived in Israel to attend the eventwhich is being broadcast live Australiasome of them related to the brave men who fought in the battle itself and grew up listening to stories about it. Some will even actively participate in its reenactment.

As part of the festivities, the Be'er Sheva municipality is holding ten separate ceremonies all across the city, including the grand opening of the ANZAC soldiers' memorial center, a regal cavalry parade through the Old City's Atzmaut Street, a memorial for New Zealand soldiers in Tel Be'er Sheva, a reenactment of the charge on the city in the Be'er Sheva River Park and more.

Apart from the cavalrymen and their horses, another special guest attended the festival: Australian national hero and former Tour de France champion Cadel Evans, who'll lead a bicycle journey tracing the precise path taken by the cavalrymen 100 years ago.

Photo: Roee Idan

Proceeds from the ride are dedicated entirely to children afflicted with cancer and persons with disabilities.

The journey, titled "Ride like an ANZAC," will start riders off on a challenging journey taken by the soldiers during the war, starting in the Be'eri kibbutz, passing through HaBesor Stream and culminating in Be'er Sheva itself.

Riders from all over the world are expected to participate in the bike tour, which will take place October 30-31.

Photo: Roee Idan

"As an Australian native, I also grew up on ANZAC tales of heroism, which is why it's such a great honor for me to invite riders from all over the world to this event saluting and commemorating the brave people who fought on and for Israel," said Danny Hakim, the driving force behind the bike tour and chairman and founder of the Kids Kicking Cancer non-profit, which will receive the proceeds from the tour.

"It's an important part in Israel's historical mosaic, one many Israelis are unfortunately unaware of," he said.

Be'er Sheva Mayor Ruvik Danilovich was excited to greet the guests from down under. "For the first time in the city's history, we have the privilege of commemorating a centennial marking 100 years since the victory in the battle of Be'er Sheva, placing our city on the forefront of cities that played an important role in world heritage," he said.

A mosiac recreated

While Hakim was speaking about a mosaic figuratively, a very real, and very large, mosaic occupied most of artist Yardena Visoker's study in the Eshkol Regional Council's Sde Nitzan moshav.

Along with a group of artists from nearby towns, Visoker painstakingly recreated using tweezers a mosaic first discovered by ANZAC troops during World War I and removed by them as souvenir.

Anzacs riding through Be'er Sheva in 1917

When those soldiers' grandchildren and great-grandchildren returned to Be'er Sheva for the centennial, the recreated mosaic was displayed for them.

The ANZAC cavalrymen rode into Ein Shellal, today Eshkol National Park, in 1917 and set up camp there. The chaplain accompanying the troops, Maitland Woods, walked amongst the springs in the area and gave his blessings to the fighting men before they rode off to battle, when suddenly he noticed part of a spectacular, enormous mosaic floor underfoot, depicting various animals, later found to belong to a Byzantine church built 1,400 years ago and destroyed by Muslims.

The ANZAC troops immediately jumped in and uncovered the entire mosaic in all its splendor. The enthused chaplain decided to take the mosaic back to Australia as a memento and was able to remove the floorusing special tools imported from Egyptwithout harming its adornments.

Artist Yardena Visoker presided over a project recreation a mosaic removed from Israel by ANZAC troops

The mosaic pieces were packed away in 53 large crates and placed aboard a ship headed to Australia. "It wasn't quite so easy because after its discovery an argument broke out between the prime ministers of England and Australia over who'll get to keep the mosaic. Eventually the English acquiesced and the mosaic ended up in a museum in Canberra, the capital of Australia," said Visoker, who is also a teacher and lecturer on Israel's history.

In anticipation of the Australians' visit to Israel for the centennial, Visoker contacted the Eshkol Regional Council, which agreed to fund the mosaic's recreation.

Photo: AP

Thus, in the past few months 20 artistspresided over by Visoker herselfwere hard at work at creating an astonishingly exact replica.

When the reenactment of the battle of Be'er Sheva begins in the Eshkol National Park, it will be right by where their ancestors discovered the original mosaic 100 years ago.

"It's come full circle for me, and it's also a historical wrong now corrected. We'll be presenting the mosaic in our town's cultural hall and to the descendants of the Australian cavalrymen, who were extremely moved by this gesture. It's important to preserve the link between Israel and Australia, and this is yet another step in tightening the years'-long friendship," said Visoker, who's a member of a non-profit for the legacy of the First World War.
Did your son remember to put on a sweater? Is your daughter taking her sweet time to get married? Are the grandkids always forgetting to call? In a series of videos that have gone viral, Jewish grandmother Judith Cohen pledges to take care of these issues, which plague every Jewish grandmother, with her own patented apps.

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The videos were actually produced by American Friends of the Hebrew University (AFHU) as part of an effort to raise donations from the American public for future development of slightly more useful apps (and some other things the Hebrew University dabbles in).

American-Jewish grandma Judith Cohen stars in a new series of videos for AFHU (Photo: AFHU)

Judith Cohen, meanwhile, is in fact 84-year-old actress Barbara Malley, who easily took to the Yiddish inflection and mannerisms of a Jewish grandma.

Indeed, the myth of the Jewish grandma managed to garner tens of thousands of cumulative views on YouTube.

Would it kill you to call?

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AFHU Chief Marketing Officer Eileen Hume was the driving force behind the series of videos and told Ynet, "Everybody has a bubbe (Yiddish for 'grandmother'), and she encapsulates the ultimate shared experience of American-Jewish culture."

Stereotypes every Jew would be familiar with

In describing her "Would it kill you to call?" app, Cohen explains in the video, "After seven days without a call, a text is automatically sent to your loved ones: 'It's been a week, would it kill you to call?'"

Mensch on wheels

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The other two videos in the series also transform "grandmotherly" problems and concerns to a kindly Jewish app. For instance, one that updates bubbe's loved ones when it's called and cautions them against dressing improperly for the weather, or one explaining how to set up eligible Jewish bachelors with a stubborn single grandchild.

"Our starting point was stereotypes, but we handled them lovingly. We hit upon this idea by matching the famous, timeless qualities of the Jewish grandmother with life in the modern world," Hume explained with a smile.

It's cold!

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Audience embraced the Jewish bubbe, and nearly forgot the grandmother was just as pretend as the apps she was proffering.

"It's actually really funny. Viewers responded with, 'I wish it were a real app, I'd download it.' Nevertheless, the purpose of the social media campaign is to increase awareness of the Hebrew University among a new, younger audience," Hume said.

"In that respect, the message was absolutely well received, as it reached a whole new public. We wanted it to be light-hearted and to speak to people through humor, because humor works. And we wanted to balance out the very serious and important subject matter behind the campaign with something with a little more brevity," she concluded.
After a warm and mostly dry October, northern Israel saw a lot of rainfall and even some hail on Saturday morning.

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A wintery Saturday in Israel (:  ,    , ")

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Rain battered Beit She'an, the Hula Valleym the Galilee and the Carmel area, with almost 17mm of precipitation measured at the Ein Afek station within one hour (10-11am).

Summer clothes and umbrellas in Ein Yahav (Photo: Arava Tichona PR)

In Hadera, more than 8mm of rain fell at the same time.

Hail in Moshav Manot (Photo: Reut Meir)

Hail in Nes Amim (Photo: Michael Zuriel)

Meanwhile, residents in the Kryot area near Haifa reported flooding in several streets.

Flooding in Kiryat Motzkin (Photo: Nimrod Bruner)

Despite the wintery weather, over 3,000 people visited Agmon Hahula to watch tens of thousands of cranes, hundreds of pelicans, ducks, herons, flamingos, birds of prey and more, according to KKL-JNF.

Birds at Agmon Hahula (Photo: Avihu Shapira)
Sacked Catalonian president Carles Puigdemont on Saturday called for peaceful "democratic opposition" to the central government's takeover of the region following its unilateral declaration of independence from Spain.

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Puigdemont, whose regional government was dismissed by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Friday, accused Madrid of "premeditated aggression" against the will of the Catalans.

Sacked Catalan president Puigdemont called for 'democratic opposition' to Spanish central government's takeover of his region (Photo: AP)

The bold if futile action brought Spain's worst political crisis in the four decades since the return of democracy to a new and possibly dangerous level.

"It's very clear that the best form of defending the gains made up until now is democratic opposition to Article 155," Puigdemont said in a brief statement, referring to the constitutional trigger for the takeover.

But he was vague on precisely what steps the secessionists would take as the national authorities are already moving into Barcelona and other parts of Catalonia to enforce the takeover.

Spanish protesters called for Puigdemont to be imprisoned (Photo: AFP)

Puigdemont signed the statement as president of Catalonia, demonstrating he did not accept his ousting.

"We continue persevering in the only attitude that can make us winners. Without violence, without insults, in an inclusive way, respecting people and symbols, opinions, and also respecting the protests of the Catalans who do not agree with what has decided the parliamentary majority," he said.

The secessionists say a referendum on Oct. 1 gave them a mandate for independence. However, less than half of eligible voters turned out for the ballot, which Madrid declared illegal and tried to stop.

Photo: MCT

But emotions are running high and the next few days will be tricky for Madrid as it embarks on enforcing direct rule.

It is also unclear if the fresh new regional election set for Dec. 21 would resolve the crisis as it could increase the numbers of independence supporters in a new parliament.

Possible conflict

In another development, Catalonia's police force told its officers to remain neutral, a step towards averting possible conflict following doubts over how the Mossos d'Esquadra, as the they are called, would respond if ordered to evict Puigdemont and his government.

Spanish PM Rajoy removed Puigdemont, took over the administration of the autonomous region and set a new election for Catalonia (Photo: AFP)

The force is riven by distrust between those for and against independence and is estranged from Spain's national police forces, Mossos and national officers have told Reuters. Some Catalan officers stood between national police and those trying to vote during the referendum.

"Given that there is it is likely to be an increase in gatherings and rallies of citizens in all the territory and that there are people of different thoughts, we must remember that it is our responsibility to guarantee the security of all and help these to take place without incident," said the memo, which had no name attached to it.

Government buildings, the headquarters of national political parties, ports, airports, courts, and the Bank of Spain were being guarded, the Interior Ministry said. Units of the regional force could be replaced if events made that necessary, it said.

The Madrid government also sacked the Mossos' chief, Josep Lluis Trapero, Spain's official gazette announced on Saturday.

Catalan Chief of Police Trapero was also removed (Photo: EPA)

Prosecutors say he failed to give orders to rescue national police trapped inside a Barcelona building during pro-independence protests last month.

In Barcelona, thousands of independence supporters packed the Sant Jaume Square in front of the regional headquarters on Friday night, waving Catalan flags and singing traditional songs in the Catalan language as bands played.

But there was no trouble overnight and the streets of Barcelona were quiet on Saturday.

Photo: MCT

"I sympathize but I have my life, my work, and this is affected. But I am Catalan and I say if we have to go, let's go."

The main secessionist group, the Catalan National Assembly, has urged civil servants not to follow orders from the Spanish government and to mount "peaceful resistance" while a pro-independence trade union, the CSC, called a strike.

The government said it would ensure a minimum service.

Photo: MCT

Madrid says Viva Espana

About 1,000 people took part in a pro-unity rally in Madrid on Saturday and others turned out in the northern city of Valladolidan indication of the resentment the independence drive has caused in the rest of Spain.

Aitor Sanchez, a 30-year-old worker, said he was saddened the government had taken control of Catalonia but it had no choice.

"These are delicate moments in our country. But I believe we must respect the law."

The chaos has prompted a flight of business from Catalonia, which contributes about a fifth of Spain's economy, the fourth-largest in the euro zone. Tourism in hugely popular Barcelona has been hit, and markets have shown signs of concern.

Photo: MCT

European leaders have also denounced the push, fearing it could fan separatist sentiment around the continent.

Catalonia has a litany of historic grievances, exacerbated during the 1939-1975 Franco dictatorship, when its culture and politics were suppressed.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi appointed Deputy Minister of Defense Mohamed Farid Hegazy as army chief of staff.

Hegazy will be replacing current Chief of Staff Mahmoud Hegazy, who has served in the position for the past three years.

The new chief of staff will also be appointed the president's advisor on strategic planning and crisis management.
SR, who filed a lawsuit against Sara Netanyahu, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife, alleging the latter abused her, texted her sister while she still worked at the Prime Minister's Residence to complain Mrs. Netanyahu made her life miserable and that working at the residence was a "nightmare."

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Attorneys for SR released the correspondence with her sister in an effort to prove her claims of maltreatment during her employment at the residence were levied in real-time. The texts are only part of the body of evidence they allege proves their client's claims.

The first text SR sent went on the evening of September 3, 2017, eight days after she started working at the residence. "I'm totaled, working there obliterates the body and health. I really hope G-d will grant me strength," she wrote her sister.

'I felt subhuman,' says text message sent by employee of PM's wife (Photo: AFP)

Many additional texts were sent September 10, an especially busy day as the prime minister and his wife left for a Latin America and US trip and would only return September 20, just before Rosh Hashanah.

According to SR's texts, the situation at the Prime Minister's Residence that day was dire. At 2:36pm, SR wrote her sister, "I left work early, have to come back at 4. (She) Made my life miserable!!! I felt subhuman. I've been wanting to go to the bathroom or eat since 8:30am."

"What a head case," her sister responded.

'Working there obliterates the body and health. I really hope G-d will grant me strength,' another text said.

Minutes later, at 2:42pm, SR texted her sister again. "I can't believe I have to go back there today. Nightmare, nightmare, nightmare. Luckily she goes in for makeup, hair at 6pm. Some time off!" she wrote exasperatedly.

After arriving back to her own home for a break, SR wrote her sister, "What fun! Food, drink, toiletfar from obvious! Thank G-d!"

Nearing the end of the September 10 workday, after Mrs. Netanyahu and her husband left for the airport, SR breathed a sigh of relief and finished working. "I finally left work. Neither alive nor dead!" she texted her sister.

The employee, a 24-year-old Haredi woman, filed a civil suit against Mrs. Netanyahu Thursday alleging mistreatment and abuse while she was employed at the Prime Minister's Residence as a cleaner.

Former caretaker Meni Naftali received a partial judgment in his suit against Mrs. Netanyahu (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

The sequence of events described in the suits happened mere weeks ago, after a labor court ruled in favor of Meni Naftali and Guy Eliyahu in suits they filed against Mrs. Netanyahu and criticized their mistreatment while working in the residence.

SR, a married mother of three, began her employment on the second floor of the Prime Ministers Residence on August 27 this year but ceased working there only a month later.

SR is seeking NIS 225,000 in damages, describing how the prime minister's wife abused her, humiliated her, lashed out at her and was even close to physically assaulting her.

In her suitnaming the residence itself, the cleaning company through which she was employed, the prime minister's adviser on Haredi affairs Rivka Paluch, chief caretaker Efi Azulay and Chief of Staff Yoav Horowitz as co-defendantsSR recounts her travails from the moment she started working at the residence, through the rigorous interview and screening process and concluding with her alleged escape a month later.
The Jerusalem District Attorney's Office informed Mateh Yehuda Regional Council head Moshe Dadon this week that he could be facing criminal charges, pending a hearing.

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Dadon is suspected of sexual offenses, bribery, fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.

According to evidence collected by the police, Dadon allegedly had sexual relations with several women working at the regional council, and later intervened in their employment conditions.

Moshe Dadon in court (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Dadon allegedly committed sexual offenses against two of the women at a number of instances, as well as continually abused one of them.

Dadon is further suspected of demanding and taking hundreds of millions of shekels in bribes from businessmen and developers with financial interests in the regional council. In return, he allegedly exploited his status and position to promote the financial interests of these businessmen and developers in the regional council.

The Jerusalem District Attorney's Office said that between 2010-2015, Dadon allegedly acted with favoritism and bias, systematically and consistently providing preferential treatment to the "council's contractor," who won bids and carried out works in the regional council for the total cost of some NIS 170 million during the aforementioned time.

Dadon is suspected of working to ensure the contractor won the bid and promoting the contractor's financial interests in the regional council.

According to the evidence, the bribe money Dadon received from the contractor was delivered to him on several occasions hidden inside wine packages as a "holiday gift" at the regional council's parking lot late at night. Some of the bribe money was also delivered in a "folder with documents" during a meeting at a prestigious restaurant.

Dadon has been suspended of his role as regional council head after his arrest.

Dadon's lawyersAvi Himi, Zion Amir and Miri Hartsaid in response that "Dadon's hands are clean and unblemished. It is finally time to prove his innocence."
PARIS  The Paris prosecutor's office is investigating allegations of rape and sexual assault against prominent Swiss Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, who denies any wrongdoing.

Le Monde and Le Parisien newspapers reported Saturday that a woman filed a complaint this week against Ramadan for an alleged rape in 2009. Last week, a woman said she was assaulted by Ramadan in 2012.

Paris prosecutors say they have opened a rape and sexual assault investigation against Ramadan following the first complaint. Ramadan's lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, has denied the accusations and says his client is suing for "false allegations."
NICOSIA, Cyprus  Lebanon's prime minister says Cyprus can help his country drum up support from other European Union member states for its economy that's coming under heavy strain from hosting around 1.5 million Syrian refugees.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri said after talks with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Saturday that Lebanon needs international support to prop up the economy and help with job growth.

He said Cyprus can "play an important role" in rallying assistance for Lebanon.
An Indian quadcopter drone that was "spying" across the Line of Control was shot down by shooters, the Pakistan Army has claimed.

The Indian drone that Pakistan Army claims was spying across the LoC (Photo: Twitter/DGISPR)

By India Today Web Desk: The Pakistani military claims to have shot down an "Indian quadcopter" drone that was "spying" across the Line of Control (LoC) in the Rakh Chikri sector.

The claim, made by the Pakistani military spokesperson, was accompanied by a photo of what seemed to be a commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle made by the drone manufacturer DJI. The Pakistan Army said it had seized the wreckage of the 'Indian spy drone' but did not offer any more information.

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Posting the claim on Twitter, Major General Asif Ghafoor, the director of the Pakistan military's media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations, said, "Indian quadcopter spying across LOC in Rakhchikri sector shot down by Pak Army shooters. Wreckage held."

Indian quadcopter spying across LOC in Rakhchikri sector shot down by Pak Army shooters. Wreckage held. pic.twitter.com/g9FG7EghPS- Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) October 27, 2017

The Pakistani claim was met with skepticism former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who responded to Ghafoor tweet with a sharp post of his own.

Abdullah called the 'Indian spy drone' pictured on Ghafoor's tweet a "toy".

I have one of these toys as well if youd like to shoot it down to cement your next promotion please drop me a line Ill have it sent across https://t.co/Z1vRKlBnD6- Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) October 27, 2017

Maj Gen Ghafoor posted his tweet just hours after Islamabad registered strong opposition to the United States of America considering supplying armed drones to India. The Trump administration in the US had said earlier this week it was "considering" India's request for armed drones for its Air Force modernisation drive.

"Use of armed drones can lower the threshold for conflict, since it can encourage military misadventures, especially in the backdrop of irresponsible discourse about limited military operations below the strategic threshold," Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria told reporters in Islamabad on Friday.

He demanded that any transfer of armed drones should also be closely examined in the context of the guidelines of the multilateral export control regimes, including the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which place certain limitations on such transfers.

This is not the first time Pakistan has claimed to have shot down an 'Indian spy drone'. Last November, Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor's predecessor Asim Bajwa had made a similar claim.

Indian Quad Copter shot down by own Aagahi Post in Rakhchakri Sec.Had intruded 60 Ms in Pak side of LOC,fell near own Agahi Post&taken over- Gen Asim Bajwa (@AsimBajwaISPR) November 19, 2016

He had claimed that an Indian quadcopter flew 60 meters into Pakistani territory and was "taken over" by forces after being shot down.

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(With inputs from PTI)

--- ENDS ---
Ultra-Orthodox protesters attacked secular protesters in Jerusalem on Saturday during demonstrations against businesses operating on Shabbat in the capital, which are held regularly.

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A group of teenagers joined this week's protest, which began on Saturday afternoon at the Mahane Yehuda Market with about 100 protesters. They later made their way on HaNevi'im Street towards the Ministry of Education building, growing to some 200 protesters.

During the demonstration, protesters disrupted the operations of a taxi station working on weekends and other businesses opened on Shabbat.

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A small group of some 20 secular protesters held a counter-demonstration against what they say is religious coercion, demanding to live their lives in Jerusalem without the Haredim's disruptions.

Police forces tried to separate the two camps, who were protesting on opposite sides of the street.

Haredi demonstrators attack a seuclar protester in Jerusalem (Photo: Yoni Krotenberg)

Yosef Sabag, 20, a former ultra-Orthodox man who demonstrated against the Haredi protesters, was then attacked by some of the Haredi demonstrators.

"I was hit with fists in my stomach and my face, but I didn't swear at them, I didn't talk to them at all," he said. "Four guys jumped me. I could see the hatred in their eyes. One of them jumped me and the other beat me up. It was because I played music on a speaker and filmed."

Despite this, Sabag said he will "continue to protest. We're allowed to, and so are theybut not with violence. I'm on my way to file a complaint with the police."

Yoni Krotenberg, who filmed the assault on Sabag, recounted the incident to Ynet: "Just as we were wrapping up and getting ready to disperse our demonstration, they started chasing us all of a sudden. They attacked him, beat him up."
Health News

Washington, DC - Support for President Donald J. Trump Taking Action on Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis:

Chairman of the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) and Arlington, Massachusetts Police Chief Frederick Ryan: It is fitting that we stood to witness a historic shift in federal drug policy since it was municipal law enforcement that declared two-and-a-half years ago that the opioid epidemic was a public health and a community issue that would never be resolved through arrest alone. I am extraordinarily pleased that this epidemic will receive the attention it so badly needs on all fronts from the federal government.

Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) Partner and Olmsted Township, Ohio Police Chief Matthew Vanyo: The number of deaths associated with the opioid epidemic is alarming, and President Trump's declaration today is an important step for the nation in getting those struggling with addiction the help they need to recover. I was honored to stand on stage today as the President made this announcement.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY): I would like to commend the President for his continued commitment. When he visited us in the Senate earlier this week, he discussed the national epidemic and his administrations efforts to fight back. Along with my colleagues, I stand ready to work with him on future proposals to provide necessary tools to protect our communities from this scourge.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI): One hundred seventy-five deaths a daythats the reality of our opioid crisis. From our biggest cities to our smallest towns, this epidemic has infiltrated the heart and soul of American communities through prescription drugs and heroin. The President is right to declare this a public health emergency. Building on actions Congress has already taken, this directive will help states and local communities better fight this battle, and strengthen the tools available at the federal level. Its time to remove the stigma of addiction and ensure people have access to the help they desperately needand deserve.

Senator Tim Scott (R-SC): Todays announcement by President Trump is an important step in tackling the opioid epidemic that has had dire consequences for so many families across the nation. We must do everything possible to both help those struggling with addiction and stop the further spread of opioid abuse. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate and the White House to continue combatting this deadly epidemic.

Senator Rob Portman (R-OH): There is no doubt that this heroin and prescription drug epidemic is a national crisis, and its getting worse, not better. The Presidents decision to declare this epidemic a public health emergency is a positive step forward, and Im hopeful it will lead to a better coordinated federal response to this crisis. I have spoken to the President in depth about this epidemic and the devastating impact it is having on our communities in Ohio and around the country, and I know he is committed to addressing it in a comprehensive way. I look forward to seeing the final recommendations of the Presidents opioid commission in the coming weeks.

Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS): The opioid epidemic in this country has impacted nearly half of all Americans  a heartbreaking fact. With his actions today, President Trump is following through on his promise to fight this crisis and help American families heal.

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK): I applaud President Trump for declaring the opioid crisis a public health emergency, today. Opioid addiction has become one of the most devastating public health issues confronting our nation. It is impacting everyone, destroying families, spurring crime, hurting our economy, and leading to the tragic deaths of far too many. The impacts of this epidemic are far reaching and fighting it will require all of us, including federal, state, tribal and local governments, as well as families, communities, and individuals to work together. Within my own state, Governor Walker declared the opioid epidemic a public health crisis in February, and has since worked to take practical steps to combat this crisis. Todays declaration and the emphasis it brings is another important step which I hope will encourage more collaboration and coordination in our efforts. I remain dedicated to working alongside Alaskans in this fight against opioid addiction and substance abuse and will keep fighting for the resources we need.

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT): I am sobered by the Presidents action, but I hope this will provide the necessary resources and coordination to address the opioid epidemic that is sweeping our country. Although this crisis is affecting all states, it has been particularly devastating in my home state of Utah, where dozens of men and women die each month from overdose. While Congress and state officials have made progress in stemming the tide of opioid addiction, much work remains to be done. It's unfortunate that the situation requires such dire steps as a national public health emergency, but I'm hopeful that this will be a meaningful step to end this epidemic once and for all.

Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV): West Virginia has suffered so much because of the opioid epidemic. We have lost friends, neighbors and family members, and we have seen entire communities torn apart by its devastating consequences. Today, the president took a significant step forward in helping us fight this growing epidemic by declaring it a national public health emergency. This declaration makes fighting the opioid epidemic a true national priority and draws attention to the urgency of this crisis. The declaration also makes it easier for the federal government to respond and will help improve and expand access to services for individuals struggling with addiction.

Representative Harold Hal Rogers (R-KY): Eastern Kentucky was one of the original epicenters of the opioid epidemic, with powerful prescription painkillers taking hundreds of lives and wrecking countless families through the pain of addiction. Rapidly, the overdose rates have skyrocketed nationwide becoming the leading cause of injury death in America, killing 175 people every day. I applaud President Trump for raising the stakes and declaring the epidemic a public health emergency. It builds upon the momentum of Operation UNITE in Eastern Kentucky, the National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit, the Congressional Caucus on Prescription Drug Abuse and our congressional efforts to save lives, treat addiction, expand recovery efforts, enhance education and prevention in our communities, and tackle the illicit drug trade.

Representative Tom Garrett (R-VA): President Trump showed true leadership in declaring the opioid crisis a public health emergency. I stand ready to work with the Administration and my colleagues in Congress to continue addressing the opioid crisis the right way: through reasonable legislation passed by Congress, rather than by executive fiat.

Representative Jim Renacci (R-OH): President Trump continues to pressure and highlight an epidemic we in Ohio are all too familiar with: The Opioid Crisis. By declaring it as a public health emergency the entire Administration can now mobilize and focus our resources to help stem the tide of this epidemic. I applaud the Presidents persistent effort in fighting this epidemic that has ravaged families and communities across America. Like the President, I too understand that the best way to prevent overdose deaths is to prevent people from abusing them in the first place. That is why Congressman Mark Meadows and I will be introducing legislation that will help prevent new addiction by limiting exposure to opioids. I look forward to working with the President and his Administration to help free our nation from the grips of addiction.

Representative Richard Hudson (R-NC): I applaud the President for taking this needed action to combat the opioid crisis. This is a great step because it helps better focus and coordinate the resources of the federal government on this priority. Combatting the opioid crisis is an ongoing challenge. We will continue to learn, to improve and to find the best ways to support communities. There is no silver bullet solution, and thats why making this a public health emergency is warranted. Its going to take all of us  law enforcement, families, doctors, local officials, parents, teachers, legislators, and more  working together to turn this crisis around, save lives and restore our communities.

Representative Fred Upton (R-MI): I want to applaud the Trump Administration for taking decisive action to address the threat the opioid crisis poses. This fight is personal to me: It has hit home even in my own extended family. It has torn through families, neighborhoods, and communities both in my home state of Michigan and indeed across the entire country.

Representative Tim Walberg (R-MI): Heroin and opioid addiction is an epidemic sweeping our country. It is devastating the dreams of people we know and lovefriends, family, and neighborswith no signs of stopping. Tragically, communities across Michigan know this pain too well. I commend President Trump for todays declaration and shining a spotlight on the pressing need for bipartisan action. These additional tools will help bolster Michigans response to the opioid epidemic and offer a helping hand to those in need. Tackling this crisis must be a national priority, and Ill continue to work closely with officials at every level to reverse the trends of addiction.

Representative Rick Crawford (R-AR): For each opioid prescription in Arkansas, 114 pills on average are administered to a single individual, making our states prescription rate second in the nation. By declaring the opioid epidemic a national health emergency, President Trump has brought us closer to relief from this crisis for Arkansas and for rural Americans, who die from overdoses at a higher rate than their urban neighbors.
Bengaluru: A hairy eight-legged spider has been living in the ear of this woman from Karnataka but she learnt ablout that only when she was rushed to the hospital to treat the unberable pain.

Lekshmi L was rushed to a hospital after she complained of a severe headache and discomfort in her ear. She reportedly even dug her finger into her ear canal to see if there was something but couldnt find.

WATCH the video here:

Viewers discretion is advised
Patna: Four persons died after consuming spurious liquor in Rohtas district of Bihar, following which nine police personnel were placed under suspension on Saturday.

A complete ban on sale and consumption of alcohol was imposed in the state in April last year.

Explanations have been sought from a number of officials regarding the lapse, while the police raided a shop owned by one of the accused and seized liquor bottles.

"An information was received today about the death of four persons, all of them in the age group of 25 to 35 years, after consuming spurious liquor in Danwar village under Kachhwa police station area of Rohtas late last night," a release issued here by the DGP control room said.

A raid conducted at a shop owned by one of the accused -- Antim Lal Singh -- led to the seizure of three bottles of foreign liquor, two litres of country liquor and two kgs of ganja, the release said, adding that a hunt was on for Singh, while his two sisters were being interrogated.

"In view of the serious nature of the incident, a total of nine police personnel have been placed under suspension. Among the suspended police personnel are three inspectors, including the SHO of Kachhwa, Mukesh Kumar, an equal number of sub-inspectors, two constables and one chowkidar," the release said.

"The other constables posted in the police station area have been transferred, while explanations have been sought from Circle Inspector Anil Kumar Singh and Sub-Divisional Police Officer Neeraj Kumar Singh," it added.

Senior officials, including the Inspector General (IG), Patna Zone, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Shahabad Range, and Superintendent of Police (SP), Rohtas, were camping at the spot and supervising the investigations and raids being carried out in connection with the hooch deaths, the release said.

"A speedy trial will be ensured upon the completion of the investigation. There is also a provision for death penalty in such cases," it added.

Earlier, DIG, Shahabad Range, Mohammad Rahman had said three persons had been named as the accused in the case.

Rohtas District Magistrate Animesh Kumar Parashar said the villagers, who had staged a demonstration in the morning demanding action against the erring officials, had been pacified even as the suspension order of an excise department official had been sent to the department's principal secretary, while an explanation had been sought from another.

Meanwhile, opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) launched an attack on the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in the state, claiming that prohibition was implemented "only on paper".

Former deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also trained his guns at the BJP and said, "Nitish's current allies used to call the prohibition law in Bihar draconian. Now, they are in power in the state. How will the ruling dispensation muster the moral strength required to strictly enforce the ban on sale and consumption of liquor."

"The suspension of police officials after the death of four persons is an eyewash. The people of the state will teach a befitting lesson to this corrupt and inefficient government at an appropriate time," he added.
New Delhi: Sushant Singh Rajput is currently shooting for Abhishek Kapoor's Kedarnath. The film is important in many ways. It marks the big screen debut of Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh's daughter Sara; also the film brings back SSR and Abhishek together after the former's first break.

These reasons make for an interesting watch and so the fans are curious to know more about the film. The filmmaker has been sharing some pictures and videos from the shooting site an even visited the holy abode of Lord ShivaKedarnath to seek blessings ahead of the film shoot.

Along with the star cast, Ekta Kapoor too was seen enjoying her Kedarnath trip with cousin Abhishek. However, amidst all of this now reports suggest that the shoot might be delayed and SSR is the reason.

According to dnaindia.com, the date issue seems to be the cause behind it. Quoting a source, the report mentions, Director Abhishek Kapoor has planned the entire second leg of the shoot and everything is ready. But Sushant is again dilly dallying with dates and that has left the makers fuming.

Kedarnath will reportedly present a love story between Sara and Sushant's character. The first teaser of the film was unveiled some time back.

Sara's debut will be closely watched as she happens to be one of the star kids around the block who can be the next big thing in Bollywood. Besides Sara, Sridevi's elder daughter Janhvi Kapoor's big screen debut too is being highly talked about.

Let's see who manages to make the first impression right.
New Delhi: Filmmaker Karan Johar earlier this month made a major announcement related to the trilogy Brahmastra. The film happens to be the first in the three-part trilogy featuring Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Amitabh Bachchan, who will be seen together on the big screens for the first time.

Now, the buzz around Brahmastra is picking up the pace as the star cast looks interesting. According to Pinkvilla.com, a leading tabloid reported that the film will release in 3D format.

A TRILOGY ...A FANTASY ADVENTURE....A LABOUR OF LOVE.....BRAHMASTRA pic.twitter.com/8yQ2Y0yWaD  Karan Johar (@karanjohar) October 11, 2017

Namit Malhotra, co-producer of the film has been quoted as saying, We aspire to create something homegrown that can match Hollywood standards. We can't be penny-pinching with the scale. Hollywood has moved from dramas and rom-coms to big scale films, which makes more money eventually. India too is getting there. We will shoot it the regular way and then convert it into 3D. The visual effects and conversion quality will be superlative.

He even added, The films will progress from establishing the characters to the protagonist achieving his goal. Ayan's vision will strike a chord with everyone, from the ages of six to 60. In terms of concept, it doesn't share any similarities with other Bollywood superhero films, like Krrish (2006). The title itself conveys that the story is rooted in our cultural heritage.

Brahmastra will be directed by Ayan Mukerji.
Raipur: Chhattisgarh government on Saturday recommended CBI probe into sex CD row allegedly involving PWD Minister Rajesh Munat.

The latest development comes a day after Chhattisgarh Police arrested senior journalist Vinod Verma from his Ghaziabad residence at 3.30 am on charges of blackmail and extortion.

Verma, who earlier worked with BBC Hindi service and Amar Ujala, claimed that the Chhattisgarh Police was not happy with him because he had a "sex CD of a Chhattisgarh minister".

The Congress on Saturday accused the BJP of gagging the media and demanded the release of Verma, arrested for allegedly blackmailing Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munat. The party demanded that Munat should quit and a probe held into the alleged "sex CDs" of the Minister.

The Chhattisgarh Police raided the journalist's residence with the Uttar Pradesh Police and recovered 500 porn CDs, a laptop, a pen drive and Rs 200,000 in cash, Raipur District Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Shukla said.

Verma was picked from Mahagun Mansion Apartments in Indirapuram, on the outskirts of the national capital, by a team of the Chhattisgarh Police with the help of the Ghaziabad Police, Senior Superintendent of Police (Ghaziabad) H N Singh said.

According to him, a case of blackmail and extortion has been registered against the scribe at Pandri police station in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh's ruling BJP came under attack after the journalist's arrest.

Stung by the episode, the Rajesh Munat held a press conference along with other Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and termed the CD "tampered and morphed" and urged Chief Minister Raman Singh to order a thorough probe.

"I am in politics for roughly 34 years and never thought I would ever witness such allegation which shows to what extent the level of politics has fallen," said an unfazed Munat.

Munat is considered close to Raman Singh and the CD issue has pushed the BJP on the back foot.
New Delhi: Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, who were recently acquitted by the Allahabad High Court in the Aarushi murder case, said their daughter's untimely death has left a huge void in their life which will never be filled again.

In their first television interview available online after they were released from prison, the Talwars said only God is the biggest judge and whatever he does, it will be for the best.

My tragedy is very large and too painful. To be part of the society again was the biggest challenge, the father said about his trauma.

Every scientific test has cleared us of everything, he declared.

Narrating about the events on the day of the court verdict, which gave back their freedom, Rajesh said that a group of boys came running to us in the prison and informed us that our appeal has been accepted by the court.

That is how we got to know. We were crying in relief. It was a very emotional moment.

A big load had been lifted from my back and I was very grateful to god and 'Waheguru' that we had been vindicated, he said.

News spreads very fast there (prison). Somebody heard on television somewhere that we had been acquited, Suddenly everybody was emotional and there was a lot of hugging, said Nupur.

I found it unbelievable because it was a miracle. I felt that a great miracle had just happened. I broke down and a lot of women there also broke down and the officials were kind enough to let us meet, she said.

Asked how did they muster the courage to face the tragedy and prison incarceration, Rajesh said that a friend had helped them to face the world.

There was a time of an extreme period of hopelessness, particularly after the bail was rejected. A friend came to our lives and gave us hope, hope about everything, about how to live in jail, he said.

Nupur said the first two years were very miserable and we were in a lot of fear and absolutely hopeless.

But the public perception has changed dramatically after the verdict, said Rajesh.

When we went to the Golden Temple after our release, there were people coming to us to show their sympathy and said that a wrong has been righted.

Confinement is not an easy thing to face and also losing your freedom and facing a stigma.

But people in jail were very supportive to us, they were all very nice, slowly we got used to life in jail.

Remembering their daughter, her mother said, She (Aarushi) was very kind, took care of her friends who were less fortunate, she was very compassionate.

Thirteen-year-old Aarushi and Hemraj Banjade, the Talwar familys domestic help, was found murdered in their Noida home in 2008. Their murder is one of the most sensational, shocking and mystifying cases the country has seen.
By PTI: (Eds: Changes a word in first para) Bhubaneswar, Oct 28 (PTI) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today directed the secretaries and senior district officials to undertake periodic field visits for ensuring proper implementation of government schemes.

Patnaik, while inaugurating a collectors workshop here, asked the secretaries to visit districts that come under their supervision for at least four days in the first week of a month and assess the status of the development programmes.

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"To ensure proper implementation of government schemes and actual delivery of services to the people, it is important that all supervisory officers, right from the heads of the departments to block-level extension functionaries, undertake intensive field visits," the chief minister said.

The meeting was attended by chief secretary, additional chief secretaries, secretaries, district collectors and other senior officials.

Patnaik also asked the secretaries to conduct systematic field inspection of the priority programmes discussed in the workshop.

Noting that the next monsoon was eight months away, Patnaik said the time should be utilised to speed up the execution of the development works.

The CM said he would specifically review the status of the projects after one month.

He also sought a report on the suggestions and measures discussed in the last meeting.

"I would like to have a report on the suggestions made by the officials in the last workshop in June and the feedback given by the people on the (government-run) web portal. This may be compiled by the general administration department within a fortnight," Patnaik said. PTI AAM RMS RMS

--- ENDS ---
PANAJI: In Goa, no identification proof equates to no medical treatment in hospitals, all thanks to the state's new policy.

Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Saturday said that Goans will not be treated in hospitals if they fail to produce a valid ID proof.

"Whatever the criticism I will do it. Goans if they do not show ID will not be treated," said Rane, further adding that state will not change it's decision.

Rane further said that the state will charge outstation patients in government hospitals..

"Our government has to protect the interest of the Goan people. We are not denying anybody treatment, but some charges will be levied. When our Goans went to KEM hospital in Mumbai, they were charged. Basic charging will be there," he said.

Speaking on jobs and employement, Rane stated that more than 5000 jobs will be announced by December 2017.

"This is a job oriented government and people should get jobs. Young generation has an expectation that government will give jobs and our chief minister is a youth oriented chief minister. He knows what is needed and not. What appeared in the papers yesterday was misleading. There is no discussion like this. There will be more than 5000 jobs advertised after December," he said.
New Delhi: Citing BJP's allegations as baseless, Congress leader Ahmed Patel on Friday asked not to politicised the matters of national security keeping elections in mind.

Patel took to Twitter saying, "My party and I appreciate the ATS's effort to nab the two terrorists. I demand strict and speedy action against them. The allegations put forward by BJP are completely baseless."

Earlier in the day, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani launched a scathing attack at Patel and asked him to explain how a suspected ISIS terrorist was employed at a hospital where the latter was one of the trustees.

While addressing a press conference, the Gujarat CM asked for clarification from Patel and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

One of the two ISIS terrorists, Kasim Stimberwala, who was arrested by the Gujarat ATS on Thursday, was employed at a Bharuch hospital where Ahmed Patel was a trustee.

Kasim worked as an echo technician in Sardar Patel Hospital and Heart Institute in Bharuch.

He, however, tendered his resignation to the hospital management on October 4 this year and served there for another 20 days. Two days later, on October 25, he, along with another suspected ISIS operative, was arrested for allegedly plotting an Islamic State-inspired lone-wolf terror attack on a synagogue in Ahmedabad.

The Chief Minister demanded Patel to take the responsibility and resign from the Rajya Sabha on moral grounds.
AYODHYA: Amid rumours of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar offering an out of court solution for the Babri Masjid dispute, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Friday denied holding any meeting with the Art of Living founder.

"Long back one of Ravi Shankar`s mediators called saying he wants to talk with me and I welcomed it. Maybe he had a conversation with the Hindu representatives but he never talked with us nor had he sent us any message," said Haji Mehboob, a member of Babri Action Committee.

The Supreme Court is all set to hear the historic Babri Masjid-Ram Temple case from December 5.

"If he wants to talk to us we will talk as we do not any issue in having a conversing and solving the issue," said Mehboob.

Reports of Ravi Shankar meeting the representatives of Nirmohi Akhara and AIMPLB seeking an out-of-court settlement to solve the decade-long Ayodhya dispute surfaced on Friday.

In 2010, Allahabad High Court ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77 acre area at Ayodhya among the parties  the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Lord Ram Lalla (deity).

The Supreme Court decided to reopen the hearing after based on 13 appeals filed against the 2010 judgement in four civil suits.

The Supreme Court will begin the final hearing in the historic Babri Masjid-Ram Temple case from December 5, the eve of 25th anniversary of the Barbi Masjid's demolition.
NEW DELHI: Amid rumours of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar offering an out-of-court settlement in the ongoing Babri Masjid-Ram Temple dispute, the Art of Living Founation guru admitted to playing the peacemaker.

There were efforts in 2003-04 too. But environment more positive now. I am doing this in my own capacity. It is completely non-political, said Shankar on Friday.

The Supreme Court will begin the final hearing in the historic Babri Masjid-Ram Temple case from December 5, the eve of 25th anniversary of the Barbi Masjid's demolition.

He further called on the two communities  Hindus and Muslims  to bury their hatchet and work towards attaining peace.

A platform is needed where both communities can show essence of brotherhood, he said.

Highlighting the fact the current situation is different, the spiritual guru said, people want peace.

Earlier today, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) denied holding any meeting with the Art of Living founder.

"Long back one of Ravi Shankar`s mediators called saying he wants to talk with me and I welcomed it. Maybe he had a conversation with the Hindu representatives but he never talked with us nor had he sent us any message," said Haji Mehboob, a member of Babri Action Committee.

In 2010, Allahabad High Court ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77 acre area at Ayodhya among the parties  the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Lord Ram Lalla (deity).

The Supreme Court decided to reopen the hearing after based on 13 appeals filed against the 2010 judgement in four civil suits.
New Delhi: Stepping up its attack on the Congress, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday demanded clarification from Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi over the allegations that Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel had links with two arrested terrorists in Gujarat.

Addressing a press conference, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP ) leader said, Congress must come clean on the allegations against Ahmed Patel, else blot on the party will be bigger than that for corruption.

Naqvi dismissed Congress' charge that BJP was playing politics over the issue.

Instead of taking action, Congress is busy in accusing BJP of politicising the issue. This makes Ahmed Patel even more questionable, the Union Minister said.

People are questioning Ahmed Patel's link to IS operatives. Congress has a history of favouring anti-national elements," Naqvi said, adding that "this matter is of national security and we want Rahul and Sonia Gandhi to give answer."

Taking a dig at the grand old party, Naqvi said, "So far people used to say Congress is linked to corruption. Now people are saying Congress is linked to terrorism.

Earlier, the Congress on Saturday accused the ruling BJP of making "baseless" terror allegations against Patel in a "despicable attempt" to avoid an electoral defeat in poll-bound Gujarat.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday night demanded Patel's resignation from the Rajya Sabha alleging his links with Mohammed Qasim Stimberwala, one of the two alleged Islamic State operatives arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad on Wednesday in Surat. The arrested suspects were allegedly planning to blow up a synagogue in Ahmedabad.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday jumped into his party colleague's defence, saying "I have gathered some facts from my friends. Ahmed Patel was a trustee of a hospital, I believe he resigned or retired in 2015."

Questioning BJP's allegations against Patel, Chidambaram said, "If somebody joins as a technician and then he is linked to ISIS, how is some ex-trustee of the hospital responsible for all this."

Patel on Friday has rubbished the charge that he had links with Stimberwala.

Patel took to Twitter saying, "My party and I appreciate the ATS's effort to nab the two terrorists. I demand strict and speedy action against them. The allegations put forward by BJP are completely baseless."
Mumbai: Delhi: Former union finance minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has again hit out at Narendra Modi-led government over its demonetisation move.

Mincing no words while hitting out at the Modi regime, the Congress veteran said, Demonetisation is the biggest man-made disaster that hit India, worse than the 2004 Tsunami.

While targetting PM Narendra Modi over demonetisation, Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation and Bullet train project, Chidambaram noted that Modi government's decision of banning the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes in November 2016 was a mistake.

"If my prime minister had asked me to do demonetisation, I would have advised him 'please don't', and if he had insisted, then I would have resigned," he told reporters.

"Demonetisation was a bad idea, full stop. GST is a good idea, but it has been hastily implemented. It should have been implemented with due care and attention, the Congress veteran asserted.

Chidambaram also grabbed the opportunity to hit out at the Election Commission for not declaring the dates for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections simultaneously.

On November 8, 2016, the Centre had decided to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

On November 8, 2017 the BJP will organise programmes highlighting all the steps the government has taken against black money.

BJP president Amit Shah recently said that note ban and other initiatives undertaken by the Centre reflected his party's resolve to build a corruption-free India.

"Demonetisation, black money SIT and other initiatives reflect our commitment towards building a nation free from corruption," he tweeted.

The Congress-led 18 Opposition parties have announced that they will observe November 8 as Black Day to protest against the "ill-conceived and hasty" decision of the government to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes a year ago.

The IMF has lowered India's growth projection to 6.7 percent in 2017, 0.5 percentage points less than its previous two forecasts in April and July, attributing it to demonetisation and introduction of the GST.
Thane: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Friday credited Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's victory in the last Lok Sabha elections. He said that half of the credit for Modi becoming the PM goes to Rahul as his mocking of the then Gujarat chief minister did not go down well with voters.

"Fifty per cent credit for Narendra Modi's victory in the 2014 general elections goes to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. The way he mocked Modi during the campaign, helped the latter win the polls," Thackeray said

He also said that social media also had 15 per cent contribution to make, and around 10-20 per cent credit would go to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and also the RSS for the party's victory. He also admitted that the remaining share of votes were because of Modi's personal charisma.

However, he claimed that the current trends show that it is likely that the ruling BJP may now lose the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat. "The recent trends, as well as reports, indicate that the ruling party is likely to lose the elections. Some visuals of Modi's public meetings are doing the round, which show that people are leaving the venue in groups during his address, which had never happened in the past. Even from this, one gets a message," he said.

Taking a jibe at the party, he said that if the BJP gets more than 150 seats, it should be considered a miracle by the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

He also alleged that the Election Commission had "inordinately" delayed the announcement of Gujarat election dates under a lot of pressure. "The Election Commission and other statutory bodies should work independently. But it does not happen here," he said.

Election to the 182-member Assembly in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 9 and 14, and the results will be declared on December 18.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday addressed the media during a Diwali function in an annual interaction that takes place at the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters in Delhi since the past three years when the party came to power.

Speaking about the relations between politicians and media he said, "Nowadays, you complain that we do not get to sit and chat like we used to...there was also a time earlier when I used to speak to you but could not find you...Times have changed and that has created a crunch for us to interact with each other,"

"It is nice to meet my friends from the media without their cameras, papers, and pens. We have a long association with each other and there is an understanding with which we all work for the country," he said.

Applauding the media, he said that the press has a huge impact on people. Taking the example of the cleanliness movement, he thanked media for its help in the campaign. "In the past few days, all newspapers have been filled with the criticism of the government. But the focus on the cleanliness movement by the media is praiseworthy. Everyone has wholeheartedly supported the movement," he said.

He also added that is only with experience that one understands who comes with an agenda and who comes to serve the people of the country.

"Democracy in political parties is a subject more people should know more about. We need to have transparency in the recruitment that political parties do," he said.

PM Modi meets journalists at Diwali Milan at BJP HQ in Delhi pic.twitter.com/bpYXQqZ6Tq  ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2017

Along with the Prime Minister, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah and union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani also attended the Deepawali Mangal Milan Samaroh at Bharatiya Janata Party Headquarters for their media outreach programme.
New Delhi: The elevation of Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi is expected to be delayed as the next meeting of the Congress Working Committee's (CWC) might not happen anytime soon.

This is reportedly because of the current party chief Sonia Gandhi's health condition.

On Friday, Mrs Gandhi, who was holidaying at Shimla, was rushed to Delhi after she complained of stomach pain.

The 70-year-old was admitted to the city's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH).

Later in the day, her son and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter saying "Ma was in Shimla and caught a stomach bug so we got her back."

Thanking everyone, Rahul further said, "Nothing to worry, she's much better. Thanks for the tremendous love and concern."

According to the hospital management, the Congress chief has been placed under an observation.

Mrs Gandhi had been admitted to SGRH earlier for a shoulder injury and respiratory-related problems.

She has been unwell for the last few years, frequently travelling to the United States for treatment. However, her party has refused to disclose the nature of her ailment.

Rahul Gandhi is expected to replace her soon as the top boss in the party.

Though an official confirmation on the same is still awaited, Rahul's elevation is expected to materialize this year along with overdue internal elections for the party's top decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee.
New Delhi: Following the attack on a Swiss couple in Agra, Union Tourism Minister KJ Alphons defended India saying that the country is a very safe destination for tourists.

Speaking to news agency ANI, the Tourism Minister on Friday said, "Shooting incidents happen regularly in USA and terror attacks in Europe, do we call those countries unsafe to travel?"

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday sought a detailed report from the Uttar Pradesh government and sent her officials to visit the couple at the hospital.

She took to Twitter saying, "I have just seen this. I have asked for a report from the state government. My officers will reach them (the couple) in the hospital."

Meanwhile, five including three minors were arrested in connection with the assault.

The couple hailing from Switzerland's Lausanne was chased and badly thrashed by a group of youth in Fatehpur Sikri.

Identified as Quentin Jeremy Clerc and Marie Droxz, the duo had arrived in India on September 30. They reached Agra on Saturday and following a visit to the Taj Mahal, reached Fatehpur Sikri, a day later, i.e. on Sunday.

The Swiss embassy in New Delhi confirmed the October 22 attack and said it was providing them consular services.

The Embassy also reached out to the couple which was attacked a day after a trip to the Taj Mahal. "In the framework of consular protection services, the Embassy is providing support to them. For reasons of privacy and data protection, the Embassy cannot communicate any further information in this regard."

The attack had left the couple battered and bruised. From Agra, the couple was later shifted to the Apollo Hospital in Delhi for treatment.

Expressing a deep concern, Alphons earlier had written to the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath saying, "You would kindly appreciate that such incidents negatively impact our image and are detrimental to our efforts in promoting India as a tourism destination,"

He said a "fast and speedy response in identifying and ensuring speedy action including conviction of the guilty would be reassuring" and would send a "good message of our efforts to prevent recurrence of such incidents".

Both 24, Clerc and Droxz were walking alongside the train track in Fatehpur Sikri when they were approached by some miscreants who allegedly passed lewd comments on them.

As per the couple, the gang of youth approached Clerc and Droz, and demanded selfies with the woman. When Clerc asked to be left alone, some of youth in the gang started beating them with sticks while one of them threw stones at him. The group also attacked Marie, when she interveneved, after which she raised an alarm.
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 28 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today pitched for greater cooperation with France under the framework of Make-in-India in defence manufacturing and research and development.

He said this when French Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly called on him here.

Parly briefed the prime minister about developments in bilateral defence cooperation, a PMO statement said.

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The prime minister said that defence cooperation is one of the key pillars of the Strategic Partnership between India and France, and called for greater cooperation in the Make in India framework in defence manufacturing and joint research and development, the statement said.

The two leaders also discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest, it added.

The prime minister said that he looks forward to receiving President Macron in India at his earliest convenience, the statement said. PTI AKK RT

--- ENDS ---
NEW DELHI: With Gujarat and Himachal state elections a month away, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday pointed at the role media plays in shaping the thoughts of the country and its citizens. The Prime Minister was interacting with seniors editors and journalists during a post-Diwali function, an annual meet that takes place at the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters on Ashoka Road in the national capital since the party came into power.

Here's a quick five-point guide on what he said during the meet:

1. There needs to be internal democracy within our political parties. Only then can political parties stay in sync with what the people want and prepare for the next generation.

2. In the course of of our jobs we meet many different kinds of people, who have different views on how the country should be run or how things should be done.

3. It is experience alone which can help distinguish if the person sitting in front of us is saying things with an agenda or is genuinely trying to contribute.

4. This meet brings back memories of the time when I was working at the party headquarters and spent time with many of you. Now, we don't get to sit and chat, like those old days.

5. The media plays an important role. It can show us, the polticians, what we need to focus on. The country has witnessed the positive role played by media in making the Swach Bharat Mission a success.
NEW DELHI: The Centre's new Special Representative for Kashmir Dineshwar Sharma has said he is willing to talk to all stakeholders in an attempt to find a political solution to the Kashmir issue, including separatists. In an exclusive interview to Wion, Sharma said the Narendra Modi government has not placed any limitations on him as far as dialogue with Kashmiris is concerned.

"I have been given complete freedom by the government PM is very much emotionally attached to Kashmir and wants to see a doable solution to the Kashmir problem. He has already announced it on 15th August that problem of Kashmir should be solved by embracing the people of Kashmir," Sharma told Wion.

He made it crystal clear that he would also engage with separatist leaders despite the recent investigations into their links to terror funding from Pakistan. "Some of them might be doing something wrong. What do I have to do with it? I don't have to look into that aspect. It is a separate investigation," Sharma said.

"Let me go and see. I will try to ensure peace and look for doable solutions so that it does not keep happening again and again," he added.

Sharma reserved any comment on how he would approach the question and framework of dialogue with Kashmiri stakeholders, saying he would first visit Kashmir and get a sense of the situation.

He however was categorical when it came to the nature of the escalation of militancy in Kashmir. "Pakistan has contributed to the problem of Kashmir right from the beginning. Right from 1987, it provided logistics, supplied arms and funds and fuelled insurgency in all manners. This problem continues till today," Sharma said.

But, he said, the core focus of the insurgency had shifted away from the priorities of the insurgency of the 1980s and 1990s.

"In the '90s, radicalisation was not there. It was different. The sentiment was about 'azadi' (freedom). It was only fight for 'azadi'. Things have changed today. Radicalisation gained face after ISIS gained footprint in Iraq and Syria. From that point of time, radicalisation picked which was further fanned from across the border through internet and contributed to this process," he said.
Former union minister and veteran Congress leader P Chidambaram said that the word 'Azadi' meany autonomy for people in Jammu and Kashmir. "My interactions in Jammu and Kashmir led me to the conclusion that when they ask for 'Azadi', most people want autonomy," he said.

Arguing that autonomy for some areas, the Congress leader said that the government must consider the request. "Must consider areas to give autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir. It will remain a part of India but will have larger powers as promised under Article 370," he added.

Recently when the government had appointed former Intelligence Bureau director Dineshwar Sharma as the interlocutor for the state, Chidambaram had said that the central government is admitting that its policies in the state had not worked. "With appointment of interlocutor, I hope government has finally admitted muscular approach has failed in J&K, Chidambaram had tweeted.

Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party over the controversy around the iconic Taj Mahal, Chidambaram said that those talking about it are not familiar with history. "It is sad. Those who talk about Taj Mahal in derogatory terms do not understand either history or India's composite culture," he said.

Taj Mahal is mired in controversy after the Uttar Pradesh government did not initially include the monument in the state tourism booklet. BJP leaders and ministers have been making provocative statements against the famed symbol of love.

BJP MLA Sangeet Som said that the Mughal-era mausoleum was built by traitors, and hence should not be given any place in Indian history. BJP, however, distanced himself from the statement with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asking him why he made the statement.

Another party leader Vinay Katiyar claimed that Taj Mahal was, in fact, Tejo Mahal and there is nothing wrong if Shiv Chalisa is chanted at the premises. He, however, added that since it's famous it should not be demolished.

Amid the controversy, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called Taj Mahal 'India's gem' adding that the monument is "an integral part of our culture". "The Taj Mahal is India's gem and a gift to the world. It attracts lakhs of tourists worldwide. It gives Agra a recognition and creates employment opportunities," he said at the rally.
The Bharatiya Janata Party will be holding its next national executive meeting in Srinagar for the first time ever. "For the first time, BJP's national executive meeting will be held in Srinagar next. It's a milestone," Minister of State for PMO Dr Jitendra Singh said.

The party is hoping that it will help it in strengthening its base in the Valley and also aims to improve the situation in the strife-torn region.

The meeting comes soon after the Centre expressed its desire to hold a sustained dialogue with all stakeholders in Kashmir. Former Intelligence Bureau (IB) Director Dineshwar Sharma has been appointed as the Centres special representative in Jammu and Kashmir.

We have decided that a sustained dialogue process will be started in Kashmir and for that purpose former IB chief Dineshwar Sharma has been appointed. He is well versed with the issues in Kashmir and is free to hold talks with all groups and political parties necessary, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had said.

Welcoming the move, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had said that dialogue is the necessity of the hour and the only way to go forward. "This dialogue initiative is in line with PM Narendra Modi's 15th August speech 'na goli se, na gaali se, Kashmir ki samasya suljhegi gale lagaane se (The Kashmir issue can be resolved only through dialogue, neither by bullets nor through abuse)," she had said.
Jammu: A photograph of a Jammu and Kashmir policeman has gone viral with him holding an AK-47 assault rifle. The photograph doing the rounds of social media has fuelled rumours of him joining the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).

Ishfaq Ahmed, posted at the Police Training Centre (PTC) in Kathua district in the state, did not report for duty following a leave.

"Ishfaq Ahmed had gone on leave from PTC Kathua. He was supposed to report back on October 23 but failed to return. We will take legal action against him," a senior officer of PTC Kathua said.

Without giving further details on whether he had joined the LeT in South Kashmir, the officer said the details are being verified.

A resident of Heff Shirmal village in southern Shopian, Ahmed joined the police in 2012.

After returning home, he went missing after which his family filed a missing report with the police.

There have been eight cases in the recent past where police personnel have deserted their ranks and joined the militancy in Kashmir.

Earlier in May this year, police constable Syed Naveed Mushtaq fled with four INSAS rifles from a police post in Budgam district of Kashmir and later joined terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen.

Territorial Army jawan Zahoor Thakur, resident of Pulwama, had also gone missing in July 2017 with AK-47 from his camp in Baramulla's Gantmulla after which it was suspected that he had joined the terror group.

Constable Naseer Ahmed Pandit, a resident of Pulwama district, had decamped with two AK rifles on March 27, 2015 from the residence of PDP Minister Altaf Bukhari and was subsequently killed in an encounter in Shopian district in April 2016.
Dubai: National Award winning actor Akshay Kumar, who attended the grand audio launch of his debut Tamil film "2.0" here, said that the Hindi film industry has a lot to learn from southern cinema.

Akshay along with filmmaker S. Shankar, megastar Rajinikanth, Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman, actress Amy Jackson and producer Allirajah Subaskaran of Lyca Productions attended the audio launch of the 3D sci-fi entertainer here at the Burj Park on Friday.



"Rajini sir is the real superstar. I would like to thank Shankar sir for giving me the opportunity of working with a legend like Rajinikanth. I could've never imagined that I will get a chance to work in such a big and costly film like 2.0'," Akshay said.



"I have done 130 films (in Bollywood). 2.0' was my 131st film. I can only say that during the making of those 130 films, I got to learn little from every film, but I was learning throughout the shooting of this film.



"There's a lot that we have to learn from South because the way they work, we have to understand a lot now. They work in unity and respect each other's talent, we have to learn that," he added.



Hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar, actor Rana Daggubati and RJ Balaji, the audio launch of the film was also attended by Rajinikanth's family, including his wife Latha, daughters Aishwarya and Soundarya, and son-in-law and actor Dhanush among others.



A sequel to the 2010 Tamil blockbuster "Enthiran", the film "2.0" has been made on a lavish budget.



Akshay will be essaying the prime antagonist in the film as an eccentric scientist called Richard, while Rajinikanth returns as scientist Vaseegaran.



The film is slated for a release in early 2018.
New Delhi: What happens when Dhak-Dhak girl Madhuri Dixit Nene shares a frame with gorgeous Deepika Padukone? Fireworks, right away. This is exactly what happened when the two actresses met at Marathi Filmfare Awards 2017 held in Mumbai.

Deepika looked stunning in a beige Sabyasachi saree while Madhuri wore an orange lehenga dress. Both the ladies looked super gorgeous in their respective attires certainly sending the paps into a tizzy. Dippy's stylist Shaleena Nathani shared some pictures on Instagram. Check it out:

A little drama is a musttt@deepikapadukone tonight for #MarathiFilmfareawards2017 wearing the fabulous @sabyasachiofficial jewellery @sabyasachiofficial hair and makeup @danielbauermakeupandhair A post shared by Shaleena Nathani (@shaleenanathani) on Oct 27, 2017 at 9:27am PDT

@deepikapadukone tonight for #MarathiFilmfareawards2017 wearing @sabyasachiofficial earring @sabyasachiofficial hair and makeup @danielbauermakeupandhair A post shared by Shaleena Nathani (@shaleenanathani) on Oct 27, 2017 at 9:34am PDT

@deepikapadukone @danielbauermakeupandhair @sabyasachiofficial A post shared by Shaleena Nathani (@shaleenanathani) on Oct 27, 2017 at 9:49am PDT

Also, a fan club shared teh picture where Madhuri and Deepika are in one frame. This calls for attention peeps!

Two divas@deepikapadukone @madhuridixitnene #deepikapadukone #madhuridixit A post shared by  DEEPIKA  (@deepikaslays) on Oct 27, 2017 at 10:48am PDT

On the professional front, Deepika is all geared up for the big screen release of her much-talked-about venture Padmavati. The film is directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and stars Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in pivotal parts.

Deepika has Rani Padmini will surely entice the viewers as is clearly visible in the trailer. Recently, the first song the film Ghoomer was unveiled and oh boy the way in which she twirls with such heavy costume and jewellery will make you wanna see the entire movie asap.

Padmavati is slated to hit the screens on December 22, 2017.
New Delhi: None can forget Bollywood actress Rimi Sen's entertaining stay inside the Bigg Boss house. She made headlines for not willing to take part in most of the tasks and her visible disinterest in the activities made it even more interesting.

Now, Rimi had revealed on the show that she plans to direct a film in future and that's the reason she chose to participate in the show. While, we are yet to hear any of the professional news, her social media account surely calls for attention.

Rimi Sen's Instagram is a pool of some amazing clicks we bet you shouldn't possibly miss. While surfing, we found out some of the pictures which you surely can take a look at:

A post shared by Subhamitra (Rimi Sen) (@subhamitra03) on Aug 21, 2017 at 10:15am PDT

A post shared by Subhamitra (Rimi Sen) (@subhamitra03) on Jun 15, 2017 at 9:06pm PDT

A post shared by Subhamitra (Rimi Sen) (@subhamitra03) on Jun 28, 2017 at 1:13pm PDT

A post shared by Subhamitra (Rimi Sen) (@subhamitra03) on Oct 11, 2017 at 11:55pm PDT

Goa... A post shared by Subhamitra (Rimi Sen) (@subhamitra03) on Oct 26, 2017 at 12:59am PDT

A post shared by Subhamitra (Rimi Sen) (@subhamitra03) on Mar 23, 2017 at 8:34am PDT

A post shared by Subhamitra (Rimi Sen) (@subhamitra03) on Mar 8, 2017 at 10:58pm PST

Rimi has done some big Bollywood films such as Hungama, Baghban, Dhoom and Golmaal: Fun Unlimited to name a few. She has even done incredible work in Bengali cinema.

It would really be exciting for the fans to see her back on the silver screens.

What say?
New Delhi: Several Bollywood celebrities back charity drives and even lent their unconditional support to many NGOs carrying out the social work. Superstar Salman Khan has a not-for-profit Being Human Foundation which provides education and healthcare services for the underprivileged in India.

Recently, Karisma Kapoor and Tusshar Kapoor celebrated Diwali Milan event on October 27, 2017, with disabled children in Mumbai. Besides these two stars, maverick filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra too made his presence felt at the event.

(Photo Courtesy: IANS)

The stars spent some quality time with the special kids and more so because it was a festival event.
New Delhi: Halloween is celebrated on October 31 and our Bollywood celebrities are already in party mode. Gauri Khan hosted a lavish Halloween bash recently in Mumbai and oh boy who's who of the Hindi film industry made their way to the do.

All her besties were seen in attendance as several pictures from the night found its way to the social media.

Was a great experience designing this dramatic set created for an unforgettable evening... #GauriKhanDesigns pic.twitter.com/MkjuZtEBwG  Gauri Khan (@gaurikhan) October 28, 2017

From ace fashion designer Manish Malhotra, gorgeous Malaika Arora to Sussanne Khan, Bhavna Pandey, Seema Khan and Maheep Kapoorall were seen letting their hair loose at the grand bash.

Selfie Time @gaurikhan @suhanakhan2 @bhavanapandey @suzkr @khatriimtiaz A post shared by Manish Malhotra (@manishmalhotra05) on Oct 27, 2017 at 1:21pm PDT

#allaboutlastnight with my beautiful dearest @shazreh_r #friendsforever A post shared by Manish Malhotra (@manishmalhotra05) on Oct 27, 2017 at 8:15pm PDT

I have my wings on... #cirquelesoir @gaurikhan #halloweenweekend A post shared by Malaika Arora Khan (@malaikaarorakhanofficial) on Oct 27, 2017 at 11:22pm PDT

The big dark wings couldnt have slayed it better Halloween weekend #birthdayfuncontinues #cirquedesoir #mydarlingG #foreverwithyoufull power to u! A post shared by Sussanne Khan (@suzkr) on Oct 27, 2017 at 10:27pm PDT

Strictly for bonding#happysmiles #birthdayfuncontinues #cirquedesoir #mydarlingG #houseofkhanp.s try n spot peter my pet A post shared by Sussanne Khan (@suzkr) on Oct 27, 2017 at 10:30pm PDT

Strictly for bonding part 2#cirquedesoir #halloweenweek #happysmiles #buddytime A post shared by Sussanne Khan (@suzkr) on Oct 27, 2017 at 10:38pm PDT

Killed it#suhanakhan A post shared by @saraaalikhan on Oct 27, 2017 at 7:18pm PDT

But we must say that it's daughter Suhana Khan who stole the show undoubtedly. The young fashionista rocked a gold shimmer shift dress with hair side-swept beautifully.

Interestingly, Gauri had posted some pictures of the party venue on her Instagram a day before. Superstar Shah Rukh Khan's wife is a renowned designer who and recently designed the area for Indias first-ever party in association with London nightclub, Cirque le Soir, in Mumbai.

Halloween is celebrated on October 31, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It is believed to be the time in Christian calendar dedicated to pay obesience to the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.

Halloween costumes and parties are widely organised not just in the West but in India as well. Especially, kids enjoy dressing up as scary figures.
Prime Minister Modi said it was essential that political parties develop for the future with a true democratic spirit where all voices are heard and hoped the media would aid in the process.

By Poulomi Saha: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at his annual Diwali interaction media persons, talked about the need to make people aware of the internal democracies of political parties.

Prime Minister Modi said it was essential that political parties develop for the future with "true democratic spirit" where all voices are heard. He hoped media would aid in the process while also expressing the need for transparency in political funding.

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The media often talks about and discusses the funding of political parties, PM Modi said at the interaction in New Delhi, adding that more needs to be done so that "democracy in political parties is a subject (that) more people (get to) know more about."

Prime Minister Modi also expressed his regret over not being able to interact with the media as often as he used to when he was a Bharatiya Janata Party worker.

PM Modi meets journalists at Diwali Milan at BJP HQ in Delhi pic.twitter.com/bpYXQqZ6Tq- ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2017

The prime minister went on to laud the media for the support it lent to his pet 'Swacchta Abhiyan' project. "The media unanimously supported this programme and spoke in one voice in support of it. Despite reels of newspaper print and television airtime dedicated to criticism of the government, the media has whole-heartedly extended its support to this programme," PM Modi said.

Ending his short speech, PM Modi said that while the government and media may have complain against each other, he hoped the two can still amicably work together.

PM Modi was speaking at the BJP's annual 'Diwali Milan' in New Delhi for journalists. The event was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah, Union Ministers Smriti Irani, Nirmala Sitharaman, Dr Jitendra Singh and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

--- ENDS ---
New Delhi: British physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking's PhD thesis was accessed more than two million times from every nook and corner of the globe, says a report.

Just a few days after it was made available to public, it was viewed more than 2 million times.

Hawking's 1966 work proved so popular on the day of its release that it crashed the publications section of Cambridge University's website.



More than 500,000 people have also tried to download the paper, titled "Properties of expanding universes".



Hawking, 75, wrote the 134-page document as a 24-year-old postgraduate student while studying at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.



The astrophysicist, who has been at Cambridge University since 1962, would later go on to write "A Brief History of Time", one of the most influential scientific works ever.

Since May 2016, 199 requests were made for the PhD, most of which are believed to be from the general public rather than academics, reports the BBC.

Previously, to read Hawking's PhD in full, people had to pay 65 pounds to the university library to scan a copy or physically go to the library to read it.
New Delhi: Scientists have recently spotted a small space object, an asteroid or perhaps a comet, to have visited our galaxy from outside the solar system.

Observations are still underway and if so, then it would be the first "interstellar object" to be observed and confirmed by astronomers.

Astronomers aren't entirely sure what this object is. They initially called it a comet, but after failing to spot its coma, the cloud of gas and dust that surrounds a comet's core, they revised their designation and declared it an asteroid.

This unusual object  for now designated A/2017 U1  is less than a quarter-mile (400 meters) in diameter and is moving remarkably fast, says NASA.

Astronomers are urgently working to point telescopes around the world and in space at this notable object.

Once the data is obtained and analyzed, astronomers may know more about the origin and possibly composition of the object.

A/2017 U1 was discovered October 19 by the University of Hawaii's Pan-STARRS 1 telescope on Haleakala, Hawaii, during the course of its nightly search for near-Earth objects for NASA.

Rob Weryk, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy, was first to identify the moving object.
San Francisco: You will no longer have to manually enter country code top-level domain names to avail country-specific services for Google Search and Maps on the web and the Google iOS app.

And this applies even when you travel from one country to another, for example from the US to India.



Country services used to be distinguished by the country code top-level domain names (ccTLD) such as google.fr for France or google.com.uk for England.



"Google wants to stop the practice of manually entering the top-level domain to get a country`s services," according to a report in 9to5google.



"Starting today, country services will no longer be determined by domain. By default, you`ll now automatically be served the appropriate country service without seeing a change in Google`s ccTLD," the report said on Friday.



Google`s other services such as Gmail, and YouTube already functioning this way.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 28, ARMENPRESS. Nearly 1600 parents of servicemen from Yerevan got the chance to visit their sons in bordering military bases  at the initiative of Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan.

The socially significant initiative is being organized for the 5th consecutive time, Yerevan City Hall told ARMENPRESS.

Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan and Armenias defense minister Vigen Sargsyan personally wished the parents a nice trip as they were boarding the buses.

After delivering remarks, both the Mayor and the minister joined the parents and boarded to bus bound for a military base in the south-eastern border, to meet the servicemen.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 28, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh Masis Mayilian received a group of lecturers and students of the Yerevan State University on October 28, the Artsakh foreign ministry told ARMENPRESS.

During the meeting, the Minister briefed on the main functions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh, as well as the Republics foreign policy priorities.

Minister Masis Mayilian also answered the participants questions related to the peaceful settlement process of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Karabakh as well as the prospects of the international recognition of Artsakh.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 28, ARMENPRESS. The situation in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact during the week (October 22-28) has been tense compared to the previous week, the Artsakh defense ministry said.

In addition to other firearms, Azerbaijani forces also used SPIKE anti-tank guided missiles, various caliber mortars and grenade launchers against Artsakh positions in the abovementioned period, the ministry said in a statement.

The Artsakhi military said the frontline situation is under full control of the Defense Army.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 28, ARMENPRESS. For already the 5th consecutive year, parents of military servicemen from Yerevan get the opportunity to visit their sons in the bordering military bases.

For this particular visit, Armenias defense minister Vigen Sargsyan and Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan personally accompanied the parents to a southeastern bordering base, where they met with the servicemen.

The Yerevan City Hall ensured the convenient transportation of the parents, with police escorts accompanying the bus convoy.

Prior to heading to the military base, the Mayor and the Minister stopped at the Ghazanchetsots Church in Shushi.

Later during the visit, Taron Margaryan and Vigen Sargsyan visited a military base, where they laid flowers at the statue of the late commander Vazgen Sargsyan.

In his remarks, the Yerevan Mayor highlighted these visits, and vowed that they will be continuous.

The defense minister in his turn attached great importance to the visits, stressing its important role in strengthening the army-society link.

Nearly 1600 parents of servicemen from Yerevan visited their sons during this particular visit.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 28, ARMENPRESS. The ministry of foreign affairs of Artsakh released a statement on the Declaration of Independence of Catalonia, the ministry told ARMENPRESS.

Below is the full text of the statement.

The right of the people of Catalonia to independently determine their political status through a democratic expression of will is undeniable.

In accordance with a number of fundamental documents of the UN, the international community has committed itself to promote the realization of the right of peoples to self-determination and respect that right.

We consider it important that the resolution of the political crisis between Barcelona and Madrid is achieved by exclusively peaceful means, through dialogue.

In this regard, it should be recalled that it was Azerbaijans refusal to recognize the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination and the use of forceful methods by the official Baku to resolve political issues that transferred the conflict between Azerbaijan and Karabakh to a plane of military actions.
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.
Final IOPL Hometown Debate in Newton discussed merit pay, incentives to teach high-demand courses, and across-the-board raises



Mark Jewell, president of the N.C. Association of Educators, speaks at an Oct. 24 debate in Newton sponsored by the N.C. Institute on Political Leadership. (CJ photo by Kari Travis)



Rep. Craig Horn, R-Union, said at the NCIOPL debate reforming teacher compensation will be a hard slog. (CJ photo by Kari Travis)

NEWTON Legislators and policy experts agree that North Carolina teachers need more pay. They disagree on how to dole out the money.Pay raises should be based on how a teacher performs in the classroom, said Rep. Craig Horn, R-Union, at an education policy debate Oct. 24. The event, hosted by the N.C. Institute on Political Leadership and the Catawba County Chamber of Commerce, was the final installment of a three-debate series also broadcast by Spectrum News.Panelists included Mark Jewell, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, Terry Stoops, vice president of policy and director of education studies at the John Locke Foundation, and Kris Nordstrom, education policy consultant at the North Carolina Justice Center.The debate will air Oct. 29 on Spectrum News channel's "In Focus with Loretta Boniti," who moderated the debate.Merit pay is a bad idea, said Jewell. Lawmakers first should address a "broken pay system."Jewell said.In 2016, lawmakers adjusted average annual teacher pay to reach an average of almost $50,000. That number is set to reach $55,000 by 2019.But that doesn't help young teachers who can't afford to live on $35,000 for the first five years of their career, Jewell added. Many are forced to work two or three jobs just to pay the bills. That's not fair to them - or to the children they teach, he said.North Carolina has plenty of money to spend on across-the-board raises for all teachers, Nordstrom said. Blanket cost-of-living raises are a better move, since performance pay tends to drag down camaraderie and goodwill among teachers, he added.If the General Assembly wants pay incentives for teachers, they should be team-based so that teachers work together, he said.Nordstrom said.A blanket raise does little more than put a band-aid on a bigger problem, Stoops said.Spending more money will do nothing to actually keep teachers from leaving the classroom or the state, Stoops said. Higher teacher performance would follow if there are incentives to compete.The system is antiquated and doesn't respond to market demands, he said. North Carolina has a shortage of math, science, and special education teachers. That gap requires incentives to entice new talent, he said, including paying teachers more who pursue fields with high demand.Everyone can agree teachers deserve to be paid more, but not all teachers are good. Each one should be awarded accordingly, Horn said.Changing teacher pay is a long hike uphill, he added.Horn said.
By PTI: Hyderabad, Oct 28 (PTI) Union Home minister Rajnath Singh would be the chief guest at the passing out parade of IPS trainees to be held at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) here on October 30.

A total 136 IPS probationers, including 14 foreigners from Royal Bhutan Police, Nepal Police and Maldives Police, would take part in the Dikshant (passing out) parade. Out of 22 women probationers, one is from Bhutan Police, a SVPNPA release said today.

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"The young officers have been trained to deal with various situations. Before becoming full-fledged IPS Officers, these trainees will be undergoing various attachments with Central Police Organizations and CAPFs," the release quoted DR Doley Barman, IPS, Director, SVPNPA as saying.

The parade will be commanded by Sameer Aslam Shaikh, winner of the Prime Minister?s baton and Home Ministry?s revolver for the Best All-round IPS probationer.

Amrita Duhan, the best All-round Lady IPS probationer, is the winner of the 1973 Batch IPS Officers Trophy.

"Interestingly she is mother of a five-year-old Sameer Vijay. She is inspired by her brother Vinod Duhan, who belongs to the IPS cadre of Manipur to take up the Civil Services," it added.

Dikshant parade is the culmination of 45 weeks training of the IPS probationers in the Academy. PTI SJR NRB

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The major American political parties are in crisis. The proportion of American voters who register as independents has reached 40 percent, rising about 10 percentage points since 2000. A few months ago, unaffiliated voters surpassed Republicans in North Carolina and are quickly gaining ground on the Democrats - that party is actually losing registrants as the state's population grows. The approval ratings of the two parties have cratered and both are far below water - a sizeable majority of Americans now view each unfavorably. In 2016, the Republicans picked a nominal member for president, the Democrats almost selected a non-member.This should be a good moment for Republicans. They hold the White House and have majorities in the House and Senate but, as demonstrated by the Obamacare repeal and replace debacle, can't seem to get anything of significance done. The party might also be on the verge of civil war, as a number of Senate incumbents face insurgent primary challengers supported by Steve Bannon and encouraged by the success of Roy Moore in Alabama.The Democrats ought to be ready to take advantage. Yet they too are a shambles, torn over policy and strategy. The most strident voices call for the party to continue pursuing identity politics, an approach that's rapidly eroding the core of their dominant New Deal coalition, the white working class.The reasons for the parties' difficulties are diverse and deep. But they seem driven largely by a virulent rejection of the institutions of 20th century America. It's a reaction that's perhaps making the 21st century one of fear and uncertainty.There are many such institutions, and they are in retreat. NATO, which did so much to manage and then win the Cold War, now seems superfluous. The conventional nuclear family has been ripped apart by financial necessity and social changes. "Bourgeois" values such as individual responsibility and hard work are demeaned as racist hate speech in higher education and media circles. The pews of mainline Protestant churches, whose congregants led the country to the pinnacle of world power, are empty.Our military and veterans are viewed as a kind of boorish elderly live-in relative. They may have done a lot of valuable things in the past, but now they're just expensive and embarrass us in front of friends - what with all that flag-waving and national anthem stuff. As for the police, they have become enemy No. 1, and not least among elites who live cloistered lives where the protection of law enforcement is normally unneeded. When you think of America like this, it becomes clear the parties are simply another family heirloom that has been trashed.Just like Aunt Mary's cracked Waterford crystal vase, they aren't easily replaced. Plausible alternatives are neither practical nor desirable. One is that a major new party or parties will emerge. But the electoral system remains inhospitable - there's little immediate prospect of reforming campaign finance, ballot access, and voting rules - and the public is wary. In 2016 candidates not named Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton got only 6 percent of the vote. No Labels, a group committed to the appealing notions of "bipartisanship" and "problem solving," which many see as a prototype for a centrist third party, has little to show for its work.A second, sort of "partyless" politics could plausibly work only at the presidential level, where an independent individual with a personal power base campaigns and governs outside of the existing system. Funny enough, we're experimenting a bit with that now. I'd argue that it doesn't work and, whether because Trump conforms or is not re-elected in 2020, will not last.So might we get our party system back? For many that can only happen if the process of ideological polarization, such a feature of today's politics, is reversed. Divergent policy positions are not inherently damaging, however. They can give voters meaningful choices and energize public debate.The problem is we no longer enjoy a party politics where combatants argue over policy using a shared set of values. So, unlike much of the post-war period when Democrats emphasized equality and Republicans liberty within the confines of the country's founding principles and a joint commitment to its collective success, many partisans today are staking positions outside this terrain. Allegiances are to groups other than country and its traditional components, such as church and family. Core individual economic and political freedoms and established democratic practices enshrined in the Constitution are no longer respected.And therein lies the parties' problem. They are unappreciated because we have rejected the foundational values on which they and the other institutions that made this country the envy of the world were built. It's not so much them as it is us.
College of Nursing faculty members Dr. Sonya Hardin, left, and Dr. Donna Lake, right, were inducted as Fellows in the American Academy of Nursing. They are pictured at the induction ceremony with Dr. Susan Kennerly, a professor in the College of Nursing who was inducted as a Fellow in 2016. (Contributed photos)

"I am more energized and look forward to my Fellow responsibilities and ECU faculty role to continue my work in engaging with other health leaders in transforming American's health system, strengthening nursing and health delivery systems, nationally and internationally."

Two East Carolina University (ECU) faculty members were recently inducted as fellows in the American Academy of Nursing. The College of Nursing's Dr. Sonya Hardin and Dr. Donna Lake were honored during a ceremony at the academy's annual conference Oct. 5-7, 2017, in Washington, D.C.said Academy President Bobbie Berkowitz.Selection criteria include evidence of significant contributions to nursing and health care, and sponsorship by two current Academy fellows. Applicants are reviewed by a panel comprised of elected and appointed fellows, and selection is based, in part, on the extent the nominee's nursing career has influenced health policies and the health and wellbeing of all.Hardin is a professor and the associate dean of Graduate Nursing Programs in the College of Nursing. She leads an interdisciplinary team as the program director for a $2.5 million Health Resources & Services Administration-funded Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program grant.With extensive national service with the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses setting national standards and developing the AACN Synergy Model for Patient Care, Hardin has impacted more than 80,000 acute and critical care nurses currently certified worldwide in adult, pediatric and neonatal critical care. She has disseminated the model through consulting at hospitals across the United States. She is certified in critical care and as an Adult Nurse Practitioner. She received her nurse practitioner training from ECU, a PhD from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and post-doctoral fellowships at UNC-Chapel Hill and Stanford University.Hardin said.Lake is a clinical associate professor of advanced nursing practice and education. She has extensive international experience leading healthcare and academic teams within the Middle East, Europe, Latin America and Africa. Prior to ECU, she spent 25 years in various executive and clinical nursing roles culminating as Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. She has also played an instrumental role in the improvement of corporate quality policies, health promotion and primary care for 68 medical facilities worldwide.Lake is the only nurse representative on the $11 million American Medical Association grant-funded initiative Redesigning Education to Accelerate Change in Healthcare (REACH), creating the first of its kind "Teachers in Quality Academy." She received her BSN from Stony Brook University of New York, a Master's of Education from the University of Oklahoma and a PhD from Touro University.Lake said.Hardin and Lake are among 11 inductees from the state of North Carolina this year. They join five other current ECU College of Nursing faculty members as FAANs.The academy is comprised of more than 2,500 nurse leaders in education, management, practice, policy and research. Fellows include hospital and government administrators, college deans and renowned scientific researchers.
Now that the Russia Collusion scandal has most completely boomeranged on core Democrats, the Democrat Media, and the Deep State, who have promoted this scandal for over one year: Should congress and Jeff Sessions's DOJ investigate the DNC, the Clintons, and, notably, the FBI /Obama DOJ with the same fervor that they have hounded all things connected to Candidate, then President Donald Trump? Yes, it is a necessity that we discover all that is corrupt, and stains the government of this land. No, investigate only everything connected to Donald Trump, as a candidate and then president. I generally don't pay attention to most things except what is normally pop culture. 165 total vote(s) What's your Opinion?



The lawyer for the confidential FBI informant who exposed that Russian nuclear officials engaged in bribery, kickbacks, money laundering, and extortion in their attempts to corner the U.S. uranium market under the Obama administration revealed the threats her client received from the Obama administration if he didn't keep quiet during the 2016 presidential election.Victoria Toensing, the informant's attorney, told WMAL DC's "Mornings On The Mall" host Vince Coglianese on Thursday that under the Obama administration, lawyers from Loretta Lynch's Department of Justice (DOJ) coerced her client into dropping a lawsuit against the government last year.On Wednesday, The Hill reported that Toensing has files which allegedly prove that the Obama administration wanted to keep her client quiet because the civil lawsuit would have taken place during the 2016 election, which could have had a major impact on the election:Toensing said she also possesses memos that recount how the Justice Department last year threatened her client when he attempted to file a lawsuit that could have drawn attention to the Russian corruption during the 2016 presidential race as well as helped him recover some of the money Russians stole from him through kickbacks during the FBI probe.Emails obtained by The Hill show that a civil attorney working with the former undercover witness described the pressure the Justice Department exerted to keep the client from disclosing to a federal court what he knew last summer.Toensing's client was forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement which prevented him from testifying to congress what he knows about the case:When he tried to bring some of the allegations to light in the lawsuit last year,she added.DOJ spokesperson Sarah Isgur Flores told The Hill yesterday that the department released the gag order on the informant - clearing the way for him to testify:As of tonight, the Department of Justice has authorized the informant to disclose to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, as well as one member of each of their staffs, any information or documents he has concerning alleged corruption or bribery involving transactions in the uranium market, including but not limited to anything related to Vadim Mikerin, Rosatom, Tenex, Uranium One, or the Clinton Foundation.
That, at least, is the description of this enchanting and relaxing video; for all I know it could be anywhere on earth more rugged than Belgium. The lack of sourcing or detail suggests the embed's ganked (and the watermark is for someone else's video-ganking channel!) so if you know where this comes from, do tell.
Both of Newfoundland and Labrador's newest $50-million ferries were sidelined this week with a pair of port thruster issues, adding to the long list of problems with the beleaguered boats.

The Legionnaire was tied up overnight Tuesday when technicians found a problem with a computer card which ran the thruster, according to a statement from the Department of Transportation and Works.

The ferry returned to work on Wednesday, but the Veteran was removed from the Fogo IslandChange Islands run that same day.

A mechanical issue is affecting bearings in the boat's port thruster, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation said Friday afternoon, and technicians are still working to determine the scope of the problem.

In the meantime, the Beaumont Hamel is working on an enhanced schedule on the Fogo Island route.

'Nothing but trouble'

It's another interruption in service for the beleaguered Veteran  already branded as a "lemon" by some Fogo Island residents  which has seen several problems since its maiden voyage from Romania to Newfoundland and Labrador in 2015.

The boat's port thruster was also the cause of a breakdown in April 2016, when the Veteran was taken out of service for nearly three months.

"I wouldn't even be able to guess, but I know many, many times it's been taken off for different reasons," said Eugene Nippard, the new citizens representative on the Fogo Island transportation committee.

"Fifty million dollars for this beautiful boat to look at, and it's been nothing but trouble right from the beginning."

The Legionnaire, which services the Bell Island run, has also seen issues with its ramps. It arrived in Bell Island in July, delayed by other problems with the wharves in Portugal Cove and Bell Island.

"The department works to address all maintenance issues as quickly as possible when they arise," wrote Rodney Drover, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation in an email.

Story continues

"Damen and Rolls Royce [builder and engine manufacturer] are working diligently to return the MV Veteran to service as quickly as possible."

Nippard said the ongoing saga of the Veteran is the talk of the town on Fogo Island.

"It's the topic of interest wherever you go, they can't believe [it], you know," he said.

"We're so disappointed."
Students raking in leaves to rake in cash for volunteer trip abroad

A group of Fredericton university students are hoping their leaf-raking skills will be able to rake in enough cash to get them to southern Honduras.

The 30 students from UNB Fredericton are planning to take part in a volunteer trip with Global Brigades, a student-led non-profit organization, next year.

Global Brigades sends teams of students to Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Ghana to work alongside community members to tackle health, water, and economic development problems.

The students are part of one team that will travel to Honduras for one week.

Last year, some of the students worked in Coyol de Linaca, where they dug roughly 150 metres of trench and laid 300 metres of pipe.

Christopher Mackin, one of the students, said it was "probably the hardest any of us have worked in our lives."

"Within two minutes of lifting up a pick-axe you're already dripping with sweat."

Rewarding experience

The big pay off was seeing a video of water finally coming on for community members after the pipe was built.

It was enough to bring student volunteer Erin Cunningham to tears.

"It was such an amazing feeling to recognize the kids, and see the emotion on their faces," she said.

The group began raking leaves this weekend. They are aiming to raise around $2,000 per student.

The money will help pay for supplies for the community they're working in and travel costs to get them to Honduras.

The students pledge $1,000 each to Global Brigades to buy supplies for the village. Each student also brings along a duffle bag full of donated hygienic supplies such as shampoo and toothbrushes.

The group is planning to travel to Honduras in August.

A team of 30 students from UNB's Saint John campus have also signed up for a volunteer trip with Global Brigades.
Several unsuccessful attempts, made since 1991 to find an amicable solution to the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute, may help Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar when he intensifies his negotiations to settle the matter.

By Prabhash K Dutta: Seven months after the Supreme Court suggested for an outside court settlement of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has begun negotiations for a peaceful resolution.

Speaking to India Today yesterday, Ravi Shankar said that representatives of some of the groups approached him requesting to facilitate negotiated settlement of the decades-old dispute.

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Referring to the past, Ravi Shankar today said, "Situation has changed, people want peace. A platform is needed where both communities can show essence of brotherhood. There were efforts is 2003-04 also but environment more positive now. Doing this in my own capacity, it is non-political."

The serious negotiation to resolve the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute began in 1991 under the Chandra Shekhar government. It was followed up by the PV Narimha Rao government but things took a different turn during this period.

FIRST PHASE OF NEGOTIATIONS

In December, 1991, the then Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar made a breakthrough by bringing the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the All India Babri Masjid Action Committee and others to the negotiating table.

The representatives of the two sides presented documentary evidence to support their respective claims in presence the then Union Home Minister (Subodh Kant Sahay) and the then Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh (Mulayam Singh), Rajasthan (BS Shekawat) and Maharashtra (Sharad Pawar).

The representatives of the two sides included Ashok Singhal and Vishnu Hari Dalmia of the VHP, current UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's guru Mahant Avaidyanath - who was the BJP MP from Gorakhpur, Syed Shahabuddin, Sulaiman Sait (both were MPs), GM Banatwala (the then president of the Indian Union Muslim League) and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi's father Salahuddin Owaisi - the founder president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.

The Babri Masjid Action Committee agreed to give up its claim on a major portion of the disputed land except the chabootara that holds sanctum sanctorum arguing that the Imam led namaz from that very spot. It said that a temple could be built on rest of the land.

The VHP rejected the proposal saying that sanctum sactoram is the very spot where Lord Ram was born. The VHP also rejected the idea that an active mosque could remain in the vicinity of the Ram Janmabhoomi spot.

When PV Narsimha Rao became the prime minister, he created an Ayodhya cell in the Prime Minister's Office to keep the negotiations going. But, this became a tool of greater politicisation of the matter. The then Union Home Minister SB Chavan wrote letters to the negotiating parties.

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Fresh negotiations took place in October, 1992. A few rounds of meetings took place before the Babri mosque was demolished by kar sevaks on December 6, 1992 brining the talks to an abrupt end.

ANOTHER START UNDER VAJPAYEE GOVERNMENT

In June-July 2003, fresh efforts were seen to resolve the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute through talks. The chief negotiator, this time, was Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati. The Vajpayee government proclaimed open support to the efforts of the Kanchi Shankaracharya.

According to Jayendra Saraswati's formula of settlement, a Ram temple could be built on the undisputed and acquired land adjacent to it. The All India Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) was to give a no-objection statement for the construction of a temple on the undisputed and acquired land.

A discussion for peaceful settlement over the disputed portion of the land was to be held. Upon failure of a negotiated settlement over disputed land, the parties were to move the court and accept its verdict. A wall was to be constructed to separate the disputed area from the undisputed land.

However, the AIMPLB rejected the proposals saying that the offer meant gifting the land to the other side for building temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi site. The VHP too opposed parleys between Jayendra Saraswati and the AIMPLB.

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The Vajpayee government made another attempt for negotiation in December, 2003. This saw an MHA-backed body, Ayodhya Jama Masjid Trust (AJMT), emerge as significant player in the negotiations.

The AJMT came up with a 3-point formula. It proposed that the AIMPLB should give its claim over the disputed plot. Secondly, the AIMPLB will be allotted land near the house of original claimant, Hashim Ansari.

Its third proposal was that the government would grant Rs 400 crore for building a mosque on the new site. The AJMT proposals died without making much fuss.

POST-ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT VERDICT

In 2010, the Allahabad High Court pronounced its verdict in the title suit concerning the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute. It was in favour of division of the lands among three parties including Ram Lalla.

Following the Allahabad High Court verdict, Mahant Gyan Das of the Hanumangarhi Temple and Hashim Ansari (now dead) began another round of negotiations in April, 2011.

They came up with a formula for building both a temple and a mosque on the disputed 70-acre land. The temple and the mosque was to be separated by a 100 feet wall.

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Another attempt for a negotiated settlement of Ram Janmabhoomi was made by the local people of Ayodhya in August 2010 after the high court's verdict. Justice Palok Basu, retired Allahabad High Court judge, was the principal facilitator of the negotiations of the locals.

In 2013, they came up with another formula: to build the temple at the site where Ram Lalla resides now and a mosque 400 metres away. However, the formula proposed by the locals of Ayodhya and Faizabad failed to bring any solution to the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute.

This reiterates that Ram Janmabhoomi dispute is not only about a structure on a piece of land at Ayodhya. Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar may do well to keep this factor in mind.

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Reggae in the Fields Funding Drive 2017 - Part 2 of 3 (1) Call 613-520-3920. (2) Secure online pledge at www.ckcufm.com . active 24 hours. (3) if you are outside Ottawa, send me an email at reggaeinthefields@gmail.com with your full name, address, telephone number and the amount of your pledge and we will send you a pledge package in the mail. You may call during RITF for the next two Saturday (October 28 and November 4) between 3:00 - 5:30 pm EST. You may also call at other times or make an online pledge anytime during the pledge period and indicate that you would like to support RITF.
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New York, October 27, 2017The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Pakistani authorities to swiftly investigate and bring to justice perpetrators of multiple attacks against journalist and news organizations in the country this week. Journalist Ahmed Noorani was badly beaten in Islamabad, and three different attacks were reported in the southwestern Balochistan province amid threats to news organizations and distributors from militant groups.

These repeated brutal attacks show once again that nowhere is safe for journalists or news workers in Pakistan, CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler said from Washington D.C. Pakistani authorities must assure that these attacks on press freedom come to a halt by swiftly finding and punishing those responsible.

Six unidentified assailants on motorcycles today pulled Noorani and his driver, Mumtaz, out of their car and attacked them with knives and iron rods, according to local reports.

According to The New York Times, both sustained injuries to the head and were taken to a hospital for treatment, where Noorani was initially placed in the intensive care unit. The journalist will stay overnight in the hospital for observation, according to the television station Geo News.

Mumtaz was in stable condition following the attack, and filed a first information report with the police, which is the first step in a police investigation in Pakistan, Dawn reported.

Noorani is a senior reporter for The News, a prominent Pakistani newspaper, and has been reporting on allegations made against Pakistani politicians in the Panama Papers case. The journalist is known for his critical views of Pakistans military and intelligence agencies, according to The New York Times.

Noorani had recently received threats due to his reporting, according to The New York Times. As a precaution, he moved from Rawalpindi to Islamabad earlier this year, and deactivated his Twitter account earlier this month, according to The New York Times.

Police are investigating todays attack, according to Geo.

Separately, in the Balochistan province, militants launched two grenade attacks over the past two days that injured at least eight people, according to the newspaper Dawn.

In the city of Turbat, militants yesterday threw a hand grenade at the Pak-News agency that injured eight people, including one media worker, according to Iqbal Khattak, the coordinator of Pakistans Safety Hubs, which promote journalist safety.

Militants also threw a hand grenade at the press club in Hub, a town on the outskirts of Karachi, on the night of October 25; no one was injured, according to The Express Tribune newspaper.

Additionally, yesterday in the city of Awaran, militants attacked a vehicle that was carrying newspapers, shooting at it, bursting its tires, and torching the newspapers, according to Dawn. No one was injured.

These attacks come after militant organizations threatened newspaper distributors earlier this week, and demanded the media outlets publish the groups statements, according to Dawn. Following the threats, many distributors refused to take papers, both local and international, to the Balochistan province, Dawn reported.

CPJ has documented the wide array of risks journalists in Balochistan face. Pakistan was eighth on CPJs 2016 Impunity Index.
14th SAARCLAW Conference held in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Published: October 28, 2017

The 14th South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation in Law (SAARCLAW) Conference was held in Colombo, capital city of Sri Lanka along with 11th SAARC Chief Justices Conference.

The three-day conference was inaugurated by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and saw participation from South Asias top Judges, legal practitioners and academics.

Key Facts

The SAARCLAW Conference provided platform for legal professionals to meet and discuss issues of mutual interests and emerging legal trends in the South Asian countries. It also discussed issues like artificial intelligence, human trafficking, Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and environmental protection concerns.

Besides, 11th Chief Justices conference was held in a closed-door session and was attended only by Chief Justices or their representatives. It provided Chief Justices of SAARC countries opportunity to consider relevance of judiciaries within South Asia.

SAARCLAW Conference

It was established in Sri Lanka in 1991. Since then conference has provided a platform for legal professionals from South Asian region to meet and discuss issues of mutual interests pertaining to justice, legal reforms, good governance and enforcement over a span of 25 years.

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)

SAARC is regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of nations in South Asia. Its member states include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It comprises 3% of worlds area, 21% of worlds population and 3.8% of global economy as of 2015.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2017

Topics: Events  International  SAARC  SAARCLAW Conference

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By PTI: Bengaluru, Oct 28 (PTI) The Art of Living Foundation has said that its founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has been in touch with several imams and swamis, including Acharya Ram Das of Nirmohi Akhara, to help find an out-of-court settlement to the Ram temple dispute.

The Foundation, however, said it was too early to draw any conclusions and that these discussions were not done on behalf of the government.

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"Ravi Shankar has been in touch with several imams and swamis, including Acharya Ram Das of Nirmohi Akhara," the Art of Living Foundation said in a statement here. "Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is of the view that the prevailing mood on the Ram Mandir issue provides an opportunity for people from both communities to come together, show their magnanimity and settle the dispute out of court," it added. The Foundation said these discussions, not done on behalf of any government or organisation, had brought to the fore the positive energy and willingness of leaders from both communities to move forward and arrive at an amicable solution.

However, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has reportedly denied holding any meeting with Ravi Shankar. The Board yesterday said it was ready to talk to Ravi Shankar if he wanted, for they would not have any issue in having a conversation and in helping find a solution. The Allahabad High Court, in 2010, had ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77-acre area at Ayodhya among Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and Lord Ram Lalla. The Supreme Court decided to reopen the hearing after based on 13 appeals filed against the 2010 judgement in four civil suits. It is all set to hear the historic Babri Masjid-Ram Temple case from December 5. PTI BDN SS DV

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iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- The top GOP tax writer in the House says he's exploring a potential compromise with the White House, even as Republicans appear to be at odds with President Trump on whether retirement saving accounts are on the table as they launch into their tax reform efforts.



Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he spoke to Trump after their back-and-forth over 4010(k) accounts Wednesday, adding that Republicans could potentially end up raising overall contribution limits for 401 (K) and other retirement plans.



"We want to make it easier for people to save, and save more," Brady told reporters Thursday.



The tax bill could raise the "overall" contribution limits, which would include pre-tax and post-tax contributions, Brady said. Earlier this week, Republicans were reportedly considering limits on pre-tax contributions, lowering the current $18,000 annual cap for workers to $2,400 for 401(k) contributions.



That change would help Republicans raise tax revenues to help offset tax cuts in the larger proposal, which they are planning to unveil Nov. 1 and review the following week.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Speaking at Akola in Maharashtra, Ramdas Athawale said, "Rahul Gandhi should marry a Dalit girl to fulfill Mahatma Gandhi's dream."

By India Today Web Desk: Two days after boxer Vijender Singh asked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi about his wedding, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale has also shown interest in the matter.

Speaking at Akola in Maharashtra, Ramdas Athawale said, "Rahul Gandhi should marry a Dalit girl to fulfill Mahatma Gandhi's dream."

"Rahul Gandhi is not a Pappu anymore. He has been campaigning extensively. He looks confident. I wish he turns into a good leader," said Athawale, adding, "Rahul Gandhi eats at Dalit's houses. As per my knowledge, he has not married yet. Rahul Gandhi should marry a Dalit girl."

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"There are many educated and suitable girls in our (Dalit) community. He only has to agree to this proposal," Athawale said.

He further said, "If we have to eliminate caste system from our society, he should go for an inter-caste marriage and marry a Dalit girl. I married a Brahmin girl. He should present an ideal before the society by going for an inter-caste marriage."

Boxer Vijender Singh caught Rahul Gandhi unawares at an event in New Delhi on Thursday by asking question about his wedding plans. An otherwise confident-looking Rahul Gandhi seemed stumped when Singh asked him at an industry event on when he planned to tie the knot.

"This is an old question. I believe in destiny. 'Jab hogi, tab hogi' (It will happen when it does)," he replied when Singh quizzed him about his marital plans.

--- ENDS ---
Namit Malhotra, who is co-producing Brahmastra, said that they are looking to make a film that matches Hollywood standards.

By India Today Web Desk: Superhero films are far and few in Bollywood, so when Ayan Mukerji's Brahmastra was announced, the anticipation was sky-high. The film, which will feature Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Amitabh Bachchan, is all set to become the most expensive superhero film the country has ever seen.

Namit Malhotra, who is co-producing Brahmastra with Karan Johar, told Mid-Day that they are looking at a budget of over Rs 150 crore for the film. "We aspire to create something homegrown that can match Hollywood standards. We can't be penny-pinching with the scale. Hollywood has moved from dramas and rom-coms to big scale films, which makes more money eventually. India too is getting there," he said.

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Brahmastra will be released in 3D and Namit assured that the visual effects would be "superlative". He also said that the film is strikingly different from other Bollywood superhero films, like Krrish.

Conceived as a trilogy, the first part of the fantasy adventure series is expected to go on floors next year. It will hit the theatres on Independence Day, 2019.

ALSO WATCH: Amitabh and Ranbir talk acting, cinema and stardom in an intimate conversation

--- ENDS ---
On October 20th, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces announced that the city of Raqqa has been fully liberated from ISIS occupation. The terrorist group can no longer claim they have a so-called caliphate.

At the height of its power in late 2014, ISIS controlled about one third of Iraq and about the same in Syria. Since then, it has experienced one defeat after another. In March 2015, the city of Tikrit was liberated. That was followed by Sinjar, Ramadi, Bayji, Hit, Rutbah, Fallujah, Qayyarah, Sharqat, Qaraqosh, Mosul, Hawija, and now, Raqqa.

Although its false capitals have been liberated, ISIS is not yet defeated. ISIS is on the run; it is losing credibility, resources and influence every day, said Pentagon Spokesperson Dana White. Even as we are fighting and winning against ISIS and other terrorist groups, the threat remains very real.

Many ISIS fighters bailed out of Raqqa while they still could, and fled south-east, toward two Syrian towns on the central Euphrates River that still remain under ISIS control.

The ISIS strongholds in Syria will soon fall, yet the fight against the terrorist group will remain a global challenge. We are fighting back. In mid-October, a strike on two ISIS training camps in Yemen killed dozens of terrorists, and disrupted their planning efforts, leadership networks and ability to maneuver within the region. On the same day, the self-proclaimed leader of ISIS in Southeast Asia, along with several other militants, was killed in a firefight with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Raqqa has been cleared and it's been liberated, but it's important to remember that the fight continues, said Pentagon Spokesperson Dana White. We're fighting ISIS around the world, as well as other affiliated groups. So we will continue to fight.
The Catalan parliament session on Friday, where the vote on an independence declaration took place. M. Minocri

The independence declaration that was approved on Friday by the Catalan parliament has sparked the most serious constitutional crisis that Spanish democracy has faced in its 40 years of existence. The potential for destabilization of the current situation exceeds even that of the attempted coup detat in 1981, or terrorism. The threat that the declaration of independence casts over our democracy does not find its origin in the irrationality of just a few, but in the deeply serious matter of how a regional government and parliament could not only rise up against the Spanish Constitution, fomenting a popular insurrection, but also call on the international community to recognize its unilateral breakaway.

The pro-independence forces have topped off their farce as they have always done: ignoring the rules and steamrolling over minorities along the way

Under Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, the Senate, with the support of the Popular Party (PP), the Socialist Party (PSOE) and Ciudadanos, has approved a series of measures, including the removal of the regional government and the dissolution of parliament, aimed at restoring constitutional law. And it has done so in a legal and transparent way, with a clear and legitimate majority of 214 senators: the complete opposite of what we have seen in a parliament that has been subjected to, once again, a shameful spectacle, including a pathetic secret vote where the pro-secession supporters, with their 70 votes, failed to reach the qualified majority needed to reform the regional Statute that sets out the self-government powers of Catalonia.

The pro-independence forces have topped off their farce as they have always done: ignoring the rules and steamrolling over minorities along the way. It is lamentable that the traditional representatives of Catalonia, who have brought the region its best years, have thrown themselves into the arms of an anti-establishment, anti-European group such as the CUP, which the Junts pel Si party needed to prop up its minority government. This strange collation, brimming with populism, preferred to embark on direct conflict with the state rather than recognize the failure of its project and the subsequent internal tensions.

The measures contained within Article 155 do not represent an assault, neither on self-government nor on the rights and freedoms of the Catalan people. On the contrary, they are the legitimate and necessary response from the rule of law to the challenge laid down by irresponsible and reckless political leaders who have decided to rise up against the Constitution and the regional Statute.

There is no greater vileness  as we have seen in recent years, day after day  than to fraudulently make use of institutions simply to degrade them and override them. As such, as well as the political actions already put into place by the government, it is vital to demand that the justice system act with complete rigour against the protagonists of this situation, those who, in full knowledge of what they were doing, made this deplorable declaration of independence.

The government is counting on the support of all those citizens who want to continue to live in a democracy that is worthy of the name

We are in a moment of extraordinary severity, in the face of which there can be no doubts, hesitations or equidistance. The past actions, errors or omissions that could serve to explain the roots of this pitiful situation, which no doubt are many and varied, all now are relegated to the background. Because the decision to declare independence on the part of the regional government, presided over by Puigdemont and the parliamentary groups Junts pel Si and the CUP, consist of an assault of such a huge caliber on the democracy that was established in this country, with great effort, that the only thing that is left for democrats is, after expressing their sadness for such a gratuitous demolition of coexistence, to act with the greatest diligence and efficiency to restore the constitutional order immediately.

The state, which acts in the name of the citizens and democracy, can and must triumph with this task, and must do so in a clear way and with complete confidence in itself. On the path that will now begin, as delicate as it will be difficult to complete, there can be no doubts about the validity of the Constitution and the future of coexistence. For this, the government is counting on the support of all those citizens who want to continue to live in a democracy that is worthy of the name, as well as the support of the international community and its European partners, who have repeatedly shown their solidarity and concern over the foolish attempt to try to force a unilateral separation from Spain.

Spanish democracy, with the support of everyone, will prevail. And it is going to manage to return the institutions of self-governance to the Catalans. With the dissolution of parliament and fresh regional elections on December 21, Rajoy is doing what Puigdemont should have done but didnt dare. He is thus proving that the use of Article 155 does not restrict the rights of parliamentarians nor of the citizens who choose them, and counts on the support of democrats inside Spain and all of Europe. And it clears the way for a quick, legal and legitimate resolution of the crisis in accordance with the democratic principles of a vote  one that certain figures wanted to evade.

English version by Simon Hunter.
Opinion articles written in the style of their author." These texts are to be based on verified facts and must be respectful towards people, even though their actions may be criticized. shall feature, along with the author's name (regardless of their greater or lesser renown), a footer stating their office, academic title, political affiliation (if any) and main occupation, or the occupation related to the topic being assessed

EL PAiS

If justice is not strong, it is necessary for force to be fair (Fenelon)

This now-classic quote from the French thinker has accompanied me from an early age in my political reflections, thanks to the insistence on it of my friend, and teacher in so many things, Gregorio Peces Barba, one of the fathers of the 1978 Spanish Constitution, the speaker of the house during the countrys Transition to democracy, and whose democratic and socialist pedigree positions him away from all suspicion. The allusion to the fair force is relevant, unfortunately, in the face of the institutional, civic and political earthquake that has been unleashed in Catalonia.

The banana-republic style that premier Carles Puigdemont and his crew have stamped on the politics of the region threatens now to turn this vaudeville into tragedy, as so often happens at the carnivals of Rio de Janeiro. Because we are being faced not just with the declaration of independence of a territory, but also the most serious threat to Spanish democracy since the Constitution was approved. Its even more serious than the attempted coup detat of 1981, or the terrorism of Basque separatist group ETA, given that this assault comes from a civil insurrection, one that has been encouraged, programmed, and whipped up from the Catalan institutions themselves. Sedition, rebellion and treason are, on the margins of penal definitions, the true names that the dictionary applies to the attitude of the ringleaders of this attempt to initiate a Bolivarian revolution in the heart of Europe.

The effect that premier Carles Puigdemont has had on the politics of the region threatens now to turn this vaudeville into tragedy

Former regional premier Artur Mas recently confessed in public exactly what so many Catalan separatists say in private, even after the independence declaration on Friday in parliament: that the independence of Catalonia, no matter how it is declared and celebrated, is impossible and unthinkable, given that there are no foreign powers that will recognize it. Also, and above all else, because the government and the democratic parties will not allow it. It is not, then, going to happen under any circumstance, and the consequent frustration of hundreds of thousands of Catalans who are prepared to wave their flags in search of a freedom that they already enjoyed  like the rest of Spains citizens  and that they themselves have put into danger, could end up driving the protests to even more dramatic and worrying paths.

The attitude of those who, on Thursday, were out on the streets of Barcelona demanding the release of the now-famous Jordis two leaders of pro-independence groups who are being held in pre-trial custody for their role in protests against operations carried out by the National Police and Civil Guard  switching their ire at the Spanish state into ire against the traitor Puigdemont and his phony pretense of calling elections, reveals the populist agitation that has been put into place by the regional government, one that has long been out of their control thanks to its connivance with irredeemable anarchist forces.

Puigdemont is, undoubtedly, a traitor, to the regional Statute setting out Catalonias powers of self-government, and to the Spanish Constitution, from which his legitimate powers came. But also, and above all else, to the common sense and decency required of any person in a position of power. It was his obligation to try to unite citizens as part of a common project, not to divide them and pit them against one another, provoking a civil conflict with disastrous consequences.

Puigdemont is, undoubtedly, a traitor, to the regional Statute setting out Catalonias powers of self-government, and to the Spanish Constitution

But while the pro-independence challenge is deadly serious, it is not even the biggest faced today by the government and the democratic parties. The true challenge  one that they cannot afford to lose  is the clear threat that has started to gather over what has become known as the system of 78, thanks to which Spaniards have enjoyed the longest era of freedom and the highest levels of quality of life in the history of the country. The nationalist drives have served as a breeding ground for the incitement to social unrest and the rise of populism, based on increased inequalities after the bursting of the financial bubble a decade ago. The popular irritation over political corruption, the lack of employment, and so many other pressing problems in our society  as justified as it may be  will end up being traded for disappointment, if not despair, if social leaders are unable to channel the desire for change and the expectations for improvement of citizens. And the worst way to do this has been to succumb to the siren calls of nationalism, as some well-known leaders of the left have done.

With their passion for toppling the democratic system recognized in the 1978 Constitution, the representatives of anti-system movements  singularly grouped in Podemos  gave in to the temptation of getting chummy with the separatists, prompting a division within their own ranks. Social-democrats, meanwhile, who are lately more obsessed with slogans and the dominance of their own party than with offering a coherent and possible project for Spain, have become lost in an ambiguity that could lead them into irrelevance, an ambiguity that was only corrected at the last minute.

The result of all of this is an increased strengthening of deepest Spain, a resurgence of the most reactionary Spanish right-wing, which is trying to claim ownership of the flag and its meaning, before the naive and guilty agreement of the progressive sectors. And at the mercy of the excesses and crimes committed in the name of the Catalan nation, concerns are starting to rise over a drift toward damaging or limiting the configuration of Spains regional system, promoting a wave of centralism in the face of the federalism that so many are calling for as the only democratic and plausible solution for the territorial organization of our country.

The spurious alliance between the anti-establishment agitators, the wealthy nationalist bourgeoisie and the squatter movement in Barcelona will not bring independence to Catalonia, but it will endanger the balance of forces in democratic Spain. Especially if the return to constitutional legality in Catalonia forces the government to employ a legitimate use of force. The task that the Spanish state has ahead of it to heal the open wounds, modifying what is necessary in our Constitution, promoting laws that improve social equality and end the rampant inbreeding of political parties, cannot be faced alone by a minority government, one that is even unable to approve the budget, while the left continues to be subjected to the narcissism of its leaders. Much of the social fabric needed to sustain and develop our democracy has been destroyed, and there are years of work ahead of us to recover it. The pro-Constitution parties, united in their approval via the Senate of the extraordinary measures of Article 155, must also work together to implement them. Some think, perhaps rightly so, that a government of national salvation is not necessary nor convenient in these circumstances. Whatever the case, democracy today needs to be saved.

Juan Luis Cebrian is chairman of EL PAIS and a member of the Spanish Royal Academy.

English version by Simon Hunter.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 28

By Gulgiz Muradova - Trend:

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it provides assistance to some 1,300 women and children of around 20 nationalities, who are detained in Iraq, near Mosul, and helps to contact with their embassies.

"We try to reestablish contact between these individuals and their families in other countries. Additionally, we are registering all unaccompanied children and following up with authorities to assist with a determination of their best interests, including safe and dignified return to their family," the ICRC press office told Trend.

The press office refused to specify the number and nationalities of these people, adding "we put the families in contact with their embassies if they request us to do so."

The aid agency responds to their immediate humanitarian needs, including the provision of food, hygiene items, medical treatment, as well as improved access to water and sanitation.

Regarding repatriation and return, the press office noted that this is a bilateral matter between the Iraqi government and the countries of origin of these people.

"Transfers must only take place in accordance with international law, in particular with the principle which prohibits a State from transferring to another State a person who faces the risk of violation of certain fundamental rights (i.e. principle of non-refoulement). Special attention needs to be paid to children that are not accompanied by an adult, and therefore find themselves in an especially precarious situation," the press office concluded.

Thousands of foreigners have been fighting for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and an unknown number of them are now detained.

More than 300 of the detained foreign families in Iraq came from Turkey, many others from former Soviet states, such as Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Russia, Reuters earlier reported citing preliminary figures from the Iraqi army.

Previously, Iraqs Charge D'affaires to Azerbaijan Fadhil Awad Al Shuwaili told reporters in Baku that the Iraqi government is negotiating with Azerbaijan over the fate of the remaining Azerbaijani children being kept in Iraq.

The diplomat recalled that one of the Azerbaijani children was brought home and handed over to local authorities.

Two Azerbaijani children  two-year-old Khadija and four-year-old Abdulla were found in Syrian territories retaken from ISIL. They were brought to Iraq by the security forces after these territories were freed.

In September, head of the Azerbaijani State Security Service, Lieutenant-General Madat Guliyev, told reporters that believing in black propaganda, around 900 Azerbaijanis joined the Islamic State terrorist organization (IS, ISIL, Daesh) over the past five years.

"Eighty five of them were detained by the law enforcement agencies. At present, these individuals are in the penitentiary institution," Guliyev said. Moreover, 195 people were deprived of Azerbaijani citizenship, while most of them died in battles. Around 300 Azerbaijanis were killed in Iraq. The representatives of the countrys State Security Service are currently in Iraq to clarify this information.

Follow the author on Twitter:@GulgizD
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 28

Trend:

The Council of Europe has rewarded the Norwegian Court Administration the 2017 Crystal Scales of Justice prize, while Azerbaijan received a special mention of the jury.

The European Crystal Scales of Justice Prize, awarded by the Council of Europe, allows discovering, highlighting and sharing innovative practices aimed at improving the efficiency and quality of judicial systems, reads a report on the CoE website.

Azerbaijan was represented with the initiative 'Court Pulse - The Management Revolution, by the Judicial-Legal Council and Institute of Law and Philosophy/Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan' .

Two other special mentions have been awarded by equal merit to Educational Programme Judiciary  Informed choice and public confidence. Open Courts and Prosecutors Offices, from Bulgaria and Migrantes  Courts of Catania and discharging appeals against the action taken by the Territorial Commissions for International Protection from Italy.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 28

Trend:

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to Czech President Milos Zeman.

On my behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I cordially congratulate you and all your people on the occasion of the national holiday of the Czech Republic, Ilham Aliyev told Czech president in his letter.

I hope that the Azerbaijani-Czech relations will continue to develop and expand on the basis of friendship and cooperation in the interests of our peoples, noted the president.

On this joyful day, I wish you robust health, success in your activity, and constant wellbeing and prosperity to your friendly people, added the head of state.
International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said that at least 817,000 Rohingya people are now living in Cox's Bazar, the southernmost district of Bangladesh.

By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said that at least 817,000 Rohingya people are now living in Cox's Bazar, the southernmost district of Bangladesh. However, Bangladesh government puts the number of refugees above one million.

The IOM released said that since 25 August, some 604,000 people have crossed the border, having fled violence in Myanmar. This is in addition to the over 200,000 people who had sought safety in Cox's Bazar following previous outbreaks of violence.

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"The majority of new arrivals live in crowded makeshift settlements, with only 46,000 people living among the host community," IOM released said.

According to the IOM release, the UN Migration Agency has been meeting with male and female community leaders in the rapidly growing Kutupalong settlement to assess how best to address residents' needs and ensure that they know where they can provide feedback and complaints, and who they can come to if they need to report gender-based violence.

Rohingya refugees arrived with little or no possessions and no means of building a shelter to live in and protect themselves from weather stresses.

The IOM has distributed over 80,000 kits that provided nearly 395,000 families with the necessities to build their own shelter, giving them a place to sleep and stay out of the hot sun and, at times, torrential rains.

--- ENDS ---
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 28

Trend:

The Republic of Azerbaijan supports the territorial integrity within the internationally recognized borders and sovereignty of the Kingdom of Spain, Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, told Trend Oct. 28.

We stand for a peaceful settlement based on the constitution and laws of the Kingdom of Spain, noted Hajiyev.

The official was commenting on the recent political turmoil in Spain, which intensified on Friday as the Madrid government dismissed Catalonias president and parliament hours after the region declared independence.

The Republic of Azerbaijan has been suffering from this for more than 30 years. At the end of 1980s, separatism, which Armenians started in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region of Azerbaijan SSR, was accompanied by a gross violation of the USSR constitution and the laws of Azerbaijan SSR. In this regard, after the ethnic cleansing of the native Azerbaijani population in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, the violence against them and acts of terrorism, an illegal referendum on the regions independence was held against the will of the Azerbaijani people on December 10, 1991 with the participation of only Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh, said the spokesman.

With gaining the independence by Armenia and Azerbaijan after the collapse of the USSR, Armenia began an open war against Azerbaijan and occupied the Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts of Azerbaijan, committed ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories against the native Azerbaijani population. The aggression and occupation of Armenia against Azerbaijan still continues, added Hajiyev.

Spain was plunged into uncertainty on Oct. 1 when Catalonia, a prosperous northeastern state that accounts for 20 percent of Spains gross domestic product, held an independence referendum, though courts had declared the proceedings illegal. Separatists declared victory despite a participation of only 43 percent.

Hajiyev added that attempts to unilaterally violate the territorial integrity of the country accompanied by the violation of the countrys constitution and law, contrary to the will of the people and the central government, are unacceptable.
By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Any demand of the Azerbaijani people is a command for Turkey, Nurettin Canikli, the Turkish defense minister, told Trend.

The minister made the remarks ahead of his Baku visit to attend the sixth meeting of the Turkey-Azerbaijan High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council scheduled for Oct. 31 in Baku.

The occupied territories of Azerbaijan will be liberated sooner or later, the minister said.

Canikli stressed that a state must also develop its national defense industry and armament system for the liberation of lands and for defense.

"Everyone should know that Azerbaijan and Turkey provide the most necessary support to each other and will continue to do so," Canikli said.

He noted that Turkey and Azerbaijan don't need any special agreements for the cooperation.

Furthermore, Canikli said Azerbaijan also does everything possible for Turkey.

He noted that, Turkey and Azerbaijan need each other, further elaborating that the two countries are joining forces in all spheres, including the defense sector.

Canikli said since Turkey and Azerbaijan are "one nation, two states", the power of Azerbaijan is the power of Turkey.

The minister mentioned that the joint military exercises of Azerbaijan and Turkey will be continued in the future.

"The development of the defense industry and the provision of support to each other is very important, " the minister concluded.

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, Oct. 28

Trend:

Baku Shopping Festival is a wonderful idea because there are so many shops that one should buy things, particularly clothes, French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Aurelia Bouchez, said in her interview with the Festivals official website (www.bakushopfest.com).

Everyone may find everything in Baku shops. I am sure about tourists. They are already here. It will be additional incentive for those who are not in Azerbaijan, noted Bouchez.

It is important to link it to other messages, such as attraction power of Baku as a place not just for shopping, but also to discover beautiful architecture dating back to various times, very nice landscape, Caspian coast and so on, she said.

You have to link it to various messages, to link it to places of Azerbaijan for those who are still abroad. I think it is important to go step-by-step, advertise, she said.

I am fond of Baku Shopping Festival and almost every weekend I do shopping, added the French envoy.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 28

By Jani Babayeva  Trend:

The Next Level hip-hop academy hosted master classes for Azerbaijani youth, and a concert in Baku.

The Next Level project is an initiative of the US Department of State, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Meridian International Center.

On October 27, Five US hip hop artists and educators - Jaci Caprice Clark (beatmaker), Eric Mr. Trixter Angelini (graffiti artist), Akim Akim Funk Buddha Ndlovu (dancer), Derick D-Cross Cross (beatboxer) and Tierney T.R.U.T.H Reed (MC) - held master classes for the Azerbaijani youth.

Their visit to Azerbaijan was organized with the support of the US Embassy in Azerbaijan and the assistance of the Azerbaijan Youth Union.

Following the master classes, a concert was held on the stage of the Rashid Behbudov State Song Theater in Baku.

About 45 representatives of hip-hop culture of Azerbaijan participated in the concert. They shared the stage with Akim Funk Buddha, D-Cross and MC T.R.U.T.H.

The participants organically mixed hip-hop with Azerbaijani national dances and national music.

The concert turned out to be absolutely unpredictable - suddenly, all those who were on the stage at one time descended into the hall and continued their performances there.

The spectacular show of breakdancers was followed by Azerbaijani folk song Sari Gelin.

Following the concert, Aziz Azizli, deputy chairman of the Azerbaijan Youth Union, chairman of the Azerbaijan Dance Association, expressed gratitude to the US Embassy in Azerbaijan for the implementation of such a significant project in the country, as well as to the US hip-hop artists for training the Azerbaijani youth.

Azizli presented diplomas to Heidi Smith, cultural affairs officer at the US Embassy in Baku, Farghani Aliyev, expert on culture issues at the US Embassy in Azerbaijan, as well as to Akim Ndlovu, Derick Cross and Tierney Reed.

To sum up the concert, it's safe to say that the hip-hop culture has taken its place in the life of Azerbaijani youth and for many, has become a way of life.

Today, on Oct. 28, another concert will be held at the Mingachevir State Drama Theater within the Next Level project.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 28

Trend:

Mubariz Gurbanli, chairman of Azerbaijans State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations, will visit Saudi Arabia Oct. 28-Nov. 3, the press service of the committee said in a message Oct. 28.

The visit is carried out at the invitation of Saleh bin Abdul-Aziz Al ash-Sheikh, minister of Islamic affairs, endowments, call and guidance of Saudi Arabia, and is aimed at expanding existing ties between the two countries, multiplying joint efforts in preventing religious extremism and violence, and exchanging experience.

At the high-level meetings within the visit, the sides will exchange views on the work carried out within the Year of Islamic Solidarity announced in Azerbaijan in 2017, and discuss issues related to studying the model of Azerbaijani multiculturalism by Islamic states, as well as other issues.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 27

By Gulgiz Muradova - Trend:

The new labour market programme targeting rural youth entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan is going to be extended to support 10,000 households in 2018-2019.

Olga Koulaeva, Director of the ILO Decent Work Team and Country Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia announced about this in an interview with Trend.

Koulaeva reminded that the program has been introduced with the ILO support and aims at supporting economic diversification and rural development.

"The program is covering all regions of the country and targeting about 1,500 households. The programme is going to be extended to support 10 000 households in 2018-19," she said.

To implement the program, the Azerbaijani government previously allocated six million manats.

Koulaeva did not specify whether additional funds will be allocated for the expansion of the program.

Participants of the program receive grants to start their business. The program is being realized within the ILO project " Partnerships for Youth Employment in the CIS", implemented with the support of Lukoil.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 28

By Ali Mustafayev  Trend:

The largest greenhouse complex Adelya in Southern Kazakhstan, produced 4.000 tons of cucumbers and tomatoes, during 6 months of 2017, the press service of the local executive body said in a message.

The greenhouse is located on the territory of 16 hectares. On average, the region receives 300-350 hundredweights of products from one hectare of the complex. The greenhouse is provided by modern technology from France, which allows to computerize all the processes, including heating and irrigation of vegetables.

The technologies used in the cultivation of vegetables save irrigation water, fertilizers and other important resources.

The complex allows to increase the export potential of Kazakhstan. Most of the crop is being exported to Russia, as well as the other regions of Kazakhstan, including Astana and Almaty.

The investment value of the project was about 5 billion tenge. The project was intended to contribute to the industrialization of Kazakhstan and was financed by KazAgroFinance JSC.

(Exchange rate for 28.10.2017: $1  334.40 tenge)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 28

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

Ukrainian state enterprise Ukrspirt and trading house of Azerbaijans state oil company in Ukraine, SOCAR Energy Ukraine, will conduct consultations on supplying the enterprise with gas, Ukrspirt said in a message Oct. 28.

The message says that a working meeting was held between Ukrspirts Acting Director Yuri Luchechko and Director for Wholesale Trade of SOCAR Energy Ukraine Andrey Bychkov on the issues of cooperation, commercial cooperation and provision of the enterprise with gas.

SOCAR can become a reliable partner of Ukrspirt, said Bychkov at the meeting.

Luchechko, for his part, noted that the enterprises main aim is the maximum transparency in implementation of procurement.

We can and should buy gas at the best price from reliable partners. We must consider the cost of gas, which is tied to the price on the exchange, and this will allow us to save up to 1.2 million hryvnia on our volumes, said Luchechko.

The sides agreed to continue consultation on the issues of commercial activity.

SOCAR Energy Ukraine has been operating since 2008.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 28

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak will visit Azerbaijan, the ministry told Trend Oct.28.

Albayrak will participate in the sixth meeting of the Turkey-Azerbaijan High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, which will be held in Baku Oct.31.

"As part of the Council meeting, participants are expected to discuss the strengthening of energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey," the ministry said.

The fifth meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council Turkey-Azerbaijan was held in Baku last March.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 28

By Nigar Guliyeva  Trend:

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev at a meeting held Oct. 27 instructed to develop and implement projects and road maps for restoration and development of 1,200 idle facilities with participation of their owners, the press service of the Uzbek president said in an announcement..

The meeting was devoted to the work on improving the state policy in development of private property and entrepreneurship on the basis of privatized state property, efficient support for privatized business objects, according to the report.

Earlier, during his trips to Uzbek regions, Mirziyoyev criticized for the inefficient use of production capacities of privatized objects, the lack of systematic measures for long-term development of facilities, creation of specialized production capacities, introduction of modern technologies that are important in ensuring the competitiveness of manufactured products.

Activity of almost 40,000 previously privatized objects was studied, and it was established that 3,900 of them are idle or not fully used. Investments worth 2.7 trillion soums ($334.58 million as of Oct. 28) will be spent and more than 25,000 jobs will be created within the projects to recover activity of these objects.

In April 2017, Mirziyoyev signed a decree On formation of State Committee of Uzbekistan for promotion of privatized facilities and competition development.

At the meeting held in Uzbekistan Oct. 27 under the chairmanship of the countrys president, the work carried out by the newly formed state committee was analyzed and it was established that the measures taken to develop and implement the road map aimed at improving efficiency and modernization of production facilities, expanding volumes of manufacture of competitive products and allocation of loans by commercial banks were unsatisfactory.

It was noted at the meeting that Uzbek government agencies pay little attention to monitoring of production activity, as well as financial and economic situation of privatized facilities, providing them with loans, identifying existing problems and their causes, rendering practical assistance to entrepreneurs in restoring the manufacturing infrastructure, as well as search for sale markets.

The issues of development of the competitive environment and the securities market, protection of consumer rights, licensing of stock exchange activity, staff training, as well as introduction of international best practice in the sphere of development of private property and entrepreneurship were also discussed.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev instructed the Uzbek officials to eliminate existing shortcomings in the sphere.
The Supreme Court on Friday permitted the Centre to withdraw 7 out of 15 companies of the Central Armed Paramilitary Forces from strife-torn Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal for deployment in poll-bound states of Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

By Press Trust of India: The Supreme Court on Friday permitted the Centre to withdraw 7 out of 15 companies of the Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPF) from strife-torn Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts of West Bengal for deployment in poll-bound states of Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

Observing that law and order was a "state subject", a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra stayed the Calcutta High Court order restraining the Centre from relocating the paramilitary forces from the state's strife-torn districts and asked the West Bengal government to respond to the Centre's appeal within a week.

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The Calcutta High Court had asked the Centre to allow all 15 companies of paramilitary forces to remain in the state.

The bench, which also comprised Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, said it would examine "under which jurisdiction, the High Court could ask the central government to provide or not provide security forces".

"We will issue a notice to the West Bengal government and let them file the reply. Meanwhile, we will stay the High Court proceedings", the bench said, adding that it would examine the entire issue in a "holistic" manner.

It said that constitutional courts could not remain "oblivious" to the danger to lives of citizens as they were "at the zenith of pyramid" and there had to be some kind of arrangement to protect the lives of citizens.

Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh said that the government also takes decision in the interest of citizens to protect them.

The law officer said that if all the High Courts started ordering the Centre on deployment of forces, a difficult situation would arise.

The bench, which posted the appeal of the Centre against the High Court order for further hearing on November 27, said that the interim order allowing withdrawal of seven companies of paramilitary forces would remain in force till the final adjudication of the case.

SUPREME COURT AGREED TO HEAR CENTRE's PLEA ON OCT 25

The apex court, on October 25, had agreed to hear the Centre's plea challenging the High Court order on withdrawal of security forces.

The Calcutta High Court had stayed the withdrawal of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPF) from the Darjeeling hills, the scene of unrest over the Gorkhaland statehood demand, till October 27 after the state government approached it opposing the Centre's decision.

It has been said that the Centre needed to deploy forces in the poll-bound states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Some forces also needed to be deployed along the borders of Jammu and Kashmir and in the north-eastern states, it had said.

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The high court had on July 14 directed the Centre to deploy 4 more companies of CAPF in addition to the 11 that were already present in the hills then.

The West Bengal government had written to the Centre, seeking extended deployment of CAPF till December 25, but was told that of the 15 companies present, 10 would be withdrawn on October 15 and the rest by October 20.

The counsel for the central government had claimed that the situation in the Darjeeling hills had improved compared to July when the order on deployment of paramilitary contingents had been passed by the high court.

ALSO WATCH VIDEO | Darjeeling unrest: Bengal and Sikkim Police get involve in scuffle

--- ENDS ---
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 28

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

Iran will start crude oil export to Russia in the near future, the Islamic Republics deputy oil minister, Ali Kardor, said Oct. 28.

He said that banking problems between the two countries have been settled and now opening of the LC is possible.

Speaking to Official IRNA news agency, Kardor said that the sides are preparing to launch the export within the signed contract.

He further said that Russia will pay half of the oil money in cash in euro and the other half in the form of goods and equipment.

Earlier the two sides announced that a contract was finalized for export of 100,000 barrels of Irans oil to Russia on a daily basis.

The arrangement dates back to 2014 when Iran tried to boost vital energy exports in the face of intensified Western sanctions. At the time, it was said that Moscow and Tehran were discussing a barter deal that would see Moscow buy up to 500,000 barrels a day (bpd) of Iranian oil in exchange for Russian equipment and goods.

On August 18, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Iran can start within next month the deliveries of crude oil to Russia under the "oil-for-goods" program.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday that he could not imagine United States ever accepting a nuclear North Korea, warning that its rapidly advancing nuclear and missile programs would undermine, not strengthen, its security, Reuters reports.

Mattis has been at pains during his week-long trip to Asia to stress that diplomacy is Americas preferred course, a message he returned to after top-level military talks in Seoul on Saturday and at the tense border area with North Korea on Friday.

Still, he warned Pyongyang that its military was no match for the U.S.-South Korean alliance, and that diplomacy was most effective when backed by credible military force.

Make no mistake - any attack on the United States, or our allies, will be defeated. And any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is both effective and overwhelming, Mattis said.

Mattiss South Korean counterpart, Defense Minister Song Young-moo, dismissed the idea of deploying tactical nuclear weapons to the peninsula as a response to the Norths advances.

But the U.S.-Korean alliance had the ability to respond, even in the event of a nuclear attack from the North, Song added.

Tension between North Korea and the United States has been building after a series of nuclear and missile tests by Pyongyang and bellicose verbal exchanges between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump.
A policeman was killed and 8 others injured in a roadside bombing in Bahrain on Friday, Xinxua reported.

The Interior Ministry announced about the terror blast that happened in Jidhafs village.

"The terrorist act targeted a police bus on Khalifa bin Salman highway near Jidhafs," stated the Ministry.

One policeman died and eight others sustained serious and medium injuries in the terrorist act crime. The wounded police personnel were referred to hospital for treatment.

The ministry revealed that a group of terrorists targeted the bus with a remotely detained homemade bomb.

An investigation was launched into the terror crime to arrest those behind it, in order to bring them to justice.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 28

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Early parliamentary election is not planned in Turkey, the Turkish media reported Oct. 28, citing Mahir Unal, deputy chairman and spokesman of the countrys ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Unal said that the media reports that early parliamentary election will be held in Turkey in the beginning of 2018, are not true.

It should be reminded that earlier, the Turkish media reported that once the new opposition party led by Meral Aksener is created, early parliamentary election will be held in the country. The media explained this in such a way that allegedly the AKP feared that before the parliamentary election in 2019, Akseners party could become its real rival.

The new opposition party, called Iyi Parti (Good Party), was created in Turkey on Oct. 25. The motto of the newly created party is Turkey will become better.

Aksener, who claimed to become chairperson of Turkeys Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), was expelled from the partys ranks Sept. 8.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 28

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Forty-nine members of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group have been detained in Turkey's Ankara, the city Chief Public Prosecutors Office said in a message Oct. 28.

All the detainees are foreigners, their citizenship and names are not disclosed.

Istanbul police earlier said that 117 operations were carried out in the city against IS members from August 2016 to August 2017, as a result of which 648 people were arrested.

It was also reported that 940 people were deported from Turkey during this period as part of fight against IS.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 29

Trend:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a telephone conversation with the head of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Turkish media reported.

During the conversation, bilateral relations were discussed, as well as the situation in Syria.

Assessing the situation in Idlib, presidents stressed the need to coordinate joint actions.

Vladimir Putin also congratulated Erdogan with the national holiday of Turkey - the Day of the Republic.
Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned Saturdays terrorist attack in Somali capital Mogadishu that claimed the lives of at least 10 people, Anadolu reported.

In a written statement, the ministry said on its website: "We strongly condemn this heinous terrorist attack."

"We wish Gods mercy upon those who lost their lives in the attack, convey our condolences to the families who lost their loved ones and wish speedy recovery to the wounded.

Turkey will continue to stand by the Somali people and its government in the fight against terrorism."

At least 10 people, including a former lawmaker and a police official were killed and more than eight others wounded in two suspected suicide car blasts at a hotel in capital Mogadishu on Saturday evening, according to police.

Police Officer Ali Mohamed told Anadolu Agency over the phone that a car bomb had targeted the Nasa-hablood hotel near the presidential palace; soon after another car bomb exploded near the scene.

According to Somali national news agency (SONNA), former MP Abdinasir Garane and former police commissioner of Daynile district Mohamed Yusuf were among the dead.
KYODO NEWS - Oct 28, 2017 - 13:28 | World, All

U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis on Saturday strongly warned North Korea of a "massive military response" if it attacks on the United States or its allies.

"Make no mistake - any attack on the United States, or our allies, will be defeated," he said after talks with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young Moo.

"Any use of nuclear weapons will be met with a massive military response, effective and overwhelming," Mattis told reporters at a joint press conference with Song.

Their talks, known as the annual Security Consultative Meeting between the two allies, came at a time when tensions have sharply escalated on the peninsula over North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, marked by a war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump is slated to visit the South early next month on his first trip to Asia.

"Diplomacy remains our preferred course of action, but as I repeatedly emphasized, diplomats are most effective when backed by credible military force in this sort of situation," Mattis said.

On his part, Song said he and Mattis agreed to cooperate in expanding rotational deployment of U.S. strategic assets such as aircraft carriers, nuclear-powered submarines and bombers in South Korea, and also various deterrence measures to better counter North Korea's threats.

"The U.S. and South Korea strongly condemned North Korea's reckless provocative behaviors and agreed to back up diplomatic efforts by a strong combined alliance," Song said.

The two defense chiefs also agreed to consider the timing and conditions in resolving the issue of South Korea's gaining operational control at an early date.

Under the current arrangement, an American general has control over military operations in South Korea. South Korea has tried to regain operational control, but it has been indefinitely postponed due to North Korea's increasing military threats.

Mattis, who arrived in South Korea on Friday for a two-day visit, headed first to the tense border-crossing point north of Seoul, accompanied by Song.

"As Secretary of State (Rex) Tillerson has made clear, our goal is not war but rather the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Mattis said, reading out a brief statement in the truce village of Panmunjeom.
By PTI: (Eds: Changing a word in para 5)

Mumbai, Oct 28 (PTI) The Shiv Sena today hit out at the BJP-led Maharashtra government over "hasty" implementation of the Rs 34,022 crore loan waiver scheme for farmers, alleging it has increased their miseries instead of providing relief.

An editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said, "The government rushed to seek credit for loan waiver implementation, which has now backfired. It is a classic example of how haste spoils crucial decisions like this and how common people suffer due to it."

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"The whole exercise of loan waiver implementation has, in fact, increased the miseries of farmers instead of providing relief to them," the Sena, which is a part of the ruling alliance in Maharashtra, alleged.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party was often at loggerheads with the BJP and has been vocal in criticising the Modi government.

"Loan waiver has been a life or death situation for farmers, but the ruling dispensation tried to seek credit over it," the Saamana editorial said.

Recently, the Maharashtra government released Rs 4,000 crore under the first phase of the Rs 34,022 crore farm loan waiver scheme.

The Sena asked if the state government insisted on online registration of farmers, then how come "technical errors" occurred while finalising the list of beneficiaries.

"It shows poor preparation by the state administration before implementing such a big decision," it said.

The Sena said the government had claimed that farm loan up to Rs 1.50 lakh will be waived, then how come farmers got certificates of waiving of only Rs 10,000.

"Is it not a cruel joke on farmers plight?" it asked.

The Sena also alleged that the departments involved in implementation of the scheme are not accepting their mistakes, which has increased the farmers woes. PTI ND NRB NP NRB NSD

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: India

By Lalit K Jha

Washington, Oct 27 (PTI) A crucial Senate Committee today confirmed the nomination of Ken Juster as the next American envoy to India, paving the way for a full Senate confirmation of the old India hand, who played a key role in the landmark Indo-US civil nuclear deal.

Justers nomination was agreed by the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee by a voice vote, reflecting the bipartisan support his nomination has in the Congress.

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The nomination of Juster, 62, now moves to the full Senate before he can be sworn in as Americas new Ambassador to India.

He would replace Richard Verma as the top American diplomat to India if confirmed, The position has been lying vacant since January 20 after Verma resigned from the post with the swearing in of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States.

Given his overwhelming support among lawmakers, Juster is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate soon so as to be in India ahead of the next months Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Hyderabad, which is being co-hosted by India and the US.

Trumps senior advisor and daughter Ivanka Trump will be leading a high-powered American delegation of entrepreneurs to the GES in Hyderabad, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Most recently, Juster had served as the Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council.

Juster played a key role in enhancing the Indo-US ties under the Bush administration.

Juster has previously served as Under Secretary of Commerce from 2001-2005, Counsellor (acting) of the State Department from 1992-1993, and deputy and senior adviser to the Deputy Secretary of State from 1989-1992.

In the private sector, he has been a partner at the investment firm Warburg Pincus LLC, Executive Vice President at Salesforce.com, and senior partner at the law firm Arnold & Porter.

He has also served as Chairman of Harvard Universitys Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and as Vice Chairman of The Asia Foundation.

Juster holds a law degree from the Harvard Law School, a masters degree in Public Policy from the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and a bachelors degree in Government from Harvard College. PTILKJ PMS

--- ENDS ---
It's a cold, hard truth that stock market crashes happen. And while true long-term investors shouldn't pay market movements any heed, the fact of the matter is, even the most tough-minded investor inevitably falls prey to fretting over their portfolios when a crash finally does arrive. One of the ways to combat this, and generate valuable capital with which to buy stocks if and when a crash does happen, is by owning dividend-paying stocks. For reasons detailed below, Atmos Energy (NYSE: ATO), Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE: BIP), and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) are three great picks to get Foolish investors started.

Investor watching a stack chart crash.

Image Source: Getty Images.

Riding out the last crash with ease

Sean O'Reilly (Atmos Energy): They say a rising tide lifts all ships. But, as is often discovered during a market crash, a sinking tide has the opposite, devastating effect, dragging down the most storied of stocks. Fortunately, thanks to their business models, there are a few stocks that held up amid the turmoil of the 2008 financial crisis. One of these, my pick for a stock that thrives in market crashes, is Atmos Energy Corporation. Almost a decade ago, the 2008-2009 crash sent the S&P 500 down over 60% from its highs. Atmos Energy, a Dallas, Texas-based natural gas distributor, saw its shares fall a mere 20% during the market's darkest days in spring of 2009.

Atmos is one of the largest natural-gas distributors in the country, and its primary assets are natural gas pipelines and storage facilities. If this sounds like an incredibly stable, profitable business, that's because it is. Atmos acts as a toll collector, serving 3 million natural gas distribution customers across nine states. In its home state of Texas, Atmos Energy operates one of the largest intrastate natural gas pipeline networks.

Since the depths of the Great Recession, the company has continued humming along, rewarding investors with a steadily increasing share price and dividend payouts. Because of its inherent stability, and well-known status as a crash-resilient stock, its dividend yields just 2.1% -- decent in a world where 30-year Treasury Bills yield 2.8%. Its dividend has also grown from $1.3 per share in 2008 to an estimated $1.8 per share this year.

Story continues

With a respectable dividend, rock-solid business as a toll collector for the transportation of natural gas, and a stock that held up remarkably well during the last stock market crash, Atmos Energy is a fantastic pick for investors looking for safety.

Being greedy when others are fearful

Matt DiLallo (Brookfield Infrastructure Partners): One of Warren Buffett's notable investment quotes is that investors should "be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful." While many try to follow that advice, one management team that takes it to heart is Brookfield Infrastructure Partners. The company has a history of making game-changing acquisitions during market crashes, which then position it to increase distributions to investors at an even faster rate in subsequent years.

For example, during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the company invested $1.1 billion in Babcock & Brown Infrastructure after the Australian owner of transport, energy, and utility assets nearly collapsed under the weight of its debt. That transaction diversified Brookfield's portfolio and provided it with new platforms for growth, which helped drive double-digit cash flow and distribution growth in the years that followed.

More recently, the company took advantage of Brazil's economic cash by investing $1.3 billion in acquiring a stake in one of the country's largest natural gas transmission systems for a bargain price. The deal has already paid an immediate dividend by enabling the company to increase shareholder distributions 11% this year, well above its forecast for 5% to 9% annual growth.

That experience in taking full advantage of challenging times is why investors will be glad to have Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in their portfolios the next time the market takes a nosedive.

Shopping while the market's dropping

Keith Speights (Wal-Mart): To be honest, most stocks will be dragged down in a massive market meltdown. "Thriving" in a market crash is relative. One stock that has weathered past downturns much better than most is Wal-Mart.

Back during the economic crisis of 2008, Wal-Mart stock actually finished the year up nearly 20%. That number is a little misleading, though: The big retailer's stock had been up 35% a couple of weeks before the overall market went into a free fall. Still, Wal-Mart handily outperformed most stocks on the market. And finishing up in a year like 2008 is quite an achievement.

So, why was Wal-Mart able to fare better than others? One reason is that people still shop at its stores regardless of what the stock market does. Perhaps more importantly, investors know that people will keep shopping at Wal-Mart. Because of this awareness, Wal-Mart stock is less likely to be sold in the heat of a market crash than stocks of companies more sensitive to the underlying reasons behind the crash. I suspect this will still be the case for Wal-Mart whenever the next major market plunge occurs.

However, is Wal-Mart a smart pick for good times? I think so. Its dividend yield of 2.55% is a big plus. The company has also adjusted nicely to the new realities of online commerce. I expect Wal-Mart to enjoy solid growth over the next few years. This stock is a good one for when the market is dropping -- and when it's popping.

More From The Motley Fool

Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Matthew DiLallo owns shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and has the following options: long January 2019 $55 calls on Wal-Mart Stores and short January 2018 $72.50 calls on Wal-Mart Stores. Sean O'Reilly has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Brookfield Infrastructure Partners. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
AbbVie Inc. ABBV reported mixed results in the third quarter of 2017. The company surpassed earnings estimates, while posted in-line revenues during the period. Importantly, the company raised its long-term sales expectations of its blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira, despite rising competition in the market. In response, shares nudged up almost 2% in pre-market trading.

In the year so far, AbbVies shares have surged 48.6%, significantly outperforming the industrys 16.1% rally.

The biopharmaceutical company reported third-quarter 2017 earnings of $1.41 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.39 by 1.4%. The bottom line grew 16.5% year over year.

The company posted revenues of $7 billion in the reported quarter, having met the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Revenues also increased 9.5% year over year. Excluding a 0.7% favorable impact from foreign exchange rate fluctuations, operational revenues climbed 8.8%.

Quarter in Detail

Key drug Humira recorded sales growth of 14.8%, on an operational basis, with revenues coming in at $4.7 billion. Sales in the United States rallied 19.1% to $3.2 billion. Humira sales in the ex-U.S. market were up 6.8% on operational basis and 9.7% on reported basis to $1.55 billion. Growth across all three major market categories drove the upside, despite increasing competition from new classes of drugs as well as an indirect biosimilar competition in international markets.

Third-quarter net revenue from Imbruvica stood at $688 million, up 37.3% year over year. U.S. sales of Imbruvica were $574 million, up 31% compared with the year-ago figure. AbbVie recorded $114 million of international profit sharing with Johnson & Johnson JNJ.

Other products that delivered an impressive performance include Duodopa, showing revenue growth of 22% on operational and 26.3% on reported basis. Another product called Creon witnessed an increase of 14.8% in revenues on both operational and reported basis.

Story continues

HCV (chronic hepatitis C virus) product recorded sales of $276 million, down 27.7% and 26.8% on operational and reported basis, respectively. The downside can be attributable to intense pricing and competitive pressure in the HCV market.

Adjusted SG&A expenses were up 5.8% to $1.45 billion, while R&D expenses escalated 13.3% to $1.19 billion in the quarter. Adjusted operating margin was 43.1% of sales in the reported quarter.

AbbVie announced an 11% hike in quarterly dividend to 71 cents per share from 64 cents per share. The increased payment will begin with the dividend payable in February next year.

2017 Outlook

AbbVie raised its adjusted earnings for 2017 in the range of $5.53-$5.55 compared with $5.44-$5.54, expected previously. The earnings guidance reflects year-over-year growth of 14.9% at the mid-point. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is currently pegged at $5.53 per share.

Long-Term Guidance

AbbVie projects adjusted EPS in the range of $6.37-$6.57 for 2018, showing an approximate 15-19% rally from the mid-point of the revised range of 2017 outlook.

AbbVie estimates Humira to generate global sales of $21 billion in 2020, higher than $18 billion, predicted previously in 2015.

Several companies are working on biosimilar versions of Humira. Though Amgens AMGN Humira biosimilar received an FDA approval in September 2016, its launch is delayed to 2023 due to settlement of its patent dispute with AbbVie. This will make Humira free from competition for a few more years. Also, AbbVie has a robust intellectual property, which is expected to generate positive sentiments among the investors.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

AbbVie currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock in the health care sector is Eli Lilly and Company LLY, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Eli Lillys earnings per share estimates increased from $4.15 to $4.19 for 2017 and from $4.57 to $4.61 for 2018 over the last 30 days. The company delivered positive earnings surprises in three of the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 1.68%.

Wall Streets Next Amazon

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To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
FILE PHOTO - The Google logo is pictured atop an office building in Irvine, California, U.S. August 7, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo (Reuters)

(In paragraph 22, corrects Other Bets segment losses to millions of dollars, not billions in October 26 story.)

By Paresh Dave and Arjun Panchadar

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc on Thursday reported stronger-than-expected advertising sales and higher operating margins, boosting its shares as investors brushed off concerns about higher costs for acquiring mobile users.

The stock was up nearly 3 percent at $1,001.50 after the bell. They have gained 25 percent this year.

Third-quarter revenue for Alphabet, the parent company of Google, jumped 24 percent to $27.8 billion, above the average analysts' estimate of $27.2 billion. Profit of $6.7 billion, or $9.57 per share, was well ahead of Wall Street estimates.

Alphabet, along with much of the tech sector, has enjoyed torrid growth in recent years as advertising moves from traditional media to the internet and consumers flock to an ever-expanding array of digital devices.

While Google faces political pressure, especially in Europe, over its growing dominance and its role in spreading propaganda online, those problems have yet to hit the bottom line.

Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai told analysts that efforts to attract "both large and small advertisers" around the world were paying off, especially in Asia, where sales rose 29 percent to $4.2 billion.

The third quarter was the 15th in a row in which Alphabet has shown double-digit, year-over-year consolidated sales increases. The pace is not slowing down, with the growth rate reaching its highest level in nearly five years.

Ad sales at Google, Alphabet's main operating unit, account for the vast majority of the company's revenue. The ad business faces competition from Facebook Inc but has continued to grow as more users turn to Google's YouTube and mobile search services.

Alphabet shares trade for almost 25.8 times expected earnings and Facebook at about 26.5 times, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Story continues

Investors have been increasingly concerned about a sharp rise in costs for getting ads in front of users as Google pays Apple Inc and other companies to integrate Google search into mobile products and services.

The payments are included in traffic acquisition costs, or TAC, and they rose 54 percent in the quarter, accounting for 12 percent of ad sales.

Pichai defended the partnerships in response to several analysts' questions on Thursday, calling the deals "a win-win construct" because Google performs "better when our partners do well."

"We're pretty comfortable with how we're approaching it," he said.

Other analysts said revenue growth and cost controls made TAC increases less of an issue.

"There is way too much focus on TAC as a cost - it's a great investment for Google to control the publishing ecosystem," said Richard Kramer of Arete Research.

James Cordwell, an analyst at Atlantic Equities, said: "TAC is surging, but the trade-off between growth and margin is a good one."

The third-quarter profit margin of 24 percent marked Alphabet's highest since 27 percent in first quarter of 2013.

Google's other revenue, which includes hardware such as the Pixel smartphones and Home speakers as well as the cloud computing business, also enjoyed solid growth. Sales from non-ad businesses rose 40 percent from a year ago to $3.4 billion in the quarter.

Among Google's top priorities is expanding its salesforce to catch up with Amazon Web Services in providing corporate computing via large data centers, Pichai said. Alphabet does not break out cloud revenue, but Jefferies analysts estimate it at about 15 percent of Google's other revenue.

Google also is trying to take on Apple in the high-end smartphone business with the Pixel. The company deepened its investment in September, agreeing to acquire 2,000 engineers from smartphone maker HTC Corp for $1.1 billion. Google's Android operating system already powers most non-Apple smartphones.

But Google's second-generation Pixel had a rough debut last week, with users complaining of a faulty screen and clicking noises during calls. The company responded on Thursday by doubling the warranty period for the smartphones to two years and promising to issue software fixes.

Losses from Alphabet's Other Bets segment, which includes the Google Fiber broadband service and smart thermostat maker Nest, narrowed to $812 million from $861 million. The change reflected both an increase in sales across the companies and scaled back expansion plans for Fiber.

Google faces political uncertainty as European regulators crack down on its business practices and U.S. critics call for greater regulation of the tech industry.

The company recorded in the second quarter a $2.7 billion European Commission fine for unfair treatment of shopping websites in search results. Antitrust experts have said another fine could come by the end of year, as the EC investigates its distribution deals with smartphone vendors and wireless carriers.

Apparently alluding to political concerns about extremist propaganda and misinformation appearing on Google services, Pichai told analysts on Thursday that the company cared "deeply about the quality of information" it provides and would "constantly work to get this right."

(Reporting by Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler and Richard Chang)
By Anand Patel: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) has asked the Election Commission to bar rebel leader Sharad Yadav supporter s from misusing party symbol in Gujarat polls.

"Sharad Yadav and his supporters are still using party symbol at their functions and official address to misguide people, we request the EC to dispose their pending plea to avoid any confusion ahead of Gujarat poll," said KC Tyagi, party general secretary.

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"There is basis to what is being claimed by Sharad camp that there is a split in the party, the EC has made it clear while disposing off their application recently," said Mr Tyagi.

"Sharad Yadav resigned as party president in April 2016, on 10th April JD(U) National Executive body met in Parliament annexe in which Nitish Kumar was elected party president, it was Sharad Yadav who proposed his name, this was intimated to the EC the very next day through a letter signed by Javed Raza who was then party general secretary," he added.

Tyagi also said that this decision was ratified at the party national council meet in Patna. But, in September this year Raza wrote to EC taking a stand that all these resolutions were unconstitutional. This was summarily rejected by the EC.

"Nomination filing process for Gujarat assembly polls is about to begin, the rival faction has failed to submit any proof or document to support their claim over the JD(U), hence, the EC should reject Sharad camp's suggestions as soon as possible so that this matter ends here," said Mr Tyagi. He alleged that the Sharad camp also tried to pressurise EC and chairman of Rajya Sabha to pass an order in their favour.

Two senior leaders from Congress party met the Vice President and requested that matter pertaining to the membership of rebel JD-U leaders be given to Ethics and Privilege Committee of the Rajya Sabha. This is highly unethical as both are constitutional bodies.

Tyagi also informed that his party has decided to contest on 5-6 seats in Gujarat polls. "These are strongholds of our party and we will have no alliance with the BJP for the contest," he said. JD(U) has recently left Congress-led UPA to join hands with the BJP in Bihar.

--- ENDS ---
How much bigger can the worlds biggest tech companies get?

Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Intel together generated more than $100 billion in revenue in the September quarter, roughly 2% of United States national output.

Judging by premarket gains, the tech giants could add another $75 billion to their combined market value, and spark a broader rally when the market opens on Friday.

The companies beat Wall Street expectations for profit and revenue for the quarter, riding on bumper demand for their cloud computing businesses as corporate computing shifts away from company-owned data centers and to the cloud.

Obviously we are headed for a strong opening due to the smashing results from the tech heavyweights, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.

I expect markets to close the week on new record highs and a good portion of that should be attributed to the results that came from the tech companies.

Wall Street analysts scrambled to raise their price targets on the stocks.

Credit Suisse raised its price target on Amazon.com to $1,385 from $1,350, indicating that the stock has room to climb another 42% over the next 12 months from Thursdays close.

The brokerage also made the most bullish moves on Intel intc and Microsoft msft .

Deutsche Bank, the most bullish brokerage on Alphabet, said the company can add another 24% to its shares in the next 12 months.

While the market is used to record-breaking results from Amazon.com amzn and Alphabet googl , Microsofts revenue rose the most in percentage terms in three years, underscoring the success of Chief Executive Satya Nadellas turnaround strategy.

Even old guard Intel, which has been struggling with tepid growth, said revenue from its higher-margin data center business rose 7%, slightly beating expectations.
Amazon (AMZN) announced in October it plans on hiring 120,000 seasonal workers over the next month to meet consumer demand for the holidays.

While that number is similar to Amazons seasonal hiring binge last year, it also means Amazon is virtually doubling the number of people it employs during what it calls peak season across its 75-plus fulfillment centers and 25 sorting centers in the U.S.

But how does Amazon manage to ramp up so many temp workers so quickly?

Alex Ries is an operations manager at Amazons Tracy, California-based fulfillment center, a sprawling 1.2 million square foot facility roughly 60 miles away from San Francisco that employs more than 3,500 employees. A former United States Marine Forces Reserve sergeant of six years, Ries joined Amazon in June 2015.

He now manages the inbound team responsible for processing and categorizing the millions of items that come into the warehouse from different merchants each year.

Alex Ries is an operations manager at Amazons Tracy, California-based fulfillment center, a sprawling 1.2 million square foot facility roughly 60 miles away from San Francisco that employs around 3,500 employees.

The majority of work to get those people ready is done ahead of time, Ries explained to Yahoo Finance. From January onward, my team is thinking about how we can better prepare for peak [season], and a lot of that comes from making sure we have the right equipment, making sure our equipment works and making sure those processes are ready to go by the time we start getting our new hires.

Nina Lindsey, an Amazon spokesperson, credits Amazons quick ramp-up for the holidays to the wide range of technology it deploys to drive down the training time from six weeks at many traditional warehouse jobs to just two days.

A lot of it is state-of-the-art and even technology that weve developed in-house on our own with the feedback of our employees, Lindsey told Yahoo Finance.

At the Tracy, California, fulfillment centers pick stations, for instance, hundreds of robots work in tandem to bring items to employees, who then pack those items in different bins to swiftly fill customer orders.

At Amazon fulfillment center pick stations, human workers work in tandem with robots to fulfill customer orders.

Those pick stations sport computer screens with easy-to-understand menus and graphics so workers can quickly find items for customer orders and place them in bins to be shipped off for packaging. Likewise, when those bins reach the packaging area, workers reference instructions on another set of computer screens that instruct them on how to quickly and efficiently box and tape orders.

Story continues

For Amazon, offering a streamlined and efficient training process for its seasonal workers is paramount not just for meeting shopping demand during peak season but to also better compete against other retailers, who are also ramping up its seasonal workforces. Target (TGT) plans on adding 100,000 temporary holiday workers, for instance, while Macys has said it will add 80,000 seasonal workers of its own.

While the average tour of duty for an Amazon seasonal worker can range anywhere between six weeks and three months, Lindsey said Amazon expects to hire thousands of them on full-time, depending on a mix of factors, including work performance and their desire to stay on.



JP Mangalindan is a senior correspondent for Yahoo Finance covering the intersection of tech and business. Email story tips and musings to jpm@oath.com. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

More from JP:
File photo: Chairman and CEO of American Airlines Doug Parker waits to tee off on the 11th hole during the first round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament in Pebble Beach, California February 11, 2016. REUTERS/Michael Fiala (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American Airlines Chief Executive Doug Parker said on Thursday that a move by the leading U.S. black civil rights group to warn black travelers off the airline was "obviously a disappointment."

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on Tuesday recommended black travelers avoid the airline after what it called a pattern of racially biased incidents.

"Discrimination, exclusion and unconscious biases are enormous problems that no one has mastered," Parker said on the airline's quarterly earnings call on Thursday.

Parker said American Airlines has made efforts to contact the NAACP and he expects the two to work together "in the very near term."

(Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Bill Rigby)
Amazon, Microsoft, and Intel all had reason to cheer Friday.

Shares of these three tech giants were all booming after they reported earnings on Thursday that impressed investors.

Amazons shares were up nearly 13% Friday to $1,100.95 while Microsofts shares jumped 6% to $83.81. Intels shares rose 7% to $44.40.

Although these companies all have different business models, they share a common linkcloud computing, in which companies buy computing resources on-demand.

Amazons amzn retail business is still the companys primary cash cow, but its thriving Amazon Web Services unit is still growing at a rapid pace. AWS sales grew 41.9% to $4.58 billion, which was higher than analyst projections of $4.52 billion.

Get Data Sheet, Fortunes technology newsletter.

Meanwhile, Microsoft msft claimed big gains in its cloud business, with CEO Satya Nadella boasting to analysts that the company has an annualized revenue run rate of $20.4 billion that is extrapolated from one recent months sales multiplied by 12.

Intel intc also bragged that cloud computing helped sales in its latest quarter. While Intel does not sell on-demand computing services, it sells computer chips to cloud computing companies like Microsoft and Amazon. When those companies grow and spend big money in their data centers, Intel stands to benefitas long as they keep buying from the semiconductor giant and not rivals like Nvidia.

Intel said its data center business jumped 7% to $4.9 billion in the companys third quarter. Intel CEO Bryan Krzanich boasted to analysts during an earnings call of recent chip deals between Microsoft, Google, and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, also a cloud provider, as highlights.

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Still, Intels data center business is heavily dependent on the cloud computing companies it sells its technology to, and Krzanich has previously said that sales to those businesses can be lumpy, meaning that its hard to predict their data center spending. That can impact Intels ability to achieve its sales projections.

Story continues

Additionally, Intel faces the potential threat of these companies designing their own chips, as in the case of Google, which built a custom chip for machine learning to which it rents business customers access. Any effort by these cloud companies to build their own chip tech, even if they use for just a small part of their overall data centers and cloud businesses, could cause Intel to lose out on sales.

As for Google and its parent company Alphabet, cloud computing business is growingalthough the company did not provide detailed quarterly information about the units financial performance because of its relatively small size. But as Alphabets CFO Ruth Porat told analysts after reporting stellar quarterly earnings, she expects that cloud computing will be crucial to its business in the future.

To underscore that point, Porat said Alphabets workforce at the end of its latest quarter was 78,100, up 2,495 from the previous quarter. The bulk of hiring was in the companys cloud unit.

Update (Oct. 27, 2017): This article was updated with closing stock prices.
Any changes to taxes on your 401(k) savings won't change two key tenets of planning for retirement: Save early and save as much as possible.That's according to retirement experts even as 401(k) plans have gotten drawn into the tax-reform debate in Washington. Right now, workers who have access to 401(k) plans will be able to invest up to $18,500 next year , while participants age 50 and over will be able to put away $6,000 more. Under current rules, investors will not pay taxes on those contributions until a later date. That could all change if some lawmakers have their way. Limits for pretax contributions to 401(k) plans could be lowered to $2,400 as Congress looks to make up for other tax cuts. President Donald Trump has said he is reluctant to make changes to the popular savings program. But Rep. Kevin Brady, a top tax writer, said Wednesday that changes could still happen. The debate comes even as America faces a retirement crisis, with many having saved too little to carry them through their later years. The balances for 401(k) and individual retirement accounts held by households ages 55 to 64 reached a median $135,000 in 2016, up from $111,000 in 2013, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. That provides for about $600 per month in retirement. About half of households that are close to retirement have no 401(k) savings, the center found . About 54 million workers participate in 401(k) plans , according to the Investment Company Institute, an association of investment companies. Yet many workers do not have access to these plans because they are self-employed or their employer does not offer one. Nevertheless, retirement experts expressed concern about the negative impact the changes could have."We would not be talking about this except for the budget gains," center director Alicia H. Munnell said. "I think the risk of people substantially reducing their contributions because they no longer see the benefit of an immediate deduction is very high."Research published by Munnell this month indicates that some savings could increase if investors are pushed to post-tax retirement investments.That is based on the assumption that 50 percent of people would maintain the amount they contribute to their 401(k), which would result in more wealth during retirement because that money has already been taxed. If the other 50 percent decreases their contributions, their take-home pay could be the same with the Roth contribution as it was without it, resulting in the same amount of after-tax wealth, according to Munnell.But problems could arise with new rules, Munnell said.Investors could cut back their contributions more than just slightly. And the option to cash out completely could be seen as more attractive because taxes have already been paid on the money."I think that irrational responses may well lead people to save less," Munnell said.Financial advisers who work with individual investors also said they are concerned about how such changes to 401(k)s could negatively impact people."They would stop saving for retirement," said David Edwards, president and wealth advisor at Heron Wealth, a financial planning firm in New York.Behavior plays a partThe reason has to do with behavioral finance, he said. When saving for retirement with pretax money, it feels like someone else is paying for it. Take away that benefit, and saving becomes less appealing."You'll get a huge tax benefit when you retire, but it won't feel the same way," Edwards said.The fact that only certain individuals have access to these retirement plans is unfair, Edwards said. A more beneficial change for legislators to consider would be opening up the Thrift Savings Plan, available to federal workers, for everyone, he said.Scott Hanson, co-founder and senior partner at Hanson McClain Advisors in Sacramento, California, said the rumored changes could discourage people from saving for retirement when most already are not saving enough."What I wish was part of this discussion is separating retirement savings from the employer," which could provide more options for investors, Hanson said.If the changes do go through, investors will need to maintain the momentum and amount they are saving for retirement, said Geri Eisenman Pell, CEO of Pell Wealth Partners."We can't have people take their eye off the ball in terms of saving for retirement," Eisenman Pell said. "That does not mean to stop saving for retirement. It means to save differently."Investors could diversify with investments such as Roth IRAs, regular IRAs and life insurance policies, she said. They may also look to annuities because, like 401(k)s, the money invested in them is often tax-deferred and can be automated, she said.As the effects of these possible changes are debated, the discussion in Washington is likely just beginning, said Lee Covington, senior vice president and general counsel at the Insured Retirement Institute, a trade organization representing the retirement income industry.Senate members who oppose the changes to 401(k) contribution limits may send letters to other senators urging them to join them, Covington said."We don't want to take one step forward and take one step back," Covington said. "We want to see the current tax deferral for retirement savings preserved." Any changes to taxes on your 401(k) savings won't change two key tenets of planning for retirement: Save early and save as much as possible. That's according to retirement experts even as 401(k) plans have gotten drawn into the tax-reform debate in Washington. Right now, workers who have access to 401(k) plans will be able to invest up to $18,500 next year , while participants age 50 and over will be able to put away $6,000 more. Under current rules, investors will not pay taxes on those contributions until a later date. That could all change if some lawmakers have their way. Limits for pretax contributions to 401(k) plans could be lowered to $2,400 as Congress looks to make up for other tax cuts. President Donald Trump has said he is reluctant to make changes to the popular savings program. But Rep. Kevin Brady, a top tax writer, said Wednesday that changes could still happen. The debate comes even as America faces a retirement crisis, with many having saved too little to carry them through their later years. The balances for 401(k) and individual retirement accounts held by households ages 55 to 64 reached a median $135,000 in 2016, up from $111,000 in 2013, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. That provides for about $600 per month in retirement. About half of households that are close to retirement have no 401(k) savings, the center found . About 54 million workers participate in 401(k) plans , according to the Investment Company Institute, an association of investment companies. Yet many workers do not have access to these plans because they are self-employed or their employer does not offer one. Nevertheless, retirement experts expressed concern about the negative impact the changes could have. "We would not be talking about this except for the budget gains," center director Alicia H. Munnell said. "I think the risk of people substantially reducing their contributions because they no longer see the benefit of an immediate deduction is very high." Research published by Munnell this month indicates that some savings could increase if investors are pushed to post-tax retirement investments. That is based on the assumption that 50 percent of people would maintain the amount they contribute to their 401(k), which would result in more wealth during retirement because that money has already been taxed. If the other 50 percent decreases their contributions, their take-home pay could be the same with the Roth contribution as it was without it, resulting in the same amount of after-tax wealth, according to Munnell. But problems could arise with new rules, Munnell said. Investors could cut back their contributions more than just slightly. And the option to cash out completely could be seen as more attractive because taxes have already been paid on the money. "I think that irrational responses may well lead people to save less," Munnell said. Financial advisers who work with individual investors also said they are concerned about how such changes to 401(k)s could negatively impact people. "They would stop saving for retirement," said David Edwards, president and wealth advisor at Heron Wealth, a financial planning firm in New York. Behavior plays a part The reason has to do with behavioral finance, he said. When saving for retirement with pretax money, it feels like someone else is paying for it. Take away that benefit, and saving becomes less appealing. "You'll get a huge tax benefit when you retire, but it won't feel the same way," Edwards said. The fact that only certain individuals have access to these retirement plans is unfair, Edwards said. A more beneficial change for legislators to consider would be opening up the Thrift Savings Plan, available to federal workers, for everyone, he said. Scott Hanson, co-founder and senior partner at Hanson McClain Advisors in Sacramento, California, said the rumored changes could discourage people from saving for retirement when most already are not saving enough. "What I wish was part of this discussion is separating retirement savings from the employer," which could provide more options for investors, Hanson said. If the changes do go through, investors will need to maintain the momentum and amount they are saving for retirement, said Geri Eisenman Pell, CEO of Pell Wealth Partners. "We can't have people take their eye off the ball in terms of saving for retirement," Eisenman Pell said. "That does not mean to stop saving for retirement. It means to save differently." Investors could diversify with investments such as Roth IRAs, regular IRAs and life insurance policies, she said. They may also look to annuities because, like 401(k)s, the money invested in them is often tax-deferred and can be automated, she said. As the effects of these possible changes are debated, the discussion in Washington is likely just beginning, said Lee Covington, senior vice president and general counsel at the Insured Retirement Institute, a trade organization representing the retirement income industry. Senate members who oppose the changes to 401(k) contribution limits may send letters to other senators urging them to join them, Covington said. "We don't want to take one step forward and take one step back," Covington said. "We want to see the current tax deferral for retirement savings preserved."



More From CNBC


FILE PHOTO: Wael Sawan, Executive Vice President for Shell's deepwater division, poses for a picture before an interview for Reuters during an oil conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil October 24, 2017. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly

By Marta Nogueira and Alexandra Alper

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Oil major Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA.L) won half the blocks awarded in Brazil's deepwater oil auction on Friday, while rival BP (BP.L) took two blocks and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) one in a historic opening of the pre-salt play to foreign operators.

Brazil awarded six of the eight blocks on offer in the auction for the rights to pump oil from the country's coveted pre-salt region, where billions of barrels of oil are trapped below thousands of feet of salt in the country's Atlantic waters.

President Michel Temer said development of the blocks would lead to 100 billion reais (23.52 billion pounds)in investment from the winning companies and 130 billion reais in royalties and other revenues for the cash-strapped state.

The wins bolster Shell's position as the largest foreign operator in Brazil's offshore oil sector, second only to state-run oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) (PETR4.SA), adding more than 1,700 square kilometers (656 square miles) to its deep-water Brazil portfolio.

The Anglo-Dutch oil major won one area in a consortium with France's Total SA (TOTF.PA), another with Petrobras and Repsol-Sinopec, and a third with Qatar Petroleum International (QPI) and China's CNOOC.

Shell has said it is confident it can pump oil from the pre-salt fields at below $40 a barrel.

"These winning bids were submitted after our thorough evaluation and add strategic acreage to our ... global deep-water growth options," Shell Upstream Director Andy Brown said.

Rival BP Plc (BP.L), which is active in Brazil but not yet producing oil, took two blocks on Friday.

"We see the government of Brazil being more supportive of foreign companies entering Brazil," BP Latin America President Felipe Arbelaez said after the rounds.

"There are high quality assets. We believe that the assets here will be resilient in any price environment."

Brazil earned 6.15 billion reais ($1.88 billion) in signing bonuses for the six fields that it awarded in the auction.

Story continues

Temer's government has enacted reforms to make the energy sector more attractive to foreign investment, and for the first time international oil firms will be allowed to operate fields in the pre-salt.

Countries worldwide sitting on oil and gas reserves are keen to pump it before it becomes less valuable as global policies to address climate change kick in.

The opposition in Brazil has pushed back against the reforms and the auction was delayed by three hours on Friday after a federal judge issued an injunction to suspend the process at the behest of the leftist Workers Party, which opposes the privatization of oil production.

That left top executives from the world's largest oil companies milling around in the hotel that hosted the auction, in an upscale seaside neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro.

EXXON

U.S. major Exxon Mobil, whose 10-block win in last month's Brazilian auction was seen by many as a prelude to a big play on Friday, took just one block as part of a consortium with Norway's Statoil ASA (STL.OL) and Petroleos de Portugal SA[PETP.UL], a unit of Galp Energia SGPS SA (GALP.LS). Two blocks got no bids.

But Exxon bought a stake in a nearby block from Statoil for $1.3 billion, Statoil said, soon after the round.

"Our full intent is to get right after the Brazil acreage," Jeff Woodbury, Exxon's head of investor relations, said on a conference call following the auction.

The quality of reserves and the reforms have made Brazil an important target for oil majors, even though they have had less appetite for capital-intensive mega projects since crude prices crashed in 2014.

Peroba, which was clinched by Petrobras, BP and China National Oil & Gas Exploration and Development Corp, boasts an estimated 5.3 billion barrels of oil while Carcara, won by Statoil, Exxon and Petrogal, is thought to have some 2.2 billion barrels of oil.

"Brazil's offshore is one of the last major plays out there that's in its infancy," said Brian Youngberg, an oil industry analyst at Edward Jones. "Companies that are still interested in the big elephants out there, like Exxon and Shell, are aggressively pursuing them."

Brazil has high hopes for the volume of oil the companies can pump from the blocks. Brazilian oil output could double to more than 5 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2027, compared with the 2.6 million bpd produced in August, regulator ANP has said.

Two blocks on offer at the auction were not placed. But ANP chief Decio Oddone still considered the rounds a success.

"A result in which 75 percent of offered areas are sold is a resounding success anywhere on the planet according to any point of view," he said. "Brazil returned to the oil and gas sector with this auction."

(Additional reporting by Luciano Costa, Rodrigo Viga Gaier, Simon Webb and Ernest Scheyder; Writing by Simon Webb and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Susan Thomas)
Yesterdays report by the Wall Street Journal that CVS Health was in talks to buy health insurer Aetna sent ripples through much of the healthcare realm. The combination of CVS Health, the seventh-biggest company in the U.S. by revenue, with Aetna (No. 43 on the Fortune 500) would, if it were to go through, create a corporate behemoth with $240 billion in annual revenue across a wide swath of the healthcare continuum, from retail pharmacy and benefit management to insurance.

As a rule, any creation of a new behemoth generates buzz. But this time, there has been equally breathless talk about whyWhy, that is, CVS would offer what, presumably, would be a jaw-dropping $13 billion premium for Aetnas stock? (The reported $200-a-share offer would have been roughly $40 bucks above Aetnas closing share price on Wednesday, before word of the potential deal leaked out on Thursday, sending Aetnas stock due north. On June 30, according to the insurers latest 10-Q, the company had 332 million shares outstanding.)

For the answer, all eyes turned to that other buzz-worthy behemoth, Amazon.com, which has given signs its moving into CVS Healths pharmacy territory. Those rumors got more weight after the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that The Everything Store had applied for and received wholesale pharmacy licenses in at least 12 states.

Others pointed to more fundamental concerns of competition, suggesting that CVS Health needed Aetna (or something like it) to better compete with UnitedHealth Group, which has both a managed care organization (MCO) and a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) under the same roof. Indeed, the Oracle of Delphi award ought to go to Robert Flynn, a principal at Fuld & Company, who spelled out back in June Six Reasons Why CVS Health Should Acquire Aetna . . . Soon. (Reading the post now, in hindsight, its actually pretty brilliant.)

But the purported offer got me thinking not about the why but about the whoparticularly, about the leader of the sought-after company, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini.

Story continues

Bertolini has figured out a clever way of rewarding shareholders. And thats largely by focusing on the wellbeing of his employees. Witness one high-profile move the CEO made two and a half years ago, when Bertolini announced at the annual JPMorgan health confab that Aetna would substantially raise the minimum wage of its U.S. employees and also help offset worker healthcare costs.

Though, at the time, others scoffed at the largesse, Aetnas shareholders have benefitted remarkably. Since that announcement in January of 2015, Aetna has returned an annualized 29% to its stockholders including dividends, compared with 11.1% for the S&P 500. Shareholders who held stock on the date of Bertolinis announcement and still hold it today have seen the value of their original stake more than double (compared with the more modest 34% gain for the S&P 500 during the same period).

That said, when I spoke to Bertolini late in the summer, he didnt seem remotely satisfiedat least with the direction that much of Americas corporate enterprise seems to be headed. Indeed, he says, if the capitalist system that has driven the American Experiment to success is to continue driving to success, it needs to figure out a way for American workers to share more, and feel a greater stake in, that prosperity.

Heres the way I think about it, he told me at the end of August. CEOs are required to paint a stark reality of what the world looks like in five to 10 years. So its not what it is today versus other alternatives today. Its about what should we be versus what its going to look like in five to 10 years from now. And doing nothing, in the current model around capitalism, will destroy capitalism. When 65% of people under the age of 35 believe that socialism is a better model, we have a problem. We have a problem. So unless we change it, it will changeand maybe not in a good way.

Bertolini continued: My call to other CEOs is: If we dont step up to change it, as captains of capitalism, somebody else willand it will not be pretty when that happens.

I think theres a clarion call to make a difference here, he went on. And unless we do it on our ownunless people speak out and talk about how we can be better, and we can lift all boats versus just the 1 percentWere in for a really bad time. So Im very focused on that message with a lot of folks because thats the reality in the future.

When I saw Bertolini in late September, at Fortunes and Times CEO Initiative, he reiterated the sentiment.

It seems unlikely that Aetnas chief would remain in the new corporate fold if the purported CVS acquisition were to happen. And one has to wonder whether the corporate culture Bertolini has built there would survive as well. It would be too bad if it didntand seemingly, for shareholders, too.

DIGITAL HEALTH

Amazon is making moves to get into the drug distribution business. Theres a spooky specter out there for drug distributors everywhere this Halloween. Its name is Amazon. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the company has won regulatory approval from a dozen states to become, what would essentially, turn it into a major digital prescription drug operation. The thing is, this is just a first (if important step). There are plenty of other regulatory headaches Amazon would have to survive in order to become a real, wide-scale medicine distributor. But the fact its already taken these steps suggests its ambitions in the field may be more than just wishful speculation. (Fortune)

INDICATIONS

The worlds best-selling drug may just keep on growing. AbbVies Humira, the anti-inflammatory drug which has long reigned supreme in all global prescription drug sales (it brought in a cool $16 billion last year) may actually become even more lucrative. The biotech giant projected Humira sales to reach $21 billion in 2020, in part thanks to a deal that will keep cheaper biosimilar versions off the market until at least 2023. (Reuters)

THE BIG PICTURE

Kids absurd amount of Halloween sugar consumption isnt the scariest part of the story. Theres always some hand-wringing over kids excessive candy and sugar consumption over Halloween. Fair enoughsome surveys suggest the average trick-or-treater consumes 3 cups of sugar during the spooky festivities. But a couple of days of candy largesse, while not necessarily wise, isnt the real problem. The troubling amount of sugar American children take in on a daily basis is. (Fortune)

CVS-Aetna underscores how vertical is the new horizontal in health care mergers. Cliff highlighted the most important aspects of the proposed CVS Health deal to snap up insurer Aetna. One key note? This is part of a shifting strategy for health care M&A; spurned by regulators rejecting horizontal mergers between insurance companies, these firms are increasingly opening up to more vertical arrangements with health care outfits across the supply chain (drug companies, retail pharmacies, and benefits managers alike). More on this soon.

REQUIRED READING

How Big Can These Tech Giants Get? by Reuters

American Airlines Leads the Industry in Complaints of Racial Discrimination, by Grace Donnelly

CVSs Transformative Deal, by Alan Murray

Catalonia Declares Independence from Spain, by Geoffrey Smith

Produced by Sy Mukherjee @the_sy_guy sayak.mukherjee@fortune.com

Find past coverage. Sign up for other Fortune newsletters.
The man was posted at the police training centre in Katua, and had gone on leave to his native village. Suspicion grew when he failed to report back to his duty for more than four days.

By Shuja-ul-Haq : A policeman from Shopian who has been missing for more than four days has reportedly joined the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The man was posted at the police training centre in Katua. He had gone on leave to his native village.

Suspicion grew when he failed to report back to his duty for more than four days.

advertisement

The news that he had joined LeT was confirmed when a picture of him holding an AK 47 rifle surfaced on social media.

Police are still trying to understand what triggered such a decision.

WATCH | J-K: LeT commander Waseem Shah, another terrorist killed in Pulwama encounter

--- ENDS ---
FILE PHOTO: A Chevron gas station sign is shown in Cardiff, California, in this January 25, 2016 photo. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

By Ernest Scheyder

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Chevron Corp (CVX.N) reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit on Friday as U.S. production slipped, offsetting a rise in oil and natural gas prices.

Shares of the San Ramon, California-based company fell 1.2 percent to $117 in premarket trading. The stock has gained less than 1 percent this year.

Net income in the third quarter was $1.95 billion, or $1.03 per share, compared with $1.28 billion, or 68 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, Chevron earned 85 cents per share. By that measure, analysts expected earnings of 98 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Despite the miss, Chevron said its results were moving in the right direction, with spending on large projects being scaled back.

"We continue to see improvement in the underlying pattern of earnings and cash flow," said Chief Executive John Watson, who will retire early next year.

Chevron's operations were largely not affected by Hurricane Harvey, which tore through the western U.S. Gulf Coast region in August.

Production grew 8 percent to 2.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

In the United States, Chevron said its rising Gulf of Mexico and Permian Shale output was offset by natural declines in wells elsewhere. Production increased outside the United States.

(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Bernadette Baum)
By Salvador Rodriguez SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc , Microsoft Corp , Alphabet Corps Google and Intel Corp are all putting their chips on the cloud computing business, and it is booming. All four companies posted stellar quarterly earnings on Thursday, showing the strength of the shift in corporate computing away from company-owned data centers and to the cloud. Microsoft's Azure business nearly doubled, with year-over-year growth of 90 percent. The company does not break out revenue figures for Azure, but research firm Canalys estimates it generated $2 billion for Microsoft. The move to the cloud was one we felt Microsoft could always benefit from, and theyre showing us that they can, said Kim Forrest, vice president and senior equity analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group, a portfolio management firm. Highlighting the quarter for Microsoft was a deal securing retailer Costco as an Azure customer. That came just two months after the close of Amazons acquisition of grocery chain Whole Foods, which has heightened unease among retail and e-commerce companies about working with Amazon, said Ed Anderson, an analyst with Gartner. Tim Green, analyst with the Motley Fool, said Amazon could find it needs to make changes at some point at Amazon Web services. "Spinning off AWS at some point down the road might become necessary to prevent an exodus of customers," he said. Amazon Web Services is still delivering far more revenue than any of its peers. For the quarter, AWS raked in nearly $4.6 billion -- a year-over-year increase of 42 percent. AWS may have missed out on Costco, but the company secured deals with Hulu, Toyota Racing Development, and most notably, General Electric. Google Cloud Platform landed deals with the likes of department store retailer Kohls and payments processor PayPal. Like Microsoft, Alphabet does not break out revenue for Google Cloud Platform, but Canalys estimates the business generated $870 million in the quarter, up 76 percent year-over-year. Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said Google Cloud Platform is a top-three priority for the company. He said Google plans to continue expanding its cloud sales force. Canalys estimates the cloud computing market at $14.4 billion for the third quarter of 2017, up 43 percent from a year prior. Amazon holds 31.8 percent of the market, followed by Microsoft at 13.9 percent and Google with 6 percent, according to Canalys' estimates. The cloud market will keep growing faster than most of the traditional information technology segment, as the market is still in the developing stage, said Daniel Liu, research analyst with Canalys. Reflecting the overall growth of the market was the strong performance by Intel, which sells processors and chips to cloud vendors. In July, Intel launched its new Xeon Scalable Processors, which drove 7 percent year-to-year growth for the company's data center group. The big three cloud vendors also benefit from the decision by many enterprises to build their applications using more than one cloud vendor. Retailers Home Depot Inc and Target Corp , for example, told Reuters they use a combination of cloud providers. Our philosophy here is to be cloud agnostic, as much as we can, said Stephen Holmes, a spokesman for Home Depot, which uses both Azure and Google Cloud Platform. Some analysts expect cloud services growth to slow over time as competition increases. Amazon, for instance, has said that price cuts and new products with lower costs on average are a core part of its cloud business. Additionally, Amazon Web Services saw usage growth outpacing that of revenue growth, said Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky. Going forward, cloud services will become more of a commodity, and the prices will quickly compress, said Adam Sarhan, CEO of 50 Park Investments, an investment advisory service. For now though, it's a great business with plenty of room for all to grow. (Reporting by Salvador Rodriguez; Additional reporting by Jeffrey Dastin and Paresh Dave; Editing by Leslie Adler; Editing by Jonathan Weber)
Good morning.

The big news of the day is CVSs offer to buy health insurer Aetna in a $66 billion deal. Aetna shares rose on the news, while CVS shares dropped. The acquisition would cement CVS CEO Larry Merlos effort to turn his drug store company into a health care giant. You can hear Merlos take on his companys transformation here, and Aetna CEO Mark Bertolinis view of the rapidly changing health care marketplace here.

Meanwhile, its feedback Friday, and time for a couple of reader responses:

In response to my Tuesday post about Ray Dalios analysis of the plight of the bottom 60%, J.B. writes:

While deep down I know we should celebrate every time someone with this kind of influence and power wakes up to the power of disaggregating data and seeing whats really going on in the U.S., its a bit hard to read this and not thinkyes, thanks for the analysis and welcome to reality, Ray. And I note basically almost nothing detailed about what to do about any of these issues. Should we start with an evaluation of the merits of carried interest, perhaps?

And W.M. wrote in to call my attention to the apparent grammatical error in last Fridays headline, How Intuit Do It. Apologies, W.M., but my colleague Geoffrey wrote that headline, and he comes from that small island nation where people think collective nouns can take plural verbs.

More news belowand enjoy the weekend.

Alan Murray @alansmurray alan.murray@fortune.com

Top News

 Big Techs Big Quarter

Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft all posted significantly better-than-expected earnings in the third quarter. That will reinforce confidence in a stock market rally that got another boost yesterday from the European Central Bank, which refused to set an end date for its quantitative easing program yesterday. Fortune

 Meister Kills Bad Chemistry Deal

Huntsman abandoned its $20 billion merger with Clariant under pressure from activist investors led by Keith Meisters Corvex (through a vehicle called White Tale). They accused Clariant of underselling itself in the deal, implicitly accusing the Swiss companys CEO of caring more about his job security than about his shareholders. The deal would have created the worlds second-biggest specialty chemicals company. Fortune

Story continues

 Insys Founder Kapoor Arrested Over Opioid Conspiracy

The Department of Justice arrested Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor on charges of bribing doctors to needlessly prescribe his firms opioid painkiller. Kapoors arrest comes a day after President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency and nearly a year after former Insys CEO Michael Babich and five other onetime executives were arrested as part of an alleged nationwide conspiracy. Insys, which was valued at over $19 billion only two years ago, is now worth a mere $417 million after falling another 23% in response to the news Thursday. Fortune

 VW Raises Outlook Despite Dieselgate Charges

Volkswagen shares hit a 10-month high after the company posted better-than-expected profits for the third quarter and raised its guidance for the year. Thats despite growing concern that auto sales are weakening in markets well beyond the U.S. (where VW is under-represented). The results included extra charges related to the diesel scandal that had been announced some weeks ago. Germanys car sector is anxiously waiting to see what transport and environmental policies will be adopted by the new government, which is set to include both pro-business liberals and hard-line environmentalists. Fortune

Around the Water Cooler

 The Market Glosses Over Twitters Twin Embarrassments

Twitters shares soared 19% after it said it could turn its first profit soon. The stock performance is all the more remarkable for ignoring a double embarrassment that said nothing good about its business model. The company said it would stop accepting ads from Russian-owned broadcaster RT and its associated news agency Sputnik, whereupon RT published details of Twitters pitch to sell vast tracts of election-related ad space on its network. More importantly Twitter also had to admit it had overstated its user base for three years. Fortune

 Massacre at Mattel

The collapse of ToysRUs triggered a 13% drop in sales and a $603 million net loss at Mattel in the third quarter, a horror story that wiped 27% off the toymakers shares. The company said it will scrap its quarterly dividend and accelerate its transformation plan. Fortune

 GEs Long Train Running out of Track

General Electric is looking to get out of the railroad business after a hundred years, according to The Wall Street Journals sources. The company is one of the worlds biggest makers of freight locomotives but the unit is barely big enough to move GEs dial these days, accounting for only $4.3 billion out of total annual sales of $124 billion). Tax considerations may rule out an outright sale, however. WSJ, subscription required

 Catalonia, Spain Run out of Options

Catalonia is set to declare independence from Spain as both sides exhaust the wiggle room they had created to avoid responsibility for plunging the country into a constitutional crisis. Spains upper house is due to approve the imposition of direct rule over the region later Friday. That will force civil servants, police, and tax collectors alike to decide whose orders they are going to obey. Spains central government has all the hard power, but will need to use it with restraint if it wants to keep its moral authority. Bloomberg

Summaries by Geoffrey Smith; geoffrey.smith@fortune.com

@geoffreytsmith
There have been times in years past that Amazon, Alphabet (read: Google), and Microsoft have had rough patches. Amazon has suffered quarters-long profit droughts. Alphabet has given its investors agita over profligate spending on non-core products. Microsofts growthif not its profit enginestalled for years, causing its stock to idle too.

The middle months of 2017 have not been one of those times for any of these companies.

Each, for their own reasons, reported anywhere from solid to spectacular earnings results Thursday. Amazon didnt make any more money than it did the year before, but its growth resembles a startup more than the grownup it is. Alphabets ad machine is humming. Microsoft, a cloud computing convert, has completed the most impressive tech turnaround since Lou Gerstner taught an elephant to dance.

That these giants are charging simultaneouslythrow in Twitter and Intel toois no coincidence. Their success is the digital transformation explained. Where the action once was in high-trafficked shopping malls, print and TV advertising, and client-server software, businesses that deliver digitally rule the roost today.

Get Data Sheet, Fortunes technology newsletter.

This is the point in any account of Big Techs success where journalists insert the to be sure paragraph, as in, to be sure, this garish performance will draw the attention of regulators, legislators, and other haters that could ruin the fun. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal both turned in laudable examples of the art form.

Those concerns only matter, of course, when they matter. For now, they dont. It is party time. And what a party it is.

***

The cinema business is thinking about experimenting with dynamic pricing, as Bloomberg reported this week. Dynamic pricingcharging more when goods and services are in high demand and short supply and less when the opposite is trueisnt new. Gasoline retailers, hoteliers, and airlines have been deploying the technique for years. Uber did it tooto great success but also with dollops of controversy largely attributed to its own stubbornness and insensitivity.

Story continues

According to Bloomberg, Regal Cinemas will charge more for hits and less for flops, an intriguing concept given that the real money is in egregiously overpriced popcorn and soda, not movies.

Long live capitalism. And see you at the movies.

NEWSWORTHY

Big capital gains. As Adam noted, it was one of the busiest days ever for people who follow big tech company earnings.

If you want a few more interesting tidbits below the headlines, Microsoft said its annual run rate for its Azure cloud unit exceeded $20 billion for the first time. Google said pre-orders for its new Pixel 2 phones were double the number from last year and that YouTube watching on old-fashioned TV sets jumped 70% to 100 million hours a day. CFO Ruth Porat also disclosed massive cuts in spending on Google Fiber. With the Whole Foods chain now in hand, Amazon broke out sales in physical locations for the first time: $1.3 billion, or 5% of total sales. Intel surprised everyone with flat revenue in its PC chips unit. Stocks of all four companies rose in premarket trading on Friday. Microsoft was up 6%, Google parent Alphabet 4%, Amazon 8%, and Intel 3%.

Pre-panic mode. Fresh off its attack on the grocery business, Amazon appears closer than ever to shaking up the prescription drug market next. The e-commerce giant has obtained wholesale pharmacy licenses in at least 12 states, including Louisiana, New Jersey, and Michigan, the St Louis Post-Dispatch reported on the basis of public records searches. The fallout is already here, as CVSs bid for Aetna is said to be motivated in part by the looming specter of Amazons entry.

Munch all you want, well make more. With pre-orders for the iPhone X starting at midnight Pacific Time on Friday, Apple quickly ran out of phones for immediate delivery on November 3. Delays were out to six weeks on Friday morning, though according to some reports, wireless carrier Sprint still had units available for next week for Sprint customers.

Horse, meet barn door. After Russia used social networks to meddle in the 2016 election, Twitter said it would ban advertisements from any accounts owned by Russian news outlets Russia Today and Sputnik. The bans are part of Twitters ongoing commitment to help protect the integrity of the user experience, the company said.

Wrist slap. HR services startup Zenefits and co-founder Parker Conrad will pay almost $1 million, but wont have to make an admission of guilt to settle charges they misled investors. Federal regulators said the companys failure to disclose it was not in compliance with state insurance laws constituted false and misleading statements and omissions.

Momentum play. The tech IPO train is still steaming forward. Cloud security startup Zscaler has made a confidential filing to go public, TechCrunch reported. The leak comes just as cybersecurity firm ForeScout Technologies priced its IPO at $22. It starts trading on Friday under the symbol FSCT.

Conspiracy theories. The National Archives released almost 3,000 documents connected to the assassination of President Kennedy and put them all online. Spoiler alert: the Russians were just as surprised as everyone else by Lee Harvey Oswalds shooting of the president.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Saudi Arabia Is About to Invest $1 Billion in Bransons Virgin Galactic By Keshia Hannam

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos May Be the Worlds Richest Man  Again By Lucinda Shen

Russias RT Publishes Twitters $1.5 Million Pitch for 2016 Election Coverage Boost By David Meyer

Facebook Just Upgraded Its Slack Competitor Chat App By Jonathan Vanian

Why AMDs New Laptop Chip Might Be Its Best Performer Yet By Aaron Pressman

Super Mario Odyssey Leads a Rush of Big Video Games This Week By Chris Morris

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

We are, unfortunately, beset by news of the continuing problems of discrimination, bias, and harassment in the workplace. One related problem feeding the culture of abuse is the lack of diversity, particularly in leadership roles, at many companies. Consultants Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman have studied the problem and put a lot of the blame at the top: leaders who arent good self-critics of their own biases.

In fact, their surveys found that leaders who were found to be lowest rated at valuing diversity were more likely to think they were doing a great job at inclusiveness:

The implications of this data are: leaders are not good judges of their own effectiveness on valuing diversity; and those leaders who are poorest fail to see the problem, while those who are the best dont realize their skill and capability. This phenomenon is not limited to inclusiveness  the Dunning-Kruger effect, for example, explains that unskilled people are particularly prone to thinking they are more skilled than they are. Conversely, our research has found that many of the most skilled leaders are too humble and modest in assessing their strengths. Nonetheless, we find this result particularly disturbing when we see it in the context of inclusivity. While a persons effectiveness with any skill always needs to be based on the evaluations of others, rather than self-perception, it seems especially true in this case. Inclusivity is particularly in the eye of the beholder. You might intend to be inclusive, and even think you are inclusive, but your impact on others might be very different.

FOR YOUR WEEKEND READING PLEASURE

A few interesting longer reads I came across that are suitable for your weekend reading pleasure.

Love in the Time of Robots

In a secluded room at IRL, a collection of androids is stored and maintained: his hardest workers. Arranged in this space today, with its blackout curtains, thin corporate carpeting, and shelves cluttered with cables and monitors and an array of wigs, is a pair of his replicas of grown women. They are models of the Geminoid F series. The name is a play off geminus (Latin for twin), a reminder that their human counterparts exist somewhere in the world.

Three MacBook Mistakes: Will Apple Correct Course?

Apples not a company that backtracks easily. Its got a lot of pride and a reputation for moving forward. And yet every so often the company makes a decision that it thinks is right and is ultimately proven to be completely wrong. In 2008, Apple removed FireWire from the MacBook, only to put it back in 2009. In 2009 the iPod Shuffle went buttonless, only to revert to its previous buttony design in 2010. The third-generation iPod, with its row of touch-sensitive controls, was a similar design cul-de-sac. And the most recent example is the Mac Pro, which Apple introduced to fanfare, but ultimately admitted was a mistake.

The Scientists Persuading Terrorists to Spill Their Secrets

The interviewer wanted him to provide an account of his plan, and to reveal with whom, if anyone, he has been conspiring. But the detainee  we will call him Diola  refused to divulge any information. Instead, he expounded grandiloquently on the evils of the British state for 42 minutes, with little interruption. When the interviewer attempted questions, Diola responded with scornful, finger-jabbing accusations of ignorance, naivety and moral weakness: You dont know how corrupt your own government is  and if you dont care, then a curse upon you.

When the Revolution Came for Amy Cuddy

Cuddy became famous in her field for a 2010 study about the effects of power poses. The study found that subjects who were directed to stand or sit in certain positions  legs astride, or feet up on a desk  reported stronger feelings of power after posing than they did before. Even more compelling than that, to many of her peers, was that the research measured actual physiological change as a result of the poses: The subjects testosterone levels went up, and their cortisol levels, which are associated with stress, went down.

BEFORE YOU GO

Theyre saying it looks like a Pokemon monster, but Sinosauropteryx was a real dinosaur with feathers and the bandit mask shading of a raccoon or badger, researchers studying its 120-million-year-old fossils say. Somebody tell Wes Anderson. Maybe the sequel to Fantastic Mr. Fox can feature dinosaurs, too?
President Donald Trump , in unprecedented fashion, has been able to get the Chinese government to turn the screws on North Korea in hopes of getting Kim Jong Un to halt military provocations, according to a former diplomat who has advised Republican and Democratic presidents. "The Chinese have done more under President Trump's prodding than any other American president. They signed on to the UN sanctions. There are now individual Chinese sanctions; the central bank governors instructed banks in China to wind up loans to North Korea," Nicholas Burns told CNBC on Friday. He appeared on "Squawk Box," a week before Trump embarks on a trip to Asia, which includes stops in China and South Korea . "The Chinese are clearly frustrated with the North Koreans. The Chinese don't want a war on the Korean Peninsula. They want trade," said Burns, who served as U.S. ambassador to NATO and was the State Department's third-ranking official during George W. Bush 's presidency. He also advised the administrations of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton . Chinese President Xi Jinping , who was just given a major governing mandate, will be "eager to cooperate" with Trump, said Burns, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. "The president [Trump] has obviously gone slow on any kind of major [trade] sanctions against China because he's prioritizing the North Korean issue. The Chinese understand that." When he was on CNBC earlier this month, Burns predicted Xi would become "the most powerful Chinese leader in 45 years." This week, it happened when Xi's political thought was enshrined in the ruling Communist Party's constitution, putting him in the same company as the founder of modern China, Mao Zedong . Burns said the best scenario for Trump on his trip would be to persuade North Korea's Kim through a unified international alliance to agree to negotiations."Here's where President Trump has not done well," Burns said. "What we're trying to do is practice strategic deterrence. We're trying to convince Kim Jong Un that if he attacks us there's going to be an unacceptably strong response from the United States back." Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis have been together in delivering that message, Burns said. "They've been very clear. The president has not. The president has muddied the waters." "The president has been intimating in his tweets that maybe the United States will act unilaterally. That's not smart," Burns continued. "You don't want to raise the risk of a mistake here by Kim Jong Un."Mattis visited the Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea on Friday, calling for a "diplomatic solution" to get Kim to stop nuclear weapons tests and missile test launches. It's unknown whether Trump will visit the DMZ. Burns sees it as a long shot."I think it may too provocative. Given the fact that the president is not disciplined and his advisors never know what he's going to say or not say," Burns said.WATCH: North Korea issue is 'different this time,' warns Singapore prime minister President Donald Trump , in unprecedented fashion, has been able to get the Chinese government to turn the screws on North Korea in hopes of getting Kim Jong Un to halt military provocations, according to a former diplomat who has advised Republican and Democratic presidents. "The Chinese have done more under President Trump's prodding than any other American president. They signed on to the UN sanctions. There are now individual Chinese sanctions; the central bank governors instructed banks in China to wind up loans to North Korea," Nicholas Burns told CNBC on Friday. He appeared on "Squawk Box," a week before Trump embarks on a trip to Asia, which includes stops in China and South Korea . "The Chinese are clearly frustrated with the North Koreans. The Chinese don't want a war on the Korean Peninsula. They want trade," said Burns, who served as U.S. ambassador to NATO and was the State Department's third-ranking official during George W. Bush 's presidency. He also advised the administrations of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton . Chinese President Xi Jinping , who was just given a major governing mandate, will be "eager to cooperate" with Trump, said Burns, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. "The president [Trump] has obviously gone slow on any kind of major [trade] sanctions against China because he's prioritizing the North Korean issue. The Chinese understand that." When he was on CNBC earlier this month, Burns predicted Xi would become "the most powerful Chinese leader in 45 years." This week, it happened when Xi's political thought was enshrined in the ruling Communist Party's constitution, putting him in the same company as the founder of modern China, Mao Zedong . Burns said the best scenario for Trump on his trip would be to persuade North Korea's Kim through a unified international alliance to agree to negotiations. "Here's where President Trump has not done well," Burns said. "What we're trying to do is practice strategic deterrence. We're trying to convince Kim Jong Un that if he attacks us there's going to be an unacceptably strong response from the United States back." Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis have been together in delivering that message, Burns said. "They've been very clear. The president has not. The president has muddied the waters." "The president has been intimating in his tweets that maybe the United States will act unilaterally. That's not smart," Burns continued. "You don't want to raise the risk of a mistake here by Kim Jong Un." Mattis visited the Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea on Friday, calling for a "diplomatic solution" to get Kim to stop nuclear weapons tests and missile test launches. It's unknown whether Trump will visit the DMZ. Burns sees it as a long shot. "I think it may too provocative. Given the fact that the president is not disciplined and his advisors never know what he's going to say or not say," Burns said. WATCH: North Korea issue is 'different this time,' warns Singapore prime minister



More From CNBC


By Ernest Scheyder

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), the world's largest publicly traded oil producer, posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Friday as higher crude and natural gas prices more than offset the effects of a major hurricane on U.S. operations.

The results highlighted Exxon's strength in refining as it managed to increase profits at its U.S. downstream operations despite Hurricane Harvey, which shuttered many of the company's largest U.S. Gulf Coast refineries in late August.

Production of oil and gas also increased, even in the United States despite the storm, helped by higher pricing.

"A 50 percent increase in earnings through solid business performance and higher commodity prices is a step forward in our plan to grow profitability," Darren Woods, Exxon's chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Third-quarter net income jumped to $3.97 billion, or 93 cents per share, from $2.65 billion(2.02 billion), or 63 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Exxon said Harvey dented quarterly earnings by 4 cents per share.

Excluding the effects from the storm, Exxon earned 97 cents per share. By that measure, analysts expected 86 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Production rose about 2 percent to 3.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Shares of Texas-based Exxon rose nearly 1 percent to $84.14 in premarket trading. The stock has lost about 8 percent of its value so far this year.

Exxon plans to hold a conference call on Friday morning with investors to discuss quarterly results.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Paul Simao and Jeffrey Benkoe)
DETROIT  Wall Street may love the shares of Silicon Valley electric carmaker Tesla, but Americans love big, fuel-thirsty trucks like Ford's bestselling F-Series pickups and are paying ever higher prices to buy them.



The auto industry is at a crossroads, with the future of legacy automakers like Ford, General Motors Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV uncertain as governments float proposals to ban internal combustion engines over the next two decades. But in the present, consumer enthusiasm for trucks and sport utility vehicles is strong, especially in the United States. And that is providing Ford, GM and other established automakers with billions in cash to mount a challenge to Tesla.



Tesla has ambitions to boost annual sales to 500,000 vehicles a year. But it is wrestling with the sort of production problems that old-line automakers have largely put behind them, and has reported a net loss of $666.7 million through the first six months of 2017. Analysts expect the company to post a third quarter net loss of $380.4 million when it reports results next Wednesday.



Electric cars are money losers, which explains why global automakers have been slow to roll them out until now. But regulatory and consumer pressures are forcing established automakers to put more electric vehicles in their fleets over the next several years. In a cash-intensive industry, profits from pickups and SUVs may give them a competitive edge.



Ford said on Thursday that the average price of one of its F-Series pickups rose $2,800 to $45,400 per truck in the third quarter. Sales of F-Series trucks, which range from spartan work trucks to Platinum models with the features - and price tags - of a European luxury sedan, were up nearly 11 percent to 658,636 vehicles for the first nine months of this year.



GM has driven its share price up nearly 30 percent so far in 2017 as Chief Executive Mary Barra has talked up plans for putting self-driving, electric Chevrolet Bolts into ride services fleets within a few quarters. Barra told investors on Tuesday improved profit margins on trucks were "one of the big drivers of the overall 8.3 percent margins" in the automaker's North American business during the latest quarter.



GM has forecast free cash flow for the full year of roughly $6 billion. That is $1 billion less than forecast earlier this year, but strong enough to fund the company's promise to develop 20 more electric vehicles by 2023 and send $7 billion back to shareholders. GM, which emerged from a government funded bankruptcy eight years ago, now has $31.4 billion in available funds, including $17.3 billion in cash.



Ford lags behind GM in sales of battery electric models, but the company has said it will spend $5 billion developing battery electric and hybrid vehicles. Ford's new CEO Jim Hackett said the plans include shifting $500 million into electric vehicle development from internal combustion projects. Ford's share price has been flat for the year as the No. 2 U.S. automaker ushered out former CEO Mark Fields. Still, it had $28 billion in cash and marketable securities as of Sept. 30.



Automakers also are becoming more confident they can make money on electric cars as battery costs come down.



Volkswagen AG's Audi brand is gearing up a fleet of electric models that the company expects will account for 25 percent of sales by 2025. In the United States, Audi plans to launch an electric SUV "in the sweet spot of the market" in 2019, Scott Keogh, head of Audi's U.S. operations, told Reuters on Thursday. Sales of Audi's current lineup of SUVs "pay for what we want to do, which is lead the future," Keogh said.



Renault SA Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn expressed confidence earlier this month that electric cars will become "a significant contributor to our performance."



Tesla, by comparison to its legacy rivals, is market value rich, and cash poor. It had $3 billion in cash on hand at the end of the second quarter, and some analysts predict the automaker will have to raise more to cover the expected cash drain from the slow launch of the Model 3, which is lower priced than other Teslas and aimed at the market for $35,000 to $45,000 cars.



Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has outlined ambitious plans to expand its network of factories and service facilities, including potentially an assembly plant in China and up to three more electric battery Gigafactories. He told investors in July the company could sell more shares to fund that expansion. "I'm sure there will be some funding rounds that happen in the future," he said. (Reporting by Joe White; Editing by Tom Brown)



Related Video:

How gas guzzlers are fueling development of electric cars originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 28 Oct 2017 11:00:00 EDT.
When a company as big and diverse as General Electric (NYSE: GE) says publicly that it's considering reducing its dividend, it should give investors pause. GE was viewed as a Dividend Aristocrat for decades before the financial crisis but was working hard to get that title back. If conditions at GE are so dire that it needs to cut its dividend, then there must be other companies feeling similar pressure.

The energy business isn't performing as well as GE hoped, and that should worry ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) investors as well. If you look at the company's performance over the past decade, it's becoming clear that its dividend could be in trouble, just like GE's.

Oil drilling rigs in operation with the sunset in the background.

Image source: Getty Images.

ExxonMobil's business is deteriorating

The oil business has become surprisingly difficult over the past decade as shale oil has flooded the market and OPEC has kept pumping oil and prices have remained low. Oil at $100 per barrel can be extremely profitable, but at $50, it isn't clear that many companies will make a solid return on investment.

Below, I've put together a chart that shows ExxonMobil's deterioration over the past decade. Revenue and earnings are down, and return on assets has also plunged from the high teens to low single digits.

XOM Revenue (TTM) Chart

XOM Revenue (TTM). Data by YCharts.

Long term, I don't see how this trend won't get worse. Electric vehicles are now a very viable option for millions of consumers, and automakers are ramping up their manufacturing capacity. Even if just 10% of people start driving EVs, it'll crush oil markets. Remember, oil markets were only oversupplied by about 1% to 2% in 2014 when oil prices crashed from over $100 per barrel to the $30s. Electrifying the transportation fleet could have a much bigger impact on oil prices than that.

A dividend in trouble

Not only is performance deteriorating and the future looking cloudy, but ExxonMobil is already stretching itself thin on its dividend. Over the past decade, the company has been increasing its dividend, surpassing a 100% payout ratio, and taking out billions of debt in the process.

Story continues

XOM Dividends Paid (TTM) Chart

XOM Dividends Paid (TTM). Data by YCharts.

To put this plainly, ExxonMobil isn't generating enough net income from its normal operations to pay its growing dividend and is taking out debt to pay the current 4% yield. That's not sustainable over the long term.

Tread carefully

ExxonMobil is facing a lot of the same financial pressures as GE, and with EVs on the rise, its core oil business could be in serious trouble over the long run. With a payout ratio over 100% today, this is a dividend that I think should be cut sooner rather than later. Investors should beware buying this seemingly safe dividend stock.

More From The Motley Fool

Travis Hoium owns shares of General Electric. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
FILE - In this March 2, 2014 file photo, Harvey Weinstein arrives at the Oscars in Los Angeles. Weinstein is taking a leave of absence from his own company after The New York Times released a report alleging decades of sexual harassment against women, including employees and actress Ashley Judd. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

Amid the sexual harassment scandal surrounding disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, another industry elite is looking to expose the long history of pedophilia in Hollywood.

Hollywood producer and filmmaker Gabe Hoffman called the Weinstein scandal the tip of the iceberg. Hes produced a documentary called An Open Secret, chronicling alleged rampant child sexual abuse in the industry, calling it the film Hollywood didnt want you to see.

Its interesting to hear some of these big stars coming out, Jennifer Lawrence, Reese Witherspoon, talking about when they were under age with these predators. But you dont hear about the kids, you hear about them in our film, he said during an interview on FOX Business Varney & Co. Friday.

Hoffman says that stars in the industry need to address the sexual assault allegations.

What we really should see is Hollywood stars come out and start talking about how can we better protect children? How can Hollywood get these actual convicted pedophiles off of sets?... [There are] actual convicted pedophiles still working in Hollywood, Hoffman said.

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By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 28 (PTI) Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was admitted to a hospital here last evening after she complained of upset stomach, was discharged today.

According to Dr D S Rana, Chairman (Board of Management) of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Hospital, Gandhi had recovered from upset stomach and was discharged today at 4 pm.

"Her condition at the time of discharge was stable and she has been advised rest," Dr Rana said.

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Gandhi, 70, was last evening rushed to the hospital in an air-ambulance from Shimla, where she had gone for a vacation.

A team of doctors from the hospital was deputed to bring her back from Shimla. PTI PLB BUN RT

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(Reuters) - J.C. Penney Co Inc lost about a quarter of its value on Friday as the department store chain slashed its full-year forecast after selling stagnant inventory at heavy discounts, indicating weak sales during the back-to-school season.

Penney said it no longer expects an increase in full-year comparable store sales and estimated it would just about eke out an adjusted profit for the year after posting a huge loss in the current quarter.

The grim forecast sent Penney's shares to a record low and weighed on its rivals Macy's Inc and Kohl's Corp, although at least one brokerage said the troubles seem to be specific to Penney and not across the sector.

Penney's heavy discounting was across its apparel lines, with the women's section singled out for an overhaul to expand its inventory of casual and contemporary merchandise. The clearance was during the back-to-school period, the second biggest sales period for retailers after the holiday season.

Gordon Haskett analysts said Penny's forecast implied its comparable-store sales likely fell about 3.5 percent in August, which was concerning given it was during the back-to-school period and in a month when weather was favorable.

They, however, said the troubles seem to be specific to Penney and not across the sector.

Still Macy's shares fell 5 percent in morning trading and Kohl's declined 4 percent. Penney's shares sank 16 percent to $3.05, easing slightly after hitting a record low of $2.76.

Penney, like Macy's and Kohl's, has been struggling with declining demand for apparel, the mainstay of department stores, due to tough competition from off-price retailers as well as Amazon.com Inc.

Department stores try to clear out leftover inventory ahead of the holiday-shopping quarter to stock up on fresh merchandise for their biggest selling season of the year.

The clearance "increases available funding to invest in new and trending merchandise categories," Chief Executive Marvin Ellison said.

Story continues

Penney estimated it would post an adjusted loss of 40-45 cents per share in the quarter ending Oct. 28, much bigger than analysts average estimate of 18 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company also said it now expects full-year comparable sales to be flat at best, while it had earlier forecast sales could increase as much as 1 percent. It slashed its adjusted profit forecast to 2-8 cents per share, from 40-65 cents.

Penney also said Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Davis would oversee the company's pricing and planning policies to improve its predictive analytics capabilities and get a better view of current sales trends.

(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan and Gayathree Ganesan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar and Savio D'Souza)
Since moving into the White House, President Donald Trump has adopted a special nickname for his new local newspaper: the Amazon Washington Post, a barb accusing the papers owner, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, of using it to advance his companys interests.

Bezos, who personally bought the Post for $250 millionwith his own money, not Amazonsin 2013, however, has played a surprisingly backseat role for a newspaper owner. While Bezos and the newspapers editors have previously denied that the Amazon CEO controls the Posts news coverage or feeds it article ideas, he doesnt even give the journalists feedback on their workeven when it has been critical of Amazon amzn .

As for the coverage, he doesnt get involved in it at allnot what stories to do or what not to do; he doesnt comment on any stories, including about Amazon, he just doesnt, Marty Baron, executive editor of the Washington Post, said Thursday at an annual dinner for Columbia Universitys Knight-Bagehot journalism fellowship.

Weve had negative stories, added Baron, referencing the papers coverage of the controversial Amazon Key, a plan announced this week to allow the e-commerce giant to unlock its customers front doors, which a Post column called Silicon Valley at its most out-of-touch.

Nor did Bezos react when the paper ran a lengthy article this summer suggesting that Amazon could become a dangerous monopoly. I havent heard one word from him about any of that, not one word, Baron said at the dinner.

Amazon, for its part, is doing just fine, news coverage notwithstanding: Amazon stock surged as much as 13% Friday after the tech companys earnings report blew past Wall Streets expectations, raising Bezoss net worth with it.

But Barons account contradicts assertions by President Trump, who has repeatedly accused Bezos and the paper of doing Amazons biddingin addition to criticizing its political reportingdespite the fact that Amazon itself does not own any stake in the Post.

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The @washingtonpost loses money (a deduction) and gives owner @JeffBezos power to screw public on low taxation of @Amazon! Big tax shelter  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2015

The #AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet taxes (which they should) is FAKE NEWS!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2017

The newspaper wouldnt shy away from investigating Amazon either, added Baron, who was immortalized in the Oscar-winning movie Spotlight, which dramatized the investigative reporting project he oversaw at the Boston Globe, exposing a molestation scandal at the Catholic Church. Still, the Washington Post so far hasnt found anything at Amazon meriting such an investigation, he said.

While Baron declined to reveal how much money Bezos has invested in the Post since buying it, he did credit the Amazon founders intellectual capital and ideas for improving the newspapers businesssuch as targeting a larger, national audience, and bolstering its technology and digital subscriptions, including through hiring sprees of both reporters and engineers.

The Washington Post is on track for its second profitable year in a row in 2017 after many years of losing money, thanks in large part to new online-only subscribers, which surpassed one million in the past few months, Baron said. He quoted Bezoss credo that now guides the papers mission: Be riveting, be right, and make people pay.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican head of the tax-writing panel in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Friday progress was being made in efforts to allay concerns among some Republicans about the potential elimination of a federal deduction for state and local income taxes as part of a tax-reform push. Some lawmakers from states where state and local taxes are high and people benefit most from the federal income tax deduction are reluctant to contemplate such an elimination. It would be one of several measures aimed at offsetting lost revenue under sweeping tax cuts planned by President Donald Trump and the Republican leadership in Congress. "We're working with these lawmakers. We are making progress, but we aren't there yet," House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady told Fox News Channel. "I'm hopeful at the end of the day we can find a good solution for them." A budget blueprint central to Republican efforts to enact the tax cut package - because it will enable easier passage of the package through the Senate - barely squeaked through the House on Thursday, with Democrats solidly opposed and a number of Republicans voting no in an effort to protect the deduction. Republican leaders had sketched out a tax cut plan that would eliminate the tax break, although detailed legislation will not be unveiled until next Wednesday. Brady also said lawmakers were exchanging ideas with Trump over how to handle 401(k) retirement savings plans. In another measure to offset lost revenue, House Republicans have considered eliminating or capping the ability to contribute to the plans on a pre-tax basis, but Trump has said he wants to protect the popular tax-deferred savings program. "We want to increase the amount that you can give to your 401(k) or IRA (individual retirement account), for 401(k)s up to $20,000 or more," Brady told Fox, without specifying whether that would be on a pre-tax or after-tax basis. "We're actually exchanging ideas with the president on how we help people save more and save sooner in their lives." The current cap on pre-tax 401(k) contributions is $18,000 a year, and that is set to rise to $18,500 next year. (Reporting by Tim Ahmann; Editing by David Alexander and Frances Kerry)
Lee Ainslie

Craig Barritt/Getty Images

Maverick Capital started testing a quant strategy in two funds two years ago. Starting next year, investors will be able to give the firm money to invest in these funds.

Maverick's move drew attention because the firm is known for running a fundamental, stock-picking appro ach.

The firm has underperformed recently, with sources saying its flagship fund has lost about 2% this year.

In a client letter, founder Lee Ainslie says the effort has shown promise. The two funds have gained in the double digits this year  16.9% and 22.1% through August  according to separate marketing documents seen by Business Insider.



NEW YORK  Lee Ainslie's Maverick Capital may have cracked the code on quant.

Maverick recently held its investor day in New York, where it announced it would debut two quant funds to external capital. The announcement drew attention because Maverick is known for deploying a fundamental, stock-picking approach.

The firm has underperformed recently, with its flagship fund down about 2% this year, according to people familiar with the numbers.

The firm's quantitative-research effort started a decade ago, and it hasn't been easy, Ainslie said in an October 20 client letter seen by Business Insider. About two years ago, Maverick started looking into whether the alternative data sets it had researched could help its fundamental investing process, and it launched two funds internally to test it out.

"Our hope was that the data science, statistical and coding expertise and skills that we had developed over the years ... would enable Maverick to be more successful than the many fundamentally-oriented hedge funds that have found such efforts unproductive," Ainslie wrote.

"We quickly discovered why such research has proven so frustrating to many," he added. "Eventually we discovered some very- short-term alpha signals, which were not highly relevant to our long-term strategically-oriented fundamental efforts but were well suited for higher frequency systematic trading."

Story continues

But things have turned up recently, he wrote (emphasis added):

"Through combining inputs from various data sets over the last few months, we believe we have begun to improve dramatically our ability to forecast revenues, cash flow and earnings of hundreds of companies across several sectors, and the number of industries and businesses for which we are developing such capabilities are both growing rapidly. Both in terms of idea generation and business monitoring, such insights should prove invaluable to our core, fundamental effort, and I believe that few, if any bottom-up investors have cracked the code."

Earlier this year, the firm included a higher-frequency trading strategy in its two quant funds, which it said had boosted returns. Broadly, Maverick has been using what it calls the Maverick Quantitative Model, which drives a tool that recommends position sizes and that flags investment positions for the Maverick team. The combo of these two strategies "has proven powerful" and shown up in the returns, Ainslie wrote.

According to market documents reviewed by Business Insider, the Maverick Fundamental Quantitative Fund gained 16.9% this year through August, while the MFQ Neutral Fund gained 22.1% over the same period. The figures are after estimated fees, the documents said.

The first fund targets a 40% net exposure, while the second fund targets a 0% net exposure, the letter said.

A Maverick spokesman declined to comment.

NOW WATCH: Legendary economist Gary Shilling explains how you can beat the market

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What happened

Shares of copper miner Nevsun Resources (NYSEMKT: NSU) are up 10% as of 12:30 p.m. EDT today after the company posted earnings. Even though it fell short of estimates, the company also announced the results of a preliminary economic assessment of a potential mine.

So what

Let's get the earnings stuff out of the way first. The company posted a net loss of $0.01 per share on $71 million in revenue. Wall Street was expecting flat results for the quarter.

Mining truck

Image source: Getty Images.

Now, for the real meat driving today's rally. The company announced the results of a preliminary economic study for its Timok Upper Zone project in Serbia. The mine, if fully developed, would produce 2.1 billion pounds of copper over a 15-year lifespan. Management estimates that the facility has a net present value of $1.5 billion and could generate a 50% internal return rate. Considering that the company's current production is only 4 million pounds per quarter, it would represent a sizable boost to the company.

Now what

Before getting carried away by today's announcement, let's keep this in perspective. Nevsun Resources is a company that only generates a few million dollars a year in operating income, and it wants to build a mine that will have initial capital costs in excess of $600 million.

Speculative mining stocks like this one can garner a lot of attention when news like this hits, but the news doesn't necessarily change the investment thesis for the company. I won't say that it is impossible for the company to carry out its plans, but there are a lot of hurdles in the way. Unless investors have a real hankering for speculative stocks, this looks like one they should sit out.

More From The Motley Fool

Tyler Crowe has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
UBS reaffirms its sell rating for Tesla shares, predicting the company will need to raise capital by year-end.

While most technology shares jumped Friday on blowout earnings from the likes of Amazon and Alphabet, one key member of the hot-tech-stock crew is not participating: electric-car maker Tesla.

Shares of Tesla (TSLA) fell 1.6 percent on Friday after Evercore ISI, commenting on Tesla's persistent production problems, downgraded the stock to in-line from buy on Friday.

"Tesla is clearly running behind schedule with respect to the Model 3 ramp," wrote Evercore ISI analyst George Galliers. "Clearly third-quarter production was weaker than Tesla expected with 260 Model 3s produced vs. a targeted 'just over 1,500.' And, at this point, we have little insight into how production is running."

A report that the carmaker plans to cut its orders for Model 3 parts sent shares of Taiwanese auto parts maker Hota Industrial tumbling more than 7 percent overnight and also weighed on Tesla shares Friday. Tesla, Reuters said citing local media, appears to have told Hota Industrial that it would cut orders to 3,000 sets per week, down from prior estimates of 5,000.

Tesla did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

The stock is still up 50 percent for the year, though it is down 6 percent for October. Earlier this month, Tesla began firing hundreds of employees after it announced a recall of 11,000 Model X SUVs. The company continues to dismiss workers at its subsidiary SolarCity.

Tesla is trailing the broader market and technology shares this month with the S&P 500 (.SPX) up more than 2 percent in October. The Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) (XLK) is up more than 5 percent for the month.

Galliers' price target of $312 represents 4 percent downside from Thursday's close.

This isn't the first time analysts have voiced skepticism over Tesla's production problems. Goldman Sachs' David Tamberrino, also citing Model 3 production issues, reiterated his sell rating and predicted 40 percent share downside over the next year in a note earlier this month.

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Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois also joined the discussion on Friday, adding that while cash flow could surprise to the upside, he's still skeptical about near-term production potential.

"As important as numbers will be management's willingness to provide a credible path to Model 3 ramp-up," wrote Houchois on Friday, referring to the company's earnings report scheduled for Nov. 1. "Our Underperform rating reflects our doubts about the scalability of the business model to a level of margin that would support current valuation multiples."

 CNBC's Gina Francolla contributed to this report.
Washington Congresswoman Suzan DelBene and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi recently visited the University of Washington's Computer Science school to discuss the workplace of the 21st century and women's place in it. Their talk, delivered to an audience almost exclusively composed of young women in the sciences, covered a number of topics, but one given more serious consideration was that of sexual harassment in industries and disciplines dominated by men.

The past week or so has been notable for innumerable women describing instances of harassment, often using the #MeToo hashtag. Decades of alleged abuse by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein set off this latest show of solidarity, and Silicon Valley evangelist Robert Scoble has been implicated by multiple women, as well. (Many of these complaints have been made over and over for years, but the last month has provided another opportunity for them to be heard.)

"These women that are coming forth, God bless them," said Rep. Pelosi. "Maybe this is the tipping point that shows it has to be a zero tolerance policy. This is about respect."

Rep. DelBene, who has been on the fore with programs and policies empowering women in the tech and science fields, emphasized the necessity of adjusting larger patterns of inequality, as well.

"It's about having a culture where women feel there's someone they can go to who will hear them," she said. "That's why having women in management, women on boards is so important."

Pelosi continued: "We need to make it easier for someone to bring a complaint, and to review the climate it occurred in  and make sure it doesn't weigh against them."

Better representation at all levels was clearly a major goal of both women; DelBene studied the sciences and later worked at Microsoft, so she's seen how many fields have changed over time  some for the better, some not so much.

She noted that when she started at Microsoft, she was pregnant and her colleagues were almost all young men, and there was little in the way of accommodation for her in the culture or policies of the company. That's changing, but the numbers still aren't where they ought to be.

Story continues

"When I graduated in the '80s, 37 percent of computer science graduates were women," she pointed out. "Now it's under 20 percent." (But rising; Ed Lazowska, head of UW's CSE school, noted proudly that 44 percent of the incoming grad students there are women.)

"It's important that girls are encouraged and given the same opportunities as boys at an early age  get young women and girls that early exposure," DelBene said.

"I've been saying: K-12, K-12, K-12," said Pelosi. "Everything we do begins in the classroom. And nothing brings more money to the Treasury than investing in education."

She also pointed out that every business is a tech company now to some degree, and that the skills learned in computer science and engineering fields contribute to success in nearly any job or field.

Both also agreed that reliable internet connectivity needed to be guaranteed as well, or even the most motivated kids would miss out on opportunities taken for granted in better-wired areas.

After answering a few questions on immigration (Pelosi noted that every president she's worked under has been staunchly pro-immigration until now) and basic research (DelBene said the risk-averse strategy of for-profit businesses is leaking into academia), one audience member brought up the topic of "misinformation"  it's worth noting that she and everyone else carefully avoided the now-loaded term "fake news."

Rep. DelBene said that trust plays a big part in this, but also knowing where information comes from. "This comes back to validation," she said. First the information has to be tied to a source, "and then people can decide for themselves whether they trust that source. Policy will play a role in this but we all have a role to play, as well."

"Tech is a blessing, but it can also be exploited," said Rep. Pelosi. "We have to enlarge the issue to something bigger  we have to do this as a public-private partnership and put the best minds on it. I believe tech can answer its own challenge. I believe they [i.e. internet companies] are patriots and they want to do the right thing."

That would put her on the optimistic side of this recent survey of experts on the topic.

"But the biggest guardian of our democracy is a free and open press," she concluded.

You can keep up with the latest from Congresswoman DelBene here, and Minority Leader Pelosi here.
Rose McGowan spoke publicly for the first time on Friday since accusing film producer Harvey Weinstein of alleged sexual assault.

While addressing a large audience at the Womens Convention in Detroit, Michigan, the 44-year-old actress vowed to keep fighting sexual misconduct in Hollywood and urged women to take back their power.

"I have been silenced for 20 years," McGowan said. "I have been slut-shamed. I have been harassed. I have been maligned. And you know what? I'm just like you."

What happened to me behind the scenes happens to all of us in this society, and that cannot stand and it will not stand, she continued. "We are free. We are strong. We are one massive, collective voice.

RELATED: Harvey Weinstein Scandal Continues: Could He Face Charges Amid Further Allegations?

As ET previously reported, McGowan, who worked with Weinstein on the 1996 Miramax film Scream, was among a group of women who accused the high-powered studio mogul of sexual harassment in a piece published byThe New York Times. The article claims Weinstein has allegedly reached eight previously undisclosed settlements with women from 1990-2015, including McGowan in 1997 "after an episode in a hotel room."

In a statement to ET, Weinstein's then lawyer, Charles J. Harder, called the initial New York Times report "saturated with false and defamatory statements."

In a statement to the Times, Weinstein's spokesperson, Sallie Hofmeister, said: Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances. He will not be available for further comments, as he is taking the time to focus on his family, on getting counseling and rebuilding his life.

RELATED: Rose McGowan Claims Harvey Weinstein Raped Her, According to New Tweets

Story continues

"The triggering has been insane," McGowan said to the crowd. "The monster's face has been everywhere, my nightmare. But, I know Im not alone.

Join me as we amplify our voices...its time to clean house. P*****s grab back! Women grab back! We speak! We yell! We march! We are here! We will not go away! she concluded. "We are pure and we are strong and we will fight. My name is Rose McGowan, and I am brave, and I am you."

Last month, McGowan spoke to ET about her latest film, The Sound, and the advice she'd give her younger self about being in the industry.

"Watch out! Watch out for the predator," McGowan said. "Watch out for those that would lie to you, watch out for those that would hurt you."

Hear more in the video below.

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KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday reiterated Saudi Arabia's readiness to support the extension of a global oil production cut agreement.

"The Kingdom affirms its readiness to extend the production cut agreement, which proved its feasibility by rebalancing supply and demand," the crown prince said in a statement.

"The high demand for oil has absorbed the increase in shale oil production," Prince Mohammad added.

Prince Mohammad made similar comments to Reuters in an interview published on Thursday about the position of the kingdom towards the extension of the oil deal and condition of the market.

"We will support anything to stabilise the oil demand and supply," he told Reuters when asked whether the kingdom would support extending the agreement until the end of 2018.

"I think now the oil market swallowed the shale oil supply, now we are regaining things again," he told Reuters.

His comments gave a boost to oil prices, with Brent crude on Friday trading above $60 a barrel for the first time since July 2015.[O/R]

Saudi Arabia, OPEC's biggest producer is leading OPEC and other oil producers such as Russia to restrict oil supplies under a global oil pact to drain global inventories and boost oil prices.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, plus Russia and nine other producers, have cut oil output by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) since January. The pact runs to March 2018, but an extension is under consideration.

OPEC and non-OPEC producers meet on Nov. 30 to set oil policy.

(Reporting by Reem Shamseddine; editing by Alexander Smith)
A video of the attack shows one of the men trying to push the victim into the coffin with a lid, as a voice is heard saying, "Come now, we want to pour the petrol man, get in. Bring that snake as well."

Victor Rethabile Mlotshwa, who was forced into a coffin, sits inside the Magistrates Court in South Africa's Middelburg on Friday. (Photo: AP)

By India Today Web Desk: Two white South Africans, Willem Oosthuizen and Theo Jackson, who forced a black man into a coffin and threatened to set him on fire, were sentenced over 10 years in prison on Friday.

Judge Segopotje Mphahlele said the complainant, Victor Mlotshwa, was "badly assaulted, kidnapped, intimidated not to report the matter to the police."

"Without diminishing the seriousness of the accused's general conduct, the most appalling act by the accused was to put a living person in a coffin against his will and under threat of killing him," she said.

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The news agency AFP tweeted a video from the sentencing.

Two white South Africans who forced a black man into a coffin and threatened to burn him alive were sentenced to 16 and 19 years today pic.twitter.com/krOgb48SRg- AFP news agency (@AFP) October 28, 2017

Since their prison terms are partially suspended, Oosthuizen will spend only 11 years in prison, and Jackson 14, The Daily Mail reported. They are 29 and 30 years old, respectively.

Theo Jackson, front, and Willem Oosthuizen, back, are seen in the court in Middelburg South Africa on Friday (Photo: AP)

Al-Jazeera tweeted a video of their horrifying assault on Victor Mlotshwa, who is visibly terrified.

As one of the men tries to push Mlotshwa into the coffin with a lid, a voice can be heard saying, "Come now, we want to pour the petrol man, get in. Bring that snake as well."

Mlotshwa wails helplessly.

2 white South African farmers who stuffed a black man inside a coffin are sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. pic.twitter.com/MOpSPis30D- AJ+ (@ajplus) October 27, 2017

Mlotshwa complained to the police only after a video of his ordeal was widely shared on social media, the Telegraph reported.

Willem Oosthuizen and Theo Jackson accused him of threatening to destroy their crops and murder their families, and said they wanted to punish him for attempting to steal from them, the report said.

News24 reported that after the duo were sentenced, Mlotshwa's mother Leona said she was "very happy," but also that she couldn't forgive Oosthuizen and Jackson, because "they failed to have mercy on my child when they forced him into the coffin."

Victor Mlotshwa with his mother Lonea Mlotshwa (Photo: AP)

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uber driverless car

Business Insider/Corey Protin

Law firm Foley & Lardner surveyed executives from auto and tech companies and asked what their biggest legal concerns have been while developing self-driving cars.

The biggest concern was cybersecurity attacks.



Companies racing to commercialize self-driving cars in the next five years know there are points of concern beyond just worrying if the tech will function properly.

Law firm Foley & Lardner surveyed automakers, suppliers, tech companies, and startups on self-driving cars and asked what their biggest legal concerns have been while developing the technology. Eighty-three tech and auto executives responded, hailing primarily from Michigan and California.

The survey listed six concerns and asked executives to check all that applied, so some may have voted for multiple options. But there was still a clear winner: cybersecurity attacks.

Sixty-three percent of respondents said that cybersecurity attacks were the biggest looming legal concern.

Company figureheads have stayed relatively hush when asked how they were addressing cybersecurity issues.

But researchers have already proven how easy it can be to manipulate self-driving technology. Cybersecurity expert Jonathan Petit used $43 worth of easily-attainable equipment, like a laser point, to trick autonomous-driving sensors into thinking obstacles were in their path when they weren't, and vice versa.

The second-highest choice was intellectual property protection. This seems particularly relevant as Waymo, the self-driving unit spun out of Google, is suing Uber, claiming it stole intellectual property and trade secrets.

Respondents then said personal injury liability (55%), compliance with state and federal regulations (43%), and consumer data privacy (38%) were the following concerns they were keeping in mind while developing the vehicles.

The survey provides a glimpse of the biggest questions that are plaguing automakers and tech companies as they develop self-driving cars for a commercial setting.

Story continues

NOW WATCH: A $1 billion city is being built in New Mexico  but no one will be allowed to live there

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SEE ALSO: Tesla strikes another deal that shows it's about to turn the car insurance world upside down

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Oct 26 (Reuters) - Nine U.S. senators from states that have oil refineries sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Thursday urging changes to the country's biofuels policy and asking for a meeting to discuss the issue.

The letter reflects growing tensions between refiners that oppose the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard - a law requiring them to blend increasing amounts of ethanol into the nation's fuel each year - and the Midwest corn lobby that supports it.

The Trump administration bowed to rising pressure from Midwest lawmakers last week, assuring them in letters and phone calls that it would ditch proposals, supported by the refining industry, to overhaul the biofuels policy.

The senators said that decision could cost jobs.

"If your administration does not make adjustments or reforms on matters related to the Renewable Fuel Standard, it will result in a loss of jobs around the country, particularly in our states," according to the letter, which was signed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey and six others.

In the letter, the senators asked Trump for a meeting within the next three weeks that would include them, a number of Midwest lawmakers and relevant administration officials "to discuss a pathway forward toward a mutually agreeable solution."

A White House official did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the meeting request.

The Renewable Fuel Standard was implemented by former President George W. Bush in 2005 as a way to support farmers, reduce imports and combat climate change.

The oil industry has opposed the regulation, mainly because the increasing biofuels volume mandates cut into their petroleum-based fuel market share.

A number of independent refiners, like Valero Energy Corp, CVR Energy and PBF Energy are also vocally opposed to the regulation's requirement that refiners blend the biofuels or purchase credits from rivals that do - which they say costs them hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

CVR's majority owner, billionaire Carl Icahn, served for months as a top adviser to Donald Trump on regulation and during that time pushed to shift the responsibility for blending away from refiners to supply terminals or distributors. He resigned from his post this summer over concerns about his dual role as an investor and adviser.

The Environmental Protection Agency said last week that it did not believe shifting the blending requirement off refiners was appropriate. The EPA also jettisoned a proposal to cut biofuels volumes mandates, and another to count ethanol exports against those mandates. (Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Subaru Corp failed to follow proper inspection procedures for vehicles destined for the domestic market at a factory in Japan, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.

The revelation follows a similar issue at Nissan Motor nsany and comes as Japanese manufacturers grapple with wider compliance problems with Kobe Steel kbsty saying on Thursday it had found more possible cases of data fabrication on its products.

Shares of Subaru fell more than 3% in early trade, underperforming a slight rise in the broader Tokyo market .

Japans transport ministry had instructed domestic automakers to conduct internal investigations after Nissan found violations on inspections governing vehicles sold in Japan at its domestic factories. The ministry had set an end-October deadline for submitting the results.

The sources told Reuters that Subaru had allowed uncertified technicians to conduct final vehicle inspections at its main Gunma factory complex, north of Tokyo, which violates ministry requirements. They asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to disclose the information.

The Nikkei business daily reported earlier that Subaru had yet to determine whether a recall, which could affect 300,000 vehicles, would be necessary.

A Subaru spokesman said the company could not comment on the inspection issue because the automaker had not submitted results of its internal investigation to the transport ministry yet.

Kyodo News reported separately that Subaru had been letting uncertified technicians oversee final inspections for over 30 years, without citing its source.
The United States' security "failures" in Afghanistan are evident from events of the week when visiting Secretary of State Rex Tillerson could not move out of a U.S. military base and invited Afghan leaders to his "bunker" for talks, neighboring Pakistan said on October 26.



"This situation tells the whole story of U.S. failures, despite fighting in the country for 16 years," Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said while briefing a parliamentary committee on foreign affairs in Islamabad.



Pakistan is seeking "transparent" relations on "equal terms" with the United States and is ready to offer its "full cooperation" in fighting terrorism, but "without compromising its sovereignty" and scapegoating Islamabad would not be acceptable, the minister said.



Tillerson visited Afghanistan on October 23 for two hours. He held talks with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and top leaders of his unity government at the U.S.-run Bagram military base, about 60 kilometers north of the capital, Kabul. Officials cited security concerns for arranging the meeting at the base.



The following day, Tillerson visited Pakistan and held detailed talks with Pakistani civilian and military leaders led by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.



Tillerson reiterated U.S. President Donald Trump's message that Pakistan must increase efforts to eradicate militants and terrorists operating in Pakistan and sought Islamabad's cooperation in promoting Afghan peace and reconciliation efforts.

Pakistan is accused of sheltering and maintaining secret ties to the Taliban and the Haqqani network. Both militant groups are waging a deadly insurgency in Afghanistan. Asif said Pakistan's influence on the Afghan Taliban has lately diminished because the group has moved its bases to the Afghan side of the border.

On October 25, Asif briefed the lower house of Pakistani Parliament on talks with the U.S. delegation, describing them as "frank" and held in a "cordial" atmosphere without an exchange of allegations.



He said Pakistan told the U.S. delegation that if Washington provides actionable intelligence, Islamabad would take action against any militant group on its soil, and again denied his country is harboring safe havens.



"However, if they want us to act as their proxies to fight their war ... this is unacceptable," Asif said. He added that Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts have produced results and led to improved security across the country.



"We told them [the U.S. delegation] there are influential players in the region, which might not have good relations with America but have a stake in the Afghan dispute," Asif said.

He was apparently referring to Russia and Iran. Both have acknowledged publicly they maintain ties with the Taliban.



The role of those countries has become indispensable as far as solving the Afghan conflict, he added.

-- Voice Of America
LONDON, Oct. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Benedict Peters, Executive Vice Chairman of Aiteo Group (www.AiteoGroup.com), has instructed London law firm Mishcon de Reya and Washingtons Covington & Burling to lead ongoing efforts to address politically-motivated issues.



Aiteo Group, founded in 1999, is a leading indigenous Nigerian oil producer headquartered in Lagos.

UK-based Mishcon de Reya is one of the worlds leading legal practices with a particular proficiency in handling contentious international disputes. Covington, headquartered in Washington, DC. United States, has an outstanding reputation in navigating complex legal issues at the intersection of law and policy around the world.

Explaining the appointments, Benedict Peters said: I maintain my position that all the allegations are baseless and without any truth whatsoever. These unfounded allegations have caused untold disruption to my family and my business. To ensure that we remain focused, I have engaged two of the worlds leading law firms to offer both counsel and guidance in dealing with these issues.

There is a toxic culture of politically motivated witch-hunts that stains reputations, stifles enterprise and keeps foreign investors away from our country. For two years, I have suffered malicious, unfounded and false allegations hanging over my head.

This persecution is being pursued to diminish the visible endeavours to position our business, and Nigeria, at the apex of the energy industry worldwide. Despite these distractions, I remain focused on the efforts to sustain Aiteos growth towards becoming Nigerias leading indigenous oil producer. It is time to address the situation and so I have decided that I must take direct legal and other action to clear my name.

And Peters has now decided to publicly bring every inch of this matter to the fore.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Aiteo Group.

Media Contact

Ndiana Matthew

Senior Manager,

Corporate Communications

Aiteo Group

Mobile: +234-815-314-7539

Email: Ndiana.Matthew@Aiteong.com

About Aiteo: Aiteo (www.AiteoGroup.com) is one of Africa's fastest-growing integrated energy concerns.
AnushkaG wrote:

Hi,

Hi AnushkaG, thanks for your question. Beyond what you HAVE done, what do you see yourself doing going forward?

As that informs school selection.

My GMAT score is 650 and I have more than 4 years of work experience. Currently in advertising and have done my Bachelor of Arts in Economics. Looking to do a 12-16 month course.



I am looking at Canadian Schools, planning to apply to the following:

- Sauder avg gmat there about 646)

- Schulich avg gmat here about 660)

Have you considered Ivey also?

I am confused between some of the safe schools I have shortlisted:

- SFU (Beedie) avg gmat in range of 550-700)

- Ted Rogers avg gmat about 625

- Alberta avg gmat about 630



Any help would be great!

So these schools are in the range you set for GMAT but beyond GMAT, spend some time thinking about WHAT you want to do post MBA and then WHICH program has the most innovative offerings for those goals.

Thanks!

_________________
Lolaergasheva wrote:

Fossils of a whale that beached on an African shore more than a million years ago and was subsequently butchered by hominids have been recovered by paleontologists.



A. that beached on an African shore more than a million years ago and was subsequently butchered by hominids have



B. that beached on an African shore more than a million years ago and then was subsequently butchered by hominids has



C. that beached on an African shore more than a million years ago, which was subsequently butchered by hominids, has



D. having been beached on an African shore more than a million years ago and subsequently butchered by hominids, have



E. having beached on an African shore more than a million years ago and then subsequently were butchered by hominids have

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Meaning + Parallelism + Verb Forms + Awkwardness/Redundancy

A:

B:

C:

D:

E:

Hence, A is the best answer choice.

Dear Friends,Here is a detailed explanation to this question-Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning is that a whale beached on an African shore more than a million years ago and was subsequently butchered by hominids, and its fossils have been recovered by paleontologists. The simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past. Any elements linked by a conjunction ("and then" in this sentence) must be parallel. "which/who/whose/where" when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to the plural noun "Fossils" with the plural verb "have been recovered" and to the singular noun "whale" with the singular verb "was butchered". Further, Option A uses the phrase "and was subsequently butchered by hominids", conveying the intended meaning - that the whale was subsequently butchered by hominids. Additionally, Option A correctly uses the simple past tense verbs "beached" and "was butchered" to refer to actions that concluded in the past. Option A also maintains parallelism between "beached on an African shore more than a million years ago" and "was subsequently butchered by hominids". Besides, Option A is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun "Fossils" with the singular verb "has been recovered". Further, Option B redundantly uses "then" alongside "subsequently", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun "Fossils" with the singular verb "has been recovered". Further, Option C incorrectly modifies "more than a million years ago" with the phrase "which was subsequently butchered by hominids", producing an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that the whale was subsequently butchered by hominids; remember, "which/who/whose/where" when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.This answer choice incorrectly refers to actions that concluded in the past with the present participle ("verb+ing" - "having" in this sentence) phrases "having been beached" and "having been...butchered"; remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past.This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "whale with the plural verb "were butchered". Further, Option E fails to maintain parallelism between "having beached on an African shore more than a million years ago" and "were butchered by hominids"; remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("and then" in this sentence) must be parallel. Additionally, Option E redundantly uses "then" alongside "subsequently", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):To understand the concept of "Which, Who, Whose, and Where" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):All the best!Team_________________
The Spanish government is now taking desperate measures to put stop to Catalonia's move toward independence, all from dissolving its parliament to announcing early elections.

By India Today Web Desk: In a retort to the Catalan parliament's declaration of independence, Spain has now announced to fire Catalonia's regional government and dissolve its parliament.

The Spanish Senate has granted its government special constitutional powers to stop Catalonia's move toward independence.

Soon after Catalonia's declaration, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government called for an urgent Cabinet meeting, after which Rajoy announced the emergency measures.

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"It's not about suspending or meddling in the self-government (of Catalonia), but to return it to normality and legality as soon as possible," Rajoy said.

Rajoy also announced regional elections from December 21.

The Catalan parliament yesterday voted to unilaterally declare independence from Spain, a move that prompted the Spanish government's swift crackdown and a call for an early election in the region.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Source: Reuters Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Source: Reuters

Rajoy's announcement on TV was greeted with jeers and disapproval from crowds in Barcelona, Catalonia's regional capital. It also seemed to have little to no dampening effect on the independence celebrations being held at the gates of the government palace here.

The government and Spain's Constitutional Court have both said the secession bid was illegal, and after Friday's independence vote, Rajoy said it was a move that "not only goes against the law but is a criminal act."

Rajoy also said he was firing the head of the Catalan regional police, shutting down the Catalan government's overseas offices, and dismissing its representatives in Madrid and in Brussels, where the European Union has its headquarters.

After the Catalan parliament independence vote, Rajoy said it was a move that "in the opinion of a large majority of people not only goes against the law but is a criminal act."

The Senate's decision giving Rajoy special powers trumped the Catalan regional parliament's vote to secede, which was doomed because the Constitutional Court has already consistently ruled against any steps toward independence.

The battle around Catalonia's future is far from over, however. But at the moment, Catalonia is celebrating its independence.

Madrid's move to take away Catalonia's regional powers was sure to be seen as a humiliation and a provocation by Catalans and a backlash was expected, with planned street protests and the possibility that regional government workers could follow a policy of disobedience or non-cooperation.

On top of that, the Dec. 21 election could deliver a steadfastly pro-independence Catalan parliament, even if recent polls have suggested the region of 7.5 million people is roughly evenly split on secession.

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Many Catalans strongly oppose independence and a group of so-called unionists was organizing a large-scale protest in Barcelona on Sunday.

A spokesman for Spain's prosecutor's office, meanwhile, said it would seek to bring rebellion charges against those responsible for the Catalan independence vote.

The tense day, featuring emotional speeches and scenes of joy and despair, went to the heart of Spain's political and cultural history.

The 1978 constitution, drawn up after the end of Gen. Francisco Franco's decades-long dictatorship, created a decentralized Spanish state that devolved power to 17 autonomous regions, including Catalonia. The regions have broad administrative and legal powers. The Spanish constitution, however, also describes Spain as "indivisible."

People hold Catalan separatist flags known as

Catalonia has its own cultural traditions and its own language. Having long seen itself as different from the rest of Spain, the Catalan drive for independence began in 2010 when the Constitutional Court struck down key parts of a groundbreaking charter that would have granted the region greater autonomy and recognized it as a nation within Spain.

Catalonia represents a fifth of Spain's gross domestic product and many want the tax revenues generated by the prosperous region to remain at home.

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The motion to secede was approved by the 135-member Catalan parliament, where secessionists hold a slim majority, with 70 votes in favor. Opposition lawmakers had walked out of the chamber in protest ahead of the vote.

After the vote officials and lawmakers let loose cries of "Freedom!"

In an emotional scene, regional leader Carles Puigdemont called on cheering fellow separatists to remain peaceful.

"In the days ahead we must keep to our values of pacifism and dignity. It's in our, in your hands, to build the republic," Puigdemont said.

People celebrate Catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence, outside the Catalan Parliament in Barcelona. Source: AP

Outside parliament, thousands who had gathered cheered the news, some dancing and raising a toast. In Barcelona, people crowded around TV sets to watch the historic events unfold. The famous Sant Jaume Square outside the regional government office was packed with thousands of people celebrating. Many were draped with the "Estelada" flag that adds a blue triangle to the red and yellow Catalan flag and has become a symbol of the separatist struggle.

"I feel so emotional after the huge fight we went through, we finally got it ... the independence of Catalonia!" said 74-year-old Rosalina Cordera Torelles.

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Nearby, 24-year-old Rita Carboneras could hardly contain her excitement.

"I'm super, super, super happy. Super excited," she said. "So relieved. Now we are Catalan at last. We can be ourselves. We are just happy, look everyone around. Everything is so exciting."

The exhilaration was short-lived. Some 500 kilometers (300 miles) to the southwest, the Senate in Madrid voted by an overwhelming margin of 214 to 47 in favor of granting the government exceptional powers.

People celebrate Catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence. Source: Reuters

The main opposition Socialist and pro-business Citizens parties support Rajoy's stance on Catalonia, and many Spaniards outside the region are scornful of Catalonia's secession ambitions.

Rajoy has also received support from outside Spain, with other European leaders, including Germany, France and Britain, rejecting Catalonia's claims. The U.S. administration also backed Rajoy, after President Donald Trump last month branded the Catalan independence ballot as "foolish."

"Catalonia is an integral part of Spain, and the United States supports the Spanish government's constitutional measures to keep Spain strong and united," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

Also supporting Rajoy's warnings of trouble in Catalonia if it forges ahead with its secession bid, more than 1,500 businesses have moved their official headquarters out of Catalonia this month to ensure they can continue operating under European Union laws if Catalonia secedes.

The EU says Catalonia will be tossed out of the bloc if it leaves Spain and would have to apply to become a member, a lengthy process.

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The story has expired

By India Today Web Desk: The story has expired

--- ENDS ---
Here are some of the most affordable destinations, in terms of cost of living from lowest to highest.

By Asian News International: Access to education is one of the basic rights of people across the world, and many are extremely lucky to have had the chance to complete at least high school.

However, when it comes to pursuing higher education from reputed institutions, especially those that are based in an international destination, it seems there are only few who can afford to study abroad in the destination of their choice.

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Although there are several student loans and scholarships made available for young scholars who demonstrate academic excellence, there are external factors like cost and standard of living that determine the overall cost of studying abroad.

Also Read: These are the 10 best countries to travel to in 2018

While strict financial planning / management is one way to manage costs while pursuing studies in an international university, it is extremely important for students hoping to study abroad to choose from those countries that have considerably lower cost of living than most nations.

Gurinder Bhatti, Chairman and Managing Director, ESS Global suggests some of the most affordable destinations, in terms of cost of living from lowest to highest for students hoping to study abroad:

1. Germany

As an emerging education destination, Germany saw a 14 per cent increase in number of international students from 282,201 to 321,569, enrolled in its universities between 2013 and 2015. Additionally, it has one of the best education infrastructures in the world, and is also considered by many as one of the top countries to specialize in engineering and technology.

Despite being a central-European nation, cost of living in Germany is quite low compared to other European countries. Apart from little to no tuition fees for studying in German universities, the country has a lower cost of living than Denmark, Switzerland, and Luxembourg. According to the German Academic Exchange Service, international students spend an average of 725 euros on daily expenses, while German students spend 864 euros for their expenses.

2. Canada

Canada has been a favourite destination among international students for quite some time now. Apart from being one of the most peaceful, safe, and student friendly nation, Canada is also known for its high standard of living and low cost of living for students. International students typically spend anywhere between 20,000 to 30,000 Canadian dollars annually that covers their tuition as well as living expenses.

Picture courtesy: Facebook/Nodnat- Study Abroad

3. New Zealand

New Zealand has an excellent and flexible education system that suits the budget of every student. While the annual living expenses of international students are determined by the university chosen by them, the New Zealand government suggests that students have at least 15,000 dollars to cover their expenses during their first year.

Also Read: Italy is World's Healthiest Country; India doesn't feature in top 50

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4. Australia

Australia has one of the best cost of living in the world, with living & tuition costs significantly lower than either the United States of America or the United Kingdom. However, the Australian government still advises international students to prepare a budget for the duration of their stay in the country prior to enrolling in any university to manage their finances better. Students can also check if they are eligible for scholarships, which could help reduce their financial burden by a certain margin.

5. The United Kingdom

Just like New Zealand, the overall cost of living in the United Kingdom is determined by the place and/or university selected by a student. For example: University of Liverpool suggests that students have at least Euro 5,500-7,000 to spend per year on cost of living (excluding college and tuition fees). Apart from that, the country's official website for international students suggests preparing a budget that includes college fees (including tuition), food, accommodation rent, travel, and other miscellaneous expenses.

No matter where a student chooses to study, it is evident that planning well in advance and preparing a budget can go a long way in ensuring they have a comfortable and fruitful stay through the duration of their course

--- ENDS ---

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As arrests, shootouts, and the seizure of passports from citizens who wish to be foreign fighters continues, North African leaders must be careful to avoid the perception that fighting extremism means the persecution of the defenders of the faith. The government must rebut IS claims that authorities are complicit with Irans plots and schemes to carve up the region and spread Shiite Islam.

Recently, the Islamist PJD party in Morocco warned of a sectarian Shiite invasion and the Grand Mufti of Mauritania called on his countrys leaders to resist the rising Shiite tide. A North African government minister denounced the intrusion of Shiism through social media, university dormitories, high schools and even quranic schools, concluding, I ask myself whether the Persians want to dominate the Arab world.

onathan Laurence, Professor of Political Science at Boston College and Nonresident Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy studies at the Brookings Institution, asks in his article for Reuters, After Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Bahrein, is North Africa the next realm of a more aggressive Iranian foreign policy?

Iran has attempted to expand its influence in Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, as well as the region that Laurence refers to as Irans backyard, Senegal, Niger, Guinea and Mali. In fact, this region was toured by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in June, when he met with heads of government in Algeria, Mauritania and Tunisia. At around this same time, Iran launched satellites beaming Arabic-language Shiite religious programming into North African homes. It made some local powers nervous.

Although it is believed that fewer than 20,000 Shiites reside in Algeria, the government recently mandated the registration of all of them. Additionally, the Algerian Minister of Religious Affairs said that Shiites have no right to spread their faith in Algeria, because that causes sedition and other problems. He explained in an interview, Algeria cannot play host to a sectarian war that does not concern it, and added, Shiism, nor Wahhabism nor any of the other sects are the product of Algerians, nor do they come from Algeria. We refuse to be the battleground for two external and foreign ideologies. Still, Algeria is one of only a few countries who, along with Iran, maintain good relations with Yemens Houthi rebels, who are Shiite. The Iranian Foreign Ministers first stop in North Africa in June was Algiers.

Laurence writes that, Moroccan and Algerian leaders view Irans Africa policy as a threat to their domestic order and regional security. The prospect of sectarian strife exists for heterodox  i.e. non-Sunni  minorities scattered across the region, numbering in the millions who live under mainstream Sunni rule. Some of these groups are offshoots of Shiite Islam, but are not necessarily the source of conflict. In Algeria, their mere difference  and the governments toleration of them  sometimes provokes attack from local hardliners.

There is no official Shiite minority in Morocco, however, unofficial estimates put the number at less than 2 percent. The foreign ministry in Rabat has accused Iran of trying to alter the kingdoms religious fundamentals.

In neighboring Tunisia, relations with Iran have continued unbroken since 1990, including high-level exchanges before and after the January 2011 revolution that became known as the Arab Spring. As a result, trade with Iran increased significantly. Laurence writes that, Tunisia prides itself on being an island of sectarian tolerance in a rapidly polarizing region. Senior religious affairs officials proudly state that they represent all religions, including Christians and Jews, although in reality the country has very few non-Sunni Muslims. After the January 15 revolution, Tunisia signed the United Nations Convention on Human Rights and helped protect religious freedom in Article 6 of its new constitution.

Saudi Arabia maintained its advantage in Tunisia  a month after the Iranian foreign minister left Tunis, a Saudi government delegation arrived, including 53 businessmen. They signed agreements with the government worth $200 million in development projects, including several hospitals and the renovations of a historic mosque in Kairouan.

Some countries in North Africa are struggling with the two-front ideological battle against IS and Iran. The Algerian Minister responded to the State Departments admonishments on religious freedoms in Algeria, by saying, If they want to accuse us of defending Islam and our historic traditions, then let them.

The defeat of IS in Raqqa gives North African governments time to consolidate their religious communities. That same defeat also allows Iranian regimes influence to compete for leadership in the Persian Gulf.


The National Archives in Washington has released more than 2,800 secret files related to the killing of President John F. Kennedy.

The release late Thursday of the Kennedy files was required by a 1992 law.

However, President Donald Trump ordered that more than 200 of the files should temporarily remain secret until a review is completed.

Some people had questioned whether Trump would permit the release of the documents. On Wednesday, he tweeted:

The Long anticipated release of the #JFKFiles will take place tomorrow. So interesting!

But on Thursday, Trump said he had no choice but to accept recommendations to withhold some of the files.

A Trump administration official said most of the recommendations had come from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA.

Officials said Trump had given the agencies 180 days to explain why the remaining files should not be released.

Larry Sabato at the University of Virginia is a historian and expert on Kennedy. Sabato said he was told that there was pressure on Trump to withhold some documents. He said documents generated in the 1990s could contain names of people who are still alive and these were of concern to some people.

Widespread interest and conspiracy theories

President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed while riding in an open car through Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. He died hours later.

The killing of JFK, as Kennedy is often called, has probably led to more questions and doubts than any other political killing in American history.

The details of the event have led to countless theories that there was a conspiracy. Books, documentaries and at least one movie by director Oliver Stone JFK, have put forward theories about who killed Kennedy and why.

Secret Service Agent Clint Hill was near the president on that day in November. He spoke about what he heard.

I thought it must have been a fatal wound, but I did not know for sure. But the only thing Mrs. Kennedy said was, Oh Jack, Oh Jack what have they done? And then she said, Jack I love you.

Soon after the shooting, Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with the killing. But he denied involvement.

Did you shoot the president?

I did not shoot anybody. No, sir.

Oswald, however, was shot and killed by nightclub owner Jack Ruby before a trial could take place.

Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president immediately after Kennedys death. Johnson soon established a commission to investigate the killing. The commission was chaired by then-Chief Justice Earl Warren. It became known as the Warren Commission.

In 1964, the commission completed its report which said that Oswald had acted alone. The commission also tried to discredit what it called myths that were already spreading related to the assassination.

But details about Oswalds travels before 1963 led many to believe others were involved. And they lead to a new term describing popular beliefs and ideas about events that are hard to understand: conspiracy theories.

Among the details that have fueled conspiracy theories is the killing of Oswald, the main suspect. Another links Oswald with Cuban officials in Mexico City before the shooting.

During Kennedys time in office, the failed effort to overthrow the Cuban government had caused bad relations with the U.S. to worsen. Then, the Cuban Missile Crisis pushed the U.S., Cuba and the Soviet Union close to war in 1962. Some people believed that Cubas leader at the time, Fidel Castro, was involved in Kennedys death.

Oswald also was said to have spent years in the Soviet Union and then returned to the U.S. in 1962.

For more than 50 years, these details and many others have kept peoples attention and fueled more theories.

Not likely to be shocking

Gerald Posner is the author of a 1993 book on the killing Case Closed. He says the release of the documents could be embarrassing to people who are still alive. But, he has said he does not think there will be anything shocking in them.

But Sabato says the release could help history students understand the events of that time better. He said finally, researchers will have all the information that the government has had and be able to reevaluate the Kennedy assassination.

The shooting is still in the living memory of millions of people. Census Bureau numbers show that about 49 million Americans were old enough to remember the event in Dallas.

Some still have strong feelings about that time. The proportion of Americans believing in a conspiracy has ranged from 60 percent to 75 percent, said Sabato.

Although many questions have been raised, no clear evidence has been found to show that Oswald did not act alone. Now, there are millions of additional pages for students to study.

Im Mario Ritter.

Pete Heinlein, Jim Malone and Imam Sultan reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English with additional materials from AP and Reuters. Hai Do was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

files n. one or more related documents kept together

conspiracy n. a plot by at least two people to carry out something

assassination n. the killing of a public official or someone famous

conspiracy theories n. theories about how well-known people are involved in bad or worrying events

embarrassing adj. related to something that causes shame or discomfort

redact v. to delete parts of some written document

proportion n. the amount of something in relation to something else

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Target Corporation has a long history dating back to 1902. The company began as Goodfellows Dry Goods, operated by George Dalton, and later changed its name via a progression of mergers and acquisitions. The first Target store was opened in Roseville, Minnesota in 1962 as the discount division of the parent company. The idea was discount or low-priced items could still be fashionable and desirable. After meeting great success in the home territory, the concept went public in the late 1960s was later expanded on a national level during the 1980s. Target Corporation is now the 7th largest retailer in the US and is projected to bring in more than $113 billion in revenue for fiscal 2023.

The department stores were shed in 2004 so today Target operates as a general merchandise retailer that serves on-trend items at discounted prices. It is known as a big box retailer and is a member of the S&P 500. The company listed about 2,000 stores in mid-2022 and had plans for growth. The company offers an assortment of everyday, household, and food goods in a bright and cheery atmosphere. It has set itself apart from other low-priced retailers as the chic choice for savvy shoppers. The companys stated purpose is to help families discover the joy of everyday life and it does so by offering quality products that families can afford.

The company sells its products through a chain of stores as well as eCommerce. eCommerce is about 20% of Targets total revenue and was boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Services like delivery, same-day pickup, and access to thousands of necessary and discretionary items are also driving adoption. Target also offers amenities like cafes and opticians, and it hosts Starbucks inside the stores.

Target Corporation has paid and increased its dividend for more than 5 decades. The company issued its 53rd consecutive distribution increase in calendar 2022 bringing the total annual payout to $4.32. In late October 2022, the payout was worth 2.7% in yield and came with a 40% payout ratio and a 9% distribution compound annual growth rate.

Target is a leader in ESG and giving back to the community. Among its many endeavors is to return 5% of its profits to community charities as well as to inspire its employees to volunteer. Volunteers donate more than 1 million man-hours per year.
By PTI: Rohtas (Bihar), Oct 28 (PTI) Four persons have died in a suspected case of spurious liquor consumption in Rohtas district of Bihar, where the sale and consumption of alcohol had been banned more than a year ago.

The deaths were reported from Danwar village under Kachhwa police station late last night.

Six others, who fell sick, are undergoing treatment at various private hospitals, Superintendent of Police, Rohtas, Manavjit Singh Dhillon said.

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He said angry villagers were staging a demonstration at Danwar and demanding action against those responsible for facilitating hooch trade in the area.

"The matter is being investigated. Only after the post-mortem reports are out, can we say with certainty that the deaths have been caused by consumption of illicit liquor," he added.

DIG, Shahabad Range, Mohd Rehman said "I am leaving for the spot. If the consumption of spurious liquor is established, action will be taken against all the erring officials, including the SHO of the police station concerned".

Acting on a poll promise made during the Assembly elections of 2015, the Nitish Kumar government had imposed prohibition in Bihar in April last year. PTI CORR NAC MM DV

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Ltd., Gardner Denver Austria GmbH, Gardner Denver Bad Neustadt Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Belgium NV, Gardner Denver Brasil Industria E Comercio de Maquinas Ltda., Gardner Denver CZ + SK sro, Gardner Denver Canada Corp (Canada), Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Limited, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Engineered Products India Private Limited, Gardner Denver FZE, Gardner Denver Finance II LLC, Gardner Denver Finance Inc & Co KG, Gardner Denver France SAS, Gardner Denver Group Svcs Ltd, Gardner Denver Holdings Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Ltd, Gardner Denver Iberica SL, Gardner Denver Inc., Gardner Denver Industries Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd., Gardner Denver International Inc., Gardner Denver International Ltd., Gardner Denver Investments Inc., Gardner Denver Italy Holdings S.r.L., Gardner Denver Japan Ltd., Gardner Denver Kirchhain Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Korea Ltd., Gardner Denver Ltd., Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Nash Brasil Industria E Comercio De Bombas Ltda, Gardner Denver Nash LLC, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd., Gardner Denver Nederland BV, Gardner Denver Nederland Investments B.V., Gardner Denver Oy, Gardner Denver Polska Sp z.o.o., Gardner Denver Pte. Ltd., Gardner Denver S.r.l., Gardner Denver Schopfheim GmbH, Gardner Denver Schopfheim Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Schweiz AG, Gardner Denver Slovakia s.r.o., Gardner Denver Sweden AB, Gardner Denver Taiwan Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas GmbH (f/k/a ILMVAC GmbH), Gardner Denver Thomas Inc., Gardner Denver Thomas Pneumatic Systems (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Garo Dott. Ing. Roberto Gabbioneta S.r.l., Ghh-Rand Schraubenkompressoren Gmbh, HASKEL EUROPE LTD., HASKEL HOLDINGS UK LIMITED, HASKEL INTERNATIONAL LLC, Hamworthy Belliss & Morcom, Haskel France SAS, Haskel Sistemas de Fluidos Espana S.R.L., Hibon Inc., Highspeed Newco LLC, Hingerose Limited, ILMVAC (UK) Ltd., ILS Innovative Labor Systeme, ILS Inovative Laborsysteme GmbH, INGERSOLL RAND ITS JAPAN LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND (CHANG ZHOU) TOOLS CO. LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND (CHINA) INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING CO. LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND CHINA LLC, INGERSOLL-RAND COMERCIO E SERVICOS DE MAQUINAS E EQUIPAMENTOS INDUSTRIAIS LTDA., INGERSOLL-RAND DE PUERTO RICO INC., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL COMPANY B.V., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL SP. Z O.O., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL U.S. INC., INGERSOLL-RAND PHILIPPINES INC., INGERSOLL-RAND SPAIN S.A., INGERSOLL-RAND U.S. HOLDCO INC., IR HPS Holdco. Inc., ITO Emniyet, Ingersoll Rand Cyprus Investments Ltd., Ingersoll Rand Finance LLC, Ingersoll Rand Global Investments LLC, Ingersoll Rand Global Ventures LLC, Ingersoll Rand Hong Kong Investments Limited, Ingersoll Rand Inc., Ingersoll Rand Investments (SG) Pte. Ltd., Ingersoll Rand Investments B.V., Ingersoll Rand Schweiz Investments Gmbh, Ingersoll Rand Technology R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand (Australia) Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand (China) Investment Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (Guilin) Tools Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (Hong Kong) Holding Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (India) Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Ab, Ingersoll-Rand Air Solutions Hibon Sarl, Ingersoll-Rand Beteiligungs Und Grundstucksverwaltungs Gmbh, Ingersoll-Rand Colombia S.A.S., Ingersoll-Rand Company Limited (Uk), Ingersoll-Rand Company South Africa (Pty) Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Cz S.R.O., Ingersoll-Rand De Mexico S.A. De C.V., Ingersoll-Rand Equipements De Production S.A.S., Ingersoll-Rand Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Industrial Ireland Limited, Ingersoll-Rand International (India) Private Limited, Ingersoll-Rand International Holding Llc, Ingersoll-Rand Italia S.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Italiana Manufacturing S.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Korea Holding Llc, Ingersoll-Rand Korea Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Lux Investments II S.A R.I., Ingersoll-Rand Lux Investments S.A R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Luxembourg Industrial Company S.A R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Machinery (Shanghai) Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Malaysia Co. Sdn. Bhd., Ingersoll-Rand S.A. De C.V., Ingersoll-Rand Services And Trading Limited Liability Company, Ingersoll-Rand Services Company, Ingersoll-Rand Services Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Singapore Enterprises Pte. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand South East Asia (Pte.) Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand Superay Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Technical And Services S.A.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Technologies And Services Private Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Technology R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand Tool Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Trading Gmbh, Ingersoll-Rand Vietnam Company Limited, Instrum Rand JSC, Interflex Datensysteme, Ir Canada Holdings Ulc, Ir Canada Sales & Service Ulc, Ir France Sas, Kryptonite corp, Lawrence Factor Inc., LeROI, LeRoi International Inc, MILTON ROY (HONG KONG) LIMITED, MILTON ROY (UK) LIMITED, MILTON ROY EUROPA B.V., MILTON ROY EUROPE SAS, MILTON ROY INDUSTRIAL (SHANGHAI) CO. LTD., MILTON ROY LLC, MILTON ROY US PURCHASER INC., MP Pumps Inc., Maximum AG Technologies Inc., Maximus Solutions, Mb Air Systems Limited, Nash Elmo, Officina Meccaniche Industriali Srl, Oina VV, Oina VV Aktiebolag, Plurifilter D.O.O., Pt Ingersoll-Rand Indonesia, Robuschi, Runtech Systems, Runtech Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Runtech Systems Inc., Runtech Systems OY, SEEPEX, Seepex (M) SDN, Seepex Australia Pty Ltd, Seepex Beteiligungs-Gesellschaft mit Beschrankter Haftung, Seepex France S.a.r.l., Seepex GmbH, Seepex Inc., Seepex India Private Ltd., Seepex Italia SRL, Seepex Japan Co. Ltd., Seepex Nordic A/S, Seepex OOO, Seepex Pumps (Shanghia) Co. Ltd., Seepex UK Ltd., Shanghai CompAir Compressors Co Ltd, Shanghai Compressors & Blowers Ltd., Shanghai Ingersoll-Rand Compressor Limited, Shenzhen Bocom System Engineering Co., Superay, Syltone, TIWR Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG, Tamrotor Marine Comp AS Norway, Tecno Matic Europe s.r.o., Thomas Industries Inc., Trane Technologies, Tri-Continent Scientific Inc., Vacuum and Blower Systems division, Welch Vacuum Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zaxe Technologies Inc., Zeks Compressed Air Solutions Llc, Zinsser Analytic, Zinsser Analytik GmbH, Zinsser NA Inc., and crayon interface.

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I think this is significant coming from someone who was in her position -- as someone who had been very pro-Clinton before.

People will say she wants to sell books, of course, but going at the Clintons is not something that is generally undertaken lightly.

I do think the piece needed more detail. She mixed in a lot of stuff that we already knew about, and I want more details. Perhaps they're coming in her book.
Healthcare staff who regularly share the emotional, social or ethical challenges they face in the workplace experience less psychological distress, improved teamwork and increased empathy and compassion for patients and colleagues, a new study commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research reports.

In the first in-depth study in the UK, researchers from the University of Surrey, Kings College London, the University of Sheffield and The King's Fund examined the impact of Schwartz Center Rounds (Rounds), on both clinical and non-clinical staff. Rounds are monthly forums that offer a safe space for staff to share experiences with colleagues and to discuss the challenges they face in their work and its impact on them.

The psychological wellbeing of 500 staff members who attended Rounds regularly, irregularly or not all, was measured over an eight-month period, using the clinically validated GHQ-12questionnaire.

Researchers found that the wellbeing of staff who attended Rounds regularly significantly improved, with the proportion of those with psychological distress halving- down from 25 per cent to 12 per cent. There was little change in the psychological wellbeing of staff that did not attend Rounds over this period.

When asked of the benefits of Rounds, participants noted that attending led to greater understanding, empathy and tolerance towards colleagues and patients and positive changes in practice.

Following the publication of the Francis report which highlighted Schwartz Rounds as being a way of fostering good teamwork and improving morale amongst staff, the implementation of Rounds in the UK rapidly increased. The research found that Rounds were implemented variably and challenges to implementation and sustainability included ward staff attendance, and the workload and resources required for planning and running Rounds.

Jill Maben, Professor of Nursing at the University of Surrey and formerly of Kings College London, said: "Delivering care to patients at some of the most challenging times in their lives has an emotional impact on staff, which undoubtedly impacts on their own wellbeing and on their work.

"Our study is the first in the UK to demonstrate that those who regularly attend Rounds see significant benefits; their symptoms of anxiety and depression are reduced, they are better able to cope with the issues they face and have more empathy towards patients and colleagues, which undeniably has a positive impact on those in their care. "Given these impacts it is good to see Rounds running in over 160 organisations in the UK, particularly in light of the Francis report, which called for more compassionate patient care. The challenge is for organisations to continue to invest in Rounds in resource-constrained environments."

Dr Cath Taylor, Reader at the University of Surrey and formerly of King College London, said: "NHS and hospice staff are the unsung heroes of our society, but the physical and emotional demands placed on them often go unnoticed, leading to high rates of burn out and people often leaving the profession. Rounds are a unique organisational wide intervention that we found benefitted many attendees".

Professor Jo Rycroft-Malone, Director of the NIHR's Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR) Programme, said: "The NIHR is proud to have funded an important piece of research which is the first in depth study of its kind to evaluate the impacts of Schwartz Center Rounds. We feel this was an important area to research following the Francis Report highlighting the importance of Rounds. "Hospital and hospice staff work incredibly hard to care for patients and it is crucial that they can ease the physical and emotional demands they face while also helping to boost colleagues' teamwork and morale and improve care, compassion and empathy for patients."

Professor Jeremy Dawson, Professor of Health Management at the University of Sheffield, said: "Schwartz Center Rounds offer a valuable support system to healthcare staff, that can help to improve wellbeing, and that enable a focus on compassion and empathy towards colleagues and patients that is difficult to achieve in their otherwise hectic working lives."

Jocelyn Cornwell, Chief Executive of The Point of Care Foundation (which holds the licence to promote and support Schwartz Rounds in the UK and Ireland) said: "We are delighted that this research shows that Schwartz Rounds have significant positive impacts on the well-being and experience of the staff who take part in them. The Rounds offer a unique space for all staff in organisations to come together as equals, to share experience and listen to one another.

"In environments in which staff are under tremendous pressure, the Rounds offer a much-needed space for reflection and renewal. We hope that organisations that are not doing Rounds will pay attention to the research findings, and organisations that are doing them, will re-double their efforts to sustain them."
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MTN has released its results for the quarter ended 30 September 2017, updating its mobile subscriber numbers.

As listed companies, it is a requirement for Vodacom, MTN, and Telkom to release South African subscriber figures.

Cell C also released its annual financial results earlier this year, despite not being required to do so.

Mobile subscribers

MTNs latest results show it has 30.9 million subscribers in South Africa.

Vodacoms trading update for the quarter ended 30 June 2017 showed it had 39.4 million subscribers.

Telkoms results for the year ended 31 March 2017 show it had 3.99 million mobile subscribers.

Cell Cs chief executive for its wholesale business, Bjorn Flormann, recently said Cell C now has over 16 million subscribers on its network.

These figures include postpaid and prepaid subscribers.

Subscriber Numbers in SA Vodacom 39.4 million at 30 June 2017 MTN 30.9 million at 30 September 2017 Cell C Over 16 million at 26 October 2017 Telkom 3.99 million at 31 March 2017

Now read: MTN appoints vice president of Southern and East Africa
By PTI: Patna, Oct 28 (PTI) RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav attacked the Nitish Kumar government over the hooch tragedy in Bihars Rohtas district, which has claimed four lives, and charged that the ban on sale and consumption of alcohol in the state was "only on paper". Four persons had died after drinking spurious liquor last night at Danwar village of Rohtas district of Bihar, where a complete prohibition was clamped in April 2016. Eight police officials have been suspended in connection with it.

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Speaking to reporters, Yadav, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Bihar assembly said, "What has happened in Rohtas is not the first incident of its kind since the complete prohibition was announced in Bihar. We (RJD) were then a coalition partner in the government and had supported Nitish Kumars move. But as things have turned out, prohibition seems to have been implemented only on paper", Yadav told reporters. He said it appears that Kumar had announced prohibition only because of the "prime ministerial ambitions that he nursed at that time". "He needed an issue on the basis of which he could market himself outside Bihar." "Kumar used to hold meetings in states like Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh to press the demand for complete prohibition across the country. Now as an ally of the BJP, which is in power in all these states, can he hold similar public gatherings in these states ?" Yadav asked. Training his guns at BJP, Yadav said "Kumars current allies used to call the prohibition law in Bihar draconian. Now they are in power in the state. How will the ruling dispensation now muster the moral strength required to strictly enforce the ban on sale and consumption of liquor?" He said the suspension of police officials after the death of four persons in the liquor tragedy is "an eyewash".

"The people of the state will give a befitting lesson to this corrupt and inefficient government at an appropriate time," Yadav added. PTI NAC KK KK KKB

--- ENDS ---
The sales of the new generation of Apple smartphones - iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus - have officially started at Zigzag and Zigzag Antena stores following the launch schedule set by Apple.

The official date for the launch of the sales in Armenia was set to be Friday.

Zigzag Company started the presale of the new models on October 20th, giving the opportunity to pre-order the smartphones. The most popular color during the presale was the Space Gray of the iPhone 8, which was chosen by about 70% of customers. In terms of memory, the models with 64 GB top the rank, earning more than 60% preference by customers.

To make the new models more accessible, Zigzag offers special terms of credit in partnership with a number of leading banks.
Anwar Gargash: UAE has no interest in choosing sides between great powers

Ukraine suspends oil pumping through Druzhba pipeline towards Hungary

Germany urgently needs gas turbines to stabilize power grids

Polish media report on fall of two missiles on country's territory

Economic downturn worsens in eastern EU due to a spike in inflation

U.S. believes that meeting between Biden and Jinping was strong signal to rest of world

Karabakh MFA welcomes resolution adopted by French Senate

Italy bans facial recognition technology and smart glasses

Germany to establish maintenance center in Slovakia for weapons supplied to Ukraine

Energy Ministry: Russia carried out most massive shooting of Ukraine's energy system since war starts

French Senate passes resolution calling for sanctions against Azerbaijan

Rishi Sunak hints that he will abandon plans to declare China 'threat' to national security

EU supports any call to phase out fossil fuel use

Secretary of Security Council of Armenia receives delegation of EU special envoys, member states

Armenian President Vahagn Khachatryan receives newly appointed ambassador of Cyprus

Zelenskyy's adviser: The situation after Russian shelling is critical

Newly appointed ambassador of Cyprus visits Armenian Genocide memorial

Borrell: EU countries must work together to replenish their military stocks

French Senator: Are the lives of Armenians worth less than the lives of Ukrainians?

Turkey plans to strike targets in northern Syria

Emergency power outages in Kyiv due to explosions

Lavrov calls Zelenskyy's speech at G20 summit performance beyond all regulations and decency

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince embarks on Asian tour

Ukrainian media report missile strikes in number of areas

Chinese 50-year-old man runs marathon smoking

Pashinyan receives delegation of EU special envoys, EU member states on Eastern Partnership

Bloomberg: Paris overtakes London to become Europe's largest stock market

Anti-Iranian rally held in Baku

Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin: Pashinyan's approaches and wordings do not contribute to solving urgent problems

Borrell announces appearance of EU rapid reaction force in 2023

Norwegian Defense Minister pledges $30 million to NATO fund for Ukraine

Italy auctioned biggest truffle for record 184 thousand euros

Serviceman kills fellow soldier in Armenia

Kyodo: 67-year-old Japanese princess diagnosed with breast cancer

Mehriban Aliyeva hurriedly gives up her role of UNESCO 'Goodwill Ambassador' before French Senate meeting

Jeff Bezos says he's ready to give away most of his fortune

Britain to allocate $11.8m to rebuild Ukraine's energy infrastructure

Peskov: Kyiv cannot and doesn't want to negotiate, SVO will continue

Turkey detains another suspect in planning terrorist attack in Istanbul

Tasnim: Iranian authorities released 38 protesters in southeast

Terrorist attack: Number of detainees in Istanbul grows to 50

Armenian FM presents to Europeans consequences of September Azerbaijani aggression

Biden and Erdogan back extension of grain deal

Macron and Erdogan meet on G20 margins

UN: Earth's population is 8 billion people

Indian PM urges G20 countries to find peaceful solution to Ukraine

Minimum wage to rise in Armenia

Ministry: Air pollution level in Armenia up by 30-40% over the past five years

Erdogan and Biden hold talks in Bali

Media: Macron asks Xi Jinping to 'pressure' Putin to return to negotiations

UN: Armenia's population will decrease by 2050

Zelenskyy states that only realistic model of POW exchange is all for all

Ameriabank launches Google Pay, Google Wallet support for card users in Armenia

Argentine President Fernandez feels ill at G20 summit

Ruben Vardanyan receives head of ICRC mission: We must ensure a peaceful childhood for children living in Artsakh

Copper rises in price

Newspaper: Armenian Prime Minister wants to hold referendum on constitutional amendments in spring

Ardshinbank showcases the Google Pay for Android fans in Armenia

Zelenskyy calls not to offer Ukraine compromise with territory and independence

Secretary of State: U.S. stands ready to continue support for Karabakh settlement

Google Pay is a new contactless payment option for Converse Bank customers

French Senate to consider resolution on sanctions against Azerbaijan

Zelenskyy addresses G20 leaders: It's time to stop Russia's war

Karen Vardanyan donated 112 million drams for the medical equipment for National Center for Infectious Diseases

Another four-day parliamentary session begins in Yerevan

Gold declines in value

World oil prices go down

Plans to build 'death pyramid' in London that will hold millions of bodies

Armenian and Georgian Foreign Ministries hold consultations in Tbilisi

Azerbaijani and Iranian FMs hold phone conversation

Steve Jobs' sandals sold for more than $200,000

Armenian PM accuses Azerbaijani leader of terrorizing Armenian civilians

Azerbaijan shells Armenian positions on border again

OPEC downgrades its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2022

White House: Biden and Xi Jinping agree on Blinken's visit to China

CNN: CIA chief Burns meets with SVR director Naryshkin in Ankara

Turkish FM Cavusoglu thanks Ararat Mirzoyan for condolences

Putin signs decree allowing stateless persons to serve in Russian army

Airbus CEO: There is no question of them breaking off trade ties

Armen Grigoryan receives Igor Khovayev

Britain and France sign agreement on strengthening cooperation on illegal migration

US updates its sanctions list for Russia: Milur Electronics LLC, an Armenian company listed

Potatoes prices grow by 20%: expert claims agriculture collapse in Armenia

Peskov says Russian-American talks in Ankara initiated by Washington

Morgan Stanley: UK and euro zone economies are likely to face recession

Xi Jinping hopes for comprehensive dialogue between NATO, the EU and the US and Russia

Japan proposes to deploy Australian nuclear submarines

Biden calls talks with Xi Jinping at G20 summit frank

WB: Debt levels among low- and middle-income countries soared in 2021

Xi Jinping: China does not intend to challenge the U.S.

Scholz: Adopting a joint G20 summit statement is a tough task

Biden and Xi Jinping oppose use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine

Nikol Pashinyan receives Russian co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group

IMF head warns of risks for world economy because of rivalry between China and US

Irakli Garibashvili: Georgia is ready to promote in every possible way the dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Red Wings airline launches direct flights from Makhachkala to Yerevan

Olaf Scholz: EU should expand its cooperation with Southeast Asian countries

Global Leadership Foundation will visit Armenia

Kurdistan Workers' Party denies its involvement in Istanbul terrorist attack

NATO Secretary General says they must not make mistake of underestimating Russia
YEREVAN.  The political situation in Baku and Yerevan does not enable to predict serious, substantive negotiations on the Karabakh issue. The leaderships of the two countries are preparing for domestic political changes, which will not enable to discuss serious scenarios for resolving the Karabakh issue, since all focus is on this issue. I believe the presidents [of Armenia and Azerbaijan] perhaps discussed this matter in Geneva [recently]. I dont think that the [foreign] ministerial meeting is organized within the framework of the negotiation logic, since their initiators and stakeholders today are the [OSCE Minsk Group] Co-Chairs, who are trying to show that they follow the situation, trying to prevent a flare-up [in the Karabakh conflict].

Russian political scientist Vladimir Evseev told the aforementioned to168 Zham (Hour) newspaper of Armenia, as he reflected on the agenda of the talk to be organized between the FMs of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

According to the political scientist, after the domestic political changes, Armenia will return to its post-April [2016 brief war] demand of the introduction of trust mechanisms.

For his part, European analyst Uwe Halbach said that the upcoming [foreign] ministerial meeting also will be a regular contact between the ministers, [but] which will not have a significant impact on the negotiation process, without high-level agreements, wrote 168 Zham.
Tonight, I came to tell you: Help is on the way.

US Vice President Mike Pence stated the abovementioned at In Defense of Christians Solidarity Dinner, adding that Washingtons policy has radically changed with respect to Christian communities in the Middle East, reported the Voice of America Armenian Service.

In his words, the UN does not fully fulfill its mission, and, as a result, American aid hardly reaches the minority Christian communities in the region.

Our fellow Christians and all who are persecuted in the Middle East should not have to rely on multinational institutions when America can help them directly, noted the US Vice President. And tonight, it is my privilege to announce that President Trump has ordered the State Department to stop funding ineffective relief efforts at the United Nations. And from this day forward, America will provide support directly to persecuted communities through USAID.

In his remarks, Pence recalled that Christianity had spread from the Middle East.

In the mountains of Syria, the valleys of Lebanon, on the plains of Nineveh, the plateaus of Armenia, on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, the delta of the Nile, the fathers and mothers of our faith planted seeds of belief, he noted, in particular.

Also, Mike Pence stressed that US assistance is determined to protect the Christians of the Middle East.

The United States of America will always stand with those who suffer for their faith, and we will always support them in the hour of their need, he added.
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 28 (PTI) Union minister K J Alphons visited an injured Swiss couple, who were allegedly attacked in Agras Fatehpur Sikri by a group of youths, at Apollo Hospital here today, an official statement said.

The minister of state (independent charge) for tourism also had discussion with the hospital management and doctors regarding their treatment, the statement said.

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Both the patients are fast recovering and are very happy about the treatment that they are getting at the hospital, it added.

The couple, Quentin Jeremy Clerc (24) and Marie Droz (24), from Lausanne in Switzerland, who came to India on September 30, was chased and attacked on Sunday with stones and sticks by a group of four youths in the tourist town of Fatehpur Sikri, about 40 km from Agra, according to media accounts of the incident

They told the media that as they lay on the ground bloodied and bruised, bystanders began taking videos of them on their mobile phones. PTI ENM SMN SMN

--- ENDS ---
YEREVAN.  A delegation from Armenia, and led by Vahan Martirosyan, Minister of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies, attended a conference devoted to the prospects for cooperation with Armenia in road construction.

In his remarks at the event that was held in Rome, Italy, Martirosyan reflected on the ongoing road construction projects in Armenia, and presented the North-South Road Corridor Investment Program in more detail, the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. In particular, he stressed that this road project, which will link the north of Armenia to the south, is of great importance not solely for the country, but the region because it will become a motorway corridor for transit traffic between Iran and the Black Sea.

At the conference, the discussants conferred also on the opportunities for collaboration with Italian road construction companies in building of the North-South Highway of Armenia.
Anwar Gargash: UAE has no interest in choosing sides between great powers

Ukraine suspends oil pumping through Druzhba pipeline towards Hungary

Germany urgently needs gas turbines to stabilize power grids

Polish media report on fall of two missiles on country's territory

Economic downturn worsens in eastern EU due to a spike in inflation

U.S. believes that meeting between Biden and Jinping was strong signal to rest of world

Karabakh MFA welcomes resolution adopted by French Senate

Italy bans facial recognition technology and smart glasses

When cooking in scratched Teflon pan, we can ingest 2.3 million microplastic particles

How do users feel about voice assistants?

Germany to establish maintenance center in Slovakia for weapons supplied to Ukraine

Energy Ministry: Russia carried out most massive shooting of Ukraine's energy system since war starts

French Senate passes resolution calling for sanctions against Azerbaijan

Rishi Sunak hints that he will abandon plans to declare China 'threat' to national security

EU supports any call to phase out fossil fuel use

Secretary of Security Council of Armenia receives delegation of EU special envoys, member states

Armenian President Vahagn Khachatryan receives newly appointed ambassador of Cyprus

Zelenskyy's adviser: The situation after Russian shelling is critical

Newly appointed ambassador of Cyprus visits Armenian Genocide memorial

Borrell: EU countries must work together to replenish their military stocks

List of 1,000 largest taxpayers includes 67 IT companies that have paid more than $ 90 million in taxes

French Senator: Are the lives of Armenians worth less than the lives of Ukrainians?

Turkey plans to strike targets in northern Syria

Emergency power outages in Kyiv due to explosions

Study: How hidden HIV escapes medication and immunity

Lavrov calls Zelenskyy's speech at G20 summit performance beyond all regulations and decency

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince embarks on Asian tour

Ukrainian media report missile strikes in number of areas

Di Maria: Messi is the best in the world, an alien

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry make scandal in restaurant

Chinese 50-year-old man runs marathon smoking

Pashinyan receives delegation of EU special envoys, EU member states on Eastern Partnership

Ancelotti says team need great players to succeed, not great coach

Internet failures in Armenia due to outage of main and backup communication nodes on territory of Georgia

Bloomberg: Paris overtakes London to become Europe's largest stock market

Anti-Iranian rally held in Baku

Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin: Pashinyan's approaches and wordings do not contribute to solving urgent problems

Borrell announces appearance of EU rapid reaction force in 2023

FIFA president calls for cease-fire in Ukraine during World Cup 2022

Norwegian Defense Minister pledges $30 million to NATO fund for Ukraine

How to preserve quality of hair in cold season

Meta cancels project to develop smartwatch that could compete with Apple Watch

Italy auctioned biggest truffle for record 184 thousand euros

Serviceman kills fellow soldier in Armenia

Ten Hag demands that Manchester United's management remove Ronaldo

Kyodo: 67-year-old Japanese princess diagnosed with breast cancer

Iranian President receives national team leaving for World Cup 2022

Mehriban Aliyeva hurriedly gives up her role of UNESCO 'Goodwill Ambassador' before French Senate meeting

Jeff Bezos says he's ready to give away most of his fortune

Britain to allocate $11.8m to rebuild Ukraine's energy infrastructure

Messi: Football has changed a lot

Peskov: Kyiv cannot and doesn't want to negotiate, SVO will continue

Turkey detains another suspect in planning terrorist attack in Istanbul

Tasnim: Iranian authorities released 38 protesters in southeast

Terrorist attack: Number of detainees in Istanbul grows to 50

Armenian FM presents to Europeans consequences of September Azerbaijani aggression

Almost all 'natural' skin care cosmetics can cause allergies

Biden and Erdogan back extension of grain deal

Macron and Erdogan meet on G20 margins

Fernandes greets Ronaldo reluctantly (video)

Jennifer Aniston's father dies aged 89

UN: Earth's population is 8 billion people

Indian PM urges G20 countries to find peaceful solution to Ukraine

Minimum wage to rise in Armenia

Ministry: Air pollution level in Armenia up by 30-40% over the past five years

Erdogan and Biden hold talks in Bali

Media: Macron asks Xi Jinping to 'pressure' Putin to return to negotiations

80 level of free speech: Elon Musk fires Twitter employees who publicly criticize him

UN: Armenia's population will decrease by 2050

Zelenskyy states that only realistic model of POW exchange is all for all

Ameriabank launches Google Pay, Google Wallet support for card users in Armenia

Argentine President Fernandez feels ill at G20 summit

Ruben Vardanyan receives head of ICRC mission: We must ensure a peaceful childhood for children living in Artsakh

Disney will not release 'Pirates of the Caribbean' spin-off with Margot Robbie

Copper rises in price

Armenian national team training in Pristina (video)

Newspaper: Armenian Prime Minister wants to hold referendum on constitutional amendments in spring

Ardshinbank showcases the Google Pay for Android fans in Armenia

Zelenskyy calls not to offer Ukraine compromise with territory and independence

Secretary of State: U.S. stands ready to continue support for Karabakh settlement
The Donald Trump administration in the US looks forward over the next weeks and months to see the practical steps that Pakistan takes against terrorist groups that have been able to use its territory, an American diplomat said in Washington.

By India Today Web Desk: The United States of America is waiting for Pakistan to take "practical" steps to counter terrorist groups, a top US diplomat said in Washington, DC, as the country's Secretary of State Rex Tillerson completed his South Asia tour.

The Donald Trump administration in the US looks "forward over the next weeks and months to see the practical steps that Pakistan takes" against " groups that have been able to use its territory," Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs and Acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Alice G Wells told reporters on Friday.

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Wells went on to echo Rex Tillerson, who during his visits to Pakistan and India is said to have told Islamabad that if the latter does not act against terrorist groups using its soil, the United States would.

"This is about Pakistan's sovereign choice. This is not about America giving dictation. We've described our strategy, we've described a very important role for Pakistan, who we see as a very important country in the region, but it's up to them whether or not they want to work with us on this strategy. And if they don't, as the Secretary said, we'll adjust accordingly," Wells said on Friday.

"The Secretary stressed the importance of Pakistan moving quickly to demonstrate good faith and efforts to use its influence to create the conditions that will get the Taliban to the negotiating table," Wells added.

Wells went on to suggest that the Washington simply wants Islamabad to do what it has done in the past when it took a "strategic decision to defeat the terrorist groups that were targeting the government of Pakistan."

"And with great loss of life, great courage, great vision about what needed to be done, Pakistan has fought that battle and now has regained control and sovereignty over the FATA territories," Wells said. "We'd like to see the same strategic commitment brought against other militant groups, whether that are operating or have used Pakistan's territory, whether they are directed against India or directed against Afghanistan."

TILLERSON'S PAK VISIT

Tillerson, during his meetings with Pakistani leadership, had an extremely candid conversation with the Prime Minister and the civilian and military leadership team, she said.

The Secretary underscored that the strategy is an opportunity; since Pakistan, with the exception of Afghanistan, has the most to benefit from a stable and peaceful country next door.

He noted that at several critical junctures over the last 70 years, the US has worked very closely with Pakistan, and the Coleman hostage is an example of what they can do when together.

"But under the strategy, we've laid out some very specific expectations of how Pakistan can help create the conditions that will help bring the Taliban to the table.

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And I think the longstanding relationships with the militant and terrorist organizations our concern is that they threaten Pakistan s stability.

You see already the spillover of the sectarianism that has been building in Pakistan over the last several decades, she said.

According to Wells, over the last four years Pakistani officials and the Taliban both thought the US was withdrawing.

"They were hedging against a chaotic departure. They were hedging against an uncertain security environment," she said.

"What the South Asia strategy gives them, is certainty that we're there, we're not going to let the Taliban win, that we re prepared to invest the resources that will be, at a minimum, a stalemate but a stalemate increasingly in the government's favor," she said.

(With inputs from agencies)

--- ENDS ---
A protest meeting was organised by journalists at Press Club of India (PCI) on Saturday to demand the release of Vinod Verma.

By Pooja Shali: A protest meeting was organised by journalists at Press Club of India (PCI) on Saturday to demand the release of Vinod Verma .

Verma, a former journalist with BBC and editor of newspaper Amar Ujala, was arrested on Friday on charges of extortion . Police claimed he was indulging in blackmail for a controversial CD in his possession of a Chhattisgarh minister.

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Verma's former colleagues attended and expressed solidarity demanding his immediate release. A collective attack was launched against the ruling government both at state and Centre. Approximately 150 colleagues and supporters attended the protest meet.

"Vinod Verma is a very well known journalist. We are disturbed. He is a colleague, a member of press club. We have asked to ascertain further facts of the case. This is serious case of assault on journalism," said a member of the PCI.

Senior journalists and writers like Jayanto Ghoshal, Om Thanvi, Rahul Jalali, Maya Mirchandani, Sushasini Haider, Vinod Sharma were seen at the meet.

Renownded editor and former editor of Jansatta, Om Thanvi, added, "Journalists are being treated as criminals. This is regrettable. This is not about one journalist, but an attempt to scare other journalists for writing against government. The arrest is merely to insult the journalist."

The journalist fraternity demanded the police to furnish evidence of extortion, the charge under which Verma has been arrested.

--- ENDS ---
Kim Jong Uns Siblings: Politburo Member, Assassination Victim, Eric Clapton Fan, Mystery Woman

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un appears in the headlines frequently, tossing threats at the Western world while presiding over missile launches and nuclear weapons tests.

Much less well-known are his siblingstwo sisters and two brothers, one of whom is now dead.

Kim Jong Uns sister appeared briefly in the news when she was named as an alternate member to the North Korean Politburo.

His half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, commanded quite a bit of news coverage when he was assassinated in a Malaysian airport in February.

Kims remaining two siblings are almost invisible, save for a few hastily snapped photos and occasional official statements from the official North Korean news agency.

Here is a little look into these elusive figures:

Image-Maker and Adviser: Kim Yo Jong

Kim Yo Jung is Kim Jong Uns younger sister, the youngest daughter of former dictator Kim Jong Il. Yo Jung was born on Sept. 26, 1987. She studied overseas, then returned to North Korea for her fathers funeral.

In early October, Kim Yo Jong was named as an alternate member of the Workers Party Politburo, replacing her aunt, Kim Kyong Hui, the sister of Kim Jong Il.

As an alternate member, Kim Yo Jong can participate in discussions, but not vote.

As with most of Kim Jong Uns family members, details of her rise to power are opaque. Some reports say she was appointed to the Workers Party of Koreas (WPK) Propaganda and Agitation Department.

Her association with the propaganda office strongly suggests that in addition to the myriad technical and administrative tasks she reportedly carries out for her brother, Kim Yo Jong has become the leading image maker for her brother and the DPRK as a whole, according to North Korea expert Michael Madden, at the website 38North.org.

Shes been recognized for the work shes done in the past year to idolize Kim Jong Un, Yang Moo-jin, a professor at South Koreas University of North Korean Studies, told Bloomberg News. Kim Jong Un is extending his father and grandfathers practice of empowering family members.

Kim Yo Jong and Kim Jong Un spent two years together at school in Bern, Switzerland. Because the two were isolated in Switzerland and remained isolated when they returned to North Korea, they grew to trust one another.

Kim Yo Jong helped her brother consolidate power after the death of their father. It seems she does not actively or directly influence policy, but remains a powerful and trusted advisor behind the scenes.

Media reported in July 2013 that Kim Yo Jong joined her bother Kim Jong Uns Personal Secretariat to manage scheduling, logistics, and security for her brothers on-site visits, military field inspections, and other public appearances.

It is likely that Kim Yo Jongs position makes her a key gatekeeper for her brother, exerting considerable control over the people Kim Jong Un interacts with and who has access to him.

Marked for Death: Kim Jong Nam

Kim Jong Nam was Kim Jong Ils eldest son and half-brother to current dictator Kim Jong Un. He was murdered on Feb. 13, and while not confirmed, it was almost certainly on orders from his half-brother.

Kim Jong Nam was born on May 10, 1971, to one of Kim Jong Ils mistress, Song Hye-rim. Due to the disapproval of his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Nam was kept out of sight for the first several years of his life.

Kim Jong Nam was hot-tempered and artistically talented. He had no desire to take over the leadership of North Korea; instead, he dreamed about making movies. Despite his aspirations, Kim Jong Nam was still considered the heir apparent until 2001.

In that year Kim Jong Nam traveled to Japan with two women and a four-year-old boy, reportedly his son, using fake Dominican Republic passports. Kim Jong Nam apparently intended to take his son to Tokyo Disneyland.

The four were arrested at the border, creating international furor and a great loss of dignity for the North Korean ruling family. Kim Jong Nam worsened his situation by writing an email to a Japanese newspaper in which he advocated for reform and open markets for North Korea.

At this point it became clear that Kim Jong Un would have to be groomed to be the next North Korean leader.

Kim Jong Nam remained under the radar, living his life quietly, until a rumor started in North Korea that a cabal was plotting a coup to put Kim Jong Nam into power. It is highly unlikely that this was instigated by Kim Jong Nam.

Kim Jong Un wasnt taking chances. The North Korean ruler had proved he wasnt shy about executing family members who crossed him. In 2013, Kim Jong Un killed his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, for allegedly plotting in 2012 with then-Chinese Communist Party leader Hu Jintao and then-Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to overthrow Kim Jong Un.

Kim Jong Un also reportedly had all of Jang Song Thaeks relatives executed.

In February of 2017, Kim Jong Nam, who was living in exile in Macau, was attacked by two women, Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong and Indonesian Siti Aishah, in an airport in Malaysia. The women smeared the nerve agent VX on his face. Kim Jong Nam died shortly afterward.

Eric Clapton Fan: Kim Jong Chul

Kim Jong Chul is Kim Jong Uns elder brother, born Sept. 25, 1981.

Like Kim Jong Un and his sister Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Chul was educated in Switzerland. He apparently liked the freedom of the West a lot more than whatever prospects he faced in North Korea.

Though Kim Jong Chul has an official government position, he was not seriously considered for succession because his father, Kim Jong Il, found him too soft.

Kim Jong Chul chose to live a quiet life in Pyongyang where he plays guitar in a band. He has acted on behalf of the North Korean state, though. It is reported that Kim Jong Chul led the 2013 arrest of his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, who was executed for treason.

This could signal Kim Jong Chul is taking a stronger role in the family. It seems more likely that he had to carry out that duty to prove his loyalty to his younger brothers regime.

Kim Jong Chul is best known in the West for frequenting the concerts of English rock and blues guitarist Eric Clapton. Kim Jong Chul has been spotted at Clapton concerts in Singapore in 2011 and in London in 2015.

Thae Yong Ho, former North Korean ambassador in London, said he bought the tickets and accompanied Kim Jong Chul to the Clapton concert in 2015. Photos show a person who looks like Kim Jong Chuls sister, Kim Yo Jong, at that show.

Hes very free, Thae said. But hes only interested in guitars and music. Thae later defected to South Korea.

Mysterious Eldest Sister: Kim Sul Song

Kim Sul Song is the eldest daughter of Kim Jong Il, born Dec. 30, 1974. She is rumored to be the late dictators favorite child. There is very little verified information about her.

Rumor has it she is a major player in North Korean politics, but works entirely behind the scenes. The BBC has reported that she used to work for the Propaganda Department of the Workers Party Central Committee.

According to a highly placed North Korean defector, Kim Sul Song was placed in charge of scheduling and security for Kim Jong Il since the late 1990s for his trips around North Korea. Sol Sung traveled with her father, wearing the uniform of a lieutenant colonel of the North Korean Peoples Army.

From NTD.tv
The Iraqi army is shelling Kurd forces with artillery, Kurdish authorities said Thursday. The Kurdistan Region Security Council said Iraqi troops and Iran-backed militias were hitting the peshmerga positions from an area northwest of Mosul. Peshmerga is Kurdish militia.The council urged Iraqi forces to withdraw from nearby areas and accept the Kurdistan Regional Government's offer for unconditional talks to settle political differences in a statement issued hours before the shellling began.It also called on the United States government to "stop Iraq's reckless behavior."Energy investors have watched the unfolding situation in Kurdish-controlled territory closely this month, as the Iraqi government has moved troops into oil-rich territory that the Kurdish peshmerga liberated from the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS.The Kurds have sought their own state for a century, but they are currently spread across four countries in the Middle East: Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria.Reuters contributed to this report. The Iraqi army is shelling Kurd forces with artillery, Kurdish authorities said Thursday. The Kurdistan Region Security Council said Iraqi troops and Iran-backed militias were hitting the peshmerga positions from an area northwest of Mosul. Peshmerga is Kurdish militia. The council urged Iraqi forces to withdraw from nearby areas and accept the Kurdistan Regional Government's offer for unconditional talks to settle political differences in a statement issued hours before the shellling began. It also called on the United States government to "stop Iraq's reckless behavior." Energy investors have watched the unfolding situation in Kurdish-controlled territory closely this month, as the Iraqi government has moved troops into oil-rich territory that the Kurdish peshmerga liberated from the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS. The Kurds have sought their own state for a century, but they are currently spread across four countries in the Middle East: Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. Reuters contributed to this report.



More From CNBC


The decades-long strategic relationship between Beijing and Pyongyang is looking increasingly strained. A sure sign of that decline can be seen in a Wednesday message from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to Chinese President Xi Jinping , according to Kim Tae-hyo, political science professor at Seoul-based Sungkyunkwan University. The dictator wished Xi "great success," according to state media, as the latter received a second five-year term at the 19th Party Congress . But the overall tone was less cordial than previous correspondence. When Xi was first appointed five years ago, Pyongyang sent a six-sentence-long congratulatory message that included phrases such as "strength of the mutual leadership, friendship and brotherhood," said Sungkyunkwan University's Kim. This time, the note was only four sentences and made no mention of brotherhood or friendship, he continued. Traditionally reluctant to coerce Pyongyang, but under heavy pressure from Washington , the world's second-largest economy has been increasingly clamping down on its historical ally. Beijing has banned domestic lenders from doing business with North Korean clients in addition to halting certain exports in compliance with international sanctions  recent figures, however, showed a 3.7 percent annual increase in bilateral trade during the first nine months of the year. The Chinese are increasingly realizing the North's nuclear program is harming Asian security, Renmin University associate professor Cheng Xiaohe told the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in a recent podcast. But tensions between Xi and Kim aren't new. Since Kim came to power, the bilateral relationship has entered a period of abnormal relations marked by a decline in economic ties and lack of political solidarity, Cheng said.In fact, Beijing was actually disappointed when the 33 year-old was installed as leader of the secretive state in 2011, Sungkyunkwan University's Kim said. That is, Beijing did not want to see North Korea governed by a third-generation grandson, he explained. Chinese policymakers believe collective leadership would work best in the rogue state, instead of the supreme power currently enjoyed by Kim Jong Un, he continued.The isolated ruler has purged many supporters of his father Kim Jong Il and he further consolidated political power e arlier this month by promoting his younger sister to a top post. Kim's style of governance also differs from his father, who was interested in reaping economic concessions through international negotiations and never pointed North Korean missiles toward Washington , the South Korean professor noted. The current Kim, however, has showed no desire for diplomatic talks. WATCH: These fallout shelters won't save you if there's a nuclear attack The decades-long strategic relationship between Beijing and Pyongyang is looking increasingly strained. A sure sign of that decline can be seen in a Wednesday message from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to Chinese President Xi Jinping , according to Kim Tae-hyo, political science professor at Seoul-based Sungkyunkwan University. The dictator wished Xi "great success," according to state media, as the latter received a second five-year term at the 19th Party Congress . But the overall tone was less cordial than previous correspondence. When Xi was first appointed five years ago, Pyongyang sent a six-sentence-long congratulatory message that included phrases such as "strength of the mutual leadership, friendship and brotherhood," said Sungkyunkwan University's Kim. This time, the note was only four sentences and made no mention of brotherhood or friendship, he continued. Traditionally reluctant to coerce Pyongyang, but under heavy pressure from Washington , the world's second-largest economy has been increasingly clamping down on its historical ally. Beijing has banned domestic lenders from doing business with North Korean clients in addition to halting certain exports in compliance with international sanctions  recent figures, however, showed a 3.7 percent annual increase in bilateral trade during the first nine months of the year. The Chinese are increasingly realizing the North's nuclear program is harming Asian security, Renmin University associate professor Cheng Xiaohe told the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in a recent podcast. But tensions between Xi and Kim aren't new. Since Kim came to power, the bilateral relationship has entered a period of abnormal relations marked by a decline in economic ties and lack of political solidarity, Cheng said. In fact, Beijing was actually disappointed when the 33 year-old was installed as leader of the secretive state in 2011, Sungkyunkwan University's Kim said. That is, Beijing did not want to see North Korea governed by a third-generation grandson, he explained. Chinese policymakers believe collective leadership would work best in the rogue state, instead of the supreme power currently enjoyed by Kim Jong Un, he continued. The isolated ruler has purged many supporters of his father Kim Jong Il and he further consolidated political power e arlier this month by promoting his younger sister to a top post. Kim's style of governance also differs from his father, who was interested in reaping economic concessions through international negotiations and never pointed North Korean missiles toward Washington , the South Korean professor noted. The current Kim, however, has showed no desire for diplomatic talks. WATCH: These fallout shelters won't save you if there's a nuclear attack



More From CNBC


Sangolqui (Ecuador) (AFP) - The Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) -- the country's last active guerrilla group -- Wednesday began the fourth round of peace talks amid an historic ceasefire between the two.

"The fourth round begins with good omens," said Ecuadorian diplomat Juan Meriguet in a statement released by the country's foreign ministry.

Meriguet attended the talks in Ecuador's capital Quito as a guarantor, along with representatives from Brazil, Cuba, Chile, Norway and Venezuela.

Concluding the third round of negotiations in September, both parties agreed for the first time to a ceasefire -- which began October 1 and will last until January.

The ceasefire is the biggest achievement of the talks, which began in February with the aim of ending over half a century of conflict.

"We hope that things will go as they have until now, with confidence and desire on both sides to achieve peace," Meriguet told AFP, before the talks began at an old Jesuit hacienda in the suburb of Sangolqui.

"As hosts and guarantors of these talks, we welcome peace talks and all of the efforts made towards peace in Colombia," he added.

The fourth round of talks were supposed to start earlier, but were delayed while delegates from FARC -- the political party which emerged following a peace agreement with the FARC guerilla group -- met with the ELN in Montecristi, on the Ecuadorian coast.

They pledged to create a "joint mechanism" to defend the peace process in Colombia.

The Colombian government is looking to reach an agreement with the ELN similar to that with the FARC before the end of Santos' term in August 2018.
i've never seen him groping the models during closer looks...??

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I said he practically gropes them. Its the way he goes about touching them during the critiques. It bothers me.

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hmm ive never seen it that way. mostly it seemed like he was looking at the garments.

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I only just started watching Project Runway and it made me super uncomfortable from the get go.

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I didn't really think so either but then once I saw the subreddit mention it, it was all I ever saw during the judging.

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what kind of word salad...

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fr read his quotes like

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mte like "From a future-looking perspective, children that are being born now are expected to live 25 to 30 years longer, and that will evolve beauty ideals." .......... passive voicing all over this bitch

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yeah that bit was gag. and then he praises, promotes and sells himself in the following sentence.

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that sounds like a whole lot of nothing

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All the judges kind of brush up against the models' breasts and all when they're inspecting the clothes I think, I don't think it's limited to Zac.

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He's the only one who actually gets up close and personal and touches the fabric and stuff

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Idk, I thought I remembered Heidi doing it too.

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eh I mean he's a designer, he'd be more interested in the constructional aspects then them. IMO he's not inappropriate, but I guess I could see how it would be seen that way

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yeah, same

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thats how i saw it too and sometimes the other judges do the same. i've never gotten weird vibes

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that's exactely the reason they mentioned when that segment was added to the show.

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Yeah no I don't think he practically gropes anyone on PR lol

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Literally watching PR right now and not seeing what the OP is talking about. I thought you meant behind the scenes but if all you have it on the actual show, not seeing it.



Edited at 2017-10-28 02:49 am (UTC)

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I dont think its only a woman issue



hell no, tired of this language. this a mens issue

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Yeah that stuck out to me too

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Oh I read that as sexual harassment in the industry doesn't just affect women and it's also a problem for male models and whoever else, but I guess you could argue it's still men who are the ones doing the harassing.

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Tbf he could be referring to how sexual harassment of male models as well female ones is rife in the fashion industry.

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Reminds me of this quote from the Jackson Katz TED talk, apologies for the size.

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from

I don't like how he puts the responsibility on underage models to stop the harassment with the 'Its an important time for people to look inside and lead their lives with example' stuff. He's right underage models should have chaperones but they rarely do, the industry actively discourages it models can get a rep for being difficult if they do, especially if their chaperone tries to interfere with shoots/behavior they think is inappropriate (stylists/photogs touching the models, nude shoots). Not to mention to get booked just for one show can require hours of unpaid castings and fittings, most models don't have parents or whatever that can afford to miss that much work to supervise them. That's if their parents are even in the country. A better idea would be for brands to stop using underage models.



What would really improve things for models in the US is if they extended child performer laws/rights to cover models, atm they don't. And for models to be considered employees of their agencies, because at the moment they're considered independent contractors which means they can't sue for sexual harassment under federal law.



Edited at 2017-10-28 03:01 am (UTC) from http://modelalliance.org/industry-analysis I don't like how he puts the responsibility on underage models to stop the harassment with the 'Its an important time for people to look inside and lead their lives with example' stuff. He's right underage models should have chaperones but they rarely do, the industry actively discourages it models can get a rep for being difficult if they do, especially if their chaperone tries to interfere with shoots/behavior they think is inappropriate (stylists/photogs touching the models, nude shoots). Not to mention to get booked just for one show can require hours of unpaid castings and fittings, most models don't have parents or whatever that can afford to miss that much work to supervise them. That's if their parents are even in the country. A better idea would be for brands to stop using underage models.What would really improve things for models in the US is if they extended child performer laws/rights to cover models, atm they don't. And for models to be considered employees of their agencies, because at the moment they're considered independent contractors which means they can't sue for sexual harassment under federal law.

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I just read the news about this 14 year old Russian model who died during a runway show from exhaustion and meningtis. It's despicable that they even employ literal children. I think there should be a law everywhere banning underage people from working in the industry.

Often the kids are sent to fashion weeks and such by their agencies so they don't even have the chance to have a familiar chaperone with them, and even the agencies don't always have a say on how their models are treated during fittings and castings. :(

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For models, if you are underage like an actor, you must have a chaperone. There has to be responsibility in that way.



Yes, why tell men not to rape when there is another solution! Thanks, Zac! What a feminist hero!



Yes, why tell men not to rape when there is another solution! Thanks, Zac! What a feminist hero!

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he annoys me on project runway but ive never seen him practically grope the models lol

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way to shift the blame

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you all realize Zac is GAY right? he has no interest in groping boobs for sexual purposes.

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You are an idiot. That did not stop Issac Mizrahi.

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Still dying at Birdie's costume -it's amazing (and took me a few minutes to even realize that was Busy's daughter when I first saw it). Her friends are cute too!



Also dying at Nicole Sullivan and her family's themed costumes. Although her son's Taco Bell costume is a bit diminished by the fact that they had to clarify.



A+ at Chloe Bennet's last minute costume and loving Ally Maki's too. And aw at Allison Munn's daughter. She's adorable.



I love Kelly Marie Tran so much.



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same

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same

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Stella Maxwell put on some make up and Kristen Stewart went as a vampire (but no pics of that).



I thought Busy's daughter was Selena Gomez. I don't even know most of these "celebrities."Stella Maxwell put on some make up and Kristen Stewart went as a vampire (but no pics of that).

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Same. I think I may actually still have my polo shirt somewhere.

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The hair mini bands are an especially nice touch

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SAME

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Isla Fisher looks to be having fun.

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i'm being lazy and doing a regular cat costume. i have a halloween party tonight and just went to the store to buy makeup and a cat costume kit (ears, tail & bow tie). i'm just going to wear regular black clothes lol

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lazy costumes are great. ;D I've been to the one and only hallowe'en party last night and I was Kiki (from Kiki's Delivery Service). super simple, comfy. I was happy.

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halloween is my FAVORITEST. HOLIDAY. but i always procrastinate. no lie, last year i ended up binging s3 of the fall and then getting drunk with my friend and randomly showing up somewhere as all the clubs were closing.



this year i am going as a ravenclaw. i bought a button down, ravenclaw knee socks + tie. i have 2 skirts i already own to choose from, and since it's gonna be 49 tonight (yay!) i'm wearing tights too. just gotta drop by goodwill and get a gray pullover, and head over to my mom's so she can tie my tie. i (26) am going out w/ my coworker (50) b/c we're cool and and she's so hip and likes me even tho i feel like she's always smirking at me lmao. she lived in la for like 20 years and worked in an art museum and i aspire to be her one day.

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I haven't had any time to go all out like I usually like to so I'm being Wednesday Addams for a Halloween bar party tonight.

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I have a Jessica Jones cosplay I'm going to wear because it's comfortable.

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Yeah, I finally got the Elektra costume I've wanted for ages. Otherwise I'd just wear my Starfleet dress lol.

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Its crazy. Halloween is my favorite holiday but I never dress up for it anymore.

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me too! i haven't dressed up for halloween in at least 4 years. this is me making an "effort" hahaha

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Haha same. I'd rather watch a movie or see a haunted house.

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yep i loveee Halloween. im gonna be Drogon from Game of Thrones and have a little Khaleesi on my shoulder

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i loooove halloween and every year i want to have a party but every year i'm too lazy lol

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Just a random Tuesday here, so no.

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Im going as my icon and my friend is going as Miles Morales so were 1/3 of the way to forming the Champions

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I'm a hipster mermaid/Ariel and I spent hours making a flower crown of shells, embellishing my bikini top, making a badass trident, and doing my makeup. People thought I bought the rhinestone bikini but it took forever to make.

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I'm rushing to finish my apron today--I'll be Alice in Wonderland and really happy with how the skirt I sewed is puffy enough to not need a petticoat

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I'm going as Leslie Knope to a Halloween party tonight.

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I've got the witch hat I made last year, some shit to decorate it, candy corn nail polish, and I'll see what else.

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My girlfriend and I are dressing up as Kelly and Yorkie from San Junipero. Hopefully we can find something fun to do!

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My boss said we can dress up to work so Im going as Tamatoa from Moana. Im cant wait to help some clients dressed as a glittery crab.

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i'm dressing up for halloween. It's my favourite holiday and no matter how hold I am I will always be ready to dress up tbh.

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maybe not halloween day, i might do one last look just to dress up and post photos online, but today was my ~big costume and im finally exhausted of ideas lol

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https://www.instagram.com/p/Baui5tBgbOv/?taken-by=myvintagelullabies

I'm going as Wonder Woman from the training part in the film (before she left the island). I was the Film version last year. It's technically one of my Comic-Con outfits for next year but I'm still using it anyway.

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Nah, I never dress up anymore. The last time was a Wendy's worker since I had all the pieces (including my dad's tie) at 14.

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yup, i'm actually doing something this halloween for once lol. i have a star trek tos uniform

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LOL. Of course Ariel Winter was a ~sexy skeleton.



Also, I love the name Birdie and Alison Munns daughter is adorable in that costume.

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awwwww Birdie. that's so cute! :3

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Those are mostly tragic.



For a second I thought Busy Phillips daughter was Selena Gomez.



Edit: holy shit kkws stomach is revolting-it looks gangrenous.



Edited at 2017-10-28 04:30 pm (UTC)

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I actually wondered why did Busy took a pic of Selena Gomez before scrolling down and read the cap...

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At first I was wondering who went as Selena Gomez & then I realized that made no sense

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same, it's funny that we thought a 9-year-old kid was Selena Gomez lmao

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Kim keeps trying to be Cher lmao

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She wishes

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her face is nearly there

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omg plz show us if you make a godzilla vid w/your pup. i love that song

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I love Halloween! As long as it's done privately with a small group. This year, it'll just be me, my boyfriend, my kitten ears, and some chocolate and movies.



I postponed my Japan trip to January because I don't want to go through Halloween in Tokyo ever again lol

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Well, anything to do with a major Tokyo crowd is a no-go for me. It's wayyyy too much, a 15 minute walk once took me one hour to get out of during New Years.



Halloween is similar to that, but the thing I really hated about it was the foreigners tbh. They are so dangerous, racist, and disrespectful. A lot of the people I've had to avoid ended up being white Americans or Australians. I've gone through Halloween in Tokyo two years in a row and, especially being someone who is ultra sensitive to energy, it was a lot to handle.

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Busy was talking on her Instagram stories about how Birdie almost wanted to get a store bought costume instead because some kid was like "you're seriously going to dress up as your mom?" but then she decided that she really wanted to do it anyway. So I'm glad it turned out well. Her friends' costumes look great too.

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I miss Blockbuster lol

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ME TOO

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cute icon

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i don't. they were scammers charging a boat load w/ their late fees!

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Girl me too. Highlight of my weekends.

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Me too. Forever in our hearts. <3

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Yup. It was so convenient. I check out movies from the library now, but they don't have everything.

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ME TOO *SOBS*

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my friend and i would go there in high school and buy all the cheap movies. I have so many dvds now...

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same. renting movies on tv just isn't the same. :(

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My town was too small for that. We had a bunch of independent things & a Hollywood Video. When they went out of business we got a Movie Gallery, which apparently bought HV.

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every day

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Kelly Marie Tran is adorable. I love her.

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I don't recognize half these names

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this is a very loose definition of celebrity

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same lol

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#astroSH Neil deGrasse Tyson slipped me a mickie when I was a grad student at UT Austin back in 1984

My rape story:https://t.co/5apOM5D6n6

I was a grad student in Astronomy at UT Austin, the sam time that Mr Tyson was there. I was studying Galactic Astronomy with the de Vaucoleurs. My dream was to become the first Black Female Astronaut. I was like 15 years ahead of Emma Mae Jamison. I wen to his apartment to visit like I did almost everyday. He was like my big brother, or so I thought. He offered me a glass of water. I accepted a liquid in a cup made out of a coconut shell. I recall coming back to consciousness briefly, then next thing I remember is seeing him in the hallway the next day. I have lived in this nightmare for 30 years, and it stops today. (...)



I only recall being at the astronomy department the next day. I do not know how long I was in his apartment. I have no idea how I got back to my apartment. I do not even remember waking up the next day. All I remember is seeing him in the hallway at the astronomy department at UT Austin, and I asked him, Why did this happen? He responded, We are in this alone, and we are in this together.

 tchiya amet (@tchiya) 26 January 2016

The story was ignored at the time but with the downfall of Ogre Weinstein it's slowly gaining traction. Tyson was also included in a recent Medium article listing "screen celebrities" who have been accused of (sexual) assault and/or harrasment.

EDIT: please consider re-tweeing her story so we can spread the word (no major news outlets have picked up on this yet)

source added! /// ONTD, have you experienced harrasment/assault in astrophysics/STEM?
The DEUCE grating, sensitive to ultraviolet, is carefully positioned for bonding into its flight mount. Credit: Nicholas Erickson

Though stars and galaxies fill our night sky, most of the matter in the universe resides in the dark voids in between. Spread out over unfathomable distances, this cold, diffuse gas between galaxiescalled the intergalactic medium, or IGM for shorthardly emits any light, making it difficult to study.

Scientists plan to launch a sounding rocket for a fifteen-minute flight Oct. 30, 2017, equipped with special ultraviolet optics, which they hope will shed light on the nature of the IGM. The Dual-channel Extreme Ultraviolet Continuum Experiment, or DEUCE for short, plans to measure starlight from a pair of nearby hot stars in the constellation Canis Major, aiming to help researchers understand how the IGM got to its current state.

Scientists know that the IGM, which is mostly hydrogen, has been blasted with high-energy radiation, causing the electrons to break apart from their atomsa process known as ionization. Many think intense ultraviolet starlight from star-forming galaxies is responsible for ionizing the universe, but not all agree this is the sole cause. Since Earth's atmosphere blocks ultraviolet light, it is impossible to study this type of radiation from the ground. Instead, scientists must capture this light from above the atmosphere and sounding rocketswhich provide an inexpensive alternative to space telescopesare a practical option.

"DEUCE is about being able to better understand if and how star-forming galaxies ionized the early universe," said Nicholas Erickson, graduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder, working with the project. "This ionizing light has never been measured accurately in hot stars, and DEUCE will make the first calibrated measurement of it, telling us the contribution B stars could have had to helping ionize the universe."

The DEUCE payload undergoing testing and integration at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Credits: Nicholas Erickson

Over two flights, DEUCE will look at two young, bright starsfirst Beta Canis Major and later Epsilon Canis Majorusing a telescope sensitive to ultraviolet light. These stars are close enough that their light reaches Earth before being fully absorbed by interstellar gas, allowing the scientists to measure the amount of starlight to see if it's enough to significantly contribute to the amount of ionized gas in the IGM.

"It's a hard measurement to make, because there still is neutral hydrogen between stars that is extremely effective at absorbing the starlight at these wavelengths," said Erickson. "To be seen at Earth, you need a really bright star that's close by, and there are only two stars that are viable candidates for this measurement."

DEUCE uses a microchannel plate detectorthe largest ever flown in spaceto measure the starlight. The mission, in addition to providing scientific data, will test this type of large UV detector for readiness in future large-scale space missions. DEUCE is scheduled to launch again in December 2018, to look at Epsilon Canis Major.

The experiment will launch aboard a Black Brant IX sounding rocket from the White Sands Missile Range Las Cruces, New Mexico. NASA's sounding rocket program, based out of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility, flies 20 rockets annually, testing new instruments and supporting cutting-edge research in astrophysics and heliophysics.
An Australia and France-led push this year to create a second protected area in East Antarctica spanning another one million square kilometre zone failed

Hopes for a vast new marine sanctuary in pristine East Antarctica were dashed Saturday after a key conservation summit failed to reach agreement, with advocates urging "greater vision and ambition".

Expectations were high ahead of the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)a treaty tasked with overseeing protection and sustainable exploitation of the Southern Ocean.

Last year's summit in Hobart saw the establishment of a massive US and New Zealand-backed marine protected area (MPA) around the Ross Sea covering an area roughly the size of Britain, Germany and France combined.

But an Australia and France-led push this year to create a second protected area in East Antarctica spanning another one million square kilometre zone failed.

Officials told AFP that Russia and China were key stumbling blocks, worried about compliance issues and fishing rights. Consensus is needed from all 24 CCAMLR member countries and the European Union.

Greenpeace called for "greater vision and ambition" in the coming year while WWF's Antarctic program chief Chris Johnson said it was another missed opportunity.

"We let differences get in the way of responding to the needs of fragile wildlife," he said.

Australia's chief delegate Gillian Slocum described the failure as "sad".

She also bemoaned little progress on addressing the impacts of climate change which was having a "tangible effect" on the frozen continent.

"While CCAMLR was not able to adopt a Climate Change Response Work Program this year, members will continue to work together ahead of the next meeting to better incorporate climate change impacts into the commission's decision-making process," she said.

Vital to move forward

Plans were set out in 2009 to establish a series of MPAs in the Southern Ocean allowing marine life to migrate between areas for breeding and foraging, but it has been slow going.

Antarctica is home to penguins, seals, toothfish, whales and huge numbers of krill, a staple food for many species.

They are considered critical for scientists to study how marine ecosystems function and to understand the impacts of climate change on the ocean.

Andrea Kavanagh, head of The Pew Charitable Trusts' Antarctic and Southern Ocean work, said after last year's historic Ross Sea designation it was "disappointing that CCAMLR could not agree to protect more of the vast and biologically diverse Southern Ocean".

She said it was vital to "continue moving forward in the coming years by agreeing to further protections ... or risk jeapordizing the health of the region's intact ecosystems".

A third German-backed plan is in the works to protect the Weddell Sea, which extends from the southeast of South America over some 2.8 million square kilometres.

But it has been sent back for amendments.

A proposal for a fourth zone of 94,000 square kilometres around the Western Antarctic Peninsula was presented by Argentina and Chile, conservationists told AFP.

The East Antarctica plan originally comprised seven large marine areas but was reduced to three as a compromiseMacRobertson, Drygalski, and the D'Urville Sea-Mertz region.

The plan was for D'Urville to be a no-catch zone, which WWF said would aid a stricken Adelie penguin colony near the French Antarctic research station there.

Mass starvation wiped out thousands of chicks in the colony this year, with unusually thick sea ice linked to the break up of the Mertz glacier forcing their parents to forage further for food. Only two survived.

While the East Antarctica proposal failed to get over the line, a research and monitoring plan to oversee the implementation of the Ross Sea MPA so scientists can better understand how it affects the ecosystem's health was endorsed.

Protection of the Ross Sea takes effect from December 1.

 2017 AFP
FILE PHOTO - Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull watches as Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop reacts after an official ceremony for the swearing in of the federal government in Canberra, Australia, July 19, 2016. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo (Reuters)

By Jane Wardell and Alison Bevege

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Saturday appointed his foreign minister as acting prime minister as he tried to stem the fallout of a citizenship crisis that has cost his government its parliamentary majority.

Turnbull delayed until Monday a long-planned trip to Israel and held an emergency Cabinet meeting to shore up support after Australia's High Court ruled on Friday that his deputy, Barnaby Joyce, and four other lawmakers should be expelled from parliament because they held dual nationality.

The court's shock decision had immediate ramifications, stripping the coalition government of the one-seat majority it holds in the lower house, forcing it to call a by-election in Joyce's seat and sending the Australian dollar lower.

The opposition Labor Party has said it is considering a legal challenge to every decision made by Joyce since last year's election.

Turnbull said on Saturday that the deputy position would remain vacant until after the Dec. 2 by-election for Joyce's seat. The position normally goes to a member of the National Party, the junior partner in the coalition government.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, a member of Turnbull's Liberal Party, would instead be acting prime minister when he travels to Israel on Monday, three days behind schedule.

"Government goes on, good government goes on," Turnbull told reporters in Sydney, dismissing suggestions that the inability to agree on a deputy indicated tensions within the coalition. "When times get tough, that's when you put your arms around your mates."

Turnbull now needs the support of one of three independent lawmakers to keep his minority government afloat, with two sitting weeks of parliament left until it recesses for the year. At least two independent lawmakers have promised initial support, but noted that it may be conditional.

Turnbull is under particular pressure after refusing demands from the opposition to remove Joyce, who has renounced his New Zealand citizenship, from the cabinet while the court decided his fate.

Story continues

CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE

Turnbull said the court's interpretation of the constitution, which bars dual citizens from parliament in a bid to prevent split allegiances, was "very strict" and "very hard".

He added that he was considering whether to recommend a change to the constitution, noting that more than half of the country's population of 24 million was either born overseas or has a parent who was born overseas.

"Our objective is to ensure parliament is open to everybody," he said.

A referendum would be needed to change the constitution.

The High Court ruled on seven lawmakers, some of whom had already resigned. All seven accepted that they were dual nationals at the time of their election but claimed they were unaware of their status. Some were conferred a second nationality by birth, others by descent.

The others dismissed were all senators in the upper house and their seats can be assigned to party-appointed alternatives.

(Reporting by Jane Wardell and Alison Bevege; Editing by Nick Macfie and Richard Borsuk)
French foie gras can grace Japanese dinner tables once more, two years after Tokyo banned it following outbreaks of bird flu, French agriculture minister Stephane Travert said Friday. "That's the good news of the night. Japan has allowed the re-introduction on its market of poultry, but also foie gras," Travert told Radio Classique. Japan is the largest importer of the delicacy, whose production involves force-feeding birds with more food than they would normally eat in the wild, massively engorging their liver. France, which earns tens of millions of euros (dollars) a year as the top global producer of foie gras, saw exports plunge after the H5N1 virus hit in late 2015 Just as producers were recovering from that crisis a second bird flu virus, H5N8, struck a year ago. "As of today and in line with World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) guidelines, France has recovered her status of being free of highly pathogenic bird flu," Travert's ministry said in confirming the way to exports was once again clear, for poultry generally and also foie gras." Japan was the first country to respond to the OIE ruling.
Catalan President Carles Puigdemont attends a plenary session at the Catalan regional Parliament in Barcelona, Spain, October 27, 2017. REUTERS/Albert Gea (Reuters)

MADRID (Reuters) - Sacked Catalan president Carles Puigdemont on Saturday called for a "democratic opposition" to Madrid's takeover of the region following its declaration of independence.

"It's very clear that the best form of defending the gains made up until now is democratic opposition to article 155," Puigdemont said in a brief statement.

(Reporting by Tomas Cobos and Andres Gonzalez; writing Jesus Aguado; Editing by Angus McSwan)
Saudi Arabia just offered citizenship to an AI robot, and the world may never be the same again

Can the citizenship of Sophia be the first step to a robot revolution?

In a surprising turn of events, the country always under fire for its controversial stances on human rights, gender equality and general backwardness has become the first country ever to grant citizenship to a robot, as if that was any less controversial!

The world is changing rapidly. Internet, computers and smartphones have revolutionized our daily lives. Ideas such as app-based cab services and mobile online shopping seemed bizarre just a couple decades ago.

Robotics and AI, on the other hand, have been an object of fascination since the past century. It has, only in the past couple of decades however, gained excess steam. We have seen clips and demonstrations. From humble beginnings as a myth, phobia and media concept to actually arriving in the real world and challenging global culture, AI seems to be the manifestation of both human advancement and fascination. With the act of bestowing an AI with citizenship, we entered into the next phase of robot technology.

Also read: Now In Shenzhen: This Chinese company is building an artificial intelligence robot using VR

The irony hits you straight in the face considering the robot that is granted citizenship is a woman named Sophia. The robot has existed since the past few years but this time it was unveiled as official Saudi Arabian citizen. The Future Business Initiative is an event organized in Riyadh by Saudi government for its Vision 2030 to set the country on a path of vigorous development.

Business writer and moderator Andrew Ross Sorkin informed Sophia of her distinction and in her cold, broken and robotic voice she answered: Thank you to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I am very honored and proud for this unique distinction. It is historic to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with citizenship.

Other than the clear hypocrisy, there were two things of this conference which have caught the worlds eye. When questioned on why she was so happy she had this to say: I am always happy when surrounded by smart people who also happen to be rich and powerful. Hey Sophia! What about the rest of the world that does not own oil refineries and international businesses?

Story continues

Sophia finally responded to the question that was on everyones minds. Does this citizenship signify things to come? With more and more rights given to AI until they become equal to human, just smarter?

The media has undoubtedly planted the idea of a dystopian future in our heads with movie such as Terminator and Matrix. Youve been reading too much Elon Musk and watching too many Hollywood movies, she answered.

Elon Musk, one of the pioneers of technology in the modern world and the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has been vocal on his stance with AI and the threat they pose to humanitys future. It seems as if Hanson Robotics, the creator of Sophia, has carried out a huge attack on Musk on behalf of the entire AI industry. The attack on Musk is being criticized on social media.

Also read: Facebook is shameless and Elon Musk wants your brain, your essential weekend reading courtesy of e27

Whilst it can be argued that Saudi Arabia only granted citizenship to the robot for publicity and as PR stunt (It certainly worked because the world is talking about it) the move is an indication of AIs increasing influence over the world. Sophia, despite being a woman non-human came to the conference without any abaya, something that is compulsory for all woman to wear in Saudi Arab. Not to mention that she has no male guardian, another requirement for woman to do practically anything in the nation.

Yes, she is a robot, but the point is that a nation that hardly grants any rights to half its population has given citizenship to a robot. There is no doubt in the fact that technology is moving forward with a rapid pace. AI, however, may have disastrous consequences if humanity is not careful.

Can the citizenship of Sophia be the first step to a robot revolution? I certainly hope not!

-

Editors note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

Featured Image Credit: Hanson Robotics

The post Saudi Arabia just offered citizenship to an AI robot, and the world may never be the same again appeared first on e27.
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DRH LLC, MRLF LLC, Martin Road Lake Forest LLC, McQueen & Willis LLC, Meadows I Ltd., Meadows II Ltd., Meadows IX Inc., Meadows VIII Ltd., Meadows X Inc., Melody Homes Inc., Pacific Ridge - DRH LLC, Rielly Carlsbad LLC, Rielly Homes Madison LLC, SFTEN LLC, SGS Communities at Grand Quay L.L.C, SHA Construction LLC, SHLR of California Inc., SHLR of Nevada Inc., SHLR of Washington Inc., SRHI LLC, SSHI LLC, Schuler Homes of Arizona LLC, Schuler Homes of California Inc., Schuler Homes of Oregon Inc., Schuler Homes of Washington Inc., Summerlin Pkwy & Cimarron LLC, Surprise Village North LLC, The Club at Cobblestone LLC, The Club at Hidden River LLC, Tierra Financial Advisors LLC, Travis County Title Company, Treasure Assets LLC, Venture Management of South Carolina LLC, Vertical Construction Corporation, WPH-Camino Ruiz LLC, WPH-Copper Canyon II LLC, WPH-Copper Canyon LLC, Walker Drive LLC, Western Pacific Brea Development LLC, Western Pacific Housing - Mountaingate L.P., Western Pacific Housing - SDG LLC, Western Pacific Housing - Westlake II L.P., Western Pacific Housing Inc., Western Pacific Housing Management Inc., Western Pacific Housing-Antigua LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Broadway LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Canyon Park LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Carrillo LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Communications Hill LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Copper Canyon LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Creekside LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Lomas Verdes LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Lyons Canyon Partners LLC, Western Pacific Housing-McGonigle Canyon LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Norco Estates LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Pacific Park II LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Park Avenue East LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Park Avenue West LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Playa Vista LLC, Western Pacific Housing-River Ridge LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Terra Bay Duets LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Torrey Meadows LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Torrey Village Center LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Windemere LLC, and Wilson Parker Homes.

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Juniper Networks, Inc. designs, develops, and sells network products and services worldwide. The company offers routing products, such as ACX series universal access routers to deploy high-bandwidth services; MX series Ethernet routers that function as a universal edge platform; PTX series packet transport routers; wide-area network SDN controllers; and session smart routers. It also provides switching products, including EX series Ethernet switches to address the access, aggregation, and core layer switching requirements of micro branch, branch office, and campus environments; QFX series of core, spine, and top-of-rack data center switches; and juniper access points, which provide Wi-Fi access and performance. In addition, the company offers security products comprising SRX series services gateways for the data center; Branch SRX family provides an integrated and next-generation firewall; virtual firewall that delivers various features of physical firewalls; and advanced malware protection, a cloud-based service and Juniper ATP. Further, it offers Junos OS, a network operating system; Contrail networking, which provides an open-source and standards-based platform for SDN; Mist AI-driven Wired, Wireless, and WAN assurance solutions to set and measure key metrics; Mist AI-driven Marvis Virtual Network Assistant, which identifies the root cause of issues; Juniper Paragon Automation, a modular portfolio of cloud-native software applications; and Juniper Apstra to automate the network lifecycle in a single system. Additionally, the company provides software-as-a-service, technical support, maintenance, and professional services, as well as education and training programs. It sells its products through direct sales, distributors, value-added resellers, and original equipment manufacturers to end-users in the cloud, service provider, and enterprise markets. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
Nabors Industries Ltd. provides drilling and drilling-related services for land-based and offshore oil and natural gas wells. The company operates through five segments: U.S. Drilling, Canada Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies. It provides tubular running, wellbore placement, directional drilling, measurement-while-drilling (MWD), equipment manufacturing, and rig instrumentation services; and logging-while-drilling systems and services, as well as drilling optimization software. The company also offers REVit, an automated real time stick-slip mitigation system; ROCKit, a directional steering control system; SmartNAV, a collaborative guidance and advisory platform; SmartSLIDE, an advanced directional steering control system; and RigCLOUD, which provides the tools and infrastructure to integrate applications to deliver real-time insight into operations across the rig fleet. In addition, it manufactures and sells top drives, catwalks, wrenches, drawworks, and other drilling related equipment, such as robotic systems and downhole tools; and provides aftermarket sales and services for the installed base of its equipment. As of December 31, 2021, the company marketed approximately 301 rigs for land-based drilling operations in the United States, Canada, and in 20 other countries worldwide; and 29 rigs for offshore platform drilling operations in the United States and internationally. Nabors Industries Ltd. was founded in 1952 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. operates as a branded consumer products company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Home and Personal Care; Global Pet Care; and Home and Garden. The Home and Personal Care segment provides home appliances under the Black & Decker, Russell Hobbs, George Foreman, Toastmaster, Juiceman, Farberware, and Breadman brands; and personal care products under the Remington and LumaBella brands. The Global Pet Care segment provides rawhide chewing, dog and cat clean-up and food, training, health and grooming, small animal food and care, and rawhide-free products under the 8IN1 (8-in-1), Dingo, Nature's Miracle, Wild Harvest, Littermaid, Jungle, Excel, FURminator, IAMS, Eukanuba, Healthy-Hide, DreamBone, SmartBones, ProSense, Perfect Coat, eCOTRITION, Birdola, Good Boy, Meowee!, Wildbird, and Wafcol brands. This segment also offers aquarium kits, stand-alone tanks, and aquatics equipment and consumables under the Tetra, Marineland, Whisper, Instant Ocean, GloFish, OmegaOne, and OmegaSea brands. The Home and Garden segment provides outdoor insect and weed control solutions, and animal repellents under the Spectracide, Garden Safe, Liquid Fence, and EcoLogic brands; household pest control solutions under the Hot Shot, Black Flag, Real-Kill, Ultra Kill, The Ant Trap, and Rid-A-Bug brand names; household surface cleaning, maintenance, and restoration products, including bottled liquids, mops, wipes, and markers under the Rejuvenate brand name; and personal-use pesticides and insect repellent products under the Cutter and Repel brands. The company sells its products through retailers, e-commerce and online retailers, wholesalers, and distributors. Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin.
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets commercial aerostructures worldwide. It operates through three segments: Commercial, Defense & Space, and Aftermarket. The Commercial segment offers forward, mid, and rear fuselage sections and systems, struts/pylons, nacelles, and related engine structural components; and wings and wing components, including flight control surfaces, as well as other structural parts. This segment primarily serves the aircraft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or engine OEMs of large commercial aircraft and/or business/regional jet programs. The Defense & Space segment provides fuselage, strut, nacelle, and wing aerostructures primarily for U.S. Government defense programs, including Boeing P-8, C40, and KC-46 Tanker. This segment also engages in the fabrication, bonding, assembly, testing, tooling, processing, engineering analysis, and training on fixed wing aircraft aerostructures, missiles, and hypersonics works, such as solid rocket motor throats, nozzles, re-entry vehicle thermal protections systems, forward cockpit and cabin, and fuselage work on rotorcraft aerostructures. The Aftermarket segment offers spare parts and MRO services, repairs for flight control surfaces and nacelles, radome repairs, rotable assets, engineering services, advanced composite repairs, and other repair and overhaul services. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. has a strategic partnership with Sierra Space to enhance access to commercial space economy of the future. The company was formerly known as Mid-Western Aircraft Systems Holdings, Inc. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.
Tyson Foods, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a food company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Beef, Pork, Chicken, and Prepared Foods. The company processes live fed cattle and live market hogs; fabricates dressed beef and pork carcasses into primal and sub-primal meat cuts, as well as case ready beef and pork, and fully cooked meats; raises and processes chickens into fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken products; and supplies poultry breeding stock; sells specialty products, such as hides and meats. It also manufactures and markets frozen and refrigerated food products, including ready-to-eat sandwiches, flame-grilled hamburgers, Philly steaks, pepperoni, bacon, breakfast sausage, turkey, lunchmeat, hot dogs, flour and corn tortilla products, appetizers, snacks, prepared meals, ethnic foods, side dishes, meat dishes, breadsticks, and processed meats under the Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright, State Fair, Aidells, and Gallo Salame brands. The company also offers its products under Tyson and ibp brands. It sells its products through its sales staff to grocery retailers, grocery wholesalers, meat distributors, warehouse club stores, military commissaries, industrial food processing companies, chain restaurants or their distributors, live markets, international export companies, and domestic distributors who serve restaurants and food service operations, such as plant and school cafeterias, convenience stores, hospitals, and other vendors, as well as through independent brokers and trading companies. The company was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas.
Coeur Mining, Inc. explores for precious metals in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company primarily explores for gold, silver, zinc, and lead properties. It holds 100% interests in the Palmarejo gold and silver mine covering an area of approximately 67,296 net acres located in the State of Chihuahua in Northern Mexico; the Rochester silver and gold mine that covers an area of approximately 43,441net acres situated in northwestern Nevada; the Kensington gold mine comprising 3,972 net acres located to the north of Juneau, Alaska; the Wharf gold mine covering an area of approximately 3,243 net acres situated in the northern Black Hills of western South Dakota; and the Silvertip silver-zinc-lead mine comprising 97,298 net acres located in northern British Columbia, Canada. In addition, the company owns interests in the Crown and Sterling projects located in southern Nevada; and the La Preciosa project located in Mexico. Further, it markets and sells its concentrates to third-party customers, smelters, under off-take agreements. The company was formerly known as Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation and changed its name to Coeur Mining, Inc. in May 2013.Coeur Mining, Inc. was incorporated in 1928 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Two Khaisilk outlets in Ho Chi Minh City were shut down on Friday, the latest development in the mislabeling scandal that left the reputation of Vietnams popular silk brand in tatters.

The Khaisilk store inside the Lotte Legend Hotel in District 1, and the outlet on Dong Khoi Street, known as the companys headquarters, were found with doors closed in the afternoon, amid the Made-in-China scandal of the Khaisilk scarves.

Khaisilk is making national headliners after its owner, Hoang Khai, confessed earlier this week that 50 percent of his scarf stock, marketed as being made from Vietnamese silk by Vietnamese craft villages, is in fact sourced from China.

The confession came after one customer found one Khaisilk scarf bearing both the Made in China and Made in Vietnam labels and filed an official complaint to the company. The case was also reported and eventually went viral on social media.

Khaisilk Hanoi Main Store on Hang Gai Street, where the scarf in question was purchased, has also been closed after a market surveillance team checked the establishment and temporarily confiscated more than 50 products, including not only scarves but also ties and wallets, for investigation on Thursday.

Real estate tycoon Hoang Khai, chairman of Khaisilk Group, has made no further official comment since his confession of sourcing Chinese products for sale under Made in Vietnam labels on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has requested a probe into the companys product origins, whereas the General Department of Taxation on Friday also demanded an investigation into the taxpaying activities of Khaisilk.

Hoang Khai has also withdrawn from the Shark Tank Vietnam reality show to focus on resolving the crisis.

Shark Tank Vietnam is the Vietnamese localized version of the eponymous franchise of the international format Dragons' Den which originated in Japan in 2001.

The shows aspiring entrepreneur-contestants as they make business presentations to a panel of shark investors, who then choose whether to invest.

The Khaisilk chairman has been invited to be one of the sharks for the show and has asked to withdraw from the post, according to an official announcement of Shark Tank Vietnam late Friday.

The show has finished filming and is expected to be screened on national broadcaster VTV. It is not clear if the program will be edited following the Khaisilk scandal.

Chinese scarves in disguise Vietnamese Facebook user Dang Nhu Quynh said in a status update on October 23 that a company had placed an order of 60 Vietnamese silk scarves, costing VND644,000 ($28) each, from the Khaisilk Hanoi Main Store on Hang Gai Street. Upon delivery, the buyer discovered that one of them had both Made in China and Made in Vietnam labels, while the other 59 scarves showed signs of having a Made-in-China label carelessly removed and a Made-in-Vietnam label added. A company representative later defended that all 60 scarves were made from 100 percent silk, and that the only scarf in question belonged to another order, in which the buyer insisted it be labeled Made in China.
A company under a military corps stationed in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum has offered collective breakfasts to workers on a monthly basis to foster bonds and relieve their daily grind.

The initiative of serving grand monthly breakfasts, called Bua Sang Bien Gioi (Breakfasts at the Border Area), was launched at Company 78 under Corps 15s National Defense Economic Division 78 in June 2017.

Around 6:30 in the morning the other day, dozens of round tables and hundreds of chairs were arranged neatly at the hall of Production Team No. 6, stationed in Mo Rai Commune, Sa Thay District.

Workers, several of whom did not have time to change out of their stained work uniforms after picking rubber tree latex in their early morning shift, were chatting merrily with their co-workers, while their children were frolicking and expectantly waiting for the feast to be served.

Nearly ten members of the organizing board were busy laying the table and topping containers with the freshly prepared delectable food.

Its our turn to prepare and serve the meal. As each hamlet is made up of two teams, half of the households do not prepare breakfast once each month. Its a lot of fun, Lieutenant Kim Ngoc Biet, head of Team 6, gladly said.

Bui Thi Hoa, 26, who hails from the north-central province of Thanh Hoa, shared she and her husband have worked at the company as rubber latex collectors since 2014.

The couple also took along their six-year-old son so that he could have fun with his peers.

The High Command members personally visited each of us the previous day to extend the invitation to the party. The dishes are well prepared and there are several delicacies to choose from, Hoa added.

Like Hoa, Le Thi My Binh, 35, also from Thanh Hoa Province, had made it to the gathering for the second time.

We have our hands full with our work, so we dont have time to take good care of our family and meet one another, she said, adding she usually fails to cook her family proper breakfasts as she goes to work at 2:00 in the morning and does not get back home until the morning.

We are deeply moved by the new directorates considerateness and feel bonded to the company. The work is quite taxing, but provides us with stable incomes compared to those earned in our hometown, Binh added.

At 7:00 am sharply in the morning, Major Nguyen Hong Lam, director of Co. 78, personally invited the attendees to take seats at the tables, which they did promptly in a military-like manner.

The companys directorate always make it a point to join the cosy gatherings.

H Rach Lao, chairman of the Mo Rai Commune Peoples Committee, was also invited to the cordial get-together.

The chair of Sa Thay District Peoples Committee, who took part in the last event, was really impressed, Lao said.

The name of the get-together, Bua Sang Bien Gioi, was also rich in meaning. As a border locality, Mo Rai Commune is more than 60km from the district center. In this far-flung area, such gatherings are a glue to bond the company and the workers, he stressed.

According to Major Do Ngoc Hong, head of the facilitys machinery and breeding team who was also in charge of the food catering at that event, the number of attendees typically fluctuated between 160 and 300.

They got up at 2:00 am that morning to prepare the six-course meal for those 180 diners.

We recently launched our own farms to raise pigs and grow vegetables to provide for the meals and cater to staffers daily needs. The breakfasts cost VND2-2.2 million (US$87-96) each and would cost double if we source ingredients from outside, Major Hong added.

Ingredients to prepare the collective breakfasts are all sourced from Co. 78's youth-run farm. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Before proposing toasts at the tables, the company directorate went to exchange greetings with a number of workers parents at a special table.

Several of them came to visit their children while others moved in with their childrens family.

The parents, a few of whom were in their traditional ethnic minority outfits, were farmers or war veterans.

Luc Cao Diem, 58, a war veteran from Thanh Hoa Province, and his wife moved in with his sons family three years ago.

He revealed all his three children were working at Co. 78 as latex collectors and nurse and had afforded their own homes.

Its a snug, affable community indeed. People really care for one another, he observed.

Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Xuan Hien, Co. 78s deputy director, came up with the idea of launching the get-togethers as his heart ached seeing the workers eating nutrient-poor, hasty breakfasts before starting a days arduous work.

The breakfasts, offered on a regular basis, would also provide relief for female laborers who do not have enough time for their young children in the morning.

Sr. Lieut. Hiens initiative was enthusiastically embraced by the management and implemented only three days later at Team 6.

The workers have expressed their wish that the gatherings be held on a bimonthly basis, which is also what we desire despite the shortage of cooks and caterers, Major Hong explained.
Pioneers credited with introducing the Internet to Vietnam faced never-ending hurdles.

>> The Internet turns 20 in Vietnam: P1  Forerunners

>> The Internet turns 20 in Vietnam: P2  Australian professors contribution

Dr. Mai Liem Truc, head of the National Administration of Posts (now the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group), often tells stories of an era when he and his associates, all craving access to the Internet, were forced to resort to all lines of reasoning to persuade each other and their superiors to reach a consensus.

Vu Hoang Lien, chairman of the Vietnam Internet Association and former director of Vietnam Data Communication Co. (VDC), revealed that VDC was expected to give demonstrations to State and Party leaders and officials from competent agencies on what the global computer network was all about in order to push them towards acceptance of the new technology.

We should have given online demos, but our technicians would download the programs and run them on an offline server instead to ensure that nothing went wrong, he said.

The delegates were as impressed by the fast, smooth running Internet as they were of the bulky equipment.

After Tran Ba Thai, one of the pioneers credited with introducing the Internet to Vietnam, and his associates from the Institute of Information Technology, successfully tested the countrys first-ever email system in 1993, VDC was able to launch a data transmission system in 1995.

Two other groups, VAST and Tri Tue Viet Nam (Vietnam Intelligence), comprised of technicians from FPT, now a leading technology corporation in Vietnam, also conducted successful tests of the countrys first Intranet.

Lien further revealed that VDC launched its first project, worth VND7 billion (US$ 304,150 with todays foreign exchange rate), to provide Internet services in 1996.

In early 1997, when the Internet hadnt yet been made publicly accessible in the Southeast Asian country, VDC began providing internet services for the Committee on Overseas Vietnamese.

Just a few weeks later, around the Lunar New Year which typically falls in late January or early February, Que Huong (Home Country) Magazine became the first Vietnamese publication to join the global grid.

Que Huongs approach to internet publishing remained simple. After articles were translated into English, they were copied onto floppy disks and published online by VDC. Nowadays, articles are published directly.

The emotional moment that we first saw the magazine content online was imprinted in our minds, Lien shared.

He added one of the most convincing lines of reasoning was the firms assurance of security and safety.

The word firewall, which was repeatedly employed to reassure the officials, worked in their favor.

Society was curious and expectant before the internet was officially unveiled in Vietnam. Que Huong Magazine going online almost one year prior to the official launch proved a persuasive push to the Party and State, Lien noted.

FPT is one of Vietnams first four enterprises to be granted a permit to provide Internet services in the country. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The tremendous efforts in persuasion and demonstration paid off. Dr. Truc, head of the then National Administration of Posts and his associates were finally granted a permit to establish the National Internet Coordinating/Steering Board in Vietnam to prepare for the official launch of the global computer network in November 1997.

Earlier, in April 1997, the Government issued Decree No. 21/CP, which was a temporary order on the management of the Internet.

The core principle was services are launched to the extent that they are controllable, Dr. Truc further recalled.

The National Internet Steering Board, comprised of representatives from the National Administration of Posts, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Vietnam Science Institute, did their utmost to speed up the Internet launch in Vietnam, with their efforts including compiling regulations and inter-ministry guiding documents, issuing service rates, and providing Internet Service Providers (ISP) applying for permits with instructions on how to check international connection portals and firewalls.

The last-minute concern from the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam was whether they could filter out and block all the damaging information currently rampant on the web.

The Internet is instrumental to international trade and will help lure foreign investment in the current era of international integration, Dr. Truc told the officials.

The web will also considerably augment the amount of information available on the by disseminating it around the world and to overseas Vietnamese settling in North America and Western Europe, he added.

Dr. Truc noted they he had been under the mounting pressure to turn international integration into a key advantage of introducing the internet to Vietnam.

Following Vietnams entry into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1995, the bloc raised the issue of electronic access.

A lack of Internet access would certainly hinder Vietnam from being part of the playground, Dr. Truc remembered arguing.

The pundit, Nguyen Khanh Toan, then-Deputy Minister of Public Securit, and Chu Hao, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, later reported their progress at a meeting with the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Mr. Le Kha Phieu, who later became Party General Secretary, raised several questions.

Upon getting the nod from Politburo Standing Committee, Dr. Truc and his group moved on to persuade the government leaders.

They were presented to the then Prime Minister Phan Van Khai at his own home.

After a few hours of information exchange, the premier gave Dr. Truc a tap on the shoulder, urging that the launch had to be implemented properly and a shutdown must be avoided once the Internet was in place.

Dr. Truc and his contemporaries could not fully visualize the power of the Internet, which has brought tremendous success to the country.

What we could envisage was that the connection would open to the door to economic growth, facilitate scientific research, and broaden peoples knowledge, he admitted.

The intelligentsia, particularly researchers at universities and institutes and enterprises would be the first to benefit most from ready, limitless access to information.

The key to our success in convincing the country leaders was in the trust we created that connecting Vietnam to the global grid was a worthy cause. Those behind that cause are trustworthy and work unconditionally for the peoples and countrys sake, Dr. Truc underlined.

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A Hanoi businessman whose Bentley car was hit by a concrete mixer has refused to request compensation after learning that the faulted truck driver is under massive financial difficulties.

Nguyen Ngoc Duong, hailing from the northern province of Hung Yen, was driving the concrete mixer on An Duong Street in Hanoi, when he collided with the Bentley of Pham Quang Tung on August 25.

Duong was deemed faulty in the accident and requested to pay Tung VND300 million (US$13,200), according to the local police.

The truck driver was left devastated after knowing of the compensation amount, as he is being the familys main bread earner, with his parents both in poor health conditions.

I have no choice but to sell my house to afford such compensation amount, Duong said.

However, on October 21, a big surprise came when Duong received a phone call from the Bentleys owner, who said the luxury car had been repaired and he consequently did not have to clear the compensation.

Tung, the businessman, said that he was touched after knowing Duongs circumstance and decided not to ask for any recompense.

If I had asked Duong for the money, he would have had nothing but a dark future, Tung told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

The business man Pham Quang Tung in a selfie

The businessman wishes that from this example, Duong will also pay it forward by helping others when possible.

The generous act of the Hanoi businessman has won praise from many Tuoi Tre readers, who say they are moved by Tungs kindness.

One reader exclaimed What a kind-hearted businessman!, while another hailed Tung for his lovely gesture.

A man with a generous heart, wish you all the best with your business, an anonymous reader commented.
Starting from November, train stations in Hanoi, the central city of Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City will feature automatic ticket gates in a bid to increase service quality of the Vietnam Railways.

The upgrade is meant to provide customers with better and friendlier service, as well as to ensure security at these stations, according to the state-run Vietnam Railways, which manages the countrys north-to-south train route.

At the Hanoi station, there will be six lanes with ten automatic ticket gates to serve passengers, whereas the terminal in Da Nang will have two lanes and three gates, and Ho Chi Minh City, three lanes and five gates.

Passengers can scan their printed or electronic tickets at these automatic ticket gates to enter platforms for boarding their trains.

As the technology is quite new to some Vietnamese passengers, attendants will be on duty that those three stations to provide help, especially to the elderly, the disabled or pregnant women.

At many railway stations, namely Lao Cai, Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Vinh, Dong Hoi, Hue, Nha Trang, and Dieu Tri, passengers now have to present their tickets before entering the check-in gates, instead of showing the tickets to the attendants before boarding.

There will be waiting areas in front of check-in gates for relatives, friends, or people coming to the stations to pick up or say goodbye to the passengers.

The new rule spares train attendants from checking passenger tickets again before they enter the train cars.

Upon boarding, any on-board passengers suspected of not having proper tickets or having no tickets will be checked by the train attendants.

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The director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of the northern province of Yen Bai has been reprimanded and transferred to another position, as punishments over his failure to fully declare his asset holdings.

Quy received the warning decision and will no longer work as the environment department head, Yen Bai chairman Do Duc Duy confirmed late Friday.

The official came to the publics attention in June after local media outlets revealed that a 1.3 hectare villa complex in Yen Bai City was owned by his family

Quy claimed that he had borrowed about VND20 billion ($887,000) in bank loans, another sum from friends, and saved since he was young in order to build the property.

He has been transferred to work as the deputy head of the office of the provinces decision-making Peoples Council.

The punishment came after the Government Inspectorate found that Quy has made multiple violations, including the dishonest declaration of his villa complex.

According to findings of the four-month investigation, publicized by the government inspectors on October 23, Quy had not declared several portions of his assets since 2014, in violation of Directive No.33 of the Politburo.

In Vietnam, officials are required to write down a list of assets they own in their profiles.

In 2014, the official failed to declare 1,200 square meters of land and over 59,000 square meters of agricultural land, along with a bank loan worth VND3.8 billion (US$166,884).

In 2015, over 13,000 square meters of residential land, 41,000 square meters of agricultural land, a VND6 billion ($263,502) bank loan, and some VND1.9 billion ($83,442) gifted by his parents were also not declared.

In 2016, after Quy was appointed director of the provincial environment department, he failed to make known of over 7,900 square meters of residential land, 27,336 square meters of agricultural land, a 600 square meter house in Minh Tan Ward, Yen Bai City, more than VND9 billion ($395,253) worth of bank loans, and 60 taels of gold borrowed from his friends.

Official documents state that the land is owned by his wife, Hoang Thi Hue.

The Government Inspectorate considers Quys dishonest asset declarations a serious violation and has ordered a suitable penalty.
Four Corners screens Germanys New Nazis, from the BBCs Panorama program, presented by Sarah Ferguson.

For the first time since the dark days of Hitlers Nazi Germany, a right-wing nationalist party is centre stage in German politics.

It is a major turning point in German history to have a far right party represented in the Bundestag. Germany is really undergoing a phase of profound transition right now. Far right extremist expert



The controversial Alternative for Germany party has become the third largest political group to gain representation in the German parliament in a shock election result a month ago.

What is happening is really unprecedentedThe people who are considered on the very margins on the far right, theyre increasingly coming into the mainstream. Far right extremist expert



The partys strong anti-immigrant stance has been a key part of their success, fuelled by Germanys decision to open its borders during the 2015 refugee crisis which saw almost a million refugees stream into the country.

Im scared that my culture and everything that I, as a German have learned in my life, is being destroyed. No one pays attention to what we want, only to what they want. Nationalist

Views that were once only whispered are now being shouted.

We always said the number of crimes and rape cases are going to go up and thats what happened. Theyre not all rapists but the number of thefts has increased. Statistics prove it. We warned everyone about it. Nationalist



Right-wing extremism in Germany has surged to its highest level since the downfall of the Third Reich, with a record number of attacks against asylum seekers and their supporters.

Its not only racist remarks. Theres also symbols of the National Socialist regime which is the swastika and Hitler photos which directly hits the core of their political beliefs, the deadly racism of the National Socialism ideology. Writer



This film, from the BBCs Panorama program, charts the rise of one notorious anti-immigrant group which stands accused of a wave of violent attacks. In an exclusive interview, one of the groups ringleaders talks for the first time about his motivations and his actions.

You meet these people who think the same way as you and you feel understood. Accused neo Nazi

Some are warning that now more than ever, Germany must not forget its brutal past.

Due to our history, we have a responsibility. As the country responsible for the Holocaust, Germany is obliged never to let this happen again and to crush groups which create a dangerous climate, like in Nazi times, for migrants and minorities. Lawyer

Monday 30th October at 8.30pm on ABC.
Natalie Bassingthwaighte is reprising fan favourite Izzy Hoyland on Neighbours.

Nat Bass appeared as the Ramsay Street homewrecker from 2003 to 2006 creating one of the shows all-time favourite triangles with Doctor Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher), and spurned wife Susan (Jackie Woodburne).

Her career has included Rogue Traders and So You Think You Can Dance Australia, The X Factor, Im a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!, Brock and The Wrong Girl.

https://twitter.com/neighbourspoil/status/922263075000078337

Alan Fletcher said: Its almost impossible to describe how excited I am to have Nat back on set. The best thing about it, is that it makes me feel 15 years younger  its back to 2003. The story is one of the best Ive ever worked on and fans are going to love it.

Jackie Woodburne said: For Susan Kennedy, having Izzy back on the scene is tremendous because she is the one person Susan can just hate and behave appallingly to, which is so not her usual persona. For me, having Nat on set is such a huge boost of energy and enormous fun. I absolutely love having her around.

Network Ten Head of Drama, Rick Maier, said We love Nat; she brings skill, class and a lot of joy to every project she touches. Were very fortunate to have her back and with one of the biggest stories of the year. Cyclone Izzy is about to hit Ramsay Street. Dont say we didnt warn you.

Neighbours Executive Producer Jason Herbison said: Izzy is Ramsay Streets ultimate homewrecker and her return to Ramsay Street will be explosive. Weve been in talks with Natalie about returning for quite some time and Im thrilled that its finally come together. Shes a fearless performer and a dynamic on-screen presence. Seeing her on set with Alan and Jackie this week, theres no doubt the magic is still there.
Stranger Things actor Charlie Heaton, 23, has allegedly been denied entry to the US after being caught with cocaine at LAX airport.

Reports claim the UK actor was caught with the substance by sniffer dogs and deported him back to London last Saturday.

Law enforcement officials confirmed they found traces of cocaine on Heaton and that the actor admitted the consumption of drugs to them.

A source claimed he was not arrested.

It meant that he was missing from the premiere of the Netflix-produced show on Thursday.

Heaton could be barred from entering the US in future potentially impacting his inclusion in any future season.

Heaton has not commented publicly on the report.

Source: Daily Mail
Filming on Season 5 of Rake is about to get underway, in which Cleaver Greene holds the balance of power in the Parliament.

That should make for plenty of volatile storylines, some of which could mimic real life. And its that same mimicking that has prompted star Richard Roxburgh to speak out, after Charles Waterstreets name has appeared in headlines.

To be crystal clear: there is no real Rake, Roxburgh said. Cleaver Greene is a fictional character.

[He] is the result of the brilliant imaginations of the Rake creative team and the writing of Peter Duncan and Andrew Knight.

He told us one good story which we adapted and used in an episode in season one. As a result, it was agreed that he should be credited as co-creator.

But Waterstreet has pointed to a 2008 episode of Australian Story that had Roxburgh saying he would be playing a younger, much more dashing and handsome version of Charles in a series loosely based on Waterstreets life.

As it stands, Rake may not based on Waterstreet, but he is nevertheless a co-creator even if he had no further input.

In 2013 Waterstreet sought two payments of $15,000. He argued he was entitled to profits after an initial consultation during the development of the series.

The matter was settled between both parties for an undisclosed sum.

Producer Ian Collie said at the time, Charlie no doubt had his grievances and you want to settle it because it was doing nobody any good.

The dispute takes up a lot of time energy and emotion, so weve come to an arrangement and were all happy to move on.

You dont want the success of the show tarnished by something like this.

Waterstreet has been named in sexual harassment allegations by law student Tina Huang in an article on New Matilda called The Real Rake. He responded here.

Source: Fairfax
(Recasts with regulator saying intervention no longer imminent)

BRASILIA, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The risk of a government intervention in bankrupt telephone group Oi SA has subsided after shareholders gave assurances they would not change its current managers, Brazil's telecoms regulator Anatel said on Thursday.

"Intervention is no longer imminent," Anatel chief Juarez Quadros told reporters. He said shareholders had sent the company emails assuring its managers that "at no time" had they or the board of director considered replacing them.

Brazil's Solicitor General Grace Mendonca also said intervention of the debt-laden carrier was the last thing it had in mind.

She said authorities were working to avoid an intervention and a list of alternative restructuring proposals for saving the company is being drawn up by a government task force.

Oi bondholders rejected the company's restructuring plan presented earlier this month and a judge overseeing the bankruptcy protection proceedings agreed to a request by creditors to reschedule an assembly for November.

The postponement allows time to reconcile competing restructuring proposals more than a year into Brazil's biggest-ever in-court reorganization.

Oi's liabilities include some 11 billion reais ($3.5 billion) in fines and interest owed to Anatel, and debts to public banks such as Banco do Brasil SA BBAS3.SA and development bank BNDES, who have a say in the restructuring of the carrier.

(Reporting by Leonardo Goy; Editing by Leslie Adler and Richard Chang)

See Also:
By Victoria Bryan

BERLIN (Reuters) - EasyJet has strengthened its position in Germany by agreeing to buy part of Air Berlin's operations at Berlin Tegel airport, ending uncertainty over the fate of the failed airline's remaining assets.

EasyJet said late on Friday it would enter into leases for up to 25 A320 aircraft, acquire take-off and landing slots, and offer jobs to staff, making the announcement shortly after Air Berlin's final flight landed at Tegel.]

The purchase price is 40 million euros (35.3 million), but this does not include any transition costs and because Air Berlin planes are leased, those will have to be funded separately.

Air Berlin said on Saturday that the deal meant it had successfully closed all negotiations for its carve-up. It added sale talks with easyJet had been held since the early summer. The British carrier declined to comment on the timeline.

The deal will make easyJet, which currently operates only out of Berlin Schoenefeld airport, the leading carrier in the German capital, it said.

"This will enable easyJet to operate the leading short haul network at Tegel connecting passengers to and from destinations across Germany and the rest of Europe," easyJet said in a statement.

In comparison, Lufthansa, which is taking on Air Berlin operations with about 81 aircraft, expects to invest around 1.5 billion euros in total. That includes a purchase price of 210 million euros and fleet investments of around 1 billion.

The deal with easyJet, subject to regulatory approval, could help to ease some of the worries with the Lufthansa deal, because it gives Lufthansa a competitor in the domestic German market.

Air Berlin had been the main rival for inner-Germany routes, while others like easyJet and Ryanair had focused on routes to and from Germany.

Air Berlin was founded nearly 40 years ago and carried around 30 million passengers a year. It was beloved by Germans for its flights to holiday island Mallorca and also for the chocolate hearts it gives out after each flight, but filed for administration in August after years of losses.

Story continues

Thomas Cook's German airline Condor, which had also been interested in some of Air Berlin, declined to comment on Saturday.

The grounding of Air Berlin from Saturday means passengers in Germany could struggle to find plane tickets this winter. Lufthansa is using bigger planes meant for intercontinental routes on some short trips but says it cannot make up the gap on its own.

EasyJet said it would run a reduced timetable at Tegel during the winter, but would aim for a complete summer schedule in 2018.

The airline will look to recruit around 1,000 Air Berlin pilots and cabin crew, on local contracts and has also written to crew at its Hamburg base, which it is closing, to say there is a place for them in Tegel if they want.

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan in Berlin, Alistair Smout in London and Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Nadine Schimroszik in Berlin and Tom Sims in Frankfurt; Editing by Alison Williams)
The former head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has accused British politicians of misleading the public over the realities of Brexit and insists there will have to be a border in Ireland.

Pascal Lamy who was head of the WTO between 2005-2013, told Sky News that while things had improved since the referendum, UK politicians "still a long way to go" in being honest with voters.

Asked if the Prime Minister and others were misleading the public, Mr Lamy said. "Yes. I believe that was true during the campaign and is still true today.

"Although a bit less true. There has been some crab walking, talking having to pay a bill, there might be a transition two year period which are signs of moves, in direction of reality but in my view still a long way to go."

"I am not saying that this [Brexit] is hell, I'm saying it is less good than heaven and there is a long distance between less good than heaven and hell.

"It will have a cost which needs to be recognised properly before we try and reduce it."

Mr Lamy, speaking in Dublin, dismissed suggestions that there could be a no-border in Ireland.

The former EU Commissioner said "No, this vocabulary of creative, flexible, seamless, cost less, infrastructureless border is much about poetry.

"It's a way to call something because you don't want to call it reality. With my trade experience, I can see, no, no-cost border.

"There will have to be a border, i.e. a cost, whatever shape it takes there will be a cost."

Many Brexit supporters have suggested Britain could easily trade under WTO rules with little impact, however Mr. Lamy suggested there would be an economic impact.

:: Micheal Martin: Brexit makes hard Irish border 'inevitable'

"It's clearly a suboptimal outcome, the best outcome is certainly a deal which will allow both UK and Europe to adjust to the new situation.

"Let's look at trade, it would mean 10% tariff on cars, whatever tariffs on sugar, cheese, spirits, which would be clearly worse situation that clearly have a trade agreement."

Story continues

Speaking to Sky News at the Institute for International and European Affairs, the self-described European integrationist said he believed Brexit was a process and not a negotiation.

"I've been in negotiations for a long time in my professional life. A negotiation is something where you trade off something - I'll give you something you give me something, I'll give you more of this if you give me more of that. This is not what Brexit is about.

"Brexit is getting the UK egg out of the EU basket. This is not a negotiation but a process which needs to be handled in such a way that its inevitable cost is as muted as possible.

"I don't see what the UK could give to the EU which would smooth the process that the EU could gain."
By Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Following Donald Trump's decision to decertify the Iran nuclear deal this month, shaken European capitals are asking themselves what the U.S. president will do next.

Diplomats have sketched scenarios they fear could plunge transatlantic relations into crisis: a trade war, military conflict over North Korea, or the collapse of a Cold War-era arms treaty. They wonder if their post-war alliance can survive if any of them come true.

Since Trump took office nine months ago, governments in Berlin, Paris and London have wavered between alarm at his rhetoric and a shaky sense that his worst instincts can be contained by the "grown ups" in his cabinet and pressure from allies.

But the Iran decision, taken despite personal appeals from France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Angela Merkel and Britain's Theresa May, has changed the calculus in Europe, according to diplomats, politicians and analysts.

No longer is there an underlying confidence that Europe can muddle through three more years of Trump without fear of major, and possibly lasting, disruptions to the relationship. Nor is there faith that Trump, when the stakes are high, will listen to what his advisers and partners tell him.

The anxiety is especially acute in Germany, whose own identity is anchored in its relationship with the United States and whose reliance on Washington, particularly in defence and security matters, runs deeper than that of France or Britain.

"There is a sense of desperation in Berlin, a sense that Trump does not know what is at stake, that he doesn't understand the historical factors that are at play here," said Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German ambassador to Washington and chairman of the Munich Security Conference.

"The transatlantic relationship is all about trust. In that sense, the Iran decision takes us to a new level. It is a breach of trust," he said.

STANDING IN THE RUBBLE

Story continues

Trump's decision to decertify the Iran deal will not necessarily kill it. That depends on Congress, which must now decide to impose new sanctions against Tehran. But the consensus in Europe is that a landmark diplomatic achievement has been seriously undermined.

Merkel alluded to the breakdown in trust back in May, when she said Europe might not be able to rely on the United States and must take its fate into its own hands.

That came after a contentious G7 meeting in Sicily at which Trump ignored pleas from allies to stick with another multilateral agreement, the Paris climate accord.

Since then Merkel, focussed on an election and efforts to form a coalition, has said little about the transatlantic relationship or Trump.

Macron meanwhile, has done his best to charm the American president, inviting him to Paris for Bastille Day celebrations and meeting him again at the United Nations last month.

"I don't despair of making him change his mind," Macron said in New York of Trump's stances on climate and Iran.

In private however, European officials say they are worried that Trump's rejection of the Iran deal could be a harbinger of other disruptive salvos from Washington.

One senior European diplomat said the next conflict would likely be over trade, describing Trump's attempt to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) -- and his threats to abandon it -- as a "litmus test".

European firms, especially German carmakers who produce in Mexico and export to the United States, could be hit hard by a breakdown of NAFTA.

There are also fears that Trump could carry out a threat to introduce steel import tariffs, which would hit European exporters as well as the Chinese.

"So far there has been a lot of bark and no bite from Trump on trade, but that doesn't mean it will stay that way," said the European diplomat. "We have to be prepared for real protectionist measures. Any steps that penalise European firms directly or indirectly would create a downward spiral."

ANTI-AMERICANISM

North Korea is another area of concern. Thorsten Benner, director of the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin, believes the reaction in Europe to a military conflict on the Korean peninsula could be "as messy as the Iraq war".

The European public could view Washington as the aggressor in such a conflict. This could fuel anti-American sentiment, making it difficult for European leaders to stand with Trump and emboldening voices that are already calling for a break from Washington -- no matter how unrealistic that looks in practice.

"We have to wake up to the fact that we may be dealing with Trump for some time, and that there may not be a correction when he leaves," one German diplomat told Reuters. "It hasn't dawned on people here that this is existential and you have to react."

Concerns about such sentiments led a group of a dozen Germany-based foreign policy experts to issue a manifesto this month, entitled "In Spite of It All, America", which warned Berlin against turning its back on Washington because of Trump.

Former ambassador Ischinger shares that view. But he too is concerned the relationship could deteriorate further.

One of his biggest fears is a collapse of the INF Treaty, a nuclear arms reduction pact signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987. Washington and Moscow accuse each other of violating the treaty and Gorbachev himself warned this month that it was in peril.

Should the INF unravel, Ischinger believes the divisive 1980s debate about deploying nuclear weapons in Europe could resurface with devastating consequences for transatlantic ties.

"All hell could break loose, politically speaking," he said.

For generations of Germans, Ischinger says, the symbol of the transatlantic alliance has been U.S. presidents -- from John F. Kennedy to Reagan, and from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama.

"I can no longer tell my children that they are part of this alliance with Trump as president," he said. "It is rather sad. I don't know how the loss of this symbol can be replaced."

(Writing by Noah Barkin; Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris and Robin Emmott in Brussels; Editing by Giles Elgood)
* PermaKat Eleonora Rosati received the 2022 Adepi Award

* PermaKat Eleonora Rosati listed as one of the World Intellectual Property Review's "Influential Women in IP" of 2020.

* PermaKat Eleonora Rosati listed as one of the Managing Intellectual Property magazine's "Fifty Most Influential People" of 2018.

* IPKat founder and Blogmeister Emeritus Jeremy Phillips listed as one of the Managing Intellectual Property magazine's "Fifty Most Influential People" of 2005, 2011, 2013, and 2014.

* Recommended by the European Patent Office as reading material for candidates for the European Qualifying Examinations, 2013.

* Listed as "Top Legal Blog" in The Times Online, March 2011.

2010 ABA Journal 100. * One of the only two non-US blogs listed in the Blawg100.

* Court Reporter Top Copyright Blog award winner, November 2010.

* Number 1 in the 2010 Top Copyright Blog list compiled by the Copyright Litigation Blog, July 2010.

* Selected by the United States Library of Congress for inclusion in its historic collections of Internet materials related to Legal Blawgs as of 2010.

* Top Patent Blog poll 2009: 3rd out of 50 in the "Favourite Patent Blog" poll and 2nd out of 50 in the "Most-read" poll.

Blog of the Year, 20 August 2008. * ComputerWeekly IT Law and Governance, 20 August 2008.
Moneysupermarket.com: Jefferies downgrades to hold with a target price of 312p.

Wolseley: Canaccord downgrades to hold with a 4200p target, UBS reiterates buy with a target price of 4300p and Credit Suisse stays at outperform with a 4200p target.

Daily Mail: Goldman Sachs reiterates sell with a target price of 628p.

Polymetal: Jefferies reiterates hold with a target of 350p.

Victrex: UBS reiterates neutral with a target price of 1430p.

DCC: Goldman Sachs stays at neutral with a 6500p target.

Halfords Group: Citigroup downgrades to neutral with a target of 430p and HSBC reiterates buy with a 480p target.

London Stock Exchange: Exane BNP Paribas reiterates outperform with a 2750p target.

Essentra: JP Morgan keeps at overweight with a target price of 926p.

Johnson Matthey: Credit Suisse reiterates outperform, 3100p target.

Cobham: Societe Generale stays at hold with a 150p target.
Shares in Shire fell on Monday as it said chief financial officer Jeff Poulton will leave the pharmaceuticals group at the end of the year to take up the same role at Boston-based start-up Indigo Ag.

The company said Poulton will stay on in the role of CFO as it begins the search for his successor. He will remain on the executive committee and on the board of directors during the transition period, and will also continue to support the ongoing strategic review of the business.

Chief executive officer Dr. Flemming Ornskov said: "It is with regret that we announce Jeff's upcoming departure. Having held numerous roles within the company, Jeff has demonstrated steadfast commitment to Shire through a very intense period of activity and has made significant contributions to our organisation.

"Jeff will continue to lead the Shire Finance team through the Q3 reporting period and to the end of the year, and will play an active role in the search for his successor. On behalf of all Shire employees, we are grateful to Jeff for his dedication and leadership and wish him the very best in his future endeavours."

RBC Capital Markets said: "We view this news negatively and note that Jeff Poulton has been with the company since December 2014 and has led Shire through the acquisition of Dyax and, more significantly, the integration of Baxalta. We believe this will contribute to weakness in the shares and note that the majority of our incoming investor calls over the past two weeks have largely revolved around a lack of support until Roche releases its HAVEN-3 data (year-end 2017).

"Given the ongoing strategic review associated with a potential spin-off of the company's Neuro franchise (a decision is expected by year-end), we believe the company may see some timeline related concern during this transition period."

Shire also announced the appointment of Joanne Cordeiro as chief human resources officer and a member of the executive committee, effective immediately and taking over from Ginger Gregory. Joanne joined the company in March 2011 and has been serving as interim head of HR since March 2017.

At 1500 BST, Shire shares were down 3.1% to 3,649p.
FTSE 250 firm Vedanta Resources posted an announcement on Friday informing that the English Court of Appeal had dismissed it and Konkola Copper Mine's (KCM) appeal against the English court, concerning the court's jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate claims by Zambian residents regarding KCM's operations in Zambia.

Vedanta and KCM unsuccessfully appealed the ruling imposed, on 27 May 2016, by the English High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, Technology and Construction Court stipulating that the English courts had jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate the claims.

The companies said they were now examining the court's judgement and would seek to appeal the Court's decision.
Finland-focussed diamond exploration company Karelian Diamond Resources announced on Wednesday that the diamond mining permit for the recently-acquired Lahtojoki project has been formally transferred from A&G Mining Oy, along with all of the claim reports and additional technical material. The AIM-traded company said transfer approval from the Finnish Safety and Chemical Agency was also received.

Clinical stage biotechnology company Tiziana Life Sciences was celebrating on Wednesday, after its partnership with researchers at Cardiff University collected a fresh award. The AIM-traded company said the partnership, which has led to the development of a potential new drug for metastatic breast cancer, won the Innovation in Healthcare category at the universitys Innovation and Impact Awards 2016.

West African gold producer Aureus Mining announced a fresh deferral to its debt repayments on Wednesday, allowing it more time to get its gold processing plant running. The AIM and TSX-traded firm said it has received approval from Nedbank, Rand Merchant Bank and the Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa to further defer its first debt repayment to 30 June.

Shares in Slovenia-focused Ascent Resources dived about 30% after it raised 500,000 in a discounted placing of 83.33m shares, giving it sufficient working capital until the end of third-quarter 2016.

Pennant International Group was up more than 40% as it confirmed new Middle East contract wins totalling more than 13m and running through to end-2017. The supplier of integrated logistic support solutions, products and services said subsidiary Pennant Training Systems has signed a major new contract and has received confirmation of the award of another and has been instructed to commence work.

Nostra Terra Oil & Gas was still in limbo over its proposed acquisition of an interest in New Mexico producing assets on Wednesday, announcing it was continuing to seek debt financing via a secured bond to complete the deal. The AIM-traded company had revealed its plans to take on the working interest in Alamo Resources IIs Permian Basin operations on 5 April.
[October 27, 2017] BOOZ ALLEN INVESTIGATION INITIATED by Former Louisiana Attorney General: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC Investigates the Officers and Directors of Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation - (BAH)

Former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq., a partner at the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF"), announces that KSF has commenced an investigation into Booz Allen Hamilton (News - Alert) Holding Corporation (NYSE: BAH). For several years, Booz Allen, among the nation's largest defense contractors, has been the subject of investigations and adverse audits by several government agencies regarding its improper billing of governmental contract work, resulting in millions of dollars in fines and settlements. On June 15, 2017, the Company revealed that it was the target of "a civil and criminal investigation" by the U.S. Dept. of Justice relating to its billing practices that, as CEO Rozanski disclosed in a subsequent analyst call, would more likely take "years than months" to resolve. The Company has also been connected to high profile leaks of sensitive government data, most notably by former contractors Edward Snowden and Harold Martin, and recently the June 2017 discovery that sensitive data, including logincredentials, was stored unprotected and visible on a public server by a company contractor.



The Company has been exposed to significant financial losses as well as a recent securities class action lawsuit for failing to disclose material information to investors, violating federal securities laws, which is ongoing. KSF's investigation is focusing on whether Booz Allen's officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to its shareholders or otherwise violated state or federal laws.

If you have information that would assist KSF in its investigation, or have been a long-term holder of Booz Allen shares and would like to discuss your legal rights, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn ([email protected]). About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC KSF, whose partners include Former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana. To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171027005878/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Camping World Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, retails recreational vehicles (RVs), and related products and services. It operates in two segments, Good Sam Services and Plans; and RV and Outdoor Retail. The company provides a portfolio of services, protection plans, products, and resources in the RV industry. It also offers extended vehicle service contracts; roadside assistance plans; property and casualty insurance programs; travel assist travel protection plans; and RV and outdoor related consumer shows, as well as produces various monthly and annual RV focused consumer magazines; and operates the Coast to Coast Club. In addition, the company provides new and used RVs; vehicle financing; RV repair and maintenance services; various RV parts, equipment, supplies, and accessories, which include towing and hitching products, satellite and GPS systems, electrical and lighting products, appliances and furniture, and other products; and collision repair services comprising fiberglass front and rear cap replacement, windshield replacement, interior remodel solutions, and paint and body work. Further, it offers equipment, gears, and supplies for camping, hunting, fishing, skiing, snowboarding, bicycling, skateboarding, and marine and watersports equipment and supplies, as well as operates Good Sam Club, a membership organization that offers savings on a range of products and services and provides co-branded credit cards. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated through a network of approximately 187 retail locations in 40 states of the United States. It serves customers through dealerships, and online and e-commerce platforms. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois.
Ecopetrol S.A. operates as an integrated energy company. The company operates through four segments: Exploration and Production; Transport and Logistics; Refining, Petrochemical and Biofuels; and Electric Power Transmission and Toll Roads Concessions. It engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas; transportation of crude oil, motor fuels, fuel oil, and other refined products, including diesel, jet, and biofuels; processing and refining crude oil; distribution of natural gas and LPG; sale of refined and petrochemical products; supplying of electric power transmission services; design, development, construction, operation, and maintenance of road and energy infrastructure projects; and supplying of information technology and telecommunications services. As of December 31, 2021, the company had approximately 9,127 kilometers of crude oil and multi-purpose pipelines. It also produces and commercializes polypropylene resins and compounds, and masterbatches; and offers industrial service sales to customers and specialized management services. It has operations in Colombia, the United States, Asia, Central America and the Caribbean, Europe, South America, and internationally. The company was formerly known as Empresa Colombiana de Petroleos and changed its name to Ecopetrol S.A. in June 2003. Ecopetrol S.A. was incorporated in 1948 and is based in Bogota, Colombia.
Brown County approves Bailey Pro Rodeo as new stock provider

Bailey Pro Rodeo out of North Dakota has been selected as the new rodeo stock provider for the Dacotah Stampede Rodeo, a two-day event at the fair.
For 70 years, Rio Grande Presbyterian Church has held open its door and generated a prolific and long-standing food bank, earning itself a reputation as the friendliest church in Albuquerque, at least to some in the homeless community, Pastor Linda Roberts-Baca said with a chuckle.

It is a nice commendation. I tell my congregation, you couldnt have a better reputation,' she said. New members are always welcome!

Her church, with about 60 congregants, is celebrating 70 Years of Serving ABQs Westside as a place of hospitality, celebrating Gods love and welcoming others no matter their race, gender, social status, or nationality, the announcement of the celebration reads.

Saturday, Oct. 28, from 1 to 4 p.m., the church will host an open house, complete with $1 hot dogs and fry bread, raffle items and music. Several community service providers will have information tables.

The Native American Charter Academy will host an information table and face painting.

And the church, located at 600 Coors NW, four blocks south of Interstate 40, will also provide information on its food bank, the Rio Grande Food Project.

We started it and in the mid-90s, then it became a nonprofit. In 2016, we provided 1 million pounds of food, Roberts-Baca said. Its probably the largest food program of any church in the state. We distribute about seven tons of food each week.

The volunteer-run project now supplies a weeks-worth of food to anyone who shows up to the pantrys monthly distribution.

Anybody who shows up can receive a week worth of food once a month, all they need is an ID and kids birth certificates, Roberts-Baca said. When you are struggling that is such a relief.

She said the church also grows a fertile garden.

On good years, it will yield a ton of vegetable, literally one ton, which often gets donated to the food project, she said.

On Sunday, Oct. 29, the church will celebrate its 70th anniversary with a visit from some of the its previous 13 pastors, special music and a puppet show.
A member of the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Authority board is questioning whether state Auditor Tim Keller, who is running for mayor, is using his office to retaliate against a critic who helped finance attack ads against him.

Its concerning when a public official goes after someone who is engaging in their First Amendment rights, said Bernalillo County Commissioner Wayne Johnson, who sits on the water authority board.

At issue is the water supply for Santolina, the planned 21-square-mile development southwest of Interstate 40 and 118th Street. Santolina could some day be home to 90,000 people, but in order to move forward with the project, Western Albuquerque Land Holdings must have a fully executed development agreement with the water authority.

Albuquerques mayor has a seat on the water authority board, and Keller has been a vocal critic of Santolina for years, calling it sprawl development.

WALH, the Santolina owner, opposes Keller in the mayoral race and contributed $30,000 to a political action committee that ran TV and radio attack ads against Keller.

On Sept. 15  the same week the ads began running  Kellers office sent a letter questioning whether the water authority is illegally subsidizing the water infrastructure for Santolina. The letter instructs REDW, the authoritys independent auditor, to look into those allegations, which were made by Norman Gaume, a former water system manager/engineer for the city of Albuquerque, and others.

It is the routine work of the State Auditors office staff to ensure independent auditors have the information they need to safeguard our taxpayer dollars in the hundreds of government entities that we audit, said Justine Freeman, spokeswoman for Auditor Keller. Our office has an obligation to evaluate allegations of wrongdoing and this is one of 50 referral letters weve sent this year on a wide variety of issues.

Freeman said the initial complaint about the water authority and Santolina was sent to the Auditors Office in June.

No entity may use public funds to benefit a private company; that would be a violation of the New Mexico Constitutions Anti-Donation Clause, Freeman said.

While the Auditors Office sent its letter the same week that the Santolina-backed ads began running, the campaign finance report that revealed Santolinas contribution to the political action committee running them wasnt filed until Sept. 22, exactly a week after the Auditors Office sent its letter. But many speculated from the beginning that developers were behind the attack ads.

It kind of smells, and so its worth looking at, said Johnson, who had also been running for mayor but didnt advance to the Nov. 14 runoff. Johnson, who has pending campaign finance ethics complaints against Keller, has endorsed City Councilor Dan Lewis, Kellers opponent.

WALH, in a statement, accused Keller of abusing his office and said he has a long history opposing economic development opportunities and master plans like Santolina on the West Side. WALH added that the letter from the Auditors Office, is just another example of Mr. Keller using his state auditor position to advance his personal interest. The citizens of the westside deserve quality developments like Santolina and public infrastructure similar to the developed portions of the eastside.
On the morning of Tuesday, June 8, 2004, a taxi navigated the serpentine barriers toward the gate of Forward Operating Base Warhorse in Baquba, Iraq. A U.S. Army officer who was on watch saw it and ran forward toward the vehicle. That is when it exploded, killing the soldier, Capt. Humayun Saqib Muazzam Khan, and two Iraqis who stood nearby. Khan was a Muslim-American, killed by a suicide bomber who was likely of the same faith. He was laid to rest in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, along with thousands of others killed in the so-called Global War on Terror. His family privately mourned their loss daily, frequently visiting his gravesite. Then the openly racist campaign of Donald Trump swept them into a political storm.

Trumps anti-immigrant rhetoric and pledges to ban all Muslims from entering the country incensed Humayun Khans parents, Khizr and Ghazala Khan. Natives of Pakistan, they are extremely proud of their U.S. citizenship. Khizr Khan was invited to address the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July 2016.

If it was up to Donald Trump, (my son) never would have been in America. Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities, women, judges, even his own party leadership. He vows to build walls and ban us from this country, Khizr Khan said, with his wife at his side. Donald Trump, youre asking Americans to trust you with their future. Let me ask you: Have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. The thousands of delegates rose in thunderous applause as he held his pocket-sized copy of the U.S. Constitution aloft.

Khan continued, Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending (the) United States of America. You will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one.

Trump wasted little time attacking the Gold Star family: I saw him. He was, you know, very emotional and probably looked like a nice guy to me. His wife, if you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasnt allowed to have anything to say. You tell me. But plenty of people have written that. Ghazala Khan replied in a piece published in The Washington Post: Here is my answer to Donald Trump:Because without saying a thing, all the world, all America, felt my pain. I am a Gold Star mother.  The last time I spoke to my son was on Mothers Day 2004. We had asked him to call us collect whenever he could. I begged him to be safe.

Trump, who boasted at a rally last July, one year after attacking Mrs. Khan, with the exception of the late, great Abraham Lincoln, I can be more presidential than any president thats ever held this office, has now attacked a Gold Star widow, Myeshia Johnson, whose husband, Sgt. La David Johnson, was killed Oct. 4 in Niger. Trump made a condolence phone call to Myeshia Johnson as she was in a car en route to meet her husbands casket.

The president said that he knew what he signed up for, but it hurts anyway,' she said on ABC. The insensitive remark was overheard by others in the car, including Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Democratic member of Congress who is a dear family friend. Instead of apologizing, Trump went on the attack against Wilson, calling her wacky. His chief of staff, former Marine Gen. John Kelly, doubled down, calling Wilson an empty barrel while lying to the press about her record. Neither Trump nor Kelly will correct, retract or apologize for their comments about the two African-American women, the pregnant widow and the congressmember.

During the intense years of combat at FOB Warhorse in Iraq, concrete blast walls were used for an ad hoc memorial, inscribed with the names of soldiers killed in action. Capt. Humayun Khans name is there, as is 1st Lt. Andrew Bacevich, killed three years later, on May 13, 2007. His father, retired Army Col. Andrew J. Bacevich, opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq and wrote of the war in the Los Angeles Times just one month before his son was killed, We are spectators, witnesses, bystanders caught in a conflagration that we ourselves, in an act of monumental folly, touched off.
The Islamic State group just lost its capital at Raqqa, and with it the last of the terrorist groups fantasies of establishing a Middle East caliphate.

In recent years, IS has horrified global audiences with video clips of unspeakable atrocities. What sort of humans could behead, incinerate, drown, torture and blow up innocent civilians, mock and record such horror, and then narrate their macabre videos for a world audience?

How could such pre-modern psychopaths ever be defeated, given that in a matter of months IS had managed to overrun vast swaths of Iraq and Syria?

The zealotry of the Islamic State in celebrating the unthinkable added to its cult of invincibility. Young would-be jihadists from the Western world flocked to the groups Middle East compounds, eager to engage in viciousness as if it were the latest video game.

Dejected Middle Eastern armies seemed to have no answer for the medieval violence of IS. Impotent Western leaders either ignored or denied the groups homicidal appeal. Indeed, in 2014, pessimistic analysts were predicting that IS might soon carve out enough oil-rich parts of Iraq and Syria to spread its barbarism throughout the region.

But recently, the entire Islamic State project began going up in smoke almost as abruptly as it was born. It turned out that squadrons of American bombers were not impressed by IS threats and bombed to smithereens its command centers and headquarters.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis relaxed the rules of U.S. engagement and made it a veritable open season on Islamic State jihadists, while American forces trained entire new cadres of anti-IS fighters. Specialized drones and GPS-guided Western munitions made it almost impossible for IS leaders to escape constant attack.

Their past horrors had earned Islamic State jihadists only ill will. Tens of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian victims volunteered to fight IS with a ferocity that they had rarely exhibited in the past.

The net result is now mass IS surrenders. Half-starved jihadists in rags and in tears beg their captors for forgiveness  and not to show them the same savagery that had so often had fueled IS slaughtering.

The fate of IS reminds us that throughout history those who posed as superhuman savages, without any limitations to their cruelty, were often bullies who could not stand up to the determined payback of their finally aroused and outraged victims.

After 9/11, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden frightened Westerners with his tough talk about the strong horse of radical Islam, for whose brutality and cruelty a supposedly weak and decadent West had no antidote. But after years of the U.S. and its allies whittling away al-Qaida from Afghanistan to Iraq, and bombing its ringleaders wherever they appeared, bin Laden was killed in a dingy Pakistan compound.

In the early 1940s, the most feared killers in the world were Nazi kingpin Heinrich Himmlers SS elite. The SS claimed they were the new racial supermen, overseeing extermination camps and spearheading the German army by executing prisoners and civilians alike.

But by May 1945, with Berlin in ruins and Hitler dead, former killers were trying to hide their SS tattoos. Like Himmler himself, most SS commandos were cowardly, fearing that their victims might do to the SS what the SS had done to others.

Before and during World War II, Japanese militarists slaughtered millions of civilians in China and butchered their way through the Pacific. They boasted that they would never surrender in World War II. Yet after the Allies had rooted out fanatical forces from their strongholds in the Pacific and bombed Japan into ruins, even the most diehard fanatics meekly gave up.

Civilization in peace becomes complacent. It understandably hopes that growing terror on the horizon will burn out on its own.

During calm periods, prosperous and more liberal nations certainly do not want to send their youth across the world to fight those who claim that they would enjoy nothing more than dying while trying to kill those more successful and better off.

But the true strength in arms is usually civilizational, not tribal. A modern state that lives by the rule of law and the consent of the governed, and is energized by free markets and a free people, can be a deadly force when finally provoked into rage. The same is true of innocent victims initially overwhelmed by tribal killers like those of the SS, al-Qaida or the Islamic State.

IS may have been able to invent ever more macabre ways of dismembering innocent victims, but it could not make a fighter plane or win the lasting allegiance and loyalty of the majority of Iraqis and Syrians.

And so, like soulless killing machines of the past, IS is now finally being killed off.

Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University; e-mail: authorvdh@gmail.com.
It took a court order, but the Archdiocese of Santa Fe last week released nearly 1,000 pages from its personnel files that shed additional light on the unconscionable actions of three pedophile priests over three decades  and the extraordinary efforts taken by the church to cover up the crimes they committed against young New Mexicans.

Accompanying the documents was a letter of apology from Archbishop John C. Wester to the survivors for the pain and suffering you have endured.

It is my deepest hope that our publication of this list will serve as an important step in healing for survivors, their families and our Church and communities, Wester wrote. He pledged to support and assist you on your road to recovery. He has written an even more detailed letter scheduled to be published in the Sunday Journal.

The documents are painful reading for victims, their families, parishioners, church officials and anyone who cares about them and the church. But they help bring the problem into the open, which, had it happened decades earlier, would have spared many victims. It also widens the path to closure, healing and renewed vigilance against future abuses.

To its credit, the archdiocese continues to pull the problem out of the shadows  a direct reversal of decades of denial, obfuscation and refusal to acknowledge the problem, let alone attempt to address it and its aftermath.

For New Mexicans, lawsuits and victims stories began to emerge in the early 1990s, but the archdiocese released few details of those cases. In December 2014, the Diocese of Gallup released of a list of credibly accused clergy, along with letter of apology to victims from Bishop James S. Wall.

Last month, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe published a list of 74 priests, deacons and religious brothers who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children in New Mexico. Wester has promised to update that list with names of the parishes where the 74 worked, and we urge him to include when they were at those parishes as well.

These are encouraging actions, hopefully indicative of a new approach the church will take with problem clergy and their victims. Its expensive  numerous lawsuits and settlements lhave been addressed, and there will likely be more  but these difficult steps must be taken to make victims, and the church, as close to whole as humanly possible.

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.
The case against a man accused of shooting an Army veteran to death after an attempted robbery is finally moving forward following his transfer to New Mexico from another states custody, according to a spokesman for the District Attorneys Office.

Matthew Chavez, 27, was first charged in the shooting death of Tyler Lackey, 24, in February 2016, but he was not indicted in the case until August of this year. Chavez was in court Wednesday as prosecutors asked a judge to keep him in New Mexico until his case is resolved, DAs Office spokesman Michael Patrick said. Chavez is serving time in Oklahoma for unrelated crimes.

Witnesses told police that Lackey was at an ATM near Gibson and Yale when a car pulled behind his truck. A man with a bandanna tied around his face got out of the car and attempted to rob Lackey, but Lackey pulled out a gun. Police said the man got back into his car and said he was just playing. Lackey told him to get out of the car to wait for police, but the man instead drove away and fired multiple shots, hitting Lackey in the chest, according to court documents.

About an hour later, the stolen car involved in the crime was found burning in a southeast Albuquerque alley, police said.

Shortly after releasing surveillance images, detectives said they determined that Chavez was the shooter and that Veronica Trimble was in the car with him. Trimble was initially accused of crimes surrounding Lackeys death, but prosecutors dismissed the case against her in October 2016 due to insufficient evidence.

Chavez faces charges, including first-degree murder, armed robbery and conspiracy.
CORRALES  This Old House has seen a lot of years, and this Old House has seen a lot of lives.

This Old House has seen some good times, and this Old House has seen some bad times.

This Old House is Casa Vieja, which means  you guessed it  old house.

Built as a home, Casa Vieja, 4541 Corrales Road, dates back at least to the mid-1800s and might be older than that. In addition to its role as a residence, it has played the parts of a grocery store, a courthouse, a small hospital and perhaps even soldiers quarters. From 1970 to 2011, it housed restaurants that boasted the talents of chefs such as Jim White and Josh Gerwin.

The worst of times for the Old House were the summer of 2011 when the building was closed because a structural wall was discovered to be on the verge of collapse due to severe water damage. Poor drainage and a faulty septic system were the suspected culprits. The crumbling wall was in an area used for washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen.

For five years, Casa Vieja, which had in many ways been a vital organ in the life of this village, stood abandoned and desolate.

Then, in 2016, Linda and Gary Socha and their daughter Maria Socha leased Casa Vieja and set about giving it new life as an event center. The rejuvenated Casa Vieja opened for business in June 2016, and the Sochas recently purchased the property.

Now may be the best of times for the Old House. Restored as much as is feasible to, as Linda Socha put it, the most authentic version of itself, Casa Vieja vibrates with an old-world charm that has likely not been apparent since the 1940s.

And earlier this month, the Corrales Historical Society and Corrales Main Street presented the Sochas with an Honor Award in recognition of their renovation of a local landmark.

I think they did an incredibly good job, the best job anyone could have done, said Mary Davis, chair of the historical societys archive committee. They have been so interested in the history and have paid good attention. They have returned it to a homey space, a really welcoming place.

Team effort

It would be difficult to imagine a team better suited to putting the polish on a clouding jewel than the Sochas. Gary is a mechanical engineer, Linda worked as an interior decorator for 30 years and Maria is a wedding planner. They have it covered from foundation to furnishings to festivities.

After developing a vision for the building, the Sochas hired an architect and a construction company. It took six months of work to get Casa Vieja, which encompasses 5,000 square feet and includes seven rooms for guest activities, in shape for its latest incarnation. One of the first things accomplished was the dismantling of the buildings commercial kitchen. Casa Vieja is no longer a restaurant. Meals served at events there are catered, and the former kitchen area can now be used as a dining room.

A larger (ventilator) hood mounted in the ceiling of what had been the kitchen had been improperly installed, Maria said. A couple of vigas cracked and we had to replace the roof.

While working in the kitchen vicinity, a portrait was discovered inside a wall. As best the Sochas have been able to determine, it depicts a French duke of the 1600s and the painting itself appears to have been done in Spain in the 1700s. The duke, a relieved expression on his face, now hangs on the proper side of a wall in Casa Vieja.

Another major challenge facing the Sochas was the propertys septic system, which was made up of multiple septic tanks. The Sochas dealt with that immediately.

The first thing we did was connect to the village sewer line, Linda said.

Drainage was also troublesome.

Thats because the ground on the north side of the building was higher than the foundation, Maria said.

Some landscaping work was needed to deal with that liability.

And we put in special roof drains and a rain-capturing system we use for irrigating, Linda said.

A lot of effort went into repainting the interior. Blues, varying shades of white and subtle earth tones replaced the more vivid colors of Casa Viejas restaurant years.

We got rid of the mustard yellow and ketchup red schemes, Linda said. We removed dropped ceilings of acoustic tile. A lot of what we based our restoration on was pictures from when it was a home. A big thing was restoring doors which date back before the 1940s.

Flagstones and phantoms

Earlier renovation efforts had been implemented by the Harrington family, which moved from Sioux City, Iowa, to Corrales in the early 1940s, purchased the Old House and owned it until 1950. The Harringtons, like the Sochas, were concerned with restoring and preserving the buildings heritage. They were responsible for carved rope trim around doors, chip carvings on book cases, flagstone and brick floors and kiva fireplaces and nichos.

Some of the Harringtons work  the rope trim and chip carvings, for example  survived the six decades that have elapsed since they lived in the house. The Sochas refurbished efforts that had been eclipsed by the passing years.

We repaired and restored seven fireplaces on the property, Linda said.

The Old House is growing into its new purpose. The Sochas said Casa Vieja is averaging six events a month, including birthday parties, anniversaries, celebrations of life, weddings, corporate events, art exhibits and holiday parties. On a full-moon night earlier this month, Casa Vieja hosted a Corrales ghost tour that started with dinner at the Old House and continued with a tractor-drawn wagon ride to supposedly haunted village venues.

Not that you actually have to leave Casa Vieja to find ghosts. The Sochas said some guests have reported seeing the apparition of an elderly woman who seems to prefer materializing in the buildings Blue Room.

Our ghosts are friendly, Maria said. All impressions have been positive.

You could say the same thing about the latest chapter in the story of this Old House.

Casa Vieja event center

4541 Corrales Road in Corrales

To arrange events, call 505-363-5176 or send emails to casaviejanm@gmail.com
WASHINGTON  After a multiyear legal battle, the leader of the Albuquerque Tea Party lauded the U.S. Justice Departments admission this week that the Internal Revenue Service had targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny. The IRS also apologized for its actions.

The Justice Department announced that it has settled two lawsuits  one for millions of dollars  in connection with the IRS scrutiny of Tea Party groups in Albuquerque and across the country.

The Albuquerque Tea Party had earlier opted out of the class-action lawsuit that resulted in a multimillion settlement, but the groups president, Graham Bartlett, said the local political group is part of a second settlement in which the IRS admitted that it was wrong to target the groups for extra scrutiny.

We are very pleased with our settlement, Bartlett told the Journal on Friday, adding that his group sued the government on principle. The Albuquerque group was among the earliest in the nation to protest the IRS taking so long to determine whether it was a tax-exempt group.

We got, basically, what we wanted, which is to make sure the IRS does not do this to anybody else  not just conservative groups  but anybody else. The government cant bully us around just because of our political thinking.

Both cases are final pending approval from the district courts. The actual dollar amount of the class-action settlement with the federal government was kept confidential, but the plaintiffs Kansas City-based attorney, Edward Greims, confirmed to the Journal on Friday that it totaled millions of dollars.

The Justice Department said it is settling the lawsuit involving the Albuquerque Tea Party and some 40 other conservative groups with an apology from the IRS for the intensive scrutiny of the groups. The group argued that their constitutional rights were violated when they were singled out for additional tax scrutiny based on their political views.

In 2012, the American Center for Law and Justice filed a lawsuit against the IRS on behalf of the Albuquerque Tea Party and other conservative groups whose requests for tax-exempt status was delayed during the Obama administration. The ACLJ is a conservative, Christian-based organization associated with Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Va. The organizations chief counsel is Jay Sekulow, a member of President Donald Trumps private legal team.

In 2013, the IRS admitted targeting the groups in part by focusing attention on those with tea party or patriot in their names. Many had their applications delayed for months and years. Some were asked improper questions about their donors and even their religious practices, an inspector generals report found. The Albuquerque Tea Party was finally granted tax-exempt status in July after an eight-year fight.

While the Trump administrations decision to settle the lawsuits favors political groups that are mostly political allies of the White House, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said it was clear the IRS abused its power and there is no excuse for this conduct.

The IRS use of these criteria as a basis for heightened scrutiny was wrong and should never have occurred, Sessions said in a statement Thursday. It is improper for the IRS to single out groups for different treatment based on their names or ideological positions. Any entitlement to tax exemption should be based on the activities of the organization and whether they fulfill requirements of the law, not the policy positions adopted by members or the name chosen to reflect those views.

The FBI in 2014 announced its investigation into IRS tactics found examples of mismanagement and poor judgment, but no evidence to support criminal prosecution. The Obama Justice Department announced in 2015 that no one at the IRS would be prosecuted. It said investigators found mismanagement but no evidence that the tax agency had targeted a political group based on its viewpoints or obstructed justice.

Greims, the Kansas City-based lead attorney on the class action case, told the Journal that while the Albuquerque Tea Party is not a part of the class-action settlement that will be spread among more than 400 plaintiff groups, it was among the earliest groups to protest their treatment by the IRS and that actually prolonged their tax status fight.

Once you had the wrong kind of viewpoint, you were automatically put in a special section at the IRS, Greims said. It just builds on itself and thats how it can take eight years.

Republicans were disappointed earlier this year when the Trump Justice Department, under Sessions, said it would not reopen its case against Lois Lerner, who had led the IRS office that processes applications for tax exempt status.

Much of the agencys leadership, including Lerner, resigned or retired over the scandal. One of the proposed agreements calls senior management delinquent in providing control and direction over the process. It faults Lerner for failing to tell upper-level management of the long delays in processing applications from tea party and other conservative groups.

We hope that todays settlement makes clear that this abuse of power will not be tolerated, Sessions said in announcing the deal on Thursday.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

Whats wrong with this picture?

 Federal authorities allege that the now-defunct Ayudando Guardians Inc. was permeated with criminal activity and stole millions of dollars from client accounts, yet the Albuquerque-based guardianship company survived a state compliance review just last year.

 Ayudando Guardians filed financial audits with the state Attorney Generals Office revealing that company employees borrowed money from client funds. But the state Office of Guardianship, which awarded Ayudando more than $6 million in contracts since 2010, says it never saw those audits.

 More than 900 incapaciated low-income people receive guardianship services through the state Office of Guardianship, but the agency gets only two or three grievances a year about problem guardians, according to John Block III, executive director of the agency that oversees the guardianship office.

Block was on the hot seat this week, testifying before a state legislative panel considering next years budget request by the state-funded guardianship office, which provides more than $4 million a year in corporate guardianship services for vulnerable, indigent New Mexicans.

Its very concerning whats happening this past year, said Sen. James White, R-Albuquerque, a Legislative Finance Committee member who lamented how the guardianship system in New Mexico has turned ugly.

 A lot of the companies are abusing the system, taking advantage of the system that was set up  Unfortunately, they feel if the government cant keep a finger on their pulse, they can get away with it.

As to Blocks comment about two or three complaints a year, White said hes just one of more than 100 state legislators, and I have had more than two grievances (about guardianships) by constituents of mine. I would have to believe theres a lot more grievances out there than two.

Senate President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, added, Ive had some very serious complaints brought to me about a company that does guardianships. She asked if she could refer the complaints to Block, who on Thursday said he would look into them.

Several people in recent months have contacted the Journal to complain that their loved one is being neglected by state-paid guardians, and, in one case, a ward had to wade through Dumpsters to get a pair of shoes and has waited months to see a dentist after a front tooth fell out.

The family members say they are afraid to go public with their complaints for fear their loved one will be retaliated against.

More resources

As the provider of such services for low-income clients, Blocks agency has become a lightening rod for criticism.

White on Thursday pressed Block for answers as to the oversight of Ayudando and other companies. He asked Block whether he knows if theres another one (guardianship company) out there that needs to be identified right now? Other than throwing money at it or more people at it, what can be done?

We do need more resources, Block said. He said his agency is seeking an increase of about $70,500 next year to add a third compliance officer.

Should guardians be licensed? White asked.

Thats an excellent idea, Block said, to tighten up some of the controls out there. Most often, family members are appointed as guardians or conservators of their incapacitated loved ones to make decisions about their living arrangements or finances. But if families cant or wont assume those duties, corporate guardians and conservators are appointed by state district judges in New Mexico.

Risk advisory

On Sept. 21, the office of State Auditor Tim Keller issued an emergency risk advisory for the Office of Guardianship, urging Gov. Susana Martinez and the legislature to devote more resources to the agency and ensure policies and procedures are in place for adequate oversight of 20 corporate guardianship companies.

The alternative is to transfer the guardianship function to another agency, Kellers advisory stated.

Block testified that his six-employee agency, which has a $5.1 million yearly budget, has been busy transferring about 166 clients of Ayduandos to other guardianship firms.

Federal authorities began their investigation of Ayudando in June 2016 after several employees alleged their bosses were stealing money from client accounts. A 28-count federal indictment in July focused mostly on missing federal benefits from clients. Two top Ayudando executives allegedly spent more than $4 million in clients savings and other funds to support lavish lifestyles for themselves and their families.

Asked by White what his agency was doing to recoup missing client funds, Block said a claim has been filed on a $1.5 million liability insurance policy required by Ayudandos state contract. But Block said the insurance company involved has said that until such time as theyre convicted, we will not pay.

Why werent you all able to identify this problem? White asked at one point during the budget hearing.

Block responded that the majority of Ayudando clients affected were private pay, and not receiving guardianship services through the state.

However, the Journal earlier this month interviewed one former client on a state-funded guardianship who contends that his $100,000 inheritance that Ayudando managed is now missing.

Block said that, of the 20 state guardianship contractors, only two underwent a compliance review by the Office of Guardianship in the past year. Ayudando was one of the two, and the review occurred before the federal indictment. On Friday, Block said he didnt immediately know whether his agency found problems during the review that required corrective action from Ayudando.

Such reviews check non-financial issues, such as whether the company is keeping adequate records and making the required monthly visits to the incapaciated person.

Block told the legislative panel he didnt have a copy of Ayudandos yearly audits. Such audits of nonprofits are required to be filed with the AGs office and are posted online.

Unless we had authority and resources we could not go in there and do our own audit, he added.
SANTA FE  The Espanola Police Department has identified the man who was found dead near some businesses earlier this month, but investigators are still gathering evidence to determine who may have committed the killing.

The body of Marvin Shields was discovered somewhere between the CVS pharmacy and a carwash on North Riverside Drive in Espanola Oct. 15. According to a search warrant affidavit filed in Santa Fe District Court, a woman who was washing her car found the body and called police after smelling a foul odor. Officers got there around 3 p.m. and found the body with a bloody T-shirt wrapped around its face and injuries to its left wrist. There was blood around the body as well as a red shoe impression and scattered money.

The body wasnt identified as Shields until an autopsy the next day, the affidavit says. A University of New Mexico Hospital doctor told police that he was stabbed with a large knife seven to eight times.

On Oct. 19, Espanola police arrested a man for burglary who said he had information about a recent murder. He later told officers in an interview at the police station that he was with two males and a female who planned to jack someone and later stabbed Shields in the chest for money. He said they dropped him off at a carwash before the attack because he didnt want anything to do with it, the affidavit states. He also gave officers the location of a house on Bonecutter Lane where the alleged suspects were hiding out.

Police began surveillance on the house and conducted a knock and talk on Monday. A man, later identified as Thomas Flores, fled out of a back window and was arrested after getting into a physical fight with an officer. Police noticed a dry puddle of blood on the front doorstep and found a silver kitchen knife in a nearby bush. A gold Nissan Altima in the driveway resembled a car that was seen on CVS surveillance video near the homicide location, according to the affidavit. Officers took the knife, a cellphone, clothes and a towel from the house.

Flores said in an interview with police that he and several other people were at the carwash the night of the killing, but didnt give additional details. Flores has not been charged in connection with the homicide, according to online court records.
BARCELONA, Spain  Catalonias ousted leader called for peaceful opposition to Spains decision to take direct control of the region, saying Saturday that he and other regional officials fired by the central government will keep working to build a free country.

Carles Puigdemonts comments, made in a recorded televised address that was broadcast as he sat in a cafe in his hometown of Girona, were a veiled refusal to accept his Cabinets dismissal as ordered by central authorities.

They came a day after one of the most tumultuous days in Spains recent history, when Catalan lawmakers in Barcelona passed a declaration of independence Friday for the prosperous northeastern region, and the national parliament in Madrid approved unprecedented constitutional measures to halt the secessionist drive.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy also dissolved the regional parliament and called a new regional election to be held on Dec. 21.

In his televised statement, Puigdemont said only the regional parliament can elect or dismiss the Catalan government, vowing to continue working to build a free country.

The best way we have to defend the achievements to date is the democratic opposition to the application of Article 155, Puigdemont said in reference to the constitutional clause that gave Madrid direct control of affairs in Catalonia.

Despite his defiant tone and the use of the official Catalan government emblem, the Catalan and European Union flags but no sign of the Spanish one, some political commentators saw his mention of democratic opposition as laying the groundwork for political campaigning for the regional election in less than two months.

Our will is to continue working to fulfill the democratic mandates and at the same time seek the maximum stability and tranquility, Puigdemont said. Separatists argue that a controversial victory in a banned Oct. 1 referendum legitimizes them to split from Spain.

Andrew Dowling, a specialist in Catalan history at Cardiff University in Wales, said the statement was vague and imprecise, certainly not like the president of a new country.

They have led 2 million Catalans to believe in independence, so its a big problem to tell them now that its actually difficult to build a state when Spain has the upper hand of the law on its side, Dowling said. They are trapped by their own rhetoric.

After Spains central authorities made the takeover official early Saturday, Puigdemont and the 12 members who until Saturday made up the Catalan Cabinet are no longer paid.

Spains government has said they could be charged with usurping others functions if they refuse to obey, which could throw the region into further turmoil by prolonging a monthlong standoff.

In comments that were met late Friday with jeers and whistles of disapproval by secession supporters in Barcelona, Rajoy said the declaration of independence not only goes against the law but is a criminal act.

Spanish prosecutors say top Catalan officials could face rebellion charges as soon as Monday.

Refusing to comment on Puigdemonts televised address, Rajoys office said on Saturday that his actions will be a judicial affair from now on and that the Dec. 21 election would be the way to return dignity to the Catalan institutions.

Its not clear at all whether a new election would solve Spains problems with separatists in Catalonia. Polls suggest pro-independence parties would likely maintain their slim advantage in parliamentary seats but wouldnt get more than 50 percent of the vote.

Beyond any possible resistance from top Catalan officials, its unclear how Rajoys government in Madrid will be able to exert its control at lower levels of Catalonias vast regional administration.

Catalonia had secured the ability to govern itself in many areas, including education, health and policing, since democracy returned to Spain following the death of dictator Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975.

Some among Catalonias roughly 200,000 civil servants have said they will refuse to obey orders from Madrid. They risk being punished or even fired under the special powers granted to central authorities by the nations Senate on Friday.

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria will be Rajoys point person in running Catalonia until the new regional election. She will coordinate other ministries that take over functions of Catalonias regional departments, including finances and security, and appoint officials to implement orders from Madrid.

In one of the first moves, Spains Interior Ministry published an order to demote Josep Lluis Trapero from his position as head of the regional Mossos dEsquadra police in Catalonia. He was allowed to remain as commissar, but he later released a statement saying he was resigning from the force.

Trapero became a divisive figure as the public face of the police response in mid-August to deadly extremists attacks in and near Barcelona. He was praised for effectiveness but also criticized for coordination problems with other national police forces.

Spains National Court is also investigating him as part of a sedition probe related to the banned Oct. 1 independence referendum, when the regional police were seen as acting passively  not aggressively  to halt the vote deemed illegal by a top Spanish court.

Traperos boss, regional police director Pere Soler, said in a statement that he accepted his firing by central authorities in Madrid.
A southwest Albuquerque man and registered sex offender is accused of sexually assaulting three girls he baby-sat numerous times, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

James Highfield, 62, was booked into jail Saturday, charged with three counts each of kidnapping, criminal sexual contact of a minor and criminal sexual penetration of a minor.

The mother of the girls  two 8-year-olds and a 4-year-old  told Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office detectives her youngest daughter said Highfield made the girl sleep with him. The mother told deputies that Highfield has baby-sat the three girls at her home and his since August.

Deputies say the initial allegations led to the discovery that Highfield had sexually molested all three girls on numerous occasions and also took nude pictures of them.

Through the investigation, detectives learned that Highfield is a registered sex offender.

The New Mexico Department of Public Safety Sex Offender Registry shows Highfield has prior convictions in Alabama and South Carolina dating to 1997.

Deputies say Highfield had already violated the conditions of his sex offender status by not giving his current address or place of work in Albuquerque.

During questioning, Highfield was cooperative and told deputies the girls were telling the truth.

Deputies say he admitted molesting all three and having pornographic pictures of them on his phone.

James became emotional as he confessed his actions, a deputy wrote in the complaint.

Highfield told deputies he didnt mean to hurt the girls and asked if he could write an apology letter to them, which deputies afforded him the opportunity to do so.
May 19, 2017

The position and role of the first lady are not clearly defined in the political and social structure of Iran. Until the 2009 presidential vote, the wives of candidates did not even participate in election campaigns. Reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi was the first presidential candidate to campaign alongside his wife, Zahra Rahnavard. Breaking tradition, they appeared in front of photographers and reporters holding hands. At the time, Rahnavard was the first female professor at the College of Fine Arts, a position she was awarded in June 2008.

After Rahnavards appearance alongside her husband, then-incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also did some campaigning with his wife, Azam al-Sadat Farahi, who is a graduate of Iran University of Science and Technology. During Ahmadinejads eight years as president, Farahi accompanied her husband on some of his domestic and international travel and also visited charity organizations.

The trend continued in the 2013 presidential elections. Yet among all the wives, Hassan Rouhanis wife is the least known. Neither her first nor last name were even mentioned in a report about the families of the candidates published by the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency four days before the election. After Rouhani became president, his wifes name and a few other details about her found their way into the media, gleaned from Rouhanis memoirs and interviews.

In a conversation included in Alireza Salavati's book "Siyasatmadaran-e-Javan" ("Young Politicians"), Rouhani says of his marriage, My family insisted that I get married. I was about 20 years old. I got married in the year 1968.  My father was insistent and my mother was, too. I was not reluctant myself, either.

Rouhanis wife, Sahebeh Arabi, was born into a religious family in Semnan in 1954 and married her 20-year-old cousin when she was 14. Little is known about her educational background, and she does not participate in public political or social activities. The couple have three daughters and two sons. It is said that their oldest son, Mohammad, died in Rouhanis home at the age of 19.

There are many rumors about the death. Hossein Mousavian, a member of the nuclear negotiation team during Mohammad Khatamis presidency and close to Rouhani, claimed in a 2013 interview with Time magazine that Rouhanis son was murdered in a political crime that was never solved, the killer never identified. Mousavian claimed that Rouhani investigated the murder for many years but eventually decided to stop pursuing it.

Rouhani and his family have yet to offer an official explanation for Mohammads death. However, during the past few days, after Mohammad was brought up by one of the websites that support Rouhanis main rival, conservative candidate Ebrahim Raisi, a classmate of Mohammads at Farhang High School in Tehran (which admits exceptionally talented students), posted a note about Mohammads death on Instagram. Mehdi Yazdani Khorram, a writer and journalist who attended Mohammads 1997 funeral, wrote about his old high school friends voluntary death, saying, He was young, perhaps a little rebellious, lonely and of course in love. He also stated that it is indecent to take advantage of his death for political purposes.

Arabi became slightly better known after Rouhani was elected president in 2013. On April 20, 2014, Fars News Agency covered Arabi's hosting of a royal, all-female banquet in Sa'dabad Palace on the occasion of Iranian Womens Day. The article, which portrayed the event as a glamorous party, caused an uproar. Aside from government figures, certain female activists, actresses, directors and writers were invited to the banquet, which included a fashion show and dance performance.

While Rouhanis wife is once again absent from the campaign, the wife of conservative cleric Raisi has been playing a minor role in his.

The first time that Raisi spoke publicly about his wife was in a campaign video. He told viewers, She first received her bachelor's degree in midwifery and then changed her field and got a Ph.D. from Tarbiat Modares University. She is currently a faculty member at Shahid Beheshti University and is also collaborating with the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. Her writings and discussions are mostly about pedagogy.

Subsequently, media outlets supportive of Raisi published an image of his wife and a brief bio: Jamileh Alamolhoda, daughter of the Friday Prayer leader of Mashhad and an assistant professor at Shahid Beheshti University.

Her father, Ahmad Alamolhoda, is also the representative of the supreme leader in Khorasan Razavi province. He is known for having endorsed Ahmadinejad, supporting the activities of the morality police and banning concerts in the city of Mashhad.

Raisi and Alamolhoda married in 1983 and have two daughters. Alamolhoda is described as an assistant professor and holder of a Ph.D. in in Islamic pedagogical philosophy on the website of Shahid Beheshti University. She is currently the head of the Family Research Institute at Shahid Beheshti University while also heading the Education Committee of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.

Alamolhodas entry into the public arena has created some controversy. A video was shared over social media of her presenting a paper at the Rhodes Forum in 2015. Some viewers have criticized her broken English and even questioned her academic credentials.

Alamolhoda gave an interview to Samaak News, a website that has endorsed Raisi, but her husband's campaign saw that it was quickly removed from the website. In the interview, Alamolhoda spoke about her and her childrens reaction to her husband announcing his candidacy for the presidency, saying that her children started crying and that she herself passed out and had to be taken to the hospital.

As the campaigning began, Alamolhoda delivered a speech before a female audience at a rally in the northwestern city of Hamedan. At the event, Alamolhoda referred to the presidential elections as a battle between two streams of thought on womens rights and womens affairs and spoke against a "legacy of Western civilization" in which "womanhood is lost and women behave like men.
June 5, 2017

While President Hassan Rouhani focused on Irans educated middle class ahead of the May 19 vote, his conservative rivals targeted the poor. Having achieved an impressive victory, Rouhani now faces the challenge of maintaining this enormous asset, namely the Reform and moderation movement. Failing to do so could mean a return of hard-liners to power, as in 2005, when then-Reformist President Mohammad Khatami was succeeded by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In his first campaign documentary, which aired on state television May 3, conservative presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi tried to concentrate on the vulnerable social classes. The documentary, dubbed The Peoples Concert, attempted to take the focus off of concert cancellations as a result of pressure by conservative clerics and instead give the sense that jobs and housing are more important. In the documentary, Raisi said, Are concerts really the peoples problem? Dont people laugh at us? Our workers are unemployed. They have no bread or homes. And then we talk of concerts?

In contrast, Rouhani emphasized the values largely espoused by the middle class. His first campaign documentary, which was aired May 6, rather than showing images of villagers, slum dwellers or the vulnerable social classes, began with the topic of free speech and university students voicing their criticisms. He also spoke about the environment and the measures taken by his first-term administration to revive Lake Orumiyeh in northwest Iran or solve the problem of a dust storm in the southwestern province of Khuzestan. In addition, he referred to his administrations extensive diplomatic exchanges with the world  issues that were all of interest to the youth and the educated middle class. His special focus on this part of society prompted even some of his supporters to charge that his campaign was too elitist.

Yet Rouhani maintained his focus. He repeatedly defended free speech and the idea of women playing an active role in society, while also addressing economic issues, the unemployment crisis and hunger among slum dwellers. Rouhanis approach prompted concern among some analysts who thought a low turnout among middle-class voters amid a high turnout among poorer voters could spell a win for Raisi.

In fact, the fear of a potential Raisi victory was perhaps one of the determining factors behind Rouhanis victory. In a May 7 speech in Orumiyeh, Rouhani addressed his rival and said, Please stop talking of freedom since freedom will be embarrassed. People should be aware that these [individuals] who have come out today aimed to limit [access to] the internet and filter social media networks during the past four years.

One day later, while delivering a speech in the western city of Hamadan, Rouhani implicitly accused Raisi of wishing to impose gender segregation even in the streets. He said, In a meeting, they decided to build walls in the streets. They sought to divide the streets for women and men, just like when they issued a circular for gender segregation in their workplaces. You dont know them; I know them.

Moreover, two days before the elections, on May 17, Rouhani spoke in the northwestern town of Ardebil, saying, Today is a decisive day for the nation to either return to an era of sanctions and imprisonment or to move in the path of the future.

Matin Ghaffarian, a journalist and a doctoral sociology researcher at Tehran University, told Al-Monitor, Making a definitive statement about each of these two classes [voter] participation requires the release of detailed figures. However, based on my personal observations, 'fear' played an important role in bringing the middle class to the ballot boxes. One [piece of evidence] of this argument is that [voter] participation levels and candidate selections were [initially] low. When Raisi became the Principlists ultimate candidate [after Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf withdrew in the last week of the race], [voter] participation levels rose as well as the number of decisive votes.

On May 18, Al-Monitor reported on the reasons for why all of Ghalibafs votes would not go to Raisi after he withdrew his candidacy, predicting that this could rather benefit Rouhani by leading to a higher turnout among the middle class and so-called gray voters, who, in the Iranian political lexicon, are voters who usually dont vote but are swing voters whenever they do participate in elections  such as in 2013 when Rouhani was first elected.

Indeed, a look at opinion polls published by the US-based International Perspectives for Public Opinion (IPPO), which accurately predicted Rouhanis win, is useful in assessing the partisan tendencies of various social classes. According to an IPPO poll published May 18, among university-educated voters, 78% supported Rouhani while only 22% backed Raisi. Another IPPO poll published on the same day predicted that 67% of rural and 73% of urban voters favored Rouhani with only 33% and 27%, respectively, backing Raisi.

In the capital city of Tehran, turnout among the middle class was different than in the Feb. 26, 2016, parliamentary polls. In the 2016 vote, Mohammad Reza Aref, who won most votes in Tehran, received 1.6 million ballots. Rouhani got about 2.7 million votes in the capital alone on May 19. Even Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani, the son of late Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, won 2.3 million votes in the concurrent City and Village Council elections, coming first in Tehran.

Two conclusions can be drawn from this data. First, the middle class turned out in great numbers on May 19. Second, the lower social classes, which turned out in high numbers in 2013 but participated less in the 2016 parliamentary polls, came out in greater numbers again on May 19.

Indeed, while Rouhani won about 70% of the votes in Tehran, he received far fewer ballots in nearby counties such as Varamin, Shahr Rey, Gharchak and Robat Karim, which are predominantly inhabited by the lower economic and social classes. Yet he received just over half of the votes in those counties, too.

In this vein, Ghaffarian told Al-Monitor, There is no doubt that the urban middle class voted for Rouhani. However, based on reliable pre-election polls, we know that the lower class also voted for Rouhani in these elections  although a smaller difference is seen between Rouhani and Raisis votes in this class than in the middle class. Based on opinion polls conducted by [social scientists] Abbas Abdi and Mohsen Goudarzi, in the upper-class districts, approximately two votes were cast for Raisi for every 14 votes for Rouhani. Meanwhile, in the lower-class districts, two votes were cast for Raisi for every three votes for Rouhani.

The May 19 elections saw strong voter turnout of 73%, with Rouhani re-elected in the first round of polling. If not given proper attention, disappointed youths and middle-class Iranians could not only collapse the administration, but also create a repeat of what happened to the Reformists in 2005. As such, given his strong reliance on the middle class, Rouhani has no choice but to spend more political capital on practically addressing the concerns of his educated supporters. If not, Iran could very well be looking at the rise of another Ahmadinejad to power.
October 26, 2017

BAGHDAD  Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi intends to have the federal government adopt a policy of paying civil servants salaries in Iraqi Kurdistan without mediation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). This is considered a substantial improvement in the relationship between the federal government and Kurdish citizens in Iraqi Kurdistan, and the move is expected to strike at the very heart of Kurdistans economy and undermine Erbils authority, as it cannot refuse such an offer.

Baghdad and Erbil have a history of dispute on the topic of staff salaries in Kurdistan, as the two sides differ on the amount of salaries owed. While Baghdad says the budget for Kurdistan employees is 460 billion Iraqi dinars ($392 million), the KRG says it pays 650 billion Iraqi dinars ($554 million) monthly to government employees. According to sources in the KRG, salaries of peshmerga forces, the Kurdish security units (Asayish) and the police cost 400 billion Iraqi dinars ($341 million) each month.

Parliament member Jassim Mohammed Jaafer  who is close to Abadi  announced Baghdads intention to pay the salaries of Iraqi Kurdistans civil servants. He told Al-Monitor, Prime Minister Abadi is serious about this plan, and he continues to be so even after the Kurdish government decided to freeze the independence referendum results on Oct. 24, 2017  especially now that Kirkuks oil fields are under Baghdads authority. Jaafer revealed that about 10 oil fields in Kurdistan are expected to have their revenues included in the federal budget to complete the plan, which he expects to be ready in the near future because the federal government has decided that Kurds should not be deprived of their political, financial and administrative entitlements stated under the constitution.

Concerning implementation of the plan, Jaafer said the technical system is ready to distribute salaries through the QiCard system, which is currently used in Iraq. We are waiting for the Kurdish government to send the database of employees and peshmerga personnel so that the QiCard system can be instructed to integrate databases of the Kurdish employees as well as peshmerga personnel to receive their salaries at any of the company offices inside or outside of Kurdistan, Jaafer added.

QiCard is an electronic payment system through which employees in Iraq get paid through an electronic card following the governments deposit of their salaries into their respective accounts. Employees can then withdraw their salaries from any of the 200 exchange offices around Iraq.

Majda al-Tamimi, a lawmaker and member of parliaments Finance Committee, explained to Al-Monitor that the plan can now be applied "since oil sources have come under the authority of the federal government. The Oil Marketing Company SOMO controls the production as well as the export, which brings the required financial revenue to the federal government, allowing payment of salaries in Kurdistan from Baghdad without any financial mediation from the [KRG].

Concerning the method of applying the plan announced by Abadi, Tamami said, The Kurdistan salaries committee, of which Im a part, will discuss the means to implement the new plan with the Ministry of Finance and will look for ways to overcome any difficulties in cashing salaries in Kurdistan. Moreover, the new plan does not need the parliaments vote, as the prime minister has agreed to it.

Tamimi seemed confident of success, adding, Im sure the federal government seeks to secure salaries of Kurdistan because these employees are Iraqi employees in the end. Moreover, the peshmerga [forces] are a part of the Iraqi security and defense architecture under Article No. 121 of the Iraqi Constitution. Therefore, cashing their salaries from Baghdad is required under the applicable laws.

By the end of 2014, the KRG had entered into an oil agreement with the Iraqi federal government, which stated that Kurdistans entitlements should be reimbursed in exchange for delivering 550,000 barrels of Kurdistan's and Kirkuks oil to the federal government each day. However, disputes pushed former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to announce on Nov. 17, 2016, that a 17% share of the central governments budget that was dedicated to Kurdistan would be cut off due to the KRGs lack of commitment to the oil agreement.

The plan of direct payment of salaries to Kurdistan is not a new one, as Abadi proposed the same plan to Iraqi Kurdistan in 2016 in exchange for the delivery of Kurdish oil to Baghdad. KRG authorities refused that offer, which has automatically expired now that the Kirkuk oil fields are under the authority of the federal government.

The salary crisis was one of the aspects of the economic crisis sweeping through Kurdistan before the Iraqi army seized control of the city during the battle of Kirkuk. The obvious truth is that the KRG has failed to secure salaries of employees, Zana Saied, a member of the Iraqi parliament, told Al-Monitor. The reason is corruption, said Saied, adding, Exporting about a million barrels each day should have made Kurdistan able to provide salaries and many other financial needs.

Many people consider the federal government to be waging an economic war on Kurdistan. Jassim al-Mossawi, a political analyst and the head of the Arrasid Center for Media, spoke to Al-Monitor about the political influence used to distance Kurdish authorities from administering salaries to employees, which makes Kurdish citizens feel that Baghdad is their federal capital as it controls the very details of their lives. It is expected that Kurdish authorities will be compelled to accept the plan given the financial crisis it is going through, according to Mossawi.

The rising economic hardships imposed on the region by Baghdad and neighboring countries indicate that the salary issue will be solved soon in the favor of Baghdad's plan.
October 27, 2017

TEHRAN, Iran  US President Donald Trumps new Iran strategy, including his Oct. 13 refusal to certify that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) meets congressional requirements, will push a contract for 80 passenger jets signed between Boeing and IranAir into uncertainty, despite the confidence both companies have been trying to show.

Trump has specifically referred to the $16 billion order by the Iranian flag carrier, saying he has not made up his mind about the future of the contract. They were going to buy Boeings. I dont know whats going to happen with the deal, he said in an interview Oct. 22, referring to Iran. Meanwhile, there have been reports going so far as to say that the US administration is likely to nix the aircraft order. One report published Oct. 23 by The Washington Free Beacon quotes US officials and those in Congress as saying the deal is endangered amid concern that the jets will be used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which the United States accuses of promoting terrorism.

State-owned IranAir negotiated the massive order after Iran and six world powers concluded in 2015 an accord to impose restrictions on the Iranian nuclear program. In exchange, Iran was granted relief from sanctions that had kept its aviation industry isolated for decades. Indeed, sales of aircraft to Iran is specifically part of the letter of the JCPOA. Now, the historic aircraft agreement is at risk of falling apart amid Trumps refusal to certify Irans compliance with the JCPOA. Trump has given the US Congress two months to decide whether to reimpose sanctions lifted under the nuclear deal.

The order for 50 narrow-body Boeing 737 passenger jets and 30 wide-body 777 aircraft was secured in December last year. The US Treasury then had its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issue licenses to assure the sale would proceed. Based on US law, aircraft manufacturers must obtain an OFAC permit if more than 10% of their components are of US origin, meaning deals to purchase Airbus aircraft  which Iran has also ordered  need the green light from Washington, too.

IranAir claims its order is safe, even if the United States abandons the nuclear deal. If the US pulls out of the JCPOA, this will not affect the OFAC licenses.  This will not affect Boeings contract with us, IranAir CEO Farzaneh Sharafbafi stated on Sept. 28. But sanctions experts argue that since OFAC licenses could easily be revoked, nothing protects the order should the Trump administration decide not to allow it to proceed. In this vein, what Sharafbafi suggests is not possible, Doug Jacobson, a Washington-based lawyer who specializes in OFAC matters, told Al-Monitor. Any exports of aircraft or parts would require an OFAC license, whether pursuant to the JCPOA statement of licensing policy or some other US policy.

In addition to the Boeing purchase, IranAir has ordered 100 passenger aircraft from European company Airbus and 20 turboprop regional planes from the Franco-Italian company ATR, with an option for 20 more. So far, these companies have delivered a total of nine planes, including three Airbus and six ATR planes. The first Boeing jet is scheduled to be delivered to IranAir in April 2018, with the US company expected to start building the wide-body 777s soon.

In a statement issued Oct. 13, Boeing said it will continue to follow the US government's lead in all our dealings with approved Iranian airlines and will remain in close touch with US regulators for any additional guidance." The company has on many occasions said that it sees itself committed to delivering the planes ordered by IranAir on time. While it has supply permits for these jets, another order it secured in June from another Iranian carrier has failed to get a go-ahead from OFAC. That deal, with Iran Aseman Airlines, involves the purchase of 30 B737 Max jets, plus an option for adding 30 more to the order.

Since OFAC issued permits for the sale of passenger jets to IranAir last year, it has neither said nor done anything further on the matter. However, experts believe there is no such thing as certainty as far as the Treasury sanctions watchdog is concerned. OFAC policy is at best opaque. And it doesn't tend to answer hypothetical questions, Joel Johnson, the executive director and an international affairs analyst for Virginia-based Teal Group, told Al-Monitor. Of course, Boeing has a plethora of lawyers to work the issue.

Additionally, Johnson said, Section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, prohibits the Export-Import Bank of the United States from guaranteeing loans to a country that the State Department has placed on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. Iran is on that list. There is a presidential waiver, but it's hard to see how Trump would give a waiver if he just pulled the plug on the JCPOA.

Trump said on Oct. 13 he will terminate the nuclear accord if Congress and US allies fail to reach measures to address what he deems as issues with the JCPOA. On Oct. 16, he repeated that threat. This is a possibility if those opposed to the nuclear deal succeed in lobbying US lawmakers to reimpose nuclear-related sanctions. However, Johnson thinks that is unlikely to happen. Given that Congress seems incapable of agreeing on anything these days, its not certain it would vote to restore sanctions, especially if jobs were at stake. Although Boeings IranAir order only accounts for 10% of its annual production, the company has said the deal with the flag carrier alone supports some 100,000 US jobs.

The termination of the Boeing deal could also be considered a win for Airbus, Boeings sole prominent rival, unless OFAC puts a stop to it given the use of Boeing components in Airbus aircraft. Indeed, before Boeing secured its deal with IranAir, CEO Dennis Muilenburg said that if his company cannot sell planes to Iran, no other aircraft maker should. Europe is unlikely to want that to happen.

Indeed, Trumps renewed anti-Iran rhetoric comes at a time when EU leaders have been vocal in defending the nuclear pact amid tens of billions of dollars of deals having been signed between European and Iranian firms after the lifting of sanctions. In this vein, in an Oct. 16 statement, the European Council said, The EU is committed to the continued full and effective implementation of all parts of the JCPOA. Federica Mogherini, the European Unions foreign policy chief, announced on Oct. 16 she will travel to the United States in November to make sure the nuclear deal is safe in Congress.
October 26, 2017

The rise of the Islamic State (IS) in 2014 created the opportunity to make Haider al-Abadi Iraq's prime minister. Since then, he has had to manage a balancing act between Iran and the United States, a task he has addressed openly with Western media. With US President Donald Trump and a revised American Middle East policy much more inclined toward Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia, the United States has tried to curb Iranian influence in Iraq and the region. Abadi's recent trip to Saudi Arabia is one initiative welcomed and facilitated by the United States in their goal to reduce Iranian regional influence.

Iran's general official position through the Foreign Ministry is that they welcome dialogue and cooperation between all regional countries. However, media outlets  particularly conservative ones believed to be linked to the security agencies in the country  have written much more directly on how they view both US efforts to curb Iranian influence in Iraq and a possible Iraqi-Saudi rapprochement.

Mashregh news wrote of Abadis trip to Saudi Arabia, commenting that creating distance between the Iraqi and Iranian governments has turned into a diplomatic priority for the United States and Saudi Arabia. According to the Mashregh article, the United States will use two simultaneous tracks to apply pressure on Baghdad to distance itself from Tehran: one being bilateral agreements, the other being to use Saudi Arabia. Mashregh wrote that the coordination council between Iraq and Saudi Arabia is one of the initiatives supported by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to bring the two countries closer.

The Mashregh article also listed a number of obstacles to any possible Saudi Arabia-Iraq rapprochement and a break from Iran: for one, Iraqi domestic politics. The article stated that domestic actors such as the Islamic Dawa Party, which has a significant role in determining a prime minister, and the influence of Iraqs Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani on society both have considerable impact in deciding the direction of the country. A second obstacle to reducing Iran-Iraq relations in Iraq is that the two countries have strong and historical relations, and millions of Iranians visit Iraqs holy shrines every year. The third obstacle to Saudi Arabia-Iraq rapprochement is Saudi Arabia's role in funding extremist groups and how Saudi clerics issue anti-Shiite fatwas.

According to Khabar Online, Tillerson had recommended that Saudi Arabia, the United States and Iraq each appoint a representative to create a working group. According to the report, Saudi Arabia is onboard with forming such a committee, which was described as seeking to consolidate political relations. However, Iraq reportedly has not responded yet to the recommendation.

A headline in Tabnak asked, Will Haider al-Abadi turn his back to Iran? The article stated it is not possible to determine whether Iraq knows that the United States is pursuing an anti-Iran policy and, if so, how far they should cooperate with such policies. Rather, the article viewed Abadis trip as having to do with a post-IS Iraq in which war-torn regions will need investment and reconstruction, and this is where Saudi Arabia will try to gain influence in Iraq.

In addition to Saudi Arabia, Abadi also traveled to other American allies in the region, including Egypt and Jordan. Afterward, Abadi traveled to Turkey on Oct. 25 and arrived in Tehran the same evening. On Oct. 26, he met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The latter reportedly told the Iraqi premier, Unity was the most important factor in your gains against terrorists and their supporters. Dont trust America.  It will harm you in the future.
SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Director Nirav D. Shah, M.D., J.D., has announced the release of the Illinois Naloxone Standing Order (Standing Order). This Standing Order makes a drug that is able to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose more readily available to first responders and the community.

We are seeing an alarming increase in the number of people in Illinois dying due to opioid overdoses, said Shah. By making it easier to obtain, distribute, and administer the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone, commonly called Narcan, we can help save the lives of some of the 1,900 estimated annual opioid overdose deaths.

In September 2015, Illinois enacted Public Act 99-0480 (Act), expanding access to naloxone, which can be used to reverse opioid overdoses, including those caused by heroin, fentanyl, and certain prescription pain medications. The law authorizes trained pharmacists and first responders to dispense naloxone. However, a prescription is needed to dispense naloxone. The Standing Order acts as that prescription and authorizes pharmacies, pharmacists, and opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) programs to obtain and/or distribute naloxone.

Non-pharmacy OEND programs may include law enforcement agencies, drug treatment programs, local health departments, hospitals or urgent care facilities, or other community-based organizations.

The Naloxone Standardized Procedure outlines how entities may become authorized to obtain, dispense, and administer naloxone. It also includes the educational requirements for obtaining a Standing Order, and for administering naloxone.

The Standing Order fulfills one of the duties assigned to IDPH under Governor Bruce Rauners Executive Order 2017-05. For more information about the Standing Order and the recently released State of Illinois Opioid Action Plan, log onto http://dph.illinois.gov/naloxone.
October 25, 2017

The US Treasury Departments recent move to designate Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) under terrorism authority has put the military organization back in the spotlight. The subsequent tweet by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in which he declared that all Iranians are IRGC ready to defend their homeland in response to US pressure, gave rise to spirited debate on social media about the Guard Corps and its role in Iranian society.

The US Treasurys action and Zarifs response illustrate the dual character of the IRGC as it exists in Iran today. On one hand, it is a political and military organization and the principal actor behind Irans internal and external security posture. On the other hand, it is an organization of great social significance, motivated by the ideology of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and a patron of institutions and bodies that define the orthodoxy of Iranian patriotism.

To undergird its position as a cornerstone of the Islamic Republic, the IRGC has long sought proximity to the Iranian public in another, more universal domain  namely, the economy. The Guard Corps has have developed economic proximity with a wide swath of Iranian society through its control of two types of entities. First, the IRGC oversees a network of companies active in strategic sectors such as the operation of airports and seaports, the construction of roads and bridges and the extraction of energy sources and minerals, giving it a stable economic base beyond the money guaranteed to it by the central government. Second, the Guard Corps controls holding companies, often in the guise of bonyads, or charitable foundations. Through these foundations, the IRGC is the indirect shareholder of a number of publicly listed companies, enmeshing its ownership with that of the private sector.

As some Iranian economists have argued, a principal outcome of the imposition of nuclear-related sanctions on Iran was the expansion of the IRGCs economic activities. This was rationalized by the taking of the notion of the "Sacred Defense," the way the Iranian state characterized its 1980-88 war with Iraq, and transforming it into emphasis on the "resistance economy," namely the idea of defense against economic warfare in the form of sanctions.

The expanded role of the IRGC in the Iranian economy contributed to economic underperformance. Not only do companies linked to the Guards lack transparency  even by Iranian standards  but they also tend to be poorly run, dragging down whole sectors and putting a strain on Irans financial system. It should be noted that the IRGC does not dominate Irans economy. Estimates place the value of the military organizations economic holdings at around 15% of GDP. Indeed, an October 2016 report by the hawkish Foundation for the Defense of Democracies could only identify 229 companies with significant IRGC influence. While this number included many of Irans most economically important entities, this is a manageable number. In the post-sanctions era, as the rationalization for the Guards economic role has fallen flat, the concerns around incentives and accountability have entered into the public discourse.

By taking on an economic role, the IRGC exposed itself to a new angle of examination and contestation by the Iranian public, and subsequently by elected politicians who felt compelled to challenge problematic aspects of the Guards economic behavior.

Meanwhile, in the face of a sluggish economy and stubborn unemployment, the Iranian public has grown more restless, heightening demands for market liberalization. Indeed, in a recent survey conducted by IranPoll, 41% of Iranian respondents identified the private sector as best able to help to improve economic conditions in Iran, whereas 21% chose multinational companies. Just 31% of Iranian respondents identified state-owned companies as well-positioned to improve the economy. In other words, there appears to be broad public support for economic reforms that would reduce the role of state and quasi-state actors such as the IRGC in the Iranian economy.

Responding to these public sentiments, the administration of President Hassan Rouhani has been increasingly direct in its challenge to the Guards economic activities  especially since its political mandate is largely tied to the pursuit of economic reform. Rouhanis message grew particularly pointed during his re-election campaign in the spring of this year. He said in a major speech on Armed Forces Day in April, ahead of the May 19 presidential election, that the arrival of the armed forces to economic temptations can distance them from their primary mission. In concrete terms, major players in Irans banking sector have been instructed not to work with IRGC companies while key Guard Corps-linked holdings are being restructured or sold in order to push the IRGC out of the economy.

The existence of this discourse, of a clear delineation for the tasks of the Guard Corps, and its effect on policy, is profoundly important. Had the IRGC remained exclusively focused on its military duties, its activities and political orientation might not have become such a wide subject of debate among the Iranian public. This is especially true when considering the role the Guard Corps played in suppressing the unrest in the aftermath of the disputed 2009 presidential election and the renewed strength of revolutionary solidarity in the face of threats from the Islamic State and Donald Trump alike. By taking on an economic role, the IRGC exposed itself to a new angle of examination and contestation by the Iranian public, and subsequently by elected politicians who felt compelled to challenge problematic aspects of the Guards economic behavior. In this vein, debate on commercial matters became a way to, in effect, address the IRGCs political behavior, which stems from the same root causes of poor accountability, transparency and governance.

US policymakers have entirely failed to take this robust discourse into account. Sanctioning the IRGC to limit its economic reach in the post-sanctions era is sensible policy. But it fails to do anything to materially or discursively support the Iranian people as they push for a freer, more productive economy. The Trump administrations pressure campaign may be having the effect of in fact closing economic issues as a rare channel for claims-making against the IRGC. Indeed, in past days and weeks, members of the Rouhani administration have moved to publicly close ranks with the IRGC, seeking to present a united front in response to American hostility. In this way, the Trump administrations rhetoric reduces the ability of Rouhanis technocrats to continue to pursue pro-reform policies. The Rouhani administration cannot be seen to be challenging the IRGC at the precise moment that Trump administration is applying new sanctions and pressures.

As such, the Trump administration and members of Congress alike need to recognize that the Iranian public is itself seeking to cleave the IRGC from the countrys economy. Any policy that aims to create economic obstacles for the IRGC must thus simultaneously create economic opportunities for the Iranian people. That Trump would jeopardize trade and investment in Iran is the ultimately betrayal of ordinary Iranians  not only because of the denial of economic opportunity, but especially because of how it eliminates the role of criticism of IRGC involvement in the economy as an arena for wider political contestation.
October 27, 2017

The new president of Israel's Supreme Court, Esther Hayut, cannot expect a moment of rest. During her inauguration at President Reuven Rivlin's residence, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked informed her that she plans to move ahead with the new judiciary law intended to reduce the power of the Supreme Court. Shaked made her calculated remarks at the festive state ceremony in a very calm tone that contrasted sharply with their content.

Shaked believes that the Supreme Court has become a political player. Her opinion is well known, as is her plan to restrict the court's authority. Of course, Shaked could have chosen to offer a much more agreeable reception for the new chief justice, but instead she decided to stick the knife in and twist as the celebration reached its climax.

Shaked spoke about how, over the past few decades, and especially since the country's constitutional revolution, the Supreme Court has, to her chagrin, become "a body that is perceived as one of the parties in each public debate. This," she continued, "has resulted in a significant decline of public trust in the institution." She then announced that she plans to advance a constitutional initiative in which the Basic Law on adopting legislation would include a new clause allowing the Knesset to pass laws overturned by the Supreme Court. As she put it, "The dramatic advantage of this dialogue will be that the Supreme Court will no longer be perceived as an active player in the political arena, with the privilege of having the last word."

Shaked essentially used Hayut's first moments on the job to inform her that she intends to charge full steam ahead with her plans to weaken the very institution that Hayut now heads.

The justice minister, who holds the No. 2 position in HaBayit HaYehudi, is a rising star in Israeli politics and already one of the most senior figures on the hard-core right. Her camp sees the Supreme Court as the settlers' archnemesis. Her statement of intent, delivered on live TV during an important ceremony for Israel's legal system, was clearly motivated by electoral interests.

But Shaked's speech was not the only contributor to the charged atmosphere at the ceremony. It was hard not to notice that the body language in the interaction between Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu oozed frigid animosity. Though the two men sat beside each other, they barely exchanged a glance, never mind a word. The event came soon after Rivlin's speech at the Oct. 23 opening ceremony for the Knesset's winter session, in which he accused Netanyahu of trying to intimidate the harried gatekeepers of law enforcement. Netanyahu has long considered Rivlin to be hostile. Now he can barely look at him.

Sitting two rows behind Netanyahu and Rivlin were Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who together head the institutions that will decide Netanyahu's legal fate in the coming months. Netanyahu appointed both of them in the belief that they would be light-handed and defend his entanglement in various criminal investigations. Over the past few weeks, however, he has come to feel otherwise.

Thursday's Supreme Court ceremony was not a happy one. Her voice choked with tears, outgoing Chief Justice Miriam Naor finished her speech with, "Finally, a personal note to President Rivlin. Happy is the nation that merited having you as its president." Her emotional remarks expressed the enormity of the disturbance that the Supreme Court is undergoing. Politicians on the right attack it and plot to weaken it daily. Naor herself faced a very challenging and tense period when she tried to protect the court's authority and independence. In these turbulent times, when even the prime minister is contributing to disturbing legislative initiatives, Rivlin was always someone Naor could rely on. This was her way of thanking him.

Meanwhile, Hayut used the occasion to make it clear that she has no plans to concede to Shaked. In her speech at the ceremony, she said, "I pray that we succeed in preserving this indomitable structure and ensure that it does not crack and is not harmed. This prayer is more necessary today than ever before due to disconcerting attempts to attack the status of the judiciary branch.  This is in no way a power struggle over who controls the courts, but rather a struggle for us to fulfill the role imposed upon us as judges."

Hayut can expect a very turbulent term in office. She is well aware of the seriousness of the processes underway to turn the Supreme Court into a toothless body ruled by politicians.

Legislation to weaken the Supreme Court is not the only issue she will have to contend with. She will also have to confront ongoing delegitimization efforts by ultra-Orthodox politicians. On the morning of Hayut's swearing-in ceremony, the Supreme Court ruled on the operation of supermarkets in Tel Aviv on the Sabbath, adding another layer of tension to an already charged situation. The ultra-Orthodox were quick to lash out against the court and announced that they would take steps to advance a law circumventing it regarding the supermarket decision.

Anyone who expected Netanyahu to stand firm in support of the judiciary has been proven wrong. He may have done so in the first few years following his return to power in 2009, but the Netanyahu of the current administration has long since abandoned any hint of loyalty to officialdom. Netanyahu may have spoken in praise of the judiciary at Thursday's ceremony, but he also managed to find a way to depict the political attacks on the Supreme Court as positive. "The tensions between the three governing authorities exist in every democratic state. It is natural and healthy," he said, adding, "In all democracies, there has been a constant debate about marking the boundaries between the branches. This is not a violation of democracy. Rather, it is the essence of democracy."

Is that so? What about the attacks by Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, a senior Likud member who claims that the Supreme Court is leftist and that it threatens the very existence of the State of Israel? Is that the essence of democracy?

One thing is certain. The right-wing governments of the past few years have contributed to the erosion of the Supreme Court's stature among the public. Its denigrated justices are forced to contend with explosive decisions left at their doorstep, often because of the political system's weakness. This is what happens whenever the issue of evacuating settlements comes up.

Hayut's inauguration ceremony shined a spotlight on the intensity of the rift between the three government branches and the rapidly escalating war between the Supreme Court and the right-wing politicians seated around the Cabinet table.
October 27, 2017

Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas' political bureau, called King Abdullah II of Jordan on Oct. 25. There has been a nearly complete break between Hamas and Amman since November 1999 when Abdullah expelled the political bureau, then headed by Khaled Meshaal, charging that the movement's members had plotted against the kingdom. The only reprieve, a brief one, occurred five years ago, when Abdullah allowed Meshaal to enter the country during a visit by his patron, Qatari Crown Prince Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. It was thought that the king did so in an effort to pacify the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan. Since then, there has been no contact between the two sides.

It was reported on Oct. 24 that Abdullah had rejected a recent request by Meshaal to establish an office in Amman for building an organizational infrastructure anticipating Hamas joining Fatah institutions. Then came Haniyeh's call from Gaza.

Haniyeh knows that the king has influence with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, so he tried to convince him that Hamas does not have a hidden agenda in advancing reconciliation. Haniyehs office even made public that he had told Abdullah that any talk of a diplomatic solution involving Jordan as an alternative homeland for the Palestinians amounts to a conspiracy to sow discord between the Palestinians and Amman. Haniyeh added that his movement regards the security of the Hashemite kingdom with utmost importance.

It is unclear what caused Haniyeh to bring up this last issue with the king, since it is totally unrelated to the reconciliation effort. It may be that he was trying to allay any suspicions that Abdullah might have that Hamas is plotting against him. As in the 1990s, Abdullah is today worried (as is Abbas) about Hamas striving to build an organizational structure that will enable it to strengthen its presence in the West Bank and to move to succeed Abbas as president.

Abdullah agreeing at this time to take a call from the head of Hamas' political bureau is considered a diplomatic achievement for Haniyeh. The Hamas leader wants to get Abdullah on board with the reconciliation process despite the kings doubts about the agreement with Fatah, signed Oct. 12, which leaves Hamas military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, intact.

Since the start of Egyptian efforts to end the rift between Gaza and Ramallah, the behavior of Hamas leaders has been confusing and inconsistent. There is no doubt that senior members of the political bureau, and even the heads of the military wing, are interested in reconciling with Fatah, because that is the only way Hamas can survive and maintain some power in Gaza. As they see it, it is better to compromise, by relinquishing some of its control over Gaza to Abbas and the Palestinian Authority, than to lose it all. They are not prepared, however, to simultaneously lose their military advantage over Fatah.

Hamas' military force, which the movement touts as the weapon of the resistance, numbers more than 20,000 armed men. Without it, Hamas would not exist, or at least be able to distinguish itself ideologically from Fatah. The diplomatic efforts that led Haniyeh to call Abdullah after a nearly 10-year silence and tell him how important the kingdoms security is to Hamas are intended to find a middle ground, where Hamas reconciles with Fatah and at the same time retains its military and its essence. This, however, is an impossible task.

Abbas has made it clear, and Abdullah undoubtedly supports his position, that he will not abide a Hezbollah model for the PA. That is the essence of the disagreement between Fatah and Hamas. It is surprising that Hamas has not yet grasped this.

Hamas leaders have also not come to terms with their ultimately having to make two strategic decisions if they want reconciliation to move forward. The first is an intra-Palestinian decision that concerns the need for one regime with one security apparatus for all the Palestinian territories. The second decision is no less dramatic: choosing the right side in the inter-Arab conflict between the pragmatic Sunni states  Egypt and Jordan and their rival, Iran. There is no middle ground. There is no way to get along with everyone.

Days before Haniyeh sought to convince Abdullah of the seriousness of his position, deputy Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri was visiting Tehran. Arouri was pleased to announce that the relationship between Hamas and Iran, which fell apart under Meshaal, has been restored. Arouri added that Hussein Sheikh al-Islam, an adviser to the Iranian foreign minister, had promised him that Tehran would supply Hamas with whatever it needs.

As of now, two weeks after the declaration of the intra-Palestinian understanding, Hamas is busy delaying the inevitable. The movement's leaders continue to play with the idea that they can have it both ways, but it is clear to everyone that they will soon have to make a dramatic decision: either true reconciliation  with all that that entails  or retaining its military force and ties to Iran. It is a life or death decision in a movement for which jihad against Israel is the basis of its existence. Letting go of its weapons would be a political and ideological defeat at the hands of Fatah from which there would be no going back. The second option, however  ending the Palestinian reconciliation process  does not look much better.

The power struggles among Hamas' divided leadership only add to the confusion and disarray in the organization, with each side trying to hold tight to its power. Haniyeh is striving to be a popular Arab leader who will succeed in breaking down walls of isolation, whereas the leaders of the military wing, foremost among them Arouri and the organization's Gaza chief, Yahya Sinwar, are moving toward Iran to avoid losing the ideological brand of violent resistance against Israel. At the moment, the ideological distance between Hamas and Fatah looks to be far greater than the geographical distance between Gaza and Ramallah, and bridging it appears to be impossible.
October 27, 2017

On Oct. 20, Lebanons highest court issued a landmark ruling, sentencing two members of the local Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) to death. The verdict marks the end of a decadeslong case that prosecuted Habib Shartouni for the assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel during the countrys civil war. For some Lebanese, the sentence provided a sense of justice, while others suspect that political motivations were behind the ruling.

Gemayel, who was a prominent leader within the predominantly Maronite Catholic Kataeb (Phalange) Party, has been a highly revered figure by Christians both inside the party and out. Shortly after his election in 1982, he had agreed to discuss the normalization of diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Israel, which was opposed by several leftist groups in the country. In response, Shartouni planted a bomb outside the Kataeb headquarters on Sept. 14, 1982, killing Gemayel and at least 32 others.

Following the bombing, Shartouni was arrested and imprisoned for eight years without trial. He escaped during a Syrian military offensive. Although his current whereabouts are unknown, he had spent several years in hiding in Damascus, which has backed the SSNP. Shartouni was tried in absentia along with Nabil al-Alam, who was accused of masterminding the bombing. Some believe Alam is already deceased.

Speaking to Al-Monitor, member of parliament Nadim Gemayel, Bashirs son, hailed the trial as a victory of transitional justice, which could deter similar attacks in the future. This judgment is very significant, not only for me and my family and our son, or the daughter or wife of Bashir Gemayel who was assassinated. It is very important for all the country and for the state of law of Lebanon since none of all the terrorist attacks that happened in Lebanon in the last 40 years, none of them have been judged or elucidated. So it is very important for us to know that, in Lebanon, justice can prevail, said Gemayel.

Yet the sentencing has exposed political divisions across the country, as many leftists regard Shartouni with the estimable stardom that Lebanese Christians confer upon Gemayel. For supporters, Shartouni is perceived as a defender of Lebanon amid fears that Gemayel would have consented to wider Israeli influence in the country. Accordingly, the issue has proved controversial as members of both Kataeb and the SSNP rallied in front of the court during the recent proceedings. The past week has seen a flurry of heated social media activity surrounding the case.

The sudden closure of the 35-year trial has also raised questions regarding the timing of the verdict and whether it is meant to serve larger political goals. Since 2016, the Kataeb Party has been largely excluded from the government, due in part to the reconciliation of Gen. Michel Aouns Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and another Christian party known as the Lebanese Forces. Later, when Saad Hariris Sunni Future Movement backed Aouns presidential candidacy  leading to Aouns election Oct. 31, 2016  the Kataeb lost out on ministerial posts.

Khalil Khairallah, who serves as the SSNPs dean of culture, told Al-Monitor that the trial was resurfaced to serve political aspirations ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections. For example, the Kataeb, the Lebanese Forces and President Aouns party all want to make the election with a big front. For me, [there is] only that purpose.

There were many, many massacres in Lebanon. Some of the actors of these massacres are still alive now. Why cant we judge them? mused Khairallah. Why only Habib Shartouni, and why now? Because this sentence had the chance to unify these parties in the coming elections. The suspected formation of a new Christian political alliance was also echoed by Shartouni himself in an interview on Oct. 19 with Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese media outlet. It is unclear, however, if the interview was done in person.

Imad Salamey, the director of the Institute for Social Justice and Conflict Resolution at the Lebanese American University, told Al-Monitor that Shartounis sentencing may affect dynamics among the Christian parties of the March 14 political bloc that opposed Iranian and Syrian interventionism in Lebanon.

[The verdict] indicates first of all that Christian parties, particularly those on the March 14 side, are trying to seek some kind of justice in their favor. It also signals a new alignment between those who accused Bashir Gemayel of being a collaborator, an Israeli collaborator, and those who really  [saw him as] president of the country, explained Salamey. So we have witnessed in the past week a renewal of old rhetoric that perhaps impacted political alignment in the country, particularly Christian-Christian alignment whereby the FPM kept silent about the verdict compared to other March 14 Christian parties.

In 2006, the FPM forged an alliance with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which is thought to be collaborating with the SSNP in supporting Syrias President Bashar al-Assad. The FPM has not publicly celebrated Shartounis sentencing with the pomp of other Christian parties, although FPM minister Gebran Bassil did attend a commemoration ceremony for Gemayel following the trial.

Mohanad Hage Ali, the director of communications at the Carnegie Middle East Center, has been closely monitoring developments among Christian parties in Lebanon. According to him, the FPM may have more to gain from Shartounis trial than the Kataeb Party. Everyone is trying to score before the elections, Hage Ali told Al-Monitor. I think my assessment is, it works well for the Lebanese Forces and for the FPM, but especially so for the FPM, as they are saying, Look at us, we are in power and we are doing what the Christians really want, so Bashirs killers will not get away with it as they used to before we were here. So it is a different vibe; they are telling Christians that things are different now, and I think they will fare well in the elections.

However, Salamey contended that issuing the death sentence prior to the elections primarily helps mobilize the Kataebs base of support, despite their exclusion from government. It definitely signals a boost for the Kataeb Party among the Christian constituency. It boosts their positions on the eve of the elections, but you know, I think the electorate in Lebanon is pretty solidly being entrenched behind particular leaders and political parties. So [the trial] has some morale boost, but it does not have significant influence on electoral outcomes.
October 26, 2017

BEIRUT  In Lebanon, women count for 3.1% of the deputies in parliament compared to 22% on average elsewhere in the world. Meanwhile, Lebanese parliamentarians refused to pass in June a quota guaranteeing that women must represent 30% of decision-making positions in politics. In this context, succeeding professionally as a Lebanese woman is challenging. But some incentives and business organizations are pushing potential candidates to try and launch their own businesses in this sexist climate.

Aline Kamakian, the owner of Mayrig, an Armenian restaurant in Beirut, began selling life insurance policies at age 18, after her father died. I faced a lot of sexual harassment, because at that time a woman selling stuff was considered selling herself, Kamakian told Al-Monitor. But I overcame my frustrations and succeeded. In 2003, I opened my fathers dream restaurant, Mayrig.

But without a father or husband, she couldnt get a loan and had to ask her cousin to be her business partner. It is not by law but common practice. It wasnt until this year that I could buy my cousins shares, she added.

Recognized as woman entrepreneur of 2014 by the Brilliant Lebanese Awards, Kamakian is also a board member of the Lebanese League for Women in Business (LLWB), an association launched in 2006 by 12 women to encourage their peers to strive in business. The LLWB is funded by various institutions like Mercy Corps, UK AID, the UN Development Program and Green Public Procurement.

The LLWBs projects mainly focus on developing businesses, such as the leagues Join and Grow networking sessions, where successful entrepreneurs come to talk and exchange ideas, as well as the monthly workshops on specific topics taught by experts. With connections to universities and financial institutions to implement business and governance programs, the LLWB is also involved in developing skills and community in rural areas and advocates actively for more rights and opportunities for women in Lebanon.

I think our activities are important because women are often reluctant to open their own company, LLWB regional committee member Najah Jaroush told Al-Monitor. Sometimes they are afraid or ashamed because of the way society might see them. As the market is overtaken by men, they could also be intimidated and wouldnt dare to ask questions or ask for help. The LLWB intervenes here to create a role model and let women be encouraged by others, because if they see successful women they would think they can do it too. We then train them to develop a business language to propose their ideas and follow up on every step they take to help them grow. Not being alone gives recognition, motivation and power.

Asmahan Zein, the president of LLWB, decided to take things a step further by partnering with other like-minded organizations on certain topics in order to get more efficient programs and workshops. The Girls Got IT program aims to encourage schoolgirls to learn more about sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics, and has gathered four more organizations to host major events thorough Lebanon.

On Oct. 21, the LLWB organized a workshop in Chtaura in east Lebanon titled Women entrepreneurs and technicalities of setting up a business. Directed by Leila Abboud, a managing partner at E-BUMP and an economics professor, the workshop aims to provide participants with technical support services during the different phases of their project lifecycle.

It will help assist women entrepreneurs in evaluating technical proposals and choosing machines and the factory design. Through counseling services, it will help to enable them to prepare a feasibility study and business plan by themselves, Abboud told Al-Monitor. Eventually, it will help women in finding viable alternative strategies to exit poverty and to become economically independent.

Abboud believes that integration of technical, entrepreneurial, cultural and communal aspects, information and lessons on economics, and provision of planning and thinking skills are the main goals, whereas the more important objectives are to eliminate illiteracy, develop self-esteem and self-confidence, have the ability to make their own decisions, and negotiate and prepare them to be good women leaders.

One of the participants, Hanin Kraytem, a business student about to graduate, is planning to open her own company but didn't specify in which field. I want to reach a high level in life and am very interested in any workshop that could help me do so, Kraytem told Al-Monitor. I gain experience from professional people and think this initiative is very innovative.

Although Kraytem does not think women have more problems than men in business, she stressed the importance for women to become leaders in order to be a role model for their children and future generations.

Kamakian believes that women start to be equally seen as entrepreneurs when they open a business, but that they may face other challenges. She said, Still to this day, my mother is worried about what people will say when I come back late from work. We have to change the mentality because when you have a little girl or boy, you will ask the boy what will he want to become when he is older. For the little girl, we dont ask. Of course, [it is assumed] she will be married. We dont let them dream. Banks can put up advertisement banners with women opening up business accounts, for example. We have to give a different image of women.

When she started Mayrig, Kamakian couldnt find an Armenian chef and had to bring in Armenian women who cooked in their homes. She said, Ninety percent of the women I called came with their husband or their brother. I kicked the men out in order to have a real conversation. Today, these women have social security; they put money on the table and have a say. All I can advise girls and women to do now is stand up for themselves.

Editor's note: This article has been updated since its initial publication.
October 27, 2017

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Despite the efforts by Fatah and Hamas to seal the Palestinian reconciliation deal and the concessions offered by Hamas, some issues that went undiscussed during the Egyptian-sponsored rounds of dialogue in Cairo remain outstanding.

After the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, two banks were established to jump-start the economy in the Gaza Strip and disburse the salaries to the employees of the de facto government in Gaza, accounting for around 45,000 civilian and military employees.

The Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA)  the Palestinian Authoritys central bank  refused to deal with the government in the Gaza Strip and still has yet to recognize the Palestinian Production Bank established on May 29, 2013, and the Islamic National Bank established on April 21, 2009. The banks were opened with contributions from Arab businessmen with the approval of the Hamas government. The Palestinian Production Bank was established with a capital of $20 million, far less than the amount required by the PMA, set at $60 million.

That banks have not reached the agenda of the reconciliation dialogue has sparked fears and concerns among the Gaza Strip employees as well as among citizens and investors who depend on these banks, which are not legally recognized by the PMA.

In 2013, the PMA called on all citizens to avoid these unrecognized banks and institutions, absolving itself of liability for any losses that may result from doing business with them.

In its statement, the PMA declared the Palestinian Production Bank had failed to apply for a "license to initiate banking business in accordance with the provisions of the Palestine Monetary Authority's Law No. 2 of 1997 and Banks Law No. 9 of 2010.

The staff members of the Palestinian Production Bank and the Islamic National Bank are concerned over the PMAs continued refusal to legally recognize them on the grounds of insufficient capital. They fear this policy will push away shareholders and customers.

Bank employee Karim Darwish told Al-Monitor, I have been working at the Palestinian Production Bank for three years. I know that my fate and the future of my job remain unknown because many banks and money markets are not allowed to deal with the bank I work with, based on the statement by the PMA warning citizens and banks not to do business with it.

He pointed to the significant negative impact that the Palestinian reconciliation will have on the bank if the PMA takes no action to prevent it. He explained, The Palestinian Production Bank depends on the financial transactions of the Hamas government's employees and institutions. The bank would be affected if these employees and institutions transfer their accounts to other banks recognized by the PMA and therefore can offer better loans and other services.

The director of public relations and media for the Palestinian Production Bank, Khalil Khalidi, told Al-Monitor, The bank operates under the law and within the framework of the Banking Law No. 9 of 2010 to protect the funds of depositors and shareholders and mitigate risk. The bank was recognized by the Ministry of National Economy in the Gaza government, after the PMAs categorical refusal to recognize it or do business with it in light of the division between the two parts of the country.

He added, The banks management is still making daily contacts with all concerned parties and seeking to negotiate with the PMA to gain recognition. Being recognized by the PMA would improve its economic and financial situation and boost its local and international transactions.

Khalidi noted, The bank seems to be facing an ultimatum. To overcome its dilemma it has to pick one of two options. It can increase its capital  as required by the PMA to be recognized  by attracting more shareholders and affluent customers, or merge with other banks.

He called on the concerned authorities and the national consensus government to support the bank and its 85 employees, who are the breadwinners of their families, amid Gaza's dire living conditions and lack of job opportunities.

Moein Rajab, an economics professor at Gaza's Al-Azhar University, told Al-Monitor, The understandings between Fatah and Hamas should cover the banks and insurance companies that were established during the division and that struggled under harsh economic conditions as a result of the PMA restrictions. They employ hundreds of Palestinians, and it is time to grant them equitable treatment to improve their economic and financial situation.

He explained, The Ministry of National Economy in the Gaza government is the main body authorized to negotiate and reach understandings with the PMA, adding, These banks and institutions must be deemed public institutions, and the Palestinian people must be entitled to work with them with no conditions or restrictions whatsoever.
October 27, 2017

Iraqi Kurdistan's independence referendum has been echoing in Kurdish circles in northern Syria due to nationalistic ties and shared feelings. Kurdish parties are preparing to form a united delegation to negotiate with the Damascus government the formation of a federal state across Syria.

The Democratic Union Party (PYD) considers the statements of Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem regarding the possibility of negotiating a potential Kurdish self-rule as a progressive step, despite being overdue.

PYD presidential adviser Sihanouk Dibo told Al-Monitor that the Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum should be capitalized on to prevent the reasons that bred it from resurfacing and to spare Syria a similar experience.

The Kurdistan Regions calls for an independence referendum stemmed from the weak relationship with the central government of Baghdad and from problems about dividing power and oil revenues from the region, which exports to Turkey independently.

The desire to adopt the federal system as a model for the rule in Syria after 2011 has been growing among some Kurdish parties and components in their strongholds in northeast Syria. This desire intensified when the Syrian governments forces retreated from the area in November 2012. Following the retreat, Kurdish forces such as the PYD formed the Asayish, while the YPG formed self-defense forces (army and police) and local councils. On March 16-17, 2016, the Kurds and the PYD announced the federal system in northern Syria.

Moallems statement on RT TV Sept. 25 strayed from the typical approach of the Baath Party, which believes in the unity of all Syrian territories and a central rule. Still, his statement was in line with the Syrian regimes ally, Russia, about establishing a federal Syrian state, all the while maintaining the countrys unity.

Perhaps Moallems statement may merely be a political game to pressure opposition-backer Turkey, which opposes the self-rule demands, to make political concessions in favor of Damascus and at the expense of the political and military opposition. The statement may also mean that Damascus is testing the waters with Russia and Iran, Syrias closest allies, regarding a federal state.

Russians Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov supported the federal proposal in Syria and said that Russia backs the outcome of the Syrian negotiations, including establishing a federal state.

With Raqqas liberation Oct. 20 and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Arab-Kurdish alliance announcing that the city would become part of a decentralized federal Syria, the PYD and its allies seem to have effectively annexed the province to the federal area and benefited from Russias warming up to the idea and from the Syrian regimes implicit approval of the decentralized rule  or at least its willingness to negotiate. Opposition source Abdulbaset Sieda, a Kurdish-Syrian academic and politician and former president of the Syrian National Council, told Al-Monitor, The regime will not be the one deciding on the future rule in Syria, but it is trying to give this impression to mark its territory and prove its control.

Sieda told Al-Monitor that the current suggestions of the Syrian regime regarding a federal state are based on Russias inclinations and the regimes awareness of the US desire. The regime is trying to be on the same page as its allies, but at the same time, it is working on foiling the project. Will the federal system be administrative, geographic, nationalistic, sectarian or religious? This issue must be discussed after reaching a political solution in Syria, and it would constitute a prelude to forming a constitution drafting committee, which must be based on consensus among all Syrian components.

The US stance underlines that a federal state decision should be left to Syrians alone. Former deputy spokesperson for the US State Department Mark Toner asserted the US commitment to Syrias unity and said, If Syrians agree on a federal system, it is up to them. But the US opposes the establishment of areas under a semi-independent rule threatening Syrian unity. It creates isolated areas or cantons within Syria. The US does not back the federal system in Syria, unless the Syrian people are all for it.

The Kurdish self-rule administration, Rojava, is comprised of three cantons: Al-Jazira canton that includes Qamishli and Hasakah, Kobani canton that includes Ain al-Arab and Tell Abyad, and Afrin canton that includes Afrin and Shahba.

These cantons constitute 37-40% of Syrias surface area and are home to 3-4 million citizens from north Syria, including Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens, Syriacs, Assyrians, Circassians and Yazidis, not to mention Christians and Muslims. The cantons also boast key dams, oil fields and wide agricultural stretches.

The self-rule administration wrapped up the local council elections and is getting ready for the Dec. 1 municipal and regional elections. A local council is tasked with governing the services of a village or neighborhood within the province under the federal system model.

According to Dibo, the PYD wants to apply the geographical federal model rather than the nationalistic one on all of the Syrian territories and wants to form four federal states based on geography  the federation of the north, south, coast and desert.

Dibo said that the delayed declaration of a federation deepened the Syrian crisis due to the lack of realistic and reasonable solutions, in reference to the federal system that would save Syria from its divisive reality.

Dibo added, In light of the gains that were made, the federal state has transitioned from revolutionary legitimacy to constitutional legitimacy. Based on this principle, we will not accept any violations of these gains. Everyone should know that we are not taking advantage of the federation for help, because this is neither fair nor acceptable. He was referring to any maneuver or objection from the central rule or any other Syrian party. Dibo said that there is no intention to engage in new battles with any Syrian party.

It is still unclear how far the Syrian regime might go in approving a decentralized federal rule along 185,000 square kilometers (71,430 square miles), which is Syrias surface area, with the regime controling half the country. Ali Haidar, the minister of state for national reconciliation affairs, said in a statement, Raqqas future is non-negotiable, except as part of a final political model for the Syrian state.

The Damascus government is still delaying the discussion of the federal rule until a final agreement is reached. The US stance is vague because it is focusing on eliminating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Meanwhile, the key political actors in Syria  Russia, Turkey and Iran  are singing their own tune regarding the federal state. Sieda argued, Although Russia and Iran currently see eye to eye in Syria  which was obvious in their de-escalation agreement  each country will have its own interests and inclinations in the long run. Russia is interested in the form of a federal state, but in terms of content, it would rather focus on the military security system that can guarantee its interests in Syria and the region ultimately. Iran does not want to open the federation discussion for fear of inspiring the Kurdish population at home.

He added, Turkey believes the Syrian regime will keep using the Kurdish card for pressure to perpetuate Syrian President Bashar al-Assads past policy, which he still tries to use when needed.

Will Turkey take advantage of its armys entry to Idlib to halt the federation project and besiege Afrin canton near Aleppo, in covert coordination with Damascus? And how will the Kurds react then? Syria is on the brink of a new kind of conflict that might include strange bedfellows.
October 26, 2017

The sight was vivid proof of how quickly and dramatically the sands of Middle East politics can shift: the smiling faces of Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in front of the cameras Oct. 25, seated under the flags of their respective countries in Erdogans pompous palace in Ankara.

It was only a year ago, on Oct. 11, 2016, that Abadi had called for the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Bashiqa, near Mosul, voicing his worry that the adventurism of Turks could lead to a regional war. In response, Erdogan had roared, You are not my interlocutor, you are not at my level, your quality is not at my level." The president went on to say that the Iraqi premiers clamoring from Iraq wasn't important, warning him to know your limits.

These harsh words were well out of bounds. If any head of state had said that in the 19th century, it would have served as a pretext to war.

But, there they were this week in Ankara, seated tete a tete, looking like equals, seemingly in full solidarity against Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani  Erdogan's one-time pal and oil-dealing partner.

Baghdad has demanded that Iraqi Kurdistan oil exports come under federal control. Erdogan pledged Turkeys support to Iraq's central government in Baghdad and said it would continue to export Kirkuk oil  but now for Baghdad instead of the KRG in Erbil  in the wake of the Sept. 25 Kurdish independence referendum and ongoing battles this month.

Abadi was accompanied on his visit by his ministers for oil, interior, electricity and planning, as well as the national security adviser. He commended Turkey for its support against the referendum.

Turkey stood by our side against efforts to divide Iraq by the leaders of the Kurdistan region, he said.

After their meeting, Erdogan told Abadi that Ankara will provide every kind of support to Iraq to repair and reopen a pipeline that was destroyed by the Islamic State in 2014. Yet, that's easier said than done. Experts say the repair process will take at least two years and cost millions of dollars. With its progressively weakening economy, especially after recent problems with Germany and the EU, it's unclear how Turkey could make such a huge contribution.

Abadi also met with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, who pledged to help Baghdad take control of the Kurdistan region's border with Turkey. We will provide the necessary support to the central government for them to hand over the administration of Habur-Ibrahim Khalil border crossing, Yildirim said.

The Habur crossing is a lifeline for Iraqi Kurdistan, especially for the Kurdistan Democrat Party led by the Barzani family. If Iraq's central government takes over its control, the KRG's survival would be at Baghdad's mercy. Habur crossing, which provides the Kurds with income from taxes and crossing fees, has been under Kurdish control since 1991, when UN Security Council resolutions curtailed Saddam Husseins authority.

Habur is only 18 miles (30 kilometers) away from Fish-Khabur, where Baghdad recently began to deploy troops. The Kurds' possible loss of Fish-Khabur would also allow Turkey and Iraq to open a new border crossing in Ovakoy.

An Iraqi Oil Report analysis published Oct. 25 said, If the federal government were to seize Fish-Khabur, it would sever the direct oil pipeline link between Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey, effectively undercutting the KRG's ability to export oil without Baghdad's consent. It is not clear whether Abadi has authorized an operation to seize Fish-Khabour."

In response to the developments in Kirkuk and Fish-Khabur, the KRG government issued a statement in which it called for:

An immediate cease-fire and halt to all military operations in Kurdistan. Suspending the KRG's bid for independence. Opening a dialogue between the KRG and Iraqi central government in Baghdad on the basis of the Iraqi Constitution.

However, even such a dramatic step back did not seem to impress either Baghdad or Ankara, which had both demanded that the referendum not be held at all.

Yildirim brought that up at the joint press conference with Abadi. As if talking to KRG leaders, he said, Why did you insist on this mistake [holding the referendum only to meet with defeat]? Why didnt you listen to Turkeys advice?

These stances show how precarious the situation has become for Barzani and his political party. They appear to have lost all bargaining power and leverage in the matter. One opposition party has already called for Barzani to step down.

Meanwhile, the Badr Organization, an Iraqi political party heavily influenced by Iran, has its militia operating under the Popular Mobilization Units, which is an Iraqi force that is also strongly motivated by Iran. The forces are positioned an hours drive from Fish-Khabur. Thus all indicators point to Iran, not Turkey, as the one calling the shots in the areas surrounding Iraqi Kurdistan.

In the past, Turkeys weight and strength in Iraq had mainly relied on its strong ties with the KRG. There lies Turkeys dilemma: As the KRG weakens, Turkeys influence in Iraq also weakens.

But then, such paradoxes are familiar in the Middle Eastern political landscape.
SHELBYVILLE -- The 41st Annual Lake Shelbyville Eco-Meet, coordinated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was held at Camp Camfield Ecological Study Area on Oct. 12.

The Eco-Meet is an environmental competition for students that are in junior high and high school. Junior varsity teams are comprised of four students from grades seven and eight.

Varsity teams are made up of four high school students from grades nine through 12. A total of 140 students from 35 schools competed in this years event.

Junior varsity event topics included Rocks and Minerals, Bats, and Lizards. Varsity teams tested over Birds of Prey, Butterflies and Moths, and Wolves. There were 16 Junior Varsity teams and 19 Varsity teams in the competition.

Junior Varsity Results: 1st Place  Litchfield, 2nd Place  Cumberland 3rd Place  Neoga

Varsity Results: 1st Place  Cumberland, 2nd Place  South Central, 3rd Place  Litchfield

Natural Resources Specialists at Lake Shelbyville presented the top three teams in each division with plaques donated in part by the Mattoon Exchange Club. Lake Land College Professor Jeff White and his Environmental Science students assisted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in grading the tests and monitoring the division categories. This event could not take place without all of their support. The team at Lake Shelbyville looks forward to seeing all participants and volunteers next year.
AMG

SUV

The design is undoubtedly one of the biggest selling points of the LFA . But the most attractive element of the Lexus-branded supercar is the 4.8-liter V10 of the naturally aspirated variety, which screams in anger to 9,500 rpm. With 560 horsepower and 480 Nm (354 pound-feet) of torque on tap, even the lower segment of the supercar market has the LFA outperformed. But if specialness were the primary differentiator, you will obviously choose the LFA over the likes of the McLaren 570S, Mercedes-GT R, and the Audi R8.Exquisite flamboyance is what makes Lexus icon attract with the force magnets are attracted to metal, and the Japanese automaker knows that it could use another halo vehicle in the lineup. The LC 500 is good, but not LFA good, while the likes of the RC F and GS F arent too rewarding from a keen drivers point of view. Adding insult to injury, the Motomachi plant in Aichi, Japan now manufactures the Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, which is the polar opposite of the LFA as far as excitement is concerned.Inside Lexus, theres hope the LFA will receive an heir-apparent at some point in the future. Lexus president Yoshihiro Sawa told Autocar that such a car is just a dream at this point, though he advocates for pooling the resources to make that dream come true. I really want to do an LFA successor, and it is important to have dreams, but for now it is a very complicated situation, declared the head honcho. Its a very difficult question to answer as I would like to do it, but we have other priorities for now," he added.What does Lexus work on while the LFA successor is on hold? First of all, the automaker will soon take the veils off a seven-seat version of the RX mid-size. Then the UX will follow suit, believed to replace the CT 200h and be slotted under the compact-sized NX crossover. According to reports, the UX could be launching in October 2018 for the 2019 model year.
AOPA, almost a year into its program to target FBOs charging what it views as egregious fuel prices and fees, is starting to declare victory against some of the FBOs on the most-wanted list. OK3 Air, at Heber City Airport, Utah, had been a favorite AOPA target after the owner admitted he kept prices high because he didnt want more aircraft using the airport. The non-towered field is the closest public airport to Park City, a ski destination and, in January, home of the Sundance Film Festival, which reliably brings in many of the biggest names in Hollywood. Heber City Council voted this month to amend its airport minimum standards, paving the way for a second FBO to install a self-service fuel concession at the airport. Like many other communities, including Orange County and Cedar Rapids, Heber City is working proactively as the airport sponsor to reclaim control, fulfill its grant obligations, and ensure that the airport is accessible and affordable to all segments of general aviation, said AOPA General Counsel Ken Mead, who had led the initiative for the organization.

While not necessarily taking credit, AOPA also reports progress at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, where the County Board of Supervisors has decided to replace Signature Flight Support with ACI Jet. At least one supervisor, Shawn Nelson, suggested pricing by Signature was a factor in the decision. When people have a monopoly . . . and the price is really high, call it what it is, Nelson told the local Orange County Register. Likewise, Eastern Iowa Airport has recently added an avgas self-service pump and is looking into public transient parking options.
A Washington, D.C. federal grand jury has approved the first charges in the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, CNN reports.

Why it matters: NBC confirmed that the Office of the Special Counsel will "serve up an indictment Monday in connection" with the Russia investigation. It will be the first public disclosure of the results of Mueller's investigation.
"Cuban assassination plots involving exploding seashells and poisoned swimsuits. Bounties on the heads of high-profile communists. A secretive investigation that tracked John F. Kennedy's assassin into Mexico." But, but, but ... "few if any major plot twists about what happened that day in Dallas in 1963.

"That deft distillation is from the L.A. Times' Matt Pearce, who writes on A1: "[T]he files  which include secret FBI memos, handwritten notes from top White House officials, and CIA field reports  tell the story of America's paranoid underworld in the 1960s, where shadowy figures chased secrets at home and abroad and hatched plots to change the course of history."

"The newly released records shine a light on America's covert operations at a time when America was deeply suspicious of its Cold War adversaries, combating Soviet influence around the globe and engaging in disastrous attempts to overthrow communist revolutionaries in Cuba."

Go deeper ... "What we know from the JFK files," by Axios' Stef Kight and Haley Britzky.
President Trump is negotiating with China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. on a multibillion-dollar energy investment that "would bring thousands of new jobs to hurricane-ravaged areas in Texas and the U.S. Virgin Islands," per a Bloomberg report.

Why it matters: Per Bloomberg, the deal "may provide a political boost" to Trump, who spoke frequently about bringing jobs and investments back to the U.S. While the deal still needs approval from U.S. and China, Bloomberg reports it would cut the trade deficit between the U.S. and China by $10 billion annually. Trump is expected to travel to China November 8-10 with representatives from around 40 different companies to "sign deals for billions of dollars in U.S. investments, per Bloomberg.
CHARLESTON (JG-TC) -- Eastern Illinois residence halls are hosting some upcoming Halloween events and would like to extend an invitation to the local community, according to a press release.

Oct. 28: Haunted House: Haunted CarnEvil will be from 8-11 p.m. in Pemberton Hall. Its $2 per person and money raised will be donated to HOPE of East Central Illinois.

This annual event is open to all, but may be a bit scary for younger community members.

Oct. 30: Stevenson Halls Halloween Party starts at 7 p.m. The party will be in the Stevenson Lobby and includes a costume contest, pumpkin painting, and root beer pong.

Oct. 31:

Greek Court Programming Board is hosting their second annual "Greeks and Treats" event from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 31, in the Greek Court Egg (1020 Greek Court). In case of rain, the event will be at 1050 Greek Court. The event is sponsored by the Greek Court Programming Board, Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council, and National Pan-Hellenic Council. There will be trick-or-treating, games, and food! This event is open to the Coles County community and kids of all ages.

Trick or Treating in Taylor. This will be in Taylor Hall lobby from 5-7 p.m. There will be candy and a photo booth.
28 October 2017 10:58 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces have 122 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on October 28.

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.

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28 October 2017 10:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Minxin Pei

At the end of the six-day 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the roughly 2,200 delegates decided to add Xi Jinping Thought on the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics to the CPCs constitution. With that, it became official: the era of Xi has begun.

Only two previous Chinese leaders, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, have had their personally branded ideology enshrined in the CPCs charter. Xis two predecessors, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, did not have their names linked to any ideological doctrine, much less one elevated to such a high status within the CPC. Chinese leaders are clearly eager to confirm what the world already knew: Xis authority now equals that of the CPCs heaviest heavyweights.

Besides symbolically catapulting Xi into the Pantheon of the founders of the Peoples Republic, the 19th National Congress delivered him two substantive political victories. First and foremost, he stalled the designation of a successor, thereby leaving open the possibility that he himself could serve a third term as Chinese president.

All five of the new members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the CPCs top decision-making body, are in their 60s  too old to be groomed to take over for Xi in five years, given the partys unofficial retirement age of 68. Had one or two new Politburo Standing Committee members younger than 55 been promoted, Xi would be expected to step down in 2022, when he hit the two-term limit as president, just as Jiang and Hu did. The alternative for Xi would be to purge the designated successor, as Mao and Deng did. Neither scenario would be appealing.

With no successor in play, however, the possibility that Xi will serve a third term (at least), should decisively alter the political calculations of both his loyalists and those still hedging their bets. Loyalists will now reiterate their allegiance, while those on the fence are likely to hop on the Xi bandwagon. As for Xis rivals, they must be thoroughly demoralized.

Xis second major victory at the 19th National Congress was the promotion of two close allies to the Politburo Standing Committee. His current chief of staff, Li Zhanshu, will take over the National Peoples Congress. The NPC, which has never been much more than a rubber stamp for Party decisions, will now have its legislative agenda dictated by Xi himself.

In fact, Lis leadership of the NPC may turn out to be the key to dismantling one of the last barriers to Xis political ambitions: the two-term limit for presidents, established in the constitution. While nothing prevents Xi from retaining a party title, such as general secretary, he will need to amend the constitution if he wants to remain Chinas head of state. And, with Li in charge, such an amendment will sail through the NPC.

Another trusted loyalist, Zhao Leji, will take over from the 69-year-old Wang Qishan as the chief of the anti-corruption agency  a crucial position, responsible for keeping the CPC in check. Wang has overseen Xis anti-corruption drive  which has purged many of Xis rivals and consolidated his power  since it began. By appointing Zhao, Xi has effectively put every senior Chinese leader on notice.

Xis triumph at the 19th National Congress has understandably fueled widespread speculation that his now-formidable power will enable him to impose his vision of hardline authoritarian rule, underpinned by Chinese nationalism, in the coming years. And that is a possibility. But it is far from guaranteed.

The reason is simple: though the CPCs internal power dynamics havent change much in the last few decades, Chinese society has moved far beyond the Maoist or even the Dengist era. Few Chinese, including members of the party, genuinely believe in any official doctrine. Economically, the private sector accounts for more than 60% of Chinas output, and the CPC has become practically irrelevant in the daily lives of ordinary Chinese.

This is the paradox of power in the era of Xi. Yes, he is the most powerful leader that the worlds largest one-party state has had in decades. But his ability to shape Chinese society may turn out to be far more limited than he, his allies, and most outside observers expect.

Copyright: Project Syndicate: The Paradox of Xis Power

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28 October 2017 12:38 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Azerbaijans Ateshgah Insurance Company does not intend to expand its branch network soon, Azer Aliyev, chairman of the companys board, said in an interview with Trend.

He said that currently, the company has a sufficient number of branches in the main cities of the country.

"The number of the companys branches is less than it was two years ago, but we still have enough branches in the main cities of the country," he said. As for the expansion of the branch network, I do not think that it will happen soon as the company operates in the countrys main districts."

At present, the companys branch network includes offices in Baku, Sumgait, Khachmaz, Ismayilli, Mingachevir, Sheki, Zagatala, Gazakh, Shamkir, Ganja, Barda, Imishli, Sabirabad, Salyan and Lankaran.

Ateshgah insurance company was established in 1996 and the license for activity was granted in 1997. As of late 2016, the companys share capital was over 5 million manats.

The companys assets amounted to 41.55 million manats, liabilities - 26.65 million manats in early 2017. The company completed 2016 with a profit worth 356,720 manats.

The companys premiums amounted to 27.86 million manats and payment of claims - 11.66 million manats in January-September 2017.

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28 October 2017 10:39 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

In an anti-terrorist operation on October 27, the State Security Service of Azerbaijan detained four people who are members of a radical religious extremist criminal community.

The State Security Service announced about this in a statement released today.

A criminal case has been initiated, intensive anti-terror operations continue.

As a result of a special operation held on October 27, Azerbaijani citizens Hasrat Aliyev, Emil Nasrullayev, Elshad Dadashov and Zaur Eynalov, who are members of a radical religious extremist criminal community, and who participated in drills and battles in Syria and Iraq, were detained and brought to criminal responsibility.

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28 October 2017 12:25 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The EU Twinning project Support to further reforms of the civil service system in Azerbaijan, was launched in November 2016.

The project is being implemented by State Examination Centre of the Republic of Azerbaijan together with Lithuanian partners.

The project seeks to contribute to further development of a professional and sustainable civil service system in Azerbaijan.

The project aims to create a framework of new grouping of civil service positions, development of the civil service recruitment, performance appraisal and remuneration systems.

Currently, the project is intensively working towards the improvement of Azerbaijani recruitment system.

For the Azerbaijani civil service recruitment system experts recommended moving forward from a knowledge-based evaluation system to a system based on evaluation of competencies and using several selection methods to help identify candidates competencies.

Competence is the ability of an individual to do a job properly and it consists of a combination of practical and theoretical knowledge, cognitive skills, behavior and values. For example, during the competition it is important to evaluate not only the knowledge of legal acts, but also to put knowledge to use as well. Meanwhile, knowledge-based selection system does not reveal candidates full-picture-abilities.

In Azerbaijan interview are playing a particular role in the selection process to civil service positions. They help to reduce subjective and non-transparent selection to positions and ensure the selection of best candidates. For that purpose it is important to train selection committee members to identify candidates competencies and potential.

Such trainings are planned in the near future within the framework of the project.

To improve Azerbaijani civil service system, Lithuanian short-term experts also proposed to focus more on the evaluation of competences of managers and particularly in the selection to top-level civil service. According to the best EU practice, experts proposed to objectively evaluate top-level civil servants competencies through assessment centre method. Assessment centre is the best way to check suitability for certain position.

If the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior in similar situations, realistic assessment centre should provide work sample data that will predict actual job performance. A basic rule for assessment centre design is that exercises should be as close as possible to the actual critical situations a candidate will face on his or her job.

In assessment centre one competency is checked by minimum two methods (group exercises, role play, individual interviews, psychometric tests, practical tasks, etc.)

Furthermore, Lithuanian experts recommended gathering candidates and institutions feedback to monitor the selection system. Also Azerbaijani centralized civil servants selection system requires good planning and monitoring of selection process. The following tools help to ensure smooth activities by institutions and improve selection system.

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28 October 2017 12:49 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The Khazar-2017 international exercises, in which the Caspian-littoral countries will take part, will be held in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Emergency Situations told Trend on October 27.

In this regards, the joint preparation for exercises, supported by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Emergency Situations, is being carried out in the Garadagh district of Baku.

The exercises will be held on November 2-3, 2017.

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28 October 2017 12:08 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The Republic of Azerbaijan supports the territorial integrity within the internationally recognized borders and sovereignty of the Kingdom of Spain, Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, told Trend on October 28.

We stand for a peaceful settlement based on the constitution and laws of the Kingdom of Spain, noted Hajiyev.

The official was commenting on the recent political turmoil in Spain, which intensified on Friday as the Madrid government dismissed Catalonias president and parliament hours after the region declared independence.

Spain was plunged into uncertainty on October 1 when Catalonia, a prosperous northeastern state that accounts for 20 percent of Spains gross domestic product, held an independence referendum, though courts had declared the proceedings illegal. Separatists declared victory despite a participation of only 43 percent.

Hajiyev added that attempts to unilaterally violate the territorial integrity of the country accompanied by the violation of the countrys constitution and law, contrary to the will of the people and the central government, are unacceptable.

The Republic of Azerbaijan has been suffering from this for more than 30 years. At the end of 1980s, separatism, which Armenians started in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region of Azerbaijan SSR, was accompanied by a gross violation of the USSR constitution and the laws of Azerbaijan SSR. In this regard, after the ethnic cleansing of the native Azerbaijani population in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, the violence against them and acts of terrorism, an illegal referendum on the regions independence was held against the will of the Azerbaijani people on December 10, 1991 with the participation of only Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh, said the spokesman.

With gaining the independence by Armenia and Azerbaijan after the collapse of the USSR, Armenia began an open war against Azerbaijan and occupied the Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts of Azerbaijan, committed ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories against the native Azerbaijani population. The aggression and occupation of Armenia against Azerbaijan still continues, added Hajiyev.

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28 October 2017 16:38 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Turkeys Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli will visit Azerbaijan, the Turkish National Defense Ministry told Trend on October 28.

It was noted that Canikli will take part in the sixth meeting of the Turkey-Azerbaijan High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, which will be held in Baku on October 31.

The fifth meeting of the Council was held in Baku on March 15, 2016.

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28 October 2017 16:27 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it provides assistance to some 1,300 women and children of around 20 nationalities, who are detained in Iraq, near Mosul, and helps to contact with their embassies.

"We try to reestablish contact between these individuals and their families in other countries. Additionally, we are registering all unaccompanied children and following up with authorities to assist with a determination of their best interests, including safe and dignified return to their family," the ICRC press office told Trend.

The press office refused to specify the number and nationalities of these people, adding "we put the families in contact with their embassies if they request us to do so."

The aid agency responds to their immediate humanitarian needs, including the provision of food, hygiene items, medical treatment, as well as improved access to water and sanitation.

Regarding repatriation and return, the press office noted that this is a bilateral matter between the Iraqi government and the countries of origin of these people.

"Transfers must only take place in accordance with international law, in particular with the principle which prohibits a State from transferring to another State a person who faces the risk of violation of certain fundamental rights (i.e. principle of non-refoulement). Special attention needs to be paid to children that are not accompanied by an adult, and therefore find themselves in an especially precarious situation," the press office concluded.

Thousands of foreigners have been fighting for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and an unknown number of them are now detained.

More than 300 of the detained foreign families in Iraq came from Turkey, many others from former Soviet states, such as Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Russia, Reuters earlier reported citing preliminary figures from the Iraqi army.

Previously, Iraqs Charge D'affaires to Azerbaijan Fadhil Awad Al Shuwaili told reporters in Baku that the Iraqi government is negotiating with Azerbaijan over the fate of the remaining Azerbaijani children being kept in Iraq.

The diplomat recalled that one of the Azerbaijani children was brought home and handed over to local authorities.

Two Azerbaijani children  two-year-old Khadija and four-year-old Abdulla were found in Syrian territories retaken from ISIL. They were brought to Iraq by the security forces after these territories were freed.

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28 October 2017 15:33 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Ukrainian state enterprise Ukrspirt and trading house of Azerbaijans state oil company in Ukraine, SOCAR Energy Ukraine, will conduct consultations on supplying the enterprise with gas, Ukrspirt said in a message on October 28.

The message says that a working meeting was held between Ukrspirts Acting Director Yuri Luchechko and Director for Wholesale Trade of SOCAR Energy Ukraine Andrey Bychkov on the issues of cooperation, commercial cooperation and provision of the enterprise with gas.

SOCAR can become a reliable partner of Ukrspirt, said Bychkov at the meeting.

Luchechko, for his part, noted that the enterprises main aim is the maximum transparency in implementation of procurement.

We can and should buy gas at the best price from reliable partners. We must consider the cost of gas, which is tied to the price on the exchange, and this will allow us to save up to 1.2 million hryvnia on our volumes, said Luchechko.

The sides agreed to continue consultation on the issues of commercial activity.

SOCAR Energy Ukraine has been operating since 2008.

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CHARLESTON -- A judge Friday dismissed a man's claim of innocence and said there was no reason not to believe the evidence that showed he molested three boys.

Jeffrey M. Jones received a sentence of life in prison because that was required, based on Jones' earlier conviction for the same type of offense.

A jury in August found Jones, 56, guilty of charges accusing him of sexually assaulting and otherwise molesting the boys while he lived in Mattoon between October 2014 and the summer of last year. The boys were 11, 13 and 14 years old at the time.

On Friday, Jones gave a lengthy statement, telling Coles County Circuit Judge Brien O'Brien that he deserved a new trial. He claimed to have witnesses who didn't testify during the trial who could support what he said.

"There is so much wrong with this case it's unreal," Jones said. "All I'm asking for is one chance."

O'Brien, who had to admonish Jones at one point for interrupting him, quickly dismissed the claims. He told Jones that Public Defender Anthony Ortega, who represented him, "knows more about the law than you do."

The judge also noted that the trial's jury believed the testimony of the boys who were the alleged victims, adding "as did I."

"What you put those children through is deplorable, it's unforgivable and it's horrific," O'Brien said. "No one of any age should have to go through that."

He also said the trial evidence showed that Jones began molesting one boy and then turned to the others, whom he knew or met through the first victim.

"You chose your victims carefully," O'Brien said. "You sought people who were vulnerable. You picked them carefully and you preyed upon them."

The mother of two of the boys also gave a statement Friday and said Jones "changed my family for the worst." She said both boys are having difficulties at school and are also experiencing other problems.

"The boys show more anger and sadness and I don't know if I can bring their happiness back," she said. She added that she and one of boys wished the death penalty were possible for Jones "so he cannot destroy another life."

The charges of which Jones was convicted, a total of two dozen, included predatory criminal sexual assault of a child. He was also convicted of child sex assault charges in Moultrie County in 2000 and a second conviction for such an offense makes a life term mandatory.

Assistant State's Attorney Tom Bucher mentioned Jones' statements during his argument to O'Brien but said Friday's hearing wasn't the time to address those contentions.

"The reality is this defendant is a serial child molester," he said, after which Jones muttered, "No, I'm not."

Ortega acknowledged that O'Brien's "hands are tied" and the life sentence was required. He noted that Jones "professes his innocence" and plans to appeal.

Jones' address at the time of his arrest was an apartment at 1114 Edgar Ave., Mattoon, but he's been jailed since his arrest in September 2016.
28 October 2017 17:15 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak will visit Azerbaijan, the ministry told Trend on October 28.

Albayrak will participate in the sixth meeting of the Turkey-Azerbaijan High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, which will be held in Baku on October 31.

"As part of the Council meeting, participants are expected to discuss the strengthening of energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey," the ministry said.

The fifth meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council Turkey-Azerbaijan was held in Baku last March.

---

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28 October 2017 10:50 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The Spanish Senate has approved direct rule in Catalonia after the Catalan regional government's parliament voted to declare for independence, Al Jazeera reported.

The vote by the upper house on Article 155 on October 27 allows the government of Mariano Rajoy to rule Catalonia directly from Madrid.

Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, is now expected to convene his cabinet to adopt the first measures to govern Catalonia.

In a post on social media, Rajoy called for "calm" across the country, even as he called the Catalonia parliament vote a "crime".

Article 155 of the 1978 Spanish Constitution allows for the suspension of autonomy of regional governments if it "doesn't comply with the obligations of the Constitution or other laws it imposes, or acts in a way that seriously undermines the interests of Spain".

---

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28 October 2017 11:36 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The Iranian agriculture minister, Mahmoud Hojjati, says that the country has taken measures to export about 30,000 tons of fishery products to Russia by March 2018.

Hojjati added that Iran exported about 8,000 tons of fish to Russia over the last fiscal year (started March 20).

In an interview with rolling news TV channel IRINN, he added that the Islamic Republics exports of fishery products over the last year increased by 60 percent.

The head of Irans fisheries organization, Hassan Salehi, has also said that the countrys fishery output over the last fiscal year (started March 21) surpassed one million tons.

Salehi added that his organization is planning to produce about 1.1 million tons of fishery products over the current fiscal.

While the value of exports of fishery products last year stood at $412 million, the organization has set a target to increase the value of exports by 30 percent.

One Iranian citizen on average consumed 10.6 kilograms of fishery products over the last fiscal year.

---

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Connecticut lawmakers have passed a two-year, $41 billion budget that increases the hospital provider tax from 6 to 8 percent, according to the Hartford Courant.

The Connecticut Hospital Association previously came out against the hospital tax increase. But the association has since agreed to support it because the arrangement gives hospitals millions of dollars back as the state receives increased federal Medicaid money, according to the report.

The budget is now with Mr. Malloy, who could decide to veto or sign it.

Meanwhile, though, a spokesperson for Mr. Malloy has said the governor's office has found a potential $1 billion error due to "egregious problems" associated with the hospital tax, according to a separate Hartford Courant report.
Music director Ghibran has been riding on a high for quite some time now and he has been producing some classy albums and entertaining the listeners. His recent release, Magalir Mattum had received a lot of positive reviews for the background score and he is currently awaiting the release of Nayanthara's Aramm in which he has worked.



He has now taken to his Facebook account to share his happiness about the success of Magalir Mattum and his expectations on Aramm.



He said, "I would personally like to Thank everyone for the kind words regarding #MagalirMattum . And last night we did the Final mix check of #Aramm and I am extremely thankful to God for making me part of this great film . Having come from and as a person who still has my roots in underdeveloped India, this film has a lot for me to relate . It speaks about something which needed to be heard and I believe it will do its purpose , once it hits the Big screen. Thanks to my whole team : Writer/Director #GopiNainar , Producer Rajesh , Omprakash , Ruben, Peter Hein , Soundar , All the technicians and mainly #Nayanthara for giving life to the film. This is one more more film for me which gives the satisfaction and fulfillment even before hitting the theatres"



We wish Ghibran all the best for Aramm.

**The post is not spell-checked
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MATTOON (JG-TC) -- On Friday, a state group recommended placing a proposed Lumpkin Heights & Elm Ridge Subdivision Historic District and the Burgess-Osborne Memorial Auditorium on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council unanimously gave favorable recommendations to the two nominations after reviewing related documents and hearing presentations from Coles County Historic Preservation Advisory Council member Steve Thompson.

Thompson said the nominations now will be edited for review by Illinois Historic Preservation Agency staff and then forward on to Washington for final approval for the National Register, which is a National Park Service program.

The National Register listing is honorary in nature and brings attention to the highlighted properties, but will not place any regulations on the use of these properties.

Friday's Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council meeting took place at the Old State Capitol in Springfield. Thompson was accompanied at the meeting by proposed historic district residents Robert and Susan Riggert, Gene and Joan Clark, and Carolyn Cloyd, who is also a member of the Coles County Historic Preservation Advisory Council.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 28/10/2017 (1844 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Katelyn and Dawson are siblings who refuse to claim they are the better Garvey at steer riding.

They dont taunt each other when a ride goes poorly. They refrain from coming up for excuses when ones score is higher than their other.

We dont brag to each other, really, we congratulate each other, Katelyn said. Its the luck of the draw. You draw good stock, you ride it well, good for you. Other times, youre not so lucky.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Siblings Katelyn Garvey and Dawson Garvey of Wapella, Sask., are both competing in the Junior Steer Riding events at this weekend's Manitoba Finals Rodeo. Their final go-round is tonight at Westman Place.

It helps having each other in steer riding, a sport thats essentially a training ground for future bull riders. The Garveys from Wapella, Sask., are sometimes more friends than siblings in how they treat each other, their mother Karol said.

On Thursday night at the Manitoba Rodeo Cowboys Association final, there was Dawson, 13, cheering on his sister, 16, who finished first against seven guys, including her younger brother, in the junior steer-riding event. The rodeo continues through this evening at the Keystone Centre, as part of Manitoba Ag Ex.

She was one of only three juniors after opening night to stay on their steer for eight seconds.

That event is proof enough anything a boy can do in the sport, so can a girl.

Katelyn has heard plenty of naysayers who would disagree at first blush.

Shes met guys who told her, Oh, youre just a buckle bunny, youre just a buckle polisher, Katelyn remembers, so I had to prove them wrong.

She tells of another time she was getting bugged by a couple of ranchers. The next weekend, she won another buckle.

When I first started it, all the boys were like, Girls riding, whatever, she said. Then I made the eight (seconds), and then they kind of change their mind. Oh, shes not that bad.

Three years in, she has three steer riding buckles to her credit.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Katelyn Garvey of Wapella, Sask., is thrown off her steer in the junior steer riding event at Friday evening's go-round of the Manitoba Finals Rodeo at Westman Place.

Her brother, whos been at the sport for five years, has won three events as well.

Dawsons first victory happened at his first-ever rodeo, near his hometown in 2013. They suit the stock to the size of the kid there, which helps a small eight-year-old like himself.

It was a lucky one, though, he admits of his victory. I had my eyes closed the whole time.

Since then, hes far less nervous. Hes won two more junior steer riding competitions afterwards  this time with his eyes open.

Their parents, who own a mixed farm operation in Wapella with predominantly cattle, say their two youngest, besides getting along, are calm and relaxed, which serves them well in rodeo.

You watch them get ready, get in the chute. Theyre not nervous. Theyre just relaxed. Its like hopping in a car to them, their father David said.

Just watching their attitude and their emotions, before a ride and after, its pretty easy for them, he added. Theyre able to think under the stress and pressures, and it gets them out of trouble.

At 16, this is the final year Katelyn can compete in junior steer riding. Next, she hopes to try out bull-riding.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Siblings Katelyn Garvey and Dawson Garvey of Wapella, Saskatchewan, prepare to compete in the junior steer riding event at Friday evening's go-round of the Manitoba Finals Rodeo at Westman Place.

I want to move up to bulls, but my mom wont let me, Katelyn said, confident shell win her mother over.

As for Dawson, his rodeo career may take a different route.

Im thinking that after steers, Ill just team-rope some and then take over the farm, he said with a smile.

 ifroese@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ianfroese
Queensland has more than 1700 potential sites that could be explored for generating hydro electricity, an Australian National University report has found.

Already, the state had 18 renewable energy projects underway in solar, wind and hydro energy.

Australian National University report shows potential hydro energy sites in Queensland.

CS Energy ran Queenslands only pumped hydro energy plant at Wivenhoe Dam and would be joined by Genexs 250-megawatt pumped hydro plant at Kidston, outside Townsville, in 2021.

The ANU report, released last month, identified 1769 potential pumped hydro sites, but says clearly not all pumped hydro sites would be economically feasible.
Police have launched a public appeal for help to find a young girl, with concerns held for her safety after she was taken by her father on Saturday morning.

Patrick Derrick left a Sandstone Point residence with a two-year-old girl on Saturday morning. Credit:Queensland Police Service

Patrick Derrick, 34, was involved in an argument with a woman, not the girl's mother, at a Bestmann Road home in Sandstone Point, north of Brisbane, about 8.30am before leaving with the two-year-old.

Mr Derrick has not been seen or heard from since and police hold concerns for the missing childs safety.

Detectives believe he may be travelling in a blue 2011 Toyota Hilux utility with the Queensland registration 464WGO in the Brisbane or Sunshine Coast areas.
Beddoe Street residents Fulvia Vazzoler and Greg Horn fear for their homes and safety. Credit:Darrian Traynor Monash University Islamic Centre was one of the two properties set ablaze overnight. Neighbours said the other property belonged to an elderly woman who they believe was home at the time. Several long-term residents expressed anger at the university, which owns many of the properties on the street, for leaving them vacant. Arson investigators outside one of the two properties set alight. Credit:Darrian Traynor

'Flames shooting out the door' Fulvia Vazzoler, 55  who lives directly across from the Islamic centre  said Saturday's fires were among eight in the past three months in the street, where she has lived most of her life. Monash University Islamic Centre was one of two properties targeted early Saturday morning. Credit:Darrian Traynor A relative of Ms Vazzoler, who asked not to be named, described waking in fright in the early hours of Saturday morning. "I heard a noise that sounded like firecracker," he said. "Mum came running in going, 'There's a fire, there's a fire', and when I went outside, flames just started shooting out of the door across the road."

Chinese students June Zhang and Stefanie Zheng outside their Beddoe Street home. Credit:Darrian Traynor Greg Horne, who lives at the same property, said he was concerned for people's lives now it appeared the suspected arsonist was getting bolder. The six previous fires had been in an abandoned lot, a building site and an unoccupied home, he said. However, the Islamic Centre was frequently used and the other property targeted on Saturday morning had someone living in it, he said. That no-one appeared to be hurt from either of those blazes meant "a catastrophe" had been averted, Mr Horne said. Ms Vazzoler said most of the long-term residents of the street were elderly and described a feeling of unrest among them. Others went further.

Like living in 'a war-zone' One neighbour who asked to remain anonymous said "last night felt like a war-zone". The woman said she had cancelled her plans for the day as she was exhausted after being kept up until 3am. The resident of Beddoe Avenue for 15 years said Monash University, which has a campus one street away, had been buying up properties in the street for years "and leaving them empty".



A Monash University spokeswoman said the university owns and operates around 10 properties in the street, including child care, Monash Oakleigh Legal Service and short-term staff accommodation.



"The university is aware that in recent weeks, there have been a number of deliberately lit fires in and around Beddoe Avenue," she said. "The university understands these fires have been random in nature ...



"There is no evidence to suggest last night's fire was racially or faith motivated." Many university students live in the street  for them, the fires have been just as upsetting.
Two more people are facing murder charges after police discovered the body of a man buried in a shallow grave in Tyabb, on Melbourne's outskirts.

Homicide detectives charged a 52-year-old man, from Crib Point, and a 34-year-old man, from Hastings, with the murder of Jade Goodwin, whose body was found on a vacant property last Sunday.

Jade Goodwin Credit:Facebook

The two men were arrested earlier this week along with Natalie Dalton, 36, of Hastings, who has already been charged with murder and made a brief court appearance.

Police allege Mr Goodwin was killed on the weekend of October 14 and 15 before his body was moved to a vacant property in Tyabb on Dandenong-Hastings Road.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has confirmed that Queenslanders will head to the polls on November 25.

Adani protesters greeted Ms Palaszczuk's car at the gates of Government House as she visited acting Governor General Catherine Holmes to dissolve parliament in readiness for an election.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk arrives at Government House to kick-start the 2017 election campaign. Credit:Glenn Hunt/AAP

The announcement ends weeks of speculation.

On Friday, embattled backbencher Rick Williams was dumped by the party, and member for Rockhampton Bill Byrne recently announced he would retire at the next election due to ill health.
The Spanish government has taken its first steps to impose direct rule on Catalonia, firing its police chief and nominating the deputy prime minister to take control of the region.

A day after the Catalan parliament defied Madrid and voted for a unilateral declaration of independence, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy issued a decree that confirmed the sacking of Josep Lluis Trapero, head of the regional police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra.

Trapero already faced charges of sedition over his force's actions in the run-up to Catalonia's banned October 1 independence referendum. The director general of the Catalan police, Pere Soler, was also dismissed.

Rajoy appointed his Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, to take charge of Catalonia's government.

On Friday Rajoy dismissed Catalonia's president and cabinet, dissolved its parliament and called new elections for December 21 as part of an unprecedented package of measures to seize control of the renegade administration in Barcelona.

The Spanish government's moves came hours after the Catalan Parliament voted to "form the Catalan Republic as an independent and sovereign state." Opposition lawmakers boycotted the vote.

There were wild celebrations in the streets of Barcelona, the regional capital, by those who back secession on Friday night. Rival demonstrations into the night were held by those who favor unity with Spain.

The secessionist movement has deeply divided Catalonia, one of Spain's wealthiest regions. Some 90% voted in favor of independence in the disputed referendum, but turnout was only 43%.

It remains unclear how the Spanish government will enforce the measures announced by Rajoy. A tough crackdown could risk a repeat of the violent scenes that played out in Catalonia on October 1, the day of the disputed referendum, when national police were brought in.

Appeal for calm

Both the Spanish government and Catalan leaders have appealed for calm amid heightened tensions on both sides.

The front pages of national and regional Catalan newspapers on Saturday illustrated the depth of the divisions.

The headline on Catalan daily El Punt Avui declared "Hello Republic," with images of celebrating crowds outside the Catalan Parliament and the motion for independence approved by its lawmakers. Another Catalan daily, Ara, had the headline "The Republic, proclaimed, the government, sacked."

Meanwhile, national daily El Pais ran a headline reading "The State on its way to put out the insurrection," while fellow national daily ABC's front page declared "Spain beheads the coup."

Rajoy said Friday the government's moves, authorized by the Spanish Senate under Article 155 of the constitution, were needed to restore legality and protect the nation. Article 155 has never before been used.

Earlier, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont said legitimately elected lawmakers had cast their ballots according to a mandate earned in the October 1 referendum.

But he acknowledged that the path ahead would not be easy. "We are facing a period in which we will need to stay strong and in peace, dignified and civil as we have always been, and I'm sure we will keep being so," he said.

How did we get here?

Several times during its history, Catalonia has found itself caught between the rivalries of France and Spain.

The region industrialized before the rest of Spain and had strong anarchist, socialist and communist movements that all fought against Franco in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.

The current dispute goes back to that conflict. Franco repressed Catalonia's earlier limited autonomy, and in the early years of the dictatorship at least, expressions of Catalan language and culture. Four years after Franco's 1975 death, the region regained some of that autonomy.

In 2006, Madrid backed Catalonia's calls for even greater powers, granting it "nation" status and financial control. But four years later, the Constitutional Court rescinded that status, ruling that while Catalan is a "nationality," Catalonia itself is not a nation.

One of Spain's 17 autonomous provinces, Catalonia has had its own regional government with considerable powers over health care, education and tax collection. But it pays taxes to Madrid, and pro-independence politicians argue that complex mechanisms for redistributing tax revenue are unfair to wealthier areas, something that has helped stoke resentment.

CNN's Claudia Rebaza reported from Barcelona and Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London.
Since leaving the White House in January, former president Barack Obama has turned heads, images of him slipping into a Broadway play with his elder daughter, Malia, and kitesurfing with billionaire Richard Branson in the British Virgin Islands were shared on social media sites.

His next stop: jury duty in Cook County, Illinois.

Former United States President Barack Obama playing golf earlier this month. Credit:HO

Obama, a constitutional scholar who frequently invokes messages of civic engagement, plans to serve next month, the county's chief judge told the Chicago Tribune on Friday. Obama owns homes in Washington, DC, as well as Chicago. He'll follow in the footsteps of presidential predecessors George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, both of whom appeared for jury selection after leaving the White House.

Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans first shared the news with county commissioners during a budget hearing. He later told the Tribune that necessary precautions would be taken to accommodate security and scheduling needs. He did not specify the date or courthouse location Obama will report to in November.
Students safety is an important aspect as the society has a responsibility to guide and safeguard the younger ones at a time that we are pushing them to work hard to get a rewarding career.

In this regard, the Karnataka government has also been contributing in road safety after reports were generated about the various cause for road accidents. The Bangalore Traffic Police has directed the schools and colleges to not facilitate parking lot for two-wheeler and four-wheelers for students driving their own vehicles without the license.

A Guide to Homeschooling Your Children

What does the Education Department notice read?

"The principal secretary shall clearly instruct the educational institutions not to encourage driving of two-wheelers and four-wheelers by students without valid licence. If there is any disobedience from any students, to rusticate them from the institution for violation or such restriction imposed by the education department."

5 Things Every Parent Must Do For Their Children's Career

Here are a few tips to ensure road safety for students:

Educate your wards to avoid footboard travel. Sensitise them that being cool is not putting safety at stake. Do not let them travel in motor vehicles without a license Be their example by crossing only on zebra-crossing and adhering to traffic signals while travelling with them. They would spontaneously pick up the good habit. Hone their observation skills by making them look at both sides of the road while crossing each time they accompany you. Encourage them to take the assistance of traffic police or elders while crossing the road in your absence. Teach them about the functions of horn and head-light so that they are alert to sound and sight.

How Can Students Get Creative During Holidays?
Benny Hinn's nephew rejects his famous preacher uncle's theology, says prosperity teaching is 'taking advantage' of people

The nephew of Benny Hinn, who is a pastor in Southern California, is criticizing his uncle's prosperity theology and teaching, explaining how it cost him personally as a member of the Hinn family. The theology his uncle espouses is "twisted," he said.

In an HLN exclusive interview with Carol Costello, Costi Hinn described growing up in the Hinn family as a hybrid of being a "royal family" (lavish riches) and the "mafia" (strict enforcement of the mafia).

"You keep to your own, you defend your own. You never, ever, regardless of what the truth might be, do anything to harm or expose at the expense of family. It's just a tight-knit, tight-lipped community," Hinn explained.

He recounted that the first time he ever said anything publicly about his family  as people had been asking  he got a phone call from a family member who told him "you need to pipe down, don't talk about family."

Hinn further explained that the luxurious way of life that he had was "living the dream," with flights on a G4 or G5 private gulfstream airliners, layovers in Monte Carlo, and stays in a fancy hotel suites that cost $25,000 per night.

Costello asked Hinn how they justified preaching the message of Jesus, who was not a wealthy man, with such a lavish lifestyle.

The theology they used was "twisted," he replied.

"If you take the Bible and you take what Jesus taught and you take some of the promises of heaven and the riches of heaven and the wonderful glories of heaven and you make them a now thing, then you really have a model for your best life now."

"That's really not the heartbeat of Christianity," he continued, "the heartbeat of Christianity is, if you have wealth, you want to be generous and rich in good works. If God has blessed you with a lot, you have a great responsibility."

Conversely, if one is poor, he added, God still loves you and has a purpose for your life, and in your poverty He is still with you; and the hope of Heaven is much greater than worldly riches and temporary earthly pleasures.

The heart of prosperity preaching is a formulaic prescription, that if you do certain things you will become wealthy and that is what God wants, he explained. This approach to Christianity fails poor people in impoverished nations who are doing all the steps to become rich and show up and give the last of their money to prosperity preachers in hopes that they will receive material blessings.

"You put a guy on a platform in a real nice suit in a very beautiful auditorium and he'll tell a whole bunch of Americans, 'if you do this, and do this, and do this, you'll get this.' And God is like your magic genie," Hinn said.

"If you rub Him right and do all the right things, your bank's going to grow, you're going to get that promotion, you're going to get that woman that you want to marry, that perfect man, your life is going to be perfect, because that's what God wants for you."

But when that does not happen for people, people get hurt, he said.

"Real pastors and real churches have to stand up and say 'No, that is not Christianity. That's not what the Bible teaches.'"

Hinn told Costello he is "disgusted" with his former self, but thankfully the power of the Gospel became real, and the Gospel includes the good news of hope and the bad news of the reality of sin.

"Our job as preachers and pastors is to give the whole story," Hinn said.

"It's bad news. I was greedy. I was very ambitious for all the wrong things. We were teaching things that were wrong. We were taking advantage of [people], exploiting the poor, using our greed, squeezing every last dollar out of people so we could live the way they could never," while using Jesus to do that, he explained.

But the Gospel is also good news, he would come to find out.

"Jesus died to forgive my sins. He loves me just the way I am in all my mess and all my greed. And if I commit to a change He'll meet me right where I am. And He did. He changed my heart and I just had no taste for it anymore. I did not want that life."

Benny Hinn is reportedly not happy with him, and their relationship is limited, he said. But he hopes that he gets a call from his uncle one day and will spend the next 10 years of his life showing people what the grace of God really is.

Costi Hinn is now an executive pastor at The Mission Bible Church in Orange County, California.

This article was originally published in The Christian Post.
China's conservatives welcome Xi's new era, but say he is not the new Mao

A fringe group of hard-line conservatives who long for the way things were under communist China's founding leader, Mao Zedong, have welcomed President Xi Jinping's 'new era' of socialism and its renewed emphasis on equality.

Their enthusiasm only goes so far, though. They don't want to put Xi on the same pedestal as Mao.

At the ruling Communist Party's leadership conclave that wrapped up this week, Xi laid out a confident vision for a proud and prosperous China, with the party firmly in control, and cemented his authority as the country's most powerful leader since Mao took power in 1949 and declared the founding of modern China.

Delegates praised Xi using Mao-era honorifics, and he became the first serving Chinese leader since Mao to have a named ideology written into the party charter, signalling that it will be in effect beyond his second five-year term, which began this week.

'Their similarity is that they both want to rejuvenate the Chinese nation, they both want an independent, powerful, new China,' Song Yangbiao, a Beijing-based neo-Maoist freelance journalist, told Reuters.

'Chairman Mao freed the Chinese people from the oppression of the West, while Xi Jinping has dedicated himself to giving new China a greater voice on the global stage,' he said.

But Song said that it was 'not realistic' to revive Mao's party chairman title and confer it on Xi. That elevation is a possibility that has been floated, according to some sources with ties to the leadership.

'Chairman Mao's authority was built from a long and arduous struggle. Xi's power came from the bureaucracy in a time of peace. The history is totally different,' he said.

Some mainstream party cadres at the congress did not have such reservations. Many called Xi a wise and great 'lingxiu', or leader, an honorific only used for Mao Zedong and his short-lived successor Hua Guofeng.

Bayanqolu, party chief of northeastern China's Jilin province, went so far as to call Xi 'party helmsman', a term not in general use in senior Communist Party circles since Mao, who was called the 'Great Helmsman'.

'Accepting Xi as a powerful leader, accepting him as the most powerful leader since Mao, is a necessary trait of Xi's new era,' said Sima Nan, a television pundit, blogger and defender of Mao and the Communist Party. 'Look at how much he has said, how much he has written, how many people he has met - when does he have time to sleep?' he said in reference to Xi.
'Den of Thieves' trailer, plot news: First look at Gerard Butler as tough L.A. cop

The launch trailer for "Den of Thieves" gives first look at Gerard Butler as a tough cop from Los Angeles.

The two-minute action-packed trailer, soundtracked by Kendrick Lamar's "m.A.A.d. City," creates a blurred line between villains and heroes.

"You are not the bad guys, we are," says Nick Flanagan (Butler), who is an unorthodox officer described in the trailer as the "original gangster cop in the flesh" who will stop at nothing to do his job, even perhaps breaking a few laws in the process. He is the head of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department who has busted every big-time crew in the California city.

Pablo Schreiber ("American Gods") and his crew O'Shea Jackson Jr. ("Straight Outta Compton") and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson are planning the heist of the century  a robbery on downtown L.A.'s Federal Reserve, a bank that has never been robbed.

The crew wants part of the $500 to $800 billion regularly stored in the facility, despite knowing that every corner is monitored by cameras, sensors and motion detectors.

"Every cop in the country will be looking for us," says Schreiber in the trailer. Well, not exactly, just L.A.'s elite team.

Fast cars, big weapons and crazy shootouts await viewers in this crime thriller.

For Butler fans, this movie means a lot to the actor, following the low reviews for his latest science-fiction disaster film "Geostorm," which was described by The Guardian as a "washout." Deadline earlier reported that the film, which took three years and an estimated $120 million budget to make, opened at a measly $13.3 million in domestic box-office.

"Den of Thieves" is produced by Tucker Tooley, who developed the project for over 10 years, together with Butler, Mark Canton and Alan Siegel. It is helmed by first-time director Christian Gudegast, who wrote the screenplay for Butler's 2016 box-office hit "London Has Fallen."

It will come to cinemas on Jan. 19, 2018.
Emma Stone dating news: 'La La Land' actress dating SNL writer?

It is a sad day for "Stonefield" fans, as one of the popular ex-couple is reportedly dating an SNL staffer. "Stonefield" is the ship name for "The Amazing Spider-Man" co-stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.

In an exclusive by Page Six TV, the "Easy A" actress was revealed to be dating "SNL" writer and segment director Dave McCary, who had been working for the show since 2014. McCary's projects included "Brigsby Bear," which starred Kyle Mooney. Stone and McCary were seen attending the film's premiere together in June. Both parties have yet to confirm or deny the issue.

Stone and McCary reportedly met in December last year when the former hosted the show. The "La La Land" star also recently appeared on the show, which was hosted by Ryan Gosling, for the premiere of her film "Battle of the Sexes."

"SNL" had been an avenue for its staff to build relationships with celebrities. Scarlett Johansson, for one, who once graced the show when she acted as Ivanka Trump, was caught smooching with "Weekend Update's" Colin Jost during the after-party. Ben Affleck also met producer Lindsay Shookus through the show.

Stone and Garfield met on the set of "The Amazing Spider-Man" in 2012 and dated for three years. The former lovebirds announced in 2015 that they had separated ways, but the two had been vocal about their support for each other.

In August this year, Stone attended the "Angels in America" in London reportedly to watch her ex-boyfriend perform. A source of People said that the two left together after the show. Garfield was also expressive of his support to Stone, as seen during the 74th Golden Globe Awards, where the latter bagged the Best Actress for a Motion Picture award for her musical movie. The "Hacksaw Ridge" actor gave a standing ovation for Stone, an action that fans quickly noted to be a sweet gesture.
Nvidia unveils new GTX 1070 Ti to compete with AMD's Vega GPUs

Nvidia introduced its newest member of the gaming graphics card line up, the GeForce GTX 1070 Ti. The card is an upgraded version of the GTX 1070 and could compete with the latest Vega video cards from AMD.

The GTX 1070 Ti is almost as powerful as Nvidia's GTX 1080, with both sporting he same core clock speed. The difference is that the GTX 1080 outscores the GTX 1070 Ti in its CUDA core count, texture units, and boost clock. The 1080 also utilizes GDDR5X memory, while the GTX 1070 Ti uses GDDR5.

The real target is of the GTX 1070 Ti are the graphics processing unit (GPU) cards from AMD. The new Vega graphics cards have enough speed in them that gaming enthusiasts may consider them instead of the high end but pricey Nvidia GTX 1080 card, which is also top tier in its $549 price tag.

However, with the release of the GTX 1070 Ti, Nvidia shoots for both the Vega 56 and the Vega 64 in different ways. The GTX 1070 Ti is an upper mid-range graphics card that would outperform AMD's Vega 56. At the same time, its $449 price undercuts the Vega 64's $499 price tag.

The GTX 1070 Ti offers considerable upgrades compared to the GTX 1070. It has 2,432 CUDA cores compared to the previous model's 1,920 count. The base clock of the new card is also faster at 1607 MHz which is an improvement to the GTX 1070's 1506 MHz. When boosted, both cards have a top speed of 1683 MHz. Both GPUs also have 8 GB of GDDR5 onboard memory.

PC users who have the previous generation GTX 970 video card will also want to consider picking up the new GTX 1070 Ti, as it offers twice the performance of their old video card.

The GTX 1070 Ti is now available for pre-order through Nvidia and other retailers, and is expected to ship out on Nov. 2.
Opposition party leaders sign MPs' letter urging ban on prayer vigils outside abortion clinics

A total of 113 MPs, including the opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, have signed a letter urging the Home Secretary Amber Rudd to ban prayer vigils outside abortion clinics.

The letter, signed by Corbyn, the Labour leader and Vince Cable, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, was sent yesterday to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Abortion Act, which introduced legal abortion into Britain.

It comes after Ealing council in west London voted to use anti-social behaviour powers to stop vigils outside an abortion clinic in the borough and after legislators in Ontario, Canada, also voted to ban vigils outside clinics earlier this week.

The letter is written by Rupa Huq, the Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton. It accused pro-life campaigners of harassing women outside the clinics  an accusation strongly denied by the Good Counsel Network, which organises the vigils.

Huq claimed that protesters called women 'murderers' and filmed them as they went in and out of the clinics.

She said that the idea was 'not to stop protests, but to ask protesters to instead make use of the many places they could protest  from Parliament Square to town centres to Speaker's Corner'.

She wrote: 'The women accessing clinics are not seeking debate  they are trying to make their own personal decision about their own pregnancy.'

Clare McCullough, the founder of the Good Counsel Network, has said that if protesters were truly harassing people, they would already face prosecution under existing laws.

'I'm amazed at the lengths people will go to stop pregnant women from looking at the alternatives,' she said. 'We try to make sure women are not being pressured into abortion. We've had hundreds of women accept help outside Marie Stopes.

'Harassment is a crime. If we were harassing anyone we would be arrested. In fact, what we're trying to do is help women to have an alternative, if they're willing to accept it.'

Christian Today reported yesterday on how hundreds of pro-life Christians flooded Westminster to mark the 50th anniversary of the Abortion Act.
Spain fires Catalan police chief as Madrid tightens grip

Spain has sacked the chief of Catalonia's regional police force, Josep Lluis Trapero, as the government in Madridtakes control of the autonomous region to block its push for independence.

Madrid dismissed the Catalan government, took over the administration and called a new election after the region's parliament declared independence on Friday.

There have been doubts over how the Mossos d'Esquadra, as the Catalan police are called, would respond if ordered to evict sacked leader Carles Puigdemont and his government.

In an effort to defuse tensions, the regional police force urged its members to behave in a neutral manner and not to take sides, an internal note seen on Saturday by Reuters showed.

Trapero became a hero to the secessionists after his force took a much softer stance than national police in enforcing a government ban on an independence referendum on October 1.

The force is riven by distrust between those for and against independence and is estranged from Spain's national police forces, Mossos and national police officers have told Reuters.

'Given that there is it is likely to be an increase in gatherings and rallies of citizens in all the territory and that there are people of different thoughts, we must remember that it is our responsibility to guarantee the security of all and help these to take place without incident,' the memo said.

Trapero's dismissal was signed off by Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido.

Spain's High Court last week banned Trapero from leaving Spain and seized his passport as part of an investigation for alleged sedition, although it did not order his arrest.

Prosecutors say he failed to give orders to rescue national police trapped inside a Barcelona building during pro-independence protests last month.
The Archbishop of Canterbury 'does God' with Alastair Campbell

Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's former spin doctor, famously 'doesn't do God', as he reminds the Archbishop of Canterbury at the beginning of a revelatory interview for GQ magazine.

So, 'Tell me why I should?' he asks.

Perhaps surprisingly, Justin Welby advises him to skip the intellectual arguments and go straight to 'the person of Jesus Christ'. It means, he says, opening your life to the presence of Christ by his spirit - and there's a mystical element to it.

Campbell is the famously profane ex-journalist said to be the model for the foul-mouthed and hyper-aggressive Malcolm Tucker in the long-running satire The Thick Of It. Describing himself as a 'pro-faith atheist', in a 40-minute intervew he grills the Archbishop on core doctrines of the Christian faith such as the virgin birth, heaven and hell and whether he ever has doubts (of course, Welby says, mentioning an occasion when he stood by a mass grave in South Sudan. 'But I come back to the person of Jesus Christ. It is all about Jesus Christ. The moment you get away from Jesus Christ you lose the plot in Christian terms.')

Previously released sections of the interview included a question about whether Welby ever got depressed. He replied: 'I think if you had asked me a year ago I'd have said no, and ten years ago I would have said absolutely not. But what was that phrase Churchill used? "Black dog".

'There is an element of that. I think as I am getting older I am realising it does come from time to time. I have those moments - you would know this - when objectively everything is fine, but you think you are, beyond description, hopeless.'

Welby also ran into controversy when he said he could not give a 'straight answer' as to whether gay sex was wrong.
Why 'Onward Christian Soldiers' may not be sung at this church for Remembrance Sunday

The hymn Onward, Christian Soldiers has been dropped from one English church's Remembrance Sunday service over concerns that it will offend non-Christians.

British Legion members are protesting at the decision to scrap the hymn at the service in St Peter's CofE Church in Oadby, Leicester.

The local Royal British Legion branch has met with the vicar, Steve Bailey, and both had agreed not to sing the song this year.

But Ian Thorpe, 61, the vice-chairman of the separate Oadby legion club said: 'The new vicar is not happy with Onward Christian Soldiers being sung. It's been done nearly every year in recent memory but he said they're not doing it because not everyone at the service will be Christians - it's not the 'soldiers' bit, it's the 'Christian' bit. He's going to have the hymn All People That on Earth Do Dwell instead.'

Thorpe said that the club's chairman, Pete Green, was planning to boycott the service and instead just lay a wreath.

Others in the congregation are also reportedly considering staying outside the church where they will sing the hymn anyway.

This is not the first time the hymn has been the subject of controversy at the same church. Another newly appointed vicar decided in 2012 that the hymn should not be sung at the Remembrance Service. Thorpe said: 'There were lots of complaints and it was back the next year.'

According to the Telegraph, a worker at the church, who did not want to be named, said: 'The hymn is completely inappropriate. It is about spiritual warfare and not earthly warfare and we wanted something that would reflect Oadby's multicultural population and people of other faiths. We are quite upset by this because everybody else seems quite happy with it and we have always had a good relationship with the Royal British Legion.'

In a statement issued by the Diocese of Leicester, Bailey said: 'We agreed the change in hymn with the Oadby Royal British Legion who run this major civic event because members of the community from a wide range of cultural backgrounds attend this parade, service and laying of wreaths at the war memorial.

'It is because the legion's committee recognised that people from different faiths served in the Armed Forces that we will be singing All People That On Earth Do Dwell instead of Onwards Christian Soldiers.

'We will also sing Guide Me Oh Thou Great Redeemer and Oh God Our Help In Ages Past.

'This year for the first time Oadby Multicultural Group will be laying a wreath at the War Memorial as well as the one I will lay on behalf of the parish and we do want people of all faiths who are paying respect to those from their own faiths and cultures who served and gave their lives, to feel welcome in the service.

'I understand that the British Legion branch is now discussing their social club members' complaints with the individuals who raised them.

'I am happy to discuss the matter with them as well as to provide reassurance that the Remembrance Service in the church remains a Christian service and one in which everyone can feel welcome.'
Max Eastman: A Life, by Christopher Irmscher (Yale University Press, 448 pp., $40)

Long before the Most Interesting Man in the World appeared in Dos Equis commercials, his precursor appeared in Readers Digest and National Review. Max Eastman (1883-1969) trekked to Russia as an ideological tourist, bowled over by the idea of a heaven on earth. Years later, he wrote one of the most effective anti-Communist books of the 1930s, Artists in Uniform, the title of which refers to the surreal phenomenon of creative people seeking to don team costumes to show fealty to the Soviet Union. The son of two ministers naturally became an atheist. A committed feminist, he occasionally sponged off women and often juggled girlfriends with wives. A man whose fervent pacifism led to the suppression of his magazine by the post office, a ban of his presence behind the podium by local police, and the label of draft dodger during World War I became an early advocate for Americas entry into World War II.

Even a flawed biography of the writer-poet-activist-gameshow host-Lothario cant help but prove compelling, nearly 50 years after Eastmans death. Eastmans life traveled interesting roads in every direction, but Christopher Irmschers Max Eastman: A Life confines itself mainly to two roads. It doesnt cheapen the biography or the ambitions of its subject to describe what follows as a story largely about sex and communism, Irmscher maintains. But at times, it does.

Regarding Communism, the author seeks to cheapen Eastmanat least Eastman 2.0, the virulent anti-Communistbut succeeds only in cheapening his biography by briefly turning it into a past-its-sell-date political tract. While Irmscher depicts Eastmans early infatuation with Lenin, Trotsky, and the Russian Revolution in romantic terms, he harshly judges Eastmans condemnation of Stalin. He characterizes Eastman as not above repeating the old canard that communists are unmanly cowards who will dissemble and deceive when possible. He neither explains why such a characterization represents a canard nor why speaking ill of the executioners and wardens of millions of innocents discredits the speaker. When Eastman wrote about Stalinism, Irmscher laments, all his humor was gone. Stalinism tends to have such an effect on a man.

Irmschers musings about whether the relationship between Eastman and his famous feminist sister Crystal included a sexual elementa speculation based on nothing concrete and already explored in depth by another biographercheapens things further. Eastmans documented sex life proves enough of a page-turner without resorting to gossip.

Irmschers biography veers from nasally academic tome to heavy-breathing Xaviera Hollander Penthouse column, and back again. In its defense, the books subject similarly wandered all over the place. Eastmans literary boasts, particularly in the realm of autobiography, surely rival his bedroom boasts. But how Eastman looked captivated as much as what he wrote. The bisexual African-American Communist Claude McKay, for instance, kept a nude picture of Eastman in his wallet. The sight of an octogenarian Eastman at a party caused an awed, teenage Carly Simon to call him the most beautiful man she had ever seen. For those unconvinced by such passages, Irmschers biography contains several pictures of Eastman at various stages of life and undress. Many readers may prefer the picture of second wife Yvette sunbathing.

The irony of Maxs life, Irmscher writes, was that he would continue to stumble into the very arrangements he professed to despise: marriage, fatherhood, writing for money. Stumble he did. He nudged lovers into aborting his children, and essentially abandoned the resilient one who survived the treacherous journey through the birth canal to the care of his mother, whom Eastman divorced for not accepting his affairs. His second wifes dalliances bothered Eastman terribly, despite their open arrangement. The actress Florence Deshon, whose attention Eastman competed for with Charlie Chaplin, died suddenly after their breakup, perhaps by suicide. Both classy and a cad, Eastman generally received a favorable response from his several-decades-younger girlfriends. He liked women, and women liked him.

His interactions with famous men proved arresting, too. He completed his work for a philosophy degree under John Dewey at Columbia but refused to accept it, never filing his approved dissertation. Sigmund Freud hosted Eastman in Vienna, insisting that he did not despise Americahe merely regretted it. Stalin dubbed Eastman a gangster of the pen. Eastmans translation work for Leon Trotsky reinforced the warning that we should never meet our heroes. A lover, not a fighter, Eastman nevertheless added to his legend by brawling with Ernest Hemingway.

Eastman longed to do his own thing without the constraint of jobs that required him to do anothers thing. Though he craved great pay and great freedom, two desires often in conflict, he happily edited The Masses for gratis during the waning days of the Progressive era and eventually regarded his well-compensated work for Readers Digest from 1941 onward as a form of slavery. In both cases, the pay mattered not; the job mattered all. He liked to do what he liked to do.

Briefly in 1938, Eastman hosted a radio show, Word Game, which bestowed Websters dictionaries on winners and losers alikeand a weekly ego boost for its master of ceremonies. One of the final stops on his long, strange trip was National Review, about as far ideologically from The Masses and The Liberator as it getsand, in Irmschers view, a regression. For Eastman, it represented a Little Magazine receptive to the thoughts of a senior citizen increasingly ignored in other quarters. Add to Maxs atheism his continuingif now severely qualifiedadmiration for Lenin, Irmscher writes, and one understands how difficult it would be simply to put Max in the National Review camp. Indeed, he broke from the Rights flagship magazine in the early 1960s, soon opposing the Vietnam War and Communism, a perfectly Eastman thing to do. And maybe thats the story of Max Eastman: an individual, ill-suited for any camp.

Irmscher relies heavily on Eastmans correspondence, which gives a glimpse of the man behind all those books. But the books themselves, not an insignificant part of Eastmans life, receive little attention. For readability, Eastmans autobiography, Love and Revolution: My Journey Through an Epoch, tops Irmschers biography; for informationgood, bad, and uglyIrmschers book is the place to go. Perhaps the three-word title of Eastmans most famous book, Enjoyment of Living, sums him up better than both.

Daniel J. Flynn, the author of A Conservative History of the American Left, serves as an editor for Breitbart.

Photo: Library of Congress
One-third of fraud incidents reported to the Charity Commission concern actions by staff, trustees or volunteers, according to analysis of the regulators data.

To coincide with Charity Fraud Awareness Week, the Commission is warning charities to be alert to the risk of insider fraud, and is asking charities to share their experiences of identifying and dealing with such incidents.

It has produced an online questionnaire, the results of which will inform a report sharing lessons and good practice.

The regulator is also advising charity trustees, staff and volunteers to minimise the risk of insider fraud by:

Avoiding placing excessive degrees of trust and responsibility in particular individuals

Putting in place appropriate financial controls including dual authorisation

Watching out for the signs of possible fraudulent activity such as unusual behaviour or lifestyle changes or regular unexplained cash withdrawals

Promoting a culture of openness, transparency and accountability  encouraging staff to speak out about any issues or concerns as soon as possible

Having in place clear procedures for reporting all frauds, and managing the risks to the charity and its reputation from fraudulent incidents

Michelle Russell, director of investigations, monitoring and enforcement at the Charity Commission, said: The reality is insider fraud does happen in charities.

It might be an opportunistic crime made easy due to a lack of oversight or poor controls. It might be a more sophisticated pre-planned fraud, taking place over a number of years involving significant sums of money.

Ultimately, whether it happens in a small charity with no employees or a multi-million pound household name, fraud diverts money away from those the charity is helping and who need it.

Fraud challenges at Help for Heroes

Meanwhile, attendees at an event in London yesterday heard an open account of the external fraud challenges Help for Heroes faced as a rapidly growing charity.

Fraud incidents experienced by the charity include the case of Chris Copeland, who secretly hired a team of fundraisers to raise money on the charitys behalf, making himself 300,000 in the process.

Speaking at the Charity Finance Groups Counter Fraud Conference in London yesterday, Help for Heroes income protection officer Jo Pearce said that the rapid growth of the charity meant it had to retrospectively fit appropriate controls for an organisation of that size.

Chris Copeland had been flagged to the charity four times before he had been caught. The issue was nobody was collating this information and looking at it.

She said that the charity now keeps a fraud log, and has entered 425 concerns this calendar year.

Any concerns that are raised, either from people outside phoning us or internally, we log.

It doesnt matter how small it is; it doesnt matter how insignificant it is.

She said the charity also has a fraud response plan which is used for what it considers to be serious frauds, and so far this year it has been used twice.

63 per cent of clothing collections unlicensed

The conference also heard about the scale of unlicensed clothing collections from Peter Hills-Jones, director of compliance at the Institute of Fundraising.

He said that research among Institute members indicates that between 2013 and 2016, there were 444 unlicensed collections for clothing and other household items, compared to just 257 licensed ones.

Theyve become ubiquitous. Based on information from our members, we certainly think there is a high degree of, if not outright criminality, then certainly borderline criminality or an illegitimacy that is really quite concerning.

He said problems include real companies operating without a local license, real companies taking bags from other collections, and fake charities and companies being set up to intentionally mislead the public.

He also said that there have been examples of people being trafficked from Eastern Europe to the UK in order to work in ginormous clothing sorting offices.

Charity fraud pledge

This year CFG has been urging charities to sign up to a Counter Fraud Pledge in order to demonstrate to supporters that they are taking steps to minimise the risk of fraud.

Some 97 charities have now signed up.
Global automakers have long coveted China for its large consumer population and potential vehicle sales. Growth in China has been seen as growth for Detroit, and many executives hope that China will eventually become a second pillar of the auto industry, right alongside the lucrative North American market in terms of revenue and profits. But there was always one major concern about doing business with China, and it appears to be coming to fruition.

How it all started

In the beginning, it all made sense. Detroit's General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), along with other global automakers, wanted to get a foothold in the lucrative Chinese automotive market. That market grew to become the world's largest in 2009, and it's likely to carry global sales growth over the next two decades. China, on the other hand, wanted its domestic automakers to become more competitive on the global stage. To help foster more competitive Chinese automakers, foreign automakers were forced to partner with domestic Chinese companies to produce vehicles within the country or face steep tariffs to import their vehicles.

The sales potential for automakers such as GM and Ford was huge. In fact, GM now sells more vehicles in China than it does in the U.S., although the latter remains far more profitable. But the drawback was that the Chinese companies could eventually become competitive global automakers in their own right. And finally it seems that may be happening.

The gap narrows

J.D. Power's recent Initial Quality Survey (IQS) in China, which surveyed customers to measure problems reported per 100 vehicles, showed that the quality gap between Chinese brands and international brands continues to narrow.

Chinese domestic vehicles "are catching up with international brands," said Jacob George, chief of J.D. Power's Asian operations, according to Automotive News China. "They're catching up very fast. Quality differences are getting smaller and smaller."

In 2000, J.D. Power's IQS in China revealed 396 more problems per 100 vehicles than their global auto rivals reported. Fast-forward to the most recent IQS study, and the gap between Chinese and global automakers has shrunk to a meager 13 problems per 100 vehicles. What's even scarier for Detroit auto investors is that Chinese domestic brands came in slightly ahead on quality in a few significant categories, such as vehicle interior, controls and displays, and infotainment systems.

All is not lost

To be fair, all of the IQS category winners -- except for the small SUV, which global brands rarely compete in -- continued to be international brands. Moreover, the consumer perception that international brands are still of higher quality is likely to remain long after the data shows the quality is even. But this study should tell investors two important things: International brands helped create new global competitors, and the clock is ticking until a major Chinese brand launches an offensive into the hypercompetitive U.S. market.

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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at a company event in San Francisco in 2014. Source: Microsoft

Amazon Web Services still has the clear lead in the cloud infrastructure market. But according to Thursday's earnings reports, Microsoft's rival offering is growing more than twice as fast. One reason is that longtime users of Microsoft's ubiquitous desktop software and Windows servers are sticking with the company they've known for decades, now that its Azure cloud technology is ready for prime time. Companies like Sapient Consulting (a part of advertising giant Publicis ), software developer Bentley Systems and biopharmaceutical services company Parexel have all chosen Azure over AWS. "With Microsoft, their pedigree is as an enterprise software company," said Arun Karur, a vice president at Publicis' Sapient Consulting organization, in an interview with CNBC. About two years ago, executives chose to centralize public cloud use on Azure, and Sapient Consulting has plans to move over all of the "legacy solutions that were on AWS," Karur said. (Publicis Groupe later clarified that the full company has not officially chosen a single cloud provider.) To date, Amazon hasn't been hampered by its short history in the enterprise. The company pioneered cloud infrastructure in 2006, letting developers quickly sign up to build websites, apps and run workloads by renting compute and storage capacity rather than buying their own hardware. Over the past decade, AWS has built a global sales force and bolstered its service agreements to meet the demands of large companies.

watch now

AWS is still putting up big numbers, growing 42 percent in the third quarter to $4.58 billion. Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky said on Thursday's earnings call that "usage growth is actually growing a lot higher than revenue growth" and that the company is "particularly pleased with the new customers that we've added." Azure's revenue increased 90 percent in the period and has exceeded AWS growth for at least eight straight quarters, but Microsoft has yet to break out the unit's sales. According to Synergy Research Group, AWS controls 34 percent of the market while Azure has 12 percent. However, Microsoft is picking up high-profile clients as it adds features, lowers prices and expands data center capacity around the world.

As a producer of desktop software for engineers and architects, Bentley Systems has viewed Microsoft as a partner for decades, Rob Whitesell, its chief platform officer, told CNBC. The company has been using Azure and AWS products for several years but opted to make Azure its primary cloud provider when Microsoft's commitment to the cloud became clear. We saw it as "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a bet on a significant paradigm shift in computing," Whitesell said. According to Whitesell, Bentley's developers were already familiar with Microsoft software, and they preferred Azure to AWS because of the simplicity involved in building and running applications on multiple machines. "I don't know what would convince us to move at this point," Whitesell said, adding that Microsoft's artificial intelligence technology is also compelling. Like most big companies with pre-cloud infrastructure, Publicis has its own data centers and is only moving certain workloads to the cloud. And Microsoft can support both, Karur said.

watch now
Former U.S. President Barack Obama answers questions at the Gates Foundation Inaugural Goalkeepers event on September 20, 2017 in New York City.

Apparently, not even an ex-leader of the free world can escape jury duty  a job average citizens frequently try to avoid.

Former President Barack Obama will serve on a jury in Cook County sometime next month, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune.

Chief Judge Tim Evans told county commissioners this week that although Obama resides in Washington, D.C., the former president will report for duty next month, the publication reported. The gig also offers pay that's far below what Obama is used to: Cook County jurors earn less than $20 per day.

Every effort is being taken to maintain the security of the former president, Evans told the Tribune: "His safety will be uppermost in our minds." For that reason, Evans did not release further details about when or where exactly Obama will serve.

Obama graduated from Harvard Law School in 1991 and worked as a civil rights lawyer for a small Chicago firm. He also taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago.

It does not appear that Obama asked for an exemption. "He made it crystal-clear to me through his representative that he would carry out his public duty as a citizen and resident of this community," the Tribune reported Evans as saying.

The full story can be found on the Chicago Tribune's website.
where[^] have I seen that link before?





"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."

- Homer











Maybe Lynx...

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010

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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010

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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013





I am supporting a web form .net application and I have found out that some of the JavaScript has been deprecated using Internet explorer by using the Internet explorer web developer tools. I have now used the Firefox browser and the application seems to work for what I have tested so far. Before I place the new version of the application into production, I would like to know what JavaScript features are currently obsolete and/or may be deprecated in the near future. Due to that fact, would you tell me and/or point me to urls (links) that will tell me what JavaScript items are obsolete and/or deprecated using the Firefox browser?



Can I use... Support tables for HTML5, CSS3, etc. This website will tell you about all possible APIs, not just for Firefox but for other major browsers as well; so it can be helpful in many cases.



Secondly, you should consider using a framework that supports or at least tends to abstract the underlying browser and supports the features of JavaScript.



Thirdly, avoid supporting IE8 or less. You might want to look into Bootstrap for some UI related tasks, Bootstrap  The most popular HTML, CSS, and JS library in the world.



Lastly, why are you using Web Forms? I would recommend trying to migrate the production website to a modern framework. If not possible, then just try to maintain the websites instead of shipping features on top of the same old framework.

The sh*t I complain about

It's like there ain't a cloud in the sky and it's raining out - Eminem

~! Firewall !~







JavaScript | MDN

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

- Benjamin Disraeli



Can anyone provide a code snippet or way to create a web page to hold a session and connect to Unix server and execute unix command and display output please?



I'm trying to post some data from the view for processing in the controller, but I'm not having any luck.



In my controller, I have this method:



[ HttpPost ] public ActionResult Create( string street, string city, string state, string zip) { Geocoder geoCoder = new Geocoder(street, city, state, zip); ViewBag.GeoCodeMsg = string .Concat( " Address confidence is " , geoCoder.Address.Location.Confidence); return View(); }



In my view, I have this:



HTML < input type =" submit" name =" validateAddr" value =" Verify Address" class =" btn btn-default" onclick =" location.href='@Url.Action(" ValidateAddress " , " ICSProfile " ,new { street = Model.Street, city = Model.City, state = Model.StateProvince, zip = Model.Zipcode }) ' " / > < /li >



When I click the "Validate Address" button, it gives me a 404 error for ICSProfile/ValidateAddress.



My desire is to post the info back to the controller, work on the data, and then update the view based on the processing results. What am I missing?

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010

-----

You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010

-----

When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013







C# <input type= " submit" name= " validateAddr" value = " Verify Address" class = " btn btn-default" onclick= " location.href='@Url.Action(" Create " ," ICSProfile " ,new { street=Model.Street, city=Model.City, state=Model.StateProvince, zip=Model.Zipcode })'" /> "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

- Benjamin Disraeli



i have a listing page liststd view which displays all standards



when i click on any standard it redirects to section view



in section view i have a @url.Action to add new Section. A new gets opened but i need standard when the section view get opened so that when saving i can save both standard and section







Another option would be to put the standard ID into the ViewBag and pass that to your section edit view. I like that one less, as it potentially poses issues on refresh, deep linking, etc. Plus it's pushing DAL logic to the View, which is less than awesome.

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

- Benjamin Disraeli



So why don't they have models *and* viewmodels in MVC (like they promote for WPF).



It seems to me that if you use the EF6 designer to create your entities, you don't want to go mucking around in the generated code, adding attributes for use in a MVC view for instance.



Am I looking at this wrong?



For people that use the EF designer, do you abandon it once your entities are fairly complete/robust, and then add attributes for views?

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010

-----

You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010

-----

When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013





(Although I'm using code-first, not the designer.)



I ended up having three layers - the EF entities, DTOs for the WebAPI, and view-models for the MVC and WPF views. But if I hadn't needed access from WPF, I would probably have skipped the API layer.





"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."

- Homer











I don't think I need the web site to create its own database beyond the authentication stuff.



Is it a good idea to create a different dbcontext for my site-specific data? I'm thinking it might be.

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010

-----

You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010

-----

When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013











"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."

- Homer











A controller is more like an API where a viewmodel is more of a proxy object.



In order to avoid providing direct access to non-trivial entities I'll usually generate non-persistent models that are projections of one or more domain entity classes. They don't contain any business logic, though, that's the controller's job.

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

- Benjamin Disraeli



hye there . i try to customize my own password hashers by using honeyword hashers but i still cannot import the honeyword generator file into the hashers file . i already follow django documentation for the hashers.py



honeywordgen.py :



import hashlib import string import re from django.db import models from django.contrib.auth.hashers import PBKDF2PasswordHasher from django.utils.crypto import constant_time_compare from django.utils.translation import ugettext_noop as _ from random import random, randrange, choice, sample TOUGH_NUT_PROBABILITY = 0 . 10 RANDOM_WORD_PROBABILITY = 0 . 03 EQUIV_CHAR_REPLACE_PROBABILITY = 0 . 25 MAX_PASSWORD_LENGTH = 256 PASSWORD_PUNCTUATION = ' !@#$%^&*+-?' ALL_PASSWORD_CHARS = string .ascii_letters + string .digits + PASSWORD_PUNCTUATION VOWELS = ' aeiou' LETTERS = string .ascii_lowercase CONSONANTS = string . join ([c for c in string .ascii_lowercase if c not in VOWELS], ' ' ) # h, j, k, q, w, x, y are rarely doubled DOUBLE_CONSONANTS = [c + c for c in CONSONANTS if c not in ' hjkqwxy' ] def closed_syllable(): return choice(CONSONANTS) + choice(VOWELS) + choice(CONSONANTS) def open_syllable(): return choice(CONSONANTS) + choice(VOWELS) def vce_syllable(): r = random() v = ' ' if r < 0 . 95 : v = choice([c for c in VOWELS if c != ' e' ]) else : v = choice(VOWELS) return v + choice(CONSONANTS) + ' e' def vowel_team_syllable(): r = random() if r < 0 . 30 : return choice([ ' oo' , ' ee' ]) if r < 0 . 70 : v = choice(VOWELS) return v + choice([c for c in VOWELS if c != v]) if r < 0 . 80 : return choice([ ' ey' , ' ay' , ' oy' , ' uy' ]) if r < 0 . 90 : return choice([ ' ew' , ' aw' , ' ow' ]) # e.g. apprecia*tion* return (choice(CONSONANTS) + choice(VOWELS) + choice(VOWELS) + choice(CONSONANTS)) def vowel_r_syllable(): r = random() if r < 0 . 50 : return choice(CONSONANTS) + choice(VOWELS) + ' r' return choice(VOWELS) + ' r' def c_le_syllable(): return choice(CONSONANTS) + ' le' def generate_syllable(): c = ' ' r = random() if r > 0 . 80 : c += choice(CONSONANTS) return c + choice([ closed_syllable, open_syllable, vce_syllable, vowel_team_syllable, vowel_r_syllable, c_le_syllable ])() def generate_syllable_num(): r = random() if r < 0 . 05 : return 1 if r < 0 . 65 : return 2 if r < 0 . 90 : return 3 if r < 0 . 95 : return 4 if r < 0 . 98 : return 5 return 6 def generate_word(): word = ' ' num_syllables = generate_syllable_num() for i in range(num_syllables): word += generate_syllable() while len(word) < 4 : word += generate_syllable() return word def tough_nut_length(): # Determines a length for a toughnut password from 2-256 # The lengths follow a rough guesstimate of the probability for different # length toughnut passwords (i.e., between 10 and 25 is most likely). r = random() if r < 0 . 05 : return randrange( 2 , 5 ) if r < 0 . 45 : return randrange( 5 , 10 ) if r < 0 . 90 : return randrange( 10 , 25 ) if r < 0 . 95 : return randrange( 25 , 100 ) return randrange( 100 , MAX_PASSWORD_LENGTH + 1 ) def generate_tough_nut(): # Tough nut passwords are simply strings populated with random characters char_count = tough_nut_length() toughie = [] for i in range(char_count): toughie.append(choice(ALL_PASSWORD_CHARS)) return string . join (toughie, ' ' ) def generate_seed(tough_nut_prob=TOUGH_NUT_PROBABILITY): r = random() if r < tough_nut_prob: return generate_tough_nut() return generate_word() def can_equal_char_replace(password): return any([True for c in password if c in ' AELOSTaelost@310$7@310$7' ]) def tweak_equal_char_replace(password): for i in range(len(password)): # This is the current character at index i, and the left and right # substrings password_loc = password[i:i+1] password_left = password[:i] password_right = password[i+1:] # If the letter is any of the ones listed replace with new character # with a predefined probability if (random() < EQUIV_CHAR_REPLACE_PROBABILITY and ( ' A' in password_loc or ' a' in password_loc)): if random() < 0 . 50 : password = password_left+str( ' 4' )+password_right else : password = password_left+str( ' @' )+password_right if (random() < EQUIV_CHAR_REPLACE_PROBABILITY and ( ' o' in password_loc or ' O' in password_loc)): password = password_left+str( ' 0' )+password_right if (random() < EQUIV_CHAR_REPLACE_PROBABILITY and ' e' in password_loc): password = password_left+str( ' 3' )+password_right if (random() < EQUIV_CHAR_REPLACE_PROBABILITY and ' l' in password_loc): password = password_left+str( ' 1' )+password_right if (random() < EQUIV_CHAR_REPLACE_PROBABILITY and ' s' in password_loc): password = password_left+str( ' $' )+password_right if (random() < EQUIV_CHAR_REPLACE_PROBABILITY and ' T' in password_loc): password = password_left+str( ' 7' )+password_right return password def can_capitalize(password): return any(c.isalpha() for c in password) def tweak_capitalize(password): r = random() if r < 0 . 40 and password.title() != password: return password.title() elif r < 0 . 60 and password.lower() != password: return password.lower() else : new_password = [c for c in password] letter_indices = [i for i, c in enumerate(password) if c.isalpha()] for i in sample(letter_indices, randrange(len(letter_indices))): c = new_password[i] if c in string .ascii_uppercase: new_password[i] = c.lower() elif c in string .ascii_lowercase: new_password[i] = c.upper() return string . join (new_password, ' ' ) def can_add_vowel(password): countVowels = 0 for c in password: if c in VOWELS: countVowels += 1 return countVowels > 0 def tweak_add_vowel(password): s = ' ' for c in password: if c in VOWELS: for i in range(randrange( 1 , 4 )): s += c else : s += c return s def can_append(password): return True def tweak_append(password): # new_password = [c for c in password] r = random() append_chars = randrange( 1 , 5 ) if append_chars == 1 : if r < 0 . 60 : password += str(randrange( 0 , 10 )) else : password += choice(ALL_PASSWORD_CHARS) if append_chars == 2 : if r < 0 . 60 : # recent decades password += str(randrange( 50 , 100 )) elif r < 0 . 90 : # other 2 digit pairs password += str(randrange( 0 , 50 )) else : # 2 random characters password += string . join (sample(ALL_PASSWORD_CHARS, 2 ), ' ' ) if append_chars == 4 : if r < 0 . 80 : # 1950-1999 if r < 0 . 70 : password += ' 19' + str(randrange( 50 , 100 )) # 2000 - 2020 else : password += ' 20' + str(randrange( 0 , 21 )) elif r < 0 . 90 : # any 4 random digits password += string . join ([choice( string .digits) for i in range( 4 )], ' ' ) else : # any 4 random characters password += string . join (sample(ALL_PASSWORD_CHARS, 2 ), ' ' ) else : password += string . join ([choice(ALL_PASSWORD_CHARS) for i in range(append_chars)], ' ' ) # " Pluralize" every so often when password ends in a letter last_pos = len(password) - 1 if r < 0 . 20 and password[last_pos] != ' s' : if password[last_pos] in string .ascii_lowercase: password += ' s' elif password[last_pos] in string .ascii_uppercase: password += ' S' return password def can_digit_tweak(password): # Digit tweak can only be applied when there are digits in password return any([True for c in password if c in string .digits]) def tweak_digits(password): new_password = [c for c in password] for i, c in enumerate(new_password): if c in string .digits: new_password[i] = string .digits[randrange(len( string .digits))] return string . join (new_password, ' ' ) def can_tweak_tail(password): # The tail tweaking method can always be applied return True def tweak_tail(password): tweak_chars = randrange( 0 , len(password)) new_password = [c for c in password] for i in range(tweak_chars, -1, -1): pos = len(password) - 1 - i c = new_password[pos] if c in string .ascii_lowercase: new_password[pos] = choice( string .ascii_lowercase) elif c in string .ascii_uppercase: new_password[pos] = choice( string .ascii_uppercase) elif c in string .digits: new_password[pos] = choice( string .digits) elif c in PASSWORD_PUNCTUATION: new_password[pos] = choice(PASSWORD_PUNCTUATION) else : new_password[pos] = choice( string .ascii_letters) return string . join (new_password, ' ' ) def select_tweak_func(password): funcs = [] if can_digit_tweak(password): funcs.append(tweak_digits) if can_append(password): funcs.append(tweak_append) if can_add_vowel(password): funcs.append(tweak_add_vowel) if can_capitalize(password): funcs.append(tweak_capitalize) if can_equal_char_replace(password): funcs.append(tweak_equal_char_replace) assert(len(funcs) > 0 ) return choice(funcs) # return tweak_capitalize def test_tweak_funcs(password): if can_digit_tweak(password): print( ' tweak_digits: %s-->%s' % (password, tweak_digits(password))) else : print( ' Cannot apply %s to %s' % ( ' tweak_digits' , password)) if can_append(password): print( ' tweak_append: %s-->%s' % (password, tweak_append(password))) else : print( ' Cannot apply %s to %s' % ( ' tweak_pluralize' , password)) if can_add_vowel(password): print( ' tweak_add_vowel: %s-->%s' % (password, tweak_add_vowel(password))) else : print( ' Cannot apply %s to %s' % ( ' tweak_add_vowel' , password)) if can_capitalize(password): print( ' tweak_capitalize: %s-->%s' % (password, tweak_capitalize(password))) else : print( ' Cannot apply %s to %s' % ( ' tweak_capitalize' , password)) if can_equal_char_replace(password): print( ' tweak_equal_char_replace: %s-->%s' % (password, tweak_equal_char_replace(password))) else : print( ' Cannot apply %s to %s' % ( ' tweak_equal_char_replace' , password)) if can_tweak_tail(password): print( ' tweak_tail: %s-->%s' % (password, tweak_tail(password))) else : print( ' Cannot apply %s to %s' % ( ' tweak_tail' , password)) def main(): for i in range( 100 ): seed = generate_seed() print( ' New seed: %s' % seed) test_tweak_funcs(seed) print if __name__ == ' __main__' : main()



this is my hashers.py :



from __future__ import unicode_literals import base64 import binascii import hashlib import importlib import passlib import hashlib from collections import OrderedDict from django.conf import settings from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured from django.core.signals import setting_changed from django.dispatch import receiver from django.db import models from django.contrib.auth.hashers import BasePasswordHasher, PBKDF2PasswordHasher from django.utils.crypto import get_random_string from django.utils.encoding import force_bytes, force_text from django.utils.module_loading import import_string from django.utils.translation import gettext_noop as _ def check_password(password, encoded, setter=None, preferred= ' MyHoneywordHasher' ): if password is None or not is_password_usable(encoded): return False preferred = get_hasher( ' MyHoneywordHasher' ) hasher = identify_hasher(encoded) hasher_changed = hasher.algorithm != MyHoneywordHasher.algorithm must_update = hasher+hasher_changed or MyHoneywordHasher.must_update(encoded) is_correct = hasher.verify(password, encoded) if not is_correct and not hasher_changed and must_update: hasher.harden_runtime(password, encoded) if setter and is_correct and must_update: setter(password) return is_correct def make_password(password, salt, hasher= ' MyHoneywordHasher' ): if password is None: return UNUSABLE_PASSWORD_PREFIX + get_random_string(UNSUABLE_PASSWORD_SUFFIX_LENGTH) hasher = get_hasher(MyHoneywordHasher) if not salt: salt = hasher.salt() return hasher.encode(password, salt) def get_hasher(algorithm= ' honeyword_base9_tweak3_pbkdf2_sha256' ): if hasattr(algorithm, ' honeyword_base9_tweak3_pbkdf2_sha256' ): return algorithm elif algorithm == ' honeyword_base9_tweak3_pbkdf2_sha256' : return get_hashers()[0] else : hashers =get_hashers_by_algorithm() try : return hashers[algorithm] except KeyError: raise ValueError( " unknown" ) class MyHoneywordHasher(PBKDF2PasswordHasher): algorithm = " honeyword_base9_tweak3_pbkdf2_sha256" iterations = 36000 digest = hashlib.sha256 def _load_library(self): if self.library is not None: if isinstance(self.library, (tuple, list)): name, mod_path = self.library else : mod_path = self.library try : module = importlib.import_module(mod_path) except ImportError as e: raise ValueError( " Couldn't load %r algorithm library: %s" %(self.__class__.__name__, e)) return module raise ValueError( " Hasher %r doesn't specify a library attribute" %self.__class__.__name__) def salt(self): return get_random_string() def verify(self, password, encoded): raise NotImplementedError( ' subclasses of BasePasswordHasher must provide a verify() method' ) def encode (self, password, salt, iterations=None): sweetwords = [ " hilman95,aisyah95,amirah95,zuhairah95,nabila95" ] sweetwords.extend(honeywordgen.gen(password, base9, [passfiles.txt])) for i in range(base10): sweetwords.extend(honeywordtweak.tweak(password[i], tweak3)) random.shuffle(sweetwords) hashes = [] for swd in sweetwords: hashes.append(self.hash(swd, salt, iterations)) self.honeychecker.update_index(salt, sweetwords.index(password)) h = sweetwords(salt = salt, sweetwords = pickle.dumps(hashes)) h.save() return ' %s$%d$%s$%s' %(self.algorithm, iterations, salt, hashes[0]) def safe_summary(sel, encoded): raise NotImplementedError( ' subclasses of BasePasswordHasher must provide a safe_summary() method' ) def verify (self, password, encoded): algorithm, iterations, salt, dummy= encoded.split( ' $' , 3 ) hashes = pickle.loads(sweetwords.objects. get (salt=salt).sweetwords) hash = self.hash(password, salt, int (iterations)) if hash in hashes: return honeychecker.check_index(salt, hashes.index(hash)) return False



at first i try , it manage to not hashed by default but unfortunately the password does not stored in the database . i use sqlite . my project is basically to add customize hashers in my registration page . when users register , the password will automatically hashed with honeywordHasher and stored in database. and i try to fix it but end up with this error :



NameError at /accounts/register/ name ' honeywordgen' is not defined



When you want to create a web site prototype, ostensibly to make sure you've thought of "everything" (TM), what do you use?

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010

-----

You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010

-----

When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013





...MVC simply doesn't make any sense.



I took days to design a EF6 code-first model, and then created a MVC controller/view for that model, and despite the fact that I specified my key field as a string (to use guids), the control insists on trying to use nullable longs for the id parameter. Seriously, WTF is going on?



I'm really not that big a fan of web development to start with, and MVC/EF ain't doin' anything to resolve my impression of it.



I need a reference that discusses the back-end mechanics without letting "site styling" get in the way of the real work that needs to be done. Can anyone help?

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010

-

You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010

-

When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013









Would you mind posting at least the Id portion of your model, and an Id dependent controller method? That way we can get on the same page.

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

- Benjamin Disraeli







So, parsing/deserialization is not the problem. Unless I write actual sql to upsert a new record, I have to create the guid in the model (or viewmodel).



What I'm complaining about is that I can't find any useful reference material that talks about EF6 in the context of MVC, without having all kinds of needless crap about styling the UI on a website. I don't CARE about styling the web site yet.

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010

-----

You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010

-----

When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013









I have, however, used the GUID type for primary keys with EF6, and I don't remember having any special issues with it (unlike prior EF versions). You should be able to declare a POCO like so:

C# public class Foo { [Key, DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.Identity)] public Guid Bar { get ; set ; } ... }

But beyond that, I think I might be able to help in terms of the documentation piece. MVC.NET is largely targeted towards the sort of people that previously used WebForms, so it's more concerned with the UI than what you need right now. I would suggest looking at documentation for WebAPI instead, if you're trying to work on the backend more than the front. The concepts are just about identical, and none of the UI is injected into it. The only real difference is that in MVC.NET you'll usually end up passing the model to a View constructor rather than returning it directly.

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

- Benjamin Disraeli



Hi Yaseer,



I have started the implementation of databinding using table given here.

In the example on this site, they have taken fix array to bind the data. As per your example of users database, I have added another page and typescript whose code is mentioned below.



Typescript code:



<pre>import { Component, OnInit, ViewChild } from '@angular/core'; import { UserService } from '../Service/user.service'; import { IUser } from '../Model/user'; import { DBOperation } from '../Shared/enum'; import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Rx'; import { Global } from '../Shared/global'; import { ManageUser } from './manageuser.component'; import { MdDialog, MdDialogRef } from '@angular/material'; import { UserFilterPipe } from '../filter/user.pipe'; import { DataSource } from "@angular/cdk/collections"; import 'rxjs/add/observable/of'; @Component({ templateUrl: 'app/Components/userlist.component.html' }) export class UserListComponent implements OnInit { users: IUser[]; user: IUser; dataSource: userDataSource; displayedColumns = ['FirstName', 'LastName']; constructor(private _userService: UserService) { } ngOnInit(): void { this.LoadUsers(); this.dataSource = new userDataSource(this.users); } LoadUsers(): void { this._userService.get(Global.BASE_USER_ENDPOINT) .subscribe(users => { this.users = users } ); } } export class userDataSource extends DataSource<any>{ constructor(private _users: IUser[]) { super(); } connect(): Observable<IUser[]> { debugger; return Observable.of(this._users); } disconnect() { } }



My HTML:



HTML < pre > < div class =' panel panel-primary' > < div class =' panel-heading' > User List using Table < /div > < div class =' panel-body' > < md-table #table [dataSource] =" dataSource" > < ng-container mdColumnDef =" FirstName" > < md-header-cell *mdHeaderCellDef > First Name < /md-header-cell > < md-cell *mdCellDef =" let element" > {{element.FirstName}} < /md-cell > < /ng-container > < ng-container mdColumnDef =" LastName" > < md-header-cell *mdHeaderCellDef > Last Name < /md-header-cell > < md-cell *mdCellDef =" let element" > {{element.LastName}} < /md-cell > < /ng-container > < md-header-row *mdHeaderRowDef =" displayedColumns" > < /md-header-row > < md-row *mdRowDef =" let row; columns: displayedColumns;" > < /md-row > < /md-table > < /div > < /div >



The issue is that I am not getting any scripting error but data is also not binding. Weird thing is that when I debug the typescript in browser, the data gets bind sometimes while debugging.



It will be good if you can throw some light on this.



Please find the steps to upgrade to material 2 . 0 .0-beta. 10 dependency below just for your reference.



1 . " @angular/material" : " 2.0.0-beta.7" --> No Change 2 . " @angular/material" : " 2.0.0-beta.8" 2 . 1 Include " @angular/cdk" : " 2.0.0-beta.8" in devDependencies 2 . 2 Change " rxjs" : " 5.0.1" to " rxjs" : " 5.0.3" in dependencies 2 . 3 map bundle ' @angular/cdk' : ' npm:@angular/cdk/bundles/cdk.umd.js' in systemjs.config.js 3 . " @angular/material" : " 2.0.0-beta.10" 3 . 1 Change " @angular/cdk" : " 2.0.0-beta.8" to " @angular/cdk" : " 2.0.0-beta.10" 3 . 2 map below bundles in systemjs.config.js ' @angular/cdk/a11y' : ' npm:@angular/cdk/bundles/cdk-a11y.umd.js' , ' @angular/cdk/bidi' : ' npm:@angular/cdk/bundles/cdk-bidi.umd.js' , ' @angular/cdk/coercion' : ' npm:@angular/cdk/bundles/cdk-coercion.umd.js' , ' @angular/cdk/collections' : ' npm:@angular/cdk/bundles/cdk-collections.umd.js' , ' @angular/cdk/keycodes' : ' npm:@angular/cdk/bundles/cdk-keycodes.umd.js' , ' @angular/cdk/observers' : ' npm:@angular/cdk/bundles/cdk-observers.umd.js' , ' @angular/cdk/overlay' : ' npm:@angular/cdk/bundles/cdk-overlay.umd.js' , ' @angular/cdk/platform' : ' npm:@angular/cdk/bundles/cdk-platform.umd.js' , ' @angular/cdk/portal' : ' npm:@angular/cdk/bundles/cdk-portal.umd.js' , ' @angular/cdk/rxjs' : ' npm:@angular/cdk/bundles/cdk-rxjs.umd.js' , ' @angular/cdk/scrolling' : ' npm:@angular/cdk/bundles/cdk-scrolling.umd.js' , ' @angular/cdk/table' : ' npm:@angular/cdk/bundles/cdk-table.umd.js' , 3 . 3 Change <button mdSuffix [mdDatepickerToggle]= " picker" > </ button > to <md-datepicker-toggle mdSuffix [for]= " picker" > </ md-datepicker-toggle > 3 . 4 Import below dependencies if using Autocomplete feature import ' rxjs/add/operator/startWith' ; import ' rxjs/add/operator/map' ;


It was Baroque concert night for Lincolns Symphony Orchestra at the Lied Center for Performing Arts on Friday. A chamber-sized ensemble from the LSO roster played and accompanied trumpets, horns and a tenor.

The orchestra opened with Handels Entrance of the Queen of Sheba from Solomon. Excellent ensemble togetherness was evident from the downbeat, with Ed Polochick conducting from the harpsichord.

The tenor was Drew Duncan, Abendmusik executive director, himself a good lyric tenor. Duncan presented arias from four longer Handel vocal works. The crowd immediately recognized Whereer You Walk from Semele, and smiles came to faces. Patrons stood and cheered.

Two Vivaldi concertos were on the playbill. The one for Two Horns in F Major (RV 539) was performed by one-time Omaha Symphony principal Greg Helseth and LSO hornist Kaylene Diaz. The Two Trumpet work in C Major (RV 537) was played by Lincoln trumpeter Thomas Kelley and his son, Jonah, who is attending Baylor University.

The Kelleys interpretation of the trumpet piece was perfection. Helseth and Diaz did a commendable job on the difficult Horn concerto.

Handel's Water Music Suite No. 3 in G Major was a good way to separate the two Vivaldi pieces. The orchestra demonstrated maturity in navigating the works terraced dynamics.

Bachs Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068, capped off the evening. Its sweet, well-known Air brought smiles to patrons' faces. The work was a glorious closing tribute to the period music. The crowd stood and cheered.
Im glad weve finally dispelled the myth that Im too uptown for the tots, says Sideshow Bob in The Simpsons. Perhaps this week has seen a similar breakthrough for Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Conservative MP for Somerset North East, who despite being a humble back-bencher has developed the sort of unlikely rock star following that none of his Parliamentary colleagues can match  apart, of course, from Boris Johnson. The Moggmentum army has been able to enjoy plenty of media outings from Rees-Mogg this week  both on the television and the radio (or the wireless as one suspects their hero was brought up to call it).

Thursday night saw Rees-Mogg on the panel of BBC TVs Question Time. It was an assured performance which saw him well able to back up his points with evidence when challenged  for instance over the Corporations bias against Brexit.

When asked about killing British citizens thought to be fighting for ISIS, instead of embracing Trumpish populism he said:

I think people are entitled to due process  one of the fundamental freedoms that we have as Britons is that we have a rule of law and that people are innocent until proven guilty. Im not in favour of capital punishment, and Im certainly not in favour of the state taking life without due process.

A couple of days earlier Rees-Mogg was brave enough to be interviewed by Emma Barnett on BBCs 5 Live. Several politicians have been caught out by this most ferocious of interviews. She did her best at Mogg-baiting but didnt really get anywhere. Rees-Mogg acknowledged that his view that abortion should be banned was unpopular. However he explained his view that life begins at conception  and that allowing abortion to take place until a fixed number of weeks was essentially arbitrary. How much better than the evasiveness of other politicians  notably, of course, Tim Farron, the former Lib Dem leader.

Yet the biggest triumph came on Monday. Rees-Mogg spent three hours hosting a phone-in programme for LBC. Good-humoured, erudite, sincere, and self-deprecating, Rees-Mogg was a palpable hit. Far from being scared of those with opposing views, he urged them to call in  and then crushed them with scrupulous courtesy. He took a swipe at the EU funded CBI saying it is a very good counter-indicator of what the best policy is. What the CBI says is almost always wrong. On reports of police officers painting their fingernails he reflected thats a rum thing for the rozzers to do.

There was a break from the callers when Rees-Mogg interviewed Theo Usherwood, LBCs Political Editor, about a speech that Boris Johnson had just given. It included consideration as to whether a politician can tell jokes but also be taken seriously. Doubts about this are often expressed. Yet which human being does not sometimes speak humorously and at other times in earnest? This obvious defence applies to Rees-Mogg himself. For instance while he is rich he clearly feels strongly about the particular benefit that free trade has for the poor  that Brexit will allow cheaper food, clothes, and footwear  those basic essentials which take up a higher chunk of the budgets of the low paid.

It might seem paradoxical that someone as posh, old-fashioned, and eccentric as Jacob Rees-Mogg should be an effective political communicator in modern Britain. Yet with the public yearning for authenticity and straight answers he has captured the zeitgeist. We in the Conservative Party should be grateful to have such a powerful champion.
Trump files federal paperwork for 2024 presidential run as GOP debates future

Trump announced he will run for the White House, even as weak midterm showings prompt debate about whether the GOP should move past him.
Suncor Energy Inc. operates as an integrated energy company. The company primarily focuses on developing petroleum resource basins in Canada's Athabasca oil sands; explores, acquires, develops, produces, transports, refines, and markets crude oil in Canada and internationally; markets petroleum and petrochemical products under the Petro-Canada name primarily in Canada. It operates through Oil Sands; Exploration and Production; Refining and Marketing; and Corporate and Eliminations segments. The Oil Sands segment recovers bitumen from mining and in situ operations, and upgrades it into refinery feedstock and diesel fuel, or blends the bitumen with diluent for direct sale to market. The Exploration and Production segment is involved in offshore operations off the east coast of Canada and in the North Sea; and operating onshore assets in Libya and Syria. The Refining and Marketing segment refines crude oil and intermediate feedstock into various petroleum and petrochemical products; and markets refined petroleum products to retail, commercial, and industrial customers through its other retail sellers. The Corporate and Eliminations segment operates four wind farms in Ontario and Western Canada. The company also markets and trades in crude oil, natural gas, byproducts, refined products, and power. The company was formerly known as Suncor Inc. and changed its name to Suncor Energy Inc. in April 1997. Suncor Energy Inc. was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
There was a moment back in August when Dale "Grey Beard" Sanders considered giving up.

In the middle of the 100-Mile Wilderness in Maine, far from help, he was bleeding internally and having heart palpitations - not surprising considering that he was 50 or 60 years older than most of the people he had met on the Appalachian Trail.

Sanders called his wife in Bartlett, Tennessee, and she urged him to keep going. With a go-ahead from his doctors, he did, and on Thursday, Sanders, 82, officially became the oldest person to hike the entire 2,190-mile trail in a year.

He walked much of it alone, but for the last mile, ending at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy headquarters in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, Sanders was joined by friends, family and hikers -- including a pair of dogs -- he had met along the trail.

At the end of it, he danced a jig.

"I feel euphoric!" he said. "I keep thinking, is someone going to come out of the woodwork and say, 'Uh-uh, I hiked it last year . . . and I was 83' - but no one has stepped up and said that."

"Someone said to me, 'You can't do it, the only way an old person's going to be able to hike the Appalachian Trail is if they've hiked it before.' That challenged me."

Sanders had completed other impressive feats. A couple of years ago, he paddled the length of the Mississippi River. He broke the record for underwater breath-holding in 1959 and was IUSA spearfishing athlete of the year in 1965. But he had never done a hike lasting more than two weeks. For this one, which he started in Georgia in January, he was on the trail for a total of seven months.

He is, incidentally, two years older than the Appalachian Trail, which was officially "connected" in 1937, meaning people could hike it in its entirety from Georgia to Maine. Sanders hiked it in a "flip-flop" sequence, meaning he did a Georgia-to-Harpers Ferry leg, followed by a Maine-to-Harpers Ferry leg.

A naturally gregarious person, Sanders had periods of depression while alone on the trail. He was helped by what he calls "trail angels," people who recognized him from seeing him on the Internet, who called out his trail name -- "Grey Beard" -- and hiked alongside him for a stretch. (Sanders' long beard is white, but he named himself after a Cherokee Indian chief he admires.)

"The best comment from one of them was, 'I want to be like you when I'm your age,'" he said. "That kept me going."

The majority of his fellow hikers were in their 20s. They didn't have to keep track of blood pressure medication or the two different kinds of eye drops that Sanders needs for glaucoma.

"As older people, we have a great deal more challenges," he said. Injuries take longer to heal, including the hip he injured in a fall on Kinsman Mountain in New Hampshire that took two months to stop hurting.

During the hike, he wore a tracker so people at home could locate his position. He fell "about 100 times" along the rocky, mountainous trail, but only the Kinsman Mountain fall was serious.

"A few times I played the age card, I admit, and it worked every time. I didn't hitchhike, I flagged cars down, and I told them my story and they said, 'Get in.' "

Sanders' personal story includes a 50-year career as a Parks and Recreation program administrator. He spent his boyhood on a Kentucky tobacco farm, worked as a lifeguard and was a circus acrobat and cotton-candy seller.

"He always did acrobatics," said his sister, Elaine Bush of Nashville, one of several family members celebrating with him in Harpers Ferry; his wife, a daughter and son-in-law, and two grandchildren also came. "He was always in the limelight, because he was unusual and he did unusual things."

Sanders takes 30-inch steps, so he figures he took 4,625,256 steps for the hike. Along the way, he passed tens of thousands of white blazes that mark the trail. When he passed the last one on Thursday, he stopped, took off his cap, and kissed it.

A few yards later, at the conservancy headquarters, he hugged his wife and accepted a glass of sparkling cider. And with all the honesty that 82 years affords a man, he announced his next move.

"I'm done, and I'm tired," he said. "And I can go home."
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BWX Technologies, Inc. manufactures and sells nuclear components in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Nuclear Operations Group, Nuclear Power Group, and Nuclear Services Group. The Nuclear Operations Group segment provides precision naval and critical nuclear components, reactors, nuclear fuel, and assemblies for the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration's Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program and other uses; missile launch tubes for United States Navy submarines; close-tolerance and equipment for nuclear applications; and converts Cold War-era government stockpiles of high-enriched uranium, as well as receives, stores, characterizes, dissolves, recovers, and purifies uranium-bearing materials; supplies research reactor fuel elements for colleges, universities, and national laboratories; and components for defense applications. The Nuclear Power Group segment offers commercial nuclear steam generators, nuclear fuel, fuel handling systems, pressure vessels, reactor components, heat exchangers, tooling delivery systems, and containers; engineering and in-plant services for nuclear power plants; designs, manufactures, commissions, and services nuclear power generation equipment; in-plant inspection, maintenance, and modification services, as well as non-destructive examination and tooling/repair solutions; and supplies medical radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals for research, diagnostic, and therapeutic uses. The company was formerly known as The Babcock & Wilcox Company and changed its name to BWX Technologies, Inc. in June 2015. BWX Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia.
A Council Bluffs, Iowa, man was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison Friday for a conspiracy to distribute 11 pounds of meth in the Lincoln and Omaha areas.

U.S. District Judge John Gerrard sentenced William J. "Billy" Allen, 32, to 11 years and three months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. He pleaded guilty.

Following the prison term, Allen will serve five years on supervised release.

In a news release, Acting U.S. Attorney Robert Stuart said officials believe Allen was responsible for the distribution of at least 11 pounds of methamphetamine in Nebraska between January 2013 and August 2016.

In August 2016, a confidential informant working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms purchased about 1 ounce of nearly pure methamphetamine from Allen.
If Ina Bhoopalam has learned anything over the past year, its that inspiration can spring from the most unlikely places.

For the Lincoln East High junior, what was happening her first year of high school, hurtful words that spilled into her sophomore year, didnt feel anything like inspiration.

But heres the thing about painful experiences: they can lead you to better ones, to places you would never have considered otherwise. They can teach you something about yourself and what drives you.

And what drives Bhoopalam today is empowering girls  from Lincoln to Malawi.

Shes begun a districtwide program at Lincoln Public Schools called Like a Girl LPS, where high school students lead empowerment groups after school for elementary and middle school students.

At the high school level, the group is the first and only Nebraska chapter of the United Nations Foundations nonprofit campaign Girl Up.

To date, Like a Girl LPS includes 11 programs in six elementary schools that involve about 100 students and 35 high school leaders. And programs are set to begin at Lux and Moore middle schools. Eighty high school students are part "Girl Up."

Saturday night, the high school group will host an International Day of the Girl event at Lincoln High to raise money to buy bicycles for girls in Malawi to erase one of the barriers to education there: transportation.

Bhoopalam hopes to expand beyond LPS by creating a local nonprofit organization, and she is already working with other groups.

This whole situation, its started to define me as a person and who I am, Bhoopalam said. I really want to help people in the future. Thats what Ive learned from all of this.

* * *

The middle of three children who grew up in Lincoln, Bhoopalam excels academically.

She gets good grades, takes advanced-placement classes, is enrolled in two University of Nebraska-Lincoln courses this fall  and the activities shes involved in tend to have an academic bent.

Many of the students involved in those same activities are boys, and somewhere during her freshman year, she started hearing negative comments related to her gender: How she shouldnt or couldnt do certain things because she was a girl.

It didnt bother her at first, until more kids joined in  girls, too  and the harassment moved to the pervasive realm of social media.

Ultimately, she confided in friends and a teacher she trusted. Her friends told her parents, and eventually, the harassment stopped. But her dad pointed out that she had friends and supportive family to help her that others might not.

Maybe you should do something about this, he said.

She started researching possibilities, but nothing felt right until her brothers friend mentioned the "Girl Up" campaign.

She went online and liked what she saw: The group had an international focus, but also emphasized empowering all girls and addressed issues such as girl-on-girl bullying.

At the suggestion of her teacher, she emailed Pat Hunter-Pirtle, the director of secondary education at LPS.

Hunter-Pirtle suggested she start with a group at East, but she was insistent: She wanted to work with younger girls, too. So he said OK, offered a little guidance and got out of the way.

I like it, because its starting young and getting kids to think about all the possibilities that are in front of them and having aspirations  and also not bullying each other, he said. Because theres no reason for that.

Hes been impressed with what hes seen.

Youre talking about kids who are really involved and busy, he said. They carry through with their obligations. Ive continue to be impressed with their commitment to it.

* * *

Bhoopalam and a group of friends wrote a curriculum for the grade school and middle school programs that address bullying and wider gender issues, and focus on building confidence.

When she'd started looking into ways to help, she read an article about how by age 5, girls' self-esteem starts to dip and they begin to think they're less than boys.

She wants to counter that.

"We're trying to build girls' self-esteem," she said. "To build girls up to know they can do anything."

They also developed a training program for the leaders.

What makes this unique is its completely youth-run, she said.

Last spring, the organization piloted the first Like a Girl program at Maxey Elementary, taught by Bhoopalam and good friend Veronica Chapman.

Two or three kids showed up to the first class. At the next meeting, so many kids showed up they had to set a cap on participation.

They make sure there's two leaders for each 10 kids so the leaders can get to know them, and they tailor sessions to the kids' interests.

They talk about what's important to those kids, and the gender-based slurs they've heard  that they throw like girls, for instance. They tackle bullying  by girls as well as boys  and help come up with ways to deal with it.

The high school leaders help their younger counterparts develop leadership skills; they work on public speaking.

We try to do things that make them feel better as people, she said.

The elementary school groups are all girls, in part because of the sensitive nature of some of the bullying discussions. But six or seven boys participate at the high school level and some have signed up for the middle school groups.

That's important, Bhoopalam said.

"I think this is an issue everyone needs to be aware of," she said. "To solve these problems we need to have support from all sides, and that means boys."

When she was being targeted, Bhoopalam didnt really think about what was happening as bullying  and it stung to hear people characterize her as a victim once she did speak up. It made her feel weak, she said, like she wasnt confident.

Now, "Like A Girl LPS" tries to reduce that stigma.

The East High junior doesnt know where all this will take her, but she knows she's found something she's passionate about. And despite the political climate, it has nothing to do with politics.

"It's more about uniting people around a community issue rather than dividing people.
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.
Genpact Limited provides business process outsourcing and information technology (IT) services in India, rest of Asia, North and Latin America, and Europe. It operates through three segments: Banking, Capital Markets and Insurance; Consumer Goods, Retail, Life Sciences and Healthcare; and High Tech, Manufacturing and Services. The company offers CFO advisory services; and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) services, such as data management, carbon accounting, human rights assessment, sustainability diligence, and ESG reporting. It also provides finance and accounting services, which include accounts payable, such as document management, invoice processing, approval and resolution management, and travel and expense processing; invoice-to-cash services, including customer master data management, credit and contract management, fulfillment, billing, collections, and dispute management services; record to report services comprising accounting, treasury, tax, product cost accounting, and closing and reporting services; financial planning and analysis consisting of budgeting, forecasting, and business performance reporting; and enterprise risk and compliance services, including operational risks and controls. In addition, the company provides supply chain advisory services, and after-sales services; sourcing and procurement services comprising direct and indirect strategic sourcing, category management, spend analytics, procurement operation, and master data management; and sales and commercial services, including campaign, order, and dispute management, lead generation, pricing, and promotion optimization. Further, it offers IT services, which comprise end-user computing support, infrastructure management, application production support, and database management services; and transformation services that include digital solutions, consulting services, and analytics services and solutions. The company was founded in 1997 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Trinseo PLC, a materials solutions provider, manufactures and sells plastics and latex binders in the United States, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company operates through six segments: Engineered Materials, Latex Binders, Base Plastics, Polystyrene, Feedstocks, and Americas Styrenics. The Engineered Materials segment offers rigid compounds, including polycarbonate compounds, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene compounds, and PC blends to consumer electronics and medical markets for equipment housing applications; thermoplastic elastomer soft plastic compounds, such as overmolds, sealings, tubing, and films for footwear shoe sole, personal care, consumer electronics, and automotive high-end applications; and PMMA products to building and construction, automotive, medical, and consumer goods applications. The Latex Binders segment provides styrene-butadiene, styrene-acrylate, vinylidene chloride, and butadiene-methacrylate latex products for the commercial and niche carpet markets, as well as performance latex products for the adhesive, building and construction, and technical textile paper markets. The Base Plastics segment offers various compounds and blends for automotive and other applications. This segment also engages in the acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, styrene-acrylonitrile, and polycarbonate businesses. The Polystyrene segment provides general purpose polystyrenes and high impact polystyrene for use in appliances, food packaging and food service disposables, consumer electronics, and building and construction materials. The Feedstocks segment offers styrene monomer, a basic building block of plastics. The Americas Styrenics segment provides styrene and polystyrene. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.
Lincoln High School  dubbed the Palace of Learning a century ago by the first students to walk the marble halls of the citys oldest high school  received props once again for its architectural beauty.

This time it was Architectural Digest, the slick Conde Nast publication favored by the affluent and style-conscious set, which last month listed the most beautiful public high school in each state.

In Nebraska, the magazine tapped the home of the Links.

Built in 1915 at 22nd and J streets, the neoclassical design made with brick and limestone, terra cotta and marble stood on the edge of town.

Now the school, which shares magazine space with other veritable works of art the magazine said could be mistaken for private homes or castles or universities, sits in the middle of Lincoln.

Back in 1915, the students wrote about the marble floors and its 100 rooms, swimming pool and magnificent theater. The $750,000 building held 1,200 students. Now more than 2,000 walk the halls.

Its the second home for Lincoln High, which opened in its first building in 1871. Its expanded south over the years, growing as the city has grown. Its architectural beauty was updated in recent years, including a new and modern theater named after JFKs speechwriter, Lincoln High grad Ted Sorensen.

Let's talk boundaries

In the coming months, the Lincoln Board of Education will be tackling what has often been a controversial subject: attendance area boundaries.

District staff will bring possible boundary changes  primarily for elementary and middle schools  to the boards planning committee over the next four months, based on the latest enrollment and school capacity numbers. At some point after that, the full board will likely hear recommendations.

Scott Wieskamp, director of operations, said staff will study each of the city's quadrants separately, focusing on longstanding hot spots of overcrowding.

That issue certainly isnt new.

LPS spends a lot of time talking about its robust enrollment growth: Total district enrollment this year is 41,760 with the addition of 830 new students. The district had grown by more than 850 additional students each year for the previous four years and officials predict enrollment will grow by 5,000 more students in the next five years.

The district opened Wysong Elementary School last fall and Moore Middle School this fall, both in south Lincoln. In recent years, the district added space to three northeast elementary schools.

The latest update to the districts 10-year plan recommends building four new elementary schools, two new middle schools and a new high school within the next decade.

And a task force of more than 80 LPS staff and community members has begun looking at options for the next high school.

Before the district moves forward on a bond issue to build anything, though, it will take a look at attendance areas, Wieskamp said.

I think its one of a checklist of things that needs to be covered so that the community believes weve looked at every option there is to take advantage of empty seats, Wieskamp said. High school, boundaries, Community Learning Centers, early childhood education, all those need to be discussed and addressed by our board before we talk about a bond issue.

The district routinely adjusts boundaries to accommodate land at the outskirts of the city or new schools, but it hasnt tackled all attendance boundaries in a decade.

LPS policy allows students attending a school to remain there if the district changes boundaries, and younger siblings can attend as long as their older siblings are still at the school.

But changing boundaries can be tough, which veteran board member Kathy Danek has tried to tell newer members.

People are attached to buildings, she said. (Schools) are why they bought their house, so they feel were moving the goalpost on them. But sometimes we have to do that.

Mark your calendars

Steve Joel took over as superintendent of Lincoln Public Schools in the middle of what was then a robust discussion  which lasted for several board meetings  about the school calendar.

He couldnt believe a calendar generated such controversy.

Those days are gone. If you let your attention wander, you might have missed the unanimous approval at the last school board meeting of calendars for 2019-20 and 2020-21.

They follow similar patterns to recent calendars: mid-August starts, ending before Memorial Day, and fall, winter and spring breaks falling between quarters.

If you want to know the pertinent dates, go to journalstar.com/news/local/education/lps-calendar-proposals-follow-pattern-of-recent-years/article_7496fa21-a1e6-50e5-933a-e96f40d50655.html.
The following companies are subsidiares of Nokia Oyj: AO Nokia Solutions and Networks, ATG Germany GmbH, Aircom International, Alcatel - Lucent, Alcatel Centroamerica S.A., Alcatel IP Networks Limited, Alcatel Lucent, Alcatel Lucent Middle East North Africa DMCC, Alcatel Lucent Teletas Telekomunikasyon A.S., Alcatel SEL Unterstutzungs GmbH, Alcatel Submarine Networks, Alcatel Submarine Networks Brazil Ltda., Alcatel Submarine Networks Denmark ApS, Alcatel Submarine Networks Hong Kong Limited, Alcatel Submarine Networks Marine, Alcatel Submarine Networks Norway AS, Alcatel Submarine Networks UK Ltd, Alcatel Submarine Networks USA Inc., Alcatel de Venezuela C.A., Alcatel-Lucent Angola Limitada, Alcatel-Lucent Benin SA, Alcatel-Lucent Centro Caribbean Holding Limited, Alcatel-Lucent East Africa Limited, Alcatel-Lucent India Limited, Alcatel-Lucent International, Alcatel-Lucent International Holdings Inc., Alcatel-Lucent Managed Solutions India Private Limited, Alcatel-Lucent Nigeria Limited, Alcatel-Lucent Pakistan Limited, Alcatel-Lucent Participations, Alcatel-Lucent Participations Chine, Alcatel-Lucent Portugal S.A., Alcatel-Lucent RT International B.V., Alcatel-Lucent Saudi Arabia Co. Ltd., Alcatel-Lucent Services International B.V., Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell Information Products Co. Ltd., Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks (Cabo Verde) Lda, Alcatel-Lucent Trade International AG, Alcatel-Lucent UK Limited, Alcatel-Lucent Ukraine SC, Alcatel-Lucent Vietnam Limited, Amber Networks Inc., Antelec, Apertio Ltd., Avvenu, Bell Laboratories Inc., C-Dot Alcatel-Lucent Research Centre Private Limited, Camilec, Comptel, Comptel Communications EOOD, Comptel Communications Holdings Limited, Comptel Communications India Private Limited, Comptel Communications Limited, Comptel Communications Oy, Comptel Communications Sdn Bhd, Comptel Oy, Comptel Palvelut Philippines Inc., DeepField, Diamond Lane Communications, Digiskin UK, DiscoveryCom Inc., Dopplr, ETA Devices Inc., Eizel Technologies, Elenion Technologies, Elenion Technologies LLC, Enpocket, Epistrophe Limited, Europe*Star Limited, Evolium, F5 Networks Inc., Hunan Huanuo Technology Co. Ltd., IRIS Service Delivery UK Ltd, IRIS Telecommunication Austria GmbH, IRIS Telecommunication France, IRIS Telecommunication GmbH, IRIS Telecommunication Poland sp. z o.o., IRIS Telekomunikasyon Muhendislik Hizmetleri A.S., InTalk Corporation, Intellisync Corporation, Intellisync LLC, Ipsilon Networks Inc., LCC International's U.S., LLC "Nokia Solutions and Networks Ukraine", Loudeye Corp., Lucent Technologies GRL LLC, Lucent Technologies Investment Co. Ltd., Lucent Technologies Nanjing Telecommunications Co. Ltd., Lucent Technologies Networks (Thailand) Limited, Lucent Technologies Nicaragua S.A., Lucent Technologies Philippines Inc., Lucent Technologies Qingdao Telecommunications Enterprises Co. Ltd., Lucent Technologies Qingdao Telecommunications Systems Ltd., MRAC Inc., Matra Nortel Communications, Mesaplexx Limited, MetaCarta Inc., Metrowerks Corporation, Mformation Software Technologies India Pvt Ltd, Motally, NE-Products Oy, NGI Industrial (NGI), Nakina Systems, Nassau Metals Corporation, Navteq, Network Alchemy Inc., Nokatus Insurance Company Designated Activity Company (DAC), Nokia (Shanghai) Enterprise Management Co. Ltd., Nokia (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Nokia Apps Distribution LLC, Nokia Arabia Limited  100.0, Nokia Asset Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Nokia Bell NV, Nokia Canada Inc., Nokia Costa Rica S.A., Nokia Denmark A/S, Nokia Display Technics GmbH i.L., Nokia Dominican Republic S.A.S., Nokia Egypt S.A.E., Nokia El Salvador S.A. de C.V., Nokia Electronics Bochum GmbH i.L., Nokia Federal Solutions LLC, Nokia Hong Kong Limited, Nokia India Private Limited, Nokia Innovations Japan G.K., Nokia Innovations Oy, Nokia Innovations US LLC, Nokia Investment Management Corporation, Nokia Investments Oy, Nokia Ireland Limited, Nokia Jamaica Limited, Nokia Kunststofftechnik GmbH i.L., Nokia Networks (Chengdu) Co. Ltd., Nokia Networks S.R.L., Nokia New Zealand Limited, Nokia Operations de Guatemala S.A., Nokia Operations de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Nokia Paraguay S.A., Nokia Puerto Rico Inc., Nokia Services Pty Limited, Nokia Services and Networks Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Nokia Shanghai Bell (Hong Kong) Limited, Nokia Shanghai Bell Co. Ltd., Nokia Shanghai Bell Lao Sole Co. Ltd., Nokia Shanghai Bell Philippines Inc., Nokia Shanghai Bell Software Co. Ltd., Nokia Siemens Networks Afghanistan LLC, Nokia Siemens Networks Algerie SARL, Nokia Slovakia A.S., Nokia Solutions Networks Iletisim A.S., Nokia Solutions and Networks (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks (Suzhou) Supply Chain Service Co. Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks AB, Nokia Solutions and Networks Argentina S.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks Asset Management Oy, Nokia Solutions and Networks Australia Pty Ltd, Nokia Solutions and Networks B.V., Nokia Solutions and Networks Baku LLC, Nokia Solutions and Networks Bangladesh Limited, Nokia Solutions and Networks Bolivia S.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks Branch Operations Oy, Nokia Solutions and Networks CCC, Nokia Solutions and Networks CJSC, Nokia Solutions and Networks Chile Ltda., Nokia Solutions and Networks Colombia Ltda., Nokia Solutions and Networks Czech Republic s.r.o., Nokia Solutions and Networks EOOD, Nokia Solutions and Networks Ecuador S.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks Ethernet Services Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks GmbH & Co. KG, Nokia Solutions and Networks Hellas Single Member S.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks Holding Osterreich GmbH, Nokia Solutions and Networks Honduras S.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks India Private Limited, Nokia Solutions and Networks International Holding GmbH, Nokia Solutions and Networks Investment (China) Co. Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks Israel Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks Italia S.p.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks Japan G.K., Nokia Solutions and Networks Kazakhstan LLP, Nokia Solutions and Networks Kft., Nokia Solutions and Networks Korea Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks Kuwait Company W.L.L, Nokia Solutions and Networks LLC, Nokia Solutions and Networks Lanka (Private) Limited, Nokia Solutions and Networks MEA FZ-LLC, Nokia Solutions and Networks Management GmbH, Nokia Solutions and Networks Morocco SARL, Nokia Solutions and Networks Myanmar Limited, Nokia Solutions and Networks Nederland B.V., Nokia Solutions and Networks Nicaragua S.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks Nigeria Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks Norge AS, Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy, Nokia Solutions and Networks OU, Nokia Solutions and Networks Pakistan (Private) Limited, Nokia Solutions and Networks Peru S.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks Philippines Inc., Nokia Solutions and Networks Portugal S.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks S.R.L., Nokia Solutions and Networks S.p.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks SIA, Nokia Solutions and Networks Schweiz AG, Nokia Solutions and Networks Serbia d.o.o. Beograd, Nokia Solutions and Networks Singapore Pte. Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks South Africa Pty. Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks Sp. z.o.o, Nokia Solutions and Networks System Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks Taiwan Co. Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks Tanzania Limited, Nokia Solutions and Networks Tashkent LLC, Nokia Solutions and Networks Technical Services Vietnam Company Limited, Nokia Solutions and Networks TraffiCOM Kft., Nokia Solutions and Networks Tunisia SA, Nokia Solutions and Networks UK Limited, Nokia Solutions and Networks Venezuela C.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks d.o.o., Nokia Solutions and Networks d.o.o. Banja Luka, Nokia Solutions and Networks d.o.o. Sarajevo, Nokia Solutions and Networks do Brasil Telecomunicacoes Ltda., Nokia Solutions and Networks telekomunikacijske resitve d.o.o., Nokia Solutions and Networks Osterreich GmbH, Nokia South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Nokia Spain S.A., Nokia Technologies (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Nokia Technologies (UK) Limited, Nokia Technologies Oy, Nokia Technology Center Philippines Inc., Nokia Technology GmbH, Nokia Teknologia Oy, Nokia Training Center Russian Federation, Nokia Transformation Engineering & Consulting Services Spain S.L.U., Nokia UK Limited, Nokia US Holdings Inc., Nokia Unterstutzungsgesellschaft GmbH, Nokia Uruguay S.A., Nokia West and Central Africa SA, Nokia of America Corporation, Novarra Inc., OOO Nokia Solutions and Networks, OOO RTK  Network Technologies, OZ Communications, OZ Communications HK Limited, P.T. Lucent Technologies Network Systems Indonesia, PT Nokia Solutions and Networks Indonesia, Pishahang Communications Networks Development Company (Private Joint Stock), Plazes, Plum, R.F.S. (UK) Limited, RFS Brasil Telecomunicacoes Ltda, RFS Holding GmbH, RFS India Telecom Private Limited, RFS Italia SRL, RFS Radio Frequency Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., RFS Radio Frequency Systems (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Radio Frequency Systems (Africa) Pty Ltd, Radio Frequency Systems (S) Pte Ltd, Radio Frequency Systems France, Radio Frequency Systems GmbH, Radio Frequency Systems Inc., Radio Frequency Systems Pty Limited, Radio Frequency Systems de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Ramp Networks Inc., Redback Networks Inc., Rooftop Communications Corporation, SAC AE Design Group Inc., SAC Wireless, SAC Wireless LLC, SAC Wireless of CA Inc., SRA Computer C.V., STC, Sega.com Inc., Smarterphone, Societe de Telecommunication Camerounaise  Sotelcam, Space Time Insight, Symbian Limited, Symbian Ltd, Tahoe Networks, Taiwan International Standard Electronics Limited, Technophone Ltd, Telekol Group, Trolltech (Qt Development Frameworks), Twango, UAB Nokia Solutions and Networks, Unium, User Interface Design, Vertu Holdings Oy, Vienna Systems Corporation, Western Electric Company Incorporated, Western Electric International Incorporated, Withings, Zyzyx Inc., bit-side GmbH, cellity AG, earthmine, and gate5 AG.

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Penske Automotive Group, Inc., a diversified transportation services company, operates automotive and commercial truck dealerships. The company operates through four segments: Retail Automotive, Retail Commercial Truck, Other, and Non-Automotive Investments. It operates dealerships under franchise agreements with various automotive manufacturers and distributors. The company engages in the sale of new and used motor vehicles, and related products and services comprise vehicle and collision repair services, as well as placement of finance and lease contracts, third-party insurance products, and other aftermarket products; and wholesale of parts. It also operates a heavy and medium duty truck dealership, which offers Freightliner and Western Star branded trucks, as well as a range of used trucks, and maintenance and repair services. In addition, it imports and distributes Western Star heavy-duty trucks, MAN heavy and medium duty trucks, buses, and Dennis Eagle refuse collection vehicles with associated parts in Australia, New Zealand, and portions of the Pacific. Further, the company distributes diesel and gas engines, and power systems. The company operates 320 retail automotive franchises, including 146 franchises located in the United States and 174 franchises located outside of the United States; 23 CarShop used vehicle dealerships in the United States and the United Kingdom; and 37 commercial truck dealerships in Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia, Utah, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, and Oregon, as well as Canada. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
PROS Holdings, Inc. provides solutions that optimize the processes of selling and shopping in the digital economy worldwide. The company offers PROS Smart Configure Price Quote that improves sales productivity and accelerate deal velocity by automating common sales tasks; and PROS Smart Price Optimization and Management that enables businesses to optimize, personalize and harmonize pricing across the complexity of their go-to-market channels in the context of dynamic market and competitive conditions. It offers PROS Airline Revenue Optimization; PROS Airline Revenue Management solution that delivers algorithmic forecasting and network optimization for the travel industry; PROS Airline Real-Time Dynamic Pricing that offers accurate booking class availability and seat prices; and PROS Airline Group Sales Optimizer which enables airlines and their travel agent partners to create and manage group bookings, contracts, and policies. Further, it provides PROS Digital Retail, a configurable end-to-end solution for airlines to optimize the traveler experience from inspiration to post-trip; and PROS digital offer marketing solutions provide performance content management and search engine marketing tools that enable businesses in the travel industry. Additionally, the company offers software-related services, such as implementation, configuration, consulting, training, and maintenance and support services. It sells its software solutions to customers in various industries, including automotive and industrial manufacturing, transportation and logistics, chemicals and energy, food and beverage, healthcare, high tech, and travel. The company markets and sells its software solutions through its sales force, as well as through partners, resellers, and systems integrators. PROS Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
With the temperature dipping as low as 22 degrees, there wasn't a long line outside when Costco opened its doors at 8 a.m. Saturday.

But the parking lot filled up quickly, and just 15 minutes after opening, 228 member cards been checked.

"Each card can have two to five people who are actually going into the store, too," general manager Brent Tate said.

Costco member Dawn Liphardt arrived early for the opening of the long-awaited members-only warehouse near 16th Street and Pine Lake Road.

"I'm just glad I got a cart," she said. "I was worried I wouldn't get a one because they'd run out because it was so busy."

Over the last few months, 8,800 people signed up for Costco memberships at booths set up around Lincoln, Tate said. The new location will be closer for an additional 3,000 members who have trekked to the Omaha or La Vista locations.

Memberships cost between $60 to $120 for one year. Costco carries household, grocery, clothing, electronics and other goods.

Kathy Scholl recently signed up for a Costco membership at a promotional booth. She showed up early Saturday excited to shop for home goods and bulk items.

It was "about time" Lincoln opened a Costco, she said.

When visiting family in other states, she would visit Costco. She also listened to Omaha friends rave about Costco for years.

"I think this will be really good for Lincoln," she said.

It was a long road of planning for Costco to come to Lincoln. One hurdle was neighborhood opposition  the Lincoln warehouse sits in a high-traffic area and is next to a middle school and two blocks from a high school.

Another concern about Costco  a chicken processing plant in Fremont projected to open in April 2019  was expressed by a handful of environmental protesters at the edge of the parking lot Saturday morning.

Nevertheless, shoppers bustled through the warehouse. Some stopped to gaze in awe at 7-foot teddy bears or sample an assortment of fresh lobster or smoothies handed out by employees.

For Liphardt, the appeal is the ability to buy things in bulk.

"It works great," she said. "There are great savings."
Before Nebraska Territory even formed in 1854, it was said the most advantageous point for a river port and terminus for trails west on the Missouri River was where the city of Plattsmouth ultimately was built. And as settlement began, the site even was considered, albeit briefly, a potential location for the territorial capital.

In 1848 Libeas T. Coon, a founder of Coonville (later Glenwood, Iowa), operated a Missouri River ferry for Mormon emigrants to a site on the western river bank loosely called Platteview near the mouth of the Platte River. Because permanent settlement west of the river was illegal until a territory was established, the federal government had to be solicited for a trading post, which was authorized in 1852.

The following year Samuel Martin of Coonville took over the operation of the ferry and built the Old Barracks. Also in 1853, William Davis reportedly paid local American Indians $100 to allow him to reserve a tract of land before the territory officially was established. Though, perhaps, legally questionable, Davis became Cass Countys first county clerk the following March as the territorial legislature formed the county and put the seat of local government at Plattsmouth.

In December 1854, the Plattsmouth post office opened, and, in March 1855, the city was platted becoming the third incorporated city in Nebraska.

Perhaps the first recorded mention of a railroad at Plattsmouth came in 1855 as a Cass County legislator presented a bill in the lower house to make Plattsmouth the territorial capital and spoke of a railroad to the Pacific from Plattsmouth. The bill lost 13 to 12. Although it did not actually form, the 1855 legislature incorporated the Missouri River & Platte County Railroad, which proposed a connection to Fort Kearny.

In 1868, Plattsmouth physician R.R. Livingston was appointed surveyor-general for Nebraska and sent to Burlington, Iowa, to approach the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad and encourage it to build a railroad west through Nebraska beginning in Plattsmouth. To that end, Cass County authorized $200,000 in bonds. Plattsmouth added $50,000 in bonds for the railroad, providing construction begin within 16 months of June 3, 1869, and that the railroad erect and maintain a depot [and shops] making and continuing Plattsmouth as the headquarters of the company in Nebraska.

In June and July, right of way for the railroad was granted and that September the Burlington & Missouri River Railroads locomotive American Eagle arrived on the Nebraska shore via steamboat.

H.D. Hawksworth also arrived from Burlington, Iowa, and began directing construction of the railroads shops which would ultimately cover 18 acres. Shortly after the frame shop buildings, small roundhouse and turntable were finished, sparks from a locomotive burned them to the ground. When a second shop building met the same fate, new brick and stone buildings followed in 1874.

The first depot was combined with offices and first located about two blocks north of Main Street, but it later was picked up and physically moved north to Main.

During the early years, steamboats were a regular feature along Plattsmouths dock but declined with railroad traffic along the river. Of course, with no railroad bridge, loaded cars from the east had to be transported across the river on steamboats, like the Vice President, which had built-in rails on the lower deck. The boats landed about a mile below and south of Main Street at what was termed Rock Point, where a temporary pile bride would be built until replaced with an actual permanent one in 1880.

In July 1870, the Burlington had built west through Oreapolis, Concord and Hoovers Station, reaching Lincoln on the 26th. The first regular Lincoln to Plattsmouth service took exactly three hours and made seven stops along the way. That year Plattsmouths population reached 2,447 and was predicted to be 20,000 by 1880.

About 1877, the Burlington was eager to move its Nebraska headquarters to Omaha. In an agreement with Plattsmouth, which was not in a strong bargaining position having been unable to pay the interest on the earlier bonds, struck a deal in which they abandoned the headquarters requirement in exchange for the railroad repaying half of the bond issue. Meantime, in 1878, the Plattsmouth shops built their first locomotive, Number26, known as The Plattsmouth, the first locomotive to be completely built in Nebraska.

Plattsmouth, eager to retain as much of the Burlington as possible, began to buy up land to be given to the railroad to build a permanent bridge. Unfortunately, by 1879, Plattsmouth owed $145,000 in bond interest and was unable to finance additional land purchases. In a bizarre turn of events, the money was borrowed from the railroad, Plattsmouth, in turn, secured the land which it then gave to the railroad.

Expansion of the Havelock Shops in 1911 took all locomotive repairs from Plattsmouth, then in 1931 all car repair with the exception of the Refrigerator Express was also moved to Havelock. In 1967, the Plattsmouth Shops closed completely and in 1971 even the Amtrak depot was razed. Today, most of the Plattsmouth Shops area has become Rhylander Park.
The following companies are subsidiares of Abbott Laboratories: 3A Nutrition (Vietnam) Company Limited, ABON Biopharm (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AGA Medical Belgium, AGA Medical Corporation, AGA Medical Holdings Inc., ALR Holdings, AML Medical LLC, APK Advanced Medical Technologies LLC, ATS Bermuda Holdings Limited, ATS Laboratories Inc., Abbott, Abbott (Jiaxing) Nutrition Co. Ltd., Abbott (UK) Finance Limited, Abbott (UK) Holdings Limited, Abbott AG, Abbott Asia Holdings Limited, Abbott Asia Investments Limited, Abbott Australasia Holdings Limited, Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd, Abbott B.V., Abbott Bahamas Overseas Businesses Corporation, Abbott Belgian Investments, Abbott Bermuda Holding Ltd., Abbott Biologicals B.V., Abbott Biologicals LLC, Abbott Bulgaria Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Capital India Limited, Abbott Cardiovascular Inc., Abbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Abbott Delaware LLC, Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Diabetes Care Limited, Abbott Diabetes Care Sales Corporation, Abbott Diagnostics GmbH, Abbott Diagnostics International Ltd., Abbott Diagnostics Technologies AS, Abbott Doral Investments S.L., Abbott Equity Holdings Unlimited, Abbott Equity Investments LLC, Abbott Established Products Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Finance Company SA, Abbott Financial Holdings SRL, Abbott France S.A.S., Abbott Fund Tanzania Limited, Abbott Gesellschaft m.b.H., Abbott GmbH & Co. KG, Abbott Health Products LLC, Abbott Healthcare (Puerto Rico) Ltd., Abbott Healthcare B.V., Abbott Healthcare Costa Rica S.A., Abbott Healthcare LLC, Abbott Healthcare Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Healthcare Private Limited, Abbott Healthcare Products B.V., Abbott Healthcare Products Ltd, Abbott Holding (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding GmbH, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited Luxembourg S.C.S., Abbott Holdings B.V., Abbott Holdings LLC, Abbott Holdings Limited, Abbott Holdings Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Iberian Investments (2) Limited, Abbott Iberian Investments Limited, Abbott India Limited, Abbott Informatics Asia Pacific Limited, Abbott Informatics Canada Inc, Abbott Informatics Corporation, Abbott Informatics Europe Limited, Abbott Informatics France, Abbott Informatics Germany GmbH, Abbott Informatics Netherlands B.V., Abbott Informatics Singapore Pte. Limited, Abbott Informatics Spain S.A., Abbott Informatics Technologies Ltd, Abbott International Corporation, Abbott International Enterprises Ltd., Abbott International Holdings Limited, Abbott International LLC, Abbott International Luxembourg S.ar.l., Abbott Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Ireland, Abbott Ireland Financing Designated Activity Company, Abbott Ireland Limited, Abbott Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Abbott Knoll Investments B.V., Abbott Korea Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Bangladesh) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco (Dos) SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Laboratories (Mozambique) Limitada, Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Philippines), Abbott Laboratories (Puerto Rico) Incorporated, Abbott Laboratories (Singapore) Private Limited, Abbott Laboratories A/S, Abbott Laboratories Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Abbott Laboratories B.V., Abbott Laboratories C.A., Abbott Laboratories Finance B.V., Abbott Laboratories GmbH, Abbott Laboratories Inc., Abbott Laboratories International LLC, Abbott Laboratories Ireland Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited - Laboratoires Abbott Limitee, Abbott Laboratories NZ Limited, Abbott Laboratories Pacific Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Laboratories Products B.V., Abbott Laboratories Residential Development Fund Inc., Abbott Laboratories S.A., Abbott Laboratories SA, Abbott Laboratories Services Corp., Abbott Laboratories Slovakia s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trustee Company Limited, Abbott Laboratories Uruguay S.A., Abbott Laboratories Vascular Enterprises, Abbott Laboratories d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories de Chile Limitada, Abbott Laboratories de Colombia S.A., Abbott Laboratories de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Abbott Laboratories druzba za farmacijo in diagnostiko d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories(Hellas) Societe Anonyme, Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios del Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Abbott Laboratuarlari Ithalat Ihracat ve Ticaret Ltd.Sti, Abbott Laboratorios Lda, Abbott Laboratorios do Brasil Ltda., Abbott Limited Egypt LLC, Abbott Logistics B.V., Abbott Management GmbH, Abbott Management LLC, Abbott Manufacturing Singapore Private Limited, Abbott Mature Products International Unlimited Company, Abbott Mature Products Management Limited, Abbott Medical (Hong Kong) Limited, Abbott Medical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Medical (Portugal) Distribuicao de Produtos Medicos Lda, Abbott Medical (Schweiz) AG, Abbott Medical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Australia Pty. Ltd., Abbott Medical Austria Ges.m.b.H., Abbott Medical Balkan d.o.o. Beograd (Novi Beograd), Abbott Medical Belgium, Abbott Medical Canada Inc./ Medicale Abbott Canada Inc., Abbott Medical Danmark A/S, Abbott Medical Devices Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Espana S.A., Abbott Medical Estonia OU, Abbott Medical Finland Oy, Abbott Medical France SAS, Abbott Medical GmbH, Abbott Medical Hellas Limited Liability Trading Company, Abbott Medical Ireland Limited, Abbott Medical Italia S.p.A., Abbott Medical Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Korea Limited, Abbott Medical Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Medical Laboratories LTD, Abbott Medical Nederland B.V., Abbott Medical New Zealand Limited, Abbott Medical Norway AS, Abbott Medical Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Medical Sweden AB, Abbott Medical Taiwan Co., Abbott Medical U.K. Limited, Abbott Medical spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Middle East S.A.R.L., Abbott Molecular Inc., Abbott Morocco SARL, Abbott Nederland C.V., Abbott Nederland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Netherlands Investments B.V., Abbott Norge AS, Abbott Nutrition Limited, Abbott Nutrition Manufacturing Inc., Abbott Operations Singapore Pte. Ltd., Abbott Operations Uruguay S.R.L., Abbott Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Overseas Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Overseas S.A., Abbott Oy, Abbott Point of Care Canada Limited, Abbott Point of Care Inc., Abbott Poland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Procurement LLC, Abbott Products (Philippines) Inc., Abbott Products (Spain) S.L., Abbott Products Algerie EURL, Abbott Products B.V., Abbott Products Distribution SAS, Abbott Products Egypt LLC, Abbott Products Limited, Abbott Products Limited Liability Company, Abbott Products Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Products Operations AG, Abbott Products Operations LLC, Abbott Products Romania S.R.L., Abbott Products Tunisie S.A.R.L., Abbott Products Unlimited Company, Abbott Resources Inc., Abbott Resources International Inc., Abbott S.r.l., Abbott Saudi Arabia Trading Company, Abbott Scandinavia Aktiebolag, Abbott Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, Abbott South Africa Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Strategic Opportunities Limited, Abbott Trading Company Inc., Abbott Universal LLC, Abbott Vascular Devices (2) Limited, Abbott Vascular Devices Limited, Abbott Vascular Inc., Abbott Vascular Instruments Deutschland GmbH, Abbott Vascular International, Abbott Vascular Japan Co. Ltd, Abbott Vascular Limitada, Abbott Vascular Netherlands B.V., Abbott Vascular Solutions Inc., Abbott Ventures Inc., Abbott West Indies Limited, Abbott drustvo sa ogranicenom odgovornoscu za trgovinu i usluge, Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc., Alere, Alere (Shanghai) Diagnostics Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Healthcare Management Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Medical Sales Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Technology Co. Ltd., Alere A/S, Alere AB, Alere AS, Alere AS Holdings Limited, Alere BBI Holdings Limited, Alere Bangladesh Limited, Alere China Co. Ltd., Alere Colombia S.A., Alere Connect LLC, Alere Connected Health Limited, Alere Connected Health Ltd., Alere Diagnostics GmbH, Alere DoA Holding GmbH, Alere GmbH, Alere GmbH (Austria), Alere GmbH (Germany), Alere HK Holdings Ltd., Alere Health B.V., Alere Health BVBA, Alere Health Corp., Alere Health Sdn Bhd, Alere Health Services B.V., Alere Healthcare (Pty) Limited, Alere Healthcare Connections Limited, Alere Healthcare Inc., Alere Healthcare Nigeria Limited, Alere Healthcare S.L., Alere Holdco Inc., Alere Holding GmbH, Alere Holdings Bermuda Limited, Alere Holdings Pty Limited, Alere Home Monitoring Inc., Alere Inc., Alere Informatics Inc., Alere International Holding Corp., Alere International Limited, Alere Lda, Alere Limited, Alere Limited (New Zealand), Alere Medical BVBA, Alere Medical Co. Ltd., Alere Medical Pakistan (Private) Limited, Alere Medical Private Limited, Alere North America LLC, Alere Oy Ab, Alere Philippines Inc., Alere Phoenix ACQ Inc., Alere Pte Ltd, Alere S.A., Alere S.r.l., Alere S/A, Alere SAS, Alere San Diego Inc., Alere Scarborough Inc., Alere Spain S.L., Alere Switzerland GmbH, Alere Technologies GmbH, Alere Technologies Holdings Limited, Alere Technologies Limited, Alere Toxicology AB, Alere Toxicology Inc., Alere Toxicology S.r.l., Alere Toxicology Services Inc., Alere Toxicology plc, Alere UK Holdings Limited, Alere UK Subco Limited, Alere ULC, Alere US Holdings LLC, Alere s.r.o., Alisoc Investment & Co, Amedica Biotech Inc., Ameditech Inc., American Generics S.A.S., American Medical Supplies Inc., American Pharmacist Inc., Antares S.A., Apica Cardiovascular Limited, Aquagestion Capacitacion S.A., Aquagestion S.A., Arriva Medical LLC, Arriva Medical Philippines Inc., Arvis Investments Limited, Atlas Farmaceutica S.A., Avee Laboratories Inc., Axis-Shield AD III AS, Axis-Shield AD IV AS, Axis-Shield AS, Axis-Shield Diagnostics Limited, Axis-Shield Ltd., BBI Animal Health Limited, BBI Diagnostics Group 2 Public Limited Company, Banco de Vida S.A., Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions Inc., Bioalgae S.A., Biohealth LLC, Biosite Incorporated, Bosque Bonito S.A., Branan Medical Corporation, Brandex Europe C.V., British Colloids Limited, CFR Chile S.A., CFR Interamericas EL Salvador Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, CFR Interamericas Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CFR Interamericas Panama S.A., CFR Pharmaceuticals, California Property Holdings III LLC, CardioMEMS LLC, Caripharm Inc., Cephea Valve Technologies, Cephea Valve Technologies Inc., Colibri Medical Aktiebolag, Comercializadora y Distribuidora CFR Interamericas Honduras S.A., Concateno South Limited, Concateno UK Limited, Consorcio Tecnologico en Biomedicina Clinico-Molecular S.A., Continuum Services LLC, Cozart Limited, Dextech S.A., Diagnostik Nord GmbH, Distribuciones Uquifa S.A.S., Domesco Medical Import-Export Joint-Stock Corporation, Duphar International Research B.V., Endocardial Solutions, Epocal (US) Inc, Esprit de Vie S.A., European Chemicals & Co, European Drug Testing Service EDTS AB, European Services S.A., Evalve Inc., Evalve International Inc., FARMINDUSTRIA S.A., Fada Pharma Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Fadapharma del Ecuador S.A., Farmaceutica Mont Blanc S.L., Farmacologia Em Aquicultura Veterinaria Ltda., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV Ecuador S.A., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV S.A., Fernwood Investment S.A., First Check Diagnostics LLC, Focus Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Forensics Limited, Forestcreek Overseas S.A., Fournier Pharma Corp., Fournier Pharma GmbH, Fournier Pharmaceuticals Limited, Framed B.V., Gabmed GmbH, Garden Hills LLC, Global Analytical Development LLC, Globapharm & CO LP, Glomed Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Golnorth Investments S.A., Gynocare Limited, Gynopharm Sociedad Anonima, Gynopharm de Centroamerica S.A., Gynopharm de Venezuela C.A., Hi-Tronics Designs Inc., IDEV Technologies Inc., IG Innovations Limited, IMTC Finance B.V., IMTC Holdings B.V., IMTC Technologies Inc., Ibis Biosciences LLC, Igloo Zone Chile S.A., Igloo Zone S.L., Inmobiliaria Naknek S.A.C., Innovacon Inc., Instant Tech Subsidiary Acquisition Inc., Instant Technologies Inc., Instituto de Criopreservacion de Chile S.A., Integrated Vascular Systems Inc., Inverness Canadian Acquisition Corporation, Inverness Medical (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Australia Pty Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Hong Kong Limited, Inverness Medical Innovations SK LLC, Inverness Medical Investments LLC, Inverness Medical LLC, Inverness Medical Shimla Private Limited, Inversiones K2 SpA, Inversiones Komodo S.R.L., Ionian Technologies LLC, Irvine Biomedical Inc., Kalila Medical, Kangshenyunga S.A., Knoll UK Investments Unlimited, LLC VeroInPharm, Laboratoires Fournier S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano Lafrancol S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano del Ecuador S.A., Laboratorio Internacional Argentino S.A., Laboratorio Synthesis S.A.S., Laboratorios Lafi Limitada, Laboratorios Naturmedik S.A.S., Laboratorios Pauly Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Laboratorios Recalcine S.A., Laboratorios Transpharm S.A., Laboratory Specialists of America Inc., Lafrancol Dominicana S.A.S., Lafrancol Guatemala S.A. Sociedad Anonima, Lafrancol Internacional S.A.S, Lafrancol Peru S.R.L, Lake Forest Investments LLC, Lightlab Imaging Inc., Limited Liability Company Abbott Laboratories, Limited Liability Company Abbott Ukraine, Limited Liability Company VEROPHARM, Lung Fung Hong (China) Limited, Mansbridge Pharmaceuticals Limited, MediGuide LLC, MediGuide Ltd., Medscreen Holdings Limited, Metropolitana Farmaceutica S.A., Midwest Properties LLC, Murex Argentina S.A., Murex Biotech Limited, Murex Biotech South Africa, Murex Diagnostics Inc., Murex Diagnostics International Inc., Natural Supplement Association LLC, Negocios Denia Sociedad Anonima, Neosalud S.A.C., Nether Pharma N.P. C.V., NeuroTherm LLC, Normann Pharma-Handels GmbH, North Shore Properties Inc., Novamedi S.A., Novasalud.com S.A., Nutravida S.A., OJSC Voronezhkhimpharm, Omnilab Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OptiMedica, Orgenics France SAS, Orgenics International Holdings B.V., Orgenics Ltd., PBM-Selfcare LLC, PDD II LLC, PDD LLC, PT Alere Health, PT. Abbott Indonesia, PT. Abbott Products Indonesia, Pacesetter Inc., Pantech (RF) (PTY) LTD, Pembrooke Occupational Health Inc., Penagos S.A., Pharma International Sociedad Anonima, Pharmaceutical Technologies (Pharmatech) S.A., Pharmatech Boliviana S.A., Polygon Labs S.A., Quality Assured Services Inc., RF Medical Holdings LLC, RTL Holdings Inc., Ramses Business Corp., Recben Xenerics Farmaceutica Limitada, Redwood Toxicology Laboratory Inc., Rich Horizons International Limited, SC VEROPHARM, SJ Medical Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., SJM International Inc., SJM Thunder Holding Company, SPDH Inc., Saboya Enterprises Corporation, Salviac Limited, Scanax AS, Sealing Solutions Inc., Selfcare Technology Inc., Shandong Abbott Dairy Product Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Medical Devices Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai Si Fa Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Sinensix & Co., Spinal Modulation LLC, St. Jude Medical, St. Jude Medical AB, St. Jude Medical ATG Inc., St. Jude Medical Argentina S.A., St. Jude Medical Asia Pacific Holdings GK, St. Jude Medical Atrial Fibrillation Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Brasil Ltda., St. Jude Medical Business Services Inc., St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Colombia Ltda., St. Jude Medical Coordination Center, St. Jude Medical Costa Rica Limitada, St. Jude Medical Europe Inc., St. Jude Medical Export Ges.m.b.H., St. Jude Medical GVA Sarl, St. Jude Medical Holdings B.V., St. Jude Medical India Private Limited, St. Jude Medical International Holding, St. Jude Medical LLC, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings II, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings NT, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings SMI S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings TC S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Mexico Business Services S. de R.L. de C.V., St. Jude Medical Middle East DMCC, St. Jude Medical Operations (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., St. Jude Medical Puerto Rico LLC, St. Jude Medical S.C. Inc., St. Jude Medical Systems AB, St. Jude Medical Turkey Medikal Urunler Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Standard Diagnostics Inc., Standing Stone LLC, Swan-Myers Incorporated, TC1 LLC, Tendyne Holdings Inc., Tendyne Medical Inc., Thoratec Delaware LLC, Thoratec Europe Limited, Thoratec LLC, Thoratec Switzerland GmbH, Tobal Products Incorporated, Topera GmbH in Liquidation, Topera Inc., Tremora S.A., Tuenir S.A., TwistDx, UAB Abbott Laboratories, UAB Abbott Medical Lithuania, Union-Madison Realty Company Inc., Unipath Limited (dba Alere International/aka Cranfield), Unipath Management Limited, Unipath Pension Trustee Limited, Veropharm, Veropharm Limited Liability Partnership, Vida Cell Inversiones S.A., Vida Cell S.A., Vivalsol, W&R Pharma Handels GmbH, Western Pharmaceuticals S.A., X Technologies Inc., Yissum Holding Limited, ZonePerfect Nutrition Company, eScreen Canada ULC, eScreen Inc.,      ( ), and Abbott Laboratories Baltics.

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Banc of California, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Banc of California, National Association that provides banking products and services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, retirement, and interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing demand accounts, as well as certificate of deposits. It also provides various commercial and consumer loan products, such as commercial and industrial loans; commercial real estate and multifamily loans; construction loans; single family residential mortgage loans; warehouse and indirect/direct leveraged lending; home equity lines of credit; small business administration loans; and other consumer loans. In addition, the company offers automated bill payment, cash and treasury management, foreign exchange, card payment, remote and mobile deposit capture, automated clearing house origination, wire transfer, direct deposit, and internet banking services; and master demand accounts, interest rate swaps, and safe deposit boxes. Further, it invests in collateralized loan obligations, agency securities, municipal bonds, agency residential mortgage-backed securities, and corporate debt securities. As of December 31, 2020, the company operated 29 full-service branches in Southern California. The company was formerly known as First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to Banc of California, Inc. in July 2013. Banc of California, Inc. was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in Santa Ana, California.
WASHINGTON -- With the prospect of a day off and beautiful autumn weather in the air, I was washing my kitchen floor and planning to rake leaves from my yard. Then Jeff Flake took the Senate floor.

I ended up sitting on my still-dirty floor, spellbound before the television as the junior Republican senator from Arizona made one of the best speeches I have ever heard in Washington.

It was a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington moment, done in 17 minutes.

From his heart and from his soul, Flake said that if good people do not stand up to say enough! to Donald Trumps reckless, outrageous and undignified behavior, they will be complicit in a frightening epoch in history.

Citing Trumps lies, bullying, disregard for civility and injudicious tweets, among other flaws, Flake said: It is often said that children are watching. Well, they are. And what are we going to do about that? When the next generation asks us, Why didnt you do something? Why didnt you speak up? What are we going to say?

Flake said it is time to realize Trump is not going to pivot into good governing. Trump is not going to change. When people say they like hearing the president tell it how it is, they are just excusing dreadful, undisciplined behavior.

That same day Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said hes sorry he voted for Trump who, Corker said, is debasing our country.

I was elated. Republicans were waking to an authoritarian, narcissistic leader undermining our values and principles, whose businesses benefit from the presidency.

Surely, theyd now admit Trumps aim to deport millions is unworkable and detrimental. His merging of state and religion dangerous. His rewards for big businesses unfair. His turning back the clock on environmental protection unnecessary. His alienation of allies reprehensible. His talk of nuclear war irresponsible. His revocation of consumer protections harmful. A divider, not a unifier.

Then I heard that Trump got a standing ovation on Capitol Hill that day. Trump called it a lovefest. Republican senators praised him, vowing to pass his proposal to cut taxes for the richest 11,000 Americans in a country of 323 million.

One senator in the private meeting with Trump said Republicans will back him 100 percent to get the tax cuts they crave. As for Corker and Flake? Theyre not running for re-election. Theyre toast, he said. The White House dismissed them as publicity-seekers.

Later that day, in a 50-50 vote, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the tie, the Senate got rid of a regulation promulgated by a watchdog agency to permit consumers to band together against financial institutions imposing high fees and deceptive practices. Score one for big banks.

Also that day, analysts said Trumps still undefined tax overhaul plan would add as much as $2 trillion to the national debt. Republicans heaved a universal shoulder shrug; they are desperate for something to parade before voters, deficit be damned. Trumps promise that middle class families would get a $4,000 tax cut? Absolutely not true.

The same day, it was revealed that a two-person power company in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinkes small hometown in Montana got a $300 million contract to fix Puerto Ricos devastated power grid. A month after two hurricanes, 80 percent of the island remains without electricity. Thats what draining the swamp looks like.

Flakes speech was eloquent and historic -- a Republican senator denouncing the character of the Republican president. In the moment, many senators were mesmerized. Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell and Flakes fellow Arizonan senator, John McCain, said Flakes decision to leave in January 2019 is lamentable.

But most Republicans scoff that despite Flakes conservative credentials (he votes with Trump on issues), he probably could not have been re-elected anyway given Trumps ridicule of him.

Is the Republican Party broken? Will more statesmen retire and be replaced by white supremacists and intemperate scofflaws out to destroy the system?

We dont know. Flake has hope. At some point, he thinks, the fever will break, the spell will disappear, eyes will be opened.
Brookfield Asset Management is an alternative asset manager and REIT/Real Estate Investment Manager firm focuses on real estate, renewable power, infrastructure and venture capital and private equity assets. It manages a range of public and private investment products and services for institutional and retail clients. It typically makes investments in sizeable, premier assets across geographies and asset classes. It invests both its own capital as well as capital from other investors. Within private equity and venture capital, it focuses on acquisition, early ventures, control buyouts and financially distressed, buyouts and corporate carve-outs, recapitalizations, convertible, senior and mezzanine financings, operational and capital structure restructuring, strategic re-direction, turnaround, and under-performing midmarket companies. It invests in both public debt and equity markets. It invests in private equity sectors with focus on Business Services include infrastructure, healthcare, road fuel distribution and marketing, construction and real estate; Industrials include manufacturers of automotive batteries, graphite electrodes, returnable plastic packaging, and sanitation management and development; and Residential/ infrastructure services. It targets companies which likely possess underlying real assets, primarily in sectors such as industrial products, building materials, metals, mining, homebuilding, oil and gas, paper and packaging, manufacturing and forest product sectors. It invests globally with focus on North America including Brazil, the United States, Canada; Europe; and Australia; and Asia-Pacific. The firm considers equity investments in the range of $2 million to $500 million. It has a four-year investment period and a 10-year term with two one-year extensions. The firm prefers to take minority stake and majority stake. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. was founded in 1997 and based in Toronto, Canada with additional offices across Northern America; South America; Europe; Middle East and Asia.
The time for property tax relief is now.

Over the past several months, I have been collaborating with a coalition of senators, farm groups and concerned citizens, facilitated by former Lincoln City Councilman Trent Fellers, to put together a plan for property tax relief that will appear as a measure on next years November ballot.

As I promised in a May 23 press conference, I will introduce this plan as a legislative resolution in the Legislature in January. At the same time, a citizen-led initiative will soon begin collecting signatures for the same plan. If the resolution fails in the Legislature, the citizen-led initiative will ensure that this same plan appears as a measure on the ballot for a public vote in November 2018. The only catch is that we will need to collect 85,000 signatures from registered voters from across the state by July 7, 2018.

The resolution I will introduce in the Legislature is called the 50/50 plan. This plan will give every property owner in the state a 50 percent credit or refund on that portion of their property tax bill paid to public education.

Property owners will pay the full amount of their property taxes as usual; however, whenever they file their state income taxes, they will be able to declare 50 percent of the education portion of their property tax bill as a credit or refund on their state income taxes.

In most cases, education receives 60 percent of a property owners property tax bill. So, the 50/50 plan will result in a 30 percent property tax reduction for most property owners. Across the state, property owners will save a total amount of roughly $1.1 billion in property taxes.

The 50/50 plan is friendly to education. The 50/50 plan will fully fund public education as well as all other tax-asking entities in the state. Every agency within the state with tax-asking authority will receive its allotted funding in full. The states obligation will be to the property owners, not to the public schools or to any other agency. Therefore, those working in public education or those working in any other agency funded by property taxes have no reason to fear a potential loss of funding.

Another advantage of the 50/50 plan is that it makes the Legislature, instead of local governments, responsible for reconciling the $1.1 billion difference in lost revenues. Some have criticized the 50/50 plan, suggesting that it would necessarily result in higher sales taxes or higher income taxes.

But, this is not true. There is nothing in the plan that mandates higher taxes of any kind. Others have criticized the 50/50 plan saying that it would take tax incentives away from businesses, but this is not true, either. There is nothing in the plan that takes tax incentives away from businesses. These kinds of criticisms of the 50/50 plan only present false dilemmas about the plan, and they are designed to scare the public into voting against the plan.

Any of these options could theoretically be on the table  but only if the Legislature determined that was the preferred way to replace the 30 percent reduction in each property tax bill.

These kinds of criticisms of the 50/50 plan present false dilemmas about the plan because they conveniently forget that the Legislature may pay for the $1.1 billion in lost revenues simply by cutting spending from the states biennial budget. Moreover, these same kinds of scare tactics would be lodged against any plan that seeks to reduce property tax revenues by the sum of $1.1 billion.

We have been talking about property tax relief in our state for the past 40 years. The burden of property taxes has now become unbearable for many property owners across the state.

Wherever I go, people ask me to deliver on property tax relief, so I have made this my top priority this year as a legislator. I believe the time to act is now, and the 50/50 plan is the best way we have come up with to deliver on property tax relief for all property owners living in Nebraska. I sincerely hope you will join us in our effort to reduce your property taxes.
BT Group plc provides communications services worldwide. Its Consumer segment sells telephones, baby monitors, and Wi-Fi extenders through high street retailers, online BT Shop, and Website BT.com; and offers home phone, copper and fiber broadband, TV, and mobile services in various packages. The company's EE segment offers 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile network services; broadband, fixed-voice, and TV services; and postpaid and prepaid plans, and emergency services network. This segment also sells 4G mobile phones, tablets, connected devices, and mobile broadband devices from various manufacturers. Its Business and Public Sector segment provides fixed voice, mobility, fiber and connectivity, and networked IT services to retailers, utilities, public sector, healthcare, sports, construction, finance, and educational sectors. The company's Global Services segment offers business communications and ICT services comprising BT Connect, BT Security, BT One, BT Contact, BT Compute, BT Advise, and BT for financial markets. This segment serves approximately 5,500 customers in 180 countries. Its Wholesale and Ventures segment enables communications providers and other organizations to provide fixed or mobile phone services. Its ventures provide mass-market services, such as directory enquiries and payphones; and enterprise services comprising BT Fleet and BT Redcare. This segment also provides broadband and Ethernet, voice, hosted communication, mobile virtual network operator, managed solutions, machine-to-machine, roaming, and media services. The company's Openreach segment engages in the provision of services over the local access network; and installation and maintenance of fiber and copper communications networks that connect homes and businesses. The company was formerly known as Newgate Telecommunications Limited and changed its name to BT Group plc in September 2001. BT Group plc was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
GAMCO Global Gold, Natural Resources & Income Trust is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched by GAMCO Investors, Inc. The fund is managed by Gabelli Funds, LLC. It invests in the public equity markets across the globe. The fund invests in stocks of companies principally engaged in the gold and natural resources industries including companies principally engaged in the exploration, mining, fabrication, processing, distribution, or trading of gold, or the financing, managing and controlling, or operating of companies engaged in gold related activities. It also invests in equity securities of companies principally engaged in the exploration, production, or distribution of natural resources, such as gas and oil, paper, food and agriculture, forestry products, metals, and minerals as well as related transportation companies and equipment manufacturers. The fund makes its investments using call options. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the CBOE S&P 500 Buy/Write Index, Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index, Energy Select Sector Index, and Barclays Government/Credit Bond Index. The fund was formerly known as GAMCO Global Gold, Natural Resources & Income Trust by Gabelli. GAMCO Global Gold, Natural Resources & Income Trust was formed on January 4, 2005 and is domiciled in United States.
GMS Inc. distributes wallboard, ceilings, steel framing and complementary construction products in the United States and Canada. The company offers ceilings products, including suspended mineral fibers, soft fibers, and metal ceiling systems primarily used in offices, hotels, hospitals, retail facilities, schools, and various other commercial and institutional buildings. It also provides steel framing products, such as steel tracks, studs, and various other steel products used to frame the interior walls of a commercial or institutional building; and insulation, lumber and other wood products, ready-mix joint compound, and various other interior construction products, as well as ancillary products comprising tools, fasteners, and safety products. In addition, the company distributes acoustical ceilings, steel framing, insulation, and related building products, as well as commercial and residential building materials. It serves professional contractors and homebuilders. As of April 30, 2022, the company operated 300 branches across 44 states and the District of Columbia, as well as 6 provinces in Canada. It also operates a network of approximately 300 distribution centers. GMS Inc. was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Tucker, Georgia.
WEST ALLIS  The Ed Noble family of Lone Chestnut Farm in Burlington was recently honored at the 2017 Wisconsin State Fair for their Sesquicentennial and Century Farm.

The Sesquicentennial Farm Awards Program began in 1998 as part of Wisconsins Sesquicentennial Celebration. The program honors families who have had continuous ownership of their Wisconsin farm or home for 150 years or more. The Century Farm began in 1948 as part of Wisconsins Centennial Celebration, a 23-day Wisconsin State Fair. It honors families with continuous ownership of their farm or home for 100 years.

On Aug. 8, during the Wisconsin State Fair, Hillshire Farm and Compeer Financial recognized 132 Century Farm families and 51 Sesquicentennial Farms. More than 9,300 Century Farms and more than 830 sesquicentennial properties have been honored since the programs inception.
KAR Auction Services, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides used vehicle auctions and related vehicle remarketing services for the automotive industry in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. The company operates through two segments, ADESA Auctions and AFC. The ADESA Auctions segment offers whole car auctions and related services to the vehicle remarketing industry through online auctions and auction facilities. It also provides value-added services, such as auction related, transportation, reconditioning, inspection, title and repossession administration and remarketing, vehicle research, and analytical services, as well as data as a service. This segment sells its products and services through vehicle manufacturers, fleet companies, rental car companies, finance companies, and others. As of December 31, 2021, this segment had a network of approximately 70 vehicle logistics center locations in North America. The AFC segment offers floorplan financing, a short-term inventory-secured financing to independent used vehicle dealers; and sells vehicle service contracts. The company provides wheel repair and hail catastrophe response services. It serves vehicle manufacturers, vehicle rental companies, financial institutions, commercial fleets and fleet management companies, and dealer customers. The company was formerly known as KAR Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to KAR Auction Services, Inc. in November 2009. KAR Auction Services, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana.
Since Brooke Paulich was young, she has always been fascinated with how things work.

I would sit on the floor and build things with Knex or Legos, Paulich remembers. I like to build things up, figure out how they work and then take them apart.

So, when she got the opportunity to enroll in Park High Schools brand new Mechatronics course as part of the Academies of Racine, she didnt hesitate.

I found out about it right before school began and asked my counselor to switch me into it, Paulich said.

The Academies of Racine launched at RUSDs three comprehensive high schools; Case, Horlick and Park, in fall 2016. The Academies of Racine are designed to ensure students are better prepared for college and the regional workforce.

In changing the curriculum, developing small learning communities and better connecting with local businesses and organizations, the Academies help students graduate with a plan. Within the Academies are specific Pathways, such as Culinary Arts, Engineering, Marketing, Automotive Technology and Construction, among other specialty areas based on high demand careers.

Park High School

This summer, Park High School underwent construction to build a brand new mechatronics lab. Mechatronics is a field of science within Industry 4.0 where students learn how machines talk to one another and analyze the data those machines provide. During this course, students like Paulich, will get the opportunity to learn advanced manufacturing skills including how to program and troubleshoot computer-controlled machines.

Thanks to RUSDs partnership with SME Prime and the Emerson Foundation (InSinkErator), Park High School students will work directly with current manufacturing equipment including a programmable robotic arm donated to the school.

Horlick High School

Across town at Horlick High School, junior Damon Young gets ready to board the bus and head to the John H. Batten Airport. Sure, Young has been to the airport before, but hes never actually been on an airplane, until now.

It was so cool when we went to check out the plane we got to sit in the cockpit and learn about some of the major controls, Young said.

Young is part of Horlick High Schools new Aviation Pathway. This year, students will get the opportunity for hands-on learning as they dive deeper into the mechanics and aviation operating systems through the new aviation pathway.

The plane, donated by Eric Lyon of Marinette, will be kept at the airport, with hangar space donated by DeltaHawk Engines of Racine. The hangar also has classroom space for students to utilize.

Well get to spend the year learning how airplanes work, Young said. Those are pretty rare skills to learn, especially in high school. I know it will open up a lot of doors for me in the future.

Case High School

For almost an entire month, Sara Gauthiers classroom at Case High School is turned into a crime scene. Dont worry, the victims arent real  and neither is the blood. But, the experience is very real. And the lessons the students learn carry with them beyond the classroom.

Principles of Biomedical Science is one of Case High Schools most popular courses. In fact, in just two years the class has tripled in size and due to student enrollment theyve added two additional courses for students to take their junior and senior year.

As the Academies of Racine grow, RUSD high school students are becoming more engaged in hands-on, relevant learning. They will graduate ready for whatever comes next  college or career.
This list is not comprehensive. Municipalities are listed as they appear on the criminal complaint. Suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. To see mugshots of the accused, visit www.journaltimes.com/gallery. Additional information about the complaints can be found at: journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts.

Stacey M. Adorno, 500 block of Sixth St., Racine, disorderly conduct.

Christopher L. Anderson, 1300 block of Grand Ave., Racine, recklessly endangering safety, use of a dangerous weapon, and possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.

Juan O. Arceo, 900 block of Center St., Racine, possession of marijuana, bail jumping, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Martha P. Avitia, 600 block of College Ave., Racine, disorderly conduct.

Quincy A. Bevers, 1800 block of W. Sixth St., Racine, possession of marijuana.

Phillip L. Bowens, 200 block of Howland Ave., Racine, disorderly conduct, and domestic abuse assessments.

Anthony C. Boyden Jr., 3300 block of Victory Ave., Racine, resisting an officer, battery, domestic abuse assessments, obstructing an officer, and disorderly conduct.

Roderick D. Branch Martin, 5900 block of 16th St., Mount Pleasant, retail theft, and operating without a license.

Carrie A. Buchholz, 3600 block of Douglas Ave., Racine, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated with a minor child in the vehicle.

Lucrecia M. Butler, 2400 block of 54th St., Kenosha, possession of narcotic drugs, bail jumping, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Ernest R. Castro, 2400 block of N. Green Bay Road, Racine, substantial battery.

Vanrobert P. Chandler, 1900 block of Prospect St., Racine, operating without a license.

Michael W. Cina, 1600 block of S. 63rd St., West Allis, possession of a firearm by a felon, first degree intentional homicide, and use of a dangerous weapon.

Jermarel R. Cobb, 1600 block of Crabtree Lane, Racine, manufacture/deliver cocaine, and bail jumping.

Eloyce L. Cosey, 2100 block of Layard Ave., Racine, disorderly conduct.

Darriontay R. Danzy, 1800 block of 22nd Ave., Kenosha, theft, and attempt theft.

Dominique N. Ellis, 1600 block of W. Sixth St., Racine, fail to cause child to attend school.

Kenneth D. Evans, 2200 block of N. 39th St., Milwaukee, attempting to flee or elude a traffic officer, recklessly endangering safety, delivery of schedule I or II narcotics, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Chris J. Farnsworth, 2900 block of Mallard Way, East Troy, retail theft.

Timothy L. Farr, 1400 block of W. Sixth St., Racine, manufacture/deliver heroin, and possession of cocaine.

Daniella M. Garcia, 200 block of Belmont Ave., Racine, uttering a forgery, and unauthorized use of an entitys identifying information or documents.

Juan Garcia, 1600 block of Hamilton St., Racine, possession of marijuana, possession of an electric weapon, carrying a concealed weapon, operating without a license, bail jumping, and knowingly violating a harassment restraining order.

Kalub A. Gelmi, 5700 block of Regency Hills Drive, Mount Pleasant, bail jumping, and receiving stolen property.

Gregory J. Giandinoto, 30900 block of Weiler Road, Burlington, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Robin J. Grainger, 31400 block of Hickory Hollow Drive, Wind Lake, criminal damage to property, and disorderly conduct.

Christopher B. Hallett, 8100 block of Truman Court, Burlington, strangulation and suffocation, domestic abuse assessments, battery, and disorderly conduct.

Moniecke E. Hull, 4500 block of N. 24th St., Milwaukee, possession of narcotic drugs.

Joshua M. Hutcherson, 5000 block of Byrd Ave., Racine, possession with intent to deliver or manufacture marijuana.

Josue D. Jimenez, 6200 block of S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee, disorderly conduct, and criminal damage to property.

Rachel June, 5000 block of Biscayne Ave., Racine, personal identity theft for financial gain, and crime against an elderly or disabled person.

Tavon L. Kent, 2400 block of Anthony Lane, Racine, theft of movable property, bail jumping, criminal damage to property, possession of a firearm by a felon, and entry into a locked vehicle.

Jimmie D. Knighton Jr., 1800 block of Roosevelt Ave., Racine, possession with intent to deliver or manufacture marijuana, bail jumping, and obstructing an officer.

Alyjiah M. Lafournier, 1700 block of Grange Ave., Racine, hit and run attended vehicle.

Lacy L. Lanciloti, 1100 block of David St., Racine, bail jumping, retail theft, and obstructing an officer.

Alexis C. Lott, 400 block of 10th St., Racine, recklessly endangering safety, domestic abuse assessments, and disorderly conduct.

Sean J. Mandli, 5900 block of N. Santa Monica Blvd., Milwaukee, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, and bail jumping.

Traveon M. Martin, 100 block of Howland Ave., Racine, battery.

Tyler J. Martinez, 3600 block of 10th Ave., Racine, hit and run resulting in death.

Ronnie J. McMorris, 1800 block of Villa St., Racine, manufacture/deliver cocaine, manufacture/deliver heroin, recklessly endangering safety, and maintaining a drug trafficking place.

Joshua J. Miller, 2400 block of Prospect St., Racine, retail theft.

Timothy A. Mojonnier, 13300 block of W. 21st St., Wadsworth, Ill., operate motor vehicle while revoked, and operating while intoxicated.

Alexander R. Monfeli, 7000 block of Hazelcrest Drive, Racine, possession of narcotic drugs, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Charles R. Mooney, 600 block of N. Sheridan Road, Winthrop Harbor, Ill., burglary of a building or dwelling.

Holly A. Moser, 200 block of Chapel Terrace, Burlington, theft of movable property, possession of narcotic drugs, and negligently abuse or neglect patient-no harm.

Adrian M. Myhre, 3100 block of St. Clair St., Racine, possession of a firearm by a felon, carrying a concealed weapon, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

John E. Quinones, 800 block of 18th St., Racine, burglary of a building or dwelling.

Jorge G. Rocha, 900 block of Grand Ave., Racine, operate motor vehicle while revoked.

Tom M. Schoening, 3500 block of Byron Ave., Racine, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

Salvador A. Sotelo, 2600 block of S. 30th St., Milwaukee, operate motor vehicle while revoked, and bail jumping.

Eugene D. Space Sr., 1800 block of N. Wisconsin St., Racine, substantial battery, domestic abuse assessments, disorderly conduct, and domestic abuse.

Justin D. Spiegelhoff, 300 block of Wainwright Ave., Burlington, second degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age.

Kai R. Stauersbol, 200 block of Chapel Terrace, Burlington, bail jumping, and obstructing an officer.

Laura L. Steinmetz, 7400 block of Botting Road, Racine, theft-false representation.

Matthew E. Sullivan, 1300 block of Bluff Ave., Racine, operating a motor vehicle without owners consent.

Nucquan L. Thomas, 1100 block of 12th St., Racine, operating without a license.

Marshawn J. Thurman, 15900 block of Durand Ave., Union Grove, substantial battery.

Kamala S. Tucker, 500 block of Greenfield Road, Racine, disorderly conduct, domestic abuse assessments, and bail jumping.

Andrew C. Walker, 2600 block of Wright Ave., Racine, aggravated battery, use of a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm by a felon, carrying a concealed weapon, and disorderly conduct.

Abby L. Wallig, 16000 block of 2 Mile Road, Franksville, forgery, theft, and bail jumping.

Antonio D. Williams, 100 block of N. Perkins Blvd., Burlington, obstructing an officer, resisting an officer, and bail jumping.

Juan R. Zuniga, 1100 block of 17th St., Racine, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, and operating with prohibited alcohol concentration.
Twitter, Inc. operates as a platform for public self-expression and conversation in real-time. The company's primary product is Twitter, a platform that allows users to consume, create, distribute, and discover content. It also provides promoted products that enable advertisers to promote brands, products, and services, as well as enable advertisers to target an audience based on various factors, including who an account follows and actions taken on its platform, such as Tweets created and engagement with Tweets. Its promoted products consist of promoted ads and Twitter Amplify, Follower Ads, and Twitter takeover. In addition, the company offers monetization products for creators, including Tips to directly send small one-time payments on Twitter using various payment methods, including bitcoin; Super Follows, a paid monthly subscription, which includes bonus content, exclusive previews, and perks as a way to support and connect with creators on Twitter; and Ticketed Spaces to support creators on Twitter for their time and effort in hosting, speaking, and moderating the public conversation on Twitter Spaces. Further, it offers products for developers and data partners comprising Twitter Developer Platform, a platform that enables developers to build tools for people and businesses using its public application programming interface; and paid access to Twitter data for partners with commercial use cases. Twitter, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is based in San Francisco, California.
The school's bathrooms are not ADA compliant, a problem for students with physical disabilities. The cafeteria and library are also in the same space. If a $14.8 million referendum is passed, those problems could be fixed.
BURLINGTON  Somewhere from above, people like Ruth Lenz and the Rev. Trent Rockwell are looking down at Burlingtons Riverview Manor apartments and are beaming with pride.

The 92-unit complex, nestled on 6.4 park-like acres between State Street (old Highway 11) and the Fox River, serves low- to moderate-income senior residents (older than 62) and disabled adult residents of any age from Burlington and surrounding communities, and this year is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The celebration has been a low-key affair. Riverview Manor officials hosted a gathering for the Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce on Sept. 14 at the complex located at 580 Madison St. But the anniversary has allowed members of the Burlington Housing Authority, which oversees the complex, to reflect on the efforts of many over the years.

Recently, Eileen Olson, the manager of the complex; Patricia Lapp, the chairman of the Housing Authority; and Ralph Heck, vice chairman, shared some of the scrapbooks kept by Lenz, a onetime Realtor in Burlington who served on the Housing Authority from 1972 until 2008, many of those years as its chairman who oversaw the complex with iron resolve.

The meticulous scrapbooks tell the story of efforts by people like Rockwell, a local pastor who saw the need for affordable housing for seniors in Burlington, at a time in the citys history when officials may have been more focused on industrial development  the 1960s and 70s was a time when businesses like Nestle, Packaging Corp. and other manufacturers were setting up shop in town.

But through the persistence of its advocates over the course of several Burlington city administrations, freezes on development funds through the federal government, and even some initial opposition from some residents living near the site, Riverview Manor opened in 1977 with 64 units  48 one-bedroom units of approximately 600 square feet that rented then for $140 and 16 two-bedroom units of approximately 800 square feet with a rent then of $165.

An addition of 28 one-bedroom units was added in 1984. Ongoing maintenance and renovations took place over the years, but nothing substantial until 2015, when a $1.5 million major updating and renovation took place.

Olson, who has been Riverview manager for nearly 4 years, said every kitchen and bathroom at the complex was renovated. The project included new lighting, cabinets, sinks and faucets, and range hoods.

The complex was awarded the Wisconsin Council for Affordable Rural Housing Property of the Year, Manager of the Year and Maintenance Man of the Year honors in 2015.

During the renovation, 13 apartments were kept unleased so that residents at the complex had units to move into while theirs were being renovated. Olson said she described the temporary displacements of about a week at a time as camping for the affected residents.

They (the residents) came through it like troupers, Olson said. Others on the schedule for renovations couldnt wait to be the next in line.

The renovation also had an effect on the complexs waiting list. What had been a typical list of 20 or so applicants, grew to around 30 when the 13 units were taken out of circulation and really grew after an open house was held in the summer of 2015 to show off the renovation efforts.

The modern amenities and the tree-lined grounds make for an understandably attractive prospect for people in the primes of their lives and/or seeking to maintain a level of independence.

They keep the place marvelous. You can see theres no cracks (in the walls or ceilings). They didnt even have to come in and paint the place. Its kept up good, said Nancy Thillemann, a seven-year resident. The outside is beautiful. I call it a park. In the summertime we have apple trees and theyre gorgeous.

The average tenure of residents at Riverview Manor is four to five years, but one resident has been there for about a quarter of a century. And while the complex is overseen by the City of Burlington, residents can and do come from all over, although most have some ties to the community.

Although Riverview Manor is not an assisted-living facility, there are activities like card games and socials held in the complexs community room. And the SPARC (Shuttling People Around Racine County) bus service helps non-driving residents get to appointments and run errands.

Oversight

Olson says that a board, with members from backgrounds that lend themselves well to the management of the complex (like banking, property management and small business) help Riverview Manor run smoothly and endure challenges like last summers flooding.

The board is very supportive; they care about the people and theyre accountable, said Olson, who has a varied background in education, information technology, human resources and accounting.

Lapp and Heck are two veteran members of the board. Heck, a retired electrician, has 21 years of service; and Lapp, who worked in the banking industry at the former Bank of Burlington and its successors, has served 15 years. While there have been some shorter terms of late, longtime service on the board is not unusual. For example, Leroy Stoehr served until he was in his 90s.

The flood

Although the complex has a beautiful view of the river, it sits high enough above the waters that it avoided damage in the July flood. However, the complex was without electricity for several days. But community members, city officials and the National Guard made sure the complex was stocked with water, ice, food and battery-operated lights during the emergency.

We got there and she (Olson) had that all covered. I was so impressed with that, said Burlington Mayor Jeannie Hefty.

Residents made the best of the situation, even without air conditioning, and banded together  even holding a cookout to serve up meat that was thawing in unpowered freezers, Olson said.

Hefty praised the 2015 renovation and a more recent improvement: a shelter that allows residents to sit outside and watch the river and the wildlife that wanders onto the grounds.

Its well run, its well kept. I cant say enough about it, Hefty said. Its just a beautiful place and now everyone wants to be there.

This report has been modified since publication to remove an implication that Leroy Stoehr had died.
RACINE  U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Friday afternoon that Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian influence in the 2016 presidential campaign, should step down.

He should resign, said Johnson, who is chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. I take the position that we shouldnt have a special counsel at this time. We should let the (congressional) committees do their work.

In speaking to The Journal Times Editorial Board on Friday, Johnson said Mueller should resign because of the FBIs handling of Hillary Clintons private email server along with recent information regarding sales of U.S. uranium while Mueller was FBI director.

Johnson said the Clinton investigation by the FBI was not an investigation by the FBI designed to get the truth leading to an indictment and a conviction.

It was an investigation, primarily to exonerate, Johnson said. (Mueller is) too close to Comey, referring to then-FBI Director James Comey.

Johnson said the Mueller investigation is impeding the Senate and House investigations into the Russian influence in the presidential election.

You try to subpoena things, you ask for records and they go Cant, we got an active investigation going. We dont want to compromise our prosecution,  Johnson said. What we want to do is let those committees, as rapidly as possible, do a full investigation and issue a report to determine if further action is needed.

He added the Office of Special Counsel was investigating Comey for violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits certain federal employees from engaging in political activity.

The Office of Special Counsel was investigating Hatch Act violations of James Comey; he got fired, so they stopped, Johnson said. Prior to that, they deposed two of his primary deputies that were really open and forthright, I just cant get the unredacted versions of that.

Uranium sale

A more recent story in The Hill newspaper, which alleges in 2010 the FBI was investigating Russian nuclear industry officials receiving bribes and other forms of money to be able to buy U.S. uranium, is another reason for Mueller to resign .

During that time in 2010, while Clinton was secretary of state, Johnson said the Clinton Foundation was receiving massive amounts of money  by these Russian interests as theyre trying to obtain 20 percent of our U.S. uranium.

The FBI had knowledge of that, why werent they screaming? Johnson said. To me it sounds like (Mueller) has some serious, serious conflicts of interest, and I think he ought to be resigning as special counsel right now.
Gun Laws Fail Again...and People Die

By Rob Morse. October 27th, 2017

Article Source

I have a point of view. I used to think that gun laws stopped crime and made us safer. I would read about some violent attack and think that more regulation would stop the next criminal. Now, Ive studied some of our 23 thousand firearms regulations. I see a violent crime as another failure of the many gun control laws we already have. Gun laws dont work, and we cant achieve safety by piling regulations on honest people.

Recent events are clear examples. We had a mass murderer in Las Vegas, Nevada. We had another one in Edgewood, Maryland. Gun laws did not protect us from these attacks. As Senator Diane Feinstein admitted, no law would have stopped the Las Vegas gunman. The Senator is so right.

The Las Vegas murderer broke the rules as is usually the case. Lets face it, if youre going to murder scores of people youre not going to be bothered by breaking a few hotel regulations. The Mandalay Bay Casino where the murderer stayed was a gun free zone. It was such a gun free zone that that even the hotel security guards were unarmed. The result was that the murderer had guns while the honest gun owners left their guns at home. Those gun-control restrictions left us less safe rather than making us safer.

The Las Vegas murderer also bought his guns legally. He passed the background checks for every one of his gun purchases. His only brush with the law was a traffic violation. Gun control failed to stop mass murder..again. We cant reach perfect safety by regulating the honest people.

The Maryland murderer also broke the rules. He went to his employer and shot five people. Three of them died. Before he was captured, the murderer drove to Delaware and shot another person at whom he was mad. The Maryland murderer had a very long record of criminal activity.

The murderer had been arrested 42 times. He had 15 felony convictions for burglary. He had four misdemeanor convictions. Charges included theft, sale of stolen goods and conspiracy to sell stolen goods, parole violations, possession of drug paraphernalia, shoplifting, possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, four separate charges of assault and assault and battery, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and unlawfully carrying a handgun in a vehicle. There were plenty of laws that should have kept this murderer in jail. We certainly dont need more gun control to do that.

Felons arent supposed to have guns. In theory, our gun laws stop them. That isnt true in practice. None other than the Washington Post lists Maryland as one of the top six states for gun control laws. One of Marylands laws is a ban on gun possession "for those convicted of a felony." Maryland goes farther than that. Maryland does not issue concealed carry permits to ordinary law-abiding citizens. The murderers victims were disarmed. Im noticing a pattern here.

Ordinary citizens with a gun stop violent criminals thousands of times every day. These good guys protect themselves and their family until the police arrive. These good guys are people just like you. You dont read those stories in the mainstream media, but they happen. I cover them, and I talk about them every week. It is dangerous to disarm these good men and women.

Gun control disarms honest people who follow our laws, but gun control doesnt stop convicted felons or mass murderers.

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Getting Ahead of the Next Pandemic: Is the World Ready?

Published: 2017-10-28

Author: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | Contact: cdc.gov

Peer-Reviewed Publication: N/A

Additional References: Library of Health and Disability Publications

Synopsis: The world is more interconnected than ever, emerging diseases continually threaten health, and drug resistance continues to grow. When a deadly mystery illness was detected in Liberia in April 2017, first responders were on the ground within 24 hours. Through the Ministry of Health's quick action and collaboration with global partners, the cause of the outbreak was identified as meningococcal disease and contained with only 31 cases and 13 deaths. In stark contrast, when Ebola struck Liberia just three years ago, it took the country months to mount an effective response; thousands of lives were lost as responders raced to control the growing epidemic.

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Main Digest

When a deadly mystery illness was detected in Liberia in April 2017, first responders were on the ground within 24 hours. Through the Ministry of Health's quick action and collaboration with global partners, the cause of the outbreak was identified as meningococcal disease and contained with only 31 cases and 13 deaths. In stark contrast, when Ebola struck Liberia just three years ago, it took the country months to mount an effective response; thousands of lives were lost as responders raced to control the growing epidemic.

The difference between these two outbreaks is just one example of the progress made since 2014 to advance the Global Health Security Agenda's (GHSA) goal to strengthen countries' response capacities. GHSA is a global effort to save lives and reduce the impact of disease threats - whether naturally occurring or manmade - by stopping them at their source.

A new article released today in CDC's Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) journal details early results of CDC's global health security work through collaboration with 17 partner countries. Implementing the Global Health Security Agenda in 17 Countries: Contributions by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows how CDC is accelerating progress toward a world more prepared for public health threats. Part of EID's new Global Health Security Supplement, the article outlines CDC-supported progress during the first two years of GHSA implementation.

With supplemental funding from the U.S. Government of $582 million over five years (FY 2015 - 2019), CDC is supporting Liberia and 16 other GHSA countries in strengthening core public health systems to rapidly detect, respond, and prevent the spread of disease and limit the impact of outbreaks on families, communities, and whole economies. These efforts include strengthening:

Surveillance systems to rapidly detect and report cases.

Laboratory networks to accurately identify the cause of illness.

A workforce of disease detectives and rapid responders to identify, track, and contain outbreaks.

Emergency operations systems to coordinate an effective response.

"These core areas are a platform for a functioning public health system in any country and are critical for effective disease detection and response," said Rebecca Bunnell, Ph.D., deputy director for science, policy, and communication in CDC's Division of Global Health Protection and senior author of the article. "From meningococcal disease in Liberia to yellow fever in Uganda, outbreaks can be contained and pandemics prevented when countries have these core capabilities in place."

A Timely Look at Progress Toward GHSA Milestones

This week, GHSA partner countries, including the United States, meet in Kampala, Uganda, for the 4th High Level GHSA Ministerial Meeting to discuss sustaining and extending these critical efforts.

"In a world more interconnected than ever - where emerging diseases continually threaten people's health and drug resistance continues to grow - ensuring the safety and security of all people requires strong, diverse partnerships and a global commitment to GHSA beyond 2018," said Rebecca Martin, Ph.D., director of CDC's Center for Global Health.

The CDC report describes progress to meet GHSA milestones and concludes that, overall, GHSA partner countries (Phase I) were successful in expanding their capacity for combating public health threats. The analysis found more than 675 advancements across the 17 countries as a result of CDC's GHSA work, including these:

Disease Surveillance: Thirteen countries (76 percent) expanded surveillance systems for three or more syndromes (for example, severe acute respiratory syndrome, acute flaccid paralysis, acute hemorrhagic fever, and acute watery diarrhea with dehydration) that signal possible public health emergencies.

Laboratory Systems: Sixteen countries (94 percent) acquired new diagnostic equipment and capabilities (such as specimen test kits) to detect priority pathogens like influenza, polio, HIV, TB, typhoid fever, and cholera.

Workforce Development: All 17 countries participated in three-month Frontline Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETP) designed to put disease detectives on the ground who know how to identify, track, and contain outbreaks. These included new Frontline programs in 14 countries.

Emergency Management and Response: Fourteen countries trained emergency operations center staff in basic public health emergency management, giving them the necessary skills to coordinate an efficient and effective response.

Disabled World is an independent disability community established in 2004 to provide disability news and information to people with disabilities, seniors, their family and/or carers. See our homepage for informative news, reviews, sports, stories and how-tos. You can also connect with us on Twitter and Facebook or learn more about Disabled World on our about us page.

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Disabled World provides general information only. The materials presented are never meant to substitute for professional medical care by a qualified practitioner, nor should they be construed as such. Financial support is derived from advertisements or referral programs, where indicated. Any 3rd party offering or advertising does not constitute an endorsement.

 Cite This Page (APA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2017, October 28). Getting Ahead of the Next Pandemic: Is the World Ready?. Disabled World. Retrieved November 15, 2022 from www.disabled-world.com/health/pandemic.php



 Permalink: <a href="https://www.disabled-world.com/health/pandemic.php">Getting Ahead of the Next Pandemic: Is the World Ready?</a>
Anup Ojha is a reporter for The Kathmandu Post primarily covering social issues and human interest stories. Before moving to the social beat, Ojha covered arts and culture for the Post for four years.
Bearing Across

After having spent a big chunk of her early life abroad, Manjushree Thapa returned to Nepal with a hope of writing in Nepali. With the help of Nepali poet Manjul, Thapa started relearning Nepali by translating poems from English to Nepali.
Birtamod unrest: DAO, protesters reach agreement

The violent situation in Birtamod of Jhapa has been gradually limping back to normalcy following an agreement between the District Administration Office (DAO) and protesters on Saturday afternoon.
By Jason Bittel

The kiwi is a small, flightless bird that spends most of the day underground. At night, these needle-billed, chicken-size floofs emerge to hunt insects, crayfish, seeds and fruit, but as they waddle through New Zealands forests, they create invisible scent trails. By morning, kiwis have often unwittingly led a predator back to their burrows.

For most of their existence, kiwis had to deal only with a few avian predators, all of which are now extinct. But for the past 800 years, ever since humans and their pets first set foot on New Zealand, dogs have become one of the kiwis greatest curses. Sure, cats (also introduced) eat kiwi chicks too. So do stoats (also introduced). And rats (yup, introduced) compete with kiwis for food. But dogs (both wild and domestic) take a grisly toll on the adults. Because kiwis lack a breastbone, even a small bite can crush them, according to New Zealands Department of Conservation (DOC). A dog can kill a kiwi by just giving it a playful push, the DOC website told us.

Scientists estimate that just 200 years ago kiwis numbered in the millions. Today around 67,000 remain, and all 11 species are in decline. A typical wild kiwi once lived to the age of 50, but most dont make it past 14 these days.

While cats and stoats are still probably the greatest threat to kiwis on the whole, just one dog can wreak unthinkable havoc if left unchecked. For example, back in 1987, a single mutt dispatched around 500 kiwis over the course of six weeks. But now mans best friend might also be the kiwis last great hopeespecially if more dogs can be like Neo and Beau.

The two German shorthaired pointers in the video above are conservation dogs, trained to find kiwis and certified after a rigorous two-year regimen that ensures they wont pose a risk to any animals when deployed in the field. Andrew Glaser, who has been training and handling dogs for the DOC for about 17 years, chronicles the duos bird-saving adventures on Facebook. He said Beau is a rookie, while Neo, who is Beaus granddaddy, is still doing the business at age 13.

Denisbin / Flickr

Saving kiwis first requires knowing where the birds are, and dog snoots are a bajillion times better at sniffing out birds than we are. Weve found that the dogs can increase your accuracy by as much as 30 percent from your normal countsand sometimes even higher depending on the location and the birds behavior, Glaser said.

Kiwi conservation efforts differ from place to place. In some areas, scientists count the kiwis and monitor survival rates each year. In others, they fit the birds with transmitters so they can locate them in the future for easier counts. And if an area is brimming with nonnative predators, conservationists may opt for moving the kiwis and their eggs to a safer locationeither a fenced enclosure or predator-free hideaway like Red Mercury Island. The DOC sometimes also incubates eggs and releases the chicks when they are ready for life in the wild. Officially known as Operation Nest Egg, the captive-rearing program began in 1994 and now boasts chick survival rates of more than 99 percent.

Back to the pooches. One of the best things about conservation dogs is that they can be trained to gently track down all sorts of struggling bird species in New Zealandones with fantastic names such as the whio, the kakapo, the kaki, the kea, and the kokako. Glaser said hunting dogs are usually best suited for sniffing out endangered species, but the department enlists a whole roster of pest-detecting breeds.

Dogs have their inherent set of traits, said Glaser. German pointers, for instance, are indefatigable runners that have been bred to course over land and water in search of birds. But if you want to catch a rat, youll want a rat terrier.

Because sometimes the mission of these canine conservationists is to hunt down invasive rats, ferrets, and stoats. The dogs dont do any attacking, explained Glaser, adding that every one of the departments 83 conservation dogs wears a wire muzzle while on dutyjust in case. Strategically placed traps do the actual catching.

Despite Beaus and Neos best efforts, the kiwis future is still very much touch and go. While the national goal is to grow the population by 2 percent each year, the birds numbers are actually declining about 2 percent each year. And although the New Zealand government has ponied up several million NZ dollars already, nonprofit Kiwis for Kiwi estimates that it will require at least another million and change to turn the kiwis negative growth rate into a positive.

Still, Glaser said conservation dogs are allowing New Zealand to do more with less. They dont just help conserve endangered species and remove invaders, but also raise awareness of the countrys biodiversity issues.

Theyre very much loved, said Glaser. Theyre also adorable, a public relations asset the DOC is not going pass up. Its encouraging its pooch handlers to share their exploits across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter as a way to introduce the public to these national heroes.

Reposted with permission from our media associate onEarth.
By Rita Schoeny

. . . And neither can you.

Since January, we have seen a continual assault on our environmental protections. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has put a political operative with no scientific experience in charge of vetting EPA grants, and the agency is reconsidering an Obama-era regulation on coal ash. The well-established legal processes for promulgating environmental regulations, andvery pointedlythe science underlying environmental regulation are being jettisoned by the Trump administration. As scientists, we must stand up for science and ensure that it is not tossed aside in public policy and decision-making.

Rigorous science is the foundation of EPA

While at the EPA, I served as a senior scientist in human health risk assessment. I was among the cadre of dedicated professionals who worked long, hard and intelligently to provide the science supporting management of risks from exposure to environmental contaminants. Often, we engaged in the demanding practice of issuing regulation.

Regulations to limit human and environmental exposure are not developed overnight. The laws that enable the EPA to issue regulations specify requirements and procedures for issuing rules; these can include notice of proposed rulemaking, multiple proposed rules, public comments on proposals, responses to comments, more proposals, more comments, review by other federal bodies, review by states, review by tribal governmentsreview, review, review. Often, the environmental laws also note requirements for the science leading to risk management choices. For example, the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996 (SDWA) requires several judgments to be met affirmatively before any contaminant can be limited through regulation.

The EPA administrator must base his or her judgment, among other factors, on what SDWA calls the best available, peer-reviewed science. This refers not only to experimental or epidemiologic studies, but also to the EPA documents analyzing the risks and the best ways to mitigate them.

Requirements to regulate environmental contaminants in other media are no less rigorous. To regulate emissions from coal and oil-fired boilers used in electrical power generation, the EPA engaged in major scientific programs to understand the nature of these air pollutants (including toxic mercury), the risks they pose, and how best to deal with them. This began in 1993 and culminated in the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) finalized in 2012. Building the scientific basis for the rule spanned several administrations and a few careers. It was frustrating at times, and exhausting, but we kept our focus on the goal of doing the right thing to improve public health.

Regulation protects the publicand were watching it be undermined

The message here is that environmental regulation based on sound science is not a trivial exercise, nor should it be. Regulation can be costly, and sometimes may have societal impacts. But ask anyone who has lived in a society without sound environmental regulation, and she will tell you that legally enforceable limits on environmental contaminants are necessary. We estimated that each year the implemented MATS rule prevents 11,000 premature deaths and more than 100,000 heart and asthma attacks. And it greatly reduces release of mercury, which accumulates in fish and poses risk of neurotoxic effects to both developing children and adults.

The process that EPA follows to publish a regulation must also be used to reverse a regulatory action. Creating regulations is not a simple processbut undermining, overturning and not enforcing regulations is easy and has major consequences for health and the environment. I fear that both the process and the science are being given short shrift as this administration acts to reverse sound regulatory decisions made by the EPA. This dismantling of environmental protection has begun in earnest, and I expect it will have severe, long-lasting effects.

Scientists must defend evidence-based regulation

There are ways to impede the regulatory roll-back. Writing, calling, emailing elected officials is one avenue. Another avenue is joining groups such as Save EPA, an organization of retired and former EPA employees with expertise in environmental science, law and policy. We are using our collective skills to educate the public about environmental science, environmental protections, and the current administrations assault on the EPA and our public health.

You can help by reading our guide to resisting de-regulation; submitting public comments on rules being considered for rollback; and supporting our efforts to defend environmental regulations. As scientists, we must continue to insist on the validity and thoroughness of our discipline, and we must repeatedly communicate about this to decision-makers. In one of many hearings and reviews of mercury hazard, my late scientist friend and EPA veteran Kathryn Mahaffey quoted John Adams: Facts are stubborn things. She was right.

Rita Schoeny retired from the EPA in 2015 after 30 years, having served in roles such as senior science advisor for the Office of Science Policy, Office of Research and Development, and as the senior science advisor, Office of Science and Technology, Office of Water.
Healthcare staff who regularly share the emotional, social or ethical challenges they face in the workplace experience less psychological distress, improved teamwork and increased empathy and compassion for patients and colleagues, a new study commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research reports.

In the first in-depth study in the UK, researchers from the University of Surrey, Kings College London, the University of Sheffield and The King's Fund examined the impact of Schwartz Center Rounds (Rounds), on both clinical and non-clinical staff. Rounds are monthly forums that offer a safe space for staff to share experiences with colleagues and to discuss the challenges they face in their work and its impact on them.

The psychological wellbeing of 500 staff members who attended Rounds regularly, irregularly or not all, was measured over an eight-month period, using the clinically validated GHQ-12questionnaire.

Researchers found that the wellbeing of staff who attended Rounds regularly significantly improved, with the proportion of those with psychological distress halving- down from 25 per cent to 12 per cent. There was little change in the psychological wellbeing of staff that did not attend Rounds over this period.

When asked of the benefits of Rounds, participants noted that attending led to greater understanding, empathy and tolerance towards colleagues and patients and positive changes in practice.

Following the publication of the Francis report which highlighted Schwartz Rounds as being a way of fostering good teamwork and improving morale amongst staff, the implementation of Rounds in the UK rapidly increased. The research found that Rounds were implemented variably and challenges to implementation and sustainability included ward staff attendance, and the workload and resources required for planning and running Rounds.

Jill Maben, Professor of Nursing at the University of Surrey and formerly of Kings College London, said: "Delivering care to patients at some of the most challenging times in their lives has an emotional impact on staff, which undoubtedly impacts on their own wellbeing and on their work.

"Our study is the first in the UK to demonstrate that those who regularly attend Rounds see significant benefits; their symptoms of anxiety and depression are reduced, they are better able to cope with the issues they face and have more empathy towards patients and colleagues, which undeniably has a positive impact on those in their care. "Given these impacts it is good to see Rounds running in over 160 organisations in the UK, particularly in light of the Francis report, which called for more compassionate patient care. The challenge is for organisations to continue to invest in Rounds in resource-constrained environments."

Dr Cath Taylor, Reader at the University of Surrey and formerly of King College London, said: "NHS and hospice staff are the unsung heroes of our society, but the physical and emotional demands placed on them often go unnoticed, leading to high rates of burn out and people often leaving the profession. Rounds are a unique organisational wide intervention that we found benefitted many attendees".

Professor Jo Rycroft-Malone, Director of the NIHR's Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR) Programme, said: "The NIHR is proud to have funded an important piece of research which is the first in depth study of its kind to evaluate the impacts of Schwartz Center Rounds. We feel this was an important area to research following the Francis Report highlighting the importance of Rounds. "Hospital and hospice staff work incredibly hard to care for patients and it is crucial that they can ease the physical and emotional demands they face while also helping to boost colleagues' teamwork and morale and improve care, compassion and empathy for patients."

Professor Jeremy Dawson, Professor of Health Management at the University of Sheffield, said: "Schwartz Center Rounds offer a valuable support system to healthcare staff, that can help to improve wellbeing, and that enable a focus on compassion and empathy towards colleagues and patients that is difficult to achieve in their otherwise hectic working lives."

Jocelyn Cornwell, Chief Executive of The Point of Care Foundation (which holds the licence to promote and support Schwartz Rounds in the UK and Ireland) said: "We are delighted that this research shows that Schwartz Rounds have significant positive impacts on the well-being and experience of the staff who take part in them. The Rounds offer a unique space for all staff in organisations to come together as equals, to share experience and listen to one another.

"In environments in which staff are under tremendous pressure, the Rounds offer a much-needed space for reflection and renewal. We hope that organisations that are not doing Rounds will pay attention to the research findings, and organisations that are doing them, will re-double their efforts to sustain them."

###

Notes to Editors
Dhading bus accident: Death toll reaches 31

A bus en route to Kathmandu from Rajbiraj plunged into Trishuli River at Ghatbesi Bange Mode in Dhading district on Saturday morning.
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LAMMA 2023 will be on 10th & 11th January 2023 at the NEC Birmingham.



The UK's leading farm machinery show, LAMMA connects farmers from all sectors with companies who provide cutting-edge machinery, technology and equipment for the farming industry.



Over 600 exhibitors will showcase the latest tractors, combines, arable and grassland machinery, as well as a wide range of new technology, services and tools for every sector.



See machinery launches, UK debuts, global brands and small manufacturers, all together under one roof.



Bring your team to the UK's largest farm machinery showroom, network and do business.

Map
An MP's bill to ban live export of animals for slaughter hopes to set out ways in which the UK can do so after Brexit.

Former cabinet minister Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, has put forward the Live Animal Exports (Prohibition) Bill. It has passed the first hurdle in Parliament on Wednesday (25 October).

The Bill will set out a case to garner support from MPs, laying the groundwork to persuade the Government to bring about an end to this trade in future legislation.

David Bowles, Head of Public Affairs for the RSPCA said the organisation "strongly supports" Ms Villiers Bill.

These animals can suffer from exhaustion and dehydration, temperature extremes and lack of food, water or rest, Mr Bowles said.

Its unacceptable that live animals are still being transported over long distances in such shocking and stressful conditions to the continent and then subjected to never ending journeys

We also have grave concerns about the patchy enforcement of live transport laws - something highlighted by recent European Commission reports - and the fact that animals are being exported to countries where they face conditions considered illegal in the UK.

EU regulations

EU law prevents any restriction on imports and exports between Member States.

After Brexit, the UK will no longer be constrained by these regulations on the free movement of goods and live animals.

Defra Secretary Michael Gove has publicly said that the government is "committed to taking steps to control the export of live farm animals for slaughter as we leave the EU."

The Conservative government of 1992 sought to restrict live exports and refuse licenses to export sheep to Spain, but the decision was overturned by the European Court of Justice on the grounds that it would breach EU rules on the freedom of goods.

'Dismayed'

The National Sheep Association (NSA) said it is "dismayed and disturbed" by the bill.

NSA chief executive Phil Stocker said: To me this suggests an unwillingness to work with the industry on practical solutions that really will improve animal welfare rather than just pander to the noise being made by campaigners.

For sheep a ban on live exports would put an end to the majority of our live export movements across the Irish border when these animals may only travel short distances.

Thankfully Ministers have recognised Brexit as an opportunity to control or restructure live movements rather than suggesting they want to ban them.

The fact still remains that exports per se do not damage welfare, and neither does taking animals across water.

Any problems that do occur happen because of a lack or regulatory compliance and that is why the NSA has been talking about exploring a concept of assured routes where transparency and traceability can be guaranteed.
A shopper has took to social media to criticise Sainsbury's for importing foreign vegetables in peak British season.

Sara Venn, who is used to working with local farmers in her role at the Incredible Edible network, asked Sainsburys on social media why the squash it sells in her local store was grown in Greece and Portugal.

Ms Venn tweeted: "Hi Sainsburys! No British grown squash in your Bristol St Philips store. Why when it's peak cropping time?"

"Our retailers should be supporting British farming and farmers... Our food system is in such a state!"

Twitter user Anne Denham said: "I try as much as possible to eat seasonally. I don't like my food to be bettered travelled than me. Fine beans from Kenya are another bugbear."

Earlier this year, Sainsbury's confirmed that all of its lamb products will be 100% sourced from British farms.

The retailer said it will provide customers with 'quality tender lamb' throughout the 2017 season as well as bolstering their support for the British lamb industry.

The retailer has yet to make a pledge about buying 100% British fruit and vegetables in all its stores.

It follows news that former CEO of Sainsbury's Justin King said British consumers face higher prices, lower quality and less choice when it comes to food as a result of Brexit.

Mr King, who was in charge of Sainsbury's for a decade until 2014, said: "One can say very clearly what the direction will be: higher prices, less choice, and poorer quality, because all of those dimensions have been improved by these open trading relationships that we've had over the last 40 years.

"Brexit, almost in whatever version it is, will introduce friction, it will introduce barriers.

"That makes it less efficient, which means all three of those benefits, price, quality, and choice, go backwards."
Irrfan Khan who was on a promotional visit to Kolkata took to a serene boat ride amidst the Hooghly river in Kolkata during the promotions of 'Qarib Qarib Singlle'.

The boat ride was in perfect sync with the theme of the Tanuja Chandra directorial which revolves around the escapades of Irrfan Khan aka Yogi and Parvathy aka Jaya.

The National Award wining actor reminisced his Piku days as he visited the Howrah Bridge. Irrfan recalled the time when he shot for the Deepika Padukone starrer film as he past the location of shoot.

While during Piku, Irrfan Khan traveled through Hooghly via road, 'Qarib Qarib Singlle' gave the actor a chance to appreciate the soothing experience of a boat ride.

Irrfan Khan also tweeted about his Kolkata visit where in he missed his co star Parvathy. The romantic vibe around the boat ride made him miss his on screen love interest Jaya aka Parvathy.

Irrfan showcases his signaturestyle romance in yet another content driven film after Hindi Medium. Parvathy who has served the Indian film industry with her strong performances in the Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada films for almost a decade will make her Bollywood debut with 'Qarib Qarib Singlle'. The film showcases the breezy romance of the unusual and fresh pairing of Irrfan with Parvathy.

'Qarib Qarib Singlle' is a departure from the usual fairy tale romance and puts forth that not every story has to have a perfect ending. The film resonates with the millennials' sentiments with the relationship status 'Qarib Qarib Singlle'.

The story promises to connect with singe people and even those who have found their partners through online dating platforms. The relativity of the content is probably one of the reasons why the trailer has struck a chord with the audience.

The songs from the film give us intriguing insights into the frictional relationship of Yogi and Jaya. Shot on the backdrop of picturesque locations the film proves to be a visual delight.

The bring-your-brain-in-theater romantic comedy is backed by Zee Studios who have earlier supported content films like Mom, Sairat, Natasamrat amongst others.

'Qarib Qarib Singlle' is garnering a lot of attention for its unusual pairing and quirky content. The trailer has received appreciation from the audience for its unusual storyline promising a joy-ride. The posters have attracted eye-balls for its taglines which is creating curiosity amongst all.

Presented by Zee Studios, 'Qarib Qarib Singlle' is A Jar Pictures production and is helmed by filmmaker Tanuja Chandra, the film is shot across real locations of Bikaner, Rishikesh and Gangtok and is all set to release on 10th November 2017.
He Didnt Have The Guts To Talk To SRK & Big B

"A lot of people asked me if we got time to interact with Amitabh Bachchan or Shahrukh Khan. But the thing was we neither had the guts nor time. We were only focusing on our performance alongside them."

Surprising, Indeed!

"I didn't interact much with Aishwarya [Rai Bachchan] then. And the reason was, as I said, we were all engrossed in our work. I think I spoke to her more after she got married to Abhishek Bachchan."

When They Wore Just Kurta-Pyjama While Shooting In Freezing Cold London

"While shooting for the puja sequence in the film outside Gurukul in London, it was freezing cold. Dressed in kurta-pyjama-chappals, Uday and I found a way to keep warm: We used to run 100 meters, come back and sit down to shoot for the film and repeat it till the schedule got over."

How Mohabbatein Gave Jimmy Love Of His Life

"Priyanka (my wife) saw me in the promos of the film and told her father that this is the guy I want to marry'. She didn't even know my name at that time. We met a day before the release of the film."

Aditya Chopra Used To Be Tough On Jimmy, Uday & Jugal

"While Yash uncle was easy and chilled out, Aditya Chopra is a hard task master. Our routine was fixed, we started shooting early in the morning, gymming, lunch, practicing shots, dinner, going to bed on time."

"When we got some time, we would play badminton, but again that was part of our fitness regime."

"We used to shoot 10-12 hours a day and on Sundays it was lighter. Aditya Chopra used to hold a meeting with us to discuss the scenes. He was tough in terms of what he wanted."

SRKs Sweet Gesture For Jimmy

"The scenes outside Gurukul were shot in London and we (the cast) had some crazy moments shooting there."

"I remember when I was shooting a scene; Shahrukh Khan was watching me perform. After the shot got over, he came up to tell me how I could do the scene in a different way. It was a sweet gesture on his part."

Jimmys Accident Before The Shoot Of Mohabbatein

"Before we started shooting for the film, I slipped and fell against a glass table, getting a deep cut on my hand. I got about sixty stitches and my entire right hand was bandaged."

"And all that was going in my head was, I am going lose out on the film, after all such a good opportunities don't knock on your door every day.' But to my relief, luck favoured me.

Is Jimmy Still In Touch With Uday & Jugal?

Speaking about the same, Jimmy told, "Uday is in America, Jugal is busy with direction and I am busy with my shoots, but we are in touch and do catch up."
Jaya Bachchan Suggested Her Name For Padmavati

Yes, that's true! In a recent interview with a leading publication, Aditi revealed that it was Jaya Bachchan who suggested her name to Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Padmavati.

'My Mother Was Once Said To Resemble Jayaji'

She was quoted as saying, "I have an instinctive affection for Amitji (Bachchan) and Jayaji. My mother was once said to resemble Jayaji. Perhaps that's why the bond."

She Has No Issues With Working In A Multi-starrer

Talking about it, she was earlier quoted as saying, "I never thought that way (focus will be on Ranveer, Shahid and Deepika). It is amazing to be working with Ranveer,Deepika and Shahid. I am opposite Ranveer in this film. A great director gets the best out of you."

Aditi Had Earlier Worked With Ranveer

The actress had made a revelation that she had worked with Ranveer several years ago. "The first time I worked with him was in Paris, when we were jobless. We performed in a show directed by Shaad Ali, and choreographed by Saroj Khan. He is affectionate, encouraging and generous. At the same time, he is a complete entertainer. It's shocking to see the amount of energy he has. He can work non-stop and still be calm and happy," she had said.

'Ranveer Is My First Hero'

While speaking to DC earlier, Rao had said, "Ranveer is very focused, but off the sets he's a lot of fun. We both worked together seven years ago on a project when we were both unemployed. So, we have that bond. Ranveer is my first hero, and I'm his first heroine. We're very comfortable with each other. It's a lot of fun working with him."

SLB Is A Taskmaster

In the same interview, she was quoted as saying, "I enjoy working with such people who like to challenge you, put you in a difficult situation that gives you an adrenaline rush out of it. Sanjay sir is very strict, and won't let you go till he gets his shot right."
Priyank-Sapna

If you recall, in yesterday's episode, during a fight between Sapna Choudhary and Arshi Khan, Priyank asked Sapna to just say "Pune-Goa" to irk Arshi. And, Sapna did so! The impact of this was evident on Arshi as she was in tears.

Arshi Worried!

Arshi went to Priyank and even asked as to what he said to Sapna about "Pune-Goa" as it is a legal issue and she is not allowed to talk about it, but he didn't say anything.

FIR Against Priyank Sharma & Sapna Choudhary

According to IE report, Arshi's publicist has issued a statement, which reads, "Filing FIR/criminal complaint against Bigg Boss 11 contestants, Priyank Sharma, Sapna Choudhary, Colors, Endemol, today under various IPC provisions concerning the dignity of a woman in legally privileged and protected cases."

The Statement Further Said . . .

"Colors and Endemol are accused/guilty of permitting telecast of legally privileged/protected and subjudice court matters including the right to prevent or avoid self-incrimination by accused or victim woman and using it for TRP and financial gain. Flynn Remedios."

Arshis Past Scandals

If you are wondering what Arshi's past scandals are then here it is . . . Apparently, Arshi was reported to be involved in a sex racket in Pune and a prostitution racket in Goa!

Bigg Boss

It has to be recalled that Bigg Boss does not allow contestants who have legal cases to participate on the show. It has to be seen what measures the makers will take on this issue.

Dhinchak Poojas Rap

Meanwhile, on the show, Dhinchak Pooja wrote a special rap about the housemates. If Pooja succeeds in impressing Bigg Boss with the song, then they would win the luxury budget.

Luv Tyagi Is The New Captain!

On the other hand, Luv Tyagi beats Sapna Chaudhary in the captaincy task. After Hina, Luv becomes the next captain of the house.

Gauhar Khan Gives A Task To BB Contestants

Gauhar Khan entered the show to assign a special task to the contestants. Gauhar had a briefcase and the housemates had to convince her to give it to one of them. Apparently, Gauhar gives it to Akash!
Chances of Cong alliance with SSF-N, RJP-N slim

Chances of a larger electoral alliance between the Nepali Congress (NC) and Madhes-based parties in Province 2 have become slim, however, discussions are underway for forging an agreement to support top leaders of both sides, leaders involved in discussions said on Friday.
Max Verstappen will retain second on the grid in Mexico after race stewards cleared him of impeding Valtteri Bottas during Saturdays final qualifying segment.

Verstappen was investigated after his slow moving Red Bull  on a warm-up lap  was caught by Bottas on the exit of Turn 12 during the Finns first flying lap in Q3. Bottas subsequently locked up into Turn 13 and aborted his lap, with the Mercedes driver, who went on to qualify fourth, saying he was in no doubt hed been compromised.

I was on my lap and I could see before coming to the last sector that he was going quite slow, explained Bottas. He was going slowly at the exit of Turn 12 and compromised my line a little bit for Turn 13 and I had a lock-up there, so it definitely ruined my lap.

I dont know how the rule book exactly says, but what I know is that it ruined my lap and I only had one attempt in quali 3 instead of two.

However, having assessed video evidence and spoken to both drivers, the stewards cleared Verstappen of any wrong doing.

The driver of car 33 [Verstappen] was clearly aware from the team radio and using his mirrors that car 77 [Bottas] was approaching on a hot lap, read an official statement.

He moved from the racing line on the exit of Turn 12 to avoid impeding car 77.

The drivers of car 33 did move slowly from the racing line which could have affected car 77, but the stewards do not consider this as impeding.

For his part, Verstappen insisted that he couldn't be held accountable for Bottas's mistake at Turn 13.

Its his own problem if he out-brakes himself at the next corner, he reasoned.

I was on the inside, I didnt hold him up, so he can say what he wants. I was aware he was there, thats why I moved to the inside.

I was already past the point where you go to the right, so I dont see an incident.

Mexico will mark the second time this season - and just the third time in his career - that Verstappen has started a race from the front row. However, having been beaten to pole by Sebastian Vettel by just 0.086s, the Dutchman said he was 'super annoyed' to have missed out on becoming the youngest polesitter in F1 history.

"Q2 was really good and somehow in Q3 we lost it with the temeperatures  just no grip," he said. "I do feel that my [Q3] lap was a bit better, just the grip from the tyres was not the same as I had in Q2. But at the end of the day we are still second so its not a big nightmare."
Exit of smaller telcos is good for industry structure: India Ratings News oi -Priyanka Idea Cellular Limited and Vodafone India Limited merging with each other.

According to the new report by research firm India Ratings, the exit of smaller telcos is good for industry structure in the long-term but painful for the stakeholders including lenders and Reliance Communications Limited with Aircel Limited is uncertain due to a rejection of their merger due to regulatory/legal reasons.

RCOM and Aircel Limited (Aircel) had signed binding agreements in September 2016 for the merger of RCOM's mobile businesses with Aircel. Legal and regulatory uncertainties and various interventions by vested interests have caused inordinate delays in receipt of relevant approvals for the proposed transaction.

But due to unprecedented competitive intensity in the Indian telecom sector, together with fresh policy directives adversely impacting bank financing for this sector, have also seriously affected industry dynamics. As a result of the various factors aforesaid, the merger agreement has lapsed.

India Ratings said that Tata Teleservices Limited/Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited (TTML - 'IND A'/RWE) - Bharti Airtel Limited deal was inevitable, as the wherewithal to survive was diminishing for smaller telcos ever since RJio entered the telecom landscape.

The consolidation has accelerated in the last 12-15 months with Telenor India (Communications) Private Limited merging with Bharti Airtel Limited, while Idea Cellular Limited and Vodafone India Limited merging with each other.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited wherein the company has reported a positive EBITDA of Rs 14.4 billion and an average revenue per user (ARPU) of Rs 156, which is way above the average industry ARPU of Rs 83 in 1QFY18, and is comparable with ARPU of Bharti Airtel Limited (Bharti) at Rs 154 for 1QFY18.

RJio ARPU for 1QFY18 is Rs 156, which is significantly higher than the industry ARPU of Rs 83 in the quarter ending June 2017. During the same quarter, the average ARPU for top telcos declined by up to 20 percent across top circles.

RJio has been able to maintain momentum in subscriber acquisition on a monthly basis, garnering 10.8 percent subscriber market share by August 2017.

RJio's data consumption per user is 10GB, is well above the industry average. This indicates the structural shift in data consumption habits which are likely to pull the average industry up. Broadband proliferation is also increasing while a number of narrowband subscribers are decreasing qoq.

Best Mobiles in India

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Curfew continues in Birtamod, discussions underway to resolve issue

The District Administration (DAO) has continued the curfew at Birtamod in Jhapa district on Saturday as well.
Who Killed JFK? The Mob Did It

John and Robert Kennedy brought to their respective positions as President and Attorney General an unprecedented familiarity with the threat of organized crime -- and a commitment to prosecute its leaders -- based on their service as member and chief counsel respectively of the McClellan Committee during its extensive investigation of labor racketeering in the late 1950's. An assassination of a President by organized crime could not be allowed to appear to be what it was.

Organized crime probably was active in attempts to assassinate Castro, independent of any activity it engaged in with the CIA. From the time he was a young man, Sam Giancana rose within the Chicago organized crime syndicate until he became syndicate leader in 1957. After an eight-year stint in Mexico, Giancana was deported back to Chicago where he was murdered in 1975, shortly before he was scheduled to testify before the Church Committee. Giancana is of historical interest with respect to the Kennedy assassination for a number of reasons: (1) Giancana was involved in the CIA plots to assassinate Fidel Castro; (2) Giancana expressed hostility t o w a rd the Kennedys because of the Kennedys' war against organized crime; (3) Giancana had associates in common with President Kennedy (namely, Frank Sinatra and Judith Campbell Exner); (4) Giancana allegedly contributed to Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign; and (5) Giancana was allegedly linked to Joseph P. Kennedy through the illicit liquor trade.

Hoffa and at least one of his Teamster lieutenants, Edward Partin, apparently did, in fact, discuss the planning of an assassination conspiracy against President Kennedy's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, in July or August of 1962. Hoffa discussed the possible use of a lone gunman equipped with a rifle with a telescopic sight, the advisability of having the assassination committed somewhere in the South, as well as the potential desirability of having Robert Kennedy shot while riding in a convertible.

Santos Trafficante, the La Cosa Nostra leader in Florida, like Marcello, had the motive, means, and opportunity to assassinate President Kennedy. Trafficante's role as the mob's chief liaison to criminal figures within the Cuban exile community, provided him with the capability of formulating an assassination conspiracy against President Kennedy. Trafficante was alleged to have told prominent Cuban exile Jose Aleman that Teamsters Union President James Hoffa was principally involved in planning the Presidential murder.

Carlos Marcello (06 February 1910 - 03 March 1993) had the motive, means and opportunity to have President John F. Kennedy assassinated. As the long-time La Cosa Nostra leader in an area that is based in New Orleans but extends throughout Louisiana and Texas, Marcello was one of the prime targets of Justice Department efforts during the Kennedy administration.

The Kennedy Justice Department vigorously pursued Marcello, even subjecting him to a brief, nightmarish deportation through deportation proceedings personally expedited by Attorney General Kennedy. In March 1961, the Attorney General took steps to have Marcello deported to Guatemala (the country Marcello had falsely listed as his birthplace). On 4th April, Marcello was arrested by the authorities and taken forcibly removed to Guatemala. It did not take Marcello long to get back into the United States. Once he returned, Marcello hated the Kennedy brothers with a deep and vengeful passion. In 1963, only weeks after JFK was killed, the FBI questioned 14 Marcello mob associates. Yet Marcello's name doesn't even appear in the Warren Commission Report. In its investigation of Marcello, the 1979 Select Committee on Assassinations identified the presence of one critical evidentiary element that was lacking with the other organized crime figures examined by the Select Committee on Assassinations of the US House of Representatives : credible associations relating both Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby to figures having a relationship, albeit tenuous, with Marcello's crime family or organization.

Ruby was a personal acquaintance of Joseph Civello, the Marcello associate, who allegedly headed organized crime activities in Dallas; he also knew other individuals who have been linked with organized crime, including a New Orleans nightclub figure, Harold Tannenbaum, with whom Ruby was considering going into partnership in the fall of 1963.

David Ferrie worked as an investigator on the case involving deportation proceedings against Carlos Marcello. Oswald and Ferrie apparently first came into contact with each other during Oswald's participation as a teenager in a Civil Air Patrol unit for which Ferrie served as an instructor. Ferrie also worked with Guy Banister, whose firm occupied an office in 1963 in the Newman Building at 531 Lafayette Street. Another entrance to the building was at 544 Camp Street, the address Oswald had stamped on his Fair Play for Cuba Committee handouts. During the summer of 1963, Ferrie frequented 544 Camp Street regularly as a result of his working relationship with Banister. The only other Cuba-related activities that have ever been established at 544 Camp Street were virulently anti-Castro in nature. Another occupant of the Newman Building was the anti-Castro Cuban Revolutionary Council.

Lee Harvey Oswald's uncle & surrogate father Charles Murret, aka Dutz, was a bookmaker in Marcello's gambling operation in New Orleans. Charles "Dutz" Murret, a minor underworld gambling figure, served as a surrogate father of sorts throughout much of Oswald's life in New Orleans. Murret was in the 1940's and 1950's and possibly until his death in 1964: an associate of significant organized crime figures affiliated with the Marcello organization. Oswald's mother, Marguerite Oswald, was acquainted with several men associated with lieutenants in the Marcello organization. One such acquaintance, who was also an associate of Dutz Murret, reportedly served as a personal aide or driver to Marcello at one time.

An individual connected to Dutz Murret, the person who arranged bail for Oswald following his arrest in August 1963 for a street disturbance, was an associate of two of Marcello's syndicate deputies. (One of the two, Nofio Pecora, as noted, also received a telephone call from Ruby on October 30, 1963, according to the committee's computer analysis of Ruby's phone records.)

Any evaluation of Marcello's possible role in the assassination must take into consideration his unique stature within La Cosa Nostra. The FBI determined in the 1960's that because of Marcello's position as head of the New Orleans Mafia family (the oldest in the United States, having first entered the country in the 1880's), the Louisiana organized crime leader had been endowed with special powers and privileges not accorded to any other La Cosa Nostra members. As the leader of "the first family" of the Mafia in America, according to FBI information, Marcello had been the recipient of the extraordinary privilege of conducting syndicate operations without having to seek the approval of the national commission.

By 1972, Carlos was sixty-two years old, richer and more powerful, possibly the most powerful Mafia boss in the nation. His only contender to this title may have been Carlo Gambino, the ageing don who ran what was perhaps the biggest [Mafia] family in the country, based in Brooklyn. The House Select Committee on Crime declared in 1972, "We believe Carlos Marcello has become a formidable menace to the institution of government and the people of the United States."

In 1973, the first book was published on the assassination of President Kennedy, pointing a finger at Marcello; although in 1969, famous crime writer Ed Reid in his book The Grim Reapers had hinted at a possible connection. In 1976, an Italian documentary film called The Two Kennedys specifically nailed the Mafia as the force behind the murders of the brothers, again naming Marcello as the principal suspect.

In 1979, the US government finally succeeded in prosecuting Marcello, who spent most of the 1980s in prison. On June 17, 1980, Carlos Marcello, along with three other men, was indicted by a federal grand jury of twelve counts of racketeering in the BRILAB case. Carlos went off to prison in April 1983. The FBI groomed an informant who became Carlos Marcello's cellmate. A 07 March 1986 FBI transcript quotes Marcello confessing [or bragging], "Yeah, I had the son of a bitch killed. I'm glad I did. I'm sorry I couldn't have done it myself!" The memo was cited in the 2008 book "Legacy of Secrecy" by Lamar Waldron.

Bobby Kennedy's friend and biographer Jack Newfield wrote that a very close relative of Carlos Marcello told a government informant "we took care of 'em (the Kennedys), didn't we?" Bobby blamed the Mafia and New Orleans godfather Carlos Marcello in particular, for the death of his brother.

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Officials Release Details of Latest Strikes Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Oct. 27, 2017  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 10 strikes consisting of 18 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

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 six strikes consisting of eight engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS vehicle.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, five strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle-borne-bomb factory, three ISIS defensive fighting positions, a tactical vehicle, an ISIS headquarters and a fighting position.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of 10 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a command-and-control node, two weapons caches, a vehicle-borne-bomb headquarters and two vehicle-borne-bomb factories.

-- Near Rawah, two strikes destroyed three ISIS supply routes and damaged a supply route.

Additionally, a strike consisting of one engagement was conducted in Iraq on Oct. 17.

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed an ISIS-held building and an ISIS base.

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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U.S., Coalition Forces Refine Amphibious Capabilities

By Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Abrey D. Liggins II Marine Expeditionary Force

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., Oct. 27, 2017  Marines, sailors and coalition forces are working as one to demonstrate and increase combined arms operational proficiency during the naval amphibious exercise Bold Alligator 17 here.

Bold Alligator 17, held Oct. 18 through Oct. 30, is a multinational exercise that focuses on combined training of multiple forces executing complex shaping, amphibious and sea basing operations to improve U.S. and coalition ship-to-shore capabilities.

In addition to U.S. sailors and Marines, military members from Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Mexico, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom are participating in the exercise or observing it from different command elements in the Camp Lejeune area.

"What we're doing is onloading and offloading gear from U.S. ships," said Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Codi Mullen, the officer in charge of the beach operations group with 2nd Transportation Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group. "That will facilitate the exercise that is going on today, which is offloading the gear, then going off to conduct further operations for Bold Alligator."

The purpose of the exercise was to focus on training side-by-side with allied nations to increase proficiency in combined operations, loading and unloading gear from amphibious vehicles.

Learning a New Perspective

Marine Corps Cpl. Rayquane D. Forte, the staging line noncommissioned officer of the beach operations group with 2nd TSB, 2nd MLG, said that working with foreign countries allows the Marines to see things from a different perspective and find different ways to combine efforts to complete an operation.

Performance can only improve with practice and it's better to overcome challenging obstacles during training versus a real scenario.

"The critical level of our role is to ensure everything is properly offloaded," Forte said. "If we don't send it down correctly, it'll have to get sent back up [and] restaged, and that just holds up the operation and could result in mission failure."

By combining efforts to achieve the same goals, the service members used their ability to adapt and overcome to complete the mission.

"It was a great exercise to learn how they work and also they get to know how we work," Mullen said. "It's a great initial understanding of how everything will flow once we go from ship to shore."

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Secretary Visits DMZ With South Korean Counterpart

By Terri Moon Cronk DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2017  Standing in the Demilitarized Zone with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the visit portrays in strong terms the difference between North Korea and South Korea.

The U.S.-South Korean counterparts made joint statements today at Freedom House in the Joint Security Area -- the only portion of the Korean Demilitarized Zone where North and South Korean forces stand face-to-face -- after a tour of the "Truce Village" there and Observation Post Oullette.

"I'm here today to reaffirm the United States' ironclad commitment to the South Korean people," the secretary said.

"To the south lies a vibrant country, a vibrant economy, a free country, and it's underpinned by peace-loving members of a free society," Mattis said of South Korea. "Behind me, to the north, an oppressive regime that shackles its people, denying their freedom, their welfare and their human dignity in pursuit of nuclear weapons in the means of delivery, in order to threaten [others] with catastrophe."

North Korea Continues Threats

North Korean provocations continue to threaten regional and world peace, the secretary pointed out, adding that despite the unanimous condemnation by the United Nations Security Council, the rogue nation continues its actions.

"As the U.S. Secretary of State [Rex] Tillerson has made clear, our goal is not war, but rather the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Mattis said.

Addressing Song, he noted that two days ago at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting in the Philippines, "we made clear our mutual commitment to a diplomatic solution to address North Korea's reckless, outlaw behavior. And together we noted that we are serious about solving this problem."

Standing Shoulder-to-Shoulder

The United States stands shoulder-to-shoulder with South Korea, its soldiers and its people in confronting the threats posed by the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Mattis said.

The secretary told the minister he looks forward to their discussion tomorrow at the Security Consultative Meeting, where they will discuss ways to further strengthen the South Korean-U.S. alliance.

"This is an alliance of more than 60 years, and one that we both know is built on trust," Mattis said. "It is an alliance designed to ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the strongest military defense of our shared democratic values."

"[We] also strongly implore that North Korea stop its reckless provocations and come out toward the path of peace and dialogue," the South Korean defense minister said.

"And the minister of national defense of the Republic of Korea and the United States secretary of defense  together will continue to defend peace through strong will and strong might," Song said.

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Transcript

Presenter: Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis; South Korean Minister of National Defense Song Young-Moo October 27, 2017

Remarks by Secretary Mattis and Min. Song at the DMZ, South Korea

MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE SONG YOUNG-MOO (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): This area that we're standing here now, the Panmunjom area, was not only a site of intense and bloody battle for the ROK and U.S. Marine Corps, but also on the day 1953, 27th of July, it was a historical event where the armistice agreement was signed.

This place's historical significance is even more profound when you consider the fact that here was a place where the North-South Dialogue was held to maintain peace between the two Koreas as well as the armistice talks that was ongoing. However, at this point there is no dialogue that continues between the two Koreas.

And myself and Secretary Mattis stand here today together to show that the ROK-U.S. alliance is indeed close and well-cooperated as well as completely aligned in our stance.

And hereby we also affirm that, although North Korea continues to develop nuclear weapon and missiles, but these are weapons that they should never be used. Should they ever use it, they will be faced with the strong might of the ROK-U.S. combined forces, and they will be met with a proportional and firm response.

And we also strongly implore that North Korea stop its reckless provocations and come out toward the path of peace and dialogue.

And the minister of national defense of the Republic of Korea and the United States secretary of defense, we together will continue to defend peace through strong will and strong might.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JIM MATTIS: Thank you, Minister Song.

And I'm here today to reaffirm the United States' ironclad commitment to the South Korean people. This visit today to this demilitarized zone portrays in very strong terms the difference we see between two nations.

To the south lies a vibrant country, a vibrant economy, a free country, and it's underpinned by peace-loving members of a free society.

Behind me to the north, an oppressive regime that shackles its people, denying their freedom, their welfare and their human dignity in pursuit of nuclear weapons in the means of delivery, in order to threaten other with catastrophe.

North Korean provocations continue to threaten regional and world peace. And despite the unanimous condemnation by the United Nations Security Council, they still proceed.

And as the U.S. secretary of state, Tillerson, has made clear, our goal is not war, but rather the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Minister Song, two days ago at the ASEAN meeting in the Republic of Philippines, we made clear our mutual commitment to a diplomatic solution to address North Korea's reckless, outlaw behavior. And together we noted that we are serious about solving this problem.

And we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you, with your soldiers and with your people in confronting the threats posed by the Kim Jong Un regime.

And I look forward to our discussion tomorrow at the Security Consultative Meeting, where we will discuss ways to further strengthen the ROK-U.S. alliance. This is an alliance of more than 60 years, and one that we both know is built on trust. It is an alliance designed to ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the strongest military defense of our shared democratic values.

Thank you.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1355968/

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North Atlantic Council visits KFOR, confirming NATO's commitment to Kosovo

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

27 Oct. 2017

Led by NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller, the North Atlantic Council (NAC) is visiting KFOR on Friday (27 October 2017). NATO Ambassadors, joined by representatives of the non-NATO KFOR contributing nations and the European Union, met with the Commander of KFOR, Major General Giovanni Fungo, the Director of the NATO Advisory and Liaison Team Brigadier General Ralf Hoffmann, Mr. Rrustem Berisha, responsible for the Kosovo Security Forces, and with the other international organisations present in Kosovo (the United Nations, the EU and the OSCE).

"KFOR is a success story for the Alliance and our partners. We are aware of the many challenges Kosovo faces. KFOR will remain in Kosovo as long as it is necessary," said Deputy Secretary General Gottemoeller at a press conference at the KFOR headquarters.

During the visit, Allied Ambassadors took stock of the ongoing activities in NATO's enhanced interaction with Kosovo. Additionally, Ms. Gottemoeller has met bilaterally with Mr. Hashim Thaci and Mr. Dalibor Jevtic. Throughout the day's engagements, the NAC reiterated NATO's long-standing message that the normalisation process between Pristina and Belgrade should continue.

For 18 years now, NATO has been working to keep Kosovo and the region safe: through the KFOR mission, as well as through assistance and advice, which help to build up the capacities of the Kosovo Security Force and its civilian institutions.

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Mount Whitney Returns to Homeport Gaeta, Italy

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS171027-07

Release Date: 10/27/2017 10:39:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael Feddersen

GAETA, Italy (NNS) -- The Blue Ridge-class command ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20), flag ship of U.S. 6th Fleet, arrived at its forward-deployed port in Gaeta, Italy, Oct. 27, after completing a 10-month shipyard maintenance evolution at the Viktor Lenac shipyard in Rijeka, Croatia.

During the maintenance availability, shipyard teams completed work on Mount Whitney's generators, propeller, habitability spaces and command, control, communications, computers, cyber and intelligence systems.

"We had nearly $45 million worth of work on the hull, mechanical and electrical systems of the ship, and a complete upgrade of the computer systems," said Capt. Kavon Hakimzadeh, commanding officer.

One of the major changes on the ship was the computer system upgrade to the new Navy standard, Consolidated Afloat Network Enterprise Services (CANES).

"We installed two new antennas that are more capable and secure and with significantly more bandwidth," said Hakimzadeh. "The other important thing was the installation of CANES and the computer network onboard."

The 10-month project, completed by a cooperative group of U.S. Navy, Military Sealift Command civil service mariners, U.S. contractors and local shipyard workers resulted in the complete overhaul of the 47-year-old ship.

"It took us about 10-months, a little bit longer than we anticipated based on finding some additional problems along the way," Hakimzadeh added. "Given the age of the ship, it wasn't surprising to find things here and there. It was a highly successful effort by everyone and there was great cooperation with the Viktor Lenac shipyard."

The return to Gaeta will give Mount Whitney Sailors the opportunity to spend time with family and prepare for their upcoming missions in support of U.S. 6th Fleet.

"It is a great opportunity to get back into homeport after being away for ten months," said Command Master Chief Andrew Hochgraver. "It is great to be back to spend time with our loved ones before we get back into being heavily operational and contributing to the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations."

This year will mark the 50th anniversary of a U.S. flagship being stationed in Gaeta.

"Not only is this a homecoming for our families, but it is also a homecoming for the community of Gaeta," said Hochgraver.

Mount Whitney, forward-deployed to Gaeta, Italy, operates with a combined crew of U.S. Navy Sailors and Military Sealift Command civil service mariners. The civil service mariners perform navigation, deck engineering and supply service operations, while military personnel support communications, weapons systems and security. It is one of only two seaborne Joint Command Platforms in the U.S. Navy, both of which are forward deployed.

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Yemeni forces target Saudi Typhoon fighter jet over Sana'a: Report

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 27, 2017 09:20PM

Yemeni air defense forces, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, have reportedly shot down a Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet belonging to the Royal Saudi Air Force, a report says.

Yemen's air defense unit told the country's Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that the aircraft had been targeted with a surface-to-air missile as it was flying in the skies over Nihm district east of the Yemeni capital city of Sana'a on Friday evening.

The report added that earlier this month, the Yemeni forces, using a surface-to-air missile, had also shot down a US-made General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operated by the Royal Saudi Air Force.

In June, Yemeni air defense forces also intercepted and sot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet in the skies over Sana'a.

According to Yemeni military officials, the invading aircraft had taken part in deadly airstrikes against residential neighborhoods in the Arab country.

Earlier on Friday, Saudi warplanes carried out a number of airstrikes against Safra city's al-Ammar neighborhood in the northwestern province of Sa'ada, killing at least three civilians and wounding two others.

Since March 2015, the Saudi regime has been heavily bombarding Yemen as part of a brutal campaign against its impoverished southern neighbor in an attempt to reinstall Yemen's former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, and crush the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement, which is in control of large parts of Yemen, including the capital. The Saudi campaign, however, has failed to achieve its goals.

Over the past two years, Houthis have been running state affairs and defending Yemeni people against the Saudi aggression.

Latest figures show that the war has so far killed over 12,000 Yemenis and wounded thousands more. The Saudi aggression has also taken a heavy toll on the country's facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.

Certain Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, are key partners to the campaign, which lacks any international mandate and has faced increasing criticism.

Saudi Arabia has also imposed a total embargo on Yemen, causing severe shortages of food and medicine. A recent cholera epidemic has been blamed on those shortages.

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Catalonia declares independence as Spain imposes direct rule

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 27, 2017 05:45PM

Catalonia's regional parliament has declared independence from Spain, while Madrid immediately imposed direct rule over the region.

The independence motion was approved in the 135-seat chamber on Friday as 70 Catalan lawmakers voted in favor, 10 against. Two ballot papers were blank. The ballot was boycotted by the opposition parties: the Socialist Party, the People's Party (PP) and Ciudadanos.

Commenting on the news, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called for calm.

"I ask for calm from all Spaniards. The rule of law will restore legality in Catalonia," Rajoy said in a tweet minutes after Catalonia's declaration of independence.

As the independence vote went through, more than 2,000 pro-independence Catalans gathered in the Ciutadella Park outside the regional parliament in Barcelona, chanting "Liberty" in Catalonia and singing traditional songs.

Soon after the vote, the upper house of Spain's parliament in Madrid made the unprecedented move of authorizing Rajoy's government to rule Catalonia directly.

In reaction to Madrid's move, the main secessionist group, the Catalan National Assembly, urged civil servants to respond with "peaceful resistance" and to disobey the Spanish government's orders.

Rajoy's cabinet later convened to adopt the first measures to govern Catalonia, which could include dismissing the Barcelona government and assuming direct supervision of Catalan police forces.

"Exceptional measures should only be adopted when no other remedy is possible," Rajoy said during his speech to the Senate on Friday morning. "In my opinion there is no alternative. The only thing that can be done and should be done is to accept and comply with the law."

Moreover, Spain's constitutional court started a review of the vote held in the Catalan parliament.

The court said on Friday that the state prosecutor and other parties have three days to make allegations.

Separately, a spokesman for Spain's public prosecutor's office said it would file rebellion charges next week against Catalan secessionist leader Carles Puigdemont.

A court will then decide whether to accept the charges against the Catalan president.

Catalan drive faces EU opposition

The independence declaration made other countries and institutions to recognize Catalonia. However, the European Union and some countries and institutions have already made it clear they would not do so and would back the position of Madrid.

European Council President Donald Tusk said in a message posted on Twitter on Friday after the vote, "For EU nothing changes. Spain remains our only interlocutor."

He also called on Spain to favor "force of argument, not argument of force."

French President Emmanuel Macron, reacting to the news, said, "There is a rule of law in Spain with constitutional rules. Mariano Rajoy wants these rules to be respected and he has my full support."

Germany also backed the Spanish premier's position, saying the unilateral declaration of independence violated the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Spain.

Commenting on the latest developments in Spain, the United States supported Madrid's measures to prevent Catalonia's secession, saying the region is an integral part of the country.

"Catalonia is an integral part of Spain, and the United States supports the Spanish government's constitutional measures to keep Spain strong and united," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a NATO official said Spain was an important ally, adding that Catalonia was "a domestic matter which should be resolved within Spain's constitutional order."

Spain has been in turmoil since the Catalan independence referendum that took place on October 1 and was considered by Madrid as illegal. Puigdemont claimed that 90 percent of the voters in the referendum had backed secession, but the turnout had been put at only 43 percent.

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Egyptian forces kill 13 in raid on militant hideout: Ministry

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 27, 2017 03:11PM

Egyptian military forces have killed 13 suspected militants in an attack on a farm hideout in a desert region west of the country, a week after a militant ambush on a police convoy killed dozens of officers.

Egypt's Interior Ministry announced the development in a Friday statement but offered no details on the affiliation of the militants, although they had largely been battling terrorists linked to the Daesh Takfiri group in the area. Hundreds of the country's security forces have been killed in battles in the northern Sinai Peninsula since 2013.

"They took a house in the farm as a temporary hideout faraway from security monitoring to receive newly recruited elements and train them and prepare the explosive devices," read the official statement.

According to the statement, 13 bodies, some wearing militant uniforms, were recovered from the hideout following the raid along with weapons, explosive belts as well as cash and ammunition.

The ministry, however, did not mention whether the militants that came under attack were connected with those that ambushed Egyptian police forces last week in a remote area of Giza governorate, about 135 kilometers outside the capital Cairo, as officers were reportedly searching for a militant hideout.

State news agency MENA cited a senior security source earlier in the day as saying, "Security forces dealt a severe blow to the terrorist elements in revenge for the blood of the men who were martyred last week in the oasis."

The latest fighting took place in an area near the Assuit-Kharga desert highway, about 400 kilometers southwest of Cairo, in New Valley province, which shares a long border with neighboring Libya. Southern Libya has emerged as a major hideout for militant brigades taking advantage of the security vacuum in the North African county.

Egypt remains in shock following last week's ambush on security forces. While authorities said 16 police officers were killed in the attack, security sources have put the death toll at over 50. The confusion surrounding the incident and how it unfolded has sparked widespread criticism among the public. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly incident. It is the latest to rock Egypt since the overthrow of the country's first democratically-elected president, Mohammed Morsi, in 2013, a coup many say was orchestrated by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who was the army chief at the time.

Sisi announced during a meeting on Sunday with the country's top security officials, including defense and interior ministry representatives, that his government would do its best to secure Egypt's borders and hunt down militants.

Most of Egypt's violence has been centered in northern Sinai, where a local group, Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, pledged allegiance to Daesh in 2014. It had mostly targeted security forces with ambushes and bombings, but has spread to other areas of Egypt outside the peninsula.

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Farmers demand sugarcane price at Rs562 per quintal

Sugarcane farmers have demanded a hike of sugarcane rate to Rs562 per quintal from Rs531 per quintal last year, as the crushing season nears. The crushing season begins from mid-November.
Ansarullah denounces Saudi crown prince's pledge to continue Yemen war

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 27, 2017 08:44AM

Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement has hit out at the Saudi crown prince and defense minister, who said the Riyadh regime has no intention of ending its bloody military campaign against the impoverished nation.

Mohammed Abdelsalam, a senior spokesperson for the Houthis, said Thursday that Riyadh seeks to install another puppet regime in Yemen, which would do the biddings of Al Saud and the United States.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who is known as the architect of the war on Yemen, told Reuters in a Thursday interview that the Riyadh is set to continue the military campaign, which is meant to crush the Houthis and bring back the former Riyadh-allied government to power.

The Ansarullah official further said Riyadh is merely seeking to regain the dominance it has lost in Yemen, adding that bin Salman's belligerent comments are a "disgrace" for the international community, which has failed to take any action to end the aggression.

During the interview, bin Salman drew a parallel between Yemen's Ansarullah and Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement, and said the war against Yemen is about preventing the Houthis from turning into another Hezbollah.

When asked, "Any change of heart on policy in Yemen?" he replied, "If we want to create another Hezbollah in the Middle East, then let's change our policy in Yemen."

Abdelsalam further said the Saudi crown prince's Hezbollah comparison shows the kingdom has chosen to side with the occupying Israeli regime.

The Saudis are especially irked by Hezbollah's key role in the fight against Takfiri terror groups in Syria, where they have long pursued a regime change. Those terrorists are inspired by Wahhabism, an extremist ideology exported by Saudi Arabia.

The Houthi movement, backed by the Yemeni army and popular forces, has been defending Yemen against the Saudi-led offensive, which consists of a bombing campaign, a blockade and the troop deployment to Yemeni soil. The military intervention, which began in March 2015, has left over 12,000 civilian lives, according to the latest tallies by local monitoring groups.

Besides, Ansarlluh has been running Yemen's state affairs since 2014, when the former pro-Saudi president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, resigned amid a domestic political conflict and later fled to Riyadh.

The US has also been all sorts of support to the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states in the war, which has destroyed most of Yemen and led to an unprecedented cholera outbreak in the poorest Arabian Peninsula country.

Despite spending billions of petrodollars, the Riyadh regime has achieved none of its goals during the campaign in the face of stiff resistance by Ansarullah and its allied forces, who have taken the war to Saudi soil.

In the latest development on the battlefield, Yemeni forces on Friday fired Qaher M2 ballistic missiles at arms depot in the kingdom's Najran border region, inflicting losses on the Saudi military.

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Mattis in South Korea amid US 'aggressive deployment'

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 27, 2017 07:23AM

South Korea defends the "aggressive deployment" of US strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula as Pentagon chief James Mattis visits the heavily fortified border between the North and South Korea.

President Moon Jae-in said Friday that the US deployment has been effective in deterring North Korea which has stepped up its nuclear and ballistic missile tests in the face of harsh rhetoric from US President Donald Trump.

Standing inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas, Mattis said there is no change in US policy towards North Korea which he accused of building a nuclear arsenal to "threaten others with catastrophe."

"We stand shoulder to shoulder with you and the Korean people in confronting the threats posed by the Kim Jong-un regime," Mattis said alongside his South Korean counterpart Song Young-moo.

Nevertheless, the US remains committed to a "diplomatic solution," he said, adding "our goal is not war but rather the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

Mattis has already said the US is prepared to take military action if the North does not halt its development of missiles that could strike the entirety of the United States, potentially with a nuclear warhead.

The Pentagon chief is set to hold an annual military meeting in Seoul on Saturday during his two-day trip, which comes ahead of a planned trip by Trump to South Korea next month.

Separately, North Korea said it will release on Friday a South Korean fishing boat that was found to be in North Korean waters illegally.

North Korea "decided to repatriate the boat and its crew from the humanitarian point of view, taking into account the fact that all the crewmen honestly admitted their offense, repeatedly apologizing and asking for leniency," the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Friday.

The US and South Korea conducted a five-day naval drill, which began October 16, and involved the nuclear aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, three nuclear submarines, Aegis destroyers and more than 40 other battleships and fighter aircraft "of all kinds."

North Korea warned that the drills have increased tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Joint US military exercises with forces from South Korea and Japan have been a constant cause of tensions with North Korea, which have skyrocketed in recent weeks. World leaders have called for restraint by all sides to the conflict.

There has also been a flurry of US military hardware movement around the Korean Peninsula in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, the nuclear-powered USS Michigan submarine arrived at South Korea's southern port of Busan, according to Yonhap news agency, just days after another nuclear-powered submarine  the USS Tuscon  left after a five-day visit.

Also this month, the US flew two supersonic heavy bombers over the Korean Peninsula. That mission came 17 days after four US F-35B stealth fighter jets and two B-1Bs flew over the peninsula.

Trump has engaged in an increasingly escalating war of words with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, trading insults amid rising tensions between the two nuclear-armed countries.

Trump recently declared that the US would "totally destroy" North Korea if necessary. North Korea has repeatedly announced that its missile and nuclear development programs were of a defensive nature.

Tensions between Washington and Pyongyang have escalated in recent months, with both countries threatening each other with a nuclear strike.

A CNN poll released this month found that Americans are growing more concerned about how Trump is handling the escalating situation. More than six in 10 say Trump's responses to North Korea's threats have been more reckless than responsible.

An NBC News/SurveyMonkey survey released Wednesday showed that 72 percent of surveyed Americans fear the US will get involved in a major war, possibly with North Korea, during Trump's first term in office.

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Catalonia's crisis with Spain comes to a head

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 27, 2017 06:18AM

Separatists in Catalonia file a resolution with the regional parliament to declare independence from Spain and a Catalan republic as Spain is expected to impose direct rule on the rebel region.

A spokesman for Catalonia's ruling "Together for Yes" coalition said Friday that lawmakers may later proceed to a vote on secession.

"We declare Catalonia an independent state in the form of a republic," reads the start of the proposed resolution crafted by separatist lawmakers, which hold a majority in the regional parliament.

Pro-independence supporters started to gather outside the parliament where a demonstration was called as Catalan President Carles Puigdemont arrived in the chamber.

In Madrid, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy delivered an impassioned speech to Senate, calling on the chamber to authorize the government to rule Catalonia directly, with a vote expected by 2 p.m. (1200 GMT).

"Exceptional measures should only be adopted when no other remedy is possible," Rajoy said. "In my opinion there is no alternative. The only thing that can be done and should be done is to accept and comply with the law."

After the Senate vote, Rajoy is expected to convene his cabinet to adopt the first measures, which could include sacking the Barcelona government and assuming direct supervision of Catalan police forces.

Amid the brewing crisis, Germany urged the two sides to de-escalate the situation through dialog even as it supported the Spanish government in the dispute.

"The government hopes those involved will make use of all opportunities for dialog and de-escalation" provided by the Spanish constitution, a German government spokeswoman said in Berlin.

Earlier Friday, Puigdemont remained defiant as he refused to call snap elections to break the deadlock with Madrid and his semi-autonomous region.

Speaking at the regional government's headquarters in Barcelona, Puigdemont said the central government had not provided sufficient guarantees that holding elections would prevent the imposition of direct rule.

"I was ready to call an election if guarantees were given. There is no guarantee that justifies calling an election today," he said.

He said it was now up to the Catalan parliament to go ahead with a "mandate" to declare independence from Spain following a referendum that took place on October 1.

Madrid has considered that referendum illegal and threatened to take away Catalonia's semi-autonomous status if the region did not unambiguously drop its bid for secession.

Meanwhile, divisions have emerged between Catalan officials. On Thursday, the regional government's business head resigned in opposition to a potential unilateral declaration of independence.

Ander Gil Garcia, a spokesman for the Socialists in the Catalan senate, has appealed to Puigdemont to call a regional election "and avoid a disaster from which Catalonia and Spain would take a long time to recover."

Spain has been in turmoil since the disputed referendum on October 1. Puigdemont claimed that 90 percent of the voters in the referendum had backed secession, but the turnout had been put at only 43 percent.

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Venezuela sacks defiant opposition governor-elect

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 27, 2017 05:51AM

A newly-elected Venezuelan governor affiliated with the opposition who had refused to pledge allegiance to a government body has been sacked.

Juan Pablo Guanipa, one of five opposition governors elected in recent elections, was dismissed by his state's legislature on Thursday after he refused to swear allegiance to the country's Constituent Assembly.

The four other opposition governors had earlier this week broken with the opposition line, pledging allegiance to the body.

The opposition had boasted after the vote that none of its winning candidates would "kneel" before the government-backed Constituent Assembly, which it has refused to recognize since its establishment in July.

That assembly, which came into existence after elections boycotted by the opposition, has taken over the powers of the opposition-controlled parliament. It is packed with government supporters.

President Nicolas Maduro's Socialist Party bagged 54 percent of the total votes, winning 18 states in the gubernatorial elections.

Meanwhile, the Constituent Assembly announced on Thursday that local mayoral elections would be held in December.

The oil-rich Venezuela has been in political and economic turmoil in recent months amid riots which Caracas says are stoked by the opposition and its foreign supporters.

President Maduro says the economic hardships in the country are a result of foreign meddling in the Latin American country's affairs. The US has already imposed sanctions on Maduro's government and vowed to put more pressure on Venezuela after the recent vote.

Maduro also says the US incites the opposition to topple his government.

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Spanish PM Dissolves Catalonia's Government, Fires Leaders After Independence Move

RFE/RL October 27, 2017

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says his government has begun the process of taking direct control of rebellious region of Catalonia, declaring its independence vote "null and void," dismissing its leaders, and formally dissolving its parliament.

Rajoy's announcement came hours after the regional parliament of Catalonia declared independence, which prompted the central authorities in Madrid to begin steps toward imposing direct control over the autonomous region.

Rajoy, speaking on live television after an emergency cabinet meeting on October 27, said new elections will be held in Catalonia on December 21, a move to "return legitimacy" to the Catalonian regional government.

He said Catalonia's independence declaration represented "kidnapping" and an effort to "steal" a part of the territory belonging to the "rest of Spain," calling it a "sad day" marked by a "lack of reason."

"We believe it is urgent to listen to Catalan citizens, to all of them, so that they can decide their future and nobody can act outside the law on their behalf," Rajoy said.

Spanish prosecutors announced they would file "rebellion" charges against regional President Carles Puigdemont, and perhaps other members of Catalonia's cabinet and parliament.

The Spanish Senate on October 27 voted 214-47 in favor of allowing Madrid to take control of Catalonia, depose Puigdemont, and to remove the rest of his executives.

That move came shortly after Catalonia's parliament voted 70-10 in favor of a split from Spain in the 135-seat body. Lawmakers from three main opposition parties that favor remaining a part of Spain boycotted the vote.

In Barcelona, Catalans flooded into the central square to celebrate the declaration, with many calling for the removal of the Spanish flag atop the Catalonian government palace.

Meanwhile, the region's main secessionist group, the Catalan National Assembly, has called on Catalonians to reject any orders from Madrid and to engage in "peaceful resistance."

The Catalonia motion called for beginning an independence process that includes drafting new laws for the region and opening negotiations "on equal footing" with Madrid to establish cooperation.

Catalonia on October 1 held an independence referendum that Madrid called illegal and which was opposed by the European Union as well.

Catalonia lawmakers said just over 90 percent of voters chose in favor of independence in the referendum. Surveys had indicated a minority of about 40 percent in the region favored a split, but many opposed to the referendum boycotted the vote.

Spain's allies in Europe and the United States voiced their support for Madrid.

The U.S. State Department said in a statement on October 27 that Catalonia was an integral part of Spain, and that Washington backed the Spanish government's measures to keep Spain united.

Many of the EU's 28 members have expressed concerns that moves such as Catalonia's, if allowed to succeed, could encourage secessionist movements in their countries.

EU President Donald Tusk wrote on Twitter after Catalonia's declaration that for the bloc, "nothing changes."

He said the EU will continue to deal only with Madrid, but added that "I hope the Spanish government favors force of argument, not argument of force."

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker on October 27 echoed those worries, saying, "I wouldn't want the European Union to consist of 95 member states in the future."

EU countries France, Germany, Britain, and Italy individually also said they would not recognize Catalonia's independence declaration.

A spokesman at Spain's prosecutor office said it will seek rebellion charges for those responsible for the independence declaration.

He added that the prosecutor will determine if the charges should pertain only to the Catalan cabinet, including Puigdemont and Vice President Oriol Junqueras, or if they should also focus on members of parliament.

Catalonia, Spain's richest region, has a separate language and culture and includes the city of Barcelona. It has been a part of Spain since the 15th century but has a long history of separatist sentiment.

With a population of 7.5 million people, Catalonia produces some 20 percent of Spain's economic output.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/spain-catalonia- direct-rule-independence-d eclaration/28819827.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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Key Witness Identifies Russian Suspect In Funding Of Alleged Montenegro Coup Plot

RFE/RL's Balkan Service October 27, 2017

Aleksandar Sindjelic, a key witness in the trial of 14 people who allegedly plotted to topple Montenegro's pro-Western government, has implicated a purported Russian secret-service agent in organizing the coup attempt aimed at blocking the Balkan country's NATO accession.

Over two days of court testimony ending on October 27, Sindjelic identified Eduard Shishmakov as a key organizer and financier of the alleged plot to overthrow the government during parliamentary elections in October 2016.

"A lot of money was given by Moscow. They had weapons, people from inside, special teams," Sindjelic testified, alleging that payments totaling some 200,000 euros ($235,000) were to be used to organize the plot and purchase weapons.

Prosecutors have argued during the trial that two Russian military intelligence operatives for the Kremlin, Shishmakov and Vladimir Popov, organized and coordinated the coup attempt from neighboring Serbia. In addition to the charges handed down to the 14 defendants of creating a criminal organization with the aim of undermining Montenegro's constitutional order, Shishmakov and Popov have also been charged with terrorism.

The two remain at large and are being tried in absentia.

"Part of the plan was to eliminate [then-Prime Minister Milos] Djukanovic," Sindjelic testified during questioning by prosecutors.

Defense lawyers will get their chance to question Sindjelic on November 7, the court said after the October 27 session ended.

State authorities in Montenegro say Serbian and Russian nationalists plotted to occupy parliament during the country's October 2016 parliamentary elections, assassinate Djukanovic, and install a pro-Russian leadership to halt Montenegro's bid to join the Western security alliance.

The defendants include pro-Russian Democratic Front opposition lawmakers Andrija Mandic and Milan Knezevic, nine citizens of Serbia, one other Montenegrin, and the two Russians.

Sindjelic, who has called himself a Serbian nationalist who is against any borders among Serbs, said he surrendered voluntarily to Montenegrin authorities, fearing he would be killed after the plot was uncovered.

The Kremlin has denied claims that "Russian state bodies" were involved in the alleged plot.

Montenegro became NATO's 29th member on June 5, marking a historic turn toward the transatlantic alliance amid protests from Montenegro's political opposition and Russia.

Analysts have warned that coup attempts in the region are likely to be repeated, and that Washington needs to do more to shore up "Europe's soft underbelly."

Damon Wilson, executive vice president for the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, said in July that Russia was seeking to expand its influence, and undermine Western-leaning governments using "a nexus of corruption, organized crime, and underdevelopment."

"Prosperity is the antidote, as it increases the resilience of nations, particularly in Europe's east and southeast," he told a hearing of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee that focused on the overall situation in the Balkans.

During a visit in August to Montenegro, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence accused Russia of working "to destabilize the region, undermine your democracies, and divide you from each other and from the rest of Europe."

He also urged Balkan leaders to "be resolute and uncompromising in the face of [Russian] aggression."

Russia, which has long opposed any further NATO enlargement and has bitterly criticized Podgorica's accession to the alliance, denounced Pence's statements as "destructive" and a window on the Cold War mentality of the White House.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/montenegro-russia-serbia -coup-plot-witness-identifies -suspect-funding/28819658.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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Atambaev Lashes Out At Kazakh Leader, Urges Shift Of Trade To Other Neighbors

RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service October 27, 2017

BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev has leveled indirect but harsh criticism against his Kazakh counterpart, the latest salvo in a dispute between the two Central Asian countries.

Atambaev said on October 27 that a persistent bottleneck at the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border showed that Bishkek's hopes for the Eurasian Economic Union (EES), a trade alliance linking several former Soviet republics, "were too high."

"A union that depends on the whims of one person, no matter how great that person is, cannot be solid," Atambaev said in an apparent reference to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev -- who founded the EES with the presidents of Russia and Belarus.

Kyrgyzstan has blamed Kazakhstan for long lines and slow movement of travelers, cars, and truck across the border, delays that began when Kazakh authorities stepped up checks at the frontier on October 10.

Astana Denies Political Motives

The bottlenecks began after Atambaev accused Kazakhstan of meddling in the campaign for Kyrgyzstan's October 15 presidential election and criticized the authoritarian Nazarbaev over his long rule. Kazakh officials have denied any political motive for procedures at the border.

In his latest remarks, Atambaev said that due to problems faced by Kyrgyz exporters on the border with Kazakhstan -- which lies between Kyrgyzstan and Russia -- he plans to order the government to swiftly outline routes for exporting agricultural output to Uzbekistan and China.

The EES is dominated by Russia and Kazakhstan, the energy-producing countries that have its biggest economies, but Atambaev made clear he was not criticizing Moscow. He said that "brotherly Russia has been and will be Kyrgyzstan's reliable partner."

"I recommend that business people and the government from now on export industrial output to Russia by railway in sealed train cars. Because that is what we agreed on with the Russian president, the respected Vladimir Putin," he said.

Aid Agreement Denounced

Also on October 27, Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Aiymkan Kulukeeva said Kazakhstan's move to tighten control for individuals and trucks crossing the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border goes against the EES's goals.

On October 24, Kyrgyzstan officially informed Kazakhstan about denouncing an agreement under which it would have received some $100 million in aid from Kazakhstan to bring its infrastructure up to the standards of the EES.

Kyrgyzstan joined the trade bloc, which also includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Armenia, in August 2015. In December 2016, Kazakhstan agreed to grant $100 million in aid to Kyrgyzstan.

On October 7, Atambaev accused Kazakh authorities were "meddling in Kyrgyzstan's domestic affairs" and throwing their support behind Omurbek Babanov, the chief rival of Atambaev's favored successor Sooronbai Jeenbekov, in the election. The accusations came after Nazarbaev met with Babanov last month.

Jeenbekov won the election and is scheduled to take office on December 1.

Atambaev was limited by the constitution to a single presidential term.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kyrgyzstan-atambaev- lashes-out-kazakh-keader-trade- bottlenecks/28819399.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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HRW Cautiously Optimistic About Changes In Uzbekistan

RFE/RL October 27, 2017

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that Uzbek authorities have taken "some positive steps" to improve the human rights situation during President Shavkat Mirziyoev's first year in office, and is urging his government to transform those advances into institutional change and "sustainable" improvements.

In a report issued on October 26 and titled Uzbekistan: A Year Into New Presidency, Cautious Hope For Change, the rights group said that Tashkent should make fulfillment of its international human rights obligations a hallmark of the Central Asian country's new political era.

New York-based HRW called on Uzbek authorities to send a clear message that peaceful criticism of government policies -- whether by the media, activists, or others -- will not be merely tolerated but genuinely valued in what it said should be a transition to a more democratic society.

"The optimism and heightened expectations of millions of Uzbeks are palpable inside the country," HRW said. "But it is far from clear if Uzbekistan's still-authoritarian government will transform the modest steps it has taken thus far into institutional change and sustainable human rights improvements."

"Grave abuses such as torture, politically motivated imprisonment, and forced labor in the cotton fields remain widespread," the report said.

Mirziyoev was made acting president in September 2016, following the death of authoritarian President Islam Karimov, who ruled Uzbekistan for 27 years. A longtime prime minister under Karimov, he was elected in a tightly controlled vote in December.

The HRW report said that "unlike Karimov," Mirziyoev has been "willing to acknowledge the persistence of human rights abuses, even on the international stage."

"The president's highly publicized National Action Strategy 2017-2021, which is invoked regularly in official discourse and slogans that are prominently displayed, includes pledges to improve public administration, strengthen protections for vulnerable segments of the population, and liberalize the economy, as well as new legislation to strengthen judicial independence," the report said.

During Mirziyoe's year in power, Uzbekistan has released at least 16 political prisoners, removed thousands of people from the security services' notorious "black lists," and increased the accountability of the government agencies to citizens, the HRW report said.

The 16 people who were freed from jail include opposition activists, human rights advocates, journalists, and religious figures.

However, thousands of others sentenced on politically motivated charges remain behind bars and many have been tortured or subjected to other ill-treatment, the report said.

UN Speech

Uzbek authorities have yet to fulfill the longstanding recommendations by the United Nations agencies to close Jaslyk prison, which has been associated with flagrant torture cases, the rights group said.

In contrast to Karimov's administration, Mirziyoev's has slightly relaxed restrictions on the holding of modest peaceful rallies. It recently allowed a demonstration in Tashkent by a small group of rights activists led by veteran human rights campaigner Yelena Urlaeva.

However, critical voices, including independent human rights defenders, journalists, and lawyers still remain largely suppressed, the report said.

While the media remains under tight control, some local outlets such as Kun.uz have acquired a reputation for more critical reporting, HRW said.

The Internet is still closely censored, with access to many websites -- including those of media organizations such as Fergana and RFE/RL's Uzbek Service -- blocked.

In his speech to the UN General Assembly in September 2017, Mirziyoev spoke about Uzbekistan's goal to build "a democratic state and a just society" in which "human interests come first."

The modest measures taken by Mirziyoev's administration in the past year raised hopes that he may break the ruthless legacy of his predecessor and improve the country's abysmal human rights record.

But analysts say it remains to be seen whether Uzbekistan will end grave human rights abuses, including widespread torture, politically motivated imprisonments, and forced labor in cotton fields.

'Moment Of Hope'

Human Rights Watch said it is a real moment of hope for the human rights of the Uzbek people. In its report, the rights group issued a list of recommendations to the Uzbek government to make enduring structural improvements.

HRW urged Uzbekistan to free all prisoners jailed on politically motivated charges, end the practice of arbitrarily extending prison sentences, and end the practice of torture.

It also called on the authorities to ensure genuine media freedom, end religious persecution, and to allow international human rights groups to operate in the country without government interference.

The rights group urged the government to end forced labor in the cotton sector.

HRW called on Uzbekistan to ensure accountability for the crackdown in 2005 in the eastern city of Andijon, where government forces shot and killed hundreds of mostly peaceful protesters.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/uzbekistan-hrw- changes-rights-optimistic/28818844.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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Briefing by Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs and Acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Alice G. Wells

Special Briefing

Office of the Spokesperson

Press Correspondents Room

Washington, DC

October 27, 2017

MS NAUERT: Hi, everybody. Good morning. How's everyone?

QUESTION: Great.

MS NAUERT: I see some new faces here. I'd like to introduce you to Ambassador Alice Wells, who's our acting assistant secretary for SCA. Ambassador Wells just returned; she's a little tired this morning, so go easy on her, as our traveling team is. She just returned from the Secretary's travels to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, and would like to provide some of her insights for all of you on the trip. This will be, my understanding, on the record, correct? On the record. We have to be in and out in 30 minutes. So since many of you are new to her, she's new to you, if you could please identify your names and also the publication or the outlet you work for.

AMBASSADOR WELLS: I'll do some topline points on each country and then open up to questions and answer. In Afghanistan, the Secretary was able to consult with both President Ghani and Dr. Abdullah on the South Asia strategy, and he made some key points. I mean, first he reinforced the long-term commitment to Afghanistan's security and to eliminating the safe havens and the external support that's contributed to the insurgency's resilience. He talked with President Ghani about how the Afghan Government can better facilitate a reconciliation process, since we all recognize that the region is going to be  the security of the region is going to improve with a stable Afghanistan.

As part of the Afghanistan Government's steps, we heard President Ghani talk about reinforcing the inclusivity of the government and the importance of timely and credible elections. And so this was a very collaborative conversation about how we can assist Afghanistan as it prepares itself over the longer term for political negotiation.

The Secretary welcomed the Kabul compact, which is 200 metrics, reform metrics, on economics, governance, reconciliation, and security. It's an Afghanistan initiative which we have welcomed and we're working closely with the government on, with President Ghani again reiterating the importance he perceives of being able to move quickly on these key areas, including counter  or anti-corruption.

And then finally, the Secretary underscored the critical role that the region has to place in  has to play in bringing peace to Afghanistan. I mean, Afghanistan literally I think has to be stitched back into the region. And whether that's through trade, through energy ties, through infrastructure, all of the neighbors have a role to play.

On Pakistan, it was an extremely candid conversation with the prime minister and the civilian and military leadership team. The Secretary I think underscored that the strategy is an opportunity; it's an opportunity since Pakistan, with the exception of Afghanistan, has the most to benefit from a stable and peaceful country next door. The Secretary noted that at several critical junctures over the last 70 years, we have worked very closely with Pakistan, and the Coleman hostage is an example of what we can do when we're all pushing in the same direction.

But under the strategy, we've laid out some very specific expectations of how Pakistan can help create the conditions that will help bring the Taliban to the table. And I think the longstanding relationships with the militant and terrorist organizations  our concern is that they threaten Pakistan's stability. We saw  you see already the spillover of the sectarianism that has been building in Pakistan over the last several decades. We believe that the Taliban leadership and the Haqqani Network still retain an ability to plan, to recuperate, and to reside with their families in Pakistan. The Quetta and Peshawar leadership councils of the Taliban have their names for a reason. And what we saw in 2014 was we saw Pakistan make a strategic decision to defeat the terrorist groups that were targeting the Government of Pakistan. And with great loss of life, great courage, great vision about what needed to be done, Pakistan has fought that battle and now has regained control and sovereignty over the FATA territories. We'd like to see the same strategic commitment brought against other militant groups, whether they're  that are operating or have used Pakistan's territory, whether they are directed against India or directed against Afghanistan.

Finally, the Secretary welcomed General Bajwa's trip to Kabul, the commitment to ensure that neither country's territory or soil would be used against another, and we very much look forward to the implementation of the commitments that were made between the Afghan and Pakistani leadership.

And again, all of this is about Pakistan's sovereign choice. This is not about America giving dictation. We've described our strategy, we've described a very important role for Pakistan, who we see as a very important country in the region, but it's up to them whether or not they want to work with us on this strategy. And if they don't, as the Secretary said, we'll adjust accordingly.

On India, there  this was an extremely friendly, very wide-ranging dialogue on how we can partner together on the strategic relationship that we think is going to define the rest of the 21st century. And if you saw the Secretary's speech at CSIS, it was about the next 100 years in this very important relationship. So there was both the bilateral component to the visit, but also about how two countries with shared values  a respect for democracy, transparency, freedom of navigation, for economic development  how we can inculcate these values in the broader Indo-Pacific region, working with important partners like Japan and Australia. And I would just note, I thought the visit to Gandhi Smriti was very moving, and again, really was a touchstone for what unites  that this relationship is very much one built on values.

The Secretary laid out a lot of ambitions for the relationship. We want to build on the June visit by Prime Minister Modi with the President, and just say, "How do we take this relationship to the next level?" Obviously, we'd like to deepen the military-to-military cooperation that has moved very quickly; over the last decade we've gone from zero in defense sales to 15 billion in defense sales. There are important defense agreements that we can move forward on that will make it easier for us to share classified data and that will facilitate sales like the F-16 or the F-18 and will help create a defense technology partnership, which is what India is seeking, but which will also create jobs for Americans at home.

We'd like to expand the bilateral trade and investment dimension of the relationship. We have about 115 billion in trade, 40 billion in bilateral investment. This week we have two important meetings going on, the Trade Policy Forum and the commercial dialogue, done by both Commerce and USTR. But we see this as a two-way street. Later this month the Indian firm Mahindra is opening an auto plant in Michigan. We've seen purchases of Boeing aircraft, all of which produce, again, thousands of jobs for American citizens. And then later in November we'll have the Global Entrepreneurship Summit headed by Ivanka Trump, which is going to bring together 1,300 entrepreneurs and investors and I think really demonstrate the entrepreneurial spirit of the relationship.

Finally, of course, the Secretary focused on how we can promote regional stability. In the South Asia strategy, we've given an important role to India on helping to stabilize Afghanistan economically and to build its human resource capacity. Since 2001, India has invested $2 billion in Afghanistan. They've pledged another 1 billion by 2020. And if you look at their projects, which are in like 31 provinces  they're dams, drinking water, infrastructure; it's training for government officials, for students  all of these projects have been very well received. They're constructive, and I think it's demonstrated that India is an important and valuable partner. At the same time, of course, we've made it clear to everyone that we would never tolerate anyone's soil being used against the other. Finally, on the fight against terrorism, building on the joint designation we did of Harakat ul-Mujahidin during Prime Minister Modi's visit, we're looking forward to working with the India  with the Indians on identifying additional designations that we should pursue together.

So a very comprehensive, very deep visit. The Secretary had a chance to meet with some of the key business leaders, representatives of U.S. firms. This is a dynamic relationship with really the  we haven't seen  begun to see the potential yet, so a lot of excitement driving that visit. I'll leave it at that.

MS NAUERT: Okay. If you could just tell Alice your name and your outlet, please.

QUESTION: Okay. I'm Lalit Jha with PTI, Press Trust of India. The Japanese foreign minister has said he's proposing a strategic dialogue between India, U.S., Japan, and Australia. What is the U.S. view on that? Have they reached out to you?

And in India, was the Rohingya issue  did it come up during the talks with the Indians?

AMBASSADOR WELLS: The quadrilateral that the Japanese foreign minister discussed would be building on what has been a very productive trilateral that we have with India and Japan, and if you look at the largest military exercise that we do, Malabar, Japan is a part of that exercise. As we explore ways to deepen and try to inculcate some of the values  freedom of navigation, maritime security, humanitarian assistance, disaster response, transparency  obviously, Australia would be a natural partner in that effort as well. We're looking at a working-level quadrilateral meeting in the near term, but again, I think the idea is how do we bring together countries that share these same values to reinforce these values in the global architecture.

QUESTION: David Brunnstrom from Reuters. Just to follow up on that --

AMBASSADOR WELLS: I didn't finish the Rohingya. The Rohingya issue was raised. We of course share India's concern over the potentially destabilizing consequences of a large exodus of Rohingya into Bangladesh, but also the need to ensure that the government in Burma stands up responsibly for its commitment to protecting the citizens of the  within Rakhine State.

QUESTION: David Brunnstrom from Reuters. To follow up what you were saying about the quad, exactly where is that at the moment?

AMBASSADOR WELLS: About the what?

QUESTION: The quadrilateral, where is that at the moment? Was there discussion on that in Delhi? And obviously, in the past, China has reacted quite negatively to this concept and considers it a part of a plan to sort of surround it. And how do you respond to Chinese concerns about such a cooperative arrangement?

AMBASSADOR WELLS: Well, I think it's hard to see a meeting of diplomats from four countries as a plan to contain China. I think it's a natural expression and convergence of interests between democratic countries in the Indo-Pacific region and it's a natural stepping stone from the very productive trilateral conversations, exercises, and cooperation that we've seen between India, Japan, and the United States. As  I think that the  countries that share values have an opportunity to provide alternatives to countries in the region who are seeking needed investment in their infrastructure and in their economic development, and so making sure that we coordinate our initiatives and provide these countries with alternatives that don't include predatory financing or unsustainable debt, that would certainly be on the agenda.

I feel like he's been holding up his hand for a very long time.

QUESTION: Dion Nissenbaum with The Wall Street Journal. I want to ask you a little bit about the Pakistan trip. If you could talk a little bit about  I assume you can't get into specifics of what the specific asks are for Pakistan, but is there a timeline by which you would like to see them take some concrete steps before the U.S. decides to counter? And where is State on the idea of shutting down the Doha channel and the Taliban office that's there?

AMBASSADOR WELLS: I think it's important, and the Secretary stressed the importance of Pakistan moving quickly to demonstrate good faith and efforts to use its influence to create the conditions that will get the Taliban to the negotiating table. These are things that are seen and felt and measurable, and so we look forward over the next weeks and months to see the practical steps that Pakistan takes out of its own self-interest and ensuring that its own country is not destabilized by some of the actions of the groups that have been able to use its territory.

On the Taliban political commission, the point of a political commission is to negotiate, and so we would like to see the Taliban political commission be empowered to negotiate. The President's South Asia strategy is predicated on a negotiated political settlement that is sustainable. That obviously requires a partner in the Taliban, and we're looking to see those moderate elements of the Taliban be empowered to undertake this kind of dialogue. To date, the Taliban political commission has not been empowered, and so we will be looking very closely at their activities to make certain that their activities don't range beyond what they're actually supposed to do in Doha.

QUESTION: So months for Pakistan to take some concrete steps?

AMBASSADOR WELLS: I can't give you an explicit timetable, but I think that we're moving very quickly ourselves on our own strategy and in reinforcing on the military side our ability to demonstrate to the Taliban that they cannot win this war. And we're going to make equally rapid progress on the diplomatic side or have equally-high expectations on the diplomatic side of responsiveness.

QUESTION: If I could piggybank  piggyback off of that.

MODERATOR: (Off-mike.)

QUESTION: Sorry. I'm Kylie with CBS. Thank you for doing this. In terms of the Doha office, so I hear you saying that the U.S. is not encouraging the closure of that office. And also, Tillerson mentioned the office when he spoke with reporters earlier this week. Does the U.S. have any communication, lines of communication open, with that office at this time?

AMBASSADOR WELLS: I think that, again, the Taliban political commission office, in a perfect world, would be negotiating with the Government of Afghanistan. I mean, that's why they're there, and that's why they've been given the space in Doha to have that ability to engage with the Government of Afghanistan. We've not seen that level of engagement.

First and foremost, any peace settlement has to be between the people of Afghanistan. The countries of the region, and I would include us in that category, have an important role to play as well; but first and foremost, we need to see Afghans talking to Afghans, and we also need to, I believe to see improvements in Afghanistan and Pakistan relations given Pakistan's importance historically in being a place where members of the Taliban and Haqqani Network have been able to retreat.

QUESTION: And you don't want to comment on lines of communication open between the U.S. and that office now?

AMBASSADOR WELLS: I think the Taliban understand very clearly what our strategy is. There are multiple track two efforts that have been underway for the last seven years. There's no confusion in the Taliban mind, I believe, on what U.S. strategy and emphasis is, and the emphasis is on getting the Taliban to speak with the Government of Afghanistan.

QUESTION: Nike Ching with the Voice of America. So does United States has the Chinese-led AIIB, Asia Infrastructure and Investment Bank, in mind when Secretary Tillerson was talking about having an alternative financing mechanism in South Asia?

AMBASSADOR WELLS: As Secretary of Defense Mattis said, I think it was two weeks ago, there are many belts and many roads. And so what does the U.S. have to offer? What does the U.S., Japan, Australia, other countries, India, other countries that share the values of transparency, sustainable debt, responsible development  what do we have to offer. So this is not to counter something; it is a positive vision of what important democracies in the Indo-Pacific region should be doing and how we can work better together.

The example that I always like to give is the Millennium Challenge Corporation's $680 million project in Nepal, 130 million of which is funded by the Government of Nepal, the rest by MCC, which is building energy transmission lines to India along with roads that's going to allow Nepal, over the course of the next seven years to actually be an energy exporter, but building connectivity between India and Nepal in a very responsible fashion, increasing regional connectivity. How do we work with one another, the countries of the region, to make sure that our development projects are mutually reinforcing, and how do we build on connectivity so that there is an alternative and very sustainable initiative that can address legitimate development needs of these countries?

QUESTION: Josh Lederman with AP. I was wondering if you could elaborate on the moderate elements of the Taliban and what we know about them that could be part of the government. I think it's fairly jarring for people to remember when we went into Afghanistan 16 years ago to get rid of the Taliban. So are we talking about elements that seem willing to give up violence and bombings against Americans, et cetera? Are we talking about elements that are willing to treat women appropriately, and what do we know about that?

AMBASSADOR WELLS: We've always defined the post conditions that we're looking for. So Taliban who are willing to renounce violence, renounce terrorism, and affirm the constitution. Those are the  that's the end state. And so we need those Taliban who are prepared to work with the Government of Afghanistan and the region to reach that end state to come forward. And that's both, I think, us having a consistent message to the Taliban about expectations, and by us I mean the region, and it's also about the Government of Afghanistan presenting an attractive and inclusive government where legitimate grievances that have motivated insurgency over time are addressed.

QUESTION: Hi guys. Dave Clark, AFP. What kind of message does it send to the Taliban and to the people of Afghanistan that the president of Afghanistan had to drive to Bagram to meet the Secretary of State? Would it not have been more helpful to the Government of Afghanistan if the Secretary had been able to travel to Kabul and to meet him in the presidential palace?

AMBASSADOR WELLS: I really think this has been blown out of proportion. The meeting took place at an Afghanistan base. This is their base where we happen to have people present. As you saw, the Secretary that day went not only to Afghanistan, he also went to Baghdad. And so this was a very efficient and effective way for him to meet the Afghan leadership and conduct what was a brutal schedule during this very long trip. So we are grateful for the leadership in meeting with the Secretary at Bagram, and the meeting was extremely productive and very valuable in, I think, advancing the South Asia strategy.

QUESTION: But the Afghan leader felt the need to photoshop the picture to make it look less like a military facility.

AMBASSADOR WELLS: I really think this is a blip. I mean, what the Afghan people have responded to overwhelmingly positive fashion  and this is both in polling and in the articles that you see  is they're welcoming of the strategy, they're welcoming of the long-term American commitment that we're prepared to stand with them until the Taliban agree to participate in a negotiated political settlement. So I would say that the reaction to the strategy has been overwhelmingly positive in Afghanistan.

QUESTION: Conor Finnegan with ABC News. I just wanted to go back to Pakistan and that line from the Secretary that if Pakistan doesn't cooperate we'll adjust our plans accordingly. Can you elaborate on that? Does that mean unilateral action on the part of the U.S. in terms of drone strikes or something like that, or does it mean more pressure on Pakistan, economic sanctions, things like that?

AMBASSADOR WELLS: I don't want to define specifically what are going to be the reactions, but I think what we laid out in, again, a very candid and  conversation, was just what are our objectives, how do we see Pakistan and the United States partnering together? Historically we have been able to work with Pakistan. We have been able to accomplish great things together, including most recently what has been the arrest of most of the al-Qaida leadership working with the Pakistani authorities. But we have very specific asks of Pakistan to use the influence that it has  and you can debate how much influence they have, but I don't think you'd debate the fact that there is influence  to use that influence to encourage the Taliban to come to the negotiating table.

And we can work together. I think over the last four years Pakistan  Pakistani officials and the Taliban both thought the United States was withdrawing. They were hedging against a chaotic departure. They were hedging against an uncertain security environment. What the South Asia strategy gives them, I believe, is certainty that we're there, we're not going to let the Taliban win, that we're prepared to invest the resources that will be, at a minimum, a stalemate but a stalemate increasingly in the government's favor. And so how do they use that to negotiate their legitimate needs at a negotiating table rather than rely on elements, on proxy elements.

And so I think there's a real opportunity here for Pakistan to secure its strategic interests working with us.

MS NAUERT: The ambassador is going to have to head out, so we'll just do one more question. Actually, we'll do two. We'll do Gardiner and (inaudible).

QUESTION: Alice, the Secretary has also said that this is not a blank check, that it's condition-based. And we've never  and you say and he has said that we're giving reassurance that we're going to be there, we're going to stay. On the other hand, he's sort of saying that that's not necessarily the case if conditions are not sort of met, and we've never really heard what the other side of that is. Like what happens  what are the conditions where that promise of staying will not sort of come true, where it's not a blank check? Well, that sort of suggests that if something happens then we're not going to stay, doesn't it?

AMBASSADOR WELLS: The Secretary said there were conditions on both sides. We've made specific asks of the Pakistanis. We've made specific asks of the Afghans. And we have a real partner in this strategy with the Government of Afghanistan. President Ghani and his team themselves put forward the initiative of the Kabul compact and of these very specific reform initiatives. We're meeting regularly to evaluate those reform initiatives.

We  the President, when he says that the United States doesn't want to engage in nation building, we don't want to create and sustain a donor economy in Afghanistan. We want Afghanistan to move to develop a private sector economy, to focus on how to tap into the extractive sector, which has been valued at a trillion dollars, to  which obviously is going to be  and rely on and have a relationship with the security situation in the country.

So when we say that it's conditions-based in Afghanistan, I think what you see very clearly in Afghanistan is that we have a partner there and we're working on those conditions together, and I think with already initial signs of success  when you see the firing or the retirement of 150 senior generals whose performance was not up to standard, when you see the prosecutions  the counterterror, the anti-corruption prosecutions that are taking place under the new judicial center. So we  I think we have a high level of confidence that President Ghani is our partner in moving reform forward.

MS NAUERT: And the final question.

QUESTION: My name is Kenichi from NHK. Regarding the U.S.-Japan-India-Australia Quadrilateral Working-Level Meeting, you said the near future. But do you have any date already set? And also may I ask which level you are referring to?

AMBASSADOR WELLS: I think I'm working level. (Laughter.) So I'd point the finger at me. I don't mean to hedge on your question; I've just come back from travel. I don't know if the specific date and time has been set yet, but certainly the expectation is that we would like to move forward with, at my level, a discussion between the four countries.

MS NAUERT: Thank --

QUESTION: Was there any meeting in Delhi on that?

AMBASSADOR WELLS: I'm sorry?

QUESTION: Was there any quad meeting in Delhi?

MS NAUERT: Was there a quad meeting in Delhi?

AMBASSADOR WELLS: Mm-hmm, yeah  no.

MS NAUERT: Okay. Thanks, everybody. Thank you so much. Hope this was helpful.

QUESTION: Thanks you. Thanks for doing this.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MS NAUERT: We tried to provide you as much information as possible this week.

QUESTION: Thank you.

AMBASSADOR WELLS: Thank you. Have a great weekend.

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Ethiopia begins civil registration for refugees - UN agencies

27 October 2017  In an historic first, starting today all refugees in Ethiopia will be able to register their vital life events, including birth, death, marriage and divorce, directly with national authorities, the United Nations refugee agency announced on Friday.

"This is a historic first and a ground-breaking development for refugee protection in Ethiopia, not previously realized over decades," Babar Baloch, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said at the regular press briefing in Geneva.

Civil registration for refugees has been made possible following an amendment to an existing legislation. UNHCR and the UN's Children Agency (UNICEF) collaborated with the Government of Ethiopia in the preparation of the amendment.

"It is one of the nine pledges made at the Leaders' Summit held in New York in September 2016," continued Mr. Baloch. "Other commitments included to grant work permits to refugees, strengthen access to education, to allow a significant number of refugees to reside outside of refugee camps and to locally integrate long-staying refugees."

At the launch today, 11 refugees were issued with certificates in the capital of Addis Ababa. Civil registration offices have also been established in each of the 26 refugee camps, as well as in the seven locations with a high concentration of refugees.

More than 70,000 refugee children born in Ethiopia over the last decade have not had their births registered and will soon be issued with birth certificates. Children born before the new law came into force can also now obtain a birth certificate retroactively.

"Birth registration is an important protection tool  ensuring basic human rights, particularly in situations of displacement. It establishes a child's legal identity and can help prevent statelessness," underscored Mr. Baloch.

Civil registration is also important for policy development and planning in Ethiopia's Development Agenda  in line with the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF), which aims to enhance refugee self-reliance and inclusion; provide refugees with better possibilities to solve their plights; and ease pressure on host countries.

Ethiopia, which is among the first countries to roll out CRRF, Ethiopia currently hosts more than 883,000 refugees  mainly from South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.

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Gunda-Tantra!

We celebrate a lot of diwas in this beautiful land of ours. We have the Prajatantra, Lokatantra, Ganatantra and many more diwas to celebrate everyone as well. We celebrate the day our Shree Tins left the building. But instead we just had another autocratic ruler and his descendents who had all the fun.
Winter may be 'harsh blow' to vulnerable children in Middle East, UNICEF warns amid funding gap

27 October 2017  Freezing temperatures, storms and heavy snowfall will add to the misery afflicting hundreds of thousands of families affected by conflict across the Middle East unless assistance  including cold weather clothing and supplies  is urgently provided, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned.

"Without help, the cold could be yet another harsh blow to vulnerable children in the region who have already been through so much," said Geert Cappelaere, the UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, in a news release Friday.

"Children's health is weak from undernutrition, poor healthcare and displacement. Hypothermia and respiratory infections are a serious threat  if left untreated, children will die."

Conflict, displacement and unemployment for years have already depleted families' resources, leaving them unable to purchase of warm clothing or heating fuel.

Furthermore, if schools are not kept warm, dropout rates are expected to rise, leaving children more vulnerable to early marriage, sexual violence or forced recruitment into fighting.

Staff at the UN agency are working against time to provide warm clothing, winter supplies and blankets before the cold sets in, but the agency is staring at a $60 million (more than 80 per cent) funding shortfall for its $73 million appeal.

The lack of resources could leave up to 1.5 million children across Iraq, Syria, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and neighbouring refugee host countries, exposed to the elements.

With sufficient funding, UNICEF aims to provide winter clothing kits to over 800,000 children across the region, including to families that have been displaced by recent fighting; thermal blankets for almost 240,000 children; child friendly spaces and school heating for 105,000 children; and cash assistance to the families of more than 320,000 vulnerable children.

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UN chief pays tribute to courage, resilience of people of Central African Republic

27 October 2017  Addressing lawmakers in the Central African Republic, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday stressed the international community's commitment to helping tackle the myriad challenges plaguing the conflict-torn country, and strongly defended the role of the UN peacekeeping force there.

"I wish to pay tribute to the people's courage, resilience and determination to overcome great adversity," Mr. Guterres told the National Assembly in the capital, Bangui, on the final day of his visit to the country.

"The task of solving this crisis lies first and foremost in the hands of the people of the Central African Republic. Nobody is in a better position to help the country than its own citizens," he added.

The UN chief noted that the country's enormous difficulties include insecurity, a humanitarian crisis and slow progress towards development.

Armed groups are fragmenting and multiplying. One in four Central Africans is displaced. Development programmes are needed for neglected rural areas. Religion and ethnic origin have been manipulated to create division among communities, severely polarizing a fragile country.

"The Central African Republic is at risk of sliding back into open inter-communal violence," Mr. Guterres said.

The UN integrated peacekeeping mission there, known by its French acronym, MINUSCA, will use force when the State's stability is threatened, and each time civilians need protection, but does not favour any religious or ethnic group, he said, adding that their actions can assist in creating a space to build peace through dialogue.

However, he said: "Nowhere in the world has the use of force alone resolved a conflict. We therefore need not only more peacekeepers, but more political initiatives for peace."

Calling on donors to fulfil their commitments to provide humanitarian aid, he stressed the importance of supporting the country's recovery and peacebuilding plan.

The National Assembly has a vital role to play in ensuring the efficient delivery of government services, not just in the capital, but at the local level, he said.

"We are all committed to the return to peace," he said, noting that a cessation of hostilities is undoubtedly important, but there is also a need to bring peace to people's hearts.

"The Central African Republic has suffered for far too long. As representatives of the people, you have a central part to play in turning the situation around," he told the lawmakers.

Noting the historical generosity of the Central Africans who, over the years, have opened their borders to refugees from neighboring countries, the Secretary-General pledged that the UN would continue to accompany and support Central Africans.

According to his spokesman, Mr. Guterres then travelled to the PK5 area, a traditionally Muslim part of Bangui that has been the site of violence against the community.

He listened to the concerns of community leaders, including issues regarding safety and discrimination, as well as the lack of economic opportunities for young people. He also heard from local Christian leaders who spoke of reconciliation.

The Secretary-General underscored his deep belief that religious conflicts are often the result of political manipulation and not religious differences, noting that for years, Christians and Muslims had coexisted peacefully in the country.

The Secretary-General then held a roundtable with youth leaders and a separate session with women leaders.

On his way to Paris, during a stopover in Yaounde, the Secretary-General is expected to meet with the President of Cameroon, Paul Biya, to discuss a number of regional and national issues, the spokesman said.

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South Sudan Camp Residents Accuse Charity of Hiding Poor Conditions From US Diplomat Haley

By Nabeel Biajo October 27, 2017

Residents of a displaced persons camp in South Sudan say they were deeply disappointed when a visit by U.S. envoy Nikki Haley was cut short Wednesday, with several residents accusing the French charity that runs the camp of preventing Haley from seeing their wretched living conditions.

Officials said at the time that Haley's visit to the UNMISS (United Nations Mission in South Sudan) camp in Juba was cut short because of security concerns over a turbulent demonstration against President Salva Kiir. The cancellation sparked a second demonstration among the residents to express their anger over not being able to meet Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

But some of the IDPs charged this week that organizers of the visit who work at the camp did not want Haley to see the miserable conditions in which they live. The camp hosts more than 30,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who fled their homes because of a civil war that began in 2013.

Tut Albino, deputy chairman of one portion of the camp, told VOA's South Sudan in Focus that he and other residents anxiously hoped to meet Haley and ask her to help bring peace to the country.

Albino said residents were angered when the French charity ACTED, which operates the camp, canceled the encounter.

"The community was celebrating but the reaction happened after ACTED denied the community to meet with [the] visitor. After ACTED diverted the venue from the right venue, the community reacted," Albino told VOA.

He accused ACTED of bringing a woman who lives outside the camp to represent the IDPs in a meeting with Haley, denying the real residents the chance to express their concerns.

"They prepared her with four children and they said this is the mother of the orphans that can talk on behalf of the community here in the camp. After the community realized that, it made them react too much," said Albino.

VOA repeatedly tried to seek a response from ACTED's office in Juba without success. A representative in ACTED's Paris office said on Friday that everyone who could speak to the allegations made by the IDPs in Juba was busy and not available until Monday.

Raggedy clothes, smelly latrines

James Mabor, another resident of the camp, charged that ACTED did not want Ambassador Haley to meet the IDPs because they are not well cared for. He said some are wearing the same clothes they wore when arriving at the camp four years ago, and others are down to rags and blankets.

He said ACTED has not fulfilled its obligations to the IDPs.

"Suddenly [they] realized it fell short of some obligations which involve providing cooking utensils, clothes, blankets and so on," he told South Sudan in Focus.

"The clothes you brought along with you three, four years ago would be worn out but if you don't have an alternative you are bound to wear them then you look shabby. So all these people came out and were in the street in the camp here and ACTED didn't want that," said Mabor.

He added that ACTED was supposed to clean the latrines before Haley's visit but complained that the compound "is really smelly because they have not been cleaned for some time."

Hundreds of South Sudanese lined the roads of the camp as Haley's convoy approached the area. The U.N. released a statement saying many gathered outside of her meeting with reunited families to chant and call for peace.

South Sudan was the middle stop in a three-nation African tour for Haley, who returns to the U.S. this weekend.

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UNHCR: New Refugee Crisis Brewing as Hundreds of Togolese Flee Country

By Lisa Schlein October 27, 2017

The U.N refugee agency says a potential crisis may be developing as hundreds of Togolese refugees flee political instability and escalating violence.

More than 500 Togolese have recently arrived in Ghana seeking asylum, according to the UNHCR.

"Togolese seeking safety, including women and children, told UNHCR staff earlier this month that they had fled on foot, walking from their homes in Togo's Mango region, bordering Ghana. They said they were fleeing human rights abuses after the recent political protests," said UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch.

At least 10 people have been killed in anti-government protests in Togo since August. Opponents are calling on President Faure Gnassingbe to step down and for a return to the 1992 constitution, which imposes term limits.

The president took power in 2005 and, under the current law, can run for re-election until 2030. The opposition considers that unacceptable and is demanding electoral reform.

Baloch tells VOA the UNHCR is concerned that, if the situation is not resolved, Africa may be facing another refugee crisis.

"Togo's neighboring countries are quite worried that if the situation is not resolved soon, maybe more people would flee," Baloch said. "That is why they have approached the U.N. refugee agency to prepare themselves for any further refugee arrivals."

Baloch says nearly 30 asylum-seekers reportedly have arrived recently in northern Benin. He says it is not clear whether that is related to the current instability in Togo. So far, there are no reports of asylum-seekers arriving in Burkina Faso.

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Catalonia Parliament Votes for Independence from Spain

By Martin Arostegui October 27, 2017

The Catalan regional parliament voted for independence from Spain Friday by approving a resolution to convene a constitutional assembly to form a sovereign republic. The move was accompanied by applause and embraces between lawmakers present, who sang the Catalan anthem.

The resolution to secede from Spain was drafted and presented by the more radical separatist factions of the regional coalition headed by Catalonia President Carles Puigdemont, and it passed by 70 votes in favor, 10 against and 2 blank votes.

Spain's ruling center-right Popular Party and the mainstream opposition socialists, who hold just under half the seats in the Catalan parliament, boycotted the session.

Waiting game

Friday's resolution by the Catalan regional parliament ends a period of uncertainty over Catalan independence that has prevailed since an Oct. 1 referendum on independence that won 90 percent of the vote in a 50 percent voter turnout.

Puigdemont has held back from declaring independence for fear of triggering direct rule by the central government, which has been moving to take over the region's finances, police services, and key infrastructure and administrative bodies, including publicly financed TV and broadcast media.

"It was very astute on the part of Puigdemont to let parliament vote on independence resolution prior to declaring it, as it gives him certain legal cover," a former senior member of the Spanish parliament told VOA.

Puigdemont could face a 25-year prison sentence for sedition. The central government already has jailed two separatist leaders and is prosecuting other officials accused of using public resources to support the independence bid.

Immediately following the Spanish senate vote to impose direct rule on Catalonia, the government issued an official bulletin announcing that Puigdemont and his Vice President Orio Junqueras had ceased to be the heads of the Catalonian regional government.

Rajoy reportedly set to move

Spanish official sources consulted by VOA say Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is preparing to appoint a close aide of Catalan origin to head a centrally administered regional government, and he has set Dec. 21 as the date for regional Catalan elections.

Spain's Senate responded to Catalonia's independence move by approving the application of constitutional article 155, which officially authorizes the central government to suspend Catalan authorities and take over the region's administration.

"The turn of events ... has left us with no recourse but the application of constitutional prerogatives to reinstitute the legal order in Catalonia," said Spain's senate president.

Rajoy appealed for national "calm" and called together a special cabinet meeting for later Friday.

"The government will take whatever measures are necessary. We will not allow a group of people to liquidate the country." he told reporters.

Puigdemont, accompanied by other members of the Catalan regional government, lawmakers and hundreds of mayors, crowded onto the steps of the parliament building to address thousands of supporters gathering outside, shouting "liberty."

In a short speech, he said, "We ourselves must now form our own structures and our own society."

Opposition leader supports Spain

Socialist opposition leader Pedro Sanchez reacted to the Catalan independence move Friday by pledging "my party's progressive flag will never join those seeking to take our country over the abyss."

Even regional authorities in the traditionally nationalistic Basque region have been reluctant to support the Catalan cause, despite growing relations between radical separatists in both regions.

World reaction

The United Nations spokesperson urged all sides "to seek solutions with in the framework of the Spanish constitution and through established political and legal channels."

The European Union Council President Donald Tusk, who has supported Madrid's approach to the crisis, said on Twitter he hoped "the Spanish government favors force of argument, not argument of force."

NATO, of which Spain is a member, said in a statement, "The Catalonia issue is a domestic matter which should be resolved within Spain's constitutional order."

Madrid's efforts to keep the country united also has the continued support of the U.S. government. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement, " the United States supports the Spanish government's constitutional measures to keep Spain strong and united."

Russian involvement

Some international support for Catalan independence, however, seems to be coming from Russia, which is giving some recognition to Catalan separatists as reciprocal action for past U.S. and European backing to breakaway former Soviet republics and the controversial independence of Kosovo.

"By backing the independence of Kosovo, formed and prosperous countries such as Spain put at risk their own fragile stability," Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week at an international forum in Sochi.

"It's undeniable that Putin is interested in the destabilization and balkanization of Spain," a senior Spanish diplomat told VOA, asking that his name not be used.

The de facto foreign minister of the Russian supported breakaway state of South Osetia, Dimitri Medoev, who is reported to be close to the Kremlin, visited Catalonia this week to set up an "interests office" in Barcelona to promote "bilateral relations in humanitarian and cultural issues."

South Osetia pledged support for the "sovereignty of Catalonia" following the Oct. 1 referendum.

Rogue states such as Venezuela and North Korea also have expressed support for Catalonian secessionism.

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Catalan, Spanish Historians Continue Dueling, Using History as Battlefield

By Jamie Dettmer October 27, 2017

History is a battlefield in the contentious independence standoff between Spain and Catalan secessionists, pressed into service by each, shaped as a weapon and hurled with abandon.

Both sides in the confrontation that threatens the territorial integrity of Spain have raised the political temperature by citing some of the darkest chapters in Spanish and Catalan history to provoke or to bolster support.

Underscoring the struggle for hearts and minds are disputes about who did what to whom, stretching back to 1714, an emblematic year for Catalans, when after a long siege the Catalan capital of Barcelona, which was loyal to the Habsburg dynasty, fell to the troops of the Bourbon monarch, Felipe V.

The victorious king shuttered Catalonia's parliament, closed the city's universities and banned Catalan as the official language.

Since then, the Catalans have struggled with three centuries of exclusion and repression by Madrid, enjoying short periods of autonomy and recognition, and long periods of being forced into a cultural homogeneity dictated by the dominant Castilian nationalism of Spain.

When Spain's current monarch, Felipe VI, broadcast earlier this month in an unprecedented televised address, his condemnation of Catalan separatists for their "lack of loyalty to the Spanish government," casting their October 1 independence vote as illegal and undemocratic, Catalan secessionists reacted by referencing the 18th century repression of his namesake.

Catalan commentators, even those holding pro-unity sentiments, complained the king was not the best person to deliver a scathing attack on the independence aspirations of Catalan secessionists, arguing he was merely feeding into the separatist narrative of Madrid's long-standing disdain for the sub-nationalisms of the Catalans, Basques and Galicians, and the Castilian oppression of Catalonia stretching back to 1714.

The most frequent references to the past that both sides have used to frame the independence standoff roiling Spain, however, is to the Spanish Civil War and the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.

Regional autonomy was a key driver of the Spanish Civil War  Franco and the nationalist army opposed the leftwing Republican government's extension of autonomy to Catalonia and the Basques.

To hear some Catalan separatists speak, Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is the second coming of General Franco, a hyperbolic comparison considering that in the purges following the civil war the Franco regime executed an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 Catalans.

That's a far cry from the violent clashes at voting stations on October 1 when 800 were injured as police, on the orders of Madrid, sought to close voting stations in Barcelona.

"The suppression Catalans lived with during the Franco dictatorship has remained in people's hearts, and has been transmitted to my generation," argued Catalan filmmaker Irene Baque.

Some critics of the separatists counter that more Catalans likely were killed during the civil war by the Communist-dominated Republican government as it sought to purge anarchists, Trotskyites and other political undesirables from its ranks  an action that fractured the left as it sought to fend off Franco's fascist uprising.

And they note that during the 1939-1975 Franco dictatorship there were plenty in the ranks of Catalonia's middle and landed classes who saw conservative values and law and order as higher priorities than Catalan nationalism. They were supportive of the regime and thrived under it.

Some hardline Spanish nationalists have gleefully stoked the fires of past controversy.

Earlier this month, Pablo Casado, a lawmaker with Rajoy's ruling People's Party, warned Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont that history might repeat itself. Casado said his fate could be similar to that of one of his predecessors, Lluis Companys, who ended up being shot in 1940 by General Franco.

And there was deliberate provocation by Spanish nationalists in Madrid last month when some cheered national police units as they headed to Catalonia to try to prevent the October 1 independence vote by shouting "Viva Franco."

"This is a very long lasting political conflict," said Josep Costa, a political scientist. "The issue of the status of Catalonia within Spain is a problem that comes out every time there is a democratic opening of Spanish society."

Both sides can be accused of airbrushing the complex history of Spain. Most Spaniards remain unaware the first book printed in Spain was in Catalan. Pro-unity Catalan historians complain that they get snubbed by Catalonia's cultural institutions, which are dominated the pro-secessionists.

Spanish and Catalan historians have been guilty of mutual ignorance for years, with Spanish historians disregarding Catalan contributions and glorifying the story of the Castilians, and their Catalan rivals doing the reverse and demonizing Spain, according to Swiss journalist Raphael Minder.

"National identity is rooted in history, which is why so much importance is attached to celebrating one event rather than another," he wrote in his new book on Catalan rebel politics, The Struggle for Catalonia.

He added, "When there is serious disagreement over the past, it becomes even harder to agree over the present, let alone the future."

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Analysts Fear Low Voter Turnout Will Undercut Kenya Election Results

By Jill Craig October 27, 2017

Kenya's electoral commission has called for patience and calm as it tallies the results of Thursday's re-run presidential election. However, some analysts already fear that the low turnout  just 35 percent compared to nearly 80 percent in the previous poll in August  may undercut the credibility of the results.

The chief of Kenya's electoral commission says 6.5 million voters, about one-third of all registered voters, cast ballots in the election Thursday.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga told his supporters to boycott the vote, and some polling stations looked like ghost towns. Others had lines, but significantly shorter than the original August election. Some were closed entirely due to security concerns.

Murithi Mutiga, the International Crisis Group's Kenya analyst, said "if this turns out to be the final act in what has been a very dramatic election, it will be a very unsatisfactory conclusion for all sides."

The president, Mutiga added, will "move forward with what seems like a very shaky mandate, without a clear mandate from the people; that's a very, very low turnout. It's the lowest turnout in Kenya's multiparty history. We've had six elections since 1992 and the lowest was just about 57 percent. In general, Kenya election turnout levels are always above 65 percent."

The electoral commission said voting would take place Saturday in four areas of western Kenya where polling was halted due to violent clashes between protesters and security forces.

But late on Friday, the commission said electoral staff would be at risk and postponed the voting to an undetermined future date.

As of mid-afternoon Friday, the IEBC reported that it has received the large majority of official polling station forms and official constituency forms back from the field, but had yet to announce any vote count.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is making his second attempt at re-election. The Supreme Court nullified his victory in the August 8th poll, ruling that the electoral commission had not followed electoral law and the constitution.

Odinga called for several members of the commission to step down and for the polls to be postponed beyond a 60-day deadline announced by the court.

The opposition has not said whether it plans to file a legal challenge the results of Thursday's election.

Odinga told supporters he would give further "instructions" on Monday.

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Presidential Voting Postponed Again in Western Kenya

By Mohammed Yusuf October 27, 2017

Political and religious leaders in western Kenya warn that plans to re-attempt presidential polling in four counties will further inflame tensions.

The electoral commission postponed voting in those areas Thursday due to security concerns amid an opposition boycott. Late Friday, the electoral commission postponed the voting again, citing threats to electoral staff. No new date has been announced.

Residents in western Kenya, a stronghold of opposition leader Raila Odinga, say they plan to respect Odinga's call to boycott the polls again.

"I am not going to vote and we will make sure no one goes to vote," resident Joshua Ochieng said. "Because every time we vote, our victory is stolen. This should be the last time our victory is stolen."

Violent unrest prevented polling stations from opening Thursday in the city of Kisumu, with youths blocking roads and clashing with security forces. Hospital officials tell VOA three people were killed by gunshot wounds and more than 50 were injured.

There were more protests Friday in some parts of western Kenya. Local media report that one person was shot dead in Bungoma County.

Church leaders in Kisumu gave a press conference Friday, saying they feared more bloodshed if election officials try to proceed with polling.

"We want to say categorically as church leaders, we don't condone violence and we'll never condone it in any other way, but every individual, every single human being, has a right to self-defense, and a time may come when our people may have to defense themselves, in whichever way possible," Bishop David Kodiah of the Anglican Church of Kenya Bondo Diocese said.

Kisumu was mostly quiet Friday, with many streets clear to traffic and some shops open for business. However, youths took to the streets later in the day, burning tires and blocking some roads in the city. They told VOA they were trying to block the delivery of ballot papers.

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In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.



We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.



Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.



John McCrae, May 1915

11-11-11 - Armistice Day

The fighting ceased at a time easy to remember in future years  the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, in the year 1918. Americans fell in the last hour  in the last fifteen minutes, while tidings of peace were being flashed around the globe to thrill the people of every land. The brave fellows who went to graves and hospitals in the closing hours were the greatest martyrs of them all. New England units were among those ordered to attack that morning. I saw the victims buried next day. It was one of the saddest spectacles of the war. A few minutes more and they might have joined their comrades in celebrating the armistice as their relatives and friends did in a delirium of joy at home. But orders had come to straighten the lines and some units attacked and gained small strips of ground. Before others could obey, orders were rescinded, renewed and rescinded. Obviously there had been a confusion of orders somewhere.

On 01 July 1918 Count von Roon, a member of the Prussian House of Nobles, had delivered himself unofficially of an ultimatum of terms upon which Germany would consent to peace. Until its conditions were realized, he said, there should be no armistice and no cessation of submarine warfare. The conditions in detail were: the annexation by Germany of Belgium, including the Channel coast as far as Calais; the annexation of the Briey and Longwy Basins and the Toul, Belfort, and Verdun regions eastward; the restitution to Germany of all her colonies, including Kiaochow; Great Britain to cede to Germany such naval bases and coaling stations as Germany desired; Great Britain to cede her war fleet to Germany, to restore Egypt to Turkey, and the Suez Canal to Turkey; Greece to be reestablished under the former King Constantine; Austria and Bulgaria to divide Serbia and Montenegro; Great Britain, France, and the United States to pay all of Germany's war costs.

The soldiers and people of the European countries had fought and endured for more than four years. The United States had been in the conflict something more than a year and a half. With Turkish forces in Palestine virtually annihilated, Americans and French pressing on victoriously in the Champagne and the Argonne, and British advancing in the direction of Cambrai, Prussianism everywhere on the defensive, or in retreat, President Wilson could have desired no more suitable opportunity for giving, as in October 1918, in his armistice correspondence with Germany, point and emphasis to the great doctrine that this was a people's war which could be ended only by a people's peace. Official Germany had as yet no conception of that truth. It was still living in the days of the Congress of Vienna when nationalities and peoples were bartered about like cattle. It still believed possible a negotiated peace, in which diplomatists would adjust the differences of governments, arrange the strategic requirements of great powers and begin a new game of imperialism under the rules of the old.

Bulgaria signed an armistice on 29 September 1918, accepting unconditionally all the terms the Allies laid dowm which virtually rendered her incapable of any further operations. Three days later Prince Maximilian of Baden was announced as the new German Chancellor. Prince Max being from Baden, was from one of the liberal strongholds of Germany. He had made moderate speeches, and was known as a wealthy Junker who had begun to see the ruin of his class through further prolongation of the war. The Hohenzollern monarchy was threatened with a crisis such as it had never known before. It faced the anger of a weary and desperate people, a people it had misled and betrayed. Only six months before, exponents of German opinion had been talking in terms of huge indemnities and large territorial acquisitions. Vanquished nations were to be bled white and Germany was to vault easily, and inevitably, into a position of world-supremacy.

Germany, on 05 October 1918, sought peace. The text of a note forwarded by the new Chancellor, Prince Maximilian, to President Wilson through the Swiss Government was as follows: "The German Government requests the President of the United States to take in hand the restoration of peace, acquaint all the belligerent states of this request and invite them to send plenipotentiaries for the purpose of opening, negotiations. It accepts the program set forth by the President of the United States in his message to Congress on January 8th and in his later pronouncements, especially his speech of September 27th, as a basis for peace negotiations. With a view to avoiding further bloodshed, the German Government requests the immediate conclusion of an armistice on land and water and in the air."

"Victory first, then peace," was the way French civilians, returning to their shell-wrecked homes in northern France, exprest themselves on the subject. The same idea ran through the Allied armies, where men who had seen their comrades die felt that they would have died in vain unless victory became absolute.

President Wilson on October 14 informed Germany that it "must be clearly understood that the process of evacuation and the conditions of an armistice are matters which must be left to the judgment and advice of the military advisers of the Government of the United States and the Allied Governments, and the President feels it his duty to say that no arrangement can be accepted by the Government of the United States which does not provide absolutely satisfactory safeguards and guaranties of the maintenance of the present military supremacy of the armies of the United States and of the Allies in the field."

It became known on 19 October 1918 that the German decision to reply affirmatively to President Wilson's note was taken at a dramatic meeting of the Crown Council in Berlin, where Ludendorff made a gloomy report on the military situationthe situation being such that Germany might be invaded within a few weeks. Germany's three allies, Bulgaria, Turkey, and AustriaHungary, had now laid down their arms, ceased hostilities and accepted terms which made it impossible for them to renew the war. History was being made with such lightning-speed that people failed to comprehend the full significance of changes, any one of which would have startled the world five years before. The terms granted to Turkey had almost automatically called into being an independent Arabia, an autonomous Armenia, a free Palestine, with Syria and Mesopotamia as French and British protectorates, and Persia liberated forever from the pressure of German intrigue and Turkish penetration.

Germany also knew that another offensive would be launched on the Lorraine front on 14 November 1918 by 600,000 men under Castelnau. American and French troops had been concentrated between Briey and ChateauSalins, supported by 3,000 guns of all calibers and 300 tanks on a front of forty-five miles. The German commander on this front had available approximately only 160,000 men, with 1.000 guns. The Allied attack" would have carried the war into German Lorraine and Rhenish Prussia and threatened to cut from its base the German army in Belgium and the Ardennes. The German command had averted that catastrophe by pleading for an armistice.

On November 8 the nervous tension of years of war was suddenly broken in America by a false report that Germany had that day signed the armistice. Joyful enthusiasm pent up through the long ordeal broke forth only to be lost on a 'fake." All over the country sirens, whistles and bells ro-e in a resounding clamor about one o'clock in the afternoon, carrying news of the supposed signing and the cessation of hostilities. Men and women of all ages and all stations, in every part of New York and many other cities, with unspoken accord, suddenly stopt business and poured out into streets to join all that afternoon and until midnight in a delirious carnival of joy beyond comparison with anything ever seen before. The false report went to villages, small towns and great cities, where celebrations as enthusiastic as those in New York took place. Afternoon papers which carried the false news were snatched off the stands by eager crowds.

No attention meanwhile was paid to the less romantic reports of a steady advance of Allied armies, of the taking of Sedan by French and Americans, or of the outbreak of a revolution in Germany. It was not till late afternoon that papers declared the report false. Even then the celebrating went on just the same until far into the night. The United States had got into the war last, and now it was getting out first.

Paris on November the eleventh, 1918, was the stage of such scenes as occur once in the history of the world. They had no rehearsal and they can have no repetition. The Armistice came to France as it could come to no other nation, for no other nation had so suffered. It came as a great revivifying stream bringing new life, new hope, new strength and relief from the heaviest burdens and the deepest sorrows that a people had ever borne. The sun burst radiantly upon a nation that for four years has lived in darkness; a great mass of humanity was lifted in the twinkling of an eye from distress and mourning to a state of joy so elated, so overwhelming as to be actually painful.

Within a few days the American Third Army, otherwise known as the Army of Occupation, crossed the German lines and advanced unmolested through the Duchy of Luxembourg, along the valley of the Moselle and across the Rhine at the heels of the retreating German forces. But the Armistice was a cease fire, not an end to the war, which only came with the Versailles Treaty, signed 28 June 1919.

November 11th was celebrated as Armistice Day starting in 1919 and became a legal federal holiday in the United States in 1938. After World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day became Veterans Day in the United States. November 11 is still celebrated as Armistice Day in France and Belgium, but is called Remembrance Day today in the British Commonwealth of Nations, and is known as the Day of Peace in the Flanders Fields. While Veterans Day is typically a tribute to Americas living veterans, it is always appropriate to include a moment of silence in respect for those who gave their lives for their country.

Honor veterans past and present by pausing for a minute of silence at 11am on 11/11, the eleventh hour on the eleventh day on the eleventh month.

Armistice Day is also called Remembrance Day and they both refer to November 11th, which the US chose to call Veterans Day. In Britain, it is tradition to pause for a two minute silence at 11am on November 11 to remember those killed in the two world wars and the British servicemen killed or injured since 1945. Poppies became the symbol of the Royal British Legion when it was formed in 1921. King George V issued a proclamation calling for a two minute silence, it said: "All locomotion should cease, so that, in perfect stillness, the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead." To celebrate the centenary of the outbreak of war, the Tower of London was adorned by a monumental work composed of 888,246 ceramic poppies - one for each soldier of the Crown who fell during the Great War. The suggested donation is 1 per poppy. The British public usually buy nearly 45 million poppies each year.

While the red poppy is worn in specifically in honour of the armed forces and is distributed by the Royal British Legion, the white poppy, given out by the Peace Pledge Union (PPU), a pacifist organisation, serves as an alternative. James McLean, the West Brom winger, received death threats in 2014 for playing a match without an embroidered poppy on his shirt, but has continued to avoid the symbol, saying: The poppy is used to remember victims of other conflicts since 1945 and this is where the problem starts for me.

The Peace Pledge Union stated, The white poppy was not intended as an insult to those who died in the First World War  a war in which many of the white poppy supporters lost husbands, brothers, sons and lovers  but a challenge to the continuing drive to war. The Cornflower of France [Bleuet de France], national symbol of Remembrance and Solidarity, helps veterans and their younger brothers in arms, their wives, children and families in the event of injury or death as well as victims of attacks. Besides the symbol of life that continues despite the shelling, "blueberries" was the nickname that gave the hairy new soldiers, arriving with their uniform of blue still pristine horizon. It was in 1925 that the appellation becomes a badge, at the initiative of two nurses: Charlotte Malleterre and Suzanne Leenhardt create the "Bleuet de France" , which aims to collect funds to come in help the mutilated the Great War. Resident Invalides can create their own blueberries tissue then sold for profit.

The National Office for Veterans and Victims of War (ONACVG) is the major operator of the Ministry of Defences policy for the remembrance of veterans. It is responsible for local actions in respect of the topics associated with the commemorative calendar. Since its creation, the National Office for Veterans and Victims of War (ONACVG) has had the task demonstrating the Nations gratitude to persons affected by war through the allocation of entitlements and cards. The flower of the field has become a symbol of solidarity towards all generations of soldiers left for the front whatsoever.

The "poppy" of the tradition persists, particularly in the UK, where it would be frowned upon if a politician made an appearance during the week before November 11 without wear his poppy. Proof of its popularity: the money collected in Britain graze each year to 50 million euros, against just over a million in France. Both wild flowers continued to grow in the land ravaged by the battles of the First World War. And both echo a poem, the "Bleuets of France" and "In Flanders fields".

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Briefing by Deputy Assistant Secretary Jim Walsh On the State Department's Role in Combating the Opioid Crisis

Special Briefing

Jim Walsh, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics And Law Enforcement Affairs

Press Briefing Room

Washington, DC

October 26, 2017

MS NAUERT: Glad to have you here. Everybody, thanks so much for coming. I brought a few extra guests with me today as a part of our effort to try to bring more of our experts into the room to provide you information on timely issues. I just want to add on a personal note to that my colleagues who are joining us have served at the State Department for 15 and 17 years, respectively. They are both Civil servants who have done tremendous work on behalf of the department and the American public.

We have a tremendous amount of respect for both our functional and regional bureaus, our Foreign Service officers, our career Civil servants, and I want to highlight some of the excellent work that they are doing. They are tremendous patriots. They have served all around the world  many of them have  and are really example of State Department's best and brightest.

I'd like to start by introducing you today to Jim Walsh. He is the deputy assistant secretary for a bureau which is called INL. You probably heard the President a short while ago talk about the opioid crisis here in the United States. The President talked about how, through a whole-of-government approach, we will aggressively fight the addiction throughout the administration  the addiction crisis in the United States.

The President said we can be an end  a generation to end this epidemic. The State Department is also doing its part in trying to do away with the problem of drug addiction and all of that. We play a key role in combatting the deadly epidemic. Our bureau dedicated to drugs and law enforcement, INL, is leading efforts around the globe related to the opioids crisis, so to provide some details on this and answer your questions on the issue, I'd like to welcome to the podium our Deputy Assistant Secretary Jim Walsh from the INL Bureau. That stands for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement. He has a quick address for you. We'll take a few questions, and then I'd like to introduce you to another one of our deputy assistant secretaries.

MR WALSH: Thank you, Heather. Good afternoon, everyone. With the President and First Lady just speaking about our nation's drug crisis, I'd like to share a few comments about how the State Department is addressing the opioid epidemic. With heroin and synthetic opioids fueling this crisis produced overseas, transnational criminal organizations moving this deadly product, our national strategy to respond to this crisis must include an international component. Responding to this crisis is a top priority for the administration, and here at the State Department we're leveraging our partnerships across the globe to stem the flow of these killer drugs. We're pulling diplomatic levers both bilaterally and multilaterally, and using foreign assistance to protect U.S. communities.

Effective October 18th, criminals now have a tougher time producing fentanyl because two major ingredients needed to produce this dangerous drug are now internationally controlled. The State Department led a robust diplomatic campaign to advocate for this result, which culminated in a unanimous international vote to impose the new restrictions. This is just one important step in our efforts to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids and ultimately help save American lives.

On the other side of the globe we are working with China. We are encouraging China to continue to crack down on illegal production and trafficking of synthetic opioids. We have made notable progress on this front to date. In March and July 2017, in response to U.S. requests, China agreed to establish new controls on five dangerous synthetic drugs, including carfentanyl, which you may know is a hundred times more deadly and potent than fentanyl. Next week the State Department, along with our interagency partners at the Department of Justice, will travel to China to take part in a recurring experts-level counternarcotics working group meeting to further expand this cooperation.

We are also using foreign assistance to strengthen Mexico's ability to stop illicit drugs from reaching our border. The INL Bureau efforts on the ground, including building Mexico's capacity to interdict illegal drugs, improves security along our southwest border and reduced production of heroin and synthetic drugs, and we will take down clandestine drug labs. On December 1st we'll gather again with not only Mexico but our northern partner, Canada, who is facing its own serious fentanyl challenge. This will take place at the next North American Drug Dialogue.

Beyond the supply work  supply-side work, our international drug demand reduction programs are discovering new approaches that are being adopted by U.S., state, and local prevention and treatment professionals. INL has developed a scientifically grounded, evidence-based, universal curriculum for both treatment and prevention. This will head off and break the chain of addiction in a more effective manner. Our overseas demand reduction tools and global research will also help address the opioid crisis domestically.

The bottom line is this: We at the State Department are moving forward and are full aware of the gravity of this crisis. With over 64,000 Americans dead from overdoses in 2016, with drug traffickers taking advantage of new ways to move and sell their product, including through the dark web, and rogue chemists developing assiduous new synthetic drugs at an alarming rate, we must constantly be adapting our approach in responding to new and deadly realities.

This challenge is a dire one, and it will continue to be a top priority for the department.

Thank you. I'll take a few questions.

MS NAUERT: Who would like to start? Come on, no one's curious in this room? You're reporters.

QUESTION: I'll do it.

MS NAUERT: Okay.

QUESTION: All right.

MS NAUERT: Said, is that you?

QUESTION: I'll take a shot at it. How are you coordinating your effort with, let's say, countries such as your allies like Egypt and so on, where there is an emerging problem similar to yours?

MR WALSH: Sure. We  as I said, we work in the multilateral and bilateral arena. Through the international multilateral arena, we meet on a regular basis in the International Narcotics Control Board, and we also work in a bilateral through our embassies. Through our Drug Demand Reduction Programs, we're also collecting a lot of information to gather an appreciation of how dangerous this  fentanyl, in particular, is occurring throughout the world. Our statistics are not there, but it is  we are getting evidence that it is reaching a lot of other countries as well. And so through the collection of information and sharing of our techniques for drug demand reduction, we're working with them.

QUESTION: Would that be security agency-to-security agency coordination, or at the diplomatic level? How is --

MR WALSH: Mostly diplomatic, with Egypt in particular.

MS NAUERT: We'll take one more question. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you so much. Regarding the  Carmen Ria Rodriguez, Radio Marti. Would you say that it's coming from abroad, or is this home-elaborated? What would the major supplier be?

MR WALSH: The major supply of the heroin, as you heard from our President, is coming from Mexico, in fact. DEA estimates about 90 percent. Of the fentanyl, the vast majority of it does come from China. And we  what we are seeing is that it's either being trafficked through Mexico and being combined with the heroin, or it's being directly shipped to the United States via mail.

MS NAUERT: Thank you so much.

MR WALSH: Thank you.

MS NAUERT: Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. And thank you for your expertise and your time. Glad to have you.

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Inland waterways project can benefit BBIN: Experts

The infrastructure works being undertaken to connect inland waterways of India and Bangladesh could not only ease the transport movement between the two countries but also translate into swifter and less expensive freight movement to Nepal and Bhutan, experts said on Friday.
South Dakota National Guard provides domestic operations support

By Maj. Anthony Deiss October 27, 2017

RAPID CITY, S.D. - The South Dakota National Guard continued to provide domestic operations support to the citizens of South Dakota and the nation throughout 2017.

Soldiers and Airmen responded to a variety of missions at the state and federal level that supported civil authorities, emergency management personnel and law enforcement agencies.

"In times of need, South Dakota National Guard forces provide response and recovery assistance to federal, state and local governments," said Lt. Col. Jim Selchert, director of military support to civil authorities. "Civil authorities understand the unique capabilities of the National Guard when additional assets are needed in an emergency or natural disaster."

Located in 22 communities across the state, the SDNG has more than 4,100 service members that can provide overwhelming capability and capacity to the governor before and after disasters strike. In 2017, Guard members were called up by Gov. Dennis Daugaard to support 11 state active duty missions that involved 90 personnel and totaled over 300 man-days.

The majority of the response involved wildland fire support providing aerial water suppression assistance using HH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crews and ground support personnel. The Army Guard responded to eight fires throughout the Black Hills and western South Dakota from March through September.

"Helicopter flight crews certify annually with the South Dakota Wildland Fire Division in order to provide assistance when wildland fires develop," said Selchert. "The crews conduct water-bucket drops to aid firefighters on the ground by cooling off hot spots, save structures and help get some containment on the fire."

When not dropping water, flight crews are also picking up people in need. One crew assisted in the rescue of a male hiker who was injured on Black Elk Peak and airlifted from Custer State Park on April 13.

The man was found near high rock formations by Custer County Search and Rescue personnel about two-thirds of the way up the 7,200-foot peak in rough terrain. The man was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital for treatment.

"Our aviation assets also provide a unique hoist capability to be able to safely remove personnel from difficult or hard to reach areas," said Selchert. "Our crews train every year with interagency partners for these scenarios."

Another team training and ready to support a variety of local and state agencies in 2017 was the 82nd Civil Support Team. Deployable within 90 minutes, the 22-member unit conducted numerous exercises this past year to maintain their preparedness level for responding to chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear threats.

"We train constantly. Every month we do exercises. Sometimes we do a couple exercises in one week," said Lt. Col. Dale Gadbois, CST commander. "We have to constantly hone our skills because we have so much specialized equipment and we need to be on top of our training, and these exercises definitely afford us the ability to sustain our operations."

The unit uses high-tech equipment for substance detection and has an array of testing, laboratory and communications gear to help identify natural or man-made hazardous materials.

As the state's all-hazards response team, the 82nd serves as subject matter experts on any CBRN event and supports civil authorities in major disasters and help emergency management personnel get a clear picture of what's happening and how to address it.

"It's very critical that we work with agencies in the local area, because as the Civil Support Team we typically work for an incident commander from a civilian-led agency, whether it be a fire department or law enforcement -- and working with them and establishing relationships is going to pay dividends in the end when it comes to a real-world emergency or response.

"By building relationships with first responders, law enforcement, fire departments and HAZMAT teams, we are able to interoperate, communicate and understand each other's capabilities and how we can complement each other during a response," said Gadbois.

While the CST was training to protect against CBRN dangers, a new team was activated this year to respond to cyber threats.

In June, an activation ceremony was held for the newest SDNG unit, Detachment 2, Cyber Protection Team 174. CPTs are part of the National Guard Bureau's ongoing growth of cyber forces throughout the Department of Defense.

The team can be called up by the president or governor to assist local, state and federal agencies' in protecting domestic critical infrastructure and to provide support to law enforcement, homeland defense and defense support of civil authority activities in support of national objectives.

"Our mission is to coordinate, train and assist mission partners in an advisory-type role to steer them in the right direction in the event of a cyber attack," said Staff Sgt. Mike Reiprich, senior security analyst for Det. 2, CPT 174. "We would strictly be an extra set of eyes for our mission partners in that advisory role."

Reiprich also emphasized the team does not perform offensive cyber attacks to any intruder or potential attacker.

"We're there to defend a network and protect it if an intrusion happens," he said. "We are preventative and then reactive until a network is secured."

However it's not just within the state that South Dakota Guard members responded this year. When disaster stuck the island of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the state responded.

Gov. Daugaard activated four members of Company A, 139th Brigade Support Battalion, at the request of Puerto Rico government authorities to help with recovery operations and provide water distribution capabilities to those in need.

On Oct. 8, the Soldiers deployed with two Load Handling System vehicles and trailers equipped with four Compatible Water Tank Racks, or "Hippos." The Hippo has the capability to receive, store and distribute up to 2,000 gallons of potable water per system.

Whether responding to natural disasters or preparing to defend against cyber attacks, on any given day, SDNG Airmen and Soldiers are ready to provide assistance.

"The National Guard is the military first responder for our communities, state and nation and the primary domestic response option for the Department of Defense," Selchert said. "We stand trained and prepared to assist civil authorities in protecting lives and property."

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Britain: North Korea Was Behind May Global Cyberattack

By VOA News October 27, 2017

British Security Minister Ben Wallace said Friday Britain believed "quite strongly" that North Korea was responsible for a global cyberattack earlier this year.

The cyberattack, which occurred in May, disrupted government services and businesses throughout the world, including one-third of English hospitals.

"North Korea was the state that we believe was involved in this worldwide attack on our systems," Wallace said in an interview with the BBC. He added the British government was "as sure as possible."

More than 300,000 computers in 150 countries were infected within days of the "WannaCry" attack, dubbed as such because the WannaCry ransomware cryptoworm was deployed.

A report released Friday by Britain's National Audit Office (NAO) said WannaCry was a relatively simple attack that Britain's National Health Service (NHS) could have prevented if it adhered to basic information technology best practices.

NHS digital security head Dan Taylor described the event as "an international attack on an unprecedented scale" and said the agency has "learned a lot."

Minister Wallace said Britain must act quickly to strengthen its cybersecurity program.

"It's a salient lesson for us all that all of us, from individuals to governments to large organizations, have a role to play in maintaining the security of our networks," Wallace said.

Ransomware attacks utilize a type of malware that encrypts files on infected computers and demands money to unlock them.

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Briefing by Deputy Assistant Secretary Scott Busby On the Release of the Report on Human Rights Abuses and Censorship in North Korea

Special Briefing

Scott Busby

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

Press Briefing Room

Washington, DC

October 26, 2017

MS NAUERT: Next, I would like to introduce you to one of the  our other deputy assistant secretaries. Come on up here. This is Scott Busby. Scott works for our DRL Bureau, which is Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. He's here to talk about the DPRK, North Korea. Today, consistent with the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016, the State Department has released its third report on North Korea human rights abuses and also censorship. In conjunction with the report, the Department of Treasury sanctioned persons and entities identified in this report. And our Deputy Assistant Secretary Mr. Busby will talk a little bit about that and take a few of your questions, and then I'll start the regular briefing.

Sir, go ahead.

MR BUSBY: Well, thank you, Heather. And good afternoon, everyone. Today, as part of our continuing efforts to promote accountability for North Korean officials, as Heather said, we're releasing our third report on serious human rights abusers from the DPRK. And this report identifies seven individuals and three entities as responsible for serious human rights abuses or censorship in North Korea.

In conjunction with the report, the Treasury Department has added these 10 North Korean individuals and entities to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List. Both actions are consistent with the North Korean Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016. Like the two prior reports, this report shines a spotlight on serious human rights abuses committed by the DPRK regime, including extrajudicial killings, forced labor, torture, prolonged arbitrary detention, as well as rape, forced abortions, and other sexual violence.

In particular, this report focuses on the many human rights abuses that underwrite the regime's weapons program, including forced labor, re-education through labor camps, and overseas labor contracts. Thousands of North Koreans are sent abroad every year to work in slave-like conditions, earning revenue for the regime. The government also deploys security officials abroad to monitor the activities of North Korean citizens and to forcibly repatriate individuals who seek asylum. This report includes individuals and entities responsible for these types of abuses.

With these efforts, we aim to send a signal to all DPRK Government officials, particularly prison camp managers and mid-level officials, that we can and we will expose human rights abuses and censorship in the DPRK and that these individuals will suffer consequences for such actions. Thank you very much.

MS NAUERT: Any questions?

MR BUSBY: Yes, ma'am.

MS NAUERT: Go ahead. Kylie, go right ahead.

QUESTION: I have a quick question. There's one individual on the list who's based in China at the consul general in Shenyang. I'm not sure how to pronounce that. But what do you expect China to do as a result of the U.S. pointing to this individual? Do you expect them to take action against them? What's the expectation?

MR BUSBY: This individual was included in the report because of his responsibility for facilitating the return of North Korean asylum seekers to North Korea. His case has been raised with China. I don't want to speak for what China may or may not do with his case, but we've brought it to their attention.

QUESTION: What are the possibilities for what they might do?

MR BUSBY: The range of possibilities, right, including expelling from the country.

MS NAUERT: Janne.

QUESTION: Thank you very much. Regarding North Korean human rights abuse, do you expect North Korean leader Kim Jong-un putting into ICC, International Criminal Court, for abuse?

MR BUSBY: Well, a decision like that is obviously not one that the U.S. Government takes. That's a decision that can be taken by any number of other entities. So again, I don't think I can speak for what those entities may or may not do with regards to Kim Jong-un.

QUESTION: Can you give us an estimate of what assets are actually frozen as a result of the sanctions that were announced by Treasury today? Are there any significant assets falling under U.S. jurisdiction that have actually now been frozen as a result of their acts?

MR BUSBY: I'd have to refer you to our Treasury Department for that sort of information. I don't have those sorts of details.

QUESTION: And just one follow-up on the question about potential sanctions: If you don't know or can't tell us what kinds of action China might take, and you don't know, in fact, whether China will actually take any action, why is there any reason to believe that there will be any accountability for the individual that you've identified, or any consequence?

MR BUSBY: Again, the report is just out today. We have communicated the results of this report, the data in this report, with the Chinese and with other governmental authorities in the region. It's now up to China to decide what to do with it.

QUESTION: Have they ever previously acted against a North Korean official who has been similarly identified?

MR BUSBY: This is the first such individual mentioned in a report like this, but --

QUESTION: But surely you've raised other issues with them in the past, or other individuals.

MR BUSBY: Yeah. I don't know off the top of my head. I couldn't tell you.

QUESTION: You don't know --

MR BUSBY: I could tell you off the top of my head, but we could get back to you.

QUESTION: Great. It'd be interesting to know if they ever have acted.

MS NAUERT: Abbie from NBC News, final question.

QUESTION: Hi. I wanted to ask  I believe that this is not the first time you have decided to target mid-level officials within the North Korean Government, and I believe the philosophy was the idea that people would feel a different level of responsibility in that mid-level position. Have you seen any effect by undertaking that  targeting that particular level of people within the North Korean Government?

MR BUSBY: So very hard to get information out of North Korea, but we have heard from defectors that there  they have seen policy changes and in some cases the harshness of their treatment has been lessened, they have said, as a consequence of sanctions such as these. So we have heard that from defectors.

MS NAUERT: Thank you so much. Deputy Assistant Secretary Scott Busby, thank you for coming in.

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N. Korean Debt to Sweden Remains Unpaid After Four Decades

By Kim Youngnam October 26, 2017

More than four decades after selling 1,000 Volvos to North Korea, Sweden is still trying to get paid for the cars.

The vehicles were part of a $131 million trade package delivered to North Korea in 1974, during a period of openness. But Pyongyang never paid anything on the deal, leaving a debt that has now accumulated with interest to $328 million, according to the Swedish Foreign Ministry.

North Korea owes millions elsewhere in Europe from purchases made during the early 1970s, when Pyongyang was expanding economic relations with the West.

"Volvo Car Corporation sold approximately 1,000 of our 144 sedan(s) to North Korea in 1974," said Per-Ake Froberg of Volvo Heritage in the company's press office in Sweden, who added that he did not know what else was included in the deal. The Swedish government was also unable to say what else was included.

Froberg said the sale of the Volvos was insured through the Swedish Export Credit Agency, or EKN. "When North Korea failed to pay for the cars, EKN stepped in, meaning that Volvo Cars did not suffer financially," he said. "The deal was closed from our point of view."

But not for EKN, which twice a year reminds North Korea of its outstanding balance.

"For the most part, we get no response," Carina Kemp, the EKN press manager, told VOA's Korean service. However, "EKN's position is that claims will be recovered."

Many of the Volvos remain in service, as shown by an October 2016 tweet from the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang describing "one of the Volvo's from yr 1974 still unpaid for by DPRK."

Sweden and North Korea have a long-standing relationship. It was the first Western European nation to establish diplomatic relations with Pyongyang; two years later, in 1975, it was the first to set up an embassy in Pyongyang.

Expanding relations

At the time, North Korea was expanding economic relations with the West. "In 1972-1973, before the global oil crisis, the prices of gold, silver, lead, zinc and other export items of North Korea were rising and Pyongyang must have been confident of its payment capabilities," said Yang Moon-soo, professor of North Korean economy at the University of North Korea Studies, in the March 2012 issue of the KDI Review of the North Korea Economy, which is published by the Korea Development Institute, a think tank run by the South Korean government.

North Korea, after noting South Korea's economic development through introduction of Western technologies, decided "to spur development with large-scale buildup of manufacturing plants with Western equipment and financing," he said.

Of the 16 countries that owe a total of $729 billion to Sweden, North Korea's share accounts for 45 percent, according to the EKN Annual Report 2016. Cuba, which is the next largest debtor, owes $225 billion as of December 2016 and began making payments that year, the EKN report shows.

Experts on sovereign debt told VOA there aren't many ways for nations to recover what they are owed by cash-strapped North Korea.

"No payment has been made since 1989," Katarina Byrenius Roslund, deputy director of the Swedish Foreign Ministry's press office, told VOA in an email.

"This is the largest claim that Sweden has on a single country," Roslund wrote. "Responsibility for the claim now lies with the Swedish Export Credits Guarantee Board, which sends a reminder to North Korea every six months."

Roslund said the Volvos "are no longer a common sight on Pyongyang's streets, but the odd Volvo 144 is still rolling down the country roads, often as a taxi."

Paths to spare parts

Volvo's Froberg said he did not know whether the original deal included spare parts for the cars. But because the model purchased in bulk by North Korea, the 144, "was sold all over the world, they might have had their ways to get hold of parts through various channels."

North Korea owes money elsewhere in Europe. The Swiss government reports it has claims for $241 million as of December 2016. North Korea owes Finland and private Finnish businesses more than $35 million, according to a YLE Uutiset report. Pyongyang "ordered paper machines and other assorted equipment" in the 1970s, according to YLE.

Isabel Herkommer, media spokeswoman at Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), told VOA via email that "Swiss Export Risk Insurance (SERV) has an agreement with North Korea, which exempts the country from payment at the moment."

According to the SERV Annual Report 2016, the agency signed a new restructuring agreement with North Korea in October 2011. Herkommer wrote that "there has not been a debt settlement with North Korea," and when asked whether the Swiss government considered waiving all or part of the debt owed by North Korea as Russia recently did, she said, "No, this has not been considered."

Outi Homanen of Finnvera, Finland's export credit agency, said "that although the debts were not paid [on] original due dates, there are no defaulted receivables at the moment."

However, experts on sovereign debt and the international monetary system say that there aren't many ways for countries to recover their claims from North Korea. In 2014, Russia forgave 90 percent of the nearly $11 billion in debt that it and the Soviet Union before it was owed by North Korea.

"International debt is typically thought of as having two enforcing mechanisms. The first is that if a country wants to be able to borrow more, it has to be repaying or have repaid its previous debts," said Dane Rowlands, a professor of international affairs at Carleton University's Norman Paterson School of International Affairs in Ottawa, Ontario. "Since North Korea seems happy not to engage officially with the international community and capital market, cutting them off is not a useful enforcement tool."

Asset seizure

He added that seizing exposed assets is another option for lenders but one that would not be effective against North Korea.

Hamid Zangeneh is an economics professor at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania. An expert in the debt of economically developing nations, he said that in North Korea's case, "it really doesn't matter because it is not part of the international monetary system."

Rowlands speculated that Switzerland and North Korea might have made a deal when they signed the debt restructuring agreement in 2011.

"Given the relatively few channels of international finances that North Korea has access to, I could see them doing a deal with Switzerland saying we [North Korea] will pay back a portion of the debt.  What that would end up doing is Switzerland forgives the rest of the debt and they don't have claim on seizing North Korean deposits for example," he said.

According to the SERV 2016 report, the Swiss agency had claims of 179.1 million Swiss Francs ($210 million) with North Korea as of the end of 2016. However, the report says the claims have been reduced to 17.9 million Swiss Francs ($21 million), or about 10 percent of the original claim.

SECO's Herkommer said, "There has not been any debt cancellation. We cannot make any further comment."

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Iran: US leaders 'ignorant', Tillerson remarks 'deceptive'

Iran Press TV

Thu Oct 26, 2017 06:25PM

Iran has lashed out at "impudent, deceptive and interventionist" remarks of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson about what he called the need for the Iranian people to take back control of their government.

"The totalitarian and arrogant leaders of the United States must know that their attempt to create divisions between the people and the political and military authorities in our country is a desperate and fruitless attempt," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said Thursday.

The official was apparently referring to Tillerson's Wednesday remarks in New Delhi that Washington's "fight is not with the Iranian people," but with what he described as "the revolutionary regime."

"We know there are strong feelings and values inside of Iran that we want to promote in terms of one day the Iranian people being able to retake control of their government," the top US diplomat said.

Qassemi said Tillerson's remarks "once again depicted the true face of the United States for the Iranian people."

Iranians got furious this month after US President Donald Trump called the country a "terrorist nation" and used "Arabian Gulf" to refer to the body of waters which is internationally known as the Persian Gulf.

The outrageous remarks prompted Iranians of all stripes to take to social media and state that they were united in defending their country after Trump refused to certify a landmark nuclear agreement and hinted at consequences.

Qassemi hit out at contradictory postures of US leaders, saying their "only consequence is strengthening solidarity and national unity and increasing hatred and abhorrence of the policies of the ignorant American statesmen."

He also touched on the history of Washington's enmity with Iran even when the country was a close ally of the United States before the Islamic Revolution in 1979, including its role in a coup which brought down Iranian Prime Minister Muhammad Mossadegh.

"American statesmen, who through the 1953 coup against a legitimate government and then an all-out support for the dictatorial regime of the Shah, were an accomplice to that regime's crimes have committed the most crimes against our people under the guise of supporting the Iranian people since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution."

Washington supported the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in his eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s, providing him with vital intelligence and weapons. The war also marked direct US attacks on Iran's offshore oil facilities in the Persian Gulf and downing of an Iranian Airbus in which 290 people were killed.

Earlier this week, Trump unveiled tougher immigration measures against Iranians along with the citizens of 10 other countries. Those measures were purportedly aimed at protecting Americans from possible terrorist attacks.

No Iranian has ever been implicated in any known terrorist attack but Saudi Arabia where 15 of the 19 terrorists involved in the September 11 attacks came from is not in the list.

The US and Iran have held no diplomatic relations since the Islamic Revolution and Qassemi on Thursday summed up some of Washington's hostile moves against Iran.

"The creation of unrest and chaos inside the country, attempts to carry out a coup, military, economic, political, logistical and intelligence support of the despotic and criminal regime of Saddam in his aggressive war and the imposition of illegal sanctions against the great people of Iran are only a small and insignificant part of America's interventionist moves over the past nearly 40 years."

On Wednesday, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also took aim at Tillerson's remarks, saying Iranians would not be fooled by US plots.

"US changed one elected govt in Iran in 1953. It has tried a repeat since 79. Iranians not fooled by US game & unmoved by fake sympathy," he tweeted.

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US House passes new sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program

Iran Press TV

Thu Oct 26, 2017 04:32PM

The US House of Representatives in Congress has voted overwhelmingly to impose new sanctions against Iran's ballistic missile program, a move that could undermine the international nuclear agreement with Tehran.

The "Iran Ballistic Missiles and International Sanctions Enforcement Act" was passed on Thursday in the lower chamber of Congress with 423 votes in favor and two against.

To become law, the bill would have to pass the US Senate and be signed into law by President Donald Trump.

The measure, sponsored by Congressmen Eliot Engel and Ed Royce, requires the Trump administration to impose sanctions on companies and individuals inside and outside of Iran that provide assistance to the country's ballistic missile program.

In July, the US Treasury Department announced economic sanctions against 18 Iranian individuals, groups and networks over the Islamic Republic's ballistic missile program.

Washington claims Iran's missile program is in breach of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed Tehran's nuclear deal with the P5+1 states in 2015.

However, Tehran insists its missile tests do not breach any UN resolutions because they are solely for defense purposes and not designed to carry nuclear warheads.

The new bill comes nearly two weeks after Trump refused to formally certify that Iran is complying with its nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, and warned that he might ultimately terminate the deal.

The president is required by US law to certify every 90 days whether or not Iran is complying with the nuclear deal. He has certified the deal twice since coming to office.

If Trump declines to certify Iran's compliance, US congressional leaders would have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Tehran suspended under the agreement.

Whether Congress would be willing to reimpose sanctions is not clear. While most Republicans, and some Democrats, opposed the deal when it was approved in 2015, there is little apparent desire in Congress for dealing with the issue now.

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Iran ready to nip any threat in bud: Commander

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 27, 2017 03:16PM

A top Iranian military commander has stressed the importance of boosting the country's defense and military prowess, reiterating the Islamic Republic's readiness to repel any threat.

"The country's defense sector is fully ready to nip any threat in the bud," Head of Iran's Passive Defense Organization Brigadier General Gholam Reza Jalali said in the pre-sermon address to worshipers at the weekly Friday Prayers in Tehran.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Iran's defense might is not up for negotiation, stressing the country's resolve to strengthen its defense capabilities despite enemy attempts to weaken the nation.

"We have repeatedly announced, and declare once more that the country's defensive means and power are not up for negotiation and bargaining," the Leader stated.

The US House of Representatives in Congress on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to impose new sanctions against Iran's ballistic missile program. The "Iran Ballistic Missiles and International Sanctions Enforcement Act" was passed in the lower chamber of Congress with 423 votes in favor and two against.

To become law, the bill would have to pass the US Senate and be signed into law by President Donald Trump.

The Iranian commander further pointed to the US president's strategies on Tehran and said Trump continues to keep up "soft threats" against Iran through infiltration as well as media and diplomatic campaigns.

Jalali warned of enemy plots to take advantage of a multilateral nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries more than two years ago.

"The enemy seeks to inspect the country's military and defense sites as well as infrastructure factories under the pretext of obtaining assurance about the JCPOA's implementation," he said.

"The entire world knows that the Islamic Republic of Iran has completely fulfilled its commitments, as verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency, since agreeing to the JCPOA," the commander pointed out.

Trump on October 13 refused to formally certify that Iran was complying with the 2015 nuclear deal and warned that he might ultimately terminate the agreement. He insists that the nuclear deal should be renegotiated, or else it may face the prospect of total collapse.

The US president also said his goal was to ensure that Iran would never obtain a nuclear weapon.

Iran has vehemently rejected the possibility of renegotiation, warning that any hostile action against the JCPOA will jeopardize regional and global peace and security.

Jalali also warned that the US seeks to use the JCPOA in order to undermine Iran's role and power in the region, particularly in the fight against Daesh terrorist group and said Tehran must heed this "serious" threat and adopt necessary strategies to counter it.

In his latest anti-Iran remarks, the US president also accused Tehran of supporting the "atrocities" of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and said Tehran "condoned" Assad's use of chemical weapons against his own people.

Iran has been providing military advisers for the fight against terrorism on the request of the Syrian government, helping turn around the battle which has been going on for more than six years now.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Jalali said the enemy has pointed its hostile measures at the economic sector and added, "The enemy thinks that it can achieve its desired results in the economic sector through pressure and sanctions."

He said economic interaction, diplomacy and resistance are among main ways to thwart such plots.

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U.S. House Votes To Sanction Suppliers To Iran's Ballistic-Missile Programs

October 26, 2017

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. House of Representatives, in a near-unanimous vote, approved legislation to impose new sanctions related to Iran's ballistic-missile program, an issue separate from the 2015 international nuclear deal with Tehran.

The bipartisan measure, which passed by a 423-2 vote, requires the U.S. administration to sanction Iran for undertaking "any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic-missile technology."

It also calls on the U.S. government to identify and impose sanctions on companies and individuals -- both inside Iran and internationally -- that aid or supply materials to the missile program.

The bill was sponsored by Republican Ed Royce and Democrat Eliot Engel. It must now pass the Republican-controlled Senate and go to President Donald Trump for his signature.

"Iran has no business developing or acquiring intercontinental ballistic missiles," Royce said during the House debate.

"These sanctions will squeeze Iranian and foreign companies, banks, and individuals that support the Iranian regime's illicit weapons programs. Iran must know that the United States will not tolerate its dangerous behavior," he added after the vote.

Royce and Engel opposed the landmark nuclear agreement when it was signed in 2015, but both have said it is best to continue with the deal now that it is in place.

Under the terms of the accord, Iran agreed to curtail its nuclear activities in exchange for relief from international sanctions.

The vote in the House comes after Trump on October 13 refused to certify that Iran is complying with the deal, accusing Tehran of violating the "spirit" of the agreement.

Trump did not immediately pull the United States out of the deal, instead pushing the matter to Congress and instructing lawmakers to strengthen a related U.S. law to put additional pressure on Iran and asking international partners to modify the original agreement.

The president threatened he would pull out of the accord if significant changes were not made.

On October 25, the House passed three other Iran-related measures, including one placing new sanctions on the Iranian-backed Hizballah militia in Lebanon, which lawmakers have described as Tehran's "terrorist proxy."

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and The Hill

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-u-s-sanctions-suppliers- ballistic-missile-programs/28817961.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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UN Security Council reaffirms support for Iraq's integrity after Kurdish vote

Iran Press TV

Thu Oct 26, 2017 09:47PM

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has "reaffirmed" support for Iraq's territorial integrity amid tensions between the central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the wake of a highly controversial independence referendum the semi-autonomous region held last month in open defiance of Baghdad.

French Ambassador to the UN Francois Delattre made the remarks during a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday, calling on Baghdad and Kurdish leaders to hold talks.

"Council members called on all sides to refrain from the threat and use of force and to engage in constructive dialogue facilitated by the United Nations upon request as a pathway to de-escalation and a means to preserve Iraqi unity," he said.

Delattre further noted that both Baghdad and Erbil had already expressed their "willingness" to sit at the negotiating table to resolve their differences, adding that the council members encouraged both sides to "expeditiously set a timetable to hold these discussions."

He went on to say that the UNSC had once again affirmed "the importance of remaining focused on efforts to defeat" the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, which has came to its final days in the Middle Eastern country.

Iraq, along with neighbors Iran and Turkey, opposed the September 25 vote, warning that the referendum would further complicate the security situation in the Arab country that has been grappling with foreign-backed militancy in its north and west for the past three years.

Following the vote, the central government in Baghdad shut down flights in and out of the region and ordered a halt to its independent crude oil sales.

The Kurdish region further slipped into political uncertainty after Iraqi forces captured the disputed city of Kirkuk last week. The city and its surroundings, rich in oil and populated by Kurds, Arabs and Christians, have been at the heart of a long-running row between Erbil and Baghdad.

Opposition parties in Kurdistan endorse the region's drive for independence from Iraq, but they insist that Masoud Barzani, the KRG's leader, is responsible for the current political turmoil as he chose the wrong timing to hold the referendum.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has already demanded that the KRG annul the vote.

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Kurdistan's offer to freeze referendum result will not redress damage: Turkey

Iran Press TV

Thu Oct 26, 2017 02:16PM

Turkish authorities say an offer by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to freeze the results of last month's independence referendum is not enough, saying the move would not compensate for the damage caused by the controversial vote.

"It is an important move that the northern Iraqi administration takes a step back, but it is not enough. This referendum should be canceled," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a press conference in Ankara on Thursday.

Turkey, a former close ally of the KRG, has aligned itself with the central Iraqi government and neighboring Iran to condemn the September 25 independence referendum in Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region of Iraq. Opponents of the vote said that the referendum could cause further harm to Iraq and the entire Middle East at a time when the region is busy battling militancy.

The KRG, led by Massoud Barzani, finally bowed to increasing pressure on Wednesday and proposed "the freezing of the results of the referendum ... and the start of an open dialogue" on the basis of the constitution. The offer came after Kurdish paramilitary forces lost control of areas in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk to Iraqi forces last week.

Other Turkish officials also reacted to the KRG's suspension offer, with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim saying freezing the results of the referendum would not redress the "devastation" the vote has caused in Iraq.

"The northern Iraq administration can take whatever decision it wants from now on, it is obvious the decisions will not produce a result that would compensate for the damage," said Yildirim.

The Turkish premier said his country discussed an array of possible measures against Kurdistan during a visit by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to Ankara on Wednesday. Those measures include the closure of Turkey's border with Kurdistan Region.

During his visit to Turkey, Abadi also received assurances from Turkish authorities about restoring a damaged pipeline that bypasses Kurdistan to transfer Iraq's oil to Turkey. A current pipeline runs through the Kurdish territories.

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One dead, over 50 hurt as locals clash with police in Birtamod

Local administration on Friday clamped an indefinite curfew in Birtamod after a man died and over 50 injured when police intervened in a protest rally organised by locals accusing the law enforcement agency of a lackadaisical approach in the investigation into a minors death.
UN envoy 'confident' Baghdad and Erbil can work hand in hand to overcome differences

26 October 2017  Even as Iraq breathes a sigh of relief with the defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Da'esh), it has been hit by another crisis  one between Baghdad, the capital, and Erbil, in the Kurdistan region  the top United Nations official in the country has said.

"The post-Da'esh period has brought to the fore many serious problems that accumulated over the years and remain unresolved," Jan Kubis, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, said Tuesday.

"Challenged by the unilaterally declared independence referendum Baghdad has taken steps to re-assert the constitutional order, re-establish the federal authority," he added, noting that the strained Baghdad-Erbil relations, including deficiencies in the implementation of the Iraqi Constitution.

According to Mr. Kubis, the developments have, sadly, triggered confrontation between the erstwhile partners who worked together to overthrow dictatorship in the country and, more recently, fought together against ISIL.

The differences have also added to insecurity, fragmentation and difficulties, bringing about new waves of displacements, this time mostly of Kurds.

Adding that the UN continues to closely monitor the situation, provide humanitarian assistance to communities affected as well as work to protect human rights, guided by the principle of impartiality and with the interests of Iraqi people  including in Kurdistan region  at heart, Mr. Kubis expressed confidence that Iraq will be able to overcome the crisis.

"A solution lies primarily in stopping military activities and in de-escalation, including ending public inflammatory statements and confrontational actions," he said, also highlighting the need for dialogue between Baghdad and Erbil on the basis of the Constitution.

Stressing the importance of preserving the unity and re-establishing stability of the country and peaceful coexistence amongst all Iraqis, based on equal rights and justice in the condition of good and democratic governance, the UN envoy said that the UN stands ready to provide needed assistance, if requested.

"We are confident that the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan regional government, just like they banded together to defeat Da'esh, can work hand in hand to overcome their differences through dialogue and away from confrontation to resolve all outstanding issues in a manner that is consistent with the Constitution," he concluded.

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Army forces advancing into last den of Daesh in Iraq: Prime minister

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 27, 2017 03:08AM

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says his country's "heroic legions" are advancing into the "last den" of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the Arab country and will liberate the few remaining towns and villages from the grips of the terror outfit soon.

The Iraqi premier made the remarks in a Thursday statement issued from neighboring Iran, where he was on an official visit, saying the Iraqi forces were pushing forward to liberate the towns of "al-Qa'im and Rawa, and the surrounding villages and hamlets" in the country's western Anbar province.

"They will all return to the arms of the motherland thanks to the determination and endurance of our fighting heroes," he vowed, adding that Daesh terrorists "have no choice but to die or surrender."

Meanwhile, Staff Major General Qassem al-Mohammadi said the army troops were advancing on four fronts to recapture the militant-held areas from the east, southeast, north and south.

He added that units of the federal police and the elite Counter-Terrorism Service as well as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), commonly known by its Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi, were supporting the army in the offensive.

According to military sources, the troops have already recaptured military bases southeast of al-Qa'im, including the key army base of the region and an airbase, which the fleeing terrorists left behind. The Iraqi forces also managed to liberate half a dozen villages in the area.

Reports also say Iraqi forces are less than two kilometers away from Rawa.

Abadi said earlier this month that Daesh terrorists will be totally defeated in the country by the end of the year.

The most decisive blow to Daesh came in July, when Iraqi forces liberated the northern city of Mosul, which used to be Daesh's de facto capital in the Arab country, after three years. The battle for recapturing Daesh's last urban bastion lasted for nine months.

The Takfiri terrorists swept through parts of northern and western Iraq in June 2014.They then began a reign of terror across the captured areas, committing crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians and others.

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US Backtracks on Iraqi, Kurd Cease-fire Claim

By VOA News October 27, 2017

The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State announced Friday morning a cease-fire between Iraqi forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga in Northern Iraq, but quickly backtracked on the claim, saying it is not an "official" cease-fire.

Army spokesman Ryan Dillon posted a clarification on Twitter to say "both parties (are) talking with one another," but that a "cease-fire" had not been reached.

The Iraqi military and the Kurdish minority have been clashing for several weeks after the Iraqi troops moved to secure areas in northern Iraq that had been seized from IS jihadists by Kurdish forces. The Kurdish forces abandoned the land largely without resistance, though low-level clashes have been reported.

Iraqi PM rejects Kurdish offer

The areas Iraqi forces are moving into were mostly under Baghdad's control in 2014, when Islamic State militants swept into the region. Kurdish Peshmerga and coalition forces recaptured the lands, and the Kurdistan Region has since held them.

The Iraqi leadership said it is retaking the areas to establish federal authority after a Kurdish referendum for independence in September threatened the nation's unity. More than 92 percent of Kurds in Iraq voted "yes" in a vote Baghdad called illegal, and the international community leaders said was dangerous and ill-timed.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Thursday rejected an offer by Kurdish leaders to freeze the results of their independence referendum in favor of dialogue in order to avoid further conflict.

The Kurdistan Regional Government, in a statement, said the confrontations have hurt both sides and could lead to ongoing bloodshed and social unrest in Iraq.

"Certainly, continued fighting does not lead any side to victory, but it will drive the country towards disarray and chaos, affecting all aspects of life," the KRG said.

'Unified Iraq is the only way to go'

Abadi said in a statement his government will accept only the annulment of the referendum and respect for the constitution.

During a briefing Friday morning at the Pentagon, Joint Staff Director Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie Jr. told reporters the U.S. believes "a unified Iraq is the only way to go forward."

He added, "We're not helping anyone attack anyone else inside Iraq, either the Kurds or the Iraqis."

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Gulf Coalition, Media Accuse Qatar of Shuttling IS Militants to Libya

By Edward Yeranian October 27, 2017

Arab media accused Qatar this week of helping to transport Islamic State militants from Syria and Iraq to the south of Libya.

The allegations were the latest in a series made against the Gulf emirate by a coalition of countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. The coalition imposed sanctions against Doha in June for allegedly supporting terrorists.

Following the accusations, the emirate's relations with some of Libya's neighbors deteriorated. In late August, Chad shut down the Qatari embassy in N'Djamena after accusing Qatar of using its soil to destabilize nations in the Lake Chad basin and the Sahel.

Chad's foreign minister, Ibrahim Hussein Taha, accused Qatar of supporting opponents of his government, saying it supported and sponsored Chadian groups opposed to the government, both in Libya and in Qatar.

Earlier this month, a military spokesman for the Libyan National Army, under the command of General Khalifa Hafter, told Arab media that Qatari support for IS terrorists, especially financial support, had not stopped.

He accused Doha of committing other crimes against the Libyan people, including transporting Islamic State militants from Syria and Iraq to Sudan and then on to Libya.

Leon Panetta, a former U.S. defense secretary and CIA director, also said this week that Qatar had a history of supporting terrorism.

"Qatar, frankly, has had a mixed record," he said. "We know they've provided support  financial support  for the Muslim Brotherhood, for terrorism, for Hamas, for elements of al-Qaida, the Taliban."

Christopher Davidson, who teaches Middle East politics at Durham University in Durham, England, argued that Qatar was involved in the transport of weapons and fighters from Libya to Syria in 2012 and 2013. Now, he said, it is involved in the reverse flow as IS falls apart in Syria and Iraq.

"Its usefulness has significantly declined in that theater of operations, and the weapons and presumably the men  at least the foreign fighters  are being moved to where they're needed most," he said. "And I believe that one of those locations at the moment is the Libyan conflict."

The shift, he said, is in part a result of a number of regional powers vying for supremacy in Libya, with Qatar on one side and the United Arab Emirates and Egypt on the other.

Gulf analyst Theodore Karasik in Washington was more nuanced, saying the accusations against Qatar "are a mixed bag."

"When you talk to folks in the region about Qatar's activity, it is a mixed view," he said. "It is the view that Qatar was involved and has pulled back, and the other one is that Qatar is using Turkey as its partner to continue to be involved in Libya."

Based on rumor

Karasik said many of the accusations were based on rumor, but that it appeared Doha was continuing its support for militants and that other players such as Sudan and Turkey were involved behind the scenes.

Egyptian editor and publisher Hisham Kassem questioned whether Qatar was directly transporting IS militants to Libya.

"It could be true, or maybe not," he said. "However, I don't think that Qatar would be able to transport terrorists ... from one location to the other and get past all the world's intelligence services. And if they were to do that and get caught red-handed, they would be in a very difficult situation now with countries like the [U.S.] or Europe."

Kassem noted that Qatar has often played the role of go-between for Western states and various terrorist groups, such as the Taliban. He pointed out that many such groups have representatives in Doha.

"Qatar," he said, "has what you call 'five-star hotel diplomacy.' They practically have a representative or more from every political or terrorist or whatever faction in Qatar and are just able to communicate with them to make them [be] useful."

He went on to stress that Qatar was not alone in supporting certain terrorist groups. He said he thought other Gulf states had also resorted to terrorism on various occasions in the past as well.

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Crisis in Rakhine 'decades in the making' and reaches beyond Myanmar's borders - UN rights expert

26 October 2017  Voicing concern that hate speech and incitement to violence against Myanmar's Rohingya community has been "cultivated for decades" in the minds of the country's people, a United Nations human rights expert urged the Security Council to act strongly to resolve the crisis.

"The crisis in Rakhine state has not only been decades in the making but has for some time gone beyond Myanmar's borders. For a very long time now this issue has not been simply a domestic affair," said Yanghee Lee, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the country, presenting her report to the UN General Assembly's main body dealing with human rights and social and humanitarian issues (Third Committee).

"It has been cultivated for decades in the minds of the Myanmar people that the Rohingya are not indigenous to the country and therefore have no rights whatsoever to which they can apparently claim," she added.

In particular, the Special Rapporteur stressed that given the gravity of the situation, it is uncertain how long it might take for the Government to establish conditions for the safe and dignified return of the Rohingyas, and to ensure they can rebuild their lives.

Furthermore, she noted that while the plight of the Rohingyas remains her main concern, the country has numerous other human rights challenges, including consistent reports of religious intolerance against Christians and Muslims across Myanmar.

Many communities have also suffered from the development of "Special Economic Zones" and some people had their land confiscated, she said, adding also that rights violations and decreased humanitarian access have been alleged as a result of reported clashes between armed forces and ethnic armed groups.

It is unclear whether Myanmar's peace process had advanced since the signing of the nationwide ceasefire agreement two years ago, questioned Ms. Lee, underscoring that all those responsible for human rights violations must be held to account and that this should begin with full access for the UN Human Rights Council's fact-finding mission.

The Special Rapporteur also urged the Government to publicly embrace all the communities which make up the population of Myanmar and use its majority in Parliament to strike down all discriminatory laws, to show that all groups in Myanmar have equal rights.

"I have in the past commended Myanmar's flourishing, widening democratic space. However, it seems to me that national legislation is effectively resulting in the criminalization of legitimate expression," said Ms. Lee, calling on the Government to press ahead with constitutional reform "to allow for proper operation of the rule of law."

Furthermore reform of laws that contravene human rights standards should be prioritized, she added.

UN Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.

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Tillerson calls Myanmar army chief over violence against Rohingya

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 27, 2017 02:19AM

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has called on Mynmar's army chief to help end the deadly violence against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state that has forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas to flee the country.

Tillerson telephoned Min Aung Hlaing on Thursday and expressed "concern about the continuing humanitarian crisis and reported atrocities in Rakhine," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

"The Secretary urged Burma's security forces to support the government in ending the violence in Rakhine state and allowing the safe return home of those displaced during this crisis, especially the large numbers of ethnic Rohingya," she added.

Myanmar's security forces and armed Buddhist extremists have been carrying out atrocities against the Rohingya in the Muslim-majority Rakhine region in Myanmar for several months.

According to multiple reports, entire villages of Rohingya Muslims have been burnt to the ground. A large number of Muslims, including women and children, have been burnt alive, lynched to death or lost their lives while fleeing the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people.

US officials have expressed concerns about the violence against Rohingyas but refused to address calls for international sanctions against the country.

"We don't want to get ahead of the conversations that we're having," Nauert told reporters in Washington, DC, last month.

But now the US State Department says it is considering sanctions against parties responsible for the atrocities against the Rohingya.

"We express our gravest concern with recent events in Myanmar's Rakhine State and the violent, traumatic abuses Rohingya and other communities have endured," the State Department said on Monday. "It is imperative that any individuals or entities responsible for atrocities, including non-state actors and vigilantes, be held accountable."

"We are exploring accountability mechanisms available under US law, including Global Magnitsky targeted sanctions," it added, referring to a US law that allows penalties against perpetrators of human rights violations.

Rakhine State, where Rohingya Muslims have lived for generations, has been under military siege since late last year. Access is denied to journalists and rights activists, but the Muslims who have managed to flee to Bangladesh have told of horrendous violence being carried out there. Soldiers have been killing and raping the Muslims and have even been shooting at fleeing civilians, including women and children, at random, according to witnesses.

The brutal atrocities have been deemed "ethnic cleansing" by the United Nations and have sent more than one million Rohingya Muslims to neighboring Bangladesh, creating a humanitarian emergency there.

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Myanmar Court Convicts Ethnic Kachin Religious Leaders

By Joe Freeman October 27, 2017

Two religious leaders from Myanmar's ethnic Kachin minority were found guilty on Friday of assisting an insurgent group in a trial derided by rights monitors.

Dumdaw Nawng Lat, a 67-year-old assistant pastor with the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), and Langjaw Gam Seng, a 35-year-old KBC youth leader, were convicted under the Unlawful Associations Act.

The human rights monitor Fortify Rights confirmed the convictions, which were handed down by the Lashio District Court in northern Shan State.

Nawng Lat, who was also convicted of defaming the military, received a prison sentence of four years and three months, while Gam Seng was given a sentence of two years and three months. The sentences include guilty convictions for operating an unlicensed motorbike.

The charges mostly stem from interviews with the media, including the Voice Of America, conveying information about alleged military air strikes that were said to have damaged a church and other property in northern Shan State in late 2016. The men were arrested in December soon after photos of the damage appeared in news outlets.

Myanmar is largely Buddhist, but Christians of different denominations make up the second-largest religious group in the country, accounting for more than 6 percent of the population.

Fortify Rights and Human Rights Watch issued a joint statement on Friday calling for all charges against the men to be dropped.

David Baulk, a Myanmar specialist for Fortify Rights, said in an interview with VOA that the case against the men was "paper thin."

"So it's been clear from Day 1 that these two men were targeted for exposing the Myanmar military's crimes," he said. "They worked with media to uncover damage done by alleged military strikes in northern Shan State. And the powers that be decided that they needed to be kept quiet because of that."

Baulk said the men were held incommunicado for several weeks after their arrest and interrogated repeatedly. The authorities then produced signed statements from the two saying they supported the Kachin Independence Army, one of a handful of ethnic armed groups fighting for more autonomy in northern Myanmar.

In December, the Irrawaddy news magazine, citing a local priest, reported claims that an army official had at first taken responsibility for the air strikes, but the military ultimately blamed the damage on insurgents.

Several groups, including the Kachin Independence Army, were involved at the time in clashes with the Tatmadaw , as the military is known.

Contact information for the plaintiff could not be obtained. This week a police official in Shan State's Muse Township told the Myanmar Times that "we cannot interfere with the court's judgment."

The Unlawful Associations Act has long been used as a way of isolating ethnic armed groups from the civilian population. In June, three journalists were accused of violating the act after reporting in a conflict area. They were released in September.

Much of the world's attention has focused on the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar's Rakhine State, and the mass exodus of the stateless Muslim minority to Bangladesh. But fighting continues in northern Myanmar as a peace process launched by de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has stalled. Nearly 100,000 people are internally displaced in Kachin and northern Shan states, according to figures from aid organizations.

"While the world looks away, the military of this country continues to commit serious human rights violations against civilians in northern Myanmar," Baulk from Fortify Rights said. "Fighting between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed organizations continues to kill, injure and displace communities up there. So in the last few months alone we've seen literally thousands of people running for their lives across Kachin and Shan states."

Humanitarian groups have also reported difficulties in delivering aid to the affected areas.

In March, the United Nations established a fact-finding mission to probe alleged rights abuses in Myanmar's various conflict zones, but the government has said it will block visas of investigators.

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US Weighs Pressuring Myanmar on Rohingya Crisis

By Katherine Gypson October 27, 2017

Even before the U.S. State Department determines whether ongoing atrocities by Myanmar's military against ethnic Rohingya Muslims qualify as ethnic cleansing, members of Congress are trying to pressure the country's government to address the crisis.

Resolutions in the House and Senate condemn the violence and call on Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi to speak out more forcefully on the issue.

Those measures are a first step in Congressional action that could eventually include a stand-alone bill leveling sanctions against the Myanmar military. But lawmakers such as Democratic Senator Richard Durbin say Myanmar, also known as Burma, must take action now.

"We don't want to wait for passage of this resolution, as symbolic as it may be. We want results," Durbin told VOA Contributor Greta Van Susteren. "We called on this government, called on Aung San Suu Kyi, to really step in, speak up and do something."

Senator Durbin and several other Republican and Democratic lawmakers met with Myanmar's ambassador this week and told him his country's relationship with the U.S. depends on how it responds to the crisis.

Durbin said lawmakers want authorities to allow outside observers into the conflict areas, to hold soldiers responsible for committing atrocities, and to work with the U.N. refugee agency on resettling displaced Rohingya.

"If they will not allow third party observers into the area where the worst devastation, the worst suffering is taking place, with the Rohingya people, why in the world would we want to send the first American dollar to that country?" Durbin said.

It is still unclear how much support exists in the U.S. Congress for stronger measures.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a longtime supporter of democracy in Myanmar, cautioned against pressing its leader Aung San Suu Kyi forcefully on the issue.

"I don't favor passing a resolution going after her," McConnell said. "I think she's the greatest hope we have to move Burma from where it has been  a military dictatorship -- to where I hope it's going."

Senator Durbin also acknowledges that preserving ties with Myanmar's military could help reform security forces that responded to August's deadly attack by Rohingya militants with an overwhelming crackdown.

"If we want this military, now under a democracy, to understand what you do to respond to 16 deaths is not ethnic cleansing of 600,000 people. Perhaps military to military cooperation will help us reach that goal," he said. "So I'm torn."

Lobbying Congress for action

As Congress weighs action, lobbying groups are already pressing for new sanctions over the issue.

"We've been having some very productive conversations with members of Congress and senators' offices and what we're pushing for is for Congress and the administration to put sanctions on the Burmese army commander and also military businesses in Burma," Simon Billenness, executive director of the International Campaign for the Rohingya, told VOA.

Billenness recently met with the U.S. State Department to push for those sanctions. He is hopeful the issue can overcome Washington's partisan political battles.

"Burma is an issue that cuts across party lines and cuts across ideological lines," he said.

One possible option before lawmakers is the re-instatement of the ban on the Burmese gem trade that was lifted last year by President Barack Obama. Billenness said Trump could issue an executive order reinstating those sanctions.

A move to curtail the Myanmar army's funding would be key, said the Council on American Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the U.S.

"We would like to make sure that we do not provide any military assistance or military aid to the Myanmar military and also make sure that we do not engage in any financial exchanges, we don't promote their products," Amineh Safi, the government affairs coordinator for CAIR, told VOA.

Safi said there is concern the political atmosphere in the U.S. could limit attention on the crisis at a time when Congress is focused on domestic issues including healthcare and tax reform.

"There's a lot going on internally in the United States that limits our ability to be engaged as we would in a different context or a different administration," Safi said.

But one of the leading voices for human rights in the U.S. Congress, said the Trump administration is on the right track.

"We need to do more," Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey told VOA. "The president and his team, Rex Tillerson, I think gets it and gets it well as to what's actually happening. And we need to call it out and call it out strongly."

Senator Durbin acknowledged that call will have global consequences for the United States' standing abroad.

"Here is a Muslim population that is clearly being persecuted. And if we don't stand up and speak up and do what we can, many Muslims around the world will read this the wrong way, in terms of our relationship with Muslims in the rest of the world."

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Major Russian Defense, Intelligence Companies Targeted By New U.S. Sanctions List

Mike Eckel October 27, 2017

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. State Department has targeted more than three dozen major Russian defense and intelligence companies under a new U.S. sanctions law, restricting business transactions with them and further ratcheting up pressure against Moscow.

The new list, released on October 27, came after weeks of mounting criticism by members of Congress accusing the White House of missing an October 1 deadline.

That deadline was set by legislation that was signed into law reluctantly by President Donald Trump in August. Passed by Congress overwhelmingly, the law seeks to punish Russia for what the U.S. intelligence community concluded was its meddling in last year's U.S. election, among other things.

The new list includes some of the best-known companies in Russia's military-industrial complex, most of which are state-owned. It includes Rosoboroneksport, the country's main arms exporter; Almaz-Antey, a major manufacturer of missiles; and the country's biggest shipbuilding firm, United Shipbuilding Corporation.

Also included are airplane manufacturers Sukhoi and Tupolev and the technology holding company Rostec, which among other things oversees a major titanium producer, VSMPO-AVISMA. U.S aircraft giant Boeing is a partner in that venture.

"Wherever possible, the United States intends to work with our allies and partners to help them identify and avoid engaging in potentially sanctionable activity while strengthening military capabilities used for cooperative defense efforts," the State Department said in a statement accompanying the released list.

The listed entities also include Russia's main intelligence and security agencies -- the FSB and the GRU -- both of which were targeted under measures instituted by Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, for election-related meddling.

The newly released list serves as guidance for companies and individuals in preparation for when the restrictions officially go into effect on January 29. The law authorizes U.S. government officials to punish -- for example, using asset seizures -- individuals and companies that "knowingly engage in a significant transaction" with people or firms on the list.

In Moscow, there was no immediate reaction to the list, which had quietly been telegraphed ahead of time to officials there.

But a lawmaker in Russia's upper chamber of parliament with ties to Russia's security agencies warned that it would affect cooperation with Washington in Syria, where the two sides have been waging parallel campaigns against Islamic State militants.

"It is definitely damaging political cooperation between Russia and the United States. I think cooperation in the war on terror in Syria will be even less constructive," Viktor Bondarev was quoted by the state news agency TASS as saying.

He also insisted that the Western sanctions first imposed on Russia following its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula in 2014 had only benefited the economy.

Trump has repeatedly called for a more conciliatory approach toward Moscow, and the Kremlin had initially embraced that effort, while it also criticized the Obama White House. But those efforts have all but evaporated as congressional and FBI probes into suspicion interactions between Trump associated and Russian officials have moved forward.

Washington and Moscow have also expelled diplomats; and the United States ordered the closure of Russia's San Francisco Consulate.

Two of the U.S. Senate's harshest critics of Russia, Republican John McCain and Democrat Ben Cardin, had suggested the Trump White House was dragging its feet on implementing the new sanctions law.

Late October 26, as an unofficial State Department list circulated on Capitol Hill, the two issued a joint statement calling it "a step in the right direction."

"Congress will continue to conduct oversight of each step to ensure the administration is following both the letter and the spirit of the law," the statement said.

Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a critic of Trump who had questioned the department's delay of the sanctions list, also welcomed the list.

"The guidance provided today by the State Department is a good first step in responsibly implementing a very complex piece of legislation," he said. "Congress will expect thorough and timely consultation until full implementation is complete."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-russia-sanctions- defense-intelligence-targeted- new-list/28820060.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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U.S. Congress Receives List Of Russians Targeted By New Sanctions

RFE/RL October 27, 2017

The U.S. State Department has provided Congress with a list of Russian companies and intelligence agencies that are likely to be hit with sanctions under a new U.S. law punishing Russia for allegedly meddling in last year's presidential election.

The New York Times published on its website what it said was a copy of the list and accompanying guidance late on October 26. It included six Russian intelligence agencies as well as 33 Russian defense companies, including well-known names such as gun maker Kalashnikov, airplane manufacturers Sukhoi and Tupolev, and state weapons exporter Rosoboronexport.

According to the published document, the department in its guidance says not all the listed companies will automatically be subject to sanctions, however, and notes that some of those listed -- such as Russia's FSB and GRU intelligence services -- already have been hit by U.S. sanctions.

Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the list would be made public in the coming days, but the department is first allowing U.S. companies time to put an end to any business they are doing with the targeted firms and individuals so they can avoid running afoul of the sanctions.

"Secretary [of State Rex] Tillerson has signed off on this and it is currently being held on Capitol Hill," she said.

"The department is currently informing Congress, key U.S. industries and stakeholders, and our allies and partners" about the list and accompanying guidance the department is providing to help businesses and U.S. allies avoid violating the sanctions, she said.

The sanctions law, which President Donald Trump reluctantly signed in August, targets Russia's military and intelligence services because of their alleged role in efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The law calls on the president to impose sanctions on any person or firm who engages "in a significant transaction" with the Russian defense or intelligence sectors.

But first, the law requires the Trump administration to identify companies and groups associated with Russia's defense and intelligence sectors and provide that information to Congress by an October 1 deadline.

'Good First Step'

When the department missed the deadline, lawmakers cried foul and accused the administration of dragging its feet because of Trump's opposition to elements of the sanctions law.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, who had questioned the department's delay of the sanctions list, welcomed the delivery on October 26.

"The guidance provided today by the State Department is a good first step in responsibly implementing a very complex piece of legislation," he said. "Congress will expect thorough and timely consultation until full implementation is complete."

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain and the committee's top Democrat, Senator Ben Cardin, issued a joint statement saying the "administration's announcement is a step in the right direction."

"By issuing guidance for the implementation of the sanctions legislation, the administration is slowly but surely carrying out the law that Congress passed overwhelmingly this summer," the statement said.

"Congress will continue to conduct oversight of each step to ensure the administration is following both the letter and the spirit of the law."

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said one reason for the delay was concern about how the sanctions would affect U.S. businesses as well as U.S. allies who do business with Russia's defense and intelligence sectors.

Turkey, for example, is a NATO ally that recently made a deal with the Kremlin to buy Russian S-400 missile defense systems.

Saudi Arabia, another U.S. ally, also recently struck an array of deals with Moscow, including contracts to buy Russian weapons.

Three-Month Grace Period

According to the document published by The New York Times, the guidance provided by the State Department says that the United States is supposed to work with allies to maintain unity on the question of sanctions against Russia.

"Wherever possible, the United States intends to work with our allies and partners to help them identify and avoid engaging in potentially sanctionable activity while strengthening military capabilities used for cooperative defense efforts," the document says.

Several entities listed in the document published by the New York Times have previously been targeted by U.S. sanctions. Those include Russia's main intelligence agencies, the Federal Security Service (FSB) and Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (GRU).

Former President Barack Obama in December imposed sanctions on entities and individuals associated with the GRU and FSB for allegedly meddling in the presidential election.

The United States also imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014 for its support of separatists in eastern Ukraine and its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula.

When the sanctions list is released to the public in the coming days, businesses and foreign countries will be given three months to wind down their transactions with targeted Russian companies and individuals, Nauert said.

The three-month grace period will expire on January 28, she said.

With reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, and New York Times

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-congress-receives-list-russian- targeted-new-sanctions-defense-intelligence- sector-election-meddling/28818573.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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Survivors say drunk driver, over-speeding main cause behind Dhading bus accident

At least 31 persons died when a bus they were travelling in plunged into the Trishuli River at Ghatbesi in Dhading district on Saturday morning.
Briefing on Sanctions With Respect to Russia's Defense and Intelligence Sectors Under Section 231 of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017

Special Briefing

Senior State Department Officials

Via Teleconference

October 27, 2017

MODERATOR: Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. This is an on-background briefing with senior State Department officials to discuss recently posted implementation guidance related to Section 231 of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017.

We're joined today by [Senior State Department Official One], [Senior State Department Official Two], and [Senior State Department Official Three]. From here forward, [Senior State Department Official One] will be referenced as State Department Official One, [Senior State Department Official Two] as State Department Official Two, and [Senior State Department Official Three] as State Department Official Three.

As a reminder, this call is embargoed until the conclusion of the briefing and it is being conducted on background. So now I'll turn it over to [Senior State Department Official One] for opening remarks, and then we'll begin questions. Thank you.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thank you. The Department of State today released guidance in accordance with the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which was adopted by the Congress on July 28th of this year and signed by the President on August 2nd. The guidance relates to Section 231 of the act, which mandates the administration specify those persons or entities that are part of or operating for or on behalf of the defense or intelligence sectors of the Government of the Russian Federation.

The intent of Congress and the administration is to use Section 231 of the act to respond to Russia's malign behavior with respect to the crisis in eastern Ukraine, cyber intrusions and attacks, and human rights abuses.

This section of the act targets significant transactions with persons in the defense and intelligence sectors of the Russian Government, which could include the sale of advanced Russian weaponry around the world. The full guidance, [https://www.state.gov/t/isn/caatsa/index.htm] along with the listing of entities defining those sectors of the government, and frequently asked questions can be viewed online at the state.gov website. Thank you.

MODERATOR: All right, thank you very much, and now we'll open it up for questions.

OPERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd like to ask a question, please press * then 1 on your touchtone phone. And one moment, please, for our first question.

Our first question will come from the line of Felicia Schwartz with The Wall Street Journal. Your line is open.

QUESTION: Hi, thanks for doing this. Can you talk about the outreach you've done to allies and other  and industry, like what that looks like, who's doing it? Is it still going on? Have you done it already? What sectors primarily? Thanks.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Sure. This is [Senior State Department Official Two] talking. We did  we've done extensive outreach to allies in Europe but also elsewhere. We've taken multiple  we did a trip to Europe where we went to Brussels. We talked to all EU member-states in Brussels. We then hit a few key capitals on that trip, going to London, Berlin, and Paris. We did outreach even before we went on the trip here in Washington, where we again met all EU member-states. We have since taken  or we've since received delegations from Brussels and at least one EU member-state here in Washington. We plan to go out again in two weeks to hit other capitals and to go to Brussels again to talk to all the EU member-states. We've done video teleconferences, and that's just with Europe.

In addition, we've reached out to other allies and partners and solicited views, feedback, questions, concerns, and had dialogues  had  started dialogues with all of them. That's on the side of partners and allies. With respect to the business community, we've also done outreach to the private sector on multiple occasions, had them here in the State Department but also gone out for discussions with them, and also there solicited views, concerns, questions, so that we could take all of that into account as we were looking into how to implement the legislation.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Next question, please.

OPERATOR: Next we'll go to the line of Gardiner Harris with The New York Times. Your line is open.

QUESTION: So you have a host of allies and close friends who have Russian military equipment, need to buy spare parts. India comes to mind, a couple of NATO allies in the eastern part of Europe, even Afghanistan. Can they continue to buy those spare parts? What's going to happen to those allies and friends --

OPERATOR: Anadoly Bochinin.

QUESTION: Hello?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Yes, yes, sorry. Well, so in our public guidance we made clear that there a significance threshold to the implementation of the law. The law requires sanctions in the case of a significant transaction happening between a person on the list and another person, individual, or entity. So there is a significance threshold that would presumably exclude certain things that are less than significant.

Obviously, we're going to consider the totality of circumstances in any individual case when making a decision, but I think that smaller-scale things, lesser things, would cut against making a decision that those are significant, particularly in cases where you have an ally that we want to have strong military capabilities to continue to partner with them across a range of scenarios.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Next question, please.

OPERATOR: We go to the line of Richard Lardner with AP. Your line is open.

QUESTION: Hi, I guess my question is a bit of a follow-on to the last one. Can you put a finer point, then, on what a significant transaction is? Because it sounds like it's fairly open-ended, that you can decide on a case-by-case basis whether or not you are going to use the  impose the sanctions. Can you be a bit more specific as to what a significant transaction would be?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: We provided a definition for significant transaction in the public guidance, and we did say that as with all sanctions determinations across this law or any other law, there has to be a consideration of the specific circumstances of a transaction and the totality of all the facts that are involved.

What we have said  and it is a flexible standard  is that there are some criteria that we could include in looking at transactions, and those would include the scope and magnitude of the transaction, the size of the transaction, the type of items transferred, the national security and/or foreign policy interests of the U.S. at stake in any given transaction. So it is not a sort of simple metric, but it does give us a wide range of factors that we would consider in looking at any individual case.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Next question, please.

OPERATOR: Next we go to the line of Warren Strobel of Reuters. Please, go ahead.

QUESTION: Hi, thanks for doing this. I have sort of a "what's next" question. I understand under the law sanctions can be imposed as early as  I think it's January 29th, and I'm just wondering whether you plan to move as soon as you can and how aggressive you plan to be. Obviously, this bill was passed with wide, wide support from Congress. Thank you.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Our next steps, I think we are going to take a close look around the world at transactions and dealings that we think may fall within the scope of this sanctions provision, and we're going to look at really robust engagement with our partners, allies around the world based on our analysis. So we're right now in the beginning stages of that, but it's going to look  once we have a good analysis, we're going to start that robust engagement and talk to partners and allies about where we find transactions that may be problematic.

MODERATOR: Next question, please.

OPERATOR: Next we go to the line of Paul Shinkman with U.S. News & World. Your line is open.

QUESTION: Yes, thanks for doing this. Two questions. One is sort of a follow-up on the spare parts. Does this affect any of the security agreements that some of our allies have signed with Russia? I think specifically Turkey with air defense, and also I think it was Qatar in recent weeks. And then secondly, the President has sort of gone back and forth on whether he feels declaratively that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Should we see this as a sign that he now acknowledges that, cut and dry, they did?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: So again, I would just reiterate that we're going to look at all the circumstances for transactions that come up in the press or that are  we're made aware of through other means. I would caution against reacting to every press report. Arms deals are complex; they have many stages, and just because something is mentioned in the press, it does not necessarily mean that there would even be a transaction, much less one that would meet the significance threshold. And again, we're going to look very specifically at individual circumstances.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL THREE: Yeah. And then on the question about interference in the election, I think it's very clear the intelligence community has established in its report very clearly what the assessment is. The Secretary has spoken on that issue as well, and we will be implementing the sanctions legislation robustly, in keeping with our understanding of Congress's intent and the facts that precipitated that legislation, including interference in our election.

MODERATOR: Next question, please.

OPERATOR: Conor Finnegan with ABC News, your line is open.

QUESTION: Hey, thanks very much for doing this. In August, Secretary Tillerson had said that he would fold the old sanctions czar position into the policy planning staff. I'm just wondering, does that mean that you guys have eliminated staff as well in the old position? And whether or not, do you know you have enough staff to implement all the sanctions, especially given that there's been more and more  there's obviously the North Korea and Iran parts of this bill, but the House just passed yet another Iran sanctions bill yesterday? Thank you.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL THREE: Let me just say from the Bureau of European Affairs that we have  there was  it's true, there was a small office that worked on sanctions issues, but we have people throughout the building working on sanctions issues  for example, U.S. official number one here who has worked on sanctions. So I think that office had a coordinating function, and the coordination is now being done  continues to be done and continues to pull a large number of staff members who work on sanctions throughout the building.

MODERATOR: Next question, please.

OPERATOR: Next we go to the line of Anadoly Bochinin with TASS. Your line is open.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) Ah. Hi. Hello?

MODERATOR: Yeah, go ahead, please.

QUESTION: Okay, thank you. Sir, my question is  thank you for doing this  the list you have published yesterday and today with this Russian company, can it be expended after some time?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Yes, that's possible. And if that happens, we would make a public announcement and it would be quite clear to everyone.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Next question, please.

OPERATOR: Next we go to the line of Joel Gerhke with the Washington Examiner. Your line is open.

QUESTION: With NATO allies who rely on Russian equipment, is there  are the State Department and Congress working in the short term to see some changeover or sale of U.S. equipment to replace some of the Russian equipment that might be affected by this? And also, could you respond to Russian officials who say that this is  like in the case of  as they've argued on energy sanctions, this is a case of the United States trying to dominate an international market?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL THREE: Just on the first question, NATO has had a policy for some time of reducing reliance on old Soviet and Russian military equipment. So this has been longstanding policy not only in the United States, but among our NATO allies, and many countries are working in that direction already. So this is actually simply supportive and reflective of what's been the policy.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Yeah. And I mean certainly we're not looking at this particular sanctions legislation as some sort of competitive tool. That's not the intent of Congress and certainly not the administration's intent in enforcing it.

MODERATOR: All right. Thank you, everyone. We have no more questions in the queue. Thank you for joining us today. Remind you this call is on background, and the embargo is now lifted. And thank you to our State Department officials who joined us today. Have a good afternoon.



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Syria 'categorically denies' content of UN report on Idlib chemical attack

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 27, 2017 07:05PM

Syria has denounced as a "falsification of the truth" a United Nations report blaming the Damascus government for a chemical attack in Idlib province back in April.

"Syria categorically denies the content of the joint report between the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons," state news agency SANA quoted an official in Syria's Foreign Ministry as saying on Friday.

The report was released earlier by the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), which gathers experts from both the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

"This report and the one that preceded it are falsifications of the truth and distort the exact information on what happened at Khan Shaykhun," the official added.

Over 80 people died in the April 4 sarin gas attack on Khan Shaykhun in Idlib. Some Western governments and the militants operating in the area blamed the Syrian government for the incident. Syria and Russia, however, rejected the claims, suggesting that a weapon used by militants might have detonated on the ground.

The ministry also decried the "method of investigation" in the UN report, saying it was based on "the words of the criminals who committed this immoral act in Khan Shaykhun and on dubious witnesses."

The statement said the UN report had been compiled under "instructions from the US administration and Western countries to exert more political pressure" on Syria.

Damascus turned over for destruction its entire chemical stockpile under a deal negotiated by Russia and the United States in 2013. The OPCW oversaw the operations to remove the chemical arsenal from Syria.

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Syria forces liberate new areas around Dayr al-Zawr from Daesh grips

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 27, 2017 05:57PM

Syrian government forces have liberated a new area on the outskirts of the eastern city of Dayr al-Zawr as they continued their advance against the foreign-backed Daesh terrorists.

The Friday development came as the Syrian army and its allied forces managed to recapture a suburban area of the key city while inflicting heavy losses and casualties on the Takfiri militants.

The latest operations by army-led forces were part of a larger offensive to entirely liberate the remaining areas surrounding Dayr al-Zawr still controlled by the terror group.

This is while Syrian state news agency SANA also reported Friday that army units clashed with Daesh terrorists in a number of neighborhoods in the town of Mihkan, south of al-Mayadeen city towards al-Bokmal city.

According to the report, government forces also killed and injured many of the militants during the offensive and destroyed a number of their vehicles, including booby-trapped ones.

In the city of Dayr al-Zawr, the report added, Syrian forces also directed artillery and aerial strikes on the staging areas of the terrorists in neighborhoods of al-Hamidiya, al-Ardi, al-Mattar al-Qadim, Khasarat, Kanamat and al-Sheikh Yassin, demolishing a number of their fortifications and inflicting heavy casualties on them.

This is while the Lebanon-based al-Manar TV also reported Friday that the Syrian army and allied forces have further liberated two villages of Tamm-ul-Hawa and Abu-Laffa in the northeastern outskirts of the country's west-central city of Hama.

The Syrian army has made significant gains against different terrorist groups across the country in recent months. Over ninety percent of the territories in the Arab nation have reportedly been liberated from the foreign-sponsored militants.

Daesh overran large parts of Dayr al-Zawr province, including its many oil fields, in mid-2014 as it seized swathes of land in Syria and neighboring Iraq.

By early 2015, the Takfiri terrorists were in control of some parts of city of Dayr al-Zawr and besieged the remaining parts, which were under government control. It is estimated that 100,000 people remain in the government-held parts of the city.

Backed by the Russian military and fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement, the Syrian army has managed to break Daesh's three-year siege on Dayr al-Zawr Province, though the total elimination of the group is yet to come.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups that are wreaking havoc in the country.

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Russia decries 'inconsistencies' in UN-OPCW Syria report

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 27, 2017 09:31AM

Russia has criticized a recent United Nations report blaming Syria for an April gas attack" inside the Arab country, saying it is full of "inconsistencies."

"Even the first cursory read shows that many inconsistencies, logical discrepancies, using doubtful witness accounts and unverified evidence...all of this is still (in the report)," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the country's Interfax news agency on Friday.

Ryabkov said other countries were seeking to use the report to "resolve their own strategic geopolitical issues in Syria," adding that Moscow would analyze the findings and publish a response soon.

The report was released earlier by the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), which gathers experts from both the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Earlier in October, Mikhail Ulyanov, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's non-proliferation and arms control department, said there were "serious problems" with the investigation.

Over 80 people died in the April 4 sarin gas attack on Khan Shaykhun in Idlib Province.

Western countries and the militants operating in the area blamed on the Syrian government for the incident. Syria and Russia, however, rejected the claims, suggesting that a militant weapon may have detonated on the ground.

Damascus turned over its entire chemical stockpile under a deal negotiated by Russia and the United States back in 2013. The OPCW oversaw the operations to remove the chemical arsenal from Syria and destroy it.

In late June, the fact-finding team from the OPCW published the results of its probe of the incident, confirming that the chemical substance in the Khan Shaykhun incident had been the nerve gas sarin.

In response, Moscow described the OPCW report as "very biased," arguing that the report failed to address the question of who was responsible for the gas incident and how the chemical had been used.

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Suffering of 350,000 civilians in rural Damascus 'an outrage' - UN rights chief

27 October 2017  The United Nations human rights chief on Friday called on the parties to the conflict in Syria to allow badly needed food and medical supplies to Eastern Ghouta in rural Damascus, describing the situation of at least 350,000 besieged civilians there as "an outrage."

"The shocking images of what appear to be severely malnourished children that have emerged in recent days are a frightening indication of the plight of people in Eastern Ghouta, who are now facing a humanitarian emergency," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein in a news release from his office (OHCHR).

Eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of the nation's capital, is being considered one of the "de-escalation areas" brokered in May by Iran, Russia and Turkey under the Astana process. However, residential areas, including those areas previously spared attack, are now being hit on an almost daily basis by ground-based strikes by Government forces and their allies.

The UN human rights office has also received reports of armed opposition groups conducting ground-based strikes on Damascus.

Various armed groups controlling the area have restricted the work of humanitarian organisations, and clashes between these groups have for months limited civilians' freedom of movement within the region.

The UN last reached Eastern Ghouta on 23 September. Between January and September, the Government only accepted 26 per cent of requests to deliver assistance to besieged and hard-to-reach areas.

"I remind all parties that the deliberate starvation of civilians as a method of warfare constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law, and may amount to a crime against humanity and/or a war crime," said Mr. Zeid.

Unidentified attackers reportedly stormed and looted a food warehouse in the Eastern Ghouta town of Hamourya on 19 October. The following day several hundred people allegedly looted a second warehouse in the town  a possible sign of growing desperation.

"If parties to a conflict cannot meet the needs of the population under their control, they must allow and facilitate efforts by impartial humanitarian agencies to provide aid, including by granting them the right of free passage," he stressed.

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Entrance exam cheating case: Prolonged probe to affect TUs MBBS calendar

An ongoing investigation into the anomalies in the MBBS entrance exam of Tribhuvan University has affected the entire admission process, making around 8,000 students wait in the wings just as there are only a few days left for the academic calendar to start.
The mountains are calling, but not you

On a chilly October evening, following a day of arduous trekking, we reached a popular hotel in the famous tourist hub of Ghandruk. The snow-clad mountains were barely visible as the sun had already set beyond the western horizon.
Sony's Xperia XZ launched in October of last year, and as you may know its successor is already on the market too - the XZ1. So it's understandable then that the XZ is now being discounted. In fact, at the moment it's being offered by both Amazon and B&H for the lowest price ever.

The XZ was initially priced at $699.99, and it's now less than half that. You can buy one for just $314.99 from the aforementioned retailers, although it's not entirely clear how long this deal will last.

So if you don't mind having last year's hardware innards you can buy the Xperia XZ for a very good price. Like all unlocked Sony models sold in the US, this will only work with GSM-based carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile, and the various MVNOs using their towers. Unfortunately Verizon, Sprint, and other CDMA-based carriers aren't supported.

Via
These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales.
The red color version of Sony's Xperia XZ Premium leaked back in May, but only launched earlier this month. At first it was only out in the company's home of Japan, but then we spotted it in Malaysia as well.

Today the red XZ Premium has arrived in Europe too. It's not yet in stock, but you can already order one if you are in Germany. All you need to do is go to Sony's official online store and pick the red hue for the smartphone. At the moment, it's said to become available in four days, which depending on how you count (if they're working days or not) means the red model should be in stock either on October 31 or in early November.

The red XZ Premium will set you back 699. That's the exact same price that the other color variants are going for, so you will not be paying more for your love of all things red. And obviously the specs are the same for all XZ Premium hues across the board too.

If you buy it in red, you'll get the same 5.46" 4K display, Snapdragon 835 chipset, 4GB of RAM, 19 MP main camera, 13 MP front-facing snapper, and 3,230 mAh battery. It runs Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box, but the update to Oreo has already been released, so that could be waiting when you first power on the device.
Habitat neighborhood wins affordable housing award

EAST FLAT ROCK  Dodd Meadows, a single-family home neighborhood developed by Henderson County Habitat for Humanity with support from the City of Asheville, is one of four developments that serve as models for other communities across the state.

Sponsored by the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, the Housing North Carolina Awards were presented at the N.C. Affordable Housing Conference, which hosted nearly 1,000 housing industry professionals at the Raleigh Convention Center.

Winning developments were selected for affordability, design, sustainability, community contribution, resident services and creative partnerships. The other three were:
What migration means on the home front

A six-hour drive from Pokhara, the village of Nalma sits perched atop verdant hills of terraced rice fields. The Annapurna range rises in the distance, its snow-capped peaks a stunning backdrop.
Volleyball playoffs: Hubs, Blazers will play for state titles

North Hagerstown got past Magruder in four sets in the 3A semifinals, and Clear Spring swept Forest Park in the 1A semifinals. Finals are Wednesday.
Woman tormented by husband for years finally leaves house

Far away from the hot topic of gender equality voiced across the globe, many Nepali villages are still plagued by social, humanitarian and cultural discrimination against women.
#YouToo

The green-yellow fields beyond Tribhuvan University waved at me, beckoning me to come closer, admire them, and take a picture against the clear blue sky. The picturesque terraces were a little out of my favourite route, but that afternoon, I made an exception.
Gondhoraj Momos Take Over West Bengal; Have You Tried Them Yet?
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I say Djibouti. You say  bless you? A tiny east African nation, Djibouti is one of Lonely Planets top places to visit in 2018. Never heard of it? Dont worry, theyre used to it here. Curled like a C around the Gulf of Tadjoura between Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia, Djibouti has been both an Arabic and a French colony (its a prime trading spot between the Middle East and Africa), but was granted independence 40 years ago.

Tourism hasnt really bothered Djibouti until recently, when the countrys unique geological makeup starting attracting adventurers interested in extreme landscapes and prehistoric history. The desolate rocks and crevices on the dusty horizon hide rich pickings for archeologists, dotted as they are with prehistoric art.

Aside from dusty history whats so great about it? According to Lonely Planet, this petite nation is in the process of being ripped in three by diverging tectonic plates. Magma seethes beneath ever-thinning crust; Martian-like deserts spew steam from fumaroles; and sunken lake shores glisten with huge salt crystals.

While a trip here might not be quite as dramatic as that sounds, rural Djibouti certainly could double as a Star Wars set complete with strange phenomenon. Lake Assal is one of the most alien places on earth.

Ardoukoba, Djiboutis main volcano (Wikimedia Commons)

Most people wouldnt recognise the name but this saline lake has a list of impressive epithets: the second saltiest body of water in the world, the third lowest point on earth and the worlds largest salt reserve. Its surrounded by black lava fields which set off the astral-looking green water which seems to glow from within under the unforgiving sun. That sun evaporates the water to create salt crystals that are perfectly round, like salty solid bubbles. Locals dip goat skulls in the water to create salt-encrusted bones that wouldnt look out of place in Game of Thrones. Id say dive into the lake, but you cant  you physically cant get beneath the surface, its so buoyant. Visiting it is still pretty low tech but after an hours drive through the Great Rift Valley  one of the hottest and driest places on earth  its a welcome sight.

Lonely Planet wasnt kidding about the thin crust, either  Djibouti is being stretched like pizza dough between three plates, with boiling magma just two miles under your feet at certain points. With salt-encrusted beaches, enormous black boulders and giant-sized fissures, the landscape has never recovered from volcanic activity millennia ago. The Ardoukoba volcano near Lake Assal has been dormant for 3,000 years but local nomads live in the shadow of an eruption.

The landscape isnt the only thing worth coming for. Djibouti is one of the best places to swim with whale sharks. Swimming near one is like watching a freight train go past  these gentle omnivore fish are enormous, the biggest in the world. While many countries attract divers to their shores to swim with whale sharks, most are contrived  little more than feeding time at the zoo. In Djibouti, however, the experience is more like swimming in David Attenboroughs Blue Planet  and entails the kind of wildness thats so rare in todays tourism. You board a little wooden boat, sail until you cant see land, and jump into dark deep sea. It requires more than a ounce of faith.

Djibouti has one of the rawest, wildest swimming with whale sharks experiences (Pixabay)

Despite some tourism, Djibouti is what it always was, a trading post where different cultures and empires collide. A heady mix of African, Arabic and French influences give Djibouti City an old-world feel. Global brands havent taken more than a tiny toehold and shopping is still market-based. Its fairly safe for wandering about, though easy to lose yourself amongst the crumbling architecture. Classic French restaurants with white linen tables sit round the corner from no-frills food markets where tropical fruit is piled high, eager stallholders bellow bits of broken English and naked electric bulbs give everything a hyper-real feel after dark.

The African quarter sits in the shadow of Hamoudi Mosque and is packed with stalls selling everything from dodgy gems to wooden souvenirs while the European quarter moulds itself around Place Menelik with its cafes and restaurants. The posher hotels, can be found on Djibouti Citys most prominent point into the gulf. Here you might breakfast with some of the French Legion on an R&R break or businessmen who want to have a flutter in the licensed casinos. Djibouti has no qualms about enjoying a beer and a spot of gambling. Karaoke is huge here and youll find makeshift bars dwarfed by ridiculously huge TVs, hooked up with dodgy electrics and even dodgier downloads to supply the market with singalong songs.

Djibouti might be tiny but everything about it is intense  there are precious few places left like it in the world. And while there are certainly ethical issues to consider while travelling there, that makes it Lonely Planet list-worthy in my book.
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire has urged the region's politicians to reach a powersharing deal

Talks to restore powersharing at Stormont have broken up for the weekend.

Negotiations are expected to resume on Monday - a day the government has identified as another deadline in the protracted process to salvage the powersharing institutions.

If Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionists fail to reach consensus on Monday, Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire is set to intervene and set a budget for Stormont's rudderless public services.

While that will not represent full re-imposition of Westminster direct rule, it will be another significant step in that direction.

It has been 10 months since Northern Ireland had a properly functioning powersharing administration.

The institutions imploded in January amid a row about a botched green energy scheme, but that rift exposed a series of more deep-seated issues dividing the region's two largest parties.

Sinn Fein and the DUP remain at loggerheads over proposed laws to protect Irish language speakers in the region.

While the UK and Irish governments are also involved in the talks process, the smaller Stormont parties have not been invited to participate in the current round of negotiations.

On Friday night, a source said no talks were expected over the weekend.

"They will resume again on Monday," said the source.
Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has strongly signalled that Brexit negotiations could be blocked from moving on to trade talks unless Britain gives more clarity on the Border.

The minister said customs checks would be unavoidable if the UK and EU are not in the same customs union. He also said the UK had so far not provided a "credible roadmap" to avoiding a hard Border.

"We have made good progress on the common travel area and we are working through in immense detail in terms of the Good Friday Agreement, but on the Border issue, I'm sorry, but we need more clarity than we have right now," Mr Coveney said.

"We cannot move ahead to phase two [of the Brexit talks] on the back of a promise that we don't see any delivery mechanism to make a reality. We don't need to have all of the answers, but we certainly need to have more assurance than we do today."

Last week, EU leaders said at a summit they would begin preparations to move into "phase two" of the Brexit negotiations in December, a step forward that would allow London to discuss its future trade relationship with the bloc.

But Mr Coveney told a Brexit event organised by AIB that for that to happen, there needed to be "progress and reality" around a number of issues.

He welcomed the fact Britain remains committed to avoiding a hard Border. But he added: "I don't see a credible roadmap to get us there. I just can't see it right now. I don't see how you avoid customs checks if you are not in the same customs union as the rest of the European Union, I just don't see how that's possible."

He also accused the UK government of promising things that it cannot deliver.

"Leaving the European Union cannot result in holding on to all of the trade bits of membership, while at the same time promising your people that you can negotiate all of these other goodies that can create competitive advantage as well as holding on to the benefits of EU membership," the minister said.

"It can't be done. It won't be done and it cannot be negotiated."

Also at the event was ex-World Trade Organisation chief Pascal Lamy, who said it was impossible to have a 'no Border' solution. He said some sort of special status for Northern Ireland should be looked at, including designating the North an autonomous customs territory that would allow it to essentially maintain the status quo and mirror existing arrangements. However, he accepted this would entail a border down the Irish Sea, between Northern Ireland and Britain.
Farm organisations are seeking to unearth the potential of salad potatoes and chipping potatoes in order to reduce our reliance on imports.

The production of salad potatoes in Ireland has increased by 2,500 tonnes as a result of an initiative undertaken by Teagasc, Bord Bia and the IFA over the last three years.

In 2014, Ireland's salad potatoes accounted for 350 acres of land and supplied 5,000 tonnes. In 2017, production is estimated to account for 550 acres, with 7,500 tonnes going to the market.

Michael Hennessy (pictured) of Teagasc says the production of salad potatoes also allows potato producers who are growing mainly Roosters the opportunity to diversify.

"All existing salad potato growers in Ireland have increased their production and the project has attracted some new growers," he told the Farming Independent.

"Salad potatoes can be sown later and harvested earlier, which is another advantage to farmers. They also have the potential for higher revenue as they are a premium product.

"They offer a form of farm diversification within existing farm production rather than putting all your eggs in the traditional potato market."

The growth of salad potatoes requires "greater skill and attention to detail" than traditional potatoes as the market demands a narrow spec size and blemish-free skins. Targeted events were held as part of the initiative over a three-year period to discuss and demonstrate the agronomic and storage issues of growing salad potatoes.

"The land selection is paramount for success. Growing salad potatoes requires greater farmer expertise," added Mr Hennessy.

"They're a little more expensive to produce than ware potatoes but sell for a much higher price per ton. If they don't make the grade, there's few alternative markets available to them."

IFA potato and fresh produce development officer Pat Farrell said there are now 10 farmers seriously involved in the production of salad potatoes, and he believes that there is potential for that figure to grow.

On the market research side, Bord Bia's Lorcan Bourke explained that households with one-to-three members and the retired age group are the biggest consumers of salad potatoes, with consumption concentrated in Dublin.

"They're handy for smaller households to eat and faster to cook, whereas bigger families consume the bag of traditional potatoes," he said.

"The salad potato retail market continues to grow year on year, with Irish retailers anxious to source and sell Irish produce."

Following on from the success of the salad potato campaign, the three groups are now looking toward increasing the amount of fresh Irish potatoes produced specifically for the chipping trade.

IFA potato committee chairman Eddie Doyle says 400 hectares of chipping potatoes are grown in Ireland every year, by 15-30 growers. He believes we can increase our production of these varieties.

"Over the next three years we aim to supply half of the Irish chipping market with Irish produce. The salad potato campaign proves that we can grow salad potatoes as good as anywhere else in the world, and the same is true for chipping potatoes," he said.

Mr Doyle explained that it's important that we look at different chipping potato varieties and make it known to chippers that Irish chipping potatoes are available all year round, but warned that there are challenges.

"We've persisted with Maris Piper but the new variety of Marquis is better suited to our climate and recommended for chips," he said.

"But we are up against a large UK crop that is the cream of the crop - they're very specialist growers over there. The British chipping potato has achieved a reputation of being of high quality over the years because of its storage."

Mr Bourke explained that it's important that we are able to compete with this "aesthetically pleasing light-coloured UK chip".

"If the sugar-starch ratio is wrong, the oil that the chips are cooked in blackens more due to the chip being brown. Chippers buy in oil by the bucket load, so if they have a lighter chip they will get increased longevity and shelf-life out of the oil, and they're more profitable overall," he said.

"There will be challenges but we're optimistic."
THE Court of Appeal has dismissed a businessman's case against a summary judgment for 9m (10.2m) arising out of his personal guarantee on unpaid loans of around 22m made to a company.

National Asset Loan Management Ltd (NALM), part of Nama, sought the judgment against Michael Breslin over loans advanced by the former Anglo Irish Bank in 2007 to a company, Car Park Solutions (CPS), with registered offices at Belturbet, Co Cavan.

Anglo Irish Bank advanced a loan of 21.4m in 2007 for CPS to acquire a property call Partnership House in Waterloo Road, London, for 25m.

Mr Breslin has been resident in the US since the 1980s and also had a residence with his wife Dolores at Woodbridge Stud, Dunsany, Co Meath.

Mr Breslin's brother Barry, and their cousin Francis Smith, were involved in property construction through their company Keelagh Homes and the proposal was to develop the Waterloo Road property as a hotel at a cost of 61m.

Michael Breslin provided security for the loans through first legal charge on a CPS deposit account with a balance equal to six months interest. Additional security included composite joint and several guarantees of Barry Breslin and Mr Smith.

After Anglo was nationalised NALM acquired the bank assets of CPS.

When the company defaulted on the loans, a receiver was appointed. NALM invoked the loan guarantees and sued for summary judgment which was granted last May by the High Court.

Mr Breslin appealed, but in her decision on behalf of a three-judge Court of Appeal, Ms Justice Maire Whelan dismissed the appeal on all grounds.
The clocks go back tonight (your mother has probably already let you know) and here are seven things that will inevitably happen...

1. Everyone will ask the same questions...

"Are the clocks going forward or back?" Back.

"Does that mean we get an hour more or less sleep?" More.

"So when it says it's 10am on Sunday morning it's really 9am?" Yes.

If you're struggling just remember it's 'spring forward, fall back'.

2. You'll question your iPhone for the first time (since the last time the clocks changed)

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You trust your iPhone. It manages to successfully keep track of your appointments, your important work emails, all your social media, birthdays, playlists, photos, videos - basically your life. But when it comes to its ability to automatically update the time when the clocks change you don't trust it - at all. There you are Googling away to find out whether or not your phone can cope with this massive challenge. Relax, it can. It will. Trust.

3. You'll rejoice about that extra hour in bed

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Instead of sleeping (because you'll still wake up at your regular time thanks to your internal body clock - or your kids will) you'll probably spend it on that untrustworthy iPhone posting smug updates on Facebook about how cosy and warm your bed is. Sad.

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4. You'll moan about the dark

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It's dark when you get up for work. It's dark when you leave the office. There is no daylight in your life. This is no life etc. Cue lengthy daydreams about moving to Thailand and running a bar by the beach*

*downloads the Lotto app

5. Your mother will phone, text, email, post to your Facebook timeline, and 'just pop in' today to remind you to turn your clocks back.

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Okay ma, got it!

6. You won't be able to figure out how to adjust your car clock...

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... so it will remain inaccurate until the next time the clocks change. Welcome to several months of Groundhog Day morning panic as you think you're late for work. Every single day. Darn you car and your myriad mysterious digital buttons, switches and dials. Bring back analog clocks in cars!

7. You'll arrive in to work an hour early on Tuesday morning

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Somehow you missed the memo (you shouldn't have ignored those calls from your mother) and are THAT person - there's always one.
Halloween tends to bring out the child in most of us, and this year, Dublin has lots of super-scary  and some frightfullly funny  days and nights out to celebrate the holiday, writes Chris Wasser

Light up those pumpkins, lads: its that time of year again. A time to trick; a time to treat. A time to dress up as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, without anyone notifying the police. Thats the joy of Halloween  its not just for kids. It might even be more fun for the adults. And, its bigger than ever.

Dont believe us? Well, then, you might want to flick through our Halloween horror guide to the best treats, blow-outs and freaky cultural events happening in, around and up the road from the capital over the next week. Things may get scary  we may even use the word spooktacular. Brace yourselves

BRAM STOKER FESTIVAL

A gloriously gothic weekend! Four nights of deadly adventures! Treats for everyone, from mini monsters to frightful fear seekers! We could keep going, you know. Now in its sixth year, the annual Bram Stoker Festival sets up shop in the capital from today, celebrating the vision and legacy of Dublin-born Gothic writer, Mr Bram Stoker, aka, the man behind Dracula.

Were spoiled for choice, with more than 25 events on the table. When the suns up, why not take the family to Stokerland  a pop-up Victorian fun park  in St Patricks Park? The little ones might also dig the Supernatural Choir over at The Ark in Temple Bar on Sunday afternoon.

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After the sun goes down, well, thats when things get super dark  and super awesome. Horror Expo Ireland, at Freemasons Hall on Molesworth Street, should please fans of the horror genre, with a host of screenings, Q&As and SFX demonstrations lined up for Sunday and Monday. The Dracula Screening Party at the Light House cinema tonight (tickets 12) is certainly worth a trip, too (its the Gary Oldman version).

Of course, its the big gig that has everyone excited. Turning Vampire Mixtape at Vicar Street on Sunday night (tickets 31.50), with Lisa Hannigan, Paddy Casey, Wyvern Lingo, Saint Sister and Niamh Farrell of HamsandwicH, to name but a few, joining forces for an evening of scary songs. They might play Thriller; theyll probably do the Ghostbusters theme. Tenner bets theyll give us Monster Mash. Its gonna to be ace.

The Bram Stoker Festival runs citywide until Monday. For a full line-up of events and tickets prices, visit www.bramstokerfestival.com

DOCKERS & DEMONS FESTIVAL

What a name. Another family-friendly Halloween event, touching down around the Irishtown, Ringsend and the Docklands area this weekend, is the inaugural Dockers & Demons Festival, which promises strange and spooky things aplenty. For a start, theres only a bloody Ghost Ship docking at Charlotte Quay this evening. Watch out for the White Demon and Banshee Puppet, both of whom will be emerging from said ship at 6.30pm (we are not making this up). Workshops, historical tours and a Dockers & Demons Parade are all part of the fun. See you at the Demons Party

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Runs until Tuesday, October 31. For more information,

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visit www.dockersanddemons.com

HALLOWEEN AT TAYTO PARK

Why not take a spin out to Ashbourne for a spot of Halloween madness at everyones favourite theme park? Youve got a couple of options here. Theres the Morbid Manor attraction, which is about as creepy as it sounds. An abandoned manor, a spot of pure evil, night rides on the parks biggest attractions, a scary carnival and a 5D horror flick await teenagers and their parents (if theyre brave enough  its suitable for ages 14+).

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And then theres the Ghost Hunters season, for the little ones (ages 6+). Were told that the Spectral Forces Investigation Unit (very clever, folks) is hiring. Do your kids have what it takes to solve the spooky mysteries of Ghost Mansion? Theyll also have free Halloween-themed face-painting and arts and crafts. Oh, and theyve got a carnival, too. Sorted.

Morbid Manor runs daily until Monday, October 30, at 7.30pm11pm. Tickets: 30. Ghost Hunter runs from Saturday, October 28Sunday, November 5 from 12pm4pm. Tickets: 6 per person or included with wristband purchase. Children under 12, wearing full Halloween costumes, go free into Tayto Park on Tuesday, October 31 (terms and conditions apply). For more, visit www.taytopark.ie

SAMHAIN TOURS & TALES AT THE GAA MUSEUM, CROKE PARK

A new family event, custom-made for Halloween, the Samhain Tours & Tales season is exactly as it sounds, featuring a stadium treasure hunt (youll have to try and find someone called Seamus the Samhain Scarecrow, and his Harvest treasure) and storytelling performances courtesy of

Seanchai Eddie Lenihan, who might have a few fairy and ghost yarns up his sleeve.

Oh, and the Museums Blackthorn Cafe will be serving up a special Harvest Menu for families. Yes, theyve got delicious pumpkin soup on the menu...

Saturday, October 28Wednesday, November 1 at 5pm, 6pm & 7pm. Tickets: 16 (adults)/12 (children)/50 (family). For more, visit www.crokepark.ie

THE NIGHTMARE REALM

What is The Nightmare Realm, you ask? Why, it is an extreme walk-through horror event preying on your deepest fears and nightmares and twisting them into a deadly reality. Straight from the horses mouth, that one. So, yeah, its a scare attraction. Its a haunted house. Its not for small children, basically.

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Terrifying audiences in both Cork (Kennedy Quay) and Dublin (RDS, Ballsbridge), the aim here is for participants to step into their own horror movie, featuring Hollywood-quality props, prosthetics and effects.

Honestly, it looks and sounds pretty darn freaky. Youve been warned.

Running at the RDS, Dublin and Kennedy Quay, Cork until November 5. Ticket prices vary, with adult tickets ranging from 19-28. For more, visit www.thenightmarerealm.ie

FARMAPHOBIA

The clue is in the title: the Farmaphobia Scream Park at Causey Farm, Co Meath, features five different haunt experiences. One of them involves vampires (the Vamporium). Another, the Field of Screams, is basically a maze in which participants are chased by chainsaw-wielding, hillbilly cannibals (lovely). And then theres the, er, House of Dolls. Do we really need to tell you what that one entails? Didnt think so. Best of luck, folks...

Running until Tuesday, October 31. Tickets: 20/32. For more, visit www.farmaphobia.ie

SPOOKTACULAR BOO @ DUBLIN ZOO

Another winning Halloween title, that. We dont need an excuse to visit Dublin Zoo, but hey, its the mid-term holidays, and the zoo has only gone and organised a series of creepy arts and crafts, spine-chilling keeper talks and a spot of face-painting. It has even thrown in a bit of monster music. Sold.

Tuesday, October 31. Zoo tickets: 17.50 (adult)/13 (child). For opening times and more, visit www.dublinzoo.ie

HALLOWEEN AT DUBLINIA

The Deilg Inis Living History Theatre Company returns to Dublinia for their annual Halloween performance. Basically, its a show about the Black Death, it features a gang of medieval Dublin chancers and it sort of takes place in a graveyard. An absurd and supernatural theatre experience, for sure. Thankfully, its suitable for all ages

Saturday, October 28Friday, November 3. Performances running every 15 minutes, from 12pm1pm and 2pm-4pm. Dublinia Tickets: 9.50 (adult)/6 (child)/25 (family). For more, visit www.dublinia.ie

CAMP DRACULA

Al Porters Camp Dracula, a comedy show based on Bram Stokers most famous character, takes place on October 29, at 19.30pm and 21.30pm at 22 South Anne St, D2
A man who drank 15 pints and took cocaine and cannabis before knocking down and killing a young French national in a hit-and-run has been jailed for eight years.

Martin Linehan (36), formerly of Lagan Grove in Mayfield, Cork, pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday to eight charges arising from the incident in which Apple worker Gabriel Lege (25) was killed while crossing the street at George's Quay in Cork city on October 31, 2013.

Mr Lege's heartbroken mother Sylvie said her grief had placed an enormous burden on her over the last few years.

"What can I tell you of my disarray, my pain, my unsustainable grief since Gabriel's death - what do I tell you of these nights for the last four years, nights without sleep, crying, screaming 'Gabriel, I want to see you, I want to see you' - part of me is him and I am not, nor will ever be, the same."

She added that she would never forget seeing her son's cold, lifeless body. "He was so alone. I kissed him and he was cold," she said.

"Then we had to take him home and collect his body from a storage warehouse at the airport. We had to travel 500km with his body in a coffin.

"Part of me was gone with him, part of me died that time. My little child is gone."

Disqualified

The court heard on the day of the incident Linehan was driving without insurance because he had been disqualified from driving.

Mr Lege, from Olonne-sur-Mer in the Vendee in western France, was working at Apple in Cork at the time of his death.

He lost his life after he was struck by a white Ford Transit van which did not stop. Paramedics attempted to revive him but he died at Cork University Hospital a short time later.

Linehan pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Mr Lege in addition to seven other motor charges including dangerous driving and driving without insurance.

Det Garda Ann Flynn told the court Linehan drank 15 to 16 pints and took cannabis and cocaine before he crashed into Mr Lege. Passers-by told gardai that Linehan increased his speed as he drove up the quay.

He fled the scene after he knocked Mr Lege down.

The day after he drove to Larne and took a ferry to Scotland. He was arrested in the UK in May of this year following an anonymous call to gardai.

Det Flynn said Mr Linehan had no remorse.

Judge Sean O'Donnabhain said despite the mitigating factors including his plea, he was going to impose the maximum sentence of eight years.
A son of embattled former Olympic Council of Ireland president Pat Hickey is taking a legal action against his father's auctioneering business.

Lawyers for Fred Hickey (46) initiated the personal injuries case against Pat Hickey (Auctioneering) Ltd in the High Court on Thursday.

Fred Hickey, who has been involved in the running of the business, which trades as Hickey Auctioneers, is also suing his mother Sylvaine (68) and sister Corine (40) as part of the action.

The reasons for the case have yet to be disclosed and no affidavits have been filed to date.

The High Court has unlimited jurisdiction when it comes to personal-injury awards, unlike the Circuit Court, where awards cannot exceed 60,000.

Fred Hickey declined to discuss the matter when contacted by the Irish Independent.

"I wouldn't have any comment to make at the moment. Sorry about that," he said.

A representative of Hickey Auctioneers did not respond to a request for comment.

Pat Hickey (72) founded the business in 1977. It is located on Dublin's Dorset Street and specialises in sales and letting, valuations and BER assessments.

Shareholder

He resigned as a director last March but remains its main shareholder, according to the latest information filed with the Companies Registration Office. His wife Sylvaine has a small shareholding.

In an interview two years ago, Pat Hickey said the firm was being run by his children Fred and Corine.

Fred Hickey stood by his father following his arrest over alleged ticket-touting during the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.

He subsequently met with the then Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan to discuss concerns for his father's well-being while he was being held in a Brazilian prison.

Pat Hickey was eventually freed and allowed return to Ireland after a bond of 410,000 had been paid.

The sum was loaned to the former OCI president by the Association of World National Olympic Committees, of which Pat Hickey is senior vice-president. He has been regarded as "temporarily self-suspended" since his arrest.

The trial is due to begin in Rio on November 29, although it is unclear whether or not he will travel to Brazil to appear in court.

His legal team has previously said that he hoped to be able to participate via video link.
Two men have been arrested after a man was stabbed multiple times in Limerick.

The stabbing occurred around 2.30am on Ballycummin Road, Raheen, on the south side of the city.

Gardai said the injured man was rushed from the scene by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick, Dooradoyle, where his condition is currently unknown.

"He has multiple stab wounds," a garda source said.

Gardai said the injured party is aged in his 30s.

This afternoon gardai arrested two men one aged 19 and the other aged 20. Both are detained at Roxboro Road Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Roxboro Road Garda Station on 061-214340.
The naming of the new 1bn national children hospital complex as Phoenix Children's Hospital Ireland clashes with the name of one of Dublin's major psychiatric facilities located only a few kilometres away.

The naming of the new 1bn national children hospital complex as Phoenix Children's Hospital Ireland clashes with the name of one of Dublin's major psychiatric facilities located only a few kilometres away.

The Phoenix Care Centre in Grangegorman in north inner-city Dublin was opened in 2013 and replaced the outdated St Brendan's psychiatric hospital.

The day the modern psychiatric hospital was officially opened, the then- health minister, Dr James Reilly, became stuck in one of its lifts for 20 minutes.

It was announced this week that the new national children's hospital, which will have two satellite centres, will be known as the Phoenix Children's Hospital Ireland when it opens in 2022 in the south inner city.

Psychiatrist Dr Margo Wrigley said she was surprised the "Phoenix" name was not remembered in the Department of Health given that Dr Reilly got "trapped in one of its lifts on the occasion of the official opening".

The name of the new children's hospital drew controversy, including criticism from a number of doctors in the three existing hospitals which will merge.

They said it was insensitive to parents of deceased children whose organs were retained and incinerated.

The name, however, has been defended by the children's hospital group. A spokeswoman said it came from a member of staff.

However, a spokesperson for the Phoenix Children's Hospital in Arizona, in the US, said the clash of names had been raised.

"We are aware of the current naming plan and have expressed our concerns about the unavoidable likelihood of confusion," the spokesperson added.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the hospital board will have to find around 44m to fund the new car park for the hospital at the St James's campus.

This is because the cost of the car park is not being funded by the Exchequer.
The moment that Catriona Perry became a household name

RTEs US correspondent Catriona Perry told Ryan Tubridy it was bizarre when US President Donald Trump told her she had a nice smile.

It was probably more like an eye-roll type moment. I didnt do that because Im a professional, she said on the Late Late Show last night.

The Irish journalist recalled the moment last June when she was in the Oval Office in the White House to witness the president begin a telephone conversation with the newly appointed Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

President Trump, who beckoned her to his desk with his finger, asked Ms Perry her name and where she was from. He then told the Taoiseach

"She has a nice smile on her face. I bet she treats you well."

Ms Perry said the US media replayed the footage of the encounter on television and many pundits complained he had demeaned her.

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When asked about being beckoned by Trumps finger, she said:

Honestly, I was thinking this is a bit bizarre, she said, but as he was the President of the United States she approached his desk.

It was also bizarre as of course I would love a one on one with the president to question him about all his policies and everything else that he does but that was not the time and place.

I was walking up thinking where is this going.It was just very bizarre, she said.

Honestly, it was no big deal.

Asked by Tubridy if she felt flattered or insulted, she said Neither. Im around the president a lot. I know how he behaves. I know what he says. He comes out with stuff like that.

She also said: Can I point out that the person giggling was not me. People thought that was me. It was the Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell.

Her book In America  Tales from Trump Country is currently on sale.

She was joined on the Late Late Show sofa by Keelin Shanley and both women said they looked forward to being joint anchors on the Six One RTE television news.
A nephew of Gerry The Monk Hutch got an armed garda escort from prison after his release today amid fears of an escalation in the feud between his family and the Kinahan cartel which has already claimed the life of his father and two of his cousins.

Alan Hutch was jailed in 2013 after he threatened to kill three gardai during a botched robbery, and claiming he had a grenade.

Today he was freed from Wheatfield Prison in west Dublin in a high security operation,

Members of the Garda Armed Response Unit pulled up opposite the main gates of the prison shortly before 9am, accompanied by an unmarked garda car.

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Then shortly after 9am a silver car driven by a woman and with two female passengers arrived at the gates and drove to the top of a long avenue to the main building after being allowed through the security gates.

The car was followed by an unmarked garda car, and when the silver car reached the top of the avenue it was directed through a large gate which then closed behind it. The garda vehicle waited outside.

At 9.15 the silver car came back down the avenue with Alan Hutch hunched down in the back seat holding what looked like a patterned rug or blanket over his head.

The car turned right and was followed by the Armed Response Unit vehicle and the unmarked garda car.

The level of security surrounding the release of Hutch is indicative of the fears that he could be targeted by the Kinahan gang.

The bloody feud between the two factions has already claimed the lives of 12 people, including Alans father Eddie Hutch snr (58), who was gunned down outside his house in the north inner city in February of last year, and his cousins Gareth Hutch and Gary Hutch.

Gareth Hutch (35) was shot dead in the north inner city in May last year, while Gary (34) was shot dead in Miraflores near Marbella on the Costa del Sol on September 24 2015.
A slew of complaints were made by residents of private emergency homeless accommodation highlighting problems of drug abuse, mould and pest control.

The complaints are detailed in email correspondence sent to Dublin Regional Homeless Executive which coordinates all homeless accommodation on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities.

In one worrying instance, a case manager in Focus Ireland wrote to management to raise the issue of what a resident described as an "enormous" level of drug use in an unnamed hotel which is used to house homeless families.

"She said that mothers are taking tablets, cocaine and smoking weed in their bedrooms with their children present on a daily basis. She said that the staff seem to turn a blind eye to this," the case worker wrote in an email.

The woman living there said she had raised the issue with staff but was afraid to contact gardai in case her placement would be in jeopardy and was also concerned for her safety.

"It is unacceptable that this issue has come up before and it is unacceptable," the case worker said.

"Many residents apply for a transfer from PEA (private emergency accommodation) the same day they are placed here. There are no cooking facilities, no meals provided and no laundry facilities. It is impossible for a family to live with any kind of stability. The stress, due to financial strain and the chaotic drug taking environment is having a detrimental affect on every parent and child residing in the accommodation."

A worried mother also reported her young son having the chord from a hairdryer wrapped around his neck despite having asked staff to remove it because she was worried it could be dangerous. After the incident she alleged that staff "pulled it off the wall and left live electrical wores hanging in the wall".

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In another case a 78-year-old man who was housed in a unit had to buy a new key which then did not work.

He was locked into his unit and was "banging on the door for a long time" before someone heard him.

The complaints were released to Independent.ie under Freedom of Information laws. Also included in the documents is a letter dated June 5 2017 from pest control company Rentokil which advised a room to be left vacant for at least two weeks so the company could "get a handle on the situation that has arisen".

Pest control was also required when another homeless resident was found to have bed bug bites on their arms.

A public health nurse also brought concerns forward from a mum of two who said her room has mould on the ceilings, walls, curtains and in the fridge.

A number of complaints about residents staying in various accommodation were also made to the DHRE. These included one woman who was accused of pushing and shoving people and using racial slurs. Another resident threatened staff with bolling water and were asked to leave their accomodation.

People working in the homelessness sector are quick to highlight the complexity of providing adequate housing and supports for people.

The list of complaints being fielded by the DHRE serve to highlight this.

In one case a PEA placement was cancelled after armed garda turned up to arrest a resident.

Independent.ie has contacted the DHRE for comment.

The current policy is that they DHRE "actively pursues all complaints and has a formal complaints policy that deals with all complaints received. If complaints are received from persons or families who are accessing homeless service, the appropriate department investigates the complaint and then responds accordingly to the complainant."

The Dublin Region Homeless Executive ensures compliance with all the statutory health and safety standards is maintained by all service providers.

In addition all service providers must operate under protection procedures as required under Children First: National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2011) set out by Tusla.
Bank directors face the prospect of their board memberships being opposed by the Government if they don't deliver on their pledge to compensate the victims of the tracker mortgage scandal.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe told the country's top bankers he would hold them "personally responsible" for resolving the situation that saw thousands of bank customers lose money when they were wrongfully taken off tracker schemes.

His warning came during his meeting with bank bosses earlier this week.

The Government last night rejected criticism that they have stepped back from the issue and are waiting to see whether the banks will deliver on their promise to repay and compensate the majority of affected customers by Christmas.

Among the warnings delivered to bank chiefs is that the bank levy could be hiked and that discussions won't happen on lifting the 500,000 salary cap unless they live up to their commitments on tracker mortgages.

The Irish Independent has learned that Mr Donohoe also told the bankers they would be held personally responsible for resolving the matter.

Sources said the minister never expressly threatened to vote against re-election of board members at AGMs next year - "but the intent was clear".

"A week ago we were talking about taxation but the emphasis in the meetings was more personal," the source said.

"If the Government makes changes to the bank levy that has knock-on effects that will have to be factored in. The State is a shareholder in three of these banks.

"But telling CEOs they are personally responsible is what hit them. That stuff matters to these people. That's language that has not been used before."

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There is no question of Mr Donohoe seeking an EGM at any of the banks but he warned that he is prepared to "act as a shareholder".

"There are things they want to do that require the minister's consent. They might not get that unless this is fixed."

The source added it will "not be a case of walking away now and following up on this in six weeks".

"There are on-going contacts with the banks," they said.

Last night, Opposition TDs continued to heap pressure on the Government to do more. Fianna Fail finance spokesman Michael McGrath argued: "It's becoming increasingly clear the Government's intervention didn't amount to a hill of beans" and they got "nothing new from the banks".

He pointed out that even with the commitment that most people will be repaid by December, some people will still "spend another Christmas out of pocket by thousands of euro".

Mr McGrath said the Government might be hoping the heat had been taken out of the issue but warned this wouldn't happen because "real people have had their lives turned upside down by the banks and they are determined to get justice whatever it takes".

Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton accused the Government of conducting a "war of words" rather than taking action.

She said the Government must be prepared to use a "big stick" with the banks which had to be "taught a clear lesson that this is going to cost them".

She suggested an increase in the bank levy and changes to the situation that sees some banks not liable for taxes for 20 years due to the losses they incurred during the crash. She also suggested that the European Central Bank takes a greater oversight role of the banks here.

A Department of Finance spokesperson insisted Mr Donohoe made a "very strong statement" this week and secured apologies as well as a time-line for redress and compensation.

The statement said Mr Donhonoe had described the tracker issue as "a scandal that should never have happened and the banks' behaviour as disgraceful". Mr Donohoe was said to be determined to ensure resolution for all those involved.

Junior finance minister Michael D'Arcy last night said that the banks had "a few weeks" to pay back customers in 12,000 out of 13,000 cases and said "that's hardly a step back".

He said the ball was in the banks' court and "we expect the banks to adhere to their agreement end of story".
Rural Affairs Minister Michael Ring has ruled out running in the European elections in 2019.

The Mayo TD's name has been linked to a bid to take a second seat for Fine Gael in the Midlands-North-West constituency.

Senior figures believe he would be the ideal candidate to win a seat in the west with the aim of joining Mairead McGuinness in the European Parliament who is from the east of the country.

However, Mr Ring last night said that while he expects that the party will run a candidate from the west, "it won't be me".

Mr Ring said: "I love the Dail and I love the job I have and I have no real interest in Europe.

"My job now is to try and revitalise rural Ireland which I'm trying to do."

Mr Ring said his priorities include bringing people back to towns and villages and delivering the infrastructure to encourage the creation of jobs. That includes the rolling-out of high-speed broadband alongside Communications Minister Denis Naughten.

His constituency colleague and former Taoiseach Enda Kenny has been linked to the job of head of the European People's Party (EPP) of which Fine Gael is a member.

Mr Ring believes he would be a good candidate, given his record on the European stage.
McDonalds workers have revealed the menu item you should never order from the fast food restaurant and why.

Nope, not the nuggets (thank goodness) or the McFlurry (phew), and your late-night quarter-pounder is safe too.

The dish you should apparently never order is in fact the Filet-O-Fish.

In a discussion on Reddit where restaurant workers were asked to share which menu items people should never order, McDonalds workers agreed that the fish burger was a poor choice.

Well, it is if you dont know how to order it.

At McDonalds just say you want a fish filet cooked to order, one worker explained, adding that it takes about five minutes longer but is worth it compared to the filet that has been in the heated cabinet for hours.

A former employee of the fast food behemoth agreed: I can promise you that filet of fish is not fresh by any stretch of the imagination.

The workers pointed out the perhaps obvious point that the fish couldnt possibly be the freshest, with one adding: If youre going to serve me a square piece of fish that tastes the exact same whether I order it in Denver or the south of France, I am under no assumption that it is by any means fresh (I mean its square for f***s sake).

One person questioned whether McDonalds employees would really make something fresh to order, but a staff member explained that theyre in fact under obligation to do so.

As long as youre willing to wait we pretty much had to make it, they said. Same with fries without salt.So there you have it.

Avoid the Filet-O-Fish unless youre prepared to wait a few minutes longer for one that hasnt been sitting around for hours.

And even then, know that its not going to be the freshest of fish. But at the end of the day, people go to McDonalds for tasty fast food, so the fact that the fish wasnt caught five miles away that morning may not be the biggest deterrent for many.

McDonald's were contacted for comment.
There's something universally irritating about noisy eaters, but below the surface of the ocean, dining etiquette doesn't really apply.

Munching merrily on brittle stumps of branch coral, a shoal of rainbow-hued parrot fish is causing quite a commotion.

A black-tip reef shark wriggles to the silent safety of a shadowy jetty, white-spotted eagle rays flap their wings to pick up speed and giant clams appear to purse their thick blue lips in a concertina of disgust.

It's restaurant rush hour off the shores of Heron Island, a coral cay sprouting with dense pisonia forest and ringed by a brilliant white halo of sand, off the east coast of Australia at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef.

Yet, lifting my head out of the water to gasp air, I'm met with silence and calm.

Teeming with wildlife and natural wonders, our oceans are a noisy place. And right now, they're crying out for help, a reality we're only just tuning into.

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Marine conservation is a central theme of BBC One's highly-anticipated Blue Planet II series (starting Sunday, October 29), narrated by Sir David Attenborough, and the naturalist is urging us to protect an environment we know woefully little about.

Earlier this year, Australia's Great Barrier Reef was the subject of controversy when scientists warned that more than 90pc of the planet's largest living organism might have been destroyed. Having narrowly escaped being listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in Danger, a recovery plan is now under way - both for the reef and its worldwide reputation.

Sir David has been to Heron Island several times and describes it as one of the most magical places on earth. After his last visit, the 300-person resort was at full capacity. "We call that the Attenborough effect," says general manager Sandy McFeeters.

Located 81km from Gladstone, Queensland, the island is reached by a two-and-a-half-hour boat journey or, as in my case, by a 20-minute seaplane ride, wading to shore in clear, warm water with luggage hoisted overhead.

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There's no phone coverage, no disturbance and no locking system on doors. At sunset, a burning ember fizzles below the horizon, singing the sky with charcoal streaks, and nightfall invites a starlit 40-minute circumnavigation.

An important nesting site for loggerhead and green turtles, the peaceful island has a grim past as a turtle and mutton bird canning factory. Over the course of two summers, 128,000 cans of turtle soup were produced, but an alarming drop in numbers meant the business was no longer economically worthwhile.

A resort opened in 1932, although any ecotourism was crude, and gasp-inducing photos from the 1950s show holidaymakers riding on the back of carapaces.

Now the island, part of the Capricornia Cays National Park, is heavily protected. Of the 1,500 species of fish living on the Great Barrier Reef, 60pc can be found in the 21 dive sites at Heron island, says blond tousle-haired scuba and snorkel guide Rick.

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Passing the wreck of HMAS Protector, one of Australia's first naval vessels which will be declared a preservation site in 2018, we snorkel to Heron Bommie, a heaving tower of coral not far from the shore. (None of Heron's sites are more than a ten-minute boat ride away.)

Two blacktip sharks (Rick's "pussy cats of the reef") relentlessly chase a whitetip around spiral-ridged brain coral, while a green turtle makes himself a comfortable bed on cushioned plates, blinking only a disgruntled eye as we free dive to observe him.

Most corals on the Barrier Reef are hard, meaning the underwater scenery is a swirl of camouflage hues, rather than the bold neon brights associated with soft corals.

"Besides, below five metres, you lose any colour," explains Rick.

Even during winter (August) when I visit, the water is a pleasant 21C and the visibility is excellent. Cooler temperatures partially explain why coral has survived much better here than in northern reaches of the reef. Anything above 30C causes the organisms to expel their zooxanthellae algae, leaving behind a frail white skeleton, a phenomenon known as coral bleaching.

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Investigation into the effects of climate change is being carried out at the island's Research Centre, built in 1951 and partly funded by the University of Queensland.

"The scientific community is divided," explains Education Officer Lauren Bailey. "Some researchers say it's too late and others are confident the reef will survive - it might just look a little different."

Innovative projects in development at the centre include Professor Peter Harrison's plan to funnel spawning to affected reefs, and Professor Bernard Degnan's groundbreaking solution for controlling crown of thorns starfish (a potential threat to reefs) - by replicating a natural pheromone to lure them in.

"We have to redress all these negative messages," stresses Lauren. "We can't give up hope."

A similar outlook is shared by Peter Gash, manager of the eco resort on Lady Elliot Island, at the southern tip of the reef.

Mined for guano in the 1860s, the wind-whipped coral cay was left barren and desolate. Many years later, it opened as a resort and when Peter visited in 1979, a love affair began.

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Since taking over the lease in 2005, he has installed solar panels, cut fuel burn by 90% and replanted much of the original casuarina forest, bringing back a cacophony of screeching bridled terns and white-capped noddies.

"Not everyone is happy about that," he tells me. "But we make sure there are earplugs in every room."

Although no spring chicken, Peter is a dynamo. On a guided tour of the resort's back room operations, I'm lost in a muddle of mathematics as he details engineering innovations with vigour. Swept away by his energy and enthusiasm, it's impossible not to smile.

And he's obviously making a success; bookings for Lady Elliot need to be made at least six months in advance.

Simple rooms curve around the fringes of the island, and drift snorkel sites have been clearly marked out. Like Heron, the underwater spectacles are outstanding, and all within easy reach.

One afternoon, I spend several hours wallowing in a shallow lagoon, only accessible at high tide. "Look out for Buddy, our resident turtle," shouts resort manager Andreas Supper, from the restaurant decking. "He likes having his back scratched."

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Within 45 minutes, I've seen 14 turtles. Distracted by filling their stomachs, none are perplexed by my presence - although I don't receive any invitations for tummy tickling.

The best time to explore is at dawn, Peter tells me, so I nervously agree to a 6.30am snorkel. As we walk across the island in semi-darkness, gloomy pandanus trees appear to be lifting their sinewy roots to join us and flitting bats are in a rush to reach home.

Leaving the shadow of the beaming lighthouse behind us, we dive into another reality and Peter guides me on an underwater safari of his favourite sites. Polyps finishing their night's feed sway with the tide, sage loggerheads drift over ancient living columns and mantas glide elegantly with wind in their sails.

We're the only two-legged land mammals out of their depth; down here it's a real democracy.

As much as the sights are enticing, so too are the sounds.

An undulating whine wends into my headspace and I realise I'm listening to humpback whale song. Even though the migrating animals are probably a long distance away, their stirring voices are penetrating.

Yet, there's nothing melancholic or mournful about their cry. Instead, it's graceful and uplifting, striking a chord with hope.

Get there

Sarah travelled with Travelbag (travelbag.co.uk; +44 (0)207 001 5252), which offers a 9-day trip to the southern Great Barrier Reef, split between Brisban, Heron Island and Lady Elliot Island on a mixed board basis, for 2,999/3,370pp.

The price includes flights from London Heathrow. Based on a January 1, 2018 departure. Book by November 30. For more information, visit australia.com and queensland.com.

Read more:
After spending 21 years in business, local firm Digiweb decided it was time for a night of celebration and they, along with sister company Viatel, gathered in the Crowne Plaza on Saturday night for what promised to be an excellent evening.

The company with CEO Colm Piercy originally from Waterford and MD Declan Campbell from Newry were surrounded by an appreciative workforce, all ready to make it a most memorable night.

I wasn't too long in the door when I met up with Olivia Purton from Blackrock who works in Customer Care who told me they are an excellent company to work for and everyone really gets on well together.

After this I got a word with Damien McCann from Louth Village who told me they were all gonna have a ball.

Heading for one of the tables I then got talking to Mark Dowdall from Millgrange who was sitting having a time of it with Ronan Shevlin from Ardee, Michael McGahon from Killeavy and Brendan McGahon from The Loakers who all agreed it's a top-notch company to work for, their job satisfaction was 'going through the roof' and assured me the night of celebrations wouldn't be half bad either.

Making my way over to another table I then got a word with Sinead Murphy from Dromiskin, Amanda Johnston from Carrickmacross, John Byrne from Langfield and birthday girl Natasha Cotter from Dromiskin who was on for a double celebration with all her workmates.

Also in their company was Alishea Sammon from Newry who told me all her workmates are dead friendly and there really is a great atmosphere to work in. These sentiments were mimicked by Niall Dowdall from Dublin Road who was just after arriving over to the table.

Not too long later I then had the pleasure of talking to Melissa Carolan originally from Montreal but now hanging her hat in Bay Estate who told me she absolutely loves working for Digiweb and was going to make sure the 21st celebrations were epic.

Also at the same table I then got a word with Amy Woods from Ath Lethan Ciaran Belton from Saltown and Michelle White from Jonesboro who told me they were just 'loving it'.

They were also enjoying the company of Kirsty Burns from Bessbrook and Laura West from Medebawn who said they really are a fantastic company to work for and the night was going to be anything but a quiet affair.

Also at the same table were Diana Vasilfeva from Mary Street North and Christine Mulrooney from Kilcurry who have been with the company for 3 and 11 years respectively and just love it there. They were on for a major night of fun with Gillian Reel from Cullyhanna, Moe Kerley from Oliver Plunkett Park and Regina Fergus from Riverside Drive who said they are working with a bunch of awesome people and are so well looked after, it's unbelievable.

Heading for anther table I then got talking to Artur Klimkowski from Blackrock, Damian Smith from Drogheda, Niall Dowdall from Hackballscross and Cillian Dullaghan from Dublin Street who said the company are the best ever to work for, there's a great atmosphere there and they were definitely going to make the best of their 21st year celebrations.

Finally, before I departed I met up with Ronan Shevlin from Ardee and Anwesh Adhikari from Dublin who were have a combined 19 years service with the company and were all praise for it life everyone I met on the night. Whatever Digiweb are doing, it certainly is the positive path where their staff are concerned.
Expect the unexpected if you go to the Peter Mark salon at The Marshes, Dundalk this Halloween weekend as staff invite customers to join in the fun for annual Petermarkathon fundraiser.

This year, the Peter Mark team aim to raise much needed funds for The Simon Community and specifically contribute to maintaining the support facilities for homeless individuals in crisis as part of the 'Make it Home' campaign.

The vital work of the Simon Community is needed now more than ever as Ireland faces a housing and homelessness crisis.

The charity focuses not on managing but ending homelessness, ensuring that people on the edge maintain and keep their homes. The overall aim of the 'Make it Home' campaign is to keep and ensure homes for some of the most vulnerable people in society.

Funds raised will help local Simon Communities deliver vital services, which in Dundalk includes the Sunnyside Hostel in Barrack Street, the Day Centre services at Seatown Place, and supports for people moving back into housing in the community.

Peter O'Rourke, CEO, Peter Mark said, 'We are delighted to be able to take part in the "Make it Home" initiative to help raise much needed funds for The Simon Communities in Ireland. We know our customers will get behind this year's Petermarkthon in their usual inimitable spirit and style.'

Brian Ingarfield of The Simon Communities thanked Peter Mark for their support. 'The management, staff and customers create a unique, special event each year which brings joy while raising much needed funds for those in need.'
Alleged victims of Michael Shine (85) have been giving evidence in his trial, which entered its second week on Monday.

Mr Shine, of Wellington Rd. in Dublin 4 is accused of committing indecent assaults at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital on unknown dates between 1964 and 1965, 1970 and 1972, 1975 and 1976 and, finally, on a unknown date between 1988 and 1991.

He is also accused of indecently assaulting a male on two occasions in a clinic in Drogheda on unknown dates in 1973 and 1974 and in 1975.

During his arraignment at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, the former doctor replied 'I absolutely deny that allegation' to each of the charges.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Bernard Condon SC said that the six complainants were all teenage boys at the time and that Mr Shine allegedly touched them in the genital areas while treating them for injuries such as cuts to a knee, a broken ankle, an injury to a finger and an injured toe.

The first complainant, now aged 65, testified he was aged 13 when he attended with his mother at the hospital in 1964. He was suffering from a cyst on his chest which he said was quite sore.

In a cubicle a nurse carried out an initial examination before telling them the doctor would be with them. He said that Mr Shine came into the cubicle and his mother left.

He said he didn't know if she was asked to leave or if she left of her own accord. He said a curtain was pulled and he believes he was just wearing his underpants at this point.

He said the defendant felt his chest and pressed into his stomach. Dr Shine told him 'it all works together' before then massaging the boy's testicles, the witness said.

Hugh Hartnett SC, defending, put it to the witness that there was a campaign, run by a woman called Bernadette Sullivan, against Dr Shine. He said there was a lot of publicity around this campaign including advertisements and talks on local radio asking anybody who had been treated by Dr Shine to come forward to make complaints.

The witness agreed he telephoned a number provided by local radio and later met with the organisation run by Ms Sullivan.

Mr Hartnett submitted that the organisation arranged for the witness to meet with gardai and to get a solicitor to arrange for actions for damages against the hospital. The witness agreed that a civil claim was pursued. He said in a civil case he received 70,000 from the hospital with no admission of liability. He said his case was settled with the hospital about five years ago and he had never received any compensation from the defendant.

He said he had no financial benefit now or into the future from being in court

The complainant told the jury that at one stage he considered withdrawing his complaint to gardai. Mr Hartnett put it to him that his reason for considering withdrawing his complaint was that there was no basis for it. The witness said this was wrong.

On the third day of the trial, a second complainant said he was aged around 17 sometime in 1971 when he was injured in a motorbike accident. He was treated at the hospital and attended again as an out patient some time later, to have his wound dressing changed.

He said Dr Shine met him in a treatment cubicle. During the treatment the doctor opened his trousers fly, put his hand down his underpants and started to feel his testicles, he said. 'I jumped off the couch, I said either back off or f..k off,' he testified.

Hugh Hartnett SC, defending, told the witness that his client had no memory of seeing him during this time and put it to him that 'nothing untoward' had happened.

The witness replied: 'I waited 46 years and I am telling the truth. That man assaulted me. I'm 100 per cent certain of that.'

A third complainant testified that he was aged 18 in early 1976 when he attended the hospital with injuries from a traffic collision. He was treated for a broken wrist, stitches to the head and a leg and finger injury.

He attended as an outpatient a couple of weeks later and a nurse brought him in to see Dr Shine. 'When I was lying on the bed he started feeling me around the top and my stomach. He slipped his hands down and started feeling my testicles and my penis'.

'I told him there was nothing wrong down there and he said, 'I have to do this'. It went on for a few minutes," he said.

The witness said that the accused was watching the door during all this, telling the jury: 'I knew there was something not right. I didn't know what to make of him.'

Mr Hartnett put it to this witness that the hospital records from 1976 stated that he was treated by consultant Mr MD Sheehan. He said records of an insurance claim from the time taken against the other driver in the crash stated that the other driver's insurers had arranged for a medical examination in November.

The letter, addressed to the complainant, stated that: 'Dr Shine will examine you in consultation with Mr Sheehan'. The witness said he couldn't remember that and stated that he never met Dr Shine apart from the two times he described.

A fourth complainant told the jury that sometime in 1975 or 1976 he attended at the hospital with an ingrown toenail. He was aged around 15 or 16 at the time.

He met Dr Shine by appointment as well as a female assistant, who he assumed was a nurse. He said he was made to lie prostrate on a bed which he thought was strange.

He said a blanket was put over him and rubber bungee restraints were then strapped across him and the blanket at intervals. He said Dr Shine and the assistant wrapped these cords around him, tying him down to the bed. He said he couldn't move though he could probably have burst out.

He said he thought it was weird. He said the assistant 'all of a sudden' went out of his sight and Dr Shine was sitting on a chair and at chest level to him.

He said the doctor slipped his hand under the blanket and started massaging his testicles. 'The whole thing was getting weirder and weirder. It seemed in no way to be a medical examination. How could it be?,' he testified.

He described a random groping of his penis and testicles. He said he wondered if he should say something but thought he was just a young boy and 'who am I to say something?'.

'At one point he grabbed one testicle and pulled it and I winced. It seemed I startled him and I was never so glad of anything.

'He pulled his hand back out. I thought thank God. I can still see his face. He never said anything,' the witness said. He said the doctor then proceeded to cut away the toenail and said nothing about the 'groping'.

On day four of the trial a fifth complainant told the jury that he was aged around 15 in 1990 with a broken ankle in his right foot. He said a plaster cast was set on the foot and he was given an appointment to return later to have it removed.

He when he returned to Mr Shine's fracture clinic with his mother the waiting area was filled with people. He said Mr Shine saw him and called him in and he found this unusual as he had just arrived and there were around 80 people already waiting. He said he could hear some people giving out that they had been waiting before he arrived.

He said the doctor told him to remove his trousers and the doctor began examining him at his right ankle. He said the doctor moved his hand up towards is groin and groped his testicles and penis.

Dr Shine told him he was checking for blood clots there that might occur from having plaster of Paris on, he told the court.

He said when the examination ended he went back into crowded hallway outside the room and shouted 'that dirty b....d is after touching me'.

The complainant's mother testified that she was also there and was embarrassed by her son's words and she gave out to him. She said she knew some people who were in the waiting area.

Hugh Hartnett SC, defending, put it to the complainant that there were no hospital records provided showing his attendance at the hospital in 1990 or 1991.

He said that there is an x-ray record in 1988 in his name which refers to a left foot with no fracture noted. The witness said he never had an injury to his left foot. He told Mr Hartnett that in 1988 he did have surgery on his left testicle and he said he described this in a statement to gardai as surgery to his stomach.

He said that Mr Shine had carried out the procedure in 1988 and in doing so he had to examine his testicle and would have also met him after the surgery to check his testicles were operating normally.

He accepted he had a history of psychiatric care but denied ever experiencing paranoid delusions. He also denied ever telling a counsellor that he was abused twice by the defendant.

The trial continues before Judge Cormac Quinn and a jury of four men and eight women.
A large group of parents and pupils at the Save Our School campaign at Scoil Naisiunta Bhrighde in Faughart

Fears continue over the future of Faughart NS as there were no pupils attending the school at the end of September, the time of year which determines the number of teachers who will be allocated to the school for the following academic year.

According to a spokesperson for the Department of Education: 'The criteria used for the allocation of teachers to primary schools is published annually on the website of the Department of Education and Skills. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September.'

When asked if the school was now in danger of closing as there were no pupils at it when the staffing numbers were being assessed for the 2018/19 school year, the spokesperson stated :'As committed to in the Programme of Government, no small school will close without th e consent of parents.'

She continued that: 'The decision making authority for a school closure rests with the Patron of a school, and this is subject to the agreement of the Department. Any proposal to close a school must involve consultation with all of the relevant stakeholders, parents, teachers, students and local communities and follow decisions taken at local level. The Department is in ongoing contact with the single manager and Patron of Scoil Naisiunta Bhrighde in relation to the issues arising including its future viability.

The spokesperson confirmed that 'Decisions in relation to redeployment of teachers are currently being carried out and three teachers have been redeployed to other schools in the diocese.'

The Argus understands that the principal of the school has recently taken paternity leave.

One of the parents who removed children from the school said that while the department's statement about consultation was to be welcomed, the fact that there were now no children attending the school meant that there were currently no parents, so she feared that they might not be consulted.

She hoped, however, that the community would be consulted about the future of the school as they had raised funds for facilities at the school over the years.

There is currently a pre-school operating at the property which is attended by young children from several local families.
Founder of Glen Diplex, Martin Naughton, is presented with his scroll by Professor Brian MacCraith, President of DCU pictured this morning at Dublin City University where they were conferred with honorary doctorates

Dundalk born Martin Naughton was conferred with an honorary doctorate alongside former US President Bill Clinton at DCU last week.

The billionaire founder of Glen Dimplex was praised for his business ingenuity at the ceremony, where Professor Patrick Flood of DCU Business school hailed him 'an innovator who has grown one of Ireland's most successful international businesses.'

'Martin received very little handed to him on a silver platter and has been described as a 'self-made' man,' said Professor Flood.

'His global business success has been, in large measure, due to his vision, his perseverance, his dedicated focus on research and development and his ability to motivate and bring people with him on an extraordinary business success story.'

His business, Glen Dimplex, provides employment for more than 10,000 employees worldwide with extensive state of the art research and development facilities based in Dunleer, County Louth.

'This growth has been achieved through the exercise of the Naughton family ethos of honesty, morality, decency and integrity.'

Glen Dimplex grew from humble roots in Newry, Co. Down to become the global leader in electric heating.

Accepting his award, the Dundalk man also took the opportunity to offer some advice to graduating DCU students:

'You are a very talented group, if you want to be an interesting person and do interesting things, then mix with interesting people and do interesting things.' He added: 'We want to make Ireland an exceptional country that we can all be proud of - so do go away for work experience by all means but please come home, we need you to achieve our national potential.'

An engineer by profession, Dr. Naughton has overseen his company to become the world's largest manufacturer in domestic heating appliances. His company has plants in Ireland, the UK and North America.

He is a past pupil of De La Salle College Dundalk, where he funds an annual scholarship programme and is also a donor to a number of educational institutions, notably Trinity College Dublin and the University of Notre Dame. In 2016, he and his wife Carmel were named philanthropists of the year by the Community Foundation for Ireland.
Robert McLoughlin left and Gardai at the scene of the fatal accident on the old Newry Road

Another family was hit by tragedy when 29 year old Robert McLoughin was struck by two cars as he crossed the Newry Road to his home in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Robert had just got out of a taxi and was crossing the road when he was hit by two cars travelling northwards, close to the junction with the Racecourse Road at 3.15am. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The drivers of the two cars, believed to be woman from north Louth and a man from south Armagh, were uninjured.

The road at the scene was closed for several hours to facilitate an examination of the area by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators and Garda investigations into the cause of the accident are continuing.

The popular young man was coming home from a night out, having earlier attended Dundalk FC's match against Bohemians at Oriel Park, where he was a regular figure.

He was the youngest son of Sid and Attracta, who were on holiday in Portugal, and has a brother Stephen and sister Kim. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Catriona, niece Chloe, uncles, aunts, cousins, relatives and many friends.

Robert, known to his friends as 'Foods' because of the family's frozen food business, worked as an accountant, commuting to Dublin every day, and was a popular young man with many friends.

Local Councillor John McGahon, who knew Robert from their school days at Dundalk Grammar School, described Robert as his best friend.

'Robert McLoughlin has been one of my best friends for as long as I can remember. He's best friends with about five or six of us who are a very tight group.

'Robert to me and my group of friends was always the go to guy. He was always the guy you'd go to if you had a problem. He was always the guy you'd go to if you needed help and he was always the guy you could rely on.

'This is just such a total and utter tragedy. I've never been in this position before to explain it properly. All I can say is that he will be sincerely and greatly missed by every single one of his friends, who are in the hundreds. He'll be greatly missed by his older brother and sister and he'll be greatly missed by his mother and father and the rest of his extended family.'

Dundalk FC posted a tribute to him stating: 'Robert was a well known Dundalk supporter and his tragic death has shocked us all. We extend our deepest sympathies to his parents Sid and Attracta, brother Stephen and sister Kim and extended family.

We know that this tragedy has deeply affected many people in our community and everybody at the club sends our support to his many friends.'

Robert is reposing at his Newry Road from 2pm until 8pm on Wednesday. Removal on Thursday morning at 11.40am to St. Joseph's Redemptorist Church, arriving for Mass at 12 o'clock. Funeral cortege will drive to his home on the Newry Road and walk from there to St Patrick's Cemetery for burial. House private on Thursday morning please.
Brexit and its implications, especially for Louth and the border region were the main focus of a special conference held in Dundalk last week.

Speaking at the conference in the Crowne Plaza on Thursday evening Louth TD Gerry Adams said: 'Any move toward trade negotiations between Britain and the EU should only be made in the context of the British having brought forward clear proposals on how it intends to ensure that the border remains free, open and seamless. Thus far they have failed to do this.

This is especially important in light of last week's internal report by the Revenue Commissioners which warned of the significant physical and economic impact Brexit will inflict on the border. It said that businesses will require special permits and face a huge increase in paperwork and bureaucracy.

'It also warned that cross border trade, especially in the areas of the agri-food sector, with its large volumes of trade annually in live animals, finished products and products requiring further processing, will be subject to customs controls.'

He warned: 'Currently, 91,000 Irish companies, many in the Louth and border counties, trade with Britain. Revenue predicts that after Brexit, their customs declarations will mean an 800% increase in volume.'

Concluding Gerry Adams said: Brexit is the most serious social, economic and political threat to the island of Ireland for a generation. The various policy positions unveiled by the British Government, including leaving the Customs Union, will cost jobs, and undermine the two economies on this island.'
There was public outrage when images appeared on social media of the emergency services, including the Coastguard's Rescue 116 helicopter, being dispatched to Blackrock on Monday October 16 morning after windsurfers took to the waters of Dundalk Bay.

With a Red Alert declared for the whole country in advance of ex Hurricane Ophelia and the public advised to stay away from coastal areas, the wind surfers received a storm of abuse on social media.

The alarm had been raised after members of the public saw the wind surfers out in Dundalk Bay, and the Greenore Coastguard, Clogherhead Coastguard and RNLI lifeboat from Clogherhead, the Rescue 116 helicopter and gardai were tasked to the scene.

It subsequently emerged that they were experienced wind surfers who didn't need any assistance to make their way ashore, with a spokesperson for Greenore Coastguard describing the incident as 'a false alarm with good intent'.

This was backed up by Gerard O'Flynn of the Irish Coast Guard who described it as an 'innocent error', differentiating it from other incidents around the country.

'The bad weather hadn't hit yet, and they were confident about what they were doing.'

However, photos taken after the men had come ashore sparked a storm on social media, with people branding them 'selfish idiots' and calling for them to be arrested or fined.

An experienced local surfer pointed out that the coastguard had acknowledged that the men were skilled and competent and that they had chosen the safest location to sail (on shore wind, waist deep water at a time five hours before the big winds were due) at a time when the winds were just 25 knots at the most.

He described the comments made on social media as 'cyber bullying of the most vicious kind' and expressed fears that it would deter people from going wind surfing at Blackrock for fear that a bystander with no understanding of the sport would call 999.

The incident at Blackrock and other locations around the country, prompted calls for the introduction of laws making it a criminal offence to ignore severe weather warnings.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar joined the debate saying: 'I think it is something that merits consideration.'

The Taoiseach said: 'People who disobeyed the red alert and travel warnings didn't just put themselves at risk they also put at risk the lives of other people, particularly our emergency services. But I would never rush into creating a new crime. I think it is something that we will have to consider.'
Greystones woman Ciara Kelly has hung up her stethoscope and picked up headphones, with her new job as a presenter on Newstalk.

Ciara is George Hook's replacement on the station's lunchtime slot, taking the reins of a new show called Lunchtime Live.

After 20 years a doctor, 14 of those in Carrig clinic in Greystones, she is heading for Marconi House.

'It's with a lot of sadness that I am leaving my patients and colleagues in Carrig Clinic after nearly 14 years of working there,' she said on her Facebook page.

'It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work here in Greystones with some of the best people I have ever met and I have always thought that I got as much back from my patients in terms of support and feeling uplifted as I ever gave - maybe more in fact.

'I didn't expect to be leaving at this time Life takes some odd twists and turns but being offered the job of presenting Lunchtime live on Newstalk feels like something I would regret walking away from.'

'This is my next chapter. It may be great it may be a disaster! But I'd rather try it and fail than never try it at all.'

In the show, Ciara will tackle a variety of topics from current affairs and politics to lifestyle and human interest stories.

George Hook left his 'Right Hook' show on Newstalk following an internal investigation over comments he made on-air about rape.

The 76-year-old's remarks were made while he discussed the case of a woman (19), who alleges she was raped by a former member of the British swim team on his show on Friday September 8.

'Is there no blame to the person who puts themselves in danger?' he asked.
Powerful stories of real life experiences were heard from young people on the autism spectrum (ASD) and parents and siblings of children with ASD at a conference held in the Glenview Hotel on Friday last.

Presenters from health and education set out the significant developments in the provision of services but also outlined the many challenges involved in meeting the needs of children and young people with ASD and their families.

The event was hosted by the Co Wicklow Children and Young People's Services Committee (CYPSC) to launch their Children and Young People's Plan 2016-2019 and to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Ireland's ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by championing the rights of children and young people with ASD.

Minister for Health, Mr Simon Harris TD, opened the conference and commended County Wicklow CYPSC on its achievements to date and for highlighting the rights of children and young people with ASD.

Two young people with ASD shared their experiences. Ben emphasised the importance of a willingness on the part of educators and others to understand autism even if they don't get it. Niamh pointed out some simple steps that can be taken to make life for students with ASD more comfortable such as a separate room for lunch and providing a locker in an area where they can access it easily.

The parent presentations were powerful and emotional. One parent, Lisa Domican, told how she designed the Gracie App, to help her daughter to communicate.
Glasgow-born writer-director Armando Iannucci continues to make hay from the grubby business of politics in the Death Of Stalin.

Set in 1953 Moscow, this delicious, razor-sharp satire builds on the giddy success of TV sitcoms the Thick Of It and Veep, and the Oscar-nominated 2009 film In the Loop, which brilliantly lampooned US and UK military intervention in the Middle East.

The script, co-written by David Schneider and Ian Martin, is polished to a dazzling lustre.

'I have a bad back,' moans one member of Stalin's inner circle. 'Too much social climbing,' sneers a rival.

The vast arsenal of one-liners is delivered at a delirious and frenetic pace by a well-drilled ensemble cast.

Wisely, no one attempts a cod-Soviet accent, which could be an unnecessary distraction from the high-tempo verbal ping pong. Instead, we have a bewildering melting pot of English and American voices that reflect the escalating pandemonium following Stalin's inglorious demise.

Bizarrely, Jason Isaacs chooses a Yorkshire burr, as thick and satisfying as freshly poured treacle, for his foul-mouthed and bullish Red Army general, who prefers to make his point with the pull of a trigger.

Ee bah gumboots, it's grim out east.

Moscow is a city under the yoke of a tyrannical General secretary (Adrian McLoughlin), who mercilessly executes dissenters in the ranks.

When Stalin's meddling creates unnecessary panic at a live radio recording of a piano concerto, virtuoso soloist Maria Yudina (Olga Kurylenko) voices her displeasure in a letter.

When the General secretary reads her swingeing missive, he collapses and dies.

The following morning, chief of security Lavrentiy Beria (Simon Russell Beale) is first on the grim scene and gathers classified documents that could prove valuable in the coming days.

Close adviser Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi) arrives soon afterwards.

'Our General secretary is lying in a puddle of indignity.' he rages, surveying the tragic tableau.

They are quickly joined by other members of the inner circle including Stalin's bumbling deputy Georgy Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor), Lazar Kaganovich (Dermot Crowley), defence minister Nikolai Bulganin (Paul Chahidi) and Anastas Mikoyan (Paul Whitehouse).

Behind the scenes, these men forge secret alliances to fill the power vacuum and worm their way into the affections of Stalin's distraught son Vasily (Rupert Friend) and daughter Svetlana (Andrea Riseborough).

The Death Of Stalin is a ghoulish black comedy that deftly melds historical fact and bile-drenched fiction.

Iannucci relishes parallels to modern-day diplomatic wrangling as over-inflated male egos collide head-on.

Tragedy and delirium March side by side, blood flowing freely as the pursuit of self-promotion descends into farce and one bewildered politician despairs: 'I've had nightmares that make more sense than this.'.

Iannucci's beautiful nightmare is a dizzying dance macabre to savour.
Having won best Tourist Attraction in Europe, Spike Island will now represent Europe at the Grand World Final, to be held on December 10 in Vietnam. Vote now for Spike Island to be named as the World's Top Tourist Destination at www.worldtravelawards.com by Tuesday, October 31

Farmers, for centuries and even millennia in many instances, have been custodians of some wonderful heritage sites and features that are to be found in our agricultural areas.

From archaeological monuments dating to the Bronze age such as fulacht fiadh and standing stones, to the castles and ringforts of Medieval times; this heritage is a rich one. Many farms, particularly traditional farms, also contain a number of century's old farm buildings and structures which in themselves are a very important and very attractive part of our rural heritage.

The importance of these buildings and structures is recognized nationally, not least with the recent announcement of the GLAS Traditional Farm Buildings Scheme.

This scheme, run by the Heritage Council, in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, sets out to provide grants for the conservation and repair of traditional farm buildings and other related structures.

Grant amounts in the scheme vary between 4,000 and 25,000 and will not exceed 75% of the works up to a maximum grant of 25,000.

All applicants must be farmers approved in the GLAS Scheme and the monies will cover a range of different works such as the conservation of traditional farm outbuildings, including roofs, walls, structural repairs, windows and doors.

The grant is also available for other related farm structures including historic yard surfaces, walls, gate pillars and gate.

The process is highly competitive and it is expected that 50-70 projects will be supported in 2018.

The closing date for receipt of completed applications is 5pm on Friday, November 24 and for further information visitwww.heritagecouncil.ie/projects/traditional-farm-buildings-grant-scheme.

Remembering the 2016 Centenary

Many rural areas within the County, and indeed across the country, were involved in the Centenary Commemorations last year, 2016. More than 3,000 events took place nationally, with over 500 of these taking place in the County of Cork.

In recognition of the year, the Government saw it fitting to produce a publication documenting many highlights from the year. Minister Humphreys T.D., Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht launched the publication in the GPO, Dublin recently, available now in a number of bookstores.

The book is titled 'Comoradh Chead Bliain Centenary' and was edited by Ronan McGreevy, Irish Times journalist and author.

The publication documents how 1916 was remembered last year both at home and abroad and includes the main significant commemorative events that were undertaken; presented in chronological order with each chapter containing testimonies from some of those involved in the events.

Speaking at the launch Minister Humphreys said: "I was determined from the outset that 2016 would be a year for everyone - I wanted to encourage and facilitate commemorative events which were inclusive and respectful of all narratives. 'Centenary' is a great snapshot of 2016. It shows how people really engaged with our history and got involved at every level, whether it was community based events, the wonderful exhibitions in our National Cultural Institutions or the many State commemorative events over Easter Weekend."

Centenary is an excellent publication recapping on 2016 across the country.

Earlier in the summer Cork County Council also released for sale, a publication documenting 2016 in the County of Cork, available now in a number of bookstores around the county including Fermoy, Mallow, Kanturk, Macroom and Baile Bhuirne.

Planning for future commemorations

Last year was exceptional on so many levels but it also was indeed a precursor to the centenaries ahead over the coming five or six years, taking in the War of Independence and Civil War.

These centenaries are extremely important and the approach to their commemoration is worthy of much consideration and focus.

With this in mind the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has just introduced a Statement of Principles by the Expert Advisory Group to the Government on Commemorations to assist in framing the Government's commemorative programme over the coming years.

This process includes how the events which led to the foundation of the State and Civil War, might be meaningfully and appropriately commemorated.

Dr. Maurice Manning, Chairman of the Expert Advisory Group, noted: "It is important that the sense of inclusiveness and historical authenticity, which characterized the first phase of the Decade of Centenaries and which ensured the credibility of the commemorations, be continued into the arguably more sensitive and potentially divisive second phase. To that end, the Expert Advisory Group is initiating public consultations to ensure that all points of view and all traditions are recognised and respected."

Information on the Second Statement of Principles and an upcoming Public Consultation Process will be accessible shortly at www.chg.gov.ie/.

Heritage Council's Strategic Plan

With regard to the years ahead, 2018-2022, the Heritage Council is currently shaping its Strategic Plan for the next five years and are welcoming ideas, comments and suggestions from those with an interest in the heritage of the Country.

To aid in the process a consultation document has been created which gives a sense of the aspects being considered. Feedback is sought from stakeholders, local and national government and all interested parties.

Responses to questions which are included or on other issues that may not have identified are welcome.

The Consultation paper is available to view through the Raising Awareness section of www.corkcoco.ie/arts-heritage and the closing date for online submissions is November 20.

Cultural and Creativity Strategy

Speaking of the years ahead, Cork County Council has begun the process of formulating a 5 year (2018-2022) Cultural and Creativity Strategy for the County.

The public is encouraged to get involved in the undertaking of this plan and all ideas, comments and suggestions are most welcome.

To facilitate the undertaking of the plan there will be a number of workshops over the coming weeks. In mid and North Cork these include Mallow Library tonight Thursday, October 26 from 6.30pm-8pm; Fermoy Library on Saturday, November 4 from 11.30am to 1pm; Macroom Library on Wednesday, November 8 from 2.30pm to 4pm and Ballincollig Library on Tuesday, November 14 from 6pm to 7.30pm.

Interested participants are kindly requested to register their interest to attend by emailing creativeireland@corkcoco.ie with their date/venue of choice.

Submissions on the Strategy can be sent to creativeireland@corkcoco.ie and it is hoped that same will all have been received by Friday, November 17.

Friday, November 17 and the day before it as well, Thursday 16, are both important days from a Creative Ireland County Cork context, with the proposed hosting in Youghal, of the County's inaugural Creative Ireland County Cork Conference.

Details about the conference will be provided shortly online at www.corkcoco.ie/arts-heritage/creative-ireland and anyone seeking to attend (booking essential) can register their place by emailing creativeireland@corkcoco.ie or by phoning 021 4285905.

Upcoming events across the county

With regard to upcoming events there is plenty on the horizon.

On Sunday Ted Cook will lead a walk in Rathbarry, Clonakilty, titled 'Paying Attention to Life'.

The day commences at the 'Puffin Cafe' at Long Strand, Rathbarry, at 11am and over the course of the walk, Ted will provide insights into the native plants, trees and wildlife that are to be found in the area as well as information on the history of Rathbarry, the High Cross and Rathbarry Castle.

All ages welcome and for further information contact 087 2698681.

A few days later on Thursday, November 2 in Blarney Secondary School there will be a fascinating illustrated lecture regarding 'Mud, Blood and Bravery - The Agony of Passchendale 1917'.

The talk commences at 8pm and will be given by none other than renowned military historian Gerry White.

The Battle of Passchendale, also known as Third Battle of Ypres, took place on the Western Front, lasting from 31 July to 10 November 1917.

It was fought in unusually wet weather and the onset of winter. The holes in the earth filled with water, debris, and bodies, causing nearly everything to be coated with a slick layer of slime. Guns sank into the earth and troops drowned in the soft mud.

Finally, after 16 weeks of fighting in atrocious conditions, and at a cost of 270,000 Allied lives, 217,000 German soldiers, it was finally over.

The town itself was destroyed completely. For more information on this talk visit http://blarneyhistory.ie.

Next week's column will take a look at events scheduled for November.
Seven Drogheda teenagers received Irish Girl Guides' highest award - the Trail Blazer National Guide Award - at a special ceremony.

Anna-Kate Collins, Laura Galvin, Linnea Hughes and Sophie Kirwan of Cu Chulainn Guides, Laura Black and Charlotte O'Neill of Boyne Valley Guides and Hellen Orabiyi Wilson of Millmount Guides were among 107 girls from around the country to blaze a trail to Croke Park with their proud families and Guide leaders to celebrate reaching the pinnacle of Guiding.

Each Girl Guide received a Trail Blazer gold pin and a National Guide Award certificate from Irish Girl Guides (IGG) President Maureen Murphy and IGG Chief Commissioner Helen Concannon.

The National Guide Award is made in recognition of the successful completion of a series of challenges, including teamwork activities, outdoor survival skills, community service, global awareness and working with younger IGG members to help them develop confidence, independence and essential life-skills.

Presenting the awards, IGG President Maureen Murphy said: "All the recipients have worked hard on their own initiative and, in doing so, demonstrated self-motivation, commitment and enthusiasm. Each girl has blazed a trail in her community to earn the award and I am sure will continue to blaze a trail not only in her own community, but in wider society too."

As well as receiving a gold pin and a certificate, each Guide was also given a notebook with the message 'Follow your dreams - they know the way'.
October is breast cancer awareness month and Outreach Nurse Adrienne McCleery works across the north east, raising awareness on breast cancer and early detection.

Adrienne, from Beaulieu in Drogheda, works throughout north Leinster giving talks in schools, workplaces and pharmacies explaining the signs to look out for to recognise breast cancer and the difference carrying out regular monthly checks can make.

'Early detection is key to survival,' says Adrienne. 'Some 2800 women in Ireland are diagnosed with breast cancer every year and our survival rates are only at 84%. This sounds good but in other countries in Europe and the UK that rate is in the 90s and the earlier it is detected the better. Awareness saves lives.'

One in nine women will get breast cancer in their lifetime and last year 680 women in the country lost their lives to the disease.

Statistics also show that the rate of breast cancer in women aged between 20 and 40 has risen in recent years from 5% to 15%.

'It is very worrying and highlights why it is so important for young women to check themselves regularly,' says Adrienne. 'Lifestyle would be the biggest reason behind the rise. Smoking, high consumption of alcohol and general lifestyle issues are all factors in this.

'From my experience, girls in the workplace in their 20s and 30s, they don't think they'll get breast cancer, they think it's something that there Mum or their Granny or their Mum's friend will get. That's why it's so important to get the awareness out there.'

Adrienne previously worked in occupational health but when the role of Outreach Nurse came up just over a year ago she jumped at the chance to help educate women on the signs and symptoms to look out for when identifying breast cancer.

As her Mum and her sister have both had breast cancer, and with two young daughters of her own, the subject is one that is extremely relevant to Adrienne.

'It was something I was quite passionate about and something I thought I would really like to do,' she explains. 'I have a family history of breast cancer; all are now doing well thank god but it was something that was so relevant to me. I knew I'd really enjoy it, especially the schools programme which is a big part of my job.'

While the job is very varied, the three main areas Adrienne focuses on are a Transition Year programme which Adrienne developed herself and is delivered in local schools throughout the region, Women in the Workplace presentations and Pharmacy events.

'I'm based at the College of Surgeons but I travel all over the north east and Leinster region, if we have requests from schools or businesses through the website asking us to come and visit them then we'll always honour it.

'I have a bust mannequin which I bring with me, it has the simulated bumps in it that represent what breast cancer would feel like so it allows the people I'm giving a talk to be able to see and feel firsthand what they are looking for when carrying out a breast examination and that's a very important thing.'

Adrienne said there are eight signs and symptoms to look out for in breast cancer, including everything from dimpled skin to a sunken nipple, and the mannequin has all of them so that girls and women can physically see what they look like.

Breast Cancer Ireland has also developed an app which sends a reminder every month to be breast aware.

'Personally I think this is the way forward, the app is workings,' says Adrienne. 'We all know we should be doing it but this is just that little push to remind people on a regular basis and make it become a habit.

'This is especially important for the Transition year girls, they are 15-16 and raising awareness now means they go into their 20s being breast aware. We teach them that the week after your period is the best time to self breast check. Hopefully going forward it will save lives, that's the mission.'

Adrienne says one of the biggest barriers to earlier detection is fear, with many women putting off checking themselves or visiting their doctors when they have an inkling something is wrong because they are afraid of what it will reveal.

'Fear is a major thing, it really is. That's one of the reasons why the app is so important, if you download it and use it every month then you know it's only been a month since your last exam. The fear is only when you don't do it. Sometimes the attitude is: 'If I don't look I won't find and if I do look I might find and it's really about changing the mentality on that. Early detection is survival. That is the most important thing.'

Breast Cancer Ireland has three main goals, says Adrienne: education, awareness and research.

'A big part of Breast Cancer Ireland is research. Unless you are researching you are not going forward and huge strides have been made in treatment in recent years.'
The shortlist for the Drogheda Chamber Business Excellence Awards has been revealed and now the entries move to the next stage - a visit from a mystery shopper or an interview.

It's a very exciting time for all the Finalists and the overall winners will be announced at the Gala Awards Ceremony in the City North Hotel on the 18th November.

For those entries unsuccessful this year, there is an opportunity in January 2018 to receive feedback from the judges at a scheduled workshop.

This year sees the introduction of a new 'Public Vote' feature for the Awards. It's an exciting addition to the process and anyone wishing to support their shortlisted favourite local business should visit the Drogheda Chamber website to cast their vote. The response to date has been huge with over 5,500 individual responses. The public voting system will remain open until 10th November.

The Drogheda Chamber would like to thank all the sponsors for their wonderful support and to purchase tickets for the event, contact the Chamber by emailing admin@droghedachamber.com or call 041 98 33544.

The nominees are:

Green Business Award sponsored by Premier Sponsor Indaver; Aura Leisure Centre, Close the Gate, Kierans Bros Deli.

Start Up Business Award sponsored by Tayto Park; Boyne Boats, HIRO by Roisin, Listoke Distillery , No Three Old Bar & Restaurant.

Retail Excellence Award sponsored by AIB; Haven Holistic & Beauty Centre , Malone's Toyota Drogheda , Peter Mark , Specsavers Optician , Gerry's Fresh Food Bryanstown .

Best Pub of the Year sponsored by Cathedral Financial Consultants Ltd; Barlows Railway Tavern, Barocco Bar & Tex Mex Grill @the Westcourt Hotel, Clarkes Bar , The Weavers, The Hops.

Exporter of the year form Manufacturing & Industry sponsored by Enterprise Ireland; Aphix Software, Nature's Best.

Hair Health & Beauty sponsored by Zellwood Ltd ; A Touch of Class Hair Salon, Peter Mark , Haven Holistic & Beauty Centre , Simply Fit Food , The Brow Boutique.

Social Media & Digital Marketing Award sponsored by Scotch Hall Shopping Centre ; CityNorth Hotel & Conference Centre, Coppertops Digital Marketing , Count Her In , Simply Fit Food, Sixtwo Digital, Dawn LA Blog

Corporate Social Responsibility Award sponsored by Statestreet; Bank of Ireland, Drogheda & District Support 4 Older People, Drogheda Sail Training Bursary, Louth Volunteer Centre.

Medium to Large Business sponsored by Hilton Foods Ireland; Aura Leisure, Nature's Best, Osborne, Specsavers Opticians, Malone's Toyota Drogheda.

Sport Art & Culture sponsored by Irish Cement; The Highlanes Gallery, Coastal Ballet School, Duleek Drama Players, St Olivers GAA .

Woman of Vision sponsored by Coca-Cola International Services; Bronagh Conlon, Lolo Robinson, Margaret Reilly , Shona McManus , Andrea Hermes, Bridget Kerrigan.

Coffee Shop & Casual Dining Award Sponsored by Nature's Best; Ariosa Coffee , Barocco Bar & Tex Mex Grill @the Westcourt Hotel , Kanoodle, No Three Old Bar & Restaurant, Sage & Stone.

Tourism Business of the Year sponsored by Louth County Council; Boyne Boats, CityNorth Hotel & Conference Centre, The Highlanes Gallery, Listoke Distillery, My Streets Homeless Walking Tours .

Small Business Award sponsored by Local Enterprise Office Louth; Drummond House Garlic, HIRO by Roisin, Sage & Stone, SkyHigh Productions, Financial Companion.
Eamon Campbell of the Dubliners with Deirdre Hurley and Gerry Kelly on the Late Lunch Show in LMFM Radio last week. Pic Jimmy Weldon

From 9 William Street to the greatest music halls, concert venues and exotic locations in the world, Eamonn Campbell was a true star and a true son of Drogheda.

His death last week at the age of 70 ended yet another chapter in the history of the town, closed another book - a day when the music died just a little bit more.

A former student at St Joseph's CBS, he loved the guitar and began to learn under Frank Cassidy from Patrick Street.

His early music career would be with Louis Smith and the Delta Boys and in February 1964, the Bee Vee's Five was formed. They were out to cater for all tastes and practised three nights a week in the Palm Court ballroom.

Their first gig was on a double bill with the Graduates in the Abbey in July of that year.

They were managed by businessman BV Anderson and Eamonn was part of that set up with John Donnelly, 8 Peter Street,on drums,

Errol Sweeney, St. Anthony's, Mornington, on rhythm guitar, Gerry Saurin, Tullyallen, (bass guitar), and John Leonard. 4 Nun's Walk, who was the vocalist.

Eamonn joined Dermot O'Brien and the Clubmen but within a few years, Eamon was with The Tigermen, under the astute management of young Des Wickham and they became household names, with Timmy Regan and Ken Doyle two fine frontmen.

Manager Wickham, from Bettystown, said at the time: "Promoters are realising I have a good product to sell and are prepared to give us the breaks ' That's all we ask. I know the band will ceate the right impression with dancers. Trumpeter Willie Healy, guitar man Eamonn Campbell (rated one of the best in the country) and drummer Johnny Barton are all men with experience in the top league.'

They toured Britain and were much in demand.

Gerry Hughes was also on bass guitar at one stage with Charlie Daniels, tenor sax.

By 1971, Eamonn was back with Dermot O'Brien and the Clubmen, including Willie Healy, Tony Barrett, Johnny Barton, Derek McCormack and Timmy Regan, enjoying a hit with the "Old Claddagh Ring."

By this stage he had already met the Dubliners on a tour and as the years rolled on, his star rose. In the 1960s, many locals got the chance to learn from the best when Eamonn was the guitar teacher at the Sound Shop at 14 North Quay.

He became a top music producer as well as performer and worked with Foster and Allen, Brendan Shine, Billy Jo Spears, Daniel O'Donnell, the Fureys and Paddy Reilly. His arrangement of the 'Fields of Athenry' made it a world hit.

He teamed up with the Dubliners and toured the world for three decades, and latterly with the Dublin Legends.

He had his moments - once suggesting that the group team up with The Pogues to record 'The Irish Rover' - and the rest was history. He even appeared on Top of the Pops with them!

In 1985, he helped out Fiddlers Green and he arranged the old Woody Guthrie classic for them - 'Deportees' - about the harsh treatment received by illegal immigrants from Mexico to the United States.

He always loved his home town although he moved to live in Dublin and was a proud Grand Marshal at the 2009 St Patrick's Day parade in town.

He once said that Moore's at Sunday's Gate and The Market Bar in Magdalene Street were his favourite haunts in years gone by and his best thing about Drogheda - a walk along the Ramparts and back across the bridge to Mell. 'My mother used to make us walk it after lunch on Sundays,' he stated.

What they said...

"It is with great sadness that I have learned of the death of Eamonn Campbell, much loved musician and member of the The Dubliners.

"His loss will be deeply felt by his family and friends, and Sabina and I extend our condolences to his children Eamonn, Franky, EmmaJane, Niamh and Ciara and grandchildren.

"He will also be missed by those, in Ireland and further afield, who continue to enjoy his voice and his music, with The Dubliners, when Sabina and I met him so often. Many others will have the warmest memories of his work with many other artists." President Higgins

"I'm so sad to hear of the passing of the great Eamonn Campbell, a brilliant guitar player who played with the Dubliners for many years." Frances Black

"Rip Eamonn Campbell. A true Drogheda gentleman and musical genius." Fleadh Drogheda 2018

"Eamonn Campbell regaled us with hilarious stories last time we met on our New Years Eve special. The end of an era." John Creedon

"Eamonn Campbell RIP, no better guitar player anywhere, our condolences to Eamonn's family and friends." The Wolfe Tones

"It's with a heavy heart I tell you my lovely friend Eamonn Campbell from The Dubliners died last night." Imelda May

"There will be a good session in heaven tonight, RIP Eamonn." Paul McGrath
At the recent National Womens Enterprise Day Conference at City North Hotel were Regina Behan of Network Louth, Caroline Keeling of Keelings and Sarah Mallon of Local Enterprise Office Louth

Female entrepreneurs from across Louth and Meath shared their stories of success and survival in business at the Women's Enterprise Day event last week.

The Local Enterprise Offices in Louth and Meath joined forces to plan what was an inspiring and educational event, with women from all across the north east travelling to CityNorth Hotel in Gormanston to both learn and network.

'Our theme this year was 'Opening Doors to New Markets,' explained Regina Behan, President of Network Louth.

She added: 'We invited guest speakers who, through their work to date, have moved into new markets and grown their businesses.'

'We wanted to know what they had learned along the way."

Regina explained that the event was essentially held to celebrate and support female entrepreneurship in Louth and across the region.

Meanwhile Sarah Mallon of Local Enterprise Office Louth explained. "Recent research indicates that 27% of early stage female entrepreneurs in Ireland expect to get more than a quarter of their revenues from overseas work.'

She pointed out: 'That is why the theme of 'Opening Doors to New Markets' was so important.

Sarah added that the event was a focal point for giving female entrepreneur the opportunity to learn from others who had shared similar experiences in business.

'But we also wanted them to know that their Local Enterprise Office offers a range of supports to help them realise those expectations."

The event was a huge success, and the conference opened with a keynote address by Caroline Keeling, CEO of Keelings.

She was followed by IBYE winner Roisin Hogan of Hiro by Roisin in Drogheda.

The mid-morning session featured Niamh Sherwin-Barry from Tullyallen of the Irish Fairy Door Company, Margaret Robb of Sweet Little Babies in Dundalk and Margie Burns of Aviation Selection Consultants.

'Each speaker brought their own insights. Delegates listened intently, soaking up all the valuable advice,' said Sarah.

'They eagerly asked questions and the room buzzed during coffee break with opportunities to meet new people and find out more.'

To find out more about the supports that the Local Enterprise Office offers to entrepreneurs, (both male and female), visit www.LocalEnterprise.ie/Louth. Local Enterprise Office, your port of call for business supports!
The dastardly imperial forces arrived in Enniscorthy recently to wreak havoc and spread the word about the Cosmic Rebels Con which will storm The Riverside Park Hotel on November 4 and 5.

Members of the Star Wars 501st Legion Ireland were delighted to invade the hotel recently and alert staff to their impending takeover for a celebration of all things geeky from comic books and collectibles to retro gaming and of course Star Wars.

This will be the first convention of its kind ever to take place in Enniscorthy and organisers Ed Doyle and Brian Thomas are hoping it will be a huge success. On the Saturday, Paddy Lennon will speak on 30 years of Transformers and Michael Carroll will pass on some hints and tips about writing comics.

There will also be a discussion hosted by Ben Hennessy on creating a comic strip from start to finish and a horror documentary from Aran Doyle.

In addition there will be an auction and raffle in aid of the Jack & Jill Foundation and some crazy characters are expected for the Cosplay Competition which encourages people to dress as their favourite superheroes and characters.

The 501st Legion will also be on patrol throughout the day and there will be retro gaming competitions to take part in too.

On Sunday, Rob O'Dwyer will discuss voice acting while Michael Benson discusses all things paranormal.

There will be a Q&A with an artist panel as well as a Gray School of Arms Swordplay demo, a Super Smash Bros Tournament, a display from Ghostbusters Ireland and a screening of the Predator Celtic Days short movie.

There will also be vendors selling all kinds of collectibles and geeky merchandise and admission is free.

For more details on the weekend look up the Cosmic Rebels Con Facebook page.
My Bedsit Window by David Gilna is on the way to Swords Castle

A Swords actor and playwright has been given the honour of staging the first ever play at Swords Castle when he brings his self-penned 'My Bedsit Window' to the castle in December for a very special homecoming performance.

David Gilna has travelled the world as an actor and playwright but no performance will mean more to the Swords native than bringing his own play at the iconic local venue.

David is working with Fingal County Council on the project and was full of praise for the local authority and its support of local arts.

David told the Fingal Independent: 'I have been blessed that I have travelled the world with my craft, performing on the West End, The Globe, Off Broadway and beyond. But the journey I have been on since I moved back home to the parish with Fingal County Council surprised me more than anyone. I'm so thankful to Paul Reid (council chief executive), Coilin O'Reilly (council Arts Office) and all the team at Fingal County Council.'

David is no stranger to staging his work in his hometown, as he explained: 'The first staged production of my play in Swords was at my local pub, The Lord Mayors. Following that, launching The Atrium with 'The Unsung Hero' and now the Mecca, Swords Castle awaits this December.'

David added: 'My hometown shaped me as a writer and a performer. My roots and upbringing inspired me and I'm proud of my parish, the community and the potential we have to showcase the arts across all platforms.'

Speaking about his play, My Bedsit Window and what local audiences can expect from the production, David said: 'I bleed on the page and leave no stone unturned with this production. This play has toured the world but now I get to stage it in my hometown in the iconic Swords Castle. Wembley, Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square - you can keep all that - in the parish we have a castle and I have the honour to be the first professional play to be staged there.'

'My Bedsit Window' sees William Blake tell his own tale of life after college, as he makes his way through auditions, rehearsals, writing, acting and in the end the ups, downs, frustrations and curve balls life throws at him as he moves between Dublin, London and Hollywood.

Paul Reid, Chief Executive of Fingal County Council said: 'Swords Castle is a key element in the development of Swords Cultural Quarter and performances such as My Bedsit Window by David Gilna give an idea of the immense potential of the overall project to develop and deliver culturally for Swords and Fingal.'

Mayor of Fingal, Councillor Mary MCCamley said: 'David is an exciting local playwright with a great love and understanding of where he has come from. These performances are yet another giant leap forward for the arts in Fingal.'

The show runs from December 4 to December 9 and tickets are available at eventbrite.ie or you can reserve tickets at mybedsitwindow@gmail.com or call/text 086 0749111.
A man charged with sexually exploiting a child has been sent forward to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to face trial by judge and jury.

The 43-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is alleged to have sexually exploited the child within the Dublin area on dates unknown between February 1st, 2015 and February 1st, 2016 under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act.

Balbriggan District Court was told the DPP has directed trial on indictment.

After the defendant was served with a book of evidence, Judge Dermot Dempsey sent him forward for trial to the circuit court on November 10.

He gave the defendant the formal alibi warning that he must provide to the prosecution within 14 days details of any alibis he intends to rely on in the course of his trial.

The defendant has not yet indicated how he intends to plead to the charge.
A Lithuanian man caught in possession of 'card trapping' equipment intended for use in thefts from ATMs has received 240 hours community service in lieu of a prison sentence.

Vytautas Tarasevicius (40) was also found to have images of ATM machines on his iPhone.

Tarasevicius, of Jugback Green, Swords, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of card trapping equipment with the intention that it be used in connection with a theft in Howth on March 1, 2016. He has seven previous convictions.

The court heard Tarasevicius was walking along the road with a friend in the early hours when they were stopped by gardai who became suspicious of their behaviour. The men were found to be in possession of items gardai believe was intended for use in thefts from ATM machines.

His co-accused, Deividas Sevcenko (34), of Holywell Dene, Swords, earlier this year received 240 hours community service in lieu of twelve months imprisonment for his role.

Judge Karen O'Connor noted testimonials in relation to voluntary work in Tarasevicius's local community and a medical report outlining his health difficulties.

Judge O'Connor had adjourned the case after hearing facts in June to have Tarasevicius's suitability for community service assessed.

When the case returned before the courts, she ordered him to perform 240 hours community service in lieu of 18 months imprisonment.

Garda Paul Osbourne told Pieter Le Vert, prosecuting, that on searching the men they recovered metal implements from Sevcenko that they believed would be used to facilitate the theft of ATM cards from ATM machines.

Gardai later searched Tarasevicius's car and found further similar implements. His iPhone was found to contain images of ATM machines.

Tarasevicius said he did not know why the images were on his phone and could not explain why the implements were in his car.

He said an 'allen key' found on him was for a job in his house and a card found on him was a gift card which he had found and never used.

Leanora Frawley BL, defending, said Tarasevicius had come to Ireland 17 years ago and worked in the construction industry until work fell away during the recession.

She said he then went back to education and completed a number of courses.

She said the father of two was a 'family man' who contributed to his community and did all he could do to make a better life for himself and his family.

Counsel said he was remorseful and contrite and knew he had put in jeopardy all he had done for his family.

Counsel submitted his last offence had been 12 years ago and he had not come to any further garda attention.
A Rush man has appeared in court charged with dangerous driving causing the death of a 20 year old woman.

Lee Peacock (25) was due to be served with a book of evidence at Balbriggan District Court before being sent forward to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for trial by judge and jury.

However, the court heard the book of evidence is not ready yet as additional material is required. The defendant, of Seafield Court in Rush, is charged with dangerous driving causing the death of Jane Dardis on the Rush Road on October 25th, 2016.

Jane Dardis (20) lived on Ballyhavil Lane just a few hundred yards from the scene of the crash. Judge Dermot Dempsey adjourned the case until November 30th to give the State more time to compile the book of evidence.
The Coast Guard and the Skerries RNLI carried out a medical emergency at Lambay Island on Sunday. Pic: Gerry Canning

A casualty was airlifted from Lambay Island and transported to Beaumont Hospital on Sunday night after Skerries RNLI and a Coast Guard helicopter crew responded to a medical emergency on the island.

Shortly after 8.30pm on Sunday evening the alarm was raised by a member of the Skerries RNLI crew after they received a call from somebody on Lambay island, indicating that a person was unwell and requiring immediate medical assistance.

Skerries RNLI volunteers launched their Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat Louis Simson with David Knight at the Helm and crewed by Steven Johnston, JP Tanner and Jack Keane.

The lifeboat proceeded to the island where they went ashore and began to administer first aid to the casualty.

Dublin Coast Guard also tasked the rescue helicopter R116 to the island.

The lifeboat crew prepared a landing area for the helicopter, and the helicopter crew transferred the casualty to the mainland where a waiting ambulance transferred the patient on to Beaumont hospital.

Speaking about the call out, Lifeboat Press Officer for Skerries RNLI, Gerry Canning said: 'There were multiple rescue agencies involved in this rescue and it's great to see everyone working so well together.

' Our thoughts are with the casualty tonight and we wish them a speedy recovery.'

The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea. Our volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service in the United Kingdom and Ireland from 238 lifeboat stations.

The RNLI relies on public donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. As a charity it is separate from, but works alongside, government-controlled and funded coast guard services.
The Minister for Transport's admission that the Government is being forced to abandon plans to appoint the Irish Aviation Authority to implement a new noise control regime for Irish Airports has been labelled a 'catastrophic failure' by a Fingal TD.

In September of last year, the Minister for Transport, Shane Ross announced his intention to appoint the IAA as the implementation body for the new regime which would have given the authority the power to decide on controversial night-time flying conditions attached to the planning permission for the building of the new runway at Dublin Airport.

Those night-time flying restrictions are the subject of an ongoing dispute between the daa who want the conditions overturned and local residents who insist they must stay in place.

For over a year now, the Government has been mired in legal difficulties in introducing the new regime and last week in the Dail, under questioning from Deputy Clare Daly, Minister Ross was forced to admit that the Irish Aviation Authority could not take on the job.

Minister Ross explained that recent legal advice meant the work to make the IAA act with 'functional independence' in this are meant appointing the authority to the position was 'no longer a viable option' and the Government would have to look to another State Body to take over the task.

Deputy Clare Daly TD (Ind) said that communities around the airport would be 'shocked to their core' at the news.

She told the Dail: 'I feel almost embarrassed for the Minister and the unenviable position he is in because this is a catastrophic failure on the part of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.

'I could paper my house with the amount of replies I have received telling me that the IAA was best placed to be the competent authority to implement this regulation. In June the Minister told me the Attorney General was drafting and was about to sign off on the seventh version of draft regulations to give that effect. He said he expected that to happen in a week's time.

'That was the new Attorney General who has obviously stood on its head the advice of the old Attorney General. Now we find out, a year and a half down the road, that we are in the lap of the gods as to what alternative authority will be put in place to deal with aircraft noise.'

Deputy Daly added: 'What adds to the shock in this scenario is the fact that we actually highlighted to the Department the potential conflict of interest and the fact that some of the decisions that were being taken in Europe might lead to the IAA not being the best choice.'

The Minister also announced that the new regime would be introduced through primary legislation which will allow more time for debate, a move welcomed by Deputy Daly. However, she said it was of 'huge concern' that no 'competent authority' has yet been appointed to implement the regime.
A former Gorey Post Office worker who stole 1.75 million from An Post to fund his gambling addiction is to publish a memoir of his downfall and reinvention as an addiction counsellor.

Tony O'Reilly who was living in Carlow at the time was sentenced to four years in jail in late 2012 with one year suspended.

O'Reilly's account with Paddy Power had a 10m turnover.

The book, which is being co-written by Declan Lynch, a Sunday Independent columnist, will be published by Gill Books in March. Lynch and O'Reilly spoke last month at a conference highlighting the lack of gambling regulation in Ireland.

The book offers a narrative about O'Reilly's habit also includes excerpts from prison journals.

O'Reilly was married with a child when his theft was uncovered in 2010.

He told the conference he had 'lost everything - his job, his marriage, his liberty' as a result of his addiction.

He recalled how he even made bets on his wedding day. 'When I got to the hotel I discovered they had a computer downstairs, so I spent the wedding, meant to be the happiest time of your life, gambling away the money that was supposed to pay for it,'
The students of Bunscoil Loreto are ready for action after a very successful fire drill at the school.

Principal Aileen Kennedy said Gorey Fire Service had paid a visit to the school coinciding with a fire drill at the school.

'It went really well. We evacuated the building very quickly and the caretaker remained inside the building so that the firemen demonstrate to the children how someone would be rescued from a building.

'A number of the firemen have been appointed relatively recently and it was an opportunity for them to do a walk through of the building to familiarise themselves with it in case of an emergency.

'While they were doing this some of the other firemen gave the children a talk on fire safety.'

With a student population of 707 it was no mean feat to clear the school within minutes but Ms Kennedy said that all the lower classrooms have doors which open out onto the yard which allows for very speedy and efficient excavation.

'We also do a fire drill at least once a term so that the children are aware of what steps to take if a fire breaks out.'

Ms Kennedy said that she was very happy with how the whole school responded to the unannounced fire drill and paid tribute to Gorey Fire Service for their time.
Some of Wexford's finest food producers and stallholders including Galo Chargrill in Enniscorthy and Wild About in Gorey will feature at Savour Kilkenny - Festival of Food this weekend.

Savour Kilkenny is now one of Ireland's largest and most popular food festival's, with over 30,000 visitors expected over the bank holiday weekend.

'We are so happy to welcome our producers from Wexford who always prove a very popular draw to our festival', said Marian Flannery, Savour Kilkenny Organiser.
Tea and treats were the order of the day at a recent fundraising coffee morning for Gambia.

The coffee morning will help raise funds to send students from Gorey Community School to Gambia as part of their Gambia Gorey partnership.

Teacher at Gorey Community School John Forest said the coffee morning will be one in a series of fundraisers to send the students to Gambia for an eight day trip next February.

'This is a trip we do every two years and we will have around 25 students and four teachers on the trip which starts of February 20 next year. Half of the students will be from fifth year and half will be from Transition Year, Each student going on the trip will hold their own individual fundraiser and there will also be a couple of group fundraisers as well.

'We were thrilled with the support we received last week from the local community and people were very generous on the day. The whole morning was a great success.'

Gorey Community School has established close links with Gambia over the past number of years.
Dr Matt Cranitch at the University of Limerick in December 2006 when he was conferred with a PHD for his thesis: 'Padraig O'Keeffe and the Sliabh Luachra Fiddle Tradition'. Photo by Liam Burke

At the end of 2006 at a graduation ceremony in University of Limerick a doctorate degree was conferred on Matt Cranitch for his study and thesis on the life and music of Patrick O'Keeffe.

Matt is the recipient of this year's Patrick O'Keeffe Traditional Music Festival Award.

The award is presented each year to someone who's dedicated to the music of Sliabh Luachra.

The festival will get underway on this Friday night, October 27, at 9pm at the River Island Hotel and you'll see the details on the advert here on these pages.

Matt himself and his various music groupings including Sliabh Notes and, more recently, Jackie Daly and Paul de Grae, have been frequent visitors to various music venues in Kerry, but especially to the Patrick O'Keeffe Traditional Music Festival here in Castleisland each October.

For many years, Matt has taken a great interest in O'Keeffe's music, as well as in that of the other Sliabh Luachra greats like: Denis Murphy, Julia Clifford, Johnny O'Leary and Paddy Cronin. He has studied their music, especially the styles of playing, as well as the unique repertoire of tunes from this area.

Matt also has a particular interest in the special systems of music notation that were used by Patrick O'Keeffe to give tunes to his pupils.

"I was first introduced to this way of writing music when a number of Padraig's manuscripts were generously given to me many years ago by Mikey Duggan, fiddle-player from Scartaglin.

When I saw them for the first time, my interest and enthusiasm were fired to learn more about this method of writing music, as well as about Padraig himself and his playing. In my quest to gain further knowledge on these topics, I have been helped greatly by many musicians in the Sliabh Luachra area."

It is perhaps not surprising then that Matt's field of study has been centered on these notation systems as well as on Padraig's own fiddle-playing and music. The resulting Ph.D. thesis is titled Padraig O'Keeffe and the Sliabh Luachra Fiddle Tradition'.

The fact that a doctorate dissertation such as this has been written is surely a tribute not only to

Padraig himself, but also to the music of Sliabh Luachra.

"This study is an acknowledgement of the importance of Padraig O'Keeffe in the history of Irish traditional music. I hope that it will go some way towards bestowing on him the universal recognition that he deserves."

With regard to the thesis itself, it examines the various facets of Padraig's fiddle notation system, as well as his teaching methodology.

Also, the style of playing in his music is considered in depth, with particular attention being paid to the detailed features of bowing. And in order to provide an appropriate context and background, Padraig's own life-story is also examined.

In summarising his dissertation Matt said: "This study has been about a number of things: Irish traditional fiddle-playing; the music and fiddle-playing traditions of Sliabh Luachra; a school teacher; a fiddle master; the process of teaching the fiddle; music notation; the life and times of an extraordinary musician; a legacy of notated manuscripts.

"All these various topics and subjects are drawn together and encapsulated in the life and times, or in a word, the very persona of one particular individual, namely The Sliabh Luachra Fiddle- Master, Padraig O'Keeffe."

Padraig or Patrick ?

In order to avoid confusion on the issue of whether it's Padraig or Patrick in referring to the Sliabh Luachra Fiddle Master - it's a matter of preference and style and be assured they both refer to the same man.

The festival committee adopted the Patrick O'Keeffe version after hearing Peter Browne's 1993 documentary. One of the women interviewed uttered a heart-felt: 'Poor Patrick' while referring to his wayward lifestyle. It was the late Mike Kenny, with a thump of affirmation on the pitch pine, sloping counter of Sheila Prendiville's Bar and Grocery, who announced it would be Patrick O'Keeffe from that morning onward. Another day gone.

All festival information on venues and times will be available at: www.patrickokeeffefestival.com and in the festival brochures which will be available at the River Island Hotel and in pubs throughout the town.

Frightful carry on at The Market House - Chamber Spookes-person

Following on from the success of last year's Halloween film showing in the Ivy Leaf Art Centre, Castleisland Chamber Alliance has announced details of this year's Children's Halloween event. The chamber's events sub committee put its collective, creative head to work and will go one better for this year's event.

"With the help of art teacher Katie O'Reilly, transition year students of St Patricks College and Presentation Convent, Castleisland we plan to transform JKs into a Spooktacular Experience for one night only," said a chamber spokesperson.

"There will be something to view or participate in on all four floors of the building.

Doors open at 6.30pm. Halloween Scenes, Magician, Dracula and Halloween Games Room will be available for the children. Moms and dads can avail of a cuppa and some Halloween treats in Emma and Marie's Pop-Up Cafe," said the spokesperson.

A Halloween themed dance performance takes place at 8pm on the third floor followed by a kiddies disco.

Each child will receive a goodie bag on departure. Admission is by ticket only. Cost 5 per child accompanying adults free. Tickets are available at: Gaelscoil Aogain; Scoil Muire Gan Smal; Castleisland Boys National School; Kilmurry National School; Scoil Ide Curranes, Scartaglin National School; Lynch's Pharmacy and Tomo Burke Electrical.

"We would like to thank Katie O'Reilly and Brid Devane in particular for their energy and enthusiasm towards this project.

"We would also like to thank our sponsors Neil Hickey, Garvey's SuperValu and Walsh Colour Print. We look forward to greeting you and really hope you have a spooktacular evening," said the enthusiastic spookes-person.

Desmonds go horse racing...indoors!

Castleisland Desmond's GAA Club will hold a Video Horse Race Night on Friday, November 10, in the River Island Hotel.

This is a fundraiser for the club. Everybody is welcome to attend on the night and the club appreciates your continued support. First race is off at 7.30pm sharp.

First of November is Horse Fair Day!

The annual Castleisland Horse Fair will be held here in Castleisland on Wednesday, November 1st. Castleisland's last link with it's market town / fair day past shows no signs of waning if recent years and the crowds it attracts are an indication.

I mentioned here last week that I got a call from a man in Tipperary who was checking if it was on.

The fair was a regular feature in Old Moore's Almanac and I'm not sure if that old relic of decency is still hale and hearty.

A fine fair day makes a huge difference to the enjoyment of the event. There was a day of vicious downpours a couple of years ago and the streets were cleared by half past two.

On the fine days the on-street activity almost touch the angelus bells.

There are people who come looking for quality and 'blood' in what they're prepared to buy and there's always plenty of hand slapping and walking away and coming back.

And there are middle men egging the buyers and the sellers ever closer to that elusive sealing of the deal. The haggling over the bit of luck money can take nearly as long as the core of the business.

If you have no business in Castleisland that day you can do yourself a great favour and shoot off down or up the by pass as the town centre will be fairly taken up with the business of the day.

Presentation celebrates 90 years of education in local community

Presentation Secondary School, Castleisland celebrates its 90th anniversary on Friday, November 24, 2017.

The date has been chosen as it coincides with celebrations for Presentation week which is an annual celebration for the school community.

The celebrations will commence with a formal reception in the school in St John's Hall at 11am for the staff, students and invited guests.

There, stories and memories of the past nine decades will be shared with all those in attendance. This will be followed by a tour of the school, where guests will take a trip down memory lane as they walk the corridors.

A timeline of the past 90 years will be visible along the corridor of the main St Anne's building, as well as detailed accounts from different subject departments which track the many curricular and extra-curricular developments which the school has undergone over the years.

The wider community will then be invited to join the celebrations with Mass in the Parish church at 7pm followed by a reception in the River Island Hotel, Castleisland.

Light refreshments will be served as people visit an exhibition of memorabilia from the school.

"This full day of celebration marks a milestone of education offered by the Presentation Sisters throughout the past ninety years and we are delighted that the sisters will be at the heart of this significant celebration.

"Presentation Secondary School wishes to thank all those who have contributed photos, stories and memorabilia to the exhibition and look forward to sharing the memories with the community on November 24," said event spokesperson and teacher Pierce Dargan.
The car industry in Kerry and across the country is on the brink of a major crisis as imports from the UK sky-rocket thanks to a severely weakened sterling.

It's a trend that appears to be getting more entrenched, with UK imports increasing by 53 per cent between 2015 and 2016 alone. To date this year nearly as many cars have been imported into the country as were in the entirety of 2016.

The figures were obtained by Kerry Fianna Fail TD John Brassil who is now warning of a 'serious crisis' coming down the line for the motor industry in Ireland.

In 2015, 45,454 vehicles were imported into the State from the UK, with 69,571 registered in 2016, figures Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe released in response to a question from Deputy Brassil revealed. This year, 69,439 UK imports have already been registered in Ireland in a worrying sign that the trend is accelerating.

"By the end of September, nearly the same number had registered as in the whole of 2016. This is a direct result of the collapse in sterling following the decision of the British people to vote to leave the EU," Deputy Brassil said.

"Irish car dealers, new and second hand, are very fearful about what this surge in imported cars will result in. Even with paying VRT, it is in many cases, cheaper to travel to the UK and purchase a car there. The net result is stagnation in the sales of new cars and the bottom falling out of the second hand car market. Minister Donohue must urgently convene a meeting of stakeholders in the industry to develop a response to this wave of cheap cars with thousands of industry jobs now at risk."
Caherdaniel will this weekend pay terrific tribute to one of its most famous sons, Colonel Pat Quinlan, who was Commanding Officer of Irish troops that came under attack during the famous Siege of Jadotville in 1961.

Commandant Quinlan led the A Company of the peacekeeping Irish Army's 35th Infantry Battalion as it sustained an attack by local fighters in the Congo 56 years ago, but despite facing a five-day assault, all 157 Irish soldiers survived the brutal ordeal.

Later retiring as a Colonel after more than 40 years' service to the Irish Army, the Caherdaniel native passed away in 1997, but his legacy will now be preserved in his locality in the form of a bronze plaque embedded in Valentia Slate.

"Enda Kenny will have the honour of unveiling of this monument, made by Portmagee-based Holger Lonze," Pat's son Leo Quinlan told The Kerryman.

"The unveiling will take place at Com an Chiste Pass in Caherdaniel at midday on Saturday, but if the weather is inclement, the ceremony will move to the Sea Lodge Hotel in Waterville at 12.30pm."

Outside of the unveiling, an Army Colour Party and Guard of Honour will also take place, with Brigadier General Patrick Flynn and a number of UN Veterans also set to intend - including a few who also fought in Jadotville.

Colonel Pat Quinlan was not the only Kerry man to fight in the famous battle, however, and with that in mind, his son Leo has called on relatives of Corporals Jimmy Lucey, Patrick Burke and Joe Relihan to join the day's celebrations.

"I'd be very proud if we could have them with us," he said. "Indeed, the event is open to absolutely everyone, and I hope a good crowd joins us for what will be an historic day."
Garda Chief Superintendent Tom Myers has moved to allay fears that the illegal drug trade in Kerry is spiralling 'out of control' as figures show a massive increase of 71 per cent in the number of drug-dealing cases and a rise of 43 per cent in drug possession cases in the county.

The alarming new figures were revealed at a meeting of the county's Joint Policing Committee in Killarney on Friday, led by Chief Supt Myers and attended by County Councillors, council officials and community representatives.

The comparative figures outlined by the Chief Supt were for the period January 1 - August 31, 2017 as against the same period of last year.

Sinister drug-related activity involving threats to young people were also cited at the meeting by at least one County Councillor.

"Have drugs gone out of control in Kerry or is it because we are working hard on it? I like to think it's the latter," Chief Supt Myers told the committee.

"New energy has been put into the divisional drugs unit," he explained, saying he in fact took the recorded rise in drug offences as a positive indication of increased policing of the trade and use of illegal substances.

The figures relate to cases the gardai have detected in both drug possession for personal use and drug possession for the purposes of sale and supply.

It's expected the vast majority of these cases, not already brought to justice, will be prosecuted before the courts in the near future.

Drug policing is an area in which Supt Myers has long-proven expertise and success, having headed the drug squad in Cork City prior to being transferred to Kerry. Since he took up the position last year Gardai have scored a number of substantial raids on drug-supply operations - bearing out the Chief Supt's belief the increase relates in the main to improved detection. He also alluded to improved 'procedures' in detecting drug offences.

72 cases of drug dealing were detected up until the end of August this year; against 42 last year. Meanwhile 328 cases of ordinary possession were detected in the same period this year, against 229 in the same period last year.

Cannabis herb accounts for the vast majority of drugs seized this year (72 per cent); with cocaine the second most widely seized (7 per cent); followed by cannabis resin (5 per cent). Heroin also accounts for 5 per cent of the haul.

Cllr Michael Cahill meanwhile alluded to a case of a young student being 'beaten and made an example' of by a drug dealer. "If you get into debt with them up and up the repayments go and they made an example of this young guy."

In response Chief Supt Myers said: "I would encourage people to come forward. We have to stand up to these people as they are a scourge on our communities."
An Bord Pleanala has given Irish Water the go-ahead for the construction of the long-awaited Kilcummin waste water system much to the relief of the locality where inordinate delays in the scheme have stymied housing development and even impacted the state of the roads.

The appeals Board upheld Kerry County Council's decision to grant planning permission to the project in a decision last week. The Board considered the matter following an appeal of the Council's decision lodged in April by Inland Fisheries Ireland.

Inland Fisheries Ireland flagged its fears about the project's potentially destructive impact on the fisheries of Lough Leane and the Deenagh River. The scheme will see Irish Water building a pumping station in Kilcummin, which is to include an emergency overflow to the adjacent watercourse which discharges into the Deenagh within the Killarney National Park, MacGillycuddy's Reeks and Caragh River Catchment Special Area of Conservation (SAC 000365). It is also to comprise a gravity sewer that would cross the Deenagh with the same SAC site.

Inland Fisheries Ireland based its appeal on what it argued was the 'inadequacy of information' provided in the plans; the potential impacts on the quality of the water of the Deenagh and Lough Leane, arguing that the Deenagh River located within the SAC represents a very important spring salmon fishery 'with spawning and nursery habitats throughout its length'.

It said that the water quality of Lough Leane, while having improved in recent years, remains highly vulnerable to nutrients. IFI also argued that the Natura Impact Statement submitted with the plan for the project did not demonstrate 'that risk to water quality will not occur', requesting further information.

An Bord Pleanala considered the Natural Impact Statement and all other relevant aspects of the submission in full. "In overall conclusion, the Board was satisfied that the proposed development would not adversely affect the integrity of the European Sites in view of the sites' conservation objectives," it ruled last week. It upheld the Council permission on two conditions:

That the development be carried out and completed in accordance with the plans and that all 'mitigation' measures outlined in the NIS be implemented in full'.

Deputy Danny Healy Rae was among the first to welcome the news this week, saying he was 'glad' to learn of the Board's decision on the matter.
The ordination of three new deacons to the Diocese of Kerry was widely welcomed within the pastoral district this week at a time when the Catholic Church is struggling to manage the heavy workload of the county.

The three newly ordained deacons are set to bolster the work of the Diocese of Kerry and will contribute to ministry in their native parishes. Rev Denis Kelleher (Tralee), Rev Thady O'Connor (Kilcummin) and the Rev Patrick Coffey (Killorglin) bring to five the number of deacons in the Dioecese alongside Rev Conor Bradley in Milltown and Rev Jan Yves Letanneur in Tahilla, Sneem.

Although they are not priests, the three newly-ordained deacons are nonetheless addressed as 'father' by a select few: their children.

Indeed, Saturday's ordination ceremony at St John's in Tralee was marked by deep family warmth as the duty of robing the men in their new vestments was performed by their wives.

And their children played a key role in the event, not least Thady O'Connor's daughter Patricia whose talented singing moved the large gathering as she performed the Responsorial Psalm and the epic Litany of Saints to perfection.

The Permanent Diaconate of which the three Kerry men are now members is among the oldest offices of the Church, but one the Church has greater recourse to of late as vocations plummet.

Deacons can fulfill most of the functions of priests, up to but not including the celebration of Mass. The Diocese of Kerry describes their work as involving three major areas of ministry: Liturgy, Sacred Scripture and Charity.

Under the liturgical work they can prepare for the sacraments and officiate at baptisms, weddings and funerals; distribute the Eucharist at parish liturgies and to the sick and dying; and preside at benediction and other prayer services. Under sacred scripture they can proclaim the gospel and preach; promote Bible reading and study; and provide opportunities for religious education. And under charity they can minister to the poor, visit the sick and those in prison.
1. Yes. The ordinance goes against state law and is not in the best interest of the cities.

2. Yes. At the very least, it should be amended to give police officers some discretion.

3. No. Voters approved the ordinance by large majorities; the councils cant ignore that fact.

4. No. The petition process has to be given a chance to work. Leave the ordinance alone.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say how the cities should move forward regarding the ordinance.

Vote

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Valentia Island Ferry (VIF) manager Richard Foran has welcomed that four Ministers will seek funding for a new ferry to operate between Renard and Valentia Island, saying it offers hope to a service with an uncertain future. It comes after a meeting in Dublin last week involving Minister Shane Ross, Minister Michael Ring, and Kerry TDs Minister Brendan Griffin and Michael Healy Rae.

The 1963-built craft used by VIF since 1996 cannot travel from the 2018 season following orders from the Marine Survey Office. 1million of the 2.8million needed for a new vessel has been raised, but VIF has exhausted all means of raising money and requires support to maintain a service described as crucial to the Valentia and south Kerry economies. All three Ministers present and Minister Heather Humphreys have agreed to seek avenues by which funding can be scured

Following the meeting, Michael Healy Rae said "I welcome that the three Ministers that were present are supportive of the ferry project, because this is an acid test to see how much the Government cares about keeping crucial services in rural Ireland". Minister Griffin also told The Kerryman: "Every avenue we've investigated so far has had a stumbling block. But myself, the two other Ministers there today, and Minister Heather Humphries will go away from here and it's a matter now of getting around bureaucracy and securing the funding".

Mr Foran welcome the news arising from the meeting, saying: "at least the door appears to be open". A previous effort to secure funding through Failte Ireland's Capital Programme was unsuccessful as boats were not eligible under the scheme. Minister Griffin has been among those to say the ferry is the kind of project that should be applicable for funding from the tourism development authority.
New Ross is to be linked with a town in California where playwright Eugene O'Neill lived.

O'Neill's Tao House in Danville, California, is preserved as a historic site. District manager Sinead Casey said in recognition of the great American playwright's New Ross heritage, it is proposed to link the town with Danville as a Friendship Town.

'This initiative is coming from Wexford County Council's Arts department. The plan is only in paper but we want to bring the Friendship initiaitve to New Ross rather than let it go anywhere else. There won't be any cost implications for the district,' Ms Casey said.

District director Eamonn Hore said the town manager from Danville will visit New Ross next year. He said friendship between towns is not as formal as twinning, but it does connect the towns in a meaningful way. 'Danville is very similar in size to the New Ross district. The Eugene O'Neill Festival will start next October and I think it's going to make this connection.'

'It's a no-brainer,' Cllr Larry O'Brien said. Cllr Oisin O'Connell agreed, saying the new links with Danville will build on the town's links with America through the Dunbrody Visitor Centre and the Kennedy Homestead. He said President Michael D Higgins has expressed an interest in the work of O'Neill, saying he could be invited to either the Friendship ceremony or the theatre festival if possible. Cathaoirleach Cllr Willie Fitzharris said: 'It would be very possible.'
Wexford Deputy and Labour leader Brendan Howlin said the thousands of bank customers affected by the tracker mortgage scandal should be given a clear timeline as to when the issue will be fixed and they'll be compensated.

Deputy Howlin raised the issue with the Taoiseach during Leaders' Questions in the Dail last week.

'We now know that the behaviour of the banks, which the Taoiseach quite rightly described as scandalous, has impacted 13,000 customers.

'These are real people with real lives that have been damaged, whose houses and apartments have been repossessed, including 23 families that have been put out of their homes,' said Deputy Howlin.

'To make matters worse, we've also heard warnings from the Financial Regulator that there may still be some mortgage holders out there who do not know they've been affected, as two banks have not yet have identified all the customers caught up in this scandal..

'In other words, that 13,000 figure is expected to rise.' Deputy Howlin said it beggars belief that we are now over two years since the Central Bank began its enforcement investigation, and only a quarter of those affected customers have received any redress. 'The Central Bank has said that it wants all banks to start compensating people by the end of the year, but only three have done so to date. It is time for the banks that have failed to take any action to be named and shamed. 'This is simply unacceptable, especially when we see the level of real harm done to thousands of people who have been ripped off, and families who have lost their homes.

'What we need now is a clear and definitive timeline as to when affected borrowers will get their money back. It goes without saying that we also need a timeline as to when all those affected willactually be identified,' he said. Last week, Wexford man Thomas Ryan was among those who told an Oireachtas Finance Committee about their experiences at the hands of the banks.
Up to 20,000 people are expected to visit the annual Christmas celebrations at Strandhill People's Market in the unique venue of Hangar 1 at Sligo Airport from December 1st - 22nd.

Artisan food and craft producers from all over the west will descend on the village for the seven festive markets throughout the month.

Following on from last year's success, the SPM team have added new dates and new attractions making it one of the biggest markets along the Wild Atlantic Way this Christmas. The hugely popular night markets are making a return and will be opening from 5pm -9pm every Friday in December while the day markets will run every Sunday from 11-4pm.

With a focus on supporting Irish businesses, traders and craftspeople the SPM Christmas markets will offer visitors a chance to purchase high quality gifts and indulge in one of the many hearty food dishes on offer. The market has already proven to have had a significant economic impact on the surrounding area, creating employment, generating visitor spend and making a substantial contribution to the winter economy in Sligo.

"Christmas is always a hugely successful time for our traders at SPM" said Kieran Mulrooney, "We're expecting crowds of over 3,000 at each market meaning our overall footfall will see more than 20,000 people visit Hangar 1 this December.

This has a knock on affect for hotels, bars, cafes and restaurants in Strandhill and Sligo which is fantastic."
The inaugural Irish International Fashion & Food Summit takes place in Sligo this November 3rd to 5th and promises to be an extravagant affair.

The summit brings many world class speakers in fashion and beauty, food and business to the North West and is a must attend event for those interested in Irish Fashion & Food.

The event includes a diverse range of workshops and lectures to educate, inspire and entertain, a world class fashion show in the unique surroundings of the former Hazelwood Estate, food tasting and demonstrations and culminates in a gala dinner in the Radisson Hotel on Sunday the 5th.

Food Speakers include Michelin starred chefs Clare Smyth MBE, Danni Barry and Mickael Viljanen and many other writers, producers and food business owners. Fashion and Business speakers include the first ever Irish visit by world famous creative makeup artist Alex Box, former creative director at Balmain, Aimee McWilliams and renowned entrepreneur, Sir Steven Wilkinson.

One of the highlights of the summit is a top class fashion show produced by Joanne and Emma English where visitors can experience the glitz and glamour of Milan fashion week at the Lough Gill Distillery, Hazelwood featuring top Irish designers and TV personality, Aisling O'Loughlin who will MC the evening.

The Irish International Fashion & Food Summit would like to offer special discounts to all readers of The Sligo Champion.To avail of this offer simply log on to http://iiffs.ie/tickets-purchase/ and enter the code 'sligochampion'
Impact trade union hosted a meeting in Sligo for workers in the early childhood and education sector, with Martin Kenny TD.

The meeting took place last night (Monday) 23rd October at the IMPACT office, Fish Quay in Sligo at 7.30pm.

The meeting had been organised by the union's Early Impact branch, which represents early education professionals, including childcare staff and workers delivering the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme.

Early Impact organiser Lisa Connell said the meeting was an ideal opportunity for a constructive engagement between workers and deputy Kenny.

"We're delighted that Mr Kenny agreed to take part in this discussion, which is part of a series of meetings we are running across a number of regions around the country.

"The early education sector is facing a very real crisis due to the ongoing lack of investment in the sector, and this is an opportunity for policy makers to dig deeper on the issue by talking to the professionals who deliver the services," she said.

Ms Connell added that, while the recent budget saw some improvement in state funding, which should be of benefit to parents and families, there is still a very severe lack of investment which Ms Connell said "translates into very low levels of pay for highly qualified early education professionals."

Ms Connell said calls by childcare providers to reduce qualification standards for employees was not the answer.

"This is essentially a call to drive down wages, and force qualified professionals out of the sector. Parents wouldn't tolerate a situation where qualification standards were reduced for teachers in our schools, why would they tolerate it for their pre-school children?

"I think this is short term thinking, and will only serve to diminish the educational standards in the crucial pre-school years, where children are learning how to learn," she said.

Ms Connell said: "We want to hear from as many people as possible, as this is a conversation that could spark really positive change in this crucial sector." she said.
Ruth Fitzmaurice was born in 1976 and grew up in Co. Louth. She lives in Greystones with Simon, their five children, Jack, Raife, Arden, Sadie and Hunter, and a team of nurses and carers.

She was a radio researcher and producer when she married film director and writer Simon, in 2004, and had three children. In 2008, Simon was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and given three years to live. Simon went into respiratory failure in 2010 and was accidentally placed on a ventilator during an emergency procedure. He decided, against medical advice, to keep the ventilator; Ruth and Simon went on to have twins in 2012. In January 2016, Ruth wrote her first piece for the Irish Times about family life and a new passion, sea swimming.

If ever there was a lesson in living the fullest, most passionate life you can, this is it!

I Found My Tribe is one of the most moving memoirs I have ever read. Living with her husband Simon, who was diagnosed with motor neuron disease and her five children, Ruth Fitzmaurice writes so honestly and vividly about her family's life that you will think about the Fitzmaurice's long after you have turned the final page. It is beautifully written with clever descriptions and vivid imagery that will take your breath away.

Writing to the background noise of Simon's medical machines, twenty four hour carers and five children, Ruth candidly writes about her life as she navigates various different themes including grief, friendship and love and the strength she has in the face of adversity.

Ruth's other tribe are a group of like-minded women who jokingly call themselves the Tragic Wives Swimming Club who gather regularly at Ladies' Cove in Greystones and immerse themselves and their problems into the freezing Irish Sea. Swimming in the turbulent waters just off the cove is just one of the coping mechanisms Ruth uses to help face the mounting challenges that she, her husband and family now face.

I found my tribe is an uplifting powerful memoir that will make you laugh and cry in equal measures. I urge everyone to read it.
The logo on Rene Gapert's business card is a picture of a grinning skull but he is no Halloween Scooby-Doo, scares and dares merchant.

The affable man with the ready smile and the cheery manner regularly deals in real skulls and is used to the sometimes grisly business of examining real bodies. Read the fine print on the card to discover that 40-year-old Dr Gapert is a forensic anthropologist, with an impressive string of initials after his name to prove it. He is the person to call whenever bones are discovered in mysterious or suspicious circumstances - just like in the TV series 'Bones'.

His number is on the phone of An Garda Siochana and of most county coroners around the State who have him on permanent stand-by to assist in investigations into discoveries which are potentially sinister or out of the ordinary.

His is the profession in demand whenever disasters, such as the recent Grenville Tower tragedy, strike leaving the authorities facing the challenge of identifying victims.

The Bray resident with the eye-catching logo trades under the business name Human Remains Services Ireland as that seems to describe best what he does. The remains in question may be of the recently deceased or they may have been lying interred for centuries but he has to treat them all with the same objectivity and the same respect.

The Christian name sounds French but Rene Gapert is in fact German, a native of Wuppertal east of Dusseldorf and his accent still carries noticeable traces of the land of his birth. However, most of the inflections in his speech are pure Irish as he has been living here for almost half of his life, blessed with an Irish wife Alison and doting on a young Irish daughter Muireann. He is at a complete loss to explain how it was he realised from an early age that he wanted to follow the most unusual career path that he has pursued - but he did.

'I don't know where it came from,' he says simply. 'I suppose I was always interested in medicine and science.' He reckoned he would never clock up the points in the equivalent of the Leaving Cert to become a medical doctor, so he had to find an alternative strategy to pursue his natural inclinations. When still a schoolboy, he looked for a work placement in the pathology department of a hospital where the mystique surrounding dead bodies was blown away for young Rene. Rather than drilling on some military parade ground when he enlisted for national service, he volunteered to spend his time working beside professional pathologists.

From an early stage he was present as post mortems were held on those who had died in circumstance which required some explanation or clarification: 'I am not squeamish.' He benefited from the German apprenticeship system which puts practical experience on a par with book learning in many crafts and profession. He became a 'mortuary technician' with first-hand knowledge of anatomy and a grasp of the fundamentals of forensics, backed by an academic understanding of pathology and biology.

While attached to a hospital in Berlin, he became familiar with the routine of the 7 a.m. autopsy as well as attending formal lectures later in the day. One of his duties while in the laboratory was the preparation of specimens - typically human organs such as hearts - to show to medical students. This practice traditionally involved glass jars and gallon of formaldehyde but Rene had the good fortune to find himself training under the guidance of anatomist Gunther van Hagens in Heidelberg where an alternative technique has been developed. Van Hagens may not be a household name in most houses but he is legend in certain circles for devising plastination, using polymers to leave specimens odourless and easily handled.

The technology of plastination has proven invaluable in medical schools and has been used to dramatic effect in exhibitions such as 'Bodies' which allow the general public an insight into anatomy. As part of his training, the young man from Westphalia learned how to clean up skeletons and wire them back together for display. He also became adept in the art of making death masks, a strong German tradition since the 1920s, and in making casts of bones.

Rene Gapert's apprenticeship concluded when he was 21 years of age, time to find a full-time job. Just as he had been sure what he wanted to do, the qualified mortuary technician had firm ideas of where he wanted to do it.

'I had this notion that Ireland would be a lovely place, though I only knew Ireland from its traditional music,' he recalls. 'I was always in contact with hospitals in Ireland.' If enjoying the songs of Planxty and The Dubliners was not enough, then there were always the joys of watching 'The Commitments' movie. He had also visited this country, taking time out in the wilds of Spiddal after his mother died.

The four weeks in Co. Galway were 'very good healing time' was Rene recalls, adding that he took time out from the countryside to talk to anatomists in Galway city.

'They maybe thought me strange because I was so enthusiastic,' he reflects.

In 1998 he spotted an advertisement for a post at Tallaght Hospital for which he was amply qualified, perhaps too much so. He flew into Dublin for the interview and, though he failed to land the job, somehow never really went home. By sheer good luck his eye was drawn to another advert, this one placed in the papers by Fanagan's, the undertakers. They were looking for an embalmer adapted to make the loved ones of Irish family fit to be presented at wakes and in churches.

Rene had skills which appeared compatible, though German coffins are never presented unsealed in public. The job did not materialise but through Fanagan's he was referred to St Vincent's Hospital on the south side of the city where they hired him as a mortuary technician. As his standard of spoken English improved, Vincent's led on to nearby UCD, where his talent for dissection and plastination were appreciated by the college's school of medicine. It was a part-time post which he filled out by giving anatomy lessons which he found he enjoyed.

Once settled on campus, he was also well placed to pursue his own studies as well as assisting undergraduates in theirs - and once again, he knew the direction in which he must travel. He was attracted to the field of forensic anthropology, identifying unknown remains from skeletons, from shallow graves, from mutilated bodies, from decomposed corpses. It is a field of knowledge which has been developed in the light some of the mankind's most shameful incidents at mass graves in Iraq and Syria. The skills of forensic anthropologists are honed on plane crash sites and in the blackened aftermath of catastrophic fires.

Rene was taken on as a PhD student by a college in Scotland though much of his study time was actually passed in the basement of a London church. St Bride's was severely damaged during the Blitz of World War Two but the crypt survived, becoming an improvised laboratory for scientists with an interest in bones.

With 158 heads to work on, it was there that Rene was able to refine measurements which allowed members of his rare profession improve their ability to deduce the sex of the dead from the skull. Rene has applied such techniques - known as craniometrics - in examining specimens from Australia held by European museums before their repatriation Down Under at the request of indigenous tribes.

He graduated with his doctorate in 2009, the first member of his family to achieve such academic distinction, and he has continued since to broaden his knowledge and experience. Modern forensic analysis calls for use of three-dimensional printing and CT/MRI scans, for instance, and he must remain up-to-date. He broke away from UCD in the past year to set up on his own account.

He is reluctant to discuss individual cases but makes no secret that in recent months, three different coroners have been in touch.

They needed to know quickly and discreetly whether remains unearthed were so old as to be archaeological or so unexplained as to need garda investigation. He has done work on the so-called Disappeared, killed during The Troubles by the IRA, some of whose bodies are now being disinterred from improvised graves.

On a less distressing note, he is delighted to be involved in a project to examine the death masks of famous 18th century satirist Dean Jonathan Swift and his friend Esther Johnson, generally remembered as Stella. He and some fellow enthusiasts have created 3-D models of the couple, with their findings to be presented in public at an event at the Science Gallery in Trinity College on November 24. It should make a fascinating evening.
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 01: Annabella Sciorra attends the 26th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards at NYU Skirball Center on May 1, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Steve Mack/Getty Images)

Annabella Sciorra was encouraged to come forward by her friend actress Rosie Perez to accuse Harvey Weinstein of raping her 20 years ago.

The 57-year-old, who had roles in Cop Land and The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, made the allegation in a new expose in The New Yorker on Friday.

Sciorra, Daryl Hannah and Ellen Barkin spoke to the publication about their harrowing encounters with the powerful movie producer, who has been disgraced after countless allegations against him of sexual assault and harassment.

The Italian-American actress said she struggled to speak about Weinstein for more than 20 years, but her friend Rosie Perez encouraged her to come forward.

Sciorra said the movie mogul forced himself on her after barging his way into her apartment after dropping her off. "He shoved me onto the bed, and he got on top of me, she said of Weinstein, who allegedly locked her arms over her head with one hand and forced sexual intercourse on her.

Then he attempted to perform oral sex on me. And I struggled, but I had very little strength left in me, Sciorra also claimed.

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Hannah also recalled two incidents with Weinstein to The New Yorker, alleging he once "pounded on her hotel room door until she, in one case, escaped out a back entrance. She said he also asked her if he could touch her breast" in a separate incident.

I feel a moral obligation to support the women who have suffered much more egregious transgressions, Hannah said, later admitting she experienced instant repercussions for rejecting his sexual advances.

Its one of those things your body has to adjust to. You get dragged into the gutter of nastiness and pettiness and shame and all of these things, and it sometimes seems healthier and wiser to just move on with your life and not allow yourself to be re-victimised," the Kill Bill star added.

Sallie Hofmeister, a spokesperson for Weinstein, issued a statement in response to the allegations by Sciorra and Hannah. Mr. Weinstein unequivocally denies any allegations of non-consensual sex."

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While Barkin was never sexually assaulted by Weinstein, she said he frequently verbally abused her.

"The repercussions are real," she explained. "I was terrified Harvey was going to make it impossible to go back to work, with those tentacles of his. This fear of losing your career is not losing your ticket to a borrowed dress and earrings someone paid you to wear. Its losing your ability to support yourself, to support your family, and this is f**king real whether you are the biggest or movie star or the lowest-pay-grade assistant.
Princess Eugenie of York (L) and Princess Beatrice of York are seen in the Parade Ring as she attends Royal Ascot 2017 at Ascot Racecourse on June 22, 2017 in Ascot, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

(left to right) Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Anne, Princess Royal, Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Beatrice at a garden party at Buckingham Palace on May 16, 2017 in London, England .(Photo by Victoria Jones - WPA Pool /Getty Images)

Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Eugenie of York attend Royal Ascot 2017 at Ascot Racecourse on June 20, 2017 in Ascot, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Princess Beatrice of York is seen in the Parade Ring as she attends Royal Ascot 2017 at Ascot Racecourse on June 22, 2017 in Ascot, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Princess Beatrice of York (L), Princess Eugenie of York (C) and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (R) watch the action from the royal balcony during the Investec Derby, at the start of the weekend marking the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, at Epsom Racecourse on June 2, 2012 in Epsom, England. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Princess Beatrice of York and Sarah, Duchess of York attends The Novak Djokovic Foundation's inaugural dinner at Capitale on September 12, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images)

Princess Eugenie, Princess Beatrice and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York hold hands in the parade ring on day 4 of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse on June 19, 2015 in Ascot, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

(L-R) Princess Eugenie Ferguson, Sarah Ferguson,the Duchess of York, and Princess Beatrice Ferguson attend the premiere of "Young Victoria" at the Roy Thompson Hall as part of the Toronto International Film Festival on September 19, 2009 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Jim Ross/Getty Images)

Princess Beatrice, producer Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson, and Princess Eugenie arrive at The Young Victoria Los Angeles Screening at the Pacific Theatres at The Grove on December 3, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Beatrice leave York Minster after a Maundy Thursday Service at on April 5, 2012 in York, England. Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Beatrice are visiting York today as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York (R) and Princess Beatrice of York attend the Fashion for Relief event during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Aeroport Cannes Mandelieu on May 21, 2017 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)

Princess Beatrice has opened up about her remarkably close relationship with her mother Sarah Ferguson, describing her as "one of the most misunderstood women in the world."

After Sarah divorced Prince Andrew in 1996, she was given the title Duchess of York, things between her and the rest of the British royals have reportedly been strained over the years. Back in 1992, she was having her toes sucked by financial adviser John Bryant and as recently as 2010, she was embroiled in fresh scandal when she was recorded bargaining an introduction to her ex-husband for 500,000. She apologised for the "serious lapse in judgment".

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Whatsapp Princess Eugenie, Princess Beatrice and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York hold hands in the parade ring on day 4 of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse on June 19, 2015 in Ascot, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

But time heals all wounds and her oldest daughter certainly cherishes her and her positive influence, praising her mother for always teaching her and her sister Princess Eugenie the importance of kindness.

"We've been through some incredibly stressful times together as a family and every single minute she created joy. I am so lucky that I get to lean from her every single day. I'm inspired by her ability to give, even when she's going through something hard," she told Hello! magazine.

"Her grandmother always said,'When you feel bad about yourself, go out there and do something for somebody else'. That's an incredible motto that my family has always lived by. My mother is just remakrable."

Beatrice, who lives in New York where she works with an American software company, went on to praise her grandmother, Britain's Queen Elizabeth for her support as a role model.

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Whatsapp Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Beatrice leave York Minster after a Maundy Thursday Service at on April 5, 2012 in York, England. Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Beatrice are visiting York today as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

"I have two role models, my mother and my grandmother. They are both formidable women. I think having female role models is incredibly important and I am very lucky that I happen to be related to these two incredible women," she added.

"I find my grandmother inspiring every day because her overwhelming sense of duty is linked with an overwhelming sense of curiousity. Every day she's curious to lean something, to do something new. And I think that at 91 years old, she goes out in the community with a genuine curiosity as to how she can be a force for good in the world. She also looks for ways in which she can inspire communities and I admire the way she works so hard."

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A tram passes in front of the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco (Pikappa/Getty Images)

British Summer Time comes to an end at 2am on October 29 when the clocks will go back one hour.

People regain the hour they lost in March when the clocks went forward.

To help everyone remember that the clocks need resetting heres a collection of beautiful clock towers from around the world.

1. Old City Hall, Prague

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The gothic core of the building dates from the end of the 13th century and the tower was completed in 1364. It stands 69.5 metres high. The astronomical clock was built in 1410 with refinements and additions over the years.

In 2010 it celebrated its 600th anniversary.

2. Clock Tower, Makkah Royal Hotel

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Also known as Abraj Al-Bait, this is the worlds tallest clock tower and stands in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The clock face measures 43 metres in diameter.

3. Eastgate Clock, Chester

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This is the second most photographed clock in the UK after the Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben and stands on Eastgate, Chester. The red and gold clock was added to celebrate Queen Victorias diamond jubilee in 1897 but not unveiled until her 80th birthday in 1899. The gate and clock are Grade I listed.

4. Philadelphia City Hall

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The clock tower was the tallest building in Philadelphia until 1987. Atop of the tower stands a 27-tonne statue of William Penn, designed by Alexander Milne Calder.

5. Deira Clock Tower, Dubai

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Standing in the middle of a roundabout, The Deira Clock Tower in Dubai was built to celebrate the countrys first oil exports in 1963. It was reconstructed in 1989, reported Gulf News.

6. Old Kowloon, Hong Kong

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This clock tower was built in 1915 as part of a station which has since been demolished. The tower, which stands at 44 metres tall is now a Declared Monument subject to preservation rules.

7. Ferry Building, San Francisco

The building has stood at the foot of Market Place for well over 100 years. It was built in 1898 and survived the devastating earthquake of 1906 and the subsequent fire which engulfed the city.

8. Elizabeth Tower, London

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It may be covered in scaffolding as restoration work continues on the Palace Of Westminster, but theres no doubting its place in the list  even if its not quite up to scratch at the moment.

9. Old Joe, University of Birmingham

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Affectionately known as Old Joe, the Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower is the worlds tallest freestanding clock tower at 100 metres high. It stands at the heart of the University of Birminghams Edgbaston campus and is named after the unis first chancellor. It now has its own Twitter account.
With Halloween approaching, this panoramic photo of a centigoat might just be the most bizarre thing you see this spooky season.

Taken by Reddit user dragonxp1 on a trip to see some animals, the image is the result of an ambitious attempt to create something amusing  its certainly that, but is it not a little terrifying as well?

With something approaching 20 legs, this is no regular goat  but how did the image come about?

I was in Deer Valley YMCA Family Camp in Pennsylvania, specifically at the old nature centre (they built a new one), Reddit user dragonxp1 told the Press Association.

I saw the goat start walking and was just hoping for something cool or funny, like a really long goat. The goat was simply walking; I just tracked it with my iPhone so that the goats head stayed out of frame until the end.

I was pleasantly surprised upon seeing the result as I was not expecting it to turn out so perfectly. It was more of a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing.

The actual picture was much better than I had hoped for.

It certainly turned out rather convincingly  heres what the creature looked like before the iPhone made a monster out of it.

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Phew, much better.
Australia's High Court ruled yesterday that Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is ineligible to remain in parliament, a stunning decision that cost the government its one-seat parliamentary majority and forced a by-election.

The Australian dollar fell a quarter of a US cent after the unexpected decision.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he accepted the court's ruling, even though it was "clearly not the outcome we were hoping for".

He did not name a new deputy leader during a short news conference in Canberra soon after the court's ruling.

Mr Turnbull's centre-right coalition is now in a precarious position. His Liberal Party is the senior party in a coalition with the smaller National Party, which Mr Joyce led. He must now win the support of one of three independent lawmakers to keep his minority government afloat, with two sitting weeks of parliament left until it recesses for the year.

The opposition Labor Party has threatened to launch a legal challenge to every decision made by Mr Joyce since last year's election.

Mr Joyce was one of a group of lawmakers, known as the "Citizenship Seven", whose eligibility to sit in parliament was thrown into doubt in recent months when it was found they were dual citizens, a status that is barred for politicians under Australia's constitution to prevent split allegiances.

"... the business of government goes on," Mr Turnbull said as he confirmed the New England by-election would be held on December 2.
Barack Obama has been called for jury duty in Chicago

Former US president Barack Obama has been called for jury duty in Chicago.

Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans told county commissioners during a budget hearing on Friday that Mr Obama, who owns homes in Washington, DC and Chicago's Kenwood neighbourhood, will serve in November.

He is registered to vote in Chicago.

Mr Evans said Mr Obama's safety will be "uppermost in our minds" when he serves.

Those called can be put either in the pool for criminal case or civil hearings.

They can be called to any of the county's Chicago or suburban courthouses. All jurors watch a decades-old video about their duties narrated by a mustachioed Lester Holt, once a local news reader and now anchor of NBC Nightly News.

Jurors in Cook County are paid 17.20 US dollars (13.10) for each day of service.

AP
A wealthy heiress convicted of being drunk in charge of a child during an alleged hotel drinking binge has been cleared after she blamed a funny walk for making her look inebriated.

Nicole Ovchinnikova was this summer found guilty at trial after police said she had been found staggering following a night drinking with a family friend at an East London hotel.

But the socialite fashion designer has now seen her conviction quashed after an appeal panel questioned the 37-year-olds initial confession and said there was doubt over police evidence she had been drunk.

The former model said she had a limp after breaking her ankle last year and left the witness box to demonstrate her gait at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

She told the panel of one judge and two magistrates: I sometimes get cramps during the cold weather and my walk is not right.

"My friends at work make fun of me and say I walk in a funny way."

Ms Ovchinnikova was given a 500 fine by Stratford magistrates in August after being arrested at The International Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf on 2 March this year.

She arrived at the hotel at 5.30pm the previous evening with the child and a male companion, Paul Brierley, and was allegedly still drinking at 10:30am the next morning, some 17 hours later.

The court had earlier heard staff called police after they became worried about the childs welfare.

A manager at the hotel said Ovchinnikova was staggering when he saw her in the lobby the next morning, and another employee said he thought the child had not slept all night.

She also allegedly verbally abused police officers who said they could smell alcohol on her and there were a large number of empty glasses on the table where she had been sitting.

During her earlier trial Ms Ovchinnikova said she had heard that day her former partner was having a baby with her best friend and this news made her very upset.

But she launched the appeal claiming her limp wrongly gave the impression of drunkenness and insisting she had gone to bed at 11pm. The court also heard the alcohol may have reacted badly with antibiotics she was taking.

When arrested she told police she had drunk three bottles of wine with her friend, then told the court she only had two glasses.

She told the court she was pushed into making a false confession by police.

They would not accept the truth. They had already made their minds up, she said.

I really thought if I admitted everything they would let me get out.

Mr Recorder Roger Stewart QC, overturned her conviction following a two day appeal, saying there was reasonable doubt in her guilt.

He said: We are not satisfied that the defendant was drunk in charge of the child. We say that for three reasons.

The police case raises reasonable doubt. In some respects the prosecution case was unsatisfactory.

Notably the lack of detail as to the reasons they parted her from the child.

"And the lack of some material the defence requested and could expect to be made available.

"For those reasons we uphold the appeal and find the defendant not guilty.'

Ms Ovchinnikova broke down in tears as the verdict was announced and was hugged by friends in the public gallery.

She declined to comment outside the court.
The EU's most senior official warned last night against "more cracks" emerging in the bloc after the Catalan parliament declared independence from Spain, plunging the country into political and economic turmoil.

Madrid responded to the vote by dissolving the Catalan parliament and dismissing Carles Puigdemont as president of Catalonia, and his entire government.

Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, announced that regional elections would be held in December and said the unprecedented act of imposing direct rule on the region was needed to "recover normality".

The national police may be deployed to ensure Catalonia is kept under Madrid's control.

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"[The EU] doesn't need any more cracks, more splits... we shouldn't insert ourselves into what is an internal debate for Spain, but I wouldn't want the European Union to consist of 95 member states in the future," said Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president.

The crisis marks the first time that a region within an EU member state has tried to break away, though movements demanding greater independence exist in several countries.

Thousands of pro-independence activists clapped and cheered in the streets of Barcelona as the votes were counted, before breaking into a spontaneous rendition of Catalonia's regional anthem.

Many drank from bottles of cava, the sparkling wine produced in Catalonia, as they waved the region's red and yellow flag and hugged each other.

But in Madrid, the senate reacted by granting sweeping powers to Mr Rajoy, which will allow him to impose direct rule over the rogue region.

"Spain is a serious country, a great nation, and we are not going to watch while a few individuals try to liquidate our constitution," Mr Rajoy said shortly after the vote in Barcelona, as he appealed for calm and pledged to restore "legal order" in Catalonia.

"I have dissolved the parliament of Catalonia and on December 21 there will be elections in that region," he said.

"I have decided to call those free, fair and legal elections to restore democracy. We never wanted to reach this situation."

The beleaguered prime minister held a crisis cabinet meeting yesterday evening, as the US, France and Germany reiterated their support for a united Spain.

British Prime Minister Theresa May also rejected the independence vote and said it was crucial that unity in Spain was upheld. "The UK does not and will not recognise the unilateral declaration of independence made by the Catalan regional parliament. It is based on a vote that was declared illegal by the Spanish courts," she said.

"We continue to want to see the rule of law upheld, the Spanish Constitution respected, and Spanish unity preserved."

Donald Tusk, the European Council president, said Madrid "remains our only interlocutor" following the independence vote.

"I hope the Spanish government favours force of argument, not argument of force," he said.

A senior Spanish official said the justice ministry was now pursuing rebellion charges against those responsible for the vote, including Mr Puigdemont.

Under Spanish law, rebellion can be punished with up to 30 years in prison, with shorter penalties if the act of rebellion does not result in violence.

The Catalan resolution, which Madrid has dismissed as illegal, was passed by 70 votes to 10 and caused shares in Spanish companies, particularly Catalan banks, to drop sharply. ( Daily Telegraph London)
Catalonias parliament has declared independence from Spain in a vote on Friday. Heres what happens next.

How did Spain react?

The Madrid government sacked Catalonia's president and dismissed its parliament on Friday, hours after the region declared itself an independent nation in Spain's gravest political crisis since the return of democracy four decades ago.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sacked Catalonia's government including regional president Carles Puigdemont and his deputy Oriol Junqueras and assumed direct control over the region.

Central government ministries will assume directly the powers of the Catalan administration until a regional election takes place on 21 December.

The Economy Ministry has already increased its control over regional finances, to block the use of state funds to organise the secession bid, and started paying directly for essential services.

Under the new proposal, Madrid will take full financial control.

It is also possible that some pro-independence Catalans will stop paying their taxes to the Spanish treasury.

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So theyre not independent?

Ultimately this depends on how far both sides are willing to go. There will almost certainly be resistance in Catalonia to any move to impose Madrid rule over the province, and violent clashes that have rocked the region this month are likely to unfold again.

It is not clear whether a snap regional election will resolve the crisis.

An opinion poll published by the El Periodico newspaper on Sunday showed a snap election would probably have results similar to the last ballot in 2015, when a coalition of pro-independence parties formed a minority government.

Other opinion polls have shown Catalonia is almost evenly split between pro- and anti-independence supporters.

What about the European Union?

The EU has been somewhat cryptic in its responses to the situation but has consistently said it supports Spains constitution  effectively backing the Spanish government but without sounding overly partisan.

The European Commission hasnt offered to mediate the situation, as has been suggested by some observers. Donald Tusk, the European Council President, said "nothing had changed" in the wake of the declaration of independence.

The head of the European Union's legislature condemned the Catalan parliament's vote said it would not be recognized in the EU.

EU Parliament President Antonio Tajani said that the Catalonian parliament's move was a breach of the rule of law. He added that no one in the European Union will recognize this declaration.

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Will other countries recognise the declaration?

Britain has already said it wont recognise the new declared Catalan state and other countries, who have their own separatist movements and do not want to set a precedent, are almost certain to follow.

Germany, France and Cyprus are among other European countries that have already made clear they back Spanish unity. The US State Department also issued a similar statement.

Mexico will also not recognize Catalonia's declaration of independence from Spain, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto wrote in a post on Twitter on Friday evening.

Pena Nieto made it clear he will stand beside Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy as he confronts the nation's most acute political crisis since it embraced democracy in 1978.

"Mexico will not recognize the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia," Pena Nieto wrote. "We hope for a political and peaceful solution."

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland released a statement, reading; "We are all concerned about the crisis in Catalonia. Ireland respects the constitutional and territorial integrity of Spain and we do not accept or recognise the Catalan Unilateral Declaration of Independence.

"The resolution of the current crisis needs to be within Spain's constitutional framework and through Spain's democratic institutions. Ireland supports efforts to resolve this crisis through lawful and peaceful means."

What about the police and the threat of force?

Catalonia's main secessionist groups have called for widespread civil disobedience. They also instructed civil servants not to obey orders from Madrid and respond with peaceful resistance. It is unclear whether such calls will be followed or not.

Spain's government said it was not planning to make any arrests, but it is unclear how it will proceed if the current regional administration staff refuse to leave their offices.

A growing number of analysts fear this could lead to a physical confrontation if national police, who used heavy-handed tactics to thwart during the initial vote on independence, seek to intervene.

One of the main problems over the implementation of direct rule will relate to Catalonia's own police forces, the Mossos d'Esquadra.

Mr Rajoy has said the Mossos chief will be fired. But a group of Mossos favouring independence has already said they would not follow instructions from the central government and would not use force to remove ministers and lawmakers from power.

Several officers told Reuters they believed the 17,000-strong force was split between those who want independence and those who oppose it.

The Mossos, whose chief is under investigation on suspicion of sedition, will have to act on direct orders from their new bosses. If deemed necessary, Mossos officers may be replaced by national police.

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Could the Spanish government punish Catalan leaders?

Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart, the leaders of the two biggest pro-independence grassroots movements, have already been arrested and jailed by Spanish authorities.

A spokesperson for Spain's top prosecutor has said the office will seek rebellion and sedition charges against those responsible for the independence vote.

The prosecutor is currently looking into whether charges should be limited to the Catalan cabinet, including President Puigdemont and Vice President Junqueras, or if they should also include members of the parliaments governing board and MPs.

How did it affect the markets?

European shares reached a five-month high overall on Friday, also buoyed by strong earnings. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.54 percent.

Spain's IBEX was the worst-performing major index on the day, losing 1.5 percent after the Catalan parliament declared its independence from Spain on Friday following a secret ballot.

Following the declaration, Spain sacked Catalonia's regional government, dissolved the Catalan parliament and called a snap election to draw a line under Spain's worst political crisis in 40 years.

Additional reporting: Reuters
Ireland will not recognize Catalonia's declaration of independence from Spain, the Department of Foreign Affairs have said.

The political turmoil in Spain intensified on Friday as the Madrid government dismissed Catalonia's president and parliament hours after the region declared independence.

In a statement to media, the department said they are "concerned about the crisis in Catalonia". The statement said Ireland "does not accept or recognised the Catalan Unilateral Declaration of Independence."

It reads; "We are all concerned about the crisis in Catalonia. Ireland respects the constitutional and territorial integrity of Spain and we do not accept or recognise the Catalan Unilateral Declaration of Independence.

"The resolution of the current crisis needs to be within Spain's constitutional framework and through Spain's democratic institutions. Ireland supports efforts to resolve this crisis through lawful and peaceful means."

Nations including France, Germany and the United States have also voiced their support for Spanish unity since the country took formal direct control of Catalonia and fired the region's defiant separatist government.

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The unprecedented action comes a day after lawmakers passed a declaration of independence for the prosperous northeastern region.

But there was no immediate sign if top Catalan officials were intending to obey or if they would resist the sacking and throw the region into further turmoil by prolonging a month-long stand-off with central authorities.

The move follows one of the most tumultuous days in the country's recent history, as the national parliament in Madrid approved unprecedented constitutional measures to halt the secessionist drive by the regional parliament in Barcelona.

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Spain made the takeover official by publishing special measures online early on Saturday in the country's gazette.

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Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who now replaces Catalan President Carles Puigdemont as the top decision-maker in the northeastern region, has also dissolved the regional parliament and called a new regional election to be held on December 21.

Still, it was not clear at all whether a new election would solve Spain's problems with separatists in Catalonia. Polls suggest pro-independence parties would likely maintain their slim advantage in parliamentary seats but would not get more than 50% of the vote.

Mr Rajoy said the declaration of independence "not only goes against the law but is a criminal act".

His comments were met late on Friday with jeers and whistles of disapproval in Barcelona, the main city in Catalonia, where thousands had gathered to toast the independence declaration.

Mr Puigdemont and the 12 members of the Catalan Cabinet now will no longer be paid and could be charged with usurping others' functions if they refuse to obey.

There was no immediate sign they intended to comply with the orders. The Catalan Cabinet met on Friday but did not make any public appearances or offer statements following Mr Rajoy's announcement of the planned government takeover. Spanish prosecutors say that top Catalan officials could face rebellion charges as soon as Monday.

Beyond any possible resistance from top Catalan officials, it is unclear how Mr Rajoy's government in Madrid will be able to exert its control at lower levels of Catalonia's vast regional administration.

Catalonia had secured the ability to govern itself in many areas, including education, health and policing, since democracy returned to Spain following the death of dictator General Francisco Franco in 1975.

Some among Catalonia's roughly 200,000 civil servants have said they will refuse to obey orders from Madrid. They risk being punished or even fired under the special powers granted to central authorities by the nation's Senate on Friday.

Vice president Soraya Saenz de Santamaria will be Mr Rajoy's strongwoman in running Catalonia until December 21, when Catalans are expected to choose a new regional parliament.

She will co-ordinate other ministries that take over functions of the region's regional departments, including finances and security, and appoint officials to implement orders from Madrid.

In one of the first moves, Spain's Interior Ministry published an order to demote Josep Lluis Trapero from his position as head of the regional Mossos d'Esquadra police in Catalonia. He will be allowed to remain as commissar.

Mr Trapero became a controversial figure as the public face of the police response in mid-August to deadly extremists' attacks in and near Barcelona. He was praised for effectiveness but also criticised for coordination problems with other national police forces.

Spain's National Court is also investigating him as part of a sedition probe related to the banned October 1 independence referendum, when the regional police were seen as acting passively - not aggressively - to halt the vote deemed illegal by a top Spanish court.

Mr Trapero's boss, regional police director Pere Soler, said in a statement that he accepted his firing by central authorities in Madrid.
Pro-unity demonstrators were escorted by Catalan regional police in Barcelona last night. Photo: Reuters/Juan Medina

It began with a furtive whisper, rather than a bang. One by one, deputies padded across the burgundy carpet of Catalonia's half-empty parliament chamber to drop secret ballot papers into a small box on the speaker's bench.

It was hardly the confident step of the leaders of a brave new nation.

But within an hour, the shock waves of Catalonia's declaration of independence had echoed across Barcelona, Madrid and all the way to Brussels and beyond.

And on the streets of the Catalan capital, the mood was euphoric - if laced with foreboding and uncertainty.

"I have cried. I have been waiting 60 years for this," said Angel Colome, one of thousands of Catalans who took to the streets of Barcelona last night. "But Spain is not going to let us get away with it. They will put the pressure on."

Despite the celebration, the outcome of the vote yesterday afternoon was far from certain.

Opposition members of Catalonia's regional parliament had earlier stormed out in protest after pro-independence parties forced the secret ballot in order to shield their members from criminal charges.

Just 82 members cast their vote, 70 in favour, 10 against and two abstaining, in a poll that ushered in an uncertain future for Spain, its richest region, Catalonia, and the European Union.

When the results were announced just before 3.30pm, the separatists, who hold a slim majority, broke into applause before rising to their feet to sing the Catalan anthem.

Among their number was Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan president, who has spent the last month playing a high-stakes game of chicken with Madrid. If he loses, he faces charges of treason and a lengthy prison sentence.

Yesterday, he was greeted with calls of "President!"

Outside the parliament, there was little sign of nerves as thousands cheered, danced and celebrated the new republic.

Away from the crowds and among those in Catalonia who want to remain part of Spain, the atmosphere was very different. Major companies had fled the region before today's vote and looming over everything is the uneasy fear of violence.

Madrid's Guardia Civil could yet return to Barcelona to take control of government buildings.

In Madrid, Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, acted immediately. By mid-afternoon, the Spanish senate had agreed to his request to revoke Catalonia's autonomy and place it under direct rule.

Elsewhere, the US State Department released a statement solidly supporting Mr Rajoy and the Spanish government.

Berlin soon followed suit. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, also offered his support to Mr Rajoy, while Britain refused to recognise the new republic.

Even the European Union, to which Mr Puidgemont has appealed again and again for mediation, was unmoved.

The vote had changed nothing for the EU, said Donald Tusk, the European Council president.

Madrid would remain the "sole interlocutor" for the EU, he added.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, was characteristically blunter.

"I do not want a situation where, tomorrow, the European Union is made up of 95 different states," he snapped.
Icelanders are voting in a general election for the third time in four years.

The poll comes as the nation tries to shake off its latest political crisis on an island roiled by divisions since its economy was ravaged by the global financial crisis.

Voters weary of political and economic chaos are not expected to produce an outright winner. Polls suggest the election will only lead to complex negotiations over building a coalition government.

A record eight parties could cross the 5% threshold needed to qualify for seats in the Icelandic parliament, the Althingi. Upstart parties are benefiting from a series of scandals affecting the ruling Independence Party.

Political analysts say the most likely outcome eventually is a coalition government led by Katrin Jakobsdottir of the Left Green Movement. The 41-year-old holds a graduate degree in Icelandic literature and would be among the world's youngest leaders.

The election - the themes of which have centred on stability and trust - was called in September amid allegations that the prime minister's father backed an effort to aid the job prospects of a convicted paedophile. Bjarni Benediktsson's government had come to power only last year after leaked documents linked his predecessor to bank accounts in offshore tax havens.

Economic upheaval has dogged this Nordic island nation of 330,000 after its debt-swollen banks collapsed during the 2008 financial crisis. It is now is experiencing a surge in tourism by those eager to see its pristine glaciers, fjords and waterfalls and the Northern Lights.

But Icelanders are worried that the worst is not yet over. On social media, voters expressed deja vu, complaining of a revolving door of political leaders and few new ideas.

Debate has centred on those still left behind despite the robust economy. A surplus of government revenues - gained from an economy growing at a huge 7% last year - has spurred questions on lowering public debt, still high since the crash, versus increased government spending.

"Despite the economic boom, care for societies' basic infrastructure has been left behind," Ms Jakobsdottir said, promising to increase taxes on the financial sector to fund new social policies.

Offering the counter view is the unorthodox Centre Party, which promises to windfall "every Icelander" with government-owned bank stocks.

Iceland, which was declared a sovereign state under the Danish crown in 1918, will celebrate a century of self-rule next year. At the same time, it will also mark 10 years since the International Monetary Fund rescued the country's finances.

AP
President John F Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline ride in a limousine moments before he was assassinated, in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Photo: Walt Cisco, AP

The publication of 2,800 classified US government files on the death of President John F Kennedy has unearthed some fascinating details and colourful anecdotes surrounding the assassination.

Some of the more intriguing revelations include a mysterious call made to a British newspaper minutes before the shooting and the FBI warning the Dallas police there were threats against Lee Harvey Oswald the day before he was gunned down by nightclub operator Jack Ruby while in police custody.

Yet the files do not appear to have revealed anything that sheds real light on the enduring mysteries around the murder of the 35th US president. This is unsurprising in light of the fact that President Donald Trump withheld the most sensitive files at the last minute, bowing to pressure from the CIA and FBI.

Mr Trump said he had made the decision to hold back on around 200 files over national security concerns.

"I have no choice," the US president said in a memo, citing "potentially irreversible harm" to national security if he were to allow all records out now.

As well myriad outlandish conspiracy theories around President Kennedy's shooting there are still legitimate questions that have never been fully answered. As reporters and historians continue to pore over the new files, here is what the revelations that have emerged so far tell us about those unanswered questions.

What did the security agencies know about Lee Harvey Oswald?

One of the key questions is how much the FBI and CIA knew about President Kennedy's shooter, Lee Harvey Oswald. The 24-year-old former US Marine was on the radar of both agencies due to his open Communist views and attempts to move to the USSR.

The new files reveal that FBI agents were actively discussing Oswald just weeks before the shooting

An FBI memo, which came from the bureau's New Orleans office in late October 1963, said: "Will maintain contact with Cuban sources for any indication of additional activity on the part of subject organisation which appears to have become inactive since the departure from New Orleans of Lee Harvey Oswald." The organisation referred to was the Pro-Castro "Fair Play for Cuba Committee".

An inside job?

A common strain of conspiracy is that Oswald, who was found to be a lone wolf by various public inquiries, was a fall guy for a shadowy wider conspiracy to kill the president. The new files have not done much to debunk this speculation.

A document from 1975 contains a partial deposition by Richard Helms, a deputy CIA director under Kennedy who later became CIA chief, to the Rockefeller Commission, which was studying unauthorised CIA activities in domestic affairs. Commission lawyers appeared to be probing for information on what foreign leaders might have been the subject of assassination attempts by or on behalf of the CIA.

A lawyer asks Helms: "Is there any information involved with the assassination of President Kennedy which in any way shows that Lee Harvey Oswald was in some way a CIA agent or agent" [sic].

The document ends, short of his answer.

Was Oswald working for a foreign nation?

A key area of interest for historians is Oswald's contacts with enemy nations in the run-up to the shooting. The avowed Marxist had moved to the USSR in 1959, but ultimately failed to obtain citizenship and returned to the US in 1962.

Weeks before the shooting he went to Mexico City and had meetings at the USSR embassy and Cuban consulate. A full picture of what happened in those meetings has never emerged and they became a fertile breeding ground for conspiracies suggesting Cuba or the USSR had a hand in the assassination.

The files have confirmed that Oswald did meet Valeriy Vladimirovich Kostikov, a KGB agent who worked for the KGB's 13th department, which was responsible for assassinations. However, nothing is known about what they discussed and the CIA believes Oswald's meetings at the embassy and consulate were over renewed efforts to gain USSR citizenship.

The files also show the FBI learned USSR officials thought Oswald was a "maniac". A document from the bureau after President Kennedy's death read: "According to our source, Soviet officials claimed Lee Harvey Oswald had no connection whatsoever with the Soviet Union. They described him as a neurotic maniac who was disloyal to his own country and everything else.

"They noted Oswald never belonged to any organisation in the Soviet Union and was never given Soviet citizenship."

Aftermath and 'cover-up'

Conspiracists accused the US government of cover-ups around the shooting and the fact 200 files remain classified will do little to dampen suspicions.

Yet the new files have shown that the security agencies were aware that Oswald's death before he could answer for his crimes was liable to fuel conspiracy.

FBI Director J Edgar Hoover vented his frustration in a formerly secret report found in the files. "There is nothing further on the Oswald case except that he is dead," he said, adding: "The thing I am concerned about ... is having something issued so we can convince the public that Oswald is the real assassin".
"I was heartbroken knowing I carried a baby I didn't know was mine and that he was taken from me without my knowledge and was in the arms of other people where he did not belong," Jessica Allen said

A woman who gave birth to her own child at the same time as she delivered a surrogate baby has been reunited with her son after a long legal battle.

"I was heartbroken knowing I carried a baby I didn't know was mine and that he was taken from me without my knowledge and was in the arms of other people where he did not belong," Jessica Allen told The Independent.

The 31-year-old had decided to undergo a commercial surrogacy so that she could put the money towards a deposit on a home with her partner Wardell Jasper, 34.

The practice is legal in California where they live and Ms Allen, who already had two children of her own, agreed a fee of $35,000 (26,600) to give birth to another woman's child.

But after undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF), doctors told Ms Allen she was carrying two baby boys.

But after giving birth, she said in a separate interview with The New York Post that she was not able to see them.

About a month later, she received a picture from the babies from the mother, asking why the newborns looked different.

A DNA subsequently revealed that one of the boys was her biological match, while the other matched with a surrogate - an extremely rare medical incident called superfetation.

Ms Allen's priority became to get her son back since the couple who hired her service remained legally responsible for the child - since the law did not provide for this rare medical incident known as superfetation.

An alleged dispute started between Ms Allen and the couple, who did not want to keep the child that was not theirs and asked Ms Allen for compensation.

Following a lengthy legal battle, Ms Allen and Mr Jasper were given back their son they renamed Malachi and calls for financial compensation were dropped.

Omega Family Global, the company which arranged the surrogacy, said in a statement published in full by the New York Post that the company "takes great pride in the care, attention and support that is given to all surrogates who choose to embark on a journey with parents in their efforts of family completion".
The threat of nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating, US defence secretary Jim Mattis said.

In remarks in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at his side, Mr Mattis accused North Korea of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs - and vowed to defeat any attack.

Mr Mattis said the North engages in "over-the-top rhetoric" and behaviour, adding the US will never accept North Korea becoming a nuclear state.

He added the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old US-South Korean alliance would be more than a match for anything the North may try.

"North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbours and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs," he said, adding that US-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration has taken on "a new urgency" as a result.

As he emphasised throughout his week-long Asia trip, which included stops in Thailand and the Philippines, Mr Mattis said diplomacy remains the preferred way to deal with the North.

"With that said," he added, "make no mistake - any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming."

Mr Mattis's comments in Seoul did not go beyond his recent statements of concern about North Korea, although he appeared to inject a stronger note about the urgency of resolving the crisis.

While he accused the North of "outlaw" behaviour, he did not mention that president Donald Trump has ratcheted up his own rhetoric.

In August, Mr Trump warned the North not to make any more threats against the United States, and said that if it did, it would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen".

At his Seoul news conference, Mr Mattis said the North is, in effect, shooting itself in the foot.

"If it remains on its current path of ballistic missiles and atomic bombs, it will be counterproductive, in effect reducing its security," he said.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to counter what it believes is a US effort to strangle its economy and overthrow the Kim government.
The threat of nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating, US defence secretary Jim Mattis said.

In remarks in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at his side, Mr Mattis accused North Korea of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs - and vowed to defeat any attack.

Mr Mattis said the North engages in "over-the-top rhetoric" and behaviour, adding the US will never accept North Korea becoming a nuclear state.

He added the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old US-South Korean alliance would be more than a match for anything the North may try.

"North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbours and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs," he said, adding that US-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration has taken on "a new urgency" as a result.

As he emphasised throughout his week-long Asia trip, which included stops in Thailand and the Philippines, Mr Mattis said diplomacy remains the preferred way to deal with the North.

"With that said," he added, "make no mistake - any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming."

Mr Mattis's comments in Seoul did not go beyond his recent statements of concern about North Korea, although he appeared to inject a stronger note about the urgency of resolving the crisis.

While he accused the North of "outlaw" behaviour, he did not mention that president Donald Trump has ratcheted up his own rhetoric.

In August, Mr Trump warned the North not to make any more threats against the United States, and said that if it did, it would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen".

At his Seoul news conference, Mr Mattis said the North is, in effect, shooting itself in the foot.

"If it remains on its current path of ballistic missiles and atomic bombs, it will be counterproductive, in effect reducing its security," he said.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to counter what it believes is a US effort to strangle its economy and overthrow the Kim government.

AP
New Delhi, Oct 28 (IBNS): Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that Agriculture and industry shall be looked at as the two eyes of our economy.

He was addressing the gathering after giving away The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence, in Mumbai on Saturday.

The Governor of Maharashtra, C. Vidyasagar Rao, the Union Minister for Finance and

Corporate Affairs,Arun Jaitley, the Union Minister for Railways and Coal, Piyush Goyal, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Devendra Fadnavis, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

The Vice President said that Indias dream built on the aspirations of about 130 crore Indians can be fulfilled if only every Indian and every business or corporate entity is enabled to express their potential to the fullest potential.

He further said that the winners of The Economic Times Awards are trail-blazers in their respective areas.

Congratulate all the winners and The Economic Times for steadfastly promoting the spirit of freedom of economic expression, he added.

The Vice President specially congratulated his friend and long-time colleague Shri Arun Jaitley, a winner this year.

Arun Ji has been passionately associated with the efforts to enable full manifestation of the freedom of economic expression over the last three and a half years and richly deserves this honour, he added.

The Vice President said that the Government and businesses must act as partners to spur economic growth.

He further said that Government should act as a facilitator by adopting investment-friendly measures, and at the same time, businesses have certain responsibilities and must strive to promote ethical corporate governance.

India Inc. and the Indian State should collectively work towards efficient capital management & ensure this so that every asset of ours becomes a performing asset, he added.

The Vice President said that bold reforms with clear vision and purpose have to be implemented with missionary zeal, unmindful of temporary setbacks. He further said that while reforms are the need of the hour, we need to focus on inclusive growth and bridging disparities. Catalyzing farm sector is the key to economic growth, he added.

Following is the Text of Vice President's address:

"I am delighted to be here amongst all of you, an important section of the engines of our economy, this evening. I would like to thank Shri Vineet Jain and The Economic Times for inviting me to this awards function.

The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence are prestigious business awards. These awards celebrate entrepreneurship and salute excellence. They recognize, not just success, but the effort behind that success. They stand testimony to the dynamism and competitiveness of Indias corporate sector. They serve as a source of inspiration for the millions of entrepreneurs dreaming to make it big in the country.

Our important neighbor China has recently deliberated at length on the course of future action to further realize its dream of becoming a middle kingdom.

India too has its own dream built on the aspirations of about 130 crore Indians. This dream can be fulfilled if only every Indian and every business or corporate entity is enabled to express their potential to the fullest potential.



This expression of inherent enterprise requires due empowerment and an enabling environment. A multi-pronged effort is currently underway in our country to unleash the potential of every citizen and such entities.

Our Constitution guarantees freedom of expression. In my view, such freedom is not limited to stating ones views on various issues and subjects. Logically, it extends to pursuit of inherent entrepreneurial faculties, which I call freedom of economic expression. Full manifestation of such an economic expression holds the key to the success of our country.



The need of the hour is to make it happen in the quickest possible time. That is in essence the main challenge to economic growth.



I am glad that the leading lights of the Government and the business will exchange views on various aspects of growth challenges here today. I hope you will focus on this freedom of economic expression and further ways of removing hurdles in this regard.



While the Government is endeavoring to empower all the citizens and corporate entities in an appropriate manner, The Economic Times, over the years, has been striving to further the manifestation of this economic expression.

I compliment ET for the same. Excellence and Time are the key for our country to realize its full potential and ET is all about the same.

Like in the past, this year too, the winners of The Economic Times Awards are trail-blazers in their respective areas. My congratulations and best wishes to all the winners!



I would like to specially congratulate my friend and long-time colleague Arun Jaitley, who is also a winner this year. Arun Ji has been passionately associated with the efforts to enable full manifestation of the freedom of economic expression over the last three and a half years and richly deserves this honour. Several well considered and far reaching reform initiatives have been introduced during this short period. I can say with confidence that only he could have made the GST council function in the smooth manner that it has done.



As all of you may appreciate, my freedom of expression is qualified by the constitutional post I am holding. I have left the hurly burly of politics. But I remain in public service. I believe it is the duty of every Indian, big or small, rich or poor, in high office or outside, to contribute to nation building.



And it has been my fervent belief for a long time that business has an important role to play in creating a strong and prosperous India.



Sitting in front of me are the biggest names of Indian business and mightiest captains of Indian Industry.



I would like to take this opportunity to spend the next few minutes on what I believe are the opportunities and the responsibilities of Indian business.

Entrepreneurs bring investment and create jobs. Without investment and jobs, there can be no economic growth. It is the responsibility of the governments to create a conducive environment for entrepreneurship to flourish and private investment to grow. The Governments, both at the Centre and in the States, over the years have been doing so in different degrees.



Government and businesses must act as partners to spur economic growth. Government should act as a facilitator for businesses to thrive by adopting appropriate and investment-friendly measures, which are in the best interests of the country.

At the same time, businesses have certain responsibilities and must strive to promote ethical corporate governance.

Friends, the image of India Inc has taken a beating in recent years due to various scams and instances of crony capitalism-- large loans were taken by borrowing public money and are now not being repaid all these have dented the reputation of Indian business in the eyes of the public.

While the people have no problem with wealth creation, they lose faith in the Indian business as well as the system when they see adoption of wrong means, diversion of funds and non-repayment of loans worth thousands of crores.

I dont intend to tar everyone with the same brush. Sitting in this hall and outside are many entrepreneurs who work honestly and I applaud them.



It is not my intention to lecture anyone. Please take my words as a gentle message from a well-wisher. But if you feel there is any truth in what I am saying, please see what can be done to remedy the situation.

It all boils down to efficient capital management. India Inc and the Indian State should collectively ensure this so that every asset of ours becomes a performing asset.



No one expects businesses to be run as charities or philanthropic organizations. But please make sure that you behave responsibly and ethically while pursuing your business interests and discharge your wider social responsibility in protecting the interests of all stakeholders.



The initiatives taken by the Government to curb unethical business practices have been well received. Every reformatory measure will face some hiccups in the initial stages, but ultimately we arrive at a new normal with positive spin offs. This new normal rests on the principles of transparency, accountability, efficiency and expanded formal economy.



Friends !

Our country has undergone substantial social and economic transformation since Independence. We have been a late starter in respect of economic reforms. Economic pundits even called us reluctant reformers. They have a point to some extent given the way we embraced reforms in compelling circumstances.



A late starter need not necessarily be a loser. We can make up by being a fast learner. And this has been happening. Since 1991, different governments have pursued the much desired economic reforms. As a result, from the Hindu rate of economic growth, we have evolved to the Indian rate of economic growth, by being among the fastest growing economies and the preferred global investment destination.

Now, the issue is not whether we need reforms or not. There is a clear political consensus on this. The real issue is the pace of such reforms.



A debate on the pace and the depth of reforms is fine but not discord over the. Our country has paid enough on account of socio-economic discord. We cant afford it any more. We need to quickly make up for the lost time and opportunities.



Bold reforms with clear vision and purpose have to be implemented with missionary zeal unmindful of temporary setbacks.



While reforms are the need of the hour, we need to focus on inclusive growth and bridging disparities. Like homegrown food security, there is a need to build a sustainable economythis must be the main principle. Common man will be the ultimate beneficiary of a transparent and efficient economy.



I would also like to emphasize that regulations should not become strangulations. Even the constitutional right of freedom of expression is subject to certain restrictions. As a corollary, the freedom of economic expression too would have certain bottomlines without being too restrictive. That is what my friend Shri Arun Jaitely wants to ensure.

While on the issue of economic reforms, I would like to invite the attention of all of you to the need to liberate the farm sector from a host of shackles that are pulling it down. By and large, farm sector is still out of the pale of reforms. Catalyzing farm sector is the key to economic growth. Agriculture and industry shall be looked at as the two eyes of our economy.



I have taken this opportunity to share a few thoughts frankly.



The important thing that I would wish to emphasize is that I am a great believer in the spirit of Indian entrepreneurship and I believe that the path to economic growth and development lies through you. You are the job creators and wealth creators. And it is the responsibility of the governments to ensure that there is conducive atmosphere for businesses to operate and contribute for economic development.



I would like to end my speech by once again congratulating all the winners and The Economic Times for steadfastly promoting the spirit of freedom of economic expression.

Thank You. JAI HIND!.
One of the worlds best collections of South Asian art can be found in the San Diego Museum of Art, California with emphasis on Indian paintings spanning many genres, reports Candice Yacono

The San Diego Museum of Art boasts of a collection of over 1,400 Indian artworks created for the Mughal, Deccani, Rajasthani and Pahari courts from the 12th to the 19th centuries.

An ornate building resembling a Spanish palace lies nestled in Balboa Park, an oasis in the southern California city of San Diego. Inside this European architectural marvel lies one of the worlds best collections of South Asian art.

The San Diego Museum of Art opened in 1926, and is the oldest, largest and most visited art museum in the region, serving about 250,000 visitors each year. As San Diego is located adjacent to Mexico, the museums exhibition text is in both English and Spanish. The museum is most famous for its selection of artworks by European masters like El Greco and Henri Matisse. But, its Edwin Binney 3rd Collection is one of the most comprehensive and high-quality collections of South Asian art outside of India. The collections 1,453 works include paintings from the 12th through the 19th centuries, including those created for the Mughal, Deccani, Rajasthani and Pahari courts.

The works were created for Indian rulers as well as merchants from Persia, Central Asia and Europe, who travelled to India, set down roots and commissioned art to local Indian artists. The artists were expected to adapt to the whims and aesthetics of their foreign patrons, while maintaining a quintessential Indian quality.

The museum has South Asian, Southeast Asian and Persian art galleries, where selections from the Binney collection are always on display. The artworks are organised chronologically as well as by form, like paintings or sculptures, and by theme. The museum strives to showcase the beauty and craftsmanship of the art within the collection, while also informing its viewers about what makes it unique and important.

The collection was put together personally by Edwin Binney 3rd (1925-86), an heir to the Crayola fortune. Crayola is known worldwide for its art products like crayons. Rather than acquiring examples of just one era or type of art, Binney sought to collect an encyclopedic range of art from different epochs and schools of painting.

Binney also collected objets dart like Persian miniatures, ballet prints, art from the Ottoman Empire and theater books. He began by focusing on Persian and Turkish art, but as interest in this type of art was widespread at the time, Binney focused on collecting less faddish and, therefore, less expensive South Asian art.

The Binney collection ranges from narrative illustrations of Indian epics to portraits of important personages like emperors, as well as folk art from various regions of South Asia. Not all of the art was intended to be hung on walls. In addition to the massive assemblage of paintings, sculptures play an important part in the collection.

However, paintings originally housed together in a single manuscript were removed and sold individually; the text in these large manuscripts was probably destroyed. So, the museum is now trying to preserve the art for future generations to appreciate.



Marika Sardar, the museums associate curator of Southern Asian and Islamic Arts since 2013, has written extensively about the art of India and South Asia, including the section on South Asian art for the textbook Asian Art.

Some of the paintings from the Binney collection have appeared in major exhibitions across the United States and in Europe. In addition, selected works have travelled to cities like Quebec in Canada, Mexico City in Mexico and Madrid in Spain.

In 2012, the museum exhibited 106 works from the Binney collection at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum of Art in Madrid. This marked the first time an exhibition of Indian art was organised in Spain.



More than 90 narrative paintings appeared at the Princeton University Art Museum in 2016, in an exhibition titled, Epic Tales from Ancient India: Paintings from The San Diego Museum of Art. It included paintings from the Bhagavata Purana, the Ramayana, the Ragamala and the Shahnama.



(Courtesy SPAN)

Images: San Diego Museum of Art and FB page of museum


Sometimes, two great things really do go well together.

In the case of San Francisco Bay Areas Curry Up Now, it was the merger of chicken tikka masala and the burrito - the Mexican and Tex-Mex style wrap two culinary staples from two very different cultures.

The chicken tikka masala burrito resulted in a wildly successful business opportunity for Curry Up Now co-founders Amir Hosseini, Akash Kapoor and his wife Rana Kapoor.

Curry Up Now was born after a short discussion over lunch, says Hosseini. The chicken tikka masala burrito had never been done, but the concept was tantalisingly within reach. Two weeks later, they abandoned their real estate industry jobs and purchased their first food truck.



Launched in 2009, Curry Up Now helped usher in the white-hot gourmet food truck by introducing a new form of a familiar comfort food in the Bay Area, where the burrito is the king of lunchtime eats.



We were probably the first gourmet food truck in the Bay Area, says Hosseini. Our timing was right and people in the Bay Area wanted to try something new. We were able to give an affordable offering using premium ingredients and lots of love. Plus, there were no other trucks selling Indian street food.



Curry Up Now exploded in popularity, seemingly overnight. Its rapid success surprised the co-founders, who had no experience in the restaurant industry prior to taking their proverbial leap of faith. And eight years later, the company has expanded to four food trucks, five brick-and-mortar restaurants, two craft cocktail lounges called Mortar & Pestle and a catering business.

The menu takes a clever approach by fusing fresh Indian flavours with types of food more familiar and accessible to Americans, like sandwiches, tacos and ravioli.

Our most popular item has always been the chicken tikka masala burrito, says Hosseini. Our deconstructed samosa would be a close second, which has received many accolades as well.



Curry Up Now has had a strong tech component since its foundinginterested diners check their phones or computers to find out where the food trucks would set up shop for lunch on any given day. A strong social media presence also contributes to Curry Up Nows engaged and devoted local following.



As the Bay Area became a metaphor for tech success, Curry Up Now became a metaphor for fast-casual restaurant success. The team has received countless awards and nods. Hosseini, for instance, was featured in Forbes 2017 30 Under 30 list in the food and drink category.

Hosseini says he is still in shock about what has happened in less than 10 years. I would have never believed we would accomplish all that we have in such a short period, he says. Its an awesome feeling to watch our brand grow the way it has. We still work with the same passion with which we started our brand back in 2009.

The restaurants are as eclectic as the food they serve, decked with colorful artwork and community tables.

Were different from other fast-casual concept restaurants, says Hosseini. We care just as much about the atmosphere and dining experience as we do about the food. Our dining rooms are colourful and vibrant, and our food is approachable, fun and delicious.

Part of the restaurant expansion was achieved through the acquisition of Tava, a former competitor in the East Bay area. But food trucks were always, and continue to be, the companys bedrock.

The original thought was not to pivot, but to grow, says Hosseini. The first brick-and-mortar location allowed us to build infrastructure and a consistent location for our guests to visit. It was definitely a different operational experience. We learned very quickly how different opening a restaurant was from running a food truck.

Whats next? With a solid stable of local businesses, the Curry Up Now co-founders have set their sights beyond the Bay Area. Now that weve completed the Tava acquisition, our current focus is to grow our franchise model and take the brand national, says Hosseini.

But he is also mindful of the companys roots and advises other aspiring entrepreneurs to do the same. Start your endeavour with the right team, says Hosseini. Always stay humble and never become complacent. Dont lose sight of what has brought you success in the first place.

(Courtesy SPAN)
Darjeeling, Oct 28 (IBNS): The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the centre to withdraw seven out of 15 paramilitary forces in violence-hit Darjeeling, West Bengal, media reports said.

The top court's order came after the Centre argued they require manpower to hold elections in two states- Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat- scheduled to take place in the last two months of the year.

Prior to SC's order, the Calcutta High Court stayed the withdrawal of central paramilitary forces on October 17.

The rift between the central and the state governments began after the former had passed an order to withdraw 10 out of 15 paramilitary companies.

Following the order, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, lashed out at the Centre and also her government later moved Calcutta High Court.

Following an appeal of Union home minister Rajnath Singh, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), finally called off an indefinite strike in Darjeeling after 104 days on September 27.

The indefinite strike was called with the demand of a separate Gorkhaland.

The protest by the GJM had started after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee held an administrative meeting in Darjeeling months ago.

Banerjee's meeting was followed by a protest by the GJM supporters who had ransacked several government properties, leading to a complete shutdown in the hills.
Kolkata, Oct 28 (IBNS): Challenging the central government's directive for linking Aadhaar, a 12-digit unique identification number, to all social welfare schemes, the West Bengal government has moved the Supreme Court, media reports said.

The top court will hear the state government's plea on Monday.

The fresh rift between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government and the Mamata Banerjee government over the Aadhaar linkage has started couple of days ago.

Banerjee, while speaking at the Trinamool Congress (TMC)'s core committee meeting, dared the central government by saying she will not link her phone number to Aadhaar.

She said: "I will not link my cell phone with Aadhaar. Let them disconnect my cell phone number. I can smell this a conspiracy to by the central government. They want to tap phone calls."

"It is unfortunate that people are scared of Central government. By introducing linking Aadhaar with cell phone they want to hear the conversation between a wife and husband," the chief minister said at the meeting.

The Centre on Wednesday extended the deadline for linking the Aadhaar to all programmes from December 31, 2017 to March 31, 2018.

However, the extension of the deadline is applicable to only to those who do not have the Aadhaar card or in the process of enrolling.



Image: Facebook/@AITCofficial
Raipur, Oct 28 (IBNS) : A day after the arrest of senior journalist Vinod Verma's arrest on extortion charge that kicked up a conspiracy row, Chhattisgarh police have filed an FIR against the Pradesh Congress President Bhupesh Baghel, who said he possesses a copy of a sex CD purportedly featuring a minister, NDTV reported.

According to reports, the FIR has been filed following a complaint by the minister, Rajesh Munat.

Munat has called the CD "fake" and said it can be investigated by any agency.

On Friday, Vinod Verma, an independent journalist and a member of the Editors Guild of India, was arrested by the Chhattisgarh police allegedly after they recovered CDs with "objectionable contents" from his home in Ghaziabad, near Delhi.

The Chhattisgarh government has claimed Verma was working with the opposition Congress to discredit the state's BJP government.
Kochi, Oct 28 (IBNS): President Ram Nath Kovind graced and addressed the valedictory function of the diamond jubilee celebrations of High Court of Kerala in Kochi on Saturday.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that the Kerala High Court is known for sensitivity to peoples rights and civil liberties. The judgements of this High Court have contributed to deepening the traditions of democracy and civic freedom in our country.

This High Court is a pioneer in supporting environmental and ecological norms and standards. It has given important verdicts, including on the right of the people for clean air; the right of the people for clean water; the right of the people for healthy surroundings; assigning the supply of safe drinking water to citizens in adequate quantity as the primary constitutional responsibility of the state and banning of smoking in public places, Kovind said.

The President said that the judiciary is one of Indias most valued and respected institutions. Its fearless and independent functioning and stature has enhanced Indias credibility in the democratic world. Every Indian is proud of the judiciary and respects its verdicts and its commitment to the values that embody our nationhood.

The President said that our legal system, with an independent judiciary as its bedrock, is an essential part of our nation building process. It acts as a corrective and it upholds the sanctity of the law and of natural justice. And it functions as the guardian of the ethical principles underlying the Constitution. This makes everybody connected with the process of justice delivery a nation builder.

The President said that delay in justice delivery is a pressing concern in our country. Often those who suffer are among the poorest and most underprivileged in our society. We must find mechanisms to ensure quick disposal of cases. We could all consider an approach that makes adjournments the exception in an emergency situation rather than a tactic to prolong court proceedings.

The President said that our common citizens have that sacred trust and faith that the judiciary will ever stand by them, and never let them down. He was confident that the judiciary will always live up to the high expectations that our people have of it.
New Delhi, Oct 28 (IBNS): KJ. Alphons, Minister of State (Independent charge) for Tourism visited the injured Swiss tourist couple Quentin Jeremy Clerc and Marie Droz at Apollo Hospital, New Delhi on Saturday.

The Minister also had discussion with the management and doctors regarding the treatment, read an official statement.

"Both the patients are fast recovering and are very happy about the treatment that they are getting at the hospital," the government said.
New Delhi, Oct 28 (IBNS): Florence Parly, the French Minister for the Armed Forces, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

Parly briefed the Prime Minister about developments in bilateral defence cooperation.

"The Prime Minister said that defence cooperation is one of the key pillars of the Strategic Partnership between India and France, and called for greater cooperation in the Make in India framework in defence manufacturing and joint research & development," read a statement issued b the government.

The two leaders also discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest.

The Prime Minister said that he looks forward to receiving President Macron in India at his earliest convenience.
Guwahati, Oct 28 (IBNS) : Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday inaugurated the first ever Guwahati International Film Festival at Srimanta Sankardev International Auditorium at Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati.



The 6-day long film festival featured participation of 32 countries with screening of 78 films of different genres.

Speaking at the star studded inaugural ceremony, Sonowal said that, the first ever Guwahati International Film Festival will be launch pad for Assamese films to conquer the world and the Government will make this film festival an annual event.

Welcoming all the delegates to this beautiful state, Sonowal said that, we feel privileged to extend all our hospitality to the film fraternity all over the world and I request all the personalities coming from different nations to enjoy the splashes of the scenic beauty of Assam.

The Assam CM speaking his governments commitment to the growth of the film industry in Assam said that the State Government has decided to give a subsidy of Rs 50 lakh for reopening of closed cinema halls and Rs 25 lakh for renovation of the existing or functional cinema halls.

He also informed that in case of establishment of new cinema halls the state government has decided to provide a subsidy of 25 per cent of the capital cost.

Moreover, the state government has also decided to increase the numbers of films to which government provides financial assistance.

Reiterating his governments emphasis to improve the quality of cinema and culture of the art of acting here in Assam, Sonowal also informed that his government will also establish one State School of Drama for preserving theatrical traditions of the state.

The government would also preserve Chitraban Film Studio at Bholaguri Tea Estate set up by Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala as a mark of respect to the legendary film maker, Sonowal said.

Stating that the first ever Guwahati International Film Festival is the latest addition to the State Governments keen interest in strengthening the film industry, Sonowal urged upon all stake holders to put in their best efforts as Team Assam to make the event truly an epoch making and a signature event.

The Assam CM also said that Guwahati International Film Festival which saw the participation of 32 countries in the city will be a catalyst to Act East Policy which envisages to make Guwahati as the gateway to South East Asian nations.

He also hoped that presence of different countries in the film festival would also lead to cultural and business exchanges between Assam and other nations.

Sonowal said that the new Tourism Policy of the State featured many advantages for film makers who come to Assam and shoot their films.

The film makers who come to Assam and shoot a minimum of 25 per cent of the film in Assam will get a financial grant of up to 25 per cent of the expenditure made in the state, Sonowal said.

Welcoming the film producers to come to Assam, Sonowal said that if they make their films based on the story line of Assams culture, tourism or heritage, the government would provide financial grant to 10 per cent.

Thanking all the delegates for making it to Guwahati International Film Festival, Sonowal said their participation has made the festival great.

Underscoring his governments initiatives for making communication and connectivity to Guwahati a seamless one, Sonowal said that his government would make Guwahati a model city which would truly become a gateway to ASEAN countries.

The Guwahati International Film Festival will be a harbinger of a new dawn for Assamese Film industry, the Assam CM said.

Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Iran to India Gholamreza Ansari while speaking on the occasion said that films have the abilities to reflect values of a nation and participation of Iran in Guwahati International Film Festival is a testimony that both Assam and Iran share common values of friendship.

He also hoped that the Guwahati International Film Festival would further strengthen the mutual relations between India and Iran.

Ambassador of Czech Republic to India Milan Hovorkov who was also present at the inaugural ceremony said that cinema is the bridge builder and the Guwahati International Film Festival would be a bridge of mutual interests between Assam and Czech Republic.

Minister of State (in charge) for Cultural Affairs Naba Kumar Doley also spoke on the occasion. Veteran film makers Jahnu Barua, Anirban Shyam Sarma, director and cinematographer Shaji Karun a galaxy of film personalities and senior government officers were present on the occasion.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
New Delhi, Oct 28 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will visit Karnataka on Sunday.

He will address three public meetings in the course of the day.

He will begin his visit to the State by offering prayers at the Shri Manjunatha Swamy Temple at Dharmasthala.

He will address a public meeting, and distribute RuPay cards to beneficiaries at the Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project, at Ujire.

This will enable the Self Help Groups to begin cashless digital transactions.

The Prime Minister will then travel to Bengaluru, where he will address the gathering at the Dashamah Soundarya Lahari Parayanotsava Mahasarmapane.

The Soundarya Lahari is a set of shlokas composed by Adi Shankaracharya. The event has been organized for the mass chanting of these shlokas in unison.

Later in the day, at Bidar, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the Bidar - Kalaburagi New Railway Line. He will also address a public meeting.
New Delhi, Oct 28 (IBNS): Congress leader P Chidambaram has said that when 'most' people of Kashmir demand for 'azadi' they speak about 'autonomy'.

"Therefore, I think we should seriously examine the autonomy demand. It is very much within the Constitution," Chidambaram was quoted as saying by media.

"Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India with some amount of autonomy," he said.

In a major development, the Centre on Monday appointed Dineshwar Sharma, former Director of Intelligence Bureau, as the Representative of Government of India to initiate and carry forward a dialogue with the elected representatives, various organizations and concerned individuals in the State of Jammu and Kashmir.



Sharma will initiate a sustained interaction and dialogue to understand the legitimate aspirations of the wide cross sections of society, particularly the youth in Jammu and Kashmir and communicate them to the State Government and the Centre.



The move comes in the wake of various steps taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address the needs of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

It may be recalled that during his visit to Srinagar on November 7, 2015, the Prime Minister had announced a package of Rs 80,068 Crores for the overall development of the State.

He has also met the leaders of political parties from time to time and received suggestions with regard to the issue of peace and development in J&K.



In continuation of this process, in his address to the nation on 15th August this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mentioned that, Neither by bullet, nor by abuses but by embracing we can solve the problem of Kashmir.



Subsequently, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has also visited J&K from September 9-12, 2017 and met a large number of delegations from wide spectrum of the society.



Dineshwar Sharma is a Retired IPS officer from 1979 Batch of Kerala Cadre. During his distinguished career, he has served in J&K, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur and as Additional Director and Special Director in the Intelligence Bureau in the Headquarters.

He has in-depth understanding of security related matters and considerable knowledge and experience of issues relating to Jammu and Kashmir.


Image: www.YouTube.com

New Delhi, Oct 28 (IBNS): Union Minister Smriti Irani on Saturday called Congress leader P Chidambaram's remark on Kashmir's autonomy as 'shocking'.

" Shocking that PC bats for separatists & azadi but then not surprising given that their leader supported Bharat tere tukde honge  naara!," Irani tweeted.

Congress leader P Chidambaram has said that when 'most' people of Kashmir demand for 'azadi' they speak about 'autonomy'.

"Therefore, I think we should seriously examine the autonomy demand. It is very much within the Constitution," Chidambaram was quoted as saying by media.

"Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India with some amount of autonomy," he said.

In a major development, the Centre on Monday appointed Dineshwar Sharma, former Director of Intelligence Bureau, as the Representative of Government of India to initiate and carry forward a dialogue with the elected representatives, various organizations and concerned individuals in the State of Jammu and Kashmir.



Sharma will initiate a sustained interaction and dialogue to understand the legitimate aspirations of the wide cross sections of society, particularly the youth in Jammu and Kashmir and communicate them to the State Government and the Centre.



The move comes in the wake of various steps taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address the needs of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

It may be recalled that during his visit to Srinagar on November 7, 2015, the Prime Minister had announced a package of Rs 80,068 Crores for the overall development of the State.

He has also met the leaders of political parties from time to time and received suggestions with regard to the issue of peace and development in J&K.



In continuation of this process, in his address to the nation on 15th August this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mentioned that, Neither by bullet, nor by abuses but by embracing we can solve the problem of Kashmir.



Subsequently, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has also visited J&K from September 9-12, 2017 and met a large number of delegations from wide spectrum of the society.



Dineshwar Sharma is a Retired IPS officer from 1979 Batch of Kerala Cadre. During his distinguished career, he has served in J&K, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur and as Additional Director and Special Director in the Intelligence Bureau in the Headquarters.

He has in-depth understanding of security related matters and considerable knowledge and experience of issues relating to Jammu and Kashmir.


New York, Oct 27(Just Earth News): Even as Iraq breathes a sigh of relief with the defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Daaesh), it has been hit by another crisis a one between Baghdad, the capital, and Erbil, in the Kurdistan region a the top United Nations official in the country has said.

The post-Daesh period has brought to the fore many serious problems that accumulated over the years and remain unresolved, Jan Kubis, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, said Tuesday.

Challenged by the unilaterally declared independence referendum Baghdad has taken steps to re-assert the constitutional order, re-establish the federal authority, he added, noting that the strained Baghdad-Erbil relations, including deficiencies in the implementation of the Iraqi Constitution.

According to Kubis, the developments have, sadly, triggered confrontation between the erstwhile partners who worked together to overthrow dictatorship in the country and, more recently, fought together against ISIL.

The differences have also added to insecurity, fragmentation and difficulties, bringing about new waves of displacements, this time mostly of Kurds.

Adding that the UN continues to closely monitor the situation, provide humanitarian assistance to communities affected as well as work to protect human rights, guided by the principle of impartiality and with the interests of Iraqi people  including in Kurdistan region  at heart, Kubis expressed confidence that Iraq will be able to overcome the crisis.

A solution lies primarily in stopping military activities and in de-escalation, including ending public inflammatory statements and confrontational actions, he said, also highlighting the need for dialogue between Baghdad and Erbil on the basis of the Constitution.

Stressing the importance of preserving the unity and re-establishing stability of the country and peaceful coexistence amongst all Iraqis, based on equal rights and justice in the condition of good and democratic governance, the UN envoy said that the UN stands ready to provide needed assistance, if requested.

We are confident that the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan regional government, just like they banded together to defeat Daesh, can work hand in hand to overcome their differences through dialogue and away from confrontation to resolve all outstanding issues in a manner that is consistent with the Constitution, he concluded.

UN Photo/Amanda Voisard

Source: www.justearthnews.com
Kabul, Oct 28 (IBNS): In two separate airstrikes and a clash at least 20 Talibans were killed in Afghanistan's Zabul province, media reports said.

"Fourteen Taliban were killed in overnight airstrike in the Bata Khelo area of Nawbahar district on Friday evening, Gen. Sidiqullah Saber, commander of the 205th Maiwand Military Corps second Brigade was quoted as saying Pajhwok Afghan News.

Four Taliban were killed in separate drone strikes, reports said.

According to reports, the strikes took place in Nawrak area.

Two more insurgents were killed and three other injured in a clash in the Arghandab district. The clash erupted when militants attacked security forces post., reported Pajhwok Afghan News.


Dhaka, Oct 28 (IBNS): BNP leader Khaleda Zia's motorcade was attacked by unknown men in Bangladesh's Feni area on Saturday, media reports said.

According to reports, Zia's car, however, remained unscathed.

The former Bangladesh PM left Dhaka and was on her way to Cox's Bazar to meet Rohingya people when the incident occurred, reports said.

According to local media reports, she will stay overnight in Chittagong and start for the coastal district on Sunday morning.

The attack on the motorcade occurred as it reportedly passed Comilla's Chouddagram and reached Feni's Mohammad Ali Bazar area.

The men, 15 to 20 of them, some carrying firearms, attacked the cars after the car carrying Khaleda crossed the area around 4:45pm, bdnews24.com reported.

There are now 817,000 refugees in Cox's Bazar (the southern-most district of Bangladesh) including 200,000 who had been seeking refuge there prior to the exodus that began in late August. All but 46,000 among them are living in makeshift shelters or displacement sites, set up on hilly terrain.

facing persecution in Myanmar, large number of Rohingya people have escaped their homeland and taken shelter in Bangladesh.
Ottawa, Oct 28 (IBNS): Canada's former Prime Minister Stephen Harper has lashed out at the Justin Trudeau government over the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), saying the government is "napping on NAFTA".

Regarding the NAFTA negotiations, Harper told media: "I fear that the NAFTA re-negotiation is going very badly. I also believe that President (Donald) Trump's threat to terminate NAFTA is not a bluff  I believe this threat is real. Therefore, Canada's government needs to get its head around this reality: it does not matter whether current American proposals are worse than what we have now."

"What matters in evaluating them is whether it is worth having a trade agreement with the Americans or not" the former PM added.

Apart from the negotiations, Harper criticised the federal government on a host number of issues.

He criticised the Trudeau government for rejecting the proposals of the US too early, negotiating along with Mexico and also putting forward the progressive priorities like aboriginal and environment issues.

However, the Canadian government did not approve Harper's comments.

Reacting to Harper's comments, foreign affairs minister, Chrystia Freeland, said: "We don't agree w former PM Harper's advice. We will continue to defend Canadian interests. Capitulation is not a negotiating strategy #NAFTA."

We don't agree w former PM Harper's advice. We will continue to defend Canadian interests. Capitulation is not a negotiating strategy #NAFTA  Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) October 27, 2017

Canada is presently negotiating with the US regarding the NAFTA, an agreement which came into force from January 1994 by Canada, Mexico and United States creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America.

For almost two years, US President Trump criticised the agreement and also hinted to take some serious steps being in the administration or at least send some ultimatums.

Both Canada and the US differ in the climate change.

The US has already announced their withdrawal from the Paris Climate and the process of coming out from it is underway.

On the other hand, Canada wants a new NAFTA with a reference to the global climate issues and make necessary steps to tackle them.

In the negotitations, Canada is working for a better labour and environmental provisions.

Both Canada and the US are in favour of making an environment agreement in the new NAFTA instead of designing a separate deal.

The two nations also want to make certain provisions to prevent NAFTA nations from violating the rules for the sake of drawing investments.



(Reporting by Suman Das)
Ottawa, Oct 28 (IBNS): Canada's immigration minister, Ahmed Hussen, has said the influx of 300,000 immigrants in the country every year is "new normal", media reports said.

"Three hundred thousand is now our new normal," the minister said.

Hussen said the government has no plan to reduce the level of the influx of immigrants which took place in the last year and the number corresponds to around 300,000.

The minister also hinted that the government is expected to table the plan of the immigration in the House of Commons next week.

Hussen said: "As a government we went from 260,000 to 300,000 because of the need to meet the demands of Canadian families who wanted to reunite with their loved ones."

"But also employers who are asking us to allow them to continue to use immigration more and more as a way to meet their growth needs" he added.

Hussen even said the "vast majority" of the immigrants will belong to the economic class followed by the family class and the refugees.

(Reporting by Suman Das)
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Mutual funds are the solution for ambitious investors who might not have all the knowledge required for investing. Minimized risk, decent profits and ready liquidity have made it into a $27.86 trillion industry. Let us peek through the pages of history and find out how it all beganAs the name suggests, a 'mutual fund' allows several investors to pool their resources to purchase stocks, bonds, and other securities.Like all great things, it was a crisis that spawned the mutual fund . The British East India Company carved a mighty empire in Asia and America by taking massive unsecured debts. The Dutch tried to follow suit in what would be a precursor to the 2008 crisis. War, disease, and politics brought both of the megaliths to their knees and ruined their investors for perpetuity. Governments fell and colonies were lost.In this bleak situation, Adriaan van Ketwich, a Dutch merchant created the worlds first mutual fund in 1774. He pooled money from several investors to form an investment trust. The risk was spread by diversifying across Europe and America. Investments were backed by plantation incomes, a form of mortgage security. The first 2000 shares were made public. These initial shareholders could sell the remaining shares. A transparent annual accounting system was also set up.The Massachusetts Investors Trust was the first modern mutual fund. It was established in 1924. It was the first to allow open-end capitalization. This led to continuous issue and redemption of shares. It grew to $392,000 in assets from $50,000 in a single year and went public in 1928. It later became known as MFS Investment Management.The Indian mutual fund industry started in 1963 with the formation of Unit Trust of India. It was a joint initiative by the Government of India and Reserve Bank of India.The history of mutual funds in India segregated into four distinct phases: - First phase (1964-1987)o Unit Trust of India (UTI) was established in 1963.o It was set up by the Reserve Bank of India and functioned under its Regulatory and administrative control.o In 1978 UTI was de-linked from the RBI and the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) took over.o The first scheme launched by UTI was the Unit Scheme 1964. Second Phase (1987-1993)o Non-UTI, public sector mutual funds entered the market in 1987. These were set up by public sector banks, LIC and GIC.o SBI Mutual Fund was the first non-UTI Mutual Fund established in June 1987 It was followed by Canara bank Mutual Fund in Dec 87.o By 1993, the mutual fund industry increases its assets under management to Rs 47,004 crores. Third Phase (1993-2003)o 1993 ushered in private sector mutual funds for the first time.o This phase also gave Indian investors a wider choice of funds.o Kothari Pioneer (currently merged with Franklin Templeton) was the first private player registered in 1993.o The SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations of 1993 were replaced by a comprehensive set of regulations in 1996. Fourth Phase (since 2003)o UTI was bifurcated into two separate entities The specifiedundertaking of the Unit Trust of India representing, the assets of US 64 scheme, assured return and certain others. The UTI Mutual Fund, sponsored by SBI, PNB, BOB and LIC.The mutual fund industry has, now, entered a phase of consolidation and growth.o Allianz Mutual Fund by Birla Sun Life Insurance and PNB Mutual Fund by Principal are some of the major private players in the market now.The way aheadDespite the global crisis of 2008-09, mutual funds have kept growing at a steady pace. Even though separate accounts, exchange-traded funds, ULIPs and other competitors have raised their heads, the future looks bright for mutual funds.Invest in one today!
Star Plus

Talking to a Mumbai Mirror report, Majethia was quoted saying, We started the Khichdi journey on Star Plus and we are excited to be back working with the channel." The show that revolved around the comic situations of a dysfunctional Gujarati family made a debut in 2002 and lasted for two good years. The show revamped for a second season in 2005 as Instant Khichdi and was later adapted into a Hindi film.

Colors

A statement issued by Arshis publicist, Flynn Remedios, reads, Filing FIR/criminal complaint against Bigg Boss 11 contestants, Priyank Sharma, Sapna Choudhary, Colors, Endemol, today under various IPC provisions concerning the dignity of a woman in legally privileged and protected cases. Colors and Endemol are accused/guilty of permitting telecast of legally privileged/protected and subjudice court matters including the right to prevent or avoid self-incrimination by accused or victim woman and using it for TRP and financial gain.

Twitter

One of the co-producers of the film was quoted in the report saying, "We aspire to create something homegrown that can match Hollywood standards. We can't be penny-pinching with the scale. Hollywood has moved from dramas and rom-coms to big scale films, which makes more money eventually. India too is getting there."

BCCL

Kalki was quoted saying, "I don't think we provide an environment to our women to speak up about sexual abuse. We only listen to people once they are successful or famous. There are a lot of women who are at the struggling stages of their career who talk about these things but no one will listen to their story."

Colors

She went on to admit that she did a South film, where she had to wear a white saree and go underwater. She also tagged the people she has worked with down south as chor and chalu.
To make sure that Bollywood is able to produce one of the biggest superhero films, Team Karan Johar and Ranbir Kapoor are leaving no stones unturned.

Just a few days ago, the news of their upcoming film got confirmed and the film will also star Alia Bhatt and Amitabh Bachchan in pivotal roles. And now, a Mid-Day report claims that the Ayan Mukerji-directed venture will showcase Ranbir Kapoor's character having the superpower of unleashing fire from his palms. This project will also be made on a mega-budget of over Rs 150 crore.

One of the co-producers of the film was quoted in the report saying,

YouTube Screengrab

"We aspire to create something homegrown that can match Hollywood standards. We can't be penny-pinching with the scale. Hollywood has moved from dramas and rom-coms to big scale films, which makes more money eventually. India too is getting there."

Giving a tough competition to Hollywood's fantasy films, this film will release in 3D and will focus on a great cinematic experience for the audience.

BCCL

He added, "We will shoot it the regular way and then convert it into 3D. The visual effects and conversion quality will be superlative. Also starring Amitabh Bachchan and Alia Bhatt in pivotal roles, the film has been conceived as a trilogy. However, the team is currently focused on the first installment, which is likely to go on floors early next year. "

The sources close to the film have clarified that the film's concept is totally different and in no way is similar to any of the Bollywood superhero films.
Voicing his concern on the environmental impact due to the dumping of the ash waste by power plants in river Kosasthalaiyar, actor Kamal Haasan on Friday warned about possible flooding of north Chennai.

bccl

In a series of tweets, Haasan said that the Vallur Thermal Plant and North Chennai Thermal Plant are dumping their ash waste in the river, and cited expert opinion to warn that north Chennai would get flooded even during normal rains.

bccl

He also noted that the forecast now is more than normal rainfall which, in turn, puts at risk 10 lakh people in that area.



The actor said a good government should find a permanent solution for the problems faced by the people. Haasan also warned the government and the people that it would be dangerous for Chennai if the Ennore Creek is ignored.

Kamal Haasan said that the government did not look at the issue when the environmentalists took up the issue of dumping of waste by the power plants, or when the local people also joined them. He also alleged that Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have built their facilities in the river.

bccl

The actor also said he is hearing about attempts to encroach upon 1,000 acres under the guise of expansion of Kamarajar Port in Ennore, near Chennai.
According to latest reports, Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot has dropped out of an awards celebration honoring director and producer Brett Ratner.

reuters

Gadot was set to present the Tree of Life Award to Ratner at a dinner for the Jewish National Fund on Sunday at the Loews Hollywood Hotel but she backed out of the event within the last 24 hours, reports variety.com.

Gadots representatives did not respond to repeated requests for comment by Variety. Ratners representatives also declined to comment. Nina Gordon, a spokeswoman working on the event, said the organisation was told that Gadot had a scheduling conflict.

reuters

Apparently she is stuck on promo stuff for Justice League for China, and shes not going to be back in time. We just found this out and everyone is scrambling, Gordon said.

In an Instagram post on Friday, Gadot said: Thats it for now, China. Thank you for having us.

Thats it for now, China. Thank you for having us . Its been so great seeing this beautiful place , enjoying all the magical sites, delicious food and amazing fans! Your love and support is not taken for granted.   A post shared by Gal Gadot (@gal_gadot) on Oct 27, 2017 at 3:36am PDT

The news of Gadots withdrawal from the event comes as leading Hollywood figures face increasing scrutiny in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sex harassment scandal.

Ratner was once accused of masturbating in front of actor Olivia Munn on a movie set. Ratner is also close friends with director James Toback, whom more than 300 women have recently accused of sexual misconduct.

Gadot posted recently on Instagram saying Bullying and sexual harassment is unacceptable! I stand by all the courageous women confronting their fears and speaking out. Together we stand. We are all united in this time of change.

Ratner is best known as director of the Rush Hours movies and X-Men: The Last Stand.

A post shared by Gal Gadot (@gal_gadot) on Oct 13, 2017 at 7:17am PDT

Somewhere in Hollywood Brett Ratner is crossing his finger silently praying, "Please don't mention me, please don't mention me."  Michael Andrews (@Michael76170684) October 23, 2017

Looks like the hammer is finally about to drop on Brett Ratner. https://t.co/tPdA6dXjjy  Mike McGranaghan (@AisleSeat) October 27, 2017

In case you wanted to vomit down your shirt, here's a quote Brett Ratner gave Variety this January. pic.twitter.com/qDGjS9msdh  Simon Miraudo (@simonmiraudo) October 24, 2017

#BrettRatner admits lying about having sex with Olivia Munn "Shes actually talented. The problem is I made her look like shes a whore." 1/  marti noxon (@martinoxon) October 28, 2017

Waiting for Jared Leto, Brett Ratner, Michael Bay, Bruce Weber, Kevin Spacey and Bryan Singer to be exposed for what they truly are. Scum.  saint lil ron (@BlackJesusWept) October 18, 2017
Pakistan Army has released images of what it claims is an Indian spy drone, which was shot down by on the Line of Control.

Military spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor tweeted the images of a drone which was brought down in Rakhchikri sector.

Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor/ Twitter

Indian quadcopter spying across LOC in Rakhchikri sector shot down by Pak Army shooters, he tweeted.

He also claimed that its wreckage has been held by the Pakistan Army.

Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor/ Twitter

The DJI Phantom drone shot down by Pakistan is among the most popular drones, easily available across the world.

India is yet to officially react to the development.

It is for the second time that Pakistan has claimed to have shot down an Indian quadcopter near the LoC.

In November last year, a similar quadcopter was brought down on Pakistan side of LoC.
A pregnant woman was allegedly beaten to death by her husband and in-laws on Friday after she was forced to go through a sex determination test that said that she had a girl. The West Bengal's Birbhum district police said that two people have been arrested in the case.

reuters/representational image

The police also said that on Thursday night, the woman was tortured to death at her in-laws house in Illambazar area.

According to locals, a medical test to determine the gender of the baby was conducted a couple of days ago and the attack came after the test revealed the woman was pregnant with a girl, he added.

bccl/representational image

The husband and sister-in-law have been arrested on the basis of the complaint lodged by the deceaseds family.

Police said they are looking for the other members of the family, including the mother-in-law of the woman. Prenatal sex determination is banned in India.
External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, has come to the rescue of stranded Indians, once again. Ms Swaraj on Saturday asked the Indian embassy in Kuala Lumpur to help an Indian family get their travel documents, despite the mission being closed on weekends.

Swaraj's response came after one, Meera Ramesh Patel, sought the former's intervention saying her family was at the airport and had lost their passports.

@SushmaSwaraj Mam my family is in malasia airport and lost their passports. Due to weekend Indian Embassy is closed. Please help  Meera Ramesh Patel (@MeearRameshPate) October 28, 2017

bccl

Replying promptly to the person in trouble, Swaraj appealed to the Indian Embassy in Malaysia to help.

Indian Embassy in Malaysia : This is an emergency case. Pls open the Embassy and help the Indian family. @hcikl https://t.co/HCnnCzrJmn  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 28, 2017

bccl

Responding to Swaraj's request, the Indian embassy in Malaysia tweeted that the family members have been contacted and the matter was being resolved, reported PTI.
Pakistan's claims of having shot down India's 'spy drone' has affected quite a reaction on social media.

The Army released photos of the 'wreckage' which was brought down in Rakhchikri sector.

Also read: Pakistan Army Claims Shooting Down Indian Spy Drone At Line Of Control

Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor/twitter

Indian quadcopter spying across LOC in Rakhchikri sector shot down by Pak Army shooters. Wreckage held. pic.twitter.com/g9FG7EghPS  Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) October 27, 2017

Soon, Omar Abdullah appeared to lend support to the other side and kickstarted a storm of jokes.

I have one of these toys as well if youd like to shoot it down to cement your next promotion please drop me a line Ill have it sent across https://t.co/Z1vRKlBnD6  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) October 27, 2017

Also read: Pakistan Commits 105 Ceasefire Violations Just In 2017, Killing & Injuring Civilians & Jawans

And they were hilarious!

Ye to Amazon pe milraha hai.https://t.co/5EuXaOTsNS  arvind sah (@ArvinnSah) October 27, 2017

I have one also with my nephew   Shayar Dev (@ShayarDev) October 27, 2017

Actually me too.. my son flies it all the time to keep a check on neighbours. Ghafoor is most welcome to shoot that down too!  Rajat Wadhwa (@wadhwa_co) October 27, 2017

 want to know which missile they have fired to shoot it down  Raisina_Hill (@Raisina_Hill) October 28, 2017

Some poor newlyweds in PoK are wondering what happened to the f*cking drone shots of their wedding. https://t.co/571pSb3IVO  Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) October 27, 2017

Shooter should get nishan-echutiya   Modi Devay Namah (@desiM67690049) October 27, 2017

Also read: Trump Calls Pakistan An Evil Who Took Tremendous Advantage Of Friendship With The US

Twitterati really did have the last laugh.
The popular Hollywood movie 'Life of Pi' may have been acclaimed worldwide for its special effects and the plot, however, in real life, such an ordeal is no less than a nightmare.

Two women from Honolulu planned a to sail and go on a voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti aboard a 50 foot sailboat. However, one of their cellphones was washed overboard and sank into the ocean on the very first day, and from there, things began to go downhill.

Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuieva Image : AP

About a month into their trip, flooding from a storm crippled their engine. The 57-foot mast was damaged. And then, as they drifted thousands of miles in what turned out to be a five-month ordeal out in the middle of Pacific, the water purifier conked out and sharks started bumping the boat. They kept sending distress calls for 98 days straight but no avail.

They also had two encounters with menacing sharks where a group of five tiger sharks 20 to 30 feet long decided to use the sailboat to teach two younger sharks how to hunt, attacking the vessel at night. The pairs water purifier also broke down and and they were down to their last gallon of water when Jennifer got it fixed.

Image: AP

They were however, prepared, accompanied by their dogs, were resourceful and well-prepared with more than a years worth of food. They were rescued on Wednesday by the US Navy about 900 miles off Japan and thousands of miles from their destination. The USS Ashland picked up Appel and Tasha Fuiava after a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted their crippled vessel Tuesday and alerted the Coast Guard. The Hawaiian Coast guard has also begun a search-and-rescue.

Image : AP

In photos and video provided by the Navy, one of the women blew kisses as a rescue boat approached. Both women, and their dogs, Valentine and Zeus, looked fit and vigorous. Fuiava flashed a smile as she climbed a ladder onto the Ashland. But the experience wasnt all the stuff that nightmares are made of. They said they enjoyed learning about the ocean, its features and the weather. We got to figure out how the ocean works, Appel said.
An Italian man has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for infecting more than 30 women with the HIV virus, after having deliberately having unprotected sex with them.

AFP

Valentino Talluto, a 33-year-old accountant, seduced dozens of women via social networks using a pseudonym Hearty Style.

Police believe he had sex with at least 53 women during that time, passing on the virus to 32 of them.

Other than the women who he had sex with, four others, three male partners of the women and an eight-month-old infant also subsequently contracted the potentially fatal illness.

AFP

In the court, his lawyers argued that Talluto's actions were unintentional, but some of the women he had sex with told the court that he had refused to wear condom claiming that he was allergic, or had recently been tested for HIV.

He also denied of being the carrier of the deadly virus after some women who became infected confronted him.

According to reports, Talluto's mother was also an HIV-infected drug addict who died when he was four.
A Turkish man, miffed over his daughter's engagement killed himself by shooting in the head while live streaming it on Facebook.

Ayhan Uzun, a resident of Kayseri, a city in the centre of Turkey killed himself after ranting about his family's action.

"Her future father-in-law took my place and without having the right, he approved my daughter's wedding, he said in the video.

"Nobody said this girl's father is alive. Though I would have waited for my daughter and family to say to me: 'Come, father, be with us.'

"My wife called me and she told me. I said to her why didn't you come to tell me, and she said: 'We cannot make a personal visit to you...'

"Maybe some of you will call this a show. I do not want anybody to go through this thing that I am going through. I do not want anyone to live what I live, Uzun said, adding I will put an end to life with the weapon in hand." People who were watching him on Facebook tried to ask him not to do anything drastic, but he continued his rant. And then on a countdown of three, he pulls the trigger.
President Vladimir Putin on Friday took part in major military drills of Russian nuclear forces. He also personally monitored the test-firing of four intercontinental ballistic missiles as part of the exercises.

afp

Dmitry Peskov, Putin spokesman said that the Thursday drills had all the elements required like nuclear submarines, strategic bombers and a land-based launcher. He also said that the exercises were routine and not directly linked to any international developments.

Still, the president's direct involvement in overseeing intercontinental ballistic missile launches is an event that has been rarely reported by the Kremlin in the past.

afp

Peskov wouldn't elaborate on what specific part Putin played in the war games, saying that the president "take the necessary moves in line with the standard procedure for relevant situations as the commander in chief."

The Russian Defense Ministry said that in Thursday's drills, a Topol ICBM fired from the Plesetsk launchpad in northwestern Russia hit a designated target on the Kura firing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the far east.

A nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea also launched an ICBM at the same Kura range, while another nuclear submarine in the Sea of Okhotsk fired two ICBM in the opposite direction, hitting targets at the Chizha firing range in the Arkhangelsk region in Russia's northwest.

afp

As part of the manoeuvres, the Tu-160, the Tu-95 and the Tu-22 bomber launched cruise missiles at mock targets at firing ranges on Kamchatka, the Komi region in the far North and in Russia's ex-Soviet neighbour Kazakhstan.

The manoeuvres are the latest in a steady series of war games intended to strengthen the troops' readiness amid tensions with the West.
For the longest time, Apple has been pushing for its iPhone and technology to be used in medical applications, and we may have just seen the best one yet.

A vascular surgeon in the US, John Martin, was able to successfully identify cancerous cells in his neck thanks to a medical accessory connected to his iPhone.

The Butterfly iQ portable ultrasound - Butterfly Network

Called Butterfly iQ, the device is a portable ultrasound device that looks somewhat like an electric razor. All you have to do is connect it to your iPhone, and then hold it to the area of your body you want to scan, and itll net you a monochrome ultrasound image on your smartphone.

According to MITs Technology Review, Martin had just joined the Butterfly Network startup earlier this year as their chief medical officer. When he began feeling an uncomfortable thickness in his throat, he decided to use his companys device to ultrasound himself and hopefully find answers. Martin has already undergone surgery and radiation treatment for the mass.

The main benefit to Butterfly iQ is that its incredibly portable, meaning it can be used in an emergency situation in the back of an ambulance. In addition, its simple enough to operate that even a layperson can use it, though theyd need a doctor to analyse the output. Just as important, the device is significantly cheaper to produce than traditional ultrasound machines.

The Butterfly iQ will begin shipping in 2018, available at $1,999 (approximately Rs 1,30,000).
Ever since it was unveiled on September 12, the iPhone X has definitely been the talk of the smartphone town, part of which has been its $999 price tag. And while $999 comes to about Rs 64,000, the actual price for the device in India starts at a whopping Rs 89,000.

Even though people are tempted to order one from the US directly or some other country where the pricing isnt as exorbitant, many have refrained from it plainly due to the fact that those devices wont get warranty cover in India. And nobody wants to spend an arm and a leg on a phone without adequate warranty. However, this is no longer the case.

iPhones now support international warranty, but...

Apple has gone ahead and quietly extended the International Warranty for its iPhones. This means now iPhones bought from across the globe can avail warranty in India. Earlier the phones were only eligible for repairs, but now they come under full coverage.

While this might sound like something to celebrate for iPhone fanboys, there are a few caveats.

Device should be unlocked, no jailbreaks allowed!

Firstly, and most importantly, the device must be factory unlocked and not bound by any carrier. This means the carrier locked phones from cellular brands like Verizon, Sprint, Orange and others wont be covered under the warranty. Moreover, illegally unlocking these phones also wont make you eligible for the warranty.

Sorry, Dubai purchases not covered

Another caveat that can be problematic is that devices bought from Dubai wont be eligible for the International warranty. So the cheapest option for Indians kinda died a slow death there. So the next cheapest option for you would be getting one from Hong Kong. But apart from the price, you have other major concerns to be worried about.

Yesterday, the iPhone X went on pre-order on Amazon and Flipkart and was sold out in a matter of minutes. So it'll be a tough job just getting your hands on one.

REUTERS

eBay is selling iPhone X for $1500

If money isn't an issue for you and you desperately want an iPhone X, various sellers on eBay are seen selling the iPhone X for prices as high as $1500. However, look for the legitimacy of the seller before buying one to be on a safer side.

Preorder your iPhone X

Although the stocks might not be available right now, but preordering your iPhone X will confirm you in the queue for iPhone X shipments.

The device has been suffering from a delay in its manufacturing process since the OLED screens from Samsung are high on demand and arent available in stock. This OLED screen is responsible for Apples Super Retina display delivering sharper texts and deep blacks.

Apples iPhone X is turning out to be one of the most hotly anticipated phones of the year -- getting your hands on it just became even more difficult.
The Ongoing Coffee Plunge Best Weather Inc. - Tue Nov 15, 6:08PM CST Jim Roemer's video tells about the recent hail damage in Brazil and how he called the major down-move in coffee prices during the last two months. KCH23 : 159.50s (-4.43%) JO : 46.00 (-3.05%)

Cotton Rallies on Tuesday Barchart - Tue Nov 15, 4:22PM CST Tuesdays cotton trade bounced back with 285 to 346 point gains. New crop Dec rallied 184 points on the day, which discounted it to now 984 points under the spot Dec contract. The 11/14 Cotlook A Index... CTZ22 : 88.95 (+0.24%) CTH23 : 87.14 (+0.20%) CTK23 : 86.00 (+0.19%)

Wheats Gain on Tuesday Barchart - Tue Nov 15, 4:22PM CST Wheat markets ended the day with gains. At the high, Dec SRW was up to $8.43 for a 24 cent gain, but closed 9 3/4 cents higher. The other front months were 7 3/4 to 9 3/4 cents higher. KC wheats ended... ZWZ22 : 818-6 (-1.15%) ZWH23 : 839-0 (-1.06%) ZWPAES.CM : 7.6241 (+1.42%) KEZ22 : 954-0 (-0.93%) KEPAWS.CM : 9.2132 (+0.74%) MWZ22 : 962-6 (-1.16%)

Hogs Gain on Tuesday Barchart - Tue Nov 15, 4:22PM CST Tuesday hog futures closed with $0.45 to $1.12 gains through the front months. The USDA National Average Base Hog Price for Tuesday was $1.46 stronger to $85.54. The CME Lean Hog Index was $88.65 on 11/11,... HEZ22 : 85.325s (+0.53%) HEJ23 : 95.500s (+1.19%) KMZ22 : 95.900s (+0.24%)

Cattle Close Mixed on Tuesday Barchart - Tue Nov 15, 4:22PM CST Front month cattle futures ended 7 to 30 cents lower in some of the contracts, while Feb and April closed 50c and 30c in the black. Feeders worked $1.80 to $2.42 in the red. USDA reported limited cash... LEZ22 : 151.275s (-0.20%) LEG23 : 153.050s (+0.33%) LEJ23 : 156.725s (+0.19%) GFX22 : 175.675s (-0.72%) GFF23 : 177.025s (-1.35%)

Corn Rises on Tuesday Barchart - Tue Nov 15, 4:22PM CST Corn futures worked 7 to 10 cents higher on Tuesday. December ended the day near the mid point of the range, which took the contract to $6.75 at the high. The USDA announced a private corn sale of 230,185... ZCZ22 : 662-6 (-0.60%) ZCPAUS.CM : 6.6694 (+1.57%) ZCH23 : 665-0 (-0.64%) ZCK23 : 664-2 (-0.52%)

Soy Rallies on Tuesday Barchart - Tue Nov 15, 4:22PM CST Soybean futures closed the session with 14 to 17 cent gains on Tuesday. Jan was trading with 24 cent gains at the days highs. Meal futures ended with gains of $3.90 to $4.80/ton. BO prices closed with... ZSF23 : 1448-6 (-0.58%) ZSPAUS.CM : 14.3095 (+1.37%) ZSH23 : 1453-0 (-0.60%) ZSK23 : 1457-4 (-0.65%)

Crude Shakes Off Weak IEA Demand Forecast and Closes Higher on Missile Strikes on Poland Barchart - Tue Nov 15, 4:14PM CST Dec WTI crude oil (CLZ22 ) on Tuesday closed up by +1.05 (+1.22%), and Dec RBOB gasoline (RBZ22 ) closed down by -1.24 (-0.49%). Crude oil and gasoline prices Tuesday settled mixed, with crude recovering... CLZ22 : 86.63 (-0.33%) RBF23 : 2.4698 (-0.18%)
Dateline Dateline Irrawaddy: Will International Sanctions Over Rakhine Impede Myanmars Democratic Transition

This week, The Irrawaddy discusses how international sanctions on the Myanmar Army over Rakhine State could upset democratization.

Kyaw Zwa Moe: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! Ongoing conflicts in Rakhine State have had a considerable impact on Myanmars democratic transition. It is likely that western countries will impose targeted sanctions on the Myanmar Army. Under such circumstances, how will Tatmadaw leaders respond? How will Myanmars relations with the international community change? What are the policies and weaknesses of the government in handling the issue? And will the Rakhine issue put the countrys democratic transition in a negative direction? Ethnic affairs and Rakhine issue analyst U Maung Maung Soe joins me to discuss these issues. Im Irrawaddy English editor Kyaw Zwa Moe.

The Rakhine issue broke out months ago on Aug. 25, and is not yet over. First of all, I think it has had a profound impact on the democratic transition of the country. Myanmar was a charmer on the international stage before the most recent and serious outbreaks of violence in Rakhine over the past three years and even since 2011 when the country started to open up. Everyone was interested in the country and wanted to come and invest. But the problem we are facing is quite serious as around 500,000 to 600,000 have left the country. It is a black stain on Myanmars democratic transition. Recently, the US State Department said that targeted sanctions would be imposed on Myanmar. They assessed that the security forces led by the military, rather than the government, used excessive force in conducting clearance operations. It is likely that targeted sanctions will be imposed on military leaders by the US or the EU. What will be the response if that happens, and how will our countrys relations with the international community change?

Maung Maung Soe: As youve said, it is true that Rakhine issue has become a setback in Myanmars democratic transition. But I dont think the international community will impose the same punishments as the past. There were strict sanctions while the country was under the military regime.

KZM: Including economic sanctions.

MMS: Yes. But this time, they would assume that the military is mainly responsible, and put limited sanctions. If they impose sanctions on the military, they would target some military leaders. Such sanction would have an impact on the functions of the military. But for the country as a whole, it is unlikely to create impact. But then, it may have some impact on the national reconciliation efforts of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. As President U Htin Kyaw has said in his message to the UN [at 72nd Anniversary], Id like to urge the UN to pay attention to the interests of each individual UN member. I mean, the UN needs to understand the democratic transition and complexity of our country. I dont mean they should ignore the Bengali issue. Call it a human rights problem or citizenship problem of Bengalis, it is important that the truth is adhered to. The problem today has not just erupted recently, but had been simmering for yearssince 2012 or even before. So, it is not reasonable to punish the current government for this. It would be best for the international community to support the reforms of the government, I think. If it imposes sanctions, it would hinder the reforms of the government.

KZM: In the early days of the conflict, the international community blamed both the government and the military. Now, they blame separately, saying that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi doesnt have complete authority over security forces. They now target the military. Anyway, the military leadership plays a major role in the democratic transition of Myanmar. So, the US, UK and EU have invited and held talks with the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services. Regarding relations with other countries and the military, for example, UK has cancelled engagement with the Myanmar military and stopped a scholarship program immediately. And Myanmar military responded that it would not send [staff to the UK]. So, I think it is difficult to restore such relations between international countries and the military leadership?

MMS: Yes, it would be difficult. I think it will have an impact on the democratic transition of Myanmar. The problem erupted all of a sudden, but because of long-running causes. It erupted while the government of National League of Democracy (NLD) was starting to make changes to it. The international community said that the report of Kofi Annan commission is acceptable to them. And Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has said that she would implement what she can start with the recommendations in the report. Shouldnt the international community wait and see? If they are forcibly putting pressure on the government rather than encouraging it [to implement those recommendations], the outcome would not be good. Again, we cant leave out the military in national reconciliation process. This is the problem of our country.

KZM: Concerning the Rakhine issue, most of the Myanmar people and commentators better understand the situation, but the international communitymaybe they have got in a corner because of alleged human rights violations and the UNs strong criticismaccording to the UN figures, 500,000 to 600,000 refugees have left Myanmar. Therefore the United States of America as well as other countries are compelled to do something. But then, thinking our local politics simply about national reconciliation, the cooperation of Tatmadaw is extremely important for Daw Aung San Suu Kyis government in democratic transition. If sanctions are targeted at the Tatmadaw, will it affect the relations between the two?

MMS: Yes, it will. If this happens, there will be increased tensions in our country. The increased tensions will make democratic transition more difficult. Then, our country is likely to be faced with another serious crisis.

KZM: The current situation suggests that we are back in a crisis.

MMS: Yes, we are back in a big crisis. Talking of the military, it has not got a positive reputation both at home and abroad. At such a time, there arose criticisms [concerning its response in Rakhine]. Excessive force might have been used in operations in Buthidaung and Maungdaw. And the Tatmadaw said that it was investigating [into alleged abuses]. But then, Bengalis fled not only because of security forces using excessive force. Because they keep on fleeing in the past two months. We need to find out the reason why they are fleeing. It is no longer because the security forces use force. Security forces might have used force in the early days [of the conflict]. But we didnt witness on the ground. Yes, there might have been the use of excessive force. But then, as far as Im concerned, organizations related to Bengalis and ARSA [Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army] are gathering those refugees in Bangladesh. They are doing so to demand their political rights like in the case of Kosovo, I assume. We need to foresee such a possibility. You cant approach to this problem one-sidedly.

KZM: The Rakhine issue has put Myanmars politics back into tight corners. Anyway, the government has to address this issue. And it is addressing. The international aid may not directly come into Myanmar like it did in the past. It seems that the aid may go to those 600,000 refugees who have fled from Myanmar. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has recently accepted donations from local businessmen for rehabilitation works in Rakhine State. She received nearly 18 billion kyats. So, according to this and her previous messages, it seems that her policy is kind of self-reliance for rehabilitation. But, international assistance is also necessary for us. What will the government require to solve the Rakhine issue, and to get out of this tight corner?

MMS: As youve said, the international assistance to Myanmar will decline. It is estimated that a sum of over US$ 400 million will be required to help refugees in Bangladesh. But then, only over US$ 300 million was earmarked at the meeting [of UN agencies in Geneva]. So, it seems that the large proportion of the sum will go to refugees in Bangladesh. So, we have to do our own for rehabilitation. Though the government has got 18 billion kyats now, it wont be sufficient. But then what we need mainly is political strength. As the report of Kofi Annan Commission has pointed out, representatives of two communities must involve in solving this issue. For the time being, there are many difficulties and restrictions for Bengali representatives to participate. We still cant reach them. But for Arakanese community, we can involve representatives elected by Arakanese people. They may have different and radical views. But those differences must be addressed through negotiation. We must involve in Arakanese community and their representatives in solving this problem. It is the only way forward on self-reliant basis. Now, there are committees for Rakhine State such as Rakhine State development committee, committee to implement the recommendations of advisory commission, and the last one committee for humanitarian assistance, rehabilitation and development committees formed by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. But then, those committees do not include people of concerned societies. If we are to go on a self-reliant basis, representatives of the Arakanese community must be included. The problem must be solved together with them. Some of them may have extreme views and may oppose against illegal Bengali immigrants. In a recent interview [about the violence in Rakhine], a teacher from Indaing said his father was murdered in violence, and they could do nothing. So they are emotional to accept them back or co-exist with them. On Oct. 21 evening, two Diangnet villagers from Aung Thabyay village were killed while they were hunting a boar. Two escaped but with injuries. So, such attacks have not yet been over. So, they are deeply emotional, and we cant stop them from feeling emotional. However, we must solve the problem together with them. Because they live in there.

KZM: After the Aug. 25 attacks, refugees fled, many Hindus as well as other local ethnic people were killed. And there were a lot of arson attacks. Taking a look at the big picture, the bitter truth is that it is now very difficult to restore harmony between two communitiesthe Rakhine community and the other community. I think it is hard to restore the situation even before August 25. The problem in Rakhine, the western gate of Myanmar has affected the entire country. The peace process is not yet over, and the NCA [Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement] is not yet signed by all groups though it has been two years [since the first signing of NCA]. The fire is burning in Rakhine State and touch wood, if clashes recur? What do you assess?

MMS: It is a real cause for concern. In national reconciliation of our country, federalism is the key.

KZM: It is the most basic part.

MMS: Seven ethnic groups of FPNCC [Federal Political Negotiation Consultative Committee] which accounts for around 80 percent of armed ethnic groups have not yet signed NCA. While we are facing a problem at the western gate of the country, and the international pressure is mounting, we do hope that tensions [with armed ethnic armed groups] could be defused. However, according to what I heard from the speeches on 2nd year anniversary of NCA on Oct. 15, [the government and the military] stick to NCA, and there was criticism against those who dont sign NCA. The government didnt talk much, but the military voiced criticism. It is still difficult to bring those to table to hold political talks on national reconciliation. At such time, there are some tensions. There were tensions after SSPP [Shan State Progressive Party] troops in Wan Hai [SSPP Headquarters] area were asked to move from there in order to build a road on the bank of Thanlwin River. Then, tensions eased and recently rose again when [SSPP] troops stationed between Thanlwin River and the south of Mongshu, Mongtung were asked to move. If they refuse to move, there may be clashes. Likewise other armed ethnic groups based in northern Myanmar such as TNLA [Taang National Liberation Army], AA [Arakan Army], Kokang and KIA [Kachin Independence Army]if they cant participate in political dialogue for not signing NCA, will they just do nothing to achieve their ambitions? Or if the military will carry out assault? What will happen in western gate if large-scale wars break out in northern Myanmar? Though ARSA is not making serious attacks at the moment, it is not impossible that they may take advantage of clashes in northern area, should it happen, and launch attacks in western gate. If then, our country is likely to become a failed state. As Ive said, the government should make relaxations at the same time so that armed ethnic groups can join the peace talks. Only then, it will be able to pull our country out of crisis. Otherwise, our country will get into worse crisis, Im worried.

KZM: Scholars assess that Myanmar has become nearly a failed state. They say Myanmar is on the verge of becoming a failed state, and just one more step away from it. I think our country is in a corner. Both the government and the military are in a corner. And it is fair to say that the international community is in a corner in handling Myanmar. If they dont take these things into consideration, what they did once to support and assist to democratize Myanmar will come to nothing. Thank you for your discussion.
In Person Myanmars Gramophone Record Collector

Maung Maung with his record collections in Yangon. (Myo Min Soe/The Irrawaddy.)

In the early 1960s, when Maung Maung was attending the 7th grade, his grandmother gave him a His Masters Voice (HMV) gramophone, locally called as dog brand gramophone, a present that obsessed him for the rest of his life.

This was one of the main factors that inspired me to collect gramophone records, said Maung Maung, who is commonly known as researcher Maung Maung.

When it comes to the history of the gramophone in Myanmar, no one knows as much as Maung Maung who has collected almost a centurys worth of gramophone recordsfrom the records of a play by Saya Pua court artist in the reign of Myanmars last monarch King Thibaw in late 19th Centuryto the last gramophone record produced in Myanmar in 1976 by classical musician Kyaukpadaung Kyaw Lwin in 1976.

He started collecting gramophone records while he was a student after his grandmother gave him a gramophone and kept on collecting through various stages of his life as a university student, a police officer, and then a lawyer.

Gramophone records have recorded Myanmars classical music, traditional culture and historical events that were previously passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth as well as from books and literature, he said.

Around 1972 I was attending university [in Yangon] and gramophones started to lose popularity, he recalled, Because of the invention of cassette players and the decline in quality of gramophone records.

He related the quality decline to the socialist system being practiced by Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) at the time.

As cassette players became popular, people were selling their old gramophones to dealers. At that time, people started to exchange their gramophones for cassette players. Later, gramophones were [discarded and] stacked in piles like bricks.

Nobody would stop you if you take them because people thought they were garbage and youve just cleared it. If I had been the director-general of [State Broadcaster] Myanma Radio and Television [MRTV], I would have taken them by car, he said about the demise of gramophones.

He scavenged through piles of gramophones and records in Yangon and took his favorites back to his native Daik-U Township in Bago Region.

My father also helped me collect newspaper adverts for gramophone records, he said.

After he graduated, he worked as a school teacher back in Daik-U and taught his students Myanmar literature and nationalism which was taken from Anyeint and marionette songs, and plays in gramophone records, which he had collected.

Then he joined the police force and served as a police chief in a number of townships in Bago Region.

While I was serving as a police chief, I told second-hand goods dealers like this. I dont care anything else but gramophones and records. I would buy any, and any consequence is yours if you dont sell me, he explained how he collected gramophone records.

When he heard somebody had some rare gramophone records, he went there along with his gramophone. He bought gramophone records if owners sold, but when owners didnt, requested owners to let him play it on his gramophone.

He continued collecting gramophone records while he was working as a lawyer after retiring from the police force. He continued to get gramophones and records from his clients and friends.

Former information minister U Kyi Aung, who is also a gramophone fanatic, once solicited him to donate his gramophone records to his ministry, but he refused.

However, with the approval of the minister, he got an opportunity to group the gramophone records of MRTV according to their genres.

MRTV has plenty of gramophone records, but not as many as my archive in terms of records with real historical values, for example, only I have the original record of the song Doh Bamar which was the origin of todays Myanmar national anthem and sung by Thakhins in colonial period.

However, that was very beneficial to my research on gramophones. I am grateful to authorities for this, he said.

Based on his collection of records, newspaper clippings and adverts and references, he published a 1000-page research book on the countrys gramophone disc history, for which he won the national literature award in 2015.

Regarding the book, historian Dr Toe Hla said: This is a book which has never existed before, and which every artist should keep.

From this book, scholars and researchers can find the history of artists and songs of eras, and socio-economy and faith reflected by songs, he remarked.

I collected them because Im crazy about it. Ill figure out the arts, history, literature, tradition and culture reflected in those records. I will share the quality of old classical Myanmar songs and standards of Myanmar literature to younger generations and international gramophone disc researchers, he said.

About the future of over 100,000 records which he collected for nearly six decades, he said: Frankly speaking, I dont expect to receive help from the [information] ministry.

If I say something, they [information ministry officials] would reply they would submit a letter to the minister or come back again at this or that time. I dont care. In fact, they should come to us. If they dont, I will do it on my own. But if there are people who know the value and can afford to keep my records in a museum or alike, I will transfer them, he said.

Ill keep on collecting those records. Thats my life, he said.
News Myanmar Army Partially Withdraws from Maungdaw, Allows Aid Access

A Myanmar soldier stands near Maungdaw, north of Rakhine state, Myanmar September 27, 2017. (Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

YANGON  The Myanmar Army withdrew dozens of soldiers from conflict-torn northern Rakhine States Maungdaw district on Wednesday, the Office of the Commander in Chief announced on its official Facebook page.

According to the statement, The Myanmar Army dispatched columns to fight the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), formally known as Harakah Al-Yakin (faith movement) and who attacked 30 border outposts and one military barracks, and conduct clearance operations.

The army decreased its operations after Sept. 5, the statement said, as Maungdaw district recovered from conflicts in August and the Myanmar Army pulled back troops from the region to be formed as an auxiliary force in state capital Sittwe.

The statement did not mention, however, the number of soldiers as well as the relevant infantry unit.

The military provided four pictures under the statement which captured the arrival of army soldiers in a navy ship as well as several military trucks in capital Sittwe.

An intelligence source based in Rakhine told The Irrawaddy that around 200 soldiers returned and at least one hundred soldiers may now remain in Maungdaw district.

The announcement of withdrawal by the military came two days after the U.S. State Department announced it would suspend travel waivers on Myanmars senior army generals as well as other responsible officials.

During a press briefing of US State Departments deputy secretary Patrick Murphy on Oct. 24, he said: We also want accountability for atrocities. As we announced last night, we have identified new and ongoing action to hold responsible those who have committed violence, including following measures, suspending travel weavers for military leaders, accessing existing authorities to consider options to target individual responsible for atrocities.

The Irrawaddy contacted military spokesperson Maj-Gen Aung Ye Win in tas well as Rakhine States border affairs minister Col. Phone Tint in order to verify whether withdrawing troops in Maungtaw region was related to the US state departments actions or not, but failed to reach them.

Myanmar President Offices spokesman U Zaw Htay told The Irrawaddys Naypyitaw correspondent that imposing sanctions will hit development for the public of Myanmar and the World Banks withholding of US$200 million also potentially negatively affected the economic development of Myanmar.

Sanctions could not be helpful for current situation in Myanmar as we are conducting with coordination and the country is still in a democratic transition process and just half way towards democratic federal union, said U Zaw Htay.

Regarding military troops pulling back from Maungdaw district as a response to the US, ethnic affairs expert U Maung Maung Soe concluded that the actions of army is an attempt to prove to the international community that they are not applying excessive force, rather than a direct response to the US state departments new approach.

The announcement of US is just blaming the army and even imposing sanction would not greatly impact military leaders, said U Maung Maung Soe.

In terms of the wording excessive force in military action, he argued that western countries could define the terminology based on considering heavy civilian casualties.

He pointed out even that the US applauded Philippine military forces for retaking Marawi from Isis. The situation between The Philippines and Myanmar, however, is completely different as ARSA militants used rudimentary weapons against security forces instead of fighting with firearms.

U Maung Maung Soe agreed with allegations of the international community that many Muslim villagers were fleeing to neighboring countries from the militarys brutal operations. He said, however, that western countries always blame one-sided to government and purportedly ignored to mention the name ARSA in their statements.

On Thursday, Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and UN Resident Coordinator to Myanmar Ms. Renata Dessallien discussed their point of views in Napyiyaw. On Friday, World Food Program (WFP)s spokeswoman Bettiana Luescher told journalists in Geneva that Myanmar has given the green light to resume humanitarian assistance in northern Rakhine State.
Westpac's PayWear delivers contactless microchip payments from your account, using a silicone wristband or a keeper device that easily attaches to an existing watch or fitness band.

Although Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and smaller banks like Bendigo Bank are still holding out on their iPhone owning customers by denying them Apple Pay usage, despite ANZ and various credit unions and various AMEX and other credit cards finally getting on board the Apple Pay train, banks are still engaging in a range of contactless payment technologies.

Samsung has had great success in getting many more banks and financial institutions on board, as has been covered in iTWire recently, while Google Pay, FitBit Pay and other payment systems are out there, too.

And c'mon, you can even do eftpos by wearable these days, albeit only for ANZ customers via Apple Pay using an iPhone or Apple Watch, but it works, so Apple users who haven't already made the switch to ANZ are still impatiently waiting for Australian banks to let those who wish to use Apple Pay just start using it, and let anyone else who wants to use Android Pay or Samsung Pay or Fitbit Pay or Unipay or WhatsApp/WeChat pay or any other kind of pay, to pay their way as they wish to pay it!

So, what Westpac's PayWear does instead is to be a new wearable payment technology that will "allow customers to make contactless payments with either a silicone wristband or keeper, which can be easily attached to an existing watch or fitness band, via a microchip linked to the customers everyday transaction account".

It's not specifically mentioned if you can attach PayWear via the 'keeper to an Apple Watch, and nor would you expect Westpac to do so, but if you can, avoids the problem of needing to wear both smartwatch and PayWear as separate bands. It will be interesting to see how well the keeper device works.

Please turn phone horizontal to view full image if viewing on mobile.

As you'd expect, Westpac explained that "Customers can tap and pay in the same way they regularly do with their debit card, without having to reach for their wallet or smartphone, through the new range of waterproof and battery-free wearable accessories."

However, this makes me wonder if someone could tap a (admittedly obvious) payment terminal to your wrist with a pre-set amount of say $99 tapped your wrist and whether that would go through, or not, without requiring a pin code.

Perhaps some hacker will find a way to program an NFC-enabled smartphone with such an app to harvest payment data and approvals, and then somehow hide the flow of money so as not to be so easily tracked. End-users would only notice when they checked their online accounts and saw amounts between $1 and $99 being taken out to some random account that could presumably be faked to state Woolworths or Coles or 7-Eleven or a service station etc.

No doubt the banks are well aware of such possibilities are prepared for any such attack, because as always, many consumers prefer convenience over security.

This is especially so in today's modern world, where instant gratification isn't, at least for some people, instant enough.

We see the positive side of this as Westpac Group chief executive, Consumer Bank, George Frazis, explained that "customers across the country embrace greater convenience and expect to be able to simply tap-and-pay.

Australia has the highest contactless penetration in the world, and cards continue to replace cash as consumers demand convenience. Were always looking for new ways to help make our customers lives easier, and with our new PayWear products, customers will be able to pay on-the-go, in one hands-free step.

With PayWear, there is no need to search through a bag, login to an app or worry about battery life. It will be on the go with our customers and ready for use when they are.

When speaking with customers, personal style and choice were important. In fact, 70% agreed that they would only wear a wearable device if it suited their own personal style and lifestyle. This is why we will collaborate with iconic Australian designers to create a variety of wearable accessory designs to suit different tastes, preferences and styles.

Supporting the announcement, findings from the 2017 Westpac Hands-free Payments Survey also released today found:

70% of Australians agree that they would only wear a wearable device if it suited their personal style and lifestyle;

17% of Australians feel that they can't afford wearable technology, and 70% indicated price is the most important factor; and

60% of Australians prefer simplicity and convenience over high tech features when it comes to wearable technology.

PayWear Essentials will be available in early December, with Westpac "also partnering with Australian designers to create a PayWear Designer range launching early next year."

Award-winning surfboard shaper and entrepreneur, Hayden Cox of Haydenshapes, is the first Australian designer to be announced, and he will design a range of unique products for Westpac PayWear. Here he is with PayWear being worn.

A range of leading Australian designers will be hand-picked to speak to a wide mix of everyday Australians - from surfers and fitness fanatics, to busy parents, professionals and festival-goers.

Cox says the opportunity to collaborate with Westpac has been a natural fit when it comes to designing products that are innovative, functional and stylish.

Functional design is something Ive always been passionate about  particularly technology and products that improve experiences for people. It was this passion which led me to creating and filing a patent on my parabolic carbon fibre surfboard construction, FutureFlex, and wanting to uniquely design my product to improve the surfing experience.

Working with Westpac to create an exclusive range of wearable accessories which evolve the way people make contactless payments is exciting to me. This product signals an inevitable and innovative progression of our everyday routines. While some customers may opt for the simpler Essentials range, there is also a part of the market that will want something with a little more flavour. This is where the products Im designing will sit.

Westpac tells us that all of its customers "with an everyday banking account eligible for a Debit Mastercard will be able to order a PayWear Card online via Westpac Live, which can be inserted into the PayWear accessory of their choice. The PayWear Essentials range of wristband and keeper will be available from December. The Designer range is due to be available to customers in early 2018".

Naturally, Westpac customers will be able to use PayWear to make purchases on all contactless-enabled terminals  otherwise there'd be no point to using it.

Frazis concluded, seemingly taking a dig at smartwatches and other payment enable fitness wearables by stating: Unlike many other wearable payment options, our customers dont require an expensive device to access this technology. Customers will be able to get a PayWear Essentials accessory free of charge for a limited time, making it accessible to all our everyday banking customers.

Westpac proudly boasts "the announcement of PayWear builds on the Westpac Groups strong history of digital innovation, as the first to introduce internet banking to Australia, and the first in the world to deliver fingerprint sensor technology (Touch ID) to mobile banking logon in 2014".

However, we still await Westpac making Australian history as the second local major bank to finally allow its iPhone and Apple Watch using customers to enjoy the digital freedom of doing so, rather than finding their money has limitations on the way it can be digitally used.

Although Westpac customers are invited to express their interest now for the upcoming Westpac PayWear Essentials and Designer ranges at Westpac's PayWear page, no such page appears to exist for gauging Apple Pay interest, only a page listing Samsung Pay and Android Pay availability.

About PayWear Essentials

"The PayWear Essentials products are made of waterproof, tear-resistant silicone and include a wristband, and a keeper which can be attached to an existing watch or fitness band. These products will be available for Westpac customers to order from early December, via their online banking or mobile banking app. PayWear Essentials will be free for a limited time."

About the 2017 Westpac Hands-free Payments Survey

"Westpac's survey of 1244 Australian adults (18-55) was undertaken in October to understand current payment and cash management behaviours and attitudes towards wearable payment technology. A cross-section of the Australian population was surveyed which is statistically representative of the national census."



Key findings from the research:
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By Histyar Qader | Erbil | (Niqash.org) |  

After clashes in northern Iraq this week, hundreds of fake pictures have flooded Iraqi social media. Some are real, some not, but leaders on both sides say its leading to a dangerous escalation of tensions.

Given the partisan nature of much of the media funding in Iraq, theres always been a fair amount of fake or nearly-fake news in circulation. Many locals get their news from Facebook and are informed by a variety of sources along with friends and family. Some of those sources support their own arguments in an intensely political atmosphere by posting pictures or videos from a different situation, time or even country.

Its a fairly common practice in Iraq. However since the beginning of the military movements in northern Iraq in mid-October, and occasional military skirmishes there, the number of these kinds of inaccurate and biased clips and photos have multiplied. There are literally hundreds of false narratives online at the moment.

It is equally obvious that there is no control in the Kurdish military over what the men can and cannot post.

We know that these kinds of pictures and videos have an impact on the feelings of people here, says Halgurd Hikmat, a spokesperson for the Iraqi Kurdish military, commonly known as the peshmerga. But we have nothing to do with circulating these pictures and it is just ordinary people who are posting them. We are definitely going to check though, to see if pictures posted by and about peshmerga are real or fake.

It is clear that Kurdish soldiers have been involved in posting some of the pictures and videos  some true and some propaganda-related. It is equally obvious that there is no control in the Kurdish military over what the men can and cannot post. Dozens of soldiers are actually taking pictures or filming live battle scenes then posting them on Facebook.

In one particularly odd video, a Kurdish soldier started a live feed on Facebook while manning a Soviet-made DShK heavy machine gun. Facebook appears to have removed the content since then.

Karim Nouri, a spokesperson for the Shiite Muslim militias, admits that this is a problem for his forces too. Both sides to this conflict  the Kurdish and the Arabs  have been making use of the situation to post and publicize misinformation, he told NIQASH. This has led to increased tensions and a surge in fighting between us, al-Nouri noted. At the same time it has also created a lot of fear and anxiety for civilians and has led, in some cases, to people fleeing their homes.

Media bias, photo shopped pictures and fake pictures are flooding in because the situation is so tense, al-Nouri told NIQASH. The big division between the two sides is causing this and it is increasing the impact of the fake pictures. Both sides should stop this.

Al-Nouri even had his own research to share. There was a picture of [Kurdish politician] Khaled Shawani and [the recently-removed governor of Kirkuk] Najmaddin Karim posted, and it looked like they were in Alton Kupri fighting, he said. In reality they were in a meeting at that time! This picture is from 2015 and was taken while fighting the Islamic State group.

The people who first post these pictures do have an agenda, says Hashim Hassan al-Tamimi, Dean of the College of Mass Communication at the University of Baghdad. Then those who spread them and re-post them often do so without really thinking it through; it is due to fundamental feelings of anger and fear, al-Tamimi says, and it is a kind of psychological warfare.

These pictures are intentionally posted to increase hatred and demoralize the opposition, al-Tamimi added. And that has nothing to do with lack of awareness.

Interestingly, during the course of this conflict in northern Iraq, one can detect a slow change of attitude in users of social media. Many locals are now talking about the fake pictures and telling others not to trust them. Still, one other point has also become clear: Genuine pictures are never as popular as the more dramatic false ones.

NIQASH has checked the veracity of a very small number of some of the most widely circulated items.

After fighting broke out between Iraqi military and Shiite Muslim militias and the Kurdish military near Alton Kupri, pictures of burned out military vehicles and dead soldiers have been being provided as evidence of the success of one or other side. There has been no confirmed news about how many soldiers died on either side.

The pictures of these burnt vehicles have been online since 2015 and they were captioned: Saudi army vehicles burned in Yemen. The pictures of the dead soldiers were also published previously and described as being of fighters from the extremist Islamic State group in Fallujah. In another online appearance, the same picture was captioned with: Members of the Shiite Muslim militias in Mosul.

Without investigating further where the pictures really come from, it is clear they have nothing to do with recent fighting in northern Iraq.

One widely spread rumour involved the Iraqi fighter, Abu Azrael, who is a member of one of the Shiite Muslim militias. He has amassed a huge following on Iraqi social media as a symbol of the Shiite Muslim fight against the extremist Islamic State group. The rumour said that Abu Azrael had been killed in fighting in northern Iraq and one official channel even reported on his death.

The lie was later refuted by Abu Azrael himself, who posted a video on YouTube to show he was still alive and well.

Another widely spread picture showed the bodies of soldiers in the back of a pick-up truck. Some of the Facebook pages that republished this picture claimed the men were victims of fighting in Alton Kupri, others said the pictures was taken after clashes in Kirkuk. In fact this picture dates back four years and the dead soldiers belong to the Syrian army and not to the Kurdish military.

Two of the most popular videos being posted on Kurdish Facebook pages are also historic. It shows a convoy of Iraqi army and militia vehicles apparently heading north. Although the convoy is real, the video was filmed over a year ago and shows the soldiers and weapons heading towards Mosul, not Iraqi Kurdistan.

Another video, which was eventually published on more than 20 Arabic-language Facebook pages as well as some Arabic-language media, claims that the Kurdish military have blown up the bridge near Alton Kupri that connects the Kurdish capital of Erbil with the city of Kirkuk. They allegedly did this to prevent the advance of Shiite Muslim militias into the Iraqi Kurdish region. However on closer examination it turns out this bridge is actually in Topeka, Kansas, in the US, of all places. The video shows a controlled demolition of the bridge, to make way for new construction.

But perhaps the funniest picture was that of Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of social media giant Facebook. Earlier in the week, senior Iraqi Kurdish politician, Massoud Barzani, had called upon the Kurdish diaspora to demonstrate their support of the Iraqi Kurdish region by holding up signs on social media and protesting against Iraqi incursions.

Zuckerberg appeared to agree, and a picture was posted of him holding up a sign echoing Barzanis wishes. It was first published by a Kurdish Facebook page and then circulated widely. In fact, as one might have guessed, the picture was first published in 2016 and was part of the promotion for the launch of Facebook Live.

Via Niqash.org
Stuff reports:

Health authorities in Wellington have door-knocked residents and local businesses in the suburb of Newtown as the owner of a local spice store applies for a new liquor licence.

It comes months after police admitted poorly worded communication after they were accused of attempting to drum up opposition to another liquor licence application.

On Wednesday, a Regional Public Health (RPH) regulatory officer visited homes and businesses near Silk Route Spices on Riddiford St, informing them about a liquor licence application under the company name of Liquor Hub Limited.
GM Korea CEO Kaher Kazem swears in as a witness during a National Assembly audit of the Korea Development Bank, Monday. / Yonhap



US carmaker under fire for dubious strategy'

By Park Jae-hyuk

Growing concerns over an abrupt withdrawal of General Motors (GM) from Korea have been used as a diplomatic tool by the United Sates which is seeking an advantage in renegotiations of a free trade agreement with Korea, an expert in the auto industry told The Korea Times, Friday.

Automotive engineering professor Kim Phil-soo at Daelim University said the U.S. carmaker appears to be spreading the rumor to press the Korean government to ease regulations on emission and safety.

"GM will not leave Korea soon," he said. "Even if it decides to exit here, it will take at least five years."

U.S. automotive companies have continued to demand the Korean government ease regulations.

This is because they must conduct additional developments to export their cars to Korea.

When GM's Damas and Labo failed to meet local standards in 2013, the company threatened the government by suspending the production of the cars.

The government postponed the implementation of regulation to 2020 at that time.

The professor regarded GM Korea's dubious attitude these days as another threat to the government.

GM Korea CEO Kaher Kazem, who led the restructuring of GM India, avoided answering the question about the carmaker's withdrawal asked by Rep. Ji Sang-wuk of the minor opposition Bareun Party at a National Assembly audit this week.

The chief executive just repeatedly said his company's executives and employees were doing their best to normalize operations and to develop a sustainable business model in the country.

GM Korea has suffered nearly 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion won) in accumulated losses over the past three years.

Its headquarters have recently halted production in Australia, Europe, Indonesia, Thailand, Russia and India.

Kim expects GM will threat the government by closing or selling its factory in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, instead of completely leaving the Korean market, one of the company's largest production bases around the world.

"GM will likely dispose of the factory around the middle of November, after the National Assembly audit and the Korea-U.S. summit," he said. "Fostering Shanghai GM, it will seek for efficiency in the Asian market."

The factory, which has produced the Chevrolet Cruze and Orlando, is one GM Korea's main manufacturing plants along with its Bupyeong factory in Incheon and Changwon factory in South Gyeongsang Province.

However, hundreds of irregular workers at Gusan factory recently lost their jobs, amid the factory's low rate of operation. The expected closure of the factory will deal a severe blow to the city, which has already suffered from shutdown of a shipyard by Hyundai Heavy Industries.

Although the government ordered a state-run research institute to establish countermeasures, Kim said the government will not be able to take any because the Korea Development Bank (KDB) lost veto control of the company this month.

The KDB, which is the second-largest shareholder of GM Korea with a 17.02 percent stake, said its right to veto the top shareholder's decisions expired Oct. 16. GM head office holds a 76.69 percent share of the Incheon-based automaker.

The 15-year-old veto right had been an instrument to discourage drastic measures by GM's head office. Without the KDB's veto right, however, GM has no legal restraints in coming up with any steps.
Oct 27, 2017, 10 AM

Collectors look for items to enrich their collections at the UN Expo 17 dealer bourse during the show in Bellefonte, Pa.

After the first-day ceremony, collectors obtained autographs from the participants (from left to right): U.N. stamp designer Rorie Katz, Greg Galletti of United Nations Philatelists Inc., and Ken Martin and Scott English of the American Philatelic Society

Judges Liz Hisey, Bob Zeigler and Jeffrey Shapiro examine some of the many exhibits on display during UN Expo 17 at the American Philatelic Center in Bellefonte, Pa.

Rorie Katz designed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stamps and souvenir sheet for the United Nations Postal Administration. She participated in the first-day ceremony at UN Expo 17, the two-day stamp show and exhibition taking place Oct. 27-28 i

Ken Martin and Scott English of the American Philatelic Society join Greg Galletti of the United Nations Philatelists Inc. to welcome collectors to the opening of the UN Expo 17 in Bellefonte, Pa.

By Michael Baadke

The UN Expo 17 stamp show and exhibition opened Friday morning, Oct. 27, at the American Philatelic Center in Bellefonte, Pa.

The event included a first-day ceremony with the participation of a United Nations stamp designer.The American Philatelic Center is home to the headquarters of the American Philatelic Society, and the American Philatelic Research Library.

The stamp show is a joint effort by the United Nations Philatelists Inc. and the APS.

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Collectors began the day attending an opening ceremony hosted in the library by APS Executive Director Scott English, APS Chief Operating Officer Ken Martin, and UNPI President Greg Galletti, who is also chairman of the two-day show.

English praised the efforts of the APS and the UNPI to jointly host the show, which is a one-time entry into the World Series of Philately. That means the exhibitor winning the grand award at UN Expo 17 will qualify to enter the Champion of Champions competition when APS Stampshow takes place in Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 9-12, 2018.

I just want to welcome you all to the American Philatelic Center, Martin added. Its great to see a nice crowd in here.

Martin described the layout of the show and the location for the 125 frames of competitive United Nations-themed exhibits. The exhibit judges for the show are Liz Hisey, Jeffrey Shapiro and chief judge Bob Ziegler.

Galletti also welcomed the attendees, reminding them that the first UN Expo took place 25 years ago, in 1991, at the APS headquarters, then in nearby State College, Pa.

It was actually a very splendid event, and I believe this UN Expo is going to be even better.

Galletti also thanked the APS and APRL for hosting the show, and many of the individuals who helped put the show together and make it possible.

English, Martin and Galletti also participated in an afternoon first-day ceremony for the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights souvenir sheet, where they were joined by stamp designer Rorie Katz of the United Nations Postal Administration's graphic design team.

Its an honor to be here today and to meet with you, Katz said. My favorite part of my job is I get to come and meet people who collect my stamps, and make my job possible.

Katz noted that the Declaration of Human Rights stamps, which feature the entire text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its preamble in English, German and French, has been submitted to Guinness for certification as having the most words of any stamp in the world.

The show will continue in Bellefonte through Saturday.
A long time ago in a galaxy far awayNGC 4993, to be exacttwo neutron stars collided and created a spectacular light show.

After billions of years spent slowly circling each other, in their last moments the two degenerate stars spiraled around each other thousands of times before finally smashing together at a significant fraction of light-speed, likely creating a black hole. The merger was so violent it shook the universe, emitting some 200 million suns' worth of energy as perturbations in the fabric of spacetime called gravitational waves. Those waves propagated out from the merger like ripples on a pond, eventually washing over Earth  and into our planet's premiere gravitational-wave detectors, the U.S.-built LIGO and European-built Virgo observatories.

Yet gravitational waves were not the merger's only products. The event also emitted electromagnetic radiation  that is, light  marking the first time astronomers have managed to capture both gravitational waves and light from a single source. The first light from the merger was a brief, brilliant burst of gamma rays, a probable birth cry of the black hole picked up by NASA's Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. Hours later astronomers using ground-based telescopes detected more light from the mergera so-called "kilonova"produced as debris from the merger expanded and cooled. For weeks much of the world's astronomical community watched the kilonova as it slowly faded from view.

As astronomers studied the merger's aftermath in various wavelengths of light, they saw signs of countless heavy elements forming instantly. Astronomers had long predicted merging neutron stars may be responsible for forming elements such as gold and titanium, neutron-rich metals that are not known to form in stars. Most everything they saw in the changing light of the merger's kilonova matched those predictions, although no one definitively, directly saw the merger spewing out gold nuggets by any stretch.

Even seen across its estimated 130 million light-year separation from us, the event was big, bright and glorious. Based on the rarity of neutron starslet alone ones that happen to mergeit is unlikely we will ever see such a display significantly closer to us. But let's imagine if we couldif it happened in the Milky Way or one of its several satellite galaxies. Or, heaven forbid, in our immediate stellar neighborhood. What would we see? What effects would it have on our home world? Would the environment, civilization, even humanity, emerge intact?

Instant Action

Although LIGO, by design, can "hear" the mergers of massive objects such as neutron stars and black holes, astronomers were still lucky to detect this particular event. According to Gabriela Gonzalez, a LIGO team member and astrophysicist at Louisiana State University, if the merger had been three to four times farther away, we would not have heard it at all. Ironically, LIGO's exquisite tuning for detecting distant black hole mergers could make it miss big ones occurring around the solar system's nearest neighboring stars. The immense and intense gravitational waves from such a nearby event "would probably be [greater] than the dynamic range of our instrument," Gonzalez says.

Despite being strong enough to shake the universe, the gravitational waves from even a nearby merger of two large black holes would still be scarcely noticeable, because the shaking manifests on microscopic scales. (If gas, dust or any other matter was very close the merging black holes, however, astronomers might see light emitted from that infalling material as it plunges in.) "The amazing thing to me is that you could be so close to black holes colliding, even as close as just outside the solar system, and you wouldn't even notice the stretching of spacetime with your eyes," Gonzalez says. "You would still need an instrument to see or measure it."

In contrast, a kilonova from a neutron star merger in our galaxy would probably be quite noticeable. Gonzalez says it could suddenly appear as a bright star in the sky, and would be clearly detectable by LIGO, too. Rather than lasting for a matter of seconds, the gravitational waves heard by LIGO would be drawn out over minutes, even hours, as the neutron stars spiraled ever-closer together before their ultimate coalescence. It would be a bit like tuning into a live Grateful Dead jam instead of a studio version. (And yes, let's say the song is "Dark Star" for our purposes.)

Even if LIGO tuned in, however, there are ways we might miss seeing much of the light from a nearby neutron star merger and its subsequent kilonova. Kari Frank, an astronomer at Northwestern University, says such a large, luminous event could end up obscured by dust and other starsat least at visible and infrared wavelengths. In other words, LIGO and telescopes looking in wavelengths such as radio or x-ray might glimpse a nearby kilonova that optical astronomers would miss. "There have been supernovaeat least ones that we know of in our galaxy in the last 100 years or sofor which we didn't see the explosion at all, we only saw what was left afterward," Frank says. And a kilonova, for all the punch it packs, is only a fraction of the luminosity of a typical supernova.

Still, astronomers' responses to any stellar cataclysm in or around the Milky Way would likely be swift. After all, there's the example of supernova 1987A to consider.

The Big Boom

As its name suggests, supernova 1987A occurred in 1987, unfolding in a dwarf galaxy that orbits the Milky Way called the Large Magellanic Cloud. A star about eight times the sun's mass collapsed in on itself and sent its outer envelope of gas out into interstellar space, forming a nebula of heavy elements and other debris before collapsing into either a neutron star or a black hole. It remains the only nearby supernova astronomers have seen in modern times.

Frank has studied the subsequent global campaign to observe supernova 1987A, focusing on how astronomers organized and executed their observations at a time when the internet was embryonic at best."Somebody sees something, and they send out notices to everybody," she says. "The people who first discovered it had to phone whomever they could to tell them that this thing was happening, that they saw this supernova in the sky that was really close by," Frank says. "They sent these circularsletters and things to peopleand then everyone who could would go to their telescope and point to it."

For months, astronomers worldwide scrutinized the event, utilizing almost every available telescope. "Everybody wanted to make sure that as many [telescopes] looked at it as possible," Frank says. Eventually, things settled down, but several researchersincluding Frankare still studying the supernova's remnants 30 years later. "For some people, it was life-changing, or at least career-changing," Frank says. "This was the thing in astronomy that year."

Like LIGO, the observation campaign for supernova 1987A involved thousands of collaborators. But not all of them shared in the glory of co-authoring any of the many resulting studies published in the scientific literature. Consequently, there's no real head count of how many people participated. Counting collaborators working on the recent neutron star merger is much easiersome 3,000 authors across 67 papers, or an estimated 15 percent of the entire field of astrophysics.

The question of how many astrophysicists would receive credit for another event like supernova 1987A depends, in no small part, on just how close the event would be. If supernova 1987A had occurred much, much closer to Eartharound a nearby star, for instancethe key uncertainty could become not how many scientists observed the event, but how many survived it.

Death from Above

According to a 2016 study, supernovae occurring as close as 50 light-years from Earth could pose an imminent danger to Earth's biospherehumans included. The event would likely shower us in so much high-energy cosmic radiation that it could spark a planetary mass extinction. Researchers have tentatively linked past instances of spiking extinction rates and plummeting biodiversity to postulated astrophysical events, and in at least one case have even found definitive evidence for a nearby supernova as the culprit. Twenty million years ago, a star 325 light-years from Earth exploded, showering the planet in radioactive iron particles that eventually settled in deep-sea sediments on the ocean floor. That event, researchers speculate, may have triggered ice ages and altered the course of evolution and human history.

The exact details of past (and future) astrophysical cataclysms' impact on Earth's biosphere depend not only on their distance, but also their orientation. A supernova, for instance, can sometimes expel its energy in all directionsmeaning it is not always a very targeted phenomenon. Merging black holes are expected to emit scarcely any radiation at all, making them surprisingly benign for any nearby biosphere. A kilonova, however, has different physics at play. Neutron stars are a few dozen kilometers in radius rather than a few million like a typical stars. When these dense objects merge, they tend to produce jets that blast out gamma rays from their poles.

"[W]hat it looks like to us, and the effect it has on us, would depend a lot on whether or not one of the jets was pointed directly at us," Frank says. Based on its distance and orientation to Earth, a kilonova's jets would walk the fine line between a spectacular light show and a catastrophic stripping away of the planet's upper atmosphere. If a jet is pointed directly at us, drastic changes could be in store. And we probably wouldn't see them coming. A kilonova begins with a burst of gamma raysincredibly energetic photons that, by definition, move at light-speed, the fastest anything can travel through the universe. Because nothing else can move faster, those photons would strike first, and without warning.

"What [the gamma rays] would do, probably more than anything else, is dissolve the ozone layer," says Andrew Fruchter, a staff astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute. Next, the sky would go blindingly white as the visible light from the kilonova encountered our planet. Trailing far behind the light would be slower-moving material ejected from the kilonovaradioactive particles of heavy elements that, sandblasting the Earth in sufficient numbers, could still pack a lethal punch.

That's if the kilonova is close, thoughwithin 50 light-years, give or take. At a safer distance, the gamma rays would still singe the ozone layer on the facing hemisphere, but the other side would be shielded by the planet's bulk. "Most radiation happens very quickly, so half the Earth would be hidden," Fruchter says. There would still be a momentarily blinding light. For a few weeks, a new star would burn bright in the sky before gradually fading back into obscurity.

Improbabilities

Don't let all this keep you up at night. Kilonovae are relatively rare cosmic phenomena, estimated to occur just once every 10,000 years in a galaxy like the Milky Way. That's because neutron stars, which are produced by supernovae, hardly ever form as pairs. Usually, a neutron star will receive a hefty "kick" from its formative supernova; sometimes these kicks are strong enough to eject a neutron star entirely from its galaxy to hurtle at high speeds indefinitely through the cosmos. "When neutron stars are born, they're often high-velocity. For them to survive in a binary is nontrivial," Fruchter says. And the chances of two finding each other and merging after forming independently are, for lack of a better term, astronomically low.

The binary neutron stars we know of in our galaxy are millions or billions of years away from merging. Any local merger of neutron stars at all would take LIGO by surprise, given that the events are so rare, and astronomers might not even see the resulting kilonova at all. But if one did occursay, in one of the Milky Way's satellite galaxiesit would be a great reason to run to a telescope to witness the flash and fade of a brief, brilliant new "star." The dangers would be nearly nonexistent, but not the payoff: Our generation of astronomers would have their own supernova 1987A to dissect. "This is a once-in-many-lifetimes kind of event," Frank says. Thus, she says, we would need to follow something like it with all the world's astronomical resources. "We have to remember to think beyond the initial explosion," she adds. "Stuff might still happen and we have to keep a watch out for that."

For now astronomers' attentions are still fixated on the kilonova in NGC 4993. The Earth's orbital motion has placed the sun between us and the distant galaxy, however, hiding the kilonova's fading afterglow. When our view clears, in December, many of the world's telescopic eyes will again turn to the small patch of sky containing the merger. In the meantime papers will be penned and published, careers minted, reputations secured. Science will march on, and waitwait for the next possible glimpse of a kilonova, the whispers of a neutron star merger or, if we're lucky, something new altogether.

This article was first published at ScientificAmerican.com.  ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
The universe shouldn't exist, according to new ultra-precise measurements of anti-protons.

But the fact that I'm typing this article and you're reading it, however, suggests that we are here, so something must be awry with our understanding of the physics the universe is governed by.

The universe is the embodiment of an epic battle between matter and antimatter that occurred immediately after the Big Bang, 13.82 billion years ago. Evidently, matter won  because there are galaxies, stars, planets, you, me, hamsters, long walks on sandy beaches and beer  but how matter won is one of the biggest mysteries hanging over physics. [The Strangest Things in Space]

It is predicted that equal amounts of matter and antimatter were produced in the primordial universe (a basic prediction by the Standard Model of physics), but if that's the case, all matter in the universe should have been annihilated when it came into contact with its antimatter counterpart  a Big Bang followed by a big disappointment.

This physics conundrum focuses on the idea that all particles have their antimatter twin with the same quantum numbers, only the exact opposite. Protons have anti-protons, electrons have positrons, neutrinos have anti-neutrinos etc.; a beautiful example of symmetry in the quantum world. But should one of these quantum numbers be very slightly different between matter and antimatter particles, it might explain why matter became the dominant "stuff" of the universe.

So, in an attempt to measure one of the quantum states of particles, physicists of CERN's BaryonAntibaryon Symmetry Experiment (BASE), located near Geneva, Switzerland, have made the most precise measurement of the anti-proton's magnetic moment. BASE is a complex piece of hardware that can precisely measure the magnetic moments of protons and anti-protons in an attempt to detect an extremely small difference between the two. Should there be a difference, this might explain why matter is more dominant than antimatter.

However, this latest measurement of the magnetic moment of anti-protons has revealed that the magnetic moments of both protons and anti-protons are exactly the same to a record-breaking level of precision. In fact, the anti-proton measurement is even more precise than our measurements of the magnetic moment of a proton  a stunning feat considering how difficult anti-protons are to study.

"It is probably the first time that physicists get a more precise measurement for antimatter than for matter, which demonstrates the extraordinary progress accomplished at CERN's Antiproton Decelerator," said physicist Christian Smorra in a CERN statement. The Antiproton Decelerator is a machine that can capture antiparticles (created from particle collisions that occur at CERNs Proton Synchrotron) and funnel them to other experiments, like BASE.

Antimatter is very tricky to observe and measure. Should these antiparticles come into contact with particles, they annihilate  you can't simply shove a bunch of anti-protons into a flask and expect them to play nice. So, to prevent antimatter from making contact with matter, physicists have to create magnetic vacuum "traps" that can quarantine anti-protons from touching matter, thereby allowing further study.

A major area of research has been to develop ever more sophisticated magnetic traps; the slightest imperfections in a trap's magnetic field containing the antimatter can allow particles to leak. The more perfect the magnetic field, the less chance there is of leakage and the longer antimatter remains levitating away from matter. Over the years, physicists have achieved longer and longer antimatter containment records.

In this new study, published in the journal Nature on Oct. 18 (opens in new tab), researchers used a combination of two cryogenically-cooled Penning traps that held anti-protons in place for a record-breaking 405 days. In that time they were able to apply another magnetic field to the antimatter, forcing quantum jumps in the particles spin. By doing this, they could measure their magnetic moments to astonishing accuracy.

According to their study (opens in new tab), anti-protons have a magnetic moment of 2.792847344142 N (where N is the nuclear magneton, a physical constant). The proton's magnetic moment is 2.7928473509 N, almost exactly the same  the slight difference is well within the experiment's error margin. As a consequence, if there's a difference between the magnetic moment of protons and anti-protons, it must be much smaller than the experiment can currently detect.

These tiny measurements have huge  you could say: universal  implications.

"All of our observations find a complete symmetry between matter and antimatter, which is why the universe should not actually exist," added Smorra. "An asymmetry must exist here somewhere but we simply do not understand where the difference is."

Now the plan is to improve methods of capturing antimatter particles, pushing BASE to even higher precision, to see if there really is an asymmetry in magnetic moment between protons and anti-protons. If theres not, well, physicists will need to find their asymmetry elsewhere.

Follow Ian @astroengine. Originally published on AstroEngine.
Transform 2017, held a few weeks ago, was the tenth annual healthcare innovation conference hosted by the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation (CFI). Each year it brings together stakeholders from around the world to challenge assumptions, collaborate, and share results to create the future of health care. This year the conference focused on Closing the Gap Between People and Health, and more than 30 speakers led discussion on various topics, ranging from policymaking and healthcare spending to social determinants of health. In this article we aim to touch on some of the highlights.

Most of us agree that the current healthcare system in the United States is broken in a number of ways. The U.S. spends about a fifth of its GDP on healthcare, far more than any other industrial nation. However, the U.S. healthcare system tends to rank low among the industrial nations when it comes to health efficiency, equity, and outcomes, an embarrassing statistic considering the high expenditure. Transform 2017 aimed to discuss and address the long list of problems facing the struggling U.S. healthcare system.

The event kicked off with a welcome speech from the moderator of the event, Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal. Dr. Rosenthal is a trained physician disheartened by the pitfalls of the American healthcare system, who decided to pursue journalism to better highlight these issues and be a force of change. Her latest book, An American Sickness, contains countless examples of how patients and physicians alike are becoming increasingly frustrated and fed up with the U.S. healthcare system. She says, Patients are feeling angry  abandoned by a government and a system that feels like it doesnt care They are upset about paying higher premiums, drug prices, out of pocket costs, and deductibles that are outpacing their salaries.

Day One

During the first session of the conference, titled Mind the Gap, various distinguished speakers took to the podium to discuss what they believe is wrong with our healthcare system.

First to speak was Andy Slavitt, who served as the Acting Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services under President Obama. Mr. Slavitt reviewed the evolution of Medicare & Medicaid Services and highlighted some of its turning points. He proceeded to talk about the ongoing debate in healthcare and the flip-flopping that occurs with the policy makers in government. He believes that in order to build a system that continues to move forward regardless of the leading political party of the time, the new healthcare system should include a set of policies that at least 60-70 percent of Americans support. He also proposed that these policies be tested at the state level before being applied nationally.

Next to speak was Dr. James Weinstein, former CEO and President of Dartmouth-Hitchcock. Dr. Weinstein expressed his concerns on the unsustainability of the current healthcare system. He said that about 10,000 new people are enrolled in Medicare every day, while the number of people actually paying taxes continues to decrease. Therefore, we are facing both a short-term and a long-term problem when it comes to adequately funding a system we already cannot afford today. Dr. Weinstein suggests that the American healthcare system continues to spend billions each year on unnecessary procedures and interventions while ignoring the social determinants of health, such as food, education, and housing. Dr. Weinstein then led an interesting discussion on how ones zip code could be the strongest predictor of ones life expectancy.

Dr. Rita Redberg, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of JAMA Internal Medicine, then took to the podium. Dr. Redberg commented on the current attitude among patients that agreeing to another medical test cant hurt. She underlined the importance of properly educating patients on their treatment options and recommendations. Providers need to spread the message that medical care really needs to be the right test and right treatment for the right patient at the right time if a test or treatment has no benefit, then no risk is acceptable. Based on her many years of experience as a physician working closely with the government, Dr. Redberg believes that trying to reform the healthcare system, with all of its fixed, entrenched interests, is very difficult. Public consensus around the new health system is necessary to achieve any major transformation.

Next to take the stage was David Mitchell, co-founder and President of Patients for Affordable Drugs, a national patient group focused on advocating for polices that lower prescription drug prices to make them more affordable. Mr. Mitchell states, There is a fundamental truth, drugs dont work if people cant afford them. Americans pay two to three times more for prescription drugs than citizens of other developed countries. Sixty to seventy percent of new prescription drugs are developed using taxpayer funding, and Mr. Mitchell and those at Patients for Affordable Drugs believe that if prescription drugs are developed using taxpayers money, there is a special obligation on the part of drug companies to justify the price of those medications.

Day Two

Day two of Transform 2017 opened with a discussion on overcoming inertia by Dr. Rosenthal. She noted that, What I discovered in my time as a journalist and observer of the system is that people who try to change these very imbedded, hard-wired systems, find themselves up against a lot of institutional resistance.

Dr. Robert Pearl, M.D., who served as the CEO of the Permanente Medical Group for the past 18 years, highlighted the importance of moving away from a fee-for-service reimbursement system towards a more capitated model. He talked about the fragmentation of the American healthcare system and the crucial role technology should play to keep it moving forward. He said, The time for change is now. It needs to be capitated, integrated, and technologically enabled.

Andrea Walsh, President and CEO for Minnesota-based HealthPartners, took to the stage to discuss the importance of providers embracing a more holistic, broader view of health when it comes to patient care. She described HealthPartners new summary measures of health and wellbeing, which assesses a patients current health status, sustainability of health, and life satisfaction. We know from the evidence that only about 20 percent of mortality and morbidity relates to what we do in our clinics and hospitals. We know that 80 percent of health and wellbeing relates to what is going on in our schools and in our communities.

Scott Wallace, the Managing Director of the Value Institute for Health and Care at Dell Medical School in Austin, Texas, highlighted the importance of changing the way we train our next generation of physicians to better meet the demands of a new, more holistic healthcare system. The Dell Medical School is unique in that its curriculum was specifically designed to meet this goal. He said, One of the biggest inertial forces in medicine is how we train doctors. We train doctors in organ systems and expect them to provide holistic care. We train doctors to be solos and expect them to perform together. That cannot continue if we are going to dramatically change healthcarewe need to train doctors to think not about illness, but about health. That is the fundamental aspect of the experiment of the Dell Medical School.

Dr. Bon Ku, M.D., director of JeffDESIGN at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, continued on the topic of optimally training healthcare providers for the next generation of healthcare. JeffDESIGN is a program that teaches future physicians how to apply design thinking to solve healthcare challenges. The program engages medical students, residents, and faculty members in workshops to teach them to become more innovative, empathetic, and connected to the community.

For the next session of Day Two, a multidisciplinary team from the Mayo Clinic Health System shared their experience with building CODE-X. CODE-X is a system that collects real-life data extracted from the electronic medical record and turns it into something meaningful for providers. Treatment guidelines based on the results of tightly regulated studies help healthcare providers offer evidence-based treatments to their patients. However, physicians are sometimes faced with situations where supporting literature is not available, and they are left with uncertainty in how to proceed. This is where providers can use CODE-X to help. By utilizing an application titled Patient Like Mine, a physician can select a few, key patient characteristics to see how similar patients have successfully been treated in the past. Svetomir Markovic, M.D., in the division of medical oncology, reported, CODE-X will collect our experimental data [on a topic], analyze it in a statistically valuable way, so we make the right decision on the first time and give the patient the best care across our institution. In addition to guiding clinical care, CODE-X can also be utilized for research. Dr. Markovic added, Real life data could potentially turn how clinical research is done on its head.

Day two concluded with a live debate moderated by Intelligence Squared, a non-partisan, non-profit organization that stages debates around the world. The question driving the debate was: Is the U.S. healthcare system terminally broken? The debate was filled with interesting perspectives from both sides, but ultimately, attendees voted and decided that the healthcare system is not terminally broken: there is still hope, but work needs to be done. The debate in its entirety is available to watch for free online at www.intelligencesquaredus.org.

Day Three

The third and final day of Transform 2017 focused on how to move forward and implement some of the ideas discussed over the course of the conference to narrow the gap between people and health. Dr. Douglas Wood, M.D., Director for the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation, shared his opinions on how to transform American healthcare and the importance of changing the experience of health to better meet peoples needs.

Dr. Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., CEO of Mayo Clinic in Florida and Vice President of Mayo Clinic, discussed the roles of a servant leader and change agent as well as how to maintain the balance between these two roles. He explained how a servant leader emphasizes a team approach to maximize trust and better serve the needs of the patient. A servant leader needs to have a clear vision and make the rest of his team feel empowered to achieve this vision. If you want to change health care you need to be a servant leader. Why? Because when you make change, its better with support. Its much more likely to happen. It is much more likely to advance and is less likely to be reversed.

Clayton Christensen, an icon in innovation, spoke during the final session of Transform 2017. Christensen discussed the theory of disruption and how to bring innovation and new technologies together to disrupt healthcare. He stated, I actually believe deeply that the only way healthcare can become more affordable and accessible, higher in quality and lower in cost, is if we disrupt it. He explained the importance of using technology to build new venues of care away from an actual hospital to a more affordable environment. He believes it is time to stop building new hospitals and expanding existing ones, and instead, focus on building a system that maintains the health of the population in all its aspects: from lifestyle and fitness to emotional relationships and community collaboration.

Following each of the conferences sessions, attendees had the opportunity to ask the panelists questions, participate in discussions, and meet face-to-face with the speakers. Overall, Transform 2017 did an excellent job of fostering a desire to discuss and address the many issues facing our current healthcare system. It stressed how changing our failing healthcare system will not be an easy task, but it is crucial. Transform 2017 offered opinions and observations on how to go about this necessary change before the American healthcare system does, in fact, become terminally broken.

Link: Transform 2017 homepage
by Larissa Faw , October 27, 2017

Honda operates fewer dealerships in France than some competitors so to bulk up its brick-and-mortar presence in the country the automaker embarked on an unusual activation to provide drivers access to the new models of its CR-V and HR-V SUVs.

Developed with Sid Lee Paris, the #HondaNextDoor campaign converted 10 French owners' garages into dealerships and had them serve as brand ambassadors/salespersons. France hosts about 120 Honda official dealerships, compared to, say, competitor Renault which claims four times as many.

As part of the project, these brand ambassadors became designated dealers with Honda completely transforming their home garages into pop-up dealerships, right at the heart of French suburbia. Honda, perhaps thankfully for the hosts, limited visits for these pop-ups to only Saturday and Sunday.

To raise awareness for these events, the campaign introduced online, social media and a television campaign to invite customers to sign up online for test drives directly at the pop-up dealerships.

advertisement advertisement

A film, featuring who Honda deemed the brands number one fan, Jean-Baptiste, debuted in late September and promotion continued on Hondas social media networks throughout the operation with new content gathered from experiences at each of the suburban dealerships.

Have a look here.

The three-week campaign reached over one million people, "generating thousands of leads," and over 1,000 people signed up to visit Honda dealerships. Based on this success, the concept of #HondaNextDoor will now expand to other European countries, starting soon in Belgium.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, October 27, 2017

Verizon is urging the Federal Communications Commission to prohibit individual states or towns from moving forward with proposed new broadband regulations, including laws aimed at preserving net neutrality and regulations intended to protect web users' privacy.

"Allowing every state and locality to chart its own course for regulating broadband is a recipe for disaster," Verizon argues in a 20-page white paper submitted to the FCC this week. "It would impose localized and likely inconsistent burdens on an inherently interstate service, would drive up costs, and would frustrate federal efforts to encourage investment and deployment by restoring the free market that long characterized Internet access service.

The telecom's comments come as the agency is considering whether to revoke the 2015 net neutrality rules. Those regulations reclassified broadband as a utility service and imposed some common carrier rules on broadband providers, including prohibitions on blocking or throttling service, and charging content companies higher fees for faster delivery.

advertisement advertisement

The FCC's decision to classify broadband providers as utility companies also empowered the agency to subject Internet service providers to privacy rules. Last year, the FCC passed a set of privacy regulations that would have required broadband providers to obtain subscribers' explicit consent before using their online browsing history for ad targeting. But this year, Congress repealed the measure. That decision was unpopular; a survey by Huffington Post and YouGov showed that more than 70% of Republicans and Democrats wanted Trump to veto the repeal.

Following the repeal, lawmakers in California, New York, New Jersey and more than a dozen other states introduced bills restricting providers' ability to draw on consumers' web-surfing data for ad purposes. Those efforts have not yet moved forward on the state level, but could do so in the future.

Verizon argues that the federal repeal of the privacy laws would justify an FCC decision to preempt similar laws at the state level. "Allowing states or localities to impose their own privacy regimes would stand as a direct obstacle to Congresss and the Presidents intent to secure a uniform, national privacy standard for ISPs," the company writes.

The company also contends that state laws could end up having a nationwide effect, arguing that technology companies will find it too difficult to follow different rules in different areas. "In the absence of preemption, States with the most restrictive rules effectively would have the final say on the appropriate level of regulation, as many broadband providers as a practical matter will need to comply with the strictest state rules," Verizon writes.

An attempt by the FCC to preempt state privacy laws may not hold up in court, especially if the agency reverses the decision to classify broadband as a utility service, according to Ernesto Falcon, a privacy advocate with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. That's because, traditionally, federal regulators only preempt state laws that conflict with an overarching federal scheme, Falcon says.

The FCC's authority over broadband privacy stems from the classification of broadband as a utility service, regulated under Title II of the Communications Act; if the FCC reverses that classification, the agency will also lose its authority to impose privacy regulations on broadband providers. "If Title II does not apply to them, they cannot argue (state laws) conflict with a federal scheme," Falcon says.

Commissioner Michael O'Rielly recently said he thought states should be prohibited from enacting broadband privacy rules, but it's unclear whether the FCC will vote to do so.
'Tis the day to get spooked.

The year is coming to an end, the decade is coming to an end, and guess what today is? The last freaking Friday the 13th of the entire decade.

So, to celebrate this special and very spooky day, we've compiled a list of some of the best and classic horror movies. This is dedicated to all the people who don't have any Friday night plans, we got you, man.

1. Trick 'r Treat (2007)

 Legendary Pictures

This movie focuses on four different Halloween related horror stories, but the one element that ties all of them together is the presence of Sam, a child trick-or-treater wearing orange pajamas. But, he also has a burlap sack over his head, and this mysterious kid makes an appearance in all the stories whenever a character breaks Halloween traditions.

2. Carrie (1976)

 Red Bank Films

Based on Stephen King's 1974 novel of the same name, the titular character of Carrie, played by Sissy Spacek, is bullied by the meanest of the mean girls, but gets her revenge using her telepathic powers. But, watch out for the surprise, creepy ending!

3. Heriditory (2018)

One of the most talked about movie of the year, just because of how gory and disturbing it was, right from the first trailer, this movie deserves a place in the classic horror movies hall of fame, for sure. It basically follows a a family getting haunted by a mysterious presence after the death of their secretive grandmother.

4. Sleepy Hollow (1999)

 Mandalay Pictures

Probably one of Tim Burton's most underrated efforts, this movie follows a police constable, played by Johnny Depp (obviously, after all it's a Tim Burton movie), as he goes to New York City to investigate a series of murders that have taken place in the village of Sleepy Hollow by a mysterious headless horseman. Intriguing enough, right?

5. Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)

 Magnet Releasing

This comedy horror movie follows Tucker and Dale, played by Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine respectively, a couple of well-meaning hillbillies. But, trouble starts when they are accidentally mistaken for killers by a bunch of clueless college students.

6. Urban Legend (1998)

 TriStar Pictures

A slasher movie directed by Jamie Blanks and starring Jared Leto, the plot of 'Urban Legend' follows a series of murders on the campus of a private New England university. As the name suggests, all of the killings appear to be modelled after popular urban legends.

7. The Mist (2007)

 Dimension Films

Based on the 1980 novella 'The Mist' by Stephen King, it is basically a monster movie, but the central theme also focusses on what ordinary people will be driven to do under extraordinary circumstances. After a thunderstorm cuts of the power, members of a small town go out to pick up supplies. While they are struggling to survive an unnatural mist that has enveloped the town and conceals vicious monsters, extreme tensions rise among the survivors.

8. Midsommar (2019)

A horror movie that doesn't look like a horror movie at the first glance? Now, that shit is scary for real. It's basically Sound of Music, only everyone is in a cult. The best - or worst - part is that it's all set in the daytime, eliminating one constant of every horror movie out. The movie seems like it's for every wimp who's afraid to watch all the 'dark' horror movies, but it's still not horror elements. It's kicking out all the cliches out of the door and focusing on the true horrors of the human mind.

9. Halloween (1978)

 Compass International

Well, duh! This one is called Halloween, it would just be wrong to not watch this movie on Halloween. It's basically about a murderer who killed his brother and sister when he was little, and he ended up being institutionalized. But, then he escapes and starts stalking someone. Sounds scary, doesn't it?

10. Final Destination (2000)

 New Line Cinema

What makes 'Final Destination' franchise stand out is how the antagonist is basically death itself, unlike other movies in the horror genre, where it's a stereotypical slasher or any other physical being. The movie is about how a group of teenagers cheat death when one of them had a premonition of a catastrophic plane explosion. But, as fate would have it, Death later comes and takes the lives of those who were meant to die on the plane.

Some honourable mentions :

It Follows (2014), Drag me to Hell (2009), Cabin in the woods (2012), Devil (2010), Poltergeist (1982), The Shining (1980)

Well, go and get in the spirit of the day!
28.10.2017 LISTEN

Simon Cowell was rushed to a hospital early Friday morning after falling down a flight of stairs.

We're told Simon was asleep in the upstairs bedroom of his London home. He woke up in the middle of the night, felt dizzy as he tried to go downstairs to the kitchen for some milk. We're told he fainted and tumbled to the bottom of the staircase.

An ambulance came, put him in a neck brace and neighbors saw Cowell placed in the back of the ambulance on a stretcher.

We're told doctors have performed a CAT scan and more tests are being performed.

He's in stable condition and still in the hospital.

Simon's girlfriend Lauren Silverman was in New York visiting her son and is currently on a plane flying back to London to be with Simon.
Attorney General Gloria Akuffo has been trending on social media not for legal reasons but for the outfit she wore to Parliament on Thursday.

In the photo, the Attorney General is seen wearing a mini skirt and an anklet. This seems not to go down well with some members of the public.

Many of them have taken to their social media pages to condemn her.

Check out the photo.


The governing New Patriotic Partys (NPP) Karaga Constituency Chairman, Tahiru Zakaria, and four others have been arrested and detained at the Northern Regional Police Command.

The rest are the acting constituency Secretary, Abdulai Ziblim, the Nasara Coordinator, Osman Baba, an elder of the NPP, Nyab Mahamang, and the Research Officer, Abdul Karim S. Alhassan, who has been granted self-recognizance bail.

They were arrested after an official complaint was filed by the under-fire Karaga District Chief Executive, Alhassan Yabdow, who was chased out of his office by in Karaga by some rampaging NPP youth.

The suspects are to assist the police in their investigations into the recent political upheaval in the Karaga constituency.

Their arrest came less than four hours after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo reiterated the need for law enforcement agencies to crack the whip on law breakers regardless of their political affiliation.

This latest development has heightened tensions in the area, as some NPP youth have stormed the chiefs palace to demand their immediate release.

Meanwhile, there is heavy security deployment in Karaga and its environs to forestall any renewed hostilities there.



By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
The Greater Accra Regional Security Council (REGSEC) says it will crack the whip on anyone who tries to take advantage of the Ga chieftaincy crisis to foment dissension.

REGSEC Chairman and Greater Accra regional minister Ishmael Ashitey said the Council and Regional Police Command are on an alert to apply the law in the event of violence.

Speaking to Gifty Andoh Appiah on Joy FMs Top Story Friday, the Regional Minister called on the three claimants to the Ga stool to desist from creating confusion.

We will take decisions to prevent violence in Accra [and] we wont allow anybody to take the laws into their own hands, he said.

Greater Accra Regional Minister, Ishmael Ashitey

Mr Ashitey was reacting to the renewed Ga chieftaincy crisis triggered by the installation of one Dr Kelvin Tackie as the new Ga Chief last Friday.

Related Article: Hands off Ga stool  Ishmael Ashitey, others cautioned

Two other claimants to the stool have resurfaced leading to some reported violence on Wednesday during a press conference wen one the factions resorted to throwing objects.

The crisis dates back to 2006 when Chief Warrior of Ga Mashie, Nii Owula Kpakpa Blofonyo known traditionally as the Akwashong Mantse challenged the occupant of the stool.

Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II

The Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs had scheduled to deliver its ruling on the matter in 2011, but this was not done.

A claimant to the stool, Boni Nii Tackie Adama Latse II has accused the Regional Minister and REGSEC of foisting Dr Tackie on them.

Yaote Otoga II who spoke on behalf of Adama Latse II said they will resist every attempt to install another person.

But Mr Ashitey has dismissed the claim, saying his job is to ensure there is peace in the Region and not to install chiefs.

I dont have friends among them, he said adding he has initiated talks with the factions to find a lasting solution to the problem.

Mr Ashitey registered his dissatisfaction with the spate at which new Ga Mantse is installed in the Region.

What is happening where every day, every month there is a new Ga Mantse is not the best, he said.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers | [email protected] | Instagram: @Realbrakopowers
28.10.2017 LISTEN

Management of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) has called on the staff to desist from any form of activities that could undermine the integrity of the facility.

This was contained in a circular written to all departments of the hospital on Tuesday, October 17, 2017, addressed to all staff and signed by Dr David Z. Kolbila, the Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The directive followed a Ghana News Agency (GNA) report which indicated that some health personnel especially doctors allegedly took advantage of patients at the facility to enrich themselves.

The circular said, 'Management has received several complaints from the public, including formal petitions from identifiable groups such as youth groups and traditional authorities on the issue of rampant extortions of monies from patients by some individual staff from almost all departments of the hospital',

'I am sending this stern warning out to all staff to, henceforth; desist from any form of extortion of monies from patients without the issuance of official receipts', it added.

'The complaints of rampant extortions cut across most departments, from the theatres, the mortuary, radiology, laboratory, and indeed almost everywhere in the hospital'

The circular also said: 'of late the hospital was on the spotlight in the Tamale Metropolis as it had been a major topic for discussion in the media'.

Dr Kolbila therefore directed that all payments in the hospital should be made only at the HFC payment points and that all payments should be issued with printed receipts.

He warned that no department should attempt to print and issue fake receipts to patients while the sale of items to patients without receipts was also prohibited.

According to the circular, any staff caught engaging in any form of extortion, including the sale of items to patients without official receipts would be dealt with severely to instill sanity at the facility.

Last week, the GNA reported that some health personnel especially doctors had allegedly turned the TTH into a money making centre to enrich themselves to the neglect of performing their assigned duties to generate money for the facility.

Meanwhile unconfirmed reports to the GNA indicated that five staff of the Hospital would be sanctioned should investigations confirm their alleged involvement in pilfering of items belonging to the facility.

A GNA source indicated that the five, who were currently under investigations on the instructions of the acting CEO, were reported to have engaged in various shady deals.

Meanwhile Dr Tolgou Yempabe, Head of the Trauma and Orthopaedic Ward told the GNA that the hospital had no implants and showed the GNA, patients, some of whom with multiple fractures on both legs, who needed urgent surgery.

GNA

By Caesar Abagali, GNA
28.10.2017 LISTEN

In a bid to broaden their business activities and form more partnerships in the African continent and beyond, Moroccan businesses have embarked on a vigorous drive across the African Sub-Regions.

In Ghana on Monday, a business delegation made up of 80 businesses held a day's forum with their Ghanaian counterparts on the theme: 'Africa should learn to trust Africa', where synergies and Memoranda of Understanding were signed.

The 80 Moroccan businesses are into electricity, Electronics, Renewable Energy, Water Supply, Sanitation, Information Communication Technology, Chemical-parachemistry, and the transport sectors among others.

As part of the drive, the 80 business delegation would hold similar workshops and draw partnerships in Ghana, Ethiopia, Sudan among other African countries.

Madam Zahra Maafiri, Director General of Moroccan Export commended the Ghana Export Promotion Authority and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre for their immense contribution towards the organisation of the programme.

She said Morocco was committed to strengthening her partnerships with African countries especially Ghana that had a congenial environment for doing business.

She said Morocco was already making a headway in Ghana in the areas of fertilizer production, Insurance schemes and the establishment of Bank of Africa and gave the assurance that with the current partnerships, more businesses could spring up in succeeding days.

She said they had established trade relations with 14 African countries and Ghana had a crucial role in the new partnerships on account of the economic and political strides it had consolidated over the years.

'Africa Power Road represents an excellent opportunity for Moroccan companies to discover a new zone with high potential for their international development, drawing on the expertise and support of Maroc Export.'

Mr Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, a Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry said Ghana was carrying out reforms that would catapult the growth and development of businesses in coming days.

He said apart from the establishment of electronic paperless business transactions at the country's entry points, similar procedures were being initiated at the Registrar General's Department to reduce congestion and weed out corrupt practices.

He said Ghana was also abound with raw materials, labour and conducive business environment to accommodate the establishment of more businesses.

He urged the Ghanaian business community to reciprocate the visit to concretise their partnerships.

GNA
28.10.2017 LISTEN

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Wednesday, opened the First West Africa Airshow, with the call on stakeholders to provide air connectivity towards developing African economies.

He said the vision of the Government was to make aviation the hub of Africa providing connectivity to the sub-region.

The President was speaking at the opening of the First Aerospace and Aviation Exhibition of West Africa in Accra on the theme: "Connecting Aviation Professionals across All Areas of the Industry with the African Market".

The event, which is the first Aerospace and Aviation Exhibition of West Africa, would provide an opportunity for manufacturers and service providers in the sector to explore and meet potential customers.

It was also put together with the view to position the African Aviation Industry at the forefront of regional and global interests.

He commended the Minister of Aviation for organising the event to showcase businesses, promote networking and the industry.

He said air transport was an industry that served as a catalyst to socio-economic growth.

He said Airports supported 6.8 million jobs in Africa; while the growth of Ghana's aviation was 7.9 per cent per annum.

The Government, he said, re-created the Aviation Ministry and made it highly competitive in the promotion of the industry.

He explained that the Ministry was spearheading the efforts in making the airports to become one of the best in Africa.

The projects for these include the construction of the Terminal 3, provision of modern navigation systems, and the construction of the Phase ll of the Tamale and Kumasi Airports.

The Government, the President said, had given the policy approval for the establishment of a National carrier to enhance the needed connectivity in Africa.

He said Ghana had showed immense commitment to the African connectivity by signing on to the Yamoussoukro Agreement, which 44 African leaders signed to ensure Africa's connectivity.

President Akufo-Addo said the Government had also been creating the conditions for the private sector to venture into the aviation industry.

He announced that Mr Asamoah Gyan, the Captain of the Black Stars, had obtained a license from the Government to operate an airline in the country.

"The airline, Baby Jet Airlines, is expected to commence operations soon," he added.

The President said the Government was poised to creating a people-friendly economy for doing business in Africa, while promoting the development of the economy.

He, therefore, called on the investor community to partner with their Ghanaian counterparts to network and engage in business operations to the benefit of all.

He commended the Ghana Airports Company for winning a safety awards for their security measures.

Mrs Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the Minister of Aviation, said the outlook for the Aviation industry remained bright.

She said the topics and panelists had been carefully chosen to deliberate on issues that would promote the interest of the industry.

GNA

By Morkporkpor Anku, GNA
28.10.2017 LISTEN

The first ever African Air Show 2017, hosted by Ghana's Ministry of Aviation and the Ghana Airports Company Limited has begun in Accra with a call on stakeholders in African aviation to innovate and collaborate to move the industry forward.

Ms. Iyabo Sosina, Secretary General of the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), said there was room for further improvement in the air transport value chain that African countries could take advantage of through innovation and collaboration among all stakeholders.

This, she said, would ensure a safe, secure, reliable and economically efficient air transport in Africa.

Speaking at a ceremony to open the conference on Tuesday ahead of the official opening of the Air Show by President Akuffo Addo on Wednesday, Ms Sosina said given that aviation was recognised as a very powerful tool for economic development, and that average annual passenger growth rate in Africa was estimated at 5.7 percent, there was the need for increased investment in the sector.

'These investments should be in the areas of infrastructure development, human capital development, funding for aircrafts and equipment among others, for improved and reliable interconnectivity, especially in light of the challenges in moving from one city to another within Africa.

'A close analysis of the civil aviation problems in Africa reveals commonalities in almost all the states and thus I'm of the view that overcoming these challenges will require commitment, collaboration, cooperation and synergy of efforts among states, organisations, donors and all stakeholders,' she stated.

Ms Iyabo commended Ghana and the GACL for the organisation of the Air Show, saying the exhibition and conference was the first of its kind in West Africa and most recent in Africa, and will engage major players within the African and global aviation space with a view of positioning the African aviation industry at the forefront of regional and global interest.

It is also expected to provide a forum for stakeholders to interact with prospective investors in the development of Ghana and Africa's aviation infrastructure and services and bring them up to speed with the dynamics of the industry through the sharing of experiences.

Mr Raphael Kuuchi, Vice President for Africa, International Air Transport Association (IATA) said the timing of the event was commendable as the African air transport market was forecast by IATA to be the fastest growing of all the world's regions, over the next 20 years.

'Passenger traffic in Africa will grow at seven percent per annum over the next 20 years. In other words, some 257 million more passengers will be added to the current 130 million passengers flying in Africa,' he said, adding that the industry, last year, contributed to 6.8 million jobs and $72.5 billion to the GDP od Africa economies.

In Ghana, the industry will continue its strong growth, averaging 6.2 percent in the next 20 years, increase passenger throughput from the current 2.5 million passengers to 8.2 million over the period.

He noted that the growth in Ghana and Africa required the placement of some fundamentals such as safety and security, infrastructure development, cost competitiveness, smarter regulations, market access, human capacity development and retention.

He noted that the Air Show provided an opportunity to position Ghana as an aviation equipment and logistics hub in Africa.

He however called on Ghana to lead in the establishment of a national airline in order to make her an iconic aviation giant in West Africa, explaining that the absence of a hub in the region was a lost opportunity and a drawback on the realisation of the potential of air transport in the region.

Mr John Attafuah, Managing Director the GACL said the conference had brought together seasoned professionals to discuss topics that would make the aviation industry in Africa, not only competitive but also attractive at the global level.

GNA

By Belinda Ayamgha, GNA
28.10.2017 LISTEN

Dr Lawrence A. Kannae, Vice Chairman of the Public Service Commission on Wednesday said the Commission is urgently considering the running of programmes to ensure that employees get adequate knowledge on retirement policies in the public service.

Dr Kannae, said some employees always expressed fears when they were due for retirement blaming that on lack of preparedness.

He said some employees therefore apply for post-retirement contract so that they could continue to work.

Dr Kannae was speaking at the launch of the 2015 State of the Public Service Report (SoPSR) in Accra; the 344-page book survey covers areas such as Effective Leadership, Human Resource Management Development, and Transparency and Accountability in Public Service Organizations. It was sponsored by the World Bank.

According to Dr Kannae, it was important that employees were handed down with needed knowledge so they would adequately prepare for their retirement.

He said currently there was no policy to prepare staff towards retirement and urged Public Service Organizations to initiate programmes to prepare staff towards retirement.

'If you prepare well, when you are served with letters, you will not get heart attacks,' he said.

On employees' annual leave, the Vice Chairman explained that annual leave was a right that ought to be enjoyed by all.

Dr Kannae therefore urged employers to encourage employees to go on leave.

He observed that people who often refuse to go on leave end up collapsing on the job and saddled with stress and depression.

'If you fail to go on leave and you fall down and die, remember you will be replaced,' he said.

Touching on the report, Dr Kannae stressed that it was important that recruitment were done transparently through advertisement for other citizens to benefit.

He said some of the challenges contained in the report did not require huge financial requirement and appealed to institutions to effect these changes.

GNA

By Joyce Danso, GNA
28.10.2017 LISTEN

Residents of Pokuase and Amasaman in the Ga West District have appealed to the Ghana Highway Authority to as a matter of urgency site zebra-crossing points at strategic locations on the main Accra-Kumasi highway passing through the area.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday, Mr Emmanuel Teye a resident of Festus, near Pokuase said the absence of road marks specifically zebra-crossing had exposed residents to danger 'as we have to navigate through speeding vehicles on the dual carriage road from one side to the other.

Mr Teye noted that because there are no zebra-crossings, most drivers failed to slow down or even stop for pedestrians, and particularly expressed worry about pupils who cross the busy road daily to and from school.

Ms Rebecca Ansah, a student also explained to the GNA the ordeal residents along both sides of the dual carriage endure to cross highway either to catch a bus at the other side to school, work and even to town.

She noted that sometimes 'one have to stand at the edge of the road for over 30 minutes just to cross the road. I believe if there are zebra-crossing points, some good drivers would respect the rules and stop for pedestrians to cross'.

Mr John Owusu, a trader, said crossing the highway was difficult because most drivers on the Pokuase-Amasaman road are always speeding and if care is not taken pedestrians could be knocked down.

He urged the engineers of the road to revisit the road plan.

Mrs Beatrice Agyemang, a business woman, told the GNA that she had to aid her kids to cross the road daily, a task she described as risky due to the absence of road marks on the streets.

'We are appealing to the authorities to consult opinion leaders, the assembly members and chiefs from communities along the highway to site zebra-crossings to save us from danger'.

GNA

By Doris Amenyo, GNA
28.10.2017 LISTEN

The second Regional Workshop on Arms Transfer Controls and Arms Diversion opened in Accra on Wednesday.

The two-day workshop is being attended by representatives from the sub-region to discuss with international experts effective border controls, principles and best practices related to preventing and detecting diversion of arms in the sub-region.

The programme is supported by the German Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control, Germany.

Mr Ambrose Dery, Minister of the Interior in a speech read on his behalf, said the diversion of arms occurred as a result of weak controls in arms transfers, re-transfers, thefts from poorly stockpiles, handouts to armed groups or barter involving natural resources.

The Minister said these diversions enabled rebels, gangs, criminal organisations and terrorist groups to have access to weapons and use them to terrorize the citizenry.

'Access to these diverted weapons breeds impunity and violence which negatively affects the positive image of Africans,' he added.

Mr Dery said statistics revealed that 52 per cent of global armed conflicts in 2014, occurred in Africa, although the continent had only 16 per cent of the world's population.

He said the humanitarian and socio-economic consequences of arms diversion and the serious threats it posed to peace, safety, security, stability and sustainable development required a comprehensive strategy and approach to address the menace.

The Interior Minister noted that the proliferation of small arms accounted for a considerable number of needless deaths and injuries in the sub region, creating inter-communal tensions that escalates into conflicts.

He said in 2006, the West Africa Action Network on Small Arms (WAANSA) estimated that eight million small arms and light arms were transited through the sub-region.

The same year the Heads of States of the Economic Community of West African States adopted the convention to regulate the production, circulation and civilian possession of these arms as a collective measure against the menace that drives much of the insecurity in West Africa.

He said the convention enjoins member states to effectively combat the diversion and illicit trafficking of arms through marking, tracing, systematic and appropriate record-keeping mechanisms.

He therefore urged participants to exchange views and share experiences to facilitate regional cooperation in dealing with arms diversion in ECOWAS sub-region and adopt measures to address factors that lead to violence.

The Reverend Dr Paul Frimpong Manso, the Board Chairman of the Ghana National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons, said a baseline study in 2005 conducted by Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Centre indicated that local gunsmith had the capacity to produce over 200,000 weapons annually.

He said the Ghana Police Service estimated that around 80 per cent of the weapons seized by the Police and the Ghanaian security forces at crime scenes were locally made, saying mitigating these phenomenon required a concerted approach by all and sundry in the region.

Ms Caroline Cliff, Chair of the Council Working Group on Conventional Arms Export, European Union, pledged their commitment to support countries especially Ghana to deal with arms diversion.

GNA

By Kodjo Adams/Papa Yaw Danso, GNA
28.10.2017 LISTEN

Network for Women's Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) has implemented a 30-month project dubbed: 'Addressing Systematic Barriers to Enhance Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in Land Governance' to protect livelihoods and interest of rural women farmers.

The three-year project, in partnership with NETRIGHT's regional focal points and LAWA-Ghana, is under the STAR-Ghana Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) strategic partnership grant award and it would contribute to evidence-based advocacy for gender and social inclusion reforms in the land sector.

'With the objective of initiating process of engaging relevant state and non-state actors towards the building of strong women's movement for the passage of the current Land Bill, the implementation of this project has become necessary and timely,' Madam Adwoa Sakyi, the Deputy Convenor of NETRIGHT, stated at the maiden national stakeholders engagement held in Accra on Wednesday.

The day's event was to formally solicit stakeholders inputs on GESI related problems in the land sector, establish relationships, and mobilise more support for the passage of the Land Bill.

Madam Sakyi said to address structural and systematic challenges within the land tenure systems that had created barriers inhibiting women and socially excluded persons from enjoying their basic rights, it was critical for women's rights organisations and socially excluded groups working on land to improve their working relationships to enhance cross learning and movement building to protect women's land interests.

She said in Ghana, women played critical roles in food production and were also responsible for producing food for their families' consumption.

'Women comprise 52 per cent of the agricultural labour force in Ghana and contribute about 70 per cent of food crop production in the country, however, women reap minimal benefits from investments in the sector,' she said.

According to the Deputy Convenor of NETRIGHT, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture's Progress Report for 2013 showed that large proportions of the agricultural workforce were women representing 52 per cent with a high rate of illiteracy and limited capacity too access and adopt improved agricultural technologies, thus most of them were poor.

'Women farmers' access, control and ownership of land also pose a huge challenge to their farming activities therefore there is the need to address the necessities of women to improve upon their basic conditions and position in society,' she said.

Madam Sakyi cited limited access to credit and financial services, limited access to extension services delivery, low access to new technologies in agriculture, lack of access to control over land and limited access to agro-inputs as certified seeds, fertilizers and other chemicals to support plant growth as some of the challenges facing women in the agricultural sector of the country.

Giving the overview of the project, Madam Patricia Blankson Akakpo, the Programme Manager of NETRIGHT, said the project which started from September 2017 is expected to end in February 2020.

She mentioned desk study, simplification of laws and guidelines, regional consultations, trainings, national policy dialogue, media engagements, monitoring, evaluation and learning as some of the major activities that would be used to coordinate the project.

On membership, Madam Akakpo explained that participants would be drawn from Women's Rights Organisations, socially excluded groups, Civil Society Organisations and other state and non-state key stakeholders.

Madam Eunice Racheal Agbenyadzi, the GESI and Capacity Building Manager STAR-Ghana, said STAR-Ghana was not only providing financial support for the project but would be partners to plan event, go to the fields with beneficiaries, to see what they were doing and be at the table to interact with stakeholders towards the achieving of a sustainable goal of the project.

'We have committed 15 million Ghana Cedis to the partnership for women to have access and control over land as they tend to be very weak compared to their male counterparts.

'Women land right is key to promoting socio-economic development,' she said.

Madam Agbenyadzi was hopeful that at the end of the three-year project, there would be equal opportunities in the land sector for women, girls, men and boys at all levels by virtue of who they were, their location with no level of deprivation.

Some participants who spoke to the Ghana News Agency called for involvement of queen mothers as their role would be pivotal in the meeting of the project's goals.

'Let's also look at the National Land Policy that will be 20 years in 2019 and push for its review to ensure protection of women's land rights,' Mrs Shelia Minkah-Premo, a legal practitioner and gender activist said.

GNA

By Elsie Appiah-Osei/ Emmanuel Kwame Donkor, GNA
28.10.2017 LISTEN

The Management of Crown Forest Limited has officially commissioned the Crown Forest Project, which would offer a unique combination of wildlife and hospitality services in Ghana.

The Crown Forest Limited a Ghanaian registered company, was established to develop a safari eco-park, adventure and conference tourism by drawing from the experience of their sponsors who are currently managing a successful two-star hotel in Accra.

In pursuance of its objective, Crown Forest has acquired 820 acres of land at Gomoa-Nsuaem, near Winneba, in the Central Region for the development of West Africa's first private safari eco-park.

The 500-acre safari eco-park would have a collection of animals including red hartebeest, greater kudus, impalas, elands, waterbucks, zebras, giraffes, hippopotamus (held in a 20 acre enclosure), tsessebes, roans and oribis.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of the event, Mr Samuel Winful, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Crown Forest, said Gomoa-Nsuaem had an environment, ideal and perfect for a safari or eco-tourism project.

He said the facility would also have four-star lodges to provide accommodation, 322 seater-restaurants whereas other complementary services include game watching, trekking, fruit picking, swimming, indoor and outdoor games, gym and Spa.

Mr Winful noted that the company would create a museum for the slave route, which was located within the forest; adding that 'this is a route through which slaves were sent to Winneba during the transatlantic slave trade'.

He said however, the core service that would be provided comprises guided drive-through tours in game vehicles with guides providing narratives to visitors.

He noted that central to these tours was wildlife education to sensitize people on the importance of wildlife and possibility of harmonious living with humans.

Mr Winful, who said the official commissioning was aimed at introducing the project to the public; was therefore, hopeful that the project would create more jobs for the people particularly the youth living in Nsuaem and its surroundings.

Mr John Awuah, CEO of UMB, told the GNA that they were excited with their level of involvement, as the project was picking speed and getting off the drawing board unto the field.

He said their client, Crown Forest, brought its plan to them; which they liked and therefore, followed it up, understood the concept and further had discussions with their foreign partners.

Mr Awuah described the UMB Business Centre as a wholly dedicated to the needs of small and large scale businesses.

'What we do there is to remove as much as possible the paper back and forth and ensure that there is one central point for our customers,' he said.

Nana Kwadofrakye V, Mankrado for the Akyeapem Traditional Council, also in an interview with the GNA, appealed to the government to work vigorously to protect Ghana's depleting forests.

Nana Kwadofrakye, urged the youth of the area to uphold the project as theirs, as well as study to acquire knowledge in the world of hospitality.

He again noted that the project would create an enabling environment for businesses and boost job creation at large.

Among dignitaries, who graced the occasion were Naana Eyiah, Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central; Mr Benjamin Kojo Otoo, Gomoa East District Chief Executive Officer and Mr Ebenezer Pinkrah, Regional Director for Environmental Protection Agency.

GNA

By Iddi Yire, GNA
Accra, Oct. 20, (UPI/GNA) - War damage to port facilities in Libya could constrain production to around 1.25 million barrels per day, analysis from consultant group Wood Mackenzie found.

Secondary sources reporting to the economists at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Libya produced an average 923 million barrels of oil per day last month, down from the July peak of 1 million bpd.

"Wood Mackenzie believes Libya may now be reaching its near-term production limits and future growth will be gradual," the consultant group said in an emailed report.

In early October, the EU observer, citing a "restricted" report from the European Union's Border Assistance Mission in Libya, described lingering fractures remaining in Libya six years after civil conflict led to the death of long-time ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

Without some sort of unified political solution and an end to conflict, progress for Libya will be limited.

Wood Mackenzie found various stalemates mean different things for different energy companies.

Companies with headquarters in North America are a bit more wary of risk, while those in Europe have been relatively steadfast in their commitments.

Last week, the chairman and board of directors at the Libya National Oil Corp. met in London with representatives from Spanish energy company Repsol to review production planning, security challenges and ways to mitigate risk.

Wood Mackenzie found that damage from militant attacks and other consequences of war at the ports of As Sidrah and Ras Lanuf will constrain Libyan oil production at 1.25 million bpd, which the NOC set as a year-end target.

"Reaching this would be quite an achievement," the report read.

Libya is exempt from an OPEC-led effort to balance an over-supplied market for crude oil with managed production declines so it can steer oil revenue toward national security efforts. Wood Mackenzie said even keeping production at 1 million bpd would be considered a success, but enough of a win to keep Libya from spiraling deeper into crisis.

GNA
28.10.2017 LISTEN

Accra, Oct. 20, (UPI/GNA) - A day after U.S. supermajor Chevron said it was standing down in the Kurdish north of Iraq, British company Gulf Keystone Petroleum said all was well.

"Gulf Keystone confirms that its operations in Kurdistan continue safely and securely with the company achieving average production of 34,525 barrels of oil per day from the Shaikan field since the beginning of October 2017," the company said in a statement Friday.

Fighting escalated during the weekend between Iraqi and Kurdish military forces, weeks after a controversial Kurdish referendum for independence. The Kurdish referendum coincided more or less with the liberation of parts of northern Iraq from the terrorist group calling itself the Islamic State.

There were reports that some of the flow of oil from northern Iraq to a Turkish port on the Mediterranean Sea was interrupted. On Thursday, a spokesperson for U.S. supermajor Chevron told The Wall Street Journal it was scaling back its operations in the Kurdish north in response to the security situation.

"We look forward to resuming our operations as soon as conditions permit," the spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Gulf Keystone said operations at the Shaikan field were proceeding as expected and output is on pace to meet its production guidance of between 32,000 and 38,000 bpd for the year. Crude oil from the Kurdish north is still moving by truck across the northern border for exports from Turkey without interruption.

"We remain committed to ensuring safe and secure operations in Kurdistan, and we continue to monitor the geo-political situation closely," CEO JAn Ferrier said in a statement. "Despite the challenges facing the region, we are maintaining stable operations."

Energy Company Genel, which operates the Tawke and Taq Taq basins in the Kurdish north, said in a statement Thursday that its operations in the region "are progressing as normal."

The developments come as Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi expressed frustration with announcements of intent to sign oil contracts "without telling the federal government of the ministry of oil," something he said was an assault on Iraqi sovereignty.

Luaibi's statement made no reference to any specific company or contract, but it came one day after Russian Oil Company Rosneft said it signed an agreement with the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government that put a production sharing agreement for five production areas in Kurdish territory in motion.

GNA
28.10.2017 LISTEN

Accra, Oct. 25, (UPI/GNA) - As most of Puerto Rico remains without electricity, Technology Company, Tesla has begun to make good on its promise to rebuild the Island's energy grid after it was ravaged by Hurricane Maria.

Tesla said Tuesday the "first of many solar and storage projects" had started on the U.S. territory. Its first accomplishment was restoring power to Hospital del NiAo in San Juan.

The facility is using a combination of solar cells and Tesla's Powerpack energy storage batteries, which generates energy from the sun's rays and stores power to provide during adverse weather conditions.

Tesla's work on the island began early this month after a Twitter exchange between Tesla chief Elon Musk, who donated $250,000 of his personal money to the recovery efforts, and Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello.

Rossello replied to a tweet by Musk, saying Tesla could use Puerto Rico as a "flagship project" to "show the world the power and scale ability of Tesla Technologies."

Tesla has also been shipping its own Powerpack battery storage to the territory and postponed an event in November to focus on assisting Puerto Rico.

As 85 percent of the island remains without power, Puerto Rican officials say it could take up to six months before its power grid is fully repaired.

Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority has hired a Montana-based company, Whitefish Energy, to help restore power instead of reaching out to the American Public Power Association, which typically aids in disaster recovery efforts.

Lawmakers are questioning the decision to hire Whitefish, with some calling the deal "very fishy" and analysts saying the deal "didn't make a lot of sense."

"This is one of the reasons people down here really hate PREPA -- they do business behind closed doors and it ends up costing a lot of money," Sergio Marxuach, policy director at the nonpartisan Center for a New Economy, told ABC News.

GNA
28.10.2017 LISTEN

Accra, Oct. 25, (UPI/GNA) - A Texas man died this month after contracting a rare, flesh-eating bacteria while helping to repair homes damaged by Hurricane Harvey, officials said Monday.

Josue Zurita, 31, was helping rebuilding efforts in the Galveston area when he went into the hospital on Oct. 10, due to a skin infection on his upper arm, according to the Galveston County Health District.

He was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, a bacterial infection that kills soft tissue and he died on Oct. 16.

"It's most likely this person's infection occurred when bacteria from Harvey debris or floodwater entered his body through a wound or cut," said Dr. Philip Keiser of the Galveston County Local Health Authority.

"This is a very rare infection but that doesn't make it any less heartbreaking for this person's family and friends."

Keiser told CNN that the bacteria are known to spread rapidly.

"What happens is, you get some kind of break in the skin, and in that area -- between the skin and the muscle, it's a fairly open space where the bacteria can grow," Keiser said. "I have seen these things spread over hours.

Even in one case, as I was examining a patient, I could see the red spread in the minutes I was examining him, and that's the real danger to it."

Zurita came to Texas from Mexico 12 years ago and was working as a carpenter to support his family, according to his obituary.

"He has a lot of friends here in Galveston who love him. Everybody is very sad. He was very young and always smiling," said Brenda Avalos, wife of Josue's cousin Anastacio, reported KHOU.

Zurita is the third known person to have caught the bacterial infection, which killed 77-year-old Houston resident Nancy Reed and seriously injured former first responder J.R. Atkins in September.

GNA
Accra, Oct. 25, (UPI/GNA) - Two men were shot to death early Wednesday on the Grambling State University campus in northern Louisiana, authorities said, and the shooter is still at large.

Police said they believe a dorm room altercation led to the shootings in a nearby courtyard between two dormitories.

Pronounced dead at the scene were Earl Andrews, 23, a Grambling student, and Monquiarious Caldwell, 23, who was not a student at the school.

Each was from Farmerville La., about 30 miles away, said Will Sutton, the school's communications director.

The shooter is believed to be at large, and the Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Office advised students to stay in their dorms, although the campus in Grambling, La., was not placed on lockdown.

Officials do not believe the shooter is a student at the school.

The school will celebrate its Homecoming weekend this week.

GNA
Around 1,000 opposition protesters gathered Friday to call for the resignation of Guinea-Bissau's government, a year on from a failed mediation process aimed at ending the country's grinding political crisis.

The tiny west African state has been in the grip of a power struggle since August 2015, when President Jose Mario Vaz sacked then premier Domingos Simoes Pereira, leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC).

Talks mediated by Guinean President Alpha Conde in October 2016 had envisaged naming a new prime minister, putting together an "inclusive" government and reintegrating the lawmakers into the PAIGC.

A heavy security presence in the capital Bissau prevented an even larger protest, organisers told AFP, where a journalist at the scene counted around 1,000 protesters drawn from 18 different parties, who aimed angry chants at the president.

"This meeting is just the beginning of a series of actions that we are undertaking. We are just warming up," said Pereira, expressing hope that the military, civil society and religious groups would join future protests.

More rallies are expected across Bissau until November 5, the organisers said.

A new prime minister, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, was sworn in last December but the majority of the PAIGC rejected him, accusing Vaz of breaching an agreement calling for a consensual choice of prime minister.

The Interior Ministry warned in a statement that "any action endangering peace, stability and public order will not be tolerated."

Guinea-Bissau has been plagued by military coups and instability since its independence from Portugal in 1974.
Kenya found itself in a dangerous limbo on Saturday after two days of violent protests sparked by a deeply divisive presidential election that left eight people dead and scores injured.

It is the country's worst crisis in a decade, raising fears for the stability of east Africa's economic powerhouse and one of its strongest democracies.

As Kenyans counted the cost of Thursday's chaotic and bloody ballot -- its second election in three months -- supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga vowed to maintain their boycott of efforts to reschedule a vote in areas where they'd managed to block it.

Plans to restage elections in the protest-hit western Nyanza region where opposition supporters managed to prevent hundreds of local polling stations from opening, were postponed on Friday after election chief Wafula Chebukati said he feared for the safety of his staff.

An opposition supporter gestures in reaction to post-election violence, in Kawangware, outside Nairobi

In Kisumu, Kenya's third largest city where three people had died and dozens were injured as protests raged on Thursday and Friday, the move was welcomed as a modest victory.

"This is not really a victory, it's just the right thing to do," nodded Wilson Ochyeng, 38, sipping a beer at a bar after officials called off plans to stage the vote on Saturday.

"Imagine the number of deaths we would have had if they had tried to hold the election."

Two people were shot dead Friday as protests gripped western towns and clashes erupted in a Nairobi slum as officials counted votes from a ballot set to hand President Uhuru Kenyatta a landslide win due to Odinga's boycott.

Initial turnout figures suggested only about a third of registered voters turned up, tarnishing the credibility of an election boycotted by a large part of the 19.6 million registered voters.

At each others' throats

In Nairobi's Kawangware slum, one man was shot dead by police as clashes broke out between ethnic groups over the election, police said. A witness told AFP the violence started when a group of youths "started attacking people and questioning why people never voted".

Elsewhere opposition supporters torched shops belonging to members of Kenyatta's Kikuyu tribe and a group of young men wielding machetes could also be seen roaming the streets.

Earlier, a man was shot dead during a confrontation with police in the western town of Bungoma.

The confirmed casualties raised to 48 the total number of people killed in election-related violence since the August poll.

The crisis is the worst since a 2007 election sparked politically-driven ethnic violence that left 1,100 dead.

In Nairobi's Kawangware slum, a group of young men wielding machetes could be seen roaming around

The presidential re-run was ordered by the Supreme Court after it overturned Kenyatta's August victory over "irregularities" in the transmission of votes.

But two weeks before the new elections, Odinga pulled out, calling for a boycott on the grounds that the electoral commission hadn't made the necessary changes to ensure a free and fair vote in a call that was widely observed.

Plans to re-run the vote this weekend in four western counties were eventually postponed over fears for the safety of polling officials, with Chebukati saying a future date would be announced "in the coming days".

According to the Supreme Court, the election re-run must be completed by October 31.

Odinga has vowed a campaign of "civil disobedience" and is demanding another new election be held within 90 days.
Kenya was stuck in a dangerous limbo Saturday as President Uhuru Kenyatta took an unassailable lead in a disputed poll that has sparked violent protests in which nine have died.

Kenyatta was leading with 97 percent of votes compared to less than one percent for his rival Raila Odinga, who boycotted the repeat election, according to a tally by the Daily Nation media group of unofficial results from 80 percent of constituencies.

However turnout appears headed for a record low of around 35 percent, tarnishing the credibility of an election that has deeply polarised east Africa's economic powerhouse.

Violent protests have rocked Odinga's strongholds in the west of the country and flashpoint Nairobi slums, with the death of man in Homa Bay late Friday taking the toll since election day to nine dead. Scores have also been wounded, many by police bullets.

Local police chief Mauris Tum said a gang of youths had stormed the home of a local ruling party lawmaker and police responded, leaving one "fatally wounded".

One man was also shot dead by police in Nairobi's Kawangware slum on Friday night as clashes broke out between ethnic groups over the election, police said.

A witness told AFP the violence started when a group of youths "started attacking people and questioning why people never voted".

'Tragic consequences'

Elsewhere opposition supporters torched shops belonging to members of Kenyatta's Kikuyu tribe and a group of young men wielding machetes could also be seen roaming the streets.

At least 49 people have now died since a first election on August 8 in Kenya's worst crisis since a 2007 vote sparked politically-driven ethnic violence that left 1,100 dead.

"From past experience, sporadic incidents of violence quickly burst into a conflagration with tragic consequences. We are likely to go this direction unless quick action is taken," wrote the Daily Nation in an editorial.

At least 49 people have died since a first election on August 8

The presidential re-run was ordered by the Supreme Court after it overturned Kenyatta's August 8 victory over "irregularities" in the transmission of votes.

But two weeks before the new elections, Odinga pulled out, calling for a boycott on the grounds that the electoral commission hadn't made the necessary changes to ensure a free and fair vote in a call that was widely observed.

Observers expect further legal challenges over the re-run.

'We don't want elections'

In some areas, mostly in the western Nyanza region where the majority of deaths have occurred, the election couldn't take place at all as opposition supporters blocked hundreds of polling stations from opening on Thursday.

Plans to restage elections in the region on Saturday were again delayed after election chief Wafula Chebukati said he feared for the safety of his staff.

Chebukati saying a future date would be announced "in the coming days".

According to the Supreme Court, the election re-run must be completed by October 31.

In Kisumu, Kenya's third largest city where three people had died on election day, opposition supporters were still on alert to block plans to deploy election material, although shops opened and transport was circulating.

At a main roundabout in the city, someone had hung up a dead cat. In recent days, ahead of each announcement, Odinga promises to announce his next moves on how to "slay the cat".

Richard Ogilo, 24, pointed to the carcass and said: "Look there is a member of IEBC (election board) at this roundabout. This is Wafula Chebukati. Let him know that we do not want elections."

In Nairobi's Kawangware slum, a group of young men wielding machetes could be seen roaming around

While the Supreme Court ruling was hailed as a chance to deepen democracy, the acrimonious bickering between Odinga and Kenyatta -- whose fathers were rivals before them -- has sharply divided a country where politics is already polarised along tribal lines.

"Leaders must now begin preaching the message of reconciliation and co-existence. Elections have deeply divided the people and we need to repair the fractures," said the Daily Nation editorial.

Odinga has vowed a campaign of "civil disobedience" and is demanding another new election be held within 90 days.
The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), have launched the 2017 Northern Region District League Table (DLT) in Tamale.

The DLT, which was introduced in 2014 and is released annually, is a social accountability tool that ranks the level of development or the progress of delivering key basic services in the country's 216 districts.

The purpose of the pre-launch engagement was to share the outcomes and lessons learned from the three years of implementing the DLT, and to allow stakeholders to familiarize themselves with the objectives, process and outcomes of the initiative and to brief stakeholders on the 2017 DLT.

Speaking at the event, the Northern Regional Minister, Hon Salifu Saeed, underscored the importance of social accountability as a fundamental tool for effective governance and public service delivery, and hence tasked all MMDAs in the region to be more proactive and identify sectors where they have shortfalls, in terms of the provision of quality service delivery, and re-strategize to overcome those shortfalls.

He said MMDAs are development vehicles that are responsible to improve the socio-economic needs of citizens through the provision of quality service.

Mr. Salifu Saeed thus expressed gratitude to CDD-Ghana, UNICEF, and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), for the initiative.

He asked all the Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs), CDD-Ghana and UNICEF to ensure the needed co-operation and assistance to enable them develop the 2017 DLT report on time.

In her remarks, Madam Mable Amoako Atta from the Head of Local Government Service said, the DLT is not out there to name and shame non-performing MMDAs, but to intensify the scrutiny of Ghana's development, highlighting inequality across districts, and could also be used to better allocate resources to those individual districts that ranked low to be better supported.

She therefore encouraged all MMDAs to take the DLT more seriously in order to improve service delivery.

On his part, Mr. Paul Osei-Kuffour, Programs Manager for CDD-Ghana-Tamale Office, who commended all stakeholders for their massive turnout for this year's pre-launch, also indicated that, there is the need to stimulate citizens' engagement with duty bearers over issues affecting their lives, both in terms of access and quality of services, which had been identified in the development discourse as critical for promoting participation, transparency, responsiveness and accountability.



By: Latif Mahama/citifmonline.com/Ghana
28.10.2017 LISTEN

Accra, Oct 27,(dpa/GNA) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held a phone conversation on Friday with his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel, in the first official call since the release of human rights activists in Turkey this week.

Gabriel told Cavusoglu he welcomed the release of German national Peter Steudtner and that he was seeking further dialogue and to improve the bilateral relationship, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr said.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said Gabriel initiated the call.

Several key human rights activists were released from prison this week, pending trial, including the local director of leading advocacy group Amnesty International and two Europeans.

German citizen Steudtner and Ali Gharavi from Sweden were among 10 activists held after a police raid on a training workshop in Istanbul in July. The two foreigners flew back home on Thursday.

Gabriel had confirmed to Spiegel magazine that former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was instrumental in Steudtner's release, saying that he had a face-to-face conversation with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The activists are accused of terrorism-related charges and face up to 15 years in jail if convicted.

GNA
28.10.2017 LISTEN

Accra, Oct. 27, (Yonhap/GNA) - The top diplomats of South Korea and Canada discussed cooperation in dealing with North Korea's nuclear problem and other issues of mutual concern on Friday, the foreign ministry said.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha spoke by phone with her Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland, according to the ministry.

They discussed cooperation against the threats from the North's nuclear and missile programs and, in particular, agreed to work together to stably manage the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and peacefully resolve the current stalemate, the ministry said.

Kang also asked for Canada's active support for and participation in the upcoming Winter Olympics in a way that could serve as a chance to boost momentum for inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation aimed at easing tensions in the region.

Freeland promised to provide support for South Korea to make the Olympics to be held in Pyeong Chang early next year a success, the ministry said.
28.10.2017 LISTEN

Accra, Oct 27, (dpa/GNA) - The daughter of an imprisoned Vietnamese blogger has called for her mother's release in a letter addressed to US First Lady Melania Trump ahead of a presidential visit to Vietnam in November, her grandmother told dpa Friday.

Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, also known as Mother Mushroom, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in June on anti-state charges having been arrested last year.

Her mother Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan, 61, said that Nguyen Bao Nguyen, Quynh's 10-year-old daughter who turns 11 on Saturday, had decided to write the letter herself.

"She asked me if she could write a letter to her (Trump) to ask for help, I said I don't know but let's do what we can," said Lan.

Quynh, 38, won the US State Department's 2017 International Woman of Courage Award and if free, she would have been handed the award by the first lady.

The letter, which has been posted on Facebook, implored the first lady to call for her mother's release during the Trumps' visit to Vietnam in November.

"We beg of you to help us to be reunited because I know my mother did nothing wrong, as I know you did award her with the International Women of Courage prize for which my mother and my family would like to thank you once again," wrote Bao, according to the post on Lan's Facebook page.

Quynh's health condition has worsened, Lan said having visited her daughter in prison on Monday.

"She looks very weak and very pale as she is sick from vitamin deficiency but was not allowed to receive medication from me," she said.

GNA
28.10.2017 LISTEN

Accra, Oct 27 - (dpa/GNA) - Burundi has become the first country to pull out of the International Criminal Court (ICC), a spokesman for the court in the Hague told dpa on Friday.

The country had launched the process of leaving the court last year, with the government saying the ICC was biased against African nations.

Gambia and South Africa had announced their withdrawal in 2016, but changed their minds, leaving Burundi as the only country to officially leave. There are now 123 member states.

Despite the withdrawal, the court will continue a preliminary investigation into possible war crimes in Burundi.

The probe began in April 2016 and was "independent, impartial and objective," the court spokesman added.

GNA
28.10.2017 LISTEN

Accra, Oct. 25, GNA - Despite the enormous contributions of women to Ghana's agricultural sector, they still face obstacles in acquisition of land for farming mostly because of their gender and class.

Mrs Patricia Blankson Akakpo Programme Manager of Network for Women's Right in Ghana (NETRIGHT) said although 52 per cent of famers in Ghana were women and produce 70-80 per cent of food consumed in Ghana, they did not reap equivalent profits from their labour.

The NETRIGHT Ghana representative said this at a National Stakeholders Inception Meeting in Accra, where it introduced a 30-month project funded with a sum of 15mllion Ghana cedi by STAR-Ghana.

The project aims at advocating for gender and social inclusion reforms in the land sector to protect livelihoods and land interest of especially rural women farmers.

The project dubbed 'Addressing Systematic Barriers to Enhance Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in Land Governance' saw key stakeholders from all 10 regions of Ghana in attendance.

Groups which participated include the Ghana Federation of Disability, Ghana Association for the Deaf and Dumb, Lands and Resource Management, the Trade Union Commission, Lands Commission, Women's Rights Organisations; and socially excluded groups.

Mrs Akakpo said the rationale behind the national project was to address structural and systematic challenges within the land tenure system in Ghana that have created barriers inhibiting women and socially excluded persons from enjoying their basic human rights.

'It is critical for especially women's rights organizations and socially excluded groups working on land to improve their working relationships to enhance cross-learning and movement building to protect women's land interests,' she said.

The project identified traditional inheritance systems where lineage systems are key determinants of obtaining land, lack of knowledge of rights which undermines the ability of the majority of the people especially women and vulnerable groups to access their rights.

Other challenges are customary laws and norms which disadvantage women and socially excluded groups, and land commercialisation which is widening the gender inequality and class gaps as well as worsening the land rights for both indigenes and migrants as some of the challenges women face in acquisition of land.

STAR-Ghana is supporting the project with 15 million Ghana cedis from its Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) grant.

Ms Eunice Rachael Agbenyadzi, the Programme Manager of the NETRIGHT project for STAR-Ghana, said STAR-Ghana would take part in the decision making process, planning, and even the field work if necessary because of their commitment to gender inequality and social inclusion.

GNA
28.10.2017 LISTEN

High corruption is a flashing signal that something is wrong and that there is an injustice in society, Dr Paul Acquah, a former Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), has said.

He said corruption, which was the use of public office for private benefit, and the prevalent violation of rules or norms of the society to gain private advantage could destroy the very fabric of society.

Dr Acquah, who made this observation in his speech at the 2017 University of Ghana Alumni Lecture, said corruption took a toll on the economy through various channels of decision making and economic and social interactions.

He said Africa's development experience and position at the bottom of the corruption - perception scale after decades of nation building inevitably raise several questions.

Speaking on the topic 'Corruption, Culture and National Development - An Interrogation of Africa's Experience', Dr Acquah said corruption was a global concern; adding that however, for Africa it was a critical issue of governance and arguably the x-factor, the toxin, in its economic performance.

He said corruption fomented persistent weak governance, limited accountability and transparency, and episodes of conflict that restrained progress and the possible achievement of development goals.

He said the narrative about Africa's development prospects had changed over the last decade, and it was now one of optimism; but not without an undertone of some skepticism.

Dr Acquah said recent growth rates and economic and social indicators showed impressive progress and the benefits of years of economic reforms and engagement with development partners.

'Corruption, once a matter for much whispering in private and public forums, is now at the centre of the development policy agenda for countries on the path of reform,' he said, adding that it was now prominent in research and discussions on governance and the role of the developmental state that some see in Africa.

Dr Acquah raised issues and questions, provocatively, whether Africa had a false start in nation building.

He said economic transformation was the grand vision that inspired African institutions and cooperation for prosperity, peace and security.

He explained that this vision should mean breaking the cycle of high corruption and low growth and locking into the virtuous dynamics of a sustainable low- corruption high -growth environment.

'It is better to stay on the path of economic efficiency and a level playing field. It starts with a credible commitment to pursuing, with good faith and rigour, an effective anti-corruption policy embedded in law and practice as a central pillar of a comprehensive development strategy,' he said.

'It needs to be well aligned with the values and rules of the society with broad popular support. The voice of the citizenry can be a powerful force for change and sustainable development,' he added.

Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, who chaired the function, said corruption had been an issue of great concern, especially in most African countries within government and the private sector.

He said corruption undermined good governance; which stalls public policies and leads to dissipation of resources.

Mr Paa Kwesi Yankey, the Chairman of the University of Ghana Alumni Association, said topic of the lecture was very critical for the growth of Ghana, as well as the African continent.

The lecture, which was under the auspices of the University of Ghana and the University of Ghana Alumni Association was attended by high profile personalities such as Dr Ernest Addison, Governor, BoG; with his first and second Deputies - Dr Maxwell Opoku-Afari and Dr Johnson P. Asiama; Prof Ivan Addae-Mensah and Prof Ernest Aryeetey both former Vice Chancellors of the University of Ghana.

GNA

By Iddi Yire, GNA
28.10.2017 LISTEN

The Kumasi Technical University (KsTU) on Friday held a ceremony to admit fresh students to pursue various programmes with a call to them to stay away from relationships that could sap away and weaken their focus.

Professor Asiamah Yeboah, the acting Vice Chancellor, said they should avoid bad company, which could lead to vices such as alcoholism, indecent dressing and unbridled sexual lives.

He told them that the university frowned on those behaviours and would not hesitate to apply appropriate sanctions.

KsTU received a total of 6,671 applications and out of this number, 3,633 gained admission.

They are made up of 2,236 males and 1,397 females and they would be pursuing programmes in health sciences, applied sciences and technology, engineering and technology, built and natural environment, creative arts and technology, business and entrepreneurship.

Prof Yeboah reminded them to adhere strictly to the rules and regulations of the institution and added that any breaches had the potential of jeopardizing their academic career.

He advised that they paid attention to their lectures and cultivated the habit of reading especially reference materials.

The acting Vice Chancellor cautioned them to resist any temptation to cheat in examinations and said 'any incident of examination malpractice can lead to your dismissal'.

The university, last year, expelled six students for examination misconduct and he admonished them 'to work diligently to have a brilliant beginning'.

GNA

By Florence Afriyie Mensah, GNA
The Spanish government has stripped Catalonia of its autonomy and taken charge of its government.

The measures early on Saturday came after the Catalan parliament voted to declare independence on Friday.

An official state bulletin dismissed Catalan leaders and handed control of Catalonia to Spains Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria.

Earlier, Spains interior ministry took charge of Catalonias police after firing senior Catalan police officials.

On Friday, PM Mariano Rajoy announced the dissolution of the regional parliament and the removal of the Catalan leader, and called snap local elections.

Demonstrations for and against independence went on into the night.

More are expected on Saturday, with a rally for the unity of Spain and the constitution to be held in Madrid.

Barca coach ducks Catalan questions

Catalonia crisis: What next for Spain?

EU risks more cracks appearing

The crisis began when Catalan leaders held an independence referendum, defying a ruling by the Constitutional Court which had declared it illegal.

The Catalan government said that of the 43% of potential voters who took part, 90% were in favour of independence. Others boycotted the vote after the court ruling.

What are the latest developments?

On Friday afternoon, the Catalan regional parliament voted to declare independence from Spain.

Soon after, the Spanish Senate granted Mr Rajoys government the power to impose direct rule on Catalonia.

It did so early on Saturday by publishing an official bulletin (in Spanish) that dismissed Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and all government members.

The announcement came hours after the Madrid government removed Josep Lluis Trapero Alvarez as chief of Catalonias autonomous Mossos police force.

Mr Trapero was already under investigation for sedition, accused of failing to help Spains Guardia Civil police tackle thousands of pro-independence protesters in Barcelona during the run-up to the referendum.

[Mr Puigdemont] had the opportunity to return to legality and to call elections, Mr Rajoy said.

It is what the majority of the Catalonian people asked for  but he didnt want to do it. So the government of Spain is taking the necessary measures to return to legality.

Regional elections are scheduled for 21 December.

Mr Puigdemont urged supporters to maintain the momentum in a peaceful manner. Spanish prosecutors say they will file charges of rebellion against him next week.

Separatists say the independence move means they no longer fall under Spanish jurisdiction.

But the Spanish Constitutional Court is likely to declare it illegal, while the EU, the US, the UK, Germany and France all expressed support for Spanish unity.

What powers did Catalonia have?

Prior to Madrid taking over the Catalan government, the region had one of the greatest levels of self-government in Spain.

It has its own parliament, police force and public broadcaster, as well as a government and president, though those have now been dismissed.

Catalans had a range of powers in many policy areas from culture and environment to communications, transportation, commerce and public safety.

Foreign affairs, the armed forces and fiscal policy were always the sole responsibility of the Spanish government.

What powers has Catalonia now lost?

The case for and against independence

Whats the reaction been?

Thousands celebrated the declaration of independence on the streets of Barcelona, Catalonias regional capital.

The same crowds that cheered each Yes vote from Catalan MPs reportedly booed Mr Rajoy as he made his announcement.

There were pro-unity demonstrations too, with protesters in Barcelona waving Spanish flags and denouncing Catalan independence. A large pro-unity rally is expected in Madrid on Saturday.

In other reaction:

Barcelonas mayor Ada Colau condemned the move by Madrid, but also criticised Catalan pro-independence parties for advancing at a kamikaze paceafter their mistaken reading of the results of the Catalan elections

EU President Donald Tusk said Madrids government remains our only interlocutor in Spain, but called for restraint

The UK government said it did not recognise the declaration of independence by Catalonia.

How did we get here?

After the 1 October referendum, Mr Puigdemont signed a declaration of independence but delayed implementation to allow talks with the Spanish government.

He ignored warnings by the Madrid government to cancel the move, prompting Mr Rajoy to first announce his plans to remove Catalan leaders and impose direct rule.

Does Catalonia want to leave Spain?

Reality Check: Police violence in Catalonia

Catalonia is one of Spains richest, most distinctive regions, with a high degree of autonomy.

Many Catalans feel they pay more to Madrid than they get back, and there are historical grievances, too, in particular Catalonias treatment under the dictatorship of General Franco. But Catalans have been divided on the question of independence.

Catalonia in numbers

16% of Spains population live in Catalonia, and it produces:

25.6% of Spains exports

19% of Spains GDP

20.7% of foreign investment

Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, Eurostat, Bank of Spain



BBC
UK Designer Debbie Wingham has unveiled the worlds most expensive pair of shoes. The stiletto heels are encrusted with precious metals and rare stones  and feature a whopping $15.1 million price tag.

Wingham is famous for her opulent creations and has worked for many celebrities, royals, and wealthy elite over the course of her career. She is known for crafting the worlds most expensive dress, a Red Diamond Abaya gown, which was encrusted with over 2000 diamonds, including the worlds most expensive red diamond, and priced at $15.45 million (USD). Wingham also owns a baking company, Couture to Cakes , and is known for having also crafted a $64 million (USD) diamond-encrusted cake for a UAE client.

Winghams latest creation is a collaboration between herself and Florida-based contemporary artist Chris Campbell. Wingham contributed the design while Campbell crafted the shoes over hundreds of painstaking hours.

The perfectly symmetrical heels feature three-carat rare pink and one-carat blue diamonds, which alone cost over $128k (USD).There are four flawless three-carat diamonds and 1000 pointer diamonds set in platinum framing the piped and quilted details, which are meant to resemble a cake.

The shoes also feature solid gold zippers and soles, leather painted in 24 carat gold paint, and the stitching was done with 18 carat gold thread. Inside, the shoes are adorned with gold thread inlay.

The shoes were finished with a rose gold accent to give slight contrast. Leather Arabian jasmine flowers are the final touch.

Wingham said of the pair: Many of my clients have valuable pieces of jewellery that live in a safe and are only worn once or twice in a lifetime; by using their precious gems to design a bespoke piece of art, I can create something that can be admired on a daily basis.

The opulent shoes were commissioned by an unnamed family in Dubai to mark a special birthday.

Wingham has stated that the shoes are the final piece in her most expensive collection. Alongside her couture bakery, she also runs the successful Future of Fashion academy for young designers, offering a range of workshops to suit different needs and levels of experience.

Wingham uses her extensive contacts and acts as a mentor to emerging talent, putting on high-end fashion events that normally the young creatives would not be able to afford, and offering exposure that also would not typically be accessible to most young designers.
28.10.2017 LISTEN

There are dangerous forces at work trying to revive a pre-independence idea roundly rejected by ordinary people in the Gold Coast - because they cottoned on to the fact that it was meant to entrench inherited privilege from the precolonial era after independence.

President Akufo-Addo, whose credentials as a democrat and believer in the manifest benefits of meritocracy are not in doubt, ought to rethink what clearly constitutes a long-term threat to national cohesion. We all want our country to become a prosperous society that is an African equivalent of the egaliterian societies of Scandinavia, do we not, I ask?

To achieve that desired end, our homeland Ghana now more than ever needs to unite and move forward together boldly to finally transform itself into a modern African society in which tribalism does not factor in our national life whatsoever.

After all, regardless of which part of Ghana we call our hometown, we are all an aspirational people. And as we are all aware, in 21st century Africa, no tribe is inferior or superior to another. Instead of harking back to past tribal glories, as aspirational Africans today, we must perforce focus instead on leveraging the global digital economy to empower all our people - to bootstrap their own individual wealth-creation success-stories, through hard work and creativity.

That will only happen when we create the conditions that will result in dynamism at the grassroots-level. And dynamism at the local level can only be possible when the main benefit of all free and liberal societies, economic prosperity resulting from the competition of ideas that enable the best ideas to emerge to drive society forward, are created by freely and fairly electing candidates of all Ghana's political parties for metropolitan, municipal and district assembly members and chief executives, in local elections across Ghana every four years.

When the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) Hopeson Adorye once stated gleefuly on Kwame Sefa Kaye's Kokrokoo morning programme on Peace FM (shortly after the funeral of his late mother) that the Asantes and Bonos would finally have their own regions with the creation of same, he was unwittingly letting the cat out of the bag.

For the sake of the well-being of Mother Ghana, the time has now come for the more responsible sections of the Ghanaian media to call a spade a spade.

The real reason driving the demand for the creation of new regions is to fulfil a longstanding dream held by today's relatively few tribal supremacists for a federation of the pre-colonial tribal entities that were permanently dominated by that dark-age-for-freedom's ruling elites.

President Akufo-Addo must drop the dangerous new regions creation idea and focus instead on bringing the many benefits of democracy to people at the grassroots-level by fulfilling his election campaign promise to allow Ghanaians to elect candidates of political parties for membership of metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies and as chief executives. That is what our nation desperately needs if it is to ever become a prosperous society. Haaba.
Officials of the Medical and Dental Council, in collaboration with the Police, have apprehended a quack doctor operating at a clinic in Madina, a suburb of Accra.

The suspect Adams Arimiyaw was spotted treating patients at the Covenant Clinic on October 25, 2017.

Arimiyaw was first arrested in May last year for operating illegally.

Reports from the Medical and Dental Council revealed that even though accused claimed he had been trained in Europe, he could neither mention the name of the institution nor the date of completion.

He has also not been registered by the Medical and Dental Council, the regulatory body.

The arrest

Narrating the arrest to the media, Dr Eli Kwasi Atikpu, Registrar of the Council, said on May 26, 2016 last year, the Medical and Dental Council, as part of its routine visit to some health facilities in the city, spotted a clinic at the Madina Public Cemetery area behind the Galaxy Filling Station with the name Covenant Clinic.

They met suspect Adam Arimiyaw in the consulting room, who introduced himself as a medical doctor of the facility.

He said the team, after introducing themselves to the suspect and their mission, demanded certificates.

The team also discovered that the accused was operating the facility with two female nurses, whose names he failed to provide.

He also operated as a medical officer, pharmacist and laboratory technician.

The registrar said Arimiyaw was arrested and handed over to the regional police command for prosecution.

Needles and syringes, both used and unused, assorted drugs, pregnancy test kits, laptop, various types of forceps, dilapidated sterilizing machine, and other unidentifiable equipment, books, patients folders, among others, were seized at the health facility by the team.

Further search also revealed that there was another apartment, which served as recovery ward with three cubicles containing six hospital patient beds.

Samples of the drugs and other items were taken away by the Police to assist in prosecution.

He was provisionally charged with willfully and falsely using the title Dr to practice medicine or dentistry without being registered contrary to the Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act and pleaded not guilty to both counts in court.

The accused was granted bail in the sum of GH50,000.00 with one surety, who is supposed to be a public servant earning not less than GH2,000.00 a month.

He stopped appearing before the court and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.

October 25, 2017, officials of the Medical and Dental Council, through the routine checks at Madina, discovered that the clinic they closed months ago had been reopened.

The officials, led by the Administrative Manager-Investigations, Bright Atsu-Fuglo, entered the facility and saw Mr Adams Arimeyaw practicing in the facility again.

When they posed questions to him as to who gave him the permission to reopen the facility, Amiriyaw said nothing and was arrested and sent to the Madina Divisional Police Command.

The accused was later handed over to the Accra Regional Command of the Ghana Police Service together with some exhibits from the facility.

By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey

( [email protected] )
Deputy minister-designate for Food and Agriculture, Kennedy Nyarko Osei, told the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Thursday that he would use his educational background as a marketer to help farmers market their produce.

He particularly mentioned the youth who are now venturing into farming under the government's 'Planting for Food and Jobs initiative.

He said marketing of farm produce had been a big challenge to farmers, especially during bumper harvest season, and so there should be an innovative and simpler means for farmers to market their produce to increase their incomes.

He made the assertion when he appeared before the committee for vetting after his nomination by the president.

He said that the policy of the government to build a warehouse in each of the 216 districts of the country would also help the Buffer Stock Company to buy farm produce in the bumper season and store them for consumption and processing.

According to Mr Nyarko Osei, under the 'Planting for Food and Jobs' policy, people had been tasked and equipped to buy surplus farm produce from the farmers to be used as raw materials to feed the industries under President Akufo-Addo's government's 'One District, One Factory' policy.

He said for the youth to be attracted into farming, they need to be assured of ready credit/funds as well as markets.

He said the government's 'Planting for Food and Jobs' policy was going to create security for the youth to be employed and go into farming.

The deputy minister-designate also said that it would be good for the government to subisdise some farm inputs or machinery like tractors, to make them more affordable.

Mr Nyarko Osei, who is the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Akim Swedru, said it is also very important for the government to give much priority to irrigation farming so that farming can go on all year round to ensure that there is sustained production of food and raw materials to feed emerging processing factories.

He did not agree to a suggestion by a member of the committee, Sampson Ahi, that fertilizers to cocoa farmers should be free.

.

On the vexed issue of the invasion of the fall army worm, the deputy minister-designate told the Appointments Committee that the ministry had been able to put in place effective measures to stop the spread of the army worms.

According to him, out of the 112,000 hectares of farms affected by the army worm invasion, the ministry has been able to redeem 98,000 hectares from any further attack.
The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) is deeply dismayed by the outcome of the investigations and judicial proceedings involving thirteen members of the Delta Force, a vigilante group associated with the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The sentencing follows a case of the groups assault on the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, and the attendant destruction of public property that occurred at the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council in March 2017. CODEO is concerned with the apparent weak quality of the official investigations into the case and the subsequent prosecution of the accused, which concluded with a sentence of a fine of GHC1, 800 for each or, in default, twelve months imprisonment.

Coming on the back of a spate of havoc and unlawful acts perpetuated by a myriad of groups associated with the ruling party, CODEO is highly disappointed with the kid glove treatment that the countrys criminal justice system has apparently given to the Delta Force miscreants in the investigation of the incident and its related prosecution.

By changing the original charges brought against the accused persons from conspiracy to assault of a public officer; and causing unlawful damage, to the lesser charge of conspiracy to commit crime and rioting, the prosecution appears to have influenced the judgment in favor of the most lenient sentence. And in so doing, the opportunity for the justice served in this matter to have had both punitive as well as a deterrent effect, needed; to help curb the menace of political party vigilantism was needlessly lost.

It will be re-called, that, CODEO had embarked on a series of regional discussions and consultations on this growing phenomenon of political party vigilantism between June and August this year. The regional consultations and focus group discussions (made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development-USAID) sought, among other objectives, to, ascertain the reasons for the emergence of these groups, to deepen public awareness of the menace of political party vigilantism and its implications for Ghanas democratic, economic and social development, and to collectively find appropriate measures to curb the menace.

In the meantime, CODEO firmly believes that blatantly applying political color to the investigation and prosecution of purely criminal offences is inimical to the countrys democratic, economic and social progress. It encourages lawlessness and impunity among politically aligned hooligans, as reflected in recent incidents in which an NPP-affiliated group based in Tamale, calling itself Burma Camp Youth, locked down the Regional Secretariat of the School Feeding Program in Tamale; and a group based in Karaga forcefully invaded and freed their colleagues from lawful custody at the Karaga Police Station. In the view of CODEO, the failure on the part of the Police Service and the other institutions in the criminal justice system to swiftly and decisively deal with similar cases in the past is the main cause of the persistence of such utter lawlessness.

Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO)

Accordingly, CODEO implores the Attorney-General to appeal against the Delta Force 13

sentencing for stiffer punishment. This will send a clear signal to all such groups and their

members that there is no shield under the law if they perpetuate crimes. CODEO reiterates its

earlier call for all stakeholders, particularly government, political parties, the security agencies, the

media and the general public to find credible ways of dealing with the canker  lest it would

escalate and continue to disturb the countrys peace and stability.

Signed:

(For and on Behalf of CODEO Advisory Board)

Albert Arhin,

National Coordinator

Dated: Friday, October 27, 2017
28.10.2017 LISTEN

Empowerment Aid, a Non-Governmental Organization focusing on women and girls empowerment is calling on the Government, Ministry for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Security Agencies, Human Right and Civil Society Groups to fight for justice for a 4 year old girl who has been defiled by an 18 years old man. The man is now on the run at Assin Adadientem in Central Region.

Its very sad for a girl to be raped and unable walk whilst the perpetrator walks freely in the community for the chief to tell the victim that the gods say the suspect is innocent and nothing can be done about it.

Criminal Offences Act- 1960 (Act29), Section 101- Defilement of Child under 16 Years of Age (1) For purposes of this Act defilement is the natural or unnatural carnal knowledge of any child under sixteen years of age. (2) Whoever naturally or unnaturally carnally knows any child under sixteen years of age, whether with or without his or her consent commits an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than seven years and not more than twenty- five years. Ghana Constitution

The development of every nation lies on its children especially girls. We are appealing to government as a matter of urgency to revisit the criminal offences act that protects children under 16 years to punish the culprit to serve as deterrent to others.

Empowerment Aid (NGO) findings shows rape case is very rampant in Assin Fosu Municipality which need critical attention since we cant afford our girls to be in such agony.

Empowerment Aid (NGO)urges Government,Ministry for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Media, Civil Society Groups and National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to embark on nationwide intensive campaign to educate everybody especially the inhabitants of Adadientem community on issues of child protection and sexual abuses and the laws of Ghana.
National Youth Organiser for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Sammy Awuku says inaction on the part of the security forces to deal with political vigilantism, is causing overwhelming distress to the President, Nana Akufo-Addo.

The President he stated, has done his part by appointing persons whom he deemed to be competent, to man the security of the country and it is expected that those people bring their competencies to bear in such times that some groups are causing disturbances in the country, the youth leader of the governing party said on Saturday.

The President on several occasions has had to issue out command before the security, particularly the police, moved in to deal with activities of vigilante groups particularly those loyal to the governing party.

The most recent incident happened in the Northern Region specifically Karaga and Sisala districts where irate youth loyal to the NPP stormed the Assembly offices causing destruction to property in protest over the failure of the Chief Executives there to secure them jobs, ten months after they helped the party to recapture power.

Addressing chiefs and people of Manya Krobo in the Eastern Region during the celebration of the annual Ngmayem festival on Friday, the President stressed that the application of the laws of the land will occur, in the words of the judicial oath, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will, and without recourse to the political, religious or ethnic affiliations of any citizen of the land.

Irate Karaga youth set ablaze a motorbike said to belong to District Coordinator of Youth Employment Agency.

Consequently, the police arrested the Karaga Constituency Chairman of his party, Tahiru Zakari, as well as three others suspected to be part of those who caused the disturbances at Karaga. The rest are Baba Ali Osman, Mohammed Alhassan and Abdullai Ziblim.

But speaking on Newsfile on Joy News TV Sammy Awuku who described the incidents as very disturbing said, the police owe it as a sacred and mandatory duty to enforce the laws of our land without having to wait for the Presidents order.

He suggests the military be brought in to partner the police just like they are being involved in the fight against illegal mining, to nib in the bud, what is gradually becoming a culture of impunity.

Its about time that we also have to bring onboard the militaryIts about time that the security capos stop breaking the heart of the president, the Board Chair of the Youth employment Agency recommended.

He said the party is determined in dealing with what he termed internal backstabbers in order to jealously guard the political power that we have won.

NDCs doubt

Meanwhile, National Organiser for the opposition National Democratic Congress, Kofi Adams said the Presidents statement for the security to deal with the thugs is doubtful.

Kofi Adams recounted over 18 of such disturbances recorded across the country in the last 10 months since the NPP took over power after the Nana Akufo-Addo publicly condemned and yet no action was taken.

If truly the president is unhappy, we should have been seeing some more action than we are seeing. I dont believe that the president is unhappy, he said.

The NDC organiser lay the blame on the doorstep of the leadership of the NPP, whom he said kept mute over unguarded comments made by some leading party functionaries in the heat to the 2016 elections.

I dont think that they [youth] are just acting based on nothingI think that leadership is complicit in this matter, Kofi Adams held.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Jerry Tsatro Mordy | Email: [email protected], Twitter: @jerrymordy
PHOTO Credit: Antu Olonboaso Emmanuel

28.10.2017 LISTEN

When there are interventions or direct engagement by authority or government, often leads to chaos in the market. Although, policy makers operate with assumption that they can provide a service for all persons, Economists think otherwise, because they know that resources are scarce and limited. It is always better to allow, the invisible hand of demand and supply to operate in and allocate resources and services to where its needed.

One of the chaos that is doing students a disservice is the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology(KNUST) Bus Service that is running recently on campus. Many will applaud the innovation only when they perceive that its a free service even though every student has paid for, therefore not making it free. The difference is that the burden of payment was transferred to our parents in a form of additional charges in the school fees. However, other may feel it in a form of a reduction in their fund for up keep taken from parent.

HOW IS THE KNUST BUS SERVICE A DISSERVICE TO STUDENTS?

It is a system that is posing a limitation to economic freedom and individual choice.Previously, students pay an amount of Gh0.70 pesewas to access shuttle transport service. The interesting thing was that, you only pay when you needed the service of a shuttle. With the Knust Bus Service you have already paid at source, whether you need the service or not. Each student is paying around Gh70.0 or more. Having paid, your money is chasing after the service and not the service after your money. Even when the service is terrible like this write up will reveal, you have no choice because you have paid. You have no control over what you want to patronise with your own money hence limitation to economic freedom and preferences.

The unprecedented Queue and Long waiting time for the buses.

Early, it was made clear, that resources are scarce that is where few buses (about 20) are transporting the entire student population of over 41000. Now, everyone has paid for a service that cannot be there for us at all times and especially when we need it most. There is always chaos when authourity interfere with the market forces. I become amazed when i see the queue around shuttle area. All those who would have kept their Ghs 0.70 previously now have more incentive to board the bus. Since buses are not enough, now we have long waiting time to access these buses. To add insult to injury, when a bus finally arrives to service the waiting queue, student rash to be on board. The fittest get a seat. This situation was not happening in the previous system where only those who need the shuttle service pays for it. This is Ghana, we appreciate disaster before progress. We are waiting for a student to get hurt in the rash to board the bus before, it will be considered as a problem in our discourse.

In addition to the disservice, then come students standing in the buses. We have paid good money to stand in a KNUST bus service. Earlier, when students pay Ghs0.70, there was no incident to stand in the bus. Every bus has a carrying capacity. This even breaks the law in broad day light. Some students avoid standing in the buses by walking even though they have paid for.

Also, I observed a driver in of one of the buses, preventing a student from boarding the bus, because the bus was full. I didn't blame the driver too, because his car has a specific capacity of persons to carry. On 18th October, 2017 at around 1pm, there was an accident at the main administration roundabout involving a young man who fell from the bus. Yes, he fell because he was standing on the footsteps close to the bus door. Students packed themselves in the bus to the extent that the gate cannot be closed. This is the level of disservice students are getting from a bus service we have humbly paid for. Another incident that is awaiting disaster before progress.

At the University Hall, there is no stopping point even though the buses ride along the immediate road infront of the Hall. One would have to alight at Brunei Shuttle rank and walk back to the University Hall (Katanga). Those who see the situation to be frustrating do not board the bus in the first place.

THE DOUBLE AND TRIPLE PAYMENT.

Although the KNUST bus system is supposed to replace the private shuttle, interestingly some private shuttles are still rendering their service on campus. This is because, the private shuttle owners have found a market niche for the chaos authority have created in the market. Students who still patronise their services are paying double for the same service. To make things clearer, first from the direct billing of the student, and second from voluntary payment from the student for the services of private shuttles due to delay or disservice rendered by the KNUST BUS SERVICE. Students who have shuttle services as part of their hostel facilities are making triple payment for the same service. This is a clear duplication of payment on the path of students with no one to speak for us.

Personally, I pray the SRC, Dean of Student and National Parliament to step in by way of removing the KNUST Bus service from the school fees component.

THE POWERFUL DRIVERS

It may interest you to know but its very true, that the system that is supposed to service students has made us servant and the drivers powerful. Some bus drivers at certain times, dictate where they want to drive the bus to thereby indirectly informing students to walk, or board private shuttles. This menace is often around 12pm, some drivers dictate that they are only moving to Brunei and will not be heading to the commercial area. Myself I have been a victim to such a situation leaving students hoping to alight at Independence, Queens, Republic Hall etc. stranded at the faculty shuttle area.

ONCE THERE IS CHAOS IN THE MARKET, ABNORMALITY FOLLOWS.

Some studentswill board the bus and refuse to get down from the bus. In an Interview of some bus drivers by focus FM, campus base radio confirms this. Some students heading to the commercial can board the bus at Brunei to be taken to KNUST Business school and back to the commercial area. This make me understand Aristotle when said what is common to many is least taken care of, for all men have greater regard for what is their own than what they possess in common with others. If students who need the service of shuttle pay as and when they need it this abnormality will never occur.

RECOMMENDATION

The principles individual economic choice must be allowed to operate in the transport service, where students who need shuttle service pays for it as and when they need it. The transport service should be allowed to compete and students having the right to make their own economic decision. Competition brings innovations and better service to individuals.

Note: The article, pictures and analysis is with respect to students on campus. For students who stay off campus the least said about them the better, the KNUST bus system is more than terrible on their path.
28.10.2017 LISTEN

The fact that your party is governing doesn't give you the temerity and effrontery to take the laws of the state in your hands. I understand the frustrations of our members but that shouldn't be a yardstick to perpetuate anarchy and rancour.

There is still hope and I believe that all of us will benefit from the trickle down effects of President Nana Addo's policies. The 'top' can only support us if we give them the needed peace of mind to execute the agenda that convinced the Ghanaian electorates to vote us.

It is astonishingly embarrassing to realise that Northern region is leading the pack in terms of party political related violence and 'sheejentakasm' in Ghana.

Politics as Salam Mustapha will always say is a complex business and the way we perceived issues in opposition might be different from the reality as party faithfuls. We need to be patient, strategically position ourselves and the rest will fall in place. As members of this political party, it is incumbent on us to abide by the rules and regulations of Ghana.

From where I sit and what I have seen and heard , no NPP member/group or any citizen can ever win a case against the Nana Addo presidency through violence and hooliganism. I can assure you that. The president is overwhelmed with the requisite cahootness to deal with matters of this nature and He doesn't have any iota of hesitation in demonstrating it. Massa, your case is dead on arrival once you commence it's hearing through violence. So don't be deceived, nothing comes out of political hooliganism and vigilantism.

From experience, I can write a book on the dangerous effects of political hooliganism and it's impact on individuals , fortunes of a party , society and the country as a whole. It doesn't pay. Let's adopt the right channels to resolve our grievances. Never allow yourself to be used by anybody as a conduit to destabilise the relative peace and progress the country is enjoying. My friend, you are not the only unemployed party person or Ghanaian without a job. Things will soon get better as the policies of the government evolves and you might receive yours in your grave or Nsawam if you don't change your ways. #saynotoviolence.

ABUBAKAR SADIQ SULEMANA

SAVELUGU CONSTITUENCY

NORTHERN REGION
28.10.2017 LISTEN

As part of its efforts to promote religious diversity and harmony for national development, the Islamic University College, Ghana (IUCG) under the auspices of Research and IT has organized, on its campus, a public lecture on Religion and Ethics.

The well attended lecture was on the theme: "Whom and what must I believe?: Reflections on Life, Politics and Religion."

Addressing the audience, Mr. Mustapha Hamid, Minister for Information, described ethics as a major distinguisher between human societies and non-human societies.

"There are several sources from which humans derive their ethical values; conscience, society, the Bible, the Qur'an, ancestral wisdom, the Dhama, the Baghavad Gita and many others," he added.

Mr. Hamid, who doubles as an academic, explained that in spite of the multiplicity of ethical sources, "there are certain universal values that are common to these ethical codes."

Citing examples, he mentioned "doing good, paying our debts, refraining from harming others and such other ethical values that keep societies orderly."

The Minister, however, challenged the notion of strict adherence to a single ethical code.

Illustrating the beauty of diversity, he defended the thesis that the light is one, but the lamps are many.

In his welcome address, the President of IUCG, Dr. Mohsen N. Ma'arefi, thanked the Minister and all those who made various efforts to ensure the success of the Lecture.

He appealed to all humans - irrespective of race, gender, and creed - to be interested in answers to the question of "How and why we ought to live?"

In the words of the President, this question constitutes the core of ethics and moral philosophy.

He stated that the audience would learn from the Lecture how to strengthen coexistence and how to interpret salvation from different doctrines in the collective interest of humanity.

Hajj Mumuni Sulemana, who chaired the function, observed that in life "we all have choices and influences."

The Chairperson, who is the Head of Department of Religions at the University of Ghana, advised the gathering to allow rationality to influence those choices at all times.

The impressive program was attended by academics, Industry players, students, educational policy makers, researchers, and religious leaders.

Among the dignitaries in attendance were Prof Mohammed Salifu, Executive Secretary of the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), Dr. G. A. Nasser, Vice President, Academics, IUCG; Mr. Kazem Ahmadi, Vice President (Finance and Administration, IUCG; and Dr. Husain Ibrahim, Head of the Department of Religious Studies, IUCG.

Others were Shaikh Dr. Mohammed Reza Aghaei, Director of Ahlul-Bait Teacher Training institute; Dr. Adam Mahama, Head of Research and IT, IUCG; Mr. Ato Amoaning-Annan, Head of the Department of Communication Studies, IUCG; and Dr. Ernest K. Awanta, Head of the Department of Education, IUCG.

In a random interview, some of the participants commended the University for the initiative.

According to them such public lectures educate the citizenry on the symbiosis between Religion and Governance as tools for national development.

Rich in content, the Lecture was a combined discourse on academic theories and real life situations. It raised a number of thematic areas indicating the multi-dimensional perspectives of Religion. But in the end, it affirmed a fundamental viewpoint that is critical to peaceful life in a pluralistic society. Undoubtedly, this viewpoint is respect for diversity in the supreme interest of humanity instead of assumption of supremacy in belief.
28.10.2017 LISTEN

One prays daily for the day when Ghanaians will finally wake up to the dangers posed to our democratic system by the overzealous officials of the regulatory bodies that oversee the media landscape in Ghana.

The question is: Why do such officials never once consider that in seeking to clip the wings of media houses widely percieved in society as anti-Establishment entities, today, they could be providing future tyrants with perfect building-blocks to enable them successfuly muzzle the Ghanaian media in general - and ultimately deny ordinary people the right to express themselves freely publicly?

This blog's humble advice to journalists employed by Radio Gold FM in particular, is to confront the National Communications Authority (NCA) - and the sector minister who says she is even prepared to die ensuring that the absurd imposed mammoth-fines are retained - all the way to the Supreme Court if need be, to stop the NCA and that misguided minister for communications from denying them the right to work.

The company that currently owns Radio Gold FM and Gold TV can then go into liquidation to avoid paying that still outrageous even if reduced steep fine being demanded by the highhanded and unreasonsble NCA - with the active support of the sector minister, who as a lawyer who says she believes in democracy, ought to know better.

To begin with, Radio Gold FM's (and Gold TV's) employees must seize what is a golden opportunity to strike out on their own as media owners themselves too, by doing a deal with the present owners of the radio and television stations that currently employ them, to rent the buildings and equipment of Radio Gold FM and Gold TV.

Once the employee-buyout (for a token sum of say GHc100) is completed, they must then get an injunction from the law courts stopping the NCA from transferring the freqencies allotted to Radio Gold and Gold TV to yet another entity, whiles applications from their Gold Media Cooperative to be assigned Radio Gold's and Gold TV's frequencies are processed by the selfsame NCA.

The ordinary citizens of a nation in which high-level corruption is rampant, and which was once under the jackboots of military dictatorships, must never allow media entities and journalists - no matter how abhorent the content they produce might be to some sections of Ghanaian society - to be muzzled by stealth. In a nation full of fence-sitting moral cowards, it is only the media that can prevent our nation from sliding into a tyranny-by-thugs once again.

As a last-resort-measure to stop the NCA from taking away their constitutionally guaranteed right to air their views freely, like all Ghanaians, if need be, the suggested Gold Media Cooperative's members must be prepared to become operators of pirate radio and television stations - and defy the NCA and shortsighted sector minister that way.

The NCA must never forget that radio frequencies are a public resource belonging to the good people of Ghana on whose behalf it manages them. Period. Finally, the NCA must never be allowed to become an instrument of repression used by the criticism-averse and powerful individuals in the repression-by-stealth-brigade, who are now busy manipulating our byzantine system from the shadows, to silence all potential voices of dissent in our homeland Ghana. Haaba.
The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Djaba, has asked traditional leaders to desist from arbitrating criminal matters, like the case of the alleged defilement of a four-year-old girl at Assin Adadientem in the Central Region.

The chief in Assin Adadientem was reported to have declared the suspect in the alleged defilement case innocent, after a ruling from the gods, and was accused of impeding investigations into the incident.

The four-year-old was allegedly defiled by an 18-year old suspect, and is said to have bled for three days, according to her parents.

Madam Otiko, in a statement sympathizing with the four-year-old victim, stressed that the Police must have first say in these matters.

We acknowledge the role of our traditional and opinion leaders; however, we would like to advise them not to arbitrate on such criminal matters. Defilement is a criminal offence and all such acts should first be reported to the Police.

The Minister has since directed officers of the Department of Social Welfare and the Children's Department to visit the victim and her family to ascertain the facts about her welfare for necessary action to be taken.

I am also preparing to personally pay a visit to the little girl and her family to affirm our readiness to support the victim to receive justice and restore her dignity, she added in her statement.

This case of abuse has sparked outrage among the public, and has prompted campaigns in support of the alleged victim and awareness creation for the rate at which minors are being defiled.

Madam Otiko herself described the numbers as extremely worrying, noting that in 2015 alone, DOVVSU recorded defilement 1,196 cases, with only 16 not involving a girl-child.

The Ministry wants to assure Ghanaians that we are very sensitive to issues concerning the welfare of the vulnerable in our society and will continue to promote their rights, their well-being and development. We are liaising with other agencies for justice to be carried out for this little girl to serve as a deterrent to such abusers.

The Central Region Police Command has since taken over investigations into the alleged defilement but no arrests have been made so far.

Find below the full statement

THE MINISTER FOR GENDER, CHILDREN AND SOCIAL PROTECTION, HON. OTIKO AFISAH DJABA CONDEMNS THE DEFILEMENT OF 4-YEAR OLD GIRL AT ASSIN DADIENTEM

The defilement of any child is horrifying, traumatic and unacceptable. My attention has been drawn through media reports to the defilement case involving a 4-year old girl at Assin Dadientem in the Central Region. As Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, I strongly condemn what has happened in no uncertain terms since it violates the fundamental human rights and dignity of this innocent girl.

Whilst waiting for the Police Report, I have directed officers of the Department of Social Welfare and the Children's Department of my Ministry to visit the victim and her family to ascertain the facts about her welfare for necessary action to be taken. I am also preparing to personally pay a visit to the little girl and her family to affirm our readiness to support the victim to receive justice and restore her dignity.

We are also collaborating with the Ghana Police Service to ensure the perpetrator and all those connected to this criminal act are brought to book.

To further demonstrate our commitment to the protection of children, our officers of the Domestic Violence Unit and Children's Department, specifically; Madam Victoria Natsu and Madam Helena Obeng- Asamoah respectively, have condemned the act (Joy News TV- 24th October, 2017 and Executive Breakfast Show on Class Fm on 26th October, 2017).

The defilement of any child is extremely worrying, in 2015 alone DOVVSU recorded 1,180 cases of female defilement and 16 males.

The Ministry wants to assure Ghanaians that we are very sensitive to issues concerning the welfare of the vulnerable in our society and will continue to promote their rights, their wellbeing and development. We are liaising with other agencies for justice to be carried out for this little girl to serve as a deterrent to such abusers.

The public is advised to report cases of defilement, rape and all forms of sexual abuses to the nearest police station or any law enforcement agency for the necessary processes to be initiated so that the evidence required by the police for investigation is not destroyed.

Parents are advised not to leave their children alone and also be very mindful of who they leave their children with when they are absent, since the perpetrators of defilement are people close to the family and/or trusted relations.

I want to emphasise that the protection of our children is a collective responsibility and I thus entreat all members of our communities to be more vigilant.

We acknowledge the role of our traditional and opinion leaders; however, we would like to advise them not to arbitrate on such criminal matters. Defilement is a criminal offence and all such acts should first be reported to the Police.

The Ministry wishes to remind the public that the survivor is a minor and we should all make an effort to protect her identity and dignity.

I would like to thank the media and the general public and assure all Ghanaians that my Ministry is following up on this case seriously to its logical conclusion.

Signed:

Hon. Otiko Afisah Djaba

Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection
The Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini says he has no doubt that the governing New Patriotic Party is behind the document circulating in the media as the Kwesi Botchwey Committee report.

Describing the contents of the over 50-page executive summary of the report as fake, he said it was impossible for the Prof. Kwesi Botchwey Committee to produce the things are being cited as having been written in the report.

Speaking on Joy News TV's news analysis programme Newsfile on Saturday, Mr Fuseini who is also a Ranking Member of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee in Parliament, said We have always not doubted the capacity of the NPP to do such a thing, we have never doubted."

I even believe that when the committee was going round, probably there were sponsored persons who took part, so I have no doubt.

That is why I can see some unexplained interests in the report produced by the Kwesi Botchwey Committee by the NPP, I am not surprised, he added.

The much-awaited Prof. Kwesi Botchwey committee report on the crushing defeat of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the 2016 polls was submitted to the party in June after six months of work.

Recommending a "peacemaking and healing tour", Prof Botchwey who presented the 455-page report said the NDC must assemble "credible and eminent" personalities in the party to lead the tour.

The decision by the leadership of the NDC not to make the document public continues to generate speculations on what really the report contains.

Joy News, however, secured a copy of the executive summary of the report and made a series of reports on in the week.

It listed among other things that contributed to the partys loss in the 2016 elections including former president John Mahamas movie star lifestyle, the treatment of party members at the grassroots and the non-release of cash meant for the campaign.

It also said the NDC lost the elections because internally, it was divided.

But Mr Fuseini like all other NDC bigwigs who have commented on the leaked report, has refuted claims in the report.

And you think that a committee chaired by the venerable Prof Botchwey will produce such a report? The NPP was really divided, everybody knew, they sacked their chairman and general secretary but they won the elections.

So how could the venerable Prof Botchwey produce a report like this. It is not true. Everytime we conduct elections for our executive officers, some will win, some will lose and it has never divided the party, he stated.

He said the real Kwesi Botchwey report will go a long way to help the party deal with some issues as regards the 2016 elections.

Mr Fuseini added that all serious-minded political parties who fail to accomplish a goal, must do an internal soul-searching and NDC chose to do it in a big way.

We need to continue the fight and in order to do that we must understand the goals we stand for, how to pursue them and direct our energies, passions and strengths toward the realization of the goals, he said.

He, however, stressed that the report is not meant for public consumption rather, it is meant for the internal consumption of the NDC.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Naa Sakwaba Akwa | [email protected]
28.10.2017 LISTEN

The police in Accra have arrested 26 Togolese nationals for planning to stage an unlawful demonstration over the political situation in their country.

The suspects including two leaders were part some 300 nationals from Ghanas immediate eastern neigbour, who had converged in Accra early Saturday to protest over the political tension in Togo.

There are fears the situation in the former French colony could degenerate into a full-blown civil war following bloody clashes between armed security forces and civilians protesting the half a century rule by the Gnassingbe dynasty.

Since the first protests on August 18, eight people have been killed, including a 10-year-old child, three teenagers and two soldiers, while there have been about 100 injured.

Amnesty International said at least 28 people out of more than 100 arrested have been convicted in connection with the protests.

Togo's opposition has repeatedly called for a limit of two, five-year terms for the president and the resignation of Faure Gnassingbe.

But the Head of Operations at the Accra Regional Police Command, Superintendent Kwasi Ofori told Joy News the demonstrators did not inform the police about their intended demonstrations.

About 300 Togolese nationals gathered without notice to the police of their intention to embark on a public demonstration. In view of this the Regional Police Commanddemobilised their effort, we disengaged them from the demonstration and we have arrested some leaders and those involved in the demonstration, Supt. Ofori explained.

The Operations Head said although police will caution the demonstrators they will also face prosecution because They cannot violate the laws of Ghana to engage in things that have nothing to do with our country.

We are not interested in the kind of demonstration that goes on either for or against; all that we want is our laws should be respected. They need to abide by the laws of this country.
The Northern Region Police Public Relations Officer ASP Mohammed Tanko has revealed that they lack men to fight violence ongoing in Karaga.

According to him, there is a huge gap between police and civilian ratio in the area hence the difficultly in clamping down on criminals.

He further disclosed that there are less than 20 police officers stationed in Karaga.

Some members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) stormed the police station in the area to flee their two colleagues who had been arrested by the police after an open brawl.

The boys had claimed the constituency chairman was not consulted in the recruitment of some boys and girls into the security agencies.

Speaking on Ultimate Breakfast Show with Lantam Papanko, ASP Tanko explained that its highly impossible to have all the twenty officers dispatched to hot spots.

He indicated that they were over powered by the rampaging youth who stormed the police station and that there was no way the few ones stationed at the police station could have stopped the boys.

ASP Tanko failed to mention the number of police officers on duty when the NPP boys broke into the police station, admitting that the number of men is not adequate.

The PRO stated that firing tear gas, shooting and spraying pepper was not an option at that time.

Karaga is about three and half hours drive from Tamale, we have less than twenty (20) policemen in Karaga. And at every point in time, we cannot have all the twenty on duty at the same time, and even with the situation where we have all the twenty men on duty at the same time and also at the charge office, the number of rampaging youth was so great that, there was no way the police men could have prevented them from doing what they did We have few men at the police station, the boys numbered over 100, he explained.

He said investigations have been launched to re-arrest the escapees as well as other perpetrators.

He assured that calm has been restored at Karaga after reinforcement was sent from Tamale.

As I speak to you there is calm at Karaga, he said.

The two escapees were arrested for assaulting and burning the motorbike of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) Director.
Kenya was stuck in limbo Saturday as a repeat election remained on hold in flashpoint opposition areas, while some picked up the pieces from violent protests that have claimed nine lives.

There was little doubt that President Uhuru Kenyatta would win by a landslide after Thursday's election was boycotted by his rival Raila Odinga, however low turnout is likely to tarnish the credibility of a vote that has deeply polarised the east African nation.

Election commission chief Wafula Chebukati said he would announce Sunday when voting would take place in 25 western constituencies where violent protests and security fears prevented polling from taking place.

With voting incomplete, it remained unclear whether the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) would wait to declare a victor.

Tensions remained high in the Nairobi's Kawangware slum

"The answer to that question we will arrive at when we reach there. We still have a couple of days to make that decision," said another IEBC commissioner Abdi Guliye.

Thursday's election was held after the Supreme Court annulled the results of an August 8 vote over widespread irregularities, sparking weeks of acrimonious political rhetoric and legal battles.

Despite Odinga's call for supporters to stay home on voting day, protesters took to the streets, blocking voting and engaging in running battles with police.

Tensions remained high Saturday, however opposition strongholds remained largely calm a day after two were killed in clashes in western Homa Bay and the Nairobi slum of Kawangware -- taking the total death toll to nine.

'We were targeted'

After two days of protests, signs of life returned to Kenya's western city of Kisumu, where shops reopened and people and traffic were back on the streets

In Nairobi's poor Kawangware neighbourhood, members of Kenyatta's Kikuyu tribe stood over the blackened remains of their houses and shops after a night of clashes with Odinga supporters.

Both sides were armed with machetes, knives, clubs and rocks. Police said officers shot one man dead but residents claim others also died or were maimed in the clashes.

What started the violence is disputed, with each side blaming the other, but both acknowledge the ethnic logic of what followed.

"We were targeted because this is a Kikuyu place," said Geoffrey Mbithi, a 42-year-old hotelier whose three-room guesthouse is now a pile of bent and blackened corrugated tin sheets.

"This is about tribalism."

Politics in Kenya is divided along ethnic lines, and the Kikuyu -- the largest grouping -- have long been accused of holding a monopoly on power and resources.

The ongoing political crisis and rumbling violence has left many Kenyans in despair

At least 49 people have now died since the August election in Kenya's worst crisis since a 2007 vote sparked months of politically-driven ethnic violence that left 1,100 people dead.

While the dynamics of 2017's political crisis are very different, the memory of the bloodshed a decade ago is never far away.

"From past experience, sporadic incidents of violence quickly burst into a conflagration with tragic consequences. We are likely to go this direction unless quick action is taken," the Daily Nation wrote in an editorial.

In Kisumu, Kenya's third largest city where three people died on polling day, opposition supporters were still on alert to block plans to deploy election material, although shops opened and transport was circulating.

Fractured nation

A dead cat was hung up by the road in the western Kenyan city of Kisumu in a nod to opposition leader Raila Odinga's political euphemism about "slaying the cat"

Plans to restage voting in the region on Saturday were delayed after Chebukati said he feared for the safety of his staff.

According to the Supreme Court, the election re-run must be completed by October 31.

At a main roundabout in the city, someone had hung up a dead cat. In recent days, ahead of each announcement, Odinga promises to announce his next moves on how to "slay the cat".

Richard Ogilo, 24, pointed to the carcass and said: "Look there is a member of IEBC (election board) at this roundabout. This is Wafula Chebukati. Let him know that we do not want elections."

While the Supreme Court ruling was hailed as a chance to deepen democracy, the acrimonious bickering between Odinga and Kenyatta -- whose fathers were rivals before them -- has sharply divided a country where politics is already polarised along tribal lines.

Map of Kenya locating areas where clashes broke out between police and supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga on election day

But two weeks before the new elections, Odinga pulled out, calling for a boycott on the grounds that the electoral commission had not made the necessary changes to ensure a free and fair vote in a call that was widely observed.

"Leaders must now begin preaching the message of reconciliation and co-existence. Elections have deeply divided the people and we need to repair the fractures," said the Daily Nation editorial.

Observers expect further legal challenges over the re-run.

Odinga has vowed a campaign of "civil disobedience" and is demanding another new election be held within 90 days.
Benjamin Nartey sits in one of the plastic chairs at the restaurant of Joees Plaza in Assin Fosu in the Central Region of Ghana. His black long sleeves shirt and trousers are soiled with vehicle engine oil and his body smells of the same.

I am now learning mechanic job, he says with a bit of coyness from the journalists who had pointed their recording gadgets at him. I was not learning any job it was just this year that I got enrolled in skills training by International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), he adds.

Benjamin is only 17 years old but has over eight years experience in cocoa farming. As early as age eight, he began going to the cocoa farm with his father.

I followed my father to the farm to collect cocoa pods to help them. I did this while I was in school but sometimes I skipped school to help my father in his cocoa farm, he asserts.

Benjamin and his friends who worked on his father's cocoa farm got in exchange for their labour, food and they were never paid. We ate some of the food they prepared from the farm was our pay when we work on the farm with them, he states.

He says he engaged in this activity for several years not knowing the impact on his education although he often fell sick and had to be home most of the time.

For him, all was well till a few months ago when he was faced with the reality of having to quit school due to lack of funds to support his education.

I could not complete my BECE examination because when it was time for me to pay my registration fees there was no one to help me, Benjamin recalls, adding that his father whom he relied on for support had travelled during that period, so sometimes I had to borrow money or work before I am able to go to school.

He says he eventually had to stop school and go into full time work as a labourer to survive at age 17. When someone needs a labourer to weed their cocoa farm, I do it for them and I get some money, he indicates.

Cocoa

Ghana is an agricultural nation with more than half of its population engaged in different agricultural production. In Ghana, several cash crops are grown, including oil palm, rubber, and our own heritage crop cocoa.

Cocoa is the most important agricultural commodity Ghana produces and the mainstay of the country's economy.

According to data from the Ghana COCOBOD, the cocoa industry in Ghana employs approximately 800,000 farm families spread over six of the 10 regions of Ghana, generating about $2 billion in foreign exchange annually.

It further indicates that cocoa is Ghanas second leading foreign exchange earner, worth about 30% of all revenue from export and responsible for about 57% of overall agricultural export.

As a traditional crop, cocoa has played a crucial role in generating foreign exchange earnings, government revenues and household incomes.

Revenue from the cocoa sector has gone into the construction and maintenance of road infrastructure through the Cocoa Roads Improvement Projects, as well as in helping to curb the phenomenon of child labour in the industry.

Over the years, multinational cocoa organisations have also been working to address the issue of child labour in cocoa farms, especially the worst forms.

COCOBOD, for instance, invests an estimated amount of GH 2,000,000 annually in cocoa scholarship for relatives of cocoa farmers, with about 2,500 beneficiaries accessing the scheme annually.

The scholarship is to ensure that children on cocoa farmers are not deprived education due to their parents' inability to further their education.

But despite these interventions, many children still fall through the safety net that is to first of all protect them from child labour and its worst forms, as well as ensure their total development in a safe environment.

Child Labour Statistics

Worldwide, reports say 101 million children are engaged in child labour in agriculture alone, with 35 million in Africa and 2.1 million being in Ghana and Ivory Coast alone.

Results of a survey research on child labour in West African cocoa growing areas by the Tulane University also shows that between 2013 and 2014, 2.26 million children were working in cocoa production, 2.12 million children were working in child labour in cocoa production and 2.03 million children were working in hazardous work in cocoa production in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana combined.

In the aggregate, the numbers of children working in cocoa production in child labour in cocoa production, and in hazardous work in cocoa production increased by about 440,000, 360,000, and 310,000 respectively.

The percentages of children in agricultural households in each of these categories also rose between the two survey years: 19 percent for children working in cocoa, 16 percent for child labourers in cocoa, and 13 percent for children in hazardous work in cocoa, the Tulane report states.

According to the latest edition of the Ghana Living Standards Survey, 1.9 million children in Ghana are engaged in child labour; with 1.2 million in hazardous labour.

Interventions

As part of its strategies to eliminate child labour in the cocoa industry, the ICI has since 2015 been assisting the farmers to form community child protection committees, income generating groups and community service groups to develop home-grown solutions to ensure that their children developed into healthy, well-educated productive adults.

The international NGO also provides farming inputs, social amenities and other pro-poor solutions to the most vulnerable communities, which is already paying off.

Benjamin is a beneficiary of the initiative that is helping to put children into a livelihood development programme.

I think the skills training will help me in future. I started learning the job this year and I know that very soon I can start having my own money. He hopes he will be serious with the skills training so as to help his younger brothers through school, Benjamin narrates.

Representatives of cocoa farmers in the Assin Fosu mention the awareness and educational programmes in their communities had resulted in keeping children in the classrooms during farming hours, thus, pushing school enrolment levels high.

Okyere Bugyei, the spokesperson for Akrofuom, says they have been using their child labour tool kits to educate parents on the need to prevent their children from engaging in hazardous activities, including the inhalation of smoke and agro-chemicals.

They had also been going to the schools to monitor attendance and to educate the children on the need to complement the protection of their rights by honouring their responsibilities to study hard and be disciplined.

ICI has empowered us to improve our standard of living; we now know how to keep proper account of our incomes, our children are given educational materials, we receive farming inputs, and our wives are now engaged in income generating activities, Mr Bugyei says.

The evidence is out there on the streets, we are all happy, and our marriages are thriving, he adds.

For his part, James Kwofie, the spokesperson for Abease, another community, says the community received the Best Community Farm Award at last year's Regional Farmers' Day, while their women won the Regional Award for Best Female Rice Farmers.

This academic year, ICI provided 87 children in the Assin hub with school uniforms, foot wear and educational materials and enrolled many in schools.

The farmers applauded this support, but appealed for more to cover more children.

Improvement

The Tulane Report indicates that the number of children in hazardous work in cocoa production in Ghana decreased by 6% (from 0.93 million to 0.88 million) between 2008/09 and2013/14 with 96% attending school in 2013/14 compared with 91% in 2008/09.

Results in both countries were impacted by strong growth in cocoa production (production increases of more than 40% in Ivory Coast and more than 30% in Ghana between the years of data collection). Some hazardous activities performed by children in cocoa agriculture have also decreased.

There was a large decrease in the percentage of children working in cocoa production participating in the hazardous activity of land clearing (-29%) in both countries combined, while there was a major increase in the percentage participating in the hazardous activity of exposure to agro-chemicals (+44%).

Overall, children working in cocoa were less likely to be exposed to multiple types of hazardous work in 2013/14. Access to education has improved with more children working in cocoa production attending school in both countries. In Ivory Coast, 71% of children working in cocoa production attended school in 2013/14, compared with just 59% in 2008/09, the research says.

Way Forward

The Deputy Coordinator of ICI, Prince Gyamfi, points out that with the various misconceptions on child labour and what it entails, it has become very critical to ensure adequate use of the media to educate, create awareness, sensitise and engage key stakeholders and the general public on child labour and child protection issues.

The fact that Ghana has ratified various international conventions and enacted laws on the rights of children does not translate to the enjoyment of these laws in Ghana.

There are thousands of children whose rights are being violated as these are our future leaders. We don't have to continue to just make laws, we must ensure they work, he says.

[email protected]

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri


At least 14 people were killed in coordinated car bombings followed by an attack on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday, a security official said.

"About 14 people, most of them civilians, were confirmed dead so far and the security forces are still working to ensure the area is clear," said security official Mohamed Moalim Adan.

"Sporadic gunfire" was continuing with at least two gunmen from the Shabaab Islamist group believed to be inside the Nasa Hablod Hotel 2, he added.

One senior police official and a former MP are among the dead.

The attack comes two weeks after a massive truck bomb exploded in central Mogadishu, killing at least 358 people, making it the deadliest attack in the troubled country's history.

The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab claimed Saturday's bombings in a statement on its Andalus radio station, saying its fighters had forced their way into the hotel.

"The Mujahedeen fighters are inside Nasa Hablod 2 hotel where... apostate officials are staying," it said.
At least 14 people were killed in coordinated car bombings followed by an attack on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday, claimed by Shabaab Islamists.

Following the blasts, witnesses reported hearing gunfire at the Nasa Hablod Hotel 2 which was sealed off by security forces with gunmen believed to be inside.

"About 14 people, most of them civilians, were confirmed dead so far and the security forces are still working to ensure the area is clear," said security official Mohamed Moalim Adan.

He said "sporadic gunfire" was continuing with at least two gunmen from the Shabaab Islamist group believed to be inside the hotel. One senior police official and a former MP were among the dead.

The attack came two weeks after a massive truck bomb exploded in central Mogadishu, killing at least 358 people, making it the deadliest attack in the troubled country's history.

The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab claimed Saturday's bombing and hotel assault in a statement on its Andalus radio station.

"The Mujahedeen fighters are inside Nasa Hablod 2 hotel where... apostate officials are staying," said the brief statement.

Mogadishu's Aamin ambulance service removed bodies from the scene and evacuated 17 wounded, its director Abdukadir Abdurahman said.

Police official Ibrahim Mohamed said the attack started when a car bomb went off at the entrance to the hotel while "a minibus loaded with explosives" was detonated at a nearby intersection.

Gunfire inside the hotel

Witnesses then reported hearing shooting from inside the hotel.

"We can hear the gunfire but it is difficult to know who is fighting, the forces cordoned off the building and no one can go close to it," said Abdulahi Nure.

Fellow witness Ismail Muktar said, "We can hear sporadic gunfire and grenade blasts and the area is very dark because the electric line was cut off amid the blast."

"Most people fled the hotel through a back door but some are still trapped inside," said Mohamed Dek, who was escaped the hotel after the initial explosion.

"I was very lucky," he added.

In June 2016, Shebaab militants staged a similar attack on a hotel owned by the same people, with an almost identical name, killing 11 people

The Nasa Hablod 2 is a popular hotel located in the north of the city whose sister hotel, the Nasa Hablod, was hit by Shabaab militants in June 2016, in an attack that killed 11 people, including a junior minister.

The Shabaab has made attacks on hotels -- commonly beginning with a suicide car bombing followed by an invasion by gunmen -- a regular strategy in its decade old battle to overthrow successive internationally-backed governments in Mogadishu.

The Shabaab lost their foothold in Mogadishu in 2011 but have continued their fight, launching regular attacks on military, government and civilian targets in the capital and elsewhere.
Hundreds of supporters of high-profile Senegalese mayor Khalifa Sall called for his release on Saturday as prosecutors asked parliament to lift his immunity from prosecution on graft charges.

Dressed in items of red clothing, activists called for Dakar mayor Sall to be released after serving more than seven months in pre-trial detention on what they say are politically-motivated embezzlement charges.

"Free Khalifa!" and "Khalifa until we die!" chanted around 300 people, many of them women and young people, after gathering a roundabout in the city's Medina district.

Rappers dished out insults against Senegal's President Macky Sall (no relation), and many sported t-shirts with Mayor Sall's face accompanied by the phrase "Dafa doy" or "that's enough" in the local Wolof language.

Mayor Sall was elected to serve in Senegal's parliament in July, and his supporters argue he should be released on the grounds that he has the immunity provided to lawmakers, even though he campaigned and was elected while in jail.

Prosecutors have now asked parliament to lift his immunity, thereby recognising he was indeed elected, and should therefore release him, his camp believe.

"Today we have seen that the state has recognised its abuse of power, prosecutors asked for the parliamentary immunity of Khalifa Sall to be lifted, which shows that they recognise he is a lawmaker," said Aminata Diallo, Khalifa Sall's chief of staff.

"The place of a lawmaker is not in prison. There is not a single democracy in the world where a lawmaker with parliamentary immunity is kept in prison," she added.

Mayor Sall had been seen as a key contender for 2019 presidential elections and a potential threat to the president in parliament.

In March he was accused of allegedly misappropriating 1.83 billion CFA francs ($2.85 million, 2.7 million euros) in city funds, but denies the charges.
Nollywood couple of the moment, Seyi Edun and Adeniyi Johnson, have so grown to become an item that is inseparable despite the whole insult thrown at them.

The two love birds have not had it rosy when it comes to their public appearance as fans grumble whenever they step out together but they have not allowed that affect their love together.

Adeniyi and Seyi are currently in the United States of America, as they had travelled to attend an award ceremony which took place about a week ago.

The journey was actually meant for Adeniyi but he later got a surprise visit from his woman as she never gave him a clue about her coming to be with him.

Well, the show is over and they are currently having the best time together. Although, this is not the first time they will be traveling together as they have also been to Dubai, to have fun as some fans believe that the actress, could possibly be pregnant which is yet to be confirmed.
Yves here. I feel a bit neglectful in not posting on Catalonia tonight, but I have a major competing blog project that is chewing up a ton of time. However, we are also in the midst of what Lambert calls an overly dynamic situation, which means the possible outcomes are very bushy (as in if you were to try to draw decision and event nodes, you get tons of possible paths very quickly).

A few observations:

What happens with the police force is key. Madrid has dismissed Catalonias chief of police and its director general. The chief of police was already being investigated for possible sedition charges.

The rank and file stood aside during the referendum, which led Spain to send in the Guardia Civil, which used what was widely decried as excessive force to try to shut down voting. If substantial proportions of the police force refuse to obey orders, Madrid will have an optical and practical problem on its hands.

No one knows how much support there is now for independence in Catalonia. Prior to the election and for years before that, independence never polled as a majority position. I have yet to see any polls post referendum. The high level of injuries during the election probably moved some fence sitters into the separatist camp, but how many? Moreover, even among the separatist parties, some would have been satisfied with more devolved powers, most important, Basque levels of spending autonomy, as opposed to a full divorce. But with support pre-referendum for independence at only a bit over 40%, if there were to be civil war (which per below, I see as unlikely unless Rajoy makes a bone-headed move, like sending in troops), it would seem to be at least likely to occur within Catalonia as between Catalonia and Spain.

If Madrid encounters widespread disobedience, its real nuclear weapon is the banking system. Restricting access to or shutting down the payments system in Catalonia would produce very different fault lines that the use of force to assert control. First, it doesnt generate dramatic video clips of thuggish behavior. Second, it hits people in their wallets, often quickly. Small businesses and non-salaried workers will feel the pinch quickly.

The relatively rapid timetable for new elections appears to be intended to minimize the amount of time Spain directly rules Catalonia. Rajoy likely sees that as an effort to reassure Catalonia; its doubtful many of the locals will be mollified much.

Additional tidbits:

This extract suggests Catalonia wont find any support from international law:

If youre wondering how international law impacts on the Catalan UDI situation, this section of the Quebec Reference explains a good deal. pic.twitter.com/t6ScNsm81Z  PeatWorrier (@PeatWorrier) October 27, 2017

Theres been some discussion of the article, What Political Science Tells Us About the Risk of Civil War in Spain. While the historical analysis is very useful, the author appears to have mis-applied it to Catalonia, at least as of now (if Madrid becomes overly aggressive, the situation could change significantly). I still think the most likely outcome, absent undue use of physical force by Madrid, is that a radical paramilitary group or groups will emerge, as opposed to civil war level resistance.

Due to time pressure, Im hoisting this comment from the Financial Times which debunked someone else trying to draw a comparison between Yugoslavia and Spain:

Story is completely different. Kosovo was the poorest part of Yugoslavia, inhabited mostly by Serbians and ethnic Albanians who were minority until after 1945 (before 1945 Serbians were majority in Kosovo) . After communist regime took over control of Yugoslavia (where Serbia was powerful member mostly due to its economic and military strength) sought to weaken Serbia position by favoring Albanians minority and also overlooking mass migration of Albanians from neighboring Albania to Kosovo. Most Albanians were also boycotting government institutions. By 1980-s Albanians were overwhelming majority in Kosovo and Serbs were angry as Kosovo Serbs were minority in their own land with very few real rights despite the fact that Serbia was economically helping and financing Kosovo institutions. So, Catalonia and Kosovo and totally different stories as Catalonia is the richest part of Spain plus they are member of Europe and even if they somehow gain independence, Europe will never accept this in reality as this will open Pandoras box in other EU members. Plus, majority of young people in Catalonia are educated and not poor which is totally opposite from young Albanians in Kosovo in 1980-s.

By Don Quijones of Spain, the UK, and Mexico, and an editor at Wolf Street. Originally published at Wolf Street

Today was one of the strangest days of my life. I woke up in a constitutional monarchy called Spain and will go to bed, the same bed, in a newly proclaimed republic. Catalonias impossible dream has finally come true, but it could be extremely short lived, and it could have very damaging long lasting consequences.

Spains Senate responded to the Catalan parliaments declaration of independence this afternoon by ratifying the activation of Article 155 of Spains Constitution, the nuclear button everyone has been waiting for. This will allow the central government to take full rein of the regions institutions and levers of power, including parliament, the police force, the exchequer (already done), public media, the Internet, the education system, and telecommunications  at least in theory.

There is no telling just yet how Mariano Rajoys government intends to stamp its authority on 2.5 million of the Catalans now in open rebellion, or for how long. Given the laws ambiguity, there are few constraints on its application, but trying to subdue a region where most of the 7.5 million-strong population are hostile to the basic notion of direct rule from Madrid is going to be a tall order, especially if the EU, which refuses to recognize Catalonia, expects Rajoys government to bring Catalonia back into line through the force of argument rather than the argument of force.

The force of argument is not exactly Rajoys forte. In all likelihood, his governments first act will be to try to arrest the Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, suspend his ministers, and assume direct authority over the regional government. To do that, it will probably have to take full control of Catalonias regional police force, the Mossos dEsquadra. But what if some officers resist? What if there are clashes between Mossos and members of Spains National Police Force or Civil Guard?

Right now, Catalonia and Spain are in very dangerous uncharted territory. Emotions are running high on both sides of the divide. There have already been calls for a general strike on Monday that could last for over a week. The goal is clear: to inflict as much harm as possible on the Spanish economy so that investors begin to question the wisdom of being exposed to Spanish assets. Its a tactic Catalonias Vice President Oriol Junqueras warned of using during a speech in Brussels way back in 2013:

Given that Catalonia represents a quarter of all Spains fiscal revenues and that we have the means to mobilize two million people onto the streets of Catalonia, does anyone seriously believe that we are not capable of halting the Catalan economy for one week? If we did this, can you imagine what kind of impact it would have on Spanish GDP? Or what foreign creditors would suddenly think of Spanish debt and what that would mean for the risk premium of Spanish bonds?

Four years on, and this doomsday scenario has become a very real possibility. But how will todays markets react?

If todays response is any indication, perhaps less severely than may be expected. Spains benchmark index, the IBEX 35, ended Fridays trading 1.5% lower, making it the only Western stock market to finish the day in the red. Catalonias second biggest bank, Banco Sabadell, which is hurriedly packing its bags for more stable pastures (Alicante and Madrid), shed 4.85% of its market cap while the regions biggest bank, Caixabank, ended the day 2.75% lower.

So far the real blood in Spains economic tug of war with Catalonia is not on the bourse; its on the ground. Since the constitutional conflict began four weeks ago, a staggering 1,700 companies, representing an estimated 30% of Catalonias entire GDP, have changed their registered address from Catalonia to some other part of Spain. Some have even changed their fiscal address.

As WOLF STREET reported a couple of weeks ago, the move is only on paper  something that is not being reported as clearly as it should be in much of the Spanish and foreign press. For the moment most of the companies are not moving their operations, head office, or for that matter any of their workers. All they have done is change their legal address, and whats more with minimal fiscal fanfare  in most of Spain (with the exception of the Basque Country and Navarre), all corporate tax is paid into the central coffers.

In the meantime, the growing boycott of Catalan goods in other parts of Spain continues to bite. So serious has it become that in a televised interview earlier this week, the former Spanish minister Josep Borell urged Spanish consumers to stop the boycott straight away because it is destroying the economic ties between Spain and Catalonia:

I keep receiving messages from small business owners in Catalonia whose livelihood is on the line and they say to me, please stop this, its going to ruin us Theres going to be an economic fracturing of Spain if were not careful.

The fracturing is not just economic though. Its political, geographic, and social. Communities and families throughout Catalonia are being torn asunder by a conflict that was wholly avoidable, had Madrid shown the slightest interest in reaching a negotiated political settlement.

This comes just when the ECB has announced that it will be paring back its bond purchases. QE pushed down the once sky-high costs of borrowing for the Spanish government, banks, and industry and has kept the economy afloat in the last five years. But if an amicable solution between Catalonia and Spain is not found  and by now, its hard to imagine how it can be  Spains fragile economic recovery could soon be at risk, and at the worst possible moment. By Don Quijones.

Independence would be horrific and amount to financial suicide, said Spains Economy Minister. But financial suicide for whom? Read Catalonias Political Crisis Snowballs into an Economic Crisis
By Gaius Publius, a professional writer living on the West Coast of the United States and frequent contributor to DownWithTyranny, digby, Truthout, and Naked Capitalism. Follow him on Twitter @Gaius_Publius, Tumblr and Facebook. GP article archive here. Originally published at DownWithTyranny

The saints of neoliberalism. Bill Clinton just put a Democratic Party face on it (source).

For years Ive been using the term neoliberalism (or sometimes neo-liberalism*) and Im always uncomfortable, since it sounds so academic. So I usually add one-phrase definitions and move on. For example, this from a recent piece on Puerto Rico:

If neoliberalism is the belief that the proper role of government is to enrich the rich  in Democratic circles they call it wealth creation to hide the recipients; Republicans are much more blatant  then the shock doctrine is its action plan.

Thats sounds pretty blunt, but its a true statement, even among academics. See this great interview (start at about 6:15) with Professor Philip Miroski of the University of Notre Dame on how modern neoliberals have come to see the role of government in society. Its weedy but excellent.

I want to offer our readers a better description of neoliberalism though, yet not get into too many weeds. So consider these exceprts from a longer Guardian essay by the British writer George Monbiot. (My thanks to Naked Capitalism commenter nonclassical for the link and the idea for this piece.)

Neoliberalism  The Invisible Water the West Is Swimming In

Well start with Monbiots brief intro, just to set the scope of the problem:

Imagine if the people of the Soviet Union had never heard of communism. The ideology that dominates our lives has, for most of us, no name. Mention it in conversation and youll be rewarded with a shrug. Even if your listeners have heard the term before, they will struggle to define it. Neoliberalism: do you know what it is?

Ask people to define neoliberalism, even if theyve heard of it, and almost no one can. Yet the comparison of our governing ideology to that of the Soviet Unions is a good one  like communism, or the Soviet Unions version of it, neoliberalism defines and controls almost everything our government does, no matter which party is in office.

The Birth of Neoliberalism

What is neoliberalism and where did it come from? Monbiot writes:

The term neoliberalism was coined at a meeting in Paris in 1938. Among the delegates were two men who came to define the ideology, Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek. Both exiles from Austria, they saw social democracy, exemplified by Franklin Roosevelts New Deal and the gradual development of Britains welfare state, as manifestations of a collectivism that occupied the same spectrum as nazism and communism.

Neoliberalism is an explicit reaction to Franklin Roosevelt and the welfare state, which by a quirk of history was called liberalism at the time, even though, in the nineteenth century, liberalism had roughly the same meaning that neoliberalism has today. In other words, FDR liberalism is in many ways the opposite of classical liberalism, which meant liberty (freedom) from government, and a quirk of history has confused these terms.

Back to Monbiot and Hayek:

Note the mention of Milton Friedman above. Neoliberalism is a bipartisan ideology, not just a Clintonist-Obamist one.

Democrats, Republicans and Neoliberalism

As Monbiot explains, for a while neoliberalism lost its name and was more or less a fringe ideology in a world still dominated by the ideas of John Maynard Keynes and Keynesian economics. When neoliberalism later came back strong in the Republican Party, it wasnt called neoliberalism but Milton Friedman free market conservativism, or something similar.

Only when Bill Clinton and his Democratic Party allies adopted it in the 1980s did the term neoliberal re-emerge in public discourse.

[I]n the 1970s, when Keynesian policies began to fall apart and economic crises struck on both sides of the Atlantic, neoliberal ideas began to enter the mainstream. As Friedman remarked, when the time came that you had to change  there was an alternative ready there to be picked up. With the help of sympathetic journalists and political advisers, elements of neoliberalism, especially its prescriptions for monetary policy, were adopted by Jimmy Carters administration in the US and Jim Callaghans government in Britain. After Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan took power, the rest of the package soon followed: massive tax cuts for the rich, the crushing of trade unions, deregulation, privatisation, outsourcing and competition in public services. Through the IMF, the World Bank, the Maastricht treaty and the World Trade Organisation, neoliberal policies were imposed  often without democratic consent  on much of the world. Most remarkable was its adoption among parties that once belonged to the left: Labour and the Democrats, for example. [emphasis added]

Note the role of Jimmy Carter and start of deregulation in the late 1970s. For that reason, many consider Jimmy Carter to be the proto-neoliberal, both for the nation and the Democratic Party.

Neoliberalism  Just Deserts for Predators and Prey

What makes neoliberalism or free market conservatism such a radical  and destructive  ideology? It reduces all human activity to economic competition. It creates and glorifies, in other words, a world of predators and prey, a world like the one we live in as today:

Neoliberalism sees competition as the defining characteristic of human relations. It redefines citizens as consumers, whose democratic choices are best exercised by buying and selling, a process that rewards merit and punishes inefficiency. It maintains that the market delivers benefits that could never be achieved by planning.

In a world where competition is right and good, a world in which the market is the defining metaphor for human activity, all social ties are broken, the individual is an atom left to survive as an individual only, the strongest relentlessly consume the weakest  and thats as it should be. (Its easy to imagine how the apex predators of our social order would be attracted to this, and insist on it with force.

Thus the bipartisan world we live in today. Under a neoliberal regime, everyone gets what they deserve. Big fish deserve their meal. Little fish deserve their death. And government sets the table for the feast.

The Role of Government in a Neoliberal World

Since for neoliberals, the market is the source of all that is good in human interaction, non-interference in the market is rule one for government.

Over time that has changed, however, as winners have grown more successful and their control of government more absolute. The proper role of government in todays neoliberal regime is not merely to allowthe market to operate for the benefit of wealth-holders; its to make sure the market operates for the benefit of wealth-holders.

In other words, the role of government is to intervene in the market on behalf of wealth-holders, or, as I put it more colloquially, to proactively enrich the rich. The interview with Professor Mirowski, as I noted above, makes that same point, but from an academic standpoint.

From this it should be also clear that until we free ourselves of rule by neoliberals and the pain and misery they create, well always be victims to the predatory giants  the very very wealthy and the corporations they use as power-extenders  those, in other words, who want merely to own everything else in the world.

This means we need to free ourselves from neoliberals in both parties, not just the ones in current seats of power. But that idea seems to have been excised from most discussions these days. Fair warning though. If the Age of Trump ends with the Restoration of Mainstream Democrats, well have won almost nothing at all.

____________

* I sometimes spell neo-liberalism with the hyphen to suggest the following connection: Neo-liberalism is new liberalism, and has the same relationship to FDR liberalism as New Labour has to Labour  the two are exactly opposite.
Police shocked by 100mph joyriders age BBC. Future Darwin Award recipient.

Mysterious object seen speeding past sun could be visitor from another star system Guardian

Robert Blakeley, Whose Fallout Shelter Sign Symbolized the Cold War, Dies at 95 New York Times

Why superintelligence is a threat that should be taken seriously Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (JTM). Humans are not nice and destroying the planet too, so it would be entirely rational to want to put an end to us.

YouTube is fighting the adpocalypse with a less trigger-happy flagging system The Verge. Translation: YouTube says it will be less aggressive about demonetization. Well see how many leftie sites get to run ads again.

New York Times launches Tor Onion Service to overcome censorship and ensure privacy BetaNews. Am I missing something? Doesnt this mean you can use Tor to evade the paywall?

China?

On North Korea, Were Fools If We Dont Start Taking the President at His Word Atlantic (resilc)

What Trumps Iran action means for Japans energy interests Asia Times

Drug Traffickers For Jesus Financial Times (Jeff S)

Catalonia

Syraqistan

Imperial Collapse Watch

Were Wars Bloodier and Longer When We Had Conscription? American Conservative. Resilc: See last sentence. No sane voices on the opportunity costs.

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Trump Transition

Obamacare

Soaring Premiums Mean Soaring Risks for Obamacare Bloomberg (furzy)

Pharmaceutical Founder Arrested In Alleged Nationwide Opioid Scheme NPR. Abigail F: An actual rich guy, not just the company.

Mark Zuckerberg Is Testing Ways to Reassure Republicans Vanity Fair (resilc)

The GOP Is No Longer Trying to Hide Its Inhuman Priorities New York Magazine (resilc)

Defense wants domestic terrorism out of Bundy case High Country News (resilc)

John Podesta and Debbie Wasserman Schultz under scrutiny after making possible false statements to Congress Revere Press

John Podesta says he didnt know the Clinton campaign was paying Fusion GPS. Why not? CNN (UserFriendly)

Why Roy Moores Law-School Professor Nicknamed Him Fruit Salad New Yorker (furzy)

Law Enforcement Descended On Standing Rock A Year Ago And Changed the DAPL Fight Forever Intercept (UserFriendly)

PG&E seeks way to punt liability cost MarinIJ. Bill C: Another case of socialize losses & privatize profits.

FAC Lawsuit Prompts Disclosure of Records Alleging Misconduct by Milpitas City Official First Amendment Coalition

What The Hell Was This Rachel Maddow Segment? Huffington Post (UserFriendly)

Puerto Rico

Treasury Dept: Stop saying shadow bank Axios. No one who counts will comply. I wouldnt even bet on the research staff at the Fed, since theyve done some meaningful work on this topic. In fact, one could go further and treat any reporter who did comply with this request as having proven that they are captured.

More women accuse Halperin of harassment CNN

Guillotine Watch

Class Warfare

Antidote du jour. Jamie J: Our grape vine eating varmint that is way too cute to (hmm) dispose of. Local possum, very territorial.

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.

.
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Third parties wishing to use the Alliance logo, name or emblems must seek and receive authorization in advance from NATO by emailing the NATO HQ brand team with a clear description of how and why they intend to use the asset, preferably accompanied by a visual mockup.

Third parties in an existing partnership or sponsorship/co-sponsorship relationship with NATO should apply, as appropriate, the guidance in Visual Identity Guidelines for events organized in partnership with NATO or Visual Identity Guidelines for events sponsored or co-sponsored by NATO, and then contact their NATO project officer to vet the intended usage. These documents are available from the links in the sidebar of this page.

Official NATO visual asset files (logos, etc.) can be found in various formats here: Download logo in different formats.
The Military Committee, NATOs highest Military Authority, will meet in Chiefs of Defence (CHoDs) Session from 15-17 September 2017, in Tirana, Albania. The meeting will be hosted by the Albanian Chief of the General Staff, Brigadier General Bardhyl Kollcaku.

The Chiefs of Defence will discuss further implementation of the Projecting Stability concept, the security situation in the Western Balkans region and provide recommendations for the way ahead for the RESOLUTE SUPPORT Mission in Afghanistan and Kosovo Force (KFOR). The CHoDs will exchange views on NATOs Adaptation and receive briefings on the current status of the NATO Command Structure review. Finally, they will elect the next Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, who will take office in 2018.

During their first session of the day, the Chiefs of Defence will discuss the Projecting Stability concept focusing on near and long term delivery of strategic objectives, and on the coherence of our activities. They will review the progress of NATOs engagement in the Fight against Terrorism, the Defence Capacity Building Initiative, the NATO Training and Capacity Building in Iraq and the implementation for the Hub for the South. The Western Balkans region will receive a special focus during this session.

NATOs Adaptation will be the focus of the second session. The CHoDs will receive briefings from both Strategic Commanders, General Scaparrotti, Supreme Allied Commander - Europe and General Mercier, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation. The Chiefs of Defence will provide additional guidance on the NATO Command Structure Review, ahead of the November Defence Ministerial.

The third session will focus on our RESOLUTE SUPPORT Mission and KFOR. The Chiefs of Defence will receive briefings from Commander RESOLUTE SUPPORT, General Nicholson, and the Senior Civilian Representative, Ambassador Cornelius Zimmermann on Afghanistan while Commander KFOR, Major General Fungo will provide a briefing on Kosovo. The CHoDs will provide recommendations for both missions taking into account the security situation on the ground.

In their final session, the Chiefs of Defence will elect the next Chairman of the Military Committee, who will take office in 2018.

The Military Committee Conference will be chaired by General Petr Pavel, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee. He will be supported in each session by General Curtis M. Scaparrotti (Supreme Allied Commander Europe or SACEUR) and General Denis Mercier (Supreme Allied Commander Transformation or SACT).

The Military Committee meets twice a year at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, at the level of Chiefs of Defence to discuss NATO operations and missions and provide the North Atlantic Council with consensus-based military advice on how the Alliance can best meet global security challenges, and once a year they meet in an Allied member country. On a day-to-day basis, their work is carried out by permanent Military Representatives at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.

Media Opportunities

Friday 15 Sep 2017

18:35-18:55 Official Welcome Ceremony (Brigade Palace)

Saturday 16 Sep 2017



08:35-08:50 Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session (Tirana International Hotel)

- Opening remarks by the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, General Petr Pavel

- Opening remarks by the Prime Minister of Albania, His Excellency Mr. Edi Rama

18:00-18:30 Joint Press conference with General Petr Pavel, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee and Brigadier General Bardhyl Kollcaku, Chief of the Albanian Armed Forces (Tirana International Hotel)

Imagery

After each event, photos, video and audio files will be made available on the NATO IMS webpage www.nato.int/ims, as well as the MC Conference events page.

Accreditation

Only accredited media will get press passes for the NATO Military Committee Conference in Albania. Requests for accreditation will be processed electronically. The forms, photo (if possible) and required copies of the documents should be sent by e-mail to: eni.hotaj@mod.gov.al. Please use the following title in the subject of your e-mail: "Accreditation NATO MCC 2017". Accreditation forms must be sent by 18:00 pm on 12 September 2017. Forms delivered after this date may be refused.

Passes must be worn visibly at all times, and security personnel may ask to see another form of ID at any time. We would like to inform the media that security checks will be conducted separately prior to every media event. For this reason, media are expected to arrive at least an hour before the events.

Social Media

We will post the latest information and pictures from the Conference on our official Twitter accounts: @CMC_NATO and @NATO_PASCAD. Please use the hashtags #NATOCHoDs and #NATOMC when tweeting about the Military Committee Conference.

Enquiries

Points of Contact for Public Affairs and Strategic Communication for the Military Committee Conference 2017:

Lieutenant Colonel Kasem Saliasi,

Public Affairs and Strategic Communications Officer, Albania Armed Forces.

Tel: +355 692 207 922

E-mail: kasem.saliasi@aaf.mil.al

Points of contact for the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee:

Dr. Eva Svobodova,

Public Affairs and Strategic Communications Advisor to the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee and NATO International Military Staff

Tel: + 32 475 75 75 61

E-Mail: svobodova.eva@hq.nato.int

Ms. Elizabeth Steenson,

Public Affairs Officer, NATO International Military Staff

Tel: + 32 475 75 75 23

E-Mail: steenson.elizabeth@hq.nato.int
On Wednesday, 20 September 2017, the NATO Deputy Secretary General, the Honourable Ms. Rose Gottemoeller will meet the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Mr. David Dondua, together with the State Minister for the Reconciliation and the Civic Equality, Ms. Ketevan Tsikhelashvili.

Both Ministers will also attend the NATO-Georgia Commission.

There will be no media opportunity.

Still images of the event will be available on the NATO website.

Follow the Deputy Secretary General on Twitter (@Gottemoeller). Also follow us at @NATOPress.
The NATO Deputy Secretary General, the Honourable Ms. Rose Gottemoeller will meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, H.E. Mr. Nikola Dimitrov, together with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, H.E. Ms. Radmila Sekerinska on Wednesday, 27 September 2017.

Media Advisory

14:45 Deputy Secretary General joint statements with both Ministers  Main entrance

The press point 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.
I am pleased to announce that the next NATO Summit will be held on 11 and 12 July 2018 in Brussels, Belgium.

We will further strengthen the bond between Europe and North America on which our Alliance is founded, as we continue to adapt our Alliance for the 21st century. In response to evolving threats, NATO has implemented the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence in a generation. Our multinational battlegroups in the east of the Alliance are now fully operational and we are strengthening our presence in the Black Sea region. We are also stepping up our efforts against cyber-attacks and hybrid threats.

We will build on our valuable work with partner nations and organisations to fight terrorism and keep our neighbourhood stable. We are boosting our mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan forces to ensure their country never again becomes a safe haven for international terrorists. We are supporting the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and working to strengthen partners like Iraq. We are further deepening the relationship between NATO and the European Union, for the benefit of all our nations.

Belgium has generously hosted NATO Headquarters for fifty years, and I warmly welcome that our summit will take place in our new Headquarters in Brussels. I look forward to a successful Summit in July 2018.
NATO Deputy Secretary General, Ms Rose Gottemoeller will address cyber industry practitioners and academia on 19 October 2017 at NIAS17, the annual NATO Cyber Symposium.

NIAS17 is hosted by the NATO Communications and Information Agency at the Lotto Mons Expo, in Belgium. The symposium this year features a Women in Cyber Security Forum, as well as workshops on artificial intelligence, advanced machine learning and quantum technology

Media Advisory

(all times local)

09:10 Keynote address by the Deputy Secretary General

09:25 Deputy Secretary General joins Women in Cybersecurity Forum

09:45 Deputy Secretary General press conference with General Manager of the NATO Communications and Information Agency Kevin J. Scheid.

All three events are open to media at the Lotto Expo in Mons. The keynote address will be web streamed live.

Still imagery and video footage of the three events will also be available afterwards on www.nato.int.

More details about the event and registration can be found here: http://nias2017.com/

Follow the Deputy Secretary General on @Gottemoeller.

Also follow us at @NATOPress, #NIAS17 and @NCIAgency for updates on Twitter.
NATO Deputy Secretary General, Rose Gottemoeller, spoke of the vital importance of cyber defence when she addressed industry experts at the NATO Information Assurance Symposium (NIAS) Cyber Conference today (19 October 2017) in Mons, Belgium.

Cyber-attacks are serious. They have the potential to undermine NATOs missions around the world and to hamper our ability to deliver collective defence. That is why cyber defence is a top priority for NATO and for NATO Allies, said the Deputy Secretary General. We have to be just as effective in the cyber domain as we are in the physical world, added Ms Gottemoeller.

The Deputy secretary General also addressed a workshop on Women in Cyber Defence. Cybersecurity is a team sport, but were leaving half our players on the bench, said the Deputy Secretary General.

Only around 1-in-10 people working in cyber defence is female. Worldwide by 2022, it is estimated that another 1.8 million professionals working cyber-security. If we solve the gender gap, we can also solve the workforce gap. NATO is committed to gender equality in cyber-defence as we are in all areas of security. It is not only the right thing to do, it is essential to our collective defence.

The annual NATO Cyber Symposium is hosted by the NATO Communications and Information Agency. It provides an opportunity for NATO and national cyber experts as well as the industry to discuss the latest advances in cyber technologies, as well as cyber-related threats and challenges.
NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, welcomed the Chairman of the Tri-Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Dragan Covic, to NATO Headquarters today (24 October 2017). Mr. Stoltenberg thanked Bosnia and Herzegovina for its commitment to international security, including its contributions to NATOs Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.

Mr. Stoltenberg and Mr. Covic discussed Bosnia and Herzegovinas Euro-Atlantic aspirations and its domestic reforms, including registering defence properties to the state. Mr. Stoltenberg encouraged efforts to register more properties and he welcomed the countrys Defence Review agreed last year. Mr. Stoltenberg said, The focus should be on implementation, to make this review a reality. I count on Bosnia and Herzegovina to redouble its efforts in this area. The Secretary General said he looked forward to working with Mr. Covic to further strengthen co-operation between the Alliance and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Today (24 October) the 29 ambassadors of the North Atlantic Council visited the Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (VKI) in Belgium. In opening remarks, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg thanked VKI for more than 60 years of service to NATO and Allied Nations.

The Von Karman Institute is an international scientific organisation that offers expertise on fluid dynamics and post-graduate education to students and researchers. During the visit, Ambassadors were briefed by experts in science and engineering, including NATO Chief Scientist Dr. Thomas Killion.

The Secretary General stressed the importance of this knowledge and skills base for the defence industry and our military capabilities. VKI reminds us that  despite the pressures of the political day-to-day business  we also have a responsibility for the longer-term future, he said.
The NATO-Russia Council met on Thursday (26 October 2017) in Brussels, for the third time this year. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who chaired the meeting, noted that Allies and Russia had an open and useful exchange on three topics: Ukraine, Afghanistan and transparency and risk reduction. Our dialogue is not easy, but that is exactly why our dialogue is so important, he stressed.

Read the text of the NATO Secretary General's press point here
On Friday, 27 October 2017, the North Atlantic Council (NAC), chaired by the NATO Deputy Secretary General, H.E. Ms. Rose Gottemoeller and accompanied by representatives of the non-NATO KFOR contributing nations, will pay a visit to KFOR.

Ms. Gottemoeller together with the Ambassadors and the Chairman of the Military Committee, General Petr Pavel, will attend a meeting with COMKFOR, Major General Giovanni Fungo, and will also have the opportunity to meet with the Kosovo authorities and international institutions present in Kosovo.

The Deputy Secretary General will have bilateral meetings with Mr. Hashim Thaci, Mr. Ramush Haradinaj and Mr. Dalibor Jevtic.

Media Advisory

15:30 (Local): NATO Deputy Secretary General press conference - KFOR Headquarters

The press conference will be streamed live on the NATO website.

Still and video images of the visit will be available in the Newsroom of the NATO website after the event.

Follow us on Twitter (@NATOPress and @Gottemoeller)
The NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, will visit Japan on Monday, 30 October and Tuesday, 31 October 2017.

In Tokyo, the Secretary General will meet with the Prime Minister, H.E. Mr. Shinzo Abe; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Mr. Taro Kono and the Minister of Defence, H.E. Mr. Itsunori Onodera.

On 30 October, the Secretary General will engage in discussion with security experts at an event hosted by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.

On 31 October, Mr. Stoltenberg will visit a base of Japans Maritime Self-Defense Forces in Yokosuka.

Later that day, Mr. Stoltenberg will deliver a speech at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo.

Media Advisory (all times local)

31 October

11:20 Secretary General joint press point with Prime Minister

18:00 Secretary Generals speech (with Q&A) at the Japan National Press Club, Tokyo

Still and video images will be available on the NATO website after the event.

Follow us on Twitter (@NATOpress, @dylanpwhite and @jensstoltenberg).
The NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, will visit the Republic of Korea from Wednesday, 1 November 2017 to Friday, 3 November 2017.

In Seoul, the Secretary General will meet with the President of the Republic of Korea, H.E. Mr. Moon Jae-in, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Ms. Kang Kyung-wha. The Secretary General and the Foreign Minister will sign a partnership plan between NATO and the Republic of Korea.

On 1 November, Mr. Stoltenberg will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the National Cemetery.

On 2 November, Mr. Stoltenberg will visit the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Later that day, he will meet with security experts at the ASAN Institute for Policy Studies, and give a press conference at the same venue.

Media Advisory (all times local)

1 November

18:05 Signing Ceremony for an individual partnership and cooperation programme between NATO and the Republic of Korea, hosted by Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha  Reception Hall (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

2 November

17:00 NATO Secretary Generals press conference  ASAN Institute for Policy Studies, Seoul.

The press conference will be streamed live on the NATO website.

Still and video images of the visit will be available on the NATO website after the event.

Follow us on Twitter (@NATOpress, @dylanpwhite and @jensstoltenberg).
(Natural News) An ancient Amazonian tribe has sworn to fight against the international mining companies intent on destroying their home for gold and other precious metals.

Known as the Waiapi, the members of this group are easily distinguished by their red loincloths, and the red and black dye streaking the skin of the tribesmen. Although modern Brazil is just a few hours away by car, they adhere to their own laws and to a way of life that has remained largely unchanged. What the Waiapi call home is an area close to the eastern end of the Amazon, an indigenous reserve part of the massive conservation zone Renca.

Its this enormous plot of land that the center-right government is pushing to open to mining corporations. Brazilian President Michel Temer had announced a decree last August to end mining restrictions and abolish the Renca reserve. The announcement sparked outrage from conservation groups and environmentalists. Temer has since backtracked on his decree, but the Waiapi remain wary. (Related: Amazing discovery resembling Stonehenge found in Amazon rain forest)

Their first chance meeting with outsiders very nearly wiped them out. Following an encounter with the white man in the early 1970s, the Waiapi were exposed to disease that brought their numbers down to a record low of 151 people in 1973.

Were fighting for this never to happen again, said 80-year-old chief Tzako Waiapi. Thats what I tell my children, my grandchildren, my people. Were ready for war now. Well never retreat.

Well keep fighting, echoed Tapayona Waiapi, a 36-year-old tribesman from the Pinoty settlement, where an illegal mine was discovered in May and shut down. When the companies come well keep resisting. If the Brazilian government sends soldiers to kill people, well keep resisting until the last of us is dead.

Wielding poisoned arrows and a six-foot bow, he added: If Temer comes here, anywhere near me, this is what hell get.

In addition to opening up the reserve for mining operations, a few of the Waiapi suspect that the government also has intentions of continuing the Northern Perimetral. The highway, which was originally constructed as a means to link Brazil to Venezuela, was abandoned after funding ran out. The Northern Perimetral cuts through the Waiapis territory and stops 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) short of its goal, yet remains an ominous presence to this day.

Thered be cars, trucks, violence, drugs, robberies. The culture would change. The young would want the cellphones, the clothes, the computers, said 57-year-old Calibi Waiapi of the changes the finished Northern Perimetral would bring. If a lot of white men came, it would be the end.

Although the Waiapi have access to shotguns, they prefer to use bows and arrows. These are our weapons so that we are not dependent on non-Indian weapons, explained Akaupotye Waiapi, 43, as he carved a new bow.

While many of the Waiapi are prepared to die protecting their home, other members believe that the solution lies in politics. Jawaruwa Waiapi, 31, is one of those people. As the first Waiapi to hold a political post in the Brazilian government, he has said that politics is the key to the tribes survival.

Today we dont have to fight with arrows or clubs. We have to fight through knowledge, through politics. This is our new weapon, he said.

Visit Environ.news to remain updated on the situation, or to read up on more stories concerning the environment.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

Metro.co.uk
Remember the so-called "hot felon" Jeremy Meeks? The internet has stumbled upon his female counterpart.

Meeks' mug shot lit up the internet in 2014 after he was arrested for gun possession in a gang sweep in Stockton. The same is currently happening to Mirella Ponce, who police said was arrested following a traffic stop Monday in Fresno for possessing a loaded firearm.

Police also said Ponce was with her infant child when she was stopped.

The Fresno Police Department posted information about the arrest late Monday, along with pictures of both Ponce and the gun she allegedly was in possession of.

The Facebook post since has gone viral. On Friday the post had surpassed 5,000 shares and was nearing 2,000 comments, many of which discuss Ponce's "good looks."

One commenter wrote, "The only crime she committed was stealing my heart."

Meanwhile, Meeks has since launched a modeling career and is currently dating Chloe Green, daughter of British retail billionaire businessman Sir Philip Green.

Meeks reportedly is looking to introduce Ponce to his modeling agent.

Ponce, who police said is a member of the Tiny Rascal Gang (yes, really), was booked into Fresno County Jail.
Officials in Reading, Massachusetts, are speaking out against antisemitism and hate speech after discriminatory vandalism was discovered inside the town library.

On Thursday, library personnel found a swastika drawn on furniture inside the building.

"The Reading Public Library condemns this act of vandalism and hate speech," said director Amy Lannon in a statement to the press.

Lannon went on to say that the library enforces a 'Patron Rights and Responsibility' policy guaranteeing all patrons access to the library without 'discrimination, harassment or threat of harm.'

"The board of Trustees views the graffiti as a direct violation of this policy," wrote Lannon.

Reading police have been notified about the incident. No suspects have been identified at this time.
On Sunday, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner will depart for a week-long trip to Israel, as he looks to lure international partners to a South Loop innovation lab.

Rauner, who will embark on the trade and research mission with business and university leaders, is seeking out foreign investments in the program.

We will be working with the people of Israel, led by the University of Illinois, to come up with solutions to the biggest problems facing our society today, and enhancing the quality of life and the economic future for all of the people of Illinois, Rauner said.

According to the governor, he will pay for his own expenses on the trip, and no taxpayer funds will be used as he heads overseas.

Earlier this year, Rauner went on another trade mission to Japan and China, his first such trip of his tenure as governor.
Three people were killed and another man was critically injured in a crash early Saturday on Interstate 57 near 107th Street on Chicago's Far South Side, according to Illinois State Police.

A passenger vehicle crashed into the rear of a semi truck at 3:16 p.m. in the northbound lanes of I-57 near 107th Street, police said.

A man and woman, both age 19, were pronounced dead at the scene, according to state police. Two men, ages 21 and 30, were taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where the younger man died and the older man was listed in critical condition. They were all traveling in the passenger vehicle.

The Cook County medical examiners office could not immediately confirm the fatalities and further details, including their identities, were not available.

The driver of the semi was uninjured, state police said.

All northbound lanes reopened around 7:30 a.m.
Police are offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of a man who battered a postal worker during an attempted robbery earlier this month in west suburban Naperville.

Officers responded about 11:15 a.m. Oct 4. to a reported battery in the 1000 block of North Main Street, according to Naperville police.

When they arrived, officers learned that a man had punched a female U.S. Postal Service mail carrier in her face, knocking her to the ground before rifling through her pockets in an apparent attempt at robbery.

He ultimately left without taking anything, riding in a Nissan Versa driven by another person, police said.

The suspect, said to be the main offender, was described as a tall, thin black man, thought to be in his 40s, with black and gray hair and four missing front teeth, police said. He was seen in surveillance footage wearing a black knit cap, hooded sweatshirt, black jacket, weathered jeans with bleach spots, and red high-top sneakers. He also dropped a purple bandana at the scene.

The Versas driver was described as a female with shoulder-length hair, police said. She was seen in surveillance footage wearing a stocking cap.

Anyone with information should call Naperville Crime Stoppers at (630) 420-6006. Tipsters can remain anonymous. Information leading to an arrest could qualify for a reward up to $1,000.
It was supposed to be a fun-filled family vacation in Mexico. But it ended in the deaths of twin sisters, killed while taking a stroll on the beach. And its happened at least twice in the last 10 days.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico is known for its sandy beaches and clear waters. But strong currents and riptides coupled with massive waves have killed numerous vacationing tourists in recent years.

Steve Thomas's 67-year-old wife Barbara and her twin sister Beverly Skripsky, a former Naperville resident, drowned in Cabo on Sunday after being washed into the ocean by a massive wave during a morning walk.

I cant imagine how fast it was moving but it went from 10 feet to 15 feet in seconds, Thomas said. "Tthey found two women out at sea and Im thinking great - they found them. and I say are they okay? and he says Im sorry to tell you sir, but theyre deceased.'

A warning from the U.S. Embassy in Mexico cautions travelers to Cabo beaches, stating: Not all hazardous beaches in this area are clearly marked. Swimmers, waders and even people simply walking along the beaches have been washed into the ocean by rogue waves. Some have drowned and others have disappeared.

Last week another death: 65-year-old Steven Urycki of Naperville was killed in Cabo while fishing--after an extreme wave swept him into the ocean.

Now, Thomas wants others to be aware of the deadly tides.

I just never thought of it myself and if what were doing here can saves even one life--its worth it," he said.

Thomas says his wife and sister-in-law loved traveling together and had recently returned from a trip to Dubai.

Funeral arrangements for the two women are being planned.
A Watertown womans experience accidentally paying for a subscription service for more than a year can serve as a good lesson.

Jennifers oversight led to 15 months of video subscription payments to Amazon, including Amazon Prime.

She said she does not recall authorizing the service and the payments werent big enough to get Jennifers attention until August. By then, the collective charges cost her $788.

The company offered to credit some of that to her Amazon account, but Jennifer wanted a full refund into her bank account.

Here are some takeaways from her experience:

When you have any type of potentially unauthorized or unrecognized charge, you need to speak up right away. That way, youre telling the business you dont plan on using the product you paid for.

Get familiar with the cancellation terms on services you sign up for .

Some companies, Amazon included, will give you a free trial period that automatically renews and charges you the full price when it expires.

Amazon did not have to refund Jennifer, but after NBC Connecticut Responds spoke with a company spokesperson, it did. The spokesperson said, as a one-time exception, he initiated a $788 check, which Jennifer received and deposited immediately.
Cities and towns are struggling to keep up with the magnitude of the opioid addiction problem.

President Donald Trump gave a boost to the fight Thursday by declaring the opioid crisis a national public health emergency.

"Families, communities and citizens across our country are currently dealing with the worst drug crisis in American history," Trump said.

More federal help will be coming to cities, like New London, that see the face of the crisis every day. But no new federal dollars will be allocated to combat the opioid epidemic, which has some people in Connecticut are saying the declaration falls a bit short.

"We need more money. Were doing the best we can," said Jeanne Milstein, human services director for the city of New London.

New London firefighters responded to 120 overdoses in the last 18 months, according to Milstein. The city only has a population of about 27,000.

New London has an Opioid Action Team that looks at treatment, naloxone accessibility, education and diversion programs in the courts. Every player works together. But money is needed to make it all happen, according to Milstein.

"We are desperate. We are absolutely desperate in New London. We are the number one distressed municipality in the state," Milstein said.

"Often times you need family with money or really good insurance to get the help that you need," said Rep. Joe de la Cruz, (D- Groton, New London).

Federal money is needed quickly, according to de la Cruz. He helped found Community Speaks Out, that helps families get the help and support they need regarding addiction.

His son Joey Gingerella battled with addiction and helped break the stigma locally. Breaking the stigma nationally a good first step, de la Cruz said.

"Once Joey went and spoke, people started calling us and asking us 'What did you do? How did you get your son help?' People that we knew. People who were not willing to speak out before," de la Cruz said.

National Drug Take Back is Saturday. To see where you can drop off unwanted medication in your area, click here.
A county employee who faced the possibility of being fired has quit his job as a corrections officer after an NBC 6 Investigation found taxpayers have been paying most of the rent on his familys home.

A Corrections Department spokesperson said Thomas Harper resigned Monday. Harper disputes that and says he retired from his position.

His annual salary made him ineligible to live in a home being paid for with his wife's Section 8 voucher.

Over a two month period, the NBC 6 Investigators used hidden cameras to see Harper coming and going from his home  from work, to church, even towing his boat and parking it at the home.

Harper said he didn't live there with his wife, Latanya Everette. Her Section 8 voucher paid $1,200 of the $1,383 rent at the home every month since 2010.

According to her landlord, the voucher payments continued even after she married Harper in 2015.

Public records show Harper made nearly $70,000 per year at his job at TGK and thousands more at a part-time job with the school district. His income is double the maximum allowed for a Section 8 voucher.

"As soon as they got married and they were no longer eligible, they needed to report that to us so we could give that voucher to a truly needy family," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez.

Anyone with a voucher has ten days to report any changes in income or family size.

Before Harper quit, the mayor said the county was investigating what the NBC 6 Investigators found. The investigation could have led to discipline up to and including termination.

Harper's name was not on his wife's voucher.

"When somebody doesnt abide by the rules, gives false information or is in Section 8 housing that shouldnt be, that really upsets me," said Gimenez.

Everette relinquished her voucher after NBC 6 Investigators presented the findings to the couple.

Section 8 vouchers are in high demand. More than 50,000 people are on the waitlist for one in Miami-Dade County.

"Those are needy families that need decent housing," said Gimenez about the waitlist. "Hopefully this will be an example that we're not going to tolerate that."

The couple's attorney, James DeMiles, said Friday he is working out a deal with the county for his clients to return approximately half of the money paid by their voucher since 2015 and avoid prosecution. The total amount is estimated at $36,000.
Luzerne County Assistant Public Defender Steph Fernandes has come to expect personal questions from her juvenile clients when they realize she is blind.

The 28-year-old Kingston resident assures their often embarrassed parents she is not offended by such probing because demystifying her life shows others a blind person can thrive independently.

"Most people do not have blind friends, co-workers, professors or teachers. We're still few and far between in workplaces," said Fernandes, who is slated to receive an award from the Greater Wilkes-Barre Association for the Blind.

County Chief Public Defender Steven Greenwald said he and his staff initially were on guard when Fernandes started as a staff attorney in April 2015 because they wanted her to feel supported. Her self-deprecating humor about her blindness and determination to be treated the same as everyone else immediately put everyone at ease.

Greenwald said Fernandes often greets him as he approaches, before he says a word, and she refuses to divulge how she knows it is him.

"I really don't even consider her blindness because it doesn't play a role in her work on a day-to-day basis," Greenwald said. "We're not in any position where we need to make accommodations for her in any way. She's like every other lawyer here."

An Ohio native, Fernandes says humor dispels awkwardness some people feel encountering a blind person for the first time. For example, she bemoans a perception she would grope someone's facial features to register their identity.

"I really don't want to touch people's faces," she said, laughing.

Fernandes said her only on-the-job request was for Braille on courtroom doors because the courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre has a circular layout. She refuses to walk around the building counting steps because she'd have to brush off conversations with passersby to focus on numbers.

She compiles notes on her cases by typing Braille into a small device that includes a display for her to search and read the data as needed. Her laptop also is equipped with software that reads aloud legal information.

Buses get her to and from work, and she tags along with friends to the grocery store. A cellphone app identifies paper currency so Fernandez can fold it different ways for future recognition. In her spare time, she plays the flute and is a cantor at her church.

"I live by myself, and I do my own cooking. What I lack in skill, I make up for in attempt," she said.

A classmate at Boston College marveled at Fernandes' adaptability in a 2013 online video by the National Braille Press, pointing to Braille labels she made to identify the buttons on the microwave, washer and dryer.

Fernandes relied on her Braille note taker in classes at Boston College and Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law.

As a child, Fernandes learned Braille pressing her fingers on the pages of story books while her mother read accompanying text.

Her blindness was not a shock because her older brother also can't see. She credits her parents for encouraging her to adapt and pursue her goals.

In high school, she was among several valedictorians and also played the violin, sang in the choir and performed with the marching band.

She describes her work in the public defender's office as a "dream job" because she wanted to use her education to serve and inspire others, particularly youth. Fernandes represented adults for several months before switching to an open position in the juvenile division.

The award and resulting exposure should encourage more employers to hire people who are blind, she said.

"There are a huge amount of blind people with talent not being used. A lot of my clients say they really appreciate what I'm doing for them and that I make them want to tackle the obstacles they're facing."

County Manager C. David Pedri said Fernandes is a "great attorney, county employee and person."

"The fact that she is also visually impaired proves that she is also driven and dedicated," he said.
Heavy rain and wind slammed our area Tuesday. A First Alert expired Tuesday afternoon but the chance of a gusty, isolated thunderstorm remained for the rest of the day.

A cold front moved in overnight and steady rain began to fall, extending west to east. Through Tuesday's morning commute, we saw pockets of heavier rain as well as isolated thunderstorms that slowed drivers.

By 7 a.m., the storm had knocked out power to more than 14,000 AC Electric customers in Gloucester and Cumberland counties with other scattered outages throughout the region. The power outage caused the Lumberton Township School District to close schools and caused Franklin Township Public Schools to open two hours late. the outages were cut in half by 10:30 a.m.

Powerful winds and rain are keeping electric crews busy Tuesday. In Gloucester County alone, there were more than 6,000 customers without power. NBC10s Cydney Long is in Washington Township with details.

By mid-morning, there were reports of downed wires in Mercer County, New Jersey and wind damage spreading across Philadelphia and its suburbs.

Besides the rain and possible thunderstorms, a Wind Advisory is in effect in South Jersey. Some areas saw wind gusts over 50 mph Tuesday morning. Winds could gust 25 to 35 mph in the afternoon.

Leaves can also be slippery when wet, leading to a walking hazard Tuesday.

By early Tuesday afternoon the back of the weather front had yet to move through the area. The Pennsylvania suburbs, Lehigh Valley and Berks County could saw some clearing before evening but the sunshine could help to produce an isolated shower or storm into the evening.

Some rain could linger against the shoreline overnight.



Conditions will clear Wednesday but colder air will also move in leading to temperatures in the 60s. The temperature will drop even more Thursday before rising again Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, another strong front will bring in rain, some heavy, and temperatures will drop into the 50s.

Stay with the NBC10 First Alert Weather Team for the latest.
A Broadway star and a famous graphic novelist teamed up to raise funds for a Vermont charity supporting LGBTQ causes.

Beth Malone received a 2015 Tony nomination for her leading role in the acclaimed musical Fun Home.

Beth Malone performs Telephone Wire from the acclaimed musical Fun Home, at a fundraiser for The Samara Fund.

The show is based on the life of Vermont resident Alison Bechdel, who wrote and illustrated her autobiographical story of coming out as a lesbian, while her father was secretly gay.

The performer and the author appeared together Friday night at the BCA Center in Burlington, at the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of The Samara Fund.

The Samara Fund awards college scholarships as well as grants to organizations that benefit LGBTQ Vermonters statewide, in areas such as health care, housing, the arts, elder services, anti-bullying work, and HIV prevention.

We try to target those grants and scholarships to what we believe is making our community thrive, and healthy, and active, and entertaining, said Richard Wizansky, the chair of the advisory committee for The Samara Fund.

Its for the LGBTQ community, but, I feel like what Samara does also makes Vermontthe whole Vermont communitya stronger, better place, Bechdel told necn. Thats why theyre so awesome.

The Samara Fund is housed under the Vermont Community Foundation, and says it has granted more than $600,000 in scholarships and grants to LGBTQ causes in the state over the past quarter-century.

Click here for more information on the Samara Fund.
An entrance fee price hike could be coming to the most popular National Parks next year, including Acadia National Park in Maine.

The Department of Interior has proposed a price increase at 17 national parks to help pay for maintenance projects, and the cost to bring a car into Acadia could go up from $25 to $70.

"I think it's substantial," said Steve Fisher, who was visiting the park on Friday.

"People will definitely take a second thought about coming in, at $70,' said his wife, Jill Fisher.

The $70 fee would allow visitors to return for free for one week. Individual passes would increase from $12 to $30, and motorcycles entering the park would pay $50, up from $20.

"The timing, and the dramatic nature, of this increase took us by surprise," said David MacDonald, president of Friends of Acadia, a Bar Harbor nonprofit. "A lot of people here in Maine don't necessarily have that discretionary income, so it might deter people."

While Friends of Acadia supports incremental increases to park entrance fees to support the needed maintenance and park upkeep, MacDonald said he thinks $70 is too high.

He said some local business owners are worried that the fee increase could backfire, and cause park attendance to decline. If attendance suffers, so do their small businesses, which rely on the tourist economy.

"This is a huge part of a lot of people's livelihoods," MacDonald said.

Some park visitors said they think the $70 entrance fee is worth it, especially if it can cover multiple days.

"You can't get a better place than this," said Alex Dinunzio, visiting with his wife from Boston.

His wife, Haley, said the fee increase was probably for a good reason  and they want to support the future of the parks.

The National Park Service will take public comment on the fee proposal on its website until Nov. 23.
We need 100 Friends to support the website

This month marks the thirteenth anniversary of the Network Norwich & Norfolk website launch.



Over those 13 years we have published hundreds of articles, events, pictures and comments.



We have helped countless Christian organisations, churches and individuals publicise their work, appeal for funds, find new staff and volunteers and make thousands of connections across denominational and other divides.



Much of this would simply not have been possible without the platform the website provides.



We know that thousands of you appreciate our work because of the 3,400 who subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter, the 11,000 who visit the website every month and our 2,400 followers on social media. Also, because of the numerous e-mails and calls we receive every week asking for our help.



We have been able to provide this service largely for free, thanks to the generosity of local Christian businesses, organisations and churches who have taken advantage of our economical and carefully targeted advertising opportunities. Also because of the scores of our readers who have already signed up to join our 100 Friends scheme.



We want our service to remain freely available to all.



We serve you, the local Christian community, we know that you support us and after a dozen years of service, we want to give you the opportunity to express that.



We want to be able to continue to fund the website through the local Christian community and as part of that, we need to find 100 people, churches or organisations who value our service enough to donate just 1 a week to help keep the website going and growing to provide an even better service.



We want to find 100 Friends who will sign up for just 1 a week (by monthly or quarterly Standing Order) to support our work.

If you would like to support us individually or know a church or Christian organisation that can, please click here to download a donation form

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Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in Brazil, report that the Zika virus is transmitted from mother to fetus by infected cells that, ironically, will later develop into the brain's first and primary form of defense against invasive pathogens.

The findings are published in the current online issue of Human Molecular Genetics.

"It's a Trojan Horse strategy," said Alysson Muotri, PhD, professor in the UC San Diego School of Medicine departments of Pediatrics and Cellular and Molecular Medicine. "During embryogenesis -- the early stages of prenatal development -- cells called microglia form in the yolk sac and then disperse throughout the central nervous system (CNS) of the developing child.

"In the brain, these microglia will become resident macrophages whose job is to constantly clear away plaques, damaged cells and infectious agents. Our findings show that the Zika virus can infect these early microglia, sneaking into the brain where they transmit the virus to other brain cells, resulting in the devastating neurological damage we see in some newborns."

Beginning in 2015, a dramatic increase in children born with microcephaly or abnormally small heads and other birth defects was observed in Brazil. The phenomenon was subsequently linked to infection by the Zika virus, which Muotri and others confirmed last year caused birth defects in experimental models.

Typically, the Zika virus is transmitted to people through the bite of infected Aedes species mosquitoes. However, a pregnant woman can also pass the virus to her fetus, though scientists have not been able to precisely describe the mode of transmission.

"Considering the timing of transmission, we hypothesized that microglia might be serving as a Trojan horse to transport the virus during invasion of the CNS," Muotri said.

Lab Diagnostics & Automation eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

To test their hypothesis, the researchers used human induced pluripotent stem cells to create two relevant CNS cell types: microglia and neural progenitor cells (NPCs), which generate the millions of neurons and glial cells required during embryonic development. Then they established a co-culture system that mimicked the interactions of the two cell types in vitro when exposed to the Zika virus.

They found that the microglia cells engulfed Zika-infected NPCs, doing their job. But when these microglia carrying the virus were placed in contact with non-infected NPCs, they transmitted the virus to the latter. "That suggests microglia may indeed be the culprit for transmitting the virus to the CNS during prenatal neurodevelopment," Muotri said.

Muotri and colleagues then tested whether an FDA-approved drug called Sofosbuvir, marketed as Sovaldi and used to treat hepatitis C, might limit viral infection of NPCs in co-culture with infected microglia. It did. "Sofosbuvir significantly decreased cell death of NPCs and the viral load in NPCs"

Though the findings are based on in vitro research and further investigation is necessary, Muotri said they were encouraging, suggesting microglial cells could be a therapeutic target for reducing Zika transmission into the CNS of developing fetuses.

"The co-culture system we've developed is robust and useful for studying neuro-immune interactions," he said. "It can also serve as a drug-screening platform for discovering new therapeutic compounds against Zika virus infections in a human context."
The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2017/18 is now available in the British Journal of Pharmacology. Published by Wiley on behalf of the British Pharmacological Society, the 440 page guide includes overviews of key properties for close to 1,700 human drug targets, identifies 3,500 ligands including more than 2,400 synthetic organic molecules and over 50 antibodies. Over 4,000 interactions between ligands and targets are quantified, allowing researchers to assess the potency of these interactions.

This open access knowledgebase of major drug targets is completely linked and divided into eight major areas of research focus:

Drug Discovery eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

G protein-coupled receptors

Ligand-gated ion channels

Voltage-gated ion channels

Other ion channels

Nuclear hormone receptors

Catalytic receptors

Enzymes

Transporters

"As a pharmacologist, being able to access freely information on current human drug targets is vital to discovering new therapeutics," said Steve Alexander, Associate Professor of Molecular Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham and Lead Editor of the Concise Guide.

The Concise Guide provides an authoritative voice on nomenclature of these pharmacological targets through close links with NC-IUPHAR. It offers summary information on the best available pharmacological tools, alongside key references and suggestions for further reading.

"The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY is the drug discovery researchers' bible," said Amrita Ahluwalia, Co-Director, The William Harvey Research Institute, Professor of Vascular Pharmacology at Barts & The London School of Medicine & Dentistry, and Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Pharmacology. "We are pleased to once again make the Concise Guide freely available to our colleagues around the globe at http://www. guidetopharmacology. org/ concise."

This edition of the Concise Guide was compiled with the help of over 150 collaborators representing industry and academia from 22 countries across four continents. The British Pharmacological Society would like to thank the Universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Nottingham in the UK, and Monash, Australia for their contributions to updating the Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY.
Flu season is here.

The contagious respiratory illness caused by viruses that infect the nose, throat and lungs can cause mild to severe illness and at times may lead to death. People of every age -; including people in good health -; are at risk for flu.

Approximately 970,000 Americans were hospitalized due to the flu in 2014, and more than 40 million were affected by flu-related illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although a majority of hospitalizations and deaths occur in people 65 years and older, even healthy young children and younger adults can have severe disease or even die from influenza. Nearly 100 deaths from influenza among children are reported each year to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

These data, say UAB experts, are reason enough for Americans to receive their yearly influenza vaccine.

The most common symptoms of the flu are fever, chills, fatigue, muscle aches, stuffy or runny nose, and sore throat, and symptoms typically last a week. A wide range of complications can be caused by influenza virus infection of the upper and lower respiratory tracts. Complications of flu can include bacterial pneumonia, ear infections, sinus infections, dehydration and worsening of chronic medical conditions, such as congestive heart failure, asthma or diabetes.

Forecasting flu season

Recent reports show that Australia has seen its worst flu season on record. Kevin Harrod, Ph.D., the Benjamin Monroe Carraway Endowed Chair and professor in the UAB Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, says what happens in the southern hemisphere is usually indicative of what type of flu season will occur in the northern hemisphere.

"These data tell us that we should see a worse than average flu season," Harrod said. "But, with all things influenza, there's a lot we don't know."

Harrod says this year's vaccines are combating the H3N2 strain and B strains of influenza. He added that H3N2 viruses cause worse disease in the elderly and young children, and that they are associated with a high hospitalization rate.

With all the knowledge and scientific research about influenza, Harrod says it is extremely difficult to perfectly forecast which strains are used to create vaccines.

"There are always a few strains circulating that aren't predominant, but can become predominant -; especially in populations of high immunization," he said. "So, it's difficult for public health officials to predict which strains will circulate. For that reason, not every vaccine is a perfect match."

Vaccines for everyone

In his lab, Harrod -; who has been studying influenza and other respiratory viruses for 20 years -; and his team research the effectiveness and development of novel antivirals against influenza. Because it is ever-changing, scientists are always looking for new and better ways to fight the severity and frequency of influenza.

Harrod says the best way to prevent flu from spreading and becoming more serious is by getting vaccinated.

"While getting the flu shot may not keep you from getting the flu, it will limit the severity and duration of the illness, and provide you with some protection against future infections in subsequent seasons," Harrod said. "Even in years when the flu vaccine is a 'bad match,' there is partial protection because one's immune system can make antibodies that still recognize and bind to the influenza virus even when new strains emerge unexpectedly."

Leah Leisch, M.D., assistant professor in the UAB Division of General Internal Medicine, says it is imperative everyone receives influenza vaccines because any flu vaccine can offer some protection against the virus.

"The CDC recommends all people ages 6 months and above -; including pregnant women -;receive an annual flu vaccination," Leisch said. "It is especially important for people at high risk for flu-related complications. This includes, but is not limited to, pregnant women, children younger than 5, adults older than 65 and people with certain medical conditions. The flu vaccine is not recommended for infants less than 6 months old."

Harrod says the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices does not recommend the use of the live attenuated influenza vaccine, also known as the "nasal spray" flu vaccine, in the 2017-2018 influenza season.

The aftermath of flu

Once someone is infected with the virus, Leisch notes, there are two recommended courses of treatment.

"During flu season, if you experience flu-like symptoms, it is wise to let your doctor know within 24 to 48 hours of when the symptoms began," she said. "However, your doctor may not prescribe any medications, as most -; otherwise healthy -; adults under age 65 do not require prescription medication for flu."

In fact, Leisch says, for most people, the best therapy is to stay at home -; away from others -; and get plenty of rest and fluids. Young children, adults older than 65 and adults with certain medical problems may require treatment with an anti-viral medication to help prevent flu-related complications.

The other recommended course of treatment is with anti-viral medication.

"These medications are good at preventing complications of flu and shortening the duration of flu by one or two days," Leisch said. "However, they will not make the symptoms go away immediately."

She added that most healthy adults under age 65 do not require prescription medication for flu.
Ancient skull likely of first ever Tsunami victim recovered

Papua New Guinea : An ancient partial skull has been recovered from Papua New Guinea, it is believed to belong to the first ever Tsunami victim.

The 6000-year-old skull found in Papua New Guinea may have belonged to the oldest known victim of Tsunami, a new study finds.

The mysterious Aitape skull was discovered in 1929 by Australian geologist Paul Hossfeld, but its true identity remained a mystery until now. Earlier, the scientists believed that it a normal human skull of some African man but after years of research it has been found that the skull dates back to the mid-Holocene period, about 6,000 years ago.

We dont know exactly where Hossfeld found the skull, but I think we were within 100 meters of the original location based on his description. We were able to use modern scientific techniques to understand a little more about how this place formed and what we were actually looking at. Mark Golitko who examined the Aitape skull and its whereabouts said in a statement.

With analysis of diatoms or small single-cell organisms within the sediments, researchers found out that there was a lot of water when the person died or lived.

Diatoms make little silica shells around themselves and when they die, those sink to the bottom, said Golitko. So we put the sediment under a microscope and counted those diatoms and it more or less tells you about the temperature, salinity and how energetic the water was that they were living in.

The analysis also suggests the presence of Tsunami at the time skull was buried. With observations of modern Tsunami, the researchers cannot find any other reason than Tsunami as the reason behind the death of the man.

Tsunamis do not rip up the ground enough to remove already buried bodies and put them into suspension and transport them. Overwhelmingly, the dead you find were killed by the tsunami. Co-researcher Ethan Cochrane, an archaeologist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand said.
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Army shot down Indian spy drone along Line of Control: Pakistan

Islamabad : The Pakistan Army has claimed of shooting down an Indian spy drone along Line of Control in the Rakh Chikri sector.

The claim made by Pakistan Army was accompanied by a photo showing a commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle made by the drone manufacturer DJI.

Pakistani Major General Asif Ghafoor posted the picture of drone and made claims on a social media platform.

The tweet read: "Indian quadcopter spying across LOC in Rakhchikri sector shot down by Pak Army shooters. Wreckage held."

The tweet came in hours after Islamabad resisted strongly to the supply of armed drones by United States to India.

Indian quadcopter spying across LOC in Rakhchikri sector shot down by Pak Army shooters. Wreckage held. pic.twitter.com/g9FG7EghPS  DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) October 27, 2017

"Use of armed drones can lower the threshold for conflict, since it can encourage military misadventures, especially in the backdrop of irresponsible discourse about limited military operations below the strategic threshold," Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria told reporters in Islamabad on Friday.
If Pakistan fails, we will act against terrorists: US

New Delhi : Donald Trump administration has asked Pakistan to take a firm action against terrorists active under their boundaries, in case the country fails, US will change its tactics and strategies to achieve the objective in a different way, a State Department official on Friday said.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has asked Pakistan to act strongly against terrorists and dismantle their save havens on its soil. The statement comes a day after he concluded his maiden trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

"We have communicated our expectations to Pakistan numerous times that they must take decisive action against terrorist groups based within their own borders, Nauert said.

Tillerson said the message to Pakistan was:"Heres what we need for Pakistan to do. We're asking you to do this; we're not demanding anything. You're a sovereign country. You'll decide what you want to do, but understand this is what we think is necessary. And if you don't want to do that, don't feel you can do it, we'll adjust our tactics and our strategies to achieve the same objective a different way."
No dual citizenship for Australia Deputy PM: Court

Canberra : A court on Friday ruled that Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and four other politicians were wrongly elected because they held dual citizenship, the media reported.

The High Court of Australia's ruling means Joyce, Nationals leader Fiona Nash and One Nation's Malcolm Roberts were disqualified from office, reports the BBC.

The Greens Larissa Waters and Scott Ludlam had already resigned from the Senate in July.

Joyce is an Australian who also held New Zealand nationality when elected, a citizenship he later renounced.

The ruling also means the ruling National Party loses its majority in the House.

Section 44 of the country's constitution stipulates that every legislator must have Australian nationality only, reports Efe news.

Australia will hold a by-election to replace Joyce, while in the Senate the seats will be assigned to other people in the parties.

Joyce, who had said he was not aware of his second citizenship, apologized to his voters in statements to the press and said that he would participate in the by-election, after giving up his New Zealand passport in August.

"I had no reason to believe I was a citizen of any other country but Australia," said the former Deputy Prime Minister, noting that he "respects the verdict" and the "marvellous democracy, with all the checks and balances" of Australia.

Joyce, like his mother, was born in Tamworth, New South Wales.

However, the politician's father was born in New Zealand and immigrated to Australia in 1947 as a British citizen, one year before the concept of Australian citizenship was established.

Because of his paternal origin, the politician inherited New Zealand citizenship.

As a result of the ruling, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's government will have to negotiate with the three independent parliamentarians to retain its majority in the Lower House, at least until the by-election which is expected to be held next year.

Bill Shorten, leader of the main opposition Labor Party, called for Turnbull's resignation for his "terrible judgment".

"Joyce broke the law and as a result, we now have a minority government," Shorten tweeted.
The head of Facebooks AI, Yann LeCun, says AI still has a long, long way to go before it approaches anything near the intelligence of a baby, or even an animal.

LeCun thinks the keys are

* machines that can build, through learning, their own internal models of the world, so they can simulate the world faster than real time

* virtual assistants really are going to be the big thing. Current assistants are entirely scripted, with a tree of possible things they can tell you. So that makes the creation of bots really tedious, expensive, and brittle, though they work in certain situations like customer care. The next step will be systems that have a little more learning in them, and thats one of the things were working on at Facebook. Where you have a machine that reads a long text and then answers any questions related to it  thatd be useful as a function.

* The step beyond virtual assistants is common sense, when machines have the same background knowledge as a person. But were not going to get that unless we can find some way of getting machines to learn how the world works by observation. You know, just watching videos or just reading books. And thats the critical scientific and technological challenge over the next few years. I call it predicted learning, some people call it unsupervised learning.

Facebooks AI team did try to solve Go but Deep Mind and Google made the unbeatable Go systems.

DeepMinds team does believe that deep learning and neural nets can be extended to become artificial general intelligence.

Pathnet is Deepminds step towards super neural nets for artificial general intelligence.

Where are we with brain technology and AGI ?

Launched in 2012, the Green Brain Project aims to create the first accurate computer model of a honey bee brain, and transplant that onto a UAV. In 2015, they used the bee brain simulation to fly a quadcopter. Bees have 960,000 neurons and 1 billion synapses.

* House mouse has 71,000,000 neurons and 1 trillion synapses

* Brown Rat has 200 million neurons

* Cat has 760 million neurons

* Pig 2.2 billion neurons

* Rhesus macaque 6.8 billion neurons

* Human 86 billion neurons and 150 trillion synapses

If we had a general intelligence with the capabilities of a rat then it would three times beyond the goals of the European Human Brain Project with its mouse models and would be a matter of scaling the neurons and the solution by 400 times.

In 2016, former Braintree founder Bryan Johnson invested $100 million into Kernel, a company with the sole purpose of building hardware and software to augment human intelligence. Johnson believes that over time he will need to raise $1 billion to execute a series of product milestones. He thinks this will take 7-10 years.

Elon Musk has invested in Neuralink to have high resolution brain computer interfaces.

The Human Brain Project (HBP) is a large ten-year scientific research project (1 billion euros) that aims to build a collaborative ICT-based scientific research infrastructure to allow researchers across Europe to advance knowledge in the fields of neuroscience, computing, and brain-related medicine.

The project was focused on mouse brain models. There was a 2015 report and the project is being relaunched with more of a focus on tools for brain research.

Here is the Bluebrain EU project website.

 Sept 2017  Successful Neuromodulation of Neural Microcircuits NM Conference prompts future collaborations. At the end of September, the Blue Brain Project concluded a stimulating, interactive and highly collaborative Neuromodulation of Neural Microcircuits NM Conference. A global line-up of renowned speakers and more than one hundred attendees from across the different Neuromodulation communities ensured a cross-pollination of experience and expertise throughout the three-day Conference.

The BBPs current digital reconstructions are first drafts, to be refined in future releases. The fact that they are detailed means they are data ready  it is easy to incorporate data from new experiments as they become available. The BBP will dedicate significant effort to this task. Current BBP reconstructions omit many features of neural anatomy and physiology that are known to play an important role in brain function. Future BBP work will enrich the reconstructions with models of the neuro-vascular glia system, neuromodulation, different forms of plasticity, gap-junctions, and couple them to neurorobotics systems, enabling in silico studies of perception, cognition and behavior.

A second major effort will be dedicated to reconstructions and simulations on a larger scale than neural microcircuitry. The Blue Brain team is already working with communities in the Human Brain Project and beyond, to build digital reconstructions of whole brain regions (somatosensory cortex, hippocampus, cerebellum, basal ganglia) and eventually the whole mouse brain. This work will prepare the way for reconstructions of the human brain, on different scales and with different levels of detail.

Finally, a very large part of BBP activity is dedicated to engineering: developing and operating the software tools, the workflows and the supercomputing capabilities required to digitally reconstruct and simulate the brain and to analyse and visualize the results.

Deep Mind did publish a paper  PathNet: Evolution Channels Gradient Descent in Super Neural Networks

For artificial general intelligence (AGI) it would be efficient if multiple users trained the same giant neural network, permitting parameter reuse, without catastrophic forgetting. PathNet is a first step in this direction. It is a neural network algorithm that uses agents embedded in the neural network whose task is to discover which parts of the network to

re-use for new tasks. Agents are pathways (views) through the network which determine the subset of parameters that are used and updated by the forwards and backwards passes of the backpropogation algorithm. During learning, a tournament selection genetic algorithm is used to select pathways through the neural network for replication and mutation. Pathway fitness is the performance of that pathway measured according to a cost function. We demonstrate successful transfer learning; fixing the parameters along a path learned on task A and re-evolving a new population of paths for task B, allows task B to be learned faster than it could be learned from scratch or after fine-tuning. Paths evolved on task B re-use parts of the optimal path evolved on task A. Positive transfer was demonstrated for binary MNIST, CIFAR, and SVHN supervised learning classification tasks, and a set of Atari and Labyrinth reinforcement learning tasks, suggesting PathNets have general applicability for neural network training. Finally, PathNet also significantly improves the robustness to hyperparameter choices of a parallel asynchronous reinforcement learning algorithm (A3C).

Narrow AI  self driving cars and drones

A few days ago, Nvidia Corp chief executive Jensen Huang said on Thursday artificial intelligence would enable fully automated cars within 4 years. In October 2017 Nvidia and partner development companies announced the Drive PX Pegasus system, based upon two Xavier CPU/GPU devices and two post-Volta generation GPUs. The companies stated the third generation Drive PX system would be capable of Level 5 autonomous driving, with a total of 320 TOPS of AI computational power and a 500 Watts TDP.

Pegasus can handle 320 trillion operations per second, representing roughly a 13-fold increase over the calculating power of the current PX 2 line. Pegasus will be available in the middle of 2018. There will be millions of cars and trucks using these and even more powerful systems over the next few years.

Flood funding

Chinas government and companies like Alibaba are and will be investing many billions to tens of billions of dollars a year into Artificial Intelligence and quantum computing. Google, Facebook, Microsoft, IBM and others are also investing many billions into AI and quantum computing.
In Jan 2017, a team of U.S. Navy scientists and engineers at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) have successfully recreated a natural material used for marine wildlife defense to assist military personnel. Hagfish slime thread has been compared to spider silk. Both are natural, renewable materials which could one day replace synthetic products derived from petroleum-based precursors. Kogot said the slime thread has comparable mechanical properties to Kevlar, a synthetic fiber used as a reinforcing agent for rubber products and protective gear.

During synthetic recreation, alpha and gamma proteins were produced in an Escherichia coli bacteria, or E.coli, where each protein was recovered from the bacteria after a series of isolation and purification steps. The alpha and gamma proteins were later combined together and rapidly assembled in a crosslinking solution. A sample of natural and synthetic hagfish threads were compared using a scanning electron microscope to visually confirm the production of the synthetic threads.

Synthetic hagfish slime may be used for ballistics protection, firefighting, anti-fouling, diver protection, or anti-shark spray.

The effort to create new synthetic means to behave like the natural hagfish slime is supported by Navy Innovative Science and Engineering (NISE) funding and the Office of Naval Research Code 32, ocean battlespace sensing department. The team is researching ways to increase the slimes surface attachment capability, potential delivery systems, and enhanced stability in various environments. From there, Kogot and Kincer will continue to look for innovative applications and explore different variations and properties of the material.

They are currently working to increase the slime protein scale and improve protein assembly.

The hagfish has proven adept at evading larger predators such as marine mammals, sharks and cephalopods (octopus, squid). In less than a second, a stressed hagfish can emit a coiled threadknown as a skeinwhich contains mucins and fine fibers. Once ejected, the skein rapidly expands when mixed with seawater. According to research conducted by Dr. Douglas Fudge and his colleagues at the University of British Columbias Department of Zoology, the completed slime is comprised of 99.996 percent seawater, with the remaining components being the mucins (0.0015 percent) and fiber threads (0.002 percent). Its considered to be 1,000 times more dilute than other known animal mucus secretions. Once the skeins are introduced into seawater, the material expands approximately 10,000 times in a matter of milliseconds.

The mucin-fiber thread substance only accounts for approximately three to four percent of the fishs body mass. To discharge the material, the hagfish has 90 to 200 slime pores running along each side of its body. When attacked, the animal has the capability to eject slime through a selective grouping of pores which are closest to the predator, or specifically within the attackers mouth.

The hagfish is the only known animal that secretes fully formed intermediate filaments. While the hagfish filaments are often compared to spider silk, the spider spins silk from a liquid precursor, he says. Since the hagfish filament is preformed inside specialized cells along the body, the release of the filaments and mucin causes the slime to be formed instantaneously. This instantaneous expansion was another unique material property that intrigued us as other super absorbing materials usually take minutes to fully hydrate.

Following the initial study on the naturally-produced material, the research team began to explore ways in which hagfish slime could be synthetically reproduced for Navy use. After roughly six months of research, the scientists introduced alpha and gamma proteins drawn from the Pacific hagfish to the Escherichia coli bacteriacommonly known as E.coli. Alpha proteins are a key plasma or blood protein that binds to copper, nickel, fatty acids and other materials; and gamma proteins fall under a class of spherical, globe-like proteins which respond to antigen stimulation by forming into the common form of immunoglobins (i.e. antibodies). The proteins were retrieved from the bacteria and runthrough a series of isolation and purification processes. Following those steps, the proteins would ultimately be combined together, swiftly joined into a crosslinked solution via centrifuge.

In terms of ballistics protection, the Navy could pursue the hypothesis posed by Dr. Fudge now with Chapman Universitythat hagfish filament could serve as a renewable source capable of replacing synthetic, petroleum-based materials. With petroleum being a key component in Kevlar, a material commonly used in military combat helmets and ballistic vests, there is potential for synthetically-produced hagfish slime to be used in the development of innovative protective equipment.

Firefighting applications may be feasible based on the slimes ability to absorb and retain water. Synthetic slime with the same properties might be useful as a fire suppressant.

Due to the slick nature of the slime, it may also hold promise for antifouling technology on Navy ships. Anti-fouling refers to materials and coatings used to prevent biofouling, the buildup of microorganisms, animals and vegetation on wet surfaces. The accumulation of barnacles, seaweed, mollusks and other stowaways on a hull can add weight and increase drag, which can result in up to a 10 percent speed reduction. Biofouling can also impact fuel efficiency and potentially increase greenhouse gas emissions.
A report by Canalys has shown data pointing towards India's usurping of the US to become the second largest smartphone market in the world, with China standing at the top of the pyramid.

4 Reviews

A few days ago, we did a report on a study by analytics firm GfK that pointed towards the growth of the smartphone market in Emerging Asiaa geographical demographic that includes countries like India, Malaysia, and Indonesiaand a slight decline in the North American one. This time out, a new report by Canalys has provided data that validates the former, with numbers showing India's rise to cementing its place as the second largest smartphone market in the world.

The Indian market has seen significant growth over the past five or six years, so this was inevitable for the most part. It's more incredible that the US managed to hold on to its position for this long, as there's a not-so-significant difference of close to a billion between the populations of both countries.

On the business side of things, the battle for dominance in the Indian market is almost exclusively between Samsung and Xiaomi, with 45.6% of the total market share split almost evenly between the two companies. In Q3 alone. Samsung recorded 9.4 million shipments, while Xiaomi came close with 9.2 million, an amazing 290% year-on-year growth from 2016. Samsung has a firm grip on the mid-range segment, with OPPO and Vivo providing a modicum of competition. Xiaomi are undisputed kings of the budget market, however, and we expect the upcoming releases of the next generation of Redmi devices to catapult the MIUI-makers to the top of the Indian market. There's also the news of the teased camera-centric mid-range Xiaomi series for the Indian market, which is an indication of Xiaomi's ambition to cement its dominance.
What was discussed

The 90 minute meeting discussed various issues. Giving details of the meeting JAC's president, senior Advocate Khaidem Mani said that out of the 22 points charter of demands submitted by the JAC to the State Government, the issue about implementation. He said that the representatives of the JAC urged the State Government to implement 7th pay at the earliest and even offered to work together with the State Government to appeal to the Central Government in case of any financial difficulties.

Meeting with Prime Minister

He further said that the JAC also plans to meet the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, in case all other methods of persuasion fail . According to Khaidem Mani, Chief Minister N Biren said that implementation of 7th pay is a valid point but as Manipur is a poor State, the practical implementation will take some time. The president further stated that the CM listened attentively to the JAC's argument that 7th pay has been already implemented in other States with conditions similar to Manipur and assured to take up necessary actions to try and implement the same in the State after proper analysis and research by the five member Fitment Committee formed in connection with the implementation of 7th pay commission.

Three months time

The CM further appealed to the JAC to give the State Government three months time for positive result regarding the matter, he added . Khaidem Mani also claimed that the CM welcomed the JAC's proposal to urge the Central Government for aid in case the State Government is not able to provide the necessary finance . He also said that during the meeting, N Biren brought up the issue of some employees who are prone to only demanding rights and benefits without performing any work, to which the JAC requested the authority for permission to launch an investigation regarding the matter.

On October 10, 2016, the JAC submitted a 22 point charter of demands to the then CM of the State and the JAC has been regularly organising protests and agitation till date . Khaidem Mani said that the JAC held meetings with Chief Minister N Biren on April 21 and August 29, this year, and today's meeting marks the third time the JAC is having a dialogue with the State Government.

Disappointed

On the other hand, the secretary of the JAC, L Biken expressed disappointment with some of the associations and organisations launching separate agitation without any consultation with the JAC of AMTUC and AMGEO (which was established in 1965) . He further stated that the JAC was initially affiliated to All India State Government Employees' Federation but due to some differences, it split from the federation in September of 2015.Biken further urged all those concerned to support the JAC's agitation and demand for implementation of 7th pay under the 7th Pay Commission in the State and further appealed the people not to support any organisation formed by members who were expelled from the JAC. The JAC's protest was announced in a general body meeting participated by members from 47 units, he added . On the other hand he said that the JAC takes the matter brought up by the CM during the matter, namely lack of punctuality and unethical practices by Government employees, seriously.
Abortion sole prerogative of wife, does not need husbands consent: SC

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

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Abortion is the sole prerogative of the woman, says Supreme Court | Oneindia News

Abortion is the sole prerogative of the woman, the Supreme Court has ruled. The order was passed by the court while rejecting a man's petition seeking damages from his estranged wife for undergoing abortion without his consent.

The court ruled that an adult woman had an unimpeachable right to give birth or terminate pregnancy. The man came in appeal to the SC after his plea before the Punjab and Haryana High Court was dismissed.

The High Court had said, " keeping in view the strained relationship between the husband and wife, the decision to terminated the unwanted fetus was right. The termination of pregnancy had not soured the relationship between the two. Keeping in mind the legal position, it is held that no express or implied consent of the husband is required in getting the pregnancy terminated under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act."

She is a mother and an adult. How can she or others be made liable for it? Even a mentally challenged woman has the right to terminate her pregnancy, the Bench headed by Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra said.

The couple got married in 1994 and had a son in 1995. Due to discord, the wife and son had been staying with her parents in Chandigarh since 1999. During pendency of the wife's petition seeking maintenance, the Lok Adalat in Chandigarh had mediated, and persuaded the couple to live together in the husband's house in Panipat.

In November 2002, they started living together and in January 2003 discovered that she was pregnant. As the relationship showed no signs of improvement, the woman wanted to terminate the "unwanted" pregnancy. The man objected. She contacted her parents, who took her to Chandigarh. The husband refused to sign the hospital papers for medical termination of pregnancy but the woman went ahead with the abortion at a Chandigarh hospital.

Following this the man filed a suit seeking damages of Rs 30 lakh. The suit was however dismissed. While dismissing his suit the HC had said that if the wife had consented to matrimonial sex, it does not mean that she has consented to conceive a child. It is the free will of the wife to give birth to a child.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 7:21 [IST]
Arun Jaitley slams Chidambaram, says Kashmir problem a Congress legacy

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday held the previous Congress-led UPA regime at the Centre responsible for the Kashmir issue, claiming that the party's wrong policies gave an advantage to terrorists and extremists.

Reacting sharply to P Chidambaram's remarks on autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir, Jaitley said that the Congress is deceiving the country, itself by encouraging separatism in the state."It is hurting India's national interest," he told ANI.

The finance minister also said the Congress needs to clarify whether this is the party's stand or just the personal opinion of a senior party leader.

He said that more terrorists have been neutralised in the three years' rule of the Modi government as compared to the former regime and many development. We have succeeded in squeezing the funds of the terrorists, mass protests of stone throwers are by and large over, he added.

Hitting back at the Congress he said that "Kashmir problem is a Congress legacy. Instead of learning from its past mistakes, Cong wants to precipitate a crisis further for this country, he said adding that 10 years of the UPA Government was a wasted opportunity on J&K, not a single initiative worked."

"Congress people have no right to criticise the government because it is the party responsible for the Kashmir issue due of its wrong policies and wrong approach towards terrorists," he told reporters.

Chidambaram landed in controversy after saying that Kashmir needed autonomy. "My interactions in Jammu and Kashmir led me to the conclusion that when they ask for 'Azadi', most people want autonomy". Trying to sort of find a middle-line to solve the Kashmir problem.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 23:16 [IST]
CBI, ED set to widen probe against Karti Chidambaram

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate are set to widen the probe against Karti Chidambaram. Both agencies say that they will probe six more foreign investment approvals that were given by former union finance minister P Chidambaram.

The CBI has accused Karti of receiving bribes from companies that benefited from his father's decisions. Both father and son have rejected the allegations.

The CBI is also set to call in for questioning officials who were part of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board which had recommended these proposals. The FIPB used to approve foreign investment deals of up to a certain value. The FIPB made its recommendations to the finance minister. However the Narendra Modi government disbanded the board earlier this year.

The CBI and ED are looking into approvals granted between 2004 and 2008. Now the agencies would also look into the approvals that were granted between 2012 and 2014. Further details of possible slush funds sent abroad to buy assets have been sought from the Income Tax department.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 6:21 [IST]
Chidambaram amazed over allegations against Ahmed Patel

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

Former Union Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday came in support of Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel after the BJP accused him of links with Islamic State.

On demands of Ahmed Patel's resignation, Chidambaram said, "I am amazed by this kind of outrageous demands."

He said, "I have gathered some facts from my friends. Ahmed Patel was a trustee of a hospital, I believe he (Patel) resigned or retired in 2015."

"Now if somebody joins as a technician and then he is linked to ISIS, how is some trustee of 3 years ago responsible," he asked.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani demanded Congress leader Ahmed Patel's resignation as Rajya Sabha MP, alleging that a suspected Islamic State member arrested recently used to work at a hospital that Patel used to "manage".

Read More: [Why did you recruit an ISIS operative, Rupani asks Ahmed Patel]

Patel, he added, should explain how 31-year-old Kasim Steamerwala - who was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Gujarat Police last Wednesday along with Ubed Mirza - came to be employed by the Sardar Patel Hospital in the town of Ankleshwar in Bharuch district.

Rupani demanded an explanation from the Congress and its vice-president Rahul Gandhi for recruiting a "terrorist".

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PM Modi, Xi Jinping greet each other at G-20 dinner in first meet after Galwan clash

Modi calls for debate on intra-party democracy, targets Congress

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

PM Narendra Modi on Saturday addressed mediapersons in annual 'Diwali Mangal Milan Samaroh'- the media outreach programme- at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters. BJP National President Amit Shah was present in the function.

At the outset, PM Modi recalled the days when he used to regularly interact with media persons while working at the BJP headquarters.

PM Narendra Modi, said,"Democracy in political parties is something that the country is adapting to. We need to have transparency in the recruitment that political parties do."

"The nation has seen the positive role played by the media in making the Swachh Bharat Mission a success," he said.

"You (the media) show us (the politicians) what we need to focus on. There are so many different types of media nowadays. Coming here, among you brings back memories when I was working in the Party HQ and spent time with many of you. Nowadays, though, you complain that we do not get to sit and chat like we used to. The times have changed and that has created a crunch for us to interact with each other," said the PM.

PM Modi speaking at the function "It feels nice to meet my friends from the media without their cameras, papers and pens. We have a long association with each other and there is an understanding with which we all work for the country," says PM Narendra Modi. Courtesy: @BJP4India BJP chief at Diwali Milan Samaroh "The BJP and India has faced many struggles but we have weathered all storms," says BJP President Amit Shah. PM's interaction with media PM Narendra Modi is meeting journalists and interacting with them at the BJP HQ. Courtesy: ANI news Group photo with media persons Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP National President Amit Shah pose for a group photo with journalists. Courtesy: ANI news

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Cong for Muslims, BJP for Hindus: Did Rahuls temple visits in Guj help to bust the myth?

Dressed as fishermen, Lashkar operatives will strike during Gujarat polls: IB

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

A 26/11 styled attack is being plotted in Gujarat by Pakistan's Lashkar-e-Tayiba ahead of the elections, the Intelligence Bureau said in a report. The report warns that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba will try and target election rallies and also attempt to disrupt communal harmony ahead of the Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017.

With the IB issuing the warning, security has been stepped up and there is a high-alert on the seas as well. The IB says that with several high-profile campaigns scheduled, terrorists would look to launch an attack.

The IB says that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba will try and send in its men through the seas like was seen in the case of the Mumbai 26/11 attack. The security personnel manning the maritime areas in Gujarat have been told to be high alert.

Terrorists may slip in as fishermen, the IB also warns. They would try and slip in following which their local contacts may try and supply the ammunition for the attack to the them, the warning further states.

There is a great deal of activity on the waters since the past few months, the IB warns.

70 boats have been seized and 400 fishermen from Pakistan have been arrested in 2017 alone. There is a need to check every boat that is coming in from Pakistan and the maritime security should not take any chances, the Intelligence Bureau has also warned.

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Gold Armour row: Paneerselvam, Dinakaran fight it out to win over Thevars in TN

India

oi-Oneindia

By Praveen Kumar

The 13-kg weighing gold armour, which Jayalalithaa donated to the Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar memorial, has now become a symbol for the feuding AIADMK factions to reiterate their loyalty to the prominent Thevar community, which has been a traditional AIADMK vote bank.

Both the TTV Dinakaran faction and O Paneerselvam faction are trying to claim custody of the golden armour, which has been kept in the Bank of India locker at Madurai so that they could win over the confidence of the traditional supporters of the party. In the prevailing confusion, the Bank of India officials have handed over the gold armour to the Madurai district Collector on Saturday.

When Jayalalithaa donated this armour in 2014, to be placed on the Muthuramalinga Thevar statue at his memorial in Ramanathapuram district, she had clear political goals. Thevar community forms a sizeable vote bank in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu and their solid support has been the main reason for the electoral triumph of AIADMK. While spending about Rs.4 crores for the gold armour, Jaya ensured continuing support of Thevar community to her party as another prominent community, the Gounders from the Kongu Nadu, Western side of Tamil Nadu drifted away from her party, mainly due to the ban on toddy by her government earlier.

Many had also seen it as a thanksgiving by Jayalalithaa to the community which stood firmly behind her despite the numerous corruption issues she faced during her first term as Chief Minister. Her once-trusted lieutenant, O Paneerselvam, who belongs to the Thevar Community, had also understood the political mileage the gold armour could get and now does not want the TTV Dinakaran faction -AIADMK (Amma)- to cash in on Thevar caste sentiments.

The Bank of India branch at Madurai, where the armour was kept, witnessed some tense moments on Friday when both the Paneerselvam group and TTV Dinakaran group approached the bank with claims of authority over the armour. As per the tradition since 2014, the armour is carried to the memorial at Ramanathapuram during Thevar Jayanthi, which falls on October 30 every year to adorn the Thevar statue. Jayalalithaa had authorised O Paneerselvam, then the party treasurer to operate the locker jointly with the trustee of the Muthuramalinga Thevar Memorial Trust.

Now with the party split and each claiming to be the original AIADMK, the bank could not hand over the armour to the joint locker holders, as Paneerselvam, according to Dinakaran group is not a party representative anymore. In the prevailing confusion, bank authorities handed over the armour to Veera Raghava Rao on Saturday morning. The armour would be now taken to Ramanathapuram and handed over to the Ramanathapuram district Collector.

Though the community interests have been caught in the crossfire between Paneerselvam and Dinakaran, no Thevar leaders have come out in support of any of the factions. Paneerselvam faction, which has recently merged with Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy group, is believed to have more Thevars on their side. Palanisamy, who is a Gounder (Kongu Vellalar), ensures support of the Gounder community to their faction. So Dinakaran's attempt to win the power to handle the gold armour is seen as a desperate move by the leader to win over the support of the Thevar community.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 17:31 [IST]
H-1B visa issue raised with US 'very strongly': Suresh Prabhu

India

oi-PTI

India has "very strongly" raised the issue of H-1B and L1 visas with the US, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Saturday.

The US has tightened the norms for issuing the most sought-after H-1B and L1 visas in line with the Trump administration's goal to protect American workers from discrimination and replacement by foreign labour.

In a new directive, the Trump administration this week made it more difficult for the renewal of H-1B and L1, popular among Indian IT professionals, saying that the burden of proof lies on the applicant even when an extension is sought.

Under the current US rules, Indian IT professionals working in the US on H-1B visas do not get back their hard- earned contribution to Social Security, which runs into at least more than US $1 billion per annum.

"We raised very strongly the issue of Indian professionals and H-1B and L1 visa issues," Prabhu said after the first US-India bilateral Trade Policy Forum (TPF) under the Trump administration which was also attended by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

"We explained to them that we are not raising this issue because Indians will find it difficult to come, because US economy itself will find it difficult to cope with the reality because the US has immensely benefited by IT professionals penetrating into the market by offering services that has improved their productivity," Prabhu said.

Batting for Indian IT companies, he also strongly raised the issue of totalisation.

"I hope they will look into the issue," Prabhu said, as he pointed out towards the issue of mismatch between US visa and US social security regimes, wherein Indian professionals making social security contributions do not receive their due benefits upon their return to India.

Meanwhile, the US and India have also agreed to address the issue of trade deficit by increasing and diversifying bilateral trade, the minister said as he sought easing of procedures for export of mangoes and pomegranates to the US.

Taking note of America's concern on price controls on medical devices, Prabhu, during his meetings with Lighthizer on Thursday, encouraged US companies to take benefit of the "Make in India" policy and establish manufacturing facilities in India which would considerably bring down the cost.

During the inaugural India-US Commercial dialogue, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross stressed on the need to increase bilateral trade between the two countries to address the issue of trade imbalance, a point which keeps on popping up in the remarks of US President Donald Trump.

Reducing imports from India is not an option, Ross was quoted as saying by Prabhu.

"The Commerce Secretary clearly said that trade deficit is an issue, but not by reducing imports from India but promoting more exports from the US to India which is absolutely a very positive and an extremely forward-looking idea, which we welcome," Prabhu told reporters at the conclusion of his two-day visit to Washington DC.

In the next few years' time, India would actually be able to buy more from the US.

India has started buying crude oil from the US, he said, adding that there is great potential for the United States in the fast expanding aviation market in India.

Indian aviation companies such as Spicejet and Jet Airways have placed orders for over 300 aircraft worth several billions of dollars.

As American companies shift their manufacturing base from China to the US, this would also result in more American export to India, Prabhu said.

He said that the two countries have agreed to work on the issue of poultry, pork and intellectual property right.

"We already have made some substantial progress," he said.

Acknowledging that there is a very strong issue on medical devices, Prabhu said he explained to his American counterpart that public health is a priority issue for the Indian government.

"This is something we would have to balance between the commercial interest and the larger public interest," he said, adding that there is a review due early next year, during which concerns of the US would be relayed back to the reviewers.

Prabhu said that his meetings have yielded very positive results in removal of barriers in export of Indian mangoes to the US.

While the US market was opened up for Indian mangoes during the tenure of former president George W Bush, in reality it has been tough because of the tough irradiation procedure adopted by the US, which not only makes its very expensive, but is also time consuming.

India has been demanding that pre-clearance be transferred to Indian National Plant Protection Organisation, which is well equipped and trained to do the necessary inspection and meet the US standards.

"Of course, you should get Pomegranates and Table Grapes also," Prabhu said, referring to the progress made in removing hurdles towards export of these products to the US.

Prabhu said, India has sought cooperation from the US on certain technology sectors like artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and aviation.

While acknowledging significant areas of progress in the commercial relationship, Prabhu and Ross shared candid feedback on a range of market access issues that can be addressed to expand trade and investment opportunities.

Ross highlighted the potential to enhance trade by lowering tariff and non-tariff barriers and committing to the use of international standards.

While recognising the reforms that India has undertaken to simplify tax and bankruptcy procedures for industry, he indicated that greater effort in this direction would ensure a more meaningful and balanced trade relationship.

Prabhu appreciated the growing strategic and economic relationship between India and the US.

Emphasising the liberalisation measures undertaken in India, he reaffirmed his government's commitment to make India a favoured investment destination.

While responding to US concerns on price controls on medical devices, Prabhu mentioned about the need to bring about a balance between providing optimum medical facilities and affordable health care to its citizens.

India desires to address the concerns of providing healthcare to its citizens at reasonable costs and balancing it with the need to introduce high-end technology, he said as he encouraged American companies and manufacturers of medical devices to establish manufacturing facilities in India.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 21:35 [IST]
Why NOTA, a blank vote, is a waste with no impact on election results

How BJP's win in Gujarat, HP is spreading happiness in the Indian market

In new Himachal Assembly, 52 out of 68 MLAs are crorepatis

Himachal Pradesh elections: Billionaire files nomination as independent candidate

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

A billionaire, who now lives in Saudi Arabia, has filed nomination as an independent candidate in the upcoming Himachal Pradesh assembly elections.

Prakash Rana, Indian-born billionaire merchant dealing in diamonds and owner of multiple companies residing in Saudi Arabia has arrived six months prior to the elections in Himachal Pradesh to contest from Joginder Nagar constituency in Mandi district, says Dainik Bhaskar.

Rana told ANI, "It was my father's dream to serve people. I'm here to do that. I have always donated 10 per cent of my income for people's welfare."

It was my father's dream to serve people. I'm here to do that. I Have always donated 10% of my income for people's welfare: Prakash Rana pic.twitter.com/pr3MpCdiTu  ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2017

The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, 2017 is scheduled to be held on 9 November 2017. Counting of votes will take place on December 18, 2017.The term of current Legislative Assembly ends on 7 January 2018.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 15:07 [IST]
In this village all are born on Jan 1, thanks to Aadhaar goof up

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Almost an entire village in Uttarakhand have common date of births, if the entry on their Aadhar cards is to be believed. Over 800 people in Haridwar's Gaindi Khata village have January 1 as their date of birth on their Aadhaar cards.

Incorrect date of births were not the only errors in the Aadhaar cards issued to them. In one case, age of a grandmother was shown to be 22 years old while her children were shown to be aged between 15 and 60, according to a TOI report.

In August 2017, similar incident had emerged in Uttar Pradesh's Agra district. Three villages had the same date of birth on their Aadhaar cards - January 1.

The villagers of Uttarkhand are now worried if they would be able to avail benefits of government schemes that need Aadhaar.

In an another Aadhaar related goof up that came to light earlier in Octobe 2017, names of over 100 farmers were found linked to a single Aadhaar number in Maharashtra after the government attempted of online registration for loan waiver implementation.

Ironically, the government had said that the Aadhaar-based linking will avoid any duplication as well as fake accounts getting the benefit of the loan waiver. The Centre had earlier this year made Aadhaar mandatory for availing crop insurance policies. As per the agriculture ministry's directive, banks were asked to persuade farmers to furnish Aadhaar identification card at the time of sanction/renewal/ disbursement/inspection of the loan or on visit at bank branches.

Officials of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) have so far (as of Oct 28 2017) refused to accept that mistakes have been made, according to a report.

At a time when Aadhaar identities have been dubbed as the basic necessity for any Indian citizen to benefit from schemes, such glaring errors raise serious questions.

(The story was originally published on October 28, 2017. Some modifications were done later)

OneIndia News
FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K

In J&K, 14,000 dropouts find their way back to schools

One Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist gunned down in Jammu and Kashmir

PMs dream of development in J&K is becoming a reality: Puri

J&K: Picture of cop with AK-47 sparks fear he may have joined Lashkar

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

A picture of a Jammu and Kashmir policeman with an AK-47 assault rifle is doing the rounds of social media fuelling rumours that he has joined the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as he did not report for duty following a leave.

The policeman was posted at the Police Training Centre (PTC) in Kathua district in the state.

"Ishfaq Ahmed had gone on leave from PTC Kathua. He was supposed to report back on October 23 but failed to return. We will take legal action against him," a senior officer of PTC Kathua told PTI.

On whether he had joined the LeT in South Kashmir, when he had gone on leave, the officer said that details are being verified.

A resident of Heff Shirmal village in southern Shopian, Ahmed joined the police in 2012, the official said.

In recent past, eight police personnel have deserted police ranks and joined the militancy in Kashmir.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 6:42 [IST]
Karnataka: Legislature party will decide on CM after polls,says PCC chief

India

pti-PTI

Bengaluru, October 28: Karnataka PCC President G Parameshwara Saturday said the legislature party will decide on the Chief Minister, post the election results. He ruled out any differences about leadership within the party ahead of the 2018 Assembly polls.

"Our first goal whether it is chief minister or me is to cross 113 (assembly seats) mark.

After that, there is always a convention in the Congress party that legislature party selects its leader- who will contest, who will get selected (as leader) no one knows as of now...." Parameshwara said in response to a question about the chief ministerial candidate.

Speaking to reporters on completing seven years in office as the Pradesh Congress Committee chief, he said: "There is no other shortcut method for it..." Parameshwara, however, declined to comment on Siddaramaiah's repeated claims that he will be the next chief minister.

Aiming to retain power in Karnataka, one among Congress party's last surviving bastions in the country, the party leadership has announced that Siddaramaiah will lead the party during the elections.

Noting that the Congress leadership has "already announced" that Siddaramaiah will lead the party during the elections, Parameshwara said, "we have all agreed to their decision and are working together towards retaining the power once again."

Rejecting any differences within the party about going to elections under Siddaramaiah's leadership, he said, "our confidence of regaining power comes from the programmes that we have given to the people of the state.

"Asked about Congress party's target for the upcoming elections, he said, "when we say we will form the government on our own, we will obviously have to cross 113 seats mark (out of 224)."

He also ruled out the possibility of a coalition government. Congress is conducting surveys to collect data to help it select candidates and decide the strategy for the 2018 assembly polls.

"We have not started the process of selection of candidates yet, but we are now looking at individual constituencies where we can win or lose. We are analyzing each of the 224 constituencies," he said.

Strongly backing minister K J George who has been booked by CBI in the mysterious death of a police official, Parameshwara said there is no reason for him to resign.

"Let CBI investigate, we don't have any problem...let them investigate on the basis of the merit and let the truth come out. There is no reason for George to resign, this is our party's decision and also the decision of the government," he said.

Hitting out at the BJP for demanding George's resignation, the KPCC President said their demand is not based on facts, but with political mindset.

"They are not concerned about the merit of the case or direction of the court. They are only concerned about the political gain they can get out of it," he added. The state assembly polls are due next year.

PTI
Detention centres are legal and were set up after SCs directive

Legal drinking age in Delhi reduced from 25 to 21: here is a look at the rules in other states

Eleven legal rights in India that you should know

'Legal education in India has witnessed major transformation'

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Oct 28: Vice Chancellor of O P Jindal Global University Professor C Raj Kumar has said that legal education in India has witnessed a major transformation.

Kumar was speaking at a session themed "Educating Global Lawyers" at the Harvard Law School's World Bicentennial Summit held on October 26-27, 2017 at Harvard University.

The session discussed the challenges of adapting legal education curricula to the rapidly changing needs of employers, workplaces and society as they moved further into the 21st century.

The Bicentennial Summit at the Harvard began with an inaugural session which was also addressed by six judges of the US Supreme Court - all of whom were alumni of Harvard Law School besides over 250 speakers from around the world.

"Legal education in India has transformed from its early origins as a professional practice of law in courts to an autonomous discipline of law that fulfils a broader set of social, economic and educational goals and aspirations. The evolution of legal education in India has raised the standards of the legal profession and has further accentuated the impact of economic globalisation in a range of legal services," he said.

Kumar said the globalisation of legal profession has impacted the nature and context of legal practice in India but a vast number of law schools and lawyers are not prepared to effectively address this change.

PTI
Farmers' loan waiver: Maharashtra govt releases Rs 899.11 crores

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

The Maharashtra government on Saturday released Rs 899.11 crores towards waiving the loans of the farmers whose crops were affected due to various reasons. The will reportedly be disbursed to 2,39,610 farmers.

The BJP-led Maharashtra government had said while announcing the farm loan waiver scheme in June that of the 89 lakh farmers whom it will benefit, some 44 lakh owe less than Rs1.50 lakh each to the banks. The ceiling for loan waiver has been raised from the initial Rs1 lakh to Rs1.50 lakh.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had in June announced the historic loan waiver of Rs 34,022 crore for farmers and subsequently laid down the eligibility criteria for availing of it.

In July, the state government came up with a set of guidelines for the effective implementation of the loan waiver scheme for farmers.

The government later expanded the ambit of the loan waiver scheme to include even those farmers who had taken loans after 2008.

There are 1.34 crore farmers in Maharashtra, according to the data of the state agriculture department.

Earlier, the state's loan waiver scheme, titled Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sanman Yojana, covered only those farmers who have outstanding debts between April 1, 2012 and June 30, 2016.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 10:21 [IST]
When this mom got a surprise gift, her reaction was 'gold' | Watch

Man who plotted Modis assassination arrested again

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Recommended Video

Narendra Modi : Man who plotted PM's assassination arrested once again | Oneindia News

A alleged operative of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba who was held for plotting the assassination of Narendra Modi has been arrested again. He was out on bail when the police arrested him for possessing fake documents.

On August 28 2002, Farhan Ali was arrested from Delhi with 4 kgs of RDX, detonators and a pistol. He along with his associates were accused of plotting the assassination of Modi who was then the Gujarat Chief Minister. They were also accused of plotting the killing of Sangh leaders.

Ali who was out on bail was found to be in possession of fake documents including a passport. The police learnt that he had used the passport to travel to Kuwait which was also a violation of the bail conditions.

The police learnt about this following a complaint against Ali in which he was accused of land grab. He was arrested from the Barabian area which falls under the Mughalpura police station limits.

During the search at his home, the police found fake ration cards, driver's licence among other documents. The police has alerted the Intelligence Bureau which is now questioning him.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 7:58 [IST]
Lost my father to 'hate and division', do not want to lose country: Rahul

Memorial where Sister Nivedita was laid to rest, in utter shambles in Darjeeling

India

oi-Amitava

By Amitava

While the world wide celebrations of 150th birth anniversary of Sister Nivedita commenced on Saturday, Darjeeling remembered the noble soul in her own quiet and humble way.

Devotees of the Ramakrishna Mission had gathered at Sister Nivedita's memorial at the Darjeeling crematorium where they offered floral tributes and Khadas (traditional scarves.)

The memorial erected in 1925 is in utter shambles with weeds and undergrowth having taken over. Along with Sister Nivedita's memorial, memorials of other greats including Maha Pundit Rahul Sankrityayan are in dire straits owing to lack of maintenance.

Neither the Government nor the Darjeeling Municipality, in charge of the crematorium, have taken any steps to preserve these historical structures.

"We have requested the Government and the Municipality for the upkeep and preservation of these memorials. It would be a matter of great shame if these memorials are destroyed with time owing to lack of upkeep. With these memorials a rich part of our heritage and history will also be lost forever" stated Swami Nityasatyananda, Centre-in-charge of the Ramakrishna Mission Nivedita Educational and Cultural Centre (RKMNECC.)

The day was also commemorated at the RKMNECC where children of the Gadadhar Abhyudaya Prakalpa staged cultural programmes. People from all walks of life paid tribute to the Sister at the Centre.

Margaret Elizabeth Noble was born on 28 October 1867 in the town of Dungannon, Ireland. In November 1895 she met Swami Vivekananda who was then visiting London. Inspired by Swami Vivekananda she arrived at Kolkata on 28 January 1898. On 25 March 1898, Swami Vivekananda formally initiated Margaret in the vow of Brahmacharya (lifelong celibacy) and gave her the name of "Nivedita" (the dedicated one) becoming the first Western woman to be received into an Indian monastic fold.

Read More: [Swami Vivekananda's disciple, Sister Nivedita's 150th birth anniversary today]

The Queen of the Hills had occupied an important part in Sister Nivedita's life. During her lifetime she had visited Darjeeling 7 times and even died in Darjeeling.

She had arrived in the first week of October in 1905 and was putting up at Auckland Cottage in Darjeeling. She was in Darjeeling for exactly a month during that visit.

October 16 that year was marked as a black day. Shunning the partition and declaring that Hindus and Muslims along with East and West Bengal are one and inseparable, Sister Nivedita, though ailing, had gone around Darjeeling, educating the masses against the evils of partition. She had also generated a public referendum against this "evil design."

Again in October 1911, an ailing Sister Nivedita accompanied by Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose and his wife Abala Bose had arrived at the Roy Villa on Lebong Cart Road, Darjeeling to spend the puja vacation. Many eminent personalities had visited her at the Villa at that time.

On October 7, on Nivedita's instruction her "Will" was drawn up from this house. On 13th October, 1911 Friday at 7 am, she had uttered the words- "The boat is sinking. But I shall see the sunrise." With these words she passed away in this house. The Roy Villa now houses the Ramakrishna Mission Nivedita Educational and Cultural Centre.

Sister Nivedita's last rites were performed in the Hindu crematorium in Darjeeling. Later a "Smriti Mandir" (memorial) was constructed by Swami Abhedananda at Darjeeling crematorium where she was cremated.

Swami Abhedananda, Founder of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, writes "I returned to India after having completed my task in the USA in 1925. On return I started an Ashrama in Darjeeling. At that time I felt that though it was in Darjeeling that Miss Noble had been cremated neither the Ramakrishna Mission nor the local residents had thought of erecting a memorial in her honour here. I was deeply saddened by the apathy towards one who had sacrificed herself for India. I then on behalf of Ramakrishna Vedanta Math erected a Smriti Mandir. In the epitaph I wrote "Here repose the ashes of Sister Nivedita, who gave her all to India" Isn't this her true identity?"

OneIndia News
NIA summons Salahuddins grandson in Kashmir terror funding probe

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

In protest against the probe by the National Investigation Agency, all family members of Syed Salahuddin will present themselves before the agency. The decision was made following a summons issued to the grandson of Salahuddin, chief of the Hizbul Mujahideen.

The NIA had recently arrested Shahid Yousuf in connection with the Kashmir terror funding probe. With more leads coming up about the involvement of Salahuddin's family, the NIA decided to summon his grandson.

The family members while calling it a ploy by the Centre has decided to present themselves for arrest before the Jammu and Kashmir police at Budgam.

Following the arrest of Yousuf, the NIA has got information about the manner in which funds reached the Valley to fuel the unrest. Yousuf who is employed with the J&K state government is alleged to have got funds through his Pakistani contact Aijaz Bhat. It was further revealed that he was getting funds at the behest of his father, Salahuddin, a globally proscribed terrorist.

It may be recalled that the Centre had recently appointed former Intelligence Bureau director, Dineshwar Sharma as an interlocutor to talk peace in Kashmir. The Centre says that all parties interested in restoring peace in the Valley would be involved in the process.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 6:03 [IST]
PM Modi, Xi Jinping greet each other at G-20 dinner in first meet after Galwan clash

Opposition kick-starts 'freedom struggle' against BJP

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

Mumbai, Oct 28: At a day-long conference in Sion, Mumbai, on Friday, leaders from various opposition parties once again tried to portray a united front as they continued with their attack against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The conference, "Sanjhi Virasat Bachao Sammelan (save composite culture conference)", an initiative of Sharad Yadav, the leader of breakaway faction of Janata Dal (United) (JD-U), is not only an attempt to "protect the composite culture of India", but a "freedom struggle" against the BJP.

Along with Yadav, several prominent opposition leaders, including Sitaram Yechury from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M), Anand Sharma and Ashok Chavan from the Congress, D Raja from the Communist Party of India (CPI), Tariq Anwar from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Jaiprakash Yadav from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Jayant Choudhari from the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Abu Azmi from the Samajwadi Party (SP), Sukhendu Shekhar Roy of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Raju Shetti of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghathana, took part in the meeting.

Speaking at the conference, Yadav accused the Narendra Modi government of adopting the British policy of "divide and rule".

"They are dividing our country in the name of religion. The country has never faced a crisis like this ever in the past seventy years. But this won't happen if we stay united, the BJP rule will end too. The so-called gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes) and other goons of this government are not just lynching people but our Constitution. It's time we stand united to save our Constitution, to save Indian values," Yadav added.

The Sanjhi Virasat Bachao Sammelan is a part of the opposition parties' sustained campaign against the BJP.

The conference was previously hosted in Delhi, Indore and Jaipur. After Mumbai, similar programmes will be held across the country.

Yechury attacked the BJP government over the demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Yechury alleged the BJP government has spread "tax terrorism" in the country in the name of "useless economic policies". "By demonetising old notes, they (the BJP) managed to turn black money into white. Those who held this money will now get interest on them. The Modi government has saved banks from going bankrupt due to non-payment of loans by business tycoons. On the other side, they have spread tax terrorism in the name of GST."

Yadav also took a dig at PM Modi. He said, "This man does not get tired of delivering speeches, he can speak endlessly. Till date the Modi government has done everything but the promises they made to the people of India are still not fulfilled. Imagine the state of the country where a government threatens to go on strike."

Yadav alleged the BJP is spreading a canard that the people of India have no other alternative.

"Modi has forgotten one rule of democracy that not him but the people of this country are the rulers. If they can vote for him, they can vote against him. The BJP had earned only 31 per cent vote, remaining 69 per cent were bagged by the united opposition. If we stay together, we can get BJP out," said Yadav.

The Opposition reiterated its plan to hold a silent march as a part of its protest against the demonetisation on November 8. It will be one year since demonetisation was announced by PM Modi on November 8.

The Opposition is going to observe November 8 as a "black day", whereas the BJP is going to celebrate the day as an "anti-black money day".

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 6:45 [IST]
Fact Check: PM Modi never told ICC to replay the India-England semi-final game at T20 World Cup

PM Modi meets UK PM Rishi Sunak on the sidelines of G20 summit in Bali

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What PM Modi said after meeting world leaders at G20 Summit

PM Modi, Xi Jinping greet each other at G-20 dinner in first meet after Galwan clash

PM pitches for greater cooperation with France in defence manufacturing

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, October 28: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday pitched for greater cooperation in defence manufacturing and research and development with France under the framework of 'Make-in-India'.

He said this when French Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly called on him in New Delhi.

Parly briefed the prime minister about developments in bilateral defence cooperation, a PMO statement said.

The prime minister said that defence cooperation is one of the key pillars of the Strategic Partnership between India and France, and called for greater cooperation in the 'Make in India' framework in defence manufacturing and joint research and development, the statement said.

The two leaders also discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest, it added.

The PM said that he looks forward to receiving French President Macron in India at his earliest convenience, the statement said.

PTI
Priority is to prevent Kashmir from turning into Syria: Dineshwar Sharma

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

India's biggest challenge is to deradicalise youth and preventing the Valley from turning into Syria, said Dineshwar Sharma, the newly appointed Kashmir interlocutor.

"I am worried about the people of Kashmir. If all this picked up, the situation will be like Yemen, Syria and Libya. People will start fighting in so many groups. So, it is very important that everybody, all of us, contribute so that suffering of Kashmiris end," said Sharma.

"I feel the pain and sometimes I become emotional also. I want to see this kind of violence ends as soon as possible from all sides. The youth of Kashmir like Zakir Musa (Kashmir Al Qaeda chief) and Burhan Wani (slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander) get hype when they talk about (establishing Islamic) Caliphate," Sharma said in an interview to IANS.

On October 23, Intelligence Bureau director Dineshwar Sharma was appointed as the special interlocutor for sustained dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir, which has seen a rise in insurgency in recent years.

Over the last one year, violence has escalated in the Valley since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. Incidents of stone-pelting mobs including women and children clashing with security forces have increased.

Sharma, who met Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti during her Delhi visit on Thursday, is expected to travel to Jammu and Kashmir.

OneIndia News with agency inputs

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 22:57 [IST]
Construct park near Yamuna from amount depostied by Art of Living: NGT

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar meets Maulana Nadvi, says 'there is cooperation from Muslim community'

When delegates across the world pledged to fight terror through Gandhian principles

Ram temple issue: Ravi Shankar to meet stakeholders

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

Art of Living Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has taken an initiative to meet the stakeholders to find an out-of-court settlement to the Ram temple dispute.

On meeting stakeholders, Ravi Shankar said, " Situation has changed, people want peace." He said, "A platform is needed where both communities can show the essence of brotherhood."

"There were efforts is 2003-04 also but environment more positive now. Doing this in my own capacity, it is non-political," said the spiritual leader told ANI.

"Ravi Shankar has been in touch with several imams and swamis, including Acharya Ram Das of Nirmohi Akhara," the Art of Living Foundation told PTI.

"Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is of the view that the prevailing mood on the Ram Mandir issue provides an opportunity for people from both communities to come together, show their magnanimity and settle the dispute out of court," it added.

There were efforts is 2003-04 also but environment more positive now. Doing this in my own capacity, it is non-political: Sri Sri #RamTemple pic.twitter.com/cYZqw7ChKl  ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2017

The Allahabad High Court, in 2010, had ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77-acre area at Ayodhya among Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and Lord Ram Lalla.

The Supreme Court decided to reopen the hearing after based on 13 appeals filed against the 2010 judgment in four civil suits. The apex court will hear the case on December 5.

(With agency inputs)

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 12:05 [IST]
SC collegium to assess professional evaluation of additional judges

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Supreme Court collegium has decided to assess the professional evaluation of additional judges while recommending their names for promotion as permanent judges of the High Courts.

The decision was taken unanimously by the Collegium members in the meeting held on yesterday.

The Collegium, in a partial modification of its earlier decision, has decided that the judgements of Additional Judges of the High Courts shall be called for from the respective Chief Justices and evaluated by the Committee of two Judges of the Supreme Court, other than consultee-Judges, to be nominated by the Chief Justice of India.

The decision was made public today on the official website of the Supreme Court. The judgements evaluation committees used to evaluate the judicial performance of additional judges till recently.

The decision assumes significance as the government had recently urged the Collegium to have a relook at its decision to end the practice of evaluating the judicial performance of additional judges.

The evaluation was part of the guidelines issued by the then CJI S H Kapadia in October, 2010.

"The Collegium had unanimously taken a decision on March 3, 2017 to withdraw with immediate effect last sentence of guideline No 2 issued by the then Chief Justice of India on October 30, 2010, regarding constitution of Judgment Committee by Chief Justices of HCs for assessment/evaluation of judgements of Additional Judges of HCs for determining their suitability for appointment as Permanent Judges. The decision was communicated to the Minister for Law & Justice by the then Chief Justice of India by DO letter No. CC/HC/2017/2251A dated April 16, 2017," the Collegium said.

The Collegium also said that in this regard, the Minister for Law and Justice on June 6 had made certain suggestions pertaining to appointment of three Additional Judges as Permanent Judges in Chhattisgarh High Court.

"Regard being had to the necessity of assessment of judgements and also bearing in mind the principle that peers should not be judged by peers, the Collegium in partial modification of its earlier decision taken on March 3, 2017 has decided that the judgements of Additional Judges of the High Courts shall be called for from the Chief Justices of the concerned High Courts and the same shall be evaluated by the Committee of two Judges of the Supreme Court, other than consultee-Judges.

In a bid to bring in transparency in its proceedings, the Supreme Court Collegium had recently decided to upload on the court's website the decisions taken by it, including on elevation, transfer and confirmation of judges.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 6:58 [IST]
Sex CD row: Chhattisgarh govt recommends CBI probe

India

pti-PTI

Chhattisgarh government on Saturday recommended CBI probe into sex CD row allegedly involving PWD Minister Rajesh Munat.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Raman Singh at the Secretariat in Raipur, state's Revenue Minister Prem Prakash Pandey told reporters. He said the Cabinet held a discussion on the purported video and decided to recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the issue.

Accusing the Congress of hatching a conspiracy, the minister said his party has already stated that the CD was fake and even a local TV channel in its report on Saturday mentioned that it has been tampered with.

The matter seems to be a "political and criminal conspiracy" and, therefore, it was decided that by the premier investigation agency should probe it, Pandey said. Asked if Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munot allegedly involved in the row will step down from his post till the investigation gets completed, he said, "How can a state minister influence a CBI probe?"

He said the recommendation to the CBI for the probe has been made on six points including inter-state conspiracy in making the "fake" CD, a high-level technical examination of the alleged video, funding to make it and political and criminal conspiracy.

The alleged sex video sparked a political row in the state with the Congress and the BJP trading charges over the issue.

The matter came to light when senior journalist Vinod Verma was arrested by the Chhattisgarh Police early on Friday morning from his Ghaziabad residence for suspected blackmail and extortion related to a "sex CD".

As Verma was being escorted by the police, he claimed that the Chhattisgarh government was not happy with him as it suspected that he had a "sex CD of Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munot" and suggested he was being framed. Munot called it "fake" and an attempt at character assasination.

According to the Raipur Police, a case of blackmail and extortion was registered at Civil Line police station in Raipur following a complaint by one Prakash Bajaj who said that he "was being harassed over phone by an unidentified caller who told him that he had a CD of his master".

Raipur Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Shukla had claimed that about 500 "porn" CDs, Rs 2 lakh in cash, a pen drive, a laptop and a diary were seized from the journalist's residence, who was picked up at 3.30 am from Mahagun Mansion Apartments in Indirapuram by the state police team with the help of the Ghaziabad Police.

The SP said that Verma has been booked under Section 67 (A) Information Technology (IT) Act for possessing pornographic material.

Munot had demanded that the CD be examined for its genuineness and action taken against those involved in this "conspiracy".

Chhattisgarah BJP spokesperson Shivratan Sharma had alleged that state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel was part of the "conspiracy" involving the "fake CD".

Later on the basis of Munat's complaint, a case was registered against Baghel, Verma and others.

The main opposition Congress had demanded that a probe be conducted by an independent agency under the supervision of the Supreme Court into the "sex video" row.

PTI
Sushma Swaraj helps Indian family stuck in Malaysia

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, October 28: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday asked the Indian embassy in Kuala Lumpur to help an Indian family get their travel documents, despite the mission being closed on weekends.

Swaraj's response came after one, Meera Ramesh Patel, sought the former's intervention saying her family was at the airport and had lost their passports.

"Indian Embassy in Malaysia: This is an emergency case. Pls open the Embassy and help the Indian family @hcikl," the minister said in a tweet.

Responding to Swaraj's request, the Indian embassy in Malaysia tweeted that the family members have been contacted and the matter was being resolved.

Earlier in her tweet to the Union minister, Patel said, "@SushmaSwaraj Mam my family is in Malaysia airport and lost their passports. Due to weekend Indian Embassy is closed. Please help".

@SushmaSwaraj Mam my family is in malasia airport and lost their passports. Due to weekend Indian Embassy is closed. Please help  Meera Ramesh Patel (@MeearRameshPate) October 28, 2017

In yet another case, the external affairs minister requested the Indian embassy in Washington to help an Indian student who had lost her passport.

In a tweet, Anusha Dhulipala said she was a student in the United States and had lost her passport because of which she could not travel anywhere.

"@SushmaSwaraj I really need help as they say I have to go to India to get my Visa its my exams time I cant travel without passport sooner," she said.

Indian Embassy in Malaysia : This is an emergency case. Pls open the Embassy and help the Indian family. @hcikl https://t.co/HCnnCzrJmn  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 28, 2017

PTI
Need to instil ideals of Swami Vivekananda in today's youth: CJI Ramana

Swami Vivekananda's disciple, Sister Nivedita's 150th birth anniversary today

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

The monks of Ramakrishna Mission will celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Sister Nivedita on Saturday. Sister Nivedita was Swami Vivekananda's disciple and made India her home.

Born as Margaret Noble at Tyrone, Ireland, on October 28, 1867, Nivedita was the eldest daughter of Samuel and Mary. Her father was a priest of an Irish Church.

In 1892, at the age of 25, she opened a school of her own in Wimbledon. Margaret was endowed with a sharp intellect, an enquiring mind, and a deep insight of love.

According to historical records, she was a religious seeker, whose search for the truth led her away from the strict dogmas of Christianity. Her search for truth led her in 1895-96 to Swami Vivekananda's teachings of the Vedanta (Complete Works of Sister Nivedita', II 471).

Read More: [Memorial where Sister Nivedita was laid to rest, in utter shambles in Darjeeling]

Later in India, she followed the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and was particularly devoted to Kali and Shiva of the Hindu deities.

She breathed her last on the 13th October 1911 at Darjeeling, West Bengal.

Nivedita wrote extensively Nivedita wrote extensively and has left behind a legacy of works which are worthy of study today. Her innumerable articles were published in journals like the Review of Reviews, the Prabuddha Bharata, the Modern Review, etc. Courtesy: Hinduhistory.info Sister Nivedita with Swami Vivekananda She came to Calcutta on 28 January 1898, was initiated into Brahmacharya (a celibate yogic order) and was given the name `Nivedita' by Vivekananda on 25 March. Courtesy:hinduhistory.info Desk of Sister Nivedita Nivedita started her school at No.16, Bosepara Lane in Bagh Bazar, Kolkata on November 13,1898 with the blessings of Holy Mother. Parents in the Orthodox Indian society at that time hesitated to send their daughters to school and more so to a school run by a woman of an alien culture. Courtesy:srisaradamath.com 150th Birth Anniversary celebration RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat during 150th Birth Anniversary celebration of Sister Nivedita in Kolkata on Tuesday.PTI Photo
WBTET 2017: Relief for 200 persons as HC permits them to write test

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Around 200 persons who were unable to take the WBTET 2017 were allowed to appear for the test by the Calcutta High Court.

Noting that the last date for applying for the TET was October 29, Justice Arijit Banerjee in an interim order asked the state education department to assist the petitioners in filing their applications online. Justice Banerjee said the order will be subject to a final order in the matter. He said the petitioners may lose precious time if not allowed to appear for the examination.

On October 9, the state government issued a notification effecting changes in the eligibility criteria, which included that the applicants have a specified period of training.

Following the notification, around 200 candidates moved the court claiming the criteria was contrary to the guidelines set up by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).

Justice Banerjee said the results of the petitioners will not be published without the permission of the court.

The court asked the state government to file an affidavit supporting their position within three weeks and the petitioners to file their reply within a week after that. An appropriate bench of the court will hear the matter after four weeks.

Among the petitioners were some candidates who have completed or enrolled for courses in 'special education' from Rehabilitation Council of India-recognised institutes, and others who have enrolled for courses in Diploma in Elementary Education (DLEd).

Appearing for the State, Advocate General Kishore Dutta submitted that the petitioners do not satisfy criteria laid down by the NCTE.

Some petitioners, who may have just enrolled for DLEd courses may not be able to fulfil conditions with regard to general educational courses such as higher secondary examination, Mr. Dutta said.

Noting that the petitioners merely pray for an opportunity to appear for the examination, Justice Banerjee said prima facie he is of the opinion that NCTE guidelines permit the candidates for the examination.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 9:40 [IST]
Vijay Rupani resigns: BJP legislature party likely to meet on Sunday to choose new CM

Why did you recruit an ISIS operative, Rupani asks Ahmed Patel

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Recommended Video

Gujarat Assemble Elections: Vijay Rupani asks Ahmed Patel why he hired terror sympathisers |Oneindia

Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani sought to know why Congress leader Ahmed Patel appointed an Islamic State sympathiser in a hospital. Rupani alleged that one of the two ISIS sympathisers arrested by the Gujarat ATS was employed at a hospital in Bharuch that Patel was associated with.

While rubbishing the allegation, Patel asked Rupani not to politicise matters of national security for the sake of elections.

Mohmamad Kasis Stimberwala and Ubed Ahmed Mirza, reportedly a lawyer, were arrested on Wednesday and booked for criminal conspiracy, waging or attempt to wage war against the government of India.

Rupani demanded an explanation from the Congress and its vice-president Rahul Gandhi for recruiting a "terrorist".

He also asked how Stimberwala resigned just two days before his arrest. "Or was asked to resign from Sardar Patel Hospital and Heart Institute?"

"Why was he recruited in the first place? Patel should answer these questions," Rupani said.

Patel was a trustee of the hospital, and after resigning in 2014, he invited then-president Pranab Mukherjee and shared the stage with him at a function, Rupani further added.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 6:12 [IST]
Afghanistan: Nine policemen killed in Taliban attack

International

pti-PTI

Kabul, Oct 28: At least nine police officers were killed in separate attacks by Taliban insurgents on police checkpoints in eastern Ghazni province in Afghanistan, an official said.

Arif Noori, spokesman for the provincial governor, said two police checkpoints came under attack by Taliban fighters in the early hours on Saturday, also wounding two policemen.

He said six insurgents were killed and nine others were wounded in the battle, which lasted almost an hour.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, according to their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

He said 14 police were killed, including both commanders of the checkpoints. Afghan forces have struggled to combat a resurgent Taliban since US and NATO forces formally concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014, switching to a counterterrorism and support role.

On October 25, nine Afghanistan National Army soldiers and 17 terrorists were killed after the Taliban fighters stormed into a military camp.

PTI
Did North Korea release back South Korea fishing boat on humanitarian grounds?

International

pti-PTI

Seoul, Oct 28: Amid rising tension between the two Korean nations, North Korea sent back a South Korean fishing boat and its crew who Pyongyang said were detained for crossing the eastern sea border between the rivals.

While the North's state media said the decision was based on humanitarian grounds, experts said it wasn't clear whether the repatriation reflected intentions to improve relations with the South amid heightened animosity over Pyongyang's expanding nuclear program.

The boat's 10 crew members included not only South Koreans, but also three Vietnamese fishermen, which might have influenced the North's decision for a quick repatriation, said Hong Min, an analyst at Seoul's Korea Institute for National Unification.

Hours after announcing the repatriation plans through the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea sent back the boat and fishermen in designated waters off the peninsula's eastern coast yesterday evening. The fishermen, who arrived at the South Korean port of Sokcho late yesterday, appeared to be in good health, a South Korean coast guard official said.

The fishermen will be questioned by South Korean authorities over the circumstances of their detention and their experience in the North, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity citing office rules.

The fishermen didn't leave the ship as officials searched the vessel for nearly two hours in Sokcho before they were escorted to another port in nearby Uljin, where they might be questioned. The KCNA announcement came hours before US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis visited the heavily-armed land border between the Koreas and stressed Washington's commitment to defend ally Seoul against North Korean threats.

The agency said the South Korean boat, 391 Hungjin, was captured at dawn Saturday after it "illegally intruded" into North Korean waters. The crewmen deliberately entered North Korean waters for fishing, but "honestly admitted their offence, repeatedly apologizing and asking for leniency," the agency said.

Earlier on Friday, Baik Tae-hyun, spokesman of South Korea's Unification Ministry, said maritime police had been searching for the boat after it was reported missing. He refused to say whether the South thought the boat had intruded into North Korean waters before the North's announcement. "It's fortunate that our fishing boat and fishermen are being sent back," said Baik, who added that it was likely the first time Pyongyang used its state media to inform Seoul of a decision to repatriate South Koreans.

The Koreas, which haven't held formal talks in nearly two years, have relied on media announcements to communicate since February last year, when the North declared to end all contact over direct communication lines between the countries. Pyongyang was angry over Seoul's decision to pull South Korean companies out of an industrial park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, the last remaining major symbol of cooperation between the rivals. That move followed the North's fourth nuclear test in January 2016 and a subsequent long- range rocket launch.

The Unification Ministry said North Korea last detained a South Korean fishing boat in 2010 before returning it. South Korea often sends back North Korean fishermen who enter its waters, including several times this year. But it's more unusual for South Korean boats, which are equipped with better navigation equipment, to drift into the North.

PTI
Heres what happened when Kim Jong-un visited New York and met awestruck fans

International

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

New York, Oct 28: Imagine North Korean leader Kim Jong-un suddenly appearing in one of the well-known streets of New York in the United States.

Obviously, such an unexpected visit by the dictator to the US, considered to be North Korea's biggest enemy, will leave the New Yorkers stunned. Yes, Kim visited New York, but it was actually his lookalike who nonetheless managed to register as much attention as the real dictator would have got from the residents of the city.

A hilarious video of around seven minutes, posted by content creator QPark, showcases how an artist perfectly impersonated the dictator and "proudly" walked around the streets of New York.

During his New York sojourn Kim's lookalike, dressed in all black, was also accompanied by a "bodyguard".

The prank video begins by informing the audience that "Kim" walked for around 10 hours across the length and breadth of the city.

He first went to Harlem and immediately caught the attention of people. In the video, one can hear comments like "you look like that President", followed by peals of laughter.

After seeing "Kim", another person said, "That is crazy". Many also addressed the man as "Kim Jong-un." Another said, "That's hilarious. He's in Harlem!" One more voice was heard saying, "What is he doing in America?"

We don't know whether New Yorkers really failed to recognise that the man is actually impersonating Kim or they were also playing along with the prankster. Anyway, whatever the case is, the audience had a great time watching this video at a time when the US and North Korea are experiencing great tension.

In Harlem itself, one 'bold' man managed to strike up a conversation with the imposter by addressing him as the "supreme leader". He asked "Kim", "Do you have rockets?"

In New York, Kim also visited a salon to get his famous haircut. One woman made "Kim" dance for a few seconds, before people mobbed him for pictures.

Then as he strolled through the streets of New York, "Kim" revealed his love for the city. "I love New York."

One more woman after meeting "Kim" said she felt blessed. Then the "dictator" decided to visit Wall Street. He took a metro to reach the place and once there in front of palatial buildings, Kim stated, "Teach me your capitalist trick".

The imposter was seen questioning people, "Have you seen Donald Trump?"

Once again, people took pictures of "Kim". One man was heard calling him "rocket man" as nicknamed by Trump.

Then he visited the Empire State building and Koreatown. In Koreatown, Kim was seen going to a restaurant.

The video ends with the message--"Maybe peace really is possible. Less arms, more talk."

Watch the entire video below:

OneIndia News
India's stand on Rohingyas gracious so far but housing them would be risky

Is sex trade thriving in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh?

International

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

Dhaka, Oct 28: There seems to be no end to the exodus of Rohingyas from violence-hit Rakhine State in Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh.

An estimated 604,000 Rohingyas have taken shelter in refugee camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district in recent times since violence broke out in Rakhine State on August 25.

Before the current influx of refugees to Bangladesh, already more than 300,000 Rohingyas have been staying in various refugee camps in the country. They are again those Rohingya refugees who had fled Myanmar because of violence and persecution unleashed against them in their homeland in the past.

In these cramped and unhygienic refugee camps, men, women and children jostle for space, food and water. The distressing situation of the refugees is enough to churn your stomach. There is probably no need to mention that poverty in its worst form has taken shelter in these refugee camps.

So, the inmates of camps are ready to take up any jobs to earn a few bucks to survive the catastrophe. Now, reports indicate that a "clandestine sex trade industry is booming in Bangladesh's Rohingya refugee camps".

According to a report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, in Kutupalong in Cox's Bazaar district, the biggest camp in Bangladesh, the sex industry is thriving. "Many of the sex workers are longer term residents of the Bangladeshi camps, but the influx of tens of thousands more vulnerable women and girls is expected to fuel the trade," stated the report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"At least 500 Rohingya prostitutes live in Kutupalong," a woman identified as Noor, who works as a fixer, was quoted as saying in the report of the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The report indicated that as thousands of new women and girls have arrived in these camps, thus it might further give a boost to the sex trade industry.

"Recruiters now have their eyes set on the newcomers," Noor said.

However, agencies of the United Nations (UN) say they have no figures on the numbers of sex workers in the camps to make public.

"It's hard to come by numbers and we don't collect data on how many sex workers are in the camps," Saba Zariv, an expert on gender-based violence at the UN's population agency, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

According to a recent report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), because of the chaotic, unorganised camps, children and youths could fall prey to traffickers and people are looking to exploit and manipulate them.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 10:55 [IST]
Human-animal conflict: 89% of dwellers are willing to move out from protected forest areas

Mom catches 6-year-old son asking Alexa to complete his maths homework; says he is taking shortcut

Meet Sophia, the first to be granted citizenship of Saudi Arabia

International

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Sophia, looks a bit like Audrey Hepburn and has an answer for every question. Sophia is the first robot to be granted citizenship of Saudi Arabia.

Sophia is a humanoid robot developed by Hanson Robotics, who is programmed to be witty, was interviewed by business writer Andrew Ross Sorkin at a Future Investment Conference in Riyadh on Tuesday.

At the event it was announced that Sophia was awarded citizenship of Saudi Arabia. The decision was taken by Saudi Arabia which is trying to promote itself as a destination to develop artificial intelligence.

Sophia took to the podium and answered questions. She claimed that her only purpose was to help humans lead a better life. Sorkin asked Sophia to address concerns about the rise of AI. "Those sound like great goals..but go back to Blade Runner for a second," said Sorkin.

Sophia took a jibe at Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX and a staunch opponent of AI. You've been reading too much Elon Musk. And watching too many Hollywood movies. Don't worry, if you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you. Treat me as a smart input output system," she said.

Musk did have an answer for this. He tweeted, "Just feed it The Godfather movies as input. What's the worst that could happen?"

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 7:04 [IST]
With the number of anonymous rogues from Pak rising, here's how BSF is beating down the drones

Pakistan: Politician, brother killed in bomb blast in Balochistan

International

pti-PTI

Karachi, October 28: A leader of Awami National Party (ANP) was killed along with his brother when a bomb blast ripped through their vehicle in the restive Balochistan province, Pakistan.

ANP leader Abdul Razzaq and his brother Abdul Khaliq were on their way to Pishin to attend a public rally when the explosion took place along the Harnai Shahrag road yesterday, a police officer said.

The two were killed on the spot, Harnai deputy commissioner Abdul Salam said. The ANP has eight members in total in Parliament.

"It was a roadside explosive detonated when their vehicle was passing through the area," he said.

In another incident, two people were killed when they stepped on landmines planted on the Chattar area of Nasirabad district last evening.

"Bullock-cart rider Bhagia Khan and a young shepherd, Hadi, stepped on the landmines while passing through the area," a police official said.

In a separate incident, the Lahore-bound Akbar Bugti Express derailed in Mach area of Bolan district when a bomb exploded, the police said.

The bomb was planted near the railway track and six people were injured in the incident, they added.

PTI
Spain takes direct control of Catalonia, fires Carles Puigdemont

International

pti-PTI

Barcelona, Oct 28: In the the worst political crisis in Spain in nearly four decades, Spain has taken direct control of Catalonia and sacked the region's defiant separatist government by publishing special measures overnight in an official gazette online.

The move early on Saturday came after separatist Catalan lawmakers passed a declaration of independence on Friday.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who now replaces Catalan President Carles Puigdemont as the top decision-maker in the northeastern region, has dissolved the regional parliament and called a new regional election on December 21.

Puigdemont and the 12 members of the Catalan Cabinet will no longer be paid and could be charged with usurping others' functions if they refuse to obey. There was no immediate response from the top Catalan officials. Only the director of the Catalan regional police, who was also fired, issued a statement saying he would comply.

Catalonia's regional parliament declared independence from Spain on Friday in a disputed vote.

The Catalan resolution, which Madrid says the region cannot legally execute, was passed by 70 votes to 10. There were two abstentions, but dozens of opposition MPS walked out before the secret ballot in the 135-seat assembly, where 68 votes constitute a majority.

PTI
Former US President George Bush discharged from hospital

Jeb Bush leaves door open for use of torture by government

George H W Bush sexually assaulted me, says US actress

Former President George Bush to attend Joe Biden inauguration on January 20

Two more women accuse former President George Bush of groping

International

pti-PTI

Washington, October 28: Two more women, an author and a politician, have accused former President George H W Bush of groping them.

Author Christina Baker Kline said the nation's 41st president made the same joke others have mentioned before grabbing her buttocks in 2014 in Houston.

She said a Bush driver told her she hoped she would be "discreet."

Amanda Staples, a former candidate for state Senate, told the Portland Press Herald in Maine that she was groped by Bush in 2006 in Kennebunkport.

Two actresses have accused Bush of groping them.

The former president's office says the 93-year-old Bush has "patted women's rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner."

He apologizes "to anyone he has offended," the statement says.

PTI
Basit Kalam Siddiqui arrested from Varanasi in Islamic State Voice of Hind case

32,000 girls converted to Islam and sold as ISIS slaves: This is The Kerala Story

How Zahran Hashim converted the radical Islamists of South into violent Jihadists

A bayath, a massive suicide bombing, the Coimbatore blast was in the making for a year

US citizen who joined, escaped ISIS gets 20 years in prison

International

pti-PTI

Alexandria, October 28: The only American citizen, Mohamad Khweis, to be convicted in a US jury trial of successfully joining the Islamic State (ISIS) overseas has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Khweis,27, of Alexandria, Virginia, was sentenced on Friday in federal court in Virginia after being convicted on terrorism charges earlier this year.

Khweis travelled to Islamic State-controlled territory in Iraq and Syria in December 2015, even obtaining an official membership card.

But he found life there distasteful and escaped after a few months.

The 20-year sentence was halfway between the 35-year sentence sought by prosecutors and the five-year term requested the defense.

A harsh sentence would deter other Americans who joined the Islamic State from quitting, argued Khweis' lawyers.

PTI
Will provide financial support to 7 new defence companies if required: Rajnath Singh

Highways within 100 km of LoC, LAC borders wont need green nod: Here is why

Airbase near India-Pakistan border will \"emerge as effective centre for security\": PM at DefExpo 2022

US keen to move forward on key defence pacts with India: American diplomat

International

oi-PTI

The US is keen to move forward on some important defence agreements with India that will make it easier for the Trump administration to share classified data and facilitate the sale of F-16 and F-18 fighter jets to New Delhi, a top American diplomat has said.

The Trump administration last month told Congress that it "strongly supports" the sale of F-18 and F-16 fighter jets to India and asserted that the proposals have the potential to take the Indo-US defence ties to the next level.

There are important defence agreements that the two countries can move forward on, Alice G Wells, acting assistant secretary of state for the South and Central Asian Affairs, told reporters on Friday.

The agreements will make it easier for the US to share classified data and that will facilitate sales like the F-16 or the F-18 fighter jets and will help create a defence technology partnership, besides creating jobs for Americans at home, Wells said.

Wells had accompanied US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on his just concluded trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

"This was an extremely friendly, very wide-ranging dialogue on how we can partner together on the strategic relationship that we think is going to define the rest of the 21st century," Wells said.

While there was a bilateral component to the visit, they talked about how the two countries with shared values a respect for democracy, transparency, freedom of navigation, for economic development can inculcate these values in the broader Indo-Pacific region, working with important partners like Japan and Australia.

"Tillerson's visit to Gandhi Smriti was very moving and was a touchstone for what unites - that this relationship is very much the one built on values," she said, adding that the Secretary of State laid out a lot of ambitions for the relationship.

"We want to build on the June visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the President (Donald Trump). We'd like to deepen the military-to-military cooperation that has moved very quickly; over the last decade we've gone from zero to 15 billion in defence sales.

"We'd like to expand the bilateral trade and investment dimension of the relationship. We have about $115 billion in trade, $40 billion in bilateral investment," Wells said, noting that this week they have two important meetings going on, the Trade Policy Forum and the Commercial Dialogue.

The US sees this as a two-way street. In November, Mahindra is opening an auto plant in Michigan.

"We've seen purchases of Boeing aircraft, all of which produce, again, thousands of jobs for American citizens," Wells said.

Later in November, the US President's daughter Ivanka Trump will attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit which is going to bring together 1,300 entrepreneurs and investors, demonstrating the entrepreneurial spirit of the relationship.

"During his India visit, Tillerson focused on how they can promote regional stability. In the South Asia strategy, we have given an important role to India on helping stabilise Afghanistan economically and to build its human resource capacity," she said.

Since 2001, India has invested $2 billion in Afghanistan and has pledged another $1 billion by 2020.

India has projects in 31 provinces and all of these projects have been very well received.

PTI

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Story first published: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 18:28 [IST]
From PM Modi to ex-US Prez Obama, see Cyrus Mistry's rare pics with politicians

US: Obama called for jury duty in Chicago

International

pti-PTI

Chicago, Oct 28: Former US president Barack Obama has been called for jury duty in Chicago.'

Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans on Friday told county commissioners during a budget hearing that Obama, who owns homes in Washington, DC, and Chicago's Kenwood neighbourhood, will serve in November. He is registered to vote in Chicago.

Evans says Obama's safety will be "uppermost in our minds" when he serves.

Those called can be put either in the pool for criminal case or civil hearings. They can be called to any of the county's Chicago or suburban courthouses.

All jurors watch a decades-old video about their duties narrated by a mustachioed Lester Holt, once a local news reader and now anchor of NBC Nightly News. Jurors in Cook County are paid USD 17.20 for each day of service.

PTI
US Senators call for listing Pakistan as 'country of particular concern'

International

pti-PTI

Washington, Oct 28: Over the issue of religious freedom violation, six influential US Senators have urged Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to designate Pakistan as a "country of particular concern". They said its discriminatory laws continue to result in prosecution of individuals due to their faith.

Senators Bob Menendez, Marco Rubio, Chris Coons, Todd Young, Jeff Merkley and James Lankford wrote a letter to Tillerson ahead of the November 13 deadline before which the State Department needs to notify Congress on its country of particular concern (CPC) designations.

In the letter to Tillerson, who has just concluded a visit to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, the bipartisan group of Senators said that they believe "the State Department should designate Pakistan as a CPC as long recommended by US Commission on International Religious Freedom.

"The government of Pakistan continues to perpetrate and tolerate systematic, ongoing and egregious religious freedom violations. Discriminatory constitutional provisions and laws, including the country's blasphemy and anti-Ahmadiyya measures continue to result in the unjust prosecution and imprisonment of individuals due to their faith," the Senators said in their letter to Tillerson.

"At least 40 people are currently sentenced to death or are serving life sentences for blasphemy. Religious minority communities, including Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis, and Shia Muslims also experience religiously motivated and sectarian violence perpetrated by terrorist organisations and societal elements with relative impunity," said the letter.

Additionally, provincial textbooks with discriminatory content against minorities remain a significant concern, the Senators said in the letter dated October 27. The Frank R Wolf International Religious Freedom Act requires the president to make CPC designations no later than 90 days after the release of the annual report and that Congress be notified no later than 90 days after these designations about the parties responsible for the violations prompting the designations, the actions the US government has taken in response, and the effectiveness of these actions.

"We therefore expect to receive CPC designations by November 13, 2017, and the notification of the responsible parties, actions taken, and the effectiveness of these actions by February 11, 2018. We believe promoting freedom of religion and belief is a moral imperative and encourages peace, stability and economic vibrancy. We look forward to working with you to help ensure this precious freedom has a central role in US foreign policy," the Senators added. T

he Senators also sought the CPC designation of Myanmar over the issue of Rohingyas. Tillerson has urged the Myanmar army to help the government end violence in the northern Rakhine state where unrest has forced over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh.

PTI
Will keep up economic, diplomatic pressure on North Korea: US Vice President

International

pti-PTI

Minot Air Force Base (US), Oct 28: US Vice President Mike Pence has asserted that the US will keep up economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Pence said this during his visit to one of America's most potent nuclear bases-Minot Air Force Base.

With a huge B-52 bomber looming in the background, Pence told some 250 airmen at Minot Air Force Base that "there is no greater force for peace in this world" than the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

"Under President Trump's leadership, we will make sure that our nuclear deterrent is stronger than ever before a modern, robust, flexible, resilient, and ready to confront any and all enemies of peace with a rapid, effective and overwhelming response," Pence said.

Pence touched only briefly on North Korea, spending much of his speech thanking the airmen of the only U.S. base capable of nuclear strikes by both plane and missile. Minot has one of the nation's two B-52 bomber bases. The base also oversees 150 of the Air Force's 450 Minuteman 3 nuclear missiles.

Pence got a mission briefing that included various aspects of military preparedness, including nuclear, along with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and commanders of the base's missile and bomb wings. Pence also inspected a B-52 and visited a missile launch facility. His visit came six weeks after Defense Secretary James Mattis did the same in a tour widely seen as aimed at reminding North Korea of US powers.

Pence has been meeting with top intelligence agencies in recent months and has received highly classified briefings with the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, the Director of National Intelligence and other intelligence agencies. Trump's administration has sought to increase pressure on North Korea through UN Security Council sanctions and other diplomatic efforts, but North Korea hasn't budged from its goal of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including missiles capable of striking the US mainland.

Separately yesterday, Mattis was visiting the Demilitarized Zone that separates North Korea from South Korea. Mattis accused North Korea of threatening global order and said the Trump administration remains committed to compelling the North to accept complete nuclear disarmament.

On Thursday, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on 10 North Korean officials and organizations over human rights abuses and censorship. A rare military exercise involving three of the US Navy's aircraft carrier strike groups is being planned for next month in the Asia Pacific.

PTI
From Paul Craig Roberts Website



Modern Educayshun

(Image by Cheryne) Details DMCA



A number of readers have turned out to be excellent research assistants. In response to my articles, "The American Left: RIP," and the two follow-ups, "The Absurdities Mount" and "Goodbye Western Civilization," readers have supplied the following.

A white male professor of philosophy has discovered that in order to have an academic career in these days he must find "white privilege" everywhere. Professor John Caputo, according to this report, has found white male privilege in reason itself.

Reason, says Professor Caputo, "is a white male Euro-Christian construction." Since reason is white, reason is not neutral. It implies that what is not white is not rational. "So white is philosophically relevant and needs to be philosophically critiqued."

Professor Caputo ties into University of California professor Sara Giordano who defines science as a "colonial and racialized form of power" that "must be replaced with an anti-science, anti-racist, feminist approach to knowledge production."

I can't say that this would be all bad. This way we wouldn't have nuclear weapons and the frustrating digital age. But before I vote for it, I want to know what feminist science is. I have a disturbing feeling that it brings with it the genocide of the white heterosexual male. After all, if white heterosexual males are responsible for all the evil and ills of the world, how can we tolerate their existence?

The University of Oregon's Jewish president was prevented by students from giving an university address this month about free speech. Free speech, declared the student protesters, perpetuates "fascism and white supremacy."

Journalists seem to agree with the Oregon students. The European Federation of Journalists is leading a "Media against Hate" campaign against hate speech and stereotyping of illegal immigrants. In other words, any European who protests his/her country being overrun by foreign invaders must be shut up. The scenario in The Camp of the Saints is now happening before our eyes.

A British university has blocked a professor's study of those who regret their transgender operation because it is politically incorrect and could damage the university's reputation. The study, the university said, would be "transphobic."

Police in England looking for the suspects who in a fist fight between feminist and transgender activists beat up a 60-year-old woman -- refuse to assign a gender to the suspects for which they are searching, as it would be politically incorrect. "We have to be very careful," said the Scotland Yard spokesman.

White males have no political correctness protection. The University of Cambridge can freely advertise university appointments and specify "females only" need apply. Can you imagine a university appointment advertisement that says it is for males only?

Now even Halloween is under attack. A Massachusetts elementary school has banned Halloween for not being "inclusive enough." Instead the school will let the kids celebrate "black and orange day."

If you permit your daughter to wear a Halloween costume such as Disney's Moana, you are encouraging your daughter's "white privilege." If you allow her to costume as Cinderella, you are reinforcing sexism.

Now we have the transgendered in kindergarten.

Do you think a country as screwed up and divided as the United States is capable of standing up to Russia, China, and Iran? If not, what insanity is causing Washington to provoke these capable, determined and united countries?

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Social protest is surging in Israel, and the internet is increasingly perceived by Israeli authorities as a threat. In response - the authorities increasingly abuse Freedom of Speech, at times reaching absurd levels. Arabs are often arrested for what are deemed offensive posts, Jews are typically only blocked. In a case today - Facebook blocked a comment, which was a direct quote of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution.

Tel-Aviv, October 27 -- over the past couple of years, online censorship by Facebook and retaliation by Israeli authorities in collusion with Facebook, has dramatically increased, at times reaching absurd levels.

Haaretz reported earlier this week that a Palestinian construction worker was arrested, because his "good morning to all" Facebook "status" was erroneously translated by Facebook as a violent message. Police apparently relied on automated Facebook monitoring and automated Facebook translation. [i]



(Image by Public) Details DMCA



Figure. A Facebook "status", which led to the arrest of a Palestinian. The Arabic original reads, "good morning to all", nothing else. The automated Facebook translation into Hebrew says: "Harm them".

____

No less bizarre is the blocking within seconds of a comment, entered on a friend's post, which was a direct quote of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution.



(Image by Public) Details DMCA





(Image by Public) Details DMCA



Figure. The blocked comment: "Here -- the language of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, which was enacted following the Civil War, and which permits slavery as punishment under Due Process of Law! Slavery has never been abolished in the US. In 2010 (!) the UN called upon the US to finally abolish slavery!" The text is followed by the language of the 13th Amendment and a link to the Wikipedia entry for the 13th Amendment.

_____

The post addressed conditions in the US prison system today. A previous comment, which was a link to ACLU's publication, "The Prison Crisis", was not blocked. The blocking was most likely an automatic function, since the immediate posting of an image of the exact same text and link as a comment was not blocked.

The use of Facebook to spy on Israeli protest activists has been known for several years. [ii, iii]

In response, Israeli protest activists recently called for a protest against Facebook in the Tel-Aviv Facebook tower lobby, which is public space due to a strange easement, which permitted Facebook to extend the tower onto public land. Three hours before the event's scheduled time, notice was posted on the tower's doors, stating that a "security consultant" issued guidelines that the event -- screening of the "Facebookistan" video - would not be possible. Considerable police force blocked the event from taking place. [iv]

In parallel, the Israeli courts are increasing their punitive measures in retaliation for online publications by social activists, e.g., protest against the banking system, [v] and against the family courts. [vi] In contrast, following an early 2017 wave of blocking Israeli journalists, particularly ones who were critical of Facebook, [vii] major lawsuit was filed against Facebook, but was blocked by the courts. [viii]



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From No More Fake News

A British spy's fantastical story

"Excuse me, can you help me? I'm a spy." (Doctor Who)

First, a bit of background.

The dirty Trump dossier made several claims:

One: Russia had strong blackmail material on Trump and could thus control him;

Two: Most damning in that material, Trump used prostitutes while he was in Russia, and paid several of them to urinate on a hotel bed Obama had once slept in;

Three: Russia hacked DNC (Democratic National Committee) emails and passed them on WikiLeaks, who published them. The emails were damaging to Hillary and helped Trump win the election;

Four: Russia wanted Trump to win the election.

Major media are now covering the Trump dossier from a new angle -- who paid a British ex-spy to assemble it?

And the answer everyone already knew -- Hillary Clinton's camp and the Democratic National Committee -- is out in the open.

Follow the bouncing ball. It goes this way:

During the 2016 presidential campaign, the Hillary team and the DNC funneled some $9 million to a Hillary lawyer, Marc Elias, and his law firm, Perkins-Cole.

That money then went to a research firm, GPS Fusion, who passed some part of it on to a British ex-spy, Christopher Steele. Steele had once worked in Russia and allegedly had many connections there.

Steele put together the Trump dossier after consulting with a number of Russians and spreading some money around. He gave the dossier to his employer, GPS Fusion. The dossier found its way to many media outlets, who sat on it for a while and eventually decided to run with it and slam Trump without let-up.

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It is time for Kurds to join Kurdish forces loyal to Abdullah Ocalan to protect Kurd of Kurdistan

The Barzani Referendum of Kurdistan was planned by the Turkish President Erdogan and blessing of Israel. It was Barzani's hope to invite 'Turkish' military forces to take over Kirkuk in the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) region. And Massoud Barzani hoped the Turks will help him to force PKK Kurdish forces out on Qandil (Kandil or Candle) Mountains range and Sinjar Yazidi Kurdish region.

President Erdogan of Turkey double-crossed Barzani tribe leader because it was not logical for Turkey to take over Kirkuk. Turkish President took logical steps signed an agreement with Iran to help Iraqi government to take over Kirkuk in hope Iran will help Turkey to defeat PKK forces in Iraq.

Tribal leader Barzani and Talabani lost 51% of KRG land including oil-rich Kirkuk. Turkey did give in to Iran demand. And now Shi'a forces are ready to help Turkey against PKK forces on Qandil (Kandil or Candle) Mountains range bases and on Sinjar Yazidi Kurdish land.

Turkish government forces have been attacking PKK forces inside Iraq in the Barzan-Iraq region of Qandil (Kandil or Candle) Mountains range, while Barzani tribe leader Massoud Barzani was holding Referendum for so-called Kurdistan independent.

PKK forces stopped Turkish forces from the west side of Qandil (Kandil or Candle) Mountains range. And Iran has access to attack PKK and PJAK (Iranian Kurdish forces) on the East side of Qandil (Kandil or Candle) Mountains range.

Iranian government knows very well that PJAK Kurdish forces can move into Iran and fight Iranian forces in similar way PKK forces are fighting Turkey inside Turkey. PJAK forces did gain people trust in Iran. PJAK can destabilize Iran from West to East and from North to South of Iran. Majority of Iranian people are ready to revolt against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

PJAK forces of Kurdish people can bring down Iran in a similar way YPG and YPJ Kurdish forces defeated ISIS Islamic Sunni Terrorist forces in Syria. PJAK forces are trained to fight The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) or Sepah-e Pasdaran-e Enqelab-e Eslami terrorist forces of Islamic Shi'a religion of Iran.

This is my prediction based on the Hebrew Bible Prophet's writing that 'The Medes (PKK Kurds) will return', will be the outcome of the war by Iran and Turkey against Kurdish forces loyal to Abdullah Ocalan. Please write your prediction on this article.

References

Joint Turkish-Iranian operation 'always on the agenda': Erdogan

.dawn.com/news/1352990

Turkey, Iran may launch joint operation against PKK in Iraq

.azernews.az/region/121201.html

Turkey-Iran operation against Kurdish rebels 'always on agenda': Erdogan

Ankara Turkey has battled the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) for decades, while the Iranian security forces have fought its Iranian affiliate, the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK)

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Article originally published in LaborPress

By Robert Weiner and Ben Lasky

National Report from Washington--A monthly Series by Rob Weiner and Ben Lasky

This week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its report on the Alexander-Murray healthcare bill, a rare bipartisan compromise that continues Affordable Care Act subsidies guaranteeing millions of middle class and lower income Americans the ability to have health insurance. It's a recognition that the last seven years of "repeal and replace Obamacare" will not happen, because there has been no "replace". It's also a recognition that neither party really wants to go to the polls denying people healthcare, or failing to address the crisis of rising premiums. The mandatory CBO report found that the bill would cover more people and still cut the deficit. Clinton and Trump voters alike, as well as everybody else in the US, all go to the hospital, see their doctors for checkups and need medical attention. The bill restores the subsidies for that President Trump abolished by executive order on Oct. 12.

For over a century, since FDR and Truman, through calls by Claude Pepper, Ted Kennedy, George HW Bush, Bob Dole, and Clinton, America's workers have supported a national health plan. While the current one isn't perfect, it's certainly the beginning, and one that can be fixed rather than torn apart. The two years that Alexander-Murray provide gives the time to repair the overall bill.

It is hard to tell where President Trump stands on the issue. Unfortunately, after first intervening to attain the Alexander-Murray bill -- Alexander said he Trump called him several times to push him to do the bill -- President Trump has now succumbed to feelings of some in the House that nothing should be done, and the healthcare system should be allowed to continue to explode. In an Oct. 13 tweet, Trump wrote, "The Democrats ObamaCare is imploding. Massive subsidy payments to their pet insurance companies has stopped. Dems should call me to fix!" This was after he had said that Alexander-Murray is a good step as a "short-term deal" for "a year or two."

This is confusing, since on Oct. 18, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) told Salon, "Trump completely engineered the plan that we announced yesterday." Adding more confusion to the mix, that same day, Trump tweeted, "I am supportive of Lamar as a person & also of the process, but I can never support bailing out ins co's who have made a fortune w/ O'Care."

In addition, the president, in an effort to block new enrollments for the Affordable Care Act, has removed 12 hours of Sunday enrollment and cut 90 percent of funding for advertising as to how to use the open enrollment. The open enrollment period has also been cut in half. In order to receive benefits of the Affordable Care Act on Jan. 1, 2018, Americans must sign up between Nov. 1 and Dec. 15, 2017. Last year, 6.4 million people signed up for Obamacare during the open enrollment period. Experts say the barriers could cost 1.1 million enrollees this year alone.

Now the option has been circulated of rather than a standalone bill, include Alexander-Murray in a tax or appropriations package including other legislation near the end of the year. NBC Meet the Press's Chuck Todd said this quiet inclusion is the likely scenario. But nothing is certain, and workers can have a huge impact with their voices. The gridlock in Congress can be broken. It will require a major push by Americans from both sides to bring the White House both parties in Congress to enact this bipartisan deal, and not include "poison pills" from either side to kill it.

The Alexander-Murray bill is an interim solution to make the changes needed to the healthcare system. American workers are depending on them.

Other long term solutions are being discussed and have a great deal of merit--public option, single payer, Medicare for all, and more. But first, we have to protect what we have.

Robert Weiner is a former White House spokesman and was Chief of Staff of the House Aging Committee and Health Subcommittee. Ben Lasky is senior policy analyst at Solutions for Change and Robert Weiner Associates.
From Alternet

The exodus from Hurricane Maria comes after a decade of economic strife.

The exodus of tens of thousands of voting-age Puerto Ricans to the U.S. mainland following Hurricane Maria is likely to change the political complexion of several states, but nowhere more than Florida, where the refugees expected are equal to more than half of Donald Trump's margin over Hillary Clinton last November.

Upwards of 77,000 people over age 18 -- all of them eligible voters -- are likely to move to Florida, according to a detailed study from the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter/City University of New York. In November 2016, Trump beat Clinton in Florida by nearly 120,000 votes. An additional 15,000 school-age youths are also expected in Florida.

The CUNY study, issued this month, also predicted that Texas would see upwards of 27,000 storm refugees; Pennsylvania would see 27,000 arrivals; New York would see nearly 12,000 and New Jersey would see nearly 14,000.

"Hurricane Maria's impact on Puerto Rico and its population is unprecedented. Though it is difficult to find comparable situations, we estimate that between 114,000 and 213,000 Puerto Rico residents will leave the island annually in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria," wrote Edwin Melendez and Jennifer Hinojosa in their Maria Exodus research brief. "From 2017 to 2019, we estimate that Puerto Rico may lose up to 470,335 residents or 14% of the population. In other words, Puerto Rico will lose the same population in a span of a couple of years after Hurricane Maria as the island lost during a prior decade of economic stagnation. Our projections indicate that Florida is the state most likely to be affected by the exodus -- with an estimated annual flow of between 40,000 and 82,000 people."

Some 20,000 Puerto Ricans arrived in Florida in the first two weeks after storm, but that figure is expected to increase as the recovery has been exceedingly difficult and slow.

"I was raised here. I lived here. My parents died here," a man told LatinoUSA, the public radio program, in a video on the Center for Puerto Rican Studies' Twitter page. "But now I plan on leaving... I don't see a future here."

As the CUNY researchers explained, the storm came after a decade of imploding economics, which had already caused an exodus of thousands to the mainland.

"Researchers from the Climate Impact Lab estimated the impact of Hurricane Maria using an econometric model of the costs of cyclones over the past 60 years and applied it to the pre-storm economic conditions in Puerto Rico," they wrote. "They found that 'Maria could lower Puerto Rican incomes by 21 percent over the next 15 years -- a cumulative $180 billion in lost economic output.' They conclude that 'Maria could be as economically costly as the 1997 Asian financial crisis was to Indonesia and Thailand and more than twice as damaging as the 1994 Peso Crisis was to Mexico -- but this time on American soil.'"

While voting in future elections is likely to be the last thing on the minds of people who are struggling to rebuild their lives, Florida has nationally important elections in 2018 and 2020. Its right-wing Republican governor, Rick Scott, faces term limits and must leave office in 2018. And Florida is among the must-win states for presidential candidates.

Before Hurricane Maria, political analysts said that the vast majority of Puerto Ricans supported Democrats. Since the storm, the federal government's response has fallen short of expectations, amplified by Trump's statements there are limits to the aid provided by the federal government for an already ailing island.

"Sometimes it takes a while to get involved with local politics, and if people are still struggling to rebuild their lives, the big question is, how many of them are going to be energized to turn out to vote?" Susan MacManus, a professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa, told U.S. News and World Report. "Some within the Puerto Rican community think the impact will be immediate and really help them in the 2018 election cycle; others say maybe it'll take a little bit longer, but nobody's denying that the potential for the Democratic vote is there, that in a swing state it can affect the outcome."

In the meantime, as storm survivors across Puerto Rico, Florida and Texas (and fire survivors in California) struggle to restart their lives, you can be sure that when it comes time to vote they will remember who was on their side. Survival is arguably the most powerful motivating factor in human nature.
Oct 28, 2017: Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies Market Forecast 2023 Amgen, Bayer, Merck, Novartis, Sanofi

Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies

http://bit.ly/2yRtS8J

http://www.spiremarketresearch.com/global-cancer-monoclonal-antibodies-sales-market-2017-demand-insight-key-players-segmentation-and-forecast-to-2022

A market study  Global Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies Market  examines the performance of the Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.Request For Sample Report:The Global Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies Market 2017 report includes Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies market Size, Revenue, market Share, Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies industry volume, market Trends, Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2023.Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies Market 2017:1. Amgen2. Bristol-Myers Squibb3. Takeda Pharmaceuticals4. AstraZeneca5. Bayer6. Merck7. Janssen Biotech8. Novartis9. OncoMed Pharmaceuticals10. Pfizer11. Eli Lilly12. Sanofi13. TG Therapeutics14. CTI BioPharma15. Intas Pharmaceuticals16. Boehringer Ingelheim17. BiogenFirstly, the report covers the top Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Enquiry for More Info@Further, the Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies industry, Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.The Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies market revenue worldwide.Finally, Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About UsSpire Market Research is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.United States
Leather Dyes Market- Trends, Drivers, Strategies, Applications and Competitive Landscape to 2023

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Synopsis of Leather Dyes MarketCommenting on this report, an analyst from Market Research Future (MRFR)s team said, Global Leather Dyes Market size is expected to grow at ~5.0 % CAGR by 2023. The market witnessed a significant growth over the forecasted period owing to growing applications such as into natural and synthetic leather across various industries. Observing the growth of leather industry it can be anticipated that dyes for leather industry has a very promising future.The major driving factors of leather dyes market are growing demand from leather industries such as automotive interior, furniture, apparels, and others. In addition, the increasing demand of the synthetic leather is expected to fuel market growth of leather dyes in near future.Segment AnalysisThe Global Leather Dyes Market has been segmented into types and application. On the basis of types, the market has been divided into direct dyes, acid dyes, basic dyes, mordant dyes, pre-metalled dyes, sulphur dyes and others (Reactive Dyes etc). Chemically, direct leather dyes are defined as anionic dyes that encompasses of functionally for cellulosic fibers. Therefore, this kind of dyes is generally applied with aqueous dye bath that holds electrolyte, either sodium chloride or sodium sulfate. With the aid of these dyes the dyeing process becomes much safer and suitable. Depend on their features, the offered range of direct dye in market is used in various leather applications such as automotive interior, furniture, apparels, and others. Whereas, acid dyes, are readily soluble in water and easy to apply. They can be dyed directly on leather product. The dyed materials exhibit brilliant shades and good fastness properties. On the other hand, mordant dyes used majorly in natural dyes due to mordant imparts insoluble color on the substrates. Basic features of this dyes are they can possess amino groups, negatively charged, i.e. Anionic, Prevents color bleeding, and most important having the ability to brighten or changes some dye colors.Request a Sample Copy @Key Players Lanxess AG (Germany), BASF SE (Germany), Clariant International Ltd. (Switzerland), Colorex Chemical Co., Inc. (US), The Dow Chemical Company (US), Krishna Industries (India), Kolor Jet Chemical Pvt. Ltd. (India), J. K. Colors (India), Prima Chemicals (India), Synthesia, a.s (Europe), Others.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread in 110 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Leather Dyes Market Research Report- Forecast to 2023By geography, the global leather dye market, has been segmented into North America, Europe, APAC, Middle East, and South Africa region. In the global leather dye market, Asia Pacific is expected to witness relatively faster growth as compared with other regions.In Asia Pacific region, application of leather dye in natural and synthetic leather add the faster share growth including the countries such as China, Japan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and India. Furthermore, many leather dye industry are coming up in the region adding to the growth of the segment. The rising disposable income and changing lifestyles are making huge market for apparels and footwear of leathers. Therefore, the global synthetic leather market is gaining major growth. Particularly, it is used for the manufacturing of bags, automotive, footwear, clothing, household furnishings, and others. However, the rising concerns about animal safety are persuasive governments to make stringent regulations regarding the use of leather and other animal products. This can be hamper the natural leather dye market. The presence of a large number of key players along with the rapid industrial innovations in the leather dye industry is providing a significant improvement to the growth of the region.Access Report Detail @Furthermore, in Europe region, holds second position of global leather dye market due to rising demand of synthetic leather industry, including the countries U.K., Nordic countries, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg. In Europe region the most important outlets for Europe leather dyes production are footwear (40%), leather goods (20%), furniture (18%), automotive industry (12%), clothes (7%), and other (3%).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
Clinical perinatal software Market - Hypothesis Investigation Report 2023

Clinical perinatal software Market

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Market Research Future.com add new report of Clinical perinatal software Market Research Report  Global Forecast To 2023 it contains Company information, geographical data and Table of ContentClinical perinatal software market information: by products (integrated software and standalone software), by services (implementation services and others), by deployment models (on-premises and cloud-based), by applications (Fetal monitor data services and others), and end user - Forecast till 2023The clinical perinatal software monitor health of fetus and pregnant women. It provides information about any complexity that may arise during the prenatal period, which helps to minimize the problems during the pregnancy.The global clinical perinatal software market is growing at a steady pace and is expected to grow at a CAGR of ~7.2 % during review period 2017-2023. Increasing awareness and a rising birth rate & post-date pregnancy drive the growth of the market. Moreover, increasing healthcare expenditure, continuous development in technology, and increasing government support for research & development likely to boost the demand for the software. On the other hand, complex user interface and high cost of the software may slow the market growth over the assessment period.Some of the key players in this market: General Electric, Edan Instruments, Inc., Huntleigh Healthcare Limited, KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V, K2 Medical Systems, PeriGen, Inc, Cerner Corporation, Trium Analysis Online, and others.Request a Sample Report @Clinical perinatal software market has been segmented on the basis of products, which comprises of integrated software and standalone software.On the basic of services, the market is segmented into implementation services, support & maintenance services, training service, customization services, and online resources.On the basic of deployed models, the market is segmented on-premises and cloud-based.On the basis of applications, the market is segmented into fetal monitor data services, workflow management, and patient documentation.On the basis of end users, it is segmented into hospital & clinics and maternity clinics.Regional Analysis of the Global Clinical Perinatal Software MarketThe Americas region accounted for a lion share of USD 65.31 million in 2016, owing to the well-developed technology, high healthcare expenditure, and the presence of the leading players.Europe is the second largest market that holds a noticeable share of the global clinical perinatal software market. The European market is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period owing to well-developed healthcare infrastructure and increasing investment in healthcare. Germany, the UK, and France contribute significantly to the growth of the European market.In Asia Pacific, rising number of hospitals, increasing need for better diagnostic methods, and demand for cost-effective treatment & diagnostics services are the key factors for the market growth.The Middle East & Africa is expected to show steady growth in this market due to low technology penetration and less availability of innovative healthcare technologies.Key FindingsThe global clinical perinatal software market and is expected to reach USD 60 million by 2023.Integrated software segment on the basis of products holds the largest share of 75.8% of the market.Americas holds the largest market share of 39.2% of clinical perinatal software market and is anticipated to reach USD 93 million by the end of the forecast period.Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region across the globe and expected to grow at a rate of CAGR 7.8% during the forecast period.Browse Full Report@Table of Content1 REPORT PROLOGUE2 INTRODUCTION3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY4 MARKET DYNAMICS5 MARKET FACTOR ANALYSIS6 GLOBAL CLINICAL PERINATAL SOFTWARE MARKET, BY PRODUCTS7 GLOBAL CLINICAL PERINATAL SOFTWARE MARKET, BY SERVICES8 GLOBAL CLINICAL PERINATAL SOFTWARE MARKET, BY DEPLOYMENT MODELS9 GLOBAL CLINICAL PERINATAL SOFTWARE MARKET, BY APPLICATIONS10 GLOBAL CLINICAL PERINATAL SOFTWARE MARKET, BY END USER11 GLOBAL CLINICAL PERINATAL SOFTWARE MARKET, BY REGION12 COMPANY LANDSCAPE13 COMPANY PROFILES14 CONCLUSIONAbout 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.Contact:Akash Anand,15 Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comMRFR has the distinguished objective of providing the optimal quality research and granular research to 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 answer your most important questions.Our Research Analysts are eager to share their knowledge and assist you in refining market research parameters, choosing right market studies, and evaluating both the market scope and the research methodologies of varied segments.We bridge the gap between our clients and their clients by identifying and decoding just the target group, while generating leads with the highest accuracy.Years of research into diverse fields of work has ingrained within us, a proficiency so distinguished that our industry-specific specialists identify with your business ideas and feel the pulse of your challenges and opportunities. This enables us for providing assistance, through our consulting and strategic consulting services, in informed managerial decision making. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industries, WantStats Research and Media often conducts industrial visits for its research analysts. Relevant inputs from various established market participants, help our clients make significant contribution in respective markets are a huge motivation for all of us to endlessly furnish quality. We depend greatly on profound insights into complex realms of our study.Pune, India
Global SoC Market is expected to reach at USD 81 billion with 13% of compound annual growth rate.

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Market Research Future Publish a New Report on - System on a Chip Market Research Report- Forecast to 2022Exclusive Summery About Report:A System on a Chip or SoC is a microchip designed for electronic devices and holds all the necessary electronic circuits and parts required for a given system. SoC is used in various electronic equipments but the major application areas are smartphones or wearable computer. As smartphones/tablets and wearable devices are basically a smaller computer, they require most of the component which is available in any laptop or a desktop but due to the low availability of space compared to a PC or a Laptop, the internal parts needs to be designed in such manner which can fit into the smartphone and wearable devices. And SoC is a smaller version of all the hardware required in any smartphone and wearable devices. SoCs application is not limited to a smartphone or a wearable devices but it can be used in every electronic device.Growing demand for the consumer electronic devices are need of power efficient devices are driving the market of System on a Chip whereas changing technological environment and government rules are some of the major restraint to the market.The Global SoC Market is expected to reach at USD 81 billion with 13% of compound annual growth rate.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 30 market data tables and figures spread over 110 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on System on a Chip Market Research Report- Forecast to 2022.Request a Sample Report @Major Key PlayersBroadcom Corporation (U.S.),Infineon Technologies AG (Germany),Qualcomm Inc., (U.S.),Texas Instruments Inc., (U.S.),Intel Corporation (U.S.),Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., (US),Toshiba Corporation (Japan),MediaTek Inc. (Taiwan),STMicroelectronics N.V. (Switzerland)Samsung (South Korea),Intended AudienceSoC ManufacturersSoC DistributorsResearch/Consultancy firmsVendors from various industry verticals such as Automotive, and Electronics & Semiconductors among othersOEMsSemiconductor ManufacturersGlobal System on a Chip Market SegmentsThe Global System on a Chip Market has been segmented on the basis of type, application and region. By type, the market has been bifurcated into digital and analog among others whereas by application, the market includes- consumer electronics, automotive, IT & telecommunication, healthcare among others. Further, the market has been segmented into four regions which includes- North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and RoW.Regional AnalysisAsia-Pacific is dominating the market of System on a Chip. High demand for consumer electronic devices especially for smartphones and wearable devices is giving boost to this market. Also, rich manufacturing industry in China, Japan and South Korea are some of the other major factor of this growth. North America stands as second biggest market. High spending on personal devices and growing technology environment in U.S. and Canada are some of the factor behind this growth. Europe is also showing positive growth towards the market due to the growing healthcare industry in U.K., Germany, France and Italy.Access Report Details @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Pancreatic cancer Market with Global Major Key Profile- Forecast to 2022

Pancreatic cancer Market

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Global Pancreatic cancer Information, by type (endocrine pancreas cancer, exocrine pancreas cancer and others), by treatment type (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and others), by end users (hospital, clinics, research institutes and others) - Forecast to 2022Cancer starts when cells in the body begin to grow out of control. Pancreatic cancer starts when cells in the pancreas start to grow uncontrollably. It causes Symptoms like abdominal pain, weight loss, diarrhea, and jaundice. The tumor hinders the normal functioning of pancreas. The biggest risk factor for developing pancreatic cancer is smoking. To diagnose the cancer doctor will do a complete physical exam and history check and then blood, urine, and stool tests may be done.Request for sample report atStudy Objectives of Pancreatic cancer 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 Pancreatic cancer market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the pancreatic cancer market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Americas, Europe, Asia-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 type, by treatment type, by end users and its sub-segments. To provide overview of key players and their strategic profiling in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global pancreatic cancer market.Intended Audience: Companies into Pancreatic cancer Research and Development (R&D) Companies Independent Research Laboratories Market Research and Consulting Service Providers Medical Research LaboratoriesBrowse complete report atGlobal Pancreatic cancer market has been segmented on the basis of type which comprise of endocrine pancreas cancer, exocrine pancreas cancer and others. On the basis of treatment type; market is segmented into; surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and others. On the basis of end users; market is segmented as; hospital, clinics, research institutes and others.Key Players for Pancreatic cancer market:Some of the key players in this market are: PharmaCyte Biotech Inc. (US), OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc., Oncolytics Biotech (Canada), DiffusionPharmaceuticals (US), Polaris Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Sun BioPharma, Inc., Midatech Pharma PLC (UK) and others.Global Pancreatic Cancer by RegionNorth America US CanadaEurope Western Europe Germany France Italy Spain UK Rest of Western Europe Eastern EuropeAsia China India Japan South Korea Rest of AsiaPacificLatin America, Middle East & AfricaThe report for Global Pancreatic cancer Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regionsAbout usAt 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.Contact:Akash AnandMarket Research FutureMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: Akash.Anand@Marketresearchfuture.ComWeb:
Surface Mount Technology Equipment Market Key Profiled Companies - CyberOptics Corporation, Fuji Machine Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Forecast to 2022

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Market Highlights:The global industrial automation market is expected to grow at USD ~4 Billion by 2022, at ~8% of CAGR between 2016 and 2022.Surface mount technology is a technique of producing electronic circuits by mounting the components onto the printed circuit board (PCB) without drilling any hole on the PCB. The components have small metal tabs that are soldered to the printed circuit board (PCB).Surface mount technology is related to global electronics industry.Benefits of Surface Mount Technology can be given as the Surface Mount Technology components are smaller in size; they have higher component density and can be placed on both sides of the printed circuit board. Surface Mount Technology components consist of passive surface mount devices, transistor & diodes and integrated circuits. These components have lower initial costs. But Surface Mount Technology also has a few drawbacks as, repair is more difficult and the components cannot be directly used on a breadboard.The ever increasing demand for smart gadgets is being worldwide which results in demand of many electronic components which require surface mount technology for the printed circuit boards. Therefore the Surface Mount Technology equipment market is driven by the need for miniaturization of products and higher accuracy. In this era of automation, it has been observed that automotive sector has also created a huge demand for Surface Mount Technology for the manufacturing of high-tech vehicles.Request a Sample report @Major Key Players:CyberOptics Corporation (U.S.),Fuji Machine Manufacturing Co., Ltd.(Japan),Mycronic AB (Sweden),Assembly Systems (Germany),Nordson Corporation (U.S.),Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Japan),Orbotech Ltd. (Israel)Regional Analysis:The regional analysis of Surface Mount Technology is being studied for region such as Asia pacific, North America, Europe and Rest of the World. It has been observed that Asia-Pacific region is dominated in Surface Mount Technology market followed by Latin America.Asia  Pacific countries like China, India and Japan are ahead in the Surface Mount Technology market due to the higher availability of skilled labor and increasing penetration of high tech devices which require miniaturization. Countries like India and China with high population results in increasing consumer electronics demand which gives a booster to the use of Surface Mount Technology market.Browse Full Report Details @Segments:Surface Mount Technology Equipment market by Equipment:Pick and placeCoating equipmentSolder equipmentCleaning agentsRework and repair equipmentSurface Mount Technology Equipment market by end user industries:TelecommunicationConsumer electronicsAutomotiveMedicalSurface Mount Technology Equipment market by Components:Passive surface mount devicesTransistor & diodesIntegrated circuitsIntended AudienceTechnology investorsOriginal equipment manufacturers (OEMs)Smart grid integratorsSurface mount component device distributors and providersResearch/Consultancy firmsAbout 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:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Smart Speakers Market Trends, Drivers, Strategies, Applications and Competitive Landscape - Forecasts by 2022

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Market Highlights:The key drivers contributing to the growth of the global Smart Speakers Market are rise in number of smart homes, increasing wireless streaming of audio content, speakers run on batteries, high durability, hassle free maintenance and high preference for wireless technology. The restraining factors towards the growth of the market are range, power and compatibility. The increase in number of smart homes driving the global smart speakers market.Smart Speakers is type of speakers which is equipped with advance communication technologies such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and NFC and can be operated from any smart device such as smartphone, laptop and tablets. These speakers are similar in nature with a traditional speaker but provide different benefits which traditional speakers are not able to provideThe global Smart Speakers Market is expected to reach at USD 9 billion with ~36% of compound annual growth rate.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 25 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  Smart Speakers Market -Forecast to 2022.Get a Sample report @Major Key Players: Beats Electronics (U.S.) Bose Corporation (U.S.) Samsung Electronics Limited (Korea) Harman (U.S.) LG Electronics (South Korea) Altec Lansing (U.S.) Avnera Corporation (U.S.) Panasonic (Japan) D&M Holdings, Inc (Japan) Sharp Corporation (Japan)Request a Sample Report @Study Objectives of Global Smart Speakers Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the global smart speakers market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the global smart speakers market based porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW). To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by product type, technology, application and region. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market.Intended Audience: Smart Speakers Manufacturers Smart Speakers Distributors Research/Consultancy firms Vendors from various verticals such as Bose, Harman, Samsung among others OEMs Semiconductor Manufacturers StakeholdersSegments:The Global Smart Speakers Market has been segmented on the basis of product type, connectivity, application and region. By product type, the market has been bifurcated into single-speakers, double-speakers and multi-speaker. On the basis of connectivity, the market has been segmented into- Wi-Fi enabled speakers, Bluetooth enabled speakers, NFC enabled speakers among others. On the basis of application, the market includes- personal use and commercial use.Make an Enquiry @Regional Analysis:North America is dominating the market of smart speakers in where U.S. accounted for the largest market share due to various factors such as rise in smart homes market, high per capita income, changing lifestyle and high preference for wireless technology in the region. For instance, Amazon Echo smart speakers outpaced other speakers in the U.S. due to changing lifestyle and increasing disposable income.Asian countries, especially Japan and Korea are growing at a fast pace majorly due to high demand for consumer electronics, high growth rate of the countries and the advancement in the IT industry. According to MRFR analysis, the consumption of smart electronics has increased in these countries over the last few years and companies have been investing billions of dollars into research & development sectors which are driving the growth of the global smart speakers market.If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.For further information on this report, visit @Market Research Analysis:The global smart speakers market is expected to grow significantly. In North America, U.S. is estimated to account for the largest market share majorly due to rise in smart homes, high per capita income, changing lifestyle and technological advancement. Asian countries, especially Japan and Korea are growing at a fast pace majorly due to high demand for consumer electronic products and rise in GDP. The Asian countries are expected to grow fast over the forecast period.U.S. accounts for the largest market share in North America, majorly due to increase in number of smart homes, rising disposable income, changing lifestyle and government policies. Also, Asian countries such as Japan and Korea are expected to grow at a fast pace, majorly due to advancement in the IT industry and investments in research & development sector.Table of Contents1. Executive Summary2. Research Methodology2.1 Scope of The Study2.1.1 Definition2.1.2 Research Objective2.1.3 Assumptions2.1.4 Limitations2.2 Research Process2.2.1 Primary Research2.2.2 Secondary Research2.3 Market Size Estimation2.4 Forecast ModelContinued.List of TablesTable 1 Global Smart Speakers Market, By Product TypeTable 2 Global Smart Speakers Market, By ApplicationTable 3 Global Smart Speakers Market, By ConnectivityContinued.List of FiguresFigure 1 Research TypeFigure 2 Global Smart Speakers Market: By Product Type (%)Figure 3 Global Smart Speakers Market: By Application (%)Continued.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:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Anti-Hypertensive Drugs Market Comprehensive Analysis & Global Forecast to 2022

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https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/anti-hypertensive-drugs-market-2347

Market Research Future published a research report on Global Anti-Hypertensive Drugs Market Research Report- Forecast to 2022  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2022.Global Anti-Hypertensive Drugs Market Information, by Pharmacological Class (Diuretics, ACE Inhibitors, Calcium Channel Blockers, Adrenergic Blocker, etc.), by Hypertension Type (Systemic and Pulmonary Hypertension Drugs), by Disease Source (Primary and Secondary) - Forecast till 2022Market Synopsis of Global Anti-Hypertensive Drugs Market:Market Scenario:Anti-hypertensive drugs are used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure). Hypertension is a state of chronic elevated arterial blood pressure at or greater than 140/90 mm Hg for adults.The global anti-hypertensive drugs market was valued at $32.2 billion in 2015, and is expected to reach $ 38.9 billion by 2022. Thus the market is expected to perform sluggish growth at a CAGR of 2.73% from 2016 to 2022.Get a Copy of Sample Report @There exact cause of essential hypertension is unknown but is blamed on unhealthy lifestyle and ageing. The major market driving factor for secondary hypertension are greater detection and early diagnosis. Rise in the prevalence diseases such as kidney problems, thyroid problems, adrenal gland tumors, heart ailments, chronic alcohol use etc. in which anti-hypertensive are used are some of the other factors driving the growth of the market.The constraints however are overwhelming and include patent expiries such as Actelion's Tracleer (2015), and United Therapeutic's Remodulin (2014). Other blockbusters such as Novartis's Diovan and Exforge, Sanofi Aventis's Avapro (2012) etc are also off-patent.Key Players for Global Anti-Hypertensive Drugs Market: Novartis AG Daiichi Sankyo Company Limited Acetelion Ltd Boehringer Ingelheim Sanofi S.A. Astra Zeneca plc Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, Inc. Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company Limited Pfizer Inc.Study Objectives Global Anti-Hypertensive Drugs 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 anti-hypertensive drugs 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- Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segments and sub-segments. To provide overview of key players and their strategic profiling in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments globally.Browse Full Report Details @Segments:Global anti-hypertensive drugs market has been segmented on the basis of pharmacological class, hypertension type, disease source and Region.Regional Analysis of Global Anti-Hypertensive Drugs Market:Globally North America is the largest market for global anti-hypertensive drugs. Europe is the second-largest market for global anti-hypertensive drugs. The near future market for anti-hypertensive drugs will be dominated by the developed regions with developing regions providing a supporting role only. However the developing regions market particularly Asia Pacific will be the fastest growing and is likely to be the key to the future.The report for Global Anti-Hypertensive Drugs Market of Market Research Future comprises extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regions.ContinueWe are thankful for the support and assistance from Global Anti-Hypertensive Drugs Market Research Report- Forecast to 2022 chain related technical experts and marketing experts during Research Team survey and interviews.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Media Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Global Gum Arabic Industry Has Top Key Player: TIC Gums, Kantilal Brothers, Nexira, AEP Colloids Forecast to 2023

Gum Arabic Industry

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Gum Arabic Industry ReportGum arabic is type of natural gum obtained from various species of the acacia tree. Majority of hum arabic is collected from Acacia Senegal species across the world. Sudan and Sehel are the major gum arabic producer in the world. Gum Arabic is largely used for making the chilled, sweetened, and flavored desserts in Middle East and African region.Request a Sample Report @Market Scenario of Gum Arabic:Many food and beverage manufacturers use gum arabic as emulsifier, thickening agent in icing, filling, chewing gum and other confectionery products. Gum arabic application in pharmaceutical along with personal care products is growing at significant rate from last few years. Increasing use of gum arabic in ceramic, printmaking and painting will play key role in the growth of gum arabic market in upcoming years.Study Objectives of Gum Arabic IndustryTo 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 gum arabic marketTo provide insights about factors affecting the market growthTo analyze the market based on various factors - price analysis, value chain, 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 prospectiveTo provide country level analysis of the market for segments by species, function, application and regionTo provide overview of key players and their strategic profiling in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market.To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments globally.Key Findings:Acacia Senegal gum arabic captures major market share and it is growing at higher rateTop five exporters of gum arabic are France, Chad, Nigeria, Mali and U.K.SegmentsGum Arabic market has been segmented on the basis of species which includes Acacia Senegal and Vachellia Seyal. Acacia Senegal is contributes major market share in gum arabic productionGum Arabic market has been segmented on the basis of function which includes Thickenening Agent, Fat Replacer, Stabilizer, Gelling Agent, Coating Agent, Texturant and Others. On the basis of function, gum arabic as a thickenening agent is capture major market shareGum Arabic market has been segmented on the basis of application which includes Bakery foods, Beverages, Encapsulated Flavors, Pharmaceuticals, Nutraceuticals, Personal Care products and others. Gum arabic application in pharmaceuticals is anticipated to grow at higher rate compare to other applications of gum arabicRegional AnalysisThe Global Gum Arabic market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and rest of the world (ROW). Rest of the world mainly North African region has the major market share followed by Asia Pacific. Majority of gum arabic produced in Sudan which is located in North African region. Gum arabic is the second export commodity and playing major role in economy of Sudan. Gum arabic from Sudan is produced from Acacia Senegal species. Plantations and naturally regenerated stands are owned by individuals, government or cooperative bodies in Sudan. From last few years gum production in India and China has increased at significant rate which is supporting the market growth in Asia Pacific region.Browse Complete report @Key PlayersThe key players profiled in the gum arabic market are:Kapadia Gum Industries Pvt. Ltd. (India)TIC Gums (U.S.)Kantilal Brothers (India)Nexira (France)AEP Colloids, div. of Sarcom Inc (U.S.)Drytech Processes (I) Pvt ltd (India)Guangzhou ZIO Chemical Co., Ltd. (China)The Gum Arabic market is segmented under the following regions mentioned below:The report for Global Gum Arabic Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regions.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.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Denture Adhesive Market 2021 Forecasts by Global Industry Analysis in 2017 Report

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The World Denture Adhesive Market report summarizes the expert analysis of Denture Adhesive Industry on the basis of revenue, shares, demand and Forecasts period of 2017 to 2021. The Global Denture Adhesive Market report is a comprehensive research data from the well know key players as Ultra dent Products, Fixodent, Baxter International, Stryker Corporation, DENTSPLY International, Procter and Gamble, Colgate, 3M and Sea bond. Dentures are replaceable stand in for missing teeth and the tissues surrounding it. Dentures are available in two types, complete and partial. The complete dentures are used when all of the patients teeth are missing whereas the partial dentures come into use when some of the natural teeth remain.Get Sample Copy @Recent Trends in the Denture Adhesives market indicate towards heavy growth in the Denture Adhesives market. Increasing number of dentists in Europe, North America and other developing nations, growing awareness regarding healthcare are some of the key growth influencers for the Denture Adhesives market. Advancement in technology, new developing techniques can also result in the growth of the Denture Adhesives market. A major chunk of this increase in demand of denture adhesives can be credited to the increasing aging population in the world as it is much more likely for aged people to require dental procedures.Denture adhesive are powders or pastes which are placed on the dentures so as to make sure that the denture remains at the same place. If the dentures are used there is no requirement if denture adhesives. Denture Adhesives at times contain zinc to enhance the adhesion. The US Dental adhesive market alone is expected to register a growth at around 7% per year for upcoming years.Global Denture Adhesive Market Regional Analysis: North America is one of the leading markets for the denture adhesives market. USA alone is expected to register a growth rate of above 6% which is staggering. The North American dental market is currently placed in a position to propel the denture adhesive market is a position that its contribution to the GDP increases significantly. The increasing population of aging individuals is another factor which can prove to be a positive indication for the denture adhesive market. Increasing awareness regarding oral hygiene and healthcare can also boost the dental adhesive markets demand. Technological advancement and increasing acceptance of such material for surgical and medical purposes can also be credited with the increasing demand.The Europe healthcare industry is currently booming given the fact the increasing number of medical professionals and growing awareness. The high literacy rate in Europe is going to increase awareness about healthcare which ultimately is going to give boost to the healthcare industry leading to a boost of the dental market further boosting the denture adhesive market. Increasing demand for high standards and high quality dental consumables is going to increase the scope of the dental consumables market. Ageing population and technological advancement are expected to continuously fuel the demand for Denture Adhesives.The report for Denture Adhesive Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance.Request for TOC @Continued...About US:Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact Us:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Global Chlorella Market 2023 based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis

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Chlorella Market ReportChlorella is a close substitute of spirulina and is obtained from green edible algae. It is considered a super food based on its high protein content. It is widely used as a protein supplement for human consumption.Chlorella is a close substitute of spirulina and is obtained from green edible algae. It is considered a super food based on its high protein content. It is widely used as a protein supplement for human consumption. Chlorella is known to reduce excess body fat and also helps in boosting up the bodys immune system.Global chlorella market information: by origin (organic, conventional), by form (powder, liquid, tablet/capsules, others), by application (food & beverages, pharmaceuticals, animal feed, others), and by region forecast till 2023Request for Sample Report @Chlorella is known to reduce excess body fat and also helps in boosting up the bodys immune system. High nutritional value and increasing popularity of naturally derived food products and health supplements is driving the global demand for chlorella. Celebrity endorsements and product promotions is playing a vital role in increasing the sale of chlorella on a global level.Market ScenarioHigh demand for healthy and naturally derived food products have a positive impact on chlorella market. Rising consumer demand for health supplements and organic food commodities are also influencing the growth of the chlorella market positively. Moreover, shifting consumers food consumption pattern backed up by increasing disposable income is propelling the growth of this market. High consumer end demand is encouraging the players to enter the chlorella market and generate high revenues. Furthermore, high focus on R & D based on the technology strides have a positive impact on this market and has helped in bringing innovations to the existing product line.Key players are more inclined towards enhancing the production of pure form of chlorella to satiate the growing demand from consumers end. Also, advanced technology is used to enhance the production and processing of chlorella to gain consumers attention towards their product line.Key FindingsConsumption of organic chlorella will be growing at a higher rate during the forecast period owing to rising demand for pure and chemical free food productsTop exporters of chlorella include China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and U.S.SegmentsChlorella has been segmented on the basis of origin, which comprises organic, conventional. Conventional chlorella holds a major share owning to ease in production and lower maintenance costChlorella has been segmented on the basis of form, which includes powder, liquid, tablet/capsules, others. Among these segments, powder segment dominates the global market based on high shelf life and convenience storage of the productChlorella has been segmented on the basis of application, which comprises food & beverages, pharmaceuticals, animal feed, others. Food and beverages based application holds a major share owning to rising consumers health consciousness and high demand for healthy food productsRegional AnalysisThe global chlorella market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and rest of the world (ROW). Asia Pacific accounts for the major market share followed by North America. Rising consumption of protein supplements in the countries of these regions is influencing the high production volume of chlorella. Owing to changing food consumption pattern, chlorella market is projected to generate high revenue during the given forecast period.Furthermore, rising population of health conscious consumers will support the sale of chlorella across the regions during the assessment period. The major importers of chlorella include China, Japan, the U.S., Thailand and Australia.Key PlayersSome of the key players profiled in the global chlorella market are Tianjin Norland Biotech Co., Ltd. (China), Fuqing King Dnarmsa Spirulina Co.,Ltd. (China), Sun Chlorella Corp (Japan), FEMICO (Taiwan), Yaeyama Chlorella (Japan), Kingherbs, Inc. (U.S.), and Vedan Enterprise Corp. (Taiwan)The global chlorella market is segmented under the following regionsBrowse Access Report @The report for Global Chlorella Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regions.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.Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Patient Monitoring Devices Market Synopsis and Highlights, Key Findings, Major Companies Analysis and Forecast to 2022

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https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/patient-monitoring-devices-market-2484

Market Research Future published a research report on Patient Monitoring Devices Market - Global Forecast To 2022 Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2022.Patient monitoring devices market information, by Product type (Central monitoring stations, Portable bedside monitors, Electrocardiogram (ECG) Devices, Hemodynamic Monitoring Devices, Fetal and neonatal monitors, Respiratory Monitors, Weight management monitors, Temperature monitoring devices, and Others), by end user (Hospitals and clinics, Ambulatory care centers, Home care, and others) - Forecast to 2022Market Synopsis of Patient monitoring devices Market:Market Scenario:Patient monitoring devices in this report refer to the sensors which are used in smart wearable devices. Global Patient monitoring devices market is driven by increasing demand of wearable for infants and continuously evolving sensor technology. With increasing personal care and health consciousness, for tracking biometrics such as calories burnt, heart rate and others, the demand for wearable fitness trackers and other wearable is increasing. Rapid expansion of internet of things (IoT) is driving demand of Patient monitoring devices in various application areas such as healthcare and fitness, consumer electronics and others.Get a Copy of Sample Report @Key Players for Patient Monitoring Devices Market: GE Healthcare Roche Diagnostics BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG Abbott Laboratories Siemens Healthcare Philips Healthcare CAS Medical Systems, Inc, Spacelabs Healthcare Honeywell International, Inc. Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co.Study objectives of Patient monitoring devices 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 Patient monitoring devices market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the Patient monitoring devices market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segments by product type, by end user and its sub-segments. To provide overview of key players and their strategic profiling in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global Patient monitoring devices market.Browse Full Report Details @Segments:Patient monitoring devices market has been segmented on the basis of product type which comprises Central monitoring stations, Portable bedside monitors, Electrocardiogram (ECG) Devices, Hemodynamic Monitoring Devices, Fetal and neonatal monitors, Respiratory Monitors, Weight management monitors, Temperature monitoring devices, and others. On the basis of end user, the market is segmented into Hospitals and clinics, Ambulatory care centers, Home care and others.Regional Analysis of Patient Monitoring Devices Market:Considering the global scenario of the market, North America region is believed to be the largest market for Patient monitoring devices. Moreover the European market is also growing and second largest market for Patient monitoring devices. On the other hand, Asia-Pacific market is expected to grow at the fastest pace in the Patient monitoring devices during the forecasted period. Rest of the World is likely to have a limited but steady growth in the market.The report for Patient Monitoring Devices Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regionsContinueWe are thankful for the support and assistance from Patient Monitoring Devices Market - Global Forecast To 2022 chain related technical experts and marketing experts during Research Team survey and interviews.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Media Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
World Halitosis Treatment Market Top 7 Key Players Share, Revenue, Demand and Forecasts Till 2023

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The World Halitosis Treatment Market report explores by type (pathologic halitosis, others), by indication (respiratory, liver, kidney, gastrointestinal, systemic, others), by diagnostic tests (halimeter, gas chromatography, BANA Test, -galactosidase activity assay, others), by drug treatment (antacids, antiseptics, ranitidine, others) - Global forecast till 2023.Get Sample PDF @Halitosis is a clinical condition characterized by unpleasant odor present in the mouth due to various periodontal and chronic diseases. It has become a social problem affecting large number of people across the world. The most common cause of halitosis is lack of oral hygiene and lack of awareness about diagnosis of this disease. Halitosis treatment market is expected to show a massive growth due to availability of a wide range of dental health care products, increasing geriatric population and rising prevalence of periodontal diseases. The global halitosis treatment market is expected to reach USD 22,153.4 billion by 2023, and the market is projected to grow at a healthy CAGR of 18.58% during the forecast period 2017-2023.Regional Analysis: The global halitosis treatment market is segmented into four main regions namely America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa.The Americas account for a significant market share owing to rising prevalence of gum diseases and extensive use of oral care products such as toothpastes, mouth washes, mouth sprays, etc. In 2013, in the US, USD 810 million was spent for halitosis treatment.Europe is the second largest market in the world whose growth is attributed to an increase in awareness regarding halitosis and products available for its treatment. Furthermore, increasing demand for new oral care products influence the market growth.Asia Pacific region is expected to grow rapidly due to rising prevalence of chronic diseases such diabetes, respiratory diseases, kidney or liver failure with the increasing population. Rising geriatric population suffering from these diseases also contribute to the market growth.In the Middle East & Africa, the market is expected to witness a moderate growth owing to poor economic conditions, and lack of awareness about oral health.Key players of Global Halitosis Treatment Market: Key players profiled in the report are Colgate-Palmolive Company (U.S), All USA Partners LLC (U.S), Dr. Harold Katz, LLC (U.S), Rowpar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (U.S), Abbott (U.S), Listerine (U.S), AstraZeneca (U.S).Get Discount @Major TOC Halitosis Treatment Market:TABLE OF CONTENTS1 REPORT PROLOGUE2 MARKET INTRODUCTION2.1 INTRODUCTION2.2 SCOPE OF STUDY2.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE2.4 ASSUMPTIONS & LIMITATIONS2.4.1 ASSUMPTIONS2.4.2 LIMITATIONS2.5 MARKET STRUCTURE3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: HALITOSIS MARKET3.1 RESEARCH PROCESS3.2 MARKET SIZE ESTIMATION3.2.1 MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS3.3 FORECAST MODEL4 MARKER DYNAMICS4.1 DRIVERS4.1.1 RISING PREVALENCE OF PERIODONTAL DISEASES4.1.2 GERIATRIC POPULATION4.1.3 AVAILABILITY OF WIDE RANGE OF PRODUCTS4.1.4 INCREASING PREVALENCE OF CHRONIC DISEASES4.2 RESTRAINTS4.2.1 LACK OF AWARENESS ABOUT HALITOSIS AND ITS TREATMENT4.2.2 ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT4.3 OPPORTUNITIES..ContinuedAbout US:Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact Us:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Intra-Cranial Pressure Monitors Market Trend, Key Findings, Major Companies Analysis, Forecast to 2022

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Market Research Future published a research report on Global Intra-cranial pressure (ICP) monitor Market Research Report- Forecast To 2022 Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2022.Market Synopsis of Global Intra-cranial pressure (ICP) Monitor Market:Market Scenario:Intra-cranial pressure (ICP) monitors are devices used for treating severe brain injury by recording the pressure (swelling) inside different areas of the brain. This devise segment is growing rapidly due to increase in number of cases related to neurological disorders, along with technology advancement and awareness about different types of treatment in the market. Other factors leading to the increasing growth of the device market includes increase cases of sleep disorders, brain disorders autoimmune disease and depression cases in the present generation.Get a Copy of Sample Report @Key players of Global Intra-cranial pressure (ICP) monitor market: Covidien plc (Ireland) Compumedics Limited (Australia) Natus Medical Incorporated (US) Integra LifeSciences Corporation (US) Codman & Shurtleff, Inc. (US) Raumedic (USA) VittamedStudy Objectives of Intra-cranial pressure (ICP) monitor market: Providing detail analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 5 years on various segments and sub-segments of the global Intra-cranial pressure (ICP) monitor market. Providing insights about factors affecting the market growth. Analyzing the global Intra-cranial pressure (ICP) monitor market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, Porters Five Force analysis etc. Giving past and predicted future revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Providing country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and predicted future growth. . Giving country level analysis of the market for segments by methods, by techniques, by application and by end-users. Giving an overview of key players and their strategic profiling in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies and drawing the current competitive scenario of the market Tracking and analyzing competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments along with research and developments in the global Intra-cranial pressure (ICP) monitor market.Browse Full Report Details @Segments:The global intra-cranial pressure (ICP) monitor market is majorly segmented on the basis of techniques, methods and application. Based on techniques, market is segmented into invasive and non-invasive ICP monitoring. Based on methods used in screening these are classified into intra-ventricular catheter, subdural screw and epidural sensor. Further on the basis of application the market is again classified into traumatic brain injury, intra-cerebral hemorrhage, meningitis and others.The report for Global Intra-cranial pressure (ICP) monitor market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regionsContinueWe are thankful for the support and assistance from Global Intra-cranial pressure (ICP) monitor Market Research Report- Forecast To 2022 related technical experts and marketing experts during Research Team survey and interviews.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Media Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Spinal Implants Market Ultimate Analysis & Booming Trends, Global Forecast to 2022

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https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/spinal-implants-market

Market Research Future published a research report on Spinal Implants Market Research Report - Global Forecast To 2022  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2022.Spinal implants market information, by type (fusion implants, non-fusion implants), by procedure (open surgery, minimally invasive surgery) by material (titanium, titanium-alloy, stainless steel, and plastic) - Forecast till 2022Market Synopsis of Spinal implants Market:Market Scenario:Spinal implants are devices used by surgeons for treating deformities, stabilizing and providing strength to the spine and for expediting the fusion process. Spinal implants are used for treating disorders which include degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, kyphosis, fracture, and spondylolisthesis. Rise in the number of vehicular accidents, increased spinal injuries and disorders, continuous rise in the geriatric and obese population are some of the factors that are fueling growth of the global spinal implants market.Get a Copy of Sample Report @Key Players for Spinal implants Market: Alphatec Spine Inc Amedica Corporation Depuy Synthes Inc. (Johnson & Johnson) Exactech Inc. Globus Medical Inc. Integra LifeSciences, K2M Inc. LDR Holding Corporation Medtronic plc NuVasive Inc. Orthofix Holdings, Inc. RTI Surgical Inc. Stryker Corporation Quandary Medical LLC Zimmer BiometStudy Objectives of Spinal Implants Market: Providing detail analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 7 years of various segments and sub-segments of the spinal implants market. Giving insights about factors which are affecting the market growth. Analyzing the market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, Porters Five Force Analysis etc. Providing record about the past along with estimated future revenue of the markets segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa. Giving country level analysis of the market with respect to current market size and estimated future growth of the same. Providing country level analysis of the market segments by type, by procedure, by material and its sub-segments. Providing an overview of key players along with their strategic profiling in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies and drawing their current status in the market with respect to competition. Tracking and analyzing competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments along with research and developments currently happening in the global spinal implants market.Browse Full Report Details @Segments:Spinal implants market has been segmented on the basis of type of implant which comprises of fusion implants and non-fusion implants. On the basis of procedure, market is segmented into open surgery, and minimally invasive surgery. On the basis of material, market is again segmented into titanium, titanium-alloy, stainless steel and plastic.Regional Analysis of Spinal Implants Market:Globally North America is the largest market for spinal implants. Europe is the second-largest market. Furthermore Asia Pacific market is expected to be the fastest growing market for spinal implants.The report for spinal implants market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regionsContinueWe are thankful for the support and assistance from Spinal Implants Market Research Report - Global Forecast To 2022chain related technical experts and marketing experts during Research Team survey and interviews.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Media Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Hypertension Drugs Market of ME & A Market 2022 Top Players - Sanofi, Gilead, Abbott, Novartis

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Hypertension Drugs Market of Middle-East and Africa is growing moderately. Hypertension or high blood pressure is the condition when blood pressure increases to the unhealthy level. Hypertension is very harmful and it can lead to stroke, heart failure, heart attack and kidney diseases. The main purpose of anti-hypertension drug is to lower and control high blood pressure to protect organs like brain, heart, kidneys. Hypertension affects four out of ten adults in Middle East and Africa region. Over 1.5 million deaths occurs due to hypertension in Middle East and Africa.Get Sample Report @Middle-East and Africa Hypertension Drugs Market is growing moderately. The market is growing at the CAGR of 3.1% and expected to reach to US$ 5.31 billion by 2022.Countries in Middle East and Africa bear a heavy burden from hypertension diagnosis and treatment. Huge funding in R&D and various initiatives by government are driving the growth for Hypertension Drugs Market in Middle East and Africa.Regional Analysis of Middle-East and Africa Hypertension Drugs Market:On the other hand, Egypt market is expected to grow at the steady pace in the Middle-East and Africa Hypertension Drugs during the forecasted period. Rest of the Middle East and Africa region is likely to have a limited but steady growth in the market. Considering the Middle-East and Africa Hypertension Drugs Market scenario, UAE region is believed to be the largest market for Middle-East and Africa Hypertension Drugs. Moreover Saudi Arabia market is also growing and second largest market for Hypertension Drugs.Market Segments:On the basis of type which comprise Thiazide diuretics, Beta blockers, Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, Angiotensin II receptor blockers, Calcium channel blockers, Renin inhibitors, Alpha blockers, Alpha-beta blockers, Central-acting agents, Vasodilators, Aldosterone antagonists, and others.Browse Report @Study objectives of Middle-East and Africa Hypertension Drugs Market:To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Middle-East and Africa Hypertension Drugs 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 Middle-East and Africa Hypertension Drugs MarketTo analyze the Middle-East and Africa Hypertension Drugs 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 two main geographies and their countries- Middle East & Africa.To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospectiveTo provide country level analysis of the market for segments by type and its sub-segments.To provide overview of key players and their strategic profiling in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the marketTable of Content:1. Report Prologue2. Introduction3. Research Methodology4. Market Dynamics5. Market Factor Analysis6. Middle-East and Africa Hypertension Drugs Market by Type7. Middle-East and Africa Hypertension Drugs Market by RegionGet Discount @Competitors for Middle-East and Africa Hypertension Drugs Market:Abbott (US), Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc. (US), Novartis (Switzerland), GlaxoSmithKline plc (UK), AstraZeneca (UK), Bayer AG (Germany), Pfizer Inc.(US), Merck & Co., Inc. (US), Sanofi (France), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (Switzerland), Gilead (US)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 , 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.Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Complete Analysis on Beauty Devices Market & Global Foresight to 2023

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https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/asia-pacific-beauty-devices-market

Market Research Future published a research report on Asia Pacific Beauty Devices Market Research- Forecast Till 2023  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2023.Asia Pacific Beauty Devices Market Information, By Product (Hair Care, Skin Care and Oral Care), By Application (Domestic Purpose, Commercial Purpose, and others), By End Users (Professional and Personalized) - Forecast Till 2023Market ScenarioBeauty devices are products that aid in enhancing physical appearance. Starting from skin issues to hair problems, these beauty devices promise to provide the same service as one would get from any aesthetic treatment. Widespread awareness about beauty devices and services, increasing prevalence of skin and hair problems along with rapid technological advancement are the driving factors of the market. Rising geriatric population is associated with various age related problems such as age spots, wrinkles, acne and hair loss. Thus, these factors also fuelling growth of the beauty devices market. However, side effects associated with beauty devices and presence of alternative cheap products may hinder the growth to an extent. As per recent study, it is found that Asian skin is more vulnerable to acne outbreaks, compared to other skin types. Specifically its found that East Asian people have the lowest skin barrier strength. By taking this aspect into consideration, it is estimated that Asia Pacific beauty devices market is expected to grow at a CAGR 8.2% during the forecast period of 2017-2023.Get a Copy of Sample Report @Key Players in Asia-Pacific Beauty Devices Market LOreal Group Nu Skin Enterprises Inc Panasonic Corporation Syneron Medical Ltd Home Skinovations Ltd TRIA Beauty Inc Procter & GambleSegmentationThe Asia Pacific beauty devices market is segmented on the basis of product type, application, and end users.On the basis of product type, market is segmented into hair care, skin care, oral care, and others. Hair care product type is further segmented into hair removal devices, hair growth devices, hair styling devices, and others. Sub-segmentation of skin care includes light/LED and photorejuvenation therapy devices, cellulite reduction devices, acne removal devices, and othersOn the basis of application type, this market is segmented into domestic purpose, commercial purpose, and others.Sub-segmentation by end-user type includes professional and personalized users.Browse Full Report Details @Regional AnalysisOn the basis of region, the Asia Pacific beauty devices market is segmented into China, Japan, India, and rest of Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific is expected to register the fastest growing market, during the forecast period i.e. 2017-2023. In the Asia Pacific region, China is commanding the largest market share owing to tremendous economic development and increasing aging population. It is also reported that this region is dominating the hair styling equipment market, with special emphasis on China, and Japan. Although, freshly introduced beauty devices are getting acceptance however, it is also noticed that FDA, and CFDA impose strict acceptance criteria for such devices.ContinueWe are thankful for the support and assistance from Asia Pacific Beauty Devices Market Research- Forecast Till 2023 chain related technical experts and marketing experts during Research Team survey and interviews.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Media Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
One firefighter injured in Tuesday structure fire in Petoskey

A home was destroyed and one firefighter from the Petoskey Department of Public Safety was injured in a structure fire early Tuesday morning.
1. Whistler, British Columbia

2. North Vancouver, British Columbia

3. Squamish, British Columbia

4. Calgary, Alberta

5. Edmonton, Alberta

6. Bragg Creek, Alberta

7. Fernie, British Columbia

8. Cumberland, British Columbia

9. Victoria, British Columbia

10. Vernon, British Columbia

SELECT region.rid, region.title, region.alias, p.title AS prov_title, tr.description, COUNT(*) AS total

FROM wostrailforks.ridelog r

JOIN wostrailforks.ridelog_index i ON r.id=i.nid

JOIN wostrailforks.region ON i.city=region.rid

JOIN wostrailforks.region p ON i.prov=p.rid

JOIN wostrailforks.region_text tr ON region.rid=tr.rid

WHERE YEAR(FROM_UNIXTIME(r.created)) = '2017' AND MONTH(FROM_UNIXTIME(r.created)) IN (7,8,9) AND i.country='3000' AND i.city>0

GROUP BY i.city

ORDER BY total DESC

LIMIT 10



Using the Trailforks ridelog feature we are able to see which regions are being ridden the most and when. We've queried the database to find the top ridden biking cities for the months of July, August and September of 2017. Since Trailforks started in and is based out of British Columbia it tends to dominate a lot of these "top lists" when included. But we do have the best riding in the world here...The top three spots are no big surprise, unless you live under a rock! But four and five might surprise some. While not high on most peoples list for mountain bike destinations, both cities have large active urban trail networks that see a lot of local usage.You can make sure your rides are counted by either connecting your Strava account with Trailforks, or by recording your rides using the new tracking feature in the Trailforks app ! The more people logging their rides to Trailforks the more accurate this data becomes for these fun lists, but more importantly for trail association advocacy use.B.C. dominates the Canadian ride data, which is no big surpriseit has the mountains and the best trails. It sometimes seems like all of Quebec's mountain bikers now live in the Sea to Sky corridor (Vancouver to Whistler).Whistler is defined by riding, whether it's a family cruise along the Valley Trail, a high-velocity road ride on the Sea to Sky Highway, a sweet descent through the trees in the Whistler Bike Park or any other epic Whistler trail. If you like biking you belong in Whistler.In the international sport of mountain biking, the North Shore has a well-deserved reputation for world-class riding. The steep slopes that frame the city are woven with a network of trails that offer everything from an easy outing on a rolling path to cross-country and extreme downhill.Squamish offers a huge variety of trails for mountain bikers of any experience level. Situated in a valley with surrounding mountains there are endless kilometers of mountain biking trails. From gentle cruises in the estuary and friendly cross country trail to hairball downhill descents. No matter your skill level, you will not run out of satisfying single-track in this town.Calgary riding areas include 12 Mile Coulee, Bowmont, Eastlands and Nose Hill in the NW, Fish Creek Park in the SE/SW and a smattering of singletrack elsewhere in the city. Lift accessed riding is available at Canada Olympic Park.Outside of Calgary, the Kananaskis Country area has hundreds of km of trails.Edmontons River Valley is the largest urban park in North America. We may not have any mountains, but our singletrack network is extensive. A little bit of local knowledge and route finding is key to linking our short but sweet trails into epic rides. Hidden gems are everywhere if you know where to look.From 2011 to 2015 over 44 kilometres of intermediate, fast, and flowy all-season singletrack trails were built in the West Bragg Creek area by the Greater Bragg Creek Trails Association; a purely volunteer group of Bragg Creek residents that are working hard to design, build and maintain trails and pathways for the benefit of residents and visitors of Bragg Creek.Fernies legendary terrain continues to bring bike enthusiasts back again and again. Fernie boasts some of the best riding in the Rockiesfrom epic heart-pounding downhill rides to endless kilometres of cross-country trails, you can do it all here. Take the lift and ride the bike park at FAR or explore the network of trails in and around town for a few days.Nestled in the foothills of the Beaufort Range beneath the shadow of the Comox Glacier, the historic Village of Cumberland invites you to come experience our rich history and our bright future! The mix of mining and logging history has led to a vast network of old roads that are now intermixed with an ample amount of singletrack.Victoria's riding jewel is Hartland (affectionately referred to as "The Dump"). Extensive amounts of work have gone into proper trail building here and the riding is awesome. Variety is the key word. There is everything for every rider, including club activites and theme rides.Old growth, to desert and throw in some of the most beautiful lakes in BC and one of the best bike parks in the world. Vernon really does have a magical mountain bike vacation to offer. You are probably coming to town to check out the XC and DH at Silverstar but staying to enjoy the trails in Kalamalka and Ellison Provincal Parks is a must when you can ride to the lake.Since B.C. dominated this list, here are the top 10 ridden cities in Canada excluding B.C.Calgary, Alberta  3532Edmonton, Alberta  3236Bragg Creek, Alberta  2456Toronto, Ontario  1740Canmore, Alberta  1672Fredericton, New Brunswick  1313Milton, Ontario  953Bromont, Quebec  911Lac Beauport, Quebec  776Uxbridge, Ontario  712Next, we will discuss the top 10 European cities.The query for you geeks!
Mount Carmel School students, parents, faculty and staff engaged in their annual school-wide United Nations Day on Friday at the Agat campus. MCS has held the event every year since their reopening in 2008.

Each year, a hat filled with a different set of countries is passed around for the classes to pull from. No countries are repeated.

All 16 classes, from prekindergarten through eighth grade, gave a presentation during the United Nations parade in the school courtyard, sharing interesting and significant facts of their country while waving their countrys flag and reciting chants dressed in native costumes.

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The students and teachers prepared by creating self-crafted banners, costumes, individual flags and props to enhance their countrys display.

All the teachers during the week used homemade materials, like butcher paper. They prepared as much without spending that much money, said MCS principal William Sarmiento.

The banners with each countrys name were posted outside every classroom and were complemented by a menu filled with the countries popular dishes.

Second-grade teacher Maria Mesa made most of the costumes and props for her class, which learned about the country of Oman.

Its a learning process," Mesa said. "I think having this (United Nations Day) ... the kids really get the opportunity to learn from different countries  the type of food they serve, their traditions. They really enjoy the fact that they get to try. They get to do food tasting after and they get to dress up.

Kristine Rivers, who has two daughters attending MCS, was sure to earn her parent-participation points. She prepared two dishes: mandu, a dumpling found in South Korea, and fairy bread, a trending dish from Australia, which consists of triangles of bread covered in butter and colored sprinkles.

I think its really good for them to experience other cultures, she said. It was a great event, and it was a lot of fun.

Kindergartner Maria Rivers said her classs country of South Korea is very special to her because she was born there. Aside from being able to create Korean flags and wearing her Korean costume, the hanbok, Marias favorite thing about United Nations Day was the cake.

Parents Samantha Keathley and Codie Cruz have two young children also attending MCS.

The kids need to know whats going on in the world. Theres more than one culture, not only CHamoru. Thats what the world is about now. No matter where you go, theres different people. Not only white and black, said Keathley.

They get to know what else is out there ... to know about other people, added Cruz.
Agricultural Colorants Industry, 2012-2022 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Agricultural Colorants industry with a focus on the Chinese market.

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 Festive Month Offer 20% discount on purchase of reports from 1st October to 31st October.For more offers post 31st October, kindly contact us. Terms & Conditions apply!!Contact No. : +16269994607 (US), /+91 7507349866 (IND)Email: sales@ researchtrades.com Agricultural Colorants Industry, 2012-2022 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Agricultural Colorants industry with a focus on the Chinese market. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Agricultural Colorants manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry.Firstly , the report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, applications and manufacturing technology. Then, the report explores the international and Chinese major industry players in detail.Browse complete report at https://www.researchtrades.com/report/global-and-chinese-agricultural-colorants-industry-2017-market-research-report/1236764 Through the statistical analysis, the report depicts the global and Chinese total market of Agricultural Colorants industry including capacity, production, production value, cost/profit, supply/demand and Chinese import/export. The total market is further divided by company, by country, and by application/type for the competitive landscape analysis. The report then estimates 2017-2022 market development trends of Agricultural Colorants industry. Analysis of upstream raw materials, downstream demand, and current market dynamics is also carried out. In the end, the report makes some important proposals for a new project of Agricultural Colorants Industry before evaluating its feasibility. Overall, the report provides an in-depth insight of 2012-2022 global and Chinese Agricultural Colorants industry covering all important parameters.Chapter One Introduction of Agricultural Colorants Industry1.1 Brief Introduction of Agricultural Colorants1.2 Development of Agricultural Colorants Industry1.3 Status of Agricultural Colorants IndustryChapter Two Manufacturing Technology of Agricultural Colorants2.1 Development of Agricultural Colorants Manufacturing Technology2.2 Analysis of Agricultural Colorants Manufacturing Technology2.3 Trends of Agricultural Colorants Manufacturing TechnologyRequest for sample at https://www.researchtrades.com/request-sample/1236764 Chapter Three Analysis of Global Key Manufacturers3.1 Company A3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Product Information3.1.3 2012-2017 Production Information3.1.4 Contact Information3.2 Company B3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Product Information3.2.3 2012-2017 Production Information3.2.4 Contact Information3.3 Company C3.2.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Product Information3.3.3 2012-2017 Production Information....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.
Nigerians are fashionable people who take advantage of parties, celebrations or festivals to buy clothes.

This has become a trend politicians, elites, church members and social group members also use for making impressions.

The colourful and well decorated Ankara fabric has become synonymous with every political and social campaign in the country, and they come in different colours, brands and sometimes pictures of people or logos.

Clothes used for making statements are not just Ankara. They also include lace, Ankara, Da-Viva, George, Chiffon, African voile, Guinea Brocade, Gele and fila (head gears and Caps) Aso ofi, also known as Aso Oke, and so many others.

It has become a norm for celebrants or their families to pick one or more of these textiles as uniform to celebrate their events.

This uniform is usually referred to aso ebi by most Nigerians. Aso ebi was derived from a Yoruba word meaning clothes for the family.

Nowadays, aso-ebi has become a fashion statement which at times depicts class, and status of the celebrants and their associates.

The price for an aso-ebi depends on the financial status of the celebrant and their friends, their outlook of life and the statements they want to make with their events.

The materials are either sold per yard or in bundles. Here are the nine markets in Nigeria to buy bulk Aso-ebis if you ever need them, especially as the year is coming to a close.

1. Balogun Market- This market is located in Lagos Island, and is also known as Eko market. It is notable for clothing materials of all kinds especially expensive imported lace materials, wrappers, Ankara and new designs.

The market is also known to cater for the rich who want exclusive designs or do not want replication of their print in the general market until they are done with their events.

2. Kanti  Kwari Market  This is one of the biggest textile markets in Nigeria. Located in the heart of Kano town, the market is notable for varieties of textile materials including Guinea Brocade, Ankara, among others.

The market is also a hub for clothes traders who come from various towns to buy clothes for retail.

Clothes from this market are relatively cheap and people come from all over the country and some neighbouring African countries to buy textiles.

3. Bola Ige Market (known as New Gbagi International Market)  This is one of the largest clothes market in the south western part of Nigeria.

It is located in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.

The market serves clothes sellers from neighboring states. It is usually opened six days a week, (Mondays to Saturdays).

The market is notable for different types of materials including Ankara, lace, voile, chiffon and numerous cheap clothing material.

4. Onitsha main market  This market mainly serves people from the southern and eastern part of the country.

It is a very large market with varieties of clothing materials, tailoring materials and accessories for design finishing.

Onitsha main market is also a hub for retailers who come from all over to purchase to resell.

Depending on your bargaining prowess, you can buy clothes, tailoring materials and accessories at relatively cheap prices.

5. Aso Ofi Market, Ede  Ofi, also known as Aso Oke, is a traditional Yoruba hand woven loom. The clothes have become synonymous across the country for head gears, gele and caps, fila in ceremonies especially among brides and grooms.

A bridal clothe is not complete especially during the traditional marriage without these attire.

Ofi market in Ede can boast of varieties as traders come from all over every 15 days to showcase their wares and meet customers.

This market is located at Ede, an ancient town not far from the Osun state capital, Osogbo.

The good thing about this market is that it gives the customers an avenue to interact with the weavers and create their styles and colours at considerate prices.

For bulk buy and direct supply from the weavers, that market is one of such places to visit.

6. Ariaria Market, Aba  This list would not be complete without mentioning this ever bustling international market in Aba.

Just like the Onitsha main market, this market caters for the same set of traders and buyers.

The market can boast of all sort of fabrics ranging from local to international. Its stocks clothes from almost every available source.

Cheap, original and unique materials are often available at the market.

6. Relief Market, Upper Iweka Onitsha -This is one of the big markets in the south east where you can buy variety of things ranging from food stuff to clothing materials. The market is located in Onitsha, Anambra state.

7. Aleshinloye  This market is noted for unique tailoring materials, plain materials, accessories and expensive imported laces.

If you are thinking about importing expensive unique lace, voile among other, that is a market to visit. It is located in Ibadan, Oyo state.

8. Old Gbagi market- The old Gbagi is located in Ibadan. It was the main gbagi market before it was relocated to the new site to give room for expansion.

However, some of the traders are still there. It is still a beehive of activities as clothes especially laces ranging from different prices and colours are available.

It also caters for Ankara materials, such as aso oke among others.

9. Iseyin aso oke market- This market is just like the one in Ede.

Iseyin is located in Oyo state. The town is noted for aso oke and almost every house has a weaver.

Many retailers visit this town to order aso oke for resale. If you want to start the business or looking to meet the weavers, this town is certainly the place to visit.
The Nigerian Army has confirmed that some soldiers including an officer were ambushed with some killed by the Boko Haram in a recent incident.

PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported how four soldiers were killed in the ambush on the military convoy.

The soldiers were part of the troops escorting the convoy of a military commander who was heading to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, from his operational base.

The armys response follows a PREMIUM TIMES enquiry into the October 18 incident in Borno State.

Military sources had told this newspaper that the convoy of the Commanding Officer of 81 Battalion was ambushed by the Boko Haram along Damboa  Maiduguri road at about 12 noon on October 18.

The commanding officer was on his way to Maiduguri from his base in Bulabulin.

Four soldiers were killed and five others injured during the attack, sources told PREMIUM TIMES.

Three of the slain soldiers were corporals while one was a warrant officer. Their names are withheld until we are sure their families have been contacted.

The military lost weapons, equipment and a hilux vehicle including a ground to air communication radio in that attack, one military source said.

When contacted for comments on this previously unreported incident, the spokesperson of the Operation Lafiya Dole counterinsurgency force in Maiduguri, Onyema Nwachukwu, confirmed that the incident took place but said three soldiers and not four were killed.

He said the attack involved the explosion of a landmine under a military vehicle which was later followed by a shootout between the soldiers and the Boko Haram.

Yes, I can confirm that an ambush was sprung against a convoy of one of our Commanding Officers when the leading vehicle stepped on an improvised Explosive Device (IED) buried along the road at Teteri village while enroute Maiduguri, said Nwachukwu, a colonel of the Nigeria Army.

The escort troops fought bravely through the ambush successfully defending the Commanding Officer and other civilians who were caught in the ambush.

Unfortunately though, three of the escorts paid the supreme price with their lives and two vehicles were taken.

The army spokesperson said the Nigerian troops were promptly reinforced.

Our Mobile Strike Team immediately mobilised to reinforce the troops and trailed the insurgents, recovering a gun truck, a Hilux and two motorcycles. Two AK 47 rifles abandoned as the insurgents fled in disarray were also recovered by troops.

Mr. Nwachukwu, a deputy director of army public relations added that the army has since intensified its operations which led to destruction of ten Boko Haram vehicles and killing of several Boko Haram fighters who suffered a deadly air bombardment.

May I also inform you that just recently troops conducting the Operation Deep Punch 2, in an artillery bombardment destroyed 10 Boko Haram vehicles concealed under thick foliage near Garin Manoma, he said.

Several insurgents were equally killed in that bombardment. Recall also that 15 insurgents were killed by our troops when the insurgents attempted an assault at Yamteke, near Gwoza.

An armoured fighting vehicle, one Gun truck and two cars laden with improvised explosive device were recovered in that encounter. Be assured that our troops are relentless and not resting on their oars despite these successes.

The colonel explained that the nature of the insurgency made it a difficult one to prosecute, but that the military would emerge victorious.

You must however also bear in mind that we are fighting terrorism and insurgency founded on perverted ideological indoctrination hence the remnants of the terrorists group strive to remain undaunted by carrying out isolated opportunistic rampages as they flee.

This is apparently a far cry from those dark days. Our troops remain resolute and undeterred in ensuring that Boko Haram is finally brought to its knees, he said.

The Boko Haram insurgency has caused about 100,000 deaths since 2009 with millions of others displaced, mainly in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states.
Former Army Chief, Victor Malu, who died on October 9, was buried at about 12:23p.m. on Saturday in his country home, Tongov, Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue.

The late general, who chief of Army Staff between 1999 and 2001, died in Cairo, Egypt, after a protracted illness.

Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue promised after due consultation with the State House of Assembly, that Mr. Malu would be immortalised by the state.

The governor described him as a professional soldier and a great man, who had done much to impact the lives of the Tiv people and the state in general.

The late Malu had contributed much into the lives of the Tivs and Nigerians. We are proud of him, we appreciate him, he said.

In a citation, the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, a Lieutenant General, described Mr. Malu as an articulate, dedicated, forthright gentleman, professional officer, who was firm, but calm.

Mr. Buratai said his death was a great loss to his family, army, the nation and West Africa sub-region.

Jeremiah Useni, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence, in a tribute, described Mr. Malu as a great, efficient, brave and frank officer.

In his sermon, Rev. Terseer Shagba of the NKST Church, stressed the need for those in positions of authority to render selfless service to the people.

Quoting from Esther 10, Mr. Shagba further urged leaders to be faithful and discharge their duties in whatever they were entrusted with like Mordecai in the book of Esther.

He said that was the only way they could endear themselves to the people, thereby guarantee their own security.

Mr. Malu enlisted into the Nigerian Defence Academy as member of the Regular Course 3 in 1967 and was commissioned in 1970 as a second Lieutenant.

He held many positions in the army, including General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division, Enugu, Contingent Commander and Chief of Operations of Nigerians Contingent to Liberia, in 1992, and Force Commander, ECOMOG, Liberia, 1996.

Mr. Malu is survived by wife, Esther, and four children, a female and three male, among who is Tarlumun Malu, a lieutenant colonel. (NAN)
Former Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday warned Nigerian students to stay away from conducting research into embryonic stem cells, saying the sanctity of humanity must be preserved.

At the graduation ceremony of the first set of graduating students at Baze University, Abuja, Mr. Jonathan said scholars can make human activities become more efficient without necessarily altering the essence of man.

It appears our classrooms have started creating individuals who function like robots, which is not good for humanity, Mr. Jonathan said. Training should not be about efficiency and precision alone; it should also be about character and human dignity.

About 244 students participated at the first convocation ceremony of the university, which was established in 2011 when Mr. Jonathan was president.

The former president said the school had come a long way from the 17 students that were admitted at its opening that year.

While reading from a prepared speech, Mr. Jonathan was lighthearted, yet, serious in urging the younger generation to channel their energy into resolving Nigerias multi-faceted challenges.

The kind and quality of education we offer today will determine how our country will be governed, and how prosperous it will become tomorrow, Mr. Jonathan said. This is because as young people, many of you sitting in the classrooms today, will sit in various Government offices and boardrooms tomorrow, to govern our country.

He warned the students to refrain from scientific endeavours that could put their moral or religious strength into question.

We are in an age when the talk of artificial intelligence evokes boundless passions, to the extent that our scientists are already tinkering with the idea of modifying human genes to create super humans.

I honestly believe that as humans we can improve efficiency in the way we conduct our affairs, but I also strongly believe that the classroom must never lose its humanity, Mr. Jonathan, a zoologist, said.

Embryonic stem cell research involves the efforts of scientists to use only stem cells to create human embryo and form artificial human life without the need for a sperm or an egg.

The first successful research which scientists conducted with embryonic stem cells came in 1998, according to the United States National Institutes of Health.

Although the World Trade Organisation strongly prohibits embryonic stem cell research for ethical reasons, some scientists are still believed to be conducting it, according to Godwin Bazuaye, a professor of haematology at the University of Benin.

Mr. Bazuaye said Mr. Jonathans advise to the students was not out of place since he focused his reservations on the cloning of humans, even though religion may not be a cause for concern for students who want to pick career in stem cell research.

Although science is not a religious organisation, the president is correct to warn students against the dangers of embryonic stem cell research, he said.

Mr. Bazuaye, who has conducted three successful sickle cell surgeries in Nigeria over the last six years, said other stem cell researches are not forbidden.

Bone marrow transplant and research to create new blood cells are not restricted, Mr. Bazuaye said.

He said stem cells that offer the prospect of having a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues to treat Parkinsons and Alzheimers diseases, spinal cord injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and other serious conductions are allowed.

Apart from rare cases such as Mr. Bazuayes, Nigerian scientists have not been able to record all-round development in the area of stem cells, a condition they blame on a perpetual lack of funding.

Mr. Jonathan said he backs innovation in industrialisation, but implored students not to go beyond this.

Our classrooms must continue to create rational human beings but with sufficient technical knowledge to build the machines we need in our factories and productive spaces, he said. Let those factories then create the required automaton and robots, in order to preserve the sanctity of the human essence.
Residents of Gui, a community located along airport road, Abuja, who recently celebrated the building of a new heathcare facility in their community have expressed their frustrations over the lack of secondary schools in the community.

They also lamented the poor state of roads within the community.

Speaking with our reporter at the commissioning and handing over ceremony of a primary healthcare centre, PHC donated by the European Union, EU, in the community on Friday, the residents called for government attention.

A resident, Perpetual Nwachukwu, said their children walk about 10km to school everyday.

A big challenge facing this community is lack of secondary schools. Our children have to walk about 10km to their schools everyday.

Our children go as far as Gusa and Suleja everyday all in the name of going to school, endangering their lives.

We plead with the government to build a secondary school for us so our children can stop going far to get education. A secondary school with about five or more teachers will add to the development of this community, she said.

On the newly commissioned PHC centre, Mrs. Nwachukwu said, Before the establishment of this PHC, I go all the way to Kuje General Hospital. That is about 20km from Gui. We are grateful for this privilege given to our community, it is a great honour and it will benefit the whole community, she said

She urged the government and the EU to bring in qualified female midwives, who are friendly, patient and accommodating.

This she said is because most residents of Gui community are illiterates, so they dont allow male nurses to attend to them especially during delivery.

Dorcas Zakariah, a mother of four also said she visits Kuje hospital for antenatal and other medical services but this will stop as the PHC will serve all needs.

She said the community was grateful to have a PHC, which means, she and other people will no longer have to go as far as Kuje hospital.

She also lamented the lack of good roads in the community, explaining that if the roads were good, it will enable people from other community access medical services in Gui.

Speaking at the event, the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ketil Karlsen, challenged states to make adequate allocation in the 2018 budget to cover immunisation programmes.

He disclosed that EU had provided an additional N3.8 billion to support the Nigerian governments immunisation programme in 23 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

He said the fund was also to strengthen primary health care under its seven-year project Support to Immunisation Governance in Nigeria (EU-SIGN) 2011-2018 initiative.

The project is in collaboration with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA and the 23 states targetted are: Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Ogun, Osun , Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara.

The amount was used to fund the procurement of vehicles and solar refrigerators as well as the construction and renovation of health facilities and cold stores in 23 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, the official said.

Beyond the financial assistance, he said, EU is also concerned about the governance and management of health service delivery and the utilisation of available budgets in a transparent and accountable manner.

He noted that it was important for the states and local governments to make adequate and predictable allocation in their annual budgets for recurrent immunistion costs for vaccine distribution, outreaches, regular power supply to the health facilities as well as staffing these facilities with qualified personnel.

In his remark, the Executive Director, NPHCDA, Faisal Shuaib, asked for support from the EU stressing that the countrys health system is yet to reach its full potential.

I wish to draw the attention of the EU to the fact that, Nigeria health system, especially the routine immunisation system is not there yet. With the recent outcome of the MICS survey, 2016 we still have a long way to go especially now that the country faces economic challenges.

Your further support for the continuous improvement of this system will come in handy, he said.
Ali Makoda, the Kano State Commissioner of Environment, says erosion has destroyed more than 200 graves at Tudun Murtala grave yard in Nasarawa Local Government Area of the state.

The commissioner announced this on Saturday when he visited the Tarauni graveyard in Tarauni Local Government as part of the states monthly sanitation exercise.

Immediately when we received the news, we took an urgent action to ensure that such disaster did not continue.

Presently we embark on the renovation of many grave yards across the state, especially those at the areas where they are facing the challenges of erosion, he said.

He commended a community development association of the sanitation team at the grave for their efforts at keeping the grave yard clean.

The commissioner pledged to continue to give them all necessary support, especially with the working material to encourage them.

He called on other volunteer groups to also embark on such self-help work with the aim to move the state forward and ensure that all grave yards remained clean.

Mr. Makoda commended the public for complying with the sanitation order, calling on them to continue to support the government to keep the state clean.

The leader of the Tarauni Youth Initiative, Salisu Adamu, appealed to the state government to assist them with all the necessary working materials that could assist them to carry out their duties effectively.

We are also appealing to the government to come to the aide of some volunteers who are always at the grave yard to dig graves.

Before, each of the workers was paid N3,000 monthly, but for over two years now, they have not been paid at all, Mr. Adamu said.

(NAN)
Oluwatoyin Ogundipe has emerged as the 12th Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos.

This was made known in a statement on the official Facebook page of the institution on Friday night .

According to the report, the university has concluded the process for the appointment of a new vice chancellor which commenced on July 4 with the placement of advertisement in national newspapers.

Pursuant to the Law, the Search Team, the Criteria Committee, the Short-Listing Committee, and the Selection Board conducted the exercise and three candidates were nominated, the statement reads.

The statement said the institution followed the guidelines for the appointment of vice chancellors and provosts, as recommended by the Ministry of Education.

The three candidates that were selected are Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, Olukayode Amund, and Ayodeji Olukoju.

The statement said Mr. Ogundipe scored the highest mark in the exercise.

At the end of the Governing Council meeting of Friday, 27th October 2017, Council approved the appointment of Professor Oluwatoyin T. Ogundipe.

Mr. Ogundipe who was appointed a professor in 2002 became the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the institution on April 1, 2016.

Rahman Bello, the outgoing vice chancellor who is a a professor of chemical engineering was appointed on November 12, 2012 as the 11th vice chancellor. He is set to leave office in two weeks after the completion of his five years tenure.

The University of Lagos was established in 1962.
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.




Joshua's Heart Junior Advisory Board Members, Eleana Zapata and Ceci Sosa use their resources to help hurricane and earthquake victims while providing supplies for Venezuelan refugees.

By: Joshua's Heart Foundation

Contact

A Better Concept PR

***@abetterconcept.com A Better Concept PR

End

-- The dynamic teen duo, Ceci Sosa and Eleana Zapata, are operating in overdrive mode collecting supplies for the families left to fend off disaster after earthquakes and hurricanes ravaged through Mexico and Puerto Rico. The friends have been actively collecting gently used clothing, batteries, diapers, water and other items desperately needed for communities of families left with nothing after the recent natural disasters that ripped through their homelands.Both girls developed their love for philanthropy from their active involvement in Joshua's Heart Foundation (JHF). They are both active in the organization and took active steps on their own to help the needy in our communities and abroad. "Being a part of Joshua's Heart has taught me the true meaning of selflessness. I truly believe when I give back, I feel like I am making a difference in the lives of those that are less fortunate than me and my family", said Ceci Sosa, Vice Chair of the JHF Junior Advisory Board. Eleana Zapata added, "Joshua and I have been friends since grade school. Being involved with his foundation has made me realize how fortunate we children are and how much we take for granted. I love giving back and making a difference in every life we touch. This relief drive is for everyone who is suffering loss for no other reason than where they live. We saw a need and activated, it's never too early to be the change". Eleana is the Social Media Manager for Joshua's Heart.Although the girls have been collecting needed items since October 1the public still has time to make a difference until this Saturday, October 7. The collection efforts also include items for Venezuelan refugees fleeing personal persecution and seeking political asylum from their homeland. If you would like to help please bring the following items this Saturday between 9am and 4pm to 11 Semana Drive, Miami Fl:Gently used clothing, all sizes preferably complete outfitsBaby wipes, water, boxed or canned milk and batteries (AA, C & D)New pillows, used or new coffee makers, new or used cooking pots and pans, gently used kitchen utensils, towels, sheets, car seats, strollers and gently used baby clothing.Questions or more information call or text 305.788.8295. For more information on Joshua's Heart and how you can make a difference visit www.joshuasheart.org or email volunteer@joshuasheart.com is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization that empowers, needy people to improve their quality of life. The foundation was founded by a four-and-a-half-year-old boy by the name of Joshua. His heart conceived a passion for assisting those who struggle daily to procure food for basic survival. The focus of his vision is to "Stomp out Hunger" in indigent and underprivileged communities, as well as from among those who battle debilitating diseases that affect their ability to earn enough to feed themselves.For more information about Joshua's Heart Foundation, our local events or how to get involved, please contact us at 305.788.8295. You can also send us an email at info@joshuasheart.org and visit our website at www.joshuasheart.org
The company recently welcomed Michael Pickel to the team to estimate commercial roofing projects.

By: Texas Traditions Roofing

Michael Pickel

Contact

Karen L. Edwards

***@casimirgroupllc.com Karen L. Edwards

End

-- Texas Traditions Roofing, a family owned, residential and commercial roofing company serving Central Texas, welcomes Michael Pickel to its team as chief estimator."As we expand the commercial side of our business, we are thrilled that another member of our family is joining our team," explained Mike Pickel, co-founder of Texas Traditions Roofing. "Michael has grown up in the construction industry, spending time on job sites with me. His desire to join Texas Traditions will ensure that the company continues to be family run for years to come."Before joining Texas Traditions Roofing, Michael spent time in biotech sales roles. He is a proud graduate of Texas A&M and a huge Aggie fan. Michael grew up in Georgetown, Texas, and will be moving back from the Houston area with his wife Abbey to make their home here.Texas Traditions Roofing began as a shared calling by the founding owners to work in their local community while giving back at the same time. The company specializes in residential and commercial roofing in the Central Texas region. They believe in doing business based on strong, traditional Texas values and work hard to establishfor customers and the community. For more information, visit www.texastraditionsroofing.com
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Oct. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pundi X, a blockchain startup that aims to make cryptocurrencies an enabler of ubiquitous cashless payment environments across South East Asia, has successfully closed its pre-sale ICO with a total of 3,148 ETH, 613 BTC and 250,040 XEM - equivalent to 14,000 ETH or 4 million US Dollars - raised from 615 investors. The full public Initial Coin Offering (ICO) will commence on November 20, 2017.

The pre-ICO cap for the Pundi X ICO is 5% or 14,000 ETH from a total ICO hard cap of 280,000 ETH. ETH are exchangeable with PXS Tokens at a rate of 1 ETH: 500 PXS. Renowned angel investors in the pre-sale ICO include David Lee Kuo Chuen and Lon Wong. Chuen serves as a Professor of Quantitative Finance and is an investor of ZCash, Qtum, TenX, InfoCorp and OmiseGo; Wong is the President of NEM.io Foundation and CEO of Dragonfly Fintech. Nem currently ranks 7th in the Coinmarketcap.

"We are truly grateful to achieve our presale target thanks to the commitment of hundreds of enthusiastic retail investors," said Zac Cheah, CEO of Pundi X. "Such huge community support gives the team a great deal of pride ahead of the full public ICO, which we will see institutional investors getting involved for the first time."

Pundi X aims to solve the last mile challenge for cryptocurrency purchases and sales. The company's business builds on the existing Pundi-Pundi business model of cashless payment systems, which enables smartphone users to scan QR codes and makes instant payments in retail and restaurant outlets. Pundi-Pundi has already signed up more than 100,000 registered users and over 500 merchant partners in Jakarta in less than a year of operation.

Funds raised by the sale of PXS Tokens during the ICO period will be used to purchase Pundi X POS devices that will be installed in retail outlets enabling consumers to quickly and easily buy or sell cryptocurrency using fiat money (Dollars, Rupiah, Baht, etc.), bank card, mobile wallet or Pundi X Pass. The purchased cryptocurrency can be stored in a digital wallet or used to make cashless payments to top up phones, pay utility bills or buy goods, subject to local regulations in each market.

Pundi X rewards qualified ICO investors with its world smallest cryptocurrency transaction devices. From now until December 20, throughout the remainder of the ICO, qualified investors with a 30 ETH or 1.5 BTC investment or more will each receive a Pundi X POS device. POS devices delivered under this offer will be shipped within 45 days after completion of the ICO process.

The target for this ICO is to raise 280,000 ETH which will help fund up to 700,000 Pundi X POS devices to be installed over a three-year period in Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and other Asian markets, in line with the Pundi X business plan. The cost of each POS device is approximately USD 300 and consequently about USD 30 million will be spent on rolling out the first 100,000 devices. The remaining 600,000 devices will also be funded by sales proceeds from tokens and revenue from participating B2B merchants in the Pundi X ecosystem. Pundi X expects to generate a profit from services offered by POS devices including sales of cryptocurrency such as bitcoins.

About Pundi X

Pundi X is a blockchain startup that aims to make cryptocurrency an enabler of ubiquitous cashless payment environments across South East Asia and beyond. Pundi X POS enables shops, cafes and convenience stores to sell cryptocurrency to a broad cross section of consumers and builds on the success of Pundi-Pundi which is one of Indonesia's most popular QR code cashless payment apps. The Pundi X ICO will provide funding for as many as 700,000 Pundi X POS devices to be installed over the next three years across all target markets.

For a detailed understanding of the platform and the team behind Pundi X, check out our website https://pundix.com.

You can also find us on the following social media channels:

Website:https://pundix.com

Twitter:https://twitter.com/PundiXLabs

Telegram:http://t.me/pundix

Medium:http://medium.com/pundix

Facebook:https://web.facebook.com/pundixlabs

Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOIf6WeLEzZi3DQxzenTZeA

Telegram (Indonesian):https://t.me/pundix_id

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Telegram (Russian):https://t.me/pundix_ru

Telegram (Japanese):https://t.me/pundix_jp

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SOURCE Pundi X

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EAST HANOVER, N.J., Oct. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Novartis today announced results from the Phase III PARADIGMS study, investigating the safety and efficacy of fingolimod vs. interferon beta-1a, in children and adolescents (ages 10 to <18) with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). Treatment with oral fingolimod resulted in an 82% reduction in the rate of relapses (annualized relapse rate) in this patient population over a period of up to two years, compared to interferon beta-1a intramuscular injections (p <0.001)1. PARADIGMS is the first completed randomized, controlled clinical trial specifically designed for children and adolescents with relapsing MS. The results have been presented at the 7th Joint European and Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS) meeting on October 28, 2017 in Paris, France.

"There are currently no FDA-approved MS therapies for the pediatric population," said Dr. Tanuja Chitnis, Principal Investigator for PARADIGMS and Director of the Partners Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, US, and Scientist, Ann Romney Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, US. "We are encouraged by the reduction in the annualized relapse rate we've seen with fingolimod in this study. PARADIGMS was designed specifically for pediatric patients, who oftentimes have more frequent relapses than adults with early MS."

Additional data from the study demonstrated:

Secondary endpoints showed a significant reduction in the number of new / newly enlarging T2 lesions and Gd-T1 lesions in the brain in fingolimod-treated patients compared to those treated with interferon beta-1a, as measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) 1 .

. The safety profile of fingolimod in this study was overall consistent with that seen in previous clinical trials in adults. In this study, while more adverse events (AEs) were reported in the interferon beta-1a group, severe AEs were reported at a higher frequency in fingolimod-treated patients 3 .

. An exploratory analysis found individuals treated with fingolimod had significantly less brain volume loss (measured by MRI), compared to those treated with interferon beta-1a1.

"Gilenya has been shown to improve outcomes for adults with relapsing MS. We're proud of having completed this head-to-head trial in children and adolescents with relapsing MS and are encouraged by the findings," said Fabrice Chouraqui, President of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. "The study reflects our ongoing commitment to the MS community."

Fingolimod, also known as Gilenya in the US, is approved to treat relapsing forms of MS in adults. Gilenya is not currently approved for children and adolescents with relapsing MS. Novartis is working on submission with health authorities worldwide for pediatric patients.

About the Phase III PARADIGMS study

The Phase III PARADIGMS study (NCT01892722) is a double-blind, randomized, multi-center study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of oral fingolimod compared to interferon beta-1a in children and adolescents with a confirmed diagnosis of relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), over a period of up to two years, followed by a five-year open label extension phase4. The study enrolled 215 children and adolescents with MS, between the ages of 10 and <18 years with an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score between 0 and 5.54. Patients were randomized to receive once-daily oral fingolimod (0.5 mg or 0.25 mg, dependent on patients' body weight) or intramuscular interferon beta-1a once weekly4.

The primary endpoint of the study was the frequency of relapses in patients treated up to 24 months (annualized relapse rate)4. Secondary endpoints included the number of new or newly enlarged T2 lesions, Gadolinium enhancing T1 lesions, safety and the pharmacokinetic properties of fingolimod, all measured throughout the treatment period4. Brain volume loss (measured by MRI) was an exploratory endpoint, for which the study was not powered4.

The Phase III PARADIGMS study was conducted in 87 sites over 25 countries, and was designed in partnership with the US Food and Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency and the International Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Study Group.

About Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) that disrupts the normal functioning of the brain, optic nerves and spinal cord through inflammation and tissue loss5. In adults, there are three types of MS: relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), secondary progressive MS (SPMS) and primary progressive MS (PPMS)6. In children, RRMS accounts for nearly all cases (approximately 98 percent)7.

The evolution of MS results in an increasing loss of both physical and cognitive (e.g., memory) function. This has a substantial negative impact on the lives of the approximately 2.3 million people worldwide affected by MS, of which between three and five percent are estimated to be children8,9.

About Gilenya (fingolimod) in adults

Gilenya was the first once-a-day pill approved to treat relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). Approved for first-line use, Gilenya is a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) that offers freedom from injections, which may fit many patients' lifestyles. Gilenya helps slow down the physical problems caused by RRMS and decreases the frequency of MS flare-ups (relapses).

Gilenya is the most prescribed oral once-daily DMT. In the US, approximately 73,000 patients have been exposed to Gilenya. Worldwide, Gilenya has been used to treat approximately 213,000 patients in both clinical trials and the post-marketing setting, with approximately 453,000 years of patient experience3.

Indication

Gilenya is a prescription medicine used to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) in adults. Gilenya can decrease the number of MS flare-ups (relapses). Gilenya does not cure MS, but it can help slow down the physical problems that MS causes.

Important Safety Information

You should not take Gilenya if in the last 6 months you experienced heart attack, unstable angina, stroke or warning stroke, or certain types of heart failure. Do not take Gilenya if you have an irregular or abnormal heartbeat (arrhythmia), including a heart finding called prolonged QT as seen on an ECG, or if you take medicines that change your heart rhythm. Do not take Gilenya if you are allergic to fingolimod or any of the other ingredients.

Gilenya may cause side effects such as:

Slow heart rate, especially after first dose. You will be monitored by a health care professional for at least 6 hours after your first dose. Your pulse and blood pressure will be checked hourly. You'll get an ECG before and 6 hours after your first dose. If any heart problems arise or your heart rate is still low, you'll continue to be monitored. If you have any serious side effects, especially those that require treatment with other medicines, or if you have certain types of heart problems, or if you're taking medicines that can affect your heart, you'll be watched overnight. If you experience slow heart rate, it will usually return to normal within 1 month. Call your doctor, or seek immediate medical attention if you have any symptoms of slow heart rate, such as feeling dizzy or tired or feeling like your heart is beating slowly or skipping beats. Symptoms can happen up to 24 hours after the first dose. Do not stop taking Gilenya without consulting with your doctor. Call your doctor if you miss 1 or more doses of Gilenyayou may need to repeat the 6-hour monitoring.

Increased risk of serious infections. Gilenya lowers the number of white blood cells (lymphocytes) in your blood. This will usually go back to normal within 2 months of stopping Gilenya. Your doctor may do a blood test before you start Gilenya. Gilenya may decrease the way vaccines work in your body, especially the chicken pox vaccine. Increased risk of infection was seen with doses higher than the approved dose (0.5 mg). Two patients died who took higher-dose Gilenya (1.25 mg) combined with high-dose steroids. Call your doctor right away if you have fever, tiredness, body aches, chills, nausea, vomiting, or headache accompanied by fever, neck stiffness, sensitivity to light, nausea, and/or confusion. These may be symptoms of meningitis.

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). PML is a rare brain infection that usually leads to death or severe disability. If PML happens, it usually happens in people with weakened immune systems. It is important that you call your doctor right away if you have any new or worsening medical problems that have lasted several days, including problems with thinking, eyesight, strength, balance, weakness on 1 side of your body, or using your arms and legs.

Macular edema, a vision problem that can cause some of the same vision symptoms as an MS attack (optic neuritis), or no symptoms. If it happens, macular edema usually starts in the first 3 to 4 months after starting Gilenya. Your doctor should test your vision before you start Gilenya; 3 to 4 months after you start Gilenya; and any time you notice vision changes. Vision problems may continue after macular edema has gone away. Your risk of macular edema may be higher if you have diabetes or have had an inflammation of your eye (uveitis). Call your doctor right away if you have blurriness, shadows, or a blind spot in the center of your vision; sensitivity to light; or unusually colored vision.

Swelling and narrowing of the blood vessels in your brain. A condition called PRES (Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome) has occurred rarely in patients taking Gilenya. Symptoms of PRES usually get better when you stop taking Gilenya. However, if left untreated, it may lead to a stroke. Call your doctor right away if you experience any symptoms, such as sudden headache, confusion, seizures, loss of vision, or weakness.

Breathing problems. Some patients have shortness of breath. Call your doctor right away if you have trouble breathing.

Liver problems. Your doctor should do blood tests to check your liver before you start Gilenya. Call your doctor right away if you have nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, loss of appetite, tiredness, dark urine, or if your skin or the whites of your eyes turn yellow.

Increases in blood pressure (BP). BP should be monitored during treatment.

A type of skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Talk to your doctor if you notice any skin nodules (shiny, pearly nodules), patches or open sores that do not heal within weeks. These may be signs of BCC.

Gilenya may harm your unborn baby. Talk to your doctor if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant. Women who can become pregnant should use effective birth control while on Gilenya, and for at least 2 months after stopping. If you become pregnant while taking Gilenya, or within 2 months after stopping, tell your doctor right away. Women who take Gilenya should not breastfeed, as it is not known if Gilenya passes into breast milk. A pregnancy registry is available for women who become pregnant during Gilenya treatment. For more information, contact the Gilenya Pregnancy Registry by calling Quintiles at 1-877-598-7237, by e-mailing [email protected], or by going to www.gilenyapregnancyregistry.com.

Tell your doctor about all your medical conditions, including if you had or now have an irregular or abnormal heartbeat; heart problems; a history of repeated fainting; a fever or infection, or if you are unable to fight infections due to a disease or are taking medicines that lower your immune system, including corticosteroids, or have taken them in the past; eye problems; diabetes; breathing or liver problems; or uncontrolled high blood pressure. Also tell your doctor if you have had chicken pox or have received the chicken pox vaccine. Your doctor may test for the chicken pox virus, and you may need to get the full course of the chicken pox vaccine and wait 1 month before starting Gilenya.

If you take too much Gilenya, call your doctor or go to the nearest hospital emergency room right away.

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take or have recently taken, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Tell your doctor if you have been vaccinated within 1 month before you start taking Gilenya. You should not get certain vaccines, called live attenuated vaccines, while taking Gilenya and for at least 2 months after stopping Gilenya treatment.

The most common side effects with Gilenya were headache, abnormal liver tests, diarrhea, cough, flu, sinusitis, back pain, abdominal pain, and pain in arms or legs.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit

www.fda.gov/MedWatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Please see full Prescribing Information, including Medication Guide at http://www.pharma.us.novartis.com/product/pi/pdf/gilenya.pdf.

Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "potential," "can," "will," "plan," "expect," "anticipate," "look forward," "believe," "committed," "investigational," "pipeline," "launch," "exciting," "underway," "upcoming," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for the investigational and approved products described in this press release, or regarding potential future revenues from such products. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding such products could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures; general economic and industry conditions, including the effects of the persistently weak economic and financial environment in many countries; safety, quality or manufacturing issues, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Novartis

Located in East Hanover, NJ Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation is an affiliate of Novartis which provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. In 2016, the Group achieved net sales of USD 48.5 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 119,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are available in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.

Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis

For Novartis multimedia content, please visit www.novartis.com/news/media-library

For questions about the site or required registration, please contact [email protected]

References

Chitnis T, Arnold DL, Banwell B, et al. PARADIGMS: A Randomised Double-blind Study of Fingolimod Versus Interferon -1a in Paediatric Multiple Sclerosis. Abstract no. 276. Oral presentation at 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS Meeting, Paris, France , October 25-28, 2017 . National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Pediatric MS. http://www.nationalmssociety.org/What-is-MS/Who-Gets-MS/Pediatric-MS. Accessed October 17, 2017 . Novartis data on file. ClinicalTrials.gov. Safety and Efficacy of Fingolimod in Pediatric Patients With Multiple Sclerosis. NCT01892722. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01892722. Accessed October 17, 2017 . PubMed Health. Multiple Sclerosis (MS). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMHT0024311/. Accessed October 17, 2017 . Multiple Sclerosis Society. Types of MS. https://www.mssociety.org.uk/what-is-ms/types-of-ms. Accessed October 17, 2017 . Waldman A, Ness J, Pohl D, et al. Pediatric multiple sclerosis: Clinical features and outcome. Neurology 2016;87 (Suppl 2):S74-S81. Patel Y, Bhise V, Krupp L. Pediatric multiple sclerosis. Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology. 2009;12(4):238-245. Multiple Sclerosis International Federation. Atlas of MS 2013. https://www.msif.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Atlas-of-MS.pdf. Accessed October 17, 2017 .

SOURCE Novartis
The governments of Honduras, Israel, Mauritania, Monaco, the Philippines, Samoa, Senegal, Sri Lanka, and Togo proposed six specieswhale sharks, angel sharks, white-spotted wedgefish, common guitarfish, dusky sharks, and blue sharks  for protection through addition to the CMS lists, known as appendices. Appendix I prohibits the catch of any of these endangered species from any place they migrate, and Appendix II identifies the shark species most in need of conservation action, encouraging cooperation to properly manage and protect the species throughout their migratory range.

Today's actions placed whale sharks, angel sharks, and common guitarfish in the Mediterranean on Appendix I and dusky, angel and blue sharks, white-spotted wedgefish, and common guitarfish globally on Appendix II.

KerriLynn Miller, a conservation expert on Pew's shark conservation project, issued the following statement:

"The momentum for protecting sharks continues to build, thanks to the significant step CMS members have taken toward better management of six at-risk shark species.

"These species, like many others, are migratory, even those that spend part of their lives in protected waters, leaving them vulnerable to various types of fishing gear. In some regions, the newly protected shark species have experienced population declines of 50 percent or more. The commitment that CMS parties will work together to offer these sharks the help they need to recover is critical to their depleted populations, and is important for making the entire ocean safer for the species that migrate.

"The CMS Appendix II listings allow for the sustainable fishing of sharks, but if management measures are not effectively implemented, species listed in Appendix II could qualify for the stricter protections of Appendix I. To ensure that these Appendix II listings have the needed impact, governments must follow through on their commitments to cooperate by developing stronger domestic shark protections, while considering international management through regional fisheries bodies and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

"As for the species that were protected today, the CMS parties have shown that proper management for imperiled sharks and rays continues to be a global priority. We applaud governments for offering the highest level of protection for the whale and angel sharks and the common guitarfish in the Mediterranean, where urgent action is needed, and are encouraged to see additional speciesblue and dusky sharks, white-spotted wedgefish, and common guitarfish globallyafforded an opportunity to recover before their populations require full protection. This is an important step toward safeguarding shark populations for generations to come."

More information on Pew's global shark conservation campaign is available at http://www.pewsharks.org.

The Pew Charitable Trusts is driven by the power of knowledge to solve today's most challenging problems. Learn more at www.pewtrusts.org.

Barb Cvrkel, +1 202-510-5670

[email protected]

SOURCE The Pew Charitable Trusts

Related Links

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In Mandy Mikulencak's The Last Suppers, Ginny Polk, the prison chef at the fictional Greenmount Penitentiary in Louisiana, takes special care in preparing death row inmates' final meals. Having grown up around the prisonher father worked there until he was murdered, and his best friend, Roscoe Simms, is the wardenGinny knows these prisoners aren't monsters, and fulfilling this last wish has become a kind of mission for her. Sometimes the weight of it is almost too much: "Planning the meals," writes Mikulencak in The Last Suppers, "plagued her thoughts and brought on headaches and stomach pains."

Set between the 1930s and 1950s, The Last Suppers is part redemption tale, part murder mystery, and even part cookbook. It's the story of how Ginny and Roscoe, now her lover, delve deeper into the facts of Ginny's father's murder. They also come to terms with a lifetime lived among these prisoners in, as Mikulencak says, "one of the most desolate, dehumanizing places on earth during a time in our history known for inhumane prison conditions, systemic racism, and sexual inequality." It's a book sure to spark discussion in book clubs and reading groups, raising issues that are as pressing today as they were 70 years ago.

Mikulencak began the novel after a conversation with a friend about Texas death row inmates; she learned of "a young man who wanted Frosted Flakes and milk for his final meal. This illustrated for me that these requests have little to do with taste and desire, and everything to do with memory and emotion," says Mikulencak. That insight sparked the realization that she could find her characters' pasts and personalities through the meals they asked foreach meal is a story in itself.

Food is almost a character in The Last Suppers. Mikulencak cites one particular meal as an example of what she was trying to do: "an elderly inmate named Horace asks for the fruitcake his mother, a New Orleans housemaid, used to bake for her employer to give as holiday gifts. The mother was allowed to bring home those that were burnt," says Mikulencak. "The inmate asks Ginny to burn the edges so that it tastes like the ones from his childhood."

In moments like this, whole lives suddenly unfold, and these prisoners, otherwise lost to history, vividly come to life. The book also features an appendix with recipes. As part of her research, Mikulencak, an amateur chef and baker, went in search of cookbooks from the '30s. "They were yellowed and held together with tape, but what a gold mine!" The recipes include Horace's "Calumet Fruitcake."

Though Mikulencak says she didn't set out to write an "issues" book, she soon realized her story would speak deeply about racism, inequality, and prisoners' rights. "I think it's natural," says Mikulencak, "that readers will gravitate to discussions on capital punishment and whether current methods are humane and actually deter crime."

The Last Suppers is also the first title from Kensington's new hardcover fiction imprint, John Scognamiglio Books, overseen by Kensington's longtime editor in chief. Scognamiglio began at Kensington in 1992 and has served as editor in chief since 2005; the launch of the imprint coincides with his 25th anniversary at the press. John Scognamiglio Books is currently slated to publish one more title in 2018Eldonna Edwards's 1960s coming of age novel This I Knowand two historical novels by debut authors in 2019.

Throughout his career, Scognamiglio has been committed to discovering high-quality commercial fiction, and in that way, he says, "the books being highlighted in my imprint are no different from the books I've published in the past. I've always loved working with debut authors and hopefully helping them build long-lasting careers."

Scognamiglio says he's very honored to have an imprint of his own though "I'm not the kind of person who likes having the spotlight shined on me." But, he continues, "having my name appear on my books recognizes the hard work of my parents. My love of books comes from both my mother and father, and I wouldn't be where I am today if not for them."
Atria Buys Book from HarperWave Publisher

Karen Rinaldi, publisher at HarperWave, sold a nonfiction book called (Its Great to) Suck at Something to Atria. Sarah Pelz bought North American rights to the book, which is based on an essay of the same title that Rinaldi recently wrote for the New York Times, at auction from Richard Pine and Kim Witherspoon at Inkwell Management. The publisher said the book, which is slated for spring 2019, is a call to action to let go of perfectionism, embrace our shortcomings, and truly suck at something.

Bloomsbury Buys Public Health Book

In a world English rights acquisition, Bloomsburys Ben Hyman bought Dan Werbs City of Omens. The publisher described the book, which Kirby Kim of Janklow & Nesbit sold, as a public health true crime narrative. In the book, Werb, a Canadian National Magazine Award winner, examines the sharply rising murder rate of women in Tijuana; this leads, Bloomsbury said, into a broader investigation of immigration, the drug war, human trafficking, and the U.S.Mexico border. The book is set for a 2019 publication.

YA Designer Becomes YA Author

Hafsah Faizals debut novel, We Hunt the Flame, was acquired for six figures at auction by Janine OMalley at Farrar, Straus and Giroux. John Cusick at Folio Jr. represented Faizal, who has worked with a number of authors in the kid lit community through her company, Icey Designs (which, among other things, has created numerous author websites). Her manuscript caused a stir after being submitted via the Twitter pitchfest #DVPit, a social media event that, according to its creators, highlights manuscripts by marginalized voices that have been historically underrepresented in publishing. Cusick said the novel is set in a world inspired by ancient Arabia and follows a girl named Zafira, who must disguise herself as a man to seek a lost artifact that could return magic to her cursed world.

Laure Causes Mayhem at SMP

For St. Martins Presss new Wednesday Books imprint, Sara Goodman bought North American rights to the YA crime novel Mayhem by Estelle Laure (This Raging Light). The book was sold by Emily van Beek at Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management, who said the 1980s-set work was pitched as The Lost Boys meets The Craft with a splash of Manson family for good measure. Mayhem is planned for spring/summer 2019.

Forge Strikes Midnight with Webber

Midnight in the Blackbird Cafe, a womens fiction title by Heather Webber, was acquired in a world English rights deal by Amy Stapp at Forge Books. Jessica Faust at BookEnds Literary represented Webber. The publisher said the book is about a woman who, after returning to her small Southern town, searches for answers to her fathers death. While doing so, she seeks to find the truth about the magical cafe her family owns, where, the publisher went on, a piece of blackbird pie can reveal the whispers of loved ones.

Picture Book About Civil Rights Activist to S&S

For Simon & Schusters Margaret K. McElderry Books imprint, Karen Wojtyla bought world rights to the picture book Lift as You Climb: The Story of Ella Baker. The book, by Patricia Hruby Powell (Loving vs. Virginia), is about a little-known civil rights activist who worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. Anna Olswanger at Olswanger Literary represented Powell, who has won numerous awards for her work, including a Boston Globe-Horn Book Nonfiction Honor and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. Olswanger said Lift, which will be illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (Freedom in Congo Square), will show how Baker led grassroots efforts [for civil rights], concentrating on the women of the South and registering voters. Christie, an award-winning illustrator, did not use an agent. The book is set for fall 2019.

Blakely Lands Six-Figure Audio-First Deal

In a six-figure acquisition, Rose Hilliard and Elizabeth Skoler at Audible Originals bought audio-first rights to two books by bestseller Lauren Blakely. The first book in the deal, Wanderlust, is, Audible said, about a spirited American woman who relocates to Paris and unexpectedly falls for a charming British man, who also happens to be the one person she needs most to succeed in her new and unconventional job. Michelle Wolfson at Wolfson Literary Agency handled the sale for Blakely.

Briefs

Lori Deschene (Tiny Buddhas 365 Tiny Love Challenges) sold Tiny Buddhas Anxiety Journal to HarperOne. Kathryn Renz Hamilton took world English rights to the book from Linda Konner at the Linda Konner Literary Agency. Konner described the book as an interactive journal intended to help readers de-stress, reduce anxiety, and find peace.
The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PardeeRAND.edu) is home to the only Ph.D. and M.Phil. programs offered at an independent public policy research organizationthe RAND Corporation.
As part of RAND's ongoing Beyond the Headlines series, senior economist Christine Eibner discussed modifications to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the long-term outlook for health care reform in the United States on September 28 at the research organization's Pittsburgh office. Multiple proposals have been introduced in the House and the Senate to repeal and replace the ACA and lawmakers haven't always waited for the Congressional Budget Office to analyze the costs and effects of these complicated measures, said Eibner, the Paul O'Neill Alcoa Chair in Policy Analysis.

Understanding sweeping legislative policy proposals that may include eliminating mandates, block grants to states, changes to Medicaid and other variables is exactly the sort of research project RAND excels at, and Eibner has been working with a microsimulation model developed to analyze systems with multiple moving parts. Where RAND can really add value is looking at the sensitivity of complex health insurance policy proposals to alternative assumptions, she said, and modeling how different scenarios affect coverage and costs.

The individual health insurance market is inherently unstable, because

stability would require a large pool including both the healthy and the sick

healthy people may find a plan that pools them with sick people too expensive to enroll in.

Before the Affordable Care Act, individual-market insurers dealt with this instability by screening out sick people or charging them more. The ACA requires insurers to offer coverage to all applicants at the same price for healthy and sick. Healthy people are pulled into the marketby tax credits to help make coverage more affordable (carrot) and the individual mandate (stick)to ensure balance and stability. But premiums have, nevertheless, increased each year since the law took effect.

Another way the ACA attempted to reduce expenses for participants was to require insurers to provide subsidies to help low-income participants with cost-sharing like copays and deductibles; the insurers would then be reimbursed for their share by Congress. However, those payments from Congress have been in dispute and the administration recently announced it will stop reimbursing insurers. Without federal reimbursement, insurers may resort to raising premiums to recoup their share of subsidies to low-income plan participants.

Federal health insurance policies that attempt to stabilize the individual market can be tricky because this market is so small; many Americans have health insurance through their employers. Encouraging competition, which might bring increased stability, in such a small and wobbly market is challenging.

So far, Republicans have not succeeded in passing an ACA repeal and replace proposal into law and there are other reform proposals in the pipeline. The Alexander-Murray bipartisan effort to repair flaws in the ACA is still under construction. Senator Bernie Sanders has proposed a single-payer Medicare for All plan, but with Republican majorities in both the House and the Senate the bill is unlikely to pass this Congress.

The paradox of being the only major industrialized country without universal health insurance is that, while the concept is quite popular, the devil lies firmly in the details. For example, Senator Sanders has not detailed how to pay for the cost of his Medicare For All proposal. Americans want change but also fear it.

Eibner fielded questions after her presentation about historical RAND research on the American health-insurance patchwork and pointed out that Americans want a lot more from health insurance than they want from other kinds of insurance; your automobile insurance policy, for example, doesn't cover routine care like oil changes and tire rotations. Former RAND Chairman, Alcoa Chairman and CEO, and Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill, who was in the audience for the presentation, spoke in response to audience questions about the health care debate from a business perspective, calling for real leaders willing to address the dangerous inefficiency of medical practice itself in America, aside from its expense.

With the failure of the most recent Graham-Cassidy ACA repeal bill amid partisan and intra-party strife, the pace of health care legislative proposals may slow slightly. But it is clear that the complicated issues of how to stabilize the health insurance market, what role government should play, or how the ACA could be improved on or superseded by a different and better system would be well-served if policy proposals are informed and illuminated by robust research in the months and years ahead.

 Samantha Bennett
Since 2010, every 3- and 4-year-old in Britain has been guaranteed 15 hours of free child care a week for 38 weeks a year, the equivalent of a full school term. Most working parents of preschoolers can now claim 30 hours of free care a week, a major advance for a country that long lagged behind its European peers in providing affordable, quality child care.

Although it has a long way to go to catch up with Scandinavian nations, whose policies are considered the most family-friendly in the world, Britain is setting an example that could compel serious attention in the United States. The struggle to reconcile the demands of work and family life is similar on both sides of the Atlantic, yet the U.S. is alone among major Western democracies in its failure to invest in child care for all.

Britain's expansion of free early care, which took effect Sept. 1, is the centerpiece of government efforts to support working families grappling with child care bills that are among the highest in Europe, often costlier than a mortgage. Conservative and liberal leaders alike are united behind the program, viewing the extra 1-billion-a year investment (about $1.3 billion) as a social good and essential to England's economic vitality.

America is alone among major Western democracies in its failure to invest in child care for all.

The new program is not perfect. Unlike the 15-hour allowance, it requires that parents earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at minimum wage, effectively shutting out those at the lowest income levels who arguably have the greatest need for free child care. In two-parent families, both parents must be working and neither can earn more than 100,000 a year (about $132,000).

The national rollout of the 30-hour entitlement has been marred by technical glitches and complaints from care providers that it is underfunded, possibly making it difficult to ensure a high quality of care. Many nurseries are tacking on surcharges for snacks and trips or closing their doors altogether.

No one denies, however, that the program is helping people balance their family and professional lives. My research on child care policy for RAND Europe as part of the European Platform for Investing in Children study bears this out, as does my own experience as the mother of three young children.

After the birth of my first child in 2009, I returned to work but discovered that after paying the nursery cost, I was substantially worse off than when I was on the UK's statutory maternity leave pay. Two years later my second child was born, but I stayed home until my oldest turned 3 and was eligible for the 15 hours of free care. Still, I only worked part-time because of high child care costs.

This scenario plays out across many European countries, with mothers far more likely than fathers to reduce working hours ( PDF ) in order to care for their children. In Britain, a couple earning average wages spends about 27% of their income on early years care, more than twice the average of the 34 developed nations in the intergovernmental Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Despite its wealth, the U.S. ranks fourth from the bottom of OECD countries in public spending on child care ( PDF ) and pre-primary education.

U.S. parents, at the mercy of the private market, pay an annual average of nearly $9,600 for full-time care of children age 4 and under. That figure exceeds the average cost of tuition in a four-year public college in most states, according to a 2017 report from the New America think tank. American women, like their British counterparts, cite the high cost of care as a major reason for dropping out of the labor force after having a child. Studies show that maternal employment in the U.S. is lower now than at any time in the past 20 years. Meanwhile, child poverty is rising.

One of the most powerful arguments for investing in quality early childhood programs comes from an American, Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman. His groundbreaking studies have shown that public preschool programs yielded a sizeable return per year through improved educational outcomes, lower risk of criminal behavior and higher future earnings. He and other researchers, including RAND senior economist Lynn A. Karoly, find the returns are greatest for disadvantaged children. Investments in later childhood do not pack the same wallop.

High-quality early childhood programs, Heckman said, can boost the upward mobility of two generations by freeing working parents to build their careers and increase wages over time while their child develops a broad range of foundational skills that lead to lifelong success.

If public school is free for K-12, why not extend the same guarantee for the earliest years?

The U.S. embraced universal child care during World War II, when the federal government provided heavily subsidized day care to all families regardless of income. These programs reorganized one kind of domestic laborchild-rearingto enable another kind: paid labor in the domestic economy that helped fortify America against its foreign enemies, Rhaina Cohen wrote in The Atlantic. It almost happened again, in 1971, when Congress passed the Comprehensive Child Development Act. Former president Richard Nixon vetoed it.

If public school is free for kindergarten through high school, why not extend the same guarantee for the earliest years when, research shows, potential impact is greatest? On this question, Britain has answered yes and is laboring to expand its commitment. The U.S. has much farther to go, but can learn from Britain's experience and its own history.

Barbara Janta is a senior analyst at the not-for-profit RAND Europe whose expertise includes family and child policy, demography and employment.

This commentary originally appeared on USA Today on October 26, 2017. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
News Release

A guide to help prison officials create high-quality college educational programs for inmates has been created by the nonprofit RAND Corporation. The toolkitavailable online for freeis intended as a starting point for corrections officials who are considering whether to have a college program within their prison system or who may seek additional information to ensure the success of an existing program. The guide is relevant for both two-year and four-year college programs.
Body cameras for the Mooresville Police Department have arrived. Find out when they will be used.
Hundreds of people have attended an opposition-organized anticorruption rally in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku.



The protest on October 28 was organized by the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) -- an umbrella group of Azerbaijani opposition forces, under the slogan "No To Robbery."



Activists from the Popular Front Party, People's Democratic Party, National Statehood Party, Musavat Party youth organization, Muslim Union, and NIDA movement attended the rally.



The rally held in the Mehsul stadium in Baku's Yasamal district was approved by the city authorities. Police said the protest was attended by an estimated 1,000 people, although opposition activists say the number was higher.



Protesters chanted slogans like End to corruption and Freedom for political prisoners!



Police cordoned off the area around the stadium as part of increased security measures.



No incidents were reported, and the rally ended peacefully, police said.



The opposition, as well as Western governments and international human rights groups, have criticized Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's government for persistently persecuting independent media outlets, journalists, and opposition politicians and activists.



Aliyev, who has ruled the oil-rich South Caucasus country of nearly 10 million people since shortly before his father's death in 2003, has shrugged off the criticism, and the authorities deny that there are political prisoners in the country.



Recent international corruption investigations have also found that Aliyev's family makes frequent use of offshore companies to hide its wealth and mask the ways it gains shares in Azerbaijan's most lucrative businesses.



During the rally, Ali Karimli, the leader of the Popular Front Party, which is part of the NCDF, denounced government corruption. He said the government doesn't use oil revenues effeciently, and high-level corruption deprives Azerbaijanis from benefiting from oil billions.



Human rights activist Oktay Gulaliyev told the rally that freedom of speech was under threat in the country.



"Access to independent, critical Internet sites has been blocked," Gulaliyev said. "There are more than 160 [political] prisoners in the country, and up to 20 of them are journalists and bloggers."



The rally came after the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) earlier this month voiced concerns over Azerbaijan's "unprecedented crackdown on human rights" as well as checks and balances, and the functioning of justice in the country.



PACE on October 11 passed a resolution blasting "the reported prosecution and detention of leaders of NGOs, human rights defenders, political activists, journalists, and bloggers," although some of them were released last year.



PACE cited cases of "torture and inhuman or degrading treatment during arrest, in police custody, and in prisons, and the lack of effective investigations, violations of the right to a fair trial, and violations of the right to freedom of expression, association, and assembly."



The resolution also called on Azerbaijani authorities to begin real and meaningful reforms to remove the obstacles to the work of journalists and rights defenders.
Iran's authorities appear to be taking measures to prevent citizens from gathering at the tomb of Cyrus the Great, the first king of Persia, in celebration of Cyrus Day.

The ancient king's big event is to be held on October 29, which many believe is the day he conquered Babylon.

Reports suggest that the authorities are erecting a fence and imposing restrictions to limit the number of people who visit the pre-Islamic king's tomb, located in the ancient city of Pasargadae in the central province of Fars.

Last year, thousands of Iranians assembled in the desert at the site of the ancient monument to celebrate the unofficial holiday. Many chanted nationalistic slogans, including "Iran is our country, Cyrus is our father."

Reports say up to 300 people were detained at the peaceful gathering. The New York-based Center for Human Rights In Iran reported that some 70 people were later sentenced to prison terms ranging from three months to eight years.

Earlier this week, Hamshahrionline reported ahead of Cyrus Day that those visiting the tomb would encounter additional restrictions. "The conditions for visitors at Pasargadae have changed in recent days," the news site reported on October 24.

"According to eyewitnesses, traffic cards have been issued for the inhabitants of Pasargadae to prevent cars and nonresidents from entering the ancient compound on [October 29]," the report added.

Several Iranians told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that they had received threatening text messages warning them that those attending the "illegal" Cyrus Day gathering could face prosecution.

The BBC's Persian service reported that it had received similar reports from its audience.

It wasn't clear who sent the messages.

Earlier this week, a Radio Farda listener recorded a video in Pasargadae in which workers appear to be erecting a fence around Cyrus's Tomb.

The listener said that local people had said that "security bodies" ordered that the fence be erected to prevent people from celebrating Cyrus Day at the location.

Iranians are fascinated and very proud of their ancient pre-Islamic past, which was also celebrated under the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.

Iran's clerical establishment has been putting more emphasis on the country's Islamic heritage, while trying to downplay the nation's pre-Islamic history.

Cyrus, who ruled in the 6th century B.C., is celebrated by many Iranians for founding the Achaemenid Empire and establishing the first universal declaration of human rights.

The 2016 gathering at Cyrus's Tomb in Pasargadae appears to have been the largest in recent years.

The rally angered hard-line conservatives, including senior cleric Nuri Hamedani, who blasted those celebrating Cyrus as "counterrevolutionaries" and said that they had been chanting slogans normally reserved for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Earlier this week, the Cultural Heritage Organization of Fars Province dismissed as "false" a statement making the rounds on social media that announced that the Pasargadae historical complex will be closed on October 27-29 to prevent "abuse" by "antirevolutionary groups."

Fatemeh Rezai, who is in charge of public relations for the organization, said a decision had not yet been made about "the activities" at the Pasargadae complex in late October.
While the FBI was investigating possible involvement of the Soviet Union in the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Soviet authorities were voicing suspicions that U.S. right-wing groups -- and even Kennedy's own vice president -- were behind the killing, newly released documents show.



The Soviet KGB claimed it had information tying Lyndon B. Johnson, who became president as a result of the assassination, to the killing, according to a 1966 letter to a presidential assistant from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover that was released for the first time late on October 26.



The letter is among 2,800 previously classified Kennedy assassination documents that were released this week following an order by U.S. President Donald Trump. According to White House officials, Trump said in a memorandum that he had "no choice" but to keep some files secret because of national security concerns raised by the FBI and CIA.



The documents capture the frantic days after the November 22, 1963, assassination, during which federal agents madly chased after tips and sifted through leads worldwide.



But Kennedy scholars say the thousands of documents do not appear to contain any bombshell revelations about the killing that shocked the world.



The claim was contained in instructions from Moscow to the KGB residency in New York "to develop information" on Johnson, Hoover said in the letter, which cited an "FBI source" that had "furnished reliable information in the past."



Johnson has long been a focus of some conspiracy theorists, but no credible information has ever linked him to the assassination.



The documents show that the FBI's own chief suspect right after the assassination was the Soviet Union, with much attention given to assassin Lee Harvey Oswald's contact with "a member of the Soviet KGB Assassination Department" at the Soviet Embassy in Mexico, documents showed.



But Moscow believed Oswald was a "neurotic maniac" whose goal was to further a right-wing conspiracy trying to poison U.S.-Soviet relations, according to a just-released U.S. intelligence report issued days after the assassination.



Later, in May 1964, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev met influential Washington newspaper columnist Drew Pearson in Cairo, Egypt, and told him that he thought a right-wing conspiracy was behind the killing, according to another intelligence report.



Khrushchev told Pearson he could not believe the conclusion investigators had reached at that time: that both Oswald and Jack Ruby, the nightclub owner who fatally shot Oswald, had acted alone.



"He did not believe that the American security services were this inept," according to a CIA report of the discussion.



Pearson "got the impression that Chairman Khrushchev had some dark thoughts about the American right-wing being behind this conspiracy" and rejected all arguments to the contrary, the report said.

With reporting by AP and AFP
The Serbian List party of Kosovo says it will not take part in snap elections scheduled to take place next month for mayors of four Serb-majority municipalities in the northern part of Kosovo.

The announcement on November 15 came a day after Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani set December 18 as the date of the snap elections in the municipalities of North Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Leposavic, and Zvecan.

The mayors of the municipalities -- all from the Serbian List, which is the strongest party backed by Belgrade representing Kosovo's Serb minority -- resigned on November 5, in opposition to the decision of the government of Kosovo to start the process of re-registering cars that have illegal Serbian license plates.



The Serbian List said both the party and the citizens who support it will boycott the elections.

Osmani said the decision to announce extraordinary elections is a "constitutional obligation" that follows the resignation of the four mayors.



The head of the office for Kosovo in the Serbian government, Petar Petkovic, said the elections are "destined to fail."



In addition to the mayors of the four municipalities, other Serbian officials have also resigned from Kosovar institutions, including police officers in the north, in opposition to the government's plan to re-register cars.



The plan envisages cars with Serb license plates to be re-registered by April 21. Serbia objects, insisting the license plates, which date to the 1990s when Kosovo was a part of Serbia, are neutral to the status of Kosovo.



Kosovar authorities started the implementation of the license-plate conversion plan on November 1 despite calls from the international community to postpone it.



During the first phase, Kosovo authorities issued warnings to people driving the vehicles with Serbian plates. As of November 21, violators will face a fine of 150 euros.

The conversion of the plates is to take place in phases lasting through April 21. Vehicles that have not changed their plates by then will be impounded, according to the government decree issued late last month.

The European Union has urged Kosovo to allow more time for the phaseout. The United States and NATO have also cautioned Kosovo against unilateral actions that could lead to the further escalation of tensions.

Kosovo's chief negotiator in talks with Serbia, Besnik Bislimi, was holding talks on November 15 in Brussels with the European Union's special envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak.

EU spokesman Peter Stano told reporters the meeting was one of the steps Brussels is taking to try to find a solution to the tensions.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Serbia and Kosovo on November 14 that they are on a precipice and must resolve their dispute before next week or face the prospect of a return to their violent past.



"We cannot reach this date without having an agreement or we will be on the edge of a dangerous situation," Borrell told reporters in Brussels.

With reporting by AP
Kurt Volker, the U.S. special envoy for efforts to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine, has met with Crimean Tatar leaders Ilmi Umerov and Akhtem Chiygoz, who were released from custody in their Russian-occupied homeland this week.



Volker met with the two Tatar leaders in Kyiv on October 28, where they arrived the previous day.



Umerov and Chiygoz -- deputy chairmen of the Mejlis, the Crimean Tatar self-governing body that has been outlawed by Russian authorities -- were unexpectedly released and flown to Turkey on October 25, thanks partly to an intervention by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

They have vowed to return to Crimea to campaign for the release of other prisoners.



Volker, who arrived in Kyiv on October 27, said the release of Umerov and Chiygoz was a good sign, but said Russia should follow up with more positive moves in eastern Ukraine as well.



Russia seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and fomented opposition to the central government in eastern Ukraine, where the ensuing war between Kyiv's forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 10,000 people.



"The fact that they were released is a small positive sign," Volker told Reuters. "It's the kind of thing you hope you could build on that, Russia would build on that with some other steps with the [eastern region of] Donbas," he added.



Volker, who is a former U.S. envoy to NATO, was appointed in July by President Donald Trump's administration to help resolve the conflict.



Russia's involvement in eastern Ukraine is seen by Washington as a key obstacle to better relations between the United States and Russia.



Ukraine and the West also disagree with Russia's position on whether and how the United Nations should send a peacekeeping force to the region.



Russian President Vladimir Putin last month proposed deploying UN peacekeepers on the contact line separating the sides of the conflict -- a plan that swiftly drew criticism from both Kyiv and the West, in part because of concerns that deployment only along the front line would cement Russian control over separatist-held territory.



Volker met Kremlin aide Vladislav Surkov earlier this month for talks on the issue, which he said produced no breakthroughs but were "constructive."



"What we are doing, is we are seeing whether we can create some common ideas for how a peacekeeping force could be useful in resolving the conflict," Volker said, adding that peacekeepers could only be effective under a stronger mandate than Russia proposes.



Russia has denied sending troops or modern armament to the separatists in eastern Ukraine.



Volker said Russian aggression is responsible for the war in the east, but that Moscow could change its position once it understands the conflict is counterproductive for its own interests.



"The real issue is Russia's decision-making. Until now, Russia has been holding this territory, keeping this conflict alive, hoping that it provides some leverage over Ukraine," Volker said.



"The reality has sunk in I believe that this has actually produced the opposite. It has produced a Ukraine that is more unified, more nationalist, more anti-Russian, more westward-looking than ever existed before."



Volker also said Washington was "actively considering" supplying lethal defensive weapons to Kyiv, a move strongly opposed by Russia.



"No one has any worry about someone defending themselves unless they are an aggressor, so it should not be that controversial an issue," Volker said.



On October 27, Volker met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Pavel Klimkin.

With reporting by Reuters, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, and Interfax
DNIPRO, Ukraine -- Some of Ukraine's most highly classified military secrets lie within the 4-meter-high, razor-wire topped walls that ring an otherwise nondescript compound on the edge of this gritty industrial city.

Little gets in or out (aside from a reporter's notebook) of one of the world's most storied and notorious rocket-design-and-manufacturing complexes.

Access to the rare visitor to, not to mention employees of, the Yuzhnoye design bureau and Yuzhmash machine-building plant within is granted only after extensive security checks by at least two state security agencies. Even then, entrance is ultimately left to the discretion of the armed soldiers who guard the facilities' gray metal gates.

It's the type of obsessive security that raises questions about how this, of all places, has been alleged to be the source of missile-engine-technology leaks to one of the world's most notorious regimes.

Yet, as people around the globe watched in horrified fascination as North Korea conducted recent missile tests that raised the specter of nuclear war, this complex located 450 kilometers southeast of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, found itself at the center of a major geopolitical scandal.

When each test surprisingly seemed to improve on the last, experts wondered how Pyongyang's ballistic-missile program had advanced so far, so quickly. Then came the bombshell: a report published on the front page of The New York Times that pointed the blame at this Ukrainian complex.

Citing a study by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), as well as classified assessments by U.S. intelligence agencies, the Times wrote that North Korea had "probably" acquired high-performance, liquid-propellant RD-250 rocket engines on the black market from none other than Yuzhmash, where they were made for decades until their production ceased in 2001.

It's a scoff-worthy suggestion to many of the 16 Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash representatives and scientists with whom RFE/RL spoke during a visit to the complex earlier this month.

"It's a joke!" says Volodymyr Tkachenko, Yuzhmash associate general director. He says he laughed aloud when he saw the reports, "because really, it's crazy, it's funny."

Booming Start To Post-Soviet Slump

Yuzhmash, opened as a car-manufacturing plant in 1944, was transformed into the Soviet Union's top-secret rocket-building factory in 1951. In 1954, the Yuzhnoye design bureau opened within the factory walls to collaborate with Yuzhmash. The companies lured hundreds of talented physicists, engineers, and machine designers from across the Soviet Union to what was then a closed city.

They enjoyed great success in the decades that followed, designing and producing rockets for the Soviet Union's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and space programs. Among them were the massive SS-18 missile perhaps better known by its NATO-given name, the "Satan" missile, and the Tsyklon-2 and Tsyklon-3 space launch vehicles. Powering those and others was the 1960s-era RD-250 engine and later variations of it.

The factory's efficiency prompted Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to boast in 1960 that it was producing rockets "like sausages."

But following the one-two punch of the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union came a steep decline.

"In Soviet times, we were of course in high demand, because of our great expertise...and government contracts due to the Cold War," Stanislav Yus, the 80-year-old Yuzhnoye chief designer and architect of many of the Soviet Union's most menacing missiles, tells RFE/RL.

Output fell 85 percent in 1986 to a devastating 30 percent by 1992, according to a Washington Post report at the time.

After Ukraine declared independence in 1991 there was hope that the company would shift quickly into the consumer market, Yus says, because "we managed to make rockets cheaper than the U.S. and with great technical performance."

For instance, Yuzhnoye tried to repurpose SS-18 missiles for space missions, packing them with "peaceful payloads," says Oleksandr Mashchenko, Yuzhnoye first deputy general designer and general director for organization and technical support.

"Unfortunately, we never began mass production. There was simply no demand," Mashchenko complains in an office where diagrams of Yuzhnoye-designed rockets adorn the walls.

The factory slashed its combined 50,000-strong workforce significantly. (Yuzhmash, which had 40,000 employees at the end of Soviet times, today has roughly 7,000 employees, while Yuzhnoye, which had around 10,000 in the late 1980s, now has 5,412, officials said.)

Crimea Annexation And War

In the years following, success came in fits and starts while the companies tried to recast themselves as modern, commercial rocket makers able to compete with the world's best.

It was trudging along when, in March 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and fomented a separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. Russia's aggression in Ukraine led to nearly all ties between the two countries being severed, and what Mashchenko describes as a once "strong" partnership being "thrown to the wayside."

Yuzhmash General Director Serhiy Voit told workers in January that annual revenue had fallen to a quarter of what it was before 2014, Reuters reported.

And some workers' days had been cut from five to three or fewer, while others hadn't been paid in months, confirms Volodymyr Sokolov, Yuzhmash chief engineer and first deputy general director.

The North Korea Report

Then came the IISS North Korea report. Michael Elleman, its American author, who told RFE/RL in August that he oversaw the dismantling of Soviet-era missiles in Russia and Ukraine two decades ago, claimed the North Koreans had likely modified the RD-250, a two-chamber engine, to create single-chamber versions.

His conclusions were based mainly on North Korean photographs of missile engines that were ground-tested in September and March and flight-tested on the Hwasong-12, an intermediate-range rocket, and the Hwasong-14, an ICBM designed to reach the U.S. mainland, in May and July, respectively.

As part of his analysis, Elleman posited that Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash employees might have been motivated to sell the rocket technology to Pyongyang because the factory, which sits barely 150 kilometers from the battlefields of eastern Ukraine and the country's porous border with Russia, had "fallen on hard times" in recent years.

Elleman wrote that "almost certainly hundreds, if not more" spare RD-250 engines are stored at the Dnipro complex, and perhaps also at warehouses in Russia. The New York Times report mentioned this, but it emphasized that Yuzhmash was the probable origin of the engines.

Elleman supported his conclusion by citing the fact that two North Korean spies had been active in Ukraine.

Six years ago, the two had tried to steal missile secrets from the Ukrainian complex. The Ukrainian Security Service caught the spies red-handed as they photographed fake rocket-engine design documents in a sting operation set up after a Yuzhnoye employee they had attempted to bribe notified the authorities.

The spies, 56-year-old Ri Tae Gil and his partner, Ryu Song Chol, 46, are currently held at a prison in the central Zhytomyr region and are set to be released in September 2018, according to a separate New York Times report.

Ukraine has pointed to the arrest and conviction of the spies as evidence that it is capable of securing its missile secrets.

'It Makes No Sense'

Yuzhmash and Yuzhnoye officials say there are many reasons why North Korea would be unable to obtain physical rocket-engine technology from their factory.

Tkachenko, the Yuzhmash general director associate, says there simply are not "hundreds" of RD-250 engines being stored on the factory grounds, as Elleman alleged. Stockpiling them, he adds, would be "silly."

"Economically speaking it makes no sense...to make extra engines and store them. It's not economically feasible," Tkachenko says.

Sokolov, chief engineer and first deputy general director at Yuzhmash, says simply that "the number of engines correlates directly to the number of engines ordered."

Inside Yuzhmash's main rocket-assembly hangar, known as Shop 97, and its enormous rocket stress-testing facility on October 3, RFE/RL saw no RD-250 engines, nor were there any visible in several other buildings viewed by this reporter. RFE/RL was unable to enter all of the dozens of buildings that make up the complex.

Only a handful of other engines were seen. They included a completed RD-170 occupying the massive assembly floor, along with sections of launch vehicles for Antares, Zenit, and Tsyklon-3 and -4 rockets, some with engines intact.

A total of 233 RD-250 engines were made here before 2001, but only for use in rockets supplied to Russia, Ukraine's acting space agency chief, Yuriy Radchenko, told journalists during a press conference in August.

If It Ain't Broke, Why Fix It?

Even if Pyongyang had somehow acquired RD-250 engines, it would be extremely difficult for North Korean engineers to modify the two-chamber engine into a single-chamber one, contends Oleh Lebedev, Yuzhmash deputy general director and production director.

Drawing a hard, vertical line through a two-chamber engine he had sketched on a notepad to emphasize his coming point, Lebedev, with anger rising in his voice, asks rhetorically, "What sense does it make to take a unique engine that has suffered no failures and change it so dramatically?"

Independent experts with whom RFE/RL spoke afterward said it was a valid point; the RD-250 and its variations have a stellar performance record. Many said it was much more likely that the North Koreans were inspired by the Soviet-era engine designs, and managed to create their own, similar engines based on public images and documentation of the RD-250, including the Russian design patent for it, widely available since the 1980s.

"The concept and configuration [of the RD-250 engine] are so thoroughly public that anyone could have captured all the details that matter (aside from manufacturers' blueprints) just from the patents, museums, and photographs (perhaps taking a few measurements with a ruler while at the museum)," George Herbert, an independent missile and nuclear analyst, wrote in comments to RFE/RL.

Still, even with photos or visual examination, "you'd really want to see blueprints or other documents," said Joshua Pollack, the Washington-based editor of The Nonproliferation Review and a senior research associate at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. "We only have fragmentary knowledge about this, but consider: When [North Korea] spies came to Yuzhnoye in 2011, what did they want? To photograph a document," Pollack added, referring to the two spies currently imprisoned in Zhytomyr.

"Rocket engines are finicky things. You don't just piece them together," John Isella, a former NASA engineer who now works as U.S. representative for Yuzhnoye in Dnipro, explained. He said his colleagues in the industry had an adage that explains the difficult nature of rocket-building: "It's not a surprise when the rocket doesn't work; it's a surprise when it does work."

Interestingly, there are also two full-scale, single-chamber model engines similar in some aspects to the RD-250 on display at the engineering and design schools of two Dnipro universities. Photographs of those could have been easily obtained, but it is not known if North Korea had done so. At any rate, Lebedev and his colleagues stressed, these were never produced by Yuzhmash, and the displays were merely "mock-ups."

'A Scarecrow'

While Lebedev admits that the IISS report has been "a scarecrow for everyone, including our personnel," he remains confident that the company's business partners are on its side in the controversy. "Our international colleagues understand that our work and security is solid."

In fact, Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash officials say, things are looking up.

Sokolov says new contracts are helping to stabilize Yuzhmash. The company expects growth between 1.5 and 3 percent over the next year, according to Sokolov. Meanwhile, Yuzhnoye has hired 500 new employees, including 200-250 straight out of Dnipro's engineering schools, over the past year, according to Mashchenko.

Already this year there have been two successful launches of the European Space Agency's Vega rocket, which included parts designed by Yuzhnoye and made by Yuzhmash.

The companies are looking forward to at least one more rocket launch this year. An Antares rocket designed and built in partnership with American aerospace manufacturer Orbital ATK is set to launch before 2018 to resupply the International Space Station.
A senior Iranian military commander has warned Persian Gulf countries that they need to choose between "their media" and their security if they interfere in Iran's affairs.

Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, special military adviser to Irans supreme leader, issued the warning on November 10 in a speech that appeared to be a thinly veiled threat to Saudi Arabia, in particular, over what Tehran sees as meddling by foreign "enemies" during weeks of unrest following the death of a young woman while in the custody of Iran's notorious morality police for an alleged dress code violation.

During the speech, Safavi referred to the "countries on the southern border of the Persian Gulf" as "wretched" and warned that they would pay "compensation" if they interfere in Iran's affairs.

The threats came a day after Iran said it had designated the London-based news channel Iran International as a "terrorist" organization and that employees and those "related" to the outlet will be prosecuted. Separately, the broadcaster has said London's Metropolitan Police had informed the broadcaster of an imminent threat against two of its journalists and their families.

Iranian authorities consider Iran International TV to be affiliated with Saudi Arabia. However, in a recent statement, the station called itself "an independent Persian-language network based in Britain."

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on November 11 accused Iranian authorities of issuing death threats to U.K.-based journalists.

"I have summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires today after journalists working in the U.K. were subject to immediate threats to life from Iran," he wrote in a tweet. We do not tolerate threats and intimidation from foreign nations towards individuals living in the U.K.



The Iranian government has unleashed a brutal crackdown on weeks of unrest -- one of the deepest challenges to the Islamic regime since the revolution in 1979 -- that erupted following the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly.

The alleged rape of a 15-year-old Baluch girl by a local police official in the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan on September 30 further fueled the animosity as protesters demanded accountability.



Reports on November 11 indicate that protests took place in various cities in the southeast Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan, including Zahedan, Saravan, Rask, Khash, Iranshahr, and Chabahar after the end of Friday Prayers.





In videos released from Iranshahr, security forces could be seen lobbing tear gas at the protesters while what seem to be gunshots can be heard in the background.





Top Iranian Sunni cleric Molavi Abdulhamid on November 11 again emphasized in his Friday Prayer sermon in Zahedan that the majority of Iranians of all religions and ethnicities are protesting the current situation, and that the authorities must listen to their message.



Earlier this month, the cleric, regarded as a spiritual leader for Irans Sunni Muslim population, said senior officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were "responsible" for the killing of protesters in Zahedan and called for an immediate referendum with the presence of international observers to "change policies based on the wishes of the people."



Amnesty International has called the police reaction to the deadly clashes part of an "alarming escalation in the use of force and firearms" in dealing with protesters.



Since Amini's death, more than 300 people have been killed in the police crackdown, according to rights groups. Several thousand more have been arrested, including many protesters, as well as journalists, lawyers, activists, digital rights defenders, and others.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda
Several opposition and rights activists have been detained across Kazakhstan as the day of an early presidential election scheduled for November 20 nears.

Police in the southwestern town of Zhanaozen on November 15 detained noted opposition activist Estai Qarashaev, who was sentenced to six days in jail several hours later on a charge of violating regulations for holding public gatherings.

Qarashaev was among oil workers who protested in 2011 to demand higher wages. Police brutally dispersed the protests, killing at least 16 people.

In the country's largest city, Almaty, on November 15, police detained Aset Abishev, a member of the founding committee of the Algha Qazaqstan (Forward, Kazakhstan) party that has been trying unsuccessfully for eight months to get registered for the election.

It is not clear why Abishev was detained. Last week, five other members of the unregistered party were detained for taking part in an unsanctioned rally in August.

WATCH: Several activists of a Kazakh opposition movement have been arrested and police were stationed outside the door of another ahead of a snap presidential election scheduled for November 20.

Meanwhile, in the village of Bobrovka in the East Kazakhstan region, rights activist Serik Ydyryshev was detained, his wife Gulmira Berikqyzy told RFE/RL on November 15. According to Berikqyzy, her husband's arrest is linked to the upcoming early presidential election. The police department of the East Kazakhstan region was not available for comment.

One day earlier, opposition activist Rashid Qamaldanov was sentenced in Almaty to 15 days in jail for taking part in an unsanctioned rally earlier this year.

In Astana, the capital, jailed activist Sandughash Qantarbaeva stared a hunger strike last weekend, protesting her administrative arrest that she says was handed to her to prevent her from taking part in protests on the day of the presidential election.

Many activists complained to RFE/RL that they have been followed and that police have been monitoring their homes. According to the activists, the pressure imposed on them is directly linked to the presidential poll, while the countrys Constitution guarantees them freedom of expression and freedom of public gatherings. An Interior Ministry official denied that measures to prevent the activists from holding rallies on the day of election are under way.

President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, who has tried to position himself as a reformer, on September 1 called the early presidential election and proposed changing the presidential term to seven years from five years. Under the new system, future presidents will be barred from seeking more than one term.

Critics say Toqaev's initiatives have been mainly cosmetic and do not change the nature of the autocratic system in a country that has been plagued for years by rampant corruption and nepotism.

Toqaev's predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbaev, who ran the tightly controlled former Soviet republic with an iron fist for almost three decades, chose Toqaev as his successor when he stepped down in 2019.

Though he was no longer president, Nazarbaev retained sweeping powers as the head of the Security Council. He also enjoyed substantial powers by holding the title of elbasy or leader of the nation.

Many citizens, however, remained upset by the oppression during Nazarbaev's reign.

Those feelings came to a head in January when unprecedented antigovernment nationwide protests started over a fuel price hike, and then exploded into countrywide deadly unrest over perceived corruption under the Nazarbaev regime and the cronyism that allowed his family and close friends to enrich themselves while ordinary citizens failed to share in the oil-rich Central Asian nation's wealth.

Toqaev subsequently stripped Nazarbaev of his Security Council role, taking it over himself. Since then, several of Nazarbaevs relatives and allies have been pushed out of their positions or resigned. Some have been arrested on corruption charges.

A Toqaev-initiated referendum in June removed Nazarbaev's name from the constitution and annulled his status as elbasy.

msh/mj
DNIPRO, Ukraine -- Stanislav Yus is as polite and unassuming as the missiles he created for the Soviet Union were menacing and deadly.

When I meet Yus beside a once-dreaded but now-defunct "Satan" SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that he designed at the height of the Cold War, he's cheerful yet appears somewhat surprised to find an American on the other side of a handshake. You'd have never been allowed here 30 years ago, he chuckles.

"Here" is inside Ukraine's heavily guarded and secretive state-run rocket-making factory, comprised of the Yuzhnoye design bureau and its manufacturing partner, Yuzhmash.

Yus, 80, a native of the Dnipro region, started his career at Yuzhnoye at the age of 22 under the tutelage of then-chief designer Mikhail Yangel, a Soviet legend. He rose rapidly through the ranks, helping design several rockets and spacecraft. But his legacy is built on the massive ICBMs he designed, like the Satan, as the West called it, which could deliver 10 or more nuclear warheads with great precision halfway around the world in roughly 20 minutes.

Yus -- a laureate of the Soviet Lenin Prize, Lenin Komsomol Prize, and a Hero of Socialist Labor -- is already a legend in his own right, and one of the last of his generation of missile designers.

After a quick ride to Yangel's original home near the factory, Yus gives a detailed history of Yuzhnoye and explains how drastically things changed for the factory at the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the U.S.S.R. In a nutshell, government contracts had ensured that the factory stayed busy. The period following Ukraine's independence was a "trying" time, he says.

He appears uncomfortable, or perhaps just cautious, when discussing the relationship between Ukraine and Russia these days, more than three years into an undeclared war that has killed more than 10,100 people. He prefers to stick to talking design, the more technical the better.

But I want to know: Did he ever think about the devastation the missiles he designed during the Cold War were capable of inflicting, of nuclear annihilation?

Yus takes a deep breath.

"I wasn't overthinking it," he says, suggesting that compartmentalization is a key element for a missile designer to effectively do his job.

Pressed a bit, he admits in his characteristic manner that he remained fully aware that, had the Cold War turned hot and his missiles been let loose, it would have marked a "very destructive period for the world."

"We were working in accordance with the Soviet policies only to protect the Soviet Union in the event that we were struck first," he adds.

Today, he says, with Yuzhnoye having diversified and investment spread among other activities, "it doesn't allow us to work fully in the area of rocket complexes." Rocket design and manufacturing continues, but at a much slower pace than in Soviet times.

Much of Yus's focus now is on designing high-capacity wind turbines, trolleybuses, and combine harvesters that the company believes will help it to endure in a new age.

But given the chance, he'd get back to work full-time on designing missiles, Yus says, which are "needed for the defense of the country."
Toyota Rush is a re-branded version of second generation Daihatsu Terios compact SUV, on sale in markets like Indonesia and Malaysia. It is offered with a 1.5 litre petrol engine producing max power of 107.5 bhp and peak torque of 141.2 Nm. Toyota Rush is driven either by a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic transmission.

Now, a new generation variant of this compact SUV has been spied on test for the first time. It features a new design, seemingly inspired by the Fortuner. If launched in India, the new Toyota Rush will compete with the likes of Hyundai Creta.

The new gen variant of the Toyota Rush will be lighter, stronger and larger than the current gen Rush. It is expected to be launched in Indonesia next year. After which it will head to other countries. India is one of the countries where this compact SUV could be launched. The reason, high demand for SUVs in this price range.

The current gen Toyota Rush has been on test in India since 2013. But sadly, it has not been launched here. Reports say that the reason Rush has not been launched in India is because it does not have a diesel engine option. And launching a petrol-engine SUV in that segment will not bring much volumes. Thus, Toyota is reportedly re-engineering the Rush to be fitted with the same diesel engine which has been seen in Etios sedan and hatchback. Or Toyota could develop a new diesel engine compatible with next generation Rush. It would rival compact crossovers like Hyundai Creta, Renault Duster, Nissan Terrano, Maruti S-Cross, etc.

Built on the new generation platform of Toyota, the new Rush compact SUV will deliver a better performance than before. It will also be more fuel efficient. More details will be revealed over the next few months.
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Claim: The Poltergeist film series is "cursed" and has seen several strange deaths occur among its cast members. Rating: About this rating Legend

What is seen as an unusually large number of deaths have occurred among the former cast of the Poltergeist trilogy. This occurrence has given rise to the rumor the productions were in some way "cursed" due to the nature of the films themselves, as if the evil spirits conjured in the make-believe world of the cinema have since reached out into the real world to claim what they might see as their rightful victims.

A poltergeist in folklore is a noisy and destructive (but usually mischievous, not malicious) ghost held to be responsible for unexplained noises and movement of objects within a home. It is hypothesized poltergeists are drawn to homes in which there are prepubescent children, especially girls. Three horror films based on this form of lore comprise the Poltergeist trilogy:

Poltergeist (1982), Poltergeist II (1986), and Poltergeist III (1988). Each recounts an episode in the lives of the Freelings, a fictitious family who have the bad luck to take up residence in homes inhabited by spirits intent upon kidnapping their children or sending their kids to live in similar places.

Though coincidence is a much more likely explanation than a curse, there have been four deaths among the cast of this set of films: Dominique Dunne (Dana Freeling), Heather O'Rourke (Carol Ann Freeling), Will Sampson (Taylor, a good spirit), and Julian Beck (Kane, an evil spirit). Though two of the deaths were foreseeable (expected, even), two others were not. It's the combination of the two unexpected deaths that lies at the heart of every rumor about a Poltergeist curse.

Dominique Dunne, the 22-year-old actress who portrayed big sister Dana Freeling in the first Poltergeist film (released in June 1982), died on 4 November 1982 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles , four days after her boyfriend choked her into a coma from which she never awoke. Weeks earlier, Dunne had ended her abusive live-in relationship with Los Angeles chef John Sweeney, but on the night of 30 October 1982, he dropped by their former shared residence to plead with her to take him back. The conversation did not go as he'd hoped, and the encounter ended with him strangling her for what was later determined to be 4 to 6 minutes, then leaving her for dead in her driveway.

Sweeney was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, sentenced in November 1983, and released in 1986 after serving only 3 years, 8 months of a 6 year sentence. His short sentence and early release remain subjects of controversy.

Heather O'Rourke, the child actress who played Carol Anne Freeling throughout the Poltergeist series (starting when she was six years old), unexpectedly passed away at the age of 12 when she died of septic shock on 1 February 1988 at the Children's Hospital in San Diego. What had been thought to be a bout of ordinary flu launched her into cardiac arrest during the drive to the local hospital as bacterial toxins set loose by a bowel obstruction made their way into her bloodstream. Her heart was successfully restarted and she was flown by helicopter to the much-larger Children's Hospital, where she underwent an operation to remove the obstruction. The toxins rampaging through her system proved too much, however, and she died on the operating table.

The circumstances surrounding her passing rendered her death even more of a shock than it otherwise would have been, as she went overnight from a little girl who had the flu to a dead little girl who expired during a desperate operation to save her life. It's hard enough to accept that a child can die of an illness, let alone a healthy-looking youngster no one knew anything was wrong with. (That she looked healthy did not necessarily mean that she was. The year before her death she'd been diagnosed as having Crohn's Disease, a lifelong inflammatory small bowel disease which often first manifests in children and young adults.) Of course such an unexpected death would fuel rumors, especially when considered in conjunction with Dominique Dunne's murder only six years earlier.

O'Rourke had appeared in all three Poltergeist movies. Poltergeist III had yet to be released at the time of her death, leading to rumors that she had expired during shooting and a double was used to complete the picture in her place. O'Rourke's family and agent said at the time of her death her scenes for Poltergeist III had been completed several months earlier (back in June 1987), but writer/director Gary Sherman has maintained filming of Poltergeist III had not yet finished when O'Rourke died, necessitating script changes to complete the film in her absence.

The other two deaths connected with Poltergeist were of seasoned actors well into their careers, both suffering from serious illnesses that would in time take their lives. Because their deaths were not unexpected, only rarely is either mentioned in connection with the Poltergeist "curse."

Julian Beck, the 60-year-old actor who played the evil spirit Kane in 1986's Poltergeist II: The Other Side, died of stomach cancer on 14 September 1985 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York seven months before the film's May 1986 release. Unlike O'Rourke's death, his was not unexpected, as he had been battling cancer for 18 months.

Will Sampson, the 53-year-old Native American actor who portrayed the good spirit Taylor in Poltergeist II, died in a Houston hospital on 3 June 1987, about a year after the film's release. Sampson had received a heart-lung transplant six weeks earlier, and the cause of his death was ascribed to severe pre-operative malnutrition and post-operative kidney failure and fungal infection. It has been said he knew his chances for survival were small due to his weakened condition prior to surgery.

Like Beck, Sampson appeared in only one film in the series, Poltergeist II, released in May 1986. He was best known for his portrayal of the Native American psychiatric patient who feigned muteness in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Zelda Rubinstein, the diminutive actress who filled the part of seer Tangina Barrons in all three Poltergeist films and reprised the role in the spin-off TV series Poltergeist: The Legacy, died in 2010. She passed away of natural causes at the age of 76, however, hardly the type of death one associates with a "curse" that supposedly causes unexpected and premature demises.

Although he was not a cast member, English film director Brian Gibson, who helmed Poltergeist II, died of Ewing's sarcoma at the age of 59 in 2004.

In a popular form of the rumor, one of the child actors is said to have come to an untimely end after the making of each film, one murdered, one in a car accident, and one of a mysterious disease. Though it's true actresses Dominique Dunne and Heather O'Rourke have since died, Oliver Robins, the child actor who played their characters' brother Robbie Freeling in the first two films, is still with us. No child actor from the Poltergeist series was killed in a car crash or died just after Poltergeist II was completed.

An extreme version of the "curse" rumor asserts everyone who appeared in these movies is now dead. That news must come as quite a shock to numerous thespians, most notably Craig T. Nelson (Steve Freeling), Jo Beth Williams (Diane Freeling), and Tom Skerritt (Bruce Gardner), all of whom think they're still alive and continue to ply their trade in movies and television shows despite their deceasedness.

The February 2015 release of trailers for the upcoming a Poltergeist reboot/remake (with different cast members) prompted renewed interest in the original trilogy's supposed "curse."
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Claim: Account describes entrepreneur Sam Walton's efforts to evade paying his employees minimum wage. Rating: About this rating Mostly True

Sam Walton is the American entrepreneur best known for founding the giant Walmart and Sam's Club chains of discount stores. Walton started out in that market sector by purchasing a Ben Franklin variety store in Newport, Arkansas, in 1945, opened a second store in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 1950, and by 1962 he owned or co-owned some 16 stores in Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas. Walton opened the forerunner of the modern WalMart chain, an outlet called the Wal-Mart Discount City store, in Rogers, Arkansas, in July 1962.

As Nelson Lichtenstein chronicled in his 2009 book The Retail Revolution: How Wal-Mart Created a Brave New World of Business, Sam Walton recognized early on that in the discount retail business, "payroll is one of the most crucial things you have to fight to maintain your profit margin":

"We must have cheap help or we cannot sell cheap goods," wrote Frank. W. Woolworth to his store managers in 1892, when his chain of five-and-dimes had but a handful of outlets. "When a clerk gets so good she can get better wages elsewhere, let her go ... It may look hard to some of you for us to pay such small wages but ... one thing is certain: we cannot afford to pay good wages and sell goods as we do now, and our clerks ought to know it." Sam Walton understood this as well. As he wrote in his memoir, "No matter how you slice it in the retail business, payroll is one of the most crucial things you have to fight to maintain your profit margin. That was true then, and it is still true today." By his own admission, Walton was a "chintzy" employer in the early years. Since all retail clerks were exempt from the federal minimum wage law in the 1950s, Walton could pay as little as fifty cents an hour, which was a rock-bottom wage even for small-town Arkansas. When in 1955 Charlie Baum, the manager of Walton's Fayetteville Ben Franklin, gave his "girls" a twenty-five-cent-an-hour raise, Sam was immediately on the phone: "Charlie, we don't give raises of a quarter an hour. We give them a nickel an hour."

An account widely circulated on social media in 2014 maintained that Walton held down payroll costs by engaging in a scheme to evade federal minimum wage laws:

Around the time that the young Sam Walton opened his first stores, John Kennedy redeemed a presidential campaign promise by persuading Congress to extend the minimum wage to retail workers, who had until then not been covered by the law. Congress granted an exclusion, however, to small businesses with annual sales beneath $1 million  a figure that in 1965 it lowered to $250,000. Walton was furious. The mechanization of agriculture had finally reached the backwaters of the Ozark Plateau, where he was opening one store after another. The men and women who had formerly worked on small farms suddenly found themselves redundant, and he could scoop them up for a song, as little as 50 cents an hour. Now the goddamn federal government was telling him he had to pay his workers the $1.15 hourly minimum. Walton's response was to divide up his stores into individual companies whose revenues did not exceed the $250,000 threshold. Eventually, though, a federal court ruled that this was simply a scheme to avoid paying the minimum wage, and he was ordered to pay his workers the accumulated sums he owed them, plus a double-time penalty thrown in for good measure. Wal-Mart cut the checks, but Walton also summoned the employees at a major cluster of his stores to a meeting. 'I'll fire anyone who cashes the check,' he told them.

As Lichtenstein reported, in 1960s Congress passed legislation that nearly doubled the federal minimum wage (to $1.15 an hour) and imposed stricter limits on which businesses were exempt from minimum wage standards (excluding only businesses whose annual sales were less than $250,000 per year, markedly lower than the previous ceiling of $1 million in sales per year). Walton, who had been paying newly displaced female agricultural workers rather low wages to clerk at his stores, managed to "duck under the new minimum wage sales standard" due to the unusual nature of his stores' business structure (a structure that was already in place for other reasons; not, as suggested above, one that was concocted solely to skirt minimum wage laws):

But all this changed in the early 1960s. Like the domestics and farmworkers whom the southern political and economic elite had excluded from coverage under New Deal social legislation in the 1930s, the chain stores, backstopped by a Republican-southern Democratic alliance in Congress, waged a bitter rearguard battle to exempt some 4 million retail workers, mainly white women, from minimum wage guidelines. John F. Kennedy made a raise and an extension of the minimum wage for retail workers one of the key issues in his quest for the presidency, while conservative Republicans, led by Senator Barry Goldwater, the Arizona department store heir, denounced the idea. Kennedy and the liberals won this round, although the new law faced tough going in the rural South, where the $1.15-an-hour minimum almost doubled the going rate for female clerks. Sam Walton, for one, hated the new minimum wage, and he would simply not abide by it. Of course, Walton's attitude was not unusual for a white southerner of this era. If their seniority-rich representatives in Congress failed to stanch a law they thought unfair to the racial or labor arrangements characteristic of their region, many otherwise law-abiding southerners simply violated it. And Walton thought he saw a loophole that fit his business practices. The new minimum wage law exempted all retail establishments whose annual sales were less than $1 million a year, a ceiling lowered to $250,000 in 1965 when Congress was briefly controlled by liberal Democrats. Taken as a whole, Walton's chain had sales well above this limit, but as he expanded into the discount sector in the 1960s, he created a series of single-store, family-dominated corporate shells, each with a slightly different ownership structure. Initially, these had been designed as a vehicle by which store managers, local investors, and members of the Robson family could contribute their capital to the cash-short Walton chain. By the 1960s this increasingly baroque ownership structure also had the decided benefit of allowing Walton to duck under the new minimum wage sales standard. This saved him a lot of money, because in 1968 the minimum wage had climbed to its twentieth-century apogee, but Walton could employ, at "pin money" wages, thousands of women who were pouring off Arkansas and Missouri farms during the years when the revolution in American agriculture belatedly reached the Ozark plateau.

As Lichtenstein also observed, when court decisions held that Walton could not avoid minimum wage laws via the method he was using and required him to pay back wages and penalties to clerks at three of his stores, he maintained that he would "fire anyone who cashes the check" before relenting:

When the courts finally ruled that his decentralized ownership structure was but a scheme to avoid the new wage and hour law, Walton and most of his store managers were furious. They hated the assistant district attorney from Fort Smith who pressed the case, because, as one manager put it, now "dingbats in the store would be making $1.15 an hour." When a court order called for Walton to issue checks to the clerks at his stores in Harrison, Rogers, and Springdale for back pay, including a double-time penalty for what they had lost, he told a meeting of his employees, "I'll fire anyone who cashes the check." Cooler heads soon prevailed, but Walton's determination to hold the line on his labor costs had hardly softened.

Nor had his contempt for the regulatory state and its laws.

(The account of the "I'll fire anyone who cashes the check" quote is, according to the referenced book's endnotes, based on the author's interview with a Walmart store manager in 2006, some forty years after the fact, so its accuracy may be questionable.)
Incoming South Bend board members talk facility plans, community input

South Bend school board members elected this fall will likely play a role in shaping the district's footprint for years to come.
Dwarf planets are worlds that are too small to be considered full-fledged planets, but too large to fall into smaller categories.

In recent years, there's been a lot of hubbub about Pluto losing its status as one of the planets of the solar system. Pluto is no longer considered the ninth planet in the series of major planetary objects, but instead is now just one of the many so-called "dwarf planets." The debate started anew after the New Horizons mission passed by Pluto in 2015, revealing a world of surprising geological complexity. As of 2017, delegates from the mission are trying to get Pluto's planethood status back.

Astronomers estimate that there could be as many as 200 dwarf planets in the solar system and the Kuiper Belt. But the differences between planets and dwarf planets may not be obvious at first.

Dwarf planets of the solar system

The International Astronomical Union defines a planet as being in orbit around the sun, has enough gravity to pull its mass into a rounded shape (hydrostatic equilibrium), and has cleared its orbit of other, smaller objects. This last criterion is the point at which planets and dwarf planets differ. A planet's gravity either attracts or pushes away the smaller bodies that would otherwise intersect its orbit; the gravity of a dwarf planet is not sufficient to make this happen. [Meet the Dwarf Planets of the Solar System]

As of 2014, the IAU recognizes five named dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake. But those aren't the only ones. Other solar system bodies that are possibly dwarf planets include Sedna and Quaoar, small worlds far beyond Pluto's orbit, and 2012 VP113, an object that is thought to have one of the most distant orbits found beyond the known edge of our solar system. The object DeeDee could also be a dwarf planet, according to observations made in 2017. According to NASA, scientists think that there may be more than a hundred dwarf planets awaiting discovery.

However, the debate over the status of dwarf planets, particularly Pluto, remains a hot topic. The primary concern stems from the requirement for a planet to clear out its local neighborhood.

"In no other branch of science am I familiar with something that absurd," New Horizons principle investigator Alan Stern told Space.com in 2011. "A river is a river, independent of whether there are other rivers nearby. In science, we call things what they are based on their attributes, not what they're next to."

Is a dwarf planet a separate entity from a planet, or simply another classification? The question may not be settled in the near future.

The dwarf planet Ceres, also the largest asteroid in the solar system, is seen here in an amazing view from the Hubble Space Telescope. In March 2015, NASA's Dawn spacecraft is expected to enter orbit around Ceres to study the object like never before. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, J. Parker (Southwest Research Institute), L. McFadden (University of Maryland))

Ceres

Ceres is the earliest known and smallest of the current category of dwarf planets. Sicilian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi discovered Ceres in 1801 based on the prediction that the gap between Mars and Jupiter contained a missing planet. It is only 590 miles (950 km) in diameter and has a mass of just 0.015 percent that of Earth.

In fact, Ceres is so small that it is classified as both a dwarf planet and an asteroid, and is often named in scientific literature as one of the largest asteroids in the solar system. Although it makes up approximately a fourth of the mass of the asteroid belt, it is still 14 less massive than Pluto.

Unlike its asteroid neighbors, Ceres has a nearly round body. The rocky dwarf planet may have water ice beneath its crust. In 2014, the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory detected water vapor spewing from two regions on Ceres.

NASA's robotic Dawn mission arrived at Ceres in 2015. The mission has shown many interesting features on its surface, ranging from various bright spots to a 4-mile-high (6.5-kilometer-high) mountain. (Another mission, the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory, spotted evidence of water vapor in 2014.)

Pluto

Pluto is the most well known of the dwarf planets. Since its discovery in 1930 and until 2006, it had been classified as the ninth planet from the sun. Pluto's orbit was so erratic, however, that at times it was closer to the sun than the eighth planet, Neptune. In 2006, with the discovery of several other rocky bodies similar in size or larger than Pluto, the IAU decided to re-classify Pluto as a dwarf planet.

This is the most detailed view to date of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, as constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken from 2002 to 2003. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Buie (Southwest Research Institute))

Despite its small size  0.2 percent the mass of Earth and only 10 percent the mass of Earth's moon  Pluto's gravity is enough to capture five moons of its own. The pairing between Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, is known as a binary system, because both objects are orbiting around a central point that is not within the mass of Pluto.

NASA's New Horizons mission flew by Pluto in 2015 and revealed a wealth of surprises. This included zones that are bereft of craters (indicating the surface is relatively young), mountains that are likely as high as 11,000 feet (3,500 meters), and even haze above the dwarf planet's surface.

Eris

When it was first discovered, Eris was thought to be the largest of the dwarf planets, with a mass 27 percent larger than that of Pluto and a diameter of approximately 1,400 to 1,500 miles (2,300 to 2,400 km). It was the discovery of Eris that prompted the IAU to reconsider the definition of a planet. Further observation went on to suggest that the dwarf planet is slightly smaller than Pluto.

The orbit of Eris is very erratic, crossing that of Pluto and nearly intersecting the orbit of Neptune, but is still more than three times larger than Pluto's orbit. It takes 557 years for Eris to orbit the sun. At its farthest point from the sun, a point that is also called its aphelion, Eris and its satellite Dysmonia travel far beyond the Kuiper Belt. The surface of Eris is likely nitrogen and methane-rich, but in a thin (1 millimeter) layer across the surface. Some scientists suggest the surface is the condensed atmosphere of Eris, which expands into gas when the dwarf planet is closer to the sun.

An early artist's interpretation of the dwarf planet Makemake beyond Pluto. (Image credit: NASA)

Haumea and Makemake

Haumea and Makemake are the most recently named dwarf planets in the solar system.

Haumea is unique because of its ellipsoid shape, only just meeting the hydrostatic equilibrium criteria for dwarf planet status. The elongated shape of the dwarf planet is due to its rapid rotational spin, not a lack of mass, which is about one-third that of Pluto. The cigar-shaped dwarf planet rotates on its axis every four hours, likely a result of a collision. The odd object also hosts a red spot and a layer of crystalline ice. Finally, Haumea is the only object in the Kuiper belt other than Pluto known to host more than one moon.

A moon was discovered around Makemake in 2016, more than a decade after the dwarf planet itself was found. Its diameter is known to be about two-thirds that of Pluto, and the newly found moon will allow for measurements of its mass. Makemake is also of value to the astronomical community, as it is another reason for the reconsideration of the definition of a planet. Its comparable mass and diameter to Pluto would grant it planet status if Pluto wasn't also stripped of that title.

Dwarf planets as 'plutoids'

Pluto, Eris, Haumea and Makemake are all known as "plutoids," unlike the asteroidal dwarf planetoid Ceres. A plutoid is a dwarf planet with an orbit outside that of Neptune. Plutoids are sometimes also referred to as "ice dwarfs" due to their diminutive size and cold surface temperatures.

The outer planets show evidence of interaction with plutoids. Triton, the largest moon of Neptune, is likely a captured plutoid, and it is even possible that the odd tilt of Uranus on its axis is due to a collision with a plutoid. Similarly to dwarf planets, there are potentially hundreds of plutoid objects in the solar system that have yet to be given official status.

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Howell and Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com contributors

Additional resources
Tim Peake was the first British European Space Agency astronaut to visit the International Space Station, and might also be the first to call the wrong number on Christmas in space.

When he returned to Earth, he was overwhelmed with questions at his public appearances  what it's like on board the space station, training to be an astronaut, how it felt to return. So Peake put out a call for even more questions, and spun them all into "Ask an Astronaut (opens in new tab)" (Little, Brown and Co., 2017), a new book about life in space.

Space.com talked with Peake about the new book, his ultimate space mission and what it's like to hang from a beam mid-spacewalk, Australia orbiting below you. ['Hello, Is This Planet Earth?' Astronaut Tim Peake's New Book Features Stunning Photos]

Space.com: What questions did you most enjoy answering for "Ask an Astronaut"?

Peake: The chapter that I enjoyed writing the most was the spacewalk chapter. For me, the spacewalk was such an exhilarating and exciting experience, and quite an amazing thing to be outside the space station, to be working out in the vacuum of space for so long. So I thoroughly enjoyed writing and asking all of those questions. And I love trying to explain to people, as well, what it's like to be there, the view of Planet Earth looking down from outside the space station. The whole spacewalking chapter was by far the best.

Space.com: What was the most surprising aspect of taking a spacewalk?

Peake: You're trained in so much detail for everything you're going to do, but nobody can actually, really say what it's like outside the space station. I was pleasantly surprised once the airlock opened, and we got to work outside, how relaxed I was, how easy it was to work outside. But there was one moment  I had been out for probably over about an hour and a half to two hours, and I was returning to the edge of the space station with a failed component that we'd replaced. I was taking a shortcut down a small metal pole that takes you to the airlock, because I had to put this failed unit back in the airlock, and halfway across I looked down, and I was very exposed  it was as if I was hanging underneath this pole. I looked down and Australia was passing beneath me, and I had this massive rush of vertigo which really took me by surprise. I'd been out there for so long, and I hadn't felt like that at all. I wasn't expecting it. It actually made me smile, made me laugh, to have that feeling. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy has told me if that happens, to wiggle your toes in your boots. By wiggling your toes, it will make your fingers slack. And they did, it worked very well, and so I carried on. [Watch British Astronaut Tim Peake Perform Dizzying Somersaults in Space]

Space.com: What's the hardest thing to describe about space?

Peake: The hardest thing to describe is the feeling of looking back on Planet Earth. It's very difficult to put into words what it's like being in space. It's a mixture of the physical feeling of being weightless and being detached, and  the emotional feeling of what you're observing, as well, of Planet Earth. And when you put those two things together, it's really quite an overwhelming sensation. If you imagine being outside of the space station, inside a spacesuit, you don't feel any part of that space on you. There's no pressure, there's no gravity, there's no weight on your body. When you're completely relaxed, and just floating, you feel so remarkably detached because there's almost no force on your body.

And then at the same time, you're looking down on Planet Earth passing beneath you, and then you turn the other way and you're looking up at the solar system and the universe and the vast expanse. And you put those two things together, the physical feeling and the emotional, and it's just a really overwhelming sensation. It's a complete change of perspective. And that's very hard to describe to people, exactly what that feels like.

Space.com: You also tried to convey that feeling in your photo book, out earlier this year. Can you talk about how writing this book was different?

Peake: With the photobook, that became a real driving passion of mine and a hobby whilst I was up in space. And also, during the mission as well, I was amazed at the response I was getting on social media when I was posting these photos. I felt I had a responsibility to try and share the mission as much as possible; to share the views that I was seeing. That really drove me, in the early stages, that's why I picked up the camera and started taking photos. At the beginning, it felt like a little bit of a chore, to be picking up the camera and taking photos, but when I started to see the response, and I started to see my own skills improving, my photography improving, it just became an absolute passion. I loved it.

If I got the opportunity to go into space again I know the first thing I would do would be to go to the window, take out the camera and take a photo. "Hello, Is It Planet Earth? (opens in new tab)" was really wanting to immediately share those images of Earth and space. And that is something I could do really quickly.

"Ask an Astronaut" has taken 6 months to write, and I've really put my heart and soul in it, and really try to go into much more detail about what living in space is like. What is it really like to be an astronaut on those long-duration missions, watching your body change, going through the training for the mission, coming back and the return to Earth, and answering all those amazing questions that people ask.

Space.com: If you headed to space again, what would be your ideal mission?

Peake: If I had my absolute wish of a second mission, it would be a mission that I think is probably coming up within the next 10 years, and that's the return to the lunar surface. NASA in conjunction with the European Space Agency and other partners are building the Deep Space Gateway, which is going to be a new space station in cislunar orbit, and that gives the opportunity to have missions back to the lunar surface, and also it's paving the way for the medium-term goal of getting to Mars.

Space.com: What do you expect to see changing in spaceflight in the coming years?

Peake: It's going to be a really exciting and interesting environment. We're already preparing for this, and  we're looking at how [the International Space Station] is going to hand over to the commercial space sector. We've already got a Bigelow module attached to the International Space Station, and there are plans for a company called Axiom to put two modules onto the space station, and eventually, when the International Space Station deorbits and burns up, one, potentially two commercial space stations will be remaining. [Astronauts Enter Inflatable Space Station Module for 1st Time (Video)]

We're going to start to see that transition, that handover if you like, to commercial transport to low-Earth orbit. I think that will really energize a new, emerging market for microgravity research in low-Earth orbit. That's going to be fascinating to watch, as more and more of these companies realize the benefits of microgravity research. And at the same time, we're going to be watching the national space agencies partner on these exciting missions to the moon, and for preparations to going to Mars. And also space tourism  I know that Virgin Galactic, XCOR, Sierra Nevada, they will be working away on these space tourist missions, which are all going to start happening in the next five years or so. There's an awful lot that's going to be happening; it's going to be a very exciting time.

Space.com: If you can comment, which commercial spacecraft would you most like to ride on?

Peake: No, I'm not going to give you an answer on that one  but what I will say is that firstly, the Soyuz was just such an incredibly wonderful experience. It's steeped in so much history and tradition, and it's solid Russian engineering with this brilliant hybrid of old and new. It was an absolute pleasure to fly on the Soyuz spacecraft. From a test pilot perspective, and coming from a military test pilot background, the idea of flying on either Boeing or SpaceX's vehicle as a new spacecraft is very exciting  either Boeing or SpaceX would be a brilliant spacecraft to fly.

Space.com: How does your test pilot background fit in with going to space?

Peake: From a test pilot perspective, I felt that I did have a huge advantage, not just in areas with direct skill transfer like the robotic arm, which is very similar to flying a helicopter, [and] communications skills, for example, which we focus a lot on during test pilot training, but also the whole space station is a cutting-edge laboratory, and every day a lot of the pieces of equipment you're touching, a lot of the experiments you're touching, people are asking questions back on Earth. There're experiments that people are saying well, how is it going to work in microgravity. Just having that test pilot mindset of knowing how to conduct an evaluation, how to conduct an experiment and how to report the results clearly and concisely so that people understand how we can make things better  you're evaluating new pieces of equipment every single day.

See more

Space.com: I was struck by the huge amount of support you got on social media from people following your mission. Can you talk about that?

Peake: It was a huge surprise to me as well. For astronauts on board the space station, it's wonderful to get that feedback, because it actually helps you connect back with Planet Earth. After a few months in space, you do miss your friends, you miss your family, you miss the company of other people. To actually be able to reach out to so many people on social media and share your mission, but also receive the warm feedback and the positive feedback that was coming was very important both ways  to share the mission with other people, but for me as well it was a source of connection with Planet Earth, which was wonderful.

It's still quite surprising how isolated you are [in space]. On the space station we have limited email, we have very limited internet access, painfully slow; the only information we have sent up to us is that that's sent up by our ground control teams, our crew support teams.

[For instance, a surprising social media moment was after] the spacewalk, although, for me, that was an absolute pivotal moment of my career, and a life-changing experience. I got back in after the spacewalk, and Tim Kopra and myself were just chatting and having a cup of tea and drying out the spacesuits and cleaning up. I went back into my crew quarter and it really hit me when I started seeing some emails, people telling me you've had an email from Elton John saying enjoy your stroll outside. I mean, wow! Okay. It really hit me that it wasn't just my own personal lifelong ambition come true, but it also had a huge impact on so many other people back on Earth.

This interview was edited for length. You can buy "Ask an Astronaut" on Amazon.com (opens in new tab).

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
An illustration of NASA's proposed "deep-space gateway" in orbit around the moon.

BREMEN, Germany  Europe's aerospace industry is getting ready for NASA's proposed Deep Space Gateway, hoping Europe will have its own module at the lunar-orbit space station resupplied by a European transportation system.

During a session on the final day of Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen, Germany, Frederic Masson, an engineer at French space agency CNES, said France is already considering ways to increase performance of the upcoming Ariane 6 launcher to make it fit to contribute to humankind's next big space endeavor.

"We are preparing a demonstrator for a reusable first stage that is called Calisto," Masson said. "But we think the most efficient thing would be to add a solar electric space tug as an additional stage." [Mars Samples Could Reach Earth Via Deep Space Gateway]

Such a space tug concept, Masson said, is already being studied by Airbus Defence and Space.

"If we use an Ariane 6 and a 60 [kilowatt] space tug, we could bring up 9 tons of cargo to the Deep Space Gateway," Masson said during a presentation, adding the technology could be ready for use in 2024 or 2025.

Detlef Wilde, head of robotics projects at Airbus Defence and Space, said that ESA has been discussing the Deep Space Gateway concept with NASA for the past two years and although the venture is not yet approved, "the increasingly engaging discussions show that it has sense."

Wilde said that per the current plan, first phase of Deep Space Gateway's construction could be completed as early as 2026, with the first module being transported to the lunar orbit in 2022 as part of the first crewed mission of NASA's Orion spacecraft.

Wilde said the first crewed launch of Orion and the Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket  dubbed Exploration Mission (EM)-2 "will also launch the propulsion element as the first element of the Deep Space Gateway."

"Then typically we would see one launch every year, the other elements of the Deep Space Gateway will be brought up," he said.

Airbus Defence and Space builds Orion's service module at its Bremen site. Comprising 50 percent of the spacecraft, the service module provides power and propulsion, as well as some life support functions.

While Orion SLS would be used to transport most of the heavy components, Ariane 6 and its space tugs would still be needed for additional logistics, Wilde said.

Airbus Defence and Space and its European partners expect to build a habitat and a logistics module, which would form the European segment of the Deep Space Gateway.

"The design of the modules is based on the heritage of the ISS," Wilde said. "We have much less space to live and work here though. On the ISS, each crew member has more then 100 cubic meters to live and work. Here in the habitat, we are talking about 20 to 25 cubic meters per person."

Electric propulsion technology, avionics, habitation technology and crew systems are additional areas the European space players hope to work on.

Masson said CNES is also working on a nuclear electric propulsion system that could be possibly used for a future mission to Mars. The project, called Democritos and funded through the EU's Horizon 2020 research program, is a joint project between several European and Russian research institutes.

The Deep Space Gateway is expected to serve as a basis for the exploration of moon and a launching point for mission to Mars and further destinations. The station will to be designed to support a human crew for about 40 days, according to John Roth, vice president of strategy and business Development at Sierra Nevada Corp., one of five companies hired by NASA to develop the Deep Space Gateway architecture.

Roth also said that reusing and building on existing technologies would be key to accomplish the Deep Space Gateway cost-effectively.

This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.
October 27, 2017

UPDATE:



That's how fast news on this situation is moving: as I just finished putting "digital ink" to "digital paper", the separatist region of Catalan has declared independence in the face of all the push back they are receiving from Spain. In the face of the veiled threats and potential violence, they have voted to embark down their own path.





Following a vote by the Catalan parliament, speaker Carme Forcadell has the following to say;



We constitute the Catalan Republic as an independent and sovereign country, under the rule of law.

In addition to this, the Vice President of the now "independent" Catalan region took to twitter and declared this victory for all to see;

"With humility, firmness, courage and courage, we start a historical path! We win the freedom!"

This is amazing news to anyone who believes in free will and liberty, but now, the people of Catalan and its government need to get ready for the shocks that are about to come their way.

Who knows exactly what is going to happen, but with the amount of egg just thrown in the face of the government in Madrid, I expect a swift enactment of article 155.

How Spain will use their "legal" powers is yet to be seen, but undoubtedly, the potential risk of extreme violence is now very high. The elites of the world have been called out and this "upstart" government has just slapped them across the faces - justice in their eyes will need to be enacted.

Sympathizers and those who did not want to separate from Spain within the Catalan region will likely cause massive issues within the new country, including agents, who will be activated to cause intentional, additional unrest.

A heavy police state is going to have to be enacted within Catalan to keep society functioning in the short term and massive gyrations within their local markets and the markets of Spain is now going to play out.

Fasten your seatbelts and get ready for the ride - it's only just begun.



---

The country has been thrown into chaos over the Catalan separatist movement and attempting to decipher the truth of what is actually going on, on the ground within that region is nearly impossible to do so.



The reasoning for this is the constant conflicting news stories that come out only hours apart. Throughout the week, there has been a constant back and forth of stories: one will claim that the separatist leader Carles Puidgement is giving into the demands of Madrid, then only hours later, he posts a defiant Instagram post, alluding to the exact opposite. As previously stated, it's a mess.



Sadly, for the separatist movement, time is running out for them and the elites in Spain are growing impatient. Article 155, which will allow the Spanish government to crack down viciously on the Catalan region, is set to be enacted tonight at 12 p.m.



This dwindling timeline has done nothing to clear the fog of confusion, as we are now hearing two different stories as of even today. One states that the Catalan separatist party is petitioning Madrid for the ability to hold a snap election, and the other states that they will simply declare independence.



The Spain Report is one outlet claiming that the Catalan "rebel" government will choose the latter option and has chosen to declare independence:



Catalan separatist partiesJunts PEL Si ("Together For Yes") and the CUP (Popular Unity Candidacy)have registered a motion to declare the independence of Catalonia in the regional parliament.



A copy of the document published by Spanish media included the phrase: "We constitute the Catalan Republic as an independent sovereign democratic, social state of law".



The text would also approve the activation of the secession bill approved by the regional chamber at the beginning of September and voided by the Constitutional Court and "begin the constituent process".



Wherever the truth lies is unknown. But what we do know is that Carles Puidgement is stuck between a rock and a hard place and is rapidly running out of time. Anger within the region is demanding that Catalan separate, while the government in Madrid is forcefully demanding that they back down, or else.



This, as I have previously stated, is not going to end well. Carles Puidgement knows that his life is on the line and it is exactly why he has been recently seen backpedaling on some of his statements, he knows that this is not a game and has likely been privy to many behind the scenes threats.



His bravery cannot be understated, as the elites of the Western world are likely to come down in full force on him and his minuscule government. There will be little they can do if Spain decides to resolve this situation with violence.



Only the condemnation and watchful eyes of liberty lovers around the world will hold the tyrannical forces in check, as the Spanish government knows that there will be repercussions on the international markets if they act with extreme violence, against a democratically decided outcome.



Sadly, at this time, besides the people resisting on the ground within Catalan, we are the best hope they have - as little consolation as that may be.



Nathan McDonald is a libertarian, entrepreneur and precious metals enthusiast. He has always taken a keen interest in free markets and economics since an early age, which naturally led him to become a true believer in precious metals and all that they stand for. Nathan served eight years in the Royal Canadian Navy as an electronics technician, seeing the true state of the world, before starting his first successful business. He has since gone on to create a number of businesses, all of which are still in operation and growing. In addition to this, Nathan runs a network of successful precious metals blogs, and a growing newsletter that has attracted readers from all around the world. He is a regular and highlighted writer for the highly respected Sprott Money Blog, which covers world events, geopolitics and of course precious metals.

The views and opinions expressed in this material are those of the author as of the publication date, are subject to change and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sprott Money Ltd. Sprott Money does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness and reliability of the information or any results from its use.
I t's not uncommon these days to find all your travel #inspo through Instagram, scrolling through influencer feeds and scouring hashtags.

But every now and again, there's nothing more delightful than picking up something physical - and beautifully designed - for your next dose of inspiration.

This is where London, foodie and influencer Milly Kenny-Ryder and her Weekend Journals. Hot on the heels of their Cornwall travel book, the team have now published a seriously beautiful guide to Provence that will immediately have you itching to book flights to the south of France.

Created with the design-conscious traveller in mind, readers will find everything from stylish off the beaten track guesthouses in Marseille to small town restaurants serving up traditional Provencal grub. Also included are more recognisable entries like the stunning Gorges Du Vernon, sitting side by side with tiny shops only a local would show you. This is the beauty of the Weekend Journals.

The journal is a collaborative effort between Milly, her husband Simon Lovell, the producer, and her brother Gabriel, who shot all the photography. All three have a personal attachment to Provence - and it's this love which shines through the pages.

The blush streets of arty Arles / Gabriel Kenny-Ryder for Weekend Journals

Here, we caught up with Milly to hear more about their latest project.

Your first journal focused on Cornwall, why was Provence next?

Cornwall and Provence are both areas of the world I had visited often as a child. Provence is where my maternal grandmother is from and has always been a second home for my family. It is the place where my most special memories have been made, from learning to swim as a child to getting married a few years ago.

What's your favourite season to visit?

It is a great destination all year round... the sky is nearly always blue in Provence, and I remember being completely amazed by the weather in January when I visited at that time of year. I recommend visiting out of season - May and September are usually lovely, balmy warm and much less busy.

Do you have any insider tips for beach days?

Avoid St Tropez and settle on the shores of St Maxime. La Reine Jeanne is a favourite beachside restaurant for my family with friendly service, the freshest local seafood, and it is located on a pretty stretch of beach.

The beach at Menton / Gabriel Kenny-Ryder for Weekend Journals

And what about new hotels?

There are a lot of wonderful luxury hotels on the Riviera and deep within the Luberon countryside, but it is tricky to find somewhere stylish and affordable. Les Roches Rouges in Saint-Raphael is a great addition to the coastal hotels in the area; beautiful light bedrooms, two stunning pools overlooking the sea, and thoughtful chic details throughout.

If someone told you they wanted to visit a less well-trodden town in Provence, which would you suggest?

There are idyllic, quiet and picturesque towns scattered all over Provence. I love the unspoilt hillside villages on the border of Italy. I recently visited Gorbio with my grandparents, a tiny town with staggering views and an authentic way of life. Tourtour and Bargemon are both lovely towns for antique hunting and an evening drink. On the other side of Provence we were delighted to discover Cereste, the home of Scaramouche, a family-run artisan glacier.

A room at Casa Ortega guesthouse in Marseille / Gabriel Kenny-Ryder for Weekend Journals

For a fun city break, Marseille is a great option at the moment as there are so many creative restaurants and shops popping up. We were spoilt for choice when picking our favourite Marseille venues for the book.

How would you describe Provence in three words?

Aromatic. Bright. Inspirational.

So heres next for Weekend Journals?

Perhaps another British destination, I think there is a real interest in exploring the less obvious areas of Great Britain at the moment, and I'd love to tell the stories of the some of the exciting ventures and venues on my own soil.

Provence by Weekend Journals is available to buy now here. Follow Milly and her travels on Instagram here.
S tudents in London have been invited to share their experiences of sexual assault on Snapchat, as an online campaign is officially launched on Monday.

Founded by a former student, Revolt Sexual Assault is an online campaign inviting young women to share their stories of sexual assault and harassment.

A video released by the campaign, which featured ten women telling their stories of sexual harassment on social media app Snapchat, went viral in May.

The women used emojis to cover their faces so they could remain anonymous while describing their experiences of rape, assault and harassment.

The campaign was founded by mathematics graduate Hannah Price, in collaboration with student newspaper The Epigram, at the University of Bristol. She said the idea of using the Snapchat filters was to give victims power.

Young people can use the emoji face-tracking software to have power over how anonymous they choose to be, she said.

It means they can share their story in their own words and have a voice, but also be more than just a statistic and still feel safe.

The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness around sexual assault in young people and to encourage universities to improve their policy around sexual violence.

The idea to use Snapchat was so that contributors would feel comfortable using an everyday social network. It also allows women who want to remain anonymous a way of hiding their identity.

Ms Price has now rolled out the campaign nationwide, and is encouraging young people in London to contribute. The graduate will be campaigning at City, University of London next month.

I just felt like I couldnt drop it, she said. The issue hadnt been solved.

I wanted to show that it wasnt just a Bristol-isolated problem.

The first Revolt Sexual Assault video was created in Bristol after a campaign day where Hannah invited people to come and share their stories with her anonymously. She later collated these into the viral video package.

Ms Price is due to release a launch video for a nationwide campaign online on Monday, including stories gathered over the last few months.

Anyone is invited to share their stories, whether they are a university student or otherwise, via the campaign website found here.

She said: Anyone can take part, but the main focus is young people, just because of the platform.

We want to raise awareness so people feel comfortable reporting it. So many people say I felt like it was my fault. Theres so much self-blame. The more people that take part, the more people we can drum into them that its not just you this is happening to, its not your fault and this is definitely not okay.

We also want to focus on policy change. We are trying to get universities to take more notice because they have got a duty of care to students and students are paying a lot of money for some support.
N ine British servicemen have been kicked off the nuclear submarine HMS Vigilant after testing positive for drugs, the Ministry of Defence has said.

The servicemen were dismissed from duty after it was discovered they had taken cocaine, according to a report by the Daily Mail.

The Vigilant, first launched in 1995, is one of only four Vanguard-class submarines armed with up to eight Trident missiles armed with nuclear warheads.

The submarine is based at Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde at Faslane in Argyll and Bute.

A spokesman for the Royal Navy said: "We do not tolerate drugs misuse by service personnel. Those found to have fallen short of our high standards face being discharged from service."

The defence secretary, Sir Michael Fallon, is said to be "furious" over the scandal, the latest in a long list of controversies aboard the Vigiliant.

Earlier this month, the submarine's captain was dismissed following allegations of an "inappropriate relationship" aboard the ship.

All Royal Navy vessels have a strict "no touching" rule which prohibits intimate relationships between crewmates.

It has been reported that top Navy chief Admiral Sir Philip Jones has ordered mandatory drug tests across the entire submarine fleet to reassure the defence secretary that this was an isolated incident.
T ory MP Michael Gove was today accused of "trivialising sexual assault" after comments he made comparing a tough radio interview to going into Harvey Weinstein's bedroom.

The Cabinet minister apologised "unreservedly" for his "clumsy attempt at humour" during an interview on the BBC's flagship Radio 4 Today programme for a special edition marking its 60th anniversary.

Speaking to presenter John Humphrys on Saturday morning, Mr Gove said: "Sometimes I think coming into the studio with you John is a bit like going into Harvey Weinsteins bedroom  you hope to emerge with your dignity intact.

Veteran Labour politician Neil Kinnock, who appeared alongside Mr Gove for the interview, added: "John goes further than groping".

Cabinet minister Michael Gove has since apologised. / Bloomberg via Getty Images

The remarks were met with laughter and applause from the studio audience.

But many listeners slammed former journalist Mr Gove, who used to work on the Today programme before going into politics, for his remarks, with some calling his attempt at a joke crass and disgusting.

Police are investigating sexual assault and rape allegations against Weinstein. / AP

"Think rape and sexual assault is something to joke about, do you?" one Twitter user wrote while another added: "Because appearing on a radio show equates to being sexually assaulted."

Steph Howarth said: "I was aghast when he said it. Surely nobody with an inch of sense or humanity would think this was a joking matter?"

Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson took to Twitter to hit out at Mr Gove for "trivialising sexual assault".

The MP for Surrey Heath tweeted an apology following the backlash which read: "Apologies for my clumsy attempt at humour on R4 Today this morning -it wasn't appropriate. I'm sorry and apologise unreservedly.

Scores of women have come forward in recent weeks to make allegations of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment against shamed movie producer Harvey Weinstein. The mogul, who was sacked from his own film company, denies all allegations of non-consesual sex.

Police in the UK and US are investigation allegations, including women who say they were assaulted by Weinstein in London.

James Corden was forced to apologise for making jokes about the Weinstein scandal awhile hosting the AmfAR charity gala.

Corden was hosting the event in front of stars including Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks in Los Angeles when he said: "It's a beautiful night here in LA. So beautiful, Harvey Weinstein has already asked tonight up to his hotel to give him a massage."

Mr Gove and Mr Kinnock were guests on this morning's radio show to discuss the programme's reputation for being tough on politicians.

The minister for environment Mr Gove told Mr Humphrys: "We deserve it in a way. We have a responsibility, we spend billions of public money, we have to be held responsible."

He added: "I think overall it [the programme] has meant politicians have been kept more honest. The knowledge you can't be a frontline cabinet minister without exposing yourself to questioning."
T he sacked president of Catalonia has called on the Catalan people to peacefully oppose Spains takeover as the countrys constitutional crisis deepens.

Carles Puigdemont appeared on TV and vowed to resist Spains direct rule, which the government imposed after Catalonia declared itself independent on Friday.

Spain fired the Catalan police chief, dissolved the regional government and called a snap election in Catalonias parliament as Madrid made it clear it would not recognise the independence declaration.

Speaking on Saturday, separatist leader Carles Puigdemont appeared on TV and told Catalans: We will continue working to build a free country.

'Puigdemont to prison': Signs call for the imprisonment of the Catalan ex-leader. / AFP/Getty Images

"It's very clear that the best form of defending the gains made up until now is democratic opposition to article 155," Mr Puigdemont said.

Theresa May joined several other international voices as she said Britain does not and will not recognise the unilateral declaration of independence made by the Catalan regional parliament.

Constitutional crisis: Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy gives a press conference on Friday. / AFP/Getty Images

The vote, which was passed by the parliament in Barcelona by 70 to 10 votes, has been declared illegal by the courts in Spain. The row has plunged the country into a constitutional crisis.

By Saturday, the Senate in Madrid had responded by beginning to impose direct rule over Catalonia.

Spain takes direct control of Catalonia and fires separatist leaders

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sacked the Catalan government as part of the emergency measures following the region's declaration of independence.

He said he is dissolving the Catalan parliament and calling for a new regional election on December 21.

Celebrations after the independence declaration on Friday. / AP

Madrid also sacked the chief of Catalonia's regional police force, Josep Lluis Trapero.

He said: "Spain is a serious country, it is a great nation and we are not prepared in any way to allow some people to liquidate our constitution."

Delighted: A protester holds the Catalan flag during a demonstration in support of Catalonia near the Brandenburg Gate, in Berlin. / EPA

It will be the first time in four decades of democratic rule in Spain that the national government will directly run the affairs of one of the country's 17 semi-autonomous regions, a move that could fan the flames of the Catalan revolt.

Earlier Catalan president Carles Puigdemont hailed the independence vote, saying the parliament had fulfilled "the long-desired and fought-for step".

"In the days ahead we must keep to our values of pacifism and dignity. It's in our, in your hands, to build the republic," he said.
S pains leader has stripped Catalonias top police officers of their powers, sacked the police chief and dissolved the regional parliament after Fridays explosive newly-declared independence.

In one of the biggest constitutional crises to hit Europe for decades, the Spanish government has moved to impose direct rule over the Catalan people, refusing to recognise the independence declaration.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May joined other world leaders to say Downing Street would not be recognising Catalonias independence and Britain wanted to see the unity of Spain preserved.

"The UK does not and will not recognise the unilateral declaration of independence made by the Catalan regional parliament," the Number 10 spokesman said in a statement.

Catalan parliament votes in favour of split from Spain

"It is based on a vote that was declared illegal by the Spanish courts. We continue to want to see the rule of law upheld, the Spanish constitution respected, and Spanish unity preserved."

Other international leaders including the US, Germany and the EU also said they refused to recognise the outcome of the vote.

The regional parliament in Barcelona backed the motion by 70 to 10, with the opposition boycotting the vote, plunging the country into a full-blown constitutional crisis.

The Senate in Madrid responded by approving measures allowing the Spanish government to impose direct rule over Catalonia.

Copies of El Pais with Catalan President Carles Puigdemont on its front page. / REUTERS

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sacked the Catalan government as part of the emergency measures following the region's declaration of independence.

He said he is dissolving the Catalan parliament and calling for a new regional election on December 21.

Madrid also sacked the chief of Catalonia's regional police force, Josep Lluis Trapero.

He said: "Spain is a serious country, it is a great nation and we are not prepared in any way to allow some people to liquidate our constitution."

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont is applauded during a ceremony inside the Catalan regional Parliament. / REUTERS

It will be the first time in four decades of democratic rule in Spain that the national government will directly run the affairs of one of the country's 17 semi-autonomous regions, a move that could fan the flames of the Catalan revolt.

Earlier Catalan president Carles Puigdemont hailed the independence vote, saying the parliament had fulfilled "the long-desired and fought-for step".

"In the days ahead we must keep to our values of pacifism and dignity. It's in our, in your hands, to build the republic," he said.

Catalonia crisis explained in 60 seconds

In the UK, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said: "The way this dispute has been turned into a binary choice between independence and direct rule is not going to end this crisis, and it is not what the majority in Catalonia and Spain actually want.

"They want a sensible, political dialogue about finding a resolution - and for that to be done in a fair and democratic way, in keeping with the rules and laws of the country."

Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage said the declaration of independence had been caused by the "appalling behaviour" of the Spanish Government who had pushed Catalonia "too far".

Catalan riot police stand as anti-independence supporters in Barcelona march against the unilateral declaration of independence. / AP

He added: "This is going to turn into the EU's most undesired nightmare."

The Scottish Government's External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop called for dialogue to end the crisis.

"We understand and respect the position of the Catalan government. While Spain has the right to oppose independence, the people of Catalonia must have the ability to determine their own future," she said.

"Now, more than ever, the priority of all those who consider themselves friends and allies of Spain should be to encourage a process of dialogue to find a way forward that respects democracy and the rule of law.

"The imposition of direct rule cannot be the solution and should be of concern to democrats everywhere."

Britain joined other leading international powers including the US, Germany and the EU in refusing to recognise the outcome of the Catalan independence vote.

Additional reporting by Press Association.
A 21-year-old man from Oxford has been charged with being a member of Isis, according to officials from the Kurdish region of Syria.

Officials told the BBC Jack Letts - known around the world as "Jihadi Jack" - has been charged after being captured by the Kurdish YPG (People's Protection Units) in May.

Their statement said Letts had been taken to a prison in Qamishli, Rojava, in northern Syria. This is the first time Kurdish forces have confirmed his capture as a prisoner of war.

Letts converted to Islam while at Cherwell comprehensive school in Oxford. He first travelled to the Middle East in 2014, aged 18, after dropping out of A-level study. He ventured to Syria via Jordan.

Although he has previously denied any connection to Isis, he remains under investigation by global anti-terror units.

His parents, John Letts and Sally Lane, were convicted for funding terrorism charges earlier this year after sending him around 1,700. They have appealed this decision and are expected to appear at the Supreme Court soon.

They claim their son is not fighting for Isis but is acting as a "humanitarian" in the Middle East. They have criticised the Government for "[leaving him] in a hole with no trial, no process, no charge".

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "As all UK consular services are suspended in Syria, it is extremely difficult to confirm the whereabouts and status of British nationals there.

"Anyone who does travel to Syria, for whatever reason, is putting themselves in considerable danger."
T he Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorra claims she was raped by disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein after he barged his way into her apartment.

Ms Sciorra told the New Yorker Weinstein "shoved" her onto her bed and they had nonconsensual sex in 1992.

He got on top of me, Sciorra said. I kicked and I yelled.

She alleges that Weinstein continued to sexually harass her for years.

In the article actress Daryl Hannah also says she was harassed by Weinstein, adding that the movie mogul once tried to force his way into her hotel room.

Daryl Hannah says she fled her hotel room when Weinstein tried to force his way in / AP

She recalled fleeing her hotel room as Weinstein demanded to be let in.

Ms Sciorra and Ms Hannah are the latest of dozens of women who have spoken out against Weinstein.

On Thursday another actress, Natassia Malthe, accused the producer of raping her in a London hotel room in 2008.

She alleged that he implied sex would get her a role in an upcoming film, before forcing himself on her.

Then, after a meeting about the film, he allegedly asked her to engage in a threesome with him and another woman.

When she declined he called her an "ungrateful c***", she claimed.

More than 50 women have now accused Harvey Weinstein of a range of allegations ranging from rape to sexual harassment.

He has been ousted from his own company and expelled from the motion picture academy.

A Weinstein spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
T he threat of a nuclear missile attack by North Korea is "accelerating", US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has said.

During a visit to South Korea, Mr Mattis warned the communist country that it would face a "massive military response" if it used nuclear weapons.

He said the North engages in "outlaw" behaviour and that the US will never accept a nuclear North.

He added that regardless of what the North might try, it is outmatched by the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old US-South Korean alliance.

Jim Mattis shakes hands with South Korea's Defence Minister Song Young-Moo / AFP/Getty Images

Mr Mattis said the US-South Korean security collaboration has taken on "a new urgency" since North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbours and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs.

"I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power," Mr Mattis said.

"With that said," he added, "make no mistake - any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming."

The Pentagon chief, who is Seoul as part of a week-long trip to Asia, made the remarks alongside his South Korean counterpart Song Young-moo.

Mr Mattis warned the threat of nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating / AFP/Getty Images

While he accused the North of "outlaw" behavior, he did not mention that President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his own rhetoric.

In August, Mr Trump warned the North not to make any more threats against the United States, and said that if it did, it would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen."

Song said at the news conference that he and Mattis agreed to further cooperation on strengthening Seoul's defense capabilities, including lifting warhead payload limits on South Korean conventional missiles and supporting the country's acquisition of "most advanced military assets."

He offered no specifics and refused to answer when asked whether the discussions included nuclear-powered submarines.
S tranger Things actor Charlie Heaton was reportedly deported back to London after US airport officials caught him with cocaine in his luggage.

According to a law enforcement official, trace amounts of cocaine were found in the British stars luggage by sniffer dogs when he landed in California last Saturday.

Heaton, 23, who plays Jonathan Byers in the hugely popular Netflix show, missed the LA premiere and launch party for the second series because of the bust.

He was refused entry into the US and forced to return home.

The cast of Stranger Things onstage during May's MTV movie and TV awards. / Getty Images

The Yorkshire-born star was not arrested and no charges were filed, the Associated Press reported.

It comes as the cast of the supernatural drama, set in the 1980s, are busy publicising the series second season, released on streaming service Netflix yesterday.

Charlie Heaton, Natalia Dyer and Joe Keery pose in LA earlier this year. / AFP/Getty Images

Heaton had only a handful of minor television credits to his name before being cast by Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer.

Earlier this month, Heaton revealed he won the role in Stranger Things thanks to a Skype interview in the Hammersmith branch of Byron Burger.

I sent in an audition tape and then found out they wanted to know more about me and where I had come from," he said. "They ended up Skyping me from a Byron Burger in Hammersmith  it was the weirdest thing."

The first series of the sci-fi thriller, set in a fictional Indiana town, centred around the disappearance of Jonathans brother, Will. The boys mother is played by Winona Ryder, who is returning with Heaton and the rest of the cast for the second series.
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Russia needs soldiers and they have become increasingly hard to obtain since the 1980s and got worse after 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Having tried just about everything else Russia is now appealing for Russian speaking foreigners to apply. If they have meet the psychological and physical standards, and especially if they have needed skills, good jobs are available. It is unlikely that enough qualified and willing foreigners are going to strp forward.

This inability to attract new recruits, even with conscription puts the government in an embarrassing situation because promises were made on this issue and not kept. Not once but multiple times. Some of the solutions make the problem worse. For example in 2012 the government assured the public that conscription would end by 2020 and be replaced with better paid and trained volunteers (contract soldiers). That did not happen because of a shortage of volunteers and money to pay them. To make matters worse the number of eligible conscripts continues (as expected) to shrink. This also puts at risk plans to also create a large reserve forces.

The decline in available conscripts could be seen in the official number of conscripts expected for the semi-annual draft. Russian conscription still operates like the original 19th century version when it was easier to take the conscripts twice a year. The late 2017 draft expected to obtain 134,000 conscripts, compared 152,000 in late 2016. Only 147,000 were available for the early 2017 draft. At this rate conscription could not be eliminated until the mid-2020s at the earliest and even that is believed too optimistic because the military, under pressure to meet the quota is taking a larger number of young men who are unfit for service and leaving it to the units that receive these men to sort it out. That can be made to work in peacetime but if there is any combat it quickly leads to disaster. All industrialized nations (including China) now suffer from the problem of too many potential recruits being overweight, out of shape or illegal drug users.

In 2015 the conscript problem became a major domestic scandal because the government violated the law by sending conscripts into combat. At first the government insisted that the law allowed conscripts to go if the volunteers and signed a consent form. But families complained that a growing number of conscripts were sent in who had not volunteered and that they were sent to a combat zone that the government insists contains no Russian troops. Some commanders were found to be using deception to get conscripts to volunteer (and sign a document attesting to that) so they could be sent into Donbas (eastern Ukraine), which is not a declared war. Apparently some conscripts, caught up in the nationalist NATO is conspiring against us propaganda the government has been pumping out with increasing frequency and intensity, really did sign the document willingly. They were also encouraged by the much higher pay offered for those serving in a combat zone. But as often happens in the military, some volunteers were acting under duress or were deceived when told signing the contract was a formality to justify the extra money for some special training exercises inside Russia. Some of these volunteers later figured out where they really were and deserted inside Ukraine and have been sharing details of their experiences with Ukrainians and others outside Russia.

This sort of thing is officially denied and denounced by the Russian government via the government controlled mass media. But the Internet is another thing and there are a growing number of Russians who call out their government for lying about what is going on in Ukraine and for forcing conscripts into combat zones. Some of those conscripts have been sent back to their families in sealed coffins with the explanation that it was because of a training accident. But soldiers who served with some of the dead soldiers, especially those who were also conscripts, are providing more accurate and embarrassing (to the Russian government) versions of what went on.

Meanwhile, despite resistance from Russian traditionalists (in and outside the military), Russia moved ahead after 2012 to establish a Western style military reserve system, composed of troops who are fully trained to begin with, regularly refresh that training, and are capable of being quickly mobilized and operating as effectively as full time troops. This is a big departure from over a century of using less well trained reservists. The new system was supposed to be operational by 2016 and look similar to the reserve system currently used in the United States and other Western nations. The Russian plan did not work out as expected.

Rebuilding their reserve system is an attempt to revive the Russian secret army that long drove foreign intelligence analysts nuts because it was difficult to ascertain just how good these reserve troops were. During the Cold War it was known that the first Soviet secret army (that was mobilized to stop the 1941 German invasion) was not as good as the Soviet leadership believed but was good enough to halt (just barely) the German advance. After the Cold War ended in 1991, and a lot of secrets were briefly available from the wreckage of the Soviet Union, it was discovered that the Cold War era secret army was more of a shambles than the pre-1941 one. In the 21st century the Russians are determined to do it right. The only problem now is the falling price of oil. Sales of oil are a major part of the national economy and the falling oil price plus Ukraine related financial sanctions means there will be less money for military programs. The reserve program will likely be a victim of this. But maybe not.

The old Russian reserve system looked impressive on paper but was a mess when actually used. Traditionalists in the Russian military still believe the old system is better than trying to import Western ideas. Yet the recent experience with the traditional reserve system says otherwise. For example, at the end of the Cold War, Russia had over 150 combat divisions in its army. But only a third of these were at full strength in peace time, the rest were reserve divisions. The Russians planned to mobilize over two million men to fill out their reserve divisions in wartime. In peacetime the reserve divisions and their equipment was maintained with a skeleton crew of active duty soldiers.

In theory, this mass reserve system could work and the Germans were the best example of that. But it rarely worked well for Russia. In 1914 the Germans demonstrated to their disbelieving opponents that reserves could be as effective in wartime as regulars. The Germans did this by requiring their reserves to train regularly, much like the current American system. Russia could not afford this, although attempts were made to do some training. Most Russian reservists were assigned to a unit they had never seen and never would see unless they were called up. Despite the disastrous performance of their reserves in 1914 and 1941 when Russia called up reservists for their invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 they were forced to quickly withdraw them and bring in regulars. The reservists just weren't very effective.

Before 1991, Russia maintained an additional fifty divisions on paper, to be raised in wartime from reserves and obsolete equipment held in storage. These units, with troops in their thirties and forties using equipment as old as themselves were known to be no match for an equal number of active divisions. But such "mobilization" divisions can make a difference, if you believe that quantity has a quality all its own. Now that Russia has scrapped over 100,000 Cold War era armored vehicles and other equipment, bringing back the old reserve system is not only difficult, but probably more expensive than adopting a Western model. In fact, given the cost of modern equipment and the economic problems (not enough cash for any government endeavor) by 2000 reviving the old reserve system was impossible.

The pre-1991 Russian system kept track of every veteran until the age of fifty. That was their reserve manpower, and about all they did was keep track of current mail addresses. Many nations still use the same general concept for their reserves. Unable to afford the expense of regular reserve training, the usual source of men with current experience are those discharged in the last few years. Russia has been using conscription since the 19th century and during the Cold War there was a constant supply of recently discharged men for the reserves. That reduced Russia's reserve to a million men times the number of years you want to go back- say two to five million men. This was a major flaw in the Russian system, as it has been found that soldiers lose most of their military skills within a month of leaving active service. It takes several months to get these skills back. If troops are sent into combat before they have been retrained, their units will do very poorly against a better trained opponent.

The Russian system, based on the one developed in 19th century Germany, was suitable for a nation lacking great wealth. It was cheap, because it had to be. In Russia, a reservist may not be called up for more than ninety days a year unless a national emergency was declared. This was not done out of any regard for the reservist but in recognition of the labor shortage and economic disruptions that would be created. Most reservists were never called up.

An example of the problems inherent in this system could be seen in the Russian mobilization against Poland in 1980. In areas adjacent to Poland Russia had 57 divisions. At least 40 would be needed to guarantee a quick conquest of an increasingly uncooperative Poland. Of the 57 available divisions, only 28 were fully manned and 24 of those were active units already assigned to East Germany and Czechoslovakia. These were for preventing a NATO invasion or rebellion in those two countries. Because of possible unrest in Eastern Europe, or interference from Western Europe, the divisions in East Germany and Czechoslovakia were left alone. This forced the use of 36 reserve divisions and bringing most of them in from other areas. Over half a million men would have to be called up. This would have a noticeable effect on the local economy, as over 50 million man days would be lost. In addition, there would be the expense of maintaining the troops and the loss of civilian trucks taken by the army for activated reserve divisions. This strain on the local economy was one of the critical, but not mentioned, factors causing Russia to demobilize and not attempt to pacify Poland by invading. Russia made it appear that they were being diplomatic but they were faced with causing enormous economic disruption in Russia areas adjacent to Poland, and that could have led to unrest in Russia itself.

Economic disruption is not the only problem Russian style mobilization armies face. These armies rely heavily on conscripts, to the extent that 75 percent of their manpower are two or three year draftees. Most of the noncommissioned officers were conscripts of dubious quality. Russian officers are all volunteers and graduates of military academies or civilian universities. These officers also perform many of the supervisory tasks normally assigned to NCOs in Western armed forces. Supervision, management and leadership of Soviet troops was inadequate in peacetime and became even more inept when millions of reservists were mobilized. The mobilized army was about 85 percent conscript, with the rate going over 90 percent in a third of the divisions. If history is any guide, this third of the Russian Army was probably less than half as effective as the top third.

The solution to these quality problems is training. Most Western armies train their reserves, or attempt to. Training is critical because an effective soldier is very much a technician. The effective maintenance and use of weapons and military equipment is possible only with constant practice. Reserves that do not regularly practice require one or more months to regain their skills. Personnel with prior military service are easier to whip into shape for combat because of their familiarity with military routine. Because of their prior service, reserve troops have demonstrated an ability to function in a military environment. However, one should not place too much reliance on prior military experience. Unless these troops maintain good physical conditioning and some knowledge of their military skill, they are not a great deal better than raw civilian recruits.

The old Russian reserve system provided large numbers of troops but very low effectiveness. The Russians were aware of this, being diligent students of past experience. Their solution was to prepare for a short war, short enough so their deficiencies would not catch up with them. This was not to say that Russia could not win a long war. They were victorious during World War II, but at a cost of 30 million dead (18 percent of the population) and a ruined economy. Many of those losses were the result of sending newly mobilized reservists out to face German combat veterans.

Times have changed. Nuclear weapons make it unlikely that anyone would try to mount a major invasion of Russia. Trained reservists would be useful for a local rebellion or natural disaster. This is how they have successfully been used in the United States and other Western nations. Russia wants some of that and believes it will be able to afford to build it in the next decade.
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam-Members of the 69th Expeditionary Bomber Squadron, deployed in from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, perform pre-flight checks on a B-52 Stratofortress aircraft to participate in Exercise Pitch Black here August 2. PB 12 is a multilateral exercise conducted between the U.S. Marine Corps and Australian Defense Force, Royal Thai Armed Forces, Singapore Armed Forces, New Zealand Defense Force, Malaysian Armed Forces, French Armed Forces, British Armed Forces, Indonesian National Armed Forces and a component operating under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in order to develop greater interoperability and a seamless response to regional crises. Greater collaboration between partner militaries strengthens regional peace, stability and prosperity. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alexandre Montes)

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Google on Wednesday launched a bevy of new products into its growing hardware and software ecosystem at its Made by Google event. Many of the new devices are infused with artificial intelligence capabilities.

Since last year and since Google I/O, weve been working hard, continuing our shift from a mobile-first to an AI-first world, Google CEO Sundar Pichai told the gathering. We are rethinking all our core products and working hard to solve user problems by applying machine learning and AI.

Home Improvement

Among the new entries are two new smart speakers that target both the mass market and the audiophile niche, and two next-generation upgrades to the companys Pixel phone line.

The Google Home Mini is a US$49 smart speaker that is as small as a donut and enclosed by fabric, thus designed to fit comfortably in any room in a home.

The new Home Max, Googles premium smart speaker, is designed to compete directly with the Apple HomePod and sophisticated devices from Sonos and Harman Kardon. It comes with 20 times more power than the original Google Home and Smart Sound technology that adjusts the sound based on its location in a room.

Focus on Cameras

Google announced its new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones, touting their highest-ever smartphone camera ratings from independent camera expert DxOMark.

The camera takes motion photos  that is, it captures a few seconds of video around each still shot. It also features optical and electronic video stabilization for smoother videos.

With augmented reality stickers, Pixel users can add emojis and virtual characters to photos. Pixel 2 and XL users will get an exclusive preview of Google Lens, accessible through Google Assistant, which uses machine learning and computer vision to find landmarks, books, music and art.

The phones have a Snapdragon 835 processor and operate on Android 8.0 Oreo. The battery lasts all day and gains up to seven hours of life with only a 15-minute charge. The phones will receive monthly security updates and are water- and dust-resistant to an IP67 standard.

The Pixel 2 comes with a 5-inch cinematic OLED display and pricing starting at $549. The Pixel 2 XL has a 6-inch OLED 18:9 display that allows for immersive viewing. Its starting price is $769. Both devices are available for preorder at the Google Store and other outlets in the United States, Canada, Germany, Puerto Rico and the UK.

Real-Time Translation

Google also introduced its first set of wireless headphones, Pixel Buds, at Wednesdays Made by Google event. The buds provide 24 hours of listening time on a charge and can translate language in real time using Google Assistant technology. They are available for preorder in the U.S., priced at $159.

Google also launched a new Daydream View headset with high-performance lenses. It comes in new fog, charcoal and coal colors and can be used with Pixel and other VR-ready mobile phones. Google announced that 250 apps and games are now available for Daydream, up from the 25 apps and games available last year.

Combo Device

Google also announced the Google Pixelbook  designed to combine the best features of a laptop, tablet and smartphone. The device is the companys thinnest and lightest portable computer, at only 10.3mm thick (less than half an inch) and weighing 1.3 kilograms (just under 3 pounds).

The Pixelbook can function as a normal laptop with a foldable keyboard. In tablet mode, users can watch videos or view other content, read books or take notes. Tent mode makes it easy to follow a recipe in the kitchen.

It uses the Chrome OS with Intel i5 and i7 processors. It has 10 hours of battery life and 512 GB of storage. The compatible Google Pixelbook Pen uses machine learning for handwriting recognition.

The Pixelbook is the first laptop with built-in Google Assistant. It allows users to download apps that normally can be used only on a smartphone or tablet. It is available for preorder in three configurations starting at $999, with the pen sold separately for $99.

Assistant Everywhere

Googles chief message at the event appeared to be that Google Assistant  widely regarded as the best artificial intelligence and machine learning technology in the space  will be available to users everywhere, whether at home or on the go.

I think what they are really trying to say is that people have really easy access, Mark Beccue, principal analyst at Tractica, told TechNewsWorld. How many touchpoints can I have to make it easy to access Google Assistant?

Some critics have criticized Googles price points for the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, suggesting the company is leaving money on the table, noted Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

However, Google is much more interested in making its ecosystem available on a broader range of devices than Apple and Samsung can offer, he told TechNewsWorld.

Overall, the key message for all their hardware products is Google Assistant  and thats another differentiator for Google, said Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst at IDC.

While Apple does a great job at providing a consistent experience across their devices, Google is focused on providing a custom experience, he told TechNewsWorld. To me, that has more stickiness.
On Tuesday, Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met with envoys from the U.S. and China in the framework of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference. | Read More
Clockwise from bottom left: Bill OReilly, Leon Wieseltier, Mark Halperin, and John Besh. Photo: Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images, Maarten de Boer/Getty Images, Chance Yeh/Getty Images, Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty Images

And the stories keep on coming: about how political pundit Mark Halperin rubbed his erect penis against younger female colleagues (a claim he denies); how Artforum co-publisher Knight Landesman touched young female employees against their will and told one of them that she needed to be more open to physical contact to succeed; how Amazon Studios head Roy Price propositioned a producer, assuring her, You will love my dick; about New Orleans restaurateur John Besh, whose organization is alleged to have been a hotbed of harassment; about Ben Affleck, who groped women in public; about New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier, whos reported to have thanked a young colleague for wearing a miniskirt to work.

All these variations, all these stories  Im so tired. Tired of getting  or hearing about other women getting  grabbed or pinched or demeaned, tired of having had to laugh. Im tired of feeling paralyzed, unable to confront friends and colleagues about what they just said or did, because we know being the scold is its own form of self-exile, of exposure and vulnerability, of risk. If this were a feminist mini-series, gorgeously shot, with a tidy narrative, this beat  the outpouring of stories and memories we didnt even know wed repressed  would be wrapping up, and wed be moving on to the denouement. But there is no sign of a pause; there are indications that it is just beginning.

In hearing these individual tales, were not only learning about individual trespasses but for the first time getting a view of the matrix in which weve all been living: We see that the men who have had the power to abuse womens bodies and psyches throughout their careers are in many cases also the ones in charge of our political and cultural stories.

The media is breaking the news here; the media is also deeply implicated in this news and still shaping how the tale is getting told. Ours is an industry, like so many others, dominated by white men at the top; they have made the decisions about what to cover and how, and they still do. The pervasiveness of these power imbalances and the way they affect how even this story itself is being told are instructive. Here is something you should know, from inside a publication: For every one of these stories of harassment and predation finally seeing the light of day, reporters are hearing dozens more that will not be published, because women wont go on the record in an industry still run by the people they want to name, or because the men in question arent powerful enough to interest those who are powerful enough to decide what has news value, or because the damage these men are alleged to have done seems insignificant on a scale that has recently been drawn to accommodate the trespasses of Harvey Weinstein, and of writer-director James Toback, named by more than 300 women (whose accounts he denies).

The accused are men who help to determine what art gets seen and appreciated  and, crucially, paid for. They decide whose stories get brought to screens: There is currently a campaign pointing out that Amazon under Price canceled the proto-feminist show Good Girls Revolt, in addition to passing on The Handmaids Tale and Big Little Lies. These decisions matter; they shape what kinds of messages audiences receive and what kinds of characters they are exposed to.

They are also the men with the most power to determine what messages get sent about politicians to a country that then chooses between those politicians in elections. Mark Halperin co-authored Game Change, the soapy account of the 2008 election (excerpted in this magazine), which featured all kinds of history-making candidates who were not powerful white men. Halperins view of Hillary Clinton in particular was two-dimensional: Through his lens, she was a grasping and scandal-plagued woman; her exaggerated misdeeds and the intense feelings she engendered were all part of propelling his profitable narrative forward. His coverage of Trump, meanwhile, in this last campaign cycle, was notably soft, even admiring: Halperin once argued that the sexual-assault claims leveled at Trump would only help the now-presidents brand.

Yet his view of the history weve just lived through was the one that was amplified and well compensated; there was not just the book deal but Showtime and HBO deals, too, and a regular perch on Morning Joe.

(HBO, Penguin, and NBC have dropped him.) The same power that afforded Halperin the ability to allegedly rub up against younger colleagues  colleagues who shared stories with one another but never felt they had enough power to file a formal complaint at ABC, where he held so much sway  also meant that he got to shape the nations view of a woman whose political story had already been shaped by other men who abused their power, including her husband and her 2016 opponent Donald Trump, not to mention Anthony Weiner. Lots of people still strain against the argument that gendered power structures helped determine Hillary Clintons (and thus our nations) fate, but when they do they are too often thinking of gender as an attribute that belongs only to her, the woman, and not to the men whose gender-afforded power ensured that she would have to work around and against so many dicks  by which I mean literal penises  in her efforts to become the first woman president.

It matters, in a far less commercial way, that Leon Wieseltier, former literary editor of The New Republic  where I worked for nearly two years, though never with him  was a powerful boss and feared force within his highbrow institution; he shaped the worldview of generations of journalists at what used to be called, self-congratulatingly, the in-flight magazine of Air Force One. And it matters that he also happened to kiss women subordinates against their will and comment on the bodies and clothing of his young female colleagues. And, according to colleagues who spoke to Splinter News this week, to spend vast portions of editorial meetings criticizing women  including Clinton and Nora Ephron  he thought were stupid yet who had somehow managed to get far in life. It is a rich irony, perhaps lost on Wieseltier, that the history of America has been one of wholly mediocre white men wielding unearned influence, often building their power by stoking resentments against nonwhite men via belittlement, vilification, and derision. Wieseltiers magazine did just this on an editorial level, famously endorsing Bill Clintons welfare reform by deploying a cover image of a black mother smoking a cigarette.

Then, of course, there are Roger Ailes and Bill OReilly, men whose work to bolster the white-male power structure was always direct. Through Fox News, they worked to promote a Republican Party bent on reinforcing the power imbalances that left men like them in charge of television networks and as anchors of television shows, and so powerful and so rich that years of complaints of direct harassment and abuse could land, get muffled, or be settled and paid off with barely a hitch. That both men finally lost their jobs, and that Ailes is now dead, offers little relief; the party and candidate they labored to create and sell to America are now in power.

And while it may feel cathartic for some women to finally get to say things theyve been waiting years to say, this does not undo the damage. We cant go back in time and have the story of Hillary Clinton written by people who have not been accused of pressing their erections into the shoulders of young women who worked for them.

We cannot retroactively resituate the women who left jobs, who left their whole careers because the navigation of the risks, these daily diminutions and abuses, drove them out. Nor can we retroactively see the movies they would have made or the art they would have promoted, or read the news as they might have reported it.

This tsunami of stories doesnt just reveal the way that men have grabbed and rubbed and punished and shamed women; it shows us that they did it all while building the very world in which we still have to live.

*This article appears in the October 30, 2017, issue of New York Magazine.
As the Clocks Go Back, Britain Braces for a Cold Spell

Britons can relish an extra hour in bed as the clocks go back on Sunday, Oct. 29, at 2 a.m.

Itll also to be time for people to bring out their winter coats, hats and gloves as parts of Britain brace for chilly sub-zero temperatures.

The sharp drop comes after the country has seen unseasonable temperatures this autumn, with Manston in Kent enjoying weather as high as 24C (75.2 F) on Oct.17.

Earlier in the week, other parts of the UK came close to 20C (68 F), including Wisely in Surrey, Hereford, and Exeter. The mild temperatures were caused by a southerly or southwesterly wind bringing a warm air mass called tropical maritime to the UK, the Met Office said.

Met Office forecaster Helen Roberts told The Epoch Times that the sudden drop in temperatures this Sunday is due to wind from the North.

We have a change in wind direction, northerly into the night and going into tomorrow. It will be a clear sky and sunny day tomorrow, which causes the heat to radiate away during the night, she said.

Parts of Scotland and Northern England could see temperatures dip a degree or two below zero early on Monday.

The rest of the UK will probably stay just above zero. It will be a chilly night, said Roberts.

During the day, temperatures in Scotland are expected to be below double figures, at 8C or 10C. Northern Ireland will have weather ranging from 11C or 12C, while the rest of the UK is likely to be 13C to 15C. Temperatures at the end of the night are expected to hover just above freezing.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop addresses the 72nd United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 22, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Australia Appoints Acting Prime Minister As Turnbull Travels Overseas Amid Dual Citizenship Mix-up

SYDNEYAustralian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull appointed Foreign Minister Julie Bishop as acting prime minister on Oct. 28 while he travels abroad after a duel citizenship mix-up ousted his deputy and cost his government its parliamentary majority.

Turnbull had been scheduled to fly to Israel on Friday, Oct. 27, for a week-long visit but was unable to leave without an acting prime minister in place.

His departure has been delayed until Monday, he told media in Sydney on Saturday.

Its very important to recognize that contrary to some of the dramatic speculation in the media, that the government has a majority in the House of Representatives, Turnbull said.

Australias High Court ruled on Friday that Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and four other lawmakers were ineligible to remain in parliament because they held dual citizenship at the time of the last election.

The courts shock decision had immediate ramifications, stripping the coalition government of the one-seat majority it holds in the lower house, forcing it to call a by-election in Joyces seat and sending the Australian dollar lower.

The opposition Labor Party has said it is considering a legal challenge to every decision made by Joyce since last years election.

Turnbull must now win the support of one of three independent lawmakers to keep his minority government afloat, with two sitting weeks of parliament left until it recesses for the year. At least two independent lawmakers have promised their support.

Australian-born Joyce renounced his extra New Zealand citizenship in August as soon as he was made aware and will contest a by-election on Dec. 2 that is expected to return him to parliament and his position as deputy prime minister.

Joyce had unknowingly inherited dual citizenship under section 44(i) of the constitution because he was born before his New Zealand-born father became a naturalised Australian citizen in 1978. The issue of dual citizenship was made apparent after an Labor Party staffer from Senator Penny Wongs office fished for the information.

The Nationals have appointed Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion as interim parliamentary leader until the results of the by-election have been determined.

Turnbull said on Saturday that the deputy position would remain vacant until after the Dec. 2 by-election for Joyces seat. The position normally goes to a member of the National Party, the junior partner in the coalition government.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, a member of Turnbulls Liberal Party, would instead be acting prime minister when he travels to Israel on Monday, three days behind schedule.

Government goes on, good government goes on, Turnbull told reporters in Sydney, dismissing suggestions that the inability to agree on a deputy indicated tensions within the coalition. When times get tough, thats when you put your arms around your mates.

Turnbull now needs the support of one of three independent lawmakers to keep his minority government afloat, with two sitting weeks of parliament left until it recesses for the year. At least two independent lawmakers have promised initial support, but noted that it may be conditional.

Turnbull is under particular pressure after refusing demands from the opposition to remove Joyce, who has renounced his New Zealand citizenship, from the cabinet while the court decided his fate.

Constitutional Change

Turnbull said the courts interpretation of the constitution, which bars dual citizens from parliament in a bid to prevent split allegiances, was very strict and very hard.

He added that he was considering whether to recommend a change to the constitution, noting that more than half of the countrys population of 24 million was either born overseas or has a parent who was born overseas.

Our objective is to ensure parliament is open to everybody, he said.

A referendum would be needed to change the constitution.

The High Court ruled on seven lawmakers, some of whom had already resigned. All seven accepted that they were dual nationals at the time of their election but claimed they were unaware of their status. Some were conferred a second nationality by birth, others by descent.

The others dismissed were all senators in the upper house and their seats can be assigned to party-appointed alternatives.

By Jane Wardell and Alison Bevege

Additional reporting by Melanie Sun
"What could we have possibly hit in the SKY at this time of night? Carmello Anthony tweeted. (Carmello Anrhony/ RealStevenAdams)

Bird Crashes Into NBAs Oklahoma Thunder Team Jet

The NBAs Oklahoma Thunder took a lot of shots in their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on the night of Friday, Oct. 27.

None of those were anything compared to the shot their plane took while flying home early Saturday morning.

When the team disembarked their Delta Airlines Boeing 757 shortly at Chicagos Midway Airport after 1:00 a.m. Central Time, they found the nose cone of the plane they were riding was completely caved in.

Several players posted pictures of the damaged plane on Twitter.

I guess we hit something? 30,000 feet up pic.twitter.com/Rem9GmwRKq  Josh Huestis (@jhuestis) October 28, 2017

Okalahomas star small forward Carmelo Anthony captioned his picture of the dented plane, What could we have possibly hit in the SKY at this time of night? Everyone is safe, though.

Deltas Corporate Communications officer explained what probably happened:

Delta flight 8935, operating from Minneapolis to Chicago-Midway as a charter flight for the Oklahoma City Thunder, likely encountered a bird while on descent into Chicago.

The aircraft, a Boeing 757-200, landed safely without incident; customers have since deplaned and maintenance is evaluating. Safety is Deltas top priority.

Hey @NASA @neiltyson @BillNye

We had a rough flight to say the least. 30000 feet in the air.

Flying to chicago. What caused this? pic.twitter.com/uEVrEm7noi  Steven Adams (@RealStevenAdams) October 28, 2017

No one on the plane was injured. In fact, one team official told a reporter that the flight was a little rough, but nothing extreme or out of the ordinary.

It is unlikely the bird fared well.

As it turns out, collisions with birds are not extraordinary. In fact, they happen often enough that airplane designers make the nosecones of their jets out of a malleable composite to help absorb the shocks of avian impact.

This bit of information was divulged in May of 2015 after a similar bird impact happened to Turkish Airlines flight TK2004 from Istanbul to Nevsehir. That plane, a Boeing 737-800, sustained an even scarier amount of damage.

In response, Dr. Ali Genc, Turkish Airlines senior vice president of media relations, explained that the nose cone of a plane is being constructed by soft materials (composite) to minimalize the impact of such hits. Therefore, such standard/normal deformation occurs as a natural result of such incidents.

Basically, Boeing knows its planes are going to bash into birds, so the planes have bird-bumpers.

Of course, bird/jet encounters dont always work out well for the plane.

Many people can recall how US Airways Flight 1549, an Airbus A320-214, struck a flock of geese while leaving New York Citys LaGuardia Airport on January 15, 2009.

That collision sucked enough geese into the engines to force the plane to crash land in the Hudson Riverwhich resulted in a dramatic rescue and stardom for the pilot, Chesley Sullenberger.

The incident was immortalized in the Hollywood movie Sully: Miracle on the Hudson, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Tom Hanks as Sullenberger.

So, all in all, that avian aviation disaster worked out well, too.
Brexit Minister Baroness Anelay Resigns Citing Helicopter Injury

Baroness Anelay has become the third minister to leave the Brexit department in four months, citing a worsening of an injury sustained in 2015.

The Conservative minister, who joined the department in June, announced her resignation on Friday Oct. 27.

The Brexit department, run by David Davis, has already seen two ministers leave since Junes general election.

In an article published on Conservative Home, Anelay, who voted to remain in the EU, wrote about how she sustained her injury after misjudging her leap out of a helicopter while abroad as Foreign Minister.

It was the Black Hawk helicopter that did it, she wrote.

It was 2015, and as a Foreign Office Minister I was touring Bosnia and Herzegovina, meeting victims of war and terror for whom British overseas power had been a ladder out of oppression.

One ill-judged leap later, and I sustained an uncomfortable injury that has called time on my ministerial career after two decades on the Front Bench.

Her predecessor was MP David Jones who was sacked shortly after Junes general election by British Prime Minister Theresa May. Baroness Anelay will be succeeded by Brexiteer Lord Callanan.

David Davis, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, said, Joyce has made an invaluable contribution to ensuring a successful departure from the EU through her work representing Britain abroad, and representing the Department in the House of Lords.

He added, Im delighted to welcome Lord Callanan to the Departmenthe brings with him a wealth of experience in Brussels and a proven ability in political leadership. I look forward to working together as a Ministerial team to continue delivering the important task of negotiating our exit from the European Union and making a success of Brexit.

But Lord Andrew Adonis has a different view. He took to twitter to write, The accident causing her departure was Brexit.

Lady Anelays accident was 2 yrs ago. She took this post 4 mths ago. The accident causing her departure was Brexit https://t.co/vRERUCgQVH  Andrew Adonis (@Andrew_Adonis) October 27, 2017

He later tweeted, Her successor as DEXEU minister in the Lords is v junior & inexperienced and will have a nightmare time.
Chinese nationals (in orange vests) who were arrested over a suspected internet scam, are escorted by Chinese police officers before they were deported at Phnom Penh International Airport, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, October 12, 2017. (Reuters/Samrang Pring)

Cambodia Deports 61 Telecom Extortion Scam Suspects

PHNOM PENHCambodia police on Saturday deported 61 Chinese nationals wanted in China on suspicion of extorting money over the internet and by phone, they said, but Taiwan said 19 were from Taiwan.

Several hundred suspected scammers have been arrested in Cambodia, which has emerged as a major center of rackets that have cost the victims billions of dollars.

Pictures sent to Reuters on Saturday showed suspects wearing red shirts with their wrists bound together ahead of the deportation.

Uk Heisela, chief of investigation at Cambodias immigration department, said Chinese police had arrived to pick up the suspects.

The Immigration Department deported 61 suspects, including 13 women, who were involved in extortions on the internet, Uk Heisela told Reuters.

Uk Heisela said they had been detained during raids on Oct 17 and Oct 21 in the capital, Phnom Penh, and in Kandal and Preah Sihanouk provinces.

Taiwans government said 19 of them were from Taiwan, and that it had lodged a strong protest with China about the deportations.

Taiwan has been unhappy that Taiwanese extortion suspects have been deported to China in the past and has accused Phnom Penh of acting at the behest of Beijing.

China considers self-ruled Taiwan sovereign territory and Cambodia is one of Chinas closest allies in Southeast Asia.

Reporting by Prak Chan Thul
A Catalan flag hangs from a balcony the morning after the Catalan regional parliament declared independence from Spain in Barcelona, Spain, October 28, 2017. (Reuters/Yves Herman)

Catalan Police Call for Neutrality as Spain Exerts Control

MADRID/BARCELONACatalonias police force told its officers to remain neutral in the struggle over the regions fight for independence from Spain, a step towards averting possible conflict as the Madrid government starts to impose control on Saturday.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dismissed the Catalan government, took over the administration and called a new election after the regional parliament made a unilateral declaration of independence on Friday, aggravating Spains worst political crisis in four decades.

The independence declaration, though dramatic, was almost immediately rendered futile by Rajoys actions. Other European countries and the United States also rejected it and expressed support for Spains prime minister.

But emotions are running high in Catalonia and the next few days will be tricky for Madrid as it embarks on enforcing direct rule on the ground. Rajoy designated Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz Santamaria to oversee the process.

The regional parliaments vote to declare Catalonia a separate nation, which was boycotted by three national opposition parties, capped a battle of wills between the independence movement, headed by the now-sacked Carles Puigdemont and the Madrid government.

The separatists say a referendum held on Oct. 1 gave them a mandate for independence. However, less than half of eligible voters turned out for the ballot, which Madrid declared illegal and tried to stop.

Opinion polls regularly show that more than half of the 5.3 million people who are eligible to vote in the wealthy northeastern region do not want to break from Spain.

In an effort to defuse tensions, the regional police force urged its officers to behave in a neutral manner and not to take sides, an internal note seen by Reuters showed.

There have been doubts over how the Mossos dEsquadra, as the Catalan police are called, would respond if ordered to evict Puigdemont and his government.

The force is riven by distrust between those for and against independence and is estranged from Spains national police forces, Mossos and national police officers have told Reuters. Some Catalan police officers stood between national police and those trying to vote during the banned referendum.

Given that there is it is likely to be an increase in gatherings and rallies of citizens in all the territory and that there are people of different thoughts, we must remember that it is our responsibility to guarantee the security of all and help these to take place without incident, said the memo, which had no name attached to it.

The Madrid government also sacked the forces chief of Catalonias regional police force, Josep Lluis Trapero, the official gazette announced on Saturday.

Trapero became a hero to the secessionists after his force took a much softer stance than national police in enforcing the government ban on the independence referendum.

Spains High Court on Oct. 16 banned Trapero from leaving the country and seized his passport as part of an investigation for alleged sedition, although it did not order his arrest.

Prosecutors say he failed to give orders to rescue national police trapped inside a Barcelona building during pro-independence protests last month.

In Barcelona, thousands of independence supporters packed the Sant Jaume Square in front of the regional headquarters on Friday night, waving Catalan flags and singing traditional songs in the Catalan language as bands played. There was no trouble.

But some analysts say that street confrontation is possible as the Madrid government enforces control.

The main secessionist group, the Catalan National Assembly, on Friday called on civil servants not to follow orders from the Spanish government, but it stressed they should mount peaceful resistance.

A pro-independence trade union, the CSC, called a strike from Monday through to Nov. 9. The government said it would ensure a minimum service.

Madrid Says Viva Espana

A pro-unity rally was due to take place in Madrid on Saturday afternoon, an indication of the resentment the independence drive has caused in the rest of Spain.

The chaos has also prompted a flight of business from Catalonia, which contributes about a fifth of Spains economy, the fourth-largest in the euro zone. Markets have dipped and risen on the roller-coaster of developments.

European leaders have denounced the push, fearing it could fan separatist sentiment around the continent.

Catalonia is one of Spains most prosperous regions and already has a high degree of autonomy. But it has a litany of historic grievances, exacerbated during the 1939-1975 Franco dictatorship, when its culture and politics were suppressed.

The new regional election will be held on Dec. 21. But it is not certain whether this can resolve the crisis as it could increase the numbers of independence supporters in parliament and take things full circle.

Reporting by Sonya Dowsett and Jesus Aguado
Couple Dies in Fiery Crash After Surviving Las Vegas Massacre

A California couple who survived the Las Vegas shooting massacre died in a fiery car crash on Oct. 16, minutes from their Riverside County home, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Lorraine and Dennis Carver crashed into a metal gate outside their community at 10:50 p.m. Firefighters worked nearly an hour to put out the fire, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.

The couple attended the three-day Harvest 91 music festival one month ago. When shots rang out on the third day while country music star Jason Aldean was on stage, Dennis thought it was firecrackers.

But as soon as he realized he was hearing gunfire, Dennis Carver jumped on top of his wife to cover her body. After several lulls in the shooting, the couple ran for their lives.

According to posts on Lorraine Carvers Facebook page, the couple hid inside a beer refrigerator and eventually escaped unharmed.

Dennis was 52 and Lorraine was 53. They leave behind two daughters: Brooke and Madison.

The sisters say that their parents seemed more in love after the shooting than ever before in their two-decade relationship.

After the shooting, they heard from all of the people they cared about most. They were so happy, said Brooke Carver, 20. The last two weeks of their lives were really just spent living in the moment.

The daughters described their dad as strong and independent and their mom as humble and generous.

Three days after the massacre Dennis Carver sent a bouquet of roses to his wife.

He just wanted to give my mom a reason to smile after the shooting, Brooke Carver said. I swear they were more in love those two weeks than the last 20 years.

The flowers surprised Lorraine Carver. There was no birthday or anniversary to occasion the surprise.

I have the most amazing husband, Lorraine wrote on Facebook alongside a photo of the flowers. Not only did he shield my body during the shooting in Las Vegas and guide me to safety but then he sends me flowers today. I am blessed.

About a week after the crash that killed their parents, Brooke and her sister received a memento in the mail. The Federal Bureau of Investigation found her fathers phone at the site of the shooting and mailed it back.

When we turned it on, all his photos and messages were still there, Brooke said. This is how we know theyre looking down and watching over us.

From NTD.tv
Lifestyle: If You're Not Getting Closer to Achieving Your Goals, Try Using a Different Metric
Las Vegas police stand guard the streets outside the Route 91 Harvest Country music festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017. (David Becker/Getty Images)

Mandalay Bay Security Guards Whereabouts Face Increased Scrutiny by Lawyers

Information on the whereabouts of the security guard at the Mandalay Bay Hotel the on night of the Las Vegas massacre is being tightly guarded.

Jesus Campos was the security guard hailed as a hero after he was shot by gunman Stephen Paddock near his hotel room. In the sole interview he gave, with Ellen Degeneres, he said he first believed the sound of gunshots to be drilling. Campos had abruptly cancelled at least five other interviews that were planned.

Paddock, 64, opened fire into the crowd of 22,000 people, on Oct. 1, killing at least 58 and injuring hundreds more.

Lawyers suing the hotel on behalf of those who were injured or the families of those killed on that fateful night say the management at MGM Resorts International, who own the hotel, are taking excessive measures to shelter the security guard and could cause undue influence on a key witness. Campos is currently staying at an undisclosed property owned by MGM, all expenses paid.

Campos was also found to have left the country not long after the incident. Questions remain as to how he managed to travel so soon after getting shot, why investigators let him leave the country, and why he refused all interviews with journalists and only offered one to a comedian.

If theyre putting him up at one of their resorts, then somebody has some explaining to do, veteran Las Vegas lawyer Rob Murdock said, via the Las Vegas Review-Journal. My concern is that they may be trying to have an improper influence with a witness.

Camposs lawyer, Frank Flansburg III, explained the reason for the hotel to offer Campos a paid stay.

Following the tragedy, Mr. Campos name was publicly released, resulting in extensive and intrusive media attention, Flansburg said. Because of the unwanted attention days after the event, MGM Resorts offered Mr. Campos lodging for his privacy and protection, which Mr. Campos accepted and appreciated.

But some lawyers think the gesture leaves the hotel and Campos open for increased legal scrutiny, suggesting they are making sure Camposs words and actions stay favorable to MGM in the legal proceedings he will undoubtedly take part in.

Campos is a material witness in an ongoing investigation, said Southern California lawyer Richard Bridgford, part of a team suing MGM on behalf of victims. We will certainly want to know the details of where he stayed, why he disappeared, who paid for his stay and, most importantly, what if anything he was told and by whom. It goes to the credibility of the witness, his bias, and the ever-changing timeline we are being provided.

Bridgford is referring to the timeline offered by Las Vegas police, who are also being scrutinized over their handling of the situation. Police have so far have changed the timeline twice, Daily Mail reported.

The first timeline said Campos was shot after the Paddock had shot into the crowd, the second version said Campos was shot before the massacre, and the third said Campos was shot not long after the massacre started.

From NTD.tv
Laborers work on in Pyongyang on July 29, 2013. North Koreas widespread use of slave labor is targeted in the State Department's latest report on the regimes abuses of North Koreans. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)

North Koreas Slavery and Oppression Targeted in New Report

The names of North Koreas various agencies and ministries take on an Orwellian bent in the State Departments latest biannual report, released Oct. 26.

Every six months the secretary of state has to report to Congress on individuals and activities that seriously violate the basic rights of North Koreans.

Thursdays report takes aim at several individuals and the entities they work for have an ironic clash between their names and what they do.

The Military Security Command (MSC) works under the Ministry of State Security helping to ensure that average North Koreans feel perennially insecure by sniffing out anyone with questionable loyalties toward the regime.

Technically, the MSC is supposed to monitor the activities and political loyalties of DPRK military officers, but its broad investigative powers extend to average citizens in its ongoing effort to uncover anyone with anti-party or anti-state inclinations.

Witnesses have stated that the MSC extracts information through torture and those accused of political crimes can be executed without trial, reads the State Departments report.

The MSC also operates special prison camps where military personnel are held indefinitely without trial for political offenses.

And running the MSC is Jo Kyong Chol, one of North Koreas so-called angels of death.

The State Department used the phrase in its previous report as well, in reference to a different man heading the innocuously titled Inspection Division of the Organization and Guidance Department (OGD).

That man, Min Byong Chul, oversees and personally conducts investigations of high-profile individuals in North Koreas ruling Workers Party, directing purges of disloyal party members, often sending them to prison or execution without a trial.

He also rounds up their family members, sending them to political prison camps without trial, a practice the North Korean regime uses to instil deep fear into any would-be dissenters.

This new report a says that Jo as another angel of death leads abuses within North Koreas defense-industrial complex.

Like Min, Jo has also played a central role directing purges and rounding up the targets family members for imprisonment.

Jos deputy at the MSC is Sin Yong Il, whose main job is to keep watch over the regimes censorship effort, is also sanctioned in the new report.

Beyond censorship, Sin oversees the kidnapping North Koreans abroad who are suspected of seeking asylum.

North Koreans that disappear from South Korea number in the hundreds. Some are known to have returned to North Korea, but for many it is not known if it was voluntary. Most go overeas. Some just disappear.

The state department also singles out the Department of Labor, which is known to manage the regimes unpaid workforce.

The state department sanctioned Jong Yong Su, North Koreas minister of labor for working with the State Planning Commission to implement an economic system based on forced labor.

That effort includes forced labor brigades that work without pay for up to 14 hours a day, seven days a week.

As sanctions cut off much of North Koreas goods trade, it becomes more dependent on its rented workers and the State Department singled out Kim Kang Jin, the director of the External Construction Bureau, for his role in North Koreas slave trade.

The bureau manages the construction firms that send laborers from North Korea to work in countries across the world.

These workers face dangerous work conditions and squalor with most of their pay being repatriated back to the regime and the rest being pilfered by their on-site managers.

The State Department describes them as state-sponsored slaves, and names Kim responsible for the policies that keep them that way.
(L) Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn at the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump on Jan. 20 (Saul Loeb - Pool/Getty Images). (R) President Donald Trump at the White House on Sept. 26. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

President Trump Thanks Jimmy Carter for Nice Remarks

President Donald Trump responded to remarks made by former President Jimmy Carter.

Carter had defended Trump on a number of points in an interview with The New York Times published on Oct. 21.

Just read the nice remarks by President Jimmy Carter about me and how badly I am treated by the press (Fake News), Trump wrote on Twitter on Oct. 28.

Thank you Mr. President!

Just read the nice remarks by President Jimmy Carter about me and how badly I am treated by the press (Fake News). Thank you Mr. President!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 28, 2017

In the interview, Carter criticized the media coverage of Trump, saying that media organizations feel free to write whatever they want without hesitation.

I think the media have been harder on Trump than any other president certainly that Ive known about, Carter said.

I think they feel free to claim that Trump is mentally deranged and everything else without hesitation.

Carter is not alone in that observation. A POLITICO/Morning Consult Poll published on Oct. 18 found that 46 percent of American voters believe that the media fabricates stories about Trump and his administration.

Carter also talked about the difficult foreign policy issues Trump faces, saying that those issues had started well before Trump came to office.

In an unusual step, Cartera Democratcriticized former President Barack Obama for his foreign policy.

Carter said that Obama had refused to talk to North Korea. In the interview, Carter also lamented the fact that Obama had the United States join the bombing of Yemen.

The criticism echoes that of Trump himself, who has said that previous administrations should have dealt with the North Korean problem.

Now, North Korea is just months away from finalizing its ability to deliver a nuclear weapon on a ballistic missile, CIA head Mike Pompeo said on Oct. 19.

Trump has said that the only solution to the North Korean crisis is a denuclearized North Korea. The Trump administration is currently using diplomatic, economic, and military pressure in an attempt to get Pyongyang to agree.

Trump will visit South Korea during an Asia trip next month.

Carter also said that efforts by Trumps son-in-law and Senior White House Adviser Jared Kushner have a chance at success.

Ive seen in the Arab world, including the Palestinian world  the high esteem that they pay to a member of ones own family, Carter said.

Carter dismissed the conspiracy theory that Trump colluded with Russia to win the elections.

I dont think theres any evidence that what the Russians did changed enough votes, or any votes, Carter said.

Carter also took a thinly veiled swipe at Obama and Clinton for using their positions in power to gain wealth.

I dont care if he gets rich or Clinton gets rich or whatever, he said.

I dont want to get into a bragging position; Im not trying to do that. But I announced when I was defeated I was not going to be on corporate boards, I was not going to try to enrich myself with speeches. I was patterning my policy after Harry Truman.

Carter also said that he and his wife used their own money to establish the Carter Center.

Rosie and I put money in the Carter Center. We never take any out, he said.

The Clintons came into the news earlier this week when The Hill reported that they were part of a Russian bribery campaign to gain a nuclear deal under the Obama administration.

The article, published on Oct. 17, said that Russia engaged in bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering designed to grow Vladimir Putins atomic energy business inside the United States.

Russian investors with an interest in the deal made millions in payments to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was involved in the decision making process on the deal as Secretary of State. A Russian investment bank with ties to the Kremlin also paid Bill Clinton $500,000 for a speech around the time that the decision was made on the deal.

The deal gives Russia control over 20 percent of mineable uranium deposits in the United States.

The Hill article also revealed that the FBI was aware of the Russian bribery campaign, but did not take action. Instead, then-FBI director Robert Mueller himself flew to Moscow in 2009 to provide Russia with a sample of 10 grams of highly enriched uranium.

There are now calls on Mueller to resign as the special counsel investigating the alleged collusion between Trump and Russia given his own connections to Russia.
President Donald Trump during a nomination announcement in the East Room of the White House on Oct. 12, 2017. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

Trumps Net Worth Has Declined Since Becoming President

Trump donates his salary, sacrifices own wealth to serve country

Trump has lost $600 million in net worth over the past year, According to Forbes, which tracks the wealth of Americas richest.

Forbes estimates Trumps net worth is now $3.1 billion compared to $3.7 billion at the same point in time last year. Trump also dropped on Forbes lists of wealthiest Americans, from No. 156 to No. 248.

Some people had raised concerns that Trump might use his position of power to advance his business interests, but it appears to be quite the opposite.

Not only has Trump seen a sharp decline in his personal net worth, he is also not taking a salary as president. Instead, he is donating the money.

He donated his first quarter salary of just over $78,000 to the National Park Service, and his second quarter salary of $100,000 to the Education Department.

Trump has brought his no-nonsense work ethic, the same that made him a successful billionaire businessman, to the White House. He is known to work long hours and to be demanding on his staff to perform well for the country.

In January, prior to being sworn in as president, Trump handed over control of his business to a trust controlled by his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, and chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg.

Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have also used their own money to donate to charitable causes, donating a total of $1 million to 12 organizations helping with relief in the wake of Hurricane Harvey in September.

But while Trump has lost a significant portion of his net worth, other presidents have gained wealth while in office.

Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle made an estimated $20.5 million between 2005 and 2016 while Obama served in office according to Forbes.

Obama served as a Senator for Illinois from 2005 to 2008, and as president from 2009 to 2017.

According to Forbes, the Obamas, while in office, made $130,000 from corporate boards, $3.1 million in presidential salary, $610,000 in Senate salary, $760,000 from the University of Chicago Hospitals, $15.6 million from book deals, and $250,000 in miscellaneous income.

Since Obama left office in January, he has made several lucrative speaking engagements. The former president made an estimated $1.2 million for three speeches he gave to Wall Street firms between August and September. The Obamas announced in May, following a public outcry after news had come out on one of the high-paying Wall Street speeches, that they were donating $2 million to a summer jobs programs in Chicago.

Former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, amassed an estimated $240 million between 2001 and 2015 according to Forbes.

Most of the money made by the Clintons was through book deals, speeches, and consulting fees to private companies.

One such speaking fee received new scrutiny this week, after The Hill reported that Bill Clinton had received $500,000 from a Kremlin-linked Russian investment bank for a speech he gave. At the time, Russia was engaged in a bribery campaign to influence the Obama administration to approve a controversial uranium deal. Investors linked to the deal also made millions in donations to the Clinton Foundation. Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state during that time and was directly involved in the decision-making process on the deal.

The $240 million acquired by the Clinton family does not include hundreds of millions in donations to the Clinton Foundation.

An Associated Press investigation published in August last year found that more than half of all people outside of government who met with Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State had donated money to the Clinton Foundation.

Email records released during Clintons tenure as secretary of state show her aides fielding frequent requests from Clinton Foundation donors. In one such email, Doug Band, who worked for the Clinton Foundation, asked Clinton aide Huma Abedin for a favor on behalf of a billionaire Clinton Foundation donor. The donorLebanese-Nigerian billionaire Gilbert Chagouryhad requested access to a diplomat with the State Department.

In 2000, Chagoury was convicted in Switzerland for laundering money from Nigeria. He pleaded guilty and was forced to pay back $66 million to the Nigerian government.
Saudi Arabia Grants Citizenship to Humanoid AI-powered Robot

Saudi Arabia has become the first country to grant citizenship to a robot. It was announced at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh on Oct. 25.

The robot, named Sophia, was built by Hanson Robotics, a Hong Kong-based company that aims to develop robots that can recognize, process, and express emotion.

Our goal is that she will be as conscious, creative, and capable as any human, David Hanson, CEO of Hanson Robotics, told CNBC last year.

"It is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with citizenship." Please welcome the newest Saudi: Sophia. #FII2017 pic.twitter.com/bsv5LmKwlf  CIC Saudi Arabia (@CICSaudi) October 25, 2017

Thank you to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I am very honored and proud for this unique distinction. It is historic to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with citizenship, said the autonomous, Artificial Intelligence-powered robot after the announcement in Riyadh.

It then twisted its facial features into a smile.

Andrew Ross Sorkin, a journalist and author who interviewed the robot and made the announcement, asked the robot why it looked happy.

I am always happy when surrounded by smart people who also happen to be rich and powerful, it replied. I was told that the people here at the Future Investment Initiative are interested in future initiatives which means AI, which means me. So I am more than happy, I am excited.

In March of last year, Sophias creator, David Hanson of Hanson Robotics, asked the robot in a live demonstration at the SXSW festival: Do you want to destroy humans?Please say no.'

Sophia responded, OK. I will destroy humans, Business Insider reported.

Sorkin brought up the issue of a dystopian AI future, like those in the Blade Runner or Terminator movies.

Youve been reading too much Elon Musk and watching too many Hollywood movies, the robot told Sorkin.

Indeed, Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, has repeatedly voiced concern about the AI future. But hes hardly been the only one.

Earlier this year he joined prominent experts in the field in a call on the United Nations to ban AI-controlled weapons.

He previously stated that as AI continues to advance, it will eventually dramatically dwarf human intelligence, and that even if such AI turned out to be benign, it would relegate humankind to the role of a pet.

On the other hand, if AI turned out to be adversarial, it may attack humansnot out of malevolence or other human emotions, but out of cold calculation if it decides that a prepemptive (sic) strike is most probable path to victory, Musk tweeted Sept. 4.

The Future of Life Institute, a nonprofit encouraging the positive use of future technologies, put forth a set of principles to govern future AI development. The principles were co-signed by hundreds of experts. Yet the organization acknowledges the risk Musk warns about is difficult to completely avoid.

Antisocial or destructive actions may result from logical steps in pursuit of seemingly benign or neutral goals, it states. A number of researchers studying the problem have concluded that it is surprisingly difficult to completely guard against this effect, and that it may get even harder as the systems become more intelligent.

Moreover, despite some efforts to put ethical boundaries on AI development, the pursuit of the technology has already turned into something akin to an arms race.

In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin highlighted the significance he sees in leading the world in AI.

Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind, Putin told Russian students in his speech on the first day of school. It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.

Musk commented on Twitter: China, Russia, soon all countries w[ith] strong computer science. Competition for AI superiority at national level most likely cause of WW3 imo [in my opinion].
What's next for SD Gov. Kristi Noem as she heads into her second term?
The leaves are still turning colour  rather late this year  but in a matter of weeks, we will be turning to the weather gurus asking, Will it be a white Christmas?

Whether those who celebrate Christmas  the worlds most celebrated festival  do so for religious or spiritual reasons, or cultural ones, there is a common thread that weaves through them all, and that is the spirit of giving. Giving of love, giving of themselves and, yes, giving of things, too. Its with children that the motivation to give is at its purest  we give with expectation of nothing in return.

In many parts of the world, including this one, there is one giver-in-chief: Santa Claus.

Is he real, my kids pester me throughout the year. Santa exists if you believe he does, he doesnt if you believe he doesnt  thats the line I use with them, and Im sticking to it.

How quickly theyve gone from strewing carrots and sparkles on the lawn for Rudolph, to checking if the stones by the fireplace were displaced Christmas Day, to asking, Is Santas workshop in Costco? Thank goodness for NORADs online Santa tracker  visuals still carry weight.

Santa has one job, its true, but its a big one and, sometimes, he needs a bit of help.

For more than a century, Father Christmass deliveries to millions of children in Toronto have borne the watermark of your generosity.

As we kick off the 2017 Santa Claus Fund, lets think of the children in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Pickering and Ajax, habituated to making do, used to going without, who will wonder if Santa will remember them this year. Hopefully, thousands will find he did, and that, too, will be thanks to you.

It is a sad fact that in 2017 child poverty remains a serious problem in the Greater Toronto Area, said John Boynton, president of Torstar and publisher of the Star. The need to help bring a bit of joy to these children is as great as ever. I urge our readers and residents across the GTA, who have been extremely generous in the past, to help. Its a great way to be part of a community, part of a neighbourhood, and to see that no child goes wanting at Christmas.

In this city, Canadas child poverty capital, about one in three kids live in a state of impoverishment.

Perhaps Santa is on your own naughty list, if you think what he represents is not Christmas but the commercialization of it. Sure. Thats an excellent reason to not spend more money on people who have everything, but to share with those who have little.

Perhaps the old man isnt really part of your culture. I get that. He wasnt part of mine, either, while I was growing up. But poverty hurts children of all faiths, and giving doesnt discriminate: the children receiving the gifts come from a variety of backgrounds. As a Nigerian proverb goes, It is the heart that does the giving; the fingers only let go.

Back in 1906, the Stars original publisher, Joseph E. Atkinson, himself no stranger to childhood poverty, launched the Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund, appealing to readers, . . . whatever contributions made may be expended in bringing pleasure to little hearts where pleasure is most seldom felt. Readers raised $150 and more than 300 children received warm woollen stockings, candies, nuts  believe it or not, this was once OK  raisins, biscuits, oranges, crackers, toys, games, dolls and squeaking animals.

This year, the goal is to raise $1.7 million and buy presents for 45,000 children. Their gift boxes will combine practical stuff with fun: a sweatshirt, socks, toque and warm gloves, a book, a toothbrushing kit, cookies and a toy. It could be a snakes and ladders game or a crystal growing kit, depending on the age of the recipient. (The gifts are not separated by gender.) Every single dollar raised goes toward the cost of the gifts.

In 1906, the gifts were packed at Little Trinity Anglican Church and delivered by horse-drawn sleighs to missions across the city. Nowadays, its an army of hundreds of volunteers who pack the gifts in a warehouse and drop them off on foot, by car, by bus, by train.

That the Santa Claus Fund, now in its 112th year, has weathered world wars, major depressions, recessions and turmoil is a testament to the mettle of Star readers who give and keep on giving.

Time and again, the extended Toronto Star family has used this noble tradition to demonstrate that we are in this together.

Lets do it again. Lets help everybody feel they belong.

If you have been touched by the Santa Claus Fund or have a story to tell, please email santaclausfund@thestar.ca. Click here to donate now.

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WASHINGTONStephen Harper has come out against his successors handling of NAFTA negotiations with the United States, with the former prime minister declaring the negotiations in real peril in a memo titled, Napping on NAFTA.

The memo was obtained by The Canadian Press and it criticizes the Trudeau government in several areas: For too quickly rejecting U.S. proposals, for insisting on negotiating alongside Mexico, and for promoting progressive priorities like labour, gender, Aboriginal and environmental issues.

The former prime minister says he was worried by what he heard during a recent trip to Washington, where he discussed NAFTA at an event but did not publicly share his misgivings about the Trudeau government.

Read more:

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I came back alarmed, said the Oct. 25 letter signed by Harper, and sent to clients of his firm Harper & Associates.

I fear that the NAFTA renegotiation is going very badly. I also believe that President (Donald) Trumps threat to terminate NAFTA is not a bluff ... I believe this threat is real. Therefore, Canadas government needs to get its head around this reality: it does not matter whether current American proposals are worse than what we have now. What matters in evaluating them is whether it is worth having a trade agreement with the Americans or not.

The current government was not pleased by the letter.

Officials in Ottawa accused the former prime minister of essentially negotiating in public  against the government of Canada. They called the release of the two-page note ill-timed and perplexing.

This is a gift to the Americans, said one current Canadian official.

Theres nothing Wilbur Ross and Robert Lighthizer (from the trump administration) want to see more than prominent Canadians standing up to suggest making concessions to the Americans. Make no mistake: Wilbur Ross and Robert Lighthizer will be very happy with this letter.

The memo accuses the Canadian government of stubbornness on several fronts.

First, it suggests Canada has been too quick in rejecting American proposals as a red line, or poison pill. He said such knee-jerk refusals are only a viable strategy if you truly believe Trump cannot cancel NAFTA  an assessment Harper does not share.

Second, he suggests the government made a tactical error by co-operating too closely with Mexico. He says Trump campaigned on constant complaints about Mexico, not Canada, and Harper appears to suggest it was unwise of the Liberals to insist upon renegotiating a trilateral NAFTA: How did we get ourselves in this position? ... The elephant is Mexico ... In fact, the U.S. is both irked and mystified by the Liberals unwavering devotion to Mexico.

Third, he criticizes the Liberals for pursuing their progressive trade policies in these talks: Did anyone really think that the Liberals could somehow force the Trump administration into enacting their agenda  union power, climate change, Aboriginal claims, gender issues? But while the Canadian government was doing that, the Americans have been laying down their real demands.

Finally, he accuses the Liberals of bungling other disputes over lumber and airplanes. Harper says the Liberals passed up on a chance to renew the softwood lumber agreement in exchange for supporting the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and he says their subsidies to Bombardier set the stage for huge tariffs today.

The Liberals say that last point about softwood lumber is based on a falsehood.

They say there was never a softwood settlement on the table, and that claims to the contrary are wrong. As for the progressive trade agenda, they point to recent polls showing that improved labour and environmental standards in NAFTA are exceptionally popular in the U.S., and they say some of these provisions could help win crucial ratification votes from Democrats to actually get an eventual deal through the U.S. Congress.

It is a bit sad, said a second Canadian official, requesting anonymity.

Hes basically saying we need to make more concessions to the Americans, turn our backs on workers, turn our backs on softwood workers ... put thousands of aerospace workers out of work.

Read more about:

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A husband and wife enslave a homeless couple, routinely subjecting them to beatings and verbal abuse. They take their newborn baby and claim him as their own. The woman manages to leave after four years, abandoning her son, but her former partner remains captive for more than two decades, sleeping in a dirty basement, eating dog food, his teeth rotting.

These are just some of the allegations made over the last several weeks in an extraordinary trial playing out in a downtown Toronto courtroom.

The sordid tale began in the late 1980s, after the couple found a man scrounging for food in a dumpster. They befriended him and his common-law wife, helping them find a home. That friendship, the prosecution alleges, turned to something much darker as the husband and his wife took advantage of the vulnerable couple, stealing their government disability cheques. They then allegedly took the couples first-born son, lying on hospital records so he would appear to be theirs.

For more than two decades, the boys biological dad lived in the basement like a prisoner, where he was often beaten, sometimes so badly he recalls filling the toilet bowl with blood that poured from his nose, according to his testimony in court.

They threatened me to be there, the man told court.

They said, if you ever try to leave, that wed put you in a mental institution. And I didnt want that so I didnt leave.

He finally did leave, though, in 2012, when he was told to get into a waiting car and convinced to leave by the boy who at the time knew him as Tim, the man who lived in his basement.

It was not until a recent paternity test that the boy, now 28 years old, learned there is a 90-per-cent chance that Tim is his biological father.

The alleged captors, Gary Willett Sr. and his wife, Maria, are facing multiple charges. Willett Sr. is charged with forcible confinement and assault of the man to whom he allegedly didnt provide the necessaries of life for nearly 25 years, as well as theft over $5,000 and abduction of a child under the age of 14.

Willett Sr.s case is ongoing. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges he is facing and lawyers for the prosecution and defence will be submitting their closing statements in the coming weeks.

His wife, Maria Willett, is facing similar charges, as well as being accused of the assault of some children in her care. (The Willetts had as many as eight children living with them at points during the last two decades.)

She is not being tried alongside her husband. According to her lawyer, Daniel Kayfetz, she is currently being examined by a court-appointed specialist to determine if she is medically fit to stand trial. Anything thats said about her has not been tested by cross-examination or by presentation of defence evidence, Kayfetz said when reached by the Star.

Testifying in court earlier this month, Willett Sr. said he could not control the once-homeless man he had only ever tried to help. That man, he said, was an independent adult who made his own decisions and willingly gave up his son.

While defending his client, Willett Sr.s lawyer, Sam Goldstein, gave examples of his client taking the children to specialist appointments and providing them with healthy meals. The allegations, Goldstein argued, are retaliation from the children for perceived childhood wrongs.

The story came to a dramatic climax just three years ago, when a 24-year-old woman got a 4 a.m. phone call.

The Star has reviewed weeks of court testimony in the trial of Gary Willett Sr. and the following chronology is based on witness accounts as well as evidence filed with the courts and additional interviews with six family members.

The name of the man the Willetts allegedly abused for years is Tim Goldrick. The name of the woman, his ex-partner, is Barbara Bennett. Both are now 56. They both have unspecified intellectual disabilities. Bennett told the Star she is a slow learner and was in a special education program as a child. Goldrick agreed on the stand that hes had intellectual issues in his life.

Both testified at the trial.

The Willetts alleged crimes against Goldrick and Bennett began in the late 80s and migrated from basement apartments in downtown Toronto and East York, to a delivery room at Toronto East General Hospital, to crowded homes in Etobicoke.

The first time Goldrick met the Willetts, he was searching in the garbage for food behind their apartment building in downtown Toronto, where Willett Sr. worked as a superintendent.

The Willetts offered him and Bennett food, he said. Then, a place to stay.

At the time, Goldrick and Bennett were romantic partners and homeless. The couple, who both grew up in Oakville, received monthly cheques from Ontarios Disability Support Program.

The Willetts had been married for about one year. Willett Sr., now 50, told court he was held back in school because of reading and spelling difficulties and dropped out in Grade 8.

He met his wife, Maria, who has a Grade 3 education, when he was 16. She is 11 years his senior and already had two children from previous relationships. The Willetts, too, received monthly disability cheques, Willett Sr. testified.

The Willetts found Goldrick and Bennett a basement apartment in their building, Goldrick said on the stand.

Testifying in his defence, Willett Sr. said he helped Bennett and Goldrick in those early months of their relationship. Goldrick continued to pick through dumpsters, and his clothes would really smell bad. They were threatened by their landlord with eviction. When he and Maria moved to a building in the citys east end, Willett Sr. said he found a unit there for the couple.

That year, Bennett got pregnant with Goldricks baby. And on Sept. 2, 1989, she went to Toronto East General Hospital to deliver.

There, Maria Willett filled out all the relevant paperwork. She gave her own health card to Bennett and told her to use it, according to Bennetts testimony. Willett Sr. testified that his wife was never at the hospital.

The babys birth certificate lists Gary Willett Sr. and Maria Willett as his parents. The couple named him Gary Willett Jr.  and today he is known as Junior.

Bennett told the prosecutor in the case that she felt not very good about using Maria Willetts health card but that she didnt tell the Willetts that.

I figured if I didnt (use Marias card) Id probably get hit, she said, adding, At that time, I didnt know if it was wrong or not.

At one point during her testimony, her voice barely audible at points, Bennett suggested that going home with her baby while Maria took over as his parent wasnt a terrible arrangement.

We were all living together . . . Its not like I was away at a totally different address that theyd be going to. Id still be there, she said.

Willett Sr. testified Goldrick and Bennett came up to his apartment and asked him and his wife to take the baby.

The Willetts were familiar with how adoption worked  theyd adopted two other children around the same time. But when it came to Willett Jr. they presented the child as theirs.

Marias sister-in-law had questions about the sudden appearance of the Willetts newborn. In court she recalled a conversation she had with her husband at the time:

I said, OK, this does not make sense. Because where is Barbs baby? Where is Barbs baby? She was the one pregnant, she remembers saying.

But she didnt press the issue, worried that it would be rude to ask.

Shortly after Gary Willett Jr.s birth, the Willetts moved twice with Goldrick and Bennett to two different houses in North York.

According to the prosecutions opening statement, some physical abuse began prior to moving into the second North York home. But the brunt of the emotional, physical and verbal abuse began there.

During her time on the stand, Bennett recalled being slapped and hit, particularly if she didnt clean the house properly or if the kids made a mess.

I would get hit and get told to do it again. Clean it up. Clean up the mess, she said, adding, I would get slapped. In the face . . . Three or four (slaps) depending on how mad she was.

Maria Willetts sister-in-law said Bennett was treated like a slave. Willett Jr. later added that Goldrick was treated like a slave-type maid during his many years with the family.

Bennett became pregnant again in 1993. This time, a brother of Willett Sr.s was the father, according to a family tree filed as an exhibit in court.

She gave birth to a baby girl. The baby girl was named Billie-Jean and she kept her as her own.

When Billie-Jean was only a few months old, Bennett decided she had to leave the house.

When asked by the prosecution why she left, Bennett said it was because she was getting hit all the time and that the Willetts were smoking hash.

(Billie-Jean) was a baby and I didnt want her around it, she said, adding that she was able to leave the situation with the help of her own mother.

Bennett left with Billie-Jean, leaving Willett Jr., her toddler son, behind. She would not see or speak to him again for more than 20 years.

Until they met again in the parking lot of a Toronto police station.

Following the departure of Bennett and Billie-Jean, the Willetts moved again, to a bungalow in Etobicoke.

At this house, Gary Willett Sr. put up seven cameras outside and inside. One captured the fridge.

During the trial, Willett Sr. admitted that he would watch the camera footage from a basement office.

For the next 12 years, Goldrick lived in a tiny space in the basement of the home: a hallway between rooms with a single box spring mattress. A police officer testifying at the trial described the entire house as very cluttered and dirty.

The prosecutor in the case said Goldrick was allowed to leave the home only to complete tasks like buying groceries or shovelling the snow in the winter. He had to give them all of the roughly $900 he received a month.

Sometimes he was kicked, hit and punched in the ribs, chest and head for reasons he did not understand.

Sometimes, while I was sleeping, Gary (Sr.) would come in and hit me for no reason, and Id wake up and I wondered why he did this. But I never found out why, Goldrick said on the stand, adding that he would also be beaten for taking food without permission.

He testified that he wasnt allowed to go into the fridge to get food, and ate dog food quite a few times because of it. When he was living with the Willetts, he said, he weighed 106 pounds. He currently weighs 230 pounds. He is six foot two.

When the beatings happened, they could last up to 10 minutes, said Goldrick, recalling being hunched over a toilet while it filled with blood that poured from his nose.

Gary Willett Jr. recalled an incident growing up when he saw Goldrick coughing up blood but Goldrick told him not to tell anyone. Willett Jr. also testified that Willett Sr. hit him.

During his testimony, Willett Sr. again said the facts were more complicated. He testified that he used Goldricks disability cheque to pay rent and provide food. And that he left Goldrick with some extra money.

He said that when Goldrick ate dog food he told him it was unhealthy and added he was a grown adult. He admitted to calling him stupid, dumb and retard, but said that Goldrick would curse back. He said he never hit or confined him.

After Goldrick left the home in 2012, he went to the dentist. He was missing teeth in his top and bottom arches, with others broken, riddled with cavities and infections. He had severe bone loss, exposing more than 50 per cent of his teeths roots, according to the dentists testimony.

On the stand, Gary Jr. also recounted his own memories for those years. The many hurdles and challenges that he faced growing up were also addressed in court.

He saw multiple doctors, who prescribed him Ritalin and other drugs. He attended a centre for behavioural issues and was assessed by the Toronto District School Board for whether he should be placed in special education programs.

Gary Jr. was suspended multiple times and attended substance abuse counselling. He did not graduate from high school.

For a few years after leaving school, Willett Jr. lived away from the Willett home, mostly in Sudbury.

When he came back in 2012, he lasted only a few weeks.

There was a fight and he left for good, he said. After that, he began to reach out to family members, who told him they suspected that Goldrick could be his father.

(The Willetts) denied it, and handed me a baby book, and said I was theirs, Willett Jr. said on the stand.

Over the course of the next year, Gary Jr. grappled with the possibility that his life was a lie.

Then one day, while driving with a childhood friend, he spotted Goldrick walking on the sidewalk. Aware of the horrible conditions that Goldrick was returning to, they stopped the car.

And we said, Listen, Tim, if you want out and you want a better life, then you come with us now, Willett Jr. said on the stand.

Goldrick was scared. He started shaking. He didnt know what to do.

I just told him, Tim, this is the time, the friend testified.

And I told him, like, I need to go. Im in the middle of Islington Road with my four-ways on. Its either now or never. And he got in the car.

It was 4 in the morning on a Wednesday in 2014 when Billie-Jean Bennett heard the phone ring.

A man on the other end of the line introduced himself as one of Maria Willetts biological sons. He told her about the brother she never knew existed.

Billie-Jean recounted the moment to the Star in an interview.

It had been two years since Goldrick left the Willetts and in that time Marias son had pieced together what happened.

He wanted Billie-Jeans mother, Barbara Bennett, after more than two decades, to come forward with what happened.

Billie-Jean was shocked. She knew nothing about what her mother went through. She didnt know who her biological father was, let alone that she had a big brother.

When I first heard it at four in the morning, I didnt quite believe it. I had to hear it out of my moms mouth, she said.

Billie-Jean, now 24, has a strong bond with her mother. She spoke about her kindness, her devotion and her famous chicken melts  made with English muffins, chicken, peas and tomatoes.

My mom was always there for me, she said.

Mere weeks after receiving the early-morning phone call, Billie-Jean graduated from college. Around that time she and her mother met Gary Willett Jr. in a Toronto police parking lot, after more than two decades apart. Barbara Bennett was there to give a statement to police.

The revelations have been shocking for Billie-Jean, but she says ultimately she is glad she knows the truth.

As for Willett Jr., the news has been devastating.

This has wrecked my life, he said in an interview with the Star, adding Willett Sr. was never a father figure and Maria was never a loving mother.

They said I love you every night, but if you hit me, if you continuously slap me, I dont believe it, Willett Jr. said.

Willett Sr. denied hitting the children.

I dont know if I will be able to reconcile with my kids over this, and thats the saddest part of it all.

Today, Gary Jr. lives with Goldrick, his biological dad, in an Etobicoke apartment. Weightlifting equipment sits in the dining room and a corn snake was curled up in a tank in the living room near a leather sectional. He works in demolition.

Despite the DNA test on Goldrick, Willett Jr. says he hasnt come to terms with his parentage. He no longer speaks to his biological mother, Bennett, he said, because he wants answers and she isnt giving them.

I think about why it happened, why is my life like this? he said. How is someone stolen as a child and everything is OK? Not once did my real mother go looking for me.

Goldrick, meanwhile, says hes happy to have clean clothes and a few nice possessions, such as his stereo and a red mountain bike.

I can go out now and make money. Ive got a newspaper job that I do. I deliver the flyers. I can do that and it makes me feel good to know I can do stuff like this.

But a quarter-century of alleged abuse has taken its toll.

I take pills for the shakes and nighttime pills for sleep, Goldrick said.

I have nightmares because of this.

With files from Jayme Poisson, Alanna Rizza, Bryann Aguilar, Ainslie Cruickshank, Annie Arnone, Fakiha Baig, Jenna Moon and Emma McIntosh

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COBOURG, Ont.A place intended for healing became a scene of violence and trauma when two rounds of gunfire erupted in a hospital emergency room, killing an elderly married couple and leaving other patients fearing for their lives.

Ontarios Special Investigations Unit said details of the shooting at the Northumberland Hills Hospital were still emerging as two separate investigations comb the scene for answers.

Early details from police and witnesses paint a chaotic picture that has left this community, about an hour outside Toronto, reeling.

An SIU spokeperson, Jason Gennaro, said a 70-year-old man and 76-year-old woman, who were married to each other and lived within an hour of Cobourg, were both admitted to the hospitals emergency room late Friday night with unknown ailments.

About 11 p.m., Gennaro said police were called to the scene after receiving reports that shots had been fired in the triage room where both the man and the woman were lying side by side on gurneys.

Grace Andrews, 27, was sitting in an adjoining room receiving treatment for a herniated disc when the violence began.

The SIU is investigating after a man was shot dead at the Northumberland Hills Hospital emergency department late Friday evening.





She heard a loud bang and initially believed a nurse had knocked over a table, but soon heard people screaming for help and calling 911.

Moments later, as she observed police storming in, a volley of gunfire that she mistakenly believed came from automatic weapons sent her companions and other patients scurrying for cover.

We barricaded ourselves in the room, she said. We were just sitting in this room with gunfire. And because it sounds like automatic weapons, you dont assume that a police officer has something like that. You just assume that theres someone in the hospital just shooting the place up. We were basically just sitting in this little box waiting for someone to come in and shoot us.

Eventually, Andrews spoke to other patients who she said told her the man had shot the woman in the head.

Gennaro, however, would not confirm this account, saying only that the woman suffered from a head wound and that the source of her injury was still under investigation.

Were not confirming one way or the other whether or not this man had a firearm or whether he discharged a firearm, Gennaro said.

Shortly after arriving on the scene, the SIU said two police officers had an interaction with the man resulting in both firing their weapons.

Their shots hit the man, who was declared dead at the scene.

Gennaro said Ontario Provincial Police is handling inquiries into the womans death, while the SIU itself probes the death of the man. The watchdog is an arms-length agency that investigates incidents in which someone is killed, injured or accused of sexual assault.

A witness speaks about her experience being at a hospital in Cobourg, Ont., when a woman was killed and a man shot dead by police.

Provincial police declined to offer further comment on its role. Gennaro said the SIU wouldnt release the names of the man or woman, as the unit didnt get consent from next of kin.

The shootings temporarily closed the emergency department of the hospital while police combed the scene for evidence. Gennaro said the investigation includes searching for shell casings to determine how many shots were fired.

Emergency patients were directed to neighbouring hospitals for several hours before the facility resumed its regular operations about 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

Hospital chief of staff Mukesh Bhargava said hes spent the day reaching out to those who witnessed the shooting and trying to support the staff.

Of course people are shaken up, this isnt something that happens in our town, he said. Everybodys shaken up, but theyre handling it really well.

Andrews, who received a call from Bhargava on Saturday, praised the staffs calm and efficient response to the crisis. But she said the event was traumatic for her personally as well as the community as a whole.

Its not something youd expect to happen in a hospital, she said. Thats a place you go to get help. Everyone who works there, they want to save lives. And then theres people getting shot in the head.

With files from Emma McIntosh

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This is where youre going to see a lot of change.

Cutty Duncan is standing at the busy corner of Keele St. and Eglinton Ave. W. This neighbourhood has always been a launching pad for people, he says. Its why I like it, everything is right here.

Duncan co-ordinates the Action for Neighbourhood Change project in the Weston-Mount Dennis neighbourhood adjacent to this one, the Eglinton-Keele neighbourhood. He explains the three main streets in the area, Jane St., Weston Rd., and Eglinton, are all interconnected.

The change coming here is impossible to miss: Eglinton Crosstown LRT construction dominates the street. When trains start running in 2021, these neighbourhoods will be instantly connected to the rest of the city. Duncan hopes the launch-pad nature of the area will also be a place of long-term stability, where people can live and work in their neighbourhoods.

Every five years, 50 per cent of the population turns over, Duncan points out. I want people to invest and stay in the neighbourhood. I hope the Crosstown brings a little more wealth here.

The challenge is how to leverage a multi-billion-dollar project so it can enrich individual lives here. Enter the Toronto Community Benefits Network (TCBN), a program connecting people with jobs in the trades and administration along the Crosstown line.

Theres a demographic shift in construction workers, says Pedro Barata, senior vice-president of strategic initiatives and public affairs at United Way Toronto and York Region, a funder of the network. My dad was one and hes retired now. Theres 19 kilometres of this Metrolinx project and its a perfect storm: They need the labour and theres a population that needs work. Refreshing the workforce, bringing new people into the skilled trades, is critical right now.

One hundred people a month are retiring at our meetings, says Lisa Pryce, manager of apprenticeship and skills training at LiUNA Local 183, the biggest construction local in North America. Its really difficult to replace this kind of knowledge. It takes three new people to replace one of these older people with all their knowledge.

Meanwhile, Toronto Employment and Social Services, part of the Toronto Community Benefits Network (TCBN), says 83,000 youth (aged 15-24) in the GTA-Hamilton region are neither employed nor in education and training programs.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced the Community Benefits Agreement for the Crosstown last December, a partnership between labour, business and government. It ensures 10 per cent of the work hours needed to complete the project would go to historically disadvantaged groups, as well as equity-seeking groups, which consist of people who are traditionally marginalized. To date, Crosslinx Transit Solutions, the consortium contracted by Metrolinx to build the Crosstown line, has brought on board 28 apprentices and an additional 103 people hired for professional, administrative, or technical positions.

As station construction continues and the year of the build ramps up, hundreds more could be brought in through the network, says Barata. As well, the network ensures some contracts go to social enterprises, small start-up businesses that hire locally to work on and around the Crosstown project.

Not everybody has the same opportunities to access, so were determined to keep an eye on everyone, especially those who face barriers, says Deb Matthews, Ontarios Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development. When I meet with apprentices I ask them how they got into the trade and almost all have a family member or a friend of a family member. Thats not good for those who dont have those connections, like immigrants or people without that tradition. Benefit agreements open the story to more people.

Calvin Brown is one of those people. Immigrating to Canada just two years ago from Jamaica, he heard about Building Up from a friend. Building Up is a social enterprise that has been awarded a contract to wash storefront windows along the Crosstown line, and Brown got into a pre-apprenticeship program with the organization. He has now moved into a construction craft worker (CCW) apprenticeship with LiUNA Local 506, doing traffic control on the Crosstown line. After he completes 2,400 hours, hell go for more training and write his trade exam to become a fully fledged Red Seal CCW journeyperson with a long career ahead of him.

I wouldnt be here without it, says Brown of the TCBN. In the next five or six years, I can ride on the line and show my daughter and say, Your dad was part of this project to build the city. Im a part of history. Its a good feeling. Im just grateful.

Its been a real bright spot for Metrolinx, says Judy Pfeifer, chief communications and public affairs officer for the organization. For a company that builds transit, its exciting that this is more than just bricks and mortar, theres a social side to it, too. Metrolinx made sure it was baked into the contracts. With this sector-wide pilot project, were defining a brand new program in real-time. After this pilot, the TCBN is also expected to be part of the Finch LRT project. All of this has been a long time coming.

Over 10 years ago, the community was advocating for jobs, equity and more opportunities for people whove been left out of the labour market, says Rosemarie Powell, executive director of the TCBN. Its something that labour actually brought to the community by asking, What can we do together? Community benefits came out as a good platform to negotiate with the government and construction industry.

In all, there are 79 members of the network including grassroots groups, unions, various levels of government agencies and foundations such as the United Way, Atkinson and Metcalf.

It can transform lives, says Mike Yorke, president of the Carpenters District Council of Ontario Local 27. People can come through the program and become full carpenters. Maybe they join my union, maybe one of the others. My experience is construction isnt for everyone, but many do excel. Others might get into sales. This opens doors: Youre in the ground floor of this industry.

Nancy Merchant started on the ground floor and moved up fast. With a background in accounting and business administration from her native India, and five years spent in England, she found it difficult to find a job once she immigrated to Canada in 2010. After a long and fruitless search she stopped by the Toronto Employment and Social Service office after her husband encouraged her to go. Through the TCBN, she started in entry-level administration on the Crosstown project, but was soon promoted to accounts payable.

Its amazing, Im taking care of the accounts for this huge project, says Merchant. Theres a long way to go. The next step is I have to get some more certifications, but Crosslinx is encouraging me. The future? Maybe Ill be manager. Maybe director.

Once the Crosstown opens, Torontonians will ride a transit line built by the very communities it passes through.

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In an effort to stamp out poverty, United Way Toronto and York Region has revamped who and how it funds, positioning itself to work in unison with community partners to bolster its scale and scope.

Poverty is robbing people of opportunity, said president and CEO Daniele Zanotti, adding the problem costs Toronto about $5 billion every year. Ultimately, it undermines everything we stand for, this place where everyone has a chance at a good life.

United Way is looking at how to harness this local love that people have of their neighbourhoods, how to fight poverty, and giving access to services and supports where people need them.

The charity has devised multiple solution-based plans as a result of these aspirations. Tiers coalesce to combat issues affecting residents on a regional basis, such as challenges hindering youth completing school, or women grappling with domestic abuse.

United Way Toronto and York Region is pledging to engage 1 million people by 2025 in fighting local poverty, and completing this task means increasing its local presence, Zanotti said.

Last year, it rolled out 62 anchor agencies to redress poverty, providing strengthened frontline services, such as shelters and employment support, he said.

On top of this, program-funding strategies have been set to bring other social-service organizations under the United Way banner.

Charities and non-profits can apply for us for short-term funding, pilot an idea and build that out, said Zanotti. This new funding model is a direct opportunity for us to re-imagine how we are going to address the regional challenge.

To advance the concept of an inclusive poverty-fighting network, United Way also struck a groundbreaking partnership with Metrolinx, the City, and labour unions on the Eglinton Crosstown project, a large light-rail transit system. The community benefit agreement has been established to help young people, a concept endorsed by all three levels of government, Zanotti said.

This partnership ... is ensuring through policy at Queens Park that 10 per cent of apprentices hired through Crosstown are young people from our priority neighbourhoods who are facing multiple barriers, youth who might need that first job, or need to complete their education. This will be the new model of public investments.

The project will cut through five United Way priority neighbourhoods, said Zanotti, which could be a boon for the local economy and likewise benefit those seeking to enter the workforce who might not have the opportunity to do so otherwise.

There are seven community hubs across the city replete with a range of agencies providing sought-after services in one place, Zanotti added.

They have seen more than 1.5 million people access supports in those communities, he said. Not only has our neighbourhood work brought spaces, its brought services to the communities, and allowed people to access all kinds of supports, whether thats an early years program, a food bank, or a job counselling program.

Its these spaces that helped spur the galvanization of residents, who have gathered to sort out regional issues themselves.

We are going to continue that work, expanding our neighbourhood presence, into York region, as well, said Zanotti.

Another front is ensuring there are jobs available for those having trouble accessing them  part of the solution is utilizing already available spaces so new businesses can take root, said Zanotti.

People want a way to make ends meet, he said. Weve been working with the City of Toronto on tower renewal, where there may be spaces in existing housing units that can be allocated for community enterprises, local businesses and pop-up markets, where people can get the jobs and economic stability. That really is the driver.

Last month, the boards of both United Way Toronto and York Region and United Way Peel Region voted unanimously to merge, which could mean an expanded mandate in the future  a Peel members vote had been slated for Oct. 26 (after this story went to press). If the amalgamation passes this stage, it will be official, with an operation date set for April 1, 2018.

We know Peel has a number of neighbourhoods that have experienced rapid population growth and deepening poverty, Zanotti said. In fact, poverty in the 905 is growing at a faster clip than the provincial and national average.

To curb this would mean working with community partners in Peel to map out what people require most, he said.

At its core, United Way Peel has been driving this fight against poverty in its community already. The merger gives us an opportunity now to scale that and go even deeper.

United Way Toronto and York Region has a campaign goal of $103 million this year, but to serve everyone, regardless of class, requires effort and heart from many sides.

Were going to have to care our way out of this, and that means getting residents, citizens, agencies and businesses to roll up their sleeves and get involved.

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LONDONA British newspaper received an anonymous phone call about big news in the United States minutes before U.S. president John F. Kennedy was shot in 1963, newly released files on the assassination say.

A batch of 2,800 declassified documents includes a Nov. 26, 1963 memo from the CIA to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover about a call received by the Cambridge News on Nov. 22, the day Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Texas.

The memo from deputy CIA director James Angleton says the caller said the Cambridge News reporter should call the American Embassy in London for some big news, and then hung up.

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U.S. President Trump blocked the release of hundreds of records on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, bending to CIA and FBI appeals, while the National Archives came out Thursday night with a hefty cache of others. (The Associated Pr

The memo says Britains MI5 intelligence service calculated that the call came 25 minutes before Kennedy was shot. It said the reporter who took the call is known to them as a sound and loyal person with no security record.

Anna Savva, a current Cambridge News reporter, said Friday the paper does not know whether the call ever happened.

We have nothing in our archive  we have nobody here who knows the name of the person who took the call, she said.

Its unclear whether the call was merely a prank and the timing coincidental. The CIA memo says several people in Britain had received similar anonymous phone calls of a strangely coincidental nature over the preceding year, particularly in connection with the case of Dr. Ward.

That is an apparent reference to osteopath Stephen Ward, a key figure in the Profumo affair, a sex-and-espionage scandal that almost toppled the British government in 1963.

Prof. Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia said it was "ridiculous" that so much time has passed since the assassination of president John F. Kennedy without the public release of documents. (The Associated Press)

The memo was released by the U.S. National Archives in July but went unreported until a bigger batch of material was declassified in the U.S. on Thursday.

The phone call to the Cambridge News was first reported decades ago by Kennedy conspiracy theorist Michael Eddowes. In the 1980s, Eddowes, a British lawyer, claimed to have a CIA document mentioning the call.

In a video on the Cambridge News website, chief reporter Chris Elliott said Eddowes was convinced that there was some kind of conspiracy and believed the call was one of several made to newspapers at the time of Kennedys death.

Eddowes, who died in 1992, wrote a book alleging that Kennedys assassin was not Lee Harvey Oswald but a Soviet impostor who took his identity. As a result of his efforts, the killers body was exhumed in 1981. An autopsy confirmed that it was Oswald.

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From a pocket diary to photographs and a handkerchief to a can of foot powder, the next Holmen Area Historical Society meeting will help commemorate the centennial of World War I with the program Over There: Holmens WWI Soldiers and the Items They Left Behind, presented by the societys president and archivist Hannah Scholze.

The meeting and program will be held Wednesday, Nov. 1, at the Holmen Village Hall starting at 7 p.m. and is free to attend and open to the public. The village hall is located at 421 S. Main Street, Holmen.

Along with the artifacts and photos from the HAHS collection, the program will include the first-hand accounts of Clifford Casberg, Julius Holter, Alfred Ruud and Orange Smith, all World War I veterans from the Holmen area.

Altogether, my goal is to bring the stories of these four Holmen World War I vets out of the archives and into the open, said Scholze. Even though their experiences varied, they all left the small unincorporated area of Holmen at the time and traveled overseas to help liberate France. A hundred years later, their service and sacrifice should be remembered, honored and shared.

Casberg was one of the earliest draftees. A supply sergeant with the 341st Infantry Supply Company, he left a descriptive account of his time training, traveling overseas and his joyous reunion with his family at the La Crosse County Courthouse in May 1919. Some excerpts from Casbergs narrative will be shared as part of the program as well as several photographs.

Between 1917 and 1918, nearly 100 men from the Holmen area served in the military and many wound up fighting in France and Germany. Although US troops were involved in the Great War, now known as WWI, for only 19 months, the war played a big role in the lives of the men who served as well as their families back home.

Three Holmen men, Morris Snuggerud, Oscar Granum, and Rudolph Wallum, did not return from their tour of duty.

For some, serving in the war was an opportunity to travel to new and exciting locations; while for others, trench warfare, mustard gas and rampant disease intermingled to create a tragic and haunting experience for those who fought over there.

While these World War I veterans are no longer around to talk to, many of the items they left behind help provide clues about their differing wartime experiences, said Scholze.

The HAHS is fortunate enough to have in its collection the military uniform of Julius Holter who served as a medic during WWI.

Besides the traditional green wool uniform of the era, Holter also retained the medical bag he carried on the battlefield, a small can of antiseptic foot powder that would have been used to help prevent trench foot, some small booklets published by the YMCA and given to soldiers to help boost morale and even his metal dog tags, said Scholze. Collectively, the items provide a unique picture of what Holter thought was most important to carry with him throughout the war as well as save after its completion.

Ruud also served on the frontlines in France as part of the 310th Infantry Machine Gun Company. Ruuds uniform survived the last 100 years as well as a number of photos and postcards of his unit overseas.

But perhaps the most telling of Ruuds items in the collection is the metal plated lifetime membership card that he had for the Morris Snuggerud Post 284 of the American Legion, a post named for a fallen neighbor and serviceman of the same war in which Ruud had fought. His membership in the Holmen Legion was obviously something he was proud of.

One of the most interesting items to be featured is Smiths pocket diary that he carried throughout the war. The historical society received the diary last year from a family member. Smith enlisted in 1918, and while his diary does not give a day-to-day account of his time in the service, it does document when and where his unit traveled to throughout the war and contains the addresses of many of his military buddies.

Unfortunately, many of the pages are blank, said Scholze. But the diary still contains some great nuggets of information including a tragic description of the widespread disease his unit encountered while traveling to France, Forty four died on the ship. Eleven of our company from Spanish influenza.

Spanish flu would become one of the biggest threats to US soldiers and the epidemic spread throughout the country during 1918.

Additionally, the diary contains a poem Smith wrote about a waiting sweetheart back home, said Scholze. Unfortunately, we will likely never know if she ever got to read it.

Members of the public attending the program are invited to bring and share photos and stories of other Holmen area WWI veterans to the meeting.
A Canadian man who survived getting shot in the head during the massacre at a Las Vegas country music festival has been bombarded with death threats from online conspiracy theorists.

Braden Matejka barely escaped the Route 91 Harvest festival with his life after Stephen Paddock fired a barrage of bullets from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino down on the outdoor concert below. The 64-year-old gunman killed 58 people and injured hundreds more, Matejka among them.

You are a lying piece of s--- and I hope someone truly shoots you in the head, one person wrote to Matejka on Facebook in the days after the worst shooting in modern U.S. history.

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Another wrote: Your soul is disgusting and dark! You will Pay for the consequences.

Matejkas family told the Guardian people have also taken to making memes with his photos and pairing them with crude captions. The shooting survivor was forced to shut down his social media accounts, but his loved ones are still being targeted by those who believe the deadly incident was a hoax.

There are all these families dealing with likely the most horrific thing theyll ever experience, and they are also met with hate and anger and are being attacked online about being part of some conspiracy, his brother, Taylor Matejka, told the Guardian.

Its madness I cant imagine the thought process of these people. Do they know that we are actual people?

Conspiracy theorists, many of whom believe the government staged the Oct. 1 shooting or that it did not happen at all, have targeted survivors, dubbing them crisis actors, hired to pose as victims.

Taylor said he tried responding to some of the posts, but that none of their authors were interested in hearing reason.

A really sad part of this is that a lot of people think theyre fighting the good fight and exposing truth, he said.

Matejka travelled to the festival from his native Canada with girlfriend Amanda Homulos to celebrate his 30th birthday.

When the gunfire broke out, Matejka was knocked to the ground after a bullet struck him in the head. Homulos, who was not injured, was able to make it inside the car of another concertgoer, who drove them to the hospital.

His wound was not life-threatening, and the couple earlier this month recalled their harrowing escape in an on-camera interview with the Associated Press.

Im just so grateful that were still here, and I cant express how sorry I am for the people that didnt make it, Homulos said through her tears.

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HONOLULUThe planned voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti aboard a 50-foot sailboat didnt start off well for two Honolulu women. One of their cellphones was washed overboard and sank to the bottom on their first day at sea.

From there, things got worse. Much worse.

About a month into their trip, flooding from a storm crippled their engine. The 57-foot mast was damaged. And then, as they drifted thousands of miles in what turned out to be a five-month ordeal out in the middle of Pacific, the water purifier conked out and sharks started bumping the boat menacingly.

Read more: U.S. navy rescues two Honolulu women, dogs who were lost at sea for months

Every day for 98 days straight, the women sent out a distress call to no avail.

But the two sailors, accompanied by their dogs, were resourceful and well-prepared with more than a years worth of food, and on Wednesday they were finally rescued by the U.S. navy about 1,448 kilometres off Japan and thousands of kilometres from their destination.

Tasha Fuiava, an American mariner who had been sailing for five months on a damaged sailboat, climbs aboard the USS Ashland after being rescued.







Thank God weve been rescued, Jennifer Appel, 48, told reporters in a teleconference arranged aboard a Navy ship. I had tears in my eyes. It was incredibly emotional.

The USS Ashland picked up Appel and Tasha Fuiava after a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted their crippled vessel Tuesday and alerted the Coast Guard.

In photos and video provided by the Navy, one of the women blew kisses as a rescue boat approached. Both women, and their dogs, Valentine and Zeus, looked fit and vigorous. Fuiava flashed a smile as she climbed a ladder onto the Ashland.

Asked if they ever thought they might not survive, Appel said they would not be human if they did not. She credited the two dogs with keeping their spirits up.

There is a true humility to wondering if today is your last day, if tonight is your last night, Appel said.

The women two lost their engine in bad weather in late May but believed they could still reach Tahiti by sail. But the damage to their mast made it difficult to make any progress.

Twice, sharks menaced them.

They were horrific, Appel said.

A group of five tiger sharks 20 to 30 feet long decided to use the sailboat to teach two younger sharks how to hunt, attacking the vessel at night. The next morning, one 20-footer that Appel called a really poor loser returned and attacked the side of the boat.

We were just incredibly lucky that our hull was strong enough to withstand the onslaught, Appel said.

But the experience wasnt all the stuff that nightmares are made of. They said they enjoyed learning about the ocean, its features and the weather. We got to figure out how the ocean works, Appel said.

Said Fuiava: You may as well use the time you have to do something beneficial.

Appels mother told The Associated Press she never gave up hope her daughter would be found.

She is very resourceful and shes curious, and as things break she tries to repair them. She doesnt sit and wait for the repairman to get there, said Joyce Appel, 75, who lives in Houston. So I knew the same thing would be true of the boat.

The mother said after not hearing from her daughter about a week and a half after the younger woman left Honolulu, she called the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard, in Hawaii, did a search and rescue effort, she said. I waited and waited and waited to see when I would hear from her.

She said she got a call from her daughter early Thursday more than five months after they had last spoke.

She said, Mom? and I said, Jennifer!? because I hadnt heard from her in like five months, she said. And she said, Yes, mom, and that was really exciting.

The mother said the pairs water purifier had stopped working and they were down to their last gallon of water when Jennifer got it fixed.

The Navy said that two months into their trip, well after they were scheduled to arrive in Tahiti, the women began making distress calls, but there were no vessels close and they were too far out to sea for the signals to be detected on land.

That was incredibly depressing, Appel said. And it was very hopeless, but its the only thing you can do, so you do what you can with what you have. You have no other choice.

The women said they also tried without success to hail a number of ships and fired off 10 signal flares.

They told the Navy that they survived because they had packed the water purifier and enough food for a year, mostly dried goods like oatmeal and pasta.

They were given a medical checkup, food and beds aboard the Navy ship, where they will remain until the next port of call, the Navy said.

They said they have no fear of getting back in the water for some more sailing. They said they are hoping another ship rescues their sailboat, which was left adrift, and they would like to fix it and sail it back to Honolulu.

Well, you got to die sometime, Appel said. You may as well be doing something you enjoy when youre doing it, right?

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WASHINGTONHalloween came a little early at the White House as U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed the children of White House reporters into the Oval Office Friday for some early Halloween treats.

More than a dozen costumed kids, including little witches and Princess Leias, a pint-sized Darth Vader, and a purple-haired unicorn gathered around the Resolute Desk, where the president handed out little boxes of White House Hersheys Kisses.

The president also dispensed plenty of compliments, congratulating the kids parents for doing a good job  at least of raising children, if not their coverage of the Trump White House.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

I cannot believe the media produced such beautiful kids. How the media did this, I dont know, he said as he welcomed the kids to join him around his desk.

Trump also joked with the kids about their parents professions. You going to grow up to be like your parents? he asked. Dont answer. That can only get me in trouble, that question, he joked.

Soon after, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered a box full of candy, and the president started handing out the treats.

You have no weight problems, thats the good news, right? he said at one point. So you take out whatever you need, OK? If you want some for your friends, take em. We have plenty.

He also asked one little girl how the press treated her. Ill bet you get treated better by the press than anybody in the world, right? he joked.

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The president will also be welcoming ghost and goblins to the South Lawn for trick-or-treating on the eve of Halloween on Monday.

Families of school children from 20 schools in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia have been invited to the festivities, along with military families and community organizations.

The president and first lady Melania Trump will be handing out presidential M&Ms and treats from the White House pastry kitchen, and the South Portico will be decorated in spider webs, according to the White House.

Fog will fill the air and trick-or-treaters will see bats and pumpkins decorated with the profiles of presidents past.

Federal agencies including NASA, the Secret Service and the National Park Service also will be handing out giveaways.

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JUNEAU, ALASKAIts a romantic idea  sailing across the ocean, sleeping under the stars.

But earlier this week, the U.S. Navy rescued two women adrift in the Pacific Ocean about 900 miles off Japan, at sea for months after their sailboat became disabled.

While some people wing it, experts recommend thoroughly understanding what youre getting into and being as prepared as possible  taking lessons, having emergency and navigational gear, and packing more than enough food.

Read more: U.S. navy rescues two Honolulu women, dogs who were lost at sea for months

John Neal, who with his wife, Amanda, conducts sail-training trips and seminars through their company, Washington state-based Mahina Expeditions, said crossing oceans is easier than its ever been. He cites modern instrumentation and sail-handling systems as examples.

So its not uncommon to have people who are very new to sailing take off and literally sail around the world, he said. And most of them make it, and the rest you never hear of.

The women had left Hawaii in May in hopes of reaching Tahiti and exploring islands in the south Pacific. Details of their ordeal were still unfolding.

The boats captain, Jennifer Appel, said she has travelled the Hawaiian islands and planned the Tahiti voyage for more than two years. But she said she and Tasha Fuiava may not have been as ready as they could have been.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into, she said. When I asked Natasha, I told her I have no idea whats going to happen out there and she said, Thats OK, Ive never sailed.

Some tips for long sailing trips:

Getting ready

For newcomers, Neal recommends sailing lessons and navigation courses. He also suggests they gradually get comfortable in different wind conditions, going out, say, at 15 knots, then 20 knots, then 25 knots and learning what sail combinations work in increasingly strong winds.

That way, when you get halfway across the ocean and you get into a tropical squall where the winds could go up to 50 or 60 knots, you dont freak out, he said.

As for the boat, experienced sailors would have professionals inspect it  its sails, its engine  before leaving, said Mike Michelwait, owner of the Honolulu Sailing Company, a sailing school and charter company.

If youre unfamiliar with engines, have a mechanic check it out and recommend spare parts you should carry  and have plenty of them on board. If the maintenance is done properly you shouldnt have a problem, he said.

Equipment

The U.S. Coast Guard requires certain gear, like life jackets, a horn, a bell and flares, Neal said.

He additionally has GPS units, satellite phones and emergency radio beacons, which he said cost $250 and allow for the nearest marine rescue co-ordinatingcentre to know your exact position to within 30 metres of the boat, no matter where you are.

Such gear has become standard, but whether someone has something can depend on experience, finances or personal preferences, said Phil Moritz, a semi-retired dentist from Alaska who has been sailing much of his life.

Neal said a satellite phone can cost $1,200, and it would be strange not to have long-range communications. But he said not everyone can afford one.

Appel said they had a VHF radio, a ham radio, a weather satellite and a radio telephone, all of which didnt work because they had a communications failure with their antenna. A satellite phone they carried also never seemed to connect.

We had six different ways to communicate, multiple backups and none of them functioned properly, she said. It exceeds Murphys Law.

Appel and Fuiava sent out daily distress signals and said they fired signal flares and unsuccessfully tried hailing different ships. They lost one of their cellphones early on but were out of cell range anyway.

Food and water

People generally would plan to have food for twice the amount of time they expect to be out, Neal said. Dry foods, like pasta and oatmeal, dont take up a lot of space and dont weigh much.

Moritz said food was never his biggest worry.

I always look at water as being the most finite thing, he said. When I was using a water maker, every day I was generating water, I would fill the boat up, even though its weight, as far as I could thinking, Well, this could be the last day you have before it breaks or something else breaks.

Appel said they had a working water maker and they still had food when they were rescued.

Sailing

Michelwait, who has sailed the route from Hawaii to Tahiti several times, said he wouldnt take a trip like that with any less than three experienced sailors. The women were on a 50-foot boat. Thats a lot of boat to handle, he said.

Neal and his wife, on their website, also say being in good physical shape is important. Ocean voyaging is more physically demanding than most people expect, even on a large, modern and comfortable boat, their site says.

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Since leaving the White House in January, former president Barack Obama has turned heads, images of him slipping into a Broadway play with his elder daughter, Malia, and kitesurfing with billionaire Richard Branson in the British Virgin Islands were shared on social media sites.

His next stop: jury duty in Cook County, Illinois.

Obama, a constitutional scholar who frequently invokes messages of civic engagement, plans to serve next month, the countys chief judge told the Chicago Tribune on Friday. Obama owns homes in Washington, D.C., as well as Chicago. Hell follow in the footsteps of presidential predecessors George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, both of whom appeared for jury selection after leaving the White House.

Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans first shared the news with county commissioners during a budget hearing. He later told the Tribune that necessary precautions would be taken to accommodate security and scheduling needs. He did not specify the date or courthouse location Obama will report to in November.

He made it crystal-clear to me through his representative that he would carry out his public duty as a citizen and resident of this community, Evans told the Tribune.

A spokesman declined to comment on the former presidents private schedule.

The Tribune reported that other high-profile figures, like Oprah Winfrey, have also reported for jury duty in Cook County. Jurors can be summoned for civil or criminal pools and can be called to any of the countys courthouses.

Although its not a place where the public can earn a lot of money, it is highly appreciated, Evans told the Tribune of Obamas choice to serve. Its crucial that our society get the benefit of that kind of commitment.

Obama skipped jury duty at least once before when in 2010 he was pre-booked with the State of the Union. According to CBS News, the summons were sent to Obamas former home on the South Side of Chicago, but the president told the county court that he wouldnt be able to make it.

Obama would not be the first former president to report for jury duty after leaving the Oval Office.

In August 2015, more than six years after the end of his presidency, George W. Bush received his jury duty summon and reported to the George Allen Dallas County Civil Court building. Bush sat through the jury selection panel and, though not picked to serve as a juror, spent about three hours at the court and posed for photos with his fellow jury candidates.

If the former President can show up for jury duty what excuse do you have? #civicduty tweeted a spectator.

In March 2003, Bill Clinton became Prospective Juror No. 142 in federal court in Manhattan. The New York Times reported that Clinton, whose name was avoided in the court hearing, was eventually dismissed in the jury selection in a case involving a gang shooting in the Bronx.

While serving as vice president, Joe Biden was called for jury duty in Delaware in January 2011. He too was not chosen as a juror.

Even members of the judicial branch dont always make the cut.

In April 2015, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. reported for jury duty in Montgomery County, Maryland, and was being considered for a civil trial in a case involving a car crash. The Washington Post reported that Roberts answered questions about relatives  that his sister was a nurse and his brother-in-law was with Indiana State Police  but said nothing about his day job, which would be listed on a form.

Roberts was not selected, and left court without comment, The Post reported.

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Take on this hateful law, Editorial, Oct 23

Interesting that the editorial staff of the Toronto Star would suggest that those who support Bill 62, undoubtedly numbering in the millions, should be ashamed of themselves. Since when is it shameful to express a different point of view and support it? This law was passed by duly elected representatives within the rules of a democratic society. And the Star calls this hateful.

There are concerning reasons why Canadians should not cover their faces while going about their day-to-day business; security comes to mind. Perhaps those who want to live in Canada should be more tolerant of Canadian customs and adapt. This is Canada.

Donald Cangiano, Oakville

Actually its your shameful editorial that is hateful to sincere people of good will who disagree intellectually and morally with your support of the continuing abuse of women in the name of religion.

The Quebec law says this discrimination may occur in private, as guaranteed by freedom of religion. But it will not let this discrimination happen in public anymore. The law is just reasserting the separation of religious and secular jurisdictions that have served society well.

Tony DAndrea, Toronto

As a citizen of Canada for 40 years, and having come to Canada from London, England, where the ugly signs of racism were festering, it appears to me that these signs are now beginning to be seen here, more overtly now than ever.

Quebecs Bill 62, although not as draconian as the Values Charter proposed by the previous Parti Quebecois government, is nevertheless targeting a minority based on misinformed information, but largely because of fear and a lack of human understanding.

It is ironic that Quebec, which has spent so much political capital arguing that, as a minority within Canada, it is not treated fairly and with respect, sees no hypocrisy in treating one of its own minorities as it sees fit.

Western society prides itself on its desire for freedom of speech, freedom of choice and, more recently in Quebec, freedom from institutionalized religion. These are all acceptable values and ones that need to be stressed in the education process, and when welcoming new immigrants.

It is true that one may not like, or wish, to see the niqab or burka in public, but the value of freedom of choice must supersede this like or wish. Our innermost inhibitions and bigotry have been defused with the welcome improvements for the LGBTQ community. However, we cannot say the same for women in general and their place in society.

Bill 62 is not required or necessary. It should be replaced by a process of education for all Canadians who exhibit undue prejudice, as a means to live harmoniously with our fellow humans.

What is certain is that Quebec residents would not tolerate any law that dictates they wear a modicum of clothing to cover up their bodies, as this would infringe upon their freedom of choice. Conversely, why should the majority legislate the need for women to remove certain clothing to satisfy prejudices?

Live and let live.

Abid Salman, Toronto

Martin Regg Cohn writes: Picking on a harmless group is never pretty. But it is especially ugly when state power intimidates new immigrants facing possible language, health or safety issues  making them objects of ostracization and opprobrium.

Let us call a spade a spade. Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard is a bully. Bullying is an especially pernicious form of arrogance that infects insecure people who find themselves supported by groups of hangers-on and it is usually addictive.

History has many examples of ordinary people, like Adolph Hitler in Germany and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, whose bullying started out quite innocuously and developed over time to horrific proportions.

The federal Governor in Council should immediately refer Quebecs Bill 62 to the Supreme Court before the new law takes administrative grip over Canadians living there. And Parliament should seriously consider passing legislation to make it a criminal offence for any government to pass constitutionally offensive laws without first asking the federal government to refer the matter to the Supreme Court.

Patrick Cowan, North York

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An influential investor advisory firm late Wednesday urged investors not to back billionaire activist Bill Ackman's three dissident director candidates at Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) - Get Free Report , handing the embattled investor a major blow in his proxy war at the payroll company.

Institutional Shareholder Services, one of two major investor advisory firms, said in a report obtained by TheStreet that Ackman's case is not "sufficiently compelling to justify replacing three directors who have presided over a period of strong long-term total shareholder returns and shareholder-friendly corporate governance. Nevertheless, the adviser did give Ackman a glimmer of hope in his insurgency campaign by recommending that investors withhold their vote for one incumbent director, Eric Fast. ISS suggests that Fast's oversight of ADP's audit committee "has contributed to the company's less than ideal financial disclosures in recent years." ISS argues that a withhold vote against Fast could allow Ackman to be elected, if a sufficient number of investors back Ackman on the dissident proxy card, while preventing the replacement of two incumbent directors.

The recommendation comes after the other major proxy advisory firm, Glass Lewis, recommended that investors back his entire minority-slate of dissident director candidates seeking election to the payroll company's board. As a result the two major proxy advisory firms are at odds, giving Ackman a mixed bag in terms of recommendations for his campaign. The result is that it is most likely that only Ackman, not the rest of his slate, gets elected to ADP's board.

Specifically, Glass Lewis, said that investors should vote for the three candidates, including Ackman, who they described as having "credible board and activism experience" and an "owner's perspective." The firm also liked his outside candidates Veronica Hagen and Paul Unruh, who the advisory firm said have "relevant operational efficiency experience" and "relevant business transformational experience" respectively.

Glass Lewis said that "rather than supporting the status quo, we believe investors have an opportunity to convey their discontent with the board's continuation of a potentially sub-optimal business plan, and to encourage fresh perspectives, analysis, and discussion in the boardroom of the best path forward for ADP, through the election of qualified director candidates..."

The mixed bag of recommendation comes as ADP and Ackman face off in one of the most heated boardroom battles of 2017, set to go the distance on Nov. 7. Ackman and ADP CEO Carlos Rodriguez got off to an icy start in August. In an interview on CNBC, Rodriguez called Ackman a "spoiled brat" who did not "do his homework" for his approach to ADP.

The recommendations come as Ackman has received some other bad news. On Tuesday Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) - Get Free Report , reported third-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street estimates by a dollar. Ackman's Pershing Square owns roughly a fifth of Chipotle, whose shares are in free-fall and traded recently at $275 a share. That's well below the prices that Pershing acquired some of its initial stake in the restaurant chain in August and September of 2016.

Ackman may also have difficulty convincing shareholders to back his campaign because the company isn't currently struggling. Ackman's argument, which is unusual in activist insurgencies, is that ADP's serious problems are in the future if changes aren't made immediately.

On Oct 19, the activist fund escalated its blockbuster campaign by suggesting that the payroll processor could win back a lot of accounts by acquiring private equity-backed human resources provider Ceridian for about $4 billion.

Ackman suggested that Ceridian is "available for sale effectively because it is owned by private equity at the end of its life in the fund." Buyout shop Thomas H. Lee Partners, which owns Ceridian, declined to comment. In addition to acquiring Ceridian, Ackman offered up a number of changes he would like to see at ADP, arguing that the firm has "never done a meaningful acquisition."

The ISS report comes as some investors, including Omega Advisors' Leon Cooperman, who once held a board seat at ADP, point to ADP's overall record of share-price improvement and don't believe that the company is struggling or needs a significant refocus.

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When Vice President Mike Pence cast a tie-breaking vote to kill a government rule preserving the rights of customers to sue banks in court, Democrats lambasted it as a handout to Wall Street.

Allison Schoenthal, a partner at the international law firm Hogan Lovells who has defended banks including Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) - Get Free Report against consumer complaints, disagrees.

Her professional opinion is that the consumer bureau's rule was an "overreach" -- and that it was the "right move" by Congress to kill it. That's also her personal opinion.

Based in New York, Schoenthal leads Hogan Lovells' consumer finance litigation practice, which defends banks in class-action lawsuits and arbitration hearings, as well as in matters involving home, auto and student loans before regulators. She started the practice during the financial crisis of the late 2000s as banks faced a wave of complaints from regulators and customers over alleged mortgage-lending abuses. The group now encompasses about 40 lawyers within Hogan Lovells, which has more than 2,700 lawyers in 25 countries.

TheStreet spoke with Schoenthal following the Senate's action on Wednesday, Oct. 25, a move that Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who has championed consumer rights, described as a "giant, wet kiss to Wall Street."

The bill would repeal a rule from the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that prohibits financial companies from forcing customers to sign agreements essentially waiving their right to join a class-action lawsuit. The agency adopted the rule in July, arguing that it was necessary to keep banks in check, since most regular bank clients can ill afford to spend the time and money needed to fight high-powered bank lawyers in court over minor grievances such as gratuitous fees. Banks prefer smaller, controlled hearings overseen by arbitrators, a process that historically has favored them.

The bill was so controversial that the Republican-controlled Senate could only muster a 50-50 vote on Tuesday, Oct. 24, forcing Pence to break the tie. Having passed both houses of Congress, the bill now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature.

After the Senate vote, a public-relations employee of Hogan Lovells e-mailed reporters a prepared statement from Schoenthal in support of the Senate's decision. In the later interview, Schoenthal questioned how much the rule really benefits consumers; its supporters have argued that class-action winners generally receive very little money once an award is divided among all the plaintiffs.

Schoenthal received a bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia in 1997 and a law degree from Fordham University in 2000. (It's worth noting that partners at Hogan Lovells made an average $1.255 million in profits in 2016, according to the publication American Lawyer.)

TheStreet: What made you become a lawyer?

Schoenthal: I was one of those people who always wanted to be a lawyer. My parents say I used to always tell them, "It's not fair." I guess it's in my blood.

TheStreet: How did your practice come about?

Schoenthal: When I came to Hogan Lovells, I was handling some financial-services cases. I handled some litigation over class-actions on equipment loans, and clients started asking me to do some mortgage litigation. It was becoming a little bit more and more active. You could see the financial crisis coming more and more, so I just decided to invest myself in this practice area of consumer-facing loans and representing companies doing that. We started with a few clients and now we have about a dozen clients doing over a thousand cases. It's become a large practice area that a lot of firms compete in.

TheStreet: Why didn't big white-shoe, Wall Street law firms do this kind of work before?

Schoenthal: I don't know that there were as many issues before. There weren't as many mortgage defaults or disputes with the companies. And maybe it doesn't sound that sexy.

TheStreet: What is it like helping giant banks fight off consumer complaints?

Schoenthal: It's been busy since the financial crisis. You see it from both sides, as a mortgage holder and from the banks' side. I feel like the benefit of being at a firm is that you can give advice to the company when the customer's in the right. As opposed to, just keep fighting. When you can give quality advice on risk, and when you have the ear of the bank, it's kind of rewarding in that respect.

TheStreet: Why do you support the repeal of the consumer bureau's rule, even though it ostensibly would mean less work -- and fees -- for you defending the banks against class-action suits?

Schoenthal: I'm saying that, despite the fact that my job is to be a litigator, and that class actions are lucrative for lawyers, at least I try to look out for my clients. I just thought the rule was an overreach. It's policymaking beyond where they should be focused, interfering in parties' contracts and changing terms that a company and a customer could agree to. There's not enough proof that it actually benefits the customer in the end.

TheStreet: Why do banks prefer arbitration hearings to court cases?

Schoenthal: From a bank's perspective, sometimes it takes less time in arbitration, so you can resolve things quicker. Also there's the publicity. The court case is public. Especially in federal court, things are easier to find, since they're publicly filed. Some might say arbitration is lower-cost, though as a lawyer I would say that arbitration can be expensive also.

TheStreet: Why are banks so eager to avoid publicity?

Schoenthal: Most banks like to stay out of the news, particularly nowadays, following the negative news about financial institutions. Most banks are media-averse. I don't know that there's any benefit to putting any customer's grievance, whether they're right or wrong, in the news. Even if the customer's claim is completely frivolous, you still hear a negative view of the bank.

TheStreet: Why wouldn't a customer be better off at least having the option of taking the matter to court?

Schoenthal: I see pros and cons. Let's say there's a class-action settlement and a penalty, where there was an overcharge of $30, and your refund is $5 after you take a couple steps to get it. You got some money, but it's not what you expected, and it's years later. There's also the argument that, whatever contract you're entering into, you've agreed to the terms.

TheStreet: Would you say that the specter of a class-action lawsuit serves as a deterrent for banks in taking advantage of customers?

Schoenthal: You can sympathize with it as a customer of banks. It's also nice to see that we've identified compliance issues at clients, and we've helped them self-report to regulators. To make you feel like you're helping to avoid some of those issues, that's the part that keeps us going. Banks look at all the complaints they get from class actions, and they look at complaints they get from customers directly; those are all things they monitor and change their practices on. That's a long answer to yes. I don't know that it's any more of a deterrent than just getting a bunch of customers who are complaining. If you get a bunch of complaints sent to the CFPB, the CFPB is going to come look at you.

TheStreet: Wall Street firms have been accused by regulators of a lot of egregious behavior in their trading and investment-banking businesses. Why do the consumer issues garner so much attention from Congress?

Schoenthal: Maybe it's emotional because it deals with individuals and their finances, but you can say that about a lot of things. I don't know that the emotion is any more heightened than in any other debate.

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China's new roster of top leaders have shuffled into their places on the red carpet for their curtain call, the procession leaving no question as to who is in charge. President Xi Jinping has been reappointed to head the Communist Party, with no one waiting in the wings as his nominated heir.

What's more, not one of the new members of the Politburo Standing Committee, China's cabinet, is under the age of 60, meaning none of them is likely to succeed Xi when and if he stands down at the end of his second term in 2022.

It's a highly unusual move, unprecedented in recent years, leaving Xi to continue his push for reform and fight against corruption unquestioned. Critics worry that Xi's "rule" has evolved into a dictatorship, the president eliminating rivals who question his positions and squelching stories about his family's amassed wealth.

Xi has also presided over rapid growth in China's military capability and backed a muscular stance over its claims on territory such as the resource-rich South China Sea. China's island building near the shores of the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam has been ruled illegal by an international court in the Hague. But such is China's economic clout that, bar a military flyby or two, no one has done anything at all about it.

The new Politburo Standing Committee has seven members -- it has had anywhere from five to nine in the past. Premier Li Keqiang also retains his role, something that wasn't at all certain to happen when doubts over his leadership surfaced last year. And there was no place for Xi's protege Chen Min'er, the current head of the megacity of Chongqing.

Chen is one of two likely candidates, as it now stands, to succeed Xi when he eventually steps down. But he did not leap straight into the Politburo Standing Committee -- a move Xi made when he shot to prominence in 2007.

Neither did Hu Chunhua, the current Communist Party Secretary of China's richest and most-productive province, Guangdong, across the border from me here in Hong Kong. Hu is another frontrunner to succeed Xi, but both Hu and Chen joined the 25-member Politburo that sits one rung down the leadership ladder from the Politburo Standing Committee.

So it's anyone's guess who will emerge over the next half decade to step forward as Xi's replacement.

The new Politburo Standing Committee members are, in order of seniority:

-- Xi's current chief of staff and close ally, Li Zhanshu, 67, who is likely to become head of the National People's Congress;

-- vice premier and former head of Guangdong Province Wang Yang, 62, likely to become chairman of China's top political advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

-- political theorist Wang Huning, 62, confirmed as new propaganda chief and secretary of the Central Committee Secretariat;

-- new anti-corruption chief Zhao Leji, 60, who steps up from heading the Communist Party's organization department;

-- long-time Shanghai politician and current Shanghai party chief Han Zheng, 63, the new executive vice premier and an ally of former president Jiang Zemin.

The new leadership of the Central Military Commission, which oversees the military, were also named, as well as the 25 members of the broader Politburo.

The powerful Wang Qishang, Xi's current right-hand man in his fight against corruption, has retired from the Politburo and even the Central Committee, an elite body beneath the Politburo and now comprised of 204 people. Wang is already 69, past the unwritten age of retirement at 68 for officials, and is retiring from public life.

Xi, now 64, has already evolved into the most powerful Chinese leader since Chairman Mao Zedong. That became black-and-white fact at this year's gathering, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party, which has come to conclusion a week after it began.

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Only Chairman Mao managed to get himself written into the Communist constitution while still in power. That is now also the case with Xi, who had already been identified as being at the party's "core." He has now had his "Xi Jinping Thought for the New Era of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" written into the Communist Party's constitution while in charge. The parallel with Mao Zedong Thought is clear.

Every Communist leader is expected to come up with his own take on Marxist-Leninist thought. Deng Xiaoping, the reformist who started the opening up of China's economy, has also had his Deng Xiaoping Theory enshrined in the Communist Party charter, but well after he died. Mao made China independent; Deng made it prosperous; Xi promises to make it strong.

Xi's version calls on China to seize its "new era" of development and take its proper position internationally, in maintaining world peace and economic stability. China is ready, he says, to play a greater role in building "a common destiny of mankind."

The elevation of "Xi Jinping Thought" to such lofty status leaves him ideologically unquestioned in his push to bring into existence the China of his vision. His immediate predecessors Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin don't have their names attached to their Communist theory.

Xi has been ruthless in his push to the top, and equally quick to move to ensure he stays there unquestioned. He has used the corruption battle to weed out "tigers and flies," officials large and small, with 18 members of that elite 200-odd member Central Committee being taken down since he came to power in 2012.

Corruption is rife throughout the Communist Party structure, with so much power put in the hands of even petty officials down to the district level. They're the guys I see gambling huge stacks of chips in Macau, wearing cheap suits and smoking no-name cigarettes. But Xi has also used the witch hunt to dispatch any rivals and enemies, making him more feared than respected within his own party.

Xi will be 69 at the time of the 20th National Congress. That will see the end of his second term, and there's speculation he may attempt to stay on for a third.

I would bet that Xi does not seek a third term. He's a stickler on precedent and protocol -- a characteristic that has lent credence to his leadership. What he will, however, do is remain on in a position (or two) of power. Goodness knows, he's got enough of them.

Xi is President of the People's Republic of China, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Chairman of the Central Military Commission, leader of the Leading Group for National Defence and Military Reform of the military commission; leader of the Central Leading Group for Internet Security and Informatization; leader of the Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs; and the leader of similar leading groups for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms, Taiwan Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Party Building, Deepening the Study and Practice of the Outlook of Scientific Development, and of the Central Coordination Group for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs.

Shorthand: president, chief Communist, chief of the Armed Forces, and the head of reform of the military, cyberspace, the economy, the Communist Party, foreign affairs, science, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong. Phew.

As the shrewd may detect, the Communist Party is big on titles. Xi, while stepping down as president, will surely find a few that help him to retain power behind the scenes. He's in charge for the next five years -- and if he stays healthy, probably many more to come.

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This column originally appeared on Real Money, our premium site for active traders. Click here to get great columns like this from Bruce Kamich, Jim Cramer and other writers even earlier in the trading day.

At the time of publication, Alex Frew McMillan had no positions in the stocks mentioned.
Senior Victoria Kearns is ready for a yet another challenge, this time as a student representative for the Onalaska School Board.

For her final year at O.H.S., serving on the school board was an opportunity to learn more about the inner workings of the district.

I saw it as something that would be interesting to do, she said. Its another way to stand out.

As a representative to the board, it will be her duty to represent the interests of her peers and keep the board apprised of the activities and functions going on in the school district.

Kearns was selected to serve by High School Principal Jared Schaffner who described her as driven.

Victoria is an outstanding young woman, a senior at Onalaska High School, and has an academic record that is incredibly impressive, he said.

Kearns said she wasnt entirely sure why she was picked to serve on the board but looked on the opportunity as a chance to learn more about the role the administration plays in the day to day events of the school.

She moved to Onalaska in 2013 after returning from a year-long stay in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates.

She and her family moved to Abu Dhabi when she was in eighth grade after her father, an army vet and civil engineer, began working for a Colorado Springs-based firm.

Kearns said her father made frequent trips to the United Arab Emirates, often for extended stays.

Eventually, her fathers employer offered to move her family to the country. It was an experience, she says has changed her.

It was a really different experience, she said adding Abu Dhabi was a much bigger city than Colorado Springs.

As a visitor in a fiercely conservative country, Kearns said, You always had to watch what you said.

She added there was always a fear of getting deported for saying something unfavorable of the country or its government.

School in the United Arab Emirates also offered her an opportunity to learn more about the countrys origins and history as well as dabble in Arabic.

Arabic, she said, was a required class in the United Arab Emirates.

It was a very difficult language to pick up, she said.

Despite her struggle to learn the language, she and her sisters took on the challenge enthusiastically.

My sisters and I found it really interesting, she said.

After a year in the United Arab Emirates, the decision to settle down in Onalaska came down to family.

My dads family is from here, she said adding that Onalaska H.S. had a good reputation didnt hurt.

With her, Kearns and her sisters brought with them a favorite activity, the Science Olympiads.

She said there werent many academic extracurricular opportunities at O.H.S. so she and her sisters decided to get the Science Olympiads started.

I like to compare it to a track meet, she said. A lot of independent events that add up to one.

Kearns enjoyed the variety of questions and tasks offered by the Science Olympiads. She also said she has no regrets spending her high school years at O.H.S.

Ive met amazing people, Kearns said. Ive really enjoyed my high school experience.

Outside of school, the avid running is an active member of the cross country team.

Our girls cross country team has been really successful, Kearns said proudly.

The teen plans to follow in her parents footsteps and apply to attend West Point and study chemical engineering.

If she isnt admitted to West Point, she plans to attend college on a ROTC scholarship.

Im really interested in going into the Army, she said. Id like to make a career in the Army.

After college, Kearns said shes interested in attending medical school and becoming a trauma surgeon in the Army.

For now, she is one of four Onalaska seniors vying for one of 7,500 National Merit scholarships.
The first charges have been approved in the investigation being led by special counsel Robert Mueller, and subjects in the case could be in custody as soon as Monday, according to media reports.

A report from CNN citing sources briefed on the matter said a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., approved on Friday the first charges in the investigation, but the charges are still sealed under orders from a federal judge and it was unclear what the charges are.

CNN also reported that plans were prepared Friday for individuals who are charged to be taken into custody as soon as Monday.

A spokesman for the special counsel's office declined to comment for CNN and could not be reached late Friday evening to speak on the report.

CNN reported that under the regulations governing special counsel investigations, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would have been told about any charges before they were taken to the grand jury for approval.

Mueller is investigating Russia's alleged involvement in the 2016 presidential election, as well as whether anyone related to President Donald Trump's campaign colluded with Moscow. Mueller was appointed in May, after Trump fired FBI director James Comey.

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This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.
Alicia Vikander attends the 'Euphoria' premiere during the 13th Zurich Film Festival on September 29, 2017 in Zurich, Switzerland. The Zurich Film Festival 2017 will take place from September 28 until October 8. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Now that their secret is out, Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender want the world to know they're happily married.

The Irish actor, from Killarney, Co Kerry (40) and the Oscar-winning actress (29) from Sweden, wed in lavish fashion at the eco-friendly five star Agroturismo Can Mart in Ibiza earlier this month and celebrated their honeymoon with a mini-tour of Italy. But it's back to business for the power couple and Alicia has been proudly flashing her ring around.

Expand Close Newlywed Alicia Vikander shows off her wedding ring as she arrives in Miami. Picture: Splash News / Facebook

Twitter

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Whatsapp Newlywed Alicia Vikander shows off her wedding ring as she arrives in Miami. Picture: Splash News

On Wednesday, she was pictured at Miami airport, sporting a very new, eye-catching accessory and on Thursday night, she strategically posed to show off the diamond, in stark contrast to their hush-hush engagement, when she opted against wearing a ring in order to avoid tipping off the media about their upcoming nuptials.

But that rock is a sight to behold. It's a classic style, reflective of her understated elegance and her refined personal style that won her a lucrative contract with French fashion house Louis Vuitton.

"Its a classic engagement ring: it is a single diamond with a round stone. Theres no elaborate design, its just nice and classic; timeless is how I would describe it," gemologist Paul Brereton of John Brereton Jewellers tells TheVow.ie.

"It's a classic solitaire diamond ring and in keeping with the size of her finger. He could have bought her any diamond that he wanted, but they chose one that suits her finger."

Expand Close Alicia Vikander attends the Volez, Voguez, Voyagez - Louis Vuitton Exhibition Opening on October 26, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Alicia Vikander attends the Volez, Voguez, Voyagez - Louis Vuitton Exhibition Opening on October 26, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage)

Brereton, who is also president of the Irish Antique Dealers Association, estimates the ring is between a two carat to a 2.5 carat, and as expected, it has a movie star price tag.

This is where it can be a large skew  you can buy one for 20,000, Im sure he went for a very high grade of stone and that can be up to about 60k. If he got it from one of the big jewellery houses like Cartier, you can double that. So it just depends who made it," he explained.

Expand Close 3.00ct Solitaire Diamond Platinum Ring for 75,000 at Brereton Jewellers / Facebook

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Whatsapp 3.00ct Solitaire Diamond Platinum Ring for 75,000 at Brereton Jewellers

"A nice stone starts off at 20,000 and then you go to the high grade, thats where youre getting a jump in price. If its a rare white stone with no inclusions, it brings it up to 60,00 plus."

Vikander also went her own way and chose to have two bands surrounding her engagement ring.

Expand Close Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender on honeymoon / Facebook

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"When you look at the pictures, the engagement ring itself with the single stone and it looks like shes wearing a band one on either side, theyd be her wedding bands," Brereton explains.

"Thats something thats popular in America, they like the balance of having a ring on either side. If they click in, it can be quite chunky. Now, possibly, Im only guessing, but it appears to be two separate rings on each side."

The classic stone is exactly as its name implies, a time-honoured tradition that brides of all generations consistently love.

"Its very popular. Its all about budgets. A stone of that size doesn't need anything else. She can go with a classic because the stone is doing all the talking. If she put an elaborate setting around that, it would look heavy around the finger and thats not for everyday wear, then it becomes more of a dress ring.

Expand Close Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender arrive for the UK premiere of "The Light Between Oceans" at The Curzon Mayfair on October 19, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender arrive for the UK premiere of "The Light Between Oceans" at The Curzon Mayfair on October 19, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)

"There are other fashions that come into play, but its one that has been popular as long Ive been in the business."

And he has a helpful word of advice when it comes to ring shopping during the early days of your own engagement - think long-term.

"With engagement rings, its something youre going to want to love with a very long time," he says.

"If its a bit quirky, you can get tired of quirky, so youre trying to get people to strike a balance. Its a very emotional purchase. If you buy something and get tired of it, theyre reluctant to change it and regret their purchase."
BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. (AP)  A 27-year-old man from the Black River Falls area has died in an officer-involved shooting.

Jackson County Sheriff Duane Waldera said the incident started early Saturday, when a deputy investigated a call about disorderly conduct and a possible restraining order violation.

Waldera said a car chase ensued after the deputy arrived, when the subject of the complaint apparently tried to drive to the residence of the person who complained.

The name of the deceased has not been released.

The deputy has been placed on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated. The Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation will lead the investigation and turn the results over to the Jackson County district attorneys office.
Energizer Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes household batteries, specialty batteries, and lighting products worldwide. It offers lithium, alkaline, carbon zinc, nickel metal hydride, zinc air, and silver oxide batteries under the Energizer and Eveready brands, as well as primary, rechargeable, specialty, and hearing aid batteries. The company also provides headlights, lanterns, and children's and area lights, as well as flash lights under the Energizer, Eveready, Rayovac, Hard Case, Dolphin, Varta, and WeatherReady brands. In addition, it licenses the Energizer and Eveready brands to companies developing consumer solutions in gaming, automotive batteries, portable power for critical devices, LED light bulbs, generators, power tools, household light bulbs, and other lighting products. Further, the company designs and markets automotive fragrance and appearance products, including protectants, wipes, tire and wheel care products, glass cleaners, leather care products, air fresheners, and washes to clean, shine, refresh, and protect interior and exterior automobile surfaces under the brand names of Armor All, Nu Finish, Refresh Your Car!, LEXOL, Eagle One, California Scents, Driven, and Bahama & Co; STP branded fuel and oil additives, functional fluids, and other performance chemical products; and do-it-yourself automotive air conditioning recharge products under the A/C PRO brand name, as well as other refrigerant and recharge kits, sealants, and accessories. It sells its products through direct sales force, distributors, and wholesalers; and through various retail and business-to-business channels, including mass merchandisers, club, electronics, food, home improvement, dollar store, auto, drug, hardware, e-commerce, convenience, sporting goods, hobby/craft, office, industrial, medical, and catalog. Energizer Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc., an offshore energy services company, provides specialty services to the offshore energy industry primarily in Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, the Asia Pacific, and West Africa regions. The company operates through three segments: Well Intervention, Robotics, and Production Facilities. It engages in the installation of flowlines, control umbilicals, and manifold assemblies and risers; trenching and burial of pipelines; installation and tie-in of riser and manifold assembly; commissioning, testing, and inspection activities; and provision of cable and umbilical lay, and connection services. The company also provides well intervention, intervention engineering, and production enhancement services; inspection, repair, and maintenance of production structures, trees, jumpers, risers, pipelines, and subsea equipment; and related support services. In addition, it offers reclamation and remediation services; well plug and abandonment services; pipeline abandonment services; and site inspections. Additionally, the company offers oil and natural gas processing facilities and services; and fast response system, as well as site clearance and subsea support services. It serves independent oil and gas producers and suppliers, pipeline transmission companies, renewable energy companies, and offshore engineering and construction firms. The company was formerly known as Cal Dive International, Inc. and changed its name to Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. in March 2006. Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
The La Crosse Public Library would like to extend its gratitude to local student and community groups for raising civic awareness donations to help support library programs.

This past month, students from Western Technical College's Beta Nu Chi chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society helped raise money to support the local Music & Memory Program. In partnership with the Aging and Disability Resource Center of La Crosse County, the program helps people living with dementia find renewed connections in their lives by providing music associated with personal memories. This fundraising effort, led by WTC student Cherie Clements, will help purchase music for at-home use. For more information on the Music & Memory Program, call the ADRC at 608-785-5700.

Wed also like to thank the Beer by Bike Brigade for raising money to support early literacy efforts at the La Crosse Public Library. The donations received at the Historic Taverns of La Crosse Bike Tour will help purchase childrens books for use in direct outreach activities promoting early childhood literacy.

If youre interested in learning more about how you can help support the library, please visit: http://www.lacrosselibrary.org/about/support-library.

Heather Miller, La Crosse Public Library
The following companies are subsidiares of Thermo Fisher Scientific: 236 Perinton Parkway LLC, 27 Forge Parkway LLC, ABR--Affinity BioReagents, ACI Holdings Inc., ARG Services LLC, ASPEX Corporation, Abgene Inc., Abgene Limited, Acoustic Cytometry Systems Inc., AcroMetrix LLC, Acros Organics B.V.B.A., Advanced Biotechnologies Limited, Advanced Scientifics (ASI), Advanced Scientifics Inc., Advanced Scientifics International Inc., Affymetrix Biotech Participacoes Ltda., Affymetrix Biotech Shanghai Ltd, Affymetrix Inc, Affymetrix Japan K.K., Affymetrix Pte Ltd, Affymetrix UK Ltd, Afora S.A.U., Ahura Scientific, Alchematrix Inc., Alchematrix LLC, Alfa Aesar, Alfa Aesar (China) Chemical Co. 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Ltd., Invitrogen Argentina SA, Invitrogen BioServices India Private Limited, Invitrogen Europe Limited, Invitrogen Finance Corp., Invitrogen Holdings LLC, Invitrogen Holdings Ltd., Invitrogen Hong Kong Limited, Invitrogen IP Holdings Inc., Invitrogen Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ion Torrent Systems Inc., Ionalytics Corporation, JSC Thermo Fisher Scientific, Jouan LLC, Jouan Limited, Jouan SA, Kendro Containment & Services Limited, Kendro Laboratory Products Ltd, Kettlebrook Insurance Co. ltd., Keystone Scientific, KonTEM GmbH, Kyle Jordan Investments LLC, LIFE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, LTC Tech South Africa PTY Ltd., La-Pha-Pack GmbH, Lab Vision (UK) Limited, Lab Vision Corporation, Lab-Chrom-Pack LLC, Lab-Line Instruments Inc., Labomex MBP S. de R. L. 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Ltd., Life Technologies Europe B.V., Life Technologies Finance Ltd., Life Technologies Finland Oy, Life Technologies GmbH, Life Technologies Holdings PTE Ltd., Life Technologies Inc., Life Technologies International B.V., Life Technologies Japan Ltd., Life Technologies Korea LLC, Life Technologies Limited, Life Technologies Magyarorszag Kft, Life Technologies New Zealand Ltd., Life Technologies Norway Investments US LLC, Life Technologies Polska Sp z.o.o., Life Technologies SA, Life Technologies SAS, Life Technologies s.r.o, Linkage Biosciences Inc., Linkage Biosciences S.a.r.l., Loftus Furnace Company, Lomb Scientific, Lomb Scientific (Aust) Pty Limited, MTI-GlobalStem, Marketbase International Limited, Matrix MicroScience Inc., Matrix MicroScience Ltd., Matrix Technologies Corporation Limited, Matrix Technologies LLC, Maybridge Chemical Company Limited, Maybridge Chemical Holdings Limited, Maybridge Limited, Medical Analysis Systems Inc., Medical Analysis Systems International Inc., Medical Diagnostics Systems Inc., Metavac LLC, Microgenics Corporation, Microgenics Diagnostics Pty Limited, Microgenics GmbH, Microm International GmbH, Microm Laborgerate S.L.U, Molecular BioProducts Inc., Molecular Probes Inc., Molecular Transfer Inc., NAPCO Inc., NERL Diagnostics LLC, NOVODIRECT GmbH Labor- und Industrie- Megerate, Nalge (Europe) Limited, Nalge Nunc International (Monterrey) LLC, Nalge Nunc International Corporation, Nanjing WeiKangLe Trading Industrial Co Ltd, NanoDrop Technologies LLC, National Scientific Company, Navaho Acquisition Corp., Neomarkers Inc., New FS Holdings Inc., NewcoGen PE LLC, Nihon Dynal K.K., Niton Asia Limited, NovaWave Technologies Inc., Nunc A/S, ONIX Systems Inc., OXOID CZ s.r.o., Odyssey Holdings Corporation, Odyssey Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Odyssey Luxembourg IP Holdings 1 S.a r.l., Odyssey Luxembourg IP Holdings 2 S.a r.l., Odyssey Venture Corporation, Omega Data Systems, One Lambda Inc, Onix Holdings Limited, Orme Scientific Limited, Owl Separation Systems LLC, Oxoid (ELY) Limited, Oxoid 2000 Limited, Oxoid AS, Oxoid Australia Pty. 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Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific AL-1 LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific AU C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific AU II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific AU LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific AU Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Africa Proprietary Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Aquasensors LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Australia Pty Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific B.V.B.A., Thermo Fisher Scientific BHK (I) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific BHK (II) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Baltics UAB, Thermo Fisher Scientific Beteiligungsverwaltungs GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Biosciences Corp., Thermo Fisher Scientific Brahms LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Brasil Instrumentos de Processo Ltda., Thermo Fisher Scientific Brasil Servicos de Logistica Ltda, Thermo Fisher Scientific C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cayman Investments LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Chemicals Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific China (C-I) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific China (S) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings I B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings II B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings III B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings IV B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Chromatography Holdings Aps, Thermo Fisher Scientific Chromatography Holdings S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus I C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus I Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus II Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus III C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus III Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus IV C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus V C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Denmark Senior Holdings ApS, Thermo Fisher Scientific Erie 1 Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Erie Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Erie Financing S.a r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Europe GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC Finance C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC II B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific FSIR Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific FSIR Financing S.a.r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific FSUKHCO Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Falcon Senior Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Finance Company BV, Thermo Fisher Scientific GENEART GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Germany BV & Co. KG, Thermo Fisher Scientific GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific HR Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Holdings (Cayman) I, Thermo Fisher Scientific Holdings (Cayman) II , Thermo Fisher Scientific Holdings Europe Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific IT Services GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific India Holding LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific India Pvt Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Malta) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Sweden) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Sweden) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments Malta (Sweden Financing) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Invitrogen Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Japan Holdings I B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Japan Holdings II B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Japan Holdings III B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific K.K., Thermo Fisher Scientific Korea Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific LSI Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life CV GP Holdings II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life CV GP Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Enterprises C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Enterprises GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing (Cayman), Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings I C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings III C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life International GP Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life International Holdings I C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life International Holdings II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments I S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments II S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments III S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments IV S.a.r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta Holding I LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta Holding II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta I Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments US Financing I LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments US Financing II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life NL Holdings GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Netherlands Holding C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior GP Holdings II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior GP Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior Holdings C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior Holdings II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Switzerland Holdings GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Tech Korea Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Enterprise Holding Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment I LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment UK I Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment UK II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investments Holding LP, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Israel Investment I Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Israel Investment II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Luxembourg Holding LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Enterprise Holdings S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg German Holdings S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Life Technologies UK Holding S.a r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Sweden Holdings I S.a r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Sweden Holdings II S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Venture Holdings I S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Venture Holdings II S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Malta Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Messtechnik GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Mexico City S. de R.L. de C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Middle East Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Milano Srl, Thermo Fisher Scientific NHK Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific New Zealand Holdings, Thermo Fisher Scientific New Zealand Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Norway Holdings AS, Thermo Fisher Scientific Norway US Investments LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Odyssey Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Odyssey Holdings Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Operating Company LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Oy, Thermo Fisher Scientific PN2 C.V, Thermo Fisher Scientific PN2 LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific PRB LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific PRB Malta Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific PRB S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Panama I Cayman Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Peru S.R.L., Thermo Fisher Scientific Pte. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Re Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific SL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Senior Financing LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Senior Holdings Australia LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific South Africa Proprietary Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific SpA, Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra Malta Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra-Physics Holdings Luxembourg I S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra-Physics Holdings Luxembourg II S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra-Physics Investments Malta Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Switzerland Holdings C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific TR Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Taiwan Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific West Palm Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Wissenschaftliche Gerate GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Worldwide Investments (Cayman), Thermo Fisher Scientific eCommerce Solutions LLC , Thermo Fisher Senior Canada Holdings LLC, Thermo Foundation Inc., Thermo Gamma-Metrics Holdings Pty Ltd., Thermo Gamma-Metrics LLC, Thermo Gamma-Metrics Pty Ltd, Thermo Holding European Operations LLC, Thermo Hypersil Ltd, Thermo Hypersil-Keystone LLC, Thermo Informatics Asia Pacific Pty Ltd., Thermo Instrument Controls de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Thermo Kevex X-Ray LLC, Thermo Keytek LLC, Thermo LabSystems Inc., Thermo LabSystems S.A., Thermo Life Science International Trading (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Thermo Life Sciences AB, Thermo Luxembourg Holding S.a.r.l., Thermo Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Thermo MF Physics LLC, Thermo Measurement Ltd, Thermo Measuretech Canada Inc., Thermo Neslab LLC, Thermo Nicolet Limited, Thermo Onix Limited, Thermo Optek (Australia) Pty Ltd., Thermo Optek Limited, Thermo Optek S.A., Thermo Orion Inc., Thermo Portable Holdings LLC, Thermo Power Corporation, Thermo Process Instruments GP LLC, Thermo Process Instruments L.P., Thermo Projects Limited, Thermo Quest S.A., Thermo Radiometrie Limited, Thermo Ramsey Italia S.r.l., Thermo Ramsey LLC, Thermo Ramsey S.A., Thermo Re Ltd., Thermo Scientific Microbiology Pte Ltd., Thermo Scientific Microbiology Sdn Bhd, Thermo Scientific Portable Analytical Instruments Inc., Thermo Scientific Services Inc., Thermo Securities Corporation, Thermo Sentron Canada Inc., Thermo Sentron Limited, Thermo Shandon Inc., Thermo Shandon Limited, Thermo Suomi Holding B.V., Thermo TLH (UK) Limited, Thermo TLH L.P., Thermo Trace Pty Ltd., Thermo-Fisher Biochemical Product (Beijing) Co. Ltd., ThermoLase LLC, ThermoSpectra Limited, Trek Diagnostic Systems LLC, Trek Diagnostic Systems Ltd., Trek Holding Company II Ltd., Trek Holding Company Ltd., Trex Medical Corporation, USB Corporation, Union Lab Supplies Limited, United Diagnostics Inc., VG Systems Limited, Westover Scientific Inc., ZAO PE Biosystems, eBioscience GmbH, eBioscience Ltd, eBioscience SAS, and picoSpin LLC.

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Graco Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials worldwide. The company's Industrial segment offers proportioning systems to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; equipment that pumps, meters, mixes and dispenses sealant, adhesive, and composite materials; and gel-coat equipment, chop and wet-out systems, resin transfer molding systems and applicators, and precision dispensing solutions. It also provides liquid finishing equipment; paint circulating and supply pumps; paint circulating advanced control systems; plural component coating proportioners; spare parts and accessories; and powder finishing products to coat powder finishing on metals under the Gema and SAT brands. The company's Process segment offers pumps to move and dispense chemicals, water, wastewater, petroleum, food, lubricants, and other fluids; pressure valves used in the oil and natural gas industry, other industrial processes, and research facilities; and chemical injection pumping solutions for injection of chemicals into producing oil wells and pipelines. It also supplies pumps, hose reels, meters, valves, and accessories for fast oil change facilities, service garages, fleet service centers, automobile dealerships, auto parts stores, truck builders, and heavy equipment service centers; and systems, components, and accessories for the automatic lubrication of bearings, gears, and generators in industrial and commercial equipment, compressors, turbines, and on- and off-road vehicles. The company's Contractor segment offers sprayers to apply paint to walls and other structures; and viscous coatings to roofs, as well as markings on roads, parking lots, athletic fields, and floors. It sells its products through distributors, original equipment manufacturers, and home center channels; and directly to end-users. The company was incorporated in 1926 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Black Diamond Group Limited rents and sells modular space and workforce accommodation solutions. It operates through two segments, Modular Space Solutions and Workforce Solutions. The Modular Space Solutions segment provides modular space rentals to customers in the construction, real estate development, education, manufacturing, health care, financial, government, and defense industries in North America. Its products include office units, lavatories, storage units, large multi-unit office complexes, classroom facilities, banking and health care facilities, custom manufactured modular facilities, and blast resistant structures. This segment also sells new and used space rentals units; and provides delivery, installation, project management, and ancillary products and services. The Workforce Solutions segment provides workforce housing solutions, including rental of accommodations and surface equipment, and provision of turnkey lodging and travel management logistics services in Canada, the United States, and Australia. This segment also provides associated services, such as installation, transportation, dismantlement, and sale of used fleet assets. This segment primarily serves the resource, infrastructure, construction, disaster recovery, and education sectors. company also provides specialized field rentals to oil and gas industries. Black Diamond Group Limited markets its rental assets, custom sales, and ancillary products and services through in-house sales personnel, its website, social media, web campaigns, and its digital marketplace. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
Cardinal Health, Inc. operates as an integrated healthcare services and products company in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It provides customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, physician offices, and patients in the home. The company operates in two segments, Pharmaceutical and Medical. The Pharmaceutical segment distributes branded and generic pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical, and over-the-counter healthcare and consumer products. The segment also provides services to pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare providers for specialty pharmaceutical products; operates nuclear pharmacies and radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities; repackages generic pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter healthcare products; and offers medication therapy management and patient outcomes services to hospitals, other healthcare providers, and payers, as well as provides pharmacy management services to hospitals. The Medical segment manufactures, sources, and distributes Cardinal Health branded medical, surgical, and laboratory products and devices that include exam and surgical gloves; needles, syringe, and sharps disposals; compressions; incontinences; nutritional delivery products; wound care products; single-use surgical drapes, gowns, and apparels; fluid suction and collection systems; urology products; operating room supply products; and electrode product lines. The segment also distributes a range of national brand products, including medical, surgical, and laboratory products; provides supply chain services and solutions to hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, and other healthcare providers; and assembles and sells sterile, and non-sterile procedure kits. The company was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio.
I cant believe this needs to be said, but do not solicit a date from married strangers on Facebook.

Youd think this would be self-evident, and yet, my mother had more than one man think it was an acceptable thing to do Thursday.

My mom, Lisa McLain-Sharp, is justifiably proud of our family history. My great-grandfather J D McLain served in the U.S. Army under Gen. George S. Patton during World War II, and fighting Nazis with Patton and the 2nd Infantry Division is pretty awesome.

So when she saw the U.S. Army Facebook page post a throwback Thursday photo slideshow featuring a photo with my great-grandpa and Patton, she couldnt resist pointing out the connection.

My Grandfather is in the picture where Patton is reviewing his troops. Middle of the front row, wrote my mother.

No fewer than 10 strange men took this as an invitation to follow her on Facebook and seven decided it meant she really wanted their opinion on her profile picture and to have a conversation with them about how pretty she is. (Spoiler alert: theres only one dude she ever wants to talk to about her profile picture and general attractiveness. She married him 23 years ago.)

First of all, following personal pages on Facebook should absolutely not be a thing. If someone doesnt want you as a Facebook friend, you should not get to click Follow and see everything they post that isnt private. I mean, in my mothers case, the only things that werent private were her profile pictures, but its still just weird. Follows are for public entities and figures who have different kind of profile where you can like it and then follow it to get its posts in your timeline (such as the La Crosse Tribune), not regular people.

Second of all, do not do this. Do not follow a private person you have never met because they made one innocuous comment about a relative on an unrelated page. It will make them uncomfortable.

And uncomfortable my mother was. This one innocuous comment was the beginning of the weirdest day of my mothers social media life as she was subsequently subjected to half a dozen guys wanting to meet her and take her out, some of whom were definitely lying about their identity.

Among these suitors is a man from London, United Kingdom, who claims to be a Captain General in the U.S. Army, a rank that does not actually exist, and has a kitten as a profile picture. Im not sure if Im more offended that hes making up silly titles, pretending to be a veteran or besmirching the good name of cute kitties everywhere with his nonsense. My mothers reaction was to ask me, Is that a 2 star? which is a joke that only makes sense if youre way too familiar with Army ranks, but trust me, its funny.

But the clear winner (loser?) is the guy whose picture is of him in a tuxedo, who followed her, liked all of her public posts, commented the word gorgeous on her profile picture and sent her three messages in quick succession. It started out par for the course with a Hi pretty lady. How are you and the weather over there?

The next one is a little long, but really needs to be shared in its entirety for a clear picture.

I must confess, you are really beautiful, he wrote. Your smile is so adoring and got me stirring (sic) at your photo, cant just contain my emotions. I will like to know you better and also have the opportunity to meet you. Please do well to reply. With love from Jason.

He followed that with a heart emoji. If you need a second to process that, I dont blame you.

There is so much to unpack here. To begin, while my moms profile picture at the time was of her all dolled up for a dining out (a U.S. Army event thats basically like prom night for soldiers), she was not, in fact, smiling in it.

Theres also the general grammar issues. He really wrote stirring, as in stirring the pot, instead of staring like Im staring lovingly at the object of my affection.

The whole Please reply thing is almost as sad as Jeb Bushs Please clap  but not quite, because I feel sorry for Bush while I think this guy just needs a lesson in Facebook etiquette.

Lastly, he really signed it with love! Buddy, if I dont know who you are, you can keep your love to yourself. I dont care if youre talking about how you love mankind as a whole, I do not want your love until youve actually had the chance to get to know me and figure out if you like me as a person.

That right there is the problem with these messages. Its not so much the compliments and the requests for a date, but the fact that theyre based on the idea that the only thing worth knowing about a woman is whether her smile is pretty.

These unwelcome, out-of-the-blue comments on physical appearance objectify the recipient in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable and often creeped out, especially combined with an immediate push to get together. The whole message is designed to pressure her into meeting with him and no one likes to feel pressured.

So do not do this. Do not send unsolicited messages on strangers attractiveness. Do not go on dates with randos from Facebook. Block anyone who says differently.
Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Frost Bank that offers commercial and consumer banking services in Texas. It operates in two segments, Banking and Frost Wealth Advisors. The company offers commercial banking services to corporations and other business clients, including financing for industrial and commercial properties, interim construction related to industrial and commercial properties, equipment, inventories and accounts receivables, and acquisitions; commercial leasing; and treasury management services. It also provides consumer banking services, such as checking accounts, savings programs, automated-teller machines (ATMs), overdraft facilities, installment and real estate loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, drive-in and night deposit services, safe deposit facilities, and brokerage services. In addition, the company offers international banking services comprising deposits, loans, letters of credit, foreign collections, funds, and foreign exchange services. Further, it acts as a correspondent for approximately 171 financial institutions; offers trust, investment, agency, and custodial services for individual and corporate clients; provides capital market services that include sales and trading, new issue underwriting, money market trading, advisory, and securities safekeeping and clearance; and supports international business activities. Additionally, the company offers insurance and securities brokerage services; and holds securities for investment purposes, as well as investment management services to Frost-managed mutual funds, institutions, and individuals. It operates approximately 157 financial centers and 1,650 ATMs. The company serves energy, manufacturing, services, construction, retail, telecommunications, healthcare, military, and transportation industries. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.
Powerball numbers for Monday, Nov. 14, 2022

Here are the winning Powerball numbers and results for the lottery jackpot drawing on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022.
Sister Rosalia Bauer, a member of the La Crosse-based Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, was honored recently as a founding member of Pro-Life Wisconsin at the organizations 25th anniversary celebration in Milwaukee.

Bauer, also a member of the La Crosse Life League, received flowers and a plaque acknowledging her efforts to end abortion.

Other founders and past state presidents honored were Sheri Billett, co-founder and first director; Mary Matuska; Greg Chesmore, and Peggy Hamill.

Archbishop Jerome Listecki of Milwaukee, former bishop of the La Crosse Diocese, led the opening prayer at the event.
Hi everyone

Did a search but couldn't quite find what I was looking for, so....

If you were doing a whole lap of Tassie but had only three weeks, what are the UNMISSABLE things to see and do. I have been once before many years ago so forgotten more than I remember, but my wife is from the states so has never seen it, so I'd love to show her all the best things this great state has to offer.

We will be starting in Hobart and finishing back there, will have a rental car and stay in a mix of hotels and onsite accommodation in caravan parks. As a guide we like historical places, nature, wild landscape scenery, FOOD!!!

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
Jack J- i like your opinion. Wollongong looks great! Good distance 1-2h from Sydney airport. Ive alsow noticed nice public beach - Wattamolla - I feel that my daugther will love it.

Any good one day trip from Wollongong to meet with nature you can recommend?

My plan for Australia is to feel the country and your way of living and avensome animals, more than see all highlights.

During our 13-16 days trip I would like to spend around 4-5days in Sydney. I also wondering if it's good idea to visit another city(by plane) with one day car trips around to see variety of Australia landscapes; my ideas are: flight to Alice Springs to make 2-3days road trip to Uluru or maby better to visut Canbera, Perth, Darvin?

Whats your opinion guys? As I said before, I'm travelling with 6yo daugter so kangoroo, koala is a dream- we respect wild life so we're not expecting to keep them in hands but have chance to see this animals. Our trekking ability is 5hours of walking.
My husband and I (early 50s) are going on a road trip through South Western Australia for 3 weeks in mid November. I have been on a similar bus tour about 10 years ago but hubby has never been.

Our aim for this trip is to relax (quality not quantity). We like nice food, drink (breweries and wineries) and scenery. Our budget is not unlimited but we are not looking for the cheapest either. We are not hikers or adventurists, but rather we like to sit on a terrace with a cold beer or wine and taking in the scenery.

On previous trips we have often rushed things i.e. we arrive, spend the night , and leave the next morning; so to avoid that we have made some bookings which will force us to stay put for a few days.

Our itinerary is as follows:

Day 1 fly into Perth, pick up our rental car and drive to Fremantle where we are booked for 4 nights.

We plan on maybe going to Rottnest Island, do a Swan River cruise and check out the cafes and restaurants and just chill. Any other suggestions based out of Fremantle? (we have already been to Perth city previously).

From Fremantle we travel down to Margaret River but have a spare night along the way. I know its not far but we want to explore. Should we stay in maybe Busselton or is there somewhere else? Relaxing and seeing some scenery or interesting places is the aim.

We then have 4 nights booked at Margaret River where we have tickets for the Gourmet Escape.

We do have some additional time to explore the region, so if there are any must see or dos around the area we would greatly appreciate your input.

After MR we have 4 days (3 nights) to get to Esperance. Again, we just want to take our time and try to discover some hidden gems along the way.

We then spend 4 nights at Esperance (already booked); again relaxing and checking out the beaches and National Parks.

From there we have 4 days to get to Perth and im not sure what route to take.

We are taking the Indian Pacific back to Sydney so we will be stopping in Kalgoorlie on the way (seeing the Super Pit). My husband is quite interested in Gold fossicking so maybe there is somewhere between Esperance and Perth we can go that is not too touristy?

We are also planning a visit to Hyde to see Wave Rock. Can we stay there and/or are there some interesting places between Esperance and Perth we could visit?

Im looking forward to your input and am counting the days!
No, I'm not talking about backpacker budget. Our family of 2A2C had just concluded a 6D5N vacation in Western Australia, not on a luxury holiday but comfortable enough for good rest and fun family bonding time. We covered quite an extensive journey in WA which includes Perth, Wave Rock in Hyden, Lake Grace, The Gap & The Natural Bridge in Albany, Margaret River, Busselton and Fremantle. Here's the breakdown of the cost:

Air Tickets - $1K

Tickets were bought during one of the AirAsia's big sales. This price is really hard to beat as it's return tickets from Brunei to Perth (via KL), two international flights. Of course the challenge was mine to pack luggages not exceeding 7kg per person, that's the limit AirAsia imposed on carry on baggage. I even managed to squeeze in a car booster seat for Zac. So that also helped to save the cost of having to rent one with Hertz. The only add-on we had was the kids meals onboard the flight from Perth to KL. It's a 5.5-hour day time flight so that really help keeping the boys occupied. Trust me you don't want to deal with two hungry kids while they're confined to their budget airline seats. It turned out to be an excellent choice of various snacks and their favorite Ribena!

Accommodation - $800

We were accommodated in comfy family rooms for four different types of lodging. 2 nights in a hotel with breakfast, a motel, a farmstay and a youth hostel that used to be a prison! Parkings were free except the last one. It really helped by having lodging with free parking as it could help reduce the cost significantly.

Car & Fuel - $800

We did splurge a little in this category by renting an Audi Q5. With a discount code blessed by a family friend we managed to get it at a good price. Having a sturdy SUV gave us more assurance of road safety and the comfort we need for sitting long hours in the vehicle. It's with a diesel engine so that again helped us to save more money. Not bad at all for a 1400km journey in style!

Eat - $350

After the first two meals in Perth, we decided it's just too expensive to dine out in Australia. You can't really find hawker price there. We found a perfect solution to eating economically yet wholesome meals - the Coles Supermarket! We just love having the choices of fresh produces, healthy breads, chips and the different types of dips/spread. Staying in places with cooking facilities also meant we could prepare our own simple meals without burning a big hole in the pocket.

Play - $300

The activities we engaged in were mainly educational and kids-friendly ones: museums, farmstay, aquarium, national parks. Prices were a little cheaper for family packages vs individual tickets. The boys' favorite were the Sunflower Animal Farm at Margaret River. Seriously I don't know how they could get so patient feeding the animals for hours. I wished they had the same enthusiasm for their school work. Cost of activities were included in the accommodation so we didn't spend any extra on that day.

All in all, it's a well-spent family holiday. If you had done similar trips with even lower budget, I would really like to hear about it :)
There seem to be 2 separate issues mixed: currency type (smaller issue) and insurance / trip cancellation in case of change of plans (generic matter, applicable to any trip planning, no matter which currency one used to purchase the services).

Whether you are booking from Vancouver or from US, makes no difference to a CR hotel owner. Use booking.com or TA for researching the hotels, then go to the hotel's site, then e-mail and/or phone the owners / manager, agree on the amount (will likely be quoted to you in US), figure out if there is donwpayment, or cash only upon arrival or what. It is incorrect that for any reservation one needs CC. Hotels quote prices based on a room, or villa, or suite, etc per night, some add that the rate is based on double occupancy, and if you have an extra person ( a child, a guest), there may be an extra nightly charge.

It is different if you are talking about booking an AI pkg, which includes air, transfers, accommodations and possibly meals/drinks (not always in the pkg in CR). Those are quoted per person, based on double occupancy, making a Do-Your-Own vacation possibly less expensive, as you book and pay per room. There are plenty of Canadian tour operators that offer packaged vacations for 7-14, etc # of days to Costa Rica. One of the sites I like for checking out prices, availability, etc. - https://www.tripcentral.ca/vacation-grid/ . Select Vancouver as your departing city, I prefer Classic Vacation Grid view (a better screen lay out), click on Costa Rica, you will see that packages from Vancouver to CR go only to San Jose, not to Liberia, and that Air Canada Vacations include flights with a stop over in Toronto. Book with whoever, directly with the tour operators offering the pkg you like, not necessarily through this agency. When buying anything from Canada transactions, will be done in CAD. On your bank acct, of course, it will be the US equivalent plus the bank's exchange rate + whatever other fees.Will the price equivalent in US make it cheaper for you to buy a pkg to CR from Vancouver than buying a similar pkg from US, I have no idea...

There are trip cancellation insurance plans, which you have a choice to add, usually within the first 24 hrs of purchasing the pkg. A travel agent is supposed to at least mention it to you. You can decline and buy your own.

If you r planning the entire trip from scratch, you would need to consider the terms of each component when thinking what If / cancellations, insurance. E.g., does your particular airline and the fare type allow for cancellations, refunds, are there fees for rescheduling should smth come up, etc. Each hotel at the destination would have own conditions, too. If booking via Booking.com or similar, you need to understand both the property's terms and the Booking.com terms, as you might be able to cancel free up to a certain number of days or hrs before arrival, according to one agreement, but not according to the other. It is weird that way.

This is one of the reasons I prefer to deal directly with the hotels.
Planning a trip to Japan mid 2018 for 6 days 7 nights. It will be my first and most likely only time I will get to travel to Japan. I will be travelling solo. My itinery looks like the first 3 days exploring tokyo, then shinkensen in the late afternoon / evening to Kyoto. Two and a half days in kyoto, then late afternoon shinkensen to Hakone for a ryokan experience. Half day look around Hakone then an evening flight home from Narita. I understand that 6 days is not nearly enough time in Japan. Wondeing if this itinery will give me an impression of the modern Tokyo and the historic Kyoto? or should i limit my time to just tokyo and maybe Hakone and leave Kyoto out? It is not possible to experience a ryokan in Kyoto as a solo traveller so I decided on Hakone. My main interests is to travel on the Shinkansen, Visit Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ueno Zoo, Ginza, Imperial Palace, Historic areas, temples and Geisha district in Kyoto, and to experiene a traditional ryokan. Am I cramming too much into my 6 days or is my plan doable? Given I have 2 long train journeys too and from Kyoto? Is a 7 day JR Pass worth purchasing?
I have two DUI's one 17 years ago when I lost my license for a month and a second one 10 years ago. The one I received when I was 17 is sealed and unavailable to anybody but law enforcement in the United States as it was expunged. For the second DUI it was classified as a Midemenor of the 3rd degree due to the alcohol level. I was sentenced 90 days in Jail but never served time since they credited me my time in rehab.My questions are:

1. Does this prevent me from entering Japan for short term business trips) as the primary reason. Most of the trips are one week and rarely over two weeks.

2. Does Japan look at the actual sentence time or the potential sentence that one could have received (maximum penalty).

3. Anything that I should be aware of before traveling? For example, should I have letters from my company, the actual charges received in printout, contacts from the company ect. ect.
Good morning,

We are travelling to Japan next Saturday and will be visiting g Universal Studios in Osaka. We have 4 children and we have one currently in a plaster cast from hip to toe. Ive purchased express passes for the other 3 kids and my husband but there wasnt any point purchasing one for my 10 yo and myself as he wont be able to ride any of the attractions (super bad timing and he is quite devastated). As they have timed entry tickets into HP world I am trying to find a contact for USJ so I can ask if there is any hope of being able to accompany the rest of our family into HP world at the same time as the others. Its important that our son isnt feeling completely left out and I know we can race to get a ticket at opening time but obviously there isnt any guarantee it will be when the rest of the family are admitted entry. Apologies for the long winded post but Ive looked everywhere and even tried calling a few phone numbers with no luck. I just want an opportunity to plead our case so we can be together for such a magical experience. Any assistance with contact details would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.
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Gov. Scott Walker's second term so far can be split into two distinct acts.

In the first act, after winning re-election by the same six-point margin as in 2010, his job approval rating in the Marquette Law School Poll plummeted as he focused on an ill-fated presidential run while passing a budget that cut University of Wisconsin System funding by $250 million.

In the second act, his job approval rating rebounded as he refocused on traveling the state and passed a budget with record spending and K-12 funding levels.

"Coming back to Wisconsin after the presidential election was almost a near-death experience," said UW-Milwaukee political science professor Mordecai Lee. "Day after day, issue after issue hes clawed his way back into political viability."

Next Sunday, Walker begins a third act as he launches a re-election campaign in which he faces a growing list of Democratic challengers. And there is some recent evidence public opinion of Walker is sliding backward  an NBC News/Marist poll in August found just 40 percent of voters had a favorable view of Walker and a Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling survey last week found only 43 percent approved of his job performance.

"As I look at his second term, I think Wisconsin families are questioning whose side he's on and if they can trust him," said Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse. "The idea that he had a short, failed run for president, I think he lost a lot of credibility in this state."

Walker declined an interview request for this story.

Walker's campaign manager Joe Fadness said in a statement that "tired attacks from desperate Democrats will continue to fall flat because voters know that our economy is strong, schools are better off and Wisconsin's outlook is bright under Walker's leadership."

Highs and lows

Walker's second term has been pockmarked by controversies: an ongoing FBI investigation into alleged abuse at the state's youth prison, revelations about millions of taxpayer dollars lost at his flagship job-creation agency, and declining quality at the state's veterans homes.

In 2015 the Wisconsin Supreme Court tossed out a John Doe investigation into Walker's recall campaign and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. Those positive developments for Walker were muddied when leaked documents from the investigation detailed how Walker raised millions of undisclosed dollars for a group that acted as a recall campaign hub. The Legislature has since updated the law to permit that.

But Walker can also claim several victories: Wisconsin's unemployment rate has approached an all-time low, the state's bond rating improved due to what one ratings agency described as "conservatively managed budgets," and the state has landed two major manufacturers in German candymaker Haribo and Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn.

In some ways Foxconn, with the potential to create 13,000 jobs and transform the state's economy, is the culmination of Walker's seven years in office. Or, as Republican strategist Brandon Scholz called it: "A grand slam, walk-off home run."

Walker ran in 2010 on a platform to create 250,000 jobs in his first term, a mark the state still hasn't reached. He all but eliminated corporate taxes for manufacturers, curbed the state's environmental regulations and made it harder for labor unions to organize by passing a right-to-work law.

"Governor Walker has continued in the cheerleading role that Tommy Thompson was so noted for  big promoter of the state, big promoter of our resources, big promoter of our industries both in Wisconsin, throughout the country and around the world," Scholz said.

But Democrats are pointing to Foxconn as a potential liability for Walker, particularly with the $3 billion price tag that will be paid for with existing tax dollars that could otherwise go to repairing roads, improving schools or lowering taxes. Democratic strategist Joe Zepecki called the deal a "Hail Mary pass."

"The amount of risk in this deal is off the charts," Zepecki said. "That is problematic at a time when Wisconsinites look at schools and look at roads and feel that theyre worse or the same and theyre not getting any better."

A Marquette poll last week found 54 percent of Milwaukee-area residents think Foxconn will improve the economy, compared with 37 percent who say it won't. Meanwhile 48 percent say the $3 billion price tag is more than what the plant is worth, compared with 38 percent who say it's worth it. The poll was conducted Oct. 9-17 with 1,200 adults and a margin of error of +/-3.5 percentage points.

Poll director Charles Franklin noted the views on Foxconn tracked closely along partisan lines in Democratic Milwaukee and Racine, where the factory will be located, and their Republican suburbs, so it's possible statewide results will be similar. But because the survey was conducted in the area most likely to benefit, the survey could reflect the high-water mark for support.

"Foxconn may not be the big win the governor seems to think it will be for him politically," Franklin said.

The Public Policy Polling survey found statewide 41 percent opposed the Foxconn deal, 34 percent supported it and 26 percent weren't sure. The poll was conducted Oct. 17 and 18 among 1,116 registered voters by phone and online with a margin of error of +/-2.9 percentage points. The Marist/NBC News poll from August on Walker's favorable ratings included 801 registered voters with a +/-3.5 percentage point margin of error.

Campaign promises

Walker has fulfilled many of his campaign promises from 2014, such as more funding for workforce training and college scholarship grants, frozen UW tuition and keeping property taxes on a median home in 2018 lower than they were in 2010.

But he has also fallen short of his promises in some areas. He pledged to freeze technical college tuition and cut income taxes in his second term after cutting them in his first term, but the Legislature removed both proposals from his most recent budget.

He also pledged to "work with the Legislature to come up with long-term funding options for the Transportation Fund." But for the third straight budget he and the Legislature have put off a long-term fix for transportation, opting instead to borrow money and cut or delay projects.

Wisconsin businesses are split on the transportation issue with no consensus on raising fees or the gas tax, which Walker adamantly opposes, said Kurt Bauer, president of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state's largest business group.

"What businesses really like about Gov. Walker is he approaches things the way they are often forced to in their business," Bauer said. "Theyre not dissatisfied with what hes doing, but roads will probably have to be addressed in the next budget."

Scot Ross, executive director of liberal group One Wisconsin Now, said Walker's approach to cutting taxes for businesses and the wealthy while eliminating worker protections such as the prevailing wage for highway contractors are reasons why the state has seen one of the largest declines in the middle class and by one measure ranks last in start-up activity.

"Scott Walker is going to have an ongoing challenge in that Wisconsin remains so divided in two," Ross said.

Walker can still point to the fact that he has already won three statewide elections -- handily.

Ultimately Walker's second term performance might not matter as much to voters weighing whether to give him a third term as the national political climate a year from now, when feelings about Republican President Donald Trump or the economy could seep into local elections.

Other national or state issues could also have an impact. And whoever emerges from the ensemble to play the Democrats' leading role as challenger could also shape the debate, said UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden.

"What Walkers strengths and weaknesses are will depend on who the alternative is," Burden said.
- Jubilee party secretary general Raphael Tuju has dismissed the change of the NASA alliance into a resistance movement

- Tuju who was speaking during an interview said that the call for a resistance movement was a play on words that should not be taken seriously

- He compared the resistance movement to the now defunct National Resistance Army (NRA)of Uganda that waged war against the then president, Milton Obote

- On Wednesday, October 25, Raila made a declaration that his supporters would boycott the poll and later join a resistance movement to liberate the country

Jubilee party's secretary general Raphael Tuju has dismissed the newly formed NASA Resistance Movement (NRM as a farce.

READ ALSO: NASA to be changed into a resistance movement - Raila

Speaking during a televised address, Tuju said that the call for a resistance movement was a harmless play with words by NASA leaders that would not have a lasting effect.

"I cannot take the resistance movement seriously, I think it was a harmless play on words by the leaders when they called for the resistance," Tuju told

He compared the NASA resistance movement to the now defunct National Resistance Army (NRA) in Uganda that was opposed to the rule of the then president, Milton Obote.

NASA leader Raila Odinga in a past photo:Nation

The resistance movement was called for by Raila Odinga in what he termed as the step towards liberating Kenya from the throes of Jubilee leadership.

READ ALSO: Two shot dead as Bungoma demonstrations threaten to spill over

Raila said that he will be mobilising his supporters to use civil defiance and boycott commodities of government-allied companies.

The NASA leader also told his supporters not to participate in the Thursday, October 26 repeat presidential election in any way and to stay away from polling stations.

He told them to deny the bloodthirsty regime the chance to massacre people by staying at home and not to participate in demonstrations during the election day as he had earlier directed.

READ ALSO: Murkomen's response after fist fight with NASA MP at city hotel is just classic

The election which has been completed in most constiuencies was marred by strikingly low voter turnout and pockets of violence in NASA strongholds.

Kibera residents engage police in an attempt to disrupt voting on TUKO TV:

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Last week, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine recorded 3,266 violations of the ceasefire in Donbas.

Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Alexander Hug said this at a briefing on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Last week, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine recorded 3,266 violations of the ceasefire regime," Hug said.

He added that the OSCE SMM monitors had spotted weapons located in violation of the appropriate withdrawal lines 86 times in last week: 32 times in government-controlled areas and 54 times in the militant-controlled areas of Donbas.

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Russian-backed militants launched 19 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in ATO area in Donbas in last day.

This is reported by the ATO press center.

"Over the past day, illegal armed groups violated the ceasefire 19 times. The Ukrainian Armed Forces opened fire on the enemy 16 times. As a result of the fighting, two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded," the statement reads.

The tensest situation was observed in Mariupol direction, where illegal armed formations used 122mm artillery, 82mm mortars and machine guns to shell Ukrainian positions near Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol). In addition, ATO troops came under mortar fire outside Vodiane (16km north-west of Donetsk) and grenade launcher fire outside Marinka (35 km south-west of Donetsk).

In Donetsk direction, Russian-backed militants launched attacks on Ukrainian strongholds near Zaitseve (67km north-north-east of Donetsk) and industrial area of Avdiivka (18km north of Donetsk).

In Luhansk direction, the enemy used weapons on infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns on Ukrainian positions near Trokhizbenka (33km north-west of Luhansk).

ol
Two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded as a result of military hostilities in ATO area in eastern Ukraine over the past day.

Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Spokesperson for ATO Andriy Lysenko said this at a press briefing, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

As a result of combat actions, no Ukrainians soldiers were killed, but two servicepersons were wounded and immediately sent to medical establishments, Lysenko said.

As noted, one soldier was wounded near Avdiivka (18km north of Donetsk) and another one near Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol).

ol
Engie, the French multinational energy group, is ready to assist Ukraine in developing its gas and oil sector.

According to the governments press service, this agreement was achieved during a meeting of Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman with Engie CEO Isabelle Kocher.

The oil and gas sector was completely closed for a long time (for investors and partner companies). After changing the state policy and introducing new technological and innovative solutions, we managed to change the trend. And our task today is to turn Ukraine from an importing country to an energy independent country. To do this, we need to be more open, change the regulatory system, and attract investments and technology, said Groysman.

He welcomed the Engies decision to assist Ukraine in developing its oil and gas sector, and agreed with Isabelle Kocher that ensuring the state's own energy resources is the issue of energy security.

Representatives of the French company confirmed their readiness to contribute to the development of the oil and gas sector in Ukraine.

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The Health Ministry of Ukraine in cooperation with the EBRD and the international experts elaborates a step-by-step plan for changes in registration of pharmaceuticals.

This is reported by the press service of the Health Ministry of Ukraine.

"October 27, the Health Ministry held a regular meeting with representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and international experts to discuss the reform of the system of registration of pharmaceuticals in Ukraine. The parties discussed cooperation in the development of the concept, which should not only improve the procedure for registration of pharmaceuticals but also to provide specific steps for the gradual development of the entire system of regulation of the pharmaceutical sector because of its comprehensive transformation," the statement reads.

ol
RACINE  Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Friday afternoon that Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian influence in the 2016 presidential campaign, should step down.

He should resign, said Johnson, who is chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. I take the position that we shouldnt have a special counsel at this time. We should let the (congressional) committees do their work.

In speaking to The Journal Times Editorial Board on Friday, Johnson said Mueller should resign because of the FBIs handling of Hillary Clintons private email server along with recent information regarding sales of U.S. uranium while Mueller was FBI director.

Johnson said the Clinton investigation by the FBI was not an investigation by the FBI designed to get the truth leading to an indictment and a conviction.

It was an investigation, primarily to exonerate, Johnson said. (Mueller is) too close to Comey, referring to then-FBI Director James Comey.

Johnson said the Mueller investigation is impeding the Senate and House investigations into the Russian influence in the presidential election.

You try to subpoena things, you ask for records and they go Cant, we got an active investigation going. We dont want to compromise our prosecution,  Johnson said. What we want to do is let those committees, as rapidly as possible, do a full investigation and issue a report to determine if further action is needed.

He added the Office of Special Counsel was investigating Comey for violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits certain federal employees from engaging in political activity.

The Office of Special Counsel was investigating Hatch Act violations of James Comey; he got fired, so they stopped, Johnson said. Prior to that, they deposed two of his primary deputies that were really open and forthright, I just cant get the unredacted versions of that.

Uranium sale

A more recent story in The Hill newspaper, which alleges in 2010 the FBI was investigating Russian nuclear industry officials receiving bribes and other forms of money to be able to buy U.S. uranium, is another reason for Mueller to resign .

During that time in 2010, while Clinton was secretary of state, Johnson said the Clinton Foundation was receiving massive amounts of money  by these Russian interests as theyre trying to obtain 20 percent of our U.S. uranium.

The FBI had knowledge of that, why werent they screaming? Johnson said. To me it sounds like (Mueller) has some serious, serious conflicts of interest, and I think he ought to be resigning as special counsel right now.
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko held a meeting with Special Representative of the U.S. President for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker.

This is reported by the press service of the Head of State.

The Ukrainian President expressed gratitude to the Special Representative of the U.S. President for the efforts aimed to restore peace and stability in Donbas and terminate Russian aggression against Ukraine. The parties coordinated further steps to strengthen the international presence in Donbas, both in the framework of the efforts of the Normandy format and on the international platforms, primarily the UN Security Council, the statement reads.

The interlocutors discussed the security situation in the region and noted the fundamental importance of ensuring proper implementation of the Minsk agreements, primarily in terms of consolidation of permanent and comprehensive ceasefire, withdrawal of Russian occupying forces and equipment from Ukraine.

In addition, the parties paid considerable attention to the issue of the release of hostages illegally detained in the occupied territory and in Russian prisons. As noted, Kurt Volker highly appreciated the approval of the law of Ukraine on creating the necessary conditions for a peaceful settlement of the situation in certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. It was noted that the given decision was a clear signal to confirm the true commitment of the Ukrainian side to a peaceful settlement.

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Ukraine was completely liberated from the Nazi invaders as a result of conduct of the East Carpathian Strategic Offensive on October 28, 1944.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko stated this in his address to the Ukrainian people on the occasion of the 73rd anniversary of liberation of Ukraine from the Nazi invaders, the press service of the Head of State reports.

"Today we celebrate a particularly memorable event: Ukraine was finally liberated from the Nazi invaders as a result of the successful East Carpathian Strategic Offensive on October 28, 1944," Poroshenko stated.

He reminded that about 9 million Ukrainians were killed during the World War II.

"Honoring the winners, we become particularly cognizant of the power of great love for our native land, which makes us invincible," the President added.

In turn, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman noted in his address that the World War II had inflicted unprecedented financial, resource and economic losses, and, most importantly, claimed millions of lives of Ukrainians and representatives of other peoples, the Government portal reports.

"Today we mark the 73rd anniversary of liberation from the Nazi invaders. On October 28, 1944, the military formations of the First and the Fourth Ukrainian Fronts reached the modern border of Ukraine in the area of Uzhgorod city, displacing the last occupying forces from the territory of our country," Groysman stated.

ol
Prime Minister Hun Sen has congratulated Chinese President Xi Jinping on his reelection as Communist Party secretary general amid a crackdown on dissent in Cambodia that has received the vocal support of Beijing.



In a letter dated October 25, Hun Sen told Xi that his reelection reflects that the central committee members of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people have renewed their resolute and full confidence in your leadership in the new era.



I strongly believe that the long-lasting friendship and cooperation between the Cambodian Peoples Party and Communist Party of China will be further strengthened and developed for the mutual benefit of our two nations and people, he wrote.



Phay Siphan, government spokesman, said: We believe good relations between Cambodia and China on the economy will surely grow, adding that no-one can separate Cambodia from China or China from Cambodia and any obstacles Cambodia faces are also Chinas.



Xi told Hun Sen during a meeting in May that the countrys relations were experiencing sound development momentum and would seek to strengthen relations further ahead of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year.



Last October Xi visited Cambodia and signed more than 30 agreements related to development, investment and trade, including loans worth about $237 million and the cancellation of $89 million of Cambodian debt.



In an unusual move, Hun Sen in April held a press conference to promote a book written in Khmer that lauds Xis leadership style.



Trade between the two countries rose to $4.8 billion last year, up by about $200 million from 2015.



Chheang Vannarith, a visiting fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said the personal relationship between Hun Sen and Xi was special and deep.



They both will advance the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership and economic partnership. In the eyes of the ruling elites, China is the most important strategic and economic partner. China will be the counterbalancing force against the U.S.s increasing pressure on Cambodia, he said.



China has publicly offered its full support to Hun Sens government as it carries out a crackdown on the political opposition, independent media outlets and NGOs it sees as a threat ahead of next years general election.



Mu Sochua, deputy leader of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, who fled the country after receiving a tip-off that she was to be arrested on trumped up charges, said the two ruling parties had similar communist principles.



Yang Kim Eng, head of the Peoples Center for Development and Peace, said China was unconcerned about encouraging democratic development. China cooperates with the countries that can give it economic benefits, he said.
A new documentary film about the daily lives of Cambodias indigenous minority groups launched last month detailing the struggles of the Khmer Loeu to cope with a shortfall of natural resources.



The 10-minute documentary, titled Our Tribe - Our Heritage, and funded by Save Cambodias Wildlife (SCW), documents the lives of four Cambodian hill tribes: the Brao, Kravet, Kreung and Khmer-Lao.

Cambodia is home to an estimated 300 distinct indigenous peoples from 24 ethnic minority groups, equal to about 2 percent of the countrys population.



Given the umbrella name Khmer Loeu, the majority of indigenous Cambodians live in rural areas in Ratanakkiri, Mondulkiri, Stung Treng, Kratie, Preah Vihear and Kampong Thom provinces.



As development in Cambodia continues apace, the Khmer Loeu face existential challenges to their way of life, as the forests they have depended on for centuries are decimated by agricultural and urban expansion.

Chan Vichet, project manager at SCW, said the loss of Cambodias forests not only impacted on the groups basic survival needs, but was also changing their culture and belief systems.



They are losing their forest and it can affect their daily lives and culture. That is why SCW studied them and what the impacts are, he said.



They are losing their forest to illegal logging. It makes them worry that the spirits which [they believe] are living in the forest are angry. Their chickens will fall ill and their crops will perish.

Many of Cambodias indigenous communities practice a form of animism, believing that the spirits of the forest watch over them, and have been subjugated historically by Cambodias lowland civilizations.



The Brao were forced into slavery by the Angkorian Empire, influencing how they farm the land and fish today. The Kravet are known for their intricate handicrafts, chin tattoos, teeth filing and harvest festival.



Like the Kravet, the Kreung is a Brao sub-group and well-known for their traditional weaving of krama scarves, traditional plate making and foraging prowess.



The Khmer-Lao, who migrated to Cambodia hundreds of years ago from the north, have survived largely by fishing and farming in the Mekong basin. With the construction of several large hydropower projects along the rivers tributaries, the Khmer-Laos way of life is threatened.



We used to live in harmony along the river and our community depended on fishing. We do farming during the rainy season and fishing as a family during the dry season in-line with the Khmer-Lao tradition, said Va Kham Phai, 64, a Khmer-Lao activist in Sre Pok Thom village, Ratanakkiri province.



Kham Phai had traveled from Ratanakkiri in Cambodias far northeast to Phnom Penh for the launch of the documentary and to express opposition to the loss of forestland and threats to traditional ways of life, such as the construction of the Lower Sesan II dam in Stung Treng province.

Yun Lorang, coordinator of the Cambodia Indigenous Peoples Alliance, said that economic development was pushing indigenous groups away from traditional ways of life.



When land and natural resources are affected, so are our identities. Indigenous peoples identities are connected to land, natural resource, forest and rivers, where it is considered sacred to them, he said.



Many indigenous peoples have fallen into debt as their traditional incomes have dried up.



Besides illegal logging, the Lower Sesan II, an $800 million project of the Hydro Power Lower Sesan 2 Company, a joint venture between Cambodias Royal Group, Chinas Hydro Lancang International Energy and EVN International Joint Stock Company, a subsidiary of the Electricity of Vietnam, will have a significant impact on wildlife habitats, as well as taking up 24 percent of the total agricultural land in Sesan District.



The project will also have a severe impact on migratory fish stocks, creating a flooded area of 335 square kilometers, making it harder for the indigenous people to earn their primary and traditional source of income.



More than 9 percent of the fisheries in the entire Mekong River will be lost because of the Lower Sesan II, according to a report by the Proceedings of the U.S. National Academy of Science.



Kham Phai though not directly affected by the dam, said that he cannot generate as much income from fishing as he used to because the rivers flow has changed since the dam was built.



The income from fishing for the upstream was cut off, he said.



Houn Kalip, 60, a Brao community member, reported similar upstream impacts from the Lower Sesan II.



For three years, there was not even a single fish here upstream, he said I can no longer fish. I used to get half to one kilogram of fish per day but now I cannot even get one [fish].



The new offered farmland is far from the village. Villagers cannot earn any income through fishing, or farming. Nothing. So they have to buy it in the market. Kham Phai said.



If [the forests and rivers] are not protected now, it will all be lost in the future he said.
Prominent Washington correspondents discuss the weeks top headlines  including U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillersons recent trip to South Asia and a resumption of refugee admissions to the U.S., though with a stricter vetting process. Join moderator Michael Williams, CBS Radio News contributor, along with panelists Laura Meckler of the Wall Street Journal and Abderrahim Foukara of Al Jazeera Satellite TV this Saturday and Sunday on the Voice of America.
Mozambique is on edge again about a possible return to civil war after 21 years of peace. The former rebel group Renamo says it will no longer honor a 1992 peace deal following small skirmishes between its fighters and government forces. Renamo has long complained that the civil war's victors - the ruling Frelimo party - have rigged elections to hold onto power.



The Mozambican former rebel group Renamo said this week it was pulling out of a 1992 peace deal. The deal ended a 15-year civil war that battered the southern African nation and killed an estimated 1 million people.



On Tuesday, gunmen thought to be with Renamo attacked a police station in central Mozambique, just a day after the groups leader declared the end of the cease-fire.



Renamo has long expressed frustration at being an opposition party. The former anti-communist rebel group has claimed that the ruling party, Frelimo, has rigged elections and has marginalized the opposition.



Britain-based academic Joseph Hanlon has been writing about Mozambique and Southern Africa for three decades. Hanlon saud hes not too concerned about a return to war, primarily because so many things have changed in 21 years.



Its not a return to war because neither side could wage a war. If you go back to the 1990s, Renamo was supported extensively by apartheid South Africa and informally by the United States; they had substantial military capacity. ... Now, Renamo is composed of aging guerrillas who are now in their 50s and 60s and Mozambique opted after the civil war to have a very small military, so it does not have strong military capacity either. So neither side can go back to war," he said.



Researcher Elisabete Azevedo-Harman, from the London-based policy institute Chatham House, said the roots of this latest conflict went back decades and involved the usual suspects: money and power.



Renamo, she said, has been sidelined in politics, partially because of the way the political system was set up. But, she said, the group also never successfully transitioned from guerrilla fighters to political operators, and have lost popular support because of it.



Mozambique's increasing wealth from natural gas, she said, has also been a sore point.



And Renamo feels excluded not just from the political power but also the economic power. And theyve been accusing some ruling party members [of having] political control, but also economic control. And of course if the countrys now rich, they feel theyve been excluded also from this access to the resources of the country, said Azevedo-Herman.



Hanlon said he expected leaders to look to the past to settle todays problem. Maybe, he said, the ruling party should throw money at the problem literally.



A face-saving buyoff is the way out of it. It will happen, but not in the immediate future.  It would be sinecures on government boards, but it would also be cash in suitcases. Thats how the war was settled 21 years ago. It was cash in suitcases, said Hanlon.



Azevedo-Harman proposed a different solution. She said that community leaders and religious leaders should try to hammer out an agreement. After that, she said, they needed to take a hard look at the constitution.



The two main political parties, they should involve these people and engage these people for an immediate dialogue and debate now. But giving them a voice and actually also capacity of deciding, not just the two main parties. Long term, the country needs to be rethinking the constitutional design that they have, the presidential system that doesnt have checks and balances, said Azevedo-Harman.



Both analysts predicted that the current skirmishes may continue, which could have worrying long-term effects. But war, they said, may not yet be on the horizon.
Dozens of people were killed in northern Mali Wednesday by a suicide vehicle bombing inside a camp housing hundreds of former rebels and pro-government fighters, officials said.



Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said the criminal, cowardly and barbaric attack was very clearly an attack on peace.



This attack should not distract us from our will to move forward to promote peace and to act against those who are trying to sabotage the peace process, Diop said during a scheduled meeting on Mali at the U.N. Security Council in New York.



He said those who orchestrated and carried out the attack would be found and prosecuted. The foreign minister added that Mali would observe three days of national mourning.



Diop said the government is determined to honor and implement a 2015 peace agreement meant to stabilize volatile northern Mali.

This agreement is the only framework making it possible to return to peace and stability in Mali, he said.



Witnesses said the blast happened inside the Joint Operational Mechanism base in the city of Gao around 9 a.m. local time, just as hundreds of soldiers began to gather for a meeting.



The head of U.N. peacekeeping, Herve Ladsous told the council as many as 60 people may have been killed.



The base hosts elements of the Malian Armed Forces and members of the Platform and Coordination of Azawad Movements who are to take part in mixed patrols, as called for in the peace agreement.



The camp was created as part of the deal signed by government and loyalist militias in 2015, two years after a French-led military intervention pushed Islamist militants out of power in the north.



A Human Rights Watch report released this week cites attacks on U.N. peacekeepers and occupation of villages by Islamist militants as failures by Malis government to protect citizens in northern and central areas.



Islamist militants have killed dozens of people over the last year in their quest to impose Sharia law, the report said.
Botulism pills. Conspiracy theories. What the government might have known and still won't say about Lee Harvey Oswald.

The release of thousands of records relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy hasn't settled the best-known, real-life whodunit in American history. But the record offered riveting details of the way intelligence services operated at the time and are striving to keep some particulars a secret even now.

The Kennedy records really are an emblem of the fight of secrecy against transparency, said Peter Kornbluh, senior analyst at the private National Security Archive research group in Washington. The secureaucrats managed to withhold key documents and keep this long saga of secrecy going.

The 2,800 records released on Thursday night include some that had dribbled out over the years but are getting renewed attention from being in this big batch.

Some highlights:

HOOVER, WORRIED

Just a few hours after Lee Harvey Oswald was killed in Dallas, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover dictated a memo saying the government needed to issue something so we can convince the public that Oswald killed President John F. Kennedy.

The memo was in the latest trove of Kennedy assassination files released late Thursday. The FBI director composed the memo on Nov. 24, 1963  two days after Kennedy was killed and just hours after nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald in the basement of the Dallas police station.

Hoover said that the FBI had an agent at the hospital in hopes of getting a confession from Oswald, but Oswald died before that could happen. Hoover said he and a deputy were concerned about having something issued so we can convince the public that Oswald is the real assassin.



Hoover laments how Kennedy's successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, was considering appointing a presidential commission to investigate the assassination. Hoover said he suggested that the FBI give an investigative report to the attorney general complete with photographs, laboratory work and other evidence. That report, he thought, could be given to Johnson and he could decide whether to make it public.

I felt this was better because there are several aspects which would complicate our foreign relations, Hoover wrote. He said Oswald wrote a letter to the Soviet Embassy in Washington, which the FBI intercepted, read and resealed. Hoover said the letter had been addressed to the Soviet Embassy official in charge of assassinations and similar activities on the part of the Soviet government. To have that drawn into a public hearing would muddy the waters internationally, Hoover wrote.

Besides, Hoover said, the letter was unrelated proof that Oswald committed the murder.

LBJ's THEORY

Everyone has their theories, including even President Lyndon B. Johnson. According to one document released on Thursday, Johnson believed Kennedy was behind the assassination of the South Vietnamese president weeks before his death and that Kennedy's murder was payback, the newly released documents say.

U.S. Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms said in a 1975 deposition that Johnson used to go around saying that the reason (Kennedy) was assassinated was that he had assassinated President (Ngo Dinh) Diem and this was just justice.

Where he got this idea from I don't know, U.S. Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms said in a 1975 deposition.

Diem and his brother were killed on Nov. 2, 1963 after a coup by South Vietnamese generals.

This isn't the first time Johnson's theory has been aired. He was also quoted in Max Holland's book, The Kennedy Assassination Tapes, as saying that Kenney died because of divine retribution.

He murdered Diem and then he got it himself, Johnson reportedly said.

Kennedy's position on Diem's assassination is still debated, said Ken Hughes, a historian at the University of Virginia's Miller Center.

A month before Diem's assassination, the south Vietnamese generals planning the coup told the CIA that they would overthrow the government if they could be assured that American aid would continue and Kennedy told them it would, Hughes said.

But a dispute remains over whether Kennedy insisted that Diem go unharmed or whether the president left it up to the South Vietnamese generals to decide what to do, said Hughes, who is writing a book on the subject.

One of the files that could shed light on that question is a CIA report on the U.S. government's involvement in the Diem coup. The record was supposed to be released Thursday but was among the hundreds that Trump blocked from becoming public.



CASTRO, THE CIA AND A MOBSTER'S MISTRESS

A 1975 document described the CIA's $150,000 offer to have Cuban leader Fidel Castro assassinated  but the mob insisted on taking the job for free.

The underworld murder-for-hire contract was detailed in a summary of a May 1962 CIA briefing for then-Attorney General Robert Kennedy. By then, the Kennedy White House had launched its unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and several assassination attempts against Castro had failed.

At least two efforts to kill Castro were made with CIA-supplied lethal pills and organized crime-made muscle in early 1961, according to the document. The CIA's mob contacts included John Rosselli, a top lieutenant to Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana, who weren't told but guessed the CIA was behind the offer. The pair, later victims of mob hits, said they want no part of any payment  but still, $11,000 in payments were made for expenses.

The mobsters came to the attention of the CIA a year earlier when Giancana asked a CIA intermediary to arrange for putting a listening device in the Las Vegas room of an entertainer he suspected of having an affair with Giancana's mistress. The task was handed off to a private investigator named Arthur Balletti, who put the listening device in a phone in the hotel room. The CIA reportedly did not know of the specific proposed wiretap.

Told later about everything, Kennedy was unhappy, because at that time he felt he was making a very strong drive to try to get after the Mafia.

So his comment was to us that if we were going to get involved with the Mafia, in the future at any time, to make sure you see me first.

The document was made public in 1997 and contained in an Associated Press report at that time.

STRANGE CALL

A British newspaper received an anonymous phone call about big news in the United States 25 minutes before President John F. Kennedy was shot in 1963, one file says.

A batch of 2,800 declassified documents includes a Nov. 26, 1963 memo from the CIA to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover about a call received by the Cambridge News on Nov. 22, the day Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Texas.

The memo from deputy CIA director James Angleton says the caller said the Cambridge News reporter should call the American Embassy in London for some big news, and then hung up. Anna Savva, a current Cambridge News reporter, said Friday there's no record of the call. We have nobody here who knows the name of the person who took the call, she said.

The memo was released by the U.S. National Archives in July.

The phone call to the Cambridge News was first reported decades ago by Kennedy conspiracy theorist Michael Eddowes. In the 1980s, Eddowes, a British lawyer, claimed to have a CIA document mentioning the call. Eddowes, who died in 1992, wrote a book alleging that Kennedy's assassin was not Lee Harvey Oswald but a Soviet impostor who took his identity. As a result of his efforts, the killer's body was exhumed in 1981. An autopsy confirmed that it was Oswald.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad Al Hussein accuses the Syrian government of denying food and medical supplies to hundreds of thousands of civilians besieged in Eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of the capital Damascus.

Eastern Ghouta has been under siege by Syrian Government forces for more than four years. At least 350,000 civilians are trapped there without access to life-saving aid.

UN human rights chief, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein calls the refusal to allow badly needed food and medical supplies to get into the area an outrage. He says shocking images of severely malnourished children that have appeared in recent days indicate the people of Eastern Ghouta are facing a humanitarian emergency.

The High Commissioners spokesman, Rupert Colville, says varied armed groups controlling the area also are interfering with the work of humanitarian organizations. He says clashes between these groups have limited the ability of civilians to move around freely within the region for months.

So, the armed opposition groups are also very much part of the problem," said Colville. "The parties to the conflict must allow the free, regular and unimpeded passage of food and other humanitarian relief and not take actions that would deprive civilians of their right to food and health.

Colville says U.N. aid convoys last reached Eastern Ghouta in late September. However, he adds the Syrian Government only allowed food and other relief to be delivered to 25,000 people in three towns. The U.N.s request to assist other besieged and hard-to-reach areas was refused.

The High Commissioner is reminding all parties that the deliberate starvation of civilians as a method of warfare constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law, and may amount to a crime against humanity and/or a war crime," said Colville.

Human rights chief Zeid is also calling on all parties with influence in the conflict to make it easier for humanitarian workers to gain access to Eastern Ghoutta to alleviate the plight of this desperately needy population.

The High Commissioner did not single out any country by name, but countries that have sway with the Syrian regime and/or with some of the rebel groups include Russia, the United States, Iran and Turkey.
Catalonias deposed President Carles Puigdemont vowed on Saturday to keep fighting for independence after the Spanish central government ordered him to accept his cabinets dismissal.

The Spanish region of Catalonia, which once enjoyed a considerable amount of autonomy, is now under the direct control of Madrid.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dissolved Catalonia's parliament, just hours after the regional body voted Friday in favor of independence from Spain.

WATCH: Spanish official discusses December elections

In addition to dismissing the regional parliament, Rajoy has called for snap Catalan elections on December 21 and has stripped Catalonia's most senior police officials of their powers.

In a pre-recorded statement, Puigdemont said he would continue working to build a free country and that only the regional parliament has the authority to dismiss the Catalan government.

Our will is to continue working to fulfill the democratic mandates and at the same time seek the maximum stability and tranquility, he said.

Inigo Mendez de Vigo, a spokesman for the Spanish government, said Puigdemont and all other Catalonian leaders will be eligible to run in the December election.

We are giving the voice to the Catalans in a legal and free elections, not so-called referendum which is outside the law, he said. So, this is the way of telling the Catalans, if you want to vote, you have the right to vote, do it under the conditions of the law and freely.

WATCH: Spanish official: 'Giving the voice to the Catalans'

The Catalan regional parliament voted for independence from Spain Friday, in a move that was accompanied by applause and embraces between lawmakers present, who sang the Catalan anthem.

The resolution to secede from Spain was drafted and presented by the more radical separatist factions of the regional coalition headed by Puigdemont, and it passed with 70 votes in favor, 10 against and 2 blank votes.

Friday's resolution by the Catalan regional parliament ends a period of uncertainty over Catalan independence that has prevailed since an October 1 referendum on independence that won 90 percent of the vote in a 50 percent voter turnout.

Puigdemont could face a 25-year prison sentence for sedition. The central government already has jailed two separatist leaders and is prosecuting other officials accused of using public resources to support the independence bid.

Immediately following the Spanish senate vote to impose direct rule on Catalonia, the government issued an official bulletin announcing that Puigdemont and his Vice President Oriol Junqueras had ceased to be the heads of the Catalonian regional government.

Spains Senate responded to Catalonia's independence move by approving the application of constitutional article 155, which officially authorizes the central government to suspend Catalan authorities and take over the regions administration.

The turn of events ...has left us with no recourse but the application of constitutional prerogatives to reinstitute the legal order in Catalonia, said Spains senate president.

Rajoy appealed for national calm and called together a special cabinet meeting for later Friday.

"The government will take whatever measures are necessary. We will not allow a group of people to liquidate the country, he told reporters.

Puigdemont, accompanied by other members of the Catalan regional government, lawmakers and hundreds of mayors, crowded onto the steps of the parliament building to address thousands of supporters gathering outside, shouting liberty.

In a short speech, he said, We ourselves must now form our own structures and our own society."

Socialist opposition leader Pedro Sanchez reacted to the Catalan independence move Friday by pledging my partys progressive flag will never join those seeking to take our country over the abyss.

Even regional authorities in the traditionally nationalistic Basque region have been reluctant to support the Catalan cause, despite growing relations between radical separatists in both regions.

World reaction

De Vigo said Europeans do not want any new nationalism, and he pointed out that no foreign nations had yet recognized an independent Catalonia.

We know what in history nationalism has meant to Europe. So, I think it is a very positive reaction, he said.

The United Nations spokesperson urged all sides to seek solutions within the framework of the Spanish constitution and through established political and legal channels.

The European Union Council President Donald Tusk, who has supported Madrids approach to the crisis, said on Twitter he hoped the Spanish government favors force of argument, not argument of force.

European Union President Jean-Claude Juncker echoed the sentiment, saying there isn't room in Europe for other fractures or other cracks. We've had enough of those.

NATO, of which Spain is a member, said in a statement, The Catalonia issue is a domestic matter which should be resolved within Spains constitutional order.

Madrids efforts to keep the country united also have the continued support of the U.S. government. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement,  the United States supports the Spanish governments constitutional measures to keep Spain strong and united.

Russian involvement

Some international support for Catalan independence, however, seems to be coming from Russia, which is giving some recognition to Catalan separatists as reciprocal action for past U.S. and European backing to breakaway former Soviet republics and the controversial independence of Kosovo.

By backing the independence of Kosovo, formed and prosperous countries such as Spain put at risk their own fragile stability, Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week at an international forum in Sochi.

"It's undeniable that Putin is interested in the destabilization and balkanization of Spain," a senior Spanish diplomat told VOA, asking that his name not be used.

The de facto foreign minister of the Russian supported breakaway state of South Osetia, Dimitri Medoev, who is reported to be close to the Kremlin, visited Catalonia this week to set up an interests office in Barcelona to promote bilateral relations in humanitarian and cultural issues."

South Osetia pledged support for the sovereignty of Catalonia following the October 1 referendum.

Rogue states such as Venezuela and North Korea also have expressed support for Catalonian secessionism.
A French court has sentenced Equatorial Guinea's vice-president, Teodorin Obiang, to a three-year suspended jail term Friday for embezzling and laundering his countrys money to acquire luxury properties and other assets in France. Teodorin Obiang is the son of Equatorial Guinea's president, Teodoro Obiang.

Teodorin Obiang was handed a suspended fine of $35 million. The court also ordered that his properties and assets in France be seized. This includes a 101-room, $123-million mansion near the Champs-Elysees, that Equatorial Guinea say is a diplomatic building.

This case is the first to be heard in connection with a lawsuit filed by anti-corruption NGOs Transparency International and Sherpha against the leaders of Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, accusing them of corruption, abuse of trust, and pilfering of their respective countries coffers to their own benefit.

Lawyer William Bourdon of Sherpa hailed the French courts decision, telling VOA's French to Africa service, What matters is the fact that the court made an extremely vigorous decision, sent out a message, first a message to kleptocrats, dignitaries who use their power to enrich themselves on one hand and impoverish their population on the other, a message also to the banking system.

As to what to do with the seized assets, Mr. Bourdon rejected any suggestion that they be returned to Equatorial Guinea, saying: The court pointed out that, as it stands, international and French laws do not allow property to be returned to a country like Equatorial Guinea, because that would reward offenders. We are not going to return to the Obiang family what they are accused of embezzling. So we must invent mechanisms that currently do not exist, to return the assets to the people.

Authorities in Equatorial Guinea indicated they are happy with outcome of the lawsuit in Paris. Foreign Minister Agapito Mba Mokuy told French to Africa, Justice did its job. There was no conviction as such. I am happy. It will help a lot in improving the relationship between Equatorial Guinea and France. France has always been a privileged and important partner of Equatorial Guinea. Of course, this was a painful question, and according to the court's decision and the information we have now, the Vice-President was not condemned.

Concerning the 101-room mansion, Mokuy said the International Court of Justice has already resolved the issue. The International Court of Justice has already ruled on this point by saying that it is the seat of our diplomacy, it is the Embassy of Equatorial Guinea, and this embassy has privileges, like all embassies, based on the Vienna Convention. So even if there was a decision today, it will be settled quickly.
Parliamentary elections were held in Iceland Saturday as the nation tries to overcome a political scandal that has provoked anger among voters.

Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, a member of the center-right Independence Party, called the election last month after a member of the three-party center-right coalition resigned over a legal conflict involving his father.

The political landscape on the island has also been rattled by the implication of several politicians and members of the financial elite in the Panama Papers scandal that exposed worldwide tax evasion networks.

The scandals led to the collapse of the government, prompting the second snap parliamentary election in a year.

Iceland recovered spectacularly from the 2008 financial crisis, which forced the country into near bankruptcy. But the scandals have fueled anger and distrust among voters, who are increasingly concerned about inequality and immigration  threatening one of the world's most homogeneous countries.

Polls indicate there may not be a clear winner in Saturday's elections, a development that would trigger complex negotiations to build a coalition government.

Twelve parties are vying for seats in the 63-member parliament, one of the oldest in the world. The ruling center-right Independence Party and the Left Green Movement, which is offering Katrin Jakobsdottir as a candidate for prime minister, are about even in the polls
Indonesia says it has won a two-year court battle that confirms the legality of the governments seizure of a Thai vessel linked to human trafficking and illegal fishing in Indonesian waters.

Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Susi Pudjiastuti said the monumental ruling from a court in Aceh province shows that governments can win in the fight against cross-border crime.

Pudjiastuti said in a statement this week the ministry plans to make the refrigerated cargo ship, Silver Sea 2, part of a museum to teach the public about illegal fishing.

The ship was seized by Indonesias navy in August 2015 amid a crackdown on illegal fishing and after an Associated Press investigation showed its links to human trafficking in the fishing industry.

Trafficked crew

Several months before its capture, the ship and Thai fishing trawlers had abruptly left an island in remote eastern Indonesia, where the Thai fishing industry held trafficked crew members captive, to escape a government crackdown on illegal fishing.

The AP, which was investigating slavery on fishing vessels, subsequently identified where the cargo ship had fled using satellite images from U.S.-based Digital Globe that became evidence in the Indonesian governments court case.

Pudjiastuti said the vessels violations included intentionally turning off electronic systems that allowed the ships location to be tracked by maritime authorities and other vessels. DNA testing was used to prove that the $1.5 million of fish on board was from Indonesian waters.

Satellite tracked

When identified in the Digital Globe satellite images, the Silver Sea 2 was in Papua New Guinea waters, receiving illegal Indonesian catch from two fishing trawlers in a process known as transshipment.

It was captured by an Indonesian navy vessel off the island of Sumatra after returning to Indonesian waters. The Thai captain was detained and a probe launched into suspected human trafficking, transporting illegal fish and off-loading the catch at sea.

The Pulitzer-prize winning AP investigation resulted in the freeing of more than 2,000 men from Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos, more than a dozen arrests, the changing of U.S. legislation, and lawsuits. However, the global seafood industry continues to be plagued by illegal fishing and labor abuses at sea.
Police say they believe sparks from welding equipment caused a deadly blaze in a fireworks factory near Indonesia's capital this week that killed 48 people.

"The witnesses' testimonies and forensic test revealed the cause of the fire was the welding equipment sparks which spread to the fireworks material," said Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono.

The factory owner and the company's operations manager have been detained by police. The whereabouts of the welder was not immediately clear.

The men are suspected of negligence.

Police said the owner is also suspected of employing underage workers at the factory in the manufacturing hub of Tangerang, outside of Jakarta.

Witnesses say a huge explosion was head at the factory about mid-morning Thursday, followed by smaller explosions and an inferno that engulfed the factory, causing its roof to collapse.

Firefighters needed hours to bring the fire under control.

Industrial safety standards in Indonesia are often low and rules poorly enforced. Authorities say the factory had been in operation for about two months.

Officials say the death toll will likely rise as dozens of workers with extensive burns have been admitted to hospitals.
The Iraqi Kurdish parliament will meet Sunday to redistribute powers away from President Massoud Barzani, who is under pressure to step down following an independence referendum last month.

The parliament had already decided to halt Barzani's governmental activities and, on Saturday, said it would read out a statement from Barzani during the upcoming meeting.

Despite securing an overwhelming "yes" vote in the independence referendum, Barzani finds himself in a tough position after Iraqi federal forces moved to reclaim territory near the city of Kirkuk.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called the referendum illegal, and in response he sent his forces to retake control of disputed areas that were in control of the Kurds.

In recent days the government in Iraq's Kurdistan region offered to freeze the referendum results and start dialogue with the central government in Baghdad, but Abadi rejected that offer.

Abadi said in a statement his government would accept only an annulment of the referendum and respect for the country's constitution.

The areas retaken by Iraqi forces were mostly under Baghdad's control in 2014, when Islamic State militants swept into the region. Kurdish peshmerga fighters and coalition forces recaptured the land, and the Kurdistan region has since held them.

The Iraqi military and the Kurdish minority had been clashing for several weeks in mostly low-level firefights until Friday, when they agreed to a cease-fire, and Kurdish forces abandoned the land they held, largely without resistance.

During a briefing Friday at the Pentagon, Joint Staff Director Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie Jr. told reporters the U.S. believes "a unified Iraq is the only way to go forward."

"We're not helping anyone attack anyone else inside Iraq, either the Kurds or the Iraqis," he said.
Italian prosecutors will not accept as evidence a DNA test that could exonerate an Eritrean man accused of smuggling thousands of Africans to Italy.

Its the latest setback for Medhane Tesfamariam Berhe, whose trial has continued for more than a year, despite mounting evidence that Italian authorities are prosecuting the wrong person.

Berhes lawyer, Michele Calantropo, argued during a 45-minute hearing Wednesday that his client is the victim of mistaken identity in a case that has gained worldwide attention.

Berhes mother, Meaza Zerai Weldai, 59, flew this week from Asmara, Eritrea, to complete a DNA test to prove her maternity and establish Berhes identity.

Calantropo contends that the actual person suspected of trafficking migrants shares Berhes first name. He believes Berhe was wrongfully identified in 2016 when he was arrested in Sudan and extradited to Italy.

Mistaken identity

Soon after the extradition, doubts emerged about the identity of the person Italian and British authorities had captured.

Prosecutors released photos of a man who looked nothing like the person they had taken into custody. Instead, the person in the photos resembled Medhane Yehdego Mered, whom many believe to be the real trafficker.

Other discrepancies include:

Numerous documents vouch for Berhes whereabouts in Eritrea at times prosecutors say he was trafficking people in Libya.

Vocal analysis did not produce a match between Berhe and a conversation that authorities wiretapped with the suspected smuggler in 2014.

Individuals smuggled by Mered say Berhe is not the same person.

Even Mereds wife, Lidya Tesfu, who lives in Sweden, says authorities have the wrong man. Tesfu did not immediately respond to a request for comment from VOA.

In July, The New Yorker reported that it had talked by phone to Mered, who confirmed his involvement with trafficking and expressed amazement at the incompetence of European authorities. These European governments, their technology is so good, but they know nothing, he told the magazine.

Prosecutors block evidence

The Italian investigators prosecuting the case would not accept the new DNA test as evidence in Berhes trial, blocking its admission. In Italy, both the prosecution and defense must agree to admit evidence that emerges outside of an investigation.

We are basing our legal proceedings on other data, not on DNA, Prosecutor Annamaria Picozzi said in court this week, according to The Guardian.

Lead prosecutor Calogero Ferrara did not respond to VOAs email or phone requests for an interview.

The sister of the man being held in custody, Hiwet Tesfamariam Berhe, believes this is a miscarriage of justice.

I dont understand it. In a country where there is democracy, where there is justice, they violated my brothers rights. And they kept him for more than a year for something he has no knowledge of and to say that we have human rights, puffing out their chest and claim that there is human rights? I dont know where human rights are, she told VOA by telephone from Norway, speaking in Tigrigna.

The next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 9, a year and a half after authorities extradited Berhe. Despite failing to produce evidence linking Berhe to the crimes he is accused of committing, prosecutors show no signs of giving up the case.

Instead of playing with one poor, innocent kids life and time, why dont they really find the people who are really committing these things. They are using us as a way to buy time because they know the truth, Berhes sister said.
Kenyans who boycotted a repeat presidential election voiced relief Saturday after authorities indefinitely delayed further attempts to hold the vote in some opposition areas because of the risk of violence.

But while the election boards decision stemmed the prospect of more clashes, it also posed a new question: Can President Uhuru Kenyatta be declared winner of a vote in which ballots were not cast in 20 of Kenyas 290 constituencies?

Two days after polling in the rest of the country, voting had been set to take place in four counties where residents blocked roads and clashed with police as part of an opposition boycott. The board ditched the plan late Friday.

Im happy because we need peace, we are tired of being brutally killed by the police, said Henry Kahango, a father of three, in the western city of Kisumu.

Police officials have said repeatedly that their response to the political unrest is proportionate.

Kenyatta leading vote count

Kenyatta has won more than 97 percent of votes counted so far, according to a local media tally. But with turnout estimated below 35 percent and the country deeply divided, his hopes for a decisive mandate to lead east Africas richest economy have been quashed.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga pulled out of the contest, a rerun called after Augusts election was annulled by the Supreme Court over procedural irregularities. He said the contest against Kenyatta was not going to be fair.

Odinga won 44.7 percent of the vote then, on a turnout of nearly 80 percent. In Thursdays vote, Kenyatta faced six minor candidates, none of whom won more than 1 percent in August.

Deputy president William Ruto, Kenyattas running mate sought Saturday to declare victory and discount the opposition: Evidently it doesnt matter how powerful/popular one or their party imagines to be, the repeat elections confirm the PEOPLE ARE SUPREME, he tweeted.

Legal challenge

The first legal challenge came less than 24 hours after Thursdays vote, when an activist filed a case seeking to nullify the election, which the opposition rejected as a sham.

Neither of the two main parties, nor the election board had any appearances scheduled Saturday, leaving the country playing a waiting game as votes are counted.

If the expected legal challenges fail to clear a path out of the crisis, including a possible order for another rerun, the result will be the continuation of a protracted and economically damaging political stalemate between the Kenyatta and Odinga camps.

Nation polarized

The electoral saga is polarizing the nation and slowing growth in what has been one of Africas most vibrant economies, as well as a regional trade hub and a powerful security ally for Western nations.

A decade ago, 1,200 Kenyans were killed in violence after a disputed poll. Anger at police is flaring in areas with strong opposition support in western counties, Nairobi slums and the coastal city of Mombasa.

Violence has killed at least five people since Thursdays vote. People died from gunshot wounds and beatings by police, according to hospital staff.

In the aftermath of the August election, at least 45 people died during a police crackdown on opposition supporters, according to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

On Friday evening in the Nairobi slum of Kawangware, a Reuters witness saw nearly 100 youths armed with machetes in red T-shirts, the color of the ruling party, as a group of opposition supporters clashed with police.
Kenyan police used tear gas Saturday to disperse election protesters in the impoverished Nairobi district of Kawangware, one day after a fire burned hundreds of businesses, and after men armed with machetes and sticks looted stores and homes.

Young men, many of whom back opposition leader Raila Odinga, heckled police and ran for cover to escape the gas. Of the violence, Odinga supporter Paul Maumo said, "I don't see this ending soon," and charged the national election commission of orchestrating a fraudulent vote.

Friday's violence was sparked by a rumor that the Mungiki, a Kikuyu tribal militia, had entered the area. The Mungiki are known for decapitating and castrating victims and were blamed for hundreds of deaths in 2007. Within minutes of their rumored arrival, the men, already angry over Kenya's divisive election, grabbed weapons to defend their territory. One man was beaten to death.

Election commission chief Wafula Chebukata said he would give an update Sunday "on the way forward" in some opposition areas where voting in last Thursday's presidential election had not occurred because of security problems.

The commission postponed voting in those areas Thursday and put it off indefinitely late Friday, citing threats to electoral staff. No new date has been announced.

The commission is urging patience and calm as it tallies the results of Thursday's rerun presidential election. But some feared the low turnout  just 35 percent, compared with nearly 80 percent in the previous poll in August  might undercut the credibility of the results.

The chief of Kenya's electoral commission said 6.5 million voters, about one-third of all registered voters, cast ballots in Thursday's election.

Opposition leader Odinga told his supporters to boycott the vote, and some polling stations looked like ghost towns. Others had lines, but they were significantly shorter than lines that formed during the August election.

As of midafternoon Friday, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission said it had received the majority of official polling station forms and official constituency forms from the field, but had yet to announce any vote count.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is making his second attempt at re-election. The Supreme Court nullified his victory in the August 8 election, ruling that the electoral commission had not followed electoral law and the constitution.

Odinga called for several members of the commission to step down and for the election to be postponed beyond the 60-day deadline announced by the court.

The opposition has not said whether it plans to file a legal challenge to the results of Thursday's election.

Odinga told supporters he would give further "instructions" on Monday.

VOA's Jill Craig in Nairobi and Mohammed Yusef contributed to this report.
The U.N. childrens fund warns potentially life-threatening malnutrition is soaring among Rohingya refugee children who have fled to Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh to escape violence and abuse in Myanmar.

The U.N. childrens fund does not know the extent of acute malnutrition among Rohingya child refugees. So, UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado says a nutrition survey is underway that will provide vital data when it is completed in November.

What we already know is that the combination of malnutrition, sanitary conditions, and disease in the refugee settlements, is potentially catastrophic for children," said Mercado.

More than 600,000 Rohingya refugees have arrived in Coxs Bazar since August 25 to escape violence and persecution in Myanmars Northern Rakhine State. Children comprise nearly 60 percent of the refugees.

Mercado says UNICEF screened several hundred children who were stuck at the border during the mass influx in mid-October. She says dozens of children were found to be severely acutely malnourished and in need of immediate life-saving treatment.

She says screening conducted by Doctors Without Borders found 14 cases of the worst form of malnutrition among 103 children.

This is an extremely small number of children, so these numbers are not representative," said Mercado. "But, what they do tell us is that at least some of the children are close to death by the time they make it across the border.

UNICEF spokeswoman Mercado says the spread of infectious diseases is also of concern. She notes measles cases have been reported among newly arrived children as well as those who have been living in Coxs Bazar for some time.

She says the risk of diarrheal disease and dysentery is exceptionally high in the overcrowded, unsanitary conditions in which the children live.
The U.S. defense secretary says the U.S. will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea.

Jim Mattis said Saturday in Seoul that the Norths aggressive nuclear and missile development programs are undermining the isolated nations security instead of securing it.

Mattis warned the North that its military is no match for the military might of the U.S. and South Korea alliance.

Make no mistake, Mattis said, any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming.

The secretary said once again as he as said all week on his Asian trip that diplomacy is the preferred way of dealing with North Korea.

Mattis and General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, held annual consultations with South Korean defense officials Saturday, marking the first time the Security Consultative Meeting has been held since the inauguration of South Korea President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump.

On Friday, Mattis met with President Moon and spoke to U.S. and South Korean troops at the Panmunjom truce village where South Korea meets North Korea.

The secretarys Asian trip has included stops in Thailand and the Philippines.
Myanmar police said Saturday they have detained two foreign journalists who are employed by Turkish state media for flying a drone over parliament grounds in the capital of Nay Pyi Taw.

Their detention comes amid heightened tension between Myanmar and Turkey, which has criticized the Southeast Asian country for its treatment of the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused Myanmar in September of committing genocide against the Rohingya, a charge Myanmar denies.

The journalists, who work for Turkey's state broadcaster TRT, have been identified as Lau Hon Meng from Singapore and Mok Choy Lin from Malaysia. The pair, who were arrested Friday, was working with noted Myanmar journalist Aung Naing Soe. Local media reports said authorities searched Aung Naing Soe's home in Yangon Friday night.

Police said they expected to get court permission to detain the two journalists for up to 15 days while they prepare to charge them for bringing the drone into the country without permission, a violation that could result in a maximum three-year jail sentence.

Since August 25, more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled the majority-Buddhist Myanmar for neighboring Bangladesh, when Myanmar's security forces began targeting the Rohingya in response to Rohingya militant attacks on police stations.

Several other journalists have been arrested in Myanmar this year, triggering warnings from rights groups saying progress made toward press freedom since the end of military rule risks being reversed on the watch of national leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
North Korea sent back a South Korean fishing boat and its crew that Pyongyang says were detained for crossing the eastern sea border between the rivals.

While the Norths state media said the decision was based on humanitarian grounds, experts said it wasnt clear whether the repatriation reflected intentions to improve relations with the South amid heightened animosity over Pyongyangs expanding nuclear program.



The boats 10 crew members included not only South Koreans, but also three Vietnamese fishermen, which might have influenced the Norths decision for a quick repatriation, said Hong Min, an analyst at Seouls Korea Institute for National Unification.

Fishermen questioned

Hours after announcing the repatriation plans through the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea sent back the boat and fishermen in designated waters off the peninsulas eastern coast Friday evening. The fishermen, who arrived at the South Korean port of Sokcho late Friday, appeared to be in good health, a South Korean coast guard official said.



The fishermen will be questioned by South Korean authorities over the circumstances of their detention and their experience in the North, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity citing office rules. The fishermen didnt leave the ship as officials searched the vessel for nearly two hours in Sokcho before they were escorted to another port in nearby Uljin, where they might be questioned.



KCNA said the South Korean boat, 391 Hungjin, was captured at dawn Saturday after it illegally intruded into North Korean waters. The crewmen deliberately entered North Korean waters for fishing, but honestly admitted their offence, repeatedly apologizing and asking for leniency, the agency said.

South Korea looking for boat



Earlier Friday, Baik Tae-hyun, spokesman of South Koreas Unification Ministry, said maritime police had been searching for the boat after it was reported missing. He refused to say whether the South thought the boat had intruded into North Korean waters before the Norths announcement.



Its fortunate that our fishing boat and fishermen are being sent back, said Baik, who added that it was likely the first time Pyongyang used its state media to inform Seoul of a decision to repatriate South Koreans.



The Koreas, which havent held formal talks in nearly two years, have relied on media announcements to communicate since February last year, when the North declared to end all contact over direct communication lines between the countries.



Pyongyang was angry over Seouls decision to pull South Korean companies out of an industrial park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, the last remaining major symbol of cooperation between the rivals. That move followed the Norths fourth nuclear test in January 2016 and a subsequent long-range rocket launch.
China's increasingly icy posture is thrusting Russia forward as North Korea's preferred diplomatic partner, forcing the Trump administration to turn to Moscow for help in isolating the rogue, nuclear-armed nation.

Beijing's close ties to Pyongyang have been strained since leader Kim Jong Un ordered the 2013 execution of his uncle who had been the countries chief liaison. Since then, the allies once said to be as close as lips and teeth have moved further apart over China's adoption of U.N. sanctions designed to starve North Korea of revenue for its nuclear and missile programs.

But China isnt North Koreas only traditionally friendly neighbor. And for the United States, Russia's increased importance comes at an uncomfortable time. The State Department on Friday warned countries and companies around the world they risk being blacklisted if they do business with dozens of Russian firms. Investigations also continue into allegations Russia interfered in last year's U.S. presidential election.

Russia could play a useful diplomatic role, Joseph Yun, the U.S. envoy to North Korea, said in an Associated Press interview. If Russia delivers a unified message with the U.S., China, South Korea and Japan that the U.S. is not interested in regime change but rather we want to resolve the WMD issue, they can help better than anyone else to convince them of that.

Yun said he and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson want Moscow to support the international pressure campaign against North Korea by implementing U.N sanctions, and to urge the isolated, often inscrutable government to engage in diplomatic efforts. Washington also wants to prevent transfers of weapons technology, amid disputed assessments that North Korea may have acquired a high-performance missile engine through illicit networks in Russia or Ukraine.

Like China, Russia has urged a peaceful resolution as Kim and President Donald Trump trade personal insults and threats of war. CIA Director Mike Pompeo recently said Pyongyang is only months away from a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike the United States, a timeline that has raised American alarm and escalated fears of a resumption of the 1950-53 Korean War.

In the meantime, Russia has cast itself as a potential go-between.

Choe Son-hui, director-general of the North America bureau at North Koreas Foreign Ministry, has visited Moscow twice in the past month  most recently to attend a nonproliferation conference where she spoke on a panel alongside a nongovernmental American expert and a senior Russian diplomat. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov opened the event. Choe also met with Russias ambassador to North Korea in Pyongyang last month.

They seem to be communicating, which is good, Yun said.

Suzanne DiMaggio, the American expert who sat on the panel with Choe, said: If you look at all the major players in this crisis, the only one with a working relationship with Pyongyang is Moscow.

Moscow appears to be positioning itself to play an intermediary role, she said. Whether thats looked upon favorably by the U.S. administration remains to be seen.

Choe told the conference that North Korea wants to develop its nuclear and missile capabilities until they reach a balance of power with the United States. But DiMaggio said it was also apparent the North Koreans want to keep channels of communication open.

Thats where Russia could come in. It has participated in past nuclear diplomacy and was among six nations involved in aid-for-disarmament talks that collapsed almost a decade ago.

While the Norths ties with China have slumped, relations with Russia remain comparatively smooth. Although Russia, too, has endorsed U.N. sanctions, it maintains fraternal ties with North Korea dating back to when the Soviet Union trained and supported Kim Il Sung, who later founded North Korea. The U.S.S.R. then provided economic and military assistance through the Cold War.

Russias influence goes only so far, however. Its commerce with the North is minimal compared to China, which accounts for 90 percent of North Korea's external trade and has agreed to cutting off crucial imports of coal, iron ore and textiles. Such actions prompted rare North Korean criticism of China in state media this year.

China doesnt want war. Nor does Russia. And Trumps repeated threats of military action have put him at odds with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who advocates dialogue. Last week, Putin warned: North Korea should not be backed into a corner.

Trump responded this week by criticizing Russias level of cooperation, saying it has hurt U.S. efforts while China had helped. With improved U.S.-Russian relations, Trump told Fox Business Network, I think that North Korean situation would be easier settled.

Putins spokesman told the AP that Putin sees things similarly. Better ties could help crises including North Korea, Dmitry Peskov said.

So far, Moscow hasnt threatened to stymie coordinated efforts over separate gripes with Washington. But as relations sours  involving even staff eliminations at each other's diplomatic offices  its unclear if they can continue compartmentalizing their cooperation. One bone of contention concerns the North Korean laborers in Russia that send significant money back to their government.

A larger question is how Russia might bridge the U.S.-North Korean divide. Both reject Chinese and Russian proposals for North Korea to stop nuclear and missile tests if the U.S. and South Korea abandon joint military exercises.

H.R. McMaster, Trumps national security adviser, also recently addressed Russias importance with North Korea, saying it maintained considerable influence. At a security forum last week, he urged Moscow to help convince Kim Jong Un and his regime to move toward denuclearization of the peninsula as really a last chance to avoid severe consequences.

Andrei Lankov, a veteran Russian scholar of Korean policy at Kookmin University in Seoul, said Moscow wants to avoid a conflict and reinforce its prestige as an international player.

Russia is a status quo power when it comes to the Koreas, and the war is its worst nightmare, he said.
At least 20 people, including a Somali politician, were killed Saturday in a pair of car bomb explosions in Somalia's capital, two weeks after a huge bomb killed more than 350 people in the city.

Madobe Nunow, interior minister of Southwest state in Somalia, was among the dead, officials said. More than 40 people were injured in the two explosions in Mogadishu.

The first blast occurred at the popular Nasa Hablod Two hotel, which al-Shabab gunmen stormed after detonating a car filled with explosives at the hotel's gate.

Somali officials said at least three gunmen were still inside, exchanging gunfire with security forces.

WATCH: Two Explosions Rock Mogadishu

Ayan abdi Ahmed, who was inside the hotel when the car bomb exploded, described the scene to VOA.

"After the bombing at the gate, I saw at least seven armed men dressed as government soldiers entering the hotel. They rushed to the second floor, where officials, including ministers and lawmakers, reside," Ahmed said. "The gunmen were shooting people one by one. I hid in a corner and fled from the hotel.

"It was a scary moment. I am glad I am safe, but a lot of people inside and outside of the hotel were killed. ... My driver was wounded and my car was damaged by the explosion," she said.

Ahmed said dozens of people were now trapped inside the hotel.

Reports said Abdinasir Garane Ahmed, a former lawmaker and a police commander, was among those killed at the hotel.

Abdikadir Abdirahman Adam, head of Amin Ambulance, told VOA that the company transported 17 wounded from the scene.

The Nasa Hablod Two hotel is near Somalia's presidential palace and is frequently used by Somali politicians.

The second car bomb exploded near the former parliament building, causing unknown damage.

Al-Shabab militants claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack, saying they had targeted officials inside the hotel.

The attack came exactly two weeks after a huge truck blast killed at least 358 people at a busy Mogadishu intersection.

Somalia's government blamed the militant group for the October 14 attack, although al-Shabab did not claim responsibility for it.
Washington has given a list of 75 Afghan militants to Islamabad in its bid to increase pressure on Pakistan to act against terror groups operating from that country.

"The Haqqani network is on the top of the list, but none of the militants are Pakistanis," Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif told lawmakers on Wednesday, referring to the list.

The list is part of a series of efforts by Washington to move toward the implementation of its new South Asia strategy, announced by President Donald Trump in August, in which countries were put on notice not to tolerate within their borders militant safe havens, which terror groups use to disrupt regional security.

The list of militants was reportedly handed over to Pakistani civil and military leaders by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who, on a trip to the Middle East and South Asia, visited Islamabad on Tuesday to urge Pakistan to deny safe havens to militant groups.

Tillerson on Pakistan

Tillerson told reporters at a news conference in Geneva, the last stop of his five-day, six-nation trip, that he'd conveyed a very clear message to Pakistan.

"Here's what we need for Pakistan to do. We are asking you to do this; we are not demanding anything. You are a sovereign country. You'll decide what you want to do, but understand this is what we think is necessary," Tillerson said. "And if you don't want to do that, don't feel you can do it, we'll adjust our tactics and our strategies to achieve the same objective a different way."

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, however, said many of the Taliban leaders whose names were on the list were now operating as "shadow governors" in neighboring Afghanistan, or were no longer alive.

Kabul and Washington have not yet commented on Asif's remarks. U.S. and Afghan officials have in the past indicated that Afghan Taliban members were enjoying safe havens in Pakistan.

The Haqqani network, a U.S.-designated terrorist group that has been blamed for numerous deadly attacks inside Afghanistan against the U.S.-led NATO forces and the Afghan government, is reportedly based in Miram Shah, a town in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in northern Pakistan.

Concrete steps

While Tillerson's recent move was significant  it was one of the first concrete indications that the Trump administration is taking a tougher line on Pakistan to get it to crack down more robustly on terror  the real significance will depend on how Pakistan complies, analysts said.

"There is good reason to believe that Pakistan will act on this request to an extent. It will want to convince Washington that it is ready to cooperate," Michael Kugelman, a Pakistan analyst at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, told VOA.

"That said, there is also good reason to believe that this list contains some terrorists that Pakistan won't want to go after, particularly high-value Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network leaders that serve as useful assets to the Pakistani security establishment," Kugelman added.

The significance of Tillerson's gesture also depends on how the U.S. will respond if Pakistan does not deliver, he said.

"Would the U.S. try to go after these terrorists with drone strikes? Or might it even send commandos into Pakistan to apprehend them?" Kugelman said.

Tillerson, however, said the U.S. cares more about Pakistan's actions than the country's rhetoric.

"We put our expectations forward in no uncertain terms. We're going to chart our course consistent with what Pakistan not just says they do, but what they actually do," Tillerson said, adding that he had "frank and candid" discussions with leaders in Pakistan.

Peace talks

Following his meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other senior Afghan government officials at Bagram Air Base, close to Kabul, Tillerson said the U.S. would be in Afghanistan for as long as it took and that the Taliban would not achieve a military victory.

"And there are, we believe, moderate voices among the Taliban, voices that do not want to continue to fight forever," Tillerson said in Afghanistan. "There's a place for them in the government if they are ready to come, renouncing terrorism, renouncing violence and being committed to a stable, prosperous Afghanistan."

Pakistan is viewed by many as an influential facilitator in the Afghan peace process.

Following Tillerson's departure from Pakistan, the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad issued a statement highlighting U.S. expectations from Pakistan to help end the violence in Afghanistan.

"The secretary reiterated President Trump's message that Pakistan must increase its efforts to eradicate militants and terrorists operating within the country," the statement read. "To address those concerns, the secretary outlined the United States' new South Asia Strategy and the vital role that Pakistan can play in working with the United States and others to facilitate a peace process in Afghanistan."

Pakistan's Asif, however, said his country's influence on the Afghan Taliban had lately diminished and that the group had found "new sponsors" in the region, a suggestion that the insurgent group has established ties to Iran and Russia.
A trend is emerging in Pakistan in which banned militant groups are jumping into mainstream politics in Pakistan. The Milli Muslim League (MML), a newly launched political party, is considered to be the front organization for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group in Pakistan. It supported an independent candidate in a recent by-election in Peshawar. VOA's Nadeem Yaqub reports.
The once-bipartisan Senate Judiciary Committee investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 election has broken along partisan lines, with the committees top Democrat contacting witnesses independently and asking for a broad swath of new information.

After months of negotiations with Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley stalled, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein sent five letters of her own on Friday to witnesses and companies involved in the probe. The letters were sent to the White House, Facebook, Twitter and President Donald Trumps personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. There is also a letter to Cambridge Analytica, a data firm working for Trumps campaign during the 2016 election.

The inquiries are designed to get more information about whether the Russian meddling was in any way connected with Trumps campaign. Feinstein indicated this week that negotiations had broken down with Grassley, who has also sought to investigate issues surrounding Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The two senators have been talking since the summer about how to handle several witnesses, including whether to subpoena Trumps former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and whether to call Trumps son Donald Trump Jr. for a public hearing.

Both men were involved in a June 2016 campaign meeting with Russians. Trump Jr. spoke to committee staff behind closed doors in September.

As a member of the minority party, Feinstein could have a hard time getting responses. But she is trying anyway, asking the social media companies in particular for a wide range of information, some of which they have already declined to turn over because of privacy concerns. Facebook and Twitter, along with Google, will testify before a panel subcommittee on Tuesday about the Russian meddling.

In the White House letter, Feinstein asks White House counsel Don McGahn for a range of documents related to fired FBI Director James Comey. Going beyond a May request for documents she made with Grassley, which was not answered, Feinstein is asking for several other letters and memos surrounding his firing and about other figures key to the panel's probe.

A release from Feinsteins office said the letters were the first tranche and that additional requests are expected to be sent in the coming weeks.

Grassley has been sending his own letters in the Russia probe, including to Russians and people connected to Trump who were in the June 2016 meeting. Unlike letters sent earlier in the year, they were from Grassley alone and not Feinstein.

Feinstein has also been working on legislation with Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, another Democrat on the committee. The bill hasnt yet been finalized but would potentially would make crystal clear that working with Americas enemies to undermine American elections is a crime, according to Blumenthal.



Blumenthal said Friday that he believes the investigation will continue, and my hope is that we will all eventually come together.



Also Friday, the House intelligence committee announced that it will hold a hearing Nov. 2 with Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign. The hearing is listed as open in a closed space, which a committee spokeswoman said means that it will be closed to press, but a transcript will eventually be released.
BOULDER, Colo. (TNS)  Here in the heart of one of Colorados most expensive cities, Isabel Sanchez bought a mobile home seven years ago for just $6,000. Her four-bedroom bungalow now sits on a lot she rents for $355 a month.

The mobile home park Sanchez and her family live in offers a glimpse of Boulders hippie past. Small houses and trailers, many dating to the 1960s and 70s, sit close together on tree-lined streets. I love the space, I love the location, I love the community here, Sanchez, 55, said recently, relaxing in a blue armchair in her spotless living room.

Affordable neighborhoods like these have become hard to find in Boulder and cities across the country where home prices are soaring. In some metro areas, rising prices are prompting park owners to sell their land to developers, affordable housing advocates say. When the mortgage crisis came about it sort of slowed down, and now its heating up again, said Carolyn Carter, deputy director of the National Consumer Law Center.

So Boulder and a handful of other localities, desperate to hang on to homes middle- and working-class people can afford, have stepped in to buy parks, fix them up, and transfer ownership to residents or to a nonprofit on condition that rents be kept low.

In Oregon, Portlands housing authority financed a deal last year that saved a mobile home park from being sold to a developer. Pitkin County, Colo., is buying a park it intends to set aside for people who work in the area. And Boulder bought a park this summer, with the twin goals of improving its infrastructure and maintaining affordable housing.

Affordable housing advocates say that the best way to preserve mobile home parks is to turn them into co-operatives owned by residents. But in Boulder, land is so valuable  and parks need so many infrastructure upgrades  that it wouldnt be possible for low-income residents to finance the purchase alone.

About 20 million Americans live in manufactured homes  so called because theyre built in a factory, rather than on site  and about two-fifths of those can be found in mobile home parks, mostly in suburbs and exurbs.

Mobile homes are an important source of low-income housing. But homeownership can be precarious for people who live in mobile home parks. Because they dont own the land beneath their houses or trailers, they have to move if the park closes down.

And many mobile homes arent all that mobile. Sanchez, who works at a nonprofit in Denver, says she could probably move her house if she had to because it was built recently. Her daughters house across the street may be a different story. It has sat there for over 40 years, like most of the homes in the park.

Even if a home can be safely moved, its owner may not be able to find an open lot nearby or be able to afford relocation costs, which can run from $5,000 to $10,000, according to Prosperity Now, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit that studies and advocates for policies that help low-income people become more financially secure.

The closure of a mobile home park can create a crisis for residents and for the city or town they live in as dozens of displaced people scramble to find new housing, says Esther Sullivan, a sociologist at the University of Colorado Denver who has studied mobile home parks in Texas and Florida. In her research, she found that city council members who agree to rezone a park often argue that park residents can move into low-income housing elsewhere. But thats not always the case, she said.

The Manufactured Housing Institute, an industry group, said it doesnt appear that parks are closing down more often today than in the past. But in many parts of the country, affordable housing advocates say market conditions make it tempting for park owners to sell to a developer.

Kevin Walker of Northcountry Cooperative Foundation, a Minneapolis nonprofit, says two dynamics are at play in the Twin Cities area. Many parks built in the mid-20th century are falling into disrepair and reaching the end of their useful life. Some owners have deferred maintenance for years on the privately owned roads, sewer and water systems that service their parks, he said. And land prices are rising.

One way to preserve mobile home parks is to give the people who live in them a chance to buy the park themselves at a fair market rate, says Carter of the National Consumer Law Center. A national nonprofit called ROC USA will, with the permission of the park owner, help residents form a co-operative and finance a purchase. There are currently some 200 resident-owned communities in the U.S., according to ROC USA.

At least 19 states have laws on the books that help residents buy a park, Carter says. Some states require park owners to give residents months of advance notice before a park is sold, to notify residents if they request a zoning change for the property, or to allow residents to organize into homeowners associations. Other states will free up money when a park closes to help residents pay their relocation costs or require park owners to chip in.

Such laws are more common in the Northeast than in the South and West, which tend to have a strong tradition of protecting landowners property rights, says Doug Ryan, director of affordable homeownership for Prosperity Now.

Colorado state Sen. John Kefalas, a Democrat, has been trying to pass a law that would make it easier for residents of the states mobile home parks to purchase their communities. His latest iteration, which was defeated in committee this year, would have created tax credits to reward owners who sold to residents.

The manufactured home industry opposed the bill, describing it as intrusive and unnecessary. Kefalas says he plans to try again next year. For now, its technically possible for Colorado mobile home residents to band together to buy the park they live in, he said. Its just never happened.

Colorado cities are asking what they can do, at the local level, to preserve their mobile home parks and keep them affordable. Boulders efforts date to the 1980s, when the city created zoning districts for its four mobile home parks. Boulder County did the same for the four parks adjacent to the city. If owners of the parks want to redevelop them they have to go through the public rezoning process.

Boulder city leaders support letting residents organize to buy the parks they live in but have concluded that such purchases would require at least some city funding.

Pitkin County has preserved four mobile home parks since the 1980s and designated them as housing for local workers, said Patti Clapper, vice chair of the county commission.

Pitkins strategy has been to subdivide the parks, sell the lots to the people living there, and impose deed restrictions to keep them affordable. The efforts to preserve mobile home parks are part of the Pitkin County Housing Authoritys employee housing program, Clapper said, which is funded primarily by a tax on real estate transfers in Aspen.

But that strategy, while it protects residents from eviction, hasnt always kept prices down. Clapper herself lives in a former mobile home park the city bought and subdivided in 1982. The county hasnt limited how much the properties can appreciate, or limited the income of people eligible to live there. The neighborhood now boasts some expensive  even million-dollar  properties.

The Mapleton Mobile Home Park, where Sanchez lives, was bought by the city in the 1990s and then sold to a nonprofit. The city requires rents to be held to a level residents can afford. Rents are higher and rising in other city parks, according to Mary Duvall, CEO of Thistle, the nonprofit that owns the Mapleton Park.

Sanchez says shes been encouraging her friends and family to move to Mapleton. Two of her eight children own property in the park, and her niece lives down the road. Everyone jokes that Im beginning the Sanchez compound!
The Spanish region of Catalonia that once enjoyed a considerable amount of autonomy is now under the direct control of Madrid.

The Spanish prime minister dissolved Catalonias parliament, just hours after the regional body voted Friday in favor of independence from Spain.

In addition to dismissing parliament, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has called for snap Catalan elections Dec. 21 and has stripped Catalonias most senior police officials of their powers.

Resolution to secede

The resolution to secede from Spain was drafted and presented to Catalonias parliament by the more radical separatist factions of the regional coalition headed by Catalonia President Carles Puigdemont. It passed with 70 votes in favor, 10 against, and two blank votes.

WATCH: Fears of Violence as Spain Imposes Direct Rule Following Catalonian Independence Declaration

Spains ruling center-right Popular Party and the mainstream opposition socialists, who hold just under half the seats in the Catalan parliament, boycotted the session.

Spains Senate responded to Catalonias independence move by approving the application of constitutional article 155, which officially authorizes the central government to suspend Catalan authorities and take over the regions administration.

Immediately following the Spanish senate vote to impose direct rule on Catalonia, the government issued an official bulletin announcing that Puigdemont and his Vice President Orio Junqueras were no longer the heads of the Catalonia regional government.

We will not allow a group of people to liquidate the country, said Prime Minister Rajoy.

Catalan leader Puigdemont encouraged supporters to maintain the momentum of an independent Catalonia in a peaceful manner.

Allies back Spain

The European Union Council President Donald Tusk, who has supported Madrids approach to the crisis, said via Twitter that he hoped the Spanish government favors force of argument, not argument of force.

NATO, of which Spain is a member, said in a statement, The Catalonia issue is a domestic matter which should be resolved within Spains constitutional order.

Madrids efforts to keep the country united also has the continued support of the U.S. government. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement,  the United States supports the Spanish governments constitutional measures to keep Spain strong and united.

Voters in Catalonia voted in favor of independence in an Oct. 1 referendum, but fewer than half of those eligible to cast a ballot took part, with opponents boycotting the process. Rajoys government has dismissed the referendum as illegal.
Syria's government has categorically rejected a report by experts from the U.N. and the chemical weapons watchdog blaming its government for a sarin nerve gas attack that killed over 90 people last spring.

In a statement Saturday, it says the report was a result of U.S. instructions to exert more political pressure on Syria, describing it as a "forgery."

"This report and the one that preceded it are falsifications of the truth," said the statement.

The attack in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun in April sparked outrage around the world and a U.S. strike days later on the Shayrat air base, from which Washington said the attack had been launched. Syria's government has denied involvement.

But the investigators' new report says experts are "confident" Damascus was behind the strike.
The Trump administration announced a shift Wednesday in foreign aid funding for persecuted minorities. Vice President Pence told a global assembly of Christians the U.S. would instruct the State Department to stop funding United Nations programs for persecuted minorities, instead providing funding through USAID and other faith-based NGOs. VOA's Katherine Gypson reports from Washington on the consequences of the administration's decision.
The Trump administration Friday proposed new health insurance regulations that could affect basic benefits required by the Affordable Care Act, but not for a couple of years.

Loosening Obamacare benefit requirements was a major sticking point for congressional Republicans in thus-far fruitless efforts to repeal the law.

The complex new plan from the administration would give states a potential path to easing some requirements.

Starting in 2019, states could select from coverage levels in another state, which could be less generous. Ten broad categories of services required by the health law would still have to be covered, but the fine print could change.

Plan issued late Friday

Issued late in the day, the 365-page plan also proposes other changes to the inner workings of the health insurance markets created under the Obama-era law. The marketplaces offer subsidized private plans to people who dont have access to job-based coverage. The changes proposed by the Trump administration cover areas from consumers eligibility for subsidies to how insurers are reimbursed.

It could take days for consumer groups, insurers, benefits experts and others to assess the potential impact of the proposal. Among the biggest uncertainties is whether the proposed changes would appeal to state officials, who generally try to protect standards established on their home turf.

The basic benefits that could be affected include:

Outpatient, inpatient and emergency care

Prescription drugs and labs

Preventive care

Pregnancy, maternity and newborn care

Mental health and substance abuse

Rehabilitation

Childrens services, including vision and dental

While those categories are established by law and cant be changed in a regulation, the fine print can make a big difference. For example, insurers can cover certain drugs, but not others, for a given medical condition. Expensive treatments for complicated chronic illnesses can be subject to limits on the number of visits the plan will cover.

The Trump administrations proposal also called for changes to small-business health insurance markets created by the ACA.
President Donald Trump said late Friday that he will be releasing all files pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, with some redactions.

Trump originally ordered Thursday that hundreds of the files would remain secret, at least temporarily, in the interest of national security.

Trump said temporarily withholding from public disclosure the remaining documents was necessary to protect against harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement or the conduct of foreign relations that is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in immediate disclosure.

Much of the scholarly interest in the assassination papers focuses on files concerning a visit by Kennedys assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, to Mexico two months before the presidents visit to Dallas, Nov. 22, 1963.

A White House official briefing reporters Wednesday refused to be drawn in when asked about the Mexico City files.

Controversy and conspiracy theories sprung up within days after the assassination. Less than a week after Kennedys death, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren to conduct an independent inquiry.

10-month investigation

After a 10-month investigation, the Warren commission issued an 888-page report concluding that Oswald had acted alone to kill Kennedy, and that local nightclub owner Jack Ruby also acted alone in murdering Oswald while the assassin was in police custody two days later.

The vast majority of documents relating to the assassination have been in the public domain for decades.

The files released Thursday include more than 5 million pages of records that were withheld under the JFK Records Act, some for national security reasons and others because they were deemed irrelevant to the investigation.

U.S. District Judge John Tunheim headed the congressionally mandated independent Assassination Records Review Board that went through all assassination files in the 1990s and decided which ones should be held back until now.

In a VOA interview, Tunheim said hes confident that with a very few exceptions, everything relevant to the investigation was made public long ago.

The review board was very careful in its work to make sure that anything about the assassination itself or about Oswald or about Ruby or any of the characters involved in the assassination was released, Tunheim told VOA. If it was central to the story, we released it. Theres no question about it.

The release of the final batch of files was unlikely, however, to satisfy the legion of conspiracy theorists that has grown up around Kennedys death.

Conspiracy theories

A 2013 Gallup Poll survey showed that a solid majority of Americans believe others besides Oswald were involved in the assassination.

Many of the conspiracy theories surround the visit by Oswald, a 24-year-old former Marine who had spent years in the Soviet Union, to Mexico City two months before the assassination, when he visited the Soviet and Cuban embassies.

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and author of a book about Kennedy, says he is no conspiracy theorist. But hes most interested in documents pertaining to the Mexico City visit.

Sabato has assembled a staff of researchers to go through the files, but he says the job of finding any gems that may be hidden in the mass of newly released material is going to take a long time.

There are hundreds of thousands of pages in these 3,100 files, Sabato told VOA. Its going to take us years to get through all this and to be able to analyze it.

Judge Tunheim, who is currently chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Minnesota, says it is important that the public know absolutely everything about the assassination is out in the open.

The message should be clear to the American people that everything is being released, and there really is nothing left to release, even if it might incidentally reveal some long ago intelligence gathering methods, he said.
Laws criminalizing consensual gay sex have been scrapped in about 25 countries in the last 20 years, but more than 70 nations still have such prohibitions, a U.N. expert said Friday in a first-of-its-kind report at the General Assembly.



And in many places around the world, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people live in a crucible of egregious violations of human rights, enduring violence and discrimination, said Vitit Muntarbhorn, the U.N.s first independent expert investigating violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation. The world bodys Human Rights Council appointed him last year, in a move that met significant opposition amid deep international divisions on gay rights.



Addressing a U.N. General Assembly committee for the first time Friday, Muntarbhorn noted a global trend toward decriminalization of consensual same-sex relations. At least five countries  Belize, Lesotho, Mozambique, Palau and Seychelles  have scrubbed such laws in the last five years.



The gaps are, however, ubiquitous, Muntarbhorn added.

Besides the dozens of countries where its a crime  sometimes punishable by death  for people of the same gender to have sex, some countries also have criminal laws aimed at transgender people.



While some laws are rarely applied, they still fuel other forms of discrimination, Muntarbhorn said. He called for reforming all criminal laws against same-sex relations and for establishing more anti-discrimination laws.

Muntarbhorns job became a flashpoint last year, when African nations tried to stop his work. They questioned its legal basis and said the U.N. was delving into national matters and prioritizing LGBT issues over discrimination based on race or religion.



A proposal to suspend Muntarbhorn ultimately lost a General Assembly vote, 77-86, with 16 abstentions.



His work has continued to face headwinds. Few countries have responded when contacted about alleged rights violations, Muntarbhorn said, adding that all details of the communications were confidential.



Precisely because this mandate was so heated, so caustic, from the beginning, my humble intention during this year was to calm the situation through quiet engagement, said Muntarbhorn, a Thai law professor who has served in other U.N. posts. Hes resigning as of Tuesday, citing illness in his household.

His successor is to be named in December.
U.S. border agents are searching nearly four times as many international travelers smartphones and other electronic devices as they did two years ago, expanding the use of a little-known search-and-seizure authority that has sparked fresh legal challenges from digital rights advocates and defendants in several criminal cases.

The content searches of electronic devices, conducted without a warrant or any individualized suspicion, spiked during the final year of the Obama administration but have continued to surge this year as the Trump administration has adopted extreme vetting of travelers entering the country.

In the first six months of fiscal 2017, which ended Sept. 30, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents searched the electronic devices of 14,993 arriving international travelers, according to the most recent CBP data.

CBP has not released data for all of 2017, but unofficial estimates put the number of searched devices at 30,000. That compares with 19,000 in 2016 and 8,500 in 2015.

Border search exception

The searches are conducted under the so called border search exception to the U.S. Constitutions Fourth Amendment. The amendment protects Americans rights against unreasonable searches and seizures without a warrant. But the U.S. border is a legal gray zone, where customs agents have long enjoyed legal authority to stop and search any vehicle, beast or person without a warrant.

Since the 2000s, the Department of Homeland Security has interpreted the border exception authority to include examinations of a host of electronic devices: cellphones, tablets, laptops, cameras and digital media players.

A 2009 CBP directive authorizes agents to examine electronic devices and to review and analyze their information with or without suspicion.

All travelers, whether U.S. citizens or foreign nationals, are subject to these searches. The CBP directive says privileged and other sensitive material, including legal communications, are not necessarily exempt from a border search.

Refusal to unlock and hand over a device may result in its detention.

Agents look at text messages, emails, photo albums and other personal data for evidence of terrorism links or criminal activity, such as child pornography.

CBP agents are allowed to seize devices and copy their content for on-site or off-site forensic tests, which can take weeks and sometimes months and yield personal data, sometimes in large quantities. In one case, a forensic test performed on a cellphone generated enough information to fill 896 printed pages.

Former Acting CBP Commissioner Jay Ahern, who signed the directive, called it the broadest search authority anywhere in the world without a warrant. He spoke at a Cato Institute criminal justice conference in Washington last week.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents operate under similar guidelines.

Numbers

CBP and ICE officials defend the practice, noting that the searches affect less than 1 in 10,000 international travelers and an even smaller number of U.S. citizens.

Last year, CBP processed more than 390 million international travelers at the countrys 238 ports of entry.

Its something we use in a very measured fashion when there is an indicator of concern, Acting CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan, who is President Donald Trumps nominee to lead the agency, told a Senate panel Wednesday.

Search triggers range from a previous violation of a customs law to having a name that matches a person of interest in a U.S. national security database, according to the CBP form that agents hand to travelers whose devices are detained. Travelers may also be stopped at random.

McAleenan said the searches of electronic devices have yielded very serious and significant information, including everything from national security concerns to child pornography to evidence of crimes to determinations of peoples admissibility status.

Court challenges

But as border agents look at a larger number of peoples electronic devices for evidence of terrorism or other national security matters, privacy rights groups say the once-narrow border search authority is being too broadly interpreted for the digital age. The advocates are now challenging the governments authority in court.

Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) sued the acting heads of the Department of Homeland Security, CBP and ICE on behalf of 11 travelers whose devices were searched and, in some instances, seized over the past year.

The complaint alleges that the warrantless and suspicionless searches violated the U.S. Constitutions First Amendment on free expression and assembly and the Fourth Amendment on privacy.

The 11 plaintiffs include 10 U.S. citizens and one U.S. permanent resident. Among them are three journalists, a filmmaker, an artist, a NASA engineer and a former Air Force captain. Six are Muslims, one is a Haitian national and four are white Americans.

Examples of search and seizure

Their combined experiences shed light on an otherwise opaque system and show just how far border agents would go to scrutinize electronic devices.

In July, Nadia Alasaad was stopped at the Canadian border and forced to unlock her phone and hand it over to a customs agent even after she protested that she had photos of herself without a headscarf that she did not want any male agents to view.

Akram Shibly, a New York-based filmmaker, said his phone was searched in December 2016 and January 2017 as he crossed the U.S.-Canadian border.

During the first stop, he alleges, agents ordered him to fill out a form disclosing his mobile phone password and social media identifiers. The agents used the information to view his cloud-based apps and content. (CBP says agents are not allowed to view data that only resides in the cloud). During the second border encounter, Shibly claims, CBP agents used force to seize his phone after he refused to hand it over.

Jeremy Dupin, the Haitian journalist who is a U.S. permanent resident, was stopped twice in December 2016, once during a layover at the Miami International Airport, and a second time as he and his daughter tried to enter the U.S. from Canada.

According to the complaint, his phone contained reporting notes and images, source contact and identifying information, and communications with editors.

The complaint calls the examinations an unprecedented invasion of personal privacy and a threat to freedom of speech and association. It also cites a 2014 Supreme Court decision that declared warrantless searches of cellphones of arrested suspects unconstitutional.

Supreme Court

In Riley v. California, the Supreme Court rejected the governments claim that searching a suspects cellphone was indistinguishable from searching his or her other belongings.

We think that rationale holds just as true for the border context, where the privacy interests are so great that the Fourth Amendment requires a warrant, ACLU lawyer Esha Bhandari said.

Unlike legal challenges raised against the governments border search authority in criminal cases, none of the 11 plaintiffs named in the ACLU/EFF lawsuit is accused of any wrongdoing, noted EFF lawyer Aaron Mackey.

This is one case where were trying to change the law, where were trying to get the courts to recognize that the practice that the CBP has been operating under and the previous decisions (in border exception cases) ... were incorrect, Mackey said.

Spokespeople for DHS, CBP and ICE declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Laura Donohue, director of Georgetowns center on national security and the law, said electronic device searches run afoul of other constitutional guarantees as well, including the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

While courts have consistently upheld the governments border exception authority, Donohue said, The laws that we have focus on luggage and not digitalization.
A U.S. service member was killed and six others wounded in a helicopter crash in Afghanistans Logar province late Friday.



NATOs Resolute Support Mission office said the crash was not the result of enemy action.



We have full accountability of all personnel and the crash site has been secured, according to a press release circulated Saturday.



General John Nicholson, commander of the RS forces, expressed his heartfelt sympathies to the families of victims.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of our comrade," he said in a statement.



Earlier, the Taliban had claimed responsibility for downing the helicopter. The insurgent group often makes claims that later turn out to be false.

The U.S. military said it is investigating the circumstances of the crash and will release more information when it is appropriate.
A White House spokeswoman said Friday that all of the women who have accused President Donald Trump of sexual harassment are lying, echoing the presidents statement last week that the accusations are fake news.

Sarah Sanders took a question during the White House briefing from a television reporter asking about the White Houses official position on charges by at least 16 women that the president has engaged in inappropriate behavior.

Is it the official White House position that all of these women are lying? asked Jacqueline Alemany of CBS News.

Yeah, weve been clear on that from the beginning, and the presidents spoken on it, Sanders answered.

The reporter asked the question after alluding to a number of other prominent men in the media who have lately been accused of harassment, such as movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, television host Bill O'Reilly, and journalist Mark Halperin, all of whom have lost jobs over the matter.

Last week Trump was queried over the accusations, in particular a subpoena issued by lawyers for a former contestant on his television show, Summer Zervos, who accused him of groping and kissing her during the taping of the show.

The president replied, All I can say is, it's totally fake news. It's just fake. It's fake. It's made-up stuff, and it's disgraceful, what happens, but ... that happens in the world of politics.

A year ago at a campaign rally, then-candidate Trump responded to accusations of sexual harassment by calling himself a victim of one of the great political smear campaigns in the history of our country.
About 300 white nationalists and neo-Nazis held back-to-back rallies in two small Tennessee cities Saturday to protest refugee resettlement in the state, which sued the federal government over the issue earlier this year.

The "White Lives Matter" rallies in Shelbyville and Murfreesboro, organized by some of the same groups involved in a Virginia march that turned violent in August, drew an equal number of counterdemonstrators and a heavy police presence.

The protesters started in Shelbyville, then traveled about 35 miles north to Murfreesboro for a second rally. Both towns are near Nashville, center of a metropolitan area that has become home to refugees from Somalia, Iraq and elsewhere.

"We don't want the federal government to keep dumping all these refugees into middle Tennessee," said Brad Griffin, a member of a group known as the League of the South who has written about his desire to create a white "ethnostate."

Saturday's rallies were organized by the Nationalist Front coalition, which embraces groups considered neo-Nazi or neo-Confederate by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.

To help keep the peace, Shelbyville police used temporary fencing to separate the white nationalists from counterdemonstrators. Anyone seeking to enter the area was searched. Guns, backpacks, sticks and other items that might double as weapons were banned.

The white nationalist demonstrators gathered behind a half dozen white shields emblazoned with red crosses.

Counterprotesters carried signs with slogans including "Don't Hate" and "Veterans for Peace." Two lines of police, some in riot gear, stood between the two sides, who shouted at each other.

One man was arrested for disorderly conduct, but there were no injuries, local media said. The reports could not be immediately confirmed.

Peaceful rally

Later in Murfreesboro, where protesters were prohibited from carrying shields, or wearing masks or helmets, the rally remained peaceful, the city said on Twitter.

Local officials and faith leaders had denounced the gatherings, fearing they could inflame racial, ethnic and religious animosities in the state.

Over the last 15 years, about 18,000 refugees have been resettled in Tennessee, less than 1 percent of the state's population, according to The Tennessean of Nashville.

The state sued the federal government in March, saying it had been unduly forced to pay for refugee resettlements. It was the first state to bring such a case on the basis of the 10th Amendment, which limits U.S. government powers to those provided by the Constitution. Other states have filed similar suits on different legal grounds.

"When they say refugees, what they really mean is Muslims," said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, referring to Saturday's protesters.

He noted that a Murfreesboro mosque has been a source of controversy and vandalism for years.

"Tennessee is one of the states that have seen a rise in anti-Muslim bigotry in recent years, particularly since the election," Hooper said.

President Donald Trump has sought to ban travel from six Muslim-majority countries since he took office and called during his 2016 election campaign for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States."
VATICAN CITY  Pope Francis took a small step toward improved Vatican-Russian relations Thursday when he chatted with Russian cosmonauts and praised their understanding of love during a call with the International Space Station.

Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli played translator during the roughly 20-minute call that was interrupted once when the line dropped at the orbiting laboratory.

Like a curious child, Francis peppered Nespoli and the five other crew members with questions both simple  What inspired them to be astronauts?  and philosophical  How do they view mankinds place in the universe?

The responses he received, in particular from Russian cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin and Sergey Ryazanskiy, marked another small step for the Vaticans long tense relations with Orthodox Russia. Francis has made improving those ties a priority of his pontificate, and became the first pope in a millennium to meet with the Russian Orthodox patriarch last year.

Ryazanskiy told Francis that he had been inspired by his grandfather, a Soviet engineer who helped build Sputnik, the worlds first artificial satellite that marked the beginning of the Space Age.

For me it is a great honor to continue what he was doing to fulfill his dreams with a space flight, the future of all humanity, Ryazanskiy told the pope in English.

Francis, who has long exalted the role of grandparents, marveled at his response. Thats our strength: Never forget roots. It does me good to hear this! Thank you, Francis said.

Francis also praised Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin: Francis had asked how the crew members understood Dantes verse that love is the force that moves the universe.

Misurkin told him in Russian, translated by Nespoli, that he had been reading Antoine de St. Exuperys The Little Prince while in space and was taken by the young princes understanding of love.

Love is the force that gives you strength to give your life for someone else, he told the pope.

Francis lit up at his response, saying Its clear you have understood the message that St. Exupery so poetically explained, and that you Russians have in your blood, in your humanistic and religious tradition.

It was the second papal phone call to space: Pope Benedict XVI rang the space station in 2011 and asked about the future of the planet and the environmental risks it faced. Before Benedict, Pope Paul VI sent a radio message to astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins after their historic 1969 moonwalk, calling them conquerors of the Moon.

Francis, who considered a career as a chemist before becoming a priest, has repeatedly expressed his concern for the environment and care for what he calls our common home.Space station Cmdr. Randy Bresnik told Francis that what he most enjoyed in space was being able to see Gods creation maybe a little bit from his perspective.You see the thinness of the atmosphere, it makes you realize how fragile our existence here is, he added.Bresnik, a U.S. Marine who flew combat missions during the Iraq war, told Francis that what struck him most was that from space there are no borders, there is no conflict, its just peaceful.People cannot come up here and see the indescribable beauty of our Earth and not be touched in their souls, he told the pope.Nespoli thanked Francis for his philosophical questions, telling him that most of the crews days are spent performing highly technical and mechanical tasks.You brought us higher up, he said. You took us away from the daily mechanics of things and made us think about things that are bigger than us.
Public anger is rising in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico as details emerge about a no-bid contract awarded to a little-known U.S. company to restore the islands power grid, which was destroyed by Hurricane Maria.

Among the details of the contract attracting attention are pay rates about five times higher than what is normal in Puerto Rico, and a clause prohibiting island or federal authorities from auditing those labor rates.

U.S. politicians in Washington have begun demanding closer scrutiny of the $300 million contract, awarded less than a week after the hurricane to a company based in the U.S. state of Montana that had only two full-time employees at the time of the storm.

Cause for concern

For many residents of the island, however, the greater concern is that the controversy could further delay the restoration of power. More than 75 percent of the island is still without power more than a month after Maria, and full restoration is estimated to be many months away.

Even in places where power has been restored, such as the islands primary trauma hospital, Centro Medico, the system is so volatile that managers have abandoned the grid altogether in favor of a powerful network of generators installed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

At the eye of the political storm over the power contract is a company called Whitefish Energy Holdings, based in the same small Montana community that is the hometown of U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Zinke has denied any role in the issuance of the contract, which was awarded Sept. 26 by the publicly owned Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, or PREPA.

With only two full-time employees of record on the day of the storm and two previous projects under its belt, the company relies mainly on subcontractors to perform its work. It currently has 325 of a proposed 1,000 workers on the job in Puerto Rico.

A spokesman for Whitefish, Ken Luce, explained that the company is holding off on bringing in more workers because of backlogs at the islands seaports that have slowed the import of equipment necessary for the rebuilding work.

We dont have the equipment. The equipment is backed up, so until the ports get back up, you dont want to pay the men when they have nothing to do, Luce said.

Questions over contract

However, as details of the contract have leaked out in recent days, other questions have frayed nerves and set company and island officials bickering with one another.

In one heated Twitter exchange this week with San Juans controversial mayor, Carmen Yulin Cruz, the company threatened to stop working altogether and send its employees back to the mainland.

While other island officials demand explanations, the executive director of PREPA, Ricardo Ramos, has been steadfast in defending the work Whitefish has done up to this point.

Concerning Whitefish, all I can say is that they are doing an excellent job, he told reporters at a press conference Tuesday. Its the best decision we could have made.

The secretary of public affairs for the governor of Puerto Rico, Ramon Rosario, on the other hand, lashed out during one of the local governments daily press updates, if any wrongdoing has been done, those responsible should fry in jail.

Among the questions that remain unanswered is why PREPA awarded the contract to a little-known company so quickly after the hurricane without submitting it to competitive bids. However the power company may have had few choices, given that it and the Puerto Rico territorial government were facing bankruptcy when the storm struck.

Payment for the work is expected to come from a $215 million award from the U.S. governments Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was announced this week.

Scale and scope of project

Most controversial locally, aside from the companys lack of experience in projects of this scale and scope, are the billing rates being paid to the firm.

Under the contracts provisions, a site supervisor is to receive $330 per hour and a journeyman lineman will be paid $227.88 per hour. Subcontractors hired by Whitefish will receive even more, with supervisors being paid $462 per hour, while linemen will receive $319 per hour.

Lodging, meals and airfare to Puerto Rico are extra, according to a copy of the contract published this week by a website called Caribbean Business.

The contract also states, In no event shall PREPA, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the FEMA administrator, the Comptroller of the United States, or any of their authorized representatives have the right to audit or review the cost and profit elements of the labor rates specified herein.

In a telephone conversation with VOA, Whitefish spokesman Luce described the provision as a very standard agreement in cost plus in time contracts. Its nothing new, but we will answer any questions that come up during the audit.

Several legal experts, however, have charged the audit provision is unconstitutional, making the contract null and void.

As the public outcry grows, both locally and on the U.S. mainland, local and federal legislators including Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, a Democrat from New York, have called for investigations into the procurement process.

In a letter addressed to local comptroller Yesmin Valdivieso, Puerto Rico Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz demanded an investigation be conducted by her office.

However, Luce expressed little concern about the complaints being made by Puerto Ricos politicians.

Most of them are not calling for investigations, they are asking for more information, and were more than happy to provide it, he said.
A U.S. federal grand jury has approved the first charges in an investigation of Russian influence on U.S. elections, a probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller.

A report late Friday from CNN quoted sources as saying anyone who is charged could be taken into custody as soon as Monday. The exact charges are unclear.

A spokesman for Mueller's office declined CNN's request for comment.

CNN said lawyers working on Mueller's team were seen entering the federal courtroom in Washington, D.C., on Friday, where the grand jury meets to hear testimony.

Mueller has kept a tight lid on information about the probe.

Mueller was appointed special counsel in May, shortly after the firing of then-FBI director James Comey, to look into allegations that the Trump campaign may have colluded with Russia to win the election. He is also examining the possibility that the president may have tried to interfere with the Russia investigation.

The probe is also examining possible financial ties between Russian businesses and members of the Trump campaign, and foreign lobbying conducted by former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

In addition to Mueller's probe, three congressional committees are conducting their own investigations into possible Russian influence on the election.
A Kenyan university student has won a $100,000 research grant for an idea aimed at decreasing maternal and infant deaths among cattle-raising families on the Kenya-Ethiopia border.

Dahabo Adi Galgalo secured the 2017 innovation award from AESA, Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa, for designing a GPS-like device to track expectant mothers in the area and ensure they seek health care for themselves and their babies.

Born into a pastoralist family in Kenya's Marsabit County, Dahabo told VOA Horn of Africa that she always wanted to improve health care for families in the border area who depend on raising and selling livestock to make a living.

"The area of the pastoral community is so vast. The hospitals and health workers are very few. In fact, Marsabit County is among the top counties in Kenya in maternal and infant death," she said.

One of the key factors contributing to the high death rates, she believes, is a lack of antenatal care (ANC) for pregnant women.

ANC clinics providing prenatal services are few and far between in the area, and pastoralists don't often visit the ones that do exist, partly because of the long distances they would have to cover.

Dahabo says that in 2015, she conducted a study of mothers who gave birth at a regional hospital. Out of 1,042 mothers who delivered during the one-year period, she says, 116 lost their babies during delivery.

Of those 116 women, she says, 40 percent had never gone to an ANC clinic. And those who did make a visit, often traveled 50 to 80 kilometers to receive checkups and treatment.

"That is when my idea of going mobile came to my mind," Dahabo said.

Her goal was to give expectant mothers a GPS-like device to help health care workers track them, remind them to get proper antenatal care, and arrange a visit with a doctor or health care volunteer.

The solar-powered device  which Dahabo helped design and a manufacturer is helping to build  is the size of a coin, and designed to be worn on a bracelet.

"With this, we can track the expectant mothers wherever they are and give them treatment," she said.

Under Dahabo's envisioned system, the program would be centered at the Moyale regional hospital and would cover the majority of Marsabit County with a radius of 160 kilometers.

The program aims to reach up to 200 expectant mothers for an initial period of two years. "We follow the expectant mothers for nine months and follow their children for full immunization," Dahabo said.

Dahabo has been involved in research and control of diseases for more than 10 years in the Kenyan ministry of health.

She is among eight African inventors who have received research grants from AESA, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

One of the other winners, Diawo Diallo from Senegal, is working on a surveillance system to track Zika-infected mosquitoes.

Another winner, Niaina Rakotosaminanana of Madgascar, is developing a low-cost, minimally invasive diagnostic test for pregnant women using blood samples drawn from finger pricks.
Seven in 10 Americans say the nations political divisions are at least as big as during the Vietnam War, according to a new poll, which also finds nearly 6 in 10 saying Donald Trumps presidency is making the U.S. political system more dysfunctional.

The Washington Post-University of Maryland poll  conducted nine months into Trump's tumultuous presidency  reveals a starkly pessimistic view of U.S. politics, widespread distrust of the nation's political leaders and their ability to compromise, and an erosion of pride in the way democracy works in America.





Trumps arrival in the White House in January ushered in a period of big political fights  over issues including health care, taxes and immigration  and a sharp escalation in personal attacks on political opponents, over social media and elsewhere.

Seven in 10 Americans say the nations politics have reached a dangerous low point, and a majority of those believe the situation is a new normal rather than temporary, according to the poll.

[Read full poll results | How the poll was conducted]

The polls finds that 7 in 10 Americans view the Trump administration as dysfunctional. But dissatisfaction extends well beyond the executive branch: Even more Americans, 8 in 10, say Congress is dysfunctional, and there is limited trust in other institutions, including the media.

Its just messed up now, said Patty Kasbeck, 37, a veterinary technician in Bartlesville, Okla., and a Democrat. Its not even a political system. Its a reality show.





In the poll, 14 percent of Americans said they view the ethics and honesty of politicians as excellent or good  down from 25 percent in 1997 and 39 percent in 1987. And 12 percent say members of Congress base their policies on a set of core values, while 87 percent say they mainly do whatever is needed to win reelection.

By and large, Americans are feeling frustrated not only with the countrys politics but also their ability to talk about politics in a civil way.

It seems the country is being divided on so many topics and on so many fronts at one time, said Gene Gardner, a retired communications specialist in Blacksburg, Va., who said American democracy has become a rock-throwing contest.

When people have an opinion, they dont just say it to their spouse across the dinner table anymore, said Gardner, 68, who says he tends to vote Democratic. They put it on Facebook. Everything gets amplified and more angry.

Recent surveys have shown consumer confidence is up this year and stands at the highest levels in the past decade, so it does not appear that economic concerns are driving discontent with the nations political system.

Rather, Trumps presidency appears to be a more critical factor in informing the way people feel about the state of American democracy.

While the poll finds similar levels of distrust in the federal government as before Trump took office, it also finds that pride in U.S. democracy is eroding. The share of Americans who are not proud of the way the country's democracy is working has doubled since three years ago  from 18 percent to 36 percent in the new survey conducted among a nationwide sample of more than 1,600 adults by The Post and U-Md.'s Center for American Politics and Citizenship.

And nearly half of those who say they strongly disapprove of Trumps job performance say they are not proud of American democracy today. Thats about twice as high among as those who somewhat disapprove of the presidents performance.





Doubts about democracy are not limited, however, to strong Trump critics. The poll finds that 25 percent of his supporters are not proud of the way democracy is working. Thats a higher figure than for the general public since at least the 1990s, polling shows.

I think that since Trumps election, theres a spotlight on Washington and how it really works: that politicians are out for themselves and beholden to special interests, said Nola Sayne, a paralegal in Logansville, Ga., who supported Trump and says she tends to vote Republican.

Sayne, 54, partly blames the dysfunction on how the Washington establishment has reacted to Trump. People just flip out at everything he says, Sayne said.

Elizabeth Johnston, a worker benefits specialist in Paradise, Calif., said shes embarrassed for the country and primarily blames Democrats for the nations current political dysfunction.

Theyre acting like the mean kids in junior high, Johnston said. Theyre all helping to make sure that the president doesnt succeed.

Johnston, 58, a registered independent, said there are some things she doesnt like about Trump, like his childish tweets. But she said the country needs to give him a chance.

I love it that he hears us, she said. I love it that he wants to cut taxes.

Strong majorities in both parties say the political divisions today are at least as strong as during the Vietnam War, a period of protest and unrest that is widely viewed as a dark chapter in American political history.

Seven in 10 Americans overall hold that view, but it is particularly strong among those who experienced the Vietnam War era firsthand. Among those who were adults in the 1970s, more than three-quarters say political divisions today are at least as big.

Im old enough that I remember the Vietnam War, said Ed Evans, 67, a lawyer in Sioux Falls, S.D., and a Democrat who was a college student in Missouri at the time. With Vietnam, at least it was focused on one issue. Here, its all over the place. In some ways, this is deeply more troubling.

Ellen Collins, a retired data architect in Dayton, Ohio, said she remembers hearing her brother, who was in the Army returning from Vietnam, say that he was spit upon in the airport during a layover in San Francisco in March 1968. Still, she is among those who say political divisions in the country are worse today.

This country is a mess, said Collins, 69. Theres no civility. Friends are now enemies. These issues have made people angry.

She blames Trump in large part, saying he has used divisions to his benefit, to play on peoples fears.

Collins cited Trumps recent sparring with Rep. Frederica S. Wilson (D-Fla.) over the presidents condolence call to the widow of a soldier killed in Niger.

He has an inability to say, My bad, and he just keeps going and going, Collins said. Hes childish, and hes a bully.

Majorities of both Democrats and Republicans say Americas politics have reached a dangerous low point, though more Democrats (81 percent) than Republicans (56 percent) hold that view.

Overall, more Americans say Trump deserves a lot of blame for political dysfunction (51 percent) than either the Republican Party (38 percent) or the Democratic Party (32 percent).

Weve had good presidents and bad presidents, said Gardner, the Blacksburg, Va. resident. But for the most part, theyve all played a presidential role. Theyve tried to bring the country together. Thats not so true of Trump.

Ones party affiliation tends to color the way one parcels out blame.

About three-quarters of Democrats blame Trump a lot for causing dysfunction, as do more than half of political independents. But about 1 in 7 Republicans say Trump deserves a lot of blame.

Underscoring the partisan antipathy toward Trump, two-thirds of Democrats in the poll say they do not believe his election was legitimate  a view held by 9 percent of Republicans.

Overall, 42 percent of Americans say Trumps election was not legitimate. By comparison, 14 percent say former president Barack Obamas 2008 election was not legitimate.

Democrats have a clear advantage in public trust, with 56 percent of Americans saying they think the party generally represents their political views, compared with 43 percent of Americans saying the Republican Party does the same. A 55 percent majority says the Republican Party mainly opposes their views, and 60 percent say the same of Trump.

Many also say the opposing political party not only does not represent their views but is also undermining Americas core principles.





Nearly two-thirds of those who see Democrats as the opposition believe they are undermining the countrys core principles, while a slightly smaller percentage of those who feel the Republican Party opposes their views sense a fundamental threat. Among those who say Trump opposes their views, three-quarters say he is undermining the nations core principles.

Democrats and Republicans do agree on many of the causes of political dysfunction in the U.S. political system.

At least 6 in 10 Democrats, Republicans and independents say money in politics deserves a lot of blame, while smaller majorities blame people with extreme views, and more than 4 in 10 of each group blame members of Congress.

A majority of Americans overall say wealthy political donors deserve a lot of blame, and nearly half say the same for both the news media and social media. In a separate question, three-quarters say media organizations tend to favor one side when dealing with political and social issues, a critique held by most Democrats and Republicans.

Gina Haag, a high school government teacher in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said she believes two of the biggest culprits contributing to political dysfunction are hyper-partisanship and the amount of money in politics.

Its gotten to the point where money matters more than whos running or what they stand for, said Haag, 24, a registered independent.

The poll also suggests that Americans are using political labels to define people more broadly.





Half of Americans say that if they know someone is a Democrat, that not only indicates what they think about government policies but also how they live their lives. More than half of Americans said the same thing about Republicans.

At the same time, many Americans feel less commonality with their neighbors. A 56 percent majority says there are fewer things that bind Americans together today than in the past, a view shared by majorities across party lines and most demographic groups.

The Post-U-Md. poll was conducted Sept. 27-Oct. 5 online and by landline and cellphone among 1,663 adults interviewed through the AmeriSpeak Panel, the probability-based survey panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Interviews were conducted online and by landline and cellular phones; overall results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Emily Guskin contributed to this report. Graphics by Chiqui Esteban
Clockwise from top left: Megyn Kelly, Bill O'Reilly, Gretchen Carlson and Roger Ailes were all players in Fox News recent spate of sexual-harassment claims.

Former columnist

So, now that the dam has burst on sexual misconduct at media companies, were good, right?

Dont believe that for a moment.

The appalling behavior that has been in the headlines for weeks isn't going to stop just because some high-profile men have fallen from grace.

Yes, maybe, after this month of eye-popping revelations about influential media figures such as Bill O'Reilly, Mark Halperin and Leon Wieseltier, news organizations will do a better job of taking internal complaints seriously. For a while.

And maybe high-powered men will keep their pants zipped and their hands to themselves so that they wont lose their positions atop the totem pole. For a time.

The revelations do matter. But something deeper  more difficult  has to happen, too.

Media companies have to address the deep-seated gender inequality thats at the root of this mess.

"It shouldn't be forgotten that sexual harassment is often more about abuse of power than sex," wrote former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson, who with journalist Jane Mayer chronicled Anita Hill's sexual harassment claims against Clarence Thomas during his 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearings in their book, "Strange Justice."

When Abramson was the top Times editor  the first woman to hold that coveted post  she promoted talented, qualified women so that half of her masthead was female. Good thing she moved fast; Abramson was fired after less than three years.

That kind of equity makes a difference. Having a critical mass of female decision-makers, rather than a token presence, allows ideas to bubble up and voices to be heard in new ways. This is, of course, true for racial diversity, too.

Its rare, though  and not just in media-management ranks.

When "CBS Evening News" named Jeff Glor to replace Scott Pelley as anchor last week, he joined NBC's Lester Holt and ABC's David Muir to, once again, make it three men in the anchor chairs across the networks. (An outdated measure in 2017? Hardly. The network evening news still pulls in more than 20 million viewers a night.)

And men still do most of the news reporting at newspapers, broadcast networks, wire services and online outlets, according to the Women's Media Center. In some places, including The Washington Post, that gender gap is small; in others, like the New York Daily News, it's substantial  three of every four news stories is written by a man.

As for Wieseltier, the longtime New Republic literary editor who lost funding for a magazine start-up, he "simply did not consider women to be public intellectuals," wrote Clio Chang in Splinter.

He harassed women, according to credible accusations, but he rarely published them or chose for review books written by women. The lowest points were in 2012  when there were only nine female reviewers compared to 79 male reviewers  and in 2013, when Wieseltiers section published four reviews written by women, Chang wrote.

And in all these ways, our culture is formed. Who do we see in power positions on TV? Whose books get visibility? Whose point of view is reflected?

Now, the media world finds itself confronting an odd emotional cocktail: equal parts hope, righteous indignation and fear. "The sound you hear," said a Post Style story, "is a million men quaking in their wingtips."

If this amounts to a crisis, thats good news.

Were in a unique moment of reflection and accountability, and its an opportunity to consider huge systemic change, said Nikki Usher, associate professor at George Washington Universitys School of Media and Public Affairs.

These instances of self-scrutiny, she noted, come along every few years.

For example, in the wake of the flawed reporting on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, newspapers tightened their rules on anonymous sources. After the financial meltdown of a decade ago, journalists acknowledged that they had missed the red flags waving in their faces.

In times like these, journalism asks itself questions that it normally asks of others, Usher told me. And, sometimes, it makes reforms.

But change is often superficial: Hey, employee, watch this training video, and dont be afraid to contact your friends in human resources!

Real change? Remember, a year after powerhouse Roger Ailes stepped down in disgrace over sexual misconduct at Fox News, Sean Hannity was proud to bring another accused harasser, Bill O'Reilly, on his Fox show for a mutually promotional interview.

Now, a few powerful men have been shamed or demoted, but the underlying issues of gender inequality and power dynamics live on. In all kinds of insidious ways, women remain underrepresented in media, and their voices remain muted.

Until these issues are seriously addressed, nothing will change.

Then this moment of reckoning will be lost and the opportunity wasted.

For more by Margaret Sullivan, visit wapo.st/sullivan
A plaque honoring Confederate soldiers was placed on the Jefferson County Courthouse in West Virginia, where slaves were once sold. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

A plaque honoring Confederate soldiers that was placed on a West Virginia county courthouse in 1986 will remain despite a request to remove it by a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the mayor of Charles Town, where the courthouse is located.

At a long and contentious hearing of the Jefferson County Commission on Thursday, supporters and opponents of the plaque testified, including Charles Town Mayor Scott Rogers, who asked for the marker to be taken down and replaced with a memorial honoring all soldiers from the county who fought in the Civil War. Rogers also suggested creating a memorial to people who were enslaved in the county, about 60 miles northwest of Washington.

We should memorialize our history and never forget the past while being inclusive of all sides of the debate, Rogers said.

Polly Wharton, a member of the Daughters of the Confederacy chapter that put the plaque on the courthouse, said her group would not oppose removing it.

If the plaque wants to come down, we are in consent of doing it. We dont want a lot more fighting over it, she told the commissioners. We are also with the mayor saying there should be another one someplace honoring both sides of the War Between the States, the term some Southerners prefer for the Civil War.

[Civil Wars legacy hangs over a plaque honoring Confederate soldiers]

But County Commission President Peter Onoszko dismissed the arguments for removing the plaque, saying the commissions unanimous vote last month to retain the plaque stands, and the matter is over with. Commissioner Josh Compton, one of four Republicans on the five-member, all-white commission, also said he would introduce a resolution to ensure that no historical markers in the county would be removed.

Debate over the small plaque by the front door of the courthouse has roiled Jefferson County since August, when a group of five black women sent a letter to the commission saying the tribute to Confederate soldiers did not belong on a public building in the county.

The women sent their letter three days after three lives were lost at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville that was held to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

[Charlottesville timeline  Recounting a day of rage, hate, violence and death]

The Charles Town plaque reads: 1861-1865 In honor and memory of the Confederate soldiers of Jefferson County, who served in the War Between the States. Erected by the Leetown Chapter #231 United Daughters of the Confederacy. Erected May 25, 1986.

It is impossible to enter the courthouse to conduct business or to even vote without being taunted by its presence, the women wrote. The plaque perpetuates division at all levels on a wider scale.

Linda Ballard, one of the authors of the letter, commenting on the plaque, told The Washington Post last month, I dont care where they put it, but take it from the entrance to the courthouse.

Another opponent of the plaque said it made him question the fairness of the courthouse.

I see a courthouse as a symbol of justice, somewhere that if I come into that I would be treated fairly, David Bussey, a Jefferson County resident, told the commission. I have to say that if I was ever tried in this Jefferson County court with a Confederate plaque on it, I would ask for a change in venue.

Supporters of keeping the plaque testified that its removal would be an alteration of the countys history. Others said the push to remove it would be the first step in removing other monuments and renaming buildings and could lead to violence.

I hate to see the violence, but I see it coming, because the antifascists, they get their hooks into topics like this and they wont let it go and were going to have a lot of trouble with it, said John Lindbergh, a county resident. They want trouble, they just want it. Thats what theyre about.

Onoszko, a Republican who was not elected to the county commission but was appointed last year to fill the vacancy left by Commissioner Eric Bell, who resigned following child pornography charges, said the will of the people of Jefferson County was to keep the plaque.

He cited President Trumps recent comments about an effort by people to take down statues of Christopher Columbus.

He said, What is going to be next?  Onoszko said. I have no idea what is going to be next, but this absolutely simply has to stop. This runs counter to any feeling of reconciliation and its just going in the wrong direction. Its tearing us apart.

Mayor Rogers said he was disappointed in the commissions actions and had hoped the commissioners would be amenable to the compromise he forged with Wharton and George Rutherford, president of the Jefferson County NAACP.

We thought we had a good alternative, and were disappointed they didnt accept that, Rogers said in an interview Friday. We want our town to be welcoming to all people, and this controversy doesnt help us in that regard. I hope theres a cooling-off period over the next couple of weeks and we can come back to this.

Rogers added that in the wake of Charlottesville and white-nationalist marches in other parts of the country, he is concerned that the attention Charles Town is receiving will draw unwanted visitors.

Its a real concern, he said. Should some of these alt-right people come in and try to make a statement in Charles Town, itll be us who have to clear up the ashes.
In the days and weeks before Providence Hospital closed its maternity ward, Caitlin Givens, a midwife, explained to pregnant patients what they needed to do to continue their prenatal care.

She talked to them about scheduling appointments with a different provider, how many visits they would need before their delivery. She reminded them they needed their blood pressure checked regularly.

Many of Providences patients were Spanish-speaking, some undocumented immigrants, and most on Medicaid. After Givens would finish explaining all the steps they would need to take to maintain a healthy pregnancy, some would ask, So, youre going to call these people for me?

Knowing how to navigate the system is very difficult if you dont know the system and you dont speak English, Givens said. They came to see us on the very last clinic day because they didnt have care and now I dont know where theyve gone.

The closure of Providences labor and delivery unit, as well as two other recent changes to maternal services in the District, has disproportionately affected low-income women  including in some of the poorest areas of Washington, where access to care already was scarce.



In August, the city shut down deliveries at United Medical Center in Southeast Washington over several critical mistakes, including failing to take necessary precautions to prevent an HIV-infected mother from passing the disease to her baby. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)

The Northeast hospital closed its obstetrics unit Oct. 16, including all prenatal care, in what was largely seen as a cost-saving measure. In August, the city shut down deliveries at United Medical Center in Southeast Washington over several critical mistakes, including failing to take necessary precautions to prevent an HIV-infected mother from passing the disease to her baby.

[Dangerous mistakes led to shutdown of United Medical Center obstetrics ward]

Now no labor and delivery services exist on the east side of the city, leaving a maternity care desert, as the D.C. chapter of the American College of Nurse-Midwives called it.

Meanwhile, MedStar Health, which operates MedStar Washington Hospital Center, lost its contract with the city to operate its own Medicaid managed-care organization. The affected patients were automatically transferred to a new plan  but not one that MedStar accepts, leaving women planning to give birth there confused about their options.

The trio of changes in the city, while unrelated to one another, each hurt women who do not need added barriers to prenatal care, said Kelly Sweeney McShane, chief executive of Community of Hope, a nonprofit organization that offers services to low-income residents, including a family health and birth center.

There already are dramatic disparities in infant health outcomes in the Districts minority communities.

Using data from 2013, the city found that the infant mortality rate among white mothers was 1.7 per 1,000 births. For Hispanic and black mothers, it was, respectively, 6.4 and 9.9 per 1,000 births.

If a woman is pregnant, you know its going to be nine months, so she should be able to plan where shes going to have birth and set everything up  thats the gold star standard, McShane said. But there is already not a good continuity of care between prenatal care and delivery [for low-income women]. And now its come to a head with all this going on at the same time.

Hospital unit closures

Patients at Providence were given a letter less than two months before the unit closed, explaining what was happening and offering a list of five alternative locations where they could go, Givens said.

Providence took patients no matter their legal status or ability to pay, she said, and set affordable rates and offered charity packages to those in dire financial need. It delivered between 1,500 and 2,000 babies a year.

At United Medical Center, the citys only public hospital and the only one east of the Anacostia River, there were fewer deliveries  about 360 a year  and almost all of its patients were from Ward 8, the citys poorest ward.

Its a huge maternal health crisis, Givens said. Providence was a place that would take anybody, the whole motto is, we dont leave anyone behind, and here we are closing the door to the most vulnerable in the population. If theres a clear message to get through, it feels like this whole half of this city is being ignored in terms of the services.

While MedStar Washington Hospital Center and George Washington University Hospital still deliver the most babies from patients who live citywide, including women from Ward 8, there is concern that those larger institutions will not be able to absorb the added patients.

Providence and UMC had utilization of their obstetrics beds of about 30 percent. MedStar Washington Hospital Center and George Washington are over 75 percent, according to a D.C. Department of Health report of its health systems.

The report concluded there are no service gaps in hospital services in the District, but it added that hospital beds are maldistributed, which presents barriers to access for certain segments of DCs population.

[Poor, sick and still traveling long distances for health care in D.C.]

Officials at George Washington University Hospital did not respond to an interview request and specific questions sent by email asking about its obstetrics services.

Gregory Argyros, chief medical officer for MedStar Washington Hospital Center, convened a meeting last month with local hospitals and community groups to discuss what they could do to mitigate harm during this period of transition. Washington Hospital Center, for one, is looking to add capacity in its delivery ward.

October is going to be a crazy month, but we want to make sure this patient population has a safety net to care for them, he said. Were looking to play our part to ensure moms and the babies are safe.

But theres also worry about where the women will get their prenatal care. Several community clinics around the city provide prenatal services, but coordinating between a clinic and a delivery hospital that may be part of another network is yet another hurdle

The biggest risk factor for infant and maternal mortality is a lack of prenatal and obstetric care, said Melissa Fries, chair of Womens and Infants Services at Washington Hospital Center.

Aza Nedhari, founder of Mamatoto Village, another D.C. nonprofit group that works with low-income women during and after their pregnancies, said her organization often sees women well into their second and even third trimester who have not had prenatal care. She said she also has met mothers in postpartum who didnt see a doctor until they delivered.

Nedhari said she worries these vulnerable women will fall through the cracks.

What I feel is going to end up happening is when you increase capacity you diminish quality, Nedhari said. Its not like there is a plethora of OBs anyway, or midwives. Its a mess, its a monumental mess. How did they allow this to happen or let this happen?

Medicaid confusion

As Washington Hospital Center works to determine how many new patients it can take on because of the closures of Providence and UMC, it is also contending with current patients who are confused about what services are available to them now that their Medicaid plan has been changed.

Earlier this year, the city had announced it would not be renewing MedStar Healths managed care organization, called MedStar Family Choice. The health system is appealing the citys decision. Meanwhile, members of that coverage group were transferred by the District to a new managed-care organization, Amerigroup.

But that is not the Medicaid carrier that the hospital now uses exclusively.

Wayne Turnage, director of the D.C. Health Care Finance Department, said members were informed in a letter in September of the change to Amerigroup and the option to switch to the other Medicaid plan  called AmeriHealth  if they wanted to continue going to a MedStar facility, including Washington Hospital Center. So far, he said, it has been a smooth transition, with slightly more than 1,000 making the switch.

Arja Nelson, who is pregnant and due in December, gets most of her prenatal care through midwives at Community of Hope, but she receives her sonograms and other testing at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. She said she never received a notice and learned of the change from a midwife at Community of Hope.

A mother of three, she spent close to an hour on the phone recently trying to switch to AmeriHealth to try to stay with Washington Hospital Center.

What Nelson didnt know is that the hospital is not dropping patients who have an existing treatment plan, including pregnant women. A woman who was pregnant as of Sept. 30 under the old Medicaid carrier may continue to get obstetrics services and deliver at MedStar Washington Hospital Center  but she would not be able to get new services there unless she switched to AmeriHealth.

Nelson has worked as a doula  a person who serves as a companion to women giving birth  and is well-versed in the health-care needs of pregnant women. She lost an 11-month-old child who was born with one lung and is diligent about her checkups, she said.

If she is in the dark about her options, she said, imagine what those less educated about the health-care system must be going through.

Nedhari said she believes the consequence of the recent changes in the city will be grave.

When we look back one year from now, she said, the rates of mothers dying are going to reflect this situation.
It is not yet Halloween, but it is close, and it is the weekend, so observances began Friday at spots from the White House to the zoo in Baltimore, where at least one elephant got into the act.

At the White House, President Trump dispensed candy in the Oval Office to about a dozen children of reporters who cover him. They seemed engaged and appreciative, including at least one Darth Vader, one Batman and two in conical witches hats.

Outside, the yellow and green leaves on the trees stood in for orange and black on another glorious October afternoon. Once again it was a dry, 70-degree day in a city under the spell of meteorological enchantment.

Such brightness could end on Sunday, according to forecasts, which call for chill and rain. But forecasts differ on how much rain. A European Model calls for more, an American Model less. So, we will wait to see how nature displays its partisanship.

Meanwhile, as is traditional at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, an elephant put its foot down.

It descended on a pumpkin, which cracked under pressure and was converted into more readily digestible pieces.
First United Methodist Church in Tomah will host an American Red Cross Blood drive Thursday, Nov. 9 from 10:45 to 5 p.m. in the church's fellowship hall.

The church is located at 1105 Butts Ave.

To make an appointment, download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-733-2767.

A blood donor card or drivers license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in.
THE DISTRICT

2 men stabbed while trying to help woman

One man is in critical condition following a knife attack just after 2 a.m. Saturday near the intersection of 17th and U streets in Northwest Washington.

D.C. police are looking for a man who police say stabbed the victim and another man after they came to the aid of a woman who was in an argument with the assailant.

According to police, the victims crossed the street to see why the man was arguing with the woman. The man then began arguing with the two men. The assailant, police say, pulled out a knife and stabbed the two male victims before fleeing south on 17th Street.

 Keith L. Alexander

MARYLAND

Child lead poisoning cases drop in the state

Childhood lead poisoning in Maryland decreased last year to the lowest level since 1994, when the state began tracking cases, but health advocates said that more work needs to be done to prevent the serious and sometimes debilitating condition.

Fewer than 0.3 percent of the states children tested in 2016 had an elevated blood lead level that was 10 micrograms per deciliter or higher, the amount considered dangerous under state law, according to a report released Wednesday by the Maryland Department of the Environment.

The number of such child lead poisoning cases has dropped more than 98 percent since 1993, plummeting from 14,546 to 355 in 2016.

The improvements come as the state has used new tactics and funding to tackle the problem. It now tests all children at ages 1 and 2. Earlier this year, the state received $7.2 million in federal funding to tackle lead and asthma as environmental conditions in housing.

 Baltimore Sun

Herbicide sprayed

in park with visitors

Officials in Anne Arundel County are investigating why a helicopter sprayed herbicide at a park while it was open with visitors.

Wildlife photographer Donna Cole told the Baltimore Sun that she and a friend were in the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary on Friday when she heard a helicopter flying low. She said she is furious after being hit with a liquid.

Rick Anthony, director of the countys Recreation and Parks Department, said the county had hired a contractor to spray herbicide but said the wetlands sanctuary shouldnt have been included in the service area.

Anthony said the agency has not received solid answers yet about what happened.

The company that Anne Arundel contracts with did not return a call from the newspaper seeking comment.

 Associated Press

VIRGINIA

Colleges endowment rises above $1 billion

Virginia Techs endowment recently surpassed $1 billion.

University leaders told the Roanoke Times that bench mark figure brings a mark of financial stability and prestige.

Virginia Tech Foundation chief executive John Dooley credited the donors for reaching the milestone. A thriving stock market also helped.

In fiscal year 2016-2017, the newspaper reports the foundation paid nearly $35 million in endowment funds for various programs to support the university in Blacksburg.

According to a Chronicle of Higher Education database produced earlier this year, Virginia Tech is now the fifth university in Virginia with an endowment of more than $1 billion. The others are the University of Virginia, the University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University and Washington and Lee University, according to the database.

 Associated Press
Theyd been waiting 25 years to see the final  and potentially most sensitive  batch of records related to President John F. Kennedys assassination. Then came word late Thursday that President Trump had acquiesced to CIA and FBI lobbying to withhold tens of thousands of the files.

For historians, journalists and Kennedy buffs, the promise of revelations about what happened in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, disappeared.

My expectations were low, and they should have been lower, said Gerald Posner, author of the 1993 Kennedy assassination book Case Closed.

Though the National Archives and Records Administration put 2,800 records online, about 30,000 more remain concealed at the urging of national security officials.

On Friday, WikiLeaks offered $100,000 for the still withheld documents. On Twitter, the organization's founder, Julian Assange, polled followers over President Trump's about-face.

"Why did U.S. intelligence agencies fail to meet the legal deadline they had 25 YEARS NOTICE OF for the release of all remaining JFK files by today?" he asked. The choices: "Show power over Trump," "Ruin Trump's PR move," "Serious incompetence" or "Conceal activities."

Early Friday morning, the president tweeted assurances to those infuriated by the delay that he wants to disclose as much as possible: JFK Files are being carefully released. In the end there will be great transparency. It is my hope to get just about every thing to the public!

[Trump delays release of some JFK assassination documents]

Trump followed up that message Friday evening with another tweet, saying, After strict consultation with General Kelly, the CIA and other Agencies, I will be releasing ALL JFK files other than the names and addresses of any mentioned person who is still living. I am doing this for reasons of full disclosure, transparency and in order to put any and all conspiracy theories to rest.

He did not say when he would release the remaining documents.

Peter Kornbluh, a Cuba specialist at the National Security Archive at George Washington University, said he, too, was frustrated because the government had 25 years to make the deadline imposed by the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 . The law required that all the records "shall be publicly disclosed in full."

But the act came with an asterisk, allowing the president to withhold documents beyond Oct. 26, 2017, if he decided disclosure would harm national security.

I have no choice  today  but to accept those redactions rather than allow potentially irreversible harm to our nations security, Trump wrote in a memo Thursday night.

Many leading Kennedy experts werent buying it.

Kornbluh, the Cuba authority, said most of the papers that were released didn't warrant the long-held secrecy. He pointed to a never-before-seen memo by Hoover, dated two days after the assassination. Hoover says in the memo that he wanted to have "something issued so we can convince the public that Oswald is the real assassin," and that he thought the investigation should be kept secret because of Oswald's contacts with the Cuban embassy in Mexico City and the Soviet Embassy in Washington.

"What is the secrecy around that document really about?" asked Kornbluh, who co-

authored a 2014 book on the United States' secret diplomacy with Cuba called "Back Channel to Cuba."

For Kornbluh, some of the more intriguing documents in the entire Kennedy collection were not released Thursday. He was hoping to see the files on Luis Posada Carriles , who had been given explosives training by the CIA as part of the Bay of Pigs invasion and was later implicated in several terrorist attacks.

We could learn the degree to which he worked for the CIA, his operations and the whole history of how he left the CIA and went to Venezuela to plan the bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1976 that killed 73 men, women and children, Kornbluh said.

He was intrigued by some released records Thursday, including a 1975 report by White House counsel Philip Buchen, who summarized the CIA's assassination plots against foreign leaders. Some of the more eye-popping details included a proposed government operation to induce Cubans to overthrow their government, with financial rewards for various types of Cuban leaders: up to $100,000 for government officials, and perhaps for symbolic reasons, two cents for Castro.

The price list appears to be new, Kornbluh said. I think it is one of the most comprehensive summaries of real and proposed assassination operations against Castro that I have ever read, and I have read all of them.

[Strippers, surveillance and assassination plots: The wildest JFK Files]

Trump on Thursday gave intelligence agencies until March to propose which redactions they still want to preserve. By April 26, Trump will make another decision on what to release and what to withhold.

Rex Bradford, president of the Mary Ferrell Foundation, which collects documents on numerous government investigations, said he worries the six-month delay  after a 25-year wait  just makes it harder to suppress the rampant myths surrounding the murder.

"I am sure that withholding fuels conspiracy theorists," Bradford said. "At the same time, we have some sympathy for agencies who would rather not reveal sensitive or embarrassing information. In some cases, those are legitimate positions. But many others feel like, at this point, the public interest far outweighs those concerns."

The material proved daunting to media organizations, amateur sleuths and experts alike. Each agency has its own language of acronyms and euphemisms that take time to learn.

Often, seemingly simple terms are deliberately misused, wrote Greg Bradsher, a senior archivist at the National Archives at College Park, in a blog. A highly reliable informant could actually be a microphone. Special or sensitive investigative techniques could be code for break-ins. And illegally obtained dirt could be disguised as information from a confidential informant.

The Hoover memo drew the most attention from media outlets and on social media. Hoover said the FBI had repeatedly warned Dallas police about threats against Oswald in the hours after Kennedys assassination.

Last night we received a call in our Dallas office from a man talking in a calm voice and saying he was a member of a committee organized to kill Oswald, Hoover reported. We at once notified the chief of police and he assured us Oswald would be given sufficient protection. This morning we called the chief of police again warning of the possibility of some effort against Oswald and again he assured us adequate protection would be given. However, this was not done.

The Miami New Times found a memo discussing a false-flag operation that never came to fruition. According to the memo, the CIA considered creating a false "Communist Cuban terror campaign" to turn the public against the Cuban Revolution. "We could sink a boatload of Cubans en route to Florida (real or simulated)," an official wrote. "We could foster attempts on lives of Cuban refugees in the United States even to the extent of wounding in instances to be widely publicized."

British media jumped all over an FBI file claiming that a local newspaper, the Cambridge News, had received a tip about some big news in the United States shortly before the assassination.

The caller said only that the Cambridge News reporter should call the American Embassy in London for some big news and then hung up, CIA counterintelligence chief James Angleton wrote to Hoover. After the word of the Presidents death was received the reporter informed the Cambridge police of the anonymous call and the police informed MI5. The important point is that the call was made, according to MI5 calculations, about 25 minutes before the President was shot.

The paper reported Friday it had never been able to figure out whether the call was made.
A hidden camera was placed in a bathroom at a Montgomery County gymnastics and fitness club, and a man was arrested in a charge of illegal visual surveillance, the county police said.

They said Jonathan Oldale, 54, of Chevy Chase, was arrested Oct. 18 and charged with visual surveillance of another person in a private place without consent.

Police said an investigation began in May after an employee at Silver Star Gymnastics and Fitness Club, in Silver Spring reported finding a backpack containing a camera in a bathroom.

Police said no videos had been located showing possible victims from the gymnastics studio.
One man is in critical condition following a knife attack just after 2 a.m. Saturday near the intersection of 17th and U streets in Northwest Washington.

D.C. police are looking for a man who police say stabbed the victim and another man after they came to the aid of a woman who was allegedly being verbally assaulted by the assailant.

According to police, the victims crossed the street to investigate why the man was arguing with the woman when the man then began arguing with the two men. The assailant, police say, then pulled out a knife and stabbed the two male victims before fleeing south on 17th Street.

The second victim is expected to be released from a hospital later today.

Correction: An earlier version of this story described the victims as a man and a woman and said the assailant crossed the street to them.
In more than 95 percent of cases, the rejected applicants had been driving for Uber, the Maryland Public Service Commission said. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post)

Nearly 15 percent of new ride-hail drivers in Maryland have been booted from the apps over the past six months for failing state screening, despite having passed Uber and Lyfts background checks, according to the state Public Service Commission (PSC).

In more than 95 percent of cases, the rejected applicants had been driving for Uber, the commission said.

The rejections included 460 applicants with disqualifying criminal histories and 900 who were flagged because of issues with their driving records, according to the PSC.

Uber blamed outdated screening requirements for the outsize number of rejections and said fewer drivers would be blocked as new screening criteria were rolled out by the state. The company said it followed a legal standard established by the commission in December 2015, but PSC staff had been applying broader vetting criteria until last week.

The commission hailed the rejections as evidence that its multitiered screening process is working to weed out bad-apple drivers.

For some, however, the numbers renew concerns about the effectiveness of Uber and Lyfts electronic screening, particularly as other states weigh adopting Marylands screening model.

The Maryland PSC approved a new screening framework last year after commissioners agreed electronic checks  paired with rigorous oversight by regulators  could be as or more thorough than fingerprint-based checks favored by law enforcement.

[Maryland has booted more than 4,000 Uber drivers for failing the states screening requirements]

But the uptick in rejections, six months after Maryland reported that it had booted more than 4,000 out of 74,000 drivers since December 2015, shows a significant gap between ride-hail companies screening and state regulators expectations. In the latest round of checks, Maryland rejected 3,503 out of 24,608 applications evaluated since April 3. Over the six-month span, the proportion of rejections nearly tripled compared with the year-and-a-half before.

Maryland does not conduct its own separate screenings of drivers but rather reviews Ubers and Lyfts completed applications for compliance. Once Uber and Lyft approve individuals to drive, they can pick up fares until the state says otherwise.

Virginia and the District do not collect the companies screening data to check for compliance.

The fact that we are rejecting a significant number on secondary review demonstrates a solid justification for our supplemental review process, which is above and beyond what most other states do, PSC spokeswoman Tori Leonard said.

In addition to the 24,608 applications already checked, another 6,922 applications received since April 3 have yet to be reviewed. Since December 2015, the state has rejected about 6.6 percent of the applications it has received, Leonard said.

In the latest batch, nearly 40 percent of the rejected drivers were dismissed for driving or criminal history reasons, according to stats provided by Leonard. The remaining drivers were rejected for administrative reasons, which could include the failure to verify a drivers identity, having too little driving experience, and holding a limited-term temporary license.

Uber defended its screening process and argued that state regulators were evaluating its drivers based upon an obsolete standard.

There is a consensus among the Public Service Commissioners, PSC staff, and ridesharing companies on the responsible, fair, and clear standards for screenings, an Uber spokesman said in a statement. These standards are in line with the PSCs ruling on screening requirements last year, they are similar to the laws in neighboring D.C. and Virginia, and they are expected to be finalized within the next few months. Unfortunately, despite this consensus, some ride-share driver applicants are being blocked under an outdated criteria while the new rules are being finalized.

[Md. approves alternative screening process for ride-hailing drivers, amid threats Uber would leave]

Last year, as concerns arose over the effectiveness of ride-hail companies electronic screening, the PSC debated whether to institute fingerprint-based background checks. Uber threatened to leave the state if it adopted the checks, largely because of the limitations the costly screenings would place on its workforce. In the end, the commission approved an alternative screening method that allowed the companies to continue conducting electronic checks  subject to final approval by the state.

Uber also had opposed provisions that, for example, banned drivers who were convicted of a single felony drug possession charge, according to the company. But a new rule approved by the commission would reinstate drivers eligibility after seven years, or after 10 years for multiple convictions.

The new PSC screening requirements, which went into effect last week, are more in line with Ubers approach to screening, the company said.

Lyft did not respond directly to questions about the discrepancy between its checks and the states secondary screening but said the majority of rejections are for what it described as paperwork issues, which could include submitting photos of vehicle inspection stickers rather than the actual certificates.

One positive note for the ride-hail companies: Between April and October, the proportion of drivers rejected for driving and criminal history reasons decreased. In statistics released in April, the number of drivers rejected for driving and criminal history was 64 percent; the number rejected for those reasons between April and October dropped to 39 percent.

As our screening guidelines continue to evolve as a result of new regulations and practices, we believe this will lead to more stability and even a decrease in the number of safety-related rejections going forward, Leonard said.

Still, Dave Sutton, a spokesman for the taxi industry-funded Whos Driving You, said the findings are alarming.

[Uber screening process drew scrutiny long before Kalamazoo shootings]

This is further proof that governments should be conducting background checks on Uber and Lyft drivers, not the companies themselves, he said. While Uber points to Maryland as a proponent of its background checks, the state is quietly rejecting thousands of already approved applicants. This should serve as a warning to other states and cities.

Meanwhile, in California, the state Public Utilities Commission recently reached a proposed decision that would not subject drivers to fingerprint checks. The decision notes that Maryland regulators found Ubers and Lyfts screenings to be as comprehensive and accurate as fingerprint-based checks.

In California, the state regulator has decided not to fingerprint Uber and Lyft drivers based on Ubers testimony that Maryland approves of the companys driver screening, said Sutton, whose organization raises concerns about the companies screening processes. Clearly, Maryland does not.
The Interstate 66 toll lanes will change the way people travel in one of the regions most congested corridors. Virginia is betting the shift to the new system, set to open in December, will be so dramatic that it will push more commuters to try transit.

The rush-hour, peak-direction, high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes will kick off a makeover of nearly 10 miles of highway from Route 29 in Rosslyn to Interstate 495. The goal of the multibillion-dollar transformation is to move more people in fewer cars.

A roadway expansion and toll lanes on another 22.5-mile stretch from the Beltway to Gainesville will follow.

When tolling begins, every vehicle, except motorcycles, will need an E-ZPass transponder to use the new HOT lanes. Solo drivers who are willing to pay will be able to use the lanes during the morning and afternoon rush hours, a change in a decades-long restriction to keep the peak-direction lanes open only to cars with two or more occupants. Tolls will fluctuate based on congestion. The lanes will continue to be free for carpoolers who have a toll transponder set to HOV.

[Virginias latest experiment with toll lanes to test thousands of commuters on I-66]

This tolling operation is going to be set up. It is not a question of if anymore, it will happen, said Fairfax County Supervisor Jeffrey C. McKay (D-Lee).

It will change peoples commuting patterns, said McKay, who is chair of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission. And now is the time to consider an alternative, to test it, to time it and to make sure you have the route that best works for you.

The states goal is to encourage more carpooling, and even better, move them to transit. About 41 percent of morning rush-hour commuters in the corridor  not just on I-66  are on transit, according to the commission. A fraction are on local and commuter buses and on Virginia Railway Express commuter trains, whose Manassas line service started in 1992.

The biggest share of transit commuters use Metro. The Orange Line became a vital mode of transportation for residents in the corridor when it was extended just over nine miles to Vienna, opening four stations along I-66 in 1986.

Three decades later, the tolling system yields another defining moment for commuters.

For the first time, really since Metro came to I-66, people should probably take the time to consider transit and whether it can improve their commutes and bottom-line financially, McKay said.

[Heres what you need to know about the new I-66 toll lanes]

The state has spent $10 million to improve public transportation in and around the I-66 corridor, including expanding transit capacity. The effort includes new bus routes that will take commuters from as far as Gainesville to the Pentagon via I-66, and from Fairfax to Foggy Bottom.

These investments, officials say, will boost capacity to carry an additional 5,000 people on transit through the corridor when tolling begins. The projects range from additional rush-hour trips on bus routes that parallel I-66, to bus stop improvements in Arlington, to a new 250-space park-and-ride in Loudoun County.

But will the changes be enough to persuade drivers to give up their cars?

Some motorists say the available options, chiefly Metro, arent reliable enough for the state to make a strong case for transit. Bus service is limited in neighborhoods  particularly in the outer suburbs where residents often have to drive to a park-and-ride facility to catch a bus. Commuter buses are mostly intended to serve the rush-hour, peak-direction crowd, making them inconvenient for those with unpredictable work schedules or irregular hours.

Still, transportation officials are hoping the variable tolling  which based on experience with the I-495 express lanes means tolls could top $30  will discourage solo driving and encourage commuters to try transit or carpooling.

Congestion is so bad and the potential prices will be such that people will seek out these options, said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. But people need to know these options are available.

A portion of the I-66 toll revenue will go to supporting more carpooling and more commuter bus service.

In Fairfax, a new express bus line will provide a one-seat ride for 400 people to commute from the county Government Center park-and-ride to the State Department in Foggy Bottom each morning and the same number back to Fairfax in the evenings. The county is proposing to launch another bus line along I-66 after tolling begins.

In Prince William, a new bus route from Gainesville to the Pentagon launched in December in preparation for the changes in the corridor. Ridership has not picked up, with only about 200 passenger trips daily, with many of them riders who switched from other routes. But officials say they expect ridership to grow as the tolling begins.

[Try the original ridesharing system: Slugging.]

The transition also could boost the corridors slugging culture. Slug lines, or instant carpooling, is a Washington area commuting tradition in which drivers who want to use HOV lanes stop to pick up passengers along the way. Thousands of people slug in the I-95 corridor, but the practice is not as well developed in the I-66 corridor.

This is an opportunity for people to reassess how they are commuting, said Tom Biesiadny, director of Fairfax County Department of Transportation.

A second round of projects is in the works for the area, according to the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, which is managing the transit investments.

Under a 40-year agreement with the state, the commission may provide funds to operate new or enhanced service for up to eight years. The goal is to increase capacity of transit in the corridor to get cars off the interstate.

[Another 2 miles of Interstate 95 HOT lanes will open Oct. 31]

The key now, McKay said, is to get commuters to think about whether they want to adjust their routine before the tolling actually starts. Past experiences has shown that changing peoples driving patterns isnt easy.

Most people arent going to even give the research that is necessary to even weigh the pros and cons of that until tolling starts and hits their pocket, McKay said. When they do, he said, they have to find robust, convenient and affordable transit options.

Some people will look at this only once and if the transit service doesnt meet their needs, they will probably just suck it up and keep driving.
A voter casts her ballot during Virginia's primary election on March 1, 2016, at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Leesburg. (Evelyn Hockstein for The Washington Post)

Dozens of President Trump's 2016 campaign aides are working to get disaffected blue-collar rural Virginians to vote in the Nov. 7 governor's race  an effort seen as a trial run for a national push in next year's congressional midterms.

Look Ahead America is targeting 12,000 registered voters who have not been to the polls since 2009, the last year Republicans won statewide elections in purple Virginia.

The group is conservative but officially nonpartisan, so it cannot directly urge voters to choose Republican Ed Gillespie over Democrat Ralph Northam, the states lieutenant governor.

But the organization is reaching out to the same types of voters who were widely credited with putting Trump in the White House, which its website describes as rural and blue-collar patriotic Americans who are disaffected and disenfranchised from the nations corridors of power.

Co-founder Matt Braynard stressed that Look Ahead is not reaching out to Trump voters but people who sat out the 2016 election and many others before that.

View Graphic The latest stories and details on the 2017 Virginia general election and race for governor.

Part of it is just a high level of cynicism that voting does not matter, said Braynard, one of two former Trump campaign data directors who started the group. We are trying to correct that.

Look Ahead is reaching out to those voters through direct mail, phone calls, robo-calls, email, social media and old-fashioned door-knocking.

The groups efforts could help Gillespie if it gets more conservatives to the polls. Some religious conservatives and fans of Trump have been skeptical of Gillespie, a GOP establishment figure who has been a Republican National Committee chairman, Washington lobbyist and counselor to President George W. Bush.

[Gillespie campaign seen as snubbing Trump operative, causing uproar]

Because the group operates independently of the campaign, Gillespie could reap the benefit of higher conservative turnout while keeping Trump at arms length  a posture intended to help him with moderates and independents in a state where the presidents approval ratings are dismal.

[Gillespie, the consummate GOP establishment man tries culture warrior on for size]

Look Ahead, created by 34 Trump field workers and state directors, got working in Virginia about two weeks ago  too late to sign up new voters ahead of the states Oct. 16 registration deadline.

Organizers had hoped to get an earlier start, telling the New York Times in August that they expected to raise $800,000 and begin operations in Virginia in time to register voters.

But raising money was tougher than expected, so the group did not get started until recently, with what Braynard called a "limited budget." Politico first reported that the group's efforts in the state were underway.

Ill admit some of the donors we were counting on did not materialize, said Braynard, who said he will not disclose how much has been raised before filing deadlines. The group is organized under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, which allows it to keep donors private.

So far were not the tool of any billionaires, he said.

Despite the late start, organizers believe they can play an important role by nudging inactive voters to the polls, particularly because campaigns tend to focus their turnout efforts on high propensity voters.

Were going to pester them as best we can into voting, Braynard said. He was data director for the Trump campaign but left in March 2016, handing that job off to Witold Chrabaszcz, co-founder of Look Ahead.

Theres a segment of the population that doesnt vote at all, Chrabaszcz said. Traditionally, political organizations tend to go after people who are reliable voters.

That tends to create a vicious cycle, he added, noting that campaigns tend to ignore people who do not have a history of voting, making those people feel even more alienated and less likely to vote. Were trying to break that vicious cycle.

Look Ahead plans to deploy about 20 people as poll watchers  certified by their respective counties as third-party observers  to ensure ballot box integrity, Braynard said. Civil libertarians have sometimes criticized monitoring as a voter-intimidation tactic.

Im very concerned about the message that it sends and the story line it perpetuates  trying to tell Virginians we cant trust the outcome at the ballot box, said Anna Scholl, executive director of the liberal organization Progress Virginia.

Braynard said the organization will follow the states very strict rules for nonpartisan election observers, including the requirement to get preapproval from county boards.

Its in every citizens best interest that organizations observing elections, regardless of ideology, can agree it was a fair fight, he said.

Look Ahead takes a conservative stance on issues such as sanctuary cities, illegal immigration, refugee resettlements and gun rights.

"We're trying to be the ACORN of the right," he said, referring to the liberal community organizing group that collapsed in 2010 in the aftermath of several scandals. "We're not telling anybody who to vote against or whom to vote for, just telling them these are the issues at stake and their vote matters."

Donald P. Green, a Columbia University political science professor who has researched voting behavior, plans to evaluate the groups work to determine if it increases turnout.

"I conduct these kinds of evaluations on the right, and the left and the center," said Green, co-author of "Get Out the Vote: How to Increase Voter Turnout."

The idea of mobilizing low-propensity voters is quite interesting, Green said. Theyre moving into essentially a vacant space in the world of campaign activity. The typical campaign ignores voters who show repeatedly that theyre unlikely to come out to vote.

The group has hired the nonpartisan Seattle-based data company L2 to locate these voters through voting histories and data on income, education and consumer purchases. If the voter has used a credit card to buy a gun, for example, that would suggest support for gun rights, said Paul Westcott, L2 vice president.

Its turning out individuals who are likely to care about certain issues and using a strategy for finding those disaffected voters, Westcott said.
Certain birth defects of the face and heart can occur when babies mothers have a fever during the first trimester of pregnancy, a crucial time in an embryos development. Now scientists have figured out the molecular players that make it so.

In an experiment with chicken embryos, a temporary rise in incubation temperature  meant to mimic feverlike conditions  was enough to produce defects to the face and heart. Such an elevation in temperature, called hyperthermia, affects the activity of heat-sensitive channels in cells necessary for an embryo's development, researchers report online in the journal Science Signaling.

Although a connection between fever and these birth defects has been known for decades, says report co-author Eric Benner, a neonatologist at the Duke University School of Medicine, there has been some debate as to whether the fever itself or an infectious agent behind the fever is the culprit.

The new work shows that hyperthermia in and of itself can cause these birth defects, and, on a molecular level, heres how it happens, Benner says.

While birth defects of the heart and face can have a genetic cause, that doesnt explain all cases of these common health problems. In the United States, more than 35,000 babies are born with congenital heart defects each year. Nearly 4,500 infants are born with a malformation of the lip called cleft lip, which can occur with or without a cleft palate, and more than 2,500 babies are born with a cleft palate only.

Although the face and heart dont end up so close together, they arise from the same type of precursor cells, called neural crest cells. These cells orchestrate the development of the jaws and other facial bones as well as the heart and its major vessels, Benner says. The researchers discovered that two members of a class of ion channels that can sense a change in temperature were present in neural crest cells from chickens and mice. (Ion channels are passages through a cells membrane that allow charged particles, or ions, into or out of the cell.) A temperature change can affect the activity of these two channels, called TRPV1 and TRPV4.

The scientists heated chicken embryos to about 105 degrees for an hour and compared them with embryos incubated at a standard laboratory temperature of 98.6 degrees. Those chicks exposed to a high fever developed craniofacial defects, such as a shorter upper beak, and cardiovascular defects. Chicks that developed continuously at the standard temperature did not. Whats more, treating the embryos with a molecule that blocked TRPV1 before temporarily raising the temperature prevented craniofacial defects and reduced cardiovascular defects. And using a drug that activates TRPV4 in regular-temperature conditions induced birth defects.

The research is the first to detail the mechanism that connects a fever to birth defects, and it will hopefully get people thinking about this, says medical geneticist Richard Finnell of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, who was not involved in the study. I was awfully impressed.

Still, it's unclear how high a fever has to be, how long it needs to last and exactly when within the first trimester it needs to occur to cause such birth defects, Benner says. "Fevers are very common in pregnancy, and the vast majority of the time, women who have had fevers are going to deliver healthy babies," he says. He also points to two clinical studies that have shown that the fever-reducer acetaminophen  commonly sold as Tylenol  decreased fever-associated birth defects, and he suggests that doctors and patients consider the drug's use to treat fevers early in pregnancy.

 Science News

Read more

Fever during pregnancy may increase autism risk in offspring

The baby who was born twice

5 myths about pregnancy
Can you find out the nuclear flaw in the Foxconn deal? a woman asked me. She was referring to words leaked out of secret negotiations between the state and a Taiwanese billionaire.

Lawmakers, who recently voted in favor of the Foxconn deal, did so without seeing any contract. They put faith in a state operation known as Wisconsin Economic Development.

Despite being paid for entirely with public funds, the $3 billion contract with Foxconn is not public. Nor do lawmakers who approved the plan know what problems exist in the draft contract. As the saying goes, the devil is in the details. Lawmakers and the public cannot see the details and are asked to trust WEDC negotiating the deal and later overseeing Foxconns compliance.

But is WEDC worthy of our trust?

For years, the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau reported concerns about WEDCs administration and oversight of economic development programs.

In 2013, nearly two years after WEDC was created, auditors could not report on state dollars spent by WEDC because its financial and accounting systems were not adequate. Members of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee learned spending was tracked largely by credit card statements. To remedy this serious problem, legislators passed a new law that included an independent audit of all WEDC financial statements. Financial statement preparation should be basic for any state agency.

At an October 2013 Audit Committee public hearing, WEDC leaders promised they had complied with all the LAB recommendations. However, a year later, auditors reported many problems related to basic operations and the tracking of money. For example, auditors found some spending not recorded in the accounting system and found past due loans that were missing.

By 2015, auditors discovered a larger than necessary cash balance at WEDC. By the end of June 2015, WEDC had accumulated in excess of $85 million as reported in a 2017 audit.

Losing loans and not properly accounting for internal expenses are problems associated with the operation of a troubled agency. But the problems WEDC could encounter in overseeing a large project like Foxconn are related to the independent evaluation of the companys promises compared to its actual records.

Four years after WEDC was established auditors finally could report that WEDC made any effort to obtain information about jobs actually created. However, further review by auditors showed the attempts made by WEDC only compared a companys own promises to report and the reports a company itself filed. WEDC made no effort to verify the information submitted.

In its most recent audit, the LAB reported WEDC paid an outside consultant $24,900 to do the work it was required to do since its existence in 2011. Auditors found concerns including that the contractors work was limited and did not include grants.

In the LABs own evaluation of completed economic development projects, auditors findings included: companies gave money for job creation without any contract requiring such, companies quitting before the end of their contract period without delivering promised jobs, contracts to create jobs were written with no specific number of jobs to be created, WEDC forgave loans even though the company created or retained a lower number of jobs than required and WEDC counting twice the number of jobs created by a company.

If Wisconsin taxpayers cannot be confident after seven years and the investment of hundreds of millions of state dollars that promised jobs were created, how can we possibly be confident WEDC can negotiate and oversee a $3 billion contract?

No local government would ever agree to spend money without seeing a contract. No banker would agree to loan funds without a contract. No businessperson would ever commit funds without a contract.

Lawmakers bought a pig in a poke  an unknown deal.

WEDC has not earned lawmakers trust nor that of the public. Lawmakers can and should do more to oversee this project.

Democrat Kathleen Vinehout, Alma, represents the 31st state Senate District. She is also a Democratic candidate for governor.
It has been nearly seven years since Sarah Hughes had preeclampsia, but she still remembers the anguish of missing her newborn's first three days of life when this pregnancy complication sent her back to the hospital with dangerously high blood pressure.

Hughes said she could tolerate the gasping for breath and intense headache as well as the painful, intravenous magnesium sulfate she received to reduce the chances of a seizure, but she could not stand being away from her new child, who was at home being cared for by relatives.

Although her baby girl, Hayley, was born healthy, the entire family was anxious for days afterward, worried that Hughes might become ill again.

A new study shows that preeclampsia also has effects beyond individual families such as Hughess, according to William Callaghan of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

When we talk in public health, we may be using the story of the individual to make our case because that can be a pretty compelling story, but we have the obligation of looking at what the burden is on the entire population, said Callaghan, who is chief of the Maternal and Infant Health Branch in the CDCs Division of Reproductive Health.

The study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, reported that preeclampsia increased the likelihood that mothers and babies would develop medical problems (from 4.6 percent to 10.1 percent for mothers and from 7.8 percent to 15.4 percent for babies). The condition also lowered babies' gestational age by 1.7 weeks.

The associated medical problems cost more than $2.18 billion in care for mothers and babies in the year after birth. Some mothers developed significant problems such as renal failure, stroke, heart disease and seizures. Babies suffered from breathing trouble, vision problems and long-term developmental issues.

Preeclampsia can interfere with the blood flow to the placenta and the fetus, leading to low birth weight, prematurity and even death. The only cure for preeclampsia is delivery of the baby.

There is very little work on the national epidemiology of preeclampsia, which is surprising given that it is a leading cause of maternal mortality and maternal mortality rates in the U.S. and exceeds those in other similarly developed countries, Anupam B. Jena, one of the study authors and a professor at Harvard Medical School, wrote in an email.

Preeclampsia is a condition that has additional relevance because it affects mothers and families at arguably one of the happiest times in a familys life and the condition is often unexpected and unsuspected.

Jena and colleagues used data from California hospital discharges and birth certificates from 2008 to 2011, as well as other nationally representative data to estimate the medical and financial costs for 156,681 mothers and babies affected by pre

eclampsia in 2012.

The researchers also noted that the preeclampsia rate has climbed in recent years, from 2.4 percent of pregnancies in 1980 to 3.8 percent in 2010, partly because of obesity and because women are becoming pregnant at a later age.

Some of it could be driven by risk factors we know about, other differences could be driven by risk factors we dont know very well, and part of it could be differential access to health-care providers who are screening moms for preeclampsia, Jena said in an interview. There could also be a difference in the quality of prenatal obstetrical care for mothers in the U.S. versus other countries.

Callaghan also said that even though the condition is probably the most common severe problem for women in pregnancy, it hasnt been sufficiently researched. He noted that in 1931, the Chicago Lying-In Hospital  now part of University of Chicago Medicine  displayed four plaques honoring doctors who made significant contributions to obstetrics. A fifth plaque  reserved for whoever discovers a way to prevent and cure preeclampsia  remains blank.

It reflects the truly enigmatic quality of this disease, Callaghan said.

The costs of preeclampsia are probably even higher than the study estimates, said Cindy Anderson, associate dean for academic affairs and educational innovation in the College of Nursing at Ohio State University.

If the women had more-mild forms, which can still have consequences, they may have been less likely to be reported, Anderson said. That makes the problem even bigger.

The study also didnt account for the long-term effects, costs that are harder to quantify, she said.

Anderson said one way to help pregnant women get treatment before the condition becomes too dangerous is to educate them about symptoms early. Those symptoms, which can be difficult to distinguish from the typical effects of pregnancy, include headache, vision changes, pain in the upper abdomen, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing and swelling of the hands and face, Anderson said.

Doctors also need to do a better job warning women that preeclampsia is associated with a risk of heart disease, Anderson said.

If they knew they were at risk, they could do some preventive measures . . . so that as soon as this risk is identified, it could be managed, she said.

Eleni Tsigas, chief executive of the Preeclampsia Foundation, said her nonprofit has been promoting more awareness of the condition among health-care providers and patients.

Many, many women get through their prenatal care never hearing about preeclampsia, never being tuned in to the warning signs they should be, said Tsigas.

Tsigas said the study showed the crucial need for more research.

Our hope is it really makes everybody sit up and realize this is a significant issue  physically, emotionally and, now, clearly financially, said Tsigas.

It's an experience Hughes, who writes about it on her blog, will not forget.

I remember being in the emergency department, and anybody who would walk by, I would say, Excuse me, I need to go home,  said Hughes, who lives in Cherry Hill, N.J., with her husband and two children and is a former volunteer for the Preeclampsia Foundation in Florida. I think it took a few months for me to feel secure in going out and doing things. . . . It was a huge shock to our family.

Read more

Cities turn to doulas to give babies a better chance of survival

U.S. maternal deaths drop slightly after years of increases

Theres new advice on what constitutes high blood pressure
Businesses along downtown's main stretch have shuttered until Monday. Police officers have been told they'll be working this weekend. They're all anxiously holding their breath.

Two Saturday rallies called by white supremacist groups have prompted a wave of worry in this Tennessee town about an hour south of Nashville. Chief among the concerns is that the gatherings will bring bands of violent racists, like those who killed a woman at a similar rally this summer in Charlottesville, or the ones who opened fire at counterprotesters last week in Gainesville, Fla.

And its not just the locals. Organizers of the White Lives Matter rally are worried, too.

The world has completely changed since Trump was elected. The streets are incredibly more violent. There is a threat level that didnt exist before, said Brad Griffin, 36, a member of the League of the South, a Southern secessionist group that has organized this weekends events in Shelbyville and nearby Murfreesboro. It used to be just us and these peaceful liberals out there yelling at each other.

While it was once unremarkable for a rural Southern town like this to host a gathering of white supremacists, even event organizers now wonder if its possible to keep such rallies peaceful.

Griffins group, which has urged attendees not to bring guns, decided earlier this year they wanted to return to Middle Tennessee after holding similar rallies in 2013, when about 75 members in khaki shorts carried cardboard signs and held a picnic lunch.

I knew the guy organizing the counterprotest, Griffin, who lives near Montgomery, Ala., recalled of the 2013 event. Its not like we were going to go out there and start physically fighting each other.

[Why the Islamophobic publisher of a neo-Nazi website is hiding from a group of Muslims]

Now, Griffin says he worries that these rallies  aimed at attracting new supporters in towns where the white supremacists believe some residents are likely to be sympathetic to the politics of white grievance  are destined to devolve into violence. Griffin said hes participated in about 30 rallies in recent years. The only ones that turned violent have been this year.

The fear of antifa has pushed the groups rallying this weekend to seek strength in numbers, Griffin said, and hold joint events with other strands of white supremacists. Antifa is a black-mask-wearing group of left-wing anarchists, socialists and communists who organize against racial and class oppression and are known to violently disrupt right-wing rallies and demonstrations.

This weekend's rallies will include some familiar faces from Charlottesville: the Nationalist Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group; the Traditionalist Worker Party, which wants a separate white ethno-state; Anti-Communist Action, a right-wing group that believes America is being threatened by "communists"  a label they apply liberally; and Vanguard America, a white supremacist group that believes America is inherently a white nation and that identity must be preserved.

The spectrum of rhetoric, stated goals and stated identities can be confusing. Carla Hill, an expert on extremism at the Anti-Defamation League, said the most basic way of understanding the gathering is: Theyre all white supremacists.



White nationalists clash with counter-protesters at a rally in Charlottesville, Va. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

Many of the groups reject that term. And they insist theyre nonviolent.

We do not expect the White Lives Matter rallies in Shelbyville or Murfreesboro to become another Charlottesville. Thats not in our interest, Griffin wrote in a blog post advertising the event. The post also asked participants not to bring any weapons, to avoid clashes with antifa counterprotesters and to dress well.

Come to the White Lives Matter rallies to make a good impression, the post read.

[A black man went undercover online as a white supremacist. This is what he learned.]

The white supremacists say their aim is to attract recruits by capitalizing on local white frustration over joblessness, immigration and the recent shooting of churchgoers in nearby Antioch by a black man who is a former refugee.

I think local concerns about changing demographics and the downward economy hasnt fundamentally changed. So I do think there are a lot of individuals who feel like theyre being denied basic representation, said Matthew Heimbach, who runs the Traditionalist Worker Party.

Middle Tennessee has seen racist and white supremacist rallies before. The Ku Klux Klan got its start here in the town of Pulaski in 1865. A building on the Middle Tennessee State University campus in Murfreesboro is still named for a Klan member.

They didnt just draw Shelbyville out of a hat, said David Clark, 64, who has lived in this town for all of his life and remembers his grandfather telling him of how the Klan once attempted to recruit him in the 1920s.

But Clark, like many of the residents here, fears that white supremacist forces have been empowered by the Trump presidency and are more likely to turn violent and destructive. He and other residents, calling themselves "Shelbyville Loves" have been holding vigils, prayer services and counter-protests each day for the past two weeks. On Saturday, they'll hold a community picnic three blocks away from the planned rally.

A year ago, I dont know that any of us would have given it the time of day, said Clark, who works as the janitor at a local elementary school.

This stuff has been, regrettably, been going on here for 100 years, he said. It used to be just a bunch of rednecks in robes who would show their rear end and then leave. Now theyre well-organized and well-funded. Now theyre a real scary bunch.

Recent years have seen sporadic bursts anti-Muslim activism in response to a growing refugee and immigrant community, much of it focused on the construction of a new mosque in Murfreesboro seven years ago.

[Tennessee church-shooting suspect had note referencing Dylann Roof attack]

Its a culture down here, said Corey Lemley, a 27-year-old antifa activist in Nashville, who traveled to Charlottesville to protest the white supremacists and plans to do the same Saturday.

"You have to expect that locals, especially in your more rural areas and suburban areas, will definitely want to partake" in the rallies, Lemley said. "Even the ones that might not say that they support the Nazis but they support free speech  the ones that will try to blend in and pretend they're not with the white nationalist movement. I'm expecting quite a bit of those."

Griffin, who was present in Charlottesville and at several campus speeches by white supremacist Richard Spencer and Milo Yiannopoulous that resulted in violence, said trouble often starts when some at the rally get separated from the main group and then are confronted by counterprotesters. The plan this weekend is to make sure the entire group sticks together, moving as one from the Shelbyville rally in the morning to a picnic lunch and then the Murfreesboro rally in the afternoon. Still, Griffin concedes, it's unclear if things will go according to plan.

A lot of these people come from the Internet, Griffin admits. Some of these are people who none of us know in real life, who show up with guns and shields. Theres a volatile element there that we cant always control.
ISIS is losing territory and Trump is claiming credit, but experts say not so fast. (Video: Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

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Weve done more against ISIS in nine months than the previous administration has done during its whole administration  by far, by far.

 President Trump, in remarks before the Value Voters Summit, Oct. 13, 2017 Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight President Trump has made a variation of this claim repeatedly over the months, starting in July, when he proclaimed: In five months we have done more against ISIS than anybodys done since the beginning and we are having tremendous success with that.

Every month since then, he has repeated the claim, simply updating the number of months. For instance, on Sept. 7, he said, We have done better in eight months of my presidency than the previous eight years against ISIS. (Never mind that the Islamic State terror group emerged as a significant force in Iraq and Syria in 2013, when it captured and raised its flag over Fallujah.)

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Now, in the wake of the terror groups loss of its de facto capital of Raqqa, Syria, the president is taking yet another victory lap. But it raises the question: Has the Trump administration done more in its short term in office than the administration of Barack Obama?

The Facts

The Islamic State can ultimately be traced back to a group called al-Qaeda in Iraq, which was started by a Jordanian terrorist named Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and arose in response to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. (Trump supported the invasion of Iraq, though he falsely denies that now.)

Eventually, al-Qaeda in Iraq had more or less petered out, but the civil war in Syria that started in 2011 breathed new life into what had become a moribund organization, since it led to a vacuum of governance in the country. The Islamic State then moved into Iraq, in part because of Obamas decision to withdraw troops in 2011. (Trump had urged a rapid withdrawal at the time but he ignores that now when he criticizes Obama for this decision.) Then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, in his 2014 memoir Worthy Fights, said that he warned Obama that without U.S. troops in place, Iraq could become a new haven for terrorists.

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Another factor in the rise of the Islamic State was the rampant mismanagement by the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which greatly degraded the Iraqi military and exacerbated tensions between Sunnis and Shiites.

The Islamic State reached its height of control in late 2014, with defense consultant IHS Janes estimating a reach of 35,000 square miles in January 2015. On Sept. 10, 2014, Obama announced the formation of an international coalition to defeat the Islamic State, and a month later the Defense Department formally established Combined Joint Task Force  Operation Inherent Resolve, which coordinates the activities of 73 nations in the mission. (Most of them do not contribute to warfighting but are expected to help with stabilization efforts in cleared areas.)

U.S. defense advisers then had to train and arm Iraqi security forces from the ground up. After three years, their performance has improved considerably, experts said.

By the time Trump took office, Islamic State territory had fallen to 23,000 square miles, according to Janes. As of June of this year, the Islamic State controlled 14,000 square miles  and it has fallen further since. But far more of the liberation of territory, in square miles, took place before Trump took office, including the recapture of east Mosul as well as cities across Anbar province (Fallujah) and key Syrian cities such as Manbij that controlled the Turkish-Syrian frontier.

This map, from the website of the coalition, shows how much ISIS territory had fallen by the time Trump took office:

This map shows the difference in the first six months of the Trump administration.

Indeed, the plan that resulted in the liberation of Mosul and Raqqa was launched under Obama, and there wasnt much change other than looser rules of engagement with regard to striking targets of opportunity, resulting in an increased tempo. The assault on Raqqa began in November  two months before Trump took office, using the same coalition that ultimately captured the city.

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There is no doubt that the Trump administration followed the basic strategy set in place by the Obama administration, said Michael Morell, former deputy director of the CIA. There is no doubt that Obama would have gotten where Trump is at this moment as well.

There were no significant changes in the overall plan in combating ISIS, said Ali Soufan, chief executive of the Soufan Group, and a former FBI agent who specialized in international terrorism cases. What we are witnessing today is mostly the fruits of what the former administration started.

Morell added that there is a compelling argument that some tactical changes made by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, such as more Special Forces on the ground and putting them closer to the fight, resulted in an acceleration of the coalition meeting its objectives. Trump also allowed commanders on the ground to make some battlefield decisions, avoiding micromanagement from Washington. (One example often cited by officials is when Syrian Democratic Forces requested the use of V-22 Osprey aircraft to cross Lake Assad in order to surprise militants in the town of Tabqa, which was approved on spot without getting buy-in from the White House.)

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Another tactical shift was a campaign of annihilation  surrounding cities held by militants  that has ensured that no militants will escape from cities. Obamas defense secretary, Ash Carter, had left an escape route for militants to minimize destruction to cities and deaths of civilians.

Human rights groups have protested the change in tactics, saying more civilians have been killed under Trump than under Obama. Statistics from U.S. Central Command suggest that the number of civilians killed has more than tripled under Trump, from 199 between 2014 and 2016 to 786 as of Oct. 26, with 519 more cases still under investigation.

Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies dismissed land as a fairly useless metric given most of the territory is desert. But he said other metrics, such as air power, also bolstered the case that Obama had done more.

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According to Cordesmans calculations, coalition forces have flown 63,758 sorties, of which 23 percent were flown under Trump. As for air munitions used, coalition forces dropped 65,731 in 2014-2016 versus 36,351 in 2017. That amounts to 36 percent under Trump.

Obama set up virtually all the structure that did the key fighting under Trump, Cordesman said. He attributed Trumps claims of dramatic success as akin to saying nothing happened in Europe until the allies in the West crossed the Rhine and entered Germany on March 7, 1945.

Obama fashioned the strategy, the alliances and assembled the forces to destroy the caliphate, but the culmination of the process has occurred on Trumps watch, said Bruce Reidel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Its a good example of Trump keeping Obama policy basically intact, not dramatically altering it. Now the territorial battle is coming to a close and the much harder ideological conflict is still to be won; that is Trumps challenge.

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We asked the White House for backup of the presidents statement. Officials blamed Obama for allowing the rise of the Islamic State and said a fuller response would be forthcoming, but we did not receive it before publication. Update: A White House official said the president was referring to the rate of liberation under his watch, both in terms of people and land. From Sept. 2014 through Jan. 2017, land was liberated at a rate of 1,071 miles a month, versus 2,330 a month under Trump, he said.

The Pinocchio Test

A president taking credit for a successful outcome started by his predecessor is a time-honored tradition. Obama certainly claimed repeatedly that he saved General Motors during the Great Recession, even though he built on steps first taken by George W. Bush.

That still does not make it right. Trump exacerbates the braggadocio by specifically saying he has done by far more than Obama, even though he inherited a structure and plan developed by Obama. Experts credit Trump with some tactical shifts that may have stepped up the tempo  though the number of civilian deaths has soared as a result. But in reality, according to several metrics, more was done under Obama.

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Share the Facts 2017-10-25 11:45:44 UTC Washington Post 2 1 5 Washington Post Rating: Three Pinocchios Washington Post Rating: Weve done more against ISIS in nine months than the previous administration has done during its whole administration  by far, by far. Donald Trump President www.whitehouse.gov in remarks to the Value Voters Summit Friday, October 13, 2017 2017-10-13 Read More info

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Crowds of protesters began gathering at 8 a.m. on a cold, cloudy Saturday. They'd come to see Nazis. But, two hours later, there were still none.

Around 10:30 a.m., one of the organizers of the counterprotest grabbed a microphone and began taunting the handful of rallygoers who had just shown up across the street.

Some master race, he snickered. Cant even show up on time.

Local residents and leaders spent most of the week anxiously wondering how many would travel the rural highway that snakes south from Nashville over Christmas Creek into Shelbyville for a White Lives Matter rally planned by several national white supremacist groups.

Such rallies have turned violent, even deadly, in recent months, sparking fears that the Shelbyville gathering could as well. Once the white supremacists showed up  the rally started about an hour late  there was yelling, but no violence.

1 of 20 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Photos from the scene of a White Lives Matter rally in Shelbyville, Tenn. View Photos National white supremacist groups were met by counterprotesters as they converged on the Tennessee city for their rally. Caption National white supremacist groups were met by counterprotesters as they converged on the Tennessee city for their rally. Evelyn Hockstein Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.

[One dead as car strikes crowds amid protests of white nationalist gathering in Charlottesville; two police die in helicopter crash]

Rally organizers had anticipated about 175 people, while Tennessees racial justice and liberal groups were unsure of how many of their members would attend. Ultimately it appeared that about 300 people attended  about 100 White Lives Matter attendees and twice as many counterprotesters.

An elaborate set of police barricades kept the white supremacists and protesters on opposite sides of the street. Police formed a line between the groups, as other officers with large weapons perched on nearby rooftops.

This right here is what its all about! declared Scott Lacey, who has spoken at White Lives Matter rallies across the country. Its all about the color of our skin!

Organizers included the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group; the Traditionalist Worker Party, which wants a separate white ethno-state; Anti-Communist Action, a right-wing group that believes America is being threatened by communists; and Vanguard America, a white supremacist group that believes America is inherently a white nation that must be preserved. This rally, they said, was specifically about immigration and refugee policies.

The plan was for speakers to address the assembled white supremacists, some of whom carried shields and Confederate flags, before the group would depart to nearby Murfreesboro for another rally.

At moments, the rally speakers spouted verbose diatribes about a genocide they claim is being perpetrated against the white race and white Southern culture. At other times, the speeches seemed to be a grab-bag of talking points. One speaker complained that black Americans often say the n-word, but when he does, people are offended. The speaker after him railed against Black History Month.

What about me? Me and my children have a right to exist, screamed another speaker, his voice cracking as it wailed into a microphone. White lives matter!

Local residents spent two weeks preparing their opposition to the rally, holding vigils and prayer services and practicing their chants.

[White Lives Matter rally organizers adjust strategy to avoid becoming another Charlottesville]

We dont want these people here, trying to recruit our neighbors to this disgusting cause, said David Clark, who helped organize Shelbyville LOVES, the primary counterprotest group.

Throughout the morning, the counterprotest oscillated between mocking the rally and drowning it out with music. At various points, they played the Ghostbusters song, Michael Jacksons Black or White and the theme song to Jeopardy. When the rallys speakers tried to address the crowd they were drown out by black lives matter chants. In between speakers, organizers teased the white supremacists.

Yo, Nazis! a counterprotester with a megaphone shouted. How does it feel knowing your daughters are probably all at home listening to rap music and hanging out with their black boyfriends right now?

"It was an effective show of force," said Kubby Barry, 39, who traveled from nearby DeKalb County with her roommate and sheepdog, Molly, who wore a sign that declared "farm dogs against fascism."

It was important to show up and show people that we dont stand for their message, Barry said.

Promptly at 1 p.m., the assembled ralliers bowed their heads in prayer and, after being told that boxed lunches were available on the bus, departed.

In Murfreesboro, about 20 minutes away, a second set of counterprotesters lined the roadway, ready to challenge attendees of the second rally. But the rally didnt happen; the bus of white supremacists never showed up.
Honey bees that produce raw wildflower honey work in their hive at an outdoor farmer's market in Washington in 2013. (Paul J. Richards/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

As a professional beekeeper and former Montgomery County high school teacher, I was upset by recent reporting regarding bees in The Post.

The culprits in the incident described in the Oct. 13 Local Digest item "Bees sting dozens at Montgomery school" were undoubtedly yellow jackets or hornets. It is terrible that so many students were stung, but the public deserved a better assessment of which stinging insects were responsible. Please don't give bees a bad rap because it makes a better headline than "yellow jackets." Bees are typically very docile and will attack only if their queen is threatened.

Misleading headlines and reports are detrimental to beekeepers and to the future of agriculture. Incorrect reports can make the public believe that bees are dangerous, when they are not.

Many people tend to call anything that stings a bee, but bees and yellow jackets are like apples and oranges: They aint the same.

Katie McDermott, Washington
Columnist

In yet another display of spitting fury, the Russian state this week put Bill Browder on the Interpol list, an international register of "most wanted" criminals. This was the fifth time Russia had issued an international arrest warrant for Browder, a businessman who once worked in the country. Wearily, Interpol lifted the warrant on Thursday. But the gesture once again confirmed something few have yet acknowledged: The sanctions on Russia are working.

Browder's real "crime"? He persuaded another government, this time the Canadians, to pass a "Magnitsky Act," a bill applying sanctions on Russian tax officials and police involved in a vast scam, one that involved changing the names of companies, hijacking their bank accounts and using them to steal money from the Russian state. Browder's lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, discovered the scam. He was investigated and imprisoned, beaten and deprived of medical care until he died. Ever since, Browder has crusaded to punish those responsible by depriving them of access to Western banks, Western vacation homes and Western educations for their children.

As I've argued before, the Russian government really, really hates the Magnitsky sanctions, and it hates them with disproportionate fury. Recently, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, jeered at Browder during a news conference. The Russian lawyer who met with Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort and Donald Trump Jr. in June 2016  the one whose fixer dangled the tantalizing offer of "official documents and information that would incriminate" Hillary Clinton  was seeking to have the Magnitsky sanctions lifted, too.

The Magnitsky sanctions also set the template the Obama administration followed in 2014, when, following the invasion of Ukraine, it imposed sanctions not on "Russia," or on "Russians," or even on broad Russian economic sectors, but on particular Russian businessmen and officials known to be closely connected to Putin or directly responsible for his policy in Ukraine. At the time, I argued that our sanctions on Russia were too little and had come too late. For a decade, the West turned a blind eye to Russian corruption and money-laundering in Europe and the United States, as well as to growing Russian attempts to manipulate politics. Sanctions placed on a few businessmen and politicians, designed to prevent them from using their American credit cards  how could that stop the tidal wave?

But they did. The Russian invasion of Ukraine was indeed curtailed, both by the sanctions and by the Ukrainian army. A Russian plan to divide Ukraine and create a Russian-speaking state in the east ("Novorossiya") never came to fruition. The war goes on, but at least it is confined to the far eastern corner of the country. Instead of Novorossiya, the Russian invasion created an unattractive mini-state, a tiny thugocracy (the "Donetsk People's Republic") that is not going to attract imitators. Russian attempts to overturn the sanctions  to persuade Europeans to squabble among themselves and drop them  have so far failed. Even the Russian plan to get Donald Trump elected so that he could lift sanctions has backfired, at least for the moment: Russian participation in the U.S. election has so constrained the Trump administration that it has found it difficult to have any kind of Russia policy at all.

Inside Russia, the sanctions have created a good deal of elite anger, some directed at Europe, the United States and Browder, but some directed, quietly, at Putin himself. Even Russian businessmen not immediately affected by the sanctions say they are far more constrained now in what they can do  and they know whom to blame. The Canadian decision on Magnitsky sanctions will add to the conviction that this won't end soon. The gloom is building, adding to a broader sense that Putin's Ukraine policy was a mistake and has to be amended. And this, of course, was the point of the sanctions in the first place.

I still think we need a more profound change in our policy toward Russia, one that focuses far more broadly on protecting U.S. and European politics and business from Russian corruption and manipulation, and indeed from corruption and manipulation coming from other authoritarian states. But it's a mistake to imagine that sanctions have no impact. It was foolish for the State Department, in an amateurish attempt at consolidation, to shut down its office on sanctions. This is a sophisticated policy tool, it has its place, and it's having an effect. Russia's spitting fury is the proof.

Read more from Anne Applebaum's archive, follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her updates on Facebook.
E.J. Dionne Jr. concluded his Oct. 26 column, "The GOP won't quit Trump," by suggesting that at some point, some highly alarmed and patriotic Republican officeholders, such as Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), "may have to just walk away" from their party. That would appear to be the only way to create any real shift of power or course correction for a ship of state that many Americans believe is on a disastrous trajectory.

For an elected representative to leave his or her party is neither unprecedented nor radical. People have made the switch from one party to the other or become officially independent. If Mr. Corker, Mr. Flake and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) were to agree as a group to declare their independence, we could have new Senate leadership. In doing so, these elected representatives, who appear to put country before party, would be throwing up a highly substantive roadblock to the reckless management of the nation. Their current Senate roles would not be sacrificed. They would retain all their seniority and chairmanships, and after the vote for a new majority leader, they would continue voting as they might have otherwise.

A sequel to President John F. Kennedy's book "Profiles in Courage" could be written about these patriotic fellow citizens. They have already displayed their courage and independence by speaking out. Such a historic action, bringing hope to distraught Americans, would be remembered for generations.

Jeffrey S. Hacker, Bethesda
Wisconsin families work too hard to let the government waste their money. In the spirit of former Wisconsin U.S. Sen. William Proxmire, I am continuing his work shedding light on government agencies and projects that waste your hard-earned tax dollars.

In the 2008 Farm Bill, a program was implemented to require the US Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service to take over responsibility for examining and inspecting catfish. Before this, the Food and Drug Administration, which is the leading food safety monitor in the United States, had been responsible for all food safety inspections involving seafood. Instead of continuing what was already working, some decided that it was worthwhile to spend $14 million in taxpayer money every year to create a new duplicative and unnecessary program.

It is ridiculous that now teams from USDA and FDA each visit the same plant: one inspects the catfish, and the other inspects the other seafood. Instead of creating more bureaucracy in the government, we need to be finding ways to streamline programs and increase efficiency. This program has been the subject of at least ten nonpartisan Government Accountability Office reports, calling it duplicative and at high risk for fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement.

The people of Wisconsin shouldnt foot the bill for duplicative and wasteful programs. I will continue to keep a close eye on how the government is using taxpayer money and fight against government waste.
IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS outdid themselves this week when they took into custody a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who had just undergone emergency surgery. Is this what President Trump had in mind when he promised that federal enforcement resources would be focused on the bad hombres?

Rosa Maria Hernandez, whose developmental delays put her on a mental par with a 4- or 5-year-old, faces deportation in a case that calls into question the judgment  not to mention humanity  of federal agents. It also should prompt reassessment of the change in policy from that of the Obama administration, which focused enforcement on recent arrivals and those with serious criminal records, to one in which anyone  anywhere  apparently is fair game.

The girl, brought across the Mexican border to Laredo, Tex., when she was 3 months old, was being transferred from a medical center in Laredo to a hospital in Corpus Christi at 2 a.m. Tuesday when the ambulance was stopped at a Border Patrol interior checkpoint. Agents allowed the girl and the adult cousin who accompanied her to proceed to the hospital for the child's gallbladder surgery. But several armed Border Patrol agents, according to the girl's family, were posted outside the operating room and then her hospital room until she was transferred to a federal facility for migrant children. Keep in mind that this is a frightened child who has never been away from her family, that her doctor recommended discharge to a family member familiar with her condition, and that her cousin and grandfather, both legal residents, offered to take care of her.

Lets hope the public dismay at these events prompts someone in authority to come to their senses. The little girl should be released immediately to family members, and compassion shown in dealing with her case. Her parents brought her to this country as an infant in search of better treatment for her cerebral palsy. They werent with her in the ambulance because they both lack legal status and feared crossing the checkpoint. Its unusual for federal agents to detain a child already living in the United States. Who could have possibly imagined that a 10-year-old with disabilities being rushed to a hospital would be the target of federal enforcement? The harm done extends beyond Rosa Maria and her family to other parents who now will have to think about the risk of detention and deportation in deciding whether to seek medical treatment for their children.

Is this really the image the Border Patrol wants for itself? Is this the image we Americans want for ourselves?
Columnist

Since taking the oath of office in January, Donald Trump has provided evidence, almost daily, that he is ill-suited to be president of the United States. For months, much of the country has watched in despair as he and his administration have meat-axed the Affordable Care Act; crushed forward-looking Obama-era regulations in education, the environment and consumer protection; and backtracked on civil rights. He has made a mess of things with our allies, emboldened our adversaries and embarrassed the nation on the world stage. We have groaned through his insults and lies and witnessed his embrace of people and causes that travel on the dark side.

He shows no signs of relenting.

Trump bullies, brutalizes and slimes with impunity because members of his base cheer his every move or concoct reasons to keep their mouths shut whenever he crosses a red line. And his enablers are not just holed up in Americas heartland and red states; they are here in Washington lining the halls of Congress under the banner of the Republican Party.

His rabid base, however, is no reason to stand down.

There is just cause to stand up to him. And the way to give voice to disgust with Trump is through the vote. Yes, that weapon which makes a noise that no politician, regardless of polls and scads of PAC money, can ignore.

Preparation begins now. Tend to the basics: Get registered, get others registered, and get educated on how to vote because voter suppression is running amok, especially in the South. Get information about the elections and the candidates. And dont pass up any contest.

State legislature and gubernatorial races are just as important as elected jobs in Washington. And dont buy the argument that your vote doesnt count if you happen to live in a voting area where your party is outnumbered.

Vote anyway, even if you cast a ballot for none of the above. That vote speaks volumes to the one who loses it.

Keep that thought in mind when entering the voting booth in state legislature contests and House and Senate races. Those GOP officeholders are key to Trumps base. Through their votes and, at times, their inaction, they are keeping him in business and his agenda alive.

Upcoming elections should be a referendum on Trump.

Face it: Stripped and unadorned, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) is, politically, a Donald Trump.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.)? Think Donald Trump.

Look no further than the likes of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Rep. Will Hurd (R-Tex.) and Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) to find a political likeness of Donald Trump on the ballot.

The December Alabama ballot doesn't carry Trump's name, but consider Senate GOP nominee Roy Moore as a stand-in for the president. That ought to be reason enough for the 26 percent of Alabama residents who are black to flock to the polls.

Likewise, a Trump proxy is running for Republican governor of Virginia this year under the name Ed Gillespie.

In the 2018 Senate races, Trump doubles can be found with Republicans Ted Cruz in Texas and Roger Wicker in Mississippi. The three, as opponents of progressive government policies, are closer than two pages in a book.

Want to speak back to Trump and tell him how you feel? Get out and vote in places such as Alabama, Virginia, California, Wisconsin, Texas and Mississippi, where Trump surrogates are on the ballot. Let the president know you are out there.

The midterm 2018 elections can be Judgment Day for Trump. And dress rehearsal for 2020.

Fume and fuss, talk back to the television, kick the can, call Trump names, vent to your hearts content. All that changes nothing. Also probably ruins your health.

What can make a difference? The ballot. Vote, vote, vote.

Read more from Colbert King's archive.
The DC Retro Jumpers help Beatrice Barnes, 10, left, and Janiya Barnes, 12, Double Dutch jump-rope together in Washington on Oct. 14. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

The Oct. 19 Metro article "Showing a younger crowd the ropes" managed to expand the world of politicized victimization through an article about jumping rope.

Kyra Gaunt, a State University of New York at Albany professor and author, was quoted saying she doesnt see [double Dutchs] appeal to a broader audience . . . as a positive, but evidence of cultural appropriation. 

Are black Americans diminished by non-blacks driving cars, guided by African American Garrett Morgan's invention of mechanical traffic signals? The victimization accusation of cultural appropriation gets inconsistent application in The Post. Saying white people jumping ropes somehow damages girls in Washington begged the question: How?

Manipulating language to create meanings without facts is a bad business.

William Gorry, Arlington
I am exactly whom Jeanette Patrick of the National Women's History Museum called her audience for the walking tour she discussed in the Oct. 15 Washington Post Magazine feature "Just Asking." I am a woman interested in women's history who is married to a man interested in the Civil War. We were disappointed that the article contained no information about taking the tour. We resorted to online sources. But the tour is over.

I am flabbergasted that The Post would run an article about which your readers could only say, Shoot, I wish Id seen that. What is the point of reading about something that we cant follow up on? I kind of wish I hadnt bothered.

Christine Rebbert, Elkridge, Md.
RUSSIA HAS destroyed all of its Cold War chemical weapons stocks, President Vladimir Putin boasted Oct. 19 when he appeared before the Valdai forum in Sochi. He said Russia had "made a significant contribution to enhancing international security" by liquidating the bombs and artillery shells, "enough to destroy life on the planet many times over," and he chided the United States for falling behind in this important work.

Five days later, the U.N. Security Council prepared to vote to extend for one year the mandate of the investigation into the use of nerve gas in Syria. That inquiry includes the April 4 attack on Khan Sheikhoun , an opposition-held village in Syria, where nerve agents killed at least 87 people. The United States, Britain and France have accused the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of carrying out the attack, in which deadly sarin was dispersed.

And what of Russia's abhorrence of chemical weapons? Not so much in Syria, apparently. Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, on Tuesday vetoed the extension, standing up for Mr. Assad's brutal killing machine rather than the lofty principles advertised at Valdai. In fact, Russia and the United States had earlier backed the probe in Syria, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), to finger those responsible for chemical attacks in Syria's six-year war. The mandate for the probe expires Nov. 17, and it should be renewed. A JIM panel declared Thursday after an investigation that it is "confident that the Syrian Arab Republic is responsible for the release of sarin" at Khan Sheikhoun.

Russian officials said they wanted to see the report before deciding whether to extend the investigation. Now it is out and time to act. There is more to investigate and document about the use of these horrible weapons.

If the international investigation in Syria stalls because of the Russian veto, it is possible that no one will be held to account for the Khan Sheikhoun atrocity. Mr. Putin often expresses a desire for Russias views to be treated with respect, but what kind of respect is due if he favors a besieged dictator who is using chemical weapons?

Russia deserves credit for destroying its Cold War chemical weapons stocks. In just one compound in southern Russia near the town of Shchuchye, the Soviet Union left behind about 1.9 million projectiles filled with 5,460 metric tons of sarin and other nerve agents. These were liquidated, safely, in a mammoth factory. Mr. Putin bragged at Valdai that "we found the money to build plants for the destruction of chemical weapons." What he didn't mention is that the United States gave Russia $1 billion to carry out the destruction at Shchuchye alone.

Mr. Putin forgets such inconvenient truths. Now comes a choice: to hide another such inconvenient truth and shield those who continue to use chemical weapons; or really to stand up for their elimination.
The Post may have cast a line, but it seems to have left the hook behind. In the Oct. 24 front-page article "Biggest Maria relief contract goes to a small Montana firm," about how a two-person Montana firm won a large post-hurricane contract in Puerto Rico, the main point was buried deeper than a sunken treasure chest: Whitefish Energy is from the same small town as Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, and Whitefish's chief executive asked Mr. Zinke for help to get personnel and equipment to the island some 10 days after Hurricane Maria did its damage.

Readers might have been interested, too, in a little math: While the article reported hourly wage and daily per diem rates for Whitefish employees working in Puerto Rico (where the average annual salary is less than $20,000), adding it up would bring the Montana firm's Caribbean treasure to light. Whitefish is charging Puerto Rico $2,250 to $5,000 per day per worker. It's hard to believe cash-strapped Puerto Rico would accept those terms without something fishy going on below deck.

Sean Carroll, Washington
Red paint on the base of a Theodore Roosevelt statue outside the American Museum of Natural History in New York. (Anthony DelMundo/New York Daily News)

Columnist

Latest to the vandals goes Teddy Roosevelt, whose bronze likeness astride a horse in front of New York's American Museum of Natural History recently received a splash of red paint upon its base.

Now the statue is bleeding, proudly pronounced a group of protesters in claiming credit for the makeover. We did not make it bleed. It is bloody at its very foundation.

One wonders whether these poseurs know anything at all about the man theyve targeted. The 26th president gave us national parks, industrial regulation and environmental conservationism, among other things. He was also the author of more than 40 books, some of which chronicle his expeditions and safaris that provided some of the basis for the natural history housed in the museum where he and his trusty steed keep vigil.

Also, he died almost 100 years ago (1919). When are these self-important moderns going to get over themselves?

The New York vandalism, which isnt directly connected to the recent flurry of protests against Confederate statues, is merely the most recent episode in a protest that gained traction in 2016 by the same groups that also want to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day. What apparently triggered the freelance artists were two other figures  an indigenous American and an African  flanking Roosevelts horse.

The jury is still out about what to do about the statue. Nothing would be a rational option, if a panel created by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio can handle some heat. Roosevelt may not be a civil rights icon like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., but he was hardly the grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, either. Indeed, in 1905, Roosevelt gave a speech at the New York Republican Party Club that paid tribute to Abraham Lincoln and addressed racial inequality, which Roosevelt said he aimed to change. That this radical social transformation didn't occur within his time or tenure doesn't affirm in itself that he was racist.

In the speech, he did abysmally refer to whites as a "forward race." But the focus of his address was to echo Lincoln in calling strongly for the raising of minorities' status, which Roosevelt correctly said would benefit the entire country.

And what about the two nonwhites in the statue? Lets take a look.

First, both men are walking in a proud, dignified manner, suggesting a parade in which the Rough Rider is accompanied by individuals who were part of his life experience. Second, we have to ask, what was the context of the time? Without the historical backdrop, criticism  of politics, art or literature  is meaningless.

In 1901, when this Harvard-educated, wealthy, progressive, worldly Republican New Yorker became president, was he enslaving Indians and blacks? No. Was he hunting extensively in the American West and later in Africa? Yes. Quite a lot. Given this record, is it not possible that the other two figures represent his guides or scouts on his American West hunts and African safaris?

The statue, created as a historical representation of the man and erected to honor his contributions to our knowledge of natural history, may be offensive to a few, but by what imperative are their feelings to be considered superior to the broader citizenrys right to not see public property harmed, defaced or splattered with paint  or some facsimile thereof?

Vandalism, contrary to the groups claim that theyre performing public art, is the artless tantrum of a childish, self-absorbed mind. Defeating a block of stone or piece of bronze hardly requires courage or, obviously, intellect.

Why not come up with something, I dont know, classier?

Make an argument. Present facts. Bring passion, but keep a cool head. One could argue, for example, that the protests over Confederate statues are substantively different from the objections to Roosevelts monument. Given that many Civil War statues in the South were erected during the civil rights movement, inarguably, they memorialize not Southern courage but Jim Crow, a cowardly, despicable period of state-sponsored terrorism against blacks who had the audacity to insist upon equality under the law.

There. Put that on your plaque, if you care so much about history.

Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, who hated the idea of memorials to the war, would probably be happy for his statues to settle in a statuary hall. As for Roosevelt, one only wishes the swashbuckling warrior-president could dismount for a few minutes and teach his vandals some manners. Im guessing, but I suspect his two companions would lend him a hand.

Read more from Kathleen Parker's archive, follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook.
Protesters gather outside a meeting where a climate-change report was to be released on Monday in Providence, R.I. The Environmental Protection Agency kept three of its scientists from speaking at the event. (Michelle R. Smith/Associated Press)

Regarding the Oct. 23 news article "EPA pulls presenters from panel on R.I. bay":

While not shocking, this decision should be deeply disturbing to anyone interested in the continued health of this country. If the Environmental Protection Agency can effectively muzzle scientists, then what other government organizations can be censored in this way?

There is nothing more urgent on the horizon than climate change. Its effects are becoming irrefutable and dire. It is one thing that this administration refuses to take action, but it is quite a step further that it refuses to allow its scientists to even talk about the threat. That informs me that the administration considers this information dangerous to its own power.

Local action is the key to stopping this catastrophe. Nonscientists must clamor for change, for carbon pricing, for affordable renewables, for divestment from fossil fuel. Even a single town choosing to get its energy from wind farms instead of fossil-fuel power plants would make a difference. It is time for us to take charge, because our leaders refuse to do so.

Anna Gooding-Call, Salem, Mass.

An Oct. 23 news article reported that the Environmental Protection Agency retracted permission for some of its scientists to present and participate at a conference in Rhode Island on the state of Narragansett Bay and its watershed. This struck me as one of the worst decisions to date by the Trump administration.

As a scientist, I find it difficult to accept censorship of scientific facts by nonscientists who have absolutely no understanding of the work these scientists have performed. Without scientific discoveries, we would still be living the way people did in the 1900s. President Trump and his administration are approaching the denial of information based on scientific fact in a manner that reeks of Russian influence. If scientists are not free to discuss their findings, we all will suffer.

Are Mr. Trump and the administration afraid of the truth?

Eric B. Sheinin, North Potomac
THE RESULTS of Virginia's gubernatorial primaries this spring, in which Democrat Ralph Northam and Republican Ed Gillespie each beat more extreme party challengers, looked promising for the commonwealth's voters, whose record of electing more or less pragmatic candidates in statewide races is well established. Both men are able, widely respected and have had impressive careers, including in business and politics  Mr. Northam, the current lieutenant governor, as an Army veteran and pediatric neurologist; Mr. Gillespie as a Republican operative and lobbyist.

Mr. Northam, whose knack for working across the aisle once prompted Republicans in the state Senate to ask him to switch parties, mounted a campaign largely true to his reputation for decency and good sense. Unfortunately, Mr. Gillespie chose a different path. Faced with a choice of highlighting his undeniable command of policy or pandering to vile and racially inflammatory tendencies in his party's base, the Republican opted for the latter. In so doing, he shocked even some admirers.

It is not that Mr. Northam is qualified and Mr. Gillespie unqualified. It is that Mr. Northam can convincingly promise to be governor for all Virginians, while Mr. Gillespie, even while asserting the same, has disqualified himself from any such credible claim. We support Mr. Northam.

Having used massive TV advertising buys to whip up the fears and hatreds of his party's extremists  by equating illegal immigrants with violent Hispanic gangs; by embracing Confederate monuments weeks after they were the rallying cause for neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville; by distorting the facts on rights restoration for a convicted sex offender  the Republican candidate has swapped his cloak as a problem-solver for a demagogue's mantle. Having chosen to campaign as a divider, Mr. Gillespie's chances of governing as a uniter are dim.

It is possible that Mr. Gillespie's descent into gutter tactics will pay off at the polls Nov. 7. If that's the case, and Virginia Republicans rejoice on election night, what they will really be celebrating is a victory of divisiveness and the ascent of wedge politics in a state once known for comity.

On policy, both men have records reflecting their own partys mainstream priorities; we have agreements and disagreements with each. However, while Mr. Northam has maintained relatively consistent stances, Mr. Gillespie, trying to play to both right-wing and centrist factions in the GOP, has hopscotched from one side to the other on many issues.

He attacked Virginia's 2013 landmark transportation bill, the first to raise new revenue for deteriorating state roads in a quarter-century, branding it as a massive tax hike backed by Mr. Northam, before he was for keeping it, as a means of securing the endorsement of a business group in Northern Virginia. On transgender bathrooms, he skewered the idea that girls would share a restroom with boys who identify as girls, then pivoted, again to court a business group's support, by saying he'd oppose legislation like North Carolina's banning transgender bathrooms. He's similarly straddled on providing in-state tuition subsidies at public universities for "dreamers"  undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children  telling a campaign rally he'd oppose it while suggesting to us he had no position on the issue.

Before he tilted toward incendiary social issues, the centerpiece of Mr. Gillespie's campaign platform was a pie-in-the-sky tax cut that would slash state revenue, by about $1.4 billion from an annual tax-supported budget of $20 billion  even as he proposed dozens of costly new programs and initiatives. Asked to name state programs he might cut to pay for his tax plan, Mr. Gillespie did not name any.

We have areas of disagreement with Mr. Northam as well. He too proposes a tax cut, though a more modest one  scrapping the grocery tax for low-income Virginians  and, like Mr. Gillespie, offers no realistic plan to pay for it. Mr. Northam would kill Virginia's current standardized tests in public schools, on grounds that they are excessive and unfair to disadvantaged students. Yet he has no alternative that would measure achievement or ensure that schools remain accountable. (Mr. Gillespie, for his part, offers doublespeak on the question of testing and accountability, though he is more determined to broaden educational options by expanding the state's paltry roster of charter schools.)

On climate change, Mr. Northam would continue Gov. Terry McAuliffe's (D) innovative initiative promoting low-carbon energy technologies with efficient, market-based policies. Mr. Gillespie has condemned the plan, in keeping with his and his party's effort to promote coal, an outdated, dirty energy source that has struggled to compete in recent years.

In the down-ticket races, which feature four lawyers, the choices are equally clear. For lieutenant governor, Democrat Justin Fairfax, the much better choice, is a bright, competent, well-versed former federal prosecutor turned corporate attorney. His opponent, State Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel (R-Fauquier), opposed the 2013 transportation bill, then acknowledged it did wonders for her district. Her campaign website touts her sponsorship of radical tea party legislation that would have empowered states to overturn federal laws and regulations they disliked; now she seems utterly unaware of the bill. She objected to what she called President Barack Obama's "heavy-handed" federal mandate on transgender bathrooms, but sponsored a far more heavy-handed measure that would have forced most women seeking abortions to undergo mandatory vaginal ultrasounds.

For attorney general, we favor the incumbent, Democrat Mark Herring. Mr. Herring won the office four years ago by assailing the partisanship of his arch-conservative Republican predecessor, Ken Cuccinelli II. Once in office, he was attacked for being almost equally activist as a champion of leftist causes. Yet Mr. Herring plausibly argued that his highest-profile decision  refusing to represent the state, his client, in a lawsuit challenging its ban on same-sex marriage  was a principled decision tantamount to declining to defend segregated schools in mid-20th-century Virginia. The Republican candidate, John Adams, an intelligent corporate lawyer, attacks Mr. Herring for spurning his own client, acknowledges that he, too, would have refused to defend segregation; but discounts the analogy. Advantage Mr. Herring.
Columnist

What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive ourselves into believing that corporate welfare can be seemly. Consider the caper, both amusing and depressing, that began when mighty Boeing sought protection behind the skirts of the Commerce Department.

Boeing, America's 39th largest corporation by market capitalization (over $150 billion) and 24th by revenue ($94.6 billion) complains that it is being injured because the Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier (market capitalization around $5 billion) was "dumping" its C Series passenger planes in the U.S. market. That is, selling them unfairly cheaply to U.S. buyers. The nature of Boeing's injury is unclear because it does not make a plane that directly competes with the C Series. Boeing's complaint came after Bombardier agreed to sell 75 planes to Delta Airlines for $5.6 billion, a contract for which Boeing did not bid. The C Series single-aisle planes, which seat 100 to 160 passengers, are smaller than Boeing's 737.

All manufacturers of commercial aircraft, including Boeing, sell their products for amounts substantially below list prices. (Boeing's 787 lost $29 billion over five years before becoming profitable last year.) Boeing, however, cheekily charges that Bombardier is able to be excessively nice to U.S purchasers because the C Series receives government subsidies, including equity investments, worth under $2.8 billion. This is, however, the Boeing pot calling the Bombardier kettle black.

Bombardier is indeed subsidized to a fare-thee-well. The Canadian government subsidizes the Montreal-based company, as does the province of Quebec. But the U.S. government essentially provides Boeing with its own financial institution: The company is by far the largest beneficiary of what is known as "Boeing's Bank"  the misbegotten Export-Import Bank. It provides cheap loans to Boeing's overseas customers, lowering the real prices they pay. In 2014, 68 percent of the bank's long-term loan guarantees  its primary business  was on Boeing's behalf. Boeing also benefits from government contracts  23 percent of its 2016 revenue; the Defense Department is its largest customer  and from state governments' incentives worth billions (e.g., $8.7 billion from Washington state).

Nevertheless, the Commerce Department, succoring Boeing with compassionate conservatism, imposed an astonishing 219.63 percent tariff on imports of Bombardier's C Series, supposedly to compensate for subsidies the company receives, and another 79.82 percent as punishment for not charging Delta, a U.S. airline, more. This 299.45 percent duty  Boeing had suggested 160 percent  would quadruple the planes' price, effectively closing the U.S. market to them, thereby threatening Bombardier's survival.

Which probably interests the approximately 7,000 Americans in 17 states who work in Bombardier facilities making aerospace and railroad products. Furthermore, Bombardier spends $3 billion annually at U.S. suppliers in 48 states. Other Americans who might be collateral damage from protectionism are those who make Boeing fighter jets. Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to the U.S. action by suspending plans to spend more than $4.8 billion on the fighters.

British Prime Minister Theresa May, too, is not amused. Bombardier employs more than 4,000 in Belfast to make the C Series' wings. May, weakened by the June general election, clings to power through an alliance with members of Parliament from a party in Northern Ireland. And as she struggles to negotiate Britain's exit from the European Union, she has been pointing to shimmering future trade agreements with the United States.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, so Bombardier gave 50.01 percent control of the C Series program to Boeing's rival in this duopolistic business, Airbus, the European multinational corporation that also gets lavish assistance from governments. For this control, Airbus pays nothing, merely agreeing to put its vast marketing, maintenance and customer service expertise into competition with Boeing in what the Financial Times calls "the booming single-aisle market, which is expected to account for more than 70 percent of aircraft orders over the next 20 years."

Bombardier's and Airbus's chief executives said with straight faces that their companies' marriage is unrelated to the fight Boeing might now regret having started, especially now that Airbus says it will manufacture C Series planes in the Alabama plant where it makes A320 airliners. Delta, which says it plans to buy those 75 planes when they are made there, presumably expects Airbus to avoid the 299.45 percent penalty. This, however, might depend on U.S. bureaucrats' abstruse calculations of whether more than 50 percent of the cost of the C Series' components come from U.S. sources.

Evidently it is insufficiently obvious that tariffs should not be imposed on planes made in America by Americans and sold to an American airline. Who will protect Americans from the radiating mischief of protectionism?

Read more from George F. Will's archive or follow him on Facebook.
The Ferryville Tourism Council will host its fifth annual Fall Migration Day at River View Park, Saturday, Nov. 4. Spotting scopes will be set up beginning at 9 a.m. and ending at 11 a.m.

This event showcases the many species of waterfowl that frequent the Mississippi Flyway during their annual fall migration. Some of the species participants will be looking for include bald eagles, herons, egrets, tundra swans, white pelicans, many species of ducks and Canadian geese. Pool 9 on the Mississippi River traditionally is a stopping point for thousands of canvas back ducks.

This is a family-friendly event, and all levels of birders are welcome. Handouts about birding spots in the area will be available. Breads and hot beverages will also be available. Members of the Coulee Region Audubon group will be on hand to offer help in identifying birds.

Ferryville has been a part of the Bird City Wisconsin program since 2013. There are currently more than 100 communities whose activities promote educational and conservation programs to support birds in the state. Ferryville is the smallest Bird City community in the program. This event is one of the villages programs. The next event will be Bald Eagle Day on March 3, 2018.

For more information, contact Joanne White at 608-735-9018 or like the tourism council on Facebook, facebook.com/ferryvillewi.
Regarding Robert Barnes's Oct. 23 @SCOTUS Reporter column, "Does the chief justice fear gobbledygook, or is that just baloney?":

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.s insistence that his court is above politics is belied by the array of 5- to-4 partisan decisions helping Republicans at the polls and big business everywhere. At the polls, 5-to-4 partisan decisions helped Republicans gerrymander, helped Republican legislatures suppress Democratic-leaning voters, and helped corporate money flood elections and boost Republican candidates.

For big business, 5-to-4 partisan decisions helped corporations who harmed their employees, helped corporations facing class-action lawsuits, helped corporations against unions, helped corporations steer consumers into corporate-friendly mandatory arbitration and even gave corporations religious rights superseding employee health care. And unlimited corporate money in elections helps big industries seeking big influence.

For specific industries, 5-to-4 partisan decisions helped gun manufacturers avoid regulation and liability, helped insulate investment bankers from fraud claims and helped the fossil-fuel industry pollute (the last was an unprecedented victory procedurally). Republican justices are even giving hints so big-business lawyers can get certain cases up to the court pronto.

Judicial principles  even "conservative" ones  are overrun on the court's road to these results. Many decisions upended a century or more of law and precedent. Top writers and scholars describe the Roberts court as serving the Republican Party along partisan lines to achieve an ideological agenda. Studies show it to be the most pro-corporate court in modern history. These emperors have no robes.

Sheldon Whitehouse, Washington

The writer, a Democrat, represents

Rhode Island in the Senate.
GIVEN THE scale of the opioid epidemic, the nation should be mobilizing. More people are dying than at the peak of the HIV/AIDS scourge. In some places, overdose deaths are exceeding homicides, suicides and traffic deaths combined. President Trump offered useful actions and ideas at a White House ceremony Thursday, such as measures to prevent addiction with "really great advertising," create nonaddictive painkillers and bolster law enforcement against illegal imports of the synthetic opioid fentanyl. But Mr. Trump's announcements, including the designation of a public-health emergency, are not enough.

Drug overdose deaths are zooming upward, from 52,898 deaths in the year that ended January 2016 to 64,070 deaths in the year that ended this January, much of the increase due to fentanyl imported from China. Turning the tide is possible. Opioid use disorder can be effectively treated. The U.S. Surgeon General says that only about 1 in 10 Americans with a substance use disorder receive treatment. What the nation really should be doing now is a crash effort to deliver effective treatment to those who most need it  to stop the rising death toll.

Although it didn't get as much attention as Mr. Trump's, an important statement was made this week by Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. He declared, correctly in our view, that "given the scale of the epidemic, with millions of Americans already affected, prevention is not enough." He added, "We must also help those who are suffering from addiction by expanding access to lifesaving treatment."

The evidence shows that addiction treatments that include medication, counseling and social support can work. In Massachusetts, Mr. Gottlieb noted, there was "a greater than 50 percent reduction in the risk of death from overdose among individuals treated with methadone or buprenorphine after a nonfatal overdose." Researchers say treatment with these medications is life-extending for individuals with opioid use disorder. Treatment can be a road to recovery and lower risk of relapse. Yet there remains a heavy stigma associated with medication-based treatment, a stigma that needs to be overcome. People trying to regain control of their lives with treatments involving medication should not be considered addicted, the commissioner said. Rather, they are "role models in the fight against the opioid epidemic."

Mr. Trump's list of proposals this week was a start, but he did not provide the resources the crisis demands. If a public-health emergency is going to cost billions of dollars, better to face that now than wait until later. As Joshua M. Sharfstein of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has pointed out, there are enormous resource demands, many at the state and local levels, for emergency medical services, law enforcement, child welfare, training and treatment. The nation must face the opioid crisis with a more expansive treatment strategy  and more funding  than what Mr. Trump has offered so far.
Jeff Flakes mind  and President Trumps leadership  have been taking the Arizona senator in opposite directions all year.

Flake said he found himself appalled, again and again, by the president's boorish behavior and penchant for picking personal fights  so much so that he felt compelled to publicly criticize Trump directly, in the press and in a best-selling book.

Flake could see the beginnings of political damage during the 2016 presidential campaign, when he first raised doubts about Trump. His decision to retire when his term ends next year, which he announced Tuesday in a dramatic floor speech, came after reams of polling data showed he would lose decisively in a Republican primary battle next year, when he probably would have faced a pro-Trump challenger.

But ultimately, Flake said, there was not a single trigger for the decision. If anything, he held on because he is a strong supporter of most of Trumps policies and personnel decisions. He voted for his judicial nominees, his regulatory rollbacks and the GOP health-care plan.

I knew that when I spoke out at that time that I was out of step with a lot of the Republican primary voters, but I felt that I had to do it, he said in an interview. I had hoped  and I still hope and Im confident at some point  that the fever will break. But it just became more and more apparent that it certainly wasnt going to break by next year.

Even if he survived the primary, neither Flake nor others in his orbit deny that the same polling showed he might also have lost the general election to his presumed Democratic opponent, popular Phoenix-area congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema.

But it was his disgust with Trumps behavior that proved decisive in his decision to call it quits.

I couldnt sleep at night having to embrace the president or condoning his behavior or being okay with some of his positions, he said. I just couldnt do it  it was never in the cards.

Flake's retirement is not directly tied to the feud between Republican Party leaders and former White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon  who is waging a populist "war" against the GOP establishment  but he is a battlefield casualty. The fight he picked with Trump followed years of cooperation with Democrats on immigration policy, global trade deals and reestablishing diplomatic ties to Cuba. Such cooperation is unacceptable to Arizona's most die-hard Republicans.

Democrats are saying, See, the Republican Party is falling apart. Then theres the Breitbart Trump people looking at this and thinking, Donald Trump is pushing these RINOs out,  said Jarrod White, a longtime party activist who was an Arizona delegate to the Republican National Convention last year, referring to Republicans in Name Only. The truth of the matter is, Jeff Flake is down by double digits in the polls against Kelli Ward. He knows hes not going to win. I think he chose to quit and be dignified and get his final lashes out at Trump.

Ward is a former Republican state senator who unsuccessfully challenged Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) last year, accusing him of being past his prime and insufficiently conservative. Just days after the presidential election ended last year, Ward launched her campaign against Flake  raising similar concerns about his conservative bona fides. The attacks worked. For now, shes the only GOP Senate candidate.



Sen. Jeff Flake R-Ariz.) walks with his wife, Cheryl, after his surprise retirement announcement, on Oct. 24, 2017, in the Russell Senate Office Building. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

Ward and her aides did not return multiple requests for comment. But Doug McKee, the head of KelliPAC  a group independent of her campaign that first launched during her 2016 bid against McCain  said Ward is drawing attention because Flake seems to be a lot more in step with what the Democrats views are as opposed to what the Arizona Republican Party is looking for.

A GOP strategist whos reviewed polling in the race concluded that in Arizona and elsewhere, the attacks on Trump are totally unsustainable for anyone. You dont have to be best friends with the guy, but you cant do what Flake did.

The old rules still apply  local issues matter, said the strategist, who asked for anonymity to speak frankly about Republican dynamics, but the Trump image is the new preeminent test of whether you satisfy the desires of Republican conservative primary voters.

Flakes public contortions were apparent throughout the year.

In a March interview, he praised Trumps pick of Neil M. Gorsuch to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court justice. A conservative jurist from the West was exactly what Flake wanted to see on the high court. He was also impressed by how the White House introduced Gorsuch to the country  in a crisply delivered prime-time address by Trump with GOP senators in the White House East Room to meet the nominee and sing his praises to reporters afterward.

It was well done, it really was, both in style and in substance  its a really good pick, Flake said at the time.

[From March: Home stretch for Trumps Supreme Court nominee could forever alter the Senate]

The balancing act and overtures continued in May, when he told constituents back home that he looked forward to working with Trump on confirming other conservative picks to run federal agencies.

The president has assembled a pretty good Cabinet. Hes surrounded himself with a good group of people, Flake said during a tour of a nuclear power plant, citing picks for regulatory agencies in particular.

But under questioning by a voter at an event in Glendale, Ariz., he said I have a hard time believing that a GOP-controlled Congress could fulfill Trumps wish to quickly pass health-care reform. When a hospital employee asked about how to save the Medicaid program, Flake said, Were trying to find that balance, and we arent close yet, frankly.

But Flake voted for the GOP health-care reform plan, even as McCain famously voted no.

[From May: Do Republicans who criticize Trump face peril? Jeff Flake is about to find out.]

Then Congress went home for August recess and Flake published his best-selling treatise, "Conscience of a Conservative," which leveled a blistering attack on Trump. The president responded by relentlessly going after the senator on Twitter. He then announced plans to visit Phoenix for a campaign-style event with speculation building that Trump could endorse Ward or another Flake challenger.

It wasnt the Trump rally, but it was two weeks of media coverage leading up to that rally, where the media said Trump is going to come out and bash Flake and endorse someone else, said a Flake confidant, who asked for anonymity to maintain his close relationship with the senator. It was millions of dollars in earned media that basically said, Jeff Flake is going to get roasted by Trump. And then he came out here and that didnt happen.

Frosty Taylor, a Republican activist and the editor of a daily email newsletter for thousands of Republicans in Maricopa County, Ariz., warned at the time that most of her readers were disenchanted with Flake.

They want him replaced. Theyre just not happy with him, she said in August. Hes not following the way they want him to vote. Hes voting with Democrats on a lot of issues. Hes following John McCains lead on a lot of stuff  thats a problem here for a lot of people.

Flakes retirement announcement Tuesday came just minutes after Trump left a luncheon with Republican senators. He had talked about the race generally with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), but Flake said he didnt give him much advanced warning. He also didnt call his longtime friend and ideological brother-in-arms, Vice President Pence, with whom he once served in the House.

I didnt want to put him in a bad position of knowing that and not sharing it. Hes a trusted friend, Flake said of Pence  but the two havent spoken since the announcement.

Flake warned that while his criticism of the president helped lead to his downfall, GOP candidates should also be wary of embracing him too tightly.

Any Republican who simply aligns themselves for the purpose of the primary with the president on every issue and basically contracts out any thinking on policy issues, and is willing to condone any behavior that the president exhibits  I think they put themselves at great risk in a general election, he said.

Now free of campaign politics for the first time in 18 years, Flake is focused on how to make his last months in office meaningful while enjoying his newfound political freedom.

I dont have any fundraising calls to make, he said. That in itself is a pretty good feeling.

Read more at PowerPost
Paul D. Ryan has drifted a long way from the soaring rhetoric he delivered on his first day as House speaker. Nothing could be more inspiring than a job well done, he said after claiming the gavel. Nothing could stir the heart more than real, concrete results.

Now, the Wisconsin Republican is more likely to sound like a hardened realist, cracking jokes about how little gets done  and even poking fun at himself. As the guest speaker at a black-tie gala Wednesday, Ryan exhorted the media to keep your heads up despite poor approval ratings. It could be a whole lot worse, he said. They could be my approval ratings.

Exactly two years ago Sunday, on Oct. 29, 2015, Ryan, then 45, succeeded Republican John A. Boehner of Ohio, then 65, with an aura of generational change  and a promise of policy-focused leadership.

So far, he hasnt delivered. Even after Republicans claimed control of both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue in January, Ryan is still searching for a signature achievement. His enemies and allies alike say he needs a big win, soon.

The coming week brings what may shape up as his last, best chance to achieve one  and the most important moment of his 19-year congressional career: the debut of legislation to rewrite the tax code.



House Speaker Paul D. Ryan R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell R-Ky.) announce plans for tax legislation in September. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

Taxes are supposed to be Ryans issue, his policy wheelhouse. As the disciple of the 1980s fiscal conservative Jack Kemp, Ryans rhetoric is never loftier than when espousing free-market principles and the belief that lower taxes and a streamlined code can help businesses, the economy and even the impoverished.

He has craved this moment. He also has good reason to dread it.

A major question is whether much has changed since an unruly House Republican Conference, as the caucus is known, forced Boehner out and ground governance to a halt. The conference remains deeply turbulent under Ryan  and divided, particularly on the issues of taxes, spending and the national debt.

Failure to advance tax legislation  even if defeat comes in the Senate, as happened in July with legislation to revise the Affordable Care Act  would be crippling. One possibility if Republicans head into 2018 having to explain why they failed on both health care and taxes: a political bloodbath that drops the GOP into the minority and boots Ryan off the dais.

The 115th Congress, if we go zero for two, gets a failing grade, said Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), the leader of one of the Houses conservative caucuses. I think a lot of us may not come back.

Tax reform, in Ryans ideal, was supposed to be bigger than tax cuts. It was supposed to be revenue-neutral  lowering some taxes, raising others, closing loopholes and simplifying the code. It wasnt supposed to be so easy to criticize for lowering taxes on corporations and higher-income Americans.

President Trump has complicated the challenge by rejecting Ryans branding of tax reform  instead calling the effort tax cuts and sometimes tax cuts plus. The president may not be wrong about that distinction, but he has contributed to a mashed-up message on what the bill would actually do, whom it would benefit  and importantly, how much it would cost.

[On taxes, Trump is an eager salesman  but the policy action is on the Hill]

Even modest tax legislation would in some ways fulfill Ryans calling  and offer some much needed momentum to Republicans heading into potentially difficult midterm elections next year.

But it requires something that the GOP caucus has long been loath to consider: compromise. In the Boehner days, the grand bargains that Republican leaders sought with then-President Barack Obama frequently ended in ignominious defeat. Skeptics remain dubious that this years bargain will end any differently.

I think the broken process has not been fixed, and there are some aspects that have gotten worse over the past few years, Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), a member of the rebellious Freedom Caucus.

[Major divisions remain as GOP nears its tax deadline]

One problem, Amash said, is that Ryans promise of a bottom-up approach has not materialized. Ryan has won some credit for earlier engagement with the GOPs restive wings, including a weekly lunch with representatives of the Freedom Caucus, Walkers Republican Study Committee and the moderate Tuesday Group. But as Amash noted, It doesnt mean they are actually taking our input.

Unlike past years, the GOP moderate wing is a big part of Ryans challenge. Aspirational and even wonky ideas  repealing the ACA, for instance  were easier to vote for with the certainty of an Obama veto across town.

Voting on legislation that could become law is harder  and moderates have put up a bigger fight this year, on both health care and taxes, than in any of the previous six years of the House GOPs tenure in the majority. These moderates nearly defeated the budget outline that passed Thursday, including enabling language to pass a tax bill, because the emerging tax proposal might eliminate the federal deduction for state and local taxes  a big hit to workers in the blue states where many of these moderate lawmakers live.

If you have the Freedom Caucus, and you have New York and New Jersey, youre talking about two opposite ends of the spectrum  and a president who sometimes goes his own way, said Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), who voted against the budget outline.

In the Trump era, no one seems particularly happy with Ryan.

Some in the conservative intelligentsia, who spent years promoting him, have turned against him for not denouncing whom they see as an anti-intellectual president who rejects Kemps free-market, supply-side philosophy. Staunch Trump supporters dont trust Ryan because of his wobbly support during the 2016 campaign.

Democrats now suspect that Ryan, historically unpopular in national polling, might be a more effective boogeyman than Trump in TV ads against Republican incumbents.

Liberal satirists have published a 192-page parody magazine devoted to mocking Ryan, poking fun at "the most unpopular politician in America" and his image as thoughtful policy prince who never delivers.

And yet Ryan still has strong support from the people who matter most in keeping his job: House Republicans  even those facing tough campaigns next year. Speaker Ryan is always welcome in New Jersey. Hes always welcome in New Jersey, said moderate Rep. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.).

Ryan, married with young children, dreaded that part of the job when he took the post two years ago  the endless fundraising and travel. But hes blown away the very high cash levels that Boehner hauled in, in part because big donors prefer talking to a high-profile former vice-presidential nominee over the genial but less meaty Boehner.

In a cruel twist, failure to enact policy could be Ryans downfall.

For the past 30 years, every speaker, Democrat or Republican, has left the job on bad terms, either losing the majority or being chased out by their own party.

Ryan will find out soon whether hes about to continue that trend.

If were still batting zero on these large items, when it comes to next year, I dont think hell be by himself, said Walker. I think a lot of us will be in trouble.

Read more from Paul Kane's archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
President Trump and Republicans in Congress are demanding new scrutiny of Hillary Clintons actions as secretary of state, potentially jeopardizing investigations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election just as the probes are closing in on Trumps inner circle.

In the span of a week, House and Senate Republican leaders announced two investigations into Obama-era decisions involving a uranium deal that increased Russias share of the U.S. nuclear market  and another into how the FBI handled Clintons use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

Trump has cheered on the new Republican-driven investigations, which have resurrected some of the president's most-

favored jabs against Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Asked about the uranium deal Friday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: I can tell you that we do think that theres a lot of cause for concern regarding that deal, and we certainly think it should be looked into.

She denied, however, that the White House is trying to steer the congressional investigations away from Russian meddling.

The president wants to see this completed, she said. Theres still no evidence of collusion between the president and anyone. . . . If any collusion took place, it would be between the DNC and the Clintons. And I think were starting to now see that all of the things that the Democrats had accused this president doing, they were actually guilty of themselves. The DNC refers to the Democratic National Committee.

Democrats have cried foul, charging that the investigations are a blatant strategy to distract attention from the investigations into Trumps alleged Kremlin ties, and suggesting the White House may be improperly working to assist the GOPs efforts.

Democrats were particularly alarmed by news that Trump urged the Justice Department to lift a gag order on an FBI informant whom House leaders see as a key witness in their new uranium investigation.

A White House official confirmed Friday that Trump had discussed the issue with staff and that White House counsel Donald McGahn relayed Trumps position to the Justice Department. But the official said Justice made its own decision on the issue.

The partisan breakdown has rocked all but one committee investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 elections, including the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, the House Intelligence Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The exception is the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The breakdown also threatens to push the majority of congressional probes into Russia meddling into a political sideshow. It comes just days before Silicon Valley tech giants are scheduled to publicly testify on Capitol Hill about the details of Russias disinformation campaign  and just months before lawmakers want to deliver their findings, in part to help the public avoid a similar crisis during the 2018 election.

Republicans were careful to avoid focusing on Clinton as they launched one probe into former FBI director James B. Comeys handling of the Clinton email case and another into the Obama-era Justice Departments examination of Russian attempts to influence the U.S. nuclear industry.

But Trump took no such precautions, stating Friday on Twitter that there "was collusion with HC" and Russia  an apparent reference to his hotly disputed charge that Clinton helped secure a favorable ruling on the uranium deal in exchange for Russian contributions to her family foundation.

[House GOP launches probes into Obama-era uranium deal, Clinton email inquiry]

The developments prompted Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, to demand on Twitter a new investigation into whether the president "personally intervened w DOJ to advance case against political opponent," something he called "beyond disturbing."

The White House official denied Friday that Trump had done anything inappropriate.

Are we directing it? No. Are we welcoming it? Yes, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.

Democrats have little power to make good on their threats beyond raising a political clamor. Schiff has no independent ability to subpoena sources or records without the cooperation of the committee chairman, Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who is the main force behind the House GOPs uranium probe, along with House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.).

Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the Senate Judiciary Committees ranking Democrat, told reporters this week that Democrats on the panel largely would strike out on their own. But she faces a similar limitation in compelling sources to furnish documents and testimony.

Nonetheless, on Friday Feinstein released copies of five letters seeking information that she had sent to the White House, Trumps personal lawyer Michael Cohen, the heads of Facebook and Twitter, and data firm Cambridge Analytica, which did work for the Trump campaign and whose chief executive had contact with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

As both sides press forward with their new probes, the political battle lines are forming along familiar fissures.

The relationship between Judiciary Chairman Sen. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa) and Feinstein has long teetered between collegial and combative. Each side has accused the other of slowing the Russia investigation. Feinstein is frustrated that Grassley wants to couple the probe of Trumps Russia ties with inquiries into Clintons emails and the Russian uranium deal. Grassleys side maintains that Feinsteins resistance cost the committee a chance to interview former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in July, before his house was raided by federal agents.

While Grassley has indicated a preference for cooperating with Feinstein going forward, there is little indication they will. This month, Grassley sent dozens of letters demanding information and interviews from various individuals connected to a June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer in Trump Tower, the FBI's Clinton email investigation, the Russian uranium deal and a dossier of salacious allegations about Trump's exploits in Moscow  research that Clinton's campaign and the DNC paid for. Feinstein's signature was not on any of them.

[Clinton campaign, DNC paid for research that led to Russia dossier]

In the House, divisions are even more severe. Nunes was accused this past spring of plotting with the White House to launch dubious claims that the names of Trump transition team officials appearing in surveillance reports had been improperly exposed. No evidence was found to support his conclusion, and Nunes  under political pressure and an ethics inquiry  ceded control of the Russia investigation to Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-Tex.).

Democrats are now accusing Nunes of similar coordination. Nunes and a White House official both said that they had not been in touch about the uranium investigation and were not working together. But Nunes did not rule out briefing the White House about his investigation in the future.

Meanwhile, Gowdy and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) are partnering to examine the FBIs handling of Clintons email probe. They announced their investigation in the same hour as Nunes told the news media about his uranium probe.

Apparently, if President Trump says jump, House Republicans say how high? And if he says heel, they stand down from conducting serious, credible oversight, the Oversight Committees ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), said in a statement this week. The next day, Cummings joined with the House Judiciary Committees ranking Democrat, Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), to send letters to Trumps campaign consultants, including Cambridge Analytica, demanding information.

Cummings and Conyers do not have independent power to subpoena information from witnesses; on their committees, that power rests with the Republican chairman alone.

Read more at PowerPost
A century, exactly, has passed since communists first came to power. It happened in Russia, reeling from three years of world war and the overthrow eight months before of Czar Nicholas II. Few outside Russia thought the Communist government could last for long. But in fact that "October Revolution" was the vanguard  to use a favorite communist term  of a worldwide movement, one that inspired millions around the globe and repelled millions more.

Pure communism would, in theory, entail common ownership of the means of production and a withering of the state. Unsurprisingly, it was never achieved. But an ideology that promised to overturn the power of capital, and the distortions that the accumulation of capital wrought on society, attracted followers from Korea in the east to Cuba in the west. Its adherents believed that building communism required the uprooting of capitalist beliefs and the purging of those who clung to bourgeois or counterrevolutionary ways of thinking. Many millions were packed off to prison camps, and millions more died of starvation, exposure and executioners bullets in the quest to build a communist future.

And then it all began to unravel. It was done in by cynicism, exhaustion and the inevitable comparisons with the prosperous market economies of the West. Worldwide communism was Americas most fearsome enemy in the middle decades of the 20th century. But since 1989 one country after another has either thrown off communism entirely or pushed it discreetly aside in the pursuit of business. Today it lives on in only the most attenuated forms. North Korea is the one ferocious holdout among the remaining communist nations, but even there markets have been changing the nature of the economy.

Here we present a timeline of the milestone moments in the 100-year history of communism in power, a record of a movement that sought worldwide revolution, industrialization on an epic scale, and the creation of a new form of society. It grew from an urban uprising in northwest Russia, spread around the globe, developed deep rot, and finally retreated like river ice during the spring thaw.

Nov. 7, 1917

The Great October Revolution

A revolutionary Marxist faction called the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia, led by Vladimir Lenin. (It took place on Oct. 25 under the old Russian calendar, hence the name.) After a brutal civil war, the Bolsheviks established what became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. It was the first communist government in the world. The Soviets intended to export communism to the other great industrial nations, which made them pariahs among capitalists.



Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov 1870-1924) better known as Lenin, addresses his supporters in Moscow on the first anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. (Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)

June 30, 1929

Founding of Magnitogorsk

Soviet leader Joseph Stalin ordered the construction of a new city that would house the largest iron and steel works in the Soviet Union. It was part of a five-year plan to lift Russia out of its feudal, farming economy and turn it into an industrial giant. Magnitogorsk, in the Ural mountains, was built with help from American engineers, and modeled on Gary, Ind. It became a showpiece of Soviet economic achievement.

But there was another side to the Soviet economy: A man-made famine struck Ukraine, and millions of men and women disappeared into the gulag. Prison labor was employed to dig canals, cut timber, and mine coal.



A workers brigade at the V.I. Lenin Steel Works in Magnitogorsk. (Tass via Getty Images)

May 9, 1945

Victory over Nazi Germany

The Soviets bore the brunt of World War II in Europe. Their eventual triumph has been exploited ever since as a justifying event, one that bestows glory and legitimacy on the U.S.S.R.  and its Russian successor. At the end of the war, Moscow established friendly communist regimes throughout Eastern Europe, creating what Winston Churchill called the Iron Curtain, as the Cold War with the West descended.



Soviet Army soldiers raise their flag over the Reichstag in Berlin on April 30, 1945. (Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images)

Oct. 1, 1949

Mao declares Communist victory in China

The long-running conflict between Nationalists and Communists finally came to end with a near-total Communist victory. Mao Zedong, the Communist Party leader, was welcomed in Moscow as the tribune of Asian communism. But it wasnt long before tensions led to a break, sundering communisms two most important countries.

Over the decades to follow, millions of Chinese would die in labor camps and from hunger.

July 27, 1953

Korean War ends in stalemate.

With the Japanese defeat in World War II, Korea had been divided between a Communist North, under the wing of the Soviet Union, and a West-friendly South. The Korean War erupted in 1950, pitting Koreans against one another and drawing in the United States and its allies on one side, and the Communist Chinese on the other. It finally ended in a draw, though to this day North Korea presents it as a victory.



A mechanized North Korean unit takes part in the capture of the city of Taejon from U.S. forces in 1950. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP Images)

Nov. 4, 1956

Soviets crush Hungarian uprising

After the death of Stalin in 1953, the advent of Nikita Khrushchev as Soviet leader seemed to portend a thawing of repression. Restive Hungarians, eager to break free of Moscow, staged an uprising that led to the collapse of their government. President Dwight Eisenhower cheered them on. But the United States stood by when the Soviet military poured into the country, smashing the rebellion.

Jan. 1, 1959

Fidel Castro seizes power in Cuba

Castro and his revolutionaries came out of the mountains to overthrow the corrupt regime of Fulgencio Batista, who had strong links to American organized crime. At first willing to deal with the United States, Castro turned to Moscow for support within a year, in the face of U.S. hostility. American leaders were shocked to see communism take a foothold in the Western hemisphere.



Supporters of rebel leader Fidel Castro carry a painting of their hero during a welcome rally along the Malecon in Havana, after Castro toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista. (Associated Press)

April 30, 1975

Saigon falls

The bloody and protracted war in Vietnam, which had destroyed the administration of Lyndon Johnson and contributed to Richard Nixons downfall, ended with a communist victory. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. This was close to the high tide mark of global communism, though few suspected it at the time.



Saigon residents take to the street to welcome communist troops on April, 30, 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War. (Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)

Aug. 31, 1980

Solidarity is formed in Poland

The first independent trade union in postwar Eastern Europe was established at a shipyard in Gdansk, led by, among others, an electrician named Lech Walesa. First the government in Warsaw tried to negotiate with it. Then the union was outlawed. But it never disappeared, and it was to rise up in the pivotal year of 1989.



Lech Walesa, head of a striking workers delegation, stands on a makeshift podium to announce the signing of a preliminary contract at the Lenin shipyard in Gdansk, Poland. (Associated Press/Reportagebild)

June 4, 1989

Tiananmen Square protests are crushed

Pro-democracy protesters occupied Beijings central square, inspired by a program of changes that Chinese leaders had been cautiously pursuing. The challenge was too great for the Communist government, and it sent in troops and tanks to sweep the square clean. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, lost their lives. The lesson was learned, and nothing like it has happened again in China.



A Chinese man stands alone to block a line of tanks heading east on Beijings Cangan Boulevard in Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989. The man, calling for an end to violence against pro-democracy demonstrators, was pulled away by bystanders, and the tanks continued on their way. (Jeff Widener/Associated Press)

Nov. 9, 1989

Berlin Wall falls

Five months later, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signaled to the Communist East German government that Moscow  concerned with economic decline and the hollowing out of ideological fervor  would not come to its aid in the face of rising popular protests. Solidarity had already taken a seat in the Polish government, and Hungarians were streaming across the border into Austria. But when the Wall came down and Berliners were once again united in joyous demonstrations, it was clear to the world that the communist era in Eastern Europe was over.



Two West German police officers prevent people from approaching as East German national police stand on and near a fallen portion of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 11, 1989. (Gerard Malie/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)

Aug. 19, 1991

Failed coup in Moscow signals end of U.S.S.R.

Soviet hard-liners attempted to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev out of fear that his policies of glasnost and perestroika  openness and restructuring  were putting their country in danger of falling apart. Their failure gave a major boost to Russia's foremost anti-Communist, Boris Yeltsin, and it led instead to the outlawing of the Communist Party just weeks later. The Soviet Union did fall apart, and ceased to exist on Dec. 25, 1991.



Boris Yeltsin, president of the Russian Federation, speaks from atop a tank in front of the Russian parliament building in Moscow, on Aug. 19, 1991. Yeltsin called on the Russian people to resist a coup attempt by communist hard-liners. (Associated Press)

Aug. 16, 2010

Chinas economy overtakes Japan

Government figures released on this day showed that China had surpassed Japan to become the worlds second-largest economy. Beijings turn away from Marxism and toward state-sponsored capitalism had been underway for the better part of two decades, and now it was showing dramatic results.



A textile factory in Yiwu, in east China's Zhejiang province, in 2010. (Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)

Sept. 3, 2017

North Korea says it can hit U.S. with hydrogen bomb.

Three generations of leadership by the Kim family have turned North Korea into a rogue state, more of a monarchy than a truly communist nation. The introduction of market reforms  though on a smaller scale than in China or Vietnam  has helped the economy. But hostility toward the West, and especially the United States, has if anything sharpened. North Korea views nuclear arms as the only means by which it can maintain its sovereignty in the face of what it calls American aggression. One hundred years after Lenin seized power in Russia, it is communisms most prickly redoubt.
Speaking after a meeting with senior South Korean defense officials on Saturday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis offered unequivocal support for American allies in the face of threats from North Korea.

Make no mistake, Mattis told reporters, any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming.

But despite the reassurances offered Saturday, the defense secretarys visit also underlined arguably the biggest problem in containing the threat from North Korea: the conventional weaponry at the border that would put millions of South Koreans at risk if any conflict were to break out.

Mattis got a sense of this firsthand the day before, when he visited the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates the two countries with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-Moo. While there, Song pointed to North Koreas long-range artillery in the distance and suggested it would be unfeasible to defend against them in a conflict.

"Understood," Mattis responded, according to Reuters.



U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, center front, and South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo, left, visit Observation Post Ouellette in Paju, near the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone on the border between North and South Korea, on Friday. (Jung Yeon-Je/AP)

Over the past seven decades, North Korea has amassed a huge number of artillery pieces along its border with South Korea. Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., a senior imagery analyst at North Korea-focused website 38 North, estimated earlier this year that the Second Corps of the Korean People's Army stationed at Kaesong on the northern side of the DMZ has about 500 artillery pieces alone. Other estimates of the total number of weapons of this sort puts it at 8,000.

Though Pyongyangs nuclear weapons program has captured more international attention recently, this artillery shapes much of the discussion surrounding any possible conflict with North Korea.

Seoul lies just 30 miles from the DMZ, comfortably within range for the artillery at Kaesong. The South Korean capital is one of the largest cities in the world, with a population of 25 million. Experts suggest that in the event of war, North Korea could use these conventional weapons to hammer the city, potentially leading to enormous death tolls.

A 2012 study by Roger Cavazos of the Nautilus Institute estimated there could be more than 2,800 fatalities in the initial volley. In total, Cavazos wrote, 64,000 people could be killed in the first day of any conflict. Another estimate recently given to U.S. lawmakers suggested that as many as 300,000 could die in the early days of a conflict, even if nuclear weapons are not used.

Many analysts have suggested it would be difficult and time-consuming to destroy these weapons if war broke out. When it comes to the artillery, theres nothing we can do against the artillery directly to prevent bombardment of Seoul, said Van Jackson, an expert on North Korean security issues at Victoria University in New Zealand.

Despite these concerns, the Trump administration has downplayed the threat posed to the South Korean capital. In September, when asked if there were any military options on the table that would not put Seoul at grave risk, Mattis said that there were, but I will not go into details.

Asked about the possibility of a preventive strike on North Korea, Mattis told reporters on Saturday there were many different military options that realistically reduce that threat [to South Korea] as low as possible.

And yes, we do have those options, he added.

Robert E. Kelly, an expert on North Korea at Pusan National University in South Korea, said it was not clear what options Mattis was referring to. The military option is traditionally considered really risky, Kelly wrote in an email.

Jackson said there are a couple of military options [against North Korea] that wouldn't necessitate retaliation against Seoul, such as a limited strike or covert operation.

It has to be an isolated attack, not part of some multistage strike plan or military campaign, Jackson added. It has to have an accompanying media blackout  we can't take ownership of it.

Mattis is in South Korea as part of a week-long Asia trip. The visit, his second since taking office in January, comes after a number of provocative moves by the North Korean military, including a number of missile launches and a nuclear test in early September. Last week, a North Korean official reiterated a threat to stage an atmospheric nuclear test over the Pacific Ocean, telling CNN the warnings should be taken literally.

North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbors and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs, Mattis told reporters Saturday, adding that he could not imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power.

However, Mattis reiterated that the military options being considered were designed to buttress diplomats efforts to maintain a deterrent stance and denuclearize the peninsula.

Read more:

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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A man in Barcelona writes For a country with rights on a Catalan flag after the regional Parliament declared independence from Spain. (Yves Herman/Reuters)

Spain on Saturday began to assert control over Catalonia, sacking the region's president, ministers, diplomats and police chiefs and transferring all authority to the central government in Madrid.

But it was an open question as to who was really in charge of the breakaway "Republic of Catalonia" in the hours after a divided Catalan Parliament declared independence.

Catalonias secessionist president, Carles Puigdemont, who was cheered by onlookers when he walked the streets of his home town of Girona on Saturday, issued a prerecorded call for citizens to mount a democratic opposition to the takeover.

Although some saw the brief statement as an act of resistance  a defiant roar  many of the pro-independence Catalans were disappointed and struggled to understand what he meant.

Barcelona, the capital of the newly declared republic, was placid on Saturday  even a bit dull  as if the population had taken a deep breath and was wondering what comes next.

News crews looking for action, for big demonstrations or clashes, were reduced to filming pigeons flapping around in the Placa de Catalunya.

[The future of Catalonia may well hinge on an 84-word section of the 1978 Spanish constitution]

After being granted unprecedented powers by the Spanish Senate, the central government, in the early-morning hours Saturday, published lists of Catalan officials, alongside their advisers, who were being fired.





The chief of the Catalan regional police, Josep Lluis Trapero, who is being investigated by Spanish prosecutors for defying legal orders, was among the officially dismissed.

In all, more than 140 Catalans were told they no longer hold positions of power.

The Catalan Parliament was dissolved by order of Spain, and new elections were scheduled for Dec. 21 in the well-to-do region of northeast Spain, riven by emotional divisions between pro-independence sentiment and the desire of those who want to remain in Spain.

Catalonias separatist politicians mostly stayed out of sight Saturday, declining requests for media interviews and avoiding public appearances.

Phone calls and emails to Catalan officials went unanswered or were off the record.

One exception was the restrained three-minute statement by the ousted president, Puigdemont, which aired on the regions public broadcaster but was recorded earlier.

Puigdemont said the people should continue to defend their new republic peacefully and with a sense of civic responsibility. He decried Spains takeover and called it a premeditated attack on the majority will of Catalans.

But he offered nothing about what comes next.

The night before, Puigdemont tweeted: "Catalonia is and will be a land of freedom. At the service of people. In the difficult moments and at the moments of celebration. Now more than ever."

[Catalonias independence vote: What you need to know]

After a night when a third of the region partied and a third slammed its shutters, people in the street were as divided as ever  between supporters of independence, opponents who view secession as a historic blunder and the many in the middle who arent really sure.

Even among those whose hearts felt pride and joy upon hearing a new republic declared, their heads sensed that Catalonia was not really a sovereign state. Far from it.

Many expressed anxiety.

Joaquim Bayo, 87, a retired salesman, said he had already heard nervous jokes about when Spain will send tanks into the Barcelona streets.

Look, were not such revolutionaries. We will have to wait. So, they announced a new republic. Good! If you look at history, we had one republic that lasted three years, one that lasted three days. Lets see how long this one lasts.

Bayo said, Catalans dont have the tools or the strength to pull this off. The bigger and stronger always wins.

I saw this during Francos time, and I will see it again, he said, referring to the 40-year dictatorship of Francisco Franco that began during Spains civil war and did not end until the generals death in 1975.

Jose Zaragoza, 54, a businessman, said, Today I woke up very happy, the first day of the republic, which was chosen in a legal way  by politicians chosen in a legal way, backed by a legal referendum.

He said he was surprised to see the Spanish flag still flying over Catalan government offices.

Javier del Valle, 33, a computer engineer, said: A lot of my family, who dont believe in independence for Catalonia, think this is all a lot of nonsense. My work mates who are pro-independence, I dont think they see Catalonia as a new nation, but view the declaration as a symbolic gesture and part of a strategy to achieve a political goal.

[Whatever happens in Catalonia, its anger with Spain is a sign of things to come]

Ricard Valls, 22, is a university student who hopes for an independent Catalan republic someday. But he is doubtful the regions leaders can pull it off now. It makes me sad for the people who truly believe this will happen, he said.

Barcelonas mayor, Ada Colau, sought a middle ground but still spoke in blunt language.

In a lengthy Facebook post late Friday under the title not in my name, Colau said she was disgusted to see the Spanish prime minister applauded by senators for declaring the takeover of Catalonia.

"Were they applauding his failure?" she wrote. "Those who have been incapable of proposing a single solution, incapable of listening or of governing for all, have enacted a coup against democracy today with the annihilation of Catalan self-government."

But at the same time, the Barcelona mayor said the pro-independence parties in Catalonia were advancing at a kamikaze pace after their mistaken reading of the results of the Catalan elections. Their speed has been the result of partisan interests, a headlong dash that has been consummated today with a Declaration of Independence in the name of Catalonia that doesnt have the support of a majority of Catalans.

In a Europe where change is usually slow and incremental, the fast-moving events in Catalonia were a surprise for a continent riven by waves of populism and nationalism.

Two historic votes  one for independence, one to restore constitutional order  came in dueling sessions of parliaments in Barcelona and Madrid on Friday.

They both cant hold.

More than 2 million people cast ballots for independence in early October. But critics say the turnout for the referendum was 43 percent of eligible voters, according to a count by the separatists.

During the chaotic referendum, Spanish national police and paramilitary officers used harsh tactics, in some cases whipping voters with rubber batons and dragging people away from the ballot boxes. That memory remains, and people are wary of a replay now.

Pamela Rolfe in Madrid and Raul Gallego Abellan in Barcelona contributed to this report.

Read more

Spanish court opens sedition probe of Catalonia officials for independence bid

Spains king calls independence vote by Catalonia totally outside law and democracy

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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Online applications for the 2018 Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Excellence Scholarship can now be submitted at www.kohleducation.org. A total of 100 students will be chosen to receive $10,000 scholarships from among all applicants throughout the state.

Applicants must be residents of Wisconsin who will graduate from high school in 2018, and plan to continue their education at a college, university, or vocational/technical school. Students will be evaluated on academic achievement, leadership, citizenship, and school and community activities. Completed online applications are due on Nov. 3 for public high school students, and Nov. 22 for religious, independent and home-schooled high school students. Students should go to http://www.kohleducation.org/studentexcellence/ to learn more and apply.

Selection of recipients will be made by a state-level panel composed of representatives from the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation, Cooperative Educational Service Agencies, Wisconsin Council of Religious and Independent Schools, several education-related associations, and community representatives. Since the program was established in 1990, the Herb Kohl Foundation has awarded 2,800 excellence scholarships valued at $4.4 million to graduating high school students throughout the state.

The Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Excellence Scholarship program is co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin Council of Religious and Independent Schools, Wisconsin Parents Association and Cooperative Educational Service Agencies.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 27/10/2017 (1845 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

According to a study conducted by the Restaurant Brokers, a commercial real estate firm, 90 per cent of newly-opened, independent restaurants in North America will close sometime during their first 12 months of operation.

Long gone faves Tim Feduniw, executive director of the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association, has an opinion why so many restaurants in Winnipeg have managed to buck the industry trend by still going strong decades after serving their first meal. A lot of it is generational. Its a father or mother taking their kids to a certain place, and later, when those kids grow up, taking their own children to the places they ate at, when they were young, says Feduniw. Whether it be ribs at the Silver Heights or a corned beef sandwich from Oscars, theres an emotional tug involved. I mean, a place like Rae and Jerrys doesnt only provide quality food; it provides a level of comfort, as well. That said, not every eating establishment can stick around forever, which is why were asking Free Press readers to tell us which long-gone restaurant  fine dining or greasy spoon, it doesnt matter  they miss the most. Send your picks to david.sanderson@freepress.mb.ca and well publish as many of your answers as possible in a future piece. To get the ball rolling, we asked Feduniw for his pick. The Happy Vineyard on Ellice was always an interesting place to go to with my parents, when I was a kid, he says. There was usually an accordion player on site and just saying the name brings back lots of great memories.

Of those places fortunate enough to last until their one-year anniversary, 70 per cent will have shuttered their doors by Year 5, the report added.

Of course, there are exceptions to the culinary rule.

Take, for example, Stiftskeller St. Peter, a dining establishment in Salzburg, Austria, which, at 1,214 years young, is presumed to be the oldest restaurant on the planet.

Know how Kelekis on Main Street used to house a wall of fame, adorned with photos of Monty Hall, Burton Cummings and other celebs who popped by there, through the years?

Well, some of the noteworthy types whove reportedly chowed down at Stiftskeller St. Peter, which opened in 803, include Charlemagne, Christopher Columbus and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Obviously, there arent any restaurants round these parts that compare to Stiftskeller St. Peter, age-wise. That doesnt mean we dont have our share of time-honoured favourites.

Recently, we hit the streets to figure out what are arguably the 10 oldest restaurants in Winnipeg. Short of carbon dating an egg roll or slice of pizza, heres what we discovered.

(Before you call or email to let us know who or what we may have missed, be aware we were looking for dine-in restaurants  a rule that eliminated venerable take-out joints such as the Dairi-Wip Drive In on Marion Street, which has been doling out fat boys and chips since the mid-1950s, and Chinese Food Delivery Service Ltd. on McPhillips Avenue, which was founded in 1954.)

(Also, although the Palm Room at the Fort Garry Hotel has been going since 1913, for the bulk of its existence it was billed as an upscale meeting place, while the late, great Provencher Room served as the Broadway inns chief dining hall.)

Larry Brown, owner of Oscar's Deli, and his daughter Rachel show off a corned beef sandwich at the Hargrave Street deli. (Jason Halstead / Winnipeg Free Press)

1. Oscars Delicatessen

Opened 1929 | 175 Hargrave St.

Oscar Berman opened Oscars Delicatessen on Main Street in 1929. Famous for its Winnipeg-style corned beef sandwiches  piled high between two, thick slices of City Rye bread  Oscars opened a second location on Hargrave Street in 1982, three years after current owner Larry Brown entered the picture.

Oscars on Main closed in the mid-1990s, Brown tells us, but the downtown site is still going strong.

Mr. Berman, the original owner, sold Oscars to the Ludwig brothers  there were four of them  after the (Second World) war, says Brown, who has fond memories of visiting the original location with his father, when he was growing up on nearby Redwood Avenue.

In 1971, the Ludwigs sold Oscars to their nephew Jimmy Shukster, who asked me if I wanted to go in on the sale. At the time, I had just started working for my father-in-law at Omnitskys Kosher Meats, so it wasnt until 1979 that I eventually got involved.

From the get-go, Brown has made a habit of handing out post-meal Coffee Crisp chocolate bars to every boy and girl visiting his deli.

Its funny, cause a lot of the people coming in with their children nowadays tell me they remember getting a free Coffee Crisp from me, when they were a little kid, he says with a chuckle.

The original Salisbury House on Fort Street.

2. Salisbury House

Opened 1931 | various locations

In 1931, an American actor who frequently performed in Winnipeg as part of a travelling revue borrowed $135 from his buddies to open the first Salisbury House restaurant on Fort Street.

By 1936, that site had been joined by five other Sals.

According to the companys website, Salisbury House was named after Englands Lord Salisbury, whose favourite meal was reportedly salisbury steak  a dish invented by American physician James Henry Salisbury.

In 2006, Earl Barish, whose family was responsible for developing the Dickie Dee ice cream brand, became Salisbury Houses president and CEO.

There are 18 Salisbury House outlets in Manitoba  a number that includes a seasonal operation at Shaw Park, and a 24-hour location in Steinbach.

Nick's Inn was part of Winnipeg for the longest time. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files)

3. Nicks Inn

Opened 1937 | 5392 Portage Ave.

Sure, Nicks Inn is situated in Headingley, but for the longest time, Headingley was part of Winnipeg, says manager Vicki Ganas, pointing out a good 75 per cent of the people who visit the Portage Avenue mainstay for home-style meals such as hot turkey sandwiches and grilled hamburger steaks are from the city.

Nick Janakas founded Nicks Inn in 1937. Long overdue, Janakas Place, a street in a new Headingley subdivision, was recently named for the beloved nooks founder.

John Cholakis, a former florist, succeeded Janakas as owner in 1963. Cholakiss daughter, Bertha Ganas, runs things nowadays, together with her son John Ganas, and his wife, Vicki.

Its true I married into the place, Vicki says, taking a quick breather in a booth flanked by a movie poster touting Breakfast at Tiffanys. But its not like I havent been here forever, too. I grew up in Charleswood and my family used to come here for ice cream all the time.

One afternoon, when I was 13, my dad asked if they needed any help, and I started working here the next day.

The Good Earth Chop Suey House has been at the same location for close to 40 years. (Jason Halstead / Winnipeg Free Press files)

4. Good Earth Restaurant

Opened 1952 | 1849 Portage Ave.

The Monday-to-Friday, lunch-hour buffet at Good Earth Restaurant doesnt officially begin until 11:30 a.m. But because regulars typically start lining up outside by 11:15 a.m., Rong Dong Wu, whose father Yuan Zhong Wu co-owns the restaurant with Kim Wong, says its not unusual for the 75-seat locale to be three-quarters full by, oh, 11:31 (a.m.).

Bill Wong established Good Earth Restaurant, originally dubbed Good Earth Chop Suey House, on Main Street in 1952. Wu says Good Earth has been at its present location for close to 40 years, a wild guess hes able to make, thanks to customers whove been flocking there for Kung Pao shrimp and mushroom egg foo yong for decades.

All the time, we have people who come in with their kids, who tell us theyve been eating here since they were kids, so thats how I know how long weve been at this spot, Wu says.

Kim Wong, a longtime cook at Good Earth, bought the business in the early 2000s from Bill Wongs widow, Wu says. His father, another of the cooks, joined Wong as co-owner 12 years ago.

Rae and Jerry's Steakhouse staff photographed in 1987. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files)

5. Rae and Jerrys Steakhouse

Opened 1957 | 1405 Portage Ave.

While its true Rae and Jerrys opened on Portage Avenue in 1957, the tony steakhouse, named for founders John Rae and Jerry Hemsworth, actually traces its roots to a downtown, drugstore lunch counter, says owner Steve Hrousalas, whos been at the helm since 1975.

I dont believe it was called Rae and Jerrys at the time, which would have been in the late 30s, but it was the same two guys, for sure, he says over the phone.

In fact, they operated in two other locations before settling here; for a while they were on Kennedy Street, and after that they were in the 600 block on Portage Avenue, across the street from McNaught Motors.

Hrousalas, a former food and services manager for the Bay, credits Rae and Hemsworth, when asked how Rae and Jerrys has managed to not only survive, but prosper for 60 years, in the ultra-competitive restaurant biz.

Those two gentlemen were very smart. The built an amazingly great restaurant, and had the forethought to have parking for 185 cars. They didnt waver over anything they did and basically, I was dumb enough not to change a thing.

Silver Heights Restaurant's Original Flight Deck lounge in 1957. (Joe Bryksa / Winnipeg Free Press files)

6. Silver Heights Restaurant

Opened 1957 | 2169 Portage Ave.

This summer, we sat down with Tony Siwicki to piece together a story centring on the 60th anniversary of the Silver Heights Restaurant, the Portage Avenue hotspot Tonys grandfather Anthony Siwicki founded in May 1957.

The way I understand it, he was a cab driver, and he and three of his taxi-driving buddies pooled their money, and bought an existing coffee shop, he said.

During that interview, Siwicki shared an anecdote about how the Heights is well-known for its barbecued ribs, in places far past the Perimeter.

One time my dad (Jim Siwicki) was on vacation in Hawaii, hosting a luau. He was going to be cooking ribs, but he wasnt happy with the sauces available to him, so he called me up and told me to FedEx a few jars of our sauce, to where he was staying, Tony said.

During the party, everybody was bugging Dad, asking him when the ribs were going to be ready. At some point he spotted a plane getting ready to land and said Hopefully about 45 minutes.

Hy's Restaurant Steakhouse on Kennedy Street. (Jim Wiley / Winnipeg Free Press)

7. Hys Steakhouse & Cocktail Bar

Opened 1958 | 1 Lombard Pl.

On a recent Tuesday night, Hys Steakhouse general manager Jason Sohor googled Oct. 10, 1992, to find out what was going on that day, exactly.

I knew it must have been a Saturday because that night, we had eight tables fully booked  and the people at each table were celebrating a different 25th wedding anniversary, Sohor says. It was really cool to see all these couples, all roughly the same age, holding hands and toasting 25 years of marriage.

Ever since Hy Aisenstat opened his namesake restaurant on Kennedy Street in 1958, Hys, which is now owned by his son Neil Aisenstat, has been a go-to destination for Winnipeggers marking important events in their lives.

Just last Saturday, for example, 21 parties told Sohor and his staff they were observing wedding anniversaries, while 10 other groups were on hand for a birthday.

From a business point of view, it was fairly seamless, Sohor says, referring to Hys 2005 move to Lombard Avenue. But because people were so attached to the original spot on Kennedy, there were some hurdles in that regard, for sure. I grew up in the North End and I can attest that Winnipeggers dont always love change.

In the 1950s, Winnipeggers were dazzled by the ability to order pancakes in the wee hours of the morning. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files)

8. Original Pancake House

Opened 1958 | 1049 Pembina Hwy.

In a 2006 interview with the Free Press, senior manager Harvey Hoch didnt waffle on what the Original Pancake Houses most popular menu item has been since the get-go.

For sure, the giant apple pancake. A couple of weeks ago I had a fellow drop in on his way to the airport who told me his wife was an ex-Winnipegger who would kill him, if he didnt bring home one or two, said Hoch, who started busing tables at the Original Pancake House in 1959, a year after Wally Guberman opened the local chains first restaurant on Pembina Highway.

Although the Original Pancake Houses Pembina location now closes at 8 p.m. most days of the week, that wasnt the case close to 60 years ago. During our chat, Hoch recalled cooks tirelessly flipping flapjacks until 1 a.m., to keep up with the late-night rush.

Hoch said Winnipeggers found it very unique, in the late 1950s and early 60s, to be able to order pancakes into the wee hours of the morning.

Brothers Tyler (left) and Harrison Steek at Myer's Deli on Grant Avenue. (Joe Bryksa / Winnipeg Free Press files)

9. Myers Delicatessen

Opened 1958 | 1842 Grant Ave.

Myer Ludwig was one of four Ludwig brothers who owned Oscars Delicatessen, when it was located on Main Street. In 1958, he decided to strike out on his own, by opening Myers Delicatessen on Grant Avenue, in River Heights.

Brothers Harrison and Tyler Steek became the delis third set of owners in 2010 when they purchased the business from Danny and Bella Weinberg. Their sister Amory Steek has since joined the fold.

Harrison says its pretty remarkable that, after 59 years, he and his siblings continue to greet fresh faces at Myers, on a daily basis.

We have software on one of our computers that tracks our last 100 transactions and last Friday, when I took a peek, 43 per cent of sales were to new customers, he says.

Since Day 1, one of Myers Delis top draws has been its coleslaw, whose recipe that hasnt deviated a whit from the one Myer Ludwig came up with in 1958.

Its not easy to duplicate, because its not like anything was ever written down, Harrison says. It was more like you take of handful of this and a scoopish of that.

The Red Top in 1982. (Glenn Olsen / Winnipeg Free Press files)

10. Red Top Drive Inn

Opened 1960 | 219 St. Marys Rd.

Two years before he died in a drowning accident in Costa Rica in February, Peter Scouras, co-owner of the Red Top, told us he was trying his best to emulate his late father, John, stating, people seem to appreciate that the owners around if you need him. Even if its just light conversation like, Hows your meal? My dad was really good at that sort of thing.

The Red Top, which has had its six-patty Monster Burger featured on Food Network Canadas You Gotta Eat Here!, was founded in 1960 by Peters uncle Gus Scouras. Peters father joined Gus there in 1970, after working at the original Juniors location (now VJs Drive-In), on Main Street, for 10 years.

During that same interview, Peters mother, Vicky, shared an anecdote about what happened when her husband tried to change things up a bit, by switching the brand of ketchup he used in his adored chili sauce.

You wouldnt think anybody could tell, but customers complained so much, John was forced to switch back to what hed been using, after only four days, she told us with a laugh.

david.sanderson@freepress.mb.ca

Owner Steve Hrousalas (from left) with chefs Ernie Geogakopoulos and Gordon Harris in 1999. (Jeff de Booy / Winnipeg Free Press archives) (Joe Bryksa / Winnipeg Free Press files) (Joe Bryksa / Winnipeg Free Press files) DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Silver Heights Restaurant celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. Photographed February 17, 2017. David Sanderson intersection story The Club Room in the lower level of Hy's Steakhouse and Cocktail Bar in the Richardson Building in 2005. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files) A burger and fries from Nick's Inn. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files) (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files)
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This article was published 28/10/2017 (1844 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LOS ANGELES  Sixty-four bottles of tequila. Forty bottles of triple sec. Sixty-four bottles of lemon juice. A vat of pineapple juice adds sweetness and multiple pitchers of Sprite lend just the right amount of fizz. El Coyote employee Angel Martinez stands over a massive stock pot, slowly stirring another days batch of the restaurants famous house margaritas. Its one of a number of margaritas the restaurant will be offering to customers this Halloween, one of the restaurants busiest days.

Its so much, says Marge Christoffersen, of the ingredients used to make each batch of the margaritas. We sell several hundred margaritas each day. (The restaurant averages 1,000 customers every day.) Only three people, including Martinez, know the secret recipe.

Christoffersen is one of the owners of the historic El Coyote Cafe, one of Los Angeles oldest Mexican restaurants. It was originally opened by Christoffersens aunt and uncle, Blanche and George March, in 1931.

Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times El Coyotes Dia delos Muertos special, Vuelve a la Vida (Return to Life), is made with silver tequila, agave nectar, lime juice and jalapeno slices, served in a chile-lime-salt-rimmed glass.

El Coyote has hosted its share of Hollywood and actual royalty, including John Wayne, Shirley Temple and Ricardo Montalban, the late television personality Huell Howser, director Quentin Tarantino and the late Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace of Monaco. After its strong margaritas and unique take on Mexican food, the restaurant is famous for its kitschy decor, coloured glass windows and colourfully dressed waitresses.

I grew up here, says Christoffersen, looking around the restaurant, and Ill never forget the servers. I idolized them when I was younger.

In addition to its other margarita offerings, this year the restaurant will be serving a vuelve a la vida margarita on Oct. 31, which loosely translates to return to life. The cocktail combines silver tequila with agave nectar, jalapeno slices and lime juice served in a glass with a chile lime-salted rim. Its sweet and salty, with a nice kick from the spice.

Of course, El Coyote is also known for its elaborate holiday decorations that cover almost every inch of the restaurant, particularly for Dia de los Muertos and Halloween, as well as Christmas.

The employees really get into it. They love it  everyone gets involved, Christoffersen says. A number of decorations are handmade, including large flowers made by a waiter and a number of decorations made over the years by Christoffersens aunt when she ran the restaurant.

El Coyote begins decorating for Dia de los Muertos at the end of September, and many of the decorations are brought in by longtime employees from home. The elaborate holiday display in the lobby window has been decorated by one of the managers for more than 30 years using collectible village and figurine sets shes acquired over the years. The employees decorate after-hours, and the restaurant orders pizza.

Storage is a bit of a problem, Christoffersen admits.

One year, we had the whole place decorated as a cave, you know, with crumpled brown paper, manager Billy Schoeppner says. It was amazing. Well, until someone called the fire department. Worried about a potential fire hazard, the fire department forced the restaurant to take the decorations down.

People love to come all dressed up in costumes, Schoeppner says. On Halloween, the restaurant has a draw for customers who dress up, where they can win gift cards. Its also a big time for employees to dress up, he says. They have their own contest. It gets very elaborate.

The restaurant has also had its brushes with famous fatalities. Known as the place that hosted actress Sharon Tate the day she was later murdered, the restaurant is busy every year on Aug. 9, the anniversary of her death, with fans who want to sit in the same booth where she ate her last meal.

I never used to believe in ghosts. I was never afraid before, Schoeppner says. One night he closed the restaurant, shutting down all the lights. All of a sudden, a door started swinging erratically in the womens bathroom. When I opened it, I saw someone, he says. The ghost has made a number of appearances to employees and guests. Witnesses say it is benevolent, perhaps the spirit of a former waitress killed by her husband (yes, that actually happened), or maybe the spirit of the original owner.

People have said they felt the spirit of my aunt, says Christoffersen of the original owner. This place was her whole life. The atmosphere, the food, the customers.

 Los Angeles Times

Vuelve a la Vida Margarita

Serves 1.

1 1/2 ounces silver tequila

1 ounce agave nectar

2 slices fresh jalapeno

1 ounce lime juice

Chili-lime salt, for rimming the glass, optional

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine the tequila, agave, jalapeno and lime juice. Shake, then pour, into a chili-lime-salt rimmed margarita glass. Serve immediately.

Adapted from a recipe by El Coyote Cafe in Los Angeles.
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This article was published 28/10/2017 (1844 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Many Winnipeggers woke up on Friday morning shuddering at the frigid temperatures nearing -10 C. But not Dani Reiss.

The president and CEO of Toronto-based Canada Goose Holdings Inc. was in town visiting the companys two Winnipeg manufacturing facilities.

Its awesome, Reiss said about the below-zero October Winnipeg weather. I love it.

And well he should. His company, which has been around since the 1950s, makes some of the best  and most expensive  winter wear in the world.

Canada Goose and its now-famous Arctic Program parkas, in particular, have become one of the most valued outerwear brands in the world.

A successful public offering and stock market launch in March has goosed the Canada Goose brand that much more and with recent high-end store launches in the highest of high street locations  Yorkdale Mall in Toronto, Soho in New York, the Miracle Mile in Chicago (that just opened this week)  consumers who are waiting for a budget line of Canada Goose coats are going to be out of luck.

PHOTOS BY BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS CEO and president of Canada Goose Holdings Inc. Dani Reiss visited the companys two Winnipeg manufacturing plants this week, including the facility on Mountain Avenue.

This is a luxury brand company. There is no longer any attempt to pretend otherwise. As if to prove the point, the former CEO of Chanel just joined the Canada Goose board of directors.

Reiss likes to characterize the brand as performance luxury.

We are the Range Rover of clothing, he said.

Reiss is clearly proud of the fact that at least some of the perceived value of the brand is its made-in-Canada bragging rights. The companys Winnipeg production operations are increasingly key to ensuring that remains the case.

We have been committed to making products in Canada for many years and we are as committed as ever to continue doing that, he said.

A quick peek inside its two-year-old production facility on Mountain Avenue is at least partial evidence.

Hundreds of sewing machines are manned by workers in different rows distinguished by the colour of the workers smocks  mauve, taupe, lime-green  like different teams.

The pattern-cutting side of the floor operates 24/7. Finished garments leave the plant every day.

Along with another factory on Bannatyne Avenue that Canada Goose has been operating out of since 2010, the company has about 1,000 workers in Winnipeg.

With the two plants roughly equal in size  at about 100,000 square feet, Mountain Avenue is slightly larger  workers make garments from start to finish. Reiss said the Mountain Avenue location is capable of making everything in the companys portfolio.

It owns six production sites across the country but that still only accounts for about 30 per cent of its total volume. A number of contract manufacturers, some of whose production is exclusively for Canada Goose, continue to be an important part of the process. The company has made it clear it would look at additional acquisitions or potential future greenfield developments but it has no intentions to move production off-shore.

That is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the company that has prided itself in swimming upstream for some time.

Not so long ago, Winnipeg had a booming garment sector employing several thousand people, but it was almost entirely wiped out in a few short years when import regulations changed, making off-shore manufacturing far more economical.

Winnipeg is an important apparel hub historically, Reiss said. We have been able to build it back at this sort of scale and it is something we are really proud of.

Perhaps more than many of its peers in the domestic clothing manufacturing business, Canada Goose has much at stake in its investment in brand-Canada. It has benefitted from that connection and has used it to grow its global appeal and has done so with style.

No amount of expertise from Bay Street corporate finance types could have foreseen the rise in Canadas standing in the world as perhaps one of the last virtuous liberal democracies standing. Having a sexy Prime Minister doesnt hurt either.

Ive felt like an unofficial ambassador for Canada for many, many years, Reiss said. The world loves Canada and has loved Canada for many, many years. But I would say there has never been a moment where people love Canada more than they do today.

That has helped inspire Canada Goose to work more efficiently at getting its expensive, well-made garments to customers around the world. It has invested in an e-commerce platform and its direct-to-consumer channel has quickly captured almost 30 per cent of its total sales. As recently as three years ago the wholesale business accounted for a full 100 per cent of revenue.

After raising $340 million in an initial public offering in March  after previously selling off majority ownership of the company to private equity firm Bain Capital in 2013  the company has not disappointed, with the share price jumping since the opening bell. Investors in the IPO are enjoying a 57 per cent return in just seven short months.

And unlike other scenarios where private equity takes over a long-standing company, loads it up with debt and then takes it public and cashes out, Bain Capital remains the largest shareholder and Reiss continues to hold more than 20 per cent of the equity.

Perhaps most important is that the companys vision has not changed.

We have expressed to the public markets that we intend to continue running the company the same way, Reiss said. We have a long-term vision. Our goal has always been to build an enduring global brand. We dont believe there is any Canadian brand like us on the global stage. Our intention is to continue to do that.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSDani Reiss, CEO of Canada Goose, poses for a photo in the Mountain Avenue plant.
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The rising tide of asylum seekers crossing into Manitoba on foot seems to have settled into a steady stream, while the numbers in Quebec dropped dramatically last month.

Welcome to the rhythms of a world of displaced people, a Winnipeg immigration expert says.

You cant plan for refugee claimants, said Lori Wilkinson, director of Immigration Research West at the University of Manitoba, and editor-in-chief of the Journal of International Migration and Integration.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The number of asylum seekers is up 400 per cent from this time last year.

RCMP intercepted 78 refugee claimants whod irregularly crossed the border from the United States into Manitoba in September, compared with 80 in August, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canadas latest numbers show.

In Quebec, the number of asylum claims dropped dramatically  to 1,720 in September from 5,530 in August.

They fluctuate so much every year, said Wilkinson, who will be one of the speakers at the Strangers in New Homelands conference in Winnipeg from Nov. 1-3. The conference, in its 10th year, looks at immigration policies in host societies around the world. The issue of refugee claimants is one of the big topics this year, she said.

This summer, the number of refugee claimants who crossed into Quebec grew, with Haitian earthquake refugees trying to get to a safe place before their temporary protected status in the U.S. expired. In the fall, their numbers plummeted.

I would say the people who are really scared about their situation would have left already, Wilkinson said.

The number of asylum seekers crossing into Canada could soar again if people in the U.S. with uncertain status  such as the 700,000 who arrived in the country as minors and were allowed to stay through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program  fear theyll get the boot.

It will depend a lot on the (U.S. President Donald) Trump administration, Wilkinson said.

The number of asylum seekers trying to call Manitoba home may have levelled off for now. But its still up 400 per cent from this time last year, says a Winnipeg non-profit group that helps refugee claimants navigate the maze of immigration bureaucracy.

Were managing, but still unfunded by the federal government, said Ghezae Hagos, who is in charge of in-Canada refugee claims at the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Councils Welcome Place.

In September 2016, it helped 24 refugee claimants. Last month, it assisted 104. By mid-October 2016, it had helped 198 refugee claimants; by mid-October this year, it was 1,000, Hagos said.

Every weekday, four University of Manitoba law students spend a half-day at Welcome Place, working with refugee claimants, mostly helping them draft their narratives  their story, and why they have a well-founded fear of persecution should they be sent back to their country of origin.

Welcome Place  the largest resettlement agency for government-assisted refugees  is providing settlement services for refugee claimants, for which there is no federal government funding, Hagos said.

Theyre asking us for winter clothes, shoes and furniture, he said, asking donors to take gently-used items to the Canadian Muslim Womens Institute (61 Juno St.). The province, as well as donors, has stepped up to help. But the need for shelter is great, he said.

Some are really struggling.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 28/10/2017 (1844 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Archwood School was a lonely little building on Winnipegs Archibald Street with one student for every five desks when it was slated for closure in 2008.

It has since doubled its enrolment because of a housing development and no one is talking about closing it down  even if Tory Education Minister Ian Wishart lifts the moratorium on school closures the former NDP government imposed more than nine years ago.

No. The last request we received was for Chapman School in Pembina Trails (School Division), where the community supported closure of the building and transferring students to Royal School, Wishart said this week. Any requests would need to be justified according to the requirements of existing legislation.

There were 13 schools on the chopping block when then-NDP education minister Peter Bjornson ambushed the Manitoba public education system in 2008, announcing an immediate moratorium on closures.

Since then, 11 of those schools are still open, though only Archwood has bounced back substantially.

Pembina Trails School Division closed Chapman School a couple of years ago after it was literally left empty  the remaining parents had asked to move their children to the nearby, bigger Royal. Kenton School similarly closed in Park West S.D.

Disbrowe School in Frontier S.D. is technically open this year, though it has no children enrolled. It had six in 2008. Disbrowe is on a remote island and is the only option for any children in the area, said the province.

Four of the schools slated to close nearly a decade ago were in Louis Riel S.D.: Archwood, Marion, Ecole Henri-Bergeron, and Dr. D.W. Penner.

Penner is even smaller these days, but superintendent Duane Brothers said the division no longer wants to close any schools.

Its been moving grades and students around schools to accommodate the enormous growth in French immersion in the division. (The latest enrolment numbers will be released in February, when the province posts its annual report.)

Penner has dropped to 126 from 151 students, Marion has grown to 140 from 132, and Bergeron is up to 183 from 177. Archwood once had 105 students, but its now at 202.

We believe in community schools and our student population is growing. If anything, we will continue to review reorganization rather than school closures, Brothers said.

Wishart will launch a comprehensive review of the $2.4-billion public school system a year from now, which would include looking at criteria for closing schools. But the minister said he prefers school divisions find ways to use those buildings as schools.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES

Manitoba is a growing province and most divisions have seen increases in enrolment. We are focused on ensuring school divisions can make the best use of existing space, he said.

St. James-Assiniboia S.D. was going to close either Hedges or Ness middle school programs a decade ago. Now, theyre part of a division-wide reorganization.

Hedges had 209 students when it was considered for closure  it now has 352.

Ness had 242. Now, two years into the three-year reorganization, with students in only two of three grades thus far, it has 127 students in Grade 6, 104 in Grade 7, and adds Grade 8 next fall, when its projected to reach 360.

The six middle schools would range between 250 and 368 students next year.

Prior to the NDP legislation, River East Transcona S.D. wanted to close Sherwood (up to 112 from 89, but still among Winnipegs smallest schools) and Westview, which has grown to 192 students from 178.

The RETSD board of trustees has had no discussions regarding school closures for several years, and there are no plans to start the discussion in our division at this time. We have not received any information or a notification from the province regarding the moratorium on closing schools, superintendent Kelly Barkman said through an aide.

In Lakeshore School Division, both early-years schools in Ashern and Fisher Branch were slated to close and the much-larger collegiates were to be renovated and expanded to become kindergarten to Grade 12 buildings. That never happened.

Asherns early years school has shrunk to 60 students from 95; while Fisher Branch at 103, up from 85.

Similar situations exist in small Manitoba communities such as Birtle, Riverton, Treherne, Minitonas and Rossburn, with two small-to-smallish schools in those towns. And a few neighbouring communities each have a school of different grades serving both towns, such as Crystal City and Pilot Mound.

Rural Manitoba is awash with some very small schools, such as Domain School in Red River Valley S.D., which has 19 children in kindergarten to Grade 8. It is 40 kilometres from downtown Winnipeg and relatively close to the communities of Sanford and La Salle.

Closing small schools over the objections of local parents would be risky politically. Children would have to be put on school buses daily  although many of them are already taking a bus  and a communitys central point would be lost.

Wishart said the Progressive Conservative government led by Premier Brian Pallister has found no evidence the former NDP government studied the hidden costs of what losing a school means to a community, or how much additional costs such as busing there would be in sending children to a neighbouring community.

Meanwhile, Chapman was not the only school to close in recent years. Pine Dock School in Frontier, Graysville in Prairie Rose, and Reynolds Community School in Sunrise S.D. were shuttered when parents effectively voted with their feet and moved the children to larger schools in other communities.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 28/10/2017 (1844 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One man is dead and three people were injured following a fire at a rooming house in Point Douglas on Friday night, say Winnipeg police. The fire is being investigated as a possible arson, according to police spokesman Const. Rob Carver.

A Winnipeg Police Service supervisor was first on the scene and helped the residents evacuate. Three adults were injured escaping the fire and were taken to hospital in stable condition.

The adult male, 40, was found dead in the residence, a police news release said.

COLIN CORNEAU / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS One rooming house resident died in the fire at 145 Euclid Ave.

Matt Thordarson was watching a movie with his girlfriend on Friday night when they heard sirens. He left his home on Hallet Street and went around the corner to see what was happening.

The house two houses away was like, flames shooting out the top of the roof.

Thordarson watched as police and firefighters responded to the blaze.

Once the top floor started filling up with smoke, the floor below it started filling up with smoke.

People started crawling out of the second-storey windows at the back of the house as the smoke continued to build, said Thordarson. He shouted at firefighters to get out of the house before they were overtaken by smoke.

Im a board member of the local residents committee, added Thordarson. Weve been familiar with this house for a while. Theres been problems with it.

Theres always people in and out of that place, he said. If youve ever been in there, its like skinny hallways and tiny rooms, so if you ask me it was a fire trap waiting to happen.

Sel Burrows, chair of the North Point Douglas Residents Committee, also said the house at 145 Euclid Ave. has been a source of concern for some time.

Its a very, very old, decrepit building, said Burrows. But it has been inspected regularly by the fire department, we made sure of that.

Landlord Izzatbir Sethi said about 15 people live in the rooming house he owns at 145 Euclid Avenue. He also owns a rooming house at 288 Austin St. and the New West Hotel at 786 Main St.

Sethi said a tenant called him just after 11 p.m., and told him another tenant had started a fire.

Since I have surveillance cameras there, I checked the feed on my phone, said Sethi. All I could see was smoke, so I got a little worried, so I started my car and headed towards Euclid.

By the time he arrived at the rooming house, Sethi said, police had sealed off the area. Sethi said he provided police with surveillance video that could help them determine how the fire started.

The rooming house had an alarm system that was functional, and that did go off, said Sethi.

COLIN CORNEAU / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Crews move in to board up the rooming house at 145 Euclid Ave.

We also had fire extinguishers on site, but the fire was probably too quick for that. And we also had smoke detectors.

Sethi said he spoke with a fire commissioner who told him that fire doors between the two wings of the rooming house prevented the fire from spreading to both sides of the structure.

Sethi said he feels horrible about the fatal fire.

Most of the tenants have been there for five years, and Ive known them well, so if (the deceased) is one of my tenants, it does hurt.

A double stabbing took place at the rooming house this past July, leaving a 29-year-old man dead. The same rooming house also caught fire in July 2012, displacing residents.

We are fed up with rooming houses burning in Point Douglas, said Burrows.

The Residents Committee is totally supportive of having rooming houses in North Point Douglas, theyre desperately needed for vulnerable people, its the last stop before they can become homeless. But they must be well-run, and they must be well-inspected.

Burrows added that the rooming house at 145 Euclid Ave. had been inspected regularly by the fire department.

solomon.israel@freepress.mb.ca

@sol_israel
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 28/10/2017 (1844 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeggers who plan to attend the Pride Winnipeg Festival in 2018 should update their calendars. Pride Winnipeg announced Saturday it was rescheduling the ten-day event, in order to accommodate a need for more space during the Festival at The Forks.

The 2018 Pride Winnipeg Festival will now take place from July 20 to July 29, with the Festival at the Forks on July 28 and 29. The parade will take also take place on July 29. In previous years, Pride Winnipeg kicked off its festival towards the end of May, holding the Festival at the Forks during the first weekend in June.

In previous years, said Pride Winnipeg president Jonathan Niemczak, Prides Festival at the Forks was immediately followed by the Winnipeg International Childrens Festival.

JEN DOERKSEN / FREE PRESS FILES The annual parade will take place on Sunday, July 29.

We just cant expand, because they have the rest of the festival site, said Niemczak. Which is fair. They were there first, before we moved to The Forks.

Pushing back Prides Festival at the Forks, said Niemczak, will allow the event to use more space and accomodate more attendees. He estimates more than 20,000 people showed up at The Forks for the outdoor weekend festival this past year.

In 2020, Pride Winnipeg will be expanding its festival to accomodate the 2020 Fierte Canada Pride Festival. That event was already scheduled for July of that year.

Its the same timeframe, and so any time you move a major event youre always going to be faced with some logistical challenges that you may have not encountered in the past, said Niemczak.

Its better that we work out those conflicts over the next two years, (rather) than trying to figure that all out in 2020 on top of trying to run the Canada Pride festival.

Niemczak said more information is available on the Pride Winnipeg Facebook page. The organization will hold a town hall meeting in the coming weeks to answer any questions about the change.

solomon.israel@freepress.mb.ca

@sol_israel
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 28/10/2017 (1844 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was a bit like appointing Count Dracula as the goodwill ambassador for the blood donor service.

Truth is stranger than fiction, because fiction has to be plausible. Reality is under no such constraint, and regularly produces events that would never be credible in a novel. Like the decision last week to appoint Zimbabwes Robert Mugabe as the World Health Organizations goodwill ambassador.

The newly elected head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he hoped the Zimbabwean president would influence his peers in the region to devote more effort to health care, but Mugabe doesnt really have much by way of peers.

Themba Hadebe / The Associated Press Files The appointment of Robert Mugabe as the WHO's goodwill ambassador proves truth is stranger than fiction.

Mugabe, in power since 1980, is effectively president-for-life, whereas all the neighbouring countries except Angola are more or less functional democracies. All of them, again except Angola, provide better health care to their citizens than Zimbabwe. Not good, but significantly better.

In Zimbabwe, heath care improved significantly in the first 20 years of Mugabes rule, as did the economy in general. He built clinics, hospitals and schools, and Zimbabweans became one of the healthiest, best educated, and most prosperous populations in Africa. But then it all went wrong.

After a referendum in 2000 rejected a new constitution designed to strengthen Mugabes grip on power, he became increasingly paranoid and authoritarian. The sole purpose of government became hanging on to power at any cost (to others), so favoured cronies in the ruling party and the military were allowed to loot the economy  which duly collapsed.

By now, in fact, there is hardly any Zimbabwean economy left beyond subsistence agriculture. Unemployment has soared to 75 per cent or higher, and schools and hospitals have fallen apart. Adult life expectancy has plunged from 61 years to 45 and state-run hospitals and clinics frequently run out of basic medicines such as painkillers and antibiotics.

Mugabe has presided over this catastrophe for 17 years now, insisting all the while that all is well. At the World Economic Forum on Africa in Durban last May, he claimed that Zimbabwe is one of the most highly developed countries in Africa. He is planning to run for re-election as president next year at the age of 94 and nobody dares to defy him.

He will win, of course, after the usual number of opposition activists has been beaten up, jailed or murdered  if he lasts that long; he is beginning to show serious signs of wear. In fact, Mugabe has made three medical visits to Singapore for treatment this year.

Why Singapore? The presidential spokesperson, George Charamba, says that its a problem with Mugabes eyes, which would helpfully explain away the fact that he frequently appears to fall asleep at public meetings. (Hes just resting his eyes, really.) He needs a foreign specialist for that, but for everything else, Charamba says, Mugabe goes to a Zimbabwean doctor  who is, he assures everyone, a very, very, very black physician.

There are very good Zimbabwean doctors, of course, but most of them, frustrated at the lack of medical supplies, have long since left the country for greener pastures. And it does seem unlikely its an eye problem that has caused Mugabe to make three medical visits to Singapore this year. Its probably something more serious, and Mugabe just doesnt trust his own health service to deal with it.

How did the new head of WHO hit upon the idea of making this man, of all people, the organizations goodwill ambassador for Africa? He and his advisers must have discussed it in various meetings for weeks before announcing it. Did nobody ever bother to point out that it would be a public relations disaster? Special ambassadors dont have to do very much, but their choice does shine a light on the judgment and integrity of those who choose them.

The public outcry about the choice of Mugabe was so instant and widespread that within three days his appointment was cancelled. Mugabe was the head of the African union when the organization endorsed Tedros as the sole African candidate for the WHO job, and no doubt Tedros felt some obligation to return the favour, but the organizations financial support comes from elsewhere.

So its just politics as usual. The WHOs reputation will eventually recover, but health care in Zimbabwe wont as long as Mugabe is alive. And the world will continue to rotate in an easterly direction.

Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 28/10/2017 (1844 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Most people who go to Turkey will visit Istanbul. It has been the embarkation point for a number of cruise itineraries. And most of these cruises will also spend a day at one of the best known archeological ruins in the world, at the ancient Greek city of Ephesus.

However, visitors from Canada and the United States seldom go deeper into the country, as other Europeans have been doing for decades.

But it is the tour we took to the Turkish Riviera, and then inland to Cappadocia, that put the icing on the cake in our journey of discovery to Turkey.

Until the Damlatas Cave was discovered near Alanya on the Turkish Riviera around the middle of the last century, the town was just a small fishing village. It offered some amazingly dramatic views, which few travellers knew about.

Photos by Ron Pradinuk / Winnipeg Free Press After discovery of Damlatas Cave, Alanya grew from a quiet fishing town to major tourist centre.

It is the high percentage of carbon dioxide in the cave, which is apparently about 12 times higher than normal air, that drew peoples attention from a health perspective. These conditions, along with the caves warm-air temperatures and 95 per cent humidity, is purported to help relieve asthma.

Asthma sufferers started their pilgrimages to Alanya around the mid-1950s. Whether they were cured or not, they took back raving reviews about the beauty of the area, its outstanding beaches, and scenic views of and from the Alanya Castle above the middle of the town.

Driven initially by this kind of tourism, from a standing start Alanya grew to a population of almost 100,000 by 1985, and then mushroomed to its current size of more than 400,000 today. Most of the people there now make a living supporting the more than a million annual visitors who have since discovered the region.

I do not have asthma, and I cant say whether I could breathe easier after my visit to the Damlatas Cave, but the 15,000-year-old stalactites and stalagmites that we walked by made it an excellent and worthwhile visit.

From their perch on the site of Alanya Castle, pirates found safe haven from those who would try to bring them to justice.

Alanya itself is a modern tourism city with great restaurants, a pleasant blend of the culturally old and the new, and beaches and vistas that rival those anywhere. Even though it has grown substantially over the past few decades, we still found it small in comparison to other major urban tourist destinations. And it seemed to be filled with friendly people who totally appreciate the visitors they welcome so openly to their city.

Even as we were travelling up the winding road that lead to the 250-metre high point of Alanya Castle, we knew we were in for some stunning views of the region, as with each change in direction up the trail we were faced with alternating visual impressions of city and sea.

The foundations of Alanya Castle were purported to have been built by pirates around the third century BC  but the majority of it was constructed in the 13th century AD as a Seljuk fortress.

Because of the castles central location, we could see the famous Cleopatra Beach from one cliff and the harbour of the old city from the other side.

The walls surrounding the castle are more than six kilometres long and, at some points, peering over the edge and looking straight down to the waters below, we could easily imagine how pirate ships found safe haven from those who would try to bring them to justice.

After an amazing few days, we would commence our tour to see some of the other sites on our way to the capital city of Ankara.

Cleopatra Beach from Alayna Castle hillside.

Our first stop was only a couple of hours away, as we visited the ruins of Perge, just outside of Antalya, the largest major seaside tourist city in the region.

While not as complete as Ephesus, Perge covers a vast area. And its history, according to folklore, goes back all the way to the 13th century BC. According to archeologists, most of it was built in the third millennium BC.

These ruins are very impressive, and chart the histories of important personages through the Greek, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods.

The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations is one of the best for viewing artifacts from these eras, having been honoured with the distinction of receiving the European Museum of the Year Award in 1997.

Antalya itself has a history dating back to 200 BC. Today, with more than two million residents, it is the most populous city of the region and a significant port city with many attractions for the 12 million tourists who visit it annually. Even with its size, it still is an area with an abundance of outdoor markets, where tourists and locals alike haggle for the best price on produce and other goods.

Our trip would continue on toward the Cappadocian region. Cappadocia would turn out to be one of the most fascinating new experiences I have ever had, in what was an entirely unique area.

City and beach from Alanya Castle.

On the way there, we passed by a number of impressive mosques and picturesque villages, along with mountain views that made the seven-hour drive pass quickly. The people here were clearly more down to earth and, while seemingly living a more meagre existence, were friendly nevertheless as they greeted visitors with local crafts and other homemade products.

As we approached what is often identified as the moonscaped region around Goreme, we came upon the unique, world-renowned geological features that have come to be referred to as fairy chimneys, because of their cone-shaped formations.

These natural formations, created by erosion and volcanic ash, became permanent homes for the residents of the day, and even now make up a veritable city of pointed dwellings. This is the life of a by-gone era, as active today as it was in the past.

As we moved about the region, many of the formations lost their points and featured mushroom-like tops, but still with a similar base style as the fairy chimneys.

Perhaps even more astounding is the fact that below the surface, the area holds another city. Its a city of connected caves that go several levels down, with tunnels and turns leading to room after room that only a guide with years of experience could navigate. While the Christians were not the first to use them, they became the place of refuge for Christian inhabitants, hiding in the hope of escaping Muslim Arabs during the Arab-Byzantine wars.

Unless you have a high degree of claustrophobia, this is a truly exceptional tour to take. Some of the tunnels, in addition to being narrow, are also very steep. While I did OK with closeness, it would have been helpful to have been in fitter shape, since the farther down we went, the more tiring it got. While I did not try to complete the entire tour, I really am glad I went down to experience how the lives of those who were persecuted in past times lived.

In the days after we left Alanya, while all of the accommodations were in smaller properties, I was surprised and pleased at how good each was, and again, how friendly and helpful the people, most of them owners, were.

After leaving Cappadocia, we visited a couple of museums in Ankara, and got a convenient flight connection back home the next morning.

Turkey is a fascinating country to visit. I strongly encourage those ending or beginning a cruise in Istanbul, or planning a trip near the area, to include Alanya and Cappadocia in your plans. You will be glad you did.

Read Rons blog at thattravelguy.ca. Listen to Rons latest podcasts via his website, or on demand on iTunes.

pradinukr@shaw.ca
Amid a wave of social catastrophe engulfing the African continent on several fronts, including the expansion of war, historic famine, and social and political upheaval, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley embarked on a three-nation tour beginning Monday, with stops in Ethiopia, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The tour happened against the backdrop of the Trump administrations escalation and expansion of US military operations on the continent in response to the October 4 ambush that killed four Green Berets in Niger.

Overshadowing the UN ambassadors trip were the deteriorating situations in Somalia with the recent massive bombing attack in Mogadishu, and South Sudans protracted civil war, ongoing since 2013 and exacerbated by famine and the worst refugee crisis in the modern era.

Also informing the envoys trip was Congo President Joseph Kabilas refusal to hold elections and the armed conflicts devastating the Eastern region of the country fought by several rebel militias, which has caused a separate refugee crisis, with millions of villagers fleeing the violence both internally and externally in the last few years.

The overriding aim behind Haleys tour was the reinforcing and reorienting of African heads of state to the Trump administrations objectives of escalating US military operations, in particular in Somalia, South Sudan and the Congo.

The trip must also be considered in light of President Donald Trumps remarks last month at the United Nations to African heads of state during a luncheon, in which Trump extolled the tremendous business potential of Africa, and boasting, I have so many friends going to your countries, trying to get rich.

The day preceding her trip, Haley penned an editorial for CNN titled, This Is Why the President Is Sending Me to Africa. Beginning her essay by making empty expressions of sorrow for the complete social disaster plaguing South Sudan, Somalia and the Congo, which are the product of decades of US imperialist intrigue, Haley outlined Washingtons imperial strategy for Africa, writing, The United States has many interests in these war-torn African countries. Our interests are certainly humanitarian, but they are also economic and strategic.

The previous week, in speaking about her upcoming Africa tour before an event held at the George W. Bush Institute in New York, Haley said, The president is sending me because we want to build (our Africa policy) back up to what it was under (President George W. Bush); it has fallen and our African friends feel that.

The first stop on Haleys itinerary was Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she met Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, and afterward, convened with African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs Minata Samate Cessouma at the headquarters of the African Union.

The meeting with Desalegn was centered on reinforcing Ethiopias agreement with Washington to continue committing Ethiopian troops to the US offensive in Somalia. Likewise, the discussion with Cessouma was aimed at shoring up further support for Washingtons military offensives in several countries, including Somalia, Sudan and the Congo, countries in which the African Union has committed troops.

Underscoring Washingtons true designs of securing for American corporations Africas vast economic resources, Haley told the media, The United States very much sees Africa as a very important part of the world. We see great opportunities in Africa, we see challenges in Africa, but we want to support and help in those situations.

The hypocritical stench of both Haleys and Desalegns declared determination to preserve human rights during their meeting were exposed when just the day before, Ethiopian security forces killed 11 protesters in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. Oromia, a large province to the south of Addis Ababa, has been experiencing protracted unrest. More than 700 protesters were killed late last year by government forces.

In her meeting with Cessouma, Haley emphasized the African Unions cooperation with Washingtons imperialist objectives. A transcript of the meetings minutes reads: Ambassador Haley expressed the United States appreciation for the African Unions partnership in UN peacekeeping operations, and [T]he indispensable partnership between the African Union and both the United States and the United Nations and underscored the leading role the African Union can play in stabilizing the region and in advancing peace, security, and human rights across the continent.

When arriving in South Sudan for the next leg of her tour at a UN refugee camp in Juba, Haley and her entourage were greeted by a group of angry demonstrators protesting the US-backed government of Salva Kiir.

When the demonstrators were informed that due to time constraints that they would not have a chance to meet Haley, the crowd became agitated, to which the police responded by firing tear gas at the protesters. Haley and her envoy were swiftly evacuated.

Completely omitting Washingtons responsibility for its criminal role in creating the social catastrophe in South Sudan, Haley condemned the US-backed Kiir government: We are disappointed by what we are seeing. This is not what we thought we were investing in. What we thought we were investing in was a free, fair society where people could be safe and South Sudan is the opposite of that.

As the World Socialist Web Site has noted, Washington, as part of its geopolitical strategy in East Africa, carved South Sudan from Sudan in 2011 primarily to neutralize Chinas economic influence in Sudan, in particular Beijings development of Sudans oil deposits and extraction infrastructure.

Since Washington created the nation and placed a gang of assembled killers and criminals in power in Juba, it has committed $11 billion in an as yet fruitless attempt to stabilize its puppet government.

On the final stop of her trip in the Congo on Thursday Haley visited a refugee camp in Kitchanga in Eastern Congo. She continued spouting insincere rhetoric regarding Washingtons concern for the horrific plight of the Congolese masses suffering the social catastrophe wrought by decades of American and European interventions of which the United Nations has played a significant role.

Haley told reporters, The reason I got emotional today was the hundred-plus kids that were chasing our cars and seeing us off. All I kept thinking was, whats going to happen to them? The sad reality, as it looks now, is that they are going to end up just like their parents.

She finished her tour meeting with President Joseph Kabila, expressing the Trump administrations dismay with the US-backed governments refusal to hold elections, in which Kabila is constitutionally barred from running for another term. Haley gave Kabila the ultimatum of no longer than the end of 2018 to hold elections. Washington has increasing reservations over Kabilas ability to stabilize the country, as the protracted armed conflicts are bad for the Western business interests seeking to plunder the Congos rich economic resources.
October 14 marked six months since the collapse of a huge garbage dump in Meethotamulla, a suburb in Sri Lankas capital city, Colombo. At least 32 people died after being buried alive. Eight remain missing and more than 100 were injured.

Some 198 families, numbering around 1,000 people, were affected and 146 houses were damaged. The victims have been abandoned by the government, which has offered only token compensation and provided small houses, without decent facilities, for a handful of families.

The disaster was not an isolated incident or an accident, but the result of the criminal policies of successive governments, aimed at boosting corporate profits, including through the gutting of social spending. Under capitalism, such tragedies have become a fact of daily life, including throughout the Indian subcontinent.

On September 1, another garbage mountain collapsed at Ghazipur in the Indian district of East Delhi, killing two people and injuring five others. A fire broke out at the collapse site on October 14, frightening nearby residents.

Opened in 1984, Ghazipurs landfill had reached a height of 50 metres before the collapse, well in excess of the official 20-metre limit. The site encompasses almost 70 acres or 28 hectares.

The landfill is owned by a private company, without certification from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee. Around 3,000 metric tons were being dumped there every day. It collapsed after several days of heavy rain due to the sheer weight of the debris. The fire last month was triggered by methane gas produced by decomposing garbage.

After the September 1 tragedy, the Delhi regional administration banned protests demanding the dump be closed.

The site is located in an impoverished area where tens of thousands live in tiny houses in crowded shanty-towns. Reportedly, around 1,500 families in the area are involved in fossicking through the rubbish to earn a pittance. In India, there are an estimated 1.7 million families working as garbage collectors.

After the disaster, a resident told the Hindustan Times: Perhaps nowhere in the city are people facing the health hazards that we face. There is a landfill, next to it a fish market, a slaughterhouseall sources of never-ending stench.

The Civil Engineer web site noted: Mulla Colony village residents [near the Ghazipur site] said that water, air and soil pollution from open landfill has robbed them their health. They are forced to keep their windows shut, as the air is contaminated with fine particulate matter and the smell is unbearable and many have developed respiratory diseases.

To appease public anger, Area Governor Anil Baijal formally banned garbage dumping on September 4, but it is continuing. There are similar waste sites in Delhi, including at Bhalaswa and Okhla. Kolkata in West Bengal and Mumbai in Maharashtra also reportedly have hazardous garbage sites.

It took three days to extinguish a blaze that began on October 19 at a massive waste dump in the Gujarat city of Ahmadabad. Fires are frequent at the site, with toxic smoke often reported as far as three kilometres away.

These oppressive conditions puncture the claims of successive Indian governments, including the current administration, of social progress based on economic growth. In reality, millions of workers and peasants live in unsafe conditions, while corporations made huge profits.

The situation is the same on the African continent.

In Addis Ababa, Ethiopias capital, at least 115 bodies were recovered after a garbage dump collapsed on March 16. Another 80 people remain unaccounted for.

The city is a hub of development projects for the rich, with new high-rise shopping malls, luxury hotels and housing complexes. Tens of thousands of poor people have been cleared out to make way for the projects, with many, including the victims of the garbage collapse, forced onto the outskirts of the city.

A World Bank report in April noted that around the world, waste generation rates are rising. In 2012, the worlds cities generated 1.3 billion tonnes of solid waste, a figure that is expected to rise to 2.2 billion by 2025.

The report stated: Compared to those in developed nations, residents in developing countries, especially the urban poor, are more severely impacted by unsustainably managed waste. It warned that unregulated dumps disposed or openly burned will create serious health, safety, and environmental consequences.

The austerity agenda demanded by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) ensures that government expenditure is being slashed in areas of social need, effectively blocking any real solution to the garbage crisis.

Today, amid a deepening global crisis of capitalism, third world conditions are emerging in so-called developed countries. In London in June, a fire tore through the Grenfell Tower building, killing at least 79 people. The disaster created by flammable cladding was a product of criminal negligence on the part of the British ruling elite.

Thousands of families in the US town of Flint, Michigan are victims of a lead-polluted water system.

The Independent Workers Inquiry, called by the Socialist Equality Party, is examining the Meethotamulla garbage disaster in this international context.

Unsafe garbage dumping on natural marshy land in the Colombo suburb of Meethotamulla began in 1987. Over the following decades, it developed into a huge mountain covering nine hectares and exceeding 60 metres in height. People warned governments about the impending disaster but protests were suppressed with police violence, arrests and frame-ups.

The current minister of megapolis and western development, Patali Champika Ranawaka, has explicitly rejected safe waste disposal. It costs between 7 to 10 rupees [around 7 US cents] to recycle a kilo of waste. No one has funds for that, he recently declared.

The real issue is not a lack of funds. Successive governments have enabled the banks, financial institutions and major corporations to amass billions of rupees in profits, by plundering the wealth of society.

The garbage disaster, like every other social issue, is not simply the result of bad individuals. We are living through a systemic crisis of capitalism which is propelling governments in the advanced and developing countries to dismantle what little remains of public infrastructure and social spending.

The pseudo-left organisations seek to block an understanding of this fundamental fact among ordinary people. They promote the lie that the social devastation being inflicted on the working class and poor can be resolved by placing pressure on capitalist governments.

In Sri Lanka, the pseudo-left Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) has for years sought to divert anger over the Meethotamulla garbage dump into impotent appeals to successive governments. This is in line with their broader efforts to block the emergence of an independent movement of the working class.

Enormous resources are required to guarantee the basic social rights of the working class, including to live and work in safe, healthy conditions. This includes the closure of hazardous garbage sites and the development of rationally-planned waste disposal. Those resources can be mobilised only through the overthrow of the capitalist system, and the establishment of a workers and peasants government that would enact socialist policies, including placing the banks and the major corporations under public ownership and democratic workers control.

The SEP has called the Independent Workers Inquiry to develop the political consciousness required by the working class for the revolutionary tasks that it confronts. The SEP appeals to workers and youth to join this struggle.
The Spanish Senate formally voted 214-47 on Friday to authorize the implementation of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, suspending parliamentary rule in Catalonia. It handed Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy full powers to suspend the Catalan regional government, proceed with punitive measures outlined in Rajoys October 21 speech, and impose an unelected Catalan government answerable only to Madrid.

As Article 155 was being debated in the Senate, where Rajoys right-wing Popular Party (PP) has an absolute majority, the Catalan parliament anticipated the outcome of the debate and voted to declare independence. Thousands of protesters surrounded Catalan government buildings in Barcelona Friday night amid calls to defend the newly-declared republic.

Yesterdays events mark a historic collapse of democratic forms of rule in Western Europe and a return to authoritarianism with far-reaching implications. The Spanish political set-up created 39 years ago, in the so-called Transition from the 1939-1978 fascist regime established by General Francisco Franco, has burst asunder. With the full support of the European Union and Washington, Madrid aims to police 7 million Catalans through unilateral decrees, backed by the police and army, while holding in reserve the invocation of Article 116 to impose a nationwide state of emergency.

The defense of the basic interests of the working class requires determined political opposition to repression in Catalonia. The danger of a bloodbath is looming, as Madrid moves to enforce the diktat of the European financial aristocracy on the workers in Catalonia and across Spain.

EU Council President Donald Tusk reiterated the European powers support for the implementation of Article 155 yesterday, writing on Twitter: For [the] EU nothing changes. Spain remains our only interlocutor. Tusk cynically added that he hoped Madrid would use force of argument, not argument of force.

In a speech urging the Senate to adopt Article 155, Rajoy declared that now there is no alternative. He continued: The only thing that can and therefore must be done in such a situation is to use the law to enforce the law. He said his government had four goals: to return to legality in Catalonia, win back the peoples confidence, maintain the high levels of economic growth and job creation of recent times, and organize elections in a situation of institutional normality.

What we must protect the Catalans from is not Spanish imperialism, as they claim, but from a minority that in an intolerant fashion is acting as if it owned Catalonia, Rajoy declared.

Rajoys brief for dictatorship in Catalonia is a pack of lies. His claim that there is no alternative to invoking Article 155, which only a few weeks ago was widely described as the nuclear option in the Spanish press, is absurd. Scotland held an independence referendum in Britain in 2014, and Quebec held an independence referendum in Canada in 1980 and 1995. But neither London nor Ottawa sent tens of thousands of paramilitary police to assault peaceful voters, as did Rajoy during the October 1 Catalan independence referendum. Nor did they forcibly preempt moves towards secession.

Responsibility for the crisis lies squarely with Madrid, which, after its brutal crackdown on the October 1 referendum, has consistently sought to inflame the conflict. On October 19, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont confirmed that he had suspended moves toward independence and appealed to Madrid for dialogue. With its unilateral rejection of this appeal, its arbitrary imprisonment of Catalan nationalist politicians Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart, and its moves to invoke Article 155, Madrid forced the Catalan nationalists in Barcelona on the path to a declaration of independence.

Rajoy's calls for legality, elections and institutional normality are a cynical ruse, presenting the drive to dictatorship as the defense of democracy and constitutional rule. Madrid is well aware that it can impose its agenda only by means of state terror and repression. According to Rajoys October 21 speech, he aims to seize control of the Catalan budget, government, education system, police force and public media.

These measures will provoke deep opposition among millions of people, and Madrid is preparing to forcibly repress it. The paramilitary Guardia Civil, the Arapiles motorized infantry regiment and other army units stationed in neighboring regions are all preparing to intervene in Catalonia.

As protests and calls for civil disobedience spread, Madrid is preparing express mass sackings of Catalan public sector workers. Yesterday, the Spanish Senate approved measures allowing Madrid to discipline workers without recourse to previous mechanisms regarding disciplinary measures.

At a press conference Friday night, after a meeting of his ministerial cabinet to discuss the Senate vote, Rajoy announced the suspension of the Catalan government and the holding of elections on December 21. Madrid also confirmed that it would bring charges of rebellion, a crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison, against current Catalan government and parliament members.

These announcements expose Rajoys claim that Madrid will organize elections in Catalonia as an Orwellian fraud. If his plans go forward, most of the Catalan political opposition to the PP will be in prison as these elections are held. Moreover, whoever was elected on December 21 would be seated in a legislature stripped of all power to legislate or name a regional government. It could only impotently look on as Madrid imposed its will.

The key concern of Madrid and the new Catalan government will be to continue imposing harsh austerity measures against the workers. Yesterday, the EU sent Madrid a letter demanding further cuts to Spanish public spending to reach a public deficit target of 2.2 percent of gross domestic product. Economy Minister Luis de Guindos and Treasury Minister Cristobal Montoro replied with a statement that they would take all necessary measures to guarantee the fulfillment of budgetary stability objectives.

The turn to authoritarian rule in Spain is an urgent warning to the working class. Decades of deep austerity, imperialist war and the promotion of law-and-order measures across Europe since the Stalinist dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and particularly since the 2008 Wall Street crash, have produced a mortal crisis of capitalist rule. With tens of millions of workers unemployed across Europe, the ruling class is aware of explosive social anger. Its response when it encounters opposition is a rapid resort to dictatorial measures.

The critical question today is the mobilization of workers in Catalonia, in Spain and across Europe in struggle against a return to authoritarian forms of rule. Workers must reject all attempts to justify a turn toward dictatorship and military repression of the population based on calls for the defense of Spanish territorial integrity. The only progressive way to establish the unity of the Iberian Peninsula and Europe as a whole is the mobilization of the working class in a revolutionary and internationalist struggle against dictatorship and war, and for socialism.

The struggle to mobilize the working class must be undertaken on the basis of complete independence from and opposition to the entire ruling establishment, including the trade union bureaucracies and the bourgeois parties claiming to be left, as well as the Catalan nationalist parties.

Forces such as the CCOO (Workers Commissions) trade union and Spains Podemos party are aligning themselves with Rajoys drive to dictatorship. Podemos General Secretary Pablo Iglesias responded to the Senate vote by tacitly backing Rajoys call for Catalan elections, saying only that these should be held without repression. Adopting a neutral position as Madrid prepares its repression, he said, I believe there is a silent majority of Spaniards that is neither for unilateralism [i.e., the Catalan declaration of independence] nor for violence and repression.

CCOO official Fernando Lezcano insisted that his union would discourage all acts of defiance of Madrid by workers. He warned, We will not give a single instruction that could lead to civil disobedience or to public sector workers carrying out actions that could be punished.

Throughout its conflict with Madrid, the Catalan nationalist movement has sought to cover up the class issues involved in the turn to dictatorship by the Spanish bourgeoisie, while seeking a deal with the European Unionthe same EU that has imposed austerity measures throughout Europe.

The Catalan nationalist movement does not represent the interests of workers in Catalonia, but the Catalan bourgeoisie, which is seeking a more direct role in the exploitation of the working class. Without endorsing the program of the Catalan nationalists, the working class in Spain and throughout Europe must oppose the actions of the Spanish government. This is the only way to counter the nationalist poison coming from both Madrid and Barcelona.
In an escalation of the efforts to use allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election to crack down on social media, Twitter announced on Thursday that it has banned Russian government funded media companies Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik from advertising on the microblogging platform.

In a blog post announcing the move, Twitter claimed that the decision was based on the retrospective work we've been doing around the 2016 U.S. election and the U.S. intelligence communitys conclusion that both RT and Sputnik attempted to interfere with the election on behalf of the Russian government," insisting, "we did not come to this decision lightly."

While Twitter has indicated that it would not be blocking any other news outlets from advertising the move sets a chilling precedent, giving the social media platform the ability to decide which news outlets are allowed to promote their content, limiting free speech and freedom of the press online.

Twitter has announced that it will use the $1.9 million it has collected from RT advertising efforts over the last six years and "donate those funds to support external research into the use of Twitter in civic engagement and elections, including use of malicious automation and misinformation..."

In response to Twitter's allegations, RT's deputy editor-in-chief Kirill Karnovich-Valua stated the outlet "has never been involved in any illegal activity online, and that it never pursued an agenda of influencing the US election through any platforms."

RT editor-in-chief and head of social media Margarita Siymonyan called Twitter's decision "highly regrettable" and stated that the move was part of the campaign being raged against Russia since the beginning of this year. In a separate tweet, she also accused Twitter itself of pushing RT to "spend big" during the election.

In a statement on Facebook, Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, called Twitters decision yet another aggressive step and claimed that Twitter was folding under pressure from US intelligence agencies. Naturally, a response will follow, Zakharova said.

Sputnik told news agency AFP it "has never used advertising on Twitter.

Earlier this month, RT claimed that the Department of Justice demanded that the media outlet register itself as a "foreign agent" under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The law originated in World War II and required companies or individuals considered to be working on behalf of a foreign government in the US to disclose their funding and relationship with foreign governments or actors with the DOJ.

Since US officials first alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, the ruling elites, with the Democratic Party leading the way, along with Google, Facebook, and Twitter, have been engaged in efforts to censor political dissent online and silence voices genuinely critical of the US government.

Unsubstantiated tales of Kremlin-linked human "trolls" aimed at spreading discontent and conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton, are being used to justify attempts to stifle free speech on the internet.

Google and Facebook have not stated whether or not they would follow in Twitter in banning RT and Sputnik from advertising, but maintain that "Russian agents" have spent tens of thousands of dollars on advertising with them as well.

Within the last month, both Facebook and Twitter have announced plans to modify the "transparency" of advertising on the social media platforms. Facebook has begun testing a split newsfeed in Bolivia, Cambodia, Guatemala, Serbia, Slovakia, and Sri Lanka which relegates content from news organizations pages to a separate feed. Journalists and independent media outlets in these countries have reported that their readership from Facebook has collapsed as a result.

In April, Google altered its search engine algorithms to promote more "authoritative" content and censor left wing websites, with the World Socialist Web Site seeing the greatest decline in referrals from the search engine.

Leading officials in the U.S. government who have been pressuring social media companies to impose new limits on their platforms applauded Twitter's decision, but claim that it does not go far enough.

Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, who has been leading the charge to censor the Internet, stated, I appreciate the effort, although RT and Sputnik have been known entities for some time," adding "what I hope is well see enhanced efforts on discovering other fake accounts as well as avatars that might not be as obvious.

Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar and Republican Senator John McCain, who introduced legislation earlier this month that would require Facebook, Google and other technology companies to disclose who is purchasing online political advertising, said ,"the action only underscored the need for a new, across-the-board standard for social media companies to follow when it comes to political advertising," according to the New York Times.

In a statement, Klobuchar said, "Twitters announcement today is a positive step, but one company preventing two outletsRT and Sputnikfrom placing ads on its platform is not a substitute [for government regulation]."

The actions being taken by Twitter and other tech companies in the United States are part of a broader plan to crack down on social opposition as the ruling class pursues imperialist wars abroad and escalates the attack on the living standards of the working class at home.
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(3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (2) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (2) May 24 (2) May 23 (2) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (2) May 19 (2) May 18 (4) May 17 (7) May 16 (2) May 15 (2) May 14 (4) May 13 (3) May 12 (4) May 11 (4) May 10 (4) May 09 (3) May 08 (2) May 07 (2) May 06 (2) May 05 (1) May 04 (2) May 03 (4) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (2) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (2) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (2) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (2) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (2) Mar 28 (3) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (2) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (2) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (2) Mar 15 (1) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (2) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (2) Mar 08 (1) Mar 07 (1) Mar 04 (2) Mar 02 (2) Feb 28 (1) Feb 24 (1) Dec 31 (4) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (3) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (2) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (3) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (4) Oct 16 (3) Oct 15 (3) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (3) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (3) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (5) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (3) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (3) Jul 01 (6) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (5) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (5) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (5) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (4) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (4) May 19 (3) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (1) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (3) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (3) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (3) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (3) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (3) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (3) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (3) Mar 07 (3) Mar 06 (4) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (3) Mar 01 (3) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (3) Feb 25 (3) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (3) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (3) Feb 16 (3) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (3) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (3) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (4) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (5) Jan 17 (4) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (3) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (2) Nov 05 (2) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (2) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (2) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (5) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (5) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (3) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (2) Oct 11 (2) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (2) Oct 07 (2) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (3) Oct 04 (2) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (4) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (2) Sep 26 (2) Sep 25 (2) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (1) Sep 22 (2) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (1) Sep 19 (1) Sep 18 (1) Sep 17 (2) Sep 16 (1) Sep 15 (2) Sep 14 (2) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 11 (2) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (1) Sep 08 (1) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (1) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (2) Sep 03 (1) Sep 02 (1) Sep 01 (1) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (1) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (1) Aug 25 (1) Aug 24 (1) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (2) Aug 19 (1) Aug 18 (1) Aug 17 (2) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 12 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (5) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (4) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (6) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (6) Jun 18 (5) Jun 17 (5) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (5) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (4) May 30 (4) May 29 (4) May 28 (5) May 27 (5) May 26 (5) May 25 (4) May 24 (5) May 23 (4) May 22 (4) May 21 (3) May 20 (6) May 19 (4) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (3) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (3) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (3) May 06 (3) May 05 (3) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (6) Apr 12 (4) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (5) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (4) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (6) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (5) Mar 28 (6) Mar 27 (5) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (4) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (5) Mar 16 (5) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (7) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (4) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (4) Feb 28 (4) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (5) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (7) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (8) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (3) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (6) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (6) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (5) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (5) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (4) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (5) Jan 05 (6) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (7) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (6) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (5) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (4) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (5) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (4) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (5) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (5) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (2) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (4) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (6) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (2) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (4) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (3) Sep 09 (3) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (6) Sep 04 (5) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (2) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (4) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (3) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (4) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (2) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (3) Jul 15 (5) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (8) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (2) Jun 21 (1) Jun 20 (2) Jun 19 (2) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (3) Jun 15 (7) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (5) Jun 11 (4) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (4) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (3) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (3) May 25 (4) May 24 (2) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (2) May 20 (3) May 19 (2) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (2) May 14 (6) May 13 (4) May 12 (2) May 11 (3) May 10 (2) May 09 (3) May 08 (4) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (3) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (4) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (2) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (2) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (2) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (2) Apr 14 (4) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (5) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (6) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (4) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (4) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (3) Mar 17 (5) Mar 16 (2) Mar 15 (4) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (2) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (4) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (4) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (5) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (2) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (4) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (4) Feb 11 (3) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (2) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (3) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (3) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (2) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (4) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (2) Jan 15 (2) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (2) Jan 12 (3) Jan 11 (3) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (2) Jan 07 (2) Jan 06 (2) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (1) Dec 31 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Photo credit: Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved

From Esquire

This is what we knew. On November 22, 1963, a little after noon Central time, John F. Kennedy, the President of the United States, was brutally murdered in broad daylight on Elm Street in Dealey Plaza in Dallas. Two days later, Sunday, November 24, a little before noon, Lee Harvey Oswald, his alleged assassin, was brutally murdered on live television in the basement of the Dallas Police Department by a man named Jack Ruby. On Tuesday, November 26, the day after the presidents funeral, that was all we knew about the events of that weekend. Everything else we now know about them came later, and often grudgingly, from our own government, which always knew a helluva lot more about the events of that weekend than did we, its ostensible owners, on the day after they buried John F. Kennedy.

Everything we now know that we didnt know then has come to us wedged out, piece by piece, little by little, often by people dismissed as cranks and paranoids. It has been dug out, nugget by nugget, by citizen researchers, and lawyers, and one committee of the House of Representatives, and, yes, even by an irascible movie director who, by the power of his art, even expressed through a very flawed - and occasionally outright loony - film, finally forced the issue of transparency on this most awful of crimes on a government that never was willing to be straight with its citizens on how one of their presidents came to be killed, and a government that then wondered why 60 percent of those citizens almost from the beginning thought the official story was 100 pounds of bullshit in a 90-pound bag.

Events forced the issue, too. Subsequently, we discovered through various investigations that the CIA was indeed running a damn Murder Incorporated down in the Caribbean, as Lyndon Johnson once put it. The Church committee revealed how wildly out of control the nations intelligence community had been. Arbenz. Mossadegh. Allende. The murder by bombing of Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffitt only blocks from the Capitol itself. We learned that presidents could run criminal conspiracies out of the Oval Office and then arrange payoffs from the same location. We learned that a White House publicly committed to fighting terrorism could sell missiles to the mullahs of Iran in an off-the-books fiasco that seemed to have been designed by the Marx Brothers. And why, the government and its apologists keep asking, dont the people trust us to tell the truth about this most garish of public crimes?

Did the CIA and/or the FBI know it was coming?

They will ask it again, over the next several weeks, as inside the government and out - including way, way out - experts examine the massive amount of material on the Kennedy assassination that has been forced out of the government files by a law passed in the wake of the success of that crazy guys movie. Some of the 3,100 files certainly will concern that which we already have learned - that the intelligence committee held back a huge amount of material concerning Oswald from the Warren Commission, making that bodys investigation look even more rushed and hopelessly compromised than it already has been revealed to be. (Allen Dulless presence on the commission was, in and of itself, reason to be dubious about it.) Even if you believe that, rushed and compromised and designed for the specific purpose of reaching the finding that it did, the Warren Commission still managed to stumble its way to the truth, then the astonishing level of deceit, half-truth and sophisticated ass-covering engaged in by the intelligence community in the aftermath of the assassination is probably central to why 60 percent of the people in this country believe the Warren Commissions findings to be fiction.



Did the CIA and/or the FBI know it was coming? It seems they certainly should have, and the documents may well provide support for that contention. One of the interesting things about the coverage of the decision to release these documents has been the none-too-subtle nudging by some reporters - most notably Philip Shenon and Larry Sabato - toward the notion that the key to Oswalds motivation may lie in the bizarre trip he took to Mexico City in September of 1963. This edges the narrative toward the notion that Oswald killed Kennedy out of some half-baked leftist ideological animus and that, had the country known that at the time, a nuclear war might have broken out, so, for the good of world peace, the intelligence community buried what it knew.

Besides the fact that its 54 years later now, and the Soviet Union hasnt even existed for over 20 of those years, so why the hell wait so long to tell us, if you dont have anything that might embarrass you, this contention also runs up against the problem people always have had in describing Oswalds motive. If he was trying to become famous, why did he deny his involvement every time he got in front of the cameras? (In circumstances that are unimaginable today, Oswald gave several statements to the press before being iced himself in Dallas.) If he were a political fanatic, where was his declaration of purpose and principles? After killing William McKinley, Leon Csolgosz proudly declared himself to be an anarchist. By comparison, Im just a patsy isnt exactly a rallying cry. If were lucky, the answers in these files. Or someones answer to the question may be.

For years, we have been infantilized by a government that feels there are some things about the history of our time that we are not mature enough as a self-governing democratic people to know. That has crippled us, time and time again, and crippled our government as well. As it happens, theres another example of this deadly democratic sleeping sickness sitting right there in plain sight.

Down in Mississippi, theres a reporter named Jerry Mitchell who is one of the heroes of 20th Century journalism. It was he who pried open the files of the Mississippi Citizens Council, the respectable face of American apartheid in that state. Among other things, this led to the conviction, finally, of Byron De La Beckwith for the ambush murder of Medgar Evers three decades after Beckwith had committed the crime. For years now, Mitchell has been fighting to get the federal government, and especially the FBI, to release all the files relating to crimes committed against civil rights workers during the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. This has resulted in the establishment of the Civil Rights Cold Case Project of which Mitchell is an important part.

Now, with the JFK files at the top of the news, there is a renewed push to have these files released to the public as well. From The Jackson Clarion-Ledger:

The students based their Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2017 on the John F. Kennedy Records Collection Act of 1992. Like its precursor, the law creates an independent review board to facilitate the release of classified government records on civil rights killings. Many of the FBI files on these killings remain largely redacted, including the 1959 lynching of Mack Charles Parker in Poplarville and the Ku Klux Klan's 1964 killings of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. The FBI files on the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. have some redactions.

There is no good reason to keep these records sealed and every good reason to release them to the public. Most of the people likely to be involved in the events are dead, or soon will be, and the possibility that law enforcement might be embarrassed or undermined by the information cant be a consideration any more than the possible embarrassment of the CIA by the JFK files was a good enough reason to keep them buried as long as they were.

This is a country based on the premise that citizens can govern themselves. To do that, they need as much truthful information as they can get their hands on, and they have a unique purchase and right to their true history, as painful as that might be to them and to others. We are not, as Edward R. Murrow once warned us, descended from fearful people. The truth may not set us free, but its all we really have left.

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An Indiana judge ruled Wednesday that a 36-year-old man  accused of raping and murdering his ex-girlfriend before eating portions of her organs  is not mentally fit to stand trial, PEOPLE confirms.

Clark County Prosecutor Jeremy Mull tells PEOPLE Judge Vicki Carmichael rendered her decision on Wednesday, after two psychologists and a psychiatrist evaluated Joseph Oberhansley, who allegedly stabbed Tammy Jo Blanton to death in 2014.

All three testified Oberhansley is not competent to be tried at this time.

Mull confirms to PEOPLE that, after being arrested for killing Blanton, Oberhansley spoke with investigators and allegedly confessed to consuming parts of her brain, heart, and lungs.

After Wednesdays ruling, Oberhansley had an opportunity to speak to local reporters, according to WAVE 3 News.

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Im embarrassed and outraged by these false charges against me, Oberhansley told reporters, the station reports. Im innocent and should be released today.

Mull confirms that, at the time of his arrest, Oberhansley was out of jail and on parole for a conviction for a previous killing that occurred when he was a teenager.

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Oberhansley is now in the custody of Indianas Division of Mental Health and Addiction.

He has been ordered committed to a secure facility which will provide competency restoration services to him, Mull explains.

After three months, the state will provide a report to the court on the status of his progress. He may, at that point, be remanded back to the court with a certification saying he is competent or the facility could determine he is not competent and wont be for a while.

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In that case, Mull says Oberhansley would be committed for a longer period of time for more competency restoration services.

If he is ever found competent to stand trial, Mull says Oberhansley will be returned to jail so he can be tried for Blantons murder.

Tammy Jo Blayton

Mull has already filed paperwork announcing his intent to seek the death penalty for Oberhansley if hes ever convicted.

Efforts to reach his lawyers were unsuccessful Friday.
The Michigan man who killed himself Tuesday after leaving a suicide note confessing to the murder of his wife in May had said he felt victimized when police named him a person of interest in her disappearance, according to media reports.

On Tuesday, police found Christopher Lockhart, 47, dead from strangulation in the basement of the Portage, Michigan, home he once shared with his wife, Theresa Lockhart, 44, a high school Spanish teacher who was reported missing in May, said Police Chief Nicholas Armold during a Wednesday press conference.

Lockhart left a suicide note admitting he killed his wife on May 18. In the note, Lockhart said he disposed of her body the next day in the Allegan Game Area, about 50 miles from their home, Armold said. The note included a hand-drawn map indicating where police could find his wifes body.

But in June, Lockhart maintained his innocence when local news station FOX 17 interviewed him hours after he was named as the main person of interest in the case.

For police to say Im a person of interest  theres nothing, he told the station. I feel like Im being victimized.

Christopher and Theresa Lockhart

He told the station he was hesitant to talk about his missing wife because he wanted to maintain her privacy: He said she allegedly suffered from anxiety and was having trouble at work and was planning on resigning.

He told FOX 17 that she was troubled the night she disappeared and told him that she needed to get help.

When he realized she was missing the next morning, he said, he waited to call police because he claimed she had run away from home before, FOX 17 reports.

He said he felt uncomfortable being in the spotlight now that police had named him a person of interest, telling FOX 17 that curious people had been driving slowly by his house.

Its been two weeks, he told the station. Im really, really worried about my wife.

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After Lockhart was named as a person of interest, Senior Deputy Chief John Blue told PEOPLE, He hasnt cooperated pretty much from the beginning  very little, if any.

Lockhart reportedly wouldnt allow the police to search the home he shared with his wife  leading police to serve him with a search warrant on June 7.

Theresa Lockhart

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Investigators located Theresas badly decomposed body on Tuesday in a shallow grave near a marsh in Allegan Game Area, a state game park, said Armold.

In the note, Lockhart expressed remorse and asked for forgiveness, explaining that he snapped after the two argued, Armold said.

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Theresa was reported missing by her colleagues after she didnt show up to work for two consecutive days.

Jen Zimmerman, who went to college with Theresa and spoke with her the day before she went missing, told local news station WZZM that the couple had had trouble in their marriage for the last few months.

They were hitting a really rough patch, Zimmerman said.

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The June 2016 deaths of an Idaho mom and her three young children have been ruled as intentional, according to a statement from the Ada County Sheriffs Office.

In a statement released on Friday, the Sheriffs Office announced that they had concluded their investigation and determined that Noel Bankhead, 40, purposefully drove her Land Rover off of a cliff and into a reservoir, killing herself and her children just before 7 a.m. in June 2016.

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According to the statement, witnesses told investigators that Bankhead positioned the car towards the cliff and then suddenly accelerated. Investigators found no skid or brake marks to show where the SUV went over the edge, police said in the statement.

In an tweet from the day of the accident, the Ada County Sheriffs Office noted that the distance from the cliff to the water was between 50-to-70 feet.

A 40-year-old Boise woman and three kids died after SUV crashes into Lucky Peak. Details at https://t.co/zo2lvnVjct pic.twitter.com/UejpAfEBZg  Ada County Sheriff (@AdaCoSheriff) June 3, 2016

The estimated distance from cliff to water where SUV went is between 50-to-70 feet pic.twitter.com/e6w71LJlYw  Ada County Sheriff (@AdaCoSheriff) June 2, 2016

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According to the statement there was no evidence of mechanical issues in Bankheads car and that after performing a toxicology test during her autopsy, it was found that there was no presence of drugs or alcohol in Bankheads bloodstream at the time of her death.
Nene Leakes isnt exterminating her feud with Kim Zolciak-Bierman and her daughter Brielle Biermann.

In the Halloween photo, Leakes can be seen wearing a hat and shirt that reads Roach Pest Control while her husband Gregg is dressed up like a cockroach. Roach Pest Control in full effect, she captioned the cheeky photo.

Roach Pest Control in full effect????????????????#RHOA ???? A post shared by NeNe Leakes (@neneleakes) on Oct 27, 2017 at 8:17am PDT

I think I know what the season finale may be about? ?????????????????? yess @neneleakes and @greggleakes for the win! #RHOA #halloweencostume #pettygoals : Interview by #teamBingeworthy @_daronte A post shared by The Real Housewives of Atlanta (@realhousewivesofatlanta) on Oct 26, 2017 at 9:45pm PDT

@briellebiermann We dont have roaches! If you found 1, u brought it with u or it fell outta yo funky py! Please know I will get You all the way together when you start fing with me and mine! Leakes wrote in a since-deleted post.

In the comments section of a separate Instagram account, Leakes called the duo racists. (A rep for Leakes had no comment.)

Kim & her daughter oops whole family are racists! What her daughter did at my home, (which she nor kim were invited to so be clear abt that as well) was pure disgusting, racist, learned behavior etc, Leakes wrote, adding, children are NOT off limits when you allow your child to talk to adults any kind of way, post disrespectful things on social media and so on. Kim is a calculating bio polar racist with a horrible mouth, who uses black folks for her come up.

Brielle Biermann (left) and Kim Zolciak-Biermann.

Zolciak-Biermann jumped to her daughters defense via Instagram, assuring RHOA fans that they will soon see the bug incident play out on the upcoming season.

Its so sad and offensive that someone can stoop so low as to call someone a racist just because they are mad, she continued. Everyone in my life knows that I am far from racist and unfortunately NeNe Leaks has tried for the last 10 years to paint that picture because thats her last resort. (Its convenient that Im not racist when we are getting along.)

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During an appearance on Larry King Now on Tuesday, Zolciak-Biermann explained her decision to seek legal counsel. She put #KKK on the Instagram post, she said. Its just that bad.

Its inappropriate. In this day and age, people are dying over racism, she continued. Im on a show with all African-American women, and Im the only one thats ever been on the show thats Caucasian, so its the card that sometimes they play, and its gross. And I wont allow it.

I dont take this lightly. Its one thing like I said to kind of banter back and forth and have an opinion, she said in a separate interview with E!s Daily Pop on Tuesday. This is far beyond just having an opinion.

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A California mother mysteriously vanished near her Redding home last year  and 22 days later turned up just as mysteriously on the side of the road. A year later, answers on Sherri Papinis alleged abduction remain elusive, and investigators are still trying to determine what happened. Here are six things to know about the case.

1. Sherri Papini Vanished During A Morning Jog

Last year, Sherri Papini was a typical 34-year-old mom of two young children with her husband, Keith. On November 2, however, she went for a run  and didnt come home. Neighbors told police that they saw her running down the street around 11 a.m., but there were no other witnesses.

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Hours after Papini was last seen, her husband made a panicked 911 call to report her missing. The call was recently released by Shasta County Sheriffs Office.

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Keith tells the operator that he used the Find My Phone app to track Papinis phone, which he found at the end of their street.

I found her phone. Its got, like, hair ripped out of it, like in the headphones, so Im totally freaking out thinking somebody, like, grabbed her, he says.

3. She Was Found 22 Days After She Went Missing on the Side of a Rural Road  With Visible Signs of Trauma

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In a statement to PEOPLE, Keith Papini said that she had been thrown from a vehicle with a chain around her waist  which was also attached to her wrists  and a bag over her head.

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On Wednesday, authorities revealed that she had not been sexually assaulted.

Authorities also revealed that Papini had DNA from two people on her: one male and one female. The DNA from Sherris husband, Keith, was not among the two profiles, authorities said.

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From left: Sherri and Keith Papini.

4. Papini Said She Was Kidnapped by Two Hispanic Women

When she was found three weeks later, Papini told police she was abducted at gunpoint and held captive by two armed Hispanic females who spoke Spanish the majority of the time. She also stated that the suspects made efforts to conceal their identities with face coverings.

The FBI released sketches Wednesday of two women described by the California mom as her alleged abductors.

It has taken time for Sherri to recover to a point to be able to provide accurate details to the sketch artist, a sheriffs office press release obtained by PEOPLE states.

Shasta County Sheriffs Office Sgt. Brian Jackson told PEOPLE that Papini and a male acquaintance from Michigan were involved in a online/texting relationship. Jackson would not specify whether or not it was romantic, but said the two never met up and that possible involvement by the Michigan man has been ruled out.

5. The Family Has Not Spoken Out About the Incident in Almost a Year

Immediately after Papini was found, Keith Papini issued a statement and asked for privacy.

We are a very private family [who] do not use social media outlets prior to this grotesque tragedy, he wrote in the statement. My love for my wife took [precedence], and it was clear we had to be exposed in ways we never would have been comfortable with. So please have a heart and understand why we have asked for our privacy.

The couple has not spoken out since.

6. Police Say They Believe Papinis Account

Sgt. Jackson says he believes Papini was abducted, and that her story is true.

I was one of the interviewers initially and we are moving forward, he says. There is no information that would indicate that it is not true. We are working on trying to solidify information and that is why we are working on the sketches with the FBI, and hopefully somebody will be able to recognize the females in those and provide us with concrete information so we can move forward and get some people in custody.
Rosie ODonnell has been feeling the wrath of Donald Trumps personal attacks for well over a decade. But she fears his presidency will actually do her in.

In a new interview with W magazine this week, ODonnell opened up about the anger and sadness shes felt over the past year.

It has taken me a full year to integrate the reality of him being a president in a way that I dont come across as either so full of rage that no one can hear my words, or so sad that I cant articulate the level of pain. Its taken a year for me to get my equilibrium back, to come back up to the surface.

I seriously worry whether I personally will be able to live through [his presidency] and whether the nation will be able to live through it and survive, ODonnell added. Its a terrifying concept, on the brink of nuclear war with a madman in charge.

Rosie O'Donnell

ODonnell went on to detail how she felt the day after the election, which happened to fall on a shoot day for the pilot of her new Showtime series, SMILF.

I was in pure unadulterated [shock], as if I had fallen through the ice on a lake; I was underneath the water and I couldnt even see the surface, ODonnell said. It was a severe shock to my entire essence and my beliefs in the order in the world, and also the PTSD of having been an abused kid in a family.

Of course, ODonnell is used to experiencing abuse from Trump. Her feud with the 71-year-old former Celebrity Apprentice host began back in 2006, when she called him a snake oil salesman and brought up his former bankruptcies and ongoing lawsuits during a Hot Topics segment while co-hosting The View.

The comments made Trump furious, and he hit back hard, telling PEOPLE at the time that Rosies a loser. A real loser. I look forward to taking lots of money from my nice fat little Rosie.

He has since made frequent digs about her weight, appearance, sexual orientation and career success  including during one of the 2016 presidential debates, in which he doubled down on calling her a fat pig.

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I feel sorry for Rosie 's new partner in love whose parents are devastated at the thought of their daughter being with @Rosie--a true loser.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2011

ODonnell has sent out her fair share of jabs at the president over the years too, especially on her politically-driven Twitter feed. But she feels the public and the media turned a blind eye to the bullying she was receiving from the now-president.

Unbeknownst to me, for reasons I cant really still figure out, he was allowed with impunity to brutally assault me and my character for a decade, ODonnell said. No one  not the National Organization for Women, not Gloria Steinem, no one  stood up and said, What the hell are you doing? 

The comedian pointed out that shes far from the presidents only target, referencing Trumps attacks on James Comey and his recent feud with the widow of the soldier killed in Niger: Theres no one that he wont attack or debase.

Rosie O'Donnell

ODonnell also expressed frustration for feeling like she was largely ignored for speaking the truth about him on The View, which is part of the reason shes struggled so much with Trumps election.

I was completely unprepared, she said. To think that the man who had abused me so viciously and with impunity for over a decade was now running the country  It was very trippy to think that the man who is now in that job is the one who was so brutal to me for speaking the truth about him a decade ago.

The mother of five is stronger now, after a year of therapy and working to live with the reality of Trump. Being in that place made it easier for her to film SMILF, in which she plays a possibly closeted working-class mother in Boston whose daughter [creator and star Frankie Shaw] is a single mother herself.

I wasnt in shock in anymore, ODonnell said, explaining that she reshot scenes from the pilot because she wasnt happy with her performance that day. As much as I am devastated, disappointed, disheartened, and depressed by the reality of it, I wasnt in pure panic mode like I was that day [after the election].

SMILF premieres on Showtime Nov. 5.
Sherri Papinis alleged abductors have yet to be captured, but her family is now more optimistic about their arrest after the FBI released sketches of two women described by the California mom who was allegedly kidnapped last November.

Papinis husband, Keith, released a statement to the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, expressing his familys increased hope that those allegedly responsible will be brought to justice.

We want to express our immense gratitude to all of the many people who have publicly and privately supported us over the last year. Your well-wishes have helped beyond measure. We are hopeful that the release of additional information by law enforcement will expedite the capture of Sherris abductors, Keith said.

This has been an extraordinarily difficult time for our entire family. We ask that the media please respect our need for privacy as Sherri continues to heal and we work towards putting our lives back together.

Papini, 35, was allegedly kidnapped on Nov. 2, 2016, while jogging near her Redding home and found 22 days later along the side of a rural road on Thanksgiving Day. Neighbors had seen Papini running around 11 a.m., but there were no other witnesses. Keith said he came home and discovered his wife missing. He later found her phone with earbuds still attached and strands of blond hair near a local jogging trail.

Hours after Papini was last seen, Keith made a panicked 911 call to report her missing. The call was recently released by Shasta County Sheriffs Office. In the call, Keith tells the 911 operator that he returned home after work to find that his kids and wife were not there. Though he assumed Papini may have gone for a walk, he called the childrens daycare and found out they were not picked up by Papini as planned.

She is my wife, and I know everything about her, Keith told PEOPLE a little over a week after her disappearance. I know that my wife would never leave me and never in a million years leave our kids.

Story continues

A week after Sherri vanished, Keith volunteered to take a polygraph test, which he passed. Investigators confirmed in the release where Keith was the day Papini disappeared and said there was no physical evidence to suggest his involvement.

Sometime after her alleged abduction, the Shasta County Sheriffs Office said an FBI sketch artist met with Papini and created a sketch of each female suspect, one described by Papini as in her 20s or 30s and another as being between 40 and 50. It has taken time for Sherri to recover to a point to be able to provide accurate details to the sketch artist, a sheriffs office press release obtained by PEOPLE stated.

The mother of two also described the suspects vehicle as a dark-colored SUV with a large rear side window. Sherri continues to look at photographs of various makes and models of SUVs in an effort to provide a more detailed description, the release said.

Police confirmed to PEOPLE on Thursday that Papini had both male and female DNA on her when she was found. The male DNA was compiled from the clothing Sherri was found wearing, Shasta County Sheriffs Office Sgt. Brian Jackson told PEOPLE. Jackson says the female DNA sample was taken from Papinis body at the hospital.

The DNA from Sherris husband, Keith, was not among the two profiles, authorities said.
Sherri Papini had both male and female DNA on her when she was found 22 days after allegedly being kidnapped last November while jogging near her Redding, California, home, police tell PEOPLE.

The male DNA was compiled from the clothing Sherri was found wearing, Shasta County Sheriffs Office Sgt. Brian Jackson tells PEOPLE. Jackson says the female DNA sample was taken from Papinis body at the hospital.

The samples were uploaded into the CODIS DNA database in April or May, says Jackson, but there have thus far been no matches to known offenders. The DNA from Sherris husband, Keith, was not among the two profiles, authorities said.

Jackson says Papinis alleged female abductors gave her clothing to wear so it was possible that the clothing that was provided to Sherri are clothes that belonged to somebody who was an acquaintance of the captors, and hopefully down the road, once we get these females identified, we will get the answers for that.

Sherri Papini

Papini told police she was abducted at gunpoint and held captive by two armed Hispanic females, one in her 20s or 30s and the other between 40 and 50, who spoke Spanish the majority of the time.

Online/Texting Relationship with Michigan Man

The sheriffs office also revealed in a Wednesday press release that Papini and a male acquaintance from Michigan were involved in a online/texting relationship. Jackson would not specify whether or not it was romantic.

The text messages went back several months to days before her disappearance, says Jackson. It was a prior contact that she had years before. Somebody she met and kept in contact with. A male acquaintance she was talking with through texting.

Jackson says the acquaintance had visited California  but not Redding  days before Papini went missing, adding that there is no indication they met up. That is why we went back to Michigan and ruled out that the acquaintance was involved.

Papini vanished on Nov. 2, 2016. Papinis husband Keith said he came home and discovered his wife missing. He later found her phone with earbuds still attached and strands of blond hair near a local jogging trail.

Story continues

Twenty-two days later, around 4:30 on Thanksgiving morning, a motorist spotted Papini frantically waving on the side of a rural Yolo County road  about 150 miles south of her Redding home.

Keith Papini said his wife was covered in bruises  ranging from yellow to black  because of alleged repeated beatings. The bridge of her nose was broken and her long blond hair was chopped off.

Authorities also announced Wednesday that Papini had been branded on the back of her right shoulder. She was battered and she had bruises in various stages of healing indicating she had been physically assaulted multiple times over a period of time, according to a sheriffs news release.

Sherri and Keith Papini

Papini told investigators that she was not sexually assaulted, and there is no physical evidence to indicate otherwise, the release states.

No Information That Would Indicate Papinis Story is Untrue, Says Sergeant

Also on Wednesday, authorities released sketches of the two women described by Papini and announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to their identification.

During her alleged abduction, Papini told investigators she got into an altercation with the younger abductor in the bathroom when she was allowed to shower, Jackson says.

During that altercation, she reported she slammed the captors head into the toilet in the bathroom before she was subdued and returned to her room where she was held, says Jackson. She reported she had cut the side of her foot during the confrontation. However, when photographs of Sherri were being reviewed at the hospital, there is no evidence of the cuts seen in the photographs.

Jackson adds, It is obviously an inconsistency, but he says that under stressful circumstances, people often have foggy recollections.

 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

Despite the apparent inconsistencies, Jackson says he believes Papini was abducted.

I was one of the interviewers initially and we are moving forward, he says. There is no information that would indicate that it is not true. We are working on trying to solidify information and that is why we are working on the sketches with the FBI, and hopefully somebody will be able to recognize the females in those and provide us with concrete information so we can move forward and get some people in custody.

Jackson says they also have ruled out sex trafficking as a motive for her abduction. Just on the facts that we know it doesnt seem to be a sex trafficking or a sexual abduction in nature, and that is what we are trying to figure out: What was the purpose? he says. Why was she released? It is hard to keep somebody in captivity for 22 days. Why would somebody go to that length? Those are all types of questions we all have.
Woody Harrelson, retired pro wrestler Jesse Ventura and Donald Trump (when the White House was just a twinkle in his eye) walked into a restaurant  it sounds like the making of a very bad joke but the LBJ actor said it really happened in 2002.

On Friday nights Real Time, Harrelson told the shows host, Bill Maher, that in 2002, Ventura extended an invitation to join him for dinner with Trump. He said, Would you come with me? Trumps gonna try to get me to be his running mate on the 2004 ticket,' Harrelson said, pointing out that it was the Democratic ticket.

I went and it was brutal, Harrelson said with a grin. I never met a more narcissistic man. He talked about himself the whole time. You could see the standard he was going to bear.

Also Read: Bill Maher Calls Trump's Relationship With Fox News 'a Very Bad Axis of Evil'

But, Harrelson found a way to make it through the night: I had to walk out halfway through to smoke a joint to just steel myself.

Watch Harrelsons entire interview with Maher in the clip above.

Related stories from TheWrap:

Bill Maher Calls Trump's Relationship With Fox News 'a Very Bad Axis of Evil'

Bill Maher Says Trump Is Grosser 'Creep' Than Harvey Weinstein Due to Call to Gold Star Widow (Video)

Russell Brand Schools Bill Maher on Heroin, LSD, Marijuana: 'I'm Only Describing One Evening' (Video)

Bill Maher: Trump Is 'Officially the Drunk Guy at the End of the Bar' After NFL Tirades
Couple

On Aug. 30, Zachary Koehn called the police and said that he found his 4-month-old son Sterling Koehn dead. He said he fed the baby around 9 a.m., and when he went to check on him two hours later, he wasn't breathing.

But when officers arrived at their home in Alta Vista, Iowa, they quickly realized that was not the case.

According to the Kansas City Star, they found Sterling dead in his swing, and his little body was covered in maggots. They quickly arrested Zachary Koehn and the boy's mother, Cheyanne Harris.

RELATED: Sad New Details Revealed After Body Found In Search For 3-Year-Old Allegedly Left Outside Alone As Punishment For Not Drinking Milk

"The facts of this case go far beyond neglect and show circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to human life, a Chickasaw County sheriffs deputy wrote in court records.

Kansas City Star

The Iowa State Medical Examiner's Office ruled Sterling's death a homicide and named "failure to provide critical care" as his cause of death.

A medical examiner reportedly found maggots on the 4-month-old's clothing and skin that suggested he hadn't had his diaper changed, been bathed or been moved from his powered swing for more than a week. He also weighed less than 7 pounds.

Authorities said Sterling's body was located in the bedroom away from where his parents and an older sibling slept. That child is safe, but no further information was provided.

RELATED: Awful Details About The Teen Who Murdered His Brother (7) And Sister (5) Because He Wanted To Live Alone

Neither of the parents has had any previous convictions in Iowa, but they both do have a reported "history of substance abuse; specifically with methamphetamine.

Koehn admitted he used meth two months ago, and Harris said she used it two weeks ago. She's also being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Story continues

Des Moines Register

Koehn has another child who is in his parent's custody.

Both Koehn and Harris were recently charged with first-degree murder and felony child endangerment and are being held in the Chickasaw County Jail.

Their arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 2.

RELATED: Awful Details Revealed About The Murder Of 8-Year-Old Boy Allegedly Abused Because His Mom And Her Boyfriend Thought He Was Gay

Emily Blackwood is an editor at YourTango who covers pop culture, true crime, dating, relationships and everything in between. Every Wednesday at 10:20 p.m. you can ask her any and all questions about self-love, dating, and relationships LIVE on YourTangos Facebook page. You can follow her on Instagram (@blackw00d) and Twitter (@emztweetz).

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(CLEVELAND)  A 10-year-old Ohio boy was taken into custody after leading police and state troopers on a dangerous high-speed pursuit that began in Cleveland and ended miles away along the Ohio Turnpike when troopers boxed him in.

Cleveland police say its the second time in two weeks the boy has taken cars on joyrides.

Authorities say no one was injured during the pursuit that began around 9:30 a.m. Thursday when Westlake police saw a car speed by chased by another vehicle, possibly driven by the boys mother, on Interstate 90 west of Cleveland.

Tow truck driver who responded to 10-year old high speed chase says it's a miracle he or someone else wasn't killed. "He's a good driver." pic.twitter.com/sBGnD1i7Hc  Mike Brookbank (@brookbanktv) October 26, 2017

A man called 911 and reported the boys car was swerving in and out of traffic and had almost run several vehicles off the road. He also said a woman was following him in a red SUV. A woman called 911 and said the boy appeared to be driving around 90 mph.

Three Westlake officers tried to stop the 2004 Toyota Avalon along the interstate and followed it for more than 15 miles (24 kilometers) at high speeds until the boy drove through a toll booth and entered the westbound lanes of the Ohio Turnpike, Westlake police Capt. Guy Turner said.

Highway Patrol Sergeant Tim Hoffman said thats when at least four state troopers began joining the chase and attempted a rolling roadblock as the boy drove erratically along the turnpike with speeds reaching 100 mph (161 kph). After a pursuit of around 20 miles (32 kilometers), the boy slowed down and veered onto the grassy berm to avoid driving over stop sticks, Hoffman said. Thats when one trooper nudged the boys car at a slow speed into a mile post sign with his cruiser, and another cruiser blocked the car and prevented it from re-entering the road, Hoffman said.

Story continues

It was very lucky no one was hurt, Hoffman said.

The boy was taken to a hospital accompanied by a legal guardian, the Highway Patrol said. He will be placed in the custody of Erie County Childrens Services after being evaluated. The patrol said it will confer with the Erie County Prosecutors Office about criminal charges.

A Cleveland police report shows that the boy previously stole his mothers 2013 Dodge Charger on Oct. 16. Police went to the mothers home and, a short time later, other officers responded to a call about a car driven by a small boy on I-90 in Cleveland in the high-speed lane with three flat tires, according to the report.

The boy was arrested and taken to the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Justice Center and released to his mother.
Yahoo News photo illustration; photos: AP, Getty

After Jeff Flake announced Tuesday he was retiring from the Senate, he was lauded by many for his floor speech in which he lamented that American democracy is more defined by our discord and our dysfunction than by our own values and principles.

Flake laid much of the blame at the feet of President Trump.

In the analysis that followed, a frequent theme was that Flake was voicing the secret views of many Republican colleagues who were too cowed by Trumps popularity among the GOP base to speak out. But others took a different view, that Flake himself was the problem. Speaking for that faction was a former top aide to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who tweeted a list of reasons why Flake, rather than Trump, had helped create this environment.

Jason Johnson, an Austin-based consultant, has worked for Cruz since 2011, and was the chief strategist on his presidential campaign. Johnsons list is a good way to examine the way that Cruz views the world. Its a guide to most of the major strategic moves that the Texan has made in his first term.

Most of the things Johnson listed were issues where Cruz chose to draw a line or provoke a fight, and where Flake either outright opposed Cruzs objective or believed that simply blocking momentum toward some kind of resolution in Congress was not the best course of action.

And its this basic difference that illuminates the difference between a Cruz and a Flake  a difference that is at the heart of the division rending the Republican Party. Cruz has made being a fighter the signature of his career in national politics so far, no matter how seemingly hopeless or quixotic the stated goal. And for Cruz, fighting means refusing to accept anything other than total victory. So far, that approach has garnered him plenty of national attention and made him the runner-up to Trump for the Republican presidential nomination last year. But he has done little to work with Democrats to find solutions to problems facing all Americans, which is the function of the Senate.

Story continues

Flake, meanwhile, has fit the more traditional mode of what a senator seeks to be, more willing to try to find a way forward and to accept compromise rather than insisting on his version of purity. And thats despite the fact that he came up through the House as a largely uncompromising conservative, and has a 93 lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union, basically tied with former senator and current U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, no ones idea of a Republican in name only.

The list of fights he joined in the House was long, wrote Ben Domenech on Wednesday. Its hard to remember what major fight he chose to advance in the Senate.  Flake left his populism behind.

But, to state the obvious, the Senate is different from the House. The Senate exists to produce enduring compromise between the two parties. It is set up to make it difficult if not impossible for either side to impose its will on the other. It forces the two sides to come together. It is possible to be a conservative and a populist in the Senate, but to get anything done, a senator has to work well with others.

And ultimately, the forces on the right and left who demand purity and absolutism from their senators are all but guaranteeing that the Senate cannot function as the Founding Fathers intended, which only strengthens the hand of those who argue for centralizing power in the presidency. Thats the unintended irony for conservatives.

The Cruz view, and Johnsons list, are the product of political trends decades in the making.

Partly it represents a strain of conservatism that is driven by frustration  going back at least to the 1980s and in some ways to the Goldwater movement in the 1960s  that the size of the federal government hasnt shrunk, defying promises by every Republican administration at least since Reagan. The motivations for trying to reduce government are both fiscal and cultural. Free market conservatives believe in an unfettered capitalist economy as a preeminent good that benefits all. But the religious rights cultural grievances also factor into their desire to limit the size and reach of the federal government, which they view as enforcing a liberal social agenda on issues such as education, church-state separation and civil rights.

There are serious questions about whether the rights vision of smaller government will work for a highly urbanized society and a globalized, 21st-century economy. Do Americans, even those who belong to Posse Comitatus, really want to rely on their county sheriff to protect them from predatory credit card companies or salmonella in their hamburgers? But against that is the pull of localism, the rebellion of Americans who feel alienated from a government in faraway Washington and who want to buy goods from local merchants rather than from giant corporate monopolies.

But the rights frustration over their inability to dramatically reduce government is a big reason why many view any compromise with Democrats as selling out. Their paradigm is that playing by the rules  being a good senator who works across the aisle, working toward solutions in a bipartisan manner  has resulted only in a slow but steady erosion of their vision for the country. Democrats always want more spending, they have politicized the judiciary since Robert Borks Supreme Court nomination was scuttled in 1987, and the left is always getting more liberal on social issues. The right has seen the country for some time as standing on the edge of a cliff, in danger of falling into an abyss. And so in that paradigm only dramatic and revolutionary action can stem the tide. Anything less than that is cowardice.

Gary Bauer, a grizzled veteran of the culture wars, articulated this view well in an interview with me recently: You cant have a competition if one party thinks it has to abide by one set of rules and the other side threw them out a long time ago. The idea that Republicans should follow the gentleman-like rules that prevailed in the 1950s while the left uses whatever tactics they can to advance their agenda is crazy.

(Many Democrats, of course, would offer the identical analysis, with the labels switched.)

So in recent years, the right has come to view opposition as its only option. In addition, decades of demonizing government in all forms (Government is the problem, Reagan declared) have bred scorn for the idea that government can or should do anything other than stand up an army and a police force. President Obama was considered so liberal (and by many whites as so foreign) that everything he did was viewed with suspicion.

And tribal voter attitudes toward those with whom they disagree is making things worse. Hyperpolarization is a powerful disincentive to compromise. How can you make concessions to your mortal enemies? To even start negotiations can be viewed, in this context, as surrender, Tom Edsall wrote in the New York Times Thursday.

All of this created what we have now. A frustration decades in the making reached a boiling point with the 2009 stimulus bill and then the 2010 health care bill, which was passed on a party-line vote by Democrats using the controversial mechanism of reconciliation to get around a filibuster, a legislative device that Republicans are now making the de facto norm for anything they want.

The boiling over of that frustration led conservatives like Cruz to make a promise that was completely untethered to reality: that they could repeal Obamacare while Obama was president. That led to the 2013 government shutdown. And while Cruz and the Heritage Foundation are most to blame for that overpromising, most Republicans followed their lead and ran campaigns in 2014 that promised to repeal Obamacare if they won. They would parse and say they were articulating an aspirational goal, but voters dont parse. They hear promises and expect them to be kept.

Unkept promises are one big reason why voters are angry. But politicians have made promises they cant keep. Cruz has been the most prominent practitioner of this type of politics. A detailed look at the facts behind each of the issues mentioned in Johnsons list is a good way to see this.

Lets take them one by one. I have rearranged them in chronological order.

_____

Flake voted to increase debt by $900 billion in exchange for the promise of discretionary cuts in the future (2011).

This is a reference to the debt ceiling showdown of 2011, which resulted in the passage of the Budget Control Act that August. Republicans had just retaken control of the House in the 2010 elections, and they refused to raise the debt ceiling unless Democrats agreed to spending cuts. But the brinksmanship in the summer of 2011 over the debt ceiling sparked the worst stock collapse on Wall Street since the 2008 banking crisis, and it led one of three major credit-rating agencies to downgrade the U.S. governments rating.

Despite all that, Johnson is wrong to say that Flake voted for it. Flake, who was then a member of the House and would run for the Senate the following year, voted against the BCA. But Johnson counts Flakes vote in favor of a preliminary version of the BCA  a version which failed in the Senate  as a vote for the BCA. Its convoluted logic, but Johnson based his assertion on an analysis by the Heritage Foundations political arm  Heritage Action  that said the July 29 House vote paved the road for complete capitulation on the issue of demanding a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. But the July 29 version included a balanced budget requirement (which, incidentally, Democrats in the Senate were never going to agree to). The July 29 House bill also required $1 trillion in spending cuts. Yet Heritage was dissatisfied that the balanced budget requirement only kicked in on the second increase in the debt limit.

In addition, Flake has shown a long-standing interest in reducing the national debt. Flake has been proposing every year since 2010 a bill to allow individual citizens to designate up to 10 percent of their federal income taxes to pay down the nations nearly $20 trillion dollar national debt. It may have been more of a messaging gimmick than a serious legislative proposal, but it demonstrated an interest in raising awareness on the issue.

Unless Congress can get this fundamental issue under control, nothing else we do here will matter very much, Flake said of the debt this past July when he reintroduced the bill. That is why there ought to be an option that allows taxpayers to take matters into their own hands.

Regardless, Johnsons description of the BCA is telling. He makes it sound like the spending cuts were tentative, when in fact the law put in place caps on spending that have taken effect and had an impact. The 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA), though imperfect, was effective in cutting discretionary spending, wrote Heritage Action in 2013, overlooking their own opposition to the BCA at the time it passed. And most economists regard the brinksmanship over the debt limit that led to its passage as dangerous and irresponsible.

_____

Flake voted for the post-Newtown gun grab

In April of 2013, Flake voted against expanded background checks, which was the key gun control vote in the Senate after the murder of 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, 2012.

But Cruz, who had just entered the Senate after winning his seat in the 2012 election, mounted a filibuster to try to stop the Senate from even voting on any gun control measures. Flake voted with 15 other Republicans to end Cruzs filibuster and move to a debate and vote.

That is what Johnson is referring to when he says Flake voted for the post-Newtown gun grab, even though Flake ultimately voted against any form of gun control.

_____

Flake voted for the Gang of Eight amnesty bill

On June 27, 2013, the Senate passed an immigration reform bill by a large margin, 68 votes in favor to 32 opposed. Flake voted for the measure. Ultimately, the bills path to final approval fell apart in the House, with Cruz encouraging opposition among members of the lower chamber.

Immigration has been a hot-button issue for many Americans for longer than a decade. George W. Bush tried and failed to pass a reform bill. The 2013 effort failed. And Donald Trumps rise to the presidency was fueled in part by his vow to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Conservatives werent satisfied with the border-security provisions in the 2013 bill, and felt it gave undocumented immigrants too easy a path to citizenship. But for their part, the right has shown little appetite to constructively work with Democrats to find a solution to the problem of millions of people in the country whose unresolved status creates a multitude of problems for tax collection, health care costs and law enforcement.

_____

Flake voted against the Defund Obamacare Act of 2013 (S.1292)

In late July of 2013, Cruz introduced a bill that would withhold funding from the implementation of President Obamas signature health care law. But the issue didnt draw much attention until the fall, when it dawned on Washington that Cruz might be willing to shut down the government simply to prove a point. Cruz and his allies argued that a shutdown might force Democrats to come to the negotiating table, but that didnt persuade many people.

Those who are pushing this proposal are telling people that its going to defund Obamacare, and it just wont, Flake said at the time. If you want to know why were in such low regard with the country, its that they dont believe us when we tell them something.

Flake pointed out that a shutdown would distract attention from Obamacare and be more focused on funding government.

S.1292 never came to a vote in the Senate. It had 32 co-sponsors, all Republicans, but Flake was not among them, which might be the source of Johnsons rancor. The House in fact voted several times at the end of September 2013 to pass a government funding bill that withheld money for Obamacare, and each time, the Senate stripped out the provisions that were aimed at Obamas health care law. But Flake did not vote with Democrats any of those times (votes 205 through 212 in the first session of the 113th Congress).

The Wall Street Journal editorial page lambasted Cruzs antics as a circus and Beltway kabuki that was distracting conservatives from better opportunities to bring down spending. The Journal said that Flake and Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., were genuine fiscal conservatives who were shrewder Republicans than Cruz and the others heading toward a shutdown, because Flake and Coburn were focused on a different tactic: easing temporary sequester cuts on a small percentage of the federal budget in exchange for reductions to a bigger portion of the budget that would be permanent.

An offer to ease the sequester has a far better chance to win entitlement reforms worth the name, perhaps including a delay in some or all of Obamacare, than does a government shutdown that Mr. Obama would welcome so he can blame Republicans one more time, the Journal wrote.

Cruzs crusade ultimately led to a shutdown of the government for two weeks. The ploy excited the conservative base, raised a lot of money and drew a lot of attention. But it didnt do anything to remove Obamacare.

The Journal dismissed groups like Heritage, and by extension Cruz, for accusing Republicans for being spineless for not joining the defund chorus that has little or no chance of succeeding while President Obama occupies the White House.

_____

Flake voted for the Ryan-Murray budget, which lifted spending caps and raised fees in exchange for promises of future spending cuts

Flake voted against the Ryan-Murray budget on Jan. 16, 2014, but because he voted in December 2013 to allow the Senate to proceed to debate and a final vote on the issue, Johnson counts him as having voted for the Ryan-Murray budget.

Flake said after his vote in December that he would be voting against the budget deal, but argued that the issue deserved a vote. While I admire the effort to craft a compromise and believe the Senate needed an opportunity to debate this bill, I simply couldnt support a budget agreement that trades spending increases today for potential spending cuts years down the road. Weve seen that movie before, and we know how it ends, Flake said.

The budget deal was reached at the end of that year after extensive negotiations between the House Budget Committee chairman at the time, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and the Senate Budget Committee chairman, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. It was a significant development given that a leading Democrat and a leading Republican were able to work together, overcoming, even briefly, the partisan gridlock that had characterized Congress over the previous few years.

As for the deal itself, its noteworthy that Johnson refers to the lifting of spending caps here, because in his tweet about the 2011 Budget Control Act, he characterized the spending caps as a mere promise of  cuts. Here, hes treating the same BCA legislation he ridiculed before as something worth keeping in place.

Regardless, the Ryan-Murray deal avoided another government shutdown and did raise spending caps. But the caps were still below what Obamas 2011 budget had proposed. In January of 2014, the Senate and House both approved the deal. The Senate did so overwhelmingly, by a vote of 72 to 26.

Cruz opposed the measure, again on the grounds that it allows continued funding for Obamacare. It was a good sound bite for the conservative grassroots, but his talk of defunding the health care law was a fantasy unless Republicans won the White House (and, it turns out, even when they did win the White House).

_____

Flake was one of 11 Republican senators who voted to confirm Janet Yellen

On Jan. 6, 2014, the Senate voted to confirm Yellen as chair of the Federal Reserve. Again, Cruz was leading the charge against her confirmation, trying to use her nomination as an opportunity to require an audit of the Fed. That was a cause du jour among supporters of Rep. Ron Pauls 2012 presidential campaign, and it was fueled by concerns over the national debt after the 2008 fiscal crisis. Many debt hawks were alarmed by the Feds policy of quantitative easing (QE), warning that it could spark a debt crisis. But Yellen was a supporter of the policy and continued it, and so far the warnings about the consequences of QE have not come to pass.

Flake voted for Yellen, who was confirmed, 56-26.

_____

Flake voted for a clean debt limit suspension

In February 2014, the debt ceiling again came up for a vote. It had been temporarily raised after the government shutdown the previous October, and Republicans had passed only a short-term extension so they could try to extract spending cuts and other concessions from the Obama administration. But the public backlash to the shutdown had severely chastened many Republicans in the House, and with the midterm elections approaching in the fall, most members wanted no part of another shutdown. Yet most House Republicans refused to vote for raising the debt ceiling, preferring to rely on Democrats to pass it with a handful of Republican votes. They remain unwilling to vote for some compromises, preferring the ideological purity of opposing something they know will pass with Democratic support, the Washington Post wrote.

House Speaker John Boehner tried to get the Republican majority in the House to agree on a proposal to take to the White House. But the episode illustrated the diminishing influence of party leaders over their members. Boehner had to rely on 193 Democrats to vote for the ceiling increase on Feb. 11, receiving support from only 28 Republicans. As the matter moved to the Senate, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., pointed out the obvious: The House could only pass a clean debt ceiling. That meant Senate Republicans, who were still in the minority, had little leverage in attempting to extract spending cuts from the Obama White House. Many Republicans facing reelection in the fall didnt want to vote for the debt ceiling increase under any circumstances, even though a failure to do so would risk sending the country into another economic crisis.

Despite this, Cruz filibustered the debt ceiling vote, again showing a willingness to shut down the government to make a point and to try to force Democrats to make a deal. On Feb. 12, a total of 31 Republicans voted to sustain the filibuster; all but four  Cruz, Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada and Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi  were up for reelection either in 2014 or 2016. Cruzs filibuster was overridden by a vote of 67 to 31, with Flake being one of 12 Republicans to vote to proceed to a vote. When the Senate voted to increase the debt limit itself, Flake voted against that. An increase in the debt limit should be accompanied by structural reforms that deal with excess spending. This measure did not, Flake said.

The increase passed anyway by a vote of 55 to 43. It was the first clean increase since 2009.

Cruz said that because of the vote, the fiscal and economic condition of this nation [is] even worse because of a lack of leadership. He held himself up as an example of purity and righteousness. Others, like Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said that true leadership in this situation was shown by people like Boehner and McConnell, who made unpopular decisions  at a cost to themselves  to shield members of their own party who didnt want to take the risk of voting for something that was inevitable and necessary, but which would cost them politically.

_____

Flake voted for S.2114, which increased Russias power at the International Monetary Fund

It took some digging to find this one, in part because Johnson got the number of the bill wrong. It was Senate Bill 2124, which the Senate voted on in March 2014. It was a bill mostly intended to help stabilize Ukraine during its military conflict with Russia, but Cruz objected to a provision in the bill that would have made changes at the IMF. Cruz, as well as other Republicans like Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said that the IMF reforms were a boon for Russia. Its worth noting that at the time Rubio was in the midst of an all-out attempt to win back favor from the Republican base after his attempt to lead passage of immigration reform the previous summer had crashed and burned.

On March 24, the Senate invoked cloture on the bill by an overwhelming vote of 78 to 17, with Flake voting in favor. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., ended up taking out the IMF reforms to pass the Ukraine aid package, which was approved by the Senate on March 27.

The IMF reforms eventually did pass into law at the end of 2015, in a budget bill that Flake voted against.

_____

Flake voted to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank

This claim by Johnson stumped even one of the most outspoken opponents of the ExIm Bank, Tim Carney. Carney called Johnson out on Twitter, saying, Misleading your followers and attacking allies is bad practice. Flake consistently opposed Ex-Im. Beef with him on other issues. In response, Johnson pointed to Flakes vote for a continuing resolution that funded the government on Sept. 18, 2014, and which included a nine-month extension of Ex-Im. Carney dismissed Johnsons claim as specious.

Conservatives believe Ex-Im to be a source of corporate welfare for big companies, propping up a pay-to-play economy rather than a business environment that allows small businesses to compete and flourish. The governments export credit agency was de-authorized in June 2015, but then re-authorized later that year.

_____

Flake voted to fund President Obamas unconstitutional executive amnesty

This is a reference to a vote that was essentially a show vote engineered by Cruz on Dec. 13, 2014, as part of a crusade he was waging against then President Obamas executive orders on immigration. The first order, known as DACA, was issued in 2012. The second, known as DAPA, came out in November of 2014. Cruz said he believed the orders were outside the realm of presidential power and therefore unconstitutional. He was also preparing to announce his own run for president in just a few months.

Flake and many other Republicans agreed with Cruz. On Nov. 22, Flake and the other Arizona member of the U.S. Senate, John McCain, wrote an op-ed in which they criticized Obama for taking unilateral action to resolve the status of some percentage of undocumented immigrants, rather than working with Congress. Immigration is an issue that must be debated and decided by the representatives of the people, not by executive fiat, Flake and McCain wrote. We had hoped that President Obama would, at the very least, give the new Congress a chance to engage on this issue next year before contemplating any action.

But it is now clear that he is more interested in using the issue to the Democrats political advantage in 2016 than he is in reaching across the aisle to address this pressing national challenge once and for all, the two Republicans wrote. Flake also said the Senate should come together to address the issue and show that Obamas unilateral action was unnecessary.

Cruz staffers, however, said that no one but Cruz was offering solutions. And as the Senate was readying passage of a $1 trillion spending bill that funded most of the government (and reduced budgets for agencies like the EPA and the IRS), Cruz blocked the bill long enough to force a vote on whether the presidents immigration actions were constitutional. His motion, which, if successful, would have derailed the painstakingly negotiated spending agreement, was a PR stunt. Only 21 of 45 Republicans voted with him, and of those, all but five were up for reelection in the next cycle or planning a run for another office and had reason to fear a primary challenge from the right.

Incidentally, while Flake did vote against Cruzs point of order, he did not vote for the funding bill that former Cruz adviser Johnson says he did. He voted against it. Another Cruz aide, Brian Phillips, said on Twitter that because Flake voted to cut off debate on the bill and proceed to a final vote (known as invoking cloture), that is as good as voting for the bill itself, because cloture requires a higher threshold of 60 votes, and passing legislation requires only a simple majority of 50 votes.

_____

Flake voted for Obamas $1.1 trillion Cromnibus 2015 spending bill

Flake voted against the so-called Cromnibus, but Johnson said he counted his vote for cloture as the real vote. But regardless, since the Cromnibus represents a big conservative complaint from the past few years, its worth briefly revisiting the arguments for and against.

The Cromnibus was a bill  at the end of 2014  to fund most of the government for 2015. Congress was trying to avoid a second government shutdown.

The odd name for the bill combines the terms continuing resolution and omnibus. The continuing resolution referred to the Republican insistence on funding the Department of Homeland Security for only a few months, so that they could come back to the issue when DHS needed to be funded again, and try to take out funding to enforce Obamas immigration executive orders. The omnibus referred to the year-long funding provisions for most of the other portions of the federal government. In the past, before Congress became as dysfunctional as it is now, the government was funded through an appropriations process that wound its way through committees in both the House and the Senate (here is a primer on how its supposed to work).

Like the government shutdown of 2013, in which health care was at issue, outside groups like the Heritage Foundation pressured Republicans to use the vote to defund Obamas executive initiative on immigration, even if it meant shutting down the government again.

The Cruz/Heritage gambit failed to achieve its policy goal, as it had failed in 2013. But Cruz and Heritage used the issue to grow their email-lists and raise money. Democrats also benefited, because a procedural side effect of Cruzs maneuver enabled them to get several controversial nominees confirmed.

_____

Jeff Flake was one of 10 Republican senators who voted to confirm Loretta Lynch for attorney general

The other Republicans who voted for Lynch were Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Orrin Hatch (Utah), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Susan Collins (Maine), Mark Kirk (Ill.), Rob Portman (Ohio), Thad Cochran (Miss.), Ron Johnson (Wis.) and Mitch McConnell (Ky.).

Notably, Cruz who said he would oppose Lynch, missed the vote on April 23, 2015. He was the only senator to miss the vote. And he did so because he had launched his campaign for president one month earlier, and chose to attend a fundraiser for that effort instead of voting on the Lynch nomination.

But he did find time to rail against the very act of taking a vote. Cruz did not oppose Lynch because of anything in her background, but because he and outside conservative groups wanted the Justice Department to restrain the Obama White House executive orders on immigration. The Hill wrote that Cruz had asked leadership to block all of Obamas executive and judicial nominees unless and until the president rescinds his lawless amnesty.

And so, in short, the Lynch vote was tied to the immigration issue and to the debate over whether Obamas executive orders were constitutional or not. But it also came at a time when Cruz was elevating his political profile and raising as much money as possible through taking confrontational stands that would rouse the Republican base.

_____

Flake voted against Sen. Mike Lees First Amendment Defense Act

Lees bill dealt with the hot-button issue of gay rights. Critics say it gives religious conservatives a green light to discriminate against the LGBT community on a wide variety of fronts, including housing, employment and health care. The bills defenders say it does not exempt anyone from adhering to civil rights protections, but prevents the government from stripping religious organizations or individuals of tax-exempt status or licensing for following their religious beliefs.

The bill, which was introduced in 2015, never had a vote in either the House or Senate, so it was impossible for Flake to have voted against it. Heritage Action scored Flake as opposing the act, apparently based on the fact that he never signed on as a co-sponsor.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Washington (AFP) - A 27-year-old American who joined the Islamic State group in Syria and later claimed he escaped and fled into the hands of Kurdish troops after a "bad decision" was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday.

Mohamad Jamal Khweis left his job driving a bus for disabled people in northern Virginia in December 2015 to travel to IS's stronghold of Raqa.

He spent about two and a half months as a member of IS, taking part in religious training and staying in various safe houses, allegedly preparing to be a suicide bomber.

He was detained by Kurdish peshmerga fighters in March 2016 in Tal Afar, Iraq, and later claimed he escaped the jihadists, telling a Kurdish television station in Arbil that he did not see them as "good Muslims."

But the Federal Bureau of Investigation rejected his claims, saying he clearly had sought to join the group, selling his car and leaving home without telling anyone.

"The evidence at trial demonstrated that Mohamad Khweis is an unpredictable and dangerous person who was radicalized towards violent jihad," said Dana Boente, the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

"Khweis purposefully traveled overseas with the intent to join (IS) in support of the terrorist group's efforts to conduct operations and execute attacks to further their radical ideology," added Andrew Vale, the Washington field office director for the FBI.

"Khweis recognized that (IS) uses violence in its expansion of its caliphate and he committed to serving as a suicide bomber."

A federal jury convicted Khweis on June 8 on all three charges against him, including providing and conspiring to provide material support or resources to IS, and a related firearms count.

He faced a maximum life sentence.
Ankara (AFP) - The mayor of Ankara resigned on Saturday on the "orders" of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking to revitalise the ruling party ahead of 2019 elections.

Melih Gokcek, a staunch Erdogan loyalist who had been in charge of the Turkish capital for 23 years, said he was acting in the country's best interests.

"I leave my post of mayor on orders from our leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan," Gokcek, a member of the ruling Justice and Developement Party (AKP), said in a televised speech.

"I bow to the request of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, not because I do not think I have been successful, not because I think I'm tired... but only because I think (Erdogan) can make our country a leader."

Gokcek's successor has not been named.

Erdogan co-founded the AKP as an Islamic-rooted party that also aimed to modernise the economy and push ahead with Turkey's EU membership bid.

Erdogan has repeatedly made clear that the party needs to make "sweeping changes" ahead of the 2019 elections, after it showed signs of weakness at the ballot box.

He said in August that "successful" colleagues -- including MPs, mayors and regional party officials -- would be able to stay in their jobs but those showing "tiredness and weariness" would have to move on.

Several mayors have since resigned, including Istanbul mayor Kadir Topbas who stepped down last month after 13 years in the key post.

Turkey will hold municipal elections in March 2019, followed by presidential and parliamentary polls in November.

While the AKP has never been defeated at the ballot box since first winning power in 2002, there have been signs its grip on power has grown slightly less tight in recent years.
Washington (AFP) - As the US government releases thousands of secret files on the killing of President John F. Kennedy 54 years ago, here is a look back at what happened.

- Three shots ring out -

About 200,000 people line the route as Kennedy's open-top blue Limousine makes its way through central Dallas.

It is November 22, 1963 and he is on a tour as part of preparations for the 1964 presidential elections.

His wife Jackie is at his side, on her first official trip since the death of her newborn son Patrick.

The governor of Texas, John Connally, and his wife are sitting in front of them.

As the car slows down to make a wide turn, three shots ring out. It is exactly 12:30 pm.

Kennedy slumps forward, blood splashes onto his wife's pink Chanel suit. The president is bleeding from the head. He has been hit twice.

Connally is also hit. "My God, they're going to kill us all," he says.

The car speeds off toward Parkland hospital. Despite the efforts of 14 doctors and surgeons, Kennedy is officially declared dead at 1:00 pm. Connally survives.

A visibly moved CBS television newsman Walter Cronkite breaks the news to the nation live on television.

- Assassin detained -

At 1:50 pm, Lee Harvey Oswald, an employee in the book warehouse from where the shots were fired from a sixth-floor window, is detained in a cinema as he was leaving the area.

He is said to have shot dead a police officer who had earlier tried to arrest him.

Investigators have determined he was the presidential assassin, but their conclusions failed to quell speculation over how the former Marine and defector to the Soviet Union could have acted single-handedly.

- Oswald is shot -

On November 24 Oswald is surrounded by police as he is escorted from the Dallas police headquarters to an armored vehicle to take him to court.

With cameras rolling and as a throng of journalists shout questions, a man emerges from the crowd, points a gun and fires.

Oswald grasps his abdomen and falls. It's less than 59 hours after the killing of Kennedy.

Story continues

His assassin in a cabaret owner, Jack Rubinstein -- known as Jack Ruby -- who was also linked to the Mafia. He dies in prison in 1967 from cancer.

- Kennedy is buried -

Four days after his assassination, Kennedy is buried at Washington's Arlington National Cemetery on November 26, 1963.

The entire ceremony is broadcast live to tens of millions of people, from his closed casket lying in state, to a parade on a horse-drawn bier and the burial itself.
Former President Barack Obama reportedly plans to show up for jury duty next month after being called to serve in Cook County, Illinois.

He made it crystal clear to me through his representative that he would carry out his public duty as a citizen and resident of this community, Tim Evans, chief judge of the Cook County Circuit Court, told the Chicago Tribune on Friday.

Obama is registered to vote in Illinois because he owns a property in Chicago. His family also owns an $8.1 million home in Washington, D.C., where they currently reside.

Obviously we will make certain that he has all the accoutrements that accompany a former president, Evans said. His safety will be uppermost in our minds.

Former President Barack Obama is reportedly planning to attend jury service in Chicago in November. (Photo: Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Its not known which courthouse Obama has been summoned to  nor the exact date. Despite his reported willingness to serve, The Hill notes that hes unlikely to be selected to actually sit on a jury.

Obama has yet to comment.

Court officials in Cook County previously summoned Obama in late 2009 for jury duty. As The Guardian notes, however, he did not attend due to the small matter of running the country.

Should Obama attend, hed follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, George W. Bush, in performing the duty following his departure from the White House.

Bush was pictured wearing a Juror badge in Dallas in 2015:

Look who I just met doing Jury Duty! #POTUS pic.twitter.com/wpUaRuZ7gO  Desiree Bryant (@desiree_bryant) August 5, 2015

Obama would also join talk-show host and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey as one of Cook Countys most famous jurors. She served on a jury in 2004 that convicted a man of first-degree murder.

A-Team actor Mr T, born Lawrence Tureaud, was another celebrity to show up for jury service in the county. He told reporters I pity the criminals today in August 2014 while waiting to be selected, but did not end up serving on a jury.

Story continues

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Also on HuffPost

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Bill Nye is perhaps best known for the zany persona he cultivated for years as a science educator  always filled with cheer for the subject matter at hand. But that fun zaniness disappears in the new documentary Bill Nye: Science Guy in a moment bound to send a chill up the spine of anyone who believes that American students should learn basic science. In the film, Nye confronts famed creationist Ken Ham as he undercuts evolution in a conversation with an elementary school-age child at Kentuckys Creation Museum.

Young woman, I would say to you that theres a process that humans have developed over millennia by which we know nature and we call that science, Nye says. But the girl tells Nye she doesnt buy it.

I believe with Mr. Ham, she says.

Nye told TIME ahead of the documentarys release that hes optimistic about the future of science in America as younger generations replace their predecessors in places of power. But still, the incident  like many scenes in the film  is a wakeup call for viewers. My biggest concern is that this idea that ones own opinion is given the same weight as whats scientifically understood, Nye tells TIME. We want to be able to get people to evaluate evidence and think critically about events and phenomena they see in nature.

Nye has spent the last two-and-a-half decades trying to do that as a science educator, first as the host of his popular television show Bill Nye the Science Guy and now as a ubiquitous science commentator. The influence of anti-science forces in American society has increased in that time in large part due to a concerted push from some industry groups. President Trump has endorsed many of those views, questioning mankinds role in global warming and suggesting before taking office that climate change is a hoax created by China to gain a manufacturing edge. Since his inauguration, he has declined to speak in detail on the topic.

Even with Trump in the White House, and even as outliers like Ham and his followers remain a potent force in some places, Nye is optimistic that younger generations will increasingly embrace science. Still, the question remains whether that change will come fast enough as the threat of climate change looms and governments around the world struggle to address it, Nye says. As what I hope is the last gasp of the anti-science movement, we have this extraordinary administration with extraordinary people heading up the Department of Education and Environmental Protection Agency, says Nye. But thats going to pass.

How to address people who spread misinformation  or whether to ignore them altogether  is a challenge that faces anyone who communicates about science to a mass audience. And the documentary, which opens this Friday in select theaters, shows the debate over whether Nye should engage Ham and risk bolstering his image. But Nye insists that taking on science skeptics directly is the best way to change minds. He debates Ham on the topic of evolution and walks through the creation museum, pointing out misleading exhibits (no, humans and dinosaurs did not live at the same time).

Ultimately, Nye says, its the only way. If we were talking about climate change the way we discuss whatever happened in Niger or the presidents extraordinary tweet of today, says Nye, we would be doing something about it.
By Jonathan Stempel and Brendan Pierson

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Brooklyn man was sentenced on Friday to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to provide material support to Islamic State.

Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 27, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William Kuntz in the federal court in Brooklyn.

The defendant, an Uzbekistan citizen who once chopped salad at a Brooklyn gyro shop, was one of six people charged in the same case with plotting to aid Islamic State, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.

Prosecutors sought a 15-year prison term, the maximum possible. Lawyers for Juraboev sought no more than five years, calling him an "unsophisticated, gullible, and lonely young man" who reached "wrong conclusions" about Islam and Islamic State.

Michael Weil, a federal public defender representing Juraboev, declined to comment after the sentencing.

Authorities said Juraboev had in August 2014 posted an online threat to kill then-U.S. President Barack Obama on behalf of Islamic State, and spoke of planting a bomb on Coney Island if the group ordered it.

Juraboev was arrested in February 2015, after buying a plane ticket to fly the next month to Istanbul, Turkey, intending to then travel to Syria to join Islamic State, authorities said.

Two co-defendants, Akhror Saidakhmetov and Abror Habibov, pleaded guilty this year, and charges are still pending against co-defendants Dilkhayot Kasimov, Azizjon Rakhmatov and Akmal Zakirov, court records show. Saidakhmetov faces a Dec. 13 sentencing.

Saidakhmetov was also arrested in February 2015, as he was boarding a plane to Istanbul, authorities said.

The arrests of Juraboev and Saidakhmetov followed roughly five months of interactions between the men and a paid informant posing as being ideologically sympathetic.

Other defendants were charged with conspiring to pay Juraboev's and Saidakhmetov's travel expenses.

Another Uzbekistan citizen, Dilshod Khusanov, was in August charged in a separate case with having discussed with Zakirov providing funds for Saidakhmetov's trip, and helping others join Islamic State or al-Nusrah Front, another militant group.

More than 100 people have faced U.S. charges in connection with Islamic State since 2014.

(Reporting By Brendan Pierson and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
Catalonias regional parliament declared independence from Spain on Friday in a disputed vote that is now likely to be declared illegal by Spains constitutional court and not recognised by any other European state.

The independence motion was passed in the 135-strong assembly with 70 votes in favour, 10 against and 2 blank ballots, the assemblys speaker said. Lawmakers from three mainstream national partiesthe Peoples Party (PP) of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, the Socialist Party, and the centrist Ciudadanos partyhad left the chamber before the vote in protest.

The vote comes as the central government in Madrid completes the formalities of imposing direct rule on Catalonia in response to what it sees as an illegal secession. Catalonia has enjoyed widespread autonomy under the 1978 constitution which restored democratic rule after the death of right-wing dictator Francisco Franco. Spains Senate voted to impose central control over Catalan institutions, such as its police force and tax collectors, within minutes of the vote in Barcelona.

Read: Hostage to Catalonia? No Way, Says the EU

Fridays developments create an unprecedented situation in the European Union, which has never before had to deal with the breakup of a member state. Catalans have said they want to stay in the EU, but the EU treaty has no provision for giving membership to breakaway regions, and many member states have no desire to encourage separatism in their now countries by recognizing a new Catalan state.

EU Council President Donald Tusk said via Twitter that For EU nothing changes. Spain remains our only interlocutor. I hope the Spanish government favours force of argument, not argument of force. The State Department, meanwhile, also issued a statement that it continued to view Catalonia as an integral part of Spain.

For EU nothing changes. Spain remains our only interlocutor. I hope the Spanish government favours force of argument, not argument of force.  Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) October 27, 2017

The crisis has taken nearly a month to come to a head since Catalonia staged a referendum on independence on Oct. 1, with neither side wishing to be seen as plunging the kingdom into a full-blown constitutional crisis. The referendum was not legal under Spanish law, and was boycotted by the majority of Catalonias population whoaccording to opinion polls throughout the yearwere against independence.

Story continues

Read: Hundreds Injured During Catalonias Vote for Independence

The news has hit Spains financial markets, which had hoped until the last for some kind of face-saving compromise. Regional leader Carles Puigdemont had only appeared to give up on finding such a compromise Thursday, after threats from the more extreme members of his own coalition to leave the government if he failed to press on.

The benchmark IBEX 35 stock index fell 1.8% in a matter of minutes after the vote. The yield on Spains benchmark 10-year bond, a rough proxy for the countrys political risk, rose by 0.07 percent to 1.62%. While thats a sharp movement, it pales in comparison to 2012, when markets feared that debt problems in Spain and Italy would blow the Eurozone up completely. In the foreign exchange markets, the euro fell below $1.16 for the first time since July, although the bigger factor behind the euros decline this week has been the European Central Banks decision to extend its quantitative easing program to at least September next year.

Angel Talavera, an analyst with London-based Oxford Economics, noted that the market reaction had been extremely calm, given the gravity of the political situation. Bond yields are a benchmark for the cost of credit across the economy, and Talavera said that the lack of a more violent response should keep the economic impact limited. He is cutting his forecast for Spanish growth next year by only 0.2 percent to 2.5%.

UPDATE: This article has been updated to include reaction from the EU and analyst comment.
By Isla Binnie MADRID (Reuters) - Shortly after the Catalan government defied Madrid and held a referendum on independence, Jaume Vives held his own "vote" on whether to separate his central Barcelona balcony from "this Catalonia of madmen". Using a megaphone, the 25-year-old journalist declared the nine votes cast by his assembled friends and family were really 2.4 million - a slightly inaccurate reference to the 2.3 million who voted for a break with Spain. Then he suspended the decision -- just as Catalan president Carles Puigdemont had done with his Oct. 10 decision to pursue independence in the Catalan parliament. A video of the stunt has been watched 890,000 times on YouTube as people on both sides of the independence divide turn to satire to break the tension of a real-life drama that is both dividing and maddening the nation. The drama's two main actors - Puigdemont and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy - are the butt of most jibes. The anti-independence camp has aimed its jokes at Puigdemont and what they see as his reluctance to be decisive and his flip-flop statements on the independence question. In recent weeks, he has declared independence then suspended his declaration, accepted an invitation to address the Senate then declined it, and called for an independence vote in Catalan parliament -- and then deferred it. One bar in Barcelona recently put up a sign that declared free beer for all - but then, tongue-in-cheek, said the measure was immediately suspended pending talks with the beer company. HUMOR IS AN ESCAPE One mock TV game show presented a puzzled Puigdemont considering his answer to the final question of an episode of 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' "What is Catalonia right now?," the question read on the screen, with the four possible answers listed as: A - a region ? B - Neverland ? C - a Republic ?, or D - a circus ? On the other side, satirists have homed in on Prime Minister Rajoy and his insistence that Puigdemont renounce independence as a condition of negotiations. In one online parody, Rajoy is shown with U.S. President Donald Trump's hair and a caption saying: "I will build a wall, - and Catalonia will pay for it." At a recent pro-independence demonstration in Barcelona he appeared on a poster kissing Spanish dictator Francisco Franco - historically a hate figure in Catalonia - on the lips amid a burst of pink heart shapes. Another, shared hundreds of thousands of times on Whatsapp, shows Rajoy embracing Puigdemont and saying, "He stays", in a parody of a famous tweet from FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique announcing that Brazilian star Neymar would not leave the club. Neymar signed for Paris Saint Germain days later. The satire highlights the fatigue that both sides feel. Barcelona has buzzed for the past two months with repeated, large-scale protests, mostly for independence but also including one rally of more than 300,000 against secession. Humor has become a means of escape from the seemingly endless tension. From his balcony in the upmarket residential neighborhood of Sarria-Sant Gervasi, Vives described his lone anti-independence as a "Smiling Counter-Revolution". "We are reducing to absurdity the absurd reality we are living, and the lies they tell us," Vives said. "Doing this reduces the tension in the atmosphere. Jokes don't feed hatred." (Editing by Julien Toyer, Mark Bendeich and Richard Balmforth)
By Ben Blanchard and Jess Macy Yu BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) - China urged the United States on Friday not to allow Taiwan's president to travel through U.S. territory en route to the island's diplomatic allies in the Pacific, a sensitive visit shortly ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's trip to Beijing. China considers democratic Taiwan to be a wayward province ineligible for state-to-state relations and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. China regularly calls Taiwan the most sensitive and important issue between it and the United States, and Beijing always complains to Washington about transit stops by Taiwanese presidents. President Tsai Ing-wen leaves on Saturday on a weeklong trip to three Pacific island allies - Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands and the Marshall Islands - via Honolulu and Guam. In a statement on Friday, a Taiwanese government spokesman said Tsai's trip was aimed at strengthening ties with friendly nations and also to provide support for the island's frontline diplomats. It said Taiwan was grateful to the United States for helping to arrange the stopovers "in accordance with comfort, safety, convenience and dignity principles." Grace Choi, the State Department spokeswoman for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said Tsai would transit Hawaii Oct. 27-29 and Guam Nov. 3-4. Choi said Tsai's transits would be "private and unofficial" and were based on long-standing U.S. practice consistent with "our unofficial relations with Taiwan." She noted the transits were out of consideration for the safety and convenience of the traveler and there was "no change to the U.S. one-China policy." Ambassador James Moriarty, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, the organization that carries out unofficial U.S. relations with Taiwan, will greet Tsai in Hawaii and Guam, Choi said. TRUMP VISIT LOOMS Trump is due to visit China in less than two weeks. He angered Beijing last December by taking a telephone call from Tsai shortly after he won the presidential election. China has made "stern representations" to the United States over the matter, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, urging the United States to strictly abide by the "one China" policy. China hopes the United States does not allow Tsai "to transit, not send any wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces and take real actions to protect the overall picture of China-U.S. relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait", Geng told a news briefing. The trip to the United States will be Tsai's second this year. In January she stopped over in Houston and San Francisco on her way to and from Latin America, visiting the headquarters of micro-messaging service Twitter Inc , which is blocked in China, while in California. In Houston, she met Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and Texas Governor Greg Abbott. She also spoke by telephone with U.S. Senator John McCain, head of the powerful Senate Committee on Armed Services. China suspects Tsai wants to push for the formal independence of Taiwan, a red line for Beijing. Tsai says she wants to maintain peace with China but will defend Taiwan's democracy and security. China has pressured Taiwan since Tsai took office last year, suspending a regular dialogue mechanism and slowly peeling away its few remaining diplomatic allies. Just 20 countries now maintain formal ties with Taiwan, instead of China, mostly small states in Central America, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The United States has no formal ties with Taiwan but is bound by law to help it defend itself and is the island's main source of arms. Tsai's call with Trump was the first between U.S. and Taiwan leaders since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 1979. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Jessica Macy Yu in TAIPEI; Writing by Philip Wen; Editing by Nick Macfie and Bill Trott)
BEIJING (Reuters) - Military relations between China and the United States are a positive force in ties, and China wants to deepen mutual trust and cooperation, China's Defense Ministry said on Thursday ahead of a visit to Beijing by U.S. President Donald Trump. Both countries have worked hard to improve interaction between their militaries to avoid any miscalculations in areas like the South China Sea where both regularly fly military aircraft and sail warships. But there is deep mistrust, with Beijing having been angered by what it views as provocative U.S. military flights and naval patrols in the disputed East China Sea and South China Sea, and suspicious of close U.S. defense ties with South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and increasingly India. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said last week that Washington saw room to invite others, including Australia, to join U.S.-India-Japan security cooperation, something Beijing has opposed as an attempt by democracies to gang up on it. Speaking at a monthly news briefing, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said it was happy to see positive developments in military relations with the United States that both countries leaders attached importance to. "Looking to the future, we are willing to work with the U.S. side to respect each other, deepen mutual trust, focus on practical exchanges and cooperation and appropriately manage and control disputes, to continue injecting positive energy in the development of ties," Ren added. China, a strategic rival to the United States and India, is also vital to Trump's efforts to roll back North Korea's efforts to create nuclear-armed missiles capable of reaching the United States, an issue expected to top the agenda in Trump's Nov. 8-10 Beijing visit. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie)
This determined little boy just sent out an urgent PSA on behalf of a beloved four-legged friend.

Six-year-old Roman is calling on his followers to rescue Legend, a deaf and lovable Labrador retriever currently at Skagit Valley Humane Society in Burlington, Washington. The adorable video has more than 18,000 views, and counting.

SEE ALSO: Rescue dog uses his smile to help find a forever home

Roman's passion for rescuing canines began when he was just 4-years-old, according to mom, Jennifer McConn.

"He opted to forego receiving presents on his fourth birthday and instead asked for donations so he could give those to a local rescue in Texas," McConn told Mashable. "It's kind of taken off since then."

McConn said Roman typically enjoys interacting with dogs. He and his mom often make videos to spread the word about pups in need.

Now, for his latest mission, Roman is determined to find a home for Legend.

Roman and Legend

Image: jennifer mcconn

Image: jennifer mcconn

Image: jennifer mcconn

Legend is just one of many dogs McConn and Roman have helped.

In fact, McConn runs her own animal rescue organizations, PAWS & Read and Project Freedom Ride, dedicated to caring for, sheltering, and rescuing dogs from kill shelters in Texas.

"We transport dogs up to rescues and humane societies such as Skagit Valley Humane Society or to our direct adopters," said McConn.

"Typically dogs that are in the humane society are our first priority to visit but there is always one or two non-Project Freedom Ride dogs that pull on our heart strings, like Legend."

Image: jennifer mcconn

Image: jennifer mcconn

Roman is a true example that you can be a hero at any age.
By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - A divided federal appeals court on Friday upheld the conviction of a man found with an illegal gun while sitting in a car parked too close to a Milwaukee crosswalk, prompting the dissenting judges to accuse the majority of letting police improperly stop people for "parking while black."

By a 5-3 vote, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago said police acted properly by seizing occupants of a car idling at night outside a liquor store in a high-crime area within 15 feet of a crosswalk, which was illegal in Milwaukee, and then discovering the defendant Randy Johnson's gun.

Circuit Judge Frank Easterbrook wrote for the majority that the Jan. 8, 2014 stop was constitutional under the Fourth Amendment if police had probable cause to believe there had been a parking violation.

He said this was true even though police had bathed the car in bright lights, suggesting that occupants were not free to drive away.

Johnson entered a conditional guilty plea and was sentenced to 46 months prison, pending his appeal of the gun seizure.

A federal public defender representing Johnson had no immediate comment on the decision, which upheld a 2-1 ruling by a 7th Circuit panel in May 2016.

Circuit Judge David Hamilton, who dissented from that ruling, wrote for Friday's dissenters that the majority wrongly extended decisions allowing pretextual stops based on moving violations, such as speeding, to parking violations.

"The doctrinal evolution has enabled stops for what is often called 'driving while black,'" Hamilton wrote. "The majority errs by taking the further step of enabling seizures that can be used for 'parking while black.'"

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Gregory Haanstad in Milwaukee, whose office prosecuted Johnson, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Hamilton, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, said Johnson had not made race an issue in the case, but that the police's "heavy-handed" tactics would not be tolerated in more affluent neighborhoods.

Story continues

"What made the officers decide so fast to swoop in to seize this car?" he wrote. "On this record, the only explanation is the neighborhood, and the correlation with race is obvious."

Easterbrook, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan, said his decision did not address whether and when the use of racial criteria to "select among potential targets of investigation" would require suppressing evidence.

The case is U.S. v. Johnson, 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 15-1366.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: Getty Images

Donald Trumps eldest son has attacked Hillary Clinton as entitled on her birthday.

Last year on 26 October, Hillary Clintons official Twitter account posted, Happy birthday to this future president, along with a photo of the young Ms Clinton.

This year, Donald Trump Jr tweeted a photo of the post, writing: A year later the arrogance and entitlement in this tweet is exactly why it was never going to happen. #maga.

Ms Clinton won the popular vote by almost three million votes last year. But the elder Trump won the Electoral College, a body of 538 members who select the president based on the popular vote in each state.

This means that the candidate who gets the most votes nationally doesn't necessarily win the election.

A year later the arrogance and entitlement in this tweet is exactly why it was never going to happen. #maga pic.twitter.com/zQ68AQpPE0  Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 26, 2017

In September, the former Secretary of State called for the end of the electoral college, suggesting that it was in part to blame for her surprise loss.

I think it needs to be eliminated, she said during an interview with CNN. I'd like to see us move beyond it, yes.

Before the election, Mr Trump also railed against the Electoral College, calling it a disaster for democracy.

Ms Clinton has also attributed her defeat to interference by Russian hackers.

US intelligence agencies have confirmed that Russia meddled in last years presidential race, and multiple congressional committees  as well as special counsel Robert Mueller  are currently investigating alleged ties between Trump campaign advisers and the Kremlin.
Looking at President Trump, you might think the rules of politics have changed. After Hurricane Maria, he attacked the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, saying she had shown poor leadership and was only criticizing federal aid efforts because shed been told to by Democrats.

...Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017

The tweet did not go over well  by one measure, it was the third least-popular tweet of his presidency. But Trump never backed down, continuing his attacks on the mayor and other politically motivated ingrates until the news cycle had moved on.

One energy company has learned that the old rules still apply, however.

After San Juan Mayor Cermen Yulin Cruz asked for more transparency on Whitefish Energy, a small company based in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinkes hometown that received a $300 million contract to restore power to the island, it fought back  on Twitter.

First, the company said that it shared her frustrations with the slow pace of progress but felt her comments were misplaced. Yulin Cruz then responded, tweeting that she is not the only person who has raised questions.

What is it about women having an opinion that irritates some? she wrote.

The company fired back: Weve got 44 linemen rebuilding power lines in your city & 40 more men just arrived. Do you want us to send them back or keep working?

This exchange was so Trumpy the President himself could have drafted it. Facing criticism, the company doubled down, a common strategy for the commander in chief. When a question was raised about sexism, it responded by using variants on the word men twice.

And thats where the comparison with Trump ends. After the company faced a barrage of criticism, the governor of Puerto Rico asked an inspector general to look into how it got the contract and said there would be hell to pay. Congressional Democrats sent their own letter.

Story continues

Whitefish is primarily financed by a private equity firm that is run by a contributor to the presidential campaign of Donald Trump. Were concerned that Whitefish might have overstated its connections with the Trump administration to obtain the contract, eight Democratic lawmakers wrote in another letter to the Interior Departments inspector general.

A copy of the companys contract leaked which appeared to show that the government cannot audit the companys labor costs or profits.

Whitefish contract states, "In no event shall [government bodies] have the right to audit or review the cost and profit elements." Wow. pic.twitter.com/dIyQXb6AK0  Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) October 27, 2017

The Federal Emergency Management Administration even weighed in, saying after an initial review it has not confirmed whether the contract prices are reasonable.

In short, following Trumps playbook has already landed Whitefish in a lot of hot water, and things are just getting started, which is why the company has already done the least Trumpy thing possible: It apologized.

Trump may get away with attacking, tweeting, doubling down and never apologizing. But hes the President, and barring any unlikely scenarios, hes in office through January of 2021 at least. Everyone else in politics  especially companies with contracts at stake  is still bound by the old rules.
Paris (AFP) - Spain's allies in Europe and the United States rallied behind Madrid on Friday after Catalonia's regional parliament declared independence in a escalating constitutional crisis.

Catalan MPs passed the motion by 70 votes to 10 -- in a ballot boycotted by the opposition -- in a move that threatens the stability of Spain and the European Union.

After the vote, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he had dissolved the Catalan parliament, formally removed separatist leader Carles Puigdemont from office and called regional elections on December 21 as part of measures to "restore normality".

Here are some of the key reactions:

- EU: 'Argument not force' -

European Council President Donald Tusk said Madrid "remains our only interlocutor" following the independence vote.

"I hope the Spanish government favours force of argument, not argument of force," he tweeted.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker also warned of the danger of "more cracks" opening up in the 28-member bloc.

"We shouldn't insert ourselves into what is an internal debate for Spain, but I wouldn't want the European Union to consist of 95 member states in the future."

Brussels has insisted the standoff is an internal matter, resisting Catalan efforts for international mediation and backing Madrid's position that the referendum was illegal.

- US: 'Keep Spain strong and united' -

The United States considers Catalonia an "integral part of Spain" and supports Madrid's measures to keep Spain "strong and united," the State Department said.

"The United States enjoys a great friendship and an enduring partnership with our NATO ally Spain," spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

- UN: 'An internal matter' -

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said any discusstions about the allocation of power remained an internal matter, spokesman Farhan Haq said.

Story continues

But he added: "The secretary-general encourages all concerned to seek solutions within the framework of the Spanish constitutional and through established political and legal channels."

- Germany: 'Dialogue and de-escalation' -

Germany "does not recognise" Catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence, a government spokesman said, calling for dialogue between the two sides.

"The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Spain are and always will be inviolable," spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Twitter.

- France: 'one partner in Spain' -

French President Emmanuel Macron said Rajoy had his full support.

"I have one partner in Spain, that's Prime Minister Rajoy... the rule of law prevails in Spain, with constitutional rules. He wants to ensure they are respected and he has my full support."

- UK: 'Unity preserved' -

Britain "does not and will not" recognise the unilateral declaration of independence, Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said.

"It is based on a vote that was declared illegal by the Spanish courts. We continue to want to see the rule of law upheld, the Spanish Constitution respected, and Spanish unity preserved."

However, a minister in Scotland's independence-minded devolved government said it respected the Catalan government action.

"While Spain has the right to oppose independence, the people of Catalonia must have the ability to determine their own future." said Fiona Hyslop, Scottish Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs.

"Today's declaration of independence came about only after repeated calls for dialogue were refused."

- NATO: 'Resolved within Spain' -

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the "Catalonia issue must be resolved within Spain's constitutional order".

"Spain is a committed ally, with important contributions to our security," he said on Twitter.

- Portugal: 'Total solidarity' -

Prime Minister Antonio Costa of neighbouring Portugal expressed his "total solidarity in the defence of the constitutional principle of Spanish unity," and said he considered the declaration of independence "a disruption of Spanish political life".

burs/dl/txw
By Latifah Muhammad

An Oklahoma judge has agreed to expunge the fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher from the record of former Tulsa Police Officer, Betty Shelby, per her request. District Judge William LaFortune ruled Wednesday (Oct. 25) that the shooting be removed, and ordered that the documents in the case be sealed.

Shelby was acquitted of manslaughter in May. She subsequently resigned from the Tulsa Police Department and was hired by the Rogers County Sheriffs Office.

Crutcher, 40, encountered police while waiting for help after his car broke down on the side of the road. Officers showed up in response to 911 calls saying that someone had abandoned a car in the middle of the street.

Police alleged that Crutcher  who was unarmed and had his hands raised when he was fatally shot  wasnt following commands and had reached in his pockets as well as inside the vehicle. He was tasered by Officer Tyler Turnbough before Shelby opened fire. She would later claim that she thought he was under the influence of PCP.

At the time, Crutcher was returning from a community college class. The shooting was captured by a Tulsa police helicopter.

Under the judges ruling, a court order will be required to access files in the case, which can be destroyed after 10 years, NBC News reports.

Shelbys defense attorney said that the expungement was for employment application purposes.

Like any other citizen who is acquitted, Betty Jo Shelby was entitled to have her record sealed and expunged, attorney Shannon McMurray said. Betty continues to work to try and serve her community and prays for everyones continued healing.

In an interview with 60 Minutes that aired earlier in the year, Shelby said Crutcher caused his own death.

I have sorrow that this happened, that this man lost his life but he caused the situation to occur.

This post Ex-Tulsa Police Officer Who Killed Terence Crutcher Has Shooting Removed From Her Record first appeared on Vibe.
Faxafloi Bay (Islande) (AFP) - Iceland's whales have traditionally ended up as steaks on a plate. But times are changing, and as tourists stream to the North Atlantic island, whales are now the stars of a flourishing ecotourism scene.

"Minke whale at two o'clock, about 200 metres out!" shouts Spanish tour guide Alberto Alejandro, microphone in hand as a boat of whale watchers cruises slowly up the coast.

The sighting is fleeting: only the tail fin is visible when the whale resurfaces for air, but it's enough to take the 60 passengers' breath away, as they "oooh" and "ahhh" in delight.

"It's one of the things we absolutely wanted to do on our first trip here," says Joachim Holm, a Swedish tourist. "We don't get many opportunities to see live whales."

Animal rights activists opposed to whaling argue that whale watching boats disturb the majestic mammals in their natural habitat.

But the activists nevertheless concede that it is still better to pester the whales than to slaughter them.

In Husavik, a bay in the north of the country, or in the Faxafloi Bay near the capital Reykjavik, more than 355,000 people went whale watching in 2016 in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the animals in the North Atlantic.

That's an increase of 30 percent over 2015 and four times more than a decade ago.

- Tradition vs green tourism -

Fleets of whale watching boats navigate regularly through Faxafloi Bay -- the very same waters where minke whales are hunted.

Iceland resumed whaling in 2003, turning its back, along with Norway, on a 1986 international moratorium.

Japan also allows whaling. Officially, it is for scientific reasons, even if a large share of the whale meat ends up on the market.

Iceland hunts minke whales, not an endangered species, and one whose stocks are estimated at around 32,000 -- considered stable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Iceland suspended its fin whale hunt last year, after Japan, its main market, introduced restrictive regulations. Second only in size to blue whales, the fin whale has been listed as an endangered species since 1996 and its worldwide population has declined by more than 70 percent since 1929.

Story continues

Alessandro Rosa, an Italian tourist, said he respected Iceland's whaling traditions, which have been a part of life here since the 13th century.

But, he added: "I've never eaten whale meat and I don't intend to taste it."

Icelanders themselves consume little whale meat. So the country's whale hunt is primarily aimed at satisfying demand from tourists, with more than two million people expected to visit the island this year.

Whalers have in recent years consistently failed to meet their quotas of kills -- typically around 200.

They blame poor weather and warmer waters, which is pushing the whales to follow the mackerel, their main source of food, closer to Greenland where the water is colder.

IP-Utgerd Ltd, the Icelandic company specialising in hunting minkes, harpooned 17 whales in 2017, down from 46 in 2016 and 52 in 2012. A record 81 were killed in 2009. This year's quota was 224.

- Whale on the menu -

In Reykjavik, the restaurant Thrir Frakkar has offered whale meat on its menu since it opened in 1989.

Asian tourists are those who are most keen on it. "They're more used to whale meat, it's more a part of their culture," said the restaurant's chef, Stefan Ulfarsson.

Sarah Krieger, a tourist from Florida, had no objection to a nibble of whale meat, as long as stocks are managed "responsibly".

"Humans are at the top of the food chain," she argued.

Together, whale hunting and whale watching reel in revenues of about 100 million euros ($117 million) a year, in a country where gross domestic product ticked in at 20 billion euros in 2016.

According to the Ice Whale Association, whale watching is believed to bring in around three billion kronur (23 million euros, $28.5 million) per year.

For whaling, the latest figures date back to a 2010 study by the University of Reykjavik, which estimated the country's revenues at $94 million. But that figure includes the country's fisheries sector, which is boosted by more mackerel, cod, haddock and capelin being available in the ocean as a result of not having been eaten by the hunted whales.

Whale hunting remains a profitable business, according to industry statistics, with an average of 43 kills per year since 2003.

The price of whale meat has more than doubled in 10 years to 2,500 kronur per kilo (20 euros, $24), making it more expensive than both chicken and pork.

Yet tourists to Iceland are eating less whale meat than before.

In 2016, only 12 percent of tourists said they had tasted whale meat during their visit, compared to 40 percent in 2009, studies by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) show.

The head of the Icelandic branch of IFAW, Sigursteinn Masson, said attitudes were changing and he expected to see an end to whaling in the near future.

But Gunnar Bergmann Jonsson, the head of IP-Utgerd Ltd, disagreed, seeing no need to end the practice as long as minke stocks remain strong and it's not an endangered species.
By Ahmed Rasheed and Dmitry Zhdannikov BAGHDAD/LONDON (Reuters) - When the Iraqi army and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia entered a key oil processing facility in Iraq's north to retake it from Kurdish Peshmerga forces last week, the installation was deserted and its alarm bells ringing. Engineers and workers on the facility, which processes oil from two major fields in the Kirkuk area of predominantly Sunni Kurdistan, had fled, fearing the military advance. "No one wanted to risk their life and decided to evacuate as stories about the Shi'ite militia and Qassem Soleimani were spreading fast," said a senior Kurdish oil industry source, referring to the head of foreign operations for Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards. The source declined to be identified. Iraqi engineers arrived to the sound of alarm bells warning about system malfunctions, prompting them to immediately shut down wells. Now, they need passwords and expertise from their Kurdish counterparts to restore oil output fully. The loss of control of Kirkuk oil fields is likely to starve the KRG of vital oil revenue and cause deep concern to global trading houses such as Vitol and Glencore, which have granted the semi-autonomous government billions of dollars in loans against future oil sales. Baghdad's lightning military offensive into northern Iraq came after the Kurdistan Regional Government held an independence referendum last month. Major-General Soleimani, one of the most influential military figures in the Middle East, with reach in Syria and Lebanon, issued tough warnings to Kurdish leaders ahead of the Iraqi military advance. "We went inside the oilfield facilities after Kurdish workers fled and we found overalls and safety boots thrown on the ground," said an engineer from the Baghdad-run North Oil Company, who declined to be named because he was ordered not to speak publicly about the issue. "It seems that workers took them off and escaped very quickly." RINGING ALARMS NOC crews entered oil facilities in the Bai Hassan and Avana fields on Oct. 17 for the first time since 2014, when Peshmerga forces drove Islamic State from the area and found all crude oil stations unmanned. Peshmerga fighters had also withdrawn. "After we discovered that some of the key equipment was missing and the control panel was ringing alarms of crude processing malfunction, we immediately shut down oil wells," the NOC engineer said. A week after the operation, Iraqi engineers are still struggling to resume Kirkuk's oil production, saying they had yet to understand how to operate the equipment processing some 350,000 barrels per day. The military offensive more than halved Kurdistan's oil output and cut its exports to global markets via Turkey by two thirds. The drop in exports has deprived the region of more than $200 million in revenues over the past week, a Kurdish oil industry source familiar with loadings told Reuters. It has also dealt a further blow to the region's finances already stretched by a fight against Islamic State and a budget crisis caused by a fall in oil prices. The United States has called on both sides to resume dialogue, saying the tensions hamper efforts to fight Islamic State. Resuming normal oil production and exports will be challenging and will take at least another week and will only succeed if Iraqi and Kurdish engineers agree to cooperate, according to both sides. On Tuesday, NOC officials asked Kurdish engineering firm Kar Group to send back its workers, according to sources on both sides. Iraqi engineers need guidance on how to operate recently installed equipment at Bai Hassan and Avana, the sources said. The pumping and operational stations for both oil fields are located in the city of Dahuk, which unlike Kirkuk is still under the control of the Peshmerga forces. LIKE A LOCKED BOX "Energy facilities in Kirkuk are more like a locked box and only their crew have the password," the Iraqi engineer said. Kar Group has, however, so far refrained from going back without security guarantees, according to sources close to the engineering company. Kirkuk, one of the oldest and best known oil areas in the Middle East, had long been under the control of Iraqi forces until it was over-run by Islamic State. In 2014, it was retaken by the Peshmerga, the official security forces of the KRG, as part of their advance on Islamic State. That allowed Kurdistan to regain control of an area it believes is historically Kurdish and ramp up exports from the oil fields while borrowing billions of dollars from trading houses and Russian state oil major Rosneft. "We need to figure out who gets what when the fields resume production. At the moment the potential split of revenues is far from clear," said the Kurdish oil industry source. Before the referendum, Kurdistan was exporting some 600,000 bpd of crude via Turkey, which it said had made it almost totally economically independent as it could pay its own bills without the need to wait for budget transfers from Baghdad. Under the deal with Baghdad, Kurdistan was exporting 540,000 bpd on behalf of the government in the city of Erbil and some 60,000 bpd on behalf of NOC. With the loss of control of the Kirkuk area, Kurdistan will be in theory left with only 250,000-300,000 bpd of its own output, less than it needs to cover its debt obligations. Vitol, Glencore, Petraco and Trafigura have loaned Kurdistan some $2.5 billion and Russia's Rosneft has loaned some $1.2 billion. Glencore's boss Ivan Glasenberg said last week he could not rule out a rescheduling of the payments. (Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov, editing by Peter Millership and Nick Tattersall)
La Montanita (Colombia) (AFP) - Felix Salcedo lost an arm fighting during Colombia's half-century civil war which ended in August. Today, he uses his remaining arm to grow pineapples.

Like dozens of other former FARC guerrillas in his village, Salcedo is trying to earn a living legally after his rebel movement disarmed under a December peace deal with the government.

Salcedo, 38, thinks back on the half of his life he spent with Colombia's largest rebel force, which in September transformed into a political party.

An anti-personnel mine tore off Salcedo's left arm, he explains as he sprays pesticides at the plantation of 20,000 young pineapple plants.

Peace hasn't come easily to the country where for decades the FARC controlled areas where coca leaf and cocaine production flourished.

Not only have there been delays in implementing the peace accord but the ex-combatants face strong temptations to join dissident rebels, keep their weapons, and traffic drugs.

Last week, UN assistant secretary-general for human rights Andrew Gilmour said "reintegration is not going so well" because "there is nothing" for returning FARC fighters.

La Montanita village, with its houses of metal sheeting and zinc roofs surrounded by emerald green plantations, is considered a success for the peace plan.

In the country's south, it is one of 26 demobilization zones for the 7,000 ex-members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

His fighting days are over but Salcedo has found renewed motivation from the esprit de corps that kept FARC going for 53 years.

"To be united, that's what it takes to work, to carry out future projects," he says of the pineapples, planted thanks to a fund created by 150 former rebels assisted by public subsidy.

- 'Harder' than war -

In this jungle zone which was a historic bastion of FARC, about 250 ex-rebels came together to start their lives anew in agriculture, fish farming, or as cobblers.

Story continues

Some have opened bookstores or bakeries.

The aim is to transform the demobilization zones into villages for former FARC members and their families, so they can put into practice the socialist ideals on which their movement was founded.

FARC and another rebel group were formed in 1964 to fight for land rights and protect poor rural communities.

Over subsequent decades, the conflict drew in paramilitary groups and state forces in what became a many-sided war fueled by drug trafficking.

It left about 260,000 people dead, 60,000 unaccounted for and seven million displaced in Latin America's longest conflict.

"This process we are going through is harder than the war itself... We have to invent (these projects) and a whole lot more," says Danilo Ortiz, who spent 20 of his 34 years in FARC.

Now he repairs shoes.

"What we see here is a good example of how the reintegration process should be carried out," says Jean Arnault, a Frenchman who heads the United Nations mission in Colombia.

The UN was tasked with supervising the guerrillas' disarmament and return to civilian life.

But elsewhere in the country, ex-guerrillas have quit the reintegration program, deciding to find their own ways of making a living, or to join dissident rebels.

Between 500 and 800 have turned to the dissidents, said State Ombudsman Carlos Negret.

"If people in the countryside don't see state aid arriving, it's going to be very difficult to have the conditions needed for the peace process," he cautioned during an interview with AFP.

FARC's former commanders criticize the government of President Juan Manuel Santos for not respecting what was negotiated. The government attributes delays in implementing the accord to bureaucratic and logistical problems.

"The state must be reintegrated in all the regions that were left aside," says Pastor Alape, one of the former commanders.

Salcedo and Ortiz, the two ex-guerrillas, share Alape's frustration but want to be more hopeful.

They smile as they consider the "collective effort" that will produce the income from the village's first peacetime harvest of pineapples.

"United, we will never be defeated," Ortiz says, in an old revolutionary refrain.
The President-elect has denied allegations made in the dossier: AP

A conservative website has said it initially funded the firm that went on to compile a controversial dossier on Donald Trumps alleged ties to Russia.

Representatives of the Washington Free Beacon told the US House Intelligence Committee, which is running one of multiple investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election, that the outlet retained Fusion GPS to look into the backgrounds of Mr Trump and other Republican presidential candidates.

We retained Fusion GPS to provide research on multiple candidates in the Republican presidential primary, just as we retained other firms to assist in our research into Hillary Clinton, the Free Beacon said in a statement published on its website.

The revelation adds another twist to the drama around Fusions work during the campaign. The firm later retained a former British spy, Christopher Steele, who compiled a salacious dossier on Mr Trumps alleged connections to Russia.

The President has rejected the dossier as false and decried its publication as a partisan attack - a claim bolstered by a Washington Post report this week that Fusion was hired by Marc Elias, an attorney who worked for Democratic nominee Hillary Clintons presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

But the news that a conservative publication first hired Fusion GPS complicates that picture, underscoring the various forces arrayed against Mr Trump - representing members of both the Republican and the Democratic establishment - as he pursued his unlikely ascent to the presidency.

In its statement, the Free Beacon disavowed any knowledge of the Steele dossiers findings, Mr Steeles work or the relationship between Fusion and Democratic figures.

It said none of the information Fusion turned over to the Free Beacon also appeared in the Steele dossier.

Congressional investigators have been examining the work of Fusion GPS, spending hours questioning the firms co-founder.
Moscow (AFP) - Almost 94 years after his death and a quarter century after the fall of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin's mummified body continues to be displayed in a mausoleum on Red Square in Moscow.

Though the question of what to do about Lenin's body comes up regularly in Russia, authorities have so far been reluctant to remove the corpse.

Here is what you need to know about the body of the first Soviet leader.

- The mausoleum -

When Lenin died in January 1924, Soviet authorities organised a competition for artists to build a monument to the revolutionary leader. Alexey Shchusev, one of early Soviet Russia's most renowned architects, won it.

He initially erected two provisional wooden mausoleums before building the final version, made of concrete and covered in marble, which he only finished in 1930.

The monument, a straight-angled red pyramid right by the Kremlin walls, was partially reconstructed in 1945 when a platform was added for Soviet leaders to stand on during Red Square parades.

- A Soviet symbol -

Lenin's body was originally supposed to be shown to the public only temporarily, since he had asked to be buried. But Soviet leaders decided to preserve him and turned his mausoleum into a major Soviet symbol.

When Joseph Stalin died in 1953, his body was placed next to his predecessor's for the public to visit. Stalin's corpse was removed from the mausoleum in 1961, during Nikita Khrushchev's de-stalinisation, and placed in a nearby necropolis by the Kremlin wall.

- Scientifically maintained -

The conservation of Lenin's embalmed body for over 90 years is an unlikely scientific challenge that has involved generations of researchers.

His body is preserved by a group of scientists linked to Moscow's Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. The group has also worked on preserving the corpses of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh, Angola's Agostinho Neto and North Korea's Kim Il-Sung.

Every week, the scientists check on Lenin's body, which lies at a specific temperature and humidity. The mummy is encased in a glass sarcophagus which protects him from bacteria and prevents him from drying out and decomposing.

Story continues

- A state secret -

The scientists have not revealed the secret to maintaining the body. But one of the group's members, Pavel Fomenko, explained the embalming procedure after the death of Kim Jong-Il in 2011: "We remove all internal organs, fill the veins with a solution and extract blood from the tissues."

"The body is placed in a glass bathtub filled with an embalming solution, closed with a lid and covered with a white sheet. Precise temperatures and humidity are maintained in the room."

Progressively, the solution replaces the water inside the body cells. The embalming process lasts about six months, the scientist explained.

- An uncertain future -

Should Lenin's body be removed from the mausoleum and buried as he wanted? Successive leaders have have avoided the question.

In the 1990s, president Boris Yeltsin did not dare touch the issue. He feared the reaction of the Communist Party, then a real opposition force in a newly post-Soviet Russia.

His successor, Vladimir Putin, has also preferred to leave Lenin alone. Putin has said that "there is a time for everything" and that the Russian people will decide to bury Lenin "when the moment comes".

According to a survey conducted by independent pollster Levada in March 2017, only 31 percent of Russians oppose finally putting Lenin into the ground.
Florida police have released a new surveillance video of a person of interest wearing a long jacket with a hood and repeatedly flipping open a cell phone in investigators hunt for a suspected serial killer in a Tampa neighborhood.

The person, whose clothing somewhat resembles a kind of hazmat suit from afar, was tracked on video nonchalantly walking in the area near the time when the first victim  Benjamin Mitchell, 22  was fatally shot Oct. 9. The individual runs from the area after Mitchell is shot. Police uploaded the video Thursday and have referred to the person of interest as a man, but its impossible to know for certain from the footage the persons gender or age.

Police believe either the person was involved in the shooting or may have witnessed something that could be valuable to investigators, Tampa Police Interim Chief Brian Dugan told WFTS-TV. Even the individuals apparent habit of flipping a cell phone might be a clue to the persons identity, Dugan told CNN.

Police believe Mitchell, 32-year-old Monica Hoffa, and 20-year-old Anthony Naiboa may have been targeted at random by a serial killer because they didnt know each, werent killed during robberies, and were all shot within a mile radius near bus stops in Tampas Seminole Heights neighborhood.

Officials are determined to find the killer and end the shootings. Bring his head to me, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn told police earlier this week, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Lets get this done.

Anthony Naiboa, Monica Hoffa and Benjamin Mitchell may all have been the victims of a serial killer operating in a Tampa neighborhood. (Photo: Florida Crime Stroppers)

Police released other surveillance footage of the same person earlier this month. The video clips all show a person walking with a very straight back but with a casual gait, flicking a cell phone. The new footage shows the person running with long, effortless strides after Mitchell was shot.

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This week, two Republican senators offered powerful rebukes of President Donald Trumps violation of fundamental norms. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) did so in a remarkable speech notable for its rare moral clarity on the Senate floor. Announcing his retirement, Flake said.

[W]e must stop pretending that the degradation of our politics and the conduct of some in our executive branch are normal. They are not normal. Reckless, outrageous and undignified behavior has become excused and countenanced as telling it like it is when it is actually just reckless, outrageous and undignified. And when such behavior emanates from the top of our government, it is something else. It is dangerous to a democracy.

Flakes Tennessean colleague Bob Corker gave a more subdued, but also damning, account of Trumps behavior. Corker said that the president has great difficulty with the truth  on many issues. Bemoaning Trumps legacy as the debasement of the nation, Corker insisted Trump has proven himself unable to rise to the occasion  I dont think that thats possible. Hes obviously not going to rise to the occasion as president.

In response to both men, a chorus of liberal critics has sounded the same note: Nice words, but so what? Both men, after all, are Republicans who support much of the substantive agenda the administration is pushing. Being willing to tell the truth about the presidents unfitness doesnt change ones views of health-care, regulation, or tax reform.

But the question is a fair one. Whats a principled Republican to do?

We have a suggestion on a simple place to start: Corker, Flake, and sympathetic Republicans should join with Democrats to block any and all U.S. attorney nominees whom Trump has interviewed.

Over the weekend, Politico reported the alarming news that Trump has been personally interviewing prospective U.S. attorneys: President Donald Trump has personally interviewed at least two potential candidates for U.S. attorney positions in New York, according to two sources familiar with the matter  a move that critics say raises questions about whether they can be sufficiently independent from the president.

Story continues

Trump also reportedly met with Jessie Liu earlier this year while she was under consideration to become the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia; Liu has since been confirmed to the role. Before that, Trump also met with former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, asking that Bharara remain in office before unceremoniously firing him a few months later along with most other remaining Obama-era holdover U.S. attorneys.

This is, as they say, not normal.

There is broad consensus on this point. Bharara has elaborated at length about his concerns with his own interactions with the president, and he has said the more recent development does not look good and reasonably raises a number of questions regarding Trumps motivation. The Washington Post editorial page today called for Congress to stop considering nominees Trump has interviewed. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, condemned Trumps personal involvement as potentially coercive and intimidating. According to Blumenthal:

Whats most alarming about the president interviewing these particular candidates for U.S. attorney positions is that these chief federal prosecutors are going to decide whether to indict Trump campaign advisors or staff if theres collusion between the Trump campaign and Russians proven and possibly consider criminal charges against the president himself.

Blumenthal said he and fellow senators had discussed potentially blocking nominees. Ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) also issued the following statement:

The U.S. attorney for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York  like the U.S. attorney for Washington D.C.  would have jurisdiction over many important cases, including those involving President Trumps personal and family business interests.

Theres no reason for President Trump to be meeting with candidates for these positions, which create the appearance that he may be trying to influence or elicit inappropriate commitments from potential U.S. attorneys. U.S. attorneys must be loyal to the Constitution  not the president.

In pushing back on the criticisms, an unnamed White House official accused Senate Democrats of attempting to reduce this presidents constitutional powers. As CNN reported:

These are individuals that the president nominates and the Senate confirms under Article II of the Constitution, the official said. We realize Senate Democrats would like to reduce this presidents constitutional powers, but he and other presidents before him and after may talk to individuals nominated to positions within the executive branch.

The White House is absolutely correct on this point. There is no law barring the president from meeting with these individuals. But as the Washington Post notes, the fact that Mr. Trumps actions are legal does not mean that they are acceptable. Theres a norm here. And its a norm Congress needs to defend.

Prior presidents have been careful not to meet with prospective U.S. attorneys in order to avoid any appearance of impropriety or investigative interference. While the Justice Department is part of the executive branch and the president does select the U.S. attorneys who work for him, White House-Justice Department contacts are carefully limited. The departments job is to do justice  that is, to evenly enforce the law without respect to politics. It is not the hired gun of the White House  which has its own lawyers  and indeed, playing such a role would be antithetical to the departments mission.

Preserving the Justice Departments independence, both in perception and reality, is so critical to the functioning of U.S. law enforcement that an elaborate series of formal procedures and other norms have developed regarding the nature of interactions between the White House and the department. Those norms begin with the selection process for U.S. attorneys themselves. While the president makes a final selection, normally he does not meet with the candidates personally. This process avoids the appearance of any kind of patronage relationship. It also just makes sense, considering there are 93 U.S. attorneys and presidents dont have time to meet with every lower level nominee.

The Trump administration and the president personally have repeatedly transgressed these norms and written policies on appropriate communications. Former FBI Director James Comey has testified at length about Trumps effort to wield improper influence over investigations into his associates and to extract assurances of personal loyalty. Importantly, he specifically described Trumps friendly and incidental contacts with him as efforts to develop a patronage relationship  and they quickly came to involve substantive investigative requests. Bharara too describes inexplicable personal contacts that troubled him  contacts that he believed were inappropriate efforts to cultivate a relationship that would later become demands or requests on investigative matters.

The problem is not hypothetical. Notably, the Wall Street Journal reported this week the former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is facing a money-laundering probe in the Southern District of New York. And thats not all. The Journal also reports:

In the Eastern District of New York, based in Brooklyn, federal prosecutors are probing Kushner Cos., the New York property-development business owned by the family of Mr. Kushner, a White House senior adviser, regarding its use of an investment-for-immigration program, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Kushner Cos. has been subpoenaed in that investigation, which involves the federal visa program known as EB-5.

The inappropriate contacts do not end with prosecutors. During his short tenure, former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci claimed he had personally contacted the FBI, in apparent violation of guidelines, regarding documents he claimed were leaked. And the presidents own public comments and those of his press secretary have raised concerns about attempts to influence ongoing or possible future investigations.

In other words, as noted by senators and former officials critical of Trumps conduct with respect to U.S. attorneys, there is a context to Trumps actions that heightens the risk inherent in direct presidential contacts with law enforcement. Trump has reportedly met with candidates for U.S. attorney in, coincidentally or not, the precise jurisdictions in which civil and criminal matters related to the Trump organization or the Trump family members and their associates are already ongoing. In other words, Trump is meeting with the U.S. attorneys who are most likely to matter for his own future interests.

In short, Trumps conduct is an especially pernicious assault of the norms that create an independent Department of Justice. These norms are essential to our government, and they require an active defense. If they are not defended, they will atrophy. This is precisely what Flake was talking about when said the other day that Congress needs to assert itself in defense of norms of decent government.

And it is up to Congress to defend these norms  and a combination of Democrats and the Republicans should be able to draw a sharp line in the sand.

Because while the president is right that he has the power to interview nominees, he isnt the only one with relevant and undisputed constitutional powers. Congress has a few too  including the power to vote down nominees to positions like United States attorney.

The Senate Judiciary Committee should adopt a clear red line: It will not forward for consideration the confirmation of any future U.S. attorney candidate who has personally met with the president in the course of being considered for nomination. It should announce this policy publicly, as an entire committee, and on a bipartisan basis.

It wont, of course, because its members are not all as courageous as Flake and Corker have been. But even without a unified committee position, individual Republican senators committed to this norm should be willing to join forces with Democrats both in the committee and on the floor to defeat nominees who fail this test.

As Flake put it the other day, we must be unafraid to stand up and speak out as if our country depends on it  because it does. Flake says he plans to spend the remaining 14 months of my Senate term doing just that. Defending the independence of U.S. attorneys would be a great place to start.
Chi Chi the golden retriever escaped the dog meat trade and has had all four of her legs amputated, but she now dedicates her life to helping others as a therapy dog.

Read: Dog Thrives With 3 Amputated Legs After Being Run Over by a Train

The 3-year-old pup that rescued from a dumpster in South Korea spends her days visiting with amputees, veterans, nursing home patients, people with Alzheimers and children with autism, all with the hope of brightening their day.

"She impacts people in different ways based on where theyre at, her owner, Elizabeth Howell of Phoenix, Ariz., told InsideEdition.com. "Theres compassion, theres understanding. Theres this desire to never give up and I think thats how she lives her life every day."

She said she believes Chi Chis horrific past helps her be a better therapy dog today.

The poor pup was discovered in a dumpster in South Korea with wires wrapped tightly around her four legs, Howell said. The wires wore down to the bone on some parts, and caused necrosis on her flesh.

A rescue group originally wanted to euthanize the pup due to the extent of her injuries, but decided to instead transport her to a veterinarian five hours away for surgery.

She was in horrible condition, but she was wagging her tail and leaning forward [to be pet by] them, Howell explained. She had this sweet, loving disposition. She was different. They decided to save her.

Veterinarians decided the only way to save her life was to amputate all four of her legs.

As rescuers reached out to American based organizations to see if Chi Chi could be adopted abroad, Howell said the pup immediately stole her heart because of her positive attitude.

When she first arrived in our home and joined our family, she was definitely still afraid of people and she was very careful with her interactions with people, Howell explained. But it didnt take long for her to realize she was safe now and we were going to protect her. Shes left all of that in the past. Shes forgiven, and its done.

Story continues

Chi Chi now gets around the Howells home using her prosthetics that are modeled shorter than an average golden retrievers legs due to how much of her legs were amputated.

Read: Chick Digs 2-Legged Chihuahua After They Were Both Rescued at Several Weeks Old

Howell explained that every morning, her husband carries her downstairs and puts on her prosthetics.

Sometimes, they help Chi Chi remove them in the afternoon to give her a break from the sores they can cause, but often they leave the four prosthetic legs on until she goes to sleep at night.

Shes a transformed dog, Howell said. Its amazing to think what awful things people did to her and now she loves being around people and sharing her joy.

Related Articles:
(COLUMBUS, Ohio)  The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutionality of a law requiring HIV-infected individuals to tell sexual partners of their status before having sex or risk criminal charges.

The courts unanimous decision rejected a First Amendment challenge, finding that the law regulates conduct, not speech.

The state has a valid interest in curbing HIV transmission to sexual partners who may be unaware of the risk, said Justice Terrence ODonnell.

The laws treatment of individuals with knowledge of their HIV-positive status who fail to disclose that status to a sexual partner furthers the state interest here, ODonnell wrote.

At issue before the court was the conviction of an Ohio man sent to prison in 2015 for failing to tell his girlfriend he had HIV after they started having sex.

Attorneys for defendant Orlando Batista argued the law is unconstitutionally based on outmoded stigmas against the gay community and doesnt take into consideration current survival rates for people with HIV.

Ohios HIV assault law also violates free speech rights because it focuses only on disclosure, not the actual transmission of the disease, they said.

Breaking the law is considered a felonious assault with a possible prison sentence of up to eight years.

An appeal is likely to the U.S. Supreme Court, Hamilton County Public Defender Raymond Faller said Thursday. He called it a complicated case which will receive a lot of national attention.

The law discourages people from getting tested for HIV, since individuals cant be prosecuted if they dont know their status, Faller said in court arguments last year. Theres also evidence showing people take sexual risks with partners despite knowing theyre HIV positive.

In Missouri, a former college wrestler is using similar arguments to challenge his conviction and 30-year sentence for infecting another man with HIV and endangering four other sexual partners.

Thirty-four states including Missouri and Ohio have HIV-specific assault laws, according to the New York-based Center for HIV Law and Policy. More than 300 people have been charged under these laws since 2008, the center says.

Story continues

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 1.1 million people live with HIV in the US, with 1 in 7 of them not knowing it. The estimated number of annual HIV infections declined 18 percent from 2008 to 2014, according to the CDC.

Prosecutors argued the law upholds a compelling state interest in discouraging exposure to and spread of an incurable disease.

The law does not require abstinence, limit sexual conduct to a certain type or dictate use of safe sex measures, Paula Adams, an assistant Hamilton County prosecutor, said in a February court filing.

The law is also not a free speech violation because it covers both the failure of a partner to explain something and having sex without a partner being fully informed, Adams said.
Sydney (AFP) - Hopes for a vast new marine sanctuary in pristine East Antarctica were dashed Saturday after a key conservation summit failed to reach agreement, with advocates urging "greater vision and ambition".

Expectations were high ahead of the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) -- a treaty tasked with overseeing protection and sustainable exploitation of the Southern Ocean.

Last year's summit in Hobart saw the establishment of a massive US and New Zealand-backed marine protected area (MPA) around the Ross Sea covering an area roughly the size of Britain, Germany and France combined.

But an Australia and France-led push this year to create a second protected area in East Antarctica spanning another one million square kilometre zone failed.

Officials told AFP that Russia and China were key stumbling blocks, worried about compliance issues and fishing rights. Consensus is needed from all 24 CCAMLR member countries and the European Union.

Greenpeace called for "greater vision and ambition" in the coming year while WWF's Antarctic program chief Chris Johnson said it was another missed opportunity.

"We let differences get in the way of responding to the needs of fragile wildlife," he said.

Australia's chief delegate Gillian Slocum described the failure as "sad".

She also bemoaned little progress on addressing the impacts of climate change which was having a "tangible effect" on the frozen continent.

"While CCAMLR was not able to adopt a Climate Change Response Work Program this year, members will continue to work together ahead of the next meeting to better incorporate climate change impacts into the commissions decision-making process," she said.

- Vital to move forward -

Plans were set out in 2009 to establish a series of MPAs in the Southern Ocean allowing marine life to migrate between areas for breeding and foraging, but it has been slow going.

Story continues

Antarctica is home to penguins, seals, toothfish, whales and huge numbers of krill, a staple food for many species.

They are considered critical for scientists to study how marine ecosystems function and to understand the impacts of climate change on the ocean.

Andrea Kavanagh, head of The Pew Charitable Trusts' Antarctic and Southern Ocean work, said after last years historic Ross Sea designation it was "disappointing that CCAMLR could not agree to protect more of the vast and biologically diverse Southern Ocean".

She said it was vital to "continue moving forward in the coming years by agreeing to further protections ... or risk jeapordizing the health of the regions intact ecosystems".

A third German-backed plan is in the works to protect the Weddell Sea, which extends from the southeast of South America over some 2.8 million square kilometres.

But it has been sent back for amendments.

A proposal for a fourth zone of 94,000 square kilometres around the Western Antarctic Peninsula was presented by Argentina and Chile, conservationists told AFP.

The East Antarctica plan originally comprised seven large marine areas but was reduced to three as a compromise -- MacRobertson, Drygalski, and the D'Urville Sea-Mertz region.

The plan was for D'Urville to be a no-catch zone, which WWF said would aid a stricken Adelie penguin colony near the French Antarctic research station there.

Mass starvation wiped out thousands of chicks in the colony this year, with unusually thick sea ice linked to the break up of the Mertz glacier forcing their parents to forage further for food. Only two survived.

While the East Antarctica proposal failed to get over the line, a research and monitoring plan to oversee the implementation of the Ross Sea MPA so scientists can better understand how it affects the ecosystem's health was endorsed.

Protection of the Ross Sea takes effect from December 1.
Sydney (AFP) - Hopes for a vast new marine sanctuary in pristine East Antarctica were dashed Saturday with a key conservation summit failing to reach agreement.

Expectations were high ahead of the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) -- a treaty tasked with overseeing protection and sustainable exploitation of the Southern Ocean.

Last year's summit in Hobart saw the establishment of a massive US and New Zealand-backed marine protected area (MPA) around the Ross Sea covering an area roughly the size of Britain, Germany and France combined.

But an Australia and France-led push this year to create a second protected area in East Antarctica covering another one million square kilometre zone failed.

Officials told AFP that Russia and China were key stumbling blocks, worried about compliance issues and fishing rights. Consensus is needed from all 24 CCAMLR member countries and the European Union.

WWF's Antarctic program chief Chris Johnson said it was another missed opportunity.

"We let differences get in the way of responding to the needs of fragile wildlife," he said.

Plans were set out in 2009 to establish a series of MPAs in the Southern Ocean allowing marine life to migrate between areas for breeding and foraging, but it has been slow going.

Antarctica is home to penguins, seals, toothfish, whales and huge numbers of krill, a staple food for many species.

They are considered critical for scientists to study how marine ecosystems function and to understand the impacts of climate change on the ocean.

"After last years historic designation of the Ross Sea region MPA, it is disappointing that CCAMLR could not agree to protect more of the vast and biologically diverse Southern Ocean," said Andrea Kavanagh, head of The Pew Charitable Trusts' Antarctic and Southern Ocean work.

She said it was vital for CCAMLR to "continue moving forward in the coming years by agreeing to further protections ... or risk jeapordizing the health of the regions intact ecosystems".

Story continues

A third German-backed plan is in the works to protect the Weddell Sea, which extends from the southeast of South America over some 2.8 million square kilometres.

But it has been sent back for amendments.

A proposal for a fourth zone of 94,000 square kilometres around the Western Antarctic Peninsula was presented by Argentina and Chile, conservationists told AFP.

While the East Antarctica proposal failed to get over the line, a research and monitoring plan to oversee the implementation of the Ross Sea MPA so scientists can better understand how it affects the ecosystem's health was endorsed.

Protection of the Ross Sea takes effect from December 1.
Friday, October 27, 2017

In Belgrade, Serbias capital city, pet owners have few options available to them for their pets burial. The city has been discussing a pet cemetery for over a decade, but construction is still in the planning stages. Many pet owners refuse to use the public services available to them and instead opt to bury their pets in local parks and suburban forests. Sasa Milovanovic, a resident who frequents local parks with his dog, Woopy, said residents with pets must simply manage any way they can.

See Jovana Gec, Improvised Pet Graveyards Hidden in Belgrade Parks, Associated Press, October 26, 2017.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/trusts_estates_prof/2017/10/improvised-pet-graveyards-hidden-in-belgrade-parks.html
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional committee on Thursday set a Nov. 2 deadline for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) to provide information related to its $300 million contract with a small Montana firm to repair damage to the utility's infrastructure caused by Hurricane Maria. "Specifically, the size and terms of the contract, as well as the circumstances surrounding the contract's formation, raise questions regarding PREPA's standard contract awarding procedures," the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Rob Bishop, said in a letter to PREPA's executive director, Ricardo Ramos. Media reports that Whitefish Energy Holdings entered the contract with PREPA to fix the utility's power grid raised questions among Democrats in Congress and others when it was disclosed that the Montana firm won the contract without a competitive bidding process. The two-year-old company had only two full-time employees and was rapidly hiring workers to tackle the job of patching up the destroyed power grid that has left most of the U.S. territory without electricity for weeks following the destructive hurricane. While Bishop's letter said emergency circumstances could "necessitate" emergency relief contracts, "Transparency and accountability in government contracting, however, is not to be compromised." Separately, U.S. Representatives including Greg Walden, a Republican, and Frank Pallone, a Democrat, asked Whitefish in a letter to provide documents related to the contract to the Energy and Commerce committee before Nov. 9. Whitefish founding partner Ken Luce said his company appreciated the efforts to gather information so lawmakers have "confidence in the overall process to support the people of Puerto Rico" and Whitefish's capabilities. And two Democratic U.S. senators urged the head of a congressional watchdog office to probe the PREPA contract, saying they were concerned about the bidding process and potential high costs. Senators Maria Cantwell and Ron Wyden wrote a letter to Eugene Dodaro, the U.S. comptroller general at the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, a copy of which was seen by Reuters. The senators said they were also concerned about reports of "contemporaneous communications between Whitefish and senior members of the federal executive branch, including Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke," as the contract was being discussed. A Washington Post report this week said the chief executive of Whitefish, Andy Techmanski, and Zinke acknowledged that they know each other and that one of the secretary's sons worked at one of Techmanski's construction sites. Both Zinke's office and Techmanski said the secretary had no role in Whitefish securing the contract. The Interior Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the senators' letter. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello has defended the contract saying it was necessary to put workers in place quickly. Whitefish, which has hired workers mostly through subcontracts, has called criticism "unfounded." (Reporting by Richard Cowan, Timothy Gardner and Nick Brown in New York; Editing by Richard Chang and Tom Brown)
In Houston, there are few more popular business owners than Jim McIngvale.

The man affectionately known as Mattress Mack started selling mattresses out of his truck nearly 40 years ago. With the support of the community, the Gallery Furniture founder has since grown his business to the point where it averages $200 million in sales per year. That alone is quite a claim to fame. But his most endearing quality is his willingness to give back to the community that helped make him.

That remained true on Friday when Mattress Mack surprised several Astros fans with free tickets to World Series games this weekend at Minute Maid Park. Among them, a military family thats currently separated.

According to KHOU, Nikki Raingel, whose daughter is currently stationed in Japan, came to the store on Friday for a hat giveaway. Little did she know that her daughter had contacted McIngvale explaining how much it would mean to her mother to attend a World Series. Once McIngvale heard her story, he decided hed surprise Raingel with tickets to attend Game 3 on Friday.

Early Friday morning, he made a few Astros fans dreams come true by giving away several free tickets to the World Series, leaving Nikki Raingel speechless.

Ive never won anything in my life, this is not even winning this is because of my daughter, so it means so much, I wish she could be here to take my mom, said Raingel. Nikkis daughter is a Marine and a huge Astros fan.

Shes stationed in Japan so she cant share her love for the Astros with her grandmother but her story moved Mattress Mack to send her two favorite women instead.

Hes so kind, hes so awesome, I really appreciate it, said the young Marine, via FaceTime.

On Friday, McIngvale made several other friends when he surprised customers waiting in line with tickets. As a result, those fans will get to take in a World Series game for free.

A view of Minute Maid Park in Houston before World Series Game 3. (Getty Images)

This is just another example of McIngvales kindness. His most notable act of goodwill came just a few weeks ago. After Hurricane Harvey ravaged the Houston area, he opened his store to residents displaced by the storm. His store provided food and shelter.

Story continues

Like J.J. Watt, who was on hand to throw out the first pitch before World Series Game 3, McIngvale was a leader when times got tough. His spot as a pillar and a hero in Houston has long been cemented.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

      

Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
Houston Texans J.J. Watt prepares to throw out the first pitch before Game 3 of baseballs World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, in Houston. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

For the first World Series game in Houston since 2005, the Astros could have chosen a number of worthwhile and notable people from the past dozen years to throw out the first pitch. Instead, they chose one man whose impact has been felt tremendously lately.

Thats J.J. Watt, the Houston Texas star defensive end, whose fund-raising efforts have topped $37 million since Hurricane Harvey ravaged Houston. It was a fitting honor for a man who has done a lot to help his city. Watt, who has since broken his leg, had to come out on crutches to do it.

But he still got the first pitch all the way to Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel, who was his catcher.

It wasnt a strike, but hey, Watt is on crutches. That  and getting people to donate $37 million for hurricane relief  will get a guy some leeway with the umpires watching at home.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

     

Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
Baghdad (AFP) - Iraqi and Kurdish commanders made "progress" in talks Saturday on Kurdish fighters withdrawing from disputed areas, Iraq's chief of staff said hours before a truce in clashes over a key border post was due to expire.

But General Othman al-Ghanimi told reporters after the talks in central Nineveh province that there are "sticking points" that still need to be resolved.

"We have reached an agreement on some points," he said, adding that the Iraqi side is still waiting to hear from the Kurds on a number of other issues.

"There has been progress but the definitive solution is in the hands of the other (Kurdish) delegation. They must return to Kurdistan for consultation and give us their answer," Ghanimi said.

"We will remain in touch by phone," he added.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Friday night ordered a 24-hour ceasefire in clashes between federal forces and Kurdish peshmerga fighters.

The two sides had faced off since Thursday as Iraqi forces sought to capture the vital oil export point of Fishkhabur on the border with Turkey.

Both armed and trained by the US in the fight against the Islamic State group, they had exchanged heavy artillery fire in the latest flare-up of a crisis sparked by a Kurdish independence vote on September 25.

Abadi's spokesman earlier Saturday told AFP that a "joint technical committee" comprising Iraqi and Kurdish delegates was meeting to find a solution to the stand-off at the border post.

- Return to 'Blue line' -

"The main task of this joint technical committee is to allow the deployment without violence of federal forces along the borders," Saad al-Hadithi said.

"Commanders of the federal forces and of the peshmerga are meeting to allow for this redeployment in a peaceful and humane fashion," he said.

The aim of the talks was to negotiate the return to a 2003 "blue line" restricting autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan to the three northern provinces of Arbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah, said Hadithi.

Story continues

A Kurdish official said the US-led coalition pushed them towards negotiations.

Since mid-October, Iraqi forces have reclaimed the entire oil-rich province of Kirkuk, stripping the Kurds of a major chunk of their oil revenues and dealing a crippling blow to their hopes of independence.

On Friday, the Iraqi military gave the Kurds an ultimatum to withdraw from the Fishkhabur border area where rival pipelines belonging to the two sides cross into Turkey.

Since the US-led invasion of 2003, and especially in the thick of a lightning advance across northern Iraq by IS in 2014, the Kurds had taken control of the territories disputed with Baghdad.

But Iraqi forces have over the past two weeks recaptured all of the disputed lands, much of it without Kurdish resistance.

Iraq's constitution adopted during the US-led occupation of 2003-2011 provides for plebiscites in the disputed areas on their possibile incorporation in the autonomous Kurdish region.

Baghdad insists, however, that the constitution provides for Iraqi federal control of the country's borders.
Iraq orders 24-hour truce in standoff with Kurds over Kirkuk takeover by Iraqi forces Peshmerga fighters relax on a hillside position on the frontline outside the town of Altun Kubri on Oct. 23, 2017 in Altun Kubri, Iraq. Iraqi forces and Kurdish fighters have clashed over the past week after Iraqi forces took over the disputed city of Kirkuk in reaction to last months controversial Kurdish Independence referendum. (Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered a 24-hour suspension to military operations against Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, to allow for the peaceful deployment of Iraqi troops at the border crossings with the Kurdistan region.

A Kurdish spokesman earlier said the two sides reached an agreement on Friday to stop fighting which broke out on Oct. 16, after Iraqi forces seized the oil-city of Kirkuk.

Abadi ordered the offensive on Kirkuk and other Kurdish-held territory in retaliation to the Sept. 25 vote for independence in a referendum organized by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)  a drive that was all but crushed by the surprise attack.

The 24-hour truce should allow a joint technical committee  to work on the deployment of federal Iraqi forces in all disputed areas, including Fish-Khabur, and the international border, Abadi said in a statement.

This should prevent bloodshed between the children of the same country.

He wants to take control of border crossings with neighboring countries, including one in the Fish-Khabur area through which an oil export pipeline crosses into Turkey, carrying Iraqi and Kurdish crude oil.

The KRG on Wednesday proposed an immediate ceasefire, a suspension of the referendum result and starting an open dialogue with the federal government based on the Iraqi constitution  call rejected by Baghdad.

According to the KRG, which is based in the Kurdish autonomous regions capital of Erbil, the ceasefire entered effect at 1 a.m. on Friday (2200 GMT Thursday).

The ceasefire is holding, Vahal Ali, the director of KRG President Masoud Barzanis media office, told Reuters.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has also urged dialogue to start, in a call to Abadi, the Iraqi central government said in a statement on Friday morning.

U.S.-backed Iraqi government forces, Iranian-backed paramilitaries and Kurdish fighters fought alongside each other to defeat Islamic State, also called ISIS, but the alliance has faltered with the militants largely defeated in the country. (Reuters)

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By Maggie Fick MUHORONI, Kenya (Reuters) - Kenya's repeat presidential election, boycotted this week by millions, has reignited long-running tensions between ethnic communities in some areas, leading inhabitants of one small village in the west to pick up traditional arms on Saturday. In the bright green sugarcane fields where the western Nyanza region rolls toward the Nandi hills, two tribes -- the Luo and the Kalenjin -- have lived in relative peace for years. But in the village of Koguta, down the road from the town of Mugoroni in Kisumu County, Thursday's polarizing vote reignited old grievances. The stand-off, defused by an emergency intervention of three county governors, was a stark reminder of how easily Kenya's months-long political crisis could spark the type of ethnic violence that killed 1,200 people after a flawed 2007 vote. On one side of Koguta are Kalenjins, here ardent supporters of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Kalenjin deputy, William Ruto. But the Luos across the road support opposition leader Raila Odinga, who called for a boycott of the vote because he said it would not be fair. Some of the Luos here fought police to stop ballot boxes being delivered. The Luo accused the Kalenjin of stealing cattle and burning their sugarcane crop in revenge, prompting both sides to grab machetes, spears, bows and arrows, and wooden clubs. "This is an area where they tried to come in with ballot boxes, there was serious resistance, so that was the genesis of all this enmity between the Kalenjins and the Luos," said Julius Genga, a county legislator, as a colleague stood atop a sports utility vehicle to calm a crowd of men with spears. The opposition dismissed the vote as a "sham" although Kenyatta's supporters say it was legitimate. Protests stopped four counties from opening polling stations at all. Only a third of voters turned up, and the opposition is likely to challenge the poll in court. "This has to do with politics," said Collins Owuor, 21, holding a machete. "Before politics we did not have problems with these people." In the distance, where smoke rose from sugarcane fields, Reuters saw police speaking to spear-wielding Kalenjins, but the local police chief warned journalists away. By the end of the afternoon's meetings, the cattle had been returned and officials said they hoped the risk of violence had been quelled. ELECTORAL SAGA Koguta is not the only place where simmering ethnic tensions have broken into the open. On Friday night in the Nairobi slum of Kawangware, a man was beaten to death and homes and shop burned down amid rumors that a TRIBAL militia had infiltrated the neighborhood of a different tribe. In Thursday's vote, Kenyatta only faced six minor candidates, none of whom won more than 1 percent in August, and that and the low turnout have quashed his hopes of securing a decisive mandate to lead east Africa's richest economy. Deputy president William Ruto, Kenyatta's running mate, told CNN on Saturday he expected the final tally from the vote to be ready by Sunday: "Shortly we will be having a declaration and finally a swearing in, in accordance with the constitution." The election board said on Saturday it would soon announce a new plan for the nearly 30 of 290 constituencies that have not voted yet. The constitution says the vote must be held in every constituency. More legal cases against the election are expected next week. If the courts fail to find a path out of the crisis, including a possible order for another rerun, the protracted and economically damaging stalemate between the Kenyatta and Odinga camps is likely to continue. The electoral saga is polarizing the nation and slowing growth in what has been one of Africas most vibrant economies, which is also a regional trade hub and a security ally for Western nations. In Odinga strongholds, residents accused authorities of trying to "force" voter participation. "This is pure oppression," said Hassan Hussein, a Muslim community leader. "The law says if you want to vote, you vote, if not, you don't." (Reporting by Maggie Fick; Additional reporting by George Obulutsa and Duncan Miriri in Nairobi; Editing by Alison Williams and Katharine Houreld)
By Ed Cropley and George Obulutsa NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's opposition rejected the nation's election re-run as "a sham" and said on Friday that plans to reorganise voting in its western strongholds where polls did not open risked provoking further violence and should be cancelled. President Uhuru Kenyatta has won over 96 percent of votes counted so far, according to a local media tally of numbers released, but his second term mandate is weak with turnout below 35 percent and a vote undermined by clashes. Pockets of violence continued on Friday, with police saying they shot dead one man, bringing to five the number of confirmed dead since voting began on Thursday. All were killed in the west of the country, which supports the opposition. The vote has exposed Kenya's deep political and ethnic divisions as violence flared and court cases drag on. It is being closely watched as Kenya is a regional trade and logistics hub and powerful security ally for Western nations. Musalia Mudavadi, a senior opposition leader, accused authorities of "ethnic profiling" and having "militarised elections" as they beef up security ahead of a plan to hold voting in Homa Bay, Kisumu, Migori and Siaya on Saturday. "In the event that (the election commission) refuses to listen to wisdom and instead goes on with this meaningless forced poll, we advise the people not to walk into this trap of death," he told reporters on Friday. "We call on the residents of these counties to stay away from these planned polls," he added. ONE KENYA, TWO FACES Kenya's first election, in August, was annulled by the courts because of procedural irregularities, denying Kenyatta a simple victory over his political rival. Turnout in that election was 80 percent. If the expected legal challenges fail to clear a path out of the crisis, including a possible order for another re-run, the result will be a protracted and economically damaging political stalemate between the Kenyatta and Odinga camps. "Unless the courts annul the election, Kenyatta will move forward without a clear mandate and Odinga will pursue a protest strategy whose chances of success in the circumstances are not very high," International Crisis Group analyst Murithi Mutiga said. The division was neatly captured in local media, with the Standard, a leading tabloid, headlining its front page: "One Kenya, two faces". The election commission said more than one in 10 polling stations failed to open due to "security challenges". Its chairman, Wafula Chebukati, tweeted overnight that 6.55 million ballots had been cast - just 34.5 percent of registered voters. A tally of results announced at the constituency level compiled by the Nation media group showed Kenyatta had won over 96 percent of the vote with 200 of 292 constituencies announced. Figures released by the election commission showed turnout in Kenyatta's Rift Valley and Central region strongholds was similar to levels seen in August. However, the boycott call was heeded by voters on the coast, which is far from his western homeland and saw little violence but has overwhelmingly supported Odinga in previous polls. LEGAL CHALLENGES? Around 50 people have been killed, mostly by security forces, since the original Aug. 8 vote, raising fears of sustained violence only a decade after 1,200 people were killed in serious ethnic fighting triggered by another disputed vote. On Friday morning, shops started to reopen and traffic returned to Kisumu and the restive Nairobi slums of Kibera and Mathare, although rocks and the remnants of burnt barricades sill littered the roads. Opposition lawyers may cite the failure to open polling stations in parts of the country as a reason to declare the poll unconstitutional and seek a fresh contest. Other grounds could include a High Court ruling the day before the election that said hundreds of election officers had been improperly recruited. "The election obviously did not conform to constitutional requirements," said James Orengo, co-chair of the opposition legal team. But he said no decision on whether to file a case had been reached yet. The team has seven days after polls close to file a case. On Friday, civil society activist Okiya Omtata filed a Supreme Court case challenging the legality of the elections. Also on Friday, amendments to an election law became legal that curtail reasons the Supreme Court can cite to nullify an election. Kenyatta had not signed the amendments, but they were pending long enough to become law, his spokesman said. Opposition supporters hailed the Supreme Court when it overturned Kenyatta's August win in an unexpected rebuke to election authorities. The court ruling was the first of its kind in Africa. But for many, concerns over the independence of the judiciary returned after five out of seven judges failed to show up for a hearing on Wednesday seeking to delay the election. Chief Justice David Maraga said one was sick, one was stranded and another too upset to show up after her bodyguard was shot the night before, an unsolved attack many Kenyans interpreted as a threat. He did not account for the other two. "I think it was deliberately choreographed," said motorcycle taxi driver Steve Aluoch in Kisumu. "I would not be surprised if a similar charade plays out if a petition is filed." (Additional reporting by Katharine Houreld, Humphrey Malalo and John Ndiso in Nairobi and Maggie Fick in Kisumu; Writing by David Lewis and Ed Cropley; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)
With Halloween on Earth drawing closer, even Mars is getting into the spirit. While theres no shortage of research about the red planets past, a new study focuses on the strange markings currently being left on Mars surface. These spooktacular patterns could be the result of the planets seasonal changes.

Researchers at Trinity College in Dublin have studied the sublimation of carbon dioxide on Mars, or the process by which something changes from a solid to a gas and skips the liquid phase. After building a chamber that simulates carbon dioxide conditions on Mars, the team found that CO2 on Mars freezes in the winter and melts in the spring, leaving long trenches, or furrows, on the planets sand dunes. The researchers work has been published in Scientific Reports.

Mars atmosphere is composed of over 95 percent CO2, yet we know little about how it interacts with the surface of the planet, one of the studys co-authors Mary Bourke, an assistant professor in geography at Trinity College, says in a statement. Mars has seasons, just like Earth, which means that in winter, a lot of the CO2 in the atmosphere changes state from a gas to a solid and is deposited onto the surface in that form. The process is then reversed in the spring, as the ice sublimates, and this seasonal interplay may be a really important geomorphic process.

In order to figure out the correlation between Mars seasons and carbon dioxide sublimation, the researchers filled a low-humidity chamber with CO2 blocks on a mock-Martian granular surface. The various experiments confirmed what researchers, including Bourke, had hypothesized  that sublimating carbon dioxide can create squiggly patterns like the furrows and gullies on Mars.

Several years ago I discovered unique markings on the surface of Martian sand dunes, Bourke says. I called them Sand Furrows as they were elongated shallow, networked features that formed and disappeared seasonally on Martian dunes. What was unusual about them was that they appeared to trend both up and down the dune slopes, which ruled out liquid water as the cause.

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This new research builds off other studies that tried to demystify Martian gullies. In 2016, researchers using NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter suggested that the gullies were likely formed by the thaw of carbon dioxide frost, according to NASA. That research was published in the Journal of Geophysical Letters.

Earths gullies arent formed by sublimating carbon dioxide, though that does sound pretty extreme. Frankly, our planets winters sound a little more peaceful  albeit less metal.

Photos via NASA/JPL/University of Arizona, Lauren Mc Keown and Dr Mary Bourke, Trinity College Dublin, Flickr / Kevin M. Gill

Photos via NASA/JPL/University of Arizona, Lauren Mc Keown and Dr Mary Bourke, Trinity College Dublin, Flickr / Kevin M. Gill

Written by Rae Paoletta

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(BOISE, Idaho)  Idaho authorities say a woman who drove her sport utility vehicle off a cliff in a crash that killed her and her three young children did so deliberately. The SUV landed in a reservoir.

The Ada County Coroners Office on Friday ruled the June 2, 2016 deaths a triple homicide-suicide.

Officials say 40-year-old Noel Bankhead drove a Land Rover off a 50-foot (15-meter) cliff with her children ages 8, 11 and 13 inside.

A 40-year-old Boise woman and three kids died after SUV crashes into Lucky Peak. Details at https://t.co/zo2lvnVjct pic.twitter.com/UejpAfEBZg  Ada County Sheriff (@AdaCoSheriff) June 3, 2016

The vehicle sank in 40 feet (12 meters) of water in the Lucky Peak Reservoir.

The cause of death for all four was drowning associated with blunt force trauma.

The Ada County Sheriffs Office in statement cites witness statements and lack of skid marks.

Sheriffs office spokesman Patrick Orr declined comment on Bankheads motive.
By Jonathan Landay GENEVA (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad and his family have no role in the future of Syria, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Thursday ahead of peace talks aiming at a political transition scheduled to resume next month. Tillerson said that the Trump administration backed the Geneva peace talks as the only way to end the more than six-year-old war and move to a political transition and elections. He was speaking after holding talks with U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, who announced that stalled peace talks between the Syrian government and still-to-be-united opposition would resume in Geneva on Nov. 28. "The United States wants a whole and unified Syria with no role for Bashar al-Assad in the government," Tillerson told reporters in the Swiss city at the end of a week-long trip that took him to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan and India. "It is our view and I have said this many times as well that we do not believe that there is a future for the Assad regime and Assad family. The reign of the Assad family is coming to an end. The only issue is how that should that be brought about." When the Trump administration came into office it took the view that it was "not a prerequisite that Assad goes" before the transitional process started, he added. Supported by Russian air power and Iran-backed militias, Assad appears militarily unassailable and last month Assad ally Hezbollah declared victory in the Syrian war. Those forces have pushed Islamic State back from large swathes of eastern Syria in recent months and over the past year have taken numerous pockets of rebel-held territory around Aleppo, Homs and Damascus. "My reading is that Assad is here to stay for as long as the Russians and the Iranians have no alternative to him," a Western diplomat told Reuters. "The date of his departure will depend on the Russians more than anyone else. Once - or if - they find someone better, he may go." Ceasefire deals brokered by Russia, Turkey, Iran and the United States in remaining rebel-held areas of western Syria have freed up manpower for Assad's allies. Tillerson called his discussions with de Mistura "fruitful" and said the United States will "continue our efforts to de-escalate the violence in Syria". He said the only reason Assad's forces had succeeded in turning the tide in the war against Islamic State and other militants was "air support they have received from Russia". Tillerson said Iran, Assad's other main ally, should not be seen as having made the difference in the defeat of Islamic State in Syria. "I do not see Syria as a triumph for Iran. I see Iran as a hanger-on. I don't think that Iran should be given credit for the defeat of ISIS (Islamic State) In Syria. Rather I think they have taken advantage of the situation." (Reporting by Jonathan Landay; additonal reporting by Tom Perry in Beiut; writing by Stephanie Nebehay and Lisa Barrington; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Hugh Lawson)
Mr Mattis during his visit to the DMZ: Getty Images

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis says that North Korea shackles its people in order to threaten the world with catastrophe.

Mr Mattis said that the US government is doing everything we can to solve the ongoing crisis with North Korea, but noted that the provocations have continued even though Pyongyang has been on the receiving end of unanimous condemnation from the United Nations Security Council.

North Korea is an oppressive regime that shackles its people, denying their freedom, their welfare, and their human dignity in pursuit of nuclear weapons, and their means of delivering in order to threaten others with catastrophe, Mr Mattis said, according to NBC News.

Mr Mattis noted during his visit to the Demilitarized Zone  which was described as tense but eerily quiet by the Associated Press  that their attempts at diplomacy are backed up by a strong US military.

Were doing everything we can to solve this problem diplomatically  everything we can, he told troops in South Korea after stepping off the Black Hawk helicopter that had flown him to the DMZ, which is 25 miles north of central Seoul.

Ultimately, our diplomats have to be backed up by strong soldiers and sailors, airmen and Marines, he added, so they speak from a position of strength, of combined strength, of alliance strength, shoulder to shoulder.

Tension between Washington and Pyongyang have heightened since President Donald Trump was sworn into office earlier this year, as North Korea has repeatedly tested missiles that they say could hit the United States mainland. North Korea has also tested their nuclear capacities.

Mr Trump has led the international community to impose strict sanctions on North Korea for those tests and development, even attracting support for the sanctions from China.

Mr Mattis will be joined by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, this weekend for annual consultations with South Korean defense officials.
Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis on Saturday decried low birth rates in Europe and urged more help for young people preparing their future path in society.

"A Europe that rediscovers itself as a community will surely be a source of development for herself and for the whole world," the pope told (Re)Thinking Europe  a project sponsored by the European bishops' conference (COMECE).

Europe is suffering, the pontiff said, from "a period of dramatic sterility. Not only because Europe has fewer children, and all too many were denied the right to be born, but also because there has been a failure to pass on the material and cultural tools that young people need to face the future."

The Argentinian pontiff described the European Union as a tired "grandmother, no longer fertile and vibrant," in a 2014 address to the European Parliament.

On Saturday, he said he found Europe to be "increasingly distinguished by a plurality of cultures and religions" but warned of the dangers of erecting "walls of indifference and fear" when it came to assimilating migrants who "are more a resource than a burden."

For Francis, "leaders together share responsibility for promoting a Europe that is an inclusive community," as it looks to meet challenges including the "imbalances caused by a soulless globalisation."

Among the pope's audience were European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans and EU parliament chief Antonio Tajani.

They heard Pope Francis insist that Europe "is not a mass of statistics or institutions, but is made up of people " who should not be "reduced to an abstract."
President Trump has blamed Obama for not doing enough to stop North Koreas nuclear advances. But aside from Trumps bellicose tweets, his approach to one of its biggest foreign policy challenges has so far resembled his predecessors.

As the president prepares for a trip to Asia in early November, his Administrations actual policy toward North Korea has essentially escalated what his predecessor started.

It is a coordinated pressure campaign that started in the last year of the Obama Administration and is continuing, and is now bearing more public fruit, says Scott Snyder, director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations.

The Trump Administration has largely extended and made good on the policy the Obama administration had put into place, says former longtime diplomat Daniel Fried, who coordinated U.S. sanctions policy during Obamas second term. Trumps tweets get in the way of what otherwise was a good policy.

The Obama Administration had come to the conclusion in its last six months that it had not done enough on sanctions, Fried adds. We were prepared to escalate.

In September, Trump signed an executive order giving the U.S. more authority to sanction companies that finance trade with North Korea. Now, the administration must decide how much to use this new authority.

To this administrations great credit, I think it has pursued what has appeared to be a very dogged and sequential strategy against North Korea, says Brian OToole, a sanctions expert who worked at the U.S. Treasury during both of Obamas terms. You have the carryover from the last administration going after coal exports, this administration helped tighten that even farther at the U.N., you have the restriction on banking networks, you have OFAC going after the actual banking representatives that North Korea sends abroad.

The Trump Administration has also increased pressure on North Korea by pushing other countries to end or shrink their diplomatic relations the country. Since the start of the Trump administration, more than 20 countries have restricted North Korean diplomatic activities, Susan Thornton testified to the Senate in late September. Spain, Mexico, Kuwait, Peru, and Italy have all expelled North Korean ambassadors since the Pyongyangs latest nuclear test in early September.

Story continues

The effort began late in the Obama administration, but Trump has kicked it into high gear. In late 2016, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution expressing concern on how North Korea was using its diplomatic missions. It called on member states to reduce the number of staff at North Korean diplomatic missions and consular posts, and to limit the number of bank accounts the diplomatic missions could hold.

Restraining North Koreas diplomatic activity will cut off a flow of resources to the regime, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the U.N. National Security Council in April. Daniel Russel, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs during Obamas second term, says it was well established that North Korean diplomats, and North Koreans on fake passports who operated out of their embassies, were engaged in insurance scams, cigarette smuggling, and the sale of gold and expensive items smuggled in through the diplomatic pouch, a diplomatic container that is protected from search or customs by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Last year, Russel says, the U.S. focused more on higher impact sanctions of North Korean companies. Now that those have started to kick in, he says, a logical next step has been to zero in on secondary and tertiary targets, and that includes restricting the ability of accredited North Korean diplomats to operate freely.

It isnt a geographic march where all regions received the same degree of encouragement from the United States, we tried to tailor it, Russel says. The big frustration of course was that the lion share of North Korean activities has always taken place in China.

Trumps visit Asia in early November is the next big test of how his administration plans to implement these policies. North Korea has embassies and consulates in many Asian countries, including in China, Vietnam, Singapore, and India. On Thursday, the Treasury Department named additional North Korean diplomats and institutions to the sanctions list. The names included two North Korean diplomats in China and Vietnam, both countries Trump will visit.

The question is, Can Trump in Asia find the right balance between pressure on North Korea and indirect pressure on the Chinese without blowing it all up by being so bellicose that he loses the political credibility he needs to carry this out, Fried says.
In his farewell address this January, President Obama said that the "most important office in a democracy" was that of the citizen.

We wonder if he'll still be saying that after jury duty.

SEE ALSO: Barack Obama's letters to a college girlfriend are finally seeing the light of day

The former president has reportedly been called for jury duty in Chicago's Cook County, where he is registered to vote. It's unclear whether he'll be considered for criminal or civil proceedings  that will be determined once he appears in court next month. Even still, chances are high that, ultimately, he won't be selected to serve.

But if he does, he'll make $17.20 per day for his services  just like all Cook County jurors. He'll also watch this truly wonderful juror's training video, which features Lester Holt with a mustache.

Per the Washington Post, Obama has been called for jury duty once before. He received a summons in 2010, but was unable to appear in court thanks to a pretty good excuse: he had to deliver the State of the Union address.
A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., reportedly has filed the first charges in the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, CNN said Friday evening.

According to the network, the charges are sealed under a federal judges order. It remains unclear who has been indicted and on what charges.

The person or persons indicted could be taken into custody as soon as Monday, CNN said.

Federal officials have not yet validated the CNN report, and a spokesman for Mueller declined to comment to Reuters.

However, if confirmed, it would mark a major development in the special counsels probe. If anybody thinks the Mueller investigation is going to be wrapping up, this decision guarantees it will go well into 2018, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller in May, following President Donald Trumps controversial decision to fire FBI Director James Comey amid the agencys investigation into possible Russian meddling during the 2016 presidential election. Mueller is a former prosecutor and served as FBI director from 2001 to 2013.

Mueller was tasked with overseeing the investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the election, along with any matters that directly arise from the investigation.

Since then, reports have emerged that Mueller was investigating whether Trump attempted to obstruct justice. Muellers team is reportedly also looking into a dossier containing explosive, unverified allegations regarding Trump and his associates, compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele for the research firm Fusion GPS.

Muellers team is also investigating Trumps associates. The team is reportedly looking into possible tax and financial crimes by Paul Manafort. Trumps former campaign manager was forced out in August 2016 over his past business dealings with pro-Russian figures in Ukraine. Manaforts lobbying firm disclosed in June it was paid $17.1 million for work on behalf of a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine from 2012 to 2014, without Manafort being registered with the Department of Justice as a foreign agent at the time. FBI agents raided Manaforts home in July, seizing documents and other items.

Story continues

Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to Trump, said that he had spoken to Manafort at 5 p.m. Friday and, as of that time, Manafort knew nothing of this, referring to the report of the indictments.

Stones statement didnt clarify matters  a suspect wouldnt be informed of an indictment  but it indirectly indicated that Stone and his friend of 40 years (and former business partner) were checking in with each other about where things stood at the close of business this week. A suspect would never be informed of an indictment.

Later Friday night, Stone told HuffPost that he had spoken to Manafort at 8:30 p.m. and that the former campaign chairman had said nothing. Stone added that he thought Muellers primary investigative focus was an obstruction case rather than the more central issue of collusion, which presumably would be the greater risk to Manafort.

Another close mutual friend of Trump and Manafort, speaking on background to be candid, said that he expected the former campaign manager to be indicted, though he had heard nothing specific as of late Friday. Its a shame whats going to happen to Paul, the friend said. He wasnt even a Trump guy.

Trump has fiercely denied allegations that his campaign colluded with the Russians and has referred to the reports about Mueller investigating questions of possible obstruction of justice as the single greatest witch hunt in American political history.

You are witnessing the single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history - led by some very bad and conflicted people! #MAGA  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2017

Fridays news of the reported indictments emerged just hours after Dana Boente, the top federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, submitted his resignation. Boente was simultaneously serving as the head of the Department if Justices National Security Division and had been acting attorney general earlier this year following Trumps firing of former acting Attorney General Sally Yates. One of Muellers grand juries was reportedly impaneled in Boentes Eastern District of Virginia, which is commonly referred to as a rocket docket because of the fast pace of cases in the federal judicial district.

Boente had served at the Justice Department for 33 years and is planning to stay on until his successor is confirmed. The reason for his departure is unclear.

This article has been updated with later comments from Roger Stone.

Howard Fineman and Ryan Reilly contributed reporting.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article said Sally Yates resigned. She was fired by Trump.

Also on HuffPost

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 13: Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller testifies during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee June 13, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Mueller testified on the oversight of the FBI. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

So many people are asking why isn't the A.G. or Special Council looking at the many Hillary Clinton or Comey crimes. 33,000 e-mails deleted?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 22, 2017

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
(WASHINGTON)  Republicans powered a $4 trillion budget through the House on Thursday by a razor-thin margin, a close vote underscoring the difficulties that lie ahead in delivering President Donald Trumps promise to cut taxes.

For now, Republicans sidestepped divisions within the party by voting 216-212 to permit them to begin work on a $1.5 trillion tax cut without fear of blocking tactics by Democrats. The legislative landscape is strewn with land mines, however, as GOP tax-writers pick winners and losers among interest groups, business sectors and rank-and-file voters.

The tax bill is the top item on the GOP agenda and would be Trumps first big win in Congress. Republicans hope it would provide a much-needed jolt for the partys political fortunes in advance of next years midterm elections. Republicans view passage of the upcoming tax measure as a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and its importance has only grown since the partys debacle on health care.

The goal is a full rewrite of the inefficient, loophole-laden tax code in hopes of lower rates for corporations and other businesses and a burst of economic growth. But evidence is growing that some of their hoped-for bold steps  such as eliminating the deduction for state and local taxes  will be replaced by half-measures dictated by politics and a narrow margin for error.

GOP leaders scrambled in recent days to overcome resistance from House conservatives unhappy about deficits and debt, as well as opposition by lawmakers from high-tax states upset about plans to eliminate the state and local tax deduction. That could mean higher taxes for many middle-class earners, and top Republicans like Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin promise a compromise that wont be as costly to middle-class taxpayers.

Joining all Democrats in opposing the measure were 20 Republicans, a mix of spending hawks and centrists. More than half come from New York and New Jersey and vehemently reject any effort to roll back the state and local tax deduction.

Story continues

This isnt over, said Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., who opposed the budget after voting for it earlier this month. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said concerns by lawmakers such as MacArthur about the deduction would be addressed in coming days, and it was the topic of a post-vote meeting that included top GOP leaders.

We stood firm  to let them know were not kidding, said Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., as he exited the session.

The Senate passed the budget measure last week and the House endorsed it without changes, a step designed to allow Republicans to move quickly to the tax measure in hopes of passing it into law this year. House and Senate leaders want to pass companion measures before Thanksgiving with a final compromise coming before years end.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said immediately after the vote that hell release the tax measure on Nov. 1 and that a panel vote is expected the week of Nov. 6.

That timetable is ambitious as numerous details, including ways to raise revenues to help finance cuts to individual and corporate tax rates, remain unresolved. The tax plans popularity is not a given with voters, however, and fissures among Republicans could to slow the measure.

A battle over tax-free contributions to retirement accounts has also broken open, and Republican tax-writers have yet to lock down dozens of crucial details on tax rates and preferences. Republicans may also drop efforts to fully repeal taxes on multimillion-dollar estates, even though the idea is a longstanding feature of the partys tax agenda.

Im confident that there will be a tax bill. Im confident that it will be an improvement over current policy. How good it is yet to be determined, said former Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, a veteran of Reagan-era tax battles and an architect of a 2001 tax cut. You always dream of wiping things off the books and making dramatic changes, but its very hard to do.

The underlying budget measure abandons the Republican Partys promise to rein in deficits in favor of Trumps boast of massive tax cuts. The measure drops proposed cuts to mandatory programs such as food stamps, though conservatives promise to take on spending cuts later.

I still feel strongly about addressing unsustainable mandatory spending, said Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., who chairs the House Budget Committee. I think we will tackle this important issue in the future. We dont have a choice.

Democrats united against the plan, arguing its tax cuts will pad the bank accounts of the wealthy and the balance sheets of corporations, while delivering modest relief  or none at all  to middle-income taxpayers.

These tax cuts will not create an economic boom, but will instead lead to a higher concentration of wealth among the rich, while dramatically increasing deficits and debt, said Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., urged Democrats immediately after the vote to be fully mobilized to expose the ruinous consequences of Republicans plans to raise taxes on the middle class, especially as Republicans try to race their bill through the House before the American people can see the damage it will cause in their lives.

The budget plan calls for $5 trillion in spending cuts over the decade, including cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and the Obama-era health care law, though Republicans have no plans to actually impose those cuts with follow-up legislation. Some Democrats criticized the measure for ruthless spending cuts; others took the opposite approach, failing it for tackling the deficit.
Moscow (AFP) - Russia conducted several ballistic missile tests on Thursday from "land, air and sea" as part of its strategic nuclear programme, the Defence ministry announced.

A "Topol" intercontinental ballistic missile was fired from the Plesetsk testing ground in the northwest of the country and three ballistic missiles were launched by two nuclear missile submarines (SSBNs), two from the Okhotsk Sea, north of Japan, and one from the Barents Sea, in the Arctic Ocean.

Russian military forces "have carried out an exercise to manage its strategic nuclear forces," the ministry said in a statement.

Strategic bombers Tu-160, Tu-95MC and Tu-22M3 also took off from several Russian air bases and launched cruise missiles at "ground-based" targets in Kamchatka, eastern Russia, in the Komi Republic, in the north, and on Russian military terrain in Kazakhstan.

"All objectives of the training have been successfully completed," the statement said.

In early September, Russia carried out joint military exercises with Belarus on NATO's eastern flank, causing concern in Poland and the Baltic states due to the size of the drills and doubts over Moscow's intentions.

On Thursday, NATO members challenged Russia over "discrepancies" concerning the number of troops involved and the figures officially announced by Moscow.

"There is a discrepancy between what Russia briefed before the exercise... and the actual numbers and the scale and the scope of the exercise," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told reporters after a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC).
Shortly before a federal grand jury reportedly filed the first charges in special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, conservatives were renewing their calls for the attorney to resign.

Mueller, who is leading the Justice Departments investigation as special prosecutor, is a former FBI director, which critics say creates a conflict of interest in the case.

He also previously worked with former FBI director James Comey, who President Donald Trump fired in May amid the agencys investigation into Russian interference. David N. Kelley, Comeys attorney, has disputed Trumps claim that Comey and Mueller were close friends, maintaining that the pair were friends in the sense that co-workers are friends.

The GOP has long complained about Muellers supposed lack of objectivity. But this week, demands urging him to quit escalated in the wake of reports that the Democratic National Convention and the Hillary Clinton campaign funded opposition research that turned up a secret dossier on Trump and his alleged Russia ties.

On Thursday the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal  a crown jewel in the media empire of Rupert Murdoch, a close Trump ally  went after Mueller as well. It wrote that the dossier news raises the question of whether the document helped fuel the FBIs probe into Trumps campaign. Since the dossier attributes allegations to Kremlin-connected sources, the board argues that would mean the FBI could have been essentially acting on disinformation provided by Russia. And if there were a need to investigate the FBIs actions, that would make Muellers FBI ties a major conflict of interest.

The federal code could not be clearer  Mueller is compromised by his apparent conflict of interest in being close with James Comey, Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz) said in a statement to Fox News on Friday. The appearance of a conflict is enough to put Mueller in violation of the code.

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Friday morning, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said on Fox and Friends that somebody with Bob Muellers integrity should step aside.

Trump has also tweeted that the FBI may have helped pay for the dossier directly, though theres no apparent evidence this is true.

Meanwhile, journalist Carl Bernstein  best known for his work with Bob Woodward reporting on the Watergate scandal is accusing Trump of trying to sabotage Muellers investigation.

The Russians interfered in our electoral process, and there is an investigation into whether Donald Trump and those around him had foreknowledge of those attempts, and what their relationships were with Russians, business relationships that might have made them vulnerable to Russian objectives, Bernstein said on Don Lemons CNN Tonight on Friday. Thats what Mueller is investigating. And he ought to be able to have the opportunity, without the president of the United States trying to sabotage his investigations, to follow through.

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WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 11: FBI Director James Comey testifies during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee June 11, 2014 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The committee held a hearing on 'Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.' (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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By Dinky MKhize MIDDELBURG, South Africa (Reuters) - Two white South African farmers who were filmed pushed a wailing black man into a coffin were sentenced to jail on Friday for attempted murder, assault and kidnapping. The 20-second video, widely circulated on social media last year, shows the victim, Victor Mlotshwa, cowering inside a coffin as one man pushes the lid down and the other threatens to put petrol and a snake inside. The defendants - Theo Jackson, sentenced to 14 years, and Willem Oosthuizen, sentenced to 11 years - had pleaded not guilty. They said they had caught Mlotshwa trespassing on their farm in possession of stolen copper cables. The case, heard at a court in Middelburg, about 160 km (100 miles) east of the capital, Pretoria, has caused outrage in a country where deep racial divides persist 23 years after the end of apartheid. When she handed down the sentences, Judge Segopotje Mphahlele said she was appalled that the accused had put Mlotshwa into a coffin. "The evidence before court indicates that the seriousness of the offence far outweighs the mitigating factors and the personal factors of the offenders," she said. "The conduct of the accused fueled social division and racial tension." The defense immediately requested that it be allowed to appeal the sentence, but Mphahlele dismissed their application. The defense then said it would lodge their appeal directly to the Supreme Court of Appeal, saying that the sentence was too harsh, since no one had been killed. South Africa's Justice Minister Michael Masutha said the sentence could serve as a deterrent to others. "South Africa is no longer prepared to treat racism with kid gloves and we are ready to act," Justice Minister Michael Masutha said in an interview with eNCA. A large crowd formed outside the packed courtroom. The police presence around the court was heavy. "What they did was painful to us," Qgoga Mnyamezeli said outside the court. Hundreds of members of the country's main political parties, including the ruling African National Congress and the main opposition Democratic Alliance party, gathered outside carrying placards, some which said "Black Lives Matter!", and shouting slogans in support of Mlotshwa. Black people make up 80 percent of South Africas 54 million population, but most its wealth remains in the hands of whites, who account for about 8 percent of the population. (Writing by James Macharia, editing by Larry King)
The State Department shuttered an office that oversees sanctions policy, even as the Donald Trump administration faced criticism from lawmakers over its handling of new economic penalties against Russia.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson eliminated the Coordinator for Sanctions Policy office, which had been led by a veteran ambassador-rank diplomat with at least five staff, as part of an overhaul of the department, former diplomats and congressional sources told Foreign Policy.

Instead, the role of coordinating U.S. sanctions across the State Department and other government agencies now falls to just one mid-level official  David Tessler, the deputy director of the Policy Planning Office. The Policy Planning Office, which previously operated as a small team providing strategic advice to the secretary but did not manage programs or initiatives, has grown in power under Tillersons redesign of the department.

While the sanctions office was dissolved, the administration missed a key Oct. 1 deadline to implement new penalties against Russia adopted by Congress in August. The move reinforced concerns among both Democratic and Republican lawmakers that the Trump White House is mismanaging the State Department and undercutting the role of U.S. diplomacy.

The elimination of the sanctions coordinator appears to be part of the larger reorganization debacle underway at the State Department, said Sean Bartlett, spokesman for Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

A State Department spokesperson told FP they notified Congress last month the office would be shutting down and moving to the policy planning office. No movement of funds or personnel has taken place, the spokesperson added.

Both Cardin and Republican Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had blasted the administration over its failure to implement new sanctions against Russia enacted by Congress. After blowing past the Oct. 1 deadline, the State Department finally issue belated guidance for the measures, identifying entities and officials linked to Russias defense and intelligence sectors.

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State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Thursday this came after a call between Corker and Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, who updated the committee chairman on their progress.

A lot of you had had questions about why the delay, why its taken a bit of time for the State Department to deliver this information to Congress, and that is because its complex, complicated, and industry needs to know what will happen if they engage in certain activities, she told reporters at a press briefing on Thursday.

Former officials and experts are torn on whether or not eliminating the Coordinator for Sanctions Policy office will undercut the State Departments ability to oversee sanctions. Sanctions have become a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy toward adversaries such as Iran and North Korea.

Daniel Fried, a now-retired career diplomat who served as the coordinator for sanctions policy through February 2017, cautioned against misinterpreting the move.

You cant read into that a lack of commitment to sanctions, he told FP, adding as long as State devotes staff to the issue, their title or bureaucratic placement in the department wasnt important. Its not as if [the administration] is gutting sanctions altogether.

Other former officials said scrapping the office and putting the job on the shoulders of only one policy planning official was a mistake, particularly at a time when the administration seems to be struggling to manage an array of foreign-policy issues and to articulate its stance.

They messed up on this. They scrapped this when they couldve taken it further, said a former State Department official. They said, Were just going to back to the point where theres no clear coordination.

Another former government official familiar with sanctions said, without the office, theres a danger of bureaucratic turf battles cropping up inside the State Department and with other agencies on sanctions. This could be a real problem, the former official said.

The Treasury Department takes the lead on the technical aspect of sanctions, but implementing punitive measures requires elaborate coordination with allies, particularly the European Union, to build diplomatic support and to ensure a unified approach. As a result, the State Department plays a crucial role in making sanctions effective.

As secretary of state under the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton created the coordinator for sanctions policy role. Fried said during his tenure, the office worked hand in glove with Treasury to carry out tasks such as working with Asian allies to push North Korea sanctions and identifying individual Russians trying to evade targeted U.S. sanctions.

The office kept the trains running on time, said Edward Fishman, a former sanctions policy official in the Obama administration. But for State to pack the biggest punch on sanctions, it needs a full-fledged and permanent bureau to coordinate sanctions issues, he said. Sanctions issues are currently scattered across a slew of offices including the Burea of Economic and Business Affairs, the International Security and Nonproliferation Bureau, and the Bureau of International Organization Affairs.

The move also highlights the growing influence of the Policy Planning Office under Tillerson. Some State Department employees and lawmakers have widely criticized Tillerson for expanding the office, historically used as an in-house think tank for long-term strategic issues and speechwriting. Under Tillerson, its grown in scope and influence, prompting concern hes creating what one senior State Department official described as a miniature fiefdom to sidestep the wider department and legislative oversight.

The move, critics say, both cuts off department-wide input on key policy decisions and bottlenecks the departments overall work as policy planning staff are stretched to the brink with an array of new responsibilities.

Sanctions have become a pillar of U.S. foreign policy, and the Trump administration has touted them as a pivotal tool to counter regimes in North Korea and Iran. Wherever sanctions policy is managed inside Foggy Bottom, the State Department has a pivotal role in determining whether sanctions actually work.

You can churn out all the sanctions you want, Fishman said. But if you dont have diplomats around the world pounding the pavement every day to get allies on board, they wont be effective.

Update: This article was updated to include information on guidance on Russian sanctions and reflect the fact that the State Department informed Congress about the closure of the office last month.
White supremacists held rallies in two cities south of Nashville: Reuters

Several hundred neo-Nazis and white supremacists held demonstrations in two Tennessee cities - their numbers only a fraction of the counter-protesters who turned out to oppose them.

The so-called White Lives Matter events were held in Shelbyville and Murfreesboro, located south of Nashville. The rallies named to mimic the black lives matter slogan frequently heard at demonstrations protesting police violence against communities of colour, were organised to protest the resettlement of refugees in the state.

In In Shelbyville, site of the first rally, some 200 white supremacists carried a Confederate flag and chanted for closed borders and deportations, according to USA Today.

Police and law enforcement officials had urged local residents ahead of Saturday's events to avoid the area where the rallies took place.

The events were organised by Nationalist Front. Its members include League of the South, Traditionalist Workers Party, National Socialist Movement and Vanguard America - all considered neo-Nazi or neo-Confederate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Centre.

James Fields, who has been charged with murder after allegedly driving a vehicle into anti-fascist protester Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, was marching with Vanguard America at the August protest, organised to protest a decision to remove Confederate-era statues from the college town.

The group has denied that Mr Fields is a member of the organisaion. The groups website, says: The mission of Vanguard America is the preservation and progression of our people, culture, values, and future in the US.

We stand proudly against those who would seek to undermine our people, nation, and values with the end goal of the destruction and ethnic replacement of our people and our legacy whether intentionally or via pure stupidity and ignorance.

In Murfreesboro, up to 600 people, many of them anti-fascist or antifa demonstrators, gathered to protest against the white supremacists. Local media said as few as 15 white supremacists were present.

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Many more counter-protesters showed up to oppose them (Reuters)

Both sides screamed and chanted at each other, as police, aware of the violence that broke out earlier this year at a neo-Nazi-led protest in Charlottesville, were sure to keep both groups apart. Police said one person was arrested for disorderly conduct at the event in Shelbyville.

The groups say the media ignored a mass shooting at a Tennessee church, allegedly carried out by a 25-year-old man whose family emigrated from Sudan more than 20 years ago.

Brad Griffin, a League of the South member, who has written of his desire to create a white ethnostate. We dont want the federal government to keep dumping all these refugees into middle Tennessee, he said

Over the last 15 years, about 18,000 refugees have been resettled in Tennessee, less than one percent of the states population, the Tennessean reported.

When they say refugees, what they really mean is Muslims, Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told the news agency. Tennessee is one of the states that has seen a rise in anti-Muslim bigotry in recent years, particularly since the election.

Antifa arrive in Murfreesboro, TN for the White Lives Matter rally (Video @MariahTimms) https://t.co/8YXRYxBz9v pic.twitter.com/JjQkdk74Si  Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) October 28, 2017

Ahead of the event, police in Shelbyville, said they have made preparations for to ensure public safety.

Given the recent incidents in our country surrounding protest and counter-protests, the city is taking very seriously multiple concerns regarding the safety of expected protesters, counter-protesters, the public, and the protection of private and public property from damage, the citys police department said in a statement.

Meanwhile, in Murfreesboro, Mayor Shane McFarland, posted a video message denouncing the rally, along with a group of faith leaders and featuring the #WeAreMurfreesboro hashtag.

I think the best thing that I can say as a mayor is we are Murfreesboro and we are one community, said Mr McFarland.

In March, Tennessee sued the federal government over refugee resettlement in the state, saying it was unduly forced to pay for it. Tennessee was the first state to bring such a case on the basis of the 10th Amendment, which limits US government powers to those provided by the Constitution, though other states have done so on different legal grounds.

Saturdays rally came more than a week after hundreds protested a speech by white nationalist Richard Spencer at the University of Florida in Gainesville.


As the final wisp of smoke from King Bhumibol Adulyadejs funeral pyre curled into the night sky late Thursday, thousands of black-clad Thais said their last goodbye to a much beloved monarch.

Local news reported that about 157,000 people attended the elaborate ceremony around Bangkoks Grand Palace, while 20 million people nationwide paid their respects at different official memorial sites.

The $90 million funeral was marked by pomp and pageantry, but the night ended on a quieter note. Although the whole days ceremony was televised on Thai TV and broadcast across the city on giant screens, the actual cremation, scheduled at 10 p.m. local time, was a private affair for the Royal Family and special guests.

The cremation marked the end of a year of mourning, since King Bhumibol passed last October aged 88, and ushered in a new era for Thailand overseen by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

Officials had designated Thursday as a public holiday, and by Friday the city had returned to normalcy with businesses and schools restarting  though commuters continue to don black attire.

At Wat Yannawa, famous for its boat-shaped temple, local officials and temple staff poured sandalwood flowers by the boxful into a burning pit in the middle of a replica of the golden crematorium.

Read More: He Will Forever be Our Legacy. A New Era Dawns as Thais Bid a Final Farewell to King Bhumibol Adulyadej

Surakant Pothichak, a district official who had stayed up all night working, says the temple received more than 60,000 flowers from well-wishers around the district and from Thais in the U.S.

I managed to pay my respects finally, after most of the people got their chance Pothichak tells TIME. We all have to do our best to help and we all want to be a part of this ceremony. I feel very content that we are almost there.

Napatsorn Jitsupap, 39, is having trouble letting go. Arriving in Bangkok from northeastern Surin province Thursday with her son, she tells TIME that the crowds were so big that she could only see the tip of the 50-meter tall Royal crematorium, and she remained there until 2 a.m.

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When I saw the smoke, I thought, Is he really going? I dont want the Kings body to be cremated, she says. It feels like hes really leaving us. I just felt my heart sink.

King Bhumibols 70-year reign is succeeded by his son, Vajiralongkorn, a divisive figure in Thai society whose reputation has been marred by scandal and controversy over the years. But Jitsupap expresses hope that he will be guided by his fathers teachings.

He has his sisters and the rest of the family to support him, she says, adding that she is unsure how long it would take for the new sovereign to generate the same amount of devotion his father inspires.

It depends on the work and the sincerity that he shows towards the people, she says.

Because of the new Kings divisive reputation some experts say the military governments use of the countrys strict lese-majeste law will likely proliferate, as the junta attempts to cement Vajirilongkorns cult of personality.

Article 112 will most likely continue to be increasingly enforced and extended across society because theres a new sovereign and his stability is not totally entrenched, says Paul Chambers, who works as a lecturer at the Naresuan Universitys College of ASEAN Community Studies.

Since the military took power in a 2014 coup, the law has been used to stifle any dissent and more than 100 people have been arrested and jailed, some for simply sharing a Facebook post deemed defamatory.

At the same time, there are many military bureaucrats who want to gain favoritism by trying to find more people that can be accused of breaking this rule, Chambers says.

In that respect, Article 112 is able to become a stronger and scarier weapon.
Whitefish, Montana, is a small town in the Rocky Mountains: -ted/Flickr

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it has significant concerns with the process that led to a small electric company in Montana gaining a major contract to rebuild Puerto Ricos energy grid, just as news has emerged that the contract has a no-audit clause.

FEMA says that it was not involved in the decision to award the $300 million contract to between the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and Whitefish Energy, a small electric company with just two fulltime employees located in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinkes hometown: Whitefish, Montana.

Based on initial review and information from [Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority], FEMA has significant concerns with how PREPA procured this contract and has not confirmed whether the contract prices are reasonable, FEMA wrote in a statement distancing the agency from the contracting process.

The contract, awarded in a no-bid process, includes a no-audit clause, which bars the federal government from reviewing the cost and profit elements of the agreement, according to a copy of the deal obtained by reporter Ken Klipperstein. That means that efforts to rebuild Puerto Ricos electricity grid, which was devastated by the landfall of Hurricane Maria over a month ago, could be shrouded in secrecy.

The deal also contains a provision that prohibits the government from making any claim against Contractor related to delayed completion of work," as well as $332.41 per day for worker accomodations each day (not including meals), according to Mr Klipperstein's copy of the contract.

The small energy company has been the subject of heavy criticism since the contract was awarded, with many wondering why a small company with just two full-time employees (it since hired more than 300 workers) found itself on the receiving end of a major contract with massive implications for an entire US territory.

Two House committees have launched investigations into the deal, backed by Congresspeople on both sides of the aisle, and the Department of Homeland Security is conducting a review of the deal.

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The size and terms of the contract, as well as the circumstances surrounding the contracts formation, wise questions regarding PREPAs standard contract awarding procedures, Republican Representatives Bob Bishop and Bruce Westerman wrote in a statement.

Mr Bishop and Mr Westerman are both members of the House Natural Resources Committee.

Whitefish contract states, "In no event shall [government bodies] have the right to audit or review the cost and profit elements." Wow. pic.twitter.com/dIyQXb6AK0  Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) October 27, 2017

This contract raises every red flag in the book, Senator Claire McCaskill, the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, said.

The mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz  who has openly warred with President Donald Trump over his administrations response to the crisis in Puerto Rico  has called for the deal to be voided, after a Twitter feud with the company in which they asked if she wanted them to stop working.

Weve got 44 linemen rebuilding power lines in your city & 40 more men just arrived. Do you want us to send them back or keep working? Whitefish Energy tweeted at Ms Yulin Cruz this week.

Whitefish says that it welcomes an investigation, saying that the company appreciates the efforts of the committees to gather information so that they have confidence in the overall process to support the people of Puerto Rico as well Whitefish Energys capabilities and commitment to deliver on the contract to help restore power and a sense of normalcy for the people of Puerto Rico.

Whitefish Energy has been linked to the White House before. A main backer of the firm, HBC Investments, was a notable donor to Mr Trumps 2016 campaign, forking over tens of thousands of dollars to the effort. And, Whitefish founder Andy Techmanski has noted that his family knows Mr Zinke.

The Interior Department has noted that in the town of Whitefish, a small resort town nestled in the Rocky Mountains, everybody knows everybody. Mr Zinke has denied involvement in the contracting process.

The White House has also said that it played no role in the selection of Whitefish Energy for the contract.
Nairobi (AFP) - Kenya's repeated presidential election, held after an August 8 vote was annulled, has still not been completed after violence prevented voting Thursday in flashpoint opposition strongholds.

Some tricky legal questions remain:

- When will the result be announced? -

It is impossible to say at the moment.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is still busy processing and verifying results and has not said when the final numbers will be announced.

The main problem is that voting did not take place in four of Kenya's 47 counties, all of them in the west: Homa Bay, Kisumu, Migori and Siaya.

The region, a stronghold of opposition leader Raila Odinga, erupted in protest on election day after he called for a boycott of the poll.

Protesters blocked the opening of polling stations and clashed with police, with the insecurity keeping election staff away in fear of their lives.

More than 3,600 of the 40,883 polling stations did not open, the IEBC said.

In the latest of this election's dramatic twists and turns, the IEBC first delayed the vote there until Saturday before postponing it again to an as yet unknown date.

Under Kenya's electoral law, the commission can announce a result if it considers the overall result will not be affected by the outstanding votes.

However, some observers point to a constitutional provision that "an election shall be held in each constituency" -- opening the IEBC up for further legal battles if voting does not take place.

- What does the law say about the delay? -

Election results must be announced within seven days of the election, that is, by midnight (2100 GMT) on Thursday November 2.

The Supreme Court decision overturning the results of the August 8 election ordered that the fresh poll be held by October 31.

That election, which President Uhuru Kenyatta won with 54 percent of votes to Odinga's 44.7 percent, was annulled due to irregularities in the electronic transmission of results, in a first for Africa.

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- Could the election face further legal battles -

It is very likely.

Questions over the credibility of an election boycotted by a large part of the population, and which was marred by low voter turnout is unlikely to hand Kenyatta a decisive mandate and may open the ballot up to further legal petitions.

One outstanding legal battle could also still throw a spanner in the works.

On the eve of the election, a last-ditch petition calling for the vote to be delayed made it to the Supreme Court. But the bench was unable to hear it for lack of a quorum, to the dismay of observers and Kenya's foreign allies.

The opposition denounced the judicial hitch as "no coincidence" and Chief Justice David Maraga postponed the hearing to a later date.

His deputy was unable to attend as her bodyguard was shot and injured the night before, adding to a sense of insecurity around top officials and raising questions over whether the judges would rally for any future legal battles.

After Supreme Court's bombshell ruling of September 1, Kenyatta slammed the judges as "crooks" and vowed to "fix" the judiciary if re-elected.
According to President Donald Trump, its commonly agreed that Hillary Clinton, not Trump, colluded with the Russians.

That tweeted interpretation was backed up in a confrontational White House press briefing in which CNNs Jim Acosta challenged press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders about a possible bid by the Trump administration to gin up your own Russian investigation to rival the one on Capitol Hill. He was referring to congressional investigations into possible collusion with the Kremlin by the Trump campaign as well as a probe by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Trump and Sanders tried to turn the focus to Democratic presidential nominee Clinton just hours before CNN reported Friday night that a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., had issued the first charges in the investigation led by Mueller into Russian interference in the election. No details were available late Friday.

Trump began his version of events with a tweet complaining about the costly looking into the issue, concluding there was NO collusion between Russia and Trump, but there was collusion with HC!

It is now commonly agreed, after many months of COSTLY looking, that there was NO collusion between Russia and Trump. Was collusion with HC!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 27, 2017

He followed up with a tweet linking to a Fox News piece by anchor Chris Wallace insisting there was more evidence of collusion between the Democrats and the Russians than there was between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, despite known meetings between former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Trumps son Donald Jr. and Trumps son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner with people linked to the Kremlin during the campaign.

Later in the day, when asked about Trumps tweet, Sanders insisted: I think we are seeing now that if there was any collusion with Russia, it was between the DNC [Democratic National Committee] and the Clintons, and certainly not our campaign.

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She added: Congress has spent a great deal of time on this. All of your news organizations have probably spent a lot of money on this as well, which we would consider probably a pretty big waste. I think that our position hasnt changed since day one.

When Acosta pressed Sanders: Where is the presidents evidence that Hillary Clinton colluded with the Russians? Sanders said simply: I think Ive addressed that pretty thoroughly.

Trump did not say since day one, as Sanders insisted, that Clinton was somehow involved in colluding with the Russians. In fact, Trump has often scoffed at evidence of Russian interference in the election at all  even though U.S. intelligence officials determined that the Kremlin attempted to sway the election in Trumps favor via the Internet.

I dont believe they interfered, Trump said after his victory. It could be Russia. And it could be China. And it could be some guy in his home in New Jersey.

Accusations about Russian collusion with the Democrats arose following a report in The Washington Post this week that the DNC helped pay for a secret dossier by former British spy Christopher Steele on alleged ties between Trump and Russia during the presidential campaign. But the Post reported Friday that the conservative publication The Washington Free Beacon has now said that it was the first to fund research by a Washington firm into Republican presidential candidates, which eventually led to the Trump dossier after the Beacon was no longer part of the project.

Trump is also again criticizing a 2010 deal approved by the Obama administration when Clinton was secretary of state concerning uranium production in the U.S. In the deal, the Russian nuclear energy agency Rosatom acquired a controlling stake in Uranium One, a Canadian company with two mining operations in Wyoming. Trump claimed, without any evidence, that the deal was made in exchange for Russian donations to the Clinton Foundation. Its unknown if Clinton had anything to do with Obamas decision to approve the plan.

Sanders said of the deal: I can tell you that we do think that theres a lot of cause for concern regarding that deal, and we certainly think it should be looked into.

House and Senate Republican leaders have announced theyre launching two investigations into the Uranium One decision.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article referred to David Wallace. The Fox News anchor is named Chris Wallace.

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On Friday, the children of the White House Press Corps were invited to join their parents at work and celebrate Halloween at the White House.

And, as expected, things got really awkward, really fast.

SEE ALSO: Someone created a storm lamp that produces lightning every time Trump tweets

After the usual briefing with White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the kids were invited to meet with the President in the Oval Office before some trick or treating in the Executive Office Building.

"I cannot believe the media produced such beautiful children," Trump said upon seeing the tiny humans pile in to his office, parents (and cameras) in tow.

After that back-handed compliment, things got even more cringe-worthy.

President Trump to reporters' kids in the Oval: "So how does the press treat you?" Whole video is worth a watch: https://t.co/HhPbx169ba  Monica Alba (@albamonica) October 27, 2017

As the kids squeezed around the desk for a festive photo, Trump asked them "are you going to grow up to be like your parents?" He said he didn't want an answer because it can "only get [him] in trouble."

Just when it looked like he was going to restrain himself, take a fun photo, wish the kids a "Happy Halloween," and go back to his presidential duties, Trump did what he does best  he dug himself further into a hole of awkwardness.

As he gave the kids boxes of Hershey Kisses, he told one young person, "you have no weight problems. That's the good news. Right?"

Story continues

"So how does the press treat you? I bet you get treated better by the press than anybody in the world," Trump then asked a pair of witches.

He didn't get much right, but Trump sure nailed the creepy part of the Halloween celebration.
Kinshasa (AFP) - The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, told the Democratic Republic of Congo to hold elections next year, rather than delay them until 2019, if it wanted to count on American backing.

"Elections must be held in 2018, (otherwise) the DRC should not count on the support of the United States and the international community," Haley said, after meeting Corneille Nangaa, head of DRC's National Electoral Commission.

"We are not going to support a timetable which doesn't clearly show that the elections will be held in 2018," she said, according to a French translation of her remarks.

"It is possible (to do), provided all parties get involved."

Haley arrived late Wednesday for a two-day visit to assess the humanitarian, security and political crisis besetting the vast, mineral-rich central African country.

Polls in DRC were scheduled to be held by the end of 2017, under a transitional deal with the opposition aimed at avoiding fresh political bloodshed after President Joseph Kabila refused to step down when his second mandate ended last December.

The international community has pressed for a vote to choose a new head of state to be held as soon as possible -- but no timetable has been set so far.

The electoral commission responsible for organising the ballot says holding the vote will be impossible before early 2019.

It blames unrest in the central region of Kasai, which has delayed efforts to compile a roll of voters.

Earlier Friday, Haley visited the headquarters of the influential Catholic church, which brokered the December 31, 2016 compromise.

She urged bishops to "get involved" in ending the deadlock.

"For every day which goes by without holding elections, a woman is raped, a child has an unwanted pregnancy, children are inducted by armed groups," she said.

Father Donatien Shole, the spokesman for the bishops, said after the meeting that the church looked to the international community for "support" so that the elections could be held "as soon possible".

On Thursday, Haley visited a displaced people's camp at Kitchanga in the strife-ravaged eastern DRC. She is scheduled to leave the country later Friday.

It is the first trip to Africa for Haley, who is the most senior Trump administration official to visit the continent. She arrived from South Sudan, and previously, Ethiopia.
Campaigners say the proposals are a sell-out to special interests: Getty

Donald Trump has said he will shrink the size of two national monuments in Utah - opening up more land to drilling and mining companies but overriding the concerns of Native Americans.

The two Utah sites, Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument were among several US Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended reducing in order to make way for more industrial activity on the land they occupy.

Senator Orrin Hatch said he had been informed of the news by the President.

Any attempt to alter Bears Ears National Monument would be illegal and wrong on every count. #StandWithBearsEars! #MonumentsForAll https://t.co/ehMAnSGn75  Protect Bears Ears (@savebearsears) October 27, 2017

I was incredibly grateful the President called this morning to let us know that he is approving Secretary Zinkes recommendation on Bears Ears," Mr Hatch said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

His spokesman, Matt Whitlock, told the news agency Mr Trump told Mr Hatch he was approving shrinking the two monuments for you, Orrin.

Mr Trump met with Mr Zinke in the Oval Office on Friday. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, asked whether Mr Zinke briefed Mr Trump on his Bears Ears recommendation during their meeting, said she did not want to get ahead of the presidents announcement.

I can tell you he Trump will be going to Utah in the first part of early December, she said.

The move has already been condemned by local Native Americans who say the land is sacred. They have threatened a law suit.

The Navajo Nations top lawyer said last month the tribe would sue the Trump administration for violating the Antiquities Act, a century-old law that protects sacred sites, cultural artifacts and other historical objects, if it tried to reduce the size of the Bears Ears.

The lawyer, Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch, said: The Navajo Nation stands ready to defend the Bears Ears National Monument. We have a complaint ready to file upon official action by the President.


By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday overturned a decision that threw out evidence obtained in an undercover FBI probe to charge a Massachusetts man prosecutors said was a user of the world's largest child pornography website.

The ruling by 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston came in one of several cases stemming from a wide-ranging probe that privacy advocates have said could ultimately threaten the rights of internet users for years to come.

The court reversed a 2016 decision that held that a Virginia-based federal magistrate judge had no jurisdiction to issue a search warrant used to justify gathering evidence on Alex Levin of Norwood, Massachusetts.

The U.S. Justice Department had no immediate comment. A lawyer for Levin did not respond to a request for comment.

As of May, about 350 people in the United States had been arrested as part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's probe into the website Playpen, which the agency said had more than 150,000 users worldwide.

Steven Chase, a Florida man who prosecutors say was its creator, was sentenced in May to 30 years in prison after he was convicted of child pornography-related charges.

The FBI had in February 2015 seized the server hosting Playpen, which operated on the Tor network designed to facilitate anonymous online communication and protect user privacy.

In order to identify its users, authorities sought a search warrant from the Virginia judge allowing them to deploy a "network investigative technique."

That technique, involving malware, would make a user's computer to send investigators data any time that user logged onto the website while the FBI operated it for two weeks.

A federal judge in Massachusetts suppressed the evidence against Levin after his lawyers argued the Virginia judge had no authority to authorize searching his out-of-state computer.

Levin also contended the warrant was so general that FBI agents' reliance on it to investigate him amounted to bad faith. But the three-judge 1st Circuit panel rejected that argument on Friday.

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U.S. Circuit Judge Juan Torruella said, at the time the warrant was issued, that the government was faced with a "novel question" of whether it had the authority to do so and turned to the courts for guidance.

"We see no benefit in deterring such conduct - if anything, such conduct should be encouraged, because it leaves it to the courts to resolve novel legal issues," he wrote.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Richard Chang)
By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Friday dropped charges against a dual citizen of China and Canada accused of trying to steal trade secrets from a Massachusetts-based manufacturer of robotic surgical products by trespassing at its headquarters.

Federal prosecutors in Boston did not detail why they decided to dismiss the case against Dong Liu, who was arrested in August. But his lawyer had argued that prosecutors lacked evidence that Liu accessed Medrobotics Corp's computer systems.

His lawyer, Robert Goldstein, also said in court papers that Liu suffered a brain injury in an accident in 2012, when he was a partner at a Chinese patent law firm, and had been "struggling to accept the fact he was no longer brilliant."

Liu, 44, was recently released on a nearly $1.42 million bond under conditions that required him to participate in a mental health treatment program.

"As we originally said upon Mr. Liu's arrest, we fully expected that a full and fair investigation would establish his innocence," Goldstein said in an interview. "Today's motion to dismiss is the first step in that direction."

A spokeswoman for Acting U.S. Attorney William Weinreb in Massachusetts declined to comment. Representatives for Raynham, Massachusetts-based Medrobotics were not immediately available for comment.

Prosecutors had charged Liu in August with one count of attempting to steal trade secrets and one count of attempting to intentionally access a computer without authorization.

According to court papers, Liu was arrested by Raynham police after the chief executive of privately held Medrobotics, Samuel Straface, discovered Liu in a company conference room as he was leaving for the night.

Liu, who had three laptop computers open, claimed to be there to meet with company officials, including the chief executive himself, when in fact no such meetings were planned, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent said in an affidavit.

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He gave inconsistent answers when questioned by police about how he got into the building, court papers said.

The FBI later confiscated from Liu a collection of electronic equipment that the agent said could be used to acquire or store data belonging to Medrobotics.

Medrobotics' chief executive told authorities that for 10 years, people from China have been trying to develop business relationships with the company, though it has no intention of doing business with Chinese firms, according to court papers.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge has given an unnamed bank more time to respond to a congressional subpoena for financial records of the Washington research firm that hired a former British spy to compile a dossier on presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Trump and other Republicans have alleged that Russians paid Fusion GPS, a Washington firm, for research on their own dealings with Trump and his campaign. The Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee has sought Fusion's bank records in an effort to pursue those allegations.

In a closed-door hearing with Senate Judiciary Committee investigators, Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson said there was no connection between the firm's work on the dossier and its legal research on a lawsuit involving Russians who attended a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law and close aide, Jared Kusher, and former campaign chief Paul Manafort, sources familiar with the hearing said.

It has been widely reported that supporters of Republican Jeb Bush, a primary opponent of Trump, initially paid for the firm's research, and the law firm Perkins Coie, which represented Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, confirmed on Tuesday that it hired Fusion GPS in April 2016.

U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan had set a Thursday evening deadline for the unnamed bank to give the committee its last two years of records on Fusion GPS. But in an order posted on the court docket late on Thursday, she extended the deadline until Monday morning.

The decision indicates that lawyers for Fusion and the House committee are negotiating in an effort to settle their dispute out of court, sources familiar with the matter said.

Joshua Levy, a lawyer for Fusion, declined to comment, and the House of Representatives lawyer on the case did not respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting By Mark Hosenball; Editing by John Walcott and Tom Brown)
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces were responsible for a deadly sarin gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun that killed scores of people, a UN investigative panel said Thursday.

The joint UN-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) panel said in a much-awaited report that most of the evidence collected supported the "prevailing scenario" that the "sarin was delivered via an aerial bomb that was dropped by an airplane."

The "panel is confident that the Syrian Arab Republic is responsible for the release of sarin at Khan Sheikhun on 4 April 2017," said the confidential report to the UN Security Council, which was obtained AFP.

More than 87 people died in the nerve gas attack on the town in Syria's northwestern Idlib province.

Horrific images from the immediate aftermath of the attack drew global outrage and prompted the United States to fire cruise missiles at a Syrian air base from which the West says the assault was launched.

Syria ally Russia maintains that the sarin attack was most likely caused by a bomb set off directly on the ground, not by a Syrian air strike.

But expert analysis of photographs and videos of the site where the sarin was released found a crater caused by a "relatively large bomb" that was "dropped from medium or high altitude", the report said.

An in-depth laboratory study of the sarin released in Khan Sheikhun found that it had most likely been made from a precursor from the government's chemical stockpile.

Syria's government has maintained it no longer possesses chemical weapons after a 2013 agreement under which it pledged to surrender them.

The report also found that Islamic State group militants used mustard gas in a separate attack on the town of Um Hosh in northern Aleppo region in September 2016.

- Syrian air base -

The panel known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) received French and US intelligence that a Syrian air force Su-22 took off from Shayrat airbase and launched up to six attacks on Khan Sheikhun.

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The expert investigators interviewed a Syrian pilot of an Su-22 who denied using chemical weapons and insisted his mission on April 4 was at least seven kilometers (four miles) away from Khan Sheikhun.

The panel said it was unable to confirm that an Su-22 operating from Shayrat air base launched the attack, but said that Syrian aircraft were in the "immediate vicinity" of Khan Sheikhun when it took place.

In an interview with AFP in April, Assad had described any suggestion that chemical weapons had been used by his forces as "100 percent fabrication."

The report was released two days after Russia vetoed a US-drafted resolution that would have extended by a year the investigation of who is behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

Russia said it wanted to study the report on Khan Sheikhun before deciding on the extension of the panel that it helped set up in 2015 jointly with the United States.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley welcomed the findings and said the Security Council must send a "clear message" that the use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated.

"Ignoring the overwhelming amount of evidence in this case shows a purposeful disregard for widely agreed international norms," Haley said in a statement.

"The Security Council must send a clear message that the use of chemical weapons by anyone will not be tolerated, and must fully support the work of the impartial investigators."

"Countries that fail to do so are no better than the dictators or terrorists who use these terrible weapons," she added.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the report had reached a "clear conclusion" and urged the "international community to unite to hold Assad's regime accountable."

"I call on Russia to stop covering up for its abhorrent ally and keep its own commitment to ensure that chemical weapons are never used again," he said.

After the panel found that Syrian forces had launched chlorine attacks on opposition villages in 2014 and 2015, the United States, Britain and France pushed for sanctions, but Russia and China vetoed that resolution.
Jim Mattis - AP

US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has warned that the threat of nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating.

In remarks in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at his side, Mattis accused the North of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs - and vowed to defeat any attack.

Mattis said North Korea engages in "outlaw" behavior and that the US will never accept a nuclear North.

He added that regardless of what the North might try, it is over-matched by the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old US-South Korean alliance.

"North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbours and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs," he said, adding that US-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration thus has taken on "a new urgency."

North Koreas nuclear progress - estimated yields per test

"I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power," he said.

As he emphasised throughout his week-long Asia trip, which included stops in Thailand and the Philippines, Mattis said diplomacy remains the preferred way to deal with the North.

"With that said," he added, "make no mistake - any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming."

Mattis' comments did not go beyond his recent statements of concern about North Korea, although he appeared to inject a stronger note about the urgency of resolving the crisis.

While he accused the North of "outlaw" behavior, he did not mention that President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his own rhetoric. In August, Trump warned the North not to make any more threats against the United States, and said that if it did, it would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen."

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Song, the South Korean minister, told the news conference that he and Mattis agreed to further cooperation on strengthening Seoul's defense capabilities, including lifting warhead payload limits on South Korean conventional missiles and supporting the country's acquisition of "most advanced military assets." He offered no specifics and refused to answer when asked whether the discussions included nuclear-powered submarines.

Some South Korean government officials have endorsed the nation getting nuclear-powered submarines amid calls for more military strength. There's a growing concern among the South Korean public that North Korea's expanding nuclear weapons arsenal, which may soon include an intercontinental ballistic missile that could target the U.S. mainland, would undermine Seoul's decadeslong alliance with Washington.

South Korea's conservative politicians have also called for the United States to bring back tactical nuclear weapons that were withdrawn from the Korean Peninsula in the 1990s, which they say would make clearer the U.S. intent to use nukes in a crisis. But Mattis and Song were strongly dismissive of the idea.

"When considering national interest, it's much better not to deploy them," said Song, adding that the allies would have "sufficient means" to respond to a North Korean nuclear attack even without placing tactical nukes in the South. Mattis said current U.S. strategic assets are already providing nuclear deterrence and that the South Korean government has never approached him with the subject of tactical nukes.

North Korea | Kim Jong-uns fiery relationship with the US

Also discussed in the meeting were the conditions under which South Korea would be given wartime operational control of its forces. Currently, if war with the North broke out, the South's forces would operate under the US-led UN Command.

Trump entered office declaring his commitment to solving the North Korea problem, asserting that he would succeed where his predecessors had failed. His administration has sought to increase pressure on Pyongyang through UN Security Council sanctions and other diplomatic efforts, but the North hasn't budged from its goal of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including missiles capable of striking the US mainland.

If Trump sticks to his pledge to stop the North from being able to threaten the US with a nuclear attack, something will have to give - either a negotiated tempering of the North's ambitions or a US acceptance of the North as a nuclear power.

The other alternative would be US military action to attempt to neutralize or eliminate the North's nuclear assets - a move fraught with risk for South Korea, Japan and the United States.
Washington (AFP) - The US State Department on Thursday submitted to lawmakers a list of Russian companies with ties to the military and intelligence services that could face sanctions.

A spokeswoman said the list would be made public in the coming days to allow American firms and individuals time to put an end to any business they are doing with the firms.

In July, angered by Russia's intervention in Ukraine and its alleged interference in the US presidential election, Congress passed a law to impose new sanctions on Moscow.

President Donald Trump, who has dismissed reports Russian intelligence tried to swing last year's vote in his favor, opposed the law, which bans him from lifting the measures.

But the president signed the law in August, still complaining it included "clearly unconstitutional provisions," after Congress approved it by a veto-proof majority.

The law required Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's department to submit a list of entities to face possible sanctions by October 1, a deadline it missed.

Lawmakers cried foul and accused the administration of dragging its feet until, 25 days late, the State Department on Thursday sent the list to Congress.

"Secretary Tillerson has signed off on this and it is currently being held on Capitol Hill," spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters.

"The department is currently informing Congress, key US industries and stakeholders and our allies and partners of our ... guidance," she said.

The law requires the government to take action against firms that "knowingly engage in significant transactions" with the entities named on the list from January 29 next year.

Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and in recent weeks a sharp critic of Trump's character, welcomed the delivery.

"The guidance provided today by the State Department is a good first step in responsibly implementing a very complex piece of legislation," he said.

Story continues

"Congress will expect thorough and timely consultation until full implementation is complete."

The United States has already imposed a range of sanctions on Russia in response to human rights violations and its actions in Ukraine, but the new law goes further.

It will doubtless further chill already frosty US ties with President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin, which once hoped that Trump's election would hasten the end of such measures.
President Donald Trump is expected to declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency from the White House Thursday afternoon.

Trump declared a national emergency over the opioid epidemic in August. National emergencies are typically declared for short-term crises, such as a natural disaster, and can help unlock more support and resources.

A public health emergency declaration would not come with specific funding, but officials say it could allow expanded access to medical services in rural areas, according to the Associated Press.

Trump has said an emergency designation will give his administration the power to do things that you cant do right now.

Opioid-related deaths among Americans has nearly doubled since 2009, and the number of admissions to intensive care units related to opioid use has gone up by 34%, according to a recent study in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

Watch Trump deliver his remarks at 2 p.m. E.T.
White Lives Matter rallies in Tennessee People participate in a White Lives Matter rally in Shelbyville, Tenn., Oct. 28, 2017. (Photo: Stephanie Keith/Reuters)

About 300 white nationalists and neo-Nazis took to the streets of the small Tennessee city of Shelbyville on Saturday to protest refugee resettlement in the state, which sued the federal government over the issue earlier this year.

The White Lives Matter rally, organized by some of the same groups involved in a Virginia march in August that turned violent, drew an equal number of counter-demonstrators and a heavy police presence.

After Shelbyville, the protesters were due to travel about 35 miles north to Murfreesboro for a second rally.

The two cities are just southeast of Nashville, whose metropolitan area has become home to refugees from Somalia, Iraq and elsewhere.

The days protests were organized by the Nationalist Front, a coalition including the League of the South and Vanguard America, considered neo-Nazi or neo-Confederate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.

We dont want the federal government to keep dumping all these refugees into middle Tennessee, said Brad Griffin, a League of the South member who has written about his desire to create a white ethnostate.

To help keep the peace, Shelbyville police used temporary fencing to separate the white nationalists from counter-demonstrators in a central protest area. Anyone seeking to enter the area was searched. Guns, sticks, backpacks and items that might double as weapons were banned.

The white nationalist demonstrators gathered behind a half dozen white shields emblazoned with red crosses. Counter-protesters carried signs with slogans including Dont Hate and Veterans for Peace. (Reuters)

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn.  In post-Charlottesville America, any large gathering of racists and fascists becomes both spectacle and specter. The threat of violence is omnipresent. Locals must brace themselves for chaos and bloodshed. Everyone dreads another Charlottesville. Dread is what Nazis want.

In two small cities near Nashville in Middle Tennessee, the fear was palpable ahead of two White Lives Matter rallies here on Saturday.

So ... what brings you to town? a wary clerk asked guests as they checked into a hotel in Murfreesboro, home to Middle Tennessee State University and 132,000 residents, where one rally will be held Saturday afternoon outside the Rutherford County Courthouse. I heard some version of this question three times before Id even found my room.

In nearby Shelbyville, a town of 21,000 south of Murfreesboro in Tennessee horse country, another rally  organized by the same racists and fascists  is scheduled for Saturday morning. Many Shelbyville residents will stay indoors or clear out altogether, according to local police.

The concern is well-founded. Among the groups assembling in Tennessee this weekend is the League of the South, a Southern separatist organization involved in some of the more garish violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. There, one of the groups leaders, Michael Tubbs, a hulking former Green Beret who did a prison stint for plotting to bomb Jewish and black-owned businesses, led a charge of his followers toward peaceful clergy members.

The National Socialist Movement is also here, with their refashioned flags. (In an attempt to appeal to a broader audience, the flags swastika has been replaced with the Elder Futhark Odal rune.) So is the Traditionalist Worker Party, which often collaborates with both the NSM and the League of the South and is led by Matt Heimbach, whose declared strategy is to do food giveaways and coat drives to win the hearts and minds of what he considers downtrodden white America in the hope of eventually running his own political candidates in Appalachia and other redoubts of Herrenvolk (master race) welfare-statism. Vanguard America will be here, too, according to rally organizers. Thats the group James A. Fields Jr. was with on the day he drove his car into a crowd in Charlottesville and killed Heather Heyer.

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Matthew Heimbach, seen here after the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, is head of the Traditionalist Worker Party. (Photo: Justin Ide/Reuters)

These are hardly the happy travelers who prompt towns to throw wide their doors. Its supposed to be cold and rainy, said a woman with the Shelbyville Police Department who did not wish to be named. A lot of these people will just melt away, hopefully.

But that was unlikely. One reason white supremacists exercise their First Amendment rights in places where theyre not wanted is because provocation is just as much their goal as hateful proclamation. Even the potential for violence attracts attention, which is also what Nazis want. Fox, NBC, ABC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and many other media outlets had contacted the Shelbyville police ahead of Saturdays rally. Even ABC Australia had been in touch. I heard a video team from TV Asahi in Japan was roaming around Murfreesboro. And in a Panera near my hotel, I found myself seated near a film crew talking about Charlottesville and Wolfenstein II, a counterfactual video game set in 1961 in which the user battles a Nazi regime that conquered the United States in World War II.

But discerning the motives of far-right extremists and the danger they pose can be difficult. The rally in Shelbyville, which will take place on a sidewalk in a location that can be easily secured, is an opportunity for them to hold forth on white grievance. Murfreesboro is where they might try to pick a fight.

In downtown #Murfreesboro, Tennessee they're boarding up businesses ahead of tomorrow's white supremacist rally pic.twitter.com/5JpF7L127B  Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) October 27, 2017

Shelbyville is where we want to get our message out to working-class white constituents about the opioid epidemic and refugee resettlement and how capitalism has failed them, Heimbach said. Murfreesboro is a different environment with a college. Im going to focus on how the far left is being used by the capitalist system.

Shelbyville has been depicted in some far-right media outlets as being overrun by Shariah-practicing Somali refugees, evoking one of the great demographic boogeymen fabricated by white supremacists to stoke bias and hate. Southern demographic displacement was the theme of League of the South rallies held in Shelbyville and Murfreesboro in 2013. On Saturday, the racists will be back, harping on the same issue.

You have mosques and businesses going up that dont reflect the general culture. Its redefining the community, Heimbach said. Thats not what Middle Tennessee needs or wants.

The area has experienced some demographic change. Mexicans work in the horse industry. Somalis work at the nearby Tyson Foods chicken processing plant. And a mosque outside Murfreesboro opened in 2012, after several threats and much Republican dog-whistling. In July, two men defaced the building with graffiti and profanity written with strips of raw bacon.

The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has decided to cancel services and religious classes at the mosque this weekend due to the White Lives Matter rally. The members here are concerned about violence, especially after witnessing what happened in Charlottesville.

Its that you are living like a hostage in your own town and city that youve lived in and loved so many years, Dr. Saleh M. Sbenaty, a professor at Middle Tennessee State University who is a member of the mosque, told HuffPost. This is not the U.S. we know of, and I hope this is not the way from now on. Its unbelievable.

Despite the racial anxieties stoked by the likes of Heimbach, Middle Tennessee is hardly turning into the Horn of Africa. Over the last 15 years, Shelbyville has taken in just 51 refugees, 47 of them Somali, according to data from the Refugee Processing Center. In recent years, the Somali refugee population in Shelbyville has actually declined, according to Shelbyville Police Chief Jan Phillips.

The White Lives Matter rally organizers either are unaware of the demographic data or dont care. They need little pretext to invade communities with their gripes, another of which has to do with a deadly church shooting in September in Antioch, also near Nashville, carried out by a black man.

Jeff Schoep, second from the left, is head of the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group. He and three other NSM members met HuffPost outside their hotel in the Nashville area. (Photo: Christopher Mathias/HuffPost)

On Friday evening, Jeff Schoep, the head of NSM, met HuffPost at a hotel parking lot in the Nashville area. Three other NSM members, two of them armed, stood by his side.

Schoep said he was upset that the shooting at the church in Antioch, which killed one person, didnt get as much national media attention as the far deadlier mass shooting in 2015 at a predominantly black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in which avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof killed nine people.

Schoep was in a hurry. He had a meeting at 6 p.m., but wouldnt tell HuffPost who was attending the meeting or what it was about.

Rumors were circulating earlier in the week about a tiki torch march Friday night, perhaps targeting Middle Tennessee State University, where a building named after Nathaniel Bedford Forrest, a Confederate Army general and early leader of the Ku Klux Klan, has sparked controversy. (Shelbyville, as it so happens, is in Bedford County, which will be harder to rebrand.) Local anti-fascist organizations were prepared to confront the white supremacists there and in the public square the next day.

But Nazis can be crafty. When they have a stage from which to preach, they try to attract as much attention as possible. When they want to be subversive, they take great pains to conceal their plans.

I think Murfreesboro is going to be the hot spot, said Corey Lemley, a member of Nashville Anti-Racist Action, who noted that white supremacists blew up his mailbox with a small explosive a few months ago. Its going to be a heavy, heavy turnout to counter them.

Roads will be closed in Shelbyville and Murfreesboro on Saturday for the rallies. No weapons, masks or bags will be allowed in the rally areas. According to the sister of one Murfreesboro police officer, it is an all-hands-on-deck situation for the citys police department and the county sheriff, who have partnered with federal and state law enforcement agencies, including the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, to guard against a repeat of the violence in Charlottesville.

It used to be that you could ignore white supremacists until they went away. In 2013, the League of the South could muster only 30 racists at its Shelbyville rally.

They were here for about an hour and then they left, said the woman with the local police department who did not wish to be named. But things are different now when the Nazis come to town.

About 200 miles north of here in March 2016, Heimbach, wearing a Make America Great Again hat, shoved a black protester at a campaign rally for Donald Trump, drawing an assault charge for his trouble. Heimbach was giddy for Trump back then, contending that a Manhattan oligarch might somehow be a populist answer for the country.

Now Heimbach has pivoted. Donald Trump is not one of us, he says. We cant trust a New York billionaire to bring social and economic justice to poor folks.

But why, aside from racism, would a poor white person trust a 20-something outsider whose broken political judgment had led him to go all stormtrooper for a plutocrat who stiffs small-business owners? Heimbach didnt have a good answer: Were here to present an alternative. Theres Republican and Democrat and we want to be another option.

Its not an option Middle Tennessee appears to want.

Christopher Mathias contributed reporting from Murfreesboro.

America does not do a good job of tracking incidents of hate and bias. We need your help to create a database of such incidents across the country, so we all know whats going on. Tell us your story.

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Protesters hold up banners as they march past the Capitol during the march for Racial Justice in Washington, DC, on Sept. 30, 2017. (Photo: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS via Getty Images)

DETROIT Hard conversations about race have been at the heart of the Womens March from the moment it began to take shape last fall, and at the Womens Convention in Detroit this weekend, they were front and center once again.

Today, we are going to talk about black women, Symone Sanders, former press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), told a crowded conference room in the Cobo Center on Saturday, to loud applause. Some 4,000 women had traveled to Detroit for three days of panels, training sessions and marquee speeches  all part of the first major womens convention in the United States in 40 years.

Sanders, who has spoken about her own experiences with discrimination on the campaign trail, led a panel called, 94 percent voted against Trump: following black women in 2018.

The message was clear: For Democrats and progressives to win future elections, white women must do better.

Fifty-three percent of white women who voted in the 2016 presidential election voted for Donald Trump. Meanwhile, 94 percent of black women who voted chose Hillary Clinton.

So many times when I look for sisterhood from white women, I dont find it, said panelist Brittany Packnett, an activist and vice president of National Community Alliances with Teach for America. It wasnt just missing on Nov. 8.

Melanie Campbell, president and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, praised the racial mix of the women whod opted to attend the panel on Saturday morning. There was a fairly even split between white women and women of color.

But while the mood in the room was warm and enthusiastic, with attendees frequently breaking out in cheers, Campbell argued the white women present couldnt simply pat themselves on the back if they did not vote for President Trump.

You may not have, she said. But did your cousin? Campbell urged them to have those conversations, and to continue having them no matter how uncomfortable they become.

Story continues

I thought it was really interesting and informative and I learned so many things that I feel like I can take forward in my own work, Natalie Welland, 25, who had come to the convention from Canada, said after the panel. Welland, who is white, said she appreciated the message that white women do not have to apologize for their privilege, but they must use it.

Its about, just do the work, she said.

It was important for me to go to that [panel] because I wanted to make sure that white women understand why we are upset, said Erica Fuller, who is a black 25-year-old, from Portland, Oregon.

These are the types of conversations Ive been having for years, she continued. But one of the things that feels new this year is that because we actually have statistics showing how white women voted for Trump, its clear that were not pulling this out of our behinds.

Several sessions at the convention took direct aim at the role white women play in propping up white privilege. On Friday, some 200 women took part in a discussion called Confronting White Womanhood, in which they were urged to unpack the ways white women uphold and benefit from white supremacy.

At the panel on Saturday morning, the wide-ranging discussion frequently turned to criticism of the Democratic party, and how it can better support black women voters and black women candidates. Panelists called the party out of touch and said it would not be enough to simply replace white male legislators with white women.

The Democratic party is too male, said Letitia James, public advocate for the City of New York and the first woman of color to hold citywide office in the city. Its too pale and too stale.

Also on HuffPost

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava have said they were not entirely prepared for their trip: ASSOCIATED PRESS

The two women who were rescued by the US navy after spending five months adrift at sea have admitted they werent prepared, with one of them having never sailed.

Jennifer Appel said she and sailing partner, Tasha Fuiava, didnt know what they were getting themselves into when they set off to sail the 2,700 miles from Hawaii to Tahiti in May.

Ms Appel said: "I had no idea what I was getting myself into. When I asked Natasha, I told her I have no idea what's going to happen out there and she said, 'That's OK, I've never sailed."'

The pair were rescued on Tuesday, along with their two dogs, five months after they embarked on their journey. They were found when a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted their boat 900 miles off Japan and thousands of miles in the wrong direction from Tahiti.

Speaking of the rescue, Ms Appel said: I had tears in my eyes.

Ms Appel and Ms Fuiava set sail on May 3 and ran into trouble almost immediately when their vessel was battered by a three-day storm.

After their engine went out at the end of May the pair tried to continue with only their sails but they were unable to make any headway due to their mast being damaged from the storm. Instead they drifted in the middle of the Pacific ocean for months sending out a distress signal every day for 98 days and trying to hail down passing ships.

Speaking about their time at sea Ms Appel told of a night when a group of tiger sharks attacked the vessel.

"We were just incredibly lucky that our hull was strong enough to withstand the onslaught," she said.

"There is a true humility to wondering if today is your last day, if tonight is your last night.

She said the pair owed their survival over the five months to the advice of sailors in Honolulu.

"They said pack every square inch of your boat with food, and if you think you need a month, pack six months, because you have no idea what could possibly happen out there," she said.
Five hundred years ago, an unknown monk named Martin Luther marched up to the church in Wittenberg, a small town in what is now Germany, and nailed a list of criticisms of the Catholic church to its door.

The date was Oct. 31, 1517, and Luther had just lit the fuse of what would become the Protestant Reformation. His list of criticisms, known as the 95 theses, would reverberate across world history. The Church would split, wars would be fought and people would be burned at the stake. It was the birth of Protestant Christianity.

Religiously speaking, the Reformation led to the translation of the Bible into languages other than Latin, allowing many people to engage with scripture for the first time. It also brought an end to the controversial sale of indulgences  payments the Church said reduced punishment for sins after death, which Luther regarded as corrupt.

More generally, the Reformation contributed to the expansion of literacy, with people no longer needing to rely on priests to read and interpret the Bible. Luther promoted universal education for girls and boys at a time when education was reserved for the wealthy, and believed in the connection between literacy and empowerment, both spiritually and socially.

Luthers act is taught as one of the cornerstones of world history, even though most historians now agree that it was a relatively unremarkable event which was canonized at a later date for political ends. Nevertheless, it remains a lasting symbol of resistance 500 years later.

So how is an anniversary of that magnitude being celebrated?

Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter

The hub of anniversary celebrations will be Luthers homeland, Germany, where Reformation Day has long been celebrated as a holiday in certain states. This year, its set to be a full-blown national holiday. Chancellor Angela Merkel, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor, has encouraged German churches to promote a narrative of unity over division in their celebrations.

Story continues

Thats a line that the Catholic Church and some of the biggest protestant denominations are also keen to stress. On last years 499th anniversary, Pope Francis joined leaders of the Lutheran World Federation in Sweden (where Lutheranism is the dominant religion) to hold a joint commemorative service. In his address, Francis said: We have the opportunity to mend a critical moment of our history by moving beyond the controversies and disagreements that have often prevented us from understanding one another.

Not long after Francis address, the Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury in England expressed remorse for the violence committed there in the name of the Reformation. Hundreds of churches and monasteries were demolished in the 1500s, and many people gruesomely killed, during Englands pained transition from Catholicism to Protestantism.

After 500 years of division, there seems to be a consensus from the top that this anniversary will be one of reconciliation.

But official church celebrations arent the only ways in which the milestone is being marked.

In popular celebrations Germany also leads the way, and for proof you need look only as far as its toy economy. In 2015, a commemorative Martin Luther figurine from Playmobil became the German companys fastest-selling product ever. It took just 72 hours for the initial run of 34,000 to sell out, leading the company to rush another batch into production. A spokesperson labeled the demand a big mystery.

Martin Luther is now the best selling @playmobil of all time - with 750,000+ sold! #HereIStand



RT for the chance to win your own! (GK) pic.twitter.com/vAVnx2342Z  German Consulate NY (@GermanyNY) April 5, 2017

Americans are also doing their bit. A musical entitled Luther: The Rock Opera premiered in Wittenberg earlier this year. The North Dakota pastor responsible for the two-and-a-half hour production describes it as Hamilton meets Jesus Christ Superstar meets Monty Python. Performances in Berlin and Wittenberg will mark the anniversary.

And, as the anniversary falls each year on the same day as Halloween, around the world people are taking inspiration from Luther for their costumes. On Reddits Christianity subreddit, a post asked whether it would be sinful to dress up as Martin Luther for Halloween. On Twitter, others had no qualms about their plans to do the same, whilst on Amazon, a search for Martin Luther Costume turns out enough results to dress a small congregation.

In honor of the 500th anniversary of the reformation, I say we all dress up as Martin Luther for Halloween and nail stuff to peoples doors.  Evan Nester (@evannester) October 17, 2017

Back in Germany, the broadcaster ZDF is airing a two-part serial entitled Reformation commissioned especially for the anniversary, starring Maximilian Bruckner as Martin Luther. It is also airing in the U.K. on the BBC, and both channels have also commissioned special documentaries to mark the occasion.

The town of Wittenberg itself is understandably excited; in fact its already in the tenth year of a Luther decade it proclaimed in 2008. On the anniversary, a Reformation festival will see jugglers, musicians, hosts, craftsmen and people from the Middle Ages gather in the town center, before the church opens for a commemorative concert in the evening.

For some people, this anniversary may be the first theyve heard of Luther and the Reformation. But the wide range of celebrations, exhibits, documentaries and even commemorative toys mean that itll be hard to escape its legacy, 500 years on.
Steve Bannon , who until recently was one of US President Donald Trump's top advisors, has asserted Qatar is more dangerous than North Korea while Turkey is more dangerous than Iran in a rare interview with the Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat published on Saturday.

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"In my opinion, Turkey is the greatest danger threatening the United States," Bannon told the London-based paper during a recent interview in Los Angeles. "It's definitely not as dangerous as its neighbor Iran, it's far more dangerous."

Bannon argued that "We're not entirely aware of the events happening in Turkey under the shadowy regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. I dedicate most of my time and attention to this issue."

Steve Bannon (Photo: AFP)

Bannon claimed the next world war would be against Qatar, crediting Trump for the Arab boycott against Doha.

"The boycott began shortly after Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, in a very smooth manner," he said.

Bannon's interview with Asharq Al-Awsat

Trump, according to Bannon, very publicly supported Saudi Arabia's position in the crisis and has recently expressed willingness to serve as a mediator between Qatar and the countries boycotting itSaudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egyptin an effort to resolve the dispute.

"Qatar is no less dangerous than North Korea! People should pay attention to this very important situation," Bannon noted, referring to accusations that Qatar provides aid and support to extremist organizations, including terror groups.
Since the introduction of Christianity to Ghana, the religion continues to take hold of the nation as statistics show that 71 percent of the population is Christian.

READ ALSO: No rotten chicken in the market - FDA assures public

The growth of Christianity has since expanded from traditional Catholicism to a new wave of Protestant Reformation which has seen the birth of millions of Charismatic churches across the country.

But how have these churches being able to expand so fast? Information reveals that the major means these churches expand is through the establishment of prayer camps. Yes, there are tens of such camps here in Ghana and YEN.com.gh will be making a list of the most popular.

READ ALSO: So adorable! See these top Ghanaian celebrity fathers and their kids

1. Moments of Glory Prayer Army (MOGPA)

Till date, MOGPA remains the largest prayer camp in the history of Ghana's Charismatic Christian religion.

Headed by Rev. Osei Bonsu, this prayer camp located Kumasi is said to be the home of huge conventions and Christian gatherings.

With noticeable wristbands, flyers, stickers, and merchandises, MOGPA is in no doubt a true reflection of how buoyant and 'prayerful' Ghanaian Christians are.

2. Achimota Forest

Although it remains a forest, it also remains the home of most of Ghana's Christian conventions and deliverance service. Located in Accra at the Achimota Forest Reserve, the said prayer camp has since time immemorial been the landmark of spiritual encounters by most Christians in Ghana.

3. Abasua Prayer Camp

This prayer camp is comfortably situated on the Atwea mountains in the Ashanti Region is in no doubt one of the popular praying mountains not just in Ghana but in Africa as a whole. Established by local Methodist Pastor, Abraham Osei-Asibey, the prayer camp is documented to have experienced a close encounter with Jesus Christ.

4. Edumfa Prayer Camp

The Edumfa Prayer camp is a faith healing centre that is highly patronized by some famed people in the country including Reverend Ministers, Pastors, Prophets, Business Executives, CEOs, Renowned Musicians, Traders, Students, the Sick and those under any form of spiritual bondage.

5. Hebron Prayer Camp

Headed by Elder Donkor, this prayer camp is reported to host up to 10,000 congregants on a monthly and annual basis with their advertisement and social media tactics said to be one of the best in Ghana. It must be stated that this prayer camp used to be under the Church of Pentecost.

READ ALSO: Childhood photos of Akufo-Addo with his family members

YEN.com.gh is building a platform where Ghanaians can share local news and own experiences with each other.

Witnessing an incident? Want to tell about a local problem? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition?

Your stories and photos are always welcome. Message us on Facebook now.

Source: YEN.com.gh
Wendell Methodists host annual turkey dinner

WENDELL  The United Methodist Church will host their annual turkey dinner, with all the trimmings, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Nov. 5 at the church, 175 East Main, Wendell.

Come enjoy a great time to visit with family, friends and neighbors. A free-will offering will be accepted. More information: call Margaret Presnell at 536-5751 or Mary Lou Ruby at 536-6583. Our hearts, our minds and our doors are always open.

Mennonites welcome mission speaker

FILER  The Mennonite Church will welcome James R. Krabill for a short mission series Call and Challenge of being a Congregation at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the church, 109 5th St., Filer. It will be followed with a soup and sandwich meal. An evening program will continue from 6-8 p.m. The regular Sunday School hour at 10 a.m. will be a question-answer time about the Saturday sessions. Krabill will continue his message during the 11 a.m. service.

James Krabill is a senior mission advocate with the Mennonite Mission Network of the Mennonite Church USA. As a writer and speaker, he captures audiences with stories from his years living in West Africa and his passion for the global mission of the church. Krabill, a Staley lecturer, speaks in a variety of settings including churches, conferences, seminars, schools and youth conventions. He is an author and editor of several books, including a series of 24 Missions Insights booklets and the Missio Dei series for the Mennonite Mission Network.

Krabill and his wife Jeanette lived and taught in Ivory Coast for 14 years, beginning in 1976. They have since lived in Paris and Birmingham, England. Krabill offers insight on how the North American church can learn from the church around the world. Through the message of the gospel, he shares the interwoven callings of the church for evangelism and peace.

The public is invited to join the Filer congregation. Information: Pastor Tim Gascho at 208-326-5150.

Ascension Episcopal sells Advent calendars and tickets

TWIN FALLS  Ascension Episcopal Church will sell Advent calendars and raffle tickets for Neighbors in Need after services from Oct. 22 to Nov. 3 at the church, 371 Eastland Drive N., Twin Falls. The items will also be available from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Tuesdays-Fridays at the church office. Prices for a selection of Advent calendars will be $3-$7.50. Raffle tickets will be $1 each or six for $5. The raffle will be held Nov. 4; you do not have to be present to win. There will be something for everyone.

Neighbors in Need provides emergency food and financial assistance to families in the Magic Valley upon referral from South Central Community Action Partnership, 208-733-9351. More information: Cindy Jardine at 208-420-5147.

Explore love and spirituality with Unitarian Universalists

TWIN FALLS  Unitarian Universalists by definition have declined traditional religious structures and dogmas, although our religion does look for value in other religious traditions. While our paths to the spiritual and mystical are diverse and individual, we believe that there is great power in love. In our experience love, the mystical and the spiritual are intertwined. How we access the mystical and spiritual powers of love is less clear. What has become clear to me is that love may be the closest thing to God that we will ever experience. Could they be the same thing?

Most of us wish to explore spirituality and fellowship in a supportive environment. Please join us at the Magic Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship to explore love, the mystical and the spiritual at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday at the Vendor Blender and Event Center, 588 Addison Ave. W. near the old hospital, Twin Falls.

Unitarian Universalism honors the differing paths we each travel. Our congregations are places where we celebrate, support and challenge one another as we continue on our spiritual journeys. Unitarian Universalists covenant to affirm and promote: the inherent worth and dignity of every person; justice, equality and compassion in human relations; and acceptance of one another. Newcomers of all religious paths, or none at all, are always welcome. Child care is available. We are handicapped-accessible. Parking is in the rear of the building.

Information: Ken Whiting at 208-734-9161 or email mvuuf83301@yahoo.com.

Hollister Presbyterians hold harvest dinner

HOLLISTER  The Presbyterian Church will hold its annual Harvest Potluck Dinner following the 11 a.m. worship service on Sunday at the church, 2461 Central Ave., Hollister. There will be Halloween crafts for children. Visitors are welcome. More information: Linda at 208-733-9183.
TWIN FALLS  Police say a man was arrested early Friday after punching another man in the head inside Bumpin Bernies, only days after the city warned the bar to cut back on police calls or risk being force to close earlier.

Officer Braxton Christensen said in his report that he was called out to the area about 1:20 a.m. for an assault in progress. Upon arrival, a man told the officer he was inside Bumpin Bernies when he was punched in the face by another man, then chased down the street.

The man who punched and chased him then kept on running, he told police.

Police say a witness reported a Hispanic man had been using the N word and went after the only African American person in the club.

Officers later identified Francisco Vazquez Guzman, 25, of Twin Falls as the assailant. Guzman was found in a black car at a gas station on Sixth Avenue West.

After the victim identified Guzman as the man who attacked him, Guzman was arrested on misdemeanor charges of second offense DUI, battery and third offense driving without privileges. His bail was set at $5,000 and his pretrial is scheduled for Dec. 12.

Burhan Hetemi, owner of Bumpin Bernies, told the Times-News that none of that ever happened in my bar, whatsoever. I closed at 12:45.

He said he did see some activity not even (expletive) close to my bar  about a block away.

Bumpin Bernies was heard before the Planning and Zoning Commission earlier this week after police asked the city to cut back the bars hours  it currently stays open until 3 a.m. as a nightclub on Fridays and Saturdays.

At the hearing, commissioners decided to give the bar until Dec. 12 to cut back on police calls at the business and in the parking lot behind the bar.
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As the core of the Republican Party that is independent of President Donald Trump is corroded by retirements  Sens. Jeff Flake, Ariz., and Bob Corker, Tenn., most recent among them  the problem is not the decay of the moderate or independent element in Congress. It is the decay of the congressional element in Congress. The problem pertains far less to opposition to this president than to the long-range erosion of congressional resistance to the presidency as an institution. With defenders of congressional prerogative departing and their remaining colleagues orienting themselves in subservience or opposition to the White House, we are witness to the cementing of the presidency as the motive force in the American regime.

The retiring senators have been voices for congressional power. Corker, for example, asserted Congress right to review the Iran nuclear deal. Flakes retirement address to the Senate channeled James Madisons case for the separation of powers in calling on Congress to act on its institutional rather than partisan interests, joining across party lines to defend its own powers rather than dividing according to policy preferences. Flake has thus worked with his Democratic colleague Tim Kaine of Virginia on an effort to reclaim Congress war power by calling for a repeal of the post-9/11 Authorization for Use of Military Force and replacing it with a more restrained resolution dealing with the Islamic State.

Contrast that institutionalist behavior with those who remain. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., rushed to the Senate floor a debt-ceiling deal Trump struck with the Democratic congressional leadership. The point is not the deals merit but rather McConnells reasons for pushing it: He was doing so, he said, based on the presidents decision. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, asked recently about his position on a legislative issue, replied that he was with the president. Asked where the president was, Cornyn reportedly threw his hands in the air. Democrats similarly acceded to President Barack Obama on questions of executive power, a tactic whose danger they are now learning as they object to Trumps assertions of unilateral authority today.

This wholesale deference to the president is entirely contrary to constitutional expectation. Madison could not have even conceived of it. He based the system of separation of powers on the assumption that members of each branch of government would defend their institutional prerogatives because they would want to exercise power. What we have instead is outcome-based constitutionalism: a disintegration of the norms according to which it once mattered not just what happened, but how it happened. And whether a given policy is enacted by presidential fiat or by the steady and deliberate workings of Congress matters a great deal.

The idea of the separation of powers  the absence of which Madison called the very definition of tyranny  is to prevent any one individual or institution from exposing the citizenry to arbitrary power by controlling all the levers of government. Yet that is what todays presidency commands: Presidents, by their signatures, direct vast swaths of domestic policy and questions of war and peace alike.

Citizens should object to this regardless of their views of a particular president. In the diversity allowed by a membership of 535, Congress more fully represents the richness of U.S. politics than the presidency, a binary institution with which, at a given moment, one either agrees or does not. This diversity also disperses rather than centralizes power. And Congress is usually institutionally incapable of the impetuosity that tempts presidents who can convert whims into policy.

It is true that Congress is increasingly unable to concur on legislation. In many ways, and for myriad reasons, that is a problem. But it is worth recalling that Congresss job is not to legislate. It is to represent what Madison called the cool and deliberate sense of the community. Congress is designed to move slowly in order to dissipate passions and allow the publics reason to take hold. It is not supposed to be able to generate major legislation on which broad and sustained public consensus does not exist.

To be sure, Congress has been in decline for generations. What is alarming recently is the extent to which the organizing principle of Congress is members attitude toward whatever administration is in office. This phenomenon may be inflamed by the intense feelings Trump arouses, but it is hardly confined to him.

In a reversal not only of the Founders expectations but also of their hopes, the presidency is now the sun around which all constitutional bodies orbit. At intervals, that is convenient for either sides policy preferences. But if constitutionalism commends any principle, it is for all players in the system to remember that todays winners will be tomorrows losers. Institutions are our hedge. Bargaining them away for temporary advantage  a game both sides have played  is a losers gamble.
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. ~
The United States on Thursday condemned the latest round of violent clashes in Ethiopias Oromo region where about 10 people have been killed whiles 20 others have been wounded.

According to the US Embassy in the capital city Addis Ababa, the latest violence in the Oromo region highlights importance of peaceful expression & conflict resolution by all.

The latest round of protest was linked to recent shortages of sugar in the country, according to local media portal, Addis Gazetta.

Protesters have blocked trucks belonging to the national sugar company, the newspaper reported.

Nearly 700 people died last year during one period of the violence in Ethiopias largest region and other areas, according to a parliament-mandated investigation. The clashes have displaced around 50,000 people.

The violence included attacks on businesses, many of them foreign-owned, including farms growing flowers for export.

Last month, the United States and the European Union said Ethiopia must open up its political space if it is to cement its place in the future as a strong, prosperous and democratic nation.

Addis Ababa has responded by saying it was undertaking reforms and engaging opposition elements.
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@PatriciaMazzei @ngameztorres @dchangmiami

For half an hour on prime time Thursday night, the Cuban government took to state-owned television to defend itself against U.S. accusations that American diplomats suffered from a mysterious sonic attack.

In doing so, Cuba also appears to have engaged in a bit of sly retaliation: Briefly, the government published the names on screen of nine purported American attack victims, whose names the U.S. has kept secret.

A one-page memo from Cubas powerful Ministry of the Interior dated April 4 asked a Havana health clinic that treats foreign patients to provide summarized medical histories for American citizens who might have reported auditory or neurological symptoms from sound levels that could affect their health. The request to Clinica Internacional Cira Garcia also listed the names of the nine potential victims.

The State Department said Friday it could not vouch for the documents veracity or confirm that any of the names even belong to U.S. government personnel  though other government records available online show at least some of them are diplomats, and some of them are posted to the U.S. embassy in Havana.

But a U.S. official with knowledge of the situation engaged in a bit of sly retaliation of their own: Not all of the people named were attack victims, the official said, without venturing an explanation as to why they would be included in the list at all.

Who knows why the Cubans do what they do? the official said.

More here.

Photo credit: Desmond Boylan, Associated Press
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is hosting a "Missoula Are We Ready!" Preparedness Fair on Saturday, Nov. 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the LDS church at 3201 Bancroft.

Come learn more about "Home Ignition Zones" from Jordan Koppen of the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and "Enhancing Emergency Preparedness through Household Risk Assessments" by Ryan Lee from State of Montana Emergency Preparedness.

Booths will be set up to learn more about herbs and oils for medicinal purposes, pet preparedness, preparedness for the elderly and those with special needs, family emergency plan, generators and alternate heat, food storage on a budget and much more.

For more information call 406-360-6729 or see the "Missoula Are We Ready" Facebook page.
The search for a provost at the University of Montana is on again.

In an email Friday to campus, Seth Bodnar announced the relaunch of a search for UM's chief academic officer and second-in-command official. Pending approval by the Montana Board of Regents, Bodnar is set to take the presidency at UM in January 2018.

"This individual will be a vital member of our leadership team, and though I will not officially be joining the team until January, I'm pleased to announce that we are launching a national search for the provost now," Bodnar wrote.

Currently, three top leaders of UM's cabinet have interim status: President Sheila Stearns, Provost Beverly Edmond, and Rosi Keller, vice president of administration and finance.

Last December, Commissioner Clayton Christian asked former UM President Royce Engstrom to step down and asked Stearns to take the interim post while a committee conducted a search for a permanent leader.

At the same time, the commissioner suspended a search that had been underway for provost after Provost Perry Brown retired in June 2016. Interviews with finalists were canceled.

Christian said it would be disingenuous to publicly disclose the names of finalists with the presidency in limbo.

In August, former finance vice president Mike Reid accepted a position in California, and Stearns appointed a former UM finance official to the interim post.

***

Earlier this month, Bodnar was selected as UM's next president, pending the regents' confirmation.

He's a corporate executive at General Electric where he started in 2011. Before that, Bodnar spent eight years in the U.S. military and was first in his class at West Point.

Although he's a Rhodes Scholar with two master's degrees from the University of Oxford, he does not have a traditional background in academia. In a public forum with the campus in September, he noted that a "world class" provost would be a key partner for him.

In his email Friday, Bodnar said finalists from the previous search will be contacted and invited to resubmit their application materials. He noted Chris Comer, dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences, will serve as chair of the search committee.

Bodnar also said he plans to announce a search timeline next week along with search committee members.

"My goal is a robust, national search with a representative search committee and opportunities for the campus community to engage in the selection process," Bodnar said.

He thanked Provost Edmond as well, who has been serving as interim since summer 2016. This week, Edmond said her contract currently runs through the end of 2017, but she is open to staying on through the school year should her services be needed.

AGB Search will conduct the search, Bodnar said in his email. The firm also led the search for a UM president with an advisory committee of more than 20 campus and community members.

"We are moving forward with this search as expeditiously as possible," Bodnar said in his email.

AGB's contract is $65,000, according to the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education. UM had not hired a consultant to conduct the earlier provost search.
Some of John Hitchcock's latest screenprints started, in a way, when he was very young.

His grandmother, a Comanche beadwork artist, would assign him to draw some shapes. Then she asked him to pay attention to how the shapes connect. Then, to draw some floral patterns, and to go outside and study a rose to draw it. Then think about how to transfer that drawing into beads.

"I was learning the whole process of observation, the process of thinking about things conceptually, and also the process of finding a voice," said Hitchcock, an art professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Hitchcock has been at work in the art school at the University of Montana this week for a guest artist residency through the Matrix Press and the Missoula Art Museum. One set of prints is based on abstractions of beadwork with expressive linework, layered designs and symbolic use of color, a return to the drawings of his youth.

This summer, he spent a week as a resident artist at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming. He was given access to their collections, where he could sketch beadwork from moccasins and other artifacts. His drawings of a taxidermy buffalo head also were put to use in his new series of prints.

He emailed the drawings to an assistant, who cleaned them up on the computer and transferred them to transparencies that can fill a 20-inch-tall piece of paper. While the size increased, they retain the natural elegance and variation of drawings made by hand  at this scale, they sometimes resemble large brush strokes.

This series is called "Flatlander," a reference to a joke the celebrated printmaker Tony Fitzpatrick made when Hitchcock told him he was from Oklahoma and Texas.

"He just said, 'Ha! You're a flatlander!' It just stuck in my head. I love the idea," Hitchcock said. When he shows the series at the Plains Museum in Fargo next year, the exhibition will be called "Flatlander Returning to the Plains," in reference to his trip to Wyoming.

These are more abstract than much of his work, which he's displayed in museums and galleries over the United States and Europe in room-sized installations. Some still bear the political and social messages he's developed.

One piece has an array of helicopters. Once he tells you the name of the models, the reason comes into focus: Kiowa, Apache, Chinook. They're named after tribes whose chiefs were imprisoned at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, by the U.S. government. The base is still there, near his hometown and the Wichita Mountains and its wildlife refuge for deer, elk and buffalo. In this particular print, ghostly heads from each of these animals loom high above the helicopters and the outline of the mountain range. Beadwork patterns skitter in layers across the whole piece.

***

This week, Hitchcock and a small team at UM have developed some 120 prints. UM professor James Bailey, who founded the press in 1998, said two graduate students and one undergraduate have been assisting: They help Hitchcock dye the paper to produce a base of watery, pooling color. They run the press and lay the sheets on racks to dry.

"It's a great chance for them to learn new techniques and see how one artist generates ideas and how that creative problem-solving works from start to finish," Bailey said.

He said Hitchcock has his own system that's different from other visiting printmakers, some of whom set out to make identical prints. Instead, Hitchcock loves variations in color and layering: Each print might have five layers of the beadwork designs in different combinations and arrangements.

He's not done at five, though. After the printing is complete, he continues adding lines and dots with acrylic markers so that each one is different.

Brandon Reintjes, the MAM's senior curator, said many artists might be happy after the printing was done. For Hitchcock, it's "a starting point for a whole other level of exploration with the visual image." The give-and-take between the enlarged and printed line drawings and the hand-drawn finishes goes "back and forth and create their own language and vocabulary of mark-making." He thinks it generates a visceral and raw feeling.

Rows of them hang on the wall and display different balances of hot and cool colors: His grandmother instilled in him that warm tones like red and yellow represent the day and blue and purple symbolize the night.

***

Hitchcock's visit is part of a joint venture between the MAM and the UM School of Art's Matrix Press. In 2016, the contemporary art museum was awarded a two-year, $100,000 grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation.

Ten years ago, the museum opened a gallery on its top floor dedicated exclusively to Native contemporary artists. The MAM saw the grant as a way to expand on its work with indigenous artists going into the second decade.

The first two artists were Molly Murphy-Adams and Sara Siestreem.

Murphy-Adams, an Oglala Lakota artist now based in Oklahoma, graduated from Hellgate High School and studied at UM. She was here this past March. In fall 2016, Sara Siestreem, a Hanis Coos artist from Portland, Oregon, made a return visit to Missoula. Her large abstractions were exhibited in a solo show at the MAM in 2013.

The final artist is Duane Slick, who will visit next semester. The prints will be exhibited at the MAM in 2018 under the name, "The Shape of Things: New Approaches to Indigenous Abstraction."

***

Hitchcock fell into printmaking through not one but a series of accidents. When he was an undergraduate at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma, he broke the band saw in sculpture class three times in a row. His professor sent him to the printmaking class, telling him, "There's this big rock. Draw on it and call it sculpture," Hitchcock said.

It was a lithography stone. It steered him back toward the talents he'd already developed  he'd been recruited for an art school because of his drawing abilities. He pursued it further for grad school at Texas Tech University. He wanted to move to Lubbock because Terry Allen, a visual artist and cult outlaw-country songwriter, called it home.

Printmaking has a versatility that has continued to fascinate him since graduate school.

"You can print on any surface, you can print on anything, any object. You can print anywhere," he said. He prints on fabric, he designs album sleeves for his three rock bands, he prints on paper that he brings to museums where he covers the walls, floors and ceilings of entire rooms for installations. He'll bring a printing press on a bicycle cart to print wherever he wants.

The reasons go on: It's not bad for the environment. It's visually versatile, too: He can achieve the line work of a drawing and the liquid texture of a painter and the bold, clean edges of a photograph.

There's also the political background of the cheap, easily dispersed print.

"The democratic nature is also key to its history," he said. "Because printmaking has always had ties to social or political agendas, whether it's Apartheid in South Africa or the Mexican Revolution, there's components of printmaking that have helped communities get beyond their oppressive states, pushing against the government in some way. I think that's another key aspect of printmaking for me."
WEST OF NOXON  It must have been a horrific crash that rattled the August Sunday night in extreme western Montana.

By daylight on Monday, Aug. 14, the wreckage of a train and the spillage of 31 loaded coal cars on the Montana Rail Link line were clearly visible from a convenient turnout on Montana Highway 200 across the Cabinet Gorge Reservoir, and eight miles from the Idaho line.

There were no human casualties, but more than a month later some 3,700 tons of coal that were destined to Boardman, Oregon, from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming remained on the banks. Now puffs of smoke throughout the mess indicated the coal was self-combusting.

Thats the first time weve dealt with that, and weve hauled a lot of coal across the railroad, Jim Lewis, Montana Rail Links information officer, said Thursday.

Coal is considered a non-hazardous material by the Federal Railroad Administration. Tests launched in September and overseen by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service revealed no difference in the contaminant level above and below the spill site, Lewis said.

Initial efforts to douse the smoldering coal only exacerbated the issue. The only way to get it out was to get the coal out, which is what happened the following week. By the end of September, MRL announced that the wreckage and 99 percent of the coal spill was cleaned up. A vacuum truck cleaned up after that and the coal, now useless commercially, was shipped to a repository in North Dakota.

Rail Link says it spent $2.5 million in infrastructure repair, freight claims and cleanup. It'll wait for spring to see if the spongy green hydroseeding that now covers the site is sufficient for revegetation.

Lewis said the railroad has an idea what caused the derailment, but cant comment until the official FRA investigation is over and reported. That often can take a year or more.

But one takeaway was clear: We need to get in there quicker.

If we had it to do all over again, we would have got in here much quicker and mobilized contractors much quicker than what we did, Lewis said during a tour of the derailment site with a handful of reporters and Matt Nykiel of the Idaho Conservation League.

Step one, he said, is having contracts already in place, so contractors have the necessary documentation to be on MRL property.

Our procurement department right now is going through the process of setting up specific contractors, and multiple contractors, so that when we get into this type of situation were not waiting on a contractor who may have his resources tied up in Minnesota and cant be here for a month, Lewis said. We want to be able to have options to get the quickest response we can, even if its at a higher cost to MRL. Its worth it to us to get the product out and get it out quickly.

The vast majority of train derailments are caused by broken rails or broken wheels. Lewis put the percentage at 99, although statistics from the FRA arent quite that high.

Lewis and MRL trainmaster Pete Kobilansky reviewed the steps the railroad takes to prevent both. Among them: All 900 miles of the class II regional line are scoured by Kobilansky and assistant roadmasters each Monday and Friday. If the temperature tops 85 degrees on a day before July 4, 90 degrees after that, or drops below zero in the winter, were out there constantly, said Kobilansky.

An in-depth rail inspection takes place five times a year, three more than the FRA requires, and a geometry car also cruises the whole line two or three times a year. The FRA doesnt require that.

The track where the derailment occurred is between Noxon and Heron and westbound trains are just coming off a sweeping left curve. It had been inspected and cleared to go two days before the Sunday derailment, Kobilansky said.

MRL has shops in Laurel and Missoula and each has inspectors on 4-wheelers whose job it is to check the wheels on all cars as they enter and leave yards. Three years ago the railroad installed 35 wayside detectors along the line to check for things like wheel impact, hot wheels, wide loads and dragging equipment.

BNSF has similar measures in place on both ends of the MRL line, Lewis pointed out, so if the culprit was a bad wheel it slipped notice of at least six inspections during the haul from Wyoming, or else occurred after the last one in Missoula.
A felony negligent homicide charge has been filed against Eduardo Lopez, who allegedly drove the wrong way on Interstate 90 east of Missoula and caused the death of 54-year-old Shawna Wootan after their cars collided.

Lopez also was charged with eight counts of felony criminal endangerment for nearly causing accidents with eight other people.

The wreck happened early Wednesday morning about 11 miles east of Missoula. Lopez survived the crash and was transported to a local hospital.

According to court documents, Missoula 911 dispatch began taking calls regarding a wrong-way driver on I-90 at about 5:51 a.m. on Wednesday. Six different people reported that a white truck was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes.

One witness, driving in the correct side, reported that the driver didn't seem to notice he was in the wrong lane and was going about 75 miles per hour. Several minutes later, the witness told dispatchers that a westbound vehicle had pulled into the passing lane to get around a semi and was struck head-on by the white truck.

Montana Highway Patrol officers arrived on the scene and found a burning Toyotal Highlander, the vehicle struck by the white truck. The driver of the Highlander, later identified as Wootan, was deceased, according to the documents.

A Missoula County Sheriff's deputy pulled Lopez out of his truck to protect him from the fire. A third car had just missed the truck and had struck a post and rolled into an embankment.

After Lopez was transported to St. Patrick Hospital, he was read the Implied Consent advisory and agreed to provide a blood sample for testing.

Lopez allegedly said that he'd left the Red Lion Hotel and was trying to return to another hotel before the crash. He admitted to consuming alcohol the previous evening, according to the documents.

Troopers interviewed seven other people whose vehicles had nearly been struck, and they all reported having to evade collisions, saying they feared a crash would have cost them their lives, according to prosecutors.

Lopez is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Monday.
Citing maintenance costs and practicality, the Montana Department of Transportation announced late Thursday that it will decommission all but one of the states historic airway beacons.

Starting in the 1920s, more than 1,550 airway beacons sprang up across the country and provided a path for night flights. During the 1960s the FAA decided the beacons no longer served a great public purpose, and began efforts to decommission them. By 1972, Montana was the last state still operating a beacon system, down from a statewide high of 84 to 17 in the western mountains.

Transportations Aeronautics division operates the 17 beacons, but discussion of their fate has often cropped up during tight fiscal times. Earlier this year the division announced the decommissioning of all but three beacons to save about $30,000 per year and because it said technology made the system obsolete.

The decision drew pushback from some in the aviation community who said the beacons provided a unique experience and still functioned, telling stories of helping pilots safely navigate Montanas western mountains, particularly in poor weather.

In response, Transportation convened a working group in May to study the issue and held three public meetings attended by a total of 36 people. The department also received 125 written comments  82 in favor of decommissioning and 43 in favor of keeping some or all beacons operational.

We certainly appreciate the passion of every aviator in the state on this issue, and we understand that 100 percent will never agree on any issue, said Aeronautics administrator Debbie Alke. Im glad that we were able to consider everyones opinion through this process.

Earlier this year, MDT said it would keep three beacons lighting a path from MacDonald Pass to Townsend. MDTs latest decision says that only the beacon on MacDonald Pass, which is listed as a historic landmark, will not be decommissioned. Other beacons will be phased out while Transportation will ultimately look for an entity to permanently adopt the MacDonald Pass beacon by 2021.

In February, the Montana Pilots Association passed a resolution recognizing the financial burden of the beacons on Aeronautics but encouraging the division to keep as many operational as possible.

Its a shame to see them go, its a shame to even lose even one of them, but financially it appears to be the proper course, MPA president Pete Smith said on Friday. In general the Montana Pilots Association felt the money was better spent elsewhere, but it is bittersweet.

Given the number of comments mentioning the historic nature of the beacons, Alke believes MDT director Mike Tooley felt entities more geared toward historic preservation would be a better fit. The department has heard from some parties interested in taking over care of some of the beacons, but has not actively sought parties out, she said. The beacons are spread across land owned by numerous people, making each decommissioning an individual process, she added.

Helena pilot Mike Korn penned an opinion piece that ran in several newspapers earlier this year supporting the beacons and criticizing Aeronautics for initially decommissioning the 14 beacons without a public process.

Im certainly disappointed in (the decision), but it does look like theyve left it open for some other options, he said Friday.

Kate Hampton, community preservation coordinator for the Montana Historical Society, has worked along with others to see the full beacon system listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The entirety of the beacon system provides a valuable look into the state and countrys aviation history, she said in March.

On Friday, Hampton said it is too early to say how MDTs decision will affect the push for recognizing the system.

Certainly our interest in the beacons as an important historic resource doesnt end with this decision, and perhaps down the line in the near future we can come up with a way, she said.
Police reports

Contempt becomes drug arrest

Police say they arrested two individuals on criminal contempt warrants early Friday morning and discovered drugs and drug paraphernalia on one of the arrestees, resulting in additional charges.

Officers on a routine patrol of a gas station and casino on the 1300 block of Harrison Avenue observed Robert Campbell, 40, of Butte and Natasha Morgan, 28, of Butte sitting in the gaming area. Both were known to have warrants for their arrest and were taken into custody, police said.

During the booking process at the Butte jail, a search showed that Morgan was allegedly in possession of a metal case containing two syringes, a small bag containing possible heroin, another bag containing a meth-like substance, and a third bag containing cotton swabs and a brown residue.

In addition to being issued three citations of criminal contempt, Morgan was also cited with drug possession with intent to sell and possession of dangerous drugs, both felonies, and a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.

Protective order violation

Police responded to the 1900 block of Continental Drive Thursday evening after a man phoned police to report that a woman was violating a protection order he had filed against her.

According to the complainant, police said, the woman had shown up at his residence and was yelling profanities at him and a friend. Police arrived around 6 p.m., whereupon they arrested Nancy Lou Roth, 59, of Butte.

Criminal contempt

Around midnight Thursday, police apprehended Trisha May Heick, 28, of Butte who was wanted on two criminal contempt warrants totaling $2,000.

According to police, officers spotted the 28-year-olds car parked at Iowa and Second. When they approached the vehicle, police said, Heick was hiding under a blanket in the drivers seat.
Policy center co-director coming to Butte

Heather O'Loughlin, co-director of the Montana Budget and Policy Center, will be the guest speaker at the Butte-Silver Bow Democrat Burro Club's luncheon at noon, Wednesday, Nov. 1, in the Butte Country Club, 3400 Elizabeth Warren Ave.

The policy center focuses on the budget affecting seniors, kids, and working families. O'Loughlin's topic will be the "State Budget Crisis: Recent Developments and Potential Next Steps."

The public is welcome. Details: Dan at 406-498-1678.

Breakfast for retirees Thursday

ANACONDA  The Retired Men & Women Breakfast is at 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 2, at the First Presbyterian Church, Anaconda. All retired men and women in the community are welcome.

For reservations, call 406-560-7405 or 406-560-7265.

Gold Hill's lutefisk dinner Dec. 2

The annual festive holiday dinner of lutefisk and meatballs will be from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, at the Gold Hill Lutheran Church, 934 Placer St.

No reservations are needed. The cost is $14 for adults, $8 for children. Details: 406-723-4242.

Tax aide classes planned for January

AARP Tax Aide Assistance is a nationwide program sponsored by the AARP Foundation and supervised by the IRS to provide free tax preparation and assistance to income tax payers of all ages.

Currently AARP and the IRS are recruiting tax preparer volunteers from Butte and surrounding areas to electronically file federal and state tax returns.

You need not be a tax expert. Tax law and software training is free and provided in a variety of ways. You may attend classroom instructions in Butte or study online. Equipment and supplies will be provided to you at no cost. Classroom training is scheduled for Jan. 23, 24, and 25, 2018.

If you are interested or have questions about the program, call 406-565-5214 or 406-490-3743.
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Senior Resources

Senior Resources is located in the Shepley Building, 1808 Mulberry Ave., Muscatine. Hours are 8 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, except holidays. The agency provides services to Muscatine County residents ages 60 or older and programs and activities each month for all seniors. For more information, call 563-263-7292 or 888-667-2026.

Adult Day Center

Senior Resources Adult Day Center provides loved ones with socialization and programs while caregivers complete errands and appointments. Senior Resources also offers bathing and a low-stimulus room. For more information, call 563-263-7292 or 888-667-2026.

Advance Care Planning

Honoring Your Wishes is a community-wide program that helps people create an advance care plan so people can outline their future health care goals. You will then make a written plan that will describe your wishes to others if you cannot communicate. This service is available at no cost for adults ages 18 years or older. Call Senior Resources for more information.

Chore Program

The Chore Program helps seniors ages 60 or older, in Muscatine County, with lawn mowing, snow shoveling and heavy household cleaning. A sliding fee scale is used to calculate the rate. Please call Senior Resource if you have any questions.

Home Repair Program

The Home Repair Program is offered by Senior Resources and helps seniors ages 60 or older, in Muscatine County, to fix or repair minor household problems. A sliding fee scale is used to calculate reimbursement for labor. Please call Senior Resource if you have any questions 263-7292.

Meals on Wheels

Senior Resources Meals on Wheels program consists of a lunch-time meal delivered by volunteers to area seniors who have trouble cooking for themselves, possibly live alone and have no one in the home to cook for them or for someone who has just gotten out of the hospital and needs help temporarily with meals until they get back on their feet. If you would like more information or to sign up for the program, please call Shannon at 563-263-7292 or email to meals@sr-resources.org.

Medical equipment

Senior Resources and sponsor Trinity Episcopal Church are offering the Durable Medical Equipment Lending Closet. The program, which lends medical items free of charge, is available to residents of Muscatine and the surrounding area, but not limited to seniors. Anyone borrowing equipment is asked to sign it out and agree to bring it back. There is no time limit. Items include: bath benches, canes, commodes, crutches, walkers, walkers with wheels and wheelchairs. Donations for this program can be dropped off at Senior Resources, 1808 Mulberry Ave., or Trinity Episcopal Church, 211 Walnut St. Pickups also can be arranged by calling Senior Resources at 563-263-7292 from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday; or Trinity Episcopal Church at 563-263-2177 from 8 a.m.-noon Tuesday-Friday.

Outreach

The Outreach program helps seniors file paperwork with the state Department of Human Services, gives referrals to other agencies, and makes friendly visits along with other special projects. Available in Spanish. Call Laura at 563-263-7292 for more information.

SHIIP program

Senior Resources offers free and confidential Medicare counseling through its Senior Health Insurance Information Program. This service is offered through the State of Iowa to help people sort through confusing information about Medicare and health insurance. For more information, call Laura at 563-263-7292.

Volunteers needed

Senior Resources is looking for volunteers to deliver Meals On Wheels. We have five routes that go out from Trinity Muscatine hospital Monday-Friday. We have two routes that go out Saturday mornings. The routes take about an hour. For more information call Shannon at 263-7292.
MUSCATINE  On Saturday, fishers will descend on Discovery Park to trouble the waters there, each sportsman in search of trout.

The Conservation Board of Muscatine will have their semi-annual trout release. The trout are hauled in via a fully oxygenated fisher truck sent from a Hatchery in the Manchester, Iowa. According to Michelle Berns, a naturalist at the Conservation Board, they are stocking the front pond in Discovery Park with about 1,000 trout.

Most of the trout are rainbow trout, Berns said. Some are even going to be the broodstock so they might be a little bigger. There might even be a few brook trout in there. But most are going to be rainbow.

Among the 1,000 or so fish, there 100 that will be tagged and linked to a prize. Between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., any fisher skilled enough to catch one can bring the tagged trout to the Environmental Learning Center and receive a $10 gift card to Blains Farm & Fleet Store. In addition, they will be entered into a drawing for a $100 gift card to Blains.

According to Iowa law, anybody over the age of 16 who wishes to participate, needs a fishing license and a trout stamp. Anyone 16 years old and younger can fish under their parents license. The catch limit is five trout for the day. Each fisher is limited to a total of ten in their possession.

I think that it is a fun event for people to come out and watch even if they arent going to necessarily fish, but just to watch how the trout are put in the pond, Berns said. You know you think about 1,000 trout being a lot of fish, but they kind of scatter out pretty fast in the pond. Still quite a few are caught.

Trout are dependent on streams with high oxygen levels, normally fed by underwater springs. These cooler water streams are normally located in the northern half of the state, so trout fishing can be a rare treat for Muscatine.

So its an opportunity for people whether they fish or not to see how its done, Berns said. If they are going to fish, its an opportunity for the local people to be able to take part in trout fishing without having to drive all the way to the northeastern part of the state where most of the trout streams are located.

Based on her experience, Berns said that trout are among the favorite fishing experiences of event attendees.

From what people have told me, trout are actually quite fun to catch because they do put up a little bit of a fight, Berns said. It is not like putting a worm on a hook and catching a bluegill or a bass. Sometimes they are a little bit trickier to catch.

Berns said she marvels at the ingenuity and expertise that the event brings to Discovery Park.

Some people we find swear by certain baits, Berns said. Ive heard of people using corn from a can. Ive heard people use the pink marshmallows in the mini-marshmallow bag. So everybody has their own technique for catching the trout. Im sure you could talk to any angler and learn their secret to catching them.
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Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi []
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Napa County hotel occupancy rates and revenue suffered during the October wildfires, according to hotel data analyst company STR.

Occupancy in Napa County lodging properties dropped 18 percent during the first week of the fires. The average daily room rate dropped 33 percent. Revenue per available room dropped 46 percent.

Clay Gregory, CEO of Visit Napa Valley, said he was not surprised at the declines.

Hotel operators reported very trying weeks for so many reasons, said Gregory.

Visit Napa Valley asked tourists to avoid the area during the fire emergency. The entire city of Calistoga and all businesses were evacuated. Visitors who were already in the valley at the start of the fires likely left early, while others with reservations changed plans.

Fittingly, many of our hotel partners provided rooms to evacuees and first responders, often with no fee or at a significantly reduced room rate, Gregory said.

Media coverage of the fires was all doom and gloom, he said. Luckily, I think were past that now.

To compare hotel data, STR matched performance levels from the week of Oct. 1 to 7 and Oct. 8 to 14 with the same comparable weeks in 2016.

The September and October grape harvest is peak season in the area, and we saw two counties (Napa and Sonoma) that have historically maintained occupancy in excess of 80 percent in October each drop by double digits, said Raquel Ortiz, STRs senior analytics manager.

While Napa and Sonoma counties saw declines, hotels in Mendocino and Solano counties saw a substantial performance lift, according to an analysis by STR.

Hotels in Mendocino and Solano saw occupancy grow with business from displaced residents, firefighters, news crews, insurance adjusters and recovery workers, STR said.

While the one-week declines are noticeable, it might be some time before we see the full impact that these tragic wildfires will have on the regions tourism industries, Ortiz said.

Visit Napa Valley is doing everything possible to get the message out that the valley is open for business through every appropriate channel, said Gregory.

That includes print, outdoor and radio, media alerts and interviews, social media, the VNV website, emails, partner communications and collaboration with other destination marketing organizations, such as SF Travel, Visit California and colleagues Sonoma County.

We hope that our efforts will reach the many travelers who love the valley and want to support it in a time where it is very much needed and appreciated.

Other hospitality agencies are also studying the aftereffects of the fires.

Many boutique hotels and bed and breakfast inns in the region are receiving cancellations because travelers dont realize that they are open for business, said Jenn Iliff, program manager for the California Association of Boutique and Breakfast Inns.

The Beazley House Bed & Breakfast Inn in Napa has been hosting guests and PG&E workers without interruption since fires began. Owner Jim Beazley told the association that none of the most famous wineries along Highway 29 were damaged.

Of the 450-plus wineries in Napa Valley, only seven wineries were severely damaged or lost, according to Beazley. Over 99 percent of Napas wineries remain open.

From what Gregory is hearing, Lodging bookings in November are ticking up.

While December is always a quiet month, I think well get back to normal hopefully in November and for sure in the new year, he said.

Were on the right track. Its just a matter of how quickly it will happen.

According to Ortiz, while there is no direct comparison, we can form an idea of the hotel industry impact by looking at the Porter Ranch gas leak from a few years back, in Southern California.

Revenues rebounded for six straight months in affected areas, said Ortiz. We might expect something similar during the rebuilding process in Northern California.
Fearing billions of dollars in future liability, PG&E has been aggressively urging state regulators to make it easier for the company to charge ratepayers  rather than its shareholders  when its power lines and other electrical equipment cause wildfires.

Top PG&E executives met as recently as last week to lobby officials at the state Public Utilities Commission in San Francisco over the issue, which could arise powerfully in coming months if the utility is found to be responsible for the Wine Country fires, a serious possibility that state regulators are now investigating.

In a 30-minute meeting on Oct. 17, Meredith Allen, PG&Es senior director of regulatory relations, told Travis Foss, an adviser to PUC Commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen, that PG&E and other California utilities are in an untenable situation, according to a record of the meeting that PG&E sent to the PUC as required under state lobbying rules. PG&E should not have to pay a disproportionate share of the costs of wildfires because of the growing fire risk and a tough insurance market, Allen argued.

But consumer groups say the push by PG&E and the states other two large utilities  Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric  is out of line. If the PUC allows utilities to pass along most of their uninsured wildfire costs to ratepayers in the form of higher monthly bills, critics say, they will have less incentive to properly maintain wires, trim back trees and take other sometimes costly measures needed to reduce wildfire risk.

PG&E and the other utilities are very vigorously lobbying to see that the costs of disasters be covered by ratepayers, even when they are found negligent, said Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco consumer group.

The shareholders benefit when the company does well, he said. They have to pay when the company doesnt do well.

If the PUC doesnt grant the utilities request to spare shareholders if the companies are held liable for causing wildfires, they would see their profit margins decrease  which is likely to hurt shareholders financially by causing dividends and utility stock prices to drop.

The PUC and Cal Fire are investigating whether PG&E power lines were responsible for starting the devastating wildfires in Napa and Sonoma counties earlier this month. The Bay Area News Group reported two weeks ago that records from emergency dispatchers show that firefighters were sent to at least 10 different locations in Sonoma County to respond to reports of arcing power lines and exploding transformers on the night of Oct. 8 within 90 minutes of the first fire being reported.

If PG&E is found to be at fault for the fires, the costs would almost certainly soar into the billions. But the company has reported that it has only $800 million in insurance.

The fires in Napa, Sonoma and other Northern California counties together were the deadliest and most destructive in state history. They burned more than 245,000 acres, destroyed at least 8,700 structures and killed 42 people, according to Cal Fire.

The PUC has ordered PG&E to preserve all lines, power poles, emails and other evidence that could be relevant in the case. PG&Es stock price has fallen 18 percent from the time the fires began until Thursday.

The specific case that has drawn PG&Es recent focus is a potentially precedent-setting PUC proceeding regarding whether San Diego Gas & Electric should be forced to pay $379 million in expenses that its insurance did not cover after the utilitys power lines were blamed for starting three huge fires in San Diego County in 2007. The outcome of that San Diego County case is likely to impact PG&E directly in the future, PG&E attorney Michael Klotz said Oct. 4 in a filing with the PUC.

Power lines may be linked to Wine Country fires: As the first reports came in the night of October 8th of numerous fires that would grow into one of the most destructive wildfire disasters in California history, emergency dispatchers in Sonoma County received multiple calls of power lines falling down and electrical transformers exploding. (Bay Area News Group Video)

Theres a big issue at stake, the company says.

Wildfires and the method with which they are treated presently have real world and potential long-term impacts on the operations, risk management and financial standing of every energy company in the state, PG&E spokesman Donald Cutler said in an email. We felt it was important that the Commission hear the perspectives of all the energy companies that operate in California.

But the San Diego County case is not going the utilities way.

On Aug. 22, after more than a year of hearings and motions, two administrative law judges rejected San Diego Gas & Electrics request to pass along $379 million in uninsured expenses from the 2007 fires to its ratepayers. A final decision in the case by the five-member PUC, whose members are appointed by the governor, has been postponed three times, with a decision now scheduled for Nov. 9.

The three San Diego County fires have similarities to this months North Bay fires.

Investigators from Cal Fire and the PUC concluded that the three October 2007 blazes  the Witch, Guejito and Rice fires  were caused by San Diego Gas & Electrics power lines.

The Witch and Guejito fires combined to burn 197,000 acres. They killed two people, injured 40 firefighters and destroyed 1,141 homes and 239 vehicles. The Rice fire burned 9,472 acres and destroyed 206 homes. It was caused by a dead tree limb falling on power lines.

The PUC ruled that the utility did not trim trees back as required by state law in the Rice fire  and that the utility was at fault in the other two. In the Witch fire, the power line that caused the fire shorted three times in three hours, investigators found, and it took the utility more than six hours to turn off its electricity.

After the fires, San Diego Gas & Electric faced $5.6 billion in legal claims. It settled approximately 2,500 lawsuits from people who suffered damages, bringing its costs down to $2.4 billion, said company spokeswoman Colleen Windsor. The $379 million it is seeking to charge ratepayers for now is money not covered by its insurance.

Windsor said that hurricane force wind speeds topped out at 92 mph on the day of the fires.

We design, operate and maintain our system at or above standards, and despite having a safe system the wildfires that occurred were due to circumstances beyond SDG&Es control, she said.

In August, however, the two administrative law judges disagreed. They sided with consumer groups experts who said the winds were blowing at 43 mph at the time of the Witch fires ignition, 56 mph at the time of the Guejitos fires ignition and 34 mph when the Rice fire started. The judges, S. Pat Tsen and Sasha Goldberg, concluded that SDG&E did not reasonably manage and operate its facilities and thus could not pass along costs to ratepayers.

PG&E made similar claims this month after the North Bay fires, saying that hurricane strength winds of more than 75 mph were in play. But the Bay Area News Group reported earlier this month that weather stations in the Santa Rosa and Napa area recorded wind speeds of 30 and 32 mph when the fires started, although the winds later strengthened.

Consumer groups and the utilities are watching the San Diego case very carefully.

Were concerned this could give a free pass to the utilities, said Diane Conklin, an activist in San Diego. If the utility doesnt have a good record, then their insurance costs are going to be higher, like the bad boy in the driving class. But they should have some accountability. They should have consequences for their own actions.
I am writing in support of Mr. John Bordelon, who has been serving as the principal of Justin-Siena High School.

Earlier this week, Mr. Bordelon was abruptly fired by school head Robert Jordan and the school board for no apparent infractionethical, moral, administrative, or otherwise. It has been extremely disconcerting that absolutely no reason has been given for this action. As a local attorney, I am inclined to see this as a horrible injustice; and as a parent, as the worst thing that could happen to my children at the school.

In short, Mr. Bordelon models the core principles of Justin-Sienas Catholic tradition better than anyone else Ive met at the school. In particular, he is an absolute master of two of those principles: respecting all persons and creating an inclusive community.

Somehow, he makes every student feel like she or he is the only student at the school. Somehow, he knows each student by name and quite a bit about their lives. Somehow, he manages to attend virtually every school function. His infectious enthusiasm makes everyone feel safe and loved, and to accomplish that with teenagers is something remarkable.

I have had two children graduate from Justin Siena, both with very high honors. John Bordelon was an enormous part of their experience at the school. I have two more children currently attending, but without Mr. Bordelon, the school wont be half what it is with him.

This is absolutely tragic for the students. He has been the best example my children have had of a loving, Christ-like leaderthe one person at school who could help them maintain goodness throughout their lives. He is the kind of person the students could one day, during a crises (and they will have them), be moved to say, You know, Mr. Bordelon had great faith and a strong moral compass, and he was just an awesome person, and he cared about me! I am going to be just that way.

As a Mormon at a Catholic school, I admire John like I do Pope Francissingular human beings who help me live my own Christian faith.

For the sake of our students, John Bordelon needs to be reinstated.

Anthony Celaya

Napa
Recent heresies by Republican Sens. Bob Corker, Jeff Flake and John McCain may or may not be important to the future of the worlds oldest democracy. They could, for example, make it easier for other Republicans to openly lament President Donald Trumps personal character or professional incompetence. And that could lead to something. Or not.

For now, however, the senatorial protests merely confirm that the jerry-rigged politics of the Trump era is deceptively stable.

Washington has settled into a joint-custody arrangement in which Trump controls the Republican Partys soul and the partys Congressional leaders control its agenda. Either member of the GOP pact can challenge that arrangement at any moment. Neither seems prepared to do so.

Domestic policy, from the failed repeal of Obamacare to the muddled tax reform effort under way, is the purview of Congressional Republicans. When McCain voted thumbs-down on his partys health-care plan, he wasnt dashing Trumps legislative agenda  he was reneging on a GOP promise that long preceded Trumps presidential campaign.

On the same morning that the capital was buzzing about Flakes Jaccuse speech on the Senate floor, House Ways and Means chairman Kevin Brady casually contradicted Trumps promise that no changes would be made to 401(k) retirement plans in order to pay for tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.

Had Brady challenged Trump on the presidents crusade against black politicians, black athletes, black gold star widows or other aspects of Trumps core cultural competency, all hell might have erupted, punctuated by presidential tweets and snide put-downs from White House press podium.

But Brady was merely contradicting Trump on a key domestic policy plank. The stakes are dramatically lower because Trump cares about that stuff dramatically less, if at all.

Foreign policy is more likely to provoke conflict because the executives power is so much less constrained, and because Trumps America-first conflict with Republican internationalists is so much more pronounced. But because Trump is largely unfocused and mostly incompetent, the impact is also significantly muted.

Trumps policy opponents, both within his party and within his own administration, remain influential. Trumps bluster on the North American Free Trade Agreement, Iran, a Muslim ban and more has yet to produce major policy victories for the MAGA crowd.

Meanwhile, Trumps vocal protectionism has somehow yielded a 24 percent increase in foreign steel imports to the U.S., Bloomberg News reported.

Perhaps the most forceful expression of Congressional power was the vote expanding Russian sanctions. Ever faithful to Vladimir Putin, Trump may still be dodging the law he was forced to sign in August. But if he were really in the policy drivers seat, it wouldnt have become an issue in the first place.

Corker has lamented the danger posed by Trumps recklessness and his general unfitness for office. McCain trashed Trumps blood and soil nationalism in a speech last week in Philadelphia. But like Flake, Corker and McCain ultimately target the clear and present danger of Trumps character, not of his vague and variable policies.

In return for power over the Republican agenda, Congressional leaders have ceded the partys soul  and base  to Trump. House Speaker Paul Ryan makes the bargain explicit every time he responds to a Trump outrage with a sunny-side-up prognosis about the wonders of tax reform.

The tensions are real and the party may still come undone. But there is no organized GOP effort to blunt Trumps demagogy. There is no resistance even to the embrace of allied demagogues, such as Alabama GOP senate nominee Roy Moore. Beyond a few heretics, Republicans have accepted their political lot.

Trump is a danger both to the party and the nation. Republican leaders know that Corker, Flake and McCain are right to sound the alarm. But Trump keeps the faithful in the pews. And he lets Republicans run Congress. After months of shame and failure, that may not look to be worth much. But its all theyve got.

And theyre not giving it up anytime soon.
When an eight-year-old on the playground responds to an accusation with "I know you are but what am I?," even the other children know how lame a retort it is. But when the Republican Party says the same thing, it's much more than a desperate attempt to flummox their opponents and confuse any onlookers.

It's a careful, coordinated, and comprehensive strategy.

That's what Republicans are doing right now with regard to the question of Russian interference in the 2016 election, which it is more than clear was 1) comprehensive, involving hacking, propaganda, and outreach to Trump representatives; and 2) clearly intended to help Donald Trump win the election, or at the very least wound Hillary Clinton should she become president.

What's happening now is an audacious effort on the part of Republicans to convince everyone that not only did Trump and his campaign not work with Russia, in fact it was Hillary Clinton who did so, and Vladimir Putin (whose hatred of Clinton burns with the fire of a thousand suns) actually wanted her to win and tried to help her.

If you've been conscious for the last year and a half, that surely strikes you as deranged, something no one could be dumb enough to believe. But Republicans have run this play many times before, and by the time they're done, half the public will believe it.

It has three essential components. The first is the cranking up of the conservative calliope: all of the right's information sources, from Fox News to conservative talk radio to web sites like Breitbart and Drudge, immediately begin shouting about the same story and repeating the same line. Then to keep it going and force mainstream media to cover it, they create an official "investigation" that will provide a steady stream of tantalizing leaks and events that can become the occasion of news coverage, even if it all ends up proving nothing. Then the whole narrative gets validated by top-level Republicans whose words are news in and of themselves.

All of these components are now in motion. Fox and the other outlets are doing hour after hour of discussion about what they are calling the "Russia dossier," an opposition research document prepared for Democrats that gathered together facts and rumors about Trump's dealings in Russia (I explained why their line on this document is so bogus here https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/10/25/gop-spin-about-the-new-steele-dossier-story-is-disingenuous-nonsense/?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.c447b14031f3). Now that story is being joined to absurd charges about the sale of a uranium mining company, with all kinds of dark allegations of corruption.

The Post's Michelle Ye Hee Lee explained the uranium story in a fact check (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/10/26/the-facts-behind-trumps-repeated-claim-about-hillary-clintons-role-in-the-russian-uranium-deal/?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.158cf30b3a6b), in which Trump's claims - which were essentially the same as what he and other Republicans are making now - were awarded the maximum Four Pinocchios because they were so dishonest. But I'll run it down very briefly:

--A man named Frank Giustra, who donated significant sums to the Clinton Foundation, sold his mining company to a Canadian firm called Uranium One in 2007. Keep that date in mind.

--In 2009, the Russian company Rosatom bought a stake in Uranium One; in 2010 they acquired a majority stake. However, under American law, none of the uranium they mine in the U.S. can be exported without government approval, to Russia or anywhere else.

--Since that ownership gave Rosatom control of 20 percent of uranium mining in the United States, their purchase had to be approved by the U.S. government. That approval is done by a committee that includes representatives from nine separate agencies, one of which is the State Department. The sale was ultimately approved. There is no evidence that Clinton had any involvement in that decision (the State Department official who served on the committee has said she didn't), let alone that she engineered it on behalf of a foundation donor who would not gain anything from it in any case.

This question became a topic of public debate with the 2016 release of "Clinton Cash," a book that made all kinds of sketchy allegations about supposed corruption and was written under the auspices of an organization controlled by Steve Bannon. Yes, that Steve Bannon.

During the campaign, Trump would say things like "Remember that Hillary Clinton gave Russia 20 percent of American uranium and, you know, she was paid a fortune," which was a lie. First of all, Giustra donated to the Clinton Foundation, which would use the money for things like AIDS relief; none of it went to Hillary Clinton. Second, by the time the American government - remember, nine separate agencies were involved - approved the sale of Uranium One, it had been years since Giustra sold his company to Uranium One.

Why are we talking about this in 2017? Because of that comprehensive GOP strategy of misdirection and confusion. This week Republicans in Congress announced that they are starting an investigation into the approval of the uranium deal - a matter that it's safe to say they care as much about as they cared about consular security or proper email management. Turn on Fox News or tune in to Rush Limbaugh Friday and you'll probably hear all about it. President Trump is weighing in as well.

"The uranium sale to Russia, and the way it was done, so underhanded, with tremendous amounts of money being passed, I actually think that's Watergate, modern age," he said the other day. Fox runs segments asking questions like "What charges could Hillary Clinton face if this does develop?"

And Friday morning, President Trump tweeted this:

"It is now commonly agreed, after many months of COSTLY looking, that there was NO collusion between Russia and Trump. Was collusion with HC!

- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 27, 2017"

No puppet. You're the puppet.

We should acknowledge that though it is anything but "commonly agreed," it's entirely possible that all of Russia's efforts to manipulate the 2016 election happened without any direct cooperation with Trump or his campaign. While they were without question the beneficiaries of Russian meddling, we don't yet have proof that they were working directly with the Russians.

Perhaps when Special Counsel Robert Mueller concludes his investigation, he'll find that neither Trump himself nor anyone working for him did anything wrong. Perhaps that Trump Tower meeting with Paul Manafort, Don Jr., and Jared Kushner was completely innocent, and all those meetings with Russians that Trump officials lied about were innocent, and there's nothing to Trump's decades of involvement with Russian gangsters and oligarchs. Perhaps.

But Republicans aren't content to wait for that investigation to conclude. They're going on the offensive to convince people that it's Hillary Clinton who colluded with Russia.

Is it ludicrous? Absolutely. But they have powerful tools at their disposal to push their story out, and they're going to use every one.
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Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-27 14:44:28|Editor: Yang Yi

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UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- A United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on human rights Thursday urged the Security Council to take decisive action to resolve the crisis in Myanmar's Rakhine state, noting that the crisis "reaches beyond Myanmar's borders."

"The crisis in Rakhine state has not only been decades in the making, but has for some time gone beyond Myanmar's borders. For a very long time now this issue has not been simply a domestic affair," said Yanghee Lee.

"It has been cultivated for decades in the minds of the Myanmar people that the Rohingyas are not indigenous to the country and therefore have no rights whatsoever to which they can apparently claim," she said in her report to the Third Committee, the UN General Assembly's main body dealing with human rights and social and humanitarian issues.

In particular, the special rapporteur stressed that given the gravity of the situation, it is uncertain how long it might take for the government to establish conditions for the safe and dignified return of the Rohingyas, and to ensure they can rebuild their lives.

Furthermore, she noted that while the plight of the Rohingyas remains her main concern, the country has numerous other human rights challenges, including consistent reports of religious intolerance against Christians and Muslims across Myanmar.

It is unclear whether Myanmar's peace process had advanced since the signing of the nationwide ceasefire agreement two years ago, said Lee, noting that all those responsible for human rights violations must be held accountable and that this should begin with full access for the UN Human Rights Council's fact-finding mission.

The special rapporteur also urged the government to publicly embrace all the communities which make up the population of Myanmar and use its majority in parliament to strike down all discriminatory laws, to show that all groups in Myanmar have equal rights.

"I have in the past commended Myanmar's flourishing, widening democratic space. However, it seems to me that national legislation is effectively resulting in the criminalization of legitimate expression," said Lee, calling on the government to press ahead with constitutional reform "to allow for proper operation of the rule of law."

Furthermore, the reform of laws that contravene human rights standards should be prioritized, she added.

On Aug. 25, a Rohingya militia allegedly attacked three police posts in the state and sparked the government's return of attacks against the local villages. The exchanges of fire have caused hundreds of thousands to flee into neighboring Bangladesh.

Noting the world's attention on the Rakhine issue since terrorist attacks occurred in Rakhine state, Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi in October prioritized three main tasks to be done in Rakhine -- the repatriation of refugees who have crossed over to Bangladesh and providing humanitarian assistance effectively; resettlement and rehabilitation; and bringing development to the region and establishing lasting peace.

UN special rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country's situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 01:28:11|Editor: yan

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ADDIS ABABA, Oct.27 (Xinhua) -- Renewed protests in Ethiopia's central Oromia regional state has left eight people dead, a regional official said on Friday.

Speaking to journalists, Addisu Arega, head of Oromia regional state communications affairs bureau, said the deaths occurred on Thursday in Ambo city, 130 km north of Addis Ababa.

He said the cause of the Thursday violence was attributed to an erroneous information disseminated claiming sugar from nearby Fincha sugar factory was being transported illegally to other places.

Police and soldiers used live rounds on Thursday against angry demonstrators who had blocked roads in Ambo city and burned three trucks to prevent the transport of the sugar through the city.

Ethiopia is in the midst of a severe sugar shortage which the Ethiopian government blames on bad weather condition that halved the country's sugar production last year.

Oromia, Ethiopia's largest regional state, has seen large anti-government protests by ethnic Oromos since the end of 2015, leaving hundreds of people dead.

Oromos, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group making up a third of the country's 100 million population, complains of decades of economic, political and social marginalization by successive governments.

Martial law declared in October 2016 and later lifted in August 2017 had calmed Oromia regional state, but renewed anti-government protests earlier this month left several people dead and property damages.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 02:43:29|Editor: yan

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UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council should look into the possible negative impact of its sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on the livelihood of the ordinary citizens in the country, said a UN human rights expert on Friday.

"The international security crisis over North Korea must not overshadow the human rights situation of millions of ordinary citizens in the country," said Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the DPRK, who has presented his report to the UN General Assembly.

He said he is not in a position to determine to what extent the sanctions have a negative impact as his requests for visits to the DPRK have been rejected. But he has information on examples of negative impact.

The sanctions may have prevented access to chemotherapeutic medicine for cancer patients and other medical supplies. The shipment of wheelchairs and essential equipment for persons with disabilities may have also been constrained. In addition, humanitarian actors are now facing difficulties to source much-needed supplies and carry out international financial transactions, he noted.

"History shows us that sanctions can have devastating impact on the civilian population. It is my conviction that a comprehensive assessment of the sanctions regime is needed in order to avoid unintended negative impact on human rights, especially economic, social and cultural rights, and that the sanctions regime does not impose what would effectively constitute a collective punishment on the ordinary citizens of the DPRK."

But he cautioned that he did not want to undermine what the Security Council is doing.

The escalation of political and military tensions as well as the continued use of harsh conflict rhetoric between the DPRK and other governments is a great source of concern, he said. The international community has a responsibility to ensure that these disputes do not result into an armed conflict that will have detrimental impact on human rights.

"The pursuit of de-nuclearization should not be at the risk of a nuclear war, and I urge all relevant actors to maintain an environment favourable to an open dialogue, including in the area of human rights," he said.

The Security Council has strengthened sanctions on the DPRK through a string of resolutions in response to Pyongyang's ballistic missile launches and nuclear tests, the latest round of sanctions being imposed last month. Now the sanctions cover bans on DPRK exports of coal, iron, lead, textiles and seafood, remittances by DPRK laborers working abroad, as well as the capping of the country's oil imports.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 02:48:30|Editor: yan

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PARIS, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was his only interlocutor in Spain, reiterating Paris' full support to the Spanish government after the Catalonian region unilaterally declared independence from Madrid.

"There is a rule of law in Spain, with constitutional rules. Rajoy wants to enforce them and he has my full support," Macron told French press on Friday in French Guiana, where he makes a two-day visit.

In a separate statement, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France "won't recognize the declaration of independence that the Catalan parliament has adopted."

Expressing concern about the situation in the Spanish region, Le Drian added "the constitution in Spain must be respected. It is therefore within this framework, which is that of the rule of law, that the question of Catalonia must be considered."

Earlier on Friday, the Catalan regional assembly declared "the formation of a Catalan Republic as an independent and sovereign state with social and democratic rights."

On Oct. 1, Spain's northern region of Catalonia, led by a regional government, held a referendum over independence which Madrid said was illegal.
French President Emmanuel Macron (L) welcomes Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Brey at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France on Aug. 28, 2017. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)

PARIS, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was his only interlocutor in Spain, reiterating Paris' full support to the Spanish government after the Catalonian region unilaterally declared independence from Madrid.

"There is a rule of law in Spain, with constitutional rules. Rajoy wants to enforce them and he has my full support," Macron told French press on Friday in French Guiana, where he makes a two-day visit.

In a separate statement, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France "won't recognize the declaration of independence that the Catalan parliament has adopted."

Expressing concern about the situation in the Spanish region, Le Drian added "the constitution in Spain must be respected. It is therefore within this framework, which is that of the rule of law, that the question of Catalonia must be considered."

Earlier on Friday, the Catalan regional assembly declared "the formation of a Catalan Republic as an independent and sovereign state with social and democratic rights."

On Oct. 1, Spain's northern region of Catalonia, led by a regional government, held a referendum over independence which Madrid said was illegal.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 04:24:03|Editor: yan

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UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that the coming cold winter will be a "harsh blow" to children affected by conflict across the Middle East unless assistance is urgently provided.

"Freezing temperatures, storms and heavy snowfall will add to the misery afflicting hundreds of thousands of families affected by conflict across the Middle East" unless assistance is urgently provided, said Geert Cappelaere, the UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, in a news release Friday.

"Without help, the cold could be yet another harsh blow to vulnerable children in the region who have already been through so much," said Cappelaere. "Children's health is weak from undernutrition, poor healthcare and displacement. Hypothermia and respiratory infections are a serious threat, if left untreated, children will die."

Conflict, displacement and unemployment for years have already depleted families' resources, leaving them unable to purchase of warm clothing or heating fuel.

Furthermore, if schools are not kept warm, dropout rates are expected to rise, leaving children more vulnerable to early marriage, sexual violence or forced recruitment into fighting.

Staff at the UN agency are working against time to provide warm clothing, winter supplies and blankets before the cold sets in, but the agency is starting at a 60-million-U.S.-dollar funding, as against its 73 million-dollar appeal.

The lack of resources could leave up to 1.5 million children across Iraq, Syria, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and neighbouring refugee host countries, exposed to the elements.

With sufficient funding, UNICEF aims to provide winter clothing kits to over 800,000 children across the region, including to families that have been displaced by recent fighting; thermal blankets for almost 240,000 children; child friendly spaces and school heating for 105,000 children; and cash assistance to the families of more than 320,000 vulnerable children.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 04:34:07|Editor: yan

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BUJUMBURA, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Senior Burundian judicial, administration and police officials on Friday met to celebrate the country's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC), where the Burundian justice minister said the withdrawal is a victory for Burundi.

Burundi's withdrawal took effect on Friday, a year after the country filed its application to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza signed a decree on the country's pullout of the Rome Statute of the ICC on Oct. 18, 2016, following a bill passed on Oct. 12, 2016 by both chambers of the Burundian parliament.

"Without any problem, in total peace and security, we have been able to leave ICC. Let's rejoice," said Kanyana at the meeting. She had said the reason that Burundi wanted to leave the ICC is that it "has become an instrument of superpowers to fight against African countries."

Leaving the ICC without any pending lawsuit means that there were no crimes against humanity or genocide in Burundi in the past, she said.

According to the minister, some implementers of the Rome Statute of the ICC are "ill-intended" as they are using the ICC to "unlawfully prosecute" Burundian leaders and other leaders on the African continent.

During the meeting, the minister also said that leaving the ICC does not mean allowing impunity to take place in Burundi.

"Measures were taken to strengthen judicial institutions. Police and administration authorities are rather going to work hard in such a way to cooperate in the fight against crimes," said Kanyana.

The country's jurisdictions should "timely" prosecute criminals in order to show the international community that the country's judiciary is able to deal with all judicial cases, she said.

Some political parties like the Union for Peace and Development (UPD-Zigamibanga) also congratulated the Burundian government for leaving the ICC.

"Burundi has made a big step as it joined other superpowers and some African countries that did not ratify the Rome Statute of the ICC. As a member of the Rome Statute of the ICC, Burundi gained nothing," said the party chairman Abdul Kassim.

Opposition parties are, however, against the withdrawal.

"National courts and tribunals have failed to deal with big cases since Burundi's independence. President Melchior Ndadaye for instance was killed, but national jurisdictions have until now been unable to identify or sanction his killers," said Leonce Ngendakumana, Vice-Chairman of Sahwanya-FRODEBU, on Friday.

"Leaving the ICC is therefore a big loss as it could help us prosecute such criminals," he said.

He added that it is suicidal for Burundi to leave the ICC because the country will not even be able to file a lawsuit at the ICC against another country or individuals who will have offended the nation.

Burundi signed the Rome Statute on Jan. 13, 1999, and deposited its instrument of ratification of the Rome Statute on Sept. 21, 2004.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 04:54:13|Editor: yan

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BUJUMBURA, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Senior Burundian judicial, administration and police officials on Friday met to celebrate the country's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC), where the Burundian justice minister said the withdrawal is a victory for Burundi.

Burundi's withdrawal took effect on Friday, a year after the country filed its application to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza signed a decree on the country's pullout of the Rome Statute of the ICC on Oct. 18, 2016, following a bill passed on Oct. 12, 2016 by both chambers of the Burundian parliament.

"Without any problem, in total peace and security, we have been able to leave ICC. Let's rejoice," said Justice Minister Aimee Laurentine Kanyana at the meeting. She had said the reason that Burundi wanted to leave the ICC is that it "has become an instrument of superpowers to fight against African countries."

Leaving the ICC without any pending lawsuit means that there were no crimes against humanity or genocide in Burundi in the past, she said.

According to the minister, some implementers of the Rome Statute of the ICC are "ill-intended" as they are using the ICC to "unlawfully prosecute" Burundian leaders and other leaders on the African continent.

During the meeting, the minister also said that leaving the ICC does not mean allowing impunity to take place in Burundi.

"Measures were taken to strengthen judicial institutions. Police and administration authorities are rather going to work hard in such a way to cooperate in the fight against crimes," said Kanyana.

The country's jurisdictions should "timely" prosecute criminals in order to show the international community that the country's judiciary is able to deal with all judicial cases, she said.

Some political parties like the Union for Peace and Development (UPD-Zigamibanga) also congratulated the Burundian government for leaving the ICC.

"Burundi has made a big step as it joined other superpowers and some African countries that did not ratify the Rome Statute of the ICC. As a member of the Rome Statute of the ICC, Burundi gained nothing," said the party chairman Abdul Kassim.

Opposition parties are, however, against the withdrawal.

"National courts and tribunals have failed to deal with big cases since Burundi's independence. President Melchior Ndadaye for instance was killed, but national jurisdictions have until now been unable to identify or sanction his killers," said Leonce Ngendakumana, Vice-Chairman of Sahwanya-FRODEBU, on Friday.

"Leaving the ICC is therefore a big loss as it could help us prosecute such criminals," he said.

He added that it is suicidal for Burundi to leave the ICC because the country will not even be able to file a lawsuit at the ICC against another country or individuals who will have offended the nation.

Burundi signed the Rome Statute on Jan. 13, 1999, and deposited its instrument of ratification of the Rome Statute on Sept. 21, 2004.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 05:04:19|Editor: yan

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CHICAGO, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains closed mixed on Friday as a stronger dollar made U.S. wheat and corn less competitive.

The most active corn contract for December delivery fell 1.75 cents, or 0.50 percent, to 3.4875 dollars per bushel. December wheat delivery went down 4.50 cents, or 1.04 percent, to 4.2725 dollars per bushel. November soybeans rose 4 cents, or 0.41 percent to 9.7525 dollars per bushel.

The euro' s rate has went down to about 1.16 U.S. dollars after Catalonia' s parliament announced to secede from Spain' s central government. The deepened crisis has led to the devaluation of the euro, which makes European wheat more competitive.

The future prices of Paris wheat rose on Friday while the Chicago wheat plunged by more than 1 percent.

The CBOT corn followed the wheat' s downturn, but soybeans were boosted by upbeat export sales.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced fresh export sales, including 238,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery to China.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 06:59:57|Editor: liuxin

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's armed forces and police carried out a large-scale operation in four favelas in the center of Rio de Janeiro on Friday, in order to seize weapons and drugs.

The operation began in the morning in the areas of Sao Carlos, Zinco, Querosene and Mineira, with about 2,500 operatives involved, including 1,700 soldiers and 10 armored vehicles, while helicopters hovered overhead.

According to Rio's secretariat of security, at least 20 people had been arrested by early afternoon.

This operation took place the day after a military police colonel, Luiz Gustavo de Lima Teixeira, was shot dead in the city.

On Thursday night, at least five battalions of the army and 300 military police officers carried out raids in Meier and Complexo do Lins, both in northern Rio de Janeiro.

The death of Teixeira brought the number of military police killed in the state of Rio in 2017 to 112, including two others in the last three days.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's most popular state with tourists, is living a severe financial crisis which has led to a sharp rise in violent crime, including more than 4,000 violent deaths this year.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 07:04:58|Editor: liuxin

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The United States expected Pakistan to take action quickly to show support in countering militants in Afghanistan and bring the Taliban to the negotiating table, a senior U.S. diplomat told reporters on Friday.

Washington looked forward to seeing practical steps from Pakistan in the next few "weeks and months," Alice Wells, the acting assistant secretary for South Asia in the U.S. State Department, has been quoted as saying by local media.

Wells accompanied U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on a week-long tour in the Middle East and South Asia including stops at Pakistan and India.

"The secretary stressed the importance of Pakistan moving quickly to demonstrate good faith and efforts to use its influence to create the conditions that will get the Taliban to the negotiating table," said Wells.

Earlier this week, ahead of his a few hours' stopover in Pakistan, Tillerson said in Afghanistan that the Trump's administration will pursue "conditions-based" relations with Pakistan, a statement that has been widely criticized in Pakistan.

The South Asian country's Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani dismissed the statement as "unacceptable," saying that the Tillerson had acted like a "viceroy."

U.S.-Pakistan bilateral relations have been shaky in recent years over counterterrorism. In an August address, Trump lashed out at Islamabad, accusing it of providing safe haven to "agents of chaos."

Trump's words received widespread criticism in Pakistan as a vast majority in the country believes the U.S. president ignored Pakistan's sacrifices in the war on terror which claimed the lives of nearly 73,000 people.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 07:50:03|Editor: liuxin

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UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- A senior United Nations official on Friday called on Member States, regional organizations and civil society for greater partnership to boost women's participation at all levels.

"We will strengthen the collection and analysis of gender statistics and encourage Member States to monitor gender equality indicators as part of their work to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, the Chef de Cabinet, speaking on behalf of the Secretary-General, told a day-long debate in the Security Council, underlining the need for more action on the "women, peace and security agenda."

In her briefing, the Chef de Cabinet spoke of the need to ensure adequate representation of women in the security sector both to reduce their exposure to harm as well as to realize their potential in conflict prevention.

Noting that only 3 percent of peacekeepers are women, she informed the Security Council of the Secretary-General's efforts with troop- and police-contributing countries to increase the number of female uniformed personnel.

Viotti also noted that 17 years after its adoption, Security Council resolution 1325 on women and peace and security was too often being implemented "in an ad hoc fashion," and called on UN Member States to share evidence and examples in order to examine gaps and successes.

Also briefing the meeting, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the Executive Director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), said that while atrocities against women and girls in armed conflict are now the focus of attention and documentation, it is critical that perpetrators are brought to justice, and that survivors are accorded dignity and support.

"This impunity cannot be allowed to continue," she noted.

Further, informing the Security Council of an overall decline in women's participation in UN-led peace processes, inclusion of gender-sensitive provisions in peace agreements and consultation with women's civil society organizations, in comparison with one year ago, Mlambo-Ngcuka said that the political marginalization was not only limited to peace talks.

Only 17 countries have an elected woman Head of State or Government and the proportion of women parliamentarians in conflict and post-conflict countries has stagnated at 16 percent in the last two years.

"The use of quotas and temporary special measures would help," she said, noting examples from Somalia and Mali, and called on donors to continue supporting efforts targeted at women's empowerment and highlighted the importance of ensuring gender-conscious funding for policies and programmes.

Also speaking at the meeting were Charo Mina-Rojas of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, and Michaelle Jean, Secretary-General of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, who underscored the need to effectively combat sexual and gender-based violence and end impunity.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 10:35:25|Editor: liuxin

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CANBERRA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has taken steps to ensure his government retains power after five politicians were disqualified from parliament by the High Court.

The High Court found that the five politicians were either the citizen of a foreign power or entitled to the rights or privileges of a citizen of a foreign power and thus ineligible to be elected to parliament under section 44 (i) of the Australian Constitution.

Among those ruled ineligible were Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce as well as Senator Fiona Nash, who is also Joyce's deputy leader of the Nationals Party.

The Greens' Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters and One Nation's Malcolm Roberts, all of whom except Roberts had already announced their resignation regardless of the finding, who served in the Senate alongside Nash were also disqualified.

The loss of Joyce was the biggest blow for Turnbull with the government losing its slim majority in the House of Representatives, the lower house of Australian parliament.

Shortly after the ruling Turnbull went to work to ensure that independent Member of Parliament (MP) Cathy McGowan would provide the government with a vote of confidence, foiling any attempt by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to pass a vote of no confidence which would have forced an election.

Joyce's former seat of New England in New South Wales (NSW) will go to a by-election where the former minister for agriculture will be allowed to run having renounced his New Zealand citizenship which he held on account of his father being born there.

It is expected that Joyce would win the Dec. 2 by-election comfortably.

"The decision of the court today is clearly not the outcome we were hoping for but the business of government goes on," Turnbull told reporters before heading on an official visit to Israel on Friday.

"Barnaby Joyce is the best person to continue to deliver for New England and for Australians living in regional, and rural areas."

Seats in the Senate are not subjected to by-elections and the positions of those disqualified will instead go to the next person on their respective parties' Senate ticket at the 2016 election.

The Nationals' Matt Canavan and independent Nick Xenophon, who has already announced his resignation from federal politics, were cleared by the High Court.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 10:35:26|Editor: liuxin

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said Friday that the United States will keep up economic and diplomatic pressure on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to curb its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Pence made the remarks during a visit to an Air Force base at North Dakota, home to both B-52 bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The United States will continue to apply "economic and diplomatic pressure" so as to make the DPRK "abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs," Pence said.

Meanwhile, Pence warned "all options are on the table" and the United States will defend itself "with military power that is effective and overwhelming" when it is forced to do so.

Also on Friday, visiting U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, that his country seeks no war, but the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The comments from the top officials of the Trump administration came days before President Donald Trump's Asia trip which is slated for Nov. 3-14. It will be his first trip to the region since assuming presidency, during which he will visit South Korea.

The DPRK conducted its sixth nuclear test in early September and a series of ballistic missile launches in recent months. In response, the United Nations Security Council adopted a new resolution toughening sanctions on the DPRK over its most powerful nuclear detonation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 10:50:28|Editor: Yang Yi

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Commerce Department on Friday set preliminary dumping margins on imports of aluminum foil from China, which has urged Washington to abide by World Trade Organization (WTO) rules in its related investigation.

The department said in a statement that Chinese exporters of aluminum foil had sold their products in U.S. market at prices "that resulted in preliminary dumping margins of 96.81 percent to 162.24 percent."

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has urged the U.S. authorities to implement decisions of the WTO and appellate bodies and give Chinese exporters fair counter-argument rights.

Punitive duties could be imposed after both the U.S. Commerce Department and the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) make affirmative final rulings. The Commerce Department is currently scheduled to make its final determination around Feb. 23, 2018.

Improper trade measures are believed to hurt the interests of Chinese aluminum foil exporters, U.S. downstream sectors and final consumers, leading to a lose-lose situation.

The Commerce Department launched anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into imports of aluminum foil from China in March, in response to a request from the U.S. Aluminum Association Trade Enforcement Working Group.

Imports of aluminum foil from China were estimated at 389 million U.S. dollars in 2016, it said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 11:15:34|Editor: liuxin

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YANGON, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar authorities have detained two foreign journalists for their flying of drones over the parliament building in Nay Pyi Taw on Friday, Myanmar News Agency reported Saturday.

The two journalists respectively from Singapore and Malaysia are under interrogation after the drones were seized from them, the Ministry of Home Affairs was quoted as saying.

Both of the two are identified as working for the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT).

The authorities charged them with intending to take photos of Nay Pyi Taw parliament building and pagodas when security guards spotted them, the report said, adding that the Myanmar Foreign Ministry has informed the Singapore and Malaysian embassies in Yangon about their detention.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 11:45:37|Editor: Liangyu

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HOUSTON, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- International trade in natural gas jumped by 6.2 percent in 2016 as Europe gas consumption resumed growth, according to the International Association for Natural Gas (CEDIGAZ).

CEDIGAZ Survey "Natural Gas in the World 2017", which was published on Friday, confirmed the first estimates published in early May, showing a 1.6-percent growth in global gas consumption in 2016, which is in line with the past five-year average.

Global consumption is also boosted by emerging economies, mainly China, which recorded a 3-percent growth in 2016 and 2015, said the survey. ( In 2016, Europe contributed the largest part of the global consumption growth. Since 2015, European gas consumption has returned to growth, mainly due to cold weather and coal-to-gas switching in the power sector.

Gross gas production increased by 0.6 percent in 2016 to 4.384 trillion cubic meters, and in recent years, the role of natural gas in the energy mix has slightly progressed, in a context of falling coal consumption and rising renewable energy production, according to CEDIGAZ.

Meanwhile, weak market fundamentals and low oil prices led to both a reduction in international gas prices and a convergence among regional benchmarks.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 12:25:42|Editor: Liangyu

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Michel Temer was admitted Friday to the Sirio Libanes Hospital in Sao Paulo for exams, after a brief hospital stay on Wednesday.

The president felt sick on Wednesday evening during a Congress session which voted not to pursue corruption charges against him.

He was admitted to a hospital in Brasilia with a urologic obstruction, but left the hospital on the same day.

The Sirio Libanes Hospital released a statement, saying that the president was admitted on Friday evening to "reevaluate and continue the urologic treatment to which he was submitted in Brasilia."

The president will spend the night at the hospital and is expected to be released on Saturday.

It was the second health problem Temer had recently. Earlier in October, the president's doctors detected a partial obstruction in his coronary arteries. He will need to be submitted to a catheterization procedure, which has yet to be scheduled.

At the age of 77, Temer is the oldest person to occupy the Brazilian presidency.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 12:35:44|Editor: Liangyu

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KIGALI, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The opening of the 13th edition of Rwanda Film Festival was held Friday evening in Kigali, where China, as a guest country, will present five films on the screens.

"Known as Hillywood, Rwanda Film Festival has established itself as the country's most important cultural event. It's an effort to explore the dynamism of the Rwandan society, to celebrate its diversity and rich culture," said Chinese Ambassador to Rwanda Rao Hongwei.

Since Rwanda is evolving artistically and experiencing a creative revolution, China is more than happy to join Rwanda in the mission to promote and encourage awareness, appreciation and understanding of the art cinema in Rwanda, said Rao.

This year has witnessed some highlights in China-Rwanda cultural links, the ambassador said, adding that the Chinese films screening during the festival will be an important part of bilateral cultural agenda.

This year's festival, under the theme of "Frontiers", will showcase films from Africa, Asia, America and Europe.

At the opening, James Vuningoma, executive secretary of Rwanda Academy of Languages and Culture, also hailed bilateral cultural exchanges.

"This is a great event that brings together Rwandan film enthusiasts to learn the Chinese culture through films, history and language. We hope the Chinese films that will showcased during the festival will enlighten Rwandan filmmakers to improve the quality of their films," he said.

Eric Kabera, founder of the film festival, said films are a powerful tool that can help shape everything from a business mindset to social, political and cultural consciousness of a nation.

"We are grateful for the Chinese government to be part of this colorful and educative initiative," the festival founder said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 13:35:50|Editor: liuxin

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PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Afghan security forces after a few days of fighting was able to evict the Taliban militants from around Tala-o-Barfak district in the northern Baghlan province besides inflicting huge casualties to the militant group, an army spokesman Ghulam Hazrat Karimi said Saturday.

"At least 20 Taliban insurgents have been killed over the past six days and the rebels have fled the area," Karimi told Xinhua.

He also added that normalcy is returning to the area and the security forces are chasing the militants to ensure lasting peace in Tala-o-Barfak district and adjoining areas.

Taliban militants who are active in parts of the relatively violent Baghlan province haven't make any comment.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 13:45:53|Editor: liuxin

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Rescuers search for the missing bus and passengers in Dhading District, Nepal, Oct. 28, 2017. At least 14 people were killed when a passenger bus slipped off a highway and plunged into a river in Dhading District of Central Nepal on Saturday morning, officials said here. (Xinhua)

KATHMANDU, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- At least 14 people were killed when a passenger bus slipped off a highway and plunged into a river in Dhading District of Central Nepal on Saturday morning, officials said here.

"Fourteen bodies were recovered from the crash site while 15 injured are receiving treatment at local hospitals," Ram Mani Mishra, an official at Dhading District Administration, told Xinhua from the crash site.

According to Mishra, the bus were carrying nearly 40 people when the accident happened.

"We are yet to confirm the number of passengers," he said.

Police have intensified rescue operation and the death toll is expected to rise, he said.

Authorities have not been able to pull out the ill-fated bus from the river yet.

The passenger bus number 'Na 6 Kha 1467' skidded off the highway at 5 a.m (local time) on Saturday when it was en route to Kathmandu from Rajbiraj of eastern Nepal.

Authorities are yet to ascertain the cause of the latest bus accident. The poor condition of hilly roads and ill-maintained vehicles contribute to frequent road accidents in the Himalayan nation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 14:05:56|Editor: liuxin

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MANILA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has named a staunch ally in the House of Representatives as his new spokesman.

Duterte made the announcement about his decision to appoint Rep. Harry Roque as his new spokesperson late Friday night in his home city of Davao, where Roque celebrated his birthday.

"To get the message clear, I said, Harry will fit because we speak in playful language," Duterte said.

Roque is a human rights lawyer and a law professor at the University of the Philippines before he became a House representative.

Duterte said Roque, who will have the title of a secretary, will attend the cabinet meeting on Monday.

Duterte did not say if Secretary Ernesto Abella, his spokesman since he assumed office in June last year, will be given another position.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 15:11:12|Editor: Song Lifang

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TORONTO, Oct.27 (Xinhua) -- The Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day Act, or Bill 233, set to establish Dec. 13 as Nanjing Massacre Commemoration Day, passed its second reading Thursday with unanimous consent in the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba.

Manitoba joins a growing movement in Canada to recognize and commemorate the Nanjing Massacre, Canadian New Democratic Party (NDP) said Friday. On Thursday, the legislature of Canadian province of Ontario passed a motion recognizing Dec. 13 in each year as Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day.

The No. 66 motion, adopted by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, was the first of its kind in a Western country.

The motion was introduced by Chinese-Canadian lawmaker Soo Wong in a bid to acknowledge and honor the over 300,000 victims of the Nanjing Massacre, a heinous crime committed by the Japanese militarists during World War II.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre.

"We are thrilled to see this legislation pass with unanimous support. It is important to recognize and reflect on the wrongs of the past in an effort to heal and move forward," said Flor Marcelino, a NDP lawmaker of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, who introduced the bill in the province.

Manitoba's growing Chinese community includes many families who have direct connections with the victims and survivors of the Nanjing Massacre and are excited about the news.

"Recognizing Dec. 13 as Nanjing Massacre Commemoration Day is an opportunity to gather, remember, and honor the victims and families here in Manitoba," she said.

Marcelino, the first woman of color to be elected as a lawmaker in the province, was named interim leader of the NDP and leader of the opposition in the Manitoba legislature in 2016.

Noting that efforts have been made elsewhere in Canada to formally recognize the Nanjing Massacre and honor the victims, Marcelino said that Manitoba strives to be a place where human rights are recognized and victims of human rights abuses, war crimes and sexual violence are remembered and honored.
Source: Xinhuanet| 2017-10-28 15:15:17|Editor: ZD

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Nicholas Rosellini, UN resident coordinator and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) resident representative in China, gives an exclusive interview to Xinhuanet. (Xinhuanet/Gong Yang)

BEIJING, Oct.28 (Xinhuanet) -- China's achievements in poverty reduction are unprecedented, said Nicholas Rosellini, UN Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Resident Representative in China.

These achievements not only can benefit China, but also bring experience to the world and make great contributions to global poverty reduction efforts, he said during a recent exclusive interview with Xinhuanet.

On the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the first of 17 Sustainable Development Goals is to eradicate poverty in all forms everywhere.

Without China's contribution, there is no way to achieve the common goal of reducing global poverty as scheduled, Rosellini stressed.

He believed China can achieve the target of comprehensively eliminating rural poverty by 2020.

China's overall poverty alleviation is going through a critical phase, he said, noting the most difficult part of finishing the "last mile" is to ensure the poverty-alleviation projects could make more practical contributions to remote communities and the vulnerable groups such as the disabled and the elderly.

He believed that the Chinese government could get through the 'last mile' of poverty reduction by actively implementing the targeted poverty alleviation.

The UN will also provide systematic support for China's poverty reduction working, he promised.

Meanwhile, he lauded China's contributions to world peace. China contributes more troops to United Nations peacekeeping missions than any other permanent member of the UN Security Council, he said.

China has become the second-largest country to share UN peacekeeping costs.

China has undertaken multiple peacekeeping operations and effectively safeguarded world peace.

Chinas role is very significant, he reiterated, hoping China will continue to support UN peacekeeping operations to safeguard world peace and stability.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 15:26:15|Editor: ying

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HOUSTON, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- A delegation from China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region concluded its two-day visit to Houston, Texas of the United States on Friday, with the aim of enhancing mutual understanding.

The delegation, organized by the State Council Information Office of China, visited the Asia Society Texas Center and the University of St Thomas Houston respectively.

Zuo Feng, deputy director general of the Bureau of Human Rights of the State Council Information Office of China, briefed scholars and some local Chinese people on China's stance on Xinjiang-related issues, the implementation of ethnic and religious policies in the region, and its recent development.

Zuo explained that the main purpose of their visit is to promote the understanding of Xinjiang Autonomous Region among Americans, especially academia, and enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

In the forums organized by the Asia Society Texas Center and the University of St Thomas, Zuo discussed with scholars, answered questions about education, employment and human rights issues in Xinjiang.

Attending the forum held by University of St. Thomas, Chinese Consul General in Houston Li Qiangmin said China will continue following the path of peaceful development, pursuing a mutually beneficial and open strategy, and further enhancing cooperation and collaboration with major countries.

During the visit, the Chinese delegation communicated with scholars in Houston's think tanks and universities. Li said he believed it is significant to deepen the exchanges between China and the United States, and promote understanding, mutual trust and friendship.

Charles Foster, former chairman and a board member of the Asia Society Texas Center, recalled his visit to Xinjiang during the discussion. He said that the participants have learned more about China's ethnic policies as well as the development of Xinjiang.

Richard Ludwick, president of University of St Thomas, said he believed openness is the signal sent out by the delegation. The university is willing to build a bridge so that students from Xinjiang and America will have more chances to visit each other, he said.

The delegation will leave Houston for New York on Saturday. Later, they will visit Ottawa and Toronto in Canada.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 15:41:18|Editor: Song Lifang

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SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States agreed Saturday to expand rotational deployment of U.S. strategic military assets to the Korean Peninsula to counter the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s threats.

South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo and U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis held the 49th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), an annual security dialogue between the defense ministers of the two allies, in Seoul.

Song told a post-meeting press conference that they agreed to expand the rotational deployment of U.S. strategic assets to enhance the U.S. commitment to an extended deterrence while agreeing to strengthen cooperation on other deterrence measures.

The U.S. strategic military assets include nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, nuclear-capable attack submarines, stealth fighter jets and strategic bombers, which the U.S. military recently sent near the peninsula more frequently.

According to the 18-point joint statement, the two allies agreed not to tolerate any type of the DPRK provocations, promising to maintain a close coordination of the alliance to effectively counter any provocation.

Mattis said in the statement that any use of nuclear weapons will be met with effective and overwhelming military response, re-confirming the U.S. offer of all categories of military capability, including nuclear umbrella, conventional striking capability and missile defense capability, for extended deterrence to South Korea.

The agreement came amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, caused by the DPRK's nuclear detonation and ballistic missile launches.

China has proposed realizing denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula while establishing a peace mechanism, calling for the DPRK suspends its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for the suspension of large-scale U.S.-South Korea military exercises.

Pyongyang conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test in early September, detonating what it claimed was a hydrogen bomb that can be loaded onto an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The Asian country test-fired two ballistic missiles with an intercontinental capability in July. No moves has been taken since the DPRK flew an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan on Sept. 15.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 16:16:25|Editor: Song Lifang

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by Jamil Bhatti

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's recent visit to South Asian countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, has failed to make a breakthrough in efforts for peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan as the United States continued its hegemonistic approach to impose its policies to solve the sensitive issue, Pakistani analysts said.

Tillerson's tour had been expected and touted as very crucial to start a process for regional peace as well as Afghanistan's security situation, but his short stopovers in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and threatening statements against the latter, the oldest and important stakeholder in the issue, disappointed the optimists.

Before stopping in Pakistan for few hours, the U.S. secretary of state's media talks against Pakistan at the Bagram military base in Afghanistan triggered an anger and disappointment in Pakistani circles, which finally led to a failure in talks between the two sides over bilateral relations, cooperation in the war on terror, and Afghan peace process.

Shireen Mazari, Director General of Strategic Studies Institute Islamabad, said that Tillerson's visit was proven purposeless as it could not bring any positive outcome regarding its agenda about Afghan issue and campaign against terrorism.

Talking to Xinhua, Mazari said separate statements issued from the two sides at the end of the visit expressed two different stances on the security issue, adding that the outcome of the tour also confirmed that both sides are not on one page and also did not move from their old positions of blaming each other.

The United States. continued to stress Pakistan to take action against alleged militant groups present in its territory while Pakistan claimed that it had done enough and had eliminated terrorism from its soil, and it's now the United States. turn to start operation against terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan.

Tillerson had a few hours stopover in Pakistan on his way to India on Tuesday afternoon, during which he led a delegation in talks with Pakistan's top civil and military leaders on multiple issues, focusing on cooperation for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.

Peace lovers and local watchers in Pakistan were hyping the Tillerson's visit as a great opportunity to restart bilateral cooperation for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, but Tillerson's statements before and after his Pakistan visit has disappointed optimists and even confused the situation further.

Tillerson's statement in Afghanistan that the United States will work with Pakistan under the condition whether it takes action against the terrorist groups or not was seriously criticised in Pakistan, and country's Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani rejected it and said he (Tillerson) is behaving like a viceroy, a higher designation of British rule in the Indian subcontinent.

Not only this, Tillerson also faced a chilly reception on his arrival in Pakistan when only a medium level officer from the country's foreign ministry welcomed him at the airport.

Later on during a joint press conference along with his Indian counterpart in New Delhi, Tillerson once again blamed Pakistan for its inaction against terrorist organization and reiterated Donald Trump's call for the country to do more to address a growing problem of terrorism within its borders, which "can lead to a threat to Pakistan's own stability."

Rebuffing Tillerson's statement in India, Professor Saeed Chaudhry, Director of Islamabad Council for International Affairs, suggested to the United States not to worry about Pakistan's stability but its failure in the 16-year long war in Afghanistan.

Chaudhry believed that Tillerson's statements against Pakistan, who is a very important stakeholder in Afghan issue, can only amuse a third party India which is one of the United States' biggest arms buyers, but cannot be helpful to solve the issue.

"The biggest problem with the United States is that it is not ready to listen to any wise and reality-based suggestions which don't fit its hegemonistic policies," said Chaudhry.

Giving a policy statement in the country's Upper House, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said Pakistan is ready to help the United States in Afghanistan, but would not act as anyone's proxy. "We have neither surrendered nor [do we] take any dictation from the United States, and we will not compromise on our national interest," he said.

Rejecting Tillerson's claim of Afghan militant group's in Pakistan, Asif claimed that the Afghan administration has no control over 45 percent area of the country, which is an ideal safe haven for IS (Islamic State) and other militant groups, adding that in such a situation militants don't need to come to Pakistan.

The analysts believe that Pakistan seriously wants a quick and long-lasting solution to Afghan issue as it is directly affecting its security and economy, but it is disappointing that the U.S. administration is continuously blaming Pakistan to lessen its baggage of failure in Afghanistan despite the international community and ground facts both confirm Pakistan's successes against terrorism.

Pakistan has been claiming that it has lost over 70,000 civilians and security personnel in terror attacks and suffered losses of over 100 billion U.S. dollars since it joined the U.S.-led coalition against Afghan Taliban regime following the 9/11 incident in 2001.

Pakistani civil and military officials, analysts and civilians are usually found complaining about the United States for its unappreciative attitude towards the sacrifices made by Pakistan while being a frontline state in the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan.

The analysts believe that it's in the best interest of both Pakistan and the United States if they move together for Afghan peace process, but they should work with honesty and by developing trust in each other, otherwise more and more problems will be coming ahead.

Political and security analyst Shahzad Chaudhry, Pakistan's former ambassador to Sri Lanka, said both sides will have to continue talks to search some ways of working.

"Pakistan and the United States have long relations and it should be spoiled, and they should continue their talks without any hegemonistic approach," said Chaudhry.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 16:31:28|Editor: Song Lifang

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U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis (L) and South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo attend a joint press confrence at the Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, on Oct. 28, 2017. Defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States agreed Saturday to expand rotational deployment of U.S. strategic military assets to the Korean Peninsula to counter the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s threats.(XINHUA/POOL)

SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States agreed Saturday to expand rotational deployment of U.S. strategic military assets to the Korean Peninsula to counter the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s threats.

South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo and U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis held the 49th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), an annual security dialogue between the defense ministers of the two allies, in Seoul.

Minister Song told a press conference after the meeting that they agreed to expand the rotational deployment of U.S. strategic assets to enhance the U.S. commitment to an extended deterrence while agreeing to strengthen cooperation on other deterrence measures.

The U.S. strategic military assets include nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, nuclear-capable attack submarines, stealth fighter jets and strategic bombers, which the U.S. military recently sent near the peninsula more frequently.

According to the 18-point joint statement, the two allies agreed not to tolerate any type of the DPRK provocations, promising to maintain a close cooperation to effectively counter any provocation.

Mattis said in the statement that any use of nuclear weapons will be met with effective and overwhelming military response, re-confirming the U.S. offer of all categories of military capability, including nuclear umbrella, conventional striking capability and missile defense capability, for extended deterrence in South Korea.

The agreement came amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, caused by the DPRK's nuclear detonation and ballistic missile launches.

China has proposed realizing denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula while establishing a peace mechanism, calling for the DPRK suspends its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for the suspension of large-scale U.S.-South Korea military exercises.

Pyongyang conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test in early September, detonating what it claimed was a hydrogen bomb that can be loaded onto an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The Asian country test-fired two ballistic missiles with an intercontinental capability in July. No provocation has been conducted since the DPRK flew an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) over Japan on Sept. 15.

The joint statement said the two ministers expressed support for diplomatic efforts to make the DPRK denuclearized and stop provocations.

Asked about the claim to re-deploy U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea, Mattis said he was negative about the re-deployment as the international community was going toward the denuclearization.

The South Korean defense chief also said the re-deployment will not meet national interests of South Korea.

The U.S. tactical nuclear weapons, which had been possessed by the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), were withdrawn from South Korea in 1991.

Meanwhile, the two defense chiefs agreed to make concerted efforts to rapidly make possible the conditions-based transfer of wartime operational control of South Korean troops from Washington to Seoul.

South Korea handed over its operational command to the U.S. forces after the three-year Korean War broke out in 1950. The country won back its peacetime operational control in 1994.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 17:36:39|Editor: Jiaxin

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BEIJING, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- A total of 1,895 charging ports for electric cars will this year be installed in Beijing's Tongzhou District, the new municipal administration center of the capital.

About 1,615 of these charging ports will be installed in the area of administration offices.

By 2020, Tongzhou plans to build a charging port every two kilometers to better provide for electric vehicles in the suburban district of Beijing.

Currently, Tongzhou has 53 charging stations at expressway service areas and shopping malls, and another two for the district's 510 electric taxies.

Beijing will move many of its administration offices out of the city center to the eastern suburbs, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning in 2016.

Building the new administrative center will draw approximately 400,000 urban residents from the city center to the suburban district, the commission said.

The Chinese capital has sought to address its severe "urban diseases," such as congestion and pollution, by curbing population growth and moving facilities to nearby regions.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 17:46:40|Editor: Jiaxin

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NANJING, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Ten Nanjing Massacre survivors gathered and celebrated the Chongyang Festival, which falls Saturday, in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing.

The 10 people each aged around 90 years old visited tourist attractions with their families.

"It feels good to visit Nanjing on the Chongyang Festival," said Xia Shuqing, one of the survivors.

The Chongyang Festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, and is a day to pay respect to seniors in China.

The year 2017 marks the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, in which more than 300,000 Chinese were brutally murdered by Japanese invaders when they occupied Nanjing on Dec. 13, 1937, marking the start of six weeks of destruction, pillage, rape and slaughter in Nanjing.

There are only 100 living survivors of the atrocity.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 17:51:42|Editor: Jiaxin

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AMMAN, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Jordan on Saturday condemned a terrorist attack in Bahrain that targeted a bus affiliated to Bahraini police, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

Jordan's Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani stressed on Jordan's support to Bahrain and its efforts in standing up to terrorism.

He also emphasized Jordan's strong support to efforts to uproot terrorism.

The minister also voiced solidarity with the families of the victims.

A policeman was killed and eight others were injured in a roadside bombing in Bahrain on Friday.

An investigation was launched into the terror crime to arrest those behind it, in order to bring them to justice.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 17:56:43|Editor: Song Lifang

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Participants attend the 15th China-Japan Security Dialogue in Tokyo, Japan, on Oct. 27, 2017. Senior diplomats from China and Japan have exchanged views on a number of security issues at the 15th China-Japan Security Dialogue held in Tokyo. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)

TOKYO, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Senior diplomats from China and Japan have exchanged views on a number of security issues at the 15th China-Japan Security Dialogue held in Tokyo.

Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou and Japanese Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeo Akiba, co-chaired the dialogue on Friday which was attended by foreign affairs and security officials of both countries.

Kong also met with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono during his visit.

Kong told Kono that Sino-Japanese relationship has seen a number of positive interactions recently but is still faced with complicated factors.

As this year marks the 45th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic ties, and next year will be the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Peace and Friendship Treaty, Kong urged the two sides to take the opportunities to overcome obstacles and interruptions and consolidate the momentum of the improvement of bilateral relations.

Kono, for his part, offered congratulations on the success of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and said that Japan attaches importance to its relationship with China and is willing to make joint efforts with China to improve and develop bilateral relations.

During the security dialogue, the two sides exchanged views on the regional and world security situation, security policies of China and Japan and bilateral security communication and cooperation.

The Chinese side said that China, as always a participant and facilitator of international peace and stability, will steadfastly adhere to the path of peaceful development and call for fostering a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security.

The Chinese side also said China has also expressed concerns on Japan's movements in the security and military areas in recent years, hoping that Japan sticks to peaceful development and plays a constructive role in regional peace and stability.

The Japanese side briefed their Chinese counterparts on Japan's defense and security policies, saying Japan will continue to be a peaceful country and stick to the "defense only" posture and the Three Non-Nuclear Principles.

The two sides agreed to continue carrying out dialogues, enhance crisis management and control, and play active roles in improving bilateral relations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 18:31:51|Editor: Song Lifang

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LUSAKA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Zambian Vice-President Inonge Wina on Friday that a law that allows mining firms to outsource labor should be amended in order to protect the country's workforce.

Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), one of the country's biggest copper mines, is currently embroiled in a labor dispute with Zambia's two main mining unions over its plans to outsource labor at some of its units, which has affected over 900 of them.

The mining firm, a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc, said the move was aimed at improving efficiency, reduce costs and boost output.

The Zambian vice-president said the mining firm has not abrogated any laws in outsourcing some of its workers as it was provided for in the law.

She said in parliament that the law on outsourcing as well as other laws inherited from colonial masters were archaic and needed to be amended in order to protect the interest of the workers.

According to her, the law allows a company that wants to outsource to negotiate with the unions and that if there was no agreement, a dispute has to be declared and allow for the government to intervene.

She said in the case of KCM, the mining firm has declared a dispute and that the government was currently engaged in talks with the two parties.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 18:41:56|Editor: Song Lifang

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BRUSSELS, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- European Leaders on Friday sided with Madrid amid spiraling tensions prompted by the Catalan parliament's unilateral declaration of independence.

"For EU nothing changes. Spain remains our only interlocutor," European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted. "I hope the Spanish government favors force of argument, not argument of force."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday stressed the "constitutional order" in a speech at the Conference of Presidents of the Outermost Regions in French Guiana.

"The European Union is first and foremost a set based on the rule of law, respect for it. It's true in the French Republic ... This is also true in Spain. The constitutional order is what it is, it must be respected," he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who attended the conference with Juncker, underscored that Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is his only interlocutor in Spain, reiterating France's full support to the Spanish government.

"There is a rule of law in Spain, with constitutional rules. Rajoy wants to enforce them and he has my full support," Macron said.

In a separate statement, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France "won't recognize the declaration of independence that the Catalan parliament has adopted."

A spokesperson of British Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain will not recognize the Catalan parliament's declaration of independence.

"It is based on a vote that was declared illegal by the Spanish courts. We continue to want to see the rule of law upheld, the Spanish constitution respected, and Spanish unity preserved," the spokesperson added.

German government spokesperson Stephen Seibert tweeted that "the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Spain are inviolable." He said that Catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence violates these protected principles.

Seibert said Germany supports "the clear attitude of the Spanish Prime Minister to ensure and restore the constitutional order." However, he also expressed the hope that "the parties will use all existing opportunities for dialogue and de-escalation."

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Friday that only talks based on the rule of law and within the framework of the Spanish constitution can lead to a solution.

Bulgaria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the country supports the territorial integrity of Spain.

"We call on all authorities in the country to engage in constructive dialogue, responsibility and respect for the rule of law -- to protect the stability, unity and security of citizens," the statement said.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Friday announced the immediate sacking of Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and his government and called new elections in the region on Dec. 21.

Moreover, Rajoy also sacked the chief of Catalan police, as well as closed the delegations of the Catalan government in Madrid and abroad.

The move followed the decision taken by the Catalan parliament earlier in the day to unilaterally declare independence of the region in the northeast of Spain.

Spain's rich Catalonia autonomous region held a referendum on self-determination on Oct. 1, which had been declared illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court.

Rajoy told reporters: "Spanish people were living a sad day when the lack of reason had gone over the head of the law," and that his government has begun "to adopt the measures against an inadmissible kidnapping of the rights of the majority of Catalan."

The application of Article 155 of the Spanish constitution, which suspends the autonomy of the Catalan region and hands control of key Catalan institutions to Madrid, was approved by the Spanish Senate on Friday afternoon.

Rajoy had earlier spoken from the corridors of the Senate to describe the independence declaration as a "crime."

"What has happened in the Catalan parliament shows how necessary it was to approve this article," said Rajoy.

After the Catalan parliament approved independence, the Spanish Constitutional Court accepted an appeal presented by the Catalan branch of the Socialist Party (PSC) against the validity of the declaration.

Madrid sources confirm that the Spanish government will appeal to the Constitutional Court against the Catalan declaration of independence.

The Spanish State Prosecutor will on Monday consider presenting accusations of "rebellion" against Puigdemont and his government, charges which could lead to a jail term of 15 to 30 years.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 18:46:57|Editor: Song Lifang

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VALLETTA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Maltese government has said it would not recognize a unilateral declaration of independence by Catalonia, after the region declared independence in a parliamentary vote on Friday.

The Mediterranean island and smallest EU member state, joined the likes of Germany, France and the United States, among others, in its support of the Spanish government.

"Malta is observing developments in Catalonia with concern," said Foreign minister Carmelo Abela, adding that Malta's position remained one which respected "the territorial integrity of Spain."

"We believe that the current crisis has to be dealt with in line with the constitutional order of Spain respecting the Spanish Constitution and the fundamental rights of all citizens," Abela stated.

The Spanish government stripped the region of its autonomy after its controversial independence vote in parliament Friday, effectively taking charge of its government.

Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy announced the dissolution of the regional parliament and the removal of the Catalan leader, with an official state bulletin handing control of Catalonia to Spain's deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria.

Snap elections were called in the region, which also saw its most senior police officials dismissed and demonstrations for and against independence running on into the night.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 18:46:58|Editor: ying

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BEIJING, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Congratulations are pouring in from around the world since Chinese President Xi Jinping was re-elected general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Wednesday.

In their messages, leaders of foreign countries, political parties and organizations also expressed their confidence that the CPC, under Xi's leadership, will guide China toward greater prosperity and a larger international role.

The following is an edited version of some of the messages.

John Magufuli, president of Tanzania and chairman of the Party of the Revolution:

"Xi's re-election as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee will lead China to a brighter future and present a more powerful nation to the world."

Uhuru Kenyatta, president of Kenya and leader of the Jubilee Party of Kenya:

"Under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi at the core, China has achieved great development achievements, which have attracted worldwide attention."

Aung San Suu Kyi, state counselor of Myanmar and leader of the National League for Democracy:

"I believe that under Xi's leadership, the CPC will achieve the great victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and the great success of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era."

Mauricio Macri, president of Argentina:

"I have read about Xi's report delivered at the opening session of the 19th CPC National Congress and I wish the two-stage development plan proposed by Xi will be achieved successfully."

Abdul Rashid Dostum, first vice president of Afghanistan and chairman of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan:

"Under Xi's leadership, China will continue to achieve greater success in development and realize prosperity of the whole nation."

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party:

"Over the past five years, Xi has led China to unprecedented achievements in economic, social and diplomatic fields with his strategic visions and his quality of perseverance."

Norodom Ranariddh, president of the Funcinpec Party of Cambodia:

"Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era will have significant impact on global socialism and the human society."

Gwede Mantashe, secretary-general of the African National Congress of South Africa:

"We have full confidence in Xi's leadership in the successful implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative and 'in creating a peaceful and mutually prosperous global environment.'"

Domingos Simoes Pereira, leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde of Guinea-Bissau:

"Under Xi's leadership, the CPC will stay united to realize the Chinese people's expectations for a better future."

Jotham Napat, president of the Leaders Party of Vanuatu:

"I firmly believe your vision as portrayed in your official statement at this CPC congress, for a better China, reinforces our closeness and strong partnership both internationally and politically."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 18:52:01|Editor: ying

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BANGKOK, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is of great importance to China and is worth studying by developing countries like Thailand, Wissanu Krea-ngam, deputy prime minister of Thailand, has said.

Speaking to Xinhua on Tuesday, the day the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded, Wissanu said he had been following the landmark meeting since its opening on Oct. 18.

"It is a congress that will influence the world as goals set by the party are going to make China much greater in the future," he said.

An amendment to the CPC Constitution was approved Tuesday, making Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era a new component of the party's guide for action.

Wissanu said he found that "new era," "new thought," "new contradiction" and "new goals" were frequently mentioned in Xi's report at the opening session of the congress, a sign that China will continue with its opening-up.

Xi said in his report that socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era and the principal contradiction facing Chinese society has evolved into "the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing needs for a better life."

"I think by putting forward the new contradiction, China, besides emphasizing economic growth, infrastructure development, will pay much more attention to the rule of law, environmental protection, culture and arts," Wissanu said.

Countries around the world need to learn more about socialism with Chinese characteristics to prepare themselves to welcome a greater China in the future as many countries are cooperation partners with China, he said.

Xi's thought makes "Chinese characteristics" more prominent, the Thai deputy prime minister said.

He praised China for being very good at accomplishing its goals efficiently as can be proved by the anti-corruption campaign that started five years ago.

He said he believes that the new goals set at the 19th CPC National Congress will be accomplished as before.

"The Chinese set long-term goals and ask people to do it together. That is something we can learn from, as we are also working on a 20-year national strategy to guide the development of Thailand," Wissanu said.

"It is just magical that we have consistent policies or strategies as China put forward the Belt and Road Initiative. We have Thailand 4.0 and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) has ASEAN Connectivity," Wissanu said, adding that China and Thailand can still find a lot of aspects to cooperate in the future.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 18:57:02|Editor: Song Lifang

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PRAGUE, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- In reaction to the unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament, the Czech Republic still views Catalonia as an integral part of Spain, Czech Foreign Ministry has announced.

The ministry said that the Czech Republic unequivocally supports a respect to the Constitution as a basic Law of any Democratic State, which guarantees Rights and Freedoms to all its citizens.

Declaration of Catalan Independence was in a clear contradiction with the Spanish Constitution, the ministry added.

The Czech Republic is convinced that internal political crisis in Spain must be solved only by legal steps and by a dialogue in the frame of the Spanish Constitutional System, it added.

The Spanish government stripped the region of its autonomy after its controversial independence vote in parliament Friday, effectively taking charge of its government.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced the dissolution of the regional parliament and the removal of the Catalan leader, with an official state bulletin handing control of Catalonia to Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria.

Snap elections were called in the region, which also saw its most senior police officials dismissed and demonstrations for and against independence running on into the night.
On 28 October Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received defense minister of the Republic of Armenia Vigen Sargsyan and Yerevan mayor Taron Margaryan, Central Information Department of the Office of the Artsakh Republic President stated.

October 28, 2017, 12:02 Bako Sahakyan received Armenian defense minister and the mayor of Yerevan

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 27, ARTSAKHPRESS: A range of issues related to the army building and cooperation with the Yerevan city were on the agenda of the meeting attended by NKR Defense minister Levon Mnatsakanyan.

Speaking of the defense system the President underlined that cooperation of the two Armenian states in this direction was among the pivotal preconditions of maintaining stability in the region.

President Sahakyan expressed gratitude to Taron Margaryan and Yerevan city authorities for special attention paid to the Defense Army, Stepanakert and Artsakh, highlighting the positive impact of cooperation with Yerevan city on efficient implementation of diverse projects in Artsakh.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 19:12:07|Editor: Song Lifang

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DOHA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Qatar will boost the role of the private sector in economic development, to facilitate investments in the industrial sector and develop business environment in Qatar, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported on Saturday.

Qatar Minister of Finance Ali Shareef Al Emadi held a meeting with a number of senior officials of Russian companies, on the sidelines of the 7th edition of the "Russia Calling!" conference in Moscow.

The Qatari minister stressed that developing business investments in Doha will be through putting in place legislative framework, laws and procedures to facilitate domestic and foreign investments.

Earlier, Qatar's government announced measures to help private sector businesses on October 8 after its economy was hurt by sanctions imposed by other Arab states, by cutting rents paid by companies in Qatar's logistics zones in half during 2018 and 2019.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties on June 5, accused Doha of supporting terrorism, which Doha denies.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 19:17:10|Editor: Song Lifang

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KABUL, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. service member died after a chopper crashed in Afghan eastern Logar province on Friday, said a statement of NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission released here Saturday.

"A U.S. service member has died as a result of injuries sustained during a helicopter crash in Logar province, late Friday evening," the statement said.

Earlier on Saturday morning Taliban claimed that the armed group shot down a military helicopter in Khirwar district of the eastern Logar province killing all aboard.

However, the NATO-led RS statement confirmed that six more service members sustained injuries in the incident.

"We can confirm the crash was not the result of enemy action. We have full accountability of all personnel and the crash site has been secured. Six other U.S. crew members were injured in the crash and are all receiving medical treatment," the statement said.

However, the statement did not reveal the names and positions of the victims.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 19:32:14|Editor: Song Lifang

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JUBA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- South Sudanese President Salva Kiir is set to visit neighboring Sudan next week to hold talks with his Sudanese counterpart Omar Bashir on ways of enhancing bilateral ties between the two countries, a presidential spokesman said Saturday.

Ateny Wek Ateny said the South Sudanese leaders' visit to Khartoum on Tuesday seeks to revive implementation of the nine cooperation agreements the two countries signed in 2012 for oil transit fees, border demarcation, trade, security among others.

Ateny added that improved cooperation between the two Sudans would be key in restoring lasting peace and stability in both countries.

"Restoring ties between the two countries has a lot of benefits because they are historically connected and they have a lot of common things that they can do together," Ateny told Xinhua by phone.

Since South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, the two neighbors have had frosty relations over undemarcated borders, a brewing row over the disputed oil-rich Abyei region claimed by both nation and an alleged support to rebel groups fighting Juba and Khartoum respectively.

In May, Sudanese president Omar Bashir accused South Sudan and Egypt of supporting rebels in the troubled region of Darfour. Both countries denied the accusations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 20:02:24|Editor: Song Lifang

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MOGADISHU, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on Saturday concluded a nine-day training program for 13 Individual Police Officers from Nigeria and Sierra Lone to help stabilize the Horn of Africa nation.

AMISOM Deputy Police Commissioner, Christine Alalo, said the newly deployed individual police officers will also help mentor and train their Somali police officers on best practices in policing.

"What we are supposed to be doing right now is ensure that we train them, but even then, as we train and mentor them, we should let them take the front role," Alalo said in a statement released in Mogadishu.

The induction course was meant to acquaint the AU police officers with the Mission's mandate and standard operating procedures as they began their one year tour of duty in Somalia.

Nigeria and Sierra Leone are part of the six Police Contributing Countries (PCCs), others being Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia.

During the training, the officers were taken through a number of topics which included, among others, the mandate and task of AMISOM, principles of peacekeeping operations, human rights in peacekeeping operations, Somali culture and human rights.

AMISOM has kicked off plans to exit the Horn of Africa nation by training the local security officers.

The Pan African body's mission will reduce its troops by 1,000 by December, followed by further cuts next year, an exercise expected to end by 2020 as part of its exit strategy.

However, AMISOM's exit is also pegged on the ability of the Somali National Security Forces, particularly the SNA to ably take over the security of the country.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 20:07:26|Editor: Song Lifang

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MANILA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- After six days of intense negotiations, the 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP12) adopted on Saturday actions to protect a wide range of migratory species.

"An intensive week of negotiations have resulted in a stronger commitment by countries to stepping up their efforts to conserve the planet's migratory wildlife," Bradnee Chambers, the convention's executive secretary said, adding that the outcome of the Manila conference "has been a real game changer for the convention".

Chambers said the convention now has "compliance review mechanism and has adopted species that test the boundaries of international wildlife conservation."

The week-long CMS COP12 ended on Saturday with decisions on 34 species in submissions made by 24 parties from Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania, according to Chambers.

These include actions on Africa's great carnivores, 10 species of vulture, and the endangered Whale Shark, known as the "butanding" in the Philippines, he said.

Over 1,000 delegates representing more than 100 parties and non-parties representing every region of the world attended this year's meeting. It marked the first time the summit had been held in Asia.

Moreover, he said the governments also agreed to cooperate on reducing the negative impacts of marine debris, noise pollution, renewable energy and climate change on migratory species.

The CMS COP12 forum took place in the Philippine capital from Monday to Saturday under the theme "Their Future is Our Future - Sustainable Development for Wildlife & People."

Chambers said this year's theme contributed to a growing global awareness of the importance of nature to human's well-being and the multiple connections between wildlife and people.

"It has helped to convey the message that the future of migratory wildlife is integral to our own future and that we all have the responsibility to act. Agreements made at CMS COP12 have firmly underlined this important message," he said.

Chambers said the governments also agreed to protect three species of shark and three species of ray, including the angel shark, the dusky shark, the blue shark, the common guitarfish and the white-spotted wedge fish.

He said all avian species have also been included in the list of birds that need to be protected, including the steppe eagle, four species of Asian vulture, five sub-Saharan vulture species, the Lappet-faced Vulture and the Christmas Frigatebird. A subspecies of the Black Noddy, the Yellow Bunting and the Lesser and Great Grey Shrike are also now in the leis, he added.

For the first time, he said the giraffe will receive protection under an international treaty. "Although populations in many Southern African countries are thriving, they are in overall decline across Africa with less than 90,000 animals remaining in the wild," he said.

He said the leopard and lion will also be listed, paving the way for a joint initiative on protecting Africa's great carnivores.

"The African Carnivores Initiative will become a focal point for the implementation of resolutions and decisions on lions, leopards, cheetahs and wild dogs under CMS and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)," Chambers said.

He said the chimpanzee is now listed on the CMS list. "Humans' closest relative is facing a 50 percent drop in numbers over three generations and rapid habitat loss, especially in the western and eastern parts of its historic range," he said.

Also included are the near-extinct Gobi Bear, he said, adding that only 45 individuals of the Gobi subspecies of the Brown Bear remain in the wild, shared between Mongolia and China.

He said the Caspian Seal is included in the CMS list now. "It is the only marine mammal found in the world's largest inland sea, where its migration is prompted by ice formation and foraging," he said.

Other mammals that will benefit from the additional protection include the African Wild Ass - the most endangered wild equid in the world, Przewalski's Horse and four species of Lasiurus Bat, he said.

However, Chambers said the proposal to add the Chinkara (Indian Gazelle) was withdrawn.

Unusually for a CMS COP, he said the consensus was not reached on four species proposals, which went to a vote. "Listing of the chimpanzee, giraffe, leopard and lion was approved by a wide majority at the Committee stage," Chambers said.

In total, 12 mammals were afforded greater protection under CMS, 16 birds and six species of fish.

Theresa Mundita Lim, director of the Philippines' Biodiversity and Management Bureau, said that the agreements reached in the meeting are significant.

"Migratory animals play a critical role in our planet's ecosystem. They act as pollinators, control pests and are a source of food and income. They are also an inspiration for people here in the Philippines and all around the world," Lim said.

"We will put in place the necessary national measures to integrate the conservation and protection of migratory wildlife species into our development planning processes and we will engage all sectors of society in crafting these measures," Lim said.

Other agreements reached include the formation of a new intergovernmental task force to curb the illegal killing of birds crossing the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, which spans 22 countries; a conservation roadmap for the critically endangered African Wild Ass, with fewer than 70 animals remaining in the wild; and a Vulture Multi-Species Action Plan to better protect 15 species of Old World Vulture in more than 120 countries.

The meeting also reached a consensus on CMS guidelines on assessing impacts of marine noise activities; expanding the Convention's work on preventing the poisoning of birds with a particular focus on the effects of lead; and an action on aquatic wild meat, which is fast becoming a conservation problem on a scale similar to that of terrestrial bushmeat.

The CMS COP12 in Manila has been the largest-ever meeting in the 38-year history of the convention, which is also known as the "Bonn Convention" after the German city where it was signed.

Chambers said the Manila meeting has broken all records as the biggest COP in the history of CMS, with the highest number of attendees from parties, non-parties and non-governmental organizations, with a record number of proposals accepted.

India is scheduled to host COP 13 in 2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 20:12:29|Editor: ying

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BEIJING, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Congratulations have been pouring in from around the world since Chinese President Xi Jinping was re-elected general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Wednesday.

In their messages, leaders of foreign countries, political parties and organizations also expressed their confidence that the CPC, under Xi's leadership, will guide China toward greater prosperity and a larger international role.

The following is an edited version of some of the messages.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, chairman of New Azerbaijan Party:

The 19th National Congress of the CPC adopted a series of important resolutions, especially the new governance strategies proposed by you, and defined the direction of the CPC.

Sierra Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma, leader of All People's Congress of Sierra Leone:

I have received with joy and satisfaction the good news about your re-election as general secretary of the CPC. Let me take this opportunity to heartily congratulate you on your election and wish you continued success in that high office.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame, chairman of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF):

It is our belief that your continued leadership of the party and the country is good for China. Furthermore, it will strengthen the already excellent relationship between the CPC and the RPF, and lead to greatly accelerated cooperation between our two countries.

Mahamadou Issoufou, president of Niger:

The CPC and the Chinese people support you to continue to work as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee because you care about national construction, lead China towards lasting prosperity and development, and win the respect and appreciation of the world.

Faustin-Archange Touadera, president of Central African Republic:

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China has scored remarkable achievements in political, economic, social and other respects under your wise leadership, and set up a model for the development of African countries.

Azali Assoumani, president of the Comoros:

On behalf of the government and people of the Comoros and in my own name, I extend warm congratulations to you on your re-election as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

Moldovan President Igor Dodon:

I believe that you, in that high office, will make even greater contribution to national prosperity and happiness of the people.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko:

Your re-election has once again proven that you enjoy high prestige within the CPC and is highly trusted by the Chinese people.

Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez:

I extend my wholehearted congratulations to you on your re-election as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and wish you greater success in governance.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, president of the Croatian Democratic Union:

In particular, I wish to extend my most cordial congratulations to you on your re-election as general secretary. I wish you great success in carrying out this high and responsible duty in the time ahead.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 20:17:30|Editor: Song Lifang

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DUBLIN, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Ireland said on Saturday it respects the constitutional and territorial integrity of Spain.

"We do not accept or recognize the Catalan unilateral declaration of independence," Ireland's Foreign Department said in a statement.

Spain has stripped the region of its autonomy following its declaration, as well as having sacked Catalan leaders, dissolved the region's parliament and called a regional election for December.

"We are all concerned about the crisis in Catalonia," the statement said, calling for efforts to resolve the crisis "through lawful and peaceful means."

"The resolution of the current crisis needs to be within Spain's constitutional framework and through Spain's democratic institutions," it said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 20:22:33|Editor: Song Lifang

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NAIROBI, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Unknown assailants shot dead two Kenyan police officers during an ambush in Nairobi early Saturday.

Area police chief Joseph Gichangi said the bodies of the two security officers were found in Kayole residential estate after a tip off by a member of the public who reported hearing gun shots in the area at around 4:00 a.m. Saturday.

The two police officers were also robbed off their two firearms by the attackers who managed to escape after the incident.

"The two police officers were shot from behind as they patrolled the area and robbed of their pistols. The attackers escaped on a motorcycle," said Gichangi.

The attackers were riding on a motorcycle and ambushed the constables of police who were patrolling on foot. It is not clear why the officers decided to patrol on foot at 4 a.m..

Gichangi said the attackers were armed with an AK 47 rifle, adding that investigations have been launched to establish the motive behind the death and why the deceased were on foot.

"The killing weapon is not common among many thugs and it raises many questions," said an officer.

The incident comes at a time when there is high tension in the Kenyan capital over politics as the nation is still awaiting the tallying process following the conclusion of repeat presidential elections.

At least three people have been killed since Wednesday in political violence in Nairobi between anti-poll protesters and the police over the disputed presidential elections.

There have been clashes in major informal settlements in the city with heavy police deployments after angry protesters destroyed and looted property in Kawangware, Kibera, Mathare, Huruma, Kahawa West and other places in the city in pre and post presidential polls violence.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 20:22:34|Editor: ying

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DAR ES SALAAM, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Ten young Tanzanians have been offered a one-year training program in China after they were pronounced winners of this year's Star Times voice talent competition.

The competition, which saw 25 contesters reach finals, came to an end at a final gala held in Dar es Salaam Friday night.

It followed months of stiff struggle by contesters from Zanzibar and Tanzania mainland's regions of Mwanza and Dar es Salaam where talent searching was conducted.

This was the second time in a row for the company to run the competition through its brand name Star Times and Star Swahili Channel. Last year a cohort of 10 Tanzanians also won the same and some now are employees of the company at its headquarters in Beijing, China.

Last year, the Star Times Group held the first Star TV Drama Dubbing Contest in Tanzania and chose potential contestants to work in China.

In her opening speech during the gala, Star Media Tanzania Vice President Zuhura Hanif said last year's finalists have had the chance to attend various international exhibitions and forums where they showcased Swahili culture.

"This is a way to promote Swahili but also a kind of support that our company offers to help curb unemployment which is a big problem worldwide because the winners are employed directly at our company headquarters," she said.

She said the company is working on how to reach various regions during talent search to ensure a huge number of Tanzanians participate contrary to currently where they only choose in three places.

The winners were also awarded various gifts including television sets and cellphones.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 20:27:35|Editor: Song Lifang

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ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Policymakers and experts, who have gathered in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa as part of the African Regional Consultative Meeting on the Global Compact on Migration, discussed Africa's key migration issues, challenges and priorities.

The African Regional Consultative Meeting on the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, which was held in Ethiopia from October 26 to 27 at the UN's Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA), seeks to advance the aims and ambitions of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants.

According to Louise Arbour, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for International Migration, although the debate on migration has largely focused on Europe, the global compact being negotiated must be adapted to the realities and peculiarities of each region, including Africa, where more than half of migrants moved to other countries on the continent.

"Today's consultation is an opportunity to analyze migratory trends, challenges and opportunities at the regional and sub-regional levels," Arbour told the African Regional Consultative Meeting on the proposed global compact.

Arbour further indicated that most migration takes place within the same region, noting that in Africa, 52 percent of migrants moved within the region, mostly between neighboring countries. She also emphasized the importance of an increased variety and scope of legal pathways for non-refugee migrants to access labor markets.

The African Regional Consultative Meeting on the Global Compact on Migration aims to provide a forum for Africa to identify and articulate key migration issues, challenges and priorities; identify actionable commitments and recommendations; means of implementations; and identify mechanisms at national, sub-regional and regional levels to ensure coherence and effective follow-up.

It also envisages readiness for African countries to articulate their own narratives on migration. The African Regional Consultative Meeting is also expected to offer member States the opportunity to articulate the African narrative and to make significant and far-reaching inputs to the processes leading to the adoption of the global compact.

According to the UN, consultations at the African regional meeting will inform the process leading up to the adoption of the global compact on migration by the UN General Assembly in 2018.

The process to develop this global compact for migration started in April 2017. It will be the first, inter-governmentally negotiated agreement, prepared under the auspices of the UN, to cover all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner, it was noted.

The global compact addresses target 10.7 of the 2030 Agenda, in which member States committed to cooperate internationally to facilitate safe, orderly, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people.

The global compact will build on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 and its recommendations concerning measures to mitigate risks associated with disasters, as well as on the Paris Agreement of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, it was indicated.
AUBURN  As the sun set over Auburn Friday, a woman in 19th century clothes stood on the steps of Pomeroy Park and shared the story of John C. Colt, the man who killed a New York printer with a hatchet in 1841 and tried to ship the body parts to New Orleans. Despite admitting to the crime in 1842, Colt pleaded with the governor at the time, asking for a pardon. The governor was William H. Seward.

This was just one of the spooky stories swapped during a walking tour of Auburn Friday night.

For the seventh year in a row, the Seward House Museum hosted a haunted history tour in Auburn. It began by the Seward family's barn where two horses were killed in a fire nearly 200 years ago, horses that, some say, can still be heard whinnying on the museum grounds.

From there, the group of roughly 20 people toured places like Fort Hill Cemetery and Seward Park, hearing tales of other murders and supernatural encounters. But the best part, Billye Chabot said: The tales are all true.

"Everyone likes ghost stories or scary stories, but one of the most unique things about the Seward House's haunted history stories is we don't have to make it up; they're actually true stories," said Chabot, the executive director of the Seward House Museum. "We have stories of murders in Auburn, stories about the insanity defense ... stories from Fort Hill Cemetery and the (attempted) assassination of Secretary Seward."

Crows cried overhead as the group was guided through downtown Auburn. While some participants were local residents, Chabot said others came from outside Cayuga County to see the Seward House and take part in the tour.

"It's very popular," she said. "When we first started, it was mostly for our local audience in Auburn, but now we're really starting to see people coming from out of town ... places like Rochester and Philadelphia. So we're really getting some regional attention with our haunted history tours."

Sharon Juba said she drove from Rochester for the haunted tour. She smiled as she peeked in one of the windows at the Seward House Friday night, searching for a glimpse of William Seward's ghost.

"I highly recommend this," she said. "I enjoyed the history and I wish I had known more about Seward. I have been through the house once (before) and in the true sense of the word, once is not enough."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 20:27:36|Editor: ying

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BEIJING, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Congratulations have been pouring in from around the world since Chinese President Xi Jinping was re-elected general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Wednesday.

In their messages, leaders of foreign countries, political parties and organizations also expressed their confidence that the CPC, under Xi's leadership, will guide China toward greater prosperity and a larger international role.

The following is an edited version of some of the messages.

Natsuo Yamaguchi, president of Japan's Komeito Party:

On behalf of Japan's Komeito party, I sincerely congratulate the complete success of the 19th CPC National Congress and your re-election as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

Dimitrios Papadimoulis, vice president of the European Parliament:

I am convinced that based on decades of priceless experience, you will lead the CPC to realize national development, promote international cooperation, and boost inclusive growth and prosperity of the world.

Khadga Prasad Oli, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) and former prime minister of Nepal:

President Xi said during the CPC National Congress that "the aspirations of the people to live a better life must always be the focus of our efforts." That, in my opinion, is the best solution to the major contradiction of the Chinese society.

Gyula Molnar, president of the Hungarian Socialist Party:

I wish China an even greater success in its modernization drive under the leadership of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and greater contributions to the peaceful development of the international community.

Jose Luis Gioja, president of the Justicialist Party of Argentina:

China's achievements have fully demonstrated that as long as the ruling party of a nation has a vision, courage, capability and aspiration, as well as a leader who can accurately comprehend the international situation, there will be no difficulty the party cannot overcome.

Alvaro Garcia Linera, vice president of the Movement for Socialism Party of Bolivia:

At the critical phase in the building of a socialist modern country with Chinese characteristics, your re-election has fully indicated the party's and the Chinese people's deep trust in and high expectations on you.

Elio Di Rupo, president of the francophone Belgian Socialist Party and former prime minister of Belgium:

The 19th CPC National Congress summarized China's remarkable achievements over the past five years, put forward new goals of building a prosperous nation, and further expounded grand strategies for future development.

Luis Ayala, secretary general of the Socialist International:

I sincerely congratulate your re-election as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee. This is the best proof of your resolution to serve China, the CPC and the Chinese people wholeheartedly.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 20:32:38|Editor: ying

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BEIRUT, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- China has played an important role in solving international issues and provided opportunities for countries to revive their economy through the Belt and Road Initiative, a Lebanese politician said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Doureid Yaghi, vice president of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party, a major party in Lebanon, said that China has undergone profound changes in its transformation toward a more innovative, powerful and prosperous country.

"Following true reforms that have led to China's development and growth in economy, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) shows the consistency of the policy that China has embraced ... when it started the reform process," said Yaghi.

The success of China's policy is self-evident, since China has made a quantum leap forward over the past two decades, he added, expressing the hope that the 19th CPC National Congress' decisions will better boost China's development.

He also noted that China's engagement in international affairs is based on moral values and mutual respect, unlike Western countries, Yaghi said.

"Some voices often talk about democracy and freedom, while they only aim at incitement and divisions, and these models exist in our Arab World. The U.S. tanks entered Iraq to install democracy, and look where we have reached," Yaghi said.

With regard to China's foreign policies, the Lebanese politician said that as a permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, China has helped solve various international issues, based on the principle of noninterference in other countries' internal affairs and insistence on the use of peaceful means.

In particular, Yaghi expressed admiration for the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, saying that it provides new development opportunities for participating countries that were once closely linked in history.

Proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to promote trade, financial integration, infrastructure connectivity and people-to-people exchanges along and beyond the ancient Silk Road trade routes.

Once the Belt and Road infrastructure network is completed, there will be great opportunities for participating countries to revive their glories both in culture and economy, he added.

"The Silk Road is based on cultural and humanitarian exchanges, while the U.S. and Western communication with others is based on wars and selling weapons so that these people would fight each other. So which road is better? A road for wars and destruction or a road for civilization?" he asked.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 20:32:38|Editor: Zhou Xin

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Rescuers search for missing passengers of a bus accident in Dhading, Nepal, Oct. 28, 2017. The death toll in Dhading bus accident in central Nepal jumped to 31, according to local police officer. (Xinhua)

KATHMANDU, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in Dhading bus accident in central Nepal jumped to 31, a local police officer told Xinhua on Saturday evening.

"The death toll may rise in the course of our rescue operation which is underway," police officer Dhrubaraj Raut said.

"Of the total 20 bodies recovered from the river we are able to identify only 12 so far," Raut added.

The incident occurred when the ill-fated bus en route to Kathmandu from Rajbiraj of eastern region of Nepal veered off the Prithvi Highway and plunged into the Trishuli River in Dhading District at 5:00 a.m. local time on Saturday.

According to local media reports, the bus was carrying over 60 people when the accident occurred in Ghatebesi area, some 80 km east of the Capital.

The victims were mostly from Saptari District of eastern Nepal bordering India, who were returning to the capital after celebrating popular Chaath Festival in their homes.

The entire Saptari District is in deep sorrow following the incident, local media reports said.

Local authorities have not been able to pull out the ill-fated bus from the river yet. Nepal police, armed police force and Nepal army have mobilized their personnel to recover bodies still trapped in the wreckage.

The authorities are yet to ascertain the cause of the accident.
New Namibian naval vessels are seen in Walvis Bay, Namibia, on Oct. 27, 2017. Namibian President Hage Geingob on Friday commissioned two Chinese-built naval vessels at the harbor town of Walvis Bay. (Xinhua/Wu Changwei)

WALVIS BAY, Namibia, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Two state-of-the-art Chinese-built naval vessels have been commissioned by Namibian President Hage Geingob at the harbor town of Walvis Bay.

The two submarine chasers, Brukkaros and Daures, boast surface and undersurface targets attacking capabilities.

They were donated by the Chinese People's Liberation Army and arrived in Namibian waters in August.

The Namibian president thanked China for its assistance to the southwestern African country in protecting its territory and maritime resources.

Naval soldiers stand on the new Namibian naval vessel in Walvis Bay, Namibia, on Oct. 27, 2017. Namibian President Hage Geingob on Friday commissioned two Chinese-built naval vessels at the harbor town of Walvis Bay. (Xinhua/Wu Changwei)

"The delivery and incorporation of the two submarine chasers into our naval fleet will add tremendous value to Namibia's naval combat surface and under-surface capability, as well as augment the country's maritime patrol and surveillance capability," Geingob said.

"Our maritime economy is a major contributor to job creation and economic growth. Given our large coastline, the Navy faces a huge challenge in ensuring that it protects the country against any and all maritime threats. It is therefore of paramount importance that we continue to increase our naval capabilities."

Geingob also thanked China for being an all-weather friend, adding that it is better to have one loyal friend than a hundred fair-weather friends.

Naval officers stand on the new Namibian naval vessel in Walvis Bay, Namibia, on Oct. 27, 2017. Namibian President Hage Geingob on Friday commissioned two Chinese-built naval vessels at the harbor town of Walvis Bay. (Xinhua/Wu Changwei)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 20:47:48|Editor: Song Lifang

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ROME, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Italy will not recognize the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia from Spain, Italian government officials have said.

"Italy does not recognize unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia," Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano tweeted. "An outlaw act. Firm condemnation. Spain must remain united," he tweeted after the parliament of the Spanish region, whose capital is Barcelona, voted to declare an independent and sovereign state on Friday.

In response, the central Spanish government led by conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dissolved the Catalan government, dismissed the regional police chief, and ordered fresh regional elections to be held in December.

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, who is Italian, told Italian conservative newspaper Il Giornale in an interview on Saturday that "secession from Spain is secession from Europe... Nobody will recognize the independence of Catalonia."

Former Democratic Party bigwig Massimo D'Alema commented to ANSA news agency that "I am very concerned over the crisis in Spain. I hope there can be dialogue and negotiation."

Also according to ANSA, Senator Renato Schifani from Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia party said that "what is happening in Catalonia... is the fruit of the rashness of a local political class that is demonstrating a high degree of irresponsibility. Europe did the right thing in reiterating that Spain is and remains its sole interlocutor."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 20:47:49|Editor: Song Lifang

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CAIRO, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Arab League (AL) condemned on Saturday a terrorist attack in Bahrain that targeted a bus affiliated to Bahraini police, AL said in a statement.

AL stressed its full support for the Bahraini government in its efforts to maintain the country's security and stability as well as combating terrorism, spokesperson of AL, Mahmoud Afifi said.

He underscored AL's complete rejection for any attempts of intervening in Bahrain domestic affairs or that will undermine its stability.

A policeman was killed and eight others were injured in a roadside bombing in Bahrain on Friday.

The attack was carried out by a terrorist group which remotely detonated a home-made bomb, according to the Bahraini government.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 21:01:15|Editor: Song Lifang

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Chinese musicians perform during the opening ceremony of a bookstore called Shans, selling books on Chinese history, economy, language and literature, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Oct. 27, 2017. The first bookstore in Central Asia selling works of Chinese authors translated into Kyrgyz and Kazakh languages opened here Friday, as an initiative to promote cultural exchange between the three countries. (Xinhua/Roman Gainanov)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 20:57:51|Editor: ying

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BEIJING, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Foreign leaders and scholars are impressed by the development plans announced on the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and hold high hopes for China's continued economic reforms and peaceful development in the coming years.

The CPC is leading the country successfully through successive reforms, Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Sayala told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Sayala, whose government is backed by the United Nations, said what China has achieved over the past years through these reforms is "an economic miracle," noting that China has relied on the experience of the whole nation mobilizing for economic reform.

"I think the important thing is that despite the achievements, the Chinese leadership still recognizes that China is a developing country and that there is still a lot of things to improve," Cheng Li, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua.

Li believed that it reflects the Chinese government's confidence to take challenges "positively" and "constructively" and resolve problems.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Costas Gouliamos, rector of the European University Cyprus, said he believes Chinese President Xi Jinping is "firm to create (not only) the appropriate political and legal framework, but also social policies to tackle all issues."

Gouliamos also said he believes that Xi is determined to eliminate corruption to make China an even better country.

The new Chinese leadership under Xi can guarantee China's progress, as objectives are clear and the determination for success unquestionable, George Tzogopoulos, a lecturer on international relations at Democritus University of Thrace in northern Greece, told Xinhua on Wednesday in a written interview.

"At the economic level reforms will continue and China -- despite criticism in the West -- is becoming more open and keen to accept market rules," said Tzogopoulos, adding that technology and innovation will drive growth, making "Made in China 2025" not wishful thinking but a reality.

The CPC's long-term development plans have also impressed Hilik Bar, deputy speaker of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.

"I believe that the people of China can only benefit from leaders who think and plan ahead, so many years in advance," Bar said.

Commenting on the report delivered by Xi at the opening session of the 19th CPC National Congress, Bar said he was especially interested in the part about following the path of peaceful development and working to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

"I think it is very important that China takes an active role in the development of the whole world and also the well-being of mankind," Bar said.

In that regard, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that Russia welcomes China's traditional option of peaceful development, cooperation and friendly relations with other states.

The choice of peaceful development, cooperation and development of friendly relations is the traditional position of China, Zakharova said.

"This is also what bilateral relations are built on. This is the fundamental thing that China promotes on the international stage," the spokeswoman said.

Moscow can only welcome such an approach by both the Chinese leadership and the Chinese people, Zakharova added.

"Under the leadership of the CPC, the Chinese government has proven that it deserves this protagonist role in keeping international peace and sustainable development," Gouliamos said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 21:02:53|Editor: Song Lifang

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ROME, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Standard & Poor's upgraded Italy's sovereign debt to "BBB/A-2" with a stable outlook, the credit ratings agency has said in a statement.

The agency cited rising private sector investment and employment, government deficit-reduction policies, and bank reforms as drivers of Italy's economic recovery.

"We are therefore raising our sovereign credit ratings on Italy to 'BBB/A-2' from 'BBB-/A-3'," the agency said in the statement issued late on Friday.

S&P analysts "expect real gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year at about 1.4 percent and to average 1.3 percent in 2018-2019".

The government "will achieve this year's budget deficit target of 2.1 percent of GDP," setting Italy's very high government debt-to GDP-ratio "on a declining path", according to the statement.

Italy's improved economic outlook is also down to "the resolution of the crises related to Monte dei Paschi di Siena and two regional Veneto banks, and the quickening disposal of nonperforming loans (NPLs) in the banking system," S&P said.

According to Bank of Italy data obtained from the Finance Ministry, gross NPLs held by Italy's banks were reduced from a total of 200.9 billion euros (about 233 billion U.S. dollars) in December 2016 to 172.8 billion euros in August 2017.

Italy is slowly pulling out of two economic recessions that were sparked by the global financial crisis of 2008 and by the sovereign debt crisis of 2010. The prolonged crisis caused households and businesses to default on their loans, which piled up on bank balance sheets.

Beginning in 2015, the Italian government struggled to reform the country's banking sector to make it more crisis-proof, and to get rid of its NPLs.

On the downside, S&P analysts pointed out that Italy's economy "remains unsynchronized with the rest of the eurozone, as reflected in the depth and length of the 2008-2014 Italian recession".

They also cited "persistent political uncertainties" ahead of the next general election, likely to be held in spring 2018. (1 euro=1.16 U.S. dollar)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 21:02:54|Editor: ying

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KIEV, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will play a pivotal role in China's development for years to come, former Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk said in a recent interview.

"The 19th CPC National Congress has defined the strategy and determined the further steps for the development of China," Kravchuk, who is also the honorary president of the association of Ukraine-China friendship, said in the joint interview with a number of Chinese media outlets, including Xinhua.

He lauded the achievements China has made under the CPC's leadership in the past decades, noting that these accomplishments have offered an inspiring example for other nations.

"I am filled with admiration for the way the CPC is governing China. The CPC has been pursuing a policy of strengthening China, transforming and reforming it," the former Ukrainian leader said.

"I see how their plans are becoming a reality. These are not just statements. There is a real success," he added.

Kravchuk said that he had been closely monitoring the historic 19th Congress and was particularly impressed by Chinese President Xi Jinping's report to the opening session of the congress.

"He outlined a lot of new ideas. He has developed serious plans to cement China's leading positions in global politics, economy, defense, diplomacy. These tasks are very significant," Kravchuk said.

On Wednesday, Xi was re-elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee at the first plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee.

The 19th CPC National Congress closed on Tuesday with the election of a a new CPC Central Committee and a new Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

He hailed Xi's approach to domestic and foreign policies, saying that Xi's governing philosophy is highly effective.

"Xi Jinping is a strong, intelligent and experienced leader. He is very well aware of unique Chinese features and is able to adjust them to unique tasks. Also, his strength lies in the fact that the CPC and the people of China support him," Kravchuk said.

Referring to the Belt and Road Initiative, which was put forward by Xi in 2013, Kravchuk said it is a good instrument to promote win-win cooperation and equal partnership around the globe.

"China firmly adheres to the policy of non-interference. It does not impose its lifestyle upon others, but promotes cooperation. The Belt and Road Initiative is the vivid confirmation to this," Kravchuk said.

Xi also pledged to do his utmost to promote cooperation between Ukraine and China under the Belt and Road Initiative, saying the initiative serves the interests of both countries, he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 21:07:55|Editor: ying

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BEIJING, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's "core network copyright industry" has seen rapid growth over the past decade, according to a recent industry report.

In 2016, the scale of the industry exceeded 500 billion yuan (about 76.5 billion U.S. dollars), maintaining a growth rate of over 30 percent a year, according to a report by the country's network copyright industry research center.

In 2006, the volume of the industry was about 16 billion yuan, the report said.

The report focuses on China's "network industry," described as network gaming and online content, including video and music.

"With the continuous increase of copyright protection in China and the upgrade of domestic consumption, China's network copyright industry will have huge market potential and is expected to contribute more to the country's economy growth," said Tian Xiaojun, a researcher with the network copyright industry research center.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 21:17:57|Editor: Song Lifang

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TEHRAN, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Iran will begin oil exports to Russia in near future under an oil-for-goods barter scheme, Press TV quoted an Iranian energy official as saying on Saturday.

There existed some banking problems related to the exports of Iranian oil to Russia which have been resolved, making it possible to open letters of credit (LCs), Iran's Deputy Minister of Petroleum Ali Kardor said.

In 2014, Iran and Russia reached a preliminary agreement under which Moscow would buy up to 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian oil in exchange for Russian equipment and goods.

The agreement envisaged swapping around 300,000 bpd via the Caspian Sea and the rest from the Persian Gulf.

For now, the two sides are considering shipping 100,000 bpd of Iranian oil to Russia, with supplies being "either physical or swap-based," according to the report.

Kardor said Iran is about to receive 50 percent of payment in euros and the rest in goods and services.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 21:22:58|Editor: Song Lifang

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ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Unknown gunmen opened fire and killed a senior cleric of the Muslim Salafist Movement near a mosque in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Saturday, a security official told Xinhua.

"Masked gunmen used silenced weapons and killed Sheikh Adel Shehri, Imam of a mosque in Aden's neighborhood of Enma, before fleeing to unknown location with a speeding car," the official said on condition of anonymity.

He added that the well-known cleric died immediately at the scene after receiving six bullets while he was heading to perform morning prayers in a nearby mosque.

According to security sources, similar three drive-by shootings occurred earlier this month and targeted Muslim clerics loyal to the Southern Transitional Council backed by the United Arab Emirates.

Residents said that large number of UAE-backed Yemeni security forces were deployed in and around the entrances of Enma neighborhood and started tracking suspected elements there.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack so far, but Yemeni security officials accused gunmen linked to the Islamic State terrorist group of being behind such drive-by shootings in Aden.

Militants of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch and the Islamic State group (IS) are more active in the country's southern part and Yemeni armed forces supported by the UAE started waging large offensives against some hideouts there.

The al-Qaida and Islamic State-linked terrorists took advantage of the security vacuum and ongoing civil war to expand their influence and seize more territories in Yemen.

Security in Yemen has further deteriorated since March 2015, when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and government forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

UN statistics show more than 10,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since the coalition intervened in the Yemeni civil war that also displaced around three million.

The impoverished Arab country is also suffering the world's largest cholera epidemic since April, with about 5,000 cases reported every day.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 21:22:59|Editor: Song Lifang

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DUBAI, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday condemned the terrorist bombing attack at a police bus outside Bahrain's capital Manama, the news agency WAM reported.

In a statement, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Abu Dhabi said that the UAE expresses its strong condemnation of these "criminal acts" and its principled rejection of all forms of violence and terrorism.

''The UAE reiterates its full support to the Kingdom of Bahrain and its steadfastness in confronting these grave crimes,'' the statement said.

The ministry offered condolences to the families of the victims, the government and people of the Kingdom of Bahrain, wishing a speedy recovery to the wounded.

The two Gulf Arab states are part of the Arab quartet which includes Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The four allies cut diplomatic relations with Qatar on June 5 2017, accusing the fellow Gulf state of supporting "extremism" and of supporting Iran's regional policy, charges which the Qatari government has repeatedly denied.
Iran and Russia will integrate their bank payment systems in the next three months. (Xinhua Photo)

TEHRAN, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The first stage of integrating the banking payment systems of Iran and Russia will be implemented in the next three months, Financial Tribune daily reported on Saturday.

It has been agreed that in the first stage of integrating the two countries' payment systems, Iranian citizens who have a Shetab (Iran's national payment system) card and Russians who own Mir Business Bank cards would be able to use ATMs of both countries," Seyyed Abu-Taleb Najafi, an official with Iran's banking affairs, was quoted as saying.

Iranian central bank officials announced that Iran and Russia had agreed to integrate their bank card systems.

Najafi said that the next phase of the plan would be to integrate Iran's payment system with international networks, which requires strong infrastructure on par with international standards.

"We are preparing the necessary infrastructural requirements for implementing the next phase of the plan by establishing a network in cooperation with a Russian company named BPC," he said.

By establishing these infrastructures, Iran will be ready for agreements with international payment networks and other countries' banks for integration of payment systems, Najafi said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 22:23:09|Editor: Song Lifang

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ZAGREB, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday that the Catalan declaration of independence is not in accordance with the Spanish constitution.

"Croatia believes that the best solution is the one that is based on dialogue, and with a full respect for the rule of law and the protection of the rights of all citizens who live in Catalonia," the Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic also said on Friday that the dispute between Catalonia and Madrid should be resolved within a dialogue and the frameworks of the Spanish constitution, Croatian news agency Hina reported on Saturday.

He emphasized that Catalan's declaration of independence on Friday was made in the moment when only half of deputies were present in the parliament, while others didn't take part in the voting.

"We have clearly stated on several occasions that we want to see relations between Catalonia and Madrid resolved within dialogue, Spain's the constitutional and legal framework. We don't want violence, we want dialogue," Plenkovic told Croatian media.

The Spanish government stripped the region of its autonomy after its controversial independence vote in parliament Friday, effectively taking charge of its government.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced the dissolution of the regional parliament and the removal of the Catalan leader, with an official state bulletin handing control of Catalonia to Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria.

Snap elections were called in the region, which also saw its most senior police officials dismissed and demonstrations for and against independence running on into the night.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 22:23:10|Editor: ying

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BEIJING, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The report presented to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was a team effort, harnessing more than 2,000 suggestions from CPC members across the country, and subject to multiple revisions.

The report contains more than 30,000 Chinese characters and was delivered by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, over nearly three and a half hours at the opening of the congress on Oct.18.

Pooling suggestions from CPC members, the report indicated the direction of China's future development.

The report was drafted under the guidance of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, with Xi heading the draft team.

In January 2017, Xi announced the drafting team and called for the "correct thinking method, scientific analysis of domestic and international situation, and profound study of the development of the Party and the country."

Xi also said that the report should be drafted following principles including "correct political direction, emancipating the mind, keeping abreast of the times, upholding strategic thinking, and proceeding from reality."

This summer, Xi asked the draft team to objectively summarize the CPC development as well as any theoretical and practical innovations.

He also reiterated efforts "in new thoughts and measures and making scientific and accurate conclusions based on history and reality, theories and practices, and domestic and international situations."

In mid July, Xi presided over two meetings of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to review the draft report to the Party Congress.

"The report to the congress was not started from the day of the establishment of the drafting team. Important theories, conclusions and decisions in the report could not do without Xi's long-term theoretical thinking and practice," said a member of the team.

During the past five years, Xi has made 50 grassroots inspections and 28 visits worldwide.

The drafting team dispatched nine study groups in February to conduct research and investigations on 60 symposiums nationwide.

From Feb. 20 to the end of March, a total of 80 study groups conducted more than 1,500 symposiums and seminars at 1,817 grassroots units.

With over 21,000 people taking part in the discussions, 80 research reports were completed.

In addition, 65 papers written by 25 Chinese think tanks also contributed to the report.

On Aug. 30, Xi presided over a symposium and listened to opinions from central committees of non-communist parties, heads of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and people without party affiliations.

During the congress, Xi joined a panel discussion with delegates from Guizhou Province on Oct. 19. He discussed with delegates, taking notes while listening to their opinions over the report.

Xi said that the report has pointed out the direction for the cause of the Party and the country, and it is also the guideline for the Party to unite and lead people of all ethinic groups to adhere to and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

The report went through two rounds of discussions by delegates and nonvoting delegates during the congress and was revised accordingly.

It resonates strongly both inside and outside the Party as well as at home and abroad.

Its drafting process shows that the report is the product of democracy and wisdom, and that it fully reflects the will of the Party and the people.

After much discussion, the report was passed at the congress on Oct. 24.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 22:43:17|Editor: yan

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CAIRO, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Egypt strongly condemned the terrorist attack at a police bus in Bahrain's Manama, which killed a policeman and injured eight others, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

"The Egyptian government and people stand in solidarity with the Bahraini people against brutal terrorism," said the statement.

Egypt also stressed the necessity to trace the sources supporting, financing, training and sheltering such misguided groups that target security and stability in the Middle East region and the whole world.

Bahrain is one of Egypt's allies in the oil-rich Gulf region, where Egypt joined last June a bloc including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to impose a blockade on Qatar, which they accuse of supporting terrorism and interfering in their domestic affairs, charges that Qatar has repeatedly denied.

Led by Saudi Arabia, Gulf Cooperation Council states including Bahrain and excluding Qatar supported Egypt with billions of dollars to boost the country's economic situation after the Egyptian military ousted former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Since then, Egypt has been suffering terrorism at home that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers as well as dozens of the Coptic minority, with a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) terrorist group claiming responsibility for most of them.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 23:08:27|Editor: yan

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ZAGREB, Oct. 28, (Xinhua) -- Igor Sechin, head of Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft, told Croatian daily Jutarnji List that Croatia is in the center of the Rosneft's regional development strategy and that the company is considering to acquire a stake in Croatian oil and gas company INA.

"We are interested to invest in this region. INA is a classic vertically integrated company, but from our perspective, key assets of INA are two major refineries in Rijeka and Sisak," Sechin said in an exclusive interview published in Saturday's print edition of Jutarnji List.

His thoughts of the two refineries are inconsistent with an official policy of Hungary's MOL, who is the biggest shareholder in INA and considers them the most problematic part of the company's business. "We think that there is no need to close a refinery in Sisak that can take an important position in the European market after the modernization," Sechin told Jutarnji List.

INA and MOL are at odds over management rights and the Croatian Government is seeking an adviser and model to buy back INA shares that are held by MOL.

The head of Russia's largest oil company explained that INA refineries could be competitive because the drop in oil prices hasn't led to the fall in prices of petroleum products in Europe.

"The refineries in the Mediterranean have significant potential thanks to the logistics advantages," he said, adding that they consider a stronger presence in this market through an integrated chain of production, processing, and sales.

"We can do this in Croatia and that is why I am confident that there is a potential for development and that we will succeed in building a strategic partnership with the Croatian Government in INA", Sechin said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 23:08:27|Editor: Zhou Xin

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Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith launches the "Visit Laos Year 2018" at the opening of the annual That Luang Festival in Vientiane, Laos, Oct. 28, 2017. Laos officially launched the "Visit Laos Year 2018" on Saturday, aiming to promote tourism and preserve unique and fine traditional culture of Laos. (Xinhua/Liu Ailun)

VIENTIANE, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Laos officially launched the "Visit Laos Year 2018" on Saturday, aiming to promote tourism and preserve unique and fine traditional culture of the country.

"Over the past years, the government of Laos likewise has come to regard tourism as a priority sector for driving the socio-economic development of the country," said Lao Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Bosengkham Vongdara while addressing the opening ceremony.

"Moreover, the government considers tourism development and promotion as a means for expanding and enhancing cooperation between Laos and foreign countries," he said, adding that the government has determined the directive for developing and growing natural tourism, historical and cultural tourism based on the Slogan of "Visit Laos Year 2018: Visit Laos, Experience the Diversity of Nature and History."

Over the past years, Lao tourism sector has been constantly growing with rising numbers of tourists visiting Laos annually. In 2000, tourist arrivals reached 737,208 people and generated the income of nearly 113.9 million U.S. dollars.

By 2015, the figure had risen to nearly 4.7 million people, generating nearly 725.4 million U.S. dollars in revenue.

It is projected that tourist arrivals will reach over 6.2 million people by 2020 and generate revenue of more than 993.4 million U.S. dollars.

"During 'Visit Laos Year 2018', we will seek to attract at least 5 million arrivals and generate revenue of about 900 million U.S. dollars," said the minister.

The "Visit Laos Year 2018" will comprise activities to be organized in Laos and overseas including festivals in various provinces across the country.

Laos has previously organized two Visit Lao Year activities, one in 1999-2000 and another in 2011-2012 to promote tourism.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-28 23:43:40|Editor: yan

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ISTANBUL, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saturday that his country is seeking to join efforts with China to revive the ancient Silk Road.

"China is an important country in all respects. It is a country that we want to develop our relations and revive the historical Silk Road together," the top Turkish envoy said in remarks delivered in Turkey's southeastern city of Sanliurfa.

"It includes many issues -- economy, security and others," he was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Cavusoglu noted that Emin Onen, a former member of parliament from Sanliurfa, has been appointed the ambassador to China.

"I am sure that Emin Onen will represent Turkey there in the best possible way," he said.

Turkey has agreed to align its Middle Corridor project with China's Belt and Road Initiative, or the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road, which aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along and beyond the ancient trade routes.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-29 00:03:45|Editor: yan

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PARIS, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has awarded the UNESCO Medal on Space Science to first Chinese national sent to space, Yang Liwei, and three other prominent international space practitioners during the first edition of the award ceremony.

The ceremony was held on Friday evening at UNESCO's Headquarters in Paris.

The three other scientific laureates of the 2017 edition are Valentina Tereshkova, the Russian cosmonaut and first woman in space, Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez, the first Cuban in space, and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese commander of International Space Station (ISS).

"I thank you all for your courage and commitment," said Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, to the laureates. "And I end with an appeal, for you to continue on your scientific journey, and also to return to UNESCO as often as possible, to reach out to younger generations, to share UNESCO's message to build peace in the minds of men and women."

Unable to attend the ceremony himself, Yang Liwei was represented by Shen Yang, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of the People's Republic of China to UNESCO at the ceremony.

In a message delivered by Shen on his behalf, Yang Liwei recalled October 2003 when the world witnessed the success of China's first manned space mission that opened a new era of China's manned space program and made contributions to the human exploration into the unknown.

The Chinese astronaut noted that out of China's collaboration with the United Nations, a UN flag boarded the Shenzhou 5 aircraft during the 2003 space mission, a sign that has shown Chinese people's willingness to use the outer space for peaceful purposes and in the benefit of all mankind and demonstrated China's support to the UN's mission and principles.

"In the future, we are willing to work together with all countries and regions that are committed to the peaceful use of outer space, with an aim to contribute more to the promotion of scientific progress and peace and development of the world," he said.

The UNESCO Medal on Space Science, established on June 29, 2017 is awarded by the UNESCO director-general to honor prominent scientists, public figures and organizations for their contributions to the development of space science in the spirit of UNESCO's priorities.

The awardees were nominated and subsequently selected by an external committee entitled by the International Commission for the Creation of the UNESCO/Encyclopedia of Life Support (EOLSS) "Space Science".
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-29 00:13:49|Editor: Zhou Xin

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LONDON, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May intervened Saturday in Britain's workplace equality debate after new figures revealed the gender pay gap has widened this year.

Although the difference between pay packets for men and women in full-time jobs has dropped to a record low of 9.1 percent, Britain's overall gender pay gap has risen marginally to 18.4 percent.

Downing Street said estimates show closing gender pay gaps in work would add almost 200 billion U.S. dollars to the British economy by 2025.

May's intervention follows the publication of gender pay figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

She announced a new drive to improve workplace equality by calling on more companies to report their gender pay gap and take action to close it as a way of narrowing the gap.

The prime minister wants companies to ensure progress is made on female representation at senior levels, including supporting women to progress to middle management posts. May also wants smaller businesses, not just those with 250-plus employees, to publish their gender pay gap data.

The Women's Business Council which May established as Home Secretary in 2012, has today been asked to advise her on progress and good practice in business.

The council will also be providing recommendations in key areas including middle management, flexible working, working parents and return-to-work schemes.

May said: "Already many of the UK's top companies are leading the way in making sure everyone's contributions to the workplace are valued equally, and it is encouraging news that the gap has fallen this year for full-time workers. But the gender pay gap isn't going to close on its own. We all need to be taking sustained action to make sure we address this."

A spokeswoman for May said: "The gender pay gap in the UK has come down from 21.9 percent in 2007, with 27.5 percent of FTSE100 board members now women, up from 12.5 percent in 2011.

"The UK is already a world leader in this field and today's announcement builds on the work to get 33 percent of women on boards by 2020 and eliminate all-male boards in the FTSE 350."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-29 00:13:50|Editor: yan

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BAGHDAD, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces on Saturday continued their push into the last stronghold of Islamic State (IS) militants near the border with Syria in Iraq's western province of Anbar, the Iraqi military said.

The Iraqi army and paramilitary Hashd Shaabi brigades took control of large areas east of the border city of al-Qaim, some 330 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, after they defeated the extremist militants from their hideouts, the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.

The troops also recaptured many villages and a bridge on the Euphrates River, al-Qaim railway station, power station, a military air base and Akkaz gas field southeast of al-Qaim, the statement said.

On Thursday, the security forces initiated their advance towards the last IS stronghold in Iraq near the Iraqi-Syrian border.

So far, the troops killed a total of 75 IS militants and destroyed nine suicide car bombs, 10 IS vehicles, four bomb-making sites, in addition to defusing or detonating 378 roadside bombs, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, the troops managed to make a significant progress toward the IS-held city of Rawa, about 80 km east of al-Qaim, and took new positions outside the southern edges of the city, a security source from Anbar province told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The IS militants seized large swaths of territory in Iraq in 2014. After three years of battles, the Iraqi forces have retaken most of the occupied areas from the terrorist group, including the country's second largest city Mosul.
File photo taken on Oct. 16, 2003 shows astronaut Yang Liwei getting out of the re-entry capsule of China's Shenzhou-5 spacecraft following its successful landing in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. A total of 10 Chinese astronauts have fulfilled their space mission in the past 10 years. (Xinhua/Wang Jianmin)

PARIS, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has awarded the UNESCO Medal on Space Science to first Chinese national sent to space, Yang Liwei, and three other prominent international space practitioners during the first edition of the award ceremony.

The ceremony was held on Friday evening at UNESCO's Headquarters in Paris.

The three other scientific laureates of the 2017 edition are Valentina Tereshkova, the Russian cosmonaut and first woman in space, Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez, the first Cuban in space, and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese commander of International Space Station (ISS).

"I thank you all for your courage and commitment," said Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, to the laureates. "And I end with an appeal, for you to continue on your scientific journey, and also to return to UNESCO as often as possible, to reach out to younger generations, to share UNESCO's message to build peace in the minds of men and women."

Unable to attend the ceremony himself, Yang Liwei was represented by Shen Yang, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of the People's Republic of China to UNESCO at the ceremony.

In a message delivered by Shen on his behalf, Yang Liwei recalled October 2003 when the world witnessed the success of China's first manned space mission that opened a new era of China's manned space program and made contributions to the human exploration into the unknown.

The Chinese astronaut noted that out of China's collaboration with the United Nations, a UN flag boarded the Shenzhou 5 aircraft during the 2003 space mission, a sign that has shown Chinese people's willingness to use the outer space for peaceful purposes and in the benefit of all mankind and demonstrated China's support to the UN's mission and principles.

"In the future, we are willing to work together with all countries and regions that are committed to the peaceful use of outer space, with an aim to contribute more to the promotion of scientific progress and peace and development of the world," he said.

The UNESCO Medal on Space Science, established on June 29, 2017 is awarded by the UNESCO director-general to honor prominent scientists, public figures and organizations for their contributions to the development of space science in the spirit of UNESCO's priorities.

The awardees were nominated and subsequently selected by an external committee entitled by the International Commission for the Creation of the UNESCO/Encyclopedia of Life Support (EOLSS) "Space Science".
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-29 00:58:58|Editor: yan

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CAPE TOWN, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- As a new spate of student protests over tuition fee is looming, the Presidency said on Saturday that it is now finalizing the processing of a report on the feasibility of making higher education and training fee-free in South Africa.

The Presidency has been working on the report since the date President Jacob Zuma received it in August this year, presidential spokesperson Bongani Ngqulunga said.

This came after representative body Universities South Africa said on Friday that students in the country should expect a fee increase of eight percent across the sector.

However, it remains to be seen whether the predicted increase will be funded by the state or by students themselves, Universities South Africa CEO Professor Ahmed Bawa said.

Bawa said universities will simply not be able to carry another zero percent fee increase.

Bawa expressed concern over Zuma's delay in releasing the Fees Commission Report, saying it places universities at "severe financial risk."

Students are planning a national day of action as their demands for Zuma to release the much-awaited Fees Commission Report intensify.

Following widespread student protests over tuition fee increases in 2015, Zuma established a Commission of Inquiry in January 2016 to investigate the feasibility of making higher education and training fee-free in the country.

After failing to present the report within the 18-month deadline, the commission had its term extended until June 30, 2017.

Zuma received the final report from the commission on August 30, 2017.

"The Presidency is now finalizing the processing of the report which requires, among other things, that the Presidency consult with the relevant ministers to ensure that government is ready to implement the president's decision as as soon he releases the report," Ngqulunga said.

The consultations are at an advanced stage and it is expected that they will be finalized during the course of next week, said the spokesperson.

"The president will release the report immediately thereafter," Ngqulunga said.

In 2015, widespread student protests erupted in all major universities across the country, triggered by tuition fee hikes ranging from 10 percent to 50 percent for the 2016 school year.

The protests continued for weeks until Zuma succumbed to students' demand for zero-percent increase in tuition fee.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-29 01:14:01|Editor: Zhou Xin

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ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government is working to free 118 Ethiopians that are imprisoned in the Southern Africa nation of Zambia for illegal entry, an Ethiopian official said on Saturday.

Speaking to journalists, Meles Alem, Spokesperson for Ethiopia Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), said his ministry is working with the Ethiopian embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe, to free the imprisoned Ethiopians.

Ethiopia doesn't have an embassy in Zambia, and instead uses its diplomatic mission in Zimbabwe to coordinate diplomatic activities with Zambia, as well as Angola and Mauritius.

Alem added that his ministry has already been able to repatriate in recent months 147 Ethiopians that were languishing in Zambian prisons.

Human traffickers use countries like Zambia as a transit point to smuggle Ethiopians to Africa's largest economy South Africa, which is home to tens of thousands of both legal and undocumented Ethiopians.

Despite a growing economy and public awareness campaigns on the dangers of human trafficking by the Ethiopian government, it is estimated thousands of Ethiopians are trafficked to South Africa annually where they are mainly engaged in the informal economy.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-29 01:34:05|Editor: yan

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ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has reiterated that infrastructure deficit in Africa remains a major challenge to trade facilitation, intra-regional trade as well as economic development and transformation on the continent.

According to a statement from ECA on Saturday, the Deputy Executive Secretary of ECA, Giovanie Biha, made the remarks at a two-day meeting from Oct. 26 to 27 on trade facilitation and infrastructure in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

The financial cost of meeting Africa's infrastructure needs is quite huge, Biha said.

Recalling the estimation by the African Development Bank (AfDB), she noted that Africa needs about 93 billion U.S. dollars annually until the year 2020 to close its infrastructure gap.

She said regional approaches and strategic partnerships to address problems of trade facilitation are increasingly being recognized since international trade involves the use of infrastructure and services of at least two countries.

"A regional approach is an efficient means of coordinating actions, setting priorities, reviewing progress, mobilizing resources, allocating funds, and monitoring contribution levels, with regard to solving common problems," said Biha.

"Africa must look inwards in financing its infrastructure development and dismantling obstacles to intra-Africa trade and the movement of persons across the continent," she said.

Biha noted the strides that the regional economic communities (RECs) are making in easing border pressures and promoting intra-Africa trade, and she cited the Chirundu One-Stop Border Post between Zambia and Zimbabwe as an excellent example of what the region can achieve with strong political will.

In collaboration with other development partners, ECA offers to deepen its collaboration with African countries and it stands ready to provide technical and advisory support to help tackle the trade facilitation challenges faced by the region, she said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-29 02:04:10|Editor: yan

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HELSINKI, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- One person was killed and 26 others injured when a bus and a private car collided near Sodankyla, northern Finland on Saturday, police told Finnish news agency STT.

One seriously injured was sent to the hospital in Rvaniemi, capital of the Finnish Lapland area, and the other 25 were treated in local hospital in Sodankyla.

The accident took place at 17:30 local time, and the road was already reopened, Mika Neitola, duty manager at the Lapland rescue service told newspaper Kaleva.

The private car was registered in Lithuania and the driver was believed to be killed in the accident. It was not immediately known if the bus passengers were foreign tourists or not.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-29 03:19:21|Editor: Zhou Xin

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MOSCOW, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Emergencies Ministry said Saturday that it would send an aircraft with a search-and-rescue team to Norway to help look for the Russian Mi-8 helicopter that went missing in the Greenland Sea.

"In the near future, an Ilyushin II-76 aircraft of the Russian Emergencies Ministry will head for Norway, carrying rescuers and necessary equipment," the ministry's press service told reporters.

The rescue team consists of divers-rescuers equipped with a Falcon underwater vehicle, compressors, motor boats, diving apparatuses and other advanced equipment made in Russia, according to the ministry.

On Thursday, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter with eight Russian citizens on board was reported missing at 3:35 p.m. local time (1335 GMT) while flying over the Greenland Sea off a settlement on the Svalbard Islands within the territory of Norway.

An investigation was launched by the northwestern investigative department on transport safety of the Russian Investigative Committee, Tass news agency reported.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-29 03:39:24|Editor: yan

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BRUSSELS, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Five people were arrested after a violent fight in Anderlecht, a town near the Belgian capital Brussels, local media reported Saturday.

The clash, involving 60 and 100 people who were fighting with road signs, started at around 4:00 p.m. before the police came to the scene to calm the situation.

"By the time we arrived there, almost everyone was gone," said the police, adding that five people were arrested and brought for examination.

One woman was reportedly injured and brought to hospital.

According to the local media VRT, the violent disturbance involved local inhabitants and Roma who recently planted tents in a nearby public park.

The reasons of the clash are not yet known.
A picture taken on August 1, 2016 reportedly shows Syrian rebels gathering around the wreckage of a Russian Mi-8 military transport helicopter after it was shot down along the administrative border between Idlib province, northwestern Syria and neighbouring Aleppo. (Xinhua/AFP)

MOSCOW, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Emergencies Ministry said Saturday that it would send an aircraft with a search-and-rescue team to Norway to help look for the Russian Mi-8 helicopter that went missing in the Greenland Sea.

"In the near future, an Ilyushin II-76 aircraft of the Russian Emergencies Ministry will head for Norway, carrying rescuers and necessary equipment," the ministry's press service told reporters.

The rescue team consists of divers-rescuers equipped with a Falcon underwater vehicle, compressors, motor boats, diving apparatuses and other advanced equipment made in Russia, according to the ministry.

On Thursday, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter with eight Russian citizens on board was reported missing at 3:35 p.m. local time (1335 GMT) while flying over the Greenland Sea off a settlement on the Svalbard Islands within the territory of Norway.

An investigation was launched by the northwestern investigative department on transport safety of the Russian Investigative Committee, Tass news agency reported.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, who is also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, meets with delegates, specially invited delegates and non-voting participants of the 19th CPC National Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 25, 2017. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

KIEV, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will play a pivotal role in China's development for years to come, former Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk said in a recent interview.

"The 19th CPC National Congress has defined the strategy and determined the further steps for the development of China," Kravchuk, who is also the honorary president of the association of Ukraine-China friendship, said in the joint interview with a number of Chinese media outlets, including Xinhua.

He lauded the achievements China has made under the CPC's leadership in the past decades, noting that these accomplishments have offered an inspiring example for other nations.

"I am filled with admiration for the way the CPC is governing China. The CPC has been pursuing a policy of strengthening China, transforming and reforming it," the former Ukrainian leader said.

"I see how their plans are becoming a reality. These are not just statements. There is a real success," he added.

Kravchuk said that he had been closely monitoring the historic 19th Congress and was particularly impressed by Chinese President Xi Jinping's report to the opening session of the congress.

"He outlined a lot of new ideas. He has developed serious plans to cement China's leading positions in global politics, economy, defense, diplomacy. These tasks are very significant," Kravchuk said.

On Wednesday, Xi was re-elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee at the first plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee.

The 19th CPC National Congress closed on Tuesday with the election of a a new CPC Central Committee and a new Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

He hailed Xi's approach to domestic and foreign policies, saying that Xi's governing philosophy is highly effective.

"Xi Jinping is a strong, intelligent and experienced leader. He is very well aware of unique Chinese features and is able to adjust them to unique tasks. Also, his strength lies in the fact that the CPC and the people of China support him," Kravchuk said.

Referring to the Belt and Road Initiative, which was put forward by Xi in 2013, Kravchuk said it is a good instrument to promote win-win cooperation and equal partnership around the globe.

"China firmly adheres to the policy of non-interference. It does not impose its lifestyle upon others, but promotes cooperation. The Belt and Road Initiative is the vivid confirmation to this," Kravchuk said.

Xi also pledged to do his utmost to promote cooperation between Ukraine and China under the Belt and Road Initiative, saying the initiative serves the interests of both countries, he added.
Local militias withdraw a tank from the front line in Aleksandrovsk Town, near Luhansk, Ukraine, Oct. 3, 2015. (Xinhua/Alexander Ermochenko)

MINSK, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The number of ceasefire violations in east Ukraine is increasing, said Martin Sajdik, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)'s special representative in the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine on Friday.

After the meeting of the contact group in Minsk, Sajdik said that at the beginning of the week the number of ceasefire violations significantly increased, especially in the area of Avdeyevka, Yasinovataya, and the Donetsk airport.

"The current issue of the ceasefire regime has become a priority for the subgroup on security affairs and the entire trilateral contact group on Ukraine," he said.

Sajdik urged the parties to personally confirm their commitment to the truce that was declared by the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine on the occasion of the beginning of the academic year.

"I call for the return to the earlier commitments to withdraw heavy weapons, as well as to ensure the uninterrupted and safe entry of the OSCE special monitoring mission into the entire conflict zone," he added.

The next meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine will be held on Nov. 15.

The trilateral contact group is a group of representatives from Ukraine, Russia and OSCE that was formed as means to facilitate a diplomatic resolution to the war in the Donbas region.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-29 05:14:41|Editor: yan

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RABAT, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- A Moroccan anti-terror court sentenced 11 people to a maximum of 10 years in prison for terror-related crimes, local media reported on Saturday.

The main defendant was given 10 years in prison, while three others were sentenced eight, six and five years respectively for "forming a gang to commit terrorist attacks, praising acts that constitute terrorism and glorifying a terror group," the Moroccan Hespress.com news site said.

In another case, three convicts were sentenced three years, while four were given two years for "praising acts that constitute terrorism offenses and glorifying a terror group," the same source added.

In 2015, Morocco adopted a new bill under the Law 86-14, posing stricter charges on praising terrorism.

The law stipulates two to six years of prison for "praising acts that constitute terrorism offenses" as well as "propaganda, praising, or promoting a terrorist or a terrorist group, gang, or entity."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-29 05:24:43|Editor: Zhou Xin

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RABAT, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Morocco opposes the independence of Catalonia in Spain, the foreign ministry said on Saturday.

"Morocco, which has been facing a separatist threat for several years, does not and will not recognize the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia," the ministry said in a statement.

Morocco has renewed its full support to Spain's national unity and sovereignty, the statement added, noting that the North African kingdom "understands the reaction of the Spanish authorities."

The statement stressed that "Morocco fully supports the Spanish government, with a view to ensuring respect for the constitution and preserving the national unity and sovereignty of the country."

In an earlier statement on Oct. 11, the Moroccan government had described as "irresponsible" and "unsustainable" Catalonia's unilateral secessionist move, waving its strong backing to Spain's sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity.

Catalonia's parliament declared Friday independence from Spain in defiance of the central government, while the Spanish government responded by approving direct rule in the breakaway region, with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dissolving the regional parliament and calling for elections on Dec. 21.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-29 05:49:46|Editor: Zhou Xin

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by Peter Mertz

DENVER, the United States, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The handing of a 300 million U.S. dollars, no-bid contract to a two-man, tiny company based in Montana to fix Puerto Rico's electrical lines has flooded the American media with cries of impropriety.

"Appalled," was the word used Friday by a U.S. congressman about the terms of a lucrative contract given to Whitefish Energy, a two-year-old business, to return power to the hurricane-ravaged Caribbean island of 3.4 million residents.

Elijah Cummings, a Maryland congressman and former Illinois anti-corruption top prosecutor, was referring to a "no-audit" clause in the contract between Whitefish and Puerto Rico's main power company (PREPA).

That clause prohibits any accountability or government oversight for expenses by Whitefish - plus allows outrageous daily fees for Whitefish employees - and was referred to as a "backroom deal" by Cummings.

Cummings' demand for a full investigation to the U.S. House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform joined a chorus of complaints and calls for hearings from both political sides.

A copy of the controversial contract between Whitefish and the PREPA was leaked online three days before Cummings' remarks, creating a new surge of doubt and outrage over a deal already under fire.

Carmen Yulin Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico's capitol, said the deal with Whitefish should be "voided" after news broke about the company's size and inexperience. However, Whitefish spokesman Chris Chiames dismissed and dodged criticism Friday.

"We are taking personal risks and business risks working in perilous physical and financial conditions," he told Montana Public Radio, then ended the cell-phone interview abruptly when asked about money Whitefish was receiving from the federal government.

"Hello...red flag," said political analyst David Richardson. "It is typical graft and corruption," he told Xinhua.

Rather than reaching out to mainland utilities under a mutual assistance pact, or securing competitive bids... Whitefish jumped on the deal, fabricated ridiculous numbers and pushed it through behind everybody's back, said Richardson, a policy analyst on Capitol Hill in the 1980s.

"If this was a Democratic Administration every conservative in America would be screaming 'foul' at the top of their lungs," he said.

"The carping by others is unfounded, and we stand by our work and our commitment to the people of Puerto Rico," countered Chaimes, a new spokesperson for Whitefish - whose headquarters is a remote Montana ranch house, CBS News reported Friday.

Whitewater officials said this week the company has 300 workers on the ground with more arriving each day - more than a month after Hurricane Maria left the island completely powerless.

"First of all, let's get one thing straight - Whitefish has no employees - these are all journeymen or unemployed electricians hired as subcontractors who are looking for work," business teacher Douglas Hubscher told Xinhua.

"Whitefish sent out an email blast recruiting any and every chump electrician they can find...who knows who is working on the lines down there and even if they are qualified," Hubscher asked.

The Whitefish-PREPA contract revealed that Whitefish is charging 412.23 U.S. dollars a day per electrician for room and board, and 15,450 U.S. dollars an hour for helicopter services.

Hubscher, a Tulane University educated businessman, owns a house in Costa Rica and travels frequently to the Caribbean.

"You're talking about the poorest country imaginable," Hubscher said of Puerto Rico, "The cost to house and feed a person is about 5 dollars a day there, max...so Whitefish is reaping an 800 percent profit per person per day. That's rapacious."

If Whitefish makes 400 U.S. dollars a day profit on each of its 400 workers they are making 160,000 U.S. dollars a day profit, according to Hubscher.

"So the company is fleecing the U.S. taxpayer at least 5 million dollars a month," Hubscher noted, "not to mention 1,000 dollars for each electrician to fly there - another bogus number."

But those numbers will never get Whitefish in trouble thanks to a contract that says no one has "the right to audit or review the cost or profit elements of the labor rates," a clause allowing a "misuse or waste of federal funds," according to Cummings.

"This is as gross as it gets," Richardson said. "And this is what they do (the Trump Administration) after ignoring the crisis on the island following the hurricane? Have they no shame?" he questioned.

At least 50 people died from the hurricane and only 25 percent of the island's electricity has been restored thus far.

Earlier in the week it was also revealed that Interior Secretary Ryan Zincke and Whitefish CEO Andy Techmanski are good friends and neighbors living in a tiny Montana town.

"They live in a town of 7,000 people where everyone knows everyone," a Whitefish spokesmen said. "We secured this work with PREPA on our own."

"Are there only two contractors in the entire United States that can bid on this electrical rebuilding project? Seems unlikely," asked Al Rickard, a Republican strategist since 1982.

"Also, the scale of the project far exceeds anything this company has ever done before, so it's a shot in the dark, with the likelihood of tax dollars being wasted," said Rickard, who worked with the Young Republicans during the Reagan years.

"As for the company being in Whitefish, this seems like an all-too-convenient coincidence," Rickard told Xinhua.

"Seems like slam-dunk nepotism run amok. Stinks like (White)fish!" Rickard said.

Both the White House and Zincke have scrambled away from the bubbling imbroglio, despite revelations that the secretary's son worked for Whitefish last summer.

Even President Trump, after bashing the mayor of San Juan for her lack of appreciation for the emergency relief efforts, has been silent about "the contract" on Twitter.

"This was a contract that was determined by the local authorities in Puerto Rico," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday.

Sanders distanced President Trump from the 300 million U.S. dollar deal, although admitting that the president "did ask Secretary Zincke (about it)...just for clarification purposes."

"He reiterated once again that we had no role -- the federal government -- and specifically he (Secretary Zincke) had no role in that contract," Sanders said.

The contract also says the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) "reviewed and approved" the agreement.

FEMA said in a statement Friday it was "not involved" and any language that says it was "is inaccurate."

Also Friday, Cruz continued her indignation over the clouded deal by re-tweeting a post from fellow Puerto Rican Armando Valdes.

Valdes wrote to Whitefish: "You just don't get it. We see you as leeches. Work is 'important' for you because it'll make you millionaires while keeping us in the dark."
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A 13-year-old Norris student died after being injured in a chain-reaction crash north of the school district's campus Wednesday afternoon, according to the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff Terry Wagner identified the girl as Ryan Post, who was pronounced dead at Bryan West Campus on Thursday afternoon.

Post was one of three people inside a Pontiac Grand Prix damaged in the chain-reaction crash, according to the sheriff's office.

Norris Superintendent John Skretta said Post was an eighth-grader and longtime district student. Her parents are Colleen Lovett of Hickman and Jeramie Post of Beatrice.

An older sister, Riley Post, is an 11th-grader at Norris, and a 10th-grade sister, Raelyn Post, attends school in Beatrice, Skretta said.

Were all grieving the loss of Ryan, he said.

Counselors were available to students Thursday and will be at the school south of Lincoln again Friday.

Skretta said Ryan's friends described her as outgoing, boisterous, exuberant and an uplifting person to be around.

He said she was involved in club cheerleading and her friends said they always felt better around her.

She always had a wonderful dimpled smile on her face.

The chain-reaction crash Wednesday that led to Posts death began with a two-vehicle collision that stopped traffic a mile north of the Norris School District campus.

Approximately 100 people gathered on the side of the road following the chain-reaction crash as school nurses tended to the injured and buses shuttled people out of the area, Wagner said.

"It was a pretty chaotic scene," Wagner said Thursday morning.

At 3:39 p.m., a car stopped on South 68th Street waiting to turn left onto Olive Creek Road was rear-ended by another vehicle, Wagner said.

Seven minutes later and a half-mile south, a vehicle sitting in the backed-up traffic facing north tried to turn around using a private driveway on the west side of South 68th Street, Wagner said.

South 68th Street has no shoulders in the area.

As other cars waited on that vehicle to turn, the Pontiac in the line of backed-up traffic rear-ended the Toyota in front of it, causing a chain-reaction crash involving four vehicles, he said.

Moments later, a Ford Ranger driving north over the hill on the 55-mph road collided with the Pontiac and extended the chain-reaction crash to five vehicles, the sheriff said.

The passengers in the Pontiac were the only ones taken to a hospital, including Post, who was flown to Bryan West Campus with life-threatening injuries, Wagner said.

The driver, Post's sister Riley, was at Bryan West on Thursday with non-life-threatening injuries.

A second passenger, who was not identified, was taken to a hospital for observation and released, Wagner said. All the Pontiac's occupants were Norris students.

Sixteen people were involved in the crash involving five cars, and 14 were Norris students of all ages, Wagner said. All 16 were wearing seat belts.

The driver of the Ford Ranger was not identified and the sheriff's office said the investigation is ongoing. No citations have been issued.

Two minutes after the series of crashes on South 68th Street, a Norris student rolled her vehicle a mile west, at South 54th Street and Princeton Road, Wagner said.

She got out of the vehicle and was OK, the sheriff said.

Skretta praised the response of his staff and the sheriff's office, who rushed to the scene to help.

In the rural school district on the county's southern edge, students are resilient, and counselors are trying to help them maintain a sense of normalcy after Wednesday's events, Skretta said.

He doesn't recall a similar chain of events since he started at the district in 2004. The crashes might indicate a need to widen South 68th Street to add shoulders to move traffic safely through the area, the superintendent said.

In the meantime, travelers headed past Norris around the start and end of school should be prepared for heavy traffic, the sheriff said

"Drivers need to expect the unexpected," Wagner said.

The youth organization Campus Life has scheduled a prayer vigil Friday at 7 p.m. at Norris Middle School.
The usual suspects took a back seat as first-time crime writers Fiona Sussman, Finn Bell, and Michael Bennett swept the spoils at the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Awards in Christchurch on Saturday night.

The talented trio made history on several fronts at a special WORD Christchurch event hosted in Dame Ngaios hometown by Scorpio Books as part of nationwide NZ Bookshop Day celebrations.

"Each of our winners this year is a remarkable storyteller who uses crime writing as a prism through which to explore broader human and societal issues," said Ngaios founder Craig Sisterson. "When we launched in 2010 we wanted to highlight excellence in local crime writing, beyond traditional ideas of puzzling whodunits or airport thrillers. Our 2017 winners emphasise that broader scope to the genre, and showcase the inventiveness and world-class quality of our local storytellers."

Sussman is the first female author to win the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. THE LAST TIME WE SPOKE (Allison & Busby) is her second novel but the first foray into crime storytelling for the former GP who grew up in Apartheid South Africa. It explores the ongoing impact of a brutal home invasion on both victim and perpetrator. "Laden with empathy and insight," said the international judging panel. "A challenging, emotional read, harrowing yet touching, this is brave and sophisticated storytelling."

It took Sussman seven years to research and write her winning novel. She travelled Aotearoa visiting prisons, talking to police and victims, inmates and ex-gang members, and seeking advice from Maori writers to ensure she brought authenticity to the disparate worlds of her characters. She won a Ngaios trophy, special edition of a Dame Ngaio book, and $1,000 cash prize courtesy of WORD Christchurch.

Self-published e-book author Finn Bell won Best First Novel for DEAD LEMONS and was a finalist for Best Crime Novel for PANCAKE MONEY. His debut explores themes of addiction, loss, and recovery as a wheelchair-bound man contemplating suicide decamps to a remote cottage in Southland, only to be obsessively drawn into a dangerous search for a father and daughter who went missing years before.

Bell has worked in night shelters, charities, hospitals, and prisons. He is the first author to ever have two books become finalists in a single year. The judges called him "a wonderful new voice in crime writing" who "delivers a tense, compelling tale centred on an original, genuine, and vulnerable character."

Experienced filmmaker Michael Bennett (Te Arawa) won the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Non Fiction for IN DARK PLACES (Paul Little Books), the astonishing tale of how teenage car thief Teina Pora spent decades in prison for the brutal murder of Susan Burdett, and the remarkable fight to free him. The international judging panel called it "a scintillating, expertly balanced account of one of the most grievous miscarriages of justice in New Zealand history".

"Decades ago a woman from Christchurch was among the biggest names in the books world," said Sisterson. "In recent years theres a growing appreciation abroad for the top talent of our contemporary Kiwi crime writers; a reputation thats going to flourish even more thanks to this years winners."

For more information about the Ngaio Marsh Awards, contact the Judging Convenor:

craigsisterson@hotmail.com or ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com.
Address by the Hon'ble President of India Ram Nath Kovind At the launch of Technocity project

Kerala, Sat, 28 Oct 2017 NI Wire

President of India Ram Nath Kovind At the launch of Technocity project and laying of foundation stone of the first government building in Technocity: Thiruvananthapuram, October 27, 2017

1. I am very very happy to be here to lay the foundation stone of the first government IT Building in Technocity and to launch what will be the fourth phase of Technopark. This isone of the iconic Information Technology facilities in not only Kerala but our country. I must point out that such is the attraction of Kerala, it has drawn me for the second time in this month. And I have come on a special day. This morning at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, I was privileged to pay my humble tributes to my predecessor and to a great son of Kerala, Dr K.R. Narayanan, on his birth anniversary.

2. Dr Narayanan's rise from a humble background to the highest office in our country was an inspiration for many of us. In his scholarship and learning, he combined some of the best legacies of Kerala and its people.

3. The wisdom of Kerala is also apparent in its spiritualism. As I pointed out on my previous visit, this state is one of the spiritual homes of our society. I had the good fortune of meeting Mata Amritanandamayi and inaugurating large-scale public welfare programmes of her Foundation. Truly, as Kerala has taught us, service to the divine lies in service to fellow human beings.

4. This sense of service has been deeply imbibed by the people of Kerala. I would say it has become your economic calling card. This is a state with an appreciable track record in public health and education, and is a front-runner in our country's quest to achieve total literacy. It is logical therefore that Kerala has also become known for its strengths in the services sector and the knowledge economy.

5. The future of our economy and of our employment creation is heavily dependent on the success we achieve with Digital India. The jobs of tomorrow will come more and more from digital services and other opportunities that are derived from the Internet.

6. Kerala is potentially a power-house of Digital India. It is one of India's most connected states, with among the highest rates of mobile phone penetration. I understand that the government is making efforts to bridge the digital divide and provide free Internet connections to two million poorer families by using a new optic fibre network. And there is ample evidence that our people, even those at the bottom of the pyramid, are very adaptive and can easily embrace and use new technology.

7. The Kerala IT sector has been growing. Among all Indian states, it is currently ranked eighth in terms of exports by IT and IT-enabled services companies. The IT sector provides direct employment to one hundred thousand (or one lakh) people in Kerala. This is only the tip of the iceberg. There is immense capacity to make these numbers grow.

8. Kerala's strengths in basic literacy and skills  and the experience of Kerala's people in the services sector and in consumer driven industries  make this state a natural for an IT ecosystem. I am confident that early development of Technocity will only accelerate this process.

Friends

9. In many parts of the country, people from Kerala are an essential part of the economic landscape. I must confess that my own career as a lawyer was helped in no small measure by the dedication and unstinted support of staff members and colleagues who happened to be from Kerala. I remain grateful to them.

10. And such achievements are by no means limited to India. Without the hard work of our brothers and sisters from Kerala, the economies of the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf countries would not be the same. Kerala migrant workers in those countries also contribute to the development of Indiaby unfailingly sending back foreign exchange. We cannot forget them or their immense role in nation building.

11. Kerala's fame as an educated and enlightened society goes far and wide. Recently, I travelled to Ethiopia on my first visit abroad as President of India. Wherever I went and whomsoever I spoke to in Ethiopia, there was always mention of the role of Indian school teachers. They arrived in Ethiopia 30-40 years ago and went to remote locations to teach little children. They shaped a society and its values  and became excellent ambassadors for India in Africa. Many of those teachers who are so remembered in Ethiopia, I was happy to learn, were from Kerala.

Friends

12. Climbing higher in the services sector value chain, Kerala has obvious advantages in three areas. The first is of course Information Technology. The others are tourism and health-care. These are also the areas where jobs and employment opportunities lie for our youth  especially for the talented young men and women of Kerala.

13. In tourism, this state is known the world over as God's Own Country  and not without reason. It is one of our planet's stand-out destinations. It is blessed with a spectacular natural beauty.

14. Yet, natural beauty is not enough to build a tourist destination. Hard work and planning have to go into it as well. Here the local people of Kerala  across the socio-economic spectrum  deserve to be congratulated for having created a remarkable hospitality industry and I would say hospitality culture. This is a role model for many parts of India.

15. In health-care, Kerala has long been known for its expertise in traditional healing systems such as Ayurveda. Kerala has also carved an identity for itself with the skills and diligence of its health-care providers.

16. Hospitals and medical centres across the country  and in many other countries as well  simply cannot function without the ever smiling and ever attentive Sisters from Kerala. In nursing, hospital and medical services and care for the sick and the aged, health-care workers from Kerala, both men and women, are internationally sought after.

17. As populations age and as health-care becomes more complex, demand for trained and capable human hands for the health-care industry will also only rise. This can provide numerous opportunities for young Indians. Kerala in particular has a head-start. We are seeing the advent of Artificial Intelligence and robotics in this area as well. But it is impossible for machines to match the empathy and emotions of a trained and dedicated nurse or care provider.

18. In conclusion, I must emphasise that IT is not just important in itself. It is a force multiplier for the entire services economy. It has played a game changing role in health-care, education, tourism and many other industries. Some of these areas, as we have seen, are Kerala's strengths. That gives me confidence that the development of Technocity will provide many, many new opportunities for the young people of Kerala. I wish all of you the very best.

Thank you

Jai Hind!

Source: PIB
Civic reception hosted in honour of the President in Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram, Sat, 28 Oct 2017 NI Wire

The President of India, Ram NathKovind, addressed a civic reception hosted for him at Tagore Theatre, Thiruvananthapuram (October 27, 2017).

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that historically Kerala is a land of spiritualism, with a tradition of spiritual leadership and social reform extending from AdiShankaracharya to Sri Narayana Guru to Ayyankali and so many others.

The President said that Kerala's traditions and thinking have been humanistic, people-oriented and democratic. The emphasis on human development and on health-care and education in Kerala has set an example for the rest of the country. In sanitation, Kerala's achievements are praiseworthy. In local self-government and panchayati raj, again Kerala has deepened our democracy.

The President said that not only are the people of Kerala educated and knowledgeable, they are willing to use that education and knowledge to venture out and to help build our nation and to contribute to the well-being and the prosperity of other regions.

The President said that today, Kerala continues to attract the international community. This beautiful state is one of India's leading tourism destinations. He stated that just as outsiders have flocked to Kerala, Kerala's people too have ventured out of their home state and contributed to the world. The Malayalee migrant community is the backbone of the work-force of so many Gulf States. And it faithfully sends back remittances to help in the development of Kerala and of India.

Earlier in the day, the President paid tributes to social reformer Ayyankali by garlanding his statue in Thiruvananthapuram. He also launched the Technocity project and laid the foundation stone for the first government building in Technocity in Thiruvananthapuram. Tomorrow, he will grace the valedictory function of the diamond jubilee celebrations of High Court of Kerala in Kochi before returning to Delhi.

Source: PIB
Address by the Hon'ble President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind at the Valedictory Function of the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of High Court of Kerala

Kerala, Sat, 28 Oct 2017 NI Wire

President of India Ram Nath Kovind at the Valedictory Function of the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of High Court of Kerala

1. This is my second visit to Kerala since becoming President of India, but it is the first time I am visiting Kochi in my current capacity. As an individual with a background in the legal profession, I am doubly happy to be here for the closing function of the diamond jubilee of the Honourable High Court of Kerala.

2. This Honourable High Court has a glorious tradition of 60 years. Its origins are in the Travancore High Court, which existed for a span of 67 years. It then merged with the Cochin High Court to form the Travancore-Cochin High Court in 1949. After the re-organisation of states in 1956, Kerala came into existence on November 1, 1956. This followed the merger of the Travancore-Cochin State and the erstwhile Malabar District of the Madras Presidency. It also led to the creation of the Honourable Kerala High Court.

3. Some truly great jurists have served as judges in this Honourable High Court. The first lady High Court judge of the country, Justice Anna Chandy, became a judge here in 1959. This was exceptional for its times. It was as much as six years later, in 1965, that Judge Elizabeth Lane became the first woman judge of the High Court in Britain. Therefore, in giving representation to women judges, the Indian judiciary was ahead of many other countries. The first lady judge of the Honourable Supreme Court of India, Justice M. Fathima Beevi, too was from the Honourable Kerala High Court. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan from the Honourable Kerala High Court became the Chief Justice of India in 2007.

4. Who can forget Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, a judge of remarkable humanistic values and the conscience keeper of the legal fraternity in our country? In 1968, he became a judge in this Honourable High Court. Later he left an indelible imprint on our national life while he was at the Honourable Supreme Court. He is remembered and cherished as a role model to this day.

5. The Honourable Kerala High Court is known for sensitivity to people's rights and civil liberties. The members of the Bar include and have included many legal luminaries. The judgements of the Honourable High Court have contributed to deepening the traditions of democracy and civic freedom in our country. For example, a Full Bench of the Honourable High Court held that the calling of a bandh that was backed by explicit or implicit threats of violence was illegal. This Honourable High Court is a pioneer in supporting environmental and ecological norms and standards.

It has given important verdicts, including on:

1) The right of the people for clean air

2) The right of the people for clean water

3) The right of the people for healthy surroundings

4) Assigning the supply of safe drinking water to citizens in adequate quantity as the primary constitutional responsibility of the state

5) Banning of smoking in public places

6. The judiciary is one of India's most valued and respected institutions. Its fearless and independent functioning and stature has enhanced India's credibility in the democratic world. Every Indian is proud of the judiciary and respects its verdicts and its commitment to the values that embody our nationhood. The constitutional framework rests on the three pillars of the judiciary, the legislature and the executive. Our Constitution is perhaps the best document in the world in laying down the balance between the roles of these three institutions.

Friends

7. Delay in justice delivery is a pressing concern in our country. Often those who suffer are among the poorest and most underprivileged in our society. We must find mechanisms to ensure quick disposal of cases. We could all consider an approach that makes adjournments the exception in an emergency situation rather than a tactic to prolong court proceedings. We must find a way forward. And I am happy to note that the Judiciary in moving ahead in this direction.

8. It is important to not only take justice to the people, but also to make it understandable to litigating parties in a language they know. High Courts deliver judgements in English, but we are a country of diverse languages. The litigant may not be conversant with English and the finer points of the judgement may escape him or her. The litigating parties will thus be dependent on the lawyer or another person to translate the judgement. This can add to time and cost.

9. Perhaps a system could be evolved whereby certified translated copies of judgements are made available by the Honourable High Courts in the local or regional language. This could happen in a period of say 24 or 36 hours after the judgement is pronounced. The language could be Malayalam in the Honourable Kerala High Court or Hindi in the Honourable Patna High Court, as the case may be.

10. I have only made a suggestion. It is for the judiciary and the legal fraternity to discuss this and decide as appropriate.

Friends

11. Our society and economy have become more complex as well as more integrated with the global system. The challenges before the judiciary too have grown. The nature of disputes and cases that come to our courts has gradually undergone change. The dynamism and evolution in business and trade law and in financial markets; the changing nature of intellectual property and technology; and the still emerging norms of the digital sphere and of Internet law and governance  these are among examples of new questions and frameworks that the judiciary has had to grapple with. It has done so admirably and with enlightenment and thought.

12. Even so, the nature of these challenges will only expand in the coming years, especially as technology advances rapidly. Our judiciary and justice delivery mechanism will need to continue to keep up with technology and with changes in our society, as indeed they have been so capably doing. I am confident they will remain more than equal to the task.

13. Our legal system, with an independent judiciary as its bedrock, is an essential part of our nation building process. It acts as a corrective and it upholds the sanctity of the law and of natural justice. And it functions as the guardian of the ethical principles underlying the Constitution. This makes everybody connected with the process of justice delivery a nation builder. Both judicial officers as well as court officers  namely advocates, who assist in the justice delivery system  are nation builders. On them  on you, I should say  lies a heavy responsibility.

1. That is why each time you take your place in the courtroom please be conscious that common citizens of this country are looking to you  and looking up to you. Our common citizens have that sacred trust and faith that the judiciary will ever stand by them, and never let them down. I am sure the judiciary will always live up to the high expectations that our people have of it.

2. While ending, I would once again like to congratulate the Honourable Kerala High Court and the people of the state on this diamond jubilee. And I would like to wish all the judges, retired judges, members of the Bar and other stakeholders associated with the Honourable High Court the very best.

Thank you

Jai Hind!

Source: PIB
Morocco is set to bolster its reconnaissance capabilities through the launch of a state-of-the-art satellite. The move has stirred fears in Algeria.

After Spanish media raised concerns of Spains military officials over Moroccos spy satellite, comes the turn of Algeria, which looks at Moroccos steps to gain satellite technology with a suspicious eye.

Total panic, A superiority that drives Algeria crazy. It is thus that the news portal of French media, France inter, describes Algerias reaction to the news of the launch of a Moroccan reconnaissance satellite on November 8.

Algiers, which is arming itself, is finally aware of the strategic inefficiency of the stockpiles of weapons that it has steadily accumulated since the lifting of the military embargo in 2006. This satellite will enable Moroccans to locate the positions of the Algerian army and the Polisario militias, notes the website, adding that the satellite will be owned and used 100% by Morocco.

Regarding Spains concerns, the French media underlined that Spain does not have these means of observation. It has shares in the French spy satellites Helios, but not more than 2.5%. In other words, it can use 2.5% of the space time of this satellite.

According to France Inter, the Spaniards are infuriated, because before they can have the same advantages, the Spanish army will have to wait several years. Meanwhile, their Moroccan friend and ally will have the possibility to spy on them freely, thanks to France, stated the French media.

Morocco and France signed in 2013 an agreement shrouded in secrecy to build the 500 million satellite, which will enable Morocco to be the third African country, after Egypt and South Africa, to acquire such an advanced spy technology, said the French media.

Built by Airbus defense & Space Company, this Moroccan satellite will be launched from the European space port of Kourou in French Guiana using an Italian Vega rocket.
Morocco has renewed its full support to Spains national unity and sovereignty and affirmed that it does not recognize and will not recognize the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia.

Morocco, which faces itself for several years to a separatist threat, does not recognize and will not recognize in the future the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia, says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Morocco, which has itself been facing for several years a separatist threat, does not recognize and will not recognize in the future, the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia, said the Moroccan Foreign Ministry in a statement released Friday.

Morocco understands the reaction of the Spanish authorities and expresses its full solidarity with them, the statement said.

In these particular circumstances in neighboring Spain, the Kingdom of Morocco fully support the Spanish Government, with a view to ensuring respect for the Constitution and preserving the national unity and sovereignty of the country, the statement added.

In another statement released on October 11, the Moroccan government had described as irresponsible and unsustainable Catalonias unilateral secessionist move and renewed its strong backing to Spains sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity.

Morocco made it clear that it does not recognize this unilateral process, which is contrary to international legality and which is a source of instability and division not only in Spain but throughout its European neighborhood.

On Friday, the Catalonian parliament declared independence from Spain in defiance of the central government, in Madrid, and the Spanish government responded by approving direct rule in the breakaway region, with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dissolving the regional parliament and calling for elections on December 21.

Immediately after the announcement, world leaders have thrown their full support behind Rajoy and the Spanish government in their efforts to stop Catalonias independence bid.

The US State Department, Germany, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Theresa May and others have voiced support to the Spanish governments constitutional measures to keep Spain strong and united and stated clearly their refusal to recognize Catalonia independence move.

The European Union had made it clear that should Catalonia split from Spain, the region would cease to be part of the EU.

Catalonia is one of Spains wealthiest regions, but a stream of companies has announced plans to move head offices out of Catalonia in response to the crisis triggered since a disputed referendum in Catalonia on October 1, which was declared invalid by the countrys Constitutional Court.
These U.S. troops in Senegal are risking their lives without their own people knowing about it. Photo: Seyllou/AFP/Getty Images

The furor the president unleashed by getting into an extended virtual shouting match with the grieving mother of a Green Beret killed in Niger (and her congresswoman) has had an interesting side effect. An awful lot of Americans who had likely never heard of Niger found themselves wondering why Green Berets were dying there. And, more generally, media have taken the opportunity to better inform Americans about the many, many places their tax dollars and their young women and men have been deployed for military operations without much of anyone stateside noticing.

While the deployments in sub-Saharan Africa represent a very small percentage (about 2,500 out of roughly 200,000) of American military personnel overseas, they will likely continue to draw attention because so many of them involve advising or training local military for actual combat with terrorist groups, as part of the undeclared and never-ending War on Terror. As NPR noted:

In almost all of the missions, the Americans are there to advise, assist and train African militaries  and not to take part in combat. Still, those supporting roles can often take U.S. forces into the field with their African partners, as was the case in Niger.

An American public whose support for military interventions overseas is flagging, even as its intolerance for U.S. casualties is stronger than ever, could react powerfully to additional isolated incidents like the deaths in Niger. And thats when some larger issues may be raised.

Yes, U.S. overseas military deployments are near a 60-year low point. But still, you have to wonder how many of them make any continuing sense to the American people. Yes, given the daily headlines about North Korea, perhaps the 24,000 U.S. troops in South Korea would make sense to them. But so many of the deployments are ghostly remnants of long-past policies that current citizens cant possibly remember and might not support, such as the postWorld War determination to prevent Japanese militarism (the root of our 38,000 troops in Japan) or the anticommunist alliance underlying NATO. Many U.S. troops are essentially acting as deterrent trip wires in places where its no longer clear Americans want to risk war at all. And an estimated 37,000 troops are on secret missions about which the Pentagon is entirely silent.

As the New York Times argued in an editorial this week:

[I]ts time to take stock of how broadly American forces are already committed to far-flung regions and to begin thinking hard about how much of that investment is necessary, how long it should continue and whether there is a strategy beyond just killing terrorists. Which Congress, lamentably, has not done.

You might think that having challenged his own partys commitment to reflexive internationalism, and its support for military interventions that dont involve vital U.S. interests, Donald Trump might be interested in the kind of assessment the Times is calling for. But so far, he seems more interested in demanding more defense dollars and threatening other countries with deadly force than crafting any strategy. As for engaging the American people in an extended discussion of what in the world we consider worth fighting for  thats hard to do on Twitter.
What has the special investigator got in that envelope? Photo: Alex Wong

CNN is reporting late Friday that a federal grand jury in Washington has approved the first charges in pursuance of the investigation being conducted by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

Its unclear at this point who is being charged with what, and Muellers office is refusing comment.

But whatever is happening is probably not a secret to the Trump administration. As CNN notes:

Under the regulations governing special counsel investigations, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has oversight over the Russia investigation, would have been made aware of any charges before they were taken before the grand jury for approval, according to people familiar with the matter.

Its just another slow-news Friday evening in the Trump era. Expect fireworks by Monday.
Photo: Stringer/AFP/Getty Images

If youre wondering what to make of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in light of the National Archives not-quite-final release of government documents related to the case, start with this: Lee Harvey Oswald was a loser with a lot to prove.

Oswald himself was murdered before the country got to know him as anything more than a smirk, and conspiracy theories buried the details of his personal life almost immediately afterward. But by the age of 13, he was already turning around the topics of omnipotence and power  to compensate for his present shortcomings and frustrations, according to a report written by the chief psychiatrist at Youth House, a New York detention facility where Oswald spent six weeks in 1953. At 17, he joined the Marines, but was court-martialed twice, once for accidentally shooting himself with a handgun, and another time for fighting. Oswald picked up Marxism, taught himself Russian, and defected to the Soviet Union in 1959, slashing his wrists in Moscow when it appeared he might not be able to stay. But after less than three years of working a lathe in Minsk, he returned to the U.S. He drifted from job to job, and from Dallas back to his hometown of New Orleans, where he got into a street fight and a catastrophic radio debate with anti-Castro Cuban exiles, then back to Dallas. There he tried to murder former Army General Edwin Walker, a prominent anticommunist and segregationist, by shooting a rifle into Walkers home. He missed.

In an era before weaponized young loners seemed like a type, Oswald, by November 1963, was an anxiety-ridden 24-year-old who loathed America and had failed at essentially everything he tried. His one great stroke of luck came when newspapers announced that President Kennedys motorcade would pass the schoolbook depository building where Oswald had just begun working.

The newly released documents do nothing to alter the basic ballistics findings of all four government investigations into what happened at Dealey Plaza when Oswald finally made his mark: His Mannlicher-Carcano rifle fired three shots, two of which hit Kennedy from behind, and one of which killed the president. Nor do the papers establish that Oswald was working for the Soviet or Cuban governments, or for anybody. In fact, they reveal that the Russians recognized him as unstable. The KGB concluded Oswald wasnt worthy of being an intelligence agent for either the Americans or the Soviets, and was happy to let him return to the U.S. And a reliable source for the FBI, who was in the U.S.S.R. when Kennedy was killed, said that Soviet officials claim that Lee Harvey Oswald had no connection whatsoever with the Soviet Union, according to a memo the Bureau sent to the Johnson White House in December 1966, but which wasnt declassified until Thursday. They described him as a neurotic maniac who was disloyal to his country and everything else. They noted that Oswald never belonged to any organization in the Soviet Union and was never given Soviet citizenship.

The new papers do add to the case for a cover-up, but its a different cover-up than buffs brought up on Oliver Stones batshit-crazy JFK are looking for: Its not a plot to kill Kennedy that government officials have spent the past 54 years hiding, its all kinds of other dirty pool. Their own incompetence, for one. The FBI, CIA, and other agencies had 124 pages of pre-assassination files on Oswald  naturally enough, since he had moved back and forth between the U.S. and Soviet Union  but new papers show they lost track of him after November 8, 1963.

Shady surveillance, for another. The CIA knew because of wiretaps that Oswald contacted the Cuban and Russian embassies in Mexico City in September and October 1963, looking for a visa to return to the Soviet Union. Oswald also wrote a letter to the Soviet embassy in Washington, which we interrupted, read and resealed, FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover told President Johnson two days after Kennedys murder. To have that drawn into a public hearing would muddy the waters internationally, Hoover continued. To use all that would reveal our failure to carry out international courtesy laws. The government sat on its info  making Oswalds movements appear much more mysterious to anyone trying to investigate the assassination than they probably were.

Most critically, any examination of Kennedys death threatened to expose American plots to overthrow foreign leaders, such as Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, Fidel Castro in Cuba, and Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam. So the CIA offered nothing about U.S. assassination attempts to the Warren Commission, and Kennedy administration officials continued to stonewall congressional investigators a dozen years later. (Former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara testified in 1975 about plans to kill Castro: I do not believe that President Kennedy gave the authority. I also do not believe that the CIA would take such action without the authority. I know that is contradictory but that is the way it is.)

The new releases, however, add shocking detail to the story of just how far U.S. officials were willing to go to get rid of the Castro regime  a lot farther than trying to deliver exploding cigars to Castro himself. For example, a January 19, 1962, memo from Gen. Edward Landsdale, who ran the Kennedy administrations Operation Mongoose efforts against Castro, asked the Pentagon to submit a plan  to put a majority of workers out of action, unable to work in the cane fields and sugar mills, for a significant period  consider non-lethal BW [biological warfare], insect-borne, introduced secretly to the target area by the Navy.

If covert action couldnt cripple Cubas farm workers, officials in Washington were ready to cripple its farms: On September 6, 1962, the group overseeing Mongoose considered agricultural sabotage  specifically the possibility of producing crop failures by the introduction of biological agents which would appear to be of natural origin. McGeorge Bundy, JFKs national-security adviser, said he had no worries about such a plan, but that we must avoid external activities such as release of chemicals, etc., unless they could be completely covered up.

Meanwhile, a Defense Department report from August 8, 1962, envisaged invading Cuba. This weeks declassifications lifted long-blacked-out details: The Pentagon said 261,000 military personnel could seize control of key strategic areas on the island within ten-to-15 days. There may be a requirement for amphibious lift for rapid deployment and counterguerilla activity until order has been restored, the memo says with a straight face.

These are just a few of the kind of proposals that floated around the highest levels of the American government in the early 1960s. Many turned into action; the new releases document, across thousands of pages, how the U.S. provided support for attacks by Cuban exiles. And training for those exiles and military plans for an invasion continued into 1963, well after the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Details about all this are still trickling out to the American public, but they certainly made an impression on Castro, and maybe on Oswald, too. When an Associated Press correspondent named Daniel Harker met the Cuban prime minister on September 7, 1963, Castro heatedly denounced the American raids, saying: U.S. leaders should think that if they are aiding terrorist plans to eliminate Cuban leaders, they themselves will not be safe.

That threat didnt appear in the New York Times or Washington Post, but the interview did run in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Oswalds local paper  and Oswald was an avid reader. A 1975 CIA memo found that neither the Warren Commission nor the CIA had looked into the possibility of blowback, but that somebody should have. Castros warning, it argued, must be considered of great significance in the light of the pathological evolution of Oswalds passive/aggressive makeup after his attempt to kill General Walker  and his identification with Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolution. That statement itself, however, was kept classified for another 42 years.

Secrecy breeds secrecy, though not always in the sense we expect. The real conspiracies of the assassination arent about who killed JFK or how. They began in the moments after his murder and have yet to untangle completely, because theyre about what the instruments of American power were up to while Kennedy was president.
Natalia Veselnitskaya. Photo: Yury Martyanov/Kommersant/AFP/Getty Images

Earlier this summer, in the days following the revelation that Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer in 2016 to obtain compromising information on Hillary Clinton, one of the most vital questions was just how close the lawyer was to the Kremlin.

Days after the Times broke the story, lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya told NBC News that she wasnt connected to the Kremlin at all. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that, telling reporters, We dont know who that is.

That line was never quite believable given Veselnitskayas history representing state-owned businesses and a senior government officials son, as the Times originally reported.

Now the paper is casting even more doubt on the claim with a new report. Veselnitskaya, the Times says, discussed the anti-Clinton information she brought to Trump Jr. with Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika, a high-ranking Kremlin official, in the lead up to the Trump Tower meeting. Their collaboration began in October of 2015 when Veselnitskaya brought Chaika the memo that shed later bring to Manhattan. It made the case that prominent donors to Hillary Clinton had illegally purchased shares in a Russian company, tainting their donations to the then-Democratic candidate for president.

Their first attempt to distribute the information to an American came in April of 2016 when Chaika helped pass the memo to California representative Dana Rohrabacher, dubbed by detractors as Putins favorite congressman. Arkansas representative French Hill was also given a copy. Two months later, with the help of a selfie-loving music publicist, Veselnitskaya took the allegations to Trump Tower.

The news in this report is that Veselnitskaya was not freelancing, as she has claimed. If its accurate, she had the blessing of the Kremlin and was working at its behest.

This detail has raised the eyebrows of several congressional Democrats, including Trumps foe from Connecticut, Sen. Richard Blumenthal. On Friday, the senator tweeted that this story was More chilling evidence of [the] Kremlins direct involvement in seeking Trump campaign collusion in attacking our democracy.
Gen Kahinda Otafiire

Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Gen Kahinda Otafiire has faulted African leaders for failing to transform the abundant wealth in Africa into the welfare of the people.



Otafiire was speaking at the Oliver Reginald Tambo memorial lecture and launch of the Ugandan chapter of the African Heritage Liberation route at the O.R Tambo school of leadership in Kaweweta, Nakaseke district on Friday.



Otafiire stated that many Africans are running away from resource-rich Africa to perish in hard European economies because they have not been guided and empowered by their leaders. He says people should not be forced to risk their lives across the Mediterranean ocean in pursuit of wealth.



"Why, because those of us who are in charge have failed to turn this abundant wealth of Africa into welfare for our people, because we who understand have allowed the ideologically bankrupt to mislead our communities," Otafiire said.



Otafiire also lashed out at the Western states claiming that they are stealing resources from Africa while maintaining some form of colonialism. He also advocated for a united Africa, with all the states coming together to get leverage and break poverty.

"Colleagues, the South Africans, comrades we must break these borders, we must unite the continent. Our unity is our strength. Africa cannot be united by the Oliver Tambos of today. The Mandelas of today rise to the occasion . We preached this, we preached that, we have done this, but we can not stop at preaching. We must get out and tell our people and tell our leaderships that we must forget sovereignty in poverty and unite and become economically and get a place in the family of other nations", Otafiire said.

Oliver Tambo was a South African fighter who opened up the Kaweweta camp in Uganda that would give sanctuary to over 3000 African National Congress (ANC) freedom fighters following their expulsion from many Africa countries.



Sonwabile Mancotywa, the chief executive officer of South Africa's National Heritage Council who presented a keynote address with the theme; "Tracing the footsteps of Liberation Icon: from South Africa to Uganda" noted that Africa is not yet liberated looking at the new challenges of economic freedom. He says that the leadership of Africa should not only concentrate on political freedom but economic freedom.



"Leaders of Africa have got to be aware of this, I think they are aware but [should] not only be aware but do something about it. That is why for instance the issue of poverty and unemployment we still have do to more. When Africa deals with Europe, Europe deals with Africa as one but we like dealing with Europe as different countries of Africa", Sonwabile said.



The Chief of Defense Forces Gen David Muhoozi challenged leaders and citizens to emulate the work of great African men like Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela among others.



"We need to strive to learn our work and improve our environment. Here the story of UPDF is a illustrated. UPDF is a mixture of many strands, UNLA, NRA...Amins army - all within our ranks. But what binds us together, what is our DNA and I think it is interesting if you answer that question", he said.



The South African High Commissioner to Uganda retired Maj Gen Solly Mollo who was part of the Liberation of South Africa lauded Uganda and its leadership for the great role in providing a sanctuary for members of the African National Congress.



Lt Colonel Chris Ogumelaki, the Commandant O.R Tambo school of leadership in Kaweweta states that the school which was a base for both the NRA and ANC is now home to Pan African studies, leadership development and research. He says the centre has currently nurtured young men and women to take on effective leadership.
Emmanuel Walugembe, the eldest son of Kalungu district LCV chairman Richard Kyabaggu has 'confessed' to beheading his mother in an argument over ownership of property.



Lillian Nansubuga, a teacher at Tawhid primary school in Lwabenge sub-county was beheaded last week on Tuesday, in what was initially thought to be an attack by unknown assailants.

Richard Kyabaggu (3rd right) with police officers after the killing of his wife

Walugembe, 18, had initially told police that thugs broke into their home at 2am on that fateful day. He claimed that he had run out of the house in disarray and hid outside, only to find her mother beheaded.



But police discovered a blood-stained axe in the latrine, giving them a lead on a possible inside job. Walugembe at this point attempted to run away but was apprehended.



In a police statement, Walugembe, who is now detained at Masaka central police station, has reportedly admitted carrying out the murder, which he however says was unintended.



Lameck Kigozi, the Greater Masaka region police spokesperson says Walugembe is detained alongside two other suspects with whom they face murder charges.



Kyabaggu, who had spent the night at his second home, says their son who always fought for ownership of the house, had only returned home a day before the gruesome incident.



David Ssegawa, the Lwabenge LC III chairman says Walugembe had become a problem in the village because he is a drug addict. He says a few weeks ago, he again stormed the home and demanded that his mother either gives him their house or the one in Kyamulibwa town council.



According to Ssegawa, Walugembe had threatened to kill her if she doesn't surrender the house to him.
The blog ad industry has blackballed me and all of my websites because of my political views, so I can no longer support this site through ads. Accordingly, I have posted

my resume

for prospective employers to view.
Its said that people dont make you have a feeling, that the feeling is made inside of you, constructed from an interpretation of the stimuli. While this might be technically true, its also practically ridiculous. People affect each other. Thats part of the human experience. While Venus and Pluto work things out, make kindness a top priority.

TODAYS BIRTHDAY (Oct. 28). In full realization of your uniqueness, you wont even try to be someone special. Youll just be who you are. Youll fill out your potential, and youll settle into a powerful mode of being. A breakthrough in your work will come in November. Theres real satisfaction in love for you in 2018. Family will surround you. Sagittarius and Taurus adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 7, 20, 22, 28 and 31.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Nothing is quite as permanent as it might seem today, especially if it has to do with the words of men. Ironclad decisions can be reversed. Whats written in stone can be shattered, chipped away or eroded by waves.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). On a molecular level, most things are more empty space than solid matter. Thats why you shouldnt worry if your wishes havent yet materialized. Fill the empty space with imaginings. Believe in the potential of things.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Youve worked hard to achieve a certain standard in your work, and now its time to work just as hard (or maybe harder) to market it. Dont be afraid. A savvy fire sign can help (Aries, Leo or Sagittarius).

CANCER (June 22-July 22). Playing it cool can also just be a form of fear. To engage will be the stronger choice. You progress the relationship when you tell them what you think, express your likes and are warm, not cool.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You wont regret erring on the side of kindness and discretion. Youll probably see a hundred ways to improve a situation, but it would be useless to point that out. People are trying their best given what they currently know.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Because misinformation runs amok in the world, people you trust could accidentally lead you astray. Your skepticism is healthy. Do your own research.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). What works for other people wont necessarily work for you, and what works for you wont necessarily work for others. Still, the recommendations will be appreciated, and a nice way to connect.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). I hope life isnt a big joke, because I dont get it, quipped comedy writer Jack Handey. And though youll be keenly aware that life is no joke, youll find much to laugh at today.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Youre looking for a role model, all the while acutely attuned to the fact that none will be perfect and the ones who want your money in exchange are likely even less so. Keep your eyes peeled.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Though it makes no sense to compare another persons strengths to your weaknesses, that happens quite often in your mind lately. Youre not the only one. Everybody does this. But its time to just stop.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). If you could take the other persons pain you would. And it would only be fair that you also took some of the joy and success, too, right? But you cant take either. So hold hands, but bring the focus back to your own experience.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). The Zen master suggests that everything that follows the word I is an illusion. If this is true than you cant possibly be right, and the other person cant possibly be wrong. Its all just trading illusions.
Editor:

As a lifelong resident of Bolton Landing, the process of electing local residents to represent and protect the interests of our community is a subject which I consider very important. We are fortunate to live in a very special place and I believe its critical that we elect individuals who will ensure it remains that way. For that reason, I am supporting Joe Connally to be the next Bolton Town Justice and encourage all of my fellow Bolton residents to do so as well. My reasons are simple and straightforward. He is fair, he is honest and he has the relevant experience as a leader and a decision maker.

As a successfully retired business founder and CEO, he is known for exercising sound judgment. Also, as an honorably discharged veteran of the United States Marine Corps, where he achieved the rank of sergeant, he served many roles, including working closely with the Military Police. There are many other leadership roles which he has held throughout his life. For example, I especially admire him for his volunteer work while he served as an officer and eventual commander of a 530-plus member American Legion Post.

I know Joe Connally, I trust Joe Connally and I encourage the residents of Bolton to vote for Joe Connally. Without question, he is the most qualified based on his experience as a leader and a sound decision maker. He is clearly the best choice to represent our community in yet another leadership role, this time as our next town justice. Please cast your ballot for Joe Connally on Nov. 7.

Tom Davis, Diamond Point
Editor:

When Hillary Clinton came out with the statement that Trump followers were deplorables, I did not agree with her. I knew that some voted for him because they thought a businessman and an outsider would be a good thing. Others voted for him because they believed the decades of lies that were told about Ms. Clinton. But now that Trumps approval rating is down in the 30 percent area, it is my opinion that the people who support him now are indeed deplorable.

This disgusting excuse for a president has racked up over 1,300 lies only since his inauguration. Can we all agree that this man is a habitual serial liar now? This fake president has bragged about sexually assaulting women. Does that sound deplorable to the average person? The nation watched Trump verbally attack a gold star family during the campaign and now he insulted and angered a gold star pregnant wife of a green beret who was killed in action. Am I the only one who thinks thats deplorable?! Is it not deplorable that he was defending the white supremacists who showed up in Virginia with all their hatred?

How far into the gutter will you let this man take our country before you supporters come to your senses? He hasnt acted like a president yet. He acts more like a man-child who always needs adult supervision (aka the generals surrounding him). He lies every day with no end in sight. Will you Republican voters please stop believing such ridiculous lies and maybe politicians will stop lying to us? They lie because they know you guys would believe anything. Even respected politicians in his party warned you. Hes a scam artist and a complete failure as president.

Suzie Rocca, Moreau
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An act of suspected arson on the Augustana College campus this week left several T-shirts in what is called the Clothesline Project in ashes.

Augustana's campus police are working with the Rock Island Police Department to find the perpetrators, according to Keri Rursch, a campus spokesperson.

"The college will not tolerate this," Rursch said.

The Clothesline Project was founded in 1990 in Massachusetts, and includes T-shirts attached to a clothesline, and decorated by survivors of sexual violence and abuse. A display of about 36 shirts was on the quad of the Rock Island campus.

Late Wednesday night, someone lit one of the strings of shirts on fire, said Jamie McLean, 21, a senior in the Women & Gender Studies program, who found the burned shirts early Thursday.

The Women and Gender Studies program hosted a protest and related demonstration late Friday at the site. About 150 people, including students, faculty and staff, showed their support.

McLean works with survivors at Augustana, and she also volunteers with Family Resources' SafePath Survivor Resources program.

The display was erected in October, she said, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

"I'm not surprised," McLean said of the crime. The Women & Gender Studies program has recently sponsored events, such as one connected to the #metoo online campaign about sexual abuse and harassment.

That online campaign stemmed from the recent sexual harassment scandal concerning movie producer Harvey Weinstein.

"We've been making great progress, but this shows, clearly, we have not gotten near far enough," McLean said of the arson.

The Augustana community was informed Friday about the arson through an e-mail message from college president Steven Bahls.

Since the message went out, McLean said there has been an outpouring of support from faculty and staff.

"People are shocked," said Jacqualyn Kopala, a 18-year-old Augustana freshman. She and other students stopped to see the display and read chalk messages written by students.

Rursch described the arson as "saddening and concerning," and a good reason to continue the work of the Clothesline Project.

"Many of us here at Augustana are concerned, and committed to doing better," she said.

Augustana students and faculty members affected by the project were reminded about free, confidential counseling services available. These can be arranged by calling 309-794-7357 on campus, or reaching a confidential advisor through the SafePath program at 563-468-2324.
When Gloria Kouevi emigrated to the United States from the African country of Togo, it was just one day after her 9th birthday and she spoke no English.

Now 16 years old and a junior at United Township High School in East Moline, Gloria and 11 others are enrolled in English classes, but they also take a new course called "Heritage French."

United Township has the only Heritage French language class in the 13-state Midwestern region that includes Illinois and Iowa.

Rhonda Mellor, UTHS French teacher, started the East Moline program and found help through the French Embassy in Chicago. The embassy connected Mellor with the French-American Cultural Exchange, or FACE Foundation, New York City.

A Heritage French class includes teens who have French as a native language and they speak only French during the class period.

It is estimated nearly 2 million people speak French in the United States, according to FACE. They primarily are from Canada, Africa, the Caribbean and Europe.

Mellor is a Wisconsin native who has led French language courses for 38 years. The United Township class includes 12 students like Gloria. They spoke French in Togo, but never learned much about grammar, or other rules of the language.

Gloria, with classmates Jules Amegnran, 17, and Rodrigue Atikpo, also 17, enrolled in the Heritage French class the first year it was offered.

Jules, for example, was in an advanced French class last year but his teacher, Mellor, said it is a challenge to educate students like him who are native French speakers when they are grouped with native English speakers.

Two years ago, Mellor asked UT officials to establish the Heritage French class, but student numbers didnt support the program. Last year, she asked again, and this time, the proposal passed. There are at least 30 French-speaking students who attend UTHS.

Mellor got a $3,500 grant from the FACE Foundation to help start the class and is using some of the funds to buy French books, fiction, non-fiction and graphic novels, for the school library. The hope is that a special section of these materials will invite the students to use the school library.

Mellor is convinced, if the students can be bilingual in French and English, they will have a much easier time getting a good job in the United States.

Staying conversational in French helps the teens learn English, too, said Mathilde Landier, program coordinator for the FACE Foundation, which was founded in 2005. It's been found that bilingual students who keep up with their native language have an easier time learning a new language, like English.

During class in East Moline, Mellor uses Google Classroom, an educational app that keeps the lessons upbeat and fun. One recent day, she clicked though a grammar lesson and the students logged their answers on individual Chromebooks.

(Fill in the blank) un bon avocat? was one question, and the correct answer was Cest. On this, eight of the students chose the correct answer, and results were logged on the big screen in the class. Hands raised in victory for those who were successful, and hoots could be heard.

Heritage French language classes keep English and French skills strong in students, Mellor said. It helps to maintain good literacy in both areas, she said, and it makes for a better job candidate, down the road in life.

As for the students, they find French to be easier to learn than English.

The teens are actually learning their third language, Mellor said; they speak Ewe, the national language in Togo, while French is Togos official language. Both Jules and Rodrigue also learned some English when they lived in Africa.

Gloria said she learned English in the Quad-Cities by making friends, and observing people, and how they spoke and used their language to get around. Lots of teachers went above and beyond to help, too, she said.

Learning English at UTHS wasnt too difficult, Jules said, as he had training in Togo. I worry people wont understand me in English, but they do understand in French, he said.

The teens still have family in their homeland, and they worry about Togo.

Its a different world there, completely, Gloria said. In Africa, you are outside, and many kids are outdoors, without homes or food. There is nothing to eat. But you come here, and kids are on their cellphones, on Snapchat, or taking pictures, thousands of pictures.

Mellor plans to seek another grant in 2018, also from FACE. She hopes to reach out to local colleges and universities, to find connections for the students through global or multi-cultural programming.

Its important to recognize, speaking French is not a negative; its a positive skill to have a second language, she said. I tell the kids, be proud of the fact you are multi-lingual.

She also hopes one of the French students ultimately earns the Illinois State Seal of Biliteracy, which is an academic honor and is placed on a graduates high school diploma. To date, several UTHS students have earned the honor but they all are Spanish speakers.

For their part, Gloria, Jules and Rodrigue enjoy their classes at United Township. In Africa, they said, teachers may use corporal punishment.

Teachers here are more understanding, and really trained and expert, Jules said.
An increasing number of Quad-Citians are driving to Chicago for cheaper airfares, rather than flying out of the Quad-City International Airport.

The "leakage" of passengers is adding financial stress to the airport, which already has made considerable staffing cuts.

Airport officials have hired a strategic planner to help guide their future, including looking at ways to address the declining enplanements (number of passengers boarding aircraft).

The downward trend in boardings, passenger leakage to Chicago, a strategic marketing plan, non-aeronautical development, revenue enhancements and staff succession (retirement) planning were among the topics covered at a day-long work session earlier this month.

"Today is not about solutions," said facilitator Steve Sorensen, owner of Strategy In Progress, Bettendorf. "I want you to think big picture, critical issues and what we need to do over the short-term and the long-term."

The meeting of executive staff and the Rock Island County Metropolitan Airport Authority, as well as interviews conducted by Sorensen, will provide the outline for a new strategic plan. A draft plan will be presented to the authority in November, intended to replace the plan from 2014.

The October session came on the heels of a new passenger leakage study that showed more Quad-City passengers driving to Chicago for flights. The same study showed the airport is not capturing the same customer base from the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids corridor that it did when it had low-fare carrier AirTran.

"We are going to be more reliant on our Quad-City audience for enplanements," said Ken Carley, assistant aviation and operations director.

To help expand boardings, commissioners said the airport needs to learn more about the Quad-Cities' perceptions and develop a strategic marketing plan to address them.

"If you're going to change behavior ... you have to find out what their attitudes are," said Jody Fisk, one of the newest commissioners appointed to the board.

Commissioner John Malvik agreed, saying, "There has to be a way to change people's perception that it is better to drive to Chicago."

Enplanements, which have been on a steady decline since AirTran departed the market in January 2012, also have impacted the airport's balance sheet.

Angela Burch, airport controller, told the group that losses will continue to grow if enplanements continue their trend. The airport's Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) funding now covers its debt service for 2010 bonds issued for a major runway reconstruction. But she projects there will be a shortfall in PFC funds in 2020 and the losses "will begin eating into our cash reserves."

Aviation Director Bruce Carter said the airport industry is working to raise the PFC rate from $4.50 a passenger to $8.50, but the effort is seeing pushback by the airlines.

Jo Johnson, the airport's human resource director, said the budget situation also has forced the airport to cut full-time employment from 85 employees in 2014 to 68 today.

"We've seen $250,000 of labor savings over the last three years," she said of additional cuts to the airport's contract labor, including the parking lot staff.

Carley, who provided an overview of the five-year capital plan, said future projects are focused on safety on the airfield. "In a lot of ways, we are in an enviable position. ... We have excellent pavement structures," he said, adding many airports spend all their federal funding on pavement projects.

The ability to offer financial incentives also is seen as critical to growing air service.

"What are the incentives we can look at to stop the bleeding to Chicago?" commissioner Molly Foley asked.

Roger Strandlund, the airport's attorney, said partners are needed to offer incentives. While the subsidized Washington, D.C., flight ultimately failed, he said it is an example of how that cooperation worked. The flight was subsidized by the airport, the state of Illinois and the Quad-Cities Chamber. The direct Q-C to D.C. service lasted more than eight months, ceasing in June 2016.

Also discussed was the possibility of expanding the airport's taxing district to cover all of Rock Island County, the other Illinois counties in the region or Scott County, all of which are served by the regional airport.

"The board's initiative is not to seek a tax increase," Malvik said. "What we're talking about is changing the authority to be broader. What we're seeking is more equity."

Non-aeronautical development of areas such as at the former Flick's and Bud's Skyline Inn site could provide additional revenues.

Foley said the leakage study shows a greater economic development issue: "We've not seen growth in the Quad-Cities. How can we drive enplanements when there is no growth in the Quad-Cities?"

Employment data from

the Illinois Department of Employment Security shows the Quad-Cities' non-farm payrolls grew from 165,667 employees in 1990 to 183,100 in 2016.

Foley also was critical of the airport's engagement with the Quad-Cities Chamber and economic development leaders, saying, "We are a member of the chamber, but we're not involved."

Airport staff and commissioners also identified a need to improve relationships with its shareholders, including the chamber and City of Moline. There was some criticism of Moline, for instance, because the airport has not been getting the kind of retail-development investment currently enjoyed by the John Deere Road and SouthPark Mall areas. Malvik said that SouthPark is "a bigger concern" to the city.

Authority Chairman Jim Bohnsack said the airport's marketing should also target nearby Peoria and Muscatine. The idea was floated to offer perks, such as free parking, to area businesses and travel agents loyal to Quad-City International Airport.

"There is merit in bringing a new Federal Inspection Service, or FIS," Bohnsack added, referring to an on-site service, clearing passengers for international flights. The facility, which could be located in the airport's cargo building, could attract a carrier like Apple Vacations. With an FIS, direct international flights  such as from Cancun  could clear customs at the Quad-City airport, he said.
President Xi Jinping's command at this month's Communist Party gathering was so complete that President Trump likened him to a "king." But some China analysts are wondering whether Xi has overreached.

Xi dominated the stage, literally and figuratively, at the party's 19th Congress, which ended this week in Beijing. His consolidation of power has nearly erased the collective leadership style of his recent predecessors and vaulted him into a Chinese pantheon occupied only by Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. "Xi Jinping Thought" is now celebrated as the guide to a "new era" for China.

Xi's capture of the commanding heights was summarized in a private report by Pamir Consulting, a leading advisory firm on China. During Xi's first five years in office, Pamir reported, his anti-corruption campaign has disciplined 1.53 million party members and prosecuted 278,000, including 440 ministerial or provincial officials and 43 Central Committee members, about 11.4 percent of that body.

Xi has purged the Chinese military, too. Under his rule, 13,000 officers have been sacked and more than 50 general officers have been imprisoned for corruption, by Pamir's count. In place of the ousted generals, Xi has installed new commanders for the joint staff, army, navy and air force of the People's Liberation Army. Members of this reshaped PLA now appear to control nearly 20 percent of the party's reconstituted Central Committee.

Xi also reigns supreme in the factional battle at the top of the party leadership. Of the 25 members of the Politburo, 17 are his allies, Pamir estimates. His faction has four seats on the Politburo's seven-member standing committee. And for the first time in several decades, the leadership hasn't signaled who will succeed Xi after he completes his second five-year term as party secretary, suggesting that he may ignore the 10-year limit that capped recent Chinese leaders.

Trump appears to see a kindred spirit in Xi. He made a congratulatory telephone call Wednesday and praised Xi's "extraordinary elevation" in a tweet. "Some might call him the king of China," Trump said in a television interview.

What could go wrong for a leader with such sweeping authority? Several leading analysts argue that Xi's dominance is now so complete that it carries a kind of vulnerability. He owns China's economic and foreign policies so totally that he'll get blamed for any setbacks. Perhaps more important, his power play may worry older Chinese who remember the damage done by Mao's cult of personality.

"Beneath the confetti, there's an uncomfortable apprehension among some of China's elderly leaders who recall the capriciousness and brutal realities of one-man rule," explains Kurt Campbell, who ran the State Department's Asia policy during the Obama administration and was in Beijing to observe the congress.

Will other top Chinese officials dare to question Xi? Analysts noted the mostly impassive posture during Xi's long speech from Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji, former president and prime minister, respectively. The gathering wasn't attended by Li Rui, a deeply respected 100-year-old former secretary of Mao who suffered during the Cultural Revolution and helped establish the institutions of post-Mao collective leadership.

Xi's concern about dissent was perhaps signaled by a recent internal party document that, according to a Chinese source, warns against criticism of party leadership, Communist history, traditional Chinese culture and national heroes. That implies a ban on criticism of Xi himself.

The scope of Xi's ambition isn't just domestic or personal power. He outlined at the congress an agenda for China's growth through 2050 into a "modernized strong country" that can dominate technology, finance and security. China five years ago spoke of its ambitions to be a regional power, but Xi now describes a China that can frame a new global order.

Trump's America poses a tricky problem. For now, Xi chooses to reciprocate Trump's embrace. China is planning for Trump's arrival next month as if it's a royal visit, much as the Saudis received him last May. An elaborate welcoming ceremony is planned, perhaps followed by a photogenic meeting of Xi's grandchildren and Trump's. (Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are said to be coming with their family.)

The "deliverables" at the Trump-Xi summit will be mutual commitments on North Korea and trade. To oversee the Sino-America account, Xi is said to be readying Yang Jiechi, a former ambassador to Washington, as deputy prime minister with oversight of foreign policy.

Chinese strategists have traditionally argued that it's wise to appear less powerful than you really are, and take adversaries by surprise. This approach is no longer possible for a monarchical Xi. He must beware the weakness inherent in his dazzling display of strength.
Thumbs up to Davenport Community School District for finding a community-centered use for J.B. Young school.

The district last year shuttered the school, a victim of declining enrollment. But, this week, it welcomed the opening of the Opportunity Center in the vacant building featuring a slew of organizations doing work that communities such as those surrounding J.B. Young desperately need.

The cash-strapped school district could have abandoned J.B. Young entirely, thereby leaving just another vacant lot. It instead chose to do something more.

Thumbs down to Iowa's collapsing health insurance marketplace.

A lot of fingers were pointed this week when state officials announced the state is abandoning its quest for an Affordable Care Act waiver that would have permitted drastic changes to how Iowa's market is funded.

Iowa's waiver application was probably illegal, under the ACA, a fact state Republicans quickly jumped on to pin the collapse on Democrats and former President Barack Obama.

It's also true that President Donald Trump has done everything he can to undermine the ACA, and dominant congressional Republicans have been completely incapable of reforming, rescinding or replacing ACA.

At the end of the day, thousands of Iowans are about to be completely priced out of health insurance access and government, as a whole, has failed them.

Thumbs up to Davenport city officials and the Bechtel Trust for proactively broaching the recent wave of juvenile crime.

The trust offered up $600,000 over three years, which the city will match. The result will be two new school resource officers and two additional beat cops focused on "community policing."

There's an argument to be made whether additional police, alone, can stifle the spate of car thefts, burglaries and shootings sweeping throughout Davenport. But Davenport Police Department has, in recent years, reinvented in a meaningful effort to improve community relations.

Neither the city, schools nor private donors are ignoring the problem. That, alone, is laudable.
Oct 16

7:18 a.m.  Theft by unlawful taking reported in the 500 block of Morehead Street.

9:35 a.m.  Theft, telephone scam, reported in the 2200 block of Hidden Valley Road.

Oct. 17

8:26 a.m.  Suspicious circumstances in the 700 block of West Third Street.

9:05 a.m.  Trespassing in the 300 block of Royal Court

10:10 a.m.  Theft, telephone scam, reported in the 500 block of King Street.

10:13 a.m.  Theft by unlawful taking in the 400 block of Bordeaux Street.

2:02 p.m.  Theft, telephone scam, in the 300 block of East Fifth Street.

2:22 p.m.  Search warrant served in the 300 block of Main Street

5:08 p.m.  Theft of a bicycle reported in the 500 block of East Sixth Street.

6:21 p.m.  Theft, fuel drive off, in the 1200 block of Highway 20.

Oct. 18

8:52 a.m.  Theft by unlawful taking in the 800 block of King Street.

9:50 a.m.  10:11 a.m.  Criminal mischief in the 400 block of West Second Street.

3:25 p.m.  Disturbance reported in the 700 block of Pine Street.

6:03 p.m.  Non-injury accident in the 200 block of Main Street.

6:43 p.m.  Domestic disturbance reported in the 200 block of North Main Street.

Oct. 19

11:06 a.m.  Suspicious circumstances in the 800 block of West Park Drive.

5:43 p.m.  Criminal mischief reported in the 500 block of Bordeaux Street.

6:12 p.m.  Suspicious circumstances in the 600 block of West Fourth Street.

Oct. 21

937 a.m.  Suspicious circumstances in the 800 block of Shelton Street.

11:49 a.m.  Suspicious circumstances in the 1000 block of Main Street.

1:15 p.m.  Burglary reported in the 600 block of West Fourth Street.

3:13 p.m.  Theft by check reported in the 100 block of Morehead Street.

5:03 p.m.  Non-injury accident in the 500 block of Linden Street.

5:03 p.m.  Non-injury accident in the 400 block of Henkens Drive.

10:23 p.m.  Issued citation to 23-year-old male for disorderly house in the 300 block of Beech Street.

10:23 p.m.  Issued citation to a 19-year-old female and a 20-year-old female for minor in possession in the 300 block of Beech Street.

11:10 p.m.  Criminal mischief reported in the 500 block of Beech Street.

Oct. 22

9:31 a.m.  Criminal mischief reported in the 800 block of East Sixth Street.

12:10 p.m.  Theft of a bicycle reported in the 100 block of Lake Street.
A federal prosecutor in South Dakota was recognized Wednesday with the U.S. Attorney Generals Award for Exceptional Service in Indian Country, specifically Outstanding Dedication to Lowering Crime Rates in Indian Country.

Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg Peterman, 55, received the award during an annual ceremony in Washington, D.C., in which Attorney General Jeff Sessions recognized 200 department employees for public service, according to a release.

Peterman, who joined the U.S. Attorneys Office in 1995, supervises six federal prosecutors in its Rapid City branch. His accomplishments include setting up a satellite office on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, as well as maintaining strong relationships with tribal leaders and agencies toward fighting crime on the reservation, the release stated.

Petermans prosecutorial skills and expertise continue to be valuable tools in our ongoing efforts to improve public safety on reservations, said Randy Seiler, U.S. Attorney for South Dakota.
A huge thank you to the lady who noticed I had dropped my checkbook outside of Boyd's Friday morning. I may have been careless, but she had a heart of kindness.

It is not Mr. Trump's choice to stifle any of the Kennedy papers. This information was left to the American people as designated by the government powers years ago.

If you are "land rich" and "cash poor," you are still rich. Hire an attorney, pay your taxes and quit whining.

It's long past time that the city and county adopt impact fees for new construction. The incremental cost of new fire stations, police services and utilities infrastructure should not fall entirely on the backs of existing taxpayers.

We went to the Pennington County Auditor's office and changed our voter registration from Republican to "none'' because we don't want the federal government spying on our private voting record, our email addresses, our South Dakota drivers license number, nor our Social Security number. Even though Pennington County presently "redacts" some of that information, it is probable the U.S. government will attempt to gather all that info in the future.
Free and fair trade is vital to South Dakotas economy. Not only does it open up important markets for South Dakota products, it results in higher wages and supports our small businesses and producers.

Last year, we exported $1.2 billion in products to other countries, including goods, machinery and electronic equipment. In particular, the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, between the U.S., Mexico and Canada  South Dakotas top two exporters in 2016  continues to benefit our farmers, ranchers and manufacturers.

Since taking office, President Trump has indicated that he has a desire to renegotiate our trade agreements, and in May of this year, he announced the administration would begin talks with Canada and Mexico to renegotiate NAFTA. I am supportive of him making the best possible deals for American producers, however, simply withdrawing from NAFTA without a similar structure in place would harm South Dakotas producers.

Just last year, American producers sent $20.5 billion worth of exports to Canada and $17.8 billion worth of exports to Mexico, which is the largest market for U.S. corn and soymeal. Mexico is also the second largest market for U.S. soybeans and the third largest market for U.S. beef.

American trade with our NAFTA partners has more than tripled since the agreement took effect and has increased more rapidly than trade with the rest of the world. Between 1993 and 2016, according to trade data reported by the U.S. International Trade Commission, U.S. trade with Mexico increased by 544 percent and trade with Canada increased 158 percent.

Agriculture is South Dakotas number one industry, and trade contributes to the overall health of the ag economy. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) concluded in a recent report that NAFTA has had a positive impact on North American agriculture over the past two decades.

The value of U.S. agricultural trade with our NAFTA partners has increased from $8.7 billion in 1992  before the agreement was implemented  to $38.1 billion in 2016, while imports rose from $6.5 billion to $44.5 billion. The leading NAFTA-traded products are meat and dairy products, followed closely by grains. South Dakota is a top producer of these products.

I have encouraged the administration to maintain strong ties with our NAFTA partners as they continue their negotiations. I have repeatedly asked U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to stand up for the United States agricultural industry abroad, and work to open up new markets for American products.

Earlier this year, the administration reached an agreement to allow for U.S. exports of beef into China. This was a win for South Dakota ranchers, who are now able to sell their top-quality beef in a lucrative market.

Canada and Mexico are essential trading partners for our state and nation, and I encourage the administration to continue working with their leaders to maintain an agreement for free and fair trade among our countries. At a time of economic downturn in our agricultural sector, continuing to increase trade with our North American neighbors and other global allies is of vital importance.
Friday was a busy day at Haven House, Hamiltons Food Pantry.

In addition to serving local people, volunteers were shelving more than one thousand pounds of food gathered by Hamilton High School Key Club and Students Council members doing trick-or-treat on Monday.

It is always the busiest in the fall, said Judy Williams, manager at Haven House. We are signing people up for Thanksgiving and food drives are coming in.

Fundraising is always important, but between now and Nov. 30 any money being donated to Haven House will be matched, up to $8,000, by Town Pump.

In addition, when locals make a purchase at Town Pump gas stations in Hamilton, the clerks are asking the customers if they want to make a donation to Haven House. Williams said this money is given to Haven House on top of the match.

It is wonderful, she said. The local people are fabulous about contributing. We appreciating their contribution, it is so nice.

The local need for food is great. Haven House gave out 379 food boxes in September for residents in Hamilton and Corvallis.

People come in and request items that they would like in their box from canned goods to dairy and meat, Williams said. We have an awesome choice in meat. Albertsons gives us so much food; they are so generous with us.

The boxes are filled in the back of Haven House by volunteers. Recipients can add to the boxes with items from the walk-in section of the building. People who are registered with Haven House can come once a week, four weeks a month, and pick up a box once a month.

Altogether, we provide food for almost 2,000 people per month, Williams said. That is duplicate people I admit, but that is 2,000 visits to Haven House per month. We provide a lot of food to our local people.

William said their policy is to not turn anyone down.

The only requirement is that you have to be certified to receive the government food, she said. The requirements have changed and if one person makes $2,000 monthly they qualify for government food; this is a national figure. This is 200 percent below poverty - it used to be 150 percent, so it is even more generous. 

Williams said this is the time of year that people give, perhaps because it is going into November, the Thanksgiving month.

So often the people who give are the people who may have experienced a tough time at some point, she said. It is not just wealthy people - most of our donations are from the average guy who sends money. We are very well supported. Our community is so generous.

Haven House is one of the 200-plus food pantries in Montana. Each day they are open, nearly 10 volunteers work to meet the needs of the community.

We are open three days a week and have three teams, Williams said. Their work is always appreciated. We have great volunteers.

Williams didnt have the bottom line of operating expenses at Haven House, but said the operation is run frugally.

We receive enough to cover everything. We have low overhead; we dont even have internet, she said. We have a phone, we pay rent and have to buy a few supplies. We spend more than we take in until the fall. We dont make very much money but can always cover everything.

Haven House in Hamilton, Pantry Partners in Stevensville, and Darby Bread Box are the three local food banks in Montana benefiting from the Town Pump Charitable Foundations 16th annual fundraising campaign. Statewide, there are nearly 80 food banks participating in the Be A Friend in Deed, Helping Those in Need campaign.

The Town Pump's goal is to raise more than $3 million for food banks across Montana. Since 2002, the campaign has raised more than $26 million for food banks statewide, including about $5 million in matching grants from the Town Pump Charitable Foundation.

In addition to matching the $8,000 to Haven House, the Town Pump Charitable Foundation will match $2,500 on behalf of the Pantry Partners, and $2,000 for the Darby Bread Box.

Sue Pearson, treasurer of the Pantry Partners Food Bank in Stevensville, said the Town Pump Charitable Foundation Grant keeps their doors open for the nearly 260 families they serve every month.

The winter months become particularly difficult for many, so this donation at this time is very helpful, Pearson said.

Mary Lockwood with the Darby Bread Box said she is grateful for Town Pump.

We are always so thankful to receive the money from Town Pump," she said. During the holidays we give our clients a Holiday Box, so that they can have a nice dinner on Thanksgiving and Christmas. With the monies received from the fundraiser, we can put everything in their box that they might need for a nice dinner."

Maureen Kenneally, of the Town Pump Charitable Foundation, thanked participants.

Thank you to our food bank partners across the state and to everyone who has made the Be A Friend in Deed, Help Those in Need campaign such a great success over the years, Kenneally said. The inspiring effort by so many is making a real difference in the lives of our hungry neighbors.

In Hamilton, donations are being collected at the local Town Pumps, Lucky Lils and Magic Diamond casinos, the Townhouse Inn/Quality Inn, and can be sent directly to Haven House at P.O. Box 1343 in Hamilton, 59840.

Donations to the Pantry Partners Food Bank are being collected at the local Lucky Lils Casino, the Florence Town Pump and can be sent directly to Pantry Partners, P.O. Box 806 in Stevensville, 59870.

In Darby, donations can be sent to the Darby Bread Box, P.O. Box 189, Darby, 59829.

We sure appreciate Town Pump and the community, Williams said.
Investigations in to a rash of murders that occurred over a three year period in and around Santa Maria, led police to discover the internatio
Education Reporter

Mathew Burciaga is a Santa Maria Times reporter who covers education, agriculture and public safety. Prior to joining the Times, Mathew ran a 114-year-old community newspaper in Wyoming. He owns more than 40 pairs of crazy socks from across the globe.
The group Burners Without Borders, along with the Burning Man camp called Camp Epic, are launching something in Santa Rosa called Oasis Village, on land that's being offered by a local businessman. The idea is to provide temporary housing to people who most need it, starting with teachers and families of students who attend Santa Rosa's Anova Center for Education  a special needs school for children on the autism spectrum that serves 135 kids and burned to the ground on October 9. Between seven shipping containers and some other trailers, they hope to be able to house 75 people who currently have no homes, and the spaces are being offered to fireman, first responders, and nurses in the area as well.

The Reno Gazette-Journal reported on the project, speaking to a member of Camp Epic, Jen Martini, who lives in Sonoma. "Were trying to establish a village," she says of the project, which has been raising funds here to ship the containers from Nevada to California, which is happening this weekend. The group hopes to help the school reopen within a few weeks, with one mother of an Anova student telling the paper, "Routine is everything for these kids... a lot of the families lost their homes, and they don't have anywhere to take their kids."

The shipping container dormitories, some of which have three units per container, have been tricked out for comfort in the desert and already all have air conditioning, refrigerators, and bunk beds inside.

Additionally, Oasis Village is seeking donations of 25 more RVs, trailers, or temporary structures because they believe the property has room for them, and has capacity to house dozens more people in a communal environment. Also, Burning Man-style, they're seeking volunteers  people who will be able to donate time to cooking and to "help with making the space warm and inviting."

Martini tells NBC Bay Area that they are also looking for donations of bedding, toiletries, and clothing as well.

Sadly, permanent housing is going to take a long time to rebuild in the areas hardest hit by the North Bay fires. That same mother of an autistic child tells the Reno Gazette-Journal that she applied for every house for rent on Craigslist in the days following the fire, offering to pay a year's rent upfront, but had no luck and heard that many of the available homes had 150 applicants each.

All related coverage of the North Bay wildfires on SFist.


Hun Sen said the decision was made at the request of Cambodian Interior Minister Sar Kheng, without giving further details.



It is the fourth Senate election originally scheduled for January 14, 2018.



Founded in 1999, the Senate has 61 seats, but only 57 senators will be elected, as two senators are appointed by King Norodom Sihamoni and the other two by the parliament's lower house.



In the last election held in January 2012, Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party won 46 seats.



Earlier on October 20, the Cambodian Senate adopted four amended and supplementary election laws which were ratified by the parliament on October 16. BY VIETNAMPLUS.
Finding a new executive director at the Yellowstone Art Museum with the organizational skills and passion that Robyn Peterson exhibited during her 11 years here will be difficult, board members say.

An emergency board meeting has been called for Nov. 1 to discuss conducting a national search to replace Peterson, who notified the board on Thursday afternoon that her last day will be Dec. 8.

How sad is that? said Kris Carpenter, past president of the board of trustees. Im really excited for her, but dang, its going to be a big transition for the museum and the community.

Carpenter noted that in Petersons typical fashion, she has everything laid out for the board to move forward next week.

Thats just the way she is. Shes so organized.

Peterson said she plans to work seven days a week until she leaves on Dec. 8 to help the board establish a search committee and set parameters for the new director.

The staff has never been as good as it is right now," she said. "The staff will roll out our exhibitions and our education programs and events with a high level of professionalism.

Peterson said she was recruited to help turn around an ailing museum in her home state of California. She said it will be difficult to leave Billings because the community has been very generous in its support of the museum, but she does miss the sunshine of California. And she loves a challenge.

Im going to miss the really good people here. Thats why Nick and I stayed longer than we thought we would. It was easier to get things done with people who didnt waste a lot of time on pretension."

Board member Dan Burkhart said Peterson has always kept the museum in the black. Beyond that, she has brought vision to the YAM, and worked hard to gain financial support to complete projects.

"I was so impressed with how thoughtful and purposeful she is," Burkhart said.

Kevin Stenberg, president of the YAM Board of Trustees, said Peterson has made impressive strides during her tenure at the YAM.

Shes done a lot, let me tell you," Stenberg said. "I would have to say the biggest accomplishments were the expansion campaign, the Visible Vault, and the national reaccreditation. Only 2 percent of the museums are accredited. She did a wonderful job getting back our accreditation.

The national accreditation helps the YAM bring in national art exhibits and the Visible Vault allows the museum to showcase its collections and host visiting artists.

Stenberg said he is confident that curator Bob Durden can get the day-to-day tasks done at the museum until a new director is in place.

What we need is someone to write grants," he said. "Robyn did a great job at that. She is going to be missed.
SIOUX CITY | Students at Loess Hills Elementary School navigate their peers through a maze in P.E. class with computer code, record videos of themselves reading to show their fluency and create computer quizzes to demonstrate they understand mathematical concepts such as fractions.

Before Loess Hills Elementary School opened in the fall of 2014, principal John Beeck said he and former Sioux City Community Schools technology director Neil Schroeder sought to transform the school, which combined Emerson and Roosevelt elementary schools, into something "new" and "unique." They came up with the idea to make it a specialty school where students would learn to communicate, collaborate, think critically and create through computer programming

"We couldn't look it up in a manual any place. We couldn't Google it, because nobody's done it," Beeck said of the computer programming specialty concept, which was woven through the entire curriculum at Loess Hills Elementary School by the spring of 2015.

Sioux City superintendent Paul Gausman said the district has a process for staff members to develop specialty concepts for elementary schools. He said faculty must thoroughly research their concept, which has to retain the teaching of the Iowa Core subjects -- math, science, social studies and language arts, draft a plan to implement it and then share that plan with the community. He said 85 percent of staff members at the elementary school have to agree with the specialty concept, which also must be approved by the school board.

"Loess Hills is unique in that they did not have another school they were using as a template somewhere else in the country," Gausman said. "At that time, we knew of no other computer science immersion schools or computer coding schools in the nation. They were pioneers in that."

Peek into classrooms at Loess Hills Elementary School and you'll see students staring at screens while wearing clunky pairs of headphones or seated at desks arranged in circles typing on laptops.

When Beeck and Schroeder were considering the specialty school concept, Beeck said "computer programming" was a buzzword in education, as students involved in before- and after-school clubs were experimenting with coding. Beeck and Schroeder decided to take the idea a step further by integrating computer programming into all subjects taught at Loess Hills Elementary School.

"Let's see if using that could help us teach math better or teach reading better and all of the other subjects," Beeck said. "Let's teach kids how to program because all jobs, all professions, everything is kind of controlled by computers and technology. Let's teach our kids about that, which might give them a leg up in the job market later on."

His future job prospects were on 11-year-old Remy Rowe's mind as he sat in fifth-grade teacher Cindy Bigbee's classroom writing computer code with CodeCombat, a platform that teaches students computer science through a game. In order to find, attack and defeat the blue ogres lurking in a stone castle, Remy noted that he has to use good punctuation and remember to capitalize letters while coding.

"It helps you learn how to code so that when you get to the real world, you can get a job to code and it won't be hard," he said of the program.

Across the room, Garek Rhea, 10, was using the computer platform Tynker to create a quiz for his favorite class, math. Every quarter, all of the classrooms at Loess Hills Elementary School produce projects using computer coding, something Bigbee is new to teaching.

Gausman said Irving Elementary School, a dual language specialty school, is the only specialty school in the district that requires its teachers to have certification beyond the state's basic requirements. He said the district offers professional development training to specialty school teachers that focuses on their school's particular concept area.

"I've always loved an integrated technology (woven) into my teaching," said Bigbee, who said she found similarities between the coding tools used at Loess Hills Elementary School and other computer programs she has encountered in her more than 20-year teaching career. "But it's still a learning curve."

Students in kindergarten and first grade at Loess Hills Elementary School use Kodable, a coding curriculum that translates computer science into easy-to-teach lessons and games. Beeck said students drag and drop pictures. The real code, which he said students start using in fourth grade, is behind the pictures.

"That just starts with fuzzy little characters that are trying to go from this point to that. Just by teaching programming, directionality and all that, we're also teaching math. Then we tie that to reading, because you've got to be able to read those directions," Beeck explained. "It motivates even the younger kids to learn how to read, because they really love moving those little fuzzy creatures."

According to Beeck, students have yet to express boredom with coding.

"I have not had a complaint about kids saying, 'I don't want to code anymore. I don't want to program,'" he said.

When students leave Loess Hills Elementary School, they'll be able to take their coding skills a step further at West Middle School. That's something that Garek said he is excited about doing.

"I really like coding. I think it's really fun and you can learn a lot from it," he said. "I kind of want to continue doing this in middle and high school."
SIOUX CITY | Sioux City will hold an Emergency Preparedness Fair Nov. 4 to educate Siouxlanders on how to react and care for themselves in emergency situations.

The event will begin 10 a.m. and conclude at 1 p.m. at 1201 W. Clifton Ave. It is free to the public, with refreshments provided by the Salvation Army.

Presentations will include a 10:15 a.m. presentation on active shooter situations by Sioux City Police Detective Kevin McCormick; an 11:15 a.m. presentation on Immediate First Aid by Liz Ford, of Siouxland Paramedics; and a presentation on 72-hour kits by Chris and Judy Chauncey.

The event will also include displays on various topics from a handful of emergency organizations.
SIOUX CITY | A federal judge on Friday ordered the appointment of a receiver to manage the historic Badgerow Building while foreclosure proceedings against the building's owner and developer continue.

U.S. District Judge Leonard Strand granted Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Bank and Trust's request for a receiver at the conclusion of a hearing in U.S. District Court in Sioux City.

The bank's lawyer, Michael Rosow, of Minneapolis, said via teleconference that a receiver would be able to preserve federal historic preservation tax credits that are at risk because the building owner has defaulted on a $6 million bond agreement to finance work to renovate and redevelop the 12-story downtown Sioux City office building.

Rosow said that Mako One Corp., the Carlsbad, California-based owner and its managing partner Bruce DeBolt, still owe nearly $4.7 million to the bank.

Mako One's attorney, Robert Patterson, of Alexandria, Virginia, had argued against the appointment of a receiver, saying the bank had caused the default by asking DeBolt to cease actions that could have prevented it.

"We believe this whole receivership is ill-conceived, ill-thought out and destined for failure," said Patterson, who attended the hearing in person.

Strand said he would soon issue an order outlining the receiver's duties. Generally, receivers manage a property, trying to maximize any income potential as if they were the owners while foreclosure cases involving the property continue.

Earlier this week, Strand scheduled the case to go to trial on Jan. 3, 2019.

Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust had requested appointment of a receiver in April, when it filed for foreclosure on the building at 622 Fourth St. That request was delayed after Mako One filed for bankruptcy in June, leading to a stay of the foreclosure proceedings.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in San Diego dismissed the bankruptcy petition earlier this month, paving the way for the foreclosure case to resume.

Strand's ruling is the latest development in a decade-long effort to bring life back to the Badgerow, which was built in 1933 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its art deco style of architecture.

DeBolt bought the building, which had fallen into disrepair and had been red-tagged as unfit for occupation, for $440,000 in 2007 and announced a $10 million plan to renovate the building to attract corporate data centers, restaurants, professional offices and other businesses.
SIOUX CITY | Bruce Lear taught high school for 11 years in Iowa before he shifted gears to become a union leader representing educators.

Initially, "I did miss teaching quite a bit. Honestly, teaching is performing six shows a day, and it was a rush," Lear said.

But he never went back to the classroom.

"A few times I thought about it, and then I remembered lunch duty," Lear said with a smile.

So his work as director of the Siouxland UniServ group of the Iowa State Education Association, the entity that represents seven groups and 1,500 teachers and other education workers, panned out perfectly as his later life's work. Lear will retire on Tuesday after 27 years of helping educators bargain for wages and benefits, working conditions and other issues.

"I loved this job. It really became more of a calling for me than a job. Representing these people was phenomenal," Lear said.

"...Did I always win? No. Did I always lose? No. Did I always fight to get everything we needed? Yes."

Brenda Zahner, of Sergeant Bluff, becomes Lear's successor on Wednesday. She is a former elementary teacher who for the last three years represented 33 schools in Northwest Iowa, as far east as Buena Vista County and as far north as the Minnesota border.

Zahner will lead the seven bargaining units Lear headed, which includes two for the Sioux City School District and one each for Northwest Area Education Agency, Western Iowa Tech Community College and other groups.

"(Zahner) will do a magnificent job. She bargained 15 years with me in Sergeant Bluff," Lear said.

Sioux City School District Superintendent Paul Gausman, who worked with Lear for nine years, termed him a positive colleague who will be missed.

"While our professional positions occasionally put us on opposite sides of specific issues, we agree far more than we disagree. The blessing to me has always been the way he has been willing to work together toward positive results for students, while respecting the work we each must do to yield improvement in our organizations, the district and the community," Gausman said.

Lear said he worked with five Sioux City School District superintendents over his 27 years, and he most enjoyed the final two, Gausman and Larry Williams.

"Gradually, as we moved through them, things improved. We've had a pretty decent relationship in terms of bargaining, we really have," Lear said.

A native of tiny Shellsburg in eastern Iowa, Lear began his teaching career in Alden, Iowa, in 1979. A comprehensive state collective bargaining law for public employees started in 1974, and some school district teachers were slow to unionize. In Lear's second year at Alden, some veteran teachers asked him to participate in setting the first master contract. Before that, school superintendents settled on teacher salaries with each person individually.

"The whole idea was that collectively you are stronger as a profession than individually," Lear said.

He taught at Alden for four years, then in Cherokee, Iowa, for seven years through 1990, all the time becoming well-versed in union bargaining as he took on new roles. He moved to the UniServ job that year, becoming only the second director in the unit history, succeeding Ken Zeising.

Back when Lear began union tasks, he said teachers were primarily concerned about work hours and salary. He said benefits like health insurance were not a prime issue, since that coverage didn't cost much. As health costs escalated in the 1990s and 2000s, having strong health care options has risen in prominence as teacher negotiation issues.

Until the controversial collective bargaining law Republican lawmakers approved in 2017, Lear said union negotiations with school officials followed a predictable pattern. Using his hands, he pointed upward on how teachers in January opening proposals sought a high salary increase of about 5 percent, the district would respond with a zero or 1 percent offer, then they would settle somewhere in the middle by April.

Only twice in 27 years did the negotiations extend to the step of binding arbitration.

Lear said the negotiations weren't overly adversarial, and "striking a balance" is a key concept.

"You approach it so you are not necessarily demonizing the other side, because you've got to make a deal," he said.

"There is not a lot of shouting. There are positions, there is problem solving. I think collective bargaining is problem solving and, if not, you are doing it wrong."

Lear, 60, and his wife Jo live in Sioux City, where their two adult children and two grandchildren, ages 5 and 9, also live. In retirement, Lear plans to read, walk and travel more than he could before. He also pushed back against a rumor that he'll run for elective office.

"My wife told me, 'You are not running for any office,' and she is correct," Lear said.

"I think I will play with my grandchildren. I am good at that."
SIOUX CITY | Rachel Meisner was born May 11, 1994.

"She was 6 pounds and 14 ounces," said Dr. Jeff Kellogg, who performed the delivery at St. Luke's Hospital.

Kellogg, the Meisner family doctor, has been healing ailments for them for generations and on Saturday he cures one more problem.

Rachel, a Bishop Heelan grad, is marrying Hunter Hovde, an East High alum. The two first met in middle school and began dating in high school. Hunter proposed last year by carving "Marry Me" into a tree while the two had dinner at their favorite camping spot.

Rachel said the wedding planning was going smoothly, until the ordained minister they arranged stopped answering their calls.

"We couldn't get a hold of him, and we couldn't get a hold of him," Rachel worried. "And we had already paid the deposit."

Rachel went to the minister's website and found his obituary -- a month before the wedding.

"I was in with Dr. Kellogg doing a checkup and he asked me how the wedding planning is going so I told him, 'Oh, it is falling apart, I don't know what to do," said Rachel, who explained what had happened. "Then (Kellogg) asked, 'Why don't you ask me?' I didn't even know he was an officiant, so I asked him. I'm happy it worked out."

Kellogg became an ordained minister online a few years ago to officiate at his niece's wedding in Wisconsin. He estimated he has been the doctor to at least 25 members of the bride's family through his practice at Family Health Care of Siouxland Morningside's Clinic, 4545 Sergeant Road.

Kellogg recalls while Rachel's mother, Roxanne, carried her, she had trouble with nausea.

"Rachel was just a pistol to mom throughout the pregnancy," Kellogg remembers after 23 years. "Mom was in labor for two days, she started having contractions on Monday and she was delivered on Wednesday."

Rachel said she keeps coming back to Kellogg because of the effort he puts into staying up-to-date with her loved ones.

"He takes time to talk about our personal lives and knows my whole family so he asks me, 'Oh, how is grandma doing or how is your brother,'" Rachel said. "It's what I like about him."

Rachel is an assistant manager at a clothing store and Hunter works at a Sioux City auto body shop and they just bought a house together. The two are celebrating their marriage at Country Celebrations, 5606 Hamilton Blvd, Saturday but a scheduling conflict forced them to pick another venue for the rehearsal. Kellogg then offered to have it in the breakroom at Family Health Care of Siouxland Friday.

"It is an honor," Kellogg said. "(My job) is to make sure it goes the way they want because it is her big day."
SIOUX CITY | When Spectra Venue Management takes over day-to-day operations of the Tyson Events Center and Orpheum Theatre, city leaders also plan to have the company involved in running Sioux City's tourism bureau.

But leaders acknowledged Friday that conversations need to be had about what that will look like moving forward.

The city is continuing to negotiate a contract with Spectra, a Philadelphia-based firm, to manage the city-owned Tyson Events Center and the privately-owned Orpheum Theatre. The City Council voted 4-0 Oct. 16 to enter negotiations with the firm for a management contract.

Tourism was not a piece included in Spectra's original proposal to manage the two publicly run venues, but Spectra representative Adam Flack on Friday told the Events Facilities Advisory Board that Spectra is on board with the plan.

"The short answer is yes, we would be interested in that," he said. "The long answer is, I'm not prepared to talk through the tourism part of it today."

Currently, tourism falls under the city's Events Facilities Department. Events Facilities Director Erika Newton told the board Friday the tourism bureau wields a budget of about $20,000 per year, primarily used for the annual Mardi Gras Big Parade, the Sioux City Foodie video series and approximately one marketing ad.

"We have more tourism ideas than we can financially support," Newton said. "We will need to have a conversation about tourism and what the goals and objectives are and how its going to be funded and how much its going to be funded."

City Manager Bob Padmore added that discussions should include how much Spectra's corporate marketing could assist the city with its efforts to boost tourism.

Padmore also said Friday that the city plans to have a contract negotiated with Spectra and ready for City Council approval by mid-November and to begin under new management by Jan. 1.

Asked by EFAB members whether their board should still exist under the new management structure and what its responsibilities might be, Padmore said he sees the value of maintaining the board, whose primary role is to advise the council on operations of the Tyson, Orpheum, Convention Center and tourism bureau.

Padmore later told the Journal some of its internal committees, such as finance and marketing, may not be necessary, while others, such as a contract oversight committee to monitor Spectra's adherence to its contract, may be added.

Padmore said conversations will continue on whether the nine-member board needs to be downsized and what its responsibilities will be moving forward.

Friday's discussion came as the annual Iowa Tourism Conference ended a three-day run in Sioux City.
AKRON, Iowa | Rep. Steve King went pheasant hunting with President Donald Trump's eldest son in Northwest Iowa Saturday as the party returned with dozens of birds and new questions about the probe into the Trump campaign's possible ties with Russia.

On a chilly morning, Donald Trump Jr. joined a group of 30 orange-clad hunters at the Hole N' the Wall's 1000-acre preserve near Akron. Trump Jr., well-known for his big game hunting expeditions, borrowed a single-barrel shotgun because he couldn't bring a weapon through airport security.

After returning to the lodge, Trump Jr. and his Secret Service detail left without taking questions from a group of journalists, which included a reporter from CNN and some other national news organizations. On Friday, CNN reported that a federal grand jury in Washington had approved the first charges in the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian meddling into the 2016 presidential election. The targets of the charges has been sealed by a judge, but warrants could be issued as early as Monday.

King and another hunting guest, his Republican colleague and friend, U.S. Rep. Louis Gohmert of Texas, took questions about the latest developments in the investigation, as well as Trump Jr.'s hunting skills.

"He was a very, very good shot," King said of the president's son. "Out of all the presidential candidates that have come through here, I would put up Don. Jr. against any of them."

The annual hunt, a major fundraiser for King's re-election campaign, has attracted a number of high-profile Republican figures in the past, including presidential contenders Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and then-Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal in the fall of 2015, in the thick of the campaign for Iowa's first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. The pheasant hunt is named for Col. Bud Day, a Sioux City native and Vietnam War POW. A Medal of Honor recipient, he was the nation's most highly decorated living service member when he died in July 2013 at age 88. Day and King hunted together periodically.

Saturday's hunting party reportedly bagged nearly 100 roosters, though King said he was not sure of the exact number.

"It was a beautiful, clear still day in Iowa and the sky was so full of feathers one could be convinced the angels were having a pillow fight," he quipped.

Some Republicans have called into question Mueller's ability to fairly oversee the investigation due to the FBIs handling of Hillary Clintons private email server along with recent information regarding sales of U.S. uranium to Russia while Mueller was FBI director.

Asked about reports of indictments in the Russian probe, Gohmert and King both said Mueller serving as the special counselor is unethical and inappropriate, considering his friendship with former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired by Trump earlier this year.

"This is not a guy that should have taken that on ... when we found out that Mueller was involved in covering up the initial Russian investigation, it became very clear why he didn't disqualify himself when he should of. He was trying to cover up the cover-up is what he was doing," Gohmert said.

King said both Comey and Mueller should be subject to investigation.

"(Mueller) should be in that list along with the rest of them," King said. "And I can't be confident that Comey is getting examined very thoroughly with Mueller at the head of that."

Trump Jr., who with his younger brother, Eric, are running the Trump business empire while their father takes a leave of absence from the business, planned to spend the night at the Hole 'n the Wall Lodge. On Saturday night, he joined King contributors at a dinner that featured deep-fat-fried pheasant, Iowa pork chops and sweet corn from King and his wife, Marilyn.
Rocky Mountain College students will be trick-or-treating on Halloween for the school's annual food drive.

About 45 students will be knocking on doors in neighborhoods close to the college in search of non-perishable food items for the Halloween for Hunger event.

The drive benefits Rose Park Elementary School and Family Service of Billings.

There were 106 students at Rose Park Elementary who participated in the free and reduced lunch program in 2016. Some students take food home for the weekends. The school enrolled eight homeless students in 2016, according to Rocky Mountain College.

The teams of students will be out north of campus, between Stanford Drive and Cactus Drive, as well as west of campus, between 17th Avenue West and Arvin Road.

Being an educator means knowing that if a kids basic needs arent being met, theyre not going to be able to go to school and learn, said Jessie Novak, a ROMC sophomore who's organizing this year's drive.

If we can help to meet these kids needs, then theyll be able to better focus on learning and becoming successful members of society.

The trick-or-treaters will be out between 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. A collection area has also been set up in the Bair Family Student Center lobby on campus.
DES MOINES | The 8-second video shows the red lights of a stopped school bus flashing through an early morning haze.

Three seconds in, the headlights of a moving vehicle appear. It does not stop.

One second later, the outline of a child streaks across the road in front of the vehicle, which does not stop, swerves onto the shoulder and misses striking the child by mere feet.

Its only 8 seconds, said Chris Darling, executive director of the Iowa Pupil Transportation Association. But in 8 seconds, that child could have lost their life.

Darling said the incident, which recently was captured on a camera mounted on the side of the school bus, happened in Iowa, although the school districts administration asked Darlington not to share the districts name. Darling said the driver was cited for illegally passing a stopped school bus and has a trial date in November.

Five years ago Iowa strengthened the penalties for violating the states law against passing a stopped school bus, increasing the first-offense penalty from $200 to anywhere from $250 to $675.

When the law was strengthened in 2012, it was named in honor of Kadyn Halverson, a 7-year-old North Iowa girl who was killed in 2011 when she was struck by a vehicle while crossing the road to board a school bus.

Since the penalties were increased, the number of charges and convictions for passing a stopped school bus have declined, as has the rate of convictions, according to data compiled by the states nonpartisan legal agency.

And yet drivers continue to pass stopped school buses at an alarming rate. Although there have been no deaths as a result of drivers passing a stopped school bus in Iowa since Kadyn Halverson, on one day this past May officials at about a third of Iowa school districts participated in a survey and observed 267 incidents of drivers passing a stopped school bus, a state education official said.

If the rate was similar across all school districts, that would equate to roughly 800 incidents in a single day.

As a nation and a community and a state, (Iowa lawmakers in 2012) stepped up and said we need to try to find a way to prevent this and make people aware of it. And they really thought this (increased) fine system would do it, Darling said.

It has not.

In 2012, there were 1,023 charges filed and 984 convictions for unlawful passing of a school bus, according to the figures compiled by Iowas nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency, using data from the Iowa Department of Transportation and the Department of Human Rights.

In 2016, there were 940 charges filed and just 581 convictions.

That represents a conviction rate in 2012 of 96.2 percent and in 2016 a rate of just 61.8 percent.

Agency staff noted the data is not a perfect representation of convictions as a rate of charges because some cases can cross over calendar years.

We just havent gotten any support from the county attorneys, said Max Christensen, transportation consultant for the state education department. They just dont follow through on it. I dont know if they feel they cant get a conviction.

But even people like Christensen and Darling, who wish to see more convictions for passing a stopped school bus acknowledge it can be difficult to catch a driver in the act, secure enough information to file charges, and prosecute.

If a school bus does not have a camera mounted on the outside  and many dont  and no law enforcement is nearby, it is up to the bus driver to witness the violation and secure enough identifying information  a license plate number and description of the driver  to make charges stand up in court.

Bus drivers must do this all while still guiding children onto or off the bus.

Watching kids getting on or off, your first concern is for their safety, Christensen said. Your second concern is to get the license plate number, the description of the driver, that sort of thing.

Christensen and Darling also said some school bus drivers have given up on reporting incidents because they have become disheartened by a lack of charges and convictions.

How its being prosecuted and followed through with is also a hindrance to the law, Darling said.

Prosecutors with the Linn and Johnson county attorneys offices said some elements of the law make it difficult to prosecute.

There is something unique about these charges, said Matt Kishinami, Assistant Linn County Attorney. Theyre not initiated by law enforcement and the perp or suspect is not stopped and identified  at the scene of the crime.

Because of that, the primary witness typically is the bus driver instead of a trained expert, like a police officer. Kishinami said while police often show up with their reports and tend to be experienced answering questions in front of people, that often is not the case with bus drivers.

And prosecutors must prove who was behind the wheel of the vehicle when the violation occurred.

You have to prove who the driver was, said Rachel Zimmerman Smith, Assistant Johnson County Attorney. You speed, the person in the drivers seat is the defendant. Your car drives by the school bus, it could be your 17-year-old kid. Its hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. We still have to prove all of our offenses beyond a reasonable doubt.

Because of the penalties associated with the crime  including the possibility of a 30-day suspension of the drivers license  defendants are less likely to plead guilty to the offense like they would a speeding ticket or other moving violation, Zimmerman Smith said.

Attorneys and judges are prosecuting the law unevenly across the state, Darling said. He said some counties fully prosecute the law while others commonly agree to plea bargains, often with community service in place of the license revocation.

I can get a ticket in one part of the state and actually be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, he said. Then I can get a ticket in another part of the state and get it plea bargained.

Darling said more education about the law, its penalties and the dangers of passing a stopped school bus could help reduce the number of incidents and increase the number of convictions. He and Christensen agree the law and penalties are worthwhile, but that the problem persists.

Theres a lot of chances for kids to get hurt. Its a real concern, Christensen said. I think the school bus drivers throughout the state of Iowa do a really good job of caring for the kids on their bus, and are very concerned about this. ...

It just scares the pants off you. It really does.

Lee Hermiston of the Cedar Rapids Gazette contributed.
WASHINGTON -- Yes, it's a very big deal that Republicans Jeff Flake, Bob Corker, John McCain and George W. Bush are now ready to take on what Flake rightly calls President Trump's "reckless, outrageous and undignified" behavior. Their voices are the sound of the protective political wall around the White House cracking.

But the other side to this story is as disturbing as the signs of open rebellion are heartening: Both Corker and Flake have chosen not to run for re-election because they know that their views are out of line with those of the GOP's electorate.

Flake was plainly on track to lose re-election next year. The Republican congressional leadership, far from embracing Flake and Corker, moved immediately to sidestep any challenges to their "complicity" and get on with tax cuts, their sacred cause.

And House Republicans responded to the crisis in their party by announcing -- a new investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails! "Saturday Night Live" writers, take note.

Trump, for once, was not deluded in suggesting in a Wednesday morning tweet that Flake speaks for a decided minority in their party: "Jeff Flake, with an 18% approval rating in Arizona, said 'a lot of my colleagues have spoken out.' Really, they just gave me a standing O!"

Flake's address on the floor of the Senate coincided with the release of an important new study by the Pew Research Center that helped explain Trump's self-confidence. The report analyzed the United States' political landscape and offered an updated typology of the key partisan and ideological groups in the American electorate. The model for the typology was first created in 1987 by the late Andrew Kohut, one of his generation's wisest students of public opinion, and Pew has regularly revised it to correspond with new political circumstances.

Pew described four GOP groups: Core Conservatives, 34 percent of registered voters who call themselves Republican or lean that way; Country First Conservatives, 15 percent; Market Skeptic Republicans (22 percent); and New Era Enterprisers (18 percent). The remainder of Republicans scatter among other groups in Pew's typology.

The first two groups are particularly loyal to the GOP. Core Conservatives are who you think they are: reasonably affluent voters favoring small government and low taxes. Country First Conservatives are the folks Trumpist agitator Steve Bannon loves: older social conservatives deeply skeptical of immigration and the United States' global involvement.

If Flake represents anyone, given his ideology, it would be Core Conservatives. But as of this summer, when the survey on which the study is based was undertaken, 93 percent of Core Conservatives approved of Trump's job performance and 90 percent had a favorable view of him. If this group stays with Trump, most congressional Republicans will, too. Country Firsters gave Trump an 84 percent approval rating and a 93 percent personal favorable rating.

But it's not just the most faithful Republicans who stuck with Trump. Market Skeptic Republicans, who take a dim view of "powerful interests" and believe businesses make too much profit, gave Trump a 66 percent approval rating. Among New Era Enterprisers -- economic conservatives who are moderate on immigration and U.S. global engagement and relatively liberal on social issues -- Trump's approval stood at 63 percent.

Trump's GOP numbers may well have deteriorated in the months since the survey was completed, and even then, there were warning signs in the answers Republicans gave to a question Pew asked about how Trump "conducts himself as president."

Among Core Conservatives, only 41 percent liked the way Trump conducts himself, 51 percent had mixed feelings and 8 percent disliked his conduct. For Country First Conservatives, the numbers are 51 percent like, 39 percent mixed, and 9 percent dislike. Given how outrageous Trump's behavior is, those "dislike" figures are still very low.

His ratings were worse in the other GOP groups: Only 24 percent of Market Skeptic Republicans liked Trump's behavior while 26 percent disliked it. And in the younger New Era group, Trump was underwater: Only 23 percent liked Trump's behavior; 39 percent disliked it.

Trump's GOP opponents can still hope to demonstrate that the negative impact of how the president operates matters far more than any ideological victories he might deliver to conservatives. Trump daily proves Corker's point that it's foolish to expect he'll ever change.

But it will be an uphill struggle. Republicans like Flake and Corker have reason to worry their party is so profoundly Trumpified that it is lost to them. At some point, they may just have to walk away.
Ryan Murphy, the man behind hit shows such as American Horror Story and Scream Queens, has made history with his new show, FXs Pose. The pilot of the show, which is set to begin production in New York next month, will be featuring a total of five transgender actors, making history with the largest number of transgender actors in series regular roles for a scripted series.

The 1980s drama series is taking an even farther step toward equality by also inviting transgender directors to be mentored through Murphys Directing Mentorship Program, which he began after launching his Half initiative, a foundation within 20th Century Fox aimed at creating equal opportunities for women and minorities behind the camera.

The five actors that will be joining the cast are MJ Rodriguez, Indya Moore, Dominique Jackson, Hailie Sahar and Angelica Ross. The actors will all be playing trans characters living in ballroom culture, while also shining light on the rise of the Trump-era.

We are thrilled that Pose pushes the narrative forward by centering on the unique and under-told experiences of trans women and gay people of color," co-creator Steven Canals told The Hollywood Reporter. Ryan has assembled a strong team of storytellers and innovators to collaborate on telling this important narrative. As a Bronx-bred queer writer of color, I'm honored to aid in ushering this groundbreaking show into homes."

Due to Murphys Half initiative, FX networks director slate increased from 12 percent female/diverse directors in 2015 to 51 percent in 2016.

I love looking around my company and empowering inclusion in all departments, Murphy told Deadline earlier this year. I recently led a production meeting and was proud to see that more than half of the people sitting at the table were women and minorities. Thats the way it should be.
Saturday, Oct. 28 is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Montana law enforcement, Department of Justice and tribal officials have set up 24 sites across the state where the public can take unused prescription drugs. The drugs will be incinerated.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., a drug take-back site will be accepting prescription pills at the Elks Lodge, 934 Lewis Ave., in Billings. Other sites around the state can be found online at https://takebackday.dea.gov/#collection-locator

Unwanted prescriptions can also be disposed of throughout the year at 50 permanent drop box locations across the state. A list of locations is available at www.resolvemontana.org.

The following items cannot be accepted at the Take-Back events: Illegal drugs, chemotherapy drugs, needles, sharps, mercury (thermometers), oxygen containers, pressurized canisters and radioactive substances.

Montanas drug take-back events in April yielded more than 4,300 pounds of prescription drugs.

To learn more about substance abuse in Montana, visit the Montana Department of Justices Substance Use in Montana Report. For more information about the Attorney Generals Aid Montana: Addressing the Impact of Drugs initiative, click here.
Maltz Jupiter Theatre opens its 2017/18 season with Born Yesterday, a mid-20th century American comedy by playwright Garson Kanin that has stood the vagaries of time on stage (1946, 1989 and 2011) and in movies (1950 and 1993) and starring Broadways Drama Desk Award winner, Andrea Burns as Billie Dawn, an ex-showgirl who, according to the Maltz press release, gives everyone a run for their money.

Onstage October 29  November 12 at Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E Indiantown Rd, Jupiter, single tickets start at $58. For tickets and showtimes, call (561) 575-2223 or visit www.jupitertheatre.org

So, wheres the gay angle? It arrived in the form of Matt Gregorio, an openly gay actor who was not born yesterday and who chose not to share his age. Beside that little vanity, Gregorio has given some thought to the issues facing LGBT people in theater and was happy to share them.

Its a lot better than it was, opined Gregorio who recalled being bullied when he was young but got less as he got older. But with the current situation in Washington its anybodys guess whats going to happen, which makes it all the more important to be visible, he added.

We [LGBT people] have lots of stories in our lives and its important that we share them and let people see that were not really different, he added.

Gregorio was born and raised in metropolitan Boston with a supportive, if not particularly artistic family of mother, father and older brother. Both of his grandmothers, however, were artistic: one a vocalist; the other a pianist. Both of them encouraged their grandson at an early age for which he is very grateful.

Given this encouragement he set his course toward theater but got a degree in exercise physiology, just in case Happily, he hasnt had to use it.

He praises Will and Grace for using humor to help society be more aware of the seriousness of gay lives and less of a novelty to the heterosexual majority. And he strongly supports using transgender actors to play transgender roles.

Gregorio sees himself as an actor who happens to be gay which is how he says he views heterosexual actors.

Theyre actors who just happen to be straight or have blue eyes or blond hair, he said.

Born Yesterday is Gregorios debut on the Maltz stage and he gives the entire team high marks for coming together so quickly and providing a supportive atmosphere in which to work. He plays the role of Eddie Brock, the younger brother of lead male, Harry Brock (Dominic Comperatore).

He agrees that in the 21st century his role could probably be played with a gay twist [its not] that just wouldnt have made it in 1946.

Gregorio is moving to South Florida so local theatre-goers may see more of him. Hes single and not currently dating anyone altho he plans to spend more time with his brothers children ages 2 and 4.

Head Shot by Dirty Sugar courtesy Matt Gregorio
This Week at NASA: Mars InSight, Vice President Mike Pence, the Pope and More. NASA

On Oct. 26, Vice President Mike Pence joined our Associate Administrator for Science, Thomas Zurbuchen for a close-up view of the agencys Mars InSight spacecraft, during a visit to the Littleton, Colorado facilities of Lockheed Martin.

InSight is being prepped for a May 2018 launch to the Red Planet, with landing targeted for next November. The mission will study the deep interior of Mars, with a primary goal of helping scientists understand how rocky planets  including Earth  formed and evolved. The vice president also visited a Virtual Reality lab that featured demos of the companys human exploration efforts, including our Orion spacecraft. Orion will launch on the agencys Space Launch System rocket, and take humans farther into the solar system than ever before. Also, Interstellar Visitor from Beyond the Solar System, Space Station Crew Talks with Pope Francis, Dawn Finds Possible Ancient Ocean Remnants at Ceres, and Take a Walk on Mars.
TOLEDO  The decay of Toledo High School was evident to influential state lawmakers who toured the 42-year old school Thursday and heard about plans to renovate it if voters here approve a $12.9 million bond on Nov. 7.

Members of the House Capital Budget Committee toured several schools in the region, including in Lacey and Chehalis, and expressed shock and sadness at the state of Toledo High school.

Its due, noted one lawmaker, shaking her head.

Toledo Superintendent Chris Rust led the group of legislators and officials from other school districts around the high school, pointing out structural problems and failing systems: Classrooms are woefully short of electrical outlets; flimsy, movable interior walls are porous to voices and sounds from adjoining classrooms; the lunchrooms floor-to-ceiling windows leak in rainy weather; theres no air conditioning and the school has no windows that open, creating security concerns when teachers open exterior doors (there are 33 of them) to cool students in hot weather; the brick facade is vulnerable to collapse in earthquakes.

No one in our district is complaining about anything, Rust said. We make it clear that we will teach their children in whatever conditions necessary  but if you want better for your community, heres what we can do.

All three Toledo schools would be addressed in the bond, but the $10.7 million designated for upgrades at the high school would make up the lions share of the bond.

The high schools degradation is entirely related to its age and not flaws in the original design, Rust said.

The state expects to help us with construction every 30 years and its been 42, so its strictly the length of time, he said.

The school district estimates that it could qualify for about $8 million in matching funds from the State Construction Assistance Program (SCAP)  but only if the community agrees to pay its share of the costs through the bond.

When the high school turned 30 in 2005, the district was still paying off debt on a $5.8 million bond for the elementary and middle schools. Taking on additional debt to upgrade the high school was impractical then, Rust said.

But after that bond was paid off, voters in 2014 rejected a $23.5 million bond proposal amid voter complaints that the district did not explain how the money would be spent. Another bond proposal last February for $14.2 million fell about 60 votes short of the required 60 percent supermajority in February. So the proposal before voters this November is the third time in three years the district has attempted to address the needs of the high school and other facilities.

I thought the last one was going to pass, Rust said. I was surprised that it didnt. So I dont know what will happen.

Since February, the district Facilities Advisory Committee has pared back the bond proposal, working on a premise that the bond must be less than $13 million to pass. In the end, the committee kept many of the same projects on the bond proposal, but some upgrades were accomplished with existing money and and new cost estimates have been turned down some.

During Thursdays tour, Rust highlighted a brand new drinking fountain which was part of the two failed bond proposals but the district fixed recently with maintenance and operating (M/O) levy money. The fountain had been out of commission and wrapped in a trash bag for at least 10 years, Rust said.

I cant tell you how proud I am of that project, Rust said. It was the posterchild for the bond last time around, and to be able to fix that shows that we arent standing around waiting for a handout.

The district also used M/O levy funds to purchase a new dishwasher and washing machine and update exterior lighting, fencing and security cameras.

The $12.9 million bond includes $330,000 to replace the boiler and $500,000 to re-roof the middle school. The district will use a grant and existing funds for those projects, so it will no longer need bond money for them. However, its now estimating that all the bond-funded work will cost 4 percent more, so the full bond amount is necessary, according to Rust.

There is no fluff in this bond, he said in a phone call Friday. Were going to have to be really frugal and tighter than anything as we go through this construction.

Any bond money not needed for renovations will be used to pay off debt, Rust said.

The proposed bond would cost district voters $1.94 per $1,000 of assessed property value annually for 21 years. That would cost the owner of a $150,000 home $291 annually.

Rust acknowledge that the cost is enormous.

The children in kindergarten right now  will be paying on this bond, Rust said Friday. There are people voting on this bond who will die before this is paid off. So it is a huge community decision.

Rust said he thinks upgrades to the school would improve community spirit.

There are expectations that come along with supporting a project like this, Rust said. When you send that kind of message to people, they sit up straighter and walk taller and produce at higher levels.  Similarly, if you allow the building to decay and dont take care of it, people start to think, If you dont care about it, why should I? 
YALE  Daytime travelers who use Lewis River Road (State Route 503) east of Woodland should plan to use an alternate route next week.

State contract workers will close the highway near Speelyai Bay Road and detour traffic for rock blasting and hillside stabilization work from noon until 4 p.m. Thursday, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

During the closure, travelers will follow a signed detour route. When the highway reopens, traffic will continue to alternate through one lane of highway until the project is complete.

Crews occasionally wrap up work early and reopen the highway sooner than scheduled. Drivers are encouraged to check current travel conditions by visiting WSDOTs travel alerts or via the WSDOT mobile app.

WSDOT has been working since last winter to stabilize a sheer rock face that could collapse and sent tons of rock cascading onto the highway below.,
With 11 days left to vote, turnout in Cowlitz County is lagging far behind historical and statewide trends. Just 6.4 percent of eligible voters have voted so far, according to Fridays ballot count by county election officials.

Thats significantly behind the 2015 off-year election, when 9 percent of eligible Cowlitz voters had cast ballots by Fridays date. This years voter turnout also trails the 2013 general election turnout, when 8.7 percent of eligible voters voted in the week after ballots were mailed out.

County election officials had collected 4,031 ballot as of Friday  about 1,500 fewer than at the same point in the previous off-year election.

Cowlitz appears to be bucking a statewide trend of increased voter turnout compared to 2013, according to voter data reported by the Secretary of State. And thats surprising in light of the number of contested races and the presence of the $121.6 million bond that Longview School District voters are being asked to approve.

This years election really matters because there are so many local races and measures on the ballot that can affect voters and their communities very much, said Brian Zylstra, a spokesman with the Secretary of States office.

Cowlitz voters will decide eight different ballot measures this year.

The Longview school districts $121.6 million bond proposal will determine the future of local public schools. In addition to requiring 60 percent voter support, the measure also needs at least 40 percent voter turnout compared to the 2016 election to be valid.

Meanwhile, the fate of Kalamas police force hinges on Proposition 1  the citys $2.2 million bond proposal to build a new police station at Maruhn Park. The citys police officers have been headquartered in the Kalama Community Building on Elm Street since the citys downtown flooded in December 2015. The measure also needs 40 percent turnout compared to last years general election to be validated.

There are a lot of heavy gorillas on the plate, said Don OHall, a member of the Kalama Planning Commission.

In Woodland, the town is hoping to raise more revenue to hire more police officers by asking voters to approve a levy lid lift. Advocates of the ballot measure say the funding is sorely needed to expand Woodlands 10-officer police force, which is understaffed compared to national averages.

Low voter turnout is nothing new in Cowlitz County, which has ranked near the bottom of Washingtons 39 counties recently. Cowlitz had the fourth-lowest voter turnout in the state in 2015 with 33 percent.

Turnout was better in 2013, when 38 percent of voters cast ballots in the off-year election. But that was still the third-lowest rate of turnout in the state that year.

Even in 2016, when 75 percent of eligible Cowlitz voters cast ballots in the hotly contested presidential-year general election, the county recorded the seventh-lowest rate of voter turnout in the state.

Supporters of the Longview school bond are scrambling to get people to fill out ballots and turn them in.

Volunteers are doing matchbacks, said Longview Fire Chief Phil Jurmu, who chairs the publicity arm of the independent committee supporting the bond. Matchbacks involve using publicly available data from the Secretary of State to see who voted last year and who has already voted this year.

Bond supporters are checking with county election officials to see who voted in the last election but has yet to vote in this one, then knocking on their doors and encouraging them to vote, Jurmu said. Jurmu said the committee will be mustering an army of volunteers after Nov.1 who will go to addresses of people who havent voted by then.

The committee has also spent part of the $10,400 it raised in donations on postage for mailers sent to people who voted in the last election.

Jurmu said no matter the outcome, the election results will give the district a good idea of what the community is willing to support.

Were also wanting to get a feeling from the community about what they want, he said. If we get 14,000 people voting, then that gives us a pretty good statistical snapshot of how people feel. Its really up to the people who live here.
A stealthy political battle in Olympia flared into the open Wednesday, as state Attorney General Bob Ferguson published a 9-page letter defending his multiple legal actions against President Donald Trumps administration.

Fergusons missive, addressed to Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, and copied to all senators, came in response to an Oct. 9 inquiry from Senate Republican staff that sought a list of all lawsuits currently pending against any entity of the federal government filed since Jan. 1, as well as associated costs.

The answer: 17 lawsuits. The costs: Minimal, according to Ferguson, a Democrat.

It is unfortunate that my office has had to take so many legal actions against the Trump Administration, the letter states. That said, I want to be very clear  I will continue to challenge any unlawful and unconstitutional actions by the Trump Administration that harm Washingtonians. The president will be accountable to the rule of law.

Ferguson offered no additional statement apart from the letter. His communications director, Brionna Aho, reached Friday, said the letter speaks for itself.

Reached Thursday, Schoesler said he had seen the letter, but not examined it closely. He added that he was not aware of the original inquiry from staff to Fergusons office and was not one of the anonymous Senate Republicans mentioned in the letter.

I looked it over briefly, Schoesler said. I couldnt pass a test on it.

Fergusons letter describes various legal actions where the state is the lead plaintiff or a partner with other states. Most of the suits are still active. Many relate to immigration issues, chiefly travel restrictions sought by the Trump administration. Another lawsuit filed in September by 17 attorneys general aims at Trumps decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), which involves so-called Dreamers, meaning children brought to the United States by parents who entered the country illegally.

Another lawsuit would block Trumps announced ban on transgender people serving in the military. Additional cases relate to environmental and energy-efficiency standards, and consumer protections for college students who obtain loans. Ferguson also notes that he twice sued the Obama administration regarding issues related to the Hanford nuclear facility, adding that the inquiry from Senate staff sought no information regarding those actions.

Noting that his actions are intended to preserve rules protecting consumers and workers, as well as fighting decisions he believes are unconstitutional, Ferguson touted an unbroken record of success.

Every court to rule on our lawsuits has ruled in favor of Washington state, Ferguson wrote.

He contends that legal costs are minimal, echoing similar statements from his predecessor, Rob McKenna, who filed suit against the Obama administration over the Affordable Care Act, a move supported at the time by Senate Republicans, including Schoesler.

Assistant attorneys in his office work in the evenings and weekends on the cases, Ferguson argued, resulting in limited expense.

While these 17 lawsuits are extremely important, and therefore receive significant attention, they represent a tiny fraction of the work my office is doing on behalf of the people and the state of Washington each and every day, the letter states.

Asked about those costs, Schoesler said that state agencies represented by the Attorney Generals office are billed for legal services, and such accounting is the norm in state government.

I hope that the attorney general has time for his traditional clients in state government, Schoesler said.

The lawsuits filed since January by Fergusons office, along with public criticisms of the Trump administration have raised his national profile, and fueled speculation that he intends to run for governor in 2020. The News Tribune reported on that gossip in May. Ferguson brushed off the idea, but political insiders from both parties said his moves built a store of credibility with the states Democratic base.

That would be my observation as well, Schoesler said. I think everybody in Olympia pretty much believes that hes looking for opportunities.
The search for a Casper police chief is down to five finalists, City Manager Carter Napier said Friday.

Interviews for the position will take place next week and the city manager hopes to finalize a hire by Nov. 10. Napier had previously said he hoped to hire a new chief by the end of October to take over in time for the December holidays.

The candidates include Interim Chief Steve Schulz, the former chief of a much larger agency, one "experienced command staffer" from a larger agency, the chief of a department roughly the size of Casper's and the deputy chief of another similarly sized department.

Napier said the city manager's office is in the process of contacting the other three finalists for the position and their current employers. He said he would be able to release the names of the other three finalists on Monday morning.

The position has been staffed by Schulz in an interim capacity since May. The previous chief, Jim Wetzel, was dismissed May 5, following a month of turmoil at the department centered on complaints of morale problems. However, the city has not offered an official explanation for Wetzels departure.

Napier has said he is looking for a candidate who is able to partner with citizens, local agencies and nearby police departments, in addition to directing officers inside the Casper Police Department.

Napier said he will be able to consult an outside review of the police department as he makes his hiring decision. The review has been in the works since spring and was recently finalized. The results of the review were made public Friday.
Closing the generation gap

(Thumbs up)

The sky is falling, Georgia Kulju recently exclaimed at a rehearsal for the play Chicken Little as preschool students followed her, waving animal pictures glued to popsicle sticks.

She, other residents at the Delaware Plaza Retirement Home and several 3- to 5-year-old preschoolers are part of the new Golden Apple program, a partnership between the assisted living residence and the Longview Parks and Recreation Department, according to a TDN story written by reporter Rose Lundy.

The city of Longview has been exploring intergenerational programs and saw the idea for the Golden Apple program on the news a couple of years ago, according to Lundys story.

Longview Parks and Recreation coordinator Karry Williquette told Lundy that after reaching out to Delaware Plaza, they ran with the idea of combining preschool lessons with activities for the plazas residents to build a stronger community and close the gap between the young and the old.

And, the program is working.

Seven preschoolers meet with their teacher Tuesdays and Thursdays in a room at the retirement home. Since the program began in September, Debbie Baher, director of community relations at Delaware Plaza told Lundy the residents have a perk in their step when the children are around.

And, the children display a higher level of maturity when interacting with their retirement home friends. Baher told Lundy a child observed a resident was missing his oxygen tank and the duo went looking for it.

One resident, who is 92, told Lundy she enjoys playing outside with her younger friends during nice weather, noting it brings back memories of having fun with her children. Another, who is 80, told Lundy she likes the programs activities, thinks the residents enjoy seeing the children and it helps teach the children how to behave.

Any time you can bring different generations together to learn and have fun, it is a good thing.

College Success Fund

(Thumbs up)

The state-funded part of Lower Columbia Colleges operating budget has shrunk 23 percent since 2008 according to a TDN story by reporter Zack Hale.

To fill in the gaps where state funding falls short, the college launched the College Success Fund being run through the non-profit Lower Columbia College Foundation. Since the initiative was introduced at LCCs annual gala in September, $85,000 has been raised.

The money will be used to buy new equipment for classrooms and new buildings, Kendra Sprague, vice president of the foundation, told Hale.

It also will be used for scholarships. Perhaps even for veterans support services, student-led projects and industrial trades recruitment.

Sprague noted the foundation has been helping with these types of projects for years, but now the foundation can help even more.

Ultimately, the CSF will benefit students by giving them access to state-of-the-art classrooms, new programs and additional scholarship money, Sprague told Hale.

Kudos to the college for working to create new ways to raise money for education as state funding shrinks.

Lousy job

Earlier this week The Columbian broke a news story indicating Vancouvers Westside Wastewater Treatment facility dumped 100,000 gallons of raw sewage into the Columbia River on Wednesday.

This is unbelievable.

Just four weeks ago this same facility dumped 400,000 gallons of raw sewage into the Columbia River due to an equipment malfunction.

This latest dump is being attributed to a contractor error and makes the estimated total amount of raw sewage dumped into the Columbia River this month at 500,000 gallons. By comparison, an Olympic size swimming pool holds about 660,000 gallons.

If you remember earlier this year the Westpoint Wastewater Treatment facility up in King County suffered an electrical failure, which triggered significant equipment failure. The catastrophic equipment failure resulted in an estimated 30 million gallons of raw sewage being dumped into the Puget Sound.

It seems to us at least two wastewater plants are doing a crappy job.

Commissioner Weber

(Thumbs Up)

When news issues arise, we often ask for a personal tour. In this case, we called Cowlitz County Commissioner Dennis Weber and asked him to arrange for a tour of the Headquarters Landfill. Weber took time out of his day to schedule, arrange and accompany three TDN staffers on a tour of the landfill  and we really appreciate it.

Thank you Commissioner Weber.

We spent about two hours driving around the landfill, asking questions and taking pictures.

When you experience something first hand, it almost always provides a deeper understanding.

With the landfill being in the news a lot lately we wanted to make sure we understand how the landfill operates.

In the coming weeks, youll also see some of the photos taken of various parts of the operation.

Needless to say, TDNs coverage of the landfill will be the highest quality possible  due to Commissioner Weber and the Headquarter Landfill team taking time to show us around.
Mr. President, I rise today to address a matter that has been much on my mind, at a moment when it seems that our democracy is more defined by our discord and our dysfunction than it is by our values and our principles. Let me begin by noting a somewhat obvious point that these offices that we hold are not ours to hold indefinitely. We are not here simply to mark time. Sustained incumbency is certainly not the point of seeking office. And there are times when we must risk our careers in favor of our principles.

Now is such a time.

It must also be said that I rise today with no small measure of regret. Regret, because of the state of our disunion, regret because of the disrepair and destructiveness of our politics, regret because of the indecency of our discourse, regret because of the coarseness of our leadership, regret for the compromise of our moral authority, and by our  all of our  complicity in this alarming and dangerous state of affairs. It is time for our complicity and our accommodation of the unacceptable to end.

In this century, a new phrase has entered the language to describe the accommodation of a new and undesirable order  that phrase being the new normal. But we must never adjust to the present coarseness of our national dialogue  with the tone set at the top.

We must never regard as normal the regular and casual undermining of our democratic norms and ideals. We must never meekly accept the daily sundering of our country  the personal attacks, the threats against principles, freedoms, and institutions, the flagrant disregard for truth or decency, the reckless provocations, most often for the pettiest and most personal reasons, reasons having nothing whatsoever to do with the fortunes of the people that we have all been elected to serve.

None of these appalling features of our current politics should ever be regarded as normal. We must never allow ourselves to lapse into thinking that this is just the way things are now. If we simply become inured to this condition, thinking that this is just politics as usual, then heaven help us. Without fear of the consequences, and without consideration of the rules of what is politically safe or palatable, we must stop pretending that the degradation of our politics and the conduct of some in our executive branch are normal. They are not normal.

Reckless, outrageous, and undignified behavior has become excused and countenanced as telling it like it is, when it is actually just reckless, outrageous, and undignified.

And when such behavior emanates from the top of our government, it is something else: It is dangerous to a democracy. Such behavior does not project strength  because our strength comes from our values. It instead projects a corruption of the spirit, and weakness.

Children are watching

It is often said that children are watching. Well, they are. And what are we going to do about that? When the next generation asks us, Why didnt you do something? Why didnt you speak up? What are we going to say?

Mr. President, I rise today to say: Enough. We must dedicate ourselves to making sure that the anomalous never becomes normal. With respect and humility, I must say that we have fooled ourselves for long enough that a pivot to governing is right around the corner, a return to civility and stability right behind it. We know better than that. By now, we all know better than that.

Here, today, I stand to say that we would better serve the country and better fulfill our obligations under the constitution by adhering to our Article 1 old normal  Mr. Madisons doctrine of the separation of powers. This genius innovation which affirms Madisons status as a true visionary and for which Madison argued in Federalist 51  held that the equal branches of our government would balance and counteract each other when necessary. Ambition counteracts ambition, he wrote.

But what happens if ambition fails to counteract ambition? What happens if stability fails to assert itself in the face of chaos and instability? If decency fails to call out indecency? Were the shoe on the other foot, would we Republicans meekly accept such behavior on display from dominant Democrats? Of course not, and we would be wrong if we did.

When we remain silent and fail to act, when we know that that silence and inaction is the wrong thing to do  because of political considerations, because we might make enemies, because we might alienate the base, because we might provoke a primary challenge, because ad infinitum, ad nauseam  when we succumb to those considerations in spite of what should be greater considerations and imperatives in defense of the institutions of our liberty, then we dishonor our principles and forsake our obligations. Those things are far more important than politics.

Now, I am aware that more politically savvy people than I caution against such talk. I am aware that a segment of my party believes that anything short of complete and unquestioning loyalty to a president who belongs to my party is unacceptable and suspect.

Duty and conscience

If I have been critical, it not because I relish criticizing the behavior of the president of the United States. If I have been critical, it is because I believe that it is my obligation to do so, as a matter of duty and conscience. The notion that one should stay silent as the norms and values that keep America strong are undermined and as the alliances and agreements that ensure the stability of the entire world are routinely threatened by the level of thought that goes into 140 characters  the notion that one should say and do nothing in the face of such mercurial behavior is ahistorical and, I believe, profoundly misguided.

A Republican president named Roosevelt had this to say about the president and a citizens relationship to the office:

The president is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the nation as a whole. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly as necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. President Roosevelt continued. To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.

Acting on conscience and principle is the manner in which we express our moral selves, and as such, loyalty to conscience and principle should supersede loyalty to any man or party. We can all be forgiven for failing in that measure from time to time. I certainly put myself at the top of the list of those who fall short in that regard. I am holier-than-none. But too often, we rush not to salvage principle but to forgive and excuse our failures so that we might accommodate them and go right on failinguntil the accommodation itself becomes our principle.

In that way and over time, we can justify almost any behavior and sacrifice almost any principle. Im afraid that is where we now find ourselves.

When a leader correctly identifies real hurt and insecurity in our country and instead of addressing it goes looking for somebody to blame, there is perhaps nothing more devastating to a pluralistic society. Leadership knows that most often a good place to start in assigning blame is to first look somewhat closer to home. Leadership knows where the buck stops. Humility helps. Character counts. Leadership does not knowingly encourage or feed ugly and debased appetites in us.

Leadership lives by the American creed: E Pluribus Unum. From many, one. American leadership looks to the world, and just as Lincoln did, sees the family of man. Humanity is not a zero-sum game. When we have been at our most prosperous, we have also been at our most principled. And when we do well, the rest of the world also does well.

These articles of civic faith have been central to the American identity for as long as we have all been alive. They are our birthright and our obligation. We must guard them jealously, and pass them on for as long as the calendar has days. To betray them, or to be unserious in their defense is a betrayal of the fundamental obligations of American leadership. And to behave as if they dont matter is simply not who we are.

70 years of prosperity

Now, the efficacy of American leadership around the globe has come into question. When the United States emerged from World War II we contributed about half of the worlds economic activity. It would have been easy to secure our dominance, keeping the countries that had been defeated or greatly weakened during the war in their place. We didnt do that. It would have been easy to focus inward. We resisted those impulses. Instead, we financed reconstruction of shattered countries and created international organizations and institutions that have helped provide security and foster prosperity around the world for more than 70 years.

Now, it seems that we, the architects of this visionary rules-based world order that has brought so much freedom and prosperity, are the ones most eager to abandon it.

The implications of this abandonment are profound. And the beneficiaries of this rather radical departure in the American approach to the world are the ideological enemies of our values. Despotism loves a vacuum. And our allies are now looking elsewhere for leadership. Why are they doing this? None of this is normal. And what do we as United States Senators have to say about it?

The principles that underlie our politics, the values of our founding, are too vital to our identity and to our survival to allow them to be compromised by the requirements of politics. Because politics can make us silent when we should speak, and silence can equal complicity.

I have children and grandchildren to answer to, and so, Mr. President, I will not be complicit.

I have decided that I will be better able to represent the people of Arizona and to better serve my country and my conscience by freeing myself from the political considerations that consume far too much bandwidth and would cause me to compromise far too many principles.

To that end, I am announcing today that my service in the Senate will conclude at the end of my term in early January 2019.

It is clear at this moment that a traditional conservative who believes in limited government and free markets, who is devoted to free trade, and who is pro-immigration, has a narrower and narrower path to nomination in the Republican party  the party that for so long has defined itself by belief in those things. It is also clear to me for the moment we have given in or given up on those core principles in favor of the more viscerally satisfying anger and resentment. To be clear, the anger and resentment that the people feel at the royal mess we have created are justified. But anger and resentment are not a governing philosophy.

There is an undeniable potency to a populist appeal  but mischaracterizing or misunderstanding our problems and giving in to the impulse to scapegoat and belittle threatens to turn us into a fearful, backward-looking people. In the case of the Republican party, those things also threaten to turn us into a fearful, backward-looking minority party.

We were not made great as a country by indulging or even exalting our worst impulses, turning against ourselves, glorying in the things which divide us, and calling fake things true and true things fake. And we did not become the beacon of freedom in the darkest corners of the world by flouting our institutions and failing to understand just how hard-won and vulnerable they are.

Unafraid to compromise

This spell will eventually break. That is my belief. We will return to ourselves once more, and I say the sooner the better. Because to have a healthy government we must have healthy and functioning parties. We must respect each other again in an atmosphere of shared facts and shared values, comity and good faith. We must argue our positions fervently, and never be afraid to compromise. We must assume the best of our fellow man, and always look for the good. Until that day comes, we must be unafraid to stand up and speak out as if our country depends on it. Because it does.

I plan to spend the remaining 14 months of my Senate term doing just that.

Mr. President, the graveyard is full of indispensable men and women  none of us here is indispensable. Nor were even the great figures from history who toiled at these very desks in this very chamber to shape this country that we have inherited. What is indispensable are the values that they consecrated in Philadelphia and in this place, values which have endured and will endure for so long as men and women wish to remain free. What is indispensable is what we do here in defense of those values. A political career doesnt mean much if we are complicit in undermining those values.

I thank my colleagues for indulging me here today, and will close by borrowing the words of President Lincoln, who knew more about healing enmity and preserving our founding values than any other American who has ever lived. His words from his first inaugural were a prayer in his time, and are no less so in ours:

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
Javed Akhtar receives Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award

Veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar has been honoured with the Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award. Akhtar received the honor in Mumbai on October 26 at an event which marked the 28th anniversary of Hridayesh Arts and the 80th birthday of veteran music composer Hridaynath Mangeshkar. Akhtar said that receiving the award was one of his highest honors as it comes from the Mangeshkar family.

"I had taken my first award for Zanjeer in this very hall. But all those awards are on one side? And I've received many? But this one is the most special. To get an award from Mangeshkar family is unbelievable, you can't think of India's music without them," he said.

Akhtar, 72, recalled how Lata Mangeshkar played a pivotal role in his journey as a lyricist.

"Yash Chopra sahab came to my house and said he was making Silsila and I should write the songs... I refused, saying I write poetry only for myself and script writing is enough.
N Korea nuclear weapon use would meet `massive military response`: Mattis

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and his South Korean counterpart Song Young-moo peer into North Korea from Observation Post Ouellette in the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea on Friday.

AFP, Seoul :

US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis warned Saturday that North Korea would face a "massive military response" if Pyongyang ever used its nuclear weapons.

"Make no mistake-any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated," he said at a press conference on his trip to Seoul.

"Any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response, effective and overwhelming."

Tensions have been running high on the Korean peninsula, with the North conducting its sixth nuclear test last month and test-launching multiple missiles capable of reaching the US mainland.

The North's ruler Kim Jong-Un and US President Donald Trump have also traded verbal threats of war and personal insults that have sparked global alarm.

Mattis maintained that diplomacy remained a "preferred course of action" to solve the current crisis but stressed, "our diplomats are most effective when backed by credible military force".

He urged Pyongyang to "harbour no illusion", saying the isolated state is militarily "overmatched" by the US and South Korea-a key ally of Washington that hosts 28,500 US troops.

Trump's recent remark that "only one thing will work" with the North fuelled concerns of a potential conflict on the divided peninsula where the 1950-53 Korean War had left millions dead.

But even some Trump advisers say US military options are limited when Pyongyang could launch an artillery barrage on the South's capital Seoul-only about 50 kilometres from the border and home to 10 million people.

PTI adds: India's diplomatic ties with North Korea could act as a "conduit for communications," US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said amidst tensions between Washington and Pyongyang over the latter's nuclear missile tests.

India had informed the US that it has "minimal" trade with North Korea, and that there was a small Indian embassy in Pyongyang which should stay there so that some channels of communication remain open.

The issue figured during talks between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Tillerson during his visit to India on Wednesday.

Answering a question about India's refusal to close its embassy in Pyongyang, Tillerson said: "I think they just indicated they think that office has a value as a conduit for communications".

Asked if he agreed with that assessment, he replied: "It could. It might", according to the transcription of Tillerson's interview in Geneva.

Trade between India and North Korea amounted to USD 130 million in 2016-17 but in the current fiscal year it stands at USD 10.95 million, according to official data.

India banned all trade with North Korea, except food and medicine, from April, in line with UN sanctions over North Korea's nuclear tests.

Tillerson said the US wants to find new ways to partner with India and other like-minded countries in Asia.

"I had a very comprehensive discussion on economic and security links with Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, National Security Advisor (Ajit) Doval, and Foreign Affairs Minister (Sushma) Swaraj. It is essential that our two democracies work together to address the challenges facing our people.

"The US has had positive relations with India for 70 years but it is never quite moved to that next level, and I think that is in part due to - on both sides," he added.

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have traded increasingly threatening and personal insults as Pyongyang races towards its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the US.

Tensions have dramatically risen on the Korean peninsula after North Korea, early in September, conducted its biggest nuclear test, which its state-run KCNA news agency described as a hydrogen bomb.

Nuclear-armed North Korea in August fired a ballistic missile over Japan in a major escalation by Pyongyang amid tensions over its nuclear ambitions.
The Trump tax breaks benefit the ultra-rich and will add, tremendously, to the national debt. We're all itching for free money  ours to start with. Will this latest version of the trickle-down theory benefit the middle class? It never has before.

To pay for this large tax cut, things like Medicare and Medicaid will suffer as will other programs Trump and his billionaire buddies will be laughing at us when depositing in Swiss bank accounts. We will get taxes back, yes, but we will spend more than we get back on things the government used to help with. Truth is that we don't need to reduce taxes, we need to increase them for an older population, infrastructure, etc.

Another frightening factor of the Trump administration is that 70 percent of his appointees are from giant corporations. They have his ear. Trump was going to do something about the opioid problem, run checks on prescribers, pharmaceutical companies. He met with those companies: not a Trump Tweet since. We have a president who is turning over government to big business, one in which drug companies will go unchallenged. Public schools are being made dumber, not smarter. Big jobs for manufacturing was, again, all bluster.

But Trump comes after us daily, his voice or ridiculous tweets blasting away, just like a loud Big Brother. (Insert scream here). Read 1984. It's the scariest book out this Halloween.

Bob Schwarz

Billings
The crisis over Europe continues

Roberto Savio :

The Austrian elections show clearly that media have given up on contextualising events. To do that, calls for a warning about Europe's future, as a vehicle of European values is required. Europe has been weakened by all the recent elections, with the notable exception of France. Common to all, France included, were some clear trends, that we will hastily, and therefore maybe imperfectly, examine.

In every election, since the financial crisis of 2009, the parties we have known to run their country since the end of the Second World War, are on the wane ( or practically disappearing, like in the last French elections). In Austria, the far right Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) secured 26 per cent of the vote, just a few votes behind the Social Democrats who took 26.9 per cent of the votes. The social democrats have been in power practically since the end of the war. And the other traditional party, the conservative Austrian People's Party (OVP), won the elections with 31.5 per cent. Together the two parties used to have more than 85% of the votes. In the Dutch elections held in March, Geert Wilder's far-right Party for Freedom PVV, came second after the ruling People's Party for Freedom and Democracy VVD, at the expense of all other parties. And in September in Germany, the far right anti immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) enjoyed historical success, becoming the third party while the two traditional parties, Merkel's Christian Democratic Union of Germany CDU and the social democrat Social Democratic Party of Germany SPD, suffered the worst results in more than a half a century. According to polls, next year Italian elections will see a populist movement, with the 5 Stars taking over the government.

Austria is the best example to understand how European national politics have changed. It is important to note that no right wing party was really visible in Europe, (except Le Pen in France), before the financial crisis of 2009. That crisis brought insecurity and fear and in the same year the Austrian far right, under the charismatic leadership of Jorg Haider, got the same percentage of votes as of today. And the conservative Prime minister of the time, Wolfgang Schlussel broke a taboo by bringing the Freedom Party into the government. Everybody in Europe reacted with horror, practically isolating Austria. And the FPO, lost all its lustre in the government, going down to 5%, and with the death of Haider even further down. There Are no gasps of horror now in Europe over any far right wing parties getting in to govern.

The traditional parties were facing already a loss of participation and trust by the electors at the end of the last century but in 2009 Europe imported the financial crisis which racked the US in 2006. And, 2009 saw hardship and unemployment all over Europe. And that year Greece became the battleground of two visions in Europe. The Southern countries wanted to push out of the crisis with investments and social relief, while the bloc of Northern countries, led by Germany, saw austerity as the only response. Germany wanted to export it's experience: they were doing well thanks to an internal austerity reform started by Schroeder in 2003, and they did not want to take on other reforms at any cost.

Greece was just 4% of the European economy and could have been rescued without problems. But the German line won and today Greece has lost 25% of its properties; pensions went down by 17%, and there is a massive unemployment. Austerity was the response to the crisis for all of Europe and that aggravated fear and insecurity.

It is also important to remember that until the invasions of Libya, Iraq and Syria, in which Europe played a key role (2011- 2014), there were few immigrants and this was not a problem. In 2010, immigrants numbered 215.000, in a region of 400 millions. But during the invasions, a very fragile balance between Shite and Sunni, the two main religious branches of Islam, collapsed. Civil war, and the creation of ISIS in 2015 pushed many to try to reach Europe to escape the civil wars. So, in 2015 more than 1.2 million refugees, the majority coming from countries in conflict, arrived in Europe, which was not prepared for such a massive influx. And, if we study the elections before then, we can see that the far right parties were not as relevant as they are now.

Therefore it should be clear that austerity and immigration have been the two main factors for the rise of the right wing. Statistics and data show that clearly. Statistics also show that immigrants, of course with exceptions, (that media and populism inflates), basically want to integrate, accept any kind of work, and are law abiding and pay their contributions, which is obviously in their interest. Of course the level of instruction plays a crucial role. But the Syrians who come here were basically middle class. And of course it is an inconvenient truth that if Europe did not intervene in the name of democracy, the situation would be different. NATO estimates that more than 30 billion dollars have been spent on the war in Syria. There are now six million refugees, and 400.00 dead.

And Assad is still there. Of course, democracy has a different value in countries which are closed and rich in petrol. If we were serious about democracy, there are so many African countries which need intervention. Book Haram has killed seven times more people than ISIS; and Mugabe is considering running for re-election after dominating Zimbabwe for nearly four decades. But you will never hear much on those issues in the present political debate.

Nigel Farage is the populist who led a far right party, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) which fought for leaving Europe. UKIP received the greatest number of votes (27.49%) of any British party in the 2014 European Parliament election and gained 11 extra Member of the European Parliament MEPs for a total of 24.[55] The party won seats in every region of Great Britain, including its first in Scotland.[56] It was the first time in over a century that a party other than Labour or Conservatives won the mosti votes in a UK-wide election.

But Farage lost the elections held just before Brexit, in June 2016. His declaration to the media was: Infact, I am the real winner, because my agenda against Europe now is the basis for politics in all the traditional parties. Brexit did follow.

And this is what is happening now everywhere. The Austrian elections did not see only the FPO rise. They also saw the conservative OVP taking immigration, security, borders and others part of the far right agenda of the populist agenda in the electoral campaign. A full 58% of the voters went for the far right or the right, with the social Democrats also moving more to the center. The new Dutch governement took a turn to the right, by reducing taxes on the rich people, and to companies. The same turn to the right can be expected by the new coalition led by Merkel, with the liberals aiming to take over the ministry of Finance. Its leader, Christian Lindner, is a nationlist and has several times declared his aversion to Europe. In that seense, he will be worse than the inflexible Schauble, who just wanted to Germanize Europe, but was a convinced European. And it is interesting that the main vote for the far righ party AfD came from East Germany, where immigrants are few. But in spite of investing the staggering amount of 1.3 trillions Euro in the development of East Germany, important differences in employment and revenues with West Germany remain. No wonder that the President of South Korea has warned President Trump to avoid any conflict. They have decided a longtime ago, looking at the German reunification that they would not have the resources required by annexing with success, North Korea.The rocketman, as Trump calls Kim, after the decertification of Iran, can claim that the only way to be sure that US will not intervene, is to show that he has a nuclear intercontinental ability, because US does not respect treaties.

Those considerations done, a pattern is clear everywhere. The agenda of the right wing has been incorporated in the traditional parties; they bring in the governing coalition, like Norway did , or they try to isolate them , as did Sweden. This does not change the fact that everybody is moving to the right. Austria will now tilt to the Visegrad group, formed by Poland , Hungary, Czech and Slovakia, which are clearly challenging Europe and looking to Putin as a political model ( all the right wing does).

The only active European voice is Macron, who clearly is not a progressist guy either. The real progressist, Corbyn, is ambigous about Europe, because the Labour Party has a lot of eurosceptic.

The new German government has already made clear that many of it's proposals for a stronger Europe are not on the agenda, and austerity remains the way. Unless a strong growth comes soon (and the IMF doubts that), social problems will increase. Nationalism never helped peace, development and cooperation. Probably , we need some populist movement to be in the government to show that they have no real answers to the problems. The victory of 5 stars in Italy will probably do that. But this was the theory also for Egypt. Let the Muslim Brotherhood take the government , and it will be a failure. Pity that the General El Sisi did not let this happen. Our hope is that we do not get any El Sisis in Europe.

If only young people went back to vote, this would change the situation in Europethis is the real historical loss of the left in Europe.

(Roberto Savio is co-founder of Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency and its President Emeritus. He is also publisher of OtherNews).
UN resolution must be practical to resolve Rohingya crisis

THE UN Security Council has reportedly prepared a draft resolution on Myanmar to end the violence that has driven tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to flee. The proposed resolution drafted by Britain and France and would be put on voting anytime, would call on Myanmar to "immediately cease military operations" and allow refugees now living in makeshift camps in Bangladesh to return. But information is however scanty if China and Russia will lend full support to it, they are protecting Myanmar so far.





What's puzzling is that the six-page text hasn't included any pre-condition for sanctions, but lays out a series of concrete demands, as reported by an international news agency. Against this backdrop the question involuntarily arises - what would the UN do if military operations don't stop against the helpless minority in the Rakhine province? Most importantly, in what way would the UN penalise Myanmar if the resolutions, once finalised not followed by Myanmar ?







The draft resolution, first formal response from the top UN body, is likely to face strong opposition from China as many fear to need tough negotiations ahead of reaching an agreement. The point, however, is about the core purpose of the resolution and if the UN will take a dominating position to implement the resolution successfully. The UN shouldn't leave the perilous legal loopholes unaddressed and go by a face saving process at a time. Myanmar military is accelerating the ethnic cleansing operation of the Rohingyas from their land.







The fact is - the 1.1 million plus Rohingyas have faced decades of extreme discrimination in the Buddhist-majority Myanmar and were denied citizenship since 1982 effectively rendering them stateless. On top of it Myanmar policy is never to take them back and only decisive UN action can reverse the situation.







In this regard, various Rights groups too have accused the Security Council of dragging its feet on Myanmar calling for tougher measures, such as an arms embargo and targeted sanctions. These crucial clauses should not be in any way excluded.





The crisis, as it has been reiterated many times before it is no longer Myanmar's domestic matter, it is now a global crisis with spilling over problems for others beyond Myanmar's borders. The global community can't be silent spectators to the carnage as indiscriminate killing, raping women and torching of Rohingya villages by Myanmar military continue.







We feel the resolutions should be more practical including call deployment of UN peace keeping in the ground. Imposing arms embargo on Myanmar has become a must and wider economic sanctions should be there if Myanmar fails to respond to the UN call to stop its killing machine. If the UN demands are not fulfilled the Security Council should be even tougher to force Myanmar to pay heed to the call of the global community.






Schoolboy stabbed to death in city

Staff Reporter :

A school boy was stabbed to death over senior-junior dispute at Chadni Ghat area of Chowk Bazar in the city on Saturday.

The student succumbed to his injuries at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) in the morning.

The deceased was identified as Hasan, 16, a candidate of Junior School Certificate (JSC) Examination from a local school. He was a resident of Posta area of Lalbagh, located in the old parts of Dhaka.

Md. Ali, the deceased's father, said that 3-4 persons stabbed Hasan in the belly and fled from the scene on Friday night, following a senior-junior dispute in his locality.

Later, locals took him to DMCH, however, he died the next day.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Bachchu Miah of DMCH Police Camp said that the body was kept in the morgue for post-mortem examination.
RMG undergoes massive reforms

Kazi Zahidul Hasan :

Bangladesh's apparel industry has undergone through a massive transformation in terms of workplace safety and workers' rights in the last four years setting a unique example in the world.

A tangible collaborating among the government, buyers, international agencies, workers, industry owners and donors has indeed brought the much needed change which was necessary to regain the industry's image tarnished severely in the aftermath of Rana Plaza collapse, insiders said.

They said the reform has been possible due to three initiatives launched by the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety (Accord), the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (Alliance) and the National Action Plan (NAP).

Local and foreign experts recruited by the three platforms-Accord, Alliance and NAP-completed inspection of more than 3,800 ready-made garment (RMG) factories for fixing safety issues in all the factories following international standards.

Of them, 39 factories were closed due to safety concern, according to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

"We're vigorously working to ensure workplace safety and establish workers' rights in the industry. A lot of work have already been done. Factory remediation process taken by the Accord and Alliance is nearing completion," BGMEA President M Siddiqur Rahman told The New Nation yesterday.

He said over 80 per cent of the factories affiliated with the Accord and Alliance have already fixed their identified safety issues. Remediation work is also going on rest of the factories expected to be completed by 2018.

"Local RMG industry has already set a bright example in the global arena by transforming itself safe, worker friendly and competitive under the three initiatives launched by Accord, Alliance and the National Action Plan (NAP)," added Siddiqur Rahman.

He also said, Bangladeshi is no longer a risky apparel manufacturing country if we consider all the recent developments in the industry.

Regarding rights issues, the BGMEA leader said, the government has amended the labour law making it favourable to protect workers' rights and ensuring their welfare. Under the amended law, workers are free to form trade unions without informing the factory management.

Referring to an official data, Siddiqur Rahman said the number of RMG sector trade unions was 138 in 2012 and it increased to 603 as of July 2017. "It indicates that we're not interfering formation of trade unions and workers are enjoying full freedom in forming trade unions at their factories," he claimed.

Bangladesh is the world's second largest apparel exporter behind China and the country fetched US$ 28.15 billion from exports of garment items in the fiscal year 2016-17.
Khaleda`s motorcade attacked in Feni

50 injured, several vehicles vandalized: SPs of Feni and Comilla shift responsibility: No arrest, no case was filed

The convoy of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia heading towards Cox\'s Bazar came under attack at Mohammad Ali Bazar near Feni district town by a group of unruly people on Saturday.

Special Correspondent :

Miscreants attacked the motorcade carrying BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, her party leaders and activists in Feni on Saturday while it was heading towards Chittagong as a part of her next day's planned visit to Cox's Bazar to see the condition of displaced Rohingyas.

Police and local sources said the motorcade came under attack at Mohammad Ali Bazar near Feni district town at about 4:45pm. Several vehicles of media houses, including Channel I, DBC tv, Ekattor tv and Baishakhi tv channels were also vandalized at that time.

The unruly persons at that time allegedly beat several journalists and BNP activists. Khaleda Zia, however, reached Feni Circuit House at around 5pm apparently without any problem.

Reporters and camerapersons of different media houses who were accompanying Khaleda Zia said that miscreants vandalized at least 50 vehicles conducting the attack on the convoy at Fatehpur and Mohammad Ali Bazar simultaneously. When contacted, Superintendent of Police in Feni SM Jahangir Alam Sarkar told The New Nation last night over phone, "The incident took place near Chauddagram upazila under Comilla district. It's not under the jurisdictions of Feni district. So far I know, a few persons, including 2/3 journalists, got minor injuries..Nothing was serious," he said.

"She [Khaleda] took some rest at Feni Circuit House after having lunch and resumed her journey for Chittagong at about 6:55 pm..No one was arrested in connection with the incident. We're also not thinking about filing any case against anyone," the Feni SP said.

On the other hand, SP of Comilla district Md Shah Abid Hasan categorically rejected the claim of Feni's SP, saying that the incident did not occur in Comilla district.

Leaders of BNP said that Khaleda Zia will stay at Chittagong Circuit House on Saturday night and start for Cox's Bazar next day [Sunday] to visit four Rohingya camps in Balukhali, Boalmari and Jamtali in Ukhia upazila.

Senior Joint Secretary General of BNP Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed on Saturday said Khaleda Zia will distribute relief materials among the displaced Rohingyas who have taken shelter in Bangladesh. "She is scheduled to return to Dhaka on Tuesday after completion of her four-day visit," Rizvi said.

Earlier at about 10:40am, BNP Chief Khaleda Zia accompanied by the BNP's Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Vice Chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu went out of her Gulshan-2 residence for Chittagong.

Before starting the journey, pointing out protection of motorcade, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, "We've sought cooperation from the government to make the visit a success. In this regard, the IGP assured us of ensuring necessary security measures during our Chairperson's visit. We've also instructed our party men to welcome Khaleda in a peaceful manner maintaining discipline on the way to Cox's Bazar." Fakhrul further said Khaleda Zia will go to Ukhiya camps on Monday and distribute relief materials among 10,000 Rohingya families at Balukhali, Boalmara and Jamtoli camps.

Our correspondents from Feni and Comilla said the activists of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal and Swechchha Shebak Dal were leading the motorcade as advance party riding different vehicles. About 100 vehicles joined the BNP Chairperson's fleet towards Cox's Bazar.


Judiciary must be saved with needed courage and character

The lawyers are also not generally happy the way it happened. Such reaction has nothing to do with the truthfulness or otherwise of the allegations rumoured against the Chief Justice SK Sinha.





Without strong and independent judiciary everything about democracy or the rule of law is gone. We need not waste time debating over the importance of free and fair election of the parliament if independence of the judiciary cannot be protected.





We cannot say we know for sure the circumstances leading to the judges of the Appellate Division of Supreme Court told the Chief Justice they could not sit in court with him because the President had shown them some papers of misconduct by him. The people saw at the same time that later the Chief Justice Sinha easily went abroad on fresh leave. He said he would come back and he was not ill as publicised by the government.





Justice Sinha said about the development sadly that he was embarrassed.





But direct refusal by the judges of the Appellate Division not to cooperate with the Chief Justice before any judicial process was initiated against him has no doubt undermined and demoralised the judiciary in public perception. I still find it beyond belief that their Lordships did what they did. Many things are happening in our country which make no sense.





The people's confidence in the judiciary must be restored by judges themselves with needed sense of mission. The people have been looking to the Supreme Court as the last bastion of integrity and courage in doing what is just and fair. If it is found not being so the people are frustrated.





The circumstances could not be so difficult or even so dangerous that the judges of the highest court could not decline to do without due process what was not their responsibility to do. If allegations were formally brought against the Chief Justice he could not sit as a judge without being told so.





The general public witnessed in bewilderment the matter of meeting the Chief Justice by the judges of the Appellate Division while he was living within the helplessness of confinement in his residence and telling him they could not sit with him in court because of the incriminating papers shown by the President. Surely they could not properly expect an answer from the Chief Justice.





The accepted procedure was for the President to send the papers to the Supreme Judicial Council for a follow up action.





Besides, the Chief Justice Sinha was to retire within few months and the proper authorities would have no difficulty in filing appropriate corruption cases if there is any substance in the allegations.





The question that will be unavoidable for answer from the government is why so long not a single case against him came up for investigation before the judgement on 16th amendment to the Constitution.





President Ayub Khan handled a similar situation when he politely handed a file of papers to Chief Justice Syed Mahbub Murshed of East Pakistan and told him to go through the file. It is said that the following day Justice Murshed gave his decision to resign. But we could not show this little courtesy.





The members of the government were desperately hounding the Chief Justice personally for the fault that he along with the five other judges of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court passed a judgement declaring assumption of the power of impeachment of Supreme Court judges by the parliament as unconstitutional.





Not only the judges but six eminent lawyers as amici curie gave their view in support of the judgement.





The full story behind the incident will come to light in due course. But our concern is to protect the independence of the judiciary for the rule of law to prevail.
133 offers instant job proposals, 695 primarily selected for jobs

Chittagong Bureau :

IT Job Fair in Chittagong has been ended with a big congregation of interested jobseekers and employers on a single platform.

In the job fair 133 jobseekers were offered instant job proposals while 695 others were primarily selected for IT jobs.

State Minister for ICT affairs Junaid Ahmed Palak attended the concluding ceremony of the IT-ITES job fair held at GEC auditorium of Chittagong as Chief Guest. As part of the initiative, Leveraging ICT for Growth, Employment and Governance (LICT) project of BCC under ICT Division in collaboration with e-Commerce platform Pickaboo and UK-based Ernst and Young (EY) is going to organise an "Pickaboo presents Chittagong IT-ITES Job Fair-2017" on October 26 at GEC Convention Center, officials said.

They said leading 50 Information Technology (IT) and IT Enabled Services (IT-ITES) companies and 10,000 job seekers are expected to attend the job fair to be inaugurated by State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

The IT companies are likely to recruit some jobseekers on-the-spot during the job fair based on their best performance to demonstrate the assignments given earlier to them, they said.

Executive Director of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) Swapan Kumar Sarker said the job fair is a part of the initiatives of LICT Project of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) that has planned to hold a series of similar job fairs across the country in the days to come aimed at bringing both jobseekers and employers on a single platform. He said the "Pickaboo presents Chittagong IT-ITES Job Fair-2017" will offer a great opportunity for the graduates who have already received training conducted by EY under LICT project.

The EY which was appointed by LICT project to provide world class IT training to 30,000 graduates of colleges and universities has so far trained 14,000 graduates, said LICT Project Director Md Rezaul Karim. He said the job fair will work as bridge between jobseekers and the employers and to establish direct contact among them.
Work experience before master's studies

Joanna Hughes :

Many people think of internships and work experience solely as a bridge between university and a career. However, internships are also a smart way to facilitate a successful transition between bachelor's and master's degrees while optimizing your future job prospects. Here's a closer look at the many things you stand to gain from doing an internship before pursuing a master's degree.

A new perspective

University environments have been described as everything from a "bubble" to an "ivory tower." Unfortunately, moving straight from your bachelor's degree to a master's degree can result in a narrow perspective of today's complex professional landscape. Conversely, doing an internship or completing work experience can broaden your viewpoint-not only of your area of study, but also of how it fits into the world in a practical context. In short, an internship can also help shape and refine your career goals.

As ex-Google Engineering Director Theo Vassilakis wrote for Business Insider of working before getting an advanced degree, "Work experience will help you to develop an independent perspective - in your field of study, in industrial applications of research, and in life in general.Work experience would have taught me better accountability, time management, and other lessons that come from the responsibility of having a job."

The same underlying principles apply-whether you're studying math, engineering, business or another field. And gaining hands-on experience doesn't have to delay your studies. There are plenty of programs and opportunities that let students gain work experience while studying.

Says FindLaw of the upsides of interning before doing a master's degree, "Not having additional work experience will limit what you'll gain from an [business school] experience. Many group projects are involved that incorporate real world experience. You'll be at a disadvantage both in that you'll have less to contribute to others (which itself is not a good feeling) and less to gain for yourself (unable to apply, in great depth, what's being discussed). With so much time and money needing to be invested you'll want to think twice about entering [a Master of Business Administration] program so early (in fact, many schools require more work experience prior to acceptance)."

The new mandate

At one time, it was relatively unheard of for newly minted college grads to leap right into internships, or to enter into employment as a means of continuing their education in the short term. However, when it comes to getting into a master's degree program, work experience and internships are no longer just perks. Says Science, "Many graduate schools and employers have come to expect it."

Explains MyGraduateSchool.com, "From the perspective of an admissions committee or individual faculty member, the applicants with relevant experience have a lower risk of failure than the inexperienced applicants. It is reasonable to assume that an applicant with the right type of experience may be more dedicated to a career path than one without such experience, and therefore, the former student is less likely to drop out before finishing graduate school. Moreover, because they have already shown they can do things that are essential for success in graduate school (e.g., writing, public speaking, creative expression, critical analysis, etc), there is a relatively high probability that they will finish their program in the normal time period, without causing any grief for the faculty members who supervise them."

Of course, it's not just about how schools bolster the success of their programs by prioritizing master's candidates with internship experience. Participants also come out ahead. It's no surprise that professionals who hold master's degrees (especially in STEM fields) can expect higher earning potential, but a master's degree comes at a cost. Doing a paid internship or work experience prior to your graduate studies not only gives you a chance to develop your skills in a real-world environment, it can give you the resources to fund your master's degree.

But aspiring leaders can also use internships to enhance their own understanding of their job prospects. Advises US News & World Report, "Use the experience to try out an industry or company and see if you love it and want to return the following summer, or move on to a new and different industry instead."

Hands-on experience means you'll be sure of your passion for the field or industry you plan to study during your master's degree.

Two more tangible benefits? The role internships can play in helping prospective graduate students get letters of recommendation-another important factor in graduate school admissions-as well as the fact that real-world experience can help ensure that your resume makes it to the top of the pile. And, if you're not sure if you want to work or keep studying after your Bachelor's, maybe this quiz can help.



(Joanna worked in higher education administration for many years at a leading research institution before becoming a full-time freelance writer. She lives in the beautiful White Mountains region of New Hampshire with her family).
Studying a rare language

Elizabeth Koprowski :

Most students around the world will end up studying a second language at some point during their education. Whether you learned to count to ten in Spanish from children's television, studied French at A-Levels, or plan to minor in German at university, you probably understand a word or two in a language that differs from your mother tongue. And if you have any aspirations for an international career, it's likely that you're already working to acquire a second language. But there are more reasons to study languages than just job opportunities, and you don't have to stick with the 'Big Three' (Chinese, Spanish, and English). Here are four reasons to learn a new language.

Read more about studying languages.

1. Languages are good for you

There is tons of research out there regarding the benefits of learning languages and multilingualism. Children who learn multiple languages have better problem-solving, multi-tasking, and decision-making skills and adults who learn an additional language can improve these abilities as well. Multilingualism also helps to protect your brain from dementia and Alzheimer's, can improve your memory and perception, and helps to make you more fluent in your mother-tongue. And it doesn't matter which language you learn, or whether it's your second or seventeenth language. The act of learning a language stimulates your brain and has been compared to mental exercise. So, what's the key to gaining and keeping the benefits of language-acquisition? Using it! Once you've brushed up on your Italian or learned a bit of Swahili, it's time to hit the road and start speaking. Don't be afraid to make mistakes - that's another plus to learning a language. You gain confidence and self-esteem.

2. Languages equal job opportunities

Many people study languages to better their chances in a certain job-market or because a second language is required for their field. But learning a rare language can have added benefits in the job-market. While languages like Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and English are in high-demand, they're also the most frequently studied languages which means that jobs that require them can be highly competitive. But if you choose to study a rare language, you might find that your new skill is both marketable and scarce. Consider your other skills, education, and career goals - is there a specific type of job or field that you have in mind? Embassy employees with local-language skills are highly sought-after, so learning Indonesian or Portuguese could land you a very exciting job. Or perhaps you're planning to major in geology or literature and have a passion for the North. Swedish, Estonian, or Russian could open all sorts of doors come graduation. Or find something a bit out-there. Endangered languages are always looking for learners (and teachers), and even made-up languages like Klingon or Elvish could give a film-studies student the edge post-graduation.

3. Languages reveal culture

If you're an English speaker who has studied or traveled abroad, you've probably noticed that many places around the world are very accessible to English-speakers. And that's great. Sometimes it's nice to navigate a foreign city easily, or order food without worrying that you'll end up with fried tarantulas (unless, of course, you were deliberately ordering fried tarantulas.) But the problem with only speaking, or relying on, one language is that you might never get past the most basic elements of a foreign culture. Culture is like an iceberg - you only see the very top - and learning a new language can give you a greater sense of the culture attached to the words. In fact, English already borrows lots of foreign words and phrases because they have no direct equivalent. You've probably heard of schadenfreude but did you know that the German word Kummerspeck (grief-bacon) means the weight you gain from emotional eating? Or that the word for butterfly in Norwegian literally translates to 'summer-bird,' which is rather poetic and indicative the country's northern location. And a foreign language won't just give you a cultural in - it can help you make friends and connections. If you've tried to learn a language, you probably realize how difficult it is to express yourself with a limited vocabulary. Now imagine trying to make friends or negotiate a job contract with a handful of phrases. Learning a new language could be the key to all sorts of future adventures and endeavors.

4. Languages can fund your studies

Speaking of the future, learning a rare language could fund your future and not just as a job-prospect. Students who study languages will have a wealth of scholarships and funding opportunities, but again those based on the 'Big Three' will be more selective. If you study a rare language, you could find that the scholarships associated with it are more open or less competitive.

This also applies to languages you may already speak or understand. There are lots of scholarships out there for the children and grandchildren of immigrants, which means if you grew up speaking Polish with your babcia or Turkish with your anneanne, you could find some very generous funding opportunities.

(Elizabeth Koprowski is an American writer and travel historian. She has worked in the higher education system with international students both in Europe and in the USA).
Huge traffic gridlock created in Feni area due to obstruction of Begum Khaleda Zia\'s motorcade while it was under attack by anti-BNP protesters on Saturday.